the lives of the painters, sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari in eight volumes vol. one contents cimabue ( - ) arnolfo di lapo ( - ) bonanno (fl. - lapo ( - ) niccola and giovanni pisani fl , , - ) andrea tafi ( - ) gaddo gaddi ( - ) margaritone ( - ) giotto ( - ) puccio capanna (fl. ) agostino and agnolo (fl. - ) stefano and ugolino ( - , - ) pietro laurati (died c. ) andrea pisano ( - ) buonamico buffalmacco (fl. - ) ambruogio lorenzetti (died c. ) pietro cavallini ( - ) simone martini and lippo memmi ( - ; died ) preface to the lives i am aware that it is commonly held as a fact by most writers that sculpture, as well as painting, was naturally discovered originally by the people of egypt, and also that there are others who attribute to the chaldeans the first rough carvings of statues and the first reliefs. in like manner there are those who credit the greeks with the invention of the brush and of colouring. but it is my opinion that design, which is the creative principle in both arts, came into existence at the time of the origin of all things. when the most high created the world and adorned the heavens with shining lights, his perfect intellect passing through the limpid air and alighting on the solid earth, formed man, thus disclosing the first form of sculpture and painting in the charming invention of things. who will deny that from this man, as from a living example, the ideas of statues and sculpture, and the questions of pose and of outline, first took form; and from the first pictures, whatever they may have been, arose the first ideas of grace, unity, and the discordant concords made by the play of lights and shadows? thus the first model from which the first image of man arose was a lump of earth, and not without reason, for the divine architect of time and of nature, being all perfection, wished to demonstrate, in the imperfection of his materials, what could be done to improve them, just as good sculptors and painters are in the habit of doing, when, by adding additional touches and removing blemishes, they bring their imperfect sketches to such a state of completion and of perfection as they desire. god also endowed man with a bright flesh colour, and the same shades may be drawn from the earth, which supplies materials to counterfeit everything which occurs in painting. it is indeed true that it is impossible to feel absolutely certain as to what steps men took for the imitation of the beautiful works of nature in these arts before the flood, although it appears, most probable that even then they practised all manner of painting and sculpture; for bel, son of the proud nimrod, about years after the flood, had a statue made, from which idolatry afterwards arose; and his celebrated daughter-in-law, semiramis, queen of babylon, in the building of that city, introduced among the ornaments there coloured representations from life of divers kinds of animals, as well as of herself and of her husband ninus, with the bronze statues of her father, her mother-in-law, and her great-grandmother, as diodorus relates, calling them jove, juno, and ops--greek names, which did not then exist. it was, perhaps, from these statues that the chaldeans learned to make the images of their gods. it is recorded in genesis how years later, when rachel was fleeing from mesopotamia with her husband jacob, she stole the idols of her father laban. nor were the chaldeans singular in making statues, for the egyptians also had theirs, devoting great pains to those arts, as is shown by the marvellous tomb of that king of remote antiquity, osimandyas, described at length by diodorus, and, as the severe command of moses proves, when, on leaving egypt, he gave orders that no images should be made to god, upon pain of death. moses also, after having ascended the mount, and having found a golden calf manufactured and adored by his people, was greatly troubled at seeing divine honours accorded to the image of a beast; so that he not only broke it to powder, but, in the punishment of so great a fault, caused the levites to put to death many thousands of the false israelites who had committed this idolatry. but as the sin consisted in adoring idols and not in making them, it is written in exodus that the art of design and of making statues, not only in marble but in all kinds of metal, was given by the mouth of god himself to bezaleel, of the tribe of judah, and to aholiab, of the tribe of dan, who made the two cherubim of gold, the candles, the veil, and the borders of the sacerdotal vestments, together with a number of other beautiful things in the tabernacle, for no other purpose than that people should put them on for their own adornment and delight. from the things seen before the flood, the pride of man found the means to make statues of those who wished their fame in the world to be immortal; and the greeks, who give a different origin to this, say that the ethiopians found the first statues, according to diodorus, the egyptians imitated these, while the greeks followed the egyptians. from this time until homer's day it is clear that sculpture and painting were perfect, as we may see from the description of achilles' shield by that divine poet, who represents it with such skill that the image of it is presented to our minds as clearly as if we had seen the thing itself. lactantius firmianus attributes the credit of the invention to prometheus, who like god formed the human form out of dust. but according to pliny this art was introduced into egypt by gyges of lydia, who on seeing his shadow cast by the fire, at once drew a representation of himself on the wall with a piece of coal. for some time after that it was the custom to draw in outline only, without any colouring, pliny again being our authority. this was afterwards introduced by philocles of egypt with considerable pains, and also by cleanthes and ardices of corinth and by telephanes of sicyon. cleophantes of corinth was the first of the greeks to use colours, and apollodorus was the first to introduce the brush. polignotus of thasos, zeuxis and timagoras of chalcis, pythia and aglaphon followed them, all most celebrated, and after them came the renowned apelles who was so highly esteemed and honoured for his skill by alexander the great, for his wonderful delineation of calumny and favour, as lucian relates. almost all the painters and sculptors were of high excellence, being frequently endowed by heaven, not only with the additional gift of poetry, as we read in pacuvius, but also with that of philosophy. metrodorus is an instance in point, for he was equally skilled as a philosopher and as a painter, and when apelles was sent by the athenians to paulus emilius to adorn his triumph he remained to teach philosophy to the general's sons. sculpture was thus generally practised in greece, where there flourished a number of excellent artists, among them being phidias of athens, praxiteles and polycletus, very great masters. lysippus and pyrgoteles who were of considerable skill in engraving, and pygmalion in ivory carving in relief, it being recorded of him that he obtained life by his prayers for the figure of a maid carved by him. the ancient greeks and romans also honoured and rewarded painting, since they granted the citizenship and very liberal gifts to those who excelled in this art. painting flourished in rome to such an extent that fabius gave a name to his house, subscribing himself in the beautiful things he did in the temple of safety as fabius the painter. by public decree slaves were prohibited from practising painting, and so much honour was continually afforded by the people to the art and to artists that rare works were sent to rome among the spoils to appear in the triumphs; excellent artists who were slaves obtained their liberty and received notable rewards from the republic. the romans bore such a reverence for the art that when the city of syracuse was sacked marcellus gave orders that his men should treat with respect a famous artist there, and also that they should be careful not to set fire to a quarter in which there was a very fine picture. this was afterwards carried to rome to adorn his triumph. to that city in the course of time almost all the spoils of the world were brought, and the artists themselves gathered there beside these excellent works. by such means rome became an exceedingly beautiful city, more richly adorned by the statues of foreign artists than by those made by natives. it is known that in the little island city of rhodes there were more than , statues, in bronze and marble, nor did the athenians possess less, while those of olympus and delphi were more numerous still, and those of corinth were without number, all being most beautiful and of great price. does not every one know how nicomedes, king of lycia, expended almost all the wealth of his people owing to his passion for a venus by the hand of praxiteles? did not attalus do the same? who without an afterthought expended more than sesterces to have a picture of bacchus painted by aristides. this picture was placed by lucius mummius, with great pomp to adorn rome, in the temple of ceres. but although the nobility of this art was so highly valued, it is uncertain to whom it owes its origin. as i have already said, it is found in very ancient times among the chaldeans, some attribute the honour to the ethiopians, while the greeks claim it for themselves. besides this there is good reason for supposing that the tuscans may have had it earlier, as our own leon batista alberti asserts, and weighty evidence in favour of this view is supplied by the marvellous tomb of porsena at chiusi, where not long ago some tiles of terracotta were found under the ground, between the walls of the labyrinth, containing some figures in half-relief, so excellent and so delicately fashioned that it is easy to see that art was not in its infancy at that time, for to judge by the perfection of these specimens it was nearer its zenith than its origin. evidence to the same purport is supplied every day by the quantity of pieces of red and black aretine vases, made about the same time, to judge by the style, with light carvings and small figures and scenes in bas-relief, and a quantity of small round masks, cleverly made by the masters of that age, and which prove the men of the time to have been most skilful and accomplished in that art. further evidence is afforded by the statues found at viterbo at the beginning of the pontificate of alexander vi., showing that sculpture was valued and had advanced to no small state of perfection in tuscany. although the time when they were made is not exactly known, yet from the style of the figures and from the manner of the tombs and of the buildings, no less than by the inscriptions in tuscan letters, it may be conjectured with great reason that they are of great antiquity, and that they were made at a time when such things were highly valued. but what clearer evidence can be desired than the discovery made in our own day in the year of a bronze figure representing the chimæra of bellerophon, during the excavation of the fortifications and walls of arezzo. this figure exhibits the perfection of the art attained by the tuscans. some small letters carved on a paw are presumed, in the absence of a knowledge of the etruscan language, to give the master's name, and perhaps the date. this figure, on account of its beauty and antiquity, has been placed by duke cosimo in a chamber in his palace in the new suite of rooms which contains my paintings of the deeds of pope leo x. the duke also possesses a number of small bronze figures which were found in the same place. but as the antiquity of the works of the greeks, ethiopians, chaldeans, and tuscans is enveloped in darkness, and because it is necessary in such matters to base one's opinions on conjectures, although these are not so ill founded that one is in danger of going very far astray, yet i think that anyone who will take the trouble to consider the matter carefully will arrive at the same conclusion as i have, that art owes its origin to nature herself, that this beautiful creation the world supplied the first model, while the original teacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made us superior to the other animals, but like god himself, if i may venture to say it. in our own time it has been seen, as i hope to show quite shortly, that simple children, roughly brought up in the woods, have begun to draw by themselves aided by the vivacity of their intellect, instructed solely by the example of these beautiful paintings and sculptures of nature. much more then is it probable that the first men, being less removed from their divine origin, were more perfect, possessing a brighter intelligence, and that with nature as a guide, a pure intellect for master, and the lovely world as a model, they originated these noble arts, and by gradually improving them brought them at length, from small beginnings, to perfection. i do not deny that there must have been an originator, since i know quite well that there must have been a beginning at some time, due to some individual. neither will i deny that it is possible for one person to help another, and to teach and open the way to design, colour, and relief, because i know that our art consists entirely of imitation, first of nature, and then, as it cannot rise so high of itself, of those things which are produced from the masters with the greatest reputation. but i will say that an attempt to determine the exact identity of such men is a very dangerous task, and the knowledge when gained would probably prove unprofitable, since we have seen the true and original root of all. but the life and fame of artists depend upon their works which are destroyed by time one after the other in the order of their creation. thus the artists themselves are unknown as there was no one to write about them and could not be, so that this source of knowledge was not granted to posterity. but when writers began to commemorate things made before their time, they were unable to speak of those of which they had seen no notice, so that those who came nearest to these were the last of whom no memorial remains. thus homer is by common consent admitted to be the first of the poets, not because there were none before him, for there were although they were not so excellent, and in his own works this is clearly shown, but because all knowledge of these, such as they were, had been lost two thousand years before. but we will now pass over these matters which are too vague on account of their antiquity and we will proceed to deal with clearer questions, namely, the rise of the arts to perfection, their decline and their restoration or rather renaissance, and here we stand on much firmer ground. the practice of the arts began late in rome, if the first figures were, as reported, the image of ceres made of the money of spurius caasius, who was condemned to death without remorse by his own father, because he was plotting to make himself king. but although the arts of painting and sculpture continued to flourish until the death of the last of the twelve cæsars, yet they did not maintain that perfection and excellence which had characterised them before, as is seen as seen in the buildings of the time. the arts declined steadily from day to day, until at length by a gradual process they entirety lost all perfection of design. clear testimony to this is afforded by the works in sculpture and architecture produced in rome in the time of constantine, notably in the triumphal arch made for him by the roman people at the colosseum, where we see, that for lack of good masters not only did they make use of marble works carved in the time of trajan, but also of spoils brought to rome from various places. these bas-reliefs, statues, the columns, the cornices and other ornaments which belong to another epoch only serve to expose the defects in those parts of the work which are entirely due to the sculptors of the day and which are most rude. very rude also are some scenes of small figures in marble under the circles and the pediment, representing victories, while between the side arches there are some rivers also very crude and so poor that they leave one firmly under the impression that the art of sculpture had been in a state of decadence for a long while. yet the goths and the other barbarous and foreign nations who combined to destroy all the superior arts in italy had not then appeared. it is true that architecture suffered less than the other arts of design. the bath erected by constantine at the entrance of the principal portico of the lateran contains, in addition to its porphyry columns, capitals carved in marble and beautifully carved double bases taken from elsewhere, the whole composition of the building being very well ordered. on the other hand, the stucco, the mosaic and some incrustations of the walls made by the masters of the time are not equal to those which had been taken away for the most part from the temples of the gods of the heathen, and which constantine caused to be placed in the same building. constantine observed the same methods, according to report, with the garden of Æquitius in building the temple which he afterwards endowed and gave to christian priests. in like manner the magnificent church of s. john lateran, built by the same emperor, may serve as evidence of the same fact, namely, that sculpture had already greatly declined in his time, because the figures of the saviour and of the twelve apostles in silver, which he caused to be made, were very base works, executed without art and with very little design. in addition to this, it is only necessary to examine the medals of this emperor, and other statues made by the sculptors of his day, which are now at the capitol, to clearly perceive how far removed they are from the perfection of the medals and statues of the other emperors, all of which things prove that sculpture had greatly declined long before the coming of the goths to italy. architecture, as i have said, maintained its excellence at a higher though not at the highest level. nor is this a matter for surprise, since large buildings were almost entirely constructed of spoils, so that it was easy for the architects to imitate the old in making the new, since they had the former continually before their eyes. this was an easier task for them than far the sculptors, as the art of imitating the good figures of the ancients had declined. a good illustration of the truth of this statement is afforded by the church of the chief of the apostles in the vatican, which is rich in columns, bases, capitals, architraves, cornices, doors and other incrustations and ornaments which were all taken from various places and buildings, erected before that time in very magnificent style. the same remarks apply to s. croce at jerusalem, which constantine erected at the entreaty of his mother, helena; of s. lorenzo outside the wall, and of s. agnesa, built by the same emperor at the request of his daughter constance. who also is not aware that the font which served for the baptism of the latter and of one of her sisters, was ornamented with fragments of great antiquity? as were the porphyry pillar carved with beautiful figures and some marble candelabra exquisitely carved with leaves, and some children in bas-relief of extraordinary beauty? in short, by these and many other signs, it is clear that sculpture was in decadence in the time of constantine, and with it the other superior arts. if anything was required to complete their ruin it was supplied by the departure of constantine from rome when he transferred the seat of government to byzantium, as he took with him to greece not only all the best sculptors and other artists of the age, such as they were, but also a quantity of statues and other beautiful works of sculpture. after the departure of constantine, the caesars whom he left in italy, were continually building in rome and elsewhere, endeavouring to make these works as good as possible, but as we see, sculpture, painting and architecture were steadily going from bad to worse. this arose perhaps from the fact that when human affairs begin to decline, they grow steadily worse until the time comes when they can no longer deteriorate any further. in the time of pope liberius the architects of the day took considerable pains to produce a masterpiece when they built s. maria maggiore, but they were not very happy in the result, because although the building, which is also mostly constructed of spoils, is of very fair proportions, it cannot be denied that, not to speak of other defects, the decoration of the church with stucco and painting above the columns is of very poor design, and that many other things to be seen there leave no doubt as to the degradation of the arts. many years later, when the christians were suffering persecution under julian the apostate, a church was erected on the celian hill to ss. john and paul, the martyrs, in so inferior a style to the others mentioned above that it is quite clear that at that time, art had all but entirely disappeared. the edifices erected in tuscany at the same time bear out this view to the fullest extent. the church outside the walls of arezzo, built to st donato, bishop of that city, who suffered martyrdom with hilarion the monk, under the same julian the apostate, is in no way superior to the others, and this is only one of many. it cannot be contended that such a state of affairs was due to anything but the lack of good architects, since the church in question, which is still standing, has eight sides, and was built of the spoils of the theatre, colosseum and other buildings erected in arezzo before it was converted to the christian faith. no expense has been spared, its columns being of granite and porphyry and variegated marble which, had formerly adorned the ancient buildings. for my own part, i have no doubt, seeing the expense incurred, that if the aretines had been able to employ better architects they would have produced something marvellous, since what they actually accomplished proves that they spared themselves nothing in order to make this building as magnificent and complete as possible. but as architecture had lost less of its excellence than the other arts, as i have often said before, some good things may be seen there. at the same period the church of s. maria in grado was enlarged in honour of st hilarion, who had lived in the city a long time before he accompanied donato to receive the palm of martyrdom. but as fortune, when she has brought men to the top of the wheel, either for amusement or because she repents, usually turns them to the bottom, it came to pass after these things that almost all the barbarian nations rose in divers parts of the world against the romans, the result being the abasement of that great empire in a short time, and the destruction of everything, notably of rome herself. that fall involved the complete destruction of the most excellent artists, sculptors, painters and architects who abandoned their profession and were themselves buried and submerged under the debris and ruins of that most celebrated city. the first to go were painting and sculpture, as being arts which served rather for pleasure than for utility, the other art, namely architecture, being necessary and useful for the welfare of the body, continued in use, but not in its perfection and purity. the very memory of painting and sculpture would have speedily disappeared had they not represented before the eyes of the rising generation, the distinguished men of another age. some of them were commemorated by effigies and by inscriptions placed on public and private buildings, such as amphitheatres, theatres, baths, aqueducts, temples, obelisks, colosseums, pyramids, arches, reservoirs and treasuries, yes, and even on the very tombs. the majority of these were destroyed and obliterated by the barbarians, who had nothing human about them but their shape and name. among others there were the visigoths, who having made alaric their king, invaded italy and twice sacked rome without respect for anything. the vandals who came from africa with genseric, their king, did the like. but he, not content with his plunder and booty and the cruelties he inflicted, led into servitude the people there, to their infinite woe, and with them eudoxia the wife of the emperor valentinian, who had only recently been assassinated by his own soldiers. these men had greatly degenerated from the ancient roman valour, because a great while before, the best of them had all gone to constantinople with the emperor constantine, and those left behind were dissolute and abandoned. thus true men and every sort of virtue perished at the same time; laws, habits, names and tongues suffered change, and these varied misfortunes, collectively and singly, debased and degraded every fine spirit and every lofty soul. but the most harmful and destructive force which operated against these fine arts was the fervent zeal of the new christian religion, which, after long and sanguinary strife, had at length vanquished and abolished the old faith of the heathen, by means of a number of miracles and by the sincerity of its acts. every effort was put forth to remove and utterly extirpate the smaller things from which errors might arise, and thus not only were the marvellous statues, sculptures, paintings, mosaics and ornaments of the false pagan gods destroyed and thrown down, but also the memorials and honours of countless excellent persons, to whose distinguished merits statues and other memorials had been set up by a most virtuous antiquity. besides all this, in order to build churches for the use of the christians, not only were the most honoured temples of the idols destroyed, but in order to ennoble and decorate s. peter's with more ornaments than it then possessed, the mole of hadrian, now the castle of s. angelo, was despoiled of its stone columns, as well as of many other things which are now seen in ruins. now, although the christian religion did not act thus from any hatred for talent, but only because of its contempt for the heathen gods, yet the utter ruin of these honourable professions, which entirely lost their form, was none the less entirely due to this burning zeal. that nothing might be wanting to these grave disasters there followed the rage of totila against rome, who destroyed the walls, ruined all the most magnificent and noble buildings with fire and sword, burned it from one end to another, and having stripped it of every living creature left it a prey to the flames, so that for the space of eighteen days not a living soul could be found there. he utterly destroyed the marvellous statues, paintings, mosaics and stuccos, so that he left rome not only stripped of every trace of her former majesty, but destitute of shape and life. the ground floors of the palaces and other building had been adorned with paintings, stuccos and statues, and these were buried under the debris, so that many good things have come to light in our own day. those who came after, judging everything to be ruined, planted vines over them so that these ruined chambers remained entirely underground, and the moderns have called them grottos and the paintings found there grotesques. the ostrogoths being exterminated by narses, the ruins of rome were inhabited in a wretched fashion when after an interval of a hundred years there came the emperor constans of constantinople, who was received in a friendly manner by the romans. however he wasted, plundered and carried away everything that had been left in the wretched city of rome, abandoned rather by chance than by the deliberate purpose of those who had laid it waste. it is true that he was not able to enjoy this booty, for being driven to sicily by a storm at sea, he was killed by his followers, a fate he richly deserved, and thus lost his spoils, his kingdom and his life. but as if the troubles of rome had not been sufficient, for the things which had been taken away could never return, there came an army of saracens to ravage that island, who carried away the property of the sicilians and the spoils of rome to alexandria, to the infinite shame and loss of italy and of all christendom. thus what the popes had not destroyed, notably st gregory, who is said to have put under the ban all that remained of the statues and of the spoils of the buildings, finally perished through the instrumentality of this traitorous greek. not a trace or a vestige of any good thing remained, so that the generations which followed being rough and material, particularly in painting and sculpture, yet feeling themselves impelled by nature and inspired by the atmosphere of the place, set themselves to produce things, not indeed according to the rules of art, for they had none, but as they were instructed by their own intelligence. the arts of design having arrived at this pitch, both before and during the time that the lombards ruled italy, they subsequently grew worse and worse, until at length they reached the lowest depths of baseness. an instance of their utter tastelessness and crudeness may be seen in some figures over the door in the portico of s. peter's at rome, in memory of some holy fathers who had disputed for holy church in certain councils. further evidence is supplied by a number of examples in the same style in the city and in the whole of the exarchate of ravenna, notably some in s. maria rotonda outside that city, which were made shortly after the lombards were driven from italy. but i will not deny that there is one very notable and marvellous thing in this church, and that is the vault or cupola which covers it, which is ten braccia across and serves as the roof of the building, and yet is of a single piece and so large that it appears impossible that a stone of this description, weighing more than , pounds, could be placed so high up. but to return to our point, the masters of that day produced nothing but shapeless and clumsy things which may still be seen to-day. it was the same with architecture, for it was necessary to build, and as form and good methods were lost by the death of good artists and the destruction of good buildings, those who devoted themselves to this profession built erections devoid of order or measure, and totally deficient in grace, proportion or principle. then new architects arose who created that style of building, for their barbarous nations, which we call german, and produced some works which are ridiculous to our modern eyes, but appeared admirable to theirs. this lasted until a better form somewhat similar to the good antique manner was discovered by better artists, as is shown by the oldest churches in italy which are not antique, which were built by them, and by the palaces erected for theoderic, king of italy, at ravenna, pavia, and modena, though the style is barbarous and rather rich and grand than well conceived or really good. the same may be said of s. stefano at rimini and of s. martino at ravenna, of the church of s. giovanni evangelista in the same city built by galla placida about the year of grace , of s. vitale which was built in the year , and of the abbey of classi di fuori, and indeed of many other monasteries and churches built after the time of the lombards. all these buildings, as i have said, are great and magnificent, but the architecture is very rude. among them are many abbeys in france built to s. benedict and the church and monastery of monte casino, the church of s. giovanni battista built by that theodelinda, queen of the goths, to whom s. gregory the pope wrote his dialogues. in this place that queen caused the history of the lombards to be painted. we thus see that they shaved the backs of their heads, and wore tufts in front, and were dyed to the chin. their clothes were of broad linen, like those worn by the angles and saxons, and they wore a mantle of divers colours; their shoes were open to the toes and bound above with small leather straps. similar to the churches enumerated above were the church of s. giovanni, pavia, built by gundiperga, daughter of theodelinda, and the church of s. salvatore in the same city, built by aribert, the brother of the same queen, who succeeded rodoaldo, husband of gundiberta, in the government; the church of s. ambruogio at pavia, built by grimoald, king of the lombards, who drove from the kingdom aribert's son perterit. this perterit being restored to his throne after grimoald's death built a nunnery at pavia called the monasterio nuovo, in honour of our lady and of st agatha, and the queen built another dedicated to the virgin mary in pertica outside the walls. cunibert, perterit's son, likewise built a monastery and church to st george called di coronato, in a similar style, on the spot where he had won a great victory over alahi. not unlike these was the church which the lombard king luit-prand, who lived in the time of king pepin, the father of charlemagne, built at pavia, called s. piero, in cieldauro, or that which desiderius, who succeeded astolf, built to s. piero clivate in the diocese of milan; or the monastery of s. vincenzo at milan, or that of s. giulia at brescia, because all of them were very costly, but in a most ugly and rambling style. in florence the style of architecture was slightly improved somewhat later, the church of s. apostolo built by charlemagne, although small, being very beautiful, because the shape of the columns, although made up of pieces, is very graceful and beautifully made, and the capitals and the arches in the vaulting of the side aisles show that some good architect was left in tuscany, or had arisen there. in fine the architecture of this church is such that pippo di ser brunnellesco did not disdain to make use of it as his model in designing the churches of s. spirito and s. lorenzo in the same city. the same progress may be noticed in the church of s. mark's at venice, not to speak of that of s. giorgio maggiore erected by giovanni morosini in the year . s. mark's was begun under the doge giustiniano and giovanni particiaco next to s. teodosio, when the body of the evangelist was brought from alexandria to venice. after the doge's palace and the church had suffered severely from a series of fires, it was rebuilt upon the same foundations in the byzantine style as it stands to-day, at a great cost and with the assistance of many architects, in the time of the doge domenico selvo, in the year , the columns being brought from the places where they could be obtained. the construction was continued until the year , m. piero polani being then doge, from the plans of several masters who were all greeks, as i have said. erected at the same time, and also in the byzantine style, were the seven abbeys built in tuscany by count hugh, marquis of brandenburg, such as the badia of florence, the abbey of settimo, and the others. all these structures and the vestiges of others which are not standing bear witness to the fact that architecture maintained its footing though in a very bastard form far removed from the good antique style. further evidence is afforded by a number of old palaces erected in florence in tuscan work after the destruction of fiesole, but the measurements of the doors and the very elongated windows and the sharp-pointed arches after the manner of the foreign architects of the day, denote some amount of barbarism. in the year after the art appears to have received an access of vigour in the rebuilding of the beautiful church of s. miniato on the mount in the time of m. alibrando, citizen and bishop of florence, for, in addition to the marble ornamentation both within and without, the façade shows that the tuscan architects were making efforts to imitate the good ancient order in the doors, windows, columns, arches and cornices, so far as they were able, having as a model the very ancient church of s. giovanni in their city. at the same period, pictorial art, which had all but disappeared, seems to have made some progress, as is shown by a mosaic in the principal chapel of the same church of s. miniato. from such beginnings design and a general improvement in the arts began to make headway in tuscany, as in the year when the pisans began to erect their duomo. for in that time it was a considerable undertaking to build such a church, with its five aisles and almost entirely constructed of marble both inside and out. this church, built from the plans and under the direction of buschetto, a clever greek architect from dulichium, was erected and adorned by the pisans when at the zenith of their power with an endless quantity of spoils brought by sea from various distant parts, as the columns, bases, capitals, cornices and other stones there of every description, amply demonstrate. now since all these things were of all sizes, great, medium, and small, buschetto displayed great judgment in adapting them to their places, so that the whole building is excellently devised in every part, both within and without. amongst other things he devised the façade, which is made up of a series of stages, gradually diminishing toward the top and consisting of a great number of columns, adorning it with other columns and antique statues. he carried out the principal doors of that façade in the same style, beside one of which, that of the carroccio, he afterwards received honourable burial, with three epitaphs, one being in latin verse, not unlike other things of the time: _quod vix mille boum possent juga juncta movere et quod vix potuit per mare ferre ratis buschetti nisu, quod erat mirabile visu dena puellarum turba levavit onus._ as i have mentioned the church of s. apostolo at florence above, i will here give an inscription which may be read on a marble slab on one of the sides of the high altar, which runs: viii. v. die vi. aprilis in resurrectione domini karolus francorum rex roma revertens, ingressus florentiam cum magno gaudio et tripudio succeptus, civium copiam torqueis aureis decoravit. ecclesia sanctorum apostolorum in altari inclusa est laminea plumbea, in qua descripta apparet praefacta fundatio et consecratio facta per archiepiscopum turpinum, testibus rolando et uliverio. the edifice of the duomo at pisa gave a new impulse to the minds of many men in all italy, and especially in tuscany, and led to the foundation in the city of pistoia in of the church of s. paolo, in the presence of s. atto, the bishop there, as a contemporary deed relates, and indeed of many other buildings, a mere mention of which would occupy too much space. i must not forget to mention either, how in the course of time the round church of s. giovanni was erected at pisa in the year , opposite the duomo and on the same piazza. a marvellous and almost incredible statement in connection with this church is that of an ancient record in a book of the opera of the duomo, that the columns, pillars and vaulting were erected and completed in fifteen days and no more. the same book, which may be examined by any one, relates that an impost of a penny a hearth was exacted for the building of the temple, but it does not state whether this was to be of gold or of base metal. the same book states that there were , hearths in pisa at that time. it is certain that the work was very costly and presented formidable difficulties, especially the vaulting of the tribune, which is pear-shaped and covered outside with lead. the exterior is full of columns, carving, scenes, and the middle part of the frieze of the doorway contains figures of christ and the twelve apostles in half-relief and in the byzantine style. about the same time, namely in , the lucchese, in emulation of the pisans, began the church of s. martino at lucea, from the designs of some pupils of buschetto, there being no other artists then in tuscany. the façade has a marble portico in front of it containing many ornaments and carvings in honour of pope alexander ii., who had been bishop of the city just before he was raised to the pontificate. nine lines in latin relate the whole history of the façade and of the pope, repeated in some antique letters carved in marble inside the doors of the portico. the façade also contains some figures and a number of scenes in half-relief below the portico relating to the life of st martin executed in marble and in the byzantine style. but the best things there, over one of these doors, were done by niccola pisano, years later, and completed in , as will be related in the proper place, abellenato and aliprando being the craftsmen at the beginning, as some letters carved in marble in the same place fully relate. the figures by niccola pisano show to what an extent the art was improved by him. most of the buildings erected in italy from this time until the year were similar in character to these, for architecture made little or no apparent progress in all these years, but remained stationary, the same rude style being retained. many examples of this may be seen to-day, but i will not now enumerate them, because i shall refer to them again as the occasion presents itself. the admirable sculptures and paintings buried in the ruins of italy remained hidden or unknown to the men of this time who were engrossed in the rude productions of their own age, in which they used no sculptures or paintings except such as were produced by the old artists of greece, who still survived, making images of clay or stone, or painting grotesque figures and only colouring the first lineaments. these artists were invited to italy for they were the best and indeed the only representatives of their profession. with them they brought the mosaics, sculptures, and paintings which they themselves produced and thus they taught their methods to the italians, after their own rough and clumsy style. the italians practised the art in this fashion up to a certain time, as i shall relate. as the men of the age were not accustomed to see any excellence or greater perfection than the things thus produced, they greatly admired them, and considered them to be the type of perfection, base as they were. yet some rising spirits aided by some quality in the air of certain places, so far purged themselves of this crude style that in heaven took compassion on the fine minds that the tuscan soil was producing every day, and directed art into its former channels. and although the preceding generations had before them the remains of arches, colossi, statues, pillars or stone columns which were left after the plunder, ruin and fire which rome had passed through, yet they could never make use of them or derive any profit from them until the period named. those who came after were able to distinguish the good from the bad, and abandoning the old style they began to copy the ancients with all ardour and industry. that the distinction i have made between old and ancient may be better understood i will explain that i call ancient the things produced before constantine at corinth, athens, rome and other renowned cities, until the days of nero, vaspasian, trajan, hadrian and antoninus; the old works are those which are due to the surviving greeks from the days of st silvester, whose art consisted rather of tinting than of painting. for the original artists of excellence had perished in the wars, as i have said, and the surviving greeks, of the old and not the ancient manner, could only trace profiles on a ground of colour. countless mosaics done by these greeks in every part of italy bear testimony to this, and every old church of italy possesses examples, notably the duomo of pisa, s. marco at venice and yet other places. thus they produced a constant stream of figures in this style, with frightened eyes, outstretched hands and on the tips of their toes, as in s. miniato outside florence between the door of the sacristy and that of the convent, and in s. spirito in the same city, all the side of the cloister towards the church, and in arezzo in s. giuliano and s. bartolommeo and other churches, and at rome in old s. peter's in the scenes about the windows, all of which are more like monsters than the figures which they are supposed to represent. they also produced countless sculptures, such as those in bas-relief still over the door of s. michele on the piazza padella at florence, and in ognissanti, and in many places, in tombs and ornaments for the doors of churches, where there are some figures acting as corbels to carry the roof, so rude and coarse, so grossly made, and in such a rough style, that it is impossible to imagine worse. up to the present, i have discoursed exclusively upon the origin of sculpture and painting, perhaps more at length than was necessary at this stage. i have done so, not so much because i have been carried away by my love for the arts, as because i wish to be of service to the artists of our own day, by showing them how a small beginning leads to the highest elevation, and how from so noble a situation it is possible to fall to utterest ruin, and consequently, how the nature of these arts resembles nature in other things which concern our human bodies; there is birth, growth, age, death, and i hope by this means they will be enabled more easily to recognise the progress of the renaissance of the arts, and the perfection to which they have attained in our own time. and again, if ever it happens, which god forbid, that the arts should once more fall to a like ruin and disorder, through the negligence of man, the malignity of the age, or the ordinance of heaven, which does not appear to wish that the things of this world should remain stationary, these labours of mine, such as they are (if they are worthy of a happier fate), by means of the things discussed before, and by those which remain to be said, may maintain the arts in life, or, at any rate, encourage the better spirits to provide them with assistance, so that, by my good will and the labours of such men, they may have an abundance of those aids and embellishments which, if i may speak the truth freely, they have lacked until now. but it is now time to come to the life of giovanni cimabue, who originated the new method of design and painting, so that it is right that his should be the first of the lives. and here i may remark that i shall follow the schools rather than a chronological order. and in describing the appearance and the arts of the artists, i shall be brief, because their portraits, which i have collected at great expense, and with much labour and diligence, will show what manner of men they were to look at much better than any description could ever do. if some portraits are missing, that is not my fault, but because they are not to be found anywhere. if it chance that some of the portraits do not appear to be exactly like others which are extant, it is necessary to reflect that a portrait of a man of eighteen or twenty years can never be like one made fifteen or twenty years later, and, in addition to this, portraits in black and white are never so good as those which are coloured, besides which the engravers, who do not design, always take something from the faces, because they are never able to reproduce those small details which constitute the excellence of a work, or to copy that perfection which is rarely, if ever, to be found in wood engravings. to conclude, the reader will be able to appreciate the amount of labour, expense, and care which i have bestowed upon this matter when he sees what efforts i have made in my researches. vasari's lives of the painters. cimabue, painter of florence. the endless flood of misfortunes which overwhelmed unhappy italy not only ruined everything worthy of the name of a building, but completely extinguished the race of artists, a far more serious matter. then, as it pleased god, there was born in the year in the city of florence, giovanni, surnamed cimabue, of the noble family of the cimabui, to shed the first light on the art of painting. as he grew up he appeared to his father and others to be a boy of quick intelligence, so that he was accordingly sent to receive instruction in letters to a relation, a master at s. maria novella, who then taught grammar to the novices of that convent. instead of paying attention to his lessons, cimabue spent the whole day in drawing men, horses, houses, and various other fancies on his books and odd sheets, like one who felt himself compelled to do so by nature. fortune proved favourable to this natural inclination, for some greek artists were summoned to florence by the government of the city for no other purpose than the revival of painting in their midst, since that art was not so much debased as altogether lost. among the other works which they began in the city, they undertook the chapel of the gondi, the vaulting and walls of which are to-day all but destroyed by the ravages of time. it is situated in s. maria novella, next the principal chapel. in this way cimabue made a beginning in the art which attracted him, for he often played the truant and spent the whole day in watching the masters work. thus it came about that his father and the artists considered him so fitted to be a painter that, if he devoted himself to the profession, he might look for honourable success in it, and to his great satisfaction his father procured him employment with the painters. then, by dint of continual practice and with the assistance of his natural talent, he far surpassed the manner of his teachers both in design and in colour. for they had never cared to make any progress, and had executed their works, not in the good manner of ancient greece, but in the rude modern style of that time. but although cimabue imitated the greeks he introduced many improvements in the art, and in a great measure emancipated himself from their awkward manner, bringing honour to his country by his name and by the works which he produced. the pictures which he executed in florence bear testimony to this, such as the antipendium to the altar of st cecilia, and a madonna in s. croce, which was then and still is fastened to a pillar on the right hand side of the choir. subsequently he painted on a panel a st francis, on a gold ground. he drew this from nature, to the best of his powers, although it was a novelty to do so in those days, and about it he represented the whole of the saint's life in twenty small pictures full of little figures, on a gold ground. he afterwards undertook a large picture for the monks of vallombrosa in their abbey of s, trinita at florence. this was a madonna with the child in her arms, surrounded by many adoring angels, on a gold ground. to justify the high opinion in which he was already held, he worked at it with great industry, showing improved powers of invention and exhibiting our lady in a pleasing attitude. the painting when finished was placed by the monks over the high altar of the church, whence it was afterwards removed to make way for the picture of alesso baldovinetti, which is there to-day. it was afterwards placed in a small chapel of the south aisle in that church. cimabue next worked in fresco at the hospital of the porcellana, at the corner of the via nuova which leads to the borgo ognissanti. on one side of the façade, in the middle of which is the principal door, he represented an annunciation, and on the other side, jesus christ with cleophas and luke, life-size figures. in this work he abandoned the old manner, making the draperies, garments, and other things somewhat more life-like, natural and soft than the style of the greeks, full as that was of lines and profiles as well in mosaics as in painting. the painters of those times had taught one another that rough, awkward and common-place style for a great number of years, not by means of study but as a matter of custom, without ever dreaming of improving their designs by beauty of colouring or by any invention of worth. after this was finished cimabue again received a commission from the same superior for whom he had done the work at s. croce. he now made him a large crucifix of wood, which may still be seen in the church. the work caused the superior, who was well pleased with it, to take him to their convent of s. francesco at pisa, to paint a picture of st francis there. when completed it was considered most remarkable by the people there, since they recognised a certain quality of excellence in the turn of the heads and in the fall of the drapery which was not to be found in the byzantine style in any work executed up to that time not only in pisa but throughout italy. for the same church cimabue afterwards painted a large picture of our lady with the child in her arms, surrounded by several angels, on a gold ground. in order to make room for the marble altar which is now there it was soon afterwards removed from its original situation and placed inside the church, near the door on the left hand. for this work he was much praised and rewarded by the pisans. in pisa also he painted a panel of st agnes surrounded by a number of small figures representing scenes from her life, at the request of the abbot of s. paolo in ripa d'arno. the panel is to-day over the altar of the virgin in that church. the name of cimabue having become generally known through these works, he was taken to assisi, a city of umbria, where, in conjunction with some greek masters, he painted a part of the vaulting of the lower church of s. franceso, and on the walls, the life of jesus christ and that of st francis. in these paintings he far surpassed the greek masters, and encouraged by this, he began to paint the upper church in fresco unaided, and on the large gallery over the choir, on the four walls, he painted some subjects from the history of our lady, that is to say, her death, when her soul is carried to heaven by christ on a throne of clouds, and when he crowns her in the midst of a choir of angels, with a number of saints beneath. these are now destroyed by time and dust. he then painted several things at the intersections of the vaulting of that church, which are five in number. in the first one over the choir he represented the four evangelists, larger than life-size, and so well done, that even to-day they are acknowledged to possess some merit; and the freshness of the flesh colouring shows, that by his efforts, fresco-painting was beginning to make great progress. the second intersection he filled with gilt stars on an ultramarine field. in the third he represented jesus christ, the virgin his mother, st john the baptist and st francis in medallions, that is to say, a figure in each medallion and a medallion in each of the four divisions of the vault. the fourth intersection like the second he painted with gilt stars on ultramarine. in the fifth he represented the four doctors of the church, and beside each of them a member of the four principal religious orders. this laborious undertaking was carried out with infinite diligence. when he had finished the vaults he painted the upper part of the walla on the left side of the church from one end to the other, also in fresco. near the high altar between the windows and right up to the vaulting he represented eight subjects from the old testament, starting from the beginning of genesis and selecting the most noteworthy incidents. in the space flanking the windows to the point where they terminate at the gallery which runs round the inside of the church, he painted the remainder of the old testament history in eight other subjects. opposite these and corresponding to them he painted sixteen subjects representing the deeds of our lady and of jesus christ, while on the end wall over the principal entrance and about the rose window above it, he painted the ascension and the descent of the holy spirit upon the apostles. this work which is most extraordinary for richness and beauty, must, in my opinion, have astounded the people of those times, painting having been in such blindness for so long a apace. when i saw it again in the year it seemed most beautiful, as i reflected how marvellous it was that cimabue should see so much light in the midst of so great darkness. but it is worthy of note that of all these paintings those of the vaults are much the best preserved since they are less injured by the dust and other accidents. when these works were finished giovanni set about painting the walls beneath, namely those beneath the windows, and he did some things there, but as he was summoned to florence on some affairs of his own, he did not pursue the task, which was finished by giotto many years after, as will be related when the time comes. cimabue having thus returned to florence painted in the cloister of s. spirito, where the whole length of wall towards the church is done in the byzantine style by other masters, events from the life of christ, in three arches, with considerable excellence of design. at the same time, he sent to empoli some things executed by him in florence, which are held in great reverence to this day in the pieve of that town. he next painted a picture of our lady for the church of s. maria novella, where it hangs high up between the chapel of the rucellai and that of the bardi of vernio. the figure was of a larger size than any which had been executed up to that time, and the angels about it show that, although be still had the byzantine style, he was making, some progress towards the lineaments and methods of modern times. the people of that day, who had never seen anything better, considered this work so marvellous, that they carried it to the church from cimabue's house in a stately procession with great rejoicing and blowing of trumpets, while cimabue himself was highly rewarded and honoured. it is reported, and some records of the old painters relate that while cimabue was painting this picture in some gardens near the gate of s. piero, the old king charles of anjou passed through florence. among the many entertainments prepared for him by the men of the city, they brought him to see the picture of cimabue. as it had not then been seen by anyone, all the men and women of florence flocked thither in a crowd, with the greatest rejoicings, so that those who lived in the neighbourhood called the place borgo allegri (joyful quarter), because of the rejoicing there. this name it has ever afterwards retained, being in the course of time enclosed within the walls of the city. at s. francesco, at pisa, where cimabue executed some other works, which have been mentioned above, in the cloister, at a corner beside the doorway leading into the church, is a small picture in tempera by his hand, representing christ on the cross, surrounded by some angels who are weeping, and hold in their hands certain words written about the head of christ, and which they are directing towards the ears of our lady, who is standing weeping on the right hand side; and on the other side to st john the evangelist, who is there, plunged in grief. the words to the virgin are: "_mulier, ecce filius tuus_," and those to st john: "_ecce mater tua_." another angel, separated from these, holds in its hands the sentence: "_ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in suam_." in this we perceive how cimabue began to give light and open the way to inventions, bringing words, as he does here, to the help of his art in order to express his meaning, a curious device certainly and an innovation. by means of these works cimabue had now acquired a great name and much profit, so that he was associated with arnolfo lapi, an excellent architect of that time, in the building of s. maria del fiore, at florence. but at length, when he had lived sixty years, he passed to the other life in the year , having achieved hardly less than the resurrection of painting from the dead. he left behind a number of disciples, and among others giotto, who was afterwards an excellent painter. giotto dwelt in his master's old house in the via del cocomero after cimabue's death. cimabue was buried in s. maria del fiore, with this epitaph made for him by one of the nini:-- "credidit ut clmabos picturæ castra tenere sic tenuit vivens, nunc tenet astra poli." i must not omit to say that if the greatness of giotto, his pupil, had not obscured the glory of cimabue, the fame of the latter would have been more considerable, as dante points out in his commedia in the eleventh canto of the purgatorio, with an allusion to the inscription on the tomb, where he says: "credette cimabue nella pintura tener lo campo, ed ora ha giotto il grido si che la fama di colui oscura." a commentator on dante, who wrote during giotto's lifetime, about , some ten or twelve years after the poet's death, in his explanation of these lines, says the following words in speaking of cimabue: "cimabue was a painter of florence in the time of our author, a man of unusual eminence and so arrogant and haughty withal, that if any one pointed out a fault or defect in his work, or if he discovered any himself, since it frequently happens that an artist makes mistakes through a defect in the materials which he employs, or because of some fault in the instrument with which he works, he immediately destroyed that work, however costly it might be. giotto was, and is, the most eminent among the painters of the same city of florence, as his works testify, at rome, naples, avignon, florence, padua, and many parts of the world," etc. this commentary is now in the possession of the very rev. vincenzio borghini, prior of the innocents, a man distinguished for his eminence, piety and learning, but also for his love for and skill in all the superior arts, so that he has well deserved his judicious selection by duke cosimo to be the ducal representative in our academy of design. returning to cimabue, giotto certainly overshadowed his renown, just as a great light eclipses a much smaller one, and although cimabue was, as it were, the first cause of the revival of the art of painting, yet giotto, his disciple, moved by a praiseworthy ambition, and aided by heaven and by nature, penetrated deeper in thought, and threw open the gates of truth to those who afterwards brought art to that perfection and grandeur which we see in our own age. in fact the marvels, miracles, and impossibilities executed at the present time by those who practise this art, and which are to be seen every day, have brought things to such a pitch, that no one marvels at them although they are rather divine than human, and those who make the most praiseworthy efforts may consider themselves fortunate, if, instead of being praised and admired, they escape censure, and even disgrace. the portrait of cimabue by the hand of simone of siena may be seen in the chapter-house of s. maria novella, executed in profile in the picture of the faith. the face is thin the small beard is somewhat red and pointed, and he wears a hood after the fashion of the day, bound gracefully round his head and throat. the one beside him is simone himself, the designer of the work, who drew himself with the aid of two mirrors placed opposite each other, which have enabled him to draw his head in profile. the soldier in armour between them is said to be count guido novello, lord of poppi. in concluding this life i have to remark that i have some small things by cimabue's hand in the beginning of a book in which i have collected drawings by the hand of every artist, from cimabue onwards. these little things of cimabue are done like miniatures, and although they may appear rather crude than otherwise to modern eyes, yet they serve to show to what an extent the art of design profited by his labours. arnolfo di lapo, florentine architect. in the preface to these lives i have spoken of some edifices in the old but not antique style, and i was silent respecting the names of the artists who executed the work, because i did not know them. in the introduction to the present life i propose to mention some other buildings made in arnolfo's time, or shortly before, the authors of which are equally unknown, and then to speak of those which were erected during his lifetime, the architects of which are known, either because they may be recognised through the style of the buildings, or because there is some notice of them in the writings and memorials left by them in the works done. this will not be beside the point, for although the buildings are neither beautiful nor in good style, but only very large and magnificent, yet they are none the less worthy of some consideration. in the time of lapo, and of arnolfo his son, many buildings of importance were erected in italy and outside, of which i have not been able to find the names of the architects. among these are the abbey of monreale in sicily, the piscopio of naples, the certosa of pavia, the duomo of milan, s. pietro and s. petrodio of bologna, and many others, which may be seen in all parts of italy, erected at incredible cost. i have seen and examined all these buildings, as well as many sculptures of these times, particularly at ravenna, but i have never found any memorial of the masters, and frequently not even the date when they were erected, so that i cannot but marvel at the simplicity and indifference to fame exhibited by the men of that age. but to return to our subject. after the buildings just enumerated there arose some persons of a more exalted temper, who, if they did not succeed in lighting upon the good, at least made the attempt. the first was buono, of whom i knew neither the country nor the surname, since he himself has put nothing beyond his simple name to the works which he has signed. he was both a sculptor and architect, and he worked at first in ravenna, building many palaces and churches, and executing some sculptures, in the year of grace . becoming known by these things, he was summoned to naples, where he began the castel capoano and the castel dell' uovo, although they were afterwards finished by others, as will be related. subsequently, in the time of the doge domenico morosini, he founded the campanile of s. marco at venice, with much prudence and good judgment, and so well did he drive the piles and lay the foundations of that tower, that it has never moved a hair's breadth, as many buildings erected in that city before his time may be seen to have done. perhaps it was from him that the venetians learned their present method of laying the foundations of the rich and beautiful edifices which are erected every day to adorn that most noble city. at the same time it must be admitted that the tower has no other excellence of its own, either in style or decoration, or indeed anything which is worthy of much praise. it was finished under the popes anastasius iv. and adrian iv. in the year . buono was also the architect of the church of s. andrea at pistoia, and a marble architrave over the door, full of figures executed in the gothic style, is his work; on this architrave his name is carved, as well as the date at which the work was done by him, which was in the year . being afterwards summoned to florence, he prepared the design for enlarging the church of s. maria maggiore, which was carried out. the church was then outside the city, and was held in veneration, because pope pelagius had consecrated it many years before, and because it was in size and style a building of considerable merit. buono was next invited by the aretines to their city, where he built the old residence of the lords of arezzo, a palace in the gothic style, and near it a tower for a bell. this building, which was very tolerable for that style, was thrown down in because it was opposite and too near the fortifications of the city. the art now began to receive some amount of improvement through the works of a certain guglielmo, a german by race, as i believe, and some buildings were erected at a great expense and in a slightly better style. in the year this guglielmo, in conjunction with bonanno, a sculptor, is said to have founded the campanile of the duomo at pisa, where the following words are carved: _a.d. m..c. campanile hoc fuit fundatum mense aug._ but these two architects had not much experience in laying foundations in pisa, and since they did not drive in piles as they should have done, before they were half through the work, there was a subsidence on one side, and the building leant over on its weaker side, so that the campanile hangs - / braccia out of the straight according to the subsidence on that side, and although this appears slight from below, it is very apparent above, so that one is filled with amazement that the tower can stand thus without falling and without the walls being cracked. the reason is that the building is round both within and without, and the stones are so arranged and bound together, that its fall is all but impossible, and it is supported moreover by foundations raised braccia above the ground level, which were made to maintain it after the subsidence had taken place, as may be seen. had it been square; i am convinced that it would not be standing, to-day, as the corners of the square would have pushed out the sides so that they would have fallen, a thing which frequently happens. and if the carisenda tower at bologna, which is square, leans without falling, that is because it is lighter and does not hang over so much, nor is it nearly so heavy a structure as this campanile, which is praised, not because of its design or good style, but simply by reason of its extraordinary position, since to a spectator it does not appear possible that it can remain standing. the bonanno mentioned above, while he was engaged on the campanile, also executed in the principal door of the duomo of pisa in bronze. on it may be seen these words: _ego bonannus pis, mea arle hanc portam uno anno perfeci tempore benedicti operarii._ that the art was making steady progress may be seen by the walls of s. giovanni lateran at rome, which were constructed of the spoils of antiquity under popes lucius iii. and urban iii., when the emperor frederick was crowned by the latter, because certain small temples and chapels there, made with these spoils, possess considerable merit of design and contain some things which are worth notice, and this, among others, that the vaults were made of small tubes with compartments of stucco, so as not to overload the side walls of the buildings, a very praiseworthy contrivance for those times. the cornices and other parts show that the artists were helping one another to find the good. innocent iii. afterwards caused two palaces to be erected on the vatican hill, and from what can be seen of them they appear to have been in a fairly good style, but since they were destroyed by other popes, and especially by nicholas v., who pulled down and rebuilt the greater part of the palace, i will say no more about them, except that a part of them may be seen in the great round tower, and a part in the old sacristy of st peter's. this innocent iii., who wore the tiara for nineteen years, took great delight in architecture, and erected many buildings in rome, notably the tower of the conti, so called after the name of his family, from designs by marchionne, an architect and sculptor of arezzo. in the year that innocent died this artist completed the pieve of arezzo, as well as the campanile. he adorned the front of the church with three rows of columns, one above the other, in great variety, not only in the shape of the capitals and bases, but even in the shafts, some being heavy, others slender, some bound together in pairs, others in fours. in like manner some are covered with representations of the vine, while others are made to become supporting figures, variously carved. he further introduced many animals of different kinds, which carry the weight of the columns on their backs, the whole exhibiting the strangest and most extravagant fantasies imaginable, not only altogether removed from the excellent antique order, but opposed to all good and reasonable proportion. yet in spite of all this, anyone who will justly consider the matter will see that he was making strenuous efforts to do well, and possibly he imagined that he had discovered the way in this manner of work and in this wondrous variety. the same artist carved a rather large god the father, with certain angels in half-relief in the arch over the door of that church in a rude style, together with the twelve months of the year, adding underneath his name, cut in round letters, as was customary, and the date, . it is said that marchionne also erected for pope innocent the old building and church of the hospital of s. spirito in sassia, in the borgo vecchio at rome, where some part of the old work may still be seen. indeed the old church remained standing to our own day, when it was restored in the modern style, with more ornament and design, by pope paul iii. of the house of the farnese. in s. maria maggiore, also in rome, he made the marble chapel, which contains the manger of jesus christ, in which he placed a portrait of pope honorius iii., drawn from life. he also made that pope's tomb, decorating it with ornaments which were somewhat better than, and very different from, the style then prevalent throughout italy. at the same time also marchionne made the lateral door of s. pietro at bologna, which truly was a very great work for those times, because of the number of sculptures which are seen in it, such as lions in relief, which sustain columns, with men and other animals, also bearing burdens. in the arch above he made the twelve months in relief, with varied fancies, each month with its zodiacal sign, a work which must have been considered marvellous in those times. about the same time the order of the friars minors of st francis was established, which, after it had been confirmed by pope innocent iii., increased the general devoutness and the number of friars, not only in italy, but in every part of the world, to such an extent, that there was scarcely a city of note which did not build churches and convents for them at very great cost, each one according to its ability. thus brother elias, who was superior of that order at assisi, founded a church, dedicated to our lady in that place, two years before the death of st francis, while the saint, as general of the order, was away preaching. after the death of st francis all christendom crowded to visit the body of a man, who, both in life and in death, was known to have been so much beloved of god. as every man did alms to the saint according to his ability, it was determined that the church begun by friar elias should be made much larger and more magnificent. but since there was a scarcity of good architects, and as the work demanded an excellent one, it being necessary to erect the building on a very high hill, round the base of which runs a torrent called tescio, a german master named jacopo was brought to assisi after much deliberation, as being the best man who was then to be found. after he had examined the site and understood the wishes of the friars, who held a chapter general at assisi for the purpose, he designed a most beautiful church and convent, making it in three stories. one of these was underground, while the two others served as churches, the lower one to be a vestibule with a portico of considerable size about it, the other as the church proper. the ascent from the first to the second was managed by means of a very convenient arrangement of steps, which encircled the chapel and which were divided into two flights for the sake of greater comfort, leading up to the second church. he built this in the form of the letter t, making it five times as long as it was broad, dividing one nave from the other by great stone pillars, uniting them with stout arches, between which he set up the vaulting. this truly monumental work then was carried out from such plans in every detail, except that he did not use the cross vaulting on the walls between the body of the church and the principal chapel, but employed barrel vaulting for the sake of greater strength. he afterwards placed the altar before the principal chapel of the lower church, and when this was finished he deposited the body of st francis beneath, after a most solemn translation. and because the tomb of the glorious saint is in the first or lower church, where no one ever goes, and which has its doors walled up, there is a magnificent iron railing about the altar, richly adorned with marble and mosaic which permits the tomb to be seen. on one side of the building were erected two sacristies and a lofty campanile, five times as high as it is broad. above it there was originally a lofty spire of eight sides, but it was removed because it threatened to fall down. the work was brought to a conclusion in the space of four years and no more by the ability of master jacopo the german, and by the industry of friar elias. after the friar's death twelve strong towers were erected about the lower church in order that the vast erection should never be destroyed; in each of these is a spiral staircase ascending from the ground to the summit. in the course of time, moreover, several chapels were added and other rich ornaments, of which it is not necessary to speak further, as enough has been said about the matter for the present, especially as it is in the power of every one to see how much that is useful, ornamental, and beautiful has been added to this beginning of master jacopo, by popes, cardinals, princes, and many other great persons of all europe. and now to return to master jacopo. by means of this work he acquired such renown throughout italy that he was invited to florence by the government of the city, and was afterwards received there with the utmost goodwill. but the florentines, in accordance with a custom of abbreviating names which they practised then as they do now, called him not jacopo, but lapo, all his life, for he settled permanently in that city with all his family. and although at divers times he went away to erect a number of buildings in tuscany his residence was always at florence. as examples of such buildings i may cite the palace of the poppi at casentino which he built for the count there, who had married the beautiful gualdrada, with the casentino as her dower; the vescovado for the aretines, and the palazzo vecchio of the lords of pietramela. it was at florence that he laid the piles of the ponte alla carraia, then called the ponte nuovo, in , and finished them in two years. a short while afterwards it was completed in wood, as was then the custom. in the year he prepared plans for the church of s. salvadore del vescovado which was begun under his direction, as was the church of s. michele on the piazza padella where there are some sculptures in the style of those days. he next designed a system of drainage for the city, raised the piazza s. giovanni, and in the time of m. rubaconte da mandella of milan, constructed the bridge which still bears his name. it was he who discovered the useful method of paving the streets with stone, when they had previously been paved only with bricks. he designed the existing podesta palace, which was originally built for the _amziani_, and finally, after he had designed the tomb of the emperor frederick for the abbey of monreale in sicily, by the order of manfred, he died, leaving arnolfo, his son, heir to his ability, no leas than to his fortune. arnolfo, by whose talents architecture was no less improved than painting had been by cimabue, was born in the year , and was thirty-two years of age at his father's death. he was at that time held in very great esteem, because, not only had he learned all that his father had to teach, but had studied design under cimabue in order to make use of it in sculpture, so that he was reputed the best architect in tuscany. thus not only did the florentines found, under his direction, the last circuit of the walls of their city in the year , but they also built, after his design, the loggia and pillars of or san michele, where grain is sold, constructing it of brick with a simple roof above. it was also in conformity with his advice that when the cliff of the magnoli fell, on the slope of s, giorgio above s. lucia in the via dei bardi, a public decree was issued the same year that no walls or edifices should ever more be erected in that place seeing that they would always be in danger owing to the undermining of the rock by water. that this is true has been seen in our day in the fall of many buildings and fine houses of the aristocracy. the year after, , he founded the loggia and piazza of the priors, and in the bödia of florence he constructed the principal chapel and those on either side of it, restoring both the church and choir, which had originally been built on a much smaller scale by count ugo, the founder. for the cardinal giovanni degli orsini, papal legate in tuscany, he built the campanile of that church, which woo some praise among the works of those times, but it did not receive its stone finishing until after the year . his next work was the foundation, in , of the church of s, croce, where the friars minors are. arnolfo designed the nave and side aisles of this church on such a large scale that he was unable to vault the space under the roof owing to the great distances, so with much judgment he made arches from pillar to pillar, and on these he placed the roof with stone gutters along the top of the arches to carry off the water, inclined at such an angle that the roof should be safe, as it is, from the danger of damp. this thing was so novel and ingenious that it well deserves the consideration of our day. he next prepared plans for the first cloisters of the old convent of that church, and shortly after he removed from the outside of the church of s. giovanni all the arches and tombs of marble and stone which were there and put a part of them behind the campanile in the façade of the canonical palace, beside the oratory of s. zanobi, when he proceeded to incrust all the eight sides of the exterior of the church with black prato marble, removing the rough stone which was originally used with the antique marbles. in the meantime the florentines were desirous of erecting buildings in valdarno above the castle of s. giovanni and castelfranco for the convenience of the city and for the supply of victuals to their markets. arnolfo prepared the plan for this in the year , and gave such general satisfaction, as indeed he had in his other works, that he was awarded the citizenship of florence. after these things the florentines took counsel together, as giovanni villani relates in his history, to build a principal church for their city, and to make it so grand and magnificent that nothing larger or finer could be desired by the industry and power of man; and thus arnolfo prepared the plans for the church of s. maria del fiore, a building which it is impossible to praise too highly. he provided that the exterior should be entirely incrusted with polished marble, with all the cornices, pillars, columns, carvings of leaves, figures, and other things which may be seen to-day, and which were brought very near completion, although not quite. but the most marvellous circumstance of all in this undertaking was the care and judgment with which he made the foundations, for in clearing the site, which is a very fine one, other small churches and houses about s. reparata were involved beside that edifice itself. he made the foundations of this great structure both broad and deep, filling them with good materials, such as gravel and lime, with large stones at the bottom, so that they have been able without difficulty to bear the weight of the huge dome with which filippo di ser brunellesco vaulted the church, as may be seen to-day. the excellence of this initial work was such that the place is still called lungo i fondamenti (beside the foundations). the laying of the foundations and the initiation of so great a church was celebrated with much ceremony. the first stone was laid on the day of the nativity of our lady by the cardinal legate of the pope, in the presence not only of many bishops and of all the clergy, but also of the podesta, captains, priors, and other magistrates of the city, and indeed of all the people of florence, the church being called s. maria del fiore. now, as it was estimated that the expenses of this work would be very heavy, as they afterwards proved to be, a tax of four deniers the pound was imposed at the chamber of the commune on everything exported from the city, as well as a tax of two soldi per head yearly. in addition to this, the pope and the legate offered the most liberal indulgences to those who would contribute alms towards the work. i must not omit to mention, however, that besides the broad foundations of braccia deep, buttresses were, with great foresight, placed at each angle of the eight sides, and it was the presence of these which encouraged brunellesco to impose a much greater weight there than arnolfo had originally contemplated. it is said that when arnolfo began the two first lateral doors of s. maria del fiore, he caused some fig leaves to be carved in a frieze, which were the armorial bearings of his father lapo, from which it may be inferred that the family of the lapi, now among the nobility of florence, derives its origin from him. others say that filippo di ser brunellesco was also among the descendants of arnolfo. but i let this pass for what it is worth, and return to arnolfo, for there are some who say that the lapi originally came from figaruolo, a castle situated at the mouth of the po. i say that for this magnificent achievement he deserved unstinted praise and an immortal renown, since he caused the exterior of the building to be incrusted with marble of various colours, and the interior with hard stone, making even the most insignificant corners of the building of the same stone. but, in order that every one may know the proportions of this marvellous edifice, i will add that from the doorway to the far end of the chapel of st zanobi the length is braccia, the breadth at the transepts is braccia, that of nave and aisles . the nave is braccia high, and the aisles . the external circumference of the entire church is braccia; the cupola, from the ground to the base of the lantern, is braccia; the lantern, without the ball, is braccia high, the ball braccia high, and the cross braccia; the entire cupola, from the ground to the top of the cross, is braccia. but to return to arnolfo, i say that he was considered so excellent, and so much confidence was felt in him, that nothing of importance was discussed without his advice being first asked. thus the foundation of the final circuit of the city walls having been finished that same year by the community of florence, the commencement of which was referred to above, and also the gate towers, and the work being well forward, he began the palace of the signori, making it similar in design to that which his father lapo had erected for the counts of poppi. but he was unable to realise the grand and magnificent conception which he had formed in that perfection which his art and judgment required, because a piazza had been made by the dismantling and throwing down of the houses of the uberti, rebels against the florentine people and ghibellines, and the blind prejudice of certain persons prevailed against all the arguments brought forward by arnolfo to such an extent that he could not even obtain permission to make the palace square, because the rulers of the city were most unwilling to allow the building to have its foundations in the land of the uberti, and they would rather suffer the destruction of the south nave of s. piero scheraggio than give him free scope in the space designated. they were also desirous that he should include and adapt to the palace the tower of the fieraboschi, called the torre della vacca (cow tower), braccia in height, in which the great bell was hung, together with some houses bought by the commune for such a building. for these reasons it is no marvel if the foundations of the palace are awry and out of the square, as, in order to get the tower in the middle and to make it stronger, he was obliged to surround it with the walls of the palace. these were found to be in excellent condition in the year by giorgio vasari, painter and architect, when he restored the palace in the time of duke cosimo, thus, as arnolfo filled the tower with good materials, it was easy for other masters to erect upon it the lofty campanile which we see to-day, since he himself finished no more than the palace in the space of two years. it was in later years that the building received those improvements to which it owes its present grandeur and majesty. after all these things, and many others not less useful than beautiful, arnolfo died at the age of seventy, in the year , about the time when giovanni villani began to write the general history of his times. and since he left s. maria del fiore not only with its foundations laid, but saw three principal apses under the cupola vaulted in, to his great praise, he deserves the memorial set up to him in the church on the side opposite the campanile, with these lines carved in the marble in round letters:-- "anno millenis centum bis octo nogenis venit legatus roma bonitate donatus qui lapidem fixit fundo, simul et benedixit praesule francisco, gestante pontificatum istud ab arnolpho templum fuit aedificatum hoc opus insigne decorans florentia digne reginæ coeli construxit mente fideli quam tu, virgo pia, semper defende, maria," i have written the life of arnolfo with the greatest possible brevity because, although his works do not nearly approach the perfection of those of the present time, yet he none the less deserves to be remembered with affection, since, in the midst of so great darkness, he pointed out the road to perfection to those who came after him. the portrait of arnolfo, by the hand of giotto, may be seen in s. croce, next to the principal chapel, where the friars are mourning the death of st francis. he is represented in the foreground as one of the two men who are talking together. a representation of the exterior of the church of s. maria del fiore, with the dome, by the hand of simon of siena, may be seen in the chapter-house of s. maria novella. it was taken from the actual model of wood which arnolfo made. from this representation it is clear that arnolfo proposed to begin to vault his space, starting immediately above the first cornice, whilst filippo di ser brunellesco, desiring to lighten the weight and make the appearance of the structure more graceful, added above this the whole of the space which contains the round windows before he began his vaulting. this matter would be even more obvious than it is had not the negligence and carelessness of those who had charge of the works of s. maria del fiore in past years allowed arnolfo's own model, as well as those of brunellesco and others, to be lost. niccola and giovanni pisani, sculptors and architects. having discussed the arts of design and painting in dealing with cimabue, and that of architecture in the life of arnolfo lapo, we now propose to treat of sculpture, and of the very important architectural works of niccola and giovanni pisani. their achievements in both sculpture and architecture are alike remarkable for the manner in which they have been conceived as well as for the style in which they are executed, since to a great extent they emancipated themselves from the clumsy and ill-proportioned byzantine style in both arts, showing more originality in the treatment of their subjects and arranging their figures in better postures. niccola pisani was originally associated with some greek sculptors who were engaged upon the figures and other ornaments in relief for the duomo at pisa and the church of san giovanni there. among the spoils brought home by the pisan fleet was a very fine sarcophagus on which was an admirable representation of the chase of meleager, hunting the calydonian boar. both the nude and the draped figures of this composition are executed with much skill, while the design is perfect. this sarcophagus, on account of its beauty, was afterwards placed by the pisans in the façade of the duomo opposite s, rocco, against the principal door on that side. it originally served as a tombstone for the mother of the countess matilda, if we may credit the inscription cut in the marble: _anno domini mcxvi. kal. aug. obiit d. matilda felisis memoriae comitissa, quae pro anima genetricis suae d. beatricis comitissae venerabilis in hoc tumba honorabili quiescsnts in multis partis mirificc hanc dotavit ecclesiam, quarum animae requiescent in pace_. and then follows: _anno domini mccciii. sub dignissimo optrario burgundio tadi occasione graduum fiendorum per ipsum circa ecclesiam supradictam tumba superius notata bis trantlata fuit, nunc de sedibus primis in ecclesiam, nunc de ecclesia in hunc locum, ut cernitis eccelentem_. niccola, considering the excellence of this work, which greatly delighted him, applied such diligence in imitating that style, studying carefully both the sarcophagus and other excellent sculptures on other antique sarcophagi, that before long he was considered the best sculptor of his time. there was indeed, after arnolfo, no other sculptor of repute in tuscany except fuccio, a florentine architect and sculptor. fuccio designed s. maria sopra arno at florence in , putting his name over the door. the marble tomb of the queen of cyprus in the church of st francis of assisi is also his work. it contains a number of figures, the principal one being the queen herself, seated on a lion, as emblematical of her strength of mind. she had bequeathed a large sum of money for the completion of these works. niccola having proved himself a much greater master than fuccio, was summoned to bologna in to make a marble tomb for st domenic calagora, founder of the order of the friars preachers, then recently deceased. having, arranged with those who had charge of the work, he designed a tomb full of figures, as may be seen at this day. the task was completed in , and the finished tomb was greatly praised, it being considered a remarkable work, and the best piece of sculpture executed up to that time. he further made plans for the church there and for a great part of the convent. on returning to tuscany, he learned that fuccio had set out from florence and was gone to rome, at the time when the emperor frederick was crowned there by honorius. from rome fuccio accompanied frederick to naples, where he finished the castle of capoana, now called "la vicheria," where all the courts of that kingdom are held. he also completed the castel del' uovo, founding the towers, made the gate on the side of the river volturno at capua, constructed a park near gravina for fowling, enclosing it by a wall, and made another at amalfi for winter hunting, besides many other things which are omitted for the sake of brevity. meanwhile niccola was staying at florence, obtaining practice not only in sculpture but also in architecture by means of the works which were in progress throughout italy, but especially in tuscany, with some amount of good design. thus he contributed not a little to the abbey of settimo, left unfinished by the executors of count hugh of brandenburg, as the other six had been, as we have noticed above. for although an inscription on the campanile of the abbey reads "_gugliel me fecit_" yet it is clear from the style of the work that it was carried out under the control of niccola. at the same time he was building the old palace of the _anziani_ at pisa. this building has been dismantled at the present time by duke casino, who has used a part of the old edifice for the erection of the magnificent palace and convent of the new order of the knights of st stephen, after the designs of giorgio vasari, aretine painter and architect, who has done his best with the old walls, to adapt them to the modern style. niccola designed many other palaces and churches at pisa, and he was the first, after the loss of good methods of construction, who introduced the founding of buildings at pisa upon pillars connected by arches, first driving piles in under the pillars. this method renders the building absolutely secure, as is shown by experience, whereas without the piles, the foundations are liable to give way, causing the walls to fall down. the church of s. michele in borgo of the monks of gamaldoli was also built after his plans. but the most beautiful, ingenious and fanciful piece of architecture that niccola ever constructed was the campanile of s. niccola at pisa, where the friars of st augustine are. outside it is octagonal, but the interior is round with a winding staircase rising to the top leaving the middle space void like a well, while on every fourth step there are columns with lame arches, which follow the curve of the building. the spring of the vaulting rests upon these arches, and the ascent is of such sort that anyone on the ground always sees those who are going up, those who are at the top see those who are on the ground, while those who are in the middle see both those who are above and those below. this curious invention was afterwards adopted by bramante in a better style with more balanced measurements and richer ornamentation, for pope julius ii. in the belvedere at rome, and by antonio da sangallo for pope clement vii. in the well at orvieto, as will be said when the time comes. to return to niccola who excelled no less as a sculptor than as an architect. for the church of s. martino at lucca he executed a deposition from the cross, which is under the portico above the minor doorway on the left hand as one enters the church. it is executed in marble, and is full of figures in half relief, carried out with great care, the marble being pierced through, and the whole finished in such style as to give rise to hopes in those who first practised this art with the most severe labour, that one would soon come who would give them more assistance with greater ease. it was niccola also who in the year designed the church of s. jacopo at pistoia, and set some tuscan masters to work there in mosaic, who did the vaulting of the apse. but although it was considered a difficult and costly thing at the time, it rather moves one to laughter and compassion to-day, and not to admiration, oh account of the poorness of the design, a defect which was prevalent not only in tuscany, but throughout italy, where the number of buildings and other things erected without method and without design betray the poverty of their minds no less than the bountiful riches lavished on them by the men of their day; a wasteful expenditure of wealth, because there was no masters capable of executing in a good style the things which they made for them. now niccola was steadily increasing his renown in both sculpture and architecture, and was of greater account than the sculptors and architects who were then at work in the romagna, as one may see in s. ippolito and s. giovanni at faenza, in the duomo of ravenna, in s. francesco, in the houses of the traversari, and in the church of prato, and at rimini, in the public palace, in the houses of the malatesti, and in other buildings which are much worse than the old buildings erected in tuscany at the same time; and what is here said of the romagna, may be repeated with even more truth of a part of lombardy. it is only necessary to see the duomo of ferrara and the other buildings erected for the marquis azzo, to perceive at once how different they are from the santo of padua, built from niccola's model, and from the church of the friars minors at venice, both of them magnificent and famous buildings. in niccola's day there were many moved by a laudable spirit of emulation, who applied themselves more diligently to sculpture than they had done before, especially in milan, where many lombards and germans were gathered for the building of the duomo. these were afterwards scattered throughout italy by the dissensions which arose between the milanese and the emperor frederick. they then began to compete among themselves, both in carving marble and in erecting buildings, and produced works of some amount of excellence. the same thing happened in florence after the works of arnolfo and niccola were seen. the latter, while the little church of the misericordia on the piazza s. giovanni was being built after his designs, carved a marble statue of our lady with st domenic and another saint on either side, which may still be seen on the façade of that church. it was also in niccola's time that the florentines began to demolish many towers, erected previously in a rude style in order that the people should suffer less by their means in the frequent collisions between the guelphs and ghibellines, or for the greater security of the commonweal. one of these, the tower of guardamorto, situated on the piazza s; giovanni, presented unusual difficulty to those who wished to destroy it because the walls were so well knit that the stones could not be removed with the pickaxe, and also because the tower was a very high one. niccola, however, caused a piece to be cut out of one of the sides of the tower and closed the gap with wooden supports, a braccia and a half long, he then set fire to the props, and so soon as these were consumed the tower fell down and was totally destroyed. the idea seemed so ingenious and so well adapted for such emergencies, that it afterwards came into general use, so that whenever it was necessary to destroy a building, the task was speedily accomplished in this most facile manner. niccola was present when the foundations of the duomo of siena were laid, and he designed the church of s. giovanni in that city. he went back to florence in the year of the return of the guelphs, and designed the church of s. trinita, and the women's convent at faenza, pulled down in recent years to make the citadel. being subsequently summoned to naples, and not wishing to abandon his enterprises in tuscany, he sent thither his pupil maglione, sculptor and architect, who in the time of conrad afterwards built the church of s. lorenzo at naples, finished a part of the vescorado, and made some tombs there, in which he closely imitated the manner of his master, niccola. in the meantime niccola went to volterra, in the year that the people of that place came under the dominion of the florentines ( ), in response to a summons, because they wished him to enlarge their duomo, which was small; and although it was very irregular, he improved its appearance, and made it more magnificent than it was originally. then at length he returned to pisa and made the marble pulpit of s. giovanni, devoting all his skill to it, so that he might leave a memory of himself in his native place. among other things in it he carved the last judgment, filling it with a number of figures, and if they are not perfectly designed they are at any rate executed with patience and diligence, as may be seen; and because he considered that he had completed a work which was worthy of praise, as indeed he had, he carved the following lines at the foot: "anno milleno bis centum bisque trideno. hoc opus insigne sculpsit nicola pisanus." the people of siena, moved by the fame of this work, which greatly delighted not only the pisans, but whoever saw it, assigned to niccola the task of making for their duomo the pulpit from which the gospel is sung, at the time when guglielmo mariscotti was praetor. in this niccola introduced a number of subjects from the life of jesus christ, especially remarkable for the figures which they contain, which stand out in high relief, all but severed from the background, a work of great difficulty. he likewise designed the church and convent of s. domenico at arezzo, for the lords of pietramela who built it, and at the request of the bishop ubertini he restored the pieve of cortona, and founded the church of s. margherita for the friars of st francis, on the highest ground in that city. the fame of niccola was continually on the increase, owing to these works, so that in he was invited by pope clement iv. to viterbo, where, among many other things he restored the church and convent of the friars preachers. from viterbo he went to naples to king charles, who having defeated and slain curradino on the plain of tagliacozzo, founded a wealthy church and abbey on the spot, for the burial-place of the large number of men who had fallen on that day, ordaining that prayers should be offered for their souls both day and night by many monks. king charles was so delighted with the work of niccola in this building that he loaded him with honours and rewards. on the way back from naples to tuscany niccola stayed to take part in the building of s. maria at orvieto, where he worked in the company of some germans, making figures in high relief in marble for the front of that church, and more particularly a last judgment, comprising both paradise and hell; and as he took the greatest pains to render the souls of the blessed in paradise as beautifully as he possibly could, so he introduced into his hell the most fantastic shape of devils imaginable, all intent on tormenting the souls of the damned. in this work not only did he surpass the germans who were working there, but even himself, to his great glory, and because he introduced a great number of figures and spared no pains, it has been praised even to our own day by those whose judgment does not extend beyond such circumstances. among other children niccola had a son called giovanni, who was always with his father, and under his care learned both sculpture and architecture, so that in the course of a few years he became not only the equal of his father, but his superior in some things. thus, as niccola was already old, he withdrew to pisa and lived quietly there, leaving the control of everything to his son. at the death in perugia of pope urban iv., giovanni was sent for to make the tomb, which he executed in marble; but it was afterwards thrown down, together with that of pope martin iv., when the perugians enlarged their vescovado, so that only a few remains may be seen to-day dispersed about the church. at the same time the perugians, thanks to the skill and industry of a friar of the silvestrini, had brought to their city from the hill of pacciano, two miles away, an abundance of water. the ornamentation of the fountain in both bronze and marble was entrusted to giovanni, so that he thereupon set his hand to the work, making three basins, one above the other, two in marble and one in bronze. the first is placed at the top of a flight of steps of twelve faces, the second rests on some pillars which rise from the centre of the first, while the third, which is of bronze, is supported by three figures; and in the middle are griffins, also of bronze, which throw out water on every side. and as giovanni considered that he had executed an excellent piece of work, he put his name to it. the arches and conduits of this fountain, which cost , gold ducats, were found to be very much worn and broken about the year , but vincenzio danti, sculptor of perugia, contrived a means, to his great glory, of bringing water to the fountain in the original way, without rebuilding the arches, which would have been very costly. when the work was finished giovanni felt anxious to return to see his old father, who was sick, and he set out from perugia intending to return to pisa; but on his way through florence he was compelled to stay there, to assist with others at the mills of the arno, which were being made at s. gregorio, near the piazza dei mozzi. but at length receiving word that his father niccola was dead, he departed for pisa, where he was received with great honour by all the city, on account of his worth, since everyone rejoiced that although niccola was lost to them, yet they still possessed giovanni, who inherited his father's ability as well as his property. nor were they deceived in him when the time of testing arrived, for when it was necessary to do some few things for the tiny but highly-ornate church of s. maria della spina, the task was entrusted to giovanni. he therefore put his hand to the work and brought the ornamentation of that oratory to the state of perfection which it possesses to-day, the more so as he introduced the portrait of niccola, taken from life, executed to the best of his ability. when the pisans had seen this they decided to entrust him the construction of the campo santo, which is against the piazza del duomo towards the walls, as they had long desired and talked of having a place for the burial of all their dead, both gentle and simple, so that the duomo should not be filled with tombs, or for other reasons. thus giovanni with good designs and great judgment erected the building as we now see it, in style, size, and marble ornamentation, and as no expense was spared, it was roofed with lead. on the outside of the principle entrance may be read these words, carved in the marble: "a.d. mcclxxviii. tempore domini federigi archiepiscopi pisani, et domini terlati potestatis operario orlando sardella, johanne magistro aedificante." in the completion of this work, , giovanni went to naples, where he erected the castel nuovo for king charles; and in order to enlarge it and add to its strength, he was compelled to pull down a number of houses and churches, among them a convent of the friars of st francis, which was afterwards rebuilt on a larger and grander scale at some distance from the castle, with the title of s. maria della nuova. after these building had been set on foot and were well advanced, giovanni left naples to return to tuscany, but when he reached siena he was not allowed to go farther, but was induced to design the façade of the duomo of that city, which was subsequently erected from his plans in a very rich and magnificent style. in the following year, , while the bishop's palace at arezzo was being built from the design of margaritone, architect of arezzo, giovanni was fetched from sienna to that city by guglielmo ubertini, the bishop there. he there executed in marble the table of the high altar, full of figures cut in relief of leaves and other ornaments, dividing the work into compartments by fine mosaics and enamels on silver plates, fixed into the marble with great care. in the midst is our lady with the child at her neck, and on one side of her is st gregory the pope (which is a portrait of pope honorius iv. drawn from life), and on the other side st donato, the bishop and protector of that city, whose body, with those of st antilia and other saints, rest under that same altar. and as the altar stands out by itself, the sides are decorated with small representations in bas-relief from the life of st donato, and the work is crowned with a series of niches, full of marble figures in relief, of exquisite workmanship. on the madonna's breast is an ornament shaped like a gold casket, containing, if report be true, jewels of great value, although it is believed that they, as well as some other small figures on the top and about the work, were taken away by the soldiers, who do not often respect the even most holy sacrament. on these works the aretines expended , florins, as is found in some records. nor does this appear impossible, because at that time it was considered to be a thing of the most precious and rare description, so that when frederick barbarossa returned from his coronation at rome, and was passing through arezzo many years after its completion, he praised and admired it infinitely, and indeed with good cause, since the joints are constructed of tiny pieces so excellently welded together, that to an inexperienced eye, the whole work seems to be made in one piece. in the same church giovanni made the chapel of the ubertini, a noble family, and lords of a castle, as they still are, though they were formerly of greater estate. he adorned this with many marble ornaments, which are to-day covered over by many large ornaments of stone, placed there in the year , after plans by giorgio vasari, for the support of an organ of extraordinary excellence and beauty which rests upon them. giovanni pisano also designed the church of s. maria dei servi, which has been destroyed in our day, together with many palaces of the noblest families of the city, for the reasons mentioned above. i must not omit to note that in the construction of the marble altar giovanni was assisted by some germans, who associated with him, rather for the sake of learning the art, than for gain, and who profited so much by his instruction, that when they went to rome, after the completion of that work, they served pope boniface viii. in many works of sculpture executed for st peter's, and also in architecture, when he made civita castellana. they were, moreover, sent by that pope to s. maria at orvieto, where they made a number of marble figures for the façade of the church, which were very tolerable for those times. but among the others who assisted giovanni in his undertakings for the vescovado at arezzo, were agostino and agnolo, sculptors and architects of siena, who far surpassed all the others, as will be said in the proper place. but to return to giovanni. when he left orvieto he came to florence to see arnolfo's building of s. maria del fiore, and also to see giotto, of whom he had heard a great deal elsewhere; but no sooner had he arrived in florence than he was appointed by the intendants of the fabric of s. maria del fiore to make the madonna, which stands between two small angels above the door of that church, which leads into the canons' quarters, a work much praised at the time. he next made the small font for s. giovanni, containing representations from the life of that saint in half-relief. proceeding thence to bologna he directed the construction of the principal chapel of the church of st domenico, in which he was also commissioned to make the marble altar by teodorico borgognoni of lucca, then bishop, a friar of that order. later on ( ), in the same place, he made the marble table in which are our lady and eight other figures, all of very tolerable workmanship. in the year , when niccola da prato was at florence as cardinal legate of the pope, for the purpose of settling the discords among the florentines, he caused giovanni to build a nunnery for him at prato, which was called s. niccola after him, and in the same district he made him restore the convent of s. domenico, as well as that of pistoia, in both of which the arms of that cardinal may still be seen. and since the pistolese held the name of niccola, giovanni's father, in great respect, because he had displayed his talents in that city, they commissioned giovanni to make a marble pulpit for the church of s. andrea, similar to that which he had made for the duomo of siena, and in competition with one which had been made shortly before for the church of s. giovanni evangelista by a german, which had been much praised. giovanni finished his task in four years, dividing the work into four subjects from the life of jesus christ, and further introducing a last judgment, working with the utmost diligence in order to equal, and perhaps surpass, that celebrated pulpit of orvieto. about the pulpit above some columns which support it and in the architrave he carved the following lines, since he thought that he had completed a great and beautiful work, as indeed he had, considering the attainments of the age: hoc opus sculpsit johannes, qui res non egit inanes. nicoli natus . . . meliora beatus quam genuit pisa, doctum super omnia visa. at the same time giovanni made the holy water vessel in marble for the same church of s. giovanni evangelista, borne by three figures, temperance, prudence and justice, and as it was then considered a work of great beauty, it was placed in the middle of the church as a remarkable object. before he left pistoia he made the model for the campanile of s. jacopo, the principal church of the city, although the work was not then begun. the tower is situated beside the church in the piazza of s. jacopo, and bears the date a.d. . on the death of pope benedict ix. at. perugia, giovanni was sent for to make his tomb, which he executed in marble in the old church of s. domenico of the friars preachers, placing the pope's effigy, taken from life, and in his pontifical habit, upon the sarcophagus with two angels holding a curtain, one on either side, and our lady above, between two saints, executed in relief, as well as many other ornaments carved on the tomb. similarly in the new church of the same order he made the tomb of m. niccolo guidalotti of perugia, bishop of recanati, who was the founder of the new university of perugia. in this same new church, which had been previously founded by others, he directed the construction of the principal nave, and this part of the building was much more securely founded than the rest, which leans over to one side, and threatens to fall down, owing to the faulty laying of the foundations. and in truth he who undertakes to build or perform any things of importance ought always to take the advice, not of those who know little, but of those most competent to help him, so that he may not afterwards have to repent with loss and shame that he was ill-directed when he was in most need of assistance. when he had completed his labours in perugia, giovanni wished to go to rome to learn from the few antique things there, as his father had done, but being hindered by good reasons, he was never able to fulfil his desire, chiefly because he heard that the court had just gone to avignon. so he returned to pisa, where nello di giovanni falconi, craftsman, entrusted to him the great pulpit of the duomo, which is fixed to the choir on the right hand side as one approaches the high altar. he set to work on this, and on a number of figures in full relief, three braccia high, which he intended to use for it, and little by little he brought it to its present form, resting in part on the said figures and in part upon lions, while on the sides he represented scenes from the life of jesus christ. it is truly a sin that so much money, such diligence and labour should not be accompanied by good design, and that it should lack that perfection, invention, grace, and good style which any work of our own day would possess, even were it executed at much less cost and with less difficulty. yet it must have excited no small admiration among the men of the time, who had only been accustomed to see the rudest productions. it was finished in the year , as appears in certain lines which run round the pulpit and read thus: "laudo deum verum, per quem sunt optima rerum qui dedit has puras homini formate figuras; hoc opus, his annis domini sculpsere johannis arte manus sole quandam, natique nicole. cursis undenis tercentum milleque plenis." there are thirteen other lines, which i do not write here, because i do not wish to weary the reader, and because these are sufficient to show not only that the pulpit is by the hand of giovanni, but that the men of that time were alike in their shortcomings. a madonna between st john the baptist and another saint may be seen over the principal of the door of the duomo; it is in marble, and by the hand of giovanni, and the figure kneeling at her feet is said to be piero gambacorti, the warden. however this may be, the following words are cut in the pedestal, on which the image of our lady stands: "sub petri cura haec pia fuit scutpta figura nicoli nato sculptore johanne vocato." moreover there is another marble madonna, by giovanni, over the side door, which is opposite the campanile, while on one side of her kneel a lady and two children, representing pisa, and on the other side the emperor henry. on the base are these words: ave gratia plena, dominus teum, and then-- nobilis arte manus sculpsit johannes pisanus sculpsit sub burgundio tadi benigno. and about the base of pisa: virginis ancilla sum pisa quieta sub illa, and about the base of henry: imperat henricus qui cliristo fertur amicus. in the old pieve at prato, beneath the altar of the principal chapel, was preserved for many years the girdle of our lady, which michele da prato had brought back with him from the holy land, and had deposited it with uberto, provost of the church, who laid it in the said place, where it was always held in great veneration. in the year an attempt to steal it was made by a native of prato, a man of a most evil life, another ser ciappelletto, but he was discovered and put to death for sacrilege. moved by this deed, the people of prato proposed to make a strong and suitable receptacle in which the girdle should be kept with greater security, and sent for giovanni, who was now an old man. acting upon his advice, they constructed the chapel in the principal church, where our lady's girdle now reposes. they then greatly increased their church also from his plans, and incrusted both the church and the campanile with white and black marble on the outside, as may be seen. at length giovanni died at a ripe old age in the year , after having completed many works in sculpture and architecture besides those which are mentioned here. and in truth a great debt is due to him and to niccola his father, since in an age which lacked every element of good design, in the midst of all the darkness they threw so much light on those arts in which they were really excellent. giovanni was honourably buried in the campo santo, in the same tomb in which his father niccola was laid. many disciples of his flourished after him, but especially lino, sculptor and architect of siena, who made the chapel which contains the body of st ranieri in the duomo of pisa, richly decorated with marble; and also the baptismal font of that cathedral which bears his name. let no one marvel that niccola and giovanni executed so many works, for besides the fact that they lived to a good age, they were the foremost masters in europe of their time, so that nothing of importance was undertaken without their taking part in it, as may be seen in many inscriptions besides those which have been quoted. whilst speaking of these two sculptors and architects, i have often referred to pisa, so that i do not hesitate at this stage to quote some words written on the pedestal of a vase mounted on a column of porphyry and supported by a lion, which is situated on the steps of the new hospital there. they are as follows: "this is the talent which the emperor cæesar gave to pisa, to the intent that the tribute which they rendered to him should be regulated thereby. the talent was set upon this column and lion in the time of giovanni rosso, master of the work of s. maria maggiore, pisa, a.d. mcccxiii., the second indiction, in march." andrea tafi, florentine painter. just as the works of cimabue excited no small amount of wonder in the men of that time, since he introduced a better design and form into the art of painting, whereas they had only been accustomed to see things executed on the byzantine style, so the mosaics of andrea tafi, who was a contemporary, were much admired and even considered divine, for the people of that day, who had not been used to see anything different did not think that it was possible to produce better works in that art. but in truth, as he was not the most capable man in the world, and having reflected that working in mosaic was more valued on account of its greater durability, be left florence for venice, where some greek painters were working in mosaic at s. marco. there he formed a close intimacy with them, and by dint of persuasion, money, and promises he at length contrived to bring to florence master apollonio, a greek painter, who taught him how to bake the glass of the mosaic, and how to make the cement in which to fix it. with him andrea worked at the tribune of s. giovanni, doing the upper part which contains the dominions, principalities, and powers. afterwards when he had gained more experience, he did the christ which is in the same church above the principal chapel as will be related below. but as i have mentioned s. giovanni, i will take this opportunity of saying that that ancient sanctuary is incrusted both within and without with marbles of the corinthian order, and not only is it perfectly proportioned and finished in all its parts, but most beautifully adorned with doors and windows. each face is supplied with two columns of granite, braccia high, forming three compartments, above which are the architraves, which rest on the columns, to carry the whole weight of the double roof, which is praised by modern architects as a remarkable thing, and justly, because this church helped to demonstrate to filippo di ser brunellesco, donatello, and the other masters of their time what possibilities there were in that art. they all studied architecture from this building and from the church of s. apostolo at florence, a work of such a good style that it approaches the true antique, since, as i have said before, all the columns are measured and arranged with such care that much may be learned from a careful examination of the entire structure. but i will refrain from saying more about the good architecture of this church, though much might be added to what precedes, and i will content myself by saying that those who rebuilt the marble façade of the church of s. miniato del monte, deviated widely from this model and from this excellent style. this work was carried out in honour of the conversion of the blessed giovanni gualberto, citizen of florence and founder of the congregation of the monks of vallombrosa, because these and many other works erected afterwards are not to be compared for excellence to those two buildings. the art of sculpture experienced a similar fate because all the masters of the time who were then working in italy, as has been said in the preface to the lives, were very rude. this may be seen in many places, but especially in s. bartolommeo of the regular canons at pistoia where there is a pulpit very rudely executed by guido da como, containing the beginning of the life of jesus christ, with these words inscribed there by the artist himself in the year : "sculptor laudatur, quod doctus in arte probatur, guido da como me cunctis carmine promo." but to return to s. giovanni, i pass by the history of its foundation because that has been written by giovanni villani and other authors, and, as i have already remarked that the good architecture in use to-day is derived from that building, i will now add that, to judge by appearances, the tribune is of a later date. at the time when alesso baldovinetti, succeeding the florentine painter lippo, repaired the mosaics it appeared as if it had anciently been painted in red, the designs being executed on the stucco. now andrea tafi and apollonius the greek, in their scheme for the decoration of the tribune, divided it into compartments. starting from the top of the vault next to the lantern these became gradually larger until they reached the cornice below. the upper part is divided into rings representing various subjects. the first contains all the ministers and performers of the divine will, such as the angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim, dominions, principalities, powers. the second, in which the mosaics are executed in the byzantine style, are the principal acts of god from the creation of light to the flood. the circle underneath this which descends with increased space to the eight faces of the tribune contains the history of joseph and his twelve brethren. these are followed by other spaces of the same size and a like situation containing the life of jesus christ in mosaic from the conception of mary to the ascension. next, following the same order, under the three friezes, is the life of st john the baptist, beginning with the apparition of the angel to zacharias the priest and continuing to john's beheading and the burial of his body by the disciples. all these things are rude, without design and without art, and they are no advance upon the byzantine style of the time so that i cannot praise them absolutely, though they merit some commendation, when one considers the methods in use at the time and the imperfect state in which pictorial art then was. besides, the work is sound and the pieces of mosaic are very well set. in short, the latter part of the work is much better or rather less bad than is the beginning, although the whole, when compared with the works of to-day rather excites laughter than pleasure or admiration. ultimately andrea made the christ, braccia high, for the tribune on the wall of the principal chapel, which may be seen there to-day, and this he did by himself without the aid of apollonio, to his great glory. having become famous throughout italy by these works and being reputed excellent in his own land, he received the richest honours and rewards. it was certainly a great good fortune for andrea to be born at a time when only rude works were produced, so that things which should have been considered of very slight account or even worthless, were held in reasonable repute. the same thing happened to fra jacopo da turrita, of the order of st francis, who received extraordinary rewards for the mosaics which he executed for the small choir behind the altar of s. giovanni, although they deserved little praise, and he was afterwards invited to rome as a great master, where he was employed on some works in the chapel of the high altar of s. giovanni lateram and in that of s. maria maggiore. he was next invited to pisa, where he did the evangelists and other things which are in the principal tribune of the duomo, in the same style as the other things which he executed, although he was assisted by andrea tafi and gaddo gaddi. these were finished by vicino, for jacopo left them in a very imperfect state. the works of these masters obtained credit for some time, but when the productions of andrea, cimabue, and the rest had to bear comparison with those of giotto, as will be said when the time comes, people came to recognise in which direction perfection in art lay, for they saw how great a difference there was between the first manner of cimabue and that of giotto in the delineation of figures, a difference equally strongly marked in the case of their pupils and imitators. from this time others gradually sought to follow in the footsteps of the better masters, surpassing each other more and more every day, so that art rose from these humble beginnings to that summit of perfection to which it has attained to-day. andrea lived eighty-one years and died before cimabue in . the reputation and honour which he won by his mosaics, because it was he who had first brought to tuscany the better manner of executing and who had taught it to the men of that province, led to the execution of the excellent works in that art by gaddo gaddi, giotto, and the rest, which have brought them fame and immortality. after andrea's death his merits were magnified in the following inscription: here lies andrea, who produced graceful and beautiful works in all tuscany. now he has gone. to adorn the realm of the stars. buonamico buffalmacco was a pupil of andrea, and played many pranks on him when a youth. from his master buonamico had the portraits of pope celestine iv. and innocent iv., both of which he afterwards introduced in the paintings which he made in s. paolo a ripa d'arno at pisa. another pupil was antonio di andrea tafi, who may possibly have been his son. he was a fair painter, but i have not been able to find any works by his hand, and there is nothing beyond a bare mention of him in the old book of the company of artists in design. but andrea tafi deserves a high place among the old masters, because, although he learned the principles of mosaic from the craftsman whom he brought from venice to florence, yet he introduced such improvements into the art, uniting the pieces with great care, and making his surfaces as smooth as a table (a very important thing in mosaics), that he prepared the way for giotto among others, as will be said in that artist's life; and not for giotto alone, but for all those who have since practised this branch of pictorial art to our own day. thus it may be asserted with perfect truth that the marvellous works in mosaic, which are now being carried out in s. marco, at venice, owe their origin to andrea tafi. gaddo gaddi, florentine painter. gaddo, painter of florence, who flourished at this same time, showed more design in the works which he produced in the byzantine style, and which he executed with great care, than did andrea tafi and the other painters who preceded him. this was possibly due to his close friendship and intercourse with cimabue, for, whether it was through congeniality of disposition or through the goodness of their hearts, they became very much attached to each other, and their frequent conversations together, and their friendly discussions upon the difficulties of the arts, gave rise to many great and beautiful ideas in their minds. this came to pass the more readily, because they were aided by the quality of the air of florence, which usually produces ingenious and subtle spirits, and which made them strangers to that ruggedness and coarseness from which nature cannot entirely free herself even when assisted by the rivalry of the good craftsmen and the precepts laid down by them in every age. it is, indeed, abundantly clear that, when things have been talked over in a friendly way, without any reserve of convention, although this rarely happens, they may be brought to a great state of perfection. the same remark applies to those who study the sciences; for, by discussing difficulties among themselves when they arise, they remove them, rendering the path so clear and easy, that the greatest glory may be won thereby. but, on the other hand, there are some who, with devilish arts, and led by envy and malice, make profession of friendship under the guise of truth and affection, give the most pernicious advice, so that the arts do not attain to excellence so soon as they do where the minds of noble spirits are united by such a bond of love as that which drew together gaddo and cimabue, and, in like manner, andrea tafi and gaddo. it was andrea who took gaddo into his companionship to finish the mosaics of s. giovanni. here gaddo learned so much, that he was able, without assistance, to make the prophets, which may be seen round the walls of that sanctuary, in the squares under the windows; and, as he executed these unaided and in a much improved style, they brought him great renown. encouraged by this, he prepared himself to work alone, and devoted himself constantly to the study of the byzantine style, combined with that of cimabue. by such means, it was not long before he became an excellent artist; so that the wardens of s. maria del fiore entrusted to him the semi-circular space within the building above the principal entrance, where he introduced a coronation of the virgin, in mosaic. upon its completion, it was pronounced by all the foreign and native masters to be the finest work of its kind that had yet been seen in italy, for they recognised that it possessed more design and more judgment, and displayed the results of more study, than were to be found in all the remaining works in mosaic then in existence in the peninsula. thus, his fame being spread abroad by this work, he was summoned to rome by clement v. in the year ,--that is to say, in the year following the great fire, in which the church and palaces of the lateran were destroyed. there he completed for the pope some works in mosaic, which had been left unfinished by jacopo da turrita. his next work, also in mosaic, was in the church of st peter's, where he executed some things in the principal chapel and for other parts of the church; but especially a god the father, of large size with many figures, which he did for the façade. he also assisted in the completion of some mosaics on the façade of s. maria maggiore, somewhat improving the style, and departing slightly from the byzantine manner, which was entirely devoid of merit. on his return to tuscany, he did some work in mosaic for the tarlati, lords of pietramala, in the old duomo, outside arezzo, in a vault entirely constructed of spungite. he covered the middle part of this building with mosaics; but the church fell down in the time of bishop gentile urbinate, because the old stone vaulting was too heavy for it, and it was afterwards rebuilt in brick by that bishop. on his departure from arezzo, gaddo went to pisa, where he made, for a niche in the chapel of the incoronata in the duomo, the ascension of our lady into heaven, where jesus christ is awaiting her, with a richly appareled throne for her seat. this work was executed so well and so carefully for the time, that it is in an excellent state of preservation to-day. after this, gaddo returned to florence, intending to rest. accordingly he amused himself in making some small mosaics, some of which are composed of egg-shells, with incredible diligence and patience, and a few of them, which are in the church of s. giovanni at florence, may still be seen. it is related that he made two of these for king robert, but nothing more is known of the matter. this much must suffice for the mosaics of gaddo gaddi. of pictures he painted a great number, among them that which is on the screen of the chapel of the minerbetti in s. maria novella, and many others sent to different places in tuscany. thus, by producing now mosaics and now paintings, he executed many very tolerable works in both mediums, which will always assure him good credit and reputation. there is a great deal more which i might say about gaddo, but i will pass it over in silence, because the manner of the painters of those days cannot be of great assistance to artists; and i shall dwell at greater length upon the lives of those who may be of some help, because they introduced improvements into the art. gaddo lived seventy-three years, and died in . he was honourably buried in s. croce by his son taddeo. this taddeo, who had giotto for his godfather, was the only one of all gaddo's children who became a painter, learning the rudiments of the art from his father and the rest from giotto. besides taddeo, a pisan painter named vicino was also a pupil of gaddo. he did some excellent work in mosaic for the great tribune of the duomo of pisa, where the following words still testify to his authorship: "tempore domini johannis rossi operarii istius ecclesiæ, vicinus pictor incepit et perfecit hanc imaginem b. mariæ, sed majestatis, et evangelistae per alios inceptæ, ipse complevit et perfecit. anno domini . de mense septembris. benedictum sit nomen domini dei nostri jesu christi. amen." the portrait of gaddo, by the hand of taddeo his son, may be seen in the baroncelli chapel in the church of s. croce, where he stands by the side of andrea tafi, in the marriage of the virgin. in the book, which i have mentioned above, there is a miniature by gaddo, like those of cimabue, and which serves to show his ability as a draughtsman. now, because an old book from which i have extracted these few notices about gaddo gaddi, speaks of the building of the church of s. maria novella in florence for the friars preachers, a truly magnificent and imposing structure, i will take this opportunity of relating the circumstances of its erection. while st dominic was at bologna, the place of ripoli outside florence was granted to him. accordingly he sent twelve friars thither under the care of the blessed giovanni da salerno. not many years after they came to florence, to the church and place of s. pancrazio, and established themselves there. when dominic himself came to florence they left it, and went to stay in the church of s. paolo, as he wished them to do. subsequently when the place of s. maria novella and all its possessions were granted to blessed giovanni by the papal legate and by the bishop of the city, they entered into possession and began to live in that place on the last day of october . but as this church was rather small, with a western aspect and the entrance on the old piazza, the friars, who had increased in numbers and who were in great credit in the city, began to think of enlarging their church and convent. so, having collected a great sum of money, and many people of the city having promised every assistance, they began the construction of a new church on st luke's day, , when the first stone was laid with great ceremony by the cardinal latino degli orsini, legate of pope nicholas iii. to the florentines. the architects of the church were fra giovanni of florence, and fra ristoro of campi, lay brethren of the order, who had restored the ponte alia carraia, and that of s. trinita, after their destruction by the flood of october . the greater part of the land covered by the church and convent was given to the friars by the heirs of m. jacopo, de' tornaquinci knight. the cost, as has been said, was defrayed partly by alms, partly by the money of various persons who gave assistance readily, but especially by the good offices of friar aldobrandino cavalcanti, who was, afterwards bishop of arezzo, and who is buried over the gate of the virgin. besides other things this friar is said to have collected by his industry all the labour and materials required for the church. it was completed when fra jacopo passavanti was prior of the convent, who thus deserved his marble tomb which is on the left hand side in front of the principal chapel. the church was consecrated by pope martin v. in the year , as appears by an inscription on marble on a pillar on the right of the principal chapel, which runs: anno domini die septembris, dominus martinus divina providentia papa v personaliter hanc ecclesiam consecravit, et magnas indulgentias contulit visitantibus eamdem. all these things and many more are related in a chronicle of the building of this church, which is in the possession of the fathers of s. maria novella, as well as in the history of giovanni villani. i did not wish to omit these few particulars, because the church is one of the finest and most important in florence, and also because it contains many excellent works of the most famous artists of a later time, as will be related hereafter. margaritone, painter, sculptor and architect of arezzo. among the other painters of old time, in whom the well-deserved praise accorded to cimabue and his pupil giotto aroused a great deal of fear, for their good workmanship in painting was hailed throughout italy, was one margaritone, painter of arezzo, who recognised equally well with the others who previously occupied the foremost positions in painting in that unhappy age, that the work of these two men would probably all but obliterate his own reputation. margaritone was considered excellent among the painters of the age who worked in the byzantine style, and he did a number of pictures in tempera at arezzo. he worked in fresco also, painting almost the whole of the church of s. clemente, an abbey of the order of the camaldolites, but these occupied him a long time and cost him much trouble. the church is entirely destroyed to-day, together with many other buildings, including a strong fortress called s. dementi, because the duke cosimo de' medici not only here, but round the whole circuit of the city, pulled down many buildings and the old walls which had been restored by guido petramalesco, a former bishop and lord of the city, in order to reconstruct them with curtains and bastions much stronger and of less circuit than the former ones had been, and consequently more easy to defend with a smaller number of men. margaritone's pictures in this church contained many figures both small and great, and although they were executed in the byzantine style, yet they were admitted to show evidence of having been executed with good judgment and with love of art, as may be inferred from the works of this painter which are still extant in that city. of these the principal is a picture, now in the chapel of the conception in s. francesco, representing a madonna with modern ornamentation, which is held in great veneration by the friars there. in the same church he did a large crucifix, also in the byzantine style, which is now placed in the chapel where the quarters of the superintendent are situated. the saviour is delineated upon the axes of the cross, and margaritone made many such crucifixes in that city. for the nuns of s. margherita he painted a work which is now placed in the transept of their church. this is canvas stretched on a panel, containing subjects from the life of our lady and of st john the baptist in small figures, executed in a much better style, and with more diligence and grace than the large ones. this work is noteworthy, not only because the little figures in it are so carefully finished that they resemble the work of an illuminator, but because it is a wonderful thing that a picture on canvas should have lasted three hundred years. he did an extraordinary number of pictures for all the city, and a st francis drawn from life at sargiano, a convent of the bare-footed friars. to this he placed his name, because he considered that it was more than usually well done. he afterwards made a large crucifix in wood, painted in the byzantine manner, and sent it to florence to m. farinata degli uberti, a most famous citizen who, in addition to many other notable exploits, had saved his native city from imminent danger and ruin. this crucifix is now in s. croce, between the chapel of the peruzzi and that of the giugni. in s. domenico, at arezzo, a church and convent built by the lords of pietramela in the year , as their coat of arms proves, he did many things before returning to rome, where he had already given great satisfaction to pope urban iv. by doing some things in fresco for him in the portico of st peter's; for although in the byzantine style of the time, they were not without merit. after he had finished a st francis at ganghereto, a place above terranuova in the valdarno, he devoted himself to sculpture, as he was of an ambitious spirit, and he studied with such diligence that he succeeded much better than he had done in painting; for although his first sculptures were in the byzantine style, as may be seen in four figures in wood of a deposition from the cross in the pieve, and some other figures in relief which are in the chapel of st francis above the baptismal font, yet he adopted a much better manner after he had visited florence and had seen the works of arnolfo, and of the other more celebrated sculptors of the time. in the year he returned to arezzo in the suite of pope gregory, who passed through florence on his journey from avignon to rome. here an opportunity presented itself to make himself better known, for the pope died at arezzo after having given , scudi to the commune wherewith to finish the building of the vescovado which had been begun by master lapo, and had made but little progress. the aretines therefore ordained that the chapel of st gregory should be made in memory of the pope in the vescovado, in which margaritone afterwards placed a picture, and in addition that margaritone should make a marble tomb for the pope in the vescovado. he set to work upon the task and brought it to such a successful completion, introducing the pope's portrait from life both in marble and in painting, that it was considered to be the best work which he had ever produced. margaritone then set to work to complete the vescovado, following the design of lapo, and he displayed great activity; but he did not complete it, for a few years later, in , war broke out again between the florentines and aretines, through the fault of guglielmo ubertini, bishop and lord of arezzo, aided by the tarlati of pietramela and by the pazzi of val d'arno, when all the money left by the pope for the building of the vescovado was expended upon the war, while evil befell the leaders, who were routed and slain at campaldino. the aretines then ordained that the tolls paid by the surrounding country, called a _dazio_, should be set aside for the use of the building, and this toll has lasted to our own day. to return to margaritone, he seems to have been the first, so far as one can judge by his works, who thought it necessary to take precautions, when painting on wood, that the joints should be secure, so that no cracks or fissures should appear after the completion of the painting, and it was his practice to cover the panel completely with canvas, fastened on by a strong glue made of shreds of parchment and boiled in the fire; he then treated the surface with gypsum, as may be seen in many of his own pictures and in those of others. over the gypsum, thus mixed with the glue, he made lines and diadems and other rounded ornaments in relief; and it was he who invented the method of grounding in bol-ar-moniac, on which he laid gold leaf which he afterwards burnished. all these things which had never been seen before may be noticed in his works, especially in an antependium in the pieve of arezzo, which contains scenes from the life of st donate, and also in s. agnesa and s. niccolo in the same city. margaritone produced many works in his own country which were sent out of it, part of which were at rome in s. giovanni and in st peter's, and some at s. caterina at pisa, where there is a st catherine of his over an altar in the transept, containing many small figures in a representation of her life, and also a panel of st francis with many subjects from his life, on a gold ground. in the upper church of s. francesco at assisi is a crucifix by his hand painted in the byzantine style, on a beam which spans the church. all these works were greatly prized by the people of the time, although they are not valued to-day, except as being curious on account of their age; indeed they could only be considered good in an age when art was not at its zenith, as it is to-day. margaritone also paid some attention to architecture, although i have not mentioned any things made from his designs because they are of slight importance. however, i must not forget to say that he designed the palace of the governors of the city of ancona, as i have found, in , in the byzantine style; and what is more, he carved in sculpture eight windows for the façade, each of which has two columns in the middle, which support two arches. over each window is a representation in half relief, occupying the space between the arches and the top of the window, of an old testament subject, carved in a species of stone found in the country. under the windows and on the façade are some letters, the purport of which must be conjectured, so badly are they done, which give the date and time at which the work was executed. the design of the church of s. ciriaco at ancona was also by his hand. margaritone died at the age of seventy-seven, regretting, it is said, that he had lived long enough to see the changes of the age and the honours accorded to the new artists. he was buried in the old duomo of arezzo, in a tomb of travertine, which has been destroyed in our own time by the demolition of that church. the following epitaph was written for him: hic jacet ille bonus pictura margaritonus, cui requiem dominus tradat uhique plus. margaritone's portrait was in the old duomo by the hand of spinello, in the adoration of the magi, and was copied by me before the church was pulled down. giotto, painter, sculptor, and architect of florence. the debt which painters owe to nature, which serves continually as an example to them, that from her they may select the best and finest parts for reproduction and imitation, is due also to the florentine painter, giotto; because, when the methods and outlines of good painting had been buried for so many years under the ruins caused by war, he alone, although born in the midst of unskilful artists, was able, through god's gift in him, to endow art with a proper form after it had been revived in a bad style. certainly it was nothing short of a miracle, in so gross and unskilful an age, that giotto should have worked to such purpose that design of which the men of the time had little or no conception, was revived to a vigorous life by his means. the birth of this great man took place in the year , fourteen miles from florence, in the town of vespignano, his father, who was a simple field labourer, being named bondone. he brought up giotto as well as his position in life allowed. when the boy had attained the age of ten years he exhibited, in all his childish ways, an extraordinary quickness and readiness of mind, which made him a favourite, not only with his father, but with all who knew him, both in the village and beyond it. bondone then set him to watch a few sheep, and while he was following these from place to place to find pasture, he was always drawing something from nature or representing the fancies which came into his head, with a stone on the ground or on sand, so much was he attracted to the art of design by his natural inclination. thus one day when cimabue was going on some business from florence to vespignano, he came upon giotto, who, while his sheep were grazing, was drawing one of them from life with a pointed piece of stone upon a smooth surface of rock, although he had never had any master but nature. cimabue stopped in amazement at the sight, and asked the boy if he would like to come and stay with him. giotto replied he would go willingly if his father would consent. cimabue lost no time in finding bondone, who joyfully consented and allowed his son to accompany cimabue to florence. after his arrival there, assisted by his natural talent and taught by cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master's style in a short time, but became such a good imitator of nature that he entirely abandoned the rude byzantine manner and revived the modern and good style of painting, introducing the practice of making good portraits of living persons, a thing which had not been in use for more than two hundred years. and although there were some few portraits made in this manner, as has been said above, yet they had not been very successful, nor were they nearly so well executed as those of giotto. among other portraits which he made, the chapel of the podesta palace at florence still contains that of dante aligheri, his close companion and friend, no less famous as a poet than giotto then was as a painter. this poet has been warmly praised by m. giovanni boccaccio in the introduction to the story of m. forese da rabatta. in this same chapel giotto has also painted his own portrait as well as those of ser brunetto latini, dante's master, and m. corso donati, a famous citizen of the time. giotto's first paintings were in the chapel of the high altar of the badia at florence, in which he made a number of things which were considered beautiful, but especially an annunciation. in this he has represented with extraordinary truth the fear and astonishment of the virgin mary at the salutation of gabriel, who, in her terror seems ready to run away. the picture of the high altar in the same chapel is also by giotto's hand, and it has continued to retain its position there, rather because of a certain reverence which is felt for the work of such a man than for any other reason. in s. croce there are four chapels decorated by his hand, three between the sacristy and the principal chapel, and one on the other side. in the first of these, that of m. ridolfo de' bardi, in which the bell ropes hang, is the life of st francis, at whose death a number of friars exhibit the effect of weeping with considerable fidelity to nature. in the second, which is that of the family of the peruzzi, are two subjects from the life of st john the baptist, to whom the chapel is dedicated. here is a very life-like representation of the dancing of herodias, and of the promptitude with which some servants are performing the service of the table. in the same chapel are two miracles of st john the evangelist, the one representing the raising of drusiana, the other his being caught up into heaven. the third chapel, that of the giugni and dedicated to the apostles, contains representations by giotto of the martyrdom of many of them. in the fourth, that of the tosinghi and spinelli, which is on the north side of the church and is dedicated to the assumption of our lady, giotto painted the nativity of the virgin, her marriage, the annunciation, the adoration of the magi, and the presentation of the christ child to simeon. this last is a most beautiful thing, for not only is the warmest love depicted in the face of the old man as he receives the christ, but the action of the child, who is afraid of him and stretches out his arms to return to his mother, could not be represented with more tenderness or greater beauty. in the death of our lady the apostles are represented with a number of very beautiful angels. the baroncelli chapel in the same church contains a painting in tempera by giotto's hand, in which he has represented with great care the coronation of our lady. it contains a very large number of small figures and a choir of angels and saints, produced with great diligence. on this work he has written his name and the date in gold letters. artists who reflect that at this time giotto was laying the foundations of the proper method of design and of colouring, unaided by the advantages of seeing the light of the good style, will be compelled to hold him in the highest veneration. in the same church of s. croce there are in addition a crucifix above the marble tomb of carlo marzuppini of arezzo, our lady with st john and the magdalene at the foot of the cross, and opposite on the other side of the building an annunciation towards the high altar over the tomb of lionardo aretino, which has been restored by modern artists with great lack of judgment. in the refectory he has done the history of st louis, a last supper, and a tree of the cross, while the presses of the sacristy are decorated with some scenes from the lives of christ and of st francis in small figures. at the church of the carmine in the chapel of st john the baptist he represented the whole of that saint's life in several pictures; and in the palazzo della parte guelfa at florence there is the history of the christian faith painted admirably by him in fresco, and containing the portrait of pope clement iv., who founded that monastery to which he gave his arms, retained by them ever since. after these works giotto set out from florence for assisi in order to finish what cimabue had begun there. on his way through arezzo he painted the chapel of st francis, which is above the baptistery in the pieve there, and a st francis and a st dominic, portraits from life, on a round pillar near to a most beautiful antique corinthian capital. in the duomo outside arezzo he decorated the interior of a large chapel with the stoning of st stephen, an admirable composition of figures. on completing these things he proceeded to assisi, a city of umbria, whither he was summoned by fra giovanni di muro della marca, at that time general of the friars of st francis. in the upper church of this town he painted a series of thirty-two frescoes of the life of st francis, under the corridor which traverses the windows, sixteen on each side, with such perfection that he acquired the highest reputation thereby. in truth the work exhibits great variety, not only in the postures of the different figures, but in the composition of each subject, besides which it is very interesting to see the various costumes of those times and certain imitations and observations of nature. one of the most beautiful of these represents a thirsty man, whose desire for water is represented in the most lively manner as he kneels on the ground to drink from a spring, with such wonderful reality that one might imagine him to be a real person. there are many other things most worthy of notice into which i will not enter now, because i do not wish to be tedious. let it suffice to say that by these works giotto acquired the highest reputation for the excellence of his figures, for his arrangement, sense of proportion, fidelity to nature, and his innate facility which he had greatly increased by study, while in addition to this he never failed to express his meaning clearly. giotto indeed was not so much the pupil of any human master as of nature herself, for in addition to his splendid natural gifts, he studied nature diligently, arid was always contriving new things and borrowing ideas from her. when these works were completed giotto painted in the lower church of the same place the upper part of the walls beside the high altar, and all four angles of the vaulting over the spot where the body of st francis lies, the whole displaying his beautiful and inventive imagination. the first contains st francis glorified in heaven, surrounded by those virtues which are required of those who wish to be perfect in the sight of god. on the one side obedience puts a yoke on the neck of a friar who kneels before her, the bands of which are drawn by hands to heaven. with one finger on her mouth she signifies silence, and her eyes are turned towards jesus christ, who is shedding blood from his side. beside her are prudence and humility to show that where true obedience exists, there also will be humility and prudence, causing everything to prosper. in the second angle is chastity, who will not allow herself to be won by the kingdoms, crowns, or palms which are being offered to her. at her feet stands purity who is washing the naked, while fortitude is bringing others to be washed and cleansed. on one side of chastity is penitence, chasing a winged love with the cord of discipline and putting to flight uncleanness. poverty occupies the third space, treading on thorns with her bare feet; behind her barks a dog, while a boy is throwing stones at her and another is pushing thorns into her legs with a stick. poverty here is espoused by st francis, while jesus christ holds her hand in the mystical presence of hope and chastity. in the fourth and last of these places is a st francis in glory, clothed in the white tunic of a deacon, in triumph and surrounded by a multitude of angels who form a choir about him and hold a banner on which are a cross and seven stars, while over all is the holy spirit. in each of these angles are some latin words explanatory of the subject. besides these four angles the paintings on the side walls are most beautiful, and deserve to be highly valued both for the perfection which they exhibit and because they were produced with such skill that they are in an excellent state of preservation to-day. these paintings contain an excellent portrait of giotto himself, and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco by his hand of st francis receiving the stigmata, so full of tenderness and devotion that it seems to me to be the most excellent painting that giotto has produced here, though all are really beautiful and worthy of praise. when s. francesco was at length finished giotto returned to florence, where he painted with extraordinary care, a picture of st francis in the fearful desert of vernia, to be sent to pisa. besides a landscape full of trees and rocks, a new thing in those days, the attitude of the saint, who is receiving the stigmata on his knees with great eagerness, exhibits an ardent desire to receive them and an infinite love towards jesus christ, who is in the air surrounded by seraphim granting them to him, the varied emotions being all represented in the most telling manner imaginable. the predella of the picture contains three finely executed subjects from the life of the same saint. the work may now be seen in s. francesco at pisa, on a pillar beside the high altar, where it is held in high veneration in memory of so great a man. it led the pisans, on the completion of their campo santo from the plan of giovanni di niccola pisano, as already related, to entrust to giotto the painting of a part of the walls. for as the exterior of the walls was incrusted with marble and sculptures at a great cost, the roof being of lead, and the interior filled with antique sarcophagi and tombs of pagan times, gathered together in that city from all parts of the world, the pisans wished the walls to be decorated with a series of noble paintings. accordingly giotto went to pisa, and beginning at the end of one of the walls of the campo santo he depicted the life of the patient job in six frescoes. now it occurred to him that the marbles of the part of the building in which he was at work were turned towards the sea, and being exposed to the south-east wind, they are always moist and throw out a certain saltness, as do nearly all the bricks of pisa, and because the colours and paintings are eaten away by these causes, and as he wished to protect his work from destruction as far as possible, he prepared a coating for the whole of the surface on which he proposed to paint his frescoes, which consisted of a plaster or incrusture made up of lime, chalk and brick-dust. this device has proved so successful, that the paintings which he subsequently executed on this surface, have endured to this day, and they would have stood better had not the neglect of those who should have taken care of them, allowed them to be much damaged by the damp. the want of attention to this detail, which would have involved little trouble, has caused the pictures to suffer a great deal in some places where the damp has converted the crimsons into black and caused the plaster to fall off. besides this it is the nature of chalk when mixed with lime to become corroded and to peel, whence it happens that the colours are destroyed, although they may originally appear to take well. these frescoes contain the portrait of m. farinata degli uberti, besides many fine figures, among which one may remark some countrymen, who in bringing the sad news to job, exhibit the utmost sorrow for the lost animals and the other misfortunes. there is also much grace in the figure of a servant, who with a fan of branches stands near the bowed figure of job, abandoned by everyone else, for in addition to the figure being well executed in every particular, his attitude is wonderful, as with one hand he drives away the flies from his leprous and noisome master, and holds his nose with the other with disgust, to escape the smell. very fine also are the other figures of these pictures and the heads of both men and women, and the delicate treatment of the drapery, so that it is small wonder that the work brought giotto such renown in that city and elsewhere; that pope benedict ix., who was proposing to decorate st peter's with some paintings, sent a courtier from treviso to tuscany, to see what manner of man giotto was, and to report on the quality of his work. on the way the courtier learned that there were other excellent masters in painting and mosaic in florence, and he interviewed a number of artists at siena. when he had received designs from these, he proceeded to florence. entering giotto's shop one morning, as he was at work, the envoy explained to him the pope's intention, and the manner in which he wished to make use of his work, and finally asked giotto for some small specimen of work to send to his holiness. giotto, who was always courteous, took a sheet of paper and a red pencil, pressed his arm to his side to make a compass of it, and then with a turn of his hand, produced a circle so perfect in every particular that it was a marvel to see. this done, he turned smiling to the courtier and said: "here is the design." the latter, who thought he was joking, said: "am i to have no other design but this?" "it is enough and more than enough," replied giotto; "send it in with the others and you will see if it is recognised." the messenger perceived that he would obtain nothing else, and left in a state of considerable dissatisfaction, imagining that he had been laughed at. however, when he sent in the other designs with the names of their authors, he included that of giotto, and related how the artist had executed it without moving his arm and without compasses. from this the pope and all the courtiers present recognised to what an extent giotto surpassed all the other painters of the time in excellence. when the story became public it gave rise to a saying which is still used for people of dull wits: "you are more round (_tondo_) than giotto's o." this proverb deserves to be considered a good one, not only from the circumstances out of which it arose, but much more for its meaning, which is due to the two-fold significance of the word _tondo_ in tuscany, that of a perfect circle, and slowness and heaviness of mind. accordingly the pope sent for giotto to rome, where he received him with great honour, and recognised his worth. he caused him to paint for the tribune of st peter's five subjects from the life of christ, and the principal picture for the sacristy, all of which were executed with great care, nothing in tempera ever leaving his hands before it was perfectly finished; thus he richly deserved the reward of gold ducats which the delighted pope gave to him, bestowing many other favours upon him, so that it became the talk of all italy. as i do not wish to omit a memorable circumstance concerning art, i will notice here that there happened to be in rome at this time a great friend of giotto named oderigi d'aggobbio, an excellent illuminator of the day, who adorned many books for the pope for the palace library, though they are now mostly destroyed by time. in my own book of old designs there are some remnants by his hand, and he certainly was a clever artist. but a much better master than he was francis, an illuminator of bologna, who did some very fair things for the pope for the same library at that very time, in a like style, as may be seen in my book, where i have some designs by his hand, both for painting and illuminations, among them an eagle, excellently done, and a fine lion tearing up a tree. these two excellent illuminators are referred to by dante in the passage on the vainglorious in the eleventh chapter of the purgatorio, in these lines: "oh, dissi lui, non se' tu oderisi l'onor d'aggobbio e l'onor di quell' arte ch' alluminare è chimata in parisi? frate, diss' egli, più ridon le carte, che pennelleggia franco bolognese l'onor è tutto or suo, e mio in parte." when the pope had seen these works he was so enchanted by giotto's style that he commissioned him to surround the walls of st peter's with scenes from the old and new testaments. giotto therefore began these, and painted the fresco of the angle, seven braccia high, which is above the organ, and many other paintings, of which some have been restored by other artists in our own day, and some have been either destroyed or carried away from the old building of st peter's during the founding of the new walls and set under the organ. among these was a representation of our lady on a wall. in order that it might not be thrown down with the rest, it was cut out, supported by beams and iron, and so taken away. on account of its great beauty, it was afterwards built into a place selected by the devotion of m. niccolo acciancoli, a florentine doctor enthusiastic over the excellent things of art, who has richly adorned it with stucco and other modern paintings. giotto is also the author of the mosaic known as the navicella, which is over the three doors of the portico in the courtyard of st peter's. this is a truly marvellous work, well deserving its high reputation among all persons of taste. in addition to its excellent design, the apostles are admirably disposed, toiling in different ways in the midst of the tempest, while the winds fill the sail, which bellies out exactly like a real one; and yet it is a difficult task so to unite those pieces of glass to form the light and shade of so real a sail, which, even with the brush, could only be equalled by a great effort. besides all this, there is a fisherman who is standing on a rock and fishing with a line, whose attitude is expressive of the extreme patience proper to that art, while his face betrays his hope and desire to catch something. beneath the navicella are three small arches painted in fresco, but as they are almost entirely effaced, i will say no more about them. all artists, however, unite in praise of these works. at last, when giotto had painted a large crucifix in tempera in the minerva, a church of the friars preachers, which was then much admired, he returned to his own country, from which he had been absent for six years. but soon after pope clement v. was elected at perugia, on the death of pope benedict ix., and giotto was obliged to accompany the new pontiff to his court at avignon to execute some works there. thus, not only in avignon, but in several other places of france, he painted many very beautiful frescoes and pictures, which greatly delighted the pope and all his court. when he at length received his dismissal, he was sent away kindly with many gifts, so that he returned, home no less rich than honoured and famous. among other things which he brought away with him was the pope's portrait, which he afterwards gave to taddeo gaddi, his pupil. the date of this return to florence was the year . but he was not long permitted to remain in florence, as he was invited to padua to do some work for the lords della scala, for whom he painted a beautiful chapel in the santo, a church built in those times. he thence proceeded to verona, where he did some pictures for the palace of messer cane, particularly the portrait of that lord, and a picture for the friars of s. francesco. on the completion of these things he was detained at ferrara, on his way back to tuscany, to paint for the lords of esti in their palace and s. agostino some things which may be seen there to this day. when the news of giotto's presence at ferrara reached the florentine poet dante, he succeeded in inducing his friend to visit ravenna, where the poet was exiled, and caused him to paint some frescoes about the church of s. francesco for the lords of polenta, which are of considerable merit. from ravenna giotto proceeded to urbino, and did a few things there. afterwards he happened to be passing through arezzo, and being unable to refuse a favour to piero saccone, who had been very kind to him, he executed in fresco, on a pillar of the principal chapel of the vescovado, a st martin, who is cutting his mantle in two and giving part of it to a beggar who is all but naked. then, when he had painted in tempera a large crucifix in wood for the abbey of s. fiore, which is now in the middle of that church, he at length reached florence. here, among many other things, he painted some pictures in fresco and tempera for the nunnery of faenza, which no longer exist owing to the destruction of that house. in occurred the death of giotto's dearest friend dante, to his great grief; and in the following year he went to lucca, where, at the request of castruccio, then lord of that city, his birthplace, he made a picture of st martin, with christ above in the air, and the four patron saints of the city--st peter, st regulus, st martin, and st paulinus--who seem to be presenting a pope and an emperor, believed by many to be frederick of bavaria and the anti-pope nicholas v. there are also some who believe that giotto designed the impregnable fortress of the giusta at s. fridiano at lucca. when giotto had returned to florence, king robert of naples wrote to his eldest son charles, king of calabria, who was then in that city, to use every means to induce the painter to go to naples, where the king had just completed the building of the nunnery of s. chiara and the royal church, which he wished to have decorated with noble paintings. when giotto learned that he was wanted by so popular and famous a king, he departed to serve him with the greatest alacrity, and on his arrival he painted many scenes from the old and new testaments in some chapels of the monastery. it is said that the scenes from the apocalypse which he made in one of those chapels were suggested by dante, as also perchance were some of the much-admired works at assisi, of which i have already spoken at length; and although dante was dead at this time, it is possible that they had talked over these things, as friends frequently do. to return to naples, giotto did many works in the castel dell' uovo, especially in the chapel, which greatly delighted the king, who became so fond of him that he often came to talk with the artist while he was at work, and took delight in seeing him at work and in listening to his conversation. giotto, who always had a jest ready or some sharp retort, entertained the king with his hand in painting and with his tongue by his pleasant discourse. thus it once happened that the king told him it was his intention to make him the first man in naples, to which giotto replied: "no doubt that is why i am lodged at the porta reale to be the first man in naples." another day the king said to him: "giotto, if i were you, this hot day, i would leave off painting for a while." he answered: "so i should, certainly, if i were you." being thus on very friendly terms with the king, he painted a good number of pictures for him in the chamber which king alfonso i. pulled down to make the castle, and also in the incoronata, and among those in the chamber were the portraits of many famous men, giotto among the number. one day, by some caprice, the king asked giotto to paint his kingdom. it is said that giotto painted for him a saddled ass, with another new saddle at its feet at which it was sniffing, as if he wished for it in place of the one he had on. on each saddle were the royal crown and the sceptre of power. when the king asked giotto for the meaning of this picture, he replied: "such are your subjects and such is the kingdom, where every day they are wanting to change their master." on his departure from naples for rome, giotto stayed at gaeta, where he was constrained to paint some subjects from the new testament in the nunziata, which have suffered from the ravages of time, but not to such an extent that it is not possible to distinguish a portrait of giotto himself near a large crucifix of great beauty. this done, he remained a few days at rome, in the service of the signor malatesta, whom he could not refuse this favour, and then he went on to rimini, of which city malatesta was lord, and there in the church of s. francesco he painted a large number of pictures, which were afterwards destroyed by gismondo, son of pandolfo malatesta, who rebuilt the whole of that church. in the cloister of the same church, towards the church front, he painted in fresco the life of the blessed michelina, which ranks with the best things which he ever did, on account of the many fine things which he took into consideration in executing it, for, quite apart from the beauty of the drapery and the grace and vigour of the heads, which are truly marvellous, there is a young woman of the most exquisite beauty, who in order to free herself from an accusation of adultery, takes a most solemn oath upon a book, keeping her eyes fixed on those of her husband, who has made her swear because his suspicions had been aroused by her giving birth to a black son, whom he could not be persuaded to acknowledge as his own. just as the husband shows his anger and mistrust in his face, so his wife betrays, to those who look carefully at her, her innocence and simplicity, by the trouble in her face and eyes, and the wrong which is done to her in making her swear and in proclaiming her publicly as an adulteress. giotto has also expressed with great realism a man afflicted with sores, as all the women who are about him, disgusted by the stench, turn away with various contortions in the most graceful manner imaginable. then again the foreshortening in a picture containing a number of lame beggars is highly praiseworthy, and should be much prized by artists, since it is from these works that the origin of foreshortening is derived; and when it is remembered that they are the first, they must be considered very tolerable achievements. but the most remarkable thing of all in this series is the action of the saint with regard to certain usurers who are paying her the money realised by the sale of her possessions, which she intends to give to the poor. her face displays contempt for money and other earthly things, which she seems to abhor, while the usurers are the very picture of human avarice and greed. similarly the face of one who is counting the money, which he appears to be communicating to the notary who is writing, is very fine, for although his eyes are turned towards the notary, yet he keeps his hand over the money, thus betraying his greed, avarice, and mistrust. also the three figures in the air representing obedience, patience, and poverty, who are holding up the habit of st francis, are worthy of the highest praise, chiefly on account of the natural folds of the drapery, showing that giotto was born to throw light on the art of painting. finally he has introduced into this work a portrait of the signor malatesta in a ship, which is most life-like; and his excellence is also displayed in the vigour, disposition, and posture of the sailors and other people, particularly of one figure who is speaking with others and putting his hand to his face spits into the sea. certainly these things may be classed among the very best works in painting produced by the master, because, in spite of the large number of figures, there is not one which is not produced with the most consummate art, being at the same time exhibited in an attractive posture. accordingly there is small need for wonder that the signor malatesta loaded him with rewards and praise. when giotto had completed his works for this signor, he did a st thomas aquinas reading to his brethren for the outside of the church door of s. cataldo at rimini at the request of the prior, who was a florentine. having set out thence he returned to ravenna, where he executed a much admired painting in fresco in a chapel of s. giovanni evangelista. when he next returned to florence, laden with honours and riches, he made a large wooden crucifix in tempera for s. marco, of more than life-size, with a gold ground, and it was put on the right-hand side of the church. he made another like it for s. maria novella, in which his pupil puccio capanna collaborated with him. this is now over the principal entrance to the church, on the right-hand side, above the tomb of the gaddi. for the same church he made a st louis, for paolo di lotto ardinghelli, with portraits of the donor and his wife at the saint's feet. this picture is placed on the screen. in the following year, , occurred the death of guido tarlati da pietramala, bishop and lord of arezzo, at massa di maremma, on his return from lucca, where he had been visiting the emperor. his body was brought to arezzo, where it received the honour of a stately funeral, and pietro saccone and dolfo da pietramala, the bishop's brother, determined to erect a marble tomb which should be worthy of the greatness of such a man, who had been both spiritual and temporal lord and the leader of the ghibelline party in tuscany. accordingly they wrote to giotto, desiring him to design a very rich tomb, as ornate as possible; and when they had supplied him with the necessary measurements, they asked him to send them at once the man who was, in his opinion, the most excellent sculptor then living in italy, for they relied entirely upon his judgment. giotto, who was very courteous, prepared the design and sent it to them, and from it the tomb was made, as will be said in the proper place. now pietro saccone was a great admirer of giotto's worth, and when, not long after, he took the borgo a s. sepolero, he brought from that place to arezzo a picture by the artist's hand, of small figures, which was afterwards broken into fragments; but baccio gondi, a florentine of gentle birth, a lover of the noble arts and of every kind of virtue, made a diligent search for the pieces of this picture when he was commissioner at arezzo, and succeeded in finding some. he brought them to florence, where he holds them in great veneration, as well as some other things in his possession, also by giotto, who produced so much that an enumeration of all his works would excite incredulity. it is not many years since that i happened to be at the hermitage of camaldoli, where i have done a number of things for the fathers, and in a cell to which i was taken by the very rev. don antonio da pisa, then general of the congregation of camaldoli, i saw a very beautiful crucifix, on a gold ground, by giotto, with his signature. i am informed by the rev. don silvano razza, a camaldolian monk, that this crucifix is now in the cell of the principal, where it is treasured for its author's sake as a most precious thing, together with a very beautiful little picture by the hand of raphael of urbino. for the umiliati brethren of ognissanti at florence giotto painted a chapel and four pictures, one of them representing our lady surrounded by a number of angels, with the child at her neck, on a large crucifix of wood, the design of which was subsequently copied by puccio capanna, and reproduced in every part of italy, for he closely followed giotto's style. when this work of the lives was printed for the first time, the screen of that church contained a picture painted in tempera by giotto, representing the death of our lady, surrounded by the apostles, while christ receives her soul into his arms. the work has been much praised by artists, and especially by michelagnolo buonarotti who declared, as is related elsewhere, that it was not possible to represent this scene in a more realistic manner. this picture, being as i say held in great esteem, has been carried away since the publication of the first edition of this work, by one who may possibly have acted from love of art and reverence for the work, which may have seemed then to be too little valued, and who thus from motives of pity showed himself pitiless, as our poet says. it is certainly a marvel that giotto should have produced such beautiful paintings in those times, especially when it is considered that he may in a certain sense be said to have learned the art without a master. after these things, in the year , on the ninth day of july, he began work on the campanile of s. maria del fiore, the foundations of which were laid on a surface of large stones, after the ground had been dug out to a depth of braccia, the materials excavated being water and gravel. on this surface he laid braccia of concrete, the remaining braccia being filled up with masonry. in the inauguration of this work the bishop of the city took part, laying the first stone with great ceremonial in the presence of all the clergy and magistrates. as the work was proceeding on its original plan, which was in the german style in use at the time, giotto designed all the subjects comprised in the ornamentation, and marked out with great care the distribution of the black, white, and red colours in the arrangement of the stones and lines. the circuit of the tower at the base was braccia, or braccia on each side, and the height braccia. if what lorenzo di cione giberti has written be true, and i most firmly believe it, giotto not only made the model of this campanile, but also executed some of the marble sculptures in relief, which represent the origin of all the arts. lorenzo asserts that he had seen models in relief by the hand of giotto, and particularly those of these works, and this may readily be credited, since design and invention are the father and mother of all the fine arts, and not of one only. according to giotto's model, the campanile should have received a pointed top or quadrangular pyramid over the existing structure, braccia in height, but because it was a german thing, and in an old-fashioned style, modern architects have always discountenanced its construction, considering the building to be better as it is. for all these things giotto received the citizenship of florence, in addition to a pension of one hundred gold florins yearly from the commune of florence, a great thing in those days. he was also appointed director of the work which was carried on after him by taddeo gaddi, as he did not live long enough to see its completion. while the campanile was in progress, giotto made a picture for the nuns of s. giorgio, and three half-length figures in the badia of florence, in an arch over the doorway inside, now whitewashed over to lighten the church. in the great hall of the podesta at florence, he painted a representation of the commune, which has been appropriated by many people. the figure represents a judge, seated with a sceptre in his hand, over whose head are the scales, equally poised to indicate the just measures meted out by him, while he is assisted by four virtues, fortitude with the soul, prudence with the laws, justice with arms, and temperance with words; a fine painting, and an appropriate and plausible idea. giotto made a second visit to padua, where besides painting a number of chapels and other things, he executed a famous series of pictures in the place of the arena, which brought him much honour and profit. in milan also he left a few things which are scattered about the city, and which are considered very beautiful to this day. at length, shortly after his return from milan, he rendered his soul to god in the year , to the great grief of all his fellow-citizens, and of all those who had known him or even heard his name, for he had produced so many beautiful works in his life, and was as good a christian as he was an excellent painter. he was buried with honour, as his worth deserved, for in his life he was beloved by everyone, and especially by distinguished men of every profession. besides dante, of whom we have spoken above, he and his works were highly esteemed by petrarch, who in his will left to signor francesco da carrara, lord of padua, among other things which were held in the greatest veneration, a madonna by giotto's hand, as a rare thing, and the gift most worthy to be offered to him. the words of this part of the will ran thus:--_transeo ad dispositionem aliarum rerum; et predicto igitur domino meo paduano, quia et ipse per dei gratiam nan eget, et ego nihil aliud habeo dignum se, mitto tabulam meam sive historiam beatæ vlrginis mariae, operis jocti pictoris egregii, quæ mihi ab amico meo michaele vannis de florentia missa est, in cujus pulchritudinem ignorantes non intelligunt, magistri autem artis stupent: hanc iconem ipsi domino lego, ut ipsa virgo benedicta sibi sit propitia apud filium suum jesum christum, &c_. it was petrarch also who said the following words in the fifth book of his familiari written to his intimate friends: _atquc (ut a veteribus ad nova, ab externis ad nostra transgrediar) duos ego novi pictores egregios, nec formosos, jottum florentinorum civem, cujus inter modernos fama urgens est, et simonem sanensem. novi scultores aliquot, &c_. giotto was buried in s. maria del fiore, on the left hand as one enters the church, where a white marble slab is set up to the memory of this great man. as i remarked in the life of cimabue, a contemporary commentator of dante said: "giotto was, and is the chief among the painters in that same city of florence, as his works in rome, naples, avignon, florence, padua, and many other parts of the world testify." giotto's pupils were taddeo gaddi, his godson as i have already said, and puccio capanna, a florentine, who painted for the dominican church of s. cataldo at rimini a most perfect fresco representing a ship apparently about to sink, while the men are throwing their goods into the water. puccio has here portrayed himself in the midst of the sailors. after giotto's death, the same artist painted a number of things in the church of s. francesco at assisi, and for the chapel of the strozzi, beside the door on the river front of the church of trinita he did in fresco a coronation of the virgin with a choir of angels, in which he followed giotto's style rather closely, while on the side walls are some very well executed scenes from the life of st lucy. in the badia of florence he painted the chapel of s. giovanni evangelista of the family of the covoni, which is next to the sacristy. at pistoia he did frescoes in the principal chapel of s. francesco, and the chapel of s. ludovico, with scenes from the lives of the patron saints, which are very tolerable productions. in the middle of the church of s. domenico in the same city is a crucifix with a madonna and st john, executed with much softness, and at the feet an entire human skeleton, an unusual thing at that time, which shows that puccio had made efforts to understand the principles of his art. this work contains his name, written after this fashion: _puccio di fiorenza me fece_. in the same church, in the tympanum above the door of s. maria nuova are three half-length figures,--our lady, with the child on her arm, st peter on the one side and st francis on the other, by the same artist. in the lower church of s. francesco at assisi he further painted in fresco some scenes from the passion of jesus christ, with considerable skill and much vigour, and in the chapel of s. maria degli angeli of that church he executed in fresco a christ in glory, with the virgin, who is interceding with him for christian people, a work of considerable merit, but much smoked by the lamps and candles which are always burning there in great quantity. in truth, so far as one can judge, although puccio adopted the style and methods of his master giotto, yet he did not make sufficient use of them in his works, although, as some assert, he did not live long, but sickened and died through working too much in fresco. his hand may also be recognised in the chapel of st martin in the same church, in the history of the saint, done in fresco for the cardinal gentile. in the middle of a street called portica may also be seen a christ at the column, and a picture of our lady between st catherine and st clare. his works are scattered about in many other places, such as bologna, where there is a picture of the passion of christ in the transept of the church, and scenes from the life of st francis, besides other things which i omit for the sake of brevity. but at assisi, where the majority of his works are, and where i believe he helped giotto to paint, i found that they consider him to be a fellow-citizen, and there are some members of the family of the capanni in that city to this day. from this we may gather that he was born in florence, since he himself wrote that he was a pupil of giotto, but that he took his wife from assisi, and had children there, whose descendants still inhabit the town. but this matter is of very slight importance, and it is enough to know that he was a skilful master. another pupil of giotto, and a very skilful painter was ottaviano da faenza, who painted many things in s. giorgio at ferrara, a convent of the monks of monte oliveto. in faenza, where he lived and died, he painted in the tympanum above the door of s. francesco, our lady and st peter and st paul, and many other things in his own country and at bologna. another pupil was pace di faenza, who was often with his master, and helped him in many things. at bologna there are some scenes in fresco by his hand on the outside front of s. giovanni decollato. this pace was a clever artist, especially in painting small figures, as may be seen to-day in the church of s. francesco at forli, in a tree of the cross and in a panel in tempera containing the life of christ, and four small subjects from the life of our lady, which are all very well executed. it is said that he executed in fresco for the chapel of st anthony at assisi, some scenes from the life of that saint for a duke of spoleto, who is buried there with a son. these two princes had been killed while fighting in the suburbs of assisi, as may be seen by a long inscription on the sarcophagus of their tomb. the old book of the company of painters records that one francesco, called "of master giotto," was another pupil of the master, but i know nothing more about him. yet another pupil of giotto was guglielmo da forli, who, besides many other works, painted the chapel of the high altar for s. domenico at forli, his native place. other pupils were pietro laureati, simone memmi of siena, stefano of florence, and pietro cavallini of rome. but as i intend to deal fully with these in their lives, i shall content myself here with simply saying that they were pupils of giotto. that the master drew extremely well for his day may be seen on a number of parchments containing some water colours, pen and ink drawings, chiaroscuros with the lights in white, by his hand, in our book of designs, which are truly marvellous when compared with those of the masters who preceded him, and afford a good example of his style. as has been said, giotto was a very witty and pleasant person, very ready in speech, many of his sayings being still fresh in the memory of his fellow-citizens. besides the one related by m. giovanni boccaccio, several very good stories are told by franco sacchetti in his "three hundred tales." i give one in the author's own words, because it contains many expressions and phrases characteristic of the time. the rubric of this one runs: "giotto, the great painter, is requested by a person of low birth to paint his buckler. making a jest of the matter, he paints it so as to cover the applicant with confusion." tale lxiii. every one must have heard of giotto, and how as a painter he surpassed all others. his fame came to the ears of a rude artizan, who, having to do service in some castle, wanted his buckler painted. accordingly he presented himself abruptly at giotto's workshop, with a man to carry the buckler behind him. he found giotto in, and began: "god save thee, master, i want to have my arms painted on this buckler." giotto took stock of the man and his manners, but he said nothing except "when do you want it," and the man told him. "leave it to me," said giotto, and the man departed. when giotto was alone he reflected: "what is the meaning of this? has someone sent him here to play a trick on me? be that as it may, no one has ever before brought me a buckler to paint. and the fellow who brought it is a simple creature, and asks me to paint his arms as if he was of the royal house of france. decidedly i shall have to make him some new arms." reflecting thus with himself he sat down before the buckler, and having designed what he thought proper, he called a pupil and told him to complete the painting of it, which he accordingly did. the painting represented a light helmet, a gorget, a pair of arm pieces, a pair of iron gauntlets, a pair of cuirasses, a pair of cuisses and gambadoes, a sword, a knife, and a lance. when the worthy man returned, who knew nothing of all this, he came up and said: "master, is the buckler finished." "oh yes," said giotto, "go you and bring it here." when it arrived this gentleman by proxy looked hard at it and said to giotto: "what rubbish have you painted here?" "will you think it rubbish to pay for it?" said giotto. "i won't pay you four deniers," said the man. "what did you ask me to paint?" asked giotto. "my arms," replied the man. "well," said giotto, "are they not here, are any wanting?" "that is so," said the man. "a plague on you," said giotto, "you must needs be very simple. if anyone asked you who you were you would be at a loss to tell him, and yet you come here and say, 'paint me my arms.' if you had been one of the bardi, well and good, but what arms do you bear? where do you come from? who were your ancestors? begin at least by coming into the world before you talk of arms as if you were the dusnam of bavaria. i have represented all your arms on the buckler, and if you have any more tell me and i will have them painted." "you have given me rough words," said the man, "and spoilt my buckler." he then departed to the justice, and procured a summons against giotto. the latter appeared, and on his side issued a summons against the man for two florins, as the price of the painting. when the magistrates had heard the arguments, which were much better advanced on giotto's side, they adjudged that the man should take away his buckler, and give six lire to giotto, because he was in the right. accordingly the rustic took his buckler, paid the money, and was allowed to go. thus this man, who did not know his place, had it pointed out to him, and may this befall all such fellows who wish to have arms and found houses, and whose antecedents have often been picked up at the foundling hospitals! it is said that while giotto was still a boy, and with cimabue, he once painted a fly on the nose of a figure which cimabue had made, so naturally that when his master turned round to go on with his work, he more than once attempted to drive the fly away with his hand, believing it to be real, before he became aware of his mistake. i could tell many more of giotto's practical jokes, and relate many of his sharp retorts, but i wish to confine myself to the things which concern the arts, and i must leave the rest to franco and the others. in conclusion, in order that giotto should not be without a memorial, in addition to the works which came from his hand, and to the notices left by the writers of his day, since it was he who found once again the true method of painting, which had been lost many years before his time, it was decreed by public order that his bust in marble, executed by benedetto da maiano, an excellent sculptor, should be placed in s. maria del fiore. this was due to the activity and zeal displayed by lorenzo dei medici, the magnificent, the elder, who greatly admired giotto's talents. the following verses by that divine man, messer angelo poliziano, were inscribed on the monument, so that all men who excelled in any profession whatever, might hope to earn such a memorial, which giotto, for his part, had most richly deserved and earned: ille ego sum, per quem pictura extincta revixit, cui quam recta manus. tam fuit et facilis. naturae deerat nostrae, quod defait arti: plus licuit nulli pingere, nec melius. miraris turrim egregiam sacro aere sonantem? haec quoque de modulo crevit ad astra meo. denique sum jottus, quid opus fuit illa referre? hoc nomen longi carminis instar erit. and in order that those who come after may see by giotto's own designs the nature of the excellence of this great man, there are some magnificent specimens in my book, which i have collected with great care as well as with much trouble and expense. agostino and agnolo, sculptors and architects of siena. among the others who worked in the school of the sculptors giovanni and niccola pisani were agostino and agnolo, sculptors of siena, whose lives we are now writing, and who achieved great success according to the standard of the time. i have discovered that their father and mother were both sienese, and their antecedents were architects, for the fontebranda was completed by them in the year , under the government of the three consols, and in the following year they founded the custom house and other buildings of siena, under the same consulship. indeed it is often seen that where the seeds of talent have existed for a long time they often germinate and put forth shoots so that they afterwards produce greater and better fruit than the first plants had done. thus agostino and agnolo added many improvements to the style of giovanni and niccola pisani, and enriched art with better designs and inventions, as their works clearly show. it is said that when giovanni pisano returned to pisa from naples in the year , he stopped at siena to design and found the façade of the duomo, where the three principal doors are, so that it should be entirely adorned with marble. it was then that agostino, who was not more than fifteen years of age at the time, associated with him in order to study sculpture, of which he had learned the first principles, being no less attracted by that art than by architecture. under giovanni's instruction and by means of unremitting study he surpassed all his fellow-pupils in design, grace and style, so that everyone remarked that he was his master's right eye. and because it is natural to desire for those whom one loves beyond all other gifts of nature, mind or fortune, that quality of worth which alone renders men great and noble in this life and blessed in the next, agostino took advantage of giovanni's presence to secure the same advantages for his younger brother agnolo; nor was if very difficult to do so, for the practice already enjoyed by agnolo with agostino and the other sculptors, and the honour and benefits which he perceived could be gained from this art, had so inflamed him with a desire to take up the study of sculpture, that he had already made a few things in secret before the idea had occurred to agostino. the elder brother was engaged with giovanni in making the marble reliefs for the high altar of the vescovado of arezzo, which has been mentioned above, and he succeeded in securing the co-operation of agnolo in that work, who did so well, that when it was completed, it was found that he had surpassed agostino in excellence. when this became known to giovanni, he employed both brothers in many other works undertaken by him subsequently in pistoia, pisa, and other places. and because agostino practised architecture as well as sculpture, it was not long before he designed a palace in malborghetto for the nine who then ruled in siena, that is to say, in the year . the execution of this work won the brothers such a reputation in their native place, that, when they returned to siena after the death of giovanni, they were both appointed architects of the state, so that in the year the north front of the duomo was made under their direction, and in the building of the wall of the porta romana, then known as the porta s. martino, was begun from their plans in its present style, being finished in . they restored the tufi gate, originally called the gate of s. agata all arco, and in the same year the church and convent of s. francesco were begun from their design, in the presence of the cardinal of gaeta, the papal legate. not long afterwards agostino and agnolo were invited by means of some of the tolomei who were staying in exile at orvieto, to make some sculptures for the work of s. maria in that city. going thither they made in sculpture some prophets which are now on the façade, and are the finest and best proportioned parts of that celebrated work. now in the year it chanced that giotto was summoned to naples by means of charles, duke of calabria, who was then staying in florence, to do some things in s. chiara and other places there for king robert, as has been related in that master's life. on his way to naples giotto stopped at orvieto to see the work which had been executed there and which was still being carried on by so many men, wishing to examine everything minutely. but the prophets of agostino and agnolo of siena pleased him more than all the other sculptures, from which circumstance it arose that giotto not only commended them, but counted them among the number of his friends, to their great delight, and further recommended them to piero saccone of pietramala, as the best sculptors of the day, and the best fitted to make the tomb of guido, the lord and bishop of arezzo, a matter referred to in the life of giotto. thus the fact that giotto had seen the work of many sculptors at orvieto and had considered that of agostino and agnolo of siena to be the best, gave rise to their being commissioned to make this tomb after his designs and in accordance with the model which he had sent to piero saccone. they finished the tomb in the space of four years, conducting the work with great care, and they set it up in the chapel of the sacrament in the church of the vescovado of arezzo. above the sarcophagus, which rests on brackets carved in a really admirable manner, is stretched the form of the bishop, in marble, while at the side are some angels drawing curtains, done with considerable skill. twelve square panels contain scenes of the life and acts of the bishop in an infinite number of small figures carved in half-relief. i do not think it too much trouble to relate the subjects of these scenes, so that it may appear with what labour they were executed, and how these sculptors endeavoured to discover the good style by study. the first shows how the bishop, aided by the ghibelline party of milan, who sent him masons and money, entirely rebuilt the wall of arezzo, lengthening it more than it had previously been so that it took the shape of a galley. the second is the taking of lucignano di valdichiana; the third, that of chiusi; the fourth, that of fronzoli, a strong castle of that time above poppi, held by the sons of the count of battifolle. the fifth contains the final surrender to the bishop of the castle of rondine, after it had been besieged by the aretines for many months. the sixth is the capture of the castle del bucine in valdarno. the seventh contains the storming of the rocca di caprese, which belonged to the count of romena, after it had been besieged for several months. in the eighth the bishop is dismantling the castle of laterino, and causing the hill which rises above it to be cut in form of a cross, so that it should not be possible to make another fortress there. the ninth represents the destruction and burning of monte sansavino and the driving out of all the inhabitants. the eleventh contains the bishop's coronation, with a number of richly dressed soldiers, both horse and foot, and of other people. the twelfth and last represents the bishop being carried by his men from montenero, where he fell sick, to massa, and thence, after his death, to arezzo. in many places about the tomb are the ghibelline insignia and the bishop's arms, which are six-squared stones or on a field _azure_, following the same arrangements as the six balls in the arms of the medici. these arms of the bishop's house were described by friar guittone, knight and poet of arezzo, when he wrote of the site of the castle of pietramala, whence the family derived its origin, in the lines: dove si scontra il giglion con la chiassa ivi furon i miei antecessori, che in campo azzurro d'or portan sei sassa. agnolo and agostino displayed more art, invention, and diligence in this work than had ever been employed on anything before their time. and indeed they deserve the highest praise, having introduced into it so many figures, such a variety of landscapes, places, towns, horses, men, and other things, that it is a veritable marvel. and although the tomb has been almost entirely destroyed by the french of the duke of anjou, who sacked the greater part of the city in revenge for some injuries received by them from their enemies, yet it is still clear that it was executed with the most excellent judgment by agostino and agnolo, who carved on it in rather large letters: _hoc opus fecit magister augustinus et magister angelus de senis_. in they did a marble bas-relief for the church of s. francesco at bologna, which is in a very fair manner, and besides the carved ornamentation, which is very fine, they introduced figures a braccia and a half high, of christ crowning our lady, with three similar figures on either side, st francis, st james, st domenic, st anthony of padua, st petronio, and st john the evangelist, and under each of these figures is carved in bas-relief a scene from the life of the saint above. all these scenes contain a great number of half-length figures, which make a rich and beautiful ornamentation after the manner of those times. it is very apparent that agostino and agnolo threw an immense amount of labour into this work, and that they applied all their care and knowledge to make it worthy of praise, as it truly was, and even now when it is half destroyed, it is possible to read their names and the date, by means of which and of a knowledge of the time when they began it, one may see that they spent eight whole years upon it, although it is true that at the same time they made many other small things in different places for various persons. now while they were at work at bologna, that city gave itself freely to the church, through the mediation of the papal legate, and the pope in return promised that he and his court would go to live at bologna, but that for his security he wished to build a castle or fortress there. this was granted by the bolognese, and the castle was quickly built under the direction and from the design of agostino and agnolo; but it had a very short life, for when the bolognese discovered that all the promises made by the pope were vain, they dismantled and destroyed it much more quickly than it had been made. it is said that while these two sculptors were staying at bologna, the po impetuously burst its banks, doing incredible damage to the territories of mantua and ferrara, causing the death of more than ten thousand persons, and wasting the country for miles around. being clever and worthy men, the assistance of agostino and agnolo was requested, and they succeeded in finding means of reducing that terrible river to its bed, and of confining it there with ditches and other effective remedies. this brought them much praise and benefit, for besides the fame which they acquired thereby, their services were acknowledged by the lords of mantua and by the house of este with most liberal rewards. when they next returned to siena in the year , the new church of s. maria, near the old duomo, towards the piazza manetti, was made under their direction from their design, and not long after, the sienese, who were greatly pleased with all the works which they executed for them, decided to seize this excellent opportunity of carrying into effect a plan which they had long discussed, but till then without any result, namely, the erection of a public fountain on the principal piazza opposite the palace of the signoria. the charge of this undertaking was entrusted to agostino and agnolo, and although it was a matter of great difficulty they brought water to the fountain by pipes made of lead and earth, and the first jet of water was thrown up on st june , to the great delight and contentment of all the city, which on this account was under a great obligation to the talent of these two citizens. at the same time the hall of the greater council was made in the palazzo del pubblico, and the same artists directed and designed the building of the tower of that palace, which they completed in the year , hanging two great bells on it, one of which came from grosseto, while the other was made at siena. in the course of time agnolo arrived at assisi, where he made a chapel in the lower church of s. francesco, and a marble tomb for a brother of napoleone orsini, a cardinal and a franciscan friar, who had died in that place. agostino, who had remained at siena in the service of the state, died while he was engaged upon the designs for the ornamentation of the piazza fountain, mentioned above, and was buried in the duomo with honour. i have not been able to discover how or when agnolo died, so that i can say nothing about it, nor do i know of any other works of importance by his hand, and so this is the end of their lives. it would, however, be an error, as i am following a chronological order, not to make mention of some, who, although they have not done things which would justify a narration of their whole life, have nevertheless in some measure added things of utility and beauty to art and to the world. therefore in connection with the mention made above of the vescovado and pieve of arezzo, let me here relate that pietro and paolo, goldsmiths of arezzo, who learned design from agnolo and agostino of siena, were the first who executed great works of any excellence with the chisel; for they made for the head priest of the pieve of arezzo a silver head of life-size, in which was put the head of st donato, bishop and protector of that city, a work which was certainly praiseworthy, if only because they introduced into it some figures in enamel, which were, as i have said, among the first things executed with the chisel. about the same time, or shortly before, the art of the calimara at florence, entrusted to master cione, an excellent goldsmith, the greater part, if not the whole, of the silver altar of s. giovanni batista, which contains many scenes from the life of that saint, engraved in a very creditable manner on a silver plate. this work, on account of its dimensions, and the novelty of its execution, was considered marvellous by everyone who saw it. the same master cione, in , when the body of st zenobius was found under the vaults of st reparata, placed in a silver head of life-size, the piece of the head of that saint which is still preserved therein, and is carried in procession. this head was considered a most beautiful thing at the time, and brought much reputation to the artist, who died soon after, a wealthy man, and held in high esteem. master cione left many pupils, and among others, forzore di spinello of arezzo, who did all manner of engraving excellently, but was especially good in making scenes in enamel on silver, such as may be seen in the vescovado at arezzo, for which he made a mitre with a beautiful border of enamel, and a fine pastoral staff in silver. he also executed many things in silver for the cardinal galeotto da pietramala, who bequeathed them to the friars of la vernia, where he wished to be buried, and where, besides the wall, which the count orlando, lord of chiusi, a small castle below la vernia, had caused to be set up, he built the church and many rooms in the convent, and all this without leaving any notice or other memorial of himself in any part of that place. another pupil of master cione was lionardo di ser giovanni of florence, who executed a number of works with the chisel and with solder, with a better design than those who preceded him, especially the altar and silver bas-reliefs of s. jacopo at pistoia, where, beside a large number of subjects, the half-length figure of st james, more than a braccia high, is much admired. it is in full relief, and finished with such elaboration, that it seems to have been cast rather than engraved. the figure is placed in the midst of the scenes of the altar table, about which runs a legend in letters of enamel: ad honorem dei et s. jacobi apostoli, hoc opus factum fuit tempore domini franc. pagni dictae operae operarii sub anno per me leonardum ser jo. de floren. aurific. now to return to agostino and agnolo, they had many pupils who produced many works after them in architecture and sculpture in lombardy and other places in italy. among them was jacopo lanfrani of venice, who founded s. francesco of imola, and executed the sculptures for the principal door, where he carved his name and the date, ; for the church of s. domenico at bologna the same master jacopo made a marble tomb for gio. andrea calduino, doctor of law and secretary of pope clement vi., and another very well executed also in marble and in the same church for taddeo peppoli, protector of the people and of justice at bologna. in the same year, that is to say in , after the completion of this tomb, or shortly before, master jacopo returned to his native venice and there founded the church of s. antonio, which was originally of wood, at the request of a florentine abbot of the ancient family of the abati, m. andrea dandolo, being doge at the time. this church was completed in the year . then again jacobello and pietro paolo, venetians, who were pupils of agostino and agnolo, erected in s. domenico at bologna a marble tomb for m. giovanni da lignano, doctor of laws, in the year . all these and many other sculptors continued for a long space of time to employ the same manner, so that they filled all italy with examples of it. it is further believed that the native of pesaro, who besides many other things did the door of the church of s. domenico in his native town, with the three marble figures of god the father, st john the baptist and st mark, was a pupil of agostino and agnolo, and the style of the work gives colour to the supposition. this work was completed in the year . but since it would take much too long to enter into particulars of the works made in this style by many masters of the time, i will let what i have said, in this general way, suffice, chiefly because they have not exercised a great influence upon our arts. yet i thought it good to mention these men, because even if they do not deserve a long notice, yet they are not so insignificant as to be altogether passed over in silence. stefano, painter of florence, and ugolino of siena. stefano, painter of florence and pupil of giotto, was so excellent that not only did he surpass all the artists who had studied the arts before him, but he so far surpassed his master himself that he was deservedly considered the best of the painters up to that time, as his works clearly prove. he painted the madonna in fresco for the campo santo at pisa, and it is somewhat superior in design and colouring to the work of giotto. in the cloister of s. spirito at florence he painted three arches in fresco, in the first of which, containing the transfiguration with moses and elias, he represented the three disciples in fine and striking attitudes. he has formed a fine conception of the dazzling splendour which astonished them, their clothes being in disorder, and falling in new folds, a thing first seen in this picture, as he tried to base his work upon the nude figures, an idea which had not occurred to anyone before, no not even to giotto himself. under that arch, in which he made a christ releasing a demoniac, he drew an edifice in perspective, perfectly, in a style then little known, displaying improved form and more science. he further executed it in the modern manner with great judgment, and displayed such art and such invention and proportion in the columns, doors, windows and cornices, and such different methods from the other masters that it seemed as if he had begun to see some glimpses of the light of the good and perfect manner of the moderns. among other ingenious things he contrived a very difficult flight of steps, which are shown both in painting and in relief, and possess such design, variety, and invention, and are so useful and convenient that lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, the elder, made use of the design for the steps outside the palace of poggio a caiano, now the principal villa of the most illustrious duke. in the other arch is a representation of christ saving st peter from the fury of the waters, so well done that one seems to hear the voice of peter saying: _domine, salva nos, perimus_. this work is considered much finer than the other, because, besides the grace of the draperies, there is a sweetness in the bearing of the heads, a fear of the fortunes of the sea, while the terror of the apostles at various motions and appearances of the water, are represented in very suitable attitudes and with great beauty. and although time has partly destroyed the labour expended by stefano on this work, one may still discern confusedly that the apostles are defending themselves with spirit from the fury of the winds and waves. this work, which has been highly praised by the moderns, must certainly have appeared a miracle in all tuscany at the time when it was produced, stefano then painted in the first cloister of s. maria novella a st thomas aquinas, next a door, where he also made a crucifix which has since been much damaged by other painters in restoring it. he also left unfinished a chapel in the church, which he began, now much damaged by time. in it may be seen the fall of the angels through the pride of lucifer, in divers forms. here it is noteworthy that the foreshortening of the arms, busts, and legs of the figures is much better done than ever before, and this shows us that stefano began to recognise and had partially overcome the difficulties which stand in the way of the highest excellence, the mastery of which by his successors, by means of unremitting study, has rendered their works so remarkable. for this cause artists have well named him the ape of nature. some time after stefano was invited to milan where he began many things for matteo visconti, but was not able to complete them, because having fallen sick owing to the change of air, he was compelled to return to florence. there he regained his strength and executed in fresco in the chapel of the asini in s. croce, the story of the martyrdom of st mark by being drawn asunder, with many figures which possess merit. as a pupil of giotto he was then invited to rome where he did in fresco for the principal chapel of st peter's, which contains the altar of that saint, some scenes from the life of christ between the windows of the large apse, with such care that he approaches very closely to the modern style and surpasses his master giotto in design and other things. after this he executed in fresco, at araceli, on a pillar beside the principal chapel on the left, a st louis, which is much admired because it possesses a vivacity which had not been apparent in any works up to that time, not even in those of giotto. indeed stefano had great facility in design, as may be seen in a drawing by his hand in our book, in which the transfiguration is represented which he made for the cloister of s. spirito, and indeed in my opinion he designed much better than giotto. he next went to assisi and in the apse of the principal chapel of the lower church, where the choir is, he began a representation in fresco of the heavenly glory; and although he did not finish it, what he did perform shows that he used the utmost diligence. in this work he began a series of saints with such beautiful variety in the faces of the youths, the men of middle age and the old men, that nothing better could be desired, and those blessed spirits exhibit so sweet and so united a style that it appears all but impossible that they could have been done by stefano at that time. he however did execute them, although no more than the heads of the figures are finished. above them is a choir of angels rejoicing in various attitudes, appropriately carrying theological symbols in their hands. all are turned towards a crucified christ who is in the midst of the work immediately above a st francis, who is surrounded by a multitude of saints. besides this he made some angels as a border for the work, each of them holding one of those churches of which st john the evangelist writes in the apocalypse. these angels are represented with such grace that i am amazed to find a man of that age capable of producing them. stefano began this work with the intention of thoroughly completing it, and he would have succeeded had he not been forced to leave it imperfect and to return to florence on some important affairs of his own. during this stay at florence and in order to lose no time, he painted for the granfigliazzi lung' arno, between their houses and the ponte alle carraia in a small tabernacle on one side, our lady seated sewing, to whom a clothed child who is seated, is offering a bird, done with such care that although it is small it merits no less praise than the more ambitious efforts of the master. on the completion of this work and the settling of his affairs, stefano was summoned to pistoia by the lords there, and was set by them to paint the chapel of st james in the year . in the vault he did a god the father with some apostles, and on the side walls the life of the saint, notably the scene where his mother, the wife of zebedee, asks jesus christ to permit that her two sons shall sit, one on his right hand and the other on his left in the kingdom of his father. near this is a fine presentation of the beheading of the saint. it is thought that maso, called giottino, of whom i shall speak afterwards, was the son of this stefano, and although, on account of his name, many believe him to be the son of giotto, i consider it all but certain that he was rather the son of stefano, both because of certain documents which i have seen, and also because of some notices written in good faith by lorenzo ghiberti and by domenico del grillandaio. however, this may be, and to return to stefano, to him is due the credit of the greatest improvement in painting since the days of giotto; because, besides being more varied in his inventions, he showed more unity in colouring and more shading than all the others, and above all, in diligence he had no rival. and although the foreshortenings which he made exhibit, as i have said, a bad manner owing to the difficulties of execution, yet as the first investigator of these difficulties he deserves a much higher place than those who follow after the path has been made plain for them. thus a great debt is due to stefano, because he who presses on through the darkness and shows the way, heartens the others, enabling them to overcome the difficulties of the way, so that in time they arrive at the desired haven. in perugia also, in the church of s. domenico, stefano began in fresco the chapel of st catherine which is still unfinished. at the same time there lived a sienese painter, called ugolino, of considerable repute, and a great friend of stefano. he did many pictures and chapels in all parts of italy. but he kept in great part to the byzantine style, to which he had become attached by habit, and always preferred, from a caprice of his own, to follow the manner of cimabue rather than that of giotto, which was held in such esteem. his works consist of a picture for the high altar of s. croce, on a gold ground, and another picture which stood for many years on the high altar of s. maria novella, and which is now in the chapter-house, where every year the spanish nation celebrates with a solemn feast the day of st james and its other offices and burial services. besides these he did many other things in a good style, but without in the least departing from the manner of his master. it was he who painted on a pillar of bricks in the loggia, which lapo had built on the piazza of orsanmichele, that madonna which, not many years after, worked so many miracles that the loggia was for a great time full of images, and to this day is held in the highest veneration. finally, in the chapel of m. ridolfo de' bardi, in s. croce, where giotto painted the life of st francis, he did a crucifix in tempera with the magdalene and st john weeping, and two friars on either side. ugolino died at an advanced age in the year , and was honourably buried at siena, his native place. but to return to stefano, who, they say, was also a good architect, and what has been said above makes this likely; he died, it is said, at the beginning of the jubilee of , at the age of forty-nine, and was buried at s. spirito in the tomb of his ancestors with this epitaph: stephano florentino pictori, faciundis imaginibus ac colorandis figuris nulli unquam inferiori; affines moestiss. pos. vix. an. xxxxix. pietro laurati, painter of siena. pietro laurati, an excellent painter of siena, proved by his life how great may be the contentment of men of undoubted talent, who realise that their works are valued, both in their native land and outside it, and who see themselves in request by all men; for in the course of his life he was employed and caressed by all tuscany. the first works which brought him into notice were the scenes which he painted in fresco in la scala, a hospital of siena, in which he imitated the style of giotto so successfully that these paintings became known throughout tuscany and gave rise to the well-founded belief that he would become a better master than cimabue, giotto, and the others, as he actually did. in these scenes he represented the virgin mounting the steps of the temple, accompanied by joachim and anna, and received by the priest; then her marriage, both remarkable for good ornamentation, well-draped figures with simple folds of the clothes, and a majesty in the carnage of the heads, while the disposition of the figures is in the finest style. during the progress of this work, which introduced the good style of painting to siena, being the first gleam of light for the many fine spirits who have flourished in that land in every age, pietro was summoned to monte oliveto di chiusuri, where he painted a picture in tempera which is now placed in the paradiso under the church. he next painted a tabernacle at florence, opposite the left door of the church of s. spirito, on the side where a butcher's shop now stands, which merits the highest praise from every attentive artist, on account of the grace of the heads and the smoothness which it exhibits. proceeding from florence to pisa, he did for the campo santo on the wall next the principal door, all the life of the holy fathers, with such striking reality and in such fine attitudes, that they rival giotto. for this work he won the highest praise, having expressed in some heads, in drawing and colour, all the vivacity of which the manner of the time was capable. from pisa he passed to pistoia, and in s. francesco did a picture of our lady in tempera, surrounded by some angels, very well arranged, the predella beneath containing some scenes with small figures, presented with a vigour and life remarkable for those times. this work satisfied him as much as it delighted others, and accordingly he put his name to it in these words: _petrus laurati de senis_. afterwards, in the year , pietro was summoned to arezzo by m. guglielmo, head priest, and by margarito boschi and the other wardens of the pieve of arezzo. this church had been brought to an advanced stage in a better style and manner than had been practised in tuscany up to that time, being ornamented with squared stones and carvings by the hand of margaritone, as has been said. there pietro painted in fresco the tribune and all the great apse of the chapel of the high altar, representing twelve scenes from the life of our lady, with life-size figures, from the chasing of joachim out of the temple, to the birth of jesus christ. in these works in fresco one meets with the ideas, lineaments, carriage of the heads, and attitudes of the figures characteristic of giotto, his master. and although the whole of this work is beautiful, yet the paintings in the vault of the apse are certainly much better than the rest, because, in the place where he represented the ascent of our lady to heaven, besides making the apostles four braccia high each, in which he showed his greatness of mind, being the first artist who attempted to aggrandise his style, he gave such a beautiful turn to the heads and such grace to the vestments that more could not have been desired in those days. in like manner he painted in the vaulting a choir of angels flying in the air about a madonna. as they gracefully dance they appear to be singing, with a joy truly angelic and divine; whilst they are playing various instruments their eyes are fixed and intent on another choir of angels, sustained by a cloud of almond shape bearing the madonna to heaven arranged in beautiful attitudes and surrounded by rainbows. this work, which was deservedly popular, procured him a commission to paint in tempera the picture of the high altar of that pieve, where in five panels of life-size figures, represented to the knees, he made our lady with the child on her arm, with st john the baptist and st matthew on one side of her, and on the other the evangelist and st donate. in the predella are many small figures, as well as in the frame of the picture above, all really fine and executed in the best style. i have entirely restored this altar at my own expense and with my own hands, so that this picture has been placed above the altar of st christopher, at the bottom of the church. i may take this opportunity, without appearing to be impertinent, of saying in this place that i have myself restored this ancient collegiate church, moved by christian piety and by the affection which i bear to the venerable building, because it was my first instructress in my early childhood. this i did also because it appeared to me to be as it were abandoned, and it may now be said to have been called back to life from the dead. besides increasing the light, for it was very dark, by enlarging the original windows and making new ones, i also took away the choir, which used to occupy a great part of the church, and put it behind the high altar, to the great satisfaction of the canons there. the new altar stands alone, and has on the table before it a christ calling peter and andrew from their nets, and on the side next the choir is another picture of st george killing the serpent. on the sides are four panels, each of which contains two saints of life-size. above and below in the predella are numerous other figures, which are omitted for the sake of brevity. the ornamentation of the altar is thirteen braccia high, and the predella two braccia. the interior is hollow and is approached by a staircase through a small iron door, very well arranged. many valuable relics are preserved there, which may be seen from the outside through two iron gratings in the front. among others is the head of st donato, bishop and protector of arezzo. in a chest of various materials, three braccia high, which i have caused to be newly made, are the bones of four saints. the predella of the altar, which entirely surrounds it, has in front of it the tabernacle or _ciborium_ of the sacrament, in carved wood, all gilt, about three braccia high, and it may be seen from the choir side as well as from the front. as i have spared neither pains nor expense, since i considered myself bound to do my best to honour god, i may venture to affirm that, so far as my ability would allow, this work lacks nothing in the way of ornament, whether of gold, carving, painting, marble, trevertine, porphyry, or other stones. now to return to pietro laurati. when he had completed the picture mentioned above, he did many things for st peter's at rome, which were afterwards destroyed in building the new church. he also executed some works at cortona and at arezzo, besides those already mentioned, and some others in the church of s. fiore e lucilla, a monastery of black monks, notably a representation in a chapel of st thomas putting his hand into the wound in christ's side. a pupil of pietro was bartolommeo bologhini of siena, who executed many pictures at siena and other places in italy. there is one by his hand at florence, on the altar of the chapel of st silvester in s. croce. the paintings of this man were executed about the year . in my book, which i have so often referred to, may be seen a drawing by pietro, representing a shoemaker sewing in a simple but most natural manner with an admirable expression. it affords a good example of pietro's peculiar style. his portrait by the hand of bartolommeo bologhini was in a picture at siena, where not many years ago i copied it, in the manner seen above. andrea pisano, sculptor and architect. while the art of painting has flourished, sculptors have never been lacking who could produce excellent work. to the attentive mind, the works of every age bear testimony to this fact, for the two arts are really sisters, born at the same time and nourished and animated by the same spirit. this is seen in andrea pisano, who practised sculpture in the time of giotto, and made so much improvement in that art, both by practice and study, that he was considered the best exponent of the profession who had until then appeared in tuscany, especially in casting bronze. for this reason his works were so honoured and prized by those who knew him, and especially by the florentines, that he was able without a pang to change his country, relations, property, and friends. it was a great advantage to him that the masters who had preceded him in sculpture had experienced so much difficulty in the art that their works were rough and common, so that those who saw his productions, judged him a miracle by comparison. that these first works were rude may be credited, as has been said elsewhere, upon an examination of some which are over the principal door of s. paolo at florence, and some stone ones in the church of ognissanti, which are so executed as to move to laughter those who regard them, rather than to excite in them any admiration or pleasure. it is certain that it was much more easy to recover the art of sculpture when the statues had been lost, as a man is a round figure by nature, and is so represented by that art, whereas in painting, on the other hand, it is not so easy to find the right shapes and the best manner of portraying them, which are essential to the majesty, beauty, grace, and ornament of a picture. in one circumstance fortune was favourable to andrea, because, as has been said elsewhere, by means of the numerous victories won by the pisans at sea, many antiquities and sarcophagi were brought to pisa, which are still about the duomo and campo santo. these gave him great assistance and much light, advantages which could not be enjoyed by giotto, because the ancient paintings which have been preserved are not so numerous as the sculptures. and although statues have frequently been destroyed by fire, devastation, and the fury of war, or buried or transported to various places, yet it is easy for a connoisseur to recognise the productions of all the different countries by their various styles. for example, the egyptian is slender, with long figures; the greek is artificial, and much care is displayed on the nude, while the heads nearly always have the same turn; and the ancient tuscan is careful in the treatment of hair and somewhat rude. as regards the romans, and i call roman for the most part those things which were brought to rome after greece was subjugated, as all that was good and beautiful in the world was carried thither; this roman work, i say, is so beautiful in expression, attitudes, movements both in nude figures and in draperies, that the romans may be said to have extracted the beautiful from all the other provinces and gathered it into a single style, making it the best and the most divine of all the arts. at the time of andrea all these good methods and arts were lost, and the only style in use was that which had been brought to tuscany by the goths and the rude greeks. thus he noted the new style of giotto and such few antiquities as were known to him, and somewhat refined a great part of the grossness of that wretched manner by his own judgment, so that he began to work in better style, and endow his works with far more beauty than had hitherto been seen. when his intelligence, skill, and dexterity had become known he was assisted by many of his compatriots, and while he was still a young man, he was commissioned to make some small figures in marble for s. maria a ponte. these brought him such a good name that he was most earnestly desired to come to work at florence by those in charge of the building of s. maria del fiore, as after the façade of the three doors had been begun, there was a lack of masters to execute the subjects which giotto had designed for the beginning of that structure. accordingly andrea went to florence in order to undertake that work, and because at that time the florentines were desirous of making themselves agreeable and friendly to pope boniface viii., who was then chief pontiff of the church of god, they wished andrea, before everything else, to make his statue in marble. andrea therefore set to work, and did not rest until he had finished the pope's figure placed between st peter and st paul, the three figures being set up on the façade of s. maria del fiore, where they still are. afterwards andrea made some figures of prophets for the middle door of that church, in some tabernacles or niches. these showed that he had made great improvements in the art, and that in excellence and design he surpassed all those who had laboured for that structure up to that time. hence it was decided that all works of importance should be entrusted to him and not to others. soon after he was commissioned to make four statues of the principal doctors of the church--st jerome, st ambrose, st augustine, and st gregory. when these were finished they brought him favour and renown with the craftsmen and throughout the city, and he was commissioned to make two other figures in marble of the same size. these were st stephen and st laurence, which are on the front of s. maria del fiore at the outside angle. by andrea's hand also is the marble madonna, three and a half braccia high with the child at her neck, which is over the altar of the little church and company of the misericordia on the piazza of s. giovanni at florence. this was much praised in those times, especially as on either side of the madonna he put an angel two and a half braccia high. a setting of very finely carved wood has been made for this in our own day by maestro antonio called "il carota," with a predella beneath, full of most beautiful figures coloured in oil by ridolfo, son of domenico grillandai. in like manner the half-length madonna in marble which is over the side-door of the misericordia, on the façade of the cialdonai, is by andrea's hand, and was highly praised, because in it he had imitated the good antique manner, contrary to his habit, which was always different from it, as shown by some designs of his which are in our book, and in which he represents all the scenes from the apocalypse. now andrea had studied architecture in his youth, and an opportunity occurred for his employment in this art by the commune of florence, for as arnolfo was dead and giotto absent, he was entrusted with the preparation of plans for the castle of scarperia, which is in mugello at the foot of the alps. some say, though i will not vouch for the truth of it, that andrea stayed a year at venice, and there executed some small marble figures which are on the façade of s. marco, and that in the time of m. piero gradenigo, doge of that republic, he designed the arsenal. but as i know nothing of this beyond the bare mention of it which occurs in some writers, i must leave the matter to the judgment of my readers. from venice he returned to florence, where the city, fearing the coming of the emperor, with andrea's co-operation, hastily added eight braccia to part of the wall between s. gallo and the prato gate, and in other places he made bastions, palisades and works in earth and wood. now some three years before, he had shown his skill in casting bronze in a much admired cross which he had sent to the pope at avignon, by means of his close friend giotto; accordingly he was commissioned to make in bronze one of the doors of the church of s. giovanni, for which giotto had already made a very fine design. this, as i say, was given to him to finish, because he was considered the most talented, skilful, and judicious master of all those who had worked until then, not only in tuscany, but throughout italy. he set to work, resolved to spare neither time, pains, nor diligence upon the completion of a task of such importance. fate was propitious to him in his casting, at a time when men were ignorant of the secrets known today, so that in the space of twenty-two years he brought the door to its present stage of perfection; and what is more, at the same time he made not only the tabernacle of the high altar of s. giovanni, with an angel on either side which were considered most beautiful, but also the small marble figures about the base of the door of the campanile of s. maria del fiore, after giotto's design, and about that campanile, in certain mandorle, the seven planets, the seven virtues, and the seven works of mercy in small figures in half-relief, which were then much admired. at the same time he made the three figures of four braccia high, which were placed in niches in that campanile, on the side towards the place where the pupilli now are, that is towards the south, figures which were considered at the time to be of considerable merit. but to return to my starting-point, i say that the bronze door contains scenes in bas-relief from the life of st john the baptist, from his birth to his death, most happily conceived and executed with great care. and although many are of opinion that these stories do not exhibit that fine design nor that high art which should be put into figures, yet andrea merits the highest praise, because he was the first who undertook to complete a work which rendered it possible for those who came after him to produce what is beautiful, difficult and good in the other two doors, and in the exterior ornaments now to be seen. this work was set in the middle door of the church, and remained there until lorenzo ghiberti made the present one, when it was removed and set up opposite the misericordia, where it is at the present time. i must not omit to say that in making this door andrea was assisted by his son nino, who afterwards became a much better master than his father had been, and that it was finished in the year --that is to say, not only polished and cleaned, but gilt at the fire. it is thought that the metal was cast by some venetian masters very skilful in founding; and a record of this is in the library of the art of the calimara, guardians of the work of s. giovanni. whilst the door was being made, andrea not only made the altars aforesaid, but many others, and in particular the model of the church of s. giovanni at pistoia, which was founded in the year . in this same year, on the th day of january, was found the body of st atto, bishop of that city, in excavating the foundations of the church. the body had been buried in that place for years. the architecture of that temple, which is round, was meritorious for the time. also by the hand of andrea is a marble tomb in the principal church of pistoia, the body of the sarcophagus of which is full of small figures, with some larger ones above. in this tomb rests the body of m. cino d'angibolgi, doctor of laws, and a very famous man of letters in his day, as m. francesco petrarca testifies in the sonnet: "piangette donne, e con voi pianga amore;" and in the fourth chapter of the _trionfo d'amore_, where he says: "ecco cin da pistoia; guitton d'arezzo, che di non esser primo per ch' ira aggia." this marble tomb of andrea's contains the portrait of m. cino, who is represented as teaching a number of his scholars, who are about him, with such a fine attitude and style that it must have been considered a marvellous thing in those days, although it would not be valued now. walter, duke of athens and tyrant of florence, also employed andrea to enlarge the piazza, and to fortify his palace by barring the bottom of all the windows on the first floor, where the hall of the two hundred now is, with very strong square iron bars. the same duke also added, opposite s. piero scheraggio, the rough stone walls which are beside the palace to augment it, and in the thickness of the wall he made a secret staircase, to mount and descend unperceived. at the bottom face of the wall he made a great door, which now serves for the customs, and over this he set his arms, the whole after the designs and with the advice of andrea. although the arms were defaced by the magistracy of the twelve, who took pains to obliterate every memorial of that duke, yet on the square shield there remained the form of the lion rampant with two tails, as any attentive observer may see. for the same duke andrea made many towers about the city, and not only began the fine gate of s. friano, leaving it in its present form, but also made the walls of the portals and all the gates of the city, and the smaller gates for the convenience of the people. and, because the duke purposed to make a fortress on the hill of s. giorgio, andrea prepared a model for it, which was never used, as the work was not begun, the duke being driven out in the year . the duke's plan to convert the palace into a strong castle was in great measure effected, for a considerable addition was made to the original building, as may be seen to-day, the circuit comprising the houses of the filipetri, the tower and houses of the amidei, and mancini, and those of the bellaberti. and because, after this great undertaking was begun, all the materials required for it and for the great walls and barbicans were not ready, he kept back the building of the ponte vecchio, which was being hurried forward as a necessary thing, and made use of the dressed stones and timber designed for this without any consideration. although taddeo gaddi was probably not inferior to andrea pisano as an architect, the duke would not employ him on these works because he was a florentine, but made use of andrea. the same duke walter wished to pull down s. cicilia, in order to obtain a view of the strada romana and the mercato nuovo from his palace, and would also have destroyed s. piero scheraggio for his convenience, but the pope would not grant him licence. at length, as has been said above, he was driven out by the fury of the people. for his honoured labours of so many years andrea not only deserved the highest rewards, but also civil honours. accordingly he was made a florentine citizen by the signoria, offices and magistracies in the city were given to him, and his works were valued during his life and after his death, as no one was found to surpass him in workmanship until the advent of niccolo of arezzo, jacopo della quercia of siena, donatello, filippo di ser brunellesco, and lorenzo ghiberti, whose sculptures and other works were such that people recognised in what error they had been living up till then, as these men had again discovered the true excellence which had been hidden for so great a number of years. the works of andrea were executed about the year of grace . the pupils of andrea were numerous, and, among others, tommaso, architect and sculptor, of pisa, who finished the chapel of the campo santo, and brought the campanile of the duomo to completion--that is to say, the last part, where the bells are. this tommaso was andrea's son, if we may believe an inscription on the high altar of s. francesco at pisa, on which a madonna and other saints are carved by him in half relief, with his name and that of his father beneath. andrea left a son nino, who devoted himself to sculpture, his first work being in s. maria novella at florence, where he finished a marble madonna, begun by his father, which is inside the door, near the chapel of the minerbetti. going afterwards to pisa, he made for the spina a half-length marble madonna suckling the infant jesus christ, clothed in delicate draperies. in the year a marble ornament for this madonna was made for m. jacopo corbini, who had a much larger and finer one made for another full-length marble madonna of nino, representing with great grace the mother offering a rose to the child, who takes it in childish fashion, and so prettily, that one may say that nino had made some steps to subduing the roughness of the stone, and endowing it with the attributes of living flesh. the figure is between a st john and a st peter in marble, the head of the latter being a portrait of andrea. nino also made two marble statues for an altar of s. caterina at pisa--that is to say, the madonna and an angel in an annunciation, executed, like his other works, with such care that they may be considered as the best productions of those times. on the base beneath this madonna nino carved the following words: "on the first day of february ;" and beneath the angel: "nino, son of andrea pisano, made these figures." he produced yet other works in that city and at naples which it is not necessary to mention here. andrea died at the age of seventy-five, in the year , and was buried by nino in s. maria del fiore with the following epitaph: "ingenti andreas jacet hie pisanus in urna, marmore qui potuit spirantes ducere vultus et simulacra deum mediis imponere templis ex acre, ex auro, candenti et pulcro elephanto." buonamico buffalmacco, painter of florence. buonamico di cristofano, called buffalmacco, painter of florence, who was a pupil of andrea tafi, celebrated for his jests by m. giovanni boccaccio in his "decameron," is well known to have been the close companion of bruno and calandrino, painters, and themselves facetious and pleasant men. he possessed a very fair judgment in the art of painting, as may be seen by his works, which are scattered throughout tuscany. franco sacchetti relates in his "three hundred tales" (to begin with the deeds of this artist while he was still young) that, while buffalmacco was a boy with andrea, it was his master's custom, when the nights were long, to rise to work before dawn and to call the boys. this thing displeased buonamico, who enjoyed a good sleep, and he tried to devise a plan that should induce andrea to leave off calling them to work so much before daylight. he soon found one, for in an ill-swept loft he happened to find thirty great beetles or cockroaches. with some thin needles and corks he fixed a small candle on the back of each beetle, and when the hour came for andrea to rise he lighted the candles and put the beetles one by one through a hole leading into andrea's room. when the master awoke, just about the hour when he was accustomed to call buffalmacco, and saw these lights he began to tremble with fear, and to recommend himself to god, repeating his prayers and psalms. at length he put his head under the clothes and did not call buffalmacco that night, but remained trembling in that posture until the day. the following morning when he arose he asked buonamico if he, like himself, had seen more than a thousand devils. buonamico said "no," because he had kept his eyes shut, and had wondered why he had not been called. "what!" said tafi; "i had something else to think of besides painting, and i am resolved to go and live in another house." the following night, although buonamico only put three beetles into tafi's chamber, yet the poor man did not sleep a jot, owing to his fear of the past night and to those devils which he saw. no sooner was day come than he left the house, declaring he would never return to it, and it was long before they were able to induce him to change his mind. but buonamico brought him the priest of the parish, who consoled him as best he could. when tafi and buonamico were talking over the matter afterwards, the latter said: "i have always heard tell that the devils are the greatest enemies of god, and consequently they must also be the chief adversaries of painters, because, besides the fact that we always make them very ugly, we do nothing else but represent saints on walls and tables, in order to render men more devout or better in despite of the devils. for this cause the devils are enraged with us, and as they have more power at night than during the day, they come and play these pranks, and will do worse if this practice of early rising is not entirely abandoned." with these words, and many others, buffalmacco succeeded in settling the matter, as the priest supported his arguments, so that tafi left off his early rising and the devils ceased to go through the house at night with lights. but not many months afterwards, when tafi, induced by desire of gain, and crushing every fear, began once more to rise and work at night and to call buffalmacco, the beetles also began to make their rounds, so that the master was compelled by fear to give it up entirely, being strongly advised to this by the priest. when this thing became known through the city, it for a while prevented other painters as well as tafi from rising to work at night. when, shortly afterwards, buffalmacco himself became a fairly good master he left tafi, as the same franco relates, and began to work by himself, and he never lacked employment. accordingly he took a house to serve equally as a workshop and a dwelling-house, next door to a worker of wool in easy circumstances, who, being a raw simpleton, was called goosehead. this man's wife rose early every night, when buffalmacco, who had worked up to that time, was going to rest, and setting herself at her spinning wheel, which she unfortunately placed over against buffalmacco's bed, she spent all the night in spinning thread. buonamico was unable to sleep a moment, and began to devise a means whereby to rid himself of this nuisance. it was not long before he perceived that, behind the brick wall which separated him from goosehead, was the fire of his objectionable neighbour, and by means of a crack he could see everything that she did at the fire. accordingly he devised a new trick, and provided himself with a long tube. when he found that the wife of goosehead was not at the fire, he every now and again put through that hole in the wall into his neighbour's pot as much salt as he wished. when goosehead returned either to dine or to sup he could, as a rule, neither eat nor drink or taste either soup or meat, as everything was made bitter by too much salt. for a little while he had patience, and only spoke of it or grumbled; but when he found that words did not suffice, he frequently gave blows to the poor woman, who was in despair, because she thought she had been more than cautious in salting the dish. as her husband beat her from time to time, she tried to excuse herself, which only increased the anger of goosehead, so that he began to strike her again, and as she cried out at the top of her voice, the noise penetrated the whole neighbourhood, and drew thither buffalmacco among others. when he heard of what goosehead accused his wife and how she excused herself, he said to goosehead: "worthy friend, you should be reasonable; you complain that your morning and evening dishes are too salt, but i only wonder that your wife makes them so well as she does. i cannot understand how she is able to keep going all day, considering that she is sitting up the whole night over her spinning, and does not, i believe, sleep an hour. let her give up rising at midnight, and you will see, when she has enough sleep, her brain will not wander, and she will not fall into such serious mistakes." then he turned to the other neighbours, and succeeded so well in convincing them that he had found the true explanation that they all told goosehead that buonamico was right, and that he should follow this advice. goosehead, believing what he was told, ordered his wife not to rise so soon, and the dishes were afterwards reasonably salted, except sometimes when the goodwife had risen early, because then buffalmacco had recourse to his remedy, a fact which induced goosehead to cause his wife to give up early rising altogether. one of the earliest works buffalmacco did was the decoration of the church of the nunnery of faenza at florence, where the citadel of prato now is. here he represented scenes from the life of christ, among other things, everything in which is in good style, and he also did there the massacre of the innocents by herod's order. here he displays with considerable vigour the expressions of the murderers as well as of the other figures, because some nurses and mothers, who are snatching the children from the hands of the murderers, are using their hands, nails, teeth, and every bodily agent to help them as much as possible, showing that their minds are not less full of rage and fury than of grief. as the monastery is destroyed to-day, nothing more of this work is to be seen than a coloured drawing in our book of designs, which contains the sketch for this by buonamico's hand. in executing this work for the nuns of faenza, buffalmacco, who was as eccentric in his dress as his behaviour, did not always happen to wear the hood and mantle customary in those times, and the nuns who sometimes looked at him through the screen which he had caused to be made, began to say to the custodian that they objected to seeing him always in his doublet. after he had reassured them, they remained quiescent for a while. at length, as they always saw him attired after the same fashion, they thought he must be the boy to mix the colours and accordingly they induced the abbess to tell him that they should like to see the master himself at work and not this other one always. buonamico, who always loved his joke, told them that so soon as the master arrived he would let them know, although he was sensible of the small amount of confidence which they placed in him. then he took a table and put another on the top of it, setting a water jug on this, over the handle of which he put a hood and then covered the rest of the pitcher in a civilian's mantle, fastening it firmly about the tables. after this he put a brush in the spout from which the water flows, and there left it. when the nuns returned to see the work through an opening where he had torn the canvas, they saw the supposed master in his attire. they believed that he was working there to the utmost of his power, and would do much better than the mere boy had done, so they were several days thinking of nothing else. at last they were anxious to see what beautiful things the master had made. fifteen days had passed since buonamico had set foot in the place, and one night they went to see the paintings, thinking that the master could no longer be there. they were covered with confusion and blushes when one bolder than the rest discovered the nature of the solemn master, who had not done a stroke in the fortnight. when they learned that buonamico had treated them according to their deserts, and that the works which he had made were excellent, they recalled him and he returned with much laughter and joking to take up the work, making them see that there is a difference between men and dummies, and that works must not always be judged by the clothes of those who produce them. after a few days he finished one subject there, with which they were very delighted since it appeared to them to be satisfactory in all its parts, except that the figures in the flesh colouring seemed to them to be rather too pale. when buonamico heard this and learning that the abbess had the best vernaccia in florence, which served for the sacrifice of the mass, he told them that in order to remedy such a defect, nothing would be serviceable except to temper the colours with a good vernaccia, for if the cheeks and other flesh parts of the figures were touched with this, they would become red and very freshly coloured. when the good sisters heard this they believed it completely and afterwards kept him supplied with the best vernaccia so long as the work lasted, while he on his part made merry and thenceforward with his ordinary colours rendered his figures more fresh and brilliant. on the completion of this work buffalmacco painted in the abbey of settimo some scenes from the life of st james in the chapel dedicated to that saint which is in the cloister, on the vault of which he did the four patriarchs and the four evangelists, among whom the attitude of luke is noteworthy for the natural way in which he is blowing his pen to make the ink flow. in the subjects for the walls, which are five, the figures are represented in fine attitudes and everything is carried out with originality and judgment. in order to make his flesh colouring easier to paint buonamico used a ground of _pavonazzo di sale_, as is seen in this work, which in the course of time has caused a saltness by which the white and other colours are corroded and consumed so that it is no marvel that the work is damaged and destroyed, while many that were made long before have been excellently preserved. i formerly considered that the injury was caused by the damp, but afterwards by an examination of his other works i have proved by experience that it is not the damp, but this peculiar practice of buffalmacco which has caused them to be so damaged that it is not possible to see the design or anything else, and where the flesh colour should be there remains nothing but the _pavonazzo_. this method of working should not be practised by anyone who desires a long life for his paintings. after the two pictures mentioned above, buonamico did two others in tempera for the monks of the certosa at florence, one of which is in the place where the singing books for the choir rest, and the other is below in the old chapels. in the badia at florence he painted in fresco the chapel of the gondi and bastari, beside the principal chapel, which was afterwards granted to the family of the boscoli, and still retains these paintings of buffalmacco. here he did the passion of christ, with fine and original expressions, showing in christ, when he washes the disciples' feet, the greatest humility and benignity, and cruelty and fierceness in the jews who lead him to herod. but he displayed especial originality and facility in a pilate whom he painted in prison and in judas, hung to a tree, from which we may readily believe what is related of this pleasant painter, that when he wished to be diligent and take pains, which rarely happened, he was not inferior to any other artist of his time. that this is true is proved by his works in fresco in ognissanti, where the cemetery now is, produced with such diligence and with such precautions that the water which has rained upon them for many years has not injured them or caused any harm except by preventing a recognition of their excellence. they are so well preserved because they were done simply upon fresh lime. on the walls are the nativity of jesus christ and the adoration of the magi, that is to say, over the tomb of the aliotti. after these works buonamico went to bologna, where he painted in fresco on the vaults of the chapel of the bolognini in s. petronio, but did not finish them, for some reason unknown to me. it is said that in the year he was summoned to assisi, and in the chapel of st catherine in the church of s. francesco he painted the history of the former saint's life in fresco, works which are very well preserved, and containing some figures well worthy of praise. when he had completed the chapel and was on his way through arezzo, the bishop guido, who had heard that buonamico was a pleasant man and a painter of talent, wished him to stay in the city and paint for him the chapel in the vescovado containing the baptism of christ. buonamico put his hand to the work and had already done a considerable part of it when a very strange adventure happened to him, related by franco sacchetti in his "three hundred tales." the bishop possessed a baboon, the most mischievous and malignant creature that ever was seen. this animal was one day standing on his perch and watching buonamico work, having lost thought of everything else, and never taking his eyes off him as he mixed the colours, managed the tools, broke the eggs to make the tempera, or did any other thing, no matter what. one saturday evening buonamico left the work and this baboon; on sunday morning, although he had a great log of wood attached to his legs, which the bishop made him carry so that he should not leap everywhere, notwithstanding this heavy weight, leapt on to the scaffolding where buonamico used to stand to work, and there took up the phials and emptied them one by one, made the mixtures, broke as many eggs as were there, and began to daub all the figures with the brush, never resting until he had repainted everything himself. that done he made a fresh mixture of all the colours which were left over, although they happened to be few, and then descended from the scaffolding and departed. when buonamico came back to his work on monday morning and saw his figures spoiled, his phials emptied and everything upside down, he was filled with amazement and confusion. after turning the matter over in his mind for some time he concluded that some aretine had done this from envy or for some other reason. accordingly he went to the bishop and told him what had happened and what he suspected, at which the bishop was much troubled, yet he encouraged buonamico to go on with the work, and to repaint the part which had been spoiled. he further pledged himself to give the artist six armed men of his infantry, who should stand with falchions to watch, when he was not working, and to cut to pieces without mercy anyone who should come. accordingly the figures were repainted a second time, and one day while the soldiers were on the watch they heard a curious rolling noise in the church, and soon after the baboon appeared, jumped upon the seat, made the mixtures in an instant, and set to work upon the saints of buonamico. the guard then called the master, and showed him the criminal, and when they saw him standing with them and watching the animal work, they burst into laughter, and buonamico himself, though grieved at the damage, could not help laughing in the midst of his sorrow. at length he dismissed the soldiers who had been on guard with their falchions, and went to the bishop and said to him: "my lord, you like my manner of painting, but your baboon prefers another." he then related the matter, adding: "it was not necessary for you to send away for painters since you had a master in the house, although perhaps he did not know how to mix his colours properly. now that he knows, let him work by himself, for i am of no further use here, and as his worth is now recognised, i shall be contented with no other wages for my work except permission to return to florence." although much displeased, the bishop could not refrain from laughing when he heard this, especially when he considered that a beast had made a jest of the most jest-loving man in the world. after they had laughed and talked over this new adventure, the bishop prevailed so far, that buonamico set himself a third time to do the work, and he finished it. the baboon, as a punishment and penance for his fault, was shut up in a large cage of wood, and kept there while buonamico worked, until the painting was quite finished. it is not possible to imagine the antics which the great beast played in that cage with his mouth, his body and his hands, at seeing others work while he was not able to imitate them. when the decoration of the chapel was completed the bishop asked, for a jest or for some other reason, that buffalmacco should paint him on a wall of his palace an eagle on the back of a lion which it had killed. the cunning painter promised to do as the bishop desired, and made a large partition of boards, saying that he did not wish anyone to see such a thing being painted. this done, and while being shut up all alone inside, he painted the contrary to what the bishop wished, a lion crushing an eagle. when the work was completed, he asked licence from the bishop to go to florence to procure some colours which he needed. accordingly, having locked up his picture, he went to florence intending never to return. the bishop after waiting some time and seeing that the painter did not return, caused the painting to be opened, and found that buonamico was wiser than himself. furious at the trick which had been played upon him he threatened to take the artist's life. when buonamico heard this, he sent to tell him to do his worst, wherefore the bishop menaced him with a malediction. but at length he reflected that the artist had only been jesting, and that he should take the matter as a jest, whereupon he pardoned buonamico the insult, and acknowledged his pains most liberally. what is more, he induced him to come again to arezzo not long after, and caused him to paint many things in the old duomo, which have been thrown down to-day, treating him always as his friend and most faithful servant. the same artist also painted in arezzo the apse of the principal chapel of s. giustino. some write that when buonamico was in florence he was often in the workshop of maso del saggio with his friends and companions. he was also present with many others in arranging the regatta which the men of the borgo s. friano in arno celebrate on the calends of may, and that when the ponte alla carraia, which was then of wood, broke down because it was too crowded with people, who had run thither to see the spectacle, he did not perish then like many others, because when the bridge fell right on a machine, representing hell in a barque on the arno, he had gone to buy some things that were wanted for the feast. not long after these things buonamico was invited to pisa, and painted a series of subjects from the old testament, from the creation of man to the building of the tower of nimrod, for the abbey of s. paolo a ripa d'arno, which then belonged to the monks of vallombrosa, on the whole of the crossing of that church, on three sides, from the roof to the ground. this work, which is now almost entirely destroyed, is remarkable for the vigour of the figures, the skill and beauty of the colouring and artist's faculty of expressing his ideas, although he was not very good in design. on the wall of this crossing opposite that which contains the side door, there are some scenes of the life of st anastasia, where some women, painted in a graceful manner, exhibit certain antique habits and gestures, very prettily and well. no less fine are some figures in a barque, arranged in well designed attitudes, among them being the portrait of pope alexander iv., which it is said buonamico had from his master tafi, who had represented that pontiff in mosaic in st peter's. similarly in the last subject which represents the martyrdom of the saint, and of others, buonamico finely expresses in the faces the fear of death, the grief and dread of those who are standing by to see her tormented and put to death, while she stands bound to a tree, and above the fire. bruno di giovanni, a painter, assisted buonamico in this work. he is called painter in the old book of the company. this bruno, also celebrated as a joke-loving man by boccaccio, finished the said scenes for the walls, and painted the altar of st ursula for the same church, with her company of virgins, inserting in one hand of the saint a standard with the arms of pisa, which are a white cross on a red ground, while she places the other on a woman who is rising between two mountains, and touches the sea with one foot and places her hands together in an act of entreaty. this woman represents pisa, her head being circled with a gold crown, while she wears a garment full of circles and eagles, and being in much trouble at sea she petitions the saint. but because bruno complained when he executed those figures that they were not life-like as those of buonamico were, the latter in jest, to teach him to make figures, which if not life-like, should at least converse, made him put some words issuing from the mouth of the woman who is entreating the saint, and also the saint's reply to her, a device which buonamico had seen in the works executed by cimabue in the same church. this thing pleased bruno and other foolish men of the time, just as to-day it pleases certain clumsy fellows, who have thus employed vulgar devices worthy of themselves. it is certainly curious that in this way advice intended simply as a jest has been generally followed, so much so that a great part of the campo santo done by masters of repute is full of this clumsiness. the works of buonamico having greatly pleased the pisans, those in charge of the fabric of the campo santo commissioned him to do four scenes in fresco from the beginning of the world until the building of noah's ark, surrounding them with an ornamentation, in which he drew his own portrait from life, that is to say, in a border in the middle and at the corners of which are some heads, among which, as i have said, is his own. he wears a hood, just like the one that may be seen above. this work contains a god who holds in his arms the heavens and the elements, and all the apparatus of the universe, so that buonamico, explaining his scene with verses, like the paintings of the age, wrote at the foot in capital letters with his own hand the following sonnet, as may be seen, which for its antiquity and simplicity of diction peculiar to the time, has seemed to me to be worth insertion in this place, so that if it does not perchance give much pleasure, though i think it will, yet it is a matter which will perhaps bear testimony to the amount of the knowledge of the men of that age: "voi che avvisate questa dipintura di dio pietoso sommo creatore, lo qual fe' tutte cose con amore pesate, numerate ed in misura. in nove gradi angelica natura in ello empirio ciel pien di splendore, colui che non si muove et è motore, ciascuna cosa fecie buona e pura. levate gli occhi del vostro intelletto considerate quanto è ordinato lo mondo universale; e con affetto lodate lui che l' ha si ben creato: pensate di passare a tal diletto tra gli angeli, dove e ciascun beato. per questo mondo si vede la gloria, lo basso, e il mezzo, e palto in questa storia." it was indeed bold of buonamico to set himself to make a god the father five braccia high, the hierarchy, the heavens, the angels, the zodiac, and all the things above to the sky of the moon, and then the element of fire, the air, the earth, and finally the centre. for the two lower corners he did a st augustine and a st thomas aquinas. at the top of this campo santo, where the marble tomb of the corte now is, buonamico painted the passion of christ, with a great number of figures on foot and on horse, all in varied and beautiful attitudes, and in conformity with the story. he also did the resurrection and the apparition of christ to the apostles very satisfactorily. when he had completed these labours, and had at the same time spent everything that he had gained at pisa, which was not a little, he returned to florence as poor as he had left it, and there he did many pictures and works in fresco, which it is not necessary to describe further. when his close friend bruno, with whom he had returned from pisa after squandering everything, was employed to do some works in s. maria novella, because he had not much skill in design or invention, buonamico designed for him all that he afterwards did for a wall of that church opposite the pulpit, filling the space between column and column. this was the story of st maurice and his companions, who were beheaded for the faith of jesus christ. bruno executed this work for guido campese, then constable of the florentines. the artist took his portrait before his death, in the year , and afterwards put it in this work, as an armed man, as was customary in those days, and behind him he made an array of warriors, all armed in the antique style, forming a fine spectacle, while guido himself kneels before our lady, who has the child jesus in her arms while st domenic and st agnes, who are on either side of her, intercede for him. although this painting is not remarkable for its design and invention, yet it is worthy of some amount of praise, chiefly on account of the variety of clothing, and of the barbed and other armour of the time. i myself made use of it in some scenes which i did for duke cosimo, in which it was necessary to represent an armed man in the antique style and other similar things of that age. this thing greatly pleased his most illustrious excellency and others who have seen it. from this it may be seen what an advantage it is to draw materials from inventions and works made by these ancients, for although they are not perfect, yet it is useful to know in what manner they can be made of service, since they opened the way to the marvels which have since been produced. whilst bruno was engaged upon these works, a rustic desired him to do a st christopher, and they made an agreement at florence, the terms being that the price should be eight florins, and the figure should be twelve braccia high. accordingly buonamico went to the church where he was to do the st christopher, and found that as its length and breadth did not exceed nine braccia he could not manage to get the figure in, so he determined, in order to fulfil the agreement, to make the figure lying down, but as even then it would not entirely come in, he was compelled to turn it from the knees downwards on to another wall. when the work was completed the rustic refused to pay for it, exclaiming that he had been cheated. the matter thus came before the official of the grascia, who judged that buonamico was justified by the terms of the contract. at s. giovanni in l'arcore there was a very fine passion of jesus christ by buonamico's hand, and among other much admired things it contained a judas hanging from a tree, done with much judgment and in good style. there was also an old man blowing his nose very naturally, and the maries are represented with such a sad air in weeping that they merit high praise for a time when men had not acquired the facility of expressing the emotions of the soul with the brush. in the same wall is a st ivo of brittany with many widows and orphans at his feet--a good figure--and two angels in the air who crown him, executed in the sweetest style. this building, together with the paintings, was thrown down in the year of the war of . again buonamico painted many things in the vescovado of cortona for m. aldebrando, bishop of that city, especially the chapel and the picture of the high altar; but as during the restoration of the palace and church everything was thrown down, it is not worth while to say more about them. in s. francesco and in s. margherita of the same city, there are still some pictures by the hand of buonamico. from cortona he went once more to assisi, where in the lower church of s. francesco he painted in fresco all the chapel of the cardinal egidio alvaro of spain, and because he was successful he was liberally recognised by the cardinal. finally, after buonamico had done many pictures in every part of la marca, he stayed at perugia on his way back to florence, and there painted the chapel of the buontempi in fresco in the church of s. domenico, representing scenes from the life of st catherine, virgin and martyr. in the old church of s. domenico he painted also in fresco on the wall the scene where st catherine, daughter of king costa, disputes with, convinces, and converts certain philosophers to the faith of christ. as this scene is the finest that buonamico ever produced, it may be said with truth that he has surpassed himself, and moved by this, as franco sacchetti writes, the perugians directed that he should paint on the piazza st ercolano, bishop and protector of that city. accordingly when the terms had been settled a screen of boards and wicker work was made in the place where he was to paint, so that the master should not be seen at work, and this done he set himself to the task. but before ten days had passed everyone who passed asked when the picture would be finished, as if such things were cast in moulds. this disgusted buonamico, who was angered by such importunity, and when the work was finished he resolved to be quietly avenged on the people for their impatience. an idea came to him, and before he uncovered his work he showed it to the people, who were delighted. but when the perugians wanted to remove the screen, buonamico said that they must let it remain for two days longer, because he wished to retouch some things _a secco_, and this was done. buonamico then climbed up to where he had made a great diadem of gold for the saint, done in relief with the lime, as was customary in those days, and replaced it by a crown or garland of fish. that done, permission to depart being granted to him, he went away to florence. when two days had passed, the perugians not seeing the painter about, as he was accustomed to be, enquired what had become of him, and learned that he had returned to florence. accordingly they at once went to uncover the work, and found their st ercolano solemnly crowned with fishes. they immediately informed their magistrates, and horsemen were sent off in haste to find buonamico. but all was in vain, since he had returned with great speed to florence. they, therefore, agreed to get one of their own painters to remove the crown of fishes and to repaint the saint's diadem, saying all the evil things imaginable of buonamico and of the other florentines. thus buonamico returned to florence, caring little for what the perugians said, and began to do many works which i shall not mention for fear of being too tedious. i will only remark that having painted a madonna and child at calcinaia, the man who had commissioned him to paint it, gave him promises instead of gold. buonamico, who had not reckoned upon being used and cheated in this way, determined to be even with him. accordingly he went one morning to calcinaia and converted the child which he had painted in the virgin's arms into a little bear, with simple tints, without glue or tempera, but made with water only. when the countryman saw this not long after, he was in despair, and went to find buonamico, begging him to be so good as to remove the bear and repaint a child as at first, because he was ready to satisfy him. buonamico did this with pleasure, for a wet sponge sufficed to set everything right, and he was paid for his first and second labours without further delay. as i should occupy too much space if i wished to describe all the jests and paintings of buonamico buffalmacco, especially these perpetrated in the workshop of maso del saggio, which was a resort of citizens and of all the pleasant and jest-loving men in florence, i shall conclude this notice of him. he died at the age of seventy-eight, and he was of the company of the misericordia, because he was very poor, and had spent more than he had earned, that being his temperament, and in his misfortunes he went to s. maria nuova, a hospital of florence. he was buried in the year , like the other poor in the ossa, the name of a cloister or cemetery of the hospital. his works were valued during his lifetime, and they have since been considered meritorious for productions of that age. ambruogio lorenzetti, painter of siena. great as the debt owed by artists of genius to nature undoubtedly is, our debt to them is far greater, seeing that they labour to fill our cities with noble and useful buildings and with beautiful paintings, while they usually win fame and riches for themselves. this was the case with ambruogio lorenzetti, painter of siena, whose powers of invention were fine and prolific, and who excelled in the arrangement and disposition of the figures in his subjects. evidence of this may be seen at the friars minors at siena in a very gracefully painted scene by him in the cloister. here he represented the manner in which a youth becomes a friar, and how he and some others go to the soldan, and are there beaten and sentenced to the gallows, hung to a tree, and finally beheaded, during the progress of a fearful tempest. in this painting he has very admirably and skilfully depicted the disturbance of the and the fury of the rain and wind, by the efforts of the figures. from these modern masters have learned originally how to treat such a scene, for which reason the artist deserves the highest commendation. ambruogio was a skilful colourist in fresco, and he exhibited great address and dexterity in his treatment of colours in tempera, as may still be seen in the pictures which he completed at siena in the hospital called mona agnesa, in which he painted and finished a scene with new and beautiful composition. on the front of the great hospital he did in fresco the nativity of our lady, and when she goes among the virgins to the temple. for the friars of st augustine in that city he did the chapterhouse, on the vault of which are represented the apostles holding scrolls containing that part of the credo which each of them made. at the foot of each is a small scene representing the meaning of the writing above. on the principal wall are three scenes of the life of st catherine the martyr, representing her dispute with the tyrant in the temple, and in the middle is the passion of christ with the thieves on the cross and the maries below, supporting the virgin, who has fallen down. these things were finished by ambruogio with considerable grace, and in a good style. he also depicted in the great hall of the palace of the signoria at siena the war of asinalunga, the peace following, and the events which then took place, comprising a map, perfect for the time. in the same palace he did eight scenes in _terra verde_ very smoothly. it is said that he also sent to volterra a picture in tempera, which was much admired in that city; and at massa, in conjunction with others, he did a chapel in fresco and a picture in tempera, showing the excellence of his judgment and talent in the art of painting. at orvieto he painted in fresco the principal chapel of st mary. after these works he betook himself to florence, and in s. procolo did a picture and the life of st nicholas on small figures in a chapel, to please some of his friends, who were anxious to see a specimen of his work. he completed this painting in so short a time, and with such skill, that he greatly increased his name and reputation. this work, in the predella of which he made his own portrait, procured him an invitation to cortona, by command of the bishop degli ubertini, then lord of that city, where he worked in the church of s. margherita, which had shortly before been erected on the summit of the mountain for the friars of st francis. some of this, particularly parts of the vaulting and walls, is so well done, that even now when they are almost destroyed by time, it is clear that the figures had very good expressions, and show that he deserved the commendation which he received. on the completion of this work ambruogio returned to siena, where he passed the remainder of his days, honoured not only because he was an excellent master in painting, but also because in his youth he had devoted himself to letters, which were a sweet and useful companion to painting, and such an ornament to all his life, that they rendered him no less amiable and pleasing than the profession of painting had done. thus he not only conversed with men of letters and of worth, but was also employed on the affairs of his republic with much honour and profit. the manners of ambruogio were in every respect meritorious, and rather those of a gentleman and a philosopher than of an artist. moreover, and this tests the prudence of men more severely, he was always ready to accept what the world and time brought him, so that he supported with an equable mind the good and the evil which fortune sent him. in truth it is impossible to overestimate what art gains by good society, gentle manners, and modesty, joined with other excellent traits, especially when these emanate from the intellect and from superior minds. thus everyone should render himself no less pleasing by his character than by the excellence of his art. at the end of his life ambruogio executed a much admired picture for monte oliveto of chiusuri. soon after, at the age of eighty-three, he passed in a happy and christian manner to the better life. his works were executed about . as has been said, the portrait of ambruogio by his own hand may be seen in s. procolo in the predella of his picture, where he is wearing a hood on his head. his skill as a designer may be seen in our book, which contains some things by his hand of considerable merit. pietro cavallini, painter of rome. at a time when rome had been deprived for many centuries, not only of good letters and of the glory of arms, but also of all the sciences and fine arts, there was born in that city, by god's will, one pietro cavallini, at the very time when giotto, who may be said to have restored life to painting, had attained to the chief place among the painters of italy. pietro, who had been a pupil of giotto, and had done some mosaics with him in st peter's, was the first after him who illuminated that art, and who first showed signs that he was not an unworthy pupil of so great a master, when he painted over the door of the sacristy at araceli, some scenes which are now destroyed by time, and in s. maria di trastevere very many coloured things in fresco for the whole church. afterwards he worked in mosaic in the principal chapel, and did the front of the church, proving that he was capable of working in mosaic without giotto's assistance, as he had already succeeded in doing in painting. in the church of s. grisogono he also did many scenes in fresco and endeavoured to make himself known as the best pupil of giotto and as a good artist. in the trastevere also he painted almost the whole of the church of s. cecilia in fresco, and many things in the church of s. francesco appresso ripa. he then executed in mosaic the front of s. paolo, outside rome, and in the middle nave did many scenes from the old testament. in executing some things in fresco for the chapter-house of the first cloister, he displayed such diligence that he was considered by men of judgment to be a most excellent master, and was for the same reason so much favoured by the prelates, that they employed him to do the wall space between the windows inside st peter's. among these things he did the four evangelists, of extraordinary size as compared with the figures of the time usually seen, executed very finely in fresco; also a st peter and a st paul, and in the nave a good number of figures, in which, because the byzantine style greatly pleased him, he always used it in conjunction with that of giotto. we see by this work that he spared no effort to give his figures the utmost possible relief. but the best work produced by him in that city was in the church of araceli sul campidoglio mentioned above, where he painted in fresco on the vaulting of the principal apse, our lady with the child in her arms, surrounded by a circle of suns; beneath her is the emperor octavian, adorning the christ who is pointed out to him by the tiburtine sybil. the figures in this work, as has been said elsewhere, are much better preserved than the others, because dust cannot attack the vaulting so seriously as the walls. after these things pietro came to tuscany in order to see the works of the other pupils of his master giotto, and those of the master himself. upon this occasion he painted in s. marco at florence many figures which are not visible to-day, the church having been whitewashed with the exception of an annunciation which is beside the principal door of the church, and which is covered over. in s. basilio, by the aide of the macine, there is another annunciation in fresco on the wall, so similar to the one which he had previously made for s. marco, and to another which is at florence that there are those who believe, not without some amount of reason, that all of them are by the hand of this pietro; certainly it is impossible that they could more closely resemble each other. among the figures which he made for s. marco of florence was the portrait of pope urban v., with the heads of st peter and st paul. from this portrait fra giovanni da fiesole copied the one which is in a picture in s. domenico, also at fiesole. this is a fortunate circumstance because the portrait which was in s. marco was covered with whitewash as i have said, together with many other figures in fresco in that church, when the convent was taken from the monks who were there originally and given to the friars preachers, everything being whitewashed with little judgment and discretion. on his way back to rome pietro passed through assisi in order not only to see the buildings and notable works done then by his master and by some of his fellow-pupils, but to leave something of his own there. in the transept on the sacristy side of the lower church of s. francesco he painted in fresco a crucifixion of jesus christ with armed men on horseback, in varied fashions, with a great variety of extraordinary costumes characteristic of divers foreign nations. in the air he made some angels floating on their wings in various attitudes; all are weeping, some pressing their hands to their breasts, some crossing them, and some beating their hands, showing the extremity of their grief at the death of the son of god, and all melt into the air, from the middle downwards, or from the middle upwards. in this work which is well executed in fresh and vivacious colouring, the joints of the lime are so well made that it looks as if it had all been done in a single day: in it i have found the arms of walter, duke of athens, but as it contains no date or other writing, i cannot affirm that it was executed by command of that prince. but besides the fact that everyone considers it to be by pietro's hand, the style alone is a sufficient indication, while it seems most probable that the work was made by pietro at the duke's command seeing that the painter flourished at the time when the duke was in italy. be that as it may, the painting is certainly admirable for an antique production, and its style, besides the common report, proclaims it as being by pietro's hand. in the church of s. marco at orvieto, which contains the most holy relic of the corporale, pietro executed in fresco some scenes of the life of christ and of his body, with much diligence. it is said that he did this for m. benedetto, son of m. buonconte monaldeschi, at that time lord and tyrant of the city. some further affirm that pietro made some sculptures with success, because he excelled in whatever he set himself to do, and that the crucifix which is in the great church of s. paolo outside rome is by him. this is said to be the same one that spoke to st brigida in the year , and we are bound to believe it. by the same hand were some other things in that style which were thrown down when the old church of st peter's was destroyed to make the new one. pietro was very diligent in all his efforts and endeavoured steadily to do himself honour and to acquire fame in art. not only was he a good christian, but very devoted and kind to the poor, and beloved for his goodness, not only in his native city of rome, but by every one who knew him or his works. in his extreme old age he devoted himself so thoroughly to religion, leading an exemplary life, that he was considered almost a saint. thus there is no cause for marvel if his crucifix spoke to the saint, as is said, nor that a madonna, by his hand, has worked and still works miracles. i do not propose to speak of this work, although it is famous throughout italy, and although it is all but certain that it is by pietro's hand by the style of the painting, but pietro's admirable life and piety to god are worthy of imitation by all men. let no one believe by this that it is impossible to attain to honoured rank without good conduct, and without the fear and grace of god, for constant experience proves the contrary. giovanni of pistoia was a pupil of pietro, and did some things of no great importance in his native place. pietro died at length in rome, at the age of eighty-five, of a malady in his side caused by working at a wall, by the damp and by standing continually at that exercise. his paintings were executed about . he was buried in s. paolo outside rome, with honour, and with this epitaph: "quantum romans petrus decus addidit urbi pictura, tantum, dat decus ipse polo." simone martini and lippo memmi, painters of siena. happy indeed may we call those men who are inclined by nature to those arts which may bring them not only honour and great profit, but what is more, fame, and an all but immortal name. how much more happy then are those who, from their cradle, besides such an inclination, exhibit gentleness and civil manners, which render them very acceptable to all men. but the most happy of all, i speak of artists, are those who, besides having a natural inclination to the good, and whose manners are noble by nature and training, live in the time of some famous writer, by whose works they sometimes receive a reward of eternal honour and fame in return for some small portrait or other courtesy of an artistic kind. this reward should be specially desired and sought after by painters, since their works, being on a surface and a field of colour, cannot hope for that eternity that bronze and marble give to sculpture, and which the strength of building materials afford to the architect. it was thus a very fortunate matter for simone that he lived in the time of m. francesco petrarca, and happened to meet this amorous poet at the court of avignon, anxious to have the portrait of madonna laura by his hand; because when he had received one as beautiful as he desired, he celebrated simone in two sonnets, one of which begins: "per mirar policleto a prova fiso con gli altri, che ebber fama di quell' arte;" and the other: "quando giunse a simon l'alto concetto ch'a mio nome gli pose in man lo stile." in truth these sonnets and the mention of the artist in one of his intimate letters in the fifth book, beginning _non sum nescius_, have given more fame to the poor life of simone than all his own works have done or ever will do, for a day will come when they will be no more, whereas the writings of such a man as petrarch endure for all time. simone memmi of siena then was an excellent painter, remarkable in his own day and much esteemed at the pope's court, because, after the death of his master giotto, whom he had followed to rome when he did the _navicella_ in mosaic, and other things, he had imitated his master's style in making a virgin mary in the porch of st peter's, and a st peter and a st paul in that place near where the bronze pine apple is, in a wall between the arches of the portico, on the outside. for this style he was praised, especially as he had introduced into the work a portrait of a sacristan of st peter's lighting some lamps, and has made his figures very vigorous. this led to simone being summoned very urgently to the pope's court at avignon, where he executed so many pictures in fresco and on panels that his works realised the fame which had preceded him thither. returning to siena in great credit and high in favour, he was employed by the signoria to paint in fresco a virgin mary, with many figures about her in a chamber in their palace. he completed this with every perfection, to his great glory and advantage. in order to show that he was no less skilful in painting on panels than in fresco, he executed a panel in that palace, for which reason he was afterwards commissioned to do two in the duomo and a madonna with the child in her arms in a most beautiful attitude, above the door of the opera of that building. in this picture some angels which are holding up a standard in the air, are flying and looking down on saints below them, who are surrounding our lady, forming a very beautiful and decorative composition. that done, simone was invited to florence by the general of st augustine and did the chapter-house in s. spirito, showing remarkable invention and judgment in the figures and horses, as may be believed on seeing the story of the passion of christ, remarkable alike for the ingenuity, discretion, and exquisite grace displayed by the artist. the thieves on the cross are seen in the act of expiring, the soul of the good one being carried with rejoicing to heaven by angels, while that of the guilty one is roughly dragged down by devils to hell. simone has also shown originality and judgment in the disposition and bitter weeping of some angels about the cross. but most remarkable of all is the way in which the spirits cleave the air with their shoulders, because they maintain the movement of their flight while turning in a circle. this work would supply much clearer evidence of simone's excellence if, in addition to the ravages of time, it had not been further damaged in the year , through the fathers who, not being able to use the chapter-house on account of the damp, and throwing down the little that remained of the paintings of this man, in replacing a worm-eaten floor by vaulting. about the same time simone painted in tempera on a panel our lady and a st luke with other saints, which is to-day in the chapel of the gondi in s. maria novella, signed with his name. simone afterwards did three sides of the chapter-house of s. maria novella very successfully. on the first, that over the entrance door, he did the life of st domenic; on the next one towards the church he represented the religious and order of that saint fighting against the heretics, who are represented by wolves attacking some sheep, these being defended by a number of dogs, spotted white and black, the wolves being repulsed and slain. there are also some heretics who have been convinced in the disputes and are tearing up their books, and, having repented, they confess, and their souls pass to the gate of paradise, in which are many small figures doing various things. in heaven is seen the glory of the saints and jesus christ. in the world below the pleasures and delights are represented by human figures, especially some ladies, seated among whom is petrarch's laura drawn from life, clothed in green, with a small flame of fire between her breast and her throat. there also is the church of christ, guarding which are the pope, the emperor, the king, cardinals, bishops, and all the christian princes, among them, beside a knight of rhodes, m. francesco petrarch, also drawn from life, which simone did in order to keep green the memory of the man who had made him immortal. for the church universal he made the church of s. maria del fiore, not as it stands to-day, but as he had taken it from the model and design left by the architect arnolfo in the opera, as a guide to those who were to continue the building after his death. as i have said elsewhere, no memory of these models would have been preserved, owing to the negligence of the wardens of s. maria del fiore, had not simone painted them in this work. on the third side, that of the altar, he did the passion of christ, who is going up from jerusalem with the cross on his shoulder, and proceeds to mount calvary, followed by a throng of people, where he is seen raised on the cross between the thieves, together with the other incidents of that story. i shall not attempt to describe the presence of a good number of horses, the throwing of lots by the servants of the court for the raiment of christ, the release of the holy fathers from limbo, and all the other clever inventions which would be most excellent in a modern master and are remarkable in an ancient one. here he occupies the entire wall and carefully makes the different scenes, one above the other, not dividing the separate subjects from one another by ornaments, as the ancients used to do, and according to the practice of many moderns, who put the earth above the air four or five times. this has been done in the principal chapel of the same church, and in the campo santo at pisa, where simone painted many things in fresco, and was compelled against his will to make such divisions, as the other painters who had worked there, such as giotto and buonamico his master, had begun the scenes in this bad style. accordingly he continued that style in the campo santo, and made in fresco a madonna above the principal door on the inside. she is borne to heaven by a choir of angels, who sing and play so realistically that they exhibit all the various expressions which musicians are accustomed to show when playing or singing, such as bending the ear to the sound, opening the mouth in various ways, raising the eyes to heaven, puffing the cheeks, swelling the throat, and in short all the movements which are made in music. under this assumption, in three pictures, he did the life of st ranieri of pisa. in the first is the youth playing the psalter, to the music of which some little children are dancing,--very beautiful for the arrangement of the folds, the ornamentation of the clothes, and the head-dresses of those times. the same ranieri is next seen rescued from such lasciviousness by st albert the hermit. he stands weeping with his face down, and his eyes red with tears, full of repentance for his sin, while god in the air, surrounded by a heavenly light, makes as if to pardon him. the second picture represents ranieri distributing his property among god's poor, then mounting into a barque he has about him a throng of poor and maimed, of women and children, anxiously pressing forward to petition and to thank him. in the same picture is when the saint after receiving the pilgrim's dress in the church, stands before our lady, who is surrounded by many angels, and shows him that he shall rest, in her bosom at pisa. the heads of all these figures are vigorous with a fine bearing. the third picture represents the saint's return after seven years from beyond the sea, where he had spent three terms of forty days in the holy land, and how while standing in the choir and hearing the divine offices where a number of boys are singing, he is tempted by the devil, who is seen to be repelled by the firm purpose guiding ranieri not to offend god, assisted by a figure made by simone to represent constancy, who drives away the ancient adversary represented with fine originality not only as terrified, but holding his hands to his head in his flight, with his head buried as far as possible in his shoulders, and saying, according to the words issuing from his mouth: "i can do no more." the last scene in the same picture is when ranieri kneeling on mount tabor sees christ miraculously in the air with moses and elias. all the parts of this work and other things which concern it show that simone was very ingenious, and understood the good method of composing figures lightly in the style of the time. when these scenes were finished he made two pictures in tempera in the same city, assisted by lippo memmi his brother, who had also helped him to paint the chapter-house of s. maria novella and other works. although lippo did not possess simone's genius, yet he followed his style so far as he was able, and did many things in fresco, in conjunction with his brother in s. croce at florence, the picture of the high altar of the friars preachers in s. catarina at pisa, and in s. paolo on the river arno, and besides many beautiful scenes in fresco, he did the picture in tempera now over the high altar, comprising our lady, st peter, st paul, st john the baptist, and other saints, to which work lippo put his name. after these things he did by himself a picture in tempera for the friars of st augustine in s. gimigniano, and acquired such fame thereby, that he was obliged to send to arezzo to the bishop guido de' tarlati a picture with three half-length figures, which is now in the chapel of st gregory in the vescovado. while simone was working at florence, a cousin of his who was a clever architect, neroccio by name, succeeded in the year in sounding the great bell of the commune of florence, which no one had been able to accomplish for the space of seventeen years, except by the efforts of twelve men. this man, however, balanced it so that it could be moved by two persons, and when once in motion one person alone could ring it, although it weighed more than sixteen thousand pounds; accordingly, in addition to the honour, he received three hundred gold florins as his reward, a considerable sum for that time. but to return to our two masters of siena. besides the things already mentioned, lippo executed from simone's design a picture in tempera, which was taken to pistoia and put over the high altar of the church of s. francesco, where it was considered very fine. when simone and lippo at length returned to their native siena, the former began a large coloured work over the great gate of camollia. here he represented the coronation of our lady with a quantity of figures, but the work remained incomplete, as he fell very sick, and succumbing to the disease he passed from this life in the year , to the great sorrow of the whole city, and of lippo his brother, who gave him honoured burial in s. francesco. lippo afterwards finished many pictures which simone had left imperfect. among these were a passion of jesus christ at ancona, over the high altar of s. niccola, in which lippo finished what simone had begun, imitating what he had done in the chapter-house of s. spirito at florence, and which simone had entirely completed. this work is worthy of a longer life than it appears likely to enjoy, for it contains many finely posed horses and soldiers, actively engaged in various matters, wondering whether or no they have crucified the son of god. at assisi he also finished some figures which simone had begun in the lower church of s. francesco, at the altar of st elizabeth, which is at the entrance of the door leading into the chapel, representing our lady, a st louis, king of france, and other saints, eight figures in all, from the knees upwards, but good and very well coloured. besides this simone had begun in the principal refectory of that monastery, at the top of the wall, many small scenes and a crucifix with a tree of the cross. this remained unfinished, and is drawn, as may be seen to-day, in red with the brush on the rough wall. this method was favoured by the old masters in order to work in fresco with greater rapidity, for after they had sectioned out all their work on the rough wall, they drew it with the brush, following a small design which served as a guide, increasing this to the proper size, and this done they at once set to work. that many other works were painted in the same manner as this is seen in those cases where the work has peeled off, the design in red remaining on the rough wall. but to return to lippo. he drew very fairly, as may be seen in our book, in a hermit with his legs crossed. he survived simone twelve years, doing many things for all parts of italy, but especially two pictures in s. croce at florence. as the style of the two brothers is somewhat similar, their works may be distinguished thus: simone wrote at the bottom of his: _simonis memmi senensis opus_; lippo omitted his surname and careless of his latinity wrote: _opus memmi de seals me fecit_. on the wall of the chapter-house of s. maria novella, besides the portraits of petrarch and laura mentioned above by simone's hand, are those of cimabue, lapo the architect, arnolfo his son, and simone himself, the pope being a portrait of benedict xi. of treviso, a friar preacher, whose figure had been given to simone by his master giotto, when the latter returned from the pope's court at avignon. in the same place, next to the pope, he portrayed the cardinal niccola da prato, who had at that time come to florence as the pope's legate, as giov. villani relates in his "history." over simone's tomb was set the following epitaph: "_simoni memmio pictorum omnium omnis aetatis celeberrimo, vixit ann. ix. metis ii. d. iii_." as may be seen in our book, simone did not excel greatly in design, but was naturally full of invention and was very fond of drawing from life. in this he was considered the best master of his time, so that the lord pandolfo malatesta sent him to avignon to make the portrait of m. francesco petrarch, at whose request he afterwards made the much admired portrait of madonna laura. taddeo gaddi, painter of florence. it is a truly useful and admirable task to reward talent largely at every opportunity, because great abilities which would otherwise lie dormant, are excited by this stimulus and endeavour with all industry, not only to learn, but to excel, to raise themselves to a useful and honourable rank, from which flow honour to their country, glory to themselves, and riches and nobility to their descendants, who, being brought up on such principles, often become very rich and noble, as did the descendants of taddeo gaddi the painter, by means of his works. this taddeo di gaddo gaddi of florence, after the death of gaddo, had been the pupil of his godfather giotto for twenty-four years, as cennino di drea ceninni, painter of colle di valdelsa writes. on the death of giotto he became the first painter of the day, by reason of his judgment and genius, surpassing his fellow-pupils. his first works, executed with a facility due to natural ability rather than to acquired skill, were in the church of s. croce at florence in the chapel of the sacristy, where, in conjunction with his fellow-pupils of the dead giotto, he did some fine scenes from the life of st mary magdalene, the figures and draperies being very remarkable, the costumes being those then worn. in the chapel of the baroncelli and bandini, where giotto had already done a picture in tempera, taddeo did some scenes from the life of the virgin in fresco on the wall, which were considered very beautiful. over the door of the same sacristy he painted the scene of christ disputing with the doctors in the temple, which was afterwards destroyed when cosimo de' medici the elder built the noviciate, the chapel and the vestibule of the sacristy, in order to put a stone cornice above that door. in the same church he painted in fresco the chapel of the bellacci and that of st andrew, next to one of the three done by giotto, in which he represented christ calling andrew and peter from their nets, and the crucifixion of the latter apostle with such truth that it was much admired and praised when it was completed, and is still held in esteem at the present day. over the side door and under the tomb of carlo marsupini of arezzo, he made a dead christ with mary, in fresco, which was much admired. below the screen of the church, on the left hand above the crucifix of donato, he painted in fresco a miracle of st francis, where he raises a boy killed by a fall from a terrace, with an apparition in the air. in this scene he drew the portraits of his master giotto, the poet dante, guido cavalcanti, and some say of himself. in different places in the same church he made a number of figures, which are recognised by artists from their style. for the company of the temple he painted the tabernacle which is at the corner of the via del crocifisso, containing a fine deposition from the cross. in the cloister of s. spirito he did two scenes in the arches next the chapter-house, in one of which he represented judas selling christ, and in the other the last supper with the apostles. in the same convent over the door of the refectory he painted a crucifix and some saints, which distinguish him, among the others who worked there, as a true imitator of the style of giotto, whom he always held in the highest veneration. in s. stefano of the ponte vecchio he painted the picture and predella of the high altar with great care, and in the oratory of s. michele in orto he very skilfully represented in a picture a dead christ, wept over by mary, and deposited in the sepulchre by nicodemus with great devotion. in the church of the servites he painted the chapel of st nicholas, belonging to the palagio family, with stories of that saint, where, in his painting of a barque, he has clearly shown with the greatest judgment and grace, that he had a thorough knowledge of a tempestuous sea and of the fury of fortune. in this work st nicholas appears in the air, while the mariners are emptying the ship and throwing out the merchandise, and frees them from their danger. this work gave great satisfaction and was much admired, so that taddeo was commissioned to paint the chapel of the high altar of that church. here he did in fresco some stories of our lady, and in tempera on a panel, our lady with many saints, a very vigorous representation. similarly, on the predella of this picture he did some stories of our lady in small figures, into the details of which it is not necessary to enter, because everything was destroyed in the year when ludovico, marquis of mantua, made in that place the tribune which is there now, from the design of leon battista alberti, and the choir of the friars, causing the picture to be taken to the chapter-house of that convent, in the refectory of which he made above the wooden backs, the last supper of jesus christ with the apostles, and above that a crucifix with many saints. when taddeo had completed this work he was invited to pisa where he painted the principal chapel of s. francesco in fresco, very well coloured, for gherardo and bonaccorso gambacorti, with many figures and stories of the saint, and of st andrew and st nicholas. on the vaulting and the wall is pope honorius confirming the rule, and a representation of taddeo from life, in profile, with a hood folded over his head. at the bottom of this scene are these words: _magister taddeus gaddus de florentia pinxit hanc hittoriam sancti francisci et sancti andreæ et sancti nicolai anno domini mcccxlii. de mense augusti._ in the cloister of the same convent he further made a madonna in fresco, with the child at her neck, very well coloured. in the middle of the church, on the left hand on entering, is seated a st louis the bishop, to whom st gherardo da villamagna, who was a friar of the order, is recommending one fra bartolommeo, then superior of the convent. the figures of this work, being drawn from life, exhibit the utmost vivacity and grace, in that simple style which was in some respects better than giotto's, particularly in the expression of intercession, joy, grief, and other feelings, the good representation of which always constitutes the highest claim of the painter to honour. taddeo then returned to florence and continued for the commune the work of orsan-michele, refounding the pillars of the loggia, using dressed and hewn stones in place of the original bricks, but without making any change in the design left by arnolfo, who provided that a palace with two vaults should be made above the loggia for the preservation of the provisions of grain made by the people and commune of florence. for the completion of this work the art of the porta s. maria, to whom the charge of the structure had been entrusted, ordained the payment of the gabelle of the piazza and of the grain market, and some other changes of very small importance. but an ordinance of far more importance was that each of the arts of florence should make a pilaster for itself, placing on a niche in it the patron saint of each, and that every year the consuls of the arts should go to make offerings on their saints' feast days and keep their standard and insignia there all that day, but that the alms so collected should be made to the virgin for the needy poor. in the year a great flood had carried away the parapets of the ponte rubaconte, thrown down the castle of altafronte, left nothing of the ponte vecchio except the two middle piles, entirely destroyed the ponte s. trinita, a single shattered pile alone standing, and half the ponte alla carraia, breaking down the flood-gates of ognissanti. for this cause the rulers of the city took counsel together, because they did not wish that those who dwelt beyond the arno should again suffer this inconvenience of having to cross by barques. accordingly they called in taddeo gaddi, because his master giotto had gone to milan, and instructed him to make the model and design of the ponte vecchio, directing him to render it as strong and as beautiful as it could possibly be. to this end he spared neither pains nor expense, building it with such strong piers and such fine arches, all of hewn stone, that it now sustains twenty-two shops on either side, making forty-four in all, to the great benefit of the commune, who that year expended upon it eight hundred florins of rent. the length of the span from one side to the other is braccia, the middle way is , and the shops on either side braccia. for this work, which cost sixty thousand gold florins, taddeo not only deserved the praise accorded by his contemporaries, but he merits our commendation to-day to an even greater degree, for, not to speak of many other floods, the bridge did not move in the year , on th september, when the ponte a santa trinita, two arches of the carraia, and a great part of the rubaconte all fell, and more damage was done. certainly no man of judgment can refrain from amazement, or at least wonder, when he considers how firmly the ponte vecchio resisted the impetus of the water, the timber, and other debris, without yielding. at the same time taddeo laid the foundations of the ponte a santa trinita, which was finished with less success in the year at a cost of twenty thousand gold florins. i say with less success, because, unlike the ponte vecchio, it was ruined by the flood of . it was also under taddeo's direction that the wall on the side of s. gregorio was made at the same time, with driven piles, two piers of the bridge being taken to enlarge the ground on the side of the piazza de' mozzi, and to set up the mills which are still there. whilst all these things were being done under taddeo's direction and from his plans, he did not allow them to stop his painting, and did the tribunal of the old mercanzia, where, with poetical imagination, he represented the tribunal of six men, that being the number of the chief of that magistracy, who are watching truth taking out falsehood's tongue, the former clothed in velvet over her naked skin, the latter in black: underneath are these lines: "la pura verita per ubbidire alla santa giustizia che non tarda cava la lingua alla falsa bugiarda." lower down are the following lines: "taddeo dipinse questo bel rigestro discepol fu di giotto il buon maestro." in arezzo some works in fresco were allotted to him, which he carried out with the greatest perfection with the aid of his pupil giovanni da milano. one of these, representing the passion of jesus christ, may still be seen in the oratory of the holy spirit, in front of the high altar. it contains many horses, and the thieves on the cross, and is considered a very beautiful thing on account of his conception of the nailing to the cross, where there are some figures which vividly express the rage of the jews, some drawing him by the legs with a rope, others bringing the sponge, and others in various attitudes, such as longinus, who pierces his side with the spear, and the three soldiers who are playing for his garments, their faces depicting hope and fear in throwing the dice. the first of these men stands in a constrained attitude awaiting his turn, and is so eager to draw that he apparently does not notice the discomfort; the second is loading the dice-box, and frowns as he looks at the dice, his mouth and eyes open as if from suspicion of fraud, showing clearly to an observant beholder his eagerness to win; the third, who is about to throw the dice, spreads out on the ground with trembling arm the garments, where he shows with a smile that he intends to throw them. on the sides of the church also may be seen some stories of st john the evangelist, which are executed with such wonderful style and design that they cannot fail to excite astonishment. in the chapel of st sebastian, next the sacristy in s. agostino, he did the life of that martyr and the dispute of christ with the doctors, so well executed and finished that the beauty and variety displayed, as well as the grace of their colouring, are marvellous. in casentino, in the church of the sasso del vernia, he painted in the chapel the scene where s. francis receives the stigmata. here taddeo was assisted in matters of minor importance by jacopo di casentino, who thus became his pupil. when this was completed taddeo returned with giovanni of milan to florence, where in the city and without they made a number of panels and pictures of importance. in the process of time taddeo acquired so much money that, by steadily saving, he founded the wealth and nobility of his family, being always considered a wise and courteous man. in s. maria novella he painted the chapter-house which was allotted to him by the prior of the place, who supplied him with the idea. it is known that, because the work was a great one, and as the chapter-house of s. spirito was uncovered at the same time as the bridges were building, to the great glory of simone memmi who painted it, the prior wished to secure simone to do half of the work; accordingly he consulted taddeo, who was very willing to agree to this, since simone had been a fellow-pupil of giotto with him, and they had always remained close friends and companions. o truly noble souls to love one another fraternally without emulation, ambition, or envy, so that each rejoiced at the advancement and honour of his friend as if it had been his own. the work was accordingly divided, three sides being allotted to simone, as i have said in his life, and the left side and the whole of the vaulting to taddeo, who divided his work into four divisions or quarters, according to the disposition of the vaulting. in the first he made the resurrection of christ, in which he apparently endeavours to cause the glorified body to emit light, which is reflected on a city and on some mountain rocks; but he abandoned this device in the figures and in the rest of the composition, possibly because he was not confident of his ability to carry it out, owing to the difficulties which presented themselves. in the second compartment he made jesus christ delivering peter from drowning, when the apostles, who are managing the boat, are certainly very fine, and especially a man who is fishing with a line on the sea-shore (a thing first attempted by giotto in the mosaic of the _navicella_ in st peter's), represented with vigorous and life-like expression. in the third he painted the ascension of christ, while the fourth represents the descent of the holy spirit, remarkable for the fine attitudes of the jews, who are endeavouring to enter the door. on the wall beneath are the seven sciences, with their names, and appropriate figures below each. grammar habited like a woman is teaching a boy; beneath her sits the writer donato. next to grammar sits rhetoric, at whose feet is a figure with its two hands resting on books, while it draws a third hand from beneath a mantle and holds it to its mouth. logic has a serpent in her hand, and is veiled, with zeno eleate at her feet reading. arithmetic holds the table of the abacus, and under her sits abraham, its inventor. music has musical instruments, with tubal cain beneath, beating with two hammers upon an anvil, with his ears listening to the sound. geometry has the quadrant and sextant, with euclid beneath. astrology has the sphere of the heavens in her hands, and atlas under her feet. on the other side sit the seven theological sciences, each one having beneath it a person of an appropriate condition, pope, emperor, king, cardinal, duke, bishop, marquis, etc., the pope being a portrait of clement v. in the middle, and occupying a higher place, is st thomas aquinas, who was master of all these sciences, and certain heretics under his feet, arius, sabellius, and averroes. about him are moses, paul, john the evangelist, and some other figures with the four cardinal virtues, and the three theological ones, in addition to an infinite number of other ideas set forth by taddeo with no small design and grace, so that this may be considered the best devised and the most finely preserved of all his works. in the same s. maria novello, over the transept he did a st jerome dressed as a cardinal. he held that saint in reverence, choosing him as the protector of his house, and after taddeo's death his son agnolo made a tomb for his descendants covered with a marble slab adorned with the arms of the gaddi under this picture. for these descendants the cardinal jerome, aided by their merits and the goodness of taddeo, has obtained from god most distinguished places in the church, such as clerkships of the chamber, bishoprics, cardinalates, provostships, and most honourable knighthoods. the descendants of taddeo have uniformly valued and encouraged men of genius in painting and sculpture, assisting them to the utmost of their power. at length when taddeo had reached the age of fifty years, he was seized with a severe fever and passed from this life in the year , leaving agnolo his son and giovanni to carry on the painting, recommending them to jacopo di casentino for their material well being, and to giovanni da milano for instruction in art. this giovanni, besides many other things, made a picture, after taddeo's death, which was placed in s. croce at the altar of st gherardo da villamagna, fourteen years after he had been left without his master, and also the high altar picture of ognissanti, where the umiliati friars are stationed, a much admired work; and in assisi he made for the tribune of the high altar a crucifix, our lady, and st clare, and on the side wall stories of our lady. he subsequently went to milan, where he did many works in tempera and in fresco, and at length died there. now taddeo always adopted giotto's style, but did not greatly improve it, except in the colouring, which he made fresher and more vivid. giotto had made such efforts to overcome other difficulties of this art, that although he considered colouring also, yet it was not granted to him to master this completely. taddeo, on the other hand, profiting by his master's labours, had an easier task, and was able to add something of his own in improving the colouring. taddeo was buried by agnolo and giovanni his sons in s. croce, in the first cloister, and in the tomb which he had made for gaddo his father. he was much honoured in the verses of the learned of the time as a man who had deserved much for his character, and because he had, besides his pictures, successfully completed many structures very useful to his city. in addition to the works already mentioned, he had with care and diligence completed the campanile of s. maria del fiore from the design of his master giotto. this campanile was so constructed that it would be impossible to join stones with more care, or to make a tower which should be finer in the matter of ornament, expense, and design. the epitaph made for taddeo was as follows: hoc uno dici poterat florentia felix vivente: at certa est non potuisse mori. taddeo's method of designing was very broad and bold, as may be seen in our book, which contains a drawing by his hand of the scene which he did in the chapel of st andrew in s. croce, at florence. andrea di cione orcagna, painter, sculptor, and architect of florence. it frequently happens that when a man of genius excels in one thing, he is easily able to learn another, especially such as are similar to his first profession, and which proceed, as it were, from the same source. an example of this is orcagna of florence, who was painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, as will be said below. he was born in florence, and while quite a child began to practise sculpture under andrea pisano, and so continued for many years. when he afterwards became desirous of enriching his invention for the purpose of composing beautiful scenes, he carefully studied design, aided as he was by nature, who wished to make him a universal genius, and as one thing leads to another, he practised painting in colours in tempera and fresco, and succeeded so well with the aid of bernardo orcagna his brother, that bernardo himself procured his assistance to do the life of our lady in the principal chapel of s. maria novella, which then belonged to the family of the ricci. this work was considered very beautiful, although, owing to the neglect of those who afterwards had charge of it, it was destroyed by water through the breaking of the roof not many years after, and consequently it is restored in its present manner, as will be said in the proper place. suffice it to say, that domenico grillandai, who repainted it, made considerable use of the inventions of orcagna which were there. in the same church, and in conjunction with his brother bernardo, andrea did in fresco the chapel of the strozzi, which is near the door of the sacristy and the belfry. in this chapel, which is approached by some stone steps, he painted on one wall the glory of paradise, with all the saints in the various habits and head-dresses of the time. on the other wall he did hell, with the holes, centres, and other things described by dante, of whom andrea was a diligent student. in the church of the servites, in the same city he painted in fresco, also in conjunction with bernardo, the chapel of the family of the cresci, and in s. pier maggiore in a picture of considerable size, the coronation of the virgin, and another picture in s. romeo near the side door. he and his brother bernardo also painted in fresco together the façade of s. apollinare, with such diligence that the colours are bright and beautiful and marvellously preserved to this day in that exposed place. the governors of pisa, moved by the renown of these works of orcagna, which were much admired, sent for him to do a part of the wall in the campo santo of that city, as giotto and buffalmacco had previously done. accordingly he put his hand to the work, and painted a last judgment, with some fancies of his own, on the wall towards the duomo, next to the passion of christ made by buffalmacco. in the first scene he represented all ranks of temporal lords enjoying the pleasures of this world, seating them in a flowery meadow under the shadow of many orange trees, forming a most agreeable wood. above the branches are some cupids, who are flying round and over a number of young women, evidently portraits of noble women and ladies of the day, though they are not recognisable after this lapse of time. the cupids are preparing to transfix the hearts of the ladies, near whom are young men and lords listening to playing and singing and watching the amorous dancing of men and maidens, delighting in the sweetness of their loves. among these lords orcagna drew castruccio, the lord of lucca, a youth of the most striking aspect, with a blue hood bound about his head and a sparrowhawk on his hand. near him are other lords of the time, whose identity is not known. in fine, in this first part he represented in a most gracious manner all the delights of the world in accordance with the demands of the place and the requirements of art. on the other side of the same scene he represented, on a high mountain, the life of those who, being moved by penitence for their sins and by the desire of salvation, have escaped from the world to this mountain, which is thus full of holy hermits serving the lord, and doing various things with very realistic expressions. some are reading and praying, and are all intent on contemplation; while others are working to earn their living, and are exercising themselves in various activities. here is a hermit milking a goat in the most vigorous and realistic manner. below this is st macario showing to three kings, who are riding to hunt with their ladies and suite, the corpses of three kings, partly consumed in a tomb, emblematic of human misery, and which are regarded with attention by the living kings in fine and varied attitudes, expressive of wonder, and they seem to be reflecting that they themselves must shortly become such. one of these kings is the portrait of uguccione della faggiuola of arezzo, in a figure represented as holding his nose with his hand in order not to smell the odour of the dead kings. in the middle of this scene is death, flying through the air and clothed in black, while he raises his scythe to take the life of many who are on the earth, of every state and condition, poor, rich, lame, whole, young, old, men, women, and, in short, a multitude of every age and sex. and because orcagna knew that the invention of buffalmacco had pleased the pisans, by which bruno caused his figures in s. paolo a ripa d'arno to speak, making letters issue from their mouths, he has filled all these works of his with such writings, of which the greater number, being destroyed by time, cannot be deciphered. he makes some lame old men say-- da che prosperitade ci ha lasciati. o morte medecina d'ogni pena deh vieni a darne omai l'ultima cena, with other words which cannot be made out, and similar lines composed in the old style by orcagna himself, as i have discovered, for he was addicted to poetry, and wrote some sonnets. about these bodies are some devils, who take their souls out of their mouths and carry them to gulfs full of fire upon the top of a very high mountain. on the other hand, there are some angels who, in like manner, take the souls of the dead, who happen to have been good, out of their mouths, and carry them flying to paradise. in this scene is a large scroll, held by two angels, containing the following words: ischermo di savere e di richezza, di nobilitate ancora e di prodezza, vale neente ai colpi di costei, with some other words which cannot easily be understood. underneath in the ornamentation of these scenes are nine angels who hold some words written in the border of the painting, in the vulgar tongue and in latin, put there because they would spoil the scene if placed higher, and to omit them altogether did not appear fitting to the author, who considered this method very fine, and perhaps it was to the taste of that age. the greater part of these are omitted here in order not to tire the reader with impertinent matter of little interest, and moreover the greater number of the scrolls are obliterated, while the remainder are in a very imperfect condition. after this orcagna made the last judgment. he placed jesus christ on high above the clouds in the midst of his twelve apostles to judge the quick and the dead, exhibiting on the one side, with great art and vigour, the despair of the damned, as they are driven weeping to hell by furious demons; and on the other side the joy and rejoicing of the elect, who are transported to the right hand side of the blessed by a troop of angels led by the archangel michael. it is truly lamentable that for lack of writers, the names and identity of few or none of these can be ascertained out of such a multitude of magistrates, knights and other lords, who are evidently drawn from life, although the pope there is said to be innocent iv. the friend of manfred. after this work and some sculptures in marble executed to his great glory in the madonna, which is on the side of the ponte vecchio, andrea left his brother bernardo to work by himself in the campo santo at a hell made according to dante's description, which was afterwards much damaged in , and restored by solazzino, a painter of our own day. meanwhile andrea returned to florence, where he painted in fresco in the middle of the church of s. croce on a very large wall on the right hand, the same things which he had done in the campo santo at pisa, in three similar pictures, but omitting the scene in which st macario is showing human wretchedness to the three kings, and the life of the hermits who are serving god on the mountain. but he did all the rest of that work, displaying better design and more diligence than at pisa, but retaining almost the same methods in the inventions, style, scrolls and the rest, without changing anything except the portraits from life; because in this work he introduced the portraits of some of his dearest friends into his paradise, while he condemned his enemies to hell. among the elect may be seen the portrait in profile of pope clement vi. with the tiara on his head, who reduced the jubilee from a hundred to fifty years, was a friend of the florentines, and possessed some of their paintings which he valued highly. here also is maestro dino del garbo, then a most excellent physician, clothed after the manner of the doctors of that day with a red cap on his head lined with miniver, while an angel holds him by the hand. there are also many other portraits which have not been identified. among the damned he drew the guardi, sergeant of the commune of florence, dragged by the devil with a hook. he may be recognised by three red lilies on his white hat, such as were worn by the sergeants and other like officials. andrea did this because the sergeant had upon one occasion distrained his goods. he also drew there the notary and the judge who were against him in that cause. next to guardi is cecco d'ascoli, a famous wizard of the time, and slightly above him, and in the middle is a hypocritical friar, who is furtively trying to mingle with the good, while an angel discovers him and thrusts him among the damned. besides bernardo, andrea had another brother called jacopo, who devoted himself, but with little success, to sculpture. for this brother andrea had sometimes made designs in relief in clay, and this led him to wish to do some things in marble to see if he remembered that art, which he had studied at pisa, as has been said. accordingly he applied himself earnestly to that pursuit, and attained to such a measure of success that he afterwards made use of it with credit, as will be said. he next devoted all his energies to the study of architecture, thinking that he might have occasion to make use of it. nor was he mistaken, for in the year the commune of florence bought some private houses near the palace to enlarge that building and increase the piazza, and also to make a place where citizens could withdraw in time of rain, and in winter to do under cover the things which were done in the uncovered arcade when bad weather did not interfere. they procured a number of designs for the construction of a large and magnificent loggia near the palace for this purpose as well as for a mint for coining money. among these designs prepared by the best masters of the city, that of orcagna was universally approved and accepted as being larger, finer and more magnificent than the others, and the large loggia of the piazza was begun under his direction by order of the signoria and commune, upon foundations laid in the time of the duke of athens, and was carried forward with much diligence in squared stones excellently laid. the arches of the vaults were constructed in a manner new for that time, not being pointed as had previously been customary, but in half circles after a new pattern, with much grace and beauty, and the building was completed under andrea's direction in a short time. if it had occurred to him to erect it next to s. romolo and to turn its back towards the north, which he perhaps omitted to do in order that it should be convenient for the door of the palace, it would have been a most useful construction for all the city, as it is a most beautiful piece of work, whereas it is impossible to remain there in winter owing to the strong wind. in the decoration of this loggia orcagna made seven marble figures in half relief between the arches of the façade representing the seven virtues, theological and cardinal. these are so fine, that taken in conjunction with the whole work they prove their author to have been an excellent sculptor as well as a distinguished painter and architect. besides this he was in all his deeds a pleasant, well-bred and amiable man so that his fellow was never seen. and since he never abandoned the study of one of his three professions when he took up another, he painted a picture in tempera with many small figures while the loggia was building, and a predella of small figures for that chapel of the strozzi where his brother bernardo had already done some things in fresco. on this picture he wrote his name thus: _anno domini mccclvii andreas cionis de florentia me pinxit_, being of opinion that it would exhibit his powers to better advantage than his works in fresco could. when this was finished he did some paintings on a panel which were sent to the pope to avignon, in the cathedral church of which they still remain. shortly afterwards, the men of the company of orsanmichele, having collected a quantity of money of alms and goods given to the madonna there on account of the mortality of , they decided that they would make about her a chapel or tabernacle richly adorned not only with marble carved in every manner and with other stones of price, but also with mosaic and ornaments of bronze, the best that could be desired, so that in workmanship and material it should surpass every other work produced up to that day. the execution of this was entrusted to orcagna as being the foremost man of the age. he made a number of designs, one of which was chosen by the directors of the work as being the best of all. accordingly the task was allotted to him and everything was committed to his judgment and counsel. he and his brother undertook to do all the figures, giving the rest to various masters from other countries. on the completion of the work, he caused it to be built up and joined together very carefully without lime, the joints, being of lead and copper so that the shining and polished marbles should not be blemished. this proved so successful and has been of such use and honour to those who came after him, that it appears to an observer that the chapel is hollowed out of a single piece of marble, so excellently are parts welded together, thanks to this device of orcagna. although in the german style its grace and proportions are such that it holds the first place among the things of the time, owing chiefly to the excellent composition of its great and small figures and of the angels and prophets in half-relief about the madonna. the casting of the carefully polished bronze ornaments which surround it is marvellous, for they encircle the whole work, enclose it and bind it together, so that this part is as remarkable for its strength as the other parts are for their beauty. but he devoted the highest powers of his genius to the scene in half-relief on the back of the tabernacle, representing in figures of a braccia and a half, the twelve apostles looking up at the madonna ascending to heaven in a mandorla, surrounded by angels. he represented himself in marble as one of the apostles, an old man, clean shaven, a hood wound round his head, with a flat round face as shown in his portrait above, which it taken from this. on the base he wrote these words in the marble: _andreas cionis pictor florentinus oratorii archimagister extitit hujus, mccclix_. it appears that the erection of the loggia and of the marble tabernacle, with all the workmanship involved cost , gold florins, which were very well expended, because in architecture, in sculpture and other ornaments they are comparable in beauty with any other work of the time, without exception, and so excellent as to assure to the name of andrea orcagna immortality and greatness. in signing his paintings he used to write andrea di clone, sculptor, and on his sculptures, andrea di cione, painter, wishing his sculpture to recommend his painting and his painting his sculpture. florence is full of his paintings, some of which may be recognised by the name, such as those in s. romeo, and some by his style, like that in the chapter-house of the monastery of the angeli. some which he left imperfect were finished by his brother bernardo, who survived him, though not for many years. andrea, as i have said, amused himself in making verses and other poems, and when he was an old man he wrote some sonnets to burchiello, then a youth. at length at the age of sixty he completed the course of his life in , and was borne with honour to burial from his house in the via vecchia de' corazzai. in the days of the orcagna there were many who were skilful in sculpture and architecture, whose names are unknown, but their works show that they are worthy of high praise and commendation. an example of such work is the monastery of the certosa of florence, erected at the cost of the noble family of the acciaiuoli, and particularly of m. niccola, grand seneschal of the king of naples, containing niccola's tomb with his effigy in stone, and those of his father and a sister, both of whose portraits in the marble were made from life in the year . there also and by the same hand may be seen the tomb of m. lorenzo, niccola's son, who died at naples, arid was brought to florence and buried there with most honourable obsequies. similarly the tomb of the cardinal s. croce of the same family, which is before the high altar in a choir then newly built, contains his portrait in a marble stone very well executed in the year . the pupils of andrea in painting were bernardo nello di giovanni falconi of pisa, who did a number of pictures for the duomo of pisa, and tommaso di marco of florence, who, besides many other things, painted a picture in the year , which is in s. antonio at pisa on the screen of the church. after andrea's death, his brother jacopo, who, as has been said, professed sculpture and architecture, was employed in the year in building the tower and gate of s. pietro gattolini, and it is said that the four gilded stone lions at the four corners of the principal palace of florence are by his hand. this work incurred no little censure, because it was placed there without reason, and was perhaps a greater weight than was safe. many would have preferred the lions to have been made of copper gilded over and hollow inside, and then set up in the same place, when they would have been much less heavy and more durable. it is said that the horse in relief in s. maria del fiore at florence is by the same hand. it is gilded, and stands over the door leading to the oratory of s. zanobi. it is believed to be a monument to pietro farnese, captain of the florentines, but as i know nothing more of the matter i cannot assert this positively. at the same time andrea's nephew mariotto made a paradise in fresco for s. michel bisdomini in the via de' servi at florence, over the altar, and another picture with many figures for mona cecilia de' boscoli, which is in the same church near the door. but of all orcagna's pupils none excelled francesco traini, who executed for a lord of the house of coscia, buried at pisa in the chapel of st dominic in the church of s. caterina, a st dominic on a panel on a gold ground, with six scenes from his life surrounding him, very vigorous and life-like and excellently coloured. in the chapel of st thomas aquinas in the same church he made a picture in tempera, with delightful invention, and which is much admired. he introduced a figure of st thomas seated, from life; i say from life because the friars of the place brought a portrait of him from the abbey of fossanuova, where he had died in . st thomas is seated in the air with some books in his hand, illuminating with their rays and splendour the christian people; kneeling below him are a large number of doctors and clerks of every condition, bishops, cardinals and popes, including the portrait of pope urban vi. under the saint's feet are sabellius, arius, averroes, and other heretics and philosophers with their books all torn. on either side of st thomas are plato, showing the timæus, and aristotle pointing to his ethics. above is jesus christ, also in the air, with the four evangelists about him. he is blessing st thomas, and apparently sending the holy spirit upon him, filling him therewith and with his grace. on the completion of this work francesco traini acquired great name and fame, for he had far surpassed his master andrea in colouring, in unity, and in invention. andrea was very careful in his designs, as may be seen in our book. tommaso called giottino, painter of florence. when there is emulation among the arts which are based on design and when artists work in competition with each other there is no doubt that men's abilities, being stimulated by constant study, discover new things every day to satisfy the varied tastes of man. thus in painting, some introduce obscure and eccentric things into their work and by a mastery of the difficulties display the brightness of their talent in the midst of darkness. others employ themselves on soft and delicate things conceiving that these should be more pleasing to the eye of the beholder; so that they pleasantly attract the greater number of men. others again paint smoothly, softening the colours and confining the lights and shades of the figures to their places, for which they merit the highest praise, displaying their intention with wonderful skill. this smooth style is always apparent in the works of tommaso di stefano, called giottino, who was born in the year , and after he had learned the elements of painting from his father, he resolved while still a youth, that he would most carefully imitate giotto's style rather than that of stefano. he succeeded so well in this that he won thereby in addition to the style, which was much finer than his master's, the nickname of giottino, which he always retained. hence many, misled by his manner and name, believed him to be giotto's son, but they fell into a very great error, for it is certain, or rather highly probable (since no one can affirm such things absolutely), that he was the son of stefano, painter of florence. tommaso was so diligent in painting and so fond of it, that although not many of his works have been found, yet those which are extant are good and in excellent style. for the draperies, hair, beards, and other details are executed and composed with such grace and care that they prove him to have possessed a far better idea of unity in art than was to be found in the works of giotto, master of stefano his father. in his youth giottino painted in s. stefano at the ponte vecchio at florence, a chapel by the side door, and although it has suffered a great deal from the damp, yet enough remains to prove the skill and genius of the craftsman. he next did ss. cosmo and damian beside the mills in the frati ermini, of which but little can now be seen owing to the ravages of time. he did a chapel in fresco in the old s. spirito of that city, which was afterwards destroyed at the burning of that church. over the principal door of the same church he painted in fresco the descent of the holy spirit, and on the piazza of the church, leading to the side of the cuculia, next the convent, he did the tabernacle which may still be seen there, with our lady and other saints about her, who in their heads and other parts approach very closely to the modern style, because tommaso endeavoured to vary and change the flesh tints and to combine a graceful and judicious treatment of the figures with variety in the colouring and in the draperies. in the chapel of st silvester at s. croce he did the history of constantine with great care, with many fine ideas in the gestures of the figures. his next work was to be placed behind a marble ornament made for the tomb of m. bettino de' bardi, a man of eminent military rank of the time. he represented him from life, in armour, rising on his knees from the tomb, summoned by the last trump sounded by two angels who accompany a christ in the clouds, very well done. at the entrance to s. pancrazio, on the right hand side, he did a christ carrying the cross, and some saints near, markedly in giotto's style. in s. gallo, a convent outside the gate of that name, and which was destroyed at the siege, he painted a pieta in fresco in a cloister, a copy of which is in s. pancrazio mentioned above, on a pilaster beside the principal chapel. he painted ss. cosmo and damian in fresco in s. maria novella at the chapel of st lorenzo de' giuochi, at the entry of the church by the right hand door, on the front wall. in ognissanti he did a st christopher and a st george, which were ruined by bad weather and were restored by some ignorant painters. an uninjured work of tommaso in the same church is in the tympanum over the sacristy door, which contains a madonna in fresco, with the child in her arms; it is a good thing as he took pains with it. by means of these works giottino acquired so much renown, imitating his master, as i have said, both in design and in inventions, that the spirit of giotto himself was said to be in him, owing to the freshness of his colouring and to his skill in design. now, on nd july , when the duke of athens was hunted from florence, and had by oath renounced the government and rendered the florentines their liberty, giottino was constrained by the twelve reformers of the state, and especially by the prayers of m. agnolo acciaiuoli, then a very distinguished citizen, who had great influence over him, to paint on the tower of the podesta palace the duke and his followers, m. ceritieri visdomini, m. maladiasse, his conservator and m. ranieri da s. gimignano, all with mitres of justice on their heads, represented thus shamefully as a sign of contempt. about the duke's head he painted many beasts of prey and other sorts, indicative of his nature and quality; and one of these counsellors had in his hand the palace of the priors of the city, which he was offering to the duke, like a false traitor. beneath everyone of them were the arms and insignia of their families, with inscriptions which can now only be read with difficulty owing to the ravages of time. this work, because it was well designed and very carefully executed, gave universal satisfaction, and the method of the artist pleased everyone. he next made a st cosmo and a st damian at the campora, a place of the black monks outside the gate of s. piero gattolini. these were afterwards destroyed in whitewashing the church. on the bridge at romiti in valdarno he did the tabernacle which is built in the middle, painting it in fresco in a very fine style. it is recorded by many writers that tommaso practised sculpture, and did a marble figure four braccia high for the campanile of s. maria del fiore at florence, towards the place where the orphan asylum now stands. at rome again he successfully completed a scene in s. john lateran in which he represented the pope in various dignities, but the painting is now much damaged and eaten by time. in the house of the orsini he did a hall full of famous men, and a very fine st louis on a pilaster at araceli, on the right-hand side at the high altar. above the pulpit in the lower church of s. francesco at assisi, that being the only place left undecorated, he painted a coronation of our lady, in an arch, surrounded by many angels, so graceful, with such beautiful faces, so soft and so delicate, exhibiting that union of colours customary in the artist, and which constitutes his peculiar excellence, that he may clearly be compared with any of his predecessors. about this arch he did some stories of st nicholas. similarly, in the middle of the church, in the monastery of s. chiara, in the same city, he painted a scene in fresco of st clare, upheld in the air by two angels, represented with much life, raising a dead child, whilst many beautiful women standing about are filled with amazement, all being dressed in very graceful costumes of the time. in the same city of assisi, in an arch over the inside of the city door which leads to the duomo, he did a madonna and child with so much care that she seems alive, and a very fine st francis, with other saints. these two works, although the scene with st clare is unfinished, for tommaso returned sick to florence, are perfect and worthy of all praise. it is said that tommaso was a melancholy and solitary man, but very diligent and fond of his art. this is clearly shown in a picture of his in tempera in the church of s. romeo at florence, placed on the screen on the right-hand side, for nothing was ever better done on wood. it represents a dead christ with mary and nicodemus, accompanied with other figures, who are weeping bitterly for the dead. their gentleness and sweetness are remarkable as they twist their hands and beat themselves, showing in their faces the bitter sorrow that our sins should cost so dear. it is a marvellous thing, not that tommaso could rise to this height of imagination, but that he could express his thought so well with his brush. consequently this work deserves the highest praise, not so much because of the subject and conception as for the art in which he exhibited the heads of some who are weeping, for although the brows, eyes, nose and mouth are distorted by the emotion, yet this does not mar or destroy the beauty of his faces, which usually suffers much at the hands of those who represent weeping if they are not versed in the good methods of art. but it is no wonder that giottino was so successful with this picture, because the object of all his labour was rather fame and glory than any other reward or desire of gain, which causes the masters of our own time to be less careful and good. not only tommaso did not endeavour to acquire great wealth, but he went without many of the comforts of life, living in poverty, seeking rather to please others than to live at ease; so managing badly and working hard, he died of phthisis at the age of thirty-two, and was buried by his relations outside s. maria novella at the gate of martello, near the tomb of bontura. the pupils of giottino, who left more fame than property, were giovanni tossicani of arezzo, michelino, giovanni dal ponte, and lippo, who were meritorious masters of the art. giovanni tossicani excelled the others, and after tommaso's death he executed many works in that same style, in all tuscany, and particularly in the pieve of arezzo, where he did the chapel of st maria maddalena of the tuccerelli, and in the pieve of empoli, where he did a st james on a pilaster. again, he did some things in the duomo at pisa, which were afterwards removed to make way for modern works. his last work was executed in a chapel of the vescovado of arezzo, for the countess giovanna, wife of tarlato di pietramala, and represented an annunciation, with st james and st philip. as this work was on a wall, the back of which is exposed to the north, it was almost destroyed by the damp, when master agnolo di lorenzo of arezzo restored the annunciation, and giorgio vasari, then a youth, restored the ss. james and philip, to his great advantage, as he learnt a great deal which he had not been able to obtain from other masters, by observing giovanni's methods, and from the shadows and colours of this work, damaged as it was. the following words of the epitaph to the countess, who caused the work to be done, may still be read: anno domini de mense augusti hanc capellam constitui fecit nobilis domina comitissa joanna de sancta flora uxor nobilis militis domini tarlati de petramela ad honorem beatæ mariæ virginis. i make no mention of the works of the other pupils of giottino, because they are quite ordinary and bear little resemblance to those of their master and of giovanni tossicani, their fellow-pupil. tommaso drew very well, as appears by some sheets by his hand which are in our book, which are very carefully executed. giovanni da ponte, painter of florence. although the old proverb that a bon vivant never lacks means is untrue and unworthy of confidence, the contrary being the case, since a man who does not live within his means comes at last to live in want, and dies in misery; yet it sometimes happens that fortune rather assists those who throw away without reserve than those who are orderly and careful in all things. when the favour of fortune is wanting, death frequently repairs the defect and remedies the consequences of men's thoughtlessness, for it comes at the very moment when they would begin to realise, with sorrow, how wretched a thing it is to have squandered everything when young to pass one's age on shortened means in poverty and toil. this would have been the fate of giovanni da s. stefano a ponte of florence, if, after he had devoured his patrimony as well as the gains which came into his hand, rather through good fortune than by his desserts, and some legacies which came to him from unexpected quarters, he had not reached the end of his life at the very time when he had exhausted his means. he was a pupil of buonamico buffalmacco, and imitated his master more in following worldly pleasures than in endeavouring to make himself a skilful painter. he was born in the year , and was buffalmacco's pupil in his youth. he executed his first works in fresco in the pieve of empoli in the chapel of st laurence, painting many scenes from the life of that saint with such care, that so good a beginning was considered to promise much better things in the future. accordingly he was invited in the year to arezzo, where he did an assumption in a chapel in s. francesco. being in some credit in that city, for lack of other artists, he next painted in the pieve the chapel of st onofrio and that of st anthony, ruined to-day by the damp. he left other paintings in s. giustina and s. matteo, which were pulled down with the churches when duke cosimo was fortifying the city. almost on this very spot, near s. giustina, at the foot of the abutment of an ancient bridge, at the point where the river enters the city, they there found a fine marble head of appius ciccus, and one of his son, with an ancient epitaph, which are now in the duke's wardrobe. when giovanni returned to florence, at the time when the middle arch of the ponte a s. trinita was being completed, he decorated a chapel built on a pile, and dedicated to st michael the archangel, an ancient and beautiful building, doing many figures, both inside and out, and the whole of the principal front. this chapel was carried away, together with the bridge, in the flood of . some assert that he owed his name of giovanni dal ponte to these works. in pisa, in the year , he did some scenes in fresco behind the altar in the principal chapel of st paolo a ripa d'arno, which are now ruined by damp and time. another work of his is the chapel of the scali in s. trinita at florence, and another beside it, as well as one of the stories of st paul beside the principal chapel, which contains the tomb of maestro paolo, the astrologer. in s. stefano, at the ponte vecchio, he did a panel and other paintings in tempera and fresco for florence and elsewhere, which won him considerable renown. he was beloved by his friends, but rather in his pleasures than in his labours, and he was a friend of men of letters, and especially of all those who were studying his own art in the hope of excelling in it; and although he had not troubled to acquire for himself what he desired for others, he never ceased to advise others to work diligently. at length, when he had lived fifty-nine years, he departed this life in a few days in consequence of a disorder of the chest. had he lived a little longer, he would have suffered much inconvenience, as there remained hardly sufficient in his house to afford him decent burial in s. stefano dal ponte vecchio. his works were executed about . our book of designs of various ancient and modern masters contains a water-colour by giovanni representing st george on horseback killing a serpent; also a skeleton, the two affording an excellent illustration of his method and his style in designing. agnolo gaddi, painter of florence. the virtue and husbandry of taddeo gaddi afford an excellent illustration of the advantages and honours accruing from excellence in a noble art, for by his industry and labour he provided a considerable property, and left the affairs of his family so ordered that when he passed to the other life his sons agnolo and giovanni were enabled without difficulty to lay the foundations of the vast wealth and distinction of the house of gaddi, which is now amongst the noblest in florence and of high repute in all christendom. indeed it was no more than reasonable, after gaddo, taddeo, agnolo and giovanni had adorned with their art and talents so many considerable churches, that their descendants should be decorated with the highest ecclesiastical dignities by the holy roman church and her pontiffs. taddeo, whose life we have already written, left two sons, agnolo and giovanni, among his many pupils, and he hoped that agnolo in particular would attain to considerable excellence in painting. but although agnolo when a youth promised to far surpass his father, he did not realise the good opinions which were then formed about him. being born and brought up in ease, which is often a hindrance to application, he was more devoted to trading and commerce than to the art of painting. this is no new or strange circumstance, for avarice almost invariably proves a bar to those geniuses who would have attained the summit of their powers, had not the desire of gain stood in their way in their first and best years. in his youth andrea did a small scene for s. jacopo tra fossi at florence, in figures of little more than a braccia high, representing the resurrection of lazarus, who had been four days dead. considering the corrupt state of the body, which had been in the tomb three days, he presented the grave clothes bound about him as soiled by the putrefaction of the flesh, and certain livid and yellowish marks in the flesh about the eyes, between quick and dead, very well considered. he also shows the astonishment of the disciples and other figures, who in varied and remarkable attitudes are holding their garments to their noses so as not to smell the stench of the corrupt body, and exhibit every shade of fear and terror at this marvellous event, as well as the joy and delight of mary and martha at seeing the dead body of their brother return to life. this work was deemed so excellent that there were many who thought that the talents of andrea would prove superior to those of all the pupils of taddeo and even to those of the master himself. but the event proved otherwise, for as in youth will conquers every difficulty in the effort after fame, so it often happens that the years bring with them a certain heedlessness which causes men to go backwards instead of forwards, as was the case with agnolo. owing to the high repute of his ability, the family of the soderini, expecting a great deal, allotted to him the principal chapel of the carmine, where he painted the whole of the life of our lady, but in a style so inferior to the resurrection of lazarus that anyone could perceive that he had little desire to devote all his energies to the study of painting. in the whole of this great work there is not more than a single good scene, namely, that in which our lady is in an apartment surrounded by a number of maidens, whose habits and headdresses vary according to the divers customs of the time, and who are engaged in various employments, some spinning, some sewing, some winding silk, and some weaving and doing other things, all very well conceived and executed by agnolo. similarly in painting in fresco the principal chapel of the church of s. croce for the noble family of the alberti, he represented the incidents which took place on the finding of the cross, executing the work with much skill, though it is somewhat lacking in design, the colouring alone being meritorious. he succeeded much better afterwards in some other paintings in fresco in the chapel of the bardi, and in some stories of st louis in the same church. he worked capriciously, sometimes with great care and sometimes with little. thus in s. spirito at florence, where he did the inside of a door leading from the piazza to the convent, and above another door a madonna and child, with st augustine and st nicholas, all in fresco--they are all so well done that they look as if they had been painted yesterday. the secret of working in mosaic had as it were descended to agnolo by inheritance, and in his house he had the instruments and other apparatus used by his grandfather gaddo; accordingly to para the time, and for one reason or another, he did some things in mosaic when he had the whim. thus since many of the marble facings of the exterior of s. giovanni were wasted by time, and as the damp had pierced through and done considerable injury to the mosaics previously executed there by andrea tafi, the consuls of the art of the merchants proposed to restore the greater part of this marble covering, in order that no further damage should be done, and also to repair the mosaics. the commission for this was given to agnolo, and in the year he caused the building to be covered with new marble, overlaying the joints to a distance of two fingers with great care, notching the half of each stone as far as the middle. he then cemented them together with a mixture of mastic and wax, and completed the whole with such care that from that time forward neither the vaulting nor the roof has ever suffered any harm from the water. his subsequent restoration of the mosaics led by his advice to the reconstruction from his well-devised plans of the whole of the cornice of the church above the marble, under the roof, in its present form, whereas it was originally much smaller and by no means remarkable. he also directed the construction of the vaulting for the hall of the podesta palace, where an ordinary roof had formerly existed, so that in addition to the added beauty which it gave the room, it rendered it proof against damage by fire, which it had frequently suffered before. by his advice the present battlements were added to the palace, where nothing of the kind had previously existed. while these works were proceeding, he did not entirely abandon painting, but executed in tempera a picture of our lady for the high altar of s. pancrazio, with st john the baptist, st john the evangelist, the brothers st nereus, achilleus, and prancrazius, and other saints hard by. but the best part of this work, and indeed the only part of it which is really good, is the predella filled with small figures, divided into eight scenes dealing with the madonna and st reparata. subsequently in a picture for the high altar of s. maria novella at florence, executed for barone capelli in , he made a very fair group of angels about a coronation of the virgin. shortly afterwards he painted in fresco a series of subjects from the life of the virgin in the pieve of prato, which had been rebuilt under the direction of giovanni pisano in , as has been said above, in the chapel where our lady's girdle was deposited, and he did a number of other works in other churches of that same country which is full of very considerable monasteries and convents. in florence he next painted the arch over the gate of s. romeo, and in orto s. michele did in tempera a christ disputing with the doctors in the temple. at the same time for the enlargement of the piazza of the signori a large number of buildings was pulled down, and notably the church of s. romolo, which was rebuilt from agnolo's plans. in the churches of this city many pictures by his hand may be seen, and a quantity of his works may be met with in the lordship. these he produced with great advantage to himself, although he worked rather for the sake of following in the steps of his ancestors than from any inclination of his own; for he had devoted all his attention to trading, which was of great service to him, as appeared when his sons, who did not wish to live by painting any longer, devoted themselves entirely to commerce, opening an establishment at venice in conjunction with their father, who after a certain time abandoned painting altogether, only to take it up as an amusement and pastime. by dint of trading and practising his art, agnolo had amassed considerable wealth when he came to die in the sixty-third year of his life, succumbing to a malignant fever which carried him off in a few days. his pupils were maestro antonio da ferrara, who did many fine works in urbino and at citta di castello, and stefano da verona, who painted with the greatest perfection in fresco, as may be seen in several places in his native verona, and at mantua, where his works are numerous. among other things he excelled in beautifully rendering the expressions of the faces of children, women and old men, as his works show, which were all imitated and copied by that piero da perugia, miniature painter, who illuminated all the books in the library of pope pius in the duomo of siena, and who was a skilful colourist in fresco. other pupils of agnolo were michaele da milano and his own brother giovanni, who in the cloister of s. spirito, where the arches of gaddo and taddeo are, painted the dispute of christ with the doctors in the temple, the purification of the virgin, the temptation of christ in the wilderness, and the baptism of john, but after having given rise to the highest expectations he died. cennino di drea cennini da colle of valdelsa also learned painting from andrea. he was very fond of his art and wrote a book describing the methods of working in fresco, in tempera, in glue and in gum, and also how to illuminate and all the ways of laying on gold. this book is in the possession of giuliano, goldsmith of siena, an excellent master and fond of that art. the first part of the book deals with the nature of colours, both minerals and earths, as he had learned it of agnolo his master. as he did not perhaps succeed in painting with perfection, he was at least anxious to know the peculiarities of the colours, the temperas, the glues and of chalks, and what colours one ought to avoid mixing as injurious, and in short many other hints which i need not dilate upon, since all these matters, which he then considered very great secrets, are now universally known. but i must not omit to note that he makes no mention of some earth colours, such as dark terra rossa, cinnabar and some greens in glass, perhaps because they were not in use. in like manner umber, yellow-lake, the smalts in fresco and in oil, and some greens and yellows in glass which the painters of that age lacked, have since been discovered. the end of the treatise deals with mosaics, with the grinding of colours in oil to make red, blue, green and other kinds of grounds, and with mordants for the application of gold but not at that time for figures. besides the works which he produced with his master in florence, there is a madonna with saints by his hand under the loggia of the hospital of bonifazio lupi, of such style and colouring that it has been very well preserved up to the present day. in the first chapter of his book cennino says these words in speaking of himself: "i, cennino di drea cennini da colle of valdelsa, was instructed in this art for twelve years by agnolo di taddeo of florence, my master, who learned the art of his father taddeo, whose godfather was giotto and who was giotto's pupil for twenty-four years. this giotto transmuted the art of painting from greek into latin, and modernised it, and it is certain that he gave more pleasure than any one else had ever done." these are cennino's very words, by which it appears that as those who translate from greek into latin render a very great service to those who do not understand greek, so giotto, in transmuting the art of painting from a style which was understood by no one, except perhaps as being extremely rude, into a beautiful, facile, and smooth manner, known and understood by all people of taste who possess the slightest judgment, conferred a great benefit upon mankind. all these pupils of agnolo did him the greatest credit. he was buried by his sons, to whom he is said to have left the value of , florins or more, in s. maria novella, in the tomb which he had made for himself and his descendants, in the year . the portrait of agnolo by his own hand may be seen in the chapel of the alberti in s. croce in the scene in which the emperor heraclius is bearing the cross; he is painted in profile standing beside a door. he wears a small beard and has a red hood on his head, after the manner of the time. he was not a good draughtsman, according to the evidence of some sheets from his hand which are in our book. berna, painter of siena. if the thread of life of those who take pains to excel in some noble profession was not frequently cut off by death in the best years, there is no doubt that many geniuses would attain the goal desired by them and by the world. but the short life of man and the bitterness of the various accidents which intervene on every hand sometimes deprive us too early of such men. an example of this was poor berna of siena, who died while quite young, although the nature of his works would lead one to believe that he had lived very long, for he left such excellent productions that it is probable, had he not died so soon, he would have become a most excellent and rare artist. two of his works may be seen in siena in two chapels of s. agostino, being some small scenes of figures in fresco, and in the church on a wall which has recently been demolished to make chapels there, a scene of a young man led to punishment, of the highest imaginable excellence, the representation of pallor and of the fear of death being so realistic that it merits the warmest admiration. beside the youth is a friar who is consoling him, with excellent gestures, and in fine the entire scene is executed with such vigour as to leave no doubt that berna had penetrated deeply into the horror of that situation, full of bitter and cold fear, since he was able to represent it so well with the brush that the actual event passing before one's eyes could not move one more. in cortona, besides many things scattered up and down the city, he painted the greater part of the vaulting and walls of the church of s. margherita where the zoccolanti friars now are. from cortona he proceeded to arezzo in the year , at the very time when the tarlati, formerly lords of pietramela, had finished the convent and church of s. agostino, under the direction of moccio, sculptor and architect of siena. in the aisles of this building where many citizens had erected chapels and tombs for their families, berna painted in fresco in the chapel of st james, some scenes from the life of that saint. among these the most remarkable is the story of the cozener marino, who through love of gain had contracted his soul to the devil and then recommended his soul to st james, begging him to free him from his promise, whilst a devil shows him the deed and makes a great disturbance. berna expresses the emotions of all these figures with great vigour, especially in the face of marino, who is divided between his fear and his faith and confidence in st james, although he sees the marvellously ugly devil against him, employing all his eloquence to convince the saint. st james, after he has brought marino to a thorough penitence for his sin, promises him immunity, delivers him and brings him back to god. according to lorenzo ghiberti, berna reproduced this story in s. spirito at florence before it was burned, in a chapel of the capponi dedicated to st nicholas. after these works berna painted a large crucifix in a chapel of the vescovado of arezzo for m. guccio di vanni tarlati of pietramela, with our lady at the foot of the cross, st john the baptist, st francis la a very sad attitude, and st michael the archangel, with such care that he deserves no small praise, especially as it is so well preserved that it might have been made yesterday. at the foot of the cross, lower down, is the portrait of guccio himself, in armour and kneeling. in the pieve of the same city he did a number of stories of our lady for the chapel of the paganelli, and there drew from life a portrait of st ranieri, a holy man and prophet of that house, who is giving alms to a crowd of poor people surrounding him. again in s. bartolommeo he painted some scenes from the old testament and the story of the magi, and in the church of s. spirito he did some stories of st john the evangelist, drawing his own portrait and those of many of his noble friends of the city in some figures there. when these labours were completed he returned to his native city and did many pictures on wood, both small and great. but he did not remain there long, because he was invited to florence to decorate the chapel of st nicholas in s. spirito, as mentioned above, and which was greatly admired, as well as to do some other things which perished in the unfortunate fire at that church. in the pieve of s. gimignano di valdelsa he did in fresco some scenes from the new testament. when he was on the point of completing these things he fell to the ground from the scaffolding, suffering such severe injuries that he expired in two days, by which art suffered a greater loss than he, for he passed to a better sphere. the people of s. gimignano gave him honourable burial in that pieve, with stately obsequies, having the same regard for him when dead as they had entertained for him while alive, while for many months they were constantly affixing to the tomb epitaphs in the latin and vulgar tongues, for the people of those parts take a natural pleasure in _belles lettres_. this then was the fitting reward of the honourable labours of berna, that those whom he had honoured with his paintings should celebrate him with their pens. giovanni da asciano, who was a pupil of berna, completed his work and did some pictures for the hospital of the scala at siena. in florence also he did some things in the old houses of the medici, by which he acquired a considerable reputation. the works of berna of siena were produced about . besides what we have already said, he was a fairly facile draughtsman and the first who began to draw animals well, as we see by some sheets by his hand in our book, covered with wild beasts of various parts, so that he merits the highest praise and that his name should be honoured among artists. another pupil of his was luca di tome of siena who painted many works in siena and in all tuscany, but especially the picture and chapel of the dragomanni in s. domenico at arezzo. the chapel is in the german style and was very handsomely decorated by that picture and by the frescoes executed there by the skill and talent of luda of siena. duccio, painter of siena. there is do doubt that those who invent anything noteworthy occupy the greatest share of the attention of historians, the reason for this is that original inventors are more noticed and excite more wonder, because new things always possess a greater charm than improvements subsequently introduced to perfect them. for if no one ever made a beginning, there would never be any advance or improvement, and the full achievement of marvellous beauty would never be attained. accordingly duccio, a much esteemed painter of siena, is worthy to receive the praise of those who have followed him many years after, since in the pavement of the duomo of siena he initiated the treatment in marble of figures in chiaroscuro, in which modern artists have performed such wonders in these days. duccio devoted himself to the imitation of the old style and very judiciously gave the correct forms to his figures, overcoming the difficulty presented by such an art. imitating the paintings in chiaroscuro, he designed the first part of the pavement with his own hand; and painted a picture in the duomo which was then put at the high altar and afterwards removed to make room for the tabernacle of the body of christ which is now seen there. according to lorenzo di bartolo ghiberti, this picture was a coronation of our lady, very much in the byzantine style, though mingled with much that is modern. it was painted on both sides, as the altar stood out by itself, and on the back duccio had with great care painted all the principal incidents of the new testament in some very fine small figures. i have endeavoured to discover the whereabouts of the picture at the present time, but although i have taken the utmost pains in the search, i have not succeeded in finding it or of learning what francesco di giorgio the sculptor did with it, when he restored the tabernacle in bronze as well as the marble ornaments there. at siena duccio did many pictures on a gold ground and an annunciation for s. trinita, florence. he afterwards painted many things at pisa, lucca and pistoia for different churches, which were all much admired and brought him much reputation and profit. the place of his death is not known, nor are we aware what relations, pupils or property he left. it is enough that he left to art the inheritance of his inventions in painting, marble and chiaroscuro, for which he is worthy of the highest commendation and praise. he may safely be enumerated among the benefactors who have increased the dignity and beauty of our craft, and those who pursue investigations into the difficulties of rare inventions, deserve a special place in our remembrance for this cause apart from their marvellous productions. it is said at siena that in duccio designed the chapel which is on the piazza in front of the principal palace. it is also recorded that another native of siena called moccio, flourished at the same time. he was a fair sculptor and architect and did many works in every part of tuscany, but chiefly at arezzo in the church of s. domenico, where he made a marble tomb for of the cerchi. this tomb supports and decorates the organ of that church, and if some object that it is not a work of high excellence, i reply that it must be considered a very fair production seeing that he made it in the year while quite a youth. he was employed on the work of s. maria del fiore as under architect and as sculptor, doing some things in marble for that structure. in arezzo he rebuilt the church of s. agostino, which was small, in its present form, the expense being borne by heirs of piero saccone de' tarlati, who had provided for this before his death at bibbiena in the territory of casentino. as moccio constructed this church without vaulting, he imposed the burden of the roof on the arcading of the columns, running a considerable risk, for the enterprise was too bold. he also built the church and convent of s. antonio, which were at the faenza gate before the siege of florence, and are now entirely in ruins. in sculpture he decorated the gate of s. agostino at ancona, with many figures and ornaments like those which are at the gate of s. francesco in the same city. in this church of st agostino he also made the tomb of fra zenone vigilanti, bishop and general of the order of st augustine, and finally the loggia of the merchants in that city, which has from time to time received, for one cause and another, many improvements in modern style, and ornamentation of various descriptions. all these things, although very much below the general level of excellence of to-day, received considerable praise then owing to the state of information of the time. but to return to duccio, his works were executed about the year of grace . antonio, painter of venice. there are many men who, through being persecuted by the envy and oppressed by the tyranny of their fellow-citizens, have left their native place and have chosen for a home some spot where their worth has been recognised and rewarded, producing their works there and taking the greatest pains to excel, in order, in a sense, to be avenged on those by whom they have been outraged. in this way they frequently become great men, whereas had they remained quietly at home they might possibly have achieved little more than mediocrity in their art. antonio of venice, who went to florence, in the train of agnolo gaddi, to learn painting, so far acquired the proper methods that not only was he esteemed and loved by the florentines, but made much of for this talent and for his other good qualities. then, becoming possessed by a desire to return to his native city and enjoy the fruits of his labours, he went back to venice. there, having made himself known by many things done in fresco and tempera, he was commissioned by the signoria to paint one of the walls of the council chamber, a work which he executed with such skill and majesty that its merits should have brought him honours and rewards; but the rivalry, or rather the envy, of the other artists, together with the preference accorded by some noblemen to other and alien painters, brought about a different result. hence poor antonio, feeling himself repelled and rebutted, thought it would be as well to go back to florence, deciding that he would never again return to venice, but would make florence his home. having reached that city, he painted in an arch in the cloister of s. spirito the calling of peter and andrew from their nets, with zebedee and his sons. under the three arches of stefano he painted the miracle of the loaves and fishes, exhibiting great diligence and love, as may be seen in the figure of christ himself, whose face and aspect betray his compassion for the crowd and the ardent charity which leads him to distribute the bread. the same scene also shows very beautifully the affection of an apostle, who is very active in distributing the bread from a basket. the picture affords a good illustration of the value in art of always painting figures so that they appear to speak, for otherwise they are not prized. antonio showed this on the façade in a small representation of the fall of the manna, executed with such skill and finished with such grace, that it may truly be called excellent. he next did some stories of st stephen in the predella of the high altar of s. stefano at the ponte vecchio, with so much loving care that even in illuminations it would not be possible to find more graceful or more delicate work. again he painted the tympanum over the door of s. antonio on the ponte alla carraia. this and the church were both pulled down in our own day by monsignor ricasoli, bishop of pistoia, because they took away the view from his houses, and in any case even if he had not done so, we should have been deprived of the work, for, as i have said elsewhere, the flood of carried away two arches on this side, as well as that part of the bridge on which the little church of s. antonio was situated. after these works antonio was invited to pisa by the wardens of the campo santo, and there continued the series dealing with the life of st ranieri, a holy man of that city, which had been begun by simone of siena and under his direction. in the first part of antonio's portion of the work is a representation of the embarkation of ranieri to return to pisa, with a goodly number of figures executed with diligence, including the portrait of count gaddo, who had died ten years before, and of neri, his uncle, who had been lord of pisa. another notable figure in the group is that of a man possessed, with distorted, convulsive gestures, his eyes glistening, and his mouth grinning and showing his teeth, so remarkably like a person really possessed that nothing more true or life-like can be imagined. the next picture contains three really beautiful figures, lost in wonder at seeing st ranieri reveal the devil in the form of a cat on a tub to a fat innkeeper, who looks like a boon companion, and who is commending himself fearfully to the saint; their attitudes are excellently disposed in the style of the draperies, the variety of poses of the heads, and in all other particulars. hard by are the maidservants of the innkeeper, who could not possibly be represented with more grace as antonio has made them with disengaged garments arranged after the manner of those worn by the servants at an inn, so that nothing better can be imagined. nothing of this artist gives more pleasure than the wall containing another scene from the same series in which the canons of the duomo of pisa, in the fine robes of the time, very different from those in use to-day and very graceful, receive st ranieri at table, all the figures being made with great care. the next of his scenes is the death of the saint, containing fine representations not only of the effect of weeping, but of the movements of certain angels who are carrying his soul to heaven surrounded by a brilliant light, done with fine originality. in the scene where the saint's body is being carried by the clergy to the duomo one can but marvel at the representation of the priests singing, for in their gestures, carriage, and all their movements they exactly resemble a choir of singers. this scene is said to contain a portrait of the bavarian. antonio likewise painted with the greatest care the miracles wrought by ranieri when he was being carried to burial, and those wrought in another place, after his body had been deposited in the duomo, such as blind who receive their sight, withered men who recover the use of their limbs, demoniacs who are released, and other miracles represented with great vigour. but one of the most remarkable figures of all is a dropsical man, whose withered face, dry lips, and swollen body exhibit with as much realism as a living man could, the devouring thirst of those suffering from dropsy and the other symptoms of that disease. another marvellous thing for the time in this work is a ship delivered by the saint after it had undergone various mishaps. it contains an excellent representation of the activity of the mariners, comprising everything that is usually done in such case. some are casting into the greedy sea without a thought the valuable merchandise won with so much toil, some are running to preserve the ship which is splitting, and in short performing all the other duties of seamen which it would take too long to tell. suffice it to say that all are executed with remarkable vigour, and in a fine style. in the same place beneath the lives of the holy fathers painted by pietro laurati of siena, antonio did the bodies of st oliver and the abbot paphnuce, and many circumstances of their lives, represented on a marble sarcophagus, the figure being very well painted. in short, all the works of antonio in the campo santo are such that they are universally considered, and with good cause, to be the best of the entire series of works produced there by many excellent masters over a considerable interval of time. in addition to the particulars already mentioned, antonio did everything in fresco, and never retouched anything _a secco_. this is the reason why his colours have remained so fresh to the present day, and this should teach artists to recognise the injury that is done to pictures and works by retouching _a secco_ things done in fresco with other colours, as is said in the theories, for it is an established fact that this retouching ages the painting, and the new colours which have no body of their own will not stand the test of time, being tempered with gum-tragacanth, egg, size, or some such thing which varnishes what is beneath it, and it does not permit the lapse of time and the air to purge what has been actually painted in fresco upon the soft stucco, as they would do had not other colours been superimposed after the drying. upon the completion of this truly admirable work antonio was worthily rewarded by the pisans, who always entertained a great affection for him. he then returned to florence, where he painted at nuovoli outside the gate leading to prato, in a tabernacle at giovanni degli agli, a dead christ, with a quantity of figures, the story of the magi and the last judgment, all very fine. invited next to the certosa, he painted for the acciaiuoli, who built that place, the picture of the high altar, which survived to our own day, when it was consumed by fire through the carelessness of a sacristan of the monastery, who left the censer hung at the altar full of fire, which led to the picture being burnt. it was afterwards made entirely of marble by the monks, as it is now. in the same place this same master did a very fine transfiguration in fresco on a cupboard in the chapel. being much inclined by nature to the study of herbs, he devoted himself to the mastery of dioscorides, taking pleasure in learning the properties and virtues of each plant, so that he ultimately abandoned painting and devoted himself to distilling simples with great assiduity. having thus transformed himself from a painter into a physician, he pursued the latter profession for some time. at length he fell-sick of a disorder of the stomach, or, as some say, through treating the plague, and finished the course of his life at the age of seventy-four in the year , when the plague was raging in florence. his skill as a physician equalled his diligence as a painter, for he gained an extensive experience in medicine from those who had employed him in their need, and he left behind him a high reputation in both arts. antonio was a very graceful designer with the pen, and so excellent in chiaroscuro that some sheets of his in our book, in which he did the arch of s. spirito, are the best of the age. gherardo starnini of florence was a pupil of antonio, and closely imitated him, while another pupil of his, paolo uccello, brought him no small credit. the portrait of antonio of venice by his own hand is in the campo santo at pisa. jacopo di casentino, painter. as the fame and renown of the paintings of giotto and his pupils had been spread abroad for many years, many, who were desirous of obtaining fame and riches by means of the art of painting, began to be animated by the hope of glory, and by natural inclination, to make progress towards the improvement of the art, feeling confident that, with effort, they would be able to surpass in excellence giotto, taddeo, and the other painters. among these was one jacopo di casentino, who was born, as we read, of the family of m. cristoforo landino of pratovecchio, and was associated by the friar of casentino, then superior at the sasso del vernia, with taddeo gaddi, while he was working in that convent, in order that he might learn design and colour. in a few years he so far succeeded, that, being taken to florence in the company of giovanni di milano, in the service of their master, taddeo, where they were doing many things, he was asked to paint in tempera the tabernacle of the madonna of the old market, with the picture there, and also the one on the via del cocomoro side of the piazza s. niccolo. a few years ago both of these were restored by a very inferior master to jacopo. for the dyers, he did the one at s. nofri, on the side of their garden wall, opposite s. giuseppe. while the vaulting of orsanmichele, upon its twelve pillars, was being completed, and covered with a low, rough roof, awaiting the completion of the building of the palace, which was to be the granary of the commune, the painting of these vaults was entrusted to jacopo di casentino, as a very skilled artist. here he painted some prophets and the patriarchs, with the heads of the tribes, sixteen figures in all, on an ultramarine ground, now much damaged, without other ornamentation. he next did the lower walls and pilasters with many miracles of our lady, and other things which may be recognised by their style. this done, he returned to casentino, and after painting many works in pratovecchio, poppi, and other places of that valley, he proceeded to arezzo, which then governed itself with a council of sixty of the richest and most honoured citizens, to whom all the affairs of the state were entrusted. here, in the principal chapel of the vescovado, he painted a story of st martin, and a good number of pictures in the old duomo, now pulled down, including a portrait of pope innocent vi. in the principal chapel. he next did the wall where the high altar is, and the chapel of st maria della neve, in the church of s. bartolommeo, for the chapter of the canons of the pieve, and for the old brotherhood of s. giovanni de' peducci he did a number of scenes from the life of that saint, which are now whitewashed over. he also did the chapel of st christopher in the church of s. domenico, introducing a portrait of the blessed masuolo releasing from prison a merchant of the fei family, who built the chapel. this saint was a contemporary of the artist, and a prophet who predicted many misfortunes for the aretines. in the church of s. agostino, jacopo did some stories of st laurence in fresco in the chapel and at the altar of the nardi with marvellous style and skill. since he also practised architecture, he was employed by the sixty chief citizens mentioned above to bring under the walls of arezzo the water which comes from the slopes of pori, braccia from the city. in the time of the romans this water had been originally brought to the theatre, traces of which still exist, and thence from its situation on the hill where the fortress now is, to the amphitheatre of the city in the plain, the buildings and conduits of this being afterwards entirely destroyed by the goths. thus after jacopo had, as i have said, brought the water under the wall, he made the fountain, then known as the fonte guizianelli, but is now called by corruption fonte viniziana. it remained standing from until , but no longer, because the plague of the following year, and the war which followed, deprived it of many of its advantages for the use of the gardens, particularly as jacopo did not bring it inside, and for these reasons it is not standing to-day, as it should be. whilst jacopo was engaged in bringing water to the city he did not abandon his painting, and in the palace which was in the old citadel, destroyed in our day, he did many scenes of the deeds of the bishop guide and of piero sacconi, who had done great and notable things for the city both in peace and war. he also did the story of st matthew under the organ in the pieve, and a considerable number of other works. by these paintings, which he did in every part of the city, he taught spinello of arezzo the first principles of that art which he himself had learned from agnolo, and which spinello afterwards taught to bernardo daddi, who worked in the city and adorned it with many fine paintings, which, united to his other excellent qualities, brought him much honour among his fellow-citizens, who employed him a great deal in magistracies and other public affairs. the paintings of bernardo were numerous and highly valued, first in st croce, the chapel of st laurence and those of st stephen of the pulci and berardi, and many other paintings in various other parts of that church. at length, after he had painted some pictures on the inside of the gates of the city of florence, he died, full of years, and was buried honourably in s. felicita in the year . to return to jacopo. in the year was founded the company and brotherhood of the painters. for the masters who then flourished, both those who practised the old byzantine style and those who followed the new school of cimabue, seeing that they were numerous, and that the art of design had been revived in tuscany and in their own florence, created this society under the name and protection of st luke the evangelist, to render praise and thanks to god in the sanctuary of that saint, to meet together from time to time, remembering the welfare of their souls as well as of the bodies of those who might be in need of assistance at various times. this is still the practice of many of the arts in florence, but it was much more common in former times. their first sanctuary was the principal chapel of the hospital of s. maria nuova, which was granted them by the family of the portinari. the first governors of the company were six in number, with the title of captains, and in addition there were two councillors and two chamberlains. this may be seen in the old book of the company begun then, the first chapter of which opens thus: "these articles and regulations were agreed upon and drawn up by the good and discreet men of the art of the painters of florence, and in the time of lapo gucci, painter; vanni cinuzzi, painter; corsino buonaiuti, painter; pasquino cenni, painter; segnia d'antignano, painter. the councillors were bernardo daddi and jacopo di casentino, painters. consiglio gherardi and domenico pucci, painters, the chamberlains." the company being thus formed by the consent of the captains and others, jacopo di casentino painted the picture of their chapel, representing st luke drawing a picture of our lady, and in the predella, all the men of the company kneeling on one side and all the women on the other. from this beginning, whether they meet or no, the company has existed continuously from this time and has recently been remodelled, as is related in the new articles of the company approved by the most illustrious lord, duke cosimo, the very benignant protector of these arts of design. at length jacopo, overwhelmed with years and toil, returned to casentino and died there at prato vecchio, at the age of eighty. he was buried by his relations and friends in s. agnolo, an abbey of the camaldoline order, outside prato vecchio. spinello introduced his portrait into a picture of the magi in the old duomo, and his style of draughtsmanship may be seen in our book. spinello, painter of arezzo. upon one of the occasions when the ghibellines were driven from florence and when they settled at arezzo, luca spinelli had a son born to him there, to whom he gave the name of spinello. this boy had so much natural inclination to be a painter, that almost without a master and while still quite a child he knew more than many who have practised under the best teachers, and what is more, he contracted a friendship with jacopo di casentino while the latter was working at arezzo, and learned something from him, so much so indeed that before he was twenty years of age he was a far better master, young as he was, than jacopo, who was already an old man. spinello's early reputation as a good painter induced m. dardano acciaiuoli to employ him to decorate the church of s. niccolo at the pope's halls, which he had just erected, behind s. maria novella in the via dei scala, and there buried a brother who was a bishop. here spinello painted scenes from the life of st nicholas, bishop of bari, in fresco, completing the work in after two years of unremitting labour. in it he exhibited equal excellence as a colourist and as a designer, so that the colours remained in excellent preservation up to our own day, and the excellence of the figures was well expressed, until a few years ago when they were in great part damaged by a fire which unfortunately broke out in the church at a time when it happened to be full of straw, brought there by some indiscreet persons who made use of the building as a barn for the storage of straw. the fame of the work induced m. barone capelli, citizen of florence, to employ spinello to paint in the principal chapel of s. maria maggiore, a number of stories of the madonna in fresco, and some of st anthony the abbot, and near them the consecration of that very ancient church by pope paschal ii. spinello did all this so well that it looks as if it had all been the work of a single day and not of many months, as was actually the case. near the pope is the portrait of m. barone from life, in the dress of the time, excellently done and with good judgment. on the completion of this, spinello worked in the church of the carmine in fresco, doing the chapel of st james and st john, apostles, where, among other things, he has given a very careful representation of the request made of christ by the wife of zebedee and mother of james, that her sons should sit the one on the right and the other on the left of the father in the kingdom of heaven. a little further over one sees zebedee, james and john leaving their nets and following christ, done with wonderful vigour and style. in another chapel of the same church, beside the principal one, spinello also did in fresco some stories of the madonna and the apostles, their miraculous appearance to her before her death, her death and her being carried to heaven by angels. as the scene was on a large scale, and the chapel being a very small one of not more than ten braccia in length and five in height, would not take it all, especially in the case of the assumption of our lady, spinello very judiciously continued the scene to the vaulting on one of the sides at the place where christ and the angels are receiving her. in a chapel of s. trinita, spinello made a very fine annunciation and for the high altar picture of the church of s. apostolo he painted in tempera the descent of the holy spirit upon the apostles in tongues of fire. in s. lucia de' bardi he also painted a panel and did a larger one for the chapel of st john the baptist, decorated by giotto. after these things, and on account of the great reputation which his labours in florence had procured for him, spinello was recalled to arezzo by the sixty citizens who governed it, and was commissioned by the commune to paint the story of the magi in the old duomo outside the city, and in the chapel of st gismondo, a st donate, who by means of a benediction causes a serpent to burst. similarly he made some various figures on many pilasters of that duomo, and on a wall he did a magdalene in the house of simon anointing christ's feet, with other paintings which there is no need to mention, since that church is now entirely destroyed, though it was then full of tombs, the bones of saints and other notable things. but in order that the memory of it may at least remain, i will remark that it was built by the aretines more than thirteen hundred years ago, at the time when they were first converted to the faith of jesus christ by st donato, who afterwards became bishop of the city. it was dedicated to him, and richly adorned both within and without with very ancient spoils of antiquity. the ground plan of the church, which is discussed at length elsewhere, was divided on the outside into sixteen faces, and on the inside into eight, and all were full of the spoils of those times which had originally been dedicated to idols; in short, it was, at the time of its destruction, as beautiful as such a very ancient church could possibly be. after the numerous paintings which he had done in the duomo, spinello painted for the chapel of the marsupini in s. francesco, pope honorius confirming and approving the rule of that saint, the pope being a portrait of innocent iv., he having by some means obtained the likeness. in the chapel of st michael, the archangel, in the same church in which the bells are rung, he painted many scenes relating to him; and rather lower down, in the chapel of m. giuliano baccio, he did an annunciation, with other figures, which are much admired. the whole of the works in this church were done in fresco with great boldness and skill between the years and . in the pieve of the same city he afterwards painted the chapel of st peter and st paul, and below it that of st michael the archangel; for the fraternity of s. maria della misericordia he did the chapel of st james and st philip; and over the principal door of the fraternity which is on the piazza, that is to say, in the tympanum, he painted a pieta, with a st john, at the request of the rectors of the fraternity. the foundation of the brotherhood took place in this way. a certain number of good and honourable citizens began to go about asking alms for the poor who were ashamed to beg, and to succour them in all their necessities, in the year of the plague of . the fraternity acquired a great reputation, acquired by means of the efforts of these good men, in helping the poor and infirm, burying the dead, and performing other kindred acts of charity, so that the bequests, donations and inheritances left to them became so considerable that they amounted to one-third of the entire wealth of arezzo. the same happened in , which was also a year of severe plague. spinello then being of the company, often undertook to visit the infirm, bury the dead, and perform other like pious duties which the best citizens have always undertaken and still do in that city. in order to leave a memorial of this in his paintings, he painted for the company on the wall of the church of s. laurentino and pergentino, a madonna with her mantle open in front, and beneath her the people of arezzo, comprising portraits of many of the earliest members of the fraternity, drawn from life, with wallets round their necks and a wooden hammer in their hands, like those with which they knocked at the doors to ask alms. similarly, in the company of the annunciation he painted the large tabernacle which is outside the church, and part of a portico which is opposite it, and the picture of the company, which is an annunciation, in tempera. the picture which is now in the church of the nuns of s. giusto, where a little christ, who is at his mother's neck, is espousing st catherine, with six small scenes in little figures of the acts of that saint, is also a work of spinello and much admired. being afterwards invited to the famous abbey of camaldoli in casentino in the year , he painted for the hermits of that place the picture of the high altar, which was taken away in the year , when the entire church was rebuilt and giorgio vasari did a new picture, painting the principal chapel of the abbey all in fresco, the transept of the church in fresco and two pictures. summoned thence to florence by d. jacopo d'arezzo, abbot of s. miniato in monte of the order of monte oliveto, spinello painted the vaulting and four walls of the sacristy of that monastery, besides the picture of the altar, all in tempera, with many stories of the life of st benedict, executed with much skill and a great vivacity in the colouring, learned by him by means of long practice and continual labour, with study and diligence, such as are necessary to every one who wishes to acquire an art perfectly. after these things the said abbot left florence and received the direction of the monastery of s. bernardo of the same order, in his native land, at the very time when it was almost entirely completed on the land granted by the aretines, on the site of the colosseum. here the abbot induced spinello to paint in fresco two chapels which are beside the principal chapel, and two others, one on either side of the door leading to the choir in the screen of the church. in one of the two, next the principal chapel, is an annunciation in fresco, made with the greatest diligence, and on a wall beside it, is the madonna ascending the steps of the temple, accompanied by joachim and anna; in the other chapel is a crucifix with the madonna and st john weeping, and a st bernard adoring on his knees. on the inner wall of the church where the altar of our lady stands, he painted the virgin with the child at her neck, which was considered a very beautiful figure, and did many other things for the church, painting above the choir our lady, st mary magdalene and st bernard, very vivaciously. in the pieve of arezzo in the chapel of st bartholomew, he did a number of scenes from the life of that saint, and on the opposite side of the church, in the chapel of st matthew, under the organ, which was painted by his master jacopo di casentino, besides many stories of that saint, which are meritorious, he did the four evangelists in some medallions, in an original style, for above the bust and human limbs he gave st john the head of an eagle, st mark the head of a lion, st luke that of an ox, while only st matthew has a human face, that is to say an angel's. outside arezzo, he decorated the church of s. stefano, built by the aretines upon many columns of granite and marble, to honour and preserve the names of several martyrs who were put to death by julian the apostate. here he did a number of figures and scenes with great diligence and such a style of colouring that they were in a wonderfully fresh state of preservation when they were destroyed not many years ago. but the really remarkable piece of work in that place, besides the stories of st stephen, in figures larger than life size, is the sight of joseph, in the story of the magi, beside himself with joy at the coming of those kings, and keenly watching the kings as they are opening the vessels of their treasures and are offering them to him. in the same church is a madonna offering a rose to the christ child, which was and is considered a most beautiful figure, and so highly reverenced by the aretines that when the church of s. stefano was pulled down, without sparing either pains or expense, they cut it out of the wall, ingeniously removed it and carried it into the city, depositing it in a small church in order to honour it, as they do, with the same devotion which they bestowed upon it at first. there is no wonder that the work inspired such reverence, for it is a natural characteristic of spinello to endow his figures with a certain simple grace, partaking of modesty and holiness, so that his saints and particularly his virgins breathe an indefinable sanctity and divinity which inspire men with devotion. this may be seen also in a madonna which is on the side of the albergetti, in one on an outside wall of the pieve in seteria, and in another of the same kind on the side of the canal. by spinello's hand also is the descent of the holy spirit on the apostles, on the wall of the hospital of s. spirito, which is very fine, as are the two scenes below representing st cosmo and st damian cutting a healthy leg off a dead moor to attach it to a man whose broken limb they have removed. in like manner the _noli me tangere_ between these two works is very beautiful. in a chapel of the company of the puracciuoli on the piazza of st agostino he did a very finely coloured annunciation, and in the cloister of that convent he painted a madonna in fresco with st james and st anthony and the portrait of an armed soldier kneeling there, with these words: _hoc opus fecit fieri clemens pucci de monte catino, cujus corpus jacet hic, etc. anno domini die mensis maii_. the representations in the chapel of that church, of st anthony and other saints are known by their style to be by spinello's hand, and he afterwards painted the whole of a portico in the hospital of s. marco, now the monastery of the nuns of st croce as their original house, which was outside, was pulled down. the figure of st gregory the pope, among the many represented in this work, standing beside a misericordia, is a portrait of pope gregory ix. the chapel of st philip and st james at the entry into the church of s. domenico in the same city, was done in fresco by spinello in a fine and vigorous style, as was also a three-quarter length figure of st anthony, painted on the wall of the church, which is so fine that it apes life. it is placed in the midst of four scenes from his life, and these and many other scenes of the life of st anthony, also by spinello's hand, are in the chapel of st anthony, in the church of s. giustino. on one side of the church of s. lorenzo he painted some stories of the madonna, and outside the church he painted her seated, doing the work very gracefully in fresco. in a small hospital opposite of the nuns of s. spirito, near the gate on the road to rome, the whole of the portico is painted by his hand with a representation of the dead christ in the lap of the maries, executed with so much skill and judgment that it proves him to have equalled giotto in the matter of design and to have far surpassed him as a colourist. in the same place he has represented christ seated, with a very ingenious theological signification, having placed the trinity inside a sun so that the same rays and the same glory issue from each of the three figures. but the same fate has befallen this work as has happened to many others, to the infinite loss of the lovers of this art, for it was thrown down to make way for the fortifications of the city. at the company of the trinity may be seen a tabernacle outside the church, by spinello very finely worked in fresco, comprising the trinity, st peter and ss. cosmo and damian dressed in the robes habitually worn by the physicians of the time. during the production of these works d. jacopo d'arezzo was appointed general of the congregation of monte oliveto, nineteen years after he had employed spinello to do a number of things at florence and at arezzo, as has been said above. being stationed according to the custom of the order, at monte oliveto the greater, of chiusuri in the siena district, as being the principal house of that body, he conceived a longing to have a beautiful picture made in that place. accordingly he sent for spinello, remembering how well he had been served upon other occasions, and induced him to do the picture for the principal chapel. here spinello produced a large number of figures in tempera, both small and great, on a gold ground, with great judgment, and afterwards caused it to be framed in an ornament in half-relief by simone cini of florence, while in some parts he put an additional ornament with stucco of a rather firm glue, which proved very successful. it was gilded all over by gabriello saracini, who wrote at the bottom the three names: simone cini of florence did the carving, gabriello saracini the gilding, and spinello di luca of arezzo the painting, in the year . on the completion of this work, spinello returned to arezzo having received numerous favours from the general and other monks, besides his payment. but he did not remain long there for the city was in disorder owing to the feuds of the guelph and ghibelline parties and was just then sacked. he removed with his family and his son parri, who was learning painting, to florence, where he had a goodly number of friends and relations. in that city, in order to pass the time, he painted an annunciation in a tabernacle outside the gate at s. piero gattolini on the roman road, where the way branches to pozzolatico, a work which is now half destroyed, and other pictures in another tabernacle, where the ruin of galluzzo is. being afterwards invited to pisa to finish in the campo santo beneath the life of st ranieri the remainder of other subjects in a blank space, in order to unite them to the scenes painted by giotto, simone of siena, and antonio of venice, he there executed in fresco six stories of st petitus and st epirus. the first represents the saint as a young man, presented by his mother to the emperor diocletian, and appointed general of the armies which were to march against the christians. as he is riding with his troop christ appears to him, and showing him a white cross commands the youth not to persecute him. another scene represents the angel of the lord giving to the saint, while he is riding, the banner of the faith, with a white cross on a red field, which has ever afterwards constituted the arms of the pisans, because st epirus had besought god to give him a sign to wear against the enemy. next to this is another scene of a fierce battle engaged between the saint and the pagans, many armed angels fighting for the victory of the former. here spinello produced many things worthy of consideration in that day when art had not yet the ability nor any good method of expressing the ideas of the mind in colour in a lively manner. among many other things in this composition are two soldiers, who have seized each other by the beard, and are endeavouring to kill each other with the naked rapiers which they hold in their disengaged hands; their faces and all the movement of their limbs show the desire of victory, their proud spirits being without fear and of the highest courage. also among those who are fighting on horseback there is a finely executed knight who is fastening the head of an enemy to earth with his lance, the other having fallen backward from his terrified horse. another scene shows the saint presented to the emperor diocletian, who is questioning him about the faith, and who afterwards consigns him to the torture, putting him in a furnace in which he remains uninjured, whilst the servants who are very ready on every side are burned in his stead. in short, all the acts of the saint are shown, to his beheading, after which his soul is carried to heaven. the last scene shows the transportation of the bones and relics of st petitus from alexandria to pisa. the whole work in its colouring and conception is the finest, most finished, and best executed of spinello's paintings, and this is shown by its present excellent state of preservation, for its fresh appearance excites the wonder of everyone who sees it. when this work in the campo santo was completed, spinello painted in the church of s. francesco, in the second chapel from the high altar, many stories of st bartholomew, st andrew, st james, and st john the apostles, and he might perhaps have remained longer at work in pisa, because his paintings were admired and rewarded there, but seeing the city thrown into an uproar and turned upside down through the murder of m. pietro gambacorti by the lanfranchini, who were pisan citizens, he once more removed to florence with all his family, for he was by this time an old man. he remained there for one year only, and in the chapel of the macchiavelli in s. croce, dedicated to ss. philip and james, he did many stories of the life and death of those saints. the picture of the chapel he did at arezzo, and sent it on from there in the year , for he was anxious to return to his native place, or, to speak more correctly, to the place which he looked upon as such. having thus returned thither at the age of seventy-seven or more, he was lovingly received by his relations and friends, and remained there, much loved and honoured, until the end of his life, which was in the ninety-second year of his age. although at the time of his return to arezzo he was quite an old man, and had enough property to enable him to live without working, yet he could not remain idle, since he had always been accustomed to work, and undertook to do some stories of st michael for the company of s. agnolo in that city. these are roughly drawn in red on the plastered wall, as was the most ordinary method of the old artists, and as an example he did a single scene in one corner, colouring it entirely, which gave considerable satisfaction. having afterwards agreed upon the price with the wardens, he completed the entire front of the high altar, representing lucifer establishing his seat in the north, and the fall of the angels who change into devils as they rain upon the earth. in the air is st michael fighting with the serpent of seven heads and ten horns, and in the middle of the lower part is lucifer already changed into a hideous monster. it gave spinello so much satisfaction to make him horrible and distorted that it is said (so great is the power of imagination) that the figure in the picture appeared to him in a dream, and demanded when the artist had seen him so ugly, asking why he did him so great an indignity with his brush. spinello awoke from his dream speechless from fear, and shook so violently that his wife hastened to assist him. yet he ran considerable risk of dying suddenly, through the failure of the heart, owing to this misfortune, and it caused his death a short while afterwards, until when he lived in an utterly dispirited manner with wide open eyes. he died greatly lamented by his friends, and left the world two sons--one called forzore was a goldsmith, who did some admirable work in _niello_ in florence; the other, parri, who followed his father and pursued the art of painting, far surpassing spinello in design. the aretines were much grieved at this sad chance, although spinello was old, at being deprived of ability and excellence such as his. he died at the age of ninety-two, and was buried in s. agostino at arezzo, where there is a stone with a coat of arms made after a fancy of his own, containing a hedgehog. spinello was far better able to design than to put his thoughts into practice, as our book of designs shows, which contains two evangelists and a st louis by his hand, all very fine. his portrait given above was taken by me from one which was in the old duomo before it was pulled down. his paintings were executed between the years and . gherardo stamina, painter of florence. certainly those who travel far from home to dwell in other parts very frequently do so to the advantage of their temperament, for by seeing divers customs abroad, even if they be of rather an extraordinary nature, they learn to be reasonable, kind and patient with considerably greater ease than they would have done had they remained at home. indeed those who desire to refine men in their worldly conversation need no other fire and no better cement than this, because those who are naturally rough become gentle, and the gentle become even more gracious. gherardo di jacopo stamina, painter of florence, though rather hasty than good-natured, being very hard and rough in his dealings, did more harm by this to himself than to his friends, and it would have been even worse for him had he not remained a long time in spain, where he learned to be gentle and courteous, for he there became so changed from his former nature that when he returned to florence a very large number of those who had mortally hated him before his departure, received him with very great friendliness and continued to cherish a great affection for him, so gentle and courteous had he become. gherardo was born in florence in the year , and as he grew up and was naturally bent to the art of designing, he was put with antonio da vinezia to learn to design and to paint. in the space of many years he not only learned the art and practice of colours, but had shown his ability by some things produced in a good style; accordingly he left antonio and began to work on his own account. in the chapel of the castellani at s. croce, which was given to him to paint by michaele di vanno, an honoured citizen of that family, he did in fresco many stories of st anthony the abbot and of st nicholas the bishop, in such a good style that they attracted the attention of certain spaniards then staying in florence on business, and ultimately led to his being invited to spain to their king, who saw and received him very gladly, there being at that time a great lack of good painters in that country. nor was it a difficult matter to induce gherardo to leave his country, for as he had had hard words with some men after the affair of the ciompi and the appointment of michele di lando as gonfaloniere, he was in considerable danger of his life. accordingly he went to spain and did many things for the king there, and became rich and honoured by the great rewards which he earned for his labours. at length becoming desirous of showing himself to his friends in his improved estate, he returned home and was warmly welcomed and received in a very friendly manner by all his fellow-citizens. it was not long before he was employed to paint the chapel of st jerome in the carmine, where he did many stories of that saint, and in the story of paul, eustace and jerome he represented some of the spanish habits of the day with very happy invention and an abundance of fashions and ideas in the attitudes of the figures. among other things, in a scene where st jerome is receiving his earliest instruction, he represented a master who has caused one boy to mount upon the back of another and strikes him with the whip in such a manner that the poor child is twisting his legs with pain and appears to be crying out and trying to bite the ear of the boy who is holding him. the whole is executed with much grace and lightness, and gherardo appears to have delighted in these touches of nature. in like manner, when st jerome, being at the point of death, is making his will, he has hit off some friars in a delightful and realistic manner, for some are writing, others listening attentively and looking about, observing all the words of their master with great earnestness. this work won stamina much fame and a high rank among artists, and his courteous and mild manners gave him a great reputation, so that his name was famous throughout tuscany and indeed in all italy. being at this time invited to pisa to paint the chapter-house of s. niccola in that city, he sent in his place antonio vite of pistoia, because he did not wish to leave florence. antonio, who had learned stamina's style under him, did the passion of jesus christ there, completing it in its present form in the year , to the great delight of the pisans. afterwards, it is said, he finished the chapel of the pugliesi; and as the works which he did there at s. girolamo greatly pleased the florentines, because he had expressed in a lively manner many gestures and attitudes which had not been attempted by any painters before his time, the commune of florence in the year that gabriel maria, lord of pisa, sold that city to the florentines for , scudi (after giovanni gambacorta had stood a siege of thirteen months, although even he at length agreed to the sale), employed stamina to paint on a wall of the palazzo di parte guelfa, st denis the bishop, with two angels, and below it an accurate representation of the city of pisa. in the execution of this he displayed such diligence in every detail, especially in the colouring in fresco, that notwithstanding the action of air and water and a northern aspect, the picture has always remained in excellent condition, and even now it has all the appearance of having been newly painted, an achievement worthy of high praise. gherardo having by this and other works acquired a great reputation and much renown both at home and abroad, death, the envious enemy of virtuous deeds, cut off at the height of his powers the great promise of much better things than the world had yet seen from him; and having come to his end unexpectedly in the forty-ninth year of his age, he was buried with much pomp in the church of s. jacopo sopra arno. the pupils of gherardo were masolino da panicale, who was at first an excellent goldsmith and then a painter, and some others whom it is not necessary to mention, as they did not possess any remarkable talent. the portrait of gherardo occurs in the story of st jerome, mentioned above; he is one of the figures who are standing about the dying saint, represented in profile with a hood about his head and a mantle buttoned about him. in our book are some designs of gherardo done with the pen on parchment, which are of considerable excellence. lippo, painter of florence. invention has been, and always will be considered the true mother of architecture, painting and poetry, as well as of all the superior arts and of all the marvels produced by man. by its aid artists develop their ideas, caprices and fancies, and are able to display more variety, for all those who work at these honourable professions always seek after a laudable diversity, and possess the power of delicate flattery and of tactful criticism. lippo, then, painter of florence, who was as varied and choice in his inventions as his works were really unfortunate and his life short, was born at florence about the year of grace ; and although he took up the art of painting somewhat late, when he was already a man, yet he was so far assisted by natural inclination and by his fine talents that he soon distinguished himself brilliantly. he first painted in florence and in s. benedetto, a large and fine monastery outside the gate of the pinti belonging to the camaldoline order, now destroyed; he did a number a figures which were considered very beautiful, particularly the whole of a chapel, which affords an example of how close study quickly leads to great performances in anyone who honestly takes pains with the desire for fame. being invited to arezzo from florence, he did for the chapel of the magi in the church of s. antonio a large scene in fresco in which they are adoring christ; and in the vescovado he did the chapel of st james and st christopher for the family of the ubertini. all these things were very fine, for the invention displayed in the composition of scenes and in the colouring. he was the first who began, as it were, to play with his figures, and to awaken the minds of those who came after him, a thing which had never been done before, only attempted. after he had done many things in bologna and a meritorious picture at pistoia, he returned to florence, where he painted the chapel of the beccuti in s. maria maggiore in the year with scenes from the life of st john the evangelist. following on from this chapel, which is beside the principal one, on the left hand, six scenes from the life of this saint are represented along the wall, by the same hand. their composition is excellent and they are well arranged, one scene in particular being very vivid, namely, that in which st john causes st dionisius the areopagite to put his vest on some dead men, who come to life again in the name of jesus christ, to the great wonderment of some who are present who can hardly believe their own eyes. the foreshortening of some of the dead figures shows great art and proves that lippo was conscious of some of the difficulties of his profession and endeavoured to some extent to overcome them. it was lippo also who painted the wings of the tabernacle of the church of s. giovanni, where are andrea's angels and his st john, in relief, doing some stories of st john the baptist in tempera, with great diligence. being very fond of working in mosaic, he did some in that church over the door leading towards the misericordia, between the windows, which was considered very beautiful and the best work in mosaic produced in that place with them. in the same church he further repaired some mosaics which had been damaged. outside florence, in s. giovanni fra l'arcora, without the gate leading to faenza, he painted a number of figures in fresco beside buffalmacco's crucifixion, which was considered very beautiful by all who saw them. in certain small hospitals near the fænza gate and in s. antonio inside that gate near the hospital, he did some poor men, in fresco, in some varied styles and attitudes, very beautifully executed, and in the cloister within he made, with beautiful and new invention, the vision of st anthony of the deceits of the world, and next to that the desires and appetites of men, who are drawn hither and thither to divers things of this world, the whole of the work being executed with much consideration and judgment. lippo also did mosaic work in many places of italy, and in the guelph quarter at florence he made a figure with a glass head, while pisa contains a number of his productions. yet in spite of all this he must be considered a really unfortunate man, since at the present time the greater part of his works have disappeared, having been destroyed in the siege of florence, and also because his career was terminated in a very tragic manner; for being a quarrelsome man and liking turmoil belter than quiet, he happened one morning to say some very insulting words to an opponent at the tribunal of the mercanzia, and that evening as he was returning home, he was dogged by this man and stabbed in the breast with a knife, so that in a few days he perished miserably. his paintings were produced about . there flourished at bologna in lippo's time another painter whose name was also lippo dalmasi, who was a worthy man, and among other things he painted a madonna in the year , which may still be seen in s. petronio at bologna and which is held in great veneration. he also painted in fresco the tympanum above the door of s. procolo, and in the church of s. francesco in the tribune of the high altar, he made a large christ, half length, and a st peter and a st paul, in a very graceful style. under these works may be seen his name written in large letters. he also designed very fairly, as may be seen in our book, and he afterwards taught the art to m. galante da bologna, who afterwards designed much better than he, as may be seen in the same book in a portrait of a figure dressed in a short coat with wide open sleeves. don lorenzo, monk of the angeli of florence, painter. i believe that it is a great joy to a good and religious person to find some honourable employment for their hands whether it be letters, music, painting or other liberal and mechanical arts which involve no reproach but are on the contrary useful and helpful to other men, for after the divine offices the time may be passed with the pleasure taken in the easy labours of peaceful exercises. to these advantages we may add that not only is such a monk esteemed and valued by others during his life-time, except by such as are envious and malignant, but he is honoured by all men after his death, for his works and the good name which he has left behind him. indeed whoever spends his time in this manner, lives in quiet contemplation without any danger from those ambitious stirrings which are almost always to be seen among the idle and slothful, who are usually ignorant, to their shame and hurt. if it should happen that a man of ability acting thus is slandered by the malicious, the power of virtue is such that time will reestablish his reputation and bury the malignity of the evil disposed, while the man of ability will remain distinguished and illustrious in the centuries which succeed. thus don lorenzo, painter of florence, being a monk of the order of the camaldolines in the monastery of the angeli (founded in by fra giuttone of arezzo of the order of the virgin mother of jesus christ, or of the rejoicing friars as the monks of that order were commonly called), devoted so much time in his early years to design and to painting, that he was afterwards deservedly numbered among the best men of his age in that profession. the first works of this painter monk, who adopted the style of taddeo gaddi and his school, were in the monastery of the angeli, where besides many of the things he painted the high altar picture, which may still be seen in their church. when completed it was placed there in the year as may be seen by the letters written at the bottom of the frame. he also painted a picture for the monastery of s. benedetto of the same order of the camaldoli, outside the pinti gate, destroyed at the siege of florence in . it represented the coronation of our lady and resembled the one he had previously done for the church of the angeli. it is now in the first cloister of the monastery of the angeli, on the right hand side in the chapel of the alberti. at the same time, and possibly before, he painted in fresco the chapel and altar picture of the ardinghelli in s. trinita, florence, which was then much admired, and into this he introduced portraits of dante and petrarch. in s. piero maggiore he painted the chapel of the fioravanti and in a chapel of s. piero scheraggio he did the altar picture, while in the church of s. trinita he further painted the chapel of the bartolini. in s. jacopo sopra arno a picture by his hand may still be seen, executed with infinite diligence, after the manner of the time. also in the certosa outside florence he painted some things with considerable skill, and in s. michele at pisa, a monastery of his own order, he did some very fair pictures. in florence, in the church of the romiti (hermits), which also belonged to the camaldolines, and which is now in ruins as well as the monastery, leaving nothing but its name camaldoli to that part beyond the arno, he did a crucifix on a panel, besides many other things, and a st john, which were considered very beautiful. at last he fell sick of a cruel abscess, and after lingering for many months he died at the age of fifty-five, and was honourably buried by the monks in the chapter-house of their monastery as his virtues demanded. experience shows that in the course of time many shoots frequently spring from a single germ owing to the diligence and ability of men, and so it was in the monastery of the angeli, where the monks had always paid considerable attention to painting and design. don lorenzo was not the only excellent artist among them, but men distinguished in design flourished there for a long time both before and after him. thus i cannot possibly pass over in silence one don jacopo of florence, who flourished a long time before d. lorenzo, because as he was the best and most methodical of monks, so he was the best writer of large letters who has ever existed before or since, not only in tuscany but in all europe, as is clearly testified not only by the twenty large choir books which he left in his monastery, the writing in which is most beautiful, the books themselves being perhaps the largest in italy, but an endless number of other books which may still be found in rome and in venice and many other places, notably in s. michele and s. mania at murano, a monastery of the camaldoline order. by these works the good father has richly deserved the honours accorded to him many years after he had passed to a better life, his celebration in many latin verses by d. paolo orlandini, a very learned monk of the same monastery, as well as the preservation of the right hand which wrote the books, with great veneration in a tabernacle, together with that of another monk, d. silvestro, who illuminated the same books with no less excellence, when the conditions of the time are taken into consideration, than d. jacopo had written them. i, who have seen them many times, am lost in astonishment that they should have been executed with such good design and with so much diligence at that time, when all the arts of design were little better than lost, since the works of these monks were executed about the year of grace , or a little before or after, as may be seen in each of the said books. it is reported, and some old men relate that when pope leo x. came to florence he wished to see and closely examine these books, since he remembered having heard them highly praised by the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, his father; and that after he had attentively looked through them and admired them as they were all lying open on the choir-desks, he said, "if they were in accordance with the rules of the roman church and not of the camaldolines, i should like some specimens for s. peter's at rome, for which i would pay the monks a just price." there were, and perhaps still are, two very fine ones at s. peter's by the same monks. in the same monastery of the angeli is a quantity of very ancient embroidery, done in a very fine style, with excellent designs by the fathers of the house while they were in perpetual seclusion, with the title not of monks but of hermits, and who never came out of the monastery as the nuns and monks do in our day. this practice of seclusion lasted until . but to return to d. lorenzo. he taught francesco fiorentino, who, after his death, did the tabernacle which is on the side of s. maria novella at the head of the via della scala leading to the pope's chamber. he also had another pupil, a pisan, who painted in the chapel of rutilio di ser baccio maggiolini, in the church of s. francesco at pisa, our lady, a st peter, st john the baptist, st francis and st ranieri, with three scenes of small figures in the predella of the altar. this painting, executed in , was considered meritorious for a work done in tempera. in our book of designs i have the theological virtues done by d. lorenzo's hand in chiaroscuro, with good design and a beautiful and graceful style, so that they are perhaps better than the designs of any other master of the time. antonio vite of pistoia was a meritorious painter in lorenzo's time, and is said to have painted, among many other things described in the life of stamina, in the palace of the geppo of prato, the life of francesco di marco, who was the founder of that pious place. taddeo bartoli, painter of siena. those artists who put themselves to a great deal of pains in painting in order to win fame, deserve a better fate than the placing of their works in obscure and unhonoured places where they may be blamed by persons whose knowledge of the subject is not considerable. their productions ought to be so prominently placed with plenty of light and air that they may be properly seen and examined by every one. this is the case of the public work of taddeo bartoli, painter of siena for the chapel of the palace of the signoria at siena. taddeo was the son of bartoli son of the master fredi, who was a mediocre painter in his day, and painted scenes from the old testament on a wall of the pieve of s. gimignano, on the left hand side on entering. in the middle of this work, which if the truth must be told was not very good, the following inscription may still be read: _ann: dom bartolus magistri fredi de senis me pinxit_. bartoli must have been young at the time, for there is a picture of his of the year , in s. agostino of the same district, on the left hand side on entering the principal door. the subject is the circumcision of our lord with certain saints, and it is in a far better style both as regards design and colouring, some of the heads being really fine although the feet of the figures are in the ancient style. in fact many other works of bartoli may be seen about that district. but to return to taddeo, as the best master of the time, he received a commission, as i have said, to paint the chapel of the palace of the signoria for his native place, and he executed it with such diligence, with consideration for so honoured a place, and he was so richly rewarded by the signoria, that he greatly increased his glory and renown. thus not only did he afterwards make many pictures for his native land, to his great honour and benefit, but he was invited and asked of the signoria of siena as a great favour by francesco da carrara, lord of padua, to go there, as he did, and do some things in that most noble city. he did some pictures and other things there, notably in the arena and in the santo with great care, to his own great honour and to the infinite satisfaction of the said lord and of the whole city. returning subsequently to tuscany he did a picture in tempera in s. gimignano, which is something in the style of ugolino of siena and is now behind the high altar of the pieve facing the choir of the priests. he next went to siena, but did not remain long there as he was summoned to pisa by one of the lanfranchi, a warden of the duomo. having proceeded thither he did for the chapel of the nunziata the scene where the madonna is ascending the steps of the temple, where the priest in his pontificals is awaiting her, a highly finished work. the face of the priest is the portrait of the man who had invited him, while his own is hard by. on the completion of this work, the same patron induced him to paint over the chapel in the campo santo, the coronation of our lady by jesus christ, with many angels, in most beautiful attitudes and very finely coloured. for the chapel of the sacristy of st francesco at pisa, taddeo also painted a picture in tempera of the madonna and some saints, signing his name to it and the year . about the same time he did some pictures in tempera at volterra, and another picture at monte oliveto, while on the wall he did an inferno, following the arrangement of dante as regards the division of the damned and the nature of their punishment, but as regards the site he either could not or would not imitate him, or perhaps he lacked the necessary knowledge. he also sent to arezzo a picture which is in s. agostino containing a portrait of pope gregory ix., the one who returned to italy after the papal court had been so many decades in france. after these things he returned to siena, but did not make a long stay there as he was invited to perugia to work in the church of s. domenico. here he painted the whole of the life of st catherine in the chapel dedicated to that saint, and did some figures in s. francesco beside the sacristy door, which may still be discerned to-day, and are recognisable as being by taddeo, because he always retained the same manner. shortly after, in the year , biroldo, lord of perugia, was assassinated. taddeo accordingly returned to siena, where he devoted constant work and steady application to the study of art, in order to make himself a worthy painter. it may be affirmed that if he did not perhaps attain his purpose, it was not on account of any defect or negligence on his part, but solely because of an obstructive malady which prevented him from ever realising his desire. taddeo died at the age of fifty-nine, after having taught the art to a nephew of his called domenico. his paintings were done about the year of grace . thus, as i have said, he left domenico bartoli, his nephew and pupil, who devoted himself to the art of painting, and painted with superior skill. in the subjects which he represented he exhibited much more wealth and variety in various matters than his uncle had done. in the hall of the pilgrims of the great hospital of siena there are two large scenes in fresco by domenico, which contain prospectives and other ornaments, composed with considerable ingenuity. it is said that domenico was modest and gentle and of a singularly amiable and liberal courtesy, which did no less honour to his name than the art of painting itself. his works were executed about the year of our lord , and the last were in s. trinita at florence, a picture of the annunciation and the high altar picture in the church of the carmine. alvaro di piero of portugal flourished at the same time, and adopted a very similar style, but made his colouring more clear and his figures shorter. in volterra he did several pictures, and there is one in s. antonio at pisa and others in various places, but as they are of no great excellence it is not necessary to mention them. in our book there is a sheet of drawings by taddeo, containing a christ and two angels, etc., very skilfully executed. lorenzo di bicci, painter of florence. when those who excel in any honourable employment, no matter what, unite with their skill as craftsmen, a gentleness of manners and of good breeding, and especially courtesy, serving those who employ them with speed and goodwill, there is no doubt that they are pursuing to their great honour and advantage almost everything which can be desired in this world. this was the case with lorenzo di bicci, painter of florence, born in florence in the year , at the very moment when italy was beginning to be disturbed by the wars which ended so badly for her, was in very good credit from his earliest years; for under his father's discipline he learned good manners, and from spinello's instruction he acquired the art of painting, so that he had a reputation not only of being an excellent painter, but of being a most courteous and able man. while he was still a youth, lorenzo did some works in fresco at florence and outside to gain facility, and giovanni di bicci de' medici, having remarked the excellence of his style, employed him to paint in the hall of the old house of the medici, which afterwards was left to lorenzo, natural brother of cosmo the ancient, after the great palace was built, all those famous men who may still be seen in a fairly good state of preservation. this work being completed, lorenzo di bicci was anxious, like the doctors who experiment in their art on the skins of poor rustics, to have practice in the art of painting in a place where things are not so closely criticised, and for some time he accepted everything which presented itself; hence, outside the gate of s. friano at the ponte a scandicci, he painted a tabernacle, as it may now be seen, and at cerbaia under a portico he painted very agreeably a madonna and many saints on a wall. afterwards a chapel in s. marco at florence was allotted to him by the family of the martini, and on the walls he painted in fresco a number of scenes from the life of our lady, and on the altar picture the virgin herself in the midst of many saints. in the same church over the chapel of st john the evangelist, of the family of the landi, he painted in fresco the angel raphael and tobias. in the year for ricciardo di m. niccolo spinello, on the piazza front of the convent of s. croce he painted a large scene in fresco of st thomas examining the wounds of jesus christ in the presence of all the other apostles who are kneeling reverently at the sight. next to this scene and also in fresco he did a st christopher, twelve and a half braccia high, which is a rare thing, because with the exception of the st christopher of buffalmacco, a larger figure had never been seen, and although the style is not good it is the most meritorious and best proportioned representation of the saint. besides this the pictures were executed with such skill that although they have been exposed to the air for many years, and being turned to the north, they have suffered the violence of rain and storm, yet they have never lost the brilliancy of their colouring and are in no wise injured by these accidents. lorenzo also made a crucifix with many figures inside the door which is in the middle of these figures, called the door of the knocker, at the request of the same ricciardo and of the superior of the convent, and on the encircling wall he did the confirmation of the rule of st francis by pope honorius, and then the martyrdom of some friars of that order, who are going to preach the faith to the saracens. in the arches and on the vaulting he did some kings of france, friars and followers of st francis, drawing them from life, as well as many learned men of the order, distinguished by their several dignities of bishop, cardinal and pope. among these are the portraits from life of popes nicholas iv. and alexander v., in medallions. for all these figures lorenzo made the grey habits, but with variety owing to his skill in workmanship, so that they all differ from one another, some inclining towards red, others to blue, some being dark and others more light, so that all are varied and worthy of consideration. what is more, it is said that he produced these works with such facility and speed that when the superior, who paid his expenses in designing, called him one day, when he had just made the colour for a figure and was beginning it, he answered, "make the soup and i will come when i have finished this figure." accordingly it is said with a great show of reason that no one ever exhibited such quickness of the hands, such skill in colouring, or was so resolute as he. by his hand also is the tabernacle in fresco which is beside the nunnery of foligno and the madonna and saints over the door of the church of that nunnery, among them being a st francis espousing poverty. in the church of camaldoli at florence, he painted for the company of the martyrs some scenes of the martyrdom of certain saints, and decorated the chapels on either side of the principal chapel. as these paintings gave considerable satisfaction to the whole city, he was commissioned on their completion, to paint a wall of the church in the carmine for the family of the salvestrini, now almost extinct, there being so far as i know, no other surviving member than a friar of the angeli at florence, called fra nemesio, a good and courteous monk. here he did the martyrs, when they are condemned to death, being stripped naked and made to walk bare-footed on thorns sown by the servants of the tyrants, whilst they are on the way to be crucified, and higher up they are represented on the cross in varied and extraordinary attitudes. in this work, the largest which had ever been produced, everything is done with great skill and design, according to the knowledge of the time, being full of the expressions showing the divers ways of dying of those who are put to death with violence. for this cause i am not surprised that many men of ability have made use of some things found in this picture. after this lorenzo did many other figures in the same church, and decorated two chapels in the screen. at the same time he did the tabernacle on the side of the cuculia, and the one in the via de' martelli on the wall of the houses, and over the knocker door of s. spirito he did a st augustine in fresco, who is giving the rule to his brethren. in s. trinita in the chapel of neri capponi he painted in fresco the life of st john gualbert. in the principal chapel of s. lucia in the via de' bardi he did some scenes in fresco from the life of st lucy for niccolo da uzzano, whose portrait he introduced there from life together with those of some other citizens. this niccolo with the assistance and model of lorenzo, built his own palace near the church, and began a magnificent college or studium between the convent of the servites and that of s. marco, that is to say, where the lions now are. this truly magnificent work, rather worthy of a prince than of a private citizen, was not completed, because the immense sum of money which niccolo left in his bank at florence for the building and endowment of it were expended by the florentines on war and other needs of the city. although fortune can never obscure the memory and greatness of the spirit of niccolo da uzzano, the community suffered a great loss by the non-completion of the work. therefore, let anyone who desires to help the world in such a manner, and to leave an honourable memorial of himself, do so himself in his life-time, and not trust to the faithfulness of posterity and of his heirs, as it very rarely happens that a thing is carried out where it is left to successors. but to return to lorenzo. besides what has been already mentioned, he painted a madonna and certain saints very fairly in a tabernacle on the ponte rubaconte in fresco. not long after, ser michele di fruosino, master of the hospital of s. maria nuova at florence, a building founded by folco portinari, citizen of florence, proposed, as the property of the hospital had increased, to enlarge his church outside florence, dedicated to st giles, which was of small importance. accordingly he consulted lorenzo di bicci, his close friend, and on th september he began the new church, which was completed in its present form in a year, and then solemnly consecrated by pope martin v. at the request of ser michele, who was the eighth master and a member of the family of the portinari. lorenzo afterwards painted this consecration, at the desire of ser michele, on the front of the church, introducing the portrait of the pope and of some cardinals. this work was then much admired as something new and beautiful. for this cause lorenzo was judged worthy to be the first to paint in the principal church of his native city, that is s. maria del fiore, where, under the windows of each chapel, he did the saints to which they are dedicated; and afterwards, on the pillars and through the church, he did the twelve apostles with the crosses of the consecration, as the church was solemnly consecrated in that very year by pope eugenius iv. of venice. in the same church the wardens, by a public ordinance, employed him to paint on the wall in fresco a deposition, finished in marble, in memory of the cardinal de' corsini, whose effigy is there, upon the sarcophagus. above this is another like it, in memory of master luigi marsili, a most famous theologian, who went as ambassador with m. luigi giuccardini and m. guccio di gino, most honoured knights, to the duke of anjou. lorenzo was afterwards invited to arezzo by d. laurentino, abbot of s. bernardo, a monastery of the order of monte oliveto, where he painted scenes from the life of st bernard in fresco for the principal chapel for m. carlo marsupino. but as he was about to paint the life of st benedict in the cloister of the convent, after he had painted the principal chapel of the church of s. francesco, for francesco de' bacci, the elder, where he alone did the vaulting and half the tympanum, he fell sick of a chest affection. accordingly he caused himself to be carried to florence, and left instructions that marco da montepulciano, his pupil, should do these scenes from the life of st benedict in the cloister, from a design which he had made and left with d. laurentino. these marco did to the best of his ability, completing them in the year on th april, the whole work being in chiaroscuro, and his name may be seen written there, with verses which are not less rude than the painting. lorenzo returned to his country, and, having recovered, he painted on the same wall of the convent of s. croce, where he had done the st christopher, the assumption of our lady surrounded in heaven by a choir of angels, and below a st thomas receiving the girdle. in the execution of this work, as lorenzo was sick, he was assisted by donatello, then quite a youth, and by means of such effective aid it was completed in the year , so that i believe it to be the best work both in design and in colouring that lorenzo ever produced. not long after, being an old man and worn out, he died at the age of about sixty years, leaving two sons who practised painting, one of whom, named bicci, assisted him in many of his works, and the other, called neri, drew the portraits of his father and himself in the chapel of the lenzi in ognissanti, in two medallions, with letters about them giving the names of both. in this same chapel neri did some stories of our lady, and took great pains to copy many of the costumes of his day, both of men and women. he did the altar picture for the chapel in tempera, and painted some pictures in the abbey of s. felice, of the camaldoline order, on the piazza of florence, as well as the high altar of s. michele of arezzo of the same order. outside arezzo, at s. maria delle grazie, in the church of s. bernardino, he did a madonna with the people of arezzo under her mantle, and on one side st bernardino is kneeling, with a wooden cross in his hand, such as he was accustomed to carry when he went through arezzo preaching; and on the other side are st nicholas and st michael the archangel. the predella contains the acts of st bernardino and the miracles which, he performed, especially those done in that place. the same neri did the high altar picture for s. romolo at florence, and in the chapel of the spini in s. trinita he did the life of st john gualbert in fresco, as well as the picture in tempera which is above the altar. from these works it is clear that if neri had lived, instead of dying at the age of thirty-six, he would have done many better and more numerous works than his father lorenzo. the latter was the last master to adopt the old manner of giotto, and accordingly his life will be the last in this first part, which i have now completed, with god's help. notes page line xxiii. . "braccia," may be considered roughly to represent about two feet; literally translated it means an arm. . . "fresco," painting _al fresco_, upon fresh or wet ground is executed with mineral and earthy pigments upon a freshly laid stucco ground of lime or gypsum.--_fairholt_. . . "old king charles of anjou," the brother of st louis, crowned king of sicily in . . . "tempera," a method in which the pigments are mixed with chalk or clay and diluted with size. . . "credette," etc. "cimabue thought to lord it over painting's field; and now the cry is giotto's, and his name eclips'd."--_cary_. . . "drawings." it is stated that the knight gaddi sold five volumes of drawings to some merchants for several thousands of scudi, which composed vasari's famous book, so often referred to by h m. card. leopold de' medici collected several of those by the most famous artists. this collection was sent to the uffizi gallery in , where they are merged with the other drawings. . . "bridge which still bears his name." m. rubaconte was podesta of florence in and in addition to laying the foundation stone of this bridge, he also caused the city to be paved. _villani_, vi. . the bridge is now known as the ponte alle grazie. . . "frederick barbarossa." impossible, for barbarossa died two centuries before. perhaps vasari means the emperor frederick iii. . . "ser ciappelletto," the hero of the first story in boccaccio's _decameron_, forger, murderer, blasphemer, fornicator, drunkard and gambler, "he was probably the worst man who was ever born," to crown all, he so deceived the priest to whom he confessed that he was canonised. . . "s. giovanni." bk. i., cap. . villani states that it was originally built by the romans in the time of octavian as a temple to mars. . . "m. farinata degli uberti."_cf_, p. above. after the battle of montaperti in , in which the sienese aided by the ghibelline exiles of florence won a complete victory over the florentines, a council was held in which it was proposed to destroy florence utterly. the project was defeated by farinata, one of the most prominent of the victorious florentines. _villani_, bk. vi., cap. . _cf_, dante _inferno_, x. . . . . "m. forese da rabatta," _decameron_, th day, novella . . . "life of the patient job." it is now a well established fact that these frescoes were painted by francesco da volterra in , several years after giotto's death. . . "oh dissi lui," etc. "oh," i exclaimed, "art thou not oderigi, art not thou agobbio's glory, glory of that art which they of paris call the limner's skill? brother, said he, with tints that gayer smile, bolognian franco's pencil lines the leaves. his all the honour now; mine borrowed light." --cary. . . "franco sacchetti," born at florence in . his novelle were considered the best after those of boccaccio. . . where the giglion joins the chiassa there did my ancestors flourish who bear six golden stones on azure ground. . . "an eagle on the back of a lion." the bishop was a prominent ghibelline, whose figure was the imperial eagle, while the lion signified the opposing guelph party. buffalmacco as a florentine would belong to the latter faction. . . "voi che avvisate," etc. ye who behold this painting think, weigh and consider upon the merciful god, supreme creator, who made all things in love. he fashioned that angelic nature in new orders, in that resplendent empire of heaven. motionless himself yet the source of all motion he made everything good and pure. raise the eyes of your mind, reflect upon the ordering of the entire globe and reverently praise him who has created so well. think that you also may taste the delight of living among the angels, where all are blessed. in this scene also we see the glory of the world, the base, the mean, and the lofty. . ii. "arts of florence." the arts or guilds of florence formed the basis of the government of the city. they were of two orders, the greater and the lesser. the seven greater arts were: lawyers (st luke), the calimara or dealers in foreign cloth (st john baptist), money-changers (st matthew), woollen manufacturers (st thomas), physicians (virgin mary), silk manufacturers (st john the divine), and the furriers (st james). the lesser arts were fourteen in number, including armourers (st george), locksmiths (st mark), farriers (st eloi), drapers (st stephen), shoemakers (st philip), butchers (st peter). they were admitted to the full citizenship in . . . "da che prosperitade," etc. "since every happiness has abandoned us, come death, the cure of every grief, come and give us our last meal." . . "ischermo di saveri," etc. "knowledge and wealth, birth and valour, all are alike powerless against his strokes." . . "the duke of athens." walter de brienne, a frenchman, elected captain and protector of florence in june ;. he endeavoured to become master of the city, but was expelled in the popular rising referred to. . . "the bavarian." louis of bavaria, the emperor who died in . . "_a secco_." fresco painting in secco is that kind which absorbs the colours into the plaster and gives them a dry sunken appearance.--_fairholt_. . "affair of the ciompi": the name given to the rising of the lesser people against the powerful guilds, resulting in a wider distribution of the powers of government. the lower classes won and appointed michele del lando as their gonfaloniere. ciompi means the lowest classes. . . " , scudi," worth about £ , , s. [transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected. hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. bold text is marked with =.] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume vii. tribolo to il sodoma newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume vii page niccolÒ, called tribolo pierino [piero] da vinci baccio bandinelli giuliano bugiardini cristofano gherardi, called doceno jacopo da pontormo simone mosca girolamo and bartolommeo genga, and giovan battista san marino michele san michele giovanni antonio bazzi, called il sodoma index of names illustrations to volume vii plates in colour facing page giuliano bugiardini portrait of a lady florence: pitti, jacopo da pontormo portrait of an engraver paris: louvre, paolo veronese (paolino _or_ caliari) industry venice: doges' palace, sala anticollegio giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) the vision of s. catharine siena: s. domenico plates in monochrome niccolÒ (tribolo) the hercules fountain florence: villa reale di castello niccolÒ (tribolo) the assumption of the virgin bologna: s. petronio [ ] [footnote : illustrated with _two angels_, by madonna properzia de' rossi, vol. v., p. .] pierino (piero) da vinci ugolino della gherardesca and his sons in the tower of famine oxford: ashmolean museum baccio bandinelli the martyrdom of s. lorenzo hereford: w. j. davies' collection baccio bandinelli statue of hercules and cacus florence: piazza della signoria baccio bandinelli statue of giovanni delle bande nere florence: piazza di s. lorenzo baccio bandinelli reliefs from the choir screen florence: duomo giuliano bugiardini the martyrdom of s. catharine florence: s. maria novella, rucellai chapel giorgio vasari and cristofano gherardi (doceno) detail: the supper of s. gregory the great bologna: accademia, jacopo da pontormo the adoration of the magi siena: s. agostino jacopo da pontormo duke cosimo i. de' medici florence: uffizi, jacopo da pontormo the visitation florence: ss. annunziata, cloister jacopo da pontormo joseph and his kindred in egypt london: n. g., jacopo da pontormo detail: vertumnus fresco poggio a caiano: villa reale jacopo da pontormo detail: vertumnus fresco poggio a caiano: villa reale jacopo da pontormo the descent from the cross florence: s. felicita jacopo da pontormo the martyrdom of the forty saints florence: pitti, simone mosca and michele san michele the altar of the three kings orvieto: duomo simone mosca the salutation orvieto: duomo girolamo genga madonna and child with saints milan: brera, michele san michele porta del palio verona michele san michele cappella de' pellegrini verona: s. bernardino michele san michele _see also at p. above_ palazzo grimani venice paolo veronese (paolino _or_ caliari) the feast in the house of levi venice: accademia, paolo veronese (paolino _or_ caliari) venice enthroned, with justice and peace venice: ducal palace giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) scene from the life of s. benedict monte oliveto maggiore giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) scene from the life of s. benedict monte oliveto maggiore giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) detail: the marriage of alexander and roxana rome: villa farnesina giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) s. sebastian florence: uffizi, giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) s. ansano siena: palazzo pubblico giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) s. francis siena: s. bernardino, oratory giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) the adoration of the magi siena: s. agostino giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma) the sacrifice of isaac pisa: duomo niccolÒ, called tribolo life of niccolÒ, called tribolo sculptor and architect raffaello the carpenter, surnamed il riccio de' pericoli, who lived near the canto a monteloro in florence, had born to him in the year , as he used to tell me himself, a male child, whom he was pleased to call at baptism, like his own father, niccolò; and having perceived that the boy had a quick and ready intelligence and a lofty spirit, he determined, although he was but a poor artisan, that he should begin straightway by learning to read and write well and cast accounts. sending him to school, therefore, it came about, since the child was very vivacious and so high-spirited in his every action, that he was always cramped for room and was a very devil both among the other boys at school and everywhere else, always teasing and tormenting both himself and others, that he lost his own name of niccolò and acquired that of tribolo[ ] to such purpose, that he was called that ever afterwards by everyone. [footnote : teasel.] now, tribolo growing, his father, in order both to make use of him and to curb the boy's exuberance, took him into his workshop and taught him his own trade; but having seen in a few months that he was ill suited for such a calling, being somewhat delicate, thin, and feeble in health, he came to the conclusion that if he wished to keep him alive, he must release him from the heavier labours of his craft and set him to wood-carving. having heard that without design, the father of all the arts, the boy could not become an excellent master therein, raffaello resolved that he should begin by devoting all his time to design, and therefore made him draw now cornices, foliage, and grotesques, and now other things necessary to such a profession. and having seen that in doing this the boy was well served both by his head and by his hand, and reflecting, like a man of judgment, that with him niccolò could at best learn nothing else but to work by the square, raffaello first spoke of this with the carpenter ciappino, who was the very familiar friend of nanni unghero; and with his advice and assistance, he placed niccolò for three years with the said nanni, in whose workshop, where both joiner's work and carving were done, there were constantly to be found the sculptor jacopo sansovino, the painter andrea del sarto, and others, who afterwards became such able masters. now nanni, who had in those days a passing good reputation for excellence, was executing many works both in joinery and in carving for the villa of zanobi bartolini at rovezzano, without the porta alla croce, for the palace of the bartolini, which giovanni, the brother of that zanobi, was having built at that time on the piazza di s. trinita, and for the house and garden of the same man in gualfonda; and tribolo, who was made to work by nanni without discretion, always having to handle saws, planes, and other common tools, and not being capable, by reason of the feebleness of his body, of such exertions, began to feel dissatisfied and to say to riccio, when he asked for the cause of his discontent, that he did not think that he could remain with nanni in that craft, and that therefore raffaello should see to placing him with andrea del sarto or jacopo sansovino, whom he had come to know in unghero's workshop, for the reason that with one or the other of them he hoped to do better and to be sounder in health. moved by these reasons, then, and again with the advice and assistance of ciappino, riccio placed tribolo with jacopo sansovino, who took him willingly, because he had known him in the workshop of nanni unghero, and had seen that he worked well in design and even better in relief. jacopo sansovino, when tribolo, now restored to health, went to work under him, was executing in the office of works of s. maria del fiore, in competition with benedetto da rovezzano, andrea da fiesole, and baccio bandinelli, the marble statue of s. james the apostle which is still to be seen at the present day at that place together with the others. and thus tribolo, with these opportunities of learning, by working in clay and drawing with great diligence, contrived to make such proficience in that art, for which he felt a natural inclination, that jacopo, growing to love him more and more every day, began to encourage him and to bring him forward by making him execute now one thing and now another. whereupon, although sansovino had in his workshop at that time solosmeo da settignano and pippo del fabro, young men of great promise, seeing that tribolo, having added skill in the use of chisels to his good knowledge of working in clay and in wax, not only equalled them but surpassed them by a great measure, he began to make much use of him in his works. and after finishing the apostle and a bacchus that he made for the house of giovanni bartolini in gualfonda, and undertaking to make for m. giovanni gaddi, his intimate friend, a chimney-piece and a water-basin of hard sandstone for his house on the piazza di madonna, he caused some large figures of boys in clay, which were to go above the great cornice, to be made by tribolo, who executed them so extraordinarily well, that m. giovanni, having seen the beautiful manner and the genius of the young man, commissioned him to execute two medallions of marble, which, finished with great excellence, were afterwards placed over certain doors in the same house. meanwhile there was a commission to be given for a tomb, a work of great magnitude, for the king of portugal; and since jacopo had been the disciple of andrea contucci of monte sansovino, and had the reputation not only of having equalled his master, a man of great renown, but of having a manner even more beautiful, that work, through the good offices of the bartolini, was allotted to him. whereupon jacopo made a most superb model of wood, all covered with scenes and figures of wax, which were executed for the most part by tribolo; and these proving to be very beautiful, the young man's fame so increased that matteo di lorenzo strozzi--tribolo having now left sansovino, thinking that he was by that time able to work by himself--commissioned him to make some children of stone, and shortly afterwards, being much pleased with them, two of marble that are holding a dolphin which pours water into a fish-pond, a work that is now to be seen at san casciano, a place eight miles distant from florence, in the villa of that m. matteo. while these works were being executed by tribolo in florence, m. bartolommeo barbazzi, a bolognese gentleman who had gone there on some business, remembered that a search was being made in bologna for a young man who could work well, to the end that he might be set to making figures and scenes of marble for the façade of s. petronio, the principal church of that city. wherefore he spoke to tribolo, and having seen some of his works, which pleased him, as also did the young man's ways and other qualities, he took him to bologna, where tribolo, with great diligence and with much credit to himself, in a short time made the two sibyls of marble that were afterwards placed in the ornament of that door of s. petronio which leads to the della morte hospital. these works finished, arrangements were being made to give him greater things to do, and he was receiving many proofs of love and affection from m. bartolommeo, when the plague of the year began in bologna and throughout all lombardy; whereupon tribolo, in order to avoid that plague, made his way to florence. after living there during all the time that this contagious and pestilential sickness lasted, he departed as soon as it had ceased, and returned, in obedience to a summons, to bologna, where m. bartolommeo, not allowing him to set his hand to any work for the façade, resolved, seeing that many of his friends and relatives had died, to have a tomb made for himself and for them. and so tribolo, after finishing the model, which m. bartolommeo insisted on seeing completed before he did anything else, went in person to carrara to have the marbles excavated, intending to rough-hew them on the spot and to lighten them in such a manner, that they might not only be easier to transport, as indeed they were, but also that the figures might come out larger. in that place, in order not to waste his time, he blocked out two large children of marble, which were taken to bologna with beasts of burden, unfinished as they were, together with the rest of the work; and after the death of m. bartolommeo, which caused such grief to tribolo that he returned to tuscany, they were placed, with the other marbles, in a chapel in s. petronio, where they still are. having thus departed from carrara, tribolo, on his way back to florence, stayed in pisa to visit the sculptor maestro stagio da pietrasanta, his very dear friend, who was executing in the office of works of the duomo in that city two columns with capitals of marble all in open work, which were to stand one on either side of the high-altar and the tabernacle of the sacrament; and each of these was to have upon the capital an angel of marble one braccio and three quarters in height, with a candelabrum in the hand. at the invitation of the said stagio, having nothing else to do at that time, he undertook to make one of those angels: which being finished with all the perfection that could be given to a delicate work of that size in marble, proved to be such that nothing more could have been desired, for the reason that the angel, with the movement of his person, has the appearance of having stayed his flight in order to uphold that light, and the nude form has about it some delicate draperies which are so graceful in their effect, and look so well on every side and from every point of view, that words could not express their beauty. but, having consumed much time in executing this work, since he cared for nothing but his delight in art, and not having received for it from the warden the payment that he expected, he resolved that he would not make the other angel, and returned to florence. there he met with giovan battista della palla, who at that time was not only causing all the sculptures and pictures that he could to be executed for sending to king francis i in france, but was also buying antiques of all sorts and pictures of every kind, provided only that they were by the hands of good masters; and every day he was packing them up and sending them off. now, at the very moment when tribolo returned, giovan battista had an ancient vase of granite, of a very beautiful shape, which he wished to arrange in such a manner that it might serve for a fountain for that king. he therefore declared his mind to tribolo, and what he proposed to have done; and he, setting to work, made him a goddess of nature, who, raising one arm, holds that vase, the foot of which she has upon her head, with the hands, the first row of breasts being adorned with some boys standing out entirely detached from the marble, who are in various most beautiful attitudes, holding certain festoons in their hands, while the next range of breasts is covered with quadrupeds, and at her feet are many different kinds of fishes. that figure was finished with such diligence and such perfection, that it well deserved, after being sent to france together with other works, to be held very dear by the king, and to be placed, as a rare thing, in fontainebleau. afterwards, in the year , when preparations were being made for the war against florence and the siege, pope clement vii, wishing to study the exact site of the city and to consider in what manner and in what places his forces could be distributed to the best advantage, ordained that a plan of the city should be made secretly, with all the country for a mile around it--the hills, mountains, rivers, rocks, houses, churches, and other things, and also the squares and streets within, together with the walls and bastions surrounding it, and the other defences. the charge of all this was given to benvenuto di lorenzo della volpaia, an able maker of clocks and quadrants and a very fine astrologer, but above all a most excellent master in taking ground-plans. this benvenuto chose tribolo as his companion, and that with great judgment, for the reason that it was tribolo who suggested that this plan, for the better consideration of the height of the mountains, the depth of the low-lying parts, and all other particulars, should be made in relief; the doing of which was not without much labour and danger, in that, staying out all night to measure the roads and to mark the number of braccia between one place and another, and also to measure the height of the summits of the belfries and towers, drawing intersecting lines in every direction by means of the compass, and going beyond the walls to compare the height of the hills with that of the cupola, which they had marked as their centre, they did not execute such a work save after many months; but they used great diligence, for they made it of cork, for the sake of lightness, and limited the whole plan to the space of four braccia, and measured everything to scale. having then been finished in this manner, and being made in pieces, that plan was packed up secretly and smuggled out of florence in some bales of wool that were going to perugia, being consigned to one who had orders to send it to the pope, who made use of it continually during the siege of florence, keeping it in his chamber, and seeing from one day to another, from letters and despatches, where and how the army was quartered, where skirmishes took place, and, in short, all the incidents, arguments, and discussions that occurred during that siege; all greatly to his satisfaction, for it was in truth a rare and marvellous work. the war finished--during the progress of which tribolo executed some works in clay for his friends, and for andrea del sarto, his dearest friend, three figures of wax in the round, of which andrea availed himself in painting in fresco, on the piazza, near the condotta, portraits from nature of three captains who had fled with the pay-chests, depicted as hanging by one foot--benvenuto, summoned by the pope, went to rome to kiss the feet of his holiness, and was placed by him in charge of the belvedere, with an honourable salary. in that office, having often conversations with the pope, benvenuto, when the occasion arose, did not fail to extol tribolo as an excellent sculptor and to recommend him warmly; insomuch that, the siege finished, clement made use of him. for, designing to give completion to the chapel of our lady at loreto, which had been begun by leo and then abandoned on account of the death of andrea contucci of monte sansovino, he ordained that antonio da san gallo, who had the charge of executing that fabric, should summon tribolo and set him to complete some of those scenes that maestro andrea had left unfinished. tribolo, then, thus summoned by san gallo by order of clement, went with all his family to loreto, whither there likewise went simone, called mosca, a very rare carver of marble, raffaello da montelupo, francesco da san gallo the younger, girolamo ferrarese the sculptor, a disciple of maestro andrea, simone cioli, ranieri da pietrasanta, and francesco del tadda, all invited in order to finish that work. and to tribolo, in the distribution of the labours, there fell, as the work of the greatest importance, a scene in which maestro andrea had represented the marriage of our lady. thereupon tribolo made an addition to that scene, and had the notion of placing among the many figures that are standing watching the marriage of the virgin, one who in great fury is breaking his rod, because it had not blossomed; and in this he succeeded so well, that the suitor could not display with greater animation the rage that he feels at not having had the good fortune that he desired. which work finished, and also that of the others, with great perfection, tribolo had already made many models of wax with a view to executing some of those prophets that were to go in the niches of that chapel, which was now built and completely finished, when pope clement, after seeing those works and praising them much, and particularly that of tribolo, determined that they should all return without loss of time to florence, in order to finish under the discipline of michelagnolo buonarroti all those figures that were wanting in the sacristy and library of s. lorenzo, and the rest of the work, after the models of michelagnolo and with his assistance, with the greatest possible speed, to the end that, having finished the sacristy, they might all together be able, thanks to the proficience made under the discipline of so great a man, also to finish the façade of s. lorenzo. and in order that there might be no manner of delay in doing this, the pope sent michelagnolo back to florence, and with him fra giovanni angelo de' servi, who had executed some works in the belvedere, to the end that he might assist him in carving the marbles and might make some statues, according as he should receive orders from michelagnolo, who caused him to make a s. cosimo, which was to stand on one side of the madonna, with a s. damiano, allotted to montelupo, on the other. these commissions given, michelagnolo desired that tribolo should make two nude statues, which were to be one on either side of that of duke giuliano, which he himself had already made; one was to be a figure of earth crowned with cypress, weeping with bowed head and with the arms outstretched, and lamenting the death of duke giuliano, and the other a figure of heaven with the arms uplifted, all smiling and joyful, and showing her gladness at the adornment and splendour that the soul and spirit of that lord conferred upon her. but tribolo's evil fortune crossed him at the very moment when he was about to begin to work on the statue of earth; for, whether it was the change of air, or his feeble constitution, or because he had been irregular in his way of living, he fell ill of a grievous sickness, which, ending in a quartan fever, hung about him many months, to his infinite vexation, since he was tormented no less by his grief at having had to abandon the work, and at seeing that the friar and raffaello had taken possession of the field, than by the illness itself. however, wishing to conquer that illness, in order not to be left behind by his rivals, whose name he heard celebrated more and more every day, feeble as he was, he made a large model of clay for the statue of earth, and, when he had finished it, began to execute the work in marble, with such diligence and assiduity, that the statue could be seen already all cut out in front, when fortune, who is always ready to oppose herself to any fair beginning, by the death of clement at a moment when nothing seemed less likely, cut short the aspirations of all those excellent masters who were hoping to acquire under michelagnolo, besides boundless profits, immortal renown and everlasting fame. stupefied by this misfortune and robbed of all his spirit, and being also ill, tribolo was living in utter despair, seeming not to be able either in florence or abroad to hit upon anything that might be to his advantage; but giorgio vasari, who was always his friend and loved him from his heart, and helped him all that he could, consoled him, saying that he should not lose heart, because he would so contrive that duke alessandro would give him something to do, by means of the favour of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, into whose service giorgio had introduced him on terms of no little intimacy. wherefore tribolo, having regained a little courage, occupied himself, while measures were being taken to assist him, with copying in clay all the figures of marble in the sacristy of s. lorenzo which michelagnolo had executed--namely, dawn, twilight, day, and night. and he succeeded in doing them so well, that m. giovan battista figiovanni, the prior of s. lorenzo, to whom he presented the night in return for having the sacristy opened for him, judging it to be a rare work, presented it to duke alessandro, who afterwards gave it to giorgio vasari, who was living with his excellency, knowing that giorgio gave his attention to such studies; which figure is now in his house at arezzo, with other works of art. having afterwards copied, likewise in clay, the madonna made by michelagnolo for the same sacristy, tribolo presented it to the above-named m. ottaviano de' medici, who had a most beautiful ornament in squared work made for it by battista del cinque, with columns, cornices, brackets, and other carvings very well executed. meanwhile, by the favour of him who was treasurer to his excellency, and at the commission of bertoldo corsini, the proveditor for the fortress which was being built at that time, out of three escutcheons that were to be made by order of the duke for placing on the bastions, one on each, one four braccia in height was given to tribolo to execute, with two nude figures representing victories; which escutcheon, finished by him with great diligence and promptitude, with the addition of three great masks that support the escutcheon and the figures, so pleased the duke, that he conceived a very great love for tribolo. now shortly afterwards the duke went to naples to defend himself before the emperor charles v, who had just returned from tunis, against many calumnies that had been laid upon him by some of his citizens; and, having not only defended himself, but also obtained from his majesty his daughter signora margherita of austria for wife, he wrote to florence that four men should be appointed who might cause vast and splendid decorations to be prepared throughout the city, in order to receive the emperor, who was coming to florence, with proper magnificence. and i, having to distribute the various works at the commission of his excellency--who ordained that i should act in company with the said four men, who were giovanni corsi, luigi guicciardini, palla rucellai, and alessandro corsini--gave the greatest and most difficult labours for that festival to tribolo to execute, which were four large statues. the first was a hercules that has just killed the hydra, six braccia in height, in the round and overlaid with silver, which was placed at that corner of the piazza di s. felice that is at the end of the via maggio, with the following inscription in letters of silver on the base: ut hercules labore et Ærumnis monstra edomuit, ita cÆsar virtute et clementia, hostibus victis seu placatis, pacem orbi terrarum et quietem restituit. two others were colossal figures eight braccia high, one representing the river bagrada, which was resting upon the skin of the serpent that was brought to rome, and the other representing the ebro, with the horn of amaltheia in one hand and in the other the helm of a ship; both coloured in imitation of bronze, with inscriptions on the bases; below the ebro, hiberus ex hispania, and below the other, bagradas ex africa. the fourth was a statue five braccia in height, on the canto de' medici, representing peace, who had in one hand an olive branch and in the other a lighted torch, with which she was setting fire to a pile of arms heaped up on the base on which she was placed; with the following words: fiat pax in virtute tua. he did not finish, as he had hoped to do, the horse seven braccia in length that was set up on the piazza di s. trinita, upon which was to be placed the statue of the emperor in armour, because tasso the wood-carver, who was much his friend, did not show any promptitude in executing the base and the other things in the way of wood-carving that were to be included in the work, being a man who let time slip through his fingers in arguing and jesting; and there was only just time to cover the horse alone with tin-foil laid upon the still fresh clay. on the base were to be read the following words: imperatori carolo augusto victoriosissimo, post devictos hostes, italiÆ pace restituta et salutato ferdin. fratre, expulsis iterum turcis africaque perdomita, alexander med. dux florentiÆ, d.d. his majesty having departed from florence, a beginning was made with the preparations for the nuptials, in expectation of his daughter, and to the end that she and the vice-queen of naples, who was in her company, might be commodiously lodged according to the orders of his excellency in the house of m. ottaviano de' medici, an addition was made to his old house in four weeks, to the astonishment of everyone; and tribolo, the painter andrea di cosimo, and i, in ten days, with the help of about ninety sculptors and painters of the city, what with masters and assistants, completed the preparations for the wedding in so far as appertained to the house and its decorations, painting the loggie, courtyards, and other spaces in a manner suitable for nuptials of such importance. among these decorations, tribolo made, besides other things, two victories in half-relief that were one on either side of the principal door, supported by two large terminal figures, which also upheld the escutcheon of the emperor, pendent from the neck of a very beautiful eagle in the round. the same master also made certain boys, likewise in the round, and large in size, which were placed on either side of some heads over the pediments of various doors; and these were much extolled. meanwhile, as the nuptials were in progress, tribolo received letters from bologna, in which messer pietro del magno, his devoted friend, besought him that he should consent to go to bologna, in order to make for the madonna di galliera, where a most beautiful ornament of marble was already prepared, a scene likewise of marble three braccia and a half in extent. whereupon tribolo, happening to have nothing else to do at that time, went thither, and after making a model of a madonna ascending into heaven, with the apostles below in various attitudes, which, being very beautiful, gave great satisfaction, he set his hand to executing it; but with little pleasure for himself, since the marble that he was carving was that milanese marble, saline, full of emery, and bad in quality; and it seemed to him that he was wasting his time, without feeling a particle of that delight that men find in working those marbles which are a pleasure to carve, and which in the end, when brought to completion, show a surface that has the appearance of the living flesh itself. however, he did so much that it was already almost finished, when i, having persuaded duke alessandro to recall michelagnolo from rome, and also the other masters, in order to finish the work of the sacristy begun by clement, was arranging to give him something to do in florence; and i would have succeeded, but in the meantime, by reason of the death of alessandro, who was murdered by lorenzo di pier francesco de' medici, not only was this design frustrated, but the greatness and prosperity of art were thrown into utter ruin. having heard of the duke's death, tribolo condoled with me in his letters, beseeching me, after he had exhorted me to bear with resignation the death of that great prince, my gracious master, that if i went to rome, as he had heard that i, being wholly determined to abandon courts and to pursue my studies, was intending to do, i should obtain some commission for him, for the reason that, if assisted by my friends, he would do whatever i told him. but it so chanced that it became in no way necessary for him to seek commissions in rome. for signor cosimo de' medici, having been created duke of florence, as soon as he had freed himself from the troubles that he had in the first year of his rule by routing his enemies at monte murlo, began to take some diversion, and in particular to frequent not a little the villa of castello, which is little more than two miles distant from florence. there he began to do some building, in order that he might be able to live there comfortably with his court, and little by little--being encouraged in this by maestro pietro da san casciano, who was held to be a passing good master in those days, and was much in the service of signora maria, the mother of the duke, and had also always been the master-builder and the former servant of signor giovanni--he resolved to conduct to that place certain waters that he had desired long before to bring thither. whereupon a beginning was made with building an aqueduct that was to receive all the waters from the hill of castellina, which was at a distance of a quarter of a mile or more from castello; and the work was pursued vigorously with a good number of men. but the duke recognizing that maestro pietro had neither invention nor power of design enough to make in that place a beginning that might afterwards in time receive that ornamentation which the site and the waters required, one day that his excellency was on the spot, speaking of this with such men as messer ottaviano de' medici and cristofano rinieri, the friend of tribolo and the old servant of signora maria and of the duke, they extolled tribolo in such a manner, as a man endowed with all those parts that were requisite in the head of such a fabric, that the duke gave cristofano a commission to make him come from bologna. which having been straightway done by rinieri, tribolo, who could not have received any better news than that he was to serve duke cosimo, set out immediately for florence, and, arriving there, was taken to castello, where his most illustrious excellency, having heard from him what he thought should be done in the way of decorative fountains, gave him a commission to make the models. whereupon he set his hand to these, and was engaged upon them, while maestro pietro da san casciano was executing the aqueduct and bringing the waters to the place, when the duke, who meanwhile had begun, for the security of the city, to surround with a very strong wall the bastions erected on the hill of san miniato at the time of the siege after the designs of michelagnolo, ordained that tribolo should make an escutcheon of hard stone, with two victories, for an angle of the summit of a bastion that faces florence. but tribolo had scarcely finished the escutcheon, which was very large, and one of those victories, a figure four braccia high, which was held to be a very beautiful thing, when he was obliged to leave that work incomplete, for the reason that, maestro pietro having carried well on the making of the aqueduct and the bringing of the waters, to the full satisfaction of the duke, his excellency wished that tribolo should begin to put into execution, for the adornment of that place, the designs and models that he had already shown to him, ordaining him for the time being a salary of eight crowns a month, the same that was paid to san casciano. now, in order that i may not become confused in describing the intricacies of the aqueducts and of the ornaments of the fountains, it may be well to say briefly some few words about the site and position of castello. the villa of castello stands at the roots of monte morello, below the villa della topaia, which is halfway up the slope; it has before it a plain that descends little by little, for the space of a mile and a half, down to the river arno, and exactly where the ascent of the mountain begins stands the palace, which was built in past times by pier francesco de' medici, after a very good design. the principal front faces straight towards the south, overlooking a vast lawn with two very large fish-ponds full of running water, which comes from an ancient aqueduct made by the romans in order to conduct water from valdimarina to florence, and provided with a vaulted cistern under the ground; and so it has a very beautiful and very pleasing view. the fish-ponds in front are divided in the middle by a bridge twelve braccia wide, which leads to an avenue of the same width, bounded at the sides and covered above by an unbroken vault of mulberry-trees, ten braccia in height, thus making a covered avenue three hundred braccia in length, delightful for its shade, which opens on to the high road to prato by a gate placed between two fountains that serve to give water to travellers and animals. on the eastern side the same palace has a very beautiful pile of stable-buildings, and on the western side a private garden into which one goes from the courtyard of the stables, passing straight through the ground-floor of the palace by way of the loggie, halls, and chambers on the level of the ground; from which private garden one can enter by a door on the west side into another garden, very large and all filled with fruit-trees, and bounded by a forest of fir-trees that conceals the houses of the labourers and others who live there, engaged in the service of the palace and of the gardens. next, that part of the palace which faces north, towards the mountain, has in front of it a lawn as long as the palace, the stables, and the private garden altogether, and from this lawn one climbs by steps to the principal garden, a place enclosed by ordinary walls, which, rising in a gentle slope, stretches so well clear of the palace as it rises, that the mid-day sun searches it out and bathes it all with its rays, as if there were no palace in front; and at the upper end it stands so high that it commands a view not only of the whole palace, but also of the plain that is in front and around it, and likewise about the city. in the middle of this garden is a forest of very tall and thickly-planted cypresses, laurels, and myrtles, which, laid out in a circular shape, have the form of a labyrinth, all surrounded by box-hedges two braccia and a half in height, so even and grown with such beautiful order that they have the appearance of a painting done with the brush; in the centre of which labyrinth, at the desire of the duke, tribolo, as will be described below, made a very beautiful fountain of marble. at the principal entrance, where there is the first-mentioned lawn with the two fish-ponds and the avenue covered with mulberry-trees, tribolo wished that the avenue should be so extended that it might stretch for a distance of more than a mile, covered and shaped in like manner, and might reach as far as the river arno, and that the waters which ran away from all the fountains, flowing gently in pleasant channels at the sides of the avenue, and filled with various kinds of fishes and crayfish, might accompany it down to that river. as for the palace--to describe what has still to be done as well as that which has been finished--he wished to make a loggia in front of it, which, passing by an open courtyard, was to have on the side where the stables are another palace as large as the old one, with the same proportion of apartments, loggie, private garden, and the rest; which addition would have made it a vast palace, with a most beautiful façade. after passing the court from which one enters into the large garden of the labyrinth, at the main entrance, where there is a vast lawn, after climbing the steps that lead to that labyrinth, there came a level space thirty braccia square, on which there was to be--and has since been made--a very large fountain of white marble, which was to spout upwards above ornaments fourteen braccia in height, while from the mouth of a statue at the highest point was to issue a jet of water rising to the height of six braccia. at either end of the lawn was to be a loggia, one opposite to the other, each thirty braccia in length and fifteen in breadth; and in the middle of each loggia was to be placed a marble table twelve braccia in length, and on the outside a basin of eight braccia, which was to receive the water from a vase held by two figures. in the middle of the above-mentioned labyrinth tribolo had thought to achieve the most decorative effect with water by means of jets and a very beautiful seat round the fountain, the marble basin of which was to be, even as it was afterwards made, much smaller than that of the large principal fountain; and at the summit it was to have a figure of bronze spouting water. at the end of this garden, in the centre, there was to be a gate with some children of marble on both sides spouting water, with a fountain on either side, and in the corners double niches in which statues were to be placed, as in the others that are in the walls at the sides, at the opposite ends of the avenues that cross the garden, which are all covered with greenery distributed in various ways. through the above-mentioned gate, which is at the upper end of this garden, above some steps, one enters into another garden, as wide as the first, but of no great depth in the direct line, in comparison with the mountain beyond. in this garden were to be two other loggie, one on either side, and in the wall opposite to the gate, which supports the soil of the mountain, there was to be in the centre a grotto with three basins, with water playing into them in imitation of rain. the grotto was to be between two fountains placed in the same wall, and opposite to these, in the lower wall of the garden, were to be two others, one on either side of the gate; so that the fountains of this garden would have been equal in number to those of the other, which is below it, and receives its water from the first, which is higher. and this garden was to be all full of orange-trees, which would have had--and will have, whenever that may be--a most favourable situation, being defended by the walls and by the mountain from the north wind and other harmful winds. from this garden one climbs by two staircases of flint, one on either side, to a forest of cypresses, fir-trees, holm-oaks, laurels, and other evergreen trees, distributed with beautiful order, in the middle of which, according to tribolo's design, there was to be a most lovely fish-pond, which has since been made. and because this part, gradually narrowing, forms an angle, that angle, to the end that it might be made flat, was to be blunted by the breadth of a loggia, from which, after climbing some steps, might be seen in front the palace, the gardens, the fountains, and all the plain below and about them, as far as the ducal villa of poggio a caiano, florence, prato, siena, and all that is around for many miles. now the above-named maestro pietro da san casciano, having carried his work of the aqueduct as far as castello, and having turned into it all the waters of castellina, was overtaken by a violent fever, and died in a few days. whereupon tribolo, undertaking the charge of directing all the building by himself, perceived that, although the waters brought to castello were in great abundance, nevertheless they were not sufficient for all that he had made up his mind to do; not to mention that, coming from castellina, they did not rise to the height that he required for his purposes. having therefore obtained from the lord duke a commission to conduct thither the waters of petraia, a place more than one hundred and fifty braccia above castello, which are good and very abundant, he caused a conduit to be made, similar to the other, and so high that one can enter into it, to the end that thus those waters of petraia might come to the fish-pond through another aqueduct with enough fall for the fish-pond and the great fountain. this done, tribolo began to build the above-mentioned grotto, proposing to make it with three niches, in a beautiful architectural design, and likewise the two fountains that were one on either side of it. in one of these there was to be a large statue of stone, representing monte asinaio, which, pressing its beard, was to pour water from its mouth into a basin that was to be in front of it; from which basin the water, issuing by a hidden channel, and passing under the wall, was to flow to the fountain that there is at the present day behind the wall, at the end of the slope of the garden of the labyrinth, pouring into the vase on the shoulder of the figure of the river mugnone, which is in a large niche of grey-stone decorated with most beautiful ornaments, and all covered with sponge-stone. this work, if it had been finished in all its perfection, even as it is in part, would have had great similarity to the reality, since the mugnone rises from monte asinaio. for the mugnone, then, to describe that which has been done, tribolo made a figure of grey-stone, four braccia in length, and reclining in a very beautiful attitude, which has upon one shoulder a vase that pours water into a basin, and rests the other on the ground, leaning upon it, with the left leg crossed over the right. and behind this river is a woman representing fiesole, wholly naked, issuing from among the sponge-stones and rocks in the middle of the niche, and holding in the hand a moon which is the ancient emblem of the people of fiesole. below this niche is a very large basin supported by two great capricorns, which are one of the devices of the duke; from which capricorns hang some festoons and masks of great beauty, and from their lips issues the water from that basin, which is convex in the middle, and has outlets at the sides; and all the water that overflows pours away from the sides through the mouths of the capricorns, and then, after falling into the hollow base of the vase, flows through the herb-beds that are round the walls of the garden of the labyrinth, where there are fountains between the niches, and between the fountains espaliers of oranges and pomegranates. in the second garden described above, where tribolo had intended that there should be made the monte asinaio that was to supply water to the mugnone, there was to be on the other side, beyond the gate, a similar figure of the monte della falterona; and even as this mountain is the source of the river arno, so the statue representing that river in the garden of the labyrinth, opposite to the mugnone, was to receive the water from the falterona. but since neither the figure of that mountain nor its fountain has ever been finished, let us speak of the fountain and figure of the river arno, which were completed by tribolo to perfection. this river, then, holds its vase upon one thigh, lying down and leaning with one arm on a lion, which holds a lily in its paw, and the vase receives its water through the perforated wall, behind which there was to be the falterona, exactly in the manner in which, as has been described, the statue of the river mugnone also receives its water; and since the long basin is in every way similar to that of the mugnone, i shall say no more about it, save this, that it is a pity that the art and excellence of these works, which are truly most beautiful, are not embodied in marble. then, continuing the work of the conduit, tribolo caused the water from the grotto to pass under the orange-garden and then under the next garden, and thus brought it into the labyrinth, where, forming a circle round all the middle of the labyrinth, in a good circumference round the centre, he laid down the central pipe, through which the fountain was to spout water. after which, taking the waters from the arno and the mugnone, and bringing them together under the level of the labyrinth by means of certain bronze pipes that were distributed in beautiful order throughout that space, he filled that whole pavement with very fine jets, in such a manner that it was possible by turning a key to drench all those who came near to see the fountain. nor is one able to escape either quickly or with ease, because tribolo made round the fountain and the pavement, in which are the jets, a seat of grey-stone supported by lion's paws, between which are sea monsters in low-relief; which was a difficult thing to do, because he chose, since the place was sloping and the square lay on the slant, to make it level, and the same with the seat. having then set his hand to the fountain of the labyrinth, he made on the shaft, in marble, an interwoven design of sea monsters cut out in full relief, with tails intertwined so well, that nothing better of that kind could be done. and this finished, he executed the tazza with a piece of marble brought long before to castello, together with a large table, also of marble, from the villa dell'antella, which m. ottaviano de' medici formerly bought from giuliano salviati. by reason of this opportunity, then, tribolo made that tazza sooner than he might otherwise have done, fashioning round it a dance of little children attached to the moulding which is beside the lip of the tazza; which children are holding festoons of products of the sea, cut out of the marble with beautiful art. and so also the shaft which he made over the tazza, he executed with much grace, with some very beautiful children and masks to spout water. upon that shaft it was the intention of tribolo to place a bronze statue three braccia high, representing florence, in order to signify that from the above-named mounts asinaio and falterona the waters of the arno and mugnone come to florence; of which figure he had made a most beautiful model which, pressing the hair with the hands, caused water to pour forth. then, having brought the water as far as the space thirty braccia square, below the labyrinth, he made a beginning with the great fountain, which, made with eight sides, was to receive all the above-mentioned waters into its lowest basin--namely, those from the waterworks of the labyrinth, and likewise those of the great conduit. each of these eight sides, then, rises above a step one-fifth of a braccio in height, and each angle of the eight sides has a projection, as have also the steps, which, thus projecting, rise at each angle in a great step of two-fifths of a braccio, in such a way that the central face of the steps withdraws into the projections, and their straight line is thus broken, which produces a bizarre effect, and makes the ascent very easy. the edges of the fountain have the shape of a vase, and the body of the fountain--that is, the inner part where the water is--curves in the form of a circle. the shaft begins with eight sides, and continues with eight seats almost up to the base of the tazza, upon which are seated eight children of the size of life, all in the round and in various attitudes, who, linked together with the legs and arms, make a rich adornment and a most beautiful effect. and since the tazza, which is round, projects to the extent of six braccia, the water of the whole fountain, pouring equally over the edge on every side, sends a very beautiful rain, like the drippings from a roof, into the octagonal basin mentioned above, and those children that are on the shaft of the tazza are not wetted, and they appear to be there in order not to be wetted by the rain, almost like real children, full of delight and playing as they shelter under the lip of the tazza, which could not be equalled in its simplicity and beauty. opposite to the four paths that intersect the garden are four children of bronze lying at play in various attitudes, which are after the designs of tribolo, although they were executed afterwards by others. above this tazza begins another shaft, which has at the foot, on some projections, four children of marble in the round, who are pressing the necks of some geese that spout water from their mouths; and this water is that of the principal conduit coming from the labyrinth, and rises exactly to this height. above these children is the rest of the shaft of this pedestal, which is made with certain cartouches which spurt forth water in a most bizarre manner; and then, regaining a quadrangular form, it rises over some masks that are very well made. above this, then, is a smaller tazza, on the lip of which, on all four sides, are fixed by the horns four heads of capricorns, making a square, which spout water through their mouths into the large tazza, together with the children, in order to make the rain which falls, as has been told, into the first basin, which has eight sides. still higher there follows another shaft, adorned with other ornaments and with some children in half-relief, who, projecting outwards, form at the top a round space that serves as base to the figure of a hercules who is crushing antæus, which was designed by tribolo and executed afterwards by others, as will be related in the proper place. from the mouth of this antæus he intended that, instead of his spirit, there should gush out through a pipe water in great abundance, as indeed it does; which water is that of the great conduit of petraia, which comes with much force, and rises sixteen braccia above the level where the steps are, and makes a marvellous effect in falling back into the greater tazza. in that same aqueduct, then, come not only those waters from petraia, but also those that go to the fish-pond and the grotto, and these, uniting with those from castellina, go to the fountains of the falterona and monte asinaio, and thence to the fountains of the arno and mugnone, as has been related; after which, being reunited at the fountain of the labyrinth, they go to the centre of the great fountain, where are the children with the geese. from there, according to the design of tribolo, they were to flow through two distinct and separate conduits into the basins of the loggie, where the tables are, and then each into a separate private garden. the first of these gardens--that towards the west--is all filled with rare and medicinal plants; wherefore at the highest level of that water, in that garden of simples, in the niche of the fountain, and behind a basin of marble, there was to be a statue of Æsculapius. the principal fountain described above, then, was completely finished in marble by tribolo, and carried to the finest and greatest perfection that could be desired in a work of this kind. wherefore i believe that it may be said with truth that it is the most beautiful fountain, the richest, the best proportioned, and the most pleasing that has ever been made, for the reason that in the figures, in the vases, in the tazze, and, in short, throughout the whole work, are proofs of extraordinary diligence and industry. after this, having made the model of the above-mentioned statue of Æsculapius, tribolo began to execute it in marble, but, being hindered by other things, he did not finish that figure, which was completed afterwards by the sculptor antonio di gino, his disciple. [illustration: the hercules fountain (_after =niccolò [tribolo]=. florence: villa reale di castello_)] on the side towards the east, in a little lawn without the garden, tribolo arranged an oak in a most ingenious manner, for, besides the circumstance that it is so thickly covered both above and all around with ivy intertwined among the branches, that it has the appearance of a very dense grove, one can climb up it by a convenient staircase of wood similarly covered with ivy, at the top of which, in the middle of the oak, there is a square chamber surrounded by seats, the backs of which are all of living verdure, and in the centre is a little table of marble with a vase of variegated marble in the middle, from which, through a pipe, there flows and spurts into the air a strong jet of water, which, after falling, runs away through another pipe. these pipes mount upwards from the foot of the oak so well hidden by the ivy, that nothing is seen of them, and the water can be turned on or off at pleasure by means of certain keys; nor is it possible to describe in full in how many ways that water of the oak can be turned on, in order to drench anyone at pleasure with various instruments of copper, not to mention that with the same instruments one can cause the water to produce various sounds and whistlings. finally, all these waters, after having served so many different purposes, and supplied so many fountains, are collected together, and flow into the two fish-ponds that are without the palace, at the beginning of the avenue, and thence to other uses of the villa. nor will i omit to tell what was the intention of tribolo with regard to the statues that were to be as ornaments in the great garden of the labyrinth, in the niches that may be seen regularly distributed there in various spaces. he proposed, then--acting in this on the judicious advice of m. benedetto varchi, who has been in our times most excellent as poet, orator, and philosopher--that at the upper and lower ends there should be placed the four seasons of the year--spring, summer, autumn, and winter--and that each should be set up in that part where its particular season is most felt. at the entrance, on the right hand, beside the winter, and in that part of the wall which stretches upwards, were to go six figures that were to demonstrate the greatness and goodness of the house of medici, and to denote that all the virtues are to be found in duke cosimo; and these were justice, compassion, valour, nobility, wisdom, and liberality, which have always dwelt in the house of medici, and are all united together at the present day in the most excellent lord duke, in that he is just, compassionate, valorous, noble, wise, and liberal. and because these qualities have made the city of florence, as they still do, strong in laws, peace, arms, science, wisdom, tongues, and arts, and also because the said lord duke is just in the laws, compassionate in peace, valorous in arms, noble through the sciences, wise in his encouragement of tongues and other culture, and liberal to the arts, tribolo wished that on the other side from the justice, compassion, valour, nobility, wisdom, and liberality, on the left hand, as will be seen below, there should be these other figures: laws, peace, arms, sciences, tongues, and arts. and it was most appropriately arranged that in this manner these statues and images should be placed, as they would have been, above the arno and mugnone, in order to signify that they do honour to florence. it was also proposed that in the pediments there should be placed portrait-busts of men of the house of medici, one in each--over justice, for example, the portrait of his excellency, that being his particular virtue, over compassion that of the magnificent giuliano, over valour signor giovanni, over nobility the elder lorenzo, over wisdom the elder cosimo or clement vii, and over liberality pope leo. and in the pediments on the other side it was suggested that there might be placed other heads from the house of medici, or of persons of the city connected with that house. but since these names make the matter somewhat confused, they have been placed here in the following order: summer. the mugnone. gate. the arno. spring. arts. l l liberality. tongues. o o wisdom. sciences. g g nobility. arms. g g valour. peace. i i compassion. laws. a a justice. autumn. gate. loggia. gate. winter. all these ornaments would have made this in truth the richest, the most magnificent, and the most ornate garden in europe; but these works were not carried to completion, for the reason that tribolo was not able to take measures to have them finished while the duke was in the mind to continue them, as he might have done in a short time, having men in abundance and the duke ready to spend money, and not suffering from those hindrances that afterwards stopped him. the duke, indeed, not being contented at that time with the great quantity of water that is to be seen there, was thinking of trying to obtain the water of valcenni, which is very abundant, in order to join it with the rest, and then to conduct it from castello by an aqueduct similar to the one which he had made to the piazza in front of his palace in florence. and of a truth, if this work had been pressed forward by a man with greater energy and more desire of glory, it would have been carried at least well on; but since tribolo, besides that he was much occupied with various affairs of the duke's, had not much energy, nothing more was done. and in all the time that he worked at castello, he did not execute with his own hand anything save the two fountains, with the two rivers, the arno and the mugnone, and the statue of fiesole; this arising from no other cause, so far as one can see, but his being too much occupied, as has been related, with the many affairs of the duke. among other things, the duke caused him to make a bridge over the river mugnone on the high road that goes to bologna, without the porta a s. gallo. this bridge, since the river crosses the road obliquely, tribolo caused to be built with an arch likewise oblique, in accordance with its oblique line across the river, which was a new thing, and much extolled, above all because he had the arch put together of stones cut on the slant on every side in such a manner that it proved to be very strong and very graceful; in short, this bridge was a very beautiful work. not long before, the duke had been seized with a desire to make a tomb for signor giovanni de' medici, his father, and tribolo, being eager to have the commission, made a very beautiful model for it, in competition with one that had been executed by raffaello da montelupo, who had the favour of francesco di sandro, the master of arms to his excellency. and then, the duke having resolved that the one to be put into execution should be tribolo's, he went off to have the marble quarried at carrara, where he also caused to be quarried the two basins for the loggie at castello, a table, and many other blocks of marble. meanwhile, messer giovan battista da ricasoli, now bishop of pistoia, being in rome on business of the lord duke's, he was sought out by baccio bandinelli, who had just finished the tombs of pope leo x and clement vii in the minerva; and he was asked by baccio to recommend him to his excellency. whereupon messer giovan battista wrote to the duke that bandinelli desired to serve him, and his excellency wrote in reply that on his return he should bring him in his company. and bandinelli, having therefore arrived in florence, so haunted the duke in his audacity, making promises and showing him designs and models, that the tomb of the above-named signor giovanni, which was to have been made by tribolo, was allotted to him; and so, taking some pieces of marble of michelagnolo's, which were in the via mozza in florence, he hacked them about without scruple and began the work. wherefore tribolo, on returning from carrara, found that in consequence of his being too leisurely and good-natured, the commission had been taken away from him. in the year when bonds of kinship were formed between the lord duke cosimo and the lord don pedro di toledo, marquis of villafranca, at that time viceroy of naples, the lord duke taking don pedro's daughter, signora leonora, to wife, preparations were made in florence for the nuptials, and tribolo was given the charge of constructing a triumphal arch at the porta al prato, through which the bride, coming from poggio, was to enter; which arch he made a thing of beauty, very ornate with columns, pilasters, architraves, great cornices, and pediments. that arch was to be all covered with figures and scenes, in addition to the statues by the hand of tribolo; and all those paintings were executed by battista franco of venice, ridolfo ghirlandajo, and michele, his disciple. now the principal figure that tribolo made for this work, which was placed at the highest point in the centre of the pediment, on a dado wrought in relief, was a woman five braccia high, representing fecundity, with five little boys, three clinging to her legs, one on her lap, and another in her arms; and beside her, where the pediment sloped away, were two figures of the same size, one on either side. of these figures, which were lying down, one was security, leaning on a column with a light wand in her hand, and the other was eternity, with a globe in her arms, and below her feet a white-haired old man representing time, and holding in his arms the sun and moon. i shall say nothing as to the works of painting that were on that arch, because everyone may read about them for himself in the description of the festive preparations for those nuptials. and since tribolo had particular charge of all decorations for the palace of the medici, he caused many devices to be executed in the lunettes of the vaulting of the court, with mottoes appropriate to the nuptials, and all those of the most illustrious members of the house of medici. besides this, he had a most sumptuous decoration made in the great open court, all full of stories; on one side of the greeks and romans, and on the other sides of deeds done by illustrious men of that house of medici, which were all executed under the direction of tribolo by the most excellent young painters that there were in florence at that time--bronzino, pier francesco di sandro, francesco il bacchiacca, domenico conti, antonio di domenico, and battista franco of venice. on the piazza di s. marco, also, upon a vast pedestal ten braccia in height (in which bronzino had painted two very beautiful scenes of the colour of bronze on the socle that was above the cornices), tribolo erected a horse of twelve braccia, with the fore-legs in the air, and upon it an armed figure, large in proportion; and this figure, which had below it men dead and wounded, represented the most valorous signor giovanni de' medici, the father of his excellency. this work was executed by tribolo with so much art and judgment, that it was admired by all who saw it, and what caused even greater marvel was the speed with which he finished it; among his assistants being the sculptor santi buglioni, who was crippled for ever in one leg by a fall, and came very near dying. under the direction of tribolo, likewise, for the comedy that was performed, aristotile da san gallo executed marvellous scenery, being truly most excellent in such things, as will be told in his life; and for the costumes in the interludes, which were the work of giovan battista strozzi, who had charge of the whole comedy, tribolo himself made the most pleasing and beautiful inventions that it is possible to imagine in the way of vestments, buskins, head-dresses, and other wearing apparel. these things were the reason that the duke afterwards availed himself of tribolo's ingenuity in many fantastic masquerades, as in that of the bears, in a race of buffaloes, in the masquerade of the ravens, and in others. in like manner, in the year when there was born to the said lord duke his eldest son, the lord don francesco, there was to be made in the temple of s. giovanni in florence a very magnificent decoration which was to be marvellous in its grandeur, and capable of accommodating one hundred most noble young maidens, who were to accompany the prince from the palace as far as the said temple, where he was to receive baptism. the charge of this was given to tribolo, who, in company with tasso, adapting himself to the place, brought it about that the temple, which in itself is ancient and very beautiful, had the appearance of a new temple designed very well in the modern manner, with seats all round it richly adorned with pictures and gilding. in the centre, beneath the lantern, he made a great vase of carved woodwork with eight sides, the base of which rested on four steps, and at the corners of the eight sides were some large caulicoles, which, springing from the ground, where there were some lions' paws, had at the top of them certain children of large size in various attitudes, who were holding with their hands the lip of the vase, and supporting with their shoulders some festoons which hung like a garland right round the space in the middle. besides this, tribolo had made in the middle of the vase a pedestal of wood with beautiful things of fancy round it, upon which, to crown the work, he placed the s. john the baptist of marble, three braccia high, by the hand of donatello, which was left by him in the house of gismondo martelli, as has been related in the life of donatello himself. in short, this temple was adorned both within and without as well as could possibly be imagined, and the only part neglected was the principal chapel, where there is an old tabernacle with those figures in relief that andrea pisano made long ago; by reason of which it appeared that, every other part being made new, that old chapel spoilt all the grace that the other things together displayed. wherefore the duke, going one day to see those decorations, after praising everything like a man of judgment, and recognizing how well tribolo had adapted himself to the situation and to every other feature of the place, censured one thing only, but that severely--that no thought had been given to the principal chapel. and then he ordained on the spot, like a person of resolute character and beautiful judgment, that all that part should be covered with a vast canvas painted in chiaroscuro, with s. john the baptist baptizing christ, and the people standing all around to see them or to be baptized, some taking off their clothes, and others putting them on again, in various attitudes; and above this was to be a god the father sending down the holy spirit, with two fountains in the guise of river-gods, representing the jor and the dan, which, pouring forth water, were to form the jordan. jacopo da pontormo was requested to execute this work by messer pier francesco riccio, at that time major-domo to the duke, and by tribolo, but he would not do it, on the ground that he did not think that the time given, which was only six days, would be enough for him; and the same refusal was made by ridolfo ghirlandajo, bronzino, and many others. now at this time giorgio vasari, having returned from bologna, was executing for messer bindo altoviti the altar-piece of his chapel in s. apostolo at florence, but he was not held in much consideration, although he had friendship with tribolo and tasso, because certain persons had formed a faction under the protection of the above-named messer pier francesco riccio, and whoever was not of that faction had no share in the favours of the court, although he might be able and deserving. this was the reason that many who, with the aid of so great a prince, would have become excellent, found themselves neglected, none being employed save those chosen by tasso, who, being a gay person, got riccio so well under his thumb with his jokes, that in certain affairs he neither proposed nor did anything save what was suggested by tasso, who was architect to the palace and did all the work. these men, then, having a sort of suspicion of giorgio, who laughed at their vanities and follies, and sought to make a position for himself rather by means of the studies of art than by favour, gave no thought to his claims; but he was commissioned by the lord duke to execute that canvas, with the subject described above. this work he executed in chiaroscuro, in six days, and delivered it finished in the manner known to those who saw what grace and adornment it conferred on the whole decoration, and how much it enlivened that part of the temple that stood most in need of it, amid the magnificence of that festival. tribolo, then (to return to the point whence, i know not how, i digressed), acquitted himself so well, that he rightly won the highest praise; and the duke commanded that a great part of the ornaments that he placed between the columns should be left there, where they still are, and deservedly. for the villa of cristofano rinieri at castello, while he was occupied with the fountains of the duke, tribolo made for a niche over a fish-pond which is at the head of a fowling-place, a river-god of grey-stone, of the size of life, which pours water into a very large basin of the same stone; which figure is made of pieces, and put together with such diligence and art, that it appears to be all of one block. tribolo then set his hand, at the command of his excellency, to attempting to finish the staircase of the library of s. lorenzo--that, namely, which is in the vestibule before the door; but after he had placed four steps in position, not finding either the plan or the measurements of michelagnolo, by order of the duke he went to rome, not only to hear the opinion of michelagnolo with regard to that staircase, but also to make an effort to bring him to florence. but he did not succeed either in the one object or in the other, for michelagnolo, not wishing to leave rome, excused himself in a handsome manner, and as for the staircase he declared that he remembered neither the measurements nor anything else. tribolo, therefore, having returned to florence, and not being able to continue the work of that staircase, set himself to make the pavement of the said library with white and red bricks, after the manner of some pavements that he had seen in rome; but he added a filling of red clay to the white clay mixed with bole, in order to produce various effects of carving in those bricks; and thus he made in that pavement a copy of the ceiling and coffered work above--a notion that was highly extolled. he then began, but did not finish, a work that was to be placed on the main tower of the defences of the porta a faenza, for don giovanni di luna, the castellan at that time--namely, an escutcheon of grey-stone, and a large eagle in full relief with two heads, which he made in wax to the end that it might be cast in bronze, but nothing more was done with it, and of the escutcheon only the shield was finished. now it was the custom in the city of florence to have almost every year on the principal piazza, on the evening of the festival of s. john the baptist, towards nightfall, a girandola--that is, a contrivance full of fire-trumpets, rockets, and other fireworks; which girandola had the form now of a temple, now of a ship, sometimes of rocks, and at times of a city or of an inferno, according as it pleased the designer; and one year the charge of making one was given to tribolo, who, as will be described below, made it very beautifully. of the various manners of these fireworks, and particularly of set pieces, vannoccio of siena and others give an account, and on this subject i shall enlarge no further; but i must say something as to the nature of these girandole. the whole structure, then, is of wood, with broad compartments radiating outwards from the foot, to the end that the rockets, when they have been lighted, may not set fire to the other fireworks, but may rise in due order from their separate places, one after another, filling the heavens in proper succession with the fire that blazes in the girandola both above and below. they are distributed, i say, at wide intervals, to the end that they may not burn all at once, and may produce a beautiful effect; and the same do the mortars, which are bound to the firm parts of the girandola, and make the most beautiful and joyous noises. the fire-trumpets, likewise, are fitted in among the ornaments, and are generally contrived so as to discharge through the mouths of masks and other suchlike things. but the most important point is to arrange the girandola in such a manner that the lights that burn in certain vases may last the whole night, and illuminate the piazza; wherefore the whole work is connected together by a simple match of tow steeped in a mixture of powder full of sulphur and aquavitæ, which creeps little by little with its fire to every part which it has to set alight, one after another, until it has kindled the whole. now, as i have said, the things represented are various, but all must have something to do with fire, and must be subject to its action; and long before this there had been counterfeited the city of sodom, with lot and his daughters flying from it, at another time geryon, with virgil and dante on his back, according as dante himself relates in the _inferno_, and even earlier orpheus bringing eurydice with him from those infernal regions, with many other inventions. and his excellency ordained that the work should not be given to any of the puppet-painters, who for many years past had made a thousand absurdities in the girandole, but that an excellent master should produce a work that might have in it something of the good; wherefore the charge of this was given to tribolo, who, with the ingenuity and art wherewith he had executed all his other works, made one in the form of a very beautiful octagonal temple, rising with its ornaments to the total height of twenty braccia. this temple he represented as the temple of peace, placing on the summit an image of peace, who was setting fire to a great pile of arms which she had at her feet; and these arms, the statue of peace, and all the other figures that made this structure one of great beauty, were made of pasteboard, clay, and cloth steeped in glue, put together with extraordinary art. they were, i say, of these materials, to the end that the whole work might be the lighter, since it was to be suspended at a great height from the ground by a double rope that crossed the piazza high in the air. it is true, indeed, that the fireworks having been placed in it too thickly, and the fuses of tow being too near one to another, when they were set alight, such was the fury of the conflagration, and so great and so violent the blaze, that everything caught fire all at once, and was burned in a flash, whereas it should have continued to burn for an hour at least; and what was worse, the fire seizing on the woodwork and on all that should have been preserved, the ropes and every other thing were consumed in a moment, which was no small loss, and gave little pleasure to the people. but with regard to workmanship, it was more beautiful than any other girandola that had ever been made up to that time. the duke, then, resolving to erect the loggia of the mercato nuovo for the convenience of his citizens and merchants, did not wish to lay a greater burden than he could bear on tribolo, who, as chief engineer to the capitani di parte and the commissioners of the rivers and the sewers of the city, was always riding through the florentine dominions, engaged in bringing back to their proper beds many rivers that did damage by breaking away from them, in repairing bridges, and in other suchlike works; and he gave the charge of this enterprise to tasso, at the advice of the above-mentioned messer pier francesco, his major-domo, in order to change that tasso from a carpenter into an architect. this was certainly against the wishes of tribolo, although he did not show it, and even acted as the close friend of tasso; and a proof that this is true is that tribolo perceived many errors in tasso's model, but, so it is believed, would by no means tell him of them. such an error, for example, was that of the capitals of the columns that are beside the pilasters, whereby, the columns not leaving enough space, when everything had been drawn up, and the capitals had to be set into position, the corona above those capitals would not go in, so that it was found necessary to cut away so much that the order of the architecture was ruined; besides many other errors, of which there is no need to speak. for the above-named messer pier francesco the same tasso executed the door of the church of s. romolo, and a window with knee-shaped brackets on the piazza del duca, in an order of his own, substituting capitals for bases, and doing so many other things without measure or order, that it might have been said that the german order had begun to return to life in tuscany by means of this man; to say nothing of the works that he did in the palace in the way of staircases and apartments, which the duke has been obliged to have destroyed, because they had no sort of order, measure, or proportion, and were, on the contrary, all shapeless, out of square, and without the least convenience or grace. all these things were not done without some responsibility falling on tribolo, who, having considerable knowledge in such matters, should not, so it seemed, have allowed his prince to throw away his money and to do him such an affront to his face; and, what was even more serious, he should not have permitted such things to tasso, who was his friend. well did men of judgment recognize the presumption and madness of the one in seeking to exercise an art of which he knew nothing, and the dissimulation of the other, who declared that he was pleased with that which he certainly knew to be bad; and of this a proof may be found in the works that giorgio vasari has had to pull down in the palace, to the loss of the duke and the great shame of those men. but the same thing happened to tribolo as to tasso, in that, even as tasso abandoned wood-carving, a craft in which he had no equal, but never became a good architect, and thus won little honour by deserting an art in which he was very able, and applying himself to another of which he knew not one scrap, so tribolo, abandoning sculpture, in which it may be said with truth that he was most excellent and caused everyone to marvel, and setting himself to attempt to straighten out rivers, ceased to win honour by pursuing the one, while the other brought him blame and loss rather than honour and profit. for he did not succeed in his tinkering with rivers, and he made many enemies, particularly in the district of prato, on account of the bisenzio, and in many places in the val di nievole. duke cosimo having then bought the palace of the pitti, of which there has been an account in another place, and his excellency desiring to adorn it with gardens, groves, fountains, fish-ponds, and other suchlike things, tribolo executed all the distribution of the hill in the manner in which it still remains, accommodating everything in its proper place with beautiful judgment, although various things in many parts of the garden have since been changed. of this pitti palace, which is the most beautiful in europe, mention will be made in another place with a more suitable occasion. after these things, tribolo was sent by his excellency to the island of elba, not only that he might see the city and port that the duke had caused to be built there, but also that he might make arrangements for the transport of a round piece of granite, twelve braccia in diameter, from which was to be made a tazza for the great lawn of the pitti palace, which might receive the water of the principal fountain. tribolo, therefore, went thither and caused a boat to be made on purpose for transporting the tazza, and then, after giving the stone-cutters directions for the transportation, he returned to florence; where he had no sooner arrived, than he found the whole country full of murmurings and maledictions against him, since about that time floods and inundations had done infinite havoc in the neighbourhood of those rivers that he had patched up, although it was, perhaps, not altogether through his fault that this had happened. however that may have been, whether it was the malignity of some of his assistants, or perchance envy, or that the accusation was indeed true, the blame for all that damage was laid on tribolo, who, being a man of no great spirit, and rather wanting in resolution than otherwise, and doubting that the malice of some enemy might make him lose the favour of the duke, was in a state of great despondency, when, being of a feeble habit of body, on the th of august in the year , there came upon him a most violent fever. at that time giorgio vasari was in florence, for the purpose of having sent to rome the marbles for the tombs that pope julius iii caused to be erected in s. pietro a montorio; and he, as one who sincerely esteemed the talents of tribolo, visited and comforted him, beseeching him that he should think of nothing save his health, and that, when cured, he should return to finish the work of castello, letting the rivers go their own way, for they were more likely to drown his fame than to bring him any profit or honour. this, which he promised to attempt to do, he would, i believe, have done at all costs, if he had not been prevented by death, which closed his eyes on the th of september in the same year. and so the works of castello, begun and carried well forward by him, remained unfinished; for although some work has been done there since his day, now in one part and now in another, nevertheless they have never been pursued with the diligence and resolution that were shown when tribolo was alive and when the lord duke was hot in the undertaking. of a truth, he who does not press great works forward while those who are having them done are spending money willingly and devoting their best attention to them, brings it about that those works are put on one side and left unfinished, which zeal and solicitude could have carried to perfection. and thus, by the negligence of the workers, the world is left without its adornment, and they without their honour and fame, for the reason that it rarely happens, as it did to this work of castello, that on the death of the first master he who succeeds to his place is willing to finish it according to his design and model with that modesty with which giorgio vasari, at the commission of the duke, has caused the great fish-pond of castello to be finished after the directions of tribolo, even as he will do with the other things according as his excellency may desire from time to time to have them done. tribolo lived sixty-five years, and was interred by the company of the scalzo in their place of burial. he left behind him a son called raffaello, who has not taken up art, and two daughters, one of whom is the wife of david, tribolo's assistant in building all the works at castello, who, being a man of judgment and capable in such matters, is now employed on the aqueducts of florence, pisa, and all the other places in the dominion, according as it may please his excellency. pierino (piero) da vinci life of pierino (piero) da vinci sculptor although those men are generally the most celebrated who have executed some work excellently well, nevertheless, if the works already accomplished by any man foreshadow those that he did not achieve as likely to have been numerous and much more rare, if some accident, unforeseen and out of the common use, had not happened to interrupt him, it is certain that such a man, wherever there may be one willing to be just in his appreciation of the talent of another, will be rightly extolled and celebrated both on the one count and on the other, and as much for what he would have done as for what he did. the sculptor vinci, therefore, should not suffer on account of the short duration of his life, or be robbed thereby of the praise due to him from the judgment of those who shall come after us, considering that he was only in the first bloom both of his life and of his studies at the time when he produced and gave to the world that which everyone admires, and was like to bring forth fruits in greater abundance, if a hostile tempest had not destroyed both the fruits and the tree. i remember having said in another place that in the township of vinci, in the lower valdarno, there lived ser piero, the father of leonardo da vinci, most famous of painters. to this ser piero, after leonardo, there was born, as his youngest son, bartolommeo, who, living at vinci and attaining to manhood, took for his wife one of the first maidens of that township. bartolommeo was desirous of having a male child, and spoke very often to his wife of the greatness of the genius with which his brother leonardo had been endowed, praying god that he should make her worthy that from her there might be born in his house another leonardo, the first being now dead. in a short time, therefore, according to his desire, there was born to him a gracious boy, to whom he wished to give the name of leonardo; but, being advised by his relatives to revive the memory of his father, he gave him the name of piero. having come to the age of three years, the boy had a most beautiful countenance, with curly locks, and showed great grace in every movement, with a quickness of intelligence that was marvellous; insomuch that maestro giuliano del carmine, an excellent astrologer, and with him a priest devoted to chiromancy, who were both close friends of bartolommeo, having arrived in vinci and lodged in bartolommeo's house, looking at the forehead and hand of the boy, revealed to the father, both the astrologer and the chiromancer together, the greatness of his genius, and predicted that in a short time he would make extraordinary proficience in the mercurial arts, but that his life would also be very short. and only too true was their prophecy, for both in the one part and in the other (when one would have sufficed), in his life as well as in his art, it needs must be fulfilled. then, continuing to grow, piero had his father as his master in letters, but of himself, without any master, giving his attention to drawing and to making various little puppets in clay, he showed that the divine inclination of his nature recognized by the astrologer and the chiromancer was already awakening and beginning to work in him. by reason of which bartolommeo judged that his prayer had been heard by god; and, believing that his brother had been restored to him in his son, he began to think of removing piero from vinci and taking him to florence. having then done this without delay, he placed piero, who was now twelve years of age, with bandinelli in florence, flattering himself that baccio, having been once the friend of leonardo, would take notice of the boy and teach him with diligence; besides which, it seemed to him that piero delighted more in sculpture than in painting. but afterwards, coming very often to florence, he recognized that bandinelli was not answering with deeds to his expectations, and was not taking pains with the boy or showing interest in him, although he saw him to be willing to learn. for which reason bartolommeo took him away from bandinelli, and entrusted him to tribolo, who appeared to him to make more effort to help those who were seeking to learn, besides giving more attention to the studies of art and bearing even greater affection to the memory of leonardo. tribolo was executing some fountains at castello, the villa of his excellency; and thereupon piero, beginning once more his customary drawing, through having there the competition of the other young men whom tribolo kept about him, set himself with great ardour of spirit to study day and night, being spurred by his nature, which was desirous of excellence and honour, and being even more kindled by the example of the others like himself whom he saw constantly around him. wherefore in a few months he made such progress, that it was a marvel to everyone; and, having begun to gain some experience with the chisels, he sought to see whether his hand and his tools would obey in practice the thoughts within him and the designs formed in his brain. tribolo, perceiving his readiness, and having had a water-basin of stone made at that very time for cristofano rinieri, gave to piero a small piece of marble, from which he was to make for that water-basin a boy that should spurt forth water from the private part. piero, taking the marble with great gladness, first made a little model of clay, and then executed the work with so much grace, that tribolo and the others ventured the opinion that he would become one of those who are counted as rare in that art. tribolo then gave him a ducal mazzocchio[ ] to make in stone, to be placed over an escutcheon with the medici balls, for messer pier francesco riccio, the major-domo of the duke; and he made it with two children with their legs intertwined together, who are holding the mazzocchio in their hands and placing it upon the escutcheon, which is fixed over the door of a house that the major-domo then occupied, opposite to s. giuliano, near the priests of s. antonio. when this work was seen, all the craftsmen of florence formed the same judgment that tribolo had pronounced before. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. ii.] after this, he carved a boy squeezing a fish that is pouring water from its mouth, for the fountains of castello. and then, tribolo having given him a larger piece of marble, piero made from it two children who are embracing each other and squeezing fishes, causing water to spout from their mouths. these children were so graceful in the heads and in their whole persons, and executed with so beautiful a manner in the legs, arms, and hair, that already it could be seen that he would have been able to execute the most difficult work to perfection. taking heart, therefore, and buying a piece of grey-stone, two braccia and a half in length, which he took to his house on the canto alla briga, piero began to work at it in the evenings, after returning from his labours, at night, and on feast-days, insomuch that little by little he brought it to completion. this was a figure of bacchus, who had a satyr at his feet, and with one hand was holding a cup, while in the other he had a bunch of grapes, and his head was girt with a crown of grapes; all after a model made by himself in clay. in this and in his other early works piero showed a marvellous facility, which never offends the eye, nor is it in any respect disturbing to him who beholds it. this bacchus, when finished, was bought by bongianni capponi, and his nephew lodovico capponi now has it in a courtyard in his house. the while that piero was executing these works, few persons as yet knew that he was the nephew of leonardo da vinci; but his labours making him well known and renowned, by this means his parentage and his birth were likewise revealed. wherefore ever afterwards, both from his connection with his uncle and from his own happy genius, wherein he resembled that great man, he was called by everyone not piero, but vinci. now vinci, while occupied in this manner, had often heard various persons speaking of the things connected with the arts to be seen in rome, and extolling them, as is always done by everyone; wherefore a great desire had been kindled in him to see them, hoping to be able to derive profit by beholding not only the works of the ancients, but also those of michelagnolo, and even the master himself, who was then alive and residing in rome. he went thither, therefore, in company with some friends; but after seeing rome and all that he wished, he returned to florence, having reflected judiciously that the things of rome were as yet too profound for him, and should be studied and imitated not so early in his career, but after a greater acquaintance with art. at that time tribolo had finished a model for the shaft of the fountain in the labyrinth, in which are some satyrs in low-relief, four masks in half-relief, and four little boys in the round, who are seated upon certain caulicoles. vinci having then returned, tribolo gave him this shaft to do, and he executed and finished it, making in it some delicate designs not employed by any other but himself, which greatly pleased all who saw them. then, having had the whole marble tazza of that fountain finished, tribolo thought of placing on the edge of it four children in the round, lying down and playing with their arms and legs in the water, in various attitudes; and these he intended to cast in bronze. vinci, at the commission of tribolo, made them of clay, and they were afterwards cast in bronze by zanobi lastricati, a sculptor and a man very experienced in matters of casting; and they were placed not long since around the fountain, where they make a most beautiful effect. there was in daily intercourse with tribolo one luca martini, the proveditor at that time for the building of the mercato nuovo, who, praising highly the excellence in art and the fine character of vinci, and desiring to help him, provided him with a piece of marble two-thirds of a braccio in height and one and a quarter in length. vinci, taking the marble, made with it a christ being scourged at the column, in which the rules of low-relief and of design may be seen to have been well observed; and in truth it made everyone marvel, considering that he had not yet reached the age of seventeen, and had made in five years of study that proficience in art which others do not achieve save after length of life and great experience of many things. at this time tribolo, having undertaken the office of superintendent of the drains in the city of florence, ordained in that capacity that the drain in the old piazza di s. maria novella should be raised from the ground, in such a way that, becoming more capacious, it might be better able to receive all the waters that ran into it from various quarters. for this work, then, he commissioned vinci to make the model of a great mask of three braccia, which with its open mouth might swallow all the rain-water. afterwards, by order of the ufficiali della torre, the work was allotted to vinci, who, in order to execute it more quickly, summoned to his aid the sculptor lorenzo marignolli. in company with this master he finished it, making it from a block of hard-stone; and the work is such that it adorns the whole piazza, with no small advantage to the city. it now appeared to vinci that he had made such proficience in art, that it would be a great benefit to him to see the principal works in rome, and to associate with the most excellent craftsmen living there; wherefore, an occasion to go there presenting itself, he seized it readily. there had arrived from rome an intimate friend of michelagnolo buonarroti, francesco bandini, who, having come to know vinci by means of luca martini, and having praised him highly, caused him to make a model of wax for a tomb of marble that he wished to erect in his chapel in s. croce; and shortly afterwards, on returning to rome, vinci having spoken his mind to luca martini, bandini took him in his company. there vinci remained a year, studying all the time, and executed some works worthy of remembrance. the first was a christ on the cross in low-relief, rendering up his spirit to his father, which was copied from a design done by michelagnolo. for cardinal ridolfi he added to an antique head a breast in bronze, and made a venus of marble in low-relief, which was much extolled. for francesco bandini he restored an ancient horse, of which many pieces were wanting, and made it complete. and in order to give some proof of gratitude, where he could, to luca martini, who was writing to him by every courier, and continually recommending him to bandini, it seemed good to vinci to make a copy in wax, in the round and two-thirds (of a braccio) in height, of the moses of michelagnolo that is on the tomb of pope julius ii in s. pietro in vincula, than which there is no more beautiful work to be seen; and so, having made the moses of wax, he sent it as a present to luca martini. at the time when vinci was living in rome and executing the works mentioned above, luca martini was made by the duke of florence proveditor of pisa, and in his office he did not forget his friend, and therefore wrote to him that he was preparing a room for him and was providing a block of marble of three braccia, so that he might return from rome at his pleasure, seeing that while with him he should want for nothing. vinci, attracted by this prospect and by the love that he bore to luca, resolved to depart from rome and to take up his abode for some time in pisa, where he looked to find opportunities of practising his hand and making trial of his ability. having therefore gone to pisa, he found that the marble was already in his room, prepared according to the orders of luca; but, on proceeding to begin to carve from it an upright figure, he perceived that the marble had in it a crack that diminished it by a braccio. wherefore, having resolved to change it into a recumbent figure, he made a young river god holding a vase that is pouring out water, the vase being upheld by three children, who are assisting the river god to pour the water forth; and beneath his feet runs a copious stream of water, in which may be seen fishes darting about and water-fowl flying in various parts. this river god finished, vinci made a present of it to luca, who presented it to the duchess, to whom it was very dear; and then, her brother don garzia di toledo being at that time in pisa, whither he had gone by galley, she gave it to that brother, who accepted it with much pleasure for the fountains of his garden in the chiaia at naples. in those days luca martini was writing some observations on the commedia of dante, and he pointed out to vinci the cruelty described by dante, which the pisans and archbishop ruggieri showed towards count ugolino della gherardesca, causing him to die of hunger with his four sons in the tower that is therefore called the tower of hunger; whereby he offered to vinci the occasion for a new work and the idea of a new design. wherefore, while he was still working at the river god described above, he set his hand to making a scene in wax more than a braccio in height and three-quarters in breadth, to be cast in bronze, in which he represented two of the count's sons already dead, one in the act of expiring, and the fourth overcome by hunger and near his end, but not yet reduced to the last breath; with the father in a pitiful and miserable attitude, blind and heavy with grief, and groping over the wretched bodies of his sons stretched upon the ground. in this work vinci displayed the excellence of design no less than did dante the perfection of poetry in his verses, for no less compassion is stirred by the attitudes shaped in wax by the sculptor in him who beholds them, than is roused in him who listens to the words and accents imprinted on the living page by the poet. and in order to mark the place where the event happened, he made at the foot of the scene the river arno, which occupies its whole width, for the above-named tower is not far distant from the river in pisa; while upon that tower he placed an old woman, naked, withered, and fearsome, representing hunger, much after the manner wherein ovid describes her. the wax model finished, he cast the scene in bronze, and it gave consummate satisfaction, being held by the court and by everyone to be no ordinary work. duke cosimo was then intent on enriching and beautifying the city of pisa, and he had already caused the piazza del mercato to be built anew, with a great number of shops around it, and had placed in the centre a column ten braccia high, upon which, according to the design of luca, was to stand a statue representing abundance. martini, therefore, having spoken to the duke and presented vinci to his notice, easily obtained for him from his excellency the commission for that statue, the duke being always eager to assist men of talent and to bring fine intellects forward. vinci executed a statue of travertine, three braccia and a half in height, which was much extolled by everyone; for at the feet of the figure he placed a little child, who assists her to support the cornucopia, carved with much softness and facility, although the stone is rough and difficult to work. [illustration: ugolino della gherardesca and his sons in the tower of famine (_after the wax relief by =pierino [piero] da vinci=. oxford: ashmolean museum_) _reproduced by permission of the visitors of the ashmolean museum._] luca afterwards sent to carrara to have a block of marble quarried five braccia in height and three in breadth, from which vinci, who had once seen some sketches by michelagnolo of samson slaying a philistine with the jawbone of an ass, proposed to make two figures of five braccia from his own fancy, after that subject. whereupon, while the marble was on its way, he set himself to make several models, all varying one from another, and then fixed on one of them; and after the block had arrived he began to carve it, and carried it well on, imitating michelagnolo in cutting his conception and design little by little out of the stone, without spoiling it or making any sort of error. he executed all the perforation in this work, whether undercut or at an easy angle, with great facility, laborious as it was, and the manner of the whole work was very delicate. but since the labour was very fatiguing, he sought to distract himself with other studies and works of less importance; and thus he executed during the same time a little tablet of marble in low-relief, in which he represented our lady with christ, s. john, and s. elizabeth, which was held, as it still is, to be a rare work. this came into the hands of the most illustrious duchess, and it is now among the choice things in the study of the duke. he then set his hand to a scene of marble, one braccio high and one and a half wide, partly in half-relief and partly in low-relief, in which he represented the restoration of pisa by the duke, who is in the work present in person at the restoration of that city, which is being pressed forward by his presence. round the duke are figures of his virtues; in particular a minerva representing his wisdom and also the arts revived by him in that city of pisa, who is surrounded by many evils and natural defects of the site, which besiege her on every side, and afflict her in the manner of enemies; but from all these that city has since been delivered by the above-mentioned virtues of the duke. all these virtues round the duke, with all the evils round pisa, were portrayed by vinci in his scene with most beautiful gestures and attitudes; but he left it unfinished, to the great regret of those who saw it, on account of the perfection of the things in it that were completed. the fame of vinci having grown and spread abroad by reason of these works, the heirs of messer baldassarre turini da pescia besought him that he should make a model of a marble tomb for messer baldassarre; which finished, it pleased them, whereupon they made an agreement that the tomb should be executed, and vinci sent francesco del tadda, an able master of marble-carving, to have the marble quarried at carrara. and when that master had sent him a block of marble, vinci began a statue, and carved out of the stone a figure blocked out in such a manner that one who knew not the circumstances would have said that it was certainly blocked out by michelagnolo. the name of vinci was now very great, and his genius was admired by all, being much more perfect than could have been expected in one so young, and it was likely to grow even more and to become greater, and to equal that of any other man in his art, as his own works bear witness, without any other testimony; when the term prescribed for him by heaven, being now close at hand, interrupted all his plans, and caused his rapid progress to cease at one blow, not suffering that he should climb any higher, and depriving the world of many excellent works of art with which, had vinci lived, it would have been adorned. it happened at this time, while vinci was intent on the tomb of another, not knowing that his own was preparing, that the duke had to send luca martini to genoa on affairs of importance; and luca, both because he loved vinci and wished to have him in his company, and also in order to give him some diversion and recreation, and to enable him to see genoa, took him with him on his journey. there, while martini was transacting his business, at his suggestion messer adamo centurioni commissioned vinci to execute a figure of s. john the baptist, of which he made the model. but soon he was attacked by fever, and, to increase his distress, at the same time his friend was also taken away from him; perchance to provide a way in which fate might be fulfilled in the life of vinci. for it became necessary that luca, in the interests of the business entrusted to him, should go to florence to find the duke; wherefore he parted from his sick friend, to the great grief of both the one and the other, leaving him in the house of the abate nero, to whom he straitly recommended him, although piero was very unwilling to remain in genoa. but vinci, feeling himself growing worse every day, resolved to have himself removed from genoa; and, having caused an assistant of his own, called tiberio cavalieri, to come from pisa, with his help he had himself carried to livorno by water, and from livorno to pisa in a litter. arriving in pisa at the twenty-second hour in the evening, all exhausted and broken by the journey, the sea-voyage, and the fever, during the night he had no repose, and the next morning, at the break of day, he passed to the other life, not having yet reached the age of twenty-three. the death of vinci was a great grief to all his friends, and to luca martini beyond measure; and it grieved all those who had hoped to see from his hands such works as are not often seen. and messer benedetto varchi, who was much the friend of his abilities and of those of every master, afterwards wrote the following sonnet in memory of his fame: come potrò da me, se tu non presti o forza, o tregua al mio gran duolo interno, soffrirlo in pace mai, signor superno, che fin quì nuova ognor pena mi desti? dunque de' miei più cari or quegli, or questi, verde sen voli all'alto asilo eterno, ed io canuto in questo basso inferno a pianger sempre e lamentarmi resti? sciolgami almen tua gran bontade quinci, or che reo fato nostro, o sua ventura, ch' era ben degno d' altra vita, e gente, per far più ricco il cielo, e la scultura men bella, e me col buon martin dolente, n' ha privi, o pietà, del secondo vinci. baccio bandinelli life of baccio bandinelli sculptor of florence in the days when the arts of design flourished in florence by the favour and assistance of the elder lorenzo de' medici the magnificent, there lived in the city a goldsmith called michelagnolo di viviano of gaiuole, who worked excellently well at chasing and incavo for enamels and niello, and was very skilful in every sort of work in gold and silver plate. this michelagnolo had a great knowledge of jewels, and set them very well; and on account of his talents and his versatility all the foreign masters of his art used to have recourse to him, and he gave them hospitality, as well as to the young men of the city, insomuch that his workshop was held to be, as it was, the first in florence. of him the magnificent lorenzo and all the house of medici availed themselves; and for the tourney that giuliano, the brother of that magnificent lorenzo, held on the piazza di s. croce, he executed with subtle craftsmanship all the ornaments of helmets, crests, and devices. wherefore he acquired a great name and much intimacy with the sons of the magnificent lorenzo, to whom his work was ever afterwards very dear, and no less useful to him their acquaintance and friendship, by reason of which, and also by the many works that he executed throughout the whole city and dominion, he became a man of substance as well as one of much repute in his art. to this michelagnolo the medici, on their departure from florence in the year , entrusted much plate in silver and gold, which was all kept in safe hiding by him and faithfully preserved until their return, when he was much extolled by them for his fidelity, and afterwards recompensed with rewards. in the year there was born to michelagnolo a son, whom he called bartolommeo, but afterwards, according to the florentine custom, he was called by everyone baccio. michelagnolo, desiring to leave his son heir to his art and connection, took him into his own workshop in company with other young men who were learning to draw; for that was the custom in those times, and no one was held to be a good goldsmith who was not a good draughtsman and able to work well in relief. baccio, then, in his first years, gave his attention to design according to the teaching of his father, being assisted no less to make proficience by the competition of the other lads, among whom he chose as his particular companion one called piloto, who afterwards became an able goldsmith; and with him he often went about the churches drawing the works of the good painters, but also mingling work in relief with his drawing, and counterfeiting in wax certain sculptures of donato and verrocchio, besides executing some works in clay, in the round. while still a boy in age, baccio frequented at times the workshop of girolamo del buda, a commonplace painter, on the piazza di s. pulinari. there, at one time during the winter, a great quantity of snow had fallen, which had been thrown afterwards by the people into a heap in that piazza; and girolamo, turning to baccio, said to him jestingly: "baccio, if this snow were marble, could we not carve a fine giant out of it, such as a marforio lying down?" "we could so," answered baccio, "and i suggest that we should act as if it were marble." and immediately, throwing off his cloak, he set his hands to the snow, and, assisted by other boys, taking away the snow where there was too much, and adding some in other places, he made a rough figure of marforio lying down, eight braccia in length. whereupon the painter and all the others stood marvelling, not so much at what he had done as at the spirit with which he had set his hand to a work so vast, and he so young and so small. baccio, indeed, having more love for sculpture than for goldsmith's work, gave many proofs of this; and when he went to pinzirimonte, a villa bought by his father, he would often plant himself before the naked labourers and draw them with great eagerness, and he did the same with the cattle on the farm. at this time he continued for many days to go in the morning to prato, which was near the villa, where he stayed the whole day drawing in the chapel of the pieve from the work of fra filippo lippi, and he did not cease until he had drawn it all, imitating the draperies of that master, who did them very well. and already he handled with great skill the style and the pen, and also chalk both red and black, which last is a soft stone that comes from the mountains of france, and with it, when cut to a point, drawings can be executed with great delicacy. these things making clear to michelagnolo the mind and inclination of his son, he also changed his intention, like the boy himself, and, being likewise advised by his friends, placed him under the care of giovan francesco rustici, one of the best sculptors in the city, whose workshop was still constantly frequented by leonardo da vinci. leonardo, seeing the drawings of baccio and being pleased with them, exhorted him to persevere and to take to working in relief; and he recommended strongly to him the works of donato, saying also that he should execute something in marble, such as a head or a low-relief. baccio, encouraged by the comforting advice of leonardo, set himself to copy in marble an antique head of a woman, of which he had shaped a model from one that is in the house of the medici. this, for his first work, he executed passing well, and it was held very dear by andrea carnesecchi, who received it as a present from baccio's father and placed it in his house in the via larga, over that door in the centre of the court which leads into the garden. now, baccio continuing to make other models of figures in clay in the round, his father, wishing not to fail in his duty towards the praiseworthy zeal of his son, sent for some blocks of marble from carrara, and caused to be built for him, at the end of his house at pinti, a room with lights arranged for working, which looked out upon the via fiesolana. whereupon he set himself to block out various figures in those marbles, and one, among others, he carried well on from a piece of marble of two braccia and a half, which was a hercules that is holding the dead cacus beneath him, between his legs. these sketches were left in the same place in memory of him. at this time was thrown open to view the cartoon of michelagnolo buonarroti, full of nude figures, which michelagnolo had executed at the commission of piero soderini for the great council chamber, and, as has been related in another place, all the craftsmen flocked together to draw it on account of its excellence. among these came baccio, and no long time passed before he outstripped them all, for the reason that he understood nudes, and outlined, shaded, and finished them, better than any of the other draughtsmen, among whom were jacopo sansovino, andrea del sarto, il rosso, who was then very young, and alfonso berughetta the spaniard, together with many other famous craftsmen. baccio frequented the place more than any of the others, and had a counterfeit key; and it happened that, piero soderini having been deposed from the government about this time, in the year , and the house of medici having been restored to power, during the confusion caused in the palace by the change of government, baccio entered in secret, all by himself, and tore the cartoon into many pieces. of which not knowing the reason, some said that baccio had torn it up in order to have some pieces of the cartoon in his possession for his own convenience, some declared that he wished to deprive the other young men of that advantage, so that they might not be able to profit by it and make themselves a name in art, others said that he was moved to do this by his affection for leonardo da vinci, from whom michelagnolo's cartoon had taken much of his reputation, and others, again, perhaps interpreting his action better, attributed it to the hatred which he felt against michelagnolo and afterwards demonstrated as long as he lived. the loss of the cartoon was no light one for the city, and very heavy the blame that was rightly laid upon baccio by everyone, as an envious and malicious person. baccio then executed some pieces of cartoon with lead-white and charcoal, among which was a very beautiful one of a nude cleopatra, which he presented to the goldsmith piloto. having already acquired a name as a great draughtsman, he was desirous of learning to paint in colours, having a firm belief that he would not only equal buonarroti, but even greatly surpass him in both fields of art. now he had executed a cartoon of a leda, in which castor and pollux were issuing from the egg of the swan embraced by her, and he wished to colour it in oils, in such a way as to make it appear that the methods of handling the colours and mixing them together in order to make the various tints, with the lights and shades, had not been taught to him by others, but that he had found them by himself, and, after pondering how he could do this, he thought of the following expedient. he besought andrea del sarto, who was much his friend, that he should paint a portrait of him in oils, flattering himself that he would thereby gain two advantages in accordance with his purpose; one was that he would see the method of mixing the colours, and the other was that the painted picture would remain in his hands, which, having seen it executed and understanding it, would assist him and serve him as a pattern. but andrea perceived baccio's intention as he made his request, and was angry at his want of confidence and astuteness, for he would have been willing to show him what he desired, if baccio had asked him as a friend; wherefore, without making any sign that he had found him out, and refraining from mixing the colours into tints, he placed every sort of colour on his palette and mingled them together with the brush, and, taking some now from one and now from another with great dexterity of hand, counterfeited in this way the vivid colouring of baccio's face. the latter, both through the artfulness of andrea and because he had to sit still where he was if he wished to be painted, was never able to see or learn anything that he wished: and it was a fine notion of andrea's, thus at the same time to punish the deceitfulness of his friend and to display with this method of painting, like a well-practised master, even greater ability and experience in art. for all this, however, baccio did not abandon his determination, in which he was assisted by the painter rosso, whom he afterwards asked more openly for the help that he desired. having thus learned the methods of colouring, he painted a picture in oils of the holy fathers delivered from the limbo of hell by the saviour, and also a larger picture of noah drunk with wine and revealing his nakedness in the presence of his sons. he tried his hand at painting on the wall, on fresh plaster, and executed on the walls of his house heads, arms, legs, and torsi, coloured in various ways; but, perceiving that this involved him in greater difficulties than he had expected, through the drying of the plaster, he returned to his former study of working in relief. he made a figure of marble, three braccia in height, of a young mercury with a flute in his hand, with which he took great pains, and it was extolled and held to be a rare work; and afterwards, in the year , it was bought by giovan battista della palla and sent to france to king francis, who held it in great estimation. baccio devoted himself with great study and solicitude to examining and reproducing the most minute details of anatomy, persevering in this for many months and even years. and certainly one can praise highly in this man his desire for honour and excellence in art, and for working well therein; spurred by which desire, and by the most fiery ardour, with which, rather than with aptitude or dexterity in art, he had been endowed by nature from his earliest years, baccio spared himself no fatigue, never relaxed his efforts for a moment, was always intent either on preparing for work or on working, always occupied, and never to be found idle, thinking that by continual work he would surpass all others who had ever practised his art, and promising this result to himself as the reward of his incessant study and endless labour. continuing, therefore, his zealous study, he not only produced a great number of sheets drawn in various ways with his own hand, but also contrived to get agostino viniziano, the engraver of prints, to engrave for him a nude cleopatra and a larger plate filled with various anatomical studies, in order to see whether this would be successful; and the latter plate brought him great praise. he then set himself to make in wax, in full-relief, a figure one braccio and a half in height of s. jerome in penitence, lean beyond belief, which showed on the bones the muscles all withered, a great part of the nerves, and the skin dry and wrinkled; and with such diligence was this work executed by him, that all the craftsmen, and particularly leonardo da vinci, pronounced the opinion that there had never been seen a better thing of its kind, nor one wrought with greater art. this figure baccio carried to cardinal giovanni de' medici and to his brother the magnificent giuliano, and by its means he made himself known to them as the son of the goldsmith michelagnolo; and they, besides praising the work, showed him many other favours. this was in the year , when they had returned to their house and their government. at this same time there were being executed in the office of works of s. maria del fiore certain apostles of marble, which were to be set up within the marble tabernacles in those very places in that church where there are the apostles painted by the painter lorenzo di bicci. at the instance of the magnificent giuliano there was allotted to baccio a s. peter, four braccia and a half in height, which after a long time he brought to completion; and, although it has not the highest perfection of sculpture, nevertheless good design may be seen in it. this apostle remained in the office of works from the year down to , in which year duke cosimo, in honour of the marriage of queen joanna of austria, his daughter-in-law, was pleased to have the interior of s. maria del fiore whitewashed, which church had never been touched from the time of its erection down to that day, and to have four apostles set up in their places, among which was the s. peter mentioned above. now in the year , pope leo x passing through florence on his way to bologna, the city, in order to do him honour, ordained, among many other ornaments and festive preparations, that there should be made a colossal figure of nine braccia and a half, which was to be placed under an arch of the loggia in the piazza near the palace; and this was given to baccio. this colossal figure was a hercules, and from the premature words of baccio men expected that it would surpass the david of buonarroti, which stood there near it; but the act did not correspond to the word, nor the work to the boast, and it robbed baccio of much of the estimation in which he had previously been held by the craftsmen and by the whole city. pope leo had allotted the work of the ornamentation in marble that surrounds the chamber of our lady at loreto, with the statues and scenes, to maestro andrea contucci of monte sansovino, who had already executed some of these with great credit to himself, and was then engaged on others. now at this time baccio took to rome, for the pope, a very beautiful model of a nude david who was holding goliath under him and was cutting off his head; which model he intended to execute in bronze or in marble for that very spot in the court of the house of the medici in florence where there once stood the david of donato, which, at the spoiling of the medici palace, was taken to the palace that then belonged to the signori. the pope, having praised baccio, but not thinking that the time had come to execute the david, sent him to loreto to maestro andrea, to the end that andrea might give him one of those scenes to do. having arrived in loreto, he was received lovingly by maestro andrea and shown much kindness, both on account of his fame and because the pope had recommended him, and a piece of marble was assigned to him from which he should carve the nativity of our lady. baccio, after making the model, began the work; but, being a person who was not able to endure a colleague or an equal, and had little praise for the works of others, he also began to speak hardly before the other sculptors who were there of the works of maestro andrea, saying that he had no design, and he said the same of the others, insomuch that in a short time he made himself disliked by them all. whereupon, all that baccio had said of maestro andrea having come to his ears, he, like a wise man, answered him lovingly, saying that works are done with the hands and not with the tongue, that good design is to be looked for not in drawings but in the perfection of the work finished in stone, and, finally, that in future baccio should speak of him in a different tone. but baccio answering him arrogantly with many abusive words, maestro andrea could endure no more, and rushed upon him in order to kill him; but bandinelli was torn away from him by some who intervened between them. being therefore forced to depart from loreto, baccio had his scene carried to ancona; but he grew weary of it, although it was near completion, and he went away leaving it unfinished. this work was finished afterwards by raffaello da montelupo, and placed together with the others of maestro andrea; but it is by no means equal to them in excellence, although even so it is worthy of praise. baccio, having returned to rome, obtained a promise from the pope, through the favour of cardinal giulio de' medici, always ready to assist the arts and their followers, that he should be commissioned to execute some statue for the court of the medici palace in florence. having therefore come to florence, he made an orpheus of marble, who with his playing and his singing is charming cerberus, and moving hell itself to compassion. he imitated in this work the apollo of the belvedere at rome, and it was very highly praised, and rightly, because, although the orpheus of baccio is not in the attitude of the apollo belvedere, nevertheless it reproduces very successfully the manner of the torso and of all the members. the statue, when finished, was carried by order of cardinal giulio, while he was governing florence, into the above-mentioned court, and placed on a carved base executed by the sculptor benedetto da rovezzano. but since baccio never paid any attention to the art of architecture, he took no heed of the genius of donatello, who had made for the david that was there before a simple column on which rested a cleft base in open-work, to the end that one entering from without might see from the street-door the inner door, that of the other court, opposite to him; and, not having such foresight, he caused his statue to be placed on a broad and wholly solid base, of such a kind that it blocks the view of him who enters and covers the opening of the inner door, so that in passing through the first door one does not see whether the palace extends farther inwards or finishes in the first court. cardinal giulio had caused a most beautiful villa to be erected below monte mario at rome, and wished to set up two giants in this villa; and he had them executed in stucco by baccio, who was always delighted to make giants. these figures, eight braccia in height, stand one on either side of the gate that leads into the wood, and they were held to be reasonably beautiful. while baccio was engaged on these works, never abandoning his practice of drawing, he caused marco da ravenna and agostino viniziano, the engravers of prints, to engrave a scene drawn by him on a very large sheet, in which was the slaughter of the innocents, so cruelly done to death by herod. this scene, which was filled by him with a quantity of nudes, both male and female, children living and dead, and women and soldiers in various attitudes, made known the fine draughtsmanship that he showed in figures and his knowledge of muscles and of all the members, and it won him great fame over all europe. he also made a most beautiful model of wood, with the figures in wax, of a tomb for the king of england, which in the end was not carried out by baccio, but was given to the sculptor benedetto da rovezzano, who executed it in metal. [illustration: the martyrdom of s. lorenzo (_after the painting by =baccio bandinelli=. hereford: w. j. davies' collection_) _m.s._] there had recently returned from france cardinal bernardo divizio of bibbiena, who, perceiving that king francis possessed not a single work in marble, whether ancient or modern, although he much delighted in such things, had promised his majesty that he would prevail on the pope to send him some beautiful work. after this cardinal there came to the pope two ambassadors from king francis, and they, having seen the statues of the belvedere, lavished all the praise at their command on the laocoon. cardinals de' medici and bibbiena, who were with them, asked them whether the king would be glad to have a work of that kind; and they answered that it would be too great a gift. then the cardinal said to them: "there shall be sent to his majesty either this one or one so like it that there shall be no difference." and, having resolved to have another made in imitation of it, he remembered baccio, whom he sent for and asked whether he had the courage to make a laocoon equal to the original. baccio answered that he was confident that he could make one not merely equal to it, but even surpassing it in perfection. the cardinal then resolved that the work should be begun, and baccio, while waiting for the marble to come, made one in wax, which was much extolled, and also executed a cartoon in lead-white and charcoal of the same size as the one in marble. after the marble had come and baccio had caused an enclosure with a roof for working in to be erected for himself in the belvedere, he made a beginning with one of the boys of the laocoon, the larger one, and executed this in such a manner that the pope and all those who were good judges were satisfied, because between his work and the ancient there was scarcely any difference to be seen. but after setting his hand to the other boy and to the statue of the father, which is in the middle, he had not gone far when the pope died. adrian vi being then elected, he returned with the cardinal to florence, where he occupied himself with his studies in design. after the death of adrian and the election of clement vii, baccio went post-haste to rome in order to be in time for his coronation, for which he made statues and scenes in half-relief by order of his holiness. then, having been provided by the pope with rooms and an allowance, he returned to his laocoon, a work which was executed by him in the space of two years with the greatest excellence that he ever achieved. he also restored the right arm of the ancient laocoon, which had been broken off and never found, and baccio made one of the full size in wax, which so resembled the ancient work in the muscles, in force, and in manner, and harmonized with it so well, that it showed how baccio understood his art; and this model served him as a pattern for making the whole arm of his own laocoon. this work seemed to his holiness to be so good, that he changed his mind and resolved to send other ancient statues to the king, and this one to florence; and to cardinal silvio passerino of cortona, his legate in florence, who was then governing the city, he sent orders that he should place the laocoon at the head of the second court in the palace of the medici. this was in the year . this work brought great fame to baccio, who, after finishing the laocoon, set himself to draw a scene on a sheet of royal folio laid open, in order to carry out a design of the pope, who wished to have the martyrdom of s. cosimo and s. damiano painted on one wall of the principal chapel of s. lorenzo in florence, and on the other that of s. laurence, when he was put to death by decius on the gridiron. baccio then drew with great subtlety the story of s. laurence, in which he counterfeited with much judgment and art figures both clothed and nude, different attitudes and gestures in the bodies and limbs, and various movements in those who are standing about s. laurence, engaged in their dreadful office, and in particular the cruel decius, who with threatening brow is urging on the fiery death of the innocent martyr, who, raising one arm to heaven, recommends his spirit to god. with this scene baccio so satisfied the pope, that he took steps to have it engraved on copper by marc'antonio bolognese, which was done by marc'antonio with great diligence; and his holiness created baccio, in order to do honour to his talents, a chevalier of s. pietro. after these things baccio returned to florence, where he found that giovan francesco rustici, his first master, was painting a scene of the conversion of s. paul; for which reason he undertook to make in a cartoon, in competition with his master, a nude figure of a young s. john in the desert, who is holding a lamb with the left arm and raising the right to heaven. then, having caused a panel to be prepared, he set himself to colour it, and when it was finished he exposed it to view in the workshop of his father michelagnolo, opposite to the descent that leads from orsanmichele to the mercato nuovo. the design was praised by the craftsmen, but not so much the colouring, because it was somewhat crude and painted in no beautiful manner. but baccio sent it as a present to pope clement, who had it placed in his guardaroba, where it may still be found. as far back as the time of leo x there had been quarried at carrara, together with the marbles for the façade of s. lorenzo in florence, another block of marble nine braccia and a half high and five braccia wide at the foot. with this block of marble michelagnolo buonarroti had thought of making a giant in the person of hercules slaying cacus, intending to place it in the piazza beside the colossal figure of david formerly made by him, since both the one and the other, david and hercules, were emblems of the palace. he had made several designs and various models for it, and had sought to gain the favour of pope leo and of cardinal giulio de' medici, saying that the david had many defects caused by the sculptor maestro andrea, who had first blocked it out and spoiled it. but by reason of the death of leo the façade of s. lorenzo was for a time abandoned, and also this block of marble. now afterwards, pope clement having conceived a desire to avail himself of michelagnolo for the tombs of the heroes of the house of medici, which he wished to have constructed in the sacristy of s. lorenzo, it became once more necessary to quarry marbles; and the head of these works, keeping the accounts of the expenses, was domenico buoninsegni. this man tried to tempt michelagnolo to make a secret partnership with him in the matter of the stone-work for the façade of s. lorenzo; but michelagnolo refused, not consenting that his genius should be employed in defrauding the pope, and domenico conceived such hatred against him that he went about ever afterwards opposing his undertakings, in order to annoy and humiliate him, but this he did covertly. he thus contrived to have the façade discontinued and the sacristy pushed forward, which two works, he said, were enough to keep michelagnolo occupied for many years. and as for the marble for the making of the giant, he urged the pope that it should be given to baccio, who at that time had nothing to do; saying that through the emulation of two men so eminent his holiness would be served better and with more diligence and promptitude, rivalry stimulating both the one and the other in his work. the counsel of domenico pleased the pope, and he acted in accordance with it. baccio, having obtained the marble, made a great model in wax, which was a hercules who, having fixed the head of cacus between two stones with one knee, was constraining him with great force with the left arm, holding him crouching under his legs in a distorted attitude, wherein cacus revealed his suffering and the strain of the weight of hercules upon him, which was rending asunder every least muscle in his whole body. hercules, likewise, with his head bent down close against his enemy, grinding and gnashing his teeth, was raising the right arm and with great vehemence giving him another blow with his club, in order to dash his head to pieces. michelagnolo, as soon as he had heard that the marble had been given to baccio, was very much displeased; but, for all the efforts that he made in this matter, he was never able to turn the pope from his purpose, so completely had he been satisfied by baccio's model; to which reason were added his promises and boasts, for he boasted that he would surpass the david of michelagnolo, and he was also assisted by buoninsegni, who said that michelagnolo desired everything for himself. thus was the city deprived of a rare ornament, such as that marble would undoubtedly have been when shaped by the hand of buonarroti. the above-mentioned model of baccio is now to be found in the guardaroba of duke cosimo, by whom it is held very dear, and by the craftsmen as a rare work. baccio was sent to carrara to see this marble, and the overseers of the works of s. maria del fiore were commissioned to transport it by water, along the river arno, as far as signa. the marble having been conveyed there, within a distance of eight miles from florence, when they set about removing it from the river in order to transport it by land, the river being too low from signa to florence, it fell into the water, and on account of its great size sank so deep into the sand, that the overseers, with all the contrivances that they used, were not able to drag it out. for which reason, the pope wishing that the marble should be recovered at all costs, by order of the wardens of works pietro rosselli, an old builder of great ingenuity, went to work in such a manner that, having diverted the course of the water into another channel and cut away the bank of the river, with levers and windlasses he moved it, dragged it out of the arno, and brought it to solid ground, for which he was greatly extolled. tempted by this accident to the marble, certain persons wrote verses, both tuscan and latin, ingeniously ridiculing baccio, who was detested for his loquacity and his evil-speaking against michelagnolo and all the other craftsmen. one among them took for his verses the following subject, saying that the marble, after having been approved by the genius of michelagnolo, learning that it was to be mangled by the hands of baccio, had thrown itself into the river out of despair at such an evil fate. while the marble was being drawn out of the water, a difficult process which took time, baccio found, on measuring it, that it was neither high enough nor wide enough to enable him to carve the figures of his first model. whereupon he went to rome, taking the measurements with him, and made known to the pope how he was constrained by necessity to abandon his first design and make another. he then made several models, and out of their number the pope was most pleased with one in which hercules had cacus between his legs, and, grasping his hair, was holding him down after the manner of a prisoner; and this one they resolved to adopt and to carry into execution. on returning to florence, baccio found that the marble had been conveyed into the office of works of s. maria del fiore by pietro rosselli, who had first placed on the ground some planks of walnut-wood planed square, and laid lengthways, which he kept changing according as the marble moved forward, under which and upon those planks he placed some round rollers well shod with iron, so that by pulling the marble with three windlasses, to which he had attached it, little by little he brought it with ease into the office of works. the block having been set up there, baccio began a model in clay as large as the marble and shaped according to the last one which he had made previously in rome; and he finished it, working with great diligence, in a few months. but with all this it appeared to many craftsmen that there was not in this model that spirited vivacity that the action required, nor that which he had given to his first model. afterwards, beginning to work at the marble, baccio cut it away all round as far as the navel, laying bare the limbs in front, and taking care all the time to carve the figures in such a way that they might be exactly like those of the large model in clay. at this same time baccio had undertaken to execute in painting an altar-piece of considerable size for the church of cestello, and for this he had made a very beautiful cartoon containing a dead christ surrounded by the maries, with nicodemus and other figures; but, for a reason that we shall give below, he did not paint the altar-piece. he also made at this time, in order to paint a picture, a cartoon in which was christ taken down from the cross and held in the arms of nicodemus, with his mother, who was standing, weeping for him, and an angel who was holding in his hands the nails and the crown of thorns. setting himself straightway to colour it, he finished it quickly and placed it on exhibition in the workshop of his friend giovanni di goro, the goldsmith, in the mercato nuovo, in order to hear the opinions of men and particularly what michelagnolo said of it. michelagnolo was taken by the goldsmith piloto to see it, and, after he had examined every part, he said that he marvelled that so good a draughtsman as baccio should allow a picture so crude and wanting in grace to leave his hands, that he had seen the most feeble painters executing their works in a better manner, and that this was no art for baccio. piloto reported michelagnolo's judgment to baccio, who, for all the hatred that he felt against him, recognized that he spoke the truth. certainly baccio's drawings were very beautiful, but in colours he executed them badly and without grace, and he therefore resolved to paint no more with his own hand; but he took into his service one who handled colours passing well, a young man called agnolo, the brother of the excellent painter franciabigio, who had died a few years before. to this agnolo he desired to entrust the execution of the altar-piece for cestello, but it remained unfinished, the reason of which was the change of government in florence, which took place in the year , when the medici left florence after the sack of rome. for baccio did not think himself safe, having a private feud with a neighbour at his villa of pinzirimonte, who was of the popular party; and after he had buried at that villa some cameos and little antique figures of bronze, which belonged to the medici, he went off to live in lucca. there he remained until the time when the emperor charles v came to receive his crown at bologna; whereupon he presented himself before the pope and then went with him to rome, where he was given rooms in the belvedere, as before. while baccio was living there, his holiness resolved to fulfil a vow that he had made when he was shut up in the castello di s. angelo; which vow was that he would place on the summit of the great round tower of marble, which is in front of the ponte di castello, seven large figures of bronze, each six braccia in length, and all lying down in different attitudes, as it were vanquished by an angel that he wished to have set up on the centre of the tower, upon a column of variegated marble, the angel being of bronze with a sword in the hand. by this figure of the angel he wished to represent the angel michael, the guardian and protector of the castle, whose favour and assistance had delivered him and brought him out of that prison; and the seven recumbent figures were to personify the seven mortal sins, demonstrating that with the help of the victorious angel he had conquered and thrown to the ground his enemies, evil and impious men, who were represented by those seven figures of the seven mortal sins. for this work his holiness caused a model to be made; which having pleased him, he ordained that baccio should begin to make the figures in clay of the size that they were to be, in order to have them cast afterwards in bronze. baccio began the work, and finished in one of the apartments in the belvedere one of those figures in clay, which was much extolled. at the same time, also, in order to divert himself, and wishing to see how he would succeed in casting, he made many little figures in the round, two-thirds of a braccio in height, as of hercules, venus, apollo, leda, and other fantasies of his own, which he caused to be cast in bronze by maestro jacopo della barba of florence; and they succeeded excellently well. he presented them afterwards to his holiness and to many lords; and some of them are now in the study of duke cosimo, among a collection of more than a hundred antique figures, all very choice, and others that are modern. at this same time baccio had made a scene of the deposition from the cross with little figures in low-relief and half-relief, which was a rare work; and he had it cast with great diligence in bronze. when finished, he presented it in genoa to charles v, who held it very dear; and a sign of this was that his majesty gave baccio a commandery of s. jago, and made him a chevalier. from prince doria, also, he received many courtesies; and from the republic of genoa he had the commission for a statue of marble six braccia high, which was to be a neptune in the likeness of prince doria, to be set up on the piazza in memory of the virtues of that prince and of the extraordinary benefits that his native country of genoa had received from him. this statue was allotted to baccio at the price of a thousand florins, of which he received five hundred at that time; and he went straightway to carrara to block it out at the quarry of polvaccio. while the popular government was ruling florence, after the departure of the medici, michelagnolo buonarroti was employed on the fortifications of the city; and there was shown to him the marble that baccio had blocked out, together with the model of the hercules and cacus, the intention being that if the marble had not been cut away too much michelagnolo should take it and carve from it two figures after his own design. michelagnolo, having examined the block, thought of a different subject; and, abandoning the hercules and cacus, he chose the subject of samson holding beneath him two philistines whom he had cast down, one being already dead, and the other still alive, against whom he was aiming a blow with the jawbone of an ass, seeking to kill him. but even as it often happens that the minds of men promise themselves at times certain things the opposite of which is determined by the wisdom of god, so it came to pass then, for, war having arisen against the city of florence, michelagnolo had other things to think about than polishing marble, and was obliged from fear of the citizens to withdraw from the city. afterwards, the war being finished and peace made, pope clement caused michelagnolo to return to florence in order to finish the sacristy of s. lorenzo, and sent baccio to see to the completion of the giant. baccio, while engaged in this, took up his abode in the palace of the medici; and, writing almost every week to his holiness in order to make a show of devotion, he entered, besides dealing with matters of art, into particulars relating to the citizens and those who were administering the government, with an odious officiousness likely to bring upon him even more ill-will than he had awakened before. whereupon, when duke alessandro returned from the court of his majesty to florence, the citizens made known to him the sinister policy that baccio was pursuing against them; from which it followed that his work of the giant was hindered and retarded by the citizens by every means in their power. [illustration: hercules and cacus (_after the marble by =baccio bandinelli=. florence: piazza della signoria_) _alinari_] at this time, after the war of hungary, pope clement and the emperor charles held a conference at bologna, whither there went cardinal ippolito de' medici and duke alessandro; and it occurred to baccio to go and kiss the feet of his holiness. he took with him a panel, one braccio high and one and a half wide, of christ being scourged at the column by two nude figures, which was in half-relief and very well executed; and he gave this panel to the pope, together with a portrait-medal of his holiness, which he had caused to be made by francesco dal prato, his familiar friend, the reverse of the medal being the flagellation of christ. this gift was very acceptable to his holiness, to whom baccio described the annoyances and impediments that he had experienced in the execution of his hercules, praying him that he should prevail upon the duke to give him the means to carry it to completion. he added that he was envied and hated in that city; and, being a very devil with his wit and his tongue, he persuaded the pope to induce the duke to see that his work should be brought to completion and set up in its place in the piazza. death had now snatched away the goldsmith michelagnolo, the father of baccio, who during his lifetime had undertaken to make for the wardens of works of s. maria del fiore, by order of the pope, a very large cross of silver, all covered with scenes in low-relief of the passion of christ. this cross, for which baccio had made the figures and scenes in wax, to be afterwards cast in silver, michelagnolo had left unfinished at his death; and baccio, having the work in his hands, together with many libbre of silver, sought to persuade his holiness to have it finished by francesco dal prato, who had gone with him to bologna. but the pope, perceiving that baccio wished not only to withdraw from his father's engagements, but also to make something out of the labours of francesco, gave baccio orders that the silver and the scenes, those merely begun as well as those finished, should be given to the wardens of works, that the account should be settled, and that the wardens should melt all the silver of that cross, in order to make use of it for the necessities of the church, which had been stripped of its ornaments at the time of the siege; and to baccio he caused one hundred florins of gold and letters of recommendation to be given, to the end that he might return to florence and finish the work of the giant. while baccio was at bologna, cardinal doria, having heard that he was about to depart, went to the pains of seeking him out, and threatened him with many reproaches and abusive words, for the reason that he had broken his pledge and failed in his duty by neglecting to finish the statue of prince doria and leaving it only blocked out at carrara, after taking five hundred crowns in payment; on which account, said the cardinal, if andrea could get baccio into his hands, he would make him pay for it at the galleys. baccio defended himself humbly and with soft words, saying that he had been delayed by a sufficient hindrance, but that he had in florence a block of marble of the same height, from which he had intended to carve that figure, and that when he had carved and finished it he would send it to genoa. and so well did he contrive to speak and to excuse himself that he succeeded in escaping from the presence of the cardinal. after this he returned to florence, and caused the base for the giant to be taken in hand; and, himself working continuously at the figure, in the year he finished it completely. but duke alessandro, on account of the hostile reports of the citizens, did not take steps to have it set up in the piazza. the pope had returned to rome many months before this, and desired to erect two tombs of marble in the minerva, one for pope leo and one for himself; and baccio, seizing this occasion, went to rome. thereupon the pope resolved that baccio should make those tombs after he had succeeded in setting up the giant on the piazza; and his holiness wrote to the duke that he should give baccio every convenience for placing his hercules in position there. whereupon, after an enclosure of planks had been made all round, the base was built of marble, and at the foot of it they placed a stone with letters in memory of pope clement vii, and a good number of medals with the heads of his holiness and of duke alessandro. the giant was then taken from the office of works, where it had been executed; and in order to convey it with greater ease, without damaging it, they made round it a scaffolding of wood, with ropes passing under the legs and cords supporting it under the arms and at every other part; and thus, suspended in the air between the beams in such a way that it did not touch the wood, little by little, by means of compound pulleys and windlasses and ten pairs of oxen, it was drawn as far as the piazza. great assistance was rendered by two thick, semi-cylindrical beams, which were fixed lengthways along the foot of the scaffolding, in the manner of a base, and rested on other similar beams smeared with soap, which were withdrawn and replaced by workmen in succession, according as the structure moved forward; and with these ingenious contrivances the giant was conveyed safely and without much labour to the piazza. the charge of all this was given to baccio d'agnolo and the elder antonio da san gallo, the architects to the office of works, who afterwards with other beams and a double system of compound pulleys set the statue securely on its base. it would not be easy to describe the concourse and multitude that for two days occupied the whole piazza, flocking to see the giant as soon as it was uncovered; and various judgments and opinions were heard from all kinds of men, every one censuring the work and the master. there were also attached round the base many verses, both latin and tuscan, in which it was pleasing to see the wit, the ingenious conceits, and the sharp sayings of the writers; but they overstepped all decent limits with their evil-speaking and their biting and satirical compositions, and duke alessandro, considering that, the work being a public one, the indignity was his, was forced to put in prison some who went so far as to attach sonnets openly and without scruple to the statue; which proceeding soon stopped the mouths of the critics. when baccio examined his work in position, it seemed to him that the open air was little favourable to it, making the muscles appear too delicate. having therefore caused a new enclosure of planks to be made around it, he attacked it again with his chisels, and, strengthening the muscles in many places, gave the figures stronger relief than they had before. finally, the work was uncovered for good; and by everyone able to judge it has always been held to be not only a triumph over difficulties, but also very well studied, with every part carefully considered, and the figure of cacus excellently adapted to its position. it is true that the david of michelagnolo, which is beside baccio's hercules, takes away not a little of its glory, being the most beautiful colossal figure that has ever been made; for in it is all grace and excellence, whereas the manner of baccio is entirely different. but in truth, considering baccio's hercules by itself, one cannot but praise it highly, and all the more because it is known that many sculptors have since tried to make colossal statues, and not one has attained to the standard of baccio, who, if he had received as much grace and facility from nature as he took pains and trouble by himself, would have been absolutely perfect in the art of sculpture. desiring to know what was being said of his work, he sent to the piazza a pedagogue whom he kept in his house, telling him that he should not fail to report to him the truth of what he might hear said. the pedagogue, hearing nothing but censure, returned sadly to the house, and, when questioned by baccio, answered that all with one voice were abusing the giants, and that they pleased no one. "and you," asked baccio, "what do you say of them?" "i speak well of them," he replied, "and say, may it please you, that they please me." "i will not have them please you," said baccio, "and you, also, must speak ill of them, for, as you may remember, i never speak well of anyone; and so we are quits." thus baccio concealed his vexation, and it was always his custom to act thus, pretending not to care for the censure that any man laid on his works. nevertheless, it is likely enough that his resentment was considerable, because when a man labours for honour, and then obtains nothing but censure, one cannot but believe, although that censure may be unjust and undeserved, that it afflicts him secretly in his heart and torments him continually. he was consoled in his displeasure by an estate, which was given to him in addition to his payment, by order of pope clement. this gift was doubly dear to him, first because it was useful for its revenue and was near his villa of pinzirimonte, and then because it had previously belonged to rignadori, his mortal enemy, who had just been declared an outlaw, and with whom he had always been at strife on account of the boundary of this property. at this time a letter was written to duke alessandro by prince doria, asking that he should prevail upon baccio to finish his statue, now that the giant was completely finished, and saying that he was ready to revenge himself on baccio if he did not do his duty; at which baccio was so frightened that he would not trust himself to go to carrara. however, having been reassured by cardinal cibo and duke alessandro, he went there, and, working with some assistants, proceeded to carry the statue forward. the prince had himself informed every day as to how much baccio was doing; wherefore, receiving a report that the statue was not of that excellence which had been promised, he gave baccio to understand that, if he did not serve him well, he would make him smart for it. baccio, hearing this, spoke very ill of the prince; which having come to the prince's ears, he determined to get him into his hands at all costs, and to take vengeance upon him by putting him in wholesome fear of the galleys. whereupon baccio, seeing certain persons spying and keeping a watch upon him, became suspicious, and, being a shrewd and resolute man, left the work as it was and returned to florence. about this time a son was born to baccio from a woman whom he kept in his house, and to this son, pope clement having died in those days, he gave the name of clemente, in memory of that pontiff, who had always loved and favoured him. after the death of pope clement, he heard that cardinal ippolito de' medici, cardinal innocenzio cibo, cardinal giovanni salviati, and cardinal niccolò ridolfi, together with messer baldassarre turini da pescia, being the executors of the pope's will, had commissions to give for the two marble tombs of leo and clement, which were to be placed in the minerva. for these tombs baccio in the past had already made the models; but the work had been promised recently to the ferrarese sculptor alfonso lombardi through the favour of cardinal de' medici, whose servant he was. this alfonso, by the advice of michelagnolo, had changed the design of the tombs, and he had already made the models for them, but without any contract for the commission, relying wholly on promises, and expecting every day to have to go to carrara to quarry the marble. while the time was slipping away in this manner, it happened that cardinal ippolito died of poison on his way to meet charles v. baccio, hearing this, went without wasting any time to rome, where he was first received by the sister of pope leo, madonna lucrezia salviati de' medici, to whom he strove to prove that no one could do greater honour to the remains of those great pontiffs than himself, with his ability in art, adding that alfonso was a sculptor without power of design and without skill and judgment in the handling of marble, and that he was not able to execute so honourable an undertaking save only with the help of others. he also used many other devices, and so went to work in various ways and by various means that he succeeded in changing the purpose of those lords, who finally entrusted to cardinal salviati the charge of making an agreement with baccio. at this time the emperor charles v had arrived in naples, and in rome filippo strozzi, anton francesco degli albizzi, and the other exiles were seeking to arrange with cardinal salviati to go and set his majesty against duke alessandro; and they were with the cardinal at all hours. baccio was also all day long in salviati's halls and apartments, waiting to have the contract made for the tombs, but not able to bring matters to a head, because of the cardinal's preoccupation with the affairs of the exiles; and they, seeing baccio in those rooms morning and evening, grew suspicious of this, and, fearing lest he might be there to spy upon their movements and give information to the duke, some of the young men among them agreed to follow him secretly one evening and put him out of the way. but fortune, coming to his aid in time, brought it about that the two other cardinals, with messer baldassarre da pescia, undertook to finish baccio's business. knowing that baccio was worth little as an architect, they had caused a design to be made by antonio da san gallo, which pleased them, and had ordained that all the mason's work to be done in marble should be executed under the direction of the sculptor lorenzetto, and that the marble statues and scenes should be allotted to baccio. having arranged the matter in this way, they finally made the contract with baccio, who therefore appeared no more about the house of cardinal salviati, withdrawing himself just in time; and the exiles, the occasion having passed by, thought nothing more about him. after these things baccio made two models of wood, with the statues and scenes in wax. these models had the bases solid, without projections, and on each base were four fluted ionic columns, which divided the space into three compartments, a large one in the middle, where in each there was a pope in full pontificals seated upon a pedestal, who was giving the benediction, and smaller spaces, each with a niche containing a figure in the round and standing upright, four braccia high; which figures, representing saints, stood on either side of those popes. the order of the composition had the form of a triumphal arch, and above the columns that supported the cornice was a marble tablet three braccia in height and four braccia and a half in width, in which was a scene in half-relief. in the scene above the statue of pope leo, which statue had on either side of it in the niches s. peter and s. paul, was his conference with king francis at bologna, and this story of leo in the middle, above the columns, was accompanied by two smaller scenes, in one of which, that above s. peter, was the saint restoring a dead man to life, and in the other, that above s. paul, that saint preaching to the people. in the scene above pope clement, which corresponded to that mentioned above, was that pontiff crowning the emperor charles at bologna, and on either side of it are two smaller scenes, in one of which is s. john the baptist preaching to the people, and in the other s. john the evangelist raising drusiana from the dead; and these have below them in the niches the same saints, four braccia high, standing on either side of the statue of pope clement, as with that of leo. in this structure baccio showed either too little religion or too much adulation, or both together, in that he thought fit that the first founders--after christ--of our religion, men deified and most dear to god, should give way to our popes, and placed them in positions unworthy of them and inferior to those of leo and clement. certain it is that this design of his, even as it was displeasing to god and to the saints, so likewise gave no pleasure to the popes or to any other man, for the reason, it appears to me, that religion--and i mean our own, the true religion--should be placed by mankind before all other interests and considerations. and, on the other hand, he who wishes to exalt and honour any other person, should, i think, be temperate and restrained, and confine himself within certain limits, so that his praise and honour may not become another thing--i mean senseless adulation, which first disgraces the praiser, and also gives no pleasure to the person praised, if he has any proper feeling, but does quite the contrary. baccio, in doing what i have described, made known to everyone that he had much goodwill and affection indeed towards the popes, but little judgment in exalting and honouring them in their sepulchres. the models described above were taken by baccio to the garden of cardinal ridolfi at s. agata on monte cavallo, where his lordship was entertaining cibo, salviati, and messer baldassarre da pescia to dinner, they having assembled together there in order to settle all that was necessary in the matter of the tombs. while they were at table, then, there arrived the sculptor solosmeo, an amusing and outspoken person, who was always ready to speak ill of anyone, and little the friend of baccio. when the message was brought to those lords that solosmeo was seeking admittance, ridolfi ordered that he should be ushered in, and then, turning to baccio, said to him: "i wish that we should hear what solosmeo says of our bestowal of these tombs. raise that door-curtain, baccio, and stand behind it." baccio immediately obeyed, and, when solosmeo had entered and had been invited to drink, they then turned to the subject of the tombs allotted to baccio; whereupon solosmeo reproached the cardinals for having made a bad choice, and went on to speak all manner of evil against baccio, taxing him with ignorance of art, avarice, and arrogance, and going into many particulars in his criticisms. baccio, who stood hidden behind the door-curtain, was not able to contain himself until solosmeo should have finished, and, bursting out scowling and full of rage, said to solosmeo: "what have i done to you, that you should speak of me with such scant respect?" dumbfounded at the appearance of baccio, solosmeo turned to ridolfi and said: "what tricks are these, my lord? i want nothing more to do with priests!" and took himself off. the cardinals had a hearty laugh both at the one and at the other; and salviati said to baccio: "you hear the opinion of your brothers in art. go and give them the lie with your work." [illustration: statue of giovanni delle bande nere (_after the marble by =baccio bandinelli=. florence: piazza di s. lorenzo_) _brogi_] baccio then began the work of the statues and scenes, but his performances by no means corresponded to his promises and his duty towards those pontiffs, for he used little diligence in the figures and scenes, and left them badly finished and full of defects, being more solicitous about drawing his money than about working at the marble. now his patrons became aware of baccio's procedure, and repented of what they had done; but the two largest pieces of marble remained, those for the two statues that were still to be executed, one of leo seated and the other of clement, and these they ordered him to finish, beseeching him that he should do better in them. but baccio, having already drawn all the money, entered into negotiations with messer giovan battista da ricasoli, bishop of cortona, who was in rome on business of duke cosimo's, to depart from rome and go to florence in order to serve cosimo in the matter of the fountains of his villa of castello and the tomb of his father, signor giovanni. the duke having answered that baccio should come, he set off for florence without a word, leaving the work of the tombs unfinished and the statues in the hands of two assistants. the cardinals, hearing of this, allotted those two statues of the popes, which still remained to be finished, to two sculptors, one of whom was raffaello da montelupo, who received the statue of pope leo, and the other giovanni di baccio, to whom was given the statue of clement. they then gave orders that the masonry and all that was prepared should be put together, and the work was erected; but the statues and scenes were in many parts neither pumiced nor polished, so that they brought baccio more discredit than fame. arriving in florence, baccio found that the duke had sent the sculptor tribolo to carrara to quarry the marble for the fountains of castello and the tomb of signor giovanni; and he so wrought upon the duke that he wrested the tomb of signor giovanni from the hands of tribolo, demonstrating to his excellency that the marbles for such a work were already in great measure in florence. thus, little by little, he penetrated into the confidence of the duke, insomuch that both for this reason and for his arrogance everyone was afraid of him. he then proposed to the duke that the tomb of signor giovanni should be erected in the chapel of the neroni, a narrow, confined, and mean place, in s. lorenzo, being too ignorant or not wishing to suggest that for so great a prince it was proper that a new chapel should be built on purpose. he also prevailed on the duke to demand from michelagnolo, on baccio's behalf, many pieces of marble that he had in florence; and when the duke had obtained them from michelagnolo, and baccio from the duke, among those marbles being some blocked out figures and a statue carried well on towards completion by michelagnolo, bandinelli, taking them all over, hacked and broke to pieces everything that he could find, thinking that by so doing he was avenging himself on michelagnolo and causing him displeasure. he found, moreover, in the same room in s. lorenzo wherein michelagnolo worked, two statues in one block of marble, representing hercules crushing antæus, which the duke was having executed by the sculptor fra giovanni agnolo. these were well advanced; but baccio, saying to the duke that the friar had spoilt that marble, broke it into many pieces. in the end, he constructed all the base of the tomb, which is an isolated pedestal about four braccia on every side, and has at the foot a socle with a moulding in the manner of a base, which goes right round, and with a fillet at the top, such as is generally made for pedestals; and above this a cyma three-quarters of a braccio in height, which goes inwards in a concave curve, inverted, after the manner of a frieze, on which are carved some horse's skulls bound one to another with draperies; and above the whole was to be a smaller pedestal, with a seated statue of four braccia and a half, armed in the ancient fashion, and holding in the hand the baton of a condottiere captain of armies, which was to represent the person of the invincible signor giovanni de' medici. this statue was begun by him from a block of marble, and carried well on, but never finished or placed on the base built for it. it is true that on the front of that base he finished entirely a scene of marble in half-relief, with figures about two braccia high, in which he represented signor giovanni seated, to whom are being brought many prisoners, soldiers, women with dishevelled hair, and nude figures, but all without invention and without revealing any feeling. at the end of the scene, indeed, there is a figure with a pig on the shoulder, which is said to have been made by baccio to represent messer baldassarre da pescia, in derision; for baccio looked upon him as his enemy, since about this time messer baldassarre, as has been related above, had allotted the two statues of leo and clement to other sculptors, and, moreover, had so gone to work in rome that baccio had perforce to restore at great inconvenience the money that he had received beyond his due for those statues and figures. during this time baccio had given his attention to nothing else but demonstrating to duke cosimo how much the glory of the ancients had lived through their statues and buildings, saying that his excellency should seek to obtain in the same way immortality for himself and his actions in the ages to come. then, after he had brought the tomb of signor giovanni near completion, he set about planning to make the duke begin some great and costly work, which might take a very long time. duke cosimo had ceased to inhabit the palace of the medici, and had returned with his court to live in the palace in the piazza, which was formerly occupied by the signoria; and this he was daily rearranging and adorning. now he had said to baccio that he had a desire to make a public audience-chamber, both for the foreign ambassadors and for his citizens and the subjects of the state; and baccio, with giuliano di baccio d'agnolo, went about thinking how to suggest to him that he should erect an ornamental work of fossato stone and marble, thirty-eight braccia in width and eighteen in height. this ornamental work, they proposed, should serve as the audience-chamber, and should be in the great hall of the palace, at that end which looks towards the north. the audience-chamber was to have a space of fourteen braccia in depth, the ascent to which was to be by seven great steps; and it was to be closed in front by a balustrade, excepting the entrance in the middle. at the end of the hall were to be three great arches, two of which were to serve for windows, being divided up by columns, four to each, two of fossato stone and two of marble; and above this was to curve a round arch with a frieze of brackets, which were to form on the outer side the ornament of the façade of the palace, and on the inner side to adorn in the same manner the façade of the hall. the arch in the middle, forming not a window, but a niche, was to be accompanied by two other similar niches, which were to be at the ends of the audience-chamber, one on the east and the other on the west, and adorned with four round corinthian columns, which were to be ten braccia high and to form a projection at the ends. in the central façade were to be four pilasters, which were to serve as supports between one arch and another to the architrave, frieze, and cornice running right round both above the arches and above the columns. these pilasters were to have between one and another a space of about three braccia, and in each of these spaces was to be a niche four braccia and a half in height, to contain statues, by way of accompaniment to the great niche in the middle of the façade and the two at the sides; in each of which niches baccio wished to place three statues. baccio and giuliano had in mind, in addition to the ornament of the inner façade, another larger ornament of extraordinary cost and grandeur for the outer façade. the hall being awry and out of square, this ornament was to reduce that outer side to a square form; and there was to be a projection of six braccia right round the walls of the palazzo vecchio, with a range of columns fourteen braccia high supporting other columns, between which were to be arches, forming a loggia below, right round the palace, where there are the ringhiera and the giants. above this, again, was to be another range of pilasters, with arches between them in the same manner, running all the way round the windows of the palazzo vecchio, so as to make a façade right round the palace; and above these pilasters was to be yet another range of arches and pilasters, after the manner of a theatre, with the battlements of that palace, finally, forming a cornice to the whole structure. knowing that this was a work of vast expense, baccio and giuliano consulted together that they should not reveal their conception to the duke, save only with regard to the ornament of the audience-chamber within the hall, and that of the façade of fossato stone on the side towards the piazza, stretching to the length of twenty-four braccia, which is the breadth of the hall. designs and plans of this work were made by giuliano, and with these in his hand baccio spoke to the duke, to whom he pointed out that in the large niches at the sides he wished to place statues of marble four braccia high, seated on pedestals--namely, leo x in the act of restoring peace to italy, and clement vii crowning charles v, with two statues in smaller niches within the large ones, on either side of the popes, which should represent the virtues practised and put into action by them. for the niches four braccia high between the pilasters, in the central façade, he wished to make upright statues of signor giovanni, duke alessandro, and duke cosimo, together with many decorations of various fantasies in carving, and a pavement all of variegated marbles of different colours. this ornament much pleased the duke, thinking that with this opportunity it should be possible in time to bring to completion, as has since been done, the body of that hall, with the rest of the decorations and the ceiling, in order to make it the most beautiful hall in italy. and so great was his excellency's desire that this work should be done, that he assigned for its execution such a sum of money as baccio wished and demanded every week. a beginning was made with the quarrying and cutting of the fossato stone, in order to make the ornamentation in the form of the base, columns, and cornices; and baccio required that all should be done and carried to completion by the stone-cutters of the office of works of s. maria del fiore. this work was certainly executed by those masters with great diligence; and if baccio and giuliano had urged it on, they would have finished and built in all the ornaments of stone very quickly. but baccio gave his attention to nothing save to having the statues blocked out, finishing few of them entirely, and to drawing his salary, which the duke gave him every month, besides paying for his assistants and meeting every sort of expense that he incurred in the work, and giving him five hundred crowns for one of the statues finished by him in marble; wherefore the end of this work was never in sight. even so, if baccio and giuliano, being engaged on a work of such importance, had brought the head of that hall into square, as they could have done, instead of putting right only half of the eight braccia by which it was awry, and leaving several parts badly proportioned, such as the central niche and the two large ones at the sides, which are squat, and the members of the cornices, which are too slight for so great a body; if, as they might have done, they had gone higher with the columns, thus giving greater grandeur, a better manner, and more invention to that work; and if, also, they had brought the uppermost cornice into touch with the level of the original old ceiling above, they would have shown more art and judgment, nor would all that labour have been spent in vain and wasted so thoughtlessly, as has since been evident to those to whom, as will be related, it has fallen to put it right and finish it. for, in spite of all the pains and thought afterwards devoted to it, there are many defects and errors in the door of entrance and in the relation of the niches in the side-walls, in which it has since been seen to be necessary to change the form of many parts, although it has never yet been found possible, without demolishing the whole, to correct the divergence from the square or to prevent this from being revealed in the pavement and the ceiling. it is true that in the manner in which they arranged it, even as it now stands, there is proof of great craftsmanship and pains, and it deserves no little praise for the many stones worked with the bevel-square, which slant away obliquely by reason of the hall being awry; and as for diligence and excellence in the working, laying, and joining together of the stones, nothing better could be seen or done. but the whole work would have succeeded much better if baccio, who never held architecture in any account, had availed himself of some judgment more able than that of giuliano, who, although he was a good master in wood and had some knowledge of architecture, was yet not the sort of man to be suitable for such a work as that was, as experience has proved. for this reason the work was pursued over a period of many years, without much more than half being built. baccio finished and placed in the smaller niches the statue of signor giovanni and that of duke alessandro, both in the principal façade, and on a pedestal of bricks in the great niche the statue of pope clement; and he also brought to completion the statue of duke cosimo. in the last he took no little pains with the head, but for all this the duke and the gentlemen of the court said that it did not resemble him in the least. wherefore baccio, having already made one of marble, which is now in one of the upper apartments in the same palace, and which looked very well and was the best head that he ever made, defended himself and sought to cover up the defects and worthlessness of the new head with the excellence of the old. however, hearing that head censured by everyone, one day in a rage he knocked it off, with the intention of making another and fixing it in its place; but in the end he never made it at all. it was a custom of baccio's to add pieces of marble both small and large to the statues that he executed, feeling no annoyance in doing this, and making light of it. he did this with one of the heads of cerberus in the group of orpheus; in the s. peter that is in s. maria del fiore he let in a piece of drapery; in the case of the giant of the piazza, as may be seen, he joined two pieces--a shoulder and a leg--to the cacus, and in many other works he did the same, holding to such ways as generally damn a sculptor completely. having finished these statues, he set his hand to the statue of pope leo for this work, and carried it well forward. then, perceiving that the work was proving very long, that he was now never likely to attain to the completion of his original design for the façades right round the palace, that a great sum of money had been spent and much time consumed, and that for all this the work was not half finished and gained little approval from the people, he set about thinking of some new fantasy, and began to attempt to remove from the duke's mind the thought of the palace, believing that his excellency also was weary of that work. thus, then, having made enemies of the proveditors and of all the stone-cutters in the office of works of s. maria del fiore, which was under his authority, while the statues that were destined for the audience-chamber were, after his fashion, some only blocked out and others finished and placed in position, and the ornamentation in great part built up, wishing to conceal the many defects that were in the work and little by little to abandon it, he suggested to the duke that the wardens of works of s. maria del fiore were throwing away his money and no longer doing anything of any importance. he said that he had therefore thought that his excellency would do well to divert all that useless expenditure of the office of works into making the octagonal choir of the church and the ornaments of the altar, the steps, the daïses of the duke and the magistrates, and the stalls in the choir for the canons, chaplains, and clerks, according as was proper for so honourable a church. of this choir filippo di ser brunellesco had left the model in that simple framework of wood which previously served as the choir in the church, intending in time to have it executed in marble, in the same form, but more ornate. baccio reflected, besides the considerations mentioned above, that in this choir he would have occasion to make many statues and scenes in marble and in bronze for the high-altar and all around the choir, and also for two pulpits of marble that were to be in the choir, and that the base of the outer side of the eight faces might be adorned with many scenes in bronze let into the marble ornamentation. above this he thought to place a range of columns and pilasters to support the cornice right round, and four arches distributed according to the cross of the church; of which arches one was to form the principal entrance, opposite to another rising above the high-altar, and the two others were to be at the sides, one on the right hand and another on the left, and below these last two were to be placed the pulpits. over the cornice was to be a range of balusters, curving right round above the eight sides, and over the balusters a garland of candelabra, in order, as it were, to crown the choir with lights according to the seasons, as had always been the custom while the wooden model of brunelleschi was there. [illustration: reliefs from the choir screen (_after =baccio bandinelli=. florence: duomo_) _alinari_] pointing out all this to the duke, baccio said that his excellency, with the revenues of the office of works--namely, of s. maria del fiore and of its wardens--and with that which his liberality might add, in a short time could adorn that temple and give great grandeur and magnificence to the same, and consequently to the whole city, of which it was the principal temple, and would leave an everlasting and honourable memorial of himself in such a structure; and besides all this, he said, his excellency would be giving him an opportunity of exerting his powers and of making many good and beautiful works, and also, by displaying his ability, of acquiring for himself name and fame with posterity, which should be pleasing to his excellency, since he was his servant and had been brought up by the house of the medici. with these designs and these words baccio so moved the duke, that, consenting that such a structure should be erected, his excellency commissioned him to make a model of the whole choir. departing from the duke, then, baccio went to his architect, giuliano di baccio d'agnolo, and discussed the whole matter with him; and, after they had gone to the place and examined everything with diligence, they resolved not to depart from the form of filippo's model, but to follow it, adding only other ornaments in the shape of columns and projections, and enriching it as much as they could while preserving the original design and form. but it is not the number of parts and ornaments that renders a fabric rich and beautiful, but their excellence, however few they may be, provided also that they are set in their proper places and arranged together with due proportion; it is these that give pleasure and are admired, and, having been executed with judgment by the craftsman, afterwards receive praise from all others. this giuliano and baccio do not seem to have considered or observed, for they chose a subject involving much labour and endless pains, but wanting in grace, as experience has proved. the design of giuliano, as may be seen, was to place at the corners of all the eight sides pilasters bent round the angles, the whole work being composed in the ionic order; and these pilasters, since in the ground-plan they were made, with all the rest of the work, to diminish towards the centre of the choir and were not even, necessarily had to be broad on the outer side and narrow on the inner, which is a breach of proportionate measurement. and since each pilaster was bent according to the inner angles of the eight sides, the extension-lines towards the centre so diminished it that the two columns that were one on either side of the pilaster at the corner caused it to appear too slender, and produced an ungraceful effect both in it and in the whole work, both on the outer side and likewise on the inner, although the measurements there are correct. giuliano also made the model of the whole altar, which stood at a distance of one braccio and a half from the ornament of the choir. for the upper part of this baccio afterwards made in wax a christ lying dead, with two angels, one of whom was holding his right arm and supporting his head on one knee, and the other was holding the mysteries of the passion; which statue of christ occupied almost the whole altar, so that there would scarcely have been room to celebrate mass, and baccio proposed to make this statue about four braccia and a half in length. he made, also, a projection in the form of a pedestal behind the altar, attached to it in the centre, with a seat upon which he afterwards placed a seated figure of god the father, six braccia high and giving the benediction, and accompanied by two other angels, each four braccia high, kneeling at the extreme corners of the predella of the altar, on the level on which rested the feet of god the father. this predella was more than a braccio in height, and on it were many stories of the passion of jesus christ, which were all to be in bronze, and on the corners of the predella were the angels mentioned above, both kneeling and each holding in the hands a candelabrum; which candelabra of the angels served to accompany eight large candelabra placed between the angels, and three braccia and a half in height, which adorned that altar; and god the father was in the midst of them all. behind god the father was left a space of half a braccio, in order that there might be room to ascend to kindle the lights. under the arch that stood opposite to the principal entrance of the choir, on the base that ran right round, on the outer side, baccio had placed, directly under the centre of that arch, the tree of the fall, round the trunk of which was wound the ancient serpent with a human face, and two nude figures were about the tree, one being adam and the other eve. on the outer side of the choir, to which those figures had their faces turned, there ran lengthways along the base a space about three braccia long, which was to contain the story of their creation, either in marble or in bronze; and this was to be pursued along the faces of the base of the whole work, to the number of twenty-one stories, all from the old testament. and for the further enrichment of this base he had made for each of the socles upon which stood the columns and pilasters, a figure of some prophet, either draped or nude, to be afterwards executed in marble--a great work, truly, and a marvellous opportunity, likely to reveal all the art and genius of a perfect master, whose memory should never be extinguished by any lapse of time. this model was shown to the duke, and also a double series of designs made by baccio, which, both from their variety and their number, and likewise from their beauty--for the reason that baccio worked boldly in wax and drew very well--pleased his excellency, and he ordained that the masonry-work should be straightway taken in hand, devoting to it all the expenditure administered by the office of works, and giving orders that a great quantity of marble should be brought from carrara. baccio, on his part, also set to work to make a beginning with the statues; and among the first was an adam who was raising one arm, and was about four braccia in height. this figure was finished by baccio, but, since it proved to be narrow in the flanks and somewhat defective in other parts, he changed it into a bacchus, and afterwards gave it to the duke, who kept it in his palace many years, in his chamber; and not long ago it was placed in a niche in the ground-floor apartments which his excellency occupies in summer. he had also made a seated figure of eve of the same size, which he had half finished: but it was abandoned on account of the adam, which it was to have accompanied. for, having made a beginning with another adam, in a different form and attitude, it became necessary for him to change also the eve, and the original seated figure was converted by him into a ceres, which he gave to the most illustrious duchess leonora, together with an apollo, which was another nude that he had executed; and her excellency had them placed in the ornament in front of the fish-pond, the design and architecture of which are by giorgio vasari, in the gardens of the pitti palace. baccio worked at these two figures with very great zeal, thinking to satisfy the craftsmen and all the world as well as he had satisfied himself; and he finished and polished them with all the diligence and lovingness that were in him. he then set up these figures of adam and eve in their place, but, when uncovered, they experienced the same fate as his other works, and were torn to pieces with savage bitterness in sonnets and latin verses, one going to the length of suggesting that even as adam and eve, having defiled paradise by their disobedience, deserved to be driven out, so these figures, defiling the earth, deserved to be expelled from the church. nevertheless the statues are well-proportioned, and beautiful in many parts; and although there is not in them that grace which has been spoken of in other places, and which he was not able to give to his works, yet they display so much art and design, that they deserve no little praise. a lady who had set herself to examine these statues, being asked by some gentlemen what she thought of these naked bodies, answered, "about the man i can give no judgment;" and, being pressed to give her opinion of the woman, she replied that in the eve there were two good points, worthy of considerable praise, in that she was white and firm; whereby she contrived ingeniously, while seeming to praise, covertly to deal a shrewd blow to the craftsman and his art, giving to the statue the praise proper to the female body, which it is also necessary to apply to the marble, the material, and which is true of it, but not of the work or of the craftsmanship, for by such praise the craftsmanship is not praised. thus, then, that shrewd lady hinted that in her opinion nothing could be praised in that statue save the marble. baccio afterwards set his hand to the statue of the dead christ, which likewise not succeeding as he had expected, he abandoned it when it was already well advanced, and, taking another block of marble, began another christ in an attitude different from the first, and together with that the angel who supports the head of christ on one leg and with one hand his arm; and he did not rest until he had finished entirely both the one figure and the other. when arrangements were made to set it up on the altar, it proved to be so large that it occupied too much space, and there was no room left for the ministrations of the priest; and although this statue was passing good, and even one of baccio's best, nevertheless the people--the ordinary citizens no less than the priests--could never have their fill of speaking ill of it and picking it to pieces. recognizing that to uncover unfinished works injures the reputation of a craftsman in the eyes of all those who are not of the profession, or have no knowledge of art, or have not seen the models, baccio resolved, in order to accompany the statue of christ and to complete the altar, to make the statue of god the father, for which a very beautiful block of marble had come from carrara. and he had already carried it well forward, making it half nude after the manner of a jove, when, since it did not please the duke and appeared to baccio himself to have certain defects, he left it as it was, and even so it is still to be found in the office of works. baccio cared nothing for the words of others, but gave his attention to making himself rich and buying property. he bought a most beautiful farm, called lo spinello, on the heights of fiesole, and another with a very beautiful house called il cantone, in the plain above san salvi, on the river affrico, and a great house in the via de' ginori, which he was enabled to acquire by the moneys and favours of the duke. having thus secured his own position, baccio thenceforward cared little to work or to exert himself; and although the tomb of signor giovanni was unfinished, the audience-chamber of the great hall only begun, and the choir and altar behindhand, he paid little attention to the words of others or to the censure that was laid upon him on that account. however, having erected the altar and set into position the marble base upon which was to stand the statue of god the father, he made a model for this and finally began it, and, employing stone-cutters, proceeded to carry it slowly forward. there came from france in those days benvenuto cellini, who had served king francis in the matter of goldsmith's work, of which he was the most famous master of his day; and he had also executed some castings in bronze for that king. benvenuto was introduced to duke cosimo, who, desiring to adorn the city, showed also to him much favour and affection, and commissioned him to make a statue of bronze about five braccia high, of a nude perseus standing over a nude woman representing medusa, whose head he had cut off; which work was to be placed under one of the arches of the loggia in the piazza. while he was executing the perseus, benvenuto also did other things for the duke. now, even as it happens that the potter is always the jealous enemy of the potter, and the sculptor of the sculptor, baccio was not able to endure the various favours shown to benvenuto. it appeared to him a strange thing, also, that benvenuto should have thus changed in a moment from a goldsmith into a sculptor, nor was he able to grasp in his mind how a man who was used to making medals and little things, could now execute colossal figures and giants. baccio could not conceal his thoughts, but expressed them freely, and he found a man able to answer him; for, baccio saying many of his biting words to benvenuto in the presence of the duke, benvenuto, who was no less proud than himself, took pains to be even with him. and thus, arguing often on the matters of art and their own works, and pointing out each other's defects, they would utter the most slanderous words of one another in the presence of the duke, who, because he took pleasure in this and recognized true genius and acuteness in their biting phrases, had given them full liberty and licence to say whatever they pleased about one another before him, provided that they did not remember their quarrel elsewhere. this rivalry, or rather, enmity, was the reason that baccio pressed forward his statue of god the father; but he was no longer receiving from the duke those favours to which he had been accustomed, and he consoled himself for this by paying court and doing service to the duchess. one day, among others, that they were railing at one another as usual and laying bare many of each others' actions, benvenuto, glaring at baccio and threatening him, said: "prepare yourself for another world, baccio, for i mean to send you out of this one." and baccio answered: "let me know a day beforehand, so that i may confess and make my will, and may not die like the sort of beast that you are." by reason of which the duke, who for many months had found amusement in their quarrels, bade them be silent, fearing some evil ending, and caused them to make a portrait-bust of himself from the girdle upwards, both to be cast in bronze, to the end that he who should succeed best should carry off the honours. amid this rivalry and contention baccio finished his figure of god the father, which he arranged to have placed in the church on the base beside the altar. this figure was clothed and six braccia high, and he erected and completely finished it. but, in order not to leave it unaccompanied, he summoned from rome the sculptor vincenzio de' rossi, his pupil, wishing to execute in clay for the altar all that remained to be done in marble; and he caused vincenzio to assist him in finishing the two angels who are holding the candelabra at the corners, and the greater part of the scenes on the predella and the base. having then set everything upon the altar, in order to see how his work, when finished, was to stand, he strove to prevail on the duke to come and see it, before he should uncover it. but the duke would never go, and, although entreated by the duchess, who favoured baccio in this matter, he would never let himself be shaken, and did not go to see it, being angered because among so many works baccio had never finished one, even after his excellency had made him rich and had won odium among the citizens by honouring him highly and doing him many favours. for all this his excellency was disposed to assist clemente, the natural son of baccio--a young man of ability, who had made considerable proficience in design--because it was likely to fall to him in time to finish his father's works. at this same time, which was in the year , there came from rome, where he had been working for pope julius iii, giorgio vasari of arezzo, in order to serve his excellency in many works that he was intending to execute, and in particular to decorate the palace on the piazza, and to renovate it with new constructions, and to finish the great hall, as he was afterwards seen to do. in the following year giorgio vasari summoned from rome and engaged in the duke's service the sculptor bartolommeo ammanati, to the end that he might execute the other façade in the above-named hall, opposite to the audience-chamber begun by baccio, and a fountain in the centre of that façade; and a beginning was straightway made with executing a part of the statues that were to go into that work. baccio, perceiving that the duke was employing others, recognized that he did not wish to use his services any longer; at which, feeling great displeasure and vexation, he had become so strange and so irritable that no one could have any dealings with him either in his house or out of it, and to his son clemente he behaved very strangely, keeping him in want of everything. for this reason clemente, who had made a large head of his excellency in clay, in order to execute it in marble for the statue of the audience-chamber, sought leave of the duke to depart and go to rome, on account of his father's strangeness; and the duke said that he would not fail him. baccio, at the departure of clemente, who had asked leave of him, would not give him anything, although the young man had been a great help to him in florence, and, indeed, baccio's right hand in every matter; nevertheless, he thought nothing of getting rid of him. the young man, having arrived in rome at an unfavourable season, died in the same year both from over-study and from wild living, leaving in florence an example of his handiwork in an almost finished head of duke cosimo in marble, which is very beautiful, and was afterwards placed by baccio over the principal door of his house in the via de' ginori. clemente also left well advanced a dead christ who is supported by nicodemus, which nicodemus is a portrait from life of baccio; and these statues, which are passing good, baccio set up in the church of the servites, as we shall relate in the proper place. the death of clemente was a very great loss to baccio and to art, and bandinelli recognized this after he was dead. baccio uncovered the altar of s. maria del fiore, and the statue of god the father was criticized. the altar has remained as was described above, nor has anything more been done to it since; but the work of the choir has been continued. many years before, there had been quarried at carrara a great block of marble ten braccia and a half in height and five braccia in width, of which having received notice, baccio rode to carrara and made a contract for it with him to whom it belonged, giving him fifty crowns as earnest-money. he then returned to florence and so pestered the duke, that, by the favour of the duchess, he obtained the commission to make from it a giant, which was to be placed in the piazza, at the corner where the lion was; on which spot was to be made a great fountain to spout water, in the middle of which was to be a neptune in his chariot, drawn by sea-horses, and this figure was to be carved out of the above-mentioned block of marble. for this figure baccio made more than one model, and showed them to his excellency; but the matter stood thus, without anything more being done, until the year , at which time the owner of the marble, having come from carrara, asked to be paid the rest of the money, saying that otherwise he would give back the fifty crowns and break it into several pieces, in order to sell it, since he had received many offers. orders were given by the duke to giorgio vasari that he should have the marble paid for; which having been heard throughout the world of art, and also that the duke had not yet made a free gift of the marble to baccio, benvenuto, and likewise ammanati, bestirring themselves, each besought the duke that he should be allowed to make a model in competition with baccio, and that his excellency should deign to give the marble to him who had shown the greatest ability in his model. the duke did not deny to either of them the right to make a model, or deprive them of the hope that he who should acquit himself the best might be chosen to execute the statue. his excellency knew that in ability, judgment, and design baccio was still better than any of the sculptors who were in his service, if only he would consent to take pains, and he welcomed this competition, in order to incite baccio to acquit himself better and to do the most that he could. bandinelli, having seen this competition on his shoulders, was greatly troubled by it, fearing the loss of the duke's favour more than any other thing, and once more he set himself to making models. he was most assiduous in waiting on the duchess, and so wrought upon her, that he obtained leave to go to carrara in order to make arrangements for having the marble brought to florence. having arrived in carrara, he had the marble so reduced in size--as he had planned to do--that he made it a sorry thing, and robbed both himself and the others of a noble opportunity and of the hope of ever making from it a beautiful and magnificent work. on returning to florence, there was a long contention between benvenuto and him, benvenuto saying to the duke that baccio had spoilt the marble before it had been assigned to him. finally the duchess so went to work that the marble became baccio's; and orders were given that it should be taken from carrara to the sea-shore, and a boat was made ready with the proper appliances, which was to convey it up the arno as far as signa. baccio also caused a room to be built up in the loggia of the piazza, wherein to work at the marble. in the meantime he had set his hand to executing cartoons, in order to have some pictures painted which were to adorn the apartments of the pitti palace. these pictures were painted by a young man called andrea del minga, who handled colour passing well. the stories painted in the pictures were the creation of adam and eve, and their expulsion from paradise by the angel, a noah, and a moses with the tables; which finished, he then presented them to the duchess, seeking to obtain her favour in his difficulties and contentions. and, in truth, if it had not been for that lady, who loved him for his abilities and held him on his feet, baccio would have fallen headlong down and would have lost completely the favour of the duke. the duchess also made much use of baccio in the pitti garden, where she had caused to be constructed a grotto full of tufa and sponge-stone formed by the action of water, and containing a fountain; and for this baccio had caused his pupil, giovanni fancelli, to execute in marble a large basin and some goats of the size of life, which spout forth water, and likewise, for a fish-pond, after a model made by himself, a countryman who is emptying a barrel full of water. for these reasons the duchess was constantly helping and favouring baccio with the duke, who finally gave him leave to begin the great model of the neptune; on which account he once more sent to rome for vincenzio de' rossi, who had previously departed from florence, with the intention of making him help to execute it. while these preparations were in progress, baccio was seized with a desire to finish the statue of the dead christ supported by nicodemus, which his son clemente had carried well forward; for he had heard that buonarroti was finishing one in rome that he had begun to carve from a large block of marble, containing five figures, which was to be placed on his tomb in s. maria maggiore. out of emulation with him baccio set to work on his group with the greatest assiduity, with assistants, until he had finished it. and meanwhile he was going about among the principal churches of florence, seeking for a place where he might set up that work and also make a tomb for himself; but for long he found no place for the tomb that could content him, until he resolved on a chapel in the church of the servites which belongs to the family of the pazzi. the owners of this chapel, at the request of the duchess, granted the place to baccio, without divesting themselves of the rights of ownership and of the devices of their house that were there; and they granted him only this, that he should erect an altar of marble and place upon it the statues mentioned above, and make his tomb at the foot of it. afterwards, also, he came to an agreement with the friars of that convent with regard to the other matters appertaining to the celebration of mass. during this time, then, baccio was causing the altar and the marble base to be built, in order to place upon it the above-named statues; and, when he had finished it, he proposed to lay in that tomb, in which he wished to be laid himself together with his wife, the bones of his father michelagnolo, which, at his death, he had caused to be placed in a vault in the same church. these bones of his father he chose to lay piously in that tomb with his own hands; whereupon it happened that either because he felt sorrow and a shock to his mind in handling his father's bones, or because he exerted himself too much in transferring those bones with his own hands and in rearranging the marbles, or from both reasons together, he was so overcome that he felt ill and had to go home, and, his malady growing daily worse, in eight days he died, at the age of seventy-two, having been up to that time robust and vigorous, and without having ever suffered much illness during the whole of his life. he was buried with honourable obsequies, and laid beside his father's bones in the above-mentioned tomb constructed by himself, on which is this epitaph:-- d. o. m. baccius bandinell. divi jacobi eques sub hac servatoris imagine, a se expressa, cum jacoba donia uxore quiescit, an. s. mdlix. he left behind him both sons and daughters, who were the heirs to his many possessions in lands, houses, and money, which he bequeathed to them; and to the world he left the works in sculpture described by us, and designs in great numbers, which are in the possession of his family, and in our book there are some executed with the pen and with chalk, than which it is certain that nothing better could be done. the marble for the giant was left more in dispute than ever, because benvenuto was always about the duke, and wished, in virtue of a little model that he had made, that the duke should give it to him. on the other hand, ammanati, being a sculptor of marbles and more experienced in such works than benvenuto, considered for many reasons that this work belonged to him. now it happened that giorgio vasari had to go to rome with the cardinal, the son of the duke, when he went to receive his hat, and ammanati gave to vasari a little model of wax showing the shape in which he desired to carve that figure from the marble, and a piece of wood reproducing the exact proportions--the length, breadth, thickness, and inclination from the straight--of the marble, to the end that giorgio might show them in rome to michelagnolo buonarroti and persuade him to declare his opinion in the matter, and so move the duke to give him the marble. all this giorgio did most willingly, and it was the reason that the duke gave orders that an arch should be partitioned off in the loggia of the piazza, and that ammanati should make a great model as large as the giant was to be. having heard this. benvenuto rode in a great fury to pisa, where the duke was, and said to him that he could not suffer that his genius should be trampled underfoot by one who was inferior to himself, and that he desired to make a great model in competition with ammanati, in the same place; and the duke, wishing to pacify him, granted him leave to have another arch of the loggia partitioned off, and caused to be given to him materials for making, as he desired, a large model in competition with ammanati. while these masters were engaged in making their models, after having made fast their enclosures in such a manner that neither the one nor the other could see what his rival was doing, although these enclosures were attached to each other, there rose up the flemish sculptor maestro giovan bologna, a young man not inferior in ability or in spirit to either of the others. this master, being in the service of the lord don francesco, prince of florence, asked his excellency to enable him to make a giant which might serve as a model, of the same size as the marble; and the prince granted him this favour. maestro giovan bologna had as yet no thought of having the giant to execute in marble, but he wished at least to display his ability and to make himself known for what he was worth; and, having received permission from the prince, he, also, began a model in the convent of s. croce. nor was vincenzio danti, the sculptor of perugia, a younger man than any of the others, willing to fail to compete with these three masters, not in the hope of obtaining the marble, but in order to demonstrate his spirit and genius. and so, having set to work on his own account in the house of messer alessandro, the son of m. ottaviano de' medici, he executed a model good in many parts and as large as the others. the models finished, the duke went to see those of ammanati and of benvenuto; and, being more pleased with that of ammanati than with that of benvenuto, he resolved that ammanati should have the marble and make the giant, because he was younger than benvenuto and more practised in marble. the disposition of the duke was strengthened by giorgio vasari, who did many good offices with his excellency for ammanati, having perceived that, in addition to his knowledge, he was ready to endure any labour, and hoping that from his hands there would issue an excellent work finished in a short time. the duke would not at that time see the model of maestro giovan bologna, because, not having seen any work by him in marble, it did not seem to him that he could entrust to that master, as his first work, so great an undertaking, although he heard from many craftsmen and other men of judgment that giovan bologna's model was in many parts better than the others. but if baccio had been alive, there would not have been all that contention among those masters, because without a doubt it would have fallen to him to make the model of clay and the giant of marble. this work, then, was snatched from baccio by death, but the same circumstance brought him no little glory, in that it revealed by means of those four models--the reason of the making of which was that baccio was not alive--how much better were the design, judgment and ability of him who placed on the piazza the hercules and cacus, as it were living in the marble; the excellence of which work has been made evident and brought to light even more by the works that have been executed since baccio's death by those others, who, although they have acquitted themselves in a manner worthy of praise, have yet not been able to attain to the beauty and excellence that he placed in his work. afterwards duke cosimo, for the marriage of queen joanna of austria, his daughter-in-law, seven years after the death of baccio, caused the audience-chamber in the great hall, begun by baccio, of which we have spoken above, to be finished; and he chose that the head of this work of completion should be giorgio vasari, who has sought with all diligence to put right the many defects that would have been in it if it had been continued and finished after the original design followed in the beginning by baccio. thus that imperfect work has now been carried with the help of god to completion, and is enriched on its side faces by the addition of niches and pilasters, and statues set in their places. moreover, since it was laid out awry and out of square, we have taken pains to make it even in so far as has been possible, and have raised it considerably with a corridor of tuscan columns at the top; and as for the statue of leo begun by baccio, his pupil vincenzio de' rossi has finished it. besides this, that work has been adorned with friezes full of stucco-work, with many figures large and small, and with devices and other ornaments of various kinds, and under the niches and in the partitions of the vaulting have been made many and various designs in stucco and many beautiful inventions in carving; all which things have enriched the work in such a manner, that it has changed its form and has gained not a little in beauty and grace. for whereas, according to the first design, the ceiling of the hall being twenty-one braccia above the floor, the audience-chamber did not rise higher than eighteen braccia, so that between it and the old ceiling there was a space of only three braccia; now, after our design, the ceiling of the hall has been raised so much that it has risen twelve braccia above the old ceiling and fifteen above the audience-chamber of baccio and giuliano, so that the ceiling is now thirty-three braccia above the floor of the hall. and it certainly showed great spirit in his excellency, that he should resolve to cause to be finished in the space of five months for the above-named nuptials the whole of a work of which more than a third still remained to do, although it had taken more than fifteen years to arrive at the condition in which it was at that time; so eager was he to carry it to completion. but it was not only baccio's work that his excellency caused to be completely finished, but also all the rest of what giorgio vasari had designed; beginning again from the base that runs over the whole of that work, with a border of balusters in the open spaces, which forms a corridor that passes above the work in the hall, and commands a view on the outer side of the piazza and on the inner side of the whole hall. thus the princes and other lords will be able to see, without being seen, all the festivals that may be held there, with much pleasure and convenience for themselves, and then to retire to their apartments, passing by the private and public staircases through all the rooms in the palace. nevertheless, to many it has caused dissatisfaction that in a work of such beauty and grandeur that structure was not made square, and many would have liked to have it pulled down and then rebuilt true to square. but it has been judged to be better to continue the work in that way, in order not to appear presumptuous and malign towards baccio, and also because otherwise we would have seemed not to have the power to correct the errors and defects found by us but committed by others. but, returning to baccio, we must say that his abilities were always recognized during his lifetime, yet will be recognized and regretted much more now that he is dead. and even more would he have been acknowledged for what he was, when alive, and beloved, if he had been so favoured by nature as to be more amiable and more courteous, because his being the contrary, and very rough with his tongue, robbed him of the goodwill of other persons, obscured his talents, and brought it about that his works were regarded with ill will and a prejudiced eye, and therefore could never please anyone. and although he served one nobleman after another, and was enabled by his talent to serve them well, nevertheless he rendered his services with such bad grace, that there was no one who felt grateful to him for them. moreover, his always decrying and maligning the works of others brought it about that no one could endure him, and, whenever another was able to pay him back in his own coin, it was returned to him with interest; and before the magistrates he spoke all manner of evil without scruple about the other citizens, and received from them as good as he gave. he brought suits and went to law about everything with the greatest readiness, living in one long succession of law-suits, and appearing to triumph in them. but since his drawing, to which it is evident that he gave his attention more than to any other thing, was of such a kind and of such excellence that it atones for his every natural defect and makes him known as a rare master of our art, we therefore not only count him among the greatest craftsmen, but also have always paid respect to his works, and have sought not to destroy but to finish them and do them honour, for the reason that it appears to us that baccio was in truth one of those who deserve honourable praise and everlasting fame. we have deferred to the end the mention of his family name, because it was not always the same, but varied, baccio having himself called now de' brandini, and now de' bandinelli. in his early prints the name de' brandini may be seen engraved after that of baccio; but afterwards he preferred the name de' bandinelli, which he retained to the end and still retains, and he used to say that his ancestors were of the bandinelli of siena, who once removed to gaiuole, and from gaiuole to florence. giuliano bugiardini [illustration: giuliano bugiardini: portrait of a lady (_florence: pitti, . panel_)] life of giuliano bugiardini painter of florence before the siege of florence the population had multiplied in such great numbers that the widespread suburbs which lay without every gate, together with the churches, monasteries, and hospitals, formed as it were another city, inhabited by many honourable persons and by good craftsmen of every kind, although for the most part they were less wealthy than those of the city, and lived there with less expense in the way of customs-dues and the like. in one of these suburbs, then, without the porta a faenza, was born giuliano bugiardini, who lived there, even as his ancestors had done, until the year , when all the suburbs were pulled down. but before that, when still a mere lad, he began his studies in the garden of the medici on the piazza di s. marco, in which, attending to the study of art under the sculptor bertoldo, he formed such strait friendship and intimacy with michelagnolo buonarroti, that he was much beloved by buonarroti ever afterwards; which michelagnolo did not so much because of any depth that he saw in giuliano's manner of drawing, as on account of the extraordinary diligence and love that he showed towards art. there was in giuliano, besides this, a certain natural goodness and a sort of simplicity in his mode of living, free from all envy and malice, which vastly pleased buonarroti; nor was there any notable defect in him save this, that he loved too well the works of his own hand. for, although all men are wont to err in this respect, giuliano in truth passed all due bounds, whatever may have been the reason--either the great pains and diligence that he put into executing them, or some other cause. wherefore michelagnolo used to call him blessed, since he appeared to be content with what he knew, and himself unhappy, in that no work of his ever fully satisfied him. after giuliano had studied design for some time in the above-named garden, he worked, together with buonarroti and granacci, under domenico ghirlandajo, at the time when he was painting the chapel in s. maria novella. then, having made his growth and become a passing good master, he betook himself to work in company with mariotto albertinelli in gualfonda; in which place he finished a panel-picture that is now at the door of entrance of s. maria maggiore in florence, containing s. alberto, a carmelite friar, who has under his feet the devil in the form of a woman, a work that was much extolled. it was the custom in florence before the siege of , at the burial of dead persons of good family and noble blood, to carry in front of the bier a string of pennons fixed round a panel that a porter bore on his head; which pennons were afterwards left in the church in memory of the deceased and of his family. now, when the elder cosimo rucellai died, bernardo and palla, his sons, in order to have something new, thought of having not pennons, but in place of them a quadrangular banner four braccia wide and five braccia high, with some pennons at the foot containing the arms of the rucellai. these men therefore giving this work to giuliano to execute, he painted on the body of the said banner four great figures, executed very well--namely, s. cosimo, s. damiano, s. peter, and s. paul, which were truly most beautiful paintings, and done with more diligence than had ever been shown in any other work on cloth. these and other works of giuliano's having been seen by mariotto albertinelli, he recognized how careful giuliano was in following the designs that were put before him, without departing from them by a hair's breadth, and, since he was preparing in those days to abandon art, he gave him to finish a panel-picture that fra bartolommeo di san marco, his friend and companion, had formerly left only designed and shaded with water-colours on the gesso of the panel, as was his custom. giuliano, then, setting his hand to this work, executed it with supreme diligence and labour, and it was placed at that time in the church of s. gallo, without the gate of that name. the church and convent were afterwards pulled down on account of the siege, and the picture was carried into the city and placed in the priests' hospital in the via di s. gallo, and then from there into the convent of s. marco, and finally into s. jacopo tra fossi on the canto degli alberti, where it stands at the present day on the high-altar. in this picture is the dead christ, with the magdalene, who is embracing his feet, and s. john the evangelist, who is holding his head and supporting it on one knee. there, likewise, are s. peter, who is weeping, and s. paul, who, stretching out his arms, is contemplating his dead master; and, to tell the truth, giuliano executed this picture with so much lovingness and so much consideration and judgment, that he will be always very highly extolled for it, even as he was at that time, and that rightly. and after this he finished for cristofano rinieri a picture with the rape of dina that had been likewise left incomplete by the same fra bartolommeo; and he painted another picture like it, which was sent to france. not long afterwards, having been drawn to bologna by certain friends, he executed some portraits from life, and, for a chapel in the new choir of s. francesco, an altar-piece in oils containing our lady and two saints, which was held at that time in bologna, from there not being many masters there, to be a good work and worthy of praise. then, having returned to florence, he painted for i know not what person five pictures of the life of our lady, which are now in the house of maestro andrea pasquali, physician to his excellency and a man of great distinction. messer palla rucellai having commissioned him to execute an altar-piece that was to be placed on his altar in s. maria novella, giuliano began to paint in it the martyrdom of s. catharine the virgin. mountains in labour! he had it in hand for twelve years, but never carried it to completion after all that time, because he had no invention and knew not how to paint the many various things that had a part in that martyrdom; and, although he was always racking his brain as to how those wheels should be made, and how he should paint the lightning and the fire that consumed them, constantly changing one day what he had done the day before, in all that time he was never able to finish it. it is true that in the meantime he executed many works, and among others, for messer francesco guicciardini--who had returned from bologna and was then living in his villa at montici, writing his history--a portrait of him, which was a passing good likeness and pleased him much. he took the portrait, likewise, of signora angela de' rossi, the sister of the count of sansecondo, for signor alessandro vitelli, her husband, who was then on garrison-duty in florence. for messer ottaviano de' medici he painted in a large picture, copied from one by fra sebastiano del piombo, two full-length portraits, pope clement seated and fra niccolò della magna standing; and in another picture, likewise, with incredible pains and patience, he portrayed pope clement seated, and before him bartolommeo valori, who is kneeling and speaking to him. [illustration: the martyrdom of s. catharine (_after the painting by =giuliano bugiardini=. florence: s. maria novella, rucellai chapel_) _alinari_] next, the above-named messer ottaviano de' medici having besought giuliano privately that he should take for him the portrait of michelagnolo buonarroti, he set his hand to it; and, after he had kept michelagnolo, who used to take pleasure in his conversation, sitting for two hours, giuliano said to him: "michelagnolo, if you wish to see yourself, get up and look, for i have now fixed the expression of the face." michelagnolo, having risen and looked at the portrait, said to giuliano, laughing: "what the devil have you been doing? you have painted me with one of my eyes up in the temple. give a little thought to what you are doing." hearing this, giuliano, after standing pensive for a while and looking many times from the portrait to the living model, answered in serious earnest: "to me it does not seem so, but sit you down again, and i shall see a little better from the life whether it be true." buonarroti, who knew whence the defect arose and how small was the judgment of bugiardini, straightway resumed his seat, grinning. and giuliano looked many times now at michelagnolo and now at the picture, and then finally, rising to his feet, declared: "to me it seems that the thing is just as i have drawn it, and that the life is in no way different." "well, then," answered buonarroti, "it is a natural deformity. go on, and spare neither brush nor art." and so giuliano finished the picture and gave it to messer ottaviano, together with the portrait of pope clement by the hand of fra sebastiano, as buonarroti desired, who had sent to rome for it. giuliano afterwards made for cardinal innocenzio cibo a copy of the picture in which raffaello da urbino had formerly painted portraits of pope leo, cardinal giulio de' medici, and cardinal de' rossi; but in place of cardinal de' rossi he painted the head of cardinal cibo, in which he acquitted himself very well, and he executed the whole picture with great diligence and labour. at that time, likewise, he took the portrait of cencio guasconi, who was then a very beautiful youth. and after this he painted at the villa of baccio valori, at olmo a castello, a tabernacle in fresco, which, although it had not much design, was well and very carefully executed. meanwhile palla rucellai was pressing him to finish his altar-piece, of which mention has been made above, and giuliano resolved to take michelagnolo one day to see it. and so, after he had brought him to the place where he kept it, and had described to him with what pains he had executed the lightning-flash, which, coming down from heaven, shivers the wheels and kills those who are turning them, and also a sun, which, bursting from a cloud, delivers s. catharine from death, he frankly besought michelagnolo, who could not keep from laughing as he heard poor bugiardini's lamentations, that he should tell him how to make eight or ten principal figures of soldiers in the foreground of this altar-piece, drawn up in line after the manner of a guard, and in the act of flight, some being prostrate, some wounded, and others dead; for, said giuliano, he did not know for himself how to foreshorten them in such a manner that there might be room for them all in so narrow a space, in the fashion that he had imagined, in line. buonarroti, then, having compassion on the poor man and wishing to oblige him, went up to the picture with a piece of charcoal and outlined with a few strokes, lightly sketched in, a line of marvellous nude figures, which, foreshortened in different attitudes, were falling in various ways, some backward and others forward, with some wounded or dead, and all executed with that judgment and excellence that were peculiar to michelagnolo. this done, he went away with the thanks of giuliano, who not long afterwards took tribolo, his dearest friend, to see what buonarroti had done, telling him the whole story. but since, as has been related, buonarroti had drawn his figures only in outline, bugiardini was not able to put them into execution, because there were neither shadows in them nor any other help; whereupon tribolo resolved to assist him, and thus made some sketch-models in clay, which he executed excellently well, giving them that boldness of manner that michelagnolo had put into the drawing, and working them over with the gradine, which is a toothed instrument of iron, to the end that they might be somewhat rough and might have greater force; and, thus finished, he gave them to giuliano. however, since that manner did not please the smooth fancy of bugiardini, no sooner had tribolo departed than he took a brush and, dipping it from time to time in water, so smoothed them that he took away the gradine-marks and polished them all over, insomuch that, whereas the lights should have served as contrasts to make the shadows stronger, he contrived to destroy all the excellence that made the work perfect. which having afterwards heard from giuliano himself, tribolo laughed at the foolish simplicity of the man; and giuliano finally delivered the work finished in such a manner that there is nothing in it to show that michelagnolo ever looked at it. in the end, being old and poor, and having very few works to do, giuliano applied himself with extraordinary and even incredible pains to make a pietà in a tabernacle that was to go to spain, with figures of no great size, and executed it with such diligence, that it seems a strange thing to think of an old man of his age having the patience to do such a work for the love that he bore to art. on the doors of that tabernacle, in order to depict the darkness that fell at the death of the saviour, he painted a night on a black ground, copied from the one by the hand of michelagnolo which is in the sacristy of s. lorenzo. but since that statue has no other sign than an owl, giuliano, amusing himself over his picture of night by giving rein to his fancy, painted there a net for catching thrushes by night, with the lantern, and one of those little vessels holding a candle, or rather, a candle-end, that are carried about at night, with other suchlike things that have something to do with darkness and gloom, such as night-caps, coifs, pillows, and bats; wherefore buonarroti was like to dislocate his jaw with laughing when he saw this work and considered with what strange caprices bugiardini had enriched his night. finally, after having always been that kind of man, giuliano died at the age of seventy-five, and was buried in the church of s. marco at florence, in the year . giuliano once relating to bronzino how he had seen a very beautiful woman, after he had praised her to the skies, bronzino said, "do you know her?" "no," answered giuliano, "but she is a miracle of beauty. just imagine that she is a picture by my hand, and there you have her." cristofano gherardi, called doceno life of cristofano gherardi [called doceno] of borgo san sepolcro painter while raffaello dal colle of borgo san sepolcro, who was a disciple of giulio romano and helped him to paint in fresco the hall of constantine in the papal palace at rome, and the apartments of the te in mantua, was painting, after his return to the borgo, the altar-piece of the chapel of ss. gilio e arcanio (in which, imitating giulio and raffaello da urbino, he depicted the resurrection of christ, a work that was much extolled), with another altar-piece of the assumption for the frati de' zoccoli without the borgo, and some other works for the servite friars at città di castello; while, i say, raffaello was executing these and other works in the borgo, his native place, acquiring riches and fame, a young man sixteen years of age, called cristofano, and by way of by-name, doceno, the son of guido gherardi, a man of honourable family in that city, was attending from a natural inclination and with much profit to painting, drawing and colouring so well and with such grace, that it was a marvel. wherefore the above-named raffaello, having seen some animals by the hand of this cristofano, such as dogs, wolves, hares, and various kinds of birds and fishes, executed very well, and perceiving that he was most agreeable in his conversation and very witty and amusing, although he lived a life apart, almost like a philosopher, was well pleased to form a friendship with him and to have him frequent his workshop in order to learn. now, after cristofano had spent some time drawing under the discipline of raffaello, there arrived in the borgo the painter rosso, with whom he contracted a friendship, and received some of his drawings; and these doceno studied with great diligence, considering, as one who had seen no others but those by the hand of raffaello, that they were very beautiful, as indeed they were. but these studies were broken off by him, for, when giovanni de' turrini of the borgo, at that time captain of the florentines, went with a band of soldiers from the borgo and from città di castello to the defence of florence, which was besieged by the armies of the emperor and of pope clement, cristofano went thither among the other soldiers, having been led away by his many friends. it is true that he did this no less in the hope of having some occasion to study the works in florence than with the intention of fighting; but in this he failed, for his captain, giovanni, had to guard not a place within the city, but the bastions on the hill without. that war finished, and the guard of florence being commanded not long afterwards by signor alessandro vitelli of città di castello, cristofano, drawn by his friends and by his desire to see the pictures and sculptures of the city, enlisted as a soldier in that guard. and while he was in that service, signor alessandro, having heard from battista della bilia, a painter and soldier from città di castello, that cristofano gave his attention to painting, and having obtained a beautiful picture by his hand, determined to send him with that same battista della bilia and with another battista, likewise of città di castello, to decorate with sgraffiti and paintings a garden and loggia that he had begun at città di castello. but the one battista having died while that garden was being built up, and the other battista having taken his place, for the time being, whatever may have been the reason, nothing more was done. meanwhile giorgio vasari had returned from rome, and was passing his time with duke alessandro in florence, until his patron cardinal ippolito should return from hungary; and he had received rooms in the convent of the servites, that he might make a beginning with the execution of certain scenes in fresco from the life of cæsar in the chamber at the corner of the medici palace, where giovanni da udine had decorated the ceiling with stucco-work and pictures. now cristofano, having made giorgio's acquaintance at the borgo in the year , when he went to see rosso in that place, where he had shown him much kindness, resolved that he would attach himself to vasari and thus find much more opportunity for giving attention to art than he had done in the past. giorgio, then, after a year's intercourse with him as his companion, finding that he was likely to make an able master, and that he was pleasant and gentle in manners and a man after his own heart, conceived an extraordinary affection for him. wherefore, having to go not long afterwards, at the commission of duke alessandro, to città di castello, in company with antonio da san gallo and pier francesco da viterbo (who had been in florence to build the castle, or rather, citadel, and on their return were taking the road by città di castello), in order to repair the walls of the above-mentioned garden of vitelli, which were threatening to fall, he took cristofano with him, to the end that after vasari himself had designed and distributed in their due order the friezes that were to be executed in certain apartments, and likewise the scenes and compartments of a bath-room, and other sketches for the walls of the loggia, gherardi and the above-named battista might carry the whole to completion. all this they did so well and with such grace, and particularly cristofano, that a past master in art, well practised in his work, could not have done so much; and, what is more, experimenting in that work, he became facile and able to a marvel in drawing and colouring. then, in the year , the emperor charles v coming to italy and to florence, as has been related in other places, the most magnificent festive preparations were ordained, among which vasari, by order of duke alessandro, received the charge of the decorations of the porta a s. piero gattolini, of the façade at s. felice in piazza, at the head of the via maggio, and of the pediment that was erected over the door of s. maria del fiore; and, in addition, of a standard of cloth for the castle, fifteen braccia in depth and forty in length, into the gilding of which there went fifty thousand leaves of gold. now the florentine painters and others who were employed in these preparations, thinking that vasari was too much in favour with duke alessandro, and wishing to leave him disgraced in that part of the decorations--a part truly great and laborious--which had fallen to him, so went to work that he was not able to enlist the services of any master of architectural painting, whether young or old, among all those that were in the city, to assist him in any single thing. of which having become aware, vasari sent for cristofano, raffaello dal colle, and stefano veltroni of monte sansovino, his kinsman; and with their assistance and that of other painters from arezzo and other places, he executed the works mentioned above, in which cristofano acquitted himself in such a manner, that he caused everyone to marvel, doing honour to himself and also to vasari, who was much extolled for those works. after they were finished, cristofano remained many days in florence, assisting the same vasari in the preparations that were made in the palace of messer ottaviano de' medici for the nuptials of duke alessandro; wherein, among other things, cristofano executed the coat of arms of the duchess margherita of austria, with the balls, upheld by a most beautiful eagle, with some boys, very well done. not long afterwards, when duke alessandro had been assassinated, a compact was made in the borgo to hand over one of the gates of the city to piero strozzi, when he came to sestino, and letters were therefore written to cristofano by some soldiers exiled from the borgo, entreating him that he should consent to help them in this: which letters received, although cristofano did not grant their request, yet, in order not to do a mischief to the soldiers, he chose rather to tear them up, as he did, than to lay them, as according to the laws and edicts he should have done, before gherardo gherardi, who was then commissioner for the lord duke cosimo in the borgo. when the troubles were over and the matter became known, many citizens of the borgo were exiled as rebels, and among them doceno; and signor alessandro vitelli, who knew the truth of this affair and could have helped him, did not do so, to the end that cristofano might be as it were forced to serve him in the work of his garden at città di castello, of which we have spoken above. after having consumed much time in this service, without any profit or advantage, cristofano finally took refuge, almost in despair, with other exiles, in the village of s. giustino in the states of the church, a mile and a half distant from the borgo and very near the florentine frontier. in that place, although he stayed there at his peril, he painted for abbot bufolini of città di castello, who has most beautiful and commodious apartments there, a chamber in a tower, with a pattern of little boys and figures very well foreshortened to be seen from below, and with grotesques, festoons, and masks, the most lovely and the most bizarre that could be imagined. this chamber, when finished, so pleased the abbot that he caused him to do another, in which, desiring to make some ornaments of stucco, and not having marble to grind into powder for mixing it, for this purpose he found a very good substitute in some stones from a river-bed, veined with white, the powder from which took a good and very firm hold. and within these ornaments of stucco cristofano then painted some scenes from roman history, executing them so well in fresco that it was a marvel. at that time giorgio vasari was painting in fresco the upper part of the tramezzo[ ] of the abbey of camaldoli, and two panel-pictures for the lower part; and, wishing to make about these last an ornament in fresco full of scenes, he would have liked to have cristofano with him, no less to restore him to the favour of the duke than to make use of him. but, although messer ottaviano de' medici pleaded strongly with the duke, it proved impossible to bend him, so ugly was the information that had been given to him about the behaviour of cristofano. not having succeeded in this, therefore, vasari, as one who loved cristofano, set himself to contrive to remove him at least from s. giustino, where he, with other exiles, was living in the greatest peril. in the year , then, having to execute for the monks of monte oliveto, for the head of a great refectory in the monastery of s. michele in bosco without bologna, three panel-pictures in oils with three scenes each four braccia in length, and a frieze in fresco three braccia high all round with twenty stories of the apocalypse in little figures, and all the monasteries of that order copied from the reality, with partitions of grotesques, and round each window fourteen braccia of festoons with fruits copied from nature, giorgio wrote straightway to cristofano that he should go from s. giustino to bologna, together with battista cungi of the borgo, his compatriot, who had also served vasari for seven years. these men, therefore, having gone to bologna, where giorgio had not yet arrived--for he was still at camaldoli, where, having finished the tramezzo, he was drawing the cartoon for a deposition from the cross, which was afterwards executed by him and set up on the high-altar in that same place--set themselves to prime the said three panels with gesso and to lay on the ground, until such time as giorgio should arrive. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] now vasari had given a commission to dattero, a jew, the friend of messer ottaviano de' medici, who was then a banker in bologna, that he should provide cristofano and battista with everything that they required. and since this dattero was very obliging and most courteous, he did them a thousand favours and courtesies; wherefore those two at times went about bologna in his company in very familiar fashion, and, battista having prominent eyes and cristofano a great speck in one of his, they were thus taken for jews, as dattero was in fact. one morning, therefore, a shoemaker, who had to bring a pair of new shoes at the commission of the above-named jew to cristofano, arriving at the monastery, said to cristofano himself, who was standing at the gate looking on at the distribution of alms, "sir, could you show me the rooms of those two jew painters who are working in there?" "jews or no jews," said cristofano, "what have you to do with them?" "i have to give these shoes," he answered, "to one of them called cristofano." "i am he," replied cristofano, "an honest man and a better christian than you are." "you may be what you please," answered the shoemaker. "i called you jews, because, besides that you are held and known as jews by everyone, that look of yours, which is not of our country, convinced me of it." "enough," said cristofano, "you shall see that we do the work of christians." [illustration: the supper of s. gregory the great (_after the panel by =giorgio vasari=, with details by =cristofano gherardi [doceno]=. bologna: accademia, _) _poppi_] but to return to the work: vasari having arrived in bologna, not a month had passed before, giorgio designing, and cristofano and battista laying in the panels in colour, all three were completely laid in, with great credit to cristofano, who acquitted himself in this excellently well. the laying in of the panels being finished, work was begun on the frieze, in which cristofano had a companion, although he was to have executed it all by himself; for there came from camaldoli to bologna the cousin of vasari, stefano veltroni of monte sansovino, who had laid in the panel-picture of the deposition, and the two executed that work together, and that so well, that it proved a marvel. cristofano painted grotesques so well, that there was nothing better to be seen, but he did not give them that particular finish that would have made them perfect; and stefano, on the contrary, was wanting in resolution and grace, for the reason that his brush-strokes did not fix his subjects in their places at one sweep, but, since he was very patient, in the end, although he endured greater labour, he used to execute his grotesques with more neatness and delicacy. labouring in competition, then, at the work of this frieze, these two took such pains, both the one and the other, that cristofano learned to finish from stefano, and stefano learned from cristofano to be more resolute and to work like a master. work being then begun on the broad festoons that were to run in clusters round the windows, vasari made one with his own hand, keeping real fruits in front of him, that he might copy them from nature. this done, he ordained that cristofano and stefano should go on with the rest, holding to the same design, one on one side of the window, and the other on the other side, and should thus, one by one, proceed to finish them all; promising to him who might prove at the end of the work to have acquitted himself best a pair of scarlet hose. and so, competing lovingly for both honour and profit, they set themselves to copy everything, from the large things down to the most minute, such as millet-seed, hemp-seed, bunches of fennel, and the like, in such a manner that those festoons proved to be very beautiful; and both of them received from vasari the prize of the scarlet hose. giorgio took great pains to persuade cristofano to execute by himself part of the designs for the scenes that were to go into the frieze, but he would never do it. wherefore, the while that giorgio was drawing them himself, gherardi executed the buildings in two of the panel-pictures, with much grace and beauty of manner, and such perfection, that a master of great judgment, even if he had had the cartoons before him, could not have done what cristofano did. and, in truth, there never was a painter who could do by himself, and without study, the things that he contrived to do. after having finished the execution of the buildings in the two panel-pictures, the while that vasari was carrying to completion the twenty stories from the apocalypse for the above-mentioned frieze, cristofano, taking in hand the panel-picture in which s. gregory (whose head is a portrait of pope clement vii) is eating with his twelve poor men, executed the whole service of the table, all very lifelike and most natural. then, a beginning having been made with the third panel-picture, while stefano was occupied with the gilding of the ornamental frames of the other two, a staging was erected upon two trestles of wood, from which, while vasari was painting on one side, in a glory of sunlight, the three angels that appeared to abraham in the valley of mamre, cristofano painted some buildings on the other side. but he was always making some contraption with stools and tables, and at times with basins and pans upside down, on which he would climb, like the casual creature that he was; and once it happened that, seeking to draw back in order to look at what he had done, one of his feet gave way under him, the whole contraption turned topsy-turvy, and he fell from a height of five braccia, bruising himself so grievously that he had to be bled and properly nursed, or he would have died. and, what was worse, being the sort of careless fellow that he was, one night there slipped off the bandages that were on the arm from which the blood had been drawn, to the great danger of his life, so that, if stefano, who was sleeping with him, had not noticed this, it would have been all up with him; and even so stefano had something to do to revive him, for the bed was a lake of blood, and he himself was reduced almost to his last gasp. vasari, therefore, taking him under his own particular charge, as if he had been his brother, had him tended with the greatest possible care, than which, indeed, nothing less would have sufficed; and with all this he was not restored until that work was completely finished. after that, returning to s. giustino, cristofano completed some of the apartments of the abbot there, which had been left unfinished, and then executed at città di castello, all with his own hand, an altar-piece that had been allotted to battista, his dearest friend, and a lunette that is over the side-door of s. fiorido, containing three figures in fresco. giorgio being afterwards summoned to venice at the instance of messer pietro aretino, in order to arrange and execute for the nobles and gentlemen of the company of the calza the setting for a most sumptuous and magnificent festival, and the scenery of a comedy written by that same messer pietro aretino for those gentlemen, giorgio, i say, knowing that he was not able to carry out so great a work by himself alone, sent for cristofano and the above-mentioned battista cungi. and they, having finally arrived in venice after being carried by the chances of the sea to sclavonia, found that vasari not only had arrived there before them, but had already designed everything, so that there was nothing for them to do but to set hand to painting. now the said gentlemen of the calza had taken at the end of the canareio a large house which was not finished--it had nothing, indeed, save the main walls and the roof--and in a space forming an apartment seventy braccia long and sixteen braccia wide, giorgio caused to be made two ranges of wooden steps, four braccia in height from the floor, on which the ladies were to be seated. the walls at the sides he divided each into four square spaces of ten braccia, separated by niches each four braccia in breadth, within which were figures, and these niches had each on either side a terminal figure in relief, nine braccia high; insomuch that the niches on either side were five and the terminal figures ten, and in the whole apartment there were altogether ten niches, twenty terminal figures, and eight square pictures with scenes. in the first of these pictures (which were all in chiaroscuro), that on the right hand, next the stage, there was, representing venice, a most beautiful figure of adria depicted as seated upon a rock in the midst of the sea, with a branch of coral in the hand. around her stood neptune, thetis, proteus, nereus, glaucus, palæmon, and other sea gods and nymphs, who were presenting to her jewels, pearls, gold, and other riches of the sea; and besides this there were some loves that were shooting arrows, and others that were flying through the air and scattering flowers, and the rest of the field of the picture was all most beautiful palms. in the second picture were the rivers drava and sava naked, with their vases. in the third was the po, conceived as large and corpulent, with seven sons, representing the seven branches which, issuing from the po, pour into the sea as if each of them were a kingly river. in the fourth was the brenta, with other rivers of friuli. on the other wall, opposite to the adria, was the island of candia, wherein was to be seen jove being suckled by the goat, with many nymphs around. beside this, and opposite to the drava, were the river tagliamento and the mountains of cadore. beyond this, opposite to the po, were lake benacus and the mincio, which were pouring their waters into the po; and beside them, opposite to the brenta, were the adige and the tesino, falling into the sea. the pictures on the right-hand side were divided by these virtues, placed in the niches--liberality, concord, compassion, peace, and religion; and opposite to these, on the other wall, were fortitude, civic wisdom, justice, a victory with war beneath her, and, lastly, a charity. above all, then, were a large cornice and architrave, and a frieze full of lights and of glass globes filled with distilled waters, to the end that these, having lights behind them, might illuminate the whole apartment. next, the ceiling was divided into four quadrangular compartments, each ten braccia wide in one direction and eight braccia in the other; and, with a width equal to that of the niches of four braccia, there was a frieze which ran right round the cornice, while in a line with the niches there came in the middle of all the spaces a compartment three braccia square. these compartments were in all twenty-three, without counting one of double size that was above the stage, which brought the number up to twenty-four; and in them were the hours, twelve of the night, namely, and twelve of the day. in the first of the compartments ten braccia in length, which was above the stage, was time, who was arranging the hours in their places, accompanied by Æolus, god of the winds, by juno, and by iris. in another compartment, at the door of entrance, was the car of aurora, who, rising from the arms of tithonus, was scattering roses, while the car itself was being drawn by some cocks. in the third was the chariot of the sun; and in the fourth was the chariot of night, drawn by owls, and night had the moon upon her head, some bats in front of her, and all around her darkness. of these pictures cristofano executed the greater part, and he acquitted himself so well, that everyone stood marvelling at them: particularly in the chariot of night, wherein he did in the way of oil-sketches that which was, in a manner of speaking, not possible. and in the picture of adria, likewise, he painted those monsters of the sea with such beauty and variety, that whoever looked at them was struck with astonishment that a craftsman of his rank should have shown such knowledge. in short, in all this work he bore himself beyond all expectation like an able and well-practised painter, and particularly in the foliage and grotesques. after finishing the preparations for that festival, vasari and cristofano stayed some months in venice, painting for the magnificent messer giovanni cornaro the ceiling, or rather, soffit, of an apartment, into which there went nine large pictures in oils. vasari being then entreated by the veronese architect, michele san michele, to stay in venice, he might perhaps have consented to remain there for a year or two; but cristofano always dissuaded him from it, saying that it was not a good thing to stay in venice, where no account was taken of design, nor did the painters in that city make any use of it, not to mention that those painters themselves were the reason that no attention was paid there to the labours of the arts; and he declared that it would be better to return to rome, the true school of noble arts, where ability was recognized much more than in venice. the dissuasions of cristofano being thus added to the little desire that vasari had to stay there, they went off together. but, since cristofano, being an exile from the state of florence, was not able to follow giorgio, he returned to s. giustino, where he did not remain long, doing some work all the time for the above-mentioned abbot, before he went to perugia on the first occasion when pope paul iii went there after the war waged with the people of that city. there, in the festive preparations that were made to receive his holiness, he acquitted himself very well in several works, and particularly in the portal called after frate rinieri, where, at the wish of monsignore della barba, who was then governor there, cristofano executed a large jove in anger and another pacified, which are two most beautiful figures, and on the other side he painted an atlas with the world on his back, between two women, one of whom had a sword and the other a pair of scales. these works, with many others that cristofano executed for those festivities, were the reason that afterwards, when the citadel had been built in perugia by order of the same pontiff, messer tiberio crispo, who was governor and castellan at that time, when causing many of the rooms to be painted, desired that cristofano, in addition to that which lattanzio, a painter of the march, had executed in them up to that time, should also work there. whereupon cristofano not only assisted the above-named lattanzio, but afterwards executed with his own hand the greater part of the best works that are painted in the apartments of that fortress, in which there also worked raffaello dal colle and adone doni of assisi, an able and well-practised painter, who has executed many things in his native city and in other places. tommaso papacello also worked there; but the best that there was among them, and the one who gained most praise there, was cristofano, on which account he was recommended by lattanzio to the favour of the said crispo, and was ever afterwards much employed by him. meanwhile, that same crispo having built in perugia a new little church known as s. maria del popolo, but first called del mercato, lattanzio had begun for it an altar-piece in oils, and in this cristofano painted with his own hand all the upper part, which is indeed most beautiful and worthy of great praise. then, lattanzio having been changed from a painter into the constable of perugia, cristofano returned to s. giustino, where he stayed many months, again working for the above-named lord abbot bufolini. after this, in the year , giorgio vasari, having to execute a panel-picture in oils for the great cancelleria by order of the most illustrious cardinal farnese, and another for the church of s. agostino at the commission of galeotto da girone, sent for cristofano, who went very willingly, as one who had a desire to see rome. there he stayed many months, doing little else but go about seeing everything; but nevertheless he thus gained so much, that, after returning once more to s. giustino, he painted in a hall some figures after his own fancy which were so beautiful, that it appeared that he must have studied at them twenty years. then, in the year , vasari had to go to naples to paint for the monks of monte oliveto a refectory involving much more work than that of s. michele in bosco at bologna, and he sent for cristofano, raffaello dal colle, and stefano, already mentioned as his friends and pupils; and they all came together at the appointed time in naples, excepting cristofano, who remained behind because he was ill. however, being pressed by vasari, he made his way to rome on his journey to naples; but he was detained by his brother borgognone, who was likewise an exile, and who wished to take him to france to enter the service of the colonel giovanni da turrino, and so that occasion was lost. but when vasari returned from naples to rome in the year , in order to execute twenty-four pictures that were afterwards sent to naples and placed in the sacristy of s. giovanni carbonaro, in which he painted stories from the old testament, and also from the life of s. john the baptist, with figures of one braccio or little more, and also in order to paint the doors of the organ of the piscopio, which were six braccia in height, he availed himself of cristofano, who was of great assistance to him and executed figures and landscapes in those works excellently well. giorgio had also proposed to make use of him in the hall of the cancelleria, which was painted after cartoons by his hand, and entirely finished in a hundred days, for cardinal farnese, but in this he did not succeed, for cristofano fell ill and returned to s. giustino as soon as he had begun to mend. and vasari finished the hall without him, assisted by raffaello dal colle, the bolognese giovan battista bagnacavallo, the spaniards roviale and bizzerra, and many others of his friends and pupils. after returning from rome to florence and setting out from that city to go to rimini, to paint a chapel in fresco and an altar-piece in the church of the monks of monte oliveto for abbot gian matteo faettani, giorgio passed through s. giustino, in order to take cristofano with him: but abbot bufolini, for whom he was painting a hall, would not let him go for the time being, although he promised giorgio that he should send cristofano to him soon all the way to romagna. but, notwithstanding such a promise, the abbot delayed so long to send him, that cristofano, when he did go, found that vasari had not only finished all the work for the other abbot, but had also executed an altar-piece for the high-altar of s. francesco at rimini, for messer niccolò marcheselli, and another altar-piece in the church of classi, belonging to the monks of camaldoli, at ravenna, for don romualdo da verona, the abbot of that abbey. in the year , not long before this, giorgio had just executed the story of the marriage of esther in the black friars' abbey of s. fiore, that is, in the refectory, at arezzo, and also, at florence, for the chapel of the martelli in the church of s. lorenzo, the altar-piece of s. gismondo, when, julius iii having been elected pope, he was summoned to rome to enter the service of his holiness. thereupon he thought for certain that by means of cardinal farnese, who went at that time to stay in florence, he would be able to reinstate cristofano in his country and restore him to the favour of duke cosimo. but this proved to be impossible, so that poor cristofano had to stay as he was until , at which time, vasari having been invited into the service of duke cosimo, there came to him an opportunity of delivering cristofano. bishop da' ricasoli, who knew that he would be doing a thing pleasing to his excellency, had set to work to have the three façades of his palace, which stands on the abutment of the ponte alla carraja, painted in chiaroscuro, when messer sforza almeni, cup-bearer as well as first and favourite chamberlain to the duke, resolved that he also would have his house in the via de' servi painted in chiaroscuro, in emulation of the bishop. but, not having found in florence any painters according to his fancy, he wrote to giorgio vasari, who had not then arrived in florence, that he should think out the inventions and send him designs of all that it might seem to him best to paint on that façade of his. whereupon giorgio, who was much his friend, for they had known each other from the time when they were both in the service of duke alessandro, having thought out the whole according to the measurements of the façade, sent him a design of most beautiful invention, which embellished the windows and joined them together with a well-varied decoration in a straight line from top to bottom, and filled all the spaces in the façade with rich scenes. this design, i say, which contained, to put it briefly, the whole life of man from birth to death, was sent by vasari to messer sforza; and it so pleased him, and likewise the duke, that, in order that it might have all its perfection, they resolved that they would not have it taken in hand until such time as vasari himself should have arrived in florence. which vasari having at last come and having been received by his most illustrious excellency and by the above-named messer sforza with great friendliness, they began to discuss who might be the right man to execute that façade. whereupon giorgio, not allowing the occasion to slip by, said to messer sforza that no one was better able to carry out that work than cristofano, and that neither in that nor in the works that were to be executed in the palace, could he do without cristofano's aid. and so, messer sforza having spoken of this to the duke, after many inquiries it was found that cristofano's crime was not so black as it had been painted, and the poor fellow was at last pardoned by his excellency. which news having been received by vasari, who was at arezzo, revisiting his native place and his friends, he sent a messenger expressly to cristofano, who knew nothing of the matter, to give him that good news; and when he heard it, he was like to faint with joy. all rejoicing, therefore, and confessing that no one had ever been a better friend to him than vasari, he went off next morning from città di castello to the borgo, where, after presenting his letters of deliverance to the commissioner, he made his way to his father's house, where his mother and also his brother, who had been recalled from exile long before, were struck with astonishment. then, after passing two days there, he went off to arezzo, where he was received by giorgio with more rejoicing than if he had been his own brother, and recognized that he was so beloved by vasari that he resolved that he would spend the rest of his life with him. they then went from arezzo to florence together, and cristofano went to kiss the hands of the duke, who received him readily and was struck with amazement, for the reason that, whereas he had thought to see some great bravo, he saw the best little man in the world. cristofano was likewise made much of by messer sforza, who conceived a very great affection for him; and he then set his hand to the above-mentioned façade. in that work, giorgio, because it was not yet possible to work in the palace, assisted him, at his own request, to execute some designs for the scenes in the façade, also designing at times during the progress of the work, on the plaster, some of the figures that are there. but, although there are in it many things retouched by vasari, nevertheless the whole façade, with the greater part of the figures and all the ornaments, festoons, and large ovals, is by the hand of cristofano, who in truth, as may be seen, was so able in handling colours in fresco, that it may be said--and vasari confesses it--that he knew more about it than giorgio himself. and if cristofano, when he was a lad, had exercised himself continuously in the studies of art--for he never did a drawing save when he had afterwards to carry it into execution--and had pursued the practice of art with spirit, he would have had no equal, seeing that his facility, judgment and memory enabled him to execute his works in such a way, without any further study, that he used to surpass many who in fact knew more than he. nor could anyone believe with what facility and resolution he executed his labours, for, when he set himself to work, no matter how long a time it might take, he so delighted in it that he would never lift his eyes off his painting; wherefore his friends might well expect the greatest things from him. besides this, he was so gracious in his conversation and his jesting as he worked, that vasari would at times stay working in his company from morning till night, without ever growing weary. cristofano executed this façade in a few months, not to mention that he sometimes stayed away some weeks without working there, going to the borgo to see and enjoy his home. now i do not wish to grudge the labour of describing the distribution and the figures of this work, which, from its being in the open air and much exposed to the vagaries of the weather, may not have a very long life; scarcely, indeed, was it finished, when it was much injured by a terrible rain and a very heavy hail-storm, and in some places the wall was stripped of plaster. in this façade, then, there are three compartments. the first, to begin at the foot, is where the principal door and the two windows are; the second is from the sill of those windows to that of the second range of windows; and the third is from those last windows to the cornice of the roof. there are, besides this, six windows in each range, which give seven spaces; and the whole work was divided according to this plan in straight lines from the cornice of the roof down to the ground. next to the cornice of the roof, then, there is in perspective a great cornice, with brackets that project over a frieze of little boys, six of whom stand upright along the breadth of the façade--namely, one above the centre of the arch of each window; and these support with their shoulders most beautiful festoons of fruits, leaves, and flowers, which run from one to another. those fruits and flowers are arranged in due succession according to the seasons, symbolizing the periods of our life, which is there depicted; and on the middle of the festoons, likewise, where they hang down, are other little boys in various attitudes. this frieze finished, between the upper windows, in the spaces that are there, there were painted the seven planets, with the seven celestial signs above them as a crown and an ornament. beneath the sill of these windows, on the parapet, is a frieze of virtues, who, two by two, are holding seven great ovals; in which ovals are seven distinct stories representing the seven ages of man, and each age is accompanied by two virtues appropriate to her, and beneath the ovals in the spaces between the lower windows there are the three theological and the four moral virtues. below this, in the frieze that is above the door and the windows supported by knee-shaped brackets, are the seven liberal arts, each of which is in a line with the oval in which is the particular story of the life of man appropriate to it; and in the same straight lines, continued upwards, are the moral virtues, planets, signs, and other corresponding symbols. next, between the windows with knee-shaped brackets, there is life, both the active and the contemplative, with scenes and statues, continued down to death, hell, and our final resurrection. in brief, cristofano executed almost all by himself the whole cornice, the festoons, the little boys, and the seven signs of the planets. then, beginning on one side, he painted first the moon, and represented her by a diana who has her lap full of flowers, after the manner of proserpine, with a moon upon her head and the sign of cancer above her. below, in the oval wherein is the story of infancy, there are present at the birth of man some nurses who are suckling infants, and newly-delivered women in bed, executed by cristofano with much grace; and this oval is supported by will alone, who is a half-nude young woman, fair and beautiful, and she is sustained by charity, who is also suckling infants. and beneath the oval, on the parapet, is grammar, who is teaching some little boys to read. beginning over again, there follows mercury with the caduceus and with his sign, who has below him in the oval some little boys, some of whom are going to school and some playing. this oval is supported by truth, who is a nude little girl all pure and simple, who has on one side a male figure representing falsehood, with a variety of girt-up garments and a most beautiful countenance, but with the eyes much sunken. beneath the oval of the windows is faith, who with the right hand is baptizing a child in a conch full of water, and with the left hand is holding a cross; and below her, on the parapet, is logic covered by a veil, with a serpent. next follows the sun, represented by an apollo who has the lyre in his hand, with his sign in the ornament above. in the oval is adolescence, represented by two boys of equal age, one of whom, holding a branch of olive, is ascending a mountain illumined by the sun, and the other, halting halfway up to admire the beauties that fraud displays from the middle upwards, without perceiving that her hideous countenance is concealed behind a smooth and beautiful mask, is caused by her and her wiles to fall over a precipice. this oval is supported by sloth, a gross and corpulent man, who stands all sleepy and nude in the guise of a silenus; and also by toil, in the person of a robust and hard-working peasant, who has around him the implements for tilling the earth. these are supported by that part of the ornament that is between the windows, where hope is, who has the anchors at her feet; and on the parapet below is music, with various musical instruments about her. there follows in due order venus, who has clasped love to her bosom, and is kissing him; and she, also, has her sign above her. in the oval that she has beneath her is the story of youth; that is, in the centre a young man seated, with books, instruments for measuring, and other things appertaining to design, and in addition maps of the world and cosmographical globes and spheres; and behind him is a loggia, in which are young men who are merrily passing the time away with singing, dancing, and playing, and also a banquet of young people all given over to enjoyment. on one side this oval is supported by self-knowledge, who has about her compasses, armillary spheres, quadrants, and books, and is gazing at herself in a mirror; and, on the other side, by fraud, a hideous old hag, lean and toothless, who is mocking at self-knowledge, and in the act of covering her face with a smooth and beautiful mask. below the oval is temperance, with a horse's bridle in her hand, and beneath her, on the parapet, is rhetoric, who is in a line with the other similar figures. next to these comes mars in armour, with many trophies about him, and with the sign of the lion above him. in his oval, which is below him, is virility, represented by a full-grown man, standing between memory and will, who are holding before him a basin of gold containing a pair of wings, and are pointing out to him the path of deliverance in the direction of a mountain; and this oval is supported by innocence, who is a maiden with a lamb at her side, and by hilarity, who, all smiling and merry, reveals herself as what she really is. beneath the oval, between the windows, is prudence, who is making herself beautiful before a mirror; and she has below her, on the parapet, a figure of philosophy. next there follows jove, with his thunderbolt and his bird, the eagle, and with his sign above him. in the oval is old age, who is represented by an old man clothed as a priest and kneeling before an altar, upon which he is placing the basin of gold with the two wings; and this oval is supported by compassion, who is covering some naked little boys, and by religion, enveloped in sacerdotal vestments. below these is a fortitude in armour, who, planting one of her legs in a spirited attitude on a fragment of a column, is placing some balls in the mouth of a lion; and beneath her, on the parapet, she has a figure of astrology. the last of the seven planets is saturn, depicted as an old man heavy with melancholy, who is devouring his own children, with a great serpent that is seizing its own tail with its teeth; which saturn has above him the sign of capricorn. in the oval is decrepitude, and here is depicted jove in heaven receiving a naked and decrepit old man, kneeling, who is watched over by felicity and immortality, who are casting his garments into the world. this oval is supported by beatitude, who is upheld by a figure of justice in the ornament below, who is seated and has in her hand the sceptre and upon her shoulders the stork, with arms and laws around her; and on the parapet below is geometry. in the lowest part at the foot, which is about the windows with knee-shaped brackets and the door, is leah in a niche, representing the active life, and on the other side of the same place is industry, who has a cornucopia and two goads in her hands. near the door is a scene in which many masters in wood and stone, architects, and stone-cutters have before them the gate of cosmopolis, a city built by the lord duke cosimo in the island of elba, with a representation of porto-ferrajo. between this scene and the frieze in which are the liberal arts, is lake trasimene, round which are nymphs who are issuing from the water with tench, pike, eels, and roach, and beside the lake is perugia, a nude figure holding with her hands a dog, which she is showing to a figure of florence corresponding to her, who stands on the other side, with a figure of arno beside her who is embracing and fondling her. and below this is the contemplative life in another scene, in which many philosophers and astrologers are measuring the heavens, appearing to be casting the horoscope of the duke; and beside this, in the niche corresponding to that of leah, is her sister rachel, the daughter of laban, representing the contemplative life. the last scene, which is likewise between two niches and forms the conclusion of the whole invention, is death, who, mounted on a lean horse and holding the scythe, and accompanied by war, pestilence, and famine, is riding over persons of every kind. in one niche is the god pluto, and beneath him cerberus, the hound of hell; and in the other is a large figure rising again from a sepulchre on the last day. after all these things cristofano executed on the pediments of the windows with knee-shaped brackets some nude figures that are holding the devices of his excellency, and over the door a ducal coat of arms, the six balls of which are upheld by some naked little boys, who twine in and out between each other as they fly through the air. and last of all, in the bases at the foot, beneath all the scenes, the same cristofano painted the device of m. sforza; that is, some obelisks, or rather triangular pyramids, which rest upon three balls, with a motto around that reads--immobilis. this work, when finished, was vastly extolled by his excellency and by messer sforza himself, who, like the courteous gentleman that he was, wished to reward with a considerable present the art and industry of cristofano; but he would have none of it, being contented and fully repaid by the goodwill of that lord, who loved him ever afterwards more than i could say. while the work was being executed, vasari had cristofano with him, as he had always done in the past, in the house of signor bernardetto de' medici, who much delighted in painting; which having perceived, cristofano painted two scenes in chiaroscuro in a corner of his garden. one was the rape of proserpine, and in the other were vertumnus and pomona, the deities of agriculture; and besides this cristofano painted in this work some ornaments of terminal figures and children of such variety and beauty, that there is nothing better to be seen. meanwhile arrangements had been made for beginning to paint in the palace, and the first thing that was taken in hand was a hall in the new apartments, which, being twenty braccia wide, and having a height, according as tasso had constructed it, of not more than nine braccia, was raised three braccia with beautiful ingenuity by vasari, that is, to a total height of twelve braccia, without moving the roof, which was half a pavilion roof. but because in doing this, before it could become possible to paint, much time had to be devoted to reconstructing the ceilings and to other works in that apartment and in others, vasari himself obtained leave to go to arezzo to spend two months there together with cristofano. however, he did not succeed in being able to rest during that time, for the reason that he could not refuse to go in those days to cortona, where he painted in fresco the vaulting and the walls of the company of jesus with the assistance of cristofano, who acquitted himself very well, and particularly in the twelve different sacrifices from the old testament which they executed in the lunettes between the spandrels of the vaulting. indeed, to speak more exactly, almost the whole of this work was by the hand of cristofano, vasari having done nothing therein beyond making certain sketches, designing some parts on the plaster, and then retouching it at times in various places, according as it was necessary. this work finished, which is not otherwise than grand, worthy of praise, and very well executed, by reason of the great variety of things that are in it, they both returned to florence in the month of january of the year . there, having taken in hand the hall of the elements, while vasari was painting the pictures of the ceiling, cristofano executed some devices that bind together the friezes of the beams in perpendicular lines, in which are heads of capricorns and tortoises with the sail, devices of his excellency. but the works in which he showed himself most marvellous were some festoons of fruits that are in the friezes of the beams on the under side, which are so beautiful that there is nothing better coloured or more natural to be seen, particularly because they are separated one from another by certain masks, that hold in their mouths the ligatures of the festoons, than which one would not be able to find any more varied or more bizarre; in which manner of work it may be said that cristofano was superior to any other who has ever made it his principal and particular profession. this done, he painted some large figures on that part of the walls where there is the birth of venus, but after the cartoons of vasari, and many little figures in a landscape, which were executed very well. in like manner, on the wall where there are the loves as tiny little children, fashioning the arrows of cupid, he painted the three cyclopes forging thunderbolts for jove. over six doors he executed in fresco six large ovals with ornaments in chiaroscuro and containing scenes in the colour of bronze, which were very beautiful; and in the same hall, between the windows, he painted in colours a mercury and a pluto, which are likewise very beautiful. work being then begun in the chamber of the goddess ops, which is next to that described above, he painted the four seasons in fresco on the ceiling, and, in addition to the figures, some festoons that were marvellous in their variety and beauty, for the reason that, even as those of spring were filled with a thousand kinds of flowers, so those of summer were painted with an infinite number of fruits and cereals, those of autumn were of leaves and bunches of the grape, and those of winter were of onions, turnips, radishes, carrots, parsnips, and dried leaves, not to mention that in the central picture, in which is the car of ops, he coloured so beautifully in oils four lions that are drawing the car, that nothing better could be done; and, in truth, in painting animals he had no equal. then in the chamber of ceres, which is beside the last-named, he executed in certain angles some little boys and festoons that are beautiful to a marvel. and in the central picture, where vasari had painted ceres seeking for proserpine with a lighted pine torch, upon a car drawn by two serpents, cristofano carried many things to completion with his own hand, because vasari was ill at that time and had left that picture, among other things, unfinished. finally, when it came to decorating a terrace that is beyond the chamber of jove and beside that of ops, it was decided that all the history of juno should be painted there; and so, after all the ornamentation in stucco had been finished, with very rich carvings and various compositions of figures, wrought after the cartoons of vasari, the same vasari ordained that cristofano should execute that work by himself in fresco, desiring, since it was a work to be seen from near, and of figures not higher than one braccio, that gherardi should do something beautiful in this, which was his peculiar profession. cristofano, then, executed in an oval on the vaulting a marriage with juno in the sky, and in a picture on one side hebe, goddess of youth, and on the other iris, who is pointing to the rainbow in the heavens. on the same vaulting he painted three other quadrangular pictures, two to match the others, and a larger one in a line with the oval in which is the marriage, and in the last-named picture is juno seated in a car drawn by peacocks. in one of the other two, which are on either side of that one, is the goddess of power, and in the other abundance with the cornucopia at her feet. and in two other pictures on the walls below, over the openings of two doors, are two other stories of juno--the transformation of io, the daughter of the river inachus, into a cow, and of callisto into a bear. during the execution of that work his excellency conceived a very great affection for cristofano, seeing him zealous and diligent in no ordinary manner at his work; for the morning had scarcely broken into day when cristofano would appear at his labour, of which he had such a love, and it so delighted him, that very often he would not finish dressing before setting out. and at times, nay, frequently, it happened that in his haste he put on a pair of shoes--all such things he kept under his bed--that were not fellows, but of two kinds; and more often than not he had his cloak wrong side out, with the hood on the inside. one morning, therefore, appearing at an early hour at his work, where the lord duke and the lady duchess were standing looking at it, while preparations were being made to set out for the chase, and the ladies and others of the court were making themselves ready, they noticed that cristofano had as usual his cloak wrong side out and the hood inside. at which both laughing, the duke said: "what is your idea in always wearing your cloak inside out?" "i know not, my lord," answered cristofano, "but i mean to find some day a kind of cloak that shall have neither right side nor wrong side, and shall be the same on both sides, for i have not the patience to think of wearing it in any other way, since in the morning i generally dress and go out of the house in the dark, besides that i have one eye so feeble that i can see nothing with it. but let your excellency look at what i paint, and not at my manner of dressing." the duke said nothing in answer, but within a few days he caused to be made for him a cloak of the finest cloth, with the pieces sewn and drawn together in such a manner that there was no difference to be seen between outside and inside, and the collar worked with braid in the same manner both inside and out, and so also the trimming that it had round the edges. this being finished, he sent it to cristofano by a lackey, commanding the man that he should give it to him on the part of the duke. having therefore received the cloak very early one morning, cristofano, without making any further ceremony, tried it on and then said to the lackey: "the duke is a man of sense. tell him that it suits me well." now, since cristofano was thus careless of his person and hated nothing more than to have to put on new clothes or to go about too tightly constrained and confined in them, vasari, who knew this humour of his, whenever he observed that he was in need of any new clothes, used to have them made for him in secret, and then, early one morning, used to place these in his chamber and take away the old ones; and so cristofano was forced to put on those that he found. but it was marvellous sport to stand and hear him raging with fury as he dressed himself in the new clothes. "look here," he would say, "what devilments are these? devil take it, can a man not live in his own way in this world, without the enemies of comfort giving themselves all this trouble?" one morning among others, cristofano having put on a pair of white hose, the painter domenico benci, who was also working in the palace with vasari, contrived to persuade him to go with himself, in company with other young men, to the madonna dell'impruneta. there they walked, danced, and enjoyed themselves all day, and in the evening, after supper, they returned home. then cristofano, who was tired, went off straightway to his room to sleep; but, when he set himself to take off his hose, what with their being new and his having sweated, he was not able to pull off more than one of them. now vasari, having gone in the evening to see how he was, found that he had fallen asleep with one leg covered and the other bare; whereupon, one servant holding his leg and the other pulling at the stocking, they contrived to draw it off, while he lay cursing clothes, giorgio, and him who invented such fashions as--so he said--kept men bound in chains like slaves. nay, he grumbled that he would take leave of them all and by hook or by crook return to s. giustino, where he was allowed to live in his own way and had not all these restraints; and it was the devil's own business to pacify him. it pleased him to talk seldom, and he loved that others also should be brief in speaking, insomuch that he would have gone so far as to have men's proper names very short, like that of a slave belonging to m. sforza, who was called "m." "these," said cristofano, "are fine names, and not your giovan francesco and giovanni antonio, which take an hour's work to pronounce;" and since he was a good fellow at heart, and said these things in his own jargon of the borgo, it would have made the doleful knight himself laugh. he delighted to go on feast-days to the places where legends and printed pictures were sold, and he would stay there the whole day; and if he bought some, more often than not, while he went about looking at the others, he would leave them at some place where he had been leaning. and never, unless he was forced, would he go on horseback, although he was born from a noble family in his native place and was rich enough. finally, his brother borgognone having died, he had to go to the borgo; and vasari, who had drawn much of the money of his salary and had kept it for him, said to him: "see, i have all this money of yours, it is right that you should take it with you and make use of it in your requirements." "i want no money," answered cristofano, "take it for yourself. for me it is enough to have the luck to stay with you and to live and die in your company." "it is not my custom," replied vasari, "to profit by the labour of others. if you will not have it, i shall send it to your father guido." "that you must not do," said cristofano, "for he would only waste it, as he always does." in the end, he took the money and went off to the borgo, but in poor health and with little contentment of mind; and after arriving there, what with his sorrow at the death of his brother, whom he had loved very dearly, and a cruel flux of the reins, he died in a few days, after receiving the full sacraments of the church and distributing to his family and to many poor persons the money that he had brought. he declared a little before his death that it grieved him for no other reason save that he was leaving vasari too much embarrassed by the great labours to which he had set his hand in the palace of the duke. not long afterwards, his excellency having heard of the death of cristofano, and that with true regret, he caused a head of him to be made in marble and sent it with the underwritten epitaph from florence to the borgo, where it was placed in s. francesco: d. o. m. christophoro gherardo burgensi pingendi arte prÆstantiss. quod georgius vasarius aretinus hujus artis facile princeps in exornando cosmi florentin. ducis palatio illius operam quam maxime probaverit, pictores hetrusci posuere. obiit a.d. mdlvi. vixit an. lvi, m. iii, d. vi. jacopo da pontormo [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the painting by =jacopo da pontormo=. siena: s. agostino_) _anderson_] life of jacopo da pontormo painter of florence the ancestors--or rather, the elders of bartolommeo di jacopo di martino, the father of jacopo da pontormo, whose life we are now about to write--had their origin, so some declare, in ancisa, a township in the upper valdarno, famous enough because from it the ancestors of messer francesco petrarca likewise derived their origin. but, whether it was from there or from some other place that his elders came, the above-named bartolommeo, who was a florentine, and, so i have been told, of the family of the carrucci, is said to have been a disciple of domenico ghirlandajo, and, after executing many works in the valdarno, as a painter passing able for those times, to have finally made his way to empoli to carry out certain labours, living there and in the neighbouring places, and taking to wife at pontormo a most virtuous girl of good condition, called alessandra, the daughter of pasquale di zanobi and of his wife monna brigida. to this bartolommeo, then, there was born in the year our jacopo. but the father having died in the year , the mother in the year , and the grandfather in the year , jacopo was left to the care of his grandmother, monna brigida, who kept him for several years at pontormo, and had him taught reading, writing, and the first rudiments of latin grammar; and finally, at the age of thirteen, he was taken by the same guardian to florence, and placed with the pupilli, to the end that his small property might be safeguarded and preserved by that board, as is the custom. and after settling the boy himself in the house of one battista, a shoemaker distantly related to him, monna brigida returned to pontormo, taking with her a sister of jacopo's. but not long after that, monna brigida herself having died, jacopo was forced to bring that sister to florence, and to place her in the house of a kinsman called niccolaio, who lived in the via de' servi; and the girl, also, following the rest of her family, died in the year , before ever she was married. but to return to jacopo; he had not been many months in florence when he was placed by bernardo vettori with leonardo da vinci, and shortly afterwards with mariotto albertinelli, then with piero di cosimo, and finally, in the year , with andrea del sarto, with whom, likewise, he did not stay long, for the reason that, after jacopo had executed the cartoons of the little arch for the servites, of which there will be an account below, it appears that andrea never again looked favourably upon him, whatever may have been the reason. the first work, then, that jacopo executed at that time was a little annunciation for one his friend, a tailor; but the tailor having died before the work was finished, it remained in the hands of jacopo, who was at that time with mariotto, and mariotto took pride in it, and showed it as a rare work to all who entered his workshop. now raffaello da urbino, coming in those days to florence, saw with infinite marvel the work and the lad who had done it, and prophesied of jacopo that which was afterwards seen to come true. not long afterwards, mariotto having departed from florence and gone to viterbo to execute the panel-picture that fra bartolommeo had begun there, jacopo, who was young, solitary, and melancholy, being thus left without a master, went by himself to work under andrea del sarto, at the very moment when andrea had finished the stories of s. filippo in the court of the servites, which pleased jacopo vastly, as did all his other works and his whole manner and design. jacopo having then set himself to make every effort to imitate him, no long time passed before it was seen that he had made marvellous progress in drawing and colouring, insomuch that from his facility it seemed as if he had been many years in art. now andrea had finished in those days a panel-picture of the annunciation for the church of the friars of s. gallo, which is now destroyed, as has been related in his life; and he gave the predella of that panel-picture to jacopo to execute in oils. jacopo painted in it a dead christ, with two little angels who are weeping over him and illuminating him with two torches, and, in two round pictures at the sides, two prophets, which were executed by him so ably, that they have the appearance of having been painted not by a mere lad but by a practised master; but it may also be, as bronzino says, that he remembers having heard from jacopo da pontormo himself that rosso likewise worked on this predella. and even as andrea was assisted by jacopo in executing the predella, so also was he aided by him in finishing the many pictures and works that andrea continually had in hand. in the meantime, cardinal giovanni de' medici having been elected supreme pontiff under the title of leo x, there were being made all over florence by the friends and adherents of that house many escutcheons of the pontiff, in stone, in marble, on canvas, and in fresco. wherefore the servite friars, wishing to give some sign of their service and devotion to that house and pontiff, caused the arms of leo to be made in stone, and placed in the centre of the arch in the first portico of the nunziata, which is on the piazza; and shortly afterwards they arranged that it should be overlaid with gold by the painter andrea di cosimo, and adorned with grotesques, of which he was an excellent master, and with the devices of the house of medici, and that, in addition, on either side of it there should be painted a faith and a charity. but andrea di cosimo, knowing that he was not able to execute all these things by himself, thought of giving the two figures to some other to do; and so, having sent for jacopo, who was then not more than nineteen years of age, he gave him those two figures to execute, although he had no little trouble to persuade him to undertake to do it, seeing that, being a mere lad, he did not wish to expose himself at the outset to such a risk, or to work in a place of so much importance. however, having taken heart, although he was not as well practised in fresco as in oil-painting, jacopo undertook to paint those two figures. and, withdrawing--for he was still working with andrea del sarto--to draw the cartoons at s. antonio by the porta a faenza, where he lived, in a short time he carried them to completion; which done, one day he took his master andrea to see them. andrea, after seeing them with infinite marvel and amazement, praised them vastly; but afterwards, as has been related, whether it was from envy or from some other reason, he never again looked with a kindly eye on jacopo; nay, jacopo going several times to his workshop, either the door was not opened to him or he was mocked at by the assistants, insomuch that he retired altogether by himself, beginning to live on the least that he could, for he was very poor, and to study with the greatest assiduity. [illustration: duke cosimo i. de' medici (_after the painting by =jacopo da pontormo=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] when andrea di cosimo, then, had finished gilding the escutcheon and all the eaves, jacopo set to work all by himself to finish the rest; and being carried away by the desire to make a name, by his joy in working, and by nature, which had endowed him with extraordinary grace and fertility of genius, he executed that work with incredible rapidity and with such perfection as could not have been surpassed by an old, well-practised, and excellent master. wherefore, growing in courage through this experience, and thinking that he could do a much better work, he took it into his head that he would throw to the ground all that he had done, without saying a word to anyone, and paint it all over again after another design that he had in his brain. but in the meantime the friars, having seen that the work was finished and that jacopo came no more to his labour, sought out andrea, and so pestered him that he resolved to uncover it. having therefore looked for jacopo, in order to ask him whether he wished to do any more to the work, and not finding him, for the reason that he stayed shut up over his new design and would not answer to anyone, andrea had the screen and scaffolding removed and the work uncovered. the same evening jacopo, having issued from his house in order to go to the servite convent, and, when it should be night, to throw to the ground the work that he had done, and to put into execution the new design, found the scaffolding taken away and everything uncovered, and a multitude of people all around gazing at the work. whereupon, full of fury, he sought out andrea, and complained of his having uncovered it without his consent, going on to describe what he had in mind to do. to which andrea answered, laughing: "you are wrong to complain, because the work that you have done is so good that, if you had it to do again, you may take my word for it that you would not be able to do it better. you will not want for work, so keep these designs for another occasion." that work, as may be seen, was of such a kind and so beautiful, what with the novelty of the manner, the sweetness in the heads of those two women, and the loveliness of the graceful and lifelike children, that it was the most beautiful work in fresco that had ever been seen up to that time; and, besides the children with the charity, there are two others in the air holding a piece of drapery over the escutcheon of the pope, who are so beautiful that nothing better could be done, not to mention that all the figures have very strong relief and are so executed in colouring and in every other respect that one is not able to praise them enough. and michelagnolo buonarroti, seeing the work one day, and reflecting that a youth of nineteen had done it, said: "this young man, judging from what may be seen here, will become such that, if he lives and perseveres, he will exalt this art to the heavens." this renown and fame being heard by the men of pontormo, they sent for jacopo, and commissioned him to execute in their stronghold, over a gate placed on the main road, an escutcheon of pope leo with two little boys, which was very beautiful; but already it has been little less than ruined by rain. [illustration: the visitation (_after the fresco by =jacopo da pontormo=. florence: ss. annunziata, cloister_) _anderson_] at the carnival in the same year, all florence being gay and full of rejoicing at the election of the above-named leo x, many festive spectacles were ordained, and among them two of great beauty and extraordinary cost, which were given by two companies of noblemen and gentlemen of the city. one of these, which was called the diamante,[ ] had for its head the brother of the pope, signor giuliano de' medici, who had given it that name because the diamond had been a device of his father, the elder lorenzo; and the head of the other, which had as name and device the broncone,[ ] was signor lorenzo, the son of piero de' medici, who had for his device a broncone--that is, a dried trunk of laurel growing green again with leaves, as it were to signify that he was reviving and restoring the name of his grandfather. [footnote : diamond.] [footnote : trunk or branch.] by the company of the diamante, then, a commission was given to m. andrea dazzi, who was then lecturing on greek and latin letters at the studio in florence, to look to the invention of a triumphal procession; whereupon he arranged one similar to those that the romans used to have for their triumphs, with three very beautiful cars wrought in wood, and painted with rich and beautiful art. in the first was boyhood, with a most beautiful array of boys. in the second was manhood, with many persons who had done great things in their manly prime. and in the third was old age, with many famous men who had performed great achievements in their last years. all these persons were very richly apparelled, insomuch that it was thought that nothing better could be done. the architects of these cars were raffaello delle vivole, il carota the wood-carver, the painter andrea di cosimo, and andrea del sarto; those who arranged and prepared the dresses of the figures were ser piero da vinci, the father of leonardo, and bernardino di giordano, both men of beautiful ingenuity; and to jacopo da pontormo alone it fell to paint all the three cars, wherein he executed various scenes in chiaroscuro of the transformations of the gods into different forms, which are now in the possession of pietro paolo galeotto, an excellent goldsmith. the first car bore, written in very clear characters, the word "erimus," the second "sumus," and the third "fuimus"--that is, "we shall be," "we are," and "we have been." the song began, "the years fly on...." having seen these triumphal cars, signor lorenzo, the head of the company of the broncone, desiring that they should be surpassed, gave the charge of the whole work to jacopo nardi, a noble and most learned gentleman, to whom, for what he afterwards became, his native city of florence is much indebted. this jacopo prepared six triumphal cars, in order to double the number of those executed by the diamante. the first, drawn by a pair of oxen decked with herbage, represented the age of saturn and janus, called the age of gold; and on the summit of the car were saturn with the scythe, and janus with the two heads and with the key of the temple of peace in the hand, and at his feet a figure of fury bound, with a vast number of things around appertaining to saturn, all executed most beautifully in different colours by the genius of pontormo. accompanying this car were six couples of shepherds, naked but for certain parts covered by skins of marten and sable, with footwear of various kinds after the ancient manner, and with their wallets, and on their heads garlands of many kinds of leaves. the horses on which these shepherds sat were without saddles, but covered with skins of lions, tigers, and lynxes, the paws of which, overlaid with gold, hung at their sides with much grace and beauty. the ornaments of their croups and of the grooms were of gold cord, the stirrups were heads of rams, dogs, and other suchlike animals, and the bridles and reins made with silver cord and various kinds of verdure. each shepherd had four grooms in the garb of shepherd-boys, dressed more simply in other skins, with torches fashioned in the form of dry trunks and branches of pine, which made a most beautiful sight. upon the second car, drawn by two pairs of oxen draped in the richest cloth, with garlands on their heads and great paternosters hanging from their gilded horns, was numa pompilius, the second king of rome, with the books of religion and all the sacerdotal instruments and the things appertaining to sacrifices, for the reason that he was the originator and first founder of religion and sacrifices among the romans. this car was accompanied by six priests on most beautiful she-mules, their heads covered with hoods of linen embroidered with silver and gold in a masterly pattern of ivy-leaves; and on their bodies they had sacerdotal vestments in the ancient fashion, with borders and fringes of gold all round, and in the hands one had a thurible, another a vase of gold, and the rest other similar things. at their stirrups they had attendants in the guise of levites, and the torches that these had in their hands were after the manner of ancient candelabra, and wrought with beautiful artistry. the third car represented the consulate of titus manlius torquatus, who was consul after the end of the first carthaginian war, and governed in such a manner, that in his time there flourished in rome every virtue and every blessing. that car, upon which was titus himself, with many ornaments executed by pontormo, was drawn by eight most beautiful horses, and before it went six couples of senators clad in the toga, on horses covered with cloth of gold, accompanied by a great number of grooms representing lictors, with the fasces, axes, and other things appertaining to the administration of justice. the fourth car, drawn by four buffaloes disguised as elephants, represented julius cæsar in triumph for the victory gained over cleopatra, the car being all painted by pontormo with his most famous deeds. that car was accompanied by six couples of men-at-arms clad in rich and brightly shining armour all bordered with gold, with their lances on their hips; and the torches that the half-armed grooms carried had the form of trophies, designed in various ways. the fifth car, drawn by winged horses that had the form of gryphons, bore upon it cæsar augustus, the lord of the universe, accompanied by six couples of poets on horseback, all crowned, as was also cæsar, with laurel, and dressed in costumes varying according to their provinces; and these were there because poets were always much favoured by cæsar augustus, whom they exalted with their works to the heavens. and to the end that they might be recognized, each of them had across his forehead a scroll after the manner of a fillet, on which was his name. on the sixth car, drawn by four pairs of heifers richly draped, was trajan, that just emperor, before whom, as he sat on the car, which was painted very well by pontormo, there rode upon beautiful and finely caparisoned horses six couples of doctors of law, with togas reaching to their feet and with capes of miniver, such as it was the ancient custom for doctors to wear. the grooms who carried their torches, a great number, were scriveners, copyists, and notaries, with books and writings in their hands. after these six came the car, or rather, triumphal chariot, of the age or era of gold, wrought with the richest and most beautiful artistry, with many figures in relief executed by baccio bandinelli, and very beautiful paintings by the hand of pontormo; among those in relief the four cardinal virtues being highly extolled. from the centre of the car rose a great sphere in the form of a globe of the world, upon which there lay prostrate on his face, as if dead, a man clad in armour all eaten with rust, who had the back open and cleft, and from the fissure there issued a child all naked and gilded, who represented the new birth of the age of gold and the end of the age of iron, from which he was coming forth into that new birth by reason of the election of that pontiff; and this same significance had the dry trunk putting forth new leaves, although some said that the matter of that dry trunk was an allusion to the lorenzo de' medici who became duke of urbino. i should mention that the gilded boy, who was the son of a baker, died shortly afterwards through the sufferings that he endured in order to gain ten crowns. the chant that was sung in that masquerade, as is the custom, was composed by the above-named jacopo nardi, and the first stanza ran thus: colui che da le leggi alla natura e i varii stati e secoli dispone, d'ogni bene è cagione; e il mal, quanto permette, al mondo dura; onde questa figura contemplando si vede, come con certo piede l'un secol dopo l'altro al mondo viene e muta il bene in male, e 'l male in bene. from the works that he executed for this festival pontormo gained, besides the profit, so much praise, that probably few young men of his age ever gained as much in that city; wherefore, pope leo himself afterwards coming to florence, he was much employed in the festive preparations that were made, for he had attached himself to baccio da montelupo, a sculptor advanced in years, who made an arch of wood at the head of the via del palagio, at the steps of the badia, and pontormo painted it all with very beautiful scenes, which afterwards came to an evil end through the scant diligence of those who had charge of them. only one remained, that in which pallas is tuning an instrument into accord with the lyre of apollo, with great grace and beauty; from which scene one is able to judge what excellence and perfection were in the other works and figures. for the same festivities ridolfo ghirlandajo had received the task of fitting up and embellishing the sala del papa, which is attached to the convent of s. maria novella, and was formerly the residence of the pontiffs in the city of florence; but being pressed for time, he was forced to avail himself in some things of the work of others, and thus, after having adorned all the other rooms, he laid on jacopo da pontormo the charge of executing some pictures in fresco in the chapel where his holiness was to hear mass every morning. whereupon, setting his hand to the work, jacopo painted there a god the father with many little angels, and a veronica who had the sudarium with the image of jesus christ; which work, thus executed by jacopo in so short a time, was much extolled. he then painted in fresco, in a chapel of the church of s. ruffillo, behind the archbishop's palace in florence, our lady with her son in her arms between s. michelagnolo and s. lucia, and two other saints kneeling; and, in the lunette of the chapel, a god the father with some seraphim about him. next, having been commissioned by maestro jacopo, a servite friar, as he had greatly desired, to paint a part of the court of the servites, because andrea del sarto had gone off to france and left the work of that court unfinished, he set himself with much study to make the cartoons. but since he was poorly provided with the things of this world, and was obliged, while studying in order to win honour, to have something to live upon, he executed over the door of the hospital for women--behind the church of the priest's hospital, between the piazza di s. marco and the via di s. gallo, and exactly opposite to the wall of the sisters of s. catharine of siena--two most beautiful figures in chiaroscuro, with christ in the guise of a pilgrim awaiting certain women in order to give them hospitality and lodging; which work was deservedly much extolled in those days, as it still is, by all good judges. at this same time he painted some pictures and little scenes in oils for the masters of the mint, on the carro della moneta, which goes every year in the procession of s. john; the workmanship of which car was by the hand of marco del tasso. and over the door of the company of cecilia, on the heights of fiesole, he painted a s. cecilia with some roses in her hand, coloured in fresco, and so beautiful and so well suited to that place, that, for a work of that kind, it is one of the best paintings in fresco that there are to be seen. these works having been seen by the above-named servite friar, maestro jacopo, he became even more ardent in his desire, and he determined at all costs to cause jacopo to finish the work in that court of the servites, thinking that in emulation of the other masters who had worked there he would execute something of extraordinary beauty in the part that remained to be painted. having therefore set his hand to it, from a desire no less of glory and honour than of gain, jacopo painted the scene of the visitation of the madonna, in a manner a little freer and more lively than had been his wont up to that time; which circumstance gave an infinite excellence to the work, in addition to its other extraordinary beauties, in that the women, little boys, youths, and old men are executed in fresco with such softness and such harmony of colouring, that it is a thing to marvel at, and the flesh-colours of a little boy who is seated on some steps, and, indeed, those likewise of all the other figures, are such that they could not be done better or with more softness in fresco. this work, then, after the others that jacopo had executed, gave a sure earnest of his future perfection to the craftsmen, comparing them with those of andrea del sarto and franciabigio. jacopo delivered the work finished in the year , and received in payment sixteen crowns and no more. having then been allotted by francesco pucci, if i remember rightly, the altar-piece of a chapel that he had caused to be built in s. michele bisdomini in the via de' servi, jacopo executed the work in so beautiful a manner, and with a colouring so vivid, that it seems almost impossible to credit it. in this altar-piece our lady, who is seated, is handing the infant jesus to s. joseph, in whose countenance there is a smile so animated and so lifelike that it is a marvel; and very beautiful, likewise, is a little boy painted to represent s. john the baptist, and also two other little children, naked, who are upholding a canopy. there may be seen also a s. john the evangelist, a most beautiful old man, and a s. francis kneeling, who is absolutely alive, for, with the fingers of one hand interlocked with those of the other, and wholly intent in contemplating fixedly with his eyes and his mind the virgin and her son, he appears really to be breathing. and no less beautiful is the s. james who may be seen beside the others. wherefore it is no marvel that this is the most beautiful altar-piece that was ever executed by this truly rare painter. i used to believe that it was after this work, and not before, that the same jacopo had painted in fresco the two most lovely and graceful little boys who are supporting a coat of arms over a door within a passage on the lungarno, between the ponte s. trinita and the ponte alla carraja, for bartolommeo lanfredini; but since bronzino, who may be supposed to know the truth about these matters, declares that they were among the first works that jacopo executed, we must believe that this is so without a doubt, and praise pontormo for them all the more, seeing that they are so beautiful that they cannot be matched, and yet were among the earliest works that he did. but to resume the order of our story: after these works, jacopo executed for the men of pontormo an altar-piece wherein are s. michelagnolo and s. john the evangelist, which was placed in the chapel of the madonna in s. agnolo, their principal church. at this time one of two young men who were working under jacopo--that is, giovan maria pichi of borgo a s. sepolcro, who was acquitting himself passing well, and who afterwards became a servite friar, and executed some works in the borgo and in the pieve a s. stefano--while still working, i say, under jacopo, painted in a large picture a nude s. quentin in martyrdom, in order to send it to the borgo. but since jacopo, like a loving master to his disciple, desired that giovan maria should win honour and praise, he set himself to retouch it, and so, not being able to take his hands off it, and retouching one day the head, the next day the arms, and the day after the body, the retouching became such that it may almost be said that the work is entirely by his hand. wherefore it is no marvel that this picture, which is now in the church of the observantine friars of s. francis in the borgo, is most beautiful. [illustration: joseph and his kindred in egypt (_after the painting by =jacopo da pontormo=. london: national gallery, _) _hanfstaengl_] the second of the two young men, who was giovanni antonio lappoli of arezzo, of whom there has been an account in another place, like a vain fellow had taken a portrait of himself with a mirror, also while he was working under jacopo. but his master, thinking that the portrait was a poor likeness, took it in hand himself, and executed a portrait that is so good that it has the appearance of life; which portrait is now at arezzo, in the house of the heirs of that giovanni antonio. pontormo also portrayed in one and the same picture two of his dearest friends--one the son-in-law of beccuccio bicchieraio, and another, whose name likewise i do not know; it is enough that the portraits are by the hand of pontormo. he then executed for bartolommeo ginori, in anticipation of his death, a string of pennons, according to the custom of the florentines; and in the upper part of all these, on the white taffeta, he painted a madonna with the child, and on the coloured fringe below he painted the arms of that family, as is the custom. for the centre of the string, which was of twenty-four pennons, he made two all of white taffeta without any fringe, on which he painted two figures of s. bartholomew, each two braccia high. the size of all these pennons and their almost novel manner caused all the others that had been made up to that time to appear poor and mean; and this was the reason that they began to be made of the size that they are at the present day, with great grace and much less expense for gold. at the head of the garden and vineyard of the friars of s. gallo, without the gate that is called after that saint, in a chapel that is in a line with the central entrance, he painted a dead christ, a madonna weeping, and two little angels in the air, one of whom was holding the chalice of the passion in his hands, and the other was supporting the fallen head of christ. on one side was s. john the evangelist, all tearful, with the arms stretched out, and on the other s. augustine in episcopal robes, who, leaning with the left hand on the pastoral staff, stood in an attitude truly full of sorrow, contemplating the dead saviour. and for messer spina, the familiar friend of giovanni salviati, he executed in a courtyard, opposite to the principal door of his house, the coat of arms of that giovanni (who had been made a cardinal in those days by pope leo), with the red hat above and two little boys standing--works in fresco which are very beautiful, and much esteemed by messer filippo spina, as being by the hand of pontormo. jacopo also worked, in competition with other masters, on the ornamentation in wood that was formerly executed in a magnificent manner, as has been related elsewhere, in some apartments of pier francesco borgherini; and, in particular, he painted there with his own hand on two coffers some stories from the life of joseph in little figures, which were truly most beautiful. and whoever wishes to see the best work that he ever did in all his life, in order to consider how able and masterly was jacopo in giving liveliness to heads, in grouping figures, in varying attitudes, and in beauty of invention, let him look at a scene of some size, likewise in little figures, in the corner on the left hand as one enters through the door, in the chamber of borgherini, who was a nobleman of florence; in which scene is joseph in egypt, as it were a prince or a king, in the act of receiving his father jacob with all his brethren, the sons of that jacob, with extraordinary affection. among these figures he portrayed at the foot of the scene, seated upon some steps, il bronzino, who was then a boy and his disciple--a figure with a basket, which is lifelike and beautiful to a marvel. and if this scene were on a greater scale, on a large panel or a wall, instead of being small, i would venture to say that it would not be possible to find another picture executed with the grace, excellence, and even perfection wherewith this one was painted by jacopo; wherefore it was rightly regarded by all craftsmen as the most beautiful picture that pontormo ever executed. nor is it to be wondered at that borgherini should have prized it as he did, and should have been besought to sell it by great persons as a present for mighty lords and princes. [illustration: vertumnus fresco (detail) (_after =jacopo da pontormo=. poggio a caiano: villa reale_) _alinari_] on account of the siege of florence pier francesco retired to lucca, and giovan battista della palla, who desired to obtain, together with other things that he was transporting into france, the decorations of this chamber, so that they might be presented to king francis in the name of the signoria, received such favours, and went to work so effectively with both words and deeds, that the gonfalonier granted a commission that they should be taken away after payment to the wife of pier francesco. whereupon some others went with giovan battista to execute the will of the signori; but, when they arrived at the house of pier francesco, his wife, who was in the house, poured on giovan battista the greatest abuse that was ever spoken to any man. "so you make bold, giovan battista," said she, "you vile slop-dealer, you little twopenny pedlar, to strip the ornaments from the chambers of noblemen and despoil our city of her richest and most honoured treasures, as you have done and are always doing, in order to embellish with them the countries of foreigners, our enemies! at you i do not marvel, you, a base plebeian and the enemy of your country, but at the magistrates of this city, who aid and abet you in these shameful rascalities. this bed, which you would seize for your own private interest and for greed of gain, although you keep your evil purpose cloaked with a veil of righteousness, this is the bed of my nuptials, in honour of which my husband's father, salvi, made all these magnificent and regal decorations, which i revere in memory of him and from love for my husband, and mean to defend with my very blood and with life itself. out of this house with these your cut-throats, giovan battista, and go to those who sent you with orders that these things should be removed from their places, for i am not the woman to suffer a single thing to be moved from here. if they who believe in you, a vile creature of no account, wish to make presents to king francis of france, let them go and strip their own houses, and take the ornaments and beds from their own chambers, and send them to him. and you, if you are ever again so bold as to come to this house on such an errand, i will make you smart sorely for it, and teach you what respect should be paid by such as you to the houses of noblemen." thus spoke madonna margherita, the wife of pier francesco borgherini, and the daughter of ruberto acciaiuoli, a most noble and wise citizen; and she, a truly courageous woman and a worthy daughter of such a father, with her noble ardour and spirit, was the reason that those gems are still preserved in that house. giovan maria benintendi, about this same time, had adorned an antechamber in his house with many pictures by the hands of various able men; and after the work executed for borgherini, incited by hearing jacopo da pontormo very highly praised, he caused a picture to be painted by him with the adoration of the magi, who went to bethlehem to see christ; which work, since jacopo devoted to it much study and diligence, proved to be well varied and beautiful in the heads and in every other part, and to be truly worthy of all praise. afterwards he executed for messer goro da pistoia, then secretary to the medici, a picture with the portrait of the magnificent cosimo de' medici, the elder, from the knees upwards, which is indeed worthy to be extolled; and this portrait is now in the house of messer ottaviano de' medici, in the possession of his son, messer alessandro, a young man--besides the distinction and nobility of his blood--of most upright character, well lettered, and the worthy son of the magnificent ottaviano and of madonna francesca, the daughter of jacopo salviati and the maternal aunt of the lord duke cosimo. by means of this work, and particularly this head of cosimo, pontormo became the friend of messer ottaviano; and the great hall at poggio a caiano having then to be painted, there were given to him to paint the two ends where the round openings are that give light--that is, the windows--from the vaulting down to the floor. whereupon, desiring to do himself honour even beyond his wont, both from regard for the place and from emulation of the other painters who were working there, he set himself to study with such diligence, that he overshot the mark, for the reason that, destroying and doing over again every day what he had done the day before, he racked his brains in such a manner that it was a tragedy; but all the time he was always making new discoveries, which brought credit to himself and beauty to the work. thus, having to execute a vertumnus with his husbandmen, he painted a peasant seated with a vine-pruner in his hand, which is so beautiful and so well done that it is a very rare thing, even as certain children that are there are lifelike and natural beyond all belief. on the other side he painted pomona and diana, with other goddesses, enveloping them perhaps too abundantly with draperies. however, the work as a whole is beautiful and much extolled; but while it was being executed leo was overtaken by death, and so it remained unfinished, like many other similar works at rome, florence, loreto, and other places; nay, the whole world was left poor, being robbed of the true mæcenas of men of talent. [illustration: vertumnus fresco (detail) (_after =jacopo da pontormo=. poggio a caiano: villa reale_) _alinari_] having returned to florence, jacopo painted in a picture a seated figure of s. augustine as a bishop, who is giving the benediction, with two little nude angels flying through the air, who are very beautiful; which picture is over an altar in the little church of the sisters of s. clemente in the via di s. gallo. he carried to completion, likewise, a picture of a pietà with certain nude angels, which was a very beautiful work, and held very dear by certain merchants of ragusa, for whom he painted it; but most beautiful of all in this picture was a landscape taken for the most part from an engraving by albrecht dürer. he also painted a picture of our lady with the child in her arms, and some little angels about her, which is now in the house of alessandro neroni; and for certain spaniards he executed another like it--that is, of the madonna--but different from the one described above and in another manner, which picture, being for sale in a second-hand dealer's shop many years after, was bought by bartolommeo panciatichi at the suggestion of bronzino. then, in the year , there being a slight outbreak of plague in florence, and many persons therefore departing in order to avoid that most infectious sickness and to save themselves, an occasion presented itself to jacopo of flying the city and removing himself to some distance, for a certain prior of the certosa, a place built by the acciaiuoli three miles away from florence, had to have some pictures painted in fresco at the corners of a very large and beautiful cloister that surrounds a lawn, and jacopo was brought to his notice; whereupon the prior had him sought out, and he, having accepted the work very willingly at such a time, went off to certosa, taking with him only bronzino. there, after a trial of that mode of life, that quiet, that silence, and that solitude--all things after the taste and nature of jacopo--he thought with such an occasion to make a special effort in the matters of art, and to show to the world that he had acquired greater perfection and a different manner since those works that he had executed before. now not long before there had come from germany to florence many sheets printed from engravings done with great subtlety with the burin by albrecht dürer, a most excellent german painter and a rare engraver of plates on copper and on wood; and, among others, many scenes, both large and small, of the passion of jesus christ, in which was all the perfection and excellence of engraving with the burin that could ever be achieved, what with the beauty and variety of the vestments and the invention. jacopo, having to paint at the corners of those cloisters scenes from the passion of the saviour, thought to avail himself of the above-named inventions of albrecht dürer, in the firm belief that he would satisfy not only himself but also the greater part of the craftsmen of florence, who were all proclaiming with one voice and with common consent and agreement the beauty of those engravings and the excellence of albrecht. setting himself therefore to imitate that manner, and seeking to give to the expressions of the heads of his figures that liveliness and variety which albrecht had given to his, he caught it so thoroughly, that the charm of his own early manner, which had been given to him by nature, all full of sweetness and grace, suffered a great change from that new study and labour, and was so impaired through his stumbling on that german manner, that in all these works, although they are all beautiful, there is but a sorry remnant to be seen of that excellence and grace that he had given up to that time to all his figures. at the entrance to the cloister, then, in one corner, he painted christ in the garden, counterfeiting so well the darkness of night illumined by the light of the moon, that it appears almost like daylight; and while christ is praying, not far distant are peter, james, and john sleeping, executed in a manner so similar to that of dürer, that it is a marvel. not far away is judas leading the jews, likewise with a countenance so strange, even as the features of all those soldiers are depicted in the german manner with bizarre expressions, that it moves him who beholds it to pity for the simplicity of the man, who sought with such patience to learn that which others avoid and seek to lose, and all to lose the manner that surpassed all others in excellence and gave infinite pleasure to everyone. did not pontormo know, then, that the germans and flemings came to these parts to learn the italian manner, which he with such effort sought to abandon as if it were bad? beside this scene is one in which is christ led by the jews before pilate, and in the saviour he painted all the humility that could possibly be imagined in the person of innocence betrayed by the sins of men, and in the wife of pilate that pity and dread for themselves which those have who fear the divine judgment; which woman, while she pleads the cause of christ before her husband, gazes into his countenance with pitying wonder. round pilate are some soldiers so characteristic in the expressions of the faces and in the german garments, that one who knew not by whose hand was that work would believe it to have been executed in reality by ultramontanes. it is true, indeed, that in the distance in this scene there is a cup-bearer of pilate's that is descending some steps with a basin and a ewer in his hands, carrying to his master the means to wash the hands, who is lifelike and very beautiful, having in him something of the old manner of jacopo. having next to paint the resurrection of christ in one of the other corners, the fancy came to jacopo, as to one who had no steadfastness in his brain and was always cogitating new things, to change his colouring; and so he executed that work with a colouring in fresco so soft and so good, that, if he had done the work in another manner than that same german, it would certainly have been very beautiful, for in the heads of those soldiers, who are in various attitudes, heavy with sleep, and as it were dead, there may be seen such excellence, that one cannot believe that it is possible to do better. then, continuing the stories of the passion in another of the corners, he painted christ going with the cross upon his shoulder to mount calvary, and behind him the people of jerusalem, accompanying him; and in front are the two thieves, naked, between the ministers of justice, who are partly on foot and partly on horseback, with the ladders, the inscription for the cross, hammers, nails, cords, and other suchlike instruments. and in the highest part, behind a little hill, is the madonna with the maries, who, weeping, are awaiting christ, who has fallen to the ground in the middle of the scene, and has about him many jews that are smiting him, while veronica is offering to him the sudarium, accompanied by some women both young and old, all weeping at the outrage that they see being done to the saviour. this scene, either because he was warned by his friends, or perhaps because jacopo himself at last became aware, although tardily, of the harm that had been done to his own sweet manner by the study of the german, proved to be much better than the others executed in the same place, for the reason that certain naked jews and some heads of old men are so well painted in fresco, that it would not be possible to do more, although the same german manner may be seen constantly maintained in the work as a whole. after these he was to have gone on with the crucifixion and the deposition from the cross in the other corners; but, putting them aside for a time, with the intention of executing them last, he painted in their stead christ taken down from the cross, keeping to the same manner, but with great harmony of colouring. in this scene, besides that the magdalene, who is kissing the feet of christ, is most beautiful, there are two old men, representing joseph of arimathæa and nicodemus, who, although they are in the german manner, have the most beautiful expressions and heads of old men, with beards feathery and coloured with marvellous softness, that there are to be seen. now jacopo, besides being generally slow over his works, was pleased with the solitude of the certosa, and he therefore spent several years on these labours; and, after the plague had finished and he had returned to florence, he did not for that reason cease to frequent that place constantly, and was always going and coming between the certosa and the city. proceeding thus, he satisfied those fathers in many things, and, among others, he painted in their church, over one of the doors that lead into the chapels, in a figure from the waist upwards, the portrait of a lay-brother of that monastery, who was alive at that time and one hundred and twenty years old, executing it so well and with such finish, such vivacity, and such animation, that through it alone pontormo deserves to be excused for the strange and fantastic new manner with which he was saddled by that solitude and by living far from the commerce of men. besides this, he painted for the prior of that place a picture of the nativity of christ, representing joseph as giving light to jesus christ in the darkness of the night with a lantern, and this in pursuit of the same notions and caprices which the german engravings put into his head. now let no one believe that jacopo is to blame because he imitated albrecht dürer in his inventions, for the reason that this is no error, and many painters have done it and are continually doing it; but only because he adopted the unmixed german manner in everything, in the draperies, in the expressions of the heads, and in the attitudes, which he should have avoided, availing himself only of the inventions, since he had the modern manner in all the fullness of its beauty and grace. for the stranger's apartment of the same monks he painted a large picture on canvas and in oil-colours, without straining himself at all or forcing his natural powers, of christ at table with cleophas and luke, figures of the size of life; and since in this work he followed the bent of his own genius, it proved to be truly marvellous, particularly because he portrayed among those who are serving at that table some lay-brothers of the convent, whom i myself have known, in such a manner that they could not be either more lifelike or more animated than they are. bronzino, meanwhile (that is, while his master was executing the works described above in the certosa), pursuing with great spirit the studies of painting, and encouraged all the time by pontormo, who was very loving with his disciples, executed on the inner side over an arch above the door of the cloister that leads into the church, without having ever seen the process of painting in oil-colours on the wall, a nude s. laurence on the gridiron, which was so beautiful that there began to be seen some indication of that excellence to which he has since attained, as will be related in the proper place; which circumstance gave infinite satisfaction to jacopo, who already saw whither that genius would arrive. not long afterwards there returned from rome lodovico di gino capponi, who had bought that chapel in s. felicita, on the right hand of the entrance into the church, which the barbadori had formerly caused to be built by filippo di ser brunellesco; and he resolved to have all the vaulting painted, and then to have an altar-piece executed for it, with a rich ornament. having therefore consulted in the matter with m. niccolò vespucci, knight of rhodes, who was much his friend, the knight, who was also much the friend of jacopo, and knew, into the bargain, the talent and worth of that able man, did and said so much that lodovico allotted that work to pontormo. and so, having erected an enclosure, which kept that chapel closed for three years, he set his hand to the work. on the vaulted ceiling he painted a god the father, who has about him four very beautiful patriarchs; and in the four medallions at the angles he depicted the four evangelists, or rather, he executed three of them with his own hand, and bronzino one all by himself. and with this occasion i must mention that pontormo used scarcely ever to allow himself to be helped by his assistants, or to suffer them to lay a hand on that which he intended to execute with his own hand; and when he did wish to avail himself of one of them, chiefly in order that they might learn, he allowed them to do the whole work by themselves, as he allowed bronzino to do here. in the works that jacopo executed in the said chapel up to this point, it seemed almost as if he had returned to his first manner; but he did not follow the same method in painting the altar-piece, for, thinking always of new things, he executed it without shadows, and with a colouring so bright and so uniform, that one can scarcely distinguish the lights from the middle tints, and the middle tints from the darks. in this altar-piece is a dead christ taken down from the cross and being carried to the sepulchre. there is the madonna who is swooning, and the maries, all executed in a fashion so different from his first work, that it is clearly evident that his brain was always busy investigating new conceptions and fantastic methods of painting, not being content with, and not fixing on, any single method. in a word, the composition of this altar-piece is altogether different from the figures on the vaulting, and likewise the colouring; and the four evangelists, which are in the medallions on the spandrels of the vaulting, are much better and in a different manner. [illustration: the descent from the cross (_after the painting by =jacopo da pontormo=. florence: s. felicita_) _alinari_] on the wall where the window is are two figures in fresco, on one side the virgin, and on the other the angel, who is bringing her the annunciation, but so distorted, both the one and the other, that it is evident that, as i have said, that bizarre and fantastic brain was never content with anything. and in order to be able to do as he pleased in this, and to avoid having his attention distracted by anyone, all the time that he was executing this work he would never allow even the owner of the chapel himself to see it, insomuch that, having painted it after his own fancy, without any of his friends having been able to give him a single hint, when it was finally uncovered and seen, it amazed all florence. for the same lodovico he executed a picture of our lady in that same manner for his chamber, and in the head of a s. mary magdalene he made the portrait of a daughter of lodovico, who was a very beautiful young woman. near the monastery of boldrone, on the road that goes from there to castello, and at the corner of another that climbs the hill and goes to cercina (that is, at a distance of two miles from florence), he painted in fresco in a shrine christ crucified, our lady weeping, s. john the evangelist, s. augustine, and s. giuliano; all which figures, his caprice not being yet satisfied, and the german manner still pleasing him, are not very different from those that he executed at the certosa. he did the same, also, in an altar-piece that he painted for the nuns of s. anna, at the porta a s. friano, in which altar-piece is our lady with the child in her arms, and s. anne behind her, with s. peter, s. benedict, and other saints, and in the predella is a small scene with little figures, which represent the signoria of florence as it used to go in procession with trumpeters, pipers, mace-bearers, messengers, and ushers, with the rest of the household; and this he did because the commission for that altar-piece was given to him by the captain and the household of the palace. the while that jacopo was executing this work, alessandro and ippolito de' medici, who were both very young, having been sent to florence by pope clement vii under the care of the legate, silvio passerini, bishop of cortona, the magnificent ottaviano, to whom the pope had straitly recommended them, had the portraits of both of them taken by pontormo, who served him very well, and made them very good likenesses, although he did not much depart from the manner that he had learned from the germans. in the portrait of ippolito he also painted a favourite dog of that lord, called rodon, and made it so characteristic and so natural, that it might be alive. he took the portrait, likewise, of bishop ardinghelli, who afterwards became a cardinal; and for filippo del migliore, who was much his friend, he painted in fresco in his house on the via larga, in a niche opposite to the principal door, a woman representing pomona, from which it appeared that he was beginning to seek to abandon in part his german manner. now giovan battista della palla perceived that by reason of many works the name of jacopo was becoming every day more celebrated; and, since he had not succeeded in sending to king francis the pictures executed by that same master and by others for borgherini, he resolved, knowing that the king had a desire for them, at all costs to send him something by the hand of pontormo. whereupon he so went to work that he persuaded jacopo to execute a most beautiful picture of the raising of lazarus, which proved to be one of the best works that he ever painted and that was ever sent by giovan battista, among the vast number that he sent, to king francis of france. for, besides that the heads were most beautiful, the figure of lazarus, whose spirit as he returned to life was re-entering his dead flesh, could not have been more marvellous, for about the eyes he still had the hue of corruption, and the flesh cold and dead at the extremities of the hands and feet, where the spirit had not yet come. [illustration: the martyrdom of the forty saints (_after the panel by =jacopo da pontormo=. florence: pitti, _) _alinari_] in a picture of one braccio and a half he painted for the sisters of the hospital of the innocenti, with an infinite number of little figures, the story of the eleven thousand martyrs who were condemned to death by diocletian and all crucified in a wood. in this jacopo represented a battle of horsemen and nude figures, very beautiful, and some most lovely little angels flying through the air, who are shooting arrows at the ministers of the crucifixion; and in like manner, about the emperor, who is pronouncing the condemnation, are some most beautiful nude figures who are going to their death. this picture, which in every part is worthy to be praised, is now held in great price by don vincenzio borghini, the director of that hospital, who once was much the friend of jacopo. another picture similar to that described above he painted for carlo neroni, but only with the battle of the martyrs and the angel baptizing them; and then the portrait of carlo himself. he also executed a portrait, at the time of the siege of florence, of francesco guardi in the habit of a soldier, which was a very beautiful work; and on the cover of this picture bronzino afterwards painted pygmalion praying to venus that his statue, receiving breath, might spring to life and become--as, according to the fables of the poets, it did--flesh and blood. at this time, after much labour, there came to jacopo the fulfilment of a desire that he had long had, in that, having always felt a wish to have a house that might be his own, so that he should no longer live in the house of another, but might occupy his own and live as pleased himself, finally he bought one in the via della colonna, opposite to the nuns of s. maria degli angeli. the siege finished, pope clement commanded messer ottaviano de' medici that he should cause the hall of poggio a caiano to be finished. whereupon, franciabigio and andrea del sarto being dead, the whole charge of this was given to pontormo, who, after having the staging and the screens made, began to execute the cartoons; but, for the reason that he went off into fantasies and cogitations, beyond that he never set a hand to the work. this, perchance, would not have happened if bronzino had been in those parts, who was then working at the imperiale, a place belonging to the duke of urbino, near pesaro; which bronzino, although he was sent for every day by jacopo, nevertheless was not able to depart at his own pleasure, for the reason that, after he had executed a very beautiful naked cupid on the spandrel of a vault in the imperiale, and the cartoons for the others, prince guidobaldo, having recognized the young man's genius, ordained that his own portrait should be taken by him, and, seeing that he wished to be portrayed in some armour that he was expecting from lombardy, bronzino was forced to stay with that prince longer than he could have wished. during that time he painted the case of a harpsichord, which much pleased the prince, and finally bronzino executed his portrait, which was very beautiful, and the prince was well satisfied with it. jacopo, then, wrote so many times, and employed so many means, that in the end he brought bronzino back; but for all that the man could never be induced to do any other part of this work than the cartoons, although he was urged to it by the magnificent ottaviano and by duke alessandro. in one of these cartoons, which are now for the most part in the house of lodovico capponi, is a hercules who is crushing antæus, in another a venus and adonis, and in yet another drawing a scene of nude figures playing football. in the meantime signor alfonso davalos, marchese del vasto, having obtained from michelagnolo buonarroti by means of fra niccolò della magna a cartoon of christ appearing to the magdalene in the garden, moved heaven and earth to have it executed for him in painting by pontormo, buonarroti having told him that no one could serve him better than that master. jacopo then executed that work to perfection, and it was accounted a rare painting by reason both of the grandeur of michelagnolo's design and of jacopo's colouring. wherefore signor alessandro vitelli, who was at that time captain of the garrison of soldiers in florence, having seen it, had a picture painted for himself from the same cartoon by jacopo, which he sent to città di castello and caused to be placed in his house. it thus became evident in what estimation michelagnolo held pontormo, and with what diligence pontormo carried to completion and executed excellently well the designs and cartoons of michelagnolo, and bartolommeo bettini so went to work that buonarroti, who was much his friend, made for him a cartoon of a nude venus with a cupid who is kissing her, in order that he might have it executed in painting by pontormo and place it in the centre of a chamber of his own, in the lunettes of which he had begun to have painted by bronzino figures of dante, petrarca, and boccaccio, with the intention of having there all the other poets who have sung of love in tuscan prose and verse. jacopo, then, having received this cartoon, executed it to perfection at his leisure, as will be related, in the manner that all the world knows without my saying another word in praise of it. these designs of michelagnolo's were the reason that pontormo, considering the manner of that most noble craftsman, took heart of grace, and resolved that by hook or by crook he would imitate and follow it to the best of his ability. and then it was that jacopo recognized how ill he had done to allow the work of poggio a caiano to slip through his hands, although he put the blame in great measure on a long and very troublesome illness that he had suffered, and finally on the death of pope clement, which brought that undertaking completely to an end. jacopo having executed after the works described above a picture with the portrait from life of amerigo antinori, a young man much beloved in florence at that time, and that portrait being much extolled by everyone, duke alessandro had him informed that he wished to have his portrait taken by him in a large picture. and jacopo, for the sake of convenience, executed his portrait for the time being in a little picture of the size of a sheet of half-folio, and with such diligence and care, that the works of the miniaturists do not in any way come up to it; for the reason that, besides its being a very good likeness, there is in that head all that could be desired in the rarest of paintings. from that little picture, which is now in the guardaroba of duke cosimo, jacopo afterwards made a portrait of the same duke in a large picture, with a style in the hand, drawing the head of a woman; which larger portrait duke alessandro afterwards presented to signora taddea malespina, the sister of the marchesa di massa. desiring at all costs to reward liberally the genius of jacopo for these works, the duke sent him a message by niccolò da montaguto, his servant, that he should ask whatever he wished, and it would be granted to him. but such was the poor spirit or the excessive respect and modesty of the man, i know not which to call it, that he asked for nothing save as much money as would suffice him to redeem a cloak that he had pledged; which having heard, the duke, not without laughing at the character of the man, commanded that fifty gold crowns should be given and a salary offered to him; and even then niccolò had much ado to make him accept it. meanwhile jacopo had finished painting the venus from the cartoon belonging to bettini, which proved to be a marvellous thing, but it was not given to bettini at the price for which jacopo had promised it to him, for certain tuft-hunters, in order to do bettini an injury, took it almost by force from the hands of jacopo and gave it to duke alessandro, restoring the cartoon to bettini. which having heard, michelagnolo felt much displeasure for love of the friend for whom he had drawn the cartoon, and he bore a grudge against jacopo, who, although he received fifty crowns for it from the duke, nevertheless cannot be said to have defrauded bettini, seeing that he gave up the venus at the command of him who was his lord. but of all this some say that bettini himself was in great measure the cause, from his asking too much. [illustration: jacopo da pontormo: portrait of an engraver (_paris: louvre, . panel_)] the occasion having thus presented itself to pontormo, by means of these moneys, to set his hand to the fitting up of his house, he made a beginning with his building, but did nothing of much importance. indeed, although some persons declare that he had it in mind to spend largely, according to his position, and to make a commodious dwelling and one that might have some design, it is nevertheless evident that what he did, whether this came from his not having the means to spend or from some other reason, has rather the appearance of a building erected by an eccentric and solitary creature than of a well-ordered habitation, for the reason that to the room where he used to sleep and at times to work, he had to climb by a wooden ladder, which, after he had gone in, he would draw up with a pulley, to the end that no one might go up to him without his wish or knowledge. but that which most displeased other men in him was that he would not work save when and for whom he pleased, and after his own fancy; wherefore on many occasions, being sought out by noblemen who desired to have some of his work, and once in particular by the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, he would not serve them; and then he would set himself to do anything in the world for some low and common fellow, at a miserable price. thus the mason rossino, a person of no small ingenuity considering his calling, by playing the simpleton, received from him in payment for having paved certain rooms with bricks, and for having done other mason's work, a most beautiful picture of our lady, in executing which jacopo toiled and laboured as much as the mason did in his building. and so well did the good rossino contrive to manage his business, that, in addition to the above-named picture, he got from the hands of jacopo a most beautiful portrait of cardinal giulio de' medici, copied from one by the hand of raffaello, and, into the bargain, a very beautiful little picture of a christ crucified, which, although the above-mentioned magnificent ottaviano bought it from the mason rossino as a work by the hand of jacopo, nevertheless is known for certain to be by the hand of bronzino, who executed it all by himself while he was working with jacopo at the certosa, although it afterwards remained, i know not why, in the possession of pontormo. all these three pictures, won by the industry of the mason from the hands of jacopo, are now in the house of m. alessandro de' medici, the son of the above-named ottaviano. now, although this procedure of jacopo's and his living solitary and after his own fashion were not much commended, that does not mean that if anyone wished to excuse him he would not be able, for the reason that for those works that he did we should acknowledge our obligation to him, and for those that he did not choose to do we should not blame or censure him. no craftsman is obliged to work save when and for whom he pleases; and, if he suffered thereby, the loss was his. as for solitude, i have always heard say that it is the greatest friend of study; and, even if it were not so, i do not believe that much blame is due to him who lives in his own fashion without offence to god or to his neighbour, dwelling and employing his time as best suits his nature. but to return, leaving these matters on one side, to the works of jacopo: duke alessandro had caused to be restored in some parts the villa of careggi, formerly built by the elder cosimo de' medici, at a distance of two miles from florence, and had carried out the ornamentation of the fountain and the labyrinth, which wound through the centre of an open court, into which there opened two loggie, and his excellency ordained that those loggie should be painted by jacopo, but that company should be given him, to the end that he might finish them the quicker, and that conversation with others, keeping him cheerful, might be a means of making him work without straying so much into vagaries and distilling away his brains. nay, the duke himself sent for jacopo and besought him that he should strive to deliver that work completely finished as soon as possible. jacopo, therefore, having summoned bronzino, caused him to paint a figure on each of five spandrels of the vaulting, these being fortune, justice, victory, peace, and fame; and on the other spandrel, for they are in all six, jacopo with his own hand painted a love. then, having made the design for some little boys that were going in the oval space of the vaulting, with various animals in their hands, and all foreshortened to be seen from below, he caused them all, with the exception of one, to be executed in colour by bronzino, who acquitted himself very well. and since, while jacopo and bronzino were painting these figures, the ornaments all around were executed by jacone, pier francesco di jacopo, and others, the whole of that work was finished in a short time, to the great satisfaction of the lord duke. his excellency wished to have the other loggia painted, but he was not in time, for the reason that the above-named work having been finished on the th of december in the year , on the th of the january following that most illustrious lord was assassinated by his kinsman lorenzino; and so this work and others remained without their completion. the lord duke cosimo having then been elected, and the affair of montemurlo having passed off happily, a beginning was made with the works of castello, according as has been related in the life of tribolo, and his most illustrious excellency, in order to gratify signora donna maria, his mother, ordained that jacopo should paint the first loggia, which one finds on the left hand in entering the palace of castello. whereupon, setting to work, jacopo first designed all the ornaments that were to be painted there, and had them executed for the most part by bronzino and the masters who had executed those of careggi. then, shutting himself up alone, he proceeded with that work after his own fancy and wholly at his leisure, studying with all diligence, to the end that it might be much better than that of careggi, which he had not executed entirely with his own hand. this he was able to do very conveniently, having eight crowns a month for it from his excellency, whom he portrayed, young as he was, in the beginning of that work, and likewise signora donna maria, his mother. finally, after that loggia had been closed for five years, no one being able to have even a glance at what jacopo had done, one day the above-named lady became enraged against him, and commanded that the staging and the screen should be thrown to the ground. but jacopo, having begged for grace and having obtained leave to keep it covered for a few days more, first retouched it where it seemed to him to be necessary, and then caused a cloth of his own contriving to be made, which should keep that loggia covered when those lords were not there, to the end that the weather might not, as it had done at careggi, eat away those pictures, which were executed in oils on the dry plaster; and at last he uncovered it, amid the lively expectation of everyone, all thinking that in that work jacopo must have surpassed himself and done something altogether stupendous. but the effect did not correspond completely to the expectations, for the reason that, although many parts of the work are good, the general proportion of the figures appears very poor in form, and certain distorted attitudes that are there seem to be wanting in measure and very strange. but jacopo excused himself by saying that he had never worked very willingly in that place, for the reason that, being without the city, it seemed much exposed to the fury of the soldiery and to other suchlike dangers; but there was no need for him to be afraid of that, seeing that time and the weather, from the work having been executed in the manner already described, are eating it away little by little. in the centre of the vaulting, then, he painted a saturn with the sign of capricorn, and a hermaphrodite mars in the sign of the lion and of the virgin, and some little angels who are flying through the air, like those of careggi. he then painted in certain gigantic women, almost entirely nude, philosophy, astrology, geometry, music, arithmetic, and a ceres; with some little scenes in medallions, executed with various tints of colour and appropriate to the figures. although this work, so fatiguing and so laboured, did not give much satisfaction, or, if a certain measure of satisfaction, much less than was expected, yet his excellency declared that it pleased him, and availed himself of jacopo on every occasion, chiefly because that painter was held in great veneration by the people on account of the very good and beautiful works that he had executed in the past. the lord duke then brought to florence the flemings, maestro giovanni rosso and maestro niccolò, excellent masters in arras-tapestries, to the end that the art might be learned and practised by the florentines, and he ordained that tapestries in silk and gold should be executed for the council hall of the two hundred at a cost of , crowns, and that jacopo and bronzino should make the cartoons with the stories of joseph. but, when jacopo had made two of them, in one of which is the scene when the death of joseph is announced to jacob and the bloody garments are shown to him, and in the other the flight of joseph from the wife of potiphar, leaving his garment behind, they did not please either the duke or those masters who had to put them into execution, for they appeared to them to be strange things and not likely to be successful when executed in woven tapestries. and so jacopo did not go on to make any more cartoons, but returned to his usual labours and painted a picture of our lady, which was presented by the duke to signor don ..., who took it to spain. now his excellency, following in the footsteps of his ancestors, has always sought to embellish and adorn his city; and he resolved, the necessity having come to his notice, to cause to be painted all the principal chapel of the magnificent temple of s. lorenzo, formerly built by the great cosimo de' medici, the elder. whereupon he gave the charge of this to jacopo da pontormo, either of his own accord, or, as was said, at the instance of messer pier francesco ricci, his major-domo; and jacopo was very glad of that favour, for the reason that, although the greatness of the work, he being well advanced in years, gave him food for thought and perhaps dismayed him, on the other hand he reflected how, in a work of such magnitude, he had a fair field to show his ability and worth. some say that jacopo, finding that the work had been allotted to him notwithstanding that francesco salviati, a painter of great fame, was in florence and had brought to a happy conclusion the painting of that hall in the palace which was once the audience-chamber of the signoria, must needs declare that he would show the world how to draw and paint, and how to work in fresco, and, besides this, that the other painters were but ordinary hacks, with other words equally insolent and overbearing. but i myself always knew jacopo as a modest person, who spoke of everyone honourably and in a manner proper to an orderly and virtuous craftsman, such as he was, and i believe that these words were imputed to him falsely, and that he never let slip from his mouth any such boastings, which are for the most part the marks of vain men who presume too much upon their merits, in which manner of men there is no place for virtue or good breeding. and, although i might have kept silent about these matters, i have not chosen to do so, because to proceed as i have done appears to me the office of a faithful and veracious historian; it is enough that, although these rumours went around, and particularly among our craftsmen, nevertheless i have a firm belief that they were the words of malicious persons, jacopo having always been in the experience of everyone modest and well-behaved in his every action. having then closed up that chapel with walls, screens of planks, and curtains, and having given himself over to complete solitude, he kept it for a period of eleven years so well sealed up, that excepting himself not a living soul entered it, neither friend nor any other. it is true, indeed, that certain lads who were drawing in the sacristy of michelagnolo, as young men will do, climbed by its spiral staircase on to the roof of the church, and, removing some tiles and the plank of one of the gilded rosettes that are there, saw everything. of which having heard, jacopo took it very ill, but took no further notice beyond closing up everything with greater care; although some say that he persecuted those young men sorely, and sought to make them regret it. imagining, then, that in this work he would surpass all other painters, and perchance, so it was said, even michelagnolo, he painted in the upper part, in a number of scenes, the creation of adam and eve, the eating of the forbidden fruit, their expulsion from paradise, the tilling of the earth, the sacrifice of abel, the death of cain, the blessing of the seed of noah, and the same noah designing the plan and the measurements of the ark. next, on one of the lower walls, each of which is fifteen braccia in each direction, he painted the inundation of the deluge, in which is a mass of dead and drowned bodies, and noah speaking with god. on the other wall is painted the universal resurrection of the dead, which has to take place on the last and final day; with such variety and confusion, that the real resurrection will perhaps not be more confused, or more full of movement, in a manner of speaking, than pontormo painted it. opposite to the altar and between the windows--that is, on the central wall--there is on either side a row of nude figures, who, clinging to each other's bodies with hands and legs, form a ladder wherewith to ascend to paradise, rising from the earth, where there are many dead in company with them, and at the end, on either side, are two dead bodies clothed with the exception of the legs and also the arms, with which they are holding two lighted torches. at the top, in the centre of the wall, above the windows, he painted in the middle christ on high in his majesty, who, surrounded by many angels all nude, is raising those dead in order to judge them. but i have never been able to understand the significance of this scene, although i know that jacopo had wit enough for himself, and also associated with learned and lettered persons; i mean, what he could have intended to signify in that part where there is christ on high, raising the dead, and below his feet is god the father, who is creating adam and eve. besides this, in one of the corners, where are the four evangelists, nude, with books in their hands, it does not seem to me that in a single place did he give a thought to any order of composition, or measurement, or time, or variety in the heads, or diversity in the flesh-colours, or, in a word, to any rule, proportion, or law of perspective; for the whole work is full of nude figures with an order, design, invention, composition, colouring, and painting contrived after his own fashion, and with such melancholy and so little satisfaction for him who beholds the work, that i am determined, since i myself do not understand it, although i am a painter, to leave all who may see it to form their own judgment, for the reason that i believe that i would drive myself mad with it and would bury myself alive, even as it appears to me that jacopo in the period of eleven years that he spent upon it sought to bury himself and all who might see the painting, among all those extraordinary figures. and although there may be seen in this work some bit of a torso with the back turned or facing to the front and some attachments of flanks, executed with marvellous care and great labour by jacopo, who made finished models of clay in the round for almost all the figures, nevertheless the work as a whole is foreign to his manner, and, as it appears to almost every man, without proportion, the torsi for the most part being large and the legs and arms small, to say nothing of the heads, in which there is not a trace to be seen of that singular excellence and grace that he used to give to them, so greatly to the satisfaction of those who examine his other pictures. wherefore it appears that in this work he paid no attention to anything save certain parts, and of the other more important parts he took no account whatever. in a word, whereas he had thought in this work to surpass all the paintings in the world of art, he failed by a great measure to equal his own works that he had executed in the past; whence it is evident that he who seeks to strive beyond his strength and, as it were, to force nature, ruins the good qualities with which he may have been liberally endowed by her. but what can we or ought we to do save have compassion upon him, seeing that the men of our arts are as much liable to error as others? and the good homer, so it is said, even he sometimes nods; nor shall it ever be said that there is a single work of jacopo's, however he may have striven to force his nature, in which there is not something good and worthy of praise. he died shortly before finishing the work, and some therefore declare that he died of grief, ending his life very much dissatisfied with himself; but the truth is that, being old and much exhausted by making portraits and models in clay and labouring so much in fresco, he sank into a dropsy, which finally killed him at the age of sixty-five. after his death there were found in his house many designs, cartoons, and models in clay, all very beautiful, and a picture of our lady executed by him excellently well and in a lovely manner, to all appearance many years before, which was sold by his heirs to piero salviati. jacopo was buried in the first cloister of the church of the servite friars, beneath the scene of the visitation that he had formerly painted there; and he was followed to the grave by an honourable company of the painters, sculptors, and architects. jacopo was a frugal and sober man, and in his dress and manner of life he was rather miserly than moderate; and he lived almost always by himself, without desiring that anyone should serve him or cook for him. in his last years, indeed, he kept in his house, as it were to bring him up, battista naldini, a young man of fine spirit, who took such care of jacopo's life as jacopo would allow him to take; and under his master's discipline he made no little proficiency in design, and became such, indeed, that a very happy result is looked for from him. among pontormo's friends, particularly in this last period of his life, were pier francesco vernacci and don vincenzio borghini, with whom he took his recreation, sometimes eating with them, but rarely. but above all others, and always supremely beloved by him, was bronzino, who loved him as dearly, being grateful and thankful for the benefits that he had received from him. pontormo had very beautiful manners, and he was so afraid of death, that he would not even hear it spoken of, and avoided having to meet dead bodies. he never went to festivals or to any other places where people gathered together, so as not to be caught in the press; and he was solitary beyond all belief. at times, going out to work, he set himself to think so profoundly on what he was to do, that he went away without having done any other thing all day but stand thinking. and that this happened to him times without number in the work of s. lorenzo may readily be believed, for the reason that when he was determined, like an able and well-practised craftsman, he had no difficulty in doing what he desired and had resolved to put into execution. simone mosca life of simone mosca sculptor and architect from the times of the ancient greek and roman sculptors to our own, no modern carver has equalled the beautiful and difficult works that they executed in their bases, capitals, friezes, cornices, festoons, trophies, masks, candelabra, birds, grotesques, or other carved cornice-work, save only simone mosca of settignano, who in our own days has worked in such a manner in those kinds of labour, that he has made it evident by his genius and art that all the diligence and study of the modern carvers who had come before him had not enabled them up to that time to imitate the best work of those ancients or to adopt the good method in their carvings, for the reason that their works incline to dryness, and the turn of their foliage to spikiness and crudeness. he, on the other hand, has executed foliage with great boldness, rich and abundant in new curves, the leaves being carved in various manners with beautiful indentations and with the most lovely flowers, seeds and creepers that there are to be seen, not to speak of the birds that he has contrived to carve so gracefully in various forms among his foliage and festoons, insomuch that it may be affirmed that simone alone--be it said without offence to the others--has been able to remove from the marble that hardness which craftsmen are wont very often to leave in their sculptures, and has brought his works by his handling of the chisel to such a point that they have the appearance of things real to the touch, and the same may be said of the cornices and other suchlike labours, executed by him with most beautiful grace and judgment. this simone, having given his attention to design in his childhood with much profit, and having then become well-practised in carving, was taken by maestro antonio da san gallo, who recognized his genius and noble spirit, to rome, where he caused him to execute, as his first works, some capitals and bases and several friezes of foliage for the church of s. giovanni de' fiorentini, and some works for the palace of alessandro, the first cardinal farnese. simone meanwhile devoting himself, particularly on feast-days, and whenever he could snatch the time, to drawing the antiquities of that city, no long time passed before he was drawing and tracing ground-plans with more grace and neatness than did antonio himself, insomuch that, having applied himself heart and soul to the study of designing foliage in the ancient manner, of giving a bold turn to the leaves, and of perforating his works in such a way as to make them perfect, taking the best from the best examples, one thing from one and one from another, in a few years he formed a manner of composition so beautiful and so catholic, that afterwards he did everything well, whether in company or by himself. this may be seen in some coats of arms that were to be placed in the above-named church of s. giovanni in the strada giulia; in one of which coats of arms, making a great lily, the ancient emblem of the commune of florence, he carved upon it some curves of foliage with creepers and seeds executed so well that they made everyone gasp with wonder. nor had any long time passed when antonio da san gallo--who was directing for messer agnolo cesis the execution of the marble ornaments of a chapel and tomb for himself and his family, which were afterwards erected in the year in the church of s. maria della pace--caused part of certain pilasters and socles covered with friezes, which were going into that work, to be wrought by simone, who executed them so well and with such beauty, that they make themselves known among the others, without my saying which they are, by their grace and perfection; nor is it possible to see any altars for the offering of sacrifices after the ancient use more beautiful and fanciful than those that he made on the base of that work. afterwards the same san gallo, who was superintending the execution of the mouth of the well in the cloister of s. pietro in vincula, caused mosca to make the borders with some large masks of great beauty. not long afterwards he returned one summer to florence, having a good name among craftsmen, and baccio bandinelli, who was making the orpheus of marble that was placed in the court of the medici palace, after having the base for that work carried out by benedetto da rovezzano, caused simone to execute the festoons and other carvings therein, which are very beautiful, although one festoon is unfinished and only worked over with the gradine. having then done many works in grey sandstone, of which there is no need to make record, he was planning to return to rome, when in the meantime the sack took place, and he did not go after all. but, having taken a wife, he was living in florence with little to do: wherefore, being obliged to support his family, and having no income, he was occupying himself with any work that he could obtain. now in those days there arrived in florence one pietro di subisso, a master-mason of arezzo, who always had under him a good number of workmen, for the reason that all the building in arezzo passed through his hands; and he took simone, with many others, to arezzo. there he set simone to making a chimney-piece of grey sandstone and a water-basin of no great cost, for a hall in the house of the heirs of pellegrino da fossombrone, a citizen of arezzo; which house had been formerly erected by m. piero geri, an excellent astrologer, after the design of andrea sansovino, and had been sold by his nephews. setting to work, therefore, and beginning with the chimney-piece, simone placed it upon two pilasters, making two niches in the thickness of the wall, in the direction of the fire, and laying upon those pilasters architrave, frieze, and great cornice, and over all a pediment with festoons and with the arms of that family. and thus, proceeding with it, he executed it with carvings of such a kind and so well varied, and with such subtle craftsmanship, that, although that work was of grey sandstone, under his hands it became more beautiful than if it had been of marble, and more astounding; which, indeed, came to pass the more readily because that stone is not as hard as marble and, if anything, rather sandy. putting extraordinary diligence, therefore, into the work, he executed on the pilasters trophies in half-relief and low-relief, than which nothing more bizarre or more beautiful could be done, with helmets, buskins, shields, quivers, and various other arms; and he likewise made there masks, sea monsters, and other graceful fantasies, all so well figured and cut out that they have the appearance of silver. the frieze that is between the architrave and the great cornice, he made with a most beautiful turn of foliage, all pierced through and full of birds that are executed so well, that they seem to be flying through the air; and it is a marvellous thing to see their little legs, no larger than life, and yet completely in the round and detached from the stone in such a way as one cannot believe to be possible; and, in truth, the work seems rather a miracle than a product of human art. besides all this, he made there in a festoon some leaves and fruits so well cut out, and wrought with such delicacy and care, that in a certain sense they surpass the reality. lastly, the work is finished off by some great masks and candelabra, which are truly most beautiful. although simone need not have given such care to a work of that kind, for which he was to be but poorly paid by those patrons, who could not afford much, yet, drawn by the love that he bore to art and by the pleasure that a man feels in working well, he chose to do so; but he did not do the same with the water-basin for the same patrons, for he made it beautiful enough, but simple. at the same time he assisted pietro di subisso, who did not know much, to make many designs of buildings and plans of houses, doors, windows, and other things appertaining to that profession. on the canto degli albergotti, below the school and university of the commune, there is a window of considerable beauty constructed after his design; and there are two of them in the house of ser bernardino serragli in the pelliceria. on the corner of the palazzo de' priori there is a large escutcheon of pope clement vii in grey sandstone, by the hand of the same master; and under his direction, and partly by his hand, was executed for bernardino di cristofano da giuovi a chapel of grey sandstone in the corinthian order, which was erected in the abbey of s. fiore, a passing handsome monastery of black friars in arezzo. for this chapel the patron wished to have the altar-piece painted by andrea del sarto, and then by rosso, but in this he never succeeded, seeing that, being hindered now by one thing and now by another, they were not able to serve him. finally bernardino turned to giorgio vasari, but with him also he had difficulties, and there was much trouble in finding a way of arranging the matter, for the reason that, the chapel being dedicated to s. james and s. christopher, he wished to have in the picture our lady with the child in her arms, and also the giant s. christopher with another little christ on his shoulder; which composition, besides that it appeared monstrous, could not be accommodated, nor was it possible to paint a giant of six braccia in an altar-piece of four braccia. giorgio, then, being desirous to serve bernardino, made him a design in this manner: he placed our lady upon some clouds, with a sun behind her back, and on the ground he painted s. christopher kneeling on one side of the picture, with one leg in the water, and with the other in the act of moving in order to rise, while our lady is placing upon his shoulders the infant christ with the globe of the world in his hands. in the rest of the altar-piece, also, were to be s. james and the other saints, accommodated in such a manner that they would not have been in the way; and this design, pleasing bernardino, would have been put into execution, but bernardino in the meantime died, and the chapel was left in that condition to his heirs, who have not done anything more. now, while simone was labouring at that chapel, there passed through arezzo antonio da san gallo, who was returning from the work of fortifying parma and was going to loreto to finish the work of the chapel of the madonna, to which he had sent tribolo, raffaello da montelupo, the young francesco da san gallo, girolamo da ferrara, simone cioli, and other carvers, masons, and stone-cutters, in order to finish that which andrea sansovino at his death had left incomplete; and he contrived to take simone to work there. he ordained that simone should have charge not only of the carvings, but also of the architecture and of the other ornaments of that work; in which commissions mosca acquitted himself very well, and, what is more, executed many things perfectly with his own hands, particularly some little boys of marble in the round, which are on the pediments of the doors; and although there are also some by the hand of simone cioli, the best--and rare indeed they are--are all by mosca. he made, likewise, all the festoons of marble that are around all that work, with most beautiful artistry and carvings full of grace and worthy of all praise; wherefore it is no marvel that these works are so esteemed and admired, that many craftsmen from distant parts have set off in order to go to see them. antonio da san gallo, then, recognizing how much mosca was worth, made use of him in any undertaking of importance, with the intention of remunerating him some day when the occasion might present itself, and of giving him to know how much he loved him for his abilities. when, therefore, after the death of pope clement, a new supreme pontiff had been elected in paul iii of the farnese family, who ordained that, the mouth of the well at orvieto having remained unfinished, antonio should have charge of it, antonio took mosca thither, to the end that he might carry that work to completion, which presented some difficulties, and particularly in the ornamentation of the doors, for the reason that, the curve of the mouth being round, convex without and concave within, those two circles conflicted with each other and caused a difficulty in accommodating the squared doors with the ornaments of stone. but the virtue of that singular genius of simone's solved every difficulty, and executed the whole work with such grace and perfection, that no one could see that there had ever been any difficulty. he finished off the mouth and border of the well in grey sandstone, filled in with bricks, together with some very beautiful inscriptions on white stone and other ornaments, making the doors correspond with one another. he also made there in marble the arms of the above-named pope paul farnese, or rather, where they had previously been made of balls for pope clement, who had carried out that work, mosca was forced--and he succeeded excellently well--to make lilies out of the balls in relief, and thus to change the arms of the medici into those of the house of farnese; notwithstanding, as i have said (for so do things go in this world), that the author of that vast, regal, and magnificent work was pope clement vii, of whom in this last and most imposing part no mention whatever was made. [illustration: the altar of the three kings (_after =simone mosca= and =michele san michele=. orvieto: duomo_) _alinari_] while simone was engaged in finishing this well, the wardens of works of s. maria, the duomo of orvieto, desiring to give completion to the chapel of marble that had been carried as far as the socle under the direction of michele san michele of verona, with some carvings, besought simone, whom they had come to know as a master of true excellence, that he should attend to it. whereupon they came to terms, and simone, liking the society of the people of orvieto, brought his family thither, in order to live in greater comfort; and then he set himself to work with a quiet and composed mind, being greatly honoured by everyone in that place. when, therefore, as it were by way of sample, he had made a beginning with some pilasters and friezes, the excellence and ability of simone were recognized by those men, and there was assigned to him a salary of two hundred crowns of gold a year, and with this, continuing to labour, he carried that work well forward. now in the centre, to fill up the ornaments, there was to go a scene of marble in half-relief, representing the adoration of the magi; and there was summoned at the suggestion of simone his very dear friend raffaello da montelupo, the florentine sculptor, who, as has been related, executed half of that scene in a very beautiful manner. in the ornamentation of this chapel, then, are certain socles, each two and a half braccia in breadth, which are on either side of the altar, and upon these are pilasters five braccia high, two on either side, between which is the story of the magi; and on the pilasters next to the story, of which two of the faces are seen, are carved some candelabra, with friezes of grotesques, masks, little figures, and foliage, which are things divine. in the predella at the foot, which runs right over the altar from pilaster to pilaster, is a little half-length angel who is holding an inscription with his hands, with festoons over all, between the capitals of the pilasters, where the architrave, frieze and great cornice project to the extent of the depth of the pilasters. above those in the centre, in a space equal to their breadth, curves an arch that serves as an ornament to the above-named story of the magi, and in this, namely, in the lunette, are many angels; and above the arch is a cornice, which runs from one pilaster to another, that is, from those on the outside, which form a frontispiece to the whole work. in this part is a god the father in half-relief; and at the sides, where the arch rises over the pilasters, are two victories in half-relief. all this work, then, is so well composed, and executed with such a wealth of carvings, that one cannot have enough of examining the minute details of the perforations and the excellence of all the things that are in the capitals, cornices, masks, festoons, and candelabra in the round, which form the completion of a work truly worthy to be admired as something rare. simone mosca thus dwelling in orvieto, a son of his called francesco, and as a bye-name il moschino, a boy fifteen years of age, who had been produced by nature with chisels in his hand, as it were, and with so beautiful a genius, that he did with supreme grace whatsoever thing he desired to do, executed in this work under the discipline of his father, miraculously, so to speak, the angels that are holding the inscriptions between the pilasters, then the god the father in the pediment, as well as the angels that are in the lunette of that work, above the adoration of the magi executed by raffaello da montelupo, and finally the victories at the sides of the lunette; by which works he caused everyone to wonder and marvel. all this was the reason that, when the chapel was finished, simone was commissioned by the wardens of works of the duomo to make another similar to it, on the other side, to the end that the space of the chapel of the high-altar might be suitably set off, on the understanding that the figures should be varied without varying the architecture, and that in the centre there should be the visitation of our lady, which was allotted to the above-named moschino. then, having made an agreement about every matter, the father and son set their hands to the work; and, while they were engaged upon it, mosca was very helpful and useful to that city, making for many citizens architectural designs of houses and many other edifices. among other things, he executed in that city the ground-plan and façade of the house of messer raffaello gualtieri, father of the bishop of viterbo, and of messer felice, both noblemen and lords of great excellence and reputation; and likewise the ground-plans of some houses for the honourable counts della cervara. he did the same in many places near orvieto, and made, in particular, the models of many structures and buildings for signor pirro colonna da stripicciano. [illustration: the salutation (_after =simone mosca=. orvieto: duomo_) _alinari_] the pope then causing the fortress to be built in perugia where there had stood the houses of the baglioni, antonio da san gallo, having sent for mosca, gave him the charge of making the ornaments; where there were executed after his designs all the doors, windows, chimney-pieces, and other suchlike things, and in particular two large and very beautiful escutcheons of his holiness. in that work simone formed a connection with m. tiberio crispo, who was castellan there; and he was sent by m. tiberio to bolsena, where, on the highest point of that stronghold, overlooking the lake, he arranged a large and beautiful habitation, partly on the old structure and partly founding anew, with a very handsome flight of steps and many ornaments of stone. nor did any long time pass before messer tiberio, having been made castellan of the castello di s. angelo, caused mosca to go to rome, where he made use of him in many matters in renovating the apartments of that castle; and, among other things, he caused him to make over the arches that rise over the new loggia, which faces towards the meadows, two escutcheons of the above-named pope in marble, which are so well wrought and perforated in the mitre, or rather, triple crown, in the keys, and in certain festoons and little masks, that they are marvellous. having then returned to orvieto in order to finish the work of the chapel, he laboured there continuously all the time that pope paul was alive, executing it in such a manner that it proved to be, as may be seen, no less excellent than the first, and perhaps even better. for mosca, as has been said, bore such love to art, and took such pleasure in working, that he could never have enough of it, almost striving after the impossible, and that rather from a desire for glory than from any wish to accumulate gold, for he was more pleased to work well at his profession than to acquire property. finally, julius iii having been elected pope in the year , and all men thinking that work would be begun in earnest on the building of s. pietro, mosca went off to rome and sought to obtain at a fixed price from the superintendents of that building the commission for some capitals of marble, but more to accommodate gian domenico, his son-in-law, than for any other reason. now giorgio vasari, who always bore love to mosca, found him in rome, whither he also had been summoned to the service of the pope, and he thought that without fail he would have some work to offer him, for the reason that the old cardinal dal monte, when he died, had left directions with his heirs that a tomb of marble should be built for him in s. pietro a montorio, and the above-named pope julius, his nephew and heir, had ordained that this should be done, and had given the charge of the matter to vasari; and giorgio wished that in that tomb mosca should execute some extraordinary work in carving. but, after giorgio had made some models for that tomb, the pope discussed the whole matter with michelagnolo buonarroti before he would make up his mind; whereupon michelagnolo told his holiness that he should not involve himself with carvings, saying that, although they enrich a work, they confuse the figures, whereas squared work, when it is well done, is much more beautiful than carving and is a better accompaniment for the figures, for the reason that figures do not brook other carvings about them: and even so did his holiness order the work to be done. wherefore vasari was not able to give mosca anything to do in that work, and he was dismissed; and the tomb was finished without any carvings, which made it much better than it would have been with them. simone having then returned to orvieto, arrangements were made to erect after his designs, in the cross at the head of the church, two great tabernacles of marble, works truly graceful, beautiful, and well-proportioned, for one of which raffaello da montelupo made in marble a nude christ with the cross on his shoulder in a niche, and for the other moschino made a s. sebastian, likewise nude. work being then continued on the execution of the apostles for the church, moschino made a s. peter and a s. paul of the same size, which were held to be creditable statues. meanwhile the work of the above-mentioned chapel of the visitation was not abandoned, and it was carried so far forward during the lifetime of mosca, that there was nothing left to do save two birds, and even these would not have been wanting, had not m. bastiano gualtieri, bishop of viterbo, as has been related, kept simone occupied with an ornament of marble in four pieces, which, when finished, he sent to france to the cardinal of lorraine, who held it very dear, for it was beautiful to a marvel, all full of foliage and wrought with such diligence, that it is believed to have been one of the best that simone ever executed. not long after he had finished that work, in the year , simone died, at the age of fifty-eight, to the no small loss of that church of orvieto, in which he was buried with honour. francesco moschino was then elected to his father's place by the wardens of works of that same duomo, but, thinking nothing of it, he left it to raffaello da montelupo, and went to rome, where he finished for m. ruberto strozzi two very graceful figures in marble, the mars and venus, namely, which are in the court of his house in the banchi. afterwards he executed a scene with little figures, almost in full-relief, in which is diana bathing with her nymphs, who changes actæon into a stag, and he is devoured by his own hounds; and then francesco came to florence, and gave the work to the lord duke cosimo, whom he much desired to serve. whereupon his excellency, having accepted and much commended it, did not disappoint the desire of moschino, even as he has never disappointed anyone who has sought to work valiantly in any calling. for he was attached to the works of the duomo at pisa, and has laboured up to the present day with great credit to himself in the chapel of the nunziata, formerly built by stagio da pietrasanta, executing the angel and the madonna in figures of four braccia, together with the carvings and every other thing; in the centre, adam and eve, who have the apple-tree between them; and a large god the father with certain little boys on the vaulting of that chapel, which is all of marble, as are also the two statues, which have gained for moschino no little fame and honour. and since that chapel is little less than finished, his excellency has given orders that the chapel opposite to it should be taken in hand, which is called the chapel of the incoronata and stands immediately at the entrance of the church, on the left hand. the same moschino, in connection with the nuptial festivities of her most serene majesty queen joanna and the most illustrious prince of florence, has acquitted himself very well in those works that were given him to do. girolamo and bartolommeo genga, and giovan battista san marino, son-in-law of girolamo lives of girolamo and bartolommeo genga, and of giovan battista san marino, son-in-law of girolamo girolamo genga, who was of urbino, was apprenticed by his father at the age of ten to the wool trade, but he followed it with the greatest ill-will, and, according as he could find time and place, he was for ever drawing in secret with charcoal or an ordinary pen. which circumstance being observed by some friends of his father, they exhorted him to remove the boy from that trade and to set him to painting; wherefore he placed girolamo with certain masters of little reputation in urbino. but, having seen his beautiful manner, and that he was like to make proficience, when the boy was fifteen years of age the father apprenticed him to maestro luca signorelli of cortona, an excellent master in painting of that time; with whom he stayed many years, following him to the march of ancona, to cortona, and to many other places where he executed works, and in particular to orvieto, in the duomo of which city, as has been related, luca painted a chapel of our lady with an infinite number of figures. at this our girolamo worked continually, and he was always one of the best disciples that luca had. then, having parted from signorelli, he placed himself with pietro perugino, a much esteemed painter, with whom he stayed about three years, giving considerable attention to perspective, which was so well grasped and understood by him, that it may be said that he became very excellent therein, even as is evident from his works in painting and architecture. this was at the same time that there was with pietro the divine raffaello da urbino, who was much the friend of girolamo. after leaving pietro, he went off to live in florence, where he studied for some considerable time. then, having gone to siena, he stayed there for months and even years with pandolfo petrucci, in whose house he painted many rooms, which, from their being very well designed and coloured in a pleasing manner, were rightly admired and praised by all the people of siena, and particularly by the above-named pandolfo, by whom he was always looked upon with great favour and cherished most dearly. pandolfo having died, he then returned to urbino, where guidobaldo, the second duke, retained him for a considerable time, causing him to paint horse's caparisons, such as were used in those times, in company with timoteo da urbino, a painter of passing good name and much experience, together with whom he painted a chapel of s. martino in the vescovado for messer giovan piero arrivabene of mantua, then bishop of urbino. in this, both the one and the other of them gave proof of very beautiful genius, as the work itself demonstrates, in which is a portrait of the above-named bishop, which has all the appearance of life. genga was also particularly employed by the same duke to execute scenery and settings for comedies, which, since he had a very good understanding of perspective and was well-grounded in architecture, he made marvellously beautiful. he then departed from urbino and went to rome, where he executed in painting, in s. caterina da siena on the strada giulia, a resurrection of christ, wherein he made himself known as a rare and excellent master, having done it with good design and with figures foreshortened in beautiful attitudes and well coloured, to which those who are of the profession and have seen it are able to bear ample testimony. while living in rome, he gave much attention to measuring the antiquities there, as is proved by writings in the possession of his heirs. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the painting by =girolamo genga=. milan: brera, _) _alinari_] at this time, duke guido having died, and having been succeeded by francesco maria, third duke of urbino, girolamo was recalled from rome by francesco maria, and constrained to return to urbino at the time when the above-named duke took to wife and brought into his dominions leonora gonzaga, the daughter of the marquis of mantua; and he was employed by his excellency in making triumphal arches, festive preparations, and scenery for comedies, which were all so well arranged and carried into execution by him, that urbino could be likened to a rome in triumph; from which he gained very great fame and honour. afterwards, in due course, the duke was expelled from his state for the last time, when he went to mantua, and girolamo followed him, even as he had already done in his other periods of exile, always sharing one and the same fortune with him; and he retired with his family to cesena. there he painted for the high-altar of s. agostino an altar-piece in oils, at the top of which is an annunciation, and below that a god the father, and still lower down a madonna with the child in her arms, between the four doctors of the church--a work truly beautiful and worthy to be esteemed. he then painted in fresco a chapel on the right hand in s. francesco at forlì, containing the assumption of the madonna, with many angels and other figures--prophets, namely, and apostles--around; in this, also, it is evident how admirable was his genius, and the work was judged to be very beautiful. he also painted there the story of the holy spirit, which he finished in the year , for messer francesco lombardi, a physician; and other works throughout romagna, for all which he gained honour and rewards. the duke having then returned to his state, girolamo also returned, and was retained by him and employed as architect in restoring an old palace on the monte dell'imperiale, above pesaro, and adding to it another tower. that palace was adorned with scenes in painting from the actions of the duke, after the directions and designs of girolamo, by francesco da forlì and raffaello dal borgo, painters of good repute, and by camillo mantovano, a very rare master in painting landscapes and verdure; and the young florentine bronzino also worked there, among others, as has been related in the life of pontormo. thither, likewise, were summoned the dossi of ferrara, and a room was assigned to them to paint; but since, when they had finished that room, it did not please the duke, he had it thrown down and repainted by the masters mentioned above. girolamo then erected the tower there, one hundred and twenty feet in height, with thirteen flights of wooden steps whereby to ascend to the top, so well fitted and concealed in the walls, that they can be withdrawn with ease from story to story, which renders that tower very strong and marvellous. a desire afterwards came to the duke to fortify pesaro, and he caused pier francesco da viterbo, a most excellent architect, to be sent for; and girolamo always taking part in the discussions that arose about the fortifications, his discourse and his opinions were held to be good and full of judgment. wherefore, if i may be allowed to say it, the design of that fortress came rather from girolamo than from any other, although that sort of architecture was always little esteemed by him, appearing to him to be of small value and dignity. the duke, then, perceiving how rare a genius he had at his command, determined to build on the above-named monte dell'imperiale, near the old palace, a new palace; and so he built that to be seen there at the present day, which being a very beautiful and well-planned fabric, and full of apartments, colonnades, courts, loggie, fountains, and most delightful gardens, there is no prince passes that way that does not go to see it. wherefore it was right fitting that pope paul iii, on his way to bologna with all his court, should go to see it and find it entirely to his satisfaction. from the design of this same master, the duke caused the palace at pesaro to be restored, and also the little park, making within it a house representing a ruin, which is a very beautiful thing to see. among other things, there is a staircase similar to that of the belvedere in rome, which is very handsome. by means of him the duke had the fortress of gradara restored, and likewise the palace at castel durante, insomuch that all that is good in those works came from that admirable genius. girolamo also built the corridor of the palace at urbino, above the garden, and he enclosed a courtyard on one side with perforated stone-work executed with great diligence. from the design of the same master, likewise, were begun the convent of the frati zoccolanti at monte baroccio and s. maria delle grazie at sinigaglia, which in the end remained unfinished by reason of the death of the duke. and about the same time was begun after his directions and design the vescovado of sinigaglia, of which the model, made by him, is still to be seen. he also executed some works in sculpture and figures of clay and wax in the round, beautiful enough, which are in the house of his family at urbino. for the imperiale he made some angels in clay, which he afterwards caused to be cast in bronze and placed over the doors of the rooms decorated with stucco-work in the new palace; and these are very beautiful. for the bishop of sinigaglia he executed some fantasies in wax in the form of drinking-cups, which were afterwards to be made in silver; and with greater diligence he made some others, most beautiful, for the duke's credence. he showed fine invention in masquerades and costumes, as was seen in the time of the above-named duke, by whom he was passing well rewarded, as he deserved, for his rare parts and good qualities. his son, guidobaldo, who reigns at the present day, having then succeeded him as duke, caused a beginning to be made by the above-named genga with the church of s. giovan battista at pesaro, which, having been carried out according to the model of girolamo by his son bartolommeo, is of very beautiful architecture in every part, for he imitated the antique considerably, and made it in such a manner that it is the most beautiful temple that there is in those parts, as the work itself clearly demonstrates, being able to challenge comparison with the most famous buildings in rome. after his designs and directions, likewise, there was executed in s. chiara at urbino by the florentine sculptor bartolommeo ammanati, who was then very young, the tomb of duke francesco maria, which, for a simple work of little cost, proved to be very beautiful. in like manner, the venetian painter battista franco was summoned by him to paint the great chapel of the duomo at urbino, at the time when there was being made after his design the ornament of the organ of that duomo, which is not yet finished. shortly afterwards, the cardinal of mantua having written to the duke that he should send him girolamo, because he wished to restore the vescovado of that city, girolamo went thither and fitted it up very well with lights and with all that the above-named lord desired. besides this, the cardinal, wishing to make a beautiful façade for the duomo, caused him to prepare a model for it, which was executed by him in such a manner, that it may be said that it surpassed all the architectural works of his time, for the reason that in it may be seen grandeur, proportion, grace, and great beauty of composition. having then returned from mantua, now an old man, he went to live at a villa of his own, called le valle, in the territory of urbino, in order to rest and enjoy the fruits of his labours; in which place, not wishing to remain idle, he executed in chalk a conversion of s. paul with figures and horses of considerable size and in very beautiful attitudes, which was finished by him with such patience and diligence, that no greater could be either described or seen, as is evident from the work itself, now in the possession of his heirs, by whom it is treasured as a very dear and precious thing. there, while living with a tranquil mind, he was attacked by a terrible fever, and, after he had received all the sacraments of the church, finished the course of his life, to the infinite grief of his wife and children, on the th of july in the year , at the age of about seventy-five. having been carried from that place to urbino, he was buried with honour in the vescovado, in front of the chapel of s. martino formerly painted by him; and his death caused extraordinary sorrow to his relatives and to all the citizens. girolamo was always an excellent man, insomuch that nothing was ever heard of any bad action committed by him. he was not only a painter, sculptor, and architect, but also a good musician and a fine talker, and his society was very agreeable. he was full of courtesy and lovingness towards his relatives and friends; and, what entitles him to no little praise, he laid the foundation of the house of genga at urbino with his good name and property. he left two sons, one of whom followed in his footsteps and gave his attention to architecture, in which, if he had not been hindered by death, he was like to become most excellent, as his beginnings demonstrate; and the other, who devoted himself to the cares of the family, is still alive at the present day. a disciple of girolamo, as has been related, was francesco menzochi of forlì, who first began to draw by himself when still a child, imitating and copying an altar-piece in the duomo of forlì, by the hand of marco parmigiano[ ] of forlì, containing a madonna, s. jerome, and other saints, and held at that time to be the best of the modern pictures; and he occupied himself likewise with imitating the works of rondinino[ ] da ravenna, a painter more excellent than marco, who a little time before had placed on the high-altar of the above-named duomo a most beautiful altar-piece, in which was painted christ giving the communion to the apostles, and in a lunette above it a dead christ, and in the predella of that altar-piece very graceful scenes with little figures from the life of s. helen. these works brought him forward in such a manner, that, when girolamo genga went, as we have said, to paint the chapel in s. francesco at forlì for m. bartolommeo lombardino, francesco at that time went to live with genga, seizing that opportunity of learning, and did not cease to serve him as long as he lived. there, and also at urbino and in the work of the imperiale at pesaro, he laboured continually, as has been related, esteemed and beloved by genga, because he acquitted himself very well, as many altar-pieces by his hand bear witness that are dispersed throughout the city of forlì, and particularly three of them which are in s. francesco, besides that there are some scenes of his in fresco in the hall of the palace. [footnote : palmezzani.] [footnote : rondinello.] he painted many works throughout romagna; and at venice, also, for the very reverend patriarch grimani, he executed four large pictures in oils that were placed in the ceiling of a little hall in his house, round an octagon that francesco salviati painted; in which pictures are the stories of psyche, held to be very beautiful. but the place where he strove to do his utmost and to put forth all his powers, was the chapel of the most holy sacrament in the church of loreto, in which he painted some angels round a tabernacle of marble wherein rests the body of christ, and two scenes on the walls of that chapel, one of melchizedek and the other of the manna raining down, both executed in fresco; and over the vaulting he distributed fifteen little scenes of the passion of jesus christ, nine of which he executed in painting, and six in half-relief. this was a rich work and well conceived, and he won for it such honour, that he was not suffered to depart until he had decorated another chapel of equal size in the same place, opposite to the first, and called the chapel of the conception, with the vaulting all wrought with rich and very beautiful stucco-work; in which he taught the art of stucco-work to his son pietro paolo, who has since done him honour and has become a well-practised master in that field. francesco, then, painted in fresco on the walls the nativity and the presentation of our lady, and over the altar he painted s. anne and the virgin with the child in her arms, and two angels that are crowning her. and, in truth, his works are much extolled by the craftsmen, and likewise his ways and his life, which was that of a true christian; and he lived in peace, enjoying that which he had gained with his labours. a pupil of genga, also, was baldassarre lancia of urbino, who, having given his attention to many ingenious matters, has since practised his hand in fortifications, at which he worked on a salary for the signoria of lucca, in which place he stayed for some time. he then attached himself to the most illustrious duke cosimo de' medici, whom he came to serve in the fortifications of the states of florence and siena; and the duke has employed and still employs him in many ingenious works, in which baldassarre has laboured valiantly and with honour, winning remunerations from that grateful lord. many others also served girolamo genga, of whom, from their not having attained to any great excellence, there is no need to speak. to the above-named girolamo, at cesena, in the year , the while that he was accompanying the duke his master in exile, there was born a son called bartolommeo, who was brought up by him very decently, and then, when he was well grown, placed to learn grammar, in which he made more than ordinary proficience. afterwards, when he was eighteen years of age, the father, perceiving that he was inclined more to design than to letters, caused him to study design under his own discipline for about two years: which finished, he sent him to study design and painting in florence, where he knew that the true study of that art was to be found, on account of the innumerable works by excellent masters that are there, both ancient and modern. living in that place, and attending to design and to architecture, bartolommeo formed a friendship with giorgio vasari, the painter and architect of arezzo, and with the sculptor bartolommeo ammanati, from whom he learned many things appertaining to art. finally, after having been three years in florence, he returned to his father, who was then attending to the building of s. giovanni battista at pesaro. whereupon, the father having seen the designs of bartolommeo, it appeared to him that he acquitted himself much better in architecture, for which he had a very good inclination, than in painting; wherefore, keeping him under his own care some months, he taught him the methods of perspective. and afterwards he sent him to rome, to the end that he might see the marvellous buildings, both ancient and modern, that are there, of which, in the four years that he stayed there, he took the measurements, and made therein very great proficience. then, on his way back to urbino, passing through florence in order to see francesco[ ] san marino, his brother-in-law, who was living there as engineer to the lord duke cosimo, signor stefano colonna da palestrina, at that time general to that lord, having heard of his ability, sought to engage him with himself, with a good salary. but he, being much indebted to the duke of urbino, would not attach himself to others, and returned to urbino, where he was received by that duke into his service, and ever afterwards held very dear. [footnote : giovan battista.] not long afterwards, the duke taking to wife signora vittoria farnese, bartolommeo received from the duke the charge of executing the festive preparations for those nuptials, which he did in a truly honourable and magnificent manner. among other things, he made a triumphal arch in the borgo di valbuona, so beautiful and so well wrought, that there is none larger or more beautiful to be seen; whence it became evident how much knowledge of architecture he had acquired at rome. then the duke, having to go into lombardy, as general to the signoria of venice, to inspect the fortresses of that dominion, took with him bartolommeo, of whom he availed himself much in preparing designs and sites of fortresses, and in particular at the porta s. felice in verona. now, while bartolommeo was in lombardy, the king of bohemia, who was returning from spain to his kingdom, passed through that province and was received with honour by the duke at verona; and he saw those fortresses. and, since they pleased him, after he had become acquainted with bartolommeo, he wished to take him to his kingdom, in order to make use of him in fortifying his territories, with a good salary; but the duke would not give him leave, and the matter went no further. when they had returned to urbino, no long time passed before girolamo, the father, came to his death; whereupon bartolommeo was set by the duke in the place of his father over all the buildings of the state, and sent to pesaro, where he continued the building of s. giovanni battista, after the model of girolamo. during that time he built in the palace of pesaro, over the strada de' mercanti, a suite of rooms which the duke now occupies; a fine work, with most beautiful ornaments in the form of doors, staircases, and chimney-pieces, of which things he was an excellent architect. which having seen, the duke desired that in the palace of urbino as well he should make another suite of apartments, almost entirely on the façade that faces towards s. domenico; and this, when finished, proved to be the most beautiful suite in that court, or rather, palace, and the most ornate that is there. not long afterwards, the signori of bologna having asked for him for some days from the duke, his excellency granted him to them very readily; and he, having gone, served them in what they desired in such a manner, that they remained very well satisfied and showed him innumerable courtesies. he then made for the duke, who desired to construct a sea-port at pesaro, a very beautiful model; and this was taken to venice, to the house of count giovan giacomo leonardi, at that time the duke's ambassador in that place, to the end that it might be seen by many of the profession who often assembled, with other choice spirits, to hold discussions and disputations on various matters in the house of the above-named count, who was a truly remarkable man. there, then, after that model had been seen and the fine discourse of genga had been heard, the model was held by all without exception to be masterly and beautiful, and the master who had made it a man of the rarest genius. but, when he had returned to pesaro, the model after all was not carried into execution, because new circumstances of great importance drove that project out of the duke's mind. about that time genga made the design of the church of monte l'abbate, and also that of the church of s. piero in mondavio, which was carried into execution by don pier antonio genga in such a manner, that, for a small work, i do not believe that there is anything better to be seen. these works finished, no long time passed before, pope julius iii having been elected, and the duke of urbino having been created by him captain general of holy church, his excellency went to rome, and genga with him. there, his holiness wishing to fortify the borgo, at the request of the duke genga made some very beautiful designs, which, with a number of others, are in the collection of his excellency at urbino. for these reasons the fame of bartolommeo spread abroad, and the genoese, while he was living with the duke in rome, asked for him from his excellency, in order to make use of him in some fortifications of their own; but the duke would not grant him to them, either at that time or on another occasion when they again asked for him, after his return to urbino. in the end, when he was near the close of his life, there were sent to pesaro by the grand master of rhodes two knights of that order of jerusalem, to beseech his excellency that he should deign to lend them bartolommeo, to the end that they might take him to the island of malta, in which they wished to construct not only very large fortifications wherewith to defend themselves against the turks, but also two cities, so as to unite many villages that were there into one or two places. whereupon the duke, whom the above-named knights in two months had not been able to induce to grant them bartolommeo, although they had availed themselves of the good services of the duchess and others, finally complied with their request for a fixed period, at the entreaty of a good capuchin father, to whom his excellency bore a very great affection, and refused nothing that he asked; and the artifice that was used by that holy man, who made it a matter of conscience with the duke, saying that it was in the interest of the christian republic, was not otherwise than highly commendable and worthy of praise. and thus bartolommeo, who had never received any favour greater than this, departed with the above-named knights from pesaro on the th of january, ; but they lingered in sicily, being delayed by the fortune of the sea, and they did not reach malta, where they were received with rejoicing by the grand master, until the th of march. having then been shown what he was to do, he acquitted himself so well in those fortifications, that it could not be expressed in words; insomuch that to the grand master and all those noble knights it appeared that they had found another archimedes, and this they proved by making him most honourable presents and holding him, as a rare master, in supreme veneration. then, after having made the models of a city, of some churches, and of the palace and residence of the same grand master, with most beautiful invention and design, he fell sick of his last illness, for, having set himself one day in the month of july, the heat in that island being very great, between two doors to refresh himself, he had not been there long when he was assailed by insufferable pains of the body and by a cruel flux, which killed him in seventeen days, to the infinite sorrow of the grand master and all those most honourable and valiant knights, to whom it appeared that they had found a man after their own hearts, when he was snatched from them by death. the lord duke of urbino, having been advised of this sad news, felt indescribable sorrow, and bewailed the death of poor genga; and then, having resolved to demonstrate to the five children whom he had left behind him the love that he bore to him, he took them under his particular and loving protection. bartolommeo showed beautiful invention in masquerades, and was a rare master in making scenic settings for comedies. he delighted to write sonnets and other compositions in verse and prose, and in none was he better than in the ottava rima, in which manner of writing he was an author of passing good renown. he died at the age of forty, in the year . giovan battista bellucci of san marino having been the son-in-law of girolamo genga, i have judged that it would not be well to withhold what i have to say of him, after the lives of girolamo and bartolommeo genga, and particularly in order to show that men of fine intellect, if only they be willing, succeed in everything, even if they set themselves late in life to difficult and honourable enterprises; for study, when added to natural inclination, has often been seen to accomplish marvellous things. giovan battista, then, was born in san marino on the th of september, , to bartolommeo bellucci, a person of passing good family in that place; and after he had learned the first rudiments of the humanities, when eighteen years of age, he was sent by that same bartolommeo, his father, to bologna, to attend to the pursuit of commerce under bastiano di ronco, a merchant of the guild of wool. having been there about two years, he returned to san marino sick of a quartan fever, which hung upon him two years; of which being finally cured, he set up a wool business of his own, with which he continued up to the year , at which time his father, perceiving that giovan battista was in good circumstances, gave him for a wife in cagli a daughter of guido peruzzi, a person of considerable standing in that city. but she died not long afterwards, and giovan battista went to rome to seek out domenico peruzzi, his brother-in-law, who was equerry to signor ascanio colonna; and by means of him giovan battista lived for two years with that lord as a gentleman. he then returned home; and it came about that, as he frequented pesaro, girolamo genga, having come to know him as an excellent and well-behaved young man, gave him a daughter of his own for wife and took him into his house. whereupon giovan battista, being much inclined to architecture, and giving his attention with much diligence to the architectural works that his wife's father was executing, began to gain a very good grasp of the various manners of building, and to study vitruvius; and thus, what with that which he acquired by himself and that which genga taught him, he became a good architect, and particularly in the matter of fortifications and other things relating to war. then, in the year , his wife died, leaving him two boys; and he remained until without coming to any further resolution about his life. at that time, in the month of september, there appeared in san marino one signor gustamante, a spaniard, sent by his imperial majesty to that republic on some affairs. giovan battista was recognized by him as an excellent architect, and at his instance he entered not long afterwards into the service of the most illustrious lord duke cosimo, as engineer. and thus, having arrived in florence, his excellency made use of him for all the fortifications of his dominion, according to the necessities that arose every day; and, among other things, the fortress of the city of pistoia having been begun many years before, san marino, by the desire of the duke, completely finished it, with great credit to himself, although it is no great work. then, under the direction of the same architect, a very strong bastion was built at pisa. wherefore, his method of work pleasing the duke, his excellency caused him to construct--where, as has been related, there had been built on the hill of s. miniato, without florence, the wall that curves from the porta s. niccolò to the porta s. miniato--the fortification that encloses a gate by means of two bastions, and guards the church and monastery of s. miniato; making on the summit of that hill a fortress that dominates the whole city and looks on the outer side towards the east and the south, a work that was vastly extolled. the same giovan battista made many designs and ground-plans of various fortifications for places in the states of his excellency, and also various rough models in clay, which are in the possession of the lord duke. and since san marino was a man of fine genius and very studious, he wrote a little book on the methods of fortifications; which work, a beautiful and useful one, is now in the possession of messer bernardo puccini, a gentleman of florence, who learned many things with regard to the matters of architecture and fortification from san marino, who was much his friend. giovan battista, after having designed in the year many bastions that were to be built round the walls of the city of florence, some of which were begun in earth, went with the most illustrious lord, don garzia di toledo, to monte alcino, where, having made some trenches, he mined under a bastion and so shattered it, that he threw down the breastwork; but as it was falling to the ground a harquebus-ball struck san marino in the thigh. not long afterwards, his wound being healed, he went secretly to siena and took the ground-plan of that city, and of the earthworks that the people of siena had made at the porta camollia; which plan of fortifications he then showed to the lord duke and to the marchese di marignano, making it clear to them that the work was not difficult to capture or to secure afterwards on the side towards siena. that this was true was proved by the fact, the night that it was taken by the above-named marquis, with whom giovan battista had gone by order and commission of the duke. on that account, then, the marquis, having conceived an affection for him and knowing that he had need of his judgment and ability in the field (that is, in the war against siena), so went to work with the duke, that his excellency sent giovan battista off as captain of a strong company of foot-soldiers; whereupon he served from that day onward in the field, as a valiant soldier and an ingenious architect. finally, having been sent by the marquis to aiuola, a fortress in the chianti, while disposing the artillery he was wounded in the head by a harquebus-ball; wherefore he was taken by his soldiers to the pieve di s. paolo, which belongs to bishop da ricasoli, and died in a few days, and was carried to san marino, where he received honourable burial from his children. giovan battista deserves to be highly extolled, for the reason that, besides having been excellent in his profession, it is a marvellous thing that, having set himself to give attention to it late in life, at the age of thirty-five, he should have made in it the proficience that he did make; and it may be believed that if he had begun younger, he would have become a very rare master. giovan battista was something obstinate, so that it was a serious undertaking to move him from any opinion. he took extraordinary pleasure in reading stories, and turned them to very great advantage, writing down with great pains the most notable things in them. his death much grieved the duke and his innumerable friends; wherefore his son gian andrea, coming to kiss his excellency's hands, was received kindly by him and welcomed most warmly with very generous offers, on account of the ability and fidelity of the father, who died at the age of forty-eight. michele san michele [illustration: paolo veronese: industry (_venice: doges' palace, sala anticollegio. ceiling painting_)] life of michele san michele architect of verona michele san michele, who was born at verona in the year , and learned the first principles of architecture from his father giovanni and his uncle bartolommeo, both excellent architects, went off at sixteen years of age to rome, leaving his father and two brothers of fine parts, one of whom, called jacopo, devoted himself to letters, and the other, named don camillo, was a canon regular and general of that order. having arrived there, he studied the ancient remains of architecture in such a manner, and with such diligence, observing and measuring everything minutely, that in a short time he became renowned and famous not only in rome, but throughout all the places that are around that city. moved by his fame, the people of orvieto summoned him as architect to their celebrated temple, with an honourable salary; and while he was employed in their service, he was summoned for the same reason to monte fiascone, as architect for the building of their principal temple; and thus, serving both the one and the other of these places, he executed all that there is to be seen in these two cities in the way of good architecture. among other works, a most beautiful tomb was built after his design in s. domenico at monte fiascone--i believe, for one of the petrucci, a nobleman of siena--which cost a great sum of money, and proved to be marvellous. besides all this, he made an infinite number of designs for private houses in those places, and made himself known as a man of great judgment and excellence. thereupon pope clement vii, proposing to make use of him in the most important operations of the wars that were stirring at that time throughout all italy, gave him as a companion to antonio da san gallo, with a very good salary, to the end that they might go together to inspect all the places of greatest importance in the states of the church, and, wherever necessary, might see to the construction of fortifications; above all, at parma and piacenza, because those two cities were most distant from rome, and nearest and most exposed to the perils of war. which duty having been executed by michele and antonio to the full satisfaction of the pontiff, there came to michele a desire, after all those years, to revisit his native city and his relatives and friends, and even more to see the fortresses of the venetians. wherefore, after he had been a few days in verona, he went to treviso to see the fortress there, and then to padua for the same purpose; but the signori of venice, having been warned of this, became suspicious that san michele might be going about inspecting those fortresses with a hostile intent. having therefore been arrested at padua at their command and thrown into prison, he was examined at great length; but, when it was found that he was an honest man, he was not only liberated by them, but also entreated that he should consent to enter the service of those same signori of venice, with honourable rank and salary. he excused himself by saying that he was not able to do that for the present, being engaged to his holiness; but he gave them fair promises, and then took his leave of them. now he had not been away long, when he was forced to depart from rome--to such purpose did those signori go to work in order to secure him--and to go, with the gracious leave of the pope, whom he first satisfied in full, to serve those most illustrious noblemen, his natural lords. abiding with them, he gave soon enough a proof of his judgment and knowledge by making at verona (after many difficulties which the work appeared to present) a very strong and beautiful bastion, which gave infinite satisfaction to those signori and to the lord duke of urbino, their captain general. after these things, the same signori, having determined to fortify legnago and porto, places most important to their dominion, and situated upon the river adige, one on one side and the other on the opposite side, but joined by a bridge, commissioned san michele to show them by means of a model how it appeared to him that those places could and should be fortified. which having been done by him, his design gave infinite satisfaction to the signori and to the duke of urbino. whereupon, arrangements having been made for all that had to be done, san michele executed the fortifications of those two places in such a manner, that among works of that kind there is nothing better to be seen, or more beautiful, or more carefully considered, or stronger, as whoever has seen them well knows. this done, he fortified in the bresciano, almost from the foundations, orzinuovo, a fortress and port similar to legnago. san michele being then sought for with great insistence by signor francesco sforza, last duke of milan, the signori consented to grant him leave, but for three months only. having therefore gone to milan, he inspected all the fortresses of that state, and gave directions in every place for all that it seemed to him necessary to do, and that with such credit and so much to the satisfaction of the duke, that his excellency, besides thanking the signori of venice, presented five hundred crowns to san michele. and with this occasion, before returning to venice, michele went to casale di monferrato, in order to see that very strong and beautiful fortress and city, the architecture of which was the work of matteo san michele, an excellent architect, his cousin; and also an honoured and very beautiful tomb of marble erected in s. francesco in the same city, likewise under the direction of matteo. having then returned home, he had no sooner arrived than he was sent with the above-named duke of urbino to inspect la chiusa, a fortress and pass of much importance, above verona, and then all the places in friuli, bergamo, vicenza, peschiera, and others, of all which, and of what seemed to him to be required, he gave minute information in writing to the signori. having next been sent by the same signori to dalmatia, to fortify the cities and other places of that province, he inspected everything, and carried out restorations with great diligence wherever he saw the necessity to be greatest; and, since he could not himself despatch all the work, he left there gian girolamo, his kinsman, who, after fortifying zara excellently well, erected from the foundations the marvellous fortress of s. niccolò, over the mouth of the harbour of sebenico. meanwhile michele was sent in great haste to corfu, and restored the fortress there in many parts; and he did the same in all the places in cyprus and candia. even so, not long afterwards--on account of a fear that the island might be lost, by reason of the war with the turks, which was imminent--he was forced to return there, after having inspected the fortresses of the venetian dominion in italy, to fortify, with incredible rapidity, canea, candia, retimo, and settia, but particularly canea and candia, which he rebuilt from the foundations and made impregnable. napoli di romania being then besieged by the turks, what with the diligence of s. michele in fortifying it and furnishing it with bastions, and the valour of agostino chisoni of verona, a very valiant captain, in defending it with arms, it was not after all taken by the enemy or forced to surrender. these wars finished, san michele went with the magnificent m. tommaso mozzenigo, captain general of the fleet, to fortify corfu once again; and they then returned to sebenico, where the diligence of gian girolamo, shown by him in constructing the above-mentioned fortress of s. niccolò, was much commended. san michele having then returned to venice, where he was much extolled for the works executed in the levant in the service of that republic, the signori resolved to build a fortress on the lido, at the mouth of the port of venice. wherefore, giving the charge of this to san michele, they said to him that, if he had done such great things far away from venice, he should think how much it was his duty to do in a work of such importance, which was to lie for ever under the eyes of the senate and of so many great lords; and that in addition, besides beauty and strength in the work, there was expected of him particular industry in founding truly and well in a marshy spot, which was surrounded on all sides by the sea and exposed to the ebb and flow of the tide, a pile of such importance. san michele having therefore not only made a very beautiful and solid model, but also considered the method of laying the foundations and carrying it into effect, orders were given to him that he should set his hand to the work without delay. whereupon, after receiving from those signori all that was required, he prepared the materials for filling in the foundations, and, besides this, caused great numbers of piles to be sunk in double rows, and then, with a vast number of persons well acquainted with those waters, he set himself to make the excavations, and to contrive by means of pumps and other instruments to keep the water pumped out, which was seen continually rising from below, because the site was in the sea. one morning, finally, resolving to make a supreme effort to begin the foundations, and assembling as many men fit for the purpose as could be obtained, with all the porters of venice, and many of the signori being present, in a moment, with incredible assiduity and promptitude, the waters were mastered for a little to such purpose, that the first stones of the foundations were thrown instantly upon the piles already driven in; which stones, being very large, took up much space and made an excellent foundation. and so, continuing to keep the water pumped out without losing any time, almost in a flash those foundations were laid, contrary to the expectation of many who had looked upon that work as absolutely impossible. the foundations, when finished, were allowed sufficient time to settle, and then michele erected upon them a mighty and marvellous fortress, building it on the outer side all in rustic work, with very large stones from istria, which are of an extreme hardness and able to withstand wind, frost, and the worst of weather. wherefore that fortress, besides being marvellous with regard to the site on which it is built, is also, from the beauty of the masonry and from its incredible cost, one of the most stupendous that there are in europe at the present day, rivalling the grandeur and majesty of the most famous edifices erected by the greatness of the romans; for, besides other things, it appears as if made all from one block, and as though a mountain of living rock had been carved and given that form, so large are the blocks of which it is built, and so well joined and united together, not to speak of the ornaments and other things that are there, seeing that one would never be able to say enough to do them justice. within it michele afterwards made a piazza, divided by pilasters and arches of the rustic order, which would have proved to be a very rare work, if it had not been left unfinished. this vast pile having been carried to the condition that has been described, some malign and envious persons said to the signoria that, although it was very beautiful and built with every possible consideration, nevertheless it would be useless for any purpose, and perhaps even dangerous, for the reason that on discharging the artillery--on account of the great quantity and weight of artillery that the place required--it was almost inevitable that the edifice should split open and fall to the ground. it therefore appeared to those prudent signori that it would be well to make certain of this, the matter being one of great importance; and they caused to be taken there a vast quantity of artillery, the heaviest that could be found in the arsenal. then, all the embrasures both above and below having been filled with cannon, and the cannon charged more heavily than was usual, they were all fired off together; whereupon such were the noise, the thunder, and the earthquake that resulted, that it seemed as if the world had burst to pieces, and the fortress, with all those flaming cannon, had the appearance of a volcano and of hell itself. but for all that the building stood firm in its former strength and solidity, whereby the senate was convinced of the great worth of san michele, and the evil-speakers were put to scorn as men of little judgment, although they had put such terror into everyone, that the ladies then pregnant, fearing some great disaster, had withdrawn from venice. not long afterwards a place of no little importance on the coast near venice, called marano, having returned under the dominion of the venetians, was restored and fortified with promptitude and diligence under the direction of san michele. and about the same time, the fame of michele and of his kinsman, gian girolamo, spreading ever more widely, they were requested many times, both the one and the other, to go to live with the emperor charles v and with king francis of france; but, although they were invited under most honourable conditions, they would not leave their own masters to enter into the service of foreigners. indeed, continuing in their offices, they went about inspecting and restoring every year, wherever it was necessary, all the cities and fortresses of the state of venice. [illustration: porta del palio (_after =michele san michele=. verona_) _alinari_] but more than all the rest did michele fortify and adorn his native city of verona, making there, besides other things, those most beautiful gates of the city, which have no equal in any other place. one was the porta nuova, all in the dorico-rustic order, which in its solidity and massive firmness corresponds to the strength of the site, being all built of tufa and pietra viva,[ ] and having within it rooms for the soldiers who mount guard there, and many other conveniences, never before added to that kind of building. that edifice, which is quadrangular and open above, serving with its embrasures as a cavalier, defends two great bastions, or rather, towers, which stand one on either side of the gate at proper distances; and all is done with so much judgment, cost, and magnificence, that no one thought that for the future there could be executed any work of greater grandeur or better design, even as none such had been seen in the past. but a few years afterwards the same san michele founded and carried upwards the gate commonly called the porta dal palio, which is in no way inferior to that described above, but equally beautiful, grand, and magnificent, or even more so, and designed excellently well. and, in truth, in these two gates the signori of venice may be seen to have equalled, by means of the genius of this architect, the edifices and fabrics of the ancient romans. [footnote : any kind of stone that is easily split.] this last gate, then, is on the outer side of the doric order, with immense projecting columns, all fluted according to the manner of that order; and these columns, which are eight in all, are placed in pairs. four serve to enclose the gate, with the arms of the rectors of the city, between one and another, on either side, and the other four, likewise in pairs, make a finish to the angles of the gate, the façade of which is very wide and all of bosses, or rather, blocks, not rough, but made smooth, with very beautiful ornamentation; and the opening, or rather passage, through the gate, is left quadrangular, but of an architecture that is new, bizarre, and most beautiful. above it is a great and very rich doric cornice, with all its appurtenances, over which, as may be seen from the model, was to go a fronton with all its ornaments, forming a parapet for the artillery, since this gate, like the other, was to serve as a cavalier. within the gate are very large rooms for the soldiers, with other apartments and conveniences. on the front that faces towards the city, san michele made a most beautiful loggia, all of the dorico-rustic order on the outer side, and on the inner all in rustic work, with very large piers. that have as ornaments columns round on the outside and on the inside square and projecting to the half of their thickness, and all made of pieces in rustic masonry, with doric capitals without bases; and at the top is a great cornice, likewise doric, and carved, passing along the whole loggia, which is of great length, both within and without. in a word, this work is marvellous; wherefore it was well and truly spoken by the most illustrious signor sforza pallavicino, captain general of the venetian forces, when he said that there was not to be found in all europe any structure that could in any way compare with it. this was the last of michele's marvels, for the reason that he had scarcely erected the whole of the first range described above, when he finished the course of his life. wherefore the work remained unfinished, nor will it ever be finished at all, for there are not wanting certain malignant persons--as always happens with great works--who censure it, striving to diminish the glory of others by their malignity and evil-speaking, since they fail by a great measure to achieve similar things with their own powers. the same master built another gate at verona, called the porta di s. zeno, which is very beautiful; in any other place, indeed, it would be marvellous, but in verona its beauty and artistry are obscured by the two others described above. a work of michele's, likewise, is the bastion, or rather rampart, that is near this gate, and also another that is lower down, opposite to s. bernardino, and another between them, called dell'acquaio, which is opposite to the campo marzio; and also that surpassing all the others in size, which is placed by the chain, where the adige enters the city. [illustration: cappella de' pellegrini (_after =michele san michele=. verona: s. bernardino_) _alinari_] at padua he built the bastion called the cornaro, and likewise that of s. croce, which are both of marvellous size, and constructed in the modern manner, according to the order invented by michele himself. for the method of making bastions with angles was the invention of michele, and before his day they were made round; and whereas that kind of bastion was very difficult to defend, at the present day, having an obtuse angle on the outer side, they can be defended with ease, either from the cavalier erected between the two bastions and near to them, or, indeed, from the other bastion, provided that it be near the one attacked and the ditch wide. his invention, also, was the method of making bastions with three platforms, whereby the two at the sides guard and defend the ditch and the curtains, with their open embrasures, and the merlon in the centre defends itself and attacks the enemy in front. this method of fortification has since been imitated by everyone, causing the abandonment of the ancient fashion of subterranean embrasures, called casemates, in which, on account of the smoke and other impediments, the artillery could not be well handled; not to mention that they often weakened the foundations of the towers and walls. the same michele built two very beautiful gates at legnago. he directed at peschiera the work of the first foundation of that fortress, and likewise many works at brescia; and he always did everything with such diligence and such good foundations, that not one of his buildings ever showed a crack. finally, he restored the fortress of la chiusa above verona, making it possible for persons to pass by without entering the fortress, but yet in such a manner that, on the raising of a bridge by those who are within, no one can pass by against their will, or even show himself on the road, which is very narrow and cut out of the rock. he also built at verona, just after he had returned from rome, the very beautiful bridge over the adige, called the ponte nuovo, doing this at the commission of messer giovanni emo, at that time podestà of that city; which bridge was on account of its strength, as it still is, a marvellous thing. michele was excellent not only in fortifications, but also in private buildings and in temples, churches, and monasteries, as may be seen from many buildings at verona and other places, and particularly from the most ornate and beautiful chapel of the guareschi in s. bernardino, which is round after the manner of a temple, and in the corinthian order, with all the ornaments which that manner admits. that chapel, i say, he built all of that white pietra viva, which, from the sound that it makes when it is being worked, is called in that city "bronzo"; and, in truth, that kind of stone, after fine marble, is the most beautiful that has been found down to our own times, being absolutely solid and without holes or spots that might spoil it. since that chapel, then, is built on the inside all of that most beautiful stone, and wrought by excellent masters of carving, and put together very well, it is considered that among works of that kind there is at the present day no other more beautiful in all italy. for michele made the whole work curve in a circle in such a manner, that three altars which are in it, with their pediments and cornices, and likewise the space of the door, all turn in a perfect round, almost after the likeness of the entrances that filippo brunelleschi made in the chapels of the temple of the angeli in florence; which is a very difficult thing to do. michele then made therein a gallery over the first range of columns, which circles right round the chapel, and there are to be seen most beautiful carvings in the form of columns, capitals, foliage, grotesques, little pilasters, and other things, carved with incredible diligence. the door of that chapel he made quadrangular on the outer side, of the corinthian order and very beautiful, and similar to an ancient door that he saw, so he used to say, in some place at rome. it is true, indeed, that this work, after having been left unfinished by michele, i know not for what reason, was given, either from avarice or from lack of judgment, to certain others to be finished, who spoiled it, to the infinite vexation of michele, who in his lifetime saw it ruined before his very eyes, without being able to prevent it; wherefore he used to complain at times to his friends, but only on this account, that he had not thousands of ducats wherewith to buy it from the avaricious hands of a woman who, by spending less than she was able, was shamefully spoiling it. a work of michele's was the design of the round temple of the madonna di campagna, near verona, which was very beautiful, although the parsimony, weakness, and little judgment of the wardens of that building have since disfigured it in many parts; and even worse would they have done, if bernardino brugnuoli, a kinsman of michele, had not had charge of it and made a complete model, after which the building of that temple, as well as of many others, is now being carried forward. for the friars of s. maria in organo, or rather, the monks of monte oliveto in verona, he made a design of the corinthian order, which was most beautiful, for the façade of their church. this façade, after being carried to a certain height by paolo san michele, was left not long since in that condition, on account of many expenses that were incurred by those monks in other matters, but even more by reason of the death of him who had begun it, don cipriano of verona, a man of saintly life and of much authority in that order, of which he was twice general. at s. giorgio in verona, a convent of the regular priests of s. giorgio in alega, the same michele directed the building of the cupola of that church, which was a very beautiful work, and succeeded against the expectations of many who did not think that the structure would ever remain standing, on account of the weakness of its supports; but these were then so strengthened by michele, that there is no longer anything to fear. in the same convent he made the design and laid the foundations of a very beautiful campanile of hewn stone, partly tufa and partly pietra viva, which was carried well forward by him, and is now being continued by the above-mentioned bernardino, his nephew, who is employed in carrying it to completion. monsignor luigi lippomani, bishop of verona, having resolved to carry to completion the campanile of his church, which had been begun a hundred years before, caused a design for this to be made by michele, who did it very beautifully, taking into consideration the preserving of the old part and the expense that the bishop was able to incur. but a certain messer domenico porzio, a roman, and his vicar, a person with little knowledge of building, although otherwise a worthy man, allowed himself to be imposed upon by one who also knew little about it, and gave him the charge of carrying on that fabric. whereupon that person built it of unprepared stone from the mountains, and made the stairs in the thickness of the walls, doing all this in such a manner, that everyone who was even slightly conversant with architecture foretold that which afterwards happened--namely, that the structure would not remain standing. and, among others, the very reverend fra marco de' medici of verona, who, in addition to his other more serious studies, has always delighted in architecture, as he still does, predicted what would happen to such a building; but he was answered thus: "fra marco counts for much in his own profession of letters, philosophy, and theology, wherein he is public lecturer, but in architecture he does not fish so deeply as to command belief." finally, that campanile, having risen to the level where the bells were to be, opened out in four parts in such a manner, that, after having spent many thousands of crowns in building it, they had to give three hundred crowns to the builders to throw it to the ground, lest it should fall by itself, as it would have done in a few days, and destroy everything all around. and it is only right that this should happen to those who desert good and eminent masters, and mix themselves up with bunglers. the above-named monsignor luigi having afterwards been chosen bishop of bergamo, monsignor agostino lippomani was made bishop of verona in his place, and he commissioned michele to reconstruct almost anew the model of that campanile, and to set to work. and after him, according to the same model, monsignor girolamo trivisani, a friar of s. dominic, who succeeded the last-named lippomani in the bishopric, has caused that work to be continued, which is now progressing passing slowly. the model is very beautiful, and the stairs are being accommodated within the tower in such a manner, that the fabric remains stable and very strong. for the noble counts della torre of verona, michele built a very beautiful chapel in the manner of a round temple, with the altar in the centre, at their villa of fumane. and in the church of the santo, at padua, a very handsome tomb was built under his direction for messer alessandro contarini, procurator of s. mark, who had been proveditor to the venetian forces; in which tomb it would seem that michele sought to show in what manner such works should be done, departing from a kind of commonplace method which, in his opinion, had in it more of the altar or chapel than of the tomb. this work, which is very rich in ornamentation, solid in composition, and warlike in character, has as ornaments a thetis and two prisoners by the hand of alessandro vittoria, which are held to be good figures, and a head, or rather, effigy from life of the above-named lord, with armour on the breast, executed in marble by danese da carrara. there are, in addition, other ornaments in abundance; prisoners, trophies, spoils of war, and others, of which there is no need to make mention. in venice he made the model of the convent of the nuns of s. biagio catoldo, which was much extolled. it was then resolved at verona to rebuild the lazzaretto, a dwelling, or rather, hospital, which serves for the sick in times of plague, the old one having been destroyed together with other edifices that had been in the suburbs; and michele was commissioned to make a design for this (which proved to be beautiful beyond all expectations), to the end that it might be put into execution on a spot near the river, at some distance from the city and beyond the esplanade. but this design, truly most beautiful and excellently well considered in every part, which is now in the possession of the heirs of luigi brugnuoli, michele's nephew, was not carried completely into execution by certain persons, by reason of their little judgment and poverty of spirit, but much restricted, curtailed, and reduced to mean proportions by those persons, who used the authority that they had received in the matter from the public in disfiguring the work, in consequence of the untimely death of some gentlemen who were in charge of it at the beginning, and who had a greatness of spirit equal to their nobility of blood. a work of michele's, likewise, was the very beautiful palace that the noble counts of canossa have at verona, which was built at the commission of the very reverend monsignor di bajus, who once was count lodovico canossa, a man so much celebrated by all the writers of his time. for the same monsignor michele built another magnificent palace in the villa of grezzano, in the veronese territory. under the direction of the same architect the façade of the counts bevilacqua was reconstructed, and all the apartments were restored in the castle of those lords, called la bevilacqua. and at verona, likewise, he built the house and façade of the lavezzoli, which were much extolled. in venice he built from the foundations the very rich and magnificent palace of the cornaro family, near s. polo, and restored another palace, also of the cornaro family, which is by s. benedetto all'albore, for m. giovanni cornaro, of whom michele was much the friend; and this led to giorgio vasari painting nine pictures in oils for the ceiling of a magnificent apartment, all adorned with woodwork carved and richly overlaid with gold, in that palace. in like manner, he restored the house of the bragadini, opposite to s. marina, and made it very commodious and ornate. and in the same city he founded and raised above the ground after a model of his own, at incredible cost, the marvellous palace of the most noble m. girolamo grimani, near s. luca, on the grand canal; but michele, being overtaken by death, was not able to carry it to completion himself, and the other architects chosen in his stead by that nobleman altered his design and model in many parts. near castelfranco, on the borders of the territories of padua and treviso, there was built under the direction of the same michele the most famous palace of the soranzi, called by that family la soranza; which palace is held to be, for a country residence, the most beautiful and the most commodious that had been built in those parts up to that time. he also built the casa cornara at piombino, in that territory, and so many other private houses, that it would make too long a story to attempt to speak of them all; let it be enough to have made mention of the most important. i will not, indeed, refrain from recording that he made most beautiful gates for two palaces, one of which was that of the rectors and of the captain, and the other that of the palazzo del podestà, both in verona and worthy of the highest praise, although the latter, which is in the ionic order, with double columns and very ornate intercolumniations, and some victories at the angles, has a somewhat dwarfed appearance by reason of the lowness of the site where it stands, particularly because it is without pedestals and very wide on account of the double columns; but such was the wish of messer giovanni delfini, who had it made. while michele was enjoying a tranquil ease in his native place, and the reputation and renown that his honourable labours had brought him, there came to him a piece of news that so afflicted him, that it finished the course of his life. but to the end that the whole may be better understood, and that all the beautiful works of the san michele family may be made known in this life, i shall say something of gian girolamo, the kinsman of michele. [illustration: palazzo grimani (_after =michele san michele=. venice_) _anderson_] this gian girolamo, then, was the son of paolo, the cousin of michele, and, being a young man of very beautiful genius, was instructed with such diligence by michele in the matters of architecture, and so beloved by him, that he would always have the young man with him in all undertakings of importance, and particularly in fortifications. having therefore become in a short time so excellent, with the help of such a master, that the most difficult work of fortification could be entrusted to him, in which manner of architecture he took particular delight, his ability was recognized by the signori of venice, and he was placed with a good salary among the number of their architects, although he was very young, and then sent now to one place and now to another, to inspect and restore the fortresses of their dominion, and at times to carry into execution the designs of his kinsman michele. and, among other places, he took part with much judgment and labour in the fortification of zara, and in the marvellous fortress of s. niccolò at sebenico, placed, as has been mentioned, at the mouth of the port; which fortress, erected by him from the very foundations, is held to be, for a private fortress, one of the strongest and best designed that there are to be seen. he also reconstructed after his own designs, with the advice of his kinsman, the great fortress of corfu, which is considered the key of italy on that side. in this fortress, i say, gian girolamo rebuilt the two great towers that face towards the land, making them much larger and stronger than they were before, with open embrasures and platforms that flank the ditch in the modern manner, after the invention of his kinsman. he then caused the ditches to be made much wider than they were before, and had a hill levelled, which, being near the fortress, appeared to command it. but, besides the many other works that he did there with great consideration, what gave most satisfaction was that in one corner of the fortress he made a place of great size and strength, in which in time of siege the people of that island can stay in safety without any danger of being captured by the enemy. on account of these works gian girolamo came into such credit with the above-named signori, that they ordained him a salary equal to that of his kinsman, judging him to be not inferior to michele, and even superior in that work of fortification: which gave the greatest contentment to san michele, who saw his own art advancing in the person of his relative in proportion as old age was taking away from himself the power to go further. gian girolamo, besides his great judgment in recognizing the nature of different sites, showed much industry in having them represented by designs and models in relief, insomuch that he enabled his patrons to see even the most minute details of his fortifications in very beautiful models of wood that he would cause to be made; which diligence pleased them vastly, for without leaving venice they saw every day how matters were proceeding in the most distant parts of their state. in order that they might be the more readily seen by everyone, these models were kept in the palazzo del principe, in a place where the signori could examine them at their convenience; and to the end that gian girolamo might continue to pursue that course, they not only reimbursed him the expenses that he incurred in making the above-mentioned models, but also showed him many other courtesies. gian girolamo could have gone to serve many lords, with large salaries, but he would never leave his venetian signori; nay, at the advice of his father and his kinsman michele, he took a wife in verona, a noble young woman of the fracastoro family, with the intention of always living in those parts. but he had been not more than a few days with his beloved bride, who was called madonna ortensia, when he was summoned by his patrons to venice, and thence sent in great haste to cyprus to inspect every place in that island, orders having been given to all the officials that they should provide him with all that he might require for any purpose. having then arrived in that island, in three months gian girolamo went all round it and diligently inspected everything, putting every detail into writing and drawing, in order to be able to give an account of the whole to his masters. but, while he was attending with too much care and solicitude to his office, paying little regard to his own life, in the burning heat which prevailed at that time in the island he fell sick of a pestilential fever, which robbed him of life in six days; although some said that he had been poisoned. however that may have been, he died content in being in the service of his masters and employed by them in works of importance, knowing that they had trusted more in his fidelity and his skill in fortification than in those of any other man. the moment that he fell sick, knowing that he was dying, he gave all the drawings and writings that he had prepared on the works in that island into the hands of the architect luigi brugnuoli, his kinsman by marriage (who was then engaged in the fortification of famagosta, which is the key of that kingdom), to the end that he might carry them to his masters. when the news of gian girolamo's death arrived in venice, there was not one of the senate who did not feel indescribable sorrow at the loss of such a man, who had been so devoted to that republic. gian girolamo died at the age of forty-five, and received honourable burial from his above-named kinsman in s. niccolò at famagosta. then, having returned to venice, brugnuoli presented gian girolamo's drawings and writings; which done, he was sent to give completion to the fortifications of legnago, where he had spent many years in executing the designs and models of his uncle. but he had not been long in that place when he died, leaving two sons, who are men of passing good ability in design and in the practice of architecture. bernardino, the elder, has now many undertakings on his hands, such as the building of the campanile of the duomo, that of s. giorgio, and that of the church called the madonna di campagna, in which and other works that he is directing at verona and other places, he is succeeding excellently well; and particularly in the ornamental work of the principal chapel of s. giorgio at verona, which is of the composite order, and such that in size, design, and workmanship, the people of verona declare that they do not believe that there is one equal to it to be found in italy. this work, which follows the curve of the recess, is of the corinthian order, with composite capitals and double columns in full relief, and pilasters behind. in like manner, the frontispiece which surmounts the whole also curves in very masterly fashion according to the shape of the recess, and has all the ornaments which that order embraces. wherefore monsignor barbaro, patriarch-elect of aquileia, a man with a great knowledge of the profession, who has written of it, on his return from the council of trent saw not without marvel all that had been done in that work, and that which was being done every day; and, after considering it several times, he had to say that he had never seen the like, and that nothing better could be done. and let this suffice as a proof of what may be expected from the genius of bernardino, who was born on the mother's side from the san michele family. but let us return to michele, from whom we digressed, not without reason, some little time back. he was struck by such grief at the death of gian girolamo, in whom he saw the house of san michele become extinct, since his kinsman left no children, that, although he strove to conquer or conceal it, in a few days he was overcome by a malignant fever, to the inconsolable sorrow of his country and of his most illustrious patrons. michele died in the year , and was buried in s. tommaso, a church of carmelite friars, where there is the ancient burial-place of his forefathers; and at the present day messer niccolò san michele, a physician, has set his hand to erecting him an honourable tomb, which is even now being carried into execution. michele was a man of most upright life, and most honourable in his every action. he was a cheerful person, yet with an admixture of seriousness. he feared god, and was very religious, insomuch that he would never set himself to do anything in the morning without having first heard mass devoutly and said his prayers; and at the beginning of any undertaking of importance, in the morning, before doing any other thing, he would always have the mass of the holy spirit or of the madonna solemnly chanted. he was very liberal, and so courteous with his friends, that they were as much masters of his possessions as he was himself. and i will not withhold a proof of his great loyalty and goodness, which i believe few others know besides myself. when giorgio vasari, of whom, as has been told, he was much the friend, parted from him for the last time in venice, michele said to him: "i would have you know, messer giorgio, that, when i was in my youth at monte fiascone, i became enamoured, as fortune would have it, of the wife of a stone-cutter, and received from her complaisance all that i desired; but no one ever heard of it from me. now, having heard that the poor woman has been left a widow, with a daughter ready for a husband, whom she says she conceived by me, i wish--although it may well be that this is not true, and such is my belief--that you should take to her these fifty crowns of gold and give them to her on my part, for the love of god, to the end that she may use them for her advantage and settle her daughter according to her station." giorgio, therefore, going to rome, and arriving at monte fiascone, although the good woman freely confessed to him that the girl was not the daughter of michele, insisted, in obedience to michele's command, on paying her the fifty crowns, which were as welcome to that poor woman as five hundred would have been to another. michele, then, was courteous beyond the courtesy of any other man, insomuch that he no sooner heard of the needs and desires of his friends, than he sought to gratify them, even to the spending of his life; nor did any person ever do him a service that was not repaid many times over. giorgio vasari once made for him in venice, with the greatest diligence at his command, a large drawing in which the proud lucifer and his followers, vanquished by the angel michael, could be seen raining headlong down from heaven into the horrible depths of hell; and at that time michele did not do anything but thank giorgio for it when he took leave of him. but not many days after, returning to arezzo, giorgio found that san michele had sent long before to his mother, who lived at arezzo, a quantity of presents beautiful and honourable enough to be the gifts of a very rich nobleman, with a letter in which he did her great honour for love of her son. many times the signori of venice offered to increase his salary, but he refused, always praying that they should increase his kinsmen's salaries instead of his own. in short, michele was in his every action so gentle, courteous, and loving, that he made himself rightly beloved by innumerable lords; by cardinal de' medici, who became pope clement vii, while he was in rome; by cardinal alessandro farnese, who became paul iii; by the divine michelagnolo buonarroti; by signor francesco maria, duke of urbino; and by a vast number of noblemen and senators of venice. at verona he was much the friend of fra marco de' medici, a man of great learning and infinite goodness, and of many others of whom there is no need at present to make mention. now, in order not to have to turn back in a short time to speak of the veronese, taking the opportunity presented by the masters mentioned above, i shall make mention in this place of some painters from that country, who are still alive and worthy to be named, and by no means to be passed over in silence. the first of these is domenico del riccio, who has painted in fresco, mostly in chiaroscuro and partly in colour, three façades of the house of fiorio della seta at verona, on the ponte nuovo--that is, the three that do not look out upon the bridge, the house standing by itself. in one, over the river, are battles of sea-monsters, in another the battles of the centaurs and many rivers, and in the third two pictures in colour. in the first of these, which is over the door, is the table of the gods, and in the other, over the river, is the fable of the nuptials between the benacus, called the lake of garda, and the nymph caris, in the person of garda, from whom is born the river mincio, which in fact issues from that lake. in the same house is a large frieze wherein are some triumphs in colour, executed in a beautiful and masterly manner. in the house of messer pellegrino ridolfi, also at verona, the same master painted the coronation of the emperor charles v, and the scene when, after being crowned in bologna, he rides with the pope through the city in great pomp. in oils he has painted the principal altar-piece of the church that the duke of mantua has built recently near the castello, in which is the beheading and martyrdom of s. barbara, painted with much diligence and judgment. and what moved the duke to have that altar-piece executed by domenico was his having seen and much liked his manner in an altar-piece that domenico had painted long before for the chapel of s. margherita in the duomo of mantua, in competition with paolino,[ ] who painted that of s. antonio, with paolo farinato, who executed that of s. martino, and with battista del moro, who painted that of the magdalene; all which four veronese had been summoned thither by cardinal ercole of mantua, in order to adorn that church, which had been reconstructed by him after the design of giulio romano. other works has domenico executed in verona, vicenza, and venice, but it must suffice to have spoken of those named. he is an honest and excellent craftsman, and, in addition to his painting, he is a very fine musician, and one of the first in the most noble philharmonic academy of verona. [footnote : paolo caliari or veronese.] not inferior to him will be his son felice, who, although still young, has proved himself a painter out of the ordinary in an altar-piece that he has executed for the church of the trinita, in which are the madonna and six other saints, all of the size of life. nor is this any marvel, for the young man learned his art in florence, living in the house of bernardo canigiani, a florentine gentleman and a crony of his father domenico. in the same verona, also, lives bernardino, called l'india, who, besides many other works, has painted the fable of psyche in most beautiful figures on the ceiling of a chamber in the house of count marc'antonio del tiene. and he has painted another chamber, with beautiful inventions and a lovely manner of painting, for count girolamo of canossa. a much extolled painter, also, is eliodoro forbicini, a young man of most beautiful genius and of considerable skill in every manner of painting, but particularly in making grotesques, as may be seen in the two chambers mentioned above and in other places where he has worked. in like manner battista da verona, who is called thus, and not otherwise, out of his own country, after having learned the first rudiments of painting from an uncle at verona, placed himself with the excellent tiziano in venice, under whom he has become a very good painter. when a young man, this battista painted in company with paolino a hall in the palace of the paymaster and assessor portesco at tiene in the territory of vicenza; where they executed a vast number of figures, which acquired credit and repute for both the one and the other. with the same paolino he executed many works in fresco in the palace of the soranza at castelfranco, both having been sent to work there by michele san michele, who loved them as his sons. and with him, also, he painted the façade of the house of m. antonio cappello, which is on the grand canal in venice; and then, still together, they painted the ceiling, or rather, soffit in the hall of the council of ten, dividing the pictures between them. not long afterwards, having been summoned to vicenza, battista executed many works there, both within and around the city; and recently he has painted the façade of the monte della pietà, wherein he has executed an infinite number of nude figures in various attitudes, larger than life, with very good design, and all in so few months, that it has been a marvel. and if he has done so much at so early an age (for he is not yet past thirty), everyone may imagine what may be expected of him in the course of his life. a veronese, likewise, is one paolino, a painter who is in very good repute in venice at the present day, in that, although he is not yet more than thirty years of age, he has executed many works worthy of praise. this master, who was born at verona to a stone-cutter, or, as they say in those parts, a stone-hewer, after having learned the rudiments of painting from giovanni caroto of verona, painted in fresco, in company with the above-named battista, the hall of the paymaster and assessor portesco at tiene, in the vicentino; and afterwards at the soranza, with the same companion, many works executed with good design and judgment and a beautiful manner. at masiera, near asolo in the trevisano, he has painted the very beautiful house of signor daniello barbaro, patriarch-elect of aquileia. at verona, for the refectory of s. nazzaro, a monastery of black friars, he has painted in a large picture on canvas the supper that simon the leper gave to our lord, when the woman of sin threw herself at his feet, with many figures, portraits from life, and very rare perspective-views; and under the table are two dogs so beautiful that they appear real and alive, and further away certain cripples executed excellently well. [illustration: the feast in the house of levi (_after the painting by =paolo veronese [paolino _or_ caliari]=. venice: accademia, _) _anderson_] by the hand of paolino, in the hall of the council of ten at venice, in an oval that is larger than certain others that are there, placed, as the principal one, in the centre of the ceiling, is a jove who is driving away the vices, in order to signify that that supreme and absolute tribunal drives away vice and chastises wicked and vicious men. the same master painted the soffit, or rather, ceiling of the church of s. sebastiano, which is a very rare work, and the altar-piece of the principal chapel, together with some pictures that serve to adorn it, and likewise the doors of the organ; which are all pictures truly worthy of the highest praise. in the hall of the grand council he painted a large picture of frederick barbarossa presenting himself to the pope, with a good number of figures varied in their costumes and vestments, all most beautiful and representing worthily the court of a pope and an emperor, and also a venetian senate, with many noblemen and senators of that republic, portrayed from life. in short, this work is such in its grandeur and design, and in the beauty and variety of the attitudes, that it is rightly extolled by everyone. after this scene, paolino painted the ceilings of certain chambers, which are used by that council of ten, with figures in oils, which are much foreshortened and very rare. in like manner, he painted in fresco the façade of the house of a merchant, which was a very beautiful work, on the road from s. maurizio to s. moisè; but the wind from the sea is little by little destroying it. for camillo trevisani, at murano, he painted a loggia and an apartment in fresco, which were much extolled. and in s. giorgio maggiore at venice, at the head of a large apartment, he painted in oils the marriage of cana in galilee, which was a marvellous work for its grandeur, the number of figures, the variety of costumes, and the invention; and, if i remember right, there are to be seen in it more than one hundred and fifty heads, all varied and executed with great diligence. the same paolino was commissioned by the procurators of s. mark to paint certain angular medallions that are in the ceiling of the nicene library, which was left to the signoria by cardinal bessarion, with a vast treasure of greek books. now the above-named lords, when they had the painting of that library begun, promised a prize of honour, in addition to the ordinary payment, to him who should acquit himself best in painting it; and the pictures were divided among the best painters that there were at that time in venice. when the work was finished and the pictures painted had been very well considered, a chain of gold was placed round the neck of paolino, he being the man who was judged to have done better than all the others. the picture that gave him the victory and the prize of honour was that wherein he painted music, in which are depicted three very beautiful young women, one of whom, the most beautiful, is playing a great bass-viol, looking down at the fingerboard of the instrument, the attitude of her person showing that her ear and her voice are fixed intently on the sound; and of the other two, one is playing a lute, and the other singing from a book. near these women is a cupid without wings, who is playing a harpsichord, signifying that love is born from music, or rather, that love is always in company with music; and, because he never parts from her, paolino made him without wings. in the same picture he painted pan, the god, according to the poets, of shepherds, with certain pipes made of the bark of trees, as it were consecrated to him as votive offerings by shepherds who have been victorious in playing them. two other pictures paolino painted in the same place; in one is arithmetic, with certain philosophers dressed in the ancient manner, and in the other is honour, seated on a throne, to whom sacrifices are being offered and royal crowns presented. but, seeing that this young man is at this very moment at the height of his activity and not yet in his thirty-second year, i shall say nothing more of him for the present. [illustration: venice enthroned, with justice and peace (_after the painting by =paolo veronese [paolino _or_ caliari]=. venice: ducal palace_) _anderson_] likewise a veronese is paolo farinato, an able painter, who, after having been a disciple of niccolò ursino,[ ] has executed many works at verona. the most important are a hall in the house of the fumanelli, which he filled with various scenes in fresco-colours at the desire of messer antonio, a gentleman of that family, most famous as physician over all europe, and two very large pictures in the principal chapel of s. maria in organo. in one of these is the story of the innocents, and in the other is the scene when the emperor constantine causes a number of children to be brought before him, intending to kill them and to bathe in their blood, in order to cure himself of his leprosy. then in the recess of that chapel are two pictures, large, but smaller than the others, in one of which is christ receiving s. peter, who is walking towards him on the water, and in the other the dinner that s. gregory gives to certain poor men. in all these works, which are much to be extolled, is a vast number of figures, executed with good design, study, and diligence. by the hand of the same master is an altar-picture of s. martino that was placed in the duomo of mantua, which he executed in competition with others his compatriots, as has just been related. [footnote : giolfino.] and let this be the end of the lives of the excellent michele san michele and of those other able men of verona, so truly worthy of all praise on account of their excellence in the arts and their great talents. giovanni antonio bazzi, called il sodoma [illustration: giovanni antonio (il sodoma): the vision of s. catharine (_siena: s. domenico. fresco_)] life of giovanni antonio bazzi, called il sodoma painter of vercelli if men were to recognize their position when fortune presents to them the opportunity to become rich, obtaining for them the favour of great persons, and were to exert themselves in their youth to make their merit equal to their good fortune, marvellous results would be seen to issue from their actions; whereas very often the contrary is seen to happen, for the reason that, even as it is true that he who trusts only in fortune generally finds himself deceived, so it is very clear, as experience teaches us every day, that merit alone, likewise, if not accompanied by fortune, does not do great things. if giovanni antonio of vercelli, even as he had good fortune, had possessed an equal dower of merit, as he could have done if he had studied, he would not have been reduced to madness and miserable want in old age at the end of his life, which was always eccentric and beastly. now giovanni antonio was taken to siena by some merchants, agents of the spannocchi family, and his good fortune, or perhaps his bad fortune, would have it that, not finding any competition for a time in that city, he should work there alone; which, although it was some advantage to him, was in the end injurious, for the reason that he went to sleep, as it were, and never studied, but did most of his work by rule of thumb. and, if he did study a little, it was only in drawing the works of jacopo della fonte, which were much esteemed, and in little else. in the beginning he executed many portraits from life with that glowing manner of colouring which he had brought from lombardy, and he thus made many friendships in siena, more because that people is very kindly disposed towards strangers than because he was a good painter; and, besides this, he was a gay and licentious man, keeping others entertained and amused with his manner of living, which was far from creditable. in which life, since he always had about him boys and beardless youths, whom he loved more than was decent, he acquired the by-name of sodoma; and in this name, far from taking umbrage or offence, he used to glory, writing about it songs and verses in terza rima, and singing them to the lute with no little facility. he delighted, in addition, to have about the house many kinds of extraordinary animals; badgers, squirrels, apes, marmosets, dwarf asses, horses, barbs for running races, little horses from elba, jays, dwarf fowls, indian turtle-doves, and other suchlike animals, as many as he could lay his hands on. but, besides all these beasts, he had a raven, which had learned from him to speak so well, that in some things it imitated exactly the voice of giovanni antonio, and particularly in answering to anyone who knocked at the door, doing this so excellently that it seemed like giovanni antonio himself, as all the people of siena know very well. in like manner, the other animals were so tame that they always flocked round anybody in the house, playing the strangest pranks and the maddest tricks in the world, insomuch that the man's house looked like a real noah's ark. [illustration: scene from the life of s. benedict (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. monte oliveto maggiore_) _alinari_] now this manner of living and his eccentric ways, with his works and pictures, wherein he did indeed achieve something of the good, caused him to have such a name among the people of siena--that is, among the populace and the common herd, for the people of quality knew him better--that he was held by many to be a great man. whereupon, fra domenico da lecco, a lombard, having been made general of the monks of monte oliveto, sodoma went to visit him at monte oliveto di chiusuri, the principal seat of that order, distant fifteen miles from siena; and he so contrived with his persuasive words, that he was commissioned to finish the stories of the life of s. benedict, part of which had been executed on a wall by luca signorelli of cortona. this work he finished for a small enough price, besides the expenses that he incurred, and those of certain lads and colour-grinders who assisted him; nor would it be possible to describe the amusement that he gave while he was labouring at that place to those fathers, who called him il mattaccio,[ ] in the mad pranks that he played. [footnote : madcap or buffoon.] [illustration: scene from the life of s. benedict (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. monte oliveto maggiore_) _alinari_] but to return to the work. having executed there certain scenes, which he hurried over mechanically and without diligence, and the general complaining of this, mattaccio said that he worked as he felt inclined, and that his brush danced to the tune of money, so that, if the general consented to spend more, he was confident that he could do much better. the general having therefore promised that he would pay him better for the future, giovanni antonio painted three scenes, which still remained to be executed in the corners, with so much more study and diligence than he had shown in the others, that they proved to be much finer. in one of these is s. benedict departing from norcia and from his father and mother, in order to go to study in rome; in the second, s. mauro and s. placido as children, presented to him and offered to god by their fathers; and in the third, the goths burning monte cassino. for the last, in order to do despite to the general and the monks, he painted the story of the priest fiorenzo, the enemy of s. benedict, bringing many loose women to dance and sing around the monastery of that holy man, in order to tempt the purity of those fathers. in this scene sodoma, who was as shameless in his painting as in his other actions, painted a dance of nude women, altogether lewd and shameful; and, since he would not have been allowed to do it, as long as he was at work he would never let any of the monks see it. wherefore, when the scene was uncovered, the general wished by hook or by crook to throw it to the ground and utterly destroy it; but mattaccio, after much foolish talk, seeing that father in anger, clothed all the naked women in that work, which is one of the best that are there. under each of these scenes he painted two medallions, and in each medallion a friar, to represent all the generals who had ruled that congregation. and, since he had not their portraits from life, mattaccio did most of the heads from fancy, and in some he portrayed old friars who were in the monastery at that time, and in the end he came to paint the head of the above-named fra domenico da lecco, who was their general in those days, as has been related, and was causing him to execute that work. but, after some of those heads had lost the eyes, and others had been damaged, fra antonio bentivogli, the bolognese, caused them all to be removed, for good reasons. now, while mattaccio was executing these scenes, there had gone thither, to assume the habit of a monk, a milanese nobleman, who had a yellow cloak trimmed with black cords, such as was worn at that time; and, after he had put on the monk's habit, the general gave that cloak to mattaccio, who, by means of a mirror, painted a portrait of himself with it on his back in one of the scenes, wherein s. benedict, still almost a child, miraculously puts together and mends the corn-measure, or rather, tub, of his nurse, which she had broken. at the feet of the portrait he painted a raven, an ape, and others of his animals. this work finished, he painted the story of the five loaves and two fishes, with other figures, in the refectory of the monastery of s. anna, a seat of the same order, distant five miles from monte oliveto; which work completed, he returned to siena. there, at the postierla, he painted in fresco the façade of the house of m. agostino de' bardi of siena, in which were some things worthy of praise, but for the most part they have been consumed by time and the weather. [illustration: the marriage of alexander and roxana (_detail, after the fresco by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. rome: villa farnesina_) _braun_] during this time there arrived in siena agostino chigi, a very rich and famous merchant of that city, and he became acquainted with giovanni antonio, both on account of his follies and because he had the name of a good painter. wherefore he took him in his company to rome, where pope julius ii was then causing the papal apartments in the palace of the vatican, which pope nicholas v had formerly erected, to be painted; and chigi so went to work with the pope, that some painting was given also to sodoma. now pietro perugino, who was painting the ceiling of an apartment that is beside the borgia tower, was working at his ease, like the old man that he was, and was not able to set his hand to anything else, as he had been at first commanded to do: and there was given to giovanni antonio to paint another apartment, which is beside the one that perugino was painting. having therefore set his hand to it, he made the ornamentation of that ceiling with cornices, foliage, and friezes; and then, in some large medallions, he executed certain passing good scenes in fresco. but this animal, devoting his attention to his beasts and his follies, would not press the work forward; and therefore, after raffaello da urbino had been brought to rome by the architect bramante, and it had become known to the pope how much he surpassed the others, his holiness ordained that neither perugino nor giovanni antonio should work any more in the above-named apartments; indeed, that everything should be thrown to the ground. but raffaello, who was goodness and modesty in person, left standing all that had been done by perugino, who had once been his master; and of mattaccio's he destroyed nothing save the inner work and the figures of the medallions and scenes, leaving the friezes and the other ornaments, which are still round the figures that raffaello painted there, which were justice, universal knowledge, poetry, and theology. but agostino, who was a gentleman, without paying any attention to the affront that giovanni antonio had received, commissioned him to paint in one of his principal apartments, which opens into the great hall in his palace in the trastevere, the story of alexander going to sleep with roxana. in that work, besides other figures, he painted a good number of loves, some of whom are unfastening alexander's cuirass, some are drawing off his boots, or rather, buskins, some are removing his helmet and dress, and putting them away; others scattering flowers over the bed, and others, again, doing other suchlike offices. near the chimney-piece he painted a vulcan forging arrows, which was held at that time to be a passing good and praiseworthy work; and if mattaccio, who had beautiful gifts and was much assisted by nature, had given his attention, after that reversal of fortune, to his studies, as any other man would have done, he would have made very great proficience. but he had his mind always set on his amusements, and he worked by caprice, caring for nothing so earnestly as for dressing in pompous fashion, wearing doublets of brocade, cloaks all adorned with cloth of gold, the richest caps, necklaces, and other suchlike fripperies only fit for clowns and charlatans; in which things agostino, who liked the man's humour, found the greatest amusement in the world. julius ii having then come to his death, and leo x having been elected, who took pleasure in eccentric and light-headed figures of fun such as our painter was, mattaccio felt the greatest possible joy, particularly because he had an ill-will against julius, who had done him that affront, wherefore, having set to work in order to make himself known to the new pontiff, he painted in a picture the roman lucrece, nude, who was stabbing herself with a dagger; and, since fortune takes care of madmen and sometimes aids the thoughtless, he succeeded in executing a most beautiful female body, and a head that was breathing. which work finished, at the instance of agostino chigi, who was on terms of strait service with the pope, he presented it to his holiness, by whom he was made a chevalier and rewarded for so beautiful a picture. whereupon giovanni antonio, believing that he had become a great man, began to be disinclined to work any more, save when he was driven by necessity. but, after agostino had gone on some business to siena, taking giovanni antonio with him, while staying there he was forced, being a chevalier without an income, to set himself to painting; and so he painted an altar-piece containing a christ taken down from the cross, on the ground our lady in a swoon, and a man in armour who, having his back turned, shows his front reflected in a helmet that is on the ground, bright as a mirror. this work, which was held to be, as it is, one of the best that he ever executed, was placed in s. francesco, on the right hand as one enters the church. then in the cloister that is beside the above-named church, he painted in fresco christ scourged at the column, with many jews around pilate, and with a range of columns drawn in perspective after the manner of wing-walls; in which work giovanni antonio made a portrait of himself without any beard--that is, shaven--and with the hair long, as it was worn at that time. not long afterwards he executed some pictures for signor jacopo vi of piombino, and, while living with him at that place, some other works on canvas. wherefore by his means, besides many courtesies and presents that he received from him, giovanni antonio obtained from his island of elba many little animals such as that island produces, all of which he took to siena. [illustration: s. sebastian (_after the painting by =giovanni antonio [il sodoma]=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] arriving next in florence, a monk of the brandolini family, abbot of the monastery of monte oliveto, which is without the porta a s. friano, caused him to paint some pictures in fresco on the wall of the refectory; but since, like a careless fellow, he did them without study, they proved to be such that he was derided and mocked at for his follies by those who were expecting that he would do some extraordinary work. now, while he was engaged on that work, having taken a barbary horse with him to florence, he set it to run in the race of s. barnaba; and, as fortune would have it, the horse ran so much better than the others, that it won. whereupon, the boys having, as is the custom, to call out the name or by-name of the owner of the horse that had won, after the running of the race and the fanfare of trumpets, giovanni antonio was asked what name they were to call out; and, after he had replied, "sodoma, sodoma," the boys called out that name. but some honest old men, having heard that filthy name, began to protest against it and to say, "what filthy thing is this, and what ribaldry, that so vile a name should be cried through our city?" insomuch that, a clamour arising, poor sodoma came within an ace of being stoned by the boys and the populace, with his horse and the ape that he had with him on the crupper. having in the space of many years got together many prizes, won in the same way by his horses, he took the greatest pride in the world in them, and showed them to all who came into his house; and very often he made a show of them at his windows. but to return to his works: he painted for the company of s. bastiano in camollia, beyond the church of the umiliati, on a banner of cloth which is carried in processions, in oils, a nude s. sebastian, bound to a tree, who is standing on the right leg, with the left in foreshortening, and raises the head towards an angel who is placing a crown upon it. this work is truly beautiful, and much to be praised. on the reverse side is our lady with the child in her arms, and below her are s. gismondo, s. rocco, and some flagellants kneeling on the ground. it is said that some merchants of lucca offered to give three hundred crowns of gold to the men of that company for that picture, but did not obtain it, because the others did not wish to deprive their company and the city of so rare a painting. and, in truth, in certain works--whether it was study, or good fortune, or chance--sodoma acquitted himself very well; but of such he did very few. in the sacristy of the friars of the carmine is a picture by the hand of the same master, wherein is a very beautiful nativity of our lady, with some nurses; and on the corner near the piazza de' tolomei he painted in fresco, for the guild of shoemakers, a madonna with the child in her arms, s. john, s. francis, s. rocco, and s. crispino, the patron saint of the men of that guild, who has a shoe in his hand. in the heads of these figures, and in all the rest, giovanni antonio acquitted himself very well. in the company of s. bernardino of siena, beside the church of s. francesco, he executed some scenes in fresco in competition with girolamo del pacchia, a sienese painter, and domenico beccafumi--namely, the presentation of our lady in the temple, when she goes to visit s. elizabeth, her assumption, and when she is crowned in heaven. in the angles of the same company he painted a saint in episcopal robes, s. louis, and s. anthony of padua; but the best figure of all is a s. francis, who, standing on his feet and raising his head, is gazing at a little angel, who appears to be in the act of speaking to him; the head of which s. francis is truly marvellous. in the palazzo de' signori at siena, likewise, in a hall, he painted some little tabernacles full of columns and little children, with other ornaments; and within these tabernacles are various figures. in one is s. vittorio armed in the ancient fashion, with the sword in his hand; near him, in the same manner, is s. ansano, who is baptizing certain persons; in another is s. benedict; and all are very beautiful. in the lower part of that palace, where salt is sold, he painted a christ who is returning to life, with some soldiers about the sepulchre, and two little angels, held to be passing beautiful in the heads. farther on, over a door, is a madonna with the child in her arms, painted by him in fresco, and two saints. [illustration: s. ansano (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. siena: palazzo pubblico_) _alinari_] in s. spirito he painted the chapel of s. jacopo, which he did at the commission of the men of the spanish colony, who have their place of burial there; depicting there an image of the madonna after the ancient manner, with s. nicholas of tolentino on the right hand, and, on the left, the archangel s. michael, who is slaying lucifer. above these, in a lunette, he painted our lady placing the sacerdotal habit upon a saint, with some angels around. over all these figures, which are in oils on panel, there is painted in fresco, in the semicircle of the vaulting, a s. james in armour on a galloping horse, who has grasped his sword with a fiery gesture, and below him are many turks, dead and wounded. below all this, on the sides of the altar, are painted in fresco s. anthony the abbot and a nude s. sebastian at the column, which are held to be passing good works. [illustration: s. francis (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. siena: s. bernardino, oratory_) _alinari_] in the duomo of the same city, on the right hand as one enters the church, there is upon an altar a picture in oils by his hand, in which there are our lady with the child on her knee, s. joseph on one side, and s. calixtus on the other; which work is likewise held to be very beautiful, because it is evident that in colouring it sodoma showed much more diligence than he used to devote to his works. he also painted for the company of the trinity a bier for carrying the dead to burial, which was very beautiful; and he executed another for the company of death, which is held to be the most beautiful in siena; and i believe that the latter is the finest that there is to be seen, for, besides that it is indeed much to be extolled, it is very seldom that such works are executed at much cost or with much diligence. in the church of s. domenico, in the chapel of s. caterina da siena, where there is in a tabernacle the head of that saint, enclosed in one of silver, giovanni antonio painted two scenes, which are one on either side of that tabernacle. in one, on the right hand, is that saint when, having received the stigmata from jesus christ, who is in the air, she lies half-dead in the arms of two of her sisters, who are supporting her; of which work baldassarre peruzzi, the painter of siena, after considering it, said that he had never seen anyone represent better the expression of persons fainting and half-dead, or with more similitude to the reality, than giovanni antonio had contrived to do. and in truth it is so, as may be seen, apart from the work itself, from the design by sodoma's own hand which i have in my book of drawings. on the left hand, in the other picture, is the scene when the angel of god carries to the same saint the host of the most holy communion, and she, raising her head to heaven, sees jesus christ and mary the virgin, while two of her sisters, her companions, stand behind her. in another scene, which is on the wall on the right hand, is painted the story of a criminal, who, going to be beheaded, would not be converted or commend himself to god, despairing of his mercy; when, the above-named saint praying for him on her knees, her prayers were so acceptable to the goodness of god, that, when the felon's head was cut off, his soul was seen ascending to heaven; such power with the mercy of god have the prayers of those saintly persons who are in his grace. in this scene is a very great number of figures, as to which no one should marvel if they are not of the highest perfection, for the reason that i have heard as a fact that giovanni antonio had sunk to such a pitch in his negligence and slothfulness, that he would make neither designs nor cartoons when he had any work of that kind to execute, but would attack the work by designing it with the brush directly on the plaster, which was a strange thing; in which method it is evident that this scene was executed by him. the same master also painted the arch in front of that chapel, making therein a god the father. the other scenes in that chapel were not finished by him, partly from his own fault, he not choosing to work save by caprice, and partly because he had not been paid by him who was having the chapel painted. below this is a god the father, who has beneath him a virgin in the ancient manner, on panel, with s. dominic, s. gismondo, s. sebastian, and s. catharine. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the painting by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. siena: s. agostino_) _alinari_] for s. agostino, in an altar-piece that is on the right hand at the entrance into the church, he painted the adoration of the magi, which was held to be, and is, a good work, for the reason that, besides the madonna, which is much extolled, the first of the three magi, and certain horses, there is a head of a shepherd between two trees which has all the appearance of life. over a gate of the city, called the porta di s. viene, he painted in fresco, in a large tabernacle, the nativity of jesus christ, with some angels in the air; and on the arch of that gate a child in foreshortening, very beautiful and in strong relief, which is intended to signify that the word has been made flesh. in this work sodoma made a portrait of himself, with a beard, being now old, and with a brush in his hand, which is pointing to a scroll that says "feci." he painted likewise in fresco the chapel of the commune at the foot of the palace, in the piazza, representing there our lady with the child in her arms, upheld by some little angels, s. ansano, s. vittorio, s. augustine, and s. james; and above this, in a triangular lunette, he painted a god the father with some angels about him. from this work it is evident that when he executed it he was beginning, as it were, to have no more love for art, having lost that certain quality of excellence that he used to have in his better days, by means of which he gave a certain air of beauty to his heads, which made them graceful and lovely. and this is manifestly true, for some works that he executed long before this one have quite another grace and another manner, as may be seen above the postierla, from a wall in fresco over the door of the captain lorenzo mariscotti, where there is a dead christ in the lap of his mother, who has a marvellous divinity and grace. in like manner, a picture in oils of our lady, which he painted for messer enea savini della costerella, is much extolled, and also a canvas that he executed for assuero rettori of s. martino, in which is the roman lucrece stabbing herself, while she is held by her father and her husband, all painted with much beauty of attitude and marvellous grace in the heads. finally, perceiving that the devotion of the people of siena was all turned to the talents and excellent works of domenico beccafumi, and possessing neither house nor revenues in siena, and having by that time consumed almost all his property and become old and poor, giovanni antonio departed from siena almost in despair and went off to volterra. and there, as his good fortune would have it, chancing upon messer lorenzo di galeotto de' medici, a rich and honoured nobleman, he proceeded to live under his protection, with the intention of staying there a long time. and so, dwelling in the house of that nobleman, he painted for him on a canvas the chariot of the sun, which, having been badly guided by phaëthon, is falling into the po; but it is easy to see that he did that work to pass the time, and hurried through it by rule of thumb, without giving any thought to it, so entirely commonplace is it and so ill-considered. then, having grown weary of living at volterra and in the house of that nobleman, as one who was accustomed to being free, he departed and went off to pisa, where, at the instance of battista del cervelliera, he executed two pictures for messer bastiano della seta, the warden of works of the duomo, which were placed in the recess behind the high-altar of that duomo, beside those of sogliani and beccafumi. in one is the dead christ with our lady and the other maries, and in the other abraham sacrificing his son isaac; but since these pictures did not succeed very well, the warden, who had intended to make him paint some altar-pieces for the church, dismissed him, knowing that men who do not study, once they have lost in old age the quality of excellence that they had in their youth from nature, are left with a kind of facility of manner that is generally little to be praised. at that same time giovanni antonio finished an altar-piece that he had previously begun in oils for s. maria della spina, painting in it our lady with the child in her arms, with s. mary magdalene and s. catharine kneeling before her, and s. john, s. sebastian, and s. joseph standing at the sides; in all which figures he acquitted himself much better than in the two pictures for the duomo. then, having nothing more to do at pisa, he made his way to lucca, where, at s. ponziano, a seat of the monks of monte oliveto, an abbot of his acquaintance caused him to paint a madonna on the ascent of a staircase that leads to the dormitory. that work finished, he returned weary, old, and poor to siena, where he did not live much longer; for he fell ill, through not having anyone to look after him or any means of sustenance, and went off to the great hospital, and there in a few weeks he finished the course of his life. [illustration: the sacrifice of isaac (_after the painting by =giovanni antonio bazzi [il sodoma]=. pisa: duomo_) _alinari_] giovanni antonio, when young and in good repute, took for his wife in siena a girl born of a very good family, and had by her in the first year a daughter. but after that, having grown weary of her, because he was a beast, he would never see her more; and she, therefore, withdrawing by herself, lived always on her own earnings and on the interest of her dowry, bearing with great and endless patience the beastliness and the follies of that husband of hers, who was truly worthy of the name of mattaccio which, as has been related, the monks of monte oliveto gave him. riccio of siena, the disciple of giovanni antonio, a passing able and well-practised painter, having taken as his wife his master's daughter, who had been very well and decently brought up by her mother, became the heir to all the possessions connected with art of his wife's father. this riccio, i say, has executed many beautiful and praiseworthy works at siena and elsewhere, and has decorated with stucco and pictures in fresco a chapel in the duomo of the above-named city, on the left hand as one enters the church; and he now lives at lucca, where he has done, as he still continues to do, many beautiful works worthy to be extolled. a pupil of giovanni antonio, likewise, was a young man who was called giomo del sodoma; but, since he died young, and was not able to give more than a small proof of his genius and knowledge, there is no need to say more about him. sodoma lived seventy-five years, and died in the year . index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume vii adone doni, agnolo, baccio d', agnolo, battista d' (battista del moro), agnolo bronzino, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , agnolo di cristofano, agnolo, giuliano di baccio d', - , , , agostino viniziano, , albertinelli, mariotto, , albrecht dürer, , , alessandro vittoria, alfonso berughetta (alonzo spagnuolo), alfonso lombardi, alonzo spagnuolo (alfonso berughetta), ammanati, bartolommeo, , , , , , andrea, maestro, andrea contucci (andrea sansovino), , , , , , andrea da fiesole (andrea ferrucci), andrea del minga, andrea del sarto, , , , - , , , , , andrea di cosimo feltrini, , - andrea ferrucci (andrea da fiesole), andrea pisano, andrea sansovino (andrea contucci), , , , , , andrea verrocchio, antonio da san gallo (the elder), antonio da san gallo (the younger), , , , , , , , , antonio di domenico (antonio di donnino mazzieri), antonio di gino lorenzi, antonio di giovanni (solosmeo da settignano), , , antonio di marco di giano (il carota), aristotile (bastiano) da san gallo, bacchiacca, il (francesco ubertini), baccio, giovanni di (nanni di baccio bigio), baccio bandinelli (baccio de' brandini), _life_, - . , , , , , - , , baccio d'agnolo, baccio da montelupo, baccio de' brandini (baccio bandinelli), _life_, - . , , , , , - , , bagnacavallo, giovan battista, baldassarre lancia, baldassarre peruzzi, bandinelli, baccio (baccio de' brandini), _life_, - . , , , , , - , , bandinelli, clemente, , , , barba, jacopo della, bartolommeo ammanati, , , , , , bartolommeo di jacopo di martino, bartolommeo di san marco, fra, , , bartolommeo genga, _life_, - . , bartolommeo neroni (riccio), bartolommeo san michele, bastiano (aristotile) da san gallo, battista cungi, , , , battista d'agnolo (battista del moro), battista da verona (battista farinati), , battista del cervelliera, battista del cinque, battista del moro (battista d'agnolo), battista del tasso, , , , , , battista della bilia, battista dossi, battista farinati (battista da verona), , battista franco, , , battista naldini, , battista of città di castello, , bazzi, giovanni antonio (il sodoma), _life_, - beccafumi, domenico, , , beceri, domenico (domenico benci), bellucci, giovan battista (giovan battista san marino), _life_, - . benci, domenico (domenico beceri), benedetto da rovezzano, , , , benvenuto cellini, , , , , , bernardino brugnuoli, , , , bernardino india, bersuglia, gian domenico, bertoldo, berughetta, alfonso (alonzo spagnuolo), bicci, lorenzo di, bigio, nanni di baccio (giovanni di baccio), bilia, battista della, bizzerra, bologna, giovan, , bolognese, marc'antonio, borgo, raffaello dal (raffaello dal colle), , , , , , bramante da urbino, brandini, baccio de' (baccio bandinelli), _life_, - . , , , , , - , , bronzino, agnolo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , brugnuoli, bernardino, , , , brugnuoli, luigi, , brunelleschi, filippo, , , , brusciasorzi, domenico (domenico del riccio), , brusciasorzi, felice (felice del riccio), buda, girolamo del, bugiardini, giuliano, _life_, - buglioni, santi, buonarroti, michelagnolo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), caliari, paolino or paolo (paolo veronese), - camillo mantovano, carota, il (antonio di marco di giano), caroto, giovanni, carrara, danese da (danese cattaneo), carrucci, jacopo (jacopo da pontormo), _life_, - . , cattaneo, danese (danese da carrara), cavalieri, tiberio, cellini, benvenuto, , , , , , cervelliera, battista del, cinque, battista del, cioli, simone, , , clemente bandinelli, , , , colle, raffaello dal (raffaello dal borgo), , , , , , conti, domenico, contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino), , , , , , cosimo, piero di, cristofano, agnolo di, cristofano gherardi (doceno), _life_, - cungi, battista, , , , danese da carrara (danese cattaneo), danti, vincenzio, david fortini, doceno (cristofano gherardi), _life_, - domenico, antonio di (antonio di donnino mazzieri), domenico beccafumi, , , domenico beceri (domenico benci), domenico brusciasorzi (domenico del riccio), , domenico conti, domenico del riccio (domenico brusciasorzi), , domenico ghirlandajo, , donato (donatello), , , , doni, adone, dossi, battista, dossi, dosso, dürer, albrecht, , , eliodoro forbicini, fabro, pippo del, fancelli, giovanni, farinati, battista (battista da verona), , farinato, paolo, , , felice del riccio (felice brusciasorzi), feltrini, andrea di cosimo, , - ferrarese, girolamo (girolamo da ferrara), , , fiesole, andrea da (andrea ferrucci), filippo brunelleschi, , , , filippo lippi, fra, fonte, jacopo della (jacopo della quercia), forbicini, eliodoro, forlì, francesco da (francesco menzochi), , - fortini, david, fra bartolommeo di san marco, , , fra filippo lippi, fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, , , , fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo, , francesco da forlì (francesco menzochi), , - francesco da san gallo (the younger), , , francesco de' rossi (francesco salviati), , francesco del tadda, , , francesco di girolamo dal prato, , francesco granacci, francesco menzochi (francesco da forlì), , - francesco moschino, , , francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi), , francesco ubertini (il bacchiacca), franciabigio, , , franco, battista, , , galeotto, pietro paolo, genga, bartolommeo, _life_, - . , genga, girolamo, _life_, - . , , , gherardi, cristofano (doceno), _life_, - ghirlandajo, domenico, , ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, ghirlandajo, ridolfo, , , , gian domenico bersuglia, gian girolamo san michele, , , , - giano, antonio di marco di (il carota), giolfino, niccolò (niccolò ursino), giomo del sodoma, giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giovan battista bagnacavallo, giovan battista bellucci (giovan battista san marino), _life_, - . giovan battista de' rossi (il rosso), , , , , , giovan battista san marino (giovan battista bellucci), _life_, - . giovan bologna, , giovan francesco rustici, , giovan maria pichi, giovanni, antonio di (solosmeo da settignano), , , giovanni agnolo montorsoli, fra, , , , giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma), _life_, - giovanni antonio lappoli, , giovanni antonio sogliani, giovanni caroto, giovanni da udine, giovanni di baccio (nanni di baccio bigio), giovanni di goro, giovanni fancelli, giovanni rosso (or rosto), maestro, giovanni san michele, girolamo da ferrara (girolamo ferrarese), , , girolamo del buda, girolamo del pacchia, girolamo ferrarese (girolamo da ferrara), , , girolamo genga, _life_, - . , , , giuliano bugiardini, _life_, - giuliano di baccio d'agnolo, - , , , giulio romano, , goro, giovanni di, granacci, francesco, il bacchiacca (francesco ubertini), il carota (antonio di marco di giano), il rosso (giovan battista de' rossi), , , , , , il sodoma (giovanni antonio bazzi), _life_, - india, bernardino, jacone (jacopo), jacopo da pontormo (jacopo carrucci), _life_, - . , jacopo della barba, jacopo della fonte (jacopo della quercia), jacopo sansovino, , , lancia, baldassarre, lappoli, giovanni antonio, , lastricati, zanobi, lattanzio di vincenzio pagani, leonardo da vinci, - , , , , , lippi, fra filippo, lombardi, alfonso, lorenzetto, lorenzi, antonio di gino, lorenzo di bicci, lorenzo marignolli, luca signorelli, , luigi brugnuoli, , maestro andrea, maestro giovanni rosso (or rosto), maestro niccolò, mantovano, camillo, marc'antonio bolognese, marco da ravenna, marco del tasso, marco palmezzani (marco parmigiano), , marignolli, lorenzo, mariotto albertinelli, , martino, bartolommeo di jacopo di, matteo san michele, mazzieri, antonio di donnino (antonio di domenico), menzochi, francesco (francesco da forlì), , - menzochi, pietro paolo, , michelagnolo buonarroti, , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , michelagnolo di viviano, - , , , , , michele di ridolfo ghirlandajo, michele san michele, _life_, - . , , - , , minga, andrea del, montelupo, baccio da, montelupo, raffaello da, - , , , , , , , , montorsoli, fra giovanni agnolo, , , , moro, battista del (battista d'agnolo), mosca, simone, _life_, - . , moschino, francesco, , , naldini, battista, , nanni di baccio bigio (giovanni di baccio), nanni unghero, neroni, bartolommeo (riccio), niccolò, maestro, niccolò (called tribolo), _life_, - . - , , , , niccolò giolfino (niccolò ursino), niccolò rondinello (rondinino da ravenna), , niccolò ursino (niccolò giolfino), pacchia, girolamo del, pagani, lattanzio di vincenzio, palmezzani, marco (marco parmigiano), , paolino or paolo caliari (paolo veronese), - paolo farinato, , , paolo san michele, , , paolo veronese (paolino or paolo caliari), - papacello, tommaso, parmigiano, marco (marco palmezzani), , perugino, pietro, , , peruzzi, baldassarre, pichi, giovan maria, pier francesco da viterbo, , pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, , pierino (piero) da vinci, _life_, - piero di cosimo, pietrasanta, ranieri da, , pietrasanta, stagio da, , pietro da san casciano, , , pietro di subisso, , pietro paolo galeotto, pietro paolo menzochi, , pietro perugino, , , pietro rosselli, , piloto, , , piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del, , pippo del fabro, pisano, andrea, pontormo, jacopo da (jacopo carrucci), _life_, - . , prato, francesco di girolamo dal, , quercia, jacopo della (jacopo della fonte), raffaello da montelupo, - , , , , , , , , raffaello da urbino (raffaello sanzio), , , , , , raffaello dal colle (raffaello dal borgo), , , , , , raffaello delle vivole, raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , ranieri da pietrasanta, , ravenna, marco da, ravenna, rondinino da (niccolò rondinello), , riccio (bartolommeo neroni), riccio, domenico del (domenico brusciasorzi), , riccio, felice del (felice brusciasorzi), ridolfo ghirlandajo, , , , romano, giulio, , rondinino da ravenna (niccolò rondinello), , rosselli, pietro, , rossi, francesco de' (francesco salviati), , rossi, giovan battista de' (il rosso), , , , , , rossi, vincenzio de', , , rosso, il (giovan battista de' rossi), , , , , , rosto (or rosso), maestro giovanni, rovezzano, benedetto da, , , , roviale, rustici, giovan francesco, , salviati, francesco (francesco de' rossi), , san casciano, pietro da, , , san gallo, antonio da (the elder), san gallo, antonio da (the younger), , , , , , , , , san gallo, bastiano (aristotile) da, san gallo, francesco da (the younger), , , san marco, fra bartolommeo di, , , san marino, giovan battista (giovan battista bellucci), _life_, - . san michele, bartolommeo, san michele, gian girolamo, , , , - san michele, giovanni, san michele, matteo, san michele, michele, _life_, - . , , - , , san michele, paolo, , , sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, , sansovino, andrea (andrea contucci), , , , , , sansovino, jacopo, , , santi buglioni, sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , sarto, andrea del, , , , - , , , , , sebastiano viniziano del piombo, fra, , settignano, solosmeo da (antonio di giovanni), , , signorelli, luca, , simone cioli, , , simone mosca, _life_, - . , sodoma, giomo del, sodoma, il (giovanni antonio bazzi), _life_, - sogliani, giovanni antonio, solosmeo da settignano (antonio di giovanni), , , spagnuolo, alonzo (alfonso berughetta), stagio da pietrasanta, , stefano veltroni, , , , subisso, pietro di, , tadda, francesco del, , , tasso, battista del, , , , , , tasso, marco del, tiberio cavalieri, timoteo da urbino (timoteo della vite), tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), tommaso papacello, tribolo (niccolò), _life_, - . - , , , , ubertini, francesco (il bacchiacca), udine, giovanni da, unghero, nanni, urbino, bramante da, urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), , , , , , urbino, timoteo da (timoteo della vite), ursino, niccolò (niccolò giolfino), vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , - , - , - , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , as painter, , , , - , - , - , , , , , , as architect, , , , , , , , , , , , vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), veltroni, stefano, , , , verona, battista da (battista farinati), , veronese, paolo (paolino or paolo caliari), - verrocchio, andrea, vincenzio danti, vincenzio de' rossi, , , vinci, leonardo da, - , , , , , vinci, pierino (piero) da, _life_, - viniziano, agostino, , vite, timoteo della (timoteo da urbino), viterbo, pier francesco da, , vitruvius, vittoria, alessandro, viviano, michelagnolo di, - , , , , , vivole, raffaello delle, zanobi lastricati, end of vol. vii. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury [transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected. hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. bold text is marked with =.] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume x. bronzino to vasari & general index newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume x page academicians of design, painters, sculptors, and architects description of the festive preparations for the nuptials of the prince don francesco of tuscany giorgio vasari index of names general index, volumes i to x illustrations to volume x plates in monochrome facing page agnolo bronzino bartolommeo panciatichi florence: uffizi, agnolo bronzino eleanora de toledo and her son florence: uffizi, agnolo bronzino christ in limbo florence: uffizi, alessandro allori giuliano de' medici florence: uffizi, benvenuto cellini perseus florence: loggia de' lanzi giovanni bologna fountain of neptune bologna giovanni bologna mercury florence: museo nazionale vincenzio danti the brazen serpent florence: museo nazionale vincenzio danti bronze relief florence: museo nazionale giorgio vasari lorenzo the magnificent and the ambassadors florence: palazzo vecchio giorgio vasari fresco in the hall of lorenzo the magnificent florence: palazzo vecchio of the academicians of design, painters, sculptors, and architects, and of their works, and first of bronzino having written hitherto of the lives and works of the most excellent painters, sculptors, and architects, from cimabue down to the present day, who have passed to a better life, and having spoken with the opportunities that came to me of many still living, it now remains that i say something of the craftsmen of our academy of florence, of whom up to this point i have not had occasion to speak at sufficient length. and beginning with the oldest and most important, i shall speak first of agnolo, called bronzino, a florentine painter truly most rare and worthy of all praise. agnolo, then, having been many years with pontormo, as has been told, caught his manner so well, and so imitated his works, that their pictures have been taken very often one for the other, so similar they were for a time. and certainly it is a marvel how bronzino learned the manner of pontormo so well, for the reason that jacopo was rather strange and shy than otherwise even with his dearest disciples, being such that he would never let anyone see his works save when completely finished. but notwithstanding this, so great were the patience and lovingness of agnolo towards pontormo, that he was forced always to look kindly upon him, and to love him as a son. the first works of account that bronzino executed, while still a young man, were in the certosa of florence, over a door that leads from the great cloister into the chapter-house, on two arches, one within and the other without. on that without is a pietà, with two angels, in fresco, and on that within is a nude s. laurence upon the gridiron, painted in oil-colours on the wall; which works were a good earnest of the excellence that has been seen since in the works of this painter in his mature years. in the chapel of lodovico capponi, in s. felicita at florence, bronzino, as has been said in another place, painted two evangelists in two round pictures in oils, and on the vaulting he executed some figures in colour. in the abbey of the black friars at florence, in the upper cloister, he painted in fresco a story from the life of s. benedict, when he throws himself naked on the thorns, which is a very good picture. in the garden of the sisters called the poverine, he painted in fresco a most beautiful tabernacle, wherein is christ appearing to the magdalene in the form of a gardener. and in s. trinita, likewise in florence, may be seen a picture in oils by the same hand, on the first pilaster at the right hand, of the dead christ, our lady, s. john, and s. mary magdalene, executed with much diligence and in a beautiful manner. and during that time when he executed these works, he also painted many portraits of various persons, and other pictures, which gave him a great name. [illustration: bartolommeo panciatichi (_after the painting by =angelo bronzino=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] then, the siege of florence being ended and the settlement made, he went, as has been told elsewhere, to pesaro, where under the protection of guidobaldo, duke of urbino, besides the above-mentioned harpsichord-case full of figures, which was a rare thing, he executed the portrait of that lord and one of a daughter of matteo sofferoni, which was a truly beautiful picture and much extolled. he also executed at the imperiale, a villa of the said duke, some figures in oils on the spandrels of a vault; and more of these he would have done if he had not been recalled to florence by his master, jacopo pontormo, that he might assist him to finish the hall of poggio a caiano. and having arrived in florence, he painted as it were by way of pastime, for messer giovanni de statis, auditor to duke alessandro, a little picture of our lady which was a much extolled work, and shortly afterwards, for monsignor giovio, his friend, the portrait of andrea doria; and for bartolommeo bettini, to fill certain lunettes in a chamber, the portraits of dante, petrarca, and boccaccio, half-length figures of great beauty. which pictures finished, he made portraits of bonaccorso pinadori, ugolino martelli, messer lorenzo lenzi, now bishop of fermo, and pier antonio bandini and his wife, with so many others, that it would be a long work to seek to make mention of them all; let it suffice that they were all very natural, executed with incredible diligence, and finished so well, that nothing more could be desired. for bartolommeo panciatichi he painted two large pictures of our lady, with other figures, beautiful to a marvel and executed with infinite diligence, and, besides these, portraits of him and his wife, so natural that they seem truly alive, and nothing is wanting in them save breath. for the same man he has painted a picture of christ on the cross, which is executed with much study and pains, insomuch that it is clearly evident that he copied it from a real dead body fixed on a cross, such is the supreme excellence and perfection of every part. for matteo strozzi he painted in fresco, in a tabernacle at his villa of s. casciano, a pietà with some angels, which was a very beautiful work. for filippo d' averardo salviati he executed a nativity of christ in a small picture with little figures, of such beauty that it has no equal, as everyone knows, that work being now in engraving; and for maestro francesco montevarchi, a most excellent physicist, he painted a very beautiful picture of our lady and some other little pictures full of grace. and he assisted his master pontormo, as was said above, to execute the work of careggi, whereon the spandrels of the vaults he painted with his own hand five figures, fortune, fame, peace, justice, and prudence, with some children, all wrought excellently well. duke alessandro being then dead and cosimo elected, bronzino assisted the same pontormo in the work of the loggia of castello. for the nuptials of the most illustrious lady, leonora di toledo, the wife of duke cosimo, he painted two scenes in chiaroscuro in the court of the medici palace, and on the base that supported the horse made by tribolo, as was related, some stories of the actions of signor giovanni de' medici, in imitation of bronze; all which were the best pictures that were executed in those festive preparations. wherefore the duke, having recognized the ability of this man, caused him to set his hand to adorning a chapel of no great size in the ducal palace for the said lady duchess, a woman of true worth, if ever any woman was, and for her infinite merits worthy of eternal praise. in that chapel bronzino made on the vault some compartments with very beautiful children and four figures, each of which has the feet turned towards the walls--s. francis, s. jerome, s. michelagnolo, and s. john; all executed with the greatest diligence and lovingness. and on the three walls, two of which are broken by the door and the window, he painted three stories of moses, one on each wall. where the door is, he painted the story of the snakes or serpents raining down upon the people, with many beautiful considerations in figures bitten by them, some of whom are dying, some are dead, and others, gazing on the brazen serpent, are being healed. on another wall, that of the window, is the rain of manna; and on the unbroken wall the passing of the red sea, and the submersion of pharaoh; which scene has been printed in engraving at antwerp. in a word, this work, executed as it is in fresco, has no equal, and is painted with the greatest possible diligence and study. in the altar-picture of this chapel, painted in oils, which was placed over the altar, was christ taken down from the cross, in the lap of his mother; but it was removed from there by duke cosimo for sending as a present, as a very rare work, to granvella, who was once the greatest man about the person of the emperor charles v. in place of that altar-piece the same master has painted another like it, which was set over the altar between two pictures not less beautiful than the altar-piece, in which pictures are the angel gabriel and the virgin receiving from him the annunciation; but instead of these, when the first altar-picture was removed, there were a s. john the baptist and a s. cosimo, which were placed in the guardaroba when the lady duchess, having changed her mind, caused the other two to be painted. [illustration: eleanora de toledo and her son (_after the painting by =angelo bronzino=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] the lord duke, having seen from these and other works the excellence of this painter, and that it was his particular and peculiar field to portray from life with the greatest diligence that could be imagined, caused him to paint a portrait of himself, at that time a young man, fully clad in bright armour, and with one hand upon his helmet; in another picture the lady duchess, his consort, and in yet another picture the lord don francesco, their son and prince of florence. and no long time passed before he portrayed the same lady duchess once again, to do her pleasure, in a different manner from the first, with the lord don giovanni, her son, beside her. he also made a portrait of la bia, a young girl, the natural daughter of the duke; and afterwards all the duke's children, some for the first time and others for the second--the lady donna maria, a very tall and truly beautiful girl, the prince don francesco, the lord don giovanni, don garzia, and don ernando, in a number of pictures which are all in the guardaroba of his excellency, together with the portraits of don francesco di toledo, signora maria, mother of the duke, and ercole ii, duke of ferrara, with many others. about the same time, also, he executed in the palace for the carnival, two years in succession, two scenic settings and prospect-views for comedies, which were held to be very beautiful. and he painted a picture of singular beauty that was sent to king francis in france, wherein was a nude venus, with a cupid who was kissing her, and pleasure on one side with play and other loves, and on the other side fraud and jealousy and other passions of love. the lord duke had caused to be begun by pontormo the cartoons of the tapestries in silk and gold for the sala del consiglio de' dugento; and, having had two stories of the hebrew joseph executed by the said pontormo, and one by salviati, he gave orders that bronzino should do the rest. whereupon he executed fourteen pieces with the excellence and perfection which everyone knows who has seen them; but since this was an excessive labour for bronzino, who was losing too much time thereby, he availed himself in the greater part of these cartoons, himself making the designs, of raffaello dal colle, the painter of borgo a san sepolcro, who acquitted himself excellently well. now giovanni zanchini had built a chapel very rich in carved stone, with his family tombs in marble, opposite to the chapel of the dini in s. croce at florence, on the front wall, on the left hand as one enters the church by the central door; and he allotted the altar-piece to bronzino, to the end that he might paint in it christ descended into the limbo of hell in order to deliver the holy fathers. agnolo, then, having set his hand to it, executed that work with the utmost possible diligence that one can use who desires to acquire glory by such a labour; wherefore there are in it most beautiful nudes, men, women, and children, young and old, with different features and attitudes, and portraits of men that are very natural, among which are jacopo da pontormo, giovan battista gello, a passing famous academician of florence, and the painter bacchiacca, of whom we have spoken above. and among the women he portrayed there two noble and truly most beautiful young women of florence, worthy of eternal praise and memory for their incredible beauty and virtue, madonna costanza da sommaia, wife of giovan battista doni, who is still living, and madonna camilla tedaldi del corno, who has now passed to a better life. not long afterwards he executed another large and very beautiful altar-picture of the resurrection of jesus christ, which was placed in the chapel of jacopo and filippo guadagni beside the choir in the church of the servites--that is, the nunziata. and at this same time he painted the altar-piece that was placed in the chapel of the palace, whence there had been removed that which was sent to granvella; which altar-piece is certainly a most beautiful picture, and worthy of that place. bronzino then painted for signor alamanno salviati a venus with a satyr beside her, so beautiful as to appear in truth venus goddess of beauty. [illustration: christ in limbo (_after the panel by =angelo bronzino=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] having then gone to pisa, whither he was summoned by the duke, he executed some portraits for his excellency; and for luca martini, who was very much his friend, and not of him only, but also attached with true affection to all men of talent, he painted a very beautiful picture of our lady, in which he portrayed that luca with a basket of fruits, from his having been the minister and proveditor for the said lord duke in the draining of the marshes and other waters that rendered unhealthy the country round pisa, and for having made it in consequence fertile and abundant in fruits. nor did bronzino depart from pisa before there was allotted to him at the instance of martini, by raffaello del setaiuolo, the warden of works of the duomo, the altar-picture for one of the chapels in that duomo, wherein he painted a nude christ with the cross, and about him many saints, among whom is a s. bartholomew flayed, which has the appearance of a true anatomical subject and of a man flayed in reality, so natural it is and imitated with such diligence from an anatomical subject. that altar-picture, which is beautiful in every part, was placed, as i have said, in a chapel from which they removed another by the hand of benedetto da pescia, a disciple of giulio romano. bronzino then made for duke cosimo a full-length portrait of the dwarf morgante, nude, and in two ways--namely, on one side of the picture the front, and on the other the back, with the bizarre and monstrous members which that dwarf has; which picture, of its kind, is beautiful and marvellous. for ser carlo gherardi of pistoia, who from his youth was a friend of bronzino, he executed at various times, besides the portrait of ser carlo himself, a very beautiful judith placing the head of holofernes in a basket, and on the cover that protects that picture, in the manner of a mirror, a prudence looking at herself; and for the same man a picture of our lady, which is one of the most beautiful things that he has ever done, because it has extraordinary design and relief. and the same bronzino executed the portrait of the duke when his excellency was come to the age of forty, and also that of the lady duchess, both of which are as good likenesses as could be. after giovan battista cavalcanti had caused a chapel to be built in s. spirito, at florence, with most beautiful variegated marbles conveyed from beyond the sea at very great cost, and had laid there the remains of his father tommaso, he had the head and bust of the father executed by fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, and the altar-piece bronzino painted, depicting in it christ appearing to mary magdalene in the form of a gardener, and more distant two other maries, all figures executed with incredible diligence. jacopo da pontormo having left unfinished at his death the chapel in s. lorenzo, and the lord duke having ordained that bronzino should complete it, he finished in the part where the deluge is many nudes that were wanting at the foot, and gave perfection to that part, and in the other, where at the foot of the resurrection of the dead many figures were wanting over a space about one braccio in height and as wide as the whole wall, he painted them all in the manner wherein they are to be seen, very beautiful; and between the windows, at the foot, in a space that remained there unpainted, he depicted a nude s. laurence upon a gridiron, with some little angels about him. in that whole work he demonstrated that he had executed his paintings in that place with much better judgment than his master pontormo had shown in his pictures in the work; the portrait of which pontormo bronzino painted with his own hand in a corner of that chapel, on the right hand of the s. laurence. the duke then gave orders to bronzino that he should execute two large altar-pictures, one containing a deposition of christ from the cross with a good number of figures, for sending to porto ferraio in the island of elba, for the convent of the frati zoccolanti, built by his excellency in the city of cosmopolis; and another altar-piece, in which bronzino painted the nativity of our lord jesus christ, for the new church of the knights of s. stephen, which has since been built in pisa, together with their palace and hospital, after the designs and directions of giorgio vasari. both these pictures have been finished with such art, diligence, design, invention, and supreme loveliness of colouring, that it would not be possible to go further; and no less, indeed, was required in a church erected by so great a prince, who has founded and endowed that order of knights. on some little panels made of sheet-tin, and all of one same size, the same bronzino has painted all the great men of the house of medici, beginning with giovanni di bicci and the elder cosimo down to the queen of france, in that line, and in the other from lorenzo, the brother of the elder cosimo, down to duke cosimo and his children; all which portraits are set in order behind the door of a little study that vasari has caused to be made in the apartment of new rooms in the ducal palace, wherein is a great number of antique statues of marble and bronzes and little modern pictures, the rarest miniatures, and an infinity of medals in gold, silver, and bronze, arranged in very beautiful order. these portraits of the illustrious men of the house of medici are all natural and vivacious, and most faithful likenesses. it is a notable thing that whereas many are wont in their last years to do less well than they have done in the past, bronzino does as well and even better now than when he was in the flower of his manhood, as the works demonstrate that he is executing every day. not long ago he painted for don silvano razzi, a camaldolite monk in the monastery of the angeli at florence, who is much his friend, a picture about one braccio and a half high of a s. catharine, so beautiful and well executed, that it is not inferior to any other picture by the hand of this noble craftsman; insomuch that nothing seems to be wanting in her save the spirit and that voice which confounded the tyrant and confessed christ her well-beloved spouse even to the last breath; and that father, like the truly gentle spirit that he is, has nothing that he esteems and holds in price more than that picture. agnolo made a portrait of the cardinal, don giovanni de' medici, the son of duke cosimo, which was sent to the court of the emperor for queen joanna; and afterwards that of the lord don francesco, prince of florence, which was a picture very like the reality, and executed with such diligence that it has the appearance of a miniature. for the nuptials of queen joanna of austria, wife of that prince, he painted in three large canvases which were placed at the ponte alla carraia, as will be described at the end, some scenes of the nuptials of hymen, of such beauty that they appeared not things for a festival, but worthy to be set in some honourable place for ever, so finished they were and executed with such diligence. for the same lord prince he painted a few months ago a small picture with little figures which has no equal, and it may be said that it is truly a miniature. and since at this his present age of sixty-five he is no less enamoured of the matters of art than he was as a young man, he has undertaken recently, according to the wishes of the duke, to execute two scenes in fresco on the wall beside the organ in the church of s. lorenzo, in which there is not a doubt that he will prove the excellent bronzino that he has always been. this master has delighted much, and still delights, in poetry; wherefore he has written many capitoli and sonnets, part of which have been printed. but above all, with regard to poetry, he is marvellous in the style of his capitoli after the manner of berni, insomuch that at the present day there is no one who writes better in that kind of verse, nor things more fanciful and bizarre, as will be seen one day if all his works, as is believed and hoped, come to be printed. bronzino has been and still is most gentle and a very courteous friend, agreeable in his conversation and in all his affairs, and much honoured; and as loving and liberal with his possessions as a noble craftsman such as he is could well be. he has been peaceful by nature, and has never done an injury to any man, and he has always loved all able men in his profession, as i know, who have maintained a strait friendship with him for three-and-forty years, that is, from down to the present year, ever since i began to know and to love him in that year of , when he was working at the certosa with pontormo, whose works i used as a youth to go to draw in that place. [illustration: giuliano de' medici (_after the painting by =alessandro allori=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] many have been the pupils and disciples of bronzino, but the first (to speak now of our academicians) is alessandro allori, who has been loved always by his master, not as a disciple, but as his own son, and they have lived and still live together with the same love, one for another, that there is between a good father and his son. alessandro has shown in many pictures and portraits that he has executed up to his present age of thirty, that he is a worthy disciple of so great a master, and that he is seeking by diligence and continual study to arrive at that rarest perfection which is desired by beautiful and exalted intellects. he has painted and executed all with his own hand the chapel of the montaguti in the church of the nunziata--namely, the altar-piece in oils, and the walls and vaulting in fresco. in the altar-piece is christ on high, and the madonna, in the act of judging, with many figures in various attitudes and executed very well, copied from the judgment of michelagnolo buonarroti. about that altar-piece, on the same wall, are four large figures in the forms of prophets, or rather, evangelists, two above and two below; and on the vaulting are some sibyls and prophets executed with great pains, study, and diligence, he having sought in the nudes to imitate michelagnolo. on the wall which is at the left hand looking towards the altar, is christ as a boy disputing in the midst of the doctors in the temple; which boy is seen in a fine attitude answering their questions, and the doctors, and others who are there listening attentively to him, are all different in features, attitudes, and vestments, and among them are portraits from life of many of alessandro's friends, which are good likenesses. opposite to that, on the other wall, is christ driving from the temple those who with their buying and selling were making it a house of traffic and a market-place; with many things worthy of consideration and praise. over those two scenes are some stories of the madonna, and on the vaulting figures that are of no great size, but passing graceful; with some buildings and landscapes, which in their essence show the love that he bears to art, and how he seeks the perfection of design and invention. and opposite to the altar-piece, on high, is a story of ezekiel, when he saw a great multitude of bones reclothe themselves with flesh and take to themselves their members; in which this young man has demonstrated how much he desires to master the anatomy of the human body, and how he has studied it and given it his attention. and, in truth, in this his first work of importance, as also in the nuptials of his highness, with figures in relief and stories in painting, he has proved himself and given great signs and promise, as he continues to do, that he is like to become an excellent painter; and not in this only, but in some other smaller works, and recently in a small picture full of little figures in the manner of miniature, which he has executed for don francesco, prince of florence, a much-extolled work; and other pictures and portraits he has painted with great study and diligence, in order to become practised and to acquire a grand manner. another young man, likewise a pupil of bronzino and one of our academicians, called giovan maria butteri, has shown good mastery and much dexterity in what he did, besides many other smaller pictures and other works, for the obsequies of michelagnolo and for the coming of the above-named most illustrious queen joanna to florence. and another disciple, first of pontormo and then of bronzino, has been cristofano dell' altissimo, a painter, who, after having executed in his youth many pictures in oils and some portraits, was sent by the lord duke cosimo to como, to copy many pictures of illustrious persons in the museum of monsignor giovio, out of the vast number which that man, so distinguished in our times, collected in that place. many others, also, the lord duke has obtained by the labours of vasari; and of all these portraits a list[ ] will be made in the index of this book, in order not to occupy too much space in this discourse. in the work of these portraits cristofano has exerted himself with such diligence and pains, that those which he has copied up to the present day, and which are in three friezes in a guardaroba of the said lord duke, as will be described elsewhere in speaking of the decorations of that place, are more than two hundred and eighty in number, what with pontiffs, emperors, kings, princes, captains of armies, men of letters, and, in short, all men for some reason illustrious and renowned. and, to tell the truth, we owe a great obligation to this zeal and diligence of giovio and of the duke, for the reason that not only the apartments of princes, but also those of many private persons, are now being adorned with portraits of one or other of those illustrious men, according to the country, family, and particular affection of each person. cristofano, then, having established himself in this manner of painting, which is suited to his genius, or rather, inclination, has done little else, as one who is certain to derive from it honour and profit in abundance. [footnote : given in the original italian edition of .] pupils of bronzino, also, are stefano pieri and lorenzo della sciorina, who have so acquitted themselves, both the one and the other, in the obsequies of michelagnolo and in the nuptials of his highness, that they have been admitted among the number of our academicians. from the same school of pontormo and bronzino has issued also battista naldini, of whom we have spoken in another place. this battista, after the death of pontormo, having been some time in rome and having applied himself with much study to art, has made much proficience and become a bold and well-practised painter, as many works demonstrate that he has executed for the very reverend don vincenzio borghini, who has made great use of him and assisted him, together with francesco da poppi, a young man of great promise and one of our academicians, who has acquitted himself well in the nuptials of his highness, and other young men, whom don vincenzio is continually employing and assisting. of this battista, vasari has made use for more than two years, as he still does, in the works of the ducal palace of florence, where, by the emulation of many others who were working in the same place, he has made much progress, insomuch that at the present day he is equal to any other young man of our academy; and that which much pleases those who are good judges is that he is expeditious, and does his work without effort. battista has painted in an altar-picture in oils that is in a chapel of the black friars' abbey of florence, a christ who is bearing the cross, in which work are many good figures; and he has other works constantly in hand, which will make him known as an able man. not inferior to any of these named above in talent, art, and merit, is maso manzuoli, called maso da san friano, a young man of about thirty or thirty-two years, who had his first principles from pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, one of our academicians, of whom we have spoken in another place. this maso, i say, besides having shown how much he knows and how much may be expected of him in many pictures and smaller paintings, has demonstrated this recently in two altar-pictures with much honour to himself and full satisfaction to everyone, having displayed in them invention, design, manner, grace, and unity in the colouring. in one of these altar-pieces, which is in the church of s. apostolo at florence, is the nativity of jesus christ, and in the other, which is placed in the church of s. pietro maggiore, and is as beautiful as an old and well-practised master could have made it, is the visitation of our lady to s. elizabeth, executed with judgment and with many fine considerations, insomuch that the heads, the draperies, the attitudes, the buildings, and all the other parts are full of loveliness and grace. this man acquitted himself with no ordinary excellence in the obsequies of buonarroti, as an academician and very loving, and then in some scenes for the nuptials of queen joanna. now, since not only in the life of ridolfo ghirlandajo i have spoken of his disciple michele and of carlo da loro, but also in other places, i shall say nothing more of them here, although they are of our academy, enough having been said of them. but i will not omit to tell that other disciples and pupils of ghirlandajo have been andrea del minga, likewise one of our academicians, who has executed many works, as he still does; girolamo di francesco crocifissaio, a young man of twenty-six, and mirabello di salincorno, both painters, who have done and continue to do such works of painting in oils and in fresco, and also portraits, that a most honourable result may be expected from them. these two executed together, now several years ago, some pictures in fresco in the church of the capuchins without florence, which are passing good; and in the obsequies of michelagnolo and the above-mentioned nuptials, also they did themselves much honour. mirabello has painted many portraits, and in particular that of the most illustrious prince more than once, and many others that are in the hands of various gentlemen of florence. another, also, who has done much honour to our academy and to himself, is federigo di lamberto of amsterdam, a fleming, the son-in-law of the paduan cartaro, working in the said obsequies and in the festive preparations for the nuptials of the prince, and besides this he has shown in many pictures painted in oils, both large and small, and in other works that he has executed, a good manner and good design and judgment. and if he has merited praise up to the present, he will merit even more in the future, for he is labouring constantly with much advantage in florence, which he appears to have chosen as his country, that city being one where young men derive much benefit from competition and emulation. a beautiful genius, also, universal and abundant in fine fantasies, has been shown by bernardo timante buontalenti, who had his first principles of painting in his youth from vasari, and then, continuing, has made so much proficiency that he has now served for many years, and still serves with much favour, the most illustrious lord don francesco de' medici, prince of florence. that lord has kept him continually at work; and he has executed for his excellency many works in miniature after the manner of don giulio clovio, such as many portraits and scenes with little figures, painted with much diligence. the same bernardo has made with a beautiful architectural design, by order of the said prince, a cabinet with compartments of ebony and columns of heliotrope, oriental jasper, and lapis-lazuli, which have bases and capitals of chased silver; and besides this he has filled the whole surface of the work with jewels and most lovely ornaments of silver and beautiful little figures, within which ornaments are to be miniatures, and, between terminals placed in pairs, figures of silver and gold in the round, separated by other compartments of agate, jasper, heliotrope, sardonyx, cornelian, and others of the finest stones, to describe all which here would make a very long story. it is enough that in this work, which is near completion, bernardo has displayed a most beautiful genius, equal to any work. thus that lord makes use of him for many ingenious fantasies of his own of cords for drawing weights, of windlasses, and of lines; besides that he has discovered a method of fusing rock-crystal with ease and of purifying it, and has made with it scenes and vases of several colours; for bernardo occupies himself with everything. this, also, will be seen in a short time in the making of vases of porcelain with all the perfection of the most ancient and most perfect; in which at the present day a most excellent master is giulio da urbino, who is in the service of the most illustrious duke alfonso ii of ferrara, and does stupendous things in the way of vases with several kinds of clay, and to those in porcelain he gives the most beautiful shapes, besides fashioning with the same earth little squares, octagons, and rounds, hard and with an extraordinary polish, for making pavements counterfeiting the appearance of variegated marbles; of all which things our prince has the methods of making them. his excellency has also caused a beginning to be made with the executing of a study-table with precious stones, richly adorned, as an accompaniment to another belonging to his father, duke cosimo. and not long ago he had one finished after the design of vasari, which is a rare work, being of oriental alabaster all inlaid with great pieces of jasper, heliotrope, cornelian, lapis-lazuli, and agate, with other stones and jewels of price that are worth twenty thousand crowns. this study-table has been executed by bernardino di porfirio of leccio in the neighbourhood of florence, who is excellent in such work, and who made for messer bindo altoviti an octagon of ebony and ivory inlaid likewise with jaspers, after the design of the same vasari; which bernardino is now in the service of their excellencies. but to return to bernardo: in painting, also, beyond the expectation of many, he showed that he is able to execute large figures no less well than the small, when he painted for the obsequies of michelagnolo that great canvas of which we have spoken. bernardo was employed, also, with much credit to him, for the nuptials of his and our prince, in certain masquerades, in the triumph of dreams, as will be told, and in the interludes of the comedy that was performed in the palace, as has been described exhaustively by others. and if this man, when he was a youth (although even now he is not past thirty), had given his attention to the studies of art as he gave it to the methods of fortification, in which he spent no little time, he would be perchance now at such a height of excellence as would astonish everyone; none the less, it is believed that he is bound for all that to achieve the same end, although something later, for the reason that he is all genius and art, to which is added this also, that he is continually employed and exercised by his sovereign, and in the most honourable works. of our academy, also, is giovanni della strada, a fleming, who has good design, the finest fantasy, much invention, and a good manner of colouring; and, having made much proficience during the ten years that he has worked in the palace in distemper, fresco, and oils, after the designs and directions of giorgio vasari, he can bear comparison with any of the many painters that the said lord duke has in his service. but at the present day the principal task of this man is to make cartoons for various arras-tapestries that the duke and the prince are having executed, likewise under the direction of vasari, of divers kinds in accordance with the stories in painting that are on high in the rooms and chambers painted by vasari in the palace, for the adornment of which they are being made, to the end that the embellishment of tapestries below may correspond to the pictures above. for the chambers of saturn, ops, ceres, jove, and hercules, he has made most lovely cartoons for about thirty pieces of tapestry; and for the upper chambers where the princess has her habitation, which are four, dedicated to the virtues of woman, with stories of roman, hebrew, greek, and tuscan women (namely, the sabines, esther, penelope, and gualdrada), he has made, likewise, very beautiful cartoons for tapestries. in like manner, he has done the same for ten pieces of tapestry in a hall, in which is the life of man; and also for the five lower rooms where the prince dwells, dedicated to david, solomon, cyrus, and others. and for twenty rooms in the palace of poggio a caiano, for which the tapestries are even now being woven, he has made after the inventions of the duke cartoons of the hunting of every kind of animal, and the methods of fowling and fishing, with the strangest and most beautiful inventions in the world; in which variety of animals, birds, fishes, landscapes, and vestments, with huntsmen on foot and on horseback, fowlers in various habits, and nude fishermen, he has shown and still shows that he is a truly able man, and that he has learned well the italian manner, being minded to live and die in florence in the service of his most illustrious lords, in company with vasari and the other academicians. another pupil of vasari, likewise, and also an academician, is jacopo di maestro piero zucca, a young florentine of twenty-five or twenty-six years, who, having assisted vasari to execute the greater part of the works in the palace, and in particular the ceiling of the great hall, has made so much proficience in design and in the handling of colours, labouring with much industry, study, and assiduity, that he can now be numbered among the first of the young painters in our academy. and the works that he has done by himself alone in the obsequies of michelagnolo, in the nuptials of the most illustrious lord prince, and at other times for various friends, in which he has shown intelligence, boldness, diligence, grace, and good judgment, have made him known as a gifted youth and an able painter; but even more will those make him known that may be expected from him in the future, doing as much honour to his country as has been done to her by any painter at any time. in like manner, among other young painters of the academy, santi titi may be called ingenious and able, who, as has been told in other places, after having practised for many years in rome, has returned finally to enjoy florence, which he regards as his country, although his elders are of borgo a san sepolcro and of a passing good family in that city. this santi acquitted himself truly excellently in the works that he executed for the obsequies of buonarroti and the above-mentioned nuptials of the most illustrious princess, but even more, after great and almost incredible labours, in the scenes that he painted in the theatre which he made for the same nuptials on the piazza di s. lorenzo, for the most illustrious lord paolo giordano orsino, duke of bracciano; wherein he painted in chiaroscuro, on several immense pieces of canvas, stories of the actions of various illustrious men of the orsini family. but how able he is can be perceived best from two altar-pieces by his hand that are to be seen, one of which is in ognissanti, or rather, s. salvadore di fiorenza (as it is now called), once the church of the padri umiliati, and now of the zoccolanti, and contains the madonna on high and at the foot s. john, s. jerome, and other saints; and in the other, which is in s. giuseppe, behind s. croce, in the chapel of the guardi, is a nativity of our lord executed with much diligence, with many portraits from life. not to speak of many pictures of our lady and various portraits that he has painted in rome and in florence, and pictures executed in the vatican, as has been related above. there are also certain other young painters of the same academy who have been employed in the above-mentioned decorations, some of florence and some of the florentine states. alessandro del barbiere, a young florentine of twenty-five, besides many other works, painted for the said nuptials in the palace, after the designs and directions of vasari, the canvases of the walls in the great hall, wherein were depicted the squares of all the cities in the dominion of the lord duke; in which he certainly acquitted himself very well, and proved himself a young man of judgment and likely to achieve any success. in like manner, vasari has been assisted in these and other works by many other disciples and friends; domenico benci, alessandro fortori of arezzo, his cousin stefano veltroni, and orazio porta, both of monte sansovino, and tommaso del verrocchio. in the same academy there are also many excellent craftsmen who are strangers, of whom we have spoken at length in various places above; and therefore it shall suffice here to make known their names, to the end that they may be numbered in this part among the other academicians. these, then, are federigo zucchero; prospero fontana and lorenzo sabatini, of bologna; marco da faenza, tiziano vecelli, paolo veronese, giuseppe salviati, tintoretto, alessandro vittoria, the sculptor danese, the painter battista farinato of verona, and the architect andrea palladio. now, to say something also of the sculptors in our academy and of their works, although i do not intend to speak of them at any length, because they are alive and for the most part most illustrious in name and fame, i say that benvenuto cellini, a citizen of florence, who is now a sculptor (to begin with the oldest and most honoured), had no peer in his youth when he was a goldsmith, nor perhaps had he for many years any equal in that profession and in making most beautiful figures in the round and in low-relief, and all the other works of that craft. he set jewels, and adorned them with marvellous collets and with little figures so well wrought, and at times so bizarre and fantastic that it is not possible to imagine anything finer or better. and the medals that he made in his youth, of silver and gold, were executed with incredible diligence, nor can they ever be praised enough. he made in rome for pope clement vii a very beautiful morse for a pluvial, setting in it excellently well a pointed diamond surrounded by some children made of gold plate, and a god the father marvellously wrought; wherefore, besides his payment, he received as a gift from that pope an office of mace-bearer. being then commissioned by the same pontiff to make a chalice of gold, the cup of which was to be supported by figures representing the theological virtues, he carried it near completion with most marvellous artistry. in these same times there was no one who made the medals of that pope better than he did, among the many who essayed it, as those well know who saw his medals and possess them; and since for these reasons he received the charge of making the dies for the mint of rome, no more beautiful coins have ever been seen than were struck in rome at that time. wherefore benvenuto, after the death of clement, having returned to florence, likewise made dies with the head of duke alessandro for the coins of the mint of florence, so beautiful and wrought with such diligence, that some of them are now preserved as if they were most beautiful antique medals, and that rightly, for the reason that in these he surpassed himself. having finally given himself to sculpture and to the work of casting, benvenuto executed in france many works in bronze, silver, and gold, while he was in the service of king francis in that kingdom. then, having returned to his own country and entered the service of duke cosimo, he was first employed in some goldsmiths' work, and in the end was given some works of sculpture; whereupon he executed in metal the statue of the perseus that has cut off the head of medusa, which is in the piazza del duca, near the door of the ducal palace, upon a base of marble with some very beautiful figures in bronze, each about one braccio and a third in height. this whole work was carried to perfection with the greatest possible study and diligence, and set up in the above-named place as a worthy companion to the judith by the hand of donato, that famous and celebrated sculptor. and certainly it was a marvel that benvenuto, after being occupied for so many years in making little figures, executed so great a statue with such excellence. the same master has made a crucifix of marble, in the round and large as life, which of its kind is the rarest and most beautiful piece of sculpture that there is to be seen. wherefore the lord duke keeps it, as a thing most dear to him, in the pitti palace, intending to place it in the chapel, or rather, little church, that he is building in that place; which little church could not have in these times anything more worthy of itself and of so great a prince. in short, it is not possible to praise this work so much as would be sufficient. now, although i could enlarge at much greater length on the works of benvenuto, who has been in his every action spirited, proud, vigorous, most resolute, and truly terrible, and a person who has been only too well able to speak for himself with princes, no less than to employ his hand and brain in matters of art, i shall say nothing more of him here, seeing that he has written of his own life and works, and a treatise on the goldsmith's arts, and on founding and casting in metal, with other things pertaining to such arts, and also of sculpture, with much more eloquence and order than i perchance would be able to use here; as for him, therefore, i must be content with this short summary of the rarest of his principal works. [illustration: perseus (_after the bronze by =benvenuto cellini=. florence: loggia de' lanzi_) _brogi_] francesco di giuliano da san gallo, sculptor, architect, and academician, and now a man seventy years of age, has executed many works of sculpture, as has been related in the life of his father and elsewhere; the three figures of marble, somewhat larger than life, which are over the altar of the church of orsanmichele, s. anne, the virgin, and the child christ, figures which are much extolled; certain other statues, also in marble, for the tomb of piero de' medici at monte cassino; the tomb of bishop de' marzi, which is in the nunziata, and that of monsignor giovio, the writer of the history of his own times. in architecture, likewise, the same francesco has executed many good and beautiful works in florence and elsewhere; and he has well deserved, both for his own good qualities and for the services of his father giuliano, to be always favoured by the house of medici as their protégé, on which account duke cosimo, after the death of baccio d'agnolo, gave him the place which that master had held as architect to the duomo of florence. of ammanati, who is also among the first of our academicians, enough having been said of him in the description of the works of jacopo sansovino, there is no need to speak further here. but i will record that disciples of his, and also academicians, are andrea calamech of carrara, a well-practised sculptor, who executed many figures under ammanati, and was invited to messina after the death of the above-named martino to take the position which fra giovanni agnolo had once held, in which place he died; and battista di benedetto, a young man who has given promise of becoming, as he will, an excellent master, having demonstrated already by many works that he is not inferior to the above-named andrea or to any other of the young sculptors of our academy, in beauty of genius and judgment. vincenzio de' rossi of fiesole, likewise a sculptor, architect, and academician of florence, is worthy to have some record made of him in this place, in addition to what has been said of him in the life of baccio bandinelli, whose disciple he was. after he had taken leave of baccio, then, he gave a great proof of his powers in rome, although he was young enough, in the statue that he made for the ritonda, of a s. joseph with christ as a boy of ten years, both figures wrought with good mastery and a beautiful manner. he then executed two tombs in the church of s. maria della pace, with the effigies of those who are within them on the sarcophagi, and on the front without some prophets of marble in half-relief and large as life, which acquired for him the name of an excellent sculptor. whereupon there was allotted to him by the roman people the statue of pope paul iv, which was placed on the campidoglio; and he executed it excellently well. but that work had a short life, for the reason that after the death of the pope it was thrown to the ground and destroyed by the populace, which persecutes fiercely one day the very men whom it has exalted to the heavens the day before. after that figure vincenzio made from one block of marble two statues a little larger than life, a theseus, king of athens, who has carried off helen and holds her in his arms in the act of knowing her, with a troy beneath his feet; than which figures it is not possible to make any with more diligence, study, labour, and grace. wherefore when duke cosimo de' medici, having journeyed to rome, and going to see the modern works worthy to be seen no less than the antiques, saw those statues, vincenzio himself showing them to him, he extolled them very highly, as they deserved; and then vincenzio, who is a gentle spirit, courteously presented them to him, and at the same time freely offered him his services. but his excellency, having conveyed them not long afterwards to his palace of the pitti in florence, paid him a good price for them; and, having taken vincenzio himself with him, he commissioned him after no long time to execute the labours of hercules in figures of marble larger than life and in the round. on these vincenzio is now spending his time, and already he has carried to completion the slaying of cacus and the combat with the centaur; which whole work, even as it is most exalted in subject and also laborious, so it is hoped that it will prove excellent in artistry, vincenzio being a man of very beautiful genius and much judgment, and prodigal of thought in all his works of importance. nor must i omit to say that under his discipline ilarione ruspoli, a young citizen of florence, gives his attention with much credit to sculpture; which ilarione, no less than his peers in our academy, showed that he had knowledge, design, and a good mastery in the making of statues, when he had occasion together with the others in the obsequies of michelagnolo and in the festive preparations for the nuptials named above. [illustration: fountain of neptune (_after =giovanni bologna=. bologna_) _alinari_] francesco camilliani, a sculptor and academician of florence, who was a disciple of baccio bandinelli, after having given in many works proof of being a good sculptor, has consumed fifteen years in making ornaments for fountains; and of such there is one most stupendous, which the lord don luigi di toledo has caused to be executed for his garden in florence. the ornaments about that garden are various statues of men and animals in divers manners, all rich and truly regal, and wrought without sparing of expense; and among other statues that francesco has made for that place, two larger than life, which represent the rivers arno and mugnone, are of supreme beauty, and particularly the mugnone, which can bear comparison with no matter what statue by an excellent master. in short, all the architecture and ornamentation of that garden are the work of francesco, who by the richness of the various fountains has made it such, that it has no equal in florence, and perhaps not in italy. and the principal fountain, which is even now being carried to completion, will be the richest and most sumptuous to be seen in any place, with its wealth of the richest and finest ornaments that can be imagined, and the great abundance of waters that will be there, flowing without fail at every season. also an academician, and much in favour with our princes for his talents, is giovan bologna of douai, a flemish sculptor and a young man truly of the rarest, who has executed with most beautiful ornaments of metal the fountain that has been made recently on the piazza di s. petronio in bologna, opposite to the palazzo de' signori, in which there are, besides other ornaments, four very beautiful sirens at the corners, with various children all around, and masks bizarre and extraordinary. but the most notable thing is a figure that he has made and placed over the centre of that fountain, a neptune of six braccia, which is a most beautiful casting and a statue studied and wrought to perfection. the same master--not to speak at present of all the works that he has executed in clay, terracotta, wax, and other mixtures--has made a very beautiful venus in marble, and has carried almost to completion for the lord prince a samson large as life, who is combating on foot with two philistines. and in bronze he has made a statue of bacchus, larger than life and in the round, and a mercury in the act of flying, a very ingenious figure, the whole weight resting on one leg and on the point of the foot, which has been sent to the emperor maximilian, as a thing that is indeed most rare. but if up to the present he has executed many works, he will do many more in the future, and most beautiful, for recently the lord prince has had him provided with rooms in the palace, and has commissioned him to make a statue of a victory of five braccia, with a captive, which is going into the great hall, opposite another by the hand of michelagnolo; and he will execute for that prince large and important works, in which he will have an ample field to show his worth. many works by his hand, and very beautiful models of various things, are in the possession of m. bernardo vecchietti, a gentleman of florence, and maestro bernardo di mona mattea, builder to the duke, who has constructed with great excellence all the fabrics designed by vasari. [illustration: mercury (_after the bronze by =giovanni bologna=. florence: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] not less than this giovan bologna and his friends and other sculptors of our academy, vincenzio danti of perugia, who under the protection of duke cosimo has adopted florence as his country, is a young man truly rare and of fine genius. vincenzio, when a youth, worked as a goldsmith, and executed in that profession things beyond belief; and afterwards, having applied himself to the work of casting, he had the courage at the age of twenty to cast in bronze a statue of pope julius iii, four braccia high, seated and giving the benediction; which statue, a very creditable work, is now in the piazza of perugia. then, having come to florence to serve duke cosimo, he made a very beautiful model in wax, larger than life, of a hercules crushing antæus, in order to cast from it a figure in bronze, which was to be placed over the principal fountain in the garden of castello, a villa of the said lord duke. but, having made the mould upon that model, in seeking to cast it in bronze it did not succeed, although he returned twice to the work; either by bad fortune, or because the metal was burnt, or for some other reason. having then turned, in order not to subject his labours to the whim of chance, to working in marble, he executed in a short time from one single piece of marble two figures, honour with deceit beneath it, and with such diligence, that it seemed as if he had never done anything but handle the hammer and chisels; and on the head of honour, which is beautiful, he made the hair curling and so well pierced through, that it seems real and natural, besides displaying a very good knowledge of the nude. that statue is now in the courtyard of the house of signor sforza almeni in the via de' servi. and at fiesole, for the same signor sforza, he made many ornaments in his garden and around certain fountains. afterwards he executed for the lord duke some low-reliefs in marble and in bronze, which were held to be very beautiful, for in that manner of sculpture he is perhaps not inferior to any other master. he then cast, also in bronze, the grating of the chapel built in the new apartments of the palace, which were painted by giorgio vasari, and with it a panel with many figures in low-relief, which serves to close a press wherein the duke keeps writings of importance; and another panel one braccio and a half in height and two and a half in breadth, representing how moses, in order to heal the hebrew people from the bites of the serpents, placed one upon a pole. all these things are in the possession of that lord, by order of whom he made the door of the sacristy in the pieve of prato, and over it a sarcophagus of marble, with a madonna three braccia and a half high, and beside her the child nude, and two little children that are one on either side of a head in low-relief of messer carlo de' medici, the natural son of the elder cosimo, and once provost of prato, whose bones, after having long been in a tomb of brick, duke cosimo has caused to be laid in the above-named sarcophagus, thus giving him honourable sepulture; although it is true that the said madonna and the head in low-relief (which is very beautiful), being in a bad light, do not show up by a great measure as they should. the same vincenzio has since made, in order to adorn the residence of the magistrates of the mint, on the head-wall over the loggia that is on the river arno, an escutcheon of the duke with two nude figures, larger than life, on either side of it, one representing equity and the other rigour; and from hour to hour he is expecting the marble to make the statue of the lord duke himself, considerably larger than life, of which he has made a model; and that statue is to be placed seated over the escutcheon, as a completion to the work, which is to be built shortly, together with the rest of the façade, which vasari, who is the architect of that fabric, is even now superintending. he has also in hand, and has carried very near completion, a madonna of marble larger than life, standing with jesus, a child of three months, in her arms; which will be a very beautiful work. all these works, together with others, he is executing in the monastery of the angeli in florence, where he lives quietly in company with these monks, who are much his friends, in the rooms that were once occupied there by messer benedetto varchi, of whom the same vincenzio is making a portrait in low-relief, which will be very beautiful. [illustration: the brazen serpent (_after the bronze relief by =vincenzo danti=. florence: museo nazionale_) _alinari_] vincenzio has a brother in the order of preaching friars, called fra ignazio danti, who is very excellent in matters of cosmography, and of a rare genius, insomuch that duke cosimo de' medici is causing him to execute a work than which none greater or more perfect has ever been done at any time in that profession; which is as follows. his excellency, under the direction of vasari, has built a new hall of some size expressly as an addition to the guardaroba, on the second floor of the apartments in the ducal palace; and this he has furnished all around with presses seven braccia high, with rich carvings of walnut-wood, in order to deposit in them the most important, precious, and beautiful things that he possesses. over the doors of those presses, within their ornaments, fra ignazio has distributed fifty-seven pictures about two braccia high and wide in proportion, in which are painted in oils on the wood with the greatest diligence, after the manner of miniatures, the tables of ptolemy, all measured with perfect accuracy and corrected after the most recent authorities, with exact charts of navigation and their scales for measuring and degrees, done with supreme diligence; and with these are all the names, both ancient and modern. his distribution of these pictures is on this wise. at the principal entrance of the hall, on the transverse surfaces of the thickness of the presses, in four pictures, are four half-spheres in perspective; in the two below is the universe of the earth, and in the two above is the universe of the heavens, with its signs and celestial figures. then as one enters, on the right hand, there is all europe in fourteen tables and pictures, one after another, as far as the centre of the wall that is at the head, opposite to the principal door; in which centre is placed the clock with the wheels and with the spheres of the planets that every day go through their motions, which is that clock, so famous and renowned, made by the florentine lorenzo della volpaia. above these tables is africa in eleven tables, as far as the said clock; and then, beyond that clock, asia in the lower range, which continues likewise in fourteen tables as far as the principal door. above these tables of asia, in fourteen other tables, there follow the west indies, beginning like the others from the clock, and continuing as far as the same principal door; and thus there are in all fifty-seven tables. in the base at the foot, in an equal number of pictures running right round, which will be exactly in line with those tables, are to be all the plants and all the animals copied from nature, according to the kinds that those countries produce. over the cornice of the presses, which is the crown of the whole, there are to be some projections separating the pictures, and upon these are to be placed such of the antique heads in marble as are in existence of the emperors and princes who have possessed those lands; and on the plain walls up to the cornice of the ceiling, which is all of carved wood and painted in twelve great pictures, each with four celestial signs, making in all forty-eight, and little less than lifesize, with their stars--there are beneath, as i have said, on those walls, three hundred portraits from life of distinguished persons for the last five hundred years or more, painted in pictures in oils (and a note will be made of them in the table of portraits, in order not to make too long a story here with their names), all of one size, and with one and the same ornament of carved walnut-wood--a very rare effect. in the two compartments in the centre of the ceiling, each four braccia wide, where there are the celestial signs, which open with ease without revealing the secret of the hiding-place, in a part after the manner of a heaven, will be accommodated two large globes, each three braccia and a half in height. in one of them will be the whole earth, marked distinctly, and this will be let down by a windlass that will not be seen, down to the floor, and will rest on a balanced pedestal, so that, when fixed, there will be seen reflected all the tables that are right round in the pictures of the presses, and they will have a countermark in the globe wherewith to find them with ease. in the other globe will be the forty-eight celestial signs arranged in such a manner, that it will be possible with it to perform all the operations of the astrolabe to perfection. this fanciful invention came from duke cosimo, who wished to put together once and for all these things both of heaven and of earth, absolutely exact and without errors, so that it might be possible to see and measure them separately and all together, according to the pleasure of those who delight in this most beautiful profession and study it; of which, as a thing worthy to be recorded, it has seemed to me my duty to make mention in this place on account of the art of fra ignazio and the greatness of the prince, who holds us worthy to enjoy such honourable labours, and also to the end that it may be known throughout the whole world. and now to return to the men of our academy; although i have spoken in the life of tribolo of antonio di gino lorenzi, a sculptor of settignano, i must record here with better order, as in the proper place, that he executed under his master tribolo the statue of Æsculapius described above, which is at castello, and four children that are in the great fountain of that place; and since then he has made some heads and ornaments that are about the new fish-pond of castello, which is high up there in the midst of various kinds of trees of perpetual verdure. recently he has made in the lovely garden of the stables, near s. marco, most beautiful ornaments for an isolated fountain, with many very fine aquatic animals of white and variegated marble; and in pisa he once executed under the direction of the above-named tribolo the tomb of corte, a most excellent philosopher and physician, with his statue and two very beautiful children of marble. in addition to these, he is even now executing new works for the duke, of animals and birds in variegated marble for fountains, works of the greatest difficulty, which make him well worthy to be in the number of these our academicians. [illustration: bronze relief (_after =vincenzo danti=. florence: museo nazionale_) _alinari_] in like manner, a brother of antonio, called stoldo di gino lorenzi, a young man thirty years of age, has acquitted himself in such a manner up to the present in many works of sculpture, that he may now be numbered with justice among the first of the young men in his profession, and set in the most honourable place in their midst. at pisa he has executed in marble a madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel, which has made him known as a young man of beautiful judgment and genius; and luca martini caused him to make another very lovely statue in pisa, which was presented afterwards by the lady duchess leonora to the lord don garzia di toledo, her brother, who has placed it in his garden on the chiaia at naples. the same stoldo has made, under the direction of vasari, in the centre of the façade of the palace of the knights of s. stephen at pisa, over the principal door, a very large escutcheon in marble of the lord duke, their grand master, between two statues in the round, religion and justice, which are truly most beautiful and highly extolled by all those who are good judges. the same lord has since caused him to execute a fountain for his garden of the pitti, after the likeness of the beautiful triumph of neptune that was seen in the superb masquerade which his excellency held for the above-mentioned nuptials of the most illustrious lord prince. and let this suffice for stoldo lorenzi, who is young and is constantly working and acquiring more and more fame and honour among his companions of the academy. of the same family of the lorenzi of settignano is battista, called battista del cavaliere from his having been a disciple of the chevalier baccio bandinelli; who has executed in marble three statues of the size of life, which bastiano del pace, a citizen of florence, has caused him to make for the guadagni, who live in france, and who have placed them in a garden that belongs to them. these are a nude spring, a summer, and a winter, which are to be accompanied by an autumn; which statues have been held by many who have seen them, to be beautiful and executed with no ordinary excellence. wherefore battista has well deserved to be chosen by the lord duke to make the sarcophagus, with the ornaments, and one of the three statues that are to be on the tomb of michelagnolo buonarroti, which his excellency and leonardo buonarroti are carrying out after the design of giorgio vasari; which work, as may be seen, battista is carrying to completion excellently well, with certain little boys, and the figure of buonarroti himself from the breast upwards. the second of these three figures that are to be on that sepulchre, which are to be painting, sculpture, and architecture, has been allotted to giovanni di benedetto of castello, a disciple of baccio bandinelli and an academician, who is executing for the wardens of s. maria del fiore the works in low-relief that are going round the choir, which is now near completion. in these he is closely imitating his master, and acquitting himself in such a manner that an excellent result is expected of him; nor will it fall out otherwise, seeing that he is very assiduous in his work and in the studies of his profession. the third figure has been allotted to valerio cioli of settignano, a sculptor and academician, for the reason that the other works that he has executed up to the present have been such, that it is thought that the said figure must prove to be so good as to be not otherwise than worthy to be placed on the tomb of so great a man. valerio, who is a young man twenty-six years of age, has restored many antique statues of marble in the garden of the cardinal of ferrara at monte cavallo in rome, making for some of them new arms, for some new feet, and for others other parts that were wanting; and he has since done the same for many statues in the pitti palace, which the duke has conveyed there for the adornment of a great hall. the duke has also caused the same valerio to make a nude statue of the dwarf morgante in marble, which has proved so beautiful and so like the reality, that probably there has never been seen another monster so well wrought, nor one executed with such diligence, lifelike and faithful to nature. in like manner, he has caused him to execute the statue of pietro, called barbino, a gifted dwarf, well-lettered and a very gentle spirit, and a favourite of our duke. for all these reasons, i say, valerio has well deserved that there should be allotted to him by his excellency the statue that is to adorn the tomb of buonarroti, the one master of all these able men of the academy. as for francesco moschino, a sculptor of florence, enough having been spoken of him in another place, it suffices here to say that he also is an academician, that under the protection of duke cosimo he is constantly at work in the duomo of pisa, and that among the festive preparations for the nuptials he acquitted himself excellently well in the decorations of the principal door of the ducal palace. of domenico poggini, likewise, having said above that he is an able sculptor and that he has executed an infinity of medals very faithful to the reality, and some works in marble and in casting, i shall say nothing more of him here, save that he is deservedly one of our academicians, that for the above-named nuptials he made some very beautiful statues, which were placed upon the arch of religion at the canto della paglia, and that recently he has executed a new medal of the duke, very true to the life and most beautiful; and he is still continually at work. giovanni fancelli, or rather, as others call him, giovanni di stocco, an academician, has executed many works in marble and stone, which have proved good sculptures; among others, much extolled is an escutcheon of balls with two children and other ornaments, placed on high over the two knee-shaped windows of the façade of ser giovanni conti in florence. and the same i say of zanobi lastricati, who, as a good and able sculptor, has executed and is still executing many works in marble and in casting, which have made him well worthy to be in the academy in company with those named above; and, among his works, much praised is a mercury of bronze that is in the court of the palace of m. lorenzo ridolfi, for it is a figure wrought with all the considerations that are requisite. finally, there have been accepted into the academy some young sculptors who executed honourable and praiseworthy works in the above-named preparations for the nuptials of his highness; and these were fra giovanni vincenzio of the servites, a disciple of fra giovanni agnolo; ottaviano del collettaio, a pupil of zanobi lastricati, and pompilio lancia, the son of baldassarre da urbino, architect and pupil of girolamo genga; which pompilio, in the masquerade called the genealogy of the gods, arranged for the most part, and particularly the mechanical contrivances, by the said baldassarre, his father, acquitted himself in certain things excellently well. in these last pages we have shown at some length what kind of men, and how many and how able, have been gathered together to form so noble an academy, and we have touched in part on the many and honourable occasions obtained by them from their most liberal lords, wherein to display their capacity and ability. nevertheless, to the end that this may be the better understood, although those first learned writers, in their descriptions of the arches and of the various spectacles represented in those splendid nuptials, made it very well known, yet, since there has been given into my hands the following little work, written by way of exercise by a person of leisure who delights not a little in our profession, to a dear and close friend who was not able to see those festivities, forming the most brief account and comprising everything in one, it has seemed to me my duty, for the satisfaction of my brother-craftsmen, to insert it in this volume, adding to it a few words, to the end that it may be more easy, by thus uniting rather than separating it, to preserve an honourable record of their noble labours. of the academicians of the academicians description of the festive preparations for the nuptials of the prince don francesco of tuscany description of the porta al prato we will describe, then, with the greatest clearness and brevity that may be permitted by the abundance of our material, how the intention in all these decorations was to represent by the vast number of pictures and sculptures, as if in life, all those ceremonies, effects, and pomps that appeared to be proper to the reception and the nuptials of so great a princess, forming of them poetically and ingeniously a whole so well proportioned, that with judgment and grace it might achieve the result designed. first of all, therefore, at the gate that is called the porta al prato, by which her highness was to enter the city, there was built with dimensions truly heroic, which well showed ancient rome risen again in her beloved daughter florence, a vast, most ornate, and very ingeniously composed ante-port of ionic architecture, which, surpassing by a good measure the height of the walls, which are there very lofty, presented a marvellous and most superb view not only to those entering the city, but even at a distance of several miles. and this arch was dedicated to florence, who--standing between two figures, as it were her beloved companions, of fidelity and affection, virtues which she has always shown towards her lords--in the form of a young and most beautiful woman, smiling and all adorned with flowers, had been set, as was her due, in the most important and most honourable place, nearest to the gate, as if she sought to receive, introduce, and accompany her new lady; having brought with her, as it were as her minister and companion, and as the symbol of those of her sons who in the art of war, among other arts, have rendered her illustrious, mars, their leader and master, and in a certain sense the first father of florence herself, in that under his auspices and by martial men, who were descended from mars, was made her first foundation. his statue, dread and terrible, could be seen on the right in the part farthest from her, sword in hand, as if he sought to use it in the service of his new lady; he likewise having as it were brought with him to accompany his florence, in a very large and very beautiful canvas painted in chiaroscuro that was beneath his feet (very similar to the whitest marble, as were all the other works that were in these decorations), some of the men of that invincible martian legion so dear to the first and second cæsar, her first founders, and some of those born from her, who afterwards followed her discipline so gloriously. many of these could be seen issuing full of gladness from his temple, which is now dedicated to s. john in the name of the christian religion; and in the farthest distance were placed those who were thought to have had a name only for bodily valour, in the central space those others who had become famous by their counsel and industry, such as commissaries or proveditors (to call them by their venetian name), and in the front part nearest to the eye, in the most honourable places, as being the most worthy of honour, were painted the captains of armies and those who had acquired illustrious renown and immortal fame by valour of the body and mind together. among these, as the first and perhaps the most honourable, could be seen on horseback, like many others, the glorious signor giovanni de' medici portrayed from life, that rare master of italian military discipline, and the illustrious father of the great cosimo whom we honour as our excellent and most valorous duke; and with him filippo spano, terror of the barbarous turks, and m. farinata degli uberti, great-hearted saviour of his native florence. there, also, was m. buonaguisa della pressa, who, at the head of the valiant youth of florence, winning the first and glorious mural crown at damiata, acquired so great a name; and the admiral federigo folchi, knight of rhodes, who with his two sons and eight nephews performed so many deeds of prowess against the saracens. there were m. nanni strozzi, m. manno donati, meo altoviti, and bernardo ubaldini, called della carda, father of federigo, duke of urbino, that most excellent captain of our times. there, likewise, was the great constable, m. niccola acciaiuoli, he who it may be said preserved for queen joanna and king louis, his sovereigns, the troubled kingdom of naples, and who always bore himself both there and in sicily with such loyalty and valour. there were another giovanni de' medici and giovanni bisdomini, most illustrious in the wars with the visconti, and the unfortunate but valorous francesco ferrucci; and among those more ancient were m. forese adimari, m. corso donati, m. vieri de' cerchi, m. bindaccio da ricasoli, and m. luca da panzano. among the commissaries, not less faithfully portrayed from life, could be seen there gino capponi, with neri his son, and piero his grand-nephew, he who, tearing so boldly the insolent proposals of charles viii, king of france, to his immortal honour, caused the voice of a capon (cappon), as the witty poet said so well, to sound so nobly among so many cocks (galli). there were bernardetto de' medici, luca di maso degli albizzi, tommaso di m. guido, now called del palagio, piero vettori, so celebrated in the wars with the aragonese, and the so greatly and so rightly renowned antonio giacomini, with m. antonio ridolfi and many others of this and other orders, who would make too long a story. all these appeared to be filled with joy that they had raised their country to such a height, auguring for her, in the coming of that new lady, increase, felicity, and greatness; which was expressed excellently well in the four verses that were to be seen written on the architrave above: hanc peperere suo patriam qui sanguine nobis aspice magnanimos heroas; nunc et ovantes et laeti incedant, felicem terque quaterque certatimque vocent tali sub principe floram. not less gladness could be seen in the beautiful statue of one of the nine muses, which was placed as a complement opposite to that of mars, nor less, again, in the figures of the men of science in the painted canvas that was to be seen at her feet, of the same size and likewise as the complement of the men of mars opposite, by which it was sought to signify that even as the men of war, so also the men of learning, of whom florence had always a great abundance and in no way less renowned (in that, as all men admit, it was there that learning began to revive), had likewise been brought by florence under the guidance of their muse to receive and honour the noble bride. which muse, clad in a womanly, graceful, and seemly habit, with a book in the right hand and a flute in the left, seemed with a certain loving expression to wish to invite all beholders to apply their minds to true virtue; and on the canvas beneath her, executed, like all the others, in chiaroscuro, could be seen painted a great and rich temple of minerva, whose statue crowned with olive, with the shield of the gorgon (as is customary), was placed without; and before the temple and at the sides, within an enclosure of balusters made as it were for a promenade, could be seen a great throng of grave and solemn men, who, although all rejoicing and making merry, yet retained in their aspect a certain something of the venerable, and these, also, were portrayed from life. for theology and sanctity there was the famous fra antonino, archbishop of florence, for whom a little angel was holding the episcopal mitre, and with him was seen giovanni domenici, first friar and then cardinal; and with them don ambrogio, general of camaldoli, and m. ruberto de' bardi, maestro luigi marsili, maestro leonardo dati, and many others. even so, in another part--and these were the philosophers--were seen the platonist m. marsilio ficino, m. francesco cattani da diacceto, m. francesco verini the elder, and m. donato acciaiuoli; and for law there were, with the great accursio, francesco his son, m. lorenzo ridolfi, m. dino rossoni di mugello, and m. forese da rabatta. the physicians, also, had their portraits; and among them maestro taddeo dino and tommaso del garbo, with maestro torrigian valori and maestro niccolò falcucci, had the first places. nor did the mathematicians, likewise, fail to be painted there; and of these, besides the ancient guido bonatto, were seen maestro paolo del pozzo and the very acute, ingenious, and noble leon batista alberti, and with them antonio manetti and lorenzo della volpaia, he by whose hand we have that first and marvellous clock of the planets, the wonder of our age, which is now to be seen in the guardaroba of our most excellent duke. for navigation, also, there was amerigo vespucci, most experienced and most fortunate of men, in that so great a part of the world, having been discovered by him, retains because of him the name of america. for learning, various and elegant, there was messer agnolo poliziano, to whom how much is owed by the latin and tuscan tongues, which began to revive in him, i believe is sufficiently well known to all the world. with him were pietro crinito, giannozzo manetti, francesco pucci, bartolommeo fonzio, alessandro de' pazzi, and messer marcello vergilio adriani, father of the most ingenious and most learned m. giovan battista, now called il marcellino, who is still living and giving public lectures with so much honour in our florentine university, and who at the commission of their illustrious excellencies has been writing anew the history of florence; and there were also m. cristofano landini, m. coluccio salutati, and ser brunetto latini, the master of dante. nor were there wanting certain poets who had written in latin, such as claudian, and among the more modern carlo marsuppini and zanobi strada. of the historians, then, were seen m. francesco guicciardini, niccolò macchiavelli, m. leonardo bruni, m. poggio, matteo palmieri, and, among the earliest, giovanni and matteo villani and the very ancient ricordano malespini. all these, or the greater part, for the satisfaction of all beholders, had each his name or that of his most famous works marked on the scrolls or on the covers of the books that they held, placed there as if by chance; and with all of them, as with the men of war, to demonstrate what they were come there to do, the four verses that were painted on the architrave, as with the others, made it clearly manifest, saying: artibus egregiis latiæ graiæque minervæ florentes semper quis non miretur etruscos? sed magis hoc illos ævo florere necesse est et cosmo genitore et cosmi prole favente. next, beside the statue of mars, and somewhat nearer to that of florence--and here it must be noted with what singular art and judgment every least thing was distributed, in that, the intention being to accompany florence with six deities, so to speak, for the potency of whom she could right well vaunt herself, the two hitherto described, mars and the muse, because other cities could perhaps no less than she lay claim to them, as being the least peculiar to her, were placed less near to her than the others; and so for the spacious vestibule or passage, as it were, formed before the gate by the four statues to follow, the two already described were used as wings or head-pieces, being placed at the entrance, one turned towards the castle and the other towards the arno, but the next two, which formed the beginning of the vestibule, for the reason that they are shared by her with few other cities, came to be placed somewhat nearer to her, even as the last two, because they are entirely peculiar to her and shared with no other city, or, to speak more exactly, because no other can compare with her in them (and may this be said without offence to any other tuscan people, which, when it shall have a dante, a petrarca, and a boccaccio to put forward, may perchance be able to come into dispute with her), were placed in close proximity to her, and nearer than any of the others--now, to go back, i say that beside the statue of mars had been placed a ceres, goddess of cultivation and of the fields, not less beautiful and good to look upon than the others; which pursuit, how useful it is and how worthy of honour for a well-ordered city, was taught in ancient times by rome, who had enrolled all her nobility among the rustic tribes, as cato testifies, besides many others, calling it the nerve of that most puissant republic, and as pliny affirms no less strongly when he says that the fields had been tilled by the hands of imperatores, and that it may be believed that earth rejoiced to be ploughed by the laureate share and by the triumphant ploughman. that ceres was crowned, as is customary, with ears of various kinds of corn, having in the right hand a sickle and in the left a bunch of similar ears. now, how much florence can vaunt herself in this respect, whoever may be in any doubt of it may enlighten himself by regarding her most ornate and highly cultivated neighbourhood, for, leaving on one side the vast number of most superb and commodious palaces that may be seen dispersed over its surface, it is such that florence, although among the most beautiful cities of which we have any knowledge she might be said to carry off the palm, yet remains by a great measure vanquished and surpassed by it, insomuch that it may rightly claim the title of the garden of europe; not to speak of its fertility, as to which, although it is for the most part mountainous and not very large, nevertheless the diligence that is used in it is such, that it not only feeds bountifully its own vast population and the infinite multitude of strangers who flock to it, but very often gives courteous succour to other lands both near and far. in the canvas (to return to our subject) which was to be seen in like fashion beneath her statue, in the same manner and of the same size, the excellent painter had figured a most beautiful little landscape adorned with an infinite variety of trees, in the most distant part of which was seen an ancient and very ornate little temple dedicated to ceres, in which, since it was open and raised upon colonnades, could be perceived many who were offering religious sacrifices. on the other side, in a part somewhat more solitary, nymphs of the chase could be seen standing about a shady and most limpid fount, gazing as it were in marvel and offering to the new bride of those pleasures and delights that are found in their pursuits, in which tuscany is perhaps not inferior to any other part of italy. in another part, with many countrymen bringing various animals both wild and domestic, were seen also many country-girls, young and beautiful, and adorned in a thousand rustic but graceful manners, and likewise come--weaving the while garlands of flowers and bearing various fruits--to see and honour their lady. and the verses which were over this scene as with the others, taken from virgil, to the great glory of tuscany, ran thus: hanc olim veteres vitam coluere sabini, hanc remus et frater, sic fortis etruria crevit, scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima flora, urbs antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glebæ. next, opposite to the above-described statue of ceres, was seen that of industry; and i do not speak merely of that industry which is seen used by many in many places in matters of commerce, but of a certain particular excellence and ingenious virtue which the men of florence employ in everything to which they deign to apply themselves, on which account many, and in particular the poet of supreme judgment (and rightly, as is evident), give them the title of industrious. how great a benefit this industry has been to florence, and in what great account it has always been held by her, is seen from this, that upon it she formed her body corporate, decreeing that none could become one of her citizens who was not entered under the name of some guild, and thus recognizing that by that industry she had risen to no small power and greatness. now industry was figured as a woman in a light and easy habit, holding a sceptre, at the head of which was a hand with an eye in the centre of the palm, and with two little wings, whereby with the sceptre there was achieved a certain sort of resemblance to the caduceus of mercury; and in the canvas that was beneath her, as with the other statues, was seen a vast and most ornate portico or forum, very similar to the place where our merchants resort to transact their business, called the mercato nuovo, which was made even clearer by the boy that was to be seen striking the hours on one of the walls. and on one side, their particular gods having been ingeniously placed there (in one part, namely, the statue of fortune seated on a wheel, and in another part mercury with the caduceus and with a purse in the hand), were seen assembled many of the most noble artificers, those, namely, who exercise their arts with perhaps greater excellence in florence than in any other place; and of such, with their wares in their hands, as if they were seeking to offer them to the incoming princess, some were to be seen with cloth of gold or of silk, some with the finest draperies, and others with most beautiful and marvellous embroideries, and all with expressions of joy. even so, in another part, some were seen in various costumes trafficking as they walked, and others of lower degree with various most beautiful wood-carvings and works in tarsia, and some again with balls, masks, and rattles, and other childish things, all in the same manner showing the same gladness and contentment. all which, and the advantage of these things, and the profit and glory that have come from them to florence, was made manifest by the four verses that were placed above them, as with the others, saying: quas artes pariat solertia, nutriat usus, aurea monstravit quondam florentia cunctis. pandere namque acri ingenio atque enixa labore est præstanti, unde paret vitam sibi quisque beatam. of the two last deities or virtues, seeing that, as we have said, by reason of the number and excellence in them of her sons they are so peculiar to florence that she may well consider herself glorious in them beyond any other city, there was placed on the right hand, next to the statue of ceres, that of apollo, representing that tuscan apollo who infuses tuscan verse in tuscan poets. under his feet, as in the other canvases, there was painted on the summit of a most lovely mountain, recognized as that of helicon by the horse pegasus, a very spacious and beautiful meadow, in the centre of which rose the sacred fount of aganippe, likewise recognized by the nine muses, who stood around it in pleasant converse, and with them, and in the shade of the verdant laurels with which the whole mount was covered, were seen various poets in various guise seated or discoursing as they walked, or singing to the sound of the lyre, while a multitude of little loves were playing above the laurels, some of them shooting arrows, and some appeared to be throwing down crowns of laurel. of these poets, in the most honourable place were seen the profound dante, the gracious petrarca, and the fecund boccaccio, who with smiling aspect appeared to be promising to the incoming lady, since a subject so noble had not fallen to them, to infuse in the intellects of florence such virtue that they would be able to sing worthily of her; to which with the exemplar of their writings, if only there may be found one able to imitate them, they have opened a broad and easy way. near them, as if discoursing with them, and all, like the rest, portrayed from life, were seen m. cino da pistoia, montemagno, guido cavalcanti, guittone d'arezzo, and dante da maiano, who lived in the same age and were poets passing gracious for those times. in another part were monsignor giovanni della casa, luigi alamanni, and lodovico martelli, with vincenzio at some distance from him, and with them messer giovanni rucellai, the writer of the tragedies, and girolamo benivieni; among whom, if he had not been living at that time, a well-merited place would have been given also to the portrait of m. benedetto varchi, who shortly afterwards made his way to a better life. in another part, again, were seen franco sacchetti, who wrote the three hundred novelle, and other men, who, although at the present day they have no great renown, yet, because in their times they made no small advance in romances, were judged to be not unworthy of that place--luigi pulci, with his brothers bernardo and luca, and also ceo and altissimo. berni, also, the inventor and father (and excellent father) of tuscan burlesque poetry, with burchiello, with antonio alamanni, and with unico accolti (who were standing apart), appeared to be showing no less joy than any of the others; while arno, leaning in his usual manner on his lion, with two children that were crowning him with laurel, and mugnone, known by the nymph that stood over him crowned with stars, with the moon on her brow, in allusion to the daughters of atlas, and representing fiesole, appeared likewise to be expressing the same gladness and contentment. all which conception described above was explained excellently well by the four verses that were placed in the architrave, as with the others, which ran thus: musarum hic regnat chorus, atque helicone virente posthabito, venere tibi florentia vates eximii, quoniam celebrare hæc regia digno non potuere suo et connubia carmine sacro. opposite to this, placed on the left hand, and perhaps not less peculiar to the florentine genius than the last-named, was seen the statue of design, the father of painting, sculpture, and architecture, who, if not born in florence, as may be seen in the past writings, may be said to have been born again there, and nourished and grown as in his own nest. he was figured by a statue wholly nude, with three similar heads for the three arts that he embraces, each holding in the hand some instrument, but without any distinction; and in the canvas that was beneath him was seen painted a vast courtyard, for the adornment of which were placed in various manners a great quantity of statues and of pictures in painting, both ancient and modern, which could be seen in process of being designed and copied by divers masters in divers ways. in one part was being prepared an anatomical study, and many could be seen observing it, and likewise drawing, very intently. others, again, considering the fabric and rules of architecture, appeared to be seeking to measure certain things with great minuteness, the while that the divine michelagnolo buonarroti, prince and monarch of them all, with the three circlets in his hand (his ancient device), making signs to andrea del sarto, leonardo da vinci, pontormo, rosso, perino del vaga, francesco salviati, antonio da san gallo, and rustici, who were gathered with great reverence about him, was pointing out with supreme gladness the pompous entrance of the noble lady. the ancient cimabue, standing in another part, was doing as it were the same service to certain others, at whom giotto appeared to be smiling, having taken from him, as dante said so well, the field of painting which he thought to hold; and giotto had with him, besides the gaddi, buffalmacco and benozzo, with many others of that age. in another part, again, placed in another fashion and all rejoicing as they conversed, were seen those who conferred such benefits on art, and to whom these new masters owed so much; the great donatello, filippo di ser brunellesco, lorenzo ghiberti, fra filippo, the excellent masaccio, desiderio, and verrocchio, with many others, portrayed from life, whom, since i have spoken of them in the previous books, i will pass by without saying more about them, thus avoiding the tedium that might come upon my readers by repetition. who they were, and what they were come thither to do, was explained, as with the others, by four verses written above them: non pictura satis, non possunt marmora et æra tuscaque non arcus testari ingentia facta, atque ea præcipue quæ mox ventura trahuntur; quis nunc praxiteles cælet, quis pingat apelles? now in the base of all these six vast and most beautiful canvases was seen painted a gracious throng of children, each occupying himself in the profession appropriate to the canvas placed above, who, besides the adornment, were seen to be demonstrating with great accuracy with what beginnings one arrived at the perfection of the men painted above; even as with much judgment and singular art the same canvases were also divided and adorned by round and very tall columns and by pilasters, and by various ornaments of trophies all in keeping with the subjects to which they were near. but, above all, graceful and lovely in appearance were the ten devices, or, to speak more precisely, the ten reverses (as it were) of medals, partly long established in the city and partly newly introduced, which were painted in the compartments over the columns, serving to divide the statues already described, and accompanying very appropriately their inventions; the first of which was the deduction of a colony, represented by a bull and a cow together in a yoke, and behind them the ploughman with the head veiled, as the ancient augurs are depicted, with the crooked lituus in the hand, and with a motto, which said: col. jul. florentia. the second--and this is very ancient in the city, and the one wherewith public papers are generally sealed--was hercules with the club and with the skin of the nemæan lion, but without any motto. the third was the horse pegasus, which with the hind feet was smiting the urn held by arno, in the manner that is told of the fount of helicon; whence were issuing waters in abundance, which formed a river, crystal-clear, that was all covered with swans; but this, also, was without any motto. so, likewise, was the fourth, which was composed of a mercury with the caduceus in the hand, the purse, and the cock, such as is seen in many ancient cornelians. but the fifth, in accord with that affection which, as was said at the beginning, was given to florence as a companion, was a young woman receiving a crown of laurel from two figures, one on either side of her, which, clad in the military paludament and likewise crowned with laurel, appeared to be consuls or imperatores; with words that ran: gloria pop. floren. so also the sixth, in like manner in accord with fidelity, likewise the companion of florence, was also figured by a woman seated, with an altar near her, upon which she was seen to be laying one of her hands, and with the other uplifted, holding the second finger raised in the manner wherein one generally sees an oath taken, she was seen to declare her intention with the inscription: fides. pop. flor. this, also, did the picture of the seventh, without any inscription; which was the two horns of plenty filled with ears of corn intertwined together. and the eighth, likewise without any inscription, did the same with the three arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture, which, after the manner of the three graces, with hands linked to denote the interdependence of one art with another, were placed no less gracefully than the others upon a base in which was seen carved a capricorn. and so, also, did the ninth (placed more towards the arno), which was the usual florence with her lion beside her, to whom various boughs of laurel were offered by certain persons standing around her, as it were showing themselves grateful for the benefits received from her, in that there, as has been told, letters began to revive. and the tenth and last did the same with its inscription that ran thus, tribu scaptia, written upon a shield held by a lion; which tribe was that of augustus, her founder, and the one in which in ancient times florence used to be enrolled. but the finest ornament--besides the beautiful shields on which were the arms of their excellencies, both the one and the other, and of the most illustrious princess, and the device of the city, and besides the great ducal crown of gold, which florence was in the act of presenting--was the principal device, set over all the shields, and placed there in allusion to the city; which was composed of two halcyons making their nest in the sea at the beginning of winter. this was made clear by the part of the zodiac that was painted there, wherein the sun was seen at the point of entering into the sign of capricorn, with a motto that said, hoc fidunt, signifying that even as the halcyons, by the grace of nature, at the time when the sun is entering into the said sign of capricorn, which renders the sea smooth and tranquil, are able to make their nests there in security (whence such days are called "halcyon days"), so also florence, with capricorn in the ascendant, which is therefore the ancient and most honourable device of her excellent duke, is able in whatever season the world may bring her to flourish in the greatest felicity and peace, as she does right well. and all this, with all the other conceptions given above, was declared in great part by the inscription which, addressed to the exalted bride, was written appropriately in a most ornate and beautiful place, saying: ingredere urbem felicissimo conjugio factam tuam, augustissima virgo, fide, ingeniis, et omni laude prÆstantem; optataque prÆsentia tua, et eximia virtute, sperataque fecunditate, optimorum principum paternam et avitam claritatem, fidelissimorum civium lÆtitiam, florentis urbis gloriam et felicitatem auge. of the entrance to borg' ognissanti. proceeding, then, towards borg' ognissanti, a street, as everyone knows, most beautiful, spacious, and straight, there were at the entrance two very large colossal figures, one representing austria, as a young woman in full armour after the antique, with a sceptre in the hand, signifying her military power as embodied in the imperial dignity, which now has its residence in that nation and appears to be entirely concentrated there; and the other representing tuscany, apparelled in religious vestments and with the sacerdotal lituus in the hand, which in like manner demonstrated the excellence that the tuscan nation has always displayed from the most ancient times in the divine cult, insomuch that even at the present day it is seen that the pontiffs and the holy roman church have chosen to establish their principal seat in tuscany. each of these had at her side a nude and gracious little angel, one of whom was seen guarding the imperial crown, and the other the crown that the pontiffs are wont to use; and one figure was shown offering her hand most lovingly to the other, almost as if austria, with her most noble cities (which were depicted under various images in the vast canvas that was as an ornament and head-piece, at the entrance to that street, facing towards the porta al prato), wished to signify that she was come parentally to take part in the rejoicings and festivities in honour of the illustrious bridal pair, and to meet and embrace her beloved tuscany, thus in a certain sort uniting together the two most mighty powers, the spiritual and the temporal. all which was declared excellently well in the six verses that were written in a suitable place, saying: augustæ en adsum sponsæ comes austria; magni cæsaris hæc nata est, cæsaris atque soror. carolus est patruus, gens et fæcunda triumphis, imperio fulget, regibus et proavis. lætitiam et pacem adferimus dulcesque hymeneos et placidam requiem, tuscia clara, tibi. even as on the other side tuscany, having yielded the first place at the first gate to florence, her lady and her queen, was seen with an aspect all full of joy at receiving so great a princess; having likewise in company with her, in a similar painted canvas beside her, fiesole, pisa, siena, and arezzo, with the most famous of her other cities, and with the ombrone, the arbia, the serchio, and the chiana, all depicted in various forms according to custom; and expressing her contentment in the six following verses, written in a way similar to the others, and in a suitable place: ominibus faustis et lætor imagine rerum, virginis aspectu cæsareæque fruor. hæ nostræ insignes urbes, hæc oppida et agri, hæc tua sunt; illis tu dare jura potes. audis ut resonet lætis clamoribus æther, et plausu et ludis austria cuncta fremat? of the ponte alla carraia. and to the end that the splendid nuptials might be celebrated with all the most favourable auspices, at the palazzo de' ricasoli, which, as everyone knows, is situated at the beginning of the ponte alla carraia, there was erected in the doric order of composition the third ornament, dedicated to hymen, their god; and this consisted--in addition to a head-piece of singular beauty, on which the eyes of all who came through borg' ognissanti feasted with marvellous delight--of two very lofty and most magnificent portals, between which it stood, and over one of these, which gave access to those passing into the street called la vigna, was placed with much judgment the statue of venus genetrix, perhaps alluding to the house of the cæsars, which had its origin from venus, or perchance auguring generation and fecundity for the bridal pair; with a motto taken from the epithalamium of theocritus, saying: [greek: kypris de, thea kypris, ison erasthai allalôn.] and over the other, giving access along the bank of the arno, through which the procession passed, was the statue of the nurse latona, perchance to ward off sterility or the jealous interference of juno, and likewise with a motto that ran: [greek: latô men doiê, latô kourotrophos ymmin euteknian.] as a complement to these, executed with singular artistry, upon a great base attached to one of the portals, there was seen on one side, as it were newly issued from the water, and in the form of a most beautiful giant with a garland of lilies, the river arno, who, as if he wished to give an example of nuptial bliss, was locked in embrace with his sieve, who had likewise a garland of leaves and apples; which apples, alluding to the balls of the medici, of which they were the origin, would have been rosy, if the colour had been in keeping with the white marble. and arno, all rejoicing, was shown speaking to his new lady in the manner expressed by the following verses: in mare nunc auro flaventes arnus arenas volvam, atque argento purior unda fluet. etruscos nunc invictis comitantibus armis cæsareis, tollam sidera ad alta caput. nunc mihi fama etiam tibrim fulgoreque rerum tantarum longe vincere fata dabunt. and on the other side, as a complement to arno, on a similar base attached in a similar way to the other portal (the two being turned, as it were, like wings one towards the other), and almost in the same form, were seen the danube and the drava likewise in a close embrace, and, even as the others had the lion, so they had the eagle as emblem and support; and these, crowned also with roses and with a thousand varieties of little flowers, were shown speaking to florence, even as the others were speaking to themselves, the following verses: quamvis flora tuis celeberrima finibus errem, sum septemgeminus danubiusque ferox; virginis augustæ comes, et vestigia lustro, ut reor, et si quod flumina numen habent, conjugium faustum et foecundum et nestoris annos, tuscorum et late nuntio regna tibi. then at the summit of the head-piece, in the place of honour, and with a close resemblance to the whitest marble, was seen the statue of the young hymen, with a garland of flowering marjoram and the torch and veil, and at his feet this inscription: boni conjugator amoris. on one side of him was love, who lay all languid under one of his flanks; and on the other side was conjugal fidelity, who was holding one arm supported under the other; which was all so pleasing, so full of charm, so beautiful, and so well distributed before the eyes of all beholders, that in truth it is not to be expressed in words. as the principal crown of that ornament--for on them all there was placed a principal crown and a principal device--there were formed in the hands of the hymen described above two garlands of the same marjoram that crowned his head, which, as he held them, he appeared to be about to present to the happy pair. but most lovely and beautiful of all, and best executed, were the three spacious pictures, separated by double columns, into which the whole of that vast façade was divided, placed with supreme beauty at the feet of hymen; for in them were depicted all the advantages, all the delights, and all the desirable things that are generally found in nuptials; those displeasing and vexatious being driven away from them with a certain subtle grace. and thus in one of these, that in the centre namely, were seen the three graces painted in the manner that is customary, all full of joy and gladness, who appeared to be singing with a certain soft harmony the verses written over them, saying: quæ tam præclara nascetur stirpe parentum inclita progenies, digna atavisque suis? etrusca attollet se quantis gloria rebus conjugio austriacæ mediceæque domus? vivite felices; non est spes irrita, namque divina charites talia voce canunt. these had on one side, forming as it were a choir about them, and coupled becomingly together, youth and delight, and beauty with contentment in her embrace, and on the other side, in like fashion, gladness with play, and fecundity with repose, all in attitudes most graceful and in keeping with their characters, and so well distinguished by the able painter, that they could be recognized with ease. in the picture that was on the right of that one, there were seen, besides love and fidelity, the same gladness, contentment, delight, and repose, with lighted torches in their hands, who were chasing from the world and banishing to the nethermost abyss jealousy, contention, affliction, sorrow, lamentation, deceit, sterility, and other vexatious and displeasing things of that kind, which are wont so often to disturb the minds of human creatures. and in the other, on the left hand, were seen the same graces in company with juno, venus, concord, love, fecundity, sleep, pasithea, and thalassius, setting the genial bed in order with those ancient religious ceremonies of torches, incense, garlands, and flowers, which were customary; of which last a number of little loves, playing in their flight, were scattering no small quantity over the bed. above these, then, were two other pictures distributed in very beautiful compartments, one on either side of the statue of hymen, and somewhat smaller than those described; in one of which, in imitation of the ancient custom so well described by catullus, was seen the illustrious princess portrayed from life in the midst of a gracious little company of most beautiful maidens in virginal dress, all crowned with flowers, and with lighted torches in their hands, who were pointing towards the evening star, which was seen appearing, and, as if set in motion by them, seemed in a certain gracious manner to move and to advance towards hymen; with the motto: o digna conjuncta viro. even as in the other picture, on the other side, was seen the excellent prince in the midst of many young men likewise crowned with garlands and burning with love, not less eager than the maidens in lighting the nuptial torches, and pointing no less towards the newly-appeared star, and giving signs, in advancing towards it, of equal or even greater desire; likewise with a motto that said: o tÆdis felicibus aucte. above these, arranged in a very graceful manner, there was seen as the principal device, which, as has been told, was placed over all the arches, a gilded chain all composed of marriage-rings with their stones, which, hanging down from heaven, appeared to be sustaining this terrestrial world; alluding in a certain sense to the homeric chain of jove, and signifying that by virtue of nuptials, the heavenly causes being wedded with terrestrial matter, nature and the aforesaid terrestrial world are preserved and rendered as it were eternal; with a motto that said: natura sequitur cupide. and then a quantity of little angels and loves, all gracious and merry, and all set in fitting places, were seen dispersed among the bases, the pilasters, the festoons, and the other ornaments, which were without number; and all, with a certain gladness, appeared to be either scattering flowers and garlands, or sweetly singing the following ode, from among the spaces between the double columns that divided, as has been told, the great pictures and the great façade, which was arranged in a lovely and gracious manner: augusti soboles regia cæsaris, summo nupta viro principi etruriæ, faustis auspiciis deseruit vagum istrum regnaque patria. cui frater, genitor, patruus, atque avi fulgent innumeri stemmate nobiles præclaro imperii, prisca ab origine digno nomine cæsares. ergo magnanimæ virgini et inclytæ jam nunc arne pater suppliciter manus libes, et violis versicoloribus pulchram flora premas comam. assurgant proceres, ac velut aureum et cæleste jubar rite colant eam. omnes accumulent templa deum, et piis aras muneribus sacras. tali conjugio pax hilaris redit, fruges alma ceres porrigit uberes, saturni remeant aurea sæcula, orbis lætitia fremit. quin diræ eumenides monstraque tartari his longe duce te finibus exulant. bellorum rabies hinc abit effera, mavors sanguineus fugit. sed jam nox ruit et sidera concidunt; et nymphæ adveniunt, junoque pronuba arridet pariter, blandaque gratia nudis juncta sororibus. hæc cingit niveis tempora liliis, hæc e purpureis serta gerit rosis, huic molles violæ et suavis amaracus nectunt virgineum caput. lusus, læta quies cernitur et decor; quos circum volitat turba cupidinum, et plaudens recinit hæc hymeneus ad regalis thalami fores. quid statis juvenes tam genialibus indulgere toris immemores? joci cessent et choreæ; ludere vos simul poscunt tempora mollius. non vincant hederæ bracchia flexiles, conchæ non superent oscula dulcia, emanet pariter sudor et ossibus grato murmure ab intimis. det summum imperium regnaque juppiter, det latona parem progeniem patri; ardorem unanimem det venus, atque amor aspirans face mutua. of the palazzo degli spini. and to the end that no part of either dominion might be left without being present at those happy nuptials, at the ponte a s. trinita and also at the palazzo degli spini, which is to be seen at the beginning of that bridge, there was the fourth ornament, of an architecture not less magnificent in composition, and consisting of a head-piece with three façades, one of which, turning to face towards the ponte alla carraia, became joined to that in the centre, which was somewhat bent and likewise attached to that which in like manner turned to face towards the palazzo degli spini and s. trinita; whence it appeared to have been contrived principally for the point of view both from the one street and from the other, insomuch that both from the one and from the other it presented itself complete to the eyes of all beholders--a thing of singular artifice for him who well considers it, which rendered that street, which is in itself as imposing and magnificent as any other that is to be found in florence, even more imposing and more beautiful than could be believed. in the façade that came in the centre, there had been formed upon a great base two giants, immense and most superb to behold, supported by two great monsters and by other extravagant fishes that appeared to be swimming in the sea, and accompanied by two sea-nymphs. these represented, one the great ocean and the other the tyrrhenian sea, and, half reclining, they appeared to be seeking to present to the most illustrious pair, with a certain affectionate liberality, not only many most beautiful branches of coral and immense shells of mother-of-pearl, and others of their sea-riches that they held in their hands, but also new islands, new lands, and new dominions, which were seen led thither in their train. behind them, making that whole ornament lovely and imposing, were seen rising little by little, from their socles that rested upon the base, two vast half-columns, upon which rested cornice, frieze, and architrave, leaving behind the sea-gods already described, almost in the form of a triumphal arch, a very spacious square; and over the two columns and the architrave rose two very well-formed pilasters covered with creepers, from which sprang two cornices, forming at the summit a superb and very bold frontispiece, at the top of which, and above the creepers of the pilasters already described, were seen placed three very large vases of gold, all filled to overflowing with thousands and thousands of different riches of the sea; and in the space that remained between the architrave and the point of the frontispiece, there was seen lying with rare dignity a masterly figure of a nymph, representing tethys, or amphitrite, goddess and queen of the sea, who with a very grave gesture was presenting as the principal crown of that place a rostral crown, such as was generally given to the victors in naval battles, with her motto, vince mari, and as it were adding that which follows: jam terra tua est. even as in the picture and the façade behind the giants, in a very large niche that had the appearance of a real and natural cavern or grotto, there was painted among many other monsters of the sea the proteus of virgil's georgics, bound by aristæus, who, pointing with his finger towards the verses written above him, appeared to wish to announce in prophecy to the well-united pair good fortune, victories, and triumphs in maritime affairs, saying: germana adveniet felici cum alite virgo, flora, tibi, adveniet soboles augusta, hymenei cui pulcher juvenis jungatur foedere certo regius italiæ columen, bona quanta sequentur conjugium? pater arne tibi, et tibi florida mater, gloria quanta aderit? protheum nil postera fallunt. and since, as has been told, this façade of the cavern stood between the two other façades, one of which was turned towards s. trinita and the other towards the ponte alla carraia, both these, which were of the same size and height, were likewise bordered in a similar manner by two similar half-columns, which in like manner supported their architrave, frieze, and cornice in a quarter-round, upon which, both on the one side and on the other, were seen three statues of boys on three pedestals, who were upholding certain very rich festoons of gold, composed in a most masterly fashion of conches, shells, coral, sword-grass, and sea-weed, by which a no less graceful finish was given to the whole structure. but to return to the space of the façade which, turning from the straight, was supported against the palazzo degli spini. in it was seen, painted in chiaroscuro, a nymph all unadorned and little less than nude, placed between many new kinds of animals, who stood for the new land of peru, with the other new west indies, discovered and ruled for the most part under the auspices of the most fortunate house of austria. she was turned towards a figure of jesus christ our lord, who, painted all luminous in a cross in the air (alluding to the four exceeding bright stars which form the semblance of a cross, newly discovered among those peoples), appeared in the manner of a sun piercing some thick clouds with most resplendent rays, for which she seemed in a certain sense to be rendering much thanks to that house, in that by their means she was seen converted to the divine worship and to the true christian religion, with the verses written below: di tibi pro meritis tantis, augusta propago, præmia digna ferant, quæ vinctam mille catenis heu duris solvis, quæ clarum cernere solem e tenebris tantis et christum noscere donas. even as on the base which supported that whole façade, and which, although on a level with that of the giants, yet did not like that one project outwards, there was seen, painted as it were by way of allegory, the fable of andromeda delivered by perseus from the cruel monster of the sea. and in that which, turning, faced towards the arno and the ponte alla carraia, there was seen in like manner painted the small but famous island of elba, in the form of an armed warrior seated upon a great rock, with the trident in her right hand, having on one side of her a little boy who was seen sporting playfully with a dolphin, and on the other side another like him, who was upholding an anchor, with many galleys that were shown circling about her port, which was painted there. at her feet, on her base, and corresponding in like manner to the façade painted above, was seen likewise the fable that is given by strabo, when he relates that the argonauts, returning from the acquisition of the golden fleece, and arriving with medea in elba, raised altars there and made sacrifice to jove upon them; perhaps foreseeing or auguring that at another time our present glorious duke, being as it were of their company by virtue of the order of the golden fleece, was to fortify that island and to safeguard distressed mariners, thus reviving their ancient and glorious memory. which was expressed excellently well by the four verses written there in a suitable place, saying: evenere olim heroes qui littore in isto magnanimi votis petiere. en ilva potentis auspiciis cosmi multa munita opera ac vi; pacatum pelagus securi currite nautæ. but the most beautiful effect, the most bizarre, the most fantastic, and the most ornate--besides the various devices and trophies, and arion, who was riding pleasantly through the sea on the back of the swimming dolphin--came from an innumerable quantity of extravagant fishes of the sea, nereids, and tritons, which were distributed among the friezes, pedestals, and bases, and wherever a space or the beauty of the place required them. even as at the foot of the great base of the giants there was another gracious effect in the form of a most beautiful siren seated upon the head of a very large fish, from whose mouth at times, at the turning of a key, not without laughter among the expectant bystanders, a rushing jet of water was seen pouring upon such as were too eager to drink the white and red wine that flowed in abundance from the breasts of the siren into a very capacious and most ornate basin. and since the bend of the façade where elba was painted was the first thing to strike the eyes of those who came, as did the procession, from the ponte alla carraia along the arno towards the palazzo degli spini, it seemed good to the inventor to hide the ugliness of the scaffolding and woodwork that were necessarily placed behind, by raising to the same height another new façade similar to the three described, which might, as it did, render that whole vista most festive and ornate. and in it, within a large oval, it appeared to him that it was well to place the principal device, embracing the whole conception of the structure; and to that end, therefore, there was seen figured a great neptune on his usual car, with the usual trident, as he is described by virgil, chasing away the troublesome winds, and using as a motto the very same words, maturate fugam; as if he wished to promise to the fortunate pair happiness, peace, and tranquillity in his realm. of the column. opposite to the graceful palace of the bartolini there had been erected a short time before, as a more stable and enduring ornament, not without singular ingenuity, that ancient and immense column of oriental granite which had been taken from the baths of antoninus in rome, and granted by pius iv to our glorious duke, and by him conveyed, although at no little expense, to florence, and magnanimously presented to her as a courteous gift for her public adornment. upon that column, over its beautiful capital, which had, like the base, the appearance of bronze, and which is now being made of real bronze, there was placed a statue (of clay, indeed, but in the colour of porphyry, because even so it is to be), very large and very excellent, of a woman in full armour, with a helmet on the head, and representing, by the sword in the right hand and by the scales in the left, an incorruptible and most valorous justice. of the canto de' tornaquinci. the sixth ornament was erected at the canto de' tornaquinci; and here i must note a thing which would appear incredible to one who had not seen it--namely, that this ornament was so magnificent, so rich in pomp, and fashioned with so much art and grandeur, that, although it was conjoined with the superb palace of the strozzi, which is such as to make the greatest things appear as nothing, and although on a site altogether disastrous by reason of the uneven ends of the streets that run together there, and certain other inconvenient circumstances, nevertheless such was the excellence of the craftsman, and so well conceived the manner of the work, that it seemed as if all those difficulties had been brought together there for the purpose of rendering it the more admirable and the more beautiful; that most lovely palace being so well accompanied by the richness of the ornaments, the height of the arches, the grandeur of the columns, all intertwined with arms and trophies, and the great statues that towered over the summit of the whole structure, that anyone would have judged that neither that ornament required any other accompaniment than that of such a palace, nor such a palace required any other ornament. and to the end that all may be the better understood, and in order to show more clearly and distinctly in what manner the work was constructed, it is necessary that some measure of pardon should be granted to us by those who are not of our arts, if for the sake of those who delight in them we proceed, more minutely than might appear proper to the others, to describe the nature of the sites and the forms of the arches; and this in order to demonstrate how noble intellects accommodate ornaments to places and inventions to sites with grace and beauty. we must relate, then, that since the street which runs from the column to the tornaquinci is, as everyone knows, very wide, and since it was necessary to pass from there into the street of the tornabuoni, which by its narrowness brought it about that the eyes of those thus passing fell for the most part on the not very ornate tower of the tornaquinci, which occupies more than half the street, it was thought expedient, in order to obviate that difficulty and to make the effect more pleasing, to construct in the width of the above-named street, in a composite order, two arches divided by a most ornate column, one of which gave free passage to the procession, which proceeded through the said street of the tornabuoni, and the other, concealing the view of the tower, appeared, by virtue of an ingenious prospect-scene that was painted there, to lead into another street similar to the said street of the tornabuoni, wherein with most pleasing illusion were seen not only the houses and windows adorned with tapestries and full of men and women who were all intent on gazing at the spectacle, but also the gracious sight of a most lovely maiden on a white palfrey, accompanied by certain grooms, who appeared to be coming from there towards those approaching, insomuch that both on the day of the procession and all the time afterwards that she remained there, she roused in more than one person, by a gracious deception, a desire either to go to meet her or to wait until she should have passed. these two arches, besides the above-mentioned column that divided them, were bordered by other columns of the same size, which supported architraves, friezes, and cornices; and over each arch was seen a lovely ornament in the form of a most beautiful picture, in which were seen painted, likewise in chiaroscuro, the stories of which we shall speak in a short time. the whole work was crowned above by an immense cornice with ornaments corresponding to the loveliness, grandeur, and magnificence of the rest, upon which, then, stood the statues, which, although they were at a height of a good twenty-five braccia from the level of the ground, nevertheless were wrought with such proportion that the height did not take away any of their grace, nor the distance any of the effect of any detail of their adornment and beauty. there stood in the same manner, as it were as wings to those two main arches, on the one side and on the other, two other arches, one of which, attached to the palace of the strozzi, and leading to the above-mentioned tower of the tornaquinci, gave passage to those who wished to turn towards the mercato vecchio, even as the other, placed on the other side, did the same service to those who might desire to go towards the street called la vigna; wherefore the via di s. trinita, which, as has been told, is so broad, terminating thus in the four arches described, came to present such loveliness and a view so beautiful and so heroic, that it appeared impossible to afford greater satisfaction to the eyes of the spectators. and this was the front part, composed, as has been described, of four arches; of two main arches, namely, one false, and one real, which led into the via de' tornabuoni, and of two others at the sides, in the manner of wings, which were turned towards the two cross-streets. now since, entering into the said street of the tornabuoni on the left side, beside the vigna, there debouches (as everyone knows) the strada di s. sisto, which likewise of necessity strikes the flank of the same tower of the tornaquinci, it was made to appear, in order to hide the same ugliness in a similar manner with the same illusion of a similar prospect-scene, that that side also passed into a similar street of various houses placed in the same way, with an ingenious view of a very ornate fountain overflowing with crystal-clear waters, from which a woman with a child was represented as drawing some, so that one who was at no great distance would certainly have declared that she was real and by no means simulated. now these four arches--to return to those in front--were supported and divided by five columns adorned in the manner described, forming as it were a rectangular piazza; and in a line with each of those columns, above the final cornice and the summit of the edifice, there was a most beautiful seat, while in the same manner four others were placed over the centre of each arch, which in all came to the number of nine. in eight of these was seen seated in each a statue of most imposing appearance, some shown in armour, some in the garb of peace, and others in the imperator's paludament, according to the characters of those who were portrayed in them; and in place of the ninth seat and the ninth statue, above the column in the centre, was seen placed an immense escutcheon, supported by two great victories with the imperial crown of the house of austria, to which that structure was dedicated; which was made manifest by a very large epitaph, which was seen placed with much grace and beauty below the escutcheon, saying: virtuti felicitatique invictissimÆ domus austriÆ, majestatique tot et tantorum imperatorum ac regum, qui in ipsa floruerunt et nunc maxime florent, florentia augusto conjugio particeps illius felicitatis, grato pioque animo dicat. the intention had been, after bringing to those most splendid nuptials the province of austria, with her cities and rivers and with her ocean-sea, and after having caused her to be received by tuscany with her cities, the arno, and the tyrrhenian sea, as has been related, to bring then her great and glorious cæsars, all magnificent in adornment and pomp, as is the general custom in taking part in nuptials; as if they, having conducted thither with them the illustrious bride, were come before to have the first meeting of kinsmen with the house of medici, and to prove of what stock, and how glorious, was the noble virgin that they sought to present to them. and so, of the eight above-mentioned statues placed upon the eight seats, representing eight emperors of that august house, there was seen on the right hand of the above-named escutcheon, over the arch through which the procession passed, that of maximilian ii, the present magnanimous and excellent emperor, and brother of the bride; below whom, in a very spacious picture, there was seen painted with most beautiful invention his marvellous assumption to the empire, himself being seated in the midst of the electors, both spiritual and temporal, the first being recognized--besides their long vestments--by a faith that was to be seen at their feet, and the others by a hope in a like position. in the air, also, over his head, were seen certain little angels that seemed to be chasing many malign spirits out of certain thick and dark clouds; these being intended either to suggest the hope which is felt that at some time, in that all-conquering and most constant nation, men will contrive to dissipate and clear away the clouds of those many disturbances that have occurred there in matters of religion, and restore her to her pristine purity and serenity of tranquil concord; or rather, that in that act all dissensions had flown away, and showing how marvellously, and with what unanimous consent of all germany, amid that great variety of minds and religions, that assumption had taken place, which was explained by the words that were placed above, saying: maximilianus ii salutatur imp. magno consensu germanorum, atque ingenti lÆtitia bonorum omnium, et christianÆ pietatis felicitate. then, next to the statue of the said maximilian, in a place corresponding to the column at the corner, was seen that of the truly invincible charles v; even as over the arch of that wing, which commanded the via della vigna, there was that of the second albert, a man of most resolute valour, although he reigned but a short time. above the column at the head was placed that of the great rudolph, who, the first of that name, was also the first to introduce into that most noble house the imperial dignity, and the first to enrich her with the great archduchy of austria; when, having reverted to the empire for lack of a successor, he invested with it the first albert, his son, whence the house of austria has since taken its name. all which, in memory of an event so important, was seen painted in a most beautiful manner in the frieze above that arch, with an inscription at the foot that said: rodulphus primus ex hac familia imp. albertum primum austriÆ principatu donat. but to return to the part on the left, beginning with the same place in the centre; beside the escutcheon, and over the false arch that covered the tower of the tornaquinci, was seen the statue of the most devout ferdinand, father of the bride, beneath whose feet was seen painted the valorous resistance made by his efforts in the year in the defence of vienna against the terrible assault of the turks; demonstrated by the inscription written above, which said: ferdinandus primus imp., ingentibus copiis turcorum cum rege ipsorum pulsis, viennam nobilem urbem fortissime felicissimeque defendit. even as at the corner there was the statue of the first and most renowned maximilian, and over the arch that inclined towards the palace of the strozzi that of the pacific frederick, father of that same maximilian, leaning against an olive-trunk. above the last column, which was attached to the above-named palace of the strozzi, was seen that of the first albert mentioned above, who, as has been told, was first invested by his father rudolph with the sovereignty of austria, and gave to that most noble house the arms that are still to be seen at the present day. those arms used formerly to be five little larks on a gold ground, whereas the new arms, which, as everyone may see, are all red with a white band that divides them, are said to have been introduced by him in that form because, as was seen painted there in a great picture beneath his feet, he found himself not otherwise in that most bloody battle fought by him with adolf, who had been first deposed from the imperial throne, when the said albert was seen to slay adolf valorously with his own hand and to win from him the spolia opima; and since, save for the middle of his person, which was white on account of his armour, over all the rest he found himself on that day all stained and dabbled with blood, he ordained that in memory of that his arms should be painted in the same manner both of form and colour, and that they should be preserved gloriously after him by his successors in that house; and beneath the picture, as with the others, there was to be read a similar inscription that said: albertus i imp. adolphum, cui legibus imperium abrogatum fuerat, magno proelio vincit et spolia opima refert. and since each of the eight above-mentioned emperors, besides the arms common to their whole house, also used during his lifetime arms private and peculiar to himself, for that reason, in order to make it more manifest to the beholders which emperor each of the statues represented, there were also placed beneath their feet, on most beautiful shields, the particular arms that each, as has been told, had borne. all which, together with some pleasing and well-accommodated little scenes that were painted on the pedestals, made a magnificent, heroic, and very ornate effect; even as not less was done, on the columns and in all the parts where ornaments could be suitably placed, in addition to trophies and the arms, by the crosses of s. andrew, the fusils, and the pillars of hercules, with the motto, plus ultra, the principal device of that arch, and many others like it used by the men of that imperial family. such, then, was the principal view which presented itself to those who chose to pass by the direct way with the procession; but for those who came from the opposite direction, from the via de' tornabuoni towards the tornaquinci, there appeared, with an ornamentation perhaps not less lovely, in so far as the narrowness of the street permitted, a similar spectacle arranged in due proportion. for on that side, which we will call the back, there was formed, as it were, another structure similar to that already described, save that on account of the narrowness of the street, whereas the first was seen composed of four arches, the other was of three only; one of which being joined with friezes and cornices to that upon which, as has been told, was placed the statue of the second maximilian, now emperor, and thus making it double, and another likewise attached to the above-described prospect-scene which concealed the tower, brought it about that the third, leaving also behind it a little quadrangular piazza, remained as the last for one coming with the procession, and appeared as the first for one approaching, on the contrary, from the street of the tornabuoni; and upon that last, which was in the same form as those described, even as upon them were the emperors, so upon it were seen towering, but standing on their feet, the two kings philip, one the father and the other the son of the great charles v, the first philip, namely, and also the second, so filled with liberality and justice, whom at the present day we honour as the great and puissant king of so many most noble realms. between him and the statue of his grandfather there was seen painted in the circumambient frieze that same philip ii seated in majesty, and standing before him a tall woman in armour, recognized by the white cross that she had on the breast as being malta, delivered by him through the valour of the most illustrious lord don garzia di toledo, who was portrayed there, from the siege of the turks; and she appeared to be seeking, as one grateful for that great service, to offer to him the obsidional crown of dog's grass, which was made manifest by the inscription written beneath, which said: melita, erepta e faucibus immanissimorum hostium studio et auxiliis piissimi regis philippi, conservatorem suum corona graminea donat. and to the end that the part turned towards the strada della vigna might have likewise some adornment, it was thought a fitting thing to declare the conception of the whole vast structure by a great inscription between the final cornice, where the statues stood, and the arch, which was a large space, saying: imperio late fulgentes aspice reges; austriaca hos omnes edidit alta domus. his invicta fuit virtus, his cuncta subacta, his domita est tellus, servit et oceanus. even as was done in the same manner and for the same reason towards the mercato vecchio, in another inscription, saying: imperiis gens nata bonis et nata triumphis, quam genus e coelo ducere nemo neget; tuque nitens germen divinÆ stirpis etruscis traditum agris nitidis, ut sola culta bees; si mihi contingat vestro de semine fructum carpere et in natis cernere detur avos, o fortunatam! vero tunc nomine florens urbs ferar, in quam fors congerat omne bonum. of the canto de' carnesecchi. now it appeared a fitting thing, having brought the triumphant cæsars to the place described above, to bring the magnanimous medici, also, with all their pomp, to the corner that is called the canto de' carnesecchi, which is not far distant from it; as if, reverently receiving the cæsars, as is the custom, they were come to hold high revel and to do honour to the new-come bride, so much desired. and here, no less than in some of the passages to follow, it will be necessary that i should be pardoned by those who are not of our arts for describing minutely the nature of the site and the form of the arches and other ornaments, for the reason that it is my intention to demonstrate not less the excellence of the hands and brushes of the craftsmen who executed the works, than the fertility and acuteness of brain of him who was the author of the stories and of the whole invention; and particularly because the site in that place was perhaps more disastrous and more difficult to accommodate than any of the others described or about to be described. for there the street turns towards s. maria del fiore, inclining to somewhat greater breadth, and comes to form the angle that by those of our arts is called obtuse; and that was the side on the right. opposite, and on the left-hand side, there is a little piazza into which two streets lead, one that comes from the great piazza di s. maria novella, and the other likewise from another piazza called the piazza vecchia. in that little piazza, which is in truth very ill proportioned, there was built over all the lower part a structure in the form of an octagonal theatre, the doors of which were rectangular and in the tuscan order; and over each of them was seen a niche between two columns, with cornices, architraves, and other ornaments, rich and imposing, of doric architecture, and then, rising higher, there was formed the third range, wherein was seen above the niches, in each space, a compartment with most beautiful ornaments in painting. now it is but proper to remark that although it has been said that the doors below were rectangular and tuscan, nevertheless the two by which the principal road entered and issued forth, and by which the procession was to pass, were made in the semblance of arches, and projected for no small distance in the manner of vestibules, one towards the entrance and the other towards the exit, both the one and the other having been made as rich and ornate on the outer façade as was required for the sake of proportion. having thus described the general form of the whole edifice, let us come down to the details, beginning with the front part, which presented itself first to the eyes of passers-by and was after the manner of a triumphal arch, as has been told, in the corinthian order. that arch was seen bordered on one side and on the other by two most warlike statues in armour, each of which, resting upon a graceful little door, was seen likewise coming forth from the middle of a niche placed between two well-proportioned columns. of these statues, that which was to be seen on the right hand represented duke alessandro, the son-in-law of the most illustrious charles v, a prince spirited and bold, and of most gracious manners, holding in one hand his sword, and in the other the ducal baton, with a motto placed at his feet, which said, on account of his untimely death: si fata aspera rumpas, alexander eris. on the left hand was seen, portrayed like all the others from life, the most valorous signor giovanni, with the butt of a broken lance in the hand, and likewise with his motto at his feet: italum fortiss. ductor. and since over the architraves of those four columns already described there were placed very spacious friezes in due proportion, in the width covered by the niches there was seen above each of the statues a compartment between two pilasters; in that above duke alessandro was seen in painting the device of a rhinoceros, used by him, with the motto: non buelvo sin vencer; and above the statue of signor giovanni, in the same fashion, his flaming thunderbolt. above the arch in the centre, which, being more than seven braccia in width and more than two squares in height, gave ample room for the procession to pass, and above the cornice and the frontispieces, there was seen seated in majestic beauty that of the wise and valorous duke cosimo, the excellent father of the fortunate bridegroom, likewise with his motto at his feet, which said: pietate insignis et armis; and with a she-wolf and a lion on either side of him, representing siena and florence, which, supported and regarded lovingly by him, seemed to be reposing affectionately together. that statue was seen set in the frieze, exactly in a line with the arch, and between the pictures with the devices described; and in that same width, above the crowning cornice, there rose on high another painted compartment, with pilasters in due proportion, cornice, and other embellishments, wherein with great fitness, alluding to the election of the above-named duke cosimo, was seen represented the story of the young david when he was anointed king by samuel, with his motto: a domino factum est istud. and then, above that last cornice, which was raised a very great distance from the ground, was seen the escutcheon of that most adventuresome family, which, large and magnificent as was fitting, was likewise supported, with the ducal crown, by two victories also in imitation of marble; and over the principal entrance of the arch, in the most becoming place, was the inscription, which said: virtuti felicitatique illustrissimÆ mediceÆ familiÆ, quÆ flos italiÆ, lumen etruriÆ, decus patriÆ semper fuit, nunc ascita sibi cÆsarea sobole civibus securitatem et omni suo imperio dignitatem auxit, grata patria dicat. entering within that arch, one found a kind of loggia, passing spacious and long, with the vaulting above all painted and embellished with the most bizarre and beautiful ornaments and with various devices. after which, in two pilasters over which curved an arch, through which was the entrance into the above-mentioned theatre, there were seen opposite to one another two most graceful niches, as it were conjoined with that second arch; between which niches and the arch first described there were seen on the counterfeit walls that supported the loggia two spacious painted compartments, the stories of which accompanied becomingly each its statue. of these statues, that on the right hand was made to represent the great cosimo, called the elder, who, although there had been previously in the family of the medici many men noble and distinguished in arms and in civil actions, was nevertheless the first founder of its extraordinary greatness, and as it were the root of that plant which has since grown so happily to such magnificence. in his picture was seen painted the supreme honour conferred upon him by his native florence, when he was acclaimed by the public senate as pater patriæ; which was declared excellently well in the inscription that was seen below, saying: cosmus medices, vetere honestissimo omnium senatus consulto renovato, parens patriÆ appellatur. in the upper part of the same pilaster in which was placed the niche, there was a little picture in due proportion wherein was portrayed his son, the magnificent piero, father of the glorious lorenzo, likewise called the elder, the one and true mæcenas of his times, and the magnanimous preserver of the peace of italy, whose statue was seen in the other above-mentioned niche, corresponding to that of the elder cosimo. in the little picture, which he in like manner had over his head, was painted the portrait of his brother, the magnificent giuliano, the father of pope clement; and in the large picture, corresponding to that of cosimo, was the public council held by all the italian princes, wherein was seen formed, by the advice of lorenzo, that so stable and so prudent union by which, as long as he was alive and it endured, italy was seen brought to the height of felicity, whereas afterwards, lorenzo dying and that union perishing, she was seen precipitated into such conflagrations, calamities, and ruin; which was demonstrated no less clearly by the inscription that was beneath, saying: laurentius medices, belli et pacis artibus excellens, divino suo consilio conjunctis animis et opibus principum italorum et ingenti italiÆ tranquillitate parta, parens optimi sÆculi appellatur. now, coming to the little piazza in which, as has been told, was placed the octagonal theatre, as i shall call it, and beginning from that first entrance to go round on the right hand, let me say that the first part was occupied by that arch of the entrance, above which, in a frieze corresponding in height to the third and last range of the theatre, were seen in four ovals the portrait of giovanni di bicci, father of cosimo the elder, and that of his son lorenzo, brother of the same cosimo, from whom this fortunate branch of the medici now reigning had its origin; with that of pier francesco, son of the above-named lorenzo, and likewise that of another giovanni, father of the warlike signor giovanni mentioned above. in the second façade of the octagon, which was joined to the entrance, there was seen between two most ornate columns, seated in a great niche, with the royal staff in the hand, a figure in marble, like all the other statues, of caterina, the valorous queen of france, with all the other ornaments that are required in architecture both lovely and heroic. and in the third range above, where, as has been said, the painted compartments came, there was figured for her scene the same queen seated in majesty, who had before her two most beautiful women in armour, one of whom, representing france, and kneeling before her, was shown presenting to her a handsome boy adorned with a royal crown, even as the other, who was spain, standing, was shown in like manner presenting to her a most lovely girl; the boy being intended for the most christian charles ix, who is now revered as king of france, and the girl the most noble queen of spain, wife of the excellent king philip. then, about the same caterina, were seen standing with much reverence some other smaller boys, representing her other most gracious little children, for whom a fortune appeared to be holding sceptres, crowns, and realms. and since between that niche and the arch of the entrance, on account of the disproportion of the site, there was some space left over, caused by the desire to make the arch not ungracefully awry, but well-proportioned and straight, for that reason there was placed there, as it were in a niche, a painted picture wherein by means of a prudence and a liberality, who stood clasped in a close embrace, it was shown very ingeniously with what guides the house of medici had come to such a height; having above them, painted in a little picture equal in breadth to the others of the third range, a piety humble and devout, recognized by the stork that was beside her, round whom were seen many little angels that were showing to her various designs and models of the many churches, monasteries, and convents built by that magnificent and religious family. now, proceeding to the third side of the octagon, where there was the arch by which one issued from the theatre, over the frontispiece of that arch was placed, as the heart of so many noble members, the statue of the most excellent and amiable prince and spouse, and at his feet the motto: spes altera florÆ. in the frieze above--meaning, as before, that this came to the height of the third range--to correspond to the other arch, where, as has been told, four portraits had been placed, in that part, also, were four other similar portraits of his illustrious brothers, accommodated in a similar manner; those, namely, of the two very reverend cardinals, giovanni of revered memory and the most gracious ferdinando, and those of the handsome signor don garzia and the amiable signor don pietro. then, to go on to the fourth face, since the corner of the houses that are there, not giving room for the hollow of any recess, did not permit of the usual niche being made there, in its stead was seen accommodated with beautiful artifice, corresponding to the niches, a very large inscription that said: hi, quos sacra vides redimitos tempora mitra pontifices triplici, romam totumque piorum concilium rexere pii; sed qui prope fulgent illustri e gente insignes sagulisve togisve heroes, claram patriam populumque potentem imperiis auxere suis certaque salute. nam semel italiam donarunt aurea sÆcla, conjugio augusto decorant nunc et mage firmant. above it, in place of scene and picture, there were painted in two ovals the two devices, one of the fortunate duke, the capricorn with the seven stars and with the motto, fiducia fati; and the other of the excellent prince, the weasel, with the motto, amat victoria curam. then in the three niches that came in the three following façades were the statues of the three supreme pontiffs who have come from that family; all rejoicing, likewise, to lend their honourable presence to so great a festival, as if every favour human and divine, every excellence in arms, letters, wisdom, and religion, and every kind of sovereignty, were assembled together to vie in rendering those splendid nuptials august and happy. of those pontiffs one was pius iv, departed a short time before to a better life, over whose head, in his picture, was seen painted how, after the intricate disputes were ended at trent and the sacrosanct council was finished, the two cardinal legates presented to him its inviolable decrees; even as in that of leo x was seen the conference held by him with francis i, king of france, whereby with prudent counsel he bridled the vehemence of that bellicose and victorious prince, so that he did not turn all italy upside down, as he might perchance have done, and as he was certainly able to do; and in that of clement vii was the coronation, performed by him in bologna, of the great charles v. but in the last façade, which hit against the acute angle of the houses of the carnesecchi, by which the straight line of that façade of the octagon was no little interrupted, nevertheless there was made with gracious and pleasing artifice another masterly inscription, after the likeness of the other, but curving somewhat outwards, which said: pontifices summos medicum domus alta leonem, clementem deinceps, edidit inde pium. quid tot nunc referam insignes pietate vel armis magnanimosque duces egregiosque viros? gallorum inter quos late regina refulget, hÆc regis conjunx, hÆc eadem genitrix. such, as a whole, was the interior of the theatre described above; but although it may appear to have been described minutely enough, it is none the less true that an infinity of other ornaments, pictures, devices, and a thousand most bizarre and most beautiful fantasies which were placed throughout the doric cornices and many spaces according to opportunity, making a very rich and gracious effect, have been omitted as not being essential, in order not to weary the perhaps already tired reader; and anyone who delights in such things may imagine that no part was left without being finished with supreme mastery, consummate judgment, and infinite loveliness. and a most pleasing and beautiful finish was given to the highest range by the many arms that were seen distributed there in due proportion, which were medici and austria for the illustrious prince, the bridegroom, and her highness; medici and toledo for the duke, his father; medici and austria again, recognized by the three feathers as belonging to his predecessor alessandro; medici and boulogne in picardy for lorenzo, duke of urbino; medici and savoy for duke giuliano; medici and orsini for the double kinship of the elder lorenzo and his son piero; medici and the viper for the above-named giovanni, husband of caterina sforza; medici and salviati for the glorious signor giovanni, his son; france and medici for her most serene highness the queen; ferrara and medici for the duke, with one of the sisters of the most excellent bridegroom; and orsini and medici for the other most gentle sister, married to the illustrious signor paolo giordano, duke of bracciano. it now remains for us to describe the last part of the theatre and the exit, which, corresponding in size, in proportion, and in every other respect to the entrance already described, there will be little labour, i believe, in making known to the intelligent reader; save only that the arch which formed the façade there, facing towards s. maria del fiore, had been constructed, as a part less important, without statues and with somewhat less magnificence, and in their stead there had been placed over that arch a very large inscription, which said: virtus rara tibi, stirps illustrissima, quondam clarum tuscorum detulit imperium; quod cosmus forti prÆfunctus munere martis protulit et justa cum ditione regit: nunc eadem major divina e gente joannam allicit in regnum conciliatque toro. quÆ si crescet item ventura in prole nepotes, aurea gens tuscis exorietur agris. in the two pilasters that were at the beginning of the passage, or vestibule, as we have called it (over which pilasters rose the arch of the exit, upon which was the statue of the illustrious bridegroom), were seen two niches, in one of which was placed the statue of the most gentle giuliano, duke of nemours, the younger brother of leo and gonfalonier of holy church, who had likewise in the little picture that was above him the portrait of the magnanimous cardinal ippolito, his son, and, in the picture that stretched towards the exit, the scene of the capitoline theatre, dedicated to him by the roman people in the year , with an inscription to make this known, which said: julianus medices eximiÆ virtutis et probitatis ergo summis a pop. rom. honoribus decoratur, renovata specie antiquÆ dignitatis ac lÆtitiÆ. in the other niche, corresponding to the first statue, and, like it, standing and in armour, was seen the statue of lorenzo the younger, duke of urbino, with a sword in the hand; and in the little picture above him he had the portrait of his father piero, and in the other picture the scene when the general's baton was given to him with such happy augury by his native florence, likewise with an inscription to explain it, which said: laurentius med. junior maxima invictÆ virtutis indole, summum in re militari imperium maximo suorum civium amore et spe adipiscitur. of the canto alla paglia. at the corner which from the straw that is constantly sold there is called the canto alla paglia, there was made another arch of great beauty and not less rich and imposing than any of the others. now it may perchance appear to some, for the reason that all or the greater part of those ornaments have been extolled by us as in the highest rank of beauty and excellence of artistry, pomp, and richness, that this has been done by reason of a certain manner of writing inclined to overmuch praise and exaggeration. but everyone may take it as very certain that those works, besides leaving a long way behind them all things of that kind as were ever executed in that city, and perhaps in any other place, were also such, and ordained with such grandeur, magnificence, and liberality by those magnanimous lords, and executed in such a manner by the craftsmen, that they surpassed by a great measure every expectation, and took away from no matter what writer all force and power to attain with the pen to the excellence of the reality. now, to return, i say that in that place--in that part, namely, where the street that leads from the archbishop's palace into the borgo s. lorenzo, dividing the above-named strada della paglia, forms a perfect crossing of the ways, was made the ornament already mentioned, much after the likeness of the ancient four-fronted temple of janus; and, for the reason that from there the cathedral church could be seen, it was ordained by those truly religious princes that it should be dedicated to sacrosanct religion, in which how eminent all tuscany, and florence in particular, has been at all times, i do not believe that it is necessary for me to take much pains to demonstrate. and therein the intention was that since florence had brought with her, as was told at the beginning, as her handmaids and companions, to give the first welcome to the new bride, some of the virtues or attributes that had raised her to greatness, and in which she could well vaunt herself, the intention, i say, was to show that there also, for a no less necessary office, she had left religion, that she, awaiting the bride, might in a certain manner introduce her into the vast and most ornate church so near at hand. that arch, then, which was in a very broad street, as has been told, was seen formed of four very ornate façades, the first of which presented itself to the eyes of one going in the direction of the carnesecchi, and another, following the limb of the cross, faced towards s. giovanni and the duomo of s. maria del fiore, leaving two other façades on the cross-limb of the cross, one of which looked towards s. lorenzo and the other towards the archbishop's palace. and now, to describe in order and with as much clearness as may be possible the composition and the beauty of the whole, i say--beginning again with the front part, to which that at the back was wholly similar in the composition of the ornaments, without failing in any point--that in the centre of the wide street was seen the very broad entrance of the arch, which rose to a beautifully proportioned height, and on either side of it were seen two immense niches bordered by two similar corinthian columns, all painted with sacred books, mitres, thuribles, chalices, and other sacerdotal instruments, in place of trophies and spoils. above these, and above the regular cornices and friezes, which projected somewhat further outwards than those which came over the arch in the centre, but were exactly equal to them in height, was seen another cornice, as of a door or window, curving between the one column and the other in a quarter-round, which, seeming to form a separate niche, made an effect as graceful and lovely as could well be imagined. above that last cornice, then, rose a frieze of a height and magnificence in accord with the proportions of so great a beginning, with certain great consoles, carved and overlaid with gold, which came exactly in perpendicular lines with the columns already described; and upon them rested another magnificent and very ornate cornice, with four very large candelabra likewise overlaid with gold and, like all the columns, bases, capitals, cornices, architraves, and every other thing, picked out with various carvings and colours, and also standing in line with the great consoles and the columns above described. now in the centre, springing above the said consoles, two cornices were seen rising, and little by little forming an angle, and finally uniting as a frontispiece, over which, upon a very rich and beautiful base, was seated an immense statue with a cross in the hand, representing the most holy christian religion, at whose feet, one on either side of her, were seen two other similar statues which seemed to be lying upon the cornice of the above-named frontispiece, one of which, that on the right hand, with three children about her, represented charity, and the other hope. then in the space, or, to speak more precisely, in the angle of the frontispiece, there was seen as the principal device of that arch the ancient labarum with the cross, and with the motto, in hoc vinces, sent to constantine; beneath which was seen set with beautiful grace a very large escutcheon of the medici with three papal crowns, in keeping with the idea of religion, for the three pontiffs whom she has had from that house. and on the first level cornice, on either side, was seen a statue corresponding to the niche already described which came between the two columns; one of which, that on the right hand, was a most beautiful young woman in full armour, with the spear and shield, such as minerva used to be represented in ancient times, save that in place of the head of medusa there was seen a great red cross on her breast, which caused her to be recognized with ease as the new order of s. stephen, founded so devoutly by our glorious and magnanimous duke. the other on the left hand was seen all adorned with sacerdotal and civil vestments in place of arms, and with a great cross in the hand in place of a spear; and these, towering over the whole structure in most beautiful accord with the others, made a very imposing and marvellous effect. next, in the frieze that came between that last cornice and the architrave that rested upon the columns, where according to the order of the composition there came three compartments, were seen painted the three kinds of true religion that have been from the creation of the world down to the present day. in the first of these, which came on the right hand beneath the armed statue, was seen painted that kind of religion which reigned in the time of natural law, in those few who had it true and good, although they had not a perfect knowledge of god, wherefore there was seen figured melchizedek offering bread and wine and other fruits of the earth. even so, in the picture on the left hand, which came in like manner beneath the statue of peaceful religion, was seen the other religion, ordained by god through the hands of moses, and more perfect than the first, but all so veiled with images and figures, that these did not permit the final and perfect clearness of divine worship to be fully revealed; to signify which there were seen moses and aaron sacrificing the paschal lamb to god. but in the central picture, which came exactly beneath the large and above-described statues of religion, charity, and hope, and over the principal arch, and which in proportion with the greater space was much larger, there was seen figured an altar, and upon it a chalice with the host, which is the true and evangelic sacrifice; about which were seen some figures kneeling, and over it a holy spirit in the midst of many little angels, who were holding in their hands a scroll in which was written, in spiritu et veritate; so that it appeared that they were repeating those words in song, spiritus meaning all that concerns the sacrifice natural and corporeal, and veritas all that appertains to the legal; which was all by way of image and figure. beneath the whole scene was a most beautiful inscription, which, supported by two other angels, rested on the cornice of the central arch, saying: verÆ religioni, quÆ virtutum omnium fundamentum, publicarum rerum firmamentum, privatarum ornamentum, et humanÆ totius vitÆ lumen continet, etruria semper dux et magistra illius habita, et eadem nunc antiqua et sua propria laude maxime florens, libentissime consecravit. but coming to the lower part, and returning to the niche which came on the right hand, between the two columns and beneath the armed religion, and which, although in painting, by reason of the chiaroscuro appeared as if in relief; there, i say, was seen the statue of our present most pious duke in the habit of a knight of s. stephen, with the cross in his hand, and with the following inscription, which had the appearance of real carving, over his head and above the niche, saying: cosmus medic. floren. et senar. dux ii, sacram d. stephani militiam christianÆ pietatis et bellicÆ virtutis domicilium fundavit, anno mdlxi. even as on the base of the same niche, between the two pedestals of the columns, which were fashioned in the corinthian proportions, there was seen painted the taking of damiata, achieved by the prowess of the valiant knights of florence; as it were auguring for those his new knights similar glory and valour. and in the lunette or semi-circle which came above the two columns, there was seen his private and particular escutcheon of balls, which, by the red cross that was added to it with beautiful grace, made it clearly manifest that it was that of the grand master and chief of the order. now, for the public and universal satisfaction, and in order to revive the memory of those who, born in that city or that province, became illustrious for integrity of character and for sanctity of life, and founders of some revered order, and also to kindle the minds of all beholders to imitation of their goodness and perfection, it was thought right and proper, since there had been placed on the right hand, as has been related, the statue of the duke, founder of the holy military order of s. stephen, to set on the other side that of s. giovanni gualberto, who was likewise a knight of the household, according to the custom of those times, and the first founder and father of the order of vallombrosa. most fittingly, even as the duke was beneath the armed statue, in like manner he was seen standing beneath the sacerdotal statue of religion, in the habit of a knight, pardoning his enemy; having in the frontispiece over the niche a similar escutcheon of the medici, with three cardinal's hats, and on the base the story of the miracle that took place at badia di settimo, when the friar, by the command of the above-named s. giovanni gualberto, to the confusion of the heretics and simonists, passed with his benediction and with a cross in his hand through the midst of a raging fire; with the inscription likewise in a little tablet above him, which made all that manifest, saying: joannes gualbertus, eques nobiliss. floren., vallis umbrosÆ familiÆ auctor fuit, anno mlxi. with which was terminated that most ornate and beautiful principal façade. entering beneath the arch, one saw there a passing spacious loggia, or passage, or vestibule, whichever we may choose to call it; and in exactly the same manner were seen formed the three other entrances, which, being joined together at the intersection of the two streets, left in the centre a space about eight braccia square. there the four arches rose to the height of those without, and the pendentives curved in the manner of a vault as if a little cupola were to spring over them; but when these had reached the cornice curving right round, at the point where the vault of the cupola would have had to begin to rise, there sprang a gallery of gilded balusters, above which was seen a choir of most beautiful angels, dancing most gracefully in a ring and singing in sweetest harmony; while for greater grace, and to the end that there might be light everywhere beneath the arch, in place of a cupola there was left the free and open sky. and in the spaces or spandrels, whichever they may be called, of the four angles, which of necessity, narrow at their springing, opened out as they rose nearer to the cornice in accordance with the curve of the arch, were painted with no less grace in four rounds the four beasts mystically imagined by ezekiel and by john the divine for the four writers of the holy evangel. but to return to the first of those four loggie or vestibules, as we have called them; the vaults there were seen distributed with very graceful and lovely divisions, and all adorned and painted with various little scenes and with the arms and devices of those religious orders which were above or beside them, and in whose service, principally, they were there. thus on the façade of that first one on the right hand, which was joined to the duke's niche, there was seen painted in a spacious picture the same duke giving the habit to his knights, with those observances and ceremonies that are customary with them; in the most distant part, which represented pisa, could be perceived the noble building of their palace, church, and hospital, and on the base, in an inscription for the explanation of the scene, could be read these words: cosmus med. flor. et senar. dux ii, equitibus suis divino consilio creatis magnifice pieque insignia et sedem prÆbet largeque rebus omnibus instruit. even as in the other on the opposite side, attached to the niche of s. giovanni gualberto, was seen how that same saint founded his first and principal monastery in the midst of the wildest forests; with an inscription likewise on the base, which said: s. jo. gualbertus in vallombrosiano monte, ab interventoribus et illecebris omnibus remoto loco, domicilium ponit sacris suis sodalibus. now, having despatched the front façade, and passing to that at the back, and describing it in the same manner, the less to hinder a clear understanding, we shall say, as has also been said before, that in height, in size, in the compartments, in the columns, and, finally, in every other ornament, it corresponded completely to that already described, save that whereas the first had on the highest summit in the centre the three great statues described above, religion, charity, and hope, the other had in place of these only a most beautiful altar all composed and adorned after the ancient use, upon which, even as one reads of vesta, was seen burning a very bright flame. on the right hand, towards s. giovanni, there was seen standing a great statue in becoming vestments and gazing intently on heaven, representing the contemplative life, which came exactly in a perpendicular line over the great niche between the two columns, as has been described in the other façade; and on the other side another great statue like it, but very active, with the arms bare and with the head crowned with flowers, representing the active life; in which statues were comprised very fittingly all the qualities that appertain to the christian religion. in the frieze between the one cornice and the other, which corresponded to that of the other part, and which was likewise divided into three compartments, there were seen in the largest, which was in the centre, three men in roman dress presenting twelve little children to some old and venerable tuscans, to the end that these, being instructed by them in their religion, might demonstrate in what repute the tuscan religion was held in ancient times among the romans and all other nations: with a motto to explain this, taken from that perfect law of cicero, which said: etruria principes disciplinam doceto. beneath which was the inscription, similar and corresponding to that already given from the other façade, which said: frugibus inventis doctÆ celebrantur athenÆ, roma ferox armis imperioque potens. at nostra hÆc mitis provincia etruria ritu divino et cultu nobiliore dei, unam quam perhibent artes tenuisse piandi numinis, et ritus edocuisse sacros; nunc eadem sedes verÆ est pietatis, et illi hos numquam titulos auferet ulla dies. in one of the two smaller pictures, that which came on the right hand, since it is thought that the ancient religion of the gentiles (which not without reason was placed on the west) is divided into two parts, and consists, above all, of augury and sacrifice, there was seen painted according to that use an ancient priest who with marvellous solicitude was standing all intent on considering the entrails of the animals sacrificed, which were placed before him in a great basin by the ministers of the sacrifice; and in the other picture an augur like him with the crooked lituus in the hand, drawing in the sky the regions proper for taking auguries from certain birds that were shown flying above. now, descending lower, and coming to the niches; in that, i say, which was on the right hand, was seen s. romualdo, who in this our country, a land set apart, as it were, by nature for religion and sanctity, founded on the wild apennine mountains the holy hermitage of camaldoli, whence that order had its origin and name; with the inscription over the niche, which said: romualdus in hac nostra plena sanctitatis terra, camaldulensium ordinem collocavit anno mxii. and on the base the story of the sleeping hermit who saw in a dream the staircase similar to that of jacob, which, passing beyond the clouds, ascended even to heaven. on the façade which was joined to the niche, and which passed, as was said of the other, under the vestibule, was seen painted the building of the above-named hermitage in that wild place, carried out with marvellous care and magnificence; with the inscription, which in explanation said: sanctus romualdus in camaldulensi sylvestri loco, divinitus sibi ostenso et divinÆ contemplationi aptissimo, suo gravissimo collegio sedes quietissimas extruit. in the niche on the left hand was seen the blessed filippo benizi, one of our citizens, who was little less than the founder of the servite order, and without a doubt its first ordinator; and he, although he was accompanied by seven other noble florentines, the one niche not being large enough to contain them all, was placed therein alone, as the most worthy; with the inscription above, which said: philippus benitius civis noster instituit et rebus omnibus ornavit servorum familiam, anno mcclxxxv. with the story of the annunciation, likewise, on the base, wherein was the virgin supported by many little angels, with one among them who was shown scattering a beautiful vase of flowers over a vast multitude that stood there in supplication; representing the innumerable graces that are seen bestowed daily by her intercession on the faithful who with devout zeal commend themselves to her. in the other scene, in the great picture that came in the passage below, were the same s. filippo and the seven above-mentioned noble citizens throwing off the civil habit of florence and assuming that of the servite order, and shown all occupied with directing the building of their beautiful monastery, which is now to be seen in florence, but was then without the city, and the venerable and most ornate church of the annunziata, so celebrated throughout the whole world for innumerable miracles, which has been ever since the head of that order; with the inscription, which said: septem nobiles cives nostri in sacello nostrÆ urbis, toto nunc orbe religionis et sanctitatis fama clarissimo, se totos religioni dedunt et semina jaciunt ordinis servorum d. mariÆ virg. there remain the two façades which formed as it were arms, as has been told, to the straight limb of the cross. these were smaller than those already described, which was caused by the narrowness of the two streets that begin there; wherefore, since less space came to be left for the magnificence of the work, in order consequently not to depart from the due proportion of height in their much smaller size, with much judgment the arch which gave passage there had on either side not a niche but a single column; over which rose a frieze in due proportion, in the centre of which was a painted picture that crowned the ornamentation of that façade, but not without an infinity of such other embellishments, devices, and pictures as were thought to be proper in such a place. now, that whole structure being dedicated to the glory and power of the true religion and to the memory of her glorious victories, they chose the two most noble and most important victories, won over two most powerful and particular adversaries, human wisdom namely, under which are comprised philosophers and heretics, and worldly power: and on the part facing towards the archbishop's palace was seen depicted how s. peter and s. paul and the other apostles, filled with the divine spirit, disputed with a great number of philosophers and many others full of human wisdom, some of whom, those most confused, were seen throwing away or tearing up the books that they held in their hands, and others, such as dionysius the areopagite, justinus, pantænus, and the like, were coming towards them, all humble and devout, in token of having recognized and accepted the evangelic truth; with the motto in explanation of this, which said: non est sapientia, non est prudentia. in the other scene towards the archbishop's palace, on the other side from the first, were seen the same s. peter and s. paul and the others in the presence of nero and many of his armed satellites, boldly and freely preaching the truth of the evangel; with the motto--non est fortitudo, non est potentia, referring to that which follows in solomon, whence the motto is taken--contra dominum. of the façades which came under the two vaults of those two arches, in one, on the side towards the archbishop's palace, was seen the blessed giovanni colombini, an honoured citizen of siena, making a beginning with the company of the ingesuati by throwing off the citizen's habit on the campo di siena and assuming that of a miserable beggar, and giving the same habit to many who with great zeal were demanding it from him; with the inscription, which said: origo collegii pauperum, qui ab jesu cognomen acceperunt; cujus ordinis princeps fuit joannes colombinus, domo senensis, anno mcccli. and in the other, on the opposite side, were seen other gentlemen, likewise of siena, before guido pietramalesco, bishop of arezzo, to whom a commission had been given by the pope that he should inquire into their lives; and they were all intent on making manifest to him the wish and desire that they had to create the order of monte oliveto, which was seen approved by that bishop, exhorting them to put into execution the building of that vast and most holy monastery, which they erected afterwards at monte oliveto in the district of siena, and of which they were shown to have brought thither a model; with the inscription, which said: instituitur sacer ordo monacorum qui ab oliveto monte nominatur, auctoribus nobilibus civibus senensibus, anno mcccxix. on the side towards s. lorenzo was seen the building of the most famous oratory of la vernia, at the expense in great part of the devout counts guidi, at that time lords of that country, and by the agency of the glorious s. francis, who, moved by the solitude of the place, made his way thither, and was visited there by our lord the crucified jesus christ and marked with the stigmata; with the inscription that explained all this, saying: asperrimum agri nostri montem divus franciscus elegit, in quo summo ardore domini nostri salutarem necem contemplaretur, isque notis plagarum in corpore ipsius expressis divinitus conservatur. even as on the opposite side was seen the celebration held in florence of the council under eugenius iv, when the greek church, so long at discord with the latin, was reunited with her, and the true faith, it may be said, was restored to her pristine clearness and purity; which was likewise made manifest by the inscription, saying: numine dei optimi max. et singulari civium nostrorum religionis studio, eligitur urbs nostra in qua grÆcia, amplissimum membrum a christiana pietate disjunctum, reliquo ecclesiÆ corpori conjungeretur. of s. maria del fiore. as for the cathedral church, the central duomo of the city, although it is in itself stupendous and most ornate, nevertheless, since the new lady was to halt there, met by all the clergy, as she did, it was thought well to embellish it with all possible pomp and show of religion, and with lights, festoons, shields, and a vast and very well distributed quantity of banners. at the principal door, in particular, there was made in the ionic order of composition a marvellous and most graceful ornament, in which, in addition to the rest, which was in truth excellently well conceived, rich and rare beyond all else appeared ten little stories of the actions of the glorious mother of our lord jesus christ, executed in low-relief, which, since they were judged by all who saw them to be of admirable artistry, it is hoped that some day they may be seen in bronze in competition with the marvellous and stupendous gates of the temple of s. giovanni, and even, as in a more favoured age, more pleasing and more beautiful; but at that time, although of clay, they were seen all overlaid with gold, and were let in a graceful pattern of compartments into the wooden door, which likewise had the appearance of gold. above which, besides an immense escutcheon of the medici with the papal keys and crown, supported by operation and grace, were seen painted in a very beautiful canvas all the tutelary saints of the city, who, turned towards a madonna and the child that she was holding in her arms, appeared to be praying to her for the welfare and felicity of florence; even as over all, as the principal device, and with most lovely invention, was seen a little ship which, with the aid of a favourable wind, appeared to be speeding with full sail towards a most tranquil port, signifying that christian actions are in need of the divine grace, but that it is also necessary on our part to add to them, as not being passive, good disposition and activity. which was likewise made clearly manifest by the motto, which said, [greek: syn theô]; and even more by the very short inscription that was seen beneath, saying: confirma hoc deus quod operatus es in nobis. of the horse. on the piazza di s. pulinari, not in connection with the tribunal that was near there, but to the end that the great space between the duomo and the next arch might not remain empty, although the street is very beautiful, there was made with marvellous artistry and subtle invention the figure of an immense, very excellent, very fiery and well-executed horse, more than nine braccia in height, which was rearing up on the hind-legs; and upon it was seen a young hero in full armour and in aspect all filled with valour, who had just wounded to death with his spear, the butt of which was seen at his feet, a vast monster that was stretched all limp beneath his horse, and already he had laid his hand on a glittering sword, as if about to smite him again, and seemed to marvel to what straits the monster had been reduced by the first blow. that hero represented the true herculean virtue, which, as dante said so well, chased through every town and banished to hell the dissipatrix of kingdoms and republics, the mother of discord, injury, rapine, and injustice, that evil power, finally, that is commonly called vice or fraud, hidden under the form of a woman young and fair, but with a great scorpion's tail; and, slaying her, he seemed to have restored the city to the tranquillity and peace in which she is seen at the present day, thanks to her excellent lords, reposing and flourishing so happily. which was demonstrated in a manner no less masterly by the device, placed fittingly on the great base, in which, in the centre of an open temple supported by many columns, upon a sacred altar, was seen the egyptian ibis, which was shown tearing with the beak and with the claws some serpents that were wound round its legs; with a motto that said aptly: prÆmia digna. of the borgo de' greci. even so, also, at the corner of the borgo de' greci, to the end that in the turn that was made in going towards the dogana, the eyes might have something on which to feast with delight, it was thought well to form a little closed arch of doric architecture, dedicating it to public merriment; which was demonstrated by the statue of a woman crowned with a garland and all joyous and smiling, which was in the principal place, with a motto in explanation, saying: hilaritas p.p. florent. below her, in the midst of many grotesques and many graceful little stories of bacchus, were seen two most charming little satyrs, which with two skins that they held on their shoulders were pouring into a very beautiful fountain, as was done in the other, white and red wine; and as in the other the fish, so in this one two swans that were under the boys, played a trick on him who drank too much by means of jets of water that at times spurted with force from the vase; with a graceful motto that said: abite lymphÆ vini pernicies. above and around the large statue were seen many others, both satyrs and bacchanals, who, shown in a thousand pleasing ways drinking, dancing, singing, and playing all those pranks that the drunken are wont to play, seemed as if chanting the motto written above them: nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus. of the arch of the dogana. it appeared, among the many prerogatives, excellences, and graces with which fair florence adorned herself, distributing them over various places, as has been shown, to receive and accompany her illustrious princess, it appeared, i say, that the sole sovereign and head of them all, civil virtue or prudence, queen and mistress of the art of ruling and governing well peoples and states, had been passed over up to this point without receiving any attention; as to which prudence, although to the great praise and glory of florence it could be demonstrated amply in many of her children in past times, nevertheless, having at the present time in her most excellent lords the most recent, the most true, and without a doubt the most splendid example that has ever been seen in her up to our own day, it was thought that their magnanimous actions were best fitted to express and demonstrate that virtue. and with what good reason, and how clearly without any taint of adulation, but only by the grateful minds of the best citizens, this honour was paid to them, anyone who is not possessed by blind envy (by whose venomous bite whoever has ruled at any time has always been molested), may judge with ease, looking not only at the pure and upright government of their happily adventuresome state and at its preservation among difficulties, but also at its memorable, ample, and glorious increase, brought about certainly not less by the infinite fortitude, constancy, patience, and vigilance of its most prudent duke, than by the benign favour of prosperous fortune. all which came to be expressed excellently well in the inscription set with most beautiful grace in a fitting place, embracing the whole conception of the whole ornament, and saying: rebus urbanis constitutis, finib. imperii propagatis, re militari ornata, pace ubique parta, civitatis imperiique dignitate aucta, memor tantorum beneficiorum patria prudentiÆ ducis opt. dedicavit. at the entrance of the public and ducal piazza, then, and attached on one side to the public and ducal palace, and on the other to those buildings in which salt is distributed to the people, there was dedicated well and fittingly to that same civil virtue or prudence an arch marvellous and grand beyond all the others, similar and conforming in every part, although more lofty and more magnificent, to that of religion already described, which was placed on the canto alla paglia. in that arch, above four vast corinthian columns, in the midst of which space was left for the procession to pass, and above the usual architrave, cornice, and frieze of projections--as was said of the other--divided into three compartments, and upon a second great cornice that crowned the whole work, there was seen in grave and heroic majesty, seated in the semblance of a queen with a sceptre in the right hand and resting the left on a great globe, an immense woman adorned with a royal crown, who could be recognized with ease as being that civil virtue. there remained below, between one column and another, as much space as accommodated without difficulty a deep and spacious niche, in each of which was demonstrated very aptly of what other virtues that civil virtue is composed; and, rightly giving the first place to the military virtues, there was seen in the niche on the right hand, with heroic and most beautiful composition, the statue of fortitude, the first principle of all magnanimous and generous actions, even as on the left hand in like manner was seen placed that of constancy, who best guides and executes them. and since between the frontispieces of the two niches and the cornice that went right round there was left some space, to the end that the whole might be adorned, there were counterfeited there two rounds in the colour of bronze, in one of which was depicted with a fine fleet of galleys and other ships the diligence and solicitude of our most shrewd duke in maritime affairs, and in the other, as is often found in ancient medals, was seen the same duke going around on horseback to visit his fortunate states and to provide for their wants. next, over the crowning cornice, where, as has been told, the masterly statue of civil prudence was seated, continuing to show of what parts she is composed, and exactly in a line with the fortitude already described, and separated from her by some magnificent vases, was seen vigilance, so necessary in every human action; even as above constancy was seen in like manner patience, and i do not speak of that patience to which meek minds, tolerating injuries, have given the name of virtue, but of that which won so much honour for the ancient fabius maximus, and which, awaiting opportune moments with prudence and mature reflection, and void of all rash vehemence, executes every action with reason and advantage. in the three pictures, then, into which, as was said, the frieze was divided, and which were separated by medallions and pilasters that sprang in a line with the columns and extended with supreme beauty as far as the great cornice; in that in the centre, which came above the portal of the arch and beneath the sovereign prudence, was seen painted the generous duke with prudent and loving counsel handing over to the worthy prince the whole government of his spacious states, which was expressed by a sceptre upon a stork, which he was shown offering to his son, and it was being accepted with great reverence by the obedient prince; with a motto that said: reget patriis virtutibus. even as in that on the right hand was seen the same most valiant duke with courageous resolution sending forth his people, and the first fort of siena occupied by them--no slight cause, probably, of their victory in that war. and in that on the left hand, in like manner, was painted his joyful entry into that most noble city after the winning of the victory. but behind the great statue of sovereign prudence--and in this alone was that front part dissimilar to the arch of religion--was seen raised on high a base beautifully twined with cartouches and square, although at the foot, not without infinite grace, it was something wider than at the top; upon which, reviving the ancient use, was seen a most beautiful triumphal chariot drawn by four marvellous coursers, not inferior, perchance, to any of the ancient in beauty and grandeur. in that chariot was seen held suspended in the air by two lovely little angels the principal crown of the arch, composed of civic oak, and, in the likeness of that of the first augustus, attached to two tails of capricorns; with the same motto that was once used with it by him, saying: ob cives servatos. and in the spaces that remained between the pictures, statues, columns, and niches, all was filled up with richness and grace by an infinite wealth of victories, anchors, tortoises with the sail, diamonds, capricorns, and other suchlike devices of those magnanimous lords. now, passing to the part at the back, facing towards the piazza, which we must describe as being in every way similar to the front, excepting that in place of the statue of sovereign prudence, there was seen in a large oval corresponding to the great pedestal that supported the great chariot described above, which, with ingenious artifice, after the passing of the procession, was turned in a moment towards the piazza; there was seen, i say, as the principal device of the arch, a celestial capricorn with its stars, which was shown holding with the paws a royal sceptre with an eye at the top, such as it is said that the ancient and most just osiris used once to carry, with the ancient motto about it, saying: nullum numen abest; as if adding, as the first author said: si sit prudentia. in the lower part, we have to relate as a beginning--because that façade was made to represent the actions of peace, which are perhaps no less necessary to the human race--that in the niche on the right hand, as with those of the other façade already described, there was seen placed a statue of a woman, representing reward or remuneration, and called grace, such as wise princes are wont to confer for meritorious works upon men of excellence and worth, even as on the left hand, in a threatening aspect, with a sword in the hand, in the figure of nemesis, was seen punishment, for the vicious and criminal; with which figures were comprised the two principal pillars of justice, without both which no state ever had stability or firmness, or was anything but imperfect and maimed. in the two ovals, then, always corresponding to those of the other façade, and like them also counterfeited in bronze, in one were seen the fortifications executed with much forethought in many places by the prudent duke, and in the other his marvellous care and diligence in achieving the common peace of italy, as has been seen in many of his actions, but particularly at that moment when by his agency was extinguished the terrible and so dangerous conflagration fanned with little prudence by one who should rather have assured the public welfare of the christian people; which was represented by various fetiales, altars, and other suchlike instruments of peace, and by the words customary in medals placed over them, saying: pax augusta. over these, and over the two above-described statues of the niches, similar to those of the other side, were seen on the right hand facility and on the left temperance or goodness, as we would rather call her; signifying by the first an external courtesy and affability in deigning to listen and hearken and answer graciously to everyone, which keeps the people marvellously well contented, and by the other that temperate and benign nature which renders the prince amiable and loving with his confidants and intimates, and with his subjects easy and gracious. in the frieze, corresponding to that of the front part, and like it divided into three pictures, was likewise seen in that of the centre, as the thing of most importance, the conclusion of the happy marriage contracted between the most illustrious prince and the most serene queen joanna of austria, with so much satisfaction and benefit to his fortunate people, and bringing peace and repose to everyone; with a motto saying: fausto cum sidere. even as in another, on the right hand, was seen the loving duke holding by the hand the excellent duchess leonora, his consort, a woman of virile and admirable worth and wisdom, with whom while she was alive he was joined by such a love, that they could well be called the bright mirror of conjugal fidelity. on the left hand was seen the same gracious duke listening with marvellous courtesy, as he has been wont always to do, to many who were shown seeking to speak with him. and such was all that part which faced towards the piazza. beneath the spacious arch and within the wide passage through which the procession passed, on one of the walls that supported the vaulting, was seen painted the glorious duke in the midst of many venerable old men, with whom he was taking counsel, and he appeared to be giving to many various laws and statutes written on divers sheets, signifying the innumerable laws so wisely amended or newly decreed by him; with the motto: legibus emendes. even as in the other, demonstrating his most useful resolve to set in order and increase his valorous militia, was seen the same valiant duke standing upon a military tribune and engaged in addressing a great multitude of soldiers who stood around him, as we see in many ancient medals; with a motto above him that said: armis tuteris. and so on the great vault, which was divided into six compartments, there was seen in each of these, in place of the rosettes that are generally put there, a device, or, to speak more correctly, the reverse of a medal in keeping with the two above-described scenes of the walls. in one of these were painted various curule chairs with various consular fasces, and in another a woman with the balance, representing equity; these two being intended to signify that just laws must always unite with the severity of the supreme power the equity of the discerning judge. the next two were concerned with military life, demonstrating the virtues of soldiers and the fidelity incumbent on them; for the first of these things there was seen painted a woman armed in the ancient fashion, and for the other many soldiers who, laying one hand upon an altar, were shown presenting the other to their captain. in the two that remained, representing the just and desired fruits of all these fatigues, namely, victory, the whole was seen fully expressed, as is customary, by the figures of two women, one standing in one of the pictures upon a great chariot, and the other in the other picture upon a great ship's beak; and both were seen holding in one of the hands a branch of glorious palm, and in the other a verdant crown of triumphal laurel. and in the encircling frieze that ran right round the vaulting, the front and the back, there followed the third part of the motto already begun, saying: moribus ornes. of the piazza, and of the neptune. next, all the most noble magistrates of the city, distributing themselves one by one over the whole circuit of the great piazza, each with his customary devices and with very rich tapestries divided evenly by most graceful pilasters, had rendered it all magnificently imposing and ornate; and there in those days great care and diligence were devoted to hastening the erecting in its place, at the beginning of the ringhiera, of that giant in the finest white marble, so marvellous and so stupendous in grandeur, in beauty, and in every part, which is still to be seen there at the present day; although it had been ordained as a permanent and enduring ornament. that giant is known by the trident that he has in the hand, by the crown of pine, and by the tritons that are at his feet, sounding their trumpets, to be neptune, god of the sea; and, riding in a graceful car adorned with various products of the sea and two ascendant signs, capricorn for the duke and aries for the prince, and drawn by four sea-horses, he appears in the guise of a benign protector to be promising tranquillity, felicity, and victory in the affairs of the sea. at the foot of this, in order to establish it more securely and more richly, there was made at that time in a no less beautiful manner an immense and most lovely octagonal fountain, gracefully supported by some satyrs, who, holding in their hands little baskets of various wild fruits and prickly shells of chestnuts, and divided by some little scenes in low-relief and by some festoons in which were interspersed sea-shells, crabs, and other suchlike things, seemed as they danced to be expressing great joy in their new lady; even as with no less joy and no less grace there were seen lying on the sides of the four principal faces of the fountain, likewise with certain great shells in their hands and with some children in their arms, two nude women and two most beautiful youths, who in a certain gracious attitude, as if they were on the sea-shore, appeared to be playing and sporting gracefully with some dolphins that were there, likewise in low-relief. of the door of the palace. now, having caused the serene princess to be received, as has been told in the beginning of this description, by florence, accompanied by the followers of mars, of the muses, of ceres, of industry, and of tuscan poetry and design, and then triumphant austria by tuscany, and the drava by arno, and ocean by the tyrrhenian sea, with hymen promising her happy and prosperous nuptials, and the parental meeting of her august and glorious emperors with the illustrious medici, and then all passing through the arch of sacrosanct religion and fulfilling and accomplishing their vows at the cathedral church, and having seen heroic virtue in triumph over vice, and with what public rejoicing her entry was celebrated by civil virtue, and how, finally, she was welcomed by the magistrates of the city, with neptune promising her a tranquil sea, it was determined judiciously to bring her at the last into the port of peaceful security, who was seen figured over the door of the ducal palace, in a place marvellously appropriate, in the form of a very tall, most beautiful, and most joyous woman crowned with laurel and olive, who was shown seated in an easy attitude upon a stable pedestal and leaning against a great column; demonstrating by means of her the desired end of all human affairs, deservedly acquired for florence, and in consequence for the happy bride, by the sciences, arts, and virtues of which we have spoken above, but particularly by her most prudent and most fortunate lords, who had prepared to receive and accommodate her there as in a place secure beyond all others, wherein she might enjoy unceasingly in glory and splendour the benefits human and divine displayed before her in the ornaments that she had passed; which was explained very aptly both by the inscription that came with most beautiful grace over the door, saying: ingredere optimis auspiciis fortunatas Ædes tuas augusta virgo, et prÆstantissimi sponsi amore, clariss. ducis sapientia, cum bonis omnibus deliciisque summa animi securitate diu felix et lÆta perfruere, et divinÆ tuÆ virtutis, suavitatis, fecunditatis fructibus publicam hilaritatem confirma. and also by the principal device, which was seen painted in a great oval in the highest part, over the statue of security already described; and this was the military eagle of the roman legions upon a laureate staff, which was shown to have been planted firmly in the earth by the hand of the standard-bearer; with the motto of such happy augury from livy, from whom the whole device is taken, saying: hic manebimus optume. the ornament of the door, which was attached to the wall, was contrived in such a manner, and conceived so well, that it would serve excellently well if at any time, in order to adorn the simple but magnificent roughness of past ages, it were determined to build it in marble or some other finer stone as more stable and enduring, and more in keeping with our more cultured age. beginning with the lowest part, i say, upon two great pedestals that rested on the level of the ground and stood one on either side of the true door of the palace, were seen two immense captives, one male, representing fury, and one female, with vipers and horned snakes for hair, representing discord, his companion; which, as it were vanquished, subjugated, and bound with chains, and held down by the ionic capital and by the architrave, frieze, and cornice that pressed upon them from above, seemed in a certain sort to be unable to breathe by reason of the great weight, revealing only too well in their faces, which were most beautiful in their ugliness, anger, rage, venom, violence, and fraud, their peculiar and natural passions. above that cornice was seen formed a frontispiece, in which was placed a very rich and very large escutcheon of the duke, bordered by the usual fleece, with the ducal mazzocchio supported by two very beautiful boys. and lest this single ornament, which exactly covered the jambs of the true door, might have a poor effect in so great a palace, it was thought right to place on either side of it four half-columns set two on one side and two on the other, which, coming to the same height, and furnished with the same cornice and architrave, should form a quarter-round which the other frontispiece, pointed but rectilinear, might embrace, with its projections and with all its appurtenances set in the proper places. and above this was formed a very beautiful base, where there was seen the above-described statue of security, set in position, as has been told, with most beautiful grace. but to return to the four half-columns below; for the sake of greater magnificence, beauty, and proportion, i say, there had been left so much space at either side, between column and column, that there was ample room for a large and beautiful picture painted there in place of a niche. in one of these, that which was placed nearest to the divine statue of the gentle david, were seen in the forms of three women, who were shown full of joy advancing to meet their desired lady, nature, with her towers on her head, as is customary, and with her many breasts, signifying the happy multitude of her inhabitants, and concord with the caduceus in her hand, even as in the third was seen figured minerva, the inventress and mistress of the liberal arts and of civil and refined customs. in the other, which faced towards the proud statue of hercules, was seen amaltheia, with the usual horn of plenty, overflowing with fruits and flowers, in her arms, and at her feet the corn-measure brimming and adorned with ears of corn, signifying the abundance and fertility of the earth; there, also, was peace crowned with flowered and fruitful olive, with a branch of the same in the hand, and finally there was seen, with an aspect grave and venerable, majesty or reputation; demonstrating ingeniously with all these things how in well-ordered cities, abundant in men, copious in riches, adorned by arts, filled with sciences, and illustrious in majesty and reputation, one lives happily and in peace, quietness, and contentment. then in line with the four half-columns already described, above the cornice and frieze of each, was seen fixed in a manner no less beautiful a socle with a pedestal in proportion, upon which rested some statues; and since the two in the centre embraced also the width of the two terminals described, upon each of these were placed two statues embracing one another--virtue, namely, who was shown holding fortune in a strait and loving embrace, with a motto on the base saying, virtutem fortuna sequetur; as if to demonstrate that, whatever many may say, where virtue is fortune is never wanting; and upon the other fatigue or diligence, who in like manner was shown in the act of embracing victory, with a motto at her feet saying: amat victoria curam. and above the half-columns that were at the extremities, and upon which the pedestals were narrower, adorning each of them with a single statue, on one there was seen eternity as she is figured by the ancients, with the heads of janus in her hands, and with the motto, nec fines nec tempora; and on the other fame figured in the usual manner, likewise with a motto saying: terminat astris. between one and the other of these, there was placed with ornate and beautiful composition, so as to have the above-named escutcheon of the duke exactly in the middle, on the right hand that of the most excellent prince and princess, and on the other that which the city has been accustomed to use from ancient times. of the court of the palace. i thought, when i first resolved to write, that it would take much less work to bring me to the end of the description given above, but the abundance of the inventions, the magnificence of the things done, and the desire to satisfy the curiosity of craftsmen, for whose particular benefit, as has been told, this description is written, have in some way, i know not how, carried me to a length which might perchance appear to some to be excessive, but which is nevertheless necessary for one who proposes to render everything distinct and clear. but now that i find myself past the first part of my labours, although i hope to treat with more brevity, and with perhaps no less pleasure for my readers, the remainder of the description of the spectacles that were held, in which, no less than the liberality of our magnanimous lords, and no less than the lively dexterity of the ingenious inventors, there appeared rare and excellent the industry and art of the same craftsmen, yet it should not be thought a thing beside the mark or altogether unworthy of consideration, if, before going any further, we say something of the aspect of the city while the festivities for the nuptials were being prepared and after they were finished, for the reason that in the city, to the infinite entertainment of all beholders, were seen many streets redecorated both within and without, the ducal palace (as will be described) embellished with extraordinary rapidity, the fabric of the long corridor (which leads from that palace to that of the pitti) flying, as it were, with wings, the column, the fountain, and all the arches described above springing in a certain sense out of the ground, and all the other festive preparations in progress, but in particular the comedy, which was to appear first, and the two grand masquerades, which had need of most labour, and, finally, all the other things being prepared according to the time at which they were to be represented, some quickly and others more slowly; the two lords, duke and prince, after the manner of the ancient Ædiles, having distributed them between themselves, and having undertaken to execute each his part in generous emulation. nor was less solicitude or less rivalry seen among the gentlemen and ladies of the city, and among the strangers, of whom a vast number had flocked thither from all italy, vying one with another in the pomp of vestments, and not less in their own than in the liveries of their attendants, male and female, in festivals private and public, and in the sumptuous banquets that were given in constant succession, now in one place and now in another; so that there could be seen at one and the same moment leisure, festivity, delight, spending, and pomp, and also commerce, industry, patience, labour, and grateful gain, with which all the craftsmen named above were filled, all working their effect in liberal measure. now, to come to the court of the ducal palace, into which one entered by the door already described; in order not to pass it by without saying anything about it, we must relate that, although it seemed dark and inconvenient, and almost incapable of receiving any kind of ornamentation, nevertheless with marvellous novelty and with incredible rapidity it was carried to that perfection of beauty and loveliness in which it may be seen by everyone at the present day. in addition to the graceful fountain of hardest porphyry that is placed in the centre, and the lovely boy that pours water into it from the dolphin held in his arms, in an instant the nine columns were fluted and shaped in a most beautiful manner in the corinthian order, which surround the square court named above, and which support on one side the encircling loggie constructed very roughly of hard-stone, according to the custom of those times; overlaying the ground of those columns almost entirely with gold, and filling them with most graceful foliage over the flutings, and shaping their bases and capitals together according to the good ancient custom. within the loggie, the vaults of which were all filled and adorned with most bizarre and extravagant grotesques, there were seen represented, as in many medallions made for the same purpose, some of the glorious deeds of the magnanimous duke, which--if smaller things may be compared with greater--i have considered often in my own mind to be so similar to those of the first octavianus augustus, that it would be difficult to find any greater resemblance; for the reason that--not to mention that both the one and the other were born under one and the same ascendant of capricorn, and not to mention that both were raised almost unexpectedly to the sovereignty at the same immature age, and not to speak of the most important victories gained both by the one and by the other in the first days of august, and of their having similar constitutions and natures in their private and intimate lives, and of their singular affection for their wives, save that in his children, in the election to the principality, and perhaps in many other things, i believe that our fortunate duke might be esteemed more blessed than augustus--is there not seen both in the one and in the other a most ardent and most extraordinary desire to build and embellish, and to contrive that others should build and embellish? insomuch that, if the first said that he found rome built of bricks and left her built of solid stone, the second will be able to say not less truthfully that he received florence already of stone, indeed, ornate and beautiful, but leaves her to his successors by a great measure more ornate and more beautiful, increased and magnified by every kind of convenient, lovely, and magnificent adornment. to represent these matters, in each lunette of the above-named loggie there was seen an oval accommodated with suitable ornaments, and with singular grace; in one of which there could be seen the fortification of porto ferrajo in elba, a work of such importance, with many ships and galleys that were shown lying there in safety, and the glorious building of the city in the same place, called after its founder cosmopolis; with a motto within the oval, saying: ilva renascens; and another in the encircling scroll, which said: tuscorum et ligurum securitati. even as in the second was seen that most useful and handsome building wherein the greater part of the most noble magistrates are to be accommodated, which is being erected by his command opposite to the mint, and which may be seen already carried near completion; and over it stretches that long and convenient corridor of which mention has been made above, built with extraordinary rapidity in these days by order of the same duke; likewise with a motto that said: publicÆ commoditati. and so, also, in the third was seen concord, with the usual horn of plenty in the left hand, and with an ancient military ensign in the right, at whose feet a lion and a she-wolf, the well-known emblems of florence and siena, were shown lying in peaceful tranquillity; with a motto suited to the matter, and saying: etruria pacata. in the fourth was seen depicted the above-described oriental column of granite, with justice on the summit, which under his happy sceptre may well be said to be preserved inviolate and impartial; with a motto saying: justitia victrix. even as in the fifth was seen a ferocious bull with both the horns broken, intended to signify, as has been told already of the achelous, the straightening of the river arno in many places, carried out with such advantage by the duke; with the motto: imminutus crevit. in the sixth, then, was seen that most superb palace which was begun formerly by m. luca pitti with a magnificence so marvellous in a private citizen, and with truly regal spirit and grandeur, and which at the present day our most magnanimous duke is causing with incomparable artistry and care to be not only carried to completion, but also to be increased and beautified in a glorious and marvellous manner, with architecture heroic and stupendous, and also with very large and very choice gardens full of most abundant fountains, and with a vast quantity of most noble statues, ancient and modern, which he has caused to be collected from all over the world; which was explained by the motto, saying: pulchriora latent. in the seventh, within a great door, were seen many books arranged in various manners, with a motto in the scroll, saying, publicÆ utilitati; intended to signify the glorious solicitude shown by many of the medici family, and particularly by our most liberal duke, in collecting and preserving with such diligence a marvellous quantity of the rarest books in every tongue, recently placed in the beautiful library of s. lorenzo, which was begun by clement vii and finished by his excellency. even as in the eighth, under the figure of two hands that appeared to become more firmly bound together the more they strove to undo a certain knot, there was denoted the abdication lovingly performed by him in favour of the most amiable prince, and how difficult, or, we should rather say, how impossible it is for one who has once set himself to the government of a state, to disengage himself; which was explained by the motto, saying: explicando implicatur. in the ninth was seen the above-described fountain of the piazza, with that rare statue of neptune, and with the motto, optabilior quo melior; signifying not only the adornment of the immense statue and fountain named above, but also the profit and advantage that will accrue in a short time to the city from the waters that the duke is constantly engaged in bringing to her. in the tenth, then, was seen the magnanimous creation of the new order of s. stephen, represented by the figure of the same duke in armour, who was shown offering a sword with one hand over an altar to an armed knight, and with the other one of their crosses; with a motto saying: victor vincitur. and in the eleventh, likewise under the figure of the same duke, who was addressing many soldiers according to the ancient custom, there was represented the militia so well ordained and preserved by him in his valorous companies; with a motto that explained it, saying: res militaris constituta. in the twelfth, with the sole words, munita tuscia, and without any further representation, were demonstrated the many fortifications made by our most prudent duke in the most important places in the state; adding in the scroll, with fine morality: sine justitia immunita. even as in the thirteenth, in like manner without any other representation, there could be read, siccatis maritimis paludibus; as may be seen to his infinite glory in many places, but above all in the fertile country of pisa. and in order not to pass over completely in silence the praise due to him for having brought back and restored so gloriously to his native florence the artillery and the ensigns lost at other times, in the fourteenth and last were seen some soldiers returning to him laden with these, all dancing and joyful; with a motto in explanation, which said: signis receptis. and then, for the satisfaction of the strangers, and particularly the many german lords who had come thither in vast numbers in honour of her highness, with the most excellent duke of bavaria, the younger, her kinsman, there were seen under the above-described lunettes, beautifully distributed in compartments and depicted with all the appearance of reality, many of the principal cities of austria, bohemia, hungary, the tyrol, and the other states subject to her august brother. of the hall, and of the comedy. now, ascending by the most commodious staircase to the great hall, where the principal and most important festivities and the principal banquet of the nuptials were celebrated (forbearing to speak of the magnificent and stupendous ceiling, marvellous in the variety and multitude of the rare historical paintings, and marvellous also in the ingenuity of the inventions, in the richness of the partitions, and in the infinite quantity of gold with which the whole is seen to shine, but most marvellous in that it has been executed in an incredibly short time by the industry of a single painter; and treating of the other things pertaining only to this place), i must say that truly i do not believe that in these our parts we have any information of any other hall that is larger or more lofty; but to find one more beautiful, more rich, more ornate, or arranged with more convenience than that hall as it was seen on the day when the comedy was performed, that i believe would be absolutely impossible. for, in addition to the immense walls, on which with graceful partitions, and not without poetical invention, were seen portrayed from the reality the principal squares of the most noble cities of tuscany, and in addition to the vast and most lovely canvas painted with various animals hunted and taken in various ways, which, upheld by a great cornice, and concealing the prospect-scene, served so well as one of the end-walls, that the great hall appeared to have its due proportions, such, in addition, and so well arranged, were the tiers of seats that ran right round, and so lovely on that day the sight of the handsome ladies who had been invited there in great numbers from among the most beautiful, the most noble, and the richest, and of the many lords, chevaliers, and other gentlemen who had been accommodated above them and throughout the rest of the room, that without a doubt, when the fantastic lights were lit, at the fall of the canvas described above, the luminous prospect-scene being revealed, it appeared in truth as if paradise with all the choirs of the angels had been thrown open at that instant; which illusion was increased marvellously by a very soft, full, and masterly concert of instruments and voices, which very soon afterwards was heard to come forth from that direction. in that prospect-scene the most distant part was made to recede most ingeniously along the line of the bridge, terminating in the end of the street that is called the via maggio, and in the nearest part was represented the beautiful street of s. trinita; and when the eyes of the spectators had been allowed to sate themselves for some time with that and the many other marvellous things, the desired and welcome beginning was made with the first interlude of the comedy, which was taken, like all the others, from that touching story of psyche and cupid so delicately narrated by apuleius in his golden ass. from it were taken the parts that appeared the most important, and these were accommodated with the greatest possible dexterity to the comedy, so that, having made, as it were, an ingenious composition from the one fable and the other, it might appear that what the gods did in the fable of the interludes was done also by mankind in the fable of the comedy, as if constrained by a superior power. in the hollow sky of the above-named prospect-scene, which opened out all of a sudden, there was seen to appear another sky contrived with great artifice, from which was seen issuing little by little a white and very naturally counterfeited cloud, upon which, with an effect of singular beauty, a gilded and jewelled car appeared to be resting, recognized as that of venus, because it was drawn by two snow-white swans, and in it, as its mistress and guide, could be perceived likewise that most beautiful goddess, wholly nude and crowned with roses and myrtle, seated with great majesty and holding the reins. she had in her company the three graces, likewise recognized by their being shown wholly nude, by their blonde tresses, which fell all loose over their shoulders, and even more by the manner in which they were standing linked hand to hand; and also the four hours, who had the wings all painted after the likeness of butterflies, and, not without reason, were distinguished in certain particulars according to the four seasons of the year. thus one of them, who had the head and the buskins all adorned with various little flowers, and the dress of changing colours, was intended to represent the varied and flowering spring; even as the second, with the garland and the buskins woven of pale ears of corn, and the yellow draperies wherewith she was adorned, was intended to signify the heat of summer, and the third, representing autumn, and all clothed in red draperies, signifying the maturity of fruits, was seen likewise all covered and adorned with those same fruits, vine-leaves, and grapes; and the fourth and last, who represented the white and snowy winter, besides her dress of turquoise-blue all sprinkled with flakes of snow, had the hair and the buskins likewise covered with similar snow, hoar-frost, and ice. and all, as followers and handmaidens of venus, being grouped around the car on the same cloud with singular artistry and most beautiful composition, were seen--leaving behind them jove, juno, saturn, mars, mercury, and the other gods, from whom appeared to be issuing the soft harmony described above--to sink gradually with most beautiful grace towards the earth, and by their coming to fill the scene and the whole hall with a thousand sweet and precious odours; while from another part, with an aspect no less gracious, but appearing to walk on earth, was seen to come the nude and winged cupid, likewise accompanied by those four passions that seem so often to be wont to disturb his unrestful kingdom; hope, namely, all clothed in green, with a little flowering branch on the head; fear, recognized, in addition to his pale garment, by the rabbits that he had on his hair and his buskins; joy, likewise clothed in white and orange and a thousand glad colours, and with a plant of flowering borage on the hair, and sorrow, all in black and in aspect all weeping and sad; of whom, as his ministers, one carried the bow, another the quiver and the arrows, another the nets, and yet another the lighted torch. and while the above-described hours and graces, having descended from the cloud, went slowly towards their mother's car, now arrived on earth, and, having grouped themselves reverently in a most graceful choir around the lovely venus, seemed all intent on singing in harmony with her, she, turning towards her son with rare and infinite grace, and making manifest to him the cause of her displeasure, when those in heaven were silent, sang the two following stanzas, the first of the ballad, saying: a me, che fatta son negletta e sola, non più gli altar nè i voti, ma di psiche devoti a lei sola si danno, ella gl' invola; dunque, se mai di me ti calse o cale, figlio, l' armi tue prendi, e questa folle accendi di vilissimo amor d' uomo mortale. which being finished, and each of her handmaidens having returned to her own place, while they kept continually throwing down various delicate and lovely garlands of flowers upon the assembled spectators, the cloud and the car, as if the beautiful guide had satisfied her desire, were seen to move slowly and to go back towards the heaven; and when they had arrived there, and the heaven was closed again in an instant, without a single sign remaining from which one might have guessed by which part the cloud and so many other things had come forth and returned, everyone, it appeared, was left all amazed with a sort of novel and pleasing marvel. but the obedient cupid, while that was being done, making a sign, as it were, to his mother that her command would be fulfilled, and crossing the stage, continued--with his companions, who were presenting him his arms, and who, likewise singing, kept in harmony with him--the following stanza, the last, saying: ecco madre, andiam noi; chi l' arco dammi? chi le saette? ond' io con l' alto valor mio tutti i cor vinca, leghi, apra, ed infiammi. and he, also, as he sang this, kept shooting arrows, many and various, at those listening to him, whereby he gave reason to believe that the lovers who were about to perform their parts, stung, as it were, by them, were giving birth to the comedy about to follow. second interlude. the first act being finished, and cupid having been taken in his own snare--at the moment when he thought to take the lovely psyche--by reason of her infinite beauty, it became necessary to represent those mysterious voices which, as may be read in the fable, had been intended by him to serve her; and so there was seen to issue by one of the four passages that had been left on the stage for the use of the performers, first a little cupid who was carrying in his arms what seemed to be a graceful swan, with which, since it concealed an excellent bass-viol, while he appeared to be diverting himself with a wand of marsh-grass that served him as a bow, he proceeded to play most sweet airs. after him, four others were seen to come at one and the same moment by the four passages of the stage already described; by one the amorous zephyr, all merry and smiling, who had wings, garments, and buskins woven of various flowers; by another music, known by the tuning instrument that she had on the head, by her rich dress covered with her various instruments and with various scrolls wherein were marked all her notes and all her times, and even more because she likewise was seen playing with most sweet harmony upon a great and beautiful lyra-viol; and by the other two, also, play and laughter were seen to appear in the form of two little cupids, playing and laughing. after these, while they were going on their way to their destined places, four other cupids were seen to issue by the same passages, in the same guise, and at the same time, and to proceed likewise to play most graciously on four most ornate lutes; and after them four other similar little cupids, two of whom, with fruits in their hands, were seen playing together, and two seemed to be seeking to shoot one another in the breast with their bows and arrows, in a quaint and playful fashion. all these gathered in a graceful circle, and, singing in most harmonious concert the following madrigal, with the lutes and with many other instruments concealed within the scenery accompanying the voices, they appeared to make this whole conception manifest enough, saying: o altero miracolo novello! visto l' abbiam! ma chi sia che cel creda? ch' amor, d' amor ribello, di se stesso e di psiche oggi sia preda? dunque a psiche conceda di beltà pur la palma e di valore ogn' altra bella, ancor che pel timore ch' ha del suo prigionier dogliosa stia; ma seguiam noi l' incominciata via, andiam gioco, andiam riso, andiam dolce armonia di paradiso, e facciam che i tormenti suoi dolci sien co' tuoi dolci concenti. third interlude. not less festive was the third interlude, because, as is narrated in the fable, cupid being occupied with the love of his beautiful psyche, and not caring any more to kindle the customary flames in the hearts of mortals, and using with others, as others with him, fraud and deceit, it was inevitable that among those same mortals, who were living without love, there should arise at the same time a thousand frauds and a thousand deceits. and therefore it was made to appear that the floor of the stage swelled up, and finally that it was changed into seven little mounds from which there were seen to issue, as things evil and hurtful, first seven deceits, and then seven others, which could be recognized as such with ease, for the reason that not only the bust of each was all spotted, after the likeness of a leopard, and the thighs and legs like serpents, but their locks were seen all composed of malicious foxes in most fantastic forms and very beautiful attitudes; and in their hands, not without laughter from the bystanders, some were holding traps, some hooks, and others guileful crooks and grapnels, under which had been concealed with singular dexterity some musical serpents, for the sake of the music that they had to make. these, expressing thus the conception described above, after they had first most sweetly sung, and then sung and played, the following madrigal, went with very beautiful order (providing material for the deceptions of the comedy) their several ways along the four above-mentioned passages of the stage: s' amor vinto e prigion, posto in oblio l' arco e l' ardente face, della madre ingannar nuovo desio lo punge, e s' a lui psiche inganno face, e se l' empia e fallace coppia d' invide suore inganno e froda sol pensa, or chi nel mondo oggi più sia che 'l regno a noi non dia? d' inganni dunque goda ogni saggio, e se speme altra l' invita ben la strada ha smarrita. fourth interlude. now, deceits giving rise to affronts, and affronts to dissensions and quarrels and a thousand other suchlike evils, since cupid, by reason of the hurt received from the cruel lamp, was not able to attend to his customary office of inflaming the hearts of living mortals, in the fourth interlude, in place of the seven mounds that had been shown on the stage the time before, there were seen to appear in this one (to give material for the disturbances of the comedy) seven little abysses, from which there first came a black smoke, and then, little by little, was seen to appear discord with an ensign in the hand, recognized, besides her arms, by the torn and varied dress and by the tresses, and with her rage, also recognized, besides the arms, by the buskins in the form of claws, and by the bear's head in place of a helmet, from which poured a constant stream of smoke and flame; and cruelty, with the great scythe in her hand, known by the helmet in the likeness of a tiger's head and by the buskins after the manner of the feet of a crocodile; and rapine, also, with the pruning-hook in her hand, with the bird of prey on the helmet, and with the feet in the likeness of an eagle; and vengeance, with a bloody scimitar in the hand, and with buskins and helmet all woven of vipers; and two anthropophagi, or lestrigonians, as we would rather call them, who, sounding two trombones in the form of ordinary trumpets, appeared to be seeking with a certain bellicose movement (besides the sound) to excite the audience of bystanders to combat. each of these was between two furies, horrible companions, furnished with drums, whips of iron, and various arms, beneath which with the same dexterity had been hidden various musical instruments. the above-named furies could be recognized by the wounds wherewith their whole persons were covered, from which were seen pouring flames of fire, by the serpents with which they were all encircled and bound, by the broken chains that hung from their legs and arms, and by the fire and smoke that issued from their hair. and all these, having sung the following madrigal all together with a certain fiery and warlike harmony, performed in the manner of combatants a novel, bold, and most extravagant moorish dance; at the end of which, running here and there in confusion about the stage, they were seen finally to take themselves in a horrible and fearsome rout out of the sight of the spectators: in bando itene, vili inganni; il mondo solo ira e furore sent' oggi; audaci voi, spirti gentili, venite a dimostrar vostro valore; che se per la lucerna or langue amore, nostro convien, non che lor sia l' impero. su dunque ogni più fero cor surga; il nostro bellicoso carme guerra, guerra sol grida, e solo arm', arme. fifth interlude. poor simple psyche, having (as has been hinted in the last interlude) injured her beloved spouse with the torch by her rash and eager curiosity, and being abandoned by him, and having finally fallen into the hands of angry venus, provided most convenient material for the fifth and most sorrowful interlude, accompanying the sadness of the fourth act of the comedy; for it was feigned that she was sent by that same venus to the infernal proserpine, whence she should never be able to return among living creatures. and so, wrapped in despair and very sad, she was seen approaching by one of the passages, accompanied by hateful jealousy, who had an aspect all pallid and afflicted, like her other followers, and was known by the four heads and by the dress of turquoise-blue all interwoven with eyes and ears; by envy, known likewise by the serpents that she was devouring; by thought, care, or solicitude, whichever we may choose to call her, known by the raven that she had on the head, and by the vulture that was tearing her entrails; and by scorn, or disdain (to make it a woman's name), who could be recognized not only by the owl that she had on the head, but also by the ill-made, ill-fitting and tattered dress. when these four, beating and goading her, had made their way near the middle of the stage, in an instant the ground opened in four places with fire and smoke, and they, as if they sought to defend themselves, seized hold of four most horrible serpents that were seen without any warning to issue from below, and struck them a thousand different blows with their thorny staves, under which were concealed four little bows, until in the end, after much terror in the bystanders, it appeared that the serpents had been torn open by them; and then, striking again in the blood-stained bellies and entrails, all at once there was heard to issue--psyche singing the while the madrigal given below--a mournful but most delicate and sweet harmony; for in the serpents were concealed with singular artifice four excellent bass-viols, which, accompanying (together with four trombones that sounded behind the stage) the single plaintive and gracious voice of psyche, produced an effect at once so sad and so sweet, that there were seen drawn from the eyes of more than one person tears that were not feigned. which finished, and each figure having taken her serpent on her shoulders, there was seen, with no less terror among the spectators, a new and very large opening appearing in the floor, from which issued a thick and continuous stream of flame and smoke, and an awful barking was heard, and there was seen to issue from the hole the infernal cerberus with his three heads, to whom, in accordance with the fable, psyche was seen to throw one of the two flat cakes that she had in her hand; and shortly afterwards there was seen likewise to appear, together with various monsters, old charon with his customary barque, into which the despairing psyche having entered, the four tormentors described above kept her unwelcome and displeasing company. fuggi, speme mia, fuggi, e fuggi per non far più mai ritorno; sola tu, che distruggi ogni mia pace, a far vienne soggiorno, invidia, gelosia, pensiero e scorno meco nel cieco inferno ove l' aspro martir mio viva eterno. last interlude. the sixth and last interlude was all joyous, for the reason that, the comedy being finished, there was seen to issue in an instant from the floor of the stage a verdant mound all adorned with laurels and different flowers, which, having on the summit the winged horse pegasus, was soon recognized to be the mount of helicon, from which were seen descending one by one that most pleasing company of little cupids already described, and with them zephyr, music, and cupid, all joining hands, and psyche also, all joyful and merry now that she was safe returned from hell, and that by the prayers of her husband cupid, at the intercession of jove, after such mighty wrath in venus, there had been won for her grace and pardon. with these were pan and nine other satyrs, with various pastoral instruments in their hands, under which other musical instruments were concealed; and all descending from the mound described above, they were seen bringing with them hymen, god of nuptials, in whose praise they sang and played, as in the following canzonets, and performed in the second a novel, most merry and most graceful dance, giving a gracious conclusion to the festival: dal bel monte elicona ecco imeneo che scende, e già la face accende, e s' incorona; di persa s' incorona. odorata e soave, onde il mondo ogni grave cura scaccia. dunque e tu, psiche, scaccia l' aspra tua fera doglia, e sol gioia s' accoglia entro al tuo seno. amor dentro al suo seno pur lieto albergo datti, e con mille dolci atti ti consola. nè men giove consola il tuo passato pianto, ma con riso e con canto al ciel ti chiede. imeneo dunque ognun chiede, imeneo vago ed adorno, deh che lieto e chiaro giorno, imeneo, teco oggi riede! imeneo, per l' alma e diva sua giovanna ogn' or si sente del gran ren ciascuna riva risonar soavemente; e non men l' arno lucente pel gratioso, inclito e pio suo francesco aver desio d' imeneo lodar si vede. imeneo ecc. flora lieta, arno beato, arno umil, flora cortese, deh qual più felice stato mai si vide, mai s' intese? fortunato almo paese, terra in ciel gradita e cara, a cui coppia così rara imeneo benigno diede. imeneo ecc. lauri or dunque, olive e palme e corone e scettri e regni per le due sì felici alme, flora, in te sol si disegni; tutti i vili atti ed indegni lungi stien; sol pace vera e diletto e primavera abbia in te perpetua sede. and all the rich vestments and all the other things, which one might think it impossible to make, were executed by the ingenious craftsmen with such dexterity, loveliness and grace, and made to appear so natural, real, and true, that it seemed that without a doubt the real action could surpass the counterfeited spectacle by but a little. of the triumph of dreams and other festivities. now after this, although every square and every street, as has been told, resounded with music and song, merriment and festivity, our magnanimous lords, distributing everything most prudently, to the end that excessive abundance might not produce excessive satiety, had ordained that one of the principal festivals should be performed on each sunday, and for this reason, and for the greater convenience of the spectators, they had caused the sides of the most beautiful squares of s. croce and s. maria novella to be furnished after the likeness of a theatre, with very strong and very capacious tribunes. and since within these there were held games, in which the young noblemen played a greater part by their exercises than did our craftsmen by attiring them, i shall treat of them briefly, saying that on one occasion there was presented therein by our most liberal lords, with six companies of most elegant cavaliers, eight to a company, the play of the canes and the carousel, so celebrated among the spaniards, each of the companies, which were all resplendent in cloth of gold and silver, being distinguished from the rest, one in the ancient habit of the castilians, another in the portuguese, another in the moorish, a fourth in the hungarian, a fifth in the greek, and the last in the tartar; and finally, after a perilous combat, partly with assegais and horses likewise in the spanish manner, and partly with men on foot and dogs, some most ferocious bulls were killed. another time, renewing the ancient pomp of the roman chase, there was seen a beautifully ordered spectacle of certain elegant huntsmen and a good quantity of various dogs, chasing forth from a little counterfeited wood and slaying an innumerable multitude of animals, which came out in succession one kind after another, first rabbits, hares, roebucks, foxes, porcupines, and badgers, and then stags, boars, and bears, and even some savage horses all burning with love; and in the end, as the most noble and most superb chase of all, after they had sought several times by means of an immense turtle and a vast and most hideous mask of a monster, which were full of men and were made to move hither and thither with various wheels, to incite a most fierce lion to do battle with a very valiant bull; finally, since that could not be achieved, both the animals were seen struck down and slain, not without a long and bloody struggle, by the multitude of dogs and huntsmen. besides this, every evening the noble youth of the city exercised themselves with most elegant dexterity and valour, according to their custom, at the game of football, the peculiar and particular sport of that people, with which finally there was given on one of those sundays one of the most agreeable and most graceful spectacles that anyone could ever behold, in very rich costumes of cloth of gold in red and green colours, with all the rules, which are many and beautiful. but since variety seems generally to enhance the pleasure of most things, another time the illustrious prince sought with a different show to satisfy the expectant people by means of his so much desired triumph of dreams. the invention of this, although, since he went to germany to see his exalted bride and to do reverence to the most august emperor maximilian and to his other illustrious kinsmen, it was arranged and composed by others with great learning and diligence, may yet be said to have been born in the beginning from his most noble genius, so competent in no matter how subtle and exacting a task; and with it he who afterwards executed the work, and was the composer of the song, sought to demonstrate that moral opinion expressed by dante when he says that innumerable errors arise among living mortals because many are set to do many things for which they do not seem to have been born fitted by nature, deviating, on the other hand, from those for which, following their natural inclination, they might be very well adapted. this he also strove to demonstrate with five companies of masks led by five of those human desires that were considered by him the greatest; by love, namely, behind whom followed the lovers; by beauty, figured under the form of narcissus, and followed by those who strive too much to appear beautiful; by fame, who had as followers those too hungry for glory; by pluto, signifying riches, behind whom were seen those eager and greedy for them, and by bellona, who was followed by the men enamoured of war; contriving that the sixth company, which comprised all the five described above, and to which he wished that they should all be referred, should be guided by madness, likewise with a good number of her followers behind her, signifying that he who sinks himself too deep and against the inclination of nature in the above-named desires, which are in truth dreams and spectres, comes in the end to be seized and bound by madness. and then this judgment, turning, as a thing of feast and carnival, to the amorous, announces to young women that the great father sleep is come with all his ministers and companions in order to show to them with his matutinal dreams, which are reputed as true (comprised, as has been told, in the first five companies), that all the above-named things that are done by us against nature, are to be considered, as has been said, as dreams and spectres; and therefore, exhorting them to pursue that to which their nature inclines them, it appears that in the end he wishes, as it were, to conclude that if they feel themselves by nature inclined to be loved, they should not seek to abstain from that natural desire; nay, despising any other counsel as something vain and mad, they should dispose themselves to follow the wise, natural, and true. and then, around the car of sleep and the masks that were to express this conception, were accommodated and placed as ornaments those things that are judged to be in keeping with sleep and with dreams. there was seen, therefore, after two most beautiful sirens, who, blowing two great trumpets in place of two trumpeters, preceded all the rest, and after two extravagant masks, the guides of all the others, by which, mingling white, yellow, red, and black over their cloth of silver, were demonstrated the four humours of which bodies are composed, and after the bearer of a large red ensign adorned with various poppies, on which was painted a great gryphon, with three verses that encircled it, saying: non solo aquila è questo, e non leone, ma l' uno e l' altro; così 'l sonno ancora ed humana e divina ha condizione. there was seen coming, i say, as has been told above, the joyous love, figured as is customary, and accompanied on one side by ever-verdant hope, who had a chameleon on the head, and on the other by pallid fear, with the head likewise adorned by a timorous deer; and he was seen followed by the lovers, his captives and slaves, dressed for the most part with infinite grace and richness in draperies of flaming gold, for the flames wherewith they are ever burning, and all girt and bound with most delicate gilded chains. after these (to avoid excessive minuteness) there was seen coming, to represent beauty, in a graceful habit of turquoise-blue all interwoven with his own flowers, the beautiful narcissus, likewise accompanied, as was said of love, on one side by youth adorned with flowers and garlands, and dressed all in white, and on the other by proportion, adorned with draperies of turquoise-blue, and recognized by the spectators by an equilateral triangle that was upon the head. after these were seen those who seek to be esteemed for the sake of their beauty, and who appeared to be following their guide narcissus; and they, also, were of an aspect youthful and gracious, and had the same narcissus-blooms most beautifully embroidered upon the cloth of silver wherein they were robed, with their blonde and curly locks all crowned in lovely fashion with the same flowers. and after them was seen approaching fame, who seemed to be sounding a great trumpet that had three mouths, with a globe on her head that represented the world, and with immense wings of peacock's feathers; having in her company glory, who had a head-dress fashioned likewise of a peacock, and reward, who in like manner carried a crowned eagle on the head; and her followers, who were divided into three companies, emperors, kings, and dukes, although they were all dressed in gold with the richest embroideries and pearls, and although they all presented an aspect of singular grandeur and majesty, nevertheless were distinguished very clearly one from another by the forms of the different crowns that they wore on their heads, each in accord with his rank. then the blind pluto, the god (as has been told) of riches, who followed after these with rods of gold and silver in the hands, was seen, like the others, accompanied on either side by avarice dressed in yellow, with a she-wolf on the head, and by rapacity robed in red draperies, who had a falcon on the head to make her known; but it would be a difficult thing to seek to describe the quantity of gold, pearls, and other precious gems, and the various kinds of draperies with which his followers were covered and adorned. and bellona, goddess of war, most richly robed in many parts with cloth of silver in place of arms, and crowned with a garland of verdant laurel, with all the rest of her habit composed in a thousand rich and gracious ways, was seen likewise coming after them with a large and warlike horn in the hand, and accompanied, like the others, by terror, known by the cuckoo in the head-dress, and by boldness, also known by the lion's head worn in place of a cap; and with her the military men in her train were seen following her in like manner with swords and iron-shod maces in their hands, and draperies of gold and silver arranged most fancifully in the likeness of armour and helmets. these and all the others in the other companies had each, to demonstrate that they represented dreams, a large, winged, and very well fashioned bat of grey cloth of silver fitted on the shoulders, and forming a sort of little mantle; which, besides the necessary significance, gave to all the companies (which, as has been shown, were all different) the necessary unity, and also grace and beauty beyond measure. and all this left in the minds of the spectators a firm belief that there had never been seen in florence, and perhaps elsewhere, any spectacle so rich, so gracious, and so beautiful; for, in addition to all the gold, the pearls, and the other most precious gems wherewith the embroideries, which were very fine, were made, all the dresses were executed with such diligence, design, and grace, that they seemed to be costumes fashioned not for masquerades, but enduring and permanent, and worthy to be used only by great princes. there followed madness, the men of whose company alone, for the reason that she had to be shown not as a dream but as real in those who sought against the inclination of nature to pursue the things described above, were seen without the bat upon the shoulders; and she was dressed in various colours, but all put together most inharmoniously and without any manner of grace, while upon her dishevelled tresses, to demonstrate her disordered thoughts, were seen a pair of gilded spurs with the rowels turned upwards, and on either side of her were a satyr and a bacchante. her followers, then, in the semblance of lunatics and drunkards, were seen dressed most extravagantly in cloth of gold, embroidered with varied boughs of ivy and vine-leaves with their little bunches of ripe grapes. and these and all the others in the companies already described, besides a good number of grooms, likewise very richly and ingeniously dressed according to the company wherein they were serving, had horses of different colours distributed among them, a particular colour to each company, so that one had dappled horses, another sorrel, a third black, a fourth peach-coloured, another bay, and yet another of a varied coat, according as the invention required. and to the end that the above-described masques, which were composed almost entirely of the most noble lords, might not be constrained to carry the customary torches at night, forty-eight different witches--who during the day preceded in most beautiful order all those six companies, guided by mercury and diana, who had each three heads to signify their three powers; being themselves also divided into six companies, and each particular company being ruled by two dishevelled and barefooted priestesses--when night came, went in due order on either side of the particular company of dreams to which they were assigned, and, with the lighted torches which they and the grooms bore, rendered it abundantly luminous and clear. these witches, besides their different faces, all old and hideous, and besides the different colours of the rich draperies wherewith they were clothed, were known in particular, and one company distinguished from another, by the animals that they had upon their heads, into the shapes of which, so men say and believe, they transform themselves often by their incantations; for some had upon the cloth of silver that served as kerchief for their heads a black bird, with wings and claws outspread, and with two little phials about the head, signifying their maleficent distillations; and some had cats, others black and white dogs, and others, by their false blonde tresses and by the natural white hair that could be seen, as it were against their will, beneath them, betrayed their vain desire to appear young and beautiful to their lovers. the immense car, drawn by six large and shaggy bears crowned with poppies, which came at the end after all that lovely train, was without a doubt the richest, the most imposing, and the most masterly in execution that has ever been seen for a long time back. that car was guided by silence, a figure adorned with grey draperies and with the customary shoes of felt upon the feet, who, placing a finger on the mouth, appeared to be making sign to the spectators that they should be silent; and with him were three women, representing quiet, plump and full in countenance, and dressed in rich robes of azure-blue, and each with a tortoise upon the head, who appeared to be seeking to assist that same silence to guide those bears. the car itself, resting upon a graceful hexagonal platform, was shaped in the form of a vast head of an elephant, within which, also, there was represented as the house of sleep a fantastic cavern, wherein the great father sleep was likewise seen lying at his ease, fat and ruddy, and partly nude, with a garland of poppies, and with his cheek resting upon one of his arms; having about him morpheus, icelus, phantasus, and his other sons, figured in various extravagant and bizarre forms. at the summit of the same cavern was seen the white, luminous, and beautiful dawn, with her blonde tresses all soft and moist with dew; and at the foot of the cavern, with a badger that served her for a pillow, was dark night, who, being held to be the mother of true dreams, was thought likely to lend no little faith to the words of the dreams described above. for the adornment of the car, then, were seen some most lovely little stories, accommodated to the invention and distributed with so much diligence, delicacy, and grace, that it appeared impossible for anything more to be desired. in the first of these was seen bacchus, the father of sleep, upon a car wreathed in vine-leaves and drawn by two spotted tigers, with a verse to make him known, which said: bacco, del sonno sei tu vero padre. even as in another was seen ceres, the mother of the same sleep, crowned with the customary ears of corn, and likewise with a verse placed there for the same reason, which said: cerer del dolce sonno è dolce madre. and in a third was seen pasithea, wife of the same sleep, who, seeming to fly over the earth, appeared to have infused most placid sleep in the animals that were dispersed among the trees and upon the earth; likewise with her motto which made her known, saying: sposa del sonno questa è pasitea. on the other side was seen mercury, president of sleep, infusing slumber in the many-eyed argus; also with his motto, saying: creare il sonno può mercurio ancora. and there was seen, to express the nobility and divinity of the same sleep, an ornate little temple of Æsculapius, in which many men, emaciated and infirm, sleeping, appeared to be winning back their lost health; likewise with a verse signifying this, and saying: rende gl' uomini sani il dolce sonno. even as in another place there was seen mercury pointing towards some dreams that were shown flying through the air and speaking in the ears of king latinus, who was asleep in a cave; his verse saying: spesso in sogno parlar lece con dio. orestes, then, spurred by the furies, was seen alone taking some rest amid such travail by the help of the dreams, who were shown driving away those furies with certain bunches of poppies; with his verse that said: fuggon pel sonno i più crudi pensieri. and there was the wretched hecuba likewise dreaming in a vision that a lovely hind was rapt from her bosom and strangled by a fierce wolf; this being intended to signify the piteous fate that afterwards befell her hapless daughter; with a motto saying: quel ch' esser deve, il sogno scuopre e dice. even as in another place, with a verse that said: fanno gli dei saper lor voglie in sogno, there was seen nestor appearing to agamemnon, and revealing to him the will of almighty jove. and in the seventh and last was depicted the ancient usage of making sacrifice, as to a revered deity, to sleep in company with the muses, represented by an animal sacrificed upon an altar; with a verse saying: fan sacrifizio al sonno ed alle muse. all these little scenes were divided and upheld by various satyrs, bacchants, boys, and witches, and rendered pleasingly joyous and ornate by divers nocturnal animals and festoons of poppies, not without a beautiful medallion set in place of a shield in the last part of the car, wherein was seen painted the story of endymion and the moon; everything, as has been said, being executed with such delicacy and grace, patience and design, that it would entail too much work to seek to describe every least part with its due praise. but those of whom it has been told that they were placed as the children of sleep in such extravagant costumes upon the above-described car, singing to the favourite airs of the city the following canzonet, seemed truly, with their soft and marvellous harmony, to be seeking to infuse a most gracious and sweet sleep in their hearers, saying: or che la rugiadosa alba la rondinella a pianger chiama, questi che tanto v' ama, sonno, gran padre nostro e dell' ombrosa notte figlio, pietosa e sacra schiera noi di sogni, o belle donne, mostra a voi; perchè il folle pensiero uman si scorga, che seguendo fiso amor, fama, narciso e bellona e ricchezza il van sentiero la notte e il giorno intero s' aggira, al fine insieme per frutto ha la pazzia del suo bel seme. accorte or dunque, il vostro tempo miglior spendete in ciò che chiede natura, e non mai fede aggiate all' arte, che quasi aspro mostro cinto di perle e d' ostro dolce v' invita, e pure son le promesse sogni e larve scure. of the castle. by way of having yet another different spectacle, there was built with singular mastery on the vast piazza di s. maria novella a most beautiful castle, with all the proper appurtenances of ramparts, cavaliers, casemates, curtains, ditches and counterditches, secret and public gates, and, finally, all those considerations that are required in good and strong fortifications; and in it was placed a good number of valorous soldiers, with one of the principal and most noble lords of the court as their captain, a man determined on no account ever to be captured. that magnificent spectacle being divided into two days, on the first day there was seen appearing in most beautiful order from one side a fine and most ornate squadron of horsemen all in armour and in battle-array, as if about to meet real enemies in combat, and from the other side, with the aspect of a massive and well-ordered army, some companies of infantry with their baggage, waggons of munitions, and artillery, and with their pioneers and sutlers, all drawn close together, as is customary amid the dangers of real wars; these likewise having a similar lord of great experience and valour as captain, who was seen urging them on from every side, and fulfilling his office most nobly. and after the attackers had been reconnoitred several times and in various ways, with valour and artifice, by those within the castle, and various skirmishes had been fought, now by the horsemen and now by the infantry, with a great roar of musketry and artillery, and charges had been delivered and received, and several ambuscades and other suchlike stratagems of war had been planned with astuteness and ingenuity; finally the defenders were seen, as if overcome by the superior force, to begin little by little to retire, and in the end it seemed that they were constrained to shut themselves up completely within the castle. but the second day, after they had, as it were during the night, constructed their platforms and gabionade and planted their artillery, there was seen to begin a most terrible bombardment, which seemed little by little to throw a part of the walls to the ground; after which, and after the explosion of a mine, which in another part, in order to keep the attention of the defenders occupied, appeared to have made a passing wide breach in the wall, the places were reconnoitred and the cavalry drew up in most beautiful battle-array, and then was seen now one company moving up, and now another, some with ladders and some without, and many valorous and terrible assaults delivered in succession and repeated several times, and ever received by the others with skill, boldness, and obstinacy, until in the end it was seen that the defenders, weary, but not vanquished, made an honourable compact with the attackers to surrender the place to them, issuing from it, with marvellous satisfaction for the spectators, in military order, with their banners unfurled, their drums, and all their usual baggage. the genealogy of the gods. we read of paulus emilius, that first captain of his illustrious age, that he caused no less marvel by his wisdom and worth to the people of greece and of many other nations who had assembled in amphipolis to celebrate various most noble spectacles there after the victory that he had won, than by the circumstance that first, vanquishing perseus and subjugating macedonia, he had borne himself valiantly in the management of that war, which was in no small measure laborious and difficult; he having been wont to say that it is scarcely less the office of a good captain, requiring no less order and no less wisdom, to know how to prepare a banquet well in time of peace, than to know how to marshal an army for a deed of arms in time of war. wherefore if our glorious duke, born to do everything with noble worth and grandeur, displayed the same wisdom and the same order in those spectacles, and, above all, in that one which i am about to describe, i believe that he will not take it amiss that i have been unwilling to refrain from saying that he was in every part its inventor and ordinator, and in a certain sense its executor, preparing all the various things, and then representing them, with so much order, tranquillity, wisdom, and magnificence, that among his many glorious actions this one also may be numbered to his supreme glory. now, yielding to him who wrote of it in those days with infinite learning, before me, and referring to that work those who may seek curiously to see how every least thing in this masquerade, which had as title the genealogy of the gods, was figured with the authority of excellent writers, and passing over whatever i may judge to be superfluous in this place, let me say that even as we read that some of the ancient gods were invited to the nuptials of peleus and thetis in order to render them auspicious and fortunate, so to the nuptials of this new and most excellent bridal pair it appeared that there had come for the same reason not some only of these same gods, but all, and not invited, but seeking to introduce themselves and by their own wish, the good auguring them the same felicity and contentment, and the harmful assuring them that they would do them no harm. which conception appeared gracefully expressed in the following fashion by four madrigals that were sung at various times in the principal places by four very full choirs, even as has been told of the triumph of dreams; saying: l' alta che fino al ciel fama rimbomba della leggiadra sposa, che in questa riva erbosa d' arno, candida e pura, alma colomba oggi lieta sen vola e dolce posa, dalla celeste sede ha noi qui tratti, perchè più leggiadri atti e bellezza più vaga e più felice veder già mai non lice. nè pur la tua festosa vista, o flora, e le belle alme tue dive traggionne alle tue rive, ma il lume e 'l sol della novella sposa, che più che mai gioiosa di suo bel seggio e freno al gran tosco divin corcasi in seno. da' bei lidi, che mai caldo nè gielo discolora, vegnam; nè vi crediate ch' altrettante beate schiere e sante non abbia il mondo e il cielo; ma vostro terren velo e lor soverchio lume, questo e quel vi contende amico nume. ha quanti il cielo, ha quanti iddii la terra e l' onda al parer vostro; ma dio solo è quell' un che il sommo chiostro alberga in mezzo a mille angeli santi, a cui sol giunte avanti posan le pellegrine e stanche anime al fine, al fin del giorno, tutto allegrando il ciel del suo ritorno. i believe i can affirm most surely that this masquerade--a spectacle only to be arranged by the hand of a wise, well-practised, great, and valiant prince, and in which almost all the lords and gentlemen of the city, and many strangers, took part--was without a doubt the greatest, the most magnificent, and the most splendid which can be remembered to have been held in any place for many centuries down to our own times, for the greater part of the vestments were not only made of cloth of gold and silver and other very rich draperies, and, when the place required it, of the finest skins, but, what is more (art surpassing the materials), composed with rare and marvellous industry, invention, and loveliness; and to the end that the eyes of the spectators, as they gazed, might be able with greater satisfaction to recognize one by one which of the gods it was intended to represent, it was thought expedient to proceed to divide them into twenty-one distinct companies, placing at the head of each company one that should be considered as the chief, and causing each of these, for greater magnificence and grandeur, and because they are so figured by the ancient poets, to be drawn upon appropriate cars by their appropriate and particular animals. now in these cars, which were beautiful, fantastic, and bizarre beyond belief, and most splendid with silver and gold, and in representing as real and natural the above-named animals that drew them, without a doubt the dexterity and excellence of the ingenious craftsmen were such, that not only they surpassed all things done up to that time both within and without the city, which at all times has had a reputation for rare mastery in such things, but they also (infinite marvel!) took away from everyone all hope of ever being able to see another thing so heroic or so lifelike. beginning, then, with those gods who were such that they were reputed to be the first causes and the first fathers of the others, we will proceed to describe each of the cars and of the companies that preceded them. and since the representation was of the genealogy of the gods, making a beginning with demogorgon, the first father of them all, and with his car, we have to say that after a graceful, lovely, and laurel-crowned shepherd, representing the ancient poet hesiod, who, singing of the gods in his theogony, first wrote their genealogy, and who, as guide, carried in his hand a large, square, and ancient ensign, wherein were depicted in divers colours heaven and the four elements, and in the centre was painted a large greek o, crossed with a serpent that had the head of a hawk; and after eight trumpeters who were gesticulating in a thousand graceful and sportive ways, representing those tibicines who, having been prevented from eating in the temple, fled in anger to tibur, but were made drunk and put to sleep by deceit, and brought back with many privileges to rome; beginning, i say, with demogorgon, there was seen his car in the form of a dark and double cavern drawn by two awful dragons, and for demogorgon was seen a figure of a pallid old man with the hair ruffled, all wrapped in mist and dark fog, lying in utter sloth and negligence in the front part of the cavern, and accompanied on one side by youthful eternity adorned (because she never grows old) with verdant draperies, and on the other side by chaos, who had the appearance, as it were, of a mass without any shape. beyond that cavern, which contained the three figures described, rose a graceful little mound all covered and adorned with trees and various plants, representing mother earth, at the back of which was seen another cavern, but darker and deeper than that already described, wherein erebus was shown likewise lying in the guise that has been told of his father demogorgon, and in like manner accompanied on one side by night, the daughter of earth, with two children in her arms, one white and the other dark, and on the other side by Æther, the child of the aforesaid night and erebus, who must be figured, so it appeared, as a resplendent youth with a ball of turquoise-blue in the hand. at the foot of the car, then, was seen riding discord, who separates things confused and is therefore held by philosophers to preserve the world, and who is regarded as the first daughter of demogorgon; and with her the three fates, who were shown spinning various threads and then cutting them. and in the form of a youth all robed in draperies of turquoise-blue was seen polus, who had a terrestrial globe in the hand, and over him, alluding to the fable that is related of him, many sparks appeared to have been scattered from a vase of glowing coals that was beneath him; and there was seen python, also the son of demogorgon, all yellow and with a mass of fire in the hand, who seemed to have come in the company of his brother polus. after them, then, came envy, the daughter of erebus and night, and with her timidity, her brother, in the form of a pallid and trembling old man, who had the head-dress and all the other vestments made from skins of the timid deer. and after these was seen obstinacy, who is born from the same seed, all in black, with some boughs of ivy that seemed to have taken root upon her; and with the great cube of lead that she had on the head she gave a sign of that ignorance wherewith obstinacy is said to be joined. she had in her company poverty, her sister, who was seen all pale and raging, and negligently covered rather than clothed in black; and with them was hunger, born likewise from the same father, who was seen feeding the while on roots and wild herbs. then complaint or querulousness, their sister, covered with tawny draperies, and with the querulous solitary rock-thrush, which was seen to have made her nest in her head-dress, was shown walking in profound melancholy after them, having in her company the sister common to them, called infirmity, who by her meagreness and pallor, and by the garland and the little stalk of anemone that she held in her hand, made herself very well known to the spectators for what she was. and on her other side was the other sister, old age, with white hair and all draped in simple black vestments, who likewise had, not without reason, a stalk of cress in the hand. the hydra and the sphinx, daughters of tartarus, in the guise wherein they are generally figured, were seen coming behind them in the same beautiful order; and after these, to return to the other daughters of erebus and night, was seen license, all nude and dishevelled, with a garland of vine-leaves on the head, and keeping the mouth open without any restraint, and in her company was falsehood, her sister, all covered and wrapped in various draperies of various colours, with a magpie on the head for better recognition, and with a cuttle-fish in the hand. these had thought walking on a level with them, represented as an old man, likewise all dressed in black, with an extravagant head-dress of peach-stones on the head, and showing beneath the vestments, which at times fluttered open with the wind, the breast and the whole person pricked and pierced by a thousand sharp thorns. momus, then, the god of censure and of evil-speaking, was seen coming after them in the form of a bent and very loquacious old man; and with them, also, the boy tages, all resplendent, although he was the son of earth, figured in such a manner because he was the first inventor of the soothsayer's art, in token of which there was hung from his neck a lamb split down the middle, which showed a good part of the entrails. there was seen, likewise, in the form of an immense giant, the african antæus, his brother, who, clothed in barbaric vestments, with a dart in the right hand, appeared to wish to give on that day manifest signs of his vaunted prowess. and following after him was seen day, also the son of erebus and night, represented in like manner as a resplendent and joyous youth, all adorned with white draperies and crowned with ornithogal, in whose company was seen fatigue, his sister, who, clothed in the skin of an ass, had made herself a cap from the head of the same animal, with the ears standing erect, not without laughter among the spectators; to which were added two wings of the crane, and in her hands were placed also the legs of the same crane, because of the common opinion that this renders men indefatigable against all fatigue. and jurament, born of the same parents, in the form of an old priest all terrified by an avenging jove that he held in the hand, and bringing to conclusion the band attributed to the great father demogorgon, was the last in their company. and here, judging that with these deities the origins of all the other gods had been made sufficiently manifest, the followers of the first car were brought to an end. second car, of heaven. in a second car of more pleasing appearance, which was dedicated to the god heaven, held by some to be the son of the above-named Æther and day, was seen that jocund and youthful god clothed in bright-shining stars, with a crown of sapphires on the brow, and with a vase in the hand that contained a burning flame, and seated upon a ball of turquoise-blue all painted and adorned with the forty-eight celestial signs; and in that car, which was drawn by the great and the little bear, the one known by the seven and the other by the twenty-one stars with which they were all dotted, there were seen painted, in order to render it ornate and rich in pomp, with a most beautiful manner and a graceful distribution, seven of the fables of that same heaven. in the first was figured his birth--in order to demonstrate, not without reason, the other opinion that is held of it--which is said to have been from earth; even as in the second was seen his union with the same mother earth, from which were born, besides many others, cottus, briareus, and gyges, who, it is believed, had each a hundred hands and fifty heads; and there were born also the cyclopes, so called from the single eye that they had on the brow. in the third was seen how he imprisoned their common children in the caverns of that same earth, that they might never be able to see the light; even as in the fourth their mother earth, seeking to deliver them from such oppression, was seen exhorting them to take a rightful vengeance on their cruel father; wherefore in the fifth his genital members were cut off by saturn, when from their blood on one side it appeared that the furies and the giants were born, and on the other, from the foam that was shown fallen into the sea, was seen a different birth, from which sprang the beautiful venus. in the sixth was seen expressed the anger that he showed against the titans, because, as has been told, they had allowed his genitals to be cut off; and in the seventh and last, likewise, was seen the same god adored by the atlantides, with temples and altars devoutly raised to him. now at the foot of the car (as with the other already described) was seen riding the black, old, and blindfolded atlas, who has been reputed to have supported heaven with his stout shoulders, on which account there had been placed in his hands a great globe of turquoise-blue, dotted with stars. after him was seen walking in the graceful habit of a huntsman the young and beautiful hyas, his son, in whose company were his seven sisters, also called hyades, five of whom, all resplendent in gold, were seen to have each on the head a bull's head, for the reason that they are said to form an ornament to the head of the heavenly bull; and the two others, as being less bright in the heavens, it was thought proper to clothe in grey cloth of silver. after these followed the seven pleiades, daughters of the same atlas, figured as seven other similar stars; one of whom, for the reason that she shines with little light in the heavens, it was thought right and proper to adorn only with the same grey cloth, whereas the six others, because they are resplendent and very bright, were seen in front glittering and flashing with an infinite abundance of gold, but at the back they were clothed only in vestments of pure white, that being intended to signify that even as at their first appearance the bright and luminous summer seems to have its beginning, so at their departure it is seen that they leave us dark and snowy winter; which was also expressed by the head-dress, which had the front part woven of various ears of corn, even as the back appeared to be composed of snow, ice, and hoar-frost. there followed after these the old and monstrous titan, who had with him the proud and audacious iapetus, his son. and prometheus, who was born of iapetus, was seen coming after them all grave and venerable, with a little statue of clay in one of his hands, and in the other a burning torch, denoting the fire that he is said to have stolen from jove out of heaven itself. and after him, as the last, to conclude the company of the second car, there were seen coming, with a moorish habit and with a sacred elephant's head as a cap, likewise two of the atlantides, who, as has been told, first adored heaven; and, in addition, in token of the things that were used by them in their first sacrifices, there were in the hands of both, in a great bundle, the ladle, the napkin, the cleaver, and the casket of incense. third car, of saturn. saturn, the son of heaven, all white and old, who was shown greedily devouring some children, had the third car, no less ornate than the last, and drawn by two great black oxen; and to enhance the beauty of that car, even as in the last there were seven fables painted, so in that one it was thought proper that five of his fables should be painted. for the first, therefore, was seen this god surprised by his wife ops as he lay taking his pleasure of the gracious and beautiful nymph philyra, on which account being constrained to transform himself into a horse in order not to be recognized by her, it was shown how from that union there was born afterwards the centaur cheiron. even as in the second was seen his other union with the latin entoria, from which sprang at one and the same birth janus, hymnus, felix, and faustus, by whom the same saturn distributed among the human race that so useful invention of planting vines and making wine; and there was seen janus arriving in latium and there teaching his father's invention to the ignorant people, who, drinking intemperately of the new and most pleasing liquor, and therefore sinking little by little into a most profound sleep, when finally they awakened, thinking that they had been poisoned by him, were seen rushing impiously to stone and slay him; on which account saturn, moved to anger, chastised them with a most horrible pestilence; but in the end it was shown how he was pacified and turned to mercy by the humble prayers of the miserable people and by the temple built by them upon the tarpeian rock. in the third, then, was seen figured how, saturn seeking cruelly to devour his son jove, his shrewd wife and compassionate daughters sent to him in jove's stead the stone, which he brought up again before them, being left thereby in infinite sorrow and bitterness. even as in the fourth was painted the same fable of which there has been an account in speaking of the above-described car of heaven--namely, how he cut off the genitals of the above-named heaven, from which the giants, the furies, and venus had their origin. and in the last, likewise, was seen how, after he was made a prisoner by the titans, he was liberated by his compassionate son jove. and then, to demonstrate the belief that is held by some, that history first began to be written in the time of saturn, there was seen figured with the authority of an approved writer a triton blowing a sea-conch, with the double tail as it were fixed in the earth, closing the last part of the car; at the foot of which (as has been told of the others) was seen a pure maiden, representing pudicity, adorned with green draperies and holding a white ermine in her arms, with a gilded topaz-collar about the neck. she, with the head and face covered with a yellow veil, had in her company truth, likewise figured in the form of a most beautiful, delicate, and pure young woman, clothed only in a few white and transparent veils; and these, walking in a manner full of grace, had between them the happy age of gold, also figured as a pure and gracious virgin, wholly nude, and all crowned and adorned with those first fruits produced by herself from the earth. after them followed quiet, robed in black draperies, in the aspect of a young but very grave and venerable woman, who had as head-dress a nest composed in a most masterly manner, in which was seen lying an old and featherless stork, and she walked between two black priests, who, crowned with fig-leaves, and each with a branch of the same fig in one hand, and in the other a basin containing a flat cake of flour and honey, seemed to wish to demonstrate thereby that opinion which is held by some, that saturn was the first discoverer of grain-crops; for which reason the cyrenæans (and even such were the two black priests) are said to have been wont to offer him sacrifices of those things named above. these were followed by two roman priests, who appeared likewise to be about to sacrifice to him some waxen images, as it were after the more modern use, since they were seen delivered by means of the example of hercules, who used similar waxen images, from the impious custom of sacrificing men to saturn, introduced into italy by the pelasgians. these, like the others with quiet, had likewise between them the venerable vesta, daughter of saturn, who, very narrow in the shoulders and very broad and full in the flanks, after the manner of a round ball, and dressed in white, carried a lighted lamp in the hand. and after them, as the last, closing the third company, was seen coming the centaur cheiron, the son, as has been told, of saturn, armed with sword, bow, and quiver; and with him another of the sons of the same saturn, holding the crooked lituus (for the reason that he was an augur) in the hand, and all robed in green draperies, with a bird, the woodpecker, on the head, because into such a bird, according as the fables tell, it is believed that he was transformed by cheiron. fourth car, of the sun. to the resplendent sun was dedicated the fourth car, all glittering, gilded, and jewelled, which, drawn according to custom by four swift and winged coursers, was seen to have velocity, with a head-dress of a dolphin and a sail on the head, as charioteer; and in it were painted (as has been told of the others), but with a different distribution, and as pleasing and gracious as could well be imagined, seven of his fables. for the first of these was seen the fate of the too audacious phaëthon, who contrived so ill to guide that same car, even as for the second was seen the death of the serpent python, and for the third the chastisement inflicted on the rash marsyas. in the fourth was seen how the sun deigned for a time to lead a humble pastoral life, grazing the flocks of admetus; even as in the fifth was seen how, flying from the fury of typhoeus, he was constrained to change himself into a raven. in the sixth were likewise depicted his other transformations, first into a lion and then into a hawk; and as the last was seen his love received so ill by the timid daphne, who finally, as is very well known, was changed by the compassion of the gods into laurel. at the foot of the car, then, were seen riding, all winged and of different ages and colours, the hours, the handmaids and ministers of the sun, each of whom, in imitation of the egyptians, carried a hippopotamus in the hand, and was crowned with flowers of the lupine; and behind them, likewise following the egyptian custom, in the form of a young man all dressed in white, with two little horns on the head that were turned towards the ground, and with a garland of oriental palm, was seen walking the month, carrying in the hand a calf which, not without reason, had only one horn. and after him was seen likewise walking the year, with the head all covered with ice and snow, the arms wreathed in flowers and garlands, and the breast and stomach all adorned with ears of corn, even as the thighs and legs, also, were seen to be all wet and stained with must, while in one hand he carried, as a symbol of his circling course, a circle formed by a serpent that appeared to be seeking to devour the tail with the mouth, and in the other hand a nail, such as the ancient romans used, so we read, to keep count of the years in their temples. then came rosy aurora, all pleasing, fair, and lissom, with a little yellow mantle, and with an ancient lamp in the hand, seated with most beautiful grace upon the horse pegasus. in her company was seen the physician Æsculapius, in the habit of a priest, with a knotted stick and a ruddy serpent in the hands, and a dog at his feet; and with them the young phaëthon, also (like Æsculapius) the child of the sun, who, all burning, to recall the memory of his unhappy fate, appeared to wish to transform himself into even such a swan as he carried in his hand. orpheus, next, their brother, was seen walking behind them, young and much adorned, but of a presence grave and venerable, with the tiara on his head, and seeming to play a most ornate lyre; and with him was seen the enchantress circe, likewise the daughter of the sun, with a band around the head, which was a sign of her sovereignty, and in the habit of a matron, and she was shown holding in the hand, in place of a sceptre, a little branch of larch and another of cedar, with the fumes of which it is said that she used to contrive the greater part of her enchantments. and the nine muses, walking in gracious order, formed a most beautiful finish to the last part of the lovely company just described; who were seen figured in the forms of most graceful nymphs, crowned with feathers of the magpie in remembrance of the sirens vanquished by them, and with feathers of other kinds, and holding various musical instruments in the hands, while among the last of them, who held the most honourable place, was set memory, mother of the muses, adorned with rich black draperies, and holding in the hand a little black dog, signifying the marvellous memory which that animal is said to have, and with the head-dress fantastically composed of the most different things, denoting the so many and so different things that the memory is able to retain. fifth car, of jove. the great father of mankind and of the gods, jove, the son of saturn, had the fifth car, ornate and rich in pomp beyond all the others; for, besides the five fables that were seen painted there, as with the others, it was rendered rich and marvellous beyond belief by three statues that served as most imposing partitions to those fables. by one of these was seen represented the image, such as it is believed to have been, of the young epaphus, the son of io and jove, and by the second that of the lovely helen, who was born from leda at one birth with castor and pollux; even as by the last was represented that of the grandfather of the sage ulysses, called arcesius. for the first of the fables already mentioned was seen jove transformed into a bull, conveying the trusting europa to crete, even as for the second was seen his perilous rape as he flew to heaven in the form of an eagle with the trojan ganymede, and for the third his other transformation into fire when he wished to lie with the beautiful Ægina, daughter of asopus. for the fourth was seen the same jove, changed into a rain of gold, falling into the lap of his beloved danaë; and in the fifth and last he was seen delivering his father saturn, who, as has been told above, was unworthily held prisoner by the titans. in such and so adorned a car, then, and upon a most beautiful throne composed of various animals and of many gilded victories, with a little mantle woven of divers animals and plants, the above-named great father jove was seen seated in infinite majesty, with a garland of leaves similar to those of the common olive, and in the right hand a victory crowned with a band of white wool, and in the left hand a royal sceptre, at the head of which was shown poised the imperial eagle. at the foot of the throne, to render it more imposing and pompous, was seen on one side niobe, with her children, dying by the shafts of apollo and diana, and on the other side seven men in combat, who were seen to have in their midst a boy with the head bound with white wool, even as in another place could be seen hercules and theseus, who were shown in combat with the famous amazons. and at the foot of the car, which was drawn by two very large and very naturally figured eagles, there was seen walking (as has been told of the others) bellerophon adorned with a royal habit and a royal diadem, in allusion to whose fable there was seen over that diadem the chimera slain by him; having in his company the young perseus, born from jove and danaë, with the usual head of medusa in his hand, and the usual knife at his flank; and with them was the above-named epaphus, who had as a cap the head of an african elephant. hercules, the son of jove and alcmena, with the customary lion's skin and the customary club, was seen coming after them; and in his company he had scythes, his brother (although born from a different mother), the first inventor of bow and arrows, on which account his hands and his flank were seen furnished with these. after them were seen the two gracious twins, castor and pollux, riding with an air of no less beauty upon two milk-white and spirited coursers, and dressed in military habit; each having upon the helmet, one of which was dotted with eight stars and the other with ten, a brilliant little flame as helmet-crest, in allusion to that salutary light, now called s. elmo's fire, which is wont to appear to mariners as a sign that the tempest has passed; the stars being intended to signify how they were placed in heaven by jove as the sign of the twins. then justice was seen coming after these, a beautiful maiden, who was beating with a stick and finally strangling a woman ugly and deformed, and in her company were four of the gods penates, two male and two female, these demonstrating--although in barbaric and extravagant dress, and although they had on the head a pediment which, with the base turned upwards, supported the heads of a young man and an old--by the gilded chain with a heart attached that they had about the neck, and by their long, ample, and pompous vestments, that they were persons of great weight and of great and lofty counsel; which was done with much reason, seeing that they were reputed by the ancient writers to be the counsellors of jove. after them were seen walking the two palici, born of jove and thaleia, adorned with draperies of tawny hue, and crowned with various ears of corn, and each with an altar in the hand; and in their company was iarbas, king of gætulia, the son of the same jove, crowned with a white band, and with the head of a lion surmounted by a crocodile as a cap, and his other garments interwoven with leaves of cane and papyrus and various monsters, and with the sceptre and a burning flame of fire in the hands. behind these were seen coming xanthus, the trojan river, likewise the son of jove, in human form, but all yellow, all nude, and all shorn, with the overflowing vase in his hands, and sarpedon, king of lycia, his brother, in a most imposing garb, and in his hand a little mound covered with lions and serpents. and the last part of that great company, concluding the whole, was formed of four armed curetes, who kept clashing their swords one against another, thus reviving the memory of mount ida, where jove was saved from the voracious saturn by their means, drowning by the clash of their arms the wailing of the tender babe; among whom, with the last couple, for greater dignity, as queen of all the others, winged and without feet, and with much pomp and grandeur, proud fortune was seen haughtily approaching. sixth car, of mars. mars, the proud and warlike god, covered with brightly-shining armour, had the sixth car, adorned with no little richness and pomp, and drawn by two ferocious wolves very similar to the reality; and therein his wife neriene and his daughter evadne, figured in low-relief, served to divide three of his fables, which (as has been told of the other cars) were painted there. for the first of these, he was seen slaying the hapless son of neptune, halirrhotius, in vengeance for the violation of alcippe, and for the second he was seen in most amorous guise lying with rea silvia, and begetting by her the two great founders of rome, romulus and remus; even as for the third and last he was seen miserably reduced to captivity (as happens often enough to his followers) in the hands of the impious otus and ephialtes. then before the car, as the first figures, preceding it on horseback, were seen two of his priests, the salii, with their usual shields, the ancilia, and clad and adorned with their usual armour and vestments, and wearing on their heads, in place of helmets, two caps in the likeness of cones; and they were seen followed by the above-named romulus and remus in the guise of shepherds, covered in rustic fashion with skins of wolves, while, to distinguish the one from the other, remus had six vultures placed in his head-dress, and romulus twelve, in memory of his more happy augury. after them came oenomaus, king of the greek pisa, and also the son of mars, who held in one hand, as king, a royal sceptre, and in the other a little chariot all broken, in memory of the treachery shown against him by the charioteer myrtilus in his combat for his daughter hippodameia against pelops, her lover. and after him were seen coming ascalaphus and ialmenus, likewise sons of mars, adorned with a rich military habit; recalling by the ships that they had in the hand, one for each, the weighty succour brought by them with fifty ships to the besieged trojans. these were followed by the beautiful nymph britona, daughter likewise of mars, with a net in her arms, in memory of her miserable fate; and by the not less beautiful harmonia, who was born of the same mars and lovely venus, and became the wife of theban cadmus. to her, it is said, vulcan once presented a most beautiful necklace, on which account she was seen with that necklace about her neck; and in the upper parts she had the semblance of a woman, but in the lower parts--denoting that she was transformed, together with her husband, into a serpent--she was seen all covered with serpent's skin. these had behind them, with a bloody knife in the hand and across the shoulders a little kid split open, and very fierce in aspect, hyperion, born from the same father, by whom it is said that men were first taught to kill brute-animals, and with him the no less fierce Ætolus, likewise the offspring of mars; and between them was seen walking blind rage, adorned with a red habit all picked out with black embroidery, with foaming mouth, and with a rhinoceros on the head and a cynocephalus upon the back. after these walked fraud, with the face of a human creature and with the other parts as they are described by dante in the inferno, and menace, truly threatening in aspect with the sword and the staff that she had in the hands, covered with grey and red draperies, and with the mouth open; and they were seen to have behind them fury, the great minister of mars, and death, pallid and not less in harmony with the same mars; the first all draped and tinted in dark red, with the hands bound behind the back, and seeming to be seated, all threatening, upon a great bundle of various arms, and the second all pallid, as has been said, and covered with black draperies, with the eyes closed, and with a presence no less awful and no less horrible. spoils, then, in the form of a woman adorned with a lion's skin, with an ancient trophy in the hand, was seen coming after these, and she appeared as if desirous to exult over two prisoners, wounded and bound, who were on either side of her; having behind her, as the last line of so terrible a company, a woman of a very stalwart presence, with two bull's horns on the head and with an elephant in the hand, representing force, to whom cruelty, all red and likewise awful, killing a little child, seemed to make a true and fit companion. seventh car, of venus. very different was the aspect of the charming, graceful, elegant, and gilded car of benign venus, which was seen coming after the last in the seventh place, drawn by two most peaceful, snow-white, and amorous doves; wherein were not wanting four scenes executed with great mastery, to render it pleasing, gladsome, and rich in pomp. for the first of these was seen the lovely goddess transforming herself into a fish, to escape from the fury of the giant typhoeus, and for the second, likewise, she was seen praying the great father jove most piteously that he should deign to make an end at last of the many labours of her much-enduring son Æneas. in the third was seen the same venus caught by her husband vulcan with the net, while lying with her lover mars; even as in the fourth and last she was seen, no less solicitous for her same son Æneas, coming into accord with the so inexorable juno to unite him with the snares of love to the chaste queen of carthage. the beautiful adonis, as her dearest lover, was seen walking first before the car, in the gracious habit of a huntsman, and with him appeared as his companions two charming little loves, with painted wings and with bows and arrows. these were followed by the marital hymeneus, young and beautiful, with the customary garland of marjoram, and in his hand the lighted torch; and by thalassius with the spear and shield, and the little basket full of wool. and after them was seen coming peitho, the goddess of persuasion, robed in the habit of a matron, with a great tongue upon the head (after the egyptian custom) containing a bloody eye, and in the hand another similar tongue which was joined to another counterfeited hand; and with her the trojan paris in the habit of a shepherd, who was seen carrying in memory of his fable that for him so unlucky apple. even as concord, in the form of a grave and beautiful woman crowned with a garland, with a cup in one hand and in the other a sceptre wreathed in flowers, could be seen following these; and with her, likewise, appeared as a companion priapus, the god of orchards, with the usual sickle and with the lap all full of fruits; and with them, with a cube in the hand and another upon the head, manturna, who was always invoked most devoutly by brides on the first night that they were joined with their husbands, believing that firmness and constancy could be infused by her into inconstant minds. extravagantly figured, next, was friendship, who came after these, for, although in the form of a young woman, she was seen to have the bare head crowned with leaves of pomegranate and myrtle, wearing a rough dress, upon which could be read, mors et vita; with the breast open, so that the heart could be perceived, and there, likewise, were to be read these words written, longe et prope; and she carried in the hand a withered elm-trunk entwined with a fresh and fertile vine. in her company was pleasure, both the seemly and the unseemly, likewise extravagantly figured in the form of two young women that were shown attached to one another by the back; one white, and, as dante said, cross-eyed and with the feet distorted, and the other, although black, yet of a seemly and gracious form, girt with beautiful consideration by the jewelled and gilded cestus, with a bit and a common braccio for measuring in the hands. and she was followed by the goddess virginensis, who used also to be invoked in ancient nuptials, that she might aid the husband to loose the virgin zone; on which account, all robed in draperies of white linen, with a crown of emeralds and a cock upon the head, she was seen walking with the above-named zone and with a little branch of agnus-castus in the hands. in her company was beauty, desired so much and by so many, in the form of a gracious virgin wreathed in flowers, and all crowned with lilies; and with them was hebe, the goddess of youth, likewise a virgin, and likewise dressed with much richness and infinite grace, and crowned with the ornament of a lovely gilded garland, and carrying in the hand a beautiful little branch of flowering almond. finally, that most lovely company was concluded by joy, likewise a virgin, gracious and crowned with a garland, who in similar guise carried in the hand a thyrsus all woven of garlands and various leaves and flowers. eighth car, of mercury. to mercury, who had the caduceus, the cap, and the winged sandals, was given the eighth car, drawn by two most natural storks, and likewise enriched and adorned with five of his fables. for the first of these he was seen appearing upon the new walls of carthage, as the messenger of jove, to the enamoured Æneas, and commanding him that he should depart thence and set out on the way to italy; even as for the second was seen the unhappy agraulos converted by him into stone, and for the third he was seen likewise at the command of jove binding the too audacious prometheus to the rocks of mount caucasus. in the fourth, again, he was seen converting the ill-advised battus into that stone that is called basanite; and in the fifth and last was his slaying, so cunningly achieved, of the many-eyed argus. for clearer demonstration, that same argus was seen walking first before the car, in a pastoral habit all covered with eyes; and with him was seen as his companion maia, the mother of the above-named mercury and daughter of faunus, in the very rich habit of a young woman, with a vine upon the head and a sceptre in the hand, having some serpents tame in appearance that were following her. after these was seen coming palæstra, daughter of mercury, in the semblance of a virgin wholly nude, but stalwart and proud to a marvel, and adorned with various leaves of olive over the whole person, with the hair cut short, to the end that when fighting, as it was her custom always to do, it might not give a grip to the enemy; and with her was eloquence, also the daughter of mercury, robed in the dignified and decorous habit of a matron, with a parrot upon the head, and with one of the hands open. next were seen the three graces, with the hands linked in the usual manner, and draped in most delicate veiling; and after them were seen coming the two lares, dressed in the skins of dogs, with whom there appeared as their companion art, also in the habit of a matron, with a great lever and a great flame of fire in the hands. these were followed by autolycus, that most subtle thief, the son of mercury and of the nymph chione, with shoes of felt and a closed cap that hid his face, having both his hands occupied with such a lantern as is called a thieves' lantern, various picklocks, and a rope-ladder. and finally, hermaphroditus, the offspring of the same mercury and of venus, figured in the usual manner, was seen bringing up the rear of that little company. ninth car, of the moon. the ninth car, all silvered, of the moon, drawn by two horses, one black and the other white, was seen passing in no less lovely fashion after the last; the moon, draped, as is customary, in a white and delicate veil, guiding the silver reins with grace most gracious; and, like the others, it was seen adorned with no less beauty and pomp by four of her fables. for the first of these that most gentle goddess, flying from the fury of typhoeus, was seen constrained to transform herself into a cat; even as in the second she was seen fondly embracing and kissing beautiful endymion as he lay asleep, and in the third she was seen, won over by a delicate fleece of white wool, making her way into a dark forest, there to lie with the enamoured pan, the god of shepherds. in the fourth was seen how the same endymion named above, for the grace acquired with her, was given pasture for his white flock; and for a better representation of him who was so dear to the moon, he was then seen walking first before the car, crowned with dittany, and in his company a fair-haired child, with a serpent in the hand, and also crowned with leaves of the plane, representing the good genius, and a great black man, awful in aspect, with the beard and hair all dishevelled and with an owl in the hand, representing the evil genius. these were followed by the god vaticanus, who is believed to be able to bring succour to the wailing of little infants, robed in a handsome tawny habit, and with an infant in his arms; and with him was likewise seen coming, in a splendid and well-varied dress, with a key in the hand, the goddess egeria, who is also invoked in aid of pregnant women; and with them the other goddess, nundina, who likewise protects the names of little babes, in a venerable habit, with a branch of laurel and a sacrificial vase in the hands. then after these vitumnus was seen walking, who was reputed to breathe the soul into children at their birth, figured after the egyptian custom, and with him sentinus, who likewise was believed by the ancients to give to the newly-born the power of the senses, on which account, he himself being all white, there were seen in his head-dress the heads of those five animals that are believed to have the five senses more acute than any of the others; that of an ape, namely, that of a vulture, that of a wild-boar, that of a lynx, and that--or rather, the whole body--of a little spider. then edusa and potina, who preside over the nourishment of those same infants, were seen riding in the same fashion as the others, in the habit of nymphs, but with breasts very long and very full, one holding a basin containing white bread, and the other a most beautiful vase that seemed to be full of water; and with them, concluding the last part of the company, was fabulinus, who presides over the first speech of the same infants, robed in various colours, with the head all crowned with wagtails and singing chaffinches. tenth car, of minerva. minerva, clad in armour, with the spear and the shield of the gorgon, as she is generally figured, had the tenth car, composed in a triangular form and in the colour of bronze, and drawn by two very large and most bizarre owls, of which i cannot forbear to say that although it would be possible to relate singular and even incredible marvels of all the animals that drew the cars, yet these, beyond all the others, were figured so lifelike and so natural, and their feet, wings, and necks were made to move, and even the eyes to open and shut so well, and with a resemblance so close to the reality, that i know not how i could ever be able to convince of it those who never saw them. however, ceasing to speak of these, i must relate that of the three sides of which the triangular car was composed, there was seen painted in one the miraculous birth of the goddess from the head of jove, even as in the second pandora was seen adorned by her with all those countless ornaments, and in the third, likewise, she was seen converting the hair of the wretched medusa into snakes. then on one part of the base there was painted the contest that she had with neptune over the name that was to be given to athenæ (before she had such a name), when, he producing the fiery horse and she the fruitful olive, she was seen to win thereby a glorious and memorable victory; and on the other she was seen in the form of a little old woman, striving to persuade the overbold arachne, before she had transformed her into the animal of that name, that she should consent, without putting the matter to the proof, to yield her the palm in the art of embroidery; even as in the third and last part, with a different aspect, she was seen valorously slaying the proud typhon. before the car was seen walking virtue, in the form of a young and stalwart woman, with two great wings, and in an easy, chaste, and becoming habit, having as a worthy companion the venerable honour, crowned with palm and resplendent in purple and gold, with the shield and spear in the hands, who was shown supporting two temples, into one of which (namely, that dedicated to the same honour) it appeared impossible to pass save by way of that dedicated to virtue; and to the end that a noble and worthy companion might be given to those masks, it seemed right that victory, crowned with laurel and likewise with a branch of palm in the hand, should be added to the same line. these were followed by good fame, figured in the form of a young woman with two white wings, sounding a great trumpet, and after her, with a little white dog in her arms, came faith, likewise all white, with a luminous veil that was seen covering her arms, head, and face; and with them salvation, holding in the right hand a cup that she seemed to be seeking to offer to a serpent, and in the other a thin and straight wand. after these, then, was seen coming nemesis, the daughter of night, who rewards the good and chastises the wicked, virginal in aspect, and crowned with little stags and little victories, with a spear of ash and a similar cup in the hands; with whom appeared as her companion peace, also a virgin, but of a kindly aspect, with a branch of olive in the hand and a blind boy, representing the god of riches, in the arms; and with them, carrying in the hand a drinking-vessel in the form of a lily, and in similar guise, was seen likewise coming ever-verdant hope, followed by clemency, who was riding upon a great lion, with a spear in one hand and in the other a thunderbolt, which she was making as if not to hurl furiously, but to throw away. then were seen likewise coming opportunity, who had a little behind her penitence, by whom she seemed to be continually smitten, and felicity, upon a commodious throne, with a caduceus in one hand and a horn of plenty in the other. and these were seen followed by the goddess pellonia, whose office it is to keep enemies at a distance, in full armour, with two great horns upon the head, and in the hand a vigilant crane, who was seen poised upon one foot, as is their custom, and holding in the other a stone; and with her, closing the last part of the glorious company, was science, figured in the form of a young man, who was shown carrying in the hand a book and upon the head a gilded tripod, to denote his constancy and firmness. eleventh car, of vulcan. vulcan, the god of fire, old, ugly, and lame, with a cap of turquoise-blue upon the head, had the eleventh car, drawn by two great dogs; and in it was figured the isle of lemnos, where it is said that vulcan, thrown down from heaven, was nursed by thetis, and began to fashion there the first thunderbolts for jove. before it were seen walking, as his ministers and servants, three cyclopes, brontes, steropes, and pyracmon, of whose aid he is said to have been wont to avail himself in making those thunderbolts. after them was seen coming polyphemus, the lover of the beautiful galatea and the first of all the cyclopes, in the garb of a shepherd, with a great pipe hanging from his neck and a staff in the hand; and with him, crowned with seven stars, the deformed but ingenious ericthonius, born with serpent's feet from vulcan's attempt to violate minerva, to conceal the ugliness of which it is believed that he invented the use of chariots, on which account he walked with one of these in the hand. he was seen followed by the savage cacus, also the son of vulcan, spouting a stream of sparks from the mouth and nose; and by cæculus, likewise the son of vulcan, and likewise in pastoral garb, but adorned with the royal diadem, and in one of his hands, in memory of the building of præneste, was seen a city placed upon a hill, and in the other a ruddy and burning flame. after these was seen coming servius tullius, king of rome, who is also believed to have been born of vulcan, and upon his head, even as in the hand of cæculus, in token of his happy augury, a similar flame was seen to form in marvellous fashion a splendid and propitious garland. then was seen the jealous procris, daughter of the above-named ericthonius, and wife of cephalus, who, in memory of the ancient fable, seemed to have the breast transfixed by a javelin; and with her was seen oreithyia, her sister, in a virginal and lovely habit, and in the centre between them was pandion, king of athens, born with them of the same father, adorned with the vestments of a grecian king. after him came procne and philomela, his daughters, one dressed in the skin of a deer, with a spear in the hand and upon the head a little chattering swallow, and the other carrying in the same place a nightingale, and likewise having in the hand a woman's embroidered mantle, in allusion to her miserable fate; and she appeared to be following her beloved father all filled with sorrow, although adorned with a rich vestment. and with them, to conclude the last part of the company, was caca, the sister of cacus, adored by the ancients as a goddess for the reason that, laying aside her love for her brother, she is said to have revealed to hercules the secret of the stolen cattle. twelfth car, of juno. when vulcan had passed, queen juno, adorned with a rich, superb, and royal crown, and with vestments transparent and luminous, was seen coming in much majesty upon the twelfth car, which was not less pompous than any of the others, and drawn by two most lovely peacocks; and between the five little stories of her actions that were seen painted therein, were lycorias, beroë, and deiopea, her most beautiful and most favoured nymphs. for the first of these stories was seen the unhappy callisto transformed by her into a bear, who was placed afterwards by compassionate jove among the principal stars in the heavens; and in the second was seen how, having transformed herself into the likeness of beroë, she persuaded the unsuspecting semele to beseech jove that he should deign in his grace to lie with her in the guise wherein he was wont to lie with his wife juno; on which account the unhappy mortal, not being able to sustain the force of the celestial splendour, was consumed by fire, and jove was seen to take bacchus from her belly and place him in his own, preserving him for the full time of birth. in the third, likewise, she was seen praying Æolus that he should send his furious winds to scatter the fleet of trojan Æneas; even as in the fourth she was seen in like manner, filled with jealousy, demanding from jove the miserable io transformed into a cow, and giving her, to the end that she might not be stolen from her by jove, into the custody of the ever-vigilant argus, who, as has been told elsewhere, was put to sleep and slain by mercury; and in the fifth picture was seen juno sending after most unhappy io the pitiless gad-fly, to the end that he might keep her continually pricked and stung. at the foot of the car, then, were seen coming a good number of those phenomena that are formed in the air, among which could be seen as the first iris, regarded by the ancients as the messenger of the gods, and the daughter of thaumas and electra; all lissom and free, and dressed in vestments of red, yellow, blue, and green, signifying the rainbow, with two hawks' wings upon the head that denoted her swiftness. in her company, then, in a red habit, with the hair ruddy and dishevelled, was the comet, figured as a young woman who had a large and shining star upon the brow; and with them came clear sky, in the aspect of a virgin, who was seen with the countenance of turquoise-blue, and turquoise-blue all the wide and ample dress, not without a white dove likewise upon the head, to signify the sky. after these were seen snow and mist, coupled together; the first dressed in tawny-coloured draperies, upon which were shown lying many trunks of trees all sprinkled with snow, and the other was seen walking, as if she had no shape, as it were in the semblance of a great white mass; having with them verdant dew, figured in that same colour, to denote the green plants upon which she is generally seen, and having a round moon upon the head, signifying that in the time of the moon's fulness, above all, dew is wont to fall from the heavens upon green herbage. then there followed rain, dressed in a white but somewhat soiled habit, upon whose head seven stars, partly bright and partly dim, formed a garland representing the seven pleiades, even as the seventeen that blazed upon her breast appeared to denote the sign of rainy orion. there followed, likewise, three virgins of different ages, attired in white draperies and also crowned with olive, representing the three classes of virgins that used to run races in the ancient games of juno; having with them, for the last, the goddess populonia in the rich habit of a matron, with a garland of pomegranate and balm-mint upon the head, and with a little table in the hand, by whom the airy company above described was seen graciously concluded. thirteenth car, of neptune. fanciful, bizarre, and beautiful beyond all the others appeared the thirteenth car, of neptune, which was composed of an immense crab, such as the venetians are wont to call grancevola, which rested upon four great dolphins, having about the base, which resembled a real and natural rock, a vast number of sea-shells, sponges, and corals, which rendered it most lovely and ornate, and being drawn by two sea-horses; and upon it was seen standing neptune, in the customary form and with the customary trident, having at his feet, as a companion, his spouse salacia, in the form of a snow-white nymph all covered with foam. before the car, then, was seen walking the old and bearded glaucus, all dripping and all covered with sea-weed and moss, whose person from the waist downwards was seen in the form of a swimming fish. about him circled many halcyon-birds, and with him was seen the much-changing and deceitful proteus, likewise old, all dripping, and covered with sea-weed; and with them proud phorcys, with a royal band of turquoise-blue about the head, and with beard and hair long and flowing beyond measure, and carrying in the hand the famous pillars of hercules, as a sign of the empire that he once had. then followed two tritons with the customary tails, sounding their trumpets, and in their company appeared old Æolus, likewise holding in the hands a royal sceptre and a sail, and having upon the head a burning flame of fire. and he was followed by four of his principal winds; by young zephyrus, with the locks and the varied wings adorned with various little flowers, by dark and parching eurus, who had a radiant sun upon the head; by cold and snowy boreas; and, finally, by the soft, cloudy, and proud auster; all figured, according as they are generally painted, with swelling cheeks and with the large and swift wings that are customary. after these, in due place, were seen coming the two giants, otus and ephialtes, all wounded and transfixed by various arrows, in memory of their having been slain by apollo and diana; and with them, not less appropriately, were seen coming likewise two harpies, with the customary maiden's face and the customary rapacious claws and most hideous belly. there was seen also the egyptian god canopus, in memory of the astuteness formerly used by the priest against the chaldæans, figured as very short, round, and fat; and likewise, young and lovely, winged zetes and calais, the sons of boreas, by whose valour it is related that once upon a time those foul and ravenous harpies were driven from the world. and with them were seen, at the last, the beautiful nymph amymone, beloved by neptune, with a gilded vase, and the young greek neleus, son of the same neptune, who, with royal sceptre and habit, was seen to conclude the last part of the company described above. fourteenth car, of oceanus and of tethys. there followed in the fourteenth company, with tethys, the great queen of the sea, the great father oceanus, her husband, the son of heaven, who was figured in the form of a tall and cerulean old man, with a great beard and long hair all wet and dishevelled, and covered all over with sea-weed and various sea-shells, with a horrible seal in the hand, while she was represented as a tall and masterful matron, resplendent, old, and white, and holding in the hand a great fish; and they were both seen upon a most fantastic car in the semblance of a rock, very strange and bizarre, drawn by two immense whales. at the foot of the car was seen walking nereus, their son, old, venerable, and covered with foam, and with him thetis, daughter of that nereus and of doris, and mother of great achilles, who was shown riding upon a dolphin; and she was seen followed by three most beautiful sirens figured in the usual manner, who had behind them two very beautiful, although white-haired, nymphs of the sea, called graeæ, likewise daughters of the sea-god phorcys and of the nymph ceto, clothed most pleasingly in various graceful draperies. behind these, then, were seen coming the three gorgons with their snaky locks, daughters of the same father and mother, who made use of a single eye, with which alone, lending it to one another, they were all three able to see; and there was likewise seen coming the cruel scylla, with the face and breast of a maiden and with the rest of the person in the form of a fish, and with her the old, ugly, and voracious charybdis, transfixed by an arrow in memory of her well-deserved punishment. and behind these, in order to leave the last part of the company more gladsome in aspect, there was seen coming for the last, all nude, the beautiful and pure-white galatea, beloved and gracious daughter of nereus and doris. fifteenth car, of pan. in the fifteenth car, which had the natural and true appearance of a shady forest counterfeited with much artifice, and was drawn by two great white he-goats, was seen coming the rubicund pan, the god of forests and of shepherds, in the form of an old and horned satyr, crowned with foliage of the pine, with the spotted skin of a panther across the body, and in the hands a great pipe with seven reeds and a pastoral staff. at the foot of the car were seen walking some other satyrs and some old sylvan gods, crowned with fennel and lilies, and holding some boughs of cypress in memory of the beloved cyparissus. after these, likewise, were seen coming two fauns crowned with laurel, and each with a cat upon the right shoulder; and behind them the wild and beautiful syrinx, beloved by pan, who, flying from him, is said to have been transformed by the naiad sisters into a tremulous and musical reed. syrinx had in her company the other nymph, pitys, likewise beloved by pan; but since the wind boreas was also and in like manner enamoured of her, it is believed that out of jealousy he hurled her over a most cruel rock, whereupon, being all shattered, it is said that out of pity she was transformed by mother earth into a beautiful pine, from the foliage of which her lover pan used, as has been shown above, to make himself a gracious and well-beloved garland. then after these was seen coming pales, the revered custodian and protectress of flocks, dressed as a gentle shepherdess, with a great vessel of milk in the hands, and a garland of medicinal herbs; and with her the protectress of herds, by name bubona, in a similar pastoral dress, with an ornate head of an ox that made a cap for her head; and myiagrus, the god of flies, dressed in white, with an infinite multitude of those importunate little creatures about his head and his person, with a garland of spondyl, and with the club of hercules in his hand; and evander, who first taught men in italy to make sacrifices to pan, adorned with royal purple and the royal head-band, and with the royal sceptre in his hand, concluded with gracious pomp the last part of that pastoral, indeed, yet pleasing and most fair company. sixteenth car, of pluto and of proserpine. then followed infernal pluto with queen proserpine, all nude, awful, and dark, and crowned with funeral cypress, holding a little sceptre in one of his hands as a sign of his royal power, and having at his feet the great, horrible, and triple-throated cerberus; but proserpine, who was seen with him (accompanied by two nymphs, one holding in the hand a round ball, and the other a great and strong key, denoting that one who has once come into that kingdom must abandon all hope of return), was shown clothed in a white and rich dress, ornate beyond belief. and both were in the usual car, drawn by four jet-black horses, whose reins were seen guided by a most hideous and infernal monster, who had with him, as worthy companions, the three likewise infernal furies, bloody, foul, and awful, with the hair and the whole person entwined with various venomous serpents. behind these were seen following the two centaurs, nessus and astylus, with bows and arrows, and besides these arms astylus carried in the hand a great eagle; and with them the proud giant briareus, who had a hundred hands armed with sword and buckler, and fifty heads, from which a stream of fire was seen spouting through the mouth and nostrils. these were followed by turbid acheron, pouring water and sand, livid and stinking, from a great vase that he carried in his hands, and with him was seen coming the other infernal river, cocytus, likewise pallid and dark, and likewise pouring from a similar vase a similar fetid and turbid stream; having with them the horrible and sluggish styx, daughter of oceanus, so much feared by all the gods, who was dressed in a nymph's habit, but dark and foul, and carried a similar vase, and seemed to be encompassed by the other infernal river, phlegethon, whose whole person, with his vase and the boiling waters, was tinted with a dark and fearful redness. then followed old charon, with the oar, and with the eyes (as dante said) of glowing coal; accompanied, to the end that not one of the infernal rivers might be absent, by the pallid, meagre, emaciated, and oblivious lethe, in whose hand was seen a similar vase, which likewise poured from every side turbid and livid water; and following behind them were the three great judges of hell, minos, Æacus, and rhadamanthus, the first being figured in royal form and habit, and the second and third attired in dark, grave, and venerable vestments. after these was seen coming phlegyas, the sacrilegious king of the lapithæ, recalling, by an arrow that transfixed his breast, the memory of the burned temple of phoebus and the chastisement received from him, and, for clearer demonstration, carrying that temple all burning in one of his hands. next was seen the afflicted sisyphus under the great and ponderous stone, and with him the famished and miserable tantalus, who was shown with the fruits so vainly desired close to his mouth. and then were seen coming, but in more gracious aspect, as if setting out from the glad elysian fields, with the comet-like star on the brow, and wearing the imperial habit, the divine julius and the happy octavianus augustus, his successor; the terrible and dreadful company being finally concluded in most noble fashion by the amazon penthesileia, adorned with the spear, the half-moon shield, and the royal band upon the head, and by the widowed queen tomyris, who likewise had the hands and side adorned with the bow and barbaric arrows. seventeenth car, of cybele. after these was seen coming cybele, the great mother of the gods, crowned with towers, and, for the reason that she is held to be goddess of the earth, robed in a vestment woven of various plants, with a sceptre in the hand, and seated upon a quadrangular car, which contained many other empty seats besides her own, and was drawn by two great lions; and for the adornment of the car were painted with most beautiful design four of her stories. for the first of these was seen how, when she was conveyed from pessinus to rome, the ship that was carrying her being stuck fast in the tiber, she was drawn miraculously to the bank by the vestal claudia with only her own simple girdle, to the rare marvel of the bystanders; even as for the second she was seen taken by command of her priests to the house of scipio nasica, who was judged to be the best and most holy man to be found in rome at that time. for the third, likewise, she was seen visited in phrygia by the goddess ceres, after she thought to have hidden her daughter proserpine safely in sicily; and for the fourth and last she was seen flying from the fury of the giants into egypt, as the poets relate, and constrained to transform herself into a blackbird. at the foot of the car, then, were seen riding ten corybantes, armed after the ancient fashion, who were making various extravagant gestures of head and person; after whom were seen coming two roman matrons in roman dress, with the head covered by a yellow veil, and with them the above-named scipio nasica and the vestal virgin claudia, who had over the head a square white kerchief with a border all around, which was fastened under the throat. and for the last, to give a gracious conclusion to the little company, there was seen coming with an aspect of great loveliness the young and beautiful atys, beloved most ardently, as we read, by cybele; who, besides the rich, easy, and charming costume of a huntsman, was seen most gracefully adorned by a very beautiful gilded collar. eighteenth car, of diana. in the eighteenth and incredibly beautiful car, drawn by two white stags, there was seen coming, with the gilded bow and gilded quiver, the huntress diana, who was shown seated with infinite grace and loveliness upon two other stags, which with their hindquarters made for her, as it were, a most fanciful seat; the rest of the car being rendered strangely gracious, lovely, and ornate by nine of her most pleasing fables. for the first of these was seen how, moved by pity for the flying arethusa, who was seen pursued by the enamoured alpheus, the goddess converted her into a fountain; even as for the second she was seen praying Æsculapius that he should consent to restore to life for her the dead but innocent hippolytus; which being accomplished, she was then seen in the third ordaining him guardian of her temple and her sacred wood in aricia. for the fourth she was seen chasing cynthia, violated by jove, from the pure waters where she used to bathe with her other virgin nymphs; and for the fifth was seen the deceit practised by her on the above-named alpheus, when, seeking presumptuously to obtain her as his wife, he was taken by her to see her dance, and there, having smeared her face with mire in company with the other nymphs, she constrained him, not being able to recognize her in that guise, to depart all derided and scorned. for the sixth, then, she was seen in company with her brother apollo, chastising proud niobe and slaying her with all her children; and for the seventh she was seen sending the great and savage boar into the calydonian forest, which laid all Ætolia waste, having been moved to just and righteous wrath against that people because they had discontinued her sacrifices. even as for the eighth she was seen not less wrathfully converting the unhappy actæon into a stag; but in the ninth and last, moved on the contrary by pity, she was seen transforming egeria, weeping for the death of her husband, numa pompilius, into a fountain. at the foot of the car, then, were seen coming eight of her huntress nymphs, with their bows and quivers, dressed in graceful, pleasing, loose, and easy garments, composed of skins of various animals as it were slain by them; and with them, as the last, concluding the small but gracious company, was young virbius, crowned with spotted-leaf myrtle, and holding in one hand a little broken chariot, and in the other a bunch of tresses virginal and blonde. nineteenth car, of ceres. in the nineteenth car, drawn by two great dragons, coming in no less pomp than the others, was seen ceres, the goddess of grain-crops, in the habit of a matron, with a garland of ears of corn and with ruddy locks; and with no less pomp that car was seen adorned by nine of her fables, which had been painted there. for the first of these was seen figured the happy birth of pluto, the god of riches, born, as we read in certain poets, from her and from the hero iasius; even as for the second she was seen washing with great care and feeding with her own milk the little triptolemus, son of eleusis and hyona. for the third was seen the same triptolemus flying by her advice upon one of the two dragons that had been presented to him by her, together with the car, to the end that he might go through the world piously teaching the care and cultivation of the fields; the other dragon having been killed by the impious king of the getæ, who sought with every effort likewise to slay triptolemus. for the fourth was seen how she hid her beloved daughter proserpine in sicily, foreseeing in a certain sense that which afterwards befell her; even as in the fifth, likewise, she was seen after that event, as has been told elsewhere, going to phrygia to visit her mother cybele; and in the sixth, as she was dwelling in that place, the same proserpine was seen appearing to her in a dream, and demonstrating to her in what a plight she found herself from pluto's rape of her; on which account, being all distraught, she was seen in the seventh returning in great haste to sicily. for the eighth, likewise, was seen how, not finding her there, in her deep anguish she kindled two great torches, being moved to the resolution to seek her throughout the whole world; and in the ninth and last she was seen arriving at the well of cyane, and there coming by chance upon the girdle of her stolen daughter, a sure proof of what had befallen her; whereupon in her great wrath, not having aught else on which to vent it, she was seen turning to break to pieces the rakes, hoes, ploughs, and other rustic implements that chanced to have been left there in the fields by the peasants. at the foot of the car, then, were seen walking figures signifying her various sacrifices; first, for those that are called the eleusinia, two little virgins attired in white vestments, each with a gracious little basket in the hands, one of which was seen to be all filled with various flowers, and the other with various ears of corn. after which, for those sacrifices that were offered to ceres as goddess of earth, there were seen coming two boys, two women, and two men, likewise all dressed in white, and all crowned with hyacinths, who were leading two great oxen, as it were to sacrifice them; and then, for those others that were offered to ceres the law-giver, called by the greeks thesmophoros, were seen coming two matrons only, very chaste in aspect, likewise dressed in white, and in like manner crowned with ears of corn and agnus-castus. and after these, in order to display in full the whole order of her sacrifices, there were seen coming three greek priests, likewise attired in white draperies, two of whom carried in the hands two lighted torches, and the other an ancient lamp, likewise lighted. and, finally, the sacred company was concluded by the two heroes so much beloved by ceres, of whom mention has been made above--triptolemus, namely, who carried a plough in the hand and was shown riding upon a dragon, and iasius, whom it was thought proper to figure in the easy, rich, and gracious habit of a huntsman. twentieth car, of bacchus. then followed the twentieth car, of bacchus, likewise shaped with singular artistry and with novel and truly most fanciful and bizarre invention; and it was seen in the form of a very graceful little ship all overlaid with silver, which was balanced in such wise upon a great base that had the true and natural appearance of the cerulean sea, that at the slightest movement it was seen, with extraordinary pleasure for the spectators, to roll from side to side in the very manner of a real ship upon the real sea. in it, besides the merry and laughing bacchus, attired in the usual manner and set in the most commanding place, there were seen in company with maron, king of thrace, some bacchantes and some satyrs all merry and joyful, sounding various cymbals and other suchlike instruments; and since, as it were, from a part of that happy ship there rose an abundant fount of bright and foaming wine, they were seen not only drinking the wine very often from various cups, with much rejoicing, but also with the licence that wine induces inviting the bystanders to drink and sing in their company. in place of a mast, also, the little ship had a great thyrsus wreathed in vine-leaves, which supported a graceful and swelling sail, upon which, to the end that it might be gladsome and ornate, were seen painted many of those bacchantes who, so it is said, are wont to run about, drinking and dancing and singing with much licence, over mount tmolus, father of the choicest wines. at the foot of the car, then, was seen walking the beautiful syce, beloved by bacchus, who had upon the head a garland, and in the hand a branch, of fig; and with her, likewise, was the other love of the same bacchus, staphyle by name, who, besides a great vine-branch with many grapes that she carried in the hand, was also seen to have made in no less lovely fashion about her head, with vine-leaves and bunches of similar grapes, a green and graceful garland. after these came the fair and youthful cissus, also beloved by bacchus, who, falling by misfortune, was transformed by mother earth into ivy, on which account he was seen in a habit all covered with ivy in every part. and behind him was seen coming old silenus, all naked and bound upon an ass with various garlands of ivy, as if by reason of his drunkenness he were unable to support himself, and carrying attached to his girdle a great wooden cup all worn away; and with him, likewise, came the god of banquets, called by the ancients comus, represented in the form of a ruddy, beardless, and most beautiful youth, all crowned with roses, but in aspect so somnolent and languid, that it appeared almost as if the huntsman's boar-spear and the lighted torch that he carried in the hands might fall from them at any moment. there followed with a panther upon the back the old and likewise ruddy and laughing drunkenness, attired in a red habit, with a great foaming vessel of wine in the hands, and with her the young and merry laughter; and behind these were seen coming in the garb of shepherds and nymphs two men and two women, followers of bacchus, crowned and adorned in various ways with various leaves of the vine. and semele, the mother of bacchus, all smoky and scorched in memory of the ancient fable, with narcæus, the first ordinator of the sacrifices to bacchus, who had a great he-goat upon his back, and was adorned with antique and shining arms, appeared to form a worthy, appropriate, and gracious end to that glad and festive company. twenty-first and last car. the twenty-first and last car, representing the roman mount janiculum, and drawn by two great white rams, was given to the venerable janus, figured with two heads, one young and the other old, as is the custom, and holding in the hands a great key and a thin wand, to demonstrate the power over doors and streets that is attributed to him. at the foot of the car was seen coming sacred religion, attired in white linen vestments, with one of the hands open, and carrying in the other an ancient altar with a burning flame; and on either side of her were the prayers, represented, as they are described by homer, in the form of two wrinkled, lame, cross-eyed, and melancholy old women, dressed in draperies of turquoise-blue. after these were seen coming antevorta and postvorta, the companions of divinity, of whom it was believed that the first had power to know whether prayers were or were not to be heard by the gods; and the second, who rendered account only of the past, was able to say whether prayers had or had not been heard; the first being figured in the comely aspect and habit of a matron, with a lamp and a corn-sieve in the hands, and a head-dress covered with ants upon the head; and the second, clothed in front all in white, and figured with the face of an old woman, was seen to be attired at the back in heavy black draperies, and to have the hair, on the contrary, blonde, curling, and beautiful, such as is generally seen in young and love-compelling women. then followed that favour which we seek from the gods, to the end that our desires may have a happy and fortunate end; and he, although shown in the aspect of a youth, blind and with wings, and with a proud and haughty presence, yet at times appeared timid and trembling because of the rolling wheel upon which he was seen standing, doubting that, as is often seen to happen, at every least turn he might come with great ease to fall from it; and with him was seen success, or, as we would rather say, the happy end of our enterprises, figured as a gay and lovely youth, holding in one of the hands a cup, and in the other an ear of corn and a poppy. then there followed, in the form of a virgin crowned with oriental palm, with a star upon the brow and with a branch of the same palm in the hand, anna perenna, revered by the ancients as a goddess, believing that she was able to make the year fortunate, and with her were seen coming two fetiales with the roman toga, adorned with garlands of verbenæ and with a sow and a stone in the hands, to denote the kind of oath that they were wont to take when they made any declaration for the roman people. behind these, then, following the religious ceremonies of war, was seen coming a roman consul in the gabinian and purple toga, and with a spear in the hand, and with him two roman senators likewise in the toga, and two soldiers in full armour and with the roman javelin. and finally, concluding that company and all the others, there followed money, attired in draperies of yellow, white, and tawny colour, and holding in the hands various instruments for striking coins; the use of which, so it is believed, was first discovered and introduced, as a thing necessary to the human race, by janus. such were the cars and companies of that marvellous masquerade, the like of which was never seen before, and, perchance, will never be seen again in our day. and about it--leaving on one side, as a burden too great for my shoulders, the vast and incomparable praises that would be due to it--there had been marshalled with much judgment six very rich masks in the guise of sergeants, or rather, captains, who, harmonizing very well with the invention of the whole, were seen, according as necessity demanded, running hither and thither and keeping all that long line, which occupied about half a mile of road, advancing in due order with decorum and grace. now, drawing near at length to the end of that splendid and most merry carnival, which would have been much more merry and celebrated with much more splendour, if the inopportune death of pius iv, which happened a short time before, had not incommoded a good number of very reverend cardinals and other very illustrious lords from all italy, who, invited to those most royal nuptials, had made preparations to come; and leaving on one side the rich and lovely inventions without number seen in the separate masks, thanks to the amorous young men, not only in the innumerable banquets and other suchlike entertainments, but wherever they broke a lance or tilted at the ring, now in one place and now in another, and wherever they made similar trial of their dexterity and valour in a thousand other games; and treating only of the last festival, which was seen on the last day, i shall say that although there had been seen the innumerable things, so rare, so rich, and so ingenious, of which mention has been made above, yet this festival, from the pleasing nature of the play, from the richness, emulation and competence shown in it by our craftsmen (some of whom, as always happens, considered themselves surpassed in the things accomplished), and from a certain extravagance and variety in the inventions, some of which appeared beautiful and ingenious, and others ridiculous and clumsy, this one, i say, also displayed an extraordinary and most charming beauty, and likewise gave to the admiring people, amid all that satiety, a pleasure and a delight that were marvellous and perhaps unexpected; and it was a buffalo-race, composed of ten distinct companies, which were distributed, besides those that the sovereign princes took for themselves, partly among the lords of the court and the strangers, and partly among the gentlemen of the city and the two colonies of merchants, the spanish and the genoese. first, then, upon the first buffalo that appeared in the appointed place, there was seen coming wickedness, adorned with great art and judgment, who was shown being chased, goaded and beaten by six cavaliers likewise figured most ingeniously as scourging, or rather, scourges. after that, upon the second buffalo, which had the appearance of a lazy ass, was seen coming the old and drunken silenus, supported by six bacchants, who were seen striving at the same time to goad and spur the ass; even as upon the third, which had the form of a calf, there was likewise seen coming the ancient osiris, accompanied by six of the companions or soldiers with whom, it is believed, that deity travelled over many parts of the world and taught to the still new and barbarous races the cultivation of the fields. upon the fourth, without any disguise, was placed as on horseback human life, likewise chased and goaded by six cavaliers who represented the years; even as upon the fifth, also without any disguise, was seen coming fame with the many mouths and with the great wings of desire that are customary, also chased by six cavaliers who resembled virtue, or the virtues; which virtues, so it was said, chasing her, were aspiring to obtain the due and well-deserved reward of honour. upon the sixth, then, was seen coming a very rich mercury, who was shown being goaded and urged on no less than the others by six other similar figures of mercury; and upon the seventh was seen the nurse of romulus, acca laurentia, with six of her fratres arvales, who were not only urging her lazy animal to a run with their goads, but seemed almost to have been introduced to keep her company with much fittingness and pomp. upon the eighth, next, was seen coming with much grace and richness a large and very natural owl, with six cavaliers in the form of bats most natural and marvellously similar to the reality, who with most dexterous horses, goading the buffalo now from one side and now from another, were seen delivering a thousand joyous and most festive assaults. for the ninth, with singular artifice and ingenious illusion, there was seen appearing little by little a cloud, which, after it had held the eyes of the spectators for some time in suspense, was seen in an instant as it were to part asunder, and from it issued the seafaring misenus seated upon the buffalo, which at once was seen pursued and pricked by six tritons adorned in a very rich and most masterly fashion. and for the tenth and last there was seen coming, almost with the same artifice, but in a different and much larger form and in a different colour, another similar cloud, which, parting asunder in like manner at the appointed place with smoke and flame and a horrible thunder, was seen to have within it infernal pluto, drawn in his usual car, and from it in a most gracious manner was seen to come forth in place of a buffalo a great and awful cerberus, who was chased by six of those glorious ancient heroes who are supposed to dwell in peace in the elysian fields. all those companies, when they had appeared one by one upon the piazza, and presented the due and gracious spectacle, and after a long breaking of lances, a great caracoling of horses, and a thousand other suchlike games, with which the fair ladies and the multitude of spectators were entertained for a good time, finally made their way to the place where the buffaloes were to be set to race. and there, the trumpet having sounded, and each company striving that its buffalo should arrive at the appointed goal before the others, and now one prevailing and now another, all of a sudden, when they were come within a certain distance of the place, all the air about them was seen filled with terror and alarm from the great and deafening fires that smote them now on one side and now on another, in a thousand strange fashions, insomuch that very often it was seen to happen that one who at the beginning had been nearest to winning the coveted prize, the timid and not very obedient animal taking fright at the noise, the smoke, and the fires above described, which, in proportion as one went ahead, became ever greater and assailed that one with ever greater vehemence, so that the animals turned in various directions, and very often took to headlong flight--it was seen many times, i say, that the first were constrained to return among the last; while the confusion of men, buffaloes, and horses, and the lightning-flashes, noises, and thunderings, produced a strange, novel, and incomparable pleasure and delight. and thus with that spectacle was finally contrived a splendid, although for many perhaps disturbing, conclusion of the joyous and most festive carnival. in the first and holy days of the following lent, with the thought of pleasing the most devout bride, but also with truly extraordinary pleasure for the whole people, who, having been deprived of such things for many years, and part of the fragile apparatus having been lost, feared that they would never be resumed, there was held the festival, so famous and so celebrated in olden days, of s. felice, so-called from the church where it used formerly to be represented. but this time, besides that which their excellencies, our lords, themselves deigned to do, it was represented at the pains and expense of four of the principal and most ingenious gentlemen of the city in the church of s. spirito, as a place more capacious and more beautiful, with a vast apparatus of machinery and all the old instruments and not a few newly added. in it, besides many prophets and sibyls who, singing in the simple ancient manner, announced the coming of our lord jesus christ, very notable--nay, marvellous, stupendous, and incomparable, from its having been contrived in those ignorant ages--was the paradise, which, opening in an instant, was seen filled with all the hierarchies of the angels and of the saints both male and female, and with various movements representing its different spheres, and as it were sending down to earth the divine gabriel shining with infinite splendour, in the midst of eight other little angels, to bring the annunciation to the glorious virgin, who was seen waiting in her chamber, all humble and devout; all being let down (and reascending afterwards), to the rare marvel of everyone, from the highest part of the cupola of that church, where the above-described paradise was figured, down to the floor of the chamber of the virgin, which was not raised any great height from the ground, and all with such security and by methods so beautiful, so facile, and so ingenious, that it appeared scarcely possible that the human brain was able to go so far. and with this the festivities all arranged by our most excellent lords for those most royal nuptials had a conclusion not only renowned and splendid, but also, as was right fitting for true christian princes, religious and devout. many things, also, could have been told of a very noble spectacle presented by the most liberal signor paolo giordano orsino, duke of bracciano, in a great and most heroic theatre, all suspended in the air, which was constructed by him of woodwork in those days with royal spirit and incredible expense; and in it, with very rich inventions of the knights challengers, of whom he was one, and of the knights adventurers, there was fought with various arms a combat for a barrier, and there was performed with beautifully trained horses, to the rare delight of the spectators, the graceful dance called the battaglia. but this, being hindered by inopportune rains, was prolonged over many days; and since, seeking to treat of it at any length, it would require almost an entire work, being now weary, i believe that i may be pardoned if without saying more of it i bring this my long--i know not whether to call it tedious--labour, at length to an end. giorgio vasari description of the works of giorgio vasari painter and architect of arezzo having discoursed hitherto of the works of others, with the greatest diligence and sincerity that my brain has been able to command, i also wish at the end of these my labours to assemble together and make known to the world the works that the divine goodness in its grace has enabled me to execute, for the reason that, if indeed they are not of that perfection which i might wish, it will yet be seen by him who may consent to look at them with no jaundiced eye that they have been wrought by me with study, diligence, and loving labour, and are therefore worthy, if not of praise, at least of excuse; besides which, being out in the world and open to view, i cannot hide them. and since perchance at some time they might be described by some other person, it is surely better that i should confess the truth, and of myself accuse my imperfection, which i know only too well, being assured of this, that if, as i said, there may not be seen in them the perfection of excellence, there will be perceived at least an ardent desire to work well, great and indefatigable effort, and the extraordinary love that i bear to our arts. wherefore it may come about that, according to the law, myself confessing openly my own deficiencies, i shall be in great part pardoned. to begin, then, with my earliest years, let me say that, having spoken sufficiently of the origin of my family, of my birth and childhood, and how i was set by antonio, my father, with all manner of lovingness on the path of the arts, and in particular that of design, to which he saw me much inclined, with good occasions in the life of luca signorelli of cortona, my kinsman, in that of francesco salviati, and in many other places in the present work, i shall not proceed to repeat the same things. but i must relate that after having drawn in my first years all the good pictures that are about the churches of arezzo, the first rudiments were taught to me with some method by the frenchman guglielmo da marcilla, whose life and works we have described above. then, having been taken to florence in the year by silvio passerini, cardinal of cortona, i gave some little attention to design under michelagnolo, andrea del sarto, and others. but the medici having been driven from florence in the year , and in particular alessandro and ippolito, with whom, young as i was, i had a strait attachment of service through the said cardinal, my paternal uncle don antonio made me return to arezzo, where a short time before my father had died of plague; which don antonio, keeping me at a distance from the city lest i might be infected by the plague, was the reason that i, to avoid idleness, went about exercising my hand throughout the district of arezzo, near our parts, painting some things in fresco for the peasants of the countryside, although as yet i had scarcely ever touched colours; in doing which i learned that to try your hand and work by yourself is helpful and instructive, and enables you to gain excellent practice. in the year afterwards, , the plague being finished, the first work that i executed was a little altar-picture for the church of s. piero, of the servite friars, at arezzo; and in that picture, which is placed against a pilaster, are three half-length figures, s. agatha, s. rocco, and s. sebastian. being seen by rosso, a very famous painter, who came in those days to arezzo, it came about that he, recognizing in it something of the good taken from nature, desired to know me, and afterwards assisted me with designs and counsel. nor was it long before by his means m. lorenzo gamurrini gave me an altar-picture to execute, for which rosso made me the design; and i then painted it with all the study, labour, and diligence that were possible to me, in order to learn and to acquire something of a name. and if my powers had equalled my good will, i would have soon become a passing good painter, so much i studied and laboured at the things of art; but i found the difficulties much greater than i had judged at the beginning. however, not losing heart, i returned to florence, where, perceiving that i could not save only after a long time become such as to be able to assist the three sisters and two younger brothers left to me by my father, i placed myself with a goldsmith. but not for long, because in the year , the enemy having come against florence, i went off with the goldsmith manno, who was very much my friend, to pisa, where, setting aside the goldsmith's craft, i painted in fresco the arch that is over the door of the old company of the florentines, and some pictures in oils, which were given to me to execute by means of don miniato pitti, at that time abbot of agnano without the city of pisa, and of luigi guicciardini, who was then in that city. then, the war growing every day more general, i resolved to return to arezzo; but, not being able to go by the direct and ordinary road, i made my way by the mountains of modena to bologna. there, finding that some triumphal arches were being decorated in painting for the coronation of charles v, young as i was i obtained some work, which brought me honour and profit; and since i drew passing well, i would have found means to live and work there. but the desire that i had to revisit my family and other relatives brought it about that, having found good company, i returned to arezzo, where, finding my affairs in a good state after the diligent care taken of them by the above-named don antonio, my uncle, i settled down with a quiet mind and applied myself to design, executing also some little things in oils of no great importance. meanwhile the above-named don miniato pitti was made abbot or prior, i know not which, of s. anna, a monastery of monte oliveto in the territory of siena, and he sent for me; and so i made for him and for albenga, their general, some pictures and other works in painting. then, the same man having been made abbot of s. bernardo in arezzo, i painted for him two pictures in oils of job and moses on the balustrade of the organ. and since the work pleased those monks, they commissioned me to paint some pictures in fresco--namely, the four evangelists--on the vaulting and walls of a portico before the principal door of the church, with god the father on the vaulting, and some other figures large as life; in which, although as a youth of little experience i did not do all that one more practised would have done, nevertheless i did all that i could, and work which pleased those fathers, having regard for my small experience and age. but scarcely had i finished that work when cardinal ippolito de' medici, passing through arezzo by post, took me away to rome to serve him, as has been related in the life of salviati; and there, by the courtesy of that lord, i had facilities to attend for many months to the study of design. and i could say with truth that those facilities and my studies at that time were my true and principal master in my art, although before that those named above had assisted me not a little; and there had not gone from my heart the ardent desire to learn, and the untiring zeal to be always drawing night and day. there was also of great benefit to me in those days the competition of my young contemporaries and companions, who have since become for the most part very excellent in our art. nor was it otherwise than a very sharp spur to me to have such a desire of glory, and to see many who had proved themselves very rare, and had risen to honour and rank; so that i used to say to myself at times: "why should it not be in my power to obtain by assiduous study and labour some of that grandeur and rank that so many others have acquired? they, also, were of flesh and bones, as i am." urged on, therefore, by so many sharp spurs, and by seeing how much need my family had of me, i disposed myself never to shrink from any fatigue, discomfort, vigil, and toil, in order to achieve that end; and, having thus resolved in my mind, there remained nothing notable at that time in rome, or afterwards in florence, and in other places where i dwelt, that i did not draw in my youth, and not pictures only, but also sculptures and architectural works ancient and modern. and besides the proficience that i made in drawing the vaulting and chapel of michelagnolo, there remained nothing of raffaello, polidoro, and baldassarre da siena, that i did not likewise draw in company with francesco salviati, as has been told already in his life. and to the end that each of us might have drawings of everything, during the day the one would not draw the same things as the other, but different, and then at night we used to copy each other's drawings, so as to save time and extend our studies; not to mention that more often than not we ate our morning meal standing up, and little at that. after which incredible labour, the first work that issued from my hands, as from my own forge, was a great picture with figures large as life, of a venus with the graces adorning and beautifying her, which cardinal de' medici caused me to paint; but of that picture there is no need to speak, because it was the work of a lad, nor would i touch on it, save that it is dear to me to remember still these first beginnings and many upward steps of my apprenticeship in the arts. enough that that lord and others gave me to believe that there was in it a certain something of a good beginning and of a lively and resolute spirit. and since among other things i had made therein to please my fancy a lustful satyr who, standing hidden amid some bushes, was rejoicing and feasting himself on the sight of venus and the graces nude, that so pleased the cardinal that he had me clothed anew from head to foot, and then gave orders that i should paint in a larger picture, likewise in oils, the battle of the satyrs with the fauns, sylvan gods, and children, forming a sort of bacchanal; whereupon, setting to work, i made the cartoon and then sketched in the canvas in colours, which was ten braccia long. having then to depart in the direction of hungary, the cardinal made me known to pope clement and left me to the protection of his holiness, who gave me into the charge of signor jeronimo montaguto, his chamberlain, with letters authorizing that, if i might wish to fly from the air of rome that summer, i should be received in florence by duke alessandro; which it would have been well for me to do, because, choosing after all to stay in rome, what with the heat, the air, and my fatigue, i fell sick in such sort that in order to be restored i was forced to have myself carried by litter to arezzo. finally, however, being well again, about the th of the following december i came to florence, where i was received by the above-named duke with kindly mien, and shortly afterwards given into the charge of the magnificent m. ottaviano de' medici, who so took me under his protection, that as long as he lived he treated me always as a son; and his blessed memory i shall always remember and revere, as of a most affectionate father. returning then to my usual studies, i received facilities by means of that lord to enter at my pleasure into the new sacristy of s. lorenzo, where are the works of michelagnolo, he having gone in those days to rome; and so i studied them for some time with much diligence, just as they were on the ground. then, setting myself to work, i painted in a picture of three braccia a dead christ carried to the sepulchre by nicodemus, joseph, and others, and behind them the maries weeping; which picture, when it was finished, was taken by duke alessandro. and it was a good and auspicious beginning for my labours, for the reason that not only did he hold it in account as long as he lived, but it has been ever since in the chamber of duke cosimo, and is now in that of the most illustrious prince, his son; and although at times i have desired to set my hand upon it again, in order to improve it in some parts, i have not been allowed. duke alessandro, then, having seen this my first work, ordained that i should finish the ground-floor room in the palace of the medici which had been left incomplete, as has been related, by giovanni da udine. whereupon i painted there four stories of the actions of cæsar; his swimming with the commentaries in one hand and a sword in the mouth, his causing the writings of pompeius to be burned in order not to see the works of his enemies, his revealing himself to a helmsman while tossed by fortune on the sea, and, finally, his triumph; but this last was not completely finished. during which time, although i was but little more than eighteen years of age, the duke gave me a salary of six crowns a month, a place at table for myself and a servant, and rooms to live in, with many other conveniences. and although i knew that i was very far from deserving so much, yet i did all that i could with diligence and lovingness, nor did i shrink from asking from my elders whatever i did not know myself; wherefore on many occasions i was assisted with counsel and with work by tribolo, bandinelli, and others. i painted, then, in a picture three braccia high, duke alessandro himself in armour, portrayed from life, with a new invention in a seat formed of captives bound together, and with other fantasies. and i remember that besides the portrait, which was a good likeness, in seeking to make the burnished surface of the armour bright, shining, and natural, i was not very far from losing my wits, so much did i exert myself in copying every least thing from the reality. however, despairing to be able to approach to the truth in the work, i took jacopo da pontormo, whom i revered for his great ability, to see it and to advise me; and he, having seen the picture and perceived my agony, said to me lovingly: "my son, as long as this real lustrous armour stands beside the picture, your armour will always appear to you as painted, for, although lead-white is the most brilliant pigment that art employs, the iron is yet more brilliant and lustrous. take away the real armour, and you will then see that your counterfeit armour is not such poor stuff as you think it." that picture, when it was finished, i gave to the duke, and the duke presented it to m. ottaviano de' medici, in whose house it has been up to the present day, in company with the portrait of caterina, the then young sister of the duke, and afterwards queen of france, and that of the magnificent lorenzo, the elder. and in the same house are three pictures also by my hand and executed in my youth; in one is abraham sacrificing isaac, in the second christ in the garden, and in the third his supper with the apostles. meanwhile cardinal ippolito died, in whom was centred the sum of all my hopes, and i began to recognize how vain generally are the hopes of this world, and that a man must trust mostly in himself and in being of some account. after these works, perceiving that the duke was all given over to fortifications and to building, i began, the better to be able to serve him, to give attention to matters of architecture, and spent much time upon them. but meanwhile, festive preparations having to be made in florence in the year for receiving the emperor charles v, the duke, in giving orders for that, commanded the deputies charged with the care of those pomps, as has been related in the life of tribolo, that they should have me with them to design all the arches and other ornaments to be made for that entry. which done, there was allotted to me for my benefit, besides the great banners of the castle and fortress, as has been told, the façade in the manner of a triumphal arch that was constructed at s. felice in piazza, forty braccia high and twenty wide, and then the ornamentation of the porta a s. piero gattolini; works all great and beyond my strength. and, what was worse, those favours having drawn down upon me a thousand envious thoughts, about twenty men who were helping me to do the banners and the other labours left me nicely in the lurch, at the persuasion of one person or another, to the end that i might not be able to execute works so many and of such importance. but i, who had foreseen the malice of such creatures (to whom i had always sought to give assistance), partly labouring with my own hand day and night, and partly aided by painters brought in from without, who helped me secretly, attended to my business, and strove to conquer all such difficulties and treacheries by means of the works themselves. during that time bertoldo corsini, who was then proveditor-general to his excellency, had reported to the duke that i had undertaken to do so many things that it would never be possible for me to have them finished in time, particularly because i had no men and the works were much in arrears. whereupon the duke sent for me, and told me what he had heard; and i answered that my works were well advanced, as his excellency might see at his pleasure, and that the end would do credit to the whole. then i went away, and no long time passed before he came secretly to where i was working, and, having seen everything, recognized in part the envy and malice of those who were pressing upon me without having any cause. the time having come when everything was to be in order, i had finished my works to the last detail and set them in their places, to the great satisfaction of the duke and of all the city; whereas those of some who had thought more of my business than of their own, were set in place unfinished. when the festivities were over, besides four hundred crowns that were paid to me for my work, the duke gave me three hundred that were taken away from those who had not carried their works to completion by the appointed time, according as had been arranged by agreement. and with those earnings and donations i married one of my sisters, and shortly afterwards settled another as a nun in the murate at arezzo, giving to the convent besides the dowry, or rather, alms, an altar-picture of the annunciation by my hand, with a tabernacle of the sacrament accommodated in that picture, which was placed within their choir, where they perform their offices. having then received from the company of the corpus domini, at arezzo, the commission for the altar-piece of the high-altar of s. domenico, i painted in it christ taken down from the cross; and shortly afterwards i began for the company of s. rocco the altar-picture of their church, in florence. now, while i was going on winning for myself honour, name, and wealth under the protection of duke alessandro, that poor lord was cruelly murdered, and there was snatched away from me all hope of that which i was promising to myself from fortune by means of his favour; wherefore, having been robbed within a few years of clement, ippolito, and alessandro, i resolved at the advice of m. ottaviano that i would never again follow the fortune of courts, but only art, although it would have been easy to establish myself with signor cosimo de' medici, the new duke. and so, while carrying forward in arezzo the above-named altar-picture and the façade of s. rocco, with the ornament, i was making preparations to go to rome, when by means of m. giovanni pollastra--and by the will of god, to whom i have always commended myself, and to whom i attribute and have always attributed my every blessing--i was invited to camaldoli, the centre of the camaldolese congregation, by the fathers of that hermitage, to see that which they were designing to have done in their church. arriving there, i found supreme pleasure in the alpine and eternal solitude and quietness of that holy place; and although i became aware at the first moment that those fathers of venerable aspect were beside themselves at seeing me so young, i took heart and talked to them to such purpose, that they resolved that they would avail themselves of my hand in the many pictures in oils and in fresco that were to be painted in their church of camaldoli. now, while they wished that before any other thing i should execute the picture of the high-altar, i proved to them with good reasons that it was better to paint first one of the lesser pictures, which were going in the tramezzo,[ ] and that, having finished it, if it should please them, i would be able to continue. besides that, i would not make any fixed agreement with them as to money, but said that if my work, when finished, were to please them, they might pay me for it as they chose, and, if it did not please them, they might return it to me, and i would keep it for myself most willingly; which condition appearing to them only too honest and loving, they were content that i should set my hand to the work. they said to me, then, that they wished to have in it our lady with her son in her arms, and s. john the baptist and s. jerome, who were both hermits and lived in woods and forests; and i departed from the hermitage and made my way down to their abbey of camaldoli, where, having made a design with great rapidity, which pleased them, i began the altar-piece, and in two months had it completely finished and set in place, to the great satisfaction of those fathers, as they gave me to understand, and of myself. and in that period of two months i proved how much more one is assisted in studies by sweet tranquillity and honest solitude than by the noises of public squares and courts; i recognized, i say, my error in having in the past placed my hopes in men and in the follies and intrigues of this world. that altar-picture finished, then, they allotted to me straightway the rest of the tramezzo[ ] of the church--namely, the scenes and other things in fresco-work to be painted there both high and low, which i was to execute during the following summer, for the reason that in the winter it would be scarcely possible to work in fresco at that altitude, among those mountains. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] meanwhile i returned to arezzo and finished the altar-picture for s. rocco, painting in it our lady, six saints, and a god the father with some thunderbolts in the hand, representing the pestilence, which he is in the act of hurling down, but s. rocco and other saints make intercession for the people. and in the façade are many figures in fresco, which, like the altar-picture, are no better than they should be. then fra bartolommeo gratiani, a friar of s. agostino in monte sansovino, sent to invite me to val di caprese, and commissioned me to execute a great altar-piece in oils for the high-altar of the church of s. agostino in that same monte sansovino. and after we had come to an agreement, i made my way to florence to see m. ottaviano, where, staying several days, i had much ado to prevent myself from re-entering the service of the court, as i was minded not to do. however, by advancing good reasons i won the battle, and i resolved that by hook or by crook, before doing anything else, i would go to rome. but in that i did not succeed until i had made for that same messer ottaviano a copy of the picture in which formerly raffaello da urbino had portrayed pope leo, cardinal giulio de' medici, and cardinal de' rossi, for the duke was claiming the original, which was then in the possession of messer ottaviano; and the copy that i made is now in the house of the heirs of that lord, who on my departure for rome wrote me a letter of exchange for five hundred crowns on giovan battista puccini, which he was to pay me on demand, and said to me: "use this money to enable you to attend to your studies, and afterwards, when you find it convenient, you can return it to me either in work or in cash, just as you please." arriving in rome, then, in february of the year , i stayed there until the end of june, giving my attention in company with giovan battista cungi of the borgo, my assistant, to drawing all that i had left not drawn the other times that i had been in rome, and particularly everything that was in the underground grottoes. nor did i leave anything either in architecture or in sculpture that i did not draw and measure, insomuch that i can say with truth that the drawings that i made in that space of time were more than three hundred; and for many years afterwards i found pleasure and advantage in examining them, refreshing the memory of the things of rome. and how much those labours and studies benefited me, was seen after my return to tuscany in the altar-picture that i executed at monte sansovino, in which i painted with a somewhat better manner the assumption of our lady, and at the foot, besides the apostles who are about the sepulchre, s. augustine and s. romualdo. having then gone to camaldoli, according as i had promised those eremite fathers, i painted in the other altar-piece of the tramezzo[ ] the nativity of jesus christ, representing a night illumined by the splendour of the newborn christ, who is surrounded by some shepherds adoring him; in doing which, i strove to imitate with colours the rays of the sun, and copied the figures and all the other things in that work from nature and in the proper light, to the end that they might be as similar as possible to the reality. then, since that light could not pass above the hut, from there upwards and all around i availed myself of a light that comes from the splendour of the angels that are in the air, singing gloria in excelsis deo; not to mention that in certain places the shepherds that are around make light with burning sheaves of straw, and also the moon and the star, and the angel that is appearing to certain shepherds. for the building, then, i made some antiquities after my own fancy, with broken statues and other things of that kind. in short, i executed that work with all my power and knowledge, and although i did not satisfy with the hand and the brush my great desire and eagerness to work supremely well, nevertheless the picture has pleased many; wherefore messer fausto sabeo, a man of great learning who was then custodian of the pope's library, and some others after him, wrote many latin verses in praise of that picture, moved perhaps more by affectionate feeling than by the excellence of the work. be that as it may, if there be in it anything of the good, it was the gift of god. that altar-picture finished, those fathers resolved that i should paint in fresco on the façade the stories that were to be there, whereupon i painted over the door a picture of the hermitage, with s. romualdo and a doge of venice who was a saintly man on one side, and on the other a vision which the above-named saint had in that place where he afterwards made his hermitage; with some fantasies, grotesques, and other things that are to be seen there. which done, they ordained that i should return in the summer of the following year to execute the picture of the high-altar. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] meanwhile the above-named don miniato pitti, who was then visitor to the congregation of monte oliveto, having seen the altar-picture of monte sansovino and the works of camaldoli, and finding in bologna the florentine don filippo serragli, abbot of s. michele in bosco, said to him that, since the refectory of that honoured monastery was to be painted, it appeared to him that the work should be allotted to me and not to another. being therefore summoned to go to bologna, i undertook to do it, although it was a great and important work; but first i desired to see all the most famous works in painting that were in that city, both by bolognese and by others. the work of the head-wall of that refectory was divided into three pictures; in one was to be when abraham prepared food for the angels in the valley of mamre, in the second christ in the house of mary magdalene and martha, speaking with martha, and saying to her that mary had chosen the better part, and in the third was to be s. gregory at table with twelve poor men, among whom he recognized one as christ. then, setting my hand to the work, i depicted in the last s. gregory at table in a convent, served by white friars of that order, that i might be able to include those fathers therein, according to their wish. besides that, i made in the figure of that saintly pontiff the likeness of pope clement vii, and about him, among many lords, ambassadors, princes, and other personages who stand there to see him eat, i portrayed duke alessandro de' medici, in memory of the benefits and favours that i had received from him, and of his having been what he was, and with him many of my friends. and among those who are serving the poor men at table, i portrayed some friars of that convent with whom i was intimate, such as the strangers' attendants who waited upon me, the dispenser, the cellarer, and others of the kind; and so, also, the abbot serragli, the general don cipriano da verona, and bentivoglio. in like manner, i copied the vestments of that pontiff from the reality, counterfeiting velvets, damasks, and other draperies of silk and gold of every kind; but the service of the table, vases, animals, and other things, i caused to be executed by cristofano of the borgo, as was told in his life. in the second scene i sought to make the heads, draperies, and buildings not only different from the first, but in such a manner as to make as clearly evident as possible the lovingness of christ in instructing the magdalene, and the affection and readiness of martha in arranging the table, and her lamentation at being left alone by her sister in such labours and service; to say nothing of the attentiveness of the apostles, and of many other things worthy of consideration in that picture. as for the third scene, i painted the three angels--coming to do this i know not how--within a celestial light which seems to radiate from them, while the rays of the sun surround the cloud in which they are. of the three angels the old abraham is adoring one, although those that he sees are three; while sarah stands laughing and wondering how that can come to pass which has been promised to her, and hagar, with ishmael in her arms, is departing from the hospitable shelter. the same radiance also gives light to some servants who are preparing the table, among whom are some who, not being able to endure that splendour, place their hands over their eyes and seek to shade themselves. which variety of things, since strong shadows and brilliant lights give greater force to pictures, caused this one to have more relief than the other two, and, the colours being varied, they produced a very different effect. but would i had been able to carry my conception into execution, even as both then and afterwards, with new inventions and fantasies, i was always seeking out the laborious and difficult in art. this work, then, whatever it may be, was executed by me in eight months, together with a frieze in fresco, architectural ornaments, carvings, seat-backs, panels, and other adornments over the whole work and the whole refectory; and the price of all i was content to make two hundred crowns, as one who aspired more to glory than to gain. wherefore m. andrea alciati, my very dear friend, who was then reading in bologna, caused these words to be placed at the foot: octonis mensibus opus ab aretino georgio pictum, non tam precio quam amicorum obsequis et honoris voto, anno philippus serralius pon. curavit. at this same time i executed two little altar-pictures, of the dead christ and of the resurrection, which were placed by the abbot don miniato pitti in the church of s. maria di barbiano, without san gimignano in valdelsa. which works finished, i returned straightway to florence, for the reason that treviso, maestro biagio, and other bolognese painters, thinking that i was seeking to establish myself in bologna and to take their works and commissions out of their hands, kept molesting me unceasingly; but they did more harm to themselves than to me, and their envious ways moved me to laughter. in florence, then, i copied for m. ottaviano a large portrait of cardinal ippolito down to the knees, and other pictures, with which i kept myself occupied until the insupportable heat of summer. which having come, i returned to the quiet and freshness of camaldoli, in order to execute the above-mentioned altar-piece of the high-altar. in that work i painted a christ taken down from the cross, with the greatest study and labour that were within my power; and since, in the course of the work and of time, it seemed necessary to me to improve certain things, and i was not satisfied with the first sketch, i gave it another priming and repainted it all anew, as it is now to be seen, and then, attracted by the solitude and staying in that same place, i executed there a picture for the same messer ottaviano, in which i painted a young s. john, nude, among some rocks and crags that i copied from nature among those mountains. and i had scarcely finished these works when there arrived in camaldoli messer bindo altoviti, who wished to arrange a transportation of great fir-trees to rome by way of the tiber, for the fabric of s. pietro, from the cella di s. alberigo, a place belonging to those fathers; and he, seeing all the works executed by me in that place, and by my good fortune liking them, resolved, before he departed thence, that i should paint an alter-picture for his church of s. apostolo in florence. wherefore, having finished that of camaldoli, with the façade of the chapel in fresco (wherein i made the experiment of combining work in oil-colours with the other, and succeeded passing well), i made my way to florence, and there executed that altar-picture. now, having to give a proof of my powers in florence, where i had not yet executed such a work, and having many rivals, and also a desire to acquire a name, i resolved that i would do my utmost in that work and put into it all the diligence that i might find possible. and in order to be able to do that free from every vexatious thought, i first married my third sister and bought a house already begun in arezzo, with a site for making most beautiful gardens, in the borgo di s. vito, in the best air of that city. in october, then, of the year , i began the altar-picture for messer bindo, proposing to paint in it a scene that should represent the conception of our lady, according to the title of the chapel; which subject presenting no little difficulty to me, messer bindo and i took the opinions of many common friends, men of learning, and finally i executed it in the following manner. having depicted the tree of the primal sin in the middle of the picture, i painted at its roots adam and eve naked and bound, as the first transgressors of the commandment of god, and then one by one, bound to the other branches, abraham, isaac, jacob, moses, aaron, joshua, david, and the other kings in succession, according to the order of time; all, i say, bound by both arms, excepting samuel and john the baptist, who are bound by one arm only, because they were blessed in the womb. i painted there, also, with the tail wound about the trunk of the tree, the ancient serpent, who, having a human form from the middle upwards, has the hands bound behind; and upon his head, treading upon his horns, is one foot of the glorious virgin, who has the other on a moon, being herself all clothed with the sun, and crowned with twelve stars. the virgin, i say, is supported in the air, within a splendour, by many nude little angels, who are illumined by the rays that come from her; which rays, likewise, passing through the leaves of the tree, shed light upon those bound to it, and appear to be loosing their bonds by means of the virtue and grace that they bring from her from whom they proceed. and in the heaven, at the top of the picture, are two children that are holding certain scrolls, in which are written these words: quos evÆ culpa damnavit, mariÆ gratia solvit. in short, so far as i can remember, i had not executed any work up to that time with more study or with more lovingness and labour; but all the same, while i may perhaps have satisfied others, i did not satisfy myself, although i know the time, study, and labour that i devoted to it, particularly to the nudes and heads, and, indeed, to every part. for the labours of that picture messer bindo gave me three hundred crowns of gold, besides which, in the following year, he showed me so many courtesies and kindnesses in his house in rome, where i made him a copy of the same altar-piece in a little picture, almost in miniature, that i shall always feel an obligation to his memory. at the same time that i painted that picture, which was placed, as i have said, in s. apostolo, i executed for m. ottaviano de' medici a venus and a leda from the cartoons of michelagnolo, and in a large picture a s. jerome in penitence of the size of life, who, contemplating the death of christ, whom he has before him on the cross, is beating his breast in order to drive from his mind the thoughts of venus and the temptations of the flesh, which at times tormented him, although he lived in woods and places wild and solitary, as he relates of himself at great length. to demonstrate which i made a venus who with love in her arms is flying from that contemplation, and holding play by the hand, while the quiver and arrows have fallen to the ground; besides which, the shafts shot by cupid against that saint return to him all broken, and some that fall are brought back to him by the doves of venus in their beaks. all these pictures, although perhaps at that time they pleased me, and were made by me as best i knew, i know not how much they please me at my present age; but, since art in herself is difficult, it is necessary to take from him who paints the best that he can do. this, indeed, i will say, because i can say it with truth, that i have always executed my pictures, inventions, and designs, whatever may be their value, i do not say only with the greatest possible rapidity, but also with incredible facility and without effort; for which let me call to witness, as i have mentioned in another place, the vast canvas that i painted in six days only, for s. giovanni in florence, in the year , for the baptism of the lord don francesco de' medici, now prince of florence and siena. now although i wished after these works to go to rome, in order to satisfy messer bindo altoviti, i did not succeed in doing it, because, being summoned to venice by messer pietro aretino, a poet of illustrious name at that time, and much my friend, i was forced to go there, since he much desired to see me. and, moreover, i did it willingly, in order to see on that journey the works of tiziano and of other painters; in which purpose i succeeded, for in a few days i saw the works of correggio at modena and parma, those of giulio romano at mantua, and the antiquities of verona. having finally arrived in venice, with two pictures painted by my hand from cartoons by michelagnolo, i presented them to don diego di mendoza, who sent me two hundred crowns of gold. nor had i been long in venice, when at the entreaty of aretino i executed for the gentlemen of the calza the scenic setting for a festival that they gave, wherein i had as my companions battista cungi and cristofano gherardi of borgo a san sepolcro and bastiano flori of arezzo, men very able and well practised, of all which enough has been said in another place; and also the nine painted compartments in the palace of messer giovanni cornaro, which are in the soffit of a chamber in that palace, which is by s. benedetto. after these and other works of no little importance that i executed in venice at that time, i departed, although i was overwhelmed by the commissions that were coming to me, on the th of august in the year , and returned to tuscany. there, before consenting to put my hand to any other thing, i painted on the vaulting of a chamber that had been built by my orders in my house which i have already mentioned, all the arts that are subordinate to or depend upon design. in the centre is a fame who is seated upon the globe of the world and sounds a golden trumpet, throwing away one of fire that represents calumny, and about her, in due order, are all those arts with their instruments in their hands; and since i had not time to do the whole, i left eight ovals, in order to paint in them eight portraits from life of the first men in our arts. in those same days i executed in fresco for the nuns of s. margherita in the same city, in a chapel of their garden, a nativity of christ with figures the size of life. and having thus passed the rest of that summer in my own country, and part of the autumn, i went to rome, where, having been received by the above-named messer bindo with many kindnesses, i painted for him in a picture in oils a christ the size of life, taken down from the cross and laid on the ground at the feet of his mother; with phoebus in the air obscuring the face of the sun, and diana that of the moon. in the landscape, all darkened by that gloom, some rocky mountains, shaken by the earthquake that was caused by the passion of the saviour, are seen shivered into pieces, and certain dead bodies of saints are seen rising again and issuing from their sepulchres in various manners; which picture, when finished, was not displeasing to the gracious judgment of the greatest painter, sculptor, and architect that there has been in our times, and perchance in the past. by means of that picture, also, i became known to the most illustrious cardinal farnese, to whom it was shown by giovio and messer bindo; and at his desire i made for him, in a picture eight braccia high and four broad, a justice who is embracing an ostrich laden with the twelve tables, and with the sceptre that has the stork at the point, and the head covered by a helmet of iron and gold, with three feathers of three different colours, the device of the just judge. she is wholly nude from the waist upwards, and she has bound to her girdle with chains of gold, as captives, the seven vices that are opposed to her, corruption, ignorance, cruelty, fear, treachery, falsehood, and calumny. above these, upon their shoulders, is placed truth wholly nude, offered by time to justice, with a present of two doves representing innocence. and upon the head of that truth justice is placing a crown of oak, signifying fortitude of mind; which whole work i executed with all care and diligence, according to the best of my ability. at this same time i paid constant attention to michelagnolo buonarroti, and took his advice in all my works, and he in his goodness conceived much more affection for me; and his counsel, after he had seen some of my designs, was the reason that i gave myself anew and with better method to the study of the matters of architecture, which probably i would never have done if that most excellent man had not said to me what he did say, which out of modesty i forbear to tell. at the next festival of s. peter, the heat being very great in rome, where i had spent all that winter of , i returned to florence, where in the house of messer ottaviano de' medici, which i could call my own, i executed in an altar-piece for m. biagio mei of lucca, his gossip, the same conception as in that of messer bindo in s. apostolo, although i varied everything with the exception of the invention; and that picture, when finished, was placed in his chapel in s. piero cigoli at lucca. in another of the same size--namely, seven braccia high and four broad--i painted our lady, s. jerome, s. luke, s. cecilia, s. martha, s. augustine, and s. guido the hermit; which altar-picture was placed in the duomo of pisa, where there were many others by the hands of excellent masters. and i had scarcely carried that one to completion, when the warden of works of that duomo commissioned me to execute another, in which, since it was to be likewise of our lady, in order to vary it from the other i painted the madonna with the dead christ at the foot of the cross, lying in her lap, the thieves on high upon their crosses, and, grouped with the maries and nicodemus, who are standing there, the titular saints of those chapels, all forming a good composition and rendering the scene in that picture pleasing. having returned again to rome in the year , besides many pictures that i executed for various friends, of which there is no need to make mention, i made a picture of a venus from a design by michelagnolo for m. bindo altoviti, who took me once more into his house; and for galeotto da girone, a florentine merchant, i painted an altar-picture in oils of christ taken down from the cross, which was placed in his chapel in the church of s. agostino at rome. in order to be able to paint that picture in comfort, together with some works that had been allotted to me by tiberio crispo, the castellan of castel s. angelo, i had withdrawn by myself to that palace in the trastevere which was formerly built by bishop adimari, below s. onofrio, and which has since been finished by the second salviati; but, feeling indisposed and wearied by my infinite labours, i was forced to return to florence. there i executed some pictures, and among others one in which were dante, petrarca, guido cavalcanti, boccaccio, cino da pistoia, and guittone d'arezzo, accurately copied from their ancient portraits; and of that picture, which afterwards belonged to luca martini, many copies have since been made. in that same year of i was invited to naples by don giammateo of aversa, general of the monks of monte oliveto, to the end that i might paint the refectory of a monastery built for them by king alfonso i; but when i arrived, i was for not accepting the work, seeing that the refectory and the whole monastery were built in an ancient manner of architecture, with the vaults in pointed arches, low and poor in lights, and i doubted that i was like to win little honour thereby. however, being pressed by don miniato pitti and don ippolito da milano, my very dear friends, who were then visitors to that order, finally i accepted the undertaking. whereupon, recognizing that i would not be able to do anything good save only with a great abundance of ornaments, dazzling the eyes of all who might see the work with a variety and multitude of figures, i resolved to have all the vaulting of the refectory wrought in stucco, in order to remove by means of rich compartments in the modern manner all the old-fashioned and clumsy appearance of those arches. in this i was much assisted by the vaults and walls, which are made, as is usual in that city, of blocks of tufa, which cut like wood, or even better, like bricks not completely baked; and thus, cutting them, i was able to sink squares, ovals, and octagons, and also to thicken them with additions of the same tufa by means of nails. having then reduced those vaults to good proportions with that stucco-work, which was the first to be wrought in naples in the modern manner, and in particular the façades and end-walls of that refectory, i painted there six panels in oils, seven braccia high, three to each end-wall. in three that are over the entrance of the refectory is the manna raining down upon the hebrew people, in the presence of moses and aaron, and the people gathering it up; wherein i strove to represent a variety of attitudes and vestments in the men, women, and children, and the emotion wherewith they are gathering up and storing the manna, rendering thanks to god. on the end-wall that is at the head is christ at table in the house of simon, and mary magdalene with tears washing his feet and drying them with her hair, showing herself all penitent for her sins; which story is divided into three pictures, in the centre the supper, on the right hand a buttery with a credence full of vases in various fantastic forms, and on the left hand a steward who is bringing up the viands. the vaulting, then, was divided into three parts; in one the subject is faith, in the second religion, and in the third eternity, and each of these forms a centre with eight virtues about it, demonstrating to the monks that in that refectory they eat what is requisite for the perfection of their lives. to enrich the spaces of the vaulting, i made them full of grotesques, which serve as ornaments in forty-eight spaces for the forty-eight celestial signs; and on six walls down the length of that refectory, under the windows, which were made larger and richly ornamented, i painted six of the parables of jesus christ which are in keeping with that place; and to all those pictures and ornaments there correspond the carvings of the seats, which are wrought very richly. and then i executed for the high-altar of the church an altar-picture eight braccia high, containing the madonna presenting the infant jesus christ to simeon in the temple, with a new invention. it is a notable thing that since giotto there had not been up to that time, in a city so great and noble, any masters who had done anything of importance in painting, although there had been brought there from without some things by the hands of perugino and raffaello. on which account i exerted myself to labour in such a manner, in so far as my little knowledge could reach, that the intellects of that country might be roused to execute great and honourable works; and, whether that or some other circumstance may have been the reason, between that time and the present day many very beautiful works have been done there, both in stucco and in painting. besides the pictures described above, i executed in fresco on the vaulting of the strangers' apartment in the same monastery, with figures large as life, jesus christ with the cross on his shoulder, and many of his saints who have one likewise on their shoulders in imitation of him, to demonstrate that for one who wishes truly to follow him it is necessary to bear with good patience the adversities that the world inflicts. for the general of that order i executed a great picture of christ appearing to the apostles as they struggled with the perils of the sea, and taking s. peter by the arm, who, having hastened towards him through the water, was fearing to drown; and in another picture, for abbot capeccio, i painted the resurrection. these works carried to completion, i painted a chapel in fresco for the lord don pietro di toledo, viceroy of naples, in his garden at pozzuolo, besides executing some very delicate ornaments in stucco; and arrangements had been made to execute two great loggie for the same lord, but the undertaking was not carried into effect, for the following reason. there had been some difference between the viceroy and the above-named monks, and the constable went with his men to the monastery to seize the abbot and some monks who had had some words with the black friars in a procession, over a matter of precedence. but the monks made some resistance, assisted by about fifteen young men who were assisting me in stucco-work and painting, and wounded some of the bailiffs; on which account it became necessary to get them out of the way, and they went off in various directions. and so i, left almost alone, was unable not only to execute the loggie at pozzuolo, but also to paint twenty-four pictures of stories from the old testament and from the life of s. john the baptist, which, not caring to remain any longer in naples, i took to rome to finish, whence i sent them, and they were placed about the stalls and over the presses of walnut-wood made from my architectural designs in the sacristy of s. giovanni carbonaro, a convent of eremite and observantine friars of s. augustine, for whom i had painted a short time before, for a chapel without their church, a panel-picture of christ crucified, with a rich and varied ornament of stucco, at the request of seripando, their general, who afterwards became a cardinal. in like manner, half-way up the staircase of the same convent, i painted in fresco a s. john the evangelist who stands gazing at our lady clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, with her feet upon the moon. in the same city i painted for messer tommaso cambi, a florentine merchant and very much my friend, the times and seasons of the year on four walls in the hall of his house, with pictures of sleep and dreaming over a terrace where i made a fountain. and for the duke of gravina i painted an altar-picture of the magi adoring christ, which he took to his dominions; and for orsanca, secretary to the viceroy, i executed another altar-piece with five figures around a christ crucified, and many pictures. but, although i was regarded with favour by those lords and was earning much, and my commissions were multiplying every day, i judged, since my men had departed and i had executed works in abundance in one year in that city, that it would be well for me to return to rome. which having done, the first work that i executed was for signor ranuccio farnese, at that time archbishop of naples; painting on canvas and in oils four very large shutters for the organ of the piscopio in naples, on the front of which are five patron saints of that city, and on the inner side the nativity of jesus christ, with the shepherds, and king david singing to his psaltery, dominus dixit ad me, etc. and i finished likewise the twenty-four pictures mentioned above and some for m. tommaso cambi, which were all sent to naples; which done, i painted five pictures of the passion of christ for raffaello acciaiuoli, who took them to spain. in the same year, cardinal farnese being minded to cause the hall of the cancelleria, in the palace of s. giorgio, to be painted, monsignor giovio, desiring that it should be done by my hands, commissioned me to make many designs with various inventions, which in the end were not carried into execution. nevertheless the cardinal finally resolved that it should be painted in fresco, and with the greatest rapidity that might be possible, so that he might be able to use it at a certain time determined by himself. that hall is a little more than a hundred palms in length, fifty in breadth, and the same in height. on each end-wall, fifty palms broad, was painted a great scene, and two on one of the long walls, but on the other, from its being broken by windows, it was not possible to paint scenes, and therefore there was made a pendant after the likeness of the head-wall opposite. and not wishing to make a base, as had been the custom up to that time with the craftsmen in all their scenes, in order to introduce variety and do something new i caused flights of steps to rise from the floor to a height of at least nine palms, made in various ways, one to each scene; and upon these, then, there begin to ascend figures that i painted in keeping with the subject, little by little, until they come to the level where the scene begins. it would be a long and perhaps tedious task to describe all the particulars and minute details of those scenes, and therefore i shall touch only on the principal things, and that briefly. in all of them, then, are stories of the actions of pope paul iii, and in each is his portrait from life. in the first, wherein are the dispatchings, so to speak, of the court of rome, may be seen upon the tiber various embassies of various nations (with many portraits from life) that are come to seek favours from the pope and to offer him divers tributes; and, in addition, two great figures in great niches placed over the doors, which are on either side of the scene. one of these represents eloquence, and has above it two victories that uphold the head of julius cæsar, and the other represents justice, with two other victories that hold the head of alexander the great; and in the centre are the arms of the above-named pope, supported by liberality and remuneration. on the main wall is the same pope remunerating merit, distributing salaries, knighthoods, benefices, pensions, bishoprics, and cardinal's hats, and among those who are receiving them are sadoleto, polo, bembo, contarini, giovio, buonarroti, and other men of excellence, all portrayed from life, and on that wall, within a great niche, is grace with a horn of plenty full of dignities, which she is pouring out upon the earth, and the victories that she has above her, after the likeness of the others, support the head of the emperor trajan. there is also envy, who is devouring vipers and appears to be bursting with venom; and above, at the top of the scene, are the arms of cardinal farnese, supported by fame and virtue. in the other scene the same pope paul is seen all intent on his buildings, and in particular on that of s. pietro upon the vatican, and therefore there are kneeling before the pope painting, sculpture, and architecture, who, having unfolded a design of the ground-plan of that s. pietro, are receiving orders to execute the work and to carry it to completion. besides these figures, there is resolution, who, opening the breast, lays bare the heart; with solicitude and riches near. in a niche is abundance, with two victories that hold the effigy of vespasian, and in the centre, in another niche that divides one scene from the other, is christian religion, with two victories above her that hold the head of numa pompilius; and the arms that are above the scene are those of cardinal san giorgio, who built that palace. in the other scene, which is opposite to that of the dispatchings of the court, is the universal peace made among christians by the agency of pope paul iii, and particularly between the emperor charles v and francis, king of france, who are portrayed there; wherefore there may be seen peace burning arms, the temple of janus being closed, and fury in chains. of the two great niches that are on either side of the scene, in one is concord, with two victories above her that are holding the head of the emperor titus, and in the other is charity with many children, while above the niche are two victories holding the head of augustus; and over all are the arms of charles v, supported by victory and rejoicing. the whole work is full of the most beautiful inscriptions and mottoes composed by giovio, and there is one in particular which says that those pictures were all executed in a hundred days; which, indeed, like a young man, i did do, being such that i gave no thought to anything but satisfying that lord, who, as i have said, desired to have the work finished in that time for a particular purpose. but in truth, although i exerted myself greatly in making cartoons and studying that work, i confess that i did wrong in putting it afterwards in the hands of assistants, in order to execute it more quickly, as i was obliged to do; for it would have been better to toil over it a hundred months and do it with my own hand, whereby, although i would not have done it in such a way as to satisfy my wish to please the cardinal and to maintain my own honour, i would at least have had the satisfaction of having executed it with my own hand. however, that error was the reason that i resolved that i would never again do any work without finishing it entirely by myself over a first sketch done by the hands of assistants from designs by my hand. in that work the spaniards, bizzerra and roviale, who laboured much in it in my company, gained no little practice; and also battista da bagnacavallo of bologna, bastiano flori of arezzo, giovan paolo dal borgo, fra salvadore foschi of arezzo, and many other young men. at that time i went often in the evening, at the end of the day's work, to see the above-named most illustrious cardinal farnese at supper, where there were always present, to entertain him with beautiful and honourable discourse, molza, annibale caro, m. gandolfo, m. claudio tolomei, m. romolo amaseo, monsignor giovio, and many other men of learning and distinction, of whom the court of that lord is ever full. one evening among others the conversation turned to the museum of giovio and to the portraits of illustrious men that he had placed therein with beautiful order and inscriptions; and one thing leading to another, as happens in conversation, monsignor giovio said that he had always had and still had a great desire to add to his museum and his book of eulogies a treatise with an account of the men who had been illustrious in the art of design from cimabue down to our own times. enlarging on this, he showed that he had certainly great knowledge and judgment in the matters of our arts; but it is true that, being content to treat the subject in gross, he did not consider it in detail, and often, in speaking of those craftsmen, either confused their names, surnames, birthplaces, and works, or did not relate things exactly as they were, but rather, as i have said, in gross. when giovio had finished his discourse, the cardinal turned to me and said: "what do you say, giorgio? will not that be a fine work and a noble labour?" "fine, indeed, most illustrious excellency," i answered, "if giovio be assisted by someone of our arts to put things in their places and relate them as they really are. that i say because, although his discourse has been marvellous, he has confused and mistaken many things one for another." "then," replied the cardinal, being besought by giovio, caro, tolomei, and the others, "you might give him a summary and an ordered account of all those craftsmen and their works, according to the order of time; and so your arts will receive from you this benefit as well." that undertaking, although i knew it to be beyond my powers, i promised most willingly to execute to the best of my ability; and so, having set myself down to search through my records and the notes that i had written on that subject from my earliest youth, as a sort of pastime and because of the affection that i bore to the memory of our craftsmen, every notice of whom was very dear to me, i gathered together everything that seemed to me to touch on the subject, and took the whole to giovio. and he, after he had much praised my labour, said to me: "giorgio, i would rather that you should undertake this task of setting everything down in the manner in which i see that you will be excellently well able to do it, because i have not the courage, not knowing the various manners, and being ignorant of many particulars that you are likely to know; besides which, even if i were to do it, i would make at the most a little treatise like that of pliny. do what i tell you, vasari, for i see by the specimen that you have given me in this account that it will prove something very fine." and then, thinking that i was not very resolute in the matter, he caused caro, molza, tolomei, and others of my dearest friends to speak to me. whereupon, having finally made up my mind, i set my hand to it, with the intention of giving it, when finished, to one of them, that he might revise and correct it, and then publish it under a name other than mine. meanwhile i departed from rome in the month of october of the year , and came to florence, and there executed for the nuns of the famous convent of the murate a picture in oils of a last supper for their refectory; which work was allotted to me and paid for by pope paul iii, who had a sister-in-law, once countess of pitigliano, a nun in that convent. and then i painted in another picture our lady with the infant christ in her arms, who is espousing the virgin-martyr s. catharine, with two other saints; which picture m. tommaso cambi caused me to execute for a sister who was then abbess of the convent of the bigallo, without florence. that finished, i painted two large pictures in oils for monsignor de' rossi, bishop of pavia, of the family of the counts of san secondo; in one of these is a s. jerome, and in the other a pietà, and they were both sent to france. then in the year i carried to completion for the duomo of pisa, at the instance of m. bastiano della seta, the warden of works, another altar-picture that i had begun; and afterwards, for my very dear friend simon corsi, a large picture in oils of our lady. now, while i was executing these works, having carried nearly to completion the book of the lives of the craftsmen of design, there was scarcely anything left for me to do but to have it transcribed in a good hand, when there presented himself to me most opportunely don gian matteo faetani of rimini, a monk of monte oliveto and a person of intelligence and learning, who desired that i should execute some works for him in the church and monastery of s. maria di scolca at rimini, where he was abbot. he, then, having promised to have it transcribed for me by one of his monks who was an excellent writer, and to correct it himself, persuaded me to go to rimini to execute, with this occasion, the altar-picture and the high-altar of that church, which is about three miles distant from the city. in that altar-picture i painted the magi adoring christ, with an infinity of figures executed by me with much study in that solitary place, counterfeiting the men of the courts of the three kings in such a way, as well as i was able, that, although they are all mingled together, yet one may recognize by the appearance of the faces to what country each belongs and to which king he is subject, for some have the flesh-colour white, some grey, and others dark; besides which, the diversity of their vestments and the differences in their adornments make a pleasing variety. that altar-piece has on either side of it two large pictures, in which is the rest of the courts, with horses, elephants, and giraffes, and about the chapel, in various places, are distributed prophets, sibyls, and evangelists in the act of writing. in the cupola, or rather, tribune, i painted four great figures that treat of the praises of christ, of his genealogy, and of the virgin, and these are orpheus and homer with some greek mottoes, virgil with the motto, iam redit et virgo, etc., and dante with these verses: tu sei colei, che l' umana natura nobilitasti sì, che il suo fattore non si sdegnò di farsi tua fattura. with many other figures and inventions, of which there is no need to say any more. then, the work of writing the above-mentioned book and carrying it to completion meanwhile continuing, i painted for the high-altar of s. francesco, in rimini, a large altar-picture in oils of s. francis receiving the stigmata from christ on the mountain of la vernia, copied from nature; and since that mountain is all of grey rocks and stones, and in like manner s. francis and his companion are grey, i counterfeited a sun within which is christ, with a good number of seraphim, and so the work is varied, and the saint, with other figures, all illumined by the splendour of that sun, and the landscape in shadow with a great variety of changing colours; all which is not displeasing to many persons, and was much extolled at that time by cardinal capodiferro, legate in romagna. being then summoned from rimini to ravenna, i executed an altar-picture, as has been told in another place, for the new church of the abbey of classi, of the order of camaldoli, painting therein a christ taken down from the cross and lying in the lap of our lady. and at this same time i executed for divers friends many designs, pictures, and other lesser works, which are so many and so varied, that it would be difficult for me to remember even a part of them, and perhaps not pleasing for my readers to hear so many particulars. meanwhile the building of my house at arezzo had been finished, and i returned home, where i made designs for painting the hall, three chambers, and the façade, as it were for my own diversion during that summer. in those designs i depicted, among other things, all the places and provinces where i had laboured, as if they were bringing tributes, to represent the gains that i had made by their means, to that house of mine. for the time being, however, i did nothing but the ceiling of the hall, which is passing rich in woodwork, with thirteen large pictures wherein are the celestial gods, and in four angles the four seasons of the year nude, who are gazing at a great picture that is in the centre, in which, with figures the size of life, is excellence, who has envy under her feet and has seized fortune by the hair, and is beating both the one and the other; and a thing that was much commended at the time was that as you go round the hall, fortune being in the middle, from one side envy seems to be over fortune and excellence, and from another side excellence is over envy and fortune, as is seen often to happen in real life. around the walls are abundance, liberality, wisdom, prudence, labour, honour, and other similar things, and below, all around, are stories of ancient painters, apelles, zeuxis, parrhasius, protogenes, and others, with various compartments and details that i omit for the sake of brevity. in a chamber, also, in a great medallion in the ceiling of carved woodwork, i painted abraham, with god blessing his seed and promising to multiply it infinitely; and in four squares that are around that medallion, i painted peace, concord, virtue, and modesty. and since i always adored the memory and the works of the ancients, and perceived that the method of painting in distemper-colours was being abandoned, there came to me a desire to revive that mode of painting, and i executed the whole work in distemper; which method certainly does not deserve to be wholly despised or abandoned. at the entrance of the chamber, as it were in jest, i painted a bride who has in one hand a rake, with which she seems to have raked up and carried away with her from her father's house everything that she has been able, and in the hand that is stretched in front of her, entering into the house of her husband, she has a lighted torch, signifying that where she goes she carries a fire that consumes and destroys everything. while i was passing my time thus, the year having come, don giovan benedetto of mantua, abbot of ss. fiore e lucilla, a monastery of the black friars of monte cassino, who took infinite delight in matters of painting and was much my friend, prayed me that i should consent to paint a last supper, or some such thing, at the head of their refectory. whereupon i resolved to gratify his wish, and began to think of doing something out of the common use; and so i determined, in agreement with that good father, to paint for it the nuptials of queen esther and king ahasuerus, all in a picture fifteen braccia long, and in oils, but first to set it in place and then to work at it there. that method--and i can speak with authority, for i have proved it--is in truth that which should be followed by one who wishes that his pictures should have their true and proper lights, for the reason that in fact working at pictures in a place lower or other than that where they are to stand, causes changes in their lights, shadows, and many other properties. in that work, then, i strove to represent majesty and grandeur; and, although i may not judge whether i succeeded, i know well that i disposed everything in such a manner, that there may be recognized in passing good order all the manners of servants, pages, esquires, soldiers of the guard, the buttery, the credence, the musicians, a dwarf, and every other thing that is required for a magnificent and royal banquet. there may be seen, among others, the steward bringing the viands to the table, accompanied by a good number of pages dressed in livery, besides esquires and other servants; and at the ends of the table, which is oval, are lords and other great personages and courtiers, who are standing on their feet, as is the custom, to see the banquet. king ahasuerus is seated at table, a proud and enamoured monarch, leaning upon the left arm and offering a cup of wine to the queen, in an attitude truly dignified and regal. in short, if i were to believe what i heard said by persons at that time, and what i still hear from anyone who sees the work, i might consider that i had done something, but i know better how the matter stands, and what i would have done if my hand had followed that which i had conceived in idea. be that as it may, i applied to it--and this i can declare freely--study and diligence. above the work, on a spandrel of the vaulting, comes a christ who is offering to the queen a crown of flowers; and this was done in fresco, and placed there to denote the spiritual conception of the story, which signified that, the ancient synagogue being repudiated, christ was espousing the new church of his faithful christians. at this same time i made the portrait of luigi guicciardini, brother of the messer francesco who wrote the history, because that messer luigi was very much my friend, and that year, being commissary of arezzo, had caused me out of love for me to buy a very large property in land, called frassineto, in valdichiana, which has been the salvation and the greatest prop of my house, and will be the same for my successors, if, as i hope, they prove true to themselves. that portrait, which is in the possession of the heirs of that messer luigi, is said to be the best and the closest likeness of the infinite number that i have executed. but of the portraits that i have painted, which are so many, i will make no mention, because it would be a tedious thing; and, to tell the truth, i have avoided doing them to the best of my ability. that finished, i painted at the commission of fra mariotto da castiglioni of arezzo, for the church of s. francesco in that city, an altar-picture of our lady, s. anne, s. francis, and s. sylvester. and at this same time i drew for cardinal di monte, my very good patron, who was then legate in bologna, and afterwards became pope julius iii, the design and plan of a great farm which was afterwards carried into execution at the foot of monte sansovino, his native place, where i was several times at the orders of that lord, who much delighted in building. having gone, after i had finished these works, to florence, i painted that summer on a banner for carrying in processions, belonging to the company of s. giovanni de' peducci of arezzo, that saint on one side preaching to the multitude, and on the other the same saint baptizing christ. which picture, as soon as it was finished, i sent to my house at arezzo, that it might be delivered to the men of the above-named company; and it happened that monsignor giorgio, cardinal d'armagnac, a frenchman, passing through arezzo and going to see my house for some other purpose, saw that banner, or rather, standard, and, liking it, did his utmost to obtain it for sending to the king of france, offering a large price. but i would not break faith with those who had commissioned me to paint it, for, although many said to me that i could make another, i know not whether i could have done it as well and with equal diligence. and not long afterwards i executed for messer annibale caro, according as he had requested me long before in a letter, which is printed, a picture of adonis dying in the lap of venus, after the invention of theocritus; which work was afterwards taken to france, almost against my will, and given to m. albizzo del bene, together with a psyche gazing with a lamp at cupid, who wakens from his sleep, a spark from the lamp having scorched him. those figures, all nude and large as life, were the reason that alfonso di tommaso cambi, who was then a very beautiful youth, well-lettered, accomplished, and most gentle and courteous, had himself portrayed nude and at full length in the person of the huntsman endymion beloved by the moon, whose white form, and the fanciful landscape all around, have their light from the brightness of the moon, which in the darkness of the night makes an effect passing natural and true, for the reason that i strove with all diligence to counterfeit the peculiar colours that the pale yellow light of the moon is wont to give to the things upon which it strikes. after this, i painted two pictures for sending to ragusa, in one our lady, and in the other a pietà; and then in a great picture for francesco botti our lady with her son in her arms, and joseph; and that picture, which i certainly executed with the greatest diligence that i knew, he took with him to spain. these works finished, i went in the same year to see cardinal di monte at bologna, where he was legate, and, dwelling with him for some days, besides many other conversations, he contrived to speak so well and to persuade me with such good reasons, that, being constrained by him to do a thing which up to that time i had refused to do, i resolved to take a wife, and so, by his desire, married a daughter of francesco bacci, a noble citizen of arezzo. having returned to florence, i executed a great picture of our lady after a new invention of my own and with more figures, which was acquired by messer bindo altoviti, who gave me a hundred crowns of gold for it and took it to rome, where it is now in his house. besides this, i painted many other pictures at the same time, as for messer bernardetto de' medici, for messer bartolommeo strada, an eminent physician, and for others of my friends, of whom there is no need to speak. in those days, gismondo martelli having died in florence, and having left instructions in his testament that an altar-picture with our lady and some saints should be painted for the chapel of that noble family in s. lorenzo, luigi and pandolfo martelli, together with m. cosimo bartoli, all very much my friends, besought me that i should execute that picture. having obtained leave from the lord duke cosimo, the patron and first warden of works of that church, i consented to do it, but on condition that i should be allowed to paint in it something after my own fancy from the life of s. gismondo, in allusion to the name of the testator. which agreement concluded, i remembered to have heard that filippo di ser brunellesco, the architect of that church, had given a particular form to all the chapels to the end that there might be made for each not some little altar-piece, but some large scene or picture which might fill the whole space. wherefore, being disposed to follow in that respect the wishes and directions of brunelleschi, and paying regard rather to honour than to the little profit that i could obtain from that commission, which contemplated the painting of a small altar-picture with few figures, i painted in an altar-piece ten braccia in breadth, and thirteen in height, the story, or rather, martyrdom, of the king s. gismondo, when he, his wife, and his two sons were cast into a well by another king, or rather, tyrant. i contrived that the ornamental border of that chapel, which is a semi-circle, should serve as the opening of the gate of a great palace in the rustic order, through which there should be a view of a square court supported by pilasters and columns of the doric order; and i arranged that through that opening there should be seen in the centre an octagonal well with an ascent of steps around it, by which the executioners might ascend, carrying the two sons nude in order to cast them into the well. in the loggie around i painted on one side people gazing upon that horrid spectacle, and on the other side, which is the left, i made some soldiers who, having seized by force the wife of the king, are carrying her towards the well in order to put her to death. and at the principal door i made a group of soldiers that are binding s. gismondo, who with his relaxed and patient attitude shows that he is suffering most willingly that death and martyrdom, and he stands gazing on four angels in the air, who are showing to him palms and crowns of martyrdom for himself, his wife, and his sons, which appears to give him complete comfort and consolation. i strove, likewise, to demonstrate the cruelty and fierce anger of the impious tyrant, who stands on the upper level of the court to behold his vengeance and the death of s. gismondo. in short, so far as in me lay, i made every effort to give to all the figures, to the best of my ability, the proper expressions and the appropriate attitudes and spirited movements, and all that was required. how far i succeeded, that i shall leave to be judged by others; but this i must say, that i gave to it all the study, labour, and diligence in my power and knowledge. meanwhile, the lord duke cosimo desiring that the book of the lives, already brought almost to completion with the greatest diligence that i had found possible, and with the assistance of some of my friends, should be given to the printers, i gave it to lorenzo torrentino, printer to the duke, and so the printing was begun. but not even the theories had been finished, when, pope paul iii having died, i began to doubt that i might have to depart from florence before that book was finished printing. going therefore out of florence to meet cardinal di monte, who was passing on his way to the conclave, i had no sooner made obeisance to him and spoken a few words, than he said: "i go to rome, and without a doubt i shall be pope. make haste, if you have anything to do, and as soon as you hear the news set out for rome without awaiting other advice or any invitation." nor did that prognostication prove false, for, being at arezzo for that carnival, when certain festivities and masquerades were being arranged, the news came that the cardinal had become julius iii. whereupon i mounted straightway on horseback and went to florence, whence, pressed by the duke, i went to rome, in order to be present at the coronation of the new pontiff and to take part in the preparation of the festivities. and so, arriving in rome and dismounting at the house of messer bindo, i went to do reverence to his holiness and to kiss his feet. which done, the first words that he spoke to me were to remind me that what he had foretold of himself had not been false. then, after he was crowned and settled down a little, the first thing that he wished to have done was to satisfy an obligation that he had to the memory of antonio, the first and elder cardinal di monte, by means of a tomb to be made in s. pietro a montorio; of which the designs and models having been made, it was executed in marble, as has been related fully in another place. and meanwhile i painted the altar-picture of that chapel, in which i represented the conversion of s. paul, but, to vary it from that which buonarroti had executed in the pauline chapel, i made s. paul young, as he himself writes, and fallen from his horse, and led blind by the soldiers to ananias, from whom by the imposition of hands he receives the lost sight of his eyes, and is baptized; in which work, either because the space was restricted, or whatever may have been the reason, i did not satisfy myself completely, although it was perhaps not displeasing to others, and in particular to michelagnolo. for that pontiff, likewise, i executed another altar-picture for a chapel in the palace; but this, for reasons given elsewhere, was afterwards taken by me to arezzo and placed at the high-altar of the pieve. if, however, i had not fully satisfied either myself or others in the last-named picture or in that of s. pietro a montorio, it would have been no matter for surprise, because, being obliged to be continually at the beck and call of that pontiff, i was kept always moving, or rather, occupied in making architectural designs, and particularly because i was the first who designed and prepared all the inventions of the vigna julia, which he caused to be erected at incredible expense. and although it was executed afterwards by others, yet it was i who always committed to drawing the caprices of the pope, which were then given to michelagnolo to revise and correct. jacopo barozzi of vignuola finished, after many designs by his own hand, the rooms, halls, and many other ornaments of that place; but the lower fountain was made under the direction of myself and of ammanati, who afterwards remained there and made the loggia that is over the fountain. in that work, however, it was not possible for a man to show his ability or to do anything right, because from day to day new caprices came into the head of the pope, which had to be carried into execution according to the daily instructions given by messer pier giovanni aliotti, bishop of forlì. during that time, being obliged in the year to go twice to florence on other affairs, the first time i finished the picture of s. gismondo, which the duke went to see in the house of m. ottaviano de' medici, where i executed it; and he liked it so much, that he said to me that when i had finished my work in rome i should come to serve him in florence, where i would receive orders as to what was to be done. i then returned to rome, where i gave completion to those works that i had begun, and painted a picture of the beheading of s. john for the high-altar of the company of the misericordia, different not a little from those that are generally done, which i set in place in the year ; and then i wished to return, but i was forced to execute for messer bindo altoviti, not being able to refuse him, two very large loggie in stucco-work and fresco. one of them that i painted was at his villa, made with a new method of architecture, because, the loggia being so large that it was not possible to turn the vaulting without danger, i had it made with armatures of wood, matting, and canes, over which was done the stucco-work and fresco-painting, as if the vaulting were of masonry, and even so it appears and is believed to be by all who see it; and it is supported by many ornamental columns of variegated marble, antique and rare. the other loggia is on the ground-floor of his house on the bridge, and is covered with scenes in fresco. and after that i painted for the ceiling of an antechamber four large pictures in oils of the four seasons of the year. these finished, i was forced to make for andrea della fonte, who was much my friend, a portrait from life of his wife, and with it i gave him a large picture of christ bearing the cross, with figures the size of life, which i had made for a kinsman of the pope, but afterwards had not chosen to present to him. for the bishop of vasona i painted a dead christ supported by nicodemus and by two angels, and for pier antonio bandini a nativity of christ, an effect of night with variety in the invention. while i was executing these works, i was also watching to see what the pope was intending to do, and finally i saw that there was little to be expected from him, and that it was useless to labour in his service. wherefore, notwithstanding that i had already executed the cartoons for painting in fresco the loggia that is over the fountain of the above-named vigna, i resolved that i would at all costs go to serve the duke of florence, and the rather because i was pressed to do this by m. averardo serristori and bishop ricasoli, the ambassadors of his excellency in rome, and also in letters by m. sforza almeni, his cupbearer and chief chamberlain. i transferred myself, therefore, to arezzo, in order to make my way from there to florence, but first i was forced to make for monsignor minerbetti, bishop of arezzo, as for my lord and most dear friend, a lifesize picture of patience in the form that has since been used by signor ercole, duke of ferrara, as his device and as the reverse of his medal. which work finished, i came to kiss the hand of the lord duke cosimo, by whom in his kindness i was received very warmly; and while it was being considered what i should first take in hand, i caused cristofano gherardi of the borgo to paint in chiaroscuro after my designs the façade of m. sforza almeni, in that manner and with those inventions that have been described at great length in another place. now at that time i happened to be one of the lords priors of the city of arezzo, whose office it is to govern that city, but i was summoned by letters of the lord duke into his service, and absolved from that duty; and, having come to florence, i found that his excellency had begun that year to build that apartment of his palace which is towards the piazza del grano, under the direction of the wood-carver tasso, who was then architect to the palace. the roof had been placed so low that all those rooms had little elevation, and were, indeed, altogether dwarfed; but, since to raise the crossbeams and the whole roof would be a long affair, i advised that a series of timbers should be placed, by way of border, with sunk compartments two braccia and a half in extent, between the crossbeams of the roof, with a range of consoles in the perpendicular line, so as to make a frieze of about two braccia above the timbers. which plan greatly pleasing his excellency, he gave orders straightway that so it should be done, and that tasso should execute the woodwork and the compartments, within which was to be painted the genealogy of the gods; and that afterwards the work should be continued in the other rooms. [illustration: lorenzo the magnificent and the ambassadors (_after the fresco by =giorgio vasari=. florence: palazzo vecchio_) _brogi_] while the work for those ceilings was being prepared, having obtained leave from the duke, i went to spend two months between arezzo and cortona, partly to give completion to some affairs of my own, and partly to finish a work in fresco begun on the walls and vaulting of the company of jesus at cortona. in that place i painted three stories of the life of jesus christ, and all the sacrifices offered to god in the old testament, from cain and abel down to the prophet nehemiah; and there, during that time, i also furnished designs and models for the fabric of the madonna nuova, without the city. the work for the company of jesus being finished, i returned to florence in the year with all my family, to serve duke cosimo. and there i began and finished the compartments, walls, and ceiling of the above-named upper hall, called the sala degli elementi, painting in the compartments, which are eleven, the castration of heaven in the air. in a terrace beside that hall i painted on the ceiling the actions of saturn and ops, and then on the ceiling of another great chamber all the story of ceres and proserpine; and in a still larger chamber, which is beside the last, likewise on the ceiling, which is very rich, stories of the goddess berecynthia and of cybele with her triumph, and the four seasons, and on the walls all the twelve months. on the ceiling of another, not so rich, i painted the birth of jove and the goat amaltheia nursing him, with the rest of the other most notable things related of him; in another terrace beside the same room, much adorned with stones and stucco-work, other things of jove and juno; and finally, in the next chamber, the birth of hercules and all his labours. all that could not be included on the ceilings was placed in the friezes of each room, or has been placed in the arras-tapestries that the lord duke has caused to be woven for each room from my cartoons, corresponding to the pictures high up on the walls. i shall not speak of the grotesques, ornaments, and pictures of the stairs, nor of many other smaller details executed by my hand in that apartment of rooms, because, besides that i hope that a longer account may be given of them on another occasion, everyone may see them at his pleasure and judge of them. while these upper rooms were being painted, there were built the others that are on the level of the great hall, and are connected in a perpendicular line with the first-named, with a very convenient system of staircases public and private that lead from the highest to the lowest quarters of the palace. meanwhile tasso died, and the duke, who had a very great desire that the palace, which had been built at haphazard, in various stages and at various times, and more for the convenience of the officials than with any good order, should be put to rights, resolved that he would at all costs have it reconstructed in so far as that was possible, and that in time the great hall should be painted, and that bandinelli should continue the audience-chamber already begun. in order, therefore, to bring the whole palace into accord, harmonizing the work already done with that which was to be done, he ordained that i should make several plans and designs, and finally a wooden model after some that had pleased him, the better to be able to proceed to accommodate all the apartments according to his pleasure, and to change and put straight the old stairs, which appeared to him too steep, ill-conceived, and badly made. to which work i set my hand, although it seemed to me a difficult enterprise and beyond my powers, and i executed as best i could a very large model, which is now in the possession of his excellency; more to obey him than with any hope that i might succeed. that model, when it was finished, pleased him much, whether by his good fortune or mine, or because of the great desire that i had to give satisfaction; whereupon i set my hand to building, and little by little, doing now one thing and now another, the work has been carried to the condition wherein it may now be seen. and while the rest was being done, i decorated with very rich stucco-work in a varied pattern of compartments the first eight of the new rooms that are on a level with the great hall, what with saloons, chambers, and a chapel, with various pictures and innumerable portraits from life that come in the scenes, beginning with the elder cosimo, and calling each room by the name of some great and famous person descended from him. in one, then, are the most notable actions of that cosimo and those virtues that were most peculiar to him, with his greatest friends and servants and portraits of his children, all from life; and so, also, that of the elder lorenzo, that of his son, pope leo, that of pope clement, that of signor giovanni, the father of our great duke, and that of the lord duke cosimo himself. in the chapel is a large and very beautiful picture by the hand of raffaello da urbino, between a s. cosimo and a s. damiano painted by my hand, to whom that chapel is dedicated. then in like manner in the upper rooms painted for the lady duchess leonora, which are four, are actions of illustrious women, greek, hebrew, latin, and tuscan, one to each chamber. but of these, besides that i have spoken of them elsewhere, there will be a full account in the dialogue which i am about to give to the world, as i have said; for to describe everything here would have taken too long. for all these my labours, continuous, difficult, and great as they were, i was rewarded largely and richly by the magnanimous liberality of the great duke, in addition to my salaries, with donations and with commodious and honourable houses both in florence and in the country, to the end that i might be able the more advantageously to serve him. besides which, he has honoured me with the supreme magistracy of gonfalonier and other offices in my native city of arezzo, with the right to substitute in them one of the citizens of that place, not to mention that to my brother ser piero he has given offices of profit in florence, and likewise extraordinary favours to my relatives in arezzo; so that i shall never be weary of confessing the obligation that i feel towards that lord for so many marks of affection. returning to my works, i must go on to say that my most excellent lord resolved to carry into execution a project that he had had for a long time, of painting the great hall, a conception worthy of his lofty and profound spirit; i know not whether, as he said, i believe jesting with me, because he thought for certain that i would get it off his hands, so that he would see it finished in his lifetime, or it may have been from some other private and, as has always been true of him, most prudent judgment. the result, in short, was that he commissioned me to raise the crossbeams and the whole roof thirteen braccia above the height at that time, to make the ceiling of wood, and to overlay it with gold and paint it full of scenes in oils; a vast and most important undertaking, and, if not too much for my courage, perhaps too much for my powers. however, whether it was that the confidence of that great lord and the good fortune that he has in his every enterprise raised me beyond what i am in myself, or that the hopes and opportunities of so fine a subject furnished me with much greater faculties, or that the grace of god--and this i was bound to place before any other thing--supplied me with strength, i undertook it, and, as has been seen, executed it in contradiction to the opinion of many persons, and not only in much less time than i had promised and the work might be considered to require, but in less than even i or his most illustrious excellency ever thought. and i can well believe that he was astonished and well satisfied, because it came to be executed at the greatest emergency and the finest occasion that could have occurred; and this was (that the cause of so much haste may be known) that a settlement had been concluded about the marriage which was being arranged between our most illustrious prince and the daughter of the late emperor and sister of the present one, and i thought it my duty to make every effort that on the occasion of such festivities that hall, which was the principal apartment of the palace and the one wherein the most important ceremonies were to be celebrated, might be available for enjoyment. and here i will leave it to the judgment of everyone not only in our arts but also outside them, if only he has seen the greatness and variety of that work, to decide whether the extraordinary importance of the occasion should not be my excuse if in such haste i have not given complete satisfaction in so great a variety of wars on land and sea, stormings of cities, batteries, assaults, skirmishes, buildings of cities, public councils, ceremonies ancient and modern, triumphs, and so many other things, for which, not to mention anything else, the sketches, designs, and cartoons of so great a work required a very long time. i will not speak of the nude bodies, in which the perfection of our arts consists, or of the landscapes wherein all those things were painted, all which i had to copy from nature on the actual site and spot, even as i did with the many captains, generals and other chiefs, and soldiers, that were in the emprises that i painted. in short, i will venture to say that i had occasion to depict on that ceiling almost everything that human thought and imagination can conceive; all the varieties of bodies, faces, vestments, habiliments, casques, helmets, cuirasses, various head-dresses, horses, harness, caparisons, artillery of every kind, navigations, tempests, storms of rain and snow, and so many other things, that i am not able to remember them. but anyone who sees the work may easily imagine what labours and what vigils i endured in executing with the greatest study in my power about forty large scenes, and some of them pictures ten braccia in every direction, with figures very large and in every manner. and although some of my young disciples worked with me there, they sometimes gave me assistance and sometimes not, for the reason that at times i was obliged, as they know, to repaint everything with my own hand and go over the whole picture again, to the end that all might be in one and the same manner. these stories, i say, treat of the history of florence, from the building of the city down to the present day; the division into quarters, the cities brought to submission, the enemies vanquished, the cities subjugated, and, finally, the beginning and end of the war of pisa on one side, and on the other likewise the beginning and end of the war of siena, one carried on and concluded by the popular government in a period of fourteen years, and the other by the duke in fourteen months, as may be seen; besides all the rest that is on the ceiling and will be on the walls, each eighty braccia in length and twenty in height, which i am even now painting in fresco, and hope likewise to discuss later in the above-mentioned dialogue. and all this that i have sought to say hitherto has been for no other cause but to show with what diligence i have applied myself and still apply myself to matters of art, and with what good reasons i could excuse myself if in some cases (which i believe, indeed, are many) i have failed. [illustration: fresco in the hall of lorenzo the magnificent (_after =giorgio vasari=. florence: palazzo vecchio_) _brogi_] i will add, also, that about the same time i received orders to design all the arches to be shown to his excellency for the purpose of determining the whole arrangement of the numerous festive preparations already described, executed in florence for the nuptials of the most illustrious lord prince, of which i had then to carry into execution and finish a great part; to cause to be painted after my designs, in ten pictures each fourteen braccia high and eleven broad, all the squares of the principal cities of the dominion, drawn in perspective with their original builders and their devices; also, to have finished the head-wall of the above-named hall, begun by bandinelli, and to have a scene made for the other, the greatest and richest that was ever made by anyone; and, finally, to execute the principal stairs of that palace, with their vestibules, the court and the columns, in the manner that everyone knows and that has been described above, with fifteen cities of the empire and of the tyrol depicted from the reality in as many pictures. not little, also, has been the time that i have spent in those same days in pushing forward the construction, from the time when i first began it, of the loggia and the vast fabric of the magistrates, facing towards the river arno, than which i have never had built anything more difficult or more dangerous, from its being founded over the river, and even, one might say, in the air. but it was necessary, besides other reasons, in order to attach to it, as has been done, the great corridor which crosses the river and goes from the ducal palace to the palace and garden of the pitti; which corridor was built under my direction and after my design in five months, although it is a work that one might think impossible to finish in less than five years. in addition, it was also my task to cause to be reconstructed and increased for the same nuptials, in the great tribune of s. spirito, the new machinery for the festival that used to be held in s. felice in piazza; which was all reduced to the greatest possible perfection, so that there are no longer any of those dangers that used to be incurred in that festival. and under my charge, likewise, have been the works of the palace and church of the knights of s. stephen at pisa, and the tribune, or rather, cupola, of the madonna dell' umiltà in pistoia, which is a work of the greatest importance. for all which, without excusing my imperfection, which i know only too well, if i have achieved anything of the good, i render infinite thanks to god, from whom i still hope to have such help that i may see finished, whenever that may be, the terrible undertaking of the walls in the hall, to the full satisfaction of my lords, who already for a period of thirteen years have given me opportunities to execute vast works with honour and profit for myself; after which, weary, aged, and outworn, i may be at rest. and if for various reasons i have executed the works described for the most part with something of rapidity and haste, this i hope to do at my leisure, seeing that the lord duke is content that i should not press it, but should do it at my ease, granting me all the repose and recreation that i myself could desire. thus, last year, being tired by the many works described above, he gave me leave that i might go about for some months to divert myself, and so, setting out to travel, i passed over little less than the whole of italy, seeing again innumerable friends and patrons and the works of various excellent craftsmen, as i have related above in another connection. finally, being in rome on my way to return to florence, i went to kiss the feet of the most holy and most blessed pope pius v, and he commissioned me to execute for him in florence an altar-picture for sending to his convent and church of bosco, which he was then having built in his native place, near alessandria della paglia. having then returned to florence, remembering the command that his holiness had laid upon me and the many marks of affection that he had shown, i painted for him, as he had commissioned me, an altar-picture of the adoration of the magi; and when he heard that it had been carried by me to completion, he sent me a message that to please him, and that he might confer with me over some thoughts in his mind, i should go with that picture to rome, but particularly for the purpose of discussing the fabric of s. pietro, which he showed himself to have very much at heart. having therefore made preparations with a hundred crowns that he sent me for that purpose, and having sent the picture before me, i went to rome; and after i had been there a month and had had many conversations with his holiness, and had advised him not to permit any alterations to be made in the arrangements of buonarroti for the fabric of s. pietro, and had executed some designs, he commanded me to make for the high-altar of that church of bosco not an altar-picture such as is customary, but an immense structure almost in the manner of a triumphal arch, with two large panels, one in front and the other behind, and in smaller pictures about thirty scenes filled with many figures; all which have been carried very near completion. at that time i obtained the gracious leave of his holiness, who with infinite lovingness and condescension sent me the bulls expedited free of charge, to erect in the pieve of arezzo a chapel and decanate, which is the principal chapel of that pieve, under the patronage of myself and of my house, endowed by me and painted by my hand, and offered to the divine goodness as an acknowledgment (although but a trifle) of the great obligation that i feel to the divine majesty for the innumerable graces and benefits that he has deigned to bestow upon me. the altar-picture of that chapel is in form very similar to that described above, which has been in part the reason that it has been brought back to my memory, for it is isolated and consists likewise of two pictures, one in front, already mentioned above, and one at the back with the story of s. george, with pictures of certain saints on either side, and at the foot smaller pictures with their stories; those saints whose bodies are in a most beautiful tomb below the altar, with other principal reliques of the city. in the centre comes a tabernacle passing well arranged for the sacrament, because it serves for both the one altar and the other, and it is embellished with stories of the old testament and the new all in keeping with that mystery, as has been told in part elsewhere. i had forgotten to say, also, that the year before, when i went the first time to kiss the pope's feet, i took the road by perugia in order to set in place three large altar-pieces executed for a refectory of the black friars of s. piero in that city. in one, that in the centre, is the marriage of cana in galilee, at which christ performed the miracle of converting water into wine. in the second, on the right hand, is elisha the prophet sweetening with meal the bitter pot, the food of which, spoilt by colocynths, his prophets were not able to eat. and in the third is s. benedict, to whom a lay-brother announces at a time of very great dearth, and at the very moment when his monks were lacking food, that some camels laden with meal have arrived at his door, and he sees that the angels of god are miraculously bringing to him a vast quantity of meal. for signora gentilina, mother of signor chiappino and signor paolo vitelli, i painted in florence and sent from there to città di castello a great altar-picture in which is the coronation of our lady, on high a dance of angels, and at the foot many figures larger than life; which picture was placed in s. francesco in that city. for the church of poggio a caiano, a villa of the lord duke, i painted in an altar-picture the dead christ in the lap of his mother, s. cosimo and s. damiano contemplating him, and in the air an angel who, weeping, displays the mysteries of the passion of our saviour; and in the church of the carmine at florence, in the chapel of matteo and simon botti, my very dear friends, there was placed about this same time an altar-picture by my hand wherein is christ crucified, with our lady, s. john and the magdalene weeping. then i executed two great pictures for jacopo capponi, for sending to france, in one of which is spring and in the other autumn, with large figures and new inventions; and in another and even larger picture a dead christ supported by two angels, with god the father on high. to the nuns of s. maria novella of arezzo i sent likewise in those days, or a little before, an altar-picture in which is the virgin receiving the annunciation from the angel, and at the sides two saints; and for the nuns of luco in the mugello, of the order of camaldoli, another altar-piece that is in the inner choir, containing christ crucified, our lady, s. john, and mary magdalene. for luca torrigiani, who is very much my intimate and friend, and who desired to have among the many things that he possesses of our art a picture by my own hand, in order to keep it near him, i painted in a large picture a nude venus with the three graces about her, one of whom is attiring her head, another holds her mirror, and the third is pouring water into a vessel to bathe her; which picture i strove to execute with the greatest study and diligence that i was able, in order to satisfy my own mind no less than that of so sweet and dear a friend. i also executed for antonio de' nobili, treasurer-general to his excellency and my affectionate friend, besides his portrait, being forced to do it against my inclination, a head of jesus christ taken from the words in which lentulus writes of his effigy, both of which were done with diligence; and likewise another somewhat larger, but similar to that named above, for signor mandragone, now the first person in the service of don francesco de' medici, prince of florence and siena, which i presented to his lordship because he is much affected towards our arts and every talent, to the end that he might remember from the sight of it that i love him and am his friend. i have also in hand, and hope to finish soon, a large picture, a most fanciful work, which is intended for signor antonio montalvo, lord of sassetta, who is deservedly the first chamberlain and the most trusted companion of our duke, and so sweet and loving an intimate and friend, not to say a superior, to me, that, if my hand shall accomplish the desire that i have to leave to him a proof by that hand of the affection that i bear him, it will be recognized how much i honour him and how dearly i wish that the memory of a lord so honoured and so loyal, and beloved by me, shall live among posterity, seeing that he exerts himself willingly in favouring all the beautiful intellects that labour in our profession or take delight in design. for the lord prince, don francesco, i have executed recently two pictures that he has sent to toledo in spain, to a sister of the lady duchess leonora, his mother; and for himself a little picture in the manner of a miniature, with forty figures, what with great and small, according to a very beautiful invention of his own. for filippo salviati i finished not long since an altar-picture that is going to the sisters of s. vincenzio at prato, wherein on high is our lady arrived in heaven and crowned, and at the foot the apostles around the sepulchre. for the black friars of the badia of florence, likewise, i am painting an altar-piece of the assumption of our lady, which is near completion, with the apostles in figures larger than life, and other figures at the sides, and around it stories and ornaments accommodated in a novel manner. and since the lord duke, so truly excellent in everything, takes pleasure not only in the building of palaces, cities, fortresses, harbours, loggie, public squares, gardens, fountains, villas, and other suchlike things, beautiful, magnificent, and most useful, for the benefit of his people, but also particularly in building anew and reducing to better form and greater beauty, as a truly catholic prince, the temples and sacred churches of god, in imitation of the great king solomon, recently he has caused me to remove the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. maria novella, which had robbed it of all its beauty, and a new and very rich choir was made behind the high-altar, in order to remove that occupying a great part of the centre of that church; which makes it appear a new church and most beautiful, as indeed it is. and because things that have not order and proportion among themselves can never be entirely beautiful, he has ordained that there shall be made in the side-aisles, between column and column, in such a manner as to correspond to the centres of the arches, rich ornaments of stone in a novel form, which are to serve as chapels with altars in the centre, and are all to be in one of two manners; and that then in the altar-pictures that are to go within these ornaments, seven braccia in height and five in breadth, there shall be executed paintings after the will and pleasure of the patrons of the chapels. within one of those ornaments of stone, made from my design, i have executed for the very reverend monsignor alessandro strozzi, bishop of volterra, my old and most loving patron, a christ crucified according to the vision of s. anselm--namely, with the seven virtues, without which we cannot ascend the seven steps to jesus christ--and with other considerations by the same saint. and in the same church, within another of those ornaments, i have painted for the excellent maestro andrea pasquali, physician to the lord duke, a resurrection of jesus christ in the manner that god has inspired me, to please that maestro andrea, who is much my friend. and a similar work our great duke has desired to have done in the immense church of s. croce in florence;--namely, that the tramezzo[ ] should be removed and that the choir should be made behind the high-altar, bringing that altar somewhat forward and placing upon it a new and rich tabernacle for the most holy sacrament, all adorned with gold, figures, and scenes; and, in addition, that in the same manner that has been told of s. maria novella there should be made there fourteen chapels against the walls, with greater expense and ornamentation than those described above, because that church is much larger than the other. in the altar-pieces, to accompany the two by salviati and bronzino, are to be all the principal mysteries of the saviour, from the beginning of his passion to the sending of the holy spirit upon the apostles; which picture of the sending of the holy spirit, having made the design of the chapels and ornaments of stone, i have in hand for m. agnolo biffoli, treasurer-general to our lords, and my particular friend, and i finished, not long since, two large pictures that are in the magistracy of the nine conservadori, beside s. piero scheraggio; in one is the head of christ, and in the other a madonna. [footnote : see p. , vol. i.] [footnote : see p. , vol. i.] but since i should take too long if i sought to recount in detail the many other pictures, designs without number, models, and masquerades that i have executed, and because this much is enough and more than enough, i shall say nothing more of myself, save that however great and important have been the things that i have continually suggested to duke cosimo, i have never been able to equal, much less to surpass, the greatness of his mind. and this will be seen clearly in a third sacristy that he wishes to build beside s. lorenzo, large and similar to that which michelagnolo built in the past, but all of variegated marbles and mosaics, in order to deposit there, in tombs most honourable and worthy of his power and grandeur, the remains of his dead children, of his father and mother, of the magnanimous duchess leonora, his consort, and of himself; for which i have already made a model after his taste and according to the orders received from him by me, which, when carried into execution, will cause it to be a novel, most magnificent, and truly regal mausoleum. this much, then, it must suffice to have said of myself, who am now come after so many labours to the age of fifty-five years, and look to live so long as it shall please god, honouring him, ever at the service of my friends, and working in so far as my strength shall allow for the benefit and advantage of these most noble arts. the author to the craftsmen of design honoured and noble craftsmen, for whose profit and advantage, chiefly, i set myself a second time to so long a labour, i now find that by the favour and assistance of the divine grace i have accomplished in full that which at the beginning of this my present task i promised myself to do. for which result rendering thanks first to god and afterwards to my lords, who have granted me the facilities whereby i have been able to do this advantageously, i must then give repose to my weary pen and brain, which i shall do as soon as i shall have made some brief observations. if, then, it should appear to anyone that in my writing i have been at times rather long and even somewhat prolix, let him put it down to this, that i have sought as much as i have been able to be clear, and before any other thing to set down my story in such a manner that what has not been understood the first time, or not expressed satisfactorily by me, might be made manifest at any cost. and if what has been said once has been at times repeated in another place, the reasons for this have been two--first, that the matter that i was treating required it, and then that during the time when i rewrote and reprinted the work i broke off my writing more than once for a period not of days merely but of months, either for journeys or because of a superabundance of labours, works of painting, designs, and buildings; besides which, for a man like myself (i confess it freely) it is almost impossible to avoid every error. to those to whom it might appear that i have overpraised any craftsmen, whether old or modern, and who, comparing the old with those of the present age, might laugh at them, i know not what else to answer save that my intention has always been to praise not absolutely but, as the saying is, relatively, having regard to place, time, and other similar circumstances; and in truth, although giotto, for example, was much extolled in his day, i know not what would have been said of him, as of other old masters, if he had lived in the time of buonarroti, whereas the men of this age, which is at the topmost height of perfection, would not be in the position that they are if those others had not first been such as they were before us. in short, let it be believed that what i have done in praising or censuring i have done not with any ulterior object, but only to speak the truth or what i have believed to be the truth. but one cannot always have the goldsmith's balance in the hand, and he who has experienced what writing is, and particularly when one has to make comparisons, which are by their very nature odious, or to pronounce judgments, will hold me excused; and i know only too well how great have been the labours, hardships, and moneys that i have devoted over many years to this work. such, indeed, and so many, have been the difficulties that i have experienced therein, that many a time i would have abandoned it in despair, if the succour of many true and good friends, to whom i shall always be deeply indebted, had not given me courage and persuaded me to persevere, they lending me all the loving aids that have been in their power, of notices, advices, and comparisons of various things, about which, although i had seen them, i was not a little perplexed and dubious. those aids, indeed, have been such, that i have been able to lay bare the pure truth and bring this work into the light of day, in order to revive the memory of so many rare and extraordinary intellects, which was almost entirely buried, for the benefit of those who shall come after us. in doing which i have found no little assistance, as has been told elsewhere, in the writings of lorenzo ghiberti, domenico ghirlandajo, and raffaello da urbino; but although i have lent them willing faith, nevertheless i have always sought to verify their statements by a sight of the works, for the reason that long practice teaches a diligent painter to be able to recognize the various manners of craftsmen not otherwise than a learned and well-practised chancellor knows the various and diverse writings of his equals, or anyone the characters of his nearest and most familiar friends and relatives. now, if i have achieved the end that i have desired, which has been to benefit and at the same time to delight, that will be a supreme satisfaction to me, and, even if it be otherwise, it will be a contentment for me, or at least an alleviation of pain, to have endured fatigue in an honourable work such as should make me worthy of pity among all choice spirits, if not of pardon. but to come at last to the end of this long discourse; i have written as a painter and with the best order and method that i have been able, and, as for language, in that which i speak, whether it be florentine or tuscan, and in the most easy and facile manner at my command, leaving the long and ornate periods, choice words, and other ornaments of learned speech and writing, to such as have not, as i have, a hand rather for brushes than for the pen, and a head rather for designs than for writing. and if i have scattered throughout the work many terms peculiar to our arts, of which perchance it has not occurred to the brightest and greatest lights of our language to avail themselves, i have done this because i could do no less and in order to be understood by you, my craftsmen, for whom, chiefly, as i have said, i set myself to this labour. for the rest, then, i having done all that i have been able, accept it willingly, and expect not from me what i know not and what is not in my power; satisfying yourselves of my good intention, which is and ever will be to benefit and please others. die augusti, . concedimus licentiam et facultatem impune et sine ullo prÆjudicio imprimendi florentiÆ vitas pictorum, sculptorum, et architectorum, tanquam a fide et religione nullo pacto alienas, sed potius valde consonas. in quorum fidem etc. guido servidius, prÆpositus et vicarius generalis florent. index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume x academicians, the, - agnolo, baccio d', agnolo bronzino, _life_, - . - , alberti, leon batista, alessandro allori (alessandro del bronzino), , alessandro del barbiere (alessandro di vincenzio fei), alessandro del bronzino (alessandro allori), , alessandro di vincenzio fei (alessandro del barbiere), alessandro fortori, alessandro vittoria, allori, alessandro (alessandro del bronzino), , altissimo, cristofano dell', , ammanati, bartolommeo, , andrea calamech, andrea del minga, andrea del sarto, , andrea palladio, andrea verrocchio, antonio da correggio, antonio da san gallo (the younger), antonio di gino lorenzi, apelles, , bacchiacca, il (francesco ubertini), baccio bandinelli, , , , , , baccio d'agnolo, bagnacavallo, giovan battista da, baldassarre lancia, baldassarre peruzzi, bandinelli, baccio, , , , , , bandini, giovanni di benedetto, , barbiere, alessandro del (alessandro di vincenzio fei), barozzi, jacopo (vignuola), bartolommeo ammanati, , bastiano flori, , battista cungi, , battista del cavaliere (battista lorenzi), battista del tasso, , battista di benedetto fiammeri, battista farinato, battista lorenzi (battista del cavaliere), battista naldini, , beceri, domenico (domenico benci), benedetto pagni (benedetto da pescia), benozzo gozzoli, benvenuto cellini, , bernardino di porfirio, bernardo timante buontalenti, - biagio pupini, bizzerra, bologna, giovan, , borgo, giovan paolo dal, bronzino, agnolo, _life_, - . - , bronzino, alessandro del (alessandro allori), , brunellesco, filippo di ser, , buffalmacco, buonarroti, michelagnolo, - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , buontalenti, bernardo timante, - butteri, giovan maria, cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), , calamech, andrea, camilliani, francesco, , caravaggio, polidoro da, carlo portelli (carlo da loro), cattaneo, danese, cavaliere, battista del (battista lorenzi), cellini, benvenuto, , cimabue, giovanni, , , cioli, valerio, clovio, don giulio, colle, raffaello dal, collettaio, ottaviano del, correggio, antonio da, cristofano dell' altissimo, , cristofano gherardi, , , crocifissaio, girolamo del, , cungi, battista, , danese cattaneo, danti, fra ignazio, - danti, vincenzio, - desiderio da settignano, domenico beceri (domenico benci), domenico ghirlandajo, domenico poggini, , don giulio clovio, donato (donatello), , faenza, marco da (marco marchetti), fancelli, giovanni (giovanni di stocco), farinato, battista, federigo di lamberto, federigo zucchero, fei, alessandro di vincenzio (alessandro del barbiere), fiammeri, battista di benedetto, filippo di ser brunellesco, , filippo lippi, fra, flori, bastiano, , fontana, prospero, fortori, alessandro, foschi, fra salvadore, fra filippo lippi, fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, , , fra giovanni vincenzio, fra ignazio danti, - fra salvadore foschi, francesco camilliani, , francesco da poppi (francesco morandini), francesco da san gallo, , francesco morandini (francesco da poppi), francesco moschino, francesco salviati, , , , , francesco ubertini (il bacchiacca), gaddi family, genga, girolamo, gherardi, cristofano, , , ghiberti, lorenzo, , ghirlandajo, domenico, ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, ghirlandajo, ridolfo, giorgio vasari. see vasari, giorgio giotto, , , , giovan battista da bagnacavallo, giovan bologna, , giovan francesco rustici, giovan maria butteri, giovan paolo dal borgo, giovanni agnolo montorsoli, fra, , , giovanni cimabue, , , giovanni da udine, giovanni della strada (jan van der straet), , giovanni di benedetto bandini, , giovanni fancelli (giovanni di stocco), giovanni vincenzio, fra, girolamo da treviso, girolamo del crocifissaio, , girolamo genga, giuliano da san gallo, , giulio clovio, don, giulio da urbino, giulio romano, , giuseppe porta (giuseppe salviati), gozzoli, benozzo, guglielmo da marcilla, ignazio danti, fra, - il bacchiacca (francesco ubertini), il rosso, , ilarione ruspoli, jacopo barozzi (vignuola), jacopo da pontormo, - , - , - , , , jacopo sansovino, jacopo tintoretto, jacopo zucchi, jan van der straet (giovanni della strada), , lamberto, federigo di, lancia, baldassarre, lancia, pompilio, lastricati, zanobi, leon battista alberti, leonardo da vinci, lippi, fra filippo, lorenzi, antonio di gino, lorenzi, battista (battista del cavaliere), lorenzi, stoldo di gino, , lorenzo della sciorina, lorenzo ghiberti, , lorenzo sabatini, loro, carlo da (carlo portelli), luca signorelli, manno, manzuoli, maso (maso da san friano), marchetti, marco (marco da faenza), marcilla, guglielmo da, marco marchetti (marco da faenza), martino (pupil of fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli), masaccio, maso manzuoli (maso da san friano), michelagnolo buonarroti, - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , michele di ridolfo ghirlandajo, minga, andrea del, mirabello di salincorno, , montorsoli, fra giovanni agnolo, , , morandini, francesco (francesco da poppi), moschino, francesco, naldini, battista, , niccolò (tribolo), , , , orazio porta, ottaviano del collettaio, pagni, benedetto (benedetto da pescia), palladio, andrea, paolo veronese, parrhasius, perino del vaga, perugino, pietro, peruzzi, baldassarre, pescia, benedetto da (benedetto pagni), pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, pieri, stefano, pietro perugino, poggini, domenico, , polidoro da caravaggio, pompilio lancia, pontormo, jacopo da, - , - , - , , , poppi, francesco da (francesco morandini), porfirio, bernardino di, porta, giuseppe (giuseppe salviati), porta, orazio, portelli, carlo (carlo da loro), praxiteles, prospero fontana, protogenes, pupini, biagio, raffaello dal colle, raffaello sanzio, , , , , , ridolfo ghirlandajo, romano, giulio, , rossi, vincenzio de', , rosso, il, , roviale, ruspoli, ilarione, rustici, giovan francesco, sabatini, lorenzo, salincorno, mirabello di, , salvadore foschi, fra, salviati, francesco, , , , , salviati, giuseppe (giuseppe porta), san friano, maso da (maso manzuoli), san gallo, antonio da (the younger), san gallo, francesco da, , san gallo, giuliano da, , sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, sansovino, jacopo, santi titi, , sanzio, raffaello, , , , , , sarto, andrea del, , sciorina, lorenzo della, settignano, desiderio da, signorelli, luca, stefano pieri, stefano veltroni, stocco, giovanni di (giovanni fancelli), stoldo di gino lorenzi, , strada, giovanni della (jan van der straet), , tasso, battista del, , the academicians, - tintoretto, jacopo, titi, santi, , tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), , tommaso del verrocchio, treviso, girolamo da, tribolo (niccolò), , , , ubertini, francesco (il bacchiacca), udine, giovanni da, urbino, giulio da, vaga, perino del, valerio cioli, vasari, giorgio, _life_, - as art-collector, as author, , , , , , , - , , , - , , - , , , , , , , - , , - , , - , - , , , , , , - , , - , , , - as painter, , , - , , , - , as architect, , - , , , , , , , , - , , - , - vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), , veltroni, stefano, veronese, paolo, verrocchio, andrea, verrocchio, tommaso del, vignuola (jacopo barozzi), vincenzio, fra giovanni, vincenzio danti, - vincenzio de' rossi, , vinci, leonardo da, vittoria, alessandro, zanobi lastricati, zeuxis, zucchero, federigo, zucchi, jacopo, end of vol. x. general index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volumes i--x note.--_to bring this index within as reasonable a compass as possible cross-references, such as_ agnolo bronzino. see bronzino, agnolo, _are printed_ agnolo _bronzino_, _the italics indicating the name under which the page-numbers will be found._ abacco, antonio l', vi, , , , , ; viii, abate, niccolò dell' (niccolò da modena), viii, , ; ix, abbot of s. clemente (don bartolommeo della _gatta_) academicians, the, x, - adone _doni_ aertsen, pieter, ix, aglaophon, i, xxxix agnolo (nephew of montorsoli), viii, , , agnolo (of siena), _life_, i, - ; i, , - ; ii, , , ; viii, agnolo, andrea d' (andrea del _sarto_) agnolo, baccio d' (baccio baglioni), _life_, vi, - ; iii, ; iv, , , , ; v, , , ; vi, - , ; vii, ; viii, ; ix, , , ; x, agnolo, battista d' (battista d'_angelo_, or del moro) agnolo, domenico di baccio d', vi, , , agnolo, filippo di baccio d', vi, , agnolo, giuliano di baccio d', _life_, vi, - ; vii, - , , , agnolo, marco di battista d', vi, , agnolo _bronzino_ agnolo di _cristofano_ agnolo di _donnino_ agnolo di _lorenzo_ (angelo di lorentino) agnolo di _polo_ agnolo _gaddi_ agobbio, oderigi d', i, agostino (of siena), _life_, i, - ; i, , - ; ii, , , ; viii, agostino _busto_ (il bambaja) agostino della _robbia_ agostino _viniziano_ (agostino de' musi) agresti, livio (livio da _forlì_) aholiab, i, xxxviii aimo, domenico (vecchio of bologna), v, ; vi, ; ix, alberti, leon batista, _life_, iii, - ; i, xli, ; ii, ; iii, - ; vi, ; ix, ; x, alberti, michele, viii, , , albertinelli, biagio di bindo, iv, albertinelli, mariotto, _life_, iv, - ; ii, ; iv, , , - ; v, , , ; vii, , ; viii, albertino, francesco d' (francesco _ubertini_, or il bacchiacca) alberto, antonio, v, alberto monsignori (_bonsignori_) albrecht (heinrich) _aldegrever_ albrecht _dürer_ aldegrever, albrecht (heinrich), vi, aldigieri (altichiero) da _zevio_ alessandro (scherano da _settignano_) alessandro _allori_ (alessandro del bronzino) alessandro bonvicini alessandro _moretto_ alessandro _cesati_ (il greco) alessandro del barbiere (alessandro di vincenzio _fei_) alessandro del bronzino (alessandro _allori_) alessandro di vincenzio _fei_ (alessandro del barbiere) alessandro _falconetto_ alessandro filipepi (sandro _botticelli_, or sandro di botticello) alessandro _fortori_ alessandro _moretto_ (alessandro bonvicini) alessandro _vittoria_ alessi, galeazzo, ix, - alesso _baldovinetti_ alfonso _lombardi_ allori, alessandro (alessandro del bronzino), v, ; ix, , ; x, , alonzo _spagnuolo_ (alonzo berughetta) altichiero (aldigieri) da _zevio_ altissimo, cristofano dell', x, , altobello da _melone_ alunno, niccolò, iv, , alvaro di _piero_ amalteo, pomponio, v, , ambrogio _lorenzetti_ amico _aspertini_ ammanati, bartolommeo, ii, ; iv, ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, , , , , ; ix, , , , , , , , , , ; x, , amsterdam, lambert of (lambert _lombard_) andrea, maestro, vii, andrea _calamech_ andrea _contucci_ (andrea sansovino) andrea d' agnolo (andrea del _sarto_) andrea da _fiesole_ (andrea ferrucci) andrea dal _castagno_ (andrea degli impiccati) andrea de' _ceri_ andrea degli impiccati (andrea dal _castagno_) andrea del _gobbo_ andrea del _minga_ andrea del _sarto_ (andrea d' agnolo) andrea della _robbia_ andrea di cione _orcagna_ andrea di _cosimo_ (andrea di cosimo feltrini) andrea ferrucci (andrea da _fiesole_) andrea _luigi_ (l' ingegno) andrea _mantegna_ andrea _palladio_ andrea _pisano_ andrea _riccio_ andrea sansovino (andrea _contucci_) andrea _schiavone_ andrea _sguazzella_ andrea _tafi_ andrea _verrocchio_ angeli, don lorenzo degli (don lorenzo _monaco_) angelico, fra (fra giovanni da fiesole), _life_, iii, - ; i, ; ii, , ; iii, - , ; iv, , , ; vi, angelo, battista d' (battista d' agnolo, or del moro), _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , ; vii, ; viii, angelo, lorentino d', iii, , angelo _ciciliano_ angelo di lorentino (agnolo di _lorenzo_) anguisciuola, anna, viii, anguisciuola, europa, viii, , anguisciuola, lucia, viii, , , anguisciuola, minerva, viii, , anguisciuola, sofonisba, v, , ; viii, - , anichini, luigi, vi, anna _anguisciuola_ anna _seghers_ annibale da _carpi_ annibale di nanni di baccio _bigio_ anselmi, michelagnolo, viii, , anselmo _canneri_ antignano, segna d', ii, antoine lafrery (antonio _lanferri_) antonello da _messina_ antonio (antoniasso), iv, , antonio, fra, viii, antonio _alberto_ antonio _bacchiacca_ antonio _begarelli_ (il modena) antonio _campo_ antonio d' andrea _tafi_ antonio da _carrara_ antonio da _correggio_ antonio da _ferrara_ antonio da _san gallo_ (the elder) antonio da _san gallo_ (the younger) antonio da _trento_ (antonio fantuzzi) antonio da _verzelli_ antonio del _ceraiuolo_ antonio del rozzo (antonio del _tozzo_) antonio di donnino _mazzieri_ (antonio di domenico) antonio di gino _lorenzi_ antonio di giorgio _marchissi_ antonio di giovanni (solosmeo da _settignano_) antonio di marco di giano (il _carota_) antonio di _salvi_ antonio fantuzzi (antonio da _trento_) antonio _filarete_ antonio _fiorentino_ antonio _floriani_ antonio l'_abacco_ antonio _lanferri_ (antoine lafrery) antonio _mini_ antonio _montecavallo_ antonio _particini_ antonio (or vittore) _pisanello_ antonio _pollaiuolo_ antonio _rossellino_ (rossellino dal proconsolo) antonio _salamanca_ antonio _scarpagni_ (scarpagnino or zanfragnino) antonio _viniziano_ antonio _vite_ antonius _moor_ antwerp, hugo of, ix, antwerp, willem van, ix, apelles, i, xxviii, xxxix; ii, , , ; iii, , , ; iv, , , ; v, ; viii, ; ix, , ; x, , apollodorus, i, xxxix apollonio, i, , arca, niccolò dell' (niccolò bolognese), ii, ; ix, ardices, i, xxxix aretino, geri, iii, , aretino, leone (leone lioni), _life_, ix, - ; vi, ; viii, , ; ix, , - aretino, marchionne, i, , aretino, niccolò (niccolò d' arezzo, or niccolò di piero lamberti), _life_, ii, - ; i, ; ii, - , , , , ; iv, aretino, spinello, _life_, ii, - ; i, ; ii, , , - , , , aretusi, pellegrino degli (pellegrino da _modena_, or de' munari) arezzo, niccolò d' (niccolò _aretino_, niccolò di piero lamberti) aristides, i, xli aristotile (bastiano) da _san gallo_ arnolfo di _lapo_ (arnolfo lapi) arrigo (heinrich _paludanus_) arthus van _noort_ ascanio _condivi_ (ascanio dalla ripa transone) asciano, giovanni da, ii, aspertini, amico, _life_, v, - ; v, , - attavante (or vante), iii, - , , , ausse (hans _memling_) avanzi, jacopo (jacopo davanzo), ii, ; iv, , avanzi, niccolò, vi, , bacchiacca, antonio, viii, bacchiacca, il (francesco _ubertini_, or d' albertino) baccio, giovanni di (nanni di baccio _bigio_) baccio baglioni (baccio d' _agnolo_) baccio _baldini_ baccio _bandinelli_ (baccio de' brandini) baccio _cellini_ baccio d' _agnolo_ (baccio baglioni) baccio da _montelupo_ baccio de' brandini (baccio _bandinelli_) baccio della porta (fra bartolommeo di _san marco_) baccio _gotti_ baccio _pintelli_ baccio _ubertino_ baglioni, baccio (baccio d' _agnolo_) baglioni, raffaello, viii, bagnacavallo, bartolommeo da (bartolommeo ramenghi), _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - ; ix, bagnacavallo, giovan battista da, v, ; vii, ; ix, , ; x, baldassarre da siena (baldassarre _peruzzi_) baldassarre _lancia_ baldassarre _peruzzi_ (baldassarre da siena) baldinelli, baldino, iii, baldini, baccio, vi, baldini, giovanni, viii, , baldino _baldinelli_ baldovinetti, alesso, _life_, iii, - ; i, , ; ii, ; iii, , - , , ; iv, ; v, , ; ix, bambaja, il (agostino _busto_) banco, nanni d' antonio di, _life_, ii, - ; ii, - , ; iii, bandinelli, baccio (baccio de' brandini), _life_, vii, - ; ii, , ; iv, , ; v, , , , , - , ; vi, - , , , ; vii, , , , , , - , , ; viii, , , , , , , ; ix, , , , ; x, , , , , , bandinelli, clemente, vii, , , , bandini, giovanni di benedetto (giovanni dell' opera), ix, , , , ; x, , barba, jacopo della, vii, barbara de' _longhi_ barbiere, alessandro del (alessandro di vincenzio _fei_) barbiere, domenico del, v, ; ix, barile, gian (giovan), iv, ; vi, barile, gian (of florence), v, barlacchi, tommaso, vi, , barocci, federigo, viii, baronino, bartolommeo, viii, barozzi, jacopo (vignuola), vi, ; viii, , , - , ; ix, , , ; x, bartoli, domenico, ii, , bartoli, taddeo, _life_, ii, - bartolo di maestro _fredi_ bartolommeo, fra (fra carnovale da urbino), iv, bartolommeo _ammanati_ bartolommeo _baronino_ bartolommeo _bologhini_ bartolommeo bozzato (girolamo _bozza_) bartolommeo _clemente_ bartolommeo _coda_ bartolommeo da _bagnacavallo_ (bartolommeo ramenghi) bartolommeo da _castiglione_ bartolommeo della _gatta_, don (abbot of s. clemente) bartolommeo di jacopo di _martino_ bartolommeo di _san marco_ (baccio della porta), fra bartolommeo _genga_ bartolommeo _miniati_ bartolommeo _montagna_ bartolommeo _neroni_ (riccio) bartolommeo _passerotto_ bartolommeo ramenghi (bartolommeo da _bagnacavallo_) bartolommeo _ridolfi_ bartolommeo _san michele_ bartolommeo suardi (_bramantino_) bartolommeo _torri_ bartolommeo _vivarini_ bartoluccio _ghiberti_ basaiti, marco (il bassiti, or marco basarini), iv, , bassano, jacopo da, ix, , bassiti, il (marco _basaiti_, or basarini) bastianello _florigorio_ (sebastiano florigerio) bastiani, lazzaro (lazzaro scarpaccia, or sebastiano scarpaccia), iv, , , bastiano da _monte carlo_ bastiano (aristotile) da _san gallo_ bastiano _flori_ bastiano _mainardi_ (bastiano da san gimignano) battista, martino di (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino da _udine_) battista _borro_ battista _botticelli_ battista _cungi_ battista d'_angelo_ (battista d'agnolo, or del moro) battista da _san gallo_ (battista gobbo) battista da verona (battista _farinato_) battista del cavaliere (battista _lorenzi_) battista del _cervelliera_ battista del _cinque_ battista del moro (battista d'_angelo_, or d'agnolo) battista del _tasso_ battista della _bilia_ battista di benedetto _fiammeri_ battista _dossi_ battista _farinato_ (battista da verona) battista _franco_ (battista semolei) battista gobbo (battista da _san gallo_) battista _lorenzi_ (battista del cavaliere) battista _naldini_ battista of città di castello, vii, , battista _pittoni_ (battista of vicenza) battista semolei (battista _franco_) battistino, v, , baviera, iv, , ; v, ; vi, , , , bazzi, giovanni antonio (il sodoma), _life_, vii, - ; iv, , ; v, ; vi, - , , ; vii, - ; viii, beatricio, niccolò (nicolas beautrizet), vi, beccafumi, domenico (domenico di pace), _life_, vi, - ; ii, ; v, , , ; vi, , , , , - ; vii, , , beceri, domenico (domenico benci), iv, ; vii, ; x, begarelli, antonio (il modena), viii, ; ix, beham, hans, vi, bellegambe, jean, ix, belli, valerio de' (valerio _vicentino_) bellini family, v, bellini, gentile, _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , ; iv, , , bellini, giovanni, _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , , ; iv, , , , ; v, , , , ; vi, ; viii, ; ix, , , , bellini, jacopo, _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , ; vi, , bellini, vittore (belliniano), iv, , , bello, raffaello, viii, bellucci, giovan battista (giovan battista san marino), _life_, vii, - ; vii, , - bembi, bonifazio, viii, , bembo, giovan francesco (giovan francesco vetraio), v, benci, domenico (domenico _beceri_) benedetto (pupil of giovanni antonio sogliani), v, benedetto _buglioni_ benedetto _buonfiglio_ benedetto (giovan battista) _caporali_ benedetto _cianfanini_ benedetto _coda_ (benedetto da ferrara) benedetto da _maiano_ benedetto da pescia (benedetto _pagni_) benedetto da _rovezzano_ benedetto _diana_ benedetto _ghirlandajo_ benedetto _pagni_ (benedetto da pescia) benedetto _spadari_ bening, levina, ix, bening, simon, ix, benozzo _gozzoli_ benvenuto _cellini_ benvenuto _garofalo_ (benvenuto tisi) bergamo, fra damiano da, viii, , berna, _life_, ii, - bernard of brussels, ix, bernardetto di _mona papera_ bernardi, giovanni (giovanni da castel bolognese), _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , , ; ix, bernardino _brugnuoli_ bernardino da _trevio_ (bernardino zenale) bernardino del lupino (bernardino _luini_) bernardino di _porfirio_ bernardino _india_ bernardino _pinturicchio_ bernardino zenale (bernardino da _trevio_) bernardo timante _buontalenti_ bernardo _ciuffagni_ bernardo da _vercelli_ bernardo _daddi_ bernardo de' gatti (bernardo _soiaro_) bernardo del _buda_ (bernardo rosselli) bernardo di cione _orcagna_ bernardo nello di giovanni _falconi_ bernardo rosselli (bernardo del _buda_) bernardo _rossellino_ bernardo _soiaro_ (bernardo de' gatti) bernardo _vasari_ bernazzano, cesare, v, bersuglia, gian domenico, vii, bertano, giovan battista, viii, , berto _linaiuolo_ bertoldo, ii, , , ; iv, ; vii, ; ix, berughetta, alonzo (alonzo _spagnuolo_) betti, biagio (biagio da carigliano), viii, bezaleel, i, xxxviii biagio, raffaello di, v, , biagio (pupil of botticelli), iii, , biagio _betti_ (biagio da carigliano) biagio _bolognese_ (biagio pupini) biagio da carigliano (biagio _betti_) biagio di bindo _albertinelli_ biagio pupini (biagio _bolognese_) bianco, simon, iv, bicci, lorenzo di, _life_, ii, - ; iii, , ; v, ; vii, bicci di _lorenzo_ bigio, annibale di nanni di baccio, viii, bigio, nanni di baccio (giovanni di baccio), vii, ; ix, , , , , , bilia, battista della, vii, bizzerra, vii, ; viii, ; x, blondeel, lancelot, ix, boccaccino, boccaccio, _life_, v, - ; viii, , , - boccaccino, camillo, v, , ; viii, boccalino, giovanni (giovanni ribaldi), v, boccardino (the elder), iii, bol, hans, ix, bologhini, bartolommeo, i, bologna, galante da, ii, bologna, giovan, vii, , ; ix, , ; x, , bologna, orazio da (orazio _sammacchini_) bologna, pellegrino da (pellegrino _pellegrini_, or tibaldi) bologna, ruggieri da, ix, bologna, vecchio of (domenico _aimo_) bolognese, biagio (biagio pupini), v, , ; viii, , ; x, bolognese, franco, i, bolognese, guido, iii, bolognese, marc' antonio (marc' antonio raimondi, or de' franci), _life_, vi, - , - ; iv, , ; vi, - , - , , , ; vii, ; viii, bolognese, niccolò (niccolò dell' _arca_) boltraffio, giovanni antonio, iv, bonaccorso _ghiberti_ bonano, i, , bonasone, giulio, vi, bonifazio (of venice), ix, bonifazio _bembi_ bonsignori (monsignori), alberto, vi, bonsignori (monsignori), fra cherubino, vi, bonsignori (monsignori), fra girolamo, _life_, vi, - ; viii, bonsignori (monsignori), francesco, _life_, vi, - ; iii, ; iv, ; vi, - bonvicini, alessandro (alessandro _moretto_) bordone, paris, ix, - borghese (of antwerp), ix, borghese, piero (piero della _francesca_, or piero dal borgo a san sepolcro) borgo, giovan paolo dal, x, borgo, raffaello dal (raffaello dal _colle_) borgo a san sepolcro, giovan maria dal, vi, borgo a san sepolcro, piero dal (piero della _francesca_, or borghese) borro, battista, iv, ; viii, bosch, hieronymus, vi, ; ix, bosco, maso dal (maso _boscoli_) boscoli, giovanni, ix, boscoli, maso (maso dal bosco), v, ; ix, botticelli, battista, viii, botticelli, sandro (sandro di botticello, or alessandro filipepi), _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, , , , , - ; iv, , , ; vi, botticello, iii, boyvin, rené (renato), vi, bozza, girolamo (bartolommeo bozzato), ix, bozzacco (brazzacco), viii, bozzato, bartolommeo (girolamo _bozza_) bramante da _milano_ bramante da _urbino_ bramantino (bartolommeo suardi), iii, , ; iv, ; viii, , ; ix, brambilari (brambilla), francesco, viii, brandini, baccio de' (baccio _bandinelli_) brazzacco (_bozzacco_) brescia, raffaello da (raffaello _brescianino_, or de' piccinelli) brescianino, girolamo (girolamo mosciano, or muziano), vi, ; viii, , brescianino, raffaello (raffaello da brescia, or de' piccinelli), viii, bresciano, gian girolamo (gian girolamo savoldo), viii, bresciano, jacopo (jacopo de' medici), ix, , , bresciano, vincenzio (vincenzio di zoppa, or foppa), ii, ; iii, ; iv, , , breuck, jakob, ix, brini, francesco, iii, bronzi, simone de' (simone da _colle_) bronzino, agnolo, _life_, x, - ; iv, ; v, , ; vi, , ; vii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; viii, , , , , , ; ix, , , , , , ; x, - , bronzino, alessandro del (alessandro _allori_) brueghel, pieter, ix, , bruges, johann of (jan van _eyck_) bruges, roger of (roger van der _weyden_) brugnuoli, bernardino, vii, , , , brugnuoli, luigi, vii, , brunelleschi, filippo (filippo di ser brunellesco), _life_, ii, - ; i, lii, , , , , ; ii, - , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , - , , ; iii, , , , , , ; iv, , , ; vi, , ; vii, , , , ; viii, ; ix, , , ; x, , bruno di _giovanni_ brusciasorzi, domenico (domenico del riccio), vi, ; vii, , ; viii, , brusciasorzi, felice (felice del riccio), vii, brussels, _bernard_ of buda, bernardo del (bernardo rosselli), v, buda, girolamo del, vii, buffalmacco, buonamico, _life_, i, - ; i, , , - , , , , ; ii, ; x, buggiano, il, ii, bugiardini, giuliano, _life_, vii, - ; ii, ; iv, , , , ; vi, ; vii, - ; viii, - , ; ix, , , buglioni, benedetto, iii, ; iv, buglioni, santi, iii, ; vii, ; ix, buonaccorsi, perino (perino del _vaga_, or de' ceri) buonaiuti, corsino, ii, buonarroti, michelagnolo, _life_, ix, - ; i, xxvi, xxxiv, ; ii, , , , , , , , ; iii, , , , ; iv, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , ; v, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; vi, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , ; vii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , ; viii, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , - , - , , ; ix, - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , ; x, - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , buonconsigli, giovanni, iv, , buonfiglio, benedetto, iv, , buono, i, , buontalenti, bernardo timante, ix, - ; x, - buschetto, i, liv, lvi; ii, busto, agostino (il bambaja), iv, ; v, , ; viii, , butteri, giovan maria, ix, ; x, caccianimici, francesco, v, caccianimici, vincenzio, v, , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano _vecelli_) calamech, andrea, ix, ; x, calamech, lazzaro, ix, calamis, ii, calandrino, i, calavrese, giovan piero, viii, calavrese, marco (marco cardisco), _life_, v, - ; viii, calcagni, tiberio, viii, ; ix, , , - calcar, johann of (jan stephanus van calcker, or giovanni fiammingo), vi, ; ix, , caldara, polidoro (polidoro da _caravaggio_) caliari, paolo (paolo veronese), vi, , ; vii, - ; viii, , , - , , ; x, callicrates, iii, calzolaio, sandrino del, v, , camicia, chimenti, _life_, iii, - camilliani, francesco, x, , camillo _boccaccino_ camillo _mantovano_ cammei, domenico de', vi, campagnola, girolamo, ii, ; iii, ; iv, , , campagnola, giulio, iv, , , campi, fra ristoro da, i, campo, antonio, viii, , campo, galeazzo, viii, campo, giulio, viii, , , , , campo, vincenzio, viii, , canachus, ii, canneri, anselmo, vi, capanna (of siena), iii, ; v, capanna, puccio, i, , - caparra, il (niccolò _grosso_) capocaccia, mario, ix, caporali, benedetto (giovan battista), iv, , , caporali, giulio, iv, caradosso, iv, , caraglio, giovanni jacopo, _life_, vi, , ; v, ; vi, , , caravaggio, polidoro da (polidoro caldara), _life_, v, - ; iv, , ; v, - ; vi, , ; viii, , , ; ix, ; x, cardisco, marco (marco _calavrese_) carigliano, biagio da (biagio _betti_) carlo _portelli_ (carlo da loro) carnovale da urbino, fra (fra _bartolommeo_) carota, il (antonio di marco di giano), i, ; vi, ; vii, ; ix, caroto, giovan francesco, _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , caroto, giovanni, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , - ; vii, carpaccio (scarpaccia), vittore, _life_, iv, - ; ix, , carpi, annibale da, viii, carpi, girolamo da (girolamo da ferrara), _life_, viii, - ; v, ; viii, - carpi, giulio da, viii, carpi, ugo da, iv, ; vi, , carrara, antonio da, v, carrara, danese da (danese _cattaneo_) carrucci, jacopo (jacopo da _pontormo_) carso, giovanni dal, viii, cartoni, niccolò (niccolò zoccolo), iv, , caselli (_castelli_), cristofano casentino, jacopo di, _life_, ii, - ; i, , ; ii, - , , , ; viii, casignuola, jacopo, ix, casignuola, tommaso, ix, castagno, andrea dal (andrea degli impiccati), _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - , , , , , , ; iv, ; v, ; vi, castel bolognese, giovanni da (giovanni _bernardi_) castel della pieve, pietro da (pietro _perugino_, or vannucci) castelfranco, giorgione da, _life_, iv, - ; i, xxxii; iii, ; iv, , - , ; v, , , ; vi, , , ; viii, , , ; ix, - , , castellani, leonardo, v, castelli (caselli), cristofano, viii, castiglione, bartolommeo da, vi, castrocaro, gian jacopo da, v, catanei, piero, vi, catena, vincenzio, iv, , catharina van _hemessen_ cattaneo, danese (danese da carrara), v, ; vi, - , ; vii, ; ix, , , - , , ; x, cavaliere, battista del (battista _lorenzi_) cavalieri, giovan battista de', vi, cavalieri, tiberio, vii, cavallini, pietro, _life_, i, - ; i, , - cavalori, mirabello (mirabello di _salincorno_) cavazzuola, paolo (paolo morando), _life_, vi, - ; vi, , , , , - , cecca, _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - cecca, girolamo della, iii, cecchino del _frate_ cellini, baccio, iii, , cellini, benvenuto, v, ; vi, , ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, ; ix, , , ; x, , cenni, pasquino, ii, cennini, cennino di drea, i, , , ; ii ceraiuolo, antonio del, iv, ; viii, , ceri, andrea de', vi, - , ceri, perino de' (perino del _vaga_, or buonaccorsi) cervelliera, battista del, iii, ; vi, , , ; vii, cesare _bernazzano_ cesare _cesariano_ cesare da _sesto_ (cesare da milano) cesare del _nebbia_ cesariano, cesare, iv, ; ix, cesati, alessandro (il greco), _life_, vi, cherubino _bonsignori_ (monsignori), fra chimenti _camicia_ christus, pieter, ix, cianfanini, benedetto, iv, ciappino, ix, cicilia, il, v, ciciliano, angelo, viii, ciciliano, jacopo, ix, cicogna, girolamo, vi, cieco, niccolò, iii, cimabue, giovanni, _life_, i, - ; i, xxiv, xxxv, lix, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; ii, , , , ; iii, ; iv, ; v, ; ix, ; x, , , cini, simone, ii, cinque, battista del, vii, ; ix, cinuzzi, vanni, ii, cioli, simone, v, ; vi, ; vii, , , ; viii, cioli, valerio, viii, ; ix, , , ; x, cione, i, , ciuffagni, bernardo, iii, clara _skeysers_ claudio (of paris), v, claudio, maestro, iv, , cleanthes, i, xxxix cleef, joost van, ix, clemente, bartolommeo, iv, clemente, prospero, viii, , clemente _bandinelli_ cleophantes, i, xxxix clovio, don giulio, _life_, ix, - ; vi, , , , ; ix, - ; x, cock, hieronymus, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , - ; ix, cock, matthys, ix, coda, bartolommeo, iii, coda, benedetto (benedetto da ferrara), iii, ; v, , cola dalla _matrice_ (niccola filotesio) colle, raffaello dal (raffaello dal borgo), v, , , ; vi, , ; vii, , , , , , ; x, colle, simone da (simone de' bronzi), ii, , , collettaio, ottaviano del, x, colonna, jacopo, ix, , , como, guido da, i, condivi, ascanio (ascanio dalla ripa transone), ix, , conigliano, giovan battista da, iv, , consiglio _gherardi_ conte, jacopo del, v, ; viii, , , ; ix, , , , , conti, domenico, v, , ; vii, ; viii, contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino), _life_, v, - ; iii, ; iv, , , , , ; v, - , , ; vi, , ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, , ; ix, , , , , , cordegliaghi, giovanetto, iv, , , coriolano, cristofano, vi, cornelis, jan, ix, cornelis _floris_ corniole, giovanni delle, vi, , corniole, nanni di prospero delle, viii, correggio, antonio da, _life_, iv, - ; iv, , - , ; viii, , , , , ; x, corsino _buonaiuti_ corso, jacopo del, iii, cortona, luca da (luca _signorelli_) cosimo, andrea di (andrea di cosimo feltrini), _life_, v, - ; iii, ; iv, ; v, , - ; vii, , - cosimo, piero di, _life_, iv, - ; iii, ; iv, - ; v, ; vii, cosimo (jacopo) da _trezzo_ cosimo _rosselli_ cosini, silvio (silvio da fiesole), v, - ; vi, ; viii, cosmè, ii, ; iii, costa, ippolito, viii, costa, lorenzo, _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , ; viii, , costa, lorenzo (the younger), viii, cotignola, francesco da (francesco de' zaganelli) _life_, v, - cotignola, girolamo da (girolamo marchesi), _life_, v, - ; v, , - cousin, jean (giovanni _cugini_) coxie, michael (michele), vi, , ; ix, - cozzerello, jacopo, iii, crabeth, wouter, ix, credi, lorenzo di, _life_, v, - ; ii, ; iii, ; iv, , , ; v, - , ; viii, , , ; ix, credi, maestro, v, cremona, geremia da, ii, ; viii, crescione, giovan filippo, v, cristofano, ii, ; iv, cristofano, agnolo di, v, ; vii, cristofano _castelli_ (caselli) cristofano _coriolano_ cristofano dell' _altissimo_ cristofano _gherardi_ (doceno) cristofano gobbo (cristofano _solari_) cristofano lombardi (tofano _lombardino_) cristofano _rosa_ cristofano _solari_ (cristofano gobbo) crocifissaio, girolamo del (girolamo _macchietti_) cronaca, il (simone del pollaiuolo), _life_, iv, - ; iii, ; iv, , - ; v, ; vi, , cugini, giovanni (jean cousin), vi, cungi, battista, vii, , , , ; x, , cungi, leonardo, vi, ; viii, cuticello (giovanni antonio _licinio_, or pordenone) daddi, bernardo, ii, , dalen, jan van, ix, dalmasi, lippo, ii, danese _cattaneo_ (danese da carrara) daniello da parma (daniello _porri_) daniello da volterra (daniello _ricciarelli_) daniello _porri_ (daniello da parma) daniello _ricciarelli_ (daniello da volterra) dante, girolamo (girolamo di tiziano), ix, danti, fra ignazio, x, - danti, vincenzio, i, ; vii, ; ix, , ; x, - dario da _treviso_ davanzo, jacopo (jacopo _avanzi_) davanzo, jacopo (of milan), iv, david _fortini_ david _ghirlandajo_ david _pistoiese_ delft, simon van, ix, della robbia family, v, dello, _life_, ii, - ; ii, - , dente, marco (marco da ravenna), _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , ; vii, desiderio da _settignano_ diacceto, viii, diamante, fra, iii, , - ; iv, diana, benedetto, iv, , diana _mantovana_ (sculptore) dierick jacobsz _vellaert_ dinant, hendrik of, ix, dirk of _haarlem_ dirk of _louvain_ dirk van _staren_ dirk _volkaerts_ doceno (cristofano _gherardi_) domenico, antonio di (antonio di donnino _mazzieri_) domenico _aimo_ (vecchio of bologna) domenico _bartoli_ domenico _beccafumi_ (domenico di pace) domenico _beceri_ (domenico benci) domenico _brusciasorzi_ (domenico del riccio) domenico _conti_ domenico da venezia (domenico _viniziano_) domenico dal lago di _lugano_ domenico dal _monte sansovino_ domenico de' _cammei_ domenico del _barbiere_ domenico del riccio (domenico _brusciasorzi_) domenico del _tasso_ domenico di baccio d'_agnolo_ domenico di _mariotto_ domenico di _michelino_ domenico di pace (domenico _beccafumi_) domenico di _paris_ domenico di _polo_ domenico _ghirlandajo_ domenico _giuntalodi_ domenico _morone_ domenico _panetti_ domenico _pecori_ domenico _poggini_ domenico _pucci_ domenico _puligo_ domenico _romano_ domenico _viniziano_ (domenico da venezia) domenicus _lampsonius_ don bartolommeo della _gatta_ (abbot of s. clemente) don giulio _clovio_ don _jacopo_ don lorenzo _monaco_ (don lorenzo degli angeli) don _silvestro_ donato (donatello), _life_, ii, - ; i, , , ; ii, , , , , , , - , , , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , - , , , - , , , ; iii, , , , , , , , , , , , ; iv, , , ; v, ; vi, ; vii, , , , ; viii, ; ix, , , , , , ; x, , doni, adone, vii, ; ix, donnino, agnolo di, iii, , ; v, ; ix, , donzello, piero del, iii, donzello, polito del, iii, , dossi, battista, _life_, v, - ; vii, ; viii, , dossi, dosso, _life_, v, - ; iii, ; v, - ; vii, ; viii, , , , ; ix, duca tagliapietra, iii, duccio, _life_, ii, - ; iii, ; vi, durante del _nero_ dürer, albrecht, _life_, vi, - ; iii, ; iv, ; v, ; vi, - , , , ; vii, , , ; ix, , , , eliodoro _forbicini_ enea _vico_ ercole _ferrarese_ (ercole da ferrara) erion, ii, europa _anguisciuola_ eusebio _san giorgio_ eyck, hubert van, ix, eyck, jan van (johann of bruges), iii, - , ; ix, , fabbro, pippo del, vii, ; ix, fabiano di stagio _sassoli_ fabius, i, xl fabriano, gentile da, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, , - , fabrizio _viniziano_ facchino, giuliano del, iii, faenza, figurino da, vi, faenza, jacopone da, viii, ; ix, faenza, marco da (marco _marchetti_) faenza, ottaviano da, i, faenza, pace da, i, fagiuoli, girolamo, v, ; vi, , ; viii, falconetto, alessandro, vi, , falconetto, giovan maria, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , , - falconetto, giovanni antonio (the elder), vi, falconetto, giovanni antonio (the younger), vi, , falconetto, jacopo, vi, , falconetto, ottaviano, vi, , falconetto, provolo, vi, , falconi, bernardo nello di giovanni, i, fallaro, jacopo, ix, fancelli, giovanni (giovanni di stocco), vii, ; x, fancelli, luca, ii, ; iii, fancelli, salvestro, iii, fano, pompeo da, viii, fantuzzi, antonio (antonio da _trento_) farinato, battista (battista da verona), vii, , ; viii, ; ix, ; x, farinato, paolo, vii, , , ; viii, fattore, il (giovan francesco _penni_) federigo _barocci_ federigo di _lamberto_ (federigo fiammingo, or del padovano) federigo _zucchero_ fei, alessandro di vincenzio (alessandro del barbiere), x, felice _brusciasorzi_ (felice del riccio) feliciano da _san vito_ feltrini, andrea di cosimo (andrea di _cosimo_) feltro, morto da, _life_, v, - ; v, - fermo _ghisoni_ ferrara, antonio da, i, ferrara, benedetto da (benedetto _coda_) ferrara, ercole da (ercole _ferrarese_) ferrara, girolamo da (girolamo da _carpi_) ferrara, stefano da, iii, , ; iv, ferrarese, ercole (ercole da ferrara), _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - ; iv, ferrarese, galasso (galasso _galassi_) ferrarese, girolamo (girolamo _lombardo_) ferrari, gaudenzio, v, ; viii, ferrucci, andrea (andrea da _fiesole_) ferrucci, francesco (francesco del _tadda_) ferrucci, francesco di simone, iii, ; v, fiacco (or flacco), orlando, _life_, vi, fiammeri, battista di benedetto, ix, ; x, fiammingo, federigo (federigo di _lamberto_, or del padovano) fiammingo, giorgio, ix, fiammingo, giovanni (johann of _calcar_, or jan stephanus van calcker) fiesole, andrea da (andrea ferrucci), _life_, v, - ; v, - , ; vii, ; viii, fiesole, fra giovanni da (fra _angelico_) fiesole, maestro giovanni da, vi, fiesole, mino da (mino di giovanni,) _life_, iii, - fiesole, silvio da (silvio _cosini_) fiesole, simone da, ix, , figurino da _faenza_ filarete, antonio, _life_, iii, - ; ii, , ; iii, - , , ; iv, ; viii, filipepi, alessandro (sandro _botticelli_, or di botticello) filippino (filippo _lippi_) filippo _brunelleschi_ (filippo di ser brunellesco) filippo di baccio d'_agnolo_ filippo di ser brunellesco (filippo _brunelleschi_) filippo _lippi_ (filippino) filippo _lippi_, fra filippo _negrolo_ filotesio, niccola (cola dalla _matrice_) finiguerra, maso, iii, ; vi, fiorentino, antonio, ii, fiorentino, francesco, ii, fiorentino, niccolò, ii, fiorini, giovan battista, viii, fivizzano, iv, flacco (or _fiacco_), orlando flore, jacobello de, iv, , flori, bastiano, x, , floriani, antonio, v, , floriani, francesco, v, , florigorio, bastianello (sebastiano florigerio), v, floris, cornelis, ix, floris, franz (franz de vrient), vi, , ; ix, - foccora, giovanni, iii, fontana, prospero, v, ; viii, ; ix, , , - ; x, fonte, jacopo della (jacopo della _quercia_) foppa, vincenzio (vincenzio di zoppa, or vincenzio _bresciano_) forbicini, eliodoro, vii, forlì, francesco da (francesco _menzochi_) forlì, guglielmo da, i, forlì, livio da (livio agresti), viii, , ; ix, forlì, melozzo da, iii, fortini, david, vii, fortori, alessandro, x, forzore di _spinello_ foschi, fra salvadore, x, fra _angelico_ (fra giovanni da fiesole) fra _antonio_ fra _bartolommeo_ (fra carnovale da urbino) fra bartolommeo di _san marco_ (baccio della porta) fra carnovale da urbino (fra _bartolommeo_) fra cherubino _bonsignori_ (monsignori) fra damiano da _bergamo_ fra _diamante_ fra filippo _lippi_ fra _giocondo_ fra _giovanni_ fra giovanni agnolo _montorsoli_ fra giovanni da fiesole (fra _angelico_) fra giovanni da _verona_ fra giovanni _vincenzio_ fra girolamo _bonsignori_ (monsignori) fra guglielmo della _porta_ (guglielmo milanese) fra ignazio _danti_ fra jacopo da _turrita_ fra paolo _pistoiese_ fra ristoro da _campi_ fra salvadore _foschi_ fra sebastiano viniziano del _piombo_ (sebastiano luciani) francesca, piero della (piero borghese, or piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , , , , ; iv, , , ; viii, francesco, maestro, iv, francesco, mariotto di, v, - francesco (called di maestro giotto), i, francesco _bonsignori_ (monsignori) francesco _brambilari_ (brambilla) francesco _brini_ francesco _caccianimici_ francesco _camilliani_ francesco da _cotignola_ (francesco de' zaganelli) francesco da forlì (francesco _menzochi_) francesco da _melzo_ francesco da poppi (francesco _morandini_) francesco da _san gallo_ francesco da _siena_ francesco da _volterra_ francesco dai _libri_ (the elder) francesco dai _libri_ (the younger) francesco d' albertino (francesco _ubertini_, or il bacchiacca) francesco de' rossi (francesco _salviati_) francesco de' zaganelli (francesco da _cotignola_) francesco del _tadda_ (francesco ferrucci) francesco della _luna_ francesco dell' _indaco_ francesco di _giorgio_ francesco di girolamo dal _prato_ francesco di _mirozzo_ (melozzo) francesco di pesello (francesco _peselli_, or pesellino) francesco di simone _ferrucci_ francesco di _valdambrina_ francesco ferrucci (francesco del _tadda_) francesco _fiorentino_ francesco _floriani_ francesco _francia_ francesco _giamberti_ francesco _granacci_ (il granaccio) francesco _marcolini_ francesco _masini_, messer francesco _mazzuoli_ (parmigiano) francesco _menzochi_ (francesco da forlì) francesco monsignori (_bonsignori_) francesco _morandini_ (francesco da poppi) francesco _morone_ francesco _moschino_ francesco of orleans, v, francesco _peselli_ (francesco di pesello, or pesellino) francesco _primaticcio_ francesco _ricchino_ francesco _salviati_ (francesco de' rossi) francesco _sant' agnolo_ francesco _traini_ francesco _turbido_ (il moro) francesco _ubertini_ (francesco d'albertino, or il bacchiacca) francesco _verbo_ (verlo) franci, marc' antonio de' (marc' antonio _bolognese_, or raimondi) francia (_franciabigio_) francia, francesco, _life_, iv, - ; iv, - , ; vi, ; viii, ; ix, , francia, piero, ix, franciabigio (francia), _life_, v, - ; ii, ; iv, ; v, - , , , , , , - , , ; vii, , , ; viii, ; ix, francione, iv, , franco, battista (battista semolei), _life_, viii, - ; vi, , , ; vii, , , ; viii, , , , - , , , ; ix, , , franco _bolognese_ francucci, innocenzio (innocenzio da _imola_) franz _floris_ (franz de vrient) franz _mostaert_ franzese, giovanni, ix, frate, cecchino del, iv, fredi, bartolo di maestro, ii, fuccio, i, , gabriele _giolito_ gabriele _rustici_ gabriello _saracini_ gaddi family, x, gaddi, agnolo, _life_, i, - ; i, , , - ; ii, , ; iv, , gaddi, gaddo, _life_, i, - ; i, , - , , , , , gaddi, giovanni, i, , , , gaddi, taddeo, _life_, i, - ; i, , , , , , , - , , , , ; ii, , , , , ; ix, gaddo _gaddi_ galante da _bologna_ galassi, galasso (galasso ferrarese), _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - ; iv, galasso (of ferrara), viii, galeazzo _alessi_ galeazzo _campo_ galeazzo _mondella_ galeotto, pietro paolo, vi, ; vii, ; ix, galieno, iv, galle, philip, ix, gambara, lattanzio, viii, , , , garbo, raffaellino del, _life_, iv, - ; iv, , , - garofalo, benvenuto (benvenuto tisi), _life_, viii, - ; viii, - , , ; ix, gasparo _misuroni_ (misceroni) gatta, don bartolommeo della (abbot of s. clemente), _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - ; iv, , , , ; vi, gatti, bernardo de' (bernardo _soiaro_) gaudenzio _ferrari_ genga, bartolommeo, _life_, vii, - ; vii, , , - ; viii, , - genga, girolamo, _life_, vii, - ; v, , , ; vii, - , , ; viii, , ; x, gensio _liberale_ gentile _bellini_ gentile da _fabriano_ georg _pencz_ gerard, ix, geremia da _cremona_ geri _aretino_ gerino _pistoiese_ (gerino da pistoia) ghent, justus of, ix, gherardi, consiglio, ii, gherardi, cristofano (doceno), _life_, vii, - ; ix, ; x, , , gherardo (of florence), _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - , ; iv, ; vi, ; ix, gherardo _starnina_ ghiberti, bartoluccio, ii, - , , , ; iii, , ghiberti, bonaccorso, ii, ghiberti, lorenzo (lorenzo di bartoluccio ghiberti, or lorenzo di cione ghiberti), _life_, ii, - ; i, , , , ; ii, , , , , - , , , , , , , - , ; iii, , , , , ; ix, ; x, , ghiberti, vittorio, ii, , ghirlandajo, benedetto, _life_, viii, - ; iii, , , ; vi, ; viii, - ghirlandajo, david, _life_, viii, - ; iii, , , - , ; vi, ; viii, - , , ; ix, , , ghirlandajo, domenico, _life_, iii, - ; i, , , ; ii, ; iii, , , , , , - , ; iv, , , , ; vi, , , ; vii, , ; viii, - , , , ; ix, - , ; x, ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, v, ; vii, ; viii, - , , ; ix, ; x, ghirlandajo, ridolfo, _life_, viii, - ; i, ; ii, , ; iii, ; iv, , , , - ; v, , ; vi, , ; vii, , , , ; viii, , , - , - ; ix, ; x, ghirlandajo, tommaso, iii, ghisi (mantovano), giorgio, vi, , ghisoni, fermo, iii, ; vi, , , ; viii, - giacomo _marzone_ giamberti, francesco, iv, , gian (giovan) _barile_ gian _barile_ (of florence) gian cristoforo, iii, gian domenico _bersuglia_ gian girolamo _bresciano_ (gian girolamo savoldo) gian girolamo _san michele_ gian girolamo savoldo (gian girolamo _bresciano_) gian jacopo da _castrocaro_ gian maria da _milano_ gian maria _verdezotti_ gian niccola, iv, , giannuzzi, giulio pippi de' (giulio _romano_) giannuzzi, raffaello pippi de', vi, giano, antonio di marco di (il _carota_) gilis _mostaert_ giocondo, fra, _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , , , giolfino, niccolò (niccolò ursino), vii, giolito, gabriele, vi, giomo del _sodoma_ giorgio, francesco di, _life_, iii, - ; ii, , ; iii, - giorgio _fiammingo_ giorgio mantovano (_ghisi_) giorgio _vasari_ giorgio _vasari_ (son of lazzaro vasari, the elder) giorgione da _castelfranco_ giottino, tommaso (or maso), _life_, i, - ; i, , - ; ii, giotto, _life_, i, - ; i, - , , , , , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , ; ii, , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; iii, , ; iv, ; v, ; vi, , , , , ; viii, , ; ix, , , , ; x, , , , giovan (gian) _barile_ giovan battista _bellucci_ (giovan battista san marino) giovan battista _bertano_ giovan battista (benedetto) _caporali_ giovan battista da _bagnacavallo_ giovan battista da _conigliano_ giovan battista de' _cavalieri_ giovan battista de' rossi (il _rosso_) giovan battista _fiorini_ giovan battista _grassi_ giovan battista _ingoni_ giovan battista _mantovano_ (sculptore) giovan battista _peloro_ giovan battista _rosso_ (or rosto) giovan battista san marino (giovan battista _bellucci_) giovan battista sculptore (_mantovano_) giovan battista _sozzini_ giovan _bologna_ giovan filippo _crescione_ giovan francesco _bembo_ (or vetraio) giovan francesco _caroto_ giovan francesco da _san gallo_ giovan francesco _penni_ (il fattore) giovan francesco _rustici_ giovan francesco vetraio (or _bembo_) giovan jacomo della _porta_ giovan maria _butteri_ giovan maria dal _borgo a san sepolcro_ giovan maria _falconetto_ giovan maria _pichi_ giovan paolo dal _borgo_ giovan paolo _poggini_ giovan paolo _rossetti_ giovan piero _calavrese_ giovanetto _cordegliaghi_ giovanni (lo spagna), iv, , giovanni (of vicenza), ix, giovanni (the fleming), viii, giovanni, antonio di (solosmeo da _settignano_) giovanni, bruno di, i, , , , , giovanni, fra, i, giovanni, maestro, iv, giovanni, mino di (mino da _fiesole_) giovanni agnolo _montorsoli_, fra giovanni antonio _bazzi_ (il sodoma) giovanni antonio _boltraffio_ giovanni antonio de' _rossi_ giovanni antonio _falconetto_ (the elder) giovanni antonio _falconetto_ (the younger) giovanni antonio _lappoli_ giovanni antonio _licinio_ (cuticello, or pordenone) giovanni antonio _sogliani_ giovanni _baldini_ giovanni battista _veronese_ giovanni _bellini_ giovanni _bernardi_ (giovanni da castel bolognese) giovanni _boccalino_ (giovanni ribaldi) giovanni _boscoli_ giovanni _buonconsigli_ giovanni _caroto_ giovanni _cimabue_ giovanni _cugini_ (jean cousin) giovanni da _asciano_ giovanni da castel bolognese (giovanni _bernardi_) giovanni da fiesole, fra (fra _angelico_) giovanni da _fiesole_, maestro giovanni da _lione_ giovanni da _milano_ giovanni da _nola_ giovanni da _pistoia_ giovanni da _rovezzano_ giovanni da santo stefano a ponte (giovanni dal _ponte_) giovanni da _udine_ (giovanni martini) giovanni da _udine_ (giovanni nanni, or de' ricamatori) giovanni da _verona_, fra giovanni dal _carso_ giovanni dal _ponte_ (giovanni da santo stefano a ponte) giovanni de' ricamatori (giovanni da _udine_, or nanni) giovanni de' _santi_ giovanni dell' opera (giovanni di benedetto _bandini_) giovanni della _robbia_ giovanni delle _corniole_ giovanni di baccio (nanni di baccio _bigio_) giovanni di benedetto _bandini_ (giovanni dell' opera) giovanni di _goro_ giovanni _fancelli_ (giovanni di stocco) giovanni fiammingo (johann of _calcar_, or jan stephanus van calcker) giovanni _foccora_ giovanni _franzese_ giovanni _gaddi_ giovanni jacopo _caraglio_ giovanni _mangone_ giovanni _mansueti_ giovanni martini (giovanni da _udine_) giovanni nanni (giovanni da _udine_, or de' ricamatori) giovanni _pedoni_ giovanni _pisano_ giovanni ribaldi (giovanni _boccalino_) giovanni _rosto_ (or rosso) giovanni _san michele_ giovanni _speranza_ giovanni strada (jan van der _straet_) giovanni _tossicani_ giovanni _turini_ giovanni _vincenzio_, fra girolamo, v, girolamo _bonsignori_ (monsignori), fra girolamo _bozza_ (bartolommeo bozzato) girolamo _brescianino_ (girolamo mosciano, or muziano) girolamo _campagnola_ girolamo _cicogna_ girolamo da _carpi_ (girolamo da ferrara) girolamo da _cotignola_ (girolamo marchesi) girolamo da ferrara (girolamo da _carpi_) girolamo da sermoneta (girolamo _siciolante_) girolamo da _treviso_ (girolamo trevigi) girolamo dai _libri_ girolamo dal _prato_ girolamo _dante_ (girolamo di tiziano) girolamo del _buda_ girolamo del crocifissaio (girolamo _macchietti_) girolamo del _pacchia_ girolamo della _cecca_ girolamo della _robbia_ girolamo di tiziano (girolamo _dante_) girolamo _fagiuoli_ girolamo ferrarese (girolamo _lombardo_) girolamo _genga_ girolamo _lombardo_ (girolamo ferrarese) girolamo _macchietti_ (girolamo del crocifissaio) girolamo marchesi (girolamo da _cotignola_) girolamo _mazzuoli_ girolamo _miruoli_ girolamo _misuroni_ (misceroni) girolamo mocetto (or _moretto_) girolamo monsignori (_bonsignori_), fra girolamo _moretto_ (or mocetto) girolamo mosciano (girolamo muziano, or _brescianino_) girolamo _padovano_ girolamo _pironi_ girolamo _romanino_ girolamo _santa croce_ girolamo _siciolante_ (girolamo da sermoneta) girolamo trevigi (girolamo da _treviso_) giromin _morzone_ giugni, rosso de', vi, giuliano _bugiardini_ giuliano da _maiano_ giuliano da _san gallo_ giuliano del _facchino_ giuliano del _tasso_ giuliano di baccio d'_agnolo_ giuliano di niccolò _morelli_ giuliano _leno_ giulio _bonasone_ giulio _campagnola_ giulio _campo_ giulio _caporali_ giulio _clovio_, don giulio da _carpi_ giulio da _urbino_ giulio _mazzoni_ giulio _romano_ (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi) giuntalodi, domenico, vi, - giuseppe del salviati (giuseppe _porta_) giuseppe niccolò (joannicolo) _vicentino_ giuseppe _porta_ (giuseppe del salviati) giusto, iii, giusto (of padua), iv, , gobbo, andrea del, iv, gobbo, battista (battista da _san gallo_) gobbo, cristofano (cristofano _solari_) goro, giovanni di, vi, ; vii, gossart, jean, ix, gotti, baccio, iv, gozzoli, benozzo, _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - , ; vi, ; x, grà, marco da, viii, graffione, iii, granacci, francesco (il granaccio), _life_, vi, - ; ii, ; iii, ; iv, , , ; v, , , ; vi, - , ; vii, ; viii, , , , ; ix, , , , , , grassi, giovan battista, v, greco, il (alessandro _cesati_) grimmer, jakob, ix, grosso, nanni, iii, grosso, niccolò (il caparra), iv, , gualtieri (the fleming), viii, guardia, niccolò della, iii, guazzetto, il (lorenzo naldino), v, ; viii, , - gucci, lapo, ii, guerriero da _padova_ guerrini, rocco, ix, guglielmo, i, , guglielmo da _forlì_ guglielmo da _marcilla_ (guillaume de marcillac) guglielmo della _porta_, fra (guglielmo milanese) guglielmo _tedesco_ guido _bolognese_ guido da _como_ guido del _servellino_ guido _mazzoni_ (modanino da modena) guillaume de marcillac (guglielmo da _marcilla_) gyges the lydian (fable), i, xxxix haarlem, dirk of, ix, haeck, jan, ix, hans _beham_ hans _bol_ hans _liefrinck_ hans _memling_ (ausse) heemskerk, martin, vi, ; viii, , ; ix, heinrich (albrecht) _aldegrever_ heinrich _paludanus_ (arrigo) hemessen, catharina van, ix, hemessen, jan van, ix, , hendrik of _dinant_ hieronymus _bosch_ hieronymus _cock_ holland, lucas of (lucas van _leyden_) horebout, lucas, ix, horebout, susanna, ix, , hubert van _eyck_ hugo of _antwerp_ ignazio _danti_, fra il bacchiacca (francesco _ubertini_, or d'albertino) il bambaja (agostino _busto_) il bassiti (marco _basaiti_, or basarini) il _buggiano_ il caparra (niccolò _grosso_) il _carota_ (antonio di marco di giano) il _cicilia_ il _cronaca_ (simone del pollaiuolo) il fattore (giovan francesco _penni_) il granaccio (francesco _granacci_) il greco (alessandro _cesati_) il _guazzetto_ (lorenzo naldino) il modena (antonio _begarelli_) il moro (francesco _turbido_) il _pistoia_ (leonardo) il _rosso_ (giovan battista de' rossi) il sodoma (giovanni antonio _bazzi_) ilarione _ruspoli_ imola, innocenzio da (innocenzio francucci), _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, , , - impiccati, andrea degli (andrea dal _castagno_) indaco, francesco dell', iv, , ; vi, ; viii, indaco, jacopo dell', _life_, iv, - ; iii, ; iv, - ; ix, , india, bernardino, vii, ingoni, giovan battista, viii, , innocenzio da _imola_ (innocenzio francucci) ippolito _costa_ irene di _spilimbergo_ jacobello, i, jacobello de _flore_ jacomo _melighino_ (jacopo melighini) jacone (jacopo), v, ; vii, ; viii, - jacopo (pupil of sandro botticelli), iii, , jacopo, don, ii, jacopo _avanzi_ (jacopo davanzo) jacopo _barozzi_ (vignuola) jacopo _bellini_ jacopo _bresciano_ (jacopo de' medici) jacopo carrucci (jacopo da _pontormo_) jacopo _casignuola_ jacopo _ciciliano_ jacopo _colonna_ jacopo _cozzerello_ jacopo da _bassano_ jacopo da _montagna_ jacopo da _pontormo_ (jacopo carrucci) jacopo da _trezzo_ jacopo (cosimo) da _trezzo_ jacopo da _turrita_, fra jacopo davanzo (jacopo _avanzi_) jacopo _davanzo_ (of milan) jacopo de' medici (jacopo _bresciano_) jacopo del _conte_ jacopo del _corso_ jacopo del _sellaio_ jacopo del _tedesco_ jacopo della _barba_ jacopo della _quercia_ (jacopo della fonte) jacopo dell' _indaco_ jacopo di _casentino_ jacopo di cione _orcagna_ jacopo di _sandro_ jacopo _falconetto_ jacopo _fallaro_ jacopo _lanfrani_ jacopo melighini (jacomo _melighino_) jacopo _palma_ (palma vecchio) jacopo _pisbolica_ jacopo robusti (jacopo _tintoretto_) jacopo _sansovino_ (jacopo tatti) jacopo _squarcione_ jacopo tatti (jacopo _sansovino_) jacopo _tedesco_ (lapo) jacopo _tintoretto_ (jacopo robusti) jacopo _zucchi_ jacopone da _faenza_ jakob _breuck_ jakob _grimmer_ jan _cornelis_ jan de _mynsheere_ jan der _sart_ jan _haeck_ jan _scorel_ jan stephanus van calcker (johann of _calcar_, or giovanni fiammingo) jan van _dalen_ jan van der _straet_ (giovanni strada) jan van _eyck_ (johann of bruges) jan van _hemessen_ janszoon, joost, ix, jean _bellegambe_ jean cousin (giovanni _cugini_) jean _gossart_ joachim _patinier_ joannicolo (giuseppe niccolò) _vicentino_ johann of bruges (jan van _eyck_) johann of _calcar_ (jan stephanus van calcker, or giovanni fiammingo) johann of _louvain_ joost _janszoon_ joost van _cleef_ joris _robyn_ justus of _ghent_ keur, willem, ix, key, willem, ix, , , koeck, pieter, ix, lafrery, antoine (antonio _lanferri_) lambert _lombard_ (lambert of amsterdam) lambert _suavius_ (lamberto suave, or lambert zutmann) lambert van _noort_ lamberti, niccolò di piero (niccolò d'arezzo, or _aretino_) lamberto, federigo di (federigo fiammingo, or del padovano), ix, , ; x, lamberto (the fleming), viii, lamberto suave (lambert _suavius_, or lambert zutmann) lampsonius, domenicus, ix, , , lancelot _blondeel_ lancia, baldassarre, vii, ; x, lancia, luca, ix, lancia, pompilio, x, lanferri, antonio (antoine lafrery), vi, lanfrani, jacopo, i, , lanzilago, maestro, iv, , lapo, arnolfo di (arnolfo lapi), _life_, i, - ; i, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , ; ii, , , , , , ; ix, lapo (jacopo _tedesco_) lapo _gucci_ lappoli, giovanni antonio, _life_, vi, - ; v, - ; vi, - ; vii, , lappoli, matteo, iii, , ; vi, lastricati, zanobi, vii, ; ix, , ; x, lattanzio _gambara_ lattanzio _pagani_ laurati, pietro (pietro lorenzetti), _life_, i, - ; i, , - ; ii, ; iii, laureti, tommaso (tommaso siciliano), vi, lazzaro _calamech_ lazzaro scarpaccia (sebastiano scarpaccia, or lazzaro _bastiani_) lazzaro _vasari_ (the elder) lazzaro _vasari_ (the younger) lendinara, lorenzo da, iii, leno, giuliano, iv, ; vi, , ; viii, leon battista _alberti_ leonardo (il _pistoia_) leonardo _castellani_ leonardo _cungi_ leonardo da _vinci_ leonardo del _tasso_ leonardo di _ser giovanni_ leonardo _milanese_ leonardo _ricciarelli_ leonardo (the fleming), v, leone _aretino_ (leone lioni) levina _bening_ leyden, lucas van (lucas of holland), _life_, vi, - ; ix, , liberale, _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, - , , , , , liberale, gensio, v, libri, francesco dai (the elder), _life_, vi, ; vi, , libri, francesco dai (the younger), _life_, vi, - libri, girolamo dai, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , , - , licinio, giovanni antonio (cuticello, or pordenone), _life_, v, - ; vi, , , ; viii, , , ; ix, , , liefrinck, hans, vi, ligorio, pirro, viii, , , , ; ix, , , , linaiuolo, berto, iii, l'ingegno (andrea _luigi_) lino, i, lione, giovanni da, vi, , lioni, leone (leone _aretino_) lioni, pompeo, ix, , lippi, filippo (filippino), _life_, iv, - ; ii, , ; iii, , , ; iv, - , , , , , , ; v, ; vi, lippi, fra filippo, _life_, iii, - ; ii, , ; iii, - , , , , ; iv, , , , ; vi, ; vii, ; ix, , ; x, lippi, ruberto di filippo, viii, , lippo, _life_, ii, - ; i, , ; ii, - , lippo _dalmasi_ lippo _memmi_ livio da _forlì_ (livio agresti) lo spagna (_giovanni_) lodovico (of florence), ix, lodovico _malino_ (or mazzolini) lodovico _marmita_ lodovico mazzolini (or _malino_) lodovico _rosso_ lombard, lambert (lambert of amsterdam), ix, - , lombardi, alfonso, _life_, v, - ; v, - , ; vii, ; ix, lombardino, tofano (cristofano lombardi), vi, ; viii, , lombardo, girolamo (girolamo ferrarese), v, , - ; vii, , , ; viii, , ; ix, , lombardo, tullio, iv, longhi, barbara de', ix, longhi, luca de', ix, , lorentino, angelo di (agnolo di _lorenzo_) lorentino d'_angelo_ lorenzetti, ambrogio, _life_, i, - lorenzetti, pietro (pietro _laurati_) lorenzetto (lorenzo) _lotti_ lorenzi, antonio di gino, vii, ; ix, ; x, lorenzi, battista (battista del cavaliere), ix, , , ; x, lorenzi, stoldo di gino, x, , lorenzo (father of piero di cosimo), iv, lorenzo, agnolo di (angelo di lorentino), i, ; iii, lorenzo, bicci di, ii, lorenzo, neri di, ii, , lorenzo _costa_ lorenzo _costa_ (the younger) lorenzo da _lendinara_ lorenzo degli angeli, don (don lorenzo _monaco_) lorenzo della sciorina (lorenzo _sciorini_) lorenzo di _bicci_ lorenzo di _credi_ lorenzo _ghiberti_ (lorenzo di cione ghiberti, or lorenzo di bartoluccio ghiberti) lorenzo (lorenzetto) _lotti_ lorenzo _lotto_ lorenzo _marignolli_ lorenzo _monaco_, don (don lorenzo degli angeli) lorenzo naldino (il _guazzetto_) lorenzo of picardy, v, lorenzo _sabatini_ lorenzo _sciorini_ (lorenzo della sciorina) lorenzo _vecchietto_ loro, carlo da (carlo _portelli_) lotti, lorenzetto (lorenzo), _life_, v, - ; iii, ; iv, ; v, - ; vii, ; ix, , lotto, lorenzo, _life_, v, - louis of _louvain_ louvain, dirk of, ix, louvain, johann of, ix, louvain, louis of, ix, louvain, quentin of, ix, luca da cortona (luca _signorelli_) luca de' _longhi_ luca della _robbia_ luca della _robbia_ (the younger) luca di _tomè_ luca _fancelli_ luca _lancia_ luca _monverde_ luca _penni_ luca _signorelli_ (luca da cortona) lucas _horebout_ lucas van _leyden_ (lucas of holland) lucia _anguisciuola_ luciani, sebastiano (fra sebastiano viniziano del _piombo_) lucrezia, madonna, v, lugano, domenico dal lago di, ii, lugano, tommaso da, ix, luigi, andrea (l' ingegno), iv, luigi _anichini_ luigi _brugnuoli_ luigi _vivarino_ luini, bernardino (bernardino del lupino), v, ; viii, luna, francesco della, ii, , lunetti, stefano (_stefano_ of florence) lunetti, tommaso di stefano, v, , , , lupino, bernardino del (bernardino _luini_) luzio _romano_ lysippus, i, xl macchiavelli, zanobi, iii, macchietti, girolamo (girolamo del crocifissaio), ix, ; x, , madonna _lucrezia_ madonna properzia de' _rossi_ maestro _andrea_ maestro _claudio_ maestro _credi_ maestro _francesco_ maestro _giovanni_ maestro giovanni da _fiesole_ maestro _lanzilago_ maestro _mino_ (mino del regno, or del reame) maestro _niccolò_ maestro _salvestro_ maestro _zeno_ maglione, i, maiano, benedetto da, _life_, iii, - ; i, ; iii, , , , - ; iv, , , , ; v, ; vi, maiano, giuliano da, _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , , - ; iv, ; vi, mainardi, bastiano (bastiano da san gimignano), iii, , - maini (marini), michele, v, , malino, lodovico (or mazzolini), iii, manemaker, matthaeus, ix, mangone, giovanni, v, manno, vi, ; viii, , ; x, mansueti, giovanni, iv, , ; v, mantegna, andrea, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, , - ; iv, , , ; vi, , , , ; viii, ; ix, mantovana (sculptore), diana, viii, mantovano, camillo, vii, ; viii, mantovano (_ghisi_), giorgio mantovano (sculptore), giovan battista, vi, , , , , , ; viii, mantovano, marcello (marcello _venusti_) mantovano, rinaldo, vi, , , , , ; viii, manzuoli, maso (tommaso da san friano), ix, ; x, marc' antonio _bolognese_ (marc' antonio raimondi, or de' franci) marcello mantovano (marcello _venusti_) marchesi, girolamo (girolamo da _cotignola_) marchetti, marco (marco da faenza), ix, , ; x, marchino, iii, marchionne _aretino_ marchissi, antonio di giorgio, iv, ; v, ; vi, marcilla, guglielmo da (guillaume de marcillac), _life_, iv, - ; iii, ; iv, - ; viii, ; x, marco, tommaso di, i, marco _basaiti_ (il bassiti, or marco basarini) marco _calavrese_ (marco cardisco) marco da faenza (marco _marchetti_) marco da _grà_ marco da _montepulciano_ marco da ravenna (marco _dente_) marco da _siena_ (marco del pino) marco del _tasso_ marco _dente_ (marco da ravenna) marco di battista d'_agnolo_ marco _marchetti_ (marco da faenza) marco _oggioni_ marco _palmezzani_ (marco parmigiano) marco (son of giovanni rosto), viii, marco _zoppo_ marcolini, francesco, vi, marcone, piero di, viii, , margaritone, _life_, i, - ; i, , - , mariano da _perugia_ mariano da _pescia_ marignolli, lorenzo, vii, marini (_maini_), michele marinus (of zierickzee), ix, mario _capocaccia_ mariotto, i, mariotto, domenico di, iii, mariotto _albertinelli_ mariotto di _francesco_ marmita, vi, marmita, lodovico, vi, marten de _vos_ martin _heemskerk_ martin _schongauer_ (martino) martini, giovanni (giovanni da _udine_) martini, simone (simone _memmi_, or sanese) martino (martin _schongauer_) martino (pupil of montorsoli), viii, , , , ; x, martino, bartolommeo di jacopo di, vii, martino da _udine_ (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino di battista) marzone, giacomo, iii, masaccio, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , , , - , ; iii, , ; iv, , , ; vi, , ; ix, , ; x, masini, messer francesco, iv, maso _boscoli_ (maso dal bosco) maso _finiguerra_ maso (or tommaso) _giottino_ maso _manzuoli_ (tommaso da san friano) maso (tommaso) _papacello_ maso _porro_ masolino da _panicale_ matrice, cola dalla (niccola filotesio), v, , matteo (brother of cronaca), iv, matteo (of lucca), ii, , matteo dal _nassaro_ matteo _lappoli_ matteo _san michele_ matthaeus _manemaker_ matthys _cock_ maturino, _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - ; vi, , ; viii, , ; ix, mazzieri, antonio di donnino (antonio di domenico), v, ; vii, ; viii, mazzingo, iii, mazzolini, lodovico (or _malino_) mazzoni, giulio, viii, , mazzoni, guido (modanino da modena), iii, ; viii, mazzuoli, francesco (parmigiano), _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - ; vi, - , , ; viii, , , , mazzuoli, girolamo, v, , , , ; viii, , , medici, jacopo de' (jacopo _bresciano_) melighino, jacomo (jacopo melighini), v, , ; vi, , ; viii, melone, altobello da, viii, , melozzo (_mirozzo_), francesco di melozzo da _forlì_ melzo, francesco da, iv, memling, hans (ausse), iii, ; ix, memmi, lippo, i, - memmi, simone (simone martini, or sanese), _life_, i, - ; i, , , , , - , ; ii, , , ; iii, menighella, ix, menzochi, francesco (francesco da forlì), vii, , - ; viii, menzochi, pietro paolo, vii, , messina, antonello da, _life_, iii, - metrodorus, i, xxxix, xl michael (michele) _coxie_ michelagnolo _anselmi_ michelagnolo _buonarroti_ michelagnolo da _siena_ michelagnolo di _viviano_ michele (michael _coxie_) michele _alberti_ michele da _milano_ michele di ridolfo _ghirlandajo_ michele _maini_ (marini) michele _san michele_ michelino, i, michelino, vi, michelino, domenico di, iii, michelozzo michelozzi, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , - milanese, guglielmo (fra guglielmo della _porta_) milanese, leonardo, ix, milano, bramante da, iii, milano, cesare da (cesare da _sesto_) milano, gian maria da, viii, milano, giovanni da, i, , , ; ii, milano, michele da, i, minerva _anguisciuola_ minga, andrea del, vii, ; ix, ; x, mini, antonio, v, ; viii, ; ix, - , , , , miniati, bartolommeo, v, minio, tiziano (tiziano da padova), vi, ; ix, , mino, maestro (mino del regno, or del reame), _life_, iii, - ; iii, - , mino da _fiesole_ (mino di giovanni) mino del regno (maestro _mino_, or mino del reame) mino di giovanni (mino da _fiesole_) minore, iii, mirabello di _salincorno_ (mirabello cavalori) mirozzo (melozzo), francesco di, v, miruoli, girolamo, ix, misuroni (misceroni), gasparo, iv, ; vi, misuroni (misceroni), girolamo, iv, ; vi, moccio, ii, , , , mocetto (or _moretto_), girolamo modanino da modena (guido _mazzoni_) modena, il (antonio _begarelli_) modena, modanino da (guido _mazzoni_) modena, niccolò da (niccolò dell' _abate_) modena, pellegrino da (pellegrino degli aretusi, or de' munari), _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - , ; vi, mona papera, bernardetto di, ii, monaco, don lorenzo (don lorenzo degli angeli), _life_, ii, - ; ii, - , ; iii, mondella, galeazzo, vi, , monsignori (_bonsignori_), alberto monsignori (_bonsignori_), fra cherubino monsignori (_bonsignori_), fra girolamo monsignori (_bonsignori_), francesco montagna, bartolommeo, iv, , ; ix, montagna, jacopo da, iii, monte carlo, bastiano da, iv, monte sansovino, domenico dal, v, montecavallo, antonio, iv, montelupo, baccio da, _life_, v, - ; iii, ; iv, ; v, - , ; vii, ; viii, ; ix, , , , montelupo, raffaello da, _life_, v, - ; v, , - , ; vi, , ; vii, - , , , , , , , , ; viii, , , , ; ix, , , , montepulciano, marco da, ii, , montepulciano, pasquino da, iii, montevarchi, iv, montorsoli, fra giovanni agnolo, _life_, viii, - ; vii, , , , ; viii, , - ; ix, , , ; x, , , monverde, luca, v, moor, antonius, ix, morandini, francesco (francesco da poppi), x, morando, paolo (paolo _cavazzuola_) morelli, giuliano di niccolò, i, ; v, ; vi, moreto, niccolò, iv, moretto, alessandro (alessandro bonvicini), iv, ; viii, , moretto (or mocetto), girolamo, iii, moro, battista del (battista d'_angelo_, or d'agnolo) moro, il (francesco _turbido_) morone, domenico, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , , , morone, francesco, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , - , , , morto da _feltro_ morzone, giromin, iv, , mosca, simone, _life_, vii, - ; v, ; vi, ; vii, , , - ; viii, ; ix, moschino, francesco, vii, , , ; x, mosciano, girolamo (girolamo muziano, or _brescianino_) mostaert, franz, ix, - mostaert, gilis, ix, munari, pellegrino de' (pellegrino da _modena_, or degli aretusi) murano, natalino da, viii, musi, agostino de' (agostino _viniziano_) muziano, girolamo (girolamo mosciano, or _brescianino_) mynsheere, jan de, ix, myrmecides, iii, myron, ii, naldini, battista, vii, , ; viii, ; ix, ; x, , naldino, lorenzo (il _guazzetto_) nanni, giovanni (giovanni da _udine_, or de' ricamatori) nanni d' antonio di _banco_ nanni di baccio _bigio_ (giovanni di baccio) nanni di prospero delle _corniole_ nanni _grosso_ nanni _unghero_ nannoccio da _san giorgio_ nassaro, matteo dal, _life_, vi, - ; vi, , - natalino da _murano_ navarra, pietro, vi, nebbia, cesare del, ix, negrolo, filippo, vi, neri di _lorenzo_ nero, durante del, viii, neroccio, i, neroni, bartolommeo (riccio), v, ; vii, niccola filotesio (cola dalla _matrice_) niccola _pisano_ niccola _viniziano_ niccolaio, viii, niccolò (goldsmith to pope innocent viii), iii, niccolò (of florence), iii, niccolò (_tribolo_) niccolò, maestro, vi, ; vii, niccolò _alunno_ niccolò _aretino_ (niccolò d'arezzo, or niccolò di piero lamberti) niccolò _avanzi_ niccolò _beatricio_ (nicolas beautrizet) niccolò bolognese (niccolò dell' _arca_) niccolò _cartoni_ (niccolò zoccolo) niccolò _cieco_ niccolò d'arezzo (niccolò _aretino_, or niccolò di piero lamberti) niccolò da modena (niccolò dell' _abate_) niccolò dalle _pomarancie_ niccolò dell' _abate_ (niccolò da modena) niccolò dell' _arca_ (niccolò bolognese) niccolò della _guardia_ niccolò di piero lamberti (niccolò d'arezzo, or _aretino_) niccolò _fiorentino_ niccolò _giolfino_ (niccolò ursino) niccolò _grosso_ (il caparra) niccolò _moreto_ niccolò _pizzolo_ niccolò rondinello (rondinello da _ravenna_) niccolò _soggi_ niccolò ursino (niccolò _giolfino_) niccolò zoccolo (niccolò _cartoni_) nicolas beautrizet (niccolò _beatricio_) nicomachus, ii, nicon, iii, nino _pisano_ nola, giovanni da, v, - noort, arthus van, ix, noort, lambert van, ix, nunziata, viii, , nunziata, toto del, ii, ; iv, ; vi, , ; viii, oderigi d' _agobbio_ oggioni, marco, iv, ; viii, oja, sebastian van, ix, opera, giovanni dell' (giovanni di benedetto _bandini_) orazio da bologna (orazio _sammacchini_) orazio di _paris_ orazio _pianetti_ orazio _porta_ orazio _sammacchini_ (orazio da bologna) orazio _vecelli_ orcagna, andrea di cione, _life_, i, - ; ii, ; iii, orcagna, bernardo di cione, i, , , - , orcagna, jacopo di cione, i, , , orlando _fiacco_ (or flacco) orsino, iii, , ottaviano da _faenza_ ottaviano del _collettaio_ ottaviano della _robbia_ ottaviano _falconetto_ ottaviano _zucchero_ pacchia, girolamo del, vii, pace, domenico di (domenico _beccafumi_) pace da _faenza_ pacuvius, i, xxxix padova, guerriero da, iv, , padova, tiziano da (tiziano _minio_) padova, vellano da, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - , padovano, federigo del (federigo di _lamberto_, or fiammingo) padovano, girolamo, iii, pagani, lattanzio, v, ; vii, pagni, benedetto (benedetto da pescia), vi, , - , ; x, pagno di lapo _partigiani_ palladio, andrea, vi, , ; viii, , ; ix, - ; x, palma, jacopo (palma vecchio), _life_, v, - ; ix, palmezzani, marco (marco parmigiano), vii, , paludanus, heinrich (arrigo), viii, ; ix, paludanus, willem, ix, panetti, domenico, viii, panicale, masolino da, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , , - , , , - ; iv, ; vi, paolo, i, paolo _caliari_ (paolo veronese) paolo _cavazzuola_ (paolo morando) paolo da _verona_ paolo _farinato_ paolo _pistoiese_, fra paolo _ponzio_ paolo _romano_ paolo _san michele_ paolo _schiavo_ paolo _uccello_ paolo veronese (paolo _caliari_) papacello, tommaso (or maso), iv, ; vi, ; vii, papino della _pieve_ paris, domenico di, iv, ; v, paris, orazio di, iv, paris _bordone_ parma, daniello da (daniello _porri_) parmigiano (francesco _mazzuoli_) parmigiano, marco (marco _palmezzani_) parrhasius, ix, ; x, parri _spinelli_ particini, antonio, viii, partigiani, pagno di lapo, ii, , pasquino _cenni_ pasquino da _montepulciano_ passerotto, bartolommeo, ix, pastorino da _siena_ patinier, joachim, pecori, domenico, iii, - ; iv, ; vi, , , pedoni, giovanni, viii, pellegrini, pellegrino (pellegrino da bologna, or tibaldi), viii, , ; ix, - , pellegrino da _modena_ (pellegrino degli aretusi, or de' munari) pellegrino da san daniele (martino da _udine_, or di battista) pellegrino _pellegrini_ (pellegrino da bologna, or tibaldi) peloro, giovan battista, v, pencz, georg, vi, penni, giovan francesco (il fattore), _life_, v, - ; iv, , ; v, - , ; vi, - , , , , , , , , penni, luca, v, , ; vi, perino del _vaga_ (perino buonaccorsi, or de' ceri) perugia, mariano da, v, perugia, piero da, i, perugino, pietro (pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve), _life_, iv, - ; ii, ; iii, , , , ; iv, , , , - , , , , - , , , ; v, , , , ; vi, , ; vii, , , ; viii, ; ix, ; x, peruzzi, baldassarre (baldassarre da siena), _life_, v, - ; iv, , , ; v, , - , , , , ; vi, , , , , ; vii, ; viii, , , , , ; ix, , ; x, peruzzi, salustio, viii, ; ix, pesarese, i, pescia, benedetto da (benedetto _pagni_) pescia, mariano da, viii, pescia, pier maria da, vi, peselli, francesco (francesco di pesello, or pesellino), _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - pesello, _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - ; iv, pesello, francesco di (francesco _peselli_, or pesellino) pheidias, i, xl; ii, ; iv, philip _galle_ philocles, i, xxxix pianetti, orazio, viii, , piccinelli, raffaello de' (raffaello da brescia, or _brescianino_) pichi, giovan maria, vii, pier francesco da _viterbo_ pier francesco di jacopo di _sandro_ pier maria da _pescia_ pieri, stefano, ix, ; x, pierino (piero) da _vinci_ piero, alvaro di, ii, piero _catanei_ piero da _perugia_ piero da _sesto_ piero (pierino) da _vinci_ piero da _volterra_ piero del _donzello_ piero della _francesca_ (piero dal borgo a san sepolcro, or borghese) piero di _cosimo_ piero di _marcone_ piero _francia_ piero _pollaiuolo_ pieter _aertsen_ pieter _brueghel_ pieter _christus_ pieter _koeck_ pieter _pourbus_ pietrasanta, ranieri da, vii, , pietrasanta, stagio da, v, ; vi, ; vii, , pietro, i, pietro _cavallini_ pietro da castel della pieve (pietro _perugino_, or vannucci) pietro da _salò_ pietro da _san casciano_ pietro di _subisso_ pietro _laurati_ (pietro lorenzetti) pietro _navarra_ pietro paolo, i, pietro paolo da _todi_ pietro paolo _galeotto_ pietro paolo _menzochi_ pietro _perugino_ (pietro da castel della pieve, or vannucci) pietro _rosselli_ pietro _urbano_ pietro vannucci (pietro _perugino_, or pietro da castel della pieve) pieve, papino della, vi, piloto, vi, , , ; vii, , , ; viii, ; ix, , , , pino, marco del (marco da _siena_) pintelli, baccio, iii, - pinturicchio, bernardino, _life_, iv, - ; iv, - , , , , ; v, ; vi, ; ix, piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del (sebastiano luciani), _life_, vi, - ; iv, , , ; v, ; vi, , , , - , , ; vii, , ; viii, , , , , ; ix, , , , , , pippo del _fabbro_ pironi, girolamo, ix, pirro _ligorio_ pisanello, vittore or antonio, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, , - ; vi, pisano, andrea, _life_, i, - ; i, - , ; ii, , , , , , , , , , , ; vii, pisano, giovanni, _life_, i, - ; i, , - , , , , ; iv, ; ix, pisano, niccola, _life_, i, - ; i, lvi, - , , , , , , ; ii, ; iv, pisano, nino, i, , , ; ii, , pisano, tommaso, i, pisbolica, jacopo, ix, , pistoia, gerino da (gerino _pistoiese_) pistoia, giovanni da, i, pistoia, il (leonardo), v, , pistoiese, david, iii, pistoiese, fra paolo, iv, pistoiese, gerino (gerino da pistoia), iv, , pittoni, battista (battista of vicenza), vi, pizzolo, niccolò, iii, plautilla, v, poggini, domenico, vi, ; ix, ; x, , poggini, giovan paolo, ix, , poggini, zanobi, v, ; viii, poggino, zanobi di, v, polidoro (of perugia), ix, polidoro da _caravaggio_ (polidoro caldara) polito del _donzello_ pollaiuolo, antonio, _life_, iii, - ; i, xxxiv; ii, ; iii, - , , ; iv, , , ; v, ; vi, , ; viii, pollaiuolo, piero, _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - , ; vi, , pollaiuolo, simone del (il _cronaca_) polo, agnolo di, iii, , polo, domenico di, v, ; vi, polycletus, i, xl, ; ii, , polygnotus, i, xxxix; ii, pomarancie, niccolò dalle, ix, pompeo da _fano_ pompeo _lioni_ pompilio _lancia_ pomponio _amalteo_ ponte, giovanni dal (giovanni da santo stefano a ponte), _life_, i, - ; i, , - pontormo, jacopo da (jacopo carrucci), _life_, vii, - ; ii, ; iv, , , ; v, , , , , , , , , , ; vi, , - , ; vii, , - , ; viii, , , , , , ; ix, , , , , ; x, - , - , - , , , ponzio, paolo, ix, poppi, francesco da (francesco _morandini_) pordenone (giovanni antonio _licinio_, or cuticello) porfirio, bernardino di, x, porri, daniello (daniello da parma), viii, porro, maso, iv, porta, baccio della (fra bartolommeo di _san marco_) porta, fra guglielmo della (guglielmo milanese), vi, ; viii, ; ix, , , - porta, giovan jacomo della, ix, , porta, giuseppe (giuseppe del salviati), vi, ; viii, , , , , ; ix, ; x, porta, orazio, x, porta, tommaso, ix, portelli, carlo (carlo da loro), viii, , , , ; x, pourbus, pieter, ix, prato, francesco di girolamo dal, v, ; vii, , ; viii, , , - prato, girolamo dal, viii, , praxiteles, i, xxvi, xl, xli; ix, ; x, primaticcio, francesco, _description of works_, ix, - ; v, , , ; vi, , ; viii, , , , ; ix, - , proconsolo, rossellino dal (antonio _rossellino_) prometheus (fable), i, xxxix properzia de' _rossi_, madonna prospero _clemente_ prospero _fontana_ protogenes, ii, ; x, provolo _falconetto_ pucci, domenico, ii, puccio _capanna_ puligo, domenico, _life_, iv, - ; v, ; viii, , pupini, biagio (biagio _bolognese_) pygmalion, i, xxviii, xl pyrgoteles, i, xl pythias, i, xxxix quentin of _louvain_ quercia, jacopo della (jacopo della fonte), _life_, ii, - ; i, ; ii, , , - , , , , ; iii, , ; vii, raffaellino del _garbo_ raffaello _baglioni_ raffaello _bello_ raffaello _brescianino_ (raffaello da brescia, or de' piccinelli) raffaello da _montelupo_ raffaello da urbino (raffaello _sanzio_) raffaello dal _colle_ (raffaello dal borgo) raffaello de' piccinelli (raffaello da brescia, or _brescianino_) raffaello delle _vivole_ raffaello di _biagio_ raffaello pippi de' _giannuzzi_ raffaello _sanzio_ (raffaello da urbino) raggio, iv, raimondi, marc' antonio (marc' antonio _bolognese_, or de' franci) ramenghi, bartolommeo (bartolommeo da _bagnacavallo_) ranieri da _pietrasanta_ ravenna, marco da (marco _dente_) ravenna, rondinello da (niccolò rondinello), _life_, v, - ; iii, , ; v, - ; vii, , reggio, sebastiano da, vi, regno, mino del (maestro _mino_, or mino del reame) rené _boyvin_ (renato) ribaldi, giovanni (giovanni _boccalino_) ricamatori, giovanni de' (giovanni da _udine_, or nanni) ricchino, francesco, viii, ricciarelli, daniello (daniello da volterra), _life_, viii, - ; vi, , , ; viii, - , - , , ; ix, , , , , , , ricciarelli, leonardo, viii, riccio, andrea, iii, riccio (bartolommeo _neroni_) riccio, domenico del (domenico _brusciasorzi_) riccio, felice del (felice _brusciasorzi_) ridolfi, bartolommeo, vi, ridolfo _ghirlandajo_ rinaldo _mantovano_ ripa transone, ascanio dalla (ascanio _condivi_) ristoro da _campi_, fra robbia, agostino della, ii, - robbia, andrea della, ii, - , ; iii, ; v, robbia, giovanni della, ii, ; viii, robbia, girolamo della, ii, , ; v, robbia, luca della, _life_, ii, - ; ii, - , , robbia, luca della (the younger), ii, , ; iv, ; v, robbia, ottaviano della, ii, - robetta, viii, , robusti, jacopo (jacopo _tintoretto_) robyn, joris, ix, rocco _guerrini_ rocco _zoppo_ roger van der _weyden_ (roger of bruges) romanino, girolamo, iv, ; viii, romano, domenico, viii, romano, giulio (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi), _life_, vi, - ; iii, ; iv, , , , , , ; v, , - , , , ; vi, , , - , , , - , , , , , , , ; vii, , ; viii, , - , , , ; ix, , , , , ; x, , romano, luzio, vi, , romano, paolo, _life_, iii, - ; v, romano, virgilio, v, rondinello da _ravenna_ (niccolò rondinello) rosa, cristofano, viii, , , ; ix, rosa, stefano, viii, , , ; ix, rosselli, bernardo (bernardo del _buda_) rosselli, cosimo, _life_, iii, - ; iv, , , , , ; v, , rosselli, pietro, iv, ; vii, , rossellino, antonio (rossellino dal proconsolo), _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, , - , ; iv, rossellino, bernardo, _life_, iii, - ; iii, , - , rossellino dal proconsolo (antonio _rossellino_) rossetti, giovan paolo, viii, , rossi, francesco de' (francesco _salviati_) rossi, giovan battista de' (il _rosso_) rossi, giovanni antonio de', vi, rossi, madonna properzia de', _life_, v, - ; viii, rossi, vincenzio de', vii, , , ; viii, ; x, , rosso (or rosto), giovan battista, vi, rosso (or _rosto_), giovanni rosso, il (giovan battista de' rossi), _life_, v, - ; ii, ; iv, ; v, , - ; vi, , , , - , , ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, , ; ix, , , , ; x, , rosso, lodovico, ix, rosso de' _giugni_ rosto (or _rosso_), giovan battista rosto (or rosso), giovanni, iv, ; vii, ; viii, , rovezzano, benedetto da, _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - ; vii, , , , ; ix, rovezzano, giovanni da, iii, roviale, vii, ; viii, ; x, rozzo, antonio del (antonio del _tozzo_) ruberto di filippo _lippi_ ruggieri da _bologna_ ruspoli, ilarione, x, rustici, gabriele, iv, rustici, giovan francesco, _life_, viii, - ; iv, , ; vii, , ; viii, - ; x, sabatini, lorenzo, ix, ; x, salai, iv, salamanca, antonio, vi, salincorno, mirabello di (mirabello cavalori), ix, ; x, , salò, pietro da, ix, , salustio _peruzzi_ salvadore _foschi_, fra salvestro, maestro, vi, salvestro _fancelli_ salvi, antonio di, iii, salviati, francesco (francesco de' rossi), _life_, viii, - ; iii, , ; v, ; vi, , , ; vii, , ; viii, , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , ; ix, ; x, , , , , salviati, giuseppe del (giuseppe _porta_) sammacchini, orazio (orazio da bologna), viii, , , ; ix, san casciano, pietro da, vii, , , s. clemente, abbot of (don bartolommeo della _gatta_) san daniele, pellegrino da (martino da _udine_ or di battista) san friano, tommaso da (maso _manzuoli_) san gallo, antonio da (the elder), _life_, iv, - ; iv, , - , ; v, ; vi, , , ; vii, ; viii, ; ix, , , san gallo, antonio da (the younger), _life_, vi, - ; i, ; v, , , , ; vi, - , , , , , , ; vii, , , , , , , , , ; viii, , , , , ; ix, - , , , , ; x, san gallo, aristotile (bastiano) da, _life_, viii, - ; iv, ; v, ; vii, ; viii, - , , ; ix, , , san gallo, battista da (battista gobbo), vi, , ; viii, san gallo, francesco da, iv, , , ; v, ; vi, , ; vii, , , ; viii, , , ; x, , san gallo, giovan francesco da, viii, san gallo, giuliano da, _life_, iv, - ; iv, , , , - , ; v, ; vi, , , , , ; viii, ; ix, , , , , ; x, , san gimignano, bastiano da (bastiano _mainardi_) san gimignano, vincenzio da (vincenzio tamagni), _life_, v, - ; iv, ; v, - ; viii, san giorgio, eusebio, iv, san giorgio, nannoccio da, v, ; viii, - san marco, fra bartolommeo di (baccio della porta), _life_, iv, - ; ii, , ; iv, , - , - , , , ; v, , , ; vi, ; vii, , , ; viii, san marino, giovan battista (giovan battista _bellucci_) san michele, bartolommeo, vii, san michele, gian girolamo, vii, , , , - san michele, giovanni, vii, san michele, matteo, vii, san michele, michele, _life_, vii, - ; iii, ; vi, , , , ; vii, , , - , , ; viii, san michele, paolo, vii, , , san vito, feliciano da, viii, , sandrino del _calzolaio_ sandro, jacopo di, v, ; ix, , sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, v, , ; vi, ; vii, , ; viii, , ; x, sandro _botticelli_ (sandro di botticello, or alessandro filipepi) sanese, simone (simone _memmi_, or martini) sanese, ugolino (ugolino da siena), _life_, i, ; ii, sansovino, andrea (andrea _contucci_) sansovino, jacopo (jacopo tatti), _life_, ix, - , - ; ii, ; v, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; vi, , , , ; vii, , , ; viii, , , ; ix, , , , , , , , - , - , , - ; x, sant' agnolo, francesco, viii, - santa croce, girolamo, _life_, v, - santi, iv, santi, giovanni de', iv, , , , santi _buglioni_ santi _titi_ sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), _life_, iv, - ; i, ; ii, , ; iii, , ; iv, , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , ; v, - , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; vi, , , , , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , - , , , , , , ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , ; ix, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; x, , , , , , saracini, gabriello, ii, sart, jan der, ix, sarto, andrea del (andrea d' agnolo), _life_, v, - ; ii, ; iv, , , , , ; v, - , , , - , ; vi, , , - , , ; vii, , , , - , , , , , ; viii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; ix, , , , , ; x, , sassoli, fabiano di stagio, iii, ; iv, , sassoli, stagio, iv, , ; vi, savoldo, gian girolamo (gian girolamo _bresciano_) scarpaccia, lazzaro (lazzaro _bastiani_, or sebastiano scarpaccia) scarpaccia (_carpaccio_), vittore scarpagni, antonio (scarpagnino, or zanfragnino), vi, scheggia, viii, scherano da _settignano_ (alessandro) schiavo, paolo, ii, schiavone, andrea, viii, , , schizzone, v, schongauer, martin (martino), _life_, vi, - ; iii, ; vi, - ; ix, , sciorini, lorenzo (lorenzo della sciorina), ix, ; x, scorel, jan, ix, sculptore (_mantovana_), diana sculptore (_mantovano_), giovan battista sebastian van _oja_ sebastiano da _reggio_ sebastiano florigerio (bastianello _florigorio_) sebastiano luciani (fra sebastiano viniziano del _piombo_) sebastiano scarpaccia (lazzaro _bastiani_, or scarpaccia) sebastiano _serlio_ sebastiano viniziano del _piombo_, fra (sebastiano luciani) sebeto da _verona_ seghers, anna, ix, segna d' _antignano_ sellaio, jacopo del, iii, semolei, battista (battista _franco_) ser giovanni, leonardo di, i, ; ii, serlio, sebastiano, v, ; vi, ; ix, , , sermoneta, girolamo da (girolamo _siciolante_) servellino, guido del, iii, sesto, cesare da (cesare da milano), v, , ; viii, sesto, piero da, viii, settignano, desiderio da, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - , , , ; x, settignano, scherano da (alessandro), viii, ; ix, settignano, solosmeo da (antonio di giovanni), v, ; vii, , , ; viii, ; ix, , sguazzella, andrea, v, , siciliano, tommaso (tommaso _laureti_) siciolante, girolamo (girolamo da sermoneta), vi, , , ; viii, , , ; ix, , - siena, baldassarre da (baldassarre _peruzzi_) siena, francesco da, v, , siena, marco da (marco del pino), vi, ; viii, , siena, michelagnolo da, _life_, v, - ; v, , - siena, pastorino da, iv, ; vi, , siena, ugolino da (ugolino _sanese_) signorelli, luca (luca da cortona), _life_, iv, - ; iii, , , , , , ; iv, - , , , ; vi, ; vii, , ; ix, ; x, silvestro, don, ii, silvio _cosini_ (silvio da fiesole) simon _bening_ simon _bianco_ simon van _delft_ simone, ii, ; iv, simone (brother of donatello), _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - simone (pupil of filippo brunelleschi), ii, simone _cini_ simone _cioli_ simone da _colle_ (simone de' bronzi) simone da _fiesole_ simone del pollaiuolo (il _cronaca_) simone _memmi_ (simone martini, or sanese) simone _mosca_ simone of paris, v, simone sanese (simone _memmi_, or martini) skeysers, clara, ix, sodoma, giomo del, vii, sodoma, il (giovanni antonio _bazzi_) sofonisba _anguisciuola_ soggi, niccolò, _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; v, , , ; vi, , - ; viii, sogliani, giovanni antonio, _life_, v, - ; v, , - ; vi, , , , ; vii, ; viii, soiaro, bernardo (bernardo de' gatti), viii, , , , solari, cristofano (cristofano gobbo), viii, ; ix, , sollazzino, i, solosmeo da _settignano_ (antonio di giovanni) sozzini, giovan battista, vi, spadari, benedetto, iv, ; v, , spagna, lo (_giovanni_) spagnuolo, alonzo (alonzo berughetta), ii, ; iv, ; vii, ; ix, , speranza, giovanni, ix, spilimbergo, irene di, ix, spillo, viii, , spinelli, parri, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , , , , , - ; iii, spinello, forzore di, i, ; ii, , spinello _aretino_ squarcione, jacopo, iii, - , ; iv, stagio da _pietrasanta_ stagio _sassoli_ staren, dirk van, ix, starnina, gherardo, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , - , , , stefano, _life_, i, - ; i, , - , , ; ii, stefano, vincenzio di, vi, stefano da _ferrara_ stefano da zevio (stefano _veronese_) stefano of florence (stefano lunetti), iii, ; v, stefano _pieri_ stefano _rosa_ stefano _veltroni_ stefano _veronese_ (stefano da zevio) stocco, giovanni di (giovanni _fancelli_) stoldo di gino _lorenzi_ straet, jan van der (giovanni strada), viii, ; ix, , , ; x, , strozzi, zanobi, iii, suardi, bartolommeo (_bramantino_) suavius, lambert (lamberto suave, or lambert zutmann), vi, ; ix, , subisso, pietro di, vii, , susanna _horebout_ tadda, francesco del (francesco ferrucci), vii, , , ; viii, , , ; ix, taddeo _bartoli_ taddeo _gaddi_ taddeo _zucchero_ tafi, andrea, _life_, i, - ; i, - , , , , , , , ; iii, tafi, antonio d' andrea, i, tagliapietra, duca, iii, tamagni, vincenzio (vincenzio da _san gimignano_) tasso, battista del, vi, ; vii, , , , , , ; viii, , , , ; ix, ; x, , tasso, domenico del, iii, , tasso, giuliano del, iii, , ; v, tasso, leonardo del, v, tasso, marco del, iii, , ; vii, tatti, jacopo (jacopo _sansovino_) tedesco, guglielmo, ix, tedesco, jacopo (lapo), i, , - , , , , tedesco, jacopo del, iii, ; viii, , telephanes, i, xxxix the _academicians_ tibaldi, pellegrino (pellegrino da bologna, or _pellegrini_) tiberio _calcagni_ tiberio _cavalieri_ timagoras, i, xxxix timanthes, ii, timoteo da _urbino_ (timoteo della vite) tintoretto, jacopo (jacopo robusti), viii, - ; ix, ; x, tisi, benvenuto (benvenuto _garofalo_) titi, santi, v, ; viii, ; ix, ; x, , tiziano, girolamo di (girolamo _dante_) tiziano da cadore (tiziano _vecelli_) tiziano _minio_ (tiziano da padova) tiziano _vecelli_ (tiziano da cadore) todi, pietro paolo da, iii, tofano _lombardino_ (cristofano lombardi) tomè, luca di, ii, tommaso, iv, tommaso _barlacchi_ tommaso _casignuola_ tommaso da _lugano_ tommaso da san friano (maso _manzuoli_) tommaso del _verrocchio_ tommaso di _marco_ tommaso di stefano _lunetti_ tommaso _ghirlandajo_ tommaso (or maso) _giottino_ tommaso _laureti_ (tommaso siciliano) tommaso _papacello_ tommaso _pisano_ tommaso _porta_ tommaso siciliano (tommaso _laureti_) topolino, ix, , torri, bartolommeo, vi, , torrigiano, _life_, iv, - ; ix, , , tossicani, giovanni, i, toto del _nunziata_ tozzo, antonio del (antonio del rozzo), v, traini, francesco, i, , trento, antonio da (antonio fantuzzi), v, , ; vi, trevigi, girolamo (girolamo da _treviso_) trevio, bernardino da (bernardino zenale), iv, ; viii, treviso, dario da, iii, , treviso, girolamo da (girolamo trevigi), _life_, v, - ; v, , - ; vi, , , ; x, trezzo, jacopo da, vi, trezzo, jacopo (cosimo) da, vi, tribolo (niccolò), _life_, vii, - ; v, , , , ; vi, ; vii, - , - , , , , ; viii, , , ; ix, , , , , , ; x, , , , tullio _lombardo_ turbido, francesco (il moro), _life_, vi, - ; iv, ; vi, , , , - , , , turini, giovanni, iii, turrita, fra jacopo da, i, , , ubertini, francesco (francesco d' albertino, or il bacchiacca), iv, ; v, ; vi, ; vii, ; viii, , , , - ; x, ubertino, baccio, iv, uccello, paolo, _life_, ii, - ; ii, , , - , , , , ; iii, ; iv, , ; viii, ; ix, udine, giovanni da (giovanni martini), v, - udine, giovanni da (giovanni nanni, or de' ricamatori), _life_, viii, - ; iv, , ; v, , , , , , ; vi, , , , - ; vii, ; viii, - , ; ix, , ; x, udine, martino da (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino di battista), v, - ugo da _carpi_ ugolino _sanese_ (ugolino da siena) unghero, nanni, vii, ; ix, urbano, pietro, ix, , urbino, bramante da, _life_, iv, - ; i, ; iii, ; iv, - , - , , , , , , ; v, , , , , , ; vi, , , , , ; vii, ; viii, , , , , ; ix, - , , , , - urbino, fra carnovale da (fra _bartolommeo_) urbino, giulio da, x, urbino, raffaello da (raffaello _sanzio_) urbino, timoteo da (timoteo della vite), _life_, v, - ; vii, ursino, niccolò (niccolò _giolfino_) vaga, vi, , vaga, perino del (perino buonaccorsi, or de' ceri), _life_, vi, - ; ii, ; iv, , , ; v, , - , , ; vi, , , , , , , , - , , - ; viii, , , , - , , , ; ix, , , , , , ; x, valdambrina, francesco di, ii, , , valerio _cioli_ valerio _vicentino_ (valerio de' belli) valerio _zuccati_ valverde, vi, vanni _cinuzzi_ vannucci, pietro (pietro _perugino_, or pietro da castel della pieve) vante (or _attavante_) varrone (of florence), iii, vasari, bernardo, iii, vasari, giorgio, _life_, x, - i, as art-collector, xvii, xviii, lix, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, xiii-xix, xxi, xxiii, xxiv, xxxi, xxxiii-xxxvii, xlii, xliii, xlvii, xlix, l, lv-lix, , , , - , - , , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as painter, xlii, , , , , , as architect, , , , , , ii, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , - , - , - , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , as painter, , as architect, , , , iii, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , as painter, , as architect, iv, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , , , , as painter, , , , as architect, , , , v, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , as author, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , as painter, , , , , , , , as architect, , , vi, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , as painter, , , , , , , , as architect, , , vii, as art-collector, , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , - , - , - , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , as painter, , , , - , - , - , , , , , , as architect, , , , , , , , , , , , viii, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , - , - , , , , , , , - , - , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , as painter, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as architect, , , ix, as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , as author, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , - , , - , - , - , , , , , - , , - , - , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , - , - as painter, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - as architect, - , - , , , , , , x, as art-collector, as author, , , , , , , - , , , - , , - , , , , , , , - , , - , , - , - , , , , , , - , , - , , , - as painter, , , - , , , - , as architect, , - , , , , , , , , - , , - , - vasari, giorgio (son of lazzaro vasari, the elder), iii, , - vasari, lazzaro (the elder), _life_, iii, - ; iv, , vasari, lazzaro (the younger), iii, vecchietto, lorenzo, _life_, iii, - ; ii, ; iii, - vecchio, palma (jacopo _palma_) vecchio of bologna (domenico _aimo_) vecelli, orazio, viii, ; ix, vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), _life_, ix, - ; iii, , ; iv, ; v, , , , , ; vi, , , , , , ; vii, ; viii, , , , , , ; ix, , , , - , , , , , , ; x, , vellaert, dierick jacobsz, ix, vellano da _padova_ veltroni, stefano, vii, , , , ; viii, ; x, venezia, domenico da (domenico _viniziano_) ventura, iv, , venusti, marcello (marcello mantovano), vi, , ; ix, , , verbo (verlo), francesco, ix, vercelli, bernardo da, v, verchio, vincenzio, iv, verdezotti, gian maria, ix, verese, vi, verlo (_verbo_), francesco verona, battista da (battista _farinato_) verona, fra giovanni da, iv, ; vi, , , , verona, paolo da, iii, ; iv, verona, sebeto da, iv, , veronese, giovanni battista, vi, veronese, paolo (paolo _caliari_) veronese, stefano (stefano da zevio), i, ; iv, - ; vi, , verrocchio, andrea, _life_, iii, - ; ii, , , ; iii, , , - ; iv, , , , , , ; v, , , ; vii, ; viii, ; x, verrocchio, tommaso del, x, verzelli, antonio da, ii, vetraio, giovan francesco (giovan francesco _bembo_) vicentino, joannicolo (giuseppe niccolò), vi, vicentino, valerio (valerio de' belli), _life_, vi, - ; v, ; vi, , , - ; viii, vicenza, battista of (battista _pittoni_) vicino, i, , , vico, enea, _life_, vi, - ; viii, vignuola (jacopo _barozzi_) vincenzio, fra giovanni, x, vincenzio _bresciano_ (vincenzio di zoppa, or foppa) vincenzio _caccianimici_ vincenzio _campo_ vincenzio _catena_ vincenzio da _san gimignano_ (vincenzio tamagni) vincenzio _danti_ vincenzio de' _rossi_ vincenzio di _stefano_ vincenzio di zoppa (vincenzio foppa, or _bresciano_) vincenzio tamagni (vincenzio da _san gimignano_) vincenzio _verchio_ vincenzio _zuccati_ vinci, leonardo da, _life_, iv, - ; i, xxxiv; ii, ; iii, , , , ; iv, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , ; v, , , , , ; vii, - , , , , , ; viii, , , , , , ; ix, , , ; x, vinci, pierino (piero) da, _life_, vii, - viniziano, agostino (agostino de' musi), _life_, vi, - ; v, ; vi, - , ; vii, , viniziano, antonio, _life_, ii, - ; ii, - , , , ; iii, ; viii, viniziano, domenico (domenico da venezia), _life_, iii, - ; iii, , , - , ; vi, viniziano, fabrizio, ix, viniziano, niccola, vi, virgilio _romano_ visino, iv, , ; v, vite, antonio, ii, , vite, timoteo della (timoteo da _urbino_) viterbo, pier francesco da, vi, , ; vii, , vitruvius, iv, , , , , ; v, , ; vi, , , ; vii, ; viii, , ; ix, , , , , vittore _bellini_ (belliniano) vittore _carpaccio_ (scarpaccia) vittore (or antonio) _pisanello_ vittore scarpaccia (_carpaccio_) vittoria, alessandro, v, ; vii, ; viii, ; ix, - , ; x, vittorio _ghiberti_ vivarini, bartolommeo, iv, , vivarino, luigi, iii, , ; iv, viviano, michelagnolo di, vii, - , , , , , vivole, raffaello delle, vii, volkaerts, dirk, ix, volterra, daniello da (daniello _ricciarelli_) volterra, francesco da, viii, volterra, piero da, v, volterra, zaccaria da (zaccaria zacchi), v, , ; ix, , vos, marten de, ix, vrient, franz de (franz _floris_) weyden, roger van der (roger of bruges), iii, ; ix, willem _keur_ willem _key_ willem _paludanus_ willem van _antwerp_ wouter _crabeth_ zaccaria da _volterra_ (zaccaria zacchi) zaganelli, francesco de' (francesco da _cotignola_) zanfragnino (antonio _scarpagni_, or scarpagnino) zanobi di _poggino_ zanobi _lastricati_ zanobi _macchiavelli_ zanobi _poggini_ zanobi _strozzi_ zenale, bernardino (bernardino da _trevio_) zeno, maestro, iv, zeuxis, i, xxxix; ii, ; iii, ; iv, , ; vi, ; ix, ; x, zevio, aldigieri (altichiero) da, iv, , , zevio, stefano da (stefano _veronese_) zoccolo, niccolò (niccolò _cartoni_) zoppa, vincenzio di (vincenzio foppa, or _bresciano_) zoppo, vi, zoppo, marco, iii, , , zoppo, rocco, iv, zuccati, valerio, ix, , zuccati, vincenzio, ix, , zucchero, federigo, viii, , , - , - , , , - , ; x, zucchero, ottaviano, viii, , , zucchero, taddeo, _life_, viii, - , - ; viii, , , - , - zucchi, jacopo, viii, ; ix, ; x, zutmann, lambert (lambert _suavius_, or lamberto suave) printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury [transcriber's note: bold text is marked with =." obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. "elecate" should be "elacate".] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume v. andrea da fiesole to lorenzo lotto newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume v page andrea da fiesole [andrea ferrucci], and others vincenzio da san gimignano [vincenzio tamagni], and timoteo da urbino [timoteo della vite] andrea dal monte sansovino [andrea contucci] benedetto da rovezzano baccio da montelupo, and raffaello his son lorenzo di credi lorenzetto and boccaccino baldassarre peruzzi giovan francesco penni [called il fattore], and pellegrino da modena andrea del sarto madonna properzia de' rossi alfonso lombardi, michelagnolo da siena, girolamo santa croce, and dosso and battista dossi giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone, and others giovanni antonio sogliani girolamo da treviso polidoro da caravaggio and maturino il rosso bartolommeo da bagnacavallo, and others franciabigio [francia] morto da feltro and andrea di cosimo feltrini marco calavrese francesco mazzuoli [parmigiano] jacopo palma [palma vecchio] and lorenzo lotto index of names illustrations to volume v plates in colour facing page timoteo da urbino (timoteo della vite) a muse florence: corsini gallery lorenzo di credi venus florence: uffizi, bernardino del lupino (luini) s. catharine borne to her tomb by angels milan: brera, andrea del sarto madonna dell' arpie florence: uffizi, dosso dossi a nymph with a satyr florence: pitti, franciabigio (francia) portrait of a man vienna: prince liechtenstein lorenzo lotto the triumph of chastity rome: rospigliosi gallery jacopo palma (palma vecchio) s. barbara venice: s. maria formosa rondinello (niccolÒ rondinelli) madonna and child paris: louvre, plates in monochrome andrea da fiesole (andrea ferrucci) font pistoia: duomo silvio cosini (silvio da fiesole) tomb of raffaele maffei volterra: s. lino vincenzio da san gimignano (vincenzio tamagni) the birth of the virgin san gimignano: s. agostino, cappella del s. sacramento timoteo da urbino (timoteo della vite) madonna and saints, with a child angel milan: brera, timoteo da urbino (timoteo della vite) the magdalene bologna: accademia, andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea contucci) altar-piece florence: s. spirito andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea contucci) tomb of cardinal ascanio sforza rome: s. maria del popolo andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea contucci) the madonna and child, with s. anne rome: s. agostino benedetto da rovezzano tomb of piero soderini florence: s. maria del carmine baccio da montelupo s. john the evangelist florence: or san michele agostino busti (il bambaja) detail from the tomb: head of gaston de foix milan: brera raffaello da montelupo s. damiano florence: new sacristy of s. lorenzo lorenzo di credi andrea verrocchio florence: uffizi, lorenzo di credi madonna and child, with saints paris: louvre, lorenzo di credi the nativity florence: accademia, lorenzetto elijah rome: s. maria del popolo, chigi chapel lorenzetto s. peter rome: ponte s. angelo boccaccino madonna and child, with saints rome: doria gallery, bernardino del lupino (luini) the marriage of the virgin saronno: santuario della beata vergine baldassarre peruzzi cupola of the ponzetti chapel rome: s. maria della pace baldassarre peruzzi palazzo della farnesina rome baldassarre peruzzi courtyard of palazzo massimi rome giovanni francesco penni (il fattore) the baptism of constantine rome: the vatican gaudenzio milanese (gaudenzio ferrari) the last supper milan: s. maria della passione andrea del sarto "noli me tangere" florence: uffizi, andrea del sarto the last supper florence: s. salvi andrea del sarto the arrival of the magi florence: ss. annunziata andrea del sarto charity paris: louvre, andrea del sarto cæsar receiving the tribute of egypt florence: poggio a caiano andrea del sarto portrait of the artist florence: uffizi, madonna properzia de' rossi two angels (with the assumption of the virgin, after tribolo) bologna: s. petronio alfonso lombardi the death of the virgin bologna: s. maria della vita michelagnolo da siena tomb of adrian vi rome: s. maria dell' anima girolamo santa croce madonna and child, with ss. peter and john naples: monte oliveto dosso dossi madonna and child, with ss. george and michael modena: pinacoteca, giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone the disputation of s. catharine piacenza: s. maria di campagna giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone the adoration of the magi treviso: duomo giovanni antonio sogliani the legend of s. dominic florence: s. marco il rosso madonna and child, with saints florence: uffizi, il rosso the transfiguration città di castello: duomo bartolommeo da bagnacavallo the holy family, with saints bologna: accademia, amico of bologna (amico aspertini) the adoration bologna: pinacoteca, innocenzio da imola the marriage of s. catharine bologna: s. giacomo maggiore franciabigio (francia) the marriage of the virgin florence: ss. annunziata francesco mazzuoli (parmigiano) the marriage of s. catharine parma: gallery, francesco mazzuoli (parmigiano) madonna and child, with saints bologna: accademia, jacopo palma (palma vecchio) s. sebastian venice: s. maria formosa lorenzo lotto the glorification of s. nicholas venice: s. maria del carmine lorenzo lotto andrea odoni hampton court palace rondinello (niccolÒ rondinelli) madonna and child, with saints ravenna: accademia francesco da cotignola the adoration of the shepherds ravenna: accademia corrigendum p. , l. , _vicenza_ is an error of the italian text for piacenza, the church referred to being in the latter town andrea da fiesole lives of andrea da fiesole [_andrea ferrucci_] sculptor and of other craftsmen of fiesole seeing that it is no less necessary for sculptors to have mastery over their carving-tools than it is for him who practises painting to be able to handle colours, it therefore happens that many who work very well in clay prove to be unable to carry their labours to any sort of perfection in marble; and some, on the contrary, work very well in marble, without having any more knowledge of design than a certain instinct for a good manner, i know not what, that they have in their minds, derived from the imitation of certain things which please their judgment, and which their imagination absorbs and proceeds to use for its own purposes. and it is almost a marvel to see the manner in which some sculptors, without in any way knowing how to draw on paper, nevertheless bring their works to a fine and praiseworthy completion with their chisels. this was seen in andrea, a sculptor of fiesole, the son of piero di marco ferrucci, who learnt the rudiments of sculpture in his earliest boyhood from francesco di simone ferrucci, another sculptor of fiesole. and although at the beginning he learnt only to carve foliage, yet little by little he became so well practised in his work that it was not long before he set himself to making figures; insomuch that, having a swift and resolute hand, he executed his works in marble rather with a certain judgment and skill derived from nature than with any knowledge of design. nevertheless, he afterwards gave a little more attention to art, when, in the flower of his youth, he followed michele maini, likewise a sculptor of fiesole; which michele made the s. sebastian of marble in the minerva at rome, which was so much praised in those days. andrea, then, having been summoned to work at imola, built a chapel of grey-stone, which was much extolled, in the innocenti in that city. after that work, he went to naples at the invitation of antonio di giorgio of settignano, a very eminent engineer, and architect to king ferrante, with whom antonio was in such credit, that he had charge not only of all the buildings in that kingdom, but also of all the most important affairs of state. on arriving in naples, andrea was set to work, and he executed many things for that king in the castello di san martino and in other parts of that city. now antonio died; and after the king had caused him to be buried with obsequies suited rather to a royal person than to an architect, and with twenty pairs of mourners following him to the grave, andrea, recognizing that this was no country for him, departed from naples and made his way back to rome, where he stayed for some time, attending to the studies of his art, and also to some work. afterwards, having returned to tuscany, he built the marble chapel containing the baptismal font in the church of s. jacopo at pistoia, and with much diligence executed the basin of that font, with all its ornamentation. and on the main wall of the chapel he made two lifesize figures in half-relief--namely, s. john baptizing christ, a work executed very well and with a beautiful manner. at the same time he made some other little works, of which there is no need to make mention. i must say, indeed, that although these things were wrought by andrea rather with the skill of his hand than with art, yet there may be perceived in them a boldness and an excellence of taste worthy of great praise. and, in truth, if such craftsmen had a thorough knowledge of design united to their practised skill and judgment, they would vanquish in excellence those who, drawing perfectly, only hack the marble when they set themselves to work it, and toil at it painfully with a sorry result, through not having practice and not knowing how to handle the tools with the skill that is necessary. after these works, andrea executed a marble panel that was placed exactly between the two flights of steps that ascend to the upper choir in the church of the vescovado at fiesole; in which panel he made three figures in the round and some scenes in low-relief. and for s. girolamo, at fiesole, he made the little marble panel that is built into the middle of the church. having come into repute by reason of the fame of these works, andrea was commissioned by the wardens of works of s. maria del fiore, at the time when cardinal giulio de' medici was governing florence, to make a statue of an apostle four braccia in height; at that time, i mean, when four other similar statues were allotted at one and the same moment to four other masters--one to benedetto da maiano, another to jacopo sansovino, a third to baccio bandinelli, and the fourth to michelagnolo buonarroti; which statues were eventually to be twelve in number, and were to be placed in that part of that magnificent temple where there are the apostles painted by the hand of lorenzo di bicci. andrea, then, executed his rather with fine skill and judgment than with design; and he acquired thereby, if not as much praise as the others, at least the name of a good and practised master. wherefore he was almost continually employed ever afterwards by the wardens of works of that church; and he made the head of marsilius ficinus that is to be seen therein, within the door that leads to the chapter-house. he made, also, a marble fountain that was sent to the king of hungary, which brought him great honour; and by his hand was a marble tomb that was sent, likewise, to strigonia, a city of hungary. in this tomb was a madonna, very well executed, with other figures; and in it was afterwards laid to rest the body of the cardinal of strigonia. to volterra andrea sent two angels of marble in the round; and for marco del nero, a florentine, he made a lifesize crucifix of wood, which is now in the church of s. felicita at florence. he made a smaller one for the company of the assumption in fiesole. andrea also delighted in architecture, and he was the master of mangone, the stonecutter and architect, who afterwards erected many palaces and other buildings in rome in a passing good manner. in the end, having grown old, andrea gave his attention only to mason's work, like one who, being a modest and worthy person, loved a quiet life more than anything else. he received from madonna antonia vespucci the commission for a tomb for her husband, messer antonio strozzi; but since he could not work much himself, the two angels were made for him by maso boscoli of fiesole, his disciple, who afterwards executed many works in rome and elsewhere, and the madonna was made by silvio cosini of fiesole, although it was not set into place immediately after it was finished, which was in the year , because andrea died, and was buried by the company of the scalzo in the church of the servi. [illustration: font (_after_ andrea da fiesole [andrea ferrucci]. _pistoia: duomo_) _brogi_] silvio, when the said madonna was set into place and the tomb of the strozzi completely finished, pursued the art of sculpture with extraordinary zeal; wherefore he afterwards executed many works in a graceful and beautiful manner, and surpassed a host of other masters, above all in the bizarre fancy of his grotesques, as may be seen in the sacristy of michelagnolo buonarroti, from some carved marble capitals over the pilasters of the tombs, with some little masks so well hollowed out that there is nothing better to be seen. in the same place he made some friezes with very beautiful masks in the act of crying out; wherefore buonarroti, seeing the genius and skill of silvio, caused him to begin certain trophies to complete those tombs, but they remained unfinished, with other things, by reason of the siege of florence. silvio executed a tomb for the minerbetti in their chapel in the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. maria novella, as well as any man could, since, in addition to the beautiful shape of the sarcophagus, there are carved upon it various shields, helmet-crests, and other fanciful things, and all with as much design as could be desired in such a work. being at pisa in the year , silvio made there an angel that was wanting over a column on the high-altar of the duomo, to face the one by tribolo; and he made it so like the other that it could not be more like even if it were by the same hand. in the church of monte nero, near livorno, he made a little panel of marble with two figures, for the frati ingesuati; and at volterra he made a tomb for messer raffaello da volterra, a man of great learning, wherein he portrayed him from nature on a sarcophagus of marble, with some ornaments and figures. afterwards, while the siege of florence was going on, niccolò capponi, a most honourable citizen, died at castel nuovo della garfagnana on his return from genoa, where he had been as ambassador from his republic to the emperor; and silvio was sent in great haste to make a cast of his head, to the end that he might afterwards make one in marble, having already executed a very beautiful one in wax. now silvio lived for some time with all his family in pisa; and since he belonged to the company of the misericordia, which in that city accompanies those condemned to death to the place of execution, there once came into his head, being sacristan at that time, the strangest caprice in the world. one night he took out of the grave the body of one who had been hanged the day before; and, after having dissected it for the purposes of his art, being a whimsical fellow, and perhaps a wizard, and ready to believe in enchantments and suchlike follies, he flayed it completely, and with the skin, prepared after a method that he had been taught, he made a jerkin, which he wore for some time over his shirt, believing that it had some great virtue, without anyone ever knowing of it. but having once been upbraided by a good father to whom he had confessed the matter, he pulled off the jerkin and laid it to rest in a grave, as the monk had urged him to do. many other similar stories could be told of this man, but, since they have nothing to do with our history, i will pass them over in silence. after the death of his first wife in pisa, silvio went off to carrara. there he remained to execute some works, and took another wife, with whom, no long time after, he went to genoa, where, entering the service of prince doria, he made a most beautiful escutcheon of marble over the door of his palace, and many ornaments in stucco all over that palace, after the directions given to him by the painter perino del vaga. he made, also, a very beautiful portrait in marble of the emperor charles v. but since it was silvio's habit never to stay long in one place--for he was a wayward person--he grew weary of his prosperity in genoa, and set out to make his way to france. he departed, therefore, but before arriving at monsanese he turned back, and, stopping at milan, he executed in the duomo some scenes and figures and many ornaments, with much credit for himself. and there, finally, he died at the age of forty-five. he was a man of fine genius, capricious, very dexterous in any kind of work, and a person who could execute with great diligence anything to which he turned his hand. he delighted in composing sonnets and improvising songs, and in his early youth he gave his attention to arms. if he had concentrated his mind on sculpture and design, he would have had no equal; and, even as he surpassed his master andrea ferrucci, so, had he lived, he would have surpassed many others who have enjoyed the name of excellent masters. there flourished at the same time as andrea and silvio another sculptor of fiesole, called il cicilia, who was a person of much skill; and a work by his hand may be seen in the church of s. jacopo, in the campo corbolini at florence--namely, the tomb of the chevalier messer luigi tornabuoni, which is much extolled, particularly because he made therein the escutcheon of that chevalier, in the form of a horse's head, as if to show, according to the ancient belief, that the shape of shields was originally taken from the head of a horse. about the same time, also, antonio da carrara, a very rare sculptor, made three statues in palermo for the duke of monteleone, a neapolitan of the house of pignatella, and viceroy of sicily--namely, three figures of our lady in different attitudes and manners, which were placed over three altars in the duomo of monteleone in calabria. for the same patron he made some scenes in marble, which are in palermo. he left behind him a son who is also a sculptor at the present day, and no less excellent than was his father. [illustration: tomb of raffaele maffei (_after_ silvio cosini [silvio da fiesole]. _volterra: s. lino_) _alinari_] footnote: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. vincenzio da san gimignano and timoteo da urbino [illustration: timoteo da urbino (timoteo viti): a muse (_florence: corsini gallery. panel_)] lives of vincenzio da san gimignano and timoteo da urbino [_timoteo della vite_] painters having now to write, after the life of the sculptor andrea da fiesole, the lives of two excellent painters, vincenzio da san gimignano of tuscany, and timoteo da urbino, i propose to speak first of vincenzio, as the man whose portrait is above,[ ] and immediately afterwards of timoteo, since they lived almost at one and the same time, and were both disciples and friends of raffaello. vincenzio, then, working in company with many others in the papal loggie for the gracious raffaello da urbino, acquitted himself in such a manner that he was much extolled by raffaello and by all the others. having therefore been set to work in the borgo, opposite to the palace of messer giovanni battista dall' aquila, with great credit to himself he painted on a façade a frieze in terretta, in which he depicted the nine muses, with apollo in the centre, and above them some lions, the device of the pope, which are held to be very beautiful. vincenzio showed great diligence in his manner and softness in his colouring, and his figures were very pleasing in aspect; in short, he always strove to imitate the manner of raffaello da urbino, as may also be seen in the same borgo, opposite to the palace of the cardinal of ancona, from the façade of a house that was built by messer giovanni antonio battiferro of urbino, who, in consequence of the strait friendship that he had with raffaello, received from him the design for that façade, and also, through his good offices, many benefits and rich revenues at the court. in this design, then, which was afterwards carried into execution by vincenzio, raffaello drew, in allusion to the name of the battiferri, the cyclopes forging thunderbolts for jove, and in another part vulcan making arrows for cupid, with some most beautiful nudes and other very lovely scenes and statues. the same vincenzio painted a great number of scenes on a façade in the piazza di s. luigi de' francesi at rome, such as the death of cæsar, a triumph of justice, and a battle of horsemen in a frieze, executed with spirit and much diligence; and in this work, close to the roof, between the windows, he painted some virtues that are very well wrought. in like manner, on the façade of the epifani, behind the curia di pompeo, and near the campo di fiore, he painted the magi following the star; with an endless number of other works throughout that city, the air and position of which seem to be in great measure the reason that men are inspired to produce marvellous works there. experience teaches us, indeed, that very often the same man has not the same manner and does not produce work of equal excellence in every place, but makes it better or worse according to the nature of the place. [illustration: the birth of the virgin (_after the fresco by =vincenzio da san gimignano [vincenzio tamagni]=. san gimignano: s. agostino_) _brogi_] vincenzio being in very good repute in rome, there took place in the year the ruin and sack of that unhappy city, which had been the mistress of the nations. whereupon, grieved beyond measure, he returned to his native city of san gimignano; and there, by reason of the sufferings that he had undergone, and the weakening of his love for art, now that he was away from the air which nourishes men of fine genius and makes them bring forth works of the rarest merit, he painted some things that i will pass over in silence, in order not to veil with them the renown and the great name that he had honourably acquired in rome. it is enough to point out clearly that violence turns the most lofty intellects roughly aside from their chief goal, and makes them direct their steps into the opposite path; which may also be seen in a companion of vincenzio, called schizzone, who executed some works in the borgo that were highly extolled, and also in the campo santo of rome and in s. stefano degl' indiani, and who was likewise caused by the senseless soldiery to turn aside from art and in a short time to lose his life. vincenzio died in his native city of san gimignano, having had but little gladness in his life after his departure from rome. [illustration: madonna and saints, with a child angel (_after the painting by =timoteo da urbino [timoteo della vite]=. milan: brera, _) _brogi_] timoteo, a painter of urbino, was the son of bartolommeo della vite, a citizen of good position, and calliope, the daughter of maestro antonio alberto of ferrara, a passing good painter in his day, as is shown by his works at urbino and elsewhere. while timoteo was still a child, his father dying, he was left to the care of his mother calliope, with good and happy augury, from the circumstance that calliope is one of the nine muses, and the conformity that exists between poetry and painting. then, after he had been brought discreetly through his boyhood by his wise mother, and initiated by her into the studies of the simpler arts and likewise of drawing, the young man came into his first knowledge of the world at the very time when the divine raffaello sanzio was flourishing. applying himself in his earliest years to the goldsmith's art, he was summoned by messer pier antonio, his elder brother, who was then studying at bologna, to that most noble city, to the end that he might follow that art, to which he seemed to be inclined by nature, under the discipline of some good master. while living, then, in bologna, in which city he stayed no little time, and was much honoured and received by the noble and magnificent messer francesco gombruti into his house with every sort of courtesy, timoteo associated continually with men of culture and lofty intellect. wherefore, having become known in a few months as a young man of judgment, and inclined much more to the painter's than to the goldsmith's art, of which he had given proofs in some very well-executed portraits of his friends and of others, it seemed good to his brother, wishing to encourage the young man's natural genius, and also persuaded to this by his friends, to take him away from his files and chisels, and to make him devote himself entirely to the study of drawing. at which he was very content, and applied himself straightway to drawing and to the labours of art, copying and drawing all the best works in that city; and establishing a close intimacy with painters, he set out to such purpose on his new road, that it was a marvel to see the progress that he made from one day to another, and all the more because he learnt with facility the most difficult things without any particular teaching from any appointed master. and so, becoming enamoured of his profession, and learning many secrets of painting merely by sometimes seeing certain painters of no account making their mixtures and using their brushes, and guided by himself and by the hand of nature, he set himself boldly to colouring, and acquired a very pleasing manner, very similar to that of the new apelles, his compatriot, although he had seen nothing by his hand save a few works at bologna. thereupon, after executing some works on panel and on walls with very good results, guided by his own good intellect and judgment, and believing that in comparison with other painters he had succeeded very well in everything, he pursued the studies of painting with great ardour, and to such purpose, that in course of time he found that he had gained a firm footing in his art, and was held in good repute and vast expectation by all the world. having then returned to his own country, now a man twenty-six years of age, he stayed there for some months, giving excellent proofs of his knowledge. thus he executed, to begin with, the altar-piece of the madonna for the altar of s. croce in the duomo, containing, besides the virgin, s. crescenzio and s. vitale; and there is a little angel seated on the ground, playing on a viola with a grace truly angelic and a childlike simplicity expressed with art and judgment. afterwards he painted another altar-piece for the high-altar of the church of the trinità, together with a s. apollonia on the left hand of that altar. by means of these works and certain others, of which there is no need to make mention, the name and fame of timoteo spread abroad, and he was invited with great insistence by raffaello to rome; whither having gone with the greatest willingness, he was received with that loving kindness that was as peculiar to raffaello as was his excellence in art. working, then, with raffaello, in little more than a year he made a great advance, not only in art, but also in prosperity, for in that time he sent home a good sum of money. while working with his master in the church of s. maria della pace, he made with his own hand and invention the sibyls that are in the lunettes on the right hand, so much esteemed by all painters. that they are his is maintained by some who still remember having seen them painted; and we have also testimony in the cartoons which are still to be found in the possession of his successors. on his own account, likewise, he afterwards painted the bier and the dead body contained therein, with the other things, so highly extolled, that are around it, in the scuola of s. caterina da siena; and although certain men of siena, carried away by love of their own country, attribute these works to others, it may easily be recognized that they are the handiwork of timoteo, both from the grace and sweetness of the colouring, and from other memorials of himself that he left in that most noble school of excellent painters. now, although timoteo was well and honourably placed in rome, yet, not being able to endure, as many do, the separation from his own country, and also being invited and urged every moment to come home by the counsels of his friends and by the prayers of his mother, now an old woman, he returned to urbino, much to the displeasure of raffaello, who loved him dearly for his good qualities. and not long after, having taken a wife in urbino at the suggestion of his family, and having become enamoured of his country, in which he saw that he was highly honoured, besides the circumstance, even more important, that he had begun to have children, timoteo made up his mind firmly never again to consent to go abroad, notwithstanding, as may still be seen from some letters, that he was invited back to rome by raffaello. but he did not therefore cease to work, and he made many works in urbino and in the neighbouring cities. at forlì he painted a chapel in company with girolamo genga, his friend and compatriot; and afterwards he painted entirely with his own hand a panel that was sent to città di castello, and likewise another for the people of cagli. at castel durante, also, he executed some works in fresco, which are truly worthy of praise, as are all the other works by his hand, which bear witness that he was a graceful painter in figures, landscapes, and every other field of painting. in urbino, at the instance of bishop arrivabene of mantua, he painted the chapel of s. martino in the duomo, in company with the same genga; but the altar-panel and the middle of the chapel are entirely by the hand of timoteo. for the same church, also, he painted a magdalene standing, clothed in a short mantle, and covered below this by her own tresses, which reach to the ground and are so beautiful and natural, that the wind appears to move them; not to mention the divine beauty of the expression of her countenance, which reveals clearly the love that she bore to her master. in s. agata there is another panel by the hand of the same man, with some very good figures. and for s. bernardino, without that city, he made that work so greatly renowned that is at the right hand upon the altar of the buonaventuri, gentlemen of urbino; wherein the virgin is represented with most beautiful grace as having received the annunciation, standing with her hands clasped and her face and eyes uplifted to heaven. above, in the sky, in the centre of a great circle of light, stands a little child, with his foot on the holy spirit in the form of a dove, and holding in his left hand a globe symbolizing the dominion of the world, while, with the other hand raised, he gives the benediction; and on the right of the child is an angel, who is pointing him out with his finger to the madonna. below--that is, on the level of the madonna, to her right--is the baptist, clothed in a camel's skin, which is torn on purpose that the nude figure may be seen; and on her left is a s. sebastian, wholly naked, and bound in a beautiful attitude to a tree, and wrought with such diligence that the figure could not have stronger relief nor be in any part more beautiful. at the court of the most illustrious dukes of urbino, in a little private study, may be seen an apollo and two half-nude muses by his hand, beautiful to a marvel. for the same patrons he executed many pictures, and made some decorations for apartments, which are very beautiful. and afterwards, in company with genga, he painted some caparisons for horses, which were sent to the king of france, with such beautiful figures of various animals that they appeared to all who beheld them to have life and movement. he made, also, some triumphal arches similar to those of the ancients, on the occasion of the marriage of the most illustrious duchess leonora to the lord duke francesco maria, to whom they gave vast satisfaction, as they did to the whole court; on which account he was received for many years into the household of that duke, with an honourable salary. [illustration: the magdalene (_after the panel by =timoteo da urbino [timoteo della vite]=. bologna: accademia, _) _anderson_] timoteo was a bold draughtsman, and even more notable for the sweetness and charm of his colouring, insomuch that his works could not have been executed with more delicacy or greater diligence. he was a merry fellow, gay and festive by nature, and most acute and witty in his sayings and discourses. he delighted in playing every sort of instrument, and particularly the lyre, to which he sang, improvising upon it with extraordinary grace. he died in the year of our salvation , the fifty-fourth of his life, leaving his native country as much enriched by his name and his fine qualities as it was grieved by his loss. he left in urbino some unfinished works, which were finished afterwards by others and show by comparison how great were the worth and ability of timoteo. in our book are some drawings by his hand, very beautiful and truly worthy of praise, which i received from the most excellent and gentle messer giovanni maria, his son--namely, a pen-sketch for the portrait of the magnificent giuliano de' medici, which timoteo made when giuliano was frequenting the court of urbino and that most famous academy, a "noli me tangere," and a s. john the evangelist sleeping while christ is praying in the garden, all very beautiful. footnote: [ ] in the original edition of . andrea dal monte sansovino life of andrea dal monte sansovino [_andrea contucci_] sculptor and architect although andrea, the son of domenico contucci of monte sansovino, was born from a poor father, a tiller of the earth, and rose from the condition of shepherd, nevertheless his conceptions were so lofty, his genius so rare, and his mind so ready, both in his works and in his discourses on the difficulties of architecture and perspective, that there was not in his day a better, rarer, or more subtle intellect than his, nor one that was more able than he was to render the greatest doubts clear and lucid; wherefore he well deserved to be held in his own times, by all who were qualified to judge, to be supreme in those professions. andrea was born, so it is said, in the year ; and in his childhood, while looking after his flocks, he would draw on the sand the livelong day, as is also told of giotto, and copy in clay some of the animals that he was guarding. so one day it happened that a florentine citizen, who is said to have been simone vespucci, at that time podestà of the monte, passing by the place where andrea was looking after his little charges, saw the boy standing all intent on drawing or modelling in clay. whereupon he called to him, and, having seen what was the boy's bent, and heard whose son he was, he asked for him from domenico contucci, who graciously granted his request; and simone promised to place him in the way of learning design, in order to see what virtue there might be in that inclination of nature, if assisted by continual study. having returned to florence, then, simone placed him to learn art with antonio del pollaiuolo, under whom andrea made such proficience, that in a few years he became a very good master. in the house of that simone, on the ponte vecchio, there may still be seen a cartoon executed by him at that time, of christ being scourged at the column, drawn with much diligence; and, in addition, two marvellous heads in terra-cotta, copied from ancient medals, one of the emperor nero, and the other of the emperor galba, which heads served to adorn a chimney-piece; but the galba is now at arezzo, in the house of giorgio vasari. afterwards, while still living in florence, he made an altar-piece in terra-cotta for the church of s. agata at monte sansovino, with a s. laurence and some other saints, and little scenes most beautifully executed. and no long time after this he made another like it, containing a very beautiful assumption of our lady, s. agata, s. lucia, and s. romualdo; which altar-piece was afterwards glazed by the della robbia family. [illustration: altar-piece (_after_ andrea dal monte sansovino [andrea contucci]. _florence: s. spirito_) _alinari_] then, pursuing the art of sculpture, he made in his youth for simone del pollaiuolo, otherwise called il cronaca, two capitals for pilasters in the sacristy of s. spirito, which brought him very great fame, and led to his receiving a commission to execute the antechamber that is between the said sacristy and the church; and since the space was very small, andrea was forced to use great ingenuity. he made, therefore, a structure of grey-stone in the corinthian order, with twelve round columns, six on either side; and having laid architrave, frieze, and cornice over these columns, he then raised a barrel-shaped vault, all of the same stone, with a coffer-work surface full of carvings, which was something novel, rich and varied, and much extolled. it is true, indeed, that if the mouldings of that coffer-work ceiling, which serve to divide the square and round panels by which it is adorned, had been contrived so as to fall in a straight line with the columns, with truer proportion and harmony, this work would be wholly perfect in every part; and it would have been an easy thing to do this. but, according to what i once heard from certain old friends of andrea, he used to defend himself by saying that he had adhered in his vault to the method of the coffering in the ritonda at rome, wherein the ribs that radiate from the round window in the centre above, from which that temple gets its light, serve to enclose the square sunk panels containing the rosettes, which diminish little by little, as likewise do the ribs; and for that reason they do not fall in a straight line with the columns. andrea used to add that if he who built the temple of the ritonda, which is the best designed and proportioned that there is, and made with more harmony than any other, paid no attention to this in a vault of such size and importance, much less should he do so in a coffered ceiling with far smaller panels. nevertheless many craftsmen, and michelagnolo in particular, have been of the opinion that the ritonda was built by three architects, of whom the first carried it as far as the cornice that is above the columns, and the second from the cornice upwards, the part, namely, that contains those windows of more graceful workmanship, for in truth this second part is very different in manner from the part below, since the vaulting was carried out without any relation between the coffering and the straight lines of what is below. the third is believed to have made the portico, which was a very rare work. and for these reasons the masters who practise this art at the present day should not fall into such an error and then make excuses, as did andrea. after that work, having received from the family of the corbinelli the commission for the chapel of the sacrament in the same church, he carried it out with much diligence, imitating in the low-reliefs donato and other excellent craftsmen, and sparing no labour in his desire to do himself credit, as, indeed, he did. in two niches, one on either side of a very beautiful tabernacle, he placed two saints somewhat more than one braccio in height, s. james and s. matthew, executed with such spirit and excellence, that every sort of merit is revealed in them and not one fault. equally good, also, are two angels in the round that are the crowning glory of this work, with the most beautiful draperies--for they are in the act of flying--that are anywhere to be seen; and in the centre is a little naked christ full of grace. there are also some scenes with little figures in the predella and over the tabernacle, all so well executed that the point of a brush could scarcely do what andrea did with his chisel. but whosoever wishes to be amazed by the diligence of this extraordinary man should look at the architecture of this work as a whole, for it is so well executed and joined together in its small proportions that it appears to have been chiselled out of one single stone. much extolled, also, is a large pietà of marble that he made in half-relief on the front of the altar, with the madonna and s. john weeping. nor could one imagine any more beautiful pieces of casting than are the bronze gratings that enclose that chapel, with their ornaments of marble, and with stags, the device, or rather the arms, of the corbinelli, which serve as adornments for the bronze candelabra. in short, this work was executed without any sparing of labour, and with all the best considerations that could possibly be imagined. by these and by other works the name of andrea spread far and wide, and he was sought for from the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, in whose garden, as has been related, he had pursued the studies of design, by the king of portugal; and, being therefore sent to him by lorenzo, he executed for that king many works of sculpture and of architecture, and in particular a very beautiful palace with four towers, and many other buildings. part of the palace was painted after designs and cartoons by the hand of andrea, who drew very well, as may be seen from some drawings by his own hand in our book, finished with a charcoal-point, and some other architectural drawings, showing excellent design. he also made for that king a carved altar of wood, containing some prophets; and likewise a very beautiful battle-piece in clay, to be afterwards carved in marble, representing the wars that the king waged with the moors, who were vanquished by him; and no work by the hand of andrea was ever seen that was more spirited or more terrible than this, what with the movements and various attitudes of the horses, the heaps of dead, and the vehement fury of the soldiers in combat. and he made a figure of s. mark in marble, which was a very rare work. while in the service of that king, andrea also gave his attention to some difficult and fantastic architectural works, according to the custom of that country, in order to please the king; of which things i once saw a book at monte sansovino in the possession of his heirs, which is now in the hands of maestro girolamo lombardo, who was his disciple, and to whom it fell, as will be related, to finish some works begun by andrea. [illustration: tomb of cardinal ascanio sforza (_after_ andrea dal monte sansovino [andrea contucci]. _rome: s. maria del popolo_) _alinari_] having been nine years in portugal, and growing weary of that service, and desirous of seeing his relatives and friends in tuscany again, andrea determined, now that he had put together a good sum of money, to obtain leave from the king and return home. and so, having been granted permission, although not willingly, he returned to florence, leaving behind him one who should complete such of his works as remained unfinished. after arriving in florence, he began in the year a marble group of s. john baptizing christ, which was to be placed over that door of the temple of s. giovanni that faces the misericordia; but he did not finish it, because he was almost forced to go to genoa, where he made two figures of marble, christ, or rather s. john, and a madonna, which are truly worthy of the highest praise. and those at florence remained unfinished, and are still to be found at the present day in the office of works of the said s. giovanni. he was then summoned to rome by pope julius ii, and received the commission for two tombs of marble, which were erected in s. maria del popolo--one for cardinal ascanio sforza, and the other for the cardinal of recanati, a very near relative of the pope--and these works were wrought so perfectly by andrea that nothing more could be desired, since they were so well executed and finished, and with such purity, beauty, and grace, that they reveal the true consideration and proportion of art. there may be seen there, also, a temperance with an hourglass in her hand, which is held to be a thing divine; and, indeed, it does not appear to be a modern work, but ancient and wholly perfect. and although there are other figures there similar to it, yet on account of its attitude and grace it is much the best; not to mention that nothing could be more pleasing and beautiful than the veil that she has around her, which is executed with such delicacy that it is a miracle to behold. in s. agostino at rome, on a pilaster in the middle of the church, he made in marble a s. anne embracing a madonna with the child, a little less than lifesize. this work may be counted as one of the best of modern times, since, even as a lively and wholly natural gladness is seen in the old woman, and a divine beauty in the madonna, so the figure of the infant christ is so well wrought, that no other was ever executed with such delicacy and perfection. wherefore it well deserved that for many years a succession of sonnets and various other learned compositions should be attached to it, of which the friars of that place have a book full, which i myself have seen, to my no little marvel. and in truth the world was right in doing this, for the reason that the work can never be praised enough. [illustration: the madonna and child with s. anne (_after_ andrea dal monte sansovino [andrea contucci]. _rome: s. agostino_) _alinari_] the fame of andrea having thereby grown greater, leo x, who had resolved that the adornment with wrought marble of the chamber of the madonna in s. maria at loreto should be carried out, according to the beginning made by bramante, ordained that andrea should bring that work to completion. the ornamentation of that chamber, which bramante had begun, had at the corners four double projections, which, adorned by pillars with bases and carved capitals, rested on a socle rich with carvings, and two braccia and a half in height; over which socle, between the two aforesaid pillars, he had made a large niche to contain seated figures, and, above each of these niches, a smaller one, which, reaching to the collarino of the capitals of those pillars, left a frieze of the same height as the capitals. above these were afterwards laid architrave, frieze, and richly carved cornice, which, going right round all the four walls, project over the four corners; and in the middle of each of the larger walls--for the chamber is greater in length than in breadth--were left two spaces, since there was the same projection in the centre of those walls as there was at the corners; whence the larger niche below, with the smaller one above it, came to be enclosed by a space of five braccia on either side. in this space were two doors, one on either side, through which one entered into the chapel; and above the doors was a space of five braccia between one niche and another, wherein were to be carved scenes in marble. the front wall was the same, but without niches in the centre, and the height of the socle, with the projection, formed an altar, which was set off by the pillars and the niches at the corners. in the same front wall, in the centre, was a space of the same breadth as the spaces at the sides, to contain some scenes in the upper part, while below, the same in height as the spaces of the sides, but beginning immediately above the altar, was a bronze grating opposite to the inner altar, through which it was possible to hear the mass and to see the inside of the chamber and the aforesaid altar of the madonna. altogether, then, the spaces and compartments for the scenes were seven: one in front, above the grating, two on each of the longer sides, and two on the upper part--that is to say, behind the altar of the madonna; and, in addition, there were eight large and eight small niches, with other smaller spaces for the arms and devices of the pope and of the church. andrea, then, having found the work in this condition, distributed over these spaces, with a rich and beautiful arrangement, scenes from the life of the madonna. in one of the two side-walls, he began in one part the nativity of the madonna, and executed half of it; and it was completely finished afterwards by baccio bandinelli. in the other part he began the marriage of the virgin, but this also remained unfinished, and after the death of andrea it was completed as we see it by raffaello da montelupo. on the front wall he arranged that there should be made, in two small squares which are on either side of the bronze grating, in one the visitation and in the other the scene of the virgin and joseph going to have themselves enrolled for taxes; which scenes were afterwards executed by francesco da san gallo, then a young man. then, in that part where the greatest space is, andrea made the angel gabriel bringing the annunciation to the virgin--which happened in that very chamber which these marbles enclose--with such grace and beauty that there is nothing better to be seen, for he made the virgin wholly intent on that salutation, and the angel, kneeling, appears to be not of marble, but truly celestial, with "ave maria" issuing from his mouth. in company with gabriel are two other angels, in full-relief and detached from the marble, one of whom is walking after him and the other appears to be flying. behind a building stand two other angels, carved out by the chisel in such a way that they seem to be alive. in the air, on a cloud much undercut--nay, almost entirely detached from the marble--are many little boys upholding a god the father, who is sending down the holy spirit by means of a ray of marble, which, descending from him completely detached, appears quite real; as, likewise, is the dove upon it, which represents the holy spirit. nor can one describe how great is the beauty and how delicate the carving of a vase filled with flowers, which was made in this work by the gracious hand of andrea, who lavished so much excellence on the plumes of the angels, the hair, the grace of their features and draperies, and, in short, on every other thing, that this divine work cannot be extolled enough. and, in truth, that most holy place, which was the very house and habitation of the mother of the son of god, could not obtain from the resources of the world a greater, richer, or more beautiful adornment than that which it received from the architecture of bramante and the sculpture of andrea sansovino; although, even if it were entirely of the most precious gems of the east, it would be little more than nothing in comparison with such merits. andrea spent an almost incredible amount of time over this work, and therefore had no time to finish the others that he had begun; for, in addition to those mentioned above, he began in a space on one of the side-walls the nativity of jesus christ, with the shepherds and four angels singing; and all these he finished so well that they seem to be wholly alive. but the story of the magi, which he began above that one, was afterwards finished by girolamo lombardo, his disciple, and by others. on the back wall he arranged that two large scenes should be made, one above the other; in one, the death of our lady, with the apostles bearing her to her burial, four angels in the air, and many jews seeking to steal that most holy corpse; and this was finished after andrea's lifetime by the sculptor bologna. below this one, then, he arranged that there should be made a scene of the miracle of loreto, showing in what manner that chapel, which was the chamber of our lady, wherein she was born, brought up, and saluted by the angel, and in which she reared her son up to the age of twelve and lived ever after his death, was finally carried by the angels, first into sclavonia, afterwards to a forest in the territory of recanati, and in the end to the place where it is now held in such veneration and continually visited in solemn throng by all the christian people. this scene, i say, was executed in marble on that wall, according to the arrangement made by andrea, by the florentine sculptor tribolo, as will be related in due place. andrea likewise blocked out the prophets for the niches, but did not finish them completely, save one alone, and the others were afterwards finished by the aforesaid girolamo lombardo and by other sculptors, as will be seen in the lives that are to follow. but with regard to all the works wrought by andrea in this undertaking, they are the most beautiful and best executed works of sculpture that had ever been made up to that time. in like manner, the palace of the canons of the same church was also carried on by andrea, after the arrangements made by bramante at the commission of pope leo. but this, also, remained unfinished after the death of andrea, and the building was continued under clement vii by antonio da san gallo, and then by the architect giovanni boccalino, under the patronage of the very reverend cardinal da carpi, up to the year . while andrea was at work on the aforesaid chapel of the virgin, there were built the fortifications of loreto and other works, which were highly extolled by the all-conquering signor giovanni de' medici, with whom andrea had a very strait friendship, having become first acquainted with him in rome. having four months of holiday in the year for repose while he was working at loreto, he used to spend that time in agriculture at his native place of monte sansovino, enjoying meanwhile a most tranquil rest with his relatives and friends. living thus at the monte during the summer, he built there a commodious house for himself and bought much property; and for the friars of s. agostino in that place he had a cloister made, which, although small, is very well designed, but also out of the square, since those fathers insisted on having it built over the old walls. andrea, however, made the interior rectangular by increasing the thickness of the pilasters at the corners, in order to change it from an ill-proportioned structure into one with good and true measurements. he designed, also, for a company that had its seat in that cloister, under the title of s. antonio, a very beautiful door of the doric order; and likewise the tramezzo[ ] and pulpit of the church of s. agostino. he also caused a little chapel to be built for the friars half-way down the hill on the descent to the fountain, without the door that leads to the old pieve, although they had no wish for it. he made the design for the house of messer pietro, a most skilful astrologer, at arezzo; and a large figure of terra-cotta for montepulciano, of king porsena, which was a rare work, although i have never seen it again since the first time, so that i fear that it may have come to an evil end. and for a german priest, who was his friend, he made a lifesize s. rocco of terra-cotta, very beautiful; which priest had it placed in the church of battifolle, in the district of arezzo. this was the last piece of sculpture that andrea executed. he gave the design, also, for the steps ascending to the vescovado of arezzo; and for the madonna delle lagrime, in the same city, he made the design of a very beautiful ornament that was to be executed in marble, with four figures, each four braccia high; but this work was carried no farther, on account of the death of our andrea. for he, having reached the age of sixty-eight, and being a man who would never stay idle, set to work to move some stakes from one place to another at his villa, whereby he caught a chill; and in a few days, worn out by a continuous fever, he died, in the year . the death of andrea grieved his native place by reason of the honour that he had brought it, and his sons and the women of his household, who lost both their dearest one and their support. and not long ago muzio camillo, one of the three aforesaid sons, who was displaying a most beautiful intellect in the studies of learning and letters, followed him, to the great loss of his family and displeasure of his friends. andrea, in addition to his profession of art, was truly a person of much distinction, for he was wise in his discourse, and reasoned most beautifully on every subject. he was prudent and regular in his every action, much the friend of learned men, and a philosopher of great natural gifts. he gave much attention to the study of cosmography, and left to his family a number of drawings and writings on the subject of distances and measurements. he was somewhat small in stature, but robust and beautifully made. his hair was soft and long, his eyes light in colour, his nose aquiline, and his skin pink and white; but he had a slight impediment in his speech. his disciples were the aforesaid girolamo lombardo, the florentine simone cioli, domenico dal monte sansovino (who died soon after him), and the florentine leonardo del tasso, who made the s. sebastian of wood over his own tomb in s. ambrogio at florence, and the marble panel of the nuns of s. chiara. a disciple of andrea, likewise, was the florentine jacopo sansovino--so called after his master--of whom there will be a long account in the proper place. architecture and sculpture, then, are much indebted to andrea, in that he enriched the one with many rules of measurement and devices for drawing weights, and with a degree of diligence that had not been employed before, and in the other he brought his marble to perfection with marvellous judgment, care, and mastery. footnote: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. benedetto da rovezzano life of benedetto da rovezzano sculptor great, i think, must be the displeasure of those who, having executed some work of genius, yet, when they hope to enjoy the fruits of this in their old age, and to see the beautiful results achieved by other intellects in works similar to their own, and to be able to perceive what perfection there may be in that field of art that they themselves have practised, find themselves robbed by adverse fortune, by time, by a bad habit of body, or by some other cause, of the sight of their eyes; whence they are not able, as they were before, to perceive either the deficiencies or the perfection of men whom they hear of as living and practising their own professions. and even more are they grieved to hear the praises of the new masters, not through envy, but because they are not able to judge, like others, whether that fame be well-deserved or not. this misfortune happened to benedetto da rovezzano, a sculptor of florence, of whom we are now about to write the life, to the end that the world may know how able and practised a sculptor he was, and with what diligence he carved marble in strong relief against its ground in the marvellous works that he made. among the first of many labours that this master executed in florence, may be numbered a chimney-piece of grey-stone that is in the house of pier francesco borgherini, wherein are capitals, friezes, and many other ornaments, carved by his hand in open-work with great diligence. in the house of messer bindo altoviti, likewise, is a chimney-piece by the same hand, with a lavatory of marble, and some other things executed with much delicacy; but everything in these that has to do with architecture was designed by jacopo sansovino, then a young man. next, in the year , benedetto received the commission for a tomb of marble, with rich ornaments, in the principal chapel of the carmine in florence, for piero soderini, who had been gonfalonier in that city; and that work was executed by him with incredible diligence, seeing that, besides foliage, carved emblems of death, and figures, he made therein with basanite, in low-relief, a canopy in imitation of black cloth, with so much grace and such beautiful finish and lustre, that the stone appears to be exquisite black satin rather than basanite. and, to put it in a few words, for all that the hand of benedetto did in this work there is no praise that would not seem too little. and since he also gave his attention to architecture, there was restored from the design of benedetto a house near s. apostolo in florence, belonging to messer oddo altoviti, patron and prior of that church. there benedetto made the principal door in marble, and, over the door of the house, the arms of the altoviti in grey-stone, with the wolf, lean, excoriated, and carved in such strong relief, that it seems to be almost separate from the shield; and some pendant ornaments carved in open-work with such delicacy, that they appear to be not of stone, but of the finest paper. in the same church, above the two chapels of messer bindo altoviti, for which giorgio vasari of arezzo painted the panel-picture of the conception in oils, benedetto made a marble tomb for the said messer oddo, surrounded by an ornament full of most masterly foliage, with a sarcophagus, likewise very beautiful. benedetto also executed, in competition with jacopo sansovino and baccio bandinelli, as has been related, one of the apostles, four and a half braccia in height, for s. maria del fiore--namely, a s. john the evangelist, which is a passing good figure, wrought with fine design and skill. this figure is in the office of works, in company with the others. next, in the year , the chiefs and heads of the order of vallombrosa, wishing to transfer the body of s. giovanni gualberto from the abbey of passignano to the church of s. trinità, an abbey of the same order, in florence, commissioned benedetto to make a design, upon which he was to set to work, for a chapel and tomb combined, with a vast number of lifesize figures in the round, which were to be suitably distributed over that work in some niches separated by pilasters filled with ornaments and friezes and with delicately carved grotesques. and below this whole work there was to be a base one braccio and a half in height, wherein were to be scenes from the life of the said s. giovanni gualberto; while endless numbers of other ornaments were to be round the sarcophagus, and as a crown to the work. on this tomb, then, benedetto, assisted by many carvers, laboured continually for ten years, with vast expense to that congregation; and he brought the work to completion in their house of guarlondo, a place near san salvi, without the porta alla croce, where the general of the order that was having the work executed almost always lived. benedetto, then, carried out the making of that chapel and tomb in such a manner as amazed florence; but, as fate would have it--for even marbles and the finest works of men of excellence are subject to the whims of fortune--after much discord among those monks, their government was changed, and the work remained unfinished in the same place until the year . at which time, war raging round florence, all those labours were ruined by soldiers, the heads wrought with such diligence were impiously struck off from the little figures, and the whole work was so completely destroyed and broken to pieces, that the monks afterwards sold what was left for a mere song. if any one wishes to see a part of it, let him go to the office of works of s. maria del fiore, where there are a few pieces, bought as broken marble not many years ago by the officials of that place. and, in truth, even as everything is brought to fine completion in those monasteries and other places where peace and concord reign, so, on the contrary, nothing ever reaches perfection or an end worthy of praise in places where there is naught save rivalry and discord, because what takes a good and wise man a hundred years to build up can be destroyed by an ignorant and crazy boor in one day. and it seems as if fortune wishes that those who know the least and delight in nothing that is excellent, should always be the men who govern and command, or rather, ruin, everything: as was also said of secular princes, with no less learning than truth, by ariosto, at the beginning of his seventeenth canto. but returning to benedetto: it was a sad pity that all his labours and all the money spent by that order should have come to such a miserable end. by the same architect were designed the door and vestibule of the badia of florence, and likewise some chapels, among them that of s. stefano, erected by the family of the pandolfini. finally, benedetto was summoned to england into the service of the king, for whom he executed many works in marble and in bronze, and, in particular, his tomb; from which works, through the liberality of that king, he gained enough to be able to live in comfort for the rest of his life. thereupon he returned to florence; but, after he had finished some little things, a sort of giddiness, which even in england had begun to affect his eyes, and other troubles caused, so it was said, by standing too long over the fire in the founding of metals, or by some other reasons, in a short time robbed him completely of the sight of his eyes; wherefore he ceased to work about the year , and to live a few years after that. benedetto endured that blindness during the last years of his life with the patience of a good christian, thanking god that he had first enabled him, by means of his labours, to live an honourable life. benedetto was a courteous gentleman, and he always delighted in the society of men of culture. his portrait was copied from one made, when he was a young man, by agnolo di donnino. this original is in our book of drawings, wherein there are also some drawings very well executed by the hand of benedetto, who deserves, on account of all those works, to be numbered among our most excellent craftsmen. [illustration: tomb of pietro soderini (_after_ benedetto da rovezzano. _florence: s. maria del carmine_) _alinari_] baccio da montelupo and raffaello, his son lives of baccio da montelupo sculptor and of raffaello, his son so strong is the belief of mankind that those who are negligent in the arts which they profess to practise can never arrive at any perfection in them, that it was in the face of the judgment of many that baccio da montelupo learnt the art of sculpture; and this happened to him because in his youth, led astray by pleasures, he would scarcely ever study, and, although he was exhorted and upbraided by many, he thought little or nothing of art. but having come to years of discretion, which bring sense with them, he was forced straightway to learn how far he was from the good way. whereupon, seeing with shame that others were going ahead of him in that art, he resolved with a stout heart to follow and practise with all possible zeal that which in his idleness he had hitherto shunned. this resolution was the reason that he produced in sculpture such fruits as the opinions of many no longer expected from him. having thus devoted himself with all his powers to his art, and practising it continually, he became a rare and excellent master. and of this he gave a proof in a work in hard-stone, wrought with the chisel, on the corner of the garden attached to the palace of the pucci in florence; which was the escutcheon of pope leo x, with two children supporting it, executed in a beautiful and masterly manner. he made a hercules for pier francesco de' medici; and from the guild of porta santa maria he received the commission for a statue of s. john the evangelist, to be executed in bronze, in securing which he had many difficulties, since a number of masters made models in competition with him. this figure was afterwards placed on the corner of s. michele in orto, opposite to the ufficio; and the work was finished by him with supreme diligence. it is said that when he had made the figure in clay, all who saw the arrangement of the armatures, and the moulds laid upon them, held it to be a beautiful piece of work, recognizing the rare ingenuity of baccio in such an enterprise; and when they had seen it cast with the utmost facility, they gave baccio credit for having shown supreme mastery, and having made a solid and beautiful casting. these labours endured in that profession, brought him the name of a good and even excellent master; and that figure is esteemed more than ever at the present day by all craftsmen, who hold it to be most beautiful. setting himself also to work in wood, he carved lifesize crucifixes, of which he made an endless number for all parts of italy, and among them one that is over the door of the choir of the monks of s. marco at florence. these are all excellent and full of grace, but there are some that are much more perfect than the rest, such as the one of the murate in florence, and another, no less famous than the first, in s. pietro maggiore; and for the monks of ss. fiora e lucilla he made a similar one, which they placed over the high-altar of their abbey at arezzo, and which is held to be much the most beautiful of them all. for the visit of pope leo x to florence, baccio erected between the palace of the podestà and the badia a very beautiful triumphal arch of wood and clay; with many little works, which have either disappeared or been dispersed among the houses of citizens. having grown weary, however, of living in florence, he went off to lucca, where he executed some works in sculpture, and even more in architecture, in the service of that city, and, in particular, the beautiful and well-designed temple of s. paulino, the patron saint of the people of lucca, built with proofs of a fine and well-trained intelligence both within and without, and richly adorned. living in that city, then, up to the eighty-eighth year of his life, he ended his days there, and received honourable burial in the aforesaid s. paulino from those whom he had honoured when alive. [illustration: s. john the evangelist (_after_ baccio da montelupo. _florence: or san michele_) _alinari_] a contemporary of baccio was agostino, a very famous sculptor and carver of milan, who began in s. maria, at milan, the tomb of monsignore de foix, which remains unfinished even now; and in it may still be seen many large figures, some finished, some half completed, and others only blocked out, with a number of scenes in half-relief, in pieces and not built in, and a great quantity of foliage and trophies. for the biraghi, also, he made another tomb, which is finished and erected in s. francesco, with six large figures, the base wrought with scenes, and other very beautiful ornaments, which bear witness to the masterly skill of that valiant craftsman. baccio left at his death, among other sons, raffaello, who applied himself to sculpture, and not merely equalled his father, but surpassed him by a great measure. this raffaello, beginning in his youth to work in clay, in wax, and in bronze, acquired the name of an excellent sculptor, and was therefore taken by antonio da san gallo to loreto, together with many others, in order to finish the ornamentation of that chamber, according to the directions left by andrea sansovino; where raffaello completely finished the marriage of our lady, begun by the said sansovino, executing many things in a beautiful and perfect manner, partly over the beginnings of andrea, and partly from his own invention. wherefore he was deservedly esteemed to be one of the best craftsmen who worked there in his time. he had finished this work, when michelagnolo, by order of pope clement vii, proceeded to finish the new sacristy and the library of s. lorenzo in florence; and that master, having recognized the talent of raffaello, made use of him in that work, and caused him to execute, among other things, after the model that he himself had made, the s. damiano of marble which is now in that sacristy--a very beautiful statue, very highly extolled by all men. after the death of clement, raffaello attached himself to duke alessandro de' medici, who was then having the fortress of prato built; and he made for him in grey-stone, on one of the extremities of the chief bastion of that fortress--namely, on the outer side--the escutcheon of the emperor charles v, upheld by two nude and lifesize victories, which were much extolled, as they still are. and for the extremity of another bastion, in the direction of the city, on the southern side, he made the arms of duke alessandro in the same kind of stone, with two figures. not long after, he executed a large crucifix of wood for the nuns of s. apollonia; and for alessandro antinori, a very rich and noble merchant of florence at that time, he prepared a most magnificent festival for the marriage of his daughter, with statues, scenes, and many other most beautiful ornaments. having then gone to rome, he received from buonarroti a commission to make two figures of marble, each five braccia high, for the tomb of julius ii, which was finished and erected at that time by michelagnolo in s. pietro in vincula. but raffaello, falling ill while he was executing this work, was not able to put into it his usual zeal and diligence, on which account he lost credit thereby, and gave little satisfaction to michelagnolo. at the visit of the emperor charles v to rome, for which pope paul iii prepared a festival worthy of that all-conquering prince, raffaello made with clay and stucco, on the ponte s. angelo, fourteen statues so beautiful, that they were judged to be the best that had been made for that festival. and, what is more, he executed them with such rapidity that he was in time to come to florence, where the emperor was likewise expected, to make within the space of five days and no more, on the abutment of the ponte a s. trinità two rivers of clay, each five braccia high, the rhine to stand for germany and the danube for hungary. after this, having been summoned to orvieto, he made in marble, in a chapel wherein the excellent sculptor mosca had previously executed many most beautiful ornaments, the story of the magi in half-relief, which proved to be a very fine work, on account of the great variety of figures and the good manner with which he executed them. [illustration: head of gaston de foix, from the tomb (_after_ agostino busti [il bambaja]. _milan: brera_) _alinari_] then, having returned to rome, he was appointed by tiberio crispo, at that time castellan of the castello di s. angelo, as architect of that great structure; whereupon he set in order many rooms there, adorning them with carvings in many kinds of stone and various sorts of variegated marbles on the chimney-pieces, windows, and doors. in addition to this, he made a marble statue, five braccia high, of the angel of that castle, which is on the summit of the great square tower in the centre, where the standard flies, after the likeness of that angel that appeared to s. gregory, who, having prayed that the people should be delivered from a most grievous pestilence, saw him sheathing his sword in the scabbard. later, when the said crispo had been made a cardinal, he sent raffaello several times to bolsena, where he was building a palace. nor was it long before the very reverend cardinal salviati and messer baldassarre turini da pescia commissioned raffaello, who had already left the service of the castle and of cardinal crispo, to make the statue of pope leo that is now over his tomb in the minerva at rome. that work finished, raffaello made a tomb for the same messer baldassarre in the church of pescia, where that gentleman had built a chapel of marble. and for a chapel in the consolazione, at rome, he made three figures of marble in half-relief. but afterwards, having given himself up to the sort of life fit rather for a philosopher than for a sculptor, and wishing to live in peace, he retired to orvieto, where he undertook the charge of the building of s. maria, in which he made many improvements; and with this he occupied himself for many years, growing old before his time. [illustration: s. damiano (_after_ raffaello da montelupo. _florence: new sacristy of s. lorenzo_) _alinari_] i believe that raffaello, if he had undertaken great works, as he might have done, would have executed more things in art, and better, than he did. but he was too kindly and considerate, avoiding all conflict, and contenting himself with that wherewith fortune had provided him; and thus he neglected many opportunities of making works of distinction. raffaello was a very masterly draughtsman, and he had a much better knowledge of all matters of art than had been shown by his father baccio. in our book are some drawings by the hand both of the one and of the other; but those of raffaello are much the finer and more graceful, and executed with better art. in his architectural decorations raffaello followed in great measure the manner of michelagnolo, as is proved by the chimney-pieces, doors, and windows that he made in the aforesaid castello di s. angelo, and by some chapels built under his direction, in a rare and beautiful manner, at orvieto. but returning to baccio: his death was a great grief to the people of lucca, who had known him as a good and upright man, courteous to all, and very loving. baccio's works date about the year of our lord . his dearest friend, who learnt many things from him, was zaccaria da volterra, who executed many works in terra-cotta at bologna, some of which are in the church of s. giuseppe. lorenzo di credi [illustration: lorenzo di credi: venus (_florence: uffizi_, . _panel_)] life of lorenzo di credi painter of florence the while that maestro credi, an excellent goldsmith in his day, was working in florence with very good credit and repute, andrea sciarpelloni placed with him, to the end that he might learn that craft, his son lorenzo, a young man of beautiful intellect and excellent character. and since the ability and willingness of the master to teach were not greater than the zeal and readiness with which the disciple absorbed whatever was shown to him, no long time passed before lorenzo became not only a good and diligent designer, but also so able and finished a goldsmith, that no young man of that time was his equal; and this brought such honour to credi, that from that day onward lorenzo was always called by everyone, not lorenzo sciarpelloni, but lorenzo di credi. growing in courage, then, lorenzo attached himself to andrea verrocchio, who at that time had taken it into his head to devote himself to painting; and under him, having pietro perugino and leonardo da vinci as his companions and friends, although they were rivals, he set himself with all diligence to learn to paint. and since lorenzo took an extraordinary pleasure in the manner of leonardo, he contrived to imitate it so well that there was no one who came nearer to it than he did in the high finish and thorough perfection of his works, as may be seen from many drawings that are in our book, executed with the style, with the pen, or in water-colours, among which are some drawings made from models of clay covered with waxed linen cloths and with liquid clay, imitated with such diligence, and finished with such patience, as it is scarcely possible to conceive, much less to equal. for these reasons, then, lorenzo was so beloved by his master, that, when andrea went to venice to cast in bronze the horse and the statue of bartolommeo da bergamo, he left to lorenzo the whole management and administration of his revenues and affairs, and likewise all his drawings, reliefs, statues, and art materials. and lorenzo, on his part, loved his master andrea so dearly, that, besides occupying himself with incredible zeal with his interests in florence, he also went more than once to venice to see him and to render him an account of his good administration, which was so much to the satisfaction of his master, that, if lorenzo had consented, andrea would have made him his heir. nor did lorenzo prove in any way ungrateful for this good-will, for, after the death of andrea, he went to venice and brought his body to florence; and then he handed over to his heirs everything that was found to belong to andrea, except his drawings, pictures, sculptures, and all other things connected with art. the first paintings of lorenzo were a round picture of our lady, which was sent to the king of spain (the design of which picture he copied from one by his master andrea), and a picture, much better than the other, which was likewise copied by lorenzo from one by leonardo da vinci, and also sent to spain; and so similar was it to that by leonardo, that no difference could be seen between the one and the other. by the hand of lorenzo is a madonna in a very well executed panel, which is beside the great church of s. jacopo at pistoia; and another, also, which is in the hospital of the ceppo, and is one of the best pictures in that city. lorenzo painted many portraits, and when he was a young man he made that one of himself which is now in the possession of his disciple, gian jacopo, a painter in florence, together with many other things left to him by lorenzo, among which are the portrait of pietro perugino and that of lorenzo's master, andrea verrocchio. he also made a portrait of girolamo benivieni, a man of great learning, and much his friend. [illustration: andrea verrocchio (_after the panel by =lorenzo di credi=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] for the company of s. sebastiano, behind the church of the servi in florence, he executed a panel-picture of our lady, s. sebastian, and other saints; and for the altar of s. giuseppe, in s. maria del fiore, he painted the first-named saint. to montepulciano he sent a panel that is now in the church of s. agostino, containing a crucifix, our lady, and s. john, painted with much diligence. but the best work that lorenzo ever executed, and that to which he devoted the greatest care and zeal, in order to surpass himself, was the one that is in a chapel at cestello, a panel containing our lady, s. julian, and s. nicholas; and whoever wishes to know how necessary it is for a painter to work with a high finish in oils if he desires that his pictures should remain fresh, must look at this panel, which is painted with such a finish as could not be excelled. while still a young man, lorenzo painted a s. bartholomew on a pilaster in orsanmichele, and for the nuns of s. chiara, in florence, a panel-picture of the nativity of christ, with some shepherds and angels; in which picture, besides other things, he took great pains with the imitation of some herbage, painting it so well that it appears to be real. for the same place he made a picture of s. mary magdalene in penitence; and in a round picture that is in the house of messer ottaviano de' medici he painted a madonna. for s. friano he painted a panel; and he executed some figures in s. matteo at the hospital of lelmo. for s. reparata he painted a picture with the angel michael, and for the company of the scalzo he made a panel-picture, executed with much diligence. and, in addition to these works, he made many pictures of our lady and others, which are dispersed among the houses of citizens in florence. having thus got together a certain sum of money by means of these labours, and being a man who loved quiet more than riches, lorenzo retired to s. maria nuova in florence, where he lived and had a comfortable lodging until his death. lorenzo was much inclined to the sect of fra girolamo of ferrara, and always lived like an upright and orderly man, showing a friendly courtesy whenever the occasion arose. finally, having come to the seventy-eighth year of his life, he died of old age, and was buried in s. pietro maggiore, in the year . he showed such a perfection of finish in his works, that any other painting, in comparison with his, must always seem merely sketched and dirty. he left many disciples, and among them giovanni antonio sogliani and tommaso di stefano. of sogliani there will be an account in another place; and as for tommaso, he imitated his master closely in his high finish, and made many works in florence and abroad, including a panel-picture for marco del nero at his villa of arcetri, of the nativity of christ, executed with great perfection of finish. but ultimately it became tommaso's principal profession to paint on cloth, insomuch that he painted church-hangings better than any other man. now stefano, the father of tommaso, had been an illuminator, and had also done something in architecture; and tommaso, after his father's death, in order to follow in his steps, rebuilt the bridge of sieve, which had been destroyed by a flood about that time, at a distance of ten miles from florence, and likewise that of s. piero a ponte on the river bisenzio, which is a beautiful work; and afterwards he erected many buildings for monasteries and other places. then, being architect to the guild of wool, he made the model for the new buildings which were constructed by that guild behind the nunziata; and, finally, having reached the age of seventy or more, he died in the year , and was buried in s. marco, to which he was followed by an honourable train of the academy of design. but returning to lorenzo: he left many works unfinished at his death, and, in particular, a very beautiful picture of the passion of christ, which came into the hands of antonio da ricasoli, and a panel painted for m. francesco da castiglioni, canon of s. maria del fiore, who sent it to castiglioni. lorenzo had no wish to make many large works, because he took great pains in executing his pictures, and devoted an incredible amount of labour to them, for the reason, above all, that the colours which he used were ground too fine; besides which, he was always purifying and distilling his nut-oils, and he made mixtures of colours on his palette in such numbers, that from the first of the light tints to the last of the darks there was a gradual succession involving an over-careful and truly excessive elaboration, so that at times he had twenty-five or thirty of them on his palette. for each tint he kept a separate brush; and where he was working he would never allow any movement that might raise dust. such excessive care is perhaps no more worthy of praise than the other extreme of negligence, for in all things one should observe a certain mean and avoid extremes, which are generally harmful. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the panel by =lorenzo di credi=. paris: louvre, _) _alinari_] [illustration: the nativity (_after the panel by =lorenzo di credi=. florence: accademia, _) _anderson_] lorenzetto and boccaccino [illustration: bernardino del lupino (luini): s. catharine borne to her tomb by angels (_milan: brera, . fresco_)] lives of lorenzetto sculptor and architect of florence and of boccaccino painter of cremona it happens at times, after fortune has kept the talent of some fine intellect subjected for a period by poverty, that she thinks better of it, and at an unexpected moment provides all sorts of benefits for one who has hitherto been the object of her hatred, so as to atone in one year for the affronts and discomforts of many. this was seen in lorenzo, the son of lodovico the bell-founder, a florentine, who was engaged in the work both of architecture and of sculpture, and was loved so dearly by raffaello da urbino, that he not only was assisted by him and employed in many enterprises, but also received from the same master a wife in the person of a sister of giulio romano, a disciple of raffaello. lorenzetto[ ]--for thus he was always called--finished in his youth the tomb of cardinal forteguerra, formerly begun by andrea verrocchio, which was erected in s. jacopo at pistoia; and there, among other things, is a charity by the hand of lorenzetto, which is not otherwise than passing good. and a little afterwards he made a figure for giovanni bartolini, to adorn his garden; which finished, he went to rome, where in his first years he executed many works, of which there is no need to make any further record. then, receiving from agostino chigi, at the instance of raffaello da urbino, the commission to make a tomb for him in s. maria del popolo, where agostino had built a chapel, lorenzo set himself to work on this with all the zeal, diligence, and labour in his power, in order to come out of it with credit and to give satisfaction to raffaello, from whom he had reason to expect much favour and assistance, and also in the hope of being richly rewarded by the liberality of agostino, a man of great wealth. nor were these labours expended without an excellent result, for, assisted by raffaello, he executed the figures to perfection: a nude jonah delivered from the belly of the whale, as a symbol of the resurrection from the dead, and an elijah, living by grace, with his cruse of water and his bread baked in the ashes, under the juniper-tree. these statues, then, were brought to the most beautiful completion by lorenzetto with all the art and diligence at his command, but he did not by any means obtain for them that reward which his great labours and the needs of his family called for, since, death having closed the eyes of agostino, and almost at the same time those of raffaello, the heirs of agostino, with scant respect, allowed these figures to remain in lorenzetto's workshop, where they stood for many years. in our own day, indeed, they have been set into place on that tomb in the aforesaid church of s. maria del popolo; but lorenzo, robbed for those reasons of all hope, found for the present that he had thrown away his time and labour. [illustration: elijah (_after_ lorenzetto. _rome: s. maria del popolo, chigi chapel_) _anderson_] next, by way of executing the testament of raffaello, lorenzo was commissioned to make a marble statue of our lady, four braccia high, for the tomb of raffaello in the temple of s. maria ritonda, where the tabernacle was restored by order of that master. the same lorenzo made a tomb with two children in half-relief, for a merchant of the perini family, in the trinità at rome. and in architecture he made the designs for many houses; in particular, that of the palace of messer bernardino caffarelli, and in the valle, for cardinal andrea della valle, the inner façade, and also the design of the stables and of the upper garden. in the composition of that work he included ancient columns, bases, and capitals, and around the whole, to serve as base, he distributed ancient sarcophagi covered with carved scenes. higher up, below some large niches, he made another frieze with fragments of ancient works, and above this, in those niches, he placed some statues, likewise ancient and of marble, which, although they were not entire--some being without the head, some without arms, others without legs, and every one, in short, with something missing--nevertheless he arranged to the best advantage, having caused all that was lacking to be restored by good sculptors. this was the reason that other lords have since done the same thing and have restored many ancient works; as, for example, cardinals cesis, ferrara, and farnese, and, in a word, all rome. and, in truth, antiquities restored in this way have more grace than those mutilated trunks, members without heads, or figures in any other way maimed and defective. but to return to the aforesaid garden: over the niches was placed the frieze that is still seen there, of supremely beautiful ancient scenes in half-relief; and this invention of lorenzo's stood him in very good stead, since, after the troubles of pope clement had abated, he was employed by him with much honour and profit to himself. for the pope had seen, when the fight for the castello di s. angelo was raging, that two little chapels of marble, which were at the head of the bridge, had been a source of mischief, in that some harquebusiers, standing in them, shot down all who exposed themselves at the walls, and, themselves in safety, inflicted great losses and baulked the defence; and his holiness resolved to remove those chapels and to set up in place of them two marble statues on pedestals. and so, after the s. paul of paolo romano, of which there has been an account in another life, had been set in place, the commission for the other, a s. peter, was given to lorenzetto, who acquitted himself passing well, but did not surpass the work of paolo romano. these two statues were set up, and are to be seen at the present day at the head of the bridge. [illustration: s. peter (_after_ lorenzetto. _rome: ponte s. angelo_) _anderson_] after pope clement was dead, baccio bandinelli was given the commissions for the tombs of that pope and of leo x, and lorenzo was entrusted with the marble masonry that was to be executed for them; whereupon the latter spent no little time over that work. finally, at the election of paul iii as pontiff, when lorenzo was in sorry straits and almost worn out, having nothing but a house which he had built for himself in the macello de' corbi, and being weighed down by his five children and by other expenses, fortune changed and began to raise him and to set him back on a better path; for pope paul wishing to have the building of s. pietro continued, and neither baldassarre of siena nor any of the others who had been employed in that work being now alive, antonio da san gallo appointed lorenzo as architect for that structure, wherein the walls were being built at a fixed price of so much for every four braccia. thereupon lorenzo, without exerting himself, in a few years became more famous and prosperous than he had been after many years of endless labour, through having found god, mankind, and fortune all propitious at that one moment. and if he had lived longer, he would have done even more towards wiping out those injuries that a cruel fate had unjustly brought upon him during his best period of work. but after reaching the age of forty-seven, he died of fever in the year . the death of this master caused great grief to his many friends, who had always known him as a loving and reasonable man. and since he had always lived like an upright and orderly citizen, the deputati of s. pietro gave him honourable burial in a tomb, on which they placed the following epitaph: sculptori laurentio florentino roma mihi tribuit tumulum, florentia vitam: nemo alio vellet nasci et obire loco. mdxli vix. ann. xlvii, men. ii, d. xv. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the panel by =boccaccino=. rome: doria gallery, _) _anderson_] boccaccino of cremona, who lived about the same time, had acquired the name of a rare and excellent painter in his native place and throughout all lombardy, and his works were very highly extolled, when he went to rome to see the works, so much renowned, of michelagnolo; but no sooner had he seen them than he sought to the best of his power to disparage and revile them, believing that he could exalt himself almost exactly in proportion as he vilified a man who truly was in the matters of design, and indeed in all others without exception, supremely excellent. this master, then, was commissioned to paint the chapel of s. maria traspontina; but when he had finished it and thrown it open to view, it was a revelation to all those who thought that he would soar above the heavens, for they saw that he could not reach even to the level of the lowest floor of a house. and so the painters of rome, on seeing the coronation of our lady that he had painted in that work, with some children flying around her, changed from marvel to laughter. from this it may be seen that when people begin to exalt with their praise men who are more excellent in name than in deeds, it is a difficult thing to contrive to bring such men down to their true level with words, however reasonable, before their own works, wholly contrary to their reputation, reveal what the masters so celebrated really are. and it is a very certain fact that the worst harm that one man can do to another is the giving of praise too early to any intellect engaged in work, since such praise, swelling him with premature pride, prevents him from going any farther, and a man so greatly extolled, on finding that his works have not that excellence which was expected, takes the censure too much to heart, and despairs completely of ever being able to do good work. wise men, therefore, should fear praise much more than censure, for the first flatters and deceives, and the second, revealing the truth, gives instruction. boccaccino, then, departing from rome, where he felt himself wounded and torn to pieces, returned to cremona, and there continued to practise painting to the best of his power and knowledge. in the duomo, over the arches in the middle, he painted all the stories of the madonna; and this work is much esteemed in that city. he also made other works throughout that city and in the neighbourhood, of which there is no need to make mention. he taught his art to a son of his own, called camillo, who, applying himself to the art with more study, strove to make amends for the shortcomings of the boastful boccaccino. by the hand of this camillo are some works in s. gismondo, which is a mile distant from cremona; and these are esteemed by the people of cremona as the best paintings that they have. he also painted the façade of a house on their piazza, all the compartments of the vaulting and some panels in s. agata, and the façade of s. antonio, together with other works, which made him known as a practised master. if death had not snatched him from the world before his time, he would have achieved a most honourable success, for he was advancing on the good way; and even for those works that he has left to us, he deserves to have record made of him. but returning to boccaccino; without having ever made any improvement in his art, he passed from this life at the age of fifty-eight. in his time there lived in milan a passing good illuminator, called girolamo, whose works may be seen in good numbers both in that city and throughout all lombardy. a milanese, likewise, living about the same time, was bernardino del lupino,[ ] a very delicate and pleasing painter, as may be seen from many works by his hand that are in that city, and from a marriage of our lady at sarone, a place twelve miles distant from milan, and other scenes that are in the church of s. maria, executed most perfectly in fresco. he also worked with a very high finish in oils, and he was a courteous person, and very liberal with his possessions; wherefore he deserves all the praise that is due to any craftsman who makes the works and ways of his daily life shine by the adornment of courtesy no less than do his works of art on account of their excellence. [illustration: the marriage of the virgin (_after the fresco by =bernardino del lupino [luini]=. saronno: santuario della beata vergine_) _anderson_] footnote: [ ] diminutive of lorenzo. [ ] luini. baldassarre peruzzi life of baldassarre peruzzi painter and architect of siena among all the gifts that heaven distributes to mortals, none, in truth, can or should be held in more account than talent, with calmness and peace of soul, for the first makes us for ever immortal, and the second blessed. he, then, who is endowed with these gifts, in addition to the deep gratitude that he should feel towards god, must make himself known among other men almost as a light amid darkness. and even so, in our own times, did baldassarre peruzzi, a painter and architect of siena, of whom we can say with certainty that the modesty and goodness which were revealed in him were no mean offshoots of that supreme serenity for which the minds of all who are born in this world are ever sighing, and that the works which he left to us are most honourable fruits of that true excellence which was infused in him by heaven. now, although i have called him above, baldassarre of siena, because he was always known as a sienese, i will not withhold that even as seven cities contended for homer, each claiming that he was her citizen, so three most noble cities of tuscany--florence, volterra, and siena--have each held that baldassarre was her son. but, to tell the truth, each of them has a share in him, seeing that antonio peruzzi, a noble citizen of florence, that city being harassed by civil war, went off, in the hope of a quieter life, to volterra; and after living some time there, in the year he took a wife in that city, and in a few years had two children, one a boy, called baldassarre, and the other a girl, who received the name of virginia. now it happened that war pursued this man who sought nothing but peace and quiet, and that no long time afterwards volterra was sacked; whence antonio was forced to fly to siena, and to live there in great poverty, having lost almost all that he had. meanwhile baldassarre, having grown up, was for ever associating with persons of ability, and particularly with goldsmiths and draughtsmen; and thus, beginning to take pleasure in the arts, he devoted himself heart and soul to drawing. and not long after, his father being now dead, he applied himself to painting with such zeal, that in a very short time he made marvellous progress therein, imitating living and natural things as well as the works of the best masters. in this way, executing what work he could find, he was able to maintain himself, his mother, and his sister with his art, and to pursue the studies of painting. [illustration: cupola of the ponzetti chapel (_after the fresco by =baldassarre peruzzi=. rome: s. maria della pace_) _anderson_] his first work--apart from some things at siena, not worthy of mention--was in a little chapel near the porta fiorentina at volterra, wherein he executed some figures with such grace, that they led to his forming a friendship with a painter of volterra, called piero, who lived most of his time in rome, and going off with that master to that city, where he was doing some work in the palace for alexander vi. but after the death of alexander, maestro piero working no more in that place, baldassarre entered the workshop of the father of maturino, a painter of no great excellence, who at that time had always plenty of work to do in the form of commonplace commissions. that painter, then, placing a panel primed with gesso before baldassarre, but giving him no scrap of drawing or cartoon, told him to make a madonna upon it. baldassarre took a piece of charcoal, and in a moment, with great mastery, he had drawn what he wished to paint in the picture; and then, setting his hand to the colouring, in a few days he painted a picture so beautiful and so well finished, that it amazed not only the master of the workshop, but also many painters who saw it; and they, recognizing his ability, contrived to obtain for him the commission to paint the chapel of the high-altar in the church of s. onofrio, which he executed in fresco with much grace and in a very beautiful manner. after this, he painted two other little chapels in fresco in the church of s. rocco a ripa. having thus begun to be in good repute, he was summoned to ostia, where he painted most beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro in some apartments of the great tower of the fortress; in particular, a hand-to-hand battle after the manner in which the ancient romans used to fight, and beside this a company of soldiers delivering an assault on a fortress, wherein the attackers, covered by their shields, are seen making a beautiful and spirited onslaught and planting their ladders against the walls, while the men within are hurling them back with the utmost fury. in this scene, also, he painted many antique instruments of war, and likewise various kinds of arms; with many other scenes in another hall, which are held to be among the best works that he ever made, although it is true that he was assisted in this work by cesare da milano. after these labours, having returned to rome, baldassarre formed a very strait friendship with agostino chigi of siena, both because agostino had a natural love for every man of talent, and because baldassarre called himself a sienese. and thus, with the help of so great a man, he was able to maintain himself while studying the antiquities of rome, and particularly those in architecture, wherein, out of rivalry with bramante, in a short time he made marvellous proficience, which afterwards brought him, as will be related, very great honour and profit. he also gave attention to perspective, and became such a master of that science, that we have seen few in our own times who have worked in it as well as he. pope julius ii having meanwhile built a corridor in his palace, with an aviary near the roof, baldassarre painted there, in chiaroscuro, all the months of the year and the pursuits that are practised in each of them. in this work may be seen an endless number of buildings, theatres, amphitheatres, palaces, and other edifices, all distributed with beautiful invention in that place. he then painted, in company with other painters, some apartments in the palace of s. giorgio for cardinal raffaello riario, bishop of ostia; and he painted a façade opposite to the house of messer ulisse da fano, and also that of the same messer ulisse, wherein he executed stories of ulysses that brought him very great renown and fame. even greater was the fame that came to him from the model of the palace of agostino chigi, executed with such beautiful grace that it seems not to have been built, but rather to have sprung into life; and with his own hand he decorated the exterior with most beautiful scenes in terretta. the hall, likewise, is adorned with rows of columns executed in perspective, which, with the depth of the intercolumniation, cause it to appear much larger. but what is the greatest marvel of all is a loggia that may be seen over the garden, painted by baldassarre with scenes of the medusa turning men into stone, such that nothing more beautiful can be imagined; and then there is perseus cutting off her head, with many other scenes in the spandrels of that vaulting, while the ornamentation, drawn in perspective with colours, in imitation of stucco, is so natural and lifelike, that even to excellent craftsmen it appears to be in relief. and i remember that when i took the chevalier tiziano, a most excellent and honoured painter, to see that work, he would by no means believe that it was painted, until he had changed his point of view, when he was struck with amazement. in that place are some works executed by fra sebastiano viniziano, in his first manner; and by the hand of the divine raffaello, as has been related, there is a galatea being carried off by sea-gods. [illustration: palazzo della farnesina (_after_ baldassarre peruzzi. _rome_) _alinari_] baldassarre also painted, beyond the campo di fiore, on the way to the piazza giudea, a most beautiful façade in terretta with marvellous perspectives, for which he received the commission from a groom of the chamber to the pope; and it is now in the possession of jacopo strozzi, the florentine. in like manner, he wrought for messer ferrando ponzetti, who afterwards became a cardinal, a chapel at the entrance of the church of the pace, on the left hand, with little scenes from the old testament, and also with some figures of considerable size; and for a work in fresco this is executed with much diligence. but even more did he prove his worth in painting and perspective near the high-altar of the same church, where he painted a scene for messer filippo da siena, clerk of the chamber, of our lady going into the temple, ascending the steps, with many figures worthy of praise, such as a gentleman in antique dress, who, having dismounted from his horse, with his servants waiting, is giving alms to a beggar, quite naked and very wretched, who may be seen asking him for it with pitiful humility. in this place, also, are various buildings and most beautiful ornaments; and right round the whole work, executed likewise in fresco, are counterfeited decorations of stucco, which have the appearance of being attached to the wall with large rings, as if it were a panel painted in oils. and in the magnificent festival that the roman people prepared on the campidoglio when the baton of holy church was given to duke giuliano de' medici, out of six painted scenes which were executed by six different painters of eminence, that by the hand of baldassarre, twenty-eight braccia high and fourteen broad, showing the betrayal of the romans by julia tarpeia, was judged to be without a doubt better than any of the others. but what amazed everyone most was the perspective-view or scenery for a play, which was so beautiful that it would be impossible to imagine anything finer, seeing that the variety and beautiful manner of the buildings, the various loggie, the extravagance of the doors and windows, and the other architectural details that were seen in it, were so well conceived and so extraordinary in invention, that one is not able to describe the thousandth part. for the house of messer francesco di norcia, on the piazza de' farnesi, he made a very graceful door of the doric order; and for messer francesco buzio he executed, near the piazza degl' altieri, a very beautiful façade, in the frieze of which he painted portraits from life of all the roman cardinals who were then alive, while on the wall itself he depicted the scenes of cæsar receiving tribute from all the world, and above he painted the twelve emperors, who are standing upon certain corbels, being foreshortened with a view to being seen from below, and wrought with extraordinary art. for this whole work he rightly obtained vast commendation. in the banchi he executed the escutcheon of pope leo, with three children, that seemed to be alive, so tender was their flesh. for fra mariano fetti, friar of the piombo, he made a very beautiful s. bernard in terretta in his garden at montecavallo. and for the company of s. catherine of siena, on the strada giulia, in addition to a bier for carrying the dead to burial, he executed many other things, all worthy of praise. in siena, also, he gave the design for the organ of the carmine; and he made some other works in that city, but none of much importance. later, having been summoned to bologna by the wardens of works of s. petronio, to the end that he might make the model for the façade of that church, he made for this two large ground-plans and two elevations, one in the modern manner and the other in the german; and the latter is still preserved in the sacristy of the same s. petronio, as a truly extraordinary work, since he drew that building in such sharply-detailed perspective that it appears to be in relief. in the house of count giovan battista bentivogli, in the same city, he made several drawings for the aforesaid structure, which were so beautiful, that it is not possible to praise enough the wonderful expedients sought out by this man in order not to destroy the old masonry, but to join it in beautiful proportion with the new. for the count giovan battista mentioned above he made the design of a nativity with the magi, in chiaroscuro, wherein it is a marvellous thing to see the horses, the equipage, and the courts of the three kings, executed with supreme beauty and grace, as are also the walls of the temples and some buildings round the hut. this work was afterwards given to be coloured by the count to girolamo trevigi, who brought it to fine completion. baldassarre also made the design for the door of the church of s. michele in bosco, a most beautiful monastery of the monks of monte oliveto, without bologna; and the design and model of the duomo of carpi, which was very beautiful, and was built under his direction according to the rules of vitruvius. and in the same place he made a beginning with the church of s. niccola, but it was not finished at that time, because baldassarre was almost forced to return to siena in order to make designs for the fortifications of that city, which were afterwards carried into execution under his supervision. he then returned to rome, where, after building the house that is opposite to the farnese palace, with some others within that city, he was employed in many works by pope leo x. that pontiff wished to finish the building of s. pietro, begun by julius ii after the design of bramante, but it appeared to him that the edifice was too large and lacking in cohesion; and baldassarre made a new model, magnificent and truly ingenious, and revealing such good judgment, that some parts of it have since been used by other architects. so diligent, indeed, was this craftsman, so rare and so beautiful his judgment, and such the method with which his buildings were always designed, that he has never had an equal in works of architecture, seeing that, in addition to his other gifts, he combined that profession with a good and beautiful manner of painting. he made the design of the tomb of adrian vi, and all that is painted round it is by his hand; and michelagnolo, a sculptor of siena, executed that tomb in marble, with the help of our baldassarre. when the calandra, a play by cardinal bibbiena, was performed before the same pope leo, baldassarre made the scenic setting, which was no less beautiful--much more so, indeed--than that which he had made on another occasion, as has been related above. in such works he deserved all the greater praise, because dramatic performances, and consequently the scenery for them, had been out of fashion for a long time, festivals and sacred representations taking their place. and either before or after (it matters little which) the performance of the aforesaid calandra, which was one of the first plays in the vulgar tongue to be seen or performed, in the time of leo x, baldassarre made two such scenes, which were marvellous, and opened the way to those who have since made them in our own day. nor is it possible to imagine how he found room, in a space so limited, for so many streets, so many palaces, and so many bizarre temples, loggie, and various kinds of cornices, all so well executed that it seemed that they were not counterfeited, but absolutely real, and that the piazza was not a little thing, and merely painted, but real and very large. he designed, also, the chandeliers and the lights within that illuminated the scene, and all the other things that were necessary, with much judgment, although, as has been related, the drama had fallen almost completely out of fashion. this kind of spectacle, in my belief, when it has all its accessories, surpasses any other kind, however sumptuous and magnificent. afterwards, at the election of pope clement vii in the year , he prepared the festivities for his coronation. he finished with peperino-stone the front of the principal chapel, formerly begun by bramante, in s. pietro; and in the chapel wherein is the bronze tomb of pope sixtus, he painted in chiaroscuro the apostles that are in the niches behind the altar, besides making the design of the tabernacle of the sacrament, which is very graceful. then in the year , when the cruel sack of rome took place, our poor baldassarre was taken prisoner by the spaniards, and not only lost all his possessions, but was also much maltreated and outraged, because he was grave, noble, and gracious of aspect, and they believed him to be some great prelate in disguise, or some other man able to pay a fat ransom. finally, however, those impious barbarians having found that he was a painter, one of them, who had borne a great affection to bourbon, caused him to make a portrait of that most rascally captain, the enemy of god and man, either letting baldassarre see him as he lay dead, or giving him his likeness in some other way, with drawings or with words. after this, having slipped from their hands, baldassarre took ship to go to porto ercole, and thence to siena; but on the way he was robbed of everything and stripped to such purpose, that he went to siena in his shirt. however, he was received with honour and reclothed by his friends, and a little time afterwards he was given a provision and a salary by the commonwealth, to the end that he might give his attention to the fortification of that city. living there, he had two children; and, besides what he did for the public service, he made many designs of houses for his fellow-citizens, and the design for the ornament of the organ, which is very beautiful, in the church of the carmine. [illustration: courtyard of palazzo massimi (_after_ baldassarre peruzzi. _rome_) _anderson_] meanwhile, the armies of the emperor and the pope had advanced to the siege of florence, and his holiness sent baldassarre to the camp to baccio valori, the military commissary, to the end that baccio might avail himself of his services for the purposes of his operations and for the capture of the city. but baldassarre, loving the liberty of his former country more than the favour of the pope, and in no way fearing the indignation of so great a pontiff, would never lend his aid in any matter of importance. the pope, hearing of this, for a short time bore him no little ill-will; but when the war was finished, baldassarre desiring to return to rome, cardinals salviati, trivulzi, and cesarino, to all of whom he had given faithful service in many works, restored him to the favour of the pope and to his former appointments. he was thus able to return without hindrance to rome, where, not many days after, he made for the signori orsini the designs of two very beautiful palaces, which were built on the way to viterbo, and of some other edifices for apuglia. but meanwhile he did not neglect the studies of astrology, nor those of mathematics and the others in which he much delighted, and he began a book on the antiquities of rome, with a commentary on vitruvius, making little by little illustrative drawings beside the writings of that author, some of which are still to be seen in the possession of francesco da siena, who was his disciple, and among them some papers with drawings of ancient edifices and of the modern manner of building. while living in rome, also, he made the design for the house of the massimi, drawn in an oval form, with a new and beautiful manner of building; and for the façade he made a vestibule of doric columns showing great art and good proportion, with a beautiful distribution of detail in the court and in the disposition of the stairs; but he was not able to see this work finished, for he was overtaken by death. and yet, although the talents and labours of this noble craftsman were so great, they brought much more benefit to others than to himself; for, while he was employed by popes, cardinals, and other great and rich persons, not one of them ever gave him any remarkable reward. that this should have happened is not surprising, not so much through want of liberality in such patrons, although for the most part they are least liberal where they should be the very opposite, as through the timidity and excessive modesty, or rather, to be more exact in this case, the lack of shrewdness of baldassarre. to tell the truth, in proportion as one should be discreet with magnanimous and liberal princes, so should one always be pressing and importunate with such as are miserly, unthankful, and discourteous, for the reason that, even as in the case of the generous importunate asking would always be a vice, so with the miserly it is a virtue, and with such men it is discretion that would be the vice. in the last years of his life, then, baldassarre found himself poor and weighed down by his family. finally, having always lived a life without reproach, he fell grievously ill, and took to his bed; and pope paul iii, hearing this, and recognizing too late the harm that he was like to suffer in the loss of so great a man, sent jacopo melighi, the accountant of s. pietro, to give him a present of one hundred crowns, and to make him most friendly offers. however, his sickness increased, either because it was so ordained, or, as many believe, because his death was hastened with poison by some rival who desired his place, from which he drew two hundred and fifty crowns of salary; and, the physicians discovering this too late, he died, very unwilling to give up his life, more on account of his poor family than for his own sake, as he thought in what sore straits he was leaving them. he was much lamented by his children and his friends, and he received honourable burial, next to raffaello da urbino, in the ritonda, whither he was followed by all the painters, sculptors, and architects of rome, doing him honour and bewailing him; with the following epitaph: balthasari perutio senensi, viro et pictura et architectura aliisque ingeniorum artibus adeo excellenti, ut si priscorum occubuisset temporibus, nostra illum felicius legerent. vix. ann. lv, mens. xi, dies xx. lucretia et jo. salustius optimo conjugi et parenti, non sine lacrimis simonis, honorii, claudii, ÆmiliÆ, ac sulpitiÆ, minorum filiorum, dolentes posuerunt, die iiii januarii, mdxxxvi. the name and fame of baldassarre became greater after his death than they had been during his lifetime; and then, above all, was his talent missed, when pope paul iii resolved to have s. pietro finished, because men recognized how great a help he would have been to antonio da san gallo. for, although antonio had to his credit all that is to be seen executed by him, yet it is believed that in company with baldassarre he would have done more towards solving some of the difficulties of that work. the heir to many of the possessions of baldassarre was sebastiano serlio of bologna, who wrote the third book on architecture and the fourth on the antiquities of rome with their measurements; in which works the above-mentioned labours of baldassarre were partly inserted in the margins, and partly turned to great advantage by the author. most of these writings of baldassarre came into the hands of jacomo melighino of ferrara, who was afterwards chosen by pope paul as architect for his buildings, and of the aforesaid francesco da siena, his former assistant and disciple, by whose hand is the highly renowned escutcheon of cardinal trani in piazza navona, with some other works. from this francesco we received the portrait of baldassarre, and information about some matters which i was not able to ascertain when this book was published for the first time. another disciple of baldassarre was virgilio romano, who executed a façade with some prisoners in sgraffito-work in the centre of the borgo nuovo in his native city, and many other beautiful works. from the same master, also, antonio del rozzo, a citizen of siena and a very excellent engineer, learnt the first principles of architecture; and baldassarre was followed, in like manner, by riccio, a painter of siena, who, however, afterwards imitated to no small extent the manner of giovanni antonio sodoma of vercelli. and another of his pupils was giovan battista peloro, an architect of siena, who gave much attention to mathematics and cosmography, and made with his own hand mariner's compasses, quadrants, many irons and instruments for measuring, and likewise the ground-plans of many fortifications, most of which are in the possession of maestro giuliano, a goldsmith of siena, who was very much his friend. this giovan battista made for duke cosimo de' medici a plan of siena, all in relief and altogether marvellous, with the valleys and the surroundings for a mile and a half round--the walls, the streets, the forts, and, in a word, a most beautiful model of the whole place. but, since he was unstable by nature, he left duke cosimo, although he had a good allowance from that prince; and, thinking to do better, he made his way into france, where he followed the court without any success for a long time, and finally died at avignon. and although he was an able and well-practised architect, yet in no place are there to be seen any buildings erected by him or after his design, for he always stayed such a short time in any one place, that he could never bring anything to completion; wherefore he consumed all his time with designs, measurements, models, and caprices. nevertheless, as a follower of our arts, he has deserved to have record made of him. baldassarre drew very well in every manner, with great judgment and diligence, but more with the pen, in water-colours, and in chiaroscuro, than in any other way, as may be seen from many drawings by his hand that belong to different craftsmen. our book, in particular, contains various drawings; and in one of these is a scene full of invention and caprice, showing a piazza filled with arches, colossal figures, theatres, obelisks, pyramids, temples of various kinds, porticoes, and other things, all after the antique, while on a pedestal stands a mercury, round whom are all sorts of alchemists with bellows large and small, retorts, and other instruments for distilling, hurrying about and giving him a clyster in order to purge his body--an invention as ludicrous as it is beautiful and bizarre. friends and intimate companions of baldassarre, who was always courteous, modest, and gentle with every man, were domenico beccafumi of siena, an excellent painter, and il capanna, who, in addition to many other works that he painted in siena, executed the façade of the house of the turchi and another that is on the piazza. giovan francesco penni of florence and pellegrino da modena lives of giovan francesco penni of florence [_called il fattore_] and of pellegrino da modena painters giovan francesco penni, called il fattore, a painter of florence, was no less indebted to fortune than he was to the goodness of his own nature, in that his ways of life, his inclination for painting, and his other qualities brought it about that raffaello da urbino took him into his house and educated him together with giulio romano, looking on both of them ever afterwards as his children, and proving at his death how much he thought both of the one and of the other by leaving them heirs to his art and to his property alike. now giovan francesco, who began from his boyhood, when he first entered the house of raffaello, to be called il fattore, and always retained that name, imitated in his drawings the manner of raffaello, and never ceased to follow it, as may be perceived from some drawings by his hand that are in our book. and it is nothing wonderful that there should be many of these to be seen, all finished with great diligence, because he delighted much more in drawing than in colouring. the first works of giovan francesco were executed by him in the papal loggie at rome, in company with giovanni da udine, perino del vaga, and other excellent masters; and in these may be seen a marvellous grace, worthy of a master striving at perfection of workmanship. he was very versatile, and he delighted much in making landscapes and buildings. he was a good colourist in oils, in fresco, and in distemper, and made excellent portraits from life; and he was much assisted in every respect by nature, so that he gained great mastery over all the secrets of art without much study. he was a great help to raffaello, therefore, in painting a large part of the cartoons for the tapestries of the pope's chapel and of the consistory, and particularly the ornamental borders. he also executed many other things from the cartoons and directions of raffaello, such as the ceiling for agostino chigi in the trastevere, with many pictures, panels, and various other works, in which he acquitted himself so well, that every day he won greater affection from raffaello. on the monte giordano, in rome, he painted a façade in chiaroscuro, and in s. maria de anima, by the side-door that leads to the pace, a s. christopher in fresco, eight braccia high, which is a very good figure; and in this work is a hermit with a lantern in his hand, in a grotto, executed with good draughtsmanship, harmony, and grace. giovan francesco then came to florence, and painted for lodovico capponi at montughi, a place without the porta a san gallo, a shrine with a madonna, which is much extolled. raffaello having meanwhile been overtaken by death, giulio romano and giovan francesco, who had been his disciples, remained together for a long time, and finished in company such of raffaello's works as had been left unfinished, and in particular those that he had begun in the vigna of the pope, and likewise those of the great hall in the palace, wherein are painted by the hands of these two masters the stories of constantine, with excellent figures, executed in an able and beautiful manner, although the invention and the sketches of these stories came in part from raffaello. while these works were in progress, perino del vaga, a very excellent painter, took to wife a sister of giovan francesco; on which account they executed many works in company. and afterwards giulio and giovan francesco, continuing to work together, painted a panel in two parts, containing the assumption of our lady, which went to monteluci, near perugia; and also other works and pictures for various places. [illustration: the baptism of constantine (_after the fresco by =giovanni francesco penni [il fattore]=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] then, receiving a commission from pope clement to paint a panel-picture like the one by raffaello (which is in s. pietro a montorio), which was to be sent to france, whither raffaello had meant to send the first, they began it; but soon afterwards, having fallen out with each other, they divided their inheritance of drawings and everything else left to them by raffaello, and giulio went off to mantua, where he executed an endless number of works for the marquis. thither, not long afterwards, giovan francesco also made his way, drawn either by love of giulio or by the hope of finding work; but he received so cold a welcome from giulio that he soon departed, and, after travelling round lombardy, he returned to rome. and from rome he went to naples by ship in the train of the marchese del vasto, taking with him the now finished copy of the panel-picture of s. pietro a montorio, with other works, which he left in ischia, an island belonging to the marquis, while the panel was placed where it is at the present day, in the church of s. spirito degli incurabili at naples. having thus settled in naples, where he occupied himself with drawing and painting, giovan francesco was entertained and treated with great kindness by tommaso cambi, a florentine merchant, who managed the affairs of that nobleman. but he did not live there long, because, being of a sickly habit of body, he fell ill and died, to the great grief of the noble marquis and of all who knew him. he had a brother called luca, likewise a painter, who worked in genoa with his brother-in-law perino, as well as at lucca and many other places in italy. in the end he went to england, where, after executing certain works for the king and for some merchants, he finally devoted himself to making designs for copper-plates for sending abroad, which he had engraved by flemings. of such he sent abroad a great number, which are known by his name as well as by the manner; and by his hand, among others, is a print wherein are some women in a bath, the original of which, by the hand of luca himself, is in our book. a disciple of giovan francesco was leonardo, called il pistoia because he came from that city, who executed some works at lucca, and made many portraits from life in rome. at naples, for diomede caraffa, bishop of ariano, and now a cardinal, he painted a panel-picture of the stoning of s. stephen for his chapel in s. domenico. and for monte oliveto he painted another, which was placed on the high-altar, although it was afterwards removed to make room for a new one, similar in subject, by the hand of giorgio vasari of arezzo. leonardo earned large sums from these neapolitan nobles, but he accumulated little, for he squandered it all as it came to his hand; and finally he died in naples, leaving behind him the reputation of having been a good colourist, but not of having shown much excellence in draughtsmanship. giovan francesco lived forty years, and his works date about . a friend of giovan francesco, and likewise a disciple of raffaello, was pellegrino da modena, who, having acquired in his native city the name of a man of fine genius for painting, and having heard of the marvels of raffaello da urbino, determined, in order to justify by means of labour the hopes already conceived of him, to go to rome. arriving there, he placed himself under raffaello, who never refused anything to men of ability. there were then in rome very many young men who were working at painting and seeking in mutual rivalry to surpass one another in draughtsmanship, in order to win the favour of raffaello and to gain a name among men; and thus pellegrino, giving unceasing attention to his studies, became not only a good draughtsman, but also a well-practised master of the whole of his art. and when leo x commissioned raffaello to paint the loggie, pellegrino also worked there, in company with the other young men; and so well did he succeed, that raffaello afterwards made use of him in many other things. he executed three figures in fresco in s. eustachio at rome, over an altar near the entrance into the church; and in the church of the portuguese, near the scrofa, he painted in fresco the chapel of the high-altar, as well as the altar-piece. afterwards, cardinal alborense having caused a chapel richly adorned with marbles to be erected in s. jacopo, the church of the spanish people, with a s. james of marble by jacopo sansovino, four braccia and a half in height, and much extolled, pellegrino painted there in fresco the stories of that apostle, giving an air of great sweetness to his figures in imitation of his master raffaello, and designing the whole composition so well, that the work made him known as an able man with a fine and beautiful genius for painting. this work finished, he made many others in rome, both by himself and in company with others. [illustration: the last supper (_after the fresco by =gaudenzio milanese [gaudenzio ferrari]=. milan: s. maria della passione_) _anderson_] but finally, when death had come upon raffaello, pellegrino returned to modena, where he executed many works; among others, he painted for a confraternity of flagellants a panel-picture in oils of s. john baptizing christ, and another panel for the church of the servi, containing s. cosimo and s. damiano, with other figures. afterwards, having taken a wife, he had a son, who was the cause of his death. for this son, having come to words with some companions, young men of modena, killed one of them; the news of which being carried to pellegrino, he, in order to help his son from falling into the hands of justice, set out to smuggle him away. but he had not gone far from his house, when he stumbled against the relatives of the dead youth, who were going about searching for the murderer; and they, confronting pellegrino, who had no time to escape, and full of fury because they had not been able to catch his son, gave him so many wounds that they left him dead on the ground. this event was a great grief to the people of modena, who knew that by the death of pellegrino they had been robbed of a spirit truly excellent and rare. a contemporary of this craftsman was the milanese gaudenzio, a resolute, well-practised, and excellent painter, who made many works in fresco at milan; and in particular, for the frati della passione, a most beautiful last supper, which remained unfinished by reason of his death. he also painted very well in oils, and there are many highly-esteemed works by his hand at vercelli and veralla. andrea del sarto life of andrea del sarto a most excellent painter of florence at length, after the lives of many craftsmen who have been excellent, some in colouring, some in drawing, and others in invention, we have come to the most excellent andrea del sarto, in whose single person nature and art demonstrated all that painting can achieve by means of draughtsmanship, colouring, and invention, insomuch that, if andrea had possessed a little more fire and boldness of spirit, to correspond to his profound genius and judgment in his art, without a doubt he would have had no equal. but a certain timidity of spirit and a sort of humility and simplicity in his nature made it impossible that there should be seen in him that glowing ardour and that boldness which, added to his other qualities, would have made him truly divine in painting; for which reason he lacked those adornments and that grandeur and abundance of manners which have been seen in many other painters. his figures, however, for all their simplicity and purity, are well conceived, free from errors, and absolutely perfect in every respect. the expressions of his heads, both in children and in women, are gracious and natural, and those of men, both young and old, admirable in their vivacity and animation; his draperies are beautiful to a marvel, and his nudes very well conceived. and although his drawing is simple, all that he coloured is rare and truly divine. andrea was born in florence, in the year , to a father who was all his life a tailor; whence he was always called andrea del sarto by everyone. having come to the age of seven, he was taken away from his reading and writing school and apprenticed to the goldsmith's craft. but in this he was always much more willing to practise his hand in drawing, to which he was drawn by a natural inclination, than in using the tools for working in silver or gold; whence it came to pass that gian barile, a painter of florence, but one of gross and vulgar taste, having seen the boy's good manner of drawing, took him under his protection, and, making him abandon his work as goldsmith, directed him to the art of painting. andrea, beginning with much delight to practise it, recognized that nature had created him for that profession; and in a very short space of time, therefore, he was doing such things with colours as filled gian barile and the other craftsmen in the city with marvel. now after three years, through continual study, he had acquired an excellent mastery over his work, and gian barile saw that by persisting in his studies the boy was likely to achieve an extraordinary success. having therefore spoken of him to piero di cosimo, who was held at that time to be one of the best painters in florence, he placed andrea with piero. and andrea, as one full of desire to learn, laboured and studied without ceasing; while nature, which had created him to be a painter, so wrought in him, that he handled and managed his colours with as much grace as if he had been working for fifty years. wherefore piero conceived an extraordinary love for him, feeling marvellous pleasure in hearing that when andrea had any time to himself, particularly on feast-days, he would spend the whole day in company with other young men, drawing in the sala del papa, wherein were the cartoons of michelagnolo and leonardo da vinci, and that, young as he was, he surpassed all the other draughtsmen, both native and foreign, who were always competing there with one another. [illustration: "noli me tangere" (_after the panel by =andrea del sarto=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] among these young men, there was one who pleased andrea more than any other with his nature and conversation, namely, the painter franciabigio; and franciabigio, likewise, was attracted by andrea. having become friends, therefore, andrea said to franciabigio that he could no longer endure the caprices of piero, who was now old, and that for this reason he wished to take a room for himself. hearing this, franciabigio, who was obliged to do the same thing because his master mariotto albertinelli had abandoned the art of painting, said to his companion andrea that he also was in need of a room, and that it would be to the advantage of both of them if they were to join forces. having therefore taken a room on the piazza del grano, they executed many works in company; among others, the curtains that cover the panel-pictures on the high-altar of the servi; for which they received the commission from a sacristan very closely related to franciabigio. on one of those curtains, that which faces the choir, they painted the annunciation of the virgin; and on the other, which is in front, a deposition of christ from the cross, like that of the panel-picture which was there, painted by filippo and pietro perugino. the men of that company in florence which is called the company of the scalzo used to assemble at the head of the via larga, above the houses of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, and opposite to the garden of s. marco, in a building dedicated to s. john the baptist, which had been built in those days by a number of florentine craftsmen, who had made there, among other things, an entrance-court of masonry with a loggia which rested on some columns of no great size. and some of them, perceiving that andrea was on the way to becoming known as an excellent painter, and being richer in spirit than in pocket, determined that he should paint round that cloister twelve pictures in chiaroscuro--that is to say, in fresco with terretta--containing twelve scenes from the life of s. john the baptist. whereupon, setting his hand to this, he painted in the first the scene of s. john baptizing christ, with much diligence and great excellence of manner, whereby he gained credit, honour, and fame to such an extent, that many persons turned to him with commissions for works, as to one whom they thought to be destined in time to reach that honourable goal which was foreshadowed by his extraordinary beginnings in his profession. among other works that he made in that first manner, he painted a picture which is now in the house of filippo spini, held in great veneration in memory of so able a craftsman. and not long after this he was commissioned to paint for a chapel in s. gallo, the church of the eremite observantines of the order of s. augustine, without the porta a s. gallo, a panel-picture of christ appearing in the garden to mary magdalene in the form of a gardener; which work, what with the colouring and a certain quality of softness and harmony, is sweetness itself, and so well executed, that it led to his painting two others not long afterwards for the same church, as will be related below. this panel is now in s. jacopo tra fossi, on the canto degli alberti, together with the two others. after these works, andrea and franciabigio, leaving the piazza del grano, took new rooms in the sapienza, near the convent of the nunziata; whence it came about that andrea and jacopo sansovino, who was then a young man and was working at sculpture in the same place under his master andrea contucci, formed so warm and so strait a friendship together, that neither by day nor by night were they ever separated one from another. their discussions were for the most part on the difficulties of art, so that it is no marvel that both of them should have afterwards become most excellent, as is now being shown of andrea and as will be related in the proper place of jacopo. [illustration: the last supper (_after the fresco by =andrea del sarto=. florence: s. salvi_) _anderson_] there was at this same time in the convent of the servi, selling the candles at the counter, a friar called fra mariano dal canto alla macine, who was also sacristan; and he heard everyone extolling andrea mightily and saying that he was by way of making marvellous proficience in painting. whereupon he planned to fulfil a desire of his own without much expense; and so, approaching andrea, who was a mild and guileless fellow, on the side of his honour, he began to persuade him under the cloak of friendship that he wished to help him in a matter which would bring him honour and profit and would make him known in such a manner, that he would never be poor any more. now many years before, as has been related above, alesso baldovinetti had painted a nativity of christ in the first cloister of the servi, on the wall that has the annunciation behind it; and in the same cloister, on the other side, cosimo rosselli had begun a scene of s. filippo, the founder of that servite order, assuming the habit. but cosimo had not carried that scene to completion, because death came upon him at the very moment when he was working at it. the friar, then, being very eager to see the rest finished, thought of serving his own ends by making andrea and franciabigio, who, from being friends, had become rivals in art, compete with one another, each doing part of the work. this, besides effecting his purpose very well, would make the expense less and their efforts greater. thereupon, revealing his mind to andrea, he persuaded him to undertake that enterprise, by pointing out to him that since it was a public and much frequented place, he would become known on account of such a work no less by foreigners than by the florentines; that he should not look for any payment in return, or even for an invitation to undertake it, but should rather pray to be allowed to do it; and that if he were not willing to set to work, there was franciabigio, who, in order to make himself known, had offered to accept it and to leave the matter of payment to him. these incitements did much to make andrea resolve to undertake the work, and the rather as he was a man of little spirit; and the last reference to franciabigio induced him to make up his mind completely and to come to an agreement, in the form of a written contract, with regard to the whole work, on the terms that no one else should have a hand in it. the friar, then, having thus pledged him and given him money, demanded that he should begin by continuing the life of s. filippo, without receiving more than ten ducats from him in payment of each scene; and he told andrea that he was giving him even that out of his own pocket, and was doing it more for the benefit and advantage of the painter than through any want or need of the convent. andrea, therefore, pursuing that work with the utmost diligence, like one who thought more of honour than of profit, after no long time completely finished the first three scenes and unveiled them. one was the scene of s. filippo, now a friar, clothing the naked. in another he is shown rebuking certain gamesters, who blasphemed god and laughed at s. filippo, mocking at his admonition, when suddenly there comes a lightning-flash from heaven, which, striking a tree under the shade of which they were sheltering, kills two of them and throws the rest into an incredible panic. some, with their hands to their heads, cast themselves forward in dismay; others, crying aloud in their terror, turn to flight; a woman, beside herself with fear at the sound of the thunder, is running away so naturally that she appears to be truly alive; and a horse, breaking loose amid this uproar and confusion, reveals with his leaps and fearsome movements what fear and terror are caused by things so sudden and so unexpected. in all this one can see how carefully andrea looked to variety of incident in the representation of such events, with a forethought truly beautiful and most necessary for one who practises painting. in the third he painted the scene of s. filippo delivering a woman from evil spirits, with all the most characteristic considerations that could be imagined in such an action. all these scenes brought extraordinary fame and honour to andrea; and thus encouraged, he went on to paint two other scenes in the same cloister. on one wall is s. filippo lying dead, with his friars about him making lamentation; and in addition there is a dead child, who, touching the bier on which s. filippo lies, comes to life again, so that he is first seen dead, and then revived and restored to life, and all with a very beautiful, natural, and appropriate effect. in the last picture on that side he represented the friars placing the garments of s. filippo on the heads of certain children; and there he made a portrait of andrea della robbia, the sculptor, in an old man clothed in red, who comes forward, stooping, with a staff in his hand. there, too, he portrayed luca, his son; even as in the other scene mentioned above, in which s. filippo lies dead, he made a portrait of another son of andrea, named girolamo, a sculptor and very much his friend, who died not long since in france. having thus finished that side of the cloister, and considering that if the honour was great, the payment was small, andrea resolved to give up the rest of the work, however much the friar might complain. but the latter would not release him from his bond without andrea first promising that he would paint two other scenes, at his own leisure and convenience, however, and with an increase of payment; and thus they came to terms. [illustration: the arrival of the magi (_after the fresco by =andrea del sarto=. florence: ss. annunziata_) _alinari_] having come into greater repute by reason of these works, andrea received commissions for many pictures and works of importance; among others, one from the general of the monks of vallombrosa, for painting an arch of the vaulting, with a last supper on the front wall, in the refectory of the monastery of s. salvi, without the porta alla croce. in four medallions on that vault he painted four figures, s. benedict, s. giovanni gualberto, s. salvi the bishop, and s. bernardo degli uberti of florence, a friar of that order and a cardinal; and in the centre he made a medallion containing three faces, which are one and the same, to represent the trinity. all this was very well executed for a work in fresco, and andrea, therefore, came to be valued at his true worth in the art of painting. whereupon he was commissioned at the instance of baccio d' agnolo to paint in fresco, in a close on the steep path of orsanmichele, which leads to the mercato nuovo, the annunciation still to be seen there, executed on a minute scale, which brought him but little praise; and this may have been because andrea, who worked well without over-exerting himself or forcing his powers, is believed to have tried in this work to force himself and to paint with too much care. as for the many pictures that he executed after this for florence, it would take too long to try to speak of them all; and i will only say that among the most distinguished may be numbered the one that is now in the apartment of baccio barbadori, containing a full-length madonna with a child in her arms, s. anne, and s. joseph, all painted in a beautiful manner and held very dear by baccio. he made one, likewise well worthy of praise, which is now in the possession of lorenzo di domenico borghini, and another of our lady for leonardo del giocondo, which at the present day is in the hands of piero, the son of leonardo. for carlo ginori he painted two of no great size, which were bought afterwards by the magnificent ottaviano de' medici; and one of these is now in his most beautiful villa of campi, while the other, together with many other modern pictures executed by the most excellent masters, is in the apartment of the worthy son of so great a father, signor bernardetto, who not only esteems and honours the works of famous craftsmen, but is also in his every action a truly generous and magnificent nobleman. meanwhile the servite friar had allotted to franciabigio one of the scenes in the above-mentioned cloister; but that master had not yet finished making the screen, when andrea, becoming apprehensive, since it seemed to him that franciabigio was an abler and more dexterous master than himself in the handling of colours in fresco, executed, as it were out of rivalry, the cartoons for his two scenes, which he intended to paint on the angle between the side-door of s. bastiano and the smaller door that leads from the cloister into the nunziata. having made the cartoons, he set to work in fresco; and in the first scene he painted the nativity of our lady, a composition of figures beautifully proportioned and grouped with great grace in a room, wherein some women who are friends and relatives of the newly delivered mother, having come to visit her, are standing about her, all clothed in such garments as were customary at that time, and other women of lower degree, gathered around the fire, are washing the newborn babe, while others are preparing the swathing-bands and doing other similar services. among them is a little boy, full of life, who is warming himself at the fire, with an old man resting in a very natural attitude on a couch, and likewise some women carrying food to the mother who is in bed, with movements truly lifelike and appropriate. and all these figures, together with some little boys who are hovering in the air and scattering flowers, are most carefully considered in their expressions, their draperies, and every other respect, and so soft in colour, that the figures appear to be of flesh and everything else rather real than painted. in the other scene andrea painted the three magi from the east, who, guided by the star, went to adore the infant jesus christ. he represented them dismounted, as though they were near their destination; and that because there was only the space embracing the two doors to separate them from the nativity of christ which may be seen there, by the hand of alesso baldovinetti. in this scene andrea painted the court of those three kings coming behind them, with baggage, much equipment, and many people following in their train, among whom, in a corner, are three persons portrayed from life and wearing the florentine dress, one being jacopo sansovino, a full-length figure looking straight at the spectator, while another, with an arm in foreshortening, who is leaning against him and making a sign, is andrea, the master of the work, and a third head, seen in profile behind jacopo, is that of ajolle, the musician. there are, in addition, some little boys who are climbing on the walls, in order to be able to see the magnificent procession and the fantastic animals that those three kings have brought with them. this scene is quite equal in excellence to that mentioned above; nay, in both the one and the other he surpassed himself, not to speak of franciabigio, who also finished his. at this same time andrea painted for the abbey of s. godenzo, a benefice belonging to the same friars, a panel which was held to be very well executed. and for the friars of s. gallo he made a panel-picture of our lady receiving the annunciation from the angel, wherein may be seen a very pleasing harmony of colouring, while the heads of some angels accompanying gabriel show a sweet gradation of tints and a perfectly executed beauty of expression in their features; and the predella below this picture was painted by jacopo da pontormo, who was a disciple of andrea at that time, and gave proofs at that early age that he was destined to produce afterwards those beautiful works which he actually did execute in florence with his own hand, although in the end he became one might say another painter, as will be related in his life. andrea then painted for zanobi girolami a picture with figures of no great size, wherein was a story of joseph, the son of jacob, which was finished by him with unremitting diligence, and therefore held to be a very beautiful painting. not long after this, he undertook to execute for the men of the company of s. maria della neve, situated behind the nunnery of s. ambrogio, a little panel with three figures--our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. ambrogio; which work, when finished, was placed in due time on the altar of that company. meanwhile, thanks to his talent, andrea had become intimate with giovanni gaddi, afterwards appointed clerk of the chamber, who, always delighting in the arts of design, was then keeping jacopo sansovino continually at work. being pleased, therefore, with the manner of andrea, he caused him to paint a picture of our lady for himself, which was very beautiful, for andrea painted various patterns and other ingenious devices round it, so that it was considered to be the most beautiful work that he had executed up to that time. after this he made for giovanni di paolo, the mercer, another picture of our lady, which, being truly lovely, gave infinite pleasure to all who saw it. and for andrea santini he executed another, containing our lady, christ, s. john, and s. joseph, all wrought with such diligence that the painting has always been esteemed in florence as worthy of great praise. all these works acquired such a name for andrea in his city, that among the many, both young and old, who were painting at that time, he was considered one of the most excellent who were handling brushes and colours. wherefore he found himself not only honoured, but even, although he exacted the most paltry prices for his labours, in a condition to do something to help and support his family, and also to shelter himself from the annoyances and anxieties which afflict those of us who live in poverty. but he became enamoured of a young woman, and a little time afterwards, when she had been left a widow, he took her for his wife; and then he had more than enough to do for the rest of his life, and much more trouble than he had suffered in the past, for the reason that, in addition to the labours and annoyances that such entanglements generally involve, he undertook others into the bargain, such as that of letting himself be harassed now by jealousy, now by one thing, and now by another. [illustration: andrea del sarto: madonna dell' arpie (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] but to return to the works of his hand, which were as rare as they were numerous: after those of which mention has been made above, he painted for a friar of s. croce, of the order of minorites, who was then governor of the nunnery of s. francesco in via pentolini, and delighted much in paintings, a panel-picture destined for the church of those nuns, of our lady standing on high upon an octagonal pedestal, at the corners of which are seated some harpies, as it were in adoration of the virgin; and she, using one hand to uphold her son, who is clasping her most tenderly round the neck with his arms, in a very beautiful attitude, is holding a closed book in the other hand and gazing on two little naked boys, who, while helping her to stand upright, serve as ornaments about her person. this madonna has on her right a beautifully painted s. francis, in whose face may be seen the goodness and simplicity that truly belonged to that saintly man; besides which, the feet are marvellous, and so are the draperies, because andrea always rounded off his figures with a very rich flow of folds and with certain most delicate curves, in such a way as to reveal the nude below. on her left hand she has a s. john the evangelist, represented as a young man and in the act of writing his gospel, in a very beautiful manner. in this work, moreover, over the building and the figures, is a film of transparent clouds, which appear to be really moving. this picture, among all andrea's works, is held at the present day to be one of singular and truly rare beauty. for the joiner nizza, also, he made a picture of our lady, which was considered to be no less beautiful than any of his other works. after this, the guild of merchants determined to have some triumphal chariots made of wood after the manner of those of the ancient romans, to the end that these might be drawn in procession on the morning of s. john's day, in place of certain altar-cloths and wax tapers which the cities and townships carry in token of tribute, passing before the duke and the chief magistrates; and out of ten that were made at that time, andrea painted some with scenes in oils and in chiaroscuro, which were much extolled. but although it was proposed that some should be made every year, until such time as every city and district had one of its own, which would have produced a show of extraordinary magnificence, nevertheless this custom was abandoned in the year . now, while andrea was adorning his city with these and other works, and his name was growing greater every day, the men of the company of the scalzo resolved that he should finish the work in their cloister, which he had formerly begun by painting the scene of the baptism of christ. having resumed that work, therefore, more willingly, he executed two scenes there, with two very beautiful figures of charity and justice to adorn the door that leads into the building of the company. in one of these scenes he represented s. john preaching to the multitude in a spirited attitude, lean in person, as befitted the life that he was leading, and with an expression of countenance filled with inspiration and thoughtfulness. marvellous, likewise, are the variety and the vivacity of his hearers, some being shown in admiration, and all in astonishment, at hearing that new message and a doctrine so singular and never heard before. even more did andrea exert his genius in painting the same john baptizing with water a vast number of people, some of whom are stripping off their clothes, some receiving the baptism, and others, naked, waiting for him to finish baptizing those who are before them. in all of them andrea showed a vivid emotion, with a burning desire in the gestures of those who are eager to be purified of their sins; not to mention that all the figures are so well executed in that chiaroscuro, that the whole has the appearance of a real and most lifelike scene in marble. i will not refrain from saying that while andrea was employed on these and other pictures, there appeared certain copper engravings by albrecht dürer, and andrea made use of them, taking some of the figures and transforming them into his manner. and this has caused some people, while not saying that it is a bad thing for a man to make adroit use of the good work of others, to believe that andrea had not much invention. at that time there came to baccio bandinelli, then a draughtsman of great repute, a desire to learn to paint in oils. whereupon, knowing that no man in florence knew how to do that better than our andrea, he commissioned him to paint his portrait, which was a good likeness of him at that age, as may be seen even yet; and thus, by watching him paint that work and others, he saw his method of colouring, although afterwards, either by reason of the difficulty or from lack of inclination, he did not pursue the use of colours, finding more satisfaction in sculpture. andrea executed for alessandro corsini a picture of a madonna seated on the ground with a child in her arms, surrounded by many little boys, which was finished with beautiful art and with very pleasing colour; and for a mercer, much his friend, who kept a shop in rome, he made a most beautiful head. giovan battista puccini of florence, likewise, taking extraordinary pleasure in the manner of andrea, commissioned him to paint a picture of our lady for sending into france; but it proved to be so fine that he kept it for himself, and would by no means send it. however, having been asked, while transacting the affairs of his business in france, to undertake to send choice paintings to that country, he caused andrea to paint a picture of a dead christ surrounded by some angels, who were supporting him and contemplating with gestures of sorrow and compassion their maker sunk to such a pass through the sins of the world. this work, when finished, gave such universal satisfaction, that andrea, urged by many entreaties, had it engraved in rome by the venetian agostino; but it did not succeed very well, and he would never again give any of his works to be engraved. but to return to the picture: it gave no less satisfaction in france, whither it was sent, than it had done in florence, insomuch that the king, kindled with even greater desire to have works by andrea, gave orders that he should execute others; which was the reason that andrea, encouraged by his friends, resolved to go in a short time to france. but meanwhile the florentines, hearing in the year that pope leo x wished to grace his native city with his presence, ordained for his reception extraordinary festivities and a sumptuous and magnificent spectacle, with so many arches, façades, temples, colossal figures, and other statues and ornaments, that there had never been seen up to that time anything richer, more gorgeous, or more beautiful; for there was then flourishing in that city a greater abundance of fine and exalted intellects than had ever been known at any other period. at the entrance of the porta di s. piero gattolini, jacopo di sandro, in company with baccio da montelupo, made an arch covered with historical scenes. giuliano del tasso made another at s. felice in piazza, with some statues and the obelisk of romulus at s. trinità, and trajan's column in the mercato nuovo. in the piazza de' signori, antonio, the brother of giuliano da san gallo, erected an octagonal temple, and baccio bandinelli made a giant for the loggia. between the badia and the palace of the podestà there was an arch erected by granaccio and aristotele da san gallo, and il rosso made another on the canto de' bischeri with a very beautiful design and a variety of figures. but what was admired more than everything else was the façade of s. maria del fiore, made of wood, and so well decorated with various scenes in chiaroscuro by our andrea, that nothing more could have been desired. the architecture of this work was by jacopo sansovino, as were some scenes in low-relief and many figures carved in the round; and it was declared by the pope that this structure--which was designed by lorenzo de' medici, father of that pontiff, when he was alive--could not have been more beautiful, even if it had been of marble. the same jacopo made a horse similar to the one in rome, which was held to be a miracle of beauty, on the piazza di s. maria novella. an endless number of ornaments, also, were executed for the sala del papa in the via della scala, and that street was half filled with most beautiful scenes wrought by the hands of many craftsmen, but designed for the most part by baccio bandinelli. wherefore, when leo entered florence, on the third day of september in the same year, this spectacle was pronounced to be the grandest that had ever been devised, and the most beautiful. but to return now to andrea: being again requested to make another picture for the king of france, in a short time he finished one wherein he painted a very beautiful madonna, which was sent off immediately, the merchants receiving for it four times as much as they had paid. now at that very time pier francesco borgherini had caused to be made by baccio d' agnolo some panelling, chests, chairs, and a bed, all carved in walnut-wood, for the furnishing of an apartment; wherefore, to the end that the paintings therein might be equal in excellence to the rest of the work, he commissioned andrea to paint part of the scenes on these with figures of no great size, representing the acts of joseph the son of jacob, in competition with some of great beauty that had been executed by granaccio and jacopo da pontormo. andrea, then, devoting an extraordinary amount of time and diligence to the work, strove to bring it about that they should prove to be more perfect than those of the others mentioned above; in which he succeeded to a marvel, for in the variety of events happening in the stories he showed how great was his worth in the art of painting. so excellent were those scenes, that an attempt was made by giovan battista della palla, on account of the siege of florence, to remove them from the places where they were fixed, in order to send them to the king of france; but, since they were fixed in such a way that it would have meant spoiling the whole work, they were left where they were, together with a picture of our lady, which is held to be a very choice work. [illustration: charity (_after the painting by =andrea del sarto=. paris: louvre, _) _neurdein_] after this andrea executed a head of christ, now kept by the servite friars on the altar of the nunziata, of such beauty, that i for my part do not know whether any more beautiful image of the head of christ could be conceived by the intellect of man. for the chapels in the church of s. gallo, without the porta s. gallo, there had been painted, in addition to the two panel-pictures by andrea, a number of others, which were not equal to his; wherefore, since there was a commission to be given for another, those friars contrived to persuade the owner of the chapel to give it to andrea; and he, beginning it immediately, made therein four figures standing, engaged in a disputation about the trinity. one of these is s. augustine, who, robed as a bishop and truly african in aspect, is moving impetuously towards s. peter martyr, who is holding up an open book in a proud and sublime attitude: and the head and figure of the latter are much extolled. beside him is a s. francis holding a book in one hand and pressing the other against his breast; and he appears to be expressing with his lips a glowing ardour that makes him almost melt away in the heat of the discussion. there is also a s. laurence, who, being young, is listening, and seems to be yielding to the authority of the others. below them are two figures kneeling, one a magdalene with most beautiful draperies, whose countenance is a portrait of andrea's wife; for in no place did he paint a woman's features without copying them from her, and if perchance it happened at times that he took them from other women, yet, from his being used to see her continually, and from the circumstance that he had drawn her so often, and, what is more, had her impressed on his mind, it came about that almost all the heads of women that he made resembled her. the other kneeling figure is a s. sebastian, who, being naked, shows his back, which appears to all who see it to be not painted, but of living flesh. and indeed, among so many works in oils, this was held by craftsmen to be the best, for the reason that there may be seen in it signs of careful consideration in the proportions of the figures, and much order in the method, with a sense of fitness in the expressions of the faces, the heads of the young showing sweetness of expression, those of the old hardness, and those of middle age a kind of blend that inclines both to the first and to the second. in a word, this panel is most beautiful in all its parts; and it is now to be found in s. jacopo tra fossi on the canto degli alberti, together with others by the hand of the same master. while andrea was living poorly enough in florence, engaged in these works, but without bettering himself a whit, the two pictures that he had sent to france had been duly considered in that country by king francis i; and among many others which had been sent from rome, from venice, and from lombardy, they had been judged to be by far the best. the king therefore praising them mightily, it was remarked to him that it would be an easy matter to persuade andrea to come to france to serve his majesty; which news was so agreeable to the king, that he gave orders that all that was necessary should be done, and that money for the journey should be paid to andrea in florence. andrea then set out for france with a glad heart, taking with him his assistant andrea sguazzella; and, having arrived at last at the court, they were received by the king with great kindness and rejoicing. before the very day of his arrival had passed by, andrea proved for himself how great were the courtesy and the liberality of that magnanimous king, receiving presents of money and rich and honourable garments. beginning to work soon afterwards, he became so dear to the king and to all the court, that he was treated lovingly by everyone, and it appeared to him that his departure from his country had brought him from one extreme of wretchedness to the other extreme of bliss. among his first works was a portrait from life of the dauphin, the son of the king, born only a few months before, and still in swaddling-clothes; and when he took this to the king, he received a present of three hundred gold crowns. then, continuing to work, he painted for the king a figure of charity, which was considered a very rare work and was held by that sovereign in the estimation that it deserved. after that, his majesty granted him a liberal allowance and did all that he could to induce andrea to stay willingly with him, promising him that he should never want for anything; and this because he liked andrea's resoluteness in his work, and also the character of the man, who was contented with everything. moreover, giving great satisfaction to the whole court, he executed many pictures and various other works; and if he had kept in mind the condition from which he had escaped and the place to which fortune had brought him, there is no doubt that he would have risen--to say nothing of riches--to a most honourable rank. but one day, when he was at work on a s. jerome in penitence for the mother of the king, there came to him some letters from florence, written by his wife; and he began, whatever may have been the reason, to think of departing. he sought leave, therefore, from the king, saying that he wished to go to florence, but would return without fail to his majesty after settling some affairs; and he would bring his wife with him, in order to live more at his ease in france, and would come back laden with pictures and sculptures of value. the king, trusting in him, gave him money for that purpose; and andrea swore on the testament to return to him in a few months. thus, then, he arrived in florence, and for several months blissfully took his joy of his fair lady, his friends, and the city. and finally, the time at which he was to return having passed by, he found in the end that what with building, taking his pleasure, and doing no work, he had squandered all his money and likewise that of the king. even so he wished to return, but he was more influenced by the sighs and prayers of his wife than by his own necessities and the pledge given to the king, so that, in order to please his wife, he did not go back; at which the king fell into such disdain, that for a long time he would never again look with a favourable eye on any painter from florence, and he swore that if andrea ever came into his hands he would give him a very different kind of welcome, with no regard whatever for his abilities. and thus andrea, remaining in florence, and sinking from the highest rung of the ladder to the very lowest, lived and passed the time as best he could. after andrea's departure to france, the men of the scalzo, thinking that he would never return, had entrusted all the rest of the work in their cloister to franciabigio, who had already executed two scenes there, when, seeing andrea back in florence, they persuaded him to set his hand to the work once more; and he, continuing it, painted four scenes, one beside another. in the first is s. john taken before herod. in the second are the feast and the dance of herodias, with figures very well grouped and appropriate. in the third is the beheading of s. john, wherein the minister of justice, a half-nude figure, is beautifully drawn, as are all the others. in the fourth herodias is presenting the head; and here there are figures expressing their astonishment, which are wrought with most beautiful thought and care. these scenes have been for some time the study and school of many young men who are now excellent in our arts. in a shrine without the porta a pinti, at a corner where the road turns towards the ingesuati, he painted in fresco a madonna seated with a child in her arms, and a little s. john who is smiling, a figure wrought with extraordinary art and with such perfect execution, that it is much extolled for its beauty and vivacity; and the head of the madonna is a portrait of his wife from nature. this shrine, on account of the incredible beauty of the painting, which is truly marvellous, was left standing in , when, because of the siege of florence, the aforesaid convent of the ingesuati was pulled down, together with many other very beautiful buildings. about the same time the elder bartolommeo panciatichi, who was carrying on a great mercantile business in france, desiring to leave a memorial of himself in lyons, ordered baccio d' agnolo to have a panel painted for him by andrea, and to send it to him there; saying that he wanted the subject to be the assumption of our lady, with the apostles about the tomb. this work, then, andrea carried almost to completion; but since the wood of the panel split apart several times, he would sometimes work at it, and sometimes leave it alone, so that at his death it remained not quite finished. afterwards it was placed by the younger bartolommeo panciatichi in his house, as a work truly worthy of praise on account of the beautiful figures of the apostles; not to speak of the madonna, who is surrounded by a choir of little boys standing, while certain others are supporting her and bearing her upwards with extraordinary grace. and in the foreground of the panel, among the apostles, is a portrait of andrea, so natural that it seems to be alive. it is now at the villa of the baroncelli, a little distance from florence, in a small church built by piero salviati near his villa to do honour to the picture. at the head of the garden of the servi, in two angles, andrea painted two scenes of christ's vineyard, one showing the planting, staking, and binding of the vines, and then the husbandman summoning to the labour those who were standing idle, among whom is one who, being asked whether he wishes to join the work, sits rubbing his hands and pondering whether he will go among the other labourers, exactly as those idle fellows do who have but little mind to work. even more beautiful is the other scene, wherein the same husbandman is causing them to be paid, while they murmur and complain, and one among them, who is counting over his money by himself, wholly intent on examining his share, seems absolutely alive, as also does the steward who is paying out the wages. these scenes are in chiaroscuro, and executed with extraordinary mastery in fresco. after them he painted a pietà, coloured in fresco, which is very beautiful, in a niche at the head of a staircase in the noviciate of the same convent. he also painted another pietà in a little picture in oils, in addition to a nativity, for the room in that convent wherein the general, angelo aretino, once lived. the same master painted for zanobi bracci, who much desired to have some work by his hand, for one of his apartments, a picture of our lady, in which she is on her knees, leaning against a rock, and contemplating christ, who lies on a heap of drapery and looks up at her, smiling; while a s. john, who stands there, is making a sign to the madonna, as if to say that her child is the true son of god. behind these figures is a s. joseph with his head resting on his hands, which are lying on a rock; and he appears to be filled with joy at seeing the human race become divine through that birth. cardinal giulio de' medici having been commissioned by pope leo to see to the adorning with stucco and paintings of the ceiling in the great hall of poggio a caiano, a palatial villa of the medici family, situated between pistoia and florence, the charge of arranging for that work and of paying out the money was given to the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, as to a person who, not falling short of the standard of his ancestors, was well informed in such matters and a loving friend to all the masters of our arts, and delighted more than any other man to have his dwellings adorned with the works of the most excellent. ottaviano ordained, therefore, although the commission for the whole work had already been given to franciabigio, that he should have only a third, andrea another, and jacopo da pontormo the last. but it was found impossible, for all the efforts that the magnificent ottaviano made to urge them on, and for all the money that he offered and even paid to them, to get the work brought to completion; and andrea alone finished with great diligence a scene on one wall, representing cæsar being presented with tribute of all kinds of animals. the drawing for this work is in our book, with many others by his hand; it is in chiaroscuro, and is the most finished that he ever made. in this picture andrea, in order to surpass franciabigio and jacopo, subjected himself to unexampled labour, drawing in it a magnificent perspective-view and a very masterly flight of steps, which formed the ascent to the throne of cæsar. and these steps he adorned with very well-designed statues, not being content with having proved the beauty of his genius in the variety of figures that are carrying on their backs all those different animals, such as the figure of an indian who is wearing a yellow coat, and carrying on his shoulders a cage drawn in perspective with some parrots both within it and without, the whole being rarely beautiful; and such, also, as some who are leading indian goats, lions, giraffes, panthers, lynxes, and apes, with moors and other lovely things of fancy, all grouped in a beautiful manner and executed divinely well in fresco. on these steps, also, he made a dwarf seated and holding a box containing a chameleon, which is so well executed in all the deformity of its fantastic shape, that it is impossible to imagine more beautiful proportions than those that he gave it. but, as has been said, this work remained unfinished, on account of the death of pope leo; and although duke alessandro de' medici had a great desire that jacopo da pontormo should finish it, he was not able to prevail on him to put his hand to it. and in truth it suffered a very grievous wrong in the failure to complete it, seeing that the hall, for one in a villa, is the most beautiful in the world. after returning to florence, andrea painted a picture with a nude half-length figure of s. john the baptist, a very beautiful thing, which he executed at the commission of giovan maria benintendi, who presented it afterwards to the lord duke cosimo. [illustration: cÆsar receiving the tribute of egypt (_after the fresco by =andrea del sarto=. florence: poggio a caiano_) _alinari_] while affairs were proceeding in this manner, andrea, remembering sometimes his connection with france, sighed from his heart: and if he had hoped to find pardon for the fault he had committed, there is no doubt that he would have gone back. indeed, to try his fortune, he sought to see whether his talents might be helpful to him in the matter. thus he painted a picture of a half-naked s. john the baptist, meaning to send it to the grand master of france, to the end that he might occupy himself with restoring the painter to the favour of the king. however, whatever may have been the reason, he never sent it after all, but sold it to the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, who always valued it much as long as he lived, even as he did two pictures of our lady executed for him by andrea in one and the same manner, which are in his house at the present day. not long afterwards he was commissioned by zanobi bracci to paint a picture for monsignore di san biause,[ ] which he executed with all possible diligence, hoping that it might enable him to regain the favour of king francis, to whose service he desired to return. he also executed for lorenzo jacopi a picture of much greater size than was usual, containing a madonna seated with the child in her arms, accompanied by two other figures that are seated on some steps; and the whole, both in drawing and in colouring, is similar to his other works. he painted for giovanni d' agostino dini, likewise, a picture of our lady, which is now much esteemed for its beauty; and he made so good a portrait from life of cosimo lapi, that it seems absolutely alive. afterwards, in the year , the plague came to florence and also to some places in the surrounding country; and andrea, in order to avoid that pestilence and also to do some work, went at the instance of antonio brancacci to the mugello to paint a panel for the nuns of s. piero a luco, of the order of camaldoli, taking with him his wife and a stepdaughter, together with his wife's sister and an assistant. living quietly there, then, he set his hand to the work. and since those venerable ladies showed more and more kindness and courtesy every day to his wife, to himself, and to the whole party, he applied himself with the greatest possible willingness to executing that panel, in which he painted a dead christ mourned by our lady, s. john the evangelist, and the magdalene, figures so lifelike, that they appear truly to have spirit and breath. in s. john may be seen the loving tenderness of that apostle, with affection in the tears of the magdalene, and bitter sorrow in the face and whole attitude of the madonna, whose aspect, as she gazes on christ, who seems to be truly a real corpse and in relief, is so pitiful, that she fills with helpless awe and bewilderment the minds of s. peter and s. paul, who are contemplating the dead saviour of the world in the lap of his mother. from these marvellous conceptions it is clear how much andrea delighted in finish and perfection of art; and to tell the truth, this panel has given more fame to that convent than all the buildings and all the other costly works, however magnificent and extraordinary, that have been executed there. this picture finished, andrea, seeing that the danger of the plague was not yet past, stayed some weeks more in the same place, where he was so well received and treated with such kindness. during that time, in order not to be idle, he painted not only a visitation of our lady to s. elizabeth, which is in the church, on the right hand above the manger, serving as a crown to a little ancient panel, but also, on a canvas of no great size, a most beautiful head of christ, somewhat similar to that on the altar of the nunziata, but not so finished. this head, which may in truth be numbered among the better works that issued from the hands of andrea, is now in the monastery of the monks of the angeli at florence, in the possession of that very reverend father, don antonio da pisa, who loves not only the men of excellence in our arts, but every man of talent without exception. from this picture several copies have been taken, for don silvano razzi entrusted it to the painter zanobi poggini, to the end that he might make a copy for bartolommeo gondi, who had asked him for one, and some others were made, which are held in vast veneration in florence. in this manner, then, andrea passed without danger the time of the plague, and those nuns received from the genius of that great man such a work as can bear comparison with the most excellent pictures that have been painted in our day; wherefore it is no marvel that ramazzotto, the captain of mercenaries of scaricalasino, sought to obtain it on several occasions during the siege of florence, in order to send it to his chapel in s. michele in bosco at bologna. on his return to florence, andrea executed for beccuccio da gambassi, the glass-blower, who was very much his friend, a panel-picture of our lady in the sky with the child in her arms, and four figures below, s. john the baptist, s. mary magdalene, s. sebastian, and s. rocco; and in the predella he made portraits from nature, which are most lifelike, of beccuccio and his wife. this panel is now at gambassi, a township in valdelsa, between volterra and florence. for a chapel in the villa of zanobi bracci at rovezzano, he painted a most beautiful picture of our lady suckling a child, with a joseph, all executed with such diligence that they stand out from the panel, so strong is the relief; and this picture is now in the house of m. antonio bracci, the son of that zanobi. about the same time, also, and in the above-mentioned cloister of the scalzo, andrea painted two other scenes, in one of which he depicted zacharias offering sacrifice and being made dumb by the angel appearing to him, while in the other is the visitation of our lady, beautiful to a marvel. now federigo ii, duke of mantua, in passing through florence on his way to make obeisance to clement vii, saw over a door in the house of the medici that portrait of pope leo between cardinal giulio de' medici and cardinal de' rossi, which the most excellent raffaello da urbino had formerly painted; and being extraordinarily pleased with it, he resolved, being a man who delighted in pictures of such beauty, to make it his own. and so, when he was in rome and the moment seemed to him to have come, he asked for it as a present from pope clement, who courteously granted his request. thereupon orders were sent to florence to ottaviano de' medici, under whose care and government were ippolito and alessandro, that he should have it packed up and taken to mantua. this matter was very displeasing to the magnificent ottaviano, who would never have consented to deprive florence of such a picture, and he marvelled that the pope should have given it up so readily. however, he answered that he would not fail to satisfy the duke; but that, since the frame was bad, he was having a new one made, and when it had been gilt he would send the picture with every possible precaution to mantua. this done, messer ottaviano, in order to "save both the goat and the cabbage," as the saying goes, sent privately for andrea and told him how the matter stood, and how there was no way out of it but to make an exact copy of the picture with the greatest care and send it to the duke, secretly retaining the one by the hand of raffaello. andrea, then, having promised to do all in his power and knowledge, caused a panel to be made similar in size and in every respect, and painted it secretly in the house of messer ottaviano. and to such purpose did he labour, that when it was finished even messer ottaviano, for all his understanding in matters of art, could not tell the one from the other, nor distinguish the real and true picture from the copy; especially as andrea had counterfeited even the spots of dirt, exactly as they were in the original. and so, after they had hidden the picture of raffaello, they sent the one by the hand of andrea, in a similar frame, to mantua; at which the duke was completely satisfied, and above all because the painter giulio romano, a disciple of raffaello, had praised it, failing to detect the trick. this giulio would always have been of the same opinion, and would have believed it to be by the hand of raffaello, but for the arrival in mantua of giorgio vasari, who, having been as it were the adoptive child of messer ottaviano, and having seen andrea at work on that picture, revealed the truth. for giulio making much of vasari, and showing him, after many antiquities and paintings, that picture of raffaello's, as the best work that was there, giorgio said to him, "a beautiful work it is, but in no way by the hand of raffaello." "what?" answered giulio. "should i not know it, when i recognize the very strokes that i made with my own brush?" "you have forgotten them," said giorgio, "for this picture is by the hand of andrea del sarto; and to prove it, there is a sign (to which he pointed) that was made in florence, because when the two were together they could not be distinguished." hearing this, giulio had the picture turned round, and saw the mark; at which he shrugged his shoulders and said these words, "i value it no less than if it were by the hand of raffaello--nay, even more, for it is something out of the course of nature that a man of excellence should imitate the manner of another so well, and should make a copy so like. it is enough that it should be known that andrea's genius was as valiant in double harness as in single." thus, then, by the wise judgment of messer ottaviano, satisfaction was given to the duke without depriving florence of so choice a work, which, having been presented to him afterwards by duke alessandro, he kept in his possession for many years; and finally he gave it to duke cosimo, who has it in his guardaroba together with many other famous pictures. while andrea was making this copy, he also painted for the same messer ottaviano a picture with only the head of cardinal giulio de' medici, who afterwards became pope clement; and this head, which was similar to that by raffaello, and very beautiful, was presented eventually by messer ottaviano to old bishop de' marzi. not long after, messer baldo magini of prato desiring to have a most beautiful panel-picture painted for the madonna delle carcere in his native city, for which he had already caused a very handsome ornament of marble to be made, one of the many painters proposed to him was andrea. wherefore messer baldo, having more inclination for him than for any of the others, although he had no great understanding in such a matter, had almost given him to believe that he and no other should do the work, when a certain niccolò soggi of sansovino, who had some interest at prato, was suggested to messer baldo for the undertaking, and assisted to such purpose by the assertion that there was not a better master to be found, that the work was given to him. meanwhile, andrea's supporters sending for him, he, holding it as settled that the work was to be his, went off to prato with domenico puligo and other painters who were his friends. arriving there, he found that niccolò not only had persuaded messer baldo to change his mind, but also was bold and shameless enough to say to him in the presence of messer baldo that he would compete with andrea for a bet of any sum of money in painting something, the winner to take the whole. andrea, who knew what niccolò was worth, answered, although he was generally a man of little spirit, "here is my assistant, who has not been long in our art. if you will bet with him, i will put down the money for him; but with me you shall have no bet for any money in the world, seeing that, if i were to beat you, it would do me no honour, and if i were to lose, it would be the greatest possible disgrace." and, saying to messer baldo that he should give the work to niccolò, because he would execute it in such a manner as would please the folk that went to market, he returned to florence. there he was commissioned to paint a panel for pisa, divided into five pictures, which were afterwards placed round the madonna of s. agnese, beside the walls of that city, between the old citadel and the duomo. making one figure, then, in each picture, he painted in two of them s. john the baptist and s. peter, one on either side of the madonna that works miracles; and in the others are s. catharine the martyr, s. agnese, and s. margaret, each a figure by itself, and all so beautiful as to fill with marvel anyone who beholds them, and considered to be the most gracious and lovely women that he ever painted. m. jacopo, a servite friar, in releasing and absolving a woman from a vow, had told her that she must have a figure of our lady painted over the outer side of that lateral door of the nunziata which leads into the cloister; and therefore, finding andrea, he said to him that he had this money to spend, and that although it was not much it seemed to him right, since the other works executed by andrea in that place had brought him such fame, that he and no other should paint this one as well. andrea, who was nothing if not an amiable man, moved by the persuasions of the friar and by his own desire for profit and glory, answered that he would do it willingly; and shortly afterwards, putting his hand to the work, he painted in fresco a most beautiful madonna seated with her son in her arms, and s. joseph leaning on a sack, with his eyes fixed upon an open book. and of such a kind was this work, in draughtsmanship, grace, and beauty of colouring, as well as in vivacity and relief, that it proved that he outstripped and surpassed by a great measure all the painters who had worked up to that time. such, indeed, is this picture, that by its own merit and without praise from any other quarter it makes itself clearly known as amazing and most rare. there was wanting only one scene in the cloister of the scalzo for it to be completely finished; wherefore andrea, who had added grandeur to his manner after having seen the figures that michelagnolo had begun and partly finished for the sacristy of s. lorenzo, set his hand to executing this last scene. in this, giving the final proof of his improvement, he painted the birth of s. john the baptist, with figures that were very beautiful and much better and stronger in relief than the others made by him before in the same place. most beautiful, among others in this work, are a woman who is carrying the newborn babe to the bed on which lies s. elizabeth, who is likewise a most lovely figure, and zacharias, who is writing on a paper that he has placed on his knee, holding it with one hand and with the other writing the name of his son, and all with such vivacity, that he lacks nothing save the breath of life. most beautiful, also, is an old woman who is seated on a stool, smiling with gladness at the delivery of the other aged woman, and revealing in her attitude and expression all that would be seen in a living person after such an event. having finished that work, which is certainly well worthy of all praise, he painted for the general of vallombrosa a panel-picture with four very lovely figures, s. john the baptist, s. giovanni gualberto, founder of that order, s. michelagnolo, and s. bernardo, a cardinal and a monk of the order, with some little boys in the centre that could not be more vivacious or more beautiful. this panel is at vallombrosa, on the summit of a rocky height, where certain monks live in some rooms called "the cells," separated from the others, and leading as it were the lives of hermits. after this he was commissioned by giuliano scala to paint a panel-picture, which was to be sent to serrazzana, of a madonna seated with the child in her arms, and two half-length figures from the knees upwards, s. celso and s. julia, with s. onofrio, s. catharine, s. benedict, s. anthony of padua, s. peter, and s. mark; which panel was held to be equal to the other works of andrea. and in the hands of giuliano scala, in place of the balance due to him of a sum of money that he had paid for the owners of that work, there remained a lunette containing an annunciation, which was to go above the panel, to complete it; and it is now in his chapel in the great tribune round the choir of the church of the servi. the monks of s. salvi had let many years pass by without thinking of having a beginning made with their last supper, which they had commissioned andrea to execute at the time when he painted the arch with the four figures; but finally an abbot, who was a man of judgment and breeding, determined that he should finish that work. thereupon andrea, who had already pledged himself to it on a previous occasion, far from making any demur, put his hand to the task, and, working at it one piece at a time when he felt so inclined, finished it in a few months, and that in such a manner, that the work was held to be, as it certainly is, the most spontaneous and the most vivacious in colouring and drawing that he ever made, or that ever could be made. for, among other things, he gave infinite grandeur, majesty, and grace to all the figures, insomuch that i know not what to say of this last supper that would not be too little, it being such that whoever sees it is struck with amazement. wherefore it is no marvel that on account of its excellence it was left standing amid the havoc of the siege of florence, in the year , at which time the soldiers and destroyers, by command of those in authority, pulled down all the suburbs without the city, and all the monasteries, hospitals, and other buildings. these men, i say, having destroyed the church and campanile of s. salvi, and beginning to throw down part of the convent, had come to the refectory where this last supper is, when their leader, seeing so marvellous a painting, of which he may have heard speak, abandoned the undertaking and would not let any more of that place be destroyed, reserving the task until such time as there should be no alternative. [illustration: portrait of the artist (_after the painting on a tile by =andrea del sarto=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] andrea then painted for the company of s. jacopo, called the nicchio, on a banner for carrying in processions, a s. james fondling a little boy dressed as a flagellant by stroking him under the chin, with another boy who has a book in his hand, executed with beautiful grace and naturalness. he made a portrait from life of a steward of the monks of vallombrosa, who lived almost always in the country on the affairs of his monastery; and this portrait was placed under a sort of bower, in which he had made pergole and contrivances of his own in various fanciful designs, so that it was buffeted by wind and rain, according to the pleasure of that steward, who was the friend of andrea. and because, when the work was finished, there were some colours and lime left over, andrea, taking a tile, called to his wife lucrezia and said to her: "come here, for these colours are left over, and i wish to make your portrait, so that all may see how well you have preserved your beauty even at your time of life, and yet may know how your appearance has changed, which will make this one different from your early portraits." but the woman, who may have had something else in her mind, would not stand still; and andrea, as it were from a feeling that he was near his end, took a mirror and made a portrait of himself on that tile, of such perfection, that it seems alive and as real as nature; and that portrait is in the possession of the same madonna lucrezia, who is still living. he also portrayed a canon of pisa, very much his friend; and the portrait, which is lifelike and very beautiful, is still in pisa. he then began for the signoria the cartoons for the paintings to be executed on the balustrades of the ringhiera in the piazza, with many beautiful things of fancy to represent the quarters of the city, and with the banners of the consuls of the chief guilds supported by some little boys, and also ornaments in the form of images of all the virtues, and likewise the most famous mountains and rivers of the dominion of florence. but this work, thus begun, remained unfinished on account of andrea's death, as was also the case with a panel--although it was all but finished--which he painted for the abbey of the monks of vallombrosa at poppi in the casentino. in that panel he painted an assumption of our lady, who is surrounded by many little boys, with s. giovanni gualberto, s. bernardo the cardinal (a monk of their order, as has been related), s. catharine, and s. fedele; and, unfinished as it is, the picture is now in that abbey of poppi. the same happened to a panel of no great size, which, when finished, was to have gone to pisa. but he left completely finished a very beautiful picture which is now in the house of filippo salviati, and some others. about the same time giovan battista della palla, having bought all the sculptures and pictures of note that he could obtain, and causing copies to be made of those that he could not buy, had despoiled florence of a vast number of choice works, without the least scruple, in order to furnish a suite of rooms for the king of france, which was to be richer in suchlike ornaments than any other in the world. and this man, desiring that andrea should return to the service and favour of the king, commissioned him to paint two pictures. in one of these andrea painted abraham in the act of trying to sacrifice his son; and that with such diligence, that it was judged that up to that time he had never done anything better. beautifully expressed in the figure of the patriarch was seen that living and steadfast faith which made him ready without a moment of dismay or hesitation to slay his own son. the same abraham, likewise, could be seen turning his head towards a very beautiful little angel, who appeared to be bidding him stay his hand. i will not describe the attitude, the dress, the foot-wear, and other details in the painting of that old man, because it is not possible to say enough of them; but this i must say, that the boy isaac, tender and most beautiful, was to be seen all naked, trembling with the fear of death, and almost dead without having been struck. the same boy had only the neck browned by the heat of the sun, and white as snow those parts that his draperies had covered during the three days' journey. in like manner, the ram among the thorns seemed to be alive, and isaac's draperies on the ground rather real and natural than painted. and in addition there were some naked servants guarding an ass that was browsing, and a landscape so well represented that the real scene of the event could not have been more beautiful or in any way different. this picture, having been bought by filippo strozzi after the death of andrea and the capture of battista, was presented by him to signor alfonso davalos, marchese del vasto, who had it carried to the island of ischia, near naples, and placed in one of his apartments in company with other most noble paintings. in the other picture andrea painted a very beautiful charity, with three little boys; and this was afterwards bought from the wife of andrea, after his death, by the painter domenico conti, who sold it later to niccolò antinori, who treasures it as a rare work, as indeed it is. during this time there came to the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, seeing from that last picture how much andrea had improved his manner, a desire to have a picture by his hand. whereupon andrea, who was eager to serve that lord, to whom he was much indebted, because he had always shown favour to men of lofty intellect, and particularly to painters, executed for him a picture of our lady seated on the ground with the child riding astride on her knees, while he turns his head towards a little s. john supported by an old s. elizabeth, a figure so natural and so well painted that she appears to be alive, even as every other thing is wrought with incredible diligence, draughtsmanship, and art. having finished this picture, andrea carried it to messer ottaviano; but since that lord had something else to think about, florence being then besieged, he told andrea, while thanking him profoundly and making his excuses, to dispose of it as he thought best. to which andrea made no reply but this: "the labour was endured for you, and yours the work shall always be." "sell it," answered messer ottaviano, "and use the money, for i know what i am talking about." andrea then departed and returned to his house, nor would he ever give the picture to anyone, for all the offers that were made to him; but when the siege was raised and the medici back in florence, he took it once more to messer ottaviano, who accepted it right willingly, thanking him and paying him double. the work is now in the apartment of his wife, madonna francesca, sister to the very reverend salviati, who holds the beautiful pictures left to her by her magnificent consort in no less account than she does the duty of retaining and honouring his friends. for giovanni borgherini andrea painted another picture almost exactly like the one of charity mentioned above, containing a madonna, a little s. john offering to christ a globe that represents the world, and a very beautiful head of s. joseph. there came to paolo da terrarossa, a friend to the whole body of painters, who had seen the sketch for the aforesaid abraham, a wish to have some work by the hand of andrea. having therefore asked him for a copy of that abraham, andrea willingly obliged him and made a copy of such a kind, that in its minuteness it was by no means inferior to the large original. wherefore paolo, well satisfied with it and wishing to pay him, asked him the price, thinking that it would cost him what it was certainly worth; but andrea asked a mere song, and paolo, almost ashamed, shrugged his shoulders and gave him all that he claimed. the picture was afterwards sent by him to naples ...[ ] and it is the most beautiful and the most highly honoured painting in that place. during the siege of florence some captains had fled the city with the pay-chests; on which account andrea was asked to paint on the façade of the palace of the podestà and in the piazza not only those captains, but also some citizens who had fled and had been proclaimed outlaws. he said that he would do it; but in order not to acquire, like andrea dal castagno, the name of andrea degl' impiccati, he gave it out that he was entrusting the work to one of his assistants, called bernardo del buda. however, having made a great enclosure, which he himself entered and left by night, he executed those figures in such a manner that they appeared to be the men themselves, real and alive. the soldiers, who were painted on the façade of the old mercatanzia in the piazza, near the condotta, were covered with whitewash many years ago, that they might be seen no longer; and the citizens, whom he painted entirely with his own hand on the palace of the podestà, were destroyed in like manner. after this, being very intimate in these last years of his life with certain men who governed the company of s. sebastiano, which is behind the servite convent, andrea made for them with his own hand a s. sebastian from the navel upwards, so beautiful that it might well have seemed that these were the last strokes of the brush which he was to make. the siege being finished, andrea was waiting for matters to mend, although with little hope that his french project would succeed, since giovan battista della palla had been taken prisoner, when florence became filled with soldiers and stores from the camp. among those soldiers were some lansquenets sick of the plague, who brought no little terror into the city and shortly afterwards left it infected. thereupon, either through this apprehension or through some imprudence in eating after having suffered much privation in the siege, one day andrea fell grievously ill and took to his bed with death on his brow; and finding no remedy for his illness, and being without much attention--for his wife, from fear of the plague, kept as far away from him as she could--he died, so it is said, almost without a soul being aware of it; and he was buried by the men of the scalzo with scant ceremony in the church of the servi, near his own house, in the place where the members of that company are always buried. the death of andrea was a very great loss to the city and to art, because up to the age of forty-two, which he attained, he went on always improving from one work to another in such wise that, if he had lived longer, he would have continued to confer benefits on art; for the reason that it is better to go on making progress little by little, advancing with a firm and steady foot through the difficulties of art, than to seek to force one's intellect and nature in a single effort. nor is there any doubt that if andrea had stayed in rome when he went there to see the works of raffaello and michelagnolo, and also the statues and ruins of that city, he would have enriched his manner greatly in the composition of scenes, and would one day have given more delicacy and greater force to his figures; which has never been thoroughly achieved save by one who has been some time in rome, to study those works in detail and grow familiar with them. having then from nature a sweet and gracious manner of drawing and great facility and vivacity of colouring, both in fresco-work and in oils, it is believed without a doubt that if he had stayed in rome, he would have surpassed all the craftsmen of his time. but some believe that he was deterred from this by the abundance of works of sculpture and painting, both ancient and modern, that he saw in that city, and by observing the many young men, disciples of raffaello and of others, resolute in draughtsmanship and working confidently and without effort, whom, like the timid fellow that he was, he did not feel it in him to excel. and so, not trusting himself, he resolved, as the best course for him, to return to florence; where, reflecting little by little on what he had seen, he made such proficience that his works have been admired and held in price, and, what is more, imitated more often after his death than during his lifetime. whoever has some holds them dear, and whoever has consented to sell them has received three times as much as was paid to him, for the reason that he never received anything but small prices for his works, both because he was timid by nature, as has been related, and also because certain master-joiners, who were executing the best works at that time in the houses of citizens, would never allow any commission to be given to andrea (so as to oblige their friends), save when they knew that he was in great straits, for at such times he would accept any price. but this does not prevent his works from being most rare, or from being held in very great account, and that rightly, since he was one of the best and greatest masters who have lived even to our own day. in our book are many drawings by his hand, all good; but in particular there is one that is altogether beautiful, of the scene that he painted at poggio, showing the tribute of all the animals from the east being presented to cæsar. this drawing, which is executed in chiaroscuro, is a rare thing, and the most finished that andrea ever made; for when he drew natural objects for reproduction in his works, he made mere sketches dashed off on the spot, contenting himself with marking the character of the reality; and afterwards, when reproducing them in his works, he brought them to perfection. his drawings, therefore, served him rather as memoranda of what he had seen than as models from which to make exact copies in his pictures. the disciples of andrea were innumerable, but they did not all pursue the same course of study under his discipline, for some stayed with him a long time, and some but little; which was the fault, not of andrea, but of his wife, who, tyrannizing arrogantly over them all, and showing no respect to a single one of them, made all their lives a burden. among his disciples, then, were jacopo da pontormo; andrea sguazzella, who adhered to the manner of andrea and decorated a palace, a work which is much extolled, without the city of paris in france; solosmeo; pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, who has painted three panels that are in s. spirito; francesco salviati; giorgio vasari of arezzo, who was the companion of the aforesaid salviati, although he did not stay long with andrea; jacopo del conte of florence; and nannoccio, who is now in france with cardinal de tournon, in the highest credit. in like manner, jacopo, called jacone, was a disciple of andrea and much his friend, and an imitator of his manner. this jacone, while andrea was alive, received no little help from him, as is evident in all his works, and particularly in the façade executed for the chevalier buondelmonti on the piazza di s. trinita. the heir to andrea's drawings and other art-possessions, after his death, was domenico conti, who made little proficience in painting; but one night he was robbed--by some men of the same profession, so it is thought--of all the drawings, cartoons, and other things that he had from andrea, nor was it ever discovered who these men were. now domenico, as one not ungrateful for the benefits received from his master, and desiring to render to him after his death the honours that he deserved, prevailed upon raffaello da montelupo to make for him out of courtesy a very handsome tablet of marble, which was built into a pilaster in the church of the servi, with the following epitaph, written for him by the most learned messer piero vettori, then a young man: andreÆ sartio admirabilis ingenii pictori, ac veteribus illis omnium judicio comparando, dominicus contes discipulus, pro laboribus in se instituendo susceptis, grato animo posuit. vixit ann. xlii, ob. ann. mdxxx. after no long time, certain citizens, wardens of works of that church, rather ignorant than hostile to honoured memories, so went to work out of anger that the tablet should have been set up in that place without their leave, that they had it removed; nor has it yet been re-erected in any other place. thus, perchance, fortune sought to show that the power of the fates prevails not only during our lives, but also over our memorials after death. in spite of them, however, the works and the name of andrea are likely to live a long time, as are these my writings, i hope, to preserve their memory for many ages. we must conclude, then, that if andrea showed poor spirit in the actions of his life, contenting himself with little, this does not mean that in art he was otherwise than exalted in genius, most resolute, and masterly in every sort of labour; and with his works, in addition to the adornment that they confer on the places where they are, he rendered a most valuable service to his fellow-craftsmen with regard to manner, drawing, and colouring, and that with fewer errors than any other painter of florence, for the reason that, as has been said above, he understood very well the management of light and shade and how to make things recede in the darks, and painted his pictures with a sweetness full of vivacity; not to mention that he showed us the method of working in fresco with perfect unity and without doing much retouching on the dry, which makes his every work appear to have been painted in a single day. wherefore he should serve in every place as an example to tuscan craftsmen, and receive supreme praise and a palm of honour among the number of their most celebrated champions. footnote: [ ] jacques de beaune. [ ] there is here a gap in the text. madonna properzia de' rossi life of madonna properzia de' rossi sculptor[ ] of bologna it is an extraordinary thing that in all those arts and all those exercises wherein at any time women have thought fit to play a part in real earnest, they have always become most excellent and famous in no common way, as one might easily demonstrate by an endless number of examples. everyone, indeed, knows what they are all, without exception, worth in household matters; besides which, in connection with war, likewise, it is known who were camilla, harpalice, valasca, tomyris, penthesilea, molpadia, orizia, antiope, hippolyta, semiramis, zenobia, and, finally, mark antony's fulvia, who so often took up arms, as the historian dion tells us, to defend her husband and herself. but in poetry, also, they have been truly marvellous, as pausanias relates. corinna was very celebrated as a writer of verse, and eustathius makes mention in his "catalogue of the ships of homer"--as does eusebius in his book of "chronicles"--of sappho, a young woman of great renown, who, in truth, although she was a woman, was yet such that she surpassed by a great measure all the eminent writers of that age. and varro, on his part, gives extraordinary but well-deserved praise to erinna, who, with her three hundred verses, challenged the fame of the brightest light of greece, and counterbalanced with her one small volume, called the "elecate," the ponderous "iliad" of the great homer. aristophanes celebrates carissena, a votary of the same profession, as a woman of great excellence and learning; and the same may be said for teano, merone, polla, elpe, cornificia, and telesilla, to the last of whom, in honour of her marvellous talents, a most beautiful statue was set up in the temple of venus. passing by the numberless other writers of verse, do we not read that arete was the teacher of the learned aristippus in the difficulties of philosophy, and that lastheneia and assiotea were disciples of the divine plato? in the art of oratory, sempronia and hortensia, women of rome, were very famous. in grammar, so athenæus relates, agallis was without an equal. and as for the prediction of the future, whether we class this with astrology or with magic, it is enough to say that themis, cassandra, and manto had an extraordinary renown in their times; as did isis and ceres in matters of agriculture, and the thespiades in the whole field of the sciences. but in no other age, for certain, has it been possible to see this better than in our own, wherein women have won the highest fame not only in the study of letters--as has been done by signora vittoria del vasto, signora veronica gambara, signora caterina anguisciuola, schioppa, nugarola, madonna laura battiferri, and a hundred others, all most learned as well in the vulgar tongue as in the latin and the greek--but also in every other faculty. nor have they been too proud to set themselves with their little hands, so tender and so white, as if to wrest from us the palm of supremacy, to manual labours, braving the roughness of marble and the unkindly chisels, in order to attain to their desire and thereby win fame; as did, in our own day, properzia de' rossi of bologna, a young woman excellent not only in household matters, like the rest of them, but also in sciences without number, so that all the men, to say nothing of the women, were envious of her. this properzia was very beautiful in person, and played and sang in her day better than any other woman of her city. and because she had an intellect both capricious and very ready, she set herself to carve peach-stones, which she executed so well and with such patience, that they were singular and marvellous to behold, not only for the subtlety of the work, but also for the grace of the little figures that she made in them and the delicacy with which they were distributed. and it was certainly a miracle to see on so small a thing as a peach-stone the whole passion of christ, wrought in most beautiful carving, with a vast number of figures in addition to the apostles and the ministers of the crucifixion. this encouraged her, since there were decorations to be made for the three doors of the first façade of s. petronio all in figures of marble, to ask the wardens of works, by means of her husband, for a part of that work; at which they were quite content, on the condition that she should let them see some work in marble executed by her own hand. whereupon she straightway made for count alessandro de' peppoli a portrait from life in the finest marble, representing his father, count guido, which gave infinite pleasure not only to them, but also to the whole city; and the wardens of works, therefore, did not fail to allot a part of the work to her. in this, to the vast delight of all bologna, she made an exquisite scene, wherein--because at that time the poor woman was madly enamoured of a handsome young man, who seemed to care but little for her--she represented the wife of pharaoh's chamberlain, who, burning with love for joseph, and almost in despair after so much persuasion, finally strips his garment from him with a womanly grace that defies description. this work was esteemed by all to be most beautiful, and it was a great satisfaction to herself, thinking that with this illustration from the old testament she had partly quenched the raging fire of her own passion. nor would she ever do any more work in connection with that building, although there was no person who did not beseech her that she should go on with it, save only maestro amico, who out of envy always dissuaded her and went so far with his malignity, ever speaking ill of her to the wardens, that she was paid a most beggarly price for her work. she also made two angels in very strong relief and beautiful proportions, which may now be seen, although against her wish, in the same building. in the end she devoted herself to copper-plate engraving, which she did without reproach, gaining the highest praise. and so the poor love-stricken young woman came to succeed most perfectly in everything, save in her unhappy passion. the fame of an intellect so noble and so exalted spread throughout all italy, and finally came to the ears of pope clement vii, who, immediately after he had crowned the emperor in bologna, made inquiries after her; but he found that the poor woman had died that very week, and had been buried in the della morte hospital, as she had directed in her last testament. at which the pope, who was eager to see her, felt much sorrow at her death; but more bitter even was it for her fellow-citizens, who regarded her during her lifetime as one of the greatest miracles produced by nature in our days. in our book are some very good drawings by the hand of this properzia, done with the pen and copied from the works of raffaello da urbino; and her portrait was given to me by certain painters who were very much her friends. [illustration: two angels, _after_ madonna properzia de' rossi (the assumption of the virgin, _after_ tribolo) (_bologna: s. petronio_) _alinari_] but, although properzia drew very well, there have not been wanting women not only to equal her in drawing, but also to do as good work in painting as she did in sculpture. of these the first is sister plautilla, a nun and now prioress in the convent of s. caterina da siena, on the piazza di s. marco in florence. she, beginning little by little to draw and to imitate in colours pictures and paintings by excellent masters, has executed some works with such diligence, that she has caused the craftsmen to marvel. by her hand are two panels in the church of that convent of s. caterina, of which the one with the magi adoring jesus is much extolled. in the choir of the convent of s. lucia, at pistoia, there is a large panel, containing our lady with the child in her arms, s. thomas, s. augustine, s. mary magdalene, s. catherine of siena, s. agnese, s. catherine the martyr, and s. lucia; and another large panel by the same hand was sent abroad by the director of the hospital of lelmo. in the refectory of the aforesaid convent of s. caterina there is a great last supper, with a panel in the work-room, both by the hand of the same nun. and in the houses of gentlemen throughout florence there are so many pictures, that it would be tedious to attempt to speak of them all. a large picture of the annunciation belongs to the wife of the spaniard, signor mondragone, and madonna marietta de' fedini has another like it. there is a little picture of our lady in s. giovannino, at florence; and an altar-predella in s. maria del fiore, containing very beautiful scenes from the life of s. zanobi. and because this venerable and talented sister, before executing panels and works of importance, gave attention to painting in miniature, there are in the possession of various people many wonderfully beautiful little pictures by her hand, of which there is no need to make mention. the best works from her hand are those that she has copied from others, wherein she shows that she would have done marvellous things if she had enjoyed, as men do, advantages for studying, devoting herself to drawing, and copying living and natural objects. and that this is true is seen clearly from a picture of the nativity of christ, copied from one which bronzino once painted for filippo salviati. in like manner, the truth of such an opinion is proved by this, that in her works the faces and features of women, whom she has been able to see as much as she pleased, are no little better than the heads of the men, and much nearer to the reality. in the faces of women in some of her works she has portrayed madonna costanza de' doni, who has been in our time an unexampled pattern of beauty and dignity; painting her so well, that it is impossible to expect more from a woman who, for the reasons mentioned above, has had no great practice in her art. with much credit to herself, likewise, has madonna lucrezia, the daughter of messer alfonso quistelli della mirandola, and now the wife of count clemente pietra, occupied herself with drawing and painting, as she still does, after having been taught by alessandro allori, the pupil of bronzino; as may be seen from many pictures and portraits executed by her hand, which are worthy to be praised by all. but sofonisba of cremona, the daughter of messer amilcaro anguisciuola, has laboured at the difficulties of design with greater study and better grace than any other woman of our time, and she has not only succeeded in drawing, colouring, and copying from nature, and in making excellent copies of works by other hands, but has also executed by herself alone some very choice and beautiful works of painting. wherefore she well deserved that king philip of spain, having heard of her merits and abilities from the lord duke of alba, should have sent for her and caused her to be escorted in great honour to spain, where he keeps her with a rich allowance about the person of the queen, to the admiration of all that court, which reveres the excellence of sofonisba as a miracle. and it is no long time since messer tommaso cavalieri, a roman gentleman, sent to the lord duke cosimo (in addition to a drawing by the hand of the divine michelagnolo, wherein is a cleopatra) another drawing by the hand of sofonisba, containing a little girl laughing at a boy who is weeping because one of the cray-fish out of a basket full of them, which she has placed in front of him, is biting his finger; and there is nothing more graceful to be seen than that drawing, or more true to nature. wherefore, in memory of the talent of sofonisba, who lives in spain, so that italy has no abundance of her works, i have placed it in my book of drawings. we may truly say, then, with the divine ariosto, that-- le donne son venute in eccellenza di ciascun' arte ov' hanno posto cura. and let this be the end of the life of properzia, sculptor of bologna. footnote: [ ] the translator is unwilling to use the somewhat ugly word "sculptress." alfonso lombardi of ferrara, michelagnolo da siena, girolamo santa croce of naples, dosso and battista dossi lives of alfonso lombardi of ferrara, michelagnolo da siena, and girolamo santa croce of naples sculptors and dosso and battista dossi painters of ferrara alfonso of ferrara, working in his early youth with stucco and wax, made an endless number of portraits from life on little medallions for many nobles and gentlemen of his own country. some of these are still to be seen, white in colour and made of wax or stucco, and bear witness to the fine intellect and judgment that he possessed; such as those of prince doria, of duke alfonso of ferrara, of clement vii, of the emperor charles v, of cardinal ippolito de' medici, of bembo, of ariosto, and of other suchlike personages. finding himself in bologna at the coronation of charles v, he executed the decorations of the door of s. petronio as a part of the preparations for that festival; and he had come into such repute through being the first to introduce the good method of making portraits from life in the form of medals, as has been related, that there was not a single man of distinction in those courts for whom he did not execute some work, to his own great profit and honour. but, not being content with the gain and the glory that came to him from making works in clay, in wax, and in stucco, he set himself to work in marble; and such was the proficience that he showed in some things that he made, although these were of little importance, that he was commissioned to execute the tomb of ramazzotto, which brought him very great fame and honour, in s. michele in bosco, without bologna. after that work he made some little scenes of marble in half-relief on the predella of the altar at the tomb of s. dominic, in the same city. and for the door of s. petronio, also, on the left hand of the entrance into the church, he executed some little scenes in marble, containing a very beautiful resurrection of christ. but what pleased the people of bologna most of all was the death of our lady, wrought with a very hard mixture of clay and stucco, with figures in full-relief, in an upper room of the della vita hospital; and marvellous, among other things in that work, is the jew who leaves his hands fixed to the bier of the madonna. with the same mixture, also, he made a large hercules with the dead hydra under his feet, for the upper room of the governor in the palazzo pubblico of that city; which statue was executed in competition with zaccaria da volterra, who was greatly surpassed by the ability and excellence of alfonso. for the madonna del baracane the same master made two angels in stucco, who are upholding a canopy in half-relief; and in some medallions in the middle aisle of s. giuseppe, between one arch and another, he made the twelve apostles from the waist upwards, of terra-cotta and in full-relief. in terra-cotta, likewise, for the corners of the vaulting of the madonna del popolo in the same city, he executed four figures larger than life; namely, s. petronio, s. procolo, s. francis, and s. dominic, figures which are all very beautiful and grand in manner. and by the hand of the same man are some works in stucco at castel bolognese, and some others in the company of s. giovanni at cesena. let no one marvel that hitherto our account of this master has dealt with scarcely any work save in clay, wax, and stucco, and very little in marble, because--besides the fact that alfonso was always inclined to that sort of work--after passing a certain age, being very handsome in person and youthful in appearance, he practised art more for pleasure and to satisfy his own vanity than with any desire to set himself to chisel stone. he used always to wear on his arms, on his neck, and in his clothing, ornaments of gold and suchlike fripperies, which showed him to be rather a courtier, vain and wanton, than a craftsman desirous of glory. of a truth, just as such ornaments enhance the splendour of those to whom, on account of their wealth, high estate, and noble blood, they are becoming, so are they worthy of reproach in craftsmen and others, who should not measure themselves, some for one reason and some for another, with the rich, seeing that such persons, in place of being praised, are held in less esteem by men of judgment, and often laughed to scorn. now alfonso, charmed with himself and indulging in expressions and wanton excesses little worthy of a good craftsman, on one occasion robbed himself through this behaviour of all the glory that he had won by labouring at his profession. for one evening, chancing to be at a wedding in the house of a count in bologna, and having made love for some time to a lady of quality, he had the luck to be invited by her to dance the torch-dance; whereupon, whirling round with her, and overcome by the frenzy of his passion, he said with a trembling voice, sighing deeply, and gazing at his lady with eyes full of tenderness: "s'amor non è, che dunque è quel ch' io sento?"[ ] hearing this, the lady, who had a shrewd wit, answered, in order to show him his error: "a louse, perhaps." which answer was heard by many, so that the saying ran through all bologna, and he was held to scorn ever afterwards. truly, if alfonso had given his attention not to the vanities of the world, but to the labours of art, without a doubt he would have produced marvellous works; for if he achieved this in part without exerting himself much, what would he have done if he had faced the dust and heat? the aforesaid emperor charles v being in bologna, and the most excellent tiziano da cadore having come to make a portrait of his majesty, alfonso likewise was seized with a desire to execute a portrait of that sovereign. and having no other means of contriving to do that, he besought tiziano, without revealing to him what he had in mind, that he should do him the favour of introducing him, in the place of one of those who used to carry his colours, into the presence of his majesty. wherefore tiziano, who loved him much, like the truly courteous man that he has always been, took alfonso with him into the apartments of the emperor. alfonso, as soon as tiziano had settled down to work, took up a position behind him, in such a way that he could not be seen by the other, who was wholly intent on his portrait; and, taking up a little box in the shape of a medallion, he made therein a portrait of the emperor in stucco, and had it finished at the very moment when tiziano had likewise brought his picture to completion. the emperor then rising, alfonso closed the box and had already hidden it in his sleeve, to the end that tiziano might not see it, when his majesty said to him: "show me what you have done." he was thus forced to give his portrait humbly into the hand of the emperor, who, having examined it and praised it highly, said to him: "would you have the courage to do it in marble?" "yes, your sacred majesty," answered alfonso. "do it, then," added the emperor, "and bring it to me in genoa." how unusual this proceeding must have seemed to tiziano every man may imagine for himself. for my part, i believe that it must have appeared to him that he had compromised his credit. but what must have seemed to him most strange was this, that when his majesty sent a present of a thousand crowns to tiziano, he bade him give the half, or five hundred crowns, to alfonso, keeping the other five hundred for himself, at which it is likely enough that tiziano felt aggrieved. alfonso, then, setting to work with the greatest zeal in his power, brought the marble head to completion with such diligence, that it was pronounced to be a very fine thing: which was the reason that, when he had taken it to the emperor, his majesty ordered that three hundred crowns more should be given to him. [illustration: the death of the virgin (_after the terra-cotta by =alfonso lombardi=. bologna: s. maria della vita_) _poppi_] alfonso having come into great repute through the gifts and praises bestowed on him by the emperor, cardinal ippolito de' medici took him to rome, where he kept many sculptors and painters about his person, in addition to a vast number of other men of ability; and he commissioned him to make a copy in marble of a very famous antique head of the emperor vitellius. in that work alfonso justified the opinion held of him by the cardinal and by all rome, and he was charged by the same patron to make a portrait-bust in marble of pope clement vii, after the life, and shortly afterwards one of giuliano de' medici, father of the cardinal; but the latter was left not quite finished. these heads were afterwards sold in rome, and bought by me at the request of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, together with some pictures; and in our own day they have been placed by the lord duke cosimo de' medici in that hall of the new apartments of his palace wherein i have painted, on the ceiling and the walls, all the stories of pope leo x; they have been placed, i say, in that hall, over the doors made of that red veined marble which is found near florence, in company with the heads of other illustrious men of the house of medici. but returning to alfonso; he then went on to execute many works in sculpture for the same cardinal, but these, being small things, have disappeared. after the death of clement, when a tomb had to be made for him and also for leo, the work was allotted by cardinal de' medici to alfonso; whereupon he made a model with figures of wax, which was held to be very beautiful, after some sketches by michelagnolo buonarroti, and went off to carrara with money to have the marble quarried. but not long afterwards the cardinal, having departed from rome on his way to africa, died at itri, and the work slipped out of the hands of alfonso, because he was dismissed by its executors, cardinals salviati, ridolfi, pucci, cibo, and gaddi, and it was entrusted by the favour of madonna lucrezia salviati, daughter of the great lorenzo de' medici, the elder, and sister of leo, to baccio bandinelli, a sculptor of florence, who had made models for it during the lifetime of clement. for this reason alfonso, thus knocked off his high horse and almost beside himself, determined to return to bologna; and, having arrived in florence, he presented to duke alessandro a most beautiful head in marble of the emperor charles v, which is now in carrara, whither it was sent by cardinal cibo, who removed it after the death of duke alessandro from the guardaroba of that prince. the duke, when alfonso arrived in florence, was in the humour to have his portrait taken; for it had already been done on medals by domenico di polo, a gem-engraver, and by francesco di girolamo dal prato, for the coinage by benvenuto cellini, and in painting by giorgio vasari of arezzo and jacopo da pontormo, and he wished that alfonso should likewise portray him. wherefore he made a very beautiful portrait of him in relief, much better than the one executed by danese da carrara, and then, since he was wholly set on going to bologna, he was given the means to make one there in marble, after the model. and so, having received many gifts and favours from duke alessandro, alfonso returned to bologna, where, being still far from content on account of the death of the cardinal, and sorely vexed by the loss of the tombs, there came upon him a pestilent and incurable disease of the skin, which wasted him away little by little, until, having reached the age of forty-nine, he passed to a better life, never ceasing to rail at fortune, which had robbed him of a patron to whom he might have looked for all the blessings which could make him happy in this life, and saying that she should have closed his own eyes, since she had reduced him to such misery, rather than those of cardinal ippolito de' medici. alfonso died in the year . [illustration: tomb of adrian vi (_after_ michelagnolo da siena. _rome: s. maria dell' anima_) _anderson_] michelagnolo, a sculptor of siena, after he had spent the best years of his life in sclavonia with other excellent sculptors, made his way to rome on the following occasion. after the death of pope adrian, cardinal hincfort, who had been the friend and favourite of that pontiff, determined, as one not ungrateful for the benefits received from him, to erect to him a tomb of marble; and he gave the charge of this to baldassarre peruzzi, the painter of siena. and that master, having made the model, desired that the sculptor michelagnolo, his friend and compatriot, should undertake the work on his own account. michelagnolo, therefore, made on that tomb a lifesize figure of pope adrian, lying upon the sarcophagus and portrayed from nature, with a scene, also in marble, below him, showing his arrival in rome and the roman people going to meet him and to do him homage. around the tomb, moreover, in four niches, are four virtues in marble, justice, fortitude, peace, and prudence, all executed with much diligence by the hand of michelagnolo after the counsel of baldassarre. it is true, indeed, that some of the things that are in this work were wrought by the florentine sculptor, tribolo, then a very young man, and these were considered the best of all; but michelagnolo executed the minor details of the work with supreme diligence and subtlety, and the little figures that are in it deserve to be extolled more than all the rest. among other things, there are some variegated marbles wrought with a high finish, and put together so well that nothing more could be desired. for these labours michelagnolo received a just and honourable reward from the aforesaid cardinal, and was treated with much favour by him for the rest of his life; and, in truth, with right good reason, seeing that this tomb and the cardinal's gratitude have done as much to bring fame to him as did the work to give a name to michelagnolo in his lifetime and renown after his death. this work finished, no long time elapsed before michelagnolo passed from this life to the next, at about the age of fifty. girolamo santa croce of naples, although he was snatched from us by death in the very prime of life, at a time when greater things were looked for from him, yet showed in the works of sculpture that he made at naples during his few years, what he would have done if he had lived longer; for the works that he executed in sculpture at naples were wrought and finished with all the lovingness that could be desired in a young man who wishes to surpass by a great measure those who for many years before his day have held the sovereignty in some noble profession. in s. giovanni carbonaro at naples he built the chapel of the marchese di vico, which is a round temple, partitioned by columns and niches, with some tombs carved with much diligence. and because the altar-piece of this chapel, made of marble in half-relief and representing the magi bringing their offerings to christ, is by the hand of a spaniard, girolamo executed in emulation of this work a s. john in a niche, so beautifully wrought in full-relief, that it showed that he was not inferior to the spaniard either in courage or in judgment; on which account he won such a name, that, although giovanni da nola was held in naples to be a marvellous sculptor and better than any other, nevertheless girolamo worked in competition with him as long as he lived, notwithstanding that his rival was now old and had executed a vast number of works in that city, where it is much the custom to make chapels and altar-pieces of marble. competing with giovanni, then, girolamo undertook to execute a chapel in monte oliveto at naples, just within the door of the church, on the left hand, while giovanni executed another opposite to his, on the other side, in the same style. in his chapel girolamo made a lifesize madonna in the round, which is held to be a very beautiful figure; and since he took infinite pains in executing the draperies and the hands, and in giving bold relief to the marble by undercutting, he brought it to such perfection that it was the general opinion that he had surpassed all those who had handled tools for working marble at naples in his time. this madonna he placed between a s. john and a s. peter, figures very well conceived and executed, and finished in a beautiful manner, as are also some children which are placed above them. in addition to these, he made two large and most beautiful statues in full-relief for the church of capella, a seat of the monks of monte oliveto. he then began a statue of the emperor charles v, at the time of his return from tunis; but after he had blocked it and carved it with the pointed chisel, and even in some places with the broad-toothed chisel, it remained unfinished, because fortune and death, envying the world such excellence, snatched him from us at the age of thirty-five. it was confidently expected that girolamo, if he had lived, even as he had outstripped all his compatriots in his profession, would also have surpassed all the craftsmen of his time. wherefore his death was a grievous blow to the neapolitans, and all the more because he had been endowed by nature not only with a most beautiful genius, but also with as much modesty, sweetness, and gentleness as could be looked for in mortal man; so that it is no marvel if all those who knew him are not able to restrain their tears when they speak of him. his last sculptures were executed in , in which year he was buried at naples with most honourable obsequies. [illustration: madonna and child, with ss. peter and john (_after the altar-piece_ by girolamo santa croce. _naples: monte oliveto_) _alinari_] old as he was, giovanni da nola, who was a well-practised sculptor, as may be seen from many works made by him at naples with good skill of hand, but not with much design, still remained alive. him don pedro di toledo, marquis of villafranca, and at that time viceroy of naples, commissioned to execute a tomb of marble for himself and his wife; and therein giovanni made a great number of scenes of the victories obtained by that lord over the turks, with many statues for the same work, which stands quite by itself, and was executed with much diligence. this tomb was to have been taken to spain; but, since that nobleman did not do this while he was alive, it remained in naples. giovanni died at the age of seventy, and was buried in naples, in the year . about the same time that heaven presented to ferrara, or rather, to the world, the divine lodovico ariosto, there was born in the same city the painter dosso, who, although he was not as rare among painters as ariosto among poets, nevertheless acquitted himself in his art in such a manner, that, besides the great esteem wherein his works were held in ferrara, his merits caused the learned poet, his intimate friend, to honour his memory by mentioning him in his most celebrated writings; so that the pen of messer lodovico has given more renown to the name of dosso than did all the brushes and colours that he used in the whole of his life. wherefore i, for my part, declare that there could be no greater good-fortune than that of those who are celebrated by such great men, since the might of the pen forces most of mankind to accept their fame, even though they may not wholly deserve it. dosso was much beloved by duke alfonso of ferrara: first for his good abilities in the art of painting, and then because he was a very pleasant and amiable person--a manner of man in whom the duke greatly delighted. dosso had the reputation in lombardy of executing landscapes better than any other painter engaged in that branch of the profession, whether in mural painting, in oils, or in gouache; and all the more after the german manner became known. in ferrara, for the cathedral church, he executed a panel-picture with figures in oils, which was held to be passing beautiful; and in the duke's palace he painted many rooms, in company with a brother of his, called battista. these two were always enemies, one against the other, although they worked together by the wish of the duke. in the court of the said palace they executed stories of hercules in chiaroscuro, with an endless number of nudes on those walls; and in like manner they painted many works on panel and in fresco throughout all ferrara. by their hands is a panel in the duomo of modena; and they painted many things in the cardinal's palace at trento, in company with other painters. at this same time the painter and architect, girolamo genga, was executing various decorations in the imperiale palace, above pesaro, as will be related in the proper place, for duke francesco maria of urbino; and among the number of painters who were summoned to that work by order of the same signor francesco maria, invitations were sent to dosso and battista of ferrara, principally for the painting of landscapes; many paintings having been executed long before in that palace by francesco di mirozzo[ ] of forlì, raffaello dal colle of borgo a san sepolcro, and many others. now, having arrived at the imperiale, dosso and battista, according to the custom of men of their kidney, found fault with most of the paintings that they saw, and promised the duke that they would do much better work; and genga, who was a shrewd person, seeing how the matter was likely to end, gave them an apartment to paint by themselves. thereupon, setting to work, they strove with all labour and diligence to display their worth; but, whatever may have been the reason, never in all the course of their lives did they do any work less worthy of praise, or rather, worse, than that one. it seems often to happen, indeed, that in their greatest emergencies, when most is expected of them, men become blinded and bewildered in judgment, and do worse work than at any other time; which may result, perchance, from their own malign and evil disposition to be always finding fault with the works of others, or from their seeking to force their genius overmuch, seeing that to proceed step by step according to the ruling of nature, yet without neglecting diligence and study, appears to be a better method than seeking to wrest from the brain, as it were by force, things that are not there; and it is a fact that in the other arts as well, but above all in that of writing, lack of spontaneity is only too easily recognized, and also, so to speak, over-elaboration in everything. [illustration: dosso dossi: a nymph with a satyr (_florence: pitti_, . _canvas_)] now, when the work of the dossi was unveiled, it proved to be so ridiculous that they left the service of the duke in disgrace; and he was forced to throw to the ground all that they had executed, and to have it repainted by others after the designs of genga. [illustration: madonna and child, with ss. george and michael (_after the painting by =dosso dossi=. modena: pinacoteca, _) _anderson_] finally, they painted a very beautiful panel-picture in the duomo of faenza for the chevalier, m. giovan battista de' buosi, of christ disputing in the temple; in which work they surpassed themselves, by reason of the new manner that they used, and particularly in the portraits of that chevalier and of others. that picture was set up in that place in the year . ultimately dosso, having grown old, spent his last years without working, being pensioned until the close of his life by duke alfonso. and in the end battista survived him, executing many works by himself, and maintaining himself in a good condition. dosso was buried in his native city of ferrara. there lived in the same times the milanese bernazzano, a very excellent painter of landscapes, herbage, animals, and other things of earth, air, and water. and since, as one who knew himself to have little aptitude for figures, he did not give much attention to them, he associated himself with cesare da sesto, who painted them very well and in a beautiful manner. it is said that bernazzano executed in a courtyard some very beautiful landscapes in fresco, in which he painted a strawberry-bed full of strawberries, ripe, green, and in blossom, and so well imitated, that some peacocks, deceived by their natural appearance, were so persistent in picking at them as to make holes in the plaster. footnote: [ ] "what is it that i feel, if it is not love?" [ ] this seems to be an error for melozzo. giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone, and other painters of friuli lives of giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone, and of other painters of friuli it would seem, as has been remarked already in the same connection, that nature, the kindly mother of the universe, sometimes presents the rarest things to certain places that never had any knowledge of such gifts, and that at times she creates in some country men so much inclined to design and to painting, that, without masters, but only by imitating living and natural objects, they become most excellent. and it also happens very often that when one man has begun, many set themselves to work in competition with him, and labour to such purpose, without seeing rome, florence, or any other place full of notable pictures, but merely through rivalry one with another, that marvellous works are seen to issue from their hands. all this may be seen to have happened more particularly in friuli, where, in our own day, in consequence of such a beginning, there has been a vast number of excellent painters--a thing which had not occurred in those parts for many centuries. while giovanni bellini was working in venice and teaching his art to many, as has been related, he had two disciples who were rivals one with another--pellegrino da udine, who, as will be told, was afterwards called da san daniele, and giovanni martini of udine. let us begin, then, by speaking of giovanni. he always imitated the manner of bellini, which was somewhat crude, hard, and dry; nor was he ever able to give it sweetness or softness, although he was a diligent and finished painter. this may have happened because he was always making trial of certain reflections, half-lights, and shadows, with which, cutting the relief in the middle, he contrived to define light and shade very abruptly, in such a way that the colouring of all his works was always crude and unpleasant, although he strove laboriously with his art to imitate nature. by the hand of this master are numerous works in many places in friuli, particularly in the city of udine, in the duomo of which there is a panel-picture executed in oils, of s. mark seated with many figures round him, which is held to be the best of all that he ever painted. there is another on the altar of s. ursula in the church of the friars of s. pietro martire, wherein the first-mentioned saint is standing with some of her virgins round her, all painted with much grace and beautiful expressions of countenance. this giovanni, besides being a passing good painter, was endowed by nature with beauty and grace of features and an excellent character, and, what is most desirable, with such foresight and power of management, that, after his death, in default of heirs male, he left an inheritance of much property to his wife. and she, being, so i have heard, a lady as shrewd as she was beautiful, knew so well how to manage her life after the death of her husband, that she married two very beautiful daughters into the richest and most noble houses of udine. pellegrino da san daniele, who was a rival of giovanni, as has been related, and a man of greater excellence in painting, received at baptism the name of martino. but giovanni bellini, judging that he was destined to become, as he afterwards did, a truly rare master of art, changed his name from martino to pellegrino.[ ] and even as his name was changed, so he may be said by chance to have changed his country, since, living by preference at san daniele, a township ten miles distant from udine, and spending most of his time in that place, where he had taken a wife, he was called ever afterwards not martino da udine, but pellegrino da san daniele. he painted many pictures in udine, and some may still be seen on the doors of the old organ, on the outer side of which is painted a sunken arch in perspective, containing a s. peter seated among a multitude of figures and handing a pastoral staff to s. ermacora the bishop. on the inner side of the same doors, likewise, in some niches, he painted the four doctors of the church in the act of studying. for the chapel of s. giuseppe he executed a panel-picture in oils, drawn and coloured with much diligence, in the middle of which is s. joseph standing in a beautiful attitude, with an air of dignity, and beside him is our lord as a little child, while s. john the baptist is below in the garb of a little shepherd-boy, gazing intently on his master. and since this picture is much extolled, we may believe what is said of it--namely, that he painted it in competition with the aforesaid giovanni, and that he put forward every effort to make it, as it proved to be, more beautiful than that which giovanni painted of s. mark, as has been related above. pellegrino also painted at udine, for the house of messer pre giovanni, intendant to the illustrious signori della torre, a picture of judith from the waist upwards, with the head of holofernes in one hand, which is a very beautiful work. by the hand of the same man is a large panel in oils, divided into several pictures, which may be seen on the high-altar of the church of s. maria in the town of civitale, at a distance of eight miles from udine; and in it are some heads of virgins and other figures with great beauty of expression. and in his township of san daniele, in a chapel of s. antonio, he painted in fresco scenes of the passion of jesus christ, and that so finely that he well deserved to be paid more than a thousand crowns for the work. he was much beloved for his talents by the dukes of ferrara, and, in addition to other favours and many gifts, he obtained through their good offices two canonicates in the duomo of udine for two of his relatives. among his pupils, of whom he had many, making much use of them and rewarding them liberally, was one of greek nationality, a man of no little ability, who had a very beautiful manner and imitated pellegrino closely. but luca monverde of udine, who was much beloved by pellegrino, would have been superior to the greek, if he had not been snatched from the world prematurely when still a mere lad; although one work by his hand was left on the high-altar of s. maria delle grazie in udine, a panel-picture in oils, his first and last, in which, in a recess in perspective, there is a madonna seated on high with the child in her arms, painted by him with a soft gradation of shadow, while on the level surface below there are two figures on either side, so beautiful that they show that if he had lived longer he would have become truly excellent. another disciple of the same pellegrino was bastianello florigorio, who painted a panel-picture that is over the high-altar of s. giorgio in udine, of a madonna in the sky surrounded by an endless number of little angels in various attitudes, all adoring the child that she holds in her arms; while below there is a very well executed landscape. there is also a very beautiful s. john, and a s. george in armour and on horseback, who, foreshortened in a spirited attitude, is slaying the dragon with his lance; while the maiden, who is there on one side, appears to be thanking god and the glorious virgin for the succour sent to her. in the head of the s. george bastianello is said to have made his own portrait. he also painted two pictures in fresco in the refectory of the friars of s. pietro martire: in one is christ seated at table with the two disciples at emmaus, and breaking the bread with a benediction, and in the other is the death of s. peter martyr. the same master painted in fresco in a niche on a corner of the palace of m. marguando, an excellent physician, a nude man in foreshortening, representing a s. john, which is held to be a good painting. finally, he was forced through some dispute to depart from udine, for the sake of peace, and to live like an exile in civitale. bastianello had a crude and hard manner, because he much delighted in drawing works in relief and objects of nature by candle-light. he had much beauty of invention, and he took great pleasure in executing portraits from life, making them truly beautiful and very like; and at udine, among others, he made one of messer raffaello belgrado, and one of the father of m. giovan battista grassi, an excellent painter and architect, from whose loving courtesy we have received much particular information touching our present subject of friuli. bastianello lived about forty years. another disciple of pellegrino was francesco floriani of udine, who is still alive and is a very good painter and architect, like his younger brother, antonio floriani, who, thanks to his rare abilities in his profession, is now in the service of his glorious majesty the emperor maximilian. some of the pictures of that same francesco were to be seen two years ago in the possession of the emperor, who was then a king; one of these being a judith who has cut off the head of holofernes, painted with admirable judgment and diligence. and in the collection of that monarch there is a book of pen-drawings by the same master, full of lovely inventions, buildings, theatres, arches, porticoes, bridges, palaces, and many other works of architecture, all useful and very beautiful. gensio liberale was also a disciple of pellegrino, and in his pictures, among other things, he imitated every sort of fish excellently well. this master is now in the service of the archduke ferdinand of austria, a splendid position, which he deserves, for he is a very good painter. but among the most illustrious and renowned painters of the territory of friuli, the rarest and most famous in our day--since he has surpassed those mentioned above by a great measure in the invention of scenes, in draughtsmanship, in boldness, in mastery over colour, in fresco work, in swiftness of execution, in strength of relief, and in every other department of our arts--is giovanni antonio licinio, called by some cuticello. this master was born at pordenone, a township in friuli, twenty-five miles from udine; and since he was endowed by nature with a beautiful genius and an inclination for painting, he devoted himself without any teacher to the study of natural objects, imitating the style of giorgione da castelfranco, because that manner, seen by him many times in venice, had pleased him much. now, having learnt the rudiments of art, he was forced, in order to save his life from a pestilence that had fallen upon his native place, to take to flight; and thus, passing many months in the surrounding country, he executed various works in fresco for a number of peasants, gaining at their expense experience of using colour on plaster. wherefore, since the surest and best method of learning is practice and a sufficiency of work, it came to pass that he became a well-practised and judicious master of that kind of painting, and learned to make colours produce the desired effect when used in a fluid state, which is done on account of the white, which dries the plaster and produces a brightness that ruins all softness. and so, having mastered the nature of colours, and having learnt by long practice to work very well in fresco, he returned to udine, where he painted for the altar of the nunziata, in the convent of s. pietro martire, a panel-picture in oils containing the madonna at the moment of receiving the salutation from the angel gabriel; and in the sky he made a god the father surrounded by many little boys, who is sending down the holy spirit. this work, which is executed with good drawing, grace, vivacity, and relief, is held by all craftsmen of judgment to be the best that he ever painted. in the duomo of the same city, on the balustrade of the organ, below the doors already painted by pellegrino, he painted a story of s. ermacora and fortunatus, also in oils, graceful and well designed. in the same city, in order to gain the friendship of the signori tinghi, he painted in fresco the façade of their palace; in which work, wishing to make himself known and to prove what a master he was of architectural invention and of working in fresco, he made a series of compartments and groups of varied ornaments full of figures in niches; and in three great spaces in the centre of the work he painted scenes with figures in colours, two spaces, high and narrow, being on either side, and one square in shape in the middle; and in the latter he painted a corinthian column planted with its base in the sea, with a siren on the right hand, holding the column upright, and a nude neptune on the left supporting it on the other side; while above the capital of the column there is a cardinal's hat, the device, so it is said, of pompeo colonna, who was much the friend of the owners of that palace. in one of the two other spaces are the giants being slain with thunderbolts by jove, with some dead bodies on the ground very well painted and most beautifully foreshortened. on the other side is a heaven full of gods, and on the earth two giants who, club in hand, are in the act of striking at diana, who, defending herself in a bold and spirited attitude, is brandishing a blazing torch as if to burn the arms of one of them. [illustration: the disputation of s. catharine (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone=. piacenza: s. maria di campagna_) _alinari_] at spelimbergo, a large place fifteen miles above udine, the balustrade and the doors of the organ in the great church are painted by the hand of the same master; on the outer side of one door is the assumption of our lady, and on the inner side s. peter and s. paul before nero, gazing at simon magus in the air above; while on the other door there is the conversion of s. paul, and on the balustrade the nativity of christ. through this work, which is very beautiful, and many others, pordenone came into repute and fame, and was summoned to vicenza, whence, after having executed some works there, he made his way to mantua, where he coloured a façade in fresco with marvellous grace for m. paris, a gentleman of that city. among other beautiful inventions which are in that work, much praise is due to a frieze of antique letters, one braccio and a half in height, at the top, below the cornice, among which, passing in and out of them, are many little children in various attitudes, all most beautiful. that work finished, he returned in great credit to vicenza, and there, besides many other works, he painted the whole of the tribune of s. maria di campagna, although by reason of his departure a part remained unfinished, which was afterwards finished with great diligence by maestro bernardo da vercelli. in the same church he painted two chapels in fresco: one with stories of s. catherine, and the other with the nativity of christ and the adoration of the magi, both being worthy of the highest praise. he then painted some poetical pictures in the beautiful garden of m. barnaba dal pozzo, a doctor; and, in the said church of s. maria di campagna, the picture of s. augustine, which is on the left hand as one enters the church. all these most beautiful works brought it about that the gentlemen of that city persuaded him to take a wife there, and always held him in vast veneration. going afterwards to venice, where he had formerly executed some works, he painted a wall of s. geremia, on the grand canal, and a panel-picture in oils for the madonna del orto, with many figures, making a particular effort to prove his worth in the s. john the baptist. he also painted many scenes in fresco on the façade of the house of martin d'anna on the same grand canal; in particular, a curtius on horseback in foreshortening, which has the appearance of being wholly in the round, like the mercury flying freely through the air, not to speak of many other things that all prove his ability. that work pleased the whole city of venice beyond measure, and pordenone was therefore extolled more highly than any other man who had ever worked in the city up to that time. among other reasons that caused him to give an incredible amount of effort to all his works, was his rivalry with the most excellent tiziano; since, setting himself to compete with him, he hoped by means of continual study and by a bold and resolute method of working in fresco to wrest from the hands of tiziano that sovereignty which he had gained with so many beautiful works; employing, also, unusual methods outside the field of art, such as that of being obliging and courteous and associating continually and of set purpose with great persons, making his interests universal, and taking a hand in everything. and, in truth, this rivalry was a great assistance to him, for it caused him to devote the greatest zeal and diligence in his power to all his works, so that they proved worthy of eternal praise. for these reasons, then, he was commissioned by the wardens of s. rocco to paint in fresco the chapel of that church, with all the tribune. setting his hand, therefore, to this work, he painted a god the father in the tribune, with a vast number of children in various beautiful attitudes, radiating from him. in the frieze of the same tribune he painted eight figures from the old testament, with the four evangelists in the angles, and the transfiguration of christ over the high-altar; and in the two lunettes at the sides are the four doctors of the church. by the hand of the same master are two large pictures in the middle of the church: in one is christ healing an endless number of the sick, all very well painted, and in the other is s. christopher carrying jesus christ on his shoulders. on the wooden tabernacle of the same church, wherein the vessels of silver are kept, he painted a s. martin on horseback, with many beggars who are bringing votive offerings, in a building in perspective. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone=. treviso: duomo_) _alinari_] this work, which was much extolled and brought him honour and profit, was the reason that m. jacopo soranzo, having become his intimate friend, caused him to be commissioned to paint the sala de' pregai in competition with tiziano; and there he executed many pictures with figures seen foreshortened from below, which are very beautiful, together with a frieze of marine monsters painted in oils round that hall. these works made him so dear to the senate, that as long as he lived he always received an honourable salary from them. and since, out of rivalry, he always sought to do work in places where tiziano had also worked, he painted for s. giovanni di rialto a s. john, as almoner, giving alms to beggars, and also placed on an altar a picture of s. sebastian, s. rocco, and other saints, which was very beautiful, but yet not equal to the work of tiziano, although many, more out of malignity than out of a love for the truth, exalted that of giovanni antonio. the same master painted in the cloister of s. stefano many scenes in fresco from the old testament, and one from the new, divided one from another by various virtues; and in these figures he displayed amazing foreshortenings, in which method of painting he always delighted, seeking to introduce them into his every composition with no fear of difficulties, and making them more ornate than any other painter. prince doria had built a palace on the seashore in genoa, and had commissioned perino del vaga, a very celebrated painter, to paint halls, apartments, and ante-chambers both in oils and in fresco, which are quite marvellous for the richness and beauty of the paintings. but seeing that perino was not then giving much attention to the work, and wishing to make him do by the spur of emulation what he was not doing by himself, he sent for pordenone, who began with an open terrace, wherein, following his usual manner, he executed a frieze of children, who are hurrying about in very beautiful attitudes and unloading a barque full of merchandise. he also painted a large scene of jason asking leave from his uncle to go in search of the golden fleece. but the prince, seeing the difference that there was between the work of perino and that of pordenone, dismissed the latter, and summoned in his place domenico beccafumi of siena, an excellent painter and a rarer master than pordenone. and he, glad to serve so great a prince, did not scruple to leave his native city of siena, where there are so many marvellous works by his hand; but he did not paint more than one single scene in that palace, because perino brought everything to completion by himself. giovanni antonio then returned to venice, where he was given to understand that ercole, duke of ferrara, had brought a great number of masters from germany, and had caused them to begin to make fabrics in silk, gold, floss-silk, and wool, for his own use and pleasure, but that he had no good designers of figures in ferrara, since girolamo da ferrara had more ability for portraits and separate things than for difficult and complicated scenes, which called for great power of art and design; and that he should enter the service of that prince. whereupon, desiring to gain fame no less than riches, he departed from venice, and on reaching ferrara was received with great warmth by the duke. but a little time after his arrival, being attacked by a most grievous affliction of the chest, he took to his bed with the doom of death upon him, and, growing continually worse and finding no remedy, within three days or little more he finished the course of his life, at the age of fifty-six. this seemed a strange thing to the duke, and also to pordenone's friends; and there were not wanting men who for many months believed that he had died of poison. the body of giovanni antonio was buried with honour, and his death was a grief to many, particularly in venice, for the reason that he was ready of speech and the friend and companion of many, and delighted in music; and his readiness and grace of speech came from his having given attention to the study of latin. he always made his figures grand, and was very rich in invention, and so versatile that he could imitate everything very well; but he was, above all, resolute and most facile in works in fresco. a disciple of pordenone was pomponio amalteo of san vito, who won by his good qualities the honour of becoming the son-in-law of his master. this pomponio, always following that master in matters of art, has acquitted himself very well in all his works, as may be seen at udine from the doors of the new organ, painted in oils, on the outer side of which is christ driving the traders from the temple, and on the inner side the story of the pool of bethesda and the resurrection of lazarus. in the church of s. francesco, in the same city, there is a panel-picture in oils by the hand of the same man, of s. francis receiving the stigmata, with some very beautiful landscapes, and with a sunrise from which, in the midst of some rays of the greatest splendour, there radiates the celestial light, which pierces the hands, feet, and side of s. francis, who, kneeling devoutly and full of love, receives it, while his companion lies on the ground, in foreshortening, all overcome with amazement. pomponio also painted in fresco for the friars of la vigna, at the end of their refectory, jesus christ between the two disciples at emmaus. in the township of san vito, his native place, twenty miles distant from udine, he painted in fresco the chapel of the madonna in the church of s. maria, in so beautiful a manner, and so much to the satisfaction of all, that he has won from the most reverend cardinal maria grimani, patriarch of aquileia and lord of san vito, the honour of being enrolled among the nobles of that place. i have thought it right in this life of pordenone to make mention of these excellent craftsmen of friuli, both because it appears to me that their talents deserve it, and to the end that it may be recognized in the account to be given later how much more excellent are those who, after such a beginning, have lived since that day, as will be related in the life of giovanni ricamatori of udine, to whom our age owes a very great obligation for his works in stucco and his grotesques. but returning to pordenone; after the works mentioned above as having been executed by him at venice in the time of the most illustrious gritti, he died, as has been related, in the year . and because he was one of the most able men that our age has possessed, and for the reason, above all, that his figures seem to be in the round and detached from their walls, and almost in relief, he can be numbered among those who have rendered assistance to art and benefit to the world. footnote: [ ] _i.e._, singular or rare. giovanni antonio sogliani life of giovanni antonio sogliani painter of florence very often do we see in the sciences of learning and in the more liberal of the manual arts, that those men who are melancholy are the most assiduous in their studies and show the greatest patience in supporting the burden of their labours; so that there are few of that disposition who do not become excellent in such professions. even so did giovanni antonio sogliani, a painter of florence, whose cast of countenance was so cold and woeful that he looked like the image of melancholy; and such was the power of this humour over him that he gave little thought to anything but matters of art, with the exception of his household cares, through which he endured most grievous anxieties, although he had enough to live in comfort. he worked at the art of painting under lorenzo di credi for four-and-twenty years, living with him, honouring him always, and rendering him every sort of service. having become during that time a very good painter, he showed afterwards in all his works that he was a most faithful disciple of his master and a close imitator of his manner. this was seen from his first paintings, in the church of the osservanza on the hill of san miniato without florence, for which he painted a panel-picture copied from the one that lorenzo had executed for the nuns of s. chiara, containing the nativity of christ, and no less excellent than the one of lorenzo. afterwards, having left his master, he painted for the church of s. michele in orto, at the commission of the guild of vintners, a s. martin in oils, robed as a bishop, which gave him the name of a very good master. and since giovanni antonio had a vast veneration for the works and the manner of fra bartolommeo di san marco, and made great efforts to approach that manner in his colouring, it may be seen from a panel which he began but did not finish, not being satisfied with it, how much he imitated that painter. this panel remained in his house during his lifetime as worthless: but after his death it was sold as a piece of old rubbish to sinibaldo gaddi, and he had it finished by santi titi dal borgo, then a mere boy, and placed it in a chapel of his own in s. domenico da fiesole. in this work are the magi adoring jesus christ, who is in the lap of his mother, and in one corner is his own portrait from life, which is a passing good likeness. he then painted for madonna alfonsina, the wife of piero de' medici, a panel-picture that was placed as a votive offering over the altar of the chapel of the martyrs in the camaldolite church at florence: in which picture he painted the crucifixion of s. arcadio and other martyrs with their crosses in their arms, and two figures, half covered with draperies and half naked, kneeling with their crosses on the ground, while in the sky are some little angels with palms in their hands. this work, which was painted with much diligence, and executed with good judgment in the colouring and in the heads, which are very lifelike, was placed in the above-mentioned camaldolite church; but that monastery was taken on account of the siege of florence from those eremite fathers, who used devoutly to celebrate the divine offices in the church, and was afterwards given to the nuns of s. giovannino, of the order of the knights of jerusalem, and finally destroyed; and the picture, being one which may be numbered among the best works that sogliani painted, was placed by order of the lord duke cosimo in one of the chapels of the medici family in s. lorenzo. the same master executed for the nuns of the crocetta a last supper coloured in oils, which was much extolled at that time. and in a shrine in the via de' ginori, he painted in fresco for taddeo taddei a crucifix with our lady and s. john at the foot, and in the sky some angels lamenting christ, very lifelike--a picture truly worthy of praise, and a well-executed example of work in fresco. by the hand of sogliani, also, is a crucifix in the refectory of the abbey of the black friars in florence, with angels flying about and weeping with much grace; and at the foot the madonna, s. john, s. benedict, s. scholastica, and other figures. for the nuns of the spirito santo, on the hill of san giorgio, he painted two pictures that are in their church, one of s. francis, and the other of s. elizabeth, queen of hungary and a sister of that order. for the company of the ceppo he painted the banner for carrying in processions, which is very beautiful, representing on the front of it the visitation of our lady, and on the other side s. niccolò the bishop, with two children dressed as flagellants, one of whom holds his book and the other the three balls of gold. on a panel in s. jacopo sopra arno he painted the trinity, with an endless number of little boys, s. mary magdalene kneeling, s. catherine, s. james, and two figures in fresco standing at the sides, s. jerome in penitence and s. john; and in the predella he made his assistant, sandrino del calzolaio, execute three scenes, which won no little praise. on the end wall of the oratory of a company in the township of anghiari, he executed on panel a last supper in oils, with figures of the size of life; and on one of the two adjoining walls (namely, the sides) he painted christ washing the feet of the apostles, and on the other a servant bringing two vessels of water. the work is held in great veneration in that place, for it is indeed a rare thing, and one that brought him both honour and profit. a picture that he executed of a judith who had cut off the head of holofernes, being a very beautiful work, was sent to hungary. and likewise another, in which was the beheading of s. john the baptist, with a building in perspective for which he had copied the exterior of the chapter-house of the pazzi, which is in the first cloister of s. croce, was sent as a most beautiful work to naples by paolo da terrarossa, who had given the commission for it. for one of the bernardi, also, sogliani executed two other pictures, which were placed in a chapel in the church of the osservanza at san miniato, containing two lifesize figures in oils--s. john the baptist and s. anthony of padua. but as for the panel that was to stand between them, giovanni antonio, being dilatory by nature and leisurely over his work, lingered over it so long that he who had given the commission died: wherefore that panel, which was to contain a christ lying dead in the lap of his mother, remained unfinished. [illustration: the legend of s. dominic (_after the fresco by =giovanni antonio sogliani=. florence: s. marco_) _anderson_] after these things, when perino del vaga, having departed from genoa on account of his resentment against prince doria, was working at pisa, where the sculptor stagio da pietrasanta had begun the execution of the new chapels in marble at the end of the nave of the duomo, together with that space behind the high-altar, which serves as a sacristy, it was ordained that the said perino, as will be related in his life, with other masters, should begin to fill up those adornments of marble with pictures. but perino being recalled to genoa, giovanni antonio was commissioned to set his hand to the pictures that were to adorn the aforesaid recess behind the high-altar, and to deal in his works with the sacrifices of the old testament, as symbols of the sacrifice of the most holy sacrament, which was there over the centre of the high-altar. sogliani, then, painted in the first picture the sacrifice that noah and his sons offered when they had gone forth from the ark, and afterwards those of cain and of abel; which were all highly extolled, but above all that of noah, because some of the heads and parts of the figures in it were very beautiful. the picture of abel is charming for its landscapes, which are very well executed, and the head of abel himself, which is the very presentment of goodness; but quite the opposite is that of cain, which has the mien of a truly sorry villain. and if sogliani had pursued the work with energy instead of being dilatory, he would have been charged by the warden, who had given him his commission and was much pleased with his manner and character, to execute all the work in that duomo, whereas at that time, in addition to the pictures already mentioned, he painted no more than one panel, which was destined for the chapel wherein perino had begun to work; and this he finished in florence, but in such wise that it pleased the pisans well enough and was held to be very beautiful. in it are the madonna, s. john the baptist, s. george, s. mary magdalene, s. margaret, and other saints. his picture, then, having given satisfaction, sogliani received from the warden a commission for three other panels, to which he set his hand, but did not finish them in the lifetime of that warden, in whose place bastiano della seta was elected; and he, perceiving that the business was moving but slowly, allotted four pictures for the aforesaid sacristy behind the high-altar to domenico beccafumi of siena, an excellent painter, who dispatched them very quickly, as will be told in the proper place, and also painted a panel there, and other painters executed the rest. giovanni antonio, then, working at his leisure, finished two other panels with much diligence, painting in each a madonna surrounded by many saints. and finally, having made his way to pisa, he there painted the fourth and last, in which he acquitted himself worse than in any other, either through old age, or because he was competing with beccafumi, or for some other reason. but the warden bastiano, perceiving the slowness of the man, and wishing to bring the work to an end, allotted the three other panels to giorgio vasari of arezzo, who finished two of them, those that are beside the door of the façade. in the one nearer the campo santo is our lady with the child in her arms, with s. martha caressing him. there, also, on their knees, are s. cecilia, s. augustine, s. joseph, and s. guido the hermit, and in the foreground a nude s. jerome, with s. luke the evangelist, and some little boys uplifting a piece of drapery, and others holding flowers. in the other, by the wish of the warden, he painted another madonna with her son in her arms, s. james the martyr, s. matthew, s. sylvester the pope, and s. turpè the chevalier. having to paint the madonna, and not wishing to repeat the same composition (although he had varied it much in other respects), he made her with christ dead in her arms, and those saints as it were round a deposition from the cross; and on the crosses, planted on high and made of tree-trunks, are fixed two naked thieves, surrounded by horses and ministers of the crucifixion, with joseph, nicodemus, and the maries; all for the satisfaction of the warden, who wished that in those new pictures there should be included all the saints that there had been in the past in the various dismantled chapels, in order to renew their memory in the new works. one picture was still wanting to complete the whole, and this was executed by bronzino, who painted a nude christ and eight saints. and in this manner were those chapels brought to completion, all of which giovanni antonio could have done with his own hand if he had not been so slow. and since sogliani had won much favour with the pisans, after the death of andrea del sarto he was commissioned to finish a panel for the company of s. francesco, which the said andrea left only sketched; which panel is now in the building of that company on the piazza di s. francesco at pisa. the same master executed some rows of cloth-hangings for the wardens of works of the aforesaid duomo, and many others in florence, because he took pleasure in doing that sort of work, and above all in company with his friend tommaso di stefano, a painter of florence. being summoned by the friars of s. marco in florence to paint a work in fresco at the head of their refectory, at the expense of one of their number, a lay-brother of the molletti family, who had possessed a rich patrimony when in the world, giovanni antonio wished to paint there the scene of jesus christ feeding five thousand persons with five loaves and two fishes, in order to make the most of his powers; and he had already made the design for it, with many women and children and a great multitude of other people, when the friars refused to have that story, saying that they wanted something definite, simple, and familiar. whereupon, to please them, he painted the scene when s. dominic, being in the refectory with his friars and having no bread, made a prayer to god, when the table was miraculously covered with bread, brought by two angels in human form. in this work he made portraits of many friars who were then in the convent, which have the appearance of life, and particularly that of the lay-brother of the molletti family, who is serving at table. then, in the lunette above the table, he painted s. dominic at the foot of a crucifix, with our lady and s. john the evangelist, who are weeping, and at the sides s. catherine of siena and s. antonino, archbishop of florence, a brother of their order. all this, for a work in fresco, was executed with much diligence and a high finish; but sogliani would have been much more successful if he had executed what he had designed, because painters express the conceptions of their own minds better than those of others. on the other hand, it is only right that he who pays the piper should call the tune. the design for the miracle of the loaves and fishes is in the hands of bartolommeo gondi, who, in addition to a large picture that he has by the hand of sogliani, also possesses many drawings and heads painted from life on tinted paper, which he received from the wife of the painter, who had been very much his friend, after his death. and we, also, have in our book some drawings by the same hand, which are beautiful to a marvel. sogliani began for giovanni serristori a large panel-picture which was to be placed in s. francesco dell' osservanza, without the porta a s. miniato, with a vast number of figures, among which are some marvellous heads, the best that he ever made; but it was left unfinished at the death of the said giovanni serristori. nevertheless, since giovanni antonio had received full payment, he finished it afterwards little by little, and gave it to messer alamanno di jacopo salviati, the son-in-law and heir of giovanni serristori; and he presented it, frame and all, to the nuns of s. luca, who have it over their high-altar in the via di s. gallo. giovanni antonio executed many other works in florence, some of which are in the houses of citizens, and some were sent to various countries; but of these there is no need to make mention, for we have spoken of the most important. sogliani was an upright person, very religious, always occupied with his own business, and never interfering with his fellow-craftsmen. one of his disciples was sandrino del calzolaio, who painted the shrine that is on the canto delle murate, and, in the hospital of the temple, a s. john the baptist who is assigning shelter to the poor; and he would have done more work, and good work, if he had not died as young as he did. another of his disciples was michele, who afterwards went to work with ridolfo ghirlandajo, whose name he took; and likewise benedetto, who went with antonio mini, a disciple of michelagnolo buonarroti, to france, where he has executed many beautiful works. and another, finally, was zanobi di poggino, who has painted many works throughout the city. in the end, being weary and broken in health after having been long tormented by the stone, giovanni antonio rendered up his soul to god at the age of fifty-two. his death was much lamented, for he had been an excellent man, and his manner had been much in favour, since he gave an air of piety to his figures, in such a fashion as pleases those who, delighting little in the highest and most difficult flights of art, love things that are seemly, simple, gracious, and sweet. his body was opened after his death, and in it were found three stones, each as big as an egg; but as long as he lived he would never consent to have them extracted, or to hear a word about them. girolamo da treviso life of girolamo da treviso painter rarely does it happen that those who persist in working in the country in which they were born, are exalted by fortune to that height of prosperity which their talents deserve; whereas, if a man tries many, he must in the end find one wherein sooner or later he succeeds in being recognized. and it often comes to pass that one who attains to the reward of his labours late in life, is prevented by the venom of death from enjoying it for long, even as we shall see in the case of girolamo da treviso. this painter was held to be a very good master; and although he was no great draughtsman, he was a pleasing colourist both in oils and in fresco, and a close imitator of the methods of raffaello da urbino. he worked much in his native city of treviso; and he also executed many works in venice, such as, in particular, the façade of the house of andrea udoni, which he painted in fresco, with some friezes of children in the courtyard, and one of the upper apartments: all of which he executed in colour, and not in chiaroscuro, because the venetians like colour better than anything else. in a large scene in the middle of this façade is a juno, seen from the thighs upwards, flying on some clouds with the moon on her head, over which are raised her arms, one holding a vase and the other a bowl. he also painted there a bacchus, fat and ruddy, with a vessel that he is upsetting, and holding with one arm a ceres who has many ears of corn in her hands. there, too, are the graces, with five little boys who are flying below and welcoming them, in order, so they signify, to make the house of the udoni abound with their gifts; and to show that the same house was a friendly haven for men of talent, he painted apollo on one side and pallas on the other. this work was executed with great freshness, so that girolamo gained from it both honour and profit. the same master painted a picture for the chapel of the madonna in s. petronio, in competition with certain painters of bologna, as will be related in the proper place. and continuing to live in bologna, he executed many pictures there; and in s. petronio, in the chapel of s. antonio da padova, he depicted in oils, in imitation of marble, all the stories of the life of the latter saint, in which, without a doubt, there may be perceived grace, judgment, excellence, and a great delicacy of finish. he painted a panel-picture for s. salvatore, of the madonna ascending the steps of the temple, with some saints; and another of the madonna in the sky, with some children, and s. jerome and s. catherine beneath, which is certainly the weakest work by his hand that is to be seen in bologna. over a great portal, also, in bologna, he painted in fresco a crucifix with our lady and s. john, all worthy of the highest praise. for s. domenico, at bologna, he executed a panel-picture in oils of our lady with some saints, which is the best of his works; it is near the choir, as one ascends to the tomb of s. dominic, and in it is the portrait of the patron who had it painted. in like manner, he painted a picture for count giovanni battista bentivogli, who had the cartoon by the hand of baldassarre of siena, representing the story of the magi: a work which he carried to a very fine completion, although it contained more than a hundred figures. there are also many other works by the hand of girolamo in bologna, both in private houses and in the churches. in galiera he painted in chiaroscuro the façade of the palace of the teofamini, with another façade behind the house of the dolfi, which is considered in the judgment of many craftsmen to be the best work that he ever executed in that city. he went to trento, and, in company with other painters, painted the palace of the old cardinal, from which he gained very great fame. then, returning to bologna, he gave his attention to the works that he had begun. now it happened that there was much talk throughout bologna about having a panel-picture painted for the della morte hospital, for which various designs were made by way of competition, some in drawing and some in colour. and since many thought that they had the first claim, some through interest and others because they held themselves to be most worthy of such a commission, girolamo was left in the lurch; and considering that he had been wronged, not long afterwards he departed from bologna. and thus the envy of others raised him to such a height of prosperity as he had never thought of; since, if he had been chosen for the work, it would have impeded the blessings that his good fortune had prepared for him. for, having made his way to england, he was recommended by some friends, who favoured him, to king henry; and presenting himself before him, he entered into his service, although not as painter, but as engineer. then, making trial of his skill in various edifices, copied from some in tuscany and other parts of italy, that king pronounced them marvellous, rewarded him with a succession of presents, and decreed him a provision of four hundred crowns a year; and he was given the means to build an honourable abode for himself at the expense of the king. thereupon girolamo, raised from one extreme of distress to the other extreme of grandeur, lived a most happy and contented life, thanking god and fortune for having turned his steps to a country where men were so favourable to his talents. but this unwonted happiness was not destined to last long, for the war between the french and the english being continued, and girolamo being charged with superintending all the work of the bastions and fortifications, the artillery, and the defences of the camp, it happened one day, when the city of boulogne in picardy was being bombarded, that a ball from a demi-cannon came with horrid violence and cut him in half on his horse's back. and thus, girolamo being at the age of thirty-six, his life, his earthly honours, and all his greatness were extinguished at one and the same moment, in the year . polidoro da caravaggio and maturino lives of polidoro da caravaggio and the florentine maturino painters in the last age of gold, as the happy age of leo x might have been called for all noble craftsmen and men of talent, an honoured place was held among the most exalted spirits by polidoro da caravaggio, a lombard, who had not become a painter after long study, but had been created and produced as such by nature. this master, having come to rome at the time when the loggie of the papal palace were being built for leo under the direction of raffaello da urbino, carried the pail, or we should rather say the hod, full of lime, for the masons who were doing the work, until he had reached the age of eighteen. but, when giovanni da udine had begun to paint there, the building and the painting proceeding together, polidoro, whose will and inclination were much drawn to painting, could not rest content until he had become intimate with all the most able of the young men, in order to study their methods and manners of art, and to set himself to draw. and out of their number he chose as his companion the florentine maturino, who was then working in the papal chapel, and was held to be an excellent draughtsman of antiquities. associating with him, polidoro became so enamoured of that art, that in a few months, having made trial of his powers, he executed works that astonished every person who had known him in his former condition. on which account, the work of the loggie proceeding, he exercised his hand to such purpose in company with those young painters, who were well-practised and experienced in painting, and learned the art so divinely well, that he did not leave that work without carrying away the true glory of being considered the most noble and most beautiful intellect that was to be found among all their number. thereupon the love of maturino for polidoro, and of polidoro for maturino, so increased, that they determined like brothers and true companions to live and die together; and, uniting their ambitions, their purses, and their labours, they set themselves to work together in the closest harmony and concord. but since there were in rome many who had great fame and reputation, well justified by their works, for making their paintings more lively and vivacious in colour and more worthy of praise and favour, there began to enter into their minds the idea of imitating the methods of baldassarre of siena, who had executed several façades of houses in chiaroscuro, and of giving their attention thenceforward to that sort of work, which by that time had come into fashion. they began one, therefore, on montecavallo, opposite to s. silvestro, in company with pellegrino da modena, which encouraged them to make further efforts to see whether this should be their profession; and they went on to execute another opposite to the side-door of s. salvatore del lauro, and likewise painted a scene by the side-door of the minerva, with another, which is a frieze of marine monsters, above s. rocco a ripetta. and during this first period they painted a vast number of them throughout all rome, but not so good as the others; and there is no need to mention them here, since they afterwards did better work of that sort. gaining courage, therefore, from this, they began to study the antiquities of rome, counterfeiting the ancient works of marble in their works in chiaroscuro, so that there remained no vase, statue, sarcophagus, scene, or any single thing, whether broken or entire, which they did not draw and make use of. and with such constancy and resolution did they give their minds to this pursuit, that they both acquired the ancient manner, the work of the one being so like that of the other, that, even as their minds were guided by one and the same will, so their hands expressed one and the same knowledge. and although maturino was not as well assisted by nature as polidoro, so potent was the faithful imitation of one style by the two in company, that, wherever either of them placed his hand, the work of both one and the other, whether in composition, expression, or manner, appeared to be the same. in the piazza di capranica, on the way to the piazza colonna, they painted a façade with the theological virtues, and a frieze of very beautiful invention beneath the windows, including a draped figure of rome representing the faith, and holding the chalice and the host in her hands, who has taken captive all the nations of the earth; and all mankind is flocking up to bring her tribute, while the turks, overcome at the last, are shooting arrows at the tomb of mahomet; all ending in the words of scripture, "there shall be one fold and one shepherd." and, indeed, they had no equals in invention; of which we have witness in all their works, abounding in personal ornaments, vestments, foot-wear, and things bizarre and strange, and executed with an incredible beauty. and another proof is that their works are continually being drawn by all the foreign painters; wherefore they conferred greater benefits on the art of painting with the beautiful manner that they displayed and with their marvellous facility, than have all the others together who have lived from cimabue downwards. it has been seen continually, therefore, in rome, and is still seen, that all the draughtsmen are inclined more to the works of polidoro and maturino than to all the rest of our modern pictures. in the borgo nuovo they executed a façade in sgraffito, and on the canto della pace another likewise in sgraffito; with a façade of the house of the spinoli, not far from that last-mentioned, on the way to the parione, containing athletic contests according to the custom of the ancients, and their sacrifices, and the death of tarpeia. near the torre di nona, on the side towards the ponte s. angelo, may be seen a little façade with the triumph of camillus and an ancient sacrifice. in the road that leads to the imagine di ponte, there is a most beautiful façade with the story of perillus, showing him being placed in the bronze bull that he had made; wherein great effort may be seen in those who are thrusting him into that bull, and terror in those who are waiting to behold a death so unexampled, besides which there is the seated figure of phalaris (so i believe), ordaining with an imperious air of great beauty the punishment of the inhuman spirit that had invented a device so novel and so cruel in order to put men to death with greater suffering. in this work, also, may be perceived a very beautiful frieze of children, painted to look like bronze, and other figures. higher up than this they painted the façade of the house where there is the image which is called the imagine di ponte, wherein are seen several stories illustrated by them, with the senatorial order dressed in the garb of ancient rome. and in the piazza della dogana, beside s. eustachio, there is a façade of battle-pieces; and within that church, on the right as one enters, may be perceived a little chapel with figures painted by polidoro. they also executed another above the farnese palace for the cepperelli, and a façade behind the minerva in the street that leads to the maddaleni; and in the latter, which contains scenes from roman history, may be seen, among other beautiful things, a frieze of children in triumph, painted to look like bronze, and executed with supreme grace and extraordinary beauty. on the façade of the buoni auguri, near the minerva, are some very beautiful stories of romulus, showing him when he is marking out the site of his city with the plough, and when the vultures are flying over him; wherein the vestments, features, and persons of the ancients are so well imitated, that it truly appears as if these were the very men themselves. certain it is that in that field of art no man ever had such power of design, such practised mastery, a more beautiful manner, or greater facility. and every craftsman is so struck with wonder every time that he sees these works, that he cannot but be amazed at the manner in which nature has been able in this age to present her marvels to us by means of these men. below the corte savella, also, on the house bought by signora costanza, they painted the rape of the sabines, a scene which reveals the raging desire of the captors no less clearly than the terror and panic of the wretched women thus carried off by various soldiers, some on horseback and others in other ways. and not only in this one scene are there such conceptions, but also (and even more) in the stories of mucius and horatius, and in the flight of porsena, king of tuscany. in the garden of m. stefano dal bufalo, near the fountain of trevi, they executed some most beautiful scenes of the fount of parnassus, in which they made grotesques and little figures, painted very well in colour. on the house of baldassini, also, near s. agostino, they executed scenes and sgraffiti, with some heads of emperors over the windows in the court. on montecavallo, near s. agata, they painted a façade with a vast number of different stories, such as the vestal tuccia bringing water from the tiber to the temple in a sieve, and claudia drawing the ship with her girdle; and also the rout effected by camillus while brennus is weighing the gold. on another wall, round the corner, are romulus and his brother being suckled by the wolf, and the terrible combat of horatius, who is defending the head of the bridge, alone against a thousand swords, while behind him are many very beautiful figures in various attitudes, working with might and main to hew away the bridge with pickaxes. there, also, is mucius scævola, who, before the eyes of porsena, is burning his own hand, which had erred in slaying the king's minister in place of the king; and in the king's face may be seen disdain and a desire for vengeance. and within that house they executed a number of landscapes. they decorated the façade of s. pietro in vincula, painting therein stories of s. peter, with some large figures of prophets. and so widespread was the fame of these masters by reason of the abundance of their work, that the pictures painted by them with such beauty in public places enabled them to win extraordinary praise in their lifetime, with glory infinite and eternal through the number of their imitators after death. on a façade, also, in the square where stands the palace of the medici, behind the piazza navona, they painted the triumphs of paulus emilius, with a vast number of other roman stories. and at s. silvestro di montecavallo they executed some little things for fra mariano, both in the house and in the garden; and in the church they painted his chapel, with two scenes in colour from the life of s. mary magdalene, in which the disposition of the landscapes is executed with supreme grace and judgment. for polidoro, in truth, executed landscapes and groups of trees and rocks better than any other painter, and it is to him that art owes that facility which our modern craftsmen show in their works. they also painted many apartments and friezes in various houses at rome, executing them with colours in fresco and in distemper; but these works were attempted by them as trials, because they were never able to achieve with colours that beauty which they always displayed in their works in chiaroscuro, in their imitations of bronze, or in terretta. this may still be seen in the house of torre sanguigna, which once belonged to the cardinal of volterra, on the façade of which they painted a most beautiful decoration in chiaroscuro, and in the interior some figures in colour, the painting of which is so badly executed, that in it they diverted from its true excellence the good design which they always had. and this appeared all the more strange because of there being beside them an escutcheon of pope leo, with nude figures, by the hand of giovan francesco vetraio, who would have done extraordinary things if death had not taken him from our midst. however, not cured by this of their insane confidence, they also painted some children in colour for the altar of the martelli in s. agostino at rome, a work which jacopo sansovino completed by making a madonna of marble; and these children appear to be by the hands, not of illustrious masters, but of simpletons just beginning to learn. whereas, on the side where the altar-cloth covers the altar, polidoro painted a little scene of a dead christ with the maries, which is a most beautiful work, showing that in truth that sort of work was more their profession than the use of colours. returning, therefore, to their usual work, they painted two very beautiful façades in the campo marzio; one with the stories of ancus martius, and the other with the festivals of the saturnalia, formerly celebrated in that place, with all the two-horse and four-horse chariots circling round the obelisks, which are held to be most beautiful, because they are so well executed both in design and in nobility of manner, that they reproduce most vividly those very spectacles as representations of which they were painted. on the canto della chiavica, on the way to the corte savella, they painted a façade which is a divine thing, and is held to be the most beautiful of all the beautiful works that they executed; for, in addition to the story of the maidens passing over the tiber, there is at the foot, near the door, a sacrifice painted with marvellous industry and art, wherein may be seen duly represented all the instruments and all those ancient customs that used to have a place in sacrifices of that kind. near the piazza del popolo, below s. jacopo degli incurabili, they painted a façade with stories of alexander the great, which is held to be very fine; and there they depicted the ancient statues of the nile and the tiber from the belvedere. near s. simeone they painted the façade of the gaddi palace, which is truly a cause of marvel and amazement, when one observes the lovely vestments in it, so many and so various, and the vast number of ancient helmets, girdles, buskins, and barques, adorned with all the delicacy and abundance of detail that an inventive imagination could conceive. there, with a multitude of beautiful things which overload the memory, are represented all the ways of the ancients, the statues of sages, and most lovely women: and there are all the sorts of ancient sacrifices with their ritual, and an army in the various stages between embarking and fighting with an extraordinary variety of arms and implements, all executed with such grace and finished with such masterly skill, that the eye is dazzled by the vast abundance of beautiful inventions. opposite to this is a smaller façade, which could not be improved in beauty and variety; and there, in the frieze, is the story of niobe causing herself to be worshipped, with the people bringing tribute, vases, and various kinds of gifts; which story was depicted by them with such novelty, grace, art, force of relief and genius in every part, that it would certainly take too long to describe the whole. next, there follows the wrath of latona, and her terrible vengeance on the children of the over-proud niobe, whose seven sons are slain by phoebus and the seven daughters by diana; with an endless number of figures in imitation of bronze, which appear to be not painted but truly of metal. above these are executed other scenes, with some vases in imitation of gold, innumerable things of fancy so strange that mortal eye could not picture anything more novel or more beautiful, and certain etruscan helmets; but one is left confused by the variety and abundance of the conceptions, so beautiful and so fanciful, which issued from their minds. these works have been imitated by a vast number of those who labour at that branch of art. they also painted the courtyard of that house, and likewise the loggia, which they decorated with little grotesques in colour that are held to be divine. in short, all that they touched they brought to perfection with infinite grace and beauty; and if i were to name all their works, i should fill a whole book with the performances of these two masters alone, since there is no apartment, palace, garden, or villa in rome that does not contain some work by polidoro and maturino. now, while rome was rejoicing and clothing herself in beauty with their labours, and they were awaiting the reward of all their toil, the envy of fortune, in the year , sent bourbon to rome; and he gave that city over to sack. whereupon was divided the companionship not only of polidoro and maturino, but of all the thousands of friends and relatives who had broken bread together for so many years in rome. maturino took to flight, and no long time passed before he died, so it is believed in rome, of plague, in consequence of the hardships that he had suffered in the sack, and was buried in s. eustachio. polidoro turned his steps to naples; but on his arrival, the noblemen of that city taking but little interest in fine works of painting, he was like to die of hunger. working, therefore, at the commission of certain painters, he executed a s. peter in the principal chapel of s. maria della grazia; and in this way he assisted those painters in many things, more to save his life than for any other reason. however, the fame of his talents having spread abroad, he executed for count ... a vault painted in distemper, together with some walls, all of which is held to be very beautiful work. in like manner, he executed a courtyard in chiaroscuro for signor ..., with some loggie, which are very beautiful, rich in ornaments, and well painted. he also painted for s. angelo, beside the pescheria at naples, a little panel in oils, containing a madonna and some naked figures of souls in torment, which is held to be most beautiful, but more for the drawing than for the colouring; and likewise some pictures for the chapel of the high-altar, each with a single full-length figure, and all executed in the same manner. it came to pass that polidoro, living in naples and seeing his talents held in little esteem, determined to take his leave of men who thought more of a horse that could jump than of a master whose hands could give to painted figures the appearance of life. going on board ship, therefore, he made his way to messina, where, finding more consideration and more honour, he set himself to work; and thus, working continually, he acquired good skill and mastery in the use of colour. thereupon he executed many works, which are dispersed in various places; and turning his attention to architecture, he gave proof of his worth in many buildings that he erected. after a time, charles v passing through messina on his return from victory in tunis, polidoro made in his honour most beautiful triumphal arches, from which he gained vast credit and rewards. and then this master, who was always burning with desire to revisit rome, which afflicts with an unceasing yearning those who have lived there many years, when making trial of other countries, painted as his last work in messina a panel-picture of christ bearing the cross, executed in oils with much excellence and very pleasing colour. in it he made a number of figures accompanying christ to his death--soldiers, pharisees, horses, women, children, and the thieves in front; and he kept firmly before his mind the consideration of how such an execution must have been marshalled, insomuch that his nature seemed to have striven to show its highest powers in this work, which is indeed most excellent. after this he sought many times to shake himself free of that country, although he was looked upon with favour there; but he had a reason for delay in a woman, beloved by him for many years, who detained him with her sweet words and cajoleries. however, so mightily did his desire to revisit rome and his friends work in him, that he took from his bank a good sum of money that he possessed, and, wholly determined, prepared to depart. polidoro had employed as his assistant for a long time a lad of the country, who bore greater love to his master's money than to his master; but, the money being kept, as has been said, in the bank, he was never able to lay his hands upon it and carry it off. wherefore, an evil and cruel thought entering his head, he resolved to put his master to death with the help of some accomplices, on the following night, while he was sleeping, and then to divide the money with them. and so, assisted by his friends, he set upon polidoro in his first sleep, while he was slumbering deeply, and strangled him with a cloth. then, giving him several wounds, they made sure of his death; and in order to prove that it was not they who had done it, they carried him to the door of the woman whom he had loved, making it appear that her relatives or other persons of the house had killed him. the assistant gave a good part of the money to the villains who had committed so hideous an outrage, and bade them be off. in the morning he went in tears to the house of a certain count, a friend of his dead master, and related the event to him; but for all the diligence that was used for many days in seeking for the perpetrator of the crime, nothing came to light. by the will of god, however, nature and virtue, in disdain at being wounded by the hand of fortune, so worked in one who had no interest in the matter, that he declared it to be impossible that any other but the assistant himself could have committed the murder. whereupon the count had him seized and put to the torture, and without the application of any further torment he confessed the crime and was condemned by the law to the gallows; but first he was torn with red-hot pincers on the way to execution, and finally quartered. for all this, however, life was not restored to polidoro, nor was there given back to the art of painting a genius so resolute and so extraordinary, such as had not been seen in the world for many an age. if, indeed, at the time when he died, invention, grace, and boldness in the painting of figures could have laid down their lives, they would have died with him. happy was the union of nature and art which embodied a spirit so noble in human form; and cruel was the envy and hatred of his fate and fortune, which robbed him of life with so strange a death, but shall never through all the ages rob him of his name. his obsequies were performed with full solemnity, and he was given burial in the cathedral church, lamented bitterly by all messina, in the year . great, indeed, is the obligation owed by craftsmen to polidoro, in that he enriched art with a great abundance of vestments, all different and most strange, and of varied ornaments, and gave grace and adornment to all his works, and likewise made figures of every sort, animals, buildings, grotesques, and landscapes, all so beautiful, that since his day whosoever has aimed at catholicity has imitated him. it is a marvellous thing and a fearsome to see from the example of this master the instability of fortune and what she can bring to pass, causing men to become excellent in some profession from whom something quite different might have been expected, to the no small vexation of those who have laboured in vain for many years at the same art. it is a marvellous thing, i repeat, to see those same men, after much travailing and striving, brought by that same fortune to a miserable and most unhappy end at the very moment when they were hoping to enjoy the fruits of their labours; and that with calamities so monstrous and terrible, that pity herself takes to flight, art is outraged, and benefits are repaid with an extraordinary and incredible ingratitude. wherefore, even as painting may rejoice in the fruitful life of polidoro, so could he complain of fortune, which at one time showed herself friendly to him, only to bring him afterwards, when it was least expected, to a dreadful death. il rosso life of il rosso painter of florence men of account who apply themselves to the arts and pursue them with all their powers are sometimes exalted and honoured beyond measure, at a moment when it was least expected, before the eyes of all the world, as may be seen clearly from the labours that il rosso, a painter of florence, devoted to the art of painting; for if these were not acknowledged in rome and florence by those who could reward them, yet in france he found one to recompense him for them, and that in such sort, that his glory might have sufficed to quench the thirst of the most overweening ambition that could possess the heart of any craftsman, be he who he may. nor could he have obtained in this life greater dignities, honour, or rank, seeing that he was regarded with favour and much esteemed beyond any other man of his profession by a king so great as is the king of france. and, indeed, his merits were such, that, if fortune had secured less for him, she would have done him a very great wrong, for the reason that rosso, in addition to his painting, was endowed with a most beautiful presence; his manner of speech was gracious and grave; he was an excellent musician, and had a fine knowledge of philosophy; and what was of greater import than all his other splendid qualities was this, that he always showed the invention of a poet in the grouping of his figures, besides being bold and well-grounded in draughtsmanship, graceful in manner, sublime in the highest flights of imagination, and a master of beautiful composition of scenes. in architecture he showed an extraordinary excellence; and he was always, however poor in circumstances, rich in the grandeur of his spirit. for this reason, whosoever shall follow in the labours of painting the walk pursued by rosso, must be celebrated without ceasing, as are that master's works, which have no equals in boldness and are executed without effort and strain, since he kept them free of that dry and painful elaboration to which so many subject themselves in order to veil the worthlessness of their works with the cloak of importance. in his youth, rosso drew from the cartoon of michelagnolo, and would study art with but few masters, having a certain opinion of his own that conflicted with their manners; as may be seen from a shrine executed in fresco for piero bartoli at marignolle, without the porta a s. piero gattolini in florence, containing a dead christ, wherein he began to show how great was his desire for a manner bold and grand, graceful and marvellous beyond that of all others. while still a beardless boy, at the time when lorenzo pucci was made a cardinal by pope leo, he executed over the door of s. sebastiano de' servi the arms of the pucci, with two figures, which made the craftsmen of that day marvel, for no one expected for him such a result as he achieved. wherefore he so grew in courage, that, after having painted a picture with a half-length figure of our lady and a head of s. john the evangelist for maestro jacopo, a servite friar, who was something of a poet, at his persuasion he painted the assumption of the madonna in the cloister of the servites, beside the scene of the visitation, which was executed by jacopo da pontormo. in this he made a heaven full of angels, all in the form of little naked children dancing in a circle round the madonna, foreshortened with a most beautiful flow of outlines and with great grace of manner, as they wheel through the sky: insomuch that, if the colouring had been executed by him with that mature mastery of art which he afterwards came to achieve, he would have surpassed the other scenes by a great measure, even as he actually did equal them in grandeur and excellence of design. he made the apostles much burdened with draperies, and, indeed, overloaded with their abundance; but the attitudes and some of the heads are more than beautiful. [illustration: madonna and child, with saints (_after the panel by =il rosso=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] the director of the hospital of s. maria nuova commissioned him to paint a panel: but when he saw it sketched, having little knowledge of that art, the saints appeared to him like devils; for it was rosso's custom in his oil-sketches to give a sort of savage and desperate air to the faces, after which, in finishing them, he would sweeten the expressions and bring them to a proper form. at this the patron fled from his house and would not have the picture, saying that the painter had cheated him. in like manner, over another door that leads into the cloister of the convent of the servites, rosso painted the escutcheon of pope leo, with two children; but it is now ruined. and in the houses of citizens may be seen several of his pictures and many portraits. for the visit of pope leo to florence he executed a very beautiful arch on the canto de' bischeri. afterwards he painted a most beautiful picture of the dead christ for signor di piombino, and also decorated a little chapel for him. at volterra, likewise, he painted a most lovely deposition from the cross. having therefore grown in credit and fame, he executed for s. spirito, in florence, the panel-picture of the dei family, which they had formerly entrusted to raffaello da urbino, who abandoned it because of the cares of the work that he had undertaken in rome. this picture rosso painted with marvellous grace, draughtsmanship, and vivacity of colouring. let no one imagine that any work can display greater force or show more beautifully from a distance than this one, which, on account of the boldness of the figures and the extravagance of the attitudes, no longer employed by any of the other painters, was held to be an extraordinary work. and although it did not bring him much credit at that time, the world has since come little by little to recognize its excellence and has given it abundant praise; for with regard to the blending of colour it would be impossible to excel it, seeing that the lights which are in the brightest parts unite with the lower lights little by little as they merge into the darks, with such sweetness and harmony, and with such masterly skill in the projection of the shadows, that the figures stand out from one another and bring each other into relief by means of the lights and shades. such vigour, indeed, has this work, that it may be said to have been conceived and executed with more judgment and mastery than any that has ever been painted by any other master, however superior his judgment. for s. lorenzo, at the commission of carlo ginori, he painted a panel-picture of the marriage of our lady, which is held to be a most beautiful work. and, in truth, with regard to his facility of method, there has never been anyone who has been able to surpass him in masterly skill and dexterity, or even to approach within any distance of him; and he was so sweet in colouring, and varied his draperies with such grace, and took such delight in his art, that he was always held to be marvellous and worthy of the highest praise. whosoever shall observe this work must recognize that all that i have written is most true, above all as he studies the nudes, which are very well conceived, with all the requirements of anatomy. his women are full of grace, and the draperies that adorn them fanciful and bizarre. he showed, also, the sense of fitness that is necessary in the heads of the old, with their harshness of features, and in those of women and children, with expressions sweet and pleasing. he was so rich in invention, that he never had any space left over in his pictures, and he executed all his work with such facility and grace, that it was a marvel. for giovanni bandini, also, he painted a picture with some very beautiful nudes, representing the scene of moses slaying the egyptian, wherein were things worthy of the highest praise; and this was sent, i believe, into france. and for giovanni cavalcanti, likewise, he executed another, which went to england, of jacob receiving water from the women at the well; this was held to be a divine work, seeing that it contained nudes and women wrought with supreme grace. for women, indeed, he always delighted to paint transparent pieces of drapery, head-dresses with intertwined tresses, and ornaments for their persons. while rosso was engaged on this work, he was living in the borgo de' tintori, the rooms of which look out on the gardens of the friars of s. croce; and he took much pleasure in a great ape, which had the intelligence rather of a man than of a beast. for this reason he held it very dear, and loved it like his own self; and since it had a marvellous understanding, he made use of it for many kinds of service. it happened that this beast took a fancy to one of his assistants, by name battistino, who was a young man of great beauty; and from the signs that his battistino made to him he understood all that he wished to say. now against the wall of the rooms at the back, which looked out upon the garden of the friars, was a pergola belonging to the guardian, loaded with great sancolombane grapes; and the young men used to let the ape down with a rope to the pergola, which was some distance from their window, and pull the beast up again with his hands full of grapes. the guardian, finding his pergola stripped, but not knowing the culprit, suspected that it must be mice, and lay in hiding; and seeing rosso's ape descending, he flew into a rage, seized a long pole, and rushed at him with hands uplifted in order to beat him. the ape, seeing that whether he went up or stayed where he was, the guardian could reach him, began to spring about and destroy the pergola, and then, making as though to throw himself on the friar's back, seized with both his hands the outermost crossbeams which enclosed the pergola. meanwhile the friar made play with his pole, and the ape, in his terror, shook the pergola to such purpose, and with such force, that he tore the stakes and rods out of their places, so that both pergola and ape fell headlong on the back of the friar, who shrieked for mercy. the rope was pulled up by battistino and the others, who brought the ape back into the room safe and sound. thereupon the guardian, drawing off and planting himself on a terrace that he had there, said things not to be found in the mass; and full of anger and resentment he went to the council of eight, a tribunal much feared in florence. there he laid his complaint; and, rosso having been summoned, the ape was condemned in jest to carry a weight fastened to his tail, to prevent him from jumping on pergole, as he did before. and so rosso made a wooden cylinder swinging on a chain, and kept it on the ape, in such a way that he could go about the house but no longer jump about over other people's property. the ape, seeing himself condemned to such a punishment, seemed to guess that the friar was responsible. every day, therefore, he exercised himself in hopping step by step with his legs, holding the weight with his hands; and thus, resting often, he succeeded in his design. for, being one day loose about the house, he hopped step by step from roof to roof, during the hour when the guardian was away chanting vespers, and came to the roof over his chamber. there, letting go the weight, he kept up for half an hour such a lovely dance, that not a single tile of any kind remained unbroken. then he went back home; and within three days, when rain came, were heard the guardian's lamentations. rosso, having finished his works, took the road to rome with battistino and the ape; in which city his works were sought for with extraordinary eagerness, great expectations having been awakened about them by the sight of some drawings executed by him, which were held to be marvellous, for rosso drew divinely well and with the highest finish. there, in the pace, over the pictures of raffaello, he executed a work which is the worst that he ever painted in all his days. nor can i imagine how this came to pass, save from a reason which has been seen not only in his case, but also in that of many others, and which appears to be an extraordinary thing, and one of the secrets of nature; and it is this, that he who changes his country or place of habitation seems to change his nature, talents, character, and personal habits, insomuch that sometimes he seems to be not the same man but another, and all dazed and stupefied. this may have happened to rosso in the air of rome, and on account of the stupendous works of architecture and sculpture that he saw there, and the paintings and statues of michelagnolo, which may have thrown him off his balance; which works also drove fra bartolommeo di san marco and andrea del sarto to flight, and prevented them from executing anything in rome. certain it is, be the cause what it may, that rosso never did worse; and, what is more, this work has to bear comparison with those of raffaello da urbino. at this time he painted for bishop tornabuoni, who was his friend, a picture of a dead christ supported by two angels, which was a most beautiful piece of work, and is now in the possession of the heirs of monsignor della casa. for baviera he made drawings of all the gods, for copper-plates, which were afterwards engraved by jacopo caraglio; one of them being saturn changing himself into a horse, and the most noteworthy that of pluto carrying off proserpine. he executed a sketch for the beheading of s. john the baptist, which is now in a little church on the piazza de' salviati in rome. meanwhile the sack of the city took place, and poor rosso was taken prisoner by the germans and used very ill, for, besides stripping him of his clothes, they made him carry weights on his back barefooted and with nothing on his head, and remove almost the whole stock from a cheesemonger's shop. thus ill-treated by them, he escaped with difficulty to perugia, where he was warmly welcomed and reclothed by the painter domenico di paris, for whom he drew the cartoon for a panel-picture of the magi, a very beautiful work, which is to be seen in the house of domenico. but he did not stay long in that place, for, hearing that bishop tornabuoni, who was very much his friend, and had also fled from the sack, had gone to borgo a san sepolcro, he made his way thither. there was living at that time in borgo a san sepolcro a pupil of giulio romano, the painter raffaello dal colle; and this master, having undertaken for a small price to paint a panel for s. croce, the seat of a company of flagellants, in his native city, lovingly resigned the commission and gave it to rosso, to the end that he might leave some example of his handiwork in that place. at this the company showed resentment, but the bishop gave him every facility; and when the picture, which brought him credit, was finished, it was set up in s. croce. the deposition from the cross that it contains is something very rare and beautiful, because he rendered in the colours a certain effect of darkness to signify the eclipse that took place at christ's death, and because it was executed with very great diligence. afterwards, at città di castello, he received the commission for a panel-picture, on which he was about to set to work, when, as it was being primed with gesso, a roof fell upon it and broke it to pieces; while upon him there came a fever so violent, that he was like to die of it, on which account he had himself carried from castello to borgo a san sepolcro. this malady being followed by a quartan fever, he then went on to the pieve a san stefano for a change of air, and finally to arezzo, where he was entertained in the house of benedetto spadari, who so went to work with the help of giovanni antonio lappoli of arezzo and the many friends and relatives that they had, that rosso was commissioned to paint in fresco a vault previously allotted to the painter niccolò soggi, in the madonna delle lagrime. and so eager were they that he should leave such a memorial of himself in that city, that he was given a payment of three hundred crowns of gold. whereupon rosso began his cartoons in a room that they had allotted to him in a place called murello; and there he finished four of them. in one he depicted our first parents, bound to the tree of the fall, with our lady drawing from their mouths the sin in the form of the apple, and beneath her feet the serpent; and in the air--wishing to signify that she was clothed with the sun and moon--he made nude figures of phoebus and diana. in the second is moses bearing the ark of the covenant, represented by our lady surrounded by five virtues. in another is the throne of solomon, also represented by the madonna, to whom votive offerings are being brought, to signify those who have recourse to her for benefits: together with other bizarre fancies, which were conceived by the fruitful brain of m. giovanni pollastra, the friend of rosso and a canon of arezzo, in compliment to whom rosso made a most beautiful model of the whole work, which is now in my house at arezzo. he also drew for that work a study of nude figures, which is a very choice thing; and it is a pity that it was never finished, for, if he had put it into execution and painted it in oils, instead of having to do it in fresco, it would indeed have been a miracle. but he was ever averse to working in fresco, and therefore went on delaying the execution of the cartoons, meaning to have the work carried out by raffaello dal borgo and others, so that in the end it was never done. at that same time, being a courteous person, he made many designs for pictures and buildings in arezzo and its neighbourhood; among others, one for the rectors of the fraternity, of the chapel which is at the foot of the piazza, wherein there is now the volto santo. for the same patrons he drew the design for a panel-picture to be painted by his hand, containing a madonna with a multitude under her cloak, which was to be set up in the same place; and this design, which was not put into execution, is in our book, together with many other most beautiful drawings by the hand of the same master. but to return to the work that he was to execute in the madonna delle lagrime: there came forward as his security for this work giovanni antonio lappoli of arezzo, his most faithful friend, who gave him proofs of loving kindness with every sort of service. but in the year , when florence was being besieged, the aretines, having been restored to liberty by the small judgment of papo altoviti, attacked the citadel and razed it to the ground. and because that people looked with little favour on florentines, rosso would not trust himself to them, and went off to borgo a san sepolcro, leaving the cartoons and designs for his work hidden away in the citadel. now those who had given him the commission for the panel at castello, wished him to finish it; but he, on account of the illness that he had suffered at castello, would not return to that city. he finished their panel, therefore, at borgo a san sepolcro; nor would he ever give them the pleasure of a glance at it. in it he depicted a multitude, with christ in the sky being adored by four figures, and he painted moors, gypsies, and the strangest things in the world; but, with the exception of the figures, which are perfect in their excellence, the composition is concerned with anything rather than the wishes of those who ordered the picture of him. at the same time that he was engaged on that work, he disinterred dead bodies in the vescovado, where he was living, and made a most beautiful anatomical model. rosso was, in truth, an ardent student of all things relating to art, and few days passed without his drawing some nude from life. he had always had the idea of finishing his life in france, and of thus delivering himself from that misery and poverty which are the lot of men who work in tuscany, or in the country where they were born; and he resolved to depart. and with a view to appearing more competent in all matters, and to being ignorant of none, he had just learned the latin tongue; when there came upon him a reason for further hastening his departure. for one holy thursday, on which day matins are chanted in the evening, one of his disciples, a young aretine, being in church, made a blaze of sparks and flames with a lighted candle-end and some resin, at the moment when the "darkness," as they call it, was in progress; and the boy was reproved by some priests, and even struck. seeing this, rosso, who had the boy seated at his side, sprang up full of anger against the priests. thereupon an uproar began, without anyone knowing what it was all about, and swords were drawn against poor rosso, who was busy with the priests. taking to flight, therefore, he contrived to regain his own rooms without having been struck or overtaken by anyone. but he held himself to have been affronted; and having finished the panel for castello, without troubling about his work at arezzo or the wrong that he was doing to giovanni antonio, his security (for he had received more than a hundred and fifty crowns), he set off by night. taking the road by pesaro, he made his way to venice, where, being entertained by messer pietro aretino, he made for him a drawing, which was afterwards engraved, of mars sleeping with venus, with the loves and graces despoiling him and carrying off his cuirass. departing from venice, he found his way into france, where he was received by the florentine colony with much affection. there he painted some pictures, which were afterwards placed in the gallery at fontainebleau; and these he then presented to king francis, who took infinite pleasure in them, but much more in the presence, speech, and manner of rosso, who was imposing in person, with red hair in accordance with his name, and serious, deliberate, and most judicious in his every action. the king, then, after straightway granting him an allowance of four hundred crowns, and giving him a house in paris, which he occupied but seldom, because he lived most of the time at fontainebleau, where he had rooms and lived like a nobleman, appointed him superintendent over all the buildings, pictures, and other ornaments of that place. [illustration: the transfiguration (_after the panel by =il rosso=. città da castello: duomo_) _alinari_] there, in the first place, rosso made a beginning with a gallery over the lower court, which he completed not with a vault, but with a ceiling, or rather, soffit, of woodwork, partitioned most beautifully into compartments. the side-walls he decorated all over with stucco-work, fantastic and bizarre in its distribution, and with carved cornices of many kinds; and on the piers were lifesize figures. everything below the cornices, between one pier and another, he adorned with festoons of stucco, vastly rich, and others painted, and all composed of most beautiful fruits and every sort of foliage. and then, in a large space, he caused to be painted after his own designs, if what i have heard is true, about twenty-four scenes in fresco, representing, i believe, the deeds of alexander the great; for which, as i have said, he made all the designs, executing them in chiaroscuro with water-colours. at the two ends of this gallery are two panel-pictures in oils by his hand, designed and painted with such perfection, that there is little better to be seen in the art of painting. in one of these are a bacchus and a venus, executed with marvellous art and judgment. the bacchus is a naked boy, so tender, soft, and delicate, that he seems to be truly of flesh, yielding to the touch, and rather alive than painted; and about him are some vases painted in imitation of gold, silver, crystal, and various precious stones, so fantastic, and surrounded by devices so many and so bizarre, that whoever beholds this work, with its vast variety of invention, stands in amazement before it. among other details, also, is a satyr raising part of a pavilion, whose head, in its strange, goatlike aspect, is a marvel of beauty, and all the more because he seems to be smiling and full of joy at the sight of so beautiful a boy. there is also a little boy riding on a wonderful bear, with many other ornaments full of grace and beauty. in the other picture are cupid and venus, with other lovely figures; but the figure to which rosso gave the greatest attention was the cupid, whom he represented as a boy of twelve, although well grown, riper in features than is expected at that age, and most beautiful in every part. the king, seeing these works, and liking them vastly, conceived an extraordinary affection for rosso; wherefore no long time passed before he gave him a canonicate in the sainte chapelle of the madonna at paris, with so many other revenues and benefits, that rosso lived like a nobleman, with a goodly number of servants and horses, giving banquets and showing all manner of courtesies to all his friends and acquaintances, especially to the italian strangers who arrived in those parts. after this, he executed another hall, which is called the pavilion, because it is in the form of a pavilion, being above the rooms on the first floor, and thus situated above any of the others. this apartment he decorated from the level of the floor to the roof with a great variety of beautiful ornaments in stucco, figures in the round distributed at equal intervals, and children, festoons, and various kinds of animals. in the compartments on the walls are seated figures in fresco, one in each; and such is their number, that there may be seen among them images of all the heathen gods and goddesses of the ancients. last of all, above the windows, is a frieze all adorned with stucco, and very rich, but without pictures. he then executed a vast number of works in many chambers, bathrooms, and other apartments, both in stucco and in painting, of some of which drawings may be seen, executed in engraving and published abroad, which are full of grace and beauty; as are also the numberless designs that rosso made for salt-cellars, vases, bowls, and other things of fancy, all of which the king afterwards caused to be executed in silver; but these were so numerous that it would take too long to mention them all. let it be enough to say that he made designs for all the vessels of a sideboard for the king, and for all the details of the trappings of horses, triumphal masquerades, and everything else that it is possible to imagine, showing in these such fantastic and bizarre conceptions, that no one could do better. in the year , when the emperor charles v went to france under the safeguard of king francis, and visited fontainebleau, having with him not more than twelve men, rosso executed one half of the decorations that the king ordained in order to honour that great emperor, and the other half was executed by francesco primaticcio of bologna. the works that rosso made, such as arches, colossal figures, and other things of that kind, were, so it was said at the time, the most astounding that had ever been made by any man up to that age. but a great part of the rooms finished by rosso at the aforesaid palace of fontainebleau were destroyed after his death by the same francesco primaticcio, who has made a new and larger structure in the same place. among those who worked with rosso on the aforesaid decorations in stucco and relief, and beloved by him beyond all the others, were the florentine lorenzo naldino, maestro francesco of orleans, maestro simone of paris, maestro claudio, likewise a parisian, maestro lorenzo of picardy, and many others. but the best of them all was domenico del barbieri, who is an excellent painter and master of stucco, and a marvellous draughtsman, as is proved by his engraved works, which may be numbered among the best in common circulation. the painters, likewise, whom he employed in those works at fontainebleau, were luca penni, brother of giovan francesco penni, called il fattore, who was a disciple of raffaello da urbino; the fleming leonardo, a very able painter, who executed the designs of rosso to perfection in colours; bartolommeo miniati, a florentine; with francesco caccianimici, and giovan battista da bagnacavallo. these last entered his service when francesco primaticcio went by order of the king to rome, to make moulds of the laocoon, the apollo, and many other choice antiquities, for the purpose of casting them afterwards in bronze. i say nothing of the carvers, the master-joiners, and innumerable others of whom rosso availed himself in those works, because there is no need to speak of them all, although many of them executed works worthy of much praise. in addition to the things mentioned above, rosso executed with his own hand a s. michael, which is a rare work. for the constable he painted a panel-picture of the dead christ, a choice thing, which is at a seat of that noble, called ecouen; and he also executed some exquisite miniatures for the king. he then drew a book of anatomical studies, intending to have it printed in france; of which there are some sheets by his own hand in our book of drawings. among his possessions, also, after he was dead, were found two very beautiful cartoons, in one of which is a leda of singular beauty, and in the other the tiburtine sibyl showing to the emperor octavian the glorious virgin with the infant christ in her arms. in the latter he drew the king, the queen, their guard, and the people, with such a number of figures, and all so well drawn, that it may be said with truth that this was one of the most beautiful things that rosso ever did. by reason of these works and many others, of which nothing is known, he became so dear to the king, that a little before his death he found himself in possession of more than a thousand crowns of income, without counting the allowances for his work, which were enormous; insomuch that, living no longer as a painter, but rather as a prince, he kept a number of servants and horses to ride, and had his house filled with tapestries, silver, and other valuable articles of furniture. but fortune, who never, or very seldom, maintains for long in high estate one who puts his trust too much in her, brought him headlong down in the strangest manner ever known. for while francesco di pellegrino, a florentine, who delighted in painting and was very much his friend, was associating with him in the closest intimacy, rosso was robbed of some hundreds of ducats; whereupon the latter, suspecting that no one but the same francesco could have done this, had him arrested by the hands of justice, rigorously examined, and grievously tortured. but he, knowing himself innocent, and declaring nothing but the truth, was finally released; and, moved by just anger, he was forced to show his resentment against rosso for the shameful charge that he had falsely laid upon him. having therefore issued a writ for libel against him, he pressed him so closely, that rosso, not being able to clear himself or make any defence, felt himself to be in a sorry plight, perceiving that he had not only accused his friend falsely, but had also stained his own honour; and to eat his words, or to adopt any other shameful method, would likewise proclaim him a false and worthless man. resolving, therefore, to kill himself by his own hand rather than be punished by others, he took the following course. one day that the king happened to be at fontainebleau, he sent a peasant to paris for a certain most poisonous essence, pretending that he wished to use it for making colours or varnishes, but intending to poison himself, as he did. the peasant, then, returned with it; and such was the malignity of the poison, that, merely through holding his thumb over the mouth of the phial, carefully stopped as it was with wax, he came very near losing that member, which was consumed and almost eaten away by the deadly potency of the poison. and shortly afterwards it slew rosso, although he was in perfect health, he having drunk it to the end that it might take his life, as it did in a few hours. this news, being brought to the king, grieved him beyond measure, since it seemed to him that by the death of rosso he had lost the most excellent craftsman of his day. however, to the end that the work might not suffer, he had it carried on by francesco primaticcio of bologna, who, as has been related, had already done much work for him; giving him a good abbey, even as he had presented a canonicate to rosso. rosso died in the year , leaving great regrets behind him among his friends and brother-craftsmen, who have learned by his example what benefits may accrue from a prince to one who is eminent in every field of art, and well-mannered and gentle in all his actions, as was that master, who for many reasons deserved, and still deserves, to be admired as one truly most excellent. bartolommeo da bagnacavallo and others lives of bartolommeo da bagnacavallo, and other painters of romagna it is certain that the result of emulation in the arts, caused by a desire for glory, proves for the most part to be one worthy of praise; but when it happens that the aspirant, through presumption and arrogance, comes to hold an inflated opinion of himself, in course of time the name for excellence that he seeks may be seen to dissolve into mist and smoke, for the reason that there is no advance to perfection possible for him who knows not his own failings and has no fear of the work of others. more readily does hope mount towards proficience for those modest and studious spirits who, leading an upright life, honour the works of rare masters and imitate them with all diligence, than for those who have their heads full of smoky pride, as had bartolommeo da bagnacavallo, amico of bologna, girolamo da cotignola, and innocenzio da imola, painters all, who, living in bologna at one and the same time, felt the greatest jealousy of one another that could possibly be imagined. and, what is more, their pride and vainglory, not being based on the foundation of ability, led them astray from the true path, which brings to immortality those who strive more from love of good work than from rivalry. this circumstance, then, was the reason that they did not crown the good beginnings that they had made with that final excellence which they expected; for their presuming to the name of masters turned them too far aside from the good way. bartolommeo da bagnacavallo had come to rome in the time of raffaello, in order to attain with his works to that perfection which he believed himself to be already grasping with his intellect. and being a young man who had some fame at bologna and had awakened expectations, he was set to execute a work in the church of the pace at rome, in the first chapel on the right hand as one enters the church, above the chapel of baldassarre peruzzi of siena. but, thinking that he had not achieved the success that he had promised himself, he returned to bologna. there he and the others mentioned above, in competition one with another, executed each a scene from the lives of christ and his mother in the chapel of the madonna in s. petronio, near the door of the façade, on the right hand as one enters the church; among which little difference in merit is to be seen between one and another. but bartolommeo acquired from this work the reputation of having a manner both softer and stronger than the others; and although there is a vast number of strange things in the scene of maestro amico, in which he depicted the resurrection of christ with armed men in crouching and distorted attitudes, and many soldiers crushed flat by the stone of the sepulchre, which has fallen upon them, nevertheless that of bartolommeo, as having more unity of design and colouring, was more extolled by other craftsmen. on account of this bartolommeo associated himself with biagio bolognese, a person with much more practice than excellence in art; and they executed in company at s. salvatore, for the frati scopetini, a refectory which they painted partly in fresco and partly "a secco," containing the scene of christ satisfying five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes. they painted, also, on a wall of the library, the disputation of s. augustine, wherein they made a passing good view in perspective. these masters, thanks to having seen the works of raffaello and associated with him, had a certain quality which, upon the whole, gave promise of excellence, but in truth they did not attend as they should have done to the more subtle refinements of art. yet, since there were no painters in bologna at that time who knew more than they did, they were held by those who then governed the city, as well as by all the people, to be the best masters in italy. [illustration: the holy family with saints (_after the panel by =bartolommeo da bagnacavallo=. bologna: accademia, _) _anderson_] by the hand of bartolommeo are some round pictures in fresco under the vaulting of the palace of the podestà, and a scene of the visitation of s. elizabeth in s. vitale, opposite to the palace of the fantucci. in the convent of the servites at bologna, round a panel-picture of the annunciation painted in oils, are some saints executed in fresco by innocenzio da imola. in s. michele in bosco bartolommeo painted in fresco the chapel of ramazzotto, a faction-leader in romagna. in a chapel in s. stefano the same master painted two saints in fresco, with some little angels of considerable beauty in the sky; and in s. jacopo, for messer annibale del corello, a chapel in which he represented the circumcision of our lord, with a number of figures, above which, in a lunette, he painted abraham sacrificing his son to god. this work, in truth, was executed in a good and able manner. for the misericordia, without bologna, he painted a little panel-picture in distemper of our lady and some saints; with many pictures and other works, which are in the hands of various persons in that city. this master, in truth, was above mediocrity both in the uprightness of his life and in his works, and he was superior to the others in drawing and invention, as may be seen from a drawing in our book, wherein is jesus christ, as a boy, disputing with the doctors in the temple, with a building executed with good mastery and judgment. in the end, he finished his life at the age of fifty-eight. he had always been much envied by amico of bologna, an eccentric man of extravagant brain, whose figures, executed by him throughout all italy, but particularly in bologna, where he spent most of his time, are equally eccentric and even mad, if one may say so. if, indeed, the vast labour which amico devoted to drawing had been pursued with a settled object, and not by caprice, he might perchance have surpassed many whom we regard as rare and able men. and even so, such is the value of persistent labour, that it is not possible that out of a mass of work there should not be found some that is good and worthy of praise; and such, among the vast number of works that this master executed, is a façade in chiaroscuro on the piazza de' marsigli, wherein are many historical pictures, with a frieze of animals fighting together, very spirited and well executed, which is almost the best work that he ever painted. he painted another façade at the porta di s. mammolo, and a frieze round the principal chapel of s. salvatore, so extravagant and so full of absurdities that it would provoke laughter in one who was on the verge of tears. in a word, there is no church or street in bologna which has not some daub by the hand of this master. in rome, also, he painted not a little; and in s. friano, at lucca, he filled a chapel with inventions fantastic and bizarre, among which are some things worthy of praise, such as the stories of the cross and some of s. augustine. in these are innumerable portraits of distinguished persons of that city; and, to tell the truth, this was one of the best works that maestro amico ever executed with colours in fresco. in s. jacopo, at bologna, he painted at the altar of s. niccola some stories of the latter saint, and below these a frieze with views in perspective, which deserve to be extolled. when the emperor charles v visited bologna, amico made a triumphal arch, for which alfonso lombardi executed statues in relief, at the gate of the palace. and it is no marvel that the work of amico revealed skill of hand rather than any other quality, for it is said that, like the eccentric and extraordinary person that he was, he went through all italy drawing and copying every work of painting or relief, whether good or bad, on which account he became something of an adept in invention; and when he found anything likely to be useful to him, he laid his hands upon it eagerly, and then destroyed it, so that no one else might make use of it. the result of all this striving was that he acquired the strange, mad manner that we know. finally, having reached the age of seventy, what with his art and the eccentricity of his life, he became raving mad, at which messer francesco guicciardini, a noble florentine, and a most trustworthy writer of the history of his own times, who was then governor of bologna, found no small amusement, as did the whole city. some people, however, believe that there was some method mixed with this madness of his, because, having sold some property for a small price while he was mad and in very great straits, he asked for it back again when he regained his sanity, and recovered it under certain conditions, since he had sold it, so he said, when he was mad. i do not swear, indeed, that this is true, for it may have been otherwise; but i do say that i have often heard the story told. [illustration: the adoration (_after the panel by =amico of bologna [amico aspertini]=. bologna: pinacoteca, _) _alinari_] amico also gave his attention to sculpture, and executed to the best of his ability, in marble, a dead christ with nicodemus supporting him. this work, which he treated in the manner seen in his pictures, is on the right within the entrance of the church of s. petronio. he used to paint with both hands at the same time, holding in one the brush with the bright colour, and in the other that with the dark. but the best joke of all was that he had his leather belt hung all round with little pots full of tempered colours, so that he looked like the devil of s. macario with all those flasks of his; and when he worked with his spectacles on his nose, he would have made the very stones laugh, and particularly when he began to chatter, for then he babbled enough for twenty, saying the strangest things in the world, and his whole demeanour was a comedy. certain it is that he never used to speak well of any person, however able or good, and however well dowered he saw him to be by nature or fortune. and, as has been said, he so loved to chatter and tell stories, that one evening, at the hour of the ave maria, when a painter of bologna, after buying cabbages in the piazza, came upon amico, the latter kept him under the loggia del podestà with his talk and his amusing stories, without the poor man being able to break away from him, almost till daylight, when amico said: "now go and boil your cabbages, for the time is getting on." he was the author of a vast number of other jokes and follies, of which i shall not make mention, because it is now time to say something of girolamo da cotignola. this master painted many pictures and portraits from life in bologna, and among them are two in the house of the vinacci, which are very beautiful. he made a portrait after death of monsignore de foix, who died in the rout of ravenna, and not long after he executed a portrait of massimiliano sforza. for s. giuseppe he painted a panel-picture which brought him much praise, and, for s. michele in bosco, the panel-picture in oils which is in the chapel of s. benedetto. the latter work led to his executing, in company with biagio bolognese, all the scenes which are round that church, laid on in fresco and executed "a secco," wherein are seen proofs of no little mastery, as has been said in speaking of the manner of biagio. the same girolamo painted a large altar-piece for s. colomba at rimini, in competition with benedetto da ferrara and lattanzio, in which work he made a s. lucia rather wanton than beautiful. and in the great tribune of that church he executed a coronation of our lady, with the twelve apostles and the four evangelists, with heads so gross and hideous that they are an outrage to the eye. he then returned to bologna, but had not been there long when he went to rome, where he made portraits from life of many men of rank, and in particular that of pope paul iii. but, perceiving that it was no place for him, and that he was not likely to acquire honour, profit, or fame among so many noble craftsmen, he went off to naples, where he found some friends who showed him favour, and above all m. tommaso cambi, a florentine merchant, and a devoted lover of pictures and antiquities in marble, by whom he was supplied with everything of which he was in need. thereupon, setting to work, he executed a panel-picture of the magi, in oils, for the chapel of one m. antonello, bishop of i know not what place, in monte oliveto, and another panel-picture in oils for s. aniello, containing the madonna, s. paul, and s. john the baptist, with portraits from life for many noblemen. being now well advanced in years, he lived like a miser, and was always trying to save money; and after no long time, having little more to do in naples, he returned to rome. there some friends of his, having heard that he had saved a few crowns, persuaded him that he ought to get married and live a properly-regulated life. and so, thinking that he was doing well for himself, he let those friends deceive him so completely that they imposed upon him for a wife, to suit their own convenience, a prostitute whom they had been keeping. then, after he had married her and come to a knowledge of her, the truth was revealed, at which the poor old man was so grieved that he died in a few weeks at the age of sixty-nine. and now to say something of innocenzio da imola. this master was for many years in florence with mariotto albertinelli; and then, having returned to imola, he executed many works in that place. but finally, at the persuasion of count giovan battista bentivogli, he went to live in bologna, where one of his first works was a copy of a picture formerly executed by raffaello da urbino for signor leonello da carpi. and for the monks of s. michele in bosco he painted in fresco, in their chapter-house, the death of our lady and the resurrection of christ, works which were executed with truly supreme diligence and finish. for the church of the same monks, also, he painted the panel of the high-altar, the upper part of which is done in a good manner. for the servites of bologna he executed an annunciation on panel, and for s. salvatore a crucifixion, with many pictures of various kinds throughout the whole city. at the viola, for the cardinal of ivrea, he painted three loggie in fresco, each containing two scenes, executed in colour from designs by other painters, and yet finished with much diligence. he painted in fresco a chapel in s. jacopo, and for madonna benozza a panel-picture in oils, which was not otherwise than passing good. he made a portrait, also, besides many others, of cardinal francesco alidosio, which i have seen at imola, together with the portrait of cardinal bernardino carvajal, and both are works of no little beauty. innocenzio was a very good and modest person, and therefore always avoided any dealings or intercourse with the painters of bologna, who were quite the opposite in nature, and he was always exerting himself beyond the limits of his strength; wherefore, when he fell sick of a putrid fever at the age of fifty-six, it found him so weak and exhausted that it killed him in a few days. he left unfinished, or rather, scarcely begun, a work that he had undertaken without bologna, and this was completed to perfection, according to the arrangement made by innocenzio before his death, by prospero fontana, a painter of bologna. the works of all the above-named painters date from to , and there are drawings by the hands of them all in our book. [illustration: the marriage of s. catharine (_after the painting by =innocenzio da imola=. bologna: s. giacomo maggiore_) _alinari_] franciabigio life of franciabigio [_francia_] painter of florence the fatigues that a man endures in this life in order to raise himself from the ground and protect himself from poverty, succouring not only himself but also his nearest and dearest, have such virtue, that the sweat and the hardships become full of sweetness, and bring comfort and nourishment to the minds of others, insomuch that heaven, in its bounty, perceiving one drawn to a good life and to upright conduct, and also filled with zeal and inclination for the studies of the sciences, is forced to be benign and favourably disposed towards him beyond its wont; as it was, in truth, towards the florentine painter francia. this master, having applied himself to the art of painting for a just and excellent reason, laboured therein not so much out of a desire for fame as from a wish to bring assistance to his needy relatives; and having been born in a family of humble artisans, people of low degree, he sought to raise himself from that position. in this effort he was much spurred by his rivalry with andrea del sarto, then his companion, with whom for a long time he shared both work-room and the painter's life; on account of which life they made great proficience, one through the other, in the art of painting. francia learned the first principles of art in his youth by living for some months with mariotto albertinelli. and being much inclined to the study of perspective, at which he was always working out of pure delight, while still quite young he gained a reputation for great ability in florence. the first works painted by him were a s. bernard executed in fresco in s. pancrazio, a church opposite to his own house, and a s. catharine of siena, executed likewise in fresco, on a pilaster in the chapel of the rucellai; whereby, exerting himself in that art, he gave proofs of his fine qualities. much more, even, was he established in repute by a picture which is in a little chapel in s. pietro maggiore, containing our lady with the child in her arms, and a little s. john caressing jesus christ. he also gave proof of his excellence in a shrine executed in fresco, in which he painted the visitation of our lady, on a corner of the church of s. giobbe, behind the servite convent in florence. in the figure of that madonna may be seen a goodness truly appropriate, with profound reverence in that of the older woman; and the s. job he painted poor and leprous, and also rich and restored to health. this work so revealed his powers that he came into credit and fame; whereupon the men who were the rulers of that church and brotherhood gave him the commission for the panel-picture of their high-altar, in which francia acquitted himself even better; and in that work he painted a madonna, and s. job in poverty, and made a portrait of himself in the face of s. john the baptist. there was built at that time, in s. spirito at florence, the chapel of s. niccola, in which was placed a figure of that saint in the round, carved in wood from the model by jacopo sansovino; and francia painted two little angels in two square pictures in oils, one on either side of that figure, which were much extolled, and also depicted the annunciation in two round pictures; and the predella he adorned with little figures representing the miracles of s. nicholas, executed with such diligence that he deserves much praise for them. in s. pietro maggiore, by the door, and on the right hand as one enters the church, is an annunciation by his hand, wherein he made the angel still flying through the sky, and the madonna receiving the salutation on her knees, in a most graceful attitude; and he drew there a building in perspective, which was a masterly thing, and was much extolled. and, in truth, although francia had a somewhat dainty manner, because he was very laborious and constrained in his work, nevertheless he showed great care and diligence in giving the true proportions of art to his figures. [illustration: the marriage of the virgin (_after the fresco by =franciabigio [francia]=. florence: ss. annunziata_) _anderson_] he was commissioned to execute a scene in the cloister in front of the church of the servites, in competition with andrea del sarto; and there he painted the marriage of our lady, wherein may be clearly recognized the supreme faith of joseph, who shows in his face as much awe as joy at his marriage with her. besides this, francia painted there one who is giving him some blows, as is the custom in our own day, in memory of the wedding; and in a nude figure he expressed very happily the rage and disappointment that drive him to break his rod, which had not blossomed, the drawing of which, with many others, is in our book. in the company of our lady, also, he painted some women with most beautiful expressions and head-dresses, things in which he always delighted. and in all this scene he did not paint a single thing that was not very well considered; as is, for example, a woman with a child in her arms, who, turning to go home, has cuffed another child, who has sat down in tears and refuses to go, pressing one hand against his face in a very graceful manner. certain it is that he executed every detail in this scene, whether large or small, with much diligence and love, on account of the burning desire that he had to show therein to craftsmen and to all other good judges how great was his respect for the difficulties of art, and how successfully he could solve them by faithful imitation. not long after this, on the occasion of a festival, the friars wished that the scenes of andrea, and likewise that of francia, should be uncovered; and the night after francia had finished his with the exception of the base, they were so rash and presumptuous as to uncover them, not thinking, in their ignorance of art, that francia would want to retouch or otherwise change his figures. in the morning, both the painting of francia and those of andrea were open to view, and the news was brought to francia that andrea's works and his own had been uncovered; at which he felt such resentment, that he was like to die of it. seized with anger against the friars on account of their presumption and the little respect that they had shown to him, he set off at his best speed and came up to the work; and then, climbing on to the staging, which had not yet been taken to pieces, although the painting had been uncovered, and seizing a mason's hammer that was there, he beat some of the women's heads to fragments, and destroyed that of the madonna, and also tore almost completely away from the wall, plaster and all, a nude figure that is breaking a rod. hearing the noise, the friars ran up, and, with the help of some laymen, seized his hands, to prevent him from destroying it completely. but, although in time they offered to give him double payment, he, on account of the hatred that he had conceived for them, would never restore it. by reason of the reverence felt by other painters both for him and for the work, they have refused to finish it; and so it remains, even in our own day, as a memorial of that event. this fresco is executed with such diligence and so much love, and it is so beautiful in its freshness, that francia may be said to have worked better in fresco than any man of his time, and to have blended and harmonized his paintings in fresco better than any other, without needing to retouch the colours; wherefore he deserves to be much extolled both for this and for his other works. at rovezzano, without the porta alla croce, near florence, he painted a shrine with a christ on the cross and some saints; and in s. giovannino, at the porta a s. piero gattolini, he executed a last supper of the apostles in fresco. no long time after, on the departure for france of the painter andrea del sarto, who had begun to paint the stories of s. john the baptist in chiaroscuro in a cloister of the company of the scalzo at florence, the men of that company, desiring to have that work finished, engaged francia, to the end that he, being an imitator of the manner of andrea, might complete the paintings begun by the other. thereupon francia executed the decorations right round one part of that cloister, and finished two of the scenes, which he painted with great diligence. these are, first s. john the baptist obtaining leave from his father zacharias to go into the desert, and then the meeting of christ and s. john on the way, with joseph and mary standing there and beholding them embrace one another. but more than this he did not do, on account of the return of andrea, who then went on to finish the rest of the work. with ridolfo ghirlandajo he prepared a most beautiful festival for the marriage of duke lorenzo, with two sets of scenery for the dramas that were performed, executing them with much method, masterly judgment, and grace; on account of which he acquired credit and favour with that prince. this service was the reason that he received the commission for gilding the ceiling of the hall of poggio a caiano, in company with andrea di cosimo. and afterwards, in competition with andrea del sarto and jacopo da pontormo, he began, on a wall in that hall, the scene of cicero being carried in triumph by the citizens of rome. this work had been undertaken by the liberality of pope leo, in memory of his father lorenzo, who had caused the edifice to be built, and had ordained that it should be painted with scenes from ancient history and other ornaments according to his pleasure. and these had been entrusted by the learned historian, m. paolo giovio, bishop of nocera, who was then chief in authority near the person of cardinal giulio de' medici, to andrea del sarto, jacopo da pontormo, and franciabigio, that they might demonstrate the power and perfection of their art in the work, each receiving thirty crowns every month from the magnificent ottaviano de' medici. thereupon francia executed on his part, to say nothing of the beauty of the scene, some buildings in perspective, very well proportioned. but the work remained unfinished on account of the death of leo; and afterwards, in the year , it was begun again by jacopo da pontormo at the commission of duke alessandro de' medici, but he lingered over it so long, that the duke died and it was once more left unfinished. but to return to francia; so ardent was his love for the matters of art, that there was no summer day on which he did not draw some study of a nude figure from the life in his work-room, and to that end he always kept men in his pay. for s. maria nuova, at the request of maestro andrea pasquali, an excellent physician of florence, he executed an anatomical figure, in consequence of which he made a great advance in the art of painting, and pursued it ever afterwards with more zeal. he then painted in the convent of s. maria novella, in the lunette over the door of the library, a s. thomas confuting the heretics with his learning, a work which is executed with diligence and a good manner. there, among other details, are two children who serve to uphold an escutcheon in the ornamental border; and these are very fine, full of the greatest beauty and grace, and painted in a most lovely manner. he also executed a picture with little figures for giovanni maria benintendi, in competition with jacopo da pontormo, who painted another of the same size for that patron, containing the story of the magi; and two others were painted by francesco d' albertino.[ ] in his work francia represented the scene of david seeing bathsheba in her bath; and there he painted some women in a manner too smooth and dainty, and drew a building in perspective, wherein is david giving letters to the messengers, who are to carry them to the camp to the end that uriah the hittite may meet his death; and under a loggia he painted a royal banquet of great beauty. this work contributed greatly to the fame and honour of francia, who, if he had much ability for large figures, had much more for little figures. francia also made many most beautiful portraits from life; one, in particular, for matteo sofferroni, who was very much his friend, and another for a countryman, the steward of pier francesco de' medici at the palace of s. girolamo da fiesole, which seems absolutely alive, with many others. and since he undertook any kind of work without being ashamed, so long as he was pursuing his art, he set his hand to whatever commission was given to him; wherefore, in addition to many works of the meanest kind, he painted a most beautiful "noli me tangere" for the cloth-weaver arcangelo, at the top of a tower that serves as a terrace, in porta rossa; with an endless number of other trivial works, executed by francia because he was a person of sweet and kindly nature and very obliging, of which there is no need to say more. [illustration: franciabigio: portrait of a man (_vienna: collection of prince liechtenstein._ _canvas_)] this master loved to live in peace, and for that reason would never take a wife; and he was always repeating the trite proverb, "the fruits of a wife are cares and strife." he would never leave florence, because, having seen some works by raffaello da urbino, and feeling that he was not equal to that great man and to many others of supreme renown, he did not wish to compete with craftsmen of such rare excellence. in truth, the greatest wisdom and prudence that a man can possess is to know himself, and to refrain from exalting himself beyond his true worth. and, finally, having acquired much by constant work, for one who was not endowed by nature with much boldness of invention or with any powers but those that he had gained by long study, he died in the year at the age of forty-two. one of francia's disciples was his brother agnolo, who died after having painted a frieze that is in the cloister of s. pancrazio, and a few other works. the same agnolo painted for the perfumer ciano, an eccentric man, but respected after his kind, a sign for his shop, containing a gipsy woman telling the fortune of a lady in a very graceful manner, which was the idea of ciano, and not without mystic meaning. another who learnt to paint from the same master was antonio di donnino mazzieri, who was a bold draughtsman, and showed much invention in making horses and landscapes. he painted in chiaroscuro the cloister of s. agostino at monte sansovino, executing therein scenes from the old testament, which were much extolled. in the vescovado of arezzo he painted the chapel of s. matteo, with a scene, among other things, showing that saint baptizing a king, in which he made a portrait of a german, so good that it seems to be alive. for francesco del giocondo he executed the story of the martyrs in a chapel behind the choir of the servite church in florence; but in this he acquitted himself so badly, that he lost all his credit and was reduced to undertaking any sort of work. francia taught his art also to a young man named visino, who, to judge from what we see of him, would have become an excellent painter, if he had not died young, as he did; and to many others, of whom i shall make no further mention. he was buried by the company of s. giobbe in s. pancrazio, opposite to his own house, in the year ; and his death was truly a great grief to all good craftsmen, seeing that he had been a talented and skilful master, and very modest in his every action. footnote: [ ] francesco ubertini, called il bacchiacca. morto da feltro and andrea di cosimo feltrini lives of morto da feltro and of andrea di cosimo feltrini painters the painter morto da feltro, who was as original in his life as he was in his brain and in the new fashion of grotesques that he made, which caused him to be held in great estimation, found his way as a young man to rome at the time when pinturicchio was painting the papal apartments for alexander vi, with the loggie and lower rooms in the great tower of the castello di s. angelo, and some of the upper apartments. he was a melancholy person, and was constantly studying the antiquities; and seeing among them sections of vaults and ranges of walls adorned with grotesques, he liked these so much that he never ceased from examining them. and so well did he grasp the methods of drawing foliage in the ancient manner, that he was second to no man of his time in that profession. he was never tired, indeed, of examining all that he could find below the ground in rome in the way of ancient grottoes, with vaults innumerable. he spent many months in hadrian's villa at tivoli, drawing all the pavements and grottoes that are there, both above ground and below. and hearing that at pozzuolo, in the kingdom of naples, ten miles from the city, there were many walls covered with ancient grotesques, both executed in relief with stucco and painted, and said to be very beautiful, he devoted several months to studying them on the spot. nor was he content until he had drawn every least thing in the campana, an ancient road in that place, full of antique sepulchres; and he also drew many of the temples and grottoes, both above and below the ground, at trullo, near the seashore. he went to baia and mercato di sabbato, both places full of ruined buildings covered with scenes, searching out everything in such a manner that by means of his long and loving labour he grew vastly in power and knowledge of his art. having then returned to rome, he worked there many months, giving his attention to figures, since he considered that in that part of his profession he was not the master that he was held to be in the execution of grotesques. and after he had conceived this desire, hearing the renown that leonardo and michelagnolo had in that art on account of the cartoons executed by them in florence, he set out straightway to go to that city. but, after he had seen those works, he did not think himself able to make the same improvement that he had made in his first profession, and he went back, therefore, to work at his grotesques. there was then living in florence one andrea di cosimo feltrini, a painter of that city, and a young man of much diligence, who received morto into his house and entertained him with most affectionate attentions. finding pleasure in the nature of morto's art, andrea also gave his mind to that vocation, and became an able master, being in time even more excellent than morto, and much esteemed in florence, as will be told later. and it was through andrea that morto came to paint for piero soderini, who was then gonfalonier, decorations of grotesques in an apartment of the palace, which were held to be very beautiful; but in our own day these have been destroyed in rearranging the apartments of duke cosimo, and repainted. for maestro valerio, a servite friar, morto decorated the empty space on a chair-back, which was a most beautiful work; and for agnolo doni, likewise, in a chamber, he executed many pictures with a variety of bizarre grotesques. and since he also delighted in figures, he painted our lady in some round pictures, in order to see whether he could become as famous for them as he was (for his grotesques). then, having grown weary of staying in florence, he betook himself to venice; and attaching himself to giorgione da castelfranco, who was then painting the fondaco de' tedeschi, he set himself to assist him and executed the ornamentation of that work. and in this way he remained many months in that city, attracted by the sensuous pleasures and delights that he found there. he then went to execute works in friuli, but he had not been there long when, finding that the rulers of venice were enlisting soldiers, he entered their service; and before he had had much experience of that calling he was made captain of two hundred men. the army of the venetians had advanced by that time to zara in sclavonia; and one day, when a brisk skirmish took place, morto, desiring to win a greater name in that profession than he had gained in the art of painting, went bravely forward, and, after fighting in the mêlée, was left dead on the field, even as he had always been in name,[ ] at the age of forty-five. but in fame he will never be dead, because those who exercise their hands in the arts and produce everlasting works, leaving memorials of themselves after death, are destined never to suffer the death of their labours, for writers, in their gratitude, bear witness to their talents. eagerly, therefore, should our craftsmen spur themselves on with incessant study to such a goal as will ensure them an undying name both through their own works and through the writings of others, since, by so doing, they will gain eternal life both for themselves and for the works that they leave behind them after death. morto restored the painting of grotesques in a manner more like the ancient than was achieved by any other painter, and for this he deserves infinite praise, in that it is after his example that they have been brought in our own day, by the hands of giovanni da udine and other craftsmen, to the great beauty and excellence that we see. for, although the said giovanni and others have carried them to absolute perfection, it is none the less true that the chief praise is due to morto, who was the first to bring them to light and to devote his whole attention to paintings of that kind, which are called grotesques because they were found for the most part in the grottoes of the ruins of rome; besides which, every man knows that it is easy to make additions to anything once it has been discovered. the painting of grotesques was continued in florence by andrea feltrini, called di cosimo, because he was a disciple of cosimo rosselli in the study of figures (which he executed passing well), as he was afterwards of morto in that of grotesques, of which we have spoken. in this kind of painting andrea had from nature such power of invention and such grace that he was the first to make ornaments of greater grandeur, abundance, and richness than the ancient, and quite different in manner; and he gave them better order and cohesion, and enriched them with figures, such as are not seen in rome or in any other place but florence, where he executed a great number. in this respect there has never been any man who has surpassed him in excellence, as may be seen from the ornament and the predella painted with little grotesques in colour round the pietà that pietro perugino executed for the altar of the serristori in s. croce at florence. these are heightened with various colours on a ground of red and black mixed together, and are wrought with much facility and with extraordinary boldness and grace. andrea introduced the practice of covering the façades of houses and palaces with an intonaco of lime mixed with the black of ground charcoal, or rather, burnt straw, on which intonaco, when still fresh, he spread a layer of white plaster. then, having drawn the grotesques, with such divisions as he desired, on some cartoons, he dusted them over the intonaco, and proceeded to scratch it with an iron tool, in such a way that his designs were traced over the whole façade by that tool; after which, scraping away the white from the grounds of the grotesques, he went on to shade them or to hatch a good design upon them with the same iron tool. finally, he went over the whole work, shading it with a liquid water-colour like water tinted with black. all this produces a very pleasing, rich, and beautiful effect; and there was an account of the method in the twenty-sixth chapter, dealing with sgraffiti, in the treatise on technique. the first façades that andrea executed in this manner were that of the gondi, which is full of delicacy and grace, in borg' ognissanti, and that of lanfredino lanfredini, which is very ornate and rich in the variety of its compartments, on the lungarno between the ponte s. trinita and the ponte della carraja, near s. spirito. he also decorated in sgraffito the house of andrea and tommaso sertini, near s. michele in piazza padella, making it more varied and grander in manner than the two others. he painted in chiaroscuro the façade of the church of the servite friars, for which work he caused the painter tommaso di stefano to paint in two niches the angel bringing the annunciation to the virgin; and in the court, where there are the stories of s. filippo and of our lady painted by andrea del sarto, he executed between the two doors a very beautiful escutcheon of pope leo x. and on the occasion of the visit of that pontiff to florence he executed many beautiful ornaments in the form of grotesques on the façade of s. maria del fiore, for jacopo sansovino, who gave him his sister for wife. he executed the baldachin under which the pope walked, covering the upper part with most beautiful grotesques, and the hangings round it with the arms of that pope and other devices of the church; and this baldachin was afterwards presented to the church of s. lorenzo in florence, where it is still to be seen. he also decorated many standards and banners for the visit of leo, and in honour of many who were made chevaliers by that pontiff and by other princes, of which there are some hung up in various churches in that city. andrea, working constantly in the service of the house of medici, assisted at the preparations for the wedding of duke giuliano and that of duke lorenzo, executing an abundance of various ornaments in the form of grotesques; and so, also, in the obsequies of those princes. in all this he was largely employed by franciabigio, andrea del sarto, pontormo, and ridolfo ghirlandajo, and by granaccio for triumphal processions and other festivals, since nothing good could be done without him. he was the best man that ever touched a brush, and, being timid by nature, he would never undertake any work on his own account, because he was afraid of exacting the money for his labours. he delighted to work the whole day long, and disliked annoyances of any kind; for which reason he associated himself with the gilder mariotto di francesco, one of the most able and skilful men at his work that ever existed in the world of art, very adroit in obtaining commissions, and most dexterous in exacting payments and doing business. this mariotto also brought the gilder raffaello di biagio into the partnership, and the three worked together, sharing equally all the earnings of the commissions that they executed; and this association lasted until death parted them, mariotto being the last to die. to return to the works of andrea; he decorated for giovanni maria benintendi all the ceilings of his house, and executed the ornamentation of the ante-chambers, wherein are the scenes painted by franciabigio and jacopo da pontormo. he went with franciabigio to poggio, and executed in terretta the ornaments for all the scenes there in such a way that there is nothing better to be seen. for the chevalier guidotti he decorated in sgraffito the façade of his house in the via larga, and he also executed another of great beauty for bartolommeo panciatichi, on the house (now belonging to ruberto de' ricci) which he built on the piazza degli agli. nor am i able to describe all the friezes, coffers, and strong-boxes, or the vast quantity of ceilings, which andrea decorated with his own hand, for the whole city is full of these, and i must refrain from speaking of them. but i must mention the round escutcheons of various kinds that he made, for they were such that no wedding could take place without his having his workshop besieged by one citizen or another; nor could any kind of brocade, linen, or cloth of gold, with flowered patterns, ever be woven, without his making the designs for them, and that with so much variety, grace, and beauty, that he breathed spirit and life into all such things. if andrea, indeed, had known his own value, he would have made a vast fortune; but it sufficed him to live in love with his art. i must not omit to tell that in my youth, while in the service of duke alessandro de' medici, i was commissioned, when charles v came to florence, to make the banners for the castle, or rather, as it is called at the present day, the citadel; and among these was a standard of crimson cloth, eighteen braccia wide at the staff and forty in length, and surrounded by borders of gold containing the devices of the emperor charles v and of the house of medici, with the arms of his majesty in the centre. for this work, in which were used forty-five thousand leaves of gold, i summoned to my assistance andrea for the borders and mariotto for the gilding; and many things did i learn from that good andrea, so full of love and kindness for those who were studying art. and so great did the skill of andrea then prove to be, that, besides availing myself of him for many details of the arches that were erected for the entry of his majesty, i chose him as my companion, together with tribolo, when madama margherita, daughter of charles v, came to be married to duke alessandro, in making the festive preparations that i executed in the house of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici on the piazza di s. marco, which was adorned with grotesques by his hand, with statues by the hand of tribolo, and with figures and scenes by my hand. at the last he was much employed for the obsequies of duke alessandro, and even more for the marriage of duke cosimo, when all the devices in the courtyard, described by m. francesco giambullari, who wrote an account of the festivities of that wedding, were painted by andrea with ornaments of great variety. and then andrea--who, by reason of a melancholy humour which often oppressed him, was on many occasions on the point of taking his own life, but was observed so closely and guarded so well by his companion mariotto that he lived to be an old man--finished the course of his life at the age of sixty-four, leaving behind him the name of a good and even rarely excellent master of grotesque-painting in our own times, wherein every succeeding craftsman has always imitated his manner, not only in florence, but also in other places. footnote: [ ] from the word "morto," which means "dead." marco calavrese life of marco calavrese painter when the world possesses some great light in any science, every least part is illuminated by its rays, some with greater brightness and some with less; and the miracles that result are also greater or less according to differences of air and place. constantly, in truth, do we see a particular country producing a particular kind of intellect fitted for a particular kind of work, for which others are not fitted, nor can they ever attain, whatever labours they may endure, to the goal of supreme excellence. and if we marvel when we see growing in some province a fruit that has not been wont to grow there, much more can we rejoice in a man of fine intellect when we find him in a country where men of the same bent are not usually born. thus it was with the painter marco calavrese, who, leaving his own country, chose for his habitation the sweet and pleasant city of naples. he had been minded, indeed, on setting out, to make his way to rome, and there to achieve the end that rewards the student of painting; but the song of the siren was so sweet to him, and all the more because he delighted to play on the lute, and the soft waters of sebeto so melted his heart, that he remained a prisoner in body of that land until he rendered up his spirit to heaven and his mortal flesh to earth. marco executed innumerable works in oils and in fresco, and he proved himself more able than any other man who was practising the same art in that country in his day. of this we have proof in the work that he executed at aversa, ten miles distant from naples; and, above all, in a panel-picture in oils on the high-altar of the church of s. agostino, with a large ornamental frame, and various pictures painted with scenes and figures, in which he represented s. augustine disputing with the heretics, with stories of christ and saints in various attitudes both above and at the sides. in this work, which shows a manner full of harmony and drawing towards the good manner of our modern works, may also be seen great beauty and facility of colouring; and it was one of the many labours that he executed in that city and for various places in the kingdom. marco always lived a gay life, enjoying every minute to the full, for the reason that, having no rivalry to contend with in painting from other craftsmen, he was always adored by the neapolitan nobles, and contrived to have himself rewarded for his works by ample payments. and so, having come to the age of fifty-six, he ended his life after an ordinary illness. he left a disciple in giovan filippo crescione, a painter of naples, who executed many pictures in company with his brother-in-law, leonardo castellani, as he still does; but of these men, since they are alive and in constant practice of their art, there is no need to make mention. the pictures of maestro marco were executed by him between and . he had a companion in another calabrian (whose name i do not know), who worked for a long time in rome with giovanni da udine and executed many works by himself in that city, particularly façades in chiaroscuro. the same calabrian also painted in fresco the chapel of the conception in the church of the trinità, with much skill and diligence. at this same time lived niccola, commonly called by everyone maestro cola dalla matrice, who executed many works in calabria, at ascoli, and at norcia, which are very well known, and which gained for him the name of a rare master--the best, indeed, that there had ever been in these parts. and since he also gave his attention to architecture, all the buildings that were erected in his day at ascoli and throughout all that province had him as architect. cola, without caring to see rome or to change his country, remained always at ascoli, living happily for some time with his wife, a woman of good and honourable family, and endowed with extraordinary nobility of spirit, as was proved when the strife of parties arose at ascoli, in the time of pope paul iii. for then, while she was flying with her husband, with many soldiers in pursuit, more on her account (for she was a very beautiful young woman) than for any other reason, she resolved, not seeing any other way in which she could save her own honour and the life of her husband, to throw herself from a high cliff to the depth below. at which all the soldiers believed that she was not only mortally injured, but dashed to pieces, as indeed she was; wherefore they left the husband without doing him any harm, and returned to ascoli. after the death of this extraordinary woman, worthy of eternal praise, maestro cola passed the rest of his life with little happiness. a short time afterwards, signor alessandro vitelli, who had become lord of matrice,[ ] took maestro cola, now an old man, to città di castello, where he caused him to paint in his palace many works in fresco and many other pictures; which works finished, maestro cola returned to finish his life at matrice. this master would have acquitted himself not otherwise than passing well, if he had practised his art in places where rivalry and emulation might have made him attend with more study to painting, and exercise the beautiful intellect with which it is evident that he was endowed by nature. footnote: [ ] amatrice. francesco mazzuoli life of francesco mazzuoli [_parmigiano_] painter of parma among the many natives of lombardy who have been endowed with the gracious gift of design, with a lively spirit of invention, and with a particular manner of making beautiful landscapes in their pictures, we should rate as second to none, and even place before all the rest, francesco mazzuoli of parma, who was bountifully endowed by heaven with all those parts that are necessary to make a supreme painter, insomuch that he gave to his figures, in addition to what has been said of many others, a certain nobility, sweetness, and grace in the attitudes which belonged to him alone. to his heads, likewise, it is evident that he gave all the consideration that is needful; and his manner has therefore been studied and imitated by innumerable painters, because he shed on art a light of grace so pleasing, that his works will always be held in great price, and himself honoured by all students of design. would to god that he had always pursued the studies of painting, and had not sought to pry into the secrets of congealing mercury in order to become richer than nature and heaven had made him; for then he would have been without an equal, and truly unique in the art of painting, whereas, by searching for that which he could never find, he wasted his time, wronged his art, and did harm to his own life and fame. francesco was born at parma in the year , and because he lost his father when he was still a child of tender age, he was left to the care of two uncles, brothers of his father, and both painters, who brought him up with the greatest lovingness, teaching him all those praiseworthy ways that befit a christian man and a good citizen. then, having made some little growth, he had no sooner taken pen in hand in order to learn to write, than he began, spurred by nature, who had consecrated him at his birth to design, to draw most marvellous things; and the master who was teaching him to write, noticing this and perceiving to what heights the genius of the boy might in time attain, persuaded his uncles to let him give his attention to design and painting. whereupon, being men of good judgment in matters of art, although they were old and painters of no great fame, and recognizing that god and nature had been the boy's first masters, they did not fail to take the greatest pains to make him learn to draw under the discipline of the best masters, to the end that he might acquire a good manner. and coming by degrees to believe that he had been born, so to speak, with brushes in his fingers, on the one hand they urged him on, and on the other, fearing lest overmuch study might perchance spoil his health, they would sometimes hold him back. finally, having come to the age of sixteen, and having already done miracles of drawing, he painted a s. john baptizing christ, of his own invention, on a panel, which he executed in such a manner that even now whoever sees it stands marvelling that such a work should have been painted so well by a boy. this picture was placed in the nunziata, the seat of the frati de' zoccoli at parma. not content with this, however, francesco resolved to try his hand at working in fresco, and therefore painted a chapel in s. giovanni evangelista, a house of black friars of s. benedict; and since he succeeded in that kind of work, he painted as many as seven. but about that time pope leo x sent signor prospero colonna with an army to parma, and the uncles of francesco, fearing that he might perchance lose time or be distracted, sent him in company with his cousin, girolamo mazzuoli, another boy-painter, to viadana, a place belonging to the duke of mantua, where they lived all the time that the war lasted; and there francesco painted two panels in distemper. one of these, in which are s. francis receiving the stigmata, and s. chiara, was placed in the church of the frati de' zoccoli; and the other, which contains a marriage of s. catharine, with many figures, was placed in s. piero. and let no one believe that these are works of a young beginner, for they seem to be rather by the hand of a full-grown master. the war finished, francesco, having returned with his cousin to parma, first completed some pictures that he had left unfinished at his departure, which are in the hands of various people. after this he painted a panel-picture in oils of our lady with the child in her arms, with s. jerome on one side and the blessed bernardino da feltro on the other, and in the head of one of these figures he made a portrait of the patron of the picture, which is so wonderful that it lacks nothing save the breath of life. all these works he executed before he had reached the age of nineteen. then, having conceived a desire to see rome, like one who was on the path of progress and heard much praise given to the works of good masters, and particularly to those of raffaello and michelagnolo, he spoke out his mind and desire to his old uncles, who, thinking that such a wish was not otherwise than worthy of praise, said that they were content that he should go, but that it would be well for him to take with him some work by his own hand, which might serve to introduce him to the noblemen of that city and to the craftsmen of his profession. this advice was not displeasing to francesco, and he painted three pictures, two small and one of some size, representing in the last the child in the arms of the madonna, taking some fruits from the lap of an angel, and an old man with his arms covered with hair, executed with art and judgment, and pleasing in colour. besides this, in order to investigate the subtleties of art, he set himself one day to make his own portrait, looking at himself in a convex barber's mirror. and in doing this, perceiving the bizarre effects produced by the roundness of the mirror, which twists the beams of a ceiling into strange curves, and makes the doors and other parts of buildings recede in an extraordinary manner, the idea came to him to amuse himself by counterfeiting everything. thereupon he had a ball of wood made by a turner, and, dividing it in half so as to make it the same in size and shape as the mirror, set to work to counterfeit on it with supreme art all that he saw in the glass, and particularly his own self, which he did with such lifelike reality as could not be imagined or believed. now everything that is near the mirror is magnified, and all that is at a distance is diminished, and thus he made the hand engaged in drawing somewhat large, as the mirror showed it, and so marvellous that it seemed to be his very own. and since francesco had an air of great beauty, with a face and aspect full of grace, in the likeness rather of an angel than of a man, his image on that ball had the appearance of a thing divine. so happily, indeed, did he succeed in the whole of this work, that the painting was no less real than the reality, and in it were seen the lustre of the glass, the reflection of every detail, and the lights and shadows, all so true and natural, that nothing more could have been looked for from the brain of man. [illustration: the marriage of s. catharine (_after the painting by =francesco mazzuoli [parmigiano]=. parma: gallery, _) _anderson_] having finished these works, which were held by his old uncles to be out of the ordinary, and even considered by many other good judges of art to be miracles of beauty, and having packed up both pictures and portrait, he made his way to rome, accompanied by one of the uncles. there, after the datary had seen the pictures and appraised them at their true worth, the young man and his uncle were straightway introduced to pope clement, who, seeing the works and the youthfulness of francesco, was struck with astonishment, and with him all his court. and afterwards his holiness, having first shown him much favour, said that he wished to commission him to paint the hall of the popes, in which giovanni da udine had already decorated all the ceiling with stucco-work and painting. and so, after presenting his pictures to the pope, and receiving various gifts and marks of favour in addition to his promises, francesco, spurred by the praise and glory that he heard bestowed upon him, and by the hope of the profit that he might expect from so great a pontiff, painted a most beautiful picture of the circumcision, which was held to be extraordinary in invention on account of three most fanciful lights that shone in the work; for the first figures were illuminated by the radiance of the countenance of christ, the second received their light from others who were walking up some steps with burning torches in their hands, bringing offerings for the sacrifice, and the last were revealed and illuminated by the light of the dawn, which played upon a most lovely landscape with a vast number of buildings. this picture finished, he presented it to the pope, who did not do with it what he had done with the others; for he had given the picture of our lady to cardinal ippolito de' medici, his nephew, and the mirror-portrait to messer pietro aretino, the poet, who was in his service, but the picture of the circumcision he kept for himself; and it is believed that it came in time into the possession of the emperor. the mirror-portrait i remember to have seen, when quite a young man, in the house of the same messer pietro aretino at arezzo, where it was sought out as a choice work by the strangers passing through that city. afterwards it fell, i know not how, into the hands of valerio vicentino, the crystal-engraver, and it is now in the possession of alessandro vittoria, a sculptor in venice, the disciple of jacopo sansovino. but to return to francesco; while studying in rome, he set himself to examine all the ancient and modern works, both of sculpture and of painting, that were in that city, but held those of michelagnolo buonarroti and raffaello da urbino in supreme veneration beyond all the others; and it was said afterwards that the spirit of that raffaello had passed into the body of francesco, when men saw how excellent the young man was in art, and how gentle and gracious in his ways, as was raffaello, and above all when it became known how much francesco strove to imitate him in everything, and particularly in painting. nor was this study in vain, for many little pictures that he painted in rome, the greater part of which afterwards came into the hands of cardinal ippolito de' medici, were truly marvellous; and even such is a round picture with a very beautiful annunciation, executed by him for messer agnolo cesis, which is now treasured as a rare work in the house of that family. he painted a picture, likewise, of the madonna with christ, some angels, and a s. joseph, which are beautiful to a marvel on account of the expressions of the heads, the colouring, and the grace and diligence with which they are seen to have been executed. this work was formerly in the possession of luigi gaddi, and it must now be in the hands of his heirs. hearing the fame of this master, signor lorenzo cibo, captain of the papal guard, and a very handsome man, had a portrait of himself painted by francesco, who may be said to have made, not a portrait, but a living figure of flesh and blood. having then been commissioned to paint for madonna maria bufolini of città di castello a panel-picture which was to be placed in s. salvatore del lauro, in a chapel near the door, francesco painted in it a madonna in the sky, who is reading and has the child between her knees, and on the earth he made a figure of s. john, kneeling on one knee in an attitude of extraordinary beauty, turning his body, and pointing to the infant christ; and lying asleep on the ground, in foreshortening, is a s. jerome in penitence. but he was prevented from bringing this work to completion by the ruin and sack of rome in , which was the reason not only that the arts were banished for a time, but also that many craftsmen lost their lives. and francesco, also, came within a hair's breadth of losing his, seeing that at the beginning of the sack he was so intent on his work, that, when the soldiers were entering the houses, and some germans were already in his, he did not move from his painting for all the uproar that they were making; but when they came upon him and saw him working, they were so struck with astonishment at the work, that, like the gentlemen that they must have been, they let him go on. and thus, while the impious cruelty of those barbarous hordes was ruining the unhappy city and all its treasures, both sacred and profane, without showing respect to either god or man, francesco was provided for and greatly honoured by those germans, and protected from all injury. all the hardship that he suffered at that time was this, that he was forced, one of them being a great lover of painting, to make a vast number of drawings in water-colours and with the pen, which formed the payment of his ransom. but afterwards, when these soldiers changed their quarters, francesco nearly came to an evil end, because, going to look for some friends, he was made prisoner by other soldiers and compelled to pay as ransom some few crowns that he possessed. wherefore his uncle, grieved by that and by the fact that this disaster had robbed francesco of his hopes of acquiring knowledge, honour, and profit, and seeing rome almost wholly in ruins and the pope the prisoner of the spaniards, determined to take him back to parma. and so he set francesco on his way to his native city, but himself remained for some days in rome, where he deposited the panel-picture painted for madonna maria bufolini with the friars of the pace, in whose refectory it remained for many years, until finally it was taken by messer giulio bufolini to the church of his family in città di castello. having arrived in bologna, and finding entertainment with many friends, and particularly in the house of his most intimate friend, a saddler of parma, francesco stayed some months in that city, where the life pleased him, during which time he had some works engraved and printed in chiaroscuro, among others the beheading of s. peter and s. paul, and a large figure of diogenes. he also prepared many others, in order to have them engraved on copper and printed, having with him for this purpose one maestro antonio da trento; but he did not carry this intention into effect at the time, because he was forced to set his hand to executing many pictures and other works for gentlemen of bologna. the first picture by his hand that was seen at bologna was a s. rocco of great size in the chapel of the monsignori in s. petronio; to which saint he gave a marvellous aspect, making him very beautiful in every part, and conceiving him as somewhat relieved from the pain that the plague-sore in the thigh gave him, which he shows by looking with uplifted head towards heaven in the act of thanking god, as good men do in spite of the adversities that fall upon them. this work he executed for one fabrizio da milano, of whom he painted a portrait from the waist upwards in the picture, with the hands clasped, which seems to be alive; and equally real, also, seems a dog that is there, with some landscapes which are very beautiful, francesco being particularly excellent in this respect. he then painted for albio, a physician of parma, a conversion of s. paul, with many figures and a landscape, which was a very choice work. and for his friend the saddler he executed another picture of extraordinary beauty, containing a madonna turned to one side in a lovely attitude, and several other figures. he also painted a picture for count giorgio manzuoli, and two canvases in gouache, with some little figures, all graceful and well executed, for maestro luca dai leuti. one morning about this time, while francesco was still in bed, the aforesaid antonio da trento, who was living with him as his engraver, opened a strong-box and robbed him of all the copper-plate engravings, woodcuts, and drawings that he possessed; and he must have gone off to the devil, for all the news that was ever heard of him. the engravings and woodcuts, indeed, francesco recovered, for antonio had left them with a friend in bologna, perchance with the intention of reclaiming them at his convenience; but the drawings he was never able to get back. driven almost out of his mind by this, he returned to his painting, and made a portrait, for the sake of money, of i know not what count of bologna. after that he painted a picture of our lady, with a christ who is holding a globe of the world. the madonna has a most beautiful expression, and the child is also very natural; for he always gave to the faces of children a vivacious and truly childlike air, which yet reveals that subtle and mischievous spirit that children often have. and he attired the madonna in a very unusual fashion, clothing her in a garment that had sleeves of yellowish gauze, striped, as it were, with gold, which gave a truly beautiful and graceful effect, revealing the flesh in a natural and delicate manner; besides which, the hair is painted so well that there is none better to be seen. this picture was painted for messer pietro aretino, but francesco gave it to pope clement, who came to bologna at that time; then, in some way of which i know nothing, it fell into the hands of messer dionigi gianni, and it now belongs to his son, messer bartolommeo, who has been so accommodating with it that it has been copied fifty times, so much is it prized. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the panel by =francesco mazzuoli [parmigiano]=. bologna: accademia, _) _brogi_] the same master painted for the nuns of s. margherita, in bologna, a panel-picture containing a madonna, s. margaret, s. petronio, s. jerome, and s. michael, which is held in vast veneration, as it deserves, since in the expressions of the heads and in every other part it is as fine as all the other works of this painter. he made many drawings, likewise, and in particular some for girolamo del lino, and some for girolamo fagiuoli, a goldsmith and engraver, who desired them for engraving on copper; and these drawings are held to be full of grace. for bonifazio gozzadino he painted his portrait from life, with one of his wife, which remained unfinished. he also began a picture of our lady, which was afterwards sold in bologna to giorgio vasari of arezzo, who has it in the new house built by himself at arezzo, together with many other noble pictures, works of sculpture, and ancient marbles. when the emperor charles v was at bologna to be crowned by clement vii, francesco, who went several times to see him at table, but without drawing his portrait, made a likeness of that emperor in a very large picture in oils, wherein he painted fame crowning him with laurel, and a boy in the form of a little hercules offering him a globe of the world, giving him, as it were, the dominion over it. this work, when finished, he showed to pope clement, who was so pleased with it that he sent it and francesco together, accompanied by the bishop of vasona, then datary, to the emperor; at which his majesty, to whom it gave much satisfaction, hinted that it should be left with him. but francesco, being ill advised by an insincere or injudicious friend, refused to leave it, saying that it was not finished; and so his majesty did not have it, and francesco was not rewarded for it, as he certainly would have been. this picture, having afterwards fallen into the hands of cardinal ippolito de' medici, was presented by him to the cardinal of mantua; and it is now in the guardaroba of the duke of that city, with many other most noble and beautiful pictures. after having been so many years out of his native place, as we have related, during which he had gained much experience in art, without accumulating any store of riches, but only of friends, francesco, in order to satisfy his many friends and relatives, finally returned to parma. arriving there, he was straightway commissioned to paint in fresco a vault of some size in the church of s. maria della steccata; but since in front of that vault there was a flat arch which followed the curve of the vaulting, making a sort of façade, he set to work first on the arch, as being the easier, and painted therein six very beautiful figures, two in colour and four in chiaroscuro. between one figure and another he made some most beautiful ornaments, surrounding certain rosettes in relief, which he took it into his head to execute by himself in copper, taking extraordinary pains over them. at this same time he painted for the chevalier baiardo, a gentleman of parma and his intimate friend, a picture of a cupid, who is fashioning a bow with his own hand, and at his feet are seated two little boys, one of whom catches the other by the arm and laughingly urges him to touch cupid with his finger, but he will not touch him, and shows by his tears that he is afraid of burning himself at the fire of love. this picture, which is charming in colour, ingenious in invention, and executed in that graceful manner of francesco's that has been much studied and imitated, as it still is, by craftsmen and by all who delight in art, is now in the study of signor marc' antonio cavalca, heir to the chevalier baiardo, together with many drawings of every kind by the hand of the same master, all most beautiful and highly finished, which he has collected. even such are the many drawings, also by the hand of francesco, that are in our book; and particularly that of the beheading of s. peter and s. paul, of which, as has been related, he published copper-plate engravings and woodcuts, while living in bologna. for the church of s. maria de' servi he painted a panel-picture of our lady with the child asleep in her arms, and on one side some angels, one of whom has in his arms an urn of crystal, wherein there glitters a cross, at which the madonna gazes in contemplation. this work remained unfinished, because he was not well contented with it; and yet it is much extolled, and a good example of his manner, so full of grace and beauty. meanwhile francesco began to abandon the work of the steccata, or at least to carry it on so slowly that it was evident that he was not in earnest. and this happened because he had begun to study the problems of alchemy, and had quite deserted his profession of painting, thinking that he would become rich quicker by congealing mercury. wherefore, wearing out his brain, but not in imagining beautiful inventions and executing them with brushes and colour-mixtures, he wasted his whole time in handling charcoal, wood, glass vessels, and other suchlike trumperies, which made him spend more in one day than he earned by a week's work at the chapel of the steccata. having no other means of livelihood, and being yet compelled to live, he was wasting himself away little by little with those furnaces; and what was worse, the men of the company of the steccata, perceiving that he had completely abandoned the work, and having perchance paid him more than his due, as is often done, brought a suit against him. thereupon, thinking it better to withdraw, he fled by night with some friends to casal maggiore. and there, having dispersed a little of the alchemy out of his head, he painted a panel-picture for the church of s. stefano, of our lady in the sky, with s. john the baptist and s. stephen below. afterwards he executed a picture, the last that he ever painted, of the roman lucretia, which was a thing divine and one of the best that were ever seen by his hand; but it has disappeared, however that may have happened, so that no one knows where it is. by his hand, also, is a picture of some nymphs, which is now in the house of messer niccolò bufolini at città di castello, and a child's cradle, which was painted for signora angiola de' rossi of parma, wife of signor alessandro vitelli, and is likewise at città di castello. in the end, having his mind still set on his alchemy, like every other man who has once grown crazed over it, and changing from a dainty and gentle person into an almost savage man with long and unkempt beard and locks, a creature quite different from his other self, francesco went from bad to worse, became melancholy and eccentric, and was assailed by a grievous fever and a cruel flux, which in a few days caused him to pass to a better life. and in this way he found an end to the troubles of this world, which was never known to him save as a place full of annoyances and cares. he wished to be laid to rest in the church of the servite friars, called la fontana, one mile distant from casal maggiore; and he was buried naked, as he had directed, with a cross of cypress upright on his breast. he finished the course of his life on the th of august, in the year , to the great loss of art on account of the singular grace that his hands gave to the pictures that he painted. francesco delighted to play on the lute, and had a hand and a genius so well suited to it that he was no less excellent in this than in painting. it is certain that if he had not worked by caprice, and had laid aside the follies of the alchemists, he would have been without a doubt one of the rarest and most excellent painters of our age. i do not deny that working at moments of fever-heat, and when one feels inclined, may be the best plan. but i do blame a man for working little or not at all, and for wasting all his time over cogitations, seeing that the wish to arrive by trickery at a goal to which one cannot attain, often brings it about that one loses what one knows in seeking after that which it is not given to us to know. if francesco, who had from nature a spirit of great vivacity, with a beautiful and graceful manner, had persisted in working every day, little by little he would have made such proficience in art, that, even as he gave a beautiful, gracious, and most charming expression to his heads, so he would have surpassed his own self and the others in the solidity and perfect excellence of his drawing. he left behind him his cousin girolamo mazzuoli, who, with great credit to himself, always imitated his manner, as is proved by the works by his hand that are in parma. at viadana, also, whither he fled with francesco on account of the war, he painted, young as he was, a very beautiful annunciation on a little panel for s. francesco, a seat of the frati de' zoccoli; and he painted another for s. maria ne' borghi. for the conventual friars of s. francis at parma he executed the panel-picture of their high-altar, containing joachim being driven from the temple, with many figures. and for s. alessandro, a convent of nuns in that city, he painted a panel with the madonna in heaven, the infant christ presenting a palm to s. giustina, and some angels drawing back a piece of drapery, with s. alexander the pope and s. benedict. for the church of the carmelite friars he painted the panel-picture of their high-altar, which is very beautiful, and for s. sepolcro another panel-picture of some size. in s. giovanni evangelista, a church of nuns in the same city, are two panel-pictures by the hand of girolamo, of no little beauty, but not equal to the doors of the organ or to the picture of the high-altar, in which is a most beautiful transfiguration, executed with much diligence. the same master has painted a perspective-view in fresco in the refectory of those nuns, with a picture in oils of the last supper of christ with the apostles, and fresco-paintings in the chapel of the high-altar in the duomo. and for madama margherita of austria, duchess of parma, he has made a portrait of the prince don alessandro, her son, in full armour, with his sword over a globe of the world, and an armed figure of parma kneeling before him. in a chapel of the steccata, at parma, he has painted in fresco the apostles receiving the holy spirit, and on an arch similar to that which his cousin francesco painted he has executed six sibyls, two in colour and four in chiaroscuro; while in a niche opposite to that arch he has painted the nativity of christ, with the shepherds adoring him, which is a very beautiful picture, although it was left not quite finished. for the high-altar of the certosa, without parma, he has painted a panel-picture with the three magi; a panel for s. piero, an abbey of monks of s. bernard, at pavia; another for the duomo of mantua, at the commission of the cardinal; and yet another panel for s. giovanni in the same city, containing a christ in a glory of light, surrounded by the apostles, with s. john, of whom he appears to be saying, "sic eum volo manere," etc.; while round this panel, in six large pictures, are the miracles of the same s. john the evangelist. in the church of the frati zoccolanti, on the left hand, there is a large panel-picture of the conversion of s. paul, a very beautiful work, by the hand of the same man. and for the high-altar of s. benedetto in pollirone, a place twelve miles distant from mantua, he has executed a panel-picture of christ in the manger being adored by the shepherds, with angels singing. he has also painted--but i do not know exactly at what time--a most beautiful picture of five loves, one of whom is sleeping, and the others are despoiling him, one taking away his bow, another his arrows, and the others his torch, which picture belongs to the lord duke ottavio, who holds it in great account by reason of the excellence of girolamo. this master has in no way fallen short of the standard of his cousin francesco, being a fine painter, gentle and courteous beyond belief; and since he is still alive, there are seen issuing from his brush other works of rare beauty, which he has constantly in hand. a close friend of the aforesaid francesco mazzuoli was messer vincenzio caccianimici, a gentleman of bologna, who painted and strove to the best of his power to imitate the manner of francesco. this vincenzio was a very good colourist, so that the works which he executed for his own pleasure, or to present to his friends and various noblemen, are truly well worthy of praise; and such, in particular, is a panel-picture in oils, containing the beheading of s. john the baptist, which is in the chapel of his family in s. petronio. this talented gentleman, by whose hand are some very beautiful drawings in our book, died in the year . jacopo palma and lorenzo lotto [illustration: lorenzo lotto: the triumph of chastity (_rome: rospigliosi gallery. panel_)] lives of jacopo palma [_palma vecchio_] and lorenzo lotto painters of venice so potent are mastery and excellence, even when seen in only one or two works executed to perfection by a man in the art that he practises, that, no matter how small these may be, craftsmen and judges of art are forced to extol them, and writers are compelled to celebrate them and to give praise to the craftsman who has made them; even as we are now about to do for the venetian palma. this master, although not very eminent, nor remarkable for perfection of painting, was nevertheless so careful and diligent, and subjected himself so zealously to the labours of art, that a certain proportion of his works, if not all, have something good in them, in that they are close imitations of life and of the natural appearance of men. [illustration: jacopo palma (palma vecchio): s. barbara (_venice: s. maria formosa. panel_)] palma was much more remarkable for his patience in harmonizing and blending colours than for boldness of design, and he handled colour with extraordinary grace and finish. this may be seen in venice from many pictures and portraits that he executed for various gentlemen; but of these i shall say nothing more, since i propose to content myself with making mention of some altar-pieces and of a head that i hold to be marvellous, or rather, divine. one of the altar-pieces he painted for s. antonio, near castello, at venice, and another for s. elena, near the lido, where the monks of monte oliveto have their monastery. in the latter, which is on the high-altar of that church, he painted the magi presenting their offerings to christ, with a good number of figures, among which are some heads truly worthy of praise, as also are the draperies, executed with a beautiful flow of folds, which cover the figures. palma also painted a lifesize s. barbara for the altar of the bombardieri in the church of s. maria formosa, with two smaller figures at the sides, s. sebastian and s. anthony; and the s. barbara is one of the best figures that this painter ever executed. the same master also executed another altar-piece, in which is a madonna in the sky, with s. john below, for the church of s. moisè, near the piazza di s. marco. in addition to this, palma painted a most beautiful scene for the hall wherein the men of the scuola of s. marco assemble, on the piazza di ss. giovanni e paolo, in emulation of those already executed by giovanni bellini, giovanni mansueti, and other painters. in this scene is depicted a ship which is bringing the body of s. mark to venice; and there may be seen counterfeited by palma a terrible tempest on the sea, and some barques tossed and shaken by the fury of the winds, all executed with much judgment and thoughtful care. the same may be said of a group of figures in the air, and of the demons in various forms who are blowing, after the manner of winds, against the barques, which, driven by oars, and striving in various ways to break through the dangers of the towering waves, are like to sink. in short, to tell the truth, this work is of such a kind, and so beautiful in invention and in other respects, that it seems almost impossible that brushes and colours, employed by human hands, however excellent, should be able to depict anything more true to reality or more natural; for in it may be seen the fury of the winds, the strength and dexterity of the men, the movements of the waves, the lightning-flashes of the heavens, the water broken by the oars, and the oars bent by the waves and by the efforts of the rowers. why say more? i, for my part, do not remember to have ever seen a more terrible painting than this, which is executed in such a manner, and with such care in the invention, the drawing, and the colouring, that the picture seems to quiver, as if all that is painted therein were real. for this work jacopo palma deserves the greatest praise, and the honour of being numbered among those who are masters of art and who are able to express with facility in their pictures their most sublime conceptions. for many painters, in difficult subjects of that kind, achieve in the first sketch of their work, as though guided by a sort of fire of inspiration, something of the good and a certain measure of boldness; but afterwards, in finishing it, the boldness vanishes, and nothing is left of the good that the first fire produced. and this happens because very often, in finishing, they consider the parts and not the whole of what they are executing, and thus, growing cold in spirit, they come to lose their vein of boldness; whereas jacopo stood ever firm in the same intention and brought to perfection his first conception, for which he received vast praise at that time, as he always will. [illustration: s. sebastian (_after the panel by =jacopo palma [palma vecchio]=. venice: s. maria formosa_) _anderson_] but without a doubt, although the works of this master were many, and all much esteemed, that one is better than all the others and truly extraordinary in which he made his own portrait from life by looking at himself in a mirror, with some camel-skins about him, and certain tufts of hair, and all so lifelike that nothing better could be imagined. for so much did the genius of palma effect in this particular work, that he made it quite miraculous and beautiful beyond belief, as all men declare, the picture being seen almost every year at the festival of the ascension. and, in truth, it well deserves to be celebrated, in point of draughtsmanship, colouring, and mastery of art--in a word, on account of its absolute perfection--beyond any other work whatsoever that had been executed by any venetian painter up to that time, since, besides other things, there may be seen in the eyes a roundness so perfect, that leonardo da vinci and michelagnolo buonarroti would not have done it in any other way. but it is better to say nothing of the grace, the dignity, and the other qualities that are to be seen in this portrait, because it is not possible to say as much of its perfection as would exhaust its merits. if fate had decreed that palma should die after this work, he would have carried off with him the glory of having surpassed all those whom we celebrate as our rarest and most divine intellects; but the duration of his life, keeping him at work, brought it about that, not maintaining the high beginning that he had made, he came to deteriorate as much as most men had thought him destined to improve. finally, content that one or two supreme works should have cleared him of some of the censure that the others had brought upon him, he died in venice at the age of forty-eight. a friend and companion of palma was lorenzo lotto, a painter of venice, who, after imitating for some time the manner of the bellini, attached himself to that of giorgione, as is shown by many pictures and portraits which are in the houses of gentlemen in venice. in the house of andrea odoni there is a portrait of him, which is very beautiful, by the hand of lorenzo. and in the house of tommaso da empoli, a florentine, there is a picture of the nativity of christ, painted as an effect of night, which is one of great beauty, particularly because the splendour of christ is seen to illuminate the picture in a marvellous manner; and there is the madonna kneeling, with a portrait of messer marco loredano in a full-length figure that is adoring christ. for the carmelite friars the same master painted an altar-piece showing s. nicholas in his episcopal robes, poised in the air, with three angels; below him are s. lucia and s. john, on high some clouds, and beneath these a most beautiful landscape, with many little figures and animals in various places. on one side is s. george on horseback, slaying the dragon, and at a little distance the maiden, with a city not far away, and an arm of the sea. for the chapel of s. antonino, archbishop of florence, in ss. giovanni e paolo, lorenzo executed an altar-piece containing the first-named saint seated with two priests in attendance, and many people below. [illustration: the glorification of s. nicholas (_after the painting by =lorenzo lotto=. venice: s. maria del carmine_) _anderson_] while this painter was still young, imitating partly the manner of the bellini and partly that of giorgione, he painted an altar-piece, divided into six pictures, for the high-altar of s. domenico at recanati. in the central picture is the madonna with the child in her arms, giving the habit, by the hands of an angel, to s. dominic, who is kneeling before the virgin; and in this picture are also two little boys, one playing on a lute and the other on a rebeck. in the second picture are the popes s. gregory and s. urban; and in the third is s. thomas aquinas, with another saint, who was bishop of recanati. above these are the three other pictures; and in the centre, above the madonna, is a dead christ, supported by an angel, with his mother kissing his arm, and s. magdalene. over the picture of s. gregory are s. mary magdalene and s. vincent; and in the third--namely, above the s. thomas aquinas--are s. gismondo and s. catharine of siena. in the predella, which is a rare work painted with little figures, there is in the centre the scene of s. maria di loreto being carried by the angels from the regions of sclavonia to the place where it now stands. of the two scenes that are on either side of this, one shows s. dominic preaching, the little figures being the most graceful in the world, and the other pope honorius confirming the rule of s. dominic. in the middle of this church is a figure of s. vincent, the friar, executed in fresco by the hand of the same master. and in the church of s. maria di castelnuovo there is an altar-piece in oils of the transfiguration of christ, with three scenes painted with little figures in the predella--christ leading the apostles to mount tabor, his prayer in the garden, and his ascension into heaven. [illustration: andrea odoni (_after the painting by =lorenzo lotto=. hampton court palace_) _mansell_] after these works lorenzo went to ancona, at the very time when mariano da perugia had finished a panel-picture, with a large ornamental frame, for the high-altar of s. agostino. this did not give much satisfaction; and lorenzo was commissioned to paint a picture, which is placed in the middle of the same church, of our lady with the child in her lap, and two figures of angels in the air, in foreshortening, crowning the virgin. finally, being now old, and having almost lost his voice, lorenzo made his way, after executing some other works of no great importance at ancona, to the madonna of loreto, where he had already painted an altar-piece in oils, which is in a chapel at the right hand of the entrance into the church. there, having resolved to finish his life in the service of the madonna, and to make that holy house his habitation, he set his hand to executing scenes with figures one braccio or less in height round the choir, over the seats of the priests. in one scene he painted the birth of jesus christ, and in another the magi adoring him. next came the presentation to simeon, and after that the baptism of christ by john in the jordan. there was also the woman taken in adultery being led before christ, and all these were executed with much grace. two other scenes, likewise, did he paint there, with an abundance of figures; one of david causing a sacrifice to be offered, and in the other was the archangel michael in combat with lucifer, after having driven him out of heaven. these works finished, no long time had passed when, even as he had lived like a good citizen and a true christian, so he died, rendering up his soul to god his master. these last years of his life he found full of happiness and serenity of mind, and, what is more, we cannot but believe that they gave him the earnest of the blessings of eternal life; which might not have happened to him if at the end of his life he had been wrapped up too closely in the things of this world, which, pressing too heavily on those who put their whole trust in them, prevent them from ever raising their minds to the true riches and the supreme blessedness and felicity of the other life. [illustration: rondinello (niccolÒ rondinelli): madonna and child (_paris: louvre, . panel_)] there also flourished in romagna at this time the excellent painter rondinello, of whom we made some slight mention in the life of giovanni bellini, whose disciple he was, assisting him much in his works. this rondinello, after leaving giovanni bellini, laboured at his art to such purpose, that, being very diligent, he executed many works worthy of praise; of which we have witness in the panel-picture of the high-altar in the duomo at forlì, showing christ giving the communion to the apostles, which he painted there with his own hand, executing it very well. in the lunette above this picture he painted a dead christ, and in the predella some scenes with little figures, finished with great diligence, representing the actions of s. helena, the mother of the emperor constantine, in the finding of the cross. he also painted a single figure of s. sebastian, which is very beautiful, in a picture in the same church. for the altar of s. maria maddalena, in the duomo of ravenna, he painted a panel-picture in oils containing the single figure of that saint; and below this, in a predella, he executed three scenes with very graceful little figures. in one is christ appearing to mary magdalene in the form of a gardener, in another s. peter leaving the ship and walking over the water towards christ, and between them the baptism of jesus christ; and all are very beautiful. for s. giovanni evangelista, in the same city, he painted two panel-pictures, one with that saint consecrating the church, and in the other three martyrs, s. cantius, s. cantianus, and s. cantianilla, figures of great beauty. in s. apollinare, also in that city, are two pictures, highly extolled, each with a single figure, s. john the baptist and s. sebastian. and in the church of the spirito santo there is a panel, likewise by his hand, containing the madonna placed between the virgin martyr s. catharine and s. jerome. for s. francesco, likewise, he painted two panel-pictures, one of s. catharine and s. francis, and in the other our lady with s. james the apostle, s. francis, and many figures. for s. domenico, in like manner, he executed two other panels, one of which, containing the madonna and many figures, is on the left hand of the high-altar, and the other, a work of no little beauty, is on a wall of the church. and for the church of s. niccolò, a convent of friars of s. augustine, he painted another panel with s. laurence and s. francis. so much was he commended for all these works, that during his lifetime he was held in great account, not only in ravenna but throughout all romagna. rondinello lived to the age of sixty, and was buried in s. francesco at ravenna. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the painting by =rondinello [niccolò rondinelli]=. ravenna: accademia_) _alinari_] this master left behind him francesco da cotignola, a painter likewise held in estimation in that city, who painted many works; in particular, for the high-altar of the church of the abbey of classi in ravenna, a panel-picture of some size representing the raising of lazarus, with many figures. there, opposite to that work, in the year , giorgio vasari executed for don romualdo da verona, abbot of that place, another panel-picture containing the deposition of christ from the cross, with a large number of figures. francesco also painted a panel-picture of the nativity of christ, which is of great size, for s. niccolò, and likewise two panels, with various figures, for s. sebastiano. for the hospital of s. catarina he painted a panel-picture with our lady, s. catharine, and many other figures; and for s. agata he painted a panel with christ crucified, the madonna at the foot of the cross, and a good number of other figures, for which he won praise. and for s. apollinare, in the same city, he executed three panel-pictures; one for the high-altar, containing the madonna, s. john the baptist, and s. apollinare, with s. jerome and other saints; another likewise of the madonna, with s. peter and s. catharine; and in the third and last jesus christ bearing his cross, but this he was not able to finish, being overtaken by death. francesco was a very pleasing colourist, but not so good a draughtsman as rondinello; yet he was held in no small estimation by the people of ravenna. he chose to be buried after his death in s. apollinare, for which he had painted the said figures, being content that his remains, when he was dead, should lie at rest in the place for which he had laboured when alive. [illustration: the adoration of the shepherds (_after the panel by =francesco da cotignola=. ravenna: accademia_) _alinari_] index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume v agnolo, andrea d' (andrea del sarto), _life_, - . , , - , agnolo, baccio d' (baccio baglioni), , , agnolo bronzino, , agnolo di cristofano, agnolo di donnino, agostino busto (il bambaja), , agostino viniziano, aimo, domenico (bologna), albertinelli, mariotto, , , albertino, francesco d' (francesco ubertini, or il bacchiacca), alberto, antonio, albrecht dürer, alessandro allori, alessandro vittoria, alesso baldovinetti, , alfonso lombardi, _life_, - . allori, alessandro, amalteo, pomponio, , amico aspertini, _life_, - . , - andrea contucci (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), _life_, - . , andrea d' agnolo (andrea del sarto), _life_, - . , , - , andrea da fiesole (andrea ferrucci), _life_, - . andrea dal castagno (andrea degli impiccati), andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea sansovino, or andrea contucci), _life_, - . , andrea degli impiccati (andrea dal castagno), andrea del sarto (andrea d' agnolo), _life_, - . , , - , andrea della robbia, andrea di cosimo feltrini, _life_, - . , andrea ferrucci (andrea da fiesole), _life_, - . andrea sansovino (andrea contucci, or andrea dal monte sansovino), _life_, - . , andrea sguazzella, , andrea verrocchio, , , anguisciuola, sofonisba, , antonio alberto, antonio da carrara, antonio da san gallo (the elder), antonio da san gallo (the younger), , , , antonio da trento (antonio fantuzzi), , antonio del rozzo (antonio del tozzo), antonio di donnino mazzieri, antonio di giorgio marchissi, antonio di giovanni (solosmeo), antonio fantuzzi (antonio da trento), , antonio floriani, , antonio mini, antonio pollaiuolo, apelles, aretusi, pellegrino degli (pellegrino da modena, or pellegrino de' munari), _life_, - . aristotele (sebastiano) da san gallo, aspertini, amico, _life_, - . , - bacchiacca, il (francesco ubertini, or francesco d' albertino), baccio baglioni (baccio d' agnolo), , , baccio bandinelli, , , , , - , baccio d' agnolo (baccio baglioni), , , baccio da montelupo, _life_, - . baccio della porta (fra bartolommeo di san marco), , , baglioni, baccio (baccio d' agnolo), , , bagnacavallo, bartolommeo da (bartolommeo ramenghi), _life_, - bagnacavallo, giovan battista da, baldassarre peruzzi, _life_, - . , - , , , , baldovinetti, alesso, , bambaja, il (agostino busto), , bandinelli, baccio, , , , , - , barbieri, domenico del, barile, gian (of florence), bartolommeo da bagnacavallo (bartolommeo ramenghi), _life_, - bartolommeo di san marco, fra (baccio della porta), , , bartolommeo miniati, bartolommeo neroni (riccio), bartolommeo ramenghi (bartolommeo da bagnacavallo), _life_, - bastianello florigorio (sebastiano florigerio), battista, martino di (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino da udine), - battista dossi, _life_, - battistino, , baviera, bazzi, giovanni antonio (sodoma), beccafumi, domenico (domenico di pace), , , belli, valerio de' (valerio vicentino), bellini family, bellini, giovanni, , , , bembo, giovan francesco (giovan francesco vetraio), benedetto, benedetto da ferrara (benedetto coda), , benedetto da maiano, benedetto da rovezzano, _life_, - benedetto spadari, , benvenuto cellini, bernardino del lupino (bernardino luini), bernardino pinturicchio, bernardo da vercelli, bernardo del buda (bernardo rosselli), bernazzano, cesare, biagio, raffaello di, , biagio bolognese (biagio pupini), , bicci, lorenzo di, boccaccino, boccaccio, _life_, - boccaccino, camillo, , boccalino, giovanni (giovanni ribaldi), bologna (domenico aimo), bolognese, biagio (biagio pupini), , borgo, raffaello dal (raffaello dal colle), , , borgo, santi titi dal, boscoli, maso, bramante da urbino, , , , , , bronzino, agnolo, , buda, bernardo del (bernardo rosselli), buonaccorsi, perino (perino del vaga), , - , , buonarroti, michelagnolo, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , busto, agostino (il bambaja), , caccianimici, francesco, caccianimici, vincenzio, , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), , , , , calavrese, marco (marco cardisco), _life_, - caldara, polidoro (polidoro da caravaggio), _life_, - calzolaio, sandrino del, , camillo boccaccino, , capanna (of siena), caraglio, giovanni jacopo, caravaggio, polidoro da (polidoro caldara), _life_, - cardisco, marco (marco calavrese), _life_, - carpi, girolamo da (girolamo da ferrara), carrara, antonio da, carrara, danese da (danese cattaneo), carrucci, jacopo (jacopo da pontormo), , , , , , , , , , castagno, andrea dal (andrea degli impiccati), castelfranco, giorgione da, , , castellani, leonardo, castrocaro, gian jacopo da, cattaneo, danese (danese da carrara), cellini, benvenuto, cesare bernazzano, cesare da sesto (cesare da milano), , cicilia, il, cimabue, giovanni, cioli, simone, claudio of paris, coda, benedetto (benedetto da ferrara), , cola dalla matrice (niccola filotesio), , colle, raffaello dal (raffaello dal borgo), , , conte, jacopo del, conti, domenico, , contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), _life_, - . , cosimo, piero di, cosimo rosselli, , cosimo, silvio, - cotignola, francesco da (francesco de' zaganelli), _life_, - cotignola, girolamo da (girolamo marchesi), _life_, - . credi, lorenzo di, _life_, - . credi, maestro, crescione, giovan filippo, cristofano, agnolo di, cronaca, il (simone del pollaiuolo), cuticello (giovanni antonio licinio, or pordenone), _life_, - danese da carrara (danese cattaneo), della robbia family, domenico aimo (bologna), domenico beccafumi (domenico di pace), , , domenico conti, , domenico dal monte sansovino, domenico del barbieri, domenico di pace (domenico beccafumi), , , domenico di paris, domenico di polo, domenico puligo, donato (donatello), donnino, agnolo di, dossi, battista, _life_, - dossi, dosso, _life_, - dürer, albrecht, fagiuoli, girolamo, fantuzzi, antonio (antonio da trento), , fattore, il (giovan francesco penni), _life_, - . feltrini, andrea di cosimo, _life_, - . , feltro, morto da, _life_, - . ferrara, benedetto da (benedetto coda), , ferrara, girolamo da (girolamo da carpi), ferrari, gaudenzio, ferrucci, andrea (andrea da fiesole), _life_, - . ferrucci, francesco di simone, fiesole, andrea da (andrea ferrucci), _life_, - . filippo lippi (filippino), filotesio, niccola (cola dalla matrice), , floriani, antonio, , floriani, francesco, , florigorio, bastianello (sebastiano florigerio), fontana, prospero, fra bartolommeo di san marco (baccio della porta), , , fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo, francesco, mariotto di, - francesco caccianimici, francesco d' albertino (francesco ubertini, or il bacchiacca), francesco da cotignola (francesco de' zaganelli), _life_, - francesco da san gallo, francesco da siena, , francesco de' rossi (francesco salviati), francesco de' zaganelli (francesco da cotignola), _life_, - francesco di girolamo dal prato, francesco di mirozzo (melozzo), francesco di simone ferrucci, francesco floriani, , francesco granacci (il granaccio), , , francesco mazzuoli (parmigiano), _life_, - francesco of orleans, francesco primaticcio, , , francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi), francesco ubertini (francesco d' albertino, or il bacchiacca), franciabigio (francia), _life_, - . - , , , , , , - , , francucci, innocenzio (innocenzio da imola), _life_, - . , gaudenzio ferrari, genga, girolamo, , , gensio liberale, ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, ghirlandajo, ridolfo, , gian barile (of florence), gian jacopo da castrocaro, giannuzzi, giulio pippi de' (giulio romano), , - , , , giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giorgione da castelfranco, , , giotto, giovan battista da bagnacavallo, giovan battista de' rossi (il rosso), _life_, - . giovan battista grassi, giovan battista peloro, giovan filippo crescione, giovan francesco bembo (giovan francesco vetraio), giovan francesco penni (il fattore), _life_, - . giovan francesco vetraio (giovan francesco bembo), giovanni, antonio di (solosmeo), giovanni antonio bazzi (sodoma), giovanni antonio lappoli, - giovanni antonio licinio (cuticello, or pordenone), _life_, - giovanni antonio sogliani, _life_, - . giovanni bellini, , , , giovanni boccalino (giovanni ribaldi), giovanni cimabue, giovanni da nola, - giovanni da udine (giovanni martini), - giovanni da udine (giovanni nanni, or giovanni ricamatori), , , , , , giovanni jacopo caraglio, giovanni mangone, giovanni mansueti, giovanni martini (giovanni da udine), - giovanni nanni (giovanni da udine, or giovanni ricamatori), , , , , , giovanni ribaldi (giovanni boccalino), giovanni ricamatori (giovanni da udine, or giovanni nanni), , , , , , girolamo, girolamo da carpi (girolamo da ferrara), girolamo da cotignola (girolamo marchesi), _life_, - . girolamo da ferrara (girolamo da carpi), girolamo da treviso (girolamo trevigi), _life_, - . girolamo della robbia, girolamo fagiuoli, girolamo genga, , , girolamo lombardo, , - girolamo marchesi (girolamo da cotignola), _life_, - . girolamo mazzuoli, , , , girolamo santa croce, _life_, - girolamo trevigi (girolamo da treviso), _life_, - . giuliano da san gallo, giuliano del tasso, giuliano (di niccolò morelli), maestro, giulio romano (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi), , - , , , granacci, francesco (il granaccio), , , grassi, giovan battista, guazzetto, il (lorenzo naldino), il bacchiacca (francesco ubertini, or francesco d' albertino), il bambaja (agostino busto), , il cicilia, il cronaca (simone del pollaiuolo), il fattore (giovan francesco penni), _life_, - . il granaccio (francesco granacci), , , il guazzetto (lorenzo naldino), il pistoia (leonardo), , il rosso (giovan battista de' rossi), _life_, - . imola, innocenzio da (innocenzio francucci), _life_, - . , impiccati, andrea degli (andrea dal castagno), innocenzio da imola (innocenzio francucci), _life_, - . , jacomo melighino, , jacone (jacopo), jacopo da pontormo (jacopo carrucci), , , , , , , , , , jacopo del conte, jacopo di sandro, jacopo palma (palma vecchio), _life_, - jacopo sansovino, , , , , , , , , , , , , , lappoli, giovanni antonio, - lattanzio pagani, leonardo (il pistoia), , leonardo castellani, leonardo da vinci, , , , , leonardo del tasso, leonardo the fleming, liberale, gensio, licinio, giovanni antonio (cuticello, or pordenone), _life_, - lippi, filippo (filippino), lombardi, alfonso, _life_, - . lombardo, girolamo, , - lorenzetto (lorenzo) lotti, _life_, - lorenzo di bicci, lorenzo di credi, _life_, - . lorenzo lotto, _life_, - lorenzo naldino (il guazzetto), lorenzo of picardy, lotti, lorenzetto (lorenzo), _life_, - lotto, lorenzo, _life_, - luca della robbia (the younger), luca monverde, luca penni, , lucrezia, madonna, luini, bernardino (bernardino del lupino), lunetti, stefano (stefano of florence), lunetti, tommaso di stefano, , , , lupino, bernardino del (bernardino luini), madonna lucrezia, madonna properzia de' rossi, _life_, - maestro credi, maestro giuliano (di niccolò morelli), maiano, benedetto da, maini (marini), michele, , mangone, giovanni, mansueti, giovanni, marchesi, girolamo (girolamo da cotignola), _life_, - . marchissi, antonio di giorgio, marco calavrese (marco cardisco), _life_, - mariano da perugia, marini (maini), michele, , mariotto albertinelli, , , mariotto di francesco, - martini, giovanni (giovanni da udine), - martino da udine (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino di battista), - maso boscoli, matrice, cola dalla (niccola filotesio), , maturino, _life_, - mazzieri, antonio di donnino, mazzuoli, francesco (parmigiano), _life_, - mazzuoli, girolamo, , , , melighino, jacomo, , michelagnolo buonarroti, , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , michelagnolo da siena, _life_, - . michele di ridolfo ghirlandajo, michele maini (marini), , milano, cesare da (cesare da sesto), , mini, antonio, miniati, bartolommeo, mirozzo (melozzo), francesco di, modena, pellegrino da (pellegrino degli aretusi, or pellegrino de' munari), _life_, - . monte sansovino, andrea dal (andrea contucci, or andrea sansovino), _life_, - . , monte sansovino, domenico dal, montelupo, baccio da, _life_, - . montelupo, raffaello da, _life_, - . , monverde, luca, morelli, maestro giuliano di niccolò, morto da feltro, _life_, - . mosca, simone, munari, pellegrino de' (pellegrino da modena, or pellegrino degli aretusi), _life_, - . naldino, lorenzo (il guazzetto), nanni, giovanni (giovanni da udine, or giovanni ricamatori), , , , , , nannoccio, neroni, bartolommeo (riccio), niccola filotesio (cola dalla matrice), , niccolò (called tribolo), , , , niccolò rondinello (rondinello da ravenna), _life_, - . niccolò soggi, , , nola, giovanni da, - pace, domenico di (domenico beccafumi), , , pagani, lattanzio, palma, jacopo (palma vecchio), _life_, - paolo romano, paris, domenico di, parmigiano (francesco mazzuoli), _life_, - pellegrino da modena (pellegrino degli aretusi, or pellegrino de' munari), _life_, - . pellegrino da san daniele (martino da udine, or martino di battista), - peloro, giovan battista, penni, giovan francesco (il fattore), _life_, - . penni, luca, , perino del vaga (perino buonaccorsi), , - , , perugia, mariano da, perugino, pietro (pietro vannucci), , , , peruzzi, baldassarre, _life_, - . , - , , , , pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, , piero da volterra, piero di cosimo, pietrasanta, stagio da, pietro perugino (pietro vannucci), , , , pinturicchio, bernardino, piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del, pistoia, il (leonardo), , plautilla, poggini, zanobi, poggino, zanobi di, polidoro da caravaggio (polidoro caldara), _life_, - pollaiuolo, antonio, pollaiuolo, simone del (il cronaca), polo, domenico di, pomponio amalteo, , pontormo, jacopo da (jacopo carrucci), , , , , , , , , , pordenone (giovanni antonio licinio, or cuticello), _life_, - porta, baccio della (fra bartolommeo di san marco), , , prato, francesco di girolamo dal, primaticcio, francesco, , , properzia de' rossi, madonna, _life_, - prospero fontana, puligo, domenico, pupini, biagio (biagio bolognese), , raffaello da montelupo, _life_, - . , raffaello da urbino (raffaello sanzio), - , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , raffaello dal colle (raffaello dal borgo), , , raffaello di biagio, , raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), - , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , ramenghi, bartolommeo (bartolommeo da bagnacavallo), _life_, - ravenna, rondinello da (niccolò rondinello), _life_, - . ribaldi, giovanni (giovanni boccalino), ricamatori, giovanni (giovanni nanni, or giovanni da udine), , , , , , riccio (bartolommeo neroni), ridolfo ghirlandajo, , robbia, andrea della, robbia, girolamo della, robbia, luca della (the younger), romano, giulio (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi), , - , , , romano, paolo, romano, virgilio, rondinello, niccolò (rondinello da ravenna), _life_, - . rosselli, bernardo (bernardo del buda), rosselli, cosimo, , rossi, francesco de' (francesco salviati), rossi, giovan battista de' (il rosso), _life_, - . rossi, madonna properzia de', _life_, - rosso, il (giovan battista de' rossi), _life_, - . rovezzano, benedetto da, _life_, - rozzo, antonio del (antonio del tozzo), salviati, francesco (francesco de' rossi), san daniele, pellegrino da (martino da udine, or martino di battista), - san gallo, antonio da (the elder), san gallo, antonio da (the younger), , , , san gallo, francesco da, san gallo, giuliano da, san gallo, sebastiano (aristotele) da, san gimignano, vincenzio da (vincenzio tamagni), _life_, - san marco, fra bartolommeo di (baccio della porta), , , sandrino del calzolaio, , sandro, jacopo di, sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, , sansovino, andrea (andrea dal monte sansovino, or andrea contucci), _life_, - . , sansovino, jacopo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , santa croce, girolamo, _life_, - santi titi dal borgo, sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), - , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , sarto, andrea del (andrea d' agnolo), _life_, - . , , - , schizzone, sebastiano (aristotele) da san gallo, sebastiano florigerio (bastianello florigorio), sebastiano serlio, sebastiano viniziano del piombo, fra, serlio, sebastiano, sesto, cesare da (cesare da milano), , sguazzella, andrea, , siena, francesco da, , siena, michelagnolo da, _life_, - . silvio cosini, - simone cioli, simone del pollaiuolo (il cronaca), simone mosca, simone of paris, sodoma (giovanni antonio bazzi), sofonisba anguisciuola, , soggi, niccolò, , , sogliani, giovanni antonio, _life_, - . solosmeo (antonio di giovanni), spadari, benedetto, , stagio da pietrasanta, stefano lunetti (stefano of florence), tamagni, vincenzio (vincenzio da san gimignano), _life_, - tasso, giuliano del, tasso, leonardo del, timoteo da urbino (timoteo della vite), _life_, - titi dal borgo, santi, tiziano da cadore (tiziano vecelli), , , , , tommaso di stefano lunetti, , , , tozzo, antonio del (antonio del rozzo), trento, antonio da (antonio fantuzzi), , treviso, girolamo da (girolamo trevigi), _life_, - . tribolo (niccolò), , , , ubertini, francesco (francesco d' albertino, or il bacchiacca), udine, giovanni da (giovanni martini), - udine, giovanni da (giovanni nanni, or giovanni ricamatori), , , , , , udine, martino da (pellegrino da san daniele, or martino di battista), - urbino, bramante da, , , , , , urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), - , , , , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , urbino, timoteo da (timoteo della vite), _life_, - vaga, perino del (perino buonaccorsi), , - , , valerio vicentino (valerio de' belli), vannucci, pietro (pietro perugino), , , , vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , as author, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , as painter, , , , , , , , as architect, , , vecchio, palma (jacopo palma), _life_, - vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), , , , , vercelli, bernardo da, verrocchio, andrea, , , vetraio, giovan francesco (giovan francesco bembo), vicentino, valerio (valerio de' belli), vincenzio caccianimici, , vincenzio da san gimignano (vincenzio tamagni), _life_, - vincenzio tamagni (vincenzio da san gimignano), _life_, - vinci, leonardo da, , , , , viniziano, agostino, virgilio romano, visino, vite, timoteo della (timoteo da urbino), _life_, - vitruvius, , vittoria, alessandro, volterra, piero da, volterra, zaccaria da, , zaccaria da volterra, , zaganelli, francesco de' (francesco da cotignola), _life_, - zanobi di poggino, zanobi poggini, end of vol. v. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury [illustration: titian. academy, venice virgin. from assumption of the virgin.] barbara's heritage or _young americans among the old italian masters_ by deristhe l. hoyt author of "the world's painters" third edition. boston and chicago w.a. wilde company copyright, , by w.a. wilde company. _all rights reserved_. barbara's heritage. to the brother and sister who have been my companions during many happy sojourns in italy. contents. chapter page i. the unexpected happens ii. across two oceans iii. in beautiful florence iv. a new friend appears v. straws show which way the wind blows vi. lucile sherman vii. a startling disclosure viii. howard's questionings ix. the coming-out party x. the mystery unfolds to howard xi. on the way to rome xii. robert sumner fights a battle xiii. cupid laughs xiv. a visit to the sistine chapel xv. a morning in the vatican xvi. poor barbara's trouble xvii. robert sumner is imprudent xviii. in venice xix. in a gondola xx. return from italy epilogue: three years after illustrations virgin. from assumption of the virgin. titian. academy, venice _frontispiece_ byzantine magdalen. page academy, florence group of angels. from coronation of the virgin. fra angelico. uffizi gallery, florence coronation of the virgin. botticelli. uffizi gallery, florence head of madonna. perugino. uffizi gallery, florence the delphian sibyl. michael angelo. sistine chapel, rome saint cecilia. raphael. academy, bologna marriage of saint catherine. luini. poldi-pezzoli museum, milan illustrations in text _pen and ink drawings made by homer w. colby_ page barbara's home a bit of genoa church of the annunziata, florence duomo and campanile, florence santa maria novella, florence a glimpse of florence cloister, museum of san marco, florence ponte alla carraja, florence palazzo pitti, florence san miniato al monte, florence orvieto cathedral san francesco, assisi ruins of forum, rome saint peter's and castle of saint angelo, rome loggia of raphael, vatican, rome a bit of amalfi campo santo, bologna san marco, venice grand canal and rialto, venice milan cathedral prelude. each day the world is born anew for him who takes it rightly; not fresher that which adam knew, not sweeter that whose moonlit dew entranced arcadia nightly. rightly? that's simply: 'tis to see _some_ substance casts these shadows which we call life and history, that aimless seem to chase and flee like wind-gleams over meadows. simply? that's nobly: 'tis to know that god may still be met with, nor groweth old, nor doth bestow these senses fine, this brain aglow, to grovel and forget with. --james russell lowell. chapter i. the unexpected happens. _and foorth they passe with pleasure forward led._ --spenser. [illustration: barbara's home.] "o barbara! _do_ you think papa and mamma will let us go? _can_ they afford it? just to think of italy, and sunshine, and olive trees, and cathedrals, and pictures! oh, it makes me wild! will you not ask them, dear barbara? you are braver than i, and can talk better about it all. how can we bear to have them say 'no'--to give up all the lovely thought of it, now that once we have dared to dream of its coming to us--to you and me, barbara?" and color flushed the usually pale cheek of the young girl, and her dark eyes glowed with feeling as she hugged tightly the arm of her sister. barbara and bettina burnett were walking through a pleasant street in one of the suburban towns of boston after an afternoon spent with friends who were soon to sail for italy. it was a charming early september evening, and the sunset glow burned through the avenue of elm trees, beneath which the girls were passing, flooding the way with rare beauty. but not one thought did they now give to that which, ordinarily, would have delighted them; for mrs. douglas had astonished them that afternoon by a pressing invitation to accompany herself, her son, and daughter on this journey. for hours they had talked over the beautiful scheme, and were to present mrs. douglas's request to their parents that very night. mrs. douglas, a wealthy woman, had been a widow almost ever since the birth of her daughter, who was now a girl of fifteen. malcom, her son, was three or four years older. an artist brother was living in italy, and a few years previous to the beginning of our story, mrs. douglas and her children had spent some months there. now the brother was desirous that they should again go to him, especially since his sister was not strong, and it would be well for her to escape the inclemency of a new england winter. barbara and bettina,--bab and betty, as they were called in their home,--twin daughters of dr. burnett, were seventeen years old, and the eldest of a large family. the father, a great-hearted man, devoted to his noble profession, and generous of himself, his time, and money, had little to spare after the wants of his family had been supplied, so it was not strange that the daughters, on sober second thought, should feel that the idea of such a trip to the old world as mrs. douglas suggested could be only the dream of a moment, from which an awakening must be inevitable. but they little knew the wisdom of mrs. douglas, nor for a moment did they suspect that for weeks before she had mentioned the matter to them, she and their parents had spent many hours in planning and contriving so that it might seem possible to give this great pleasure and means of education to their daughters. even now, while they were hesitating to mention the matter, it was already settled. their parents had decided that, with the aid of a portion of a small legacy which mrs. burnett had sacredly set aside for her children, to be used only when some sufficient reason should offer, enough money could be spared during the coming year to allow them to accompany mrs. douglas. as the sisters drew near the rambling, old-fashioned house, set back from the street, which was their home, a pleasant welcome awaited them. the father, who had just come from the stable to the piazza, the mother and younger children,--richard, lois, margaret, and little bertie,--and even the old dog, dandy,--each had an affectionate greeting. a quick look of intelligence passed between the parents as they saw the flushed faces of their daughters, which so plainly told of unusual excitement of feeling; but, saying nothing, they quietly led the way into the dining room, where all gathered around the simple supper which even the youngest could enjoy. after the children had been put to bed, and the older ones of the family were in the library, which was their evening sitting room, bettina looked anxiously at barbara, who, after several attempts, succeeded in telling the startling proposition which mrs. douglas had made, adding that she should not dare to speak of it had she not promised mrs. douglas to do so. imagine, if you can, the amazement, the flood of joyous surprise that the girls felt as they realized, first, that to their parents it was not a new, startling subject which could not for a moment be entertained; then, that it was not only to be thought of, but planned for; and more, that the going to italy with mrs. douglas, malcom, and margery was to be a reality, an experience that very soon would come into their lives, for they were to sail in three weeks. after the hubbub of talk that followed, it was a very subdued and quiet pair of girls who kissed father and mother good night and went upstairs to the room in which they had slept ever since their childhood. the certain nearness of the first home-breaking, of the first going away from their dear ones, and a new conception of the tenderness of the parents, who were sacrificing so much for them, had taken such possession of their hearts that they were too full for words. for barbara and bettina were dear, thoughtful daughters and sisters, who had early learned to aid in bearing the family burdens, and whose closest, strongest affections were bound about the home and its dear ones. such busy days followed! such earnest conferences between mrs. burnett and mrs. douglas, who was an old traveller, and knew all the ins and outs of her dear doctor's household! it was finally decided that the dark blue serge gowns that had been worn during the last spring and on cold summer days with the warm spring jackets, would be just the thing for the girls on the steamship; that the pretty brown cloth suits which were even then in the dressmaker's hands could be worn almost constantly after reaching italy for out-of-door life; while the simple evening gowns that had done duty at schoolgirl receptions would answer finely for at-home evenings. so that only two or three extra pairs of boots (for nothing abroad can take the place of american boots and shoes), some silk waists, so convenient for easy change of costume, and a little addition to the dainty underclothing were all that was absolutely needed. busy fingers soon accomplished everything necessary, and in a few swiftly passing days the trunks were packed, the tearful good-bys spoken, and the little party was on its way to new york, to sail thence for genoa on the _kaiser wilhelm ii._ of the north german lloyd line of steamships. dr. burnett had managed to accompany them thus far, and now, as the great ship is slowly leaving the wharf, and mrs. douglas, malcom, margery, barbara, and bettina are clustered together on her deck, waving again and again their good-bys, and straining their eyes still to recognize the dear familiar form and face among the crowd that presses forward on the receding pier, we will take time for a full introduction of the chief personages of our story. mrs. douglas, who stands between her children, malcom's arm thrown half-protectingly about her shoulders, was, or rather is (for our tale is of recent date and its characters are yet living), a rare woman. slender and graceful, clothed in widow's dress, her soft gray hair framing a still fair and youthful face, she looks a typical american woman of refinement and culture. and she is all this, and more; for did she not possess a strong christian character, wise judgment, and a warm motherly heart, and were she not ever eager to gain that which is noblest and best both for herself and her children from every experience of life, careful dr. and mrs. burnett would never have intrusted their daughters to her. her husband had been a young scotchman, well-born, finely educated, and possessed of ample means, whom she had met when a girl travelling abroad with her parents, and her brief wedded life had been spent in beautiful edinburgh, her husband's native city. very soon after margery's birth came the terrible grief of her husband's death, and lonely elizabeth douglas came across the sea, bringing her two fatherless children to make a home for herself and them among her girlhood friends. malcom, a well-developed, manly young fellow, has just graduated from the boston latin school. as he stands beside his mother we see the military drill he has undergone in his fine carriage, straight shoulders, and erect head. he has the scotch complexion, an abundance of fair hair, and frank, steady eyes that win him the instant trust and friendship of all who look into them. though full of a boy's enthusiasm and fun, yet he seems older than he is, as is usually the case with boys left fatherless who early feel a certain manly responsibility for the mother and sisters. proud and fond indeed is malcom douglas of his mother and "little madge," as he calls her, who, petite and slender, with sunny, flowing curls, the sweetest of blue eyes, and a pure, childlike face, stands, with parted lips, flushed with animation, by her mother's side. margery is, as she looks, gentle and lovable. not yet has she ever known the weight of the slightest burden of care, but has been as free and happy as the birds, as she has lived in her beautiful home with her mother and brother. barbara and bettina stand a little apart from the others, with clasped hands and dim eyes, as the shore, the home-shore, is fast receding from their sight. they are alike, and yet unlike. people always say "barbara and bettina," never "bettina and barbara." they are of the same height, each with brown hair and eyes. barbara's figure is a little fuller and more womanly, her hair has caught the faintest auburn hue, her eyes have a more brilliant sparkle, and the color on her cheeks glows more steadily. she looks at strangers with a quiet self-possession, and questions others rather than thinks of herself being questioned. as a child she always fought her own and her sister's battles, and would do the same to-day did occasion demand. bettina is more timid and self-conscious; her dreamy eyes and quickly coming and going color betray a keen sensitiveness to thought and impressions. both are beautiful, and more than one of their fellow-passengers look at the sisters with interest as they stand together, so absorbed in feeling that they take no note of what is passing about them. just now both are thinking of the same thing--a conversation held with their father as the trio sat in a corner of the car just before reaching new york. dr. burnett had explained to them just how he had been enabled to meet the expense of their coming travel. then he said:-- "now girls, you are, for the first time in your lives, to be away from the care and advice of your parents. of course, if you need help in judging of anything, you are free to go to mrs. douglas; but there will be much that it will be best for you to decide without troubling her. you will meet all sorts of people, travellers like yourselves, and many you will see who are spending money freely and for what seems pleasure only, without one thought of the special education that travel in the old world might bring them. your mother and i have always been actuated by one purpose regarding our children. we cannot give you money in abundance, but we are trying to give you a liberal education,--that which is to us far superior to mere money riches,--and the only consideration that makes us willing to part from you and to sacrifice for you now, is our belief that a rare opportunity for gaining culture and an education that cannot be found at home is open to you. "think of this always, my daughters. ponder it over while you are gone, and do your best to come home bringing a new wealth of knowledge that shall bless your younger brothers and sisters and our whole household, as well as your own lives. you are not going on a pleasure trip, dear girls, but to another school,--a thoroughly novel and delightful one,--but do not forget that, after all, it is a school." as the rapidly increasing distance took from them the last sight of the father's form, barbara and bettina turned and looked at each other with tearful eyes; and the unspoken thought of one was, "we _will_ come home all that you long for us to be, dear papa!" and of the other, "oh, i do hope we shall understand what you wish, and learn what and wherever we can!" and both thoughts meant the same thing and bore the same earnest purpose. "come girls," said mrs. douglas, who had keenly observed them without appearing to do so, "it is best for us all to go to our staterooms directly and unpack our steamer-trunks. perhaps in even an hour or two we may not feel so much like doing it as we do now." as they passed through the end of the dining-saloon, whose tables were laden with bouquets of fresh and fragrant flowers, brought by loving friends to many of the passengers, malcom's quick eye spied a little pile of letters on the end of a corner table. "i wonder," said he, as he turned back to look them over, "if anybody thought to write to us." returning with an envelope in his hands, he cried:-- "what will you give for a letter from home already, barbara and betty?" "for us!" exclaimed the girls, "a letter from home for us! why, we never thought such a thing could be! how did it get here? did papa bring one and put it here?" but no, for the letter addressed in the dear mother's handwriting was clearly stamped, and its appearance testified that it had come through the mail to new york. hurrying to their stateroom and sitting close to each other on the sofa under the port-hole, they read mrs. burnett's bright, sweet motherly letter, and a note from each of their brothers and sisters,--even a crumpled printed one from five-year-old bertie. so bright and jolly were they all, that they allayed rather than heightened the first homesick feelings, and very soon the girls were chattering happily as they busied themselves with their unpacking. the staterooms of the _kaiser wilhelm ii._ are more commodious than can be found in most steamships, even those of the same line. it was delightful to find a small wardrobe in which to hang the warm wrappers so useful on shipboard, and the thick coats that might be needed, and a chest of drawers for underclothing, gloves, etc. toilet articles were put on the tiny wall-shelves; magazines and books on the top of the chest of drawers; and soon the little room took on a bit of an individual and homelike look which was very pleasing. mrs. douglas and margery were just opposite them, and malcom close at hand, so there was no chance of feeling too much adrift from the old life. "hello, girls! are you ready to come upstairs?" in malcom's voice. "how nice your room looks!" cried margery; and up to the deck they trooped to find that malcom had seen that their steamer-chairs were well placed close together, and that mrs. douglas was already tucked in under her pretty scotch rug. how strange the deck looked now that the host of friends that had crowded to say good-by were gone! already many hats and bonnets had been exchanged for caps, for the wind was fresh, and, altogether, both passengers and deck struck our party as wearing quite a ship-shape air. mrs. douglas held in her hand a passenger-list, so interesting at just this time, and was delighted to learn that an old-time travelling companion was on board. "but, poor woman," said she, "she always has to spend the first three or four days in her berth, so i shall not see her for a time unless i seek her there. she is a miserable sailor." "oh, dear!" said bettina, "i had forgotten that there is such a thing as seasickness. do you think, mrs. douglas, that barbara and i shall be seasick? it seems impossible when we feel so well now; and the air is so fine, and everything so lovely! are you always seasick, and malcom, and margery?" "i have never been really sick, save once, when crossing the english channel," replied mrs. douglas; "neither has malcom ever given up to it, though sometimes he has evidently suffered. but poor margery has been very sick, and it is difficult for her to exert enough will-power to quickly overcome it. it requires a prodigious amount to do this if one is really seasick." "i wonder what it feels like," said barbara. "i think if will-power can keep one from it, i will not be seasick." "come and walk, girls," called margery, who, with malcom, had been vigorously walking to and fro on the wide deck, while their mother, barbara, and bettina had been talking. so they walked until lunch-time, and then enjoyed hugely the novelty of the first meal on shipboard. after this, the young people went aft to look down upon the steerage passengers, and forward to the bow of the noble ship, while mrs. douglas took her little nap downstairs. but alas! as the steamship took her course further into the open sea, and the wind grew more and more fresh, the three girls sank into their chairs, grew silent, and before dinner-time were among the great suffering company that every ship carries during the first days and nights of her voyage. chapter ii. across two oceans. _nobly, nobly cape st. vincent to the northwest died away; sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into cadiz bay: bluish 'mid the burning water, full in face trafalgar lay: in the dimmest northeast distance dawned gibraltar grand and gray ... while jove's planet rises yonder silent over africa_. --browning. [illustration: a bit of genoa] "betty!" called barbara. "what, dear?" answered a weak voice from the berth below. "do you know how much more quiet the water is? and, betty, i think mrs. douglas looked really disappointed when she saw us still immovable in our berths." it was the third morning at sea. the fresh wind of the first afternoon had blown a gale before morning. a storm followed, and for two days the larger part of the passengers had been absent from saloon and deck. among these were barbara, bettina, and margery. mrs. douglas and malcom had done their best to keep up the spirits of their little party, but had found it difficult. now for the third time they had gone to breakfast alone. barbara was thinking hard; and, as she thought, her courage rose. "betty," said she again, "perhaps if you and i can get up and dress, it may help margery to try, and you know how much her mother wishes her to do so, she so soon loses strength. and mrs. douglas is so good to you and me! i wonder if we can take the salt-water baths that she thinks help one so much on the sea. you remember how much pains she took as soon as we came on board to get all our names on the bath-stewardess's list for morning baths!" "i believe i will try!" added she, after a long silence. and when the broad-faced, smiling stewardess came to see if the young ladies would like anything, barbara gladdened her heart by saying she would have her bath. "oh, betty, betty dear! you have no idea how nice it is! the ship is quiet, the port is open in the bath-room, and it is just lovely to breathe the fresh air. do try it. i feel like a new girl!" before another hour had passed the girls said good-by to poor margery after having greatly encouraged her spirits, and climbed the stairs to the deck, where they found malcom just tucking his mother into her chair after their breakfast and morning walk on the deck. such a bright smile as mrs. douglas gave them! it more than repaid for all the effort they had made. "you are just bricks!" cried malcom, with a joyous look. "no more seasickness! now we will have jolly times, just so soon as madge can come up." "go down and persuade her, malcom, after you have told the deck-steward to bring some breakfast for these girls. i will help her dress, and you can bring her up in your arms if she is too weak to walk." before noon, margery, looking frail as a crushed white lily, lay on a chair heaped with cushions and rugs close beside her mother; and the sweet salt air and sunshine did their best to atone for the misery that had been inflicted by the turbulent sea. bright, happy days followed, and sunsets and moonlight evenings, and the girls learned to love sea life. they roamed over every part of the ship. the good captain always had a smile and welcome for young people, and told them many things about the management of vessels at sea. there was no monotony, but every day seemed full of interest. all the wonders of the great deep were about them--strange fish, sea porpoise, and whales, by day, and ever-new phosphorescent gleams and starry heavens by night. then the wonderful interest of a sail at sea, or a distant steamship; some other humanity than that on their own ship passing them on the limitless ocean! on the sixth day out the ship passed between flores and corvo, two of the northernmost islands of the azores; and, through the glass, they could easily see the little portuguese homes--almost the very people--scattered on the sloping hill-sides. after two days more, the long line of the distant shore of cape st. vincent came into view, and malcom, fresh from his history lesson, recalled the the fact that nearly a hundred years ago, a great spanish fleet had been destroyed by the english under admiral nelson a little to the eastward on these very waters. the next morning was a momentous one. in the early sunshine the ship entered the bay of gibraltar and anchored for several hours. boats took the passengers to visit the town, and to barbara and bettina the supreme moment of travel in a foreign country had arrived; that in which they found another land and first touched it with their feet; and entering the streets found strange people and listened to a foreign tongue. they drove through the queer, narrow, crooked streets, out upon the "neutral ground," and up to the gardens; bought an english newspaper; then, going back to the ship, looked up at the frowning rock threaded by those english galleries, which, upon occasion, can pour forth from their windows such a deadly hail. leaving the harbor, the ship passed slowly along between the "pillars of hercules," for so many centuries the western limit of the old world, and entered the blue mediterranean. and was this low dark line on the right really africa, the dark continent, which until then had seemed only a dream--a far-away dream? what a sure reality it would ever be after this! mrs. douglas had chosen happily when she decided to land at genoa instead of at one of the northern ports; for aside from the fact that the whole atlantic passage was calmer than it otherwise could have been, the beauty and interest of the days on the mediterranean are almost without parallel in ocean travel. the magnificent snow-capped mountains of the spanish shore; the rugged northern coasts of the balearic islands; the knowledge that out just beyond sight lies corsica, where was born the little island boy, so proud, ambitious, and unscrupulous as emperor, so sad and disappointed in his banishment and death; and then the long beautiful riviera coast, which the steamships for genoa really skirt, permitting their passengers to look into nice, bordighera, monaco, san remo, etc., and to realize all the picturesque beauty of their mountain background--all this gave three enchanting days to our little party before the ship sailed into the harbor of genoa, _la superba_, a well-merited title. the city seemed now like a jewel in green setting, as its softly colored palaces, rising terrace above terrace, surrounded by rich tropical foliage, glowed in the rays of the setting sun. here mrs. douglas was to meet her brother; and she, malcom, and margery were full of eager excitement. it was hard to wait until the little crowd of people collected on the wharf should separate into distinct individuals. "there he is! there is uncle robert! i see him!" cried malcom. "he is waving his handkerchief from the top of his cane!" while mrs. douglas and margery pressed forward to send some token of recognition across the rapidly diminishing breadth of waters, barbara and bettina sought with vivid interest the figure and face of one whom they remembered but slightly, but of whom they had heard much. robert sumner was a name often mentioned in their home for, as a boy, and young man, he had been particularly dear to dr. burnett and had been held up as a model of all excellence before his own boys. some six years before the time of our story he was to marry a beautiful girl, who died almost on the eve of what was to have been their marriage-day. stunned by the affliction, the young artist bade good-by to home and friends and went to italy, feeling that he could bear his loss only under new conditions; and, ever since, that country had been his home. he had travelled widely, yet had always returned to italy. "next year i will go back to america," he had often thought; but there was still a shrinking from the coming into contact with painful associations. only his sister and her children were left of the home circle and it were happier if they would come to him; so he had stayed on, a voluntary exile. not yet thirty years of age, he looked even younger as with shining eyes he watched the little group on the deck of the big approaching steamship. of the strength of his affections no one could be doubtful who witnessed his warm, passionate embraces when, after long delay, the ship and shore were at last bound together. "and can these be the little barbara and betty who used to sit on my knees?" he asked in wonder, as mrs. douglas drew forward the tall girls that they might share in his greeting. "i thought i knew you, but am afraid we shall have to get acquainted all over again." the following morning when, after breakfast, the young people had been put into a carriage for a drive all about the city, mrs. douglas had a long conversation with her brother. he told her of the pleasant home in florence which he had prepared for her, and some of his plans for the coming months. "but will not the care of so many young people be too much for you, my sister? have you counted well the cost of added thought and care which our dear doctor's daughters will impose? tell me about them. are they as sterling as their father and mother? i must believe they are neither giddy nor headstrong, else you would never have undertaken the care of them. moreover, their faces contradict any such supposition. they are beautiful and very attractive; but are just at the age when every power is on the alert to have its fill of interest and enjoyment. did you notice how their eyes sparkled as they took their seats in the carriage and looked out upon the strange, foreign sights?" "yes," answered mrs. douglas. "we must do all we can for them that this visit to the old world shall be as truly a means of culture as their parents desire. you know i wrote you that it is difficult for the doctor to afford it, but that he felt so earnestly the good that such an opportunity must bring his girls that he could not bear to refuse it. as for me, i love barbara and betty dearly and delight to care for them as for my own. their influence is wholesome, and our little margery loves them as if they were indeed sisters. i have thought much about what is best for all our young people to do during the coming months in italy. of course everything they see and hear will be an education, but i think we ought to have some definite plan for certainly a portion of their time. i have wished to talk to you about it. "'help my daughters to study,' said dr. burnett, and his feeling has given me new thoughts regarding my own children. now there is one great field of study into which one can enter in this country as nowhere else--and this is art. especially in florence is the world of italian painting opened before us--its beginnings and growth. ought we not to put all of them, barbara, bettina, malcom, and margery into the most favorable conditions for entering upon the study of this great subject, which may prove a source of so much enjoyment and culture all their lives? i well remember my own wonder and pleasure when, years ago, our dear mother called my attention to it; and how much it has been to both you and me! you can help me here, robert, for this is so much a part of your own life." "i will think it all over, sister, and we will see what we can do. as for me, i am too happy just now in having you and the children with me to give thought to anything else. so talk to me to-day of nothing but your own dear selves." two days later our travellers were on their way down the western coast of italy, threading tunnels, and snatching brief views of the mediterranean on one side and smiling vineyards and quaint italian cities on the other. "we will not stop at pisa," said mr. sumner, "but will come to visit it some time later from florence; but you must watch for a fine view from the railway of its cathedral, leaning tower, baptistery, and campo santo. the mountains are withdrawing from us now, and i think we shall reach it soon." "oh! how like the pictures we have seen!" cried malcom. "how fine! the tower does lean just as much as we have thought!" "how beautiful it all is,--the blue hills, the green plain, and the soft yellow of the buildings!" said bettina. "will you tell us something of it all, mr. sumner?" asked barbara. "i know there is something wonderful and interesting, but cannot remember just what." "there are many very interesting things about this old city," answered mr. sumner. "first of all, the striking changes through which it has passed. once pisa was on the sea, possessed a fine harbor, and in rich commerce was a rival of genoa and venice. she was a proud, eager, assertive city; of such worth that she was deemed a rich prize, and was captured by the romans a few centuries b.c. now the sea has left her and, with that, her commerce and importance in the world of trade. she is to-day so poor that there is nothing to tempt travellers to come to her save a magnificent climate and this wonderful group of buildings. the inhabitants are few and humble, her streets are grass-grown. everything has stopped in poor old pisa. here galileo was born, and lived for years; and in the cathedral is a great swinging lamp which is said to have first suggested to his mind the motion of the pendulum, and from the top of the leaning tower he used to study the planets. the tower is the campanile, or bell tower, of the cathedral. with regard to its position, there are different opinions. some writers think it only an accident,--that the foundation of one side gave way during the building, thus producing the effect we see. others think it was purposely so built, planned by some architect who desired to gain a unique effect and so prove his mastery over the subtleties of building. i confess that since i have seen the leaning towers of bologna, which were erected about the same time, i am inclined to agree with the latter view." "i should think, uncle," said malcom, "that if such defective foundations had been laid, there would have been further trouble, and the poor tower would have fallen long ago." "yes," replied mr. sumner, "it does not seem very reasonable to believe that they would have given way just enough to make the tower lean as it does now, and that then it should remain stationary for so many centuries afterward. the baptistery, or place for baptism, was formerly built in italy separate from the cathedral, as was the campanile, just as we see them here. in northern countries and in more modern italian cathedrals, we find all united in one building. the most interesting thing in this baptistery is a magnificent marble pulpit covered with sculptures designed by nicholas pisano. to see it alone is worth a visit to pisa. the long, low building that you saw beyond the other buildings is the campo santo, a name given to burial places in italy, which, as you know, is a latin term, and means 'holy ground.'" "i think it is a beautiful name," said bettina. "yes, there is a solemn rhythm about the words that pleases the ear rather more than does our word 'cemetery,'" said mr. sumner. "but there is something especially interesting about this campo santo, isn't there?" queried barbara, and added: "i do hope i shall remember all such things after i have really seen the places!" "you surely will, my dear," said mrs. douglas; "ever afterward they will be realities to you, not mere stories." mr. sumner resumed: "the campo santo of pisa is the first one that was laid out in italy, and it is still by far the most beautiful. it possesses the dimensions of noah's ark, and is literally holy ground, for it was filled with fifty-three shiploads of earth brought from mount calvary, so that the dead of pisa repose in sacred ground. the inner sides of its walls were decorated with noble paintings, many of which are now completely faded. we will come to see those which remain some day." "how strange it all is!" said bettina. "how different from anything we see at home! think of ships sent to the holy land for earth from mount calvary, and their coming back over the mediterranean laden with such a cargo!" "only a superstitious, imaginative people, such as the italians are, would have done such a thing," said mrs. douglas; "and only in the mediæval age of the world." "but," she went on with a bright smile, "it is the same spirit that has reared such exquisite buildings for the worship of god and filled them with rare, sacred marbles and paintings that are beyond price to the world of art. i always feel when i come hither and see the present poverty of the beautiful land that the whole world is its debtor, and can never repay what it owes." chapter iii. in beautiful florence. _for to the highest she did still aspyre; or, if ought higher were then that, did it desyre._ --spenser. [illustration: church of the annunziata, florence.] one afternoon, about two weeks later, barbara and bettina were sitting in their pleasant room in florence. the wide-open windows looked out upon the slopes of that lovely hill on whose summit is perched fiesole, the poor little old mother of florence, who still holds watch over her beautiful daughter stretched at her feet. scented airs which had swept all the way from distant blue hills over countless orange, olive, and mulberry groves filled the room, and fluttered the paper upon which the girls were writing; it was their weekly letter budget. the fair faces were flushed as they bent over the crowded sheets so soon to be scanned by dear eyes at home. how much there was to tell of the events of the past week! drives through the streets of the famous city; through the lovely cascine; up to san miniato and fiesole; visits to churches, palaces, and picture-galleries; days filled to overflowing with the new life among foreign scenes. suddenly barbara, throwing aside her pen, exclaimed:-- "betty dear, don't you sometimes feel most horribly ignorant?" "why? when?" "oh! i am just writing about our visit to santa croce the other day. i enjoyed so much the fine spaces within the church, the softened light, and some of the monuments. but when we came to those chapels whose walls are covered with paintings,--you remember, where we met that mr. sherman and his daughters who came over on the _kaiser_ with us,--i tried to understand why they were so interested there. they were studying the paintings for such a long time, and i heard some of the things they were saying about them. they thought them perfectly wonderful; and that miss sherman who has such lovely eyes said she thought it worth coming from america to italy just to see them and other works by the same artist. mr. sumner, too, heard what she said, and gave her such a pleased, admiring look. after they had gone out from the chapel where are pictures representing scenes in the life of st. francis, i went in and looked and looked at them; but, try as hard as i could, i could not be one bit interested. the pictures are so queer, the figures so stiff, i could not see a beautiful or interesting thing about them. but i know i am all wrong. i do want to see what they saw, and to feel as they felt!" "i liked the pictures because of their subject," said bettina; "that dear st. francis of assisi who loved the birds and flowers, and talked to them as if they could understand him. but i did not see any beauty in them." "we must learn what it is; we must do more than just look at all these early pictures that fill the churches and galleries just as we would look at wall paper, as so many people seemed to do in the uffizi gallery the other day," said barbara, emphatically. "this must be one of the things papa meant." just here came a knock on the door. "may we come in, margery and i?" asked malcom. "why! what is the matter? you look as if you had been talking of something unpleasant." bettina told of barbara's trouble. "how strange!" said margery. "mamma has just been talking to us about this very thing. she says that, if you like, uncle robert will teach us about the works of the italian painters. you know he knows _everything_ about them! he has even written a book about these paintings in florence!" "yes," said malcom with a comical shrug, "the idea is that we all spend one or two mornings every week studying stiff old madonnas and magdalenes and saints! i love noble and beautiful paintings as well as any one, but i wonder if i can ever learn anything that will make me care to look twice at some of those old things in the long entrance gallery of the uffizi. i doubt it. give me the old palaces where the medici lived, and let me study up what they did. or even dante, or michael angelo! _he_ was an artist who is worth studying about. why! do you know, he built the fortifications of san miniato and--" "but," interrupted barbara, "you know that whenever italy is written or talked about, her _art_ seems to be the very most important thing. i was reading only the other day an article in which the writer said that undoubtedly the chief mission or gift of italy to the world is her paintings,--her old paintings,--and that this mission is all fulfilled. now, if this be true, do we wish to come here and go away without learning all that we possibly can of them? i think that would be foolish." "and," added bettina, "i think one of the most interesting studies in the world is about these same old saints whom you dislike so much, malcom. they were heroes; and i think some of them were a great deal grander than those mythological characters you so dote upon. if your uncle will only be so good as to talk to us of the pictures! let us go at once and thank him. now, malcom, you will be enthusiastic about it, will you not? there will be so much time for all the other things." bettina put her arm affectionately about margery, and smiled into malcom's face, as they all went to seek mrs. douglas and mr. sumner. "here come the victims, uncle rob! three willing ones,--barbara, who is ever sighing for new worlds to conquer; betty, who already dotes upon st. sebastian stuck full of arrows and st. lucia carrying her eyes on a platter; madge, who would go to the rack if only you led the way,--and poor rebellious, inartistic i." "but, my boy--" began mrs. douglas. "oh! i will do it all if only the girls will climb the campanile and galileo's tower with me and it does not interfere with our drives and walks. if this is to become an æsthetic crowd, i don't wish to be left out," laughed malcom. a morning was decided upon for the first lesson. "we will begin at the beginning," said mr. sumner; "one vital mistake often made is in not starting far enough back. in order to realize in the slightest degree the true work of these old masters, one must know in what condition the art was before their time; or rather, that there was no art. so we will first go to the accademia delle belle arti, or academy, as we will call it, and from there to the church, santa maria novella. and one thing more,--you are welcome to go to my library and learn all you can from the books there. i am sure i do not need to tell those who have studied so much as you already have that the knowledge you shall gain from coming into contact with any new thing must be in a great degree measured by that which you take to it." "how good you are to give us so much of your time, mr. sumner," said barbara, with sparkling eyes. "how can we ever repay you?" "by learning to love this subject somewhat as i love it," replied mr. sumner; but he thought as he felt the magnetism of her young enthusiasm that he might gain something of compensation which it was impossible to put into words. * * * * * "are you not going with us, dear mrs. douglas?" asked bettina, as the little party were preparing to set forth on the appointed morning. "not to-day, dear, for i have another engagement" "i think i know what mamma is going to do," said margery as they left the house. "i heard the housemaid, anita, telling her last evening about the illness of her little brother, and saying that her mother is so poor that she cannot get for the child what he needs. i think mamma is going to see them this morning." "just like that blessed mother of ours!" exclaimed malcom. "there is never anybody in want near her about whom she is not sure to find out and to help! it will be just the same here as at home; italians or americans--all are alike to her. she will give up anything for herself in order to do for them." "i am glad you know her so well," said his uncle, with a smile. "there is no danger that you can ever admire your mother too much." "oh!" exclaimed barbara, as after a little walk they entered a square surrounded by massive buildings, with arcades, all white with the sunshine. "look at that building! it is decorated with those dear little babies, all swathed, whose photographs we have so often seen in the boston art stores. what is it? where are we?" "in the piazza dell' annunziata," replied mr. sumner, "and an interesting place it is. that building is the foundling hospital, a very ancient and famous institution. and the 'swathed babies' are the work of andrea della robbia." "poor little innocents! how tired they must be, wrapped up like mummies and stuck on the wall like specimen butterflies!" whispered malcom in an aside to bettina. "hush! hush!" laughed she. "your uncle will hear you." "this beautiful church just here on our right," continued mr. sumner, "is the church of the s.s. annunziata or the most holy annunciation. it was founded in the middle of the thirteenth century by seven noble florentines, who used to meet daily to sing _ave maria_ in a chapel situated where the campanile of the cathedral now stands. it has been somewhat modernized and is now the most fashionable church in florence. it contains some very interesting paintings, which we will visit by and by." "every step we take in this beautiful city is full of interest, and how different from anything we can find at home!" exclaimed bettina. "look at the color of these buildings, and their exquisite arches! see the soft painting over the door of the church, and the sculptured bits everywhere! i begin, just a little, to see why florence is called the _art city_." "but only a little, yet," said mr. sumner, with a pleased look. "you are just on the threshold of the knowledge of this fair city. not what she outwardly is, but what she contains, and what her children have wrought, constitute her wealth of art. do you remember, margery, what name the poet shelley gives florence in that beautiful poem you were reading yesterday?" "o _foster-nurse_ of man's abandoned glory, since athens, its great mother, sunk in splendor, thou shadowest forth that mighty shape in story, as ocean its wrecked fanes, severe yet tender," dreamily recited margery, her sweet face flushing as all eyes looked at her. "yes," smiled her uncle. "florence, as _foster-nurse_, has cherished for the world the art-treasures of early centuries in italy, so that there is no other city on earth in which we can learn so much of the 'revival of art,' as it is called, which took place after the barrenness of the dark ages, as in this. but here we are at the academy. i shall not allow you to look at much here this morning. we will go and sit in the farther corner of this first corridor, for i wish to talk a little, and just here we shall find all that i need for illustration." "you need not put on such a martyr-look, malcom," continued he, as they walked on. "i prophesy that not one here present will feel more solid interest in the work we are beginning than you will, my boy." when mr. sumner had gathered the little group about him, he began to talk of the beauties of greek art--how it had flourished for centuries before christ. "but i thought greek art consisted of sculptures," said barbara. "much of it was sculptured,--all of it which remains,--but we have evidence that the greeks also produced beautiful paintings, which, could they have been preserved, might be not unworthy rivals of modern masterpieces," replied mr. sumner. "after the roman invasion of greece, these ancient works of art were mostly destroyed. rome possessed no fine art of her own, but imported greek artists to produce for her. these, taken away from their native land, and having no noble works around them for inspiration, began simply to copy each other, and so the art degenerated from century to century. the growing christian religion, which forbade the picturing of any living beauty, gave the death-blow to such excellence as remained. a style of painting followed which received the name of greek byzantine. in it was no study of life; all was most strikingly conventional, and it grew steadily worse and worse. a comparison of the paintings and mosaics of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries shows the rapid decline of all art qualities. finally every figure produced was a most arrant libel on nature. it was always painted against a flat gold background; the limbs were wholly devoid of action; the feet and hands hung helplessly; and the eyes were round and staring. the flesh tints were a dull brick red, and all else a dreary brown." "come here," said he, rising, "and see an example of this greek byzantine art,--this _magdalen_. study it well." "oh, oh, how dreadful!" chorussed the voices of all. "uncle rob, do you mean to say there was no painting in the world better than this in the ninth--or thereabouts--century?" asked malcom, with wondering eyes. "i mean to say just that, malcom. but i must tell you something more about this same greek byzantine painting, for there is a school of it to-day. should you go to southern italy or to russia, you would find many booths for trading, in the back of which you would see a madonna, or some saint, painted in just this style. these pictures have gained a superstitious value among the lower classes of the people, and are believed to possess a miraculous power. in mt. athos, greece, is a school that still produces them. doubtless this has grown out of the fact that several of these old paintings, notably madonnas, are treasured in the churches, and the people are taught that miracles have been wrought by them. in the santa maria maggiore, rome, is an example (the people are told that it was painted by st. luke), and during the plague in rome, and also during a great fire which was most disastrous, this painting was borne through the city by priests in holy procession, and the tradition is that both plague and fire were stayed." "what a painfully ridiculous figure!" exclaimed barbara, who had been silently absorbed in study. "it is painful because every line looks as if the artist had done his very best, and that is so utterly bad. it means absolutely nothing." "you have fathomed the woful secret," replied mr. sumner. "it shows no evidence of the slightest thought. only a man's _fingers_ produced this. all power of originality had become lost; all desire for it was unknown." "then, how did things ever get better?" asked malcom. "an interesting question. i wish you all would read some before i tell you any more. find something, please, that treats of the beginnings of christian art in the catacombs of rome. read about the manuscript illuminations produced by monks of the tenth and eleventh centuries, which are to be found in some great libraries. in these we find the best art of that time," [illustration: academy, florence. byzantine magdalen.] "if you find anything about cimabue and giotto," he added, "you would better read that also, for the work of these old painters will be the subject of our next lesson. for it, we will go to the church santa maria novella." "and santa croce?" asked barbara, more timidly than was her wont. "and santa croce too," smilingly added mr. sumner. "and now, malcom, if you can find a wide carriage, we all will drive for an hour before going home." chapter iv. a new friend appears. _the first sound in the song of love scarce more than silence is, and yet a sound. hands of invisible spirits touch the strings of that mysterious instrument, the soul, and play the prelude of our fate._ --longfellow. [illustration: duomo and campanile. florence.] one day malcom met an old fellow-student. coming home, he told his mother of him, and asked permission to bring him for introduction. "his name is howard sinclair. i did not know him very well in the school, for he was some way ahead of me. he is now in harvard college. but his lungs are very weak; and last winter the doctors sent him to egypt, and told him he must stay for at least two years in the warmer countries. he is lonely and pretty blue, i judge; was glad enough to see me." "poor boy! yes, bring him here, and i will talk with him. perhaps we can make it more pleasant for him. you are sure his character is beyond question, malcom?" "i think so. he has lots of money, and is inclined to spend it freely, but i know he was called a pretty fine fellow in the school, though not very well known by many. he is rather 'toney,' you know,--held his head too high for common fellows. the teachers especially liked him; for he is awfully bright, and took honors right along." the next day malcom brought his friend to his mother, whose heart he won at once by his evident delicate health, his gentlemanly manners, and, perhaps most of all, because he had been an orphan for years, and was so much alone in the world. she decided to welcome him to her home, and to give him the companionship of her young people. howard sinclair was a young man of brilliant intellectual promise. he had inherited most keen sensibilities, an almost morbid delicacy of thought, a variable disposition, and a frail body. both father and mother died before he was ten years of age, leaving a large fortune for him, their only child; and, since then, his home had been with an aged grandmother. without any young companions in the home, and lacking desire for activity, he had given himself up to an almost wholly sedentary life. the body, so delicate by nature, had always been made secondary to the alert mind. his luxurious tastes could all be gratified, and thus far he had lived like some conservatory plant. the very darling of his grandmother's heart, it was like death to her to part from him when the physicians decided that to save his life it was an imperative necessity that he should live for a a time in a warmer climate. it was an utter impossibility for her to accompany him. he shrank from any other companion, therefore had set forth with only his faithful john, who had been an old servant in the family before he was born, as valet. he went first to egypt, where he had remained as long as the heat would permit, then had gone northwest to the italian lakes and switzerland, whence he had now come to spend a time in florence. lonely, homesick, and disheartened, it was indeed like a "gift of the gods" to him when one day, as he was leaving his banker's on via tornabuoni he met the familiar face of malcom douglas. and when he was welcomed to his old schoolmate's home and family circle, the weary young man felt for the first time in many months the sensation of rest and peace. his evident lack of physical strength, and the quickly coming and going color in his cheeks, told mrs. douglas that he could never know perfect health; but he said that the change of country and climate had already done him much good, and this encouraged him to think of staying from home a year or two in the hope that then all danger of active disease might have passed. he so evidently longed for companionship that malcom and the girls told him of their life,--of their italian lessons,--their reading,--mr. sumner's talks about italian painting,--malcom's private college studies (which he had promised his mother to pursue if she would give him this year abroad), and all that which was filling their days. he was especially interested in their lessons on the italian masters of painting, and asked if they would permit him to join them. "if you will only come to me when you have any trouble with your greek and latin, malcom," he said, "perhaps i can repay you in the slightest degree for the wonderful pleasure this would give me." so as mr. sumner was willing, his little class received the addition of howard sinclair. "why so sober, malcom?" asked his mother, as she found him alone by himself. "is not the arrangement that your friend join you agreeable?" "oh, yes, mother, he is a nice fellow, though a sort of a prig, and i wish to do all we can for him; only--i do hope he will not monopolize betty and barbara always, as he has seemed to do this afternoon." "my boy, beware of that little green imp we read of," laughed mrs. douglas. "you have been too thoroughly 'monarch of all' thus far. can you not share your realm with this homesick young man?" "but he has always had all for himself, mother. he does not know what it is to share." "malcom! be yourself." the mother's eyes looked straight up into those of her tall boy, and her hand sought his with a firm, warm pressure that made him fling back his noble young head with an emphatic "i am ashamed of myself! thank you, mother dear." that evening, as all were sitting on the balcony watching the soft, rosy afterglow that was creeping over the hills and turning to glowing points the domes and spires of the fair city, mr. sumner said:-- "if you are willing, i would like to talk with you a little before we make our visits to santa maria novella and santa croce to-morrow. you will understand better the old pictures we shall see there if we consider beforehand what we ought to look for in any picture or other work of art. too many go to them as to some sort of recreation,--simply for amusement,--simply to gratify their love for beautiful color and form, and so, to these, the most beautiful picture is always the best. but this is a low estimate of the great art of painting, for it is simply one of man's means of expression, just as music or poetry is. the artist learns to compose his pictures, to draw his forms, to lay on his colors, just as the poet learns the meanings of words, rhetorical figures, and the laws of harmony and rhythm, or the musician his notes and scales and harmonies of sound." "i see this is a new thought to you," continued he, after a moment spent in studying the faces about him. "let us follow it. what is the use of this preparation of study in art, poetry, or music? is it solely for the perfection of itself? we often hear nowadays the expression, 'art for art's sake,' and by some it is accounted a grand thought and a noble rallying-cry for artists. and so it truly is if the very broadest and highest possible meaning is given to the word 'art.' if it means the embodying of some noble, beautiful, soul-moving thought in a form that can be seen and understood, and means nothing less than this, then it is indeed a worthy motto. but to too many, i fear, it means only the painting of beauty for beauty's sake. that is, the thought embodied, the message to some soul, which every picture ought to contain, and which every noble picture that is worthy to live _must_ contain, becomes of little or no value compared with the play of color and light and form. "let me explain further," he went on, even more earnestly. "imagine that we are looking at a picture, and we admire exceedingly the perfection of drawing its author has displayed,--the wonderful breadth of composition,--the harmony of color-masses. the moment is full of keen enjoyment for us; but the vital thing, after all, is, what impression shall we take away with us. has the picture borne us any message? has it been either an interpretation or a revelation of something? shall we remember it?" "but is not simple beauty sometimes a revelation, mr. sumner?" asked barbara,--"as in a landscape, or seascape, or the painting of a child's face?" "certainly, if the artist has shown by his work that this beauty has stirred depths of feeling in himself, and his effort has been to reveal what he has felt to others. if you seek to find this in pictures you will soon learn to distinguish between those (too many of which are painted to-day) whose only excellence lies in trick of handling or cunning disposition of color-masses,--because these things are all of which the artist has thought,--and those that have grown out of the highest art-desire, which is to bear some message of the restfulness, the power, the beauty, or the innocence of nature to the hearts of other men. "and there is one thing more that we must not forget. there may be pictures with bad _motifs_ as well as good ones--weak and simple ones, as well as strong and holy ones--and yet they may be full of all artistic qualities of representation. what is true with regard to literature is true in respect to art. it is, after all, the _message_ that determines the degree of nobility. "art was given for that. god uses us to help each other so, lending our minds out. wrote mr. browning, and we should always endeavor to find out whether the artist has loaned his mind or merely his fingers and his knowledge of the use of his materials. if we find thought in his picture, we should then ask to what service he has put it. "if a poem consist only of words and rhythms, how long do you think it ought to live? and if a picture possess merely forms and colors, however beautiful they may be, it deserves no more fame. and how much worse if there be meaning, and it be base and unworthy!" "does he not put it well?" whispered malcom to bettina from his usual seat between her and margery. "i feel as if he were pouring new thoughts into me." "now, the one thing i desire to impress upon you to-night," continued mr. sumner, "is that these old masters of painting who lived in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries had messages to give their fellow-men. their great endeavor was to interpret god's word to them,--you know that in those days and in this land there was no bible open to the common people,--and what we must chiefly look for in their pictures is to see whether or not they told the message as well as the limitation of their art-language permitted. "at first, no laws of perspective were known. none knew how to draw anything correctly. no color-harmonies had been thought of. these men must needs stammer when they tried to express themselves; but as much greater as thought is than the mere expression of it so much greater are many of their works, in the true sense, than the mass of pictures that make up our exhibitions of the present day. "then, also, it is a source of the deepest interest to one who loves this art to watch its growth in means of expression--its steady development--until, finally, we find the noblest thoughts expressed in perfect forms and coloring. this we can do here in florence as nowhere else, for the florentine school of painting was the first of importance in italy. "so," he concluded, "do not look for beauty in these pictures which we are first to study; instead of it, you will find much ugliness. but strive to put yourselves into the place of the old artists, to feel as they felt. see what impelled them to paint. recognize the feebleness of their means of expression. watch for indications in history of the effect of their pictures upon the people. strive to find originality in them, if it be there, for this quality gives a man's work a certain positive greatness wherever we find it; and so learn to become worthy judges of that which you study. soon, like me, you will look with pity on those who can see nothing worthy of a second glance in these treasures of the past. "there! i have preached you a sermon, i am afraid. are you tired?" and his bright glance searched the faces about him. their expression would have been satisfactory without the eager protestations that answered his question. when, a little later, barbara and bettina, each seated before her dainty toilet-table, were brushing their hair, they, as usual, chatted about the events of the day. never had there been so much to talk over and so little time to do it in as during these crowded weeks, when pleasure and study were hand in hand. for though they read and studied, yet there were drives, and receptions in artists' studios, and, because of robert sumner's long residence in florence, they had even begun to receive invitations to small and select parties, where they met charming people. this very morning they had driven with mrs. douglas through some of the oldest parts of florence. they were reading together george eliot's "romola," and were connecting all its events with this city in which the scenes are laid. read in this way, it seemed like a new book to them, and possessed an air of reality that awakened their enthusiasm as nothing else could have done. and then in the afternoon had been the meeting with the new friend; tea in the little garden behind the house; and the evening on the balcony. naturally their conversation soon turned to howard sinclair. "what a strange life for one so young!" said bettina. "malcom says there is no limit to his wealth. he lives in the winter in one of those grandest houses on commonwealth avenue in boston, and has summer houses in two or three places. and yet how poor in many ways!" she continued after a little pause--"so much poorer than we! no father and mother,--no brothers and sisters,--and forced to leave his home because he is so ill! poor fellow! how do you like him, bab? he seemed to admire you sufficiently, for he hardly took his eyes from you." "like him?" slowly returned barbara. "to tell the truth, betty, i hardly know. somehow i feel strangely about him. i like him well enough so far, but i believe i am a bit afraid, and whether it is of him or not, i cannot tell. somehow i feel as if things are going to be different from what they have been, and--i don't know--i believe i almost wish malcom had not known him." "why, bab dear! what do you mean? don't be nervous; that is not like you. nothing could happen to make us unhappy while we are with these dear people,--nothing, that is, if our dear ones at home are well. i wish he had not stared at you so much with those great eyes, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, but how he could have helped admiring you, sister mine, is more than i know,--for you were lovely beyond everything this afternoon;" and betty impulsively sprang up to give her sister a hug and a kiss. "to change the subject," she added, "how did you like mr. sumner's talk this evening?" "oh! more than words can tell! betty, i believe, next to our own dear papa, he is the grandest man alive. i always feel when he talks as if nothing were too difficult to attempt; as if nothing were too beautiful to believe. and he is so young too, in feeling; so wise and yet so full of sympathy with all our young nonsense. he is simply perfect." and she drew a long breath. "i think so too; and he practises what he preaches in his own painting. for don't you remember those pictures we saw in his studio the other day? how he has painted those egyptian scenes! a perfect tremor ran over me as i felt the terrible, solemn loneliness of that one camel and his rider in the limitless stretch of desert. i felt quite as he must have felt, i am sure; and the desert will always seem a different thing to me because i looked at that picture. and then that sweet, strong, overcoming woman's face! how much she had lived through! what a lesson of triumph over all weakness and sorrow it teaches! i am so thankful every minute that dear mrs. douglas asked us to come with her, that our darling papa and mamma allowed us to come, and that everything is so pleasant in this dear, delightful florence." and bettina fell asleep almost the minute her head rested on her pillow, with a happy smile curving her beautiful lips. but barbara tossed long on the little white bed in the opposite corner of the room. it was difficult to go to sleep, so many thoughts crowded upon her. finally she resolutely set herself to recall mr. sumner's words of the evening. then, as she remembered the little lingering of his eyes upon her own as he bade his group of listeners good night, the glad thought came, "he knows i am trying to learn, and that i appreciate all he is doing for me," and so her last thought was not for the new friend the day had brought, but for robert sumner. chapter v. straws show which way the wind blows. _give these, i exhort you, their guerdon and glory for daring so much before they well did it_. --browning. [illustration: santa maria novella, florence.] it was a charming morning in early november when mr. sumner and his little company of students of florentine art gathered before the broad steps which lead up to the entrance of santa maria novella. the italian sky, less soft than in midsummer, gleamed brightly blue. the square tower of the old fiesole cathedral had been sharply defined as they turned to look at it when leaving their home; and giotto's campanile, of which they had caught a glimpse on their way hither, shone like a white lily in the morning sunlight. the sweet, invigorating air, the bustle of the busy streets, the happiness of youth and pleasant expectancy caused all hearts to beat high, and it was a group of eager faces that turned toward the grand old church whose marble sides show the discoloration of centuries. at mr. sumner's invitation all sat on the steps in a sunny corner while he talked of cimabue,--the first great name in the history of italian painting,--the man who was great enough to dare attempt to change conditions that existed in his time, which was the latter part of the thirteenth century. he told them how, though a nobleman possessing wealth and honor, he had loved painting and had given his life to it; and how, having been a man arrogant of all criticism, he was fitted to be a pioneer; to break from old traditions, and to infuse life into the dead byzantine art. he told them how the people, ever quick to feel any change, were delighted to recognize, in a picture, life, movement, and expression, however slight. how, one day six hundred years ago, a gay procession, with banners and songs, bore a large painting, the _madonna and child_, from the artist's studio, quite a distance away, through the streets and up to the steps on which they were sitting; and how priests chanting hymns and bearing church banners came out to receive the picture. "and through all these centuries it has here remained," he continued. "it is, of course, scarred by time and dark with the smoke of incense. when you look upon it i wish you would remember what i told you the other evening about that for which we should look in a picture. be sympathetic. put yourself in old cimabue's place and in that of the people who had known only such figures in painting as the _magdalen_ you saw last week in the academy. then, though these figures are so stiff and almost lifeless, though the picture is byzantine in character, you will see beyond all this a faint expression in the madonna's face, a little life and action in the christ-child, who holds up his tiny hand in blessing. "if you do not look for this you may miss it,--miss all that which gives worth to cimabue and his art. as thoughtful a mind as that of our own hawthorne saw only the false in it, and missed the attempt for truth; and so said he only wished 'another procession would come and take the picture from the church, and reverently burn it.' ah, malcom, i see your eyes found that in your reading, and you thought in what good company you might be." "what kind of painting is it?" queried barbara, as a few minutes later they stood in the little chapel, and looked up at cimabue's quaint _madonna and child_. "it is called _tempera_, and is laid upon wood. in this process the paints are mixed with some glutinous substance, such as the albumen of eggs, glue, etc., which causes them to adhere to the surface on which they are placed." "what do you think was the cause of cimabue's taking such an advance step, mr. sumner?" asked howard sinclair, after a pause, during which all studied the picture. "it must have been a something caught from the spirit of the time. a stir, an awakening, was taking place in italy. dante and petrarch were in a few years to think and write. the time had come for a new art." "i do see the difference between this and those academy pictures," said bettina, "even though it is so queer, and painted in such colors." "and i," "and i," quickly added barbara and margery. "i think those angels' faces are interesting," continued barbara. "they are not all just alike, but look as if each had some thought of his own. they seem proud of their burden as they hold up the madonna and child." "oh, nonsense, barbara! you are putting too much imagination in there," exclaimed malcom. "i think old cimabue did do something, but it is an awfully bad picture, after all. there is one thing, though; it is not so flat as that academy _magdalen_. the child's head seems round, and i do think his face has a bit of expression." so they looked and chatted on, and took little note of coming and going tourists, who glanced with curiosity from them to the old dark picture above, and then back to the fresh, eager, beautiful faces,--the greater part ever finding in the latter the keener attraction. "i always have one thought when i look at this," finally said mr. sumner, "that perhaps will be interesting to you, and linger in your minds. this _madonna and child_ seems to form a link and also to mark a division between all those which went before it in christian art and all those that have followed. it is the last byzantine madonna and is the first of the long, noble list which has come from the hands of artists who have lived since the thirteenth century. "we will not stay here longer now, for i know you will come again more than once to study it. there is much valuable historic art in this church which you will understand better when you have learned more. yonder in the strozzi chapel is some of the very best work of an old painter called orcagna, while here in the choir are notable frescoes by ghirlandajo; but now i shall take you down these steps between the two into the cloister and there we will talk of giotto. i know how busy you have been reading about this wonderful old master, for i could not help hearing snatches of your talk about him all through the past week. his figure looms up most important of all among the early painters of florence. you know how cimabue, clad in his scarlet robe and hood, insignia of nobility, riding out one day to a little town lying on one of yonder blue hills, found a little, dark-faced shepherd-boy watching his father's sheep, and amusing himself by drawing a picture of one, with only a sharp stone for a pencil. interested in the boy, he took pains to visit his father and gain his permission to take him as a pupil to florence. so giotto came to begin his art-life. what are you thinking of, little margery?" "only a bit of dante's writing which i read with mother the other day," said she, blushing. "i was thinking how little cimabue then thought that this poor, ignorant shepherd-boy would ever cause these lines to be written:-- "cimabue thought to lord it over painting's field: but now the cry is _giotto_, and his name's eclipsed." "yes, indeed! giotto did eclipse his master's fame, for he went so much farther,--but only in the same path, however; so we must not take from cimabue any of the honor that is due him. but for giotto the old byzantine method of painting on all gold backgrounds was abolished. this boy, though born of peasants, was not only gifted with keen powers of observation of nature and mankind and a devotion to the representation of things truly as they are, but, beyond and above all this, with one other quality that made his work of incalculable worth to the people among whom he painted. this was a delicate appreciation of the true relations between earthly and spiritual things. "before him, as we have seen, all art was most unnatural and monastic,--utterly destitute of sympathy with the feelings of the common people. giotto changed all this. he made the christ-child a loving baby; the madonna a loving mother into whose joy and suffering all mothers' hearts could enter; angels were servants of men; miracles were wrought by god because he loved and desired to help men; the pictured men and women were like themselves because they smiled and grieved and acted even as they did. all this change giotto made in the spirit of pictures; and in the ways of painting he also wrought a complete revolution. 'there are no such things as gold backgrounds in nature,' he said; 'i will have my people out of doors or in their homes.' and so he painted the blue sky and rocks and trees and grass, and dressed his men and women in pure, fresh colors, and represented them as if engaged in home duties in the house or in the field. he introduced many characters into his story pictures,--angel visitants, neighbors, wandering shepherds, and even domestic animals. he brought the art of painting _down_ into the minds and hearts of all who looked upon them." "i never have realized until lately," said barbara, "how painting can be made a source of education and pleasure to everybody. it is so different here from what it is at home, especially because the churches are full of pictures. there we go into the art museums or the galleries of different art-clubs,--the only places where pictures are to be found,--and meet only those people that can afford luxuries; and so the art itself seems a luxury. but here i have seen such poor, sad-looking people, who seem to forget all their miseries in looking at some beautiful sacred picture. only the other day i overheard a poor woman, whose clothes were wretched and who had one child in her arms and another beside her, trying to explain a picture to them, and she lingered and lingered before it, and then turned away with a pleased, restful face." "yes, it is the spirit of pictures and their truth to nature that appeal to the mass of people here," replied mr. sumner, "and so it must be everywhere. i have been very glad to read in my papers from home that free art exhibitions have been occasionally opened in the poor quarters of our cities. should the movement become general, as i hope it will, it must work good in more than one direction. not only could those who have hitherto been shut out from this means of pleasure and education receive and profit by it, but the art itself would gain a wholesome impulse. a new class of critics would be heard--those unversed in art-parlance--who would not talk of line, tone, color-harmonies and technique, but would go to the very heart of picture and painter; and i think the truest artists would listen to them and so gain something. "but we must get to giotto again. i have told you what he tried to paint, but you will see that he could not do all this in the least as if he had been taught in our art-schools of to-day. how little could cimabue teach him! his hills and rocks are parodies of nature. he knew not how to draw feet, and would put long gowns or stockings on his people so as to hide his deficiency. he never could make a lying-down figure look flat. but how he could accomplish all that he did in his pictures is more than any one can explain. "we will now look behind this grand tomb at the foot of the stairs and find two of giotto's frescoes. there you see the pictures--the _birth of the virgin_ and the _meeting of st. joachim and st. anna_, the father and mother of the virgin. do you know the story of these saints?" "yes," answered malcom, "betty read it to us last evening, for, you see, uncle, we had been dipping just a bit, so as not to get below our depth, into mr. ruskin's 'mornings in florence'; so we ought to be able to understand something here, if anywhere, oughtn't we?" "well, look and see what you can find! i wonder what will appeal first to each one of you!" after a few minutes of complete silence mr. sumner said: "margery dear, i wonder what you are thinking of?" "i am thinking, uncle, that, just as mr. ruskin says, i cannot help seeing the baby in this picture. at whatever part i look my eyes keep coming back to the dear little thing wrapped up so clumsily, whom the two nurses are tending so lovingly and with such reverence." "yes, my dear, old giotto knew how to make the chief thing in his pictures seem to be the most important; something that not all of us artists of to-day know how to do by any means." "but the pictures are so queer!" burst forth malcom. "i do see some of the fine things of which you speak, uncle robert, but there are so many almost ridiculous things; the shepherds that are following st. joachim--do look at the feet of the first one; and the second has on stockings. i can see the different lines that poor old giotto drew when he was struggling over those first feet; i wonder if he put the others into stockings just to save trying to draw them. and the funny lamb in the arms of the first shepherd; and the queer, stiff sprigs of grass which are growing up in all sorts of places! and the angel coming out of the cloud! and--" "do stop, malcom," cried bettina, "just here at the angel! why! i think he is perfectly beautiful with one hand on st. joachim's head and the other on st. anna's. he is blessing them and drawing them together and forgiving, all in one." "and the people, all of them! just look at the people!" cried barbara, impetuously. "each one is thinking of something, and i seem to know what it is! how could--" but her voice faltered, and stopped abruptly. "it is not difficult to understand what howard is thinking of," whispered malcom in bettina's ear. "did you see what a look he gave barbara? i don't believe she likes it." mr. sumner, turning, surprised the same look in the young man's eyes and gave a quick, inquiring glance at the fair, flushed face of barbara. he felt annoyed, without knowing exactly why. a new and foreign element had been introduced into the little group, whose influence was not to be transient. after a few more words, in which he told them to notice the type of giotto's faces--the eyes set near together, their too great length, though much better in this respect than cimabue's, and the broad, rounded chins--they turned away. "we have seen all we ought to stay here for to-day, and now we will drive over to santa croce. there are also notable frescoes by giotto in assisi, and especially in the arena chapel, padua. perhaps we may see them all by and by." on leaving the church, bettina looked back, saying:-- "this is the church that michael angelo used to call 'his bride.'" "used to," laughed malcom. "you have gone back centuries this morning, betty." "i feel so. i should not be one bit surprised to meet some of these old artists right here in the piazza on their way to their work." "let us go over to santa croce by way of the duomo, and through piazza signoria, uncle," said margery. "i am never tired of those little, narrow, crooked streets." "yes, that will be a good way; for then we shall go right past giotto's campanile, and though you have seen it often you will look upon it with especial interest just now, when we are studying his work." at santa croce they were to meet mrs. douglas by appointment; and as they pressed on through the broad nave, lined on either side by massive monuments to florence's great dead, they espied her at the entrance of the bardi chapel in conversation with a lady whose slender figure and bright, animated face grew familiar to the young people of the steamship as they approached; for it was the miss sherman whom barbara and bettina had admired so much on the _kaiser wilhelm_, and whom, with her father and sister, they had met once before in this same church. coming rapidly forward, mrs. douglas introduced her companion. "she is alone in florence," she explained to her brother a moment later when the others had passed on, "for her father has been suddenly summoned home, and her sister has accompanied him. she is a bright, charming young woman, who loves art dearly, and i am sure we all shall like her. i felt drawn to her as we talked together several times on our way over. i think we must have her with us all we can." after an hour spent in the bardi and peruzzi chapels, whose walls are covered with giotto's frescoes, the little group separated. malcom, margery, barbara, and bettina walked home along the via dei pinti, or street of the painters. while the others chatted, barbara was unusually silent. she was thinking how much she had learned that morning, and exulted in the knowledge that there was not quite so vast a difference between herself and miss sherman as existed the last time they met in santa croce. for barbara had entered into the study of this subject with an almost feverish fervor of endeavor. though she felt there was much to enjoy and to learn all about her, yet nothing seemed so important as a knowledge of the old painters and their pictures; and the longing to be able to think and to speak with some assurance of them haunted her continually. bettina sometimes looked at her sister with wonder as she would sit hour after hour poring over mr. sumner's books. "i always thought _i_ loved pictures best," she thought; "but bab cares more for these old ones than i do." chapter vi. lucile sherman. _in life's small things be resolute and great to keep thy muscle trained; knowest thou when fate thy measure takes? or when she'll say to thee, "i find thee worthy. do this deed for me?_" --lowell. [illustration: a glimpse of florence.] the tourist who devotes a few days to florence, or a few weeks even, can have no conception of what it means to live in this city; to awake morning after morning and look out upon the lines of her hills and catch glimpses of their distant blues and purples; to be free to wander about at will through her streets, every one of which is crowded with legend and romance; to look upon her palaces and churches, about which cluster so many deeds of history; to visit the homes of her immortal men--poets and artists; to walk step by step instead of whirling along in a carriage; and to grow to feel a close intimacy with her sculptures and paintings, and even with the very stones that are built into her palace walls. for florence is comparatively a small city. a good pedestrian can easily walk from porta romana on the south to porta gallo on the north; or from porta san niccolo on the east, along the banks of the arno, to the cascine gardens on the west. it is only an afternoon of genuine delight to climb the lovely, winding ways leading up to san miniato, or to fiesole, or to the torre del gallo,--the "star tower of galileo." and what a feeling of possession one has for a road which he has travelled foot by foot; for the rocks and trees and vine-covered walls, and the ever-changing views which continually demand attention! one absorbs and assimilates as in no other way. so when, at breakfast one morning, mr. sumner suggested a walk up to fiesole, a picnic lunch at the top in the grounds of the old monastery, and the whole day there, coming down at sunset, his proposition met with delighted assent. it was planned that mrs. douglas should take a carriage, and invite miss sherman and howard sinclair to go with her, but the others were ready and eager for the walk. anita, the little housemaid, was to accompany them and carry the luncheon, and she was on tiptoe with joy, because a whole day under the open sky is the happiest fortune possible for an italian girl; and, besides this, they would have to pass close by her own home, and perhaps her little brother could go with her. all felt a peculiar affection for fiesole, because from the house in which they were living they could look right out upon the historic old city nestling into the hollow of the hill-top, and watch its changing lights and shadows, and say "good morning" and "good night" to it. barbara and bettina had often tried to fancy what life there was like so many centuries ago, when the city was rich and powerful; and afterward, when the old romans had taken possession of it, and the ruined amphitheatre was whole and noisy with games; or in later times, when the venerable cathedral was fresh and new. they felt a kind of pity for the forlorn old place, peopled with so much wrinkled age, and forever looking down upon all the loveliness and treasures of the fair florence which had grown out from her own decay. as the party left the house, and, before disappearing from the view of mrs. douglas, who stood watching them, turned and waved their hands, she thought that she had not seen her brother looking so young, care-free, and happy for many years. "this is doing robert a world of good," said she to herself. "those who have heretofore been only children to him are now companions, and he is becoming a boy again with them. oh! if he could only throw off the morbid feeling he has had about going back to america to live, and return with us, and be happy and useful there, how delightful it would be!" second only in the life of mrs. douglas to the great loss of her husband had been the separation from this dearly loved brother, and it was one of the strongest wishes of her heart that he should come back to his native land. to have him living near her and experiencing the delights of home life had been a long dream of whose realization she had wellnigh despaired, as year after year had passed and he had still lingered in foreign lands. now, as she turned from the window and went back into the large, sunny rooms, so quiet with the young people all gone, her thoughts lingered upon her brother, and into them came the remembrance of the sweet-faced miss sherman, whom they had met yesterday and who seemed destined to come more or less into their lives. "perhaps"--she thought, and smiled at her thought so evidently born of her wish; and then hastened to despatch a message to miss sherman and howard, lest she might miss them. lucile sherman differed somewhat in character from the impression she had made upon mrs. douglas. lovely in face and figure, gifted with winning ways, possessed of a certain degree of culture, and very desirous of gaining the friendship of cultured people, she was most attractive on short acquaintance. an intimacy must always reveal her limitations and show how she just missed the best because of the lack of any definite, earnest purpose in her life,--of real sincerity and of the slightest element of self-sacrifice, without which no character can grow truly noble. she was very dear unto herself, and was accustomed to take the measure of all things according to the way in which they affected lucile sherman. when her father, for whose health the present journey to italy had been primarily planned, was imperatively summoned home, her disappointment was so overwhelmingly apparent that her sister marion was chosen to accompany him back to america, and lucile was permitted to spend the winter as she so much wished. she was fond of society, of music, of literature and art; had seemingly an enthusiastic admiration and desire for all things good and true, and thought she embodied all her desires; but these were ever a little too languid to subdue the self-love and overcome the inertia of all high principles of life. it is not difficult to understand her, for the world has many such,--in whom there is nothing really bad, only they have missed the best. on board the steamship, she had been much attracted by the little party from boston, and had made advances toward mrs. douglas; and when, on that day so soon after reaching florence, she had met mr. sumner and the young people in santa croce, her remark that it was worth a journey from america just to see giotto's frescoes there--the remark that had won a look of interest from mr. sumner, and that poor barbara had brooded over because it had caused her to feel so sorely her own ignorance--had been spoken with the design that it should be overheard by that distinguished-looking man who, she felt sure, must be the artist-brother whom mrs. douglas had come to italy to meet; and though she did enjoy the old florentine masters very much indeed, yet she had haunted the churches and galleries a little more persistently than she would otherwise have done, in the hope that fortune might some day favor her by granting a meeting with mrs. douglas and her brother. all things come to those who wish and wait; and so the time came when mrs. douglas found her in santa croce, and the desired introduction and invitations were given. when, therefore, the request that she join the picnic party on fiesole reached her, and was soon followed by mrs. douglas's carriage, miss sherman's satisfaction knew no bounds. the lovely eyes, that barbara and bettina had so much admired, were more softly brilliant than ever in their expression of happiness, and mrs. douglas looked the admiration she felt for her young companion. meanwhile, mr. sumner, malcom, margery, barbara, and bettina had gloriously enjoyed the walk out of the city through porta gallo, along the banks of the mugello, up the first slope of the hill, past villa palmieri, and upward to san domenico,--church and monastery,--which stands about half way to the top. here they stopped to rest, and to talk for a few minutes about fra angelico, the painter-monk, whose name has rendered historic every spot on which he lived. mr. sumner told them very briefly how two young men--brothers, hardly more than boys--had come hither one day from the country over yonder, the same country where giotto had lived when a child, about one hundred years before, and had become monks in this monastery. "they took the names of giovanni and benedetto; and giovanni, or john, as it is in english, was afterward called fra angelico by his brethren because his life was so holy, or because, as some say, he painted angels more pure and beautiful than have ever been pictured before or since. he lived here many years before he was transferred with his brethren to the monastery of san marco down in florence, and painted several pictures in this church, only a part of one of which is remaining. little did the young monk think, as he painted here in humility, that one day emissaries from the great unknown world would come hither, cut his frescoes out of the walls, and bear them away to foreign art galleries, there to be treasured beyond all price." they went into the church to give a look at the remaining picture over the altar in the choir, a _virgin with saints and angels_, the lower part, or predella, of which is now in the national gallery, london; but mr. sumner said they must not stay long, for this was not the object of the day. since, however, fra angelico was to be their next subject of study, he wished them to know all about him they possibly could before going to san marco to really study his pictures. lingering on the terrace outside, they looked at the lovely villa landor close at hand, where the english poet, walter savage landor, spent several years. here malcom quoted, in a quietly impressive way:-- "from france to italy my steps i bent, and pitcht at arno's side my household tent. six years the medicean palace held my wandering lares; then they went afield, where the hewn rocks of fiesole impend o'er doccia's dell, and fig and olive blend." "how did you come to know that?" asked margery, the usual poetry quoter. "i didn't have to go far for it. i came across it in my 'hare's florence,' and i rather think the quaint fancy of the _lares_ 'going afield' caught my attention so that i cannot lose the words." "it is easier to think how one must write poetry in such a lovely spot than how one could help it," said bettina, with shining eyes. "or could help painting pictures," added barbara. "just look at the colors of sky, hills, and city. no wonder fra angelico thought of angels with softly glittering wings and dressed in exquisite pinks and violets, when he lived here day after day." "just wait, though, until we come down at sunset," said mr. sumner. "this is indeed beautiful, but then it will be most beautiful, and you can enjoy the changing colors of sunset over florence, as seen from fiesole, far better as we loiter along on the road, as we shall do to-night, than when in a carriage, as we were two or three weeks ago. of course, there is less color now than in summer, yet it will be glorious, i am sure. we are most fortunate in our choice of a day, for it is warm, with a moisture in the atmosphere that veils forms and enriches color. we should call it 'indian summer' were we at home." before they had quite reached the old city at the top, the carriage containing mrs. douglas, miss sherman, and howard overtook them, and the latter sprang out to join the walking-party. such a day as followed! lunch in the grove behind the ancient monastery!--visits to the ruined amphitheatre, the cathedral, and museum so full of all sorts of antiquities obtained from the excavations of ancient fiesole!--loitering in the spacious piazza, where they were beset by children and weather-beaten, brown old women, clamoring for them to buy all sorts of things made of the straw there manufactured; and everywhere magnificent views, either of the widely extended valley of the mugnone on the one side, or of florence, lying in her amethystine cup, on the other! finally, giving orders for the carriage to follow within a certain time, so that any tired one might take it, all started down the hill. they soon met a procession of young franciscan monks, chanting a hymn as they walked--their curious eyes stealing furtive glances at the beautiful faces of the american ladies. "i feel as if i were a part of the fourteenth century," said miss sherman. "surely fra angelico might be one of those passing us." "only he would have worn a white gown instead of a brown one," replied mrs. douglas, smiling. "you know he was a dominican monk, not franciscan." "but look on the other side of the road," cried malcom, "and hear the buzzing of the wires! an electric tramway! here meet the fourteenth and the nineteenth centuries!" in a minute it all had happened. just how, no one knew. an agonized scream from the little maid, anita, who was walking behind them, a momentary sight of the tiny, brown-faced italian boy, her brother, right in the pathway of the swinging car as it rounded the curve--malcom's spring--and then the boy and himself lying out on the roadside against the wall. the vigorous crying of the little boy as he rushed into his sister's arms, evinced his safety, but there was a quiet about malcom that was terrifying. he had succeeded in throwing the child beyond the reach of the car, but had himself been struck by it, and consciousness was gone. the little group, so happy a moment before, now hung over him in silent fear and agony. howard hastened back to get the carriage, and returned to find malcom slowly struggling to awaken, but when moved, he again fainted; and so, lying in his uncle's arms, with his pale mother and tearful margery sitting in front, and the others, frightened and sympathetic, hurrying behind, malcom was brought home through the wonderful sunset glow upon which not one bestowed a single thought. chapter vii. a startling disclosure. '_tis even thus: in that i live i love; because i love i live: whate'er is fountain to the one is fountain to the other._ --tennyson. [illustration: cloister, museum of san marco, florence.] many days of great distress followed. everything else was forgotten in the tense waiting. there were moments of half consciousness when malcom's only words were "all right, mother." it seemed as if even in that second of plunging to save the child he yet thought of his mother, and realized how she would feel his danger. but happily, as time wore on, the jarred brain recovered from the severe shock it had received, and gradually smiles took the place of anxious, questioning looks, and merry voices were again heard, and the busy household life was resumed. although malcom could not accompany them, the proposed visit to the old monastery, san marco, for study of fra angelico's paintings was made by the others. as they wandered through the long corridors, chapel, refectory, and the many little cells, now vacant, from the walls of which look forth soft, fair faces and still fresh, sweet colors laid there almost five hundred years ago by the hand of the painter-monk, they talked of his devotion, of his unselfish life and work; of his rejection of payment for his painting, doing it unto god and not unto men. they talked of his beginning all his work with prayer for inspiration, and how, in full faith that his prayer had been answered, he absolutely refused to alter a touch his brush had made; and of the old tradition that he never painted christ or the virgin mary save on his knees, nor a crucifixion save through blinding tears; and their voices grew very quiet, and they looked upon each fresco almost with reverence. "fra angelico stood apart from the growth of art that was taking place about him," said mr. sumner. "he neither affected it nor was affected by it. we should call him to-day an 'ecstatic painter'--one who paints visions; the italians then called him 'il beato,' the blessed. there are many other works by him,--although a great part, between forty and fifty, are here. you remember the _madonna and child_ you saw in the uffizi gallery the other day, on whose wide gold frame are painted those angels with musical instruments that are reproduced so widely and sold everywhere. you recognized them at once, i saw. then, a few pictures have been carried away and are in foreign art galleries, as i told you the other day. during the last years of his life the pope sent for him to come to rome, and there he painted frescoes on the walls of some rooms in the vatican palace. from that city he went to orvieto, a little old city perched on the top of a hill on the way from florence to rome, in whose cathedral he painted a noble _christ_, with prophets, saints, and angels. he died in rome." "and was he not buried here?" asked barbara; "here in this lovely inner court, where are the graves of so many monks?" "no. he was buried in santa maria sopra minerva, a church close by the pantheon in rome, and the pope himself wrote his epitaph. but it is indeed a great pity that he could not lie here, in the very midst of so many of his works, and where he lived so long." "did fra angelico live before or after the prophet savonarola, uncle?" asked margery. "we came here a little time ago with mother to visit the latter's cell, and the church, in connection with our reading of 'romola.'" "he lived before savonarola, about a hundred years. so that when savonarola used to walk about through these rooms and corridors, he saw the same pictures we are now looking at." * * * * * "i say, uncle, don't you think i am having the best part of this, after all?" brightly asked malcom, the following day, as mr. sumner entered the wide sunny room where he was lying on the sofa, propped up by cushions, while barbara, bettina, and margery were clustered about him with their hands full of photographs of fra angelico's paintings, and all trying to talk at once. "the girls have told me everything; and i am almost sure i shall never mistake a fra angelico picture. i know just what expression he put into his faces, just how quiet and as-if-they-never-could-be-used his hands are, and how straight the folds of his draperies hang, even though the people who wear them are dancing. i know what funny little clouds, like bundles of cigars, his madonnas sit upon up in the heavens. "i am not quite sure, uncle dear, but i like your instructions best when second-hand," he laughingly added. "betty has made me fairly love the old fellow by her stories of his unearthly goodness. was it not fine to refuse money for his work, and to decline to be made archbishop when the pope asked him; and to recommend a brother monk for the office? i think he ought to be called _saint_ angelico." [illustration: fra angelico. uffuzi gallery, florence. group of angels. from coronation of the virgin.] "some people have called him the 'st. john of art,'" mr. sumner replied, with a bright smile at malcom's enthusiasm. "i am not sure but yours is the better name, however." about this time people who frequented the cascine gardens and other popular drives in and about florence began to notice with interest an elegant equipage containing a tall, slender, pale young man, two beautiful, brown-eyed girls, and oftentimes either a gray-haired woman in black or a sunny-haired young girl. it had been purchased by howard, and daily he wished barbara and bettina to drive with him. indeed, it now seemed as if the young man's thoughts were beginning to centre wholly in this household; and suddenly warned by a few words spoken by malcom, mrs. douglas became painfully conscious that a more than mere friendly interest might prompt such constant and lavish attentions. with newly opened eyes, she saw that while howard generously gave to them all of such things as he could in return for their hospitality, yet there was a something different in his manner toward barbara and bettina. their room was always bright and fragrant with the most costly flowers, and not a wish did they express but howard was eager to gratify it. she was troubled; and since the air of florence was beginning to take on the chill of winter--to become too cold for such an invalid as howard--she ventured one day, when they happened to be alone together, to ask him if he would soon go farther south for the winter. "malcom told me you had stopped for only a time here on your way to the south of italy," she added. the color rushed in a torrent over howard's pale face, and he did not speak for a minute; then, turning abruptly to her, said:-- "i cannot go away from florence, mrs. douglas. do you not see, do you not know, how i have loved barbara ever since i first saw her? you must have seen it, for i have not been able sometimes to conceal my feelings. they have taken complete possession of me. i think only of her day and night. i have often thought i ought to tell you of it. now, i am glad i have. do you not think she will sometime love me? she _must_. i could not live without it." and his voice, which had trembled with excitement, suddenly faltered and broke. poor mrs. douglas strove for words. "you must not let her know this," she finally said. "she is only a little girl whom her father and mother have entrusted to me. what would they say if they knew how blind i have been! why, you have known her but a few weeks! you must be mistaken. it is a fancy. it will pass away. conquer yourself. go away. oh, do go away, howard, for a time at least!" "i cannot, i will not. mrs. douglas, i have never longed for a thing in my life but it has come to me. i long for barbara's love more than i ever wished for any other thing in the world. she must give it to me. oh, were i only well and strong, i know i could compel it." "listen to me, howard. i know that barbara has never had one thought of this. her mind is completely occupied with her study, the pleasures and the novelties that each day is bringing her. she does not conceal anything. she has no reason to do so. she and bettina are no silly girls who think of a lover in every young man they meet. they are as sweet and fresh and free from all sentimentalities as when they were children. barbara would be frightened could she hear you talk,--should she for a moment suspect how you feel. you must conceal it; for your own sake, you must." "i will not show what i feel any more than i already have. i will not speak to barbara yet of my love. only let me stay here, where i can see her every day. do not send me away. mrs. douglas, you do not know how lonely my life has been--without brother or sister--without father or mother. it has been like a bit of paradise to go in and out of your household; and to think--to hope that perhaps barbara would sometime love me and be with me always. my love has become a passion, stronger than life itself. look at me! do you not believe my words, mrs. douglas?" as mrs. douglas lifted her eyes and looked full into the delicate, almost transparent face so swept by emotion, and met the deathless fire of howard's brilliant eyes, she felt as never before the frailty of his physical life, and wondered at the mighty force of his passionate will. the conviction came that she was grappling with no slight feeling, but with that which really might mean life or death to him. an unfathomable sympathy filled her heart. "i can talk no more," she said, gently taking in her own the young man's hand. "i will accept your promise. come and go as you have, dear howard. but always remember that very much depends on your keeping from barbara all knowledge of your love." as soon as it was possible, mrs. douglas, as was her wont when in any anxiety, sought a conference with her brother. after telling him all, there was complete silence for a moment. then mr. sumner said:-- "and barbara,--how do you think barbara feels? for she is not a child any longer. how old were you, my sister, when you were married? only nineteen--and you told me yesterday that we must celebrate barbara's and bettina's eighteenth birthday before very long, and barbara is older than her years--more womanly than most girls of her age." "she has never had a thought of this, i am confident. of course, she may have known, have felt, howard's admiration of her; but i doubt if the child has ever in her life had the slightest idea of the possible existence of any such feeling as he is cherishing. it is not ordinary, robert, it is overwhelming; you know we have seen his self-will shown in many ways. the force of his emotion and will now is simply tremendous. few girls could withstand it if fully exposed to its influence. there is all the more danger because the element of pity must enter in, because he is so evidently frail and lonely. i feel that i have been greatly in fault. i ought to have foreseen what might happen from admitting so freely into our home a young man of howard's age and circumstances. i have never thought of barbara and betty otherwise than of my own margery, and i know nothing in the world has ever been farther from good dr. and mrs. burnett's minds than the possible involvement of one of their girls in a love-affair. "and now i must write them something of this," she added, with a sigh. "it would not be right to keep secret even the beginnings of what might prove to be of infinite importance. of course howard's family, character, position, are above question; but his health, his exacting nature; his lack of so many qualities dr. burnett considers essential; the undesirability of such an entanglement! oh! it would be only the beginning of sorrows should barbara grow to care for him." poor mrs. douglas's face showed the sudden weight of care that had been launched upon her, as she anxiously asked:-- "what do you advise, robert?" "nothing; only to go on just as we have been doing. fill the days as full as we can, and trust that all will be right. it is best never to try to manage affairs, i believe." and barbara--how did barbara feel? she could never have analyzed and put into definite thought the inner life she was leading during these days. indeed, it is doubtful whether she had the slightest conception of the change that was gradually working within her. but rapidly she was putting away childish things, and "woman's lot" was coming fast upon her. mrs. douglas would have been astounded, indeed, could she, with her eyes of experience and wisdom, have looked into the heart of barbara, whom she still called "child." that which the young girl could not understand would have been a revelation to her who had been a loving wife. with what an overwhelming pity would she have hastened to restore her to her parents before this hopeless love should grow any stronger, and she become aware of its existence! dr. burnett's admiration for robert sumner was unbounded. he had known him from boyhood, and had always been his confidant, so far as an older man can be with a younger. many times he had talked to his children about him--about his earnestness and sincerity of purpose--his high aims, and his willingness to spare no pains to realize them. barbara, who, perhaps, had been more than any other of the children her father's comrade, had listened to these tales and praises until robert sumner had become her ideal of all that was noble. no one had dreamed of such a thing, but so it was; and through all the excitement of preparation and through the journey to italy, one of her chief anticipations had been to see this young man of whom her father had talked so much, and, herself, to learn to know him. the story of his marriage disappointment, which had led to his life abroad, and a notable adventure in egypt, in which he had saved a woman's life, had added just that romance to his reputation as an artist and a writer on art that had seized hold of the young girl's imagination. now, as she was daily with him in the home, saw his affectionate care for his sister, malcom, and margery, and felt his good comradeship with them all, while in every way he was teaching them and inspiring them to do better things than they had yet accomplished, a passionate desire had risen to make herself worthy of his approbation. she wished him to think of her as more than a mere girl--the companion of none but the very young. she wished to be his companion, and all that was ardent and enthusiastic in her nature was beginning to rush, like a torrent that suddenly finds an outlet, into the channels indicated by him. she did not realize this. but the absorbing study she was giving to the old pictures, the intensity of which was surprising to bettina, was an indication of it. her quick endeavor to follow any line of thought suggested by mr. sumner--and her restlessness when she saw the long conversations he and miss sherman would so often hold, were others. it seemed to her lately as if miss sherman were always claiming his time and attention--even their visit to santa maria del carmine to study the frescoes by masaccio, who was the next artist they were to learn about, had been postponed because she wished mrs. douglas and mr. sumner to go somewhere with her. barbara did not like it very well. but to howard she gave little thought when she was away from him. he was kind, his flowers were sweet, but they were all over the house,--given to others as well as to herself. it was very good of him to take herself and betty in his fine new carriage so often; but, perhaps,--if he did not so continually ask them,--perhaps,--they would oftener drive with mr. sumner and malcom; and she knew betty would like that better, as well as she herself. she was often annoyed because he evidently "admired" her so much, as betty called it, and did wish he would not look at her as he sometimes did; and she felt very sensitively the signs of irritation that were so apparent in him when anything prevented them from being with him as he wished. but she was very sorry for his loneliness; for his exile from home on account of ill-health; for the weakness that he often felt and for which no pleasures purchased by money could compensate. she was grateful for his kindness, and would not wound him for the world; so she frankly and graciously accepted all he gave, and, in return, tried to bring all the happiness she could into his days. chapter viii. howard's questionings. _when the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something. god stoops o'er his head, satan looks up beneath his feet--both tug-- he's left, himself, i' the middle: the soul wakes and grows_. --browning. [illustration: ponte alla carraja, florence.] at last the morning came when the postponed visit to santa maria del carmine, on the other side of the arno, was to be made. miss sherman had so evidently desired to join in the study of the old painters that mrs. douglas suggested to her brother that she be invited to do so, but he had thought it not best. "the others would not be so free to talk," he said. "i do not wish any constraint. now we are only a family party,--with the exception of howard, and i confess that i sometimes wish he did not join us in this." malcom was again with them, for the first time since they were at fiesole, and this was enough to make the occasion a particularly joyous one. the romantic mystery of masaccio's short life and sudden, secret death, and the wonderful advance that he effected in the evolution of italian painting of the fifteenth century, had greatly interested them as they had read at home about him, and all were eager to see the frescoes. "they are somewhat worn and dark," mr. sumner said, "and at first you will probably feel disappointed. what you must particularly look for here is that which you have hitherto found nowhere else,--the expression of individuality in figures and faces. giotto, you remember, sought to tell some story; to illustrate some bible incident so that it should seem important and claim attention. masaccio went to work in a wholly different way. while giotto would say to himself: 'now i am going to paint a certain bible story; what people shall i introduce so that this story shall best seem to be a real occurrence?' masaccio would think: 'i wish to make a striking picture of peter and john, or any other sacred characters. what story or incident shall i choose for representation that will best show the individual characteristics of these men?' "possessing this great love for people, he studied the drawing of the human figure as had never been done before in the history of christian art. at this time, more than a hundred years after giotto, artists were beginning to master the science of perspective drawing, and in masaccio's pictures we see men standing firmly on their feet, and put upon different planes in the same picture; their figures well poised, and true to anatomy. in one of them is his celebrated naked, shivering youth, who is awaiting baptism,--the study of which wrought a revolution in painting." a little afterward they were standing in the dim brancacci chapel of santa maria del carmine, whose walls are covered with frescoes of scenes in the lives of christ and his apostles. they had learned that there was an artist called masolino, who, perhaps, had begun these frescoes, and had been masaccio's teacher; and that a young man called filippino lippi had finished them some years after they had been left incomplete by masaccio's early death. all were greatly impressed by the fact that so little can be known of masaccio, who wrought here so well; that even when, or how, or where he died is a mystery; and yet his name is one of the very greatest in early italian art. they talked of how the greatest masters of the high renaissance--michael angelo, leonardo da vinci, and raphael--used to come here to study, and thus this little chapel became a great art school; and how, at the present time, it is esteemed by many one of the four most important art-buildings in the world;--the others being, arena chapel, padua, where are giotto's frescoes; sistine chapel, rome, where are michael angelo's greatest paintings; and scuola di san rocco, venice, which is filled with tintoretto's work. he then called their attention to the composition of masaccio's frescoes; asking them especially to notice that, while only a few people are taking part in the principal scene, many others are standing about interested in looking on; all, men with strongly marked characteristics,--individual, and worthy of attention. "may i repeat a verse or two of poetry right here where we stand, uncle?" asked margery. "it keeps saying itself in my mind. i think you all know it and who wrote it, but that is all the better." and in her own sweet way she recited james russell lowell's beautiful tribute to masaccio:-- "he came to florence long ago and painted here these walls, that shone for raphael and for angelo, with secrets deeper than his own, then shrank into the dark again, and died, we know not how or when. "the darkness deepened, and i turned half sadly from the fresco grand; 'and is this,' mused i, 'all ye earned, high-vaulted brain and cunning hand, that ye to other men could teach the skill yourselves could never reach?' * * * * * "henceforth, when rings the health to those who live in story and in song, o, nameless dead, that now repose safe in oblivion's chambers strong, one cup of recognition true shall silently be drained to you!" "but masaccio does not need any other monument than this chapel. he is not very badly off, i am sure, while this stands, and people come from all over the world to visit it," exclaimed malcom, as they left the brancacci chapel, and walked slowly down the nave of the church. "is this all he painted?" asked barbara. "there is one other fresco in the cloister of this same church, but it is sadly injured--indeed half obliterated," answered mr. sumner. "that is all. but his influence cannot be estimated. what he, then a poor, unknown young man, working his very best upon these walls, accomplished for the great world of painting can never be measured. he surely wrought 'better than he knew.' this was because he, for the first time in the history of modern painting, portrayed real life. all the conventionalities that had hitherto clung, in a greater or less degree, to painting, were dropped by him; and thus the way was opened for the perfect representations of the high renaissance which so soon followed. we will next give some time to the study of the works of ghirlandajo and botticelli, who, with filippino lippi, who finished these frescoes which we have just been looking at, make a famous trio of early renaissance painters." after they had crossed ponte alla carraja, margery said she wished to do some shopping on via dei fossi, which was close at hand--that street whose shop windows are ever filled with most fascinating groups of sculptured marbles and bronzes, and all kinds of artistic bric-a-brac--and begged her uncle to accompany her. "i wish no one else to come," she said, with her own little, emphatic nod. "oh, ho! secrets!" exclaimed malcom; "so we must turn aside!" "do go to drive with me," begged howard. "here we are close to my hotel, and i can have the team ready right off." so they walked a few steps along the lung' arno to the pleasant, sunny hotel de la grande bretagne, which howard had chosen for his florentine home, and soon recrossed the arno, and swept out through porta romana into the open country, behind howard's beautiful gray horses. the crisp, cool air brought roses into barbara's and bettina's cheeks, and ruffled their pretty brown hair. malcom was in high spirits after his long confinement to the house, and howard tried to throw off a gloomy, discouraged feeling that had hung over him all the morning. seated opposite barbara, and continually meeting her frank, steadfast eyes, he seemed to realize as he had never before done the obvious truth of mrs. douglas's words, when she had said that barbara was perfectly unconscious of his love for her; and all the manhood within him strove to assert itself to resist an untimely discovery of his feeling, for fear of the mischief it might cause. howard had been doing a great deal of new thinking during the past weeks. he suddenly found himself surrounded by an atmosphere wholly different from that in which he had before lived. sprung from an aristocratic and thoroughly egoistic ancestry on his father's side, and a morbidly sensitive one on his mother's; brought up by his paternal grandmother, whose every thought had been centred upon him as the only living descendant of her family; surrounded by servants who were the slaves of his grandmother's and his own whims; not even his experience in the boston latin school, chosen because his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had been educated there, had served to widen much the horizon of his daily living, or to make him anything like a typical american youth. now, during the last two or three months he had been put into wholly changed conditions. an habitual visitor to this family into whose life he had accidentally entered, he had been a daily witness of mrs. douglas's self-forgetting love, which was by no means content with ministering to the happiness of her own loved home ones, but continually reached out to an ever widening circle, blessing whomever it touched. he could not be unconscious that every act of robert sumner's busy life was directed by the desire to give of himself to help others; that a high ideal of beneficence, not gain, was always before him, and was that by which he measured himself. the wealth, the position of both, served only to make their lives more generous. and he saw that the younger people of the household had caught the same spirit. malcom, margery, barbara, and bettina forgot themselves in each other, and were most generous in all their judgments. they esteemed people according to that which they were in themselves, not according to what they had, and shrank from nothing save meanness and selfishness. as we have seen, he had been attracted in a wonderful way to barbara ever since he had first met her. her beauty, her unconscious pride of bearing, mingled with her sweet, unaffected enthusiasms, were a swift revelation to one who had never in his life before given a second thought to any girl; and a fierce longing to win her love had taken possession of his whole being, as he had confessed to mrs. douglas. but to-day there was a chill upon him. he had before been confident of the future. it must not, should not disappoint him, he had said to himself again and again. somehow he was not now so sure of himself and it. there seemed a mystery before him. the way that had always before seemed to open to his will refused to disclose itself. how could he win the affection of this noble girl, whose life already seemed so full that she felt no lack, who was so warm and generous in her feelings to all, so thoroughly unselfish, so wholesome, so lovable? how he did long to make all her wishes centre on him, even as his did upon her! but barbara's ideals were high. she would demand much of him whom she could love. only the other day he had heard her say in a voice deep with feeling that money and position were nothing in comparison with a life that was ever giving itself to enrich others. whom did she mean? he wondered. it seemed as if she knew some one who was even then in her mind, and a fierce jealousy sprang up with the thought. she surely could not have meant him, for he had never lived for any other than himself, nor did he wish to think of anything but himself. he wanted to get well and to have barbara love him. then he would take her away from everybody else and lavish everything upon her, and how happy would he be! could he only look into the future, he thought, and see that this was to come, he would ask nothing else. poor howard! could the future have opened before his wish never so little, how soon would his restless, raging emotions have become hushed into a great silence! * * * * * a few evenings afterward, as they were all sitting together in the library, and howard with them, mr. sumner, knowing that the young people had been reading and talking of ghirlandajo and botticelli, said that perhaps there would be no better time for talking of these artists than the present. "with masaccio," he continued, "we have begun a new period of italian painting,--the period of the early renaissance. all the former great artists,--cimabue, giotto, and fra angelico, whom we have particularly studied,--and the lesser ones, about whom you have read,--orcagna, taddeo gaddi, and uccello, the bird-lover (who gave himself so untiringly to the study of linear perspective),--belong to the gothic period, literally the rude period; in which, although a steady advance was made, yet the works are all more or less very imperfect art-productions. all these are wholly in the service of the church, and are painted in fresco on plaster or in _tempera_ on wood. in the early renaissance, however, a new impulse was seen. artists were much better equipped for their work, nature-study progressed wonderfully, anatomy was studied, perspective was mastered, the sphere of art widened to take in history, portraits, and mythology; and in the latter part of this period, as we shall see, oil-painting was introduced." "can you give us any dates of these periods to remember, uncle?" asked malcom. "roughly speaking, the gothic period covers the years from about to ; the early renaissance, from about to . masaccio, as we have seen, was the first great painter of the early renaissance, and he lived from to . but these dates are not arbitrary. fra angelico lived until , and yet his pictures belong wholly to the gothic period; so also do those of other gothic painters whose lives overlap the early renaissance in point of time. it is the spirit of the art that definitely determines its place, although the general dates help one to remember. "we will not talk long of ghirlandajo,--domenico ghirlandajo (for there is another, ridolfo by name, who is not nearly so important to the art-world). his composition is similar to that of masaccio. a few people are intimately engaged, and the others are bystanders, or onlookers. one characteristic is that many of these last are portraits of florentine men and women who were his contemporaries, and so we get from his pictures a knowledge of the people and costumes of his time. his backgrounds are often masses of florentine architecture, some of which you will readily recognize. his subjects are religious. "for studying his work, go again to santa maria novella, where is a series of frescoes representing scenes in the lives of the virgin mary and john the baptist. i would give some time to these, for in them you will find all the characteristics of ghirlandajo's frescoes, which are his strongest work. then you will find two good examples of his _tempera_ painting on wooden panels in the uffizi gallery: an _adoration of the magi_, and a _madonna and saints_, which are in the sala di lorenzo monaco near fra angelico's _madonna_--the one which is surrounded by the famous musical angels. others are in the pitti gallery and academy. his goldsmith's training shows in these smaller pictures more than in the frescoes. we see it in his love for painting golden ornaments and decoration of garments." "is his work anything like that of michael angelo, mr. sumner?" asked barbara. "he was angelo's teacher, was he not?" "yes, history tells us that he held that position for three years; but judging from the work of both, i should say that not much was either taught or learned. ghirlandajo's work possesses great strength, as does michael angelo's, but on wholly different lines. ghirlandajo loved to represent grave, dignified figures,--which were portraits,--clad in long gowns, stiff brocades, and flowing mantles; and there are superb accessories in his pictures,--landscapes, architecture, and decorated interiors. on the other hand, michael angelo's figures are most impersonal, and each depends for effect simply on its own magnificence of conception and rendering. the lines of figures are of far more importance than the face, which is the farthest possible removed from the portrait--and for accessories of any kind he cared not at all." at this moment callers were announced and mr. sumner said they would resume their talk some other time. "it will be well for you if you can look at these paintings by ghirlandajo to-morrow morning if it be a bright day," he said, "while all that i have told you is fresh in your minds. i cannot go with you, but if you think of anything you would like to ask me about them, you can do so before we begin on botticelli." chapter ix. the coming-out party. _like the swell of some sweet tune, morning rises into noon, may glides onward into june_. --longfellow. [illustration: palazzo pitti, florence.] "well, have you seen ghirlandajo's work?" asked mr. sumner, the next time the little group met in the library. "only his frescoes in santa maria novella. we have spent two entire mornings looking at those," answered bettina. "we took your list of the portraits there with us, uncle," said malcom, "and tried to get acquainted with those old florentine bishops, bankers, and merchants that he painted." "and oh! isn't that ginevra de' benci in the _meeting of mary and elizabeth_ lovely! and her golden brocaded dress!" cried margery. "you pay quite a compliment to the old painter's power of representing men and women," said mr. sumner, "for these evidently captivated you. i wish i could have overheard you talking by yourselves." "i fear we could not appreciate the best things, though," said barbara. "we imagined ourselves in old florence of the fifteenth century, and tried to recognize the mountains and palaces in the backgrounds, and we enjoyed the people and admired their fine clothes. i do think, however, that these last seem often too stiff and as if made of metal rather than of silk, satin, or cloth. and when howard told us that mr. ruskin says 'they hang from the figures as they would from clothes-pegs,' we could but laugh, and think he is right with regard to some of them. ought we to admire everything in these old pictures, mr. sumner?" she earnestly added. "not at all; not by any means. i would not have you think this for a moment. ghirlandajo's paintings are famous and worthy because they are such an advance on what was before him. compare his men and women with those by giotto. you know how much you found of interest and to admire in giotto's pictures when you compared them with cimabue's and with the old greek byzantine paintings. just so compare those by masaccio and ghirlandajo with what was done before. see the growth,--the steady evolution,--and realize that ghirlandajo was honest and earnest, and gifted too; that his drawing is firm and truer to nature than that of most contemporary artists; that his portraits possess character; that they are well-bred and important, as the people they represent were; that his mountains are like mountains even in some of their subtile lines; that his rivers wind; that his masses of architecture are in good perspective and proportion; and then you will excuse his faults, though it is right to notice and feel them. we must see many in the work of every artist until we come to the great painters of the high renaissance. you must find ghirlandajo's other pictures, and study them also." "now about botticelli," he added. a little rustle of expectancy swept through the group of listeners. bettina drew nearer barbara and clasped her hand; and all settled themselves anew with an especial air of interest. "i see you, like most other people, care more for him. he is immensely popular at present. it is quite the fashion to admire him. but, strangely enough, only a few years ago little was known or cared about his work, and his name is not even mentioned by some writers on art. he was first a goldsmith like ghirlandajo, then afterward became a pupil of fra filippo lippi, father of the filippino lippi who finished masaccio's frescoes in the brancacci chapel. botticelli wrought an immense service to painting by widening greatly the field of subjects hitherto assigned to it, which had been confined to bible incidents. others, contemporary with him, were beginning to depart slightly from these subjects in response to the desires of the pleasure-loving florentines of that day; but botticelli was the first to come deliberately forth and make art minister to the pleasure and education of the secular as well as the religious world. by nature he loved myths, fables, and allegories, and freely introduced them into his pictures. he painted venuses, cupids, and nymphs just as willingly as madonnas and saints. "i hope you will read diligently about him. the story of how his pictures, and those of other artists who were influenced by him, led to the protest which savonarola (who lived at the same time) made against the 'corrupting influence of profane pictures' and his demand that bonfires should be made of them is most interesting. botticelli devotedly contributed a large number of his paintings to the burning piles." "but he painted religious pictures also, did he not?" queried barbara. "oh, yes. his works were wrought in churches as well as in private houses and palaces. he even received the honor of being summoned to rome by pope sixtus iv. to assist in the decoration of the sistine chapel of the vatican, where michael angelo afterward performed his greatest work. there he painted three large religious frescoes--by the way, ghirlandajo painted there also. now we must find what is the charm in botticelli's painting that accounts for the wonderful present interest in his work. i think it is in a large degree his attempt to put expression into faces. while masaccio had taken a long step in advance of other artists by making man himself, rather than events, the chief interest in his pictures,--botticelli, more imaginative and poetic, painted man's moods,--his subtile feelings. you are all somewhat familiar, through their reproductions, with his madonna pictures. how do these differ from those of other painters?" "the faces are less pretty." "they are sad instead of joyous." "in some the little christ looks as though he were trying to comfort his mother." "the angels look as if they longed to help both," were some of the quick answers. "yes; _inner_ feelings, you see. sometimes he put a crown of thorns somewhere in a picture, as if to explain its expressions. his madonna is 'pondering these things,' as scripture says, and the child-christ and angels are in intense sympathy with her. we long to look again and again at such pictures--they move us. "another characteristic of his work is the action--a vehement impetuous motion. you will find this finely illustrated in his _allegory of spring_, a very famous picture in the academy. his type of figure and face is most easily recognizable; the limbs are long and slender, and often show through almost transparent garments; the hands are long and nervous; the faces are rather long also, with prominent rounded chins and full lips. he put delicate patterns of gold embroidery about the neck and wrists of the madonna's gown and the edges of her mantle, and heaped gold all over the lights on the curled hair of her angels and other attendants. you can never mistake one of these pictures when once you have grown familiar with his style. "i think you should study particularly his _allegory of spring_ in the academy for full length figures in motion. you will find the color of this picture happily weird to agree with the fantastic conception. then in the uffizi gallery you will find several pictures of the madonna; notable among them is his _coronation of the virgin_, painted, as he was fond of doing, on a round board. such a picture is called a _tondo_. here you will find all his characteristics. [illustration: boticelli. uffizi gallery, florence. coronation of the virgin.] "study this first; study figures, faces, hands, and methods of technique; then see if you cannot readily find the other examples without your catalogue. a noted one is _calumny_. this exemplifies strikingly botticelli's power of expressing swift motion. in the pitti palace is a very interesting one called _pallas_, or _triumph of wisdom over barbarity_,--strangely enough, found only recently." "found only recently; how can that be, uncle?" quickly asked malcom. "the picture was known to have been painted, for vasari described it in his 'life of botticelli,' but it was lost sight of until an englishman discovered it in an old private collection which had been for many years in the pitti palace, suspected it to be the missing picture, and connoisseurs agree that it is genuine. there was a great deal of excitement here when the fact was made known. the figure of pallas, in its clinging transparent garment, is strikingly beautiful, and characteristic of botticelli. the picture was painted as a glorification of the wise reign of the medici, who did so much for the intellectual advancement of florence." then mr. sumner told them that he was to be absent from florence for a week or two, and should be exceedingly busy for some time, and so would leave them to go on with their study of the pictures by themselves. "i have been delighted," he said, "to know how much time you have spent in going again and again to the churches and galleries in order to become familiar with the painters whom we have especially considered. this is the real and the only way to make the study valuable. do the same with regard to the pictures by ghirlandajo and botticelli, and if i have not given you enough to do until i am free again to talk with you, study the frescoes by filippino lippi in santa maria novella, and compare them with those in the brancacci chapel; and his easel pictures in the uffizi and pitti galleries. get familiar also with his father's (fra filippo's) madonna pictures. you will find in them a type of face so often repeated that you will always recognize it; it is just the opposite of botticelli's,--short and childish, with broad jaws, and simple as childhood in expression. i shall be most interested to know what you have done, and what your thoughts have been." "we certainly shall not do much but look at pictures for weeks to come, uncle; that is sure!" said malcom, "for the girls are bewitched with them, and now that they think they can learn to know, as soon as they see it, a giotto, a fra angelico, a botticelli, or a fra filippo lippi, they will be simply crazy. you ought to hear the learned way in which they are beginning to discourse about them. they don't do it when you are around." "oh, malcom! who was it that _must_ wait a few minutes longer, the other morning, in santa maria novella in order to run downstairs and give one more look at giotto's frescoes?" laughed bettina. * * * * * barbara's and bettina's eighteenth birthday was drawing near. mrs. douglas had for a long time planned to give a party to them, and had fully arranged the details before she spoke of it to the girls. "it shall be your 'coming-out party' here in florence," she said; "not a large party, but a thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable one, i am sure." and the circle of friends who were eager to know and to add to the pleasure of any one belonging to robert sumner seemed to ensure this. mrs. douglas further said that she did not wish them to give a thought to what they would wear on the occasion, but to leave everything with her. every girl of eighteen years will readily understand what a flutter of joyous excitement barbara and bettina felt, and how they talked over the coming event, when they were alone. finally bettina asked:-- "why does mrs. douglas do so much for us? how can we ever repay her?" "we can never repay her, betty," replied her sister. "nor does she wish it. i do not know why she is so kind. she must love us, or,--perhaps it is because she is so fond of papa. do you know, betty, that our father once saved her life? she told me about it only yesterday, and i did not think to tell you last night, there was so much to talk about. it was when she was a little girl of twelve or thirteen years and papa was just beginning to practise. you know her father was very wealthy, and had helped him to get his profession because the two families were always so intimate. well, mrs. douglas was so ill that three or four doctors said they could do nothing more for her, and she must die. of course her father and mother were broken-hearted. and papa went to them, and for days and nights did not sleep and hardly ate, but was with her every moment; and the older doctors acknowledged that but for him she could never have lived.--and, just think! he never said a word about it to us!" "our father never talks of the good and noble things he does," said bettina, proudly. "no wonder she loves him; but i do really think she loves us too. only the other day malcom said he should be jealous were it anybody but you and me. so i think all we can do is to keep on doing just as we have done, and love her more dearly than ever." "i wonder if there are any other girls in the world so happy as we are," she added after a moment's silence--and the two pairs of brown eyes looked into each other volumes of tender sympathy and gladness. what a day was that birthday! barbara and bettina will surely tell of it to their children and grandchildren! first of all came letters from the dear home--birthday letters which mrs. douglas had withheld for a day or two so that they should be read at the fitting time. then the lovely gifts! from margery, an exquisite bit of sculptured marble for each, chosen after much consultation with her uncle and many visits to via dei fossi; from malcom, copies of two of fra angelico's musical angels, each in a rich frame of florentine hand-carving (for everything must be purely florentine, all had agreed); from mr. sumner, portfolios of the finest possible photographs of the best works of florentine masters from the very beginning down through the high renaissance. mrs. douglas gave them most lovely outfits for the party--gowns of white chiffon daintily embroidered--slippers, gloves--everything needful; while howard had asked that he might provide all the flowers. when finally barbara and bettina stood on either side of mrs. douglas in the floral bower where they received their guests, it was indeed as if they were in fairy-land. it did not seem possible that any more pink or white roses could be left in florence, if indeed all italy had not been laid under tribute,--so lavish had howard been. barbara carried white roses, and bettina pink ones, and everywhere through the entire house were the exquisite things, peeping out from amidst the daintiest greens possible, or superb in the simplicity of their own magnificence. the lovely american girls were the cynosure of all eyes, and the flattering things said to them by foreigners and americans were almost enough to turn their heads. mrs. douglas was delighted with the simple frankness and dignity with which they met all. "you may trust well-bred american girls anywhere," she said to her brother as she met him later in the evening, after all her guests had been welcomed, "especially such as are ours," and she called his attention to barbara, who at that moment was approaching on the arm of a distinguished-looking man, who was evidently absorbed with his fair companion. perfectly unconscious of herself, she moved with so much of womanly grace that robert sumner was startled. she seemed like a stranger; this tall, queenly creature could not be the everyday barbara who had been little more than a child to him. in passing she looked with a loving smile at mrs. douglas, and then for a moment her eyes with the light still in them met his, and slowly turned away. the soft flush on her cheek deepened, and robert sumner felt the swift blood surge back upon his heart until his head swam. when last had he seen such a look in woman's eyes? ah! how he had loved those sweet dark eyes long years ago! oh! the desolate longing! mrs. douglas's look had followed barbara--then had sought bettina, who, with margery by her side, was surrounded by a little group of admirers; so she was conscious of nothing unusual. but miss sherman, who stood near, had seen barbara's flush and noted mr. sumner's momentary pallor, and afterward his evident effort to be just himself again. what could it mean? she thought. all through the evening she had suffered from a little unreasonable jealousy as she had realized for the first time that these "burnett girls,"--mere companions of margery, as she had always thought of them,--were really young ladies, and most unusually beautiful ones, as she was forced to confess to herself. she envied them the occasion, the honor they gained through their intimate connection with mr. sumner and mrs. douglas, and the impression they were so evidently making on everybody. she was not broad or generous minded enough to be glad for the young girls from her own country as a nobler-minded woman would have been. but that there could be any especial feeling, or even momentary thought, between mr. sumner and barbara was too absurd to be considered for a moment. that could not be. drawing near, she joined mrs. douglas and mr. sumner, and again sweetly congratulated them on the success of their party, the beauty of the rooms, etc. "the young girls, too," she said, "i am sure do you great credit--quite grown-up they seem, i declare. what a difference clothes make, do they not? i have been a bit amused by some of their pretty airs, as an older woman could not fail to be," and an indulgent smile played about her lips. as it was time to go to the dining room for refreshments, mrs. douglas, in accordance with a preconceived plan, asked her brother to lead the way with miss sherman. when barbara entered the room soon after with howard, she saw the two sitting behind the partial screen of a big palm. she felt a momentary wish that she could know what they were so earnestly talking about, and, presently, was conscious that mr. sumner's eyes sought her. but how little she thought that she, herself, was the subject of their conversation, or rather of miss sherman's, who was saying how apparent the devotion of mr. sinclair was to every one, and that surely barbara must reciprocate his feeling, else she would withdraw from him; and how pleasant it was to see such young people, just in the beginning of life, becoming so interested in each other; and how romantic to thus find each other in such a city as florence; and what an advantage to become allied with such an old, wealthy family as the sinclairs, and so on and on. chapter x. the mystery unfolds to howard. _we are in god's hand. how strange now looks the life he makes us lead: so free we seem, so fettered fast we are! i feel he laid the fetter: let it lie!_ --browning. [illustration: san miniato al monte, florence.] the weeks sped rapidly on; midwinter had come and gone, and four months had been numbered since mrs. douglas had brought malcom, margery, barbara, and bettina to italy. although social pleasures and duties had multiplied, yet study had never been given up. a steady advance had been made in knowledge of the history of florence, and of her many legends and traditions. they had not forgotten or passed by the sculptured treasures of the city, but had learned something of donatello, her first great sculptor; of lorenzo ghiberti, who wrought those exquisite gates of bronze for dante's "il mio bel san giovanni" that michael angelo declared to be fit for the gates of paradise; and of brunelleschi, the architect of her great duomo. through all had gone on their study of the florentine painters. after much patient work given to pictures of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, they were now quite revelling in the beauty of those of the sixteenth century, or the high renaissance. this was all the more interesting since they had seen how one after another the early difficulties had been overcome; how each great master succeeding cimabue had added his contribution of thought and endeavor until artists knew all the laws that govern the art of representation; and how finally, the method of oil-painting having been introduced, they then had a fitting medium with which to express their knowledge and artistic endeavor. they had read about leonardo da vinci, one of the greatest masters, so famous for his portrayal of subtile emotion, and were wonderfully interested in his life and work; had been to the academy to see the _baptism of christ_, painted by his master, andrea verrocchio, and were very positive that the angel on the left, who holds christ's garment, was painted by young leonardo. they had studied his unfinished _adoration of the magi_ in the uffizi--his only authentic work in florence--and had wished much that they could see his other and greater pictures. mr. sumner had told them that in the early summer they would probably go to milan, and there see the famous _last supper_ and _study for the head of christ_, and that perhaps later they might visit paris and there find his _mona lisa_ and other works. they had been much interested in the many examples of fra bartolommeo's painting that are in san marco--where he, as well as fra angelico, had been a monk;--in the academy, and in the uffizi and pitti galleries; and had learned to recognize the peculiarities of his grouping of figures, and their abstract, devotional faces, his treatment of draperies, and the dear little angels, with their musical instruments, that are so often sitting at the feet of his madonnas. they were fascinated by andrea del sarto, whom they followed all over the city wherever they could find either his frescoes or easel pictures. his color especially enchanted them, after they had looked at so many darkened and faded pictures. the story of his unquenchable love for his faithless wife, and how he painted her face into all his pictures, either as madonna or saint, played upon their romantic feelings. margery learned browning's poem about them, and often quoted from it. they were never tired of looking at his _holy families_ and _madonnas_ in the galleries, but especially loved to go to the s.s. annunziata and linger in the court, surrounded by glass colonnades, where are so many of his frescoes. "do you suppose it is true that his wife, lucrezia, used to come here after he was dead and she was an old woman, to look at the pictures?" asked margery one morning, when they had found their favorite place. "i think it would be just like her vanity to point out her own likeness to people who were copying or looking at the frescoes, according to the old story," answered bettina, with a disapproving shake of the head. "well," said barbara, "the faces and figures and draperies are all lovely. but i suppose it is true, as mr. sumner says, that andrea del sarto did not try to make the faces show any holy feeling, or indeed any very noble expression, so that they are not so great pictures as they would have been had he been high-minded enough to do such things." "it is a shame to have a man's life and work harmed by a woman, even though she was his wife," said malcom, emphatically. "all the more that she was his wife," said barbara. "but i do not believe he could have done much better without lucrezia. i think his very love for such a woman shows a weakness in his character. it would have been better if he had chosen other than sacred subjects, would it not, howard?" they were quite at home in their study of these more modern pictures, with photographs of which they were already somewhat familiar. howard, especially, had always had a fine and critical taste regarding art matters, and now, among the works of artists of whom he knew something, was a valuable member of the little coterie, and often appealed to when mr. sumner was absent. and thus they had talked over and over again the impressions which each artist and his work made on them, until even mr. sumner was astonished and delighted at the evident result of the interest he had awakened. but the chief man and artist they were now considering, was michael angelo; and the more they learned of him the more true it was, they thought, that he "filled all florence." they eagerly followed every step of his life from the time when, a young lad, he entered ghirlandajo's studio, until he was brought to florence--a dead old man, concealed in a bale of merchandise, because the authorities refused permission to his friends to take his body from rome--and was buried at midnight in santa croce. they tried to imagine his life during the four years which he spent in the medici palace, now palazzo riccardi, under the patronage of lorenzo the magnificent, while he was studying with the same tremendous energy that marked all his life, going almost daily to the brancacci chapel to learn from masaccio's frescoes, and plunging into the subject of anatomy more like a devotee than a student. they learned of his visit to rome, where, before he was twenty-five years old, he sculptured the grand _pietá_, or _dead christ_, which is still in st. peter's; and of his return to florence, where he foresaw his _david_ in the shapeless block of marble, and gained permission of the commissioners to hew it out,--the david which stood so long under the shadow of old gray palazzo vecchio, but is now in the academy. then came the beginnings of his painting; and they saw the _holy family_ of the uffizi gallery--his only finished easel picture--which possesses more of the qualities of sculpture than painting; and read about his competition with leonardo da vinci when he prepared the famous _cartoon of pisa_, now known to the world only by fragmentary copies. then pope julius ii. summoned him back to rome to begin work on that vast monument conceived for the commemoration of his own greatness, and destined never to be finished; and afterward gave him the commission to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel of the vatican. returning to florence in an interval of this work, he sculptured the magnificent medici monuments, to see which they often visited the chapel of the medici. at the same time, since the prospect of war had come to the beautiful city, he built those famous fortifications on san miniato through whose gateway they entered whenever they visited this lovely hill, crowned by a noble old church and a quiet city of the dead. they drove out to settignano to visit the villa where he lived when a child, and which he owned all his life; and went to casa buonarroti in florence, where his descendants have gathered together what they could of the great master's sketches, early bas-reliefs, and manuscripts. here they looked with reverence upon his handwriting, and little clay models moulded by his own fingers. they talked of his affection for the noble vittoria colonna, and read the sonnets he wrote to her. in short, they admired his great talents, loved his character, condoned his faults of temper, and felt the utmost sympathy with him in all the vicissitudes of his grand, inspiring life. "it seems strange," said mr. sumner one day, as they returned from the academy, where they had been looking at casts and photographs of his sculptured works, "that though michael angelo was undoubtedly greatest as a sculptor, yet his most important works in the world of art are his paintings. those grand frescoes in the sistine chapel in rome alone afforded him sufficient scope for his wonderful creative genius. when we get to rome i shall have much to tell you about them." * * * * * the question as to the best thing to do for the remainder of the year was often talked over by mrs. douglas and mr. sumner. barbara, bettina, malcom, and margery were so interested in their art study that it was finally thought best to travel in such a way that this could be continued to advantage, and they were now thinking of leaving florence for rome. there had been one source of anxiety for some time, and that was the condition of howard's health. instead of gain there seemed to be a continual slow loss of strength that was perceptible especially to mrs. douglas. he had recently won her sincere respect by the manful way in which he had struggled to conceal his love for barbara. so well did he succeed that malcom thought he must have been mistaken in his conjecture, and the girls were as unconscious as ever. in bettina's and margery's thought, he was especially barbara's friend, but in no other way than malcom was bettina's; while barbara was happier than she had been in a long time, as he showed less and less frequently signs of nervous irritability and hurt feelings whenever she disappointed him in any way, as of course she often could not help doing. "howard ought not to have spent the winter here in the cold winds of florence," mrs. douglas often had said to her brother. "but what could we do?" they were thinking of hastening their departure for rome on his account, when one morning his servant came to the house in great alarm, to beg mrs. douglas to go to his young master at once. "he is very ill," he said, "and asks for you continually." when mrs. douglas and her brother reached howard's hotel, they found that already one of the most skilful physicians of the city was there, and that he wished to send for trained nurses. "i fear pneumonia," he said, "and the poor young man is indeed illy prepared to endure such a disease." "spare no pains, no expense," urged mr. sumner; "let the utmost possible be done." "i will stay with you," said mrs. douglas, as the hot hand eagerly clasped hers. "i will not leave you, my poor boy, while you are ill." and, sending for all she needed, she prepared to watch over him as if he were her own son. but all endeavors to check the progress of the disease were futile. the enfeebled lungs could offer no resistance. one day, after having lain as if asleep for some time, howard opened his eyes, to find mrs. douglas beside him. with a faint smile he whispered:-- "i have been thinking so much. i am glad now that barbara does not love me, for it would only give her pain--sometime tell her of my love for her--" then by and by, with the tenderest look in his large eyes, he added, "may she come, to let me see her once more?--you will surely trust me now!" "oh, howard! my noble howard!" was all that mrs. douglas could answer; but at her words a look of wonderful happiness lighted his face. when mrs. douglas asked the physician if a friend could be permitted to see howard, he replied:-- "he cannot live; therefore let him have everything he desires." and so, before consciousness left him, barbara came with wondering, sorrowful eyes, and in answer to his pleading look and mrs. douglas's low word, bent her fair young head and kissed tenderly the brow of the dying young man who had loved her so much better than she knew. and howard's life ebbed away. it was almost as if one of the family were gone. they did not know how much a part of their life he had become until he came no more to the home he had enjoyed so much--to talk--to study--to bring tributes of love and gratitude--and to contribute all he could to their happiness. whatever they would do, wherever they would go, there was one missing, and their world was sadly changed. mr. sumner sent the mournful tidings to the lonely grandmother over the ocean, and accompanied the faithful john as far as genoa, on his way homeward with the remains of the young master he had carried in his arms as a child. then, as it was so difficult to take up even for a little time the old life in florence, it was decided that they should go at once toward rome. chapter xi. on the way to rome. _fair italy! thou art the garden of the world, the home of all art yields, and nature can decree: even in thy desert, what is like to thee? thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste more rich than other climes' fertility: thy wreck a glory, and thy ruin grand with an immaculate charm which cannot be defaced._ --lord byron. [illustration: orvieto cathedral.] "we will take a roundabout journey to rome," said mr. sumner, "and so get all the variety of scene and emotion possible. something that crowds every moment with interest will be best for all just now." and so they planned to go first of all to pisa: from thence to siena, orvieto, perugia, assisi, and so on to rome. miss sherman had asked to accompany them, since florence would be so dull when they were gone. indeed, she had stayed on instead of seeking the warmer, more southern cities simply because they were here. therefore one morning during the last week of february all bade good-by to their pleasant home in florence. "it seems like an age since we first came here, doesn't it, bab, dear?" said bettina, as they entered together the spacious waiting-room of the central railroad station. "yes, betty; are we the same girls?" answered barbara, and her smile had just a touch of dreariness. mr. sumner and malcom were seeing to the weighing of the luggage; mrs. douglas, margery, and miss sherman were together; and for a moment the two girls were alone. somehow bettina felt a peculiarly tender care of her sister just now, and was never absent from her side if she could help it. without understanding why or what it was, she yet felt that something had happened which put a slight barrier between them; that something in which she had no share had touched barbara. she had been wistfully watching her ever since she had returned from the visit to howard, and was striving to keep all opportunity for painful thought from her. at present, barbara shrank from telling even bettina, from whom she had never before hidden a thought, of that last meeting with howard. no girl could ever mistake such a look as that which had lighted his eyes as she stooped to kiss his brow in answer to mrs. douglas's request. there would be no need for mrs. douglas ever to tell her the story. the loving devotion that shone forth even in his uttermost weakness had thrilled her very soul, and she could not forget it for a moment when alone. a certain sense of loss which she could not define followed her. somehow, it did mean more to her than it did to any one else, that howard was gone from their lives, but she knew that not even betty would understand. indeed, she could not herself understand, for she was sure that she had not loved howard. though barbara did not know it, the truth was that for a single instant she had felt what it is to be loved as howard loved her; and the loss she felt was the loss of love,--not howard's love--but love for itself alone. she was not just the same girl she was when she had entered florence a few months ago, nor ever again would be; and between her and bettina,--the sisters who before this had been "as one soul in two bodies,"--ran a mysterious rubicon, the outer shore of which bettina's feet had not yet touched. the hasty return of mr. sumner and malcom with two lusty _facchini_, who seized the hand-luggage, the hurry to be among the first at the opening of the big doors upon the platform beside which their train was drawn up, and the little bustle of excitement consequent on the desire to secure an entire compartment for their party filled the next few minutes, and soon they were off. the journey led through a charming country lying at the base of the apennines. picturesque castles and city-crowned hills against the background of blue mountains, many of whose summits were covered with gleaming snow, kept them looking and exclaiming with delight, until finally they reached lucca, and, sweeping in a half circle around monte san giuliano, which, as dante wrote, hides the two cities, lucca and pisa, from each other, they arrived at pisa. although they expected to find an old, worn-out city, yet only mr. sumner and mrs. douglas were quite prepared for the dilapidated carriages that were waiting to take them from the station to their hotels; for the almost deserted streets, and the general pronounced air of decadence. even the arno seemed to have lost all freshness, and left all beauty behind as it flowed from florence, and was here only a swiftly flowing mass of muddy waters. after having taken possession of their rooms in one of the hotels which look out upon the river, and having lunched in the chilly dining room, which they found after wandering through rooms and halls filled with marble statues and bric-a-brac set forth to tempt the eyes of travellers, and so suggestive of the quarries in which the neighboring mountains are rich, they started forth for that famous group of sacred buildings which gives pisa its present fame. they were careful to enter the cathedral by the richly wrought door in the south transept (the only old one left) and, passing the font of holy water, above which stands a _madonna and child_ designed by michael angelo, sat down beneath andrea del sarto's _st. agnes_, and listened to mr. sumner's description of the famous edifice. he told them that the erection of this building marked the dawn of mediæval italian art. it is in the old basilica style, modified by the dome over the middle of the top. its columns are greek and roman, and were captured by pisa in war. its twelve altars are attributed to michael angelo (were probably designed by him), and the mosaics in the dome are by cimabue. they wandered about looking at the old pictures, seeking especially those by andrea del sarto, who was the only artist familiar to them, whose paintings are there. they touched and set swinging the bronze lamp which hangs in the nave, and is said to have suggested to galileo (who was born in pisa), his first idea of the pendulum. then, going out, they climbed the famous leaning tower, and visited the baptistery, where is niccolo pisano's wonderful sculptured marble pulpit. afterward they went into the campo santo, which fascinated them by its quaintness, so unlike anything they had ever seen before. they thought of the dead reposing in the holy earth brought from mount calvary; looked at the frescoes painted so many hundreds of years ago by benozzo gozzoli, pupil of fra angelico; at the queer interesting _triumph of death_ and _last judgment_, so long attributed to orcagna and now the subject of much dispute among critics; and then, wearied with seeing so much, they went into the middle of the enclosure and sat on the flagstones in the warm sun amid the lizards and early buttercups. the next afternoon they went to siena, and arrived in time to see, from their hotel windows, the sunset glory as it irradiated all that vast tract of country that stretches so grandly on toward rome. here they were to spend several days. the young travellers were just beginning to experience the charm which belongs peculiarly to journeying in italy--that of finding, one after another, these delightful old cities, each in its own characteristic setting of country, of history, of legend and romance. they were full of the thrill of expected emotion,--that most delicious of all sensations. and they received no disappointment from this old "red city." they saw its beautiful, incomparably beautiful, cathedral, full of richness of sculpture and color in morning, noon, and evening light; and were never tired of admiring every part of it, from its graffito and mosaic pavement to its vaulted top filled with arches and columns, that reminded them of walking through a forest aisle and looking up through the interlaced branches of trees. they visited the cathedral library, whose walls are covered with those historical paintings by pinturrichio, the little deaf umbrian painter, in whose design raphael is said to have given aid. but mr. sumner wished that the time they could give to the study of paintings be spent particularly among the works of the old sienese masters. so they went again and again to the accademia delle belle arti and studied those quaint, half-byzantine works, full of pathetic grace, by guido da siena, by duccio, simone martini, lippo memmi, and the lorenzetti brothers. here, too, they found paintings by il sodoma, a high renaissance artist, which pleased them more than all else. _the descent into hades_, where is the exquisitely lovely figure of eve, whose mournful gaze is fixed on her lost son, toward whom the saviour stoops with pity, drew them again and again to the hall where the worn fresco hangs; and after they had found, secluded in its little cabinet, that fragment which represents _christ bound to a column_, of which paul bourget has written so tenderly, they voted this painter one of the most interesting they had yet found. to bettina, the "saint-lover," as malcom had dubbed her, the city gained an added interest from having been the home of st. catherine of siena, and the others shared in some degree her enthusiasm. they made a pilgrimage to the house of st. catherine, and all the relics contained therein were genuinely important to them, for, as betty averred again and again:-- "you know she did live right here in siena, so it must be true that this is her house and that these things were really hers." they admired palazzo publico within and without; chiefly from without, for they could never walk from the cathedral to their hotel without pausing for a time to look down into the picturesque piazza del campo where it stands, and admire its lofty walls, so mediæval in character, with battlemented cornice and ogive windows. they walked down the narrow streets and then climbed them. they drove all over the city within its brown walls; and outside on the road that skirts them and affords such lovely views of the valley and tuscan hills. they were sincerely sorry when at last the day came on which they must leave it and continue on their way. "why are we going to orvieto, uncle?" asked malcom, as they were waiting at chiusi for their connection with the train from florence to orvieto. "for several reasons, malcom. in the first place, it is one of the best preserved of the ancient cities of italy. so long ago as the eighth century it was called _urbs vetus_ (old city) and its modern name is derived from that. enclosed by its massive walls, it still stands on the summit of its rocky hill, which was called _urbibentum_ by the old historian, procopius. it is comparatively seldom visited by the ordinary tourist, and is thoroughly unique and interesting. in the second place, in its cathedral are most valuable examples of fra angelico's, benozzo gozzoli's, and signorelli's paintings; and, in the third place, i love the little old city, and never can go to or from rome without spending at least a few hours there if it is possible for me to do so. are these weighty enough reasons?" and mr. sumner drew his arm affectionately into that of the tall young man he loved so well. "but here comes our train." "this cable-tram does not look very ancient," said malcom, when a half hour later they stood on the platform of the little railway station at orvieto and looked up at the hillside. "no; its only merit is that it takes us up quickly," replied his mother, as they reached the waiting car. "all try if you can to get seats with back to the hill, so that you will command the view of this beautiful valley as we rise." the city did indeed look foreign as they entered its wall, left the cable-car, and, in a hotel omnibus, rattled through the streets, so narrow that it is barely possible for two carriages to pass each other. "is everybody old here, do you suppose?" slyly whispered bettina to barbara, as they were taken in charge by a very old woman, who led the way to the rooms already engaged for the party. "i should be afraid to come here all alone; everything is so strange. "oh! but how pleasant," she added, brightly, as they were shown into a sweet, clean room, whose windows opened upon a small garden filled with rose-bushes, and whose two little beds were snowy white. "how delightful to be here a little later, when these roses will be in bloom!" the brown withered face of the old chambermaid beamed upon the two young girls, and showed her satisfaction at their evident delight, and when she found that they could understand and speak a little of her own language, her heart was indeed won, and she bustled about seeking whatever she could do to add to their comfort, just for the pleasure of being near them. "it must be a delightful place to visit," said barbara, when finally they were alone, "but i should not like to have to live here for any length of time, i know; so gray, so old, so desolate it all seemed on our way through the streets," and a slight shiver ran through her at the remembrance. soon they went to the cathedral; admired its façade, decorated with mosaics in softly brilliant colors until it looked like a great opal, shining against the deep blue sky; entered it and saw fra angelico's grand _christ_, and calm, holy saints and angels; and, close to them (the most striking contrast presented in art), luca signorelli's wild, struggling, muscular figures. they went into the photograph store on the corner for photographs, and to the little antique shop opposite, where they bought quaint etruscan ornaments to take away as souvenirs,--and then gave themselves to exploring the city; after which they all confessed to having fallen somewhat under the spell of its charm. the next afternoon found them on their way, around lake trasimeno, to perugia. little had been said about this city, for their conversation had been engaged with those they had left behind. malcom, only, had been looking up its history in his guide-book, and was interested to see the place that had been bold enough to set itself up even against rome, and so had earned the title "audacious" inscribed on its citadel by one of the popes. "magnificent in situation!" he exclaimed, and his eager eyes allowed nothing to escape them, as their omnibus slowly climbed the high hill, disclosing wide and ever widening views of the valley of the tiber. "i think," said mr. sumner, who was enjoying the delighted surprise of his party, "that perugia is the most princely city in regard to position in all italy. it is perched up here on the summit as an eagle on his aeried crag, and seems to challenge with proud defiance these lower cities, that, though each on its own hill-top, look as if slumbering in the valley below." when a little later they were ushered into the brilliantly lighted dining-room, which was filled almost to overflowing with a gayly dressed and chattering crowd of guests, most of whom spoke the english language, all the way thither seemed as a dream. only the voluminous head-dresses of the english matrons, and the composite speech of the waiters, told them surely that they were in a foreign land. the next day, after a drive through the city, whose different quarters present some of the most interesting contrasts to be found in all italy, mr. sumner took them to the pinacoteca, or picture-gallery, and before looking at the pictures, told them in a few words about the early umbrian school of painting. "it grew out of the early florentine, and is marked by many of the same characteristics. it was, however, much modified by the sienese painting. it has less strength, as it has also, of course, less originality, than the florentine. its color, on the other hand, is better, stronger, and more harmonious. its works possess a peculiar simplicity and devoutness--much tranquillity and gentleness of sentiment. this gallery is filled with examples of its masters' painting. it just breathes forth their spirit, and the best way to absorb it would be to come, each one of us alone, and give ourselves up to its spell. this is no place for criticism; only for feeling. study particularly whatever you find of francesca's, perugino's and bonfiglio's work. "you all know," he continued, "that perugino, who lived here and received his art name because he did so, had an academy of painting, and that raphael was for some years one of his pupils. perugino's influence on his pupils is strikingly apparent in their work. raphael's early painting is exactly after his style. in perugino's treatment of figures you will find a mannerism, especially in the way his heads are placed on the shoulders, and in his faces, which are full of sentiment, the wistful eyes often being cast upward, but sometimes veiled with heavily drooping lids. "look! here is one of his pictures. the oval faces with the peculiarly small mouth are characteristic. you will most readily recognize the work of this master after you have become a bit familiar with it." he also took them to the cambio, once a chamber of commerce, to see perugino's frescoes, which he told them are more important in the world of art than are his easel pictures. here they seated themselves against the wall wainscoted with rare wooden sculptures, on the same bench on which all lovers of the old painter's art who have visited perugia through four centuries have sat. [illustration: perugino. uffizi gallery florence. head of madonna. from madonna and saints.] and here they studied long the figures of those old roman heroes chosen by perugino to symbolize the virtues; figures which possess a unique and irresistible charm because of their athletic proportions and vigorous action, while their faces are sweet, womanish, and tender, full of the pensive, mystic devotion which is so characteristic of this old master and his pupils. chapter xii. robert sumner fights a battle. _so nigh is grandeur to our dust, so near is god to man, when duty whispers low, thou must, the youth replies, i can._ --emerson. [illustration: san francesco, assisi.] barbara and bettina had not realized how near they were to assisi until talk of driving thither began. in their study of art st. francis had figured quite largely, because the scenes in his life were such favorite ones for representation by the old masters. they had read all about him, and so were thoroughly prepared for the proposed trip to the home of this most important old saint. bettina was in a fever of excitement. drive to assisi! drive to the home of st. francis! go through the streets in which he played when a little boy; walked and rode when a prodigal young man, clad in the richest, most extravagant attire he could procure; from which he went out in his martial array; out of which he was taken prisoner when perugia conquered assisi! drive, perhaps, along that very street in which, after his conversion, he met the beggar with whom he changed clothes, giving him the rich garments, and himself putting on the tatters! or along which his disappointed father followed him in the fury of persecution, after he had given his life to poverty and deeds of love! look upon mount subasio, whither he so loved to retire for prayer! see those very scenes in the midst of which he and his brethren lived six or seven hundred years ago! could it be possible that she and barbara were about to do this? it was almost as exciting as when the first thought of coming to italy had entered their minds. finally the morning came; and through the winding valley they drove fifteen miles, until they arrived at the church santa maria degli angeli, situated on a plain at the foot of the hill on which sits assisi. this immense church contains the portiuncula,--that little chapel so dear to st. francis, in which he founded the franciscan order of monks, and in which he died,--and is a veritable mecca, to which pilgrimages are made from all parts of the roman catholic world. they spent some time here in visiting the different spots of interest within the church; in going out to see the tiny garden, where grow the thornless rose-bushes with blood-stained leaves, according to the old tradition, at which they were permitted to look through glass; and in listening to the rambling talk of a transparent-faced old monk in brown, franciscan garb, who waxed more and more daring as he watched the interested faces of the party, until his tales of the patron saint grew so impossible that even poor bettina's faith was sorely tried, and malcom stole furtive glances at her to see how she bore it all. at length they were free, and went on up the hill to the city. they stopped at a little hotel whose balcony commanded a magnificent view of the country, lingered a while, lunched, and then went out to visit the great double church of san francesco, beneath which the saint is buried, and where are notable frescoes by cimabue and giotto. when all was over, and they were taking their carriages for perugia, mr. sumner said to his sister: "if you do not mind, i will drive in the other carriage," and so took his seat with barbara, bettina, and malcom. all felt a little tired and were silent for a time, each busy with his own thoughts. finally barbara asked, in a thoughtful tone:-- "did you notice the names on the leaves of the travellers' book at the hotel? i glanced over the opposite page as i wrote mine, and among the addresses were australia, germany, norway, england, and america." "i noticed it," answered mr. sumner, "and of course, like you, could not help asking myself the question, 'why do travellers from all parts of the christian world come to this small city, which is so utterly unimportant as the world reckons importance?' simply because a good man was once born, lived, and died here. surely one renews one's faith in god and humanity as one thinks of this fact." "may not the paintings alone draw some visitors?" asked malcom, after thinking for a few moments of his uncle's words. "but even then we must allow that the paintings would not have been here if it were not for the saint; so it really amounts to about the same thing, doesn't it?" answered his uncle, smiling. "what a pity it is," said bettina, thinking of the garrulous old monk who so evidently desired to earn his _lira_, "that people will add so much that is imaginary when there is enough that is true. it is a shame to so exaggerate stories of st. francis's life as to make them seem almost ridiculous." when their drive was nearly over and they were watching the ever nearing perugia, malcom turned toward mr. sumner with a serious look and said:-- "uncle robert, these italian cities are wonderfully interesting, and i think i have never enjoyed anything in my life so much as the fortnight since we left florence and, of course, the time we were there; and yet i would not for worlds live here among them." then, as mr. sumner looked inquiringly at him, he continued, with an excited flush: "what is there in them that a man could get hold of to help, anyway? it seems to me as if their lives have been all lived, as if they now are dead; and how can any new life be put into them? look at these villages we have been passing through! what power can make the people wish for anything better than they have, can wake them up to make more of the children than the parents are? in the present condition of people and government, how can any man, for instance, such as you are, really accomplish anything? how would one go about it? now at home, you know, if one is only man enough, he can have so much influence to make things better; can give children better schools; can give people books; can help lift the low-down into a higher place. he can help in making all sorts of reforms, can be a _leader_ in such things. he can go into politics and try to make them cleaner." malcom had spoken out of his heart, and, in sympathy with him, bettina squeezed barbara's hand under the cover. barbara, however, was looking at mr. sumner, and her quick eyes had noted the sensitive change of expression in his; the startled look of surprise that first leaped into them, and the steady pain that followed. an involuntary glance at barbara told him that she recognized his pain and longed to say something to help, but she could not; and it was bettina who, after a moment's silence, said gently:-- "i am sure you are right, malcom, but i think i could live all my life in this dear, beautiful italy if all whom i love were with me." malcom did not for a moment think that his words would so touch his uncle. he had spoken from his own stand-point, with thought of himself alone, and would have been amazed indeed could he have known what a steady flame within his uncle's mind his little spark had kindled. * * * * * "what is the matter with miss sherman?" whispered malcom in margery's ear, as, soon after dinner, they went out upon the terrace close to their hotel to look at the moon rising over the distant hills. that young lady had disappeared as soon as they arose from the table, and mrs. douglas had sent margery to her room to tell her they were going out, but she had declined to accompany them. "mother thinks she is not feeling quite well," answered margery, drawing malcom's face close to her own; "but i think she is vexed about something." the truth was that miss sherman was as nearly cross as she dared to be. were she with father and sister, instead of mrs. douglas's party, why! then she could give vent to her feelings; and what a relief it would be! but now she was trying her best to conquer them, or, rather, to hide them; but the habit of a lifetime will not easily give way on occasion. she had never been so happy in her life as since she left florence with mrs. douglas. wherever she was, wherever she went, there was mr. sumner, always full of most courteous consideration for her as his sister's guest. she had been so happy that her sweetness and gentleness were irresistible, and again and again had mrs. douglas congratulated herself on having found such an enjoyable companion; and mr. sumner felt grateful to her for enhancing his sister's happiness. but to-day a change had taken place in the satisfactory tide of affairs. mr. sumner had been willing--more than that--had _chosen_ to drive all the way back from assisi in the carriage with malcom, barbara, and bettina, and it was all she could do to hide her chagrin and displeasure. mrs. douglas, with her usual kind judgment, had decided that she was not quite well, and throughout the drive had respected her evident desire for silence, though she wondered a little at it. so while she and margery were talking about good st. francis, whose heart overflowed with love to every living creature--mankind, animals, birds, and flowers, and whose whole life was given up to their service--miss sherman hugged close her little jealous grievance and, brooding over it, gave no thought to the associations of the place they had just visited, or to the glorious italian landscape through which they were passing. it was not that she really loved mr. sumner after all; that is, not as some women love, for it was not in her nature to do so; but she did wish to become his wife; and this had been her supreme thought during all the months since she had met him. lately the memory of his agitation when barbara had passed him that evening of the party had disagreeably haunted her. it had so moved her that, truth to tell, she mourned over howard's death more because it served to withdraw an obstacle between these two than for any other reason. that mere girl, she thought, might prove a formidable rival. all the more had it seemed so, since she daily saw what a lovely, noble young woman barbara really was, and how worthy a companion, even for mr. sumner. so every moment he had devoted to herself or had seemed to choose to be in her own society, was an especial cause for self-congratulation. but now she furtively clinched her little gloved hand, and the lids lowered over her beautiful eyes as they grew hard, and she did not wish to talk. "i wonder what is the matter with lucile" (for so miss sherman had begged to be called), mrs. douglas queried with herself that night, and sought among the events of the day for some possible explanation. "she seems as if hurt by something." suddenly the thought flashed into her mind: "can it be because robert left us to drive with the others? can it be that she has learned to care for him so much as that?" and her woman's nature overflowed with sympathy at the suggestion of such an interpretation. she had not forgotten the desire that crept into her heart that morning of the day they spent at fiesole; and now came the glad belief that if miss sherman had really learned to love her brother, it must be that in time he would feel it, and yield to the sweetness of her affection. she did not wonder that lucile should love her darling brother. indeed, how could any woman help it? and she was so sensitive that she might acutely feel even such a little thing as his not returning in the carriage with them. and her quietness might have been caused by the disappointment. she would be herself the next morning; and mrs. douglas resolved to be only kinder and more loving than ever to her. and, indeed, the next morning the clouds were all dissipated, and miss sherman accepted, with her usual sweet smile, her portion of the flowers that mr. sumner brought to the ladies of his party. but the night just passed would never be forgotten by robert sumner, and had marked a vital change in his life. he had walked the floor of his moonlighted room until the early morning hours, his thoughts given wholly to the great subject malcom's unconscious words had opened within his mind. could it be that unconsciously, through weakness, he had yielded himself to a selfish course of living? he, whose one aim and ideal had ever been to give his life and its opportunities for the benefit of others? had his view been a narrow one, when he had so longed that it should be wide and ever wider? it really began to seem so in the pitiless glare of the light now thrown upon it. he had surely been living for his fellow-men. he had been striving to make his own culture helpful to those who were less happy in opportunity. but had his outlook been far and wide enough? had not the personal sorrow to which he had yielded narrowed to his eyes the world,--_his_ world, in which god had put him? living on here in his loved italy, the knowledge he had gained was being sent out to aid those who already had enough to enable them to follow into the higher paths he opened. his pictures, every one of which had grown out of his own heart, were bearing messages to those whose eyes were opened to read. but what of the great mass of humanity, god's humanity too, which was waiting for some one to awaken the very first desires for culture? for some one to open, never so little, the blind eyes? as malcom had said, no one, no foreigner certainly, could ever reach this class of people in italy. the church and the heavy hand of past centuries of ignorance forbade this. but what of the great young land across the waters where he had been born--his own land--the refuge of the poor of all countries of the earth, even of his dear italy? surely no power of influence there could be forbidden. the good that wealth, culture, and art, guided by a heart consecrated to humanity, could work was limitless there. he now saw that his personal sorrow, his own selfish grief, had come between all this and himself for six long years. in deep humiliation he bowed himself; and looking out over the great plain at his feet, in which lay assisi and the paths the worn feet of st. francis and his brethren had so often trod six centuries ago, now all gilded with the light of the same moon that was shining over the distant land of his birth, robert sumner pledged his life anew to god and his fellow-man, and determined that his old grief should be only a stepping-stone to a larger service; that, keeping italy and her treasures in his life only as a recreation and a source of inspiration, he would hereafter live in his own america. in the peace of mind that came after the struggle, which was no slight one, he slept and dreamed,--dreamed of the fair girl he had so loved with all the force of his young, strong nature, and whom he had so long mourned. she smiled upon him, and into her smile came the lovelight he had seen in barbara's eyes that birthday evening, and then she changed into barbara, and he awoke with the thought of the wistful look she had given him the afternoon before when malcom's words wounded. in the morning, as he gave the flowers he had chosen expressly for her, and their hands for a moment met, the remembrance of this dream flashed into his mind, and barbara, surprised, felt a momentary lingering of his touch. after breakfast mrs. douglas declared her intention to spend the morning in writing letters, and advised the others to follow her example. "you know we go to rome to-morrow, and i prophesy no one of us will feel like sparing much time for writing during our first days there," she said. barbara and bettina spent an hour on their home-letter, then stole away alone, and finding a secluded spot on the grand terrace in front of their hotel, sat down, with the great valley before them. the blue sky, so clear and blue, was full of great white puffs of cloud whose shadows were most fascinating to watch as they danced over the plain,--now hiding a distant city,--now permitting just a gleam of sunshine to gild its topmost towers; and anon flitting, leaving that city-crowned summit all in light, while another was enveloped in darkness. they talked long together, as only two girls who love each other can talk--of the sky and the land; of the impressions daily received; of the thoughts born of their present daily experiences; of the home friends from whom they were so widely separated. then they grew silent, giving themselves to the dreamy beauty of the scene. by and by barbara, her eyes dark with unwonted feeling, turned impulsively to her sister and began to talk of that which had been so often in her mind,--her visit to howard just before he died. something now impelled her to tell that of which she had before kept silence. her voice trembled as she described the scene--the eyes that spoke so much when the voice was already forever silent--and the wonderful love she saw in them when she gave the tender kiss. "he did love you, did he not, bab dear?" said bettina, in a hushed, awestricken voice. "should you ever have loved him?" she asked timidly after a pause, looking at her sister as if she were invested with a new, strange dignity, that in some way set her apart and hallowed her. "no, dear, i am sure--not as he loved me. i wish, oh! so much, that i could have made him happy; but since i know that could never have been, do you know, betty, i am beginning to be glad that he has gone from us; that i can never give him any more pain. i never before dreamed what it may be to love. you know, betty, we have never had time to think of such things; we have been too young. somehow," and her fingers caressed the roses in her belt, "things seem different lately." chapter xiii. cupid laughs. _from court to the cottage, in bower and in hall, from the king unto the beggar, love conquers all. though ne'er so stout and lordly, strive or do what you may, yet be you ne'er so hardy, love will find out the way._ --anonymous [illustration: ruins of forum, rome.] mr. sumner and mrs. douglas had been most fortunate in getting possession of extremely pleasant apartments close to the pincio. these were in the very same house in which they had lived with their parents twenty years before, when mrs. douglas was a young girl of eighteen years. here she had first met and learned to love young kenneth douglas, so that most tender memories clustered about the place, and she was glad that her children should learn to know it. she soon began to pick up the old threads of life. "ah me! what golden threads they then were," she often sighed. mr. sumner was at home here in rome almost as much as in florence, and was busy for a time making and receiving calls from artist friends. malcom had his own private guide, and from morning until night they hardly saw him. he averred himself to be in the seventh heaven, and there was little need that he should proclaim the fact; it was evident enough. julius cæsar's commentaries, cicero's orations, virgil, all roman history were getting illuminated for him in such a way that they would never grow dim. but at first the others felt sensibly the change from dear, familiar little florence. rome is so vast in her history, legend, and romance! the city was oppressive at near sight. "shall we ever really know anything about it all?" asked the girls of each other. even miss sherman, who had been able to get a room in a small hotel close by, and so was still their constant companion, wore a little troubled air now and then, as if there were something she ought to do and did not know how to set about it. they drove all over the city; saw its ancient ruins--the colosseum, the forums, the palatine hill, the baths of agrippa, caracalla, titus, and diocletian; visited the pantheon, castle of st. angelo, and many of the most important churches. they drove outside the walls on the via appia, and saw all the many interesting things by the way. they sought all the best points of view from which they could look out over the great city. one afternoon they were all together on the wide piazza in front of san pietro in montorio, which commands a very wide outlook. here, after having studied the location of chief points of interest, they gave themselves up to the delight of a superb sunset view. as they lingered before again taking their carriages, malcom told some of his morning experiences, and barbara wistfully said:-- "i wonder if we ought not to begin some definite study of roman history and the old ruins. betty and i have taken some books from the library in piazza di spagna, and are reading hard an hour or two every day, but it gives me a restless feeling to know that there is so much all about me that i do not understand," and she looked inquiringly at mr. sumner. "robert and i have talked over this very thing," replied mrs. douglas. "shall i tell them what we think?" she asked her brother, as he rather abruptly turned away. on his assent she continued:-- "it is a familiar question, since i very plainly remember hearing my father and mother talk of it when i was your age, and robert was but a lad. my father said it would take a lifetime of patient study to learn thoroughly all that can to-day be learned of what we call ancient rome--the rome of the cæsars; and how many romes existed before that, of which we can know nothing, save through legend and tradition! 'now, will it not be best,' he asked, 'that we read all we can of legend and the chief points of roman history up to the present time, so that the subject of rome get into our minds and hearts; and then try to absorb all we can of the spirit of both past and present, so that we shall know rome even though we have not tried to find out all about her? we cannot accomplish the latter, and if we try i fear we shall miss everything.' my mother agreed fully with him. and so, many evenings at home; father would read to us pathetic legends and stirring tales of ancient roman life; and we would often go and sit amidst the earth-covered ruins on the palatine. here, children, i have heard your own dear father more than once repeat, as only he could, byron's graphic lines:-- "cypress and ivy, weed and wall-flower grown, matted and mass'd together; hillocks heap'd on what were chambers, arch crushed, column strewn in fragments; choked-up vaults, and frescoes steep'd in subterranean damps, where the owl peep'd deeming it midnight. "he used to love to repeat bits of poetry everywhere, just as margery does. "we climbed the colosseum walls and sat there for hours dreaming of what it once was--and so we went all over the city--until i really think i lived in ancient rome a part of the time. often did i weep over the tragic fate of roman heroes and matrons as i was in the places sacred to their history, so deeply impressed was i by the reality of the past life of rome. i had not followed the erudite words of any interpreter of the ruins; i had not learned which was the particular pile of stones which marks the location of the palace of tiberius, augustus, or septimius severus; i could not even give name to all the various ruins of the roman forum, but old rome was very real to me, and has been ever since. "now," she continued, as she glanced at the interested faces about her, "we are here for a very short time, and it does seem much the best to both robert and me that you should try to get rome into your _hearts_ first. don't be one bit afraid to grow sentimental over her. it is a good place in which to give ourselves up to sentiment. we will take a guide for all that which seems necessary. this one afternoon, however, up here, when you have learned the location of the seven hills and have clearly fixed in your minds the relative positions of the most important ruins and old buildings is, in my opinion, worth more than would be many afternoons spent in prowling through particular ruins; that is, for you. were we archæological students, it would of course be a far different matter." "and we will at once resume our study of paintings," said mr. sumner, drawing nearer. "to-morrow morning, if malcom has no engagement, we will go to the sistine chapel to see michael angelo's frescoes. i have been so busy until now that i could not get the time i wished for it." the next morning, as barbara and bettina were getting ready for the drive according to mr. sumner's appointment, bettina, who was vigorously brushing her brown suit, heard a sigh from her sister, and looking up saw her ruefully examining her own skirt. "rather the worse for wear, aren't they, barbara _mia_?" "indeed, they are. i didn't notice it, though, until we came here into this bright rome. we seem to have come all at once into spring sunshine and the atmosphere of new clothes; and, betty, i believe i do feel shabby. i know you have been thinking the same thing, too; for everybody else seems to have new spring dresses, and they are so fresh and pretty that ours look doubly worse. oh, dear!" and she sighed again. then, catching sight of her sister's downcast face, barbara, in a moment, after her usual fashion, rose above her annoyance and cried:-- "for shame, barbara burnett! to think that you are in rome, the eternal city! that you are dressing to go to the sistine chapel to look at michael angelo's frescoes! and do you dare to waste a thought on the gown you are to wear! oh, betty! you are ashamed of me, too, i know.--there, you dear old brown suit! forgive me, and i never will do such a mean thing again. to think of all the lovely places i have been in with you, and now that i should like to cheat you out of seeing michael angelo's frescoes!" and she adjusted the last button with such a comical, half-disgusted expression on her face that betty burst into a merry laugh. when the two girls came down stairs and stepped out upon the sidewalk beside which the carriages were waiting, their radiant faces gave not the slightest hint that any annoyance had ever lurked there; and no one, looking into them, would ever give a thought to the worn brown dresses. no one? not many, at least. perhaps miss sherman, looking so dainty in her own fresh attire, did. anyway, as mr. sumner handed her into one of the carriages, and himself springing in, took a seat beside her, she shot a triumphant glance at barbara, who was seating herself in the other carriage with bettina and malcom. mrs. douglas and margery had gone out on some morning errand and would follow them presently so miss sherman was alone with mr. sumner. robert sumner was waging quite a battle with himself during these days. ever since that night at perugia, he had found to his utter dismay that he could not put barbara out of his thoughts. indeed, ever after the evening of the birthday party she had assumed to him a distinct individuality. it seemed as if he had received a revelation of what she was to become. every now and then as he saw her at home, the vision of beautiful womanhood that had passed before him that evening would flash into his mind, and the thought would come that sometime, somewhere, she would find him into whose eyes could shine from her own that glorious lovelight that he had for an instant surprised in them. it had not seemed to him that he then saw the present barbara, but that which she was to be; and this future barbara had no special connection with the present one, save to awaken an interest that caused him to be watchful of her. he had always recognized the charm of her personality,--her frank enthusiasms, and her rich reserve; the wide outlook and wise judgment of things unusual in one so young. but now he began to observe other more intimate qualities,--the wealth of affection bestowed on bettina and the distant home; her tender regard to the feelings of those about her; her quick resentment of any injustice; her sturdy self-reliance; her sweet, unspoiled, unselfish nature; and her longing for knowledge and all good gifts. then came howard's death, and he realized how deeply she was moved. a new look came often into her eyes, which he noted; a new tone into her voice, which he heard. and yet he felt that the experience had not touched the depths of her being. while they were on the way from florence to rome he had rejoiced every time he heard her voice ringing with the old merry tones, which showed that she had for the moment forgotten all sad thoughts. when he was ostensibly talking to all, he was often really talking only to barbara, and watching the expression of her eyes; and he always listened to catch her first words when any new experience came to their party. he was really fast getting into a dangerous condition, this young man nearly thirty years old, but was as unconscious of it as a child. at perugia came the night struggle caused by malcom's words; the dream, and the morning meeting with barbara. when his hand touched hers as he put into them the roses, he felt again for an instant the electric thrill that ran through him on the birthday night, when he met that wonderful look in her eyes. it brought a feeling of possession, as if it were the hand of his margaret which he had touched,--margaret, who was so soon to have been his wife when death claimed her. he tried to account for it. he was jealous for the beloved dead whose words, whose ways, whose face had reigned supreme over his heart for so many years, when he caught himself dwelling on barbara's words, recalling her tricks of tone, her individual ways. he set himself resolutely to the task of overcoming this singular tendency of his thought; and oh! how the little blind (but all-seeing) god of love had been laughing at robert sumner all through the days since they reached rome. instead of driving and walking about with the others, he had zealously set himself the task of calling at the studios of all his artist friends; had visited exhibitions; had gone hither and thither by himself; and yet every time had hastened home, though he would not admit it to his own consciousness, in order that he might know where barbara was, what she was doing, and how she was feeling. he had busied himself in fitting up a sky-lighted room for a studio, where he resolved to spend many morning hours, forgetting all else save his beloved occupation; and the very first time he sat before his easel a sketch of barbara's face grew out of the canvas. the harder he tried to put her from his thoughts, the less could he do so, and he grew restless and unhappy. another cause of troubled, agitated feeling was his decision to return to america and there make his home. in this he had not faltered, but it oppressed him. he loved this italy, with her soft skies, her fair, smiling vineyards and bold mountain backgrounds, her romantic legends, and, above all, her art-treasures. he had taken her as his foster-mother. her atmosphere stimulated him to work in those directions his heart loved best. how would it be when he should be back again in his native land? he had fought his battle; duty had told him to go there; and when she had sounded the call, there could be no retreat for him. but love and longing and memory and fear all harassed him. he had as yet said nothing of this to his sister, but it weighed on him continually. taken all in all, robert sumner's life, which had been keyed to so even a pitch, and to which all discord had been a stranger for so many years, was sadly jarred and out of tune. of course mrs. douglas's keen sisterly eyes could not be blind to the fact that something was troubling her brother. and it was such an unusual thing to see signs of so prolonged disturbance in him that she became anxious to know the cause. still she could not speak of it first. intimate as they were, the inner feelings of each were very sacred to the other, and she must wait until he should choose to reveal all to her. she well knew that his heart had been wholly consecrated to the only love it had heretofore known, and the query had often arisen in her mind whether the approach of another affection might not in the first place work some unhappiness. that he could ever love again as he had loved margaret she did not for a moment believe. she well knew, however, that the happiness of any woman who might give her life into her brother's keeping was safe, and her wish for him was that he might be so drawn toward some loving woman that he might desire to make her his wife, and so be blessed with family life and love; for the thought that he might live lonely, without family ties, was inexpressibly sad to her loving heart. we have seen how the coming of miss sherman into their lives roused these hopes afresh; and she now wondered if his evident unrest might be caused by the first suggestion of the thought of asking her to become his wife. it was evident that he admired her and enjoyed her society; and, so far as miss sherman's feelings were concerned, she felt no doubt. indeed, she sometimes shrank a bit from the free display of her fondness for his company, and hoped that malcom and the girls might not notice it. she easily excused it, however, to herself, although the closer intimacy of daily intercourse was revealing, little by little, flaws in the character she had thought so fair. how utterly mistaken was mrs. douglas! and how shocked would lucile sherman have been this very morning could she have known how strong a longing leaped into robert sumner's heart to take into his hungry arms that graceful figure in worn brown suit, with brave, smiling young face and steadfast eyes, put her into his carriage, and drive away,--anywhere,--so it only were away and away! or, how stern a grip he imposed on himself as he took his seat beside her dimpling, chattering self, radiant with fresh colors and graceful draperies. or, of the tumult of his thoughts as they drove along through the narrow streets, across the yellow tiber and up to the stately entrance of st. peter's. chapter xiv. a visit to the sistine chapel. _deep love lieth under these pictures of time; they fade in the light of their meaning sublime._ --emerson. [illustration: st. peter's and castle of st. angelo, rome.] they first passed into the great cathedral in order to give a look at that most beautiful of all michael angelo's sculptures--_mary holding on her knees her dead son_. barbara and bettina had studied it on a former visit to st. peter's when mr. sumner was not with them. now he asked them to note the evident weight of the dead christ,--with every muscle relaxed,--a triumph of the sculptor's art; and, especially, the impersonal face of the mother; a face that is simply the embodiment of her feeling, and wholly apart from the ordinary human! "this is a special characteristic of michael angelo's faces," he said, "and denotes the high order of his thought. in it, he approached more closely the conceptions of the ancient greek masters than has any other modern artist--and now we will go to the sistine chapel," he added, after a little time. they went out to the vatican entrance, passed the almost historic swiss guards, and climbed the stairs with quite the emotion that they were about to visit some sacred shrine, so much had they read and so deeply had they thought about the frescoes they were about to see. for some time after they entered the chapel mr. sumner said nothing. the custodian, according to custom, provided them with mirrors; and each one passed slowly along beneath the world-famous ceiling paintings, catching the reflection of fragment after fragment, figure after figure. soon the mirrors were cast aside, and the opera-glasses mr. sumner had advised them to bring were brought into use,--they were no longer content to study simply a reflected image. at last necks and eyes grew tired, and when mr. sumner saw this, he asked all to sit for a time on one of the benches, in a corner apart from others who were there. "i know just how you feel," he said. "you are disappointed. the frescoes are so far above our heads; their colors are dull; they are disfigured by seams; there are so many subjects that you are confused and weary. you are already striving to retain their interest and importance by connecting them with the personality of their creator, and are imagining michael angelo swung up there underneath the vault, above his scaffoldings, laboring by day and by night during four years. you are beginning in the wrong place to rightly comprehend the work. "it is the magnitude of michael angelo's _conceptions_ that puts him among the very first of painters; and it is the conception of these frescoes that makes them the most notable paintings in the world. we must dwell on this for a moment. when the work was begun it was the artist's intention to paint on the end wall, opposite the altar, the fall of lucifer, the enemy of man, who caused sin to befall him. this was never accomplished. then he designed to cover the ceiling (as he did) with the chief biblical scenes of the world's history that are connected with man's creation and fall--to picture all these as looking directly forward to christ's coming and man's redemption; and then to complete the series, as he afterward did, by painting this great _last judgment_ over the altar. is it not a stupendous conception? "let your eyes run along the ceiling as i talk. god is represented as a most superbly majestic being in the form of man. he separates light from darkness. he creates the sun and moon. he commands the waters to bring forth all kinds of fish; the earth and air to bring forth animal life. he creates adam: nothing more grand is there in the whole realm of art than this magnificent figure, perfect in everything save the reception of the breath of eternal life; his eyes are waiting for the divine spark that will leap into them when god's finger shall touch his own. he creates eve. in paradise they sin, and are driven out by angels with flaming swords. then, a sad sequence to the parents' weakness, cain murders his brother abel. the flood comes and destroys all their descendants save noah. he who has withstood evil is saved with his family in the ark, and becomes the father of a new race." "and do the pictures at the corners, and the single figures, have anything to do with this subject?" asked malcom, after a pause, during which all were busy following the thoughts awakened by mr. sumner's words. [illustration: michael angelo. sistine chapel, rome. the delphian sibyl.] "yes, indeed; nothing here is foreign to the one great thought of the painter. the four irregular spaces at the corners are filled with representations of important deliverances of the jewish people from evil,--david slaying goliath, the hanging of haman, the serpent raised in the wilderness, and judith with the head of holofernes. the connection in michael angelo's mind evidently was that god, who had always provided a help for his people, would also in his own time give a saviour from their sins. "ranged along the sides you see seven prophets and five sibyls: the prophets foretold christ's coming to the jewish world, and the sibyls sang of it to the gentile world. "nowhere, however, do we see the waiting and the longing for the coming of the redeemer more strikingly shown than in these families,--'genealogy of the virgin' they are commonly called,--that are painted in the triangular spaces above the windows. each represents a father, mother, and little child, every bit of whose life seems utterly absorbed with just the idea of patient, expectant waiting. when troubled and weary, as we all are sometimes, you know, i have often come here to gain calmness and strength by looking at one or two of these groups;" and mr. sumner paused, with his eyes fixed on one of the loveliest of the holy families, as they are sometimes called, as if he would now drink in its spirit of hopeful peace. "they are waiting," he resumed after a few minutes, "as only those can wait who confidently hope; and, therefore, there is really nothing in the rendering of all this grand conception that more clearly points to the saviour's coming than do these. "i think this part of the frescoes has not generally received the attention it merits. "the decorative figures, called athletes, that you see seated on the apparently projecting cornice, at each of the four corners of the smaller great divisions of the ceiling, are a wholly unique creation of the artist, and serve as a necessary separation of picture from picture. they are with reason greatly admired in the world of art. "these many figures, each possessing distinct personality, were evolved from the mind of the artist. we can never think of him as going about through the city streets seeking models for his work as did leonardo da vinci. his figures are as purely ideal as the creations of the old greeks. now think of all this. think of the sphere of the old master's thought during these four years, and you will not wonder that he could not sleep, but, restless, came again and again at night with a candle fixed in his paper helmet to light the work of his hands." all were silent. never before had they seen mr. sumner so evidently moved by his subject; and this made it all the more impressive. they became impatient as they heard a little group of tourists chatting and laughing in front of the _last judgment_; and when, finally, a crowd of travellers with a noisy guide entered the chapel, they quickly decided to go away and to come again the next day. "thank you so much, mr. sumner," said barbara, in a low, sympathetic voice, as she found herself beside him as they came out through the long corridor; "you have made it all very plain to us,--the greatness, the skill, the patience of michael angelo. it is as if he had been inspired by god." "and why not?" was the gentle reply, as he looked down into the upturned face so full of sweet seriousness. "do you believe that the days of inspiration were confined to past ages? god is the same as then, and close at hand as then; man is the same and with the same needs. "the passive master lent his hand to the vast soul that o'er him planned, wrote our emerson, showing he believed, as i firmly do, that we ourselves now work god's will, as men did ages ago; that god inspires us even as he did the old prophets." "i love to believe so," said barbara, simply. "and," continued mr. sumner, "this does not lessen any man, but rather makes him greater. surely god's working through him makes him truly grander than the mere work itself ever could." as malcom, barbara, and bettina drove homeward, their talk took a serious turn. malcom was deeply impressed by his uncle's last words, which he had overheard, when taken into connection with all the preceding thoughts about michael angelo. finally he asked:-- "and then what can a man do? what did michael angelo, himself, do if, as uncle suggested, god wrought through him?" "oh, i know!" exclaimed bettina, eagerly. "i have heard papa and mamma talk about the same thing more than once, only of course michael angelo was not their subject. in the first place, he must have realized that god sent him into the world to do something, and also that he had not left him alone, but was with him. papa always says that to realize this begins everything that is good." "yes," interrupted barbara. "he did feel this. don't you remember that he wrote in one of his letters that we were reading in that library book the other day, 'make no intimacies with any one but the almighty alone'? i was particularly struck by it, because just before i read it, i was thinking what a lonely man he was." "yes, dear, i remember. and in the next place," continued bettina, "papa says we must get ourselves ready to do as _great_ work as is possible, so that may be given us. if we do not prepare ourselves, this cannot be. you know how michael angelo studied and studied there in florence when he was a young man; how he never spared himself, but 'toiled tremendously,' as some one has said. and, next, we must do in the very best way possible even the smallest thing god sees fit to give us to do, so that we may be found worthy to do greater ones. but, malcom, you know all this as well or better than i do, and i know you are trying to do these things too!" and bettina blushed at the thought that she had been preaching. but malcom laughed, and looked as if he could listen to so sweet a preacher forever. never were there two better comrades than he and bettina had been all their lives. barbara said little. there was a far-away look in her eyes that told of unexpressed thought. she was pondering that which the morning had brought; and underneath and through all was the happy knowledge that her hero had not failed her. as usual he had committed new gifts into her keeping. and the gentle, almost intimate, tones of his voice when he was talking to her,--she felt it was to herself alone, though others heard--dwelt like music in her ears. mr. sumner had been calmed by the lesson of michael angelo's frescoes, as he had often been before. in the presence of eternal verities,--however they may be embodied to us,--our own private concerns must ever grow trivial. what matters a little unrest or disappointment, or even unhappiness, when our thought is engaged with untold ages of god's dealing with mankind? with the wondrous fact that god is with man,--immanuel,--forever and forevermore? that evening he spent with the family in their pretty sitting room, and in answer to some questions about the _last judgment_, talked for a few minutes about this large fresco, which occupied seven years of michael angelo's life. he told them that although it is not perhaps so great as a work of art as the ceiling frescoes, yet because of its conception, of the number of figures introduced, the boldness of their treatment, and the magnificence of their drawing, it stands unrivalled. he said they ought to study it, bit by bit, group by group, after having once learned to understand its design. they talked of the grim humor of the artist in giving his belial--the master of hades--the face of the master of ceremonies of the chapel, who found so much fault with his painting of nude figures. "that was the chief feature of interest in the picture to that group of young people who stood so long before it this morning," said mr. sumner. "i often notice that the portrait of grouty old biagio attracts more attention than any other of the nearly three hundred figures in the picture." "i don't wonder, for i want to see it too," said malcom, laughing. they talked also of vittoria colonna, at whose home and in whose companionship the lonely master found all his happiness, especially during these years of toil. the girls were much interested in her, and mr. sumner said he would take them to visit the colonna palace, where, among other pictures, they would find a portrait of this noble woman, who was so famous in the literary life of her time. * * * * * one morning, not long after, malcom brought a handful of letters from the banker's, among which several fell to barbara and bettina. after opening two or three of his own, mr. sumner looked up and said:-- "i have here a letter dictated by howard's grandmother. it contains only a few words, which were written evidently by some friend, who adds that the poor old lady is greatly prostrated, and it is feared will never recover from the shock of his death." "poor woman! i wish it might have come less suddenly to her," replied mrs. douglas, in a sympathetic voice. after a little silence, during which all were busy with their letters, a low cry burst from barbara's lips. startled, all looked up to find her, pale as death, staring at a sheet clutched in her hand, while bettina had sunk on her knees with her arms about her sister's waist. "what is it? oh! what is it?" cried they. barbara found just voice enough to say: "no bad news from home," and then appealingly held her letter toward mr. sumner. "shall i read it?" and as she bowed assent, he hastily scanned the contents. "howard left a large portion of his money to barbara," he said briefly, in response to the inquiring eyes, and handed the letter back to the agitated girl, who, with bettina, sought their own room. then he added, striving to keep his voice calm and natural: "it seems that the very day before he was taken ill, howard went to a lawyer in florence and made a codicil to his will, in which he grouped several bequests heretofore given, into one large one, which he gave to barbara. this he at once sent to his lawyer in boston, who has now written to barbara." "this is what poor howard tried so hard to tell me at the last," said mrs. douglas. "he began two or three times, but did not have the strength to continue. i suspected it was something like this, but thought it best not to mention it. how much is it?" she asked after a pause, during which malcom and margery had talked in earnest tones. "nearly half a million," answered mr. sumner. barbara the owner of nearly half a million dollars! no wonder she was overcome! it seemed like an arabian nights' tale. "how perfectly lovely!" cried margery; and her mother echoed her words. mr. sumner looked rather grave. it was not that barbara should have the money, but that another should have the right to give it her. some one else to bless the life of the girl who was becoming so dear to him! to whom he was beginning to long to bring all good things! it was as if the dead howard came in some way between himself and her; and he went out alone beneath the trees of the pincian gardens to think it all over. meanwhile, the two girls were in their chamber. barbara threw herself on a couch beneath the window, and gazed with unseeing eyes up into the depths of the italian sky. she was stunned by the news the letter had brought, and, as yet, thought was completely passive. bettina read several times the lawyer's letter, trying to understand its contents. at last she said gently:-- "can it be possible, bab? i can hardly comprehend how much it is. we have never thought of so much money in all our lives. why! you are rich, dear. you have more money than you ever can spend!" barbara sprang from the couch, and threw out her arms with an exultant gesture. "spend! i hadn't once thought of that! betty! betty! papa and mamma shall have everything they wish! they shall never work so hard any more! mamma shall have a seamstress every day, and her poor pricked fingers shall grow smooth! she shall have the loveliest clothes, and never again give the prettiest of everything to you and me! papa shall have vacations, and books, and the study in hospitals he has so longed for! richard shall have college _certain_ to look forward to; lois shall have the best teachers in the world for her music; margaret shall be an artist; and dear little bertie!--oh! he shall have what he needs for everything he wishes to do and be! and they shall all come abroad to this dear lovely italy, and enjoy all that we are enjoying! and you and i, betty!--why!--you and i can have some new spring dresses!" and the excited girl burst into a flood of tears, mingled with laughter at the absurdity of her anti-climax. bettina did not know what to do. she had never seen barbara so overwrought with excitement. presently, however, she began to speak of howard, and before long they were talking tenderly of the young man who so short a time ago was a stranger to them, but whose life had been destined to touch so closely their own. barbara was profoundly moved as she realized this proof of his affection for her, and a depression was fast following her moment of exultation, when a tap at the door ushered in mrs. douglas, who took her into her arms as her mother would have done. her sweet sympathy and bright practical talk did a world of good in restoring to both the girls their natural calmness. barbara, however, was in a feverish haste to do something that would repay her parents for the money she and betty were using, and, to soothe her, mrs. douglas told her what to write to the lawyer, so that he would at once transfer a few thousands of dollars to dr. burnett. then she said:-- "i would not write your father and mother about it until to-morrow. you can do it more easily then; and i will write, too, if you would like. margery and malcom are longing to see you. so is robert, i am sure. and will it not be best for you to go right out somewhere with us?" chapter xv. a morning in the vatican. _oh! their rafael of the dear madonnas._ --browning. [illustration: loggia of raphael, vatican, rome.] it was, of course, somewhat difficult for barbara to adjust herself to the new conditions. after the first, however, she said nothing to any one save bettina about the money howard had left her, only, as in her ignorance of business methods, she had need to consult mrs. douglas. but she and bettina had many things to talk over and much consultation to hold regarding the future. one evening, after they had been thus busy, bettina said, nestling closer to her sister, as they sat together on the couch, brave in its roman draperies:-- "you must not always say '_our_ money,' bab, dear." "why not?" with a startled look. "because it is _your_ money,--your very own;--the money howard gave you to spend for him, and yourself enjoy." "but, betty, we have shared everything all our lives. i do not know how to have or use anything that is not yours as well as mine. if howard had known my heart, he would have had it just as i would. i shall give you half, betty. do not, oh! do not refuse it. i shall not be happy with it unless you are willing. then you and i will work with it and enjoy it together. it is the only way. say yes, dear," and barbara looked at her sister with an almost piteous entreaty. bettina could say nothing for a time. then, as if impelled by the force of barbara's desire, said:-- "wait until we get home. then, if you wish it as you do now, i will do as papa and mamma think best; for, darling," in a somewhat quavering voice, "i know if the money were all mine, i should feel just as you do." and a loving kiss sealed the compact. meanwhile the days in rome were passing,--lovely in nature as only spring days in italy can be; days filled to overflowing with delightful and unique interest. for cities, as well as people, possess their own characteristic individualities, and rome is distinctively an individual city. from her foundation by the shepherd-kings far beyond the outermost threshold of history, down through the six or seven centuries during which she was engaged in conquering the nations; through the five hundred years of her undisputed reign as proud mistress of the world; in her sad decay and fall; and to-day in her resurrection, she is only herself--unlike all other cities. the fragmentary ruins of her great heathen temples arise close beside her christian churches,--some are even foundations for them,--while the trappings of many have furnished the rich adornments of christian altars. her mediæval castles and palaces, crowded to overflowing with heart-breaking traditions, look out over smiling gardens in the midst of which stand the quiet, orderly, innocent homes of the present race of commonplace men and women. her vast colosseum is only an immense quarry. her proud mausoleum of the julian cæsars is an unimportant circus. we drive or walk on the corso, along which the cæsars triumphantly led processions of captives; through which, centuries later, numberless papal pageants made proud entries of the city; where the maddest jollities of carnival seasons have raged: and we see nothing more important than modern carriages filled with gayly dressed women, and shops brilliant with modern jewellery and pretty colored fabrics; and we purchase gloves, handkerchiefs, and photographs close to some spot over which, perchance, queen zenobia passed laden with the golden chains that fettered her as she graced the triumph of emperor aurelian; or cleopatra, when she came conqueror of the proud heart of julius cæsar. we linger on the pincio, listening to the sweet music of the roman band, while our eyes wander out over the myriad roofs and domes to where great st. peter's meets the western horizon; and we forget utterly those dark centuries during which this lovely hill was given over to nero's fearful ghost, until a pope, with his own hands, cut down the grand trees that crowned its summit, thus exorcising the demon birds which the people believed to linger in them and still to work the wicked emperor's will. we take afternoon tea at the english mrs. watson's, beside the foot of the _scala di spagna_, close to whose top tradition tells us that shameless messalina, claudius's empress, was mercilessly slain. and so it is throughout the city. tradition, legend, and romance have peopled every place we visit. wars, massacres, and horrible suffering have left a stain at every step. love and faith and glorious self-sacrifice have consecrated the ways over which we pass. and though we do not give definite thought to these things always, yet all the time the city is weaving her spell about our minds and hearts, and we suddenly arouse to find that, traditional or historic, civilized or barbarous, conqueror or conquered, ancient or modern, she has become _cara roma_ to us, and so will be forevermore. thus it had been with mrs. douglas and mr. sumner, and so it now was with the young people of their household who had come hither for the first time. the days flew fast. it was almost difficult to find time when all could get together for their art study. mr. sumner had told them at first that here they would study under totally different conditions from those in florence, so separated are the works of any particular artist save michael angelo. they had already visited individually, as they chose, those historic palaces in which are most important family picture-galleries, such as the colonna, farnese, doria, corsini, villa borghese, etc., but they wished to go all together to the vatican to hear mr. sumner talk of raphael's works, and right glad were they when finally a convenient time came. they walked quickly through many pictured rooms and corridors until they reached the third room of the famous picture-gallery, where they took seats, and mr. sumner said, in a low voice:-- "i did not wish to come here immediately after we had studied michael angelo's frescoes. it was better to wait for a time, so utterly unlike are these two great masters of painting. i confess that i never like to compare them, one with the other, although their lives were so closely related that it is always natural to do so. their characters were opposite; so, also, their work. one sways us by his all-compelling strength; the other draws us by his alluring charm. michael angelo is in painting what dante and shakespeare are in poetry, and beethoven in music; raphael is like the gentle spenser and the tender mozart. michael angelo is thoroughly original; raphael possessed a peculiarly receptive nature, that caught something from all with whom he came into close contact. michael angelo strove continually to grow; raphael struggled for nothing. michael angelo's life was sternly lonely and sorrowful; raphael's bright, happy, and placid. michael angelo lived long; raphael died in early manhood. "still," he continued, after a moment, as he noted the sympathetic faces about him, "although i have mentioned them, i beg of you not to allow any of these personal characteristics or distinctions to influence you in your judgment of the work of these two. forget the one to-day as we study the other. "you have read much of raphael's life, so i will not talk about that. you remember that, when young, he studied in perugia, in perugino's studio, and perhaps you will recollect that, when we were there, i told you that his early work was exceedingly like that of this master. "now, look! here right before us is raphael's _coronation of the virgin_,--his first important painting. see how like perugino's are the figures. notice the exquisite angels on either side of the virgin, which are so often reproduced! see their pure, childlike faces and the queer little stiffness that is almost a grace! see the sweet solemnity of christ and the madonna, the staid grouping of the figures below,--the winged cherubim,--the soft color! "i have here two photographs," and he unfolded and passed one to margery, who was close beside him, "which i wish you to look at carefully. they are of works painted very soon after the _coronation_; one, the _marriage of the virgin_, or _lo sposalizio_, is in the brera gallery at milan. it is as like perugino's work as is the _coronation_." after a time spent in looking at and talking about the picture, during which bettina told the story of the blossomed rod which joseph bears over his shoulder, and the rod without blossoms which the disappointed suitor is breaking over his knee, mr. sumner gave them the other photograph. "this," he resumed, "you will readily recognize, as you have so often looked at the picture in the pitti gallery in florence--the _madonna del gran duca_. this is the only madonna that belongs to this period of raphael's painting, and the last important picture in the style. it was painted during the early part of his visit to florence." "i never see this, uncle," said margery, as she passed the photograph on to the others, "without thinking how the grand duke carried it about in its rich casket wherever he went, and said his prayers before it night and morning. i am glad the people named it after him. don't you think it very beautiful, uncle?" "yes; and it is one of the purest madonnas ever painted--so impersonal is the face," replied mr. sumner. "i wish," he continued, "i could go on like this through a list of raphael's works with you, but it is utterly impossible, so many are there. when he went to florence, where you know he spent some years, he fell under the influence of the florentine artists, and his work gradually lost its resemblance to perugino's. it gained more freedom, action, grace, and strength of color. some examples of this second style of his painting are the _madonna del cardellino_, or madonna of the goldfinch, which you will remember in the uffizi gallery, florence, and _la belle jardinière_ in the louvre, paris. but i have brought photographs of these pictures so that you may see the striking difference between them and those previously painted." murmured exclamations attested the interest with which the comparison was made. after all seemed satisfied, mr. sumner continued:-- "after raphael came to rome, summoned by the same pope julius ii. who sent for michael angelo, and was thus brought under the influence of that great painter, his method again changed. it grew firmer and stronger. then he painted his best pictures,--and so many of them! so, you can see, it is somewhat difficult to characterize raphael's work as a whole, for into it came so many influences. one thing, however, is true. from all those whom he followed, he gathered only the best qualities. his work deservedly holds its prominent place in the world's estimation;--so high and sweet and pure are its _motifs_, while their rendering is in the very best manner of the high renaissance. no other artist ever painted so many noble pictures in so few years of time." "did not his pupils assist him in many works, uncle?" asked malcom, as his uncle paused for a moment. "yes," replied mr. sumner, rising, "especially in the frescoes that we shall see by and by. it would have been utterly impossible for him to have executed all these with his own hand. let us now go out into this next gallery through which we entered, and look at the _transfiguration_." so they went into the small room which is dedicated wholly to three large pictures:--the _transfiguration_ and _madonna di foligno_ by raphael, and the _communion of st. jerome_ by domenichino. "raphael's last picture, which he left unfinished!" murmured bettina, and she took an almost reverential attitude before it. "how very, very different from the _coronation_!" exclaimed barbara, after some moments of earnest study. "that is so utterly simple, so quiet! this is more than dramatic!" "raphael's whole lifetime of painting lies between the two," replied mr. sumner, who had been intently watching her face as he stood beside her. "do you like this, mr. sumner? i do not think i do, really," said miss sherman, as she dropped into a chair, her eyes denoting a veiled displeasure, which was also apparent in the tones of her voice. "it is a difficult picture to judge," replied mr. sumner, slowly. "i wish you all could have studied many others before studying this one. but, indeed, you are so familiar with raphael's pictures that you need only to recall them to mind. this was painted under peculiar circumstances,--in competition, you remember, with sebastian del piombo's _resurrection of lazarus_; and sebastian was a pupil of michael angelo. some writers have affirmed that that master aided his pupil in the drawing of the chief figures in his picture. raphael tried harder than he ever had done before to put some of the dramatic vigor and action of michael angelo into the figures here in the lower part of the _transfiguration_. the result is that he overdid it. it is not raphaelesque; it is an unfortunate composite. the composition is fine; the quiet glory of heaven in the upper part,--the turbulence of earth in the lower, are well expressed; but the perfection of artistic effect is wanting. it is full of beauties, yet it is not beautiful. it has many defects, yet only a great master could have designed and painted it." by and by they turned their attention to the _madonna di foligno_, and were especially interested in it as being a votive picture. margery, who was very fond of this madonna, with the exquisite background of angels' heads, had a photograph of it in her own room at home, and knew the whole story of the origin of the picture. so she told it at malcom's request, her delicate fingers clasping and unclasping each other, according to her habit, as she talked. "how true it is that one ought to know the reason why a picture is painted, all about its painter, and a thousand other things, in order to appreciate it properly," said malcom, as they turned to leave the room. "that is so," replied his uncle. "i really feel," with an apologetic smile, "that i can do nothing with raphael. there is so much of him scattered about everywhere. we will regard this morning's study as only preliminary, and you must study his pictures by yourselves, wherever you find them. by the way," and he turned to look back through the doorway, "you must not forget to come here again to see domenichino's great picture. how striking it is! but we must not mix his work with raphael's." they passed through the first room of the gallery, stopping but a moment to see two or three comparatively unimportant pictures painted by raphael, and went out into the loggia. "i brought you through this without a word, when we first came," said mr. sumner. "but now i wish you to look up at the roof-paintings. they were designed by raphael, but painted by his pupils. you see they all have bible subjects. for this reason this loggia is sometimes called 'raphael's bible.' the composition of every picture is simple, and in the master's happiest style." as they left the loggia and entered "raphael's stanze," a series of rooms whose walls are covered with his frescoes, mr. sumner said:-- "we will to-day only give a glance at the paintings in this first room. they are, as you see, illustrative of great events in the history of rome. they were executed wholly by raphael's pupils, after his designs." "i shall come here again," said malcom, in a positive tone. "this is more in my line than madonnas," and he made a bit of a wry face. "and better still is to come for you," returned his uncle with a smile, as they passed on. "here in this next room are scenes in the religious history of the city, and here," as they entered the third room, "is the famous camera della segnatura." "room of the signatures! why so called?" asked barbara. "because the papal indulgences used to be signed here; and here," continued mr. sumner, turning for a moment toward malcom, "are the greatest of all raphael's frescoes. we will now stop here for a few minutes, and you must come again for real study. the subjects are the representations of the most lofty occupations that engage the minds of men--philosophy, justice, theology, and poetry. this is the first painting done by raphael in the vatican, and it is all his own work, both design and execution. "here on this side," pointing at a large fresco which covered the entire wall, "is _la disputa_, or _theology_. above, on the ceiling, you see a symbolic figure representing religion, with the bible in one hand and pointing down at the great picture with the other. opposite is the _school of athens_. above this is a figure emblematic of philosophy, wearing a diadem and holding two books. on the two end walls, broken, as you see, by the windows, are _parnassus_, peopled with apollo and the muses, together with figures of celebrated poets,--above which is the crowned figure with a lyre which represents poetry,--and," turning, "the _administration of law_, with ceiling-figure with crown, sword, and balance, symbolizing justice. in this room the painter had much to contend against. these opposite windows at the ends, which fill the space with cross-lights, and around which he must place two of his pictures, must have been discouraging. but the compositions are consummately fine, and the whole is so admirably managed that one does not even think of that which, if the work were less magnificent, would be harassing. "i advise you to come here early some morning and bring with you some full description of the pictures, which tells whom the figures are intended to represent. study first each painting as a whole; see the fine distribution of masses; the general arrangement; the symmetry of groups which balance each other; the harmony of line and color. then study individual figures for form, attitude, and expression. i think you will wish to give several mornings to this one room. "what do you think of this, malcom? do you not wish to get acquainted with plato, aristotle, cicero, and virgil?" added mr. sumner, putting his hand suddenly on the young man's shoulder, and looking into his face to surprise his thought. "i think it is fine, uncle rob. it's all right;" and malcom's steady blue eyes emphasized his satisfaction. "what do you call raphael's greatest picture?" asked barbara, as they turned from the frescoed walls. "these are his most important frescoes," replied mr. sumner; "and all critics agree that his most famous easel picture is the _madonna di san sisto_ in the dresden gallery. this is so very familiar to you that it needs no explanation. it was, you know, his last madonna, and it contains a hint of divinity in both mother and child never attained by any painter before or since." "when shall we see raphael's tapestries?" asked margery, as they finally passed on through halls and corridors. "i hardly think i will go with you to see those, madge dear," answered her uncle. "there is no further need that i explain any of raphael's work to you. your books and your own critical tastes, which are pretty well formed by this time, will be quite sufficient. indeed," looking around until he caught barbara's eyes, "i really think you can study all the remaining paintings in rome by yourselves," and he was made happy by seeing the swift regret which clouded them. "when we return to florence," he added, "you will be more interested than when we were there before in looking at raphael's madonnas and portraits in those galleries; and on our way from florence to venice, we will stop at bologna to see his _st. cecilia_". "how perfectly delightful!" cried bettina. "i have been wishing to see that ever since we went to the church of st. cecilia the other day. i was greatly interested to know that it had once been her own home, and in everything there connected with her. she was so brave, and true, and good! it seems as if raphael could have painted a worthy picture of her!" as bettina suddenly checked her pretty enthusiasm, her face flushed painfully, and barbara, seeking the cause, caught the supercilious smile with which miss sherman was regarding her sister. she at once divined that poor bettina feared that, in some way, she had made herself ridiculous to the older lady. going swiftly to her sister she threw her arm closely about her waist, and with a charming air of defiance,--with erect head and flashing eyes, said:-- "mr. sumner, st. cecilia is a real, historical character, is she not? as much so as st. francis, nero, or marcus aurelius?" the slight emphasis on the last name recalled to all the party the effusive eulogiums miss sherman had lavished upon that famous imperial philosopher a few days before, while they were looking at his bust in the museum of palazzo laterano; when, unfortunately, she had imputed to him certain utterances that rightfully belong to another literary man who lived in quite a different age and country. mr. sumner could not avoid a merry twinkle of his eyes as he strove to answer with becoming gravity, and malcom hastily pushed on far in advance. once at home, malcom and margery gave their version of the affair to their mother. "it isn't the first time she has looked like that at both barbara and betty," averred malcom, emphatically, "and they have known and felt it, too." "i am very sorry," said mrs. douglas, with a troubled look. "oh! you need not fear anything further, mother _mia_" said malcom, sympathizingly. "barbara will never show any more feeling. she would not have done it for herself, only for betty. under the circumstances she just had to fire her independence-gun, that is all. now there will be perfect peace on her side. you know her. "and," he added in an aside to margery, as his mother was leaving the room, "miss sherman will not dare to be cross openly for fear of mother and uncle rob. i didn't dare to look at her. but wasn't it rich?" and he went off into a peal of laughter. "it was only what she deserved, anyway," said margery, who was usually most gentle in all her judgments. it was quite a commentary on mrs. douglas's judgment of lucile sherman's character at this time, that she now deemed it best to tell her of howard's bequest to barbara, about which she had heretofore held silence. chapter xvi. poor barbara's trouble. _o, how this spring of love resembleth the uncertain glory of an april day; which now shows all the beauty of the sun, and by and by a cloud takes all away._ --shakespeare. [illustration: a bit of amalfi.] barbara and bettina, sometimes accompanied by mrs. douglas, sometimes by malcom, usually by margery, saw all the remaining and important art treasures of rome. they studied long the vatican and capitol sculptures; went to the barberini palace to see raphael's _la fornarina_, so rich in color; and, close beside it, the pale, tearful face of beatrice cenci, so long attributed to guido reni, but whose authorship is now doubtful; to the doleful old church santa maria dei capuccini, to see _st. michael and the dragon_ by guido reni, in which they were especially interested, because hawthorne made it a rendezvous of the four friends in his "marble faun," where so diverse judgments of the picture were pronounced, each having its foundation in the heart and experience of the speaker. they had been reading this book in the same way in which they had read "romola" in florence, and each girl was now the happy possessor of a much-prized copy, interleaved by herself with photographs of the roman scenes and works of art mentioned in the book. they went to the garden-house of the rospigliosi palace to see on its ceiling guido reni's _aurora_, one of the finest decorative pictures ever painted. and to the accademia di san luca to find the drawing by canevari after van dyck's portrait of the infant son of charles i. in the turin gallery, which is so often reproduced under the name of the _stuart baby_. not many pictures, great or small, escaped their eager young eyes. they grew familiar with the works of domenichino, guercino, garofalo, carlo dolci, sassoferrato, etc., and the days of their stay in rome rapidly passed by. mrs. douglas was very desirous to take them for a few days to naples, or rather to the environments of naples. to herself it would be a pilgrimage of affection; and in those drives, loveliest in the world, she would recall many precious memories of the past. "i hesitated to speak of doing this before," said she, when she suggested it to her brother, "because i have tried to make the whole trip comparatively inexpensive, remembering the shortness of the dear doctor's purse. now, of course, this needs no consideration." so they planned to go there for a short visit; and on their return it would be time to pack their trunks for florence, where they were to stop two or three days before going northward toward venice. a morning ride from rome to naples during the early days of may is idyllic. in the smiling sunshine they rushed on through wide meadows covered with luxuriant verdure and vineyards flushed with delicate greens. after they had passed capua, which is magnificently situated on a wide plain,--amphitheatre-like within its half-circle of lovely hills, flanked behind by the apennines,--malcom said, as he finally drew in his head from the open window and, with a very contented look, settled back into a corner of the compartment, with one arm thrown about his mother's shoulders:-- "it is no wonder that old hannibal's army grew effeminate after the soldiers had lived here for some months, and so was easily conquered. life could not have had many hardships in such a place as this. "i declare!" he added with a laugh as he shook back the wind-blown hair from his forehead; "it is difficult to realize these days in what century one is living. my mind has been so full of ancient history lately that i feel quite like an antique myself." "i know," answered his uncle with a smile, "how life widens and lengthens as thought expands under the influence of travel through historic scenes. one may study history from books for a lifetime and never realize it as he would could he, even for an hour, be placed upon the very spot where some important event took place. what a fact hannibal's army of two thousand years ago becomes to us when we know that these very mountain tops which are before us looked down upon it,--that its soldiers idled, ate, and slept on this very plain." thus talking, almost before they knew, they came out upon the beautiful bay of naples. they saw the little island of capri, the larger ischia crowned with its volcanic mountains, and, between it and the point of posilipo, where once stood virgil's villa, the tiny island nisida (old "nesis"), whither brutus fled after the assassination of julius cæsar; where cicero visited him, and where he bade adieu to his wife, portia, when he set sail for greece. "looking out over this same bay, these same islands, virgil sang of flocks, of fields, and of heroes," said mr. sumner, following the former line of thought, as he began to take from the racks above the valises of the party. arrived at their hotel, which was situated in the higher quarters of the city, they were ensconced in rooms whose balconied windows commanded magnificent views of the softly radiant city, the bay, and, close at hand, mount vesuvius, over which was hovering the usual cloud of smoke. at the close of the afternoon barbara and bettina stood long on their own window-balcony. the scene was fascinating--even more so than they had dreamed. "there is but one naples, as there is but one rome and one florence," said barbara softly. "each city is grandly beautiful in its own individual way, but for none has nature done so much as for naples." in silence they watched the sunset glow and the oncoming twilight, until the call for dinner sounded through the halls. "i fear to leave it all," said bettina, turning reluctantly away, "lest we can never find it again." the next three days were crowded to the brim. one was spent in going to the top of vesuvius; another in the great museum, so interesting with its remains of antique sculptures, so destitute of important paintings; the third in driving about the city, to san martino, and around the point of posilipo, ending with a visit to virgil's tomb. then came the sabbath, and they attended morning service in the cathedral,--in the very chapel of san januarius which is decorated with pictures by domenichino, guido reni, and lanfranco, the completion of which was prevented by the jealousy of the neapolitan painters. the next morning they went to pompeii, where in the late afternoon carriages were to meet them for beginning the drive through castellammare, sorrento, and amalfi to la cava. the absorbing charm of pompeii, whose resurrection began after nearly seventeen centuries of burial and is yet only partial, at once seized them,--all of them,--for, visit the ruined city often as one may, yet the sight of its worn streets with their high stepping-stones, its broken pavements, its decorated walls, its shops,--all possess such an atmosphere of departed life that its fascination is complete, and does not yield to familiarity. after hours of wandering about with their guide, seeing the points of most interest,--the beautiful houses recently excavated, the homes of glaucus, of pansa, of sallust, of orpheus, of diomedes and very many others; the forum, temples, and amphitheatre--they sat long amid the ruins, looking at the fatal mountain, so close at hand, and the desolation at its foot, and meditated upon the terrors of that fearful night. malcom read aloud the story as related by pliny, a volume of whose letters he had put into his pocket, and margery recited some lines of a beautiful sonnet on pompeii which she had once learned, whose author she did not remember:-- "no chariot wheels invade her stony roads; priestless her temples, lone her vast abodes, deserted,--forum, palace, everywhere! yet are her chambers for the master fit, her shops are ready for the oil and wine, ploughed are her streets with many a chariot line, and on her walls to-morrow's play is writ,-- of that to-morrow which might never be!" the spell was not broken until mr. sumner, looking at his watch, declared it was quite time they should return to the little hotel, take an afternoon lunch, and so be ready when the carriages should await them. the beauty of the drive from naples to the bay of salerno has been set forth, by many writers, in prose and song and poem, and remembering this, barbara's and bettina's faces were radiant with expectation as they started upon it. malcom and margery were in the carriage with them; the atmosphere was perfection; the sun shone with just the right degree of heat; the waters of the beautiful bay of naples were just rippling beneath the soft breeze, and seventeen miles of incomparable loveliness lay between them and sorrento, where they were to spend the night. what wonder they were happy! just as they were entering the town of castellammare (the ancient stabiæ, where the elder pliny perished) the carriage containing mrs. douglas, miss sherman, and mr. sumner, which had thus far followed them, dashed past, and its occupants were greeted with a merry peal of laughter from the four young voices. "how joyous they are!" exclaimed mrs. douglas, her own face reflecting their happiness. "you look envious, robert." then, turning to miss sherman, she added: "i never tire of watching barbara and bettina these days. i believe they are two of the rarest girls in the world. nothing has yet spoiled them, and i think nothing ever will. it has been one of the sweetest things possible to see their little everyday charities since they have had money in abundance. before, they felt that every dollar their parents spared them was a sacred trust to be used just for their positive needs. now, their evident delight in giving to the flower-girls, to the street-gamins, to the beggars, to everything miserable that offers, is delightful." "do you think barbara will know how to be wise in the spending of her money?" asked miss sherman, with a constrained smile. "as to the wise ways of spending money," answered mrs. douglas, stealing a glance at her brother's imperturbable face opposite, "everybody has his own individual opinion. i, myself, feel sure of barbara. before her money came, she had received the greater and far more important heritage of a noble-minded ancestry and a childhood devoted to unselfish living and the seeking of the highest things. during these eighteen years her character has been formed, and it is so grounded that the mere possession of money will not alter it. to my mind it is a happy thing that howard's money will be used in such a personal way as i think it will be." "personal a way?" queried miss sherman. "i mean personal as distinguished from institutional--you know his first intention was to endow institutions. for instance, within a week after barbara received the lawyer's announcement, she consulted me as to how she could best make provision for an old lady who has been for years more or less of a pensioner of her father's family. the dear old woman with a little aid has supported herself for many years, but lately it has seemed as if she would have to give up the wee bit of a home she loves so much and become an inmate of some great institution, and this would almost break her heart. barbara was in haste to put enough money at her disposal so that a good woman may be hired to come and care for her so long as she shall live, and to provide for all her wants. also she remembered a poor young girl, once her and betty's schoolmate, who has always longed for further study, whose one ambition has been to go to college. this was simply impossible, not even the strictest economy, even the going without necessities, has gathered together sufficient money for the expenses of a single year. before we left rome, barbara arranged for the deposit in the bank at home of enough money to permit this struggling girl to look forward with certainty to a college course, and wrote the letter which will bring her so much joy. "dear child!" she continued tenderly, after a pause; "the only bit of money she has yet spent for herself was to get the spring outfits that she and betty have really needed for some time, but for which they did not like to use their father's money. "and i do believe," after another pause, "that the two girls' lives will be passed as unostentatiously as if the money had not come to them." "why do you speak as if the money had come to both?" asked miss sherman, with a curious inflection of the voice. "did i? i did not realize it. but i will not change my words; for, unless i mistake much, the money will be bettina's as much as barbara's, and this, because barbara will have it so." the words were hardly spoken by mrs. douglas when mr. sumner, who was riding backward and so facing the following carriage, sprang up, crying in a low, smothered tone of alarm, "barbara!" but mrs. douglas had not time to turn before he sank back saying: "excuse me. i must have been mistaken. i thought that something was the matter; that barbara had been taken ill." then he added, in explanation to his sister: "the carriage was so far back, as it rounded a curve, permitting me to look into it, that i could not see very distinctly." miss sherman bit her lip and rode on in silence. mr. sumner's concern for barbara seemed painfully evident to her. she had much that was disagreeable to think of, for it was impossible to avoid contrasting herself with the picture of barbara which mrs. douglas had drawn. she thought of the sister at home who so patiently, year after year, had given up her own cherished desires that she might be gratified; who had needed, far more than she herself had, the change and rest of this year abroad, but whom she had forced to return with the father, even though she knew well it was her own duty to go,--how many such instances of selfishness had filled her life! she felt that she could almost hate this fortunate barbara, who so easily was gaining all the things she herself coveted,--admiration,--wealth,--love? no, not if she could help it! and she forced herself to smile, to praise the same qualities of heart that mrs. douglas had admired; to talk pityingly of the miserable ones of earth; adoringly of self-sacrificing, heroic deeds, and sympathizingly of noble endeavor. * * * * * what had been the matter in the other carriage? after the burst of gayety with which the three girls and malcom had greeted the swifter equipage as it rolled past theirs, nothing was said for some time, until malcom suddenly burst out with the expression of what had evidently been the subject of his thought:-- "girls, do you think that uncle robert is falling in love with miss sherman?" the question fell like a bombshell into the little group. margery first found a voice, but it was a most awed, repressed one:-- "why, malcom! _could_ he ever love anybody again? you know--oh! what could make you think of such a thing? it is not like you to make light of uncle robert's feelings." "i am not doing so, madge dear. men can love twice. it would not hurt margaret should he learn to love some one else. and it would be ever so much better for him. uncle's life seems very lonely to me. now he is busy with us; but just think of the long years when he is living and working over here all alone. still, i am sure i would not choose miss sherman for him. yet i am not certain but it looks some like it. what do you think, betty?" "i--don't--know--what--i--do--think,--malcom. you know how much i love and admire your uncle. i do not think there are many women good enough to be his wife." bettina thought, but did not say, that she could not love and admire miss sherman, who had made it quite evident to barbara and herself that she cared nothing for them, save as they were under the care of mrs. douglas; who had never given them any companionship, or, at least, never had until during the past week or two, after she had learned that barbara was howard's heiress. barbara drew her breath quickly and sharply. could such a thing as this be? was this to come? in her mind, mr. sumner was consecrated to the dead margaret, about whom she had thought so much,--the picture of whose lovely face she had so often studied,--whose character she had adorned with all possible graces! she listened, as in a dream, to bettina and malcom. he _should_ not love any one else; or, if he could--poor barbara's heart was ruthlessly torn open and revealed unto her consciousness. she felt that the others must read the tale in her confused face. confused? no, barbara, it was pale and still, as if a mortal wound had been given. her head reeled, the world grew dark, and it was silence until she heard bettina saying frantically:-- "bab, dear! are you faint? oh! what is it?" with an almost superhuman effort barbara drew herself up and smiled bravely, with white lips:-- "it is nothing--only a moment's dizziness. it is all over now." this was what mr. sumner saw when he sprang up in alarm, and then in a moment said: "everything seems all right now." but poor barbara thought nothing could ever be right again. and when their carriage drew up in the spacious courtyard of their hotel at sorrento, and mr. sumner, with an unusually bright and eager face, stood waiting to help her alight, it was a frozen little hand that was put into his, and he could not win a single glance from the eyes he loved to watch, and from which he was impatient to learn if it were indeed well with the owner. to this day barbara shudders at the thought or mention of the next four or five days. and they were such rare days for enjoyment, could she have forgotten her own heart:--across the blue waters to capri, with a visit by the way to the famous blue grotto; a whole day in that lovely town, walking about its winding, climbing streets; the long drive from sorrento to quaint prajano, with, on one hand, towering, rugged limestone cliffs, to whose rough sides, every here and there, clings an italian village, and, on the other, the smiling, wide-spreading mediterranean; the little rowboat ride to amalfi; the day full of interest spent there; and then the drive close beside the sea toward palermo, terminated by a sharp turn toward the blue mountains among which nestles la cava; the railway ride back to naples. she struggled bravely to be her old self,--to hide everything from all eyes. but she felt so wofully humiliated, for she now knew for the first time that she loved robert sumner; loved him so that it was positive agony to think that he might love another,--so that it was almost a pain to remember that he had ever loved. what would he think should he suspect the truth! and she was so fearful that her eyes might give a hint of it that, try in as many ways as he could, mr. sumner could never get a good look into them during these days. the kinder he was, and the more zealously he endeavored to add to her comfort and happiness, the more wretched she grew. she longed to get away from everybody, even from betty, lest her secret might become apparent to the keen sisterly affection that knew her so intimately. she began to feel a fierce longing for home and for father and mother; and the months which must necessarily elapse before she could be there stretched drearily before her. robert sumner was perplexed and distressed. he had just begun to enjoy a certain happiness. the struggle within himself was over, and he was beginning to give himself up to the delight of thinking freely of barbara; of loving her; of feeling a sort of possession of her, though he did not yet dream of such a thing as ever being to her more than he now was,--a valued friend. there were so many years, and an experience of life that counted far more than years, between them! he had listened to his sister's conversation with miss sherman on the way from pompeii to sorrento with an exultation which it would have been difficult for him to account for. he gloried in the sweet unselfishness, the simple goodness of the young girl. "my little barbara," his heart sang; and full of this emotion when they reached sorrento, he allowed the two ladies to go alone into the hotel, while he waited impatiently to look into barbara's face and to feel the touch of her hand. but what a change! what could have wrought it? before this, she had always met his look with such frank sympathy! as the days passed on without change, and his eyes, more than any others, noticed the struggle to conceal her unhappiness, the mystery deepened. chapter xvii. robert sumner is imprudent. _our indiscretion sometimes serves us well-- when our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us, there's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will._ --shakespeare. [illustration: campo santo, bologna.] early one morning very soon after the return to rome, bettina, with a troubled face, knocked at mrs. douglas's door. "barbara is ill," said she. "i knew in the night that she was very restless, but not until just now did i see that she is really ill." "what seems to be the matter?" "i think she must be very feverish." "feverish?" repeated mrs. douglas, with a startled look, as she hastily prepared to accompany betty back to her room. in a few minutes she sought her brother, her face full of anxiety. "robert, i fear barbara has the fever. her temperature must be high; her face is greatly flushed, and her eyes dull, and she says her whole body is full of pain." "we must take her away at once out of the atmosphere of rome," exclaimed mr. sumner, with decision. "but she feels so wretchedly ill." "never mind that. if she can only endure the fatigue for a few hours, we may save her weeks of suffering and possible danger," and his voice faltered. "remember, sister," he continued, "that i am at home here in this climate, and trust me. or, better still, i will at once consult dr. yonge, and i know you will trust him. and, sister, get everything ready so that we--barbara, you, and i--may take the very first train for orvieto. that will take her in two hours into a high and pure atmosphere. the others can follow as soon as possible." quickly the plans were made. malcom, margery, and bettina were to be left to complete the packing of trunks. dr. yonge agreed fully with mr. sumner, and on the nine o'clock train northward mrs. douglas, barbara, and mr. sumner left rome. miss sherman, quite upset by the rapid movement of affairs, decided to remain a little longer in rome with friends whom she had met there, and join the others later in venice. it was a severe trial to poor bettina to see her darling sister thus almost literally borne away from her. but she tried to put faith in mr. sumner's assurances, and bravely resisted the anxious longing to go with her. she immediately gave herself up to the work of finishing the packing of their own trunks and of helping margery all she could. mr. sumner had commissioned malcom to go up to his studio and gather into boxes all his canvases and painting materials; and soon all three were working as fast as they could, with the design of following the others the next morning. presently malcom appeared at bettina's door with the request that she should go up to the studio when she could leave her work for a minute. "come alone--by yourself," he added in a low voice. wondering a little at the singular request and the peculiar expression of malcom's face, bettina soon followed him. entering the studio, she found him attentively regarding a small canvas which he had placed on an easel, and took her place beside him that she might look at it also. "how lovely!" she cried, and then a puzzled look came into her eyes. "why, it is barbara! it is _like_ barbara," she added. "and what do you think of this--and this--and this?" asked malcom, rapidly turning from the wall study after study. after a few moments of silence, she said solemnly: "they're all barbara. here she is thinking earnestly; here she is throwing her head proudly back, as she so often does; and here she is merry and smiling in her own adorable way. o you darling barbara!" with a pathetic little catch of the breath; "how are you feeling just this minute?" and bettina sank upon the floor beside the pictures, looking as if she longed to hug them all. "but what does it mean?" persisted malcom. "what do _you_ mean?" springing up with a quick look into his eyes. "you--foolish--boy!" as an inkling of malcom's meaning crept into her mind. "what does it mean, betty burnett, that my uncle has had nothing better to do when he has so zealously labored up here, than to paint your sister's face in every conceivable way?" slowly and impressively asked malcom, as he put still another tell-tale sketch over that on the easel. "you do not really mean!--it can't be!--oh!" uttered bettina in diverse tones and inflections as she rapidly recalled, one after another, certain incidents. then there was silence in robert sumner's studio between these two discoverers of his long-cherished secret. "malcom," at length whispered bettina, "we must never breathe one word about what we have found here. you must not tell margery or your mother. promise me that it shall be a solemn secret between you and me." "i promise, lady betty. your behest shall be sacredly regarded," replied malcom with mock gravity. "but," after a little, "shall you tell barbara?" "tell barbara? no! no! how could i tell her! malcom, don't you know that it is only by a chance that we have found these pictures? that, whatever they may mean is absolutely sacred to your uncle? perhaps they mean nothing--nothing save that he, from an artist's stand-point, admires my sister's face. indeed, the more i think of it, the more i am inclined to believe that is all," she persisted, as she saw malcom's expressive shrug and the comical look in his eyes as he moved them slowly along the half-dozen sketches that were now standing in a row. "and i shall think no more about it," she added, "and advise you to do the same." bettina, who was usually so gentle, could be prettily imperious when she chose. and now, wrought up by malcom's reference to barbara and her own fast crowding thoughts, her voice took on this tone, and she turned with high head to leave the studio. "betty! betty!" pleaded malcom, running after her. "why, betty!" and the surprised, pained tone of his voice instantly stopped her on the staircase. "i do not mean anything disagreeable, malcom," she conceded, "only i could not bear to have anything said about barbara or to barbara, that might in any way disturb her. that is all,--forgive me, malcom." and the two friends clasped hands. malcom went back into the studio, his pursed lips emitting a low, meditative whistle, while bettina hurried downstairs, her mind beset with conjectures. it was not mr. sumner of whom she was thinking, but her sister. a veil seemed to withdraw before her consciousness, and to reveal the possible meaning of much that had perplexed her during the past months. for if mr. sumner had really been learning to love barbara, might it not also be that barbara cared more for him than bettina had been wont to think? her thoughts went back to many of their first conversations after coming to florence; to barbara's intense absorption in mr. sumner's talks about the old painters; to her unwearied study of them; to her evident sympathy with him on all occasions. then, in a flash she remembered her faintness in the carriage on the drive to sorrento and connected it, as she had never before dreamed of doing, with the conversation then going on; and recalled all those days since when she had been so different from the old-time barbara. and poor bettina sat, a disconsolate little figure, before her half-filled trunk, just ready to cry with sheer vexation at her blindness. then, the thought came that if mr. sumner did really love barbara all would be well. but, alas! the doubt followed whether, after all, the pictures meant anything more than the artist's love for a beautiful face, and his desire to render it on his canvas. she grew more and more miserable in her sympathy for her sister, and at her enforced separation from her, and the hours of that day, though of necessity busy ones, seemed almost interminable. the following noon found them together again. bettina entered her sister's room, which opened full upon the rose-garden they had enjoyed before,--now filled with blossoms and fragrance,--to find barbara sitting in a big easy-chair, with a tray before her, on which were spread toast and tea, flanked by a dainty flask of orvieto wine, while the same wrinkled old chambermaid who had served them two and a half months ago stood, with beaming face, watching her efforts to eat. barbara's eyes were brighter, the flush gone from her face, and she said she did not feel like the same girl who had been half carried away from the hotel in rome the morning before. so much improved did she seem that the present plan was to take a late afternoon train for florence, for mr. sumner said the sooner they could get farther north, the better it would be. this was carried out, and night found them back in the dear florence home, there to spend a few days. the city was very lovely in its may foliage and blossoms,--too lovely to leave so soon, they all averred. but it must be, and after having taken again their favorite drives, and having given another look at their favorite pictures, with an especial interest in those by the venetian masters whom they would study more fully in venice, they turned their faces northward. the journey at first took them through rich tuscan plains, and later through wild, picturesque ravines of the apennines. higher and higher the railway climbed, threading numberless tunnels, and affording magnificent views as it emerged into opening after opening, until finally it passed under the height that divides the watershed of the adriatic and tyrrhenian seas, and entered the narrow and romantic valley of the reno. not long after they were in the ancient city of bologna. after a few minutes in their several rooms, all gathered in the loggia of their hotel, which commanded a grand survey of the city. "how fine this air is after our long, dusty ride!" exclaimed margery, tossing back her curls to catch the breeze. "i did not expect to find bologna so curiously beautiful," said bettina, after she had seen that barbara was comfortable in the big chair malcom had wheeled out for her--for she was still languid from her recent illness, and tired easily. "please tell us something about it, uncle," said malcom. "i am afraid i have not looked it up very thoroughly." so mr. sumner told them many interesting things about the old city,--and how it had figured largely in italian history from the punic wars soon after christ, down to the middle of the present century, when it finally became a part of united italy. "what about the university?" queried malcom again. "it has had a grand reputation for about fourteen centuries, and thus is among the most ancient existing seats of learning in christendom. during the middle ages students came to it from all parts of northern europe." bettina laughed. "i read a curious thing about it in my guide-book," said she. "that it has had several women professors; and one who was very beautiful always sat behind a curtain while she delivered her lectures. this was in the fourteenth century, i believe." "a wise precaution," exclaimed malcom, with a quizzical look. "even i sometimes forget what a pretty woman is saying, because my thoughts are wandering from the subject to her face. and the men of those times could not have had the constant experience we of this century in america have." "don't be silly," smiled bettina; and mrs. douglas, slipping her hand through malcom's arm, asked: "do you see those towers?" "yes; and uncle, i remember you spoke of the leaning towers of bologna when we were at pisa; what about them?" "i think i simply said that since i had seen these towers, i have believed that the one at pisa had been intentionally built in the way it now stands. my reason is that in all probability one of these was purposely so built." "which was erected first?" "this, about two hundred and fifty years." "let us go and see them at once!" exclaimed malcom. "there is time to give a good long look at the city before dinner." "that is a good plan," said his mother, "and we will not go to the picture-gallery until to-morrow morning. then barbara will be fresh, and can enjoy it with the rest of us." mr. sumner turned solicitously toward barbara, with a movement as if to go to her, but her hastily averted eyes checked him, and with an inward sigh, he went to order carriages for the proposed drive. he had grown to believe during the past week or two that barbara had divined his love for her, and that the knowledge was very painful. "i must have thoughtlessly disclosed it," said he to himself. "it has become so much a part of my every thought. the best thing i can do now is to convince her that it shall never cause her the slightest annoyance; that it shall not change the frankly affectionate relations that have heretofore existed between us. she is so young she will forget it as she grows stronger, or perhaps i can make her feel that she has mistaken me. then she will be my little friend again." the drive was thoroughly delightful. bologna possesses many individual characteristics. the very narrow streets, the lofty arcades that stretch along on either side of them, the many venerable churches and palaces, the quaintly picturesque towers, kept them exclaiming with pleasure. "can we not walk to the academy?" asked margery, the next morning. "i do so wish to walk through some of these dear arcades." so barbara drove with mrs. douglas, and the others walked right through the heart of the old city, whose streets have echoed to the footfalls of countless and diverse people through a number of centuries that sounds appalling to american ears. arrived at the picture-gallery, mr. sumner told them that though not of very great importance when compared with many which they had visited, it yet is very interesting on account of its collection of the works of the most noted seventeenth-century italian painters; especially those belonging to the bolognese-eclectic school, which was founded by the carracci. "nowhere else can these men, the carracci, be studied as here in bologna, where they founded their art-school just at the close of the sixteenth century. there are also some very good examples of the work of domenichino, guido reni, albani, and other famous pupils of the carracci. you saw fine frescoes by domenichino and guido reni in rome and naples, and i am sure you remember perfectly domenichino's _communion of st. jerome_ in the vatican gallery. "perhaps," he continued, with an inquiring look, "you know the principle on which this school of painting was founded, and which gave it its name." bettina answered: "i think they tried to select the best pictures from all other schools and embody them in their own pictures. i do not think," she added, with something of a deprecatory look, "that it can be called a very original style." "few styles of painting after the earliest masters can be called original, can they?" replied mr. sumner, with a smile. "one great lack of the human race is a spirit of originality. we all go to those who have thought and wrought before us, and hash and rehash their material. but few tell what they are doing so plainly as did the carracci. the one great want in their painting is that of any definite end or aim." "whom do you call the greatest painters of the school, uncle?" asked malcom, as they entered a large hall opening from the corridor in which they had been standing. "guido reni and domenichino merit that honor, i think. domenichino died young, but painted some excellent pictures, notably the _st. jerome_. guido reni lived long enough to outlive his good painting, but among his early works are some that may really be called the masterpieces of this school; such as the _aurora_ and the _st. michael_ which you saw in rome." "what do you mean by his outliving his good painting?" asked margery. "he grew most careless in his ways of living,--was dissipated we should call it,--squandered his money, and finally, in order to gain the wherewithal for daily life, used to paint by order of those who stood waiting to take his pictures with paint still wet, lest the artist should cheat them. to this we owe the great number of his worthless madonna and magdalen heads that have found their way into the galleries." "how perfectly dreadful," chorused all. "i am afraid we shall never see one of his pictures without thinking of this," said bettina; "shall we, barbara?" and she turned to her sister, who had been silent hitherto, as if longing to hear her talk. "try to forget it now as you look at these paintings, for this room contains many of his," continued mr. sumner, after waiting a moment as if to hear barbara's answer, "and they are examples of his early work, and so stronger than many others. notice the powerful action of this _samson_ and the st. john in that _crucifixion_. "here are good examples of the work of the three carracci," continued he, as after a time they entered the adjoining hall. "but what does this mean?" cried malcom, in an astonished voice, pausing before a large picture, the _communion of st. jerome_, which bore the name, agostino carracci. "how like it is to domenichino's great picture in the vatican! do you suppose domenichino borrowed so much from his master?" "i fear so. yet his picture is infinitely superior to this. and, look, here is domenichino's _death of st. peter, martyr_, which was borrowed largely from titian's famous picture of the same subject, which has unfortunately been destroyed." "but don't you call that a species of plagiarism?" queried malcom. "undoubtedly it is. i must confess i am always sorry for domenichino when i come into this hall. but we will pass on to better things. i wish you to study particularly these pictures by francia," said he, as they entered a third hall.--"yes, betty, you are excusable. you all may look first at raphael's _st. cecilia_, for here it is." all gathered about the beautiful, famous picture. "how much larger than i have ever thought!" said margery. "for what was it painted, uncle?" "as an altar-piece for one of the oldest churches in bologna. do you recollect the story about raphael's writing to francia to oversee its proper and safe placing?" "oh, i do!" exclaimed barbara, as margery shook her head. "it was said that francia never painted again, so overcome was he by the surpassing loveliness of raphael's picture, and that he died from the effect of this feeling,--but," she went on impetuously, "i do not believe it; for see there!" pointing to francia's _madonna with sts. john and jerome_, "do you think that the artist who painted this picture is so very far behind even raphael as to die of vexation at the difference between them?" barbara was so carried away by the picture that she had forgotten herself entirely, and spoke with her old-time frank eagerness, thereby thoroughly delighting bettina and mr. sumner. "i am glad you feel so," said the latter, very quietly, and with a strictly impersonal manner. "francia, who belonged to the old bolognese masters of the sixteenth century, was one of the most devout of painters, and everybody who studies his work must love it. see how pure and sweet are his expressions! how simple his composition! what harmony is in his coloring! how beyond those who painted after him!" [illustration: raphael. academy, bologna. saint cecilia.] they tarried long before francia's paintings and the _st. cecilia_. mr. sumner told them to note the more subtle _motif_ of raphael's picture; the superior grace of the figures, their careful distribution, and the fine scheme of color; the sympathetic look in st. john's face; the grandly meditative st. paul. "i have a theory of my own about the meaning of this picture," said bettina. "i thought it out one day when i was studying the photograph. i know it is always said, in descriptions of it, that all are listening to the music of the angels, but i do not think any of them save st. cecilia hear the music of the angelic choir. she hears it, because she has so longed for it,--so striven to produce the highest music on earth. but the others are only moved by their sympathy with her. see the wistful look on st. john's face, and st. augustine's also. and st. paul is lost in wondering thought at st. cecilia's emotion. and mary magdalene is asking us to look at her and try to understand her rapt upward look." "i do not know," said mr. sumner, with a soft look in his eyes, "why you should not have your own private interpretation of the picture, dear 'lady betty';" and he smiled at malcom as he used the latter's favorite appellation for bettina. chapter xviii. in venice. _from the land we went as to a floating city--steering in, and gliding up her streets as in a dream by many a pile in more than eastern pride, of old the residence of merchant-kings: the fronts of some, tho' time had shattered them, still gleaming with the richest hues of art, as though the wealth within them had run o'er._ --rogers. [illustration: san marco, venice.] just after sunset the following evening they approached venice. the long black train glided along above a sea flushed with purple and crimson and gold. like a mirage the fair city--longfellow's "white water-lily, cradled and caressed"--arose, lifting her spires--those "filaments of gold"--above the waters. "can it be real?" murmured bettina. "it seems as if all must fade away before we reach it." but in a few minutes the _facchini_ seized their hand-luggage, and they alighted as at any commonplace railway-station. but oh! the revelation when they went out upon the platform, up to which, not carriages, but gondolas were drawn, and from which stretched, not a dusty pavement, but the same gold and crimson and purple of sky reflected in the waters at their feet. "is it true that we are mortal beings still on the earth, and that we are seeking merely a hotel?" exclaimed malcom, as they floated on between two skies to the music of lapping oars. "madge, you ought to have some poetry to fit this." "i know enough verses about venice," replied margery, whose eyes were dancing with joyous excitement, and who was trailing her little hot hand through the cool water, "but nothing fits. nothing can fit; for who could ever put into words the beauty of all this?" by and by they left the grand canal, passed through narrower ones, with such high walls on either side that twilight rapidly succeeded the sunset glow; floated beneath the bridge of sighs, and were at the steps of their hotel. the next few days were devoted wholly to drinking in the spirit of venice. mr. sumner hired gondolas which should be at the service of his party during the month they were to spend there, and morning, noon, and night found them revelling in this delight. they went to san marco in early morning and late afternoon; fed the pigeons in the piazza; ate ice-cream under its colonnade; went to the lido, and floated along the grand canal beside the music and beneath the moonlight for hours at night, and longed to be there until the morning. barbara grew stronger, the color returned to her cheeks, and though she often felt unhappy, she was better able to conceal it. she began to hope that her secret was safe; that it would never be discovered by any one; that mr. sumner would never dream of it. if only that dreadful suggestion of malcom's might be wholly without foundation; and perhaps, after all, it was. she thought she would surely know when lucile sherman should come to venice, as she would do soon. at length mr. sumner suggested that they begin to study venetian painting, and that, for it, they should first visit the accademia delle belle arti. he advised them to read what they could about early venetian painting. "you will find," he said, "that the one strongest characteristic of all the painting that has emanated from venice is beauty and strength of color, the keynote of which seems to have been struck in the first mosaic decorations of san marco, more than eight centuries ago. and how could it be otherwise in a city so flooded with radiance of color and light!" "i have brought you here," said he one morning, as they left their gondolas at the steps of the academy, "for the special study of carpaccio's and the bellinis' works. "but," he added, as they entered the building and stepped into the first room, "i would like you to stop for a few minutes and look at these quaint pictures by the vivarini, basaiti, bissolo, and others of the early venetian painters. here you will notice the first characteristics of the school. this academy is particularly interesting to students of venetian art, because it contains few other than venetian paintings." passing on, they soon reached a hall whose walls were lined with large pictures. here mr. sumner paused, saying:-- "we find in this room quite a number of paintings by vittore carpaccio. here is his most noted series, illustrating scenes in the legendary life of st. ursula, the maiden princess of brittany, who, with her eleven thousand companions, visited the holy shrines of the old world; and on their return all were martyred just outside the city of cologne. you have read the story, i know. look first at the general scheme of composition and color before going near enough to study details. carpaccio had felt the flood of venetian color, and here we see the beginnings of that wonderful richness found in works by the later venetian masters. he was a born story-teller, and delighted especially in tales of a legendary, poetic character. his works possess a peculiar fascinating quaintness. the formal composition, by means of which we see several scenes crowded into one picture; the singular perspective effects; the figures with earnest faces beneath such heavy blond tresses, and with their too short bodies, enable us easily to recognize his pictures." "i think i shall choose st. ursula to be my patron saint," said margery, thoughtfully, after they had turned from the purely artistic study of the pictures to their sentiment. "i have read somewhere that she is the especial patroness of young girls, as well as of those who teach young girls,--so she can rightfully belong to me, you see." "what do you think she will do for you?" asked malcom, with a quizzical smile. "oh! i don't know. perhaps if i think enough about her life i shall be a better girl," and the blue eyes grew very earnest. "that is wholly unnecessary, madge _mia_," tenderly replied her brother. "i will tell you a singular thing that i read not long ago," said bettina, going over to margery, who was standing close in front of that sweet sleeping face of st. ursula in one of the pictures. "it was in the life of mr. ruskin. his biographer says that mr. ruskin is wonderfully fond of the legend of st. ursula; that he has often come from england to venice just to look again on these pictures by old carpaccio; that he has thought so much about her character that he really is influenced greatly by it. and he goes on to say that some person who has perhaps received a calm, kind letter from mr. ruskin instead of the curt, brusque, or impatient one that he had looked for, on account of the irascible nature of the writer, would be altogether surprised could he know that the reason of the unexpected quietness was that mr. ruskin had stopped to ask himself, 'what would st. ursula say? what would st. ursula do?'" "i think that is a pretty story about mr. ruskin, don't you?" she added, turning to malcom and the others. "it is a pretty enough story," replied malcom. "but i confess i do not wish madge always to stop and ask the mind of this leader of the 'eleven thousand virgins.' only consult your own dear self, my sister. you are good enough as you are." "i think it is the feminine quality in st. ursula's ways of thought and action that appeals so strongly to mr. ruskin's rugged nature," replied mr. sumner, in answer to a rather appealing glance from margery's eyes. "the tale of a gentle life influences for good a somewhat embittered, but grandly noble man. as to our little madge," with a smile that drew her at once close to him, "the best influence she can gain from the old legend will grow out of the unwavering purpose of the saint, and her inflexibility of action when once the motive was felt to be a noble one. her needs are not the same as are mr. ruskin's." margery slipped her hand into that of the uncle who so well understood her, and gave it a tender little squeeze. as mr. sumner turned quickly to call attention to one or two other pictures, with different subjects, by carpaccio, he caught for an instant the old-time sympathetic look in barbara's eyes, which gladdened his heart, and gave a new ring to his voice. "here are two or three historical pictures by carpaccio and gentile bellini that put ancient venice before our eyes, and, on this account, are most interesting. their color is fine, but in all other art qualities they are weak." "i must tell you," he went on, "about the bellini brothers, gentile and giovanni. their father, who was also an artist, came from padua to venice in the early part of the fifteenth century, bringing his two young sons, both of whom grew to be greater painters than the father. they opened a school, and giorgione and titian, who, you well know, are two supreme names in venetian painting, were among their pupils. the bellini paintings are the natural precursors of the glory of venetian art. even in these historical paintings by gentile bellini we feel the palpitating sunshine which floods and vivifies the rich colors of palaces and costumes. you can readily see the difference between his work and that of carpaccio. while carpaccio has treated the historic scene in a poetic way, with quaint formality, bellini's picture is full of truth and detail. "but," he continued, "gentile bellini's work, as art, fades in importance before that of his brother, giovanni, who gave himself almost wholly to religious painting. if you will try to shut your eyes for a few minutes to the other pictures about you, i would like to take you immediately to one of this artist's madonna pictures. "and, by the way," he interpolated, as they walked straight on through several rooms, "i am delighted to see that you have learned to go into a gallery for the express study of a few pictures, and can refuse to allow your attention to be distracted by any others, however alluring. i am sure this is the only way in which really to study. go as often or as seldom as you choose or can, but always go with a definite purpose, and do not be distracted by the effort to see the works of many artists at a single visit; least of all, by the endeavor to look at all there are about you. for him who does this, i predict an inevitable and incurable art-dyspepsia. the reason of my express caution now is that i am taking you into the most attractive room of the gallery, and wish you to see nothing but one picture. "here it is!" and they paused before a large altar-piece. "you at once feel the unique character of the madonna; the stateliness of the composition, the exquisite harmony and strength of the color.--what is it, betty?" "i was only whispering to barbara that these lovely angels, with musical instruments, who are sitting on the steps of the throne are those that we have seen so often in boston art-shops." "and they are indeed lovely!" replied mr. sumner. "i will allow you to look at another picture in this room which i had forgotten as we came hither--for it is by carpaccio--turn, and look! this _presentation in the temple_! see those musical angels also, sitting on the steps of the madonna's throne! i am sure the middle one is familiar to you all, for it is continually reproduced, and a great favorite. of what other painter do these angels remind you?" "of fra bartolommeo," quickly replied two or three voices. "and i am sure," continued mr. sumner, "that fra bartolommeo never painted them until after he had visited venice, and had learned from the study of these venetian masters how great an aid to composition and what beautiful features in a picture they are. and raphael never painted them until he had seen fra bartolommeo's work. "but now look at bellini's _madonna_" as he turned again to the picture, "for she is as individual as botticelli's, and is as easily recognizable. note her stately pride of beauty, produced chiefly by the way in which her neck rises from her shoulders, and in which her head is poised upon it. everything else, however, is in perfect keeping--from the general attitude and lifted hand to the half-drooping eyelids. of what is she so proud? she is holding her child that the world may worship him. of herself she has no thought. botticelli's madonna is brooding over the sorrows of herself and son: bellini's is lost in the noble pride that he has come to save man. the color of the picture is wondrously beautiful. "please note in your little books this artist's _madonnas_ in san zaccaria and church of the frari, and go to see them to-morrow morning if you can; they are his masterpieces. i will not talk any more now. if you wish to stay here longer, it will be well to go back and look at the very earliest pictures again, or others that you will find by carpaccio and the bellini brothers." not long after, they got together one evening to talk about titian and giorgione. they had seen, of course, their pictures in the florentine galleries, and titian's _sacred and profane love_ in the borghese gallery, rome; and were familiar with the rich color and superb venetian figures and faces. "what a pity that giorgione died so young!" exclaimed margery. "yes," replied her uncle. "he would doubtless have given to the world many pictures fully equal to titian's. indeed, to me, he seems to have been gifted with even a superior quality of refinement. we may see it in the contrast between his _venus_ in the dresden gallery, whose photograph you know, and titian's two _venuses_ in the uffizi, which you studied so carefully when in florence. but there are very few examples of giorgione's paintings in existence, and critics are still quarrelling over almost all that are attributed to him. probably the most popular are the dresden _venus_, which has only recently been rescued from titian and given to its rightful author, and the _concert_, which you remember in the pitti gallery, florence, about which there is considerable dispute, some critics thinking it an early work by titian." "why did the artists not sign their pictures?" rather impatiently interrupted malcom. "even a signature does not always settle questions," replied his uncle, "for it is by no means an unknown occurrence for a gallery itself to christen some doubtful picture. but to go on:-- "in venice there is but one painting by giorgione which is undoubtedly authentic. i will take you to the giovanelli palace, where it is. it is called _family of giorgione_. he was fond of introducing three figures into his compositions,--you remember the pitti _concert_,--there are also three in this giovanelli picture--a gypsy woman, a child, and a warrior. the landscape setting is exceedingly beautiful, and the whole glows with giorgione's own color. "about titian," continued he, "you have read, and can easily read so much that i shall not talk long. his whole story is like a romance; his success and fame boundless; his pictures scattered among all important galleries." "has venice a great many?" queried malcom. "no, venice possesses comparatively few; and, strangely enough, these are not most characteristic of the painter. his name, you know, is almost indissolubly connected with noble portraits, magnificent mythological representations, and those ideal pictures of beautiful women of which he painted so many, and which wrought such a revolution in the character of succeeding art. hardly any of these, though so entirely in keeping with the brilliant city, are in venice to-day; we must go elsewhere, to madrid, to paris, florence, rome, dresden, and berlin to find them. one mythological picture only, _venus and adonis_, is in the academy, and one portrait of a doge, doubtfully ascribed to titian, is in the ducal palace." "then what pictures are here?" asked bettina, as mr. sumner paused. "his greatest religious paintings, those gorgeous church pictures, most of which were painted in his youth, are here." "may i interrupt a moment," queried barbara, "to ask what you meant when you said that some of titian's pictures wrought a revolution in art?" "this is a good time in which to explain my meaning. titian's nature was not devout. you will see it in every one of these religious paintings you are about to study. the subjects seem only pretexts, or foundations, for the gorgeous display of a rare artistic ability. to paint beauty for beauty's sake only, in form, features, costumes, and accessories was titian's native sphere, and gloriously did he fill it. in these church pictures, the madonna and child are almost always entirely secondary in interest. in many, the family of the donor, with their aristocratic faces and magnificent costumes, and the saints with waving banners, are far more important. a fine example of this is the _madonna of the pesaro family_ in the church of the frari. with such a _motif_ underlying his work, the great painter fell easily into the habit of portraying ideal figures, especially of women,--'fancy female figures,' one writer has termed them,--whose sole merit lies in the superb rendering of rosy flesh, heavy tresses of auburn hair, lovely eyes, and rich garments. such are his _flora_, _venuses_, _titian's daughter_--of which there are several examples--_magdalens_, etc.; together with many so called portraits, such as his _la donna bella_ in the pitti, florence. "titian could paint such pictures so free from coarseness, so magnificent in all art qualities, that the world was delighted with them. after him, however, the lowered aim had its influence; poorer artists tried to follow in his footsteps, and the world of art soon became flooded with mediocre examples of these meaningless pictures. all this hastened rapidly the decay of italian art. "but you must remember," mr. sumner hastened to say, as he watched the faces about him, "that i am giving you my own personal thoughts. to me, the purity of sentiment and the lofty _motif_ of a picture mean so much that they always influence my judgment of it. with many other people it is not so. they revel in the color, the line, the tone, the grouping, the purely art qualities. in these titian, as i have said, is perfect, and worthy of the high place he holds in the art-world. "i hope you will take great pains to study him here by yourselves,--in the academy and in the various churches,--wherever there are examples of his work. let each form his own judgment, founded on that which he finds in the pictures. the work of any artist of the high renaissance, whose aim is purely artistic, is not difficult to understand. his means of expression were so ample that it is easy indeed to read that which he says, compared with the earlier masters. you will find two of titian's most notable pictures in the academy,--the _assumption of the virgin_, one of the few in which the madonna has due prominence, and which shows the artist's best qualities, and _presentation of the virgin_." "what other venetian masters ought we particularly to study?" asked barbara. "look out for crivelli's _madonnas_, and all of paul veronese's work. he was really the most utterly venetian painter who ever lived. he painted venice into everything: its motion, its color, its intoxicating fulness are all found in his mythological and banquet scenes. you will find his pictures in the ducal palace, in the academy, and a fine series in san sebastiano, which represents legendary scenes in the life of st. sebastian. go to santa maria formosa and look at palma vecchio's _st. barbara_, his masterpiece. you will also find several of this artist's pictures in the academy worth looking at. his style at its best is grand, as in the _st. barbara_, but he did not always paint up to it, by any means. "as to the rest, study them as a whole. the venice academy is an epitome of venetian painting, from its earliest work down through the high renaissance into the decadence. it was full of pure and devotional sentiment, rendered with good, oftentimes rich, color, until after the bellini. then the portrayal of purely physical beauty, with refinement of line and gorgeousness of color, became preëminent. the works of several artists of note, palma vecchio, palma giovine, bonifazio veronese, and bordone, so resemble each other and titian's less important works, that there has been much uncertainty as to the true authorship of many of them." "and tintoretto?" questioned barbara. "i will take you to see tintoretto's pictures--or many of them at least," added mr. sumner. "he stands alone by himself." chapter xix. in a gondola. _and on her lover's arm she leant, and round her waist she felt it fold, and far across the hills they went in that new land which is the old_. --tennyson. [illustration: grand canal and rialto, venice.] lucile sherman, accompanied by her friends, had arrived in venice, and though not at the same hotel, yet she spent all the time she could with mrs. douglas, and wished to join her in many excursions. she had found it very wearisome to tarry so long in rome, but there had been no sufficient reason for following the party to florence and on to venice; therefore it had seemed the only thing to do. now that she was again with them she watched mr. sumner and barbara most zealously. her quick eyes had noted the altered condition of affairs during the latter days of the naples journey, and she was feverishly anxious to understand the cause. her intuition told her that there was some peculiar underlying interest for each in the other, and when this exists between a man and woman, some sequel may always be expected. one thing was certain; mr. sumner covertly watched barbara, and barbara avoided meeting his eye. she could only wait, while putting forth every effort to gain the interest in herself she so coveted. and barbara, of course, was trying to determine whether there was any ground for the suspicions, or rather suggestions, that malcom gave voice to on that dreadful ride to sorrento. and bettina watched all three; and so did malcom, after a fashion, but he was less keenly interested than the others. he sometimes tried to talk with bettina about the studio incident, but never could he begin to discuss barbara in the slightest way without encountering her sister's indignation. mrs. douglas, who had outlived her former wish concerning her brother and lucile sherman, and margery were the only ones who had nothing to hide, and so gave themselves simply to the enjoyment of the occurrences of each hour. "we must begin to see tintoretto's paintings," said mr. sumner at breakfast one fine morning; "and, since the sun shines brightly, i suggest that we go at once to the scuola di san rocco, for the only time to see the pictures there is the early morning of a bright day." "we must not forget lucile," said mrs. douglas, with an inquiring look at her brother, "for she asked particularly to go there with us." "then we must call for her of course," quietly answered he, as all rose from the table. "we will start at once." "i do not believe," said bettina, as she and barbara were in their room putting on their hats a moment afterward, "that mr. sumner cares one bit more for lucile sherman than for anybody else." "why don't you think so?" asked barbara, as she turned aside to find her gloves, which search kept her busy for a minute or two. "because he never seems to take any pains to be where she is--he does not watch for the expression of her eyes--his voice never changes when he speaks to her," answered bettina, slowly, enumerating some of the signs she had observed in mr. sumner with respect to barbara. neither of the girls stopped to think how singular it was that bettina should have watched mr. sumner closely enough to make such a positive assertion as this, which, perhaps, is a sufficient commentary on the state of their minds at this time. after a delightful half hour of gliding through broad and narrow canals, they landed in front of the church of san rocco, and passed into the alleyway from which is the entrance of the famous scuola. as they stepped into its sumptuous hall, miss sherman remarked:-- "i see that mr. ruskin says whatever the traveller may miss in venice, he should give much time and thought to this building." "mr. ruskin has championed tintoretto with the same fervor that he has expended upon turner," replied mr. sumner, smiling. "i think we should season his judgments concerning both artists with the 'grain of salt'. "but," continued he, as he saw all were waiting for something further, "there can be no doubt that tintoretto was a great painter and a notable man. to read the story of his life,--his struggles to learn the art,--his assurance of the worth of his own work, and his colossal ambitions, is as interesting as any romance." "i was delighted," interpolated malcom, "with the story of his first painting for this building, and the audacity that gained for him the commission to paint one picture for it every year of his remaining life. "and here are about fifty of them," resumed mr. sumner, "in which we may study both his strength and his weakness. no painter was ever more uneven than he. no painter ever produced works that present such wide contrasts as do his. he could use color as consummately as titian himself, as we see in his masterpiece, _the miracle of st. mark_, in the academy; yet many of his pictures are almost destitute of it. he could vie with the greatest masters in composition; yet there are many instances where he seems to have thrown the elements of his pictures wildly together without a single thought of artistic proportions and relations. in some works he has shown himself a thorough master of technique; in others his rendering is so careless that we are ashamed for him. but all this cannot alter the fact that he is surpassingly great in originality, in nobility of conception, and in a certain poetic feeling,--and these are qualities that set the royal insignia upon any artist." "i cannot help feeling the motion, the action, of all these wild figures," exclaimed bettina, as she stood looking about in a helpless way. "i seem to be buffetted on all sides, and the pictures mix themselves with each other." "it is no wonder. no painter was ever so extravagant as he could be. there is a headlong dash, an impetuous action in his figures when he wills, that remind us of michael angelo; but tintoretto's imagination far outran that of the great florentine master. yet there is a singular sense of reality in his most imaginative works, and it is this, i think, that is sometimes so confusing and overwhelming. his paintings here are so many that i cannot talk long about any particular one. i will only try to tell you what qualities to look for--then you must, for yourselves, endeavor to understand and come under the spell of the personality of the artist. "in the first place," he continued, "look for power--power of conception, of invention, and of execution. for instance, give your entire attention for a few minutes to this _massacre of the innocents_. see the perfect delirium of feeling and action--the frenzy of men, women, and children. look also for originality of invention. combinations and situations unthought of by other painters are here. there is never even a hint of plagiarism in tintoretto's work. in his own native strength he seizes our imagination and, at will, plays upon it. we shudder, yet are fascinated." "oh, uncle! i don't like it!" cried margery, almost tearfully. "i don't wish to see any more of his pictures, if all are like these." "madge--puss," said malcom, "this is a horrible subject. not all will be like this." "no, dear," said her mother, sympathizingly, "i don't like it either. you and i will choose the pictures we are to look at long. there are many of tintoretto's that you will enjoy, i know,--many from which you can learn about the artist, as well as from such as these." "we cannot doubt the dramatic power of tintoretto, can we?" asked mr. sumner, with a suppressed twinkle of the eye. "what shall we look for next? let us ascend this beautiful staircase. now look at this _visitation_. is it not truly fine, charming in composition, graceful in action, agreeable in color, and true and noble in expression?" all agreed most eagerly with mr. sumner's opinion of the picture. then, turning, bettina caught sight of an _annunciation_, and cried:-- "how thoroughly exquisite! see those lovely angels tumbling over each other in their haste to tell the news to mary! how brilliant! surely tintoretto did not paint this!" "no. this is by titian; and it is one of his most happy religious pictures too. i thought of it as we were coming, and am glad to have you see it. the whole expression is admirable; and the fulness of life and joy--the jubilation--is perfect. you can in no way more vividly feel the difference between fourteenth-century painting in florence, and the sixteenth-century or high renaissance work in venice, than by recalling fra angelico's sweet, calm, staid annunciations, and contrasting them with this one." "but why do i feel that, after all, i love fra angelico's better, and should care to look at them oftener?" rather timidly asked barbara. "i think," replied mr. sumner, after a little pause, "that it is because, in them, the spiritual expression dominates the physical. we recognize the fact that the artist has not the power to picture all that he desires to express. his art language is weak; therefore there is something left unsaid, and this compels our attention. we wish to understand his full meaning, so come to his pictures again and again. "it is this quality of the fourteenth-century painting that impelled the pre-raphaelites, german and english, to discard the chief _motif_ of the high renaissance, which was to picture everything in its outward perfection. they thought that this very perfection of artistic expression led to the elimination of spiritual feeling." "but how can artists go back now and paint as those did five centuries ago?" queried malcom. "of course, if they study methods of the present day, they must know all the principles underlying a true and artistic representation--and it would be wrong not to practise them." "you have at once found the weak point in the pre-raphaelites' principle of work, malcom. it is forced and artificial to do that in the nineteenth century which was natural and charming in the fourteenth. that which our artists of to-day must do if they desire any reform is to so fill themselves with the comprehension of spiritual things--so strive to understand the hidden beauty and harmony and truth of nature--that their works may be revelations to those who do not see so clearly as do they. to do this perfectly they must ever, in my opinion, give more thought to the thing to be expressed than to the manner of its expression; yet they must render this expression as perfectly as the present conditions allow. but i think i have talked before of just this thing. and we must turn again to tintoretto." not only this forenoon, but many others, were spent in the scuola di san rocco in the study of tintoretto's paintings. at first they shuddered at his most vivid representations of poor, sick, wretched beings that cover these immense canvases dedicated to the memory of st. roch, whose life was devoted to hospital work; then were fascinated by the power that had so ruthlessly portrayed reality. they studied his great _crucifixion_,--as a whole, in detailed groups, and then its separate figures,--until they began to realize the magnitude of its conception and rendering. mr. sumner had said that nowhere save in venice can tintoretto be studied, and all were anxious to understand his work. at the academy, close by titian's great _assumption of the virgin_, they found tintoretto's _miracle of st. mark_, and saw how noble could be, at their best, his composition and drawing, and how marvellous his coloring of sky, architecture, costume, and flesh. they went to the various churches, notably, santa maria del orto, to see good examples of his religious painting; and to the ducal palace for his many mythological pictures, and his immense _paradiso_. finally they were happy in feeling that they could comprehend, in some little degree, the spirit of this strange, powerful artist and his work. one rainy evening, toward the close of their stay in venice, all sat in the parlor, discussing a most popular novel recently published. it was written in an exceedingly clever manner; indeed, possessed an unusual degree of literary merit. but like many other books then being sent forth, the tale was very sad. the hero, richard,--poor, proud, and painfully morbid,--would not believe it possible that the woman whom he passionately loved,--a woman whose life was filled with luxury, and who was surrounded by admirers,--could ever love him; and so he went out from her and all the possibilities of happiness, never to know that her heart was his and might have been had for the asking. the happiness of both lives was wrecked. "i think no author ought to write such a story," said mrs. douglas, emphatically. "life holds too much that is sad for us all to justify the expenditure of so much unavailing sympathy. the emotion that cannot work itself out in action takes from moral strength instead of adding to it. it is a pity to use so great literary talent in this way." "but do not such things sometimes happen, and is it not a literary virtue to describe real life?" queried barbara, from her corner amidst the shadows. "is it an especially artistic virtue to picture deformity and suffering just because they exist? i acknowledge that a picture or a book may be fine, even great, with such subjects; but is it either as helpful or wholesome as it might have been?" argued mrs. douglas. "yet in this book the characters of both hero and heroine grow stronger because of their suffering," suggested bettina. "but such an unnecessary suffering!" rather impatiently asserted malcom. "if either had died, then the other might have borne it patiently and been just as noble. but such a blunder! i threw the book aside in disgust, for the author had absorbed me with interest, and i was so utterly disappointed." mr. sumner had been reading, and had not joined in the conversation, but bettina thought she saw some evidence that he had heard it; and when, throwing aside his paper, he stepped outside on the balcony, she obeyed an impulse she could never afterward explain to herself, and followed him. quickly putting her hand on his, she said, with a fluttering heart, but with a steady voice:-- "dear mr. sumner, do not do as richard did." then drawing back in consternation as she realized what she had done, she gasped:-- "oh, forgive me! forget what i have said!" she tried to escape, but her hand was in a grip of iron. "what do you mean? tell me, betty. barbara--" his voice failed, but the passion of love that blazed in his eyes reassured her. "i will not say another word. please let me go and never, _never_ tell barbara what i said;" and as she wrenched her hand from him, and vanished from the balcony, her smiling face, white amidst the darkness, looked to robert sumner like an angel of hope. could it be that she intended to give him hope of barbara's love--that sweet young girl--when he was so much older? when she knew that he had once before loved? but what else could betty have meant? had he been blind all this time, and had betty seen it? a hundred circumstances sprang into his remembrance, that, looked at in the light of her message, took on possible meanings. robert sumner was a man of action. as soon as his sister retired to her own room, he followed, and then and there fully opened his heart to her. he told her all, from the first moment when barbara began to monopolize his thoughts, and confessed his struggles against her usurpation of the place margaret had so long held. to say that mrs. douglas was astonished does not begin to express the truth. she listened in helpless wonder. as he went on, and it became evident to her what a strong hold on his affections barbara had gained, the fear arose lest he might be on the brink of a direful disappointment. at last, when he ended, saying, "i shall tell her all to-morrow," she could only falter:-- "is it best so soon, robert?" "soon!" he cried. "it seems as if i have waited years! say not one word against it, sister. my mind is made up!" but he could not tell her the hope bettina had given, which was singing joyfully in his heart all the time. and so mrs. douglas was tortured all through the night with miserable forebodings. the next morning bettina was troubled at the look of resolve she understood in mr. sumner's face, and almost trembled at the thought of what she had done. "but i am sure--i am sure," she kept repeating, to reassure herself. a last visit to the academy had been planned for the afternoon. they walked thither, as they often loved to do, through the narrow, still streets and across the little foot-bridges. mrs. douglas, with margery and miss sherman, arrived first, and, after a few minutes' delay, bettina and malcom appeared. "uncle robert has taken a gondola to the banker's to get our letters, mother," said malcom, in such a peculiar voice that his mother gave him a quick look of interrogation. "where is your sister?" asked miss sherman, sharply, turning to bettina as mrs. douglas passed into an adjoining room. "mr. sumner asked her to help him get the letters," replied she, demurely. miss sherman reddened, and malcom's eyes danced. "how strange!" said margery, innocently. the pictures were, unfortunately, of secondary interest to all the group save margery; and, as mr. sumner and barbara did not return, they, before very long, declared themselves tired, and returned home. the truth was, each one was longing for private thought. meanwhile barbara and mr. sumner were on the grand canal. the sun shone brightly, and mr. sumner drew the curtains a little closer together to shield barbara's face and, perhaps, his own. the gondolier rowed slowly. "where to?" he had asked, and was answered only by a gesture to go on. so on they floated. barbara had obeyed without thought mr. sumner's sudden request to accompany him. but no sooner had they stepped into the gondola than she wished, oh, so earnestly! that she had made some excuse. as mr. sumner did not speak, she tried to make some commonplace remark, but her voice would not reach her lips; so she sat, flushed and wondering, timid and silent. at last he spoke, gravely and tenderly, of his early life, when she, a little girl, had known him; of his love and hope; of his sorrow and the years of lonely work in foreign lands; of his sister's coming; of his meeting with them all, and of how much they had brought into his life. but, as he looked up, he could not wait to finish the story as he had planned. he saw the sweet, flushed face so near him, the downcast eyes, the little hand that tried to keep from trembling but could not, and his voice grew sharp with longing:-- "barbara! oh, little barbara! you have made me love you as i never have dreamed of love. can you love me a little, barbara? will you be my wife?" and he held out his hands, but dared not touch her. would she never answer? would she never lift the eyelids that seemed to droop more and more closely upon the crimson cheeks? had he frightened her? was she only so sorry for him? was betty mistaken, after all? but when, with a voice already quivering with apprehension, he again spoke her name, what a revelation! with head thrown back and with smiling, though quivering, lips, barbara looked at him, her eyes glowing with the unutterable tenderness he had sometimes dreamed of. she did not utter a word, but there was no need. the whole flood of her love, so long repressed, spoke straight to his heart. the gondola curtains flapped closer in the breeze. the gondolier hummed a musical love-ditty, while his oars moved in slow rhythm. it was venice and june. chapter xx. return from italy. _to come back from the sweet south, to the north where i was born, bred, look to die; come back to do my day's work in its day, play out my play-- amen, amen say i._ --rossetti. [illustration: milan cathedral.] when robert sumner and barbara returned, they found mrs. douglas alone. at the first glance she knew that all was well, and received them with smiles, and tears, and warm expressions of delight. in a moment, however, barbara--her eyes still shining with the wonder of it all--gently disengaged herself from mrs. douglas's embrace and went in search of her sister. "aren't you thoroughly astonished, betty dear?" she asked, after she had told the wonderful news. "yes, bab; more than astonished." and bettina's quibble can surely be forgiven. not yet has she told her sister of the important part played by herself in bringing the love-affair to so happy a consummation; nor has robert sumner forgotten her prayer, "never, never tell barbara!" when evening came and barbara was out on the balcony with mr. sumner, while the others were talking gayly of the happy event, bettina suddenly felt an unaccountable choking in the throat. she hurried to her room, and there, in spite of every effort, had to give up to a good cry. she could not have told the cause, but we, the only ones beside herself who know this pitiful ending of all her bravery, understand and sympathize with her. an hour later, when she had conquered herself and was coming slowly down the staircase, she found malcom waiting to waylay her. drawing her arm within his, and merrily assuming something of a paternal air, he said:-- "now that this little family affair has reached a thoroughly satisfactory culmination, i trust that things will again assume their normal appearance. for the past month or so barbara has been most _distraite_; uncle has so evidently tried to be cheerful that the effort has been distressing; and you, little lady betty, have been racking your precious brains for a scheme to make things better." "and you, malcom," she retorted, "have had so much sympathy with us all that wrinkles have really begun to appear on your manly brow." and she put up her hand lightly as if to smooth them away. "look out, betty!" with a curious flash of the eyes, as he seized her hand and held it tightly. "the atmosphere is rather highly charged these days." bettina's face slowly flushed as she tried to make some laughing rejoinder, and a strange painful shyness threatened to overtake her when malcom, with a smile and a steady look into her eyes, set her free. meanwhile margery was saying to her mother:-- "how pleasant it is to have everybody so happy!" "yes, dear. do you know why i am so very happy?" and as margery shook her head, her mother told her that her uncle robert had decided to go home to america, and that never again would he live abroad. "it is more like a story than truth. uncle to go home, and barbara to be his wife! you did not think, did you, mamma, what would come from our year in italy? just think! suppose you had not asked barbara and betty to come with us! what then?" "that is too bewildering a question for you to trouble yourself with, my child. there is no end to that kind of reasoning. "and," she added gently, "it is not a question that faith would ask. the only truth is that god was leading me in a way i did not know, and for ends i could not foresee. that which i did from a feeling of pure love for my dear neighbors and friends was destined to bring me the one great blessing i had longed for during many years. oh! it does seem too good to be true that robert is so happy, and that he is coming home." and for the seventieth-times-seven time mrs. douglas breathed a silent thanksgiving as she heard the approaching footsteps of her brother. for barbara and robert sumner the last days spent in venice were filled with a peculiar joy. the revulsion of feeling, the unexpected, despaired-of happiness, the untrammelled intercourse, the full sympathy of those dear to them,--all this could be experienced but once. only one person was out of tune with the general feeling. this was lucile sherman. she returned a polite note in reply to that which mrs. douglas had at once sent her containing information of her brother's engagement to barbara. in it she wrote that her friends had very suddenly decided to leave venice for the tyrol, and she must be content to go with them without even coming to say good-by and to offer, in person, her congratulations. mrs. douglas at first thought of going to her, if but for a moment; then decided that perhaps it would be best to let it be as she had so evidently chosen. in a few days they also left venice,--for milan, stopping on the way for a day or two at padua. they were to visit this city chiefly for the purpose of seeing giotto's frescoes in the arena chapel, and mantegna's in the eremitani, although, as mr. sumner said, the gray old city is well worth a visit for many other reasons. the antiquity of its origin, which its citizens are proud to refer to antenor, the mythical king of troy, accounts for the thoroughly venerable appearance of some quarters. it is difficult, however, to believe that it was ever the wealthiest city in upper italy, as it is reported to have been under the reign of augustus. during the middle ages it was one of the most famous of european seats of learning. dante spent several years in padua after his banishment from florence, and petrarch once lived here. all these things had been talked over before they alighted at the station, and, driving through one of the gates of the city, went to their hotel. all were eager to see whatever there was of interest. as it would be best to wait until morning for looking at the pictures, they at once set forth and walked along the narrow streets lined with arcades, and through grassy il prato, with its fourscore and more statues of padua's famous men ranged between the trees. they saw the traditional house of petrarch, and that of dante, in front of which stands a large mediæval sarcophagus reported to contain the bones of king antenor, who, according to the poet virgil, founded the city. they admired the churches, from several of which clusters of byzantine domes rise grandly against the sky, noted the order, the quiet, that now reigns throughout the streets, and talked of the fierce, horrible warfare that had centuries ago raged there. the next morning they spent among giotto's frescoes, over thirty of which literally cover the walls of the arena chapel. the return to the work of the early fourteenth century, after months spent in study of the high renaissance, was like an exchange of blazing noon sunshine for the first soft, sweet light that heralds the coming dawn. they were surprised at the freshness and purity of color and at the truth and force of expression. they had forgotten that old giotto could paint so well. they found it easy now to understand in the artist that which at first had been difficult. "do you not think that dante sometimes came here and sat while giotto was painting?" by and by asked margery, in an almost reverent voice. "i do not doubt it," replied mrs. douglas. "tradition tells us that they were great friends, and that when here together in padua they lived in the same house. i always think of giotto as possessing a jovial temperament, and as being full of bright thoughts. he must have been a great comfort to the poor unhappy poet. without doubt they often walked together to this chapel; and while giotto was upon the scaffolding, busy with his bible stories, dante would sit here, brooding over his misfortunes; or, perhaps, weaving some of his great thoughts into sublime poetry." afterward they went to the eremitani to see mantegna's frescoes, and thought they could see in the noble work of this old paduan master what giotto might have done had he lived a century or more later. mr. sumner, however, said that he was sure that giotto, with his temperament, could never have wrought detail with such exactness and refinement as did mantegna--but also, that giotto's color would always have been far better than mantegna's. the likeness between the two artists is the intense desire of each to render expression of thought and feeling. the following day, on their way from padua to milan, they were so fortunate as to be all in the same compartment, and as their train rushed on, their conversation turned upon leonardo da vinci, whose works in milan they were longing to see. during their stay in florence they had read much about this great artist, and mr. sumner now suggested that each tell something he had learned concerning him. margery began, and told how he used always to wear a sketch-book attached to his girdle as he walked through the streets of florence, so that he might make a sketch of any face whose expression especially attracted him; how he would invite peasants to his studio and talk with them and tell laughable stories, that he might study the changes of emotion in their faces; and how he would even follow to their death criminals doomed to execution, in order to watch their suffering and horror. "he did not care much for the form or coloring or beauty of faces;--only for the expression of feeling," she added. "but," said malcom, after waiting a moment for the others to speak if they chose, "he studied a host of other things, also. for in the letter he sent to duke ludovico of milan asking that he might be taken into his service, he wrote that he could make portable bridges wonderfully adapted for use in warfare, also bombshells, cannon, and many other engines of war; that he could engineer underground ways, aqueducts, etc.; that he could build great houses, besides carrying on works of sculpture and painting. and there were many other things that i do not now remember. it seems as if he felt himself able to do all things. i believe he did make a magnificent equestrian statue of the duke's father. and he studied botany and astronomy, anatomy and mathematics, and all sorts of things besides. i really do not see how he could have got much painting in." "he has left only a very few pictures to the world," said barbara. "we saw two or three at florence, but i think only one--that unfinished _adoration of the magi_--is surely his. we shall see the _last supper_ and _head of christ_ at milan. then there are two or three in paris and one in london i think these are all," and she looked inquiringly at mr. sumner, who smilingly nodded confirmation of her words. "but," she went on, with an answering smile, "i do not think this was due to lack of time, for on these few pictures he probably spent as much time as ordinary artists do in painting a great many. he was never satisfied with the result of his work. his aims were so high and he saw and felt so much in his subjects that he would paint his pictures over and over again, and then often destroy them because he could not produce what he wished. i think he was one of the most untiring of artists." "i have been especially interested," said bettina, after a minute or two, "in the story of the _last supper_ which we shall soon see." she then went on to tell the sad tale of beatrice d'este,--the good and beautiful wife of harsh, wicked duke ludovico. how she used to go daily to the church santa maria delle grazie to be alone,--to think and to pray; and how, after her early death, the duke, probably influenced by remorse because of his cruelty to her, desired leonardo to decorate this church and its adjoining monastery with pictures in memory of his dead young wife. the only remaining one of these is the _last supper_ in the refectory of the old monastery. and the famous _head of christ_ in the brera gallery, milan, is only one of perhaps hundreds of studies that he made for the expression which he should give to his christ in the _last supper_,--so dissatisfied was he with his renderings of the face of our saviour. and even with his last effort he was not content, but said the head must ever go unfinished. "i am glad to hear you say that this _head of christ_ was produced simply as a study of expression," remarked mr. sumner. "i am sure this fact is not understood by many who look upon it. i know of no other artistic representation in the world that is so utterly just an expression and nothing more;--a fleeting expression of some inner feeling of which the face is simply an index. and this feeling is the blended grief and love and resignation that filled the heart of our saviour when he said to his disciples, 'one of you shall betray me.' it is a simply wrought study, made on paper with charcoal and water-color. the paper is worn, its edges are almost tattered; yet were it given me to become the possessor of one of the world's art-treasures--whichever one i should choose--i think i should select this. you will know why when you see it." "what a pity that the great picture, the _last supper_, is so injured," said malcom, after a pause. "is it as bad as it is said to be, uncle?" "it is in a pretty bad condition, yet, after all, i enjoy it better than any copy that has ever been made. the handiwork of leonardo, though so much of it has been lost, is yet the expression of a master; any lesser artist fails to render the highest that is in the picture. both the duke and leonardo were in fault for its present condition. the monastery is very low, and on extremely wet ground. water has often risen and inundated a portion of the building. it is not a fit place for any painting, as the duke ought to have known. and, then, leonardo, instead of painting in fresco, used oils, and of course the colors could not adhere to the damp plaster; so they have dropped off, bit by bit, until the surface is sadly disfigured." "why did leonardo do this?" inquired margery. "he was particularly fond of oil-painting, because this method allowed him to paint over and over again on the same picture, as he could not do in fresco." mr. sumner looked out of the window, and then hastened to say:-- "i think you all have learned that the chief quality of leonardo da vinci's work is his rendering of facial expression--complex, subtile expression: yet he excelled in all artistic representation;--in drawing, in composition, in color, and in the treatment of light and shade. he easily stands in the foremost rank of world painters. but, see! we are drawing near to milan,--bright, gay little milan,--the italian paris." one day, soon after their arrival, as they were in the brera gallery, looking for the third or fourth time at leonardo's _head of christ_, barbara remarked that she was disappointed because she could not find any particular characteristic of this great artist's work, as she had so often been able to do with others. "i feel that i cannot yet recognize even his style," she lamented. "you have as yet seen none of the pictures which contain his characteristic ideal face," replied mr. sumner. "but there is work here in milan by bernardino luini, who studied leonardo so intimately that he caught his spirit in a greater degree than did any other of his followers. indeed, several of luini's pictures have been attributed to leonardo until very recently. this is a picture by luini--right here--the _madonna of the rose-trellis_. the madonna is strikingly like leonardo's ideal in the long, slender nose, the rather pointed chin, the dark, flowing hair,--and, above all, in the evidence of some deep thought. if it were leonardo's, there would be, with all this, a faint, subtile smile. see the treatment of light and shade,--so delicate, and yet so strong. this is also like leonardo." after a few minutes spent in study of the picture, mr. sumner continued: "there is a singular mannerism in the backgrounds of leonardo's pictures. it is the representation of running water between rocks,--a strange fancy. we see the suggestion of it through the window behind christ in the _last supper_, and it forms the entire background of the famous _mona lisa_, in the louvre. there is a beautiful picture by luini, _the marriage of st. catherine_, in the poldi-pezzoli museum here in milan, to which we will go at once. the faces are thoroughly leonardesque, and through an open window in the background we clearly see the streamlet flowing between rocky shores. "but first," he added, as they turned to go out, "let us go into this corridor where we shall find quite a large number of luini's frescoes, which have been collected from the churches in which he painted them. i think you will grow familiar with leonardo's faces through study of luini." during the stay in milan they went down to parma for a day, just to look at the fine examples of correggio's works in the gallery and churches. in this city they could get the association of this artist with his works as nowhere else. [illustration: luini. poldi-pezzoli museum, milan. marriage of saint catherine.] mr. sumner told them that it was a good thing to give especial attention to correggio while studying leonardo, because there is a certain similarity, and yet a very wide difference, between their works. both painters were consummate masters of the art. their beautiful figures, perfect in drawing and full of grace and life, melt into soft, rich shadows. both loved especially to paint women, and smiling women; but the difference between the smiles is as great as between light and darkness. leonardo's are inexplicable; are wrought from within by depths of feeling we cannot understand. correggio's only play about the lips, and are as simple as childhood. leonardo's whole life was given to the study of mankind's innermost emotions. correggio was no deep student of human nature. "when you go to paris and see _mona lisa_, you will understand me better," he said in conclusion. delightful weeks among the italian lakes and the mountains of switzerland followed. then came september, and it was time to turn their faces homeward. a week or two was spent in paris, whose brilliance, fascinating gayety, and beauty almost bewildered them, and in whose great picture-gallery, the louvre, they reviewed the art-study of the year. then they were off to havre to take a french steamship home. mr. sumner had decided to return with them, and a little later in the fall to go back to florence to settle all things there,--to give up his italian home and studio. so there was nothing but joy in the setting forth. * * * * * "how can we wait a whole week!" exclaimed bettina, as the two sisters were again unpacking the steamer trunks in their stateroom. "how long one little week seems when it comes at the end of a year, and lies between us and home!" barbara's thought flew back to the like scene on the _kaiser wilhelm_ a year ago, when her mind had been busy with her father's parting words, and her eyes were very dark with feeling as she spoke:-- "have you thought, betty, how much we are taking back?--how much more than papa thought or we expected even in our wildest dreams? all this intimate knowledge of florence, rome, and venice! all these memories of italy,--and her art and history!" then after a moment she continued with changed voice: "and our friendship with howard!--and the great gift he gave by which we have been able to get all these beautiful things we are taking home to the dear ones, and by which life is so changed for them and us!--and--" "barbara!" softly called mr. sumner's voice from the corridor. "_and_," repeated bettina, archly, with a most mischievous look as her sister hastened from the room to answer the summons. at last the morning came when the steamship entered new york harbor; and the evening followed which saw the travellers again in their homes,--which restored barbara and bettina to father, mother, brothers, and sisters. there was no end of joy and smiles and happy talk. after a little time robert sumner came, and dr. burnett, taking him by both hands, looked through moist eyes into the face he loved, and had so long missed, saying:-- "and so you have come home to stay,--robert,--my boy!" "yes," in a glad, ringing voice,--withdrawing one hand from the doctor's and putting it into mrs. burnett's eager clasp--"yes, barbara and malcom have brought me home. malcom showed me it was my duty to come, and barbara has made it a delight." epilogue. three years after. in one of new england's fairest villas, only a little way from the spot where we first found her, lives barbara to-day. for more than two years she has been the wife of robert sumner. the faces of both tell of happy years, which have been bounteous in blessing. a new expression glows in robert sumner's eyes; the hint of a life whose energy is life-giving. all his powers are on the alert. his name bids fair to become known far and wide in his native land as a force for good in art, literature, philanthropy, and public service. and in everything barbara holds equal pace with him. whatever he undertakes, he goes to her young, fresh enthusiasm to be strengthened for the endeavor; he measures his own judgment against her wise, individual ways of thinking, and gains new trust in himself from her abiding confidence. in the library of their home, surrounded by countless rare souvenirs of italy, hangs a portrait of howard sinclair given to barbara by his aged grandmother, who now rests beside her darling boy in beautiful mount auburn. dr. burnett's low, rambling house has given place to a more stately one; but it stands behind the same tall trees, amidst the same wide, green spaces. and here is bettina,--the same betty,--broadened and enriched by the intervening years of gracious living; still almost hand in hand with her sister barbara. together they study and enjoy and sympathize; and together they are striving to bless as many lives as possible by a wise use of howard's gift to barbara. they are not letting slip that which they learned of the art of the old world, but are adding to it continually in anticipation of the time when they will again be in its midst. they believe that study of the old masters' pictures is a peculiar source of culture, and they delight in procuring photographs and rare reproductions for themselves and their friends. their faces are familiar in the art-stores and picture galleries of boston. good dr. and mrs. burnett have grown more than three years younger by dropping so many burdens of life. they no longer count any ways and means save those of enlarging their own and their children's lives, and of making their home a happy, healthful centre from which all shall go forth daily to help in the world's growth and to minister to its needs. richard, lois, margaret, and bertie, endowed with all the best available helps, are hard at work getting furnished for coming years. margery, entering into a lovely young womanhood, still lives with her mother and malcom in the grand old colonial house in which many generations of her ancestors have dwelt. mrs. douglas is quite as happy in the close vicinity of her brother as she thought she would be. every day she rejoices in his home, in his work and growing fame. barbara grows dearer to her continually as she realizes what a blessing she is to his life. indeed, so wholly natural and just-the-thing-to-be-expected does it now seem that her brother should fall in love with barbara, that she grows ever more amazed that she did not think of it before it happened; and, when she recalls her surmises and little sisterly schemes concerning him and lucile sherman, she wonders at her own stupidity. for malcom the three years have been crowded with earnest work. he fully justified the confidence his mother had reposed in him when she gave him the year abroad, by entering, on his return, the second year of the university course. a few months ago he graduated with high honors, and is now just beginning the study of law. when admitted to the bar he will enter, as youngest partner, the law firm of which for over thirty years his grandfather was the head. and through all he is the same frank, wholesome-hearted, strong-willed, but gentle malcom that we knew in italy. the other day he entrusted to his mother and sister a precious secret that must not yet be divulged. they were delighted, but did not seem greatly surprised. bettina knows the secret. proofreading canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net renaissance fancies and studies: being a sequel to euphorion by vernon lee london smith, elder, & co., waterloo place [_all rights reserved_] _printed by_ ballantyne, hanson & co. _at the ballantyne press_ _to_ _my dear friends_ _maria and pier desiderio pasolini_ _easter _ preface these essays being mainly the outcome of direct personal impressions of certain works of art and literature, and of the places in which they were produced, i have but few acknowledgments to make to the authors of books treating of the same subject. among the exceptions to this rule, i must mention foremost professor tocco's _eresia nel medio evo_, monsieur gebhart's _italie mystique_, and monsieur paul sabatier's _st. françois d'assise_. i am, on the other hand, very deeply indebted to the conversation and advice of certain among my friends, for furnishing me second-hand a little of that archæological and critical knowledge which is now-a-days quite unattainable save by highly trained specialists. my best thanks, therefore, to miss eugénie sellers, editor of furtwängler's "masterpieces of greek sculpture;" to mr. bernhard berenson, author of "venetian painters," and a monograph on lorenzo lotto; and particularly to my friend mrs. mary logan, whose learned catalogue of the italian paintings at hampton court is sufficient warrant for the correctness of my art-historical statements, which she has had the kindness to revise. maiano, near florence, _april_ . contents page preface ix the love of the saints the imaginative art of the renaissance tuscan sculpture a seeker of pagan perfection, being the life of domenico neroni, pictor sacrilegus valedictory the love of the saints i "panis angelicus fit panis hominum. o res mirabilis, manducat dominum pauper, servus et humilis." these words of the matins of the most holy sacrament i heard for the first time many years ago, to the beautiful and inappropriate music of cherubini. they struck me at that time as foolish, barbarous, and almost gross; but since then i have learned to think of them, and in a measure to feel of them, as of something greater and more solemn than all the music that cherubini ever wrote. all the hymns of the same date are, indeed, things to think upon. they affect one--the "stabat mater," for instance, and the "ave verum"--very much in the same way as the figures which stare down, dingy green and blue, from the gold of the cosmati's mosaics: childish, dreary, all stiff and agape, but so solemn and pathetic, and full of the greatest future. for out of those cosmati mosaics, and those barbarous frescoes of the old basilicas, will come giotto and all the renaissance; and out of those church songs will come dante; they are all signs, poor primitive rhymes and primitive figures, that the world is teeming again, and will bear, for centuries to come, new spiritual wonders. hence the importance, the venerableness of all those mediæval hymns. but of none so much, to my mind, as of those words i have quoted from the matins of the most holy sacrament-- "o res mirabilis, manducat dominum, pauper, servus et humilis." for their crude and pathetic literality, their image of the godhead actually giving himself, as they emphatically say, to be _chewed_ by the poor and humble man and the serf, show them to have been most especially born, abortions though they be, in the mightiest throes of mystical feeling, after the incubation of whole nations, born of the great mediæval marriage, sublime, grotesque, morbid, yet health-bringing, between abstract idealising religious thought and the earthly affections of lovers and parents--a strange marriage, like that of st. francis and poverty, of which the modern soul also had to be born anew. indeed, if we realise in the least what this hymn must have meant, shouted in the processions of flagellants, chaunted in the pacts of peace after internecine town wars; above all, perhaps, muttered in the cell of the friar, in the den of the weaver; if we sum up, however inadequately, the state of things whence it arose, and whence it helped to deliver us, we may think that the greatest music is scarcely reverent enough to accompany these poor blundering rhymes. the feast of the most holy sacrament, to whose liturgy this hymn, "o res mirabilis," belongs, was instituted to commemorate the miracle of bolsena, which, coming late as it did, in the country of st. francis, and within two years of the birth of dante, seems in its significant coincidences, in its startling symbolism, the fit material summing up of what is conveniently designated as the franciscan revival: the introduction into religious matters of passionate human emotion. for in the year , at bolsena in umbria, the consecrated wafer dropped blood upon the hands of an unbelieving priest. this trickery of a single individual, or more probably hallucination--this lie and self-delusion of interested or foolish bystanders--just happened to symbolise a very great reality. for during the earlier middle ages, before the coming of francis of assisi, the souls of men, or, more properly, their hearts, had been sorely troubled and jeopardised. the mixture of races and civilisations, southern and northern and eastern, antique and barbarian, which had been slowly taking place ever since the fall of the roman empire, had seemed, in its consummation of the twelfth century, less fertile on the whole than poisonous. the old tribal system, the old civic system, triumphant centralising imperialism, had all been broken up long since; and now feudalism was going to pieces in its turn, leaving a chaos of filibustering princelets, among whom loomed the equivocal figures of provençal counts, of angevin and swabian kings, brutal as men of the north, and lax as men of the south; moreover, suspiciously oriental; brilliant and cynical persons, eventually to be typified in frederick ii., who was judiciously suspected of being antichrist in person. in the midst of this anarchy, over-rapid industrial development had moreover begotten the tendencies to promiscuity, to mystical communism, always expressive of deep popular misery. the holy land had become a freebooter's eldorado; the defenders of christ's sepulchre were turned half-saracen, infected with unclean mixtures of creeds. theology was divided between neo-aristotelean logic, abstract and arid, and alexandrian esoteric mysticism, quietistic, nay, nihilistic; and the church had ceased to answer to any spiritual wants of the people. meanwhile, on all sides everywhere, heresies were teeming, austere and equivocal, pure and unclean according to individuals, but all of them anarchical, and therefore destructive at a moment when, above all, order and discipline were wanted. the belief in the world's end, in the speedy coming of antichrist and the messiah, was rife among all sects; and learned men, the disciples of joachim of flora, were busy calculating the very year and month. lombardy, and most probably the south of france, flanders and the rhine towns, were full of strange manichean theosophies, pessimistic dualism of god and devil, in which god always got the worst of it, when god did not happen to be the devil himself. the ravening lions, the clawing, tearing griffins, the nightmare brood carved on the capitals, porches, and pulpits of pre-franciscan churches, are surely not, as orthodox antiquarians assure us, mere fanciful symbols of the church's vigilance and virtues: they express too well the far-spread occult manichean spirit, the belief in a triumphant power of evil. michelet, i think, has remarked that there was a moment in the early middle ages when, in the mixture of all contrary things, in the very excess of spiritual movement, there seemed a possibility of dead level, of stagnation, of the peoples of europe becoming perhaps bastard saracens, as in merovingian times they had become bastard romans; a chance of byzantinism in the west. be this as it may, it seems certain that, towards the end of the twelfth century, men's souls were shaken, crumbling, and what was worse, excessively arid. there was as little certainty of salvation as in the heart of that priest saying mass at bolsena; but the miracle came to mankind at large some seventy years before it came to him. it had begun, no doubt, unnoticed in scores of obscure heresies, in hundreds of unnoticed individuals; it became manifest to all the world in the persons of dominick, of elizabeth of hungary, of king lewis--above all, of francis of assisi. as in the hands of the doubting priest, so in the hands of all suffering mankind, the mystic wafer broke, proving itself true food for the soul: the life-blood of hope and love welled forth and fertilised the world. for the second time, and in far more humble and efficacious way, christ had been given to man. to absorb the eternal love, to feed on the life of the world, to make oneself consubstantial therewith, these passionate joys of poor mediæval humanity are such as we should contemplate with sympathy only and respect, even when the miracle is conceived and felt in the grossest, least spiritual manner. that act of material assimilation, that feeding off the very godhead in most literal manner, as described in the hymn to the most holy sacrament, was symbolic of the return from exile of the long-persecuted instincts of mankind. it meant that, spiritually or grossly, each according to his nature, men had cast fear behind them, and--o res mirabilis!--grown proud once more to love. of this new wonder--questionable enough at times, but, on the whole, marvellously beneficent--the german knightly poets, so early in the field, are naturally among the earliest (for the provençals belonged to a sceptical, sensual country) to give us a written record. nearly all of the minnesingers composed what we must call religious erotics, in no way different, save for names of christ and the virgin, from their most impassioned secular ones. the song of solomon, therefore, is one of the few pieces of written literature of which we find constant traces in the works of these very literally illiterate poets. yet the quality of their love, if one may say so, is very different from anything hebrew, or, for the matter of that, greek or roman; their ardour is not a transient phenomenon which disturbs them, like that of the shulamite, or the lover described by sappho or plato, but a chief business of their life, as in the case of dante, of petrarch, of francesca and paolo, or tristram and yseult. indeed, it is difficult to guess whether this self-satisfied, self-glorifying quality, which distinguishes mediæval passion from the passion (always regarded as an interlude, harmless or hurtful, in civic concerns) of unromantic antiquity--whether, i say, this peculiarity of mediæval love is due to its having served for religious as well as for secular use, or whether the possibility of its being brought into connection with the highest mysteries and aspirations was not itself a result of the dignity in which mere earthly ardours had come to be held. be this as it may, these german devotional rhapsodies display their essentially un-hebrew, un-antique characters only the more by the traces of the _canticus canticorum_ in them, as in all devout love lyrics. any one curious in such matters may turn to a very striking poem by dante's contemporary, frauenlob, in von der hagen's great collection. also to a very strange composition, from the heyday of minne-song, by heinrich von meissen. this is not the furious love ode, but the ceremonious epithalamium of devotional poetry. it is the bearing in triumph, among flare of torches and incense smoke, over flower-strewn streets and beneath triumphal arches, of the bride of the soul, her enthroning on a stately couch, like some new-wed moorish woman, for men to come and covet and admire. above all, and giving one a shock of surprise by association with the man's other work, is a very long and elaborate poem addressed to christ or god by no less a minnesinger than master gottfried of strasburg. in it the beloved is compared to all the things desired by eye or ear or taste or smell: cool water and fruit slaking feverish thirst, lilies with vertiginous scent, wine firing the blood, music wakening tears, precious stones of augsburger merchants, essences and spices of an eastern cargo:-- "ach herzen trut, genaden vol, ach wol u je mer mere wol, ein suez in arzeniê ach herzen bruch, ach herzen not. ach rose rot, ach rose wandels vrie! ach jugend in jugent, ach jugender muot, ach bluejender herzen minne!" and so on for pages; the sort of words which poor brangwain may have overheard on the calm sea, when the terrible knowledge rushed cold to her heart that tristram and yseult had drained the fatal potion. all this is foolish and unwholesome enough, just twice as much so, for its spiritual allegorising, as the worldly love poetry of these often foolish and unwholesome german chivalrous poets. but, for our consolation, in that same huge collection of von der hagen's minnesingers, stand the following six lines, addressed to the saviour, if tradition is correct, by a knightly monk, bruder wernher von der tegernsee:-- "dû bist mîn, ih bin dîn; des solt dû gewis sîn. dû bist beslozzen in mînem herzen; _verlorn ist daz sluzzelîn: dû muost immer drinne sîn._" "thou art locked up in my heart; the little key is lost; thou must remain inside." this is a way of loving not logically suitable, perhaps, to a divine essence, but it is the lovingness which fertilises the soul, and makes flowers bud and birds sing in the heart of man. out of it, through simple creatures like bruder wernher, through the simplicity of scores of obscurer singers and craftsmen than he, of hundreds of nameless good men and women, comes one large half of the art of dante and giotto, nay, of raphael and shakespeare: the tenderness of the modern world, unknown to stoical antiquity. ii the early middle ages--the times before love came, and with it the gradual dignifying of all realities which had been left so long to mere gross or cunning or violent men--the early middle ages have left behind them one of the most complete and wonderful of human documents, the letters of abélard and héloïse. this is a book which each of us should read, in order to learn, with terror and self-gratulation, how the aridity of the world's soul may neutralise the greatest individual powers for happiness and good. these letters are as chains which we should keep in our dwelling-place, to remind us of past servitude, perhaps to warn us against future. no other two individuals could have been found to illustrate, by the force of contrast, the intellectual and moral aridity of that eleventh century, which yet, in a degree, was itself a beginning of better things. for héloïse and abélard were not merely among the finest intellects of the middle ages; they were both, in different ways, to the highest degree passionately innovating natures. no woman has ever been more rich and bold and warm of mind and heart than héloïse; nor has any woman ever questioned the unquestioned ideas and institutions of her age, of any age, with such vehemence and certainty of intuition. she judges questions which are barely asked and judged of now-a-days, applying to consecrated sentimentality the long-lost instinctive human rationalism of the ancient philosophers. how could st. luke recommend us to desist from getting back our stolen property? she feels, however obscurely, that this is foolish, antisocial, unnatural. nay, why should god prefer the penitence of one sinner to the constant goodness of ninety-nine righteous men? she is, this learned theologian of the eleventh century, as passionately human in thought as any mme. roland or mary wolstonecraft of a hundred years ago. abélard, on the other hand, we know to have been one of the most subtle and solvent thinkers of the middle ages; pursued by the greatest theologians, crushed by two councils, and remaining, in the popular fancy, as a sort of friar bacon, a forerunner of the wizard faustus; a man whom bernard of clairvaux called a thief of souls, a rapacious wolf, a herod; a man who reveals himself a pagan in his attempts to turn plato into a christian; a man who disputes about faith in the teeth of faith, and criticises the law in the name of the law; a man, most enormous of all, who sees nothing as symbol or emblem (_per speculum in ænigmate_), but dares to look all things in the face (_facie ad faciem omnia intuetur_). _facie ad faciem omnia intuetur_, this, which is the acknowledged method of all modern, as it had been of all antique, thought, nay, of all modern, all antique, all healthy spiritual life--this was the most damnable habit of abélard; and, as the letters show, of héloïse. what shall we think, in consequence, of the intellectual and moral sterility of the orthodox world of the eleventh century, when we find this heretical man, this rebellious woman, arguing incessantly about unrealities, crushing out all human feeling, judging all questions of cause and effect, settling all relations of life, with reference to a system of intricate symbolical riddles? these things are exceedingly difficult for a modern to realise; we feel as though we had penetrated into some gulliver's world or kingdom of the moon; for theology and its methods have been relegated, these many hundred years, to a sort of _hortus inclusus_ where nothing human grows. these mediæval men of science apply their scientific energies to mastering, collecting, comparing and generalising, not of any single fact of nature, but of the words of other theologians. the magnificent sense of intellectual duty, so evident in abélard, and in a dozen monastic authors quoted by him, is applied solely to fantasticating over scripture and its expositors, and diverting their every expression from its literal, honest, sane meaning. and indeed, are some of the high efforts of mediæval genius, the calculations of joachim and the eternal gospel, any better than the book of dreams and the key to the lottery? most odious, perhaps, in this theology triumphant (sickening enough, in good sooth, even in the timid official theology of later days), is the loss of all sense of what's what, of fitness and decency, which interprets allegorically the grosser portions of scripture, and, by a reverse process, lends to the soul the vilest functions of the body, and discusses virtue in the terms of fleshliness. no knowledge can come out of this straw-splitting _in vacuo_; and certainly no art out of this indecent pedant's symbolism: all things are turned to dusty, dirty lumber. as with the intellectual, so also, in large degree, with the moral: a splendid will to do right is applied, in its turn, to phantoms. here again the letters of abélard and héloïse are extraordinarily instructive. the highest virtue, the all-including (how differently dante feels, whatever he may say!), is _obedience_. thus abélard, having quoted from st. augustine that all which is done for obedience' sake is well done, proceeds very logically: "it is more advantageous for us to act rightly than to do good.... we should think not so much of the action itself, as of the manner in which it is performed." do not imagine that this care for the motive and contempt of the action arises from an estimate of the importance of a man's sum-total of tendencies, contrasted with his single, perhaps unintentional, acts; still less that the advantage thus referred to has anything to do with other men's happiness. the advantage is merely to the individual soul, or in a cruder, truer view, to the individual combustible body to which that soul shall be eternally reunited hereafter. and the spirit which makes virtue alone virtuous is the spirit of obedience: obedience theoretically to a god, but practically to a father of the church, a council, an abbot or abbess. in this manner right-doing is emptied of all rational significance, becomes dependent upon what itself, having no human, practical reason, is mere arbitrary command. chastity, for instance, which is, together with mansuetude, the especial christian virtue, becomes in this fashion that mere guarding of virginity which, for some occult reason, is highly prized in heaven; as to clean living being indispensable for bearable human relations, which even the unascetic ancients recognised so clearly, there is never an inkling of that. whence, indeed, such persons as do not _go in for_ professionally pleasing the divinity, who are neither priests, monks, nor nuns, need not stickle about it; and the secular literature of the middle ages, with its launcelots, tristrams, flamencas, and all its german and provençal lyrists, becomes the glorification of illicit love. indeed, in the letters before us, abélard regrets his former misconduct only with reference to religious standards: as a layman he was perfectly free to seduce héloïse; the scandal, the horrible sin, was not the seduction, but the profanation by married love of the dress of a nun, the sanctuary of the virgin. so it is with the renunciation of all the world's pleasures and interests. the ascetic sacrifice of inclination, which the stoics had conceived as resistance to the tyrant without and the tyrant within, as a method for serene and independent life and death, this ascetic renunciation becomes, in this arid theological world, the mere giving up to please a jealous god of all that is not he. abélard's regulations for the nuns, which he gives as rules of perfection (save in the matter of that necessary half sin, marriage) to devout lay folk, come after all to this: give human nature enough to keep it going, so that it may be able to sacrifice everything else to the jealousy of the godhead. eating, clothing oneself, washing (though, by the way, there is no mention of this save for the sick), nay, speaking and thinking, are merely instrumental to the contemplation of god; any more than suffices for this is sinful. on this point abélard quotes, with stolidest approval, one of the most heart-rending of anecdotes. a certain monk being asked why he had fled humankind, answered, on account of his great love for it, and the impossibility of loving god and it at the same time. think upon that. think on the wasted treasure of loving-kindness of which that monk and the thousands he represents cheated his fellow-men. o love of human creatures, of man for woman, parents and children, of brethren, love of friends; fuel and food, which keeps the soul alive, balm curing its wounds, or, if they be incurable, helps the poor dying thing to die at last in peace--this was those early saints' notion of thee! to refuse thus to love is to refuse not merely the highest usefulness, but to refuse also the best kind of justice. here again, nay, here more than ever, we may learn from those wonderful letters. they constitute, indeed, a document of the human soul to which, in my recollection, one other only, benjamin constant's _adolphe_, can be compared. but in these letters,--hers of grief, humiliation, hopelessness, making her malign her noble self; and his, bitter, self-righteous, crammed with theological moralisings--we see not merely the dual drama of two ill-assorted creatures, but the much more terrible tragedy, superadded by the presence, looming, impassive, as of cypris in euripides' hippolytus, of a third all-powerful and superhuman entity: the spirit of monasticism. the unequal misery, the martyrdom of héloïse arises herefrom, that she rebels against this _deus ex machina_; that this nun of the eleventh century is a strong warm-hearted modern woman, fit for browning. while abélard is her whole life, the intimate companion of her highest thoughts, she is only a toy to him, and a toy which his theologian's pride, his monkish self-debasement, makes him afraid and ashamed of. abélard has been for her, and ever remains, something like brahma to goethe's bayadere; her love, her love above all for his intrepid intellect, has raised him to a sacredness so great, that his whim, his fame, his peace, his very petulance can be refused nothing; and that, on the other hand, any concession taken from him seems positive sacrilege. hence her refusal of marriage, her answer, "that she would be prouder as his mistress--the latin word is harlot--than as the wife of cæsar." fifty years later, in the kind, passionate, poetical days of st. francis, héloïse might have given this loving fervour to christ, and been a happy, if a deluded, woman; but in those frigid monkish days, there was no one for her to love, save this frigid monkish abélard. as it is, therefore, she loves christ and god in obedience to abélard; she passionately cons the fathers, the scriptures, merely because, so to speak, the hand of abélard has lain on the page, the eyes of abélard have followed the characters; and finally, after all her vain entreaties for (she scarce knows what!) love, sympathy, one personal word, she feeds her starving heart on the only answer to her supplications--the dialectic exercises, metaphysical treatises, and theological sermons (containing even the forms applicable only to a congregation) which he doles out to her. thankful for anything which comes _from_ him, however little it comes _to_ her. how different with abélard! despite occasional atrocious misery and unparalleled temporal misfortunes (which on the whole act upon him as tonics), this great metaphysician is well suited to his times, and spiritually thrives in their exhausted, chill atmosphere. the public rumour (which héloïse hurls at him in a fit of broken-hearted rage), that his passion for her had been but a passing folly of the flesh, he never denies, but, on the contrary, reiterates perpetually for her spiritual improvement; let her understand clearly from what inexpressible degradation god in his mercy has saved them, at least saved him; let her realise that he wanted only carnal indulgence, and would have got it, if need be, through threats and blows. he recognises, in his past, only a feeling which, now it is over, fills his ascetic mind with nothing but disgust and burning shame, and hence he tries, by degrading it still more, by cynically raking up all imaginable filth, to separate that past from his present. so far, were only he himself concerned, one would sympathise, though contemptuously, with this agonised reaction of a proud, perhaps a vain, _man_ of mere intellect. but the atrocious thing is, that he treats her as a loathsome relic of this past dishonour; and answers her prayer (after twelve years' silence!) for a word of loving-kindness by elaborate denunciations of their former love, and reiterated jubilations that _he_, at least, has long been purged thereof; not unmixed with sharp admonishment that she had better not try to infect his soul afresh, but set about, if needful, cleansing her own. now it so happens that what he would cure her of is incurable, being, in fact, eternal, divine--simple human love. so, to his pious and cynical admonitions she answers with strange inconsistency. long brooding over his taunts will sometimes make her, to whom he is always the divinity, actually believe, despite her reiteration, that she had sinned out of obedience to him, that she really is a polluted creature, guilty of the unutterable crime of contaminating a man of god, nay, a god himself. and then, unable to silence affection, she cries out in agony at the perversity of her nature, incapable even of hating sincerely its sinfulness; for would she not do it again, is she not the same héloïse who would have left the very altar, the very communion with christ, at abélard's word? at other times she is pious, resigned, almost serene; for is that not abélard's wish? a careful mother to her nuns. but when, encouraged by her docility and blind to her undying love, abélard believes that he has succeeded in quieting her down, and rewards her piety by some rhetorical phrase of monkish eulogy, she suddenly turns round, a terrible tragic figure. she repudiates the supposed purity and piety, blazons out her wickedness and hypocrisy, and cries out, partly with the horror of the sacrilegious nun, mainly with the pride of the faithful wife, that it is not god she loves but abélard. after the most violent of these outbreaks there is a dead silence. one guesses that some terrible message has come, warning her that unless she promised that she would never write to abélard save as the abbess of the paraclete to the monk of cluny, not a word from him shall ever come; and that, in order to keep this last miserable comfort, she has bitten out that truth-speaking tongue of hers. for after this there are only questions on theological points and on the regulation of nunneries; and abélard becomes as liberal of words as he used to be chary, as full of encouragement as he once was of insult, now that he feels comfortably certain that héloïse has changed from a mistress to a penitent, and that in her also there is an end at last of all that sinful folly of love. and thus, upon héloïse pacified, numbed, dead of soul, among her praying and scrubbing and cooking and linen-mending nuns; and abélard reassured, serene, spiritually proud once more among the raging controversies, the ecclesiastical persecutions in which his soul prospered, the volume closes; the curtain falls upon one of the most terrible tragedies of the heart, as poignant after seven hundred years as in those early middle ages, before st. francis claimed sun and swallows as brethren, and the baby christ was given to hold to st. anthony of padua. iii the humanising movement, due no doubt to greater liberty and prosperity, to the growing importance of honest burgher life, which the church authorised in the person of francis of assisi, doubtless after persecuting it in the persons of dozens of obscure heresiarchs--this great revival of religious faith was essentially the triumph of profane feeling in the garb of religious: the sanctification, however much disguised, of all forms of human love. one is fully aware of the moral dangers attendant upon every such equivocation; and the great saints (like their last modern representatives, the fervent, shrewd, and kindly leaders of certain protestant revivals) were probably, for all their personal extravagances, most fully prepared for every sort of unwholesome folly among their disciples. the whole of a certain kind of devotional literature, manuals of piety, church hymns, lives and correspondence of saintly persons, is unanimous in testifying to the hysterical self-consciousness, intellectual enervation, emotional going-to-bits, and moral impotence produced by such vicarious and barren expenditure of feeling. yet it seems to me certain that this enthroning of human love in matters spiritual was an enormous, indispensable improvement, which, whatever detriment it may have brought in individual and, so to say, professionally religious cases, nay, perhaps to all religion as a whole, became perfectly wholesome and incalculably beneficent in the enormous mass of right-minded laity. for human emotion, although so often run to waste, had been at least elicited, and, once elicited, could find, in nine cases out of ten, its true and beneficent channel; whereas, in the earlier mediæval days, the effort to crush out all human feeling (as with that holy man quoted by abélard), to break all human solidarity, had not merely left the world in the hands of unscrupulous and brutal persons, but had imprisoned all finer souls in solitary and selfish thoughts of their individual salvation. things were now different. the story of lucchesio of poggibonsi, recovered from oblivion by m. paul sabatier, is the most lovely expression of franciscan tenderness and reverence towards the affections of the laymen, and ought to be remembered in company with the legend of the wood-pigeons, whom st. francis established in his cabin and blessed in their courtship and nesting. this lucchesio had exercised a profession which has ever savoured of damnation to the minds of the poor and their lovers, that of corn merchant or speculator in grain; but touched by franciscan preaching, he had kept only one small garden, which, together with his wife, he cultivated half for the benefit of the poor. one day the wife, known in the legend only as bona donna, sickened and knew she must die, and the sacrament was brought to her accordingly. but lucchesio never thought that it could be god's will that he should remain on earth after his wife had been taken from him. so he got himself shriven, received the last sacraments with her, held her hands while she died; and when she was dead, stretched himself out, made the sign of the cross, called on jesus, mary, and st. francis, and peacefully died in his turn: god could not have wished him to live on without her. the passionate franciscan sympathy with human love makes light of all the accepted notions of bereavement being acceptable as a divine dispensation. lucchesio of poggibonsi was, we are told, a member of the third order of franciscans, and his legend may help us to appreciate the value of such institutions, which gave heaven to the laity, to the married burgher, the artisan, the peasant; which fertilised the religious ideal with the simplest and sweetest instincts of mankind. but, third order apart, the mission of the regular franciscans and dominicans is wholly different from that of the earlier orders of monasticism proper. the earlier monks, however useful and venerable as tillers of the soil and students of all sciences, were, nevertheless, only agglomerated hermits, retired from the world for the safety each of his own soul; whereas the preaching, wandering friars are men who mix with the world for the sake of souls of others. thus, throughout the evolution of religious communities, down to the jesuits and oratorians, to the great nursing brother-and sisterhoods of the seventeenth century, we can watch the substitution of care for lay souls in the place of more saintly ones--a gradual secularisation in unsuspected harmony with the heretical and philosophical movements which tend more and more to make religion an essential function of life, instead of an activity with which life is for ever at variance. in accordance with this evolution is the great enthroning of love in the thirteenth century: it means the replacing of the terror of a divinity, who was little better than a metaphysical moloch (sometimes, and oftener than we think, a metaphysical ormuzd and ahriman of manichean character), by the idolatry of an all-gracious virgin, of an all-compassionate and all-sympathising christ. it was an effort at self-righting of the unhappy world, this love-fever which followed on the many centuries of monastic self-mutilation; for, in sickness of the spirit, the hot stage, for all its delirium, means a possibility of life. moreover, it gave to mankind a plenitude of happiness such as is necessary, whether reasonable or unreasonable, for mankind to continue living at all; art, poetry, freedom, all the things which form the _viaticum_ on mankind's journey through the dreary ages, requiring for their production, it would seem, an extra dose of faith, of hope, and happiness. indeed, the franciscan movement is important not so much for its humanitarian quality as for its optimism. many other religious movements have asserted, with equal and greater efficacy, the need for charity and loving-kindness; but none, as it seems to me, has conceived like it that charity and loving-kindness are not mitigations of misery, but aids to joy. the universal brotherhood, preached by francis of assisi, is a brotherhood not of suffering, but of happiness, nay, of life and of happiness. the sun, in the wonderful song which he made--characteristically--during his sickness, is the brother of man because of his radiance and splendour; water and fire are his brethren on account of their virtues of purity and humbleness, of jocund and beautiful strength;[ ] and if we find, throughout his legends, the saint perpetually accompanied by birds--the swallows he begged to let him speak, the falcon who called him in the morning, the turtle-doves whose pairing he blessed, and all the feathered flock whom benozzo represents him preaching to in the lovely fresco at montefalco--if, as i say, there is throughout his life and thoughts a sort of perpetual whir and twitter of birds, it is, one feels sure, because the creatures of the air, free to come and go, to sit on beautiful trees, to drink of clear streams, to play in the sunshine and storm, able above all to be like himself, poets singing to god, are the symbols, in the eyes of francis, of the greatest conceivable felicity.[ ] [footnote : st. francis's hymn (sabatier, _st. françois d'assise_):-- laudato sie, mi signore, cum tucte le tue creature, spetialimento messer lo frate sole, lo quale jorna, et illumini per lui; _et ello è bello e radiante cum grande splendore._ * * * * * laudato si, mè signore per frate vento et per aere et nubilo et sereno et omne tempo * * * * * laudato, si, mi signore, per sor acqua la quale è multo utile et humele et pretiosa et casta; laudato si, mi signore, per frate focu per lo quale ennallumini la nocte _et ello è bello et jocundo e robustioso e forte._ in its rudeness, how magnificent is this last line!] [footnote : st. francis's sermon to the birds in the valley of bevagna (_fioretti_ xvi.): "ancora gli (a dio) siete tenuti per lo elemento dell' aria che egli ha diputato a voi ... e iddio vi pasce, e davvi li fiumi e le fonti per vostro bere; davvi li monti e le valli per vostro rifugio e gli alberi alti per fare li vostri nidi ... e però guardatevi, sirocchie mie, del peccato della ingratitudine, e sempre vi studiate di lodare iddio ... e allora tutti qugli uccilli si levarons in aria con maraviglios canti." _fioretti_ xxviii. "... questo dono, che era dato a frate bernardo da quintevalle, cioè, che volando si pascesse come la rondine." _fioretti_ xxii., considerazioni i.] indeed, we can judge of what the franciscan movement was to the world by what its gospel, the divine _fioretti_, are even to ourselves. this humble collection of stories and sayings, sometimes foolish, always childlike, becomes, to those who have read it with more than the eyes of the body, a beloved and necessary companion, like the solemn serene books of antique wisdom, the passionate bitter book of job, almost, in a way, like the gospels of christ. but not for the same reason: the book of francis teaches neither heroism nor resignation, nor divine justice and mercy; it teaches love and joyfulness. it keeps us for ever in the company of creatures who are happy because they are loving: whether the creatures be poor, crazy brother juniper (the comic person of the cycle) eating his posset in brotherly happiness with the superior he had angered; or brother masseo, unable from sheer joy in christ to articulate anything save "u-u-u," "like a pigeon;" or king lewis of france falling into the arms of brother egidio; or whether they be the archangel michael in friendly converse with brother peter, or the madonna handing the divine child for brother conrad to kiss, or even the wolf of gubbio, converted, and faithfully fulfilling his bargain. there are sentences in the _fioretti_ such as exist perhaps in no other book in the world, and which teach something as important, after all, as wisdom even and perfect charity--"and there answered brother egidio: beloved brethren, know that as soon as he and i embraced one another, the light of wisdom revealed and manifested to me his heart, and to him mine; and thus by divine operation, seeing one into the other's heart, that which i would have said to him and he to me, each understood much better than had we spoken with our tongue, and with greater joyfulness...." again, jesus appeared to brother ruffino and said, "well didst thou do, my son, inasmuch as thou believedst the words of st. francis; for he who saddened thee was the demon, whereas i am christ thy teacher; and for token thereof i will give thee this sign: as long as thou live, thou shalt never feel affliction of any sort nor sadness of heart." st. francis, we are told, being infirm of body, was comforted through god's goodness by a vision of the joy of the blessed. "suddenly there appeared to him an angel in a great radiance, which angel held a viol in his left hand and a bow in his right. and while st. francis remained in stupefaction at the sight, this angel drew the bow once _upwards_ across the viol, and instantly there issued such sweetness of melody as melted the soul of st. francis, and suspended it from all bodily sense. and, as he afterwards told his companions, he was of opinion that if that angel had drawn the bow _downwards_ (instead of upwards) across the viol, his soul would have departed from his body for the very excess of delight." it was not so much to save the souls of men from hell, about which, indeed, there is comparatively little talk in the _fioretti_, but to draw them also into the mystic circle where such angelic music was heard, that francis of assisi preached throughout umbria, and even as far as the soldan's country; and, if we interpret it rightly, the strings of that heavenly viol were the works of creation and the souls of all creatures, and the bow, whose upward movement ravished, and whose downward movement would have almost annihilated with its sweetness, that bow drawn across the vibrating world was no other than love. iv justice preached by hebrew prophets, charity and purity taught by jesus of nazareth, fortitude recommended by epictetus and aurelius, none of these great messages to men necessarily produce that special response which we call art. but the message of loving joyfulness, of happiness in the world and the world's creatures, whether men or birds, or sun or moon,--this message, which was that of st. francis, sets the soul singing; and just such singing of the soul makes art. hence, even as the apennine blazed with supernatural light, and its forests and rocks became visible to the most distant wayfarers, when the eternal love smote with its beams the praying saint on la vernia; so also the souls of those men of the middle ages were made luminous and visible by the miracle of poetry and painting, and we can see them still, distinct even at this distance. one of the earliest of the souls so revealed is that of the blessed jacopone of todi. jacopo dei benedetti, a fellow-countryman of st. francis, must have been born in the middle of the thirteenth century, and is said to have died in , when dante, presumably, was writing his "purgatory" and "paradise;" to him is ascribed the authorship of the hymn "stabat mater," remembered, and to be remembered (owing to the embalming power of music) far beyond his vernacular poems. tradition has it that he turned to the religious life in consequence of the sudden death of his beloved, and the discovery that she had worn a hair-shirt next her delicate body. be this as it may, many allusions in his poems suggest that he had lived the wild life of the barbarous umbrian cities, being a highwayman perhaps, forfeiting his life, and also having to fly the country before the fury of some family vendetta. on the other hand, it is plain at every line that he was a frantic ascetic, taking a savage pleasure in vilifying all mundane things, and passionately disdainful of study, of philosophical and theological subtleties. no poet, therefore, of the troubadour sort, or of the idealising learned refinement of guinicelli or cavalcanti. nor was his life one of apostolic sweetness. having taken part in the furious franciscan schism, and pursued with invectives boniface viii., he was cast by that pope into a dungeon at palestrina. "my dwelling," he writes, "is subterranean, and a cesspool opens on to it; hence a smell not of musk. no one can speak to me; the man who waits on me may, but he is obliged to make confession of my sayings. i wear jesses like a falcon, and ring whenever i move: he who comes near my room may hear a queer kind of dance. when i have laid myself down, i am tripped up by the irons, and wound round in a big chain (_negli ferri inzampagliato, inguainato in catenone_). i have a little basket hung up so that the mice may not injure it; it can hold five loaves.... while i eat them little by little, i suffer great cold." moreover, pope boniface refuses him absolution, and jacopone's invectives are alternated with heart-rending petitions that this mercy at least be shown him; as to his other woes, he will endure them till his death. in this frightful place jacopone had visions, which the church, giving him therefore the title of blessed, ratifies as genuine. one might expect nightmares, such as troubled the early saints in the wilderness, or john bunyan in gaol; but that was not the spirit of the mediæval revival: terror had been cast out by love. more than a quarter of jacopone's huge volume consists in what is merely love poetry: he is languishing, consumed by love; when the beloved departs, he sighs and weeps, and shrieks, and _dies alive_. will the beloved have no mercy? "jesu, donami la morte, o di te fammi assaggiare." then the joys of love, depicted with equal liveliness, amplifications as usual of the erotic hyperboles of the shulamite and her lover; the phenomenon, to whose uncouth strangeness devotional poetry accustoms us even now-a-days, which we remarked in gottfried von strasburg and frauenlob, and on which it is needless further to insist. but there is here in jacopone something which we missed in gottfried and frauenlob, of which there is no trace in the song of solomon, but which, suggested in the lovely six lines of bruder wernher, makes the emotionalism of the italian middle ages wholesome and fruitful. a child-like boy and girlish light-heartedness that makes love a matter not merely of sighing and dying, but of singing and dancing; and, proceeding thence, a fervour of loving delightedness which is no longer of the man towards the woman, but of the man and the woman towards the baby. the pious monk, in his ecstasies over jesus, intones a song which might be that of those passionate _farandoles_ of angels who dance and carol in botticelli's most rapturous pictures:-- "amore, amor, dove m'hai tu menato? amore, amor, fuor di me m'hai trattato. ciascun amante, amator del signore, venga alla danza cantando d'amore." can we not see them, the souls of such fervent lovers, swaying and eddying, with joined hands and flapping wings, flowers dropping from their hair, above the thatched roof of the stable at bethlehem? the stable at bethlehem! it is perpetually returning to jacopone's thoughts. the cell, the dreadful underground prison at palestrina, is broken through, irradiated by visions which seem paintings by lippo or ghirlandaio, nay, by correggio and titian themselves, "the tender baby body (_il tenerin corpo_) of the blood of mary has been given in charge to a pure company; st. joseph and the virgin contemplate the little creature (_il piccolino_) with stupefaction. _o gran piccolino jesu nostro diletto_, he who had seen thee between the ox and the little ass, breathing upon thy holy breast, would not have guessed thou were begotten of the trinity!" but besides the ox and the ass there are the angels. "in the worthy stable of the sweet baby the angels are singing round the little one; they sing and cry out, the beloved angels, quite reverent, timid and shy (_tutti riverenti, timidi e subbietti_, this beautiful expression is almost impossible save in italian), round the little baby prince of the elect who lies naked among the prickly hay. he lies naked and without covering; the angels shout in the heights. and they wonder greatly that to such lowliness the divine verb should have stooped. the divine verb, which is highest knowledge, this day seems as if he knew nothing of anything (_il verbo divino che è sommo sapiente, in questo di par che non sappia niente!_). look at him on the hay, crying and kicking (_che gambetta piangente_), as if he were not at all a divine man...." meanwhile, other angels, as in benozzo's frescoes, are busy "picking rarest flowers in the garden." in the garden! why he himself is a fragrant garden; jesus is a garden of many sweet odours; and "what they are those can tell who are the lovers of this sweet little brother of ours." _di questo nostro dolce fratellino_: it is such expressions as these, bambolino, piccolino, garzolino, "el magno jesulino," these caressing, ever-varied diminutives, which make us understand the monk's passionate pleasure in the child; and which, by the emotion they testify to and re-awaken, draw more into relief, make visible and tangible the little kicking limbs on the straw, the dimpled baby's body. and then there are the choruses of angels. "o new song," writes jacopone, "which has killed the weeping of sick mankind! its melody, methinks, begins upon the high _fa_, descending gently on the _fa_ below, which the _verb_ sounds. the singers, jubilating, forming the choir, are the holy angels, singing songs in that hostelry, before the little babe, who is the incarnate word. on lamb's parchment, behold! the divine note is written, and god is the scribe, who has opened his hand, and has taught the song." have we not here, in this odd earliest allegory of music and theology, this earliest precursor of the organ-playing of abt vogler, one of those choirs, clusters of singing childish heads--clusters, you might almost say, of sweet treble notes, tied like nosegays by the score held scrollwise across them, which are among the sweetest inventions of italian art, from luca della robbia to raphael, "cantatori, guibilatori, che tengon il coro?" and this is the place for a remark which, in the present uncertainty of all æsthetic psychology, i put forward as a mere suggestion, but a suggestion less wide of the truth than certain theories now almost unquestioned: the theories which arbitrarily assume that art is the immediate and exact expression of contemporary spiritual aspirations and troubles. that such may be the case with literature, particularly the more ephemeral kinds thereof, is very likely, since literature, save in the great complex structures of epos, tragedy, choral lyric, is but the development of daily speech, and possibly as upstart, as purely passing, as daily speech itself; moreover, in its less artistic forms, requiring little science or apprenticeship. but art is a thing of older ancestry; you cannot, however bursting with emotion, embody your feelings in forms like those of phidias, of michelangelo, of bach, or mozart, unless such forms have come ready to hand through the long, steady working of generations of men: phidias and bach in person, cut off from their precursors, would not, for all their genius, get as far as a schoolboy's caricature, or a savage's performance on a marrow-bone. and these slowly elaborated forms, representing the steady impact of so many powerful minds, representing, moreover, the organic necessity by which, a given movement once started, that movement is bound to proceed in a given direction, these forms cannot be altered, save infinitesimally, to represent the particular state of the human soul at a given moment. you might as well suppose that the human shape itself, evolved through these millions of years, could suddenly be accommodated to perfect representation of the momentary condition of certain human beings; even the tricoteuses of the guillotine had the heads and arms of ordinary women, not the beaks and claws of harpies. hence such expressiveness must be limited to microscopic alterations; and, indeed, one marvels at the modest demands of the art critics, who are satisfied with the pucker of a frontal muscle of a praxitelean head as testimony to the terrible deep disorder in the post-periclean greek spirit, and who can still find in the later paintings of titian, when all that makes titian visible and admirable is deducted, a something, just a little _je ne sais quoi_, which proves these later titians to have originated in the catholic reaction. if the theory of art as the outcome of momentary conditions be limited to such particularities, i am quite willing to accept it; only, such particularities do not constitute the large, important and really valuable characteristics of art, and it matters very little by what they are produced. how then do matters stand between art and civilisation? here follows my hypothesis. there is in the history of every art (and for brevity's sake, i include in this term every distinct category, say, renaissance sculpture as distinguished from antique, of the same art) a moment when, for one reason or other, that art begins to come to the fore, to bestir itself. the circumstances of the nation and time make this art materially advantageous or spiritually attractive; the opening up of quarries, the discovery of metallic alloys, the necessity of roofing larger spaces, the demand for a sedentary amusement, for music to dance to in new social gatherings--any such humble reason, besides many others, can cause one art to issue more particularly out of the limbo of the undeveloped, or out of the lumber-room of the unused. it is during this historic moment--a moment which may last years or scores of years--that, as it seems to me, an art can really be deeply affected by its surrounding civilisation. for is it not called forth by that civilisation's requirements, material or spiritual; and is it not, by the very fact of being thus new, or at all events nascent, devoid of all conditioning factors, save those which the civilisation and its requirements impose from without? an art, like everything vital, takes shape not merely by pressure from without, but much more by the necessities inherent in its own constitution, the almost mechanical necessities by which all variable things _can_ vary only in certain fashions. all the natural selection, all the outer pressure in the world, cannot make a stone become larger by cutting, cannot make colour less complex by mixing, cannot make the ear perceive a dissonance more easily than a consonance, cannot make the human mind turn back from problems once opened up, or revert instantaneously to effects it is sick of; and a number of such immutable necessities constitute what we call the organism of an art, which can therefore respond only in one way and not another to the influences of surrounding civilisation. given the sculpture of the Ægina period, it is impossible we should not arrive at the sculpture of the time of alexander: the very constitution of clay and bronze, of marble, chisel and mallet, let alone that of the human mind, makes it inevitable; and you would have it inevitably if you could invert history, and put chæronea in the place of salamis. but there is no reason why you should eventually get lysippian and praxitelean sculpture instead of egyptian or assyrian, say, in the time of homer, whenever that may have been. for the causes which forced greek sculpture along the line leading to praxiteles and lysippus were not yet at work; and had other forces, say, a preference for stone work instead of clay and bronze work, a habit of persian or gaulish garments, of lydian effeminate life instead of dorian athleticism, supervened, had satraps ordered rock-reliefs of battles instead of burghers ordering brazen images of boxers and runners, praxiteles and lysippus might have remained _in mente dei_, if, indeed, even there. similarly, once given your pisan sculptors, giotto, nay, your imaginary cimabue, you inevitably get your donatello, masaccio, ghirlandajo, and eventually your leonardo, michelangelo, and titian; for the problems of form and of sentiment, the questions of perspective, anatomy, dramatic expression, lyric suggestion, architectural decoration, were established, in however rudimentary a manner, as soon as painting was ordered to leave off doing idle, emotionless christs, rows of gala saints and symbols of metaphysic theology, and told to set about showing the episodes of scripture, the things christ and the apostles did, and the places where they did them, and the feelings they felt about it all; told to make visible to the eye the gallant archangels, the lovable madonnas, the dear little baby saviours, the angels with their flowers and songs, all the human hope and pity and passion and tenderness which possessed the world in the days of st. francis. what pictures should we have seen if christianity (which was impossible) had continued in the habits of thought and feeling of the earlier middle ages? byzantine _icones_ become frightfuler and frightfuler, their theological piety perhaps sometimes relieved by odd wicked manichean symbolism; all talent and sentiment abandoning painting, perhaps to the advantage of music, whose solemn period of recondite contrapuntal complexity--something corresponding to the ingenuities and mysticism of theology--might have come two centuries earlier, and delighted the world instead of being unnoticed by it. be this as it may, there is no need for wondering, as people occasionally wonder, how the solemn terror, the sweetness, pathos, or serenity of men like signorelli, botticelli, or perugino, nay michelangelo, raphael, or giorgione, could have originated among malatestas, borgias, poggios, or aretines. it did not. and, therefore, since literature always precedes its more heavily cumbered fellow-servant art, we must look for the literary counterpart of the painters of the renaissance among the writers who preceded them by many generations, men more obviously in touch with the great mediæval revival: dante, boccaccio, the compilers of the "fioretti di san francesco," and, as we have just seen, fra jacopone da todi. v what art would there have been without that franciscan revival, or rather what emotional synthesis of life would art have had to record? this speculation has been dismissed as futile, because it is impossible to conceive that mankind could have gone on without some such enthusiastic return of faith in the goodness of things. but another question remains to be answered, remains to be asked; and that is, what was the spiritual meaning of the art which immediately preceded the franciscan revival? what was the emotional synthesis of life given by those who had come too early to partake in the new religion of love? the question seems scarcely to have occurred to any one, perhaps because the church found it expedient to obliterate, to the best of her power, all records of her terrible mediæval vicissitudes, and to misinterpret, for the benefit of purblind antiquarians, the architectural symbolism of the earlier middle ages. since, in the deciphering of such expressions of mankind's moods and intuitions, scientific investigation is scarcely more important than the moods and intuitions of the looker-on, it seems quite fitting that i should begin these suggestions about pre-franciscan italian art by saying that some years ago there met by accident in my mind a certain impression of lombard twelfth-century art, and a certain anecdote of lombard twelfth-century history. it was at lucca, a place most singularly rich in round-arched buildings, that i was, so to speak, overwhelmed by the fact that the italian churches of immediately pre-franciscan days possess by way of architectural ornamentation nothing but images of deformity and emblems of wickedness. this fact, apart from its historical bearing, may serve also to illustrate a theory i have already put forth, to wit, that the only art which is necessarily expressive of contemporary thought and feeling is such as embodies very little skill, and as expresses but very few organic necessities of form, both of which can result only from the activity and the influence of generations of craftsmen; since in these lucchese churches the architectural forms proclaim one thing and the sculptural details another. the first speak only of logic and serenity; the second only of the most abominable nightmare. the truth is, that these churches of lucca, and their more complex and perfect prototypes, like sant' ambrogio of milan, and san miniato of florence, are not the real outcome of the century which built them. it is quite natural that, with their stately proportions, their harmonious restrained vaultings, their easy, efficient colonnades, their ample and equable illumination, above all their obvious pleasure in constructive logic, these churches should affect us as being _classic_ as opposed to romantic, and even in a very large measure actually antique; for they have come, through generations as long-lived and as scanty as those of the patriarchs, straight from the classic, the antique; grandchildren of the courts of law and temples of pagan rome, children of the byzantine basilicas of early christian days; strange survivals from distant antiquity, testifying to the lack of artistic initiative in the barbarous centuries between constantine to barbarossa. no period in the world's history could have produced anything so organic without the work of previous periods; and when the middle ages did in their turn produce an architecture original to themselves, it was by altering these still classic forms into something absolutely different: that thirteenth-century gothic which answers to the material and necessities of the democratic and romantic times heralded by st. francis. the twelfth century, therefore, could not express itself in the architectural forms and harmonies of those lucchese churches; but it could express itself in their rude and thoroughly original sculpture. hence, while there is in them no indication of the symbolism of the coming ogival gothic, there is no trace either of the symbolism belonging to byzantine buildings. none of the gothic imagery testifying faith and joy in god and his creatures; no effigies of saints; at most only of the particular building's patron; no madonnas, infant christs, burning cherubim, singing and playing angels, armed romantic st. michael or st. george; none of those goodly rows of kings and queens guarding the portals, or of those charming youthful heads marking the spring of the pointed arch, the curve of the spandril. nor, on the other hand, any remnant of byzantine devices of the date-loaded palms, the peacocks and doves, the bunches of grapes, the serene, almost pagan imagery which graces the churches of the cælian and aventine, the basilicas of ravenna, and which would seem the necessary accompaniment of this stately neo-byzantine architecture. the churches of lucca, like their contemporaries and immediate predecessors throughout tuscany and north italy, are ornamented only with symbols of terror.[ ] [footnote : the cathedral of assisi, a very early mediæval building, affords a singular instance of the meeting of the last remnant of that serene symbolism of roman and byzantine-roman churches with the usual lombard horrors. a fine passion-flower or vine encircles the porch, peacocks strut and drink from an altar, while, on the other hand, lions mangle a man and a sheep, and horrible composite monsters, resembling the prehistoric plesiosaurus, bite each other's necks. a madonna and christ are enthroned on byzantine seats, the weight resting on human beings, not so realistically crushed as those of ferrara and milan, but suffering. there is a similar meeting of symbols in the neighbouring cathedral of foligno; and, so far as i could see, the umbrian valley is rich in very early churches of this type, sometimes lovely in ornamentation, like s. pietro of spoleto, sometimes very rude, like the tiny twin churches of bevagna.] the minds of the sculptors seem haunted by the terror of wicked wild beasts, irresistible and mysterious, as in the night fears of children. the chief ornament of st. michael of lucca is a curious band of black and white inlaid work, of which mr. ruskin has said, with the optimism of an orthodox symbolist, that it shows that the people of lucca loved hunting, even as the people of florence loved the sciences and crafts symbolised on their belfry. but the two or three solitary mannikins of the frieze of st. michael exemplify not the pleasures, but the terrors of the chase; or rather they are not hunting, but being hunted by the wild beasts all round; attacked rather than pursuing, flying on their little horses from the unequal fight, or struggling under the hug of bears, the grip of lions; never does one of them carry off a dead creature or deal a mortal blow. the wild beasts are masters of the situation, the men mere intruders, speedily worsted; and this is proved by the fact that where the wolves, lions, and bears are not struggling with human beings, they are devouring each another, the appearance of the poor little scared men being only an interlude in the everlasting massacre of one beast by another. the people who worked this frieze may have pretended, perhaps, that they were expressing the pleasures of hunting; but what they actually realised was evidently the horrors of a world given over to ravening creatures. the porch sculptures of this and all the other churches of lucca remove all further doubt upon this point. for here what human beings there lie under the belly and in the claws (sometimes a mere horrid mangled human head) of the lions and lionesses who project like beamheads out of the wall or carry the porch columns on their back: scowling, murderous creatures, with which the twelfth and early thirteenth century ornamented even houses and public tanks like fonte branda, which less terrified generations adorned with personified virtues. the nightmare of wild beasts is carried on in the inside of the churches: there again, under the columns of the pulpits are the lions and lionesses gnashing their teeth, tearing stags and gazelles and playing with human heads. and, to increase the horror, there also loom on the capitals of the nave strange unknown birds of prey, fantastic terrible vultures and griffins. everywhere massacre and nightmare in those churches of lucca. and the impression they made on my mind was naturally strengthened by the recollection of the similar and often more terrible carvings in other places, milan, pavia, modena, volterra, the pistoiese and lucchese hill-towns, in all other places rich in pre-franciscan art. above all, there came to my mind the image of the human figures which in most of such pre-franciscan places express the other half of all this terror, the feelings of mankind in this kingdom of wicked, mysterious wild beasts. i allude to the terrible figures, crushed into dwarfs and hunchbacks by the weight of porch columns and pulpits, amid which the tragic creature, with broken spine and starting eyes, of sant' ambrogio of milan is, through sheer horrified realisation, a sort of masterpiece. but there are wild beasts, lions and lionesses, among the works of thirteenth-century sculptors, and lions and lionesses continue for a long time as ornaments of pure gothic architecture. of course; but it was the very nearness of the resemblance of these later creatures that brought home to me the utterly different, the uniform and extraordinary character, of those of earlier date: the emblem was kept by the force of tradition, but the meaning thereof was utterly changed. the pisani, for instance, carved lions and lionesses under all their pulpits; some of them are merely looking dignified, others devouring their prey, but they are conceived by a semi-heraldic decorator or an intelligent naturalist; nay, the spirit of st. francis has entered into the sculptors, the feeling for animal piety and happiness, to the extent of representing the lionesses as suckling and tenderly licking their whelps. the men of that time cannot even conceive, in their newly acquired faith and joy in god and his creatures, what feelings must have been uppermost in the men who first set the fashion of adorning churches with men-devouring monsters. such were my impressions during those days spent among the serene lucchese churches and their terrible emblems. and under their influence, thinking of the times which had built the churches and carved the emblems, there came to my memory a very curious anecdote, unearthed by the learned ecclesiastical historian tocco, and consigned in his extremely suggestive book on mediæval heresies. a certain priest of milan became so revered for his sanctity and learning, and for the marvellous cures he worked, that the people insisted on burying him before the high altar, and resorting to his tomb as to that of a saint. the holy man became even more undoubtedly saintly after his death; and in the face of the miracles which were wrought by his intercession, it became necessary to proceed to his beatification. the church was about to establish his miraculous sainthood, when, in the official process of collecting the necessary information, it was discovered that the supposed saint was a manichean heretic, a _catharus_, a believer in the wicked demiurgus, the creating satan, the defeat of the spiritual god, and the uselessness of the coming of christ. it was quite probable that he had spat upon the crucifix as a symbol of the devil's triumph; it was quite possible that he had said masses to satan as the true creator of all matter. be this as it may, that priest's half-canonised bones were publicly burnt and their ashes scattered to the wind. the anecdote shows that the manichean heresies, some ascetic and tender, others brutal and foul, had made their way into the most holy places. and, indeed, when we come to think of it, no longer startled by so extraordinary a revelation, this was the second time that christianity ran the risk of becoming a dualistic religion--a religion, like some of its asiatic rivals, of pessimism, transcendentally spiritual or cynically base according to the individual believer. nor is it surprising that such views, identical with those of the transcendental theologians of the fourth century, and equivalent to the philosophical pessimism of our own day, as expounded particularly by schopenhauer, should have found favour among the best and most thoughtful men of the early middle ages. in those stern and ferocious, yet tender-hearted and most questioning times, there must have been something logically satisfying, and satisfying also to the harrowed sympathies, in the conviction, if not in the dogma, that the soul of man had not been made by the maker of the foul and cruel world of matter; and that the suffering of all good men's hearts corresponded with the suffering, the humiliation of a mysteriously dethroned god of the spirit. and what a light it must have shed, completely solving all terrible questions, upon the story of christ's martyrdom, so constantly uppermost in the thoughts and feelings of mediæval men! now, the men who built sant' ambrogio[ ] and san miniato a monte, who carved the stone nightmares, the ravening lions, the squashed and writhing human figures of the early lombard and tuscan churches, were the contemporaries of that manichean priest of milan, who, although a saint, had believed in the triumph of the devil and the wickedness of the creator. and among his fellow-heretics--those heretics lurking everywhere, and most among the most religious--should we not expect to find the mysterious guilds of lombard freemasons, and the craftsmen to whom they gradually revealed their secrets, affirming in their stone symbolism to the already initiated, and suggesting to the uninitiated, their terrible creed of inevitable misery on earth? nay, can we not imagine some of them, even as the templars were accused of doing (and the templars were patrons, remember, of important guilds of masons), propitiating the great enemy by service and ritual, proclaiming his power, even as the ancients propitiated the divinities of darkness whom they hated? for the god of good, we can fancy them reasoning, the pure spirit who will triumph when all this cruel universe goes to pieces, can wish for no material altars, and can have no use for churches. or did not the idea of a dualism become confused into a vacillating, contradictory notion of a power at once good and evil, something inscrutable, unthinkable, but inspiring less confidence than terror? [footnote : here are a few dates, as given by murray's handbooks. fiesole cathedral begun ; s. miniato a monte, ; pisa cathedral consecrated ; baptistery (lower storey), . lucca façade (interior later), ; s. frediano of lucca begun by perharit , altered in twelfth century; s. michele façade, . pistoia: s. giovanni evangelista by gruamons, ; s. andrea, also by gruamons; s. bartolomeo by rudolphinus, . pulpit of s. ambrogio of milan, ; church traditionally begun about , probably much more modern.] whatever the secret of those sculptured monsters, this much is historically certain, that a dualistic, profoundly pessimist belief had honeycombed christianity throughout provence and northern and central italy. but for this knowledge it would be impossible to explain the triumphant reception given to st. francis and his sublime, illogical optimism, his train of converted wolves, sympathising birds, and saints and angels mixing familiarly with mortal men. the franciscan revival has the strength and success of a reaction. and in sweeping away the pessimistic terrors of mankind, it swept away, by what is at least a strange coincidence, the nightmare sculpture of the old lombard stonemasons. what the things were which made room for the carved virgins and saints, the lute-playing angels and nibbling squirrels and twittering birds of gothic sculpture, i wish to put before the reader in one significant example. the cathedral of ferrara is a building which, although finished in the thirteenth century, had been begun and consecrated so early as , and the porch thereof, as is frequently the case, appears to have been erected earlier than other portions. of this porch two pillars are supported by life-sized figures, one bearded, one beardless, both dressed in the girdled smock of the early middle ages. the enormous weight of the porch is resting, not conventionally (as in the antique caryatid) on the head, but on the spine; and the head is protruded forwards in a fearful effort to save itself, the face most frightfully convulsed: another moment and the spine must be broken and the head droop freely down. before the portals, but not supporting anything, are six animals of red marble--a griffin, two lions, two lionesses, or what seem such, and a second griffin. the central lions are well preserved, highly realistic, but also decorative; one of them is crushing a large ram, another an ox, both creatures splendidly rendered. i imagine these central lions to be more recent (having perhaps replaced others) than their neighbours, which are obliterated to the extent of being lions or lionesses only by guesswork. these nameless feline creatures hold what appear to be portions of sheep, one of them having at its flank a curious excrescence like the stinging scorpion of the mithra groups. the griffins, on the other hand, although every detail is rubbed out, are splendid in power and expression--great lion-bodied creatures, with gigantic eagle's beak, manifestly birds rather than beasts, with the muscular neck and probably the movement of a hawk. like hawks, they have not swooped on to their prey, but let themselves drop on to it, arriving not on their belly like lions, but on their wings like birds. the prey is about a fourth of the griffin's size. one of the griffins has swooped down upon a wain, whose two wheels just protrude on either side of him; the heads of two oxen are under his paws, and the head, open mouthed, with terrified streaming hair, of the driver; beasts and men have come down flat on their knees. the other griffin has captured a horse and his rider; the horse has shied and fallen sideways beneath the griffin's loins, with head protruding on one side and hoofs on the other, the empty stirrup is still swinging. the rider, in mail-shirt and crusader's helmet, has been thrown forward, and lies between the griffin's claws, his useless triangular shield clasped tight against his breast. perhaps merely because the attitude of the two griffins had to be symmetrical, and the horse and rider filled up the space under their belly less closely than the cart, oxen, and driver, there arises the suggestive fact that the poor man and his bullocks are crushed more mercilessly than the rich man and his horse. but be this as it may, poor and rich, serf and knight, the griffin of destiny encompasses and pounces upon each; and the talons of evil pin down and the beak of misery rends with impartial cruel certainty. such is the account of the world and man, of justice and mercy, recorded for us by the stonemasons of ferrara. vi as with the emotional, the lyric element in renaissance art, so also with the narrative or dramatic; it belongs not to the original, real, or at all events primitive christianity of the time when the man jesus walked on earth in the body, but to that day when he arose once more, no less a christ, be sure, in the soul of those men of the middle ages. the evangelists had never felt--why should they, good, fervent jewish laymen?--the magic of the baby christ as it was felt by those mediæval ascetics, suddenly reawakened to human feeling. there is neither tenderness nor reverence in the gospels for the mother of the lord; some rather rough words on her motherhood; and that mention in st. john, intended so evidently to bring the evangelist, or supposed evangelist, into closer communion with christ, not to draw attention to christ's mother. yet out of those slight, and perhaps almost contemptuous indications, the middle ages have made three or four perfect and wonderful types of glorified womanhood: the mother in adoration, the crowned, enthroned virgin, the mater gloriosa; the broken-hearted mother, mater dolorosa, as found at the foot of the cross or fainting at the deposition therefrom; types more complete and more immortal than that of any greek divinity; above all, perhaps, the mere young mother holding the child for kindly, reverent folk to look at, for the little st. john to play with, or alone, looking at it, thinking of it in solitude and silence: the whole lovingness of all creatures rising in a clear flame to heaven. nay, is not the suffering christ a fresh creation of the middle ages, made really to bear the sorrows of a world more sorrowful than that of judea? that strange christ of the resurrection, as painted occasionally by angelico, by pier della francesca, particularly in a wonderful small panel by botticelli; the christ not yet triumphant at easter, but risen waist-high in the sepulchre, sometimes languidly seated on its rim, stark, bloodless, with scarce seeing eyes, and the motionless agony of one recovering from a swoon, enduring the worst of all his martyrdom, the return to life in that chill, bleak landscape, where the sparse trees bend in the dawn wind; returning from death to a new, an endless series of sufferings, even as that legend made him answer the wayfaring peter, _returning to be crucified once more--iterum crucifigi_. all this is the lyric side, on which, in art as in poetry, there are as many variations as there are individual temperaments, and the variety in renaissance art is therefore endless. let us consider the narrative or dramatic side, on which, as i have elsewhere tried to show, all that could be done was done, only repetition ensuing, very early in the history of italian art, by the pisans, giotto and giotto's followers. these have their counterpart, their precursors, in the writers and reciters of devotional romances. among the most remarkable of these is the "life of the magdalen," printed in certain editions of frate domenico cavalca's well known charming translations of st. jerome's "lives of the saints." who the author may be seems quite doubtful, though the familiar and popular style might suggest some small burgher turned franciscan late in life. as the spiritual love lyrics of jacopone stand to the _canzonieri_ of dante and of dante's circle of poets, so does this devout novel stand to boccaccio's more serious tales, and even to his "_fiammetta_;" only, i think that the relation of the two novelists is the reverse of that of the poets; for, with an infinitely ruder style, the biographer of the magdalen, whoever he was, has also an infinitely finer psychological sense than boccaccio. indeed, this little novel ought to be reprinted, like "aucasin et nicolette," as one of the absolutely satisfactory works, so few but so exquisite, of the middle ages. it is the story of the relations of jesus with the family of lazarus, whose sister mary is here identified with the magdalen; and it is, save for the account of the passion, which forms the nucleus, a perfect tissue of inventions. indeed, the author explains very simply that he is narrating not how he knows of a certainty that things did happen, but how it pleases him to think that they might have happened. for the man puts his whole heart in the story, and alters, amplifies, explains away till his heart is satisfied. the magdalen, for instance, was not all the sort of woman that foolish people think. if she took to scandalous courses, it was only from despair at being forsaken by her bridegroom, who left her on the wedding-day to follow christ to the desert, and who was no other than the evangelist john. moreover, let no vile imputations be put upon it; in those days, when everybody was so good and modest, it took very little indeed (in fact, nothing which our wicked times would notice at all) to get a woman into disrepute. judged by our low fourteenth-century standard, this sinning magdalen would have been only a little over-cheerful, a little free, barely what in the fourteenth century is called (the mere notion would have horrified the house of lazarus) _a trifle fast_; our unknown franciscan--for i take him to be a franciscan--insists very much on her having sung and whistled on the staircase, a thing no modest lady of bethany would then have done; but which, my dear brethren, is after all.... this sinful magdalen, repenting of her sins, such as they are, is living with her sister mary and her brother lazarus; the whole little family bound to jesus by the miracle which had brought lazarus back to life. jesus and his mother are their guests during passion week; and the awful tragedy of the world and of heaven passes, in the anonymous narrative, across the narrow stage of that little burgher's house. as in the art of the fifteenth century, the chief emotional interest of the passion is thrown not on the apostles, scarcely on jesus, but upon the two female figures, facing each other as in some fresco of perugino, the magdalen and the mother of christ. facing one another, but how different! this magdalen has the terrific gesture of despair of one of those colossal women of signorelli's, flung down, as a town by earthquake, at the foot of the cross. she was pardoned "because she had loved much"--_quia multo amavit_. the unknown friar knew what _that_ meant as well as his contemporary dante, when love showed him the vision of beatrice's death. never was there such heart-breaking as that of his heroine: she becomes almost the chief personage of the passion; for she knows not merely all the martyrdom of the beloved, feels all the agonies of his flesh and his spirit, but knows--how well!--that she has lost him. opposite this terrible convulsive magdalen, sobbing, tearing her hair and rolling on the ground, is the other heart-broken woman, the mother; but how different! she remains maternal through her grief, with motherly thoughtfulness for others; for to the real mother (how different in this to the lover!) there will always remain in the world some one to think of. she bridles her sorrow; when john at last hesitatingly suggests that they must not stay all night on calvary, she turns quietly homeward; and, once at home, tries to make the mourners eat, tries to eat with them, makes them take rest that dreadful night. for such a mother there shall not be mere bitterness in death; and here follows a most beautiful and touching invention: the glorified christ, returning from limbo, takes the happy, delivered souls to visit his mother. "and messer giesù having tarried awhile with them in that place, said: 'now let us go and make my mother happy, who with most gentle tears is calling upon me.' and they went forthwith, and came to the room where our lady was praying, and with gentle tears asking god to give her back her son, saying it was to-day the third day. and as she stayed thus, messer giesù drew near to her on one side, and said: 'peace and cheerfulness be with thee, holy mother.' and straightway she recognised the voice of her blessed son, and opened her eyes and beheld him thus glorious, and threw herself down wholly on the ground and worshipped him. and the lord jesus knelt himself down like her; and then they rose to their feet and embraced one another most sweetly, and gave each other peace, and then went and sat together," while all the holy people from limbo looked on in admiration, and knelt down one by one, first the baptist, and adam and eve, and all the others, saluting the mother of christ, while the angels sang the end of all sorrows. vii there would be much to say on this subject. one might point out, for instance, not only that dante has made the lady he loved in his youth into the heroine--a heroine smiling in fashion more womanlike than theological--of his vision of hell and heaven; but what would have been even less possible at any previous moment of the world's history, he has interwoven his theogony so closely with strands of most human emotion and passion (think of that most poignant of love dramas in the very thick of hell!), that, instead of a representation, a chart, so to speak, of long-forgotten philosophical systems, his poem has become a picture, pattern within pattern, of the life of all things: flowers blowing, trees waving, men and women moving and speaking in densest crowds among the flaming rocks of hell, the steps of purgatory, the planispheres of heaven's stars making the groundwork of that wondrous tapestry. but it is better to read dante than to read about dante, so i let him be. on the other hand, and lest some one take puritanic umbrage at my remarks on early italian art, and deprecate the notion that religious painters could be so very human, i shall say a few parting words about the religious painter, the saint _par excellence_, i mean the blessed angelico. heaven forbid i should attempt to turn him into a brother lippo, of the landor or browning pattern! he was very far indeed, let alone from profanity, even from such flesh and blood feeling as that of jacopone and scores of other blessed ones. he was, emotionally, rather bloodless; and whatsoever energy he had probably went in tussels with the technical problems of the day, of which he knew much more, for all his cloistered look, than i suspected when i wrote of him before. angelico, to return to the question, was not a st. francis, a fra jacopone. but even angelico had his passionately human side, though it was only the humanness of a nice child. in a life of hard study, and perhaps hard penance, that childish blessed one nourished childish desires--desires for green grass and flowers, for gay clothes,[ ] for prettily-dressed pink and lilac playfellows, for the kissing and hugging in which he had no share, for the games of the children outside the convent gate. how human, how ineffably full of a good child's longing, is not his vision of paradise! the gaily-dressed angels are leading the little cowled monks--little baby black and white things, with pink faces like sugar lambs and easter rabbits--into deep, deep grass quite full of flowers, the sort of grass every child on this wicked earth has been cruelly forbidden to wade in! they fall into those angels' arms, hugging them with the fervour of children in the act of _loving_ a cat or a dog. they join hands with those angels, outside the radiant pink and blue toy-box towers of the celestial jerusalem, and go singing "round the mulberry bush" much more like the babies in kate greenaway's books than like the fathers of the church in dante. the joys of paradise, for this dear man of god, are not confined to sitting _ad dexteram domini_.... [footnote : mme. darmesteter's charming essays "the end of the middle ages," contain some amusing instances of such repressed love of finery on the part of saints. compare fioretti xx., "and these garments of such fair cloth, which we wear (in heaven) are given us by god in exchange for our rough frocks."] _di questo nostro dolce fratellino_; that line of jacopone da todi, hymning to the child christ, sums up, in the main, the vivifying spirit of early italian art; nay, is it not this mingled emotion of tenderness, of reverence, and deepest brotherhood which made st. francis claim sun and birds, even the naughty wolf, for brethren? this feeling becomes embodied, above all, in the very various army of charming angels; and more particularly, perhaps, because venice had no other means of expression than painting, in the singing and playing angels of the old venetians. these angels, whether they be the girlish, long-haired creatures, robed in orange and green, of carpaccio; or the naked babies, with dimpled little legs and arms, and filetted silky curls of gian bellini, seem to concentrate into music all the many things which that strong pious venice, tongue-tied by dialect, had no other way of saying; and we feel to this day that it sounds in our hearts and attunes them to worship or love or gentle contemplation. the sound of those lutes and pipes, of those childish voices, heard and felt by the other holy persons in those pictures--roman knight sebastian, cardinal jerome, wandering palmer roch, and all the various lovely princesses with towers and palm boughs in their hands--moreover brings them together, unites them in one solemn blissfulness round the enthroned madonna. these are not people come together by accident to part again accidentally; they are eternal, part of a vision disclosed to the pious spectator, a crowning of the mass with its wax-lights and songs. but the venetian playing and singing angels are there for something more important still. those excellent old painters understood quite well that in the midst of all this official, doge-like ceremony, it was hard, very hard lines for the poor little christ child, having to stand or lie for ever, for ever among those grown-up saints, on the knees of that majestic throning madonna; since the oligarchy, until very late, allowed no little playfellow to approach the christ child, bringing lambs and birds and such-like, and leading him off to pick flowers as in the pictures of those democratic tuscans and umbrians. none of that silly familiarity, said stately venetian piety. but the painters were kinder. they incarnated their sympathy in the baby music-making angels, and bade them be friendly to the christ child. they are so; and nowhere does it strike one so much as in that fine picture, formerly called bellini, but more probably alvise vivarini, at the redentore, where the virgin, in her lacquer-scarlet mantle, has ceased to be human altogether, and become a lovely female buddha in contemplation, absolutely indifferent to the poor little sleeping christ. the little angels have been sorry. coming to make their official music, they have brought each his share of heaven's dessert: a little offering of two peaches, three figs, and three cherries on one stalk (so precious therefore!), placed neatly, spread out to look much, not without consciousness of the greatness of the sacrifice. they have not, those two little angels, forgotten, i am sure, the gift they have brought, during that rather weary music-making before the inattentive madonna. they keep on thinking how christ will awake to find all those precious things, and they steel their little hearts to the sacrifice. the little bird who has come (invited for like reason) and perched on the curtain bar, understands it all, respects their feelings, and refrains from pecking. such is the heart of the saints, and out of it comes the painted triumph of _el magno jesulino_. the imaginative art of the renaissance i in a florentine street through which i pass most days, is a house standing a little back (the place is called the square of purgatory), the sight of which lends to that sordid street of stained palace backs, stables, and dingy little shops, a certain charm and significance, in virtue solely of three roses carved on a shield over a door. the house is a humble one of the sixteenth century, and its three roses have just sufficient resemblance to roses, with their pincushion heads and straight little leaves, for us to know them as such. yet that rude piece of heraldic carving, that mere indication that some one connected with the house once thought of roses, is sufficient, as i say, to give a certain pleasurableness to the otherwise quite unpleasurable street. this is by no means an isolated instance. in various places, as emblems of various guilds or confraternities, one meets similarly carved, on lintel or escutcheon, sheaves of lilies, or what is pleasanter still, that favourite device of the renaissance (become well known as the monogram of the painter benvenuto garofalo), a jar with five clove-pinks. and on each occasion of meeting them, that carved lily and those graven clove-pinks, like the three roses in the square of purgatory, have shed a charm over the street, given me a pleasure more subtle than that derived from any bed of real lilies, or pot of real clove-pinks, or bush of real roses; colouring and scenting the street with this imaginary colour and perfume. what train of thought has been set up? it would be hard to say. something too vague to be perceived except as a whole impression of pleasure; a half-seen vision, doubtless, of the real flowers, of the places where they grow; perhaps even a faint reminiscence, a dust of broken and pounded fragments, of stories and songs into which roses enter, or lilies, or clove-pinks. hereby hangs a whole question of æsthetics. those three stone roses are the type of one sort of imaginative art; of one sort of art which, beyond or independent of the charm of visible beauty, possesses a charm that acts directly upon the imagination. such charm, or at least such interest, may be defined as the literary element in art; and i should give it that name, did it not suggest a dependence upon the written word which i by no means intend to imply. it is the element which, unlike actual representation, is possessed by literature as well as by art; indeed, it is the essence of the former, as actual representation is of the latter. but it belongs to art, in the cases when it belongs to it at all, not because the artist is in any way influenced by the writer, but merely because the forms represented by the artist are most often the forms of really existing things, and fraught, therefore, with associations to all such as know them; and because, also, the artist who presents these forms is a human being, and as such not only sees and draws, but feels and thinks; because, in short, literature being merely the expression of habits of thought and emotion, all such art as deals with the images of real objects tends more or less, in so far as it is a human being, to conform to its type. this is one kind of artistic imagination, this which i have rudely symbolised in the symbol of the three carved roses--the imagination which delights the mind by holding before it some charming or uncommon object, and conjuring up therewith a whole train of feeling and fancy; the school, we might call it, of intellectual decoration, of arabesques formed not of lines and colours, but of associations and suggestions. and to this school of the three carved roses in the square of purgatory belong, among others, angelico, benozzo, botticelli, and all those venetians who painted piping shepherds, and ruralising magnificent ladies absorbed in day-dreams. but besides this kind of imagination in art, there is another and totally different. it is the imagination of how an event would have looked; the power of understanding and showing how an action would have taken place, and how that action would have affected the bystanders; a sort of second-sight, occasionally rising to the point of revealing, not merely the material aspect of things and people, but the emotional value of the event in the eyes of the painter. thus, for instance, tintoret concentrated a beam of sunlight into the figure of christ before pilate, not because he supposed christ to have stood in that sunlight, but because the white figure, shining yet ghost-like, seemed to him, perhaps unconsciously, to indicate the position of the betrayed saviour among the indifference and wickedness of the world. hence i would divide all imaginative art, particularly that of the old italian masters, into art which stirs our own associations, and suggests to us trains of thought and feeling perhaps unknown to the artist, and art which exhibits a scene or event foreign to ourselves, and placed before us with a deliberate intention. both are categories of imaginative activity due to inborn peculiarities of character; but one of them, namely, the suggestive, is probably spontaneous, and quite unintentional, hence never asked for by the public, nor sought after by the artist; while the other, self-conscious and intentional, is therefore constantly sought after by the artist, and bargained for by the public. i shall begin with the latter, because it is the recognised commodity: artistic imagination, as bought and sold in the market, whether of good quality or bad. ii the painters of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, developing the meagre suggestions of byzantine decoration, incorporating the richer inventions of the bas-reliefs of the pisan sculptors and of the medallions surrounding the earliest painted effigies of holy personages, produced a complete set of pictorial themes illustrative of gospel history and of the lives of the principal saints. these illustrative themes--definite conceptions of situations and definite arrangements of figures--became forthwith the whole art's stock, universal and traditional; few variations were made from year to year and from master to master, and those variations resolved themselves continually back into the original type. and thus on, through the changes in artistic means and artistic ends, until the italian schools disappeared finally before the schools of france and flanders. let us take a striking example. the presentation of the virgin remains unaltered in main sentiment and significance of composition, despite the two centuries and more which separate the gaddi from titian and tintoret, despite the complete change in artistic aims and methods separating still more completely the men of the fourteenth century from the men of the sixteenth. the long flight of steps stretching across the fresco in santa croce stretches also across the canvas of the great venetians; and the little girl climbs up them alike, presenting her profile to the spectator; although at the top of the steps there is in one case a gothic portal, and in the other a palladian portico, and at the bottom of the steps in the fresco stand florentines who might personally have known dante, and at the bottom of the steps in the pictures the venetian patrons of aretino. yet the presentation of the little maiden to the high priest is quite equally conceivable in many other ways and from many other points of view. as regards both dramatic conception and pictorial composition, the moment might have been differently chosen; the child might still be with its parents or already with the priest; and the flight of steps might have been replaced by the court of the temple. any man might have invented his own representation of the occurrence. but the men of the sixteenth century adhered scrupulously or indifferently to the inventions of the men of the fourteenth. this is merely one instance in a hundred. if we summon up in our mind as many as we can of the various frescoes and pictures representing the chief incidents of scripture history, we shall find that, while there are endless differences between them with respect to drawing, anatomy, perspective, light and shade, colour and handling, there are but few and slight variations as regards the conception of the situation and the arrangement for the figures. in the marriage of the virgin the suitors are dressed, sometimes in the loose robe and cap with lappets of the days of giotto, and sometimes in the tight hose and laced doublet of the days of raphael and of luini; but they break their wands across their knees with the same gesture and expression; and although the temple is sometimes close at hand, and sometimes a little way off, the wedding ceremony invariably takes place outside it, and not inside. the shepherds in the nativity are sometimes young and sometimes old, but they always come in broad daylight, and the manger by which the virgin is kneeling is always outside the stable, and always in one corner of the picture. again, whatever slight difference there may be in the expression and gesture of the apostles at the last supper, they are always seated on one side only of a table facing the spectator, with judas alone on a stool on the opposite side. and although there are two themes of the entombment of christ, one where the body is stretched on the ground, the other where it is being carried to the sepulchre, the action is always out of doors, and never, as might sometimes be expected, gives us the actual burial in the vault. these examples are more than sufficient. yet i feel that any description in words is inadequate to convey the extreme monotony of all these representations, because the monotony is not merely one of sentiment by selection of the dramatic moment, but of the visible composition of the paintings, of the outlines of the groups and the balancing of them. a monotony so complete that any one of us almost knows what to expect, in all save technical matters and the choice of models, on being told that in such a place there is an old italian fresco, or panel, or canvas, representing some principal episode of gospel history. the explanation of this fidelity to one theme of representation in an art which was the very furthest removed from any hieratic prescriptions, in an art which was perpetually growing--and growing more human and secular--must be sought for, i think, in no peculiarities of spiritual condition or national imagination, but in two facts concerning the merely technical development of painting, and the results thereof. these two facts are briefly: that at a given moment--namely, the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the fourteenth--there existed just enough power of imitating nature to admit of the simple indication of a dramatic situation, without further realisation of detail; and that at this moment, consequently, there originated such pictorial indications of the chief dramatic situations as concerned the christian world. and secondly, that from then and until well into the sixteenth century, the whole attention of artists was engrossed in changing the powers of indication into powers of absolute representation, developing completely the drawing, anatomy, perspective, colour, light and shade, and handling, which giotto and his contemporaries had possessed only in a most rudimentary condition, and which had sufficed for the creation of just such pictorial themes as they had invented, and no more. let me explain myself further. the artists of the fourteenth century, with the exception of giotto himself--to whose premature excellence none of his contemporaries and disciples ever attained--give us, by means of pictorial representation, just about the same as could be given to us by the conventional symbolism of writing. in describing a giottesque fresco, or panel, we are not stopped by the difficulty of rendering visible effects in words, because the visible effects that meet us are in reality so many words; so that, to describe the picture, it almost suffices to narrate the story, no arrangements of different planes and of light and shade, no peculiarities of form, foreshortening, colour, or texture requiring to be seen in order to be fully understood. the artists of the fifteenth century--for the giottesques do little more than carry, without developing them, the themes of giotto into various parts of italy--work at adding to the art exactly those qualities which belong exclusively to it, and which baffle the mere written word: they acquire the means, slowly and laboriously, of showing these events no longer merely to the mind, but also to the eye; they place these people in real space, in real relations of distance and light, they give them a real body which can stand and move, made of real flesh and blood and bones, and covered with real clothes; they turn these abstractions once more into realities like the realities of nature whence they had been abstracted. but the work of the fifteenth century does not go beyond filling up the programme indicated by the giottesques; and it is only after the men of the sixteenth century have been enabled to completely realise all that the men of the fourteenth century had indicated, that art, with michelangelo, tintoret, and still more with the great painters of spain and flanders, proceeds to encounter problems of foreshortening, of light and shade, of atmospheric effect, that could never have been imagined by the contemporaries of giotto, nor even by the contemporaries of ghirlandaio and the bellini. hence, throughout the fifteenth century, while there is a steady development of the artistic means required to realise those narrative themes which the giottesques had invented, there is no introduction of any new artistic means unnecessary for this result, but which, like the foreshortenings of michelangelo, and the light and shade of tintoret, like the still further additions to painting represented by men like velasquez and rembrandt, could suggest new treatment of the old histories and enable the well-known events to be shown from totally new intellectual standpoints, and in totally new artistic arrangements. if we look into the matter, we shall recognise that the monotony of representation throughout the renaissance can be amply accounted for without referring to the fact, which, however, doubtless went for something, that the men of the fifteenth century were too much absorbed in the working out of details to feel any desire for new pictorial versions of the stories of the gospel, and the lives of the saints. moreover, the giottesques--among whom i include the immediate precursors, sculptors as well as painters, of giotto--put into their scripture stories an amount of logic, of sentiment, of dramatic and psychological observation and imagination more than sufficient to furnish out the works of three generations of later comers. setting aside giotto himself, who concentrates and diffuses the vast bulk of dramatic invention as well as of artistic observation and skill, there is in even the small and smallest among his followers, an extraordinary happiness of individual invention of detail. i may quote a few instances at random. it would be difficult to find a humbler piece of work than the so-called tree of the cross, in the florentine academy: a thing like a huge fern, with medallion histories in each frond, it can scarcely be considered a work of art, and stands halfway between a picture and a genealogical tree. yet in some of its medallions there is a great vivacity of imaginative rendering; for instance, the massacre of the innocents represented by a single soldier, mailed and hooded, standing before herod on a floor strewn with children's bodies, and holding up an infant by the arm, like a dead hare, preparing slowly to spit it on his sword; and the kiss of judas, the soldiers crowding behind, while the traitor kisses christ, seems to bind him hand and foot with his embraces, to give him up, with that stealthy look backwards to the impatient rabble--a representation of the scene, infinitely superior in its miserable execution to angelico's ave rabbi! with its elaborate landscape of towers and fruit trees. again, in a series of predella histories of the virgin, in the same place, also a very mediocre and anonymous work, there is extraordinary charm in the conception of the respective positions of mary and joseph at their wedding: he is quite old and grey; she young, unformed, almost a child, and she has to stand on two steps to be on his level, raising her head with a beautiful, childlike earnestness, quite unlike the conventional bridal timidity of other painters. leaving these unknown mediocrities, i would refer to the dramatic value (besides the great pictorial beauty) of an entombment by giottino, in the corridor of the uffizi: the virgin does not faint, or has recovered (thus no longer diverting the attention from the dead saviour to herself, as elsewhere), and surrounds the head of her son with her arms; the rest of the figures restrain themselves before her, and wink with strange blinking efforts to keep back their tears. still more would i speak of two small frescoes in the baroncelli chapel at santa croce, which are as admirable in poetical conception as they are unfortunately poor in artistic execution. one of them represents the annunciation to the shepherds: they are lying in a grey, hilly country, wrapped in grey mists, their flock below asleep, but the dog vigilant, sniffing the supernatural. one is hard asleep; the other awakes suddenly, and has turned over and looks up screwing his eyes at the angel, who comes in a pale yellow winter sunrise cloud, in the cold, grey mist veined with yellow. the chilliness of the mist at dawn, the wonder of the vision, are felt with infinite charm. in the other fresco the three kings are in a rocky place, and to them appears, not the angel, but the little child christ, half-swaddled, swimming in orange clouds on a deep blue sky. the eldest king is standing, and points to the vision with surprise and awe; the middle-aged one shields his eyes coolly to see; while the youngest, a delicate lad, has already fallen on his knees, and is praying with both hands crossed on his breast. for dramatic, poetic invention, these frescoes can be surpassed, poor as is their execution, only by giotto's st. john ascending slowly from the open grave, floating upwards, with outstretched arms and illumined face, to where a cloud of prophets, with christ at their head, enwraps him in the deep blue sky. these pictorial themes elaborated by the painters of the school of giotto were not merely as good, in a way, as any pictorial themes could be: simple, straightforward, often very grand, so that the immediately following generations could only spoil, but not improve upon them; they were also, if we consider the matter, the only pictorial representations of scripture histories possible until art had acquired those new powers of foreshortening, and light and shade and perspective, which were sought for only after the complete attainment of the more elementary powers which the giottesques never fully possessed. let us ask ourselves how, in the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, any notable change in general arrangement of any well-known scripture subject could well have been introduced; and, in order to do so, let us realise one or two cases where the same subjects have been treated by later masters. tintoretto's last judgment, where the heavenly hosts brood, poised on their wings, above the river of hell which hurries the damned down its cataracts, is impossible so long as perspective and foreshortening will barely admit (as is the case up to the end of the fifteenth century), of figures standing firmly on the ground and being separated into groups at various distances. in rembrandt's and terburg's adoration of the shepherds, the light emanates from the infant christ; in ribera's magnificent deposition from the cross, the dead saviour and his companions are represented, not, as in the entombments of perugino and raphael, in the open air, but in the ghastly light of the mouth of the sepulchre. these are new variations upon the hackneyed themes, but how were they possible so long as the problems of light and shade were limited (as was the case even with leonardo), to giving the modelling, rather in form than in colour, of a face or a limb? one of the earliest and greatest innovations is signorelli's treatment of the resurrection in the chapel of san brizio, at orvieto; he broke entirely with the tradition (exemplified particularly by angelico) of making the dead come fully fleshed and dressed as in their lifetime from under the slabs of a burial place, goaded by grotesque devils with the snouts and horns of weasels and rams, with the cardboard masks of those carnival mummers who gave the great pageant of hell mentioned by old chroniclers. but signorelli's innovation, his naked figures partially fleshed and struggling through the earth's crust, his naked demons shooting through the air and tying up the damned, could not possibly have been executed or even conceived until his marvellous mastery of the nude and of the anatomy of movement had been obtained. indeed, wherever, in the art of the fifteenth century, we find a beginning of innovation in the conception and arrangement of a scripture history, we shall find also the beginning of the new technical method which has suggested such a partial innovation. thus, in the case of one of the greatest, but least appreciated, masters of the early renaissance, paolo uccello. his deluge, in the frescoes of the green cloister of s. maria novella, is wonderfully original as a whole conception; and the figure clinging to the side of the ark, with soaked and wind-blown drapery; the man in a tub trying to sustain himself with his hands, the effort and strain of the people in the water, are admirable as absolute realisation of the scene. again, in the sacrifice of noah, there is in the foreshortened figure of god, floating, brooding, like a cloud, with face downward and outstretched hands over the altar, something which is a prophecy, and more than a prophecy, of what art will come to in the sixtine and the loggie. but these inventions are due to uccello's special and extraordinary studies of the problems of modelling and foreshortening; and when his contemporaries try to assimilate his achievements, and unite them with the achievements of other men in other special technical directions, there is an end of all individual poetical conception, and a relapse into the traditional arrangements; as may be seen by comparing the bible stories of paolo uccello with those of benozzo gozzoli at pisa. it is not wonderful that the painters of the fifteenth century should have been satisfied with repeating the themes left by the giottesques. for the giottesques had left them, besides this positive heritage, a negative heritage, a programme to fill up, of which it is difficult to realise the magnitude. the work of the giottesques is so merely poetic, or at most so merely decorative in the sense of a mosaic or a tapestry, and it is in the case of giotto and one or two of his greatest contemporaries, particularly the sienese, so well-balanced and satisfying as a result of its elementary nature that we are apt to overlook the fact that everything in the way of realisation as opposed to indication, everything distinguishing the painting of a story from the mere telling thereof, remained to be done. and such realisation could be attained only through a series of laborious failures. it is by comparing some of the later giottesques themselves, notably the gaddi with giotto, that we bring home to ourselves, for instance, that giotto did not, at least in his finest work at florence, attempt to model his frescoes in colour. now the excessive ugliness of the gaddi frescoes at st. croce is largely due to the effort to make form and boss depend, as in nature, upon colour. giotto, in the neighbouring peruzzi and bardi chapels, is quite satisfied with outlining the face and draperies in dark paint, and laying on the colour, in itself beautiful, as a child will lay it on to a print or outline drawing, filling up the lines, but not creating them. i give this as a solitary instance of one of the first and most important steps towards pictorial realisation which the great imaginative theme-inventors left to their successors. as a fact, the items at which the fifteenth century had to work are too many to enumerate; in many cases each man or group of men took up one particular item, as perspective, modelling, anatomy, colour, movement, and their several subdivisions, usually with the result of painful and grotesque insistency and onesidedness, from the dreadful bag of bones anatomies of castagno and pollaiolo, down to the humbler, but equally necessary, architectural studies of francesco di giorgio. add to this the necessity of uniting the various attainments of such specialists, of taming down these often grotesque monomaniacs, of making all these studies of drawing, anatomy, colour, modelling, perspective, &c., into a picture. if that picture was lacking in individual poetic conception; if those studies were often intolerably silly and wrong-headed from the intellectual point of view; if the old themes were not only worn threadbare, but actually maltreated, what wonder? the themes were there, thank heaven! no one need bother about them; and no one did. moreover, as i have already pointed out, no one could have added anything, save in the personal sentiment of the heads, the hands, the tilt of the figure, or the quality of the form. everything which depends upon dramatic conception, which is not a question of form or sentiment, tended merely to suffer a steady deterioration. thus, nearly two hundred years after giotto, ghirlandaio could find nothing better for his frescoes in st. trinità than the arrangement of giotto's st. francis, with the difference that he omitted all the more delicate dramatic distinctions. i have already alluded to the poetic conception of an early marriage of the virgin in the florence academy; that essential point of the extreme youth of mary was never again attended to, although the rest of the arrangement was repeated for two centuries. similarly, no one noticed or reproduced the delicate distinctions of action which gaddi had put into his two annunciations of the cappella baroncelli; the shepherds henceforth sprawled no matter how; and the scale of expression in the vision of the three kings was not transferred to the more popular theme of their visit to the stable at bethlehem. in giotto's presentation at the temple in the arena chapel at padua, the little mary is pushed up the steps by her mother; in the baroncelli frescoes the little girl, ascending gravely, turns round for a minute to bless the children at the foot of the steps. here are two distinct dramatic conceptions, the one more human, the other more majestic; both admirable. the fifteenth century, nay, the fourteenth, took no account of either; the virgin merely went up the steps, connected by no emotion with the other characters, a mere little doll, as she is still in the big pictures of titian and tintoret, and quite subordinate to any group of richly dressed men or barebacked women. it is difficult to imagine any miracle quite so dull as the raising of the king's son in the brancacci chapel; its dramatic or undramatic foolishness is surpassed only by certain little panels of angelico, with fiery rain and other plagues coming down upon the silly blue and pink world of dolls. a satisfactory study of the lack of all dramatic invention of the painters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is afforded by the various representations of the annunciation of the virgin, one of the favourite themes of the early renaissance. it never seems to have occurred to any one that the virgin and the archangel might be displayed otherwise than each in one corner of the picture. such a composition as that of rossetti's ancilla domini, where the virgin cowers on her bed as the angel floats in with flames round his feet; such a suggestion as that of the unfinished lily on the embroidery frame, was reserved for our sceptical and irreverent, but imaginative times. the variety in these annunciations depends, as i have remarked, not upon a new dramatic conception, producing, as in the case of rossetti's, a new visible arrangement; but upon the particular kind of form preferred by the artist, and the particular kind of expression common in his pictures; the variety, i may add, is, with one or two exceptions, a variety in inertness. let us look at a few, taking merely those in one gallery, the uffizi. the virgin, in that superb piece of gilding by simone martini (did those old painters ever think of the glorified evening sky when they devised such backgrounds?), is turning away from the angel in sheer loathing and anger, a great lady feeling sick at the sudden intrusion of a cad. in a picture by angelo gaddi, she is standing with her hand on her chest, just risen from her chair, like a prima donna going to answer an _encore_--a gracious, but not too eager recognition of an expected ovation. in one by cosimo rossetti she lifts both hands with shocked astonishment as the angel scuddles in; in the lovely one, with blue alpine peaks and combed-out hair, now given to verocchio, she raises one hand with a vacant smile, as if she were exclaiming, "dear me! there's that angel again." the one slight deviation from the fixed type of annunciation, angelico's, in a cell at st. mark's, where he has made the virgin kneel and the angel stand, merely because he had painted another annunciation with a kneeling angel a few doors off, is due to no dramatic inspiration. the angel standing upright with folded arms (how different from rossetti's standing angel!) while the virgin kneels, instead of kneeling to her as, according to etiquette, results merely in an impression that this silly, stolid, timid little _ancilla domini_ (here again one thinks of rossetti's cowering and dazed virgin), has been waiting for some time in that kneeling attitude, and that the archangel has come by appointment. among this crowd of unimpressive, nay brainless, representations of one of the grandest and sweetest of all stories, there stand out two--an annunciation by signorelli, a small oil painting in the uffizi, and one by botticelli,[ ] a large tempera picture in the same room. but they stand out merely because the one is the work of the greatest early master of form and movement, or rather the master whose form and movement had a peculiar quality of the colossal; and the other is the work of the man, of all renaissance painters, whose soul seems to have known most of human, or rather feminine wistfulness, and sorrow, and passion. [footnote : probably executed from botticelli's design, by raffaellino del garbo.] the little panel by signorelli (the lowest compartment, divided into three, of an altar-piece) is perhaps, besides the orvieto _resurrection_, his most superb and poetical work. the figures, only three inches high, have his highest quality of powerful grandeur, solemnly rustic in the kneeling shepherds--solemn in the very swagger, hand on hip, of the parti-coloured bravoes of the magi; the landscape, only a few centimetres across, is one of the amplest and most austere that ever has been painted: a valley, bounded by blue hills and dark green ilex groves, wide, silent, inhabited by a race larger and stronger than the human, with more than human passions, but without human speech. in it the virgin is seated beneath a portico, breathing, as such creatures must breathe, the vast greenness, the deep evening breeze. and to her comes bounding, with waving draperies and loosened hair, the archangel, like a rushing wind, the wind which the strong woman is quietly inhaling. there is no religious sentiment here, still less any human: the madonna bows gravely as one who is never astonished; and, indeed, this race of giants, living in this green valley, look as if nothing could ever astonish them--walking miracles themselves, and in constant relation with the superhuman. we must forget all such things in turning to that annunciation of botticelli. the angel has knelt down vehemently, but drawn himself back, frightened at his own message; moved overmuch and awed by what he has to say, and her to whom he must say it; lifting a hand which seems to beg patience, till the speech which is throbbing in his heart can pass his lips; eagerness defeating itself, passionate excitement turned into awe in this young, delicate, passionate, and imaginative creature. he has not said the word; but she has understood. she has seen him before; she knows what he means, this vehement, tongue-tied messenger; and at his sight she reels, her two hands up, the beating of her own blood too loud in her ears, a sudden mist of tears clouding her eyes. this is no simple damsel receiving the message, like rossetti's terrified and awe-stricken girl, that she is the handmaid of the lord. this is the nun who has been waiting for years to become christ's own bride, and receives at length the summons to him, in a tragic overpowering ecstasy, like catherine in sodoma's fresco, sinking down at the touch of the rays from christ's wounds. nay, this is, in fact, the mere long-loving woman, suddenly overcome by the approach of bliss ever hungered for, but never expected, hearing that it is she who is the beloved; and the angel is the knight's squire, excited at the message he has to carry, but terrified at the sight of the woman to whom he must carry it, panting with the weight of another man's love, and learning, as he draws his breath to say those words, what love is himself. the absence of individual invention, implying the absence of individual dramatic realisation, strikes one more than anywhere in the works of angelico; and most of all in his frescoes of the cells of st. mark's. for, while these are evidently less cared for as art, indeed scarcely intended, in their hasty execution, to be considered as paintings at all, they are more strictly religious in intention than any other of angelico's works; indeed, perhaps, of all paintings in the world, the most exclusively devoted to a religious object. they are, in fact, so many pages of scripture stuck up, like texts in a waiting-room, in the cells of the convent: an adjunct to the actual written or printed bible of each monk. for this reason we expect them to possess what belongs so completely to the german engravers of dürer's school, the very essential of illustrative art--imaginative realisation of the scenes, an attempt to seize the attention and fill it with the subject. this is by no means the case: for angelico, although a saint, was a man of the fifteenth century, and, despite all his obvious efforts, he was not a real follower of giotto. what impressiveness of actual artistic arrangement these frescoes really possess, is due, i think, to no imaginative effort of the artist, but to the exigencies of the place; as any similar impressiveness is due in signorelli's annunciation to the quality of his form, and in botticelli's annunciation to the pervading character of his heads and gestures. these pale angels and st. dominicks and magdalens, these diaphanous, dazzling christs and virgins of angelico's, shining out of the dark corner of the cell made darker, deeper, by the dark green or inky purple ground on which they are painted, are less the spiritual conception of the painter than the accidental result of the darkness of the place, where lines must be simple and colours light, if anything is to be visible. for in the more important frescoes in the corridors and chapter-room, where the light is better, there is a return to angelico's hackneyed vapid pinks and blues and lilacs, and a return also to his niminy-piminy lines, to all the wax-doll world of the missal painter. the fine fresco of st. dominick at the foot of the cross, which seems to constitute an exception to this rule, really goes to prove it, since it is intended to be seen very much like the cell frescoes: white and black on a blue ground at the end of the first corridor, a thing to be looked at from a great distance, to impress the lay world that sees it at the cloister and from outside the convent railing. the cell frescoes are, i have said, the most exclusively religious paintings in the world, since they are to the highest degree, what all absolutely pious art must be, _aids to devotion_. their use is to assist the monk in that conjuring up of the actual momentary feelings, nay, sensations, of the life of christ which is part of his daily duty. they are such stimuli as the church has given sometimes in an artistic, sometimes in a literary form, to an imagination jaded by the monotonous contemplation of one subject, or overexcited to the extent of rambling easily to another: they are what we fondly imagine will be the portraits of the dear dead which we place before us, forgetting that after a while we look without seeing, or see without feeling. that this is so, that these painted gospel leaves stuck on the cell walls are merely such mechanical aids to devotion, explains the curious and startling treatment of some of the subjects, which are yet, despite the seeming novelty and impressiveness, very cold, undramatic, and unimaginative. thus, there is the fresco of christ enthroned, blindfold, with alongside of him a bodiless scoffing head, with hat raised, and in the act of spitting; buffeting hands, equally detached from any body, floating also on the blue background. there is a christ standing at the foot of the cross, but with his feet in a sarcophagus, the column of the flagellation monumentally or heraldically on one side, the lance of longinus on the other; and above, to the right, the floating face of christ being kissed by that of judas; to the left the blindfold floating head of christ again, with the floating head of a soldier spitting at him; and all round buffeting and jibing hands, hands holding the sceptre of reed, and hands counting out money; all arranged very much like the nails, hammer, tweezers and cock on roadside crosses; each a thing whereon to fix the mind, so as to realise that kiss of judas, that spitting of the soldiers, those slaps; and to hear, if possible, the chink of the pieces of silver that sold our lord. how different, these two pictorial dodges of the purely mechanical catholicism of the fifteenth century from the tender or harrowing gospel illustrations, where every detail is conceived as happening in the artist's own town and to his own kinsfolk, of the lutheran engravers of the school of dürer! thus things go on throughout the fifteenth century, and, indeed, deep into the sixteenth, where traditional arrangement and individual conception overlap, according as a new artistic power does or does not call forth a new dramatic idea. i have already alluded to the fact that the presentation of the virgin remains the same, so far as arrangement is concerned, in the pictures of titian and tintoret as in the frescoes of giotto and gaddi. michelangelo's creation of adam seems still inherited from an obscure painter in the "green cloister," who inherited it from the pisan sculptors. on the other hand, the resurrection and last judgment of signorelli at orvieto, painted some years earlier, constitutes in many of its dramatic details a perfectly original work. be this as it may, and however frequent the recurrence of old themes, with the sixteenth century commences the era of new individual dramatic invention. michelangelo's dividing of the light from the darkness, where the creator broods still in chaos, and commands the world to exist; and raphael's liberation of st. peter, with its triple illumination from the moon, the soldier's torches and the glory of the liberating angel, are witnesses that henceforward each man may invent for himself, because each man is in possession of those artistic means which the giottesques had indicated and the artists of the fifteenth century had laboriously acquired. and now, the giottesque programme being fulfilled, art may go abroad and seek for new methods and effects, for new dramatic conceptions. iii the other day, walking along the river near careggi (with its memories of lorenzo dei medici and his platonists), close to the little cupola and loggia built by ghirlandaio, i came upon a strip of new grass, thickly whitened with daisies, beneath the poplars beginning to yellow with pale sprouting leaves. and immediately there arose in my mind, by the side of this real grass and real budding of trees, the remembrance of certain early renaissance pictures: the rusty, green, stencilled grass and flowers of botticelli, the faded tapestry work of angelico; making, as it were, the greenness greener, the freshness fresher, of that real grass and those real trees. and not by the force of contrast, but rather by the sense that as all this appears to me green and fresh in the present, so likewise did it appear to those men of four centuries ago: the fact of their having seen and felt, making me, all the more, see and feel. this is one of the peculiarities of rudimentary art--of the art of the early renaissance as well as of that of persia and india, of constantinople, of every peasant potter all through the world: that, not knowing very well its own aims, it fills its imperfect work with suggestion of all manner of things which it loves, and tries to gain in general pleasurableness what it loses in actual achievement; and lays hold of us, like fragments of verse, by suggestiveness, quite as much as by pictorial realisation. and upon this depends the other half of the imaginative art of the renaissance, the school of intellectual decoration, of arabesques formed, not of lines and of colours, but of associations and suggestions. the desire which lies at the bottom of it--a desire masked as religious symbolism in the old mosaicists and carvers and embroiderers--is the desire to paint nice things, in default of painting a fine picture. the beginning of such attempts is naturally connected with the use of gilding; whether those gold grounds of the panel pictures of the fourteenth century represented to the painters only a certain expenditure of gold foil, or whether (as i have suggested, but i fear fantastically) their streakings and veinings of coppery or silvery splendour, their stencillings of rays and dots and fretwork, their magnificent inequality and variety of brown or yellow or greenish effulgence, were vaguely connected in the minds of those men with the splendour of the heaven in which the virgin and the saints really dwell. it is the cunning use of this gilding, of tools for ribbing and stencilling and damascening, which give half of their marvellous exotic loveliness to simone martini's frescoes at assisi and his annunciation of the florentine gallery; this, and the feeling for wonderful gold woven and embroidered stuffs, like that white cloth of gold of the kneeling angel, fit, in its purity and splendour, for the robe of grail king. the want of mechanical dexterity, however, prevented the giottesques from doing very much in the decorative line except in conjunction with the art--perhaps quite separate from that of the painter, and exercised by a different individual--of the embosser and gilder. it is with the fifteenth century that begins, in italy as in flanders (we must think of the carved stonework, the persian carpets, the damascened armour, the brocade dresses of van eyck's and memling's holy families), the deliberate habit of putting into pictures as much as possible of the beautiful and luxurious things of this world. the house of the virgin, originally a very humble affair, or rather, in the authority of the early giottesques, a _no place, nowhere_, develops gradually into a very delightful residence in the choicest part of the town, or into a pleasantly situated villa, like the one described in the decameron, commanding a fine view. the virgin's bedchamber, where we are shown it, as, for instance, in crivelli's picture in the national gallery, is quite as well appointed in the way of beautiful bedding, carving, and so forth, as the chamber of the lady of john arnolfini of lucca in van eyck's portrait. outside it, as we learn from angelico, cosimo rosselli, lippi, ghirlandaio, indeed, from almost every florentine painter, stretches a pleasant portico, decorated in the ionic or corinthian style, as if by brunellesco or sangallo, with tesselated floor, or oriental carpet, and usually a carved or gilded desk and praying stool; while the privacy of the whole place is guarded by a high wall, surmounted by vases, overtopped by cypresses, and in whose shelter grows a row of well-kept roses and lilies. sometimes this house, as i have said, becomes a villa, as is the case, not unfrequently, with the lombards, who love to make the angel appear on the flowery grass against a background of alpine peaks, such as you see them, rising blue and fairylike from the green ricefields about pavia. crivelli, however, though a lombard, prefers a genteel residence in town, the magnificent milan of galeazzo and filippo visconti. he gives us a whole street, where richly dressed and well peruked gentlemen look down from the terraces, duly set with flower-pots, of houses ornamented with terra-cotta figures and medallions like those of the hospital at milan. in this street the angel of the annunciation is kneeling, gorgeously got up in silks and brocades, and accompanied by a nice little bishop carrying a miniature town on a tray. the virgin seems to be receiving the message through the window or the open door. she has a beautiful bed with a red silk coverlet, some books, and a shelf covered with plates and preserve jars. this evident appreciation of jam, as one of the pleasant things of this world, corresponds with the pot of flowers on the window, the bird-cage hanging up: the mother of christ must have the little tastes and luxuries of a well-to-do burgess's daughter. again, the cell of st. jerome, painted some thirty years later by carpaccio, in the church of the slavonians, contains not only various convenient and ornamental articles of furniture, but a collection of nick-nacks, among which some antique bronzes are conspicuous. the charm in all this is not so much that of the actual objects themselves; it is that of their having delighted those people's minds. we are pleased by their pleasure, and our imagination is touched by their fancy. the effect is akin to that of certain kinds of poetry, not the dramatic certainly, where we are pleased by the mere suggestion of beautiful things, and quite as much by finding in the poet a mind appreciative and desirous of them, constantly collecting them and enhancing them by subtle arrangements; it is the case with much lyric verse, with the italian folk-rhymes, woven out of names of flowers and herbs, with some of shakespeare's and fletcher's songs, with the "allegro" and "penseroso," keats, some of heine, and, despite a mixture of unholy intention, baudelaire. the great master thereof in the early renaissance, the lyrist, if i may use the word, of the fifteenth century, is of course botticelli. he is one of those who most persistently introduce delightful items into their works: elaborately embroidered veils, scarves, and gold fringes. but being a man of fine imagination and most delicate sense of form, he does not, like angelico or benozzo or carpaccio, merely stick pretty things about; he works them all into his strange arabesque, half intellectual, half physical. thus the screen of roses[ ] behind certain of his madonnas, forming an exquisite morris pattern with the greenish-blue sky interlaced; and those beautiful, carefully-drawn branches of spruce-fir and cypress, lace-like in his primavera; above all, that fan-like growth of myrtles, delicately cut out against the evening sky, which not merely print themselves as shapes upon the mind, but seem to fill it with a scent of poetry. [footnote : i learn from the learned that the florence and louvre madonnas, with the roses, are not botticelli's; but botticelli, i am sure, would not have been offended by those lovely bushes being attributed to him.] this pleasure in the painter's pleasure in beautiful things is connected with another quality, higher and rarer, in this sort of imaginative art. it is our appreciation of the artist's desire for beauty and refinement, of his search for the exquisite. herein, to my mind, lies some of the secret of botticelli's fantastic grace; the explanation of that alternate or rather interdependent ugliness and beauty. botticelli, as i have said elsewhere, must have been an admirer of the grace and sentiment of perugino, of the delicacy of form of certain florentine sculptors--ghiberti, and those who proceed from him, desiderio, mino, and particularly the mysterious florentine sculptor of rimini; and what these men have done or do, botticelli attempts, despite or (what is worse) by means of the realistic drawing and ugly models of florence, the mechanism and arrangement of coarse men like the pollaiolos. the difficulty of attaining delicate form and sentiment with such materials--it cannot be said to have been attained in that sense by any other early tuscan painter, not even angelico or filippo lippi--makes the desire but the keener, and turns it into a most persevering and almost morbid research. thence the extraordinary ingenuity displayed, frequently to the detriment of the work, in the arrangement of hands (witness the tying, clutching hands, with fingers bent curiously in intricate knots, of the calumny of apelles), and of drapery; in the poising of bodies and selection of general outline. this search for elegance and grace, for the refined and unhackneyed, is frequently baffled by the ugliness of botticelli's models, and still more by botticelli's deficient knowledge of anatomy and habit of good form. but, when not baffled, this desire is extraordinarily assisted by those very defects. this great decorator, who uses the human form as so much pattern element, mere lines and curves like those of a raffaelesque arabesque, obtains with his imperfect, anatomically defective, and at all events ill-fashioned figures, a far-fetched and poignant grace impossible to a man dealing with more perfect elements. for grace and distinction, which are qualities of movement rather than of form, do not strike us very much in a figure which is originally well made. the momentary charm of movement is lost in the permanent charm of form; the creature could not be otherwise than delightful, made as it is; and we thus miss the sense of selection and deliberate arrangement, the sense of beauty as movement, that is, as grace. whereas, in the case of defective form, any grace that may be obtained affects us _per se_. it need not have been there; indeed, it was unlikely to be there; and hence it obtains the value and charm of the unexpected, the rare, the far-fetched. this, i think, is the explanation of the something of exotic beauty that attaches to botticelli: we perceive the structural form only negatively, sufficiently to value all the more the ingenuity of arrangement by which it is made to furnish a beautiful outline and beautiful movement; and we perceive the great desire thereof. if we allow our eye to follow the actual structure of the bodies, even in the primavera, we shall recognise that not one of these figures but is downright deformed and out of drawing. even the graces have arms and shoulders and calves and stomachs all at random; and the most beautiful of them has a slice missing out of her head. but if, instead of looking at heads, arms, legs, bodies, separately, and separate from the drapery, we follow the outline of the groups against the background, drapery clinging or wreathing, arms intertwining, hands combed out into wonderful fingers; if we regard these groups of figures as a pattern stencilled on the background, we recognise that no pattern could be more exquisite in its variety of broken up and harmonised lines. the exquisite qualities of all graceful things, flowers, branches, swaying reeds, and certain animals like the stag and peacock, seem to have been abstracted and given to these half-human and wholly wonderful creatures--these thin, ill put together, unsteady youths and ladies. the ingenious grace of botticelli passes sometimes from the realm of art to that of poetry, as in the case of those flowers, with stiff, tall stems, which he places by the uplifted foot of the middle grace, thus showing that she has trodden over it, like virgil's camilla, without crushing it. but the element of sentiment and poetry depends in reality upon the fascination of movement and arrangement; fascination seemingly from within, a result of exquisite breeding in those imperfectly made creatures. it is the grace of a woman not beautiful, but well dressed and moving well; the exquisiteness of a song sung delicately by an insufficient or defective voice: a fascination almost spiritual, since it seems to promise a sensitiveness to beauty, a careful avoidance of ugliness, a desire for something more delicate, a reverse of all things gross and accidental, a possibility of perfection. this imagination of pleasant detail and accessory, which delights us by the intimacy into which we are brought with the artist's innermost conception, develops into what, among the masters of the fifteenth century, i should call the imagination of the fairy tale. a small number of scriptural and legendary stories lend themselves quite particularly to the development of such beautiful accessory, which soon becomes the paramount interest, and vests the whole with a totally new character: a romantic, childish charm, the charm of the improbable taken for granted, of the freedom to invent whatever one would like to see but cannot, the charm of the fairy story. from this unconscious altering of the value of certain scripture tales, arises a romantic treatment which is naturally applied to all other stories, legends of saints, biographical accounts, decameronian tales (mr. leyland once possessed some botticellian illustrations of the tale of nastagio degli onesti, the hero of dryden's "theodore and honoria," a sort of pendant to the griseldis attributed to pinturicchio), and mythological episodes: a new kind of invention, based upon a desire to please, and as different from the invention of the giottesques as the arabian nights are different from homer. i have said that it begins with the unconscious altering of the values of certain scriptural stories, owing to the preponderance of detail over accessory. the chief example of this is the adoration of the magi. in the paintings of the giottesques, and in the paintings of the serious, or duller, masters of the fifteenth century--ghirlandaio, rosselli, filippino, those for whom the fairy tale could exist no more than for michelangelo or andrea del sarto--the chief interest in this episode is the holy family, the miraculous babe whom these great folk came so far to see. the fourteenth century made very short work of the kings, allowing them a minimum of splendour; and those of the fifteenth century, who cared only for artistic improvement, copied slavishly, giving the kings their retinue only as they might have introduced any number of studio models or burgesses aspiring at portraits, after the fashion of the brancacci and s. maria novella frescoes, where spectators of miracles make a point never to look at the miraculous proceedings. but there were men who felt differently: the men who loved splendour and detail. to gentile da fabriano, that wonderful man in whom begins the colour and romance of venetian painting,[ ] the adoration of the kings could not possibly be what it had been for the giottesques, or what it still was for angelico. the madonna, st. joseph, the child christ did not cease to be interesting: he painted them with evident regard, gave the madonna a beautiful gold hem to her dress, made st. joseph quite unusually amiable, and shed a splendid gilt glory about the child christ. but to him the wonderful part of the business was not the family in the shed at bethlehem which the kings came to see; but those kings themselves, who came from such a long way off. he put himself at the point of view of a holy family less persuaded of its holiness, who should suddenly see a bevy of grand folks come up to their door: the miraculous was here. the spiritual glory was of course on the side of the family of joseph; but the temporal glory, the glory that delighted gentile, that went to his brain and made him childishly happy, was with the kings and their retinue. that retinue--the trumpeters prancing on white horses, with gold lace covers, the pages, the armour-bearers, the treasurers, the huntsmen with the hounds, the falconers with the hawks, winding for miles down the hills, and expanding into the circle of strange and delightful creatures that kings must have about their persons: jesters with heads thrown back and eyes squeezed close, while thinking of some funny jest; dwarfs and negroes, almost as amusing as their camels and giraffes; tame lynxes chained behind the saddle, monkeys perched, jabbering, on the horses' manes--all this was much more wonderful in gentile da fabriano's opinion than all the wonders of the church, which grew somehow less wonderful the more implicitly you believed in them. then, in the midst of all these delightful splendours, the kings themselves! the old grey-beard in the brown pomegranate embossed brocade going on all fours, and kissing the little child's feet; the dark young man, with peaked beard and wistful face, removing his coroneted turban; and last, but far from least, the youngest king, the beardless boy, with the complexion of a well-bred young lady, the almond eyes and golden hair, standing up in his tunic of white cloth of silver, while one squire unbuckled his spurs and another removed his cloak. the darling little prince charming, between whom and the romantic bearded young king there must for some time have been considerable rivalry, and alternating views in the minds of men and the hearts of women (particularly when the second king, the bearded one, became the john palæologus of benozzo), until it was victoriously borne in upon the public that this delicate, beardless creature, so much younger and always the last, must evidently be _the_ prince, the youngest of the king's sons in the fairy tales, the one who always succeeds where the two elder have failed, who gets the water that dances and the apple branch that sings, who carries off the enchanted oranges, slays the ogre, releases the princess, flies through the air, the hero, the prince of fairyland.... [footnote : this quality, particularly in the adoration of the magi, is already very marked in the very charming and little known frescoes of ottaviano nelli, in the former trinci palace at foligno. nelli was the master of gentile, and through him greatly influenced venice.] the fairy business of the story of the three kings takes even greater proportions in the delightful frescoes of benozzo gozzoli in the riccardi chapel. here the holy family are suppressed, so to speak, altogether, tucked into the altar in a picture, and the act of adoration at bethlehem becomes the mere excuse for the romantic adventures of three people of the highest quality. the journey itself, where gentile da fabriano sums up in that procession twisting about the background of his picture, here occupies a whole series of frescoes. and on this journey is concentrated all that the renaissance knew of splendour, delightfulness, and romance. the green valleys, watered by twisting streams, with matted grasses, which botticelli puts behind his enthroned madonna and victorious judith; angelico's favourite hillsides with blossoming fruit trees and pointing cypresses; the mysterious firwoods--more mysterious for their remoteness on the high apennines--which fascinate the fancy of filippo lippi; all this is here, and through it all winds the procession of the three kings. there are the splendid stuffs and oriental jewels and trappings, the hounds and monkeys, and jesters and negroes, the falcon on the wrist, the lynxes chained to the saddle, all the magnificence dreamed by gentile da fabriano; and among it all ride, met by bevies of peacock-winged angels, kneeling and singing before the flowering rose-hedges, the three kings. the old man, who looks like some platonist philosopher, the beardless prince, surrounded by his noisy huntsmen and pages; and that dark-bearded youth in the byzantine dress and shovel hat, the genuine king from the east, riding with ardent, wistful eyes, a beautiful kingly young quixote: sir percival seeking the holy grail, or king cophetua seeking for his beggar girl. it is a page of fairy tale, retold by boiardo or spenser. after such things as these it is difficult to speak of those more prosaic tales, really intended as such, on which the painters of the renaissance spent their fancy. still they have all their charm, these fairy tales, not of the great poets indeed, but of the nursery. there is, for instance, the story of a good young man (with a name for a fairy tale too, Æneas sylvius piccolomini!) showing his adventures by land and sea and at many courts, the honours conferred on him by kings and emperors, and how at last he was made pope, having begun as a mere poor scholar on a grey nag; all painted by pinturicchio in the cathedral library of siena. there is the lamentable story of a bride and bridegroom, by vittore carpaccio: the stately, tall bride, st. ursula, and the dear little foolish bridegroom, looking like her little brother; a story containing a great many incidents: the sending of an embassy to the king; the king being sorely puzzled in his mind, leaning his arm upon his bed and asking the queen's advice; the presence upon the palace steps of an ill-favoured old lady, with a crutch and basket, suspiciously like the bad fairy who had been forgotten at the christening; the apparition of an angel to the princess, sleeping, with her crown neatly put away at the foot of the bed; the arrival of the big ship in foreign parts, with the bishop and clergy putting their heads out of the port-holes and asking very earnestly, "where are we?" and finally, a most fearful slaughter of the princess and her eleven thousand ladies-in-waiting. the same carpaccio--a regular old gossip from whom one would expect all the formulas, "and then he says to the king, sacred crown," "and then the prince walks, walks, walks, walks." "a company of knights in armour nice and shining," "three comely ladies in a green meadow," and so forth of the professional italian story-teller--the same carpaccio, who was also, and much more than the more solemn giovanni bellini, the first venetian to handle oil paints like titian and giorgione, painted the fairy tale of st. george, with quite the most dreadful dragon's walk, a piece of sea sand embedded with bones and half-gnawed limbs, and crawled over by horrid insects, that any one could wish to see; and quite the most comical dragon, particularly when led out for execution among the minarets and cupolas and camels and turbans and symbols of a kind of small constantinople. one of the funniest of all such series of stories, and which shows that when the renaissance men were driven to it they could still invent, though (apparently) when they had to invent in this fashion, they ceased to be able to paint, is the tale of griseldis, attributed in our national gallery to pinturicchio, but certainly by a very inferior painter of his school. the marquis, after hunting deer on a steep little hill, shaded by elm trees, sees griseldis going to a well, a pitcher on her head. he reins in his white horse, and cranes over in his red cloak, the young parti-coloured lords-in-waiting pressing forwards to see her, but only as much as politeness warrants. scene ii.--a stubbly landscape. the marquis, in red and gold cloak and well-combed yellow head of hair, approaches on foot to the little pink farm-house. surprise of old giannucole, who is coming down the exterior steps. "bless my soul! the lord marquis!" "where is your daughter?" asks the marquis, with pointing finger. but the daughter, hearing voices, has come on to the balcony and throws up her arms astonished. "dear me! the cavalier who accosted me in the wood!" the marquis and grizel walk off, he deferentially dapper, she hanging back a little in her black smock. scene iii.--the marquis, still in purple and gold, and red stockings and hessian boots, says with some timidity and much grace, pointing to the magnificent clothes brought by his courtiers, "would you mind, dear grizel, putting on these clothes to please me?" but griseldis is extremely modest. she tightens her white shift about her, and doesn't dare look at the cloth of gold dress which is so pretty. scene iv.--a triumphal arch, with four gilt figures. the marquis daintily, with much wrist-twisting, offers to put the ring on griseldis' hand, who obediently accepts, while pages and trumpeters hold the marquis's three horses. act ii. scene i.--a portico. griseldis reluctantly, but obediently, gives up her baby. scene ii.--a conspirator in black cloak and red stockings walks off with it on the tips of his toes, and then returns and tells the marquis that his magnificence's orders have been executed. scene iii.--giannucole, father of griseldis, having been sent for, arrives in his best sunday cloak. the marquis in red, with a crown on, says, standing hand on hip, "you see, after that i really cannot keep her on any longer." several small dogs sniff at each other in the background. scene v.--triumphal arch, with bear chained to it, peacock, tame deer, crowd of courtiers. a lawyer reads the act of divorce. the marquis steps forward to grizel with hands raised, "after this kind of behaviour, it is quite impossible for me to live with you any longer." griseldis is ladylike and resigned. the marquis says with acrimonious politeness, "i am sorry, madam, i must trouble you to restore to me those garments before departing from my house." griseldis slowly let her golden frock fall to her feet, then walks off (scene vi.) towards the little pink farm, where her father is driving the sheep. the courtiers look on and say, "dear, dear, what very strange things do happen!" act iii. scene i.--outside giannucole's farm. the marquis below. griseldis at the balcony. he says, "i want to hire you as a maid." "yes, my lord." scene ii.--a portico, with a large company at dinner. the marquis introduces his supposed bride and brother-in-law, in reality his own children. he turns round to griseldis, who is waiting at table, and bids her be a little more careful what she is about with those dishes. scene iii.--dumb show. griseldis, in her black smock, is sweeping out the future marchioness's chamber. scene iv.--at table. the marquis suddenly bids griseldis, who is waiting, come and sit by him; he kisses her, and points at the supposed bride and brother-in-law. "those are our children, dear." a young footman is quite amazed. scene v.--a procession of caparisoned horse, and giraffes carrying monkeys. a grand supper. "and they live happy ever after." but the fairy tale, beyond all others, with these painters of the fifteenth century, is the antique myth. no bibbienas and bembos and calvos have as yet indoctrinated them (as raphael, alas! was indoctrinated) with the _real spirit of classical times_, teaching them that the essence of antiquity was to have no essence at all; no ariostos and tassos have taught the world at large the real ovidian conception, the monumental allegoric nature and tendency to vacant faces and sprawling, big-toed nudity of the heroes and goddesses as giulio romano and the caracci so well understood to paint them. for all the humanists that hung about courts, the humanities had not penetrated much into the italian people. the imaginative form and colour was still purely mediæval; and the artists of the early renaissance had to work out their ovidian stories for themselves, and work them out of their own material. hence the mythological creatures of these early painters are all, more or less, gods in exile, with that charm of a long residence in the middle ages which makes, for instance, the sweetheart of ritter tannhäuser so infinitely more seductive than the paramour of adonis; that charm which, when we meet it occasionally in literature, in parts of spenser, for instance, or in a play like peel's "arraignment of paris," is so peculiarly delightful. these early painters have made up their paganism for themselves, out of all pleasant things they knew; their fancy has brooded upon it; and the very details that make us laugh, the details coming direct from the middle ages, the spirit in glaring opposition occasionally to that of antiquity, bring home to us how completely this pagan fairyland is a genuine reality to these men. we feel this in nearly all the work of that sort--least, in the archæological mantegna's. we see it beginning in the mere single figures--the various drawings of orpheus, "orpheus le doux menestrier jouant de flutes et de musettes," as villon called him, much about that time--piping or fiddling among little toy animals out of a nuremberg box; the drawing of fauns carrying sheep, some with a queer look of the good shepherd about them, of pinturicchio; and rising to such wonderful exhibitions (to me, with their obscure reminiscence of pageants, they always seem like ballets) as perugino's ceiling of the cambio, where, among arabesqued constellations, the gods of antiquity move gravely along: the bearded knight mars, armed _cap-à-pie_ like a mediæval warrior; the delicate mercurius, a beautiful page-boy stripped of his emblazoned clothes; luna dragged along by two nymphs; and venus daintily poised on one foot on her dove-drawn chariot, the exquisite venus in her clinging veils, conquering the world with the demure gravity and adorable primness of a high-born young abbess. the actual fairy story becomes, little by little, more complete--the painters of the fifteenth century work, little guessing it, are the precursors of walter crane. the full-page illustration of a tale of semi-mediæval romance--of a romance like spenser's "fairy queen" or mr. morris's "earthly paradise," exists distinctly in that picture and drawing, by the young raphael or whomsoever else, of apollo and marsyas.[ ] this piping marsyas seated by the tree stump, this naked apollo, thin and hectic like an undressed archangel, standing against the umbrian valley with its distant blue hills, its castellated village, its delicate, thinly-leaved trees--things we know so well in connection with the madonna and saints, that this seems absent for only a few minutes--all this is as little like ovid as the triumphant antique galatea of raphael is like spenser. again, there is piero di cosimo's death of procris: the poor young woman lying dead by the lake, with the little fishing town in the distance, the swans sailing and cranes strutting, and the dear young faun--no praxitelian god with invisible ears, still less the obscene beast whom the late renaissance copied from antiquity--a most gentle, furry, rustic creature, stooping over her in puzzled, pathetic concern, at a loss, with his want of the practice of cities and the knowledge of womankind, what to do for this poor lady lying among the reeds and the flowering scarlet sage; a creature the last of whose kind (friendly, shy, woodland things, half bears or half dogs, frequent in mediæval legend), is the satyr of fletcher's "faithful shepherdess," the only poetic conception in that gross and insipid piece of magnificent rhetoric. the perfection of the style must naturally be sought from botticelli, and in his birth of venus (but who may speak of that after the writer of most subtle fancy, of most exquisite language, among living englishman?)[ ] this goddess, not triumphant but sad in her pale beauty, a king's daughter bound by some charm to flit on her shell over the rippling sea, until the winds blow it in the kingdom of the good fairy spring, who shelters her in her laurel grove and covers her nakedness with the wonderful mantle of fresh-blown flowers.... [footnote : i believe now unanimously given to pinturicchio.] [footnote : alas! no longer among the living, though among those whose spiritual part will never die. walter pater died july : a man whose sense of loveliness and dignity made him, in mature life, as learned in moral beauty as he had been in visible.] but the imagination born of the love of beautiful and suggestive detail soars higher; become what i would call the lyric art of the renaissance, the art which not merely gives us beauty, but stirs up in ourselves as much beauty again of stored-up impression, reaches its greatest height in certain venetian pictures of the early sixteenth century. pictures of vague or enigmatic subject, or no subject at all, like giorgione's fête champêtre and soldier and gipsy, titian's sacred and profane love, the three ages of man, and various smaller pictures by bonifazio, palma, basaiti; pictures of young men in velvets and brocades, solemn women with only the glory of their golden hair and flesh, seated in the grass, old men looking on pensive, children rolling about; with the solemnity of great, spreading trees, of greenish evening skies: the pathos of the song about to begin or just finished, lute or viol or pipe still lying hard by. of such pictures it is best, perhaps, not to speak. the suggestive imagination is wandering vaguely, dreaming; fumbling at random sweet, strange chords out of its viol, like those young men and maidens. the charm of such works is that they are never explicit; they tell us, like music, deep secrets, which we feel, but cannot translate into words. iv the first new factor in art which meets us at the beginning of the sixteenth century is not among the italians, and is not a merely artistic power. i speak of the passionate individual fervour for the newly recovered scriptures, manifest among the german engravers, protestants all or nearly all, and among whose works is for ever turning up the sturdy, passionate face of luther, the enthusiastic face of melanchthon. the very nature of these men's art is conceivable only where the bible has suddenly become the reading, and the chief reading, of the laity. these prints, large and small, struck off in large numbers, are not church ornaments like frescoes or pictures, nor aids to monastic devotion like angelico's gospel histories at st. mark's--they are illustrations to the book which every one is reading, things to be framed in the chamber of every burgher or mechanic, to be slipped into the prayer-book of every housewife, to be conned over during the long afternoons, by the children near the big stove or among the gooseberry bushes of the garden. and they are, therefore, much more than the giottesque inventions, the expression of the individual artist's ideas about the incidents of scripture; and an expression not for the multitude at large, fresco or mosaic that could be elaborated by a sceptical or godless artist, but a re-explanation as from man to man and friend: this is how the dear lord looked, or acted--see, the words in the bible are so or so forth. therefore, there enters into these designs, which contain after all only the same sort of skill which was rife in italy, so much homeliness at once, and poignancy and sublimity of imagination. the virgin, they have discovered, is not that grandly dressed lady, always in the very finest brocade, with the very finest manners, and holding a divine infant that has no earthly wants, whom van eyck and memling and meister stephan painted. she is a good young woman, a fairer version of their dear wife, or the woman who might have been that; no carefully selected creature as with the italians, no well-made studio model, with figure unspoilt by child-bearing, but a real wife and mother, with real milk in her breasts (the italian virgin, save with one or two lombards, is never permitted to suckle)[ ], which she very readily and thoroughly gives to the child, guiding the little mouth with her fingers. and she sits in the lonely fields by the hedges and windmills in the fair weather; or in the neat little chamber with the walled town visible between the pillar of the window, as in bartholomew beham's exquisite design, reading, or suckling, or sewing, or soothing the fretful baby; no angels around her, or rarely: the scripture says nothing about such a court of seraphs as the italians and flemings, the superstitious romanists, always placed round the mother of christ. it is all as it might have happened to them; they translate the scripture into their everyday life, they do not pick out of it the mere stately and poetic incidents like the giottesques. this everyday life of theirs is crude enough, and in many cases nasty enough; they have in those german free towns a perfect museum of loathsome ugliness, born of ill ventilation, gluttony, starvation, or brutality: quite fearful wrinkled harridans and unabashed fat, guzzling harlots, and men of every variety of scrofula, and wart and belly, towards none of which (the best far transcending the worst italian judas) they seem to feel any repugnance. they have also a beastly love of horrors; their decollations and flagellations are quite sickening in detail, as distinguished from the tidy, decorous executions of the early italians; and one feels that they do enjoy seeing, as in one of their prints, the bowels of st. erasmus being taken out with a windlass, or jael, as altdorfer has shown her in his romantic print, neatly hammering the nail into the head of the sprawling, snoring sisera. there is a good deal of grossness, too (of which, among the italians, even robetta and similar, there is so little), in the details of village fairs and adventures of wenches with their schatz; and a strange permeating nightmare, gruesomeness of lewd, warty devils, made up of snouts, hoofs, bills, claws, and incoherent parts of incoherent creatures; of perpetual skeletons climbing in trees, or appearing behind flower-beds. but there is also--and holbein's dance of death, terrible, jocular, tender, vulgar and poetic, contains it all, this german world--a great tenderness. tenderness not merely in the heads of women and children, in the fervent embrace of husband and wife and mother and daughter; but in the feeling for dumb creatures and inanimate things, the gentle dogs of st. hubert, the deer that crouch among the rocks with genevieve, the very tangled grasses and larches and gentians that hang to the crags, drawn as no italian ever drew them; the quiet, sentimental little landscapes of castles on fir-clad hills, of manor-houses, gabled and chimneyed, among the reeds and willows of shallow ponds. these feelings, teutonic doubtless, but less mediæval than we might think, for the middle ages of the minnesingers were terribly conventional, seem to well up at the voice of luther; and it is this which make the german engravers, men not always of the highest talents, invent new and beautiful gospel pictures. of these i would take two as typical--typical of individual fancy most strangely contrasting with the conventionalism of the italians. let the reader think of any of the scores of flights into egypt, and of resurrections by fifteenth-century italians, or even giottesques; and then turn to two prints, one of each of these subjects respectively, by martin schongauer and altdorfer. schongauer gives a delightful oasis: palms and prickly pears, the latter conceived as growing at the top of a tree; below, lizards at play and deer grazing; in this place the virgin has drawn up her ass, who browses the thistles at his feet, while st. joseph, his pilgrim bottle bobbing on his back, hangs himself with all his weight to the branches of a date palm, trying to get the fruit within reach. meanwhile a bevy of sweet little angels have come to the rescue; they sit among the branches, dragging them down towards him, and even bending the whole stem at the top so that he may get at the dates. such a thing as this is quite lovely, particularly after the routine of st. joseph trudging along after the donkey, the eternal theme of the italians. in altdorfer's print christ is ascending in a glory of sunrise clouds, banner in hand, angels and cherubs peering with shy curiosity round the cloud edge. the sepulchre is open, guards asleep or stretching themselves, and yawning all round; and childish young angels look reverently into the empty grave, rearranging the cerecloths, and trying to roll back the stone lid. one of them leans forward, and utterly dazzles a negro watchman, stepping forward, lantern in hand; in the distance shepherds are seen prowling about. "this," says altdorfer to himself, "is how it must have happened." [footnote : and the circular so-called botticelli (now given, i believe, to san gallo) in the national gallery.] hence, among these germans, the dreadful seriousness and pathos of the passion, the violence of the mob, the brutality of the executioners, above all, the awful sadness of christ. there is here somewhat of the realisation of what he must have felt in finding the world he had come to redeem so vile and cruel. in what way, under what circumstances, such thoughts would come to these men, is revealed to us by that magnificent head of the suffering saviour--a design apparently for a carved crucifix--under which albrecht dürer wrote the pathetic words: "i drew this in my sickness." thus much of the power of that new factor, the individual interest in the scriptures. all other innovations on the treatment of religious themes were due, in the sixteenth century, but still more in the seventeenth, to the development of some new artistic possibility, or to the gathering together in the hands of one man of artistic powers hitherto existing only in a dispersed condition. this is the secret of the greatness of raphael as a pictorial poet, that he could do all manner of new things merely by holding all the old means in his grasp. this is the secret of those wonderful inventions of his, which do not take our breath away like michelangelo's or rembrandt's, but seem at the moment the one and only right rendering of the subject: the liberation of st. peter, heliodorus, ezechiel, and the whole series of magnificent old testament stories on the ceiling of the loggie. in raphael we see the perfect fulfilment of the giottesque programme: he can do all that the first theme inventors required for the carrying out of their ideas; and therefore he can have new, entirely new, themes. raphael furnishes, for the first time since giotto, an almost complete set of pictorial interpretations of scripture. we are now, as we proceed in the sixteenth century, in the region where new artistic powers admit of new imaginative conceptions on the part of the individual. we gain immensely by the liberation from the old tradition, but we lose immensely also. we get the benefit of the fancy and feelings of this individual, but we are at the mercy, also, of his stupidity and vulgarity. of this the great examples are tintoretto, and after him velasquez and rembrandt. of tintoret i would speak later, for he is eminently the artist in whom the gain and the loss are most typified, and perhaps most equally distributed, and because, therefore, he contrasts best with the masters anterior to raphael. the new powers in velasquez and rembrandt were connected with the problem of light, or rather, one might say, in the second case, of darkness. this new faculty of seizing the beauties, momentary and not inherent in the object, due to the various effects of atmosphere and lighting up, added probably a good third to the pleasure-bestowing faculty of art; it was the beginning of a kind of democratic movement against the stern domination of such things as were privileged in shape and colour. a thousand things, ugly or unimaginative in themselves, a plain face, a sallow complexion, an awkward gesture, a dull arrangement of lines, could be made delightful and suggestive. a wet yard, a pail and mop, and a servant washing fish under a pump could become, in the hands of peter de hoogh, and thanks to the magic of light and shade, as beautiful and interesting in their way as a swirl of angels and lilies by botticelli. but this redemption of the vulgar was at the expense, as i have elsewhere pointed out, of a certain growing callousness to vulgarity. what holds good as to the actual artistic, visible quality, holds good also as to the imaginative value. velasquez's flagellation, if indeed it be his, in our national gallery, has a pathos, a something that catches you by the throat, in that melancholy weary body, broken with ignominy and pain, sinking down by the side of the column, which is inseparable from the dreary grey light, the livid colour of the flesh--there is no joy in the world where such things can be. but the angel who has just entered has not come from heaven--such a creature is fit only to roughly shake up the pillows of paupers, dying in the damp dawn in the hospital wards. it is, in a measure, different with rembrandt, exactly because he is the master, not of light, but of darkness, or of light that utterly dazzles. his ugly women and dirty jews of rotterdam are either hidden in the gloom or reduced to mere vague outlines, specks like gnats in the sunshine, in the effulgence of light. hence we can enjoy, almost without any disturbing impressions, the marvellous imagination shown in his etchings of bible stories. rembrandt is to dürer as an archangel to a saint: where the german draws, the dutchman seems to bite his etching plate with elemental darkness and glory. of these etchings i would mention a few; the reader may put these indications alongside of his remembrances of the arena chapel, or of angelico's cupboard panels in the academy at florence: they show how intimately dramatic imagination depends in art upon mere technical means, how hopelessly limited to mere indication were the early artists, how forced along the path of dramatic realisation are the men of modern times. _the annunciation to the shepherds_: the heavens open in a circular whirl among the storm darkness, cherubs whirling distantly like innumerable motes in a sunbeam; the angel steps forward on a ray of light, projecting into the ink-black night. the herds have perceived the vision, and rush headlong in all directions, while the trees groan beneath the blast of that opening of heaven. a horse, seen in profile, with the light striking on his eyeball, seems paralysed by terror. the shepherds have only just awakened. _the nativity_: darkness. a vague crowd of country folk jostling each other noiselessly. a lantern, a white speck in the centre, sheds a smoky, uncertain light on the corner where the child sleeps upon the pillows, the virgin, wearied, resting by its side, her face on her hand. joseph is seated by, only his head visible above his book. the cows are just visible in the gloom. the lantern is held by a man coming carefully forward, uncovering his head, the crowd behind him. _a halt on the journey to egypt_: night. the lantern hung on a branch. joseph seated sleepily, with his fur cap drawn down; the virgin and child resting against the packsaddle on the ground. _an interior_: the virgin hugging and rocking the child. joseph, outside, looks in through the window. _the raising of lazarus_: a vault hung with scimitars, turbans, and quivers. against the brilliant daylight just let in, the figure of christ, seen from behind, stands out in his long robes, raising his hand to bid the dead arise. lazarus, pale, ghost-like in this effulgence, slowly, wearily raises his head in the sepulchre. the crowd falls back. astonishment, awe. this coarse dutchman has suppressed the incident of the bystanders holding their nose, to which the giottesques clung desperately. this is not a moment to think of stenches or infection. _entombment_: night. the platform below the cross. a bier, empty, spread with a winding-sheet, an old man arranging it at the head. the dead saviour being slipped down from the cross on a sheet, two men on a ladder letting the body down, others below receiving it, trying to prevent the arm from trailing. immense solemnity, carefulness, hushedness. a distant illuminated palace blazes out in the night. one feels that they are stealing him away. i have reversed the chronological order and chosen to speak of tintoret after rembrandt, because, being an italian and still in contact with some of the old tradition, the great venetian can show more completely, both what was gained and what was lost in imaginative rendering by the liberation of the individual artist and the development of artistic means. first, of the gain. this depends mainly upon tintoret's handling of light and shade, and his foreshortenings: it enables him to compose entirely in huge masses, to divide or concentrate the interest, to throw into vague insignificance the less important parts of a situation in order to insist upon the more important; it gives him the power also of impressing us by the colossal and the ominous. the masterpiece of this style, and probably tintoret's masterpiece therefore, is the great crucifixion at s. rocco. to feel its full tragic splendour one must think of the finest things which the early renaissance achieved, such as luini's beautiful fresco at lugano; by the side of the painting at s. rocco everything is tame, except, perhaps, rembrandt's etching called the three crosses. after this, and especially to be compared with the frescoes of masaccio and ghirlandaio of the same subject, comes the baptism of christ. the old details of figures dressing and undressing, which gave so much pleasure to earlier painters, for instance, piero della francesca, in the national gallery, are entirely omitted, as the nose-holding in the raising of lazarus, is omitted by rembrandt. christ kneels in the jordan, with john bending over him, and vague multitudes crowding the banks, distant, dreamlike beneath the yellow storm-light. of tintoret's christ before pilate, of that figure of the saviour, long, straight, wrapped in white and luminous like his own wraith, i have spoken already. but i must speak of the s. rocco christ in the garden, as imaginative as anything by rembrandt, and infinitely more beautiful. the moonlight tips the draperies of the three sleeping apostles, gigantic, solemn. above, among the bushes, leaning his head on his hand, is seated christ, weary to death, numbed by grief and isolation, recruiting for final resistance. the sense of being abandoned of all men and of god has never been brought home in this way by any other painter; the little tear-stained saviours, praying in broad daylight, of perugino and his fellows, are mere distressed mortals. this betrayed and resigned saviour has upon him the _weltschmerz_ of prometheus. but even here we begin to feel the loss, as well as the gain, of the painter being forced from the dramatic routine of earlier days: instead of the sweet, tearful little angel of the early renaissance, there comes to this tragic christ, in a blood-red nimbus, a brutal winged creature thrusting the cup in his face. the uncertainty of tintoret's inspirations, the uncertainty of result of these astonishing pictorial methods of attaining the dramatic, the occasional vapidness and vulgarity of the man, unrestrained by any stately tradition like the vapidness and vulgarity of so many earlier masters,[ ] comes out already at s. rocco. and principally in the scene of the temptation, a theme rarely, if ever, treated before the sixteenth century, and which tintoret has made unspeakably mean in its unclean and dramatically impotent suggestiveness: the saviour parleying from a kind of rustic edifice with a good-humoured, fat, half feminine satan, fluttering with pink wings like some smug seraph of bernini's pupils. after this it is scarce necessary to speak of whatever is dramatically abortive (because successfully expressing just the wrong sort of sentiment, the wrong situation) in tintoret's work: his woman taken in adultery, with the dapper young rabbi, offended neither by adultery in general nor by this adulteress in particular; the washing of the feet, in london, where the conversation appears to turn upon the excessive hotness or coldness of the water in the tub; the last supper at s. giorgio maggiore, where, among the mysterious wreaths of smoke peopled with angels, christ rises from his seat and holds the cup to his neighbour's lips with the gesture, as he says, "this is my blood," of a conjuror to an incredulous and indifferent audience. to tintoret the contents of the chalice is the all-important matter: where is the majesty of the old giottesque gesture, preserved by leonardo, of pushing forward the bread with one hand, the wine with the other, and thus uncovering the head and breast of the saviour, the gesture which does indeed mean--"i am the bread you shall eat, and the wine you shall drink"? there remains, however, to mention another work of tintoret's which, coming in contact with one's recollections of earlier art, may suggest strange doubts and well nigh shake one's faith in the imaginative efficacy of all that went before: his enormous canvas of the last day, at s. maria dell' orto. the first and overwhelming impression, even before one has had time to look into this apocalyptic work, is that no one could have conceived such a thing in earlier days, not even michelangelo when he painted his last judgment, nor raphael when he designed the vision of ezechiel. this is, indeed, one thinks, a revelation of the end of all things. great storm clouds, whereon throne the almighty and his elect, brood over the world, across which, among the crevassed, upheaving earth, pours the wide glacier torrent of styx, with the boat of charon struggling across its precipitous waters. the angels, confused with the storm clouds of which they are the spirit, lash the damned down to the hell stream, band upon band, even from the far distance. and in the foreground the rocks are splitting, the soil is upheaving with the dead beneath; here protrudes a huge arm, there a skull; in one place the clay, rising, has assumed the vague outline of the face below. in the rocks and water, among the clutching, gigantic men, the huge, full-bosomed woman, tosses a frightful half-fleshed carcass, grass still growing from his finger tips, his grinning skull, covered half with hair and half with weeds, greenish and mouldering: a sinner still green in earth and already arising. [footnote : how peccable is the individual imagination, unchastened by tradition! i find among the illustrations of mr. berenson's very valuable monograph on lotto, a most curious instance in point. this psychological, earnest painter has been betrayed, by his morbid nervousness of temper, into making the starting of a cat into the second most important incident in his annunciation.] a wonderful picture: a marvellous imaginative mind, with marvellous imaginative means at his command. yet, let us ask ourselves, what is the value of the result? a magnificent display of attitudes and forms, a sort of bravura ghastliness and impressiveness, which are in a sense _barrocco_, reminding us of the wax plague models of florence and of certain poems of baudelaire's. but of the feeling, the poetry of this greatest of all scenes, what is there? and, standing before it, i think instinctively of that chapel far off on the windswept umbrian rock, with signorelli's resurrection: a flat wall accepted as a flat wall, no place, nowhere. a half-dozen groups, not closely combined. colour reduced to monochrome; light and shade nowhere, as nowhere also all these devices of perspective. but in that simply treated fresco, with its arrangement as simple as that of a vast antique bas-relief, there is an imaginative suggestion far surpassing this of tintoret's. the breathless effort of the youths breaking through the earth's crust, shaking their long hair and gasping; the stagger of those rising to their feet; the stolidity, hand on hip, of those who have recovered their body but not their mind, blinded by the light, deafened by the trumpets of judgment; the absolute self-abandonment of those who can raise themselves no higher; the dull, awe-stricken look of those who have found their companions, clasping each other in vague, weak wonder; and further, under the two archangels who stoop downwards with the pennons of their trumpets streaming in the blast, those figures who beckon to the re-found beloved ones, or who shade their eyes and point to a glory on the horizon, or who, having striven forward, sink on their knees, overcome by a vision which they alone can behold. and recollecting that fresco of signorelli's, you feel as if this vast, tall canvas at s. maria dell' orto, where topple and welter the dead and the quick, were merely so much rhetorical rhodomontade by the side of the old hymn of the last day-- "mors stupebit et natura quum resurget creatura judicanti responsura." v again, in the chaos of newly-developing artistic means, and of struggling individual imaginations, we get once more, at the end of the eighteenth century, to what we found at the beginning of the fourteenth: the art that does not show, but merely speaks. we find it in what, of all things, are the apparently most different to the quiet and placid outline illustration of the giottesque: in the terrible portfolio of goya's etchings, called the disasters of war. like dürer and rembrandt, the great spaniard is at once extremely realistic and extremely imaginative. but his realism means fidelity, not to the real aspect of things, of the _thing in itself_, so to speak, but to the way in which things will appear to the spectator at a given moment. he isolates what you might call a case, separating it from the multitude of similar cases, giving you one execution where several must be going on, one firing off of cannon, one or two figures in a burning or a massacre; and his technique conduces thereunto, blurring a lot, rendering only the outline and gesture, and that outline and gesture frequently so momentary as to be confused. but he is real beyond words in his reproduction of the way in which such dreadful things must stamp themselves upon the mind. they are isolated, concentrated, distorted: the multiplicity of horrors making the perceiving mind more sensitive, morbid as from opium eating, and thus making the single impression, which excludes all the rest, more vivid and tremendous than, without that unconsciously perceived rest, it could possibly be. nay, more, these scenes are not merely rather such as they were recollected than as they really were seen; they are such as they were recollected in the minds and feelings of peasants and soldiers, of people who could not free their attention to arrange all these matters logically, to give them their relative logical value. the slaughtering soldiers--spaniards, english, or french--of the napoleonic period become in his plates turks, saracens, huge vague things in half oriental costumes, whiskered, almost turbaned in their fur caps, they become almost ogres, even as they must have done in the popular mind. the shooting of deserters and prisoners is reduced to the figures at the stake, the six carbine muzzles facing them: no shooting soldiers, no stocks to the carbines, any more than in the feeling of the man who was being shot. the artistic training, the habit of deliberately or unconsciously looking for visible effects which all educated moderns possess, prevents even our writers from thus reproducing what has been the actual mental reality. but goya does not for a moment let us suspect the presence of the artist, the quasi-writer. the impression reproduced is the impression, not of the artistic bystander, but of the sufferer or the sufferer's comrades. this makes him extraordinarily faithful to the epigraphs of his plates. we feel that the woman, all alone, without bystanders, earthworks, fascines, smoke, &c., firing off the cannon, is the woman as she is remembered by the creature who exclaims, "que valor!" we feel that the half-dead soldier being stripped, the condemned turning his head aside as far as the rope will permit, the man fallen crushed beneath his horse or vomiting out his blood, is the wretch who exclaims, "por eso soy nacido!" they are, these etchings of goya's, the representation of the sufferings, real and imaginative, of the real sufferers. in the most absolute sense they are the art which does not merely show, but tells; the suggestive and dramatic art of the individual, unaided and unhampered by tradition, indifferent to form and technicality, the art which even like the art of the immediate predecessors of giotto, those giuntas and berlinghieris, who left us the hideous and terrible crucifixions, says to the world, "you shall understand and feel." tuscan sculpture i we are all of us familiar with the two adjacent rooms at south kensington which contain, respectively, the casts from antique sculpture and those from the sculpture of the renaissance; and we are familiar also with the sense of irritation or of relief which accompanies our passing from one of them to the other. this feeling is typical of our frame of mind towards various branches of the same art, and, indeed, towards all things which might be alike, but happen to be unlike. times, countries, nations, temperaments, ideas, and tendencies, all benefit and suffer alternately by our habit of considering that if two things of one sort are not identical, one must be in the right and the other in the wrong. the act of comparison evokes at once our innate tendency to find fault; and having found fault, we rarely perceive that, on better comparing, there may be no fault at all to find. as the result of such comparison, we shall find that renaissance sculpture is unrestful, huddled, lacking selection of form and harmony of proportions; it reproduces ugliness and perpetuates effort; it is sometimes grotesque, and frequently vulgar. or again, that antique sculpture is conventional, insipid, monotonous, without perception for the charm of detail or the interest of individuality; afraid of movement and expression, and at the same time indifferent to outline and grouping; giving us florid nudities which never were alive, and which are doing and thinking nothing whatever. thus, according to which room or which mood we enter first, we are sure to experience either irritation at wrong-headedness or relief at right-doing; whether we pass from the sculpture of ancient greece to the sculpture of mediæval italy, or _vice versâ_. but a more patient comparison of these two branches of sculpture, and of the circumstances which made each what it was, will enable us to enjoy the very different merits of both, and will teach us also something of the vital processes of the particular spiritual organism which we call an art. in the early phase of the philosophy of art--a phase lingering on to our own day in the works of certain critics--the peculiarities of a work of art were explained by the peculiarities of character of the artist: the paintings of raphael and the music of mozart partook of the gentleness of their life; while the figures of michelangelo and the compositions of beethoven were the outcome of their misanthropic ruggedness of temper. the insufficiency, often the falseness, of such explanations became evident when critics began to perceive that the works of one time and country usually possessed certain common peculiarities which did not correspond to any resemblance between the characters of their respective artists; peculiarities so much more dominant than any others, that a statue or a picture which was unsigned and of obscure history was constantly attributed to half-a-dozen contemporary sculptors or painters by half-a-dozen equally learned critics. the recognition of this fact led to the substitution of the _environment_ (the _milieu_ of monsieur taine) as an explanation of the characteristics, no longer of a single work of art, but of a school or group of kindred works. greek art henceforth was the serene outcome of a serene civilisation of athletes, poets, and philosophers, living with untroubled consciences in a good climate, with slaves and helots to char for them while they ran races, discussed elevated topics, and took part in panathenaic processions, riding half naked on prancing horses, or carrying olive branches and sacrificial vases in honour of a divine patron, in whom they believed only as much as they liked. and the art of the middle ages was the fantastic, far-fetched, and often morbid production of nations of crusaders and theologians, burning heretics, worshipping ladies, seeing visions, and periodically joining hands in a vertiginous death-reel, whose figures were danced from country to country. this new explanation, while undoubtedly less misleading than the other one, had the disadvantage of straining the characteristics of a civilisation or of an art in order to tally with its product or producer; it forgot that antiquity was not wholly represented by the frieze of the parthenon, and that the gothic cathedrals and the frescoes of giotto had characteristics more conspicuous than morbidness and insanity. moreover, in the same way that the old personal criticism was unable to account for the resemblance between the works of different individuals of the same school, so the theory of the environment fails to explain certain qualities possessed in common by various schools of art and various arts which have arisen under the pressure of different civilisations; and it is obliged to slur over the fact that the sculpture of the time of pericles and alexander, the painting of the early sixteenth century, and the music of the age of handel, haydn, and mozart are all very much more like one another in their serene beauty than they are any of them like the other productions, artistic or human, of their environment. behind this explanation there must therefore be another, not controverting the portion of truth it contains, but completing it by the recognition of a relation more intimate than that of the work of art with its environment: the relation of form and material. the perceptions of the artist, what he sees and how he sees it, can be transmitted to others only through processes as various as themselves: hair seen as colour is best imitated with paint, hair seen as form with twisted metal wire. it is as impossible to embody certain perceptions in some stages of handicraft as it would be to construct a complex machine in a rudimentary condition of mechanics. certain modes of vision require certain methods of painting, and these require certain kinds of surface and pigment. until these exist, a man may see correctly, but he cannot reproduce what he is seeing. in short, the work of art represents the meeting of a mode of seeing and feeling (determined partly by individual characteristics, partly by those of the age and country) and of a mode of treating materials, a craft which may itself be, like the mind of the artist, in a higher or lower stage of development. the early greeks had little occasion to become skilful carvers of stone. their buildings, which reproduced a very simple wooden structure, were ornamented with little more than the imitation of the original carpentering; for the ionic order, poor as it is of ornament, came only later; and the corinthian, which alone offered scope for variety and skill of carving, arose only when figure sculpture was mature. but the greeks, being only just in the iron period (and iron, by the way, is the tool for stone), were great moulders of clay and casters of metal. the things which later ages made of iron, stone, or wood, they made of clay or bronze. the thousands of exquisite utensils, weapons, and toys in our museums make this apparent; from the bronze greaves delicately modelled like the legs they were to cover, to the earthenware dolls, little venuses, exquisitely dainty, with articulated legs and go-carts. hence the human figure came to be imitated by a process which was not sculpture in the literal sense of carving. it is significant that the latin word whence we get _effigy_ has also given us _fictile_, the making of statues being thus connected with the making of pots; and that the whole vocabulary of ancient authors shows that they thought of statuary not as akin to cutting and chiselling, but to moulding ([greek: plassô] = _fingo_), shaping out of clay on the wheel or with the modelling tool.[ ] it seems probable that marble-work was but rarely used for the round until the sixth century; and the treatment of the hair, the propping of projecting limbs and drapery, makes it obvious that a large proportion of the antiques in our possession are marble copies of long-destroyed bronzes.[ ] so that the greek statue, even if eventually destined for marble, was conceived by a man having the habit of modelling in clay. [footnote : i am confirmed in these particulars by my friend miss eugenie sellers, whose studies of the ancient authorities on art--lucian, pausanias, pliny, and others, will be the more fruitful that they are associated with knowledge--uncommon in archæologists--of more modern artistic processes.] [footnote : this becomes overwhelmingly obvious on reading professor furtwängler's great "masterpieces of greek sculpture." praxiteles appears to have been exceptional in his preference for marble.] let us turn from early greece to mediæval italy. hammered iron had superseded bronze for weapons and armour, and silver and gold, worked with the chisel, for ornaments. on the other hand, the introduction from the east of glazed pottery had banished to the art of the glass-blower all fancy in shaping utensils. there was no demand in common life for cast metal-work, and there being no demand for casting, there was no practice either in its cognate preliminary art of moulding clay. hence, such bronze work as originated was very unsatisfactory; the lack of skill in casting, and the consequent elaboration of bronze-work with the file, lasting late into the renaissance. but the men of the middle ages were marvellously skilful carvers of stone. architecture, ever since the roman time, had given more and more importance to sculptured ornament: already exquisite in the early byzantine screens and capitals, it developed through the elaborate mouldings, traceries, and columns of the lombard style into the art of elaborate reliefs and groups of the full-blown gothic; indeed the gothic church is, in italy, the work no longer of the mason, but of the sculptor. it is no empty coincidence that the hillside villages which still supply florence with stone and with stonemasons should have given their names to three of its greatest sculptors, mino da fiesole, desiderio da settignano, and benedetto da maiano; that michelangelo should have told vasari that the chisel and mallet had come to him with the milk of his nurse, a stonecutter's wife from those same slopes, down which jingle to-day the mules carting ready-shaped stone from the quarries. the mediæval tuscans, the pisans of the thirteenth, and the florentines of the fifteenth century, evidently made small wax or clay sketches of their statues; but their works are conceived and executed in the marble, and their art has come out of the stone without interposition of other material, even as the figures which michelangelo chopped, living and colossal, direct out of the block.[ ] [footnote : interesting details in vasari's treatise, and in his lives of j. della quercia, ferrucci, and other sculptors.] the greek, therefore, was a moulder of clay, a caster of bronze, in the early time when the art acquires its character and takes its direction; in that period, on the contrary, the tuscan was a chaser of silver, a hammerer of iron, above all a cutter of stone. now clay (and we must remember that bronze is originally clay) means the modelled plane and succession of planes smoothed and rounded by the finger, the imitation of all nature's gently graduated swellings and depressions, the absolute form as it exists to the touch; but clay does not give interesting light and shade, and bronze is positively blurred by high lights; and neither clay nor bronze has any resemblance to the texture of human limbs or drapery: it gives the form, but not the stuff. it is the exact reverse with marble. granulated like a living fibre, yet susceptible of a delicate polish, it can imitate the actual substance of human flesh, with its alternations of opacity and luminousness; it can reproduce, beneath the varied strokes of the chisel, the grain, running now one way, now another, which is given to the porous skin by the close-packed bone and muscle below. moreover, it is so docile, so soft, yet so resistant, that the iron can cut it like butter or engrave it lightly like agate; so that the shadows may pour deep into chasms and pools, or run over the surface in a network of shallow threads; light and shade becoming the artist's material as much as the stone itself. the greek, as a result, perceived form not as an appearance, but as a reality; saw with the eye the complexities of projection and depression perceivable by the hand. his craft was that of measurements, of minute proportion, of delicate concave and convex--in one word, of _planes_. his dull, malleable clay, and ductile, shining bronze had taught him nothing of the way in which light and shadow corrode, blur, and pattern a surface. his fancy, his skill, embraced the human form like the gypsum of the moulder, received the stamp of its absolute being. the beauty he sought was concrete, actual, the same in all lights and from all points of view: the comely man himself, not the beautiful marble picture. the marble picture, on the other hand--a picture in however high and complete relief--a picture for a definite point of view, arranged by receiving light projected at a given angle on a surface cut deep or shallow especially to receive it--was produced by the sculpture that spontaneously grew out of the architectural stone-cutting of the byzantine and lombard schools. the mouldings on a church, still more the stone ornaments of its capitals, pulpit, and choir rails, seen, as they are, each at various and peculiar heights above the eye, under light which, however varying, can never get behind or above them if outdoor, below or in flank if indoor--these mouldings, part of a great architectural pattern of black and white, inevitably taught the masons all the subtle play of light and surface, all the deceits of position and perspective. and the mere manipulation of the marble taught them, as we have seen, the exquisite finenesses of surface, texture, crease, accent, and line. what the figure actually was--the real proportions and planes, the actual form of the model--did not matter; no hand was to touch it, no eye to measure; it was to be delightful only in the position which the artist chose, and in no other had it a right to be seen. ii these were the two arts, originating from a material and a habit of work which were entirely different, and which produced artistic necessities diametrically opposed. it might be curious to speculate upon what would have resulted had their position in history been reversed; what statues we should possess had the marble-carving art born of architectural decoration originated in greece, and the art of clay and bronze flourished in christian and mediæval italy. be this as it may, the accident of the surroundings--of the habits of life and thought which pressed on the artist, and combined with the necessities of his material method--appears to have intensified the peculiarities organic in each of the two sculptures. i say _appears_, because we must bear in mind that the combination was merely fortuitous, and guard against the habit of thinking that because a type is familiar it is therefore alone conceivable. we all know all about the antique and the mediæval _milieu_. it is useless to recapitulate the influence, on the one hand, of antique civilisation, with its southern outdoor existence, its high training of the body, its draped citizens, naked athletes, and half-clothed work-folk, its sensuous religion of earthly gods and muscular demigods; or the influence, on the other hand, of the more complex life of the middle ages, essentially northern in type, sedentary and manufacturing, huddled in unventilated towns, with its constant pre-occupation, even among the most sordid grossness, of the splendour of the soul, the beauty of suffering, the ignominy of the body, and the dangers of bodily prosperity. of all this we have heard even too much, thanks to the picturesqueness which has recommended the _milieu_ of monsieur taine to writers more mindful of literary effect than of the philosophy of art. but there is another historical circumstance whose influence, in differentiating greek sculpture from the sculpture of mediæval italy, can scarcely be overrated. it is that, whereas in ancient greece sculpture was the important, fully developed art, and painting merely its shadow; in mediæval italy painting was the art which best answered the requirements of the civilisation, the art struggling with the most important problems; and that painting therefore reacted strongly upon sculpture. greek painting was the shadow of greek sculpture in an almost literal sense: the figures on wall and base, carefully modelled, without texture, symmetrically arranged alongside of each other regardless of pictorial pattern, seem indeed to be projected on to the flat surface by the statues; they are, most certainly, the shadow of modelled figures cast on the painter's mind. the sculptor could learn nothing new from paintings where all that is proper to painting is ignored:--plane always preferred to line, the constructive details, perceptible only as projection, not as colour or value (like the insertion of the leg and the thigh), marked by deep lines that look like tattoo marks; and perspective almost entirely ignored, at least till a late period. it is necessary thus to examine greek painting[ ] in order to appreciate, by comparison with this negative art, the very positive influence of mediæval painting or mediæval sculpture. the painting on a flat surface--fresco or panel--which became more and more the chief artistic expression of those times, taught men to consider perspective; and, with perspective and its possibility of figures on many planes, grouping: the pattern that must arise from juxtaposed limbs and heads. it taught them to perceive form no longer as projection or plane; but as line and light and shade, as something whose charm lay mainly in the boundary curves, the silhouette, so much more important in one single, unchangeable position than where, the eye wandering round a statue, the only moderate interest of one point of view is compensated by the additional interest of another. moreover, painting, itself the product of a much greater interest in colour than antiquity had known, forced upon men's attention the important influence of colour upon form. for, although the human being, if we abstract the element of colour, if we do it over with white paint, has indeed the broad, somewhat vague form, the indecision of lines which characterises antique sculpture; yet the human being as he really exists, with his coloured hair, eyes, and lips, his cheeks, forehead, and chin patterned with tint, has a much greater sharpness, precision, contrast of form, due to the additional emphasis of the colour. hence, as pictorial perspective and composition undoubtedly inclined sculptors to seek greater complexities of relief and greater unity of point of view, so the new importance of drawing and colouring suggested to them a new view of form. a human being was no longer a mere arrangement of planes and of masses, homogeneous in texture and colour. he was made of different substances, of hair, skin over fat, muscle, or bone, skin smooth, wrinkled, or stubbly, and, besides this, he was painted different colours. he had, moreover, what the greeks had calmly whitewashed away, or replaced by an immovable jewel or enamel: that extraordinary and extraordinarily various thing called an eye. [footnote : at all events, greek painting preceding or contemporaneous with the great period of sculpture. later painting was, of course, much more pictorial.] all these differences between the monochrome creature--colour abstracted--of the greeks and the mottled real human being, the sculptors of the renaissance were led to perceive by their brothers the painters; and having perceived, they were dissatisfied at having to omit in their representation. but how show that they too had seen them? here return to our notice two other peculiarities which distinguish mediæval sculpture from antique: first, that mediæval sculpture, rarely called upon for free open-air figures, was for ever producing architectural ornament, seen at a given height and against a dark background; and indoor decoration seen under an unvarying and often defective light; and secondly, that mediæval sculpture was the handicraft of the subtle carver in delicate stone. the sculpture which was an essential part of lombard and gothic architecture required a treatment that should adapt it to its particular place and subordinate it to a given effect. according to the height above the eye and the direction of the light, certain details had to be exaggerated, certain others suppressed; a sculptured window, like those of orsanmichele, would not give the delightful pattern of black and white unless some surfaces were more raised than others, some portions of figure or leafage allowed to sink into quiescence, others to start forward by means of the black rim of undercutting; and a sepulchral monument, raised thirty feet above the spectator's eye, like those inside sta. maria novella, would present a mere intricate confusion unless the recumbent figure, the canopy, and various accessories, were such as to seem unnatural at the level of the eye. thus, the heraldic lions of one of these gothic tombs have the black cavity of the jaw cut by marble bars which are absolutely out of proportion to the rest of the creature's body, and to the detail of the other features, but render the showing of the teeth even at the other side of the transept. again, in the more developed art of the fifteenth century, rossellino's cardinal of portugal has the offside of his face shelved upwards so as to catch the light, because he is seen from below, and the near side would otherwise be too prominent; while the beautiful dead warrior, by an unknown sculptor, at ravenna has had a portion of his jaw and chin deliberately cut away, because the spectator is intended to look down upon his recumbent figure. if we take a cast of the cardinal's head and look down upon it, or hang a cast of the dead warrior on the wall, the whole appearance alters; the expression is almost reversed and the features are distorted. on the other hand, a cast from a real head, placed on high like the cardinal's, would become insignificant, and laid at the height of a table, like the dead warrior's, would look lumbering and tumid. thus, again, the head of donatello's poggio, which is visible and intelligible placed high up in the darkness of the cathedral of florence, looks as if it had been gashed and hacked with a blunt knife when seen in the cast at the usual height in an ordinary light. now this subtle circumventing of distance, height, and darkness; this victory of pattern over place; this reducing of light and shadow into tools for the sculptor, mean, as we see from the above examples, sacrificing the reality to the appearance, altering the proportions and planes so rigorously reproduced by the greeks, mean sacrificing the sacred absolute form. and such a habit of taking liberties with what can be measured by the hand, in order to please the eye, allowed the sculptors of the renaissance to think of their model no longer as the homogeneous _white man_ of the greeks, but as a creature in whom structure was accentuated, intensified, or contradicted by colour and texture. furthermore, these men of the fifteenth century possessed the cunning carving which could make stone vary in texture, in fibre, and almost in colour. a great many biographical details substantiate the evidence of statues and busts that the sculptors of the renaissance carried on their business in a different manner from the ancient greeks. the great development in antiquity of the art of casting bronze, carried on everywhere for the production of weapons and household furniture, must have accustomed greek sculptors (if we may call them by that name) to limit their personal work to the figure modelled in clay. and the great number of their works, many tediously constructed of ivory and gold, shows clearly that they did not abandon this habit in case of marble statuary, but merely gave the finishing strokes to a copy of their clay model, produced by workmen whose skill must have been fostered by the apparently thriving trade in marble copies of bronzes. it was different in the renaissance. vasari recommends, as obviating certain miscalculations which frequently happened, that sculptors should prepare large models by which to measure the capacities of their block of marble. but these models, described as made of a mixture of plaster, size, and cloth shavings over tow and hay, could serve only for the rough proportions and attitude; nor is there ever any allusion to any process of minute measurement, such as pointing, by which detail could be transferred from the model to the stone. most often we hear of small wax models which the sculptors enlarged directly in the stone. vasari, while exaggerating the skill of michelangelo in making his david out of a block mangled by another sculptor, expresses no surprise at his having chopped the marble himself; indeed, the anecdote itself affords evidence of the commonness of such a practice, since agostino di duccio would not have spoilt the block if he had not cut into it rashly without previous comparison with a model.[ ] we hear, besides, that jacopo della quercia spent twelve years over one of the gates of s. petronio, and that other sculptors carried out similar great works with the assistance of one man, or with no assistance at all,--a proceeding which would have seemed the most frightful waste except in a time and country where half of the sculptors were originally stone-masons and the other half goldsmiths, that is to say, men accustomed to every stage, coarse or subtle, of their work. the absence of replicas of renaissance sculpture, so striking a contrast to the scores of repetitions of greek works, proves, moreover, that the actual execution in marble was considered an intrinsic part of the sculpture of the fifteenth century, in the same way as the painting of a venetian master. phidias might leave the carving of his statues to skilful workmen, once he had modelled the clay, even as the painters of the merely designing and linear schools, perugino, ghirlandaio, or botticelli, might employ pupils to carry out their designs on panel or wall. but in the same way as a titian is not a titian without a certain handling of the brush, so a donatello is not a donatello, or a mino not a mino, without a certain individual excellence in the cutting of the marble. [footnote : several greek vases and coins show the sculptor modelling his figure; while in renaissance designs, from that of nanni di banco to a mediocre allegorical engraving in an early edition of vasari, the sculptor, or the personified art of sculpture, is actually working with chisel and mallet.] these men brought, therefore, to the cutting of marble a degree of skill and knowledge of which the ancients had no notion, as they had no necessity. in their hands the chisel was not merely a second modelling tool, moulding delicate planes, uniting insensibly broad masses of projection and depression. it was a pencil, which, according as it was held, could emphasise the forms in sharp hatchings or let them die away unnoticed in subdued, imperceptible washes. it was a brush which could give the texture and the values of the colour--a brush dipped in various tints of light and darkness, according as it poured into the marble the light and the shade, and as it translated into polishings and rough hewings and granulations and every variety of cutting, the texture of flesh, of hair, and of drapery; of the blonde hair and flesh of children, the coarse flesh and bristly hair of old men, the draperies of wool, of linen, and of brocade. the sculptors of antiquity took a beautiful human being--a youth in his perfect flower, with limbs trained by harmonious exercise and ripened by exposure to the air and sun--and, correcting whatever was imperfect in his individual forms by their hourly experience of similar beauty, they copied in clay as much as clay could give of his perfections: the subtle proportions, the majestic ampleness of masses, the delicate finish of limbs, the harmonious play of muscles, the serene simplicity of look and gesture, placing him in an attitude intelligible and graceful from the greatest possible distance and from the largest variety of points of view. and they preserved this perfect piece of loveliness by handing it over to the faithful copyist in marble, to the bronze, which, more faithful still, fills every minutest cavity left by the clay. being beautiful in himself, in all his proportions and details, this man of bronze or marble was beautiful wherever he was placed and from wheresoever he was seen; whether he appeared foreshortened on a temple front, or face to face among the laurel trees, whether shaded by a portico, or shining in the blaze of the open street. his beauty must be judged and loved as we should judge and love the beauty of a real human being, for he is the closest reproduction that art has given of beautiful reality placed in reality's real surroundings. he is the embodiment of the strength and purity of youth, untroubled by the moment, independent of place and of circumstance. of such perfection, born of the rarest meeting of happy circumstances, renaissance sculpture knows nothing. a lesser art, for painting was then what sculpture had been in antiquity; bound more or less closely to the service of architecture; surrounded by ill-grown, untrained bodies; distracted by ascetic feelings and scientific curiosities, the sculpture of donatello and mino, of jacopo della quercia and desiderio da settignano, of michelangelo himself, was one of those second artistic growths which use up the elements that have been neglected or rejected by the more fortunate and vigorous efflorescence which has preceded. it failed in everything in which antique sculpture had succeeded; it accomplished what antiquity had left undone. its sense of bodily beauty was rudimentary; its knowledge of the nude alternately insufficient and pedantic; the forms of donatello's david and of benedetto's st. john are clumsy, stunted, and inharmonious; even michelangelo's bacchus is but a comely lout. this sculpture has, moreover, a marvellous preference for ugly old men--gross, or ascetically imbecile; and for ill-grown striplings: except the st. george of donatello, whose body, however, is entirely encased in inflexible leather and steel, it never gives us the perfection and pride of youth. these things are obvious, and set us against the art as a whole. but see it when it does what antiquity never attempted; antiquity which placed statues side by side in a gable, balancing one another, but not welded into one pattern; which made relief the mere repetition of one point of view of the round figure, the shadow of the gable group; which, until its decline, knew nothing of the pathos of old age, of the grotesque exquisiteness of infancy, of the endearing awkwardness of adolescence; which knew nothing of the texture of the skin, the silkiness of the hair, the colour of the eye. iii let us see renaissance sculpture in its real achievement. here are a number of children by various sculptors of the fifteenth century. this is the tiny baby whose little feet still project from a sort of gaiter of flesh, whose little boneless legs cannot carry the fat little paunch, the heavy big head. note that its little skull is still soft, like an apple, under the thin floss hair. its elder brother or sister is still vaguely contemplative of the world, with eyes that easily grow sleepy in their blueness. those a little older have learned already that the world is full of solemn people on whom to practise tricks; their features have scarcely accentuated, their hair has merely curled into loose rings, but their eyes have come forward from below the forehead, eyes and forehead working together already; and there are great holes, into which you may dig your thumb, in the cheeks. those of fourteen or fifteen have deplorably thin arms, and still such terrible calves; and a stomach telling of childish gigantic meals; but they have the pert, humorous frankness of verrocchio's david, who certainly flung a jest at goliath's unwieldy person together with his stone; or the delicate, sentimental pretty woman's grace of donatello's st. john of the louvre, and benedetto da maiano's: they will soon be poring over the _vita nuova_ and petrarch. two other st. johns--i am speaking of donatello's--have turned out differently. one, the first beard still doubtful round his mouth, has already rushed madly away from earthly loves; his limbs are utterly wasted by fasting; except his legs, which have become incredibly muscular from continual walking; he has begun to be troubled by voices in the wilderness--whether of angels or of demons--and he flies along, his eyes fixed on his scroll, and with them fixing his mind on unearthly things; he will very likely go mad, this tempted saint of twenty-one. here he is again, beard and hair matted, almost a wild man of the woods, but with the gravity and self-possession of a preacher; he has come out of the wilderness, overcome all temptations, his fanaticism is now militant and conquering. this is certainly not the same man, but perhaps one of his listeners, this old king david of donatello--a man at no time intelligent, whose dome-shaped head has taken back, with the thin white floss hair that recalls infancy, an infantine lack of solidity; whose mouth is drooping already, perhaps after a first experience of paralysis, and his eyes getting vague in look; but who, in this intellectual and physical decay, seems to have become only the more full of gentleness and sweetness; misnamed david, a job become reconciled to his fate by becoming indifferent to himself, an ancient mariner who has seen the water-snakes and blessed them and been filled with blessing. these are all statues or busts intended for a given niche or bracket, a given portico or window, but in a measure free sculpture. let us now look at what is already decoration. donatello's annunciation, the big coarse relief in friable grey stone (incapable of a sharp line), picked out with delicate gilding; no fluttering or fainting, the angel and the virgin grave, decorous, like the neighbouring pilasters. again, his organ-loft of flat relief, with granulated groundwork: the flattened groups of dancing children making, with deep, wide shadows beneath their upraised, linked arms, a sort of human trellis-work of black and white. mino's madonna at fiesole: the relief turned and cut so as to look out of the chapel into the church, so that the virgin's head, receiving the light like a glory on the pure, polished forehead, casts a nimbus of shadow round itself, while the saints are sucked into the background, their accessories only, staff and gridiron, allowed to assert themselves by a sharp shadow; a marvellous vision of white heavenly roses, their pointed buds and sharp spines flourishing on martyrs' blood and incense, grown into the close lips and long eyes, the virginal body and thin hands of mary. from these reliefs we come to the compositions, group inside group, all shelving into portico and forest vista, of the pulpit of sta. croce, the perspective bevelling it into concavities, like those of panelling; the heads and projecting shoulders lightly marked as some carved knob or ornament; to the magnificent compositions in light and shade, all balancing and harmonising each other, and framed round by garlands of immortal blossom and fruit, of ghiberti's gates. nor is this all. the sculpture of the renaissance, not satisfied with having portrayed the real human being made of flesh and blood, of bone and skin, dark-eyed or flaxen-haired, embodied in the marble the impalpable forms of dreams. its latest, greatest, works are those sepulchres of michelangelo, whose pinnacle enthrones strange ghosts of warriors, and whose steep sides are the unquiet couch of divinities hewn, you would say, out of darkness and the light that is as darkness. a seeker of pagan perfection being the life of domenico neroni, pictor sacrilegus every time, of late years, of my being once more in rome, i have been subject to a peculiar mental obsession: retracing my steps, if not materially, in fancy at least, to such parts of the city as bear witness to the strange meeting of centuries, where the middle ages have altered to their purposes, or filled with their significance, the ruined remains of antiquity. such places are scarcer than one might have expected, and for that reason perhaps more impressive, more fragmentary and enigmatic. there are the colossal columns--great trickles and flakes of black etching as with acid their marble--of the temple of mars ultor, with that tuscan palace of torre della milizia rising from among them. there is, inside ara coeli--itself commemorating the legend of augustus and the sibyl--the tomb of dominus pandulphus sabelli, its borrowed vine-garlands and satyrs and cupids surmounted by mosaic crosses and gothic inscriptions; and outside the same church, on a ground of green and gold, a mother of god looking down from among gurgoyles and escutcheons on to the marble river-god of the yard of the capitol below. then also, where pines and laurels still root in the unrifled tombs, the skeleton feudal fortress, gutted as by an earthquake, alongside of the tower of cæcilia metella. these were the places to which my thoughts were for ever recurring; to them, and to nameless other spots, the street-corner, for instance, where an ionic pillar, with beaded and full-horned capital, is walled into the side of an insignificant modern house. i know not whether, in consequence of this straining to see the meeting-point of antiquity and the middle ages (like the fancy, sometimes experienced, to reach the confluence of rivers), or rather as a cause thereof, but a certain story has long lurked in the corners of my mind. twenty years have passed since first i was aware of its presence, and it has undergone many changes. it is presumably a piece of my inventing, for i have neither read it nor heard it related. but by this time it has acquired a certain traditional veracity in my eyes, and i give to the reader rather as historical fact than as fiction the study which i have always called to myself: _pictor sacrilegus_. i domenico, the son of luca neroni, painter, sculptor, goldsmith, and engraver, about whom, owing either to the scarcity of his works or the scandal of his end, vasari has but a few words in another man's biography, must have been born shortly before or shortly after the year , a contemporary of perugino, of ghirlandaio, of filippino lippi, and of signorelli, by all of whom he was influenced at various moments, and whom he influenced by turns. he was born and bred in the etruscan town of volterra, of a family which for generations had exercised the art of the goldsmith, stimulated, perhaps, by the sight of ornaments discovered in etruscan tombs, and carrying on, peradventure, some of the etruscan traditions of two thousand years before. the mountain city, situate on the verge of the malarious seaboard of southern tuscany, is reached from one side through windings of barren valleys, where the dried-up brooks are fringed, instead of reed, with the grey, sand-loving tamarisk; and from the other side, across a high-lying moorland of stunted heather and sere grass, whence the larks rise up scared by only a flock of sheep or a mare and her foal, and you journey for miles without meeting a house or a clump of cypresses. in front, with the white road zigzagging along their crests, is a wilderness of barren, livid hillocks, separated by huge fissures and crevassed by huge cracks, with here and there separate rocks, projecting like druidic stones from the valley of gaping ravines; and beyond them all a higher mountain, among whose rocks and ilexes you doubtfully distinguish the walls and towers of the etruscan city. a mass of cyclopean wall and great black houses, grim with stone brackets and iron hooks and stanchions, all for defence and barricade, volterra looks down into the deep valleys, like the vague heraldic animal, black and bristly, which peers from the high tower of the municipal palace. one wonders how this could ever have been a city of the fat, voluptuous etruscans, whose images lie propped up and wide-eyed on their stone coffin-lids. the long wars of old italic times, in which etruria fell before rome, must have burned and destroyed, as one would think, the land as well as the inhabitants, leaving but grey cinders and blackened stone behind. siena and florence ruined volterra once more in the middle ages, isolating it near the pestilential maremma and checking its growth outward and inward. the cathedral, the pride of a mediæval commonwealth, is still a mean and unfinished building of the twelfth century. there is no native art, of any importance, of a later period; what the town possesses has come from other parts, the altar-pieces by matteo di giovanni and signorelli, for instance, and the marble candelabra, carried by angels, of the school of mino da fiesole. in this remote and stagnant town, the artistic training of domenico neroni was necessarily imperfect and limited throughout his boyhood to the paternal goldsmith's craft. indeed, it seems likely that some peculiarities of his subsequent life as an artist, his laboriousness disproportionate to all results, his persistent harping on unimportant detail, and his exclusive interest in line and curve, were due not merely to an unhappy and laborious temperament, but also to the long habit of an art full of manual skill and cunning tradition, which presented the eye with ingenious patterns, but rarely attempted, save in a few church ornaments, more of the domain of sculpture, to tell a story or express a feeling. besides this influence of his original trade, we find in domenico neroni's work the influence of his early surroundings. his native country is such as must delight, or help to form, a painter of pale anatomies. the painters of southern tuscany loved as a background the arid and mountainous country of their birth. taddeo di bartolo placed the death of the virgin among the curious undulations of pale clay and sandy marl that stretch to the southernmost gates of siena; signorelli was amused and fascinated by the odd cliffs and overhanging crags, unnatural and grotesque like some druidic monument, of the valleys of the paglia and the chiana; and pier della francesca has left, in the allegorical triumphs of frederick of urbino and his duchess, studies most exquisite and correct, of what meets the traveller's eyes on the watersheds of the central apennine, sharp-toothed lines of mountain peaks pale against the sky, dim distant whiteness of sea, and valleys and roads and torrents twisting intricately as on a map. the country about volterra, revealing itself with rosy lividness at dawn, with delicate periwinkle blue at sunset, through an open city gate or a gap between the tall black houses, helped to make neroni a lover of muscle and sinew, of the strength and suppleness of movement, of the osseous structure divined within the limbs; and made him shrink all his life long, not merely from drapery or costume that blunted the lines of the body, but from any warmth and depth of colour; till the figures stood out like ghosts, or people in faded tapestries, from the pale lilacs and greys and washed out cinnamons of his backgrounds. for the bold peaks and swelling mountains of the valleys of the arno and the tiber, and the depths of colour among vegetation and rivers, seemed crude and emphatic to a man who carried in his memory those bosses of hill, pearly where the waters have washed the sides, pale golden buff where a little sere grass covers the rounded top; those great cracks and chasms, with the white road snaking along the narrow table-land and the wide valleys; and the ripple of far-off mountain chains, strong and restrained in curves, exquisite in tints, like the dry white and purpled hemlock, and the dusty lilac scabius, which seem to flower alone in that arid and melancholy and beautiful country. "colour," wrote domenico neroni, among a mass of notes on his art, measurements, and calculations, "is the enemy of noble art. it is the enemy of all precise and perfect form, since where colour exists form can be seen only as juxtaposition of colour. for this reason it has pleased the creator to lend colour only to the inanimate world, as to senseless vegetables and plants, and to the lower kinds of living creatures, as birds, fishes, and reptiles; whereas nobler creatures, as lions, tigers, horses, cattle, stags, and unicorns, are robed in white or dull skins, the noblest breeds, indeed, both of horses, as those of the soldans of egypt and numidia, and of oxen, as those of the valleys of the clitumnus and chiana, being white; whence, indeed, the poet virgil has said that such latter are fittest for sacrifice to the immortal gods; 'hinc albi, clitumne, greges,' and what follows. and man, the masterpiece of creation, is white; and only in the less noble portions of his body, which have no sensitiveness and no shape (being, indeed, vegetative and deciduous), as hair and beard, partaking of colour. wherefore the ancient romans and greeks, portraying their gods, chose white marble for material, and not gaudy porphyry or jasper, and portrayed them naked. whence certain moderns, calling themselves painters, who muffle our lord and the holy apostles in many-coloured garments, thinking thereby to do a seemly and honourable thing, but really proceeding basely like tailors, might take a lesson if they could." the quotation from virgil, and the allusion to the statues of the immortal gods, shows that neroni must have written these lines in the later part of his career, when already under the influence of that humanist filarete, who played so important a part in his life, and when possessed already by those notions which brought him to so strange and fearful an end. but from his earliest years he sought for form, despising other things. he passed with contempt through a six months' apprenticeship at perugia, railing at the great factory of devotional art established there by perugino, of whom, with his rows of splay-footed saints and spindle-shanked heroes, he spoke with the same sweeping contempt as later michelangelo. at siena, which he described (much as its earlier artists painted it) as a town of pink toy-houses and scarlet toy-towers, he found nothing to admire save the marble fountain of jacopo della quercia, for the antique group of the three graces, later to be drawn by the young raphael, had not yet been given to the cathedral by the nephew of pius ii. the sight of these noble reliefs, particularly of the one representing adam and eve driven out of paradise, with their strong and well-understood nudities, determined him to exchange painting for sculpture, and made him hasten to florence to see the works of donatello and of ghiberti. domenico neroni must have spent several years of his life--between and --in florence, but little of his work has remained in that city,--little, at least, that we can identify with certainty. for taking service, as he did, with the pollaiolos, verrocchio, nanni di banco, and even with filippino and botticelli, wherever his inquisitive mind could learn, or his restless, fastidious, laborious talent gain him bread, it is presumable that much of his work might be discovered alongside that of his masters, in the collective productions of the various workshops. it is possible thus that he had a hand in much metal and relief work of the pollaiolos, and perhaps even in the embroidering and tapestries of which they were undertakers; also in certain ornaments, friezes of cupids and dolphins, and exquisite shell and acanthus carving of the monuments of santa croce; and it may be surmised that he occasionally assisted botticelli in his perspective and anatomy, since that master took him to rome when commissioned to paint in the chapel of pope sixtus. indeed, in certain little-known studies for botticelli's birth of venus and calumny of apelles one may discover, in the strong sweep of the outline, in the solid fashion in which the figures are planted on their feet--all peculiarities which disappear in the painted pictures, where grace of motion and exquisitive research take the place of solid draughtsman-ship--the hand of the artist whom the restless desire to confront ever new problems alone prevented from attaining a place among the great men of his time. for there was in domenico neroni, from the very outset of his career, a curiosity after the hidden, a passion for the unattainable, which kept him, with greater power than many of his contemporaries, and vastly greater science, a mere student throughout his lifetime. he resembled in some respects his great contemporary leonardo, but while the eager inquisitiveness of the latter was tempered by a singular power of universal enjoyment, a love of luxury and joyousness in every form, the intellectual activity of neroni was exasperated into a kind of unhappy mania by the fact that its satisfaction was the only happiness that he could conceive. he would never have understood, or understanding would have detested, the luxurious _dilettante_ spirit which made leonardo prefer painting to sculpture, because whereas the sculptor is covered with a mud of marble dust, and works in a place disorderly with chips and rubbish, the painter "sits at his easel, well dressed and at ease, in a clean house adorned with pictures, his work accompanied by music or the reading of delightful books, which, untroubled by the sound of hammering and other noises, may be listened to with very great pleasure." the workshop of neroni, when he had one of his own, was full of cobwebs and dust, littered with the remains of frugal and unsavoury meals, and resolutely closed to the rich and noble persons in whose company leonardo delighted. and if neroni, in his many-sided activity, eventually put aside sculpture for painting, it was merely because, as he was wont to say, a figure must needs look real when it is solid and you can walk round it; but to make men and women rise out of a flat canvas or plastered wall, and stand and move as if alive, is truly the work of a god. men and women, said neroni; and he should have added men and women nude. for the studies which he made of the anatomy of horses and dogs were destined merely to shed light on the construction of human creatures; and his elaborate and exquisite drawings of undulating hills and sinuous rivers, nay, of growths of myrtle and clumps of daffodils, were intended as practice towards drawing the more subtle lines and curves of man's body. and as to clothes, he could not understand that great anatomists like signorelli should huddle their figures quite willingly in immense cloaks and gowns; still less how exquisite draughtsmen like his friend botticelli (who had the sense of line like no other man since frate lippo, although his people were oddly out of joint) could take pleasure in putting half-a-dozen veils atop of each other, and then tying them all into bunches and bunches with innumerable bits of tape! as to himself, he invariably worked out every detail of the nude, in the vain hope that the priests and monks for whom he worked would allow at least half of those beautiful anatomies to remain visible; and when, with infinite difficulties and bad language, he gradually gave in to the necessity of some sort of raiment, it was of such a nature--the hose and jerkins of the men-at-arms like a second skin, the draperies of the womankind as clinging as if they had been picked out of the river, that a great many pious people absolutely declined to pay the agreed on sum for paintings more suited to pagan than to christian countries; and indeed fra girolamo savonarola included much work of domenico's in his very finest burnings. such familiarity with nude form was not easily attained in the fifteenth century. mediæval civilisation gave no opportunities for seeing naked or half-naked people moving freely as in the antique palæstra; and there had yet been discovered too few antique marbles for the empiric knowledge of ancient sculptors to be empirically inherited by modern ones. observation of the hired model, utterly insufficient in itself, required to be supplemented by a thorough science of the body's mechanism. but physiology and surgery were still in their infancy; and artists could not, as they could after the teachings of vesalius, fallopius, and cesalpinus, avail themselves of the science accumulated for medical purposes. verrocchio and the pollaiolos most certainly, and donatello almost without a doubt, practised dissection as a part of their business, as michelangelo, with the advantage of twenty years of their researches behind him, practised it passionately in his turn. of all the men of his day, domenico neroni, however, was the most fervent anatomist. he ran every risk of contagion and of punishment in order to procure corpses from the hospital and the gibbet. he undermined his constitution by breathing and handling corruption, and when his friends implored him to spare his health, he would answer, although unable to touch food for sickness, by paraphrasing the famous words of paolo uccello, and exclaiming from among his grisly and abominable properties, "ah! how sweet a thing is not anatomy!" there was nothing, he said--for he spoke willingly to any one who questioned him on these subjects--more beautiful than the manner in which human beings are built, or indeed living creatures of any kind; for, in the scarcity of corpses and skeletons, he would pick up on his walks the bones of sheep that had died on the hill-sides, or those of horses and mules furbished up by the scavenger dogs of the river-edge. it was marvellous to listen to him when he was in the vein. he sat handling horrible remains and talking about them like a lover about his mistress or a preacher about god; indeed, bones, muscles, and tendons were mistress and god all in one to this fanatical lover of human form. he would insist on the loveliness of line of the scapula, finding in the sweep of the _acromion_ ridge a fanciful resemblance to the pinion, and in the angular shape of the _coracoid_ process to the neck and head of a raven in full flight. following with his finger the triangular outline of the bone, he went on to explain how its freedom of movement is due to its singular independence; laid loosely on the flat muscles behind the upper ribs, it moves with absolute freedom, backwards and forwards, up and down, unconnected with any other bone, till, turning the corner of the shoulder, it is hinged rather than tied to the collar-bone; the collar-bone itself free to move upwards from its articulation in the sternum. and then talk of the great works of man! talk of brunellesco and his cupola, of the engineers of the duke of calabria! look at the human arm: what engineer would have dared to fasten anything to such a movable base as that? yet an arm can swing round like a windmill, and lift weights like the stoutest crane without being wrenched out of its sockets, because the muscles act as pulleys in four different directions. and see, under the big _deltoid_, which fits round the shoulder like an epaulette and pulls the arm up, is the scapular group, things like tidily sorted skeins, thick on the shoulder-blades, diminished to a tendon string at their insertion in the arm; their business is to pull the arm back, in opposition to the big pectoral muscle which pulls it forwards. here you have your arm working up, backwards or forwards; but how about pulling it down? an exquisite little arrangement settles that. instead of being inserted with the rest on the outside of the arm-bone, the lowest muscle takes another road, and is inserted in the under part of the bone, in company with the great _latissimus dorsi_, and these tightening while the _deltoid_ slackens, pull the arm down. no other arrangement could have done it with so little bulk; and an additional muscle on the under-arm or the ribs would have spoilt the figure of apollo himself. among the paintings of contemporary artists, the one which at that time afforded domenico the most unmingled satisfaction was pollaiolo's tiny panel of hercules and the hydra. there! you might cover it with the palm of your hand; but in that hand you would be holding the concentrated strength and valour of the world, the true son of jove, the most beautiful muscles that ever were seen! at least the most beautiful save in the statues of donatello; for, of course, donato was the greatest craftsman that had ever lived; and domenico spoke of him as, in vasari's day, men were to speak of michelangelo. for i ask you, who save an angel in human shape could have modelled that david, so young and triumphant and modest, treading on goliath's head, with toes just slightly turned downwards, and those sandals, of truly divine workmanship? and that st. john in the wilderness--how beautiful are not his ribs, showing under the wasted pectoral muscles; and how one sees that the _radius_ rolls across the _ulna_ in the forearm; surely one's heart, rather than the statue, must be made of stone if one can contemplate without rapture the exquisite rendering of the texture where the shin-bone stands out from the muscles of the leg. such must have been the works of those famous romans and greeks, phidias and praxiteles. such were the notions of domenico of volterra in the earlier part of his career. for a change came gradually upon him after his first visit to rome, whither, about , he accompanied botticelli, rosselli, and ghirlandaio, whom his beatitude pope sixtus had sent for to decorate the new chapel of the palace. ii we must not be deluded, like domenico neroni during his florentine days, into the easy mistake of considering mere realism as the veritable aim of the art of his days. deep in the life of that art, and struggling for ever through whatever passion for scientific accuracy, technical skill, or pathetic expression, is the sense of line and proportion, the desire for pattern, growing steadily till its triumph under michelangelo and raphael. this reveals itself earliest in architecture. the men of the fifteenth century had lost all sense of the logic of construction. columns, architraves, friezes, and the various categories of actual stone and brick work, occurred to them merely as so much line and curve, applicable to the surface of their buildings, with not more reference to their architecture than a fresco or an arras. the pazzi chapel, for instance, is one agglomeration of architectural members which perform no architectural function; but, taken as a piece of surface decoration, say as a stencilling, what could be more harmonious? or take alberti's famous church at rimini; it is but a great piece of architectural veneering, nothing that meets the eye doing any real constructive duty, its exquisite decoration no more closely connected with the building than the strips of damask and yards of gold braid used in other places on holidays. as the fifteenth century treats the architectural detail of græco-roman art, so likewise does it proceed with its sculptured ornament; all meaning vanishes before the absorbing interest in pattern. for there is in antique architectural ornament a much larger proportion of significance than can strike us at first. thus the garlands of ivy and fruit had actually hung round the tomb before being carved on its sides; before ornamenting its corners the rams' heads and skulls of oxen had lain for centuries on the altar. the medallions of nymphs, centaurs, tritons, which to us are so meaningless and irrelevant, had a reference either to the divinity or to the worshippers; and there is probably almost as much spontaneous symbolism in the little cinerary box in the capitol (of a person called felix), with its variously employed genii, making music, carrying lanterns and torches, burning or extinguished under a trellis hung with tragic masks, as in any gothic tomb with angels drawing the curtains of the deathbed. there has been, with the change of religion, an interruption in the symbolic tradition; yet, though we no longer interpret with readiness this dead language of paganism, we feel, if we are the least attentive, that it contains a real meaning. we feel that the sculptors cared not merely for the representation, but also for the object represented. these things were dear to them, a part of their life, their worship, their love; and they put as much observation into their work as any gothic sculptor, and often as much fancy and humour (though both more beautiful), as one may judge, with plenty of comparison at hand, by a certain antique altar in siena cathedral, none of whose gothic animals come up to the wonderful half-human rams' heads and bored, cross griffins of this forlorn fragment of paganism. the significance of classic ornament the men of the fifteenth century straightway overlooked. they laid hold of it as merely so much form, joining sirens, griffins, garlands, rams' heads, victories, without a suspicion that they might mean or suggest anything. they do, in fact, mean nothing, in most florentine work, besides exquisite pattern; in the less subtle atmosphere of venice they reach that frank senselessness which has moved the wrath of ruskin. but what a charm have not even those foolish monuments of doges and admirals, tier upon tier of triumphal arch, of delicately flowered column and scalloped niche, and then rows of dainty warriors and virtues; how full of meaning to the eye and spirit is not this art so meaningless to the literary mind! of course the painting of that age never became an art of mere pattern like the architecture. the whole life and thought of the time was poured into it; and the art itself developed in its upward movement a number of scientific interests--perspective, anatomy, expression--which counteracted that tendency to seek for mere beauty of arrangement and detail. yet the perfection of renaissance art never lies in any realism in our modern sense, still less in such suggestiveness as belongs to our literary age; and its triumph is when raphael can vary and co-ordinate the greatest number of heads, of hands, feet, and groups, as in the school of athens, the parnassus, the marvellous little bible histories of the loggie; above all, in that "vision of ezekiel," which is the very triumph of compact and harmonious composition; when michelangelo can tie human beings into the finest knots, twist them into the most shapely brackets, frameworks, and key-stones. even throughout the period of utmost realism, while art was struggling with absorbing problems, men never dreamed of such realism as ours. they never painted a corner of nature at random, merely for the sake of veracity; they never modelled a modern man or woman in their real everyday dress and at their real everyday business. in the midst of everything composition ruled supreme, and each object must needs find its echo, be worked into a scheme of lines, or, with the venetians, of symmetrically arranged colours. there is an anatomical engraving by antonio pollaiolo, one of the strongest realists of his time, which sums up the tendencies of fifteenth-century art. it is a combat of twelve naked men, extraordinarily hideous and in hideous attitudes, but they are so arranged that their ungainly and flayed-looking limbs form with the background of gigantic ivy tendrils an intricate and beautiful pattern, such as we find in morris's paper and stuffs. this hankering after pattern, this desire for beauty as such, became manifest in domenico neroni after his first sojourn in rome. the roman basilicas, with their stately rows of columns, corinthian and ionic, taken from some former temple, and their sunken floor, solemn with byzantine patterns of porphyry and serpentine, had impressed with their simplicity and harmony the mind of this florentine, surrounded hitherto by the intricacies of gothic buildings. they had formed the link to those fragments of ancient architecture, more intact but also more hidden than in our days, whose dignity of proportion and grace of detail--vast rosetted arches and slender rows of fluted pillars--our modern and hellenicised taste has treated with too ready contempt. for this vitruvian art, unoriginal and bungling in the eyes of our purists, was yet full of the serenity, the ampleness which the middle ages lacked, and affected the men of the fifteenth century much like a passage of virgil after a canto of dante. it formed the fit setting for those remains of antique sculpture which were then gradually beginning to be drawn from the earth. of such statues and reliefs--which the men of the renaissance regarded as the work rather of ancient rome than of greece--a certain amount was beginning to be carried all over italy, and notably to the houses of the rich florentine merchants, who incrusted their staircase walls with inscriptions and carvings, and set statues and sarcophagi under the columns of their courtyards. but such sculpture was chosen rather for its portable character than its excellence; and although single busts and slabs were diligently studied by florentine artists, there could not have existed in florence a number of antiques sufficient to impress the ideal of ancient art upon men surrounded on all sides by the works of medieval painters and sculptors. to the various sights of rome must be due that sudden enlarging of style, that kind of new classicism, which distinguishes the work of fifteenth-century masters after their visit to the eternal city, enabling ghirlandaio, signorelli, perugino, and botticelli to make the sixtine chapel, and even the finical pinturicchio, the vatican library, into centres of fresh influence for harmony and beauty. the result upon domenico neroni was a momentary confusion in all his artistic conceptions. too much of a seeker for new things, for secret and complicated knowledge, to undergo a mere widening of style like his more gifted or more placid contemporaries, he fell foul of his previous work and his previous masters, without finding a new line or new ideals. the frescoes of castagno, the little panels of the pollaiolos, nay, even the works of donatello, were no longer what they had seemed before his roman journey, and even what he had remembered them in rome; for it is with more noble things, even as with the rooms which we inhabit, which strike us as small and dingy only on returning from larger and better lighted ones. it is to this period of incipient but ill-understood classicism that belongs the only work of domenico neroni--at least the only work still extant nowadays--which possesses, over and above its artistic or scientific merit, that indefinable quality which we must simply call _charm_; to this time, with the one exception of the famous woodcuts done for filarete. domenico began about this time, and probably under the stress of necessity, to make frontispieces for the books with which florentine printers were rapidly superseding the manuscripts of twenty years before: collections of sermons, of sonnets, lives of saints, editions of virgil and terence, quaint versified encyclopædias, and even books on medicine and astrology. from these little woodcuts, groups of saints round the cross, with giotto's tower and brunellesco's dome in the distance, pictures of fathers of the church or ancient poets seated at desks in neatly panelled closets--always with their globes, books, and pot of lilies, and a vista of cloisters; or battles between chaste viragos, in flying botticellian draperies, and slim, naked cupids; from such frontispieces domenico passed on to larger woodcuts, destined to illustrate books never printed, or perhaps, like the so-called _playing cards of mantegna_ and certain prints of robetta, to be bought as cheap ornaments for walls. some of those that remain to us have a classical stiffness, reminding one of the paduan school; others, and these his best, remind one of the work of botticelli. there is, for instance, the figure of a muse, elaborately modelled under her ample drapery, seated cross-legged by a playing fountain, on a carpet of exquisitely designed ground-ivy, a little bare trellis behind her, a tortoise lyre in her hand; which has in it somewhat of that odd, vague, questioning character, half of eagerness, half of extreme lassitude, which we find in botticelli. only that in neroni's work it seems not the outcome of a certain dreamy spiritual dissatisfaction--the dissatisfaction which makes us feel that botticelli's flower-wreathed nymphs may end in the pool under the willows like ophelia--but rather of a torturing of line and attitude in search of grace. grace! unclutchable phantom, which had appeared tantalisingly in neroni's recollections of the antique, a something ineffable, which he could not even see clearly when it was there before him, accustomed as he had been to all the hideousness of anatomised reality. in these woodcuts he seems hunting it for ever; and there is one of them which is peculiarly significant, of a nymph in elaborately wound robes and veils, striding, with an odd, mad, uncertain swing, through fields of stiff grass and stunted rushes, a baby faun in her bosom, another tiny goat-legged creature led by the hand, while she carries uncomfortably, in addition to this load, a silly trophy of wild-flowers tied to a stick; the personification almost, this lady with the wide eyes and crazy smile, of the artist's foolishly and charmingly burdened journey in quest of the unattainable. the imaginative quality, never intended or felt by the painter himself, here depends on his embodying longings after the calm and stalwart goddesses on sarcophagus and vase, in the very thing he most seeks to avoid, a creature borrowed from a botticelli allegory, or one of the sibyls of the unspeakable perugino himself! the circumstances of this quest, and the accidental meeting in it of the antique and the mediæval, the straining, the quixote-riding or three-king pilgrimaging after a phantom, gives to such work of domenico's that indefinable quality of _charm_; the man does not indeed become a poet, but in a measure a subject for poetry. iii in order to understand what must have passed in the mind of one of those florentines of the fifteenth century, we must realise the fact that, unlike ourselves, they had not been brought up under the influence of the antique, and, unlike the ancients, they had not lived in intimacy with nature. the followers of giotto had studied little beyond the head and hands, and as much of the body as could be guessed at under drapery or understood from movement; and this achievement, with no artistic traditions save those of the basest byzantine decay, was far greater than we easily appreciate. it remained for the men of the fifteenth century, donatello, ghiberti, masaccio, and their illustrious followers, to become familiar with the human body. to do so is easy for every one in our day, when we are born, so to speak, with an unconscious habit of antique form, diffused not merely by ancient works of art in marble or plaster, but by more recent schools of art, painting as well as sculpture, themselves the outcome of classical imitation. the early italian renaissance had little or none of these facilitations. fragments of greek and roman sculpture were still comparatively uncommon before the great excavations of the sixteenth century; nor was it possible for men so unfamiliar, not merely with the antique, but with nature itself, to profit very rapidly by the knowledge and taste stored up even in those fragments. it was necessary to learn from reality to appreciate the antique, however much the knowledge of the antique might later supplement, and almost supplant, the study of reality. so these men of the fifteenth century had to teach themselves, in the first instance, the very elements of this knowledge. and here their position, while yet so unlike ours, was even more utterly unlike that of the ancients themselves. the great art of greece undoubtedly had its days of ignorance; but for those ancient painters and sculptors, who for generations had watched naked lads exercising in the school or racecourse, and draped, half-naked men and women walking in the streets and working in the fields, their ignorance was of the means of representation, not of the object represented. it is the hand, the tool which is at fault in those constrained, simpering warriors of the schools of Ægina, in those slim-waisted dæmonic dancers of the apulian vases; the eye is as familiar with the human body, the mind as accustomed to select its beauty from its ugliness, as the eye and mind of such of us as cannot paint are familiar nowadays with the shapes and colours, with the charm of the trees and meadows that we love. the contemporaries, on the contrary, of donatello had received from the sculptors of the very farthest middle ages, those who carved the magnificent patterns of byzantine coffins and the exquisite leafage of longobard churches, a remarkable mastery over the technical part of their craft. the hand was cunning, but the eye unfamiliar. hence it comes that the sculpture of the earlier renaissance displays perfection of workmanship, which occasionally blinds us to its poverty of form, and even to its deficiency of science. and hence also the rapidity with which every additional item of knowledge is put into practice that seems to argue perfect familiarity. but these men were not really familiar with their work. the dullest modern student, brought up among casts and manuals, would not be guilty of the actual anatomical mistakes committed every now and then by these great anatomists, so passionately curious of internal structure, so exquisitely faithful to minute peculiarity, let alone the bunglings of men so certain of their pencil, so exquisitely keen to form, as botticelli. as a matter of fact, every statue or drawn figure of this period represents a hard fight with ignorance and with unfamiliarity worse than ignorance. the grosser the failure hard-by, the more splendid the real achievement. for every limb modelled truthfully from the life, every gesture rendered correctly, every bone or muscle making itself felt under the skin, every crease or lump in the surface, is so much conquered from the unknown. so long as this study, or rather this ignorance, continued, the antique could be appreciated only very partially, and almost exclusively in the points in which it differed least from the works of these modern men. it must have struck them by its unerring science, its great truthfulness to nature, but its superior beauty could not have appealed to artists too unfamiliar with form to think of selecting it. the study of antique proportion, the reproduction of antique types, so visible in the sculptures of michelangelo, of cellini, and of sansovino, and no less in the painting of raphael, of andrea, and even of the later venetians, was very unimportant in the school of donatello; and it is probable that he and his pupils did not even perceive the difference between their own works and the old marbles, which they studied merely as so many realistic documents. during his florentine days domenico neroni, like his masters, was unconscious of the real superiority of the antique, and blind to its difference from what his contemporaries and himself were striving to produce. he did not perceive that the david of donatello and that of verrocchio were unlike the marble gods and heroes with whom he would complacently compare them, nor that the bas-reliefs of the divine ghiberti were far more closely connected with the gothic work of orcagna, even of the pisans, than with those sculptured sarcophagi collected by cosimo and piero dei medici. it was only when his insatiate curiosity had exhausted those problems of anatomy which had still troubled his teachers that he was able to see what the antique really was, or rather to see that the modern was not the same thing. ghirlandaio, filippino, signorelli, and botticelli undoubtedly were affected by a similar intuition of the antique; but they were diverted from its thorough investigation by the manifold other problems of painting as distinguished from sculpture, and by the vagueness, the unconsciousness of great creative activity: the antique became one of the influences in their development, helping very quietly to enlarge and refine their work. it was different with domenico, in whom the man of science was much more powerful than the artist. his nature required definite decisions and distinct formulas. it took him some time to understand that the school of donatello differed absolutely from the antique, but the difference once felt, it appeared to him with extraordinary clearness. he never put his thoughts into words, and probably never admitted even to himself that the works he had most admired were lacking in beauty; he merely asserted that the statues of the old romans and greeks were astonishingly beautiful. in reality, however, he was perpetually comparing the two, and always to the disadvantage of the moderns. it is possible in our day to judge justly the comparative merits of antique sculpture and of that of the early renaissance; or rather to appreciate them as two separate sorts of art, delightful in quite different ways, letting ourselves be charmed not more by the actual beauty of form, and nobility of movement of the one than by the simplicity, the very homeliness, the essentially human quality of the other. to us there is something delightful in the very fact that the davids of donatello and verrocchio are mere ordinary striplings from the street and the workshop, that the singers of luca della robbia are simple unfledged choir-boys, and the virgins of mino florentine fine ladies; we have enough of antique perfection, we have had too much of pseudo-antique faultlessness, and we feel refreshed by this unconsciousness of beauty and ugliness. a contemporary could not enter into such feelings, he could not enjoy his own and his fellows' _naïveté_; besides, the antique was only just becoming manifest, and therefore triumphant. to domenico, donatello's david became more and more unsatisfactory, faulty above the waist, positively ungainly below, weak and lubberly; how could so divine an artist have been satisfied with that flat back, those narrow shoulders and thick thighs? he felt freer to dislike the work of verrocchio, his own teacher, and a man without donatello's overwhelming genius; that david of his, with his immense head and wizen face, his pitiful child's arms and projecting clavicles, straddling with hand on hip; was it possible that a great hero, the slayer of a giant (domenico's notions of giants were taken rather from the romances of chivalry recited in the market than from study of scripture) should have been made like that? and so, like his great contemporary mantegna in far-off lombardy, domenico turned that eager curiosity with which he had previously sought for the secret of flayed limbs and fleshless skeletons, to studying the mystery of proportion and beauty which was hidden, more subtly and hopelessly, in the broken marbles of the pagans. it happened one day, somewhere about the year , that he was called to examine a group of bacchus and a faun, recently brought from naples by the banker neri altoviti, of the family which once owned a charming house, recently destroyed, whose triple row of pillared balconies used to put an odd florentine note into the papal rome, turning the swirl of the tiber opposite saint angelo's into a reach of the arno. the houses of the altovitis in florence were in that portion of the town most favoured by the fifteenth century, already a little way from the market: the lion on the tower of the podestà, and the badia steeple printing the sky close by; while not far off was the shop where the good bookseller vespasiano received orders for manuscripts, and conversed with the humanists whose lives he was to write. the albizis and pandolfinis, illustrious and numerous families, struck in so many of their members by the vindictiveness of the medicis, had their houses in the same quarter, and at the corner of the narrow street hung the carved escutcheon--two fishes rampant--of the pazzis: their house shut up and avoided by the citizens, who had so recently seen the conspirators dangling in hood and cape from the windows of the public palace. the house of the altovitis was occupied on the ground floor by great warehouses, whose narrow, grated windows were attainable only by a steep flight of steps. the court was surrounded on three sides by a cloister or portico, which repeated itself on the first and second floors, with the difference that the lowest arches were supported by rude square pillars, ornamented with only a carved marigold, while the uppermost weighed on stout oaken shafts, between which ropes were stretched for the drying of linen; and the middle colonnade consisted of charming tuscan columns, where sirens and cupids and heraldic devices replaced the acanthus or rams' horns of the capitals. it was to this middle portion of the house that domenico ascended up a noble steep-stepped staircase, protected from the rain by a vaulted and rosetted roof, for it was external and occupied the side of the yard left free from cloisters. the great banker had bidden domenico to his midday meal, which was served with a frugality now fast disappearing, but once habitual even among the richest florentines. but though the food was simple and almost scanty, nearly forty persons sat down to meat together, for neri altoviti held to the old plan, commended by alberti in his dialogue on the governing of a household, that the clerks and principal servants of a merchant were best chosen among his own kinsfolk, living under his roof, and learning obedience from the example of his children. despite this frugality, the dining-room was, though bare, magnificent. there were none of those carpets and eastern stuffs which surprised strangers from the north in the voluptuous little palaces of contemporary venetians, and the benches were hard and narrow. but the ceiling overhead was magnificently arranged in carved compartments, great gold sunflowers and cherubs projecting from a dark blue ground among the brown raftering; in the middle of the stencilled wall was one of those high sideboards so frequently shown in old paintings, covered with gold and silver dishes and platters embossed by the most skilful craftsmen; and at one end a great washing trough and fountain, such as still exist in sacristies, ornamented with groups of dancing children by benedetto da maiano; while behind the high seat of the father of the family a great group of saints, emerging from blooming lilies and surrounded by a glory of angels, was hanging in a frame divided into carved compartments: the work, panel and frame, of the late brother filippo lippi. at one end of the board sat all the men, arranged hierarchically, from the father in his black loose robe to lads in short plaited tunic and striped hose; the womankind were seated together, and the daughters, even the mother of the house, modest and almost nunlike in apparel and head-dress, would rise and help to wait on the men, with that silent and grave courtesy which, according to vespasiano, had disappeared from florence with alessandra dei bardi. there was little speech, and only in undertones; a franciscan said a long grace, and afterwards, and in the middle of the meal, a young student, educated by the frequent munificence of the altovitis, read out loud a chapter of cicero's "de senectute;" for neri, although a busy banker, with but little time for study, was not behind his generation in the love of letters and philosophy. after meat messer neri dismissed the rest of the company to their various avocations; the ladies silently retired to superintend the ironing and mending of the house linen, and domenico was escorted by his host to see the newly arrived piece of statuary. it had been placed already in the banker's closet, where he could feast his eyes on its perfection while attending to his business or improving his mind by study. this closet, compared to the rest of the house, was small and low-roofed. at its end, as we see in the pictures of van eyck and memling, opened out the conjugal chamber, reflecting its vast, red-covered bed, raised several steps, its crucifix and praying-stool, and its latticed window in a circular mirror framed in cut facets, which hung opposite on the wall of the closet. the latter was dark, a single trefoiled window admitting on either side of its column and through its greenish bottle-glass but little light from the narrow street. the chief furniture consisted of shelves carrying books, small antique bronzes, some globes, a sand-glass, and panel cupboards, ornamented with pictures of similar objects, and with ingenious perspectives of inlaid wood. an elaborate iron safe, painted blue and studded with beautiful metal roses, stood in a corner. there were two or three arm chairs of carved oak for visitors. the master sat upon a bench behind an oaken counter or desk, very much like st. jerome in his study. on the wall behind, and above his head, hung a precious flemish painting (flemish paintings were esteemed for their superior devoutness) representing the virgin at the foot of the cross, with a nativity and a circumcision on either of the opened shutters. it made a glowing patch of vivid geranium and wine colour, of warm yellow glazing on the oak of the wall. on the counter or writing-table stood a majolica pot with three lilies in it, a pile of manuscript and ledgers, and a human skull alongside of a crucifix, beautifully wrought of bronze by desiderio da settignano. a latin translation of plato's "phædo" was spread open on the desk, together with one of the earliest printed copies of the "divine comedy." messer neri did not take his seat at the counter, but, after a pause, and with some solemnity, drew a curtain of dark brocade which had been spread across one end of the closet, and displayed his new purchase. "i have it from the king, for the settling of a debt of a thousand crowns contracted with my father, when he was duke of calabria," said the banker, with due appreciation of the sum. "'tis said they found it among the ruins of that famous palace of the emperor tiberius of which tacitus has told us." the two marble figures, to which time and a long sojourn underground had given a brownish yellow colour, reddish in places with rust stains, stood out against a background of flemish tapestry, whose emaciated heads of kings and thin bodies of warrior saints made a confused pattern on the general dusky blue and green. the group was in wonderful preservation: the figure of bacchus intact, that of the young faun lacking only the arm, which had evidently been freely extended. it exists in many repetitions and variations in most of our museums; a work originally of the school of praxiteles, but in none of the copies handed to us of excellence sufficient to display the hand of the original sculptor. besides, we have been spoilt by familiarity with an older and more powerful school, by knowledge of a few great masterpieces, for complete appreciation of such a work. but it was different four hundred years ago; and domenico neroni stood long and entranced before the group. the principal figure embodied all those beauties which he had been striving so hard to understand: it was, in the most triumphant manner, the absolute reverse of the figures of donatello. the young god was represented walking with leisurely but vigorous step, supporting himself upon the shoulder of the little satyr as the vine supports itself, with tendrils trailed about branches and trunk, on the propping tree from which the child ampelos took his name. like the head with its elaborately dressed curls, the beautiful body had an ampleness and tenderness that gave an impression almost womanly till you noticed the cuirass-like sit of the chest on the loins, and the compressed strength of the long light thighs. the creature, as you looked at him, seemed to reveal more and more, beneath the roundness and fairness of surface, the elasticity and strength of an athlete in training. but when the eye was not exploring the delicate, hard, and yet supple depressions and swellings of the muscles, the slender shapeliness of the long legs and springy feet, the back bulging with strong muscles above, and going in, tight, with a magnificent dip at the waist; all impressions were merged in a sense of ease, of suavity, of full-blown harmony. here was no pomp of anatomical lore, of cunning handicraft, but the life seemed to circulate strong and gentle in this exquisite effortless body. and the creature was not merely alive with a life more harmonious than that of living men or carved marbles, but beautiful, equally in simple outline if you chose that, and in subtle detail when that came under your notice, with a beauty that seemed to multiply itself, existing in all manners, as it can only in things that have life, in perfect flowers and fruits, or high-bred oriental horses. of such things did the under-strata of consciousness consist in neroni--vague impressions of certain bunches of grapes with their great rounded leaves hanging against the blue sky, of the flame-like tapered petals of wild tulips in the fields, of the golden brown flanks of certain horses, and the broad white foreheads of the umbrian bullocks; forming as it were a background for the perception of this god, for no man or woman had ever been like unto him. domenico remained silent, his arms folded on his breast; it was not a case for talking. but the young man who had read cicero aloud at table had come up behind him, and thought it more seemly to praise his patron's new toy, while at the same time displaying his learning; so he cleared his throat, and said in a pompous manner:-- "it is stated in the fifth chapter of the geography of strabo that the painter parrhasius, having been summoned by the inhabitants of lindos to make them an image of their tutelary hero hercules, obtained from the son of jupiter that he should appear to him in a dream, and thus enable him worthily to portray the perfections of a demigod. might we not be tempted to believe that the divine son of semele had vouchsafed a similar boon to the happy sculptor of this marble?" but domenico only bit his thumb and sighed very heavily. iv to the men of those days, which have taken their name from the revival of classical studies, antiquity, although studied and aped till its phrases, feelings, and thoughts had entered familiarly into all life, remained, nevertheless, a period of permanent miracle. it was natural, therefore, to the contemporaries of poggius and Æneas sylvius, of ficinus and politian, that the art of the romans and greeks should, like their poetry, philosophy, and even their virtues, be of transcendent and unqualified splendour. why it should be thus they asked as little as why the sun shines, mediæval men as they really were, and accepting quite simply certain phenomena as the result of inscrutable virtues. even later, when machiavelli began to examine why the ancients had been more valorous and patriotic than his contemporaries, nay, when montaigne expounded with sceptical cynicism the superior sanity and wisdom of pagan days, people were satisfied to think--when they thought at all--that antique art was excellent because it belonged to antiquity. and it was not till the middle of the eighteenth century that the genius of winkelmann brought into fruitful contact the study of ancient works of art, and that of the manners and notions of antiquity, showing the influence of a civilisation which cultivated bodily beauty as an almost divine quality, and making us see behind that beautiful nation of marble the generations of living athletes, among whom the sculptor had found his critics and his models. to a man like domenico neroni, devoid of classical learning and accustomed to struggling with anatomy and perspective, the problem of ancient art was not settled by the fact of its antiquity. he had gone once more to rome on purpose to see as many old marbles as possible, and he brought to their study the feverish curiosity with which in former years he had flayed and cut up corpses and spent his nights in calculations of perspective. to such a mind, where modern scientific methods were arising among mediæval habits of allegory and mysticism, the statues and reliefs which he was perpetually analysing became a sort of subsidiary nature, whose riddles might be read by other means than mere investigation; for do not the forces of nature, its elemental spirits, give obedience to wonderful words and potent combinations of numbers? certain significant facts had flashed across his mind in his studies of that almost abstract, nay, almost cabalistic thing, the science of bodily proportions. it was plain that the mystery of antique beauty--the ancient symmetry, _symmetria prisca_ as a humanist designs it in his epitaph for leonardo da vinci--was but a matter of numbers. for a man's length, if he stand with outstretched arms, is the same from finger tip to finger tip as his length when erect from head to feet, namely, eight times the length of his head. now eight heads, if divided into halves, give four as the measure of throat and thorax; and four heads to the length of the leg from the acetabulum to the heel, divided themselves into two heads going to the thigh and two heads to the shank; while in the cross measurement two heads equal the breadth of the chest, and three measure the length from the shoulder to the middle finger. these measures--a mere rough rule of thumb in our eyes--contained to this mediæval mind the promise of some great mystery. to him, accustomed to hear all the occurrences of nature, and all human concerns referred to astrological calculations, and conceiving the universe as governed by spirits--in shape, perhaps, like the primum mobile, the mercurius and jupiter of mantegna's playing cards, crowned with stars and poised upon globes--it was as if the divining rod were turning pertinaciously to one spot in the earth, where, had he but the necessary tools, he must strike upon veins of the purest gold, or cause water to spirt high in the air. this number _eight_, and the pertinacity of its recurrence, puzzled him intensely. it seemed to point so clearly, much as in music the sensitive seventh points to the tonic, to a sort of resolution on the number nine. and if only nine could be established, it would seem to explain so much.... for five being man's numeral in creation (and is not the measurement of his face also _five eyes_?), it makes, when added to four, the number of the material elements over which he dominates, _nine_, which would thus represent the supremacy or perfection of man. man's power of reproduction being represented by three, its multiple nine would be still more obviously important. how to turn this eight into nine became domenico's study, and he took measurement after measurement for this purpose. at length he remembered that man's body is a unity, therefore represented by the number one, and that will, judgment, and supremacy are also comprised in the unit. now one and eight make nine beyond all possibility of doubt, and the formula--"man's body is a unity--or one"--composed of harmonies of eight, would give the formula _nine_ meaning _man's supremacy is expressed in his body_. the importance of working round to this famous nine will be clear when we reflect that, according to the kabbala and the lost sacred book of hermes trismegistus--the pimandra, doubtless, which he is represented, on the floor of siena cathedral, as offering to a jew and a gentile--nine represents the sun and all beautiful bright things that draw their influence from it, as the gleam of beaten gold, the rustle of silken stuffs, the smell of the flower heliotrope, and all such men as delineate human beings with colours, or make their effigy in stone or metal; moreover, phoebus apollo, whom the poets describe as the most beautiful of the gods, as indeed he is represented in all statues and reliefs. domenico would often discuss these matters with a learned man who greatly frequented his company. this was the humanist niccolò feo, known as filarete. filarete was a native of southern apulia, a bastard of the house of the counts of sulmona, who, in order to prevent any plots against the legitimate branch, had handsomely provided for him in an abbey of which they enjoyed the patronage. but his restless spirit drove him from the cloister, and impelled him to long and adventurous journeys. he had travelled in india and the east, and in greece, returning to italy only when constantinople fell before the turks. during these years he had acquired immense learning, considerable wealth, and a vaguely sinister reputation. he had been persecuted by paul ii. for taking part in the famous banquets, savouring oddly of paganism, of pomponius lætus; but the late pontiff sixtus iv. had taken him into his favour together with platina, one of his fellow-sufferers in the castle of saint angelo. he was now old, and, after a life of study, adventure, and possibly of sin, was living in affluence in a house given him by the illustrious cardinal at st. peter ad vincula, who had also obtained him a canonry of st. john lateran. he was busying his last year in a great work of fancy and erudition, for which he required the assistance of a skilful draughtsman and connoisseur of antiquities, than whom none could suit him so well as domenico neroni. the book of filarete, of which the rare copies are among the most precious relics of the renaissance, was a strange mixture of romance, allegory, and encyclopædic knowledge, such as had been common in the middle ages, and was still fashionable during the revival of letters, which merely added the element of classical learning. like the _hypnerotomachia poliphili_ of francesco colonna, of which it was doubtless the prototype, the _alcandros_ of filarete, though never carried beyond the first volume, is an amazing and wearisome display of the author's archæological learning. it contains exact descriptions of all the rarities of ancient art, and of things oriental which he had seen, and pages of transcripts from obscure latin and greek authors, descriptive of religious ceremonies; varied with platonic philosophy, decameronian obscenities, in laboured pseudo-florentine style, and dantesque visions, all held together by the confused narrative of an allegorical journey performed by the author. it is profusely ornamented with woodcuts, representing architectural designs of a fantastic, rather oriental description, restorations of ancient buildings, reproductions of antique inscriptions and designs, and last, but far from least, a certain number of small compositions, of mantegnesque quality, but botticellian charm, showing the various adventures of the hero in terrible woods, delicious gardens, and in the company of nymphs, demigods, and allegorical personages. these latter are undoubtedly from the hand of domenico neroni; and it was while discussing these delightful damsels seated with lutes and psalteries under vine-trellises, these scholars in cap and gown, weeping in quaint chambers with canopied beds and carnations growing on the window, these processions--suggesting mantegna's triumph of julius cæsar--of priests and priestesses with victories and trophies, that the painter from volterra and the apulian humanist would discuss the secret of antique beauty--discuss it for hours, surrounded by the precious manuscripts and inscriptions, the fragments of sculpture, the eastern rarities, of filarete's little house on the quirinal hill, or among the box-hedges, clipped cypresses, and fountains of his garden; while the riots and massacres, the fanatical processions and feudal wars, of mediæval rome raged unnoticed below. for pope sixtus and his riarios, and pope innocent and his cybos, thirsting for power and gold, drunken with lust and bloodshed, were benign and courteous patrons of all art and all learning. v but that number nine, attained with so much difficulty, although it put the human proportion into visible connection with the sun, with beaten gold, the smell of the heliotrope, and the god apollo, and opened a vista of complicated astral influences, did not in reality bring domenico one step nearer the object of his desires. it had enabled those ancient men to make statues that were perfectly beautiful, that was obvious; but it did not make his own figures one tittle less hideous, for he felt them now to be absolutely hideous. one wintry day, as he was roaming amongst the fallen pillars and arches, thickly covered with myrtle and ilex, of the desolate region beyond what had once been the forum and was now the cattle-market, there came across domenico's mind, while he watched a snake twisting in the grass, the remembrance of a certain anecdote about a greek painter, to whom hercules had shown himself in a vision. he had heard it, without taking any notice, two years before, from the young scholar who read cicero at table for messer neri altoviti; and although he had thought of it several times, it had never struck him except as one of the usual impudent displays of learning of the parasitic tribe of humanists. but at this moment the remembrance of this fact came as a great light into domenico's soul. for what were these statues save the idols of the heathens; and what wonder they should be divinely beautiful, when those who made them might see the gods in visions? this explanation, which to us must sound far-fetched and fantastic, knowing, as we do, the real reason that made a people of athletes into a people of sculptors, savoured of no strangeness to a man of the middle ages. visions of superhuman creatures were among the most undisputed articles of his belief, and among the commonest subjects of his art. had not the blessed virgin appeared to st. bernard, the saviour among his cherubim to st. francis--the very stones shown at la vernia where it had happened--the divine bridegroom to catherine of siena? had not st. anthony of padua held the divine child in his arms? and all not so long ago? besides, every year there was some nun or monk claiming to have conversed with christ and his court; and the heavens were opening quite frequently in the walls of cells and the clefts of hermitages. and did not dante relate a journey into hell, purgatory, and paradise? it was perfectly natural that what was constantly happening to holy men and women nowadays should have happened in pagan times also; and what men could so well have deserved a visit from gods as those who spent their lives faithfully portraying them? the story of parrhasius and his vision was familiar ground to a man accustomed to see, in all corners of italy, portraits of the saviour painted by st. luke, or finished, like the famous holy face of lucca, by angels. for an absolute contempt for the artistic value of such miraculous images did not, in the mind of neroni, throw any doubt on their authenticity; in the same way that the passion for antiquity, the hankering after pagan beliefs, did not probably interfere with the orthodoxy of so many of the humanists. domenico, besides, remembered that virgil and ovid, whom he had not read, but whose fables he had sometimes been asked to illustrate, were constantly talking of visions of gods and goddesses, nay, of their descending upon earth to unite themselves with mortals in love or friendship, for he had had to furnish designs for woodcuts representing diana and endymion, jupiter and ganymede, the gods coming to philemon and baucis, and apollo tending the herds of admetus. neither did it occur to domenico's mind that the existence of the old gods might be a mere invention, or a mere delusion of the heathen. for all their classic culture, the men of the fifteenth century, as the men of the thirteenth for all their scholasticism, were in an intellectual condition such as we rarely meet with nowadays among educated persons; and domenico, a mere handicraftsman, had not learned from the study of cicero and plato to examine and understand the difference between reality and fiction. to him a scene which was frequently painted, an adventure which was written down and could be read, was necessarily a reality. dante had spoken of the gods, and what dante said was evidently true, the allegorical meaning, the metaphor, entirely escaping this simple mind; and virgil, homer, ovid told the most minute details about gods and goddesses, and they themselves were grave and learned men. domenico did not even think that the ancient gods were dead. of course heaven was now occupied by christ and his saints, those heavenly hosts of whom he would think, when he thought of them at all, as seated stepwise on a great stand, blue and pink and green in dress, golden discs about their heads, and an atmosphere of fretted gold, of swirling stencilled golden angels' wings all round them, and god the father, a great triangle blazing with alpha and omega, above jesus enthroned, and his mother; and it was they who ruled things here, and to them he said his prayers night and morning, and knelt in church. but _here_, somehow did not cover the whole universe, nor did that pink and blue and gold miniature painter's heaven extend everywhere, although, of course, somehow or other it did. anyhow, it was certain that not so very far off there were saracens and turks--why he had seen some of the duke of calabria's turkish garrison--who believed in macomet, trevigant, and apollinis; these to be sure were false gods (the word _false_ carried no clear meaning to his mind, or if any, one rather equivalent to _wrong, objectionable_ rather than to non-existent), but they certainly worked wonderful miracles for their people. and indeed--here domenico's placid contemplation of the kingdom of macomet, trevigant, and apollinis was exchanged for a vague horror, shot with gleams of curiosity--the devil also had his place in the world, a place much nearer and universal, and did marvellous things, pointing out treasures, teaching the future, lending invulnerable strength to the men and women who worshipped him, of whom some might be pointed out to you in every town--yes, grave and respectable men, priests and monks among them, and even cardinals of holy church, as every one knew quite well.... so that, in a confused manner, rather negative than positive, domenico considered that the pagan gods must be somewhere or other, the past and present not very clearly separated in his mind, or rather the past existing in a peculiar simultaneous manner with the present, as a sort of st. brandan's isle, in distant, unattainable seas; or as dante's mountain of purgatory, a very solid mountain indeed, yet which, for some mysterious and unquestioned reason, people never stumbled upon except after death. all this was scarcely an actual series of arguments; it was rather the arguments which, with much effort, domenico might have fished out of his obscure consciousness had you summoned him to explain how the ancient gods could possibly be immortal. as to him, he had always heard of them as immortal, and although he had not been taught any respect or love for them as for christ, the madonna, and the saints, they must be existing somewhere since _immortal_ means that which cannot die. but now he began to feel a certain shyness about immortal gods, for they had begun to occupy his thoughts, and it was with much cunning that he put questions to his friend filarete, desirous to gain information on certain points without actually seeming to ask it. the humanist, summoned to explain what the fathers of the church--those worthies crowned with mitres and offering rolls of manuscript, whom domenico had occasionally to portray for his customers--said about the ancient gods, answered with much glibness but considerable contempt, for the greek and latin of these saintly philosophers inspired the learned man with a feeling of nausea. he got out of a chest several volumes covered with dust, and began to quote the "apology" of justin martyr, the "legation" of athenagoras, the "apology" of tertullian and lactantius, whose very name caused him to writhe with philological loathing. and he told domenico that it was the opinion of these holy but ill-educated persons that dæmons assumed the name and attributes of jupiter, of venus, of apollo and bacchus, lurking in temples, instituting festivals and sacrifices, and were often allowed by heaven to distract the faithful by a display of miracles. "then they are devils?" asked domenico, trying to follow. a smile passed over the beautifully cut mouth, the noble, wrinkled face--like that of the marble seneca--of the old humanist. "talk of devils to the barefoot friar who preaches in the midst of the market-place," he said, "not to filarete. the whole world, air, fire, earth, water, the entire universe is governed by dæmons, and they inspire our noblest thoughts. hast never heard of the familiar dæmon of socrates, whispering to him superhuman wisdom? yes, indeed, venus, apollo, Æsculapius, jove, the stars and planets, the winds and tides are dæmons. but thou canst not understand such matters, my poor domenico. so get thee to brother baldassare of palermo, and ask him questions." but filarete's expression was very different when, one day, domenico shyly inquired concerning the truth of that story of parrhasius and the hercules of lindos. strange rumours were current in rome of unholy festivities in which filarete and other learned men--some of those whom paul ii. had thrown into prison--had once taken part. they had not merely laid their tables and spread their couches according to descriptions contained in ancient authors; but, crowned with roses, laurel, myrtle, or parsley, had sung hymns to the heathen gods, and, it was whispered, poured out libations and burned incense in their honour. their friends, indeed, had answered scornfully that these were but amusements of learned men; not to be taken more seriously than the invocations to the gods and muses in their poems, than the mythological subjects which the popes themselves selected to adorn their dwellings. and doubtless this explanation was correct. yet the pleasure of these little pedantic and artistic mummeries, which took place in suburban gardens, while the townsfolk streamed in the hot june nights, decked with bunches of cloves and of lavender, to make bonfires in the empty places near the lateran, little guessing that their ancestors had once done the same in honour of the neighbouring venus--the innocent childishness of these learned men was perhaps spiced, for some individuals at least, by a momentary belief in the gods of the old poets, by a sudden forbidden fervour for the exiled divinities of virgil and ovid, under whose reign the world had been young, men had been free to love and think, and rome, now the object of the world's horror and contempt, had been the world's triumphant mistress. but these had been mere mummeries, mere child's play, and the soul of filarete had thirsted for a reality. he could not have answered had you asked whether he believed in the absolute existence and power of the old gods, any more than whether he disbelieved in the power of christ and his avenging angels; his cultivated and sceptical mind was, after all, in a state of disorder similar to that of domenico's ignorance. all that he knew with certainty was that christ and his worship represented to him all that was unnatural, cruel, foolish, and hypocritical; while the gods were associated with every thought of liberty, of beauty, and of glory. and so, one evening, after working up still further the enthusiasm, the passionate desire of his friend, he told domenico that, if he chose, he too perhaps might see a god. in his antiquarian rambles filarete had discovered, a mile or two outside the southern gates of rome, a subterranean chamber, richly adorned with stuccoes--known nowadays as the tomb of certain members of the flavian family, but which, thanks to the defective knowledge of his day and the habit of seeing people buried in churches, the humanist had mistaken for a temple--intact, and scarcely desecrated, of the eleusinian bacchus. above its vaults, barely indicated by a higher mound in the waving ground of the pasture land, had once stood a christian church, as ancient almost as the supposed temple below, whose byzantine columns lay half hidden by the high grass, and the walls of whose apse had become overgrown by ivy and weeds, the nest of lazy snakes. the gothic soldiers, arians or heathens, who had burned down, in some drunken bout, the little church above-ground, had penetrated at the same time into the tomb beneath in search of treasure, and finding none, dispersed the bones in the sarcophagi they had opened. they had left open the aperture leading downward, which had been matted over by a thick growth of ivy and wild clematis. one day, while surveying the remains of the christian church, always in hopes of discovering in it a former temple of the pagans, filarete had walked into that tuft of solid green, and found himself, buried and half stunned, in the mouth of the tomb below. it was through this that he bade domenico follow him, bearing a certain mysterious package in his cloak, one january day of the year fourteen hundred and eighty-eight. above-ground it had frozen in the night; here below, when they had descended the rugged sepulchral stairs, the air had a damp warmth, an odd feel of inhabitation. above-ground, also, everything lay in ruins, while here all was intact. as the light of the torches moved slowly along the vaulted and stuccoed ceilings, it showed the delicate lines of a profusion of little reliefs and ornaments, fresh as if cast and coloured yesterday. slender garlands of leaves, and long knotted ribbons and veils in lowest relief partitioned the space; and framed by them, now round, now oval, now oblong, were medallions of naked gods banqueting and playing games, of satyrs and nymphs dancing, nereids swinging on the backs of hippocamps, tritons curling their tails and blowing their horns, cupids fluttering among griffins and chimæras; a life of laughter and love, which mocked the eye, starting into vividness in one place, dying away in a mere film where the torchlight pressed on too closely in others. all along the walls, below the line of the stuccoes, were excavated shelves, on which stood numbers of small cinerary boxes, each bearing a name. in the middle of the vaulted chamber was a huge stone coffin, carved with revelling bacchantes, and grim tragic masks at its corners; and all round the coffin, broken in one of its flanks by the tools of the treasure-seeker, lay bones and skulls, dispersed on the damp ground even as the goths had left them. it was this sarcophagus which, with its dionysiac revels, and the name of one dionysius carved on it, a freedman of the flavians, had led filarete to consider the tomb as a kind of temple consecrated to bacchus. filarete bade domenico stick the pointed end of his torch into the mouth of an amphora standing erect in a corner, and began to unpack the load they had brought on a mule. it looked like the preparation for a feast: there were loaves of bread, fruit, a flask of choice wine; and domenico, for a moment, thought the old man mad. but his feelings changed when filarete produced a set of silver lamps, and bade him trim and light them, placing them on the ledges alongside of the cinerary urns; and when he lit some strange incense and filled the place with its smoke. despite the many descriptions of ancient sacrifices with which the humanist had entertained him, domenico had brought a vague notion of a raising of devils, and felt relieved at the absence of brimstone fumes, and of the magic books that accompanied them. although more passionately longing--he knew not, he dared not tell himself for what--domenico did not come with the curious exaltation of spirits of his companion, all whose antiquarian lore had gone to his head, and who really imagined himself to be a genuine pagan engaged in pagan rites. for filarete the ceremony was everything; for domenico it was merely a means, a sort of sacrilegious juggling, into which he had not inquired more particularly, which was to give him the object of his wishes at the price of great peril to his soul. but when the subterranean chamber was filled with a cloud of incense, through which, in the dim yellow light of the lamp, the naked gods and goddesses on the vault, the satyrs and nymphs, the tritons and bacchantes seemed to float in and out of sight, a feeling of awe, of an unknown kind of reverence and rapture, began to fill his soul, and his eyes became fixed on the lid of the carved sarcophagus--vague images of christian resurrections mingling with his hopes--would the god appear? filarete, meanwhile, had enveloped his head in a long linen veil, and, after washing his hands thrice in a golden basin brought for the purpose, he placed some faggots on the sarcophagus, lit them, and throwing grains of incense and of salt alternately into the flames, began to chant in an unknown tongue, which domenico guessed to be greek. then beckoning to the painter, who was kneeling, as at church, in a corner, he bade him unpack a basket matted over with leaves, whose movements and sounds had puzzled domenico as he carried it down. in great surprise, and with a vague sense of he knew not what, he handed its contents to filarete. it was a miserable little lamb, newly born, its long, soft legs tied together, its almost sightless, pale eyes half-started from its sockets. as the humanist took it, it bleated with sudden shrill strength, and domenico could not help thinking of certain images he had seen on monastery walls of the good shepherd carrying the lame lamb on his shoulders. this was very different. for, with an odd ferocity, filarete placed the miserable young creature on the stone before the fire, and slit its throat and chest with a long knife. the god did not appear. they extinguished the lamps, left the carcase of the lamb half charred in a pool of blood on the stone, and slowly reascended into the daylight, leaving behind them, in the vaulted chamber, a stifling fume of incense, of burnt flesh, and mingled damp. up above, among the ruins of the christian church, where they had left their mules, it was cold and sunny, and the light seemed curiously blue, almost grey and dusty, after the yellow illumination below. before them, interrupted here and there by a mass of ruined masonry, or a few arches of aqueduct, waved the grey-green, billowy plain, where the wind, which rolled the great winter cloud-balls overhead, danced and sang with the tall, dry hemlocks and sere white thistles, shining and rattling like skeletons. and on to it seemed to descend cloud-mountains, vague blueness and darkness--cloud or hill, you could not tell which--out of whose flank, ever and anon, a sunbeam conjured up a visionary white resplendent city. the short winter day was beginning to draw in when they approached silently the city walls, solemn with their towers and gates, endless as it seemed, and enclosing, one felt vaguely, an endless, distant, invisible city. the sound of its bells came as from afar to meet the sacrilegious men. vi the culminating sacrilege was yet to come. the place that witnessed it remains unchanged--a half-deserted church among the silent grass-grown lanes, the crumbling convent walls, and ill-tended vineyards of the aventine; a hill that has retained in christian times a look of its sinister fame in pagan ones. among the cypresses, which seem to wander up the hillside, rises the square belfry, among whose brickwork, flushed in the sunset, are inlaid discs of porphyry torn from some temple pavement, and plates of green majolica brought from the east, it is said, by pilgrims or crusaders. the arum-fringed lane widens before the outer wall of the church, overtopped by its triangular gable. behind this wall is a yard or atrium, the pavement grass-grown, the walls stained with great patches of mildew, and showing here and there in their dilapidation the shaft and capital of a bricked-up ionic pillar. the place tells of centuries of neglect, of the gradual invasion of resistless fever; and it was fitly chosen, some fifty years ago, for the abode of a community of trappists. in the reign of innocent viii. it was still nominally in the hands of certain cistercians; but the fever had long driven these monks to the more wholesome end of the hill, where they had erected a smaller church; and the convent had served for years as a fortress of the turbulent family of the capranicas, one of whose members was always the nominal abbot, with the cardinal's hat, and title jervase and protasius. and now, at the end of the fifteenth century, a cardinal ascanio capranica, famous for his struggle in magnificence and sinfulness with the magnificent and sinful young nephews of pope sixtus, had determined to restore the fortified monastery, to combat the fever by abundant plantations, and to make the church a monument of his splendour. and, in order to secure some benefit by his own munificence, he had begun by commissioning domenico neroni to design and execute a sepulchre three storeys high, full of carvings, and covered with statues, so that his soul, if sent untimely to heaven, might not be dishonoured by the unworthy resting-place of its trusty companion, the cardinal's handsome and well-tended body. this church of ss. jervase and protasius, which imitated, like most churches of the early christian period, the form of a basilica or court of law, was constructed out of fragments of pagan edifices, and occupied the site of a pagan edifice, whose columns had been employed to carry the roof of the church, or, when of porphyry or serpentine, had been sawed into discs for the pavement. on the slant of the hill, supporting the apse, encircled by pillarets, is a round mass of masonry, overgrown with ivy and ilex scrub, the remains of some antique bath or grotto; and under the battlemented walls, the cloistered courts of the convent, there stretches, it is said, a network of subterranean passages running down to the tiber. four hundred years ago they were not to be discovered if looked for, being completely hidden by the fallen masonry and the cypress roots and growths of poisonous plants--nightshade, and hemlock, and green-flowered hellebore; but wicked monks had sometimes been sucked into them while digging the ground, or decoyed into their labyrinths by devils. was it possible that there had lingered on through the ages a vague and horrified remembrance of those rites, the discovery of whose mysterious and wide-spread abominations had frozen rome with horror in her most high and palmy days; and was there a connection between those neophytes, wandering with blood-stained limbs and dishevelled locks among the groves of the aventine, then rushing to quench their burning torches in the tiber, two centuries before christ, and the devils who troubled the benedictines of ss. jervase and protasius? these evil spirits would appear, it had been said, in the cloisters of the convent, processions carrying lights and garlands; and on certain nights, when the monks were in prayer in their cells, strange sounds would issue from the church itself, of flutes and timbrels, and demon laughter, and demon voices chanting some unknown litany, and clearly aping the mass; and cardinal capranica was blamed by many pious persons for his rash intention of filling once more the deserted convent, and exposing holy men to the wrath of such very pertinacious devils. meanwhile mass upon mass was said to clear the place of this demoniac infection. it was in this church that the sacrilege of domenico and filarete rose to its highest, and that an event took place which the men of the fifteenth century could scarce find words to designate. domenico had grown tired of his friend's archæological impieties. it gave him no satisfaction to pour out wine, burn incense, arrange garlands, and even cut the throats of animals according to a correct pagan ritual. it was nothing to him that horace and ovid and tibullus should have done alike. he was a good christian, never doubting for a moment the power of the blessed virgin, the saints, and even the smallest and meanest priest, nor the heat of hell-fire. but he wanted to have the secret of antique proportions, and he was convinced that this secret could be communicated only by a pagan divinity, just as certain theological mysteries, such as the use of the rosary, had been revealed to the saints by christ or the virgin. the pagan gods were devils, and to hold communication with devils was mortal sin and sure damnation. but lots of people communicated with devils for much more paltry motives, for greed of gold or love of woman, and were yet saved by the intercession of some heavenly patron, or found it worth while not to be saved at all. domenico, like them, put the question of salvation behind him. he might think of that afterwards, when he had possessed himself of the proportion of the ancients. at all events, at present he was willing to risk everything in order to attain that. he was determined to see that god of the heathens, not as he had seen him once in the house of messer neri altoviti, cut out of marble, but alive, moving, speaking; for _that_ was the god. the god was a devil. now it is well known that there is a way of compelling every devil to show himself, providing you use sufficiently strong spells. they had sacrificed goats and lambs enough, also doves, and had burned perfumes, and spilt wine sufficient for one of cardinal riario's suppers. it was evidently not that sort of sacrifice which would rejoice the god or compel him to show himself. for weeks and weeks domenico ruminated over the subject. and little by little the logical, inevitable answer dawned upon his horrified but determined mind. for what was the sacrifice which witches and warlocks notoriously offered their master? the place could not be better chosen. this church was full, every one knew, of demons, who were certainly none other than the gods of the heathen, as tertullian, lactantius, athenagoras, justin martyr, and all those other holy doctors had written. it was deserted, its keys in the hands of cardinal capranica's confidential architect and decorator; and there were masses being said every holiday to scare the evil spirits. the sacrament was frequently left on the altar. all this domenico expounded frequently to filarete. but filarete's classic taste did not approve of domenico's methods, which savoured of vulgar witchcraft; perhaps also the learned man, who did not want the secret of antique proportion, recoiled from a degree of profanity and of danger, both to body and soul, which his companion willingly incurred in such a quest as his. so filarete demurred for a time, until at length his feebler nature took fire at domenico's determination, and the guilty pair fixed upon the day and place for this unspeakable sacrilege. the church of ss. jervase and protasius has undergone no change since the feast of corpus christi of the year . the damp that lies in the atrium outside, making the grass and poppies sprout round the byzantine pillar which carries a cross over a pine-cone, has invaded the flat-roofed nave and the wide aisles, separated from it by a single colonnade. a greenish mildew marks the fissures in the walls, rent here and there by landslips and earthquakes. the cipolline columns carrying the round arches on their square capitals are lustreless, and their green-veined marble looks like long-buried wood. the mosaic pavement stretches its discs and volutes of porphyry and serpentine or yellowed parian marble, a tarnished and uneven carpet, to the greenish-white marble steps of the chancel. the mosaics have long fallen out of the circle of the apse; and the frescoes, painted by some obscure follower of giotto, have left only a green vague stain over the arches of the aisle. pictures or statues there are none, and no conspicuous sepulchre. only, over the low entrance, a colossal wooden crucifix of the thirteenth century hangs at an angle from the wall, a painted christ, stretching his writhing livid limbs in agony opposite the high altar. it was in this stately and desolate church, under the misty light that pours in through the wide windows of grey coarse glass, and on the marble altar, facing that effigy of the dying saviour, that, in derision as it were of the miracle which the church commemorates on that feast-day, domenico and filarete were about to offer up to the demons apollo, bacchus, and jove the freshly consecrated wafer, the very body and blood of christ. but an accomplice of theirs, a certain monk well versed in magic, whom they employed in sundry details of devil-raising, on the score that they were seeking treasure hidden in the church, had suddenly been seized with qualms of conscience. instead of appearing at the appointed time alone, and bearing certain necessaries of his art, he kept them waiting a full hour, until they began their proceedings without his assistance. and even as domenico was reaching his companion the ostensorium, which had remained on the altar after the morning's mass, the church was surrounded by the officers of the podestà, on horseback, and by a crowd of monks and priests, and rabble who had followed them. of these persons, not a few affirmed in after years, that, as they arrived at the church door, they had heard sounds of flutes and timbrels, and mocking songs filling the place; and that the devil, dressed in skins and garlands like a wild man of the woods, had cleft the roof with his head, and disappeared with many blasphemous yells as they entered. vii in those last years of the fifteenth century, rome was a city of the middle ages. the cupola of the pantheon, the circular hulk of the colosseum, and the twin columns of trajan and antoninus projected, like the fantastic antiquities of some fresco of benozzo gozzoli, above domeless church roofs, battlemented palace walls, and innumerable gothic belfries and feudal towers. in the theatre of marcellus rose the fortress of the orsinis; against the tower whence nero, as the legend ran, had watched the city burning, were clustered the fortifications of the colonnas; and in every quarter the stern palaces of their respective partisans frowned with their rough-hewn fronts, their holes for barricade beams, and hooks for chains. the bridge of st. angelo was covered with the shops of armourers, as the old bridge of more peaceful florence with those of silversmiths. walls and towers encircled the leonine city where the pope sat unquietly in the big battlemented donjon by the sixtine chapel; and in its midst was still old st. peter's, half lombard, half byzantine. in rome there was no industry, no order, no safety. through its gates rushed raids of colonnas and orsinis, sold to or betrayed by the popes, from their castles of umbria or the campagna to their castles in town; and their feuds meant battles also between the citizens who obeyed or thwarted them. houses were sacked and burnt, and occasionally razed to the ground, for the ploughshare and the salt-sower to go over their site. a few years later, when pope borgia dredged the tiber for the body of his son, the boatmen of ripetta reported that so many bodies were thrown over every night that they no longer heeded such occurrences. and when, two centuries later, the corsinis dug the foundations of their house on the longara, there were discovered quantities of human bones in what had been the palace of pope della rovere's nephew. meanwhile ghirlandaio and perugino were painting the walls of the sixtine; pinturicchio was designing the blue and gold allegorical ceilings of the library; bramante building the chancellor's palace, and the pollaiolas and mino da fiesole carving the tombs in st. peter's, while learned men translated plato and imitated horace. of this rome there remains nowadays nothing, or next to nothing. sometimes, indeed, looking up the green lichened sides of some mediæval tower, with its hooks for chains, and its holes for beams, a vague vision thereof rises in our mind. and in the presence of certain groups by signorelli, representing murderous scuffles or supernatural destruction, we feel as if we had come in contact with the other reality of those times, the thing which serene art and literature and the love of antiquity have driven into the background. but the complete vision of the time and place, the certain knowledge of that rome of sixtus iv. and innocent viii., we can now no longer grasp, a dreadful phantom passing too rapidly across the centuries. it is with this feeling of impotence in my attempt to follow the thoughts of an illiterate artist of the renaissance, that i prefer to conclude this strange story of the quest after antique beauty and antique gods by quoting a page from one of the barbarous chroniclers of mediæval rome. the entry in the continuation of infessura's diary is headed "pictor sacrilegus":-- "on the th july of the year of salvation fourteen hundred and eighty-eight, there were placed for three days in a cage on high in the campo dei fiori, messer niccolò filarete, canon of sancto joanne; also domenico, the volterran, painter and architect to the magnificent cardinal ascanio, and frate garofalo of valmontone, they having been discovered in the act of desecrating the church of ss. jervase and protasius, and stealing for magic purposes the ostensorium and many gold chalices and reliquaries with precious stones; and it was frate garofalo who, being versed in witchcraft and treasure finding, was the accomplice of the above, and denounced them on the feast of corpus domini. and the twenty-third of the said month of july they were justiced, and in this manner. _videlicet_, filarete and domenico, having been removed from the cage, were dragged on hurdles as far as the square of san joanni, and frate garofalo went on an ass, all of them crowned with paper mitres. frate garofalo was hanged to the elm-tree of the square. of filarete and domenico, the right hand was chopped off, after which they were burned in the said square. and their chopped off right hands were taken to the capitol and nailed up above the gate, alongside of the she-wolf of metal. laus deo." valedictory i while gathering together the foregoing pages, written at different periods and in different phases of thought, the knowledge has grown on me that i was saying farewell to some of the ambitions and to most of the plans of my youth. all writers start with the hope of solving a problem or establishing a formula, however fragmentary or humble; and many, the most fortunate, and probably the most useful, continue to work out their program, or at least to think that they do so. life to them is but the framework for work; and that is why they manage to leave a fair amount of work behind them,--work for other workers to employ or to undo. but with some persons, life somehow gets the better of work, becomes, whether in the form of circumstance or of new problems, infinitely the stronger; and scatters work, tossing about such fragments as itself, in its irregular, irresistible fashion, has torn into insignificance, or (once in a blue moon!) shaped into more complete meaning. as regards my own case, i began by believing i should be an historian and a philosopher, as most young people have done before me; then, coming in contact with the concrete miseries of others, called social and similar problems, i sought to apply some of my historical or philosophic lore (such as it was) to their removal; and finally, life having manifested itself as offering problems (unexpected occurrence!) not merely concerning the past, nor even the abstract present, but respecting my own comfort and discomfort, i have found myself at last wondering in what manner thoughts and impressions could make the world, the past and present, the near and the remote, more satisfying and useful to myself. circumstances of various kinds, and particularly ill-health, have thus put me, although a writer, into the position of a reader; and have made me ask myself, as i collected these fragments of my former studies, what can the study of history, particularly of the history of art and of other manifestations of past conditions of soul, do for us in the present? all knowledge is bound to be useful. apart from this truism, i believe that all study of past conditions and activities will eventually result, if not in the better management of present conditions and activities (as all partisan historians have hoped, from machiavelli to macaulay), at all events in a greater familiarity with the various kinds of character expressed in historical events and in the way of looking at them; for even if we cannot learn to guide and employ such multifold forces as make, for instance, a french revolution, we may learn to use for the best the individual minds and temperaments of those who describe them: a carlyle, a michelet, a taine, are natural forces also, which may serve or may damage us. moreover, i hold by the belief, expressed years ago, in my previous volume of renaissance studies, to wit, that historical reading (and in historical i include the history of thoughts and feelings as much as of events and persons) is a useful exercise for our sympathies, bringing us wider and more wholesome notions of justice and charity. and i feel sure that other uses for historical studies could be pointed out by other persons, apart from the satisfaction they afford to those who pursue them, which, considered merely as so much spiritual gymnastics, or cricket, or football, or alpineering, is surely not to be despised. but now, having dropped long since out of the ranks of those who study in order to benefit others, or even to benefit only themselves, i would say a few words about the advantage which mere readers, as distinguished from writers, may get from familiarity with the past. this advantage is that they may find in the past not merely a fine field for solitary and useless delusions (though that also seems necessary), but an additional world for real companionship and congenial activity. our individual activities and needs of this kind are innumerable, and of infinite delicate variety; and there is reason to suppose that the place in which our lot is cast does not necessarily fit them to perfection. for things in this world are very roughly averaged; and although averaging is a useful, rapid way of despatching business, it does undoubtedly waste a great deal which is too good for wasting. hence, it seems to me, the need which many of us feel, which most of us would feel, if secured of food and shelter, of spending a portion of their life of the spirit in places and climates beyond that river oceanus which bounds the land of the living. as i write these words, i am conscious that this will strike many readers as the expression of a superfine and selfish dilettantism, arising no doubt from morbid lack of sympathy with the world into which heaven has put us. what! become absentees from the poor, much troubled present; turn your backs to realities, become idle strollers in the past? and why not, dear friends? why not recognise the need for a holiday? why not admit, just because work has to be done and loads to be borne, that we cannot grind and pant on without interruption? nay, that the bearing of the load, the grinding of the work, is useless save to diminish the total grinding and panting on this earth. moreover, i maintain that we have but a narrow conception of life if we confine it to the functions which are obviously practical, and a narrow conception of reality if we exclude from it the past. and not because the past has been, has actually existed outside some one, but because it may, and often does, actually exist within ourselves. the things in our mind, due to the mind's constitution and its relation with the universe, are, after all, realities; and realities to count with, as much as the tables and chairs, and hats and coats, and other things subject to gravitation outside it. it would seem, indeed, as if the chief outcome of the spiritualising philosophy which maintains the immaterial and independent quality of mind had been to make mind, the contents of our consciousness, ideas, images, and feelings, into something quite separate from this real material universe, and hence unworthy of practical consideration. but granted that mind is not a sort of independent and foreign entity, we must admit that what exists in it has a place in reality, and requires, like the rest of reality, to be dealt with. but to return to my thesis: that we require occasionally to live in the past (and i shall go on to state that it may be a past of our own making); do we not require to travel in foreign parts which know us not, to sojourn for our welfare in cities where we can neither elect members nor exercise professions, but whence we bring back, not merely wider views, but sounder nerves, tempers more serene and elastic? nor is this all. we think poorly of a man or woman who, besides practical cases for self or others, does not require to come in contact also with the tangible, breathable, visible, audible universe for its own sake; require to wander in fields and on moors, to steep in sunshine or be battered by winds, for the sake of a certain specific emotion of participation in, of closer union with, the universal. now the past--the joys and sufferings of the men long dead, their efforts, ideals, emotions, nay, their very sensations and temperaments as registered in words or expressed in art, are but another side of the universe, of that universal life, to participate ever deeper in which is the condition of our strength and serenity, the imperious necessity of our ever giving, ever taking soul. and so, for our greater nobility and happiness, we require, all of us, to live to some extent in the past, as to live to some extent in what we significantly call _nature_. we require, as we require mountain air or sea scents, hayfields or wintry fallows, sun, storm, or rain, each individual according to individual subtle affinities, certain emotions, ideals, persons, or works of art from out of the past. for one it will be socrates; for another st. francis; for every one something somewhat different, or at all events something differently conceived and differently felt: some portion of the universe in time, as of the universe in space, which answers in closest and most intimate way to the complexion and habits of that individual soul. ii the satisfaction which it can bring to every individual soul: this is, therefore, one of the uses of the past to the present, and surely not one of the smallest. it is, i venture to insist, the special, the essential use of all art and all poetry; any additional knowledge of nature's proceedings, any additional discipline of thought and observation which may accrue in the study of art as an historic or psychological phenomenon being, after all, valuable eventually for the amount of such mere satisfaction of the spirit as that additional knowledge or additional discipline can conduce towards. scientific results are important for the maintenance of life, doubtless; but the sense of satisfaction, whether simple or complex, high or low, is the sign that the processes we call life are being fulfilled and not thwarted; so, since satisfaction is no such contemptible thing, why not allow art to furnish it unmixed? i am sure to be misunderstood. i do not in the least mean to imply that art can best be appreciated with the least trouble. the mere fact that the pleasure of a faculty is proportioned to its activity negatives that; and the fact that the richness, fulness, and hence also the durability, of all artistic pleasure answers to the amount of our attention: the mine, the ore, will yield, other things equal, according as we dig, and wash, and smelt, and separate to the last possibility of separation what we want from what we do not want. the historic or psychological study of art does thus undoubtedly increase our familiarity, and hence our enjoyment. the mere scientific inquiry into the difference between originals and copies, into the connection between master and pupil, makes us alive to the special qualities which can delight us. as long as we looked in a manner so slovenly that a spurious botticelli could pass for a genuine one, we could evidently never benefit by the special quality, the additional excellence of botticelli's own work. and similarly in the case of archæology. indeed, in the few cases where i have myself hazarded an hypothesis on some point of artistic history, as, for instance, regarding the respective origin of antique and mediæval sculpture, i am inclined to think that the chief use (if any at all) of my work, will be to make my readers more sensitive to the specific pleasure they may get from praxiteles or from mino da fiesole, than they could have been when the works of both were so little understood as to be judged by one another's standards. but to return. it seems as if at present the development, the contagion, so to speak, of scientific methods applied to art were making people forget a little that art, besides being, like everything else, the passive object of scientific treatment, is (what most other things are not) an active, positive, special factor of pleasure; and that, therefore, save to special students, the greater, more efficacious form of art should occupy an immensely larger share of attention than the lesser and more inefficient. we are made, nowadays, to look at too much mediocre art on the score of its historical value; we are kept too long in contemplation of pictures and statues which cannot give much pleasure, on the score that they led to or proceeded from other pictures or statues which can. as regards greek sculpture, the insistance on archaic forms is becoming, if i may express my own feelings, a perfect bore. why should we be kept in the kitchen tasting half-cooked stuff out of ladles, when most of us have barely time to eat our fully cooked dinner, which we like and thrive on, in peace? similarly with such painters as are mainly precursors. they are taking up too much of our attention; and one might sometimes be tempted to think that the only use of great artists, like the only functions of those patriarchs who kept begetting one another, was to produce other great artists: giotto to produce eventually masaccio, masaccio through various generations michelangelo and raphael, and michelangelo and raphael, through even more, manet and degas, who in their turn doubtless dutifully.... meanwhile why should art have gone on evolving, artists gone on making _filiations of schools_, if art, if artists, if schools of artists had not answered an imperious, undying wish for the special pleasures which painting can give? therefore it seems to me that, desirable for all reasons as may be the study of art, the knowledge of _filiations and influences_, it is still more desirable that each of us should find out some painter whom he can care for individually; and that all of us should find out certain painters who can, almost infallibly, give immense pleasure to all of us; painters who, had they been produced out of nothingness and been followed by nobody, would yet stand in the most important relation in which an artist can be: the relation of being beloved by the whole world, or even by a few solitary individuals. for this reason let not the mere reader, who comes to art not for work, but for refreshment, let not the mere reader (i call him reader, to note his passive, leisurely character) be vexed with too much study of florentine and paduan _precursors_, but go straight to the masters, whom those useful and dreary persons rendered possible by their grinding. our ancestors, or rather those cardinals and superb lords with whom we have neither spiritual nor temporal relationship, who made the great collections of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, placing statues under delicate colonnades and green ilex hedges, and hanging pictures in oak-panelled corridors and tapestried guard-rooms, were occasionally mistaken in thinking that a roman emperor much restored, or a chalky, sprawling guido reni, could afford lasting æsthetic pleasure; but, bating such errors, were they not nearer good sense than we moderns, who arrange pictures and statues as we might minerals or herbs in a museum, and who, for instance, insist that poor tired people, longing for a little beauty, should carefully examine the works of castagno, of rosselli, and of that artist, so interesting as a specimen of the minimum of talent, neri di bicci? they were unscientific, those lords and cardinals, and desperately pleasure-seeking; but surely, surely they were more sensible than we. connected with this fact, and to be borne in mind by those not called upon to elucidate art scientifically, is the further fact, which i have analogically pointed out, when i said that every individual has in the past affinities, possibilities of spiritual satisfaction differing somewhat from those of every other. it is well that we should try to enlarge those possibilities; and we must never make up our mind that a picture, statue, piece of music or poetry, says little to us until we have listened to its say. but although we strive to make new friends, let us waste no further time on such persons as we have vainly tried to make friends of; and let each of us, in heaven's name, cherish to the utmost his natural affinities. there are persons to whom, for instance, botticelli can never be what he truly is to some of their neighbours: the very quality which gives such marvellous poignancy of pleasure to certain temperaments causing almost discomfort to others; and similarly about many other artists, representing very special conditions of being, and appealing to special conditions in consequence. high alpine air, sea-water, roman melting westerly winds, so vitalising, so soothing to some folk, are mere worry, or fever, or lassitude to others, without its being correct to say that one set of persons is healthy and the other morbid: each being, in truth, healthy or morbid just in proportion as it realises its necessities of existence, fitting equally into the universe providing it be fitted each into the proper piece thereof. on the other hand (and this, rather than _filiations of schools_ and _influences_ of artistic _milieus_, it were well we should know), it becomes daily more empirically certain, and will some day doubtless become scientifically obvious, that there are works of art which awaken such emotion that they can be delectable only to creatures with instincts out of gear and perception upside down; while there are others, infinitely more plentiful, which, in greater or lesser degree, must delight all persons who are sane, as all such are delighted by fine weather, normal exercise, and kindly sympathy; and, _vice versâ_, that as these wholesome works of art merely bore or actually distress the poor morbid exceptions, so the unwholesome ones sicken or harrow the sound generality; the world of art, moreover, like every other world, being best employed in keeping alive its sound, not its unsound, clients. such works of art, such artists of widest wholesome appealingness, there are in all periods of artistic development; more in certain fortunate moments, say the periklean age and the early sixteenth century, than in others; and most perhaps in certain specially favoured regions--in attica during antiquity, and during painting times, in the happy venetian country. these we all know of; but by the grace of nature, which creates men occasionally so fortunately balanced that their work, learned or unlearned, must needs be fortunately balanced also, they arise sometimes in the midst of mere artistic worry and vexation of spirit, or of artist bleakness, perfect like the almond and peach trees, which blossom, white and pink, on the frost-bitten green among the sapless vines of wintry tuscan hills; and to some natures, doubtless, these are more pleasant and health-giving than more mature or mellow summer or autumnal loveliness. but, as i have said, each must find his own closest affinities in art and history as in friendship. iii there are some more things, and more important, still to be said, from the reader's standpoint rather than the writer's, about the influence on our lives of the past and of its art, and more particularly of the vague period called the renaissance. when the renaissance began to attract attention, some twenty or twenty-five years ago, there happened among english historians and writers on art, and among their readers, something very similar to what had happened, apparently, when the englishmen of the sixteenth century first came in contact with the italian renaissance itself, or whatever remained of it. their conscience was sickened, their imagination hag-ridden, by the discovery of so much beauty united to so much corruption; and, among our latter-day students of the renaissance, there became manifest the same morbid pre-occupation, the same exaggerated repulsion, which is but inverted attraction, which were rife among the playwrights who wrote of _avengers_ and _atheists_, giovannis and annabellas, brachianos and corombonas, and other _white devils_, as old webster picturesquely put it, _of italy_. indeed, the second discovery of the renaissance by englishmen had spiritual consequences so similar to those of the first, that in an essay written fifteen years ago i analysed the feelings of the elizabethan playwrights towards italian things in order to vent the intense discomfort of spirit which i shared assuredly with students older and more competent than myself. this kind of feeling has passed away among writers, together with much of the fascination of the renaissance itself. but it has left, i see, vague traces in the mind of readers, rendering the renaissance a little distasteful (and no wonder) to the majority; or worse, a little too congenial to an unsound minority; worst of all, tarnishing a little the fair fame of art; and as a writer now turned reader, i am anxious to deliver, to the best of my powers, other readers from this perhaps inevitable but false and unprofitable view of such matters. the conscience of writers on history and art has long become quite comfortable about the renaissance; and the websterian or (in some cases john fordian) phenomenon of twenty years ago been forgotten as a piece of childish morbidness. does this mean that the conscience has become hardened, that evil has ceased to repel us, or that beauty has been accepted calmly as a pleasant and necessary, but somewhat immoral thing? very far from it. our conscience has become quieter, not because it has grown more callous, but because it has become more healthily sensitive, more perceptive of many sides, instead of only one side of life. for with experience and maturity there surely comes, to every one of us in his own walk of life, a growing, at length an intuitive sense that evil is a thing incidentally to fight, but not to think very much about, because if it is evil, it is in so far sporadic, deciduous, and eminently barren; while good, that is to say, soundness, harmony of feeling, thought, and action with themselves, with others' feeling, thought, and action, and with the great eternities, is organic, fruitful and useful, as well as delightful to contemplate. hence that the evil of past ages should not concern us, save in so far as the understanding thereof may teach us to diminish the evil of the present. in any case, that evil must be handled not with terror, which enervates and subjects to contagion, but with the busy serenity of the physician, who studies disease for the sake of health, and eats his wholesome food after washing his hands, confident in the ultimate wholesomeness of nature. and in such frame of mind the corruption of the renaissance leaves us calm, and we know we had better turn our backs on it, and get from the renaissance only what was good. only, if we are physicians, or more correctly (since in a private capacity we all are) only _when_ we are physicians, must we handle the unwholesome. meanwhile, if we wish to be sound, let us fill our soul with images and emotions of good; we shall tackle evil, when need be, only the better. and here, by the way, let me open a parenthesis to say that, of the good we moderns may get from occasional journeys into the past, there is a fine example in our imaginary and emotional commerce with st. francis and his joyous theology. for while other times, our own among them, have given us loftier morality and severer good sense, no period save that of st. francis could have given us a blitheness of soul so vivifying and so cleansing. for the essence of his teaching, or rather the essence of his personality, was the trust that serenity and joyfulness must be incompatible with evil; that simple, spontaneous happiness is, even like the air and the sunshine in which his beloved brethren the birds flew about and sang, the most infallible antidote to evil, and the most sovereign disinfectant. and because we require such doctrine, such personal conviction, for the better living of our lives, we must, even as to better climates, journey forth occasionally into that distant past of mediæval italy; and as to the ezzelinos, borgias, and riarios, and the foul-mouthed humanists, good heavens! why should we sicken ourselves with the thought of this long dead and done for abomination? so much for the history of the renaissance and the good it can be to us. now as to the art. that more organic mode of feeling and thinking which results in active maturity, from the ever-increasing connections between our individual soul and the surrounding world; that same intuition which told us that historic evil was no subject for contemplation, does also admonish us never to be suspicious of true beauty, of thoroughly delightful art. nay, beauty and art in any case; for though beauty may be adulterated, and art enslaved to something not itself, be sure that the element of beauty, the activity of art, so far as they are themselves specific, are far above suspicion even in the most suspicious company. for even if beauty is united to perverse fashions, and art (as with baudelaire and the decadents) employed to adorn the sentiments of maniacs and gaol-birds, the beauty and the art remain sound; and if we must needs put them behind us, on account of too inextricable a fusion, we should remember it is as we sometimes throw away noble ore, for lack of skill to separate it from a base alloy. as regards the nightmare anomaly of perfect art arisen in times of moral corruption, those unconscious analogies i have spoken of, and which perhaps are our most cogent reasons, have taught us that such anomalies are but nightmares and horrid delusions. for, taking the phenomenon historically, we shall see that although art has arisen in periods of stress and change, and therefore of moral anarchy, it has never arisen among the immoral classes nor to serve any immoral use: the apparent anomaly in the renaissance, for instance, was not an anomaly, but a coincidence of contrary movements: a materially prosperous, intellectually innovating epoch, producing on the one hand moral anarchy, on the other artistic perfection, connected not as cause and effect, but as coincidence, the one being the drawback, the other the advantage, of that particular phase of being. the malatestas and borgias, of whom we have heard too much, did not employ alberti and pier della francesca, pinturicchio and bramante, to satisfy their convict wickedness, but to satisfy their artistic taste, which, in so far, was perfectly sound, as various others among their faculties, their eye and ear, and sense of cause and effect, were apparently sound also. and the architecture of alberti, the decorations of pinturicchio, remain as spotless of all contact with their evil instincts as the hills they may have looked at, the sea they may have listened to, the eternal verity that two and two make four, which had doubtless passed through their otherwise badly inhabited minds. and, moreover, the sea is still sonorous, the mountains are still hyacinth blue, and the buildings and frescoes still noble, while the rest of those disagreeable mortals' cravings and strivings are gone, and on the whole were best forgotten. but there is another side of this same question, and of it we are admonished, as it seems to me, still louder by our growing intellectual instincts--those instincts, let us remember, which do but represent whatever has been congruous and uniform in repeated experience. art is a much greater and more cosmic thing than the mere expression of man's thoughts or opinions on any one subject, of man's attitude towards his neighbour or towards his country, much as all this concerns us. art is the expression of man's life, of his mode of being, of his relations with the universe, since it is, in fact, man's inarticulate answer to the universe's unspoken message. hence it represents not the details of his existence, which, more's the pity, are rarely what they should be, whether in thought or action, but the bulk of his existence, _when that bulk is unusually sound_. this clause contains the whole philosophy of art. for art is the outcome of a surplus of human energy, the expression of a state of vital harmony, striving for and partly realising a yet greater energy, a more complete harmony in one sphere or another of man's relations with the universe. now if evil is a non-vital, deciduous, and sterile phenomenon _par excellence_, art must be necessarily opposed to it, and opposed in proportion to art's vigour. while, on the other hand, the seeking, the realisation of greater harmony, whether harmony visible, audible, thinkable, and livable, is as necessarily opposed to anomaly and perversity as the great healthinesses of air and sunshine are opposed to bodily disease. hence, in whatever company we find art, even as in whatever company we find bodily health and vigour, let us understand that _in so far as truly art_, it is good and a source of good. let us never waver in our faith in art, for in so doing we should be losing (what, alas! puritan contemners of art, and decadent defilers thereof, are equally doing) much of our faith in nature and much of our faith in man. for art is the expression of the harmonies of nature, conceived and incubated by the harmonious instincts of man. i have given the influence of st. francis as an example of what added strength our modern soul may get by a sojourn in the past. what our soul may get of similar but more sober joy may be shown by another example from that wonderful umbrian district, one of the earth's oases of spiritual rest and refreshment. among all the sane and satisfying art of the renaissance, umbria, on the whole, has surely grown for us the highest and the holiest. i am not speaking of the fact that perugino painted saints in devout contemplation, nor of their type of face and expression. whatever his people might be doing, or if they were not people at all, but variations only of his little slender trees or distant domes and steeples, his art would have been equally high and holy. and this because of its effect, direct, unreasoning, on our spirit, making us, while we look, live with a deeper, more devoutly joyful life. what the man perugino was, in his finite dealings with his clients and neighbours, has mattered nothing in the painting of these pictures and frescoes; still less what samples of conduct he was shown by the ephemeral magnificos who bought his works. the tenderness and strength of the mediæval italian temper (as shown in dante when he is human, but above all in francis of assisi) has been working through generations toward these paintings, interpreting in its spirit, selecting and emphasising for its meaning the country in all the world most naturally fit to express it; and thus in these paintings we have the incomparable visible manifestation of a perfect mood: that wide pale shimmering valley, circular like a temple, and domed by the circular vault of sky, really turned, for our feelings, into a spiritual church, wherein not merely saints meditate and madonnas kneel, but ourselves in deepest devout happiness. iv thoughts such as these bring with them the memory of the master we have recently lost, of the master who, in the midst of æsthetical anarchy, taught us once more, and with subtle and solemn efficacy, the old platonic and goethian doctrine of the affinity between artistic beauty and human worthiness. the spiritual evolution of the late walter pater--with whose name i am proud to conclude my second, as with it i began my first book on renaissance matters--had been significantly similar to that of his own marius. he began as an æsthete, and ended as a moralist. by faithful and self-restraining cultivation of the sense of harmony, he appears to have risen from the perception of visible beauty to the knowledge of beauty of the spiritual kind, both being expressions of the same perfect fittingness to an ever more intense and various and congruous life. such an evolution, which is, in the highest meaning, an æsthetic phenomenon in itself, required a wonderful spiritual endowment and an unflinchingly discriminating habit. for walter pater started by being above all a writer, and an æsthete in the very narrow sense of twenty years ago: an æsthete of the school of mr. swinburne's _essays_, and of the type still common on the continent. the cultivation of sensations, vivid sensations, no matter whether healthful or unhealthful, which that school commended, was, after all, but a theoretic and probably unconscious disguise for the cultivation of something to be said in a new way, which is the danger of all persons who regard literature as an end, and not as a means, feeling in order that they may write, instead of writing because they feel. and of this mr. pater's first and famous book was a very clear proof. exquisite in technical quality, in rare perception and subtle suggestion, it left, like all similar books, a sense of caducity and barrenness, due to the intuition of all sane persons that only an active synthesis of preferences and repulsions, what we imply in the terms _character_ and _moral_, can have real importance in life, affinity with life--be, in short, vital; and that the yielding to, nay, the seeking for, variety and poignancy of experience, must result in a crumbling away of all such possible unity and efficiency of living. but even as we find in the earliest works of a painter, despite the predominance of his master's style, indications already of what will expand into a totally different personality, so even in this earliest book, examined retrospectively, it is easy to find the characteristic germs of what will develop, extrude all foreign admixture, knit together congruous qualities, and give us presently the highly personal synthesis of _marius_ and the _studies on plato_. these characteristic germs may be defined, i think, as the recurrence of impressions and images connected with physical sanity and daintiness; of aspiration after orderliness, congruity, and one might almost say _hierarchy_; moreover, a certain exclusiveness, which is not the contempt of the craftsman for the _bourgeois_, but the aversion of the priest for the profane uninitiated. some day, perhaps, a more scientific study of æsthetic phenomena will explain the connection which we all feel between physical sanity and purity and the moral qualities called by the same names; but even nowadays it might have been prophesied that the man who harped upon the clearness and livingness of water, upon the delicate bracingness of air, who experienced so passionate a preference for the whole gamut, the whole palette, of spring, of temperate climates and of youth and childhood; a person who felt existence in the terms of its delicate vigour and its restorative austerity, was bound to become, like plato, a teacher of self-discipline and self-harmony. indeed, who can tell whether the teachings of mr. pater's maturity--the insistance on scrupulously disciplined activity, on cleanness and clearness of thought and feeling, on the harmony attainable only through moderation, the intensity attainable only through effort--who can tell whether this abstract part of his doctrine would affect, as it does, all kindred spirits if the mood had not been prepared by some of those descriptions of visible scenes--the spring morning above the catacombs, the valley of sparta, the paternal house of marius, and that temple of Æsculapius with its shining rhythmical waters--which attune our whole being, like the music of the lady in _comus_, to modes of _sober certainty of waking bliss_? this inborn affinity for refined wholesomeness made mr. pater the natural exponent of the highest æsthetic doctrine--the search for harmony throughout all orders of existence. it gave the nucleus of what was his soul's synthesis, his system (as emerson puts it) of rejection and acceptance. supreme craftsman as he was, it protected him from the craftsman's delusion--rife under the inappropriate name of "art for art's sake" in these uninstinctive, over-dextrous days--that subtle treatment can dignify all subjects equally, and that expression, irrespective of the foregoing _impression_ in the artist and the subsequent _impression_ in the audience, is the aim of art. standing as he did, as all the greatest artists and thinkers (and he was both) do, in a definite, inevitable relation to the universe--the equation between himself and it--he was utterly unable to turn his powers of perception and expression to idle and irresponsible exercises; and his conception of art, being the outcome of his whole personal mode of existence, was inevitably one of art, not for art's sake, but of art for the sake of life--art as one of the harmonious functions of existence. harmonious, and in a sense harmonising. for, as i have said, he rose from the conception of physical health and congruity to the conception of health and congruity in matters of the spirit; the very thirst for healthiness, which means congruity, and congruity which implies health, forming the vital and ever-expanding connection between the two orders of phenomena. two orders, did i say? surely to the intuition of this artist and thinker, the fundamental unity--the unity between man's relations with external nature, with his own thoughts and with others' feelings--stood revealed as the secret of the highest æsthetics. this which we guess at as the completion of walter pater's message, alas! must remain for ever a matter of surmise. the completion, the rounding of his doctrine, can take place only in the grateful appreciation of his readers. we have been left with unfinished systems, fragmentary, sometimes enigmatic, utterances. let us meditate their wisdom and vibrate with their beauty; and, in the words of the prayer of socrates to the nymphs and to pan, ask for beauty in the inward soul, and congruity between the inner and the outer man; and reflect in such manner the gifts of great art and of great thought in our soul's depths. for art and thought arise from life; and to life, as principle of harmony, they must return. many years ago, in the fulness of youth and ambition, i was allowed, by him whom i already reverenced as a master, to write the name of walter pater on the flyleaf of a book which embodied my beliefs and hopes as a writer. and now, seeing books from the point of view of the reader, i can find no fitter ending to this present volume than to express what all we readers have gained, and lost, alas! in this great master. the end _printed by_ ballantyne, hanson & co. _edinburgh and london_ transcriber's note the following changes have been made to the text: and will bare (...) new and will _bear_ (...) new spiritual wonders spiritual wonders per speculum et ænigmata per speculum _in ænigmate_ in was in this church that _it_ was in this church that [transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected. hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. bold text is marked with =.] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors and architects by giorgio vasari: volume viii. bastiano to taddeo zucchero newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume viii page bastiano da san gallo, called aristotile benvenuto garofalo and girolamo da carpi, and other lombards ridolfo, david, and benedetto ghirlandajo giovanni da udine battista franco giovan francesco rustici fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli francesco salviati daniello ricciarelli taddeo zucchero index of names illustrations to volume viii plates in colour facing page alessandro bonvicino (moretto da brescia) s. justina vienna: imperial gallery, gaudenzio ferrari madonna and child milan: brera, ridolfo ghirlandajo portrait of a lady florence: pitti, jacopo tintoretto bacchus and ariadne venice: doges' palace, sala anticollegio plates in monochrome francesco ubertini (il bacchiacca) the baptist in jordan berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, benvenuto garofalo the madonna and child with saints ferrara: pinacoteca, benvenuto garofalo the massacre of the innocents ferrara: pinacoteca, benvenuto garofalo the adoration of the magi ferrara: pinacoteca, niccolÒ (niccolÒ dell'abate) scene from the Æneid modena: reale galleria estense il modena (antonio begarelli) the madonna and child with s. john modena: museo civico il modena (antonio begarelli) four saints modena: s. pietro giulio campo the purification of the virgin cremona: s. margherita sofonisba anguisciuola portrait of the artist vienna: imperial gallery, girolamo romanino the madonna and child with saints brescia: s. francesco alessandro bonvicino (moretto da brescia) the coronation of the virgin brescia: ss. nazzaro e celso gian girolamo bresciano (savoldo) the adoration of the shepherds brescia: palazzo martinengo bramantino the holy family milan: brera, bramantino a warrior milan: brera, cesare da sesto salome vienna: imperial gallery, gaudenzio (gaudenzio ferrari) s. paul paris: louvre, ridolfo ghirlandajo christ bearing the cross london: n. g., ridolfo ghirlandajo the miracle of s. zanobi florence: uffizi, antonio del ceraiolo the crucifixion with ss. francis and mary magdalene florence: accademia, ridolfo ghirlandajo the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas prato: duomo giovanni da udine arabesques rome: the vatican, loggia di raffaello jacopo tintoretto the pool of bethesda venice: s. rocco jacopo tintoretto the last judgment venice: s. maria dell'orto jacopo tintoretto the miracle of s. mark venice: accademia jacopo tintoretto the apotheosis of s. rocco venice: scuola di s. rocco giovan francesco rustici s. john preaching florence: the baptistry fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli s. cosmas florence: s. lorenzo, medici chapel fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli tomb of andrea doria genoa: s. matteo fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli fountain of neptune messina: piazza del duomo fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli high altar bologna: s. maria dei servi francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi) portrait of a man florence: uffizi, francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi) justice florence: bargello francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi) the deposition florence: s. croce, the refectory francesco dal prato medal of pope clement vii. london: british museum giuseppe del salviati (giuseppe porta) the reconciliation of pope alexander iii and frederick barbarossa rome: the vatican, sala regia daniello ricciarelli the descent from the cross rome: ss. trinita dei monti daniello ricciarelli the massacre of the innocents florence: uffizi, federigo zucchero portrait of the artist florence: uffizi, bastiano da san gallo, called aristotile life of bastiano da san gallo, called aristotile, painter and sculptor of florence when pietro perugino, by that time an old man, was painting the altar-piece of the high-altar of the servites at florence, a nephew of giuliano and antonio da san gallo, called bastiano, was placed with him to learn the art of painting. but the boy had not been long with perugino, when he saw the manner of michelagnolo in the cartoon for the hall, of which we have already spoken so many times, in the house of the medici, and was so struck with admiration, that he would not return any more to pietro's workshop, considering that his manner, beside that of buonarroti, was dry, petty, and by no means worthy to be imitated. and since, among those who used to go to paint that cartoon, which was for a time the school of all who wished to attend to painting, the most able of all was held to be ridolfo ghirlandajo, bastiano chose him as his companion, in order to learn colouring from him, and so they became fast friends. but not ceasing therefore to give his attention to that cartoon and to work at those nudes, bastiano copied all together in a little cartoon the whole composition of that mass of figures, which not one of all those who had worked at it had ever drawn as a whole. and since he applied himself to it with all the earnestness that was in him, it proved that he was afterwards able on any occasion to render an account of the attitudes, muscles, and movements of those figures, and of the reasons that had caused buonarroti to depict certain difficult postures; in doing which he would speak slowly and sententiously, with great gravity, so that a company of able craftsmen gave him the name of aristotile, which, moreover, sat upon him all the better because it appeared that according to an ancient portrait of that supreme philosopher and confidant of nature, bastiano much resembled him. but to return to the little cartoon drawn by aristotile; he held it always so dear, that, after buonarroti's original had perished, he would never let it go either at a price or on any other terms, or allow it to be copied; indeed, he would not show it, save only as a man shows precious things to his dearest friends, as a favour. afterwards, in the year , this drawing was copied in oils by aristotile, at the persuasion of giorgio vasari, who was much his friend, in a picture in chiaroscuro, which was sent through monsignor giovio to king francis of france, who held it very dear, and gave a handsome reward to san gallo. this vasari did in order that the memory of that work might be preserved, seeing that drawings perish very readily. in his youth, then, aristotile delighted, as the others of his house have done, in the matters of architecture, and he therefore gave his attention to measuring the ground-plans of buildings and with great diligence to the study of perspective; in doing which he was much assisted by a brother of his, called giovan francesco, who was employed as architect in the building of s. pietro, under giuliano leno, the proveditor. giovan francesco, having drawn aristotile to rome, employed him to keep the accounts in a great business that he had of furnaces for lime and works in pozzolana and tufa, which brought him very large profits; and in this way bastiano lived for a time, without doing anything but draw in the chapel of michelagnolo, and resort, by means of m. giannozzo pandolfini, bishop of troia, to the house of raffaello da urbino. after a time, raffaello having made for that bishop the design of a palace which he wished to erect in the via di s. gallo at florence, the above-named giovan francesco was sent to put it into execution, which he did with all the diligence wherewith it is possible for such a work to be carried out. but in the year , giovan francesco being dead, and the siege of florence in progress, that work, as we shall relate, was left unfinished. its completion was afterwards entrusted to his brother aristotile, who, as will be told, had returned to florence many and many a year before, after having amassed a large sum of money under the above-named giuliano leno, in the business that his brother had left him in rome; with a part of which money aristotile bought, at the persuasion of luigi alamanni and zanobi buondelmonte, who were much his friends, a site for a house behind the convent of the servites, near andrea del sarto, where, with the intention of taking a wife and living at leisure, he afterwards built a very commodious little house. after returning to florence, then, aristotile, being much inclined to perspective, to which he had given his attention under bramante in rome, appeared to delight in scarcely any other thing; but nevertheless, besides executing a portrait or two from the life, he painted in oils, on two large canvases, the eating of the fruit by adam and eve and their expulsion from paradise, which he did after copies that he had made from the works painted by michelagnolo on the vaulting of the chapel in rome. these two canvases of aristotile's, because of his having taken them bodily from that place, were little extolled; but, on the other hand, he was well praised for all that he did in florence for the entry of pope leo, making, in company with francesco granacci, a triumphal arch opposite to the door of the badia, with many scenes, which was very beautiful. in like manner, at the nuptials of duke lorenzo de' medici, he was of great assistance in all the festive preparations, and particularly in some prospect-views for comedies, to franciabigio and ridolfo ghirlandajo, who had charge of everything. he afterwards executed many pictures of our lady in oils, partly from his own fancy, and partly copied from the works of others; and among them he painted one similar to that which raffaello executed for s. maria del popolo in rome, with the madonna covering the child with a veil, which now belongs to filippo dell'antella. and another is in the possession of the heirs of messer ottaviano de' medici, together with the portrait of the above-named lorenzo, which aristotile copied from that which raffaello had executed. many other pictures he painted about the same time, which were sent to england. but, recognizing that he had no invention, and how much study and good grounding in design painting required, and that for lack of these qualities he would not be able to achieve any great excellence, aristotile resolved that his profession should be architecture and perspective, executing scenery for comedies, to which he was much inclined, on every occasion that might present itself to him. and so, the above-mentioned bishop of troia having once more set his hand to his palace in the via di s. gallo, the charge of this was given to aristotile, who in time carried it with much credit to himself to the condition in which it is now to be seen. meanwhile aristotile had formed a great friendship with andrea del sarto, his neighbour, from whom he learned to do many things to perfection, attending with much study to perspective; wherefore he was afterwards employed in many festivals that were held by certain companies of gentlemen who were living at florence in those peaceful times. thus, when the mandragola, a most amusing comedy, was to be performed by the company of the cazzuola in the house of bernardino di giordano, on the canto a monteloro, andrea del sarto and aristotile executed the scenery, which was very beautiful; and not long afterwards aristotile executed the scenery for another comedy by the same author, in the house of the furnace-master jacopo at the porta s. friano. from that kind of scenery and prospect-views, which much pleased the citizens in general, and in particular signor alessandro and signor ippolito de' medici (who were in florence at that time, under the care of silvio passerini, cardinal of cortona), aristotile acquired so great a name, that it was ever afterwards his principal profession; indeed, so some will have it, his name of aristotile was given him because he appeared in truth to be in perspective what aristotle was in philosophy. but, as it often happens that from the height of peace and tranquillity one falls into wars and discords, with the year all peace and gladness in florence were changed into sorrow and distress, for by that time the medici had been driven out, and then came the plague and the siege, and for many years life was anything but gay; wherefore no good could be done then by craftsmen, and aristotile lived in those days always in his own house, attending to his studies and fantasies. afterwards, however, when duke alessandro had assumed the government of florence, and matters were beginning to clear up a little, the young men of the company of the children of the purification, which is opposite to s. marco, arranged to perform a tragi-comedy taken from the book of kings, of the tribulations that ensued from the violation of tamar, which had been composed by giovan maria primerani. thereupon the charge of the scenery and prospect-views was given to aristotile, and he prepared the most beautiful scenery, considering the capacity of the place, that had ever been made. and since, besides the beauty of the setting, the tragi-comedy was beautiful in itself and well performed, and very pleasing to duke alessandro and his sister, who heard it, their excellencies caused the author, who was in prison, to be liberated, on the condition that he should write another comedy, but after his own fancy. which having been done by him, aristotile made in the loggia of the garden of the medici, on the piazza di s. marco, a very beautiful scene and prospect-view, full of colonnades, niches, tabernacles, statues, and many other fanciful things that had not been used up to that time in festive settings of that kind; which all gave infinite satisfaction, and greatly enriched that sort of painting. the subject of the piece was joseph falsely accused of having sought to violate his mistress, and therefore imprisoned, and then liberated after his interpretation of the king's dream. this scenery having also much pleased the duke, he ordained, when the time came, that for his nuptials with madama margherita of austria another comedy should be performed, with scenery by aristotile, in the company of weavers, which is joined to the house of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, in the via di s. gallo. to which having set his hand with all the study, diligence, and labour of which he was capable, aristotile executed all those preparations to perfection. now lorenzo di pier francesco de' medici, having himself written the piece that was to be performed, had charge of the whole representation and the music; and, being such a man that he was always thinking in what way he might be able to kill the duke, by whom he was so much favoured and beloved, he thought to find a way of bringing him to his end in the preparations for the play. and so, where the steps of the prospect-view and the floor of the stage ended, he caused the wing-walls on either side to be thrown down to the height of eighteen braccia, intending to build up in that space a room in the form of a purse-shaped recess, which was to be of considerable size, and a stage on a level with the stage proper, which might serve for the choral music. above this first stage he wished to make another for harpsichords, organs, and other suchlike instruments that cannot be moved or changed about with ease; and the space where he had pulled down the walls, in front, he wished to have covered with curtains painted with prospect-views and buildings. all which pleased aristotile, because it enriched the proscenium, and left the stage free of musicians, but he was by no means pleased that the rafters upholding the roof, which had been left without the walls below to support them, should be arranged otherwise than with a great double arch, which should be very strong; whereas lorenzo wished that it should be sustained by some props, and by nothing else that could in any way interfere with the music. aristotile, knowing that this was a trap certain to fall headlong down on a multitude of people, would not on any account agree in the matter with lorenzo, who in truth had no other intention but to kill the duke in that catastrophe. wherefore, perceiving that he could not drive his excellent reasons into lorenzo's head, he had determined that he would withdraw from the whole affair, when giorgio vasari, who was the protégé of ottaviano de' medici, and was at that time, although a mere lad, working in the service of duke alessandro, hearing, while he was painting on that scenery, the disputes and differences of opinion that there were between lorenzo and aristotile, set himself dexterously between them, and, after hearing both the one and the other and perceiving the danger that lorenzo's method involved, showed that without making any arch or interfering in any other way with the stage for the music, those rafters of the roof could be arranged easily enough. two double beams of wood, he said, each of fifteen braccia, should be placed along the wall, and fastened firmly with clamps of iron beside the other rafters, and upon them the central rafter could be securely placed, for in that way it would lie as safely as upon an arch, neither more nor less. but lorenzo, refusing to believe either giorgio, who proposed the plan, or aristotile, who approved it, did nothing but oppose them with his cavillings, which made his evil intention known to everyone. whereupon giorgio, having seen what a terrible disaster might result from this, and that it was nothing less than an attempt to kill three hundred persons, said that come what might he would speak of it to the duke, to the end that he might send to examine and render safe the whole fabric. hearing this, and fearing to betray himself, lorenzo, after many words, gave leave to aristotile that he should follow the advice of giorgio; and so it was done. this scenery, then, was the most beautiful not only of all that aristotile had executed up to that time, but also of all that had ever been made by others, for he made in it many corner-pieces in relief, and also, in the opening of the stage, a representation of a most beautiful triumphal arch in imitation of marble, covered with scenes and statues, not to mention the streets receding into the distance, and many other things wrought with marvellous invention and incredible diligence and study. after duke alessandro had been killed by the above-named lorenzo, and cosimo had been elected duke; in , there came to be married to him signora leonora di toledo, a lady in truth most rare, and of such great and incomparable worth, that she may be likened without question, and perchance preferred, to the most celebrated and renowned woman in ancient history. and for the nuptials, which took place on the th of june in the year , aristotile made in the great court of the medici palace, where the fountain is, another scenic setting that represented pisa, in which he surpassed himself, ever improving and achieving variety; wherefore it will never be possible to put together a more varied arrangement of doors and windows, or façades of palaces more fantastic and bizarre, or streets and distant views that recede more beautifully and comply more perfectly with the rules of perspective. and he depicted there, besides all this, the leaning tower of the duomo, the cupola, and the round temple of s. giovanni, with other features of that city. of the flights of steps that he made in the work, and how everyone was deceived by them, i shall say nothing, lest i should appear to be saying the same that has been said at other times; save only this, that the flight of steps which appeared to rise from the ground to the stage was octagonal in the centre and quadrangular at the sides--an artifice extraordinary in its simplicity, which gave such grace to the prospect-view above, that it would not be possible to find anything better of that kind. he then arranged with much ingenuity a lantern of wood in the manner of an arch, behind all the buildings, with a sun one braccio high, in the form of a ball of crystal filled with distilled water, behind which were two lighted torches, which rendered the sky of the scenery and prospect-view so luminous, that it had the appearance of the real and natural sun. this sun, which had around it an ornament of golden rays that covered the curtain, was drawn little by little by means of a small windlass that was there, in such a manner that at the beginning of the performance the sun appeared to be rising, and then, having climbed to the centre of the arch, it so descended that at the end of the piece it was setting and sinking below the horizon. the author of the piece was antonio landi, a gentleman of florence, and the interludes and music were in the hands of giovan battista strozzi, a man of very beautiful genius, who was then very young. but since enough was written at that time about the other things that adorned the performance, such as the interludes and music, i shall do no more than mention who they were who executed certain pictures, and it must suffice for the present to know that all the other things were carried out by the above-named giovan battista strozzi, tribolo, and aristotile. below the scenery of the comedy, the walls at the sides were divided into six painted pictures, each eight braccia in height and five in breadth, and each having around it an ornamental border one braccio and two-thirds in width, which formed a frieze about it and was moulded on the side next the picture, containing four medallions in the form of a cross, with two latin mottoes for each scene, and in the rest were suitable devices. over all, right round, ran a frieze of blue baize, save where the scene was, above which was a canopy, likewise of baize, which covered the whole court. on that frieze of baize, above every painted story, were the arms of some of the most illustrious families with which the house of medici had kinship. beginning with the eastern side, then, next to the stage, in the first picture, which was by the hand of francesco ubertini, called il bacchiacca, was the return from exile of the magnificent cosimo de' medici; the device consisted of two doves on a golden bough, and the arms in the frieze were those of duke cosimo. in the second, which was by the same hand, was the journey of the magnificent lorenzo to naples; the device a pelican, and the arms those of duke lorenzo--namely, medici and savoy. in the third picture, painted by pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, was pope leo x on his visit to florence, being carried by his fellow-citizens under the baldachin; the device was an upright arm, and the arms those of duke giuliano--medici and savoy. in the fourth picture, by the same hand, was biegrassa taken by signor giovanni, who was to be seen issuing victorious from that city; the device was jove's thunderbolt, and the arms in the frieze were those of duke alessandro--austria and medici. in the fifth, pope clement was crowning charles v at bologna; the device was a serpent that was biting its own tail, and the arms were those of france and medici. that picture was by the hand of domenico conti, the disciple of andrea del sarto, who proved that he had no great ability, being deprived of the assistance of certain young men whose services he had thought to use, since all, both good and bad, were employed; wherefore he was laughed at, who, much presuming, at other times with little discretion had laughed at others. in the sixth scene, the last on that side, by the hand of bronzino, was the dispute that took place at naples, before the emperor, between duke alessandro and the florentine exiles, with the river sebeto and many figures, and this was a most beautiful picture, and better than any of the others; the device was a palm, and the arms those of spain. opposite to the return of cosimo the magnificent (that is, on the other side), was the happy day of the birth of duke cosimo; the device was a phoenix, and the arms those of the city of florence--namely, a red lily. beside this was the creation, or rather, election of the same cosimo to the dignity of duke; the device was the caduceus of mercury, and in the frieze were the arms of the castellan of the fortress; and this scene, which was designed by francesco salviati, who had to depart in those days from florence, was finished excellently well by carlo portelli of loro. in the third were the three proud campanian envoys, driven out of the roman senate for their presumptuous demand, as titus livius relates in the twentieth book of his history; and in that place they represented three cardinals who had come to duke cosimo, but in vain, with the intention of removing him from the government; the device was a winged horse, and the arms those of the salviati and the medici. in the fourth was the taking of monte murlo; the device an egyptian horn-owl over the head of pyrrhus, and the arms those of the houses of sforza and medici; in which scene, painted by antonio di donnino, a bold painter of things in motion, might be seen in the distance a skirmish of horsemen, which was so beautiful that this picture, by the hand of a person reputed to be feeble, proved to be much better than the works of some others who were able men only by report. in the fifth could be seen duke alessandro being invested by his imperial majesty with all the devices and insignia of a duke; the device was a magpie, with leaves of laurel in its beak, and in the frieze were the arms of the medici and of toledo; and that picture was by the hand of battista franco the venetian. in the last of all those pictures were the espousals of the same duke alessandro, which took place at naples; the devices were two crows, the ancient symbols of marriage, and in the frieze were the arms of don pedro di toledo, viceroy of naples; and that picture, which was by the hand of bronzino, was executed with such grace, that, like the first-named, it surpassed the scenes of all the others. by the same aristotile, likewise, there was executed over the loggia a frieze with other little scenes and arms, which was much extolled, and which pleased his excellency, who rewarded him liberally for the whole work. afterwards, almost every year, he executed scenery and prospect-views for the comedies that were performed at carnival time; and he had in that manner of painting such assistance from nature and such practice, that he had determined that he would write of it and teach others; but this he abandoned, because the undertaking proved to be more difficult than he had expected, but particularly because afterwards commissions to execute prospect-views were given by new men in authority at the palace to bronzino and francesco salviati, as will be related in the proper place. aristotile, therefore, perceiving that many years had passed during which he had not been employed, went off to rome to find antonio da san gallo, his cousin, who, immediately after his arrival, having received and welcomed him very warmly, set him to press on certain buildings, with a salary of ten crowns a month, and then sent him to castro, where he stayed some months, being commissioned by pope paul iii to execute a great part of the buildings there after the designs and directions of antonio. but, because aristotile, having been brought up with antonio from childhood, had become accustomed to treat him too familiarly, it is said that antonio kept him at a distance, since aristotile had never been able to accustom himself to calling him "you," insomuch that he gave him the "thou" even if they were before the pope, to say nothing of a circle of nobles and gentlemen, even as is still done by florentines used to the ancient fashions and to giving the "thou" to everyone, as if they were from norcia, without being able to accommodate themselves to modern ways of life as others do, who march step by step with the times. and how strange this circumstance appeared to antonio, accustomed as he was to be honoured by cardinals and other great men, everyone may imagine for himself. having therefore grown weary of his stay at castro, aristotile besought antonio that he should enable him to return to rome; in which antonio obliged him very readily, but said to him that he must behave towards him in a different manner and with better breeding, particularly whenever they were in the presence of great persons. one year, at the time of the carnival, when ruberto strozzi was giving a banquet at rome to certain lords, his friends, and a comedy was to be performed at his house, aristotile made for him in the great hall a prospect-scene, which, considering the little space at his disposal, was so pleasing, so graceful, and so beautiful, that cardinal farnese, among others, not only was struck with astonishment at it, but caused him to make one in his palace of s. giorgio, where is the cancelleria, in one of those mezzanine halls that look out on the garden; but in such a way that it might remain there permanently, so that he might be able to make use of it whenever he so wished or required. this work, then, was carried out by aristotile with all the study in his power and knowledge, and in such a manner, that it gave the cardinal and the men of the arts infinite satisfaction. now the cardinal commissioned messer curzio frangipane to remunerate aristotile; and he, as a man of prudence, wishing to do what was right by him, but also not to overpay him, asked perino del vaga and giorgio vasari to value the work. this was very agreeable to perino, because, feeling hatred for aristotile, and taking it ill that he had executed that prospect-scene, which he thought should have fallen to him as the servant of the cardinal, he was living in apprehension and jealousy, and all the more because the cardinal had made use in those days not only of aristotile but also of vasari, and had given him a thousand crowns for having painted in fresco, in a hundred days, the hall of "parco majori" in the cancelleria. for these reasons, therefore, perino intended to value that prospect-view of aristotile's at so little, that he would have to repent of having done it. but aristotile, having heard who were the men who had to value his prospect-view, went to seek out perino, and at the first word, according to his custom, began to give him the "thou" to his face, for he had been his friend in youth; whereupon perino, who had already an ill-will against him, flew into a rage and all but revealed, without noticing, the malicious thing that he had it in his mind to do. aristotile having therefore told the whole story to vasari, giorgio told him that he should have no anxiety and should be of good cheer, for no wrong would be done to him. afterwards, perino and giorgio coming together to settle that affair, perino, as the older man, began to speak, and set himself to censure that prospect-scene and to say that it was a work of a few halfpence, and that aristotile, having received money on account and having been paid for those who had assisted him, had been overpaid, adding: "if i had been commissioned to do it, i would have done it in another manner, and with different scenes and ornaments from those used by that fellow; but the cardinal always chooses to favour some person who does him little honour." from these words and others giorgio recognized that perino wished rather to avenge himself on aristotile for the grievance that he had against the cardinal than to ensure with friendly affection the remuneration of the talents and labours of a good craftsman; and he spoke these soft words to perino: "although i have not as much knowledge of such works as i might have, nevertheless, having seen some by the hands of those who know how to do them, it appears to me that this one is very well executed, and worthy to be valued at many crowns, and not, as you say, at a few halfpence. and it does not seem to me right that he who sits in his work-room drawing cartoons, in order afterwards to reproduce in great works such a variety of things in perspective, should be paid for the labour of his nights--and perhaps for the work of many weeks into the bargain--on the same scale as are paid the days of those who have to undergo no fatigue of the mind and hand, and little of the body, it being enough for them to imitate, without in any way racking their brains, as aristotile has done. and if you, perino, had executed it, as you say, with more scenes and ornaments, perhaps you might not have done it with that grace which has been achieved by aristotile, who in that kind of painting has been esteemed with much judgment by the cardinal to be a better master than you. remember that in the end, by giving a wrong and unjust estimate, you do harm not so much to aristotile as to art and excellence in general, and even more to your own soul, if you depart from what is right for the sake of some private grievance; not to mention that all who recognize the work as a good one, will censure not it but our weak judgment, and may even put it down to envy and malice in our natures. and whoever seeks to ingratiate himself with another, to glorify his own works, or to avenge himself for any injury by censuring or estimating at less than their true value the good works of others, is finally recognized by god and man as what he is, namely, as malignant, ignorant, and wicked. consider, you who do all the work in rome, how it would appear to you if others were to value your labours as you do theirs? put yourself, i beg you, in the shoes of this poor old man, and you will see how far you are from reason and justice." of such force were these and other words that giorgio spoke lovingly to perino, that they arrived at a just estimate, and satisfaction was given to aristotile, who, with that money, with the payment for the picture sent, as was related at the beginning, to france, and with the savings from his salaries, returned joyously to florence, notwithstanding that michelagnolo, who was his friend, had intended to make use of him in the building that the romans were proposing to erect on the campidoglio. having thus returned to florence in the year , aristotile went to kiss the hands of the lord duke cosimo, and besought his excellency, since he had set his hand to many buildings, that he should assist him and make use of his services. and that lord, having received him graciously, as he has always received men of excellence, ordained that an allowance of ten crowns a month should be given to him, and said to him that he would be employed according as occasion might arise. with that allowance aristotile lived peacefully for some years, without doing anything more, and then died at the age of seventy, on the last day of may in the year , and was buried in the church of the servites. in our book are some drawings by the hand of aristotile, and there are some in the possession of antonio particini; among which are some very beautiful sheets drawn in perspective. there lived in the same times as aristotile, and were his friends, two painters of whom i shall make brief mention here, because they were such that they deserve to have a place among these rare intellects, on account of some works executed by them that were truly worthy to be extolled. one was jacone, and the other francesco ubertini, called il bacchiacca. jacone, then, did not execute many works, being one who lost himself in talking and jesting, and contented himself with the little that his fortune and his idleness allowed him, which was much less than what he required. but, since he was closely associated with andrea del sarto, he drew very well and with great boldness; and he was very fantastic and bizarre in the posing of his figures, distorting them and seeking to make them varied and different from those of others in all his compositions. in truth, he had no little design, and when he chose he could imitate the good. in florence, when still young, he executed many pictures of our lady, many of which were sent by florentine merchants into france. for s. lucia, in the via de' bardi, he painted in an altar-piece god the father, christ, and our lady, with other figures, and at montici, about a tabernacle on the corner of the house of lodovico capponi, he executed two figures in chiaroscuro. for s. romeo, in an altar-piece, he painted our lady and two saints. then, hearing once much praise spoken of the façades executed by polidoro and maturino at rome, without anyone knowing about it he went off to that city, where he stayed some months and made some copies, gaining such proficience in matters of art, that he afterwards proved himself in many works a passing good painter. wherefore the chevalier buondelmonte commissioned him to paint in chiaroscuro a house that he had built opposite to s. trinita, at the beginning of the borgo s. apostolo; wherein jacone painted stories from the life of alexander the great, very beautiful in certain parts, and executed with so much grace and design, that many believe that the designs for the whole work were made for him by andrea del sarto. to tell the truth, from the proof of his powers that jacone gave in that work, it was thought that he was likely to produce some great fruits. but, since he always had his mind set more on giving himself a good time and every possible amusement, living in a round of suppers and feastings with his friends, than on studying and working, he was for ever forgetting rather than learning. and that which was a thing to laugh at or to pity, i know not which, was that he belonged to a company, or rather, gang, of friends who, under the pretence of living like philosophers, lived like swine and brute-beasts; they never washed their hands, or face, or head, or beard; they did not sweep their houses, and never made their beds save only once every two months; they laid their tables with the cartoons for their pictures, and they drank only from the flask or the jug; and this miserable existence of theirs, living, as the saying goes, from hand to mouth, was held by them to be the finest life in the world. but, since the outer man is wont to be a guide to the inner, and to reveal what our minds are, i believe, as has been said before, that they were as filthy and brutish in mind as their outward appearance suggested. for the festival of s. felice in piazza--that is, the representation of the annunciation of the madonna, of which there has been an account in another place--which was held by the company of the orciuolo in the year , jacone made among the outer decorations, according to the custom of those times, a most beautiful triumphal arch standing by itself, large, double, and very high, with eight columns, pilasters, and pediments; all of which he caused to be carried to completion by piero da sesto, a well-practised master in woodwork. on this arch, then, were painted nine scenes, part of which, the best, he executed himself, and the rest francesco ubertini, il bacchiacca; and these scenes were all from the old testament, and for the greater part from the life of moses. having then been summoned by a scopetine friar, his kinsman, to cortona, jacone painted two altar-pieces in oils for the church of the madonna, which is without the city. in one of these is our lady with s. rocco, s. augustine, and other saints, and in the other a god the father who is crowning our lady, with two saints at the foot, and in the centre is s. francis, who is receiving the stigmata; which two works were very beautiful. then, having returned to florence, he decorated for bongianni capponi a vaulted chamber in that city; and he executed certain others for the same man in his villa at montici. and finally, when jacopo da pontormo painted for duke alessandro, in his villa at careggi, that loggia of which there has been an account in his life, jacone helped to execute the greater part of the ornaments, such as grotesques, and other things. after this he occupied himself with certain insignificant works, of which there is no need to make mention. [illustration: the baptism in jordan (_after the painting by =bacchiacca=. berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, no. _) _hanfstaengl_] the sum of the matter is that jacone spent the best part of his life in jesting, in going off into cogitations, and in speaking evil of all and sundry. for in those days the art of design in florence had fallen into the hands of a company of persons who paid more attention to playing jokes and to enjoyment than to working, and whose occupation was to assemble in shops and other places, and there to spend their time in criticizing maliciously, in their own jargon, the works of others who were persons of excellence and lived decently and like men of honour. the heads of this company were jacone, the goldsmith piloto, and the wood-carver tasso; but the worst of them all was jacone, for the reason that, among his other fine qualities, his every word was always a foul slander against somebody. wherefore it was no marvel that from such a company there should have sprung in time, as will be related, many evil happenings, or that piloto, on account of his slanderous tongue, was killed by a young man. and since their habits and proceedings were displeasing to honest men, they were generally to be found--i do not say all of them, but some at least--like wool-carders and other fellows of that kidney, playing at chuck-stones at the foot of a wall, or making merry in a tavern. one day that giorgio vasari was returning from monte oliveto, a place without florence, after a visit to the reverend and most cultured don miniato pitti, who was then abbot of that monastery, he found jacone, with a great part of his crew, at the canto de' medici; and jacone thought to attempt, as i heard afterwards, with some of his idle talk, speaking half in jest and half in earnest, to hit on some phrase insulting to giorgio. and so, when vasari rode into their midst on his horse, jacone said to him: "well, giorgio, how goes it with you?" "finely, my jacone," answered giorgio. "once i was poor like all of you, and now i find myself with three thousand crowns or more. you thought me a fool, and the priests and friars think me an able master. i used to be your servant, and here is a servant of my own, who serves me and looks after my horse. i used to dress in the clothes that beggarly painters wear, and here am i dressed in velvet. once i went on foot, and now i go on horseback. so you see, my jacone, it goes exceeding well with me. may god be with you." when poor jacone had heard all this recital in one breath, he lost all his presence of mind and stood confused, without saying another word, as if reflecting how miserable he was, and how often the engineer is hoist with his own petard. finally, having become much reduced by an infirmity, and being poor, neglected, and paralysed in the legs, so that he could do nothing to better himself, jacone died in misery in a little hovel that he had on a mean street, or rather, alley, called codarimessa, in the year . francesco ubertini, called il bacchiacca, was a diligent painter, and, although he was the friend of jacone, he always lived decently enough and like an honest man. he was likewise a friend of andrea del sarto, and much assisted and favoured by him in matters of art. francesco, i say, was a diligent painter, and particularly in painting little figures, which he executed to perfection, with much patience, as may be seen from a predella with the story of the martyrs, below the altar-piece of giovanni antonio sogliani, in s. lorenzo at florence, and from another predella, executed very well, in the chapel of the crocifisso. for the chamber of pier francesco borgherini, of which mention has already been made so many times, il bacchiacca, in company with the others, executed many little figures on the coffers and the panelling, which are known by the manner, being different from the others. for the antechamber of giovan maria benintendi, which likewise has been already mentioned, he painted two very beautiful pictures with little figures, in one of which, the most beautiful and the most abundant in figures, is the baptist baptizing jesus christ in the jordan. he also executed many others for various persons, which were sent to france and england. finally, having entered the service of duke cosimo, since he was an excellent painter in counterfeiting all the kinds of animals, il bacchiacca painted for his excellency a cabinet all full of birds of various kinds, and rare plants, all of which he executed divinely well in oils. he then made, with a vast number of little figures, cartoons of all the months of the year, which were woven into most beautiful tapestries in silk and gold, with such industry and diligence that there is nothing better of that kind to be seen, by marco, the son of maestro giovanni rosto the fleming. after these works, il bacchiacca decorated in fresco the grotto of a water-fountain that is at the pitti palace. lastly, he made the designs for a bed that was executed in embroidery, all full of scenes and little figures. this is the most ornate work in the form of a bed, in such a kind of workmanship, that there is to be seen, the embroidering having been made rich with pearls and other things of price by antonio bacchiacca, the brother of francesco, who is an excellent embroiderer; and, since francesco died before the completion of the bed, which has served for the happy nuptials of the most illustrious lord prince of florence, don francesco de' medici, and of her serene highness queen joanna of austria, it was finished in the end after the directions and designs of giorgio vasari. francesco died at florence in the year . benvenuto garofalo and girolamo da carpi, and other lombards [illustration: moretto da brescia: s. justina (_vienna: imperial gallery, . panel_)] lives of benvenuto garofalo and girolamo da carpi, painters of ferrara, and of other lombards in this part of the lives that we are about to write we shall give a brief account of the best and most eminent painters, sculptors, and architects who have lived in lombardy in our time, after mantegna, costa, boccaccino of cremona, and francia of bologna; for i am not able to write the life of each in detail, and it seems to me enough to enumerate their works. and even this i would not have set myself to do, nor to give a judgment on those works, if i had not first seen them; but since, from the year down to this present year of , i had not travelled, as i did before, over almost the whole of italy, nor seen the above-mentioned works and the others that had appeared in great numbers during that period of four-and-twenty years, i resolved, before writing of them, being almost at the end of this my labour, to see them and judge of them with my own eyes. wherefore, after the conclusion of the above-mentioned nuptials of the most illustrious lord don francesco de' medici, prince of florence and siena, my master, and of her serene highness queen joanna of austria, on account of which i had been much occupied for two years on the ceiling of the principal hall of their palace, i resolved, without sparing any expense or fatigue, to revisit rome, tuscany, part of the march, umbria, romagna, lombardy, and venice with all her domain, in order to re-examine the old works and to see the many that have been executed from the year onward. and so, having made a record of the works that were most notable and most worthy to be put down in writing, in order not to do wrong to the talents of many craftsmen or depart from that sincere truthfulness which is expected from those who write history of any kind, i shall proceed without bias of mind to write down all that is wanting in any part of what has been already written, without disturbing the order of the story, and then to give an account of the works of some who are still living, and have worked or are still working excellently well; for it appears to me that so much is demanded by the merits of many rare and noble craftsmen. let me begin, then, with the men of ferrara. benvenuto garofalo was born at ferrara in the year , to piero tisi, whose elders had their origin in padua. he was born, i say, so inclined to painting, that, when still but a little boy, while going to school to learn reading, he would do nothing but draw; from which exercise his father, who looked on painting as a folly, sought to divert him, but was never able. wherefore that father, having seen that he must second the inclination of that son of his, who would never do anything day and night but draw, finally placed him with domenico panetti, a painter of some repute at that time, although his manner was dry and laboured, in ferrara. with that domenico benvenuto had been some little time, when, going once to cremona, he happened to see in the principal chapel of the duomo in that city, among other works by the hand of boccaccio boccaccino, a painter of cremona, who had painted the tribune there in fresco, a christ seated on a throne surrounded by four saints, and giving the benediction. whereupon, that work having pleased him, he placed himself by means of some friends under boccaccino, who was at that time executing in the same church, likewise in fresco, some stories of the madonna, as has been said in his life, in competition with the painter altobello, who was painting in the same church, opposite to boccaccino, some stories of jesus christ, which are very beautiful and truly worthy to be praised. [illustration: the madonna and child with saints (_after the painting by =benvenuto garofalo=. ferrara: pinacoteca, _) _alinari_] now, after benvenuto had been two years in cremona, and had made much progress under the discipline of boccaccino, he went off in the year , at the age of nineteen, to rome, where, having placed himself with giovanni baldini, a florentine painter of passing good skill, who possessed many very beautiful drawings by various excellent masters, he was constantly practising his hand on those drawings whenever he had time, and particularly at night. then, after he had been fifteen months with that master and had seen to his great delight the works of rome, he travelled for a time over various parts of italy, and finally made his way to mantua. there he stayed two years with the painter lorenzo costa, serving him with such lovingness, that lorenzo, after that period of two years, in order to reward him, placed him in the service of francesco gonzaga, marquis of mantua, for whom costa himself was working. but benvenuto had not been long with the marquis, when, his father piero falling ill in ferrara, he was forced to return to that city, where he stayed afterwards for four years together, executing many works by himself alone, and some in company with the dossi. then, in the year , being sent for by messer geronimo sagrato, a gentleman of ferrara, who was living in rome, benvenuto returned there with the greatest willingness, and particularly from a desire to see the miracles that were being related of raffaello da urbino and of the chapel of julius painted by buonarroti. but when benvenuto had arrived in rome, he was struck with amazement, and almost with despair, by seeing the grace and vivacity that the pictures of raffaello revealed, and the depth in the design of michelagnolo. wherefore he cursed the manners of lombardy, and that which he had learned with so much study and effort at mantua, and right willingly, if he had been able, would he have purged himself of all that knowledge; but he resolved, since there was no help for it, that he would unlearn it all, and, after the loss of so many years, change from a master into a disciple. and so he began to draw from such works as were the best and the most difficult, and to study with all possible diligence those greatly celebrated manners, and gave his attention to scarcely any other thing for a period of two whole years; by reason of which he so changed his method, transforming his bad manner into a good one, that notice was taken of him by the craftsmen. and, what was more, he so went to work with humility and every kind of loving service, that he became the friend of raffaello da urbino, who, being very courteous and not ungrateful, taught benvenuto many things, and always assisted and favoured him. if benvenuto had pursued his studies in rome, without a doubt he would have done things worthy of his beautiful genius; but he was constrained, i know not by what cause, to return to his own country. in taking leave of raffaello, he promised that he would, as that master advised him, return to rome, where raffaello assured him that he would give him more than enough in the way of work, and that in honourable undertakings. having then arrived in ferrara, benvenuto settled the affairs and despatched the business that had caused him to return; and he was preparing himself to make his way back to rome, when the lord duke alfonso of ferrara set him to decorate a little chapel in the castle, in company with other ferrarese painters. that work finished, his departure was again delayed by the great courtesy of m. antonio costabili, a ferrarese gentleman of much authority, who gave him an altar-piece to paint in oils for the high-altar of the church of s. andrea; which finished, he was forced to execute another for s. bartolo, a convent of cistercian monks, wherein he painted the adoration of the magi, which was beautiful and much extolled. he then painted another for the duomo, full of figures many and various, and two others that were placed in the church of s. spirito, in one of which is the virgin in the air with the child in her arms, and some other figures below, and in the other the nativity of jesus christ. [illustration: the massacre of the innocents (_after the painting by =benvenuto garofalo=. ferrara: pinacoteca, _) _alinari_] in executing those works, remembering at times how he had turned his back on rome, he felt the bitterest regret; and he had resolved at all costs to return thither, when, his father piero's death taking place, all his plans were broken off; for, finding himself burdened with a sister ready for a husband and a brother fourteen years of age, and his affairs in disorder, he was forced to compose his mind and resign himself to live in his native place. and so, after parting company with the dossi, who had worked with him up to that time, he painted by himself in the church of s. francesco, in a little chapel, the raising of lazarus, a work filled with a variety of good figures, and pleasant in colouring, with attitudes spirited and vivacious, which brought him much commendation. in another chapel in the same church he painted the massacre of the innocents, cruelly done to death by herod, so well and with such spirited movements in the soldiers and other figures, that it was a marvel. very well depicted, in addition, are different expressions in the great variety of heads, such as terror in the mothers and nurses, death in the infants, and cruelty in the slayers, and many other things, which gave infinite satisfaction. it is worthy of remark that in executing that work benvenuto did a thing that up to that time had never been done in lombardy--namely, he made models of clay, the better to see the shadows and lights, and availed himself of a figure-model made of wood, jointed in such a way that the limbs moved in every direction, which he arranged as he wished, in various attitudes, with draperies over it. but what is most important is that he copied every least detail from life and nature, as one who knew that the true way is to observe and imitate the reality. for the same church he executed the altar-piece of a chapel; and on a wall he painted in fresco christ taken by the multitude in the garden. for s. domenico, in the same city, he painted two altar-pieces in oils; in one is the miracle of the cross and s. helen, and in the other is s. peter martyr with a good number of very beautiful figures, wherein it is evident that benvenuto departed considerably from his first manner, making it bolder and less laboured. for the nuns of s. salvestro he painted an altar-picture of christ praying to his father on the mount, while the three apostles are lower down, sleeping. for the nuns of s. gabriello he executed an annunciation, and for those of s. antonio, in the altar-piece of their high-altar, the resurrection of christ. for the high-altar of the frati ingesuati, in the church of s. girolamo, he painted jesus christ in the manger, with a choir of angels on a cloud, held to be very beautiful. in s. maria del vado, in an altar-piece by the same hand, very well conceived and coloured, is christ ascending into heaven, with the apostles standing in contemplation of him. for the church of s. giorgio, a seat of the monks of monte oliveto, without the city, he painted an altar-piece in oils of the magi adoring christ and offering to him myrrh, incense, and gold; and this is one of the best works that benvenuto ever executed in all his life. all these works much pleased the people of ferrara, by reason of which he executed pictures almost without number for their houses, and many others for monasteries and for the townships and villas round about the city; and, among others, he painted the resurrection of christ in an altar-piece for bondeno. and, finally, he executed in fresco with beautiful and fantastic invention, in the refectory of s. andrea, many figures that are bringing the old testament into accord with the new. but, since the works of this master are numberless, let it be enough to have spoken of those that are the best. girolamo da carpi having received his first instructions in painting from benvenuto, as will be related in his life, they painted in company the façade of the house of the muzzarelli, in the borgo nuovo, partly in chiaroscuro and partly in colours, with some things done in imitation of bronze. they painted together, likewise, both within and without, the palace of coppara, a place of recreation belonging to the duke of ferrara; for which lord benvenuto executed many other works, both by himself and in company with other painters. then, having lived a long time in the determination that he would not take a wife, in the end, after separating from his brother and growing weary of living alone, at the age of forty-eight he took one; but he had scarcely had her a year, when, falling grievously ill, he lost the sight of his right eye, and was in fear and peril of the other. however, having recommended himself to god and made a vow that he would always dress in grey, as he afterwards did, by the grace of god he preserved the sight of the other eye, insomuch that the works executed by him at the age of sixty-five were so well done, and with such diligence and finish, that it was a marvel. wherefore on one occasion, when the duke of ferrara showed to pope paul iii a triumph of bacchus in oils, five braccia in length, and the calumny of apelles, painted by benvenuto at that age after the designs of raffaello da urbino, which pictures are now over certain chimney-pieces belonging to his excellency, that pontiff was struck with astonishment that an old man of such an age, with only one eye, should have executed works so large and so beautiful. on every feast-day for twenty whole years benvenuto worked for the love of god in the convent of the nuns of s. bernardino, where he executed many works of importance in oils, in distemper, and in fresco; which was certainly a marvellous thing, and a great proof of his true and good nature, for in that place he had no competition, and nevertheless put no less study and diligence into his labour than he would have done at any other more frequented place. those works are passing good in composition, with beautiful expressions in the heads, not confused, and executed in a truly sweet and good manner. for all the disciples that benvenuto had, although he taught them everything that he knew with no ordinary willingness, in order to make some of them excellent masters, he never had any success with a single one of them, and, in place of being rewarded by them for his lovingness at least with gratitude of heart, he never received anything from them save vexations; wherefore he used to say that he had never had any enemies but his own disciples and assistants. in the year , being now old, and the malady returning to his eye, he became wholly blind, and he lived thus for nine years; which misfortune he bore with a patient mind, resigning himself completely to the will of god. finally, when he had come to the age of seventy-eight, thinking at last that he had lived too long in that darkness, and rejoicing in death, in the hope of going to enjoy eternal light, he finished the course of his life on the th of september in the year , leaving a son called girolamo, who is a very gentle person, and a daughter. benvenuto was a very honest creature, fond of a jest, pleasant in his conversation, patient and calm in all his adversities. as a young man he delighted in fencing and playing the lute, and in his friendships he was loving beyond measure and prodigal with his services. he was the friend of the painter giorgione da castelfranco, tiziano da cadore, and giulio romano, and most affectionate towards all the men of art in general; and to this i can bear witness, for on the two occasions when i was at ferrara in his time i received from him innumerable favours and courtesies. he was buried with honour in the church of s. maria del vado, and was celebrated in verse and prose by many choice spirits no less than his talents deserved. but it has not been possible to obtain benvenuto's portrait, and therefore there has been placed at the head of these lives of the lombard painters that of girolamo da carpi, whose life we are now about to write. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the painting by =benvenuto garofalo=. ferrara: pinacoteca, _) _alinari_] girolamo, then, called da carpi, who was a ferrarese and a disciple of benvenuto, was employed at first by his father tommaso, who was a kind of house-painter, in his workshop, to paint strong-boxes, stools, mouldings, and other suchlike commonplace things. after girolamo had made some proficience under the discipline of benvenuto, he began to think that he should be removed by his father from those base labours; but tommaso, as one who had need of money, would do nothing of the kind, and girolamo resolved at all costs to leave him. and so he went to bologna, where he received no little favour from the gentlemen of that city; wherefore, having made some portraits, which were passing good likenesses, he acquired so much credit that he earned much money and assisted his father more while living at bologna than he had done when staying in ferrara. at that time there was brought to the house of the noble counts ercolani at bologna a picture by the hand of antonio da correggio, in which christ is appearing to mary magdalene in the form of a gardener, executed with incredible softness and excellence; and that manner so took possession of girolamo's heart, that, not content with having copied that picture, he went to modena to see the other works by the hand of correggio. having arrived there, besides being filled with marvel at the sight of them, one among them in particular struck him with amazement, and that was the great picture, a divine work, in which is the madonna, with the child in her arms marrying s. catharine, a s. sebastian, and other figures, with an air of such beauty in the heads, that they appear as if made in paradise; nor is it possible to find more beautiful hair, more lovely hands, or any colouring more pleasing and natural. having then received permission to copy it from the owner of the picture, messer francesco grillenzoni, a doctor, who was much the friend of correggio, girolamo copied it with the greatest diligence that it is possible to imagine. after that he did the same with the altar-picture of s. peter martyr, which correggio had painted for a company of secular priests, who hold it in very great price, as it deserves, there being in it, in particular, besides other figures, an infant christ in the lap of his mother, who appears as if breathing, and a most beautiful s. peter martyr; and another little altar-piece by the same hand, painted for the company of s. bastiano, and no less beautiful than the other. all these works, thus copied by girolamo, were the reason that he so improved his manner, that it did not appear like his original manner, or in any way the same thing. from modena girolamo went to parma, where he had heard that there were some works by the same correggio, and he copied some of the pictures in the tribune of the duomo, considering them extraordinary works, particularly the beautiful foreshortening of the madonna, who is ascending into heaven, surrounded by a multitude of angels, with the apostles, who are standing gazing on her as she ascends, and four saints, protectors of that city, who are in the niches--s. john the baptist, who is holding a lamb; s. joseph, the husband of our lady; s. bernardo degli uberti the florentine, a cardinal and bishop of florence; and another bishop. girolamo likewise studied the figures by the hand of the same correggio in the recess of the principal chapel in s. giovanni evangelista--namely, the coronation of the madonna, with s. john the evangelist, the baptist, s. benedict, s. placido, and a multitude of angels who are about them; and the marvellous figures that are in the chapel of s. gioseffo in the church of s. sepolcro--a divine example of panel-painting. now, since it is inevitable that those who are pleased to follow some particular manner, and who study it with lovingness, should acquire it--at least, in some degree (whence it also happens that many become more excellent than their masters)--girolamo caught not a little of correggio's manner; wherefore, after returning to bologna, he imitated him always, not studying any other thing but that manner and that altar-piece by the hand of raffaello da urbino which we mentioned as being in that city. and all these particulars i heard from girolamo da carpi, who was much my friend, at rome in the year ; and he lamented very often to me that he had consumed his youth and his best years in ferrara and bologna, and not in rome or some other place, where, without a doubt, he would have made much greater proficience. no little harm, also, did girolamo suffer in matters of art from his having given too much attention to amorous delights and to playing the lute at the time when he might have been making progress in painting. having returned, then, to bologna, he made a portrait, among others, of messer onofrio bartolini, a florentine, who was then in that city for his studies, and afterwards became archbishop of pisa; and that head, which is now in the possession of the heirs of that messer noferi, is very beautiful and in a manner full of grace. there was working in bologna at this time a certain maestro biagio, a painter, who, perceiving that girolamo was coming into good repute, began to be afraid lest he might outstrip him and deprive him of all his profits. wherefore, seizing a good occasion, he established a friendship with girolamo, with the intention of hindering him in his work, and became his intimate companion to such purpose, that they began to work in company; and so they continued for a while. this friendship was harmful to girolamo, not only in the matter of his earnings, but likewise with respect to art, for the reason that he followed in the footsteps of maestro biagio (who worked by rule of thumb, and took everything from the designs of one master or another), and he, also, put no more diligence into his pictures. now in the monastery of s. michele in bosco, without bologna, a certain fra antonio, a monk of that convent, had painted a s. sebastian of the size of life, besides executing an altar-piece in oils for a convent of the same order of monte oliveto at scaricalasino, and some figures in fresco in the chapel of s. scholastica, in the garden of monte oliveto maggiore, and abbot ghiaccino, who had compelled him to stay that year in bologna, desired that he should paint the new sacristy of his church there. but fra antonio, who did not feel it in him to do so great a work, and perchance was not very willing to undergo such fatigue, as is often the case with that kind of man, so contrived that the work was allotted to girolamo and maestro biagio, who painted it all in fresco. in the compartments of the vaulting they executed some little boys and angels, and at the head, in large figures, the story of the transfiguration of christ, availing themselves of the design of that which raffaello da urbino painted for s. pietro in montorio at rome; and on the other walls they painted some saints, in which, to be sure, there is something of the good. but girolamo, having recognized that to stay in company with maestro biagio was not the course for him, and, indeed, that it was his certain ruin, broke up the partnership when that work was finished, and began to work for himself. the first work that he executed on his own account was an altar-piece for the chapel of s. bastiano in the church of s. salvadore, in which he acquitted himself very well. but then, having heard of the death of his father, he returned to ferrara, where for a time he did nothing save some portraits and works of little importance. meanwhile, tiziano vecelli went to ferrara to execute certain things for duke alfonso, as will be related in his life, in a little closet, or rather, study, where giovanni bellini had already painted some pictures, and dosso a bacchanal rout of men which was so good, that, even if he had never done any other thing, for that alone he would deserve praise and the name of an excellent painter; and girolamo, by means of tiziano and others, began to have dealings with the court of the duke. and so, as it were to give a proof of his powers before he should do anything else, he copied the head of duke ercole of ferrara from one by the hand of tiziano, and counterfeited it so well, that it seemed the same as the original; wherefore it was sent, as a work worthy of praise, into france. afterwards, having taken a wife and had children by her, sooner, perchance, than he should have done, girolamo painted in s. francesco at ferrara, in the angles of the vaulting, the four evangelists in fresco, which were passing good figures. in the same place he executed a frieze right round the church, which was a very large and abundant work, being full of half-length figures and little boys linked together in a very pleasing manner; and for that church, also, he painted an altar-picture of s. anthony of padua, with other figures, and another altar-piece of our lady in the air with two angels, which was placed on the altar of signora giulia muzzarelli, whose portrait was executed very well therein by girolamo. at rovigo, in the church of s. francesco, the same master painted the holy spirit appearing in tongues of fire, which was a work worthy of praise for the composition and for the beauty of the heads. at bologna, for the church of s. martino, he painted an altar-piece of the three magi, with most beautiful heads and figures; and at ferrara, in company with benvenuto garofalo, as has been related, the façade of the house of signor battista muzzarelli, and also the palace of coppara, a villa of the duke's, distant twelve miles from ferrara; and, again, in ferrara, the façade of piero soncini in the piazza near the fishmarket, painting there the taking of goletta by the emperor charles v. the same girolamo painted for s. polo, a church of the carmelite friars in the same city, a little altar-piece in oils of s. jerome with two other saints, of the size of life; and for the duke's palace a great picture with a figure large as life, representing opportunity, and executed with beautiful vivacity, movement and grace, and fine relief. he also painted a nude venus, life-size and recumbent, with love beside her, which was sent to paris for king francis of france; and i, who saw it at ferrara in the year , can with truth affirm that it was very beautiful. he also made a beginning with the decorations in the refectory of s. giorgio, a seat of the monks of monte oliveto at ferrara, and executed a great part of them; but he left the work unfinished, and it has been completed in our own day by pellegrino pellegrini, a painter of bologna. [illustration: scene from the Æneid (_after the painting by =niccolò [niccolò dell'abate]=. modena: r. galleria estense_) _alinari_] now, if we were to seek to make particular mention of the pictures that girolamo executed for many lords and gentlemen, the story would be longer than is our desire, and i shall speak of two only, which are most beautiful. from a picture by the hand of correggio that the chevalier baiardo has at parma, beautiful to a marvel, in which our lady is putting a shirt on the infant christ, girolamo made a copy so like it that it seems the very same picture, and he made another copy from one by the hand of parmigiano, which is in the cell of the vicar in the certosa at pavia, doing this so well and with such diligence, that there is no miniature to be seen that is wrought with more subtlety; and he executed innumerable others with great care. and since girolamo delighted in architecture, and also gave his attention to it, in addition to many designs of buildings that he made for private persons, he served in that art, in particular, cardinal ippolito of ferrara, who, having bought the garden at monte cavallo in rome which had formerly belonged to the cardinal of naples, with many vineyards belonging to individuals around it, took girolamo to rome, to the end that he might serve him not only in the buildings, but also in the truly regal ornaments of woodwork in that garden. in this he acquitted himself so well, that everyone was struck with astonishment; and, indeed, i know not what other man could have done better than he did in executing in woodwork--which has since been covered with most beautiful verdure--works so fine and so pleasingly designed in various forms and in different kinds of temples, in which there may now be seen arranged the richest and most beautiful ancient statues that there are in rome, some whole and some restored by valerio cioli, a florentine sculptor, and by others. by these works girolamo came into very great credit in rome, and in the year he was introduced by the above-named cardinal, his lord, who loved him dearly, into the service of pope julius iii, who made him architect over the works of the belvedere, giving him rooms in that place and a good salary. but, since that pontiff could never be satisfied in such matters, and, to make it worse, was hindered by understanding very little of design, and would not have in the evening a thing that had pleased him in the morning, and also because girolamo had to be always contending with certain old architects, to whom it seemed strange to see a new man of little reputation preferred to themselves, he resolved, having perceived their envy and possible malignity, and also being rather cold by nature than otherwise, to retire. and so he chose, as the better course, to return to the service of the cardinal at monte cavallo; for which action girolamo was much commended, for it is too wretched a life to have to be always contending all day long and on every least detail with one person or another, and, as he used to say, it is at times better to enjoy peace of mind on bread and water than to sweat and strive amid grandeur and honours. wherefore, after girolamo had executed for his lord the cardinal a very beautiful picture, which, when i saw it, pleased me very much, being now weary, he returned with him to ferrara, to enjoy the peace of his home with his wife and children, leaving the hopes and rewards of fortune in the possession of his adversaries, who received from that pope the same as he had done, neither more nor less. while he was living thus at ferrara, a part of the castle was burned, i know not by what mischance, and duke ercole gave the charge of restoring it to girolamo, who did it very well, adorning it as much as is possible in that district, which suffers from a great dearth of stone wherewith to make carvings and ornaments; for which he well deserved to be always held dear by that lord, who rewarded him liberally for his labours. finally, after having executed these and many other works, girolamo died in the year , at the age of fifty-five, and was buried in the church of the angeli, beside his wife. he left two daughters, and also three sons, giulio, annibale, and another. girolamo was a blithe spirit, very sweet and pleasing in his conversation, and in his work somewhat slow and dilatory. he was of middle stature, and he delighted beyond measure in music, and more in the pleasures of love than was perhaps expedient. the buildings of his patrons have been carried on since his death by the ferrarese architect galasso, a man of the most beautiful genius, and of such judgment in matters of architecture, that, in so far as may be seen from the ordering of his designs, he would have demonstrated his worth much more than he has done, if he had been employed in works of importance. an excellent sculptor, and likewise a ferrarese, has been maestro girolamo, who, living at recanati, has executed many works in marble at loreto after his master, andrea contucci, and has made many of the ornaments round that chapel or house of the madonna. this master--since the departure from that place of tribolo, who was the last there, after he had finished the largest scene in marble, which is at the back of the chapel, wherein are the angels carrying that house from sclavonia into the forest of loreto--has laboured there continually from to the year , executing many works. the first of these was a seated figure of a prophet of three braccia and a half, which, being good and beautiful, was placed in a niche that is turned towards the west; which statue, having given satisfaction, was the reason that he afterwards made all the other prophets, with the exception of one, that facing towards the east on the outer side, over against the altar, which is by the hand of simone cioli of settignano, likewise a disciple of andrea sansovino. the rest of those prophets, i say, are by the hand of maestro girolamo, and are executed with much diligence and study and good skill of hand. for the chapel of the sacrament the same master has made the candelabra of bronze about three braccia in height, covered with foliage and figures cast in the round, which are so well wrought that they are things to marvel at. and a brother of maestro girolamo's, who is an able master in similar works of casting, has executed many things in company with him at rome, and in particular a very large tabernacle of bronze for pope paul iii, which was to be placed in the chapel that is called the pauline in the palace of the vatican. among the modenese, also, there have been at all times craftsmen excellent in our arts, as has been said in other places, and as may be seen from four panel-pictures, of which no mention was made in the proper place because the master was not known; which pictures were executed in distemper a hundred years ago in that city, and, for those times, they are painted with diligence and very beautiful. the first is on the high-altar of s. domenico, and the others in the chapels that are in the tramezzo[ ] of that church. and there is living in the same country at the present day a painter called niccolò, who in his youth painted many works in fresco about the beccherie, which have no little beauty, and for the high-altar of s. piero, a seat of the black friars, in an altar-piece, the beheading of s. peter and s. paul, imitating in the soldier who is cutting off their heads a similar figure by the hand of antonio da correggio, much renowned, which is in s. giovanni evangelista at parma. niccolò has been more excellent in fresco-painting than in the other fields of painting, and, in addition to many works that he has executed at modena and bologna, i understand that he has painted some very choice pictures in france, where he still lives, under messer francesco primaticcio, abbot of s. martin, after whose designs niccolò has painted many works in those parts, as will be related in the life of primaticcio. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] giovan battista, also, a rival of that niccolò, has executed many works in rome and elsewhere, and in particular he has painted at perugia, in the chapel of signor ascanio della cornia, in s. francesco, many pictures of the life of s. andrew the apostle, in which he has acquitted himself very well. in competition with the above-named niccolò, the fleming arrigo, a master of glass windows, has painted in the same place an altar-piece in oils, containing the story of the magi, which would be beautiful enough if it were not somewhat confused and overloaded with colours, which conflict with one another and destroy all the gradation; but he has acquitted himself better in a window of glass designed and painted by himself, and executed for the chapel of s. bernardino in s. lorenzo, in the same city. but to return to giovan battista; having gone back after the above-named works to modena, he has executed in the same s. piero, for which niccolò painted the altar-piece, two great scenes at the sides, of the actions of s. peter and s. paul, in which he has acquitted himself with no ordinary excellence. in the same city of modena there have also been some sculptors worthy to be numbered among the good craftsmen, for, in addition to modanino, of whom mention has been made in another place, there has been a master called il modena, who has executed most beautiful works in figures of terra-cotta, of the size of life and even larger; among others, those of a chapel in s. domenico at modena, and for the centre of the dormitory of s. piero (a monastery of black friars, likewise in modena), a madonna, s. benedict, s. giustina, and another saint. to all these figures he has given so well the colour of marble, that they appear as if truly of that stone; not to mention that they all have beautiful expressions of countenance, lovely draperies, and admirable proportions. the same master has executed similar figures for the dormitory of s. giovanni evangelista at parma; and he has made a good number of figures in the round and of the size of life for many niches on the outer side of s. benedetto at mantua, in the façade and under the portico, which are so fine that they have the appearance of marble. [illustration: the madonna and child with s. john (_after the terra-cotta by =il modena [antonio begarelli]=. modena: museo civico_) _alinari_] in like manner prospero clemente, a sculptor of modena, has been, and still is, an able man in his profession, as is evident from the tomb of bishop rangone, by his hand, in the duomo of reggio, wherein is a seated statue of that prelate, as large as life, with two little boys, all very well executed; which tomb he made at the commission of signor ercole rangone. in the duomo of parma, likewise, in the vaults below, there is by the hand of prospero the tomb of the blessed bernardo degli uberti, the florentine, cardinal and bishop of that city, which was finished in the year , and much extolled. parma, also, has had at various times many excellent craftsmen and men of fine genius, as has been said above, for, besides one cristofano castelli, who painted a very beautiful altar-piece for the duomo in the year , and francesco mazzuoli, whose life has been written, there have been many other able men in that city. mazzuoli, as has been related, executed certain works in the madonna della steccata, but left that undertaking unfinished at his death, and giulio romano, having made a coloured design on paper, which may be seen in that place by everyone, directed that a certain michelagnolo anselmi, a sienese by origin, but a citizen of parma by adoption, being a good painter, should carry that cartoon into execution, wherein is the coronation of our lady. this he did excellently well, in truth, so that he well deserved that there should be allotted to him a great niche--one of four very large niches that are in that temple--opposite to that in which he had executed the above-mentioned work after the design of giulio. whereupon, setting his hand to this, he carried well on towards completion there the adoration of the magi, with a good number of beautiful figures, making on the flat arch, as was related before in the life of mazzuoli, the wise virgins and the design of copper rosettes; but, when about a third of that work remained for him to do, he died, and so it was finished by bernardo soiaro of cremona, as we shall relate in a short time. by the hand of that michelagnolo is the chapel of the conception in s. francesco, in the same city; and a celestial glory in the chapel of the cross in s. pier martire. girolamo mazzuoli, the cousin of francesco, as has been told, continuing the work in that church of the madonna, left unfinished by his kinsman, painted an arch with the wise virgins and adorned it with rosettes. then, in the recess at the end, opposite to the principal door, he painted the holy spirit descending in tongues of fire on the apostles, and in the last of the flat arches the nativity of jesus christ, which, although not yet uncovered, he has shown to us this year of , to our great pleasure, since it is a truly beautiful example of work in fresco. the great central tribune of the same madonna della steccata, which is being painted by bernardo soiaro, the painter of cremona, will also be, when finished, a rare work, and able to compare with the others that are in that place. but of all these it cannot be said that the cause has been any other than francesco mazzuoli, who was the first who with beautiful judgment began the magnificent ornamentation of that church, which, so it is said, was built after the designs and directions of bramante. [illustration: four saints (_after =begarelli=. modena: s. pietro_) _anderson_] as for the masters of our arts in mantua, besides what has been said of them up to the time of giulio romano, i must say that he sowed the seeds of his art in mantua and throughout all lombardy in such a manner that there have been able men there ever since, and his own works are every day more clearly recognized as good and worthy of praise. and although giovan battista bertano, the principal architect for the buildings of the duke of mantua, has constructed in the castle, over the part where there are the waters and the corridor, many apartments that are magnificent and richly adorned with stucco-work and pictures, executed for the most part by fermo ghisoni, the disciple of giulio, and by others, as will be related, nevertheless he has not equalled those made by giulio himself. the same giovan battista has caused domenico brusciasorzi to execute after his design for s. barbara, the church of the duke's castle, an altar-piece in oils truly worthy to be praised, in which is the martyrdom of that saint. and, in addition, having studied vitruvius, he has written and published a work on the ionic volute, showing how it should be turned, after that author; and at the principal door of his house at mantua he has placed a complete column of stone, and the flat module of another, with all the measurements of that ionic order marked, and also the palm, inch, foot, and braccio of the ancients, to the end that whoever so desires may be able to see whether those measurements are correct or not. in the church of s. piero, the duomo of mantua, which was the work and architecture of the above-named giulio romano, since in renovating it he gave it a new and modern form, the same bertano has caused an altar-piece to be executed for each chapel by the hands of various painters; and two of these he has had painted after his own designs by the above-mentioned fermo ghisoni, one for the chapel of s. lucia, containing that saint and two children, and the other for that of s. giovanni evangelista. another similar picture he caused to be executed by ippolito costa of mantua, in which is s. agata with the hands bound and between two soldiers, who are cutting and tearing away her breasts. battista d'agnolo del moro of verona painted for the same duomo, as has been told, the altar-piece that is on the altar of s. maria maddalena, and girolamo parmigiano that of s. tecla. paolo farinato of verona bertano commissioned to execute the altar-piece of s. martino, and the above-named domenico brusciasorzi that of s. margherita; and giulio campo of cremona painted that of s. gieronimo. and one that was better than any other, although all are very beautiful, in which is s. anthony the abbot beaten by the devil in the form of a woman, who tempts him, is by the hand of paolo veronese. but of all the craftsmen of mantua, that city has never had a more able master in painting than rinaldo, who was a disciple of giulio. by his hand is an altar-piece in s. agnese in that city, wherein is our lady in the air, with s. augustine and s. jerome, which are very good figures; but him death snatched from the world before his time. in a very beautiful antiquarium and study made by signor cesare gonzaga, which is full of ancient statues and heads of marble, that lord has had the genealogical tree of the house of gonzaga painted, in order to adorn it, by fermo ghisoni, who has acquitted himself very well in everything, and especially in the expressions of the heads. the same signor cesare has placed there, in addition, some pictures that are certainly very rare, such as that of the madonna with the cat which raffaello da urbino painted, and another wherein our lady with marvellous grace is washing the infant jesus. in another little cabinet made for medals, which has been beautifully wrought in ebony and ivory by one francesco da volterra, who has no equal in such works, he has some little antique figures in bronze, which could not be more beautiful than they are. in short, between the last time that i saw mantua and this year of , when i have revisited that city, it has become so much more beautiful and ornate, that, if i had not seen it for myself, i would not believe it; and, what is more, the craftsmen have multiplied there, and they still continue to multiply. thus, to that giovan battista mantovano, an excellent sculptor and engraver of prints, of whom we have spoken in the life of giulio romano and in that of marc'antonio bolognese, have been born two sons, who engrave copper-plates divinely well, and, what is even more astonishing, a daughter, called diana, who also engraves so well that it is a thing to marvel at; and i who saw her, a very gentle and gracious girl, and her works, which are most beautiful, was struck with amazement. nor will i omit to say that in s. benedetto, a very celebrated monastery of black friars at mantua, renovated by giulio romano after a most beautiful design, are many works executed by the above-named craftsmen of mantua and other lombards, in addition to those described in the life of the same giulio. there are, then, works by fermo ghisoni, such as a nativity of christ, two altar-pieces by girolamo mazzuoli, three by lattanzio gambara of brescia, and three others by paolo veronese, which are the best. in the same place, at the head of the refectory, by the hand of a certain fra girolamo, a lay-brother of s. dominic, as has been related elsewhere, is a picture in oils which is a copy of the very beautiful last supper that leonardo painted in s. maria delle grazie at milan, and copied so well, that i was amazed by it. of which circumstance i make mention again very willingly, having seen leonardo's original in milan, this year of , reduced to such a condition, that there is nothing to be seen but a mass of confusion; wherefore the piety of that good father will always bear testimony in that respect to the genius of leonardo da vinci. by the hand of the same monk i have seen in the above-named house of the mint, at milan, a picture copied from one by leonardo, in which are a woman that is smiling and s. john the baptist as a boy, counterfeited very well. [illustration: the purification of the virgin (_after the fresco by =giulio campi=. cremona: s. margherita_) _alinari_] cremona, as was said in the life of lorenzo di credi and in other places, has had at various times men who have executed in painting works worthy of the highest praise. and we have already related that when boccaccio boccaccino was painting the great recess of the duomo at cremona and the stories of our lady throughout the church, bonifazio bembi was also a good painter, and altobello executed in fresco many stories of jesus christ with much more design than have those of boccaccino. after these works altobello painted in fresco a chapel in s. agostino of the same city, in a manner full of beauty and grace, as may be seen by everyone. at milan, in the corte vecchia--that is, the courtyard, or rather, piazza of the palace--he painted a standing figure armed in the ancient fashion, much better than any of the others that were executed there by many painters about the same time. after the death of bonifazio, who left unfinished the above-mentioned stories of christ in the duomo of cremona, giovanni antonio licinio of pordenone, called in cremona de' sacchi, finished those stories begun by bonifazio, painting there in fresco five scenes of the passion of christ with a grand manner in the figures, bold colouring, and foreshortenings that have vivacity and force; all which things taught the good method of painting to the cremonese, and not in fresco only, but likewise in oils, for the reason that in the same duomo, placed against a pilaster in the centre of the church, is an altar-piece by the hand of pordenone that is very beautiful. camillo, the son of boccaccino, afterwards imitated that manner in painting in fresco the principal chapel of s. gismondo, without the city, and in other works, and so succeeded much better than his father had done. that camillo, however, being slow and even dilatory in his work, did not paint much save small things and works of little importance. but he who imitated most the good manners, and who profited most by the competition of the above-named masters, was bernardo de' gatti, called il soiaro, of whom mention has been made in speaking of parma. some say that he was of verzelli, and others of cremona; but, wherever he may have come from, he painted a very beautiful altar-piece for the high-altar of s. piero, a church of the canons regular, and in their refectory the story of the miracle that jesus christ performed with the five loaves and two fishes, satisfying an infinite multitude, although he retouched it so much "a secco," that it has since lost all its beauty. that master also executed under a vault in s. gismondo, without cremona, the ascension of jesus christ into heaven, which was a pleasing work and very beautiful in colouring. in the church of s. maria di campagna at piacenza, in competition with pordenone and opposite to the s. augustine that has been mentioned, he painted in fresco a s. george in armour and on horseback, who is killing the serpent, with spirit, movement, and excellent relief. that done, he was commissioned to finish the tribune of that church, which pordenone had left unfinished, wherein he painted in fresco all the life of the madonna; and although the prophets and sibyls that pordenone executed there, with some children, are beautiful to a marvel, nevertheless soiaro acquitted himself so well, that the whole of that work appears as if all by one and the same hand. in like manner, some little altar-pieces that he has executed at vigevano are worthy of considerable praise for their excellence. finally, after he had betaken himself to parma to work in the madonna della steccata, the great niche and the arch that were left incomplete through the death of michelagnolo of siena were finished by the hands of soiaro. and to him, from his having acquitted himself well, the people of parma have since given the charge of painting the great tribune that is in the centre of that church, where he is now constantly occupied in executing in fresco the assumption of our lady, which, it is hoped, is to prove a most admirable work. [illustration: portrait of the artist (_after the panel by =sofonisba anguisciola=. vienna: imperial gallery, _) _bruckmann_] while boccaccino was still alive, but old, cremona had another painter, called galeazzo campo, who painted the rosary of the madonna in a large chapel in the church of s. domenico, and the façade at the back of s. francesco, with other works and altar-pieces by his hand that are in cremona, all passing good. to him were born three sons, giulio, antonio, and vincenzio; but giulio, although he learned the first rudiments of art from his father galeazzo, nevertheless afterwards followed the manner of soiaro, as being better, and studied much from some canvases executed in colours at rome by the hand of francesco salviati, which were painted for the weaving of tapestries, and sent to piacenza to duke pier luigi farnese. the first works that this giulio executed in his youth at cremona were four large scenes in the choir of the church of s. agata, containing the martyrdom of that virgin, which proved to be such, that a well-practised master might perhaps not have done them so well. then, after executing some works in s. margherita, he painted many façades of palaces in chiaroscuro, with good design. for the church of s. gismondo, without the city, he painted in oils the altar-piece of the high-altar, which was very beautiful on account of the diversity and multitude of the figures that he executed in it, in competition with the many painters who had worked in that place before him. after the altar-piece he painted there many things in fresco on the vaulting, and in particular the descent of the holy spirit on the apostles, who are foreshortened to be seen from below, with beautiful grace and great artistry. at milan, for the church of the passione, a convent of canons regular, he painted a christ crucified on a panel in oils, with some angels, the madonna, s. john the evangelist, and the other maries. in the nunnery of s. paolo, a convent also in milan, he executed four scenes, with the conversion and other acts of that saint. in that work he was assisted by antonio campo, his brother, who also painted for the nunnery of s. caterina at the porta ticinese, likewise in milan, for a chapel in the new church, the architecture of which is by lombardino, a picture in oils of s. helen directing the search for the cross of christ, which is a passing good work. and vincenzio, likewise, the third of those three brothers, having learned much from giulio, as antonio has also done, is a young man of excellent promise. to the same giulio campo have been disciples not only his two above-named brothers, but also lattanzio gambara and others; but most excellent in painting, doing him more honour than any of the rest, has been sofonisba anguisciuola of cremona, with her three sisters, which most gifted maidens are the daughters of signor amilcare anguisciuola and signora bianca punzona, both of whom belong to the most noble families in cremona. speaking, then, of signora sofonisba, of whom we said but little in the life of properzia of bologna, because at that time we knew no more, i must relate that i saw this year in the house of her father at cremona, in a picture executed with great diligence by her hand, portraits of her three sisters in the act of playing chess, and with them an old woman of the household, all done with such care and such spirit, that they have all the appearance of life, and are wanting in nothing save speech. in another picture may be seen, portrayed by the same sofonisba, her father signor amilcare, who has on one side one of his daughters, her sister, called minerva, who was distinguished in painting and in letters, and on the other side asdrubale, their brother, the son of the same man; and these, also, are executed so well, that they appear to be breathing and absolutely alive. at piacenza, in the house of the reverend archdeacon of the principal church, are two very beautiful pictures by the same hand: in one is the portrait of the archdeacon, and in the other that of sofonisba herself, and each of those figures lacks nothing save speech. that lady, having been brought afterwards by the duke of alva, as was related above, into the service of the queen of spain, in which she still remains at the present day with a handsome salary and much honour, has executed a number of portraits and pictures that are things to marvel at. moved by the fame of which works, pope pius iv had sofonisba informed that he desired to have from her hand the portrait of her serene highness the queen of spain; wherefore, having executed it with all the diligence in her power, she sent it to rome to be presented to him, writing to his holiness a letter in the precise form given below: [illustration: the madonna and child with saints (_after the painting by =girolamo romanino=. brescia: s. francesco_) _alinari_] "holy father, "from the very reverend nuncio of your holiness i understood that you desired to have a portrait by my hand of her majesty the queen, my liege-lady. and since i accepted this commission as a singular grace and favour, having thus to serve your holiness, i asked leave of her majesty, who granted it very willingly, recognizing therein the fatherly affection that your holiness bears to her. taking the opportunity presented by this chevalier, i send it to you, and, if i shall have satisfied therein the desire of your holiness, i shall receive infinite compensation; but i must not omit to tell you that if it were possible in the same way to present with the brush to the eyes of your holiness the beauties of the mind of this most gracious queen, you would see the most marvellous thing in all the world. but in those parts which can be portrayed by art, i have not failed to use all the diligence in my power and knowledge, in order to present the truth to your holiness. and with this conclusion, in all reverence and humility, i kiss your most holy feet. "from the most humble servant of your holiness, "sofonisba anguisciuola. "at madrid, on the th of september, ." to that letter his holiness answered with that given below, which, having thought the portrait marvellously beautiful, he accompanied with gifts worthy of the great talents of sofonisba: "pius papa iv dilecta in christo filia. "we have received the portrait of the most gracious queen of spain, our dearest daughter, which you have sent to us; and it has been most acceptable to us, both on account of the person therein represented, whom we love with the love of a father by reason of her true piety and her other most beautiful qualities of mind, to say nothing of other reasons, and also because it has been very well and diligently executed by your hand. we thank you for it, assuring you that we shall hold it among our dearest possessions, and commending this your art, which, although it is marvellous, we understand to be the least of the many gifts that are in you. and with this conclusion we send you once again our benediction. may our lord god preserve you. "dat. romæ, die octob., ." and let this testimony suffice to prove how great is the talent of sofonisba. a sister of hers, called lucia, left at her death fame no less than that of sofonisba, by means of some pictures by her hand that are no less beautiful and precious than those of her sister described above, as may be seen at cremona from a portrait that she executed of signor pietro maria, an eminent physician, but even more from another portrait, painted by that gifted maiden, of the duke of sessa, which was counterfeited by her so well, that it would seem impossible to do better or to make a portrait with a more animated likeness. the third of the sisters anguisciuola, called europa, is still a child in age. to her, a girl all grace and talent, i have spoken this very year; and, in so far as one can see from her works and drawings, she will be in no way inferior to sofonisba and lucia, her sisters. this europa has executed many portraits of gentlemen at cremona, which are altogether beautiful and natural, and one of her mother, signora bianca, she sent to spain, which vastly pleased sofonisba and everyone of that court who saw it. anna, the fourth sister, although but a little girl, is also giving her attention with much profit to design: so that i know not what to say save that it is necessary to have by nature an inclination for art, and then to add to that study and practice, as has been done by those four noble and gifted sisters, so much enamoured of every rare art, and in particular of the matters of design, insomuch that the house of signor amilcare anguisciuola, most happy father of a fair and honourable family, appeared to me the home of painting, or rather, of all the arts. but, if women know so well how to produce living men, what marvel is it that those who wish are also so well able to create them in painting? but to return to giulio campo, of whom i have said that those young women are the disciples; besides other works, a painting on cloth that he has made as a cover for the organ in the cathedral church, is executed with much study in distemper, with a great number of figures representing the stories of esther and ahasuerus and the crucifixion of haman. and in the same church there is a graceful altar-piece by his hand on the altar of s. michael; but since giulio is still alive, i shall say no more for the present about his works. of cremona, likewise, were the sculptor geremia, who was mentioned by us in the life of filarete,[ ] and who has executed a large work in marble in s. lorenzo, a seat of the monks of monte oliveto; and giovanni pedoni, who has done many works at cremona and brescia, and in particular many things in the house of signor eliseo raimondo, which are beautiful and worthy of praise. [footnote : really in the life of filippo brunelleschi, p. , vol. ii.] [illustration: the coronation of the virgin (_after the painting by =alessandro bonvicino [il moretto _or_ moretto da brescia]=. brescia: ss. nazaro e celso_) _alinari_] in brescia, also, there have been, and still are, persons most excellent in the arts of design, and, among others, girolamo romanino has executed innumerable works in that city. the altar-piece on the high-altar of s. francesco, which is a passing good picture, is by his hand, and so also the little shutters that enclose it, which are painted in distemper both within and without; and his work, likewise, is another altar-piece executed in oils that is very beautiful, wherein may be seen masterly imitations of natural objects. but more able than that girolamo was alessandro moretto, who painted in fresco, under the arch of the porta brusciata, the translation of the bodies of ss. faustino and jovita, with some groups of figures that are accompanying those bodies, all very well done. for s. nazzaro, also in brescia, he executed certain works, and others for s. celso, which are passing good, and an altar-piece for s. piero in oliveto, which is full of charm. at milan, in the house of the mint, there is a picture by the hand of that same alessandro with the conversion of s. paul, and other heads that are very natural, with beautiful adornments of draperies and vestments, for the reason that he much delighted to counterfeit cloth of gold and of silver, velvets, damasks, and other draperies of every kind, which he used to place on the figures with great diligence. the heads by the hand of that master are very lifelike, and hold to the manner of raffaello da urbino, and even more would they hold to it if he had not lived so far from raffaello. the son-in-law of alessandro was lattanzio gambara, a painter of brescia, who, having learned his art, as has been related, under giulio campo of verona,[ ] is now the best painter that there is in brescia. by his hand, in the black friars church of s. faustino, are the altar-piece of the high-altar, and the vaulting and walls painted in fresco, with other pictures that are in the same church. in the church of s. lorenzo, also, the altar-piece of the high-altar is by his hand, with two scenes that are on the walls, and the vaulting, all painted in fresco almost in the same manner. he has also painted, besides many other façades, that of his own house, with most beautiful inventions, and likewise the interior; in which house, situated between s. benedetto and the vescovado, i saw, when i was last in brescia, two very beautiful portraits by his hand, that of alessandro moretto, his father-in-law, which is a very lovely head of an old man, and that of the same alessandro's daughter, his wife. and if the other works of lattanzio were equal to those portraits, he would be able to compare with the greatest men of his art. but, since his works are without number, and he himself besides is still living, it must suffice for the present to have made mention of those named. [footnote : rather, of cremona.] by the hand of gian girolamo bresciano are many works to be seen in venice and milan, and in the above-mentioned house of the mint there are four pictures of night and of fire, which are very beautiful. in the house of tommaso da empoli at venice is a nativity of christ, a very lovely effect of night, and there are some other similar works of fantasy, in which he was a master. but, since he occupied himself only with things of that kind, and executed no large works, there is nothing more to be said of him save that he was a man of fanciful and inquiring mind, and that what he did deserves to be much commended. girolamo mosciano of brescia, after spending his youth in rome, has executed many beautiful works in figures and landscapes, and at orvieto, in the principal church of s. maria, he has painted two altar-pieces in oils and some prophets in fresco, which are good works; and the drawings by his hand that are published in engraving, are executed with good design. but, since he also is alive, serving cardinal ippolito d'este in the buildings and restorations that he is carrying out in rome, in tivoli, and in other places, i shall say no more about him at present. there has returned recently from germany francesco ricchino, likewise a painter of brescia, who, besides many other pictures that he has painted in various places, has executed some works of painting in oils in the above-named s. piero in oliveto at brescia, which are done with much study and diligence. [illustration: the adoration of the shepherds (_after the painting by =gian girolamo bresciano [savoldo]=. brescia: palazzo martinengo_) _alinari_] the brothers cristofano and stefano, painters of brescia, have a great name among craftsmen for their facility in drawing in perspective; and, among other works in venice, they have counterfeited in painting on the flat ceiling of s. maria dell'orto a corridor of double twisted columns, similar to those of the porta santa in s. pietro at rome, which, resting on certain great consoles that project outwards, form a superb corridor with groined vaulting right round that church. this work, when seen from the centre of the church, displays most beautiful foreshortenings, which fill with astonishment everyone who sees them, and make the ceiling, which is flat, appear to be vaulted; besides that it is accompanied by a beautiful variety of mouldings, masks, festoons, and some figures, which make a very rich adornment to the work, which deserves to be vastly extolled by everyone, both for its novelty and for its having been carried to completion excellently well and with great diligence. and, since this method gave much satisfaction to that most illustrious senate, there was entrusted to the same masters another ceiling, similar, but small, in the library of s. marco, which, for a work of that kind, was very highly extolled. finally, those brothers have been summoned to their native city of brescia to do the same with a magnificent hall which was begun on the piazza many years ago, at vast expense, and erected over a theatre of large columns, under which is a promenade. this hall is sixty-two full paces long, thirty-five broad, and likewise thirty-five in height at the highest point of its elevation; although it appears much larger, being isolated on every side, and without any apartment or other building about it. on the ceiling of this magnificent and most honourable hall, then, those two brothers have been much employed, with very great credit to themselves; having made a roof-truss for the roof (which is covered with lead) of beams of wood that are very large, composed of pieces well secured with clamps of iron, and having turned the ceiling with beautiful artistry in the manner of a basin-shaped vault, so that it is a rich work. it is true that in that great space there are included only three pictures painted in oils, each of ten braccia, which were painted by the old tiziano; whereas many more could have gone there, with a richer, more beautiful, and better proportioned arrangement of compartments, which would have made that hall more cheerful, handsome, and ornate; but in every other part it has been made with much judgment. [illustration: the holy family (_after the panel by =bramantino=. milan: brera, _) _anderson_] now, having spoken in this part of our book, up to the present, of the craftsmen of design in the cities of lombardy, it cannot but be well to say something about those of the city of milan, the capital of that province, of whom no mention has been made here, although of some of them we have spoken in many other places in this our work. to begin, then, with bramantino, of whom mention has been made in the life of piero della francesca of the borgo, i find that he executed many more works than i have enumerated above; and, in truth, it did not then appear to me possible that a craftsman so renowned, who introduced good design into milan, should have executed works so few as those that had come to my notice. now, after he had painted in rome, as has been related, some apartments for pope nicholas v, and had finished over the door of s. sepolcro, in milan, the christ in foreshortening, the madonna who has him on her lap, the magdalene, and s. john, which was a very rare work, he painted in fresco, on a façade in the court of the mint in milan, the nativity of christ our saviour, and, in the church of s. maria di brera, in the tramezzo,[ ] the nativity of our lady, with some prophets on the doors of the organ, which are foreshortened very well to be seen from below, and a perspective-view which recedes with a beautiful gradation excellently contrived; at which i do not marvel, he having always much delighted in the studies of architecture, and having had a very good knowledge of them. thus i remember to have seen once in the hands of valerio vicentino a very beautiful book of antiquities, drawn with all the measurements by the hand of bramantino, wherein were those of lombardy and the ground-plans of many well-known edifices, which i drew from that book, being then a lad. in it was the temple of s. ambrogio in milan, built by the lombards, and all full of sculptures and pictures in the greek manner, with a round tribune of considerable size, but not well conceived in the matter of architecture; which temple was rebuilt in the time of bramantino, after his design, with a portico of stone on one side, and with columns in the manner of trunks of trees that have been lopped, which have in them something of novelty and variety. there, likewise, was drawn the ancient portico of the church of s. lorenzo in the same city, built by the romans, which is a great work, beautiful and well worthy of note; but the temple there, or rather, the church, is in the manner of the goths. in the same book was drawn the temple of s. aquilino, which is very ancient, and covered with incrustations of marble and stucco, very well preserved, with some large tombs of granite. in like manner, there was the temple of s. piero in ciel d'oro at pavia, in which place is the body of s. augustine, in a tomb that is in the sacristy, covered with little figures, which, according to my belief, is by the hands of agostino and agnolo, the sculptors of siena. there, also, was drawn the tower of brick built by the goths, which is a beautiful work, for there may be seen in it, besides other things, some figures fashioned of terra-cotta after the antique, each six braccia high, which have remained in passing good preservation down to the present day. in that tower, so it is said, died boetius, who was buried in the above-named s. piero in ciel d'oro, now called s. agostino, where there may be seen, even at the present day, the tomb of that holy man, with the inscription placed there by aliprando, who restored and rebuilt the church in the year . and, besides all these, there was in that book, drawn by the hand of bramantino himself, the very ancient temple of s. maria in pertica, round in shape, and built with fragments by the lombards; in which place now lie the bones from the slaughter of the frenchmen and others who were routed and slain before pavia, when king francis i of france was taken prisoner there by the emperor charles v. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] [illustration: a warrior (_after the fresco by =bramantino=. milan: brera, no. _) _alinari_] but let us now leave drawings on one side: bramantino painted in milan the façade of the house of signor giovan battista latuate, with a most beautiful madonna, and on either side of her a prophet. on the façade of signor bernardo scacalarozzo he painted four giants in imitation of bronze, which are reasonably good; with other works that are in milan, which brought him credit, from his having been the first light of a good manner of painting that was seen in milan, and the reason that after him bramante became, on account of the good form that he gave to his buildings and perspective-views, an excellent master in the matters of architecture; for the first things that bramante studied were the works of bramantino. under the direction of bramante was built the temple of s. satiro, which pleases me exceedingly, for it is a very rich work, adorned both within and without with columns, double corridors, and other ornaments, with the accompaniment of a most beautiful sacristy all full of statues. but above all does the central tribune of that place merit praise, the beauty of which, as has been related in the life of bramante, was the reason that bernardino da trevio followed that method in the duomo of milan, and gave his attention to architecture, although his first and principal art was painting; having executed, as has been related, in a cloister of the monastery of s. maria delle grazie, four scenes of the passion in fresco, and some others in chiaroscuro. [illustration: salome (_after the panel by =cesare da sesto=. vienna: imperial gallery, _) _bruckmann_] by that bernardino was brought forward and much assisted the sculptor agostino busto, called il bambaja, of whom there has been an account in the life of baccio da montelupo. agostino executed some works in s. marta, a convent of nuns in milan, among which, although it is difficult to obtain leave to enter that place, i have seen the tomb of monsignor de foix, who died at pavia,[ ] in the form of many pieces of marble, wherein are about ten scenes with little figures, carved with much diligence, of the deeds, battles, victories, and triumphant assaults on strongholds of that lord, and finally his death and burial. to put it briefly, that work is such that i, gazing at it in amazement, stood for a while marvelling that it was possible for works so delicate and so extraordinary to be done with the hand and with tools of iron; for there may be seen in that tomb, executed with the most marvellous carving, decorations of trophies, arms of every kind, chariots, artillery, and many other engines of war, and, finally, the body of that lord in armour, large as life, and almost seeming to be full of gladness, as he lies dead, at the victories that he had gained. and certainly it is a pity that this work, which is well worthy to be numbered among the most stupendous examples of the art, should be unfinished and left to lie on the ground in pieces, and not built up in some place; wherefore i do not marvel that some figures have been stolen from it, and then sold and set up in other places. the truth is that there is so little humanity, or rather, piety, to be found among men at the present day, that of all those who were benefited and beloved by de foix not one has ever felt a pang for his memory or for the beauty and excellence of the work. by the hand of the same agostino busto are some works in the duomo, and, as has been related, the tomb of the biraghi in s. francesco, with many others that are very beautiful in the certosa of pavia. [footnote : ravenna.] a rival of agostino was one cristofano gobbo, who also executed many works in the façade of the above-named certosa and in the church, and that so well, that he can be numbered among the best sculptors that there were in lombardy at that time. and the adam and eve that are in the east front of the duomo of milan, which are by his hand, are held to be rare works, and such as can stand in comparison with any that have been executed by other masters in those parts. almost at the same time there lived at milan another sculptor called angelo, and by way of surname ciciliano, who executed on the same side (of the duomo), and of equal size, a s. mary magdalene raised on high by four little angels, which is a very beautiful work, and by no means inferior to those of cristofano. that sculptor also gave his attention to architecture, and executed, among other works, the portico of s. celso in milan, which was finished after his death by tofano, called lombardino, who, as was said in the life of giulio romano, built many churches and palaces throughout all milan, and, in particular, the convent, church, and façade of the nuns of s. caterina at the porta ticinese, with many other buildings similar to these. silvio da fiesole, labouring at the instance of tofano in the works of that duomo, executed in the ornament of a door that faces between the west and the north, wherein are several scenes from the life of our lady, the scene containing her espousal, which is very beautiful; and that of equal size opposite to it, in which is the marriage of cana in galilee, is by the hand of marco da grà, a passing well-practised sculptor. the work of these scenes is now being continued by a very studious young man called francesco brambilari, who has carried one of them almost to completion, a very beautiful work, in which are the apostles receiving the holy spirit. he has made, also, a drop-shaped console of marble, all in open-work, with foliage and a group of children that are marvellous; and over that work, which is to be placed in the duomo, there is to go a statue in marble of pope pius iv, one of the medici, and a citizen of milan. if there had been in that place the study of those arts that there is in rome and in florence, those able masters would have done, and would still be doing, astonishing things. and, in truth, they are greatly indebted at the present day to the chevalier leone lioni of arezzo, who, as will be told, has spent much time and money in bringing to milan casts of many ancient works, taken in gesso, for his own use and that of the other craftsmen. but to return to the milanese painters; after leonardo da vinci had executed there the last supper already described, many sought to imitate him, and these were marco oggioni and others, of whom mention has been made in leonardo's life. in addition to them, cesare da sesto, likewise a milanese, imitated him very well; and, besides what has been mentioned in the life of dosso, he painted a large picture that is in the house of the mint in milan, a truly abundant and beautiful work, in which is christ being baptized by john. by the same hand, also, in that place, is a head of herodias, with that of s. john the baptist in a charger, executed with most beautiful artistry. and finally he painted for s. rocco, without the porta romana, an altar-piece containing that saint as a very young man; with other pictures that are much extolled. gaudenzio, a milanese painter, who in his lifetime was held to be an able master, painted the altar-piece of the high-altar in s. celso. in a chapel of s. maria delle grazie he executed in fresco the passion of jesus christ, with figures of the size of life in strange attitudes; and then, in competition with tiziano, he painted an altar-piece for a place below that chapel, in which, although he was very confident, he did not surpass the works of the others who had laboured in that place. bernardino del lupino, of whom some mention was made not very far back, painted in milan, near s. sepolcro, the house of signor gian francesco rabbia--that is, the façade, loggie, halls, and apartments--depicting there many of the metamorphoses of ovid and other fables, with good and beautiful figures, executed with much delicacy. and in the monastero maggiore he painted all the great altar-wall with different stories, and likewise, in a chapel, christ scourged at the column, with many other works, which are all passing good. [illustration: gaudenzio ferrari: madonna and child (_milan: brera, . panel_)] and let this be the end of the above-written lives of various lombard craftsmen. [illustration: s. paul (_after the panel by =gaudenzio [gaudenzio ferrari]=. paris: louvre, _) _alinari_] ridolfo, david, and benedetto ghirlandajo lives of ridolfo, david, and benedetto ghirlandajo painters of florence although it appears in a certain sense impossible that one who imitates some man excellent in our arts, and follows in his footsteps, should not become in great measure like him, nevertheless it may be seen that very often the brothers and sons of persons of singular ability do not follow their kinsmen in this respect, but fall away strangely from their standard. which comes to pass, i think, not because there are not in them, through their blood, the same fiery spirit and the same genius, but rather from another reason--that is, from overmuch ease and comfort and from an over-abundance of means, which often prevent men from becoming industrious and assiduous in their studies. yet this rule is not so fixed that the contrary does not sometimes happen. david and benedetto ghirlandajo, although they had very good parts and could have followed their brother domenico in the matters of art, yet did not do so, for the reason that after the death of that same brother they strayed away from the path of good work, one of them, benedetto, spending a long time as a wanderer, and the other distilling his brains away vainly in the study of mosaic. david, who had been much beloved by domenico, and who loved him equally, both living and dead, finished after his death, in company with his brother benedetto, many works begun by domenico, and in particular the altar-piece of the high-altar in s. maria novella, that is, the part at the back, which now faces the choir; and some pupils of the same domenico finished the predella in little figures, niccolaio painting with great diligence, below the figure of s. stephen, a disputation of that saint, while francesco granacci, jacopo del tedesco, and benedetto executed the figures of s. antonino, archbishop of florence, and s. catharine of siena. and they painted an altar-picture of s. lucia that is in that place, with the head of a friar, near the centre of the church; and many other paintings and pictures that are in the houses of various individuals. after having been several years in france, where he worked and earned not a little, benedetto returned to florence with many privileges and presents that he had received from that king in testimony of his talents. and finally, after having given his attention not only to painting but also to miniatures, he died at the age of fifty. david, although he drew and worked much, yet did not greatly surpass benedetto: and this may have come about from his being too prosperous, and from not keeping his thoughts fixed on art, who is never found save by him who seeks her, and, when found, must not be abandoned, or she flies away. by the hand of david, in the garden of the monks of the angeli in florence, at the head of a path that is opposite to a door that leads into that garden, are two figures in fresco at the foot of a crucifix--namely, s. benedict and s. romualdo--with some other similar works, little worthy to have any record made of them. but, while david himself would not give attention to art, it was not a little to his credit that he caused his nephew ridolfo, the son of domenico, to devote himself to it with all diligence, and set him on the right way; for that ridolfo, who was under the care of david, being a lad of beautiful genius, was placed by him to practise painting, and provided with all facilities for study by his uncle, who repented too late that he had not studied that art, and had spent all his time on mosaic. david executed on a thick panel of walnut-wood, which was to be sent to the king of france, a madonna in mosaic, with some angels about her, which was much extolled. and, living at montaione, a township in valdelsa, where he had furnaces, glass, and wood at his command, he executed there many works in glass and mosaic, and in particular some vases, which were presented to the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, the elder, and three heads, that of s. peter, that of s. laurence, and that of giuliano de' medici, on a dish of copper, which are now in the guardaroba of the duke. [illustration: christ bearing the cross (_after the painting by =ridolfo ghirlandajo=. london: national gallery, _) _mansell_] meanwhile ridolfo, drawing from the cartoon of michelagnolo, was held to be one of the best draughtsmen thus employed, and was therefore much beloved by everyone, and particularly by raffaello sanzio of urbino, who at that time, also being a young man of great reputation, was living in florence, as has been related, in order to learn art. after ridolfo had studied from that cartoon, and had become well-practised in painting under fra bartolommeo di san marco, he already knew so much, according to the judgment of the best masters, that raffaello, when about to go to rome at the summons of pope julius ii, left him to finish the blue drapery and other little things that were wanting in the picture of a madonna that he had painted for some gentlemen of siena; which picture ridolfo, after he had finished it with much diligence, sent to siena. and raffaello had not been long in rome before he sought in many ways to attract ridolfo to that city, but he, having never been out of sight of the cupola, as the saying goes, and not being able to reconcile himself to living out of florence, never accepted any proposal made to him that would interfere with his living in that city. for the convent of the nuns of ripoli ridolfo painted two altar-pieces in oils: in one the coronation of our lady, and in the other a madonna surrounded by certain saints. for the church of s. gallo he painted in an altar-piece christ bearing the cross, with a good number of soldiers, and the madonna and the other maries, who are weeping in company with john, while veronica is offering the sudarium to christ; all showing force and animation. that work, in which are many very beautiful heads, taken from life and executed with lovingness, acquired a great name for ridolfo; and in it are portrayed his father and some lads who were working with him, and, of his friends, poggino, scheggia, and nunziata, the head of the last-named being very lifelike. that nunziata, although he was a puppet-painter, was in some things a person of distinction, and above all in preparing fireworks and the girandole that were made every year for the festival of s. john; and, since he was an amusing and facetious person, everyone took great pleasure in conversing with him. a citizen once saying to him that he was displeased with certain painters who could paint nothing but lewd things, and that he therefore wished him to paint a picture of a madonna that might be seemly, well advanced in years and not likely to provoke lascivious thoughts, nunziata painted him one with a beard. another meaning to ask from him a christ on the cross for a ground-floor room where he lived in summer, and not being able to say anything but "i want a christ on the cross for summer," nunziata, who saw him to be a simpleton, painted him one in breeches. but to return to ridolfo. having been commissioned to paint the nativity of christ in an altar-piece for the monastery of cestello, he exerted himself much, in order to surpass his rivals, and executed that work with the greatest diligence and labour at his command, painting therein the madonna, who is adoring the infant christ, s. joseph, and two figures, s. francis and s. jerome, kneeling. he also made there a most beautiful landscape, very like the sasso della vernia, where s. francis received the stigmata, and above the hut some angels that are singing; and the whole work was very beautiful in colouring, and passing good in relief. about the same time, after executing an altar-piece that went to pistoia, he set his hand to two others for the company of s. zanobi, which is beside the canonical buildings of s. maria del fiore; which altar-pieces were to stand on either side of the annunciation that mariotto albertinelli had formerly painted there, as was related in his life. ridolfo, then, carried the two pictures to completion with great satisfaction to the men of that company, painting in one s. zanobi restoring a boy to life in the borgo degli albizzi in florence, which is a very lively and spirited scene, for there are in it many heads portrayed from life, and some women who show very vividly their joy and astonishment at seeing the boy reviving and the spirit returning to him. in the other is the scene of the same s. zanobi being carried dead by six bishops from s. lorenzo, where he was first buried, to s. maria del fiore, when, passing through the piazza di s. giovanni, an elm that was there, all withered, on the spot where there is now a column of marble, with a cross upon it in memory of the miracle, was no sooner touched (through the will of god) by the coffin wherein was the holy corpse, than it put forth leaves again and burst into bloom; which picture was no less beautiful than the others by ridolfo mentioned above. [illustration: the miracle of s. zanobi (_after the painting by =ridolfo ghirlandajo=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] now those works were executed by that painter while his uncle david was still alive, and that good old man took the greatest pleasure in them, thanking god that he had lived so long as to see the art of domenico come to life again, as it were, in ridolfo. but finally, being seventy-four years of age, while he was preparing, old as he was, to go to rome to take part in the holy jubilee, he fell ill and died in the year , and received burial from ridolfo in s. maria novella, where the others of the ghirlandajo family lie. ridolfo had a brother called don bartolommeo in the angeli, a seat of the monks of camaldoli in florence, who was a truly religious, upright, and worthy man; and ridolfo, who loved him much, painted for him in the cloister that opens into the garden--that is, in the loggia where there are the stories of s. benedict painted in verdaccio by the hand of paolo uccello, on the right hand as one enters by the door of the garden--a scene in which that same saint, seated at table with two angels beside him, is waiting for bread to be sent for him into the grotto by romanus, but the devil has cut the cord with stones; and the same saint investing a young man with the habit. but the best figure of all those that are on that little arch, is the portrait of a dwarf who stood at the door of the monastery at that time. in the same place, over the holy-water font at the entrance into the church, he painted in fresco-colours a madonna with the child in her arms, and some angels about her, all very beautiful. and in the cloister that is in front of the chapter-house, in a lunette over the door of a little chapel, he painted in fresco s. romualdo with the church of the hermitage of camaldoli in his hand: and not long afterwards a very beautiful last supper that is at the head of the refectory of the same monks, which he did at the commission of don andrea doffi the abbot, who had been a monk of that monastery, and who had his own portrait painted in a corner at the foot. ridolfo also executed three very beautiful stories of the madonna, which have the appearance of miniatures, on a predella in the little church of the misericordia, in the piazza di s. giovanni. and for matteo cini, in a little tabernacle on the corner of his house, near the piazza di s. maria novella, he painted our lady, s. matthew the apostle, and s. dominic, with two little sons of that matteo on their knees, portrayed from life; which work, although small, is very beautiful and full of grace. for the nuns of s. girolamo, of the order of s. francesco de' zoccoli, on the heights of s. giorgio, he painted two altar-pieces; in one is s. jerome in penitence, very beautiful, with a nativity of jesus christ in the lunette above, and in the other, which is opposite to the first, is an annunciation, and in the lunette above s. mary magdalene partaking of the communion. in the palace that is now the duke's he painted the chapel where the signori used to hear mass, executing in the centre of the vaulting the most holy trinity, and in the other compartments some little angels who are holding the mysteries of the passion, with some heads representing the twelve apostles. in the four corners he painted the four evangelists in whole-length figures, and at the head the angel gabriel bringing the annunciation to the virgin, depicting in a kind of landscape the piazza della nunziata in florence as far as the church of s. marco; and all this work is executed excellently well, with many beautiful ornaments. when it was finished, he painted in an altar-piece, which was placed in the pieve of prato, our lady presenting the girdle to s. thomas, who is with the other apostles. for ognissanti, at the commission of monsignor de' bonafè, director of the hospital of s. maria nuova, and bishop of cortona, he executed an altar-piece with our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. romualdo; and for the same patron, having served him well, he painted some other works, of which there is no need to make mention. he then copied the three labours of hercules (which antonio del pollaiuolo had formerly painted in the palace of the medici), for giovan battista della palla, who sent them to france. [illustration: ridolfo ghirlandajo: portrait of a lady (_florence: pitti, . panel_)] after he had executed these and many other pictures, ridolfo, happening to have in his house all the appliances for working in mosaic which had belonged to his uncle david and his father domenico, and having also learned something of that work from the uncle, determined that he would try to do some work in mosaic with his own hand. which having done, and finding that he was successful, he undertook to decorate the arch that is over the door of the nunziata, wherein he made the angel bringing the annunciation to our lady. but, since he had not the patience for putting together all those little pieces, he never again did any work in that field of art. for a little church of the company of wool-carders at the head of the campaccio, he painted in an altar-piece the assumption of the madonna, with a choir of angels, and the apostles about the sepulchre. but by misadventure, the room in which the picture was having been filled in the year of the siege with green broom for making fascines, the damp so softened the gesso that it all peeled away; wherefore ridolfo had to repaint it, and made in it his own portrait. at the pieve of giogoli, in a tabernacle that is on the high road, he painted our lady with two angels; and in another tabernacle opposite to a mill of the eremite fathers of camaldoli, which is on the ema, beyond the certosa, he painted many figures in fresco. by reason of all which works, ridolfo, finding himself sufficiently employed, and living comfortably with a good income, would by no means rack his brains to do all that he could have done in painting, but rather became disposed to live like a gentleman and take life as it came. for the visit of pope leo to florence, he executed in company with his young men and assistants all the festive preparations in the house of the medici, and decorated the sala del papa and the adjoining rooms, causing the chapel to be painted by pontormo, as has been related. in like manner, for the nuptials of duke giuliano and duke lorenzo he executed the decorations and some scenery for comedies; and, since he was much beloved by those lords for his excellence, he received many offices by their means, and was elected to the collegio as an honoured citizen. ridolfo did not disdain also to make pennons, standards, and other suchlike things in plenty, and i remember having heard him say that three times he had painted the banners of the potenze,[ ] which used every year to hold tournaments and keep the city festive. in short, all sorts of works used to be executed in his shop, so that many young men frequented it, each learning that which pleased him best. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. vi.] thus antonio del ceraiolo, having been with lorenzo di credi, was then with ridolfo, and afterwards, having withdrawn by himself, executed many works and portraits from life. in s. jacopo tra fossi there is by the hand of this antonio an altar-piece, with s. francis and s. mary magdalene at the foot of a crucifix; and in the church of the servites, behind the high-altar, a s. michelagnolo copied from that by ghirlandajo in the ossa of s. maria nuova. another disciple of ridolfo, who acquitted himself very well, was mariano da pescia, by whose hand is a picture of our lady, with the infant christ, s. elizabeth, and s. john, executed very well, in the above-mentioned chapel of the palace, which ridolfo had previously painted for the signoria. the same mariano painted in chiaroscuro the whole house of carlo ginori, in the street which takes its name from that family, executing there stories from the life of samson, in a very beautiful manner. and if this painter had enjoyed a longer life than he did, he would have become an excellent master. a disciple of ridolfo, likewise, was toto del nunziata, who painted for s. piero scheraggio, in company with his master, an altar-piece of our lady, with the child in her arms, and two saints. [illustration: the crucifixion with ss. francis and mary magdalene (_after the panel by =antonio del ceraiolo=. florence: accademia, _) _brogi_] but dear beyond all the others to ridolfo was a disciple of lorenzo di credi, who was also with andrea del ceraiolo, called michele, a young man of an excellent nature, who executed his works with boldness and without effort. this michele, then, following the manner of ridolfo, approached him so closely that, whereas at the beginning he received from his master a third of his earnings, they came to execute their works in company, and shared the profits. michele looked upon ridolfo always as a father, and loved him, and also was so beloved by him, that, as one belonging to ridolfo, he has ever been and still is known by no other name but michele di ridolfo. these two, i say, loving each other like father and son, executed innumerable works in company. first, for the church of s. felice in piazza, a place then belonging to the monks of camaldoli, they painted in an altar-piece christ and our lady in the air, who are praying to god the father for the people below, where some saints are kneeling. in s. felicita they painted two chapels in fresco, despatching them in an able manner; in one is the dead christ with the maries, and in the other the assumption of our lady, with some saints. for the church of the nuns of s. jacopo delle murate they executed an altar-piece at the commission of bishop de' bonafè of cortona: and for the convent of the nuns of ripoli another altar-piece with our lady and some saints. for the chapel of the segni, below the organ in the church of s. spirito, they painted, likewise in an altar-piece, our lady, s. anne, and many other saints; for the company of the neri a picture of the beheading of s. john the baptist; and for the monachine in borgo s. friano an altar-piece of the annunciation. in another altar-piece, for s. rocco at prato, they painted s. rocco, s. sebastian, and between them our lady; and likewise, for the company of s. bastiano, beside s. jacopo sopra arno, they executed an altar-piece containing our lady, s. sebastian, and s. james; with another for s. martino alla palma. and, finally, they painted for s. alessandro vitelli a s. anne in a picture that was sent to città di castello, and placed in the chapel of that lord in s. fiorido. but, since the works and pictures that issued from ridolfo's shop were without number, and even more so the portraits from life, i shall say only that a portrait was made by him of signor cosimo de' medici when he was very young, which was a most beautiful work, and very true to life; which picture is still preserved in the guardaroba of his excellency. ridolfo was a rapid and resolute painter in certain kinds of work, and particularly in festive decorations; and thus, for the entry of the emperor charles v into florence, he executed in ten days an arch at the canto alla cuculia, and another arch in a very short time at the porta al prato for the coming of the most illustrious lady, duchess leonora, as will be related in the life of battista franco. at the madonna di vertigli, a seat of the monks of camaldoli, without the township of monte sansovino, ridolfo, having with him the above-named battista franco and michele, executed in chiaroscuro, in a little cloister, all the stories of the life of joseph; in the church, the altar-pieces of the high-altar, and a visitation of our lady in fresco, which is as beautiful as any work in fresco that ridolfo ever painted. but lovely beyond all others, in the venerable aspect of the countenance, is the figure of s. romualdo, which is on that high-altar. they also executed other pictures there, but it must suffice to have spoken of these. ridolfo painted grotesques on the vaulting of the green chamber in the palace of duke cosimo, and some landscapes on the walls, which much pleased the duke. finally, having grown old, ridolfo lived a very happy life, having his daughters married, and seeing his sons well started in the affairs of commerce in france and at ferrara. and, although afterwards he found himself so oppressed by the gout that he stayed always in the house or had to be carried in a chair, nevertheless he bore that infirmity with great patience, and also some misfortunes suffered by his sons. old as he was, he felt a great love for the world of art, and insisted on being told of, and at times on seeing, those works that he heard much praised, such as buildings, pictures, and other suchlike things that were being executed every day; and one day that the lord duke was out of florence, having had himself carried in his chair into the palace, he dined there and stayed the whole day, gazing at that palace, which was so changed and transformed from what it was before, that he did not recognize it; and in the evening, when going away, he said: "i die happy, because i shall be able to carry to our craftsmen in the next world the news that i have seen the dead restored to life, the ugly rendered beautiful, and the old made young." ridolfo lived seventy-five years, and died in the year ; and he was buried with his forefathers in s. maria novella. his disciple michele, who, as i have said, is called by no other name than michele di ridolfo, has painted in fresco, since ridolfo left the world of art, three great arches over certain gates of the city of florence; at s. gallo, our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. cosimo, which are executed with very beautiful mastery; at the porta al prato, other similar figures; and, at the porta alla croce, our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. ambrogio; with altar-pieces and pictures without number, painted with good mastery. and i, on account of his goodness and capacity, have employed him several times, together with others, in the works of the palace, with much satisfaction to myself and everyone besides. but that which pleases me most in him, in addition to his being a truly honest, orderly, and god-fearing man, is that he has always in his workshop a good number of young men, whom he teaches with incredible lovingness. a disciple of ridolfo, also, was carlo portelli of loro in the valdarno di sopra, by whose hand are some altar-pieces and innumerable pictures in florence; as in s. maria maggiore, in s. felicita, in the nunnery of monticelli, and, at cestello, the altar-piece of the chapel of the baldesi on the right hand of the entrance into the church, wherein is the martyrdom of s. romolo, bishop of fiesole. [illustration: the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas (_after the painting by =ridolfo ghirlandajo=. prato: duomo_) _brogi_] giovanni da udine life of giovanni da udine painter in udine, a city of friuli, lived a citizen called giovanni, of the family of the nanni, who was the first of that family to give attention to the practice of embroidery, in which his descendants afterwards followed him with such excellence, that their house was called no longer de' nanni but de' ricamatori.[ ] among them, then, one francesco, who lived always like an honourable citizen, devoted to the chase and to other suchlike exercises, had in the year a son, to whom he gave the name giovanni; and this son, while still a child, showed such inclination to design that it was a thing to marvel at, for, following behind his father in his hunting and fowling, whenever he had time he was for ever drawing dogs, hares, bucks, and, in short, all the kinds of birds and beasts that came into his hands; which he did in such a fashion that everyone was astonished. perceiving this inclination, his father francesco took him to venice, and placed him to learn the art of design with giorgione da castelfranco; but, while working under him, the boy heard the works of michelagnolo and raffaello so extolled, that he resolved at all costs to go to rome. and so, having obtained from domenico grimani, who was much his father's friend, letters of introduction to baldassarre castiglioni, the secretary of the duke of mantua and a close friend of raffaello da urbino, he went off to that city. there, having been placed by that castiglioni in the school of the young men of raffaello, he learned excellently well the principles of art, a thing which is of great importance, for the reason that when a man begins by adopting a bad manner, it rarely happens that he can abandon it without great difficulty, in order to learn a better. [footnote : embroiderers.] giovanni, then, having been only a very short time under the discipline of giorgione in venice, when he had once seen the sweet, graceful, and beautiful manner of raffaello, determined, like a young man of fine intelligence, that he would at all costs attach himself to that manner. and so, his brain and hand being equal to his noble intention, he made so much proficience, that in a short time he was able to draw very well and to work in colour with facility and grace, insomuch that, to put it in a few words, he succeeded in counterfeiting excellently well every natural object--animals, draperies, instruments, vases, landscapes, buildings, and verdure; in which not one of the young men of that school surpassed him. but, above all, he took supreme delight in depicting birds of every kind, insomuch that in a short time he filled a book with them, which was so well varied and so beautiful, that it was a recreation and a delight to raffaello. living with raffaello was a fleming called giovanni, who was an excellent master in depicting fruits, leaves, and flowers with a very faithful and pleasing likeness to nature, although in a manner a little dry and laboured; and from him giovanni da udine learned to make them as beautiful as his master, and, what is more, with a certain soft and pastose manner that enabled him to become, as will be related, supremely excellent in some fields of art. he also learned to execute landscapes with ruined buildings and fragments of antiquities, and likewise to paint landscapes and verdure in colours on cloth, in the manner that has been followed after him not only by the flemings, but also by all the italian painters. raffaello, who much loved the genius of giovanni, in executing the altar-picture of s. cecilia that is in bologna, caused him to paint the organ which that saint has in her hand; and he counterfeited it so well from the reality, that it appears as if in relief, and also all the musical instruments that are at the feet of the saint. but what was of much greater import was that he made his painting so similar to that of raffaello, that the whole appears as if by one and the same hand. not long afterwards, excavations being made at s. pietro in vincula, among the ruins and remains of the palace of titus, in the hope of finding figures, certain rooms were discovered, completely buried under the ground, which were full of little grotesques, small figures, and scenes, with other ornaments of stucco in low-relief. whereupon, giovanni going with raffaello, who was taken to see them, they were struck with amazement, both the one and the other, at the freshness, beauty, and excellence of those works, for it appeared to them an extraordinary thing that they had been preserved for so long a time; but it was no great marvel, for they had not been open or exposed to the air, which is wont in time, through the changes of the seasons, to consume all things. these grotesques--which were called grotesques from their having been discovered in the underground grottoes--executed with so much design, with fantasies so varied and so bizarre, with their delicate ornaments of stucco divided by various fields of colour, and with their little scenes so pleasing and beautiful, entered so deeply into the heart and mind of giovanni, that, having devoted himself to the study of them, he was not content to draw and copy them merely once or twice; and he succeeded in executing them with facility and grace, lacking nothing save a knowledge of the method of making the stucco on which the grotesques were wrought. now many before him, as has been related, had exercised their wits on this, but had discovered nothing save the method of making the stucco, by means of fire, with gypsum, lime, colophony, wax, and pounded brick, and of overlaying it with gold; and they had not found the true method of making stucco similar to that which had been discovered in those ancient chambers and grottoes. but at that time works were being executed in lime and pozzolana, as was related in the life of bramante, for the arches and the tribune at the back in s. pietro, all the ornaments of foliage, with the ovoli and other members, being cast in moulds of clay, and giovanni, after considering that method of working with lime and pozzolana, began to try if he could succeed in making figures in low-relief; and so, pursuing his experiments, he contrived to make them as he desired in every part, save that the outer surface did not come out with the delicacy and finish that the ancient works possessed, nor yet so white. on which account he began to think that it might be necessary to mix with the white lime of travertine, in place of pozzolana, some substance white in colour; whereupon, after making trial of various materials, he caused chips of travertine to be pounded, and found that it answered passing well, but that still the work was of a livid rather than a pure white, and also rough and granular. but finally, having caused chips of the whitest marble that could be found to be pounded and reduced to a fine powder, and then sifted, he mixed it with white lime of travertine, and discovered that thus he had succeeded without any doubt in making the true stucco of the ancients, with all the properties that he had desired therein. at which rejoicing greatly, he showed to raffaello what he had done; wherefore he, who was then executing by order of pope leo x, as has been related, the loggie of the papal palace, caused giovanni to decorate all the vaulting there in stucco, with most beautiful ornaments bordered by grotesques similar to the antique, and with very lovely and fantastic inventions, all full of the most varied and extravagant things that could possibly be imagined. having executed the whole of that ornamentation in half-relief and low-relief, he then divided it up with little scenes, landscapes, foliage, and various friezes, in which he touched the highest level, as it were, that art can reach in that field. in all this he not only equalled the ancients, but also, in so far as one can judge from the remains that we have seen, surpassed them, for the reason that these works of giovanni's, in beauty of design, in the invention of figures, and in colouring, whether executed in stucco or painted, are beyond all comparison superior to those of the ancients that are to be seen in the colosseum, and to the paintings in the baths of diocletian and in other places. in what other place are there to be seen birds painted that are more lifelike and natural, so to speak, in colouring, in the plumage, and in all other respects, than those that are in the friezes and pilasters of the loggie? and they are there in as many varieties as nature herself has been able to create, some in one manner and some in another; and many are perched on bunches, ears, and panicles, not only of corn, millet, and buckwheat, but of all the kinds of cereals, vegetables, and fruits that earth has produced from the beginning of time for the sustenance and nourishment of birds. as for the fishes, likewise, the sea-monsters, and all the other creatures of the water that giovanni depicted in the same place, since the most that one could say would be too little, it is better to pass them over in silence rather than seek to attempt the impossible. and what should i say of the various kinds of fruits and flowers without number that are there, in all the forms, varieties, and colours that nature contrives to produce in all parts of the world and in all the seasons of the year? what, likewise, of the various musical instruments that are there, all as real as the reality? and who does not know as a matter of common knowledge that--giovanni having painted at the head of the loggia, where the pope had not yet determined what should be done in the way of masonry, some balusters to accompany the real ones of the loggia, and over them a carpet--who, i say, does not know that one day, a carpet being urgently required for the pope, who was going to the belvedere, a groom, who knew not the truth of the matter, ran from a distance to take one of those painted carpets, being completely deceived? in short, it may be said, without offence to other craftsmen, that of all works of the kind this is the most beautiful, the most rare, and the most excellent painting that has ever been seen by mortal eye. and, in addition, i will make bold to say that this work has been the reason that not rome only but also all the other parts of the world have been filled with this kind of painting, for, besides that giovanni was the restorer and almost the inventor of grotesques in stucco and of other kinds, from this his work, which is most beautiful, whoever has wished to execute such things has taken his exemplar; not to mention that the young men that assisted giovanni, who were many, and even, what with one time and another, innumerable, learned from the true master and filled every province with them. then, proceeding to execute the first range below those loggie, giovanni used another and quite different method in the distribution of the stucco-work and paintings on the walls and vaultings of the other loggie; but nevertheless those also were very beautiful, by reason of the pleasing invention of the pergole of canes counterfeited in various compartments, all covered with vines laden with grapes, and with clematis, jasmine, roses, and various kinds of birds and beasts. next, pope leo, wishing to have painted the hall where the guard of halberdiers have their quarters, on the level of the above-named loggie, giovanni, in addition to the friezes of children, lions, papal arms, and grotesques that are round that hall, made some divisions on the walls with imitations of variegated marbles of different kinds, similar to the incrustations that the ancient romans used to make on their baths, temples, and other buildings, such as may be seen in the ritonda and in the portico of s. pietro. in another hall beside that one, which was used by the chamberlains, raffaello da urbino painted in certain tabernacles some apostles in chiaroscuro, large as life and very beautiful; and over the cornices of that work giovanni portrayed from life many parrots of various colours which his holiness had at that time, and also baboons, marmosets, civet-cats, and other strange creatures. but this work had a short life, for the reason that pope paul iv destroyed that apartment in order to make certain small closets and little places of retirement, and thus deprived the palace of a very rare work; which that holy man would not have done if he had possessed any taste for the arts of design. giovanni painted the cartoons for those hangings and chamber-tapestries that were afterwards woven in silk and gold in flanders, in which are certain little boys that are sporting around various festoons, and as ornaments the devices of pope leo and various animals copied from life. these tapestries, which are very rare works, are still in the palace at the present day. he also executed the cartoons for some tapestries full of grotesques, which are in the first rooms of the consistory. [illustration: arabesques (_after the fresco by =giovanni da udine=. rome: the vatican, loggia_) _anderson_] while giovanni was labouring at those works, the palace of m. giovan battista dall'aquila, which had been erected at the head of the borgo nuovo, near the piazza di s. pietro, had the greater part of the façade decorated in stucco by the hand of the same master, which was held to be a remarkable work. the same giovanni executed the paintings and all the stucco-work in the loggia of the villa that cardinal giulio de' medici caused to be built under monte mario, wherein are animals, grotesques, festoons, and friezes of such beauty, that it appears as if in that work giovanni had sought to outstrip and surpass his own self. wherefore he won from that cardinal, who much loved his genius, in addition to many benefits that he received for his relatives, the gift of a canonicate for himself at civitale in friuli, which was afterwards given by giovanni to a brother of his own. then, having to make for the same cardinal, likewise at that villa, a fountain with the water spouting through the trunk of an elephant's head in marble, he imitated in the whole work and in every detail the temple of neptune, which had been discovered a short time before among the ancient ruins of the palazzo maggiore, all adorned with lifelike products of the sea, and wrought excellently well with various ornaments in stucco; and he even surpassed by a great measure the artistry of that ancient hall by giving great beauty to those animals, shells, and other suchlike things without number, and arranging them very well. after this he made another fountain, but in a rustic manner, in the hollow of a torrent-bed surrounded by a wood; causing water to flow in drops and fine jets from sponge-stones and stalactites, with beautiful artifice, so that it had all the appearance of a work of nature. on the highest point of those hollow rocks and sponge-stones he fashioned a large lion's head, which had around it a garland formed of maidenhair and other plants, trained there with great artistry; and no one could believe what grace these gave to that wild place, which was most beautiful in every part and beyond all conception pleasing. that work finished, after the cardinal had made giovanni a chevalier of s. pietro, he sent him to florence, to the end that, when a certain chamber had been made in the palace of the medici (at that corner, namely, where the elder cosimo, the builder of that edifice, had made a loggia for the convenience and assemblage of the citizens, as it was the custom at that time for the most noble families to do), he might paint and adorn it all with grotesques and stucco. that loggia having then been enclosed after the design of michelagnolo buonarroti, and given the form of a chamber, with two knee-shaped windows, which were the first to be made in that manner, with iron gratings, for the exterior of a palace, giovanni adorned all the vaulting with stucco-work and painting, making in a medallion the six balls, the arms of the house of medici, supported by three little boys executed in relief in attitudes of great beauty and grace. besides this, he made there many most beautiful animals, and also many most lovely devices of gentlemen and lords of that illustrious house, together with some scenes in half-relief, executed in stucco; and on the field of the vaulting he did the rest of the work in pictures, counterfeiting them after the manner of cameos in black and white, and so well, that nothing better could be imagined. there remained four arches beneath the vaulting, each twelve braccia in breadth and six in height, which were not painted at that time, but many years afterwards by giorgio vasari, as a young man of eighteen years, when he was in the service of duke alessandro de' medici, his first lord, in the year ; which giorgio executed there stories from the life of julius cæsar, in allusion to the above-named cardinal giulio, who had caused the work to be done. giovanni then executed on a little barrel-shaped vault, beside that chamber, some works in stucco in the lowest of low-relief, and likewise some pictures, which are exquisite; but, although these pleased the painters that were in florence at that time, being wrought with boldness and marvellous mastery, and filled with spirited and fantastic inventions, yet, since they were accustomed to a laboured manner of their own and to doing everything that they carried into execution with copies taken from life, they did not praise them without reserve, not being altogether decided in their minds, nor did they set themselves to imitate them, perhaps because they had not the courage. having then returned to rome, giovanni executed in the loggia of agostino chigi, which raffaello had painted and was still engaged in carrying to completion, a border of large festoons right round the groins and squares of the vaulting, making there all the kinds of fruits, flowers, and leaves, season by season, and fashioning them with such artistry, that everything may be seen there living and standing out from the wall, and as natural as the reality; and so many are the various kinds of fruits and plants that are to be seen in that work, that, in order not to enumerate them one by one, i will say only this, that there are there all those that nature has ever produced in our parts. above the figure of a mercury who is flying, he made, to represent priapus, a pumpkin entwined in bind-weed, which has for testicles two egg-plants, and near the flower of the pumpkin he depicted a cluster of large purple figs, within one of which, over-ripe and bursting open, the point of the pumpkin with the flower is entering; which conceit is rendered with such grace, that no one could imagine anything better. but why say more? to sum the matter up, i venture to declare that in that kind of painting giovanni surpassed all those who have best imitated nature in such works, for the reason that, besides all the other things, even the flowers of the elder, of the fennel, and of the other lesser plants are there in truly astonishing perfection. there, likewise, may be seen a great abundance of animals in the lunettes, which are encircled by those festoons, and certain little boys that are holding in their hands the attributes of the gods; and, among other things, a lion and a sea-horse, being most beautifully foreshortened, are held to be divine. having finished that truly extraordinary work, giovanni executed a very beautiful bathroom in the castello di s. angelo, and in the papal palace, besides those mentioned above, many other small works, which for the sake of brevity are passed over. raffaello having then died, whose loss much grieved giovanni, and pope leo having also left this world, there was no more place in rome for the arts of design or for any other art, and giovanni occupied himself for many months on some works of little importance at the villa of the above-named cardinal de' medici. and for the arrival of pope adrian in rome he did nothing but the small banners of the castle, which he had renewed twice in the time of pope leo, together with the great standard that flies on the summit of the highest tower. he also executed four square banners when the blessed antonino, archbishop of florence, and s. hubert, once bishop of i know not what city of flanders, were canonized as saints by the above-mentioned pope adrian; of which banners, one, wherein is the figure of that s. antonino, was given to the church of s. marco in florence, where the body of the saint lies, another, wherein is the figure of s. hubert, was placed in s. maria de anima, the church of the germans in rome, and the other two were sent to flanders. clement vii having then been elected supreme pontiff, with whom giovanni had a strait bond of service, he returned immediately from udine, whither he had gone to avoid the plague, to rome; where having arrived, he was commissioned to make a rich and beautiful decoration over the steps of s. pietro for the coronation of that pope. and afterwards it was ordained that he and perino del vaga should paint some pictures on the vaulting of the old hall opposite to the lower apartments, which lead from the loggie, which he had painted before, to the apartments of the borgia tower; whereupon giovanni executed there a most beautiful design in stucco-work, with many grotesques and various animals, and perino the cars of the seven planets. they had also to paint the walls of that same hall, on which giotto, according as is written by platina in the lives of the pontiffs, had formerly painted some popes who had been put to death for the faith of christ, on which account that hall was called for a time the hall of the martyrs. but the vaulting was scarcely finished, when there took place that most unhappy sack of rome, and the work could not be pursued any further. thereupon giovanni, having suffered not a little both in person and in property, returned again to udine, intending to stay there a long time; but in that he did not succeed, for the reason that pope clement, after returning from bologna, where he had crowned charles v, to rome, caused giovanni also to return to that city, where he commissioned him first to make anew the standards of the castello di s. angelo, and then to paint the ceiling of the great chapel, the principal one in s. pietro, where the altar of that saint is. meanwhile, fra mariano having died, who had the office of the piombo, his place was given to sebastiano viniziano, a painter of great repute, and to giovanni a pension on the same of eighty chamber-ducats. then, after the troubles of the pontiff had in great measure ceased and affairs in rome had grown quiet, giovanni was sent by his holiness with many promises to florence, to execute in the new sacristy of s. lorenzo, which had been adorned with most excellent sculptures by michelagnolo, the ornaments of the tribune, which is full of sunk squares that diminish little by little towards the central point. setting his hand to this, then, giovanni carried it excellently well to completion with the aid of many assistants, with most beautiful foliage, rosettes, and other ornaments of stucco and gold; but in one thing he failed in judgment, for the reason that on the flat friezes that form the ribs of the vaulting, and on those that run crossways, so as to enclose the squares, he made foliage, birds, masks, and figures that cannot be seen at all from the ground, although they are very beautiful, by reason of the distance, and also because they are divided up by other colours, whereas, if he had painted them in colours without any other elaboration, they would have been visible, and the whole work would have been brighter and richer. there remained no more of the work to be executed than he would have been able to finish in a fortnight, going over it again in certain places, when there came the news of the death of pope clement, and giovanni was robbed of all his hopes, particularly of that which he expected from that pontiff as the reward and guerdon of this work. wherefore, having recognized, although too late, how fallacious in most cases are the hopes based on the favour of courts, and how often those who put their trust in the lives of particular princes are left disappointed, he returned to rome; but, although he would have been able to live there on his offices and revenues, serving also cardinal ippolito de' medici and the new pontiff, paul iii, he resolved to repatriate himself and to return to udine. carrying that intention into effect, therefore, he went back to live in his native place with that brother to whom he had given the canonicate, determined that he would never more handle a brush. but in this also he was disappointed, for the reason that, having taken a wife and had children by her, he was in a manner forced by the instinct that a man naturally feels to bring up his children and to leave them in good circumstances, to set himself once more to work. he painted, then, at the entreaty of the father of the chevalier giovan francesco di spilimbergo, a frieze in a hall, filling it with children, festoons, fruits, and other things of fancy. after that, he adorned with lovely paintings and works in stucco the chapel of s. maria at civitale; and for the canons of the duomo of that place he executed two most beautiful standards. and for the confraternity of s. maria di castello, at udine, he painted on a rich banner our lady with the child in her arms, and an angel full of grace who is offering to her that castello, which stands on a hill in the centre of the city. at venice, in the palace of grimani, the patriarch of aquileia, he decorated with stucco-work and paintings a very beautiful chamber in which are some lovely little scenes by the hand of francesco salviati. finally, in the year , giovanni went to rome to take part in the most holy jubilee, on foot and dressed poorly as a pilgrim, and in the company of humble folk; and he stayed there many days without being known by anyone. but one day, while going to s. paolo, he was recognized by giorgio vasari, who was riding in a coach to the same pardon in company with messer bindo altoviti, who was much his friend. at first giovanni denied that it was he, but finally he was forced to reveal himself and to confess that he had great need of giorgio's assistance with the pope in the matter of the pension that he had from the piombo, which was being denied to him by one fra guglielmo, a genoese sculptor, who had received that office after the death of fra sebastiano. giorgio spoke of this matter to the pope, which was the reason that the bond was renewed, and afterwards it was proposed to exchange it for a canonicate at udine for giovanni's son. but afterwards, being again defrauded by that fra guglielmo, giovanni went from udine to florence, after pope pius had been elected, in the hope of being assisted and favoured by his excellency with that pontiff, by means of vasari. having arrived in florence, then, he was presented by giorgio to his most illustrious excellency, with whom he went to siena, and then from there to rome, whither there also went the lady duchess leonora; and in such wise was he assisted by the kindness of the duke, that he was not only granted all that he desired, but also set to work by the pope with a good salary to give the final completion to the last loggia, which is the one over that which pope leo had formerly caused him to decorate. that finished, the same pope commissioned him to retouch all that first loggia, which was an error and a thing very ill considered, for the reason that retouching it "a secco" caused it to lose all those masterly strokes that had been drawn by giovanni's brush in all the excellence of his best days, and also the boldness and freshness that had made it in its original condition so rare a work. after finishing that work, giovanni, being seventy years of age, finished also the course of his life, in the year , rendering up his spirit to god in that most noble city which had enabled him for many years to live with so much success and so great a name. giovanni was always, but much more in his last years, a god-fearing man and a good christian. in his youth he took pleasure in scarcely any other thing but hunting and fowling; and his custom when he was young was to go hunting on feast-days with his servant, at times roaming over the campagna to a distance of ten miles from rome. he could shoot very well with the fusil and the crossbow, and therefore rarely returned home without his servant being laden with wild geese, ringdoves, wild ducks, and other creatures such as are to be found in those marshy places. giovanni, so many declare, was the inventor of the ox painted on canvas that is made for using in that pursuit, so as to fire off the fusil without being seen by the wild creatures; and on account of those exercises of hunting and fowling he always delighted to keep dogs and to train them by himself. giovanni, who deserves to be extolled among the greatest masters of his profession, chose to be buried in the ritonda, near his master raffaello da urbino, in order not to be divided in death from him to whom in life his spirit was always attached; and since, as has been told, each of them was an excellent christian, it may be believed that they are still together in eternal blessedness. battista franco life of battista franco painter of venice battista franco of venice, having given his attention in his early childhood to design, went off at the age of twenty, as one who aimed at perfection in that art, to rome, where, after he had devoted himself for some time with much study to design, and had seen the manner of various masters, he resolved that he would not study or seek to imitate any other works but the drawings, paintings, and sculptures of michelagnolo; wherefore, having set himself to make research, there remained no sketch, study, or even any thing copied by michelagnolo that he had not drawn. wherefore no long time passed before he became one of the first draughtsmen who frequented the chapel of michelagnolo; and, what was more, he would not for a time set himself to paint or to do any other thing but draw. but in the year , festive preparations of a grand and sumptuous kind being arranged by antonio da san gallo for the coming of the emperor charles v, in which, as has been related in another place, all the craftsmen, good and bad, were employed, raffaello da montelupo, who had to execute the decorations of the ponte s. angelo with the ten statues that were placed upon it, having seen that battista was a young man of good parts and a finished draughtsman, resolved to bring it about that he also should be employed, and by hook or by crook to have some work given to him to do. and so, having spoken of this to san gallo, he so contrived that battista was commissioned to execute in fresco four large scenes in chiaroscuro on the front of the porta capena, now called the porta di s. bastiano, through which the emperor was to enter. in that work battista, without having hitherto touched colours, executed over the gate the arms of pope paul iii and those of the emperor charles, with a romulus who was placing on the arms of the pontiff a papal crown, and on those of the emperor an imperial crown; which romulus, a figure of five braccia, dressed in the ancient manner, with a crown on the head, had on the right hand numa pompilius, and on the left tullus hostilius, and above him these words--quirinus pater. in one of the scenes that were on the faces of the towers standing on either side of the gate, was the elder scipio triumphing over carthage, which he had made tributary to the roman people; and in the other, on the right hand, was the triumph of the younger scipio, who had ruined and destroyed that same city. in one of the two pictures that were on the exterior of the towers, on the front side, could be seen hannibal under the walls of rome, driven back by the tempest, and in the other, on the left, flaccus entering by that gate to succour rome against that same hannibal. all these scenes and pictures, being battista's first paintings, and in comparison with those of the others, were passing good and much extolled. and, if battista had begun from the first to paint and from time to time to practise using colours and handling brushes, there is no doubt that he would have surpassed many craftsmen; but his obstinate adherence to a certain opinion that many others hold, who persuade themselves that draughtsmanship is enough for him who wishes to paint, did him no little harm. for all that, however, he acquitted himself much better than did some of those who executed the scenes on the arch of s. marco, on which there were eight scenes, four on each side, the best of which were painted partly by francesco salviati, and partly by a certain martino[ ] and other young germans, who had come to rome at that very time in order to learn. nor will i omit to tell, in this connection, that the above-named martino, who was very able in works in chiaroscuro, executed some battle scenes with such boldness and such beautiful inventions in certain encounters and deeds of arms between christians and turks, that nothing better could have been done. and the marvellous thing was that martino and his assistants executed those canvases with such assiduity and rapidity, in order that the work might be finished in time, that they never quitted their labour; and since drink, and that good greco, was continually being brought to them, what with their being constantly drunk and inflamed with the heat of the wine, and their facility in execution, they achieved wonders. wherefore, when salviati, battista, and calavrese saw the work of these men, they confessed that for him who wishes to be a painter it is necessary to begin to handle brushes in good time; which matter having afterwards considered more carefully in his own mind, battista began not to give so much study to finishing his drawings, and at times to use colour. [footnote : martin heemskerk.] montelupo then going to florence, where, in like manner, very great preparations were being made for the reception of the above-named emperor, battista went with him, and when they arrived they found those preparations well on the way to completion; but battista, being set to work, made a base all covered with figures and trophies for the statue on the canto de' carnesecchi that fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli had executed. having therefore become known among the craftsmen as a young man of good parts and ability, he was much employed afterwards at the coming of madama margherita of austria, the wife of duke alessandro, and particularly in the festive preparations that giorgio vasari made in the palace of messer ottaviano de' medici, where that lady was to reside. these festivities finished, battista set himself to draw with the greatest industry the statues of michelagnolo that are in the new sacristy of s. lorenzo, to which at that time all the painters and sculptors of florence had flocked to draw and to work in relief; and among these battista made no little proficience, but, nevertheless, it was recognized that he had committed an error in never consenting to draw from the life and to use colours, or to do anything but imitate statues and little else besides, which had given his manner a hardness and dryness that he was not able to shake off, nor could he prevent his works from having a hard and angular quality, as may be seen from a canvas in which he depicted with much pains and labour the roman lucretia violated by tarquinius. consorting thus with the others and frequenting that sacristy, battista formed a friendship with the sculptor bartolommeo ammanati, who was studying the works of buonarroti there in company with many others. and of such a kind was that friendship, that ammanati took battista into his house, as well as genga of urbino, and they lived thus in company for some time, attending with much profit to the studies of art. duke alessandro having then been done to death in the year , and signor cosimo de' medici elected in his place, many of the servants of the dead duke remained in the service of the new, but others did not, and among those who went away was the above-named giorgio vasari, who returned to arezzo, with the intention of having nothing more to do with courts, having lost cardinal ippolito de' medici, his first lord, and then duke alessandro; but he brought it about that battista was invited to serve duke cosimo and to work in his guardaroba, where he painted in a large picture pope clement and cardinal ippolito, copying them from a work by fra sebastiano and from one by tiziano, and duke alessandro from a picture by pontormo. this picture was not of that perfection that was expected; but, having seen in the same guardaroba the cartoon of the "noli me tangere" by michelagnolo, which pontormo had previously executed in colours, he set himself to make a cartoon like it, but with larger figures; which done, he painted a picture from it wherein he acquitted himself much better in the colouring. and the cartoon, which he copied exactly after that of michelagnolo, was executed with great patience and very beautiful. the affair of monte murlo having then taken place, in which the exiles and rebels hostile to the duke were routed and captured, battista depicted with beautiful invention a scene of the battle fought there, mingled with poetic fantasies of his own, which was much extolled, although there were recognized in the armed encounter and in the taking of the prisoners many things copied bodily from the works and drawings of buonarroti. for the battle was in the distance, and in the foreground were the huntsmen of ganymede, who were standing there gazing at jove's eagle carrying the young man away into heaven; which part battista took from the design of michelagnolo, in order to use it to signify that the young duke had risen by the grace of god from the midst of his friends into heaven, or some such thing. this scene, i say, was first drawn by battista in a cartoon, and then painted with supreme diligence in a picture; and it is now, together with his other works mentioned above, in the upper apartments of the pitti palace, which his most illustrious excellency has just caused to be completely finished. having thus been engaged on these and some other works in the service of the duke, until the time when he took to wife the lady donna leonora of toledo, battista was next employed in the festive preparations for those nuptials, on the triumphal arch at the porta al prato, where ridolfo ghirlandajo caused him to execute some scenes of the actions of signor giovanni, father of duke cosimo. in one of these that lord could be seen passing the rivers po and adda, in the presence of cardinal giulio de' medici, who became pope clement vii, signor prospero colonna, and other lords; and in another was the scene of the delivering of san secondo. on the other side battista painted in another scene the city of milan, and around it the camp of the league, which, on departing, the above-named signor giovanni leaves there. on the right flank of the arch he painted on one side a picture of opportunity, who, having her tresses all unbound, was offering them with one hand to signor giovanni, and on the other side mars, who was likewise offering him his sword. in another scene under the arch, by the hand of battista, was signor giovanni fighting between the tesino and biegrassa upon the ponte rozzo, defending it, as it were like another horatius, with incredible bravery. opposite to this was the taking of caravaggio, and in the centre of the battle signor giovanni, who was passing fearlessly through fire and sword in the midst of the hostile army. between the columns, on the right hand, there was in an oval garlasso, taken by the same lord with a single company of soldiers, and on the left hand, between the two other columns, the bastion of milan, likewise taken from the enemy. on the fronton, which was at the back of anyone entering, was the same signor giovanni on horseback under the walls of milan, when, tilting in single combat with a knight, he ran him through from side to side with his lance. above the great cornice, which reached out to the other cornice, on which the pediment rested, in another large scene executed by battista with much diligence, there was in the centre the emperor charles v, who, crowned with laurel, was seated on a rock, with the sceptre in his hand; at his feet lay the river betis with a vase that poured water from two mouths, and beside that figure was the river danube, which, with seven mouths, was pouring its waters into the sea. i shall not make mention here of the vast number of statues that accompanied the above-named pictures and others on that arch, for the reason that it is enough for me at the present moment to describe that which concerns battista franco, and it is not my office to give an account of all that was done by others in the festive preparations for those nuptials and described at great length; besides which, having spoken of the masters of those statues where the necessity arose, it would be superfluous for me to say anything about them here, and particularly because the statues are not now standing, so that they cannot be seen and considered. but to return to battista: the best thing that he did for those nuptials was one of the ten above-mentioned pictures which were in the decorations in the great court of the medici palace, wherein he painted in chiaroscuro duke cosimo invested with all the ducal insignia. but, for all the diligence that he used there, he was surpassed by bronzino, and by others who had less design than himself, in invention, in boldness, and in the treatment of the chiaroscuro. for, as has been said before, pictures must be executed with facility, and the parts set in their places with judgment, and without that effort and that labour which make things appear hard and crude; besides which, overmuch study often makes them come out heavy and dark, and spoils them, while lingering over them so long takes away the grace, boldness and excellence that facility is wont to give them. and these qualities, although they come in great measure as gifts from nature, can also in part be acquired by study and art. having then been taken by ridolfo ghirlandajo to the madonna di vertigli in valdichiana (which place was once attached to the monastery of the angeli, of the order of camaldoli, in florence, and is now an independent body in place of the monastery of s. benedetto, which, being without the porta a pinti, was destroyed on account of the siege of florence), battista painted there the scenes in the cloister already mentioned, while ridolfo was executing the altar-piece and the ornaments of the high-altar. these finished, as has been related in the life of ridolfo, they adorned with other pictures that holy place, which is very celebrated and renowned for the many miracles that are wrought there by the virgin mother of the son of god. battista then returned to rome, at the very time when the judgment of michelagnolo had just been uncovered; and, being a zealous student of the manner and works of that master, he gazed at it very gladly, and in infinite admiration made drawings of it all. and then, having resolved to remain in rome, at the commission of cardinal francesco cornaro--who had rebuilt the palace that he occupied beside s. pietro, which looks out on the portico in the direction of the camposanto--he painted over the stucco a loggia that looks towards the piazza, making there a kind of grotesques all full of little scenes and figures; which work, executed with much labour and diligence, was held to be very beautiful. about the same time, which was the year , francesco salviati, having painted a scene in fresco in the company of the misericordia, was to give it the final completion and to set his hand to others, which many private citizens desired to have painted; but, by reason of the rivalry that there was between him and jacopo del conte, nothing more was done; which hearing, battista sought to obtain by this means an opportunity to prove himself superior to francesco and the best master in rome; and he so went to work, employing his friends and other means, that monsignor della casa, after seeing a design by his hand, allotted the work to him. thereupon, setting his hand to it, he painted there in fresco s. john the baptist taken at the command of herod and cast into prison. but, although this picture was executed with much labour, it was not held to be equal by a great measure to that of salviati, from its having been painted with very great effort and in a manner crude and melancholy, while it had no order in the composition, nor in a single part any of that grace and charm of colouring which francesco's work possessed. and from this it may be concluded that those men are deceived who, in pursuing this art, give all their attention to executing well and with a good knowledge of muscles a torso, an arm, a leg, or other member, believing that a good grasp of that part is the whole secret; for the reason that the part of a work is not the whole, and only he carries it to perfect completion, in a good and beautiful manner, who, after executing the parts well, knows how to make them fit in due proportion into the whole, and who, moreover, so contrives that the composition of the figures expresses and produces well and without confusion the effect that it should produce. and, above all, care must be taken to make the heads vivacious, spirited, gracious, and beautiful in the expressions, the manner not crude, and the nudes so tinted with black that they may have relief, melting gradually into the distance according as may be required; to say nothing of the perspective-views, landscapes, and other parts that good pictures demand, nor that in making use of the works of others a man should proceed in such a manner that this may not be too easily recognized. battista thus became aware too late that he had wasted time beyond all reason over the minutiæ of muscles and over drawing with too great diligence, while paying no attention to the other fields of art. [illustration: tintoretto: bacchus and ariadne (_venice: doge's palace, salon anticollegio. canvas_)] having finished that work, which brought him little praise, battista transferred himself by means of bartolommeo genga to the service of the duke of urbino, to paint a very large vaulting in the church and chapel attached to the palace of urbino. having arrived there, he set himself straightway to make the designs according as the invention presented itself in the work, without giving it any further thought and without making any compartments. and so in imitation of the judgment of buonarroti, he depicted in a heaven the glory of the saints, who are dispersed over that vaulting on certain clouds, with all the choirs of the angels about a madonna, who, having ascended into heaven, is received by christ, who is in the act of crowning her, while in various separate groups stand the patriarchs, the prophets, the sibyls, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, and the virgins; which figures, in their different attitudes, reveal their rejoicing at the advent of that glorious virgin. this invention would certainly have given battista a great opportunity to prove himself an able master, if he had chosen a better way, not only making himself well-practised in fresco-colours, but also proceeding with better order and judgment than he displayed in all his labour. but he used in this work the same methods as in all his others, for he made always the same figures, the same countenances, the same members, and the same draperies; besides which, the colouring was without any charm, and everything laboured and executed with difficulty. when all was finished, therefore, it gave little satisfaction to duke guidobaldo, genga, and all the others who were expecting great things from that master, equal to the beautiful design that he had shown to them in the beginning; for, in truth, in making beautiful designs battista had no peer and could be called an able man. which recognizing, the duke thought that his designs would succeed very well if carried into execution by those who were fashioning vases of clay so excellently at castel durante, for which they had availed themselves much of the prints of raffaello da urbino and other able masters; and he caused battista to draw innumerable designs, which, when put into execution in that sort of clay, the most kindly of all that there are in italy, produced a rare result. wherefore vases were made in such numbers and of as many kinds as would have sufficed to do honour to the credence of a king; and the pictures that were painted on them would not have been better if they had been executed in oils by the most excellent masters. of these vases, which in the quality of the clay much resemble the kind that was wrought at arezzo in ancient times, in the days of porsenna, king of tuscany, the above-named duke guidobaldo sent enough for a double credence to the emperor charles v, and a set to cardinal farnese, the brother of signora vittoria, his consort. and it is right that it should be known that of this kind of paintings on vases, in so far as we can judge, the romans had none, for the vases of those times, filled with the ashes of their dead or used for other purposes, are covered with figures hatched and grounded with only one colour, either black, or red, or white; nor have they ever that lustrous glazing or that charm and variety of paintings which have been seen and still are seen in our own times. nor can it be said that, if perchance they did have such things, the paintings have been consumed by time and by their having been buried, for the reason that we see our own resisting the assaults of time and every other danger, insomuch that it may even be said that they might remain four thousand years under the ground without the paintings being spoilt. now, although vases and paintings of that kind are made throughout all italy, yet the best and most beautiful works in clay are those that are wrought, as i have said, at castel durante, a place in the state of urbino, and those of faenza, the best of which are for the most part of a very pure white, with few paintings, and those in the centre or on the edges, but delicate and pleasing enough. but to return to battista: for the nuptials of the above-mentioned lord duke and signora vittoria farnese, which took place afterwards at urbino, he, assisted by his young men, executed on the arches erected by genga, who was the head of the festive preparations, all the historical pictures that were painted upon them. now, since the duke doubted that battista would not finish in time, the undertaking being very great, he sent for giorgio vasari--who at that time was painting at rimini, for the white friars of scolca, of the order of monte oliveto, a large chapel in fresco and an altar-piece in oils for their high-altar--to the end that he might go to the aid of genga and battista in those preparations. but vasari, feeling indisposed, made his excuses to his excellency and wrote to him that he should have no doubt, for the reason that the talents and knowledge of battista were such that he would have everything finished in time, as indeed, in the end, he did. giorgio then going, after finishing his works at rimini, to visit that duke and to make his excuses in person, his excellency caused him to examine, to the end that he might value it, the above-mentioned chapel that had been painted by battista, which vasari much extolled, recommending the ability of that master, who was largely rewarded by the great liberality of that lord. [illustration: the pool of bethesda (_after the painting by =jacopo tintoretto=. venice: s. rocco_) _anderson_] it is true, however, that battista was not at that time in urbino, but in rome, where he was engaged in drawing not only the statues but all the antiquities of that city, and in making, as he did, a great book of them, which was a praiseworthy work. now, while battista was giving his attention to drawing in rome, messer giovanni andrea dell'anguillara, a man truly distinguished in certain forms of poetry, having got together a company of various choice spirits, was causing very rich scenery and decorations to be prepared in the large hall of s. apostolo, in order to perform comedies by various authors before gentlemen, lords, and great persons. he had caused seats to be made for the spectators of different ranks, and for the cardinals and other great prelates he had prepared certain rooms from which, through jalousies, they could see and hear without being seen. and since in that company there were painters, sculptors, architects, and men who were to perform the dramas and to fulfil other offices, battista and ammanati, having been chosen of the company, were given the charge of preparing the scenery, with some stories and ornaments in painting, which battista executed so well (together with some statues that ammanati made), that he was very highly extolled for them. but the great expenses of that place exceeded the means available, so that m. giovanni andrea and the others were forced to remove the prospect-scene and the other ornaments from s. apostolo and to convey them into the new temple of s. biagio, in the strada giulia. there, battista having once more arranged everything, many comedies were performed with extraordinary satisfaction to the people and courtiers of rome; and from this origin there sprang in time the players who travel around, called the zanni. after these things, having come to the year , battista executed in company with girolamo siciolante of sermoneta, for cardinal di cesis, on the façade of his palace, the coat of arms of pope julius iii, who had been newly elected pontiff, with three figures and some little boys, which were much extolled. that finished, he painted in the minerva, in a chapel built by a canon of s. pietro and all adorned with stucco, some stories of the madonna and of jesus christ in the compartments of the vaulting, which were the best works that he had ever executed up to that time. on one of the two walls he painted the nativity of jesus christ, with some shepherds, and angels that are singing over the hut, and on the other the resurrection of christ, with many soldiers in various attitudes about the sepulchre; and above each of those scenes, in certain lunettes, he executed some large prophets. and finally, on the altar-wall, he painted christ crucified, our lady, s. john, s. dominic, and some other saints in the niches; in all which he acquitted himself very well and like an excellent master. but since his earnings were scanty and the expenses of rome very great, after having executed some works on cloth, which had not much success, he returned to his native country of venice, thinking by a change of country to change also his fortune. there, by reason of his fine manner of drawing, he was judged to be an able man, and a few days afterwards he was commissioned to execute an altar-piece in oils for the chapel of mons. barbaro, patriarch-elect of aquileia, in the church of s. francesco della vigna; in which he painted s. john baptizing christ in the jordan, in the air god the father, at the foot two little boys who are holding the vestments of christ, in the angles the annunciation, and below these figures the semblance of a canvas superimposed, with a good number of little nude figures of angels, demons, and souls in purgatory, and with an inscription that runs--"in nomine jesu omne genuflectatur." that work, which was certainly held to be very good, won him much credit and fame; indeed, it was the reason that the frati de' zoccoli, who have their seat in that place, and who have charge of the church of s. giobbe in canareio, caused him to paint in the chapel of the foscari, in that church of s. giobbe, a madonna who is seated with the child in her arms, with a s. mark on one side and a female saint on the other, and in the air some angels who are scattering flowers. in s. bartolommeo, at the tomb of cristofano fuccheri, a german merchant, he executed a picture of abundance, mercury, and fame. for m. antonio della vecchia, a venetian, he painted in a picture with figures of the size of life and very beautiful christ crowned with thorns, and about them some pharisees, who are mocking him. meanwhile there had been built of masonry in the palace of s. marco, after the design of jacopo sansovino, as will be related in the proper place, the staircase that leads from the first floor upwards, and it had been adorned with various designs in stucco by the sculptor alessandro, a disciple of sansovino; and battista painted very minute grotesques over it all, and in certain larger spaces a good number of figures in fresco, which have been extolled not a little by the craftsmen, and he then decorated the ceiling of the vestibule of that staircase. not long afterwards, when, as has been related above, three pictures were given to each of the best and most renowned painters of venice to paint for the library of s. marco, on the condition that he who should acquit himself best in the judgment of those magnificent senators was to receive, in addition to the usual payment, a chain of gold, battista executed in that place three scenes, with two philosophers between the windows, and acquitted himself very well, although he did not win the prize of honour, as we said above. after these works, having received from the patriarch grimani the commission for a chapel in s. francesco della vigna, which is the first on the left hand entering into the church, battista set his hand to it and began to make very rich designs in stucco over the whole vaulting, with scenes of figures in fresco, labouring there with incredible diligence. but--whether it was his own carelessness, or that he had executed some works, perchance on very fresh walls, as i have heard say, at the villas of certain gentlemen--before he had that chapel finished, he died, and it remained incomplete. it was finished afterwards by federigo zucchero of s. agnolo in vado, a young and excellent painter, held to be among the best in rome, who painted in fresco on the walls at the sides mary magdalene being converted by the preaching of christ and the raising of her brother lazarus, which are pictures full of grace. and, when the walls were finished, the same federigo painted in the altar-piece the adoration of the magi, which was much extolled. extraordinary credit and fame have come to battista, who died in the year , from his many printed designs, which are truly worthy to be praised. in the same city of venice and about the same time there lived, as he still does, a painter called jacopo tintoretto, who has delighted in all the arts, and particularly in playing various musical instruments, besides being agreeable in his every action, but in the matter of painting swift, resolute, fantastic, and extravagant, and the most extraordinary brain that the art of painting has ever produced, as may be seen from all his works and from the fantastic compositions of his scenes, executed by him in a fashion of his own and contrary to the use of other painters. indeed, he has surpassed even the limits of extravagance with the new and fanciful inventions and the strange vagaries of his intellect, working at haphazard and without design, as if to prove that art is but a jest. this master at times has left as finished works sketches still so rough that the brush-strokes may be seen, done more by chance and vehemence than with judgment and design. he has painted almost every kind of picture in fresco and in oils, with portraits from life, and at every price, insomuch that with these methods he has executed, as he still does, the greater part of the pictures painted in venice. and since in his youth he proved himself by many beautiful works a man of great judgment, if only he had recognized how great an advantage he had from nature, and had improved it by reasonable study, as has been done by those who have followed the beautiful manners of his predecessors, and had not dashed his work off by mere skill of hand, he would have been one of the greatest painters that venice has ever had. not that this prevents him from being a bold and able painter, and delicate, fanciful, and alert in spirit. [illustration: the last judgment (_after the painting by =jacopo tintoretto=. venice: s. maria dell'orto_) _anderson_] now, when it had been ordained by the senate that jacopo tintoretto and paolo veronese, at that time young men of great promise, should each execute a scene in the hall of the great council, and orazio, the son of tiziano, another, tintoretto painted in his scene frederick barbarossa being crowned by the pope, depicting there a most beautiful building, and about the pontiff a great number of cardinals and venetian gentlemen, all portrayed from life, and at the foot the pope's chapel of music. in all this he acquitted himself in such a manner, that the picture can bear comparison with those of the others, not excepting that of the above-named orazio, in which is a battle that was fought at rome between the germans of that frederick and the romans, near the castello di s. angelo and the tiber. in this picture, among other things, is a horse in foreshortening, leaping over a soldier in armour, which is most beautiful; but some declare that orazio was assisted in the work by his father tiziano. beside these paolo veronese, of whom there has been an account in the life of michele san michele, painted in his scene the same frederick barbarossa presenting himself at court and kissing the hand of pope ottaviano, to the despite of pope alexander iii; and, in addition to that scene, which was very beautiful, paolo painted over a window four large figures: time, union, with a bundle of rods, patience, and faith, in which he acquitted himself better than i could express in words. not long afterwards, another scene being required in that hall, tintoretto so went to work with the aid of friends and other means, that it was given to him to paint; whereupon he executed it in such a manner that it was a marvel, and that it deserves to be numbered among the best things that he ever did, so powerful in him was his determination that he would equal, if not vanquish and surpass, his rivals who had worked in that place. and the scene that he painted there--to the end that it may be known also by those who are not of the art--was pope alexander excommunicating and interdicting barbarossa, and that frederick therefore forbidding his subjects to render obedience any longer to the pontiff. and among other fanciful things that are in this scene, that part is most beautiful in which the pope and the cardinals are throwing down torches and candles from a high place, as is done when some person is excommunicated, and below is a rabble of nude figures that are struggling for those torches and candles--the most lovely and pleasing effect in the world. besides all this, certain bases, antiquities, and portraits of gentlemen that are dispersed throughout the scene, are executed very well, and won him favour and fame with everyone. he therefore painted, for places below the work of pordenone in the principal chapel of s. rocco, two pictures in oils as broad as the width of the whole chapel--namely, about twelve braccia each. in one he depicted a view in perspective as of a hospital filled with beds and sick persons in various attitudes who are being healed by s. rocco; and among these are some nude figures very well conceived, and a dead body in foreshortening that is very beautiful. in the other is a story likewise of s. rocco, full of most graceful and beautiful figures, and such, in short, that it is held to be one of the best works that this painter has executed. in a scene of the same size, in the centre of the church, he painted jesus christ healing the impotent man at the pool of bethesda, which is also a work held to be passing good. [illustration: the miracle of s. mark (_from the painting by =jacopo tintoretto=. venice: accademia_) _alinari_] in the church of s. maria dell'orto, where, as has been told above, cristofano and his brother, painters of brescia, painted the ceiling, tintoretto has painted--that is, on canvas and in oils--the two walls of the principal chapel, which are twenty-two braccia in height from the vaulting to the cornice at the foot. in that which is on the right hand he has depicted moses returning from the mount, where he had received the laws from god, and finding the people worshipping the golden calf; and opposite to that, in the other, is the universal judgment of the last day, painted with an extravagant invention that truly has in it something awesome and terrible, by reason of the diversity of figures of either sex and all ages that are there, with vistas and distant views of the souls of the blessed and the damned. there, also, may be seen the boat of charon, but in a manner so different from that of others, that it is a thing beautiful and strange. if this fantastic invention had been executed with correct and well-ordered drawing, and if the painter had given diligent attention to the parts and to each particular detail, as he has done to the whole in expressing the confusion, turmoil, and terror of that day, it would have been a most stupendous picture. and whoever glances at it for a moment, is struck with astonishment; but, considering it afterwards minutely, it appears as if painted as a jest. the same master has painted in oils in that church, on the doors of the organ, our lady ascending the steps of the temple, which is a highly-finished work, and the best-executed and most gladsome picture that there is in that place. in s. maria zebenigo, likewise on the doors of the organ, he has painted the conversion of s. paul, but not with much care. in the carità is an altar-piece by his hand, of christ taken down from the cross; and in the sacristy of s. sebastiano, in competition with paolo veronese, who executed many pictures on the ceiling and the walls of that place, he painted over the presses moses in the desert and other scenes, which were continued afterwards by natalino, a venetian painter, and by others. the same tintoretto then painted for the altar of the pietà, in s. giobbe, three maries, s. francis, s. sebastian, and s. john, with a piece of landscape; and, on the organ-doors in the church of the servites, s. augustine and s. philip, and beneath them cain killing his brother abel. at the altar of the sacrament in s. felice, or rather, on the ceiling of the tribune, he painted the four evangelists; and in the lunette above the altar an annunciation, in the other lunette christ praying on the mount of olives, and on the wall the last supper that he had with his apostles. and in s. francesco della vigna, on the altar of the deposition from the cross, there is by the same hand the madonna in a swoon, with the other maries and some prophets. in the scuola of s. marco, near ss. giovanni e polo, are four large scenes by his hand. in one of these is s. mark, who, appearing in the air, is delivering one who is his votary from many torments that may be seen prepared for him with various instruments of torture, which being broken, the executioner was never able to employ them against that devout man; and in that scene is a great abundance of figures, foreshortenings, pieces of armour, buildings, portraits, and other suchlike things, which render the work very ornate. in the second is a tempest of the sea, and s. mark, likewise in the air, delivering another of his votaries; but that scene is by no means executed with the same diligence as that already described. in the third is a storm of rain, with the dead body of another of s. mark's votaries, and his soul ascending into heaven; and there, also, is a composition of passing good figures. in the fourth, wherein an evil spirit is being exorcised, he counterfeited in perspective a great loggia, and at the end of it a fire that illumines it with many reflections. and in addition to those scenes there is on the altar a s. mark by the same hand, which is a passing good picture. these works, then, and many others that are here passed over, it being enough to have made mention of the best, have been executed by tintoretto with such rapidity, that, when it was thought that he had scarcely begun, he had finished. and it is a notable thing that with the most extravagant ways in the world, he has always work to do, for the reason that when his friendships and other means are not enough to obtain for him any particular work, even if he had to do it, i do not say at a low price, but without payment or by force, in one way or another, do it he would. and it is not long since, tintoretto having executed the passion of christ in a large picture in oils and on canvas for the scuola of s. rocco, the men of that company resolved to have some honourable and magnificent work painted on the ceiling above it, and therefore to allot that commission to that one among the painters that there were in venice who should make the best and most beautiful design. having therefore summoned joseffo salviati, federigo zucchero, who was in venice at that time, paolo veronese, and jacopo tintoretto, they ordained that each of them should make a design, promising the work to him who should acquit himself best in this. while the others, then, were engaged with all possible diligence in making their designs, tintoretto, having taken measurements of the size that the work was to be, sketched a great canvas and painted it with his usual rapidity, without anyone knowing about it, and then placed it where it was to stand. whereupon, the men of the company having assembled one morning to see the designs and to make their award, they found that tintoretto had completely finished the work and had placed it in position. at which being angered against him, they said that they had called for designs and had not commissioned him to execute the work; but he answered them that this was his method of making designs, that he did not know how to proceed in any other manner, and that designs and models of works should always be after that fashion, so as to deceive no one, and that, finally, if they would not pay him for the work and for his labour, he would make them a present of it. and after these words, although he had many contradictions, he so contrived that the work is still in the same place. in this canvas, then, there is painted a heaven with god the father descending with many angels to embrace s. rocco, and in the lowest part are many figures that signify, or rather, represent the other principal scuole of venice, such as the carità, s. giovanni evangelista, the misericordia, s. marco, and s. teodoro, all executed after his usual manner. but since it would be too long a task to enumerate all the pictures of tintoretto, let it be enough to have spoken of the above-named works of that master, who is a truly able man and a painter worthy to be praised. [illustration: the apotheosis of s. rocco (_after the painting by =jacopo tintoretto=. venice: scuola di s. rocco_) _anderson_] there was in venice about this same time a painter called brazzacco, a protégé of the house of grimani, who had been many years in rome; and he was commissioned by favour to paint the ceiling in the great hall of the chiefs of the council of ten. but this master, knowing that he was not able to do it by himself and that he had need of assistance, took as companions paolo veronese and battista farinato, dividing between himself and them nine pictures in oils that were destined for that place--namely, four ovals at the corners, four oblong pictures, and a larger oval in the centre. giving the last-named oval, with three of the oblong pictures, to paolo veronese, who painted therein a jove who is hurling his thunderbolts against the vices, and other figures, he took for himself two of the smaller ovals, with one of the oblong pictures, and gave two ovals to battista. in one of these pictures is neptune, the god of the sea, and in each of the others two figures demonstrating the greatness and the tranquil and peaceful condition of venice. now, although all three of them acquitted themselves well, paolo veronese succeeded better than the others, and well deserved, therefore, that those signori should afterwards allot to him the other ceiling that is beside the above-named hall, wherein he painted in oils, in company with battista farinato, a s. mark supported in the air by some angels, and lower down a venice surrounded by faith, hope, and charity; which work, although it was beautiful, was not equal in excellence to the first. paolo afterwards executed by himself in the umiltà, in a large oval of the ceiling, an assumption of our lady with other figures, which was a gladsome, beautiful, and well-conceived picture. likewise a good painter in our own day, in that city, has been andrea schiavone; i say good, because at times, for all his misfortunes, he has produced some good work, and because he has always imitated as well as he has been able the manners of the good masters. but, since the greater part of his works have been pictures that are dispersed among the houses of gentlemen, i shall speak only of some that are in public places. in the chapel of the family of pellegrini, in the church of s. sebastiano at venice, he has painted a s. james with two pilgrims. in the church of the carmine, on the ceiling of the choir, he has executed an assumption with many angels and saints; and in the chapel of the presentation, in the same church, he has painted the infant christ presented by his mother in the temple, with many portraits from life, but the best figure that is there is a woman suckling a child and wearing a yellow garment, who is executed in a certain manner that is used in venice--dashed off, or rather, sketched, without being in any respect finished. him giorgio vasari caused in the year to paint on a large canvas in oils the battle that had been fought a short time before between charles v and barbarossa; and that work, which is one of the best that andrea schiavone ever executed, and truly very beautiful, is now in florence, in the house of the heirs of the magnificent m. ottaviano de' medici, to whom it was sent as a present by vasari. giovan francesco rustici life of giovan francesco rustici sculptor and architect of florence it is in every way a notable thing that all those who were of the school in the garden of the medici, and were favoured by the magnificent lorenzo the elder, became without exception supremely excellent; which circumstance cannot have come from any other cause but the great, nay, infinite judgment of that most noble lord, the true mæcenas of men of talent, who, even as he was able to recognize men of lofty spirit and genius, was also both willing and able to recompense and reward them. thus giovan francesco rustici, a florentine citizen, acquitting himself very well in drawing and working in clay in his boyhood, was placed by that magnificent lorenzo, who recognized him as a boy of spirit and of good and beautiful genius, to learn under andrea del verrocchio, with whom there was also working leonardo da vinci, a rare youth and gifted with infinite parts. whereupon rustici, being pleased by the beautiful manner and ways of leonardo, and considering that the expressions of his heads and the movements of his figures were more graceful and more spirited than those of any other works that he had ever seen, attached himself to him, after he had learned to cast in bronze, to draw in perspective, and to work in marble, and after andrea had gone to work in venice. rustici thus living with leonardo and serving him with the most loving submission, leonardo conceived such an affection for him, recognizing him to be a young man of good, true, and liberal mind, patient and diligent in the labours of art, that he did nothing, either great or small, save what was pleasing to giovan francesco, who, besides being of a noble family, had the means to live honourably, and therefore practised art more for his own delight and from desire of glory than for gain. and, to tell the truth of the matter, those craftsmen who have as their ultimate and principal end gain and profit, and not honour and glory, rarely become very excellent, even although they may have good and beautiful genius; besides which, labouring for a livelihood, as very many do who are weighed down by poverty and their families, and working not by inclination, when the mind and the will are drawn to it, but by necessity from morning till night, is a life not for men who have honour and glory as their aim, but for hacks, as they are called, and manual labourers, for the reason that good works do not get done without first having been well considered for a long time. and it was on that account that rustici used to say in his more mature years that you must first think, then make your sketches, and after that your designs; which done, you must put them aside for weeks and even months without looking at them, and then, choosing the best, put them into execution; but that method cannot be followed by everyone, nor do those use it who labour only for gain. and he used to say, also, that works should not be shown readily to anyone before they are finished, so that a man may change them as many times and in as many ways as he wishes, without any scruple. giovan francesco learned many things from leonardo, but particularly how to represent horses, in which he so delighted that he fashioned them of clay and of wax, in the round or in low-relief, and in as many manners as could be imagined; and of these there are some to be seen in our book which are so well drawn, that they bear witness to the knowledge and art of giovan francesco. he knew also how to handle colours, and executed some passing good pictures, although his principal profession was sculpture. and since he lived for a time in the via de' martelli, he became much the friend of all the men of that family, which has always had men of the highest ability and worth, and particularly of piero, for whom, being the nearest to his heart, he made some little figures in full-relief, and, among others, a madonna with the child in her arms seated upon some clouds that are covered with cherubim. similar to that is another that he painted after some time in a large picture in oils, with a garland of cherubim that form a diadem around the head of our lady. the medici family having then returned to florence, rustici made himself known to cardinal giovanni as the protégé of his father lorenzo, and was received with much lovingness. but, since the ways of the court did not please him and were distasteful to his nature, which was altogether simple and peaceful, and not full of envy and ambition, he would always keep to himself and live the life as it were of a philosopher, enjoying tranquil peace and repose. and although he did at times choose to take some recreation, and found himself among his friends in art or some citizens who were his intimate companions, he did not therefore cease to work when the desire came to him or the occasion presented itself. wherefore, for the visit of pope leo to florence in the year , at the request of andrea del sarto, who was much his friend, he executed some statues that were held to be very beautiful; which statues, since they pleased cardinal giulio de' medici, were the reason that the cardinal caused him to make, for the summit of the fountain that is in the great court of the palace of the medici, the nude mercury of bronze about one braccio in height, standing on a ball in the act of taking flight. in the hands of that figure rustici placed an instrument that is made to revolve by the water that it pours down from above, in the following manner: one leg being perforated, a pipe passes through it and through the torso, and the water, having risen to the mouth of the figure, falls upon that instrument, which is balanced with four thin plates fixed after the manner of a butterfly, and causes it to revolve. that figure, i say, for a small work, was much extolled. not long afterwards, giovan francesco made for the same cardinal the model for a david to be cast in bronze (similar to that executed by donato, as has been related, for the elder cosimo, the magnificent), for placing in the first court, whence the other had been taken away. that model gave much satisfaction, but, by reason of a certain dilatoriness in giovan francesco, it was never cast in bronze; wherefore the orpheus in marble of bandinelli was placed there, and the david of clay made by rustici, which was a very rare work, came to an evil end, which was a very great loss. giovan francesco made an annunciation in half-relief in a large medallion, with a most beautiful perspective-view, in which he was assisted by the painter raffaello bello and by niccolò soggi. this, when cast in bronze, proved to be a work of such rare beauty, that there was nothing more beautiful to be seen; and it was sent to the king of spain. and then he executed in marble, in another similar medallion, a madonna with the child in her arms and s. john the baptist as a little boy, which was placed in the first hall in the residence of the consuls of the guild of por santa maria. by these works giovan francesco came into great credit, and the consuls of the guild of merchants, who had caused to be removed certain clumsy figures of marble that were over the three doors of the temple of s. giovanni (made, as has been related, in the year ), after allotting to contucci of sansovino those that were to be set up in place of the old ones over the door that faces towards the misericordia, allotted to rustici those that were to be placed over the door that faces towards the canonical buildings of that temple, on the condition that he should make three figures of bronze of four braccia each, representing the same persons as the old ones--namely, s. john in the act of preaching, standing between a pharisee and a levite. that work was much after the heart of giovan francesco, because it was to be set up in a place so celebrated and of such importance, and, besides this, by reason of the competition with andrea contucci. having therefore straightway set his hand to it and made a little model, which he surpassed in the excellence of the work itself, he showed all the consideration and diligence that such a labour required. when finished, the work was held to be in all its parts the best composed and best conceived of its kind that had been made up to that time, the figures being wholly perfect and wrought with great grace of aspect and also extraordinary force. in like manner, the nude arms and legs are very well conceived, and attached at the joints so excellently, that it would not be possible to do better; and, to say nothing of the hands and feet, what graceful attitudes and what heroic gravity have those heads! [illustration: s. john preaching (_after the bronze by =giovan francesco rustici=. florence: the baptistery_) _alinari_] giovan francesco, while he was fashioning that work in clay, would have no one about him but leonardo da vinci, who, during the making of the moulds, the securing them with irons, and, in short, until the statues were cast, never left his side; wherefore some believe, but without knowing more than this, that leonardo worked at them with his own hand, or at least assisted giovan francesco with his advice and good judgment. these statues, which are the most perfect and the best conceived that have ever been executed in bronze by a modern master, were cast in three parts and polished in the above-mentioned house in the via de' martelli where giovan francesco lived; and so, also, the ornaments of marble that are about the s. john, with the two columns, the mouldings, and the emblem of the guild of merchants. in addition to the s. john, which is a spirited and lively figure, there is a bald man inclined to fatness, beautifully wrought, who, having rested the right arm on one flank, with part of a shoulder naked, and with the left hand holding a scroll before his eyes, has the left leg crossed over the right, and stands in an attitude of deep contemplation, about to answer s. john; and he is clothed in two kinds of drapery, one delicate, which floats over the nude parts of the figure, and over that a mantle of thicker texture, executed with a flow of folds full of mastery and artistry. equal to him is the pharisee, who, having laid his right hand on his beard, with a grave gesture, is drawing back a little, revealing astonishment at the words of john. while rustici was executing that work, growing weary at last of having to ask for money every day from those consuls or their agents, who were not always the same (and such persons are generally men who hold art or any work of value in little account), he sold, in order to be able to finish the work, a farm out of his patrimony that he possessed at san marco vecchio, at a short distance from florence. and yet, notwithstanding such labours, expenses, and pains, he was poorly remunerated for it by the consuls and by his fellow-citizens, for the reason that one of the ridolfi, the head of that guild, out of some private spite, and perchance also because rustici had not paid him enough honour or allowed him to see the figures at his convenience, was always opposed to him in everything. and so that which should have resulted in honour for giovan francesco did the very opposite, for, whereas he deserved to be esteemed not only as a nobleman and a citizen but also as a master of art, his being a most excellent craftsman robbed him, with the ignorant and foolish, of all that was due to his noble blood. thus, when giovan francesco's work was to be valued, and he had chosen on his side michelagnolo buonarroti, the body of consuls, at the persuasion of ridolfi, chose baccio d'agnolo; at which rustici complained, saying to the men of that body, at the audience, that it was indeed something too strange that a worker in wood should have to value the labours of a statuary, and he as good as declared that they were a herd of oxen, but ridolfi answered that, on the contrary, it was a good choice, and that giovan francesco was a swollen bladder of pride and arrogance. and, what was worse, that work, which deserved not less than two thousand crowns, was valued by the consuls at five hundred, and even those were not paid to him in full, but only four hundred, and that only with the help of cardinal giulio de' medici. having met with such malignity, giovan francesco withdrew almost in despair, determined that he would never again do work for public bodies, or in any undertaking where he might have to depend on more than one citizen or any other single person. and so, keeping to himself and leading a solitary life in his rooms at the sapienza, near the servite friars, he continued to work at various things, in order to pass the time and not to live in idleness; but also consuming his life and his money in seeking to congeal mercury, in company with a man of like brain called raffaello baglioni. giovan francesco painted a picture in oils three braccia in breadth and two in height, of the conversion of s. paul, full of different kinds of horses ridden by the soldiers of that saint, with various beautiful attitudes and foreshortenings; which painting, together with many other works by the hand of the same master, is in the possession of the heirs of the above-named piero martelli, to whom he gave it. in a little picture he painted a hunting-scene full of various animals, which is a very bizarre and pleasing work; and it now belongs to lorenzo borghini, who holds it dear, as one who much delights in the treasures of our arts. for the nuns of s. luca, in the via di s. gallo, he executed in clay, in half-relief, a christ in the garden who is appearing to mary magdalene, which was afterwards glazed by giovanni della robbia and placed on an altar in the church of those sisters, within an ornament of grey sandstone. for jacopo salviati the elder, of whom he was much the friend, he made a most beautiful medallion of marble, containing a madonna, for the chapel in his palace above the ponte alla badia, and, round the courtyard, many medallions filled with figures of terra-cotta, together with other very beautiful ornaments, which were for the most part, nay, almost all, destroyed by the soldiers in the year of the siege, when the palace was set on fire by the party hostile to the medici. and since giovan francesco had a great affection for that place, he would set out at times from florence to go there just as he was, in his lucco;[ ] and once out of the city he would throw it over his shoulder and slowly wander all by himself, lost in contemplation, until he was there. one day among others, being on that road, and the day being hot, he hid the lucco in a thicket of thorn-bushes, and, having reached the palace, had been there two days before he remembered it. in the end, sending his man to look for it, when he saw that he had found it he said: "the world is too good to last long." [footnote : a long gown worn by the florentine citizens, particularly on occasions of ceremony.] giovan francesco was a man of surpassing goodness, and very loving to the poor, insomuch that he would never let anyone leave him uncomforted; nay, keeping his money, whether he had much or little, in a basket, he would give some according to his ability to anyone who asked of him. wherefore a poor man who often went to him for alms, seeing him go always to that basket, said, not thinking that he could be heard: "ah! god! if i had in my own room all that is in that basket, i would soon settle all my troubles." giovan francesco, hearing him, said, after gazing at him fixedly a while: "come here, i will satisfy you." and then, emptying the basket into a fold of his cloak, he said to him: "go, and may god bless you." and shortly afterwards he sent to niccolò buoni, his dearest friend, who managed all his affairs, for more money; which niccolò, who kept an account of his crops and of his money in the monte, and sold his produce at the proper seasons, made a practice, according to rustici's own wish, of giving him so much money every week, which giovan francesco then kept in the drawer of his desk, without a key, and from time to time anyone who wished would take some to spend on the requirements of the household, according as might be necessary. but to return to his works: giovan francesco made a most beautiful crucifix of wood, as large as life, for sending to france, but it was left with niccolò buoni, together with other things in low-relief and drawings, which are now in his possession, at the time when rustici resolved to leave florence, believing that it was no place for him and thinking by a change of country to obtain a change of fortune. for duke giuliano, by whom he was always much favoured, he made a profile of his head in half-relief, and cast it in bronze; and this, which was held to be a remarkable work, is now in the house of m. alessandro, the son of m. ottaviano de' medici. to the painter ruberto di filippo lippi, who was his disciple, giovan francesco gave many works by his own hand, such as low-reliefs, models, and designs; and, among other things, several pictures--a leda, a europa, a neptune, a very beautiful vulcan, and another little panel in low-relief wherein is a nude man on horseback of great beauty, which panel is now in the study of don silvano razzi, at the angeli. the same giovan francesco made a very beautiful woman in bronze, two braccia in height, representing one of the graces, who was pressing one of her breasts; but it is not known what became of it, nor in whose possession it is to be found. of his horses in clay with men on their backs or under them, similar to those already mentioned, there are many in the houses of citizens, which were presented by him to his various friends, for he was very courteous, and not, like most men of his class, mean and discourteous. and dionigi da diacceto, an excellent and honourable gentleman, who also kept the accounts of giovan francesco, like niccolò buoni, and was his friend, had from him many low-reliefs. there never was a man more amusing or fanciful than giovan francesco, nor one that delighted more in animals. he had made a porcupine so tame, that it stayed under the table like a dog, and at times it rubbed against people's legs in such a manner, that they drew them in very quickly. he had an eagle, and also a raven that said a great number of things so clearly, that it was just like a human being. he also gave his attention to the study of necromancy, and by means of that i am told that he gave strange frights to his servants and assistants; and thus he lived without a care. having built a room almost in the manner of a fish-pond, and keeping in it many serpents, or rather, grass-snakes, which could not escape, he used to take the greatest pleasure in standing, particularly in summer, to observe the mad pranks that they played, and their fury. there used to assemble in his rooms at the sapienza a company of good fellows who called themselves the company of the paiuolo;[ ] and these, whose numbers were limited to twelve, were our giovan francesco, andrea del sarto, the painter spillo, domenico puligo, the goldsmith robetta, aristotile da san gallo, francesco di pellegrino, niccolò buoni, domenico baccelli, who played and sang divinely, the sculptor solosmeo, lorenzo called guazzetto, and the painter ruberto di filippo lippi, who was their proveditor. each of these twelve could bring to certain suppers and entertainments of theirs four friends and no more. the manner of the suppers, which i am very willing to describe because these companies have fallen almost entirely out of fashion, was that each man should bring some dish for supper, prepared with some beautiful invention, which, on arriving at the proper place, he presented to the master of the feast, who was always one of their number, and who then gave it to whomsoever he pleased, each man thus exchanging his dish for that of another. when they were at table, they all offered each other something from their dishes, and every man partook of everything; and whoever had hit on the same invention for his dish as another, and had produced the same thing, was condemned to pay a penalty. [footnote : cooking-pot or cauldron.] one evening, then, when giovan francesco gave a supper to that company of the paiuolo, he arranged that there should serve as a table an immense cauldron made with a vat, within which they all sat, and it appeared as if they were in the water of the cauldron, in the centre of which came the viands arranged in a circle; and the handle of the cauldron, which curved like a crescent above them, gave out a most beautiful light from the centre, so that, looking round, they all saw each other face to face. now, when they were all seated at table in the cauldron, which was most beautifully contrived, there issued from the centre a tree with many branches, which set before them the supper, that is, the first course of viands, two to each plate. this done, it descended once more below, where there were persons who played music, and in a short time came up again and presented the second course, and then the third, and so on in due order, while all around were servants who poured out the choicest wines. the invention of the cauldron, which was beautifully adorned with hangings and pictures, was much extolled by the men of that company. for that evening the contribution of rustici was a cauldron in the form of a pie, in which was ulysses dipping his father in order to make him young again; which two figures were boiled capons that had the form of men, so well were the limbs arranged, and all with various things good to eat. andrea del sarto presented an octagonal temple, similar to that of s. giovanni, but raised upon columns. the pavement was a vast plate of jelly, with a pattern of mosaic in various colours; the columns, which had the appearance of porphyry, were sausages, long and thick; the socles and capitals were of parmesan cheese; the cornices of sugar, and the tribune was made of sections of marchpane. in the centre was a choir-desk made of cold veal, with a book of lasagne[ ] that had the letters and notes of the music made of pepper-corns; and the singers at the desk were cooked thrushes standing with their beaks open, and with certain little shirts after the manner of surplices, made of fine cauls of pigs, and behind them, for the basses, were two fat young pigeons, with six ortolans that sang the soprano. spillo presented as his dish a smith, which he had made from a great goose or some such bird, with all the instruments wherewith to mend the cauldron in case of need. domenico puligo represented by means of a cooked sucking-pig a serving-girl with a distaff at her side, who was watching a brood of chickens, and was there to scour the cauldron. robetta made out of a calf's head, with appurtenances formed of other fat meats, an anvil for the maintenance of the cauldron, which was very fine and very beautiful, as were also all the other contributions; not to enumerate one by one all the dishes of that supper and of many others that they gave. [footnote : broad, flat strips of maccheroni.] the company of the cazzuola,[ ] which was similar to the other, and to which giovan francesco belonged, had its origin in the following manner. one evening in the year there were at supper in the garden that feo d'agnolo the hunchback, a fife-player and a very merry fellow, had in the campaccio, with feo himself, ser bastiano sagginati, ser raffaello del beccaio, ser cecchino de' profumi, girolamo del giocondo, and il baia, and, while they were eating their ricotta,[ ] the eyes of baia fell on a heap of lime with the trowel sticking in it, just as the mason had left it the day before, by the side of the table in a corner of the garden. whereupon, taking some of the lime with that trowel, or rather, mason's trowel, he dropped it all into the mouth of feo, who was waiting with gaping jaws for a great mouthful of ricotta from another of the company. which seeing, they all began to shout: "a trowel, a trowel!" that company being then formed by reason of that incident, it was ordained that its members should be in all twenty-four, twelve of those who, as the phrase was in those times, were "going for the great,"[ ] and twelve of those who were "going for the less"; and that its emblem should be a trowel, to which they added afterwards those little black tadpoles that have a large head and a tail, which are called in tuscany cazzuole. their patron saint was s. andrew, whose festal day they used to celebrate with much solemnity, giving a most beautiful supper and banquet according to their rules. the first members of that company, those "going for the great," were jacopo bottegai, francesco rucellai, domenico his brother, giovan battista ginori, girolamo del giocondo, giovanni miniati, niccolò del barbigia, mezzabotte his brother, cosimo da panzano, matteo his brother, marco jacopi, and pieraccino bartoli; and those "going for the less," ser bastiano sagginati, ser raffaello del beccaio, ser cecchino de' profumi, giuliano bugiardini the painter, francesco granacci the painter, giovan francesco rustici, feo the hunchback, his companion il talina the musician, pierino the fifer, giovanni the trombone-player, and il baia the bombardier. the associates were bernardino di giordano, il talano, il caiano, maestro jacopo del bientina and m. giovan battista di cristofano ottonaio, both heralds of the signoria, buon pocci, and domenico barlacchi. and not many years passed (so much did they increase in reputation as they held their feasts and merrymakings), before there were elected to that company of the cazzuola signor giuliano de' medici, ottangolo benvenuti, giovanni canigiani, giovanni serristori, giovanni gaddi, giovanni bandini, luigi martelli, paolo da romena, and filippo pandolfini the hunchback; and together with these, at one and the same time, as associates, andrea del sarto the painter, bartolommeo trombone the musician, ser bernardo pisanello, piero the cloth-shearer, gemma the mercer, and lastly maestro manente da san giovanni the physician. [footnote : mason's trowel.] [footnote : a sort of curd.] [footnote : the phrase, "to go for the great," was originally applied to those florentine families that belonged to the seven chief guilds. it afterwards came to be used simply as a mark of superiority.] the feasts that these men held at various times were innumerable, and i shall describe only a few of them for the sake of those who do not know the customs of these companies, which, as has been related, have now fallen almost entirely out of fashion. the first given by the cazzuola, which was arranged by giuliano bugiardini, was held at a place called the aia,[ ] at s. maria nuova, where, as we have already said, the gates of s. giovanni were cast in bronze. there, i say, the master of the company having commanded that every man should present himself dressed in whatever costume he pleased, on condition that those who might resemble one another in their manner of dress by being clothed in the same fashion, should pay a penalty, at the appointed hour there appeared the most beautiful, bizarre, and extravagant costumes that could be imagined. then, the hour of supper having come, they were placed at table according to the quality of their clothes--those who were dressed as princes in the first places, the rich and noble after them, and those dressed as poor persons in the last and lowest places. and whether they had games and merrymaking after supper, it is better to leave that to everyone to imagine for himself than to say anything about it. [footnote : threshing-floor.] at another repast, which was arranged by the same bugiardini and by giovan francesco rustici, the men of the company appeared, as the master had commanded, all in the dress of masons and their labourers; that is, those who were "going for the great" had the trowel with the cutting edge and hammer in their girdles, and those "going for the less" were dressed as labourers with the hod, the levers for moving weights, and in their girdles the ordinary trowel. when all had arrived in the first room, the lord of the feast showed them the ground-plan of an edifice that had to be built by the company, and placed the master-masons at table around it; and then the labourers began to carry up the materials for making the foundations--hods full of cooked lasagne and ricotta prepared with sugar for mortar, sand made of cheese, spices, and pepper mixed together, and for gravel large sweetmeats and pieces of berlingozzo.[ ] the wall-bricks, paving-bricks, and tiles, which were brought in baskets and hand-barrows, were loaves of bread and flat cakes. a basement having then come up, it appeared to the stone-cutters that it had not been executed and put together well enough, and they judged that it would be a good thing to break it and take it to pieces; whereupon, having set upon it and found it all composed of pastry, pieces of liver, and other suchlike things, they feasted on these, which were placed before them by the labourers. next, the same labourers having come on the scene with a great column swathed with the cooked tripe of calves, it was taken to pieces, and after distributing the boiled veal, capons, and other things of which it was composed, they eat the base of parmesan cheese and the capital, which was made in a marvellous manner of pieces carved from roasted capons and slices of veal, with a crown of tongues. but why do i dally over describing all the details? after the column, there was brought up on a car a very ingenious piece of architrave with frieze and cornice, composed in like manner so well and of so many different viands, that to attempt to describe them all would make too long a story. enough that when the time came to break up, after many peals of thunder an artificial rain began to fall, and all left the work and fled, each one going to his own house. [footnote : a florentine cake.] another time, when the master of the same company was matteo da panzano, the banquet was arranged in the following manner. ceres, seeking proserpine her daughter, who had been carried off by pluto, entered the room where the men of the cazzuola were assembled, and, coming before their master, besought him that they should accompany her to the infernal regions. to which request consenting after much discussion, they went after her, and so, entering into a somewhat darkened room, they saw in place of a door a vast mouth of a serpent, the head of which took up the whole wall. round which door all crowding together, while cerberus barked, ceres called out asking whether her lost daughter were in there, and, a voice having answered yes, she added that she desired to have her back. but pluto replied that he would not give her up, and invited ceres with all the company to the nuptials that were being prepared; and the invitation was accepted. whereupon, all having entered through that mouth, which was full of teeth, and which, being hung on hinges, opened to each couple of men that entered, and then shut again, they found themselves at last in a great room of a round shape, which had no light but a very little one in the centre, which burned so dim that they could scarcely see one another. there, having been pushed into their seats with a great fork by a most hideous devil who was in the middle, beside the tables, which were draped in black, pluto commanded that in honour of his nuptials the pains of hell should cease for as long as those guests remained there; and so it was done. now in that room were painted all the chasms of the regions of the damned, with their pains and torments; and, fire being put to a match of tow, in a flash a light was kindled at each chasm, thus revealing in the picture in what manner and with what pains those who were in it were tormented. the viands of that infernal supper were all animals vile and most hideous in appearance; but nevertheless within, under the loathly covering and the shape of the pastry, were most delicate meats of many kinds. the skin, i say, on the outer side, made it appear as if they were serpents, grass-snakes, lizards large and small, tarantulas, toads, frogs, scorpions, bats, and other suchlike animals; but within all were composed of the choicest viands. and these were placed on the tables before every man with a shovel, under the direction of the devil, who was in the middle, while a companion poured out exquisite wines from a horn of glass, ugly and monstrous in shape, into glazed crucibles, which served as drinking-glasses. these first viands finished, which formed a sort of relish, dead men's bones were set all the way down the table in place of fruits and sweetmeats, as if the supper, which was scarcely begun, were finished; which reliquary fruits were of sugar. that done, pluto, who proclaimed that he wished to go to his repose with his proserpine, commanded that the pains should return to torment the damned; and in a moment all the lights that have been mentioned were blown out by a sort of wind, on every side were heard rumblings, voices, and cries, awesome and horrible, and in the middle of that darkness, with a little light, was seen the image of baia the bombardier, who was one of the guests, as has been related--condemned to hell by pluto for having always chosen as the subjects and inventions of his girandole and other fireworks the seven mortal sins and the things of hell. while all were occupied in gazing on that spectacle and listening to various sounds of lamentation, the mournful and funereal table was taken away, and in place of it, lights being kindled, was seen a very rich and regal feast, with splendid servants who brought the rest of the supper, which was handsome and magnificent. at the end of the supper came a ship full of various confections, and the crew of the ship, pretending to remove their merchandize, little by little brought the men of the company into the upper rooms, where, a very rich scenic setting having been already prepared, there was performed a comedy called the filogenia, which was much extolled; and at dawn, the play finished, every man went happily home. two years afterwards, it being the turn of the same man, after many feasts and comedies, to be master of the company another time, he, in order to reprove some of that company who had spent too much on certain feasts and banquets (only, as the saying goes, to be themselves eaten alive), had his banquet arranged in the following manner. at the aia, where they were wont to assemble, there were first painted on the wall without the door some of those figures that are generally painted on the walls and porticoes of hospitals, such as the director of the hospital, with gestures full of charity, inviting and receiving beggars and pilgrims. this picture being uncovered late on the evening of the feast, there began to arrive the men of the company, who, after knocking and being received at the entrance by the director of the hospital, made their way into a great room arranged in the manner of a hospital, with the beds at the sides and other suchlike things. in the middle of that room, round a great fire, were bientina, battista dell'ottonaio, barlacchi, baia, and other merry spirits, dressed after the manner of beggars, wastrels, and gallows-birds, who, pretending not to be seen by those who came in from time to time and gathered into a circle, and conversing of the men of the company and also of themselves, said the hardest things in the world about those who had thrown away their all and spent on suppers and feasts much more than was right. which discourse finished, when it was seen that all who were to be there had arrived, in came s. andrew, their patron saint, who, leading them out of the hospital, took them into another room, magnificently furnished, where they sat down to table and had a joyous supper. then the saint laughingly commanded them that, in order not to be too wasteful with their superfluous expenses, so that they might keep well away from hospitals, they should be contented with one feast, a grand and solemn affair, every year; after which he went his way. and they obeyed him, holding a most beautiful supper, with a comedy, every year over a long period of time; and thus there were performed at various times, as was related in the life of aristotile da san gallo, the calandra of m. bernardo, cardinal of bibbiena, the suppositi and the cassaria of ariosto, and the clizia and mandragola of macchiavelli, with many others. francesco and domenico rucellai, for the feast that it fell to them to give when they were masters of the company, performed first the arpie of fineo, and the second time, after a disputation of philosophers on the trinity, they caused to be represented s. andrew throwing open a heaven with all the choirs of the angels, which was in truth a very rare spectacle. and giovanni gaddi, with the help of jacopo sansovino, andrea del sarto, and giovan francesco rustici, represented a tantalus in hell, who gave a feast to all the men of the company clothed in the dress of various gods; with all the rest of the fable, and many fanciful inventions of gardens, scenes of paradise, fireworks, and other things, to recount which would make our story too long. a very beautiful invention, also, was that of luigi martelli, when, being master of the company, he gave them supper in the house of giuliano scali at the porta pinti; for he represented mars all smeared with blood, to signify his cruelty, in a room full of bloody human limbs; in another room he showed mars and venus naked in a bed, and a little farther on vulcan, who, having covered them with the net, was calling all the gods to see the outrage done to him by mars and by his sorry spouse. but it is now time--after this digression, which may perchance appear to some too long, although for many reasons it does not seem to me that this account has been given wholly out of place--that i return to the life of rustici. giovan francesco, then, not liking much to live in florence after the expulsion of the medici in the year , left the charge of all his affairs to niccolò buoni, and went off with his young man lorenzo naldini, called guazzetto, to france, where, having been made known to king francis by giovan battista della palla, who happened to be there then, and by francesco di pellegrino, his very dear friend, who had gone there a short time before, he was received very willingly, and an allowance of five hundred crowns a year was granted to him. by that king, for whom giovan francesco executed some works of which nothing in particular is known, he was finally commissioned to make a horse in bronze, twice the size of life, upon which was to be placed the king himself. whereupon, having set his hand to the work, after some models which much pleased the king, he went on with the making of the large model and the mould for casting it, in a large palace given to him for his enjoyment by the king. but, whatever may have been the reason, the king died before the work was finished; and since at the beginning of henry's reign many persons had their allowances taken away and the expenses of the court were cut down, it is said that giovan francesco, now old and not very prosperous, had nothing to live upon save the profit that he made by letting the great palace and dwelling that he had received for his own enjoyment from the liberality of king francis. and fortune, not content with all that the poor man had endured up to that time, gave him, in addition to all the rest, another very great shock, in that king henry presented that palace to signor piero strozzi; and giovan francesco would have found himself in very dire straits, if the goodness of that lord, to whom the misfortunes of rustici were a great grief (the latter having made himself known to him), had not brought him timely aid in the hour of his greatest need. for signor piero, sending him to an abbey or some other place, whatever it may have been, belonging to his brother, not only succoured giovan francesco in his needy old age, but even had him attended and cared for, according as his great worth deserved, until the end of his life. giovan francesco died at the age of eighty, and his possessions fell for the most part to the above-named signor piero strozzi. i must not omit to tell that it has come to my ears that while antonio mini, a disciple of buonarroti, was living in france, when he was entertained and treated with much lovingness in paris by giovan francesco, there came into the hands of rustici some cartoons, designs, and models by the hand of michelagnolo; a part of which the sculptor benvenuto cellini received when he was in france, and he brought them to florence. giovan francesco, as has been said, was not only without an equal in the work of casting, but also exemplary in conduct, of supreme goodness, and a great lover of the poor. wherefore it is no marvel that he was assisted most liberally in the hour of his need by the above-mentioned signor piero with money and every other thing, for it is true beyond all other truths that even in this life the good works that we do to our neighbours for the love of god are repaid a thousand-fold. rustici drew very well, as may be seen, besides our own book, from the book of drawings of the very reverend don vincenzio borghini. the above-mentioned lorenzo naldini, called guazzetto, the disciple of rustici, has executed many works of sculpture excellently well in france, but of these i have not been able to learn any particulars, any more than of those of his master, who, it may well be believed, did not stay all those years in france as good as idle, nor always occupied with that horse of his. that lorenzo possessed some houses beyond the porta a san gallo, in the suburbs that were destroyed on account of the siege of florence, which houses were thrown to the ground together with the rest by the people. that circumstance so grieved him, that, returning in the year to revisit his country, when he was within a quarter of a mile of florence he put the hood of his cloak over his head, covering his eyes, in order that, in entering by that gate, he might not see the suburb and his own houses all pulled down. wherefore the guards at the gate, seeing him thus muffled up, asked him what that meant, and, having heard from him why he had so covered his face, they laughed at him. lorenzo, after being a few months in florence, returned to france, taking his mother with him; and there he still lives and labours. fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli life of fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli sculptor to one michele d'agnolo of poggibonzi, in the village of montorsoli, which is three miles distant from florence on the road to bologna, where he had a good farm of some size, there was born a male child, to whom he gave the name of his father, agnolo. that child, growing up, and having an inclination for design, as could be readily seen, was placed by his father, according to the advice of friends, to learn stone-cutting under some masters who worked at the quarries of fiesole, almost opposite to montorsoli. agnolo continuing to ply the chisel with those masters, in company with francesco del tadda, who was then a lad, and with others, not many months had passed before he knew very well how to handle the tools and to execute many kinds of work in that profession. having then contracted a friendship by means of francesco del tadda with maestro andrea, a sculptor of fiesole, the genius of the child so pleased that master, that he conceived an affection for him, and began to teach him; and thus he kept him in his workshop for three years. after which time, his father michele being dead, agnolo went off in company with other young stone-cutters to rome, where, having been set to work on the building of s. pietro, he carved some of those rosettes that are in the great cornices which encircle the interior of that temple, with much profit to himself and a good salary. having then departed from rome, i know not why, he placed himself in perugia with a master stone-cutter, who at the end of a year left him in charge of all his works. but, recognizing that to stay at perugia was not the life for him, and that he was not learning, he went off, when the opportunity to depart presented itself, to work on the tomb of m. raffaello maffei, called il volterrano, at volterra; and in that work, which was being made in marble, he carved some things which showed that his genius was destined some day to achieve a good result. which labour finished, hearing that michelagnolo buonarroti was setting to work at that time on the buildings of the sacristy and library of s. lorenzo the best carvers and stone-cutters that could be found, he went off to florence; where, having been likewise set to work, among the first things that he did were some ornaments from which michelagnolo recognized that he was a young man of most beautiful and resolute genius, and that, moreover, he could do more in one day by himself alone than the oldest and best practised masters could do in two. wherefore he caused to be given to him, boy as he was, the same salary as the older men were drawing. these buildings being then suspended in the year on account of the plague and for other reasons, agnolo, not knowing what else to do, went to poggibonzi, from which place his father and grandfather had their origin; and there he remained for a time with m. giovanni norchiati, his uncle, a pious and well-lettered man, doing nothing but draw and study. but in the end, seeing the world turned topsy-turvy, a desire came to him to become a monk, and to give his attention in peace to the salvation of his soul, and he went to the hermitage of camaldoli. there, making trial of that life, and not being able to endure the discomforts, fastings, and abstinences, he did not stay long; but nevertheless, during the time that he was there, he became very dear to those fathers, for he was of an excellent disposition. and during that time his diversion was to carve heads of men and of various animals, with beautiful and fanciful inventions, on the ends of the staves, or rather, sticks, that those holy fathers carry when they go from camaldoli to the hermitage or for recreation into the forest, at which time they have a dispensation from silence. having departed from the hermitage with the leave and good-will of the principal, he went off to la vernia, as one who was drawn at all costs to become a monk, and stayed there awhile, frequenting the choir and mixing with those fathers; but that life, also, did not please him, and, after having received information about the life in many religious houses of florence and arezzo, he left la vernia and went to those places. and finally, not being able to settle in any other in such a manner as to have facilities for attending both to drawing and to the salvation of his soul, he became a friar in the ingesuati at florence, without the porta a pinti, and was received by them very willingly; for they gave their attention to making windows of glass, and they hoped that he would be of great assistance and advantage to them in that work. now those fathers, according to the custom of their life and rule, do not say mass, and keep for that purpose a priest to say mass every morning; and they had at that time as their chaplain a certain fra martino of the servite order, a person of passing good judgment and character. that fra martino, having recognized the young man's genius, reflected that he was little able to exercise it among those fathers, who do nothing but say paternosters, make windows of glass, distil waters, and lay out gardens, with other suchlike pursuits, and do not study or give their attention to letters; and he contrived to say and do so much that the young man, going forth from the ingesuati, assumed the habit among the servite friars of the nunziata in florence on the seventh day of october in the year , receiving the name of fra giovanni agnolo. in the next year, , having learned in the meanwhile the ceremonies and offices of that order, and studied the works of andrea del sarto that are in that place, he made what they call his profession; and in the year following, to the full satisfaction of those fathers and the contentment of his relatives, he chanted his first mass with much pomp and honour. then, the images in wax of leo, clement, and others of that most noble family, which had been placed there as votive offerings, having been destroyed during the expulsion of the medici by some young men who were rather mad than valorous, the friars determined that these should be made again, and fra giovanni agnolo, with the help of some of those men who gave their attention to the work of fashioning such images, restored some that were old and consumed by time, and made anew those of pope leo and pope clement, which are still to be seen there, and a short time afterwards those of the king of bosnia and of the old lord of piombino. and in these works fra giovanni agnolo made no little proficience. meanwhile, michelagnolo being in rome with pope clement, who desired that the work of s. lorenzo should be continued, and had therefore had him summoned, his holiness asked him to find a young man who might restore some ancient statues in the belvedere, which were broken. whereupon buonarroti, remembering fra giovanni agnolo, proposed him to the pope, and his holiness demanded him in a brief from the general of the servite order, who gave him up because he could not do otherwise, and very unwillingly. arriving in rome, then, the friar, labouring in the rooms of the belvedere that were given to him by the pope to live and work in, restored the left arm that was wanting to the apollo and the right arm of the laocoon, which statues are in that place, and likewise gave directions for restoring the hercules. and, since the pope went almost every morning to the belvedere for recreation and to say the office, the friar made his portrait in marble, and that so well that the work brought him much praise, and the pope conceived a very great affection for him, particularly because he saw him to be very studious of the matters of art, and heard that he used to draw all night in order to have new things every morning to show to the pope, who much delighted in them. during that time, a canonicate having fallen vacant at s. lorenzo, a church in florence built and endowed by the house of medici, fra giovanni agnolo, who by that time had laid aside the friar's habit, obtained it for m. giovanni norchiati, his uncle, who was chaplain in the above-named church. [illustration: s. cosmas (_after the marble by =fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli=. florence: s. lorenzo, medici chapel_) _alinari_] finally, pope clement, having determined that buonarroti should return to florence to finish the works of the sacristy and library of s. lorenzo, gave him orders, since many statues were wanting there, as will be told in the life of michelagnolo himself, that he should avail himself of the most able men that could be found, and particularly of fra giovanni agnolo, employing the same methods as had been adopted by antonio da san gallo in order to finish the works of the madonna di loreto. having therefore made his way with the frate to florence, michelagnolo, in executing the statues of duke lorenzo and duke giuliano, employed the frate much in polishing them and in executing certain difficult undercuttings; with which occasion fra giovanni agnolo learned many things from that truly divine man, standing with attention to watch him at work, and observing every least thing. now among other statues that were wanting to the completion of that work, there were lacking a s. cosimo and a s. damiano that were to be one on either side of the madonna, and michelagnolo gave the s. damiano to raffaello da montelupo to execute, and to the frate the s. cosimo, commanding the latter that he should work in the same rooms where he himself had worked and was still working. having therefore set his hand with the greatest zeal to that work, the frate made a large model of the figure, which was retouched by buonarroti in many parts; indeed, michelagnolo made with his own hand the head and the arms of clay, which are now at arezzo, held by vasari among his dearest treasures in memory of that great man. there were not wanting many envious persons who blamed michelagnolo for his action, saying that in allotting that statue he had shown little judgment, and had made a bad choice; but the result afterwards proved, as will be related, that michelagnolo had shown excellent judgment, and that the frate was an able man. when michelagnolo, with the assistance of fra giovanni agnolo, had finished and placed in position the statues of duke giuliano and duke lorenzo, being summoned by the pope, who wished that arrangements should be made for executing in marble the façade of s. lorenzo, he went to rome; but he had not made a long stay there, when, pope clement dying, everything was left unfinished. at florence the statue of the frate, unfinished as it was, together with the other works, was thrown open to view, and was very highly extolled; and in truth, whether it was his own study and diligence, or the assistance of michelagnolo, it proved in the end to be an excellent figure, and the best that fra giovanni agnolo ever made among all that he executed in the whole of his life, so that it was truly worthy to be placed where it was. buonarroti, being freed by the death of the pope from his engagements at s. lorenzo, turned his attention to discharging his obligations in connection with the tomb of pope julius ii; but, since he had need of assistance for this, he sent for the frate. but fra giovanni agnolo did not go to rome until he had finished entirely the image of duke alessandro for the nunziata, which he executed in a manner different from the others, and very beautiful, in the form in which that lord may still be seen, clad in armour and kneeling on a burgundian helmet, and with one hand to his breast, in the act of recommending himself to the madonna there. that image finished, he then went to rome, and was of great assistance to michelagnolo in the work of the above-mentioned tomb of julius ii. meanwhile cardinal ippolito de' medici heard that cardinal de tournon had to take a sculptor to france to serve the king, and he proposed to him fra giovanni agnolo, who, being much exhorted with good reasons by michelagnolo, went with that same cardinal de tournon to paris. arriving there, he was introduced to the king, who received him very willingly, and shortly afterwards assigned to him a good allowance, with the command that he should execute four large statues. of these the frate had not yet finished the models, when, the king being far away and occupied in fighting with the english on the borders of his kingdom, he began to be badly treated by the treasurers, not being able to draw his allowances and have whatever he desired, according as had been ordained by the king. at which feeling great disdain--for it appeared to him that in proportion as these arts and the men of the arts were esteemed by that magnanimous king, even so they were disprized and put to shame by his ministers--he departed, notwithstanding that the treasurers, who became aware of his displeasure, paid him his overdue allowances down to the last farthing. it is true that before setting out he gave both the king and the cardinal to know by means of letters that he wished to go away. having therefore gone from paris to lyons, and from there through provence to genoa, he had not been long there when, in company with some friends, he went to venice, padua, verona, and mantua, seeing with great pleasure buildings, sculptures, and pictures, and at times drawing them; but above all did the pictures of giulio romano in mantua please him, some of which he drew with care. then, having heard at ferrara and bologna that his fellow-friars of the servite order were holding a general chapter at budrione, he went there in order to see again many who were his friends, and in particular the florentine maestro zaccheria, whom he loved most dearly. at his entreaty fra giovanni agnolo made in a day and a night two figures in clay of the size of life, a faith and a charity, which, made in the semblance of white marble, served to adorn a temporary fountain contrived by him with a great vessel of copper, which continued to spout water during the whole day when the chapter was held, to his great credit and honour. having returned with the above-named maestro zaccheria from budrione to florence, he made in his own servite convent, likewise of clay, and placed in two niches of the chapter-house, two figures larger than life, moses and s. paul, which brought him much praise. being then sent to arezzo by maestro dionisio, the general of the servites at that time, who was afterwards made a cardinal by pope paul iii, and who felt himself much indebted to angelo, the general at arezzo, who had brought him up and taught him the appreciation of letters, fra giovanni agnolo executed for that general of arezzo a beautiful tomb of grey sandstone in s. piero in that city, with many carvings and some statues, and upon a sarcophagus the above-named general angelo taken from life, and two nude little boys in the round, who are weeping and extinguishing the torches of human life, with other ornaments, which render that work very beautiful. it was not yet completely finished, when, being summoned to florence by the proveditors for the festive preparations that duke alessandro was then causing to be made for the visit to that city of the emperor charles v, who was returning victorious from tunis, the frate was forced to depart. having arrived in florence, he made on the ponte a s. trinita, upon a great base, a figure of eight braccia, representing the river arno lying down, which from its attitude appeared to be rejoicing with the rhine, the danube, the bagradas, and the ebro, statues executed by others, over the coming of his majesty; which arno was a very good and beautiful figure. on the canto de' carnesecchi the same master made a figure, twelve braccia high, of jason, leader of the argonauts, but this, being of immoderate size, and the time short, did not prove to have the perfection of the first; nor, indeed, did the figure of august gladness that he made on the canto alla cuculia. but, everyone remembering the shortness of the time in which he executed those works, they won much honour and fame for him both from the craftsmen and from all others. having then finished the work at arezzo, and hearing that girolamo genga had a work to execute in marble at urbino, the frate went to seek him out; but, not having come to any agreement, he took the road to rome, and, after staying there but a short time, went on to naples, in the hope that he might have to make the tomb of jacopo sannazzaro, a gentleman of naples, and a truly distinguished and most rare poet. sannazzaro had built at margoglino, a very pleasant place with a most beautiful view at the end of the chiaia, on the shore, a magnificent and most commodious habitation, which he enjoyed during his lifetime; and, coming to his death, he left that place, which has the form of a convent, with a beautiful little church, to the order of servite friars, enjoining on signor cesare mormerio and the lord count d'aliffe, the executors of his will, that they should erect his tomb in that church, built by himself, which was to be administered by the above-named friars. when the making of it came to be discussed, fra giovanni agnolo was proposed by the friars to the above-named executors; and to him, after he had gone to naples, as has been related, that tomb was allotted, for his models had been judged to be no little better than the many others that had been made by various sculptors, the price being a thousand crowns. of which having received a good portion, he sent to quarry the marbles francesco del tadda of fiesole, an excellent carver, whom he had commissioned to execute all the squared work and carving that had to be done in that undertaking, in order to finish it more quickly. while the frate was preparing himself to make that tomb, the turkish army having entered puglia and the people of naples being in no little alarm on that account, orders were given that the city should be fortified, and for that purpose there were appointed four men of importance and of the best judgment. these men, wishing to make use of competent architects, turned their thoughts to the frate; but he, having heard some rumour of this, and not considering that it was right for a man of religion, such as he was, to occupy himself with affairs of war, gave the executors to understand that he would do the work either in carrara or in florence, and that at the appointed time it would be finished and erected in its place. having then made his way from naples to florence, he straightway received a command from the signora donna maria, the mother of duke cosimo, that he should finish the s. cosimo that he had previously begun under the direction of buonarroti, for the tomb of the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent. whereupon he set his hand to it, and finished it; and that done, since the duke had already caused to be constructed a great part of the conduits for the great fountain of his villa at castello, and that fountain was to have at the top, as a crowning ornament, a hercules in the act of crushing antæus, from whose mouth there was to issue, in place of breath, a jet of water rising to some height, the frate was commissioned to make for this a model of considerable size; which pleasing his excellency, it was ordained that he should execute it and should go to carrara to quarry the marble. to carrara the frate went very willingly, hoping with that opportunity to carry forward the above-mentioned tomb of sannazzaro, and in particular a scene with figures in half-relief. while fra giovanni agnolo was there, then, cardinal doria wrote from genoa to cardinal cibo, who happened to be at carrara, saying that, since bandinelli had not finished the statue of prince doria, and would now never finish it, he should contrive to obtain for him some able man, a sculptor, who might do it, for the reason that he had the charge of pressing on that work. which letter having been received by cibo, who had long had knowledge of the frate, he did his utmost to send him to genoa; but he steadfastly declared that he could not and would not serve his most reverend highness until he had fulfilled the promise and obligation by which he was bound to duke cosimo. while these matters were being discussed, he had carried the tomb of sannazzaro well forward, and had blocked out the marble for the hercules; and he then went with the latter to florence. there he brought it with much promptitude and study to such a condition, that it would have been but little toil for him to finish it completely if he had continued to work at it. but a rumour having arisen that the marble was not proving to be by any means as perfect a work as the model, and that the frate was likely to find difficulty in fitting together the legs of the hercules, which did not correspond with the torso, messer pier francesco riccio, the majordomo, who was paying the frate his allowance, let himself be swayed by that more than a serious man should have done, and began to proceed very cautiously with his payments, trusting too much to bandinelli, who was leaning with all his weight against fra giovanni agnolo, in order to avenge himself for the wrong which it appeared to him that master had done to him by promising that he would make the statue of doria when once free of his obligation to the duke. it was also thought that the favour of tribolo, who was executing the ornaments of castello, was no advantage to the frate. however that may have been, perceiving himself to be badly treated by riccio, and being a proud and choleric man, he went off to genoa. there he received from cardinal doria and from the prince the commission for the statue of that prince, which was to be placed on the piazza doria; to which having set his hand, yet without altogether neglecting the tomb of sannazzaro, while tadda was executing the squared work and the carvings at carrara, he finished it to the great satisfaction of the prince and the people of genoa. but, although that statue had been made to be placed on the piazza doria, nevertheless the genoese made so much ado, that, to the despair of the frate, it was placed on the piazza della signoria, notwithstanding that he said that he had fashioned it to stand by itself on a pedestal, and that therefore it could not look well or have its proper effect against a wall. and, to tell the truth, nothing worse can be done than to set up a work made for one place in some other place, seeing that the craftsman accommodates himself in the process of his labour, with regard to the lights and view-points, to the position in which his work, whether sculpture or painting, is to be placed. after this the genoese, seeing the scenes and figures made for the tomb of sannazzaro, and much liking them, desired that the frate should execute a s. john the evangelist for their cathedral church; which, when finished, pleased them so much that it filled them with stupefaction. finally fra giovanni agnolo departed from genoa and went to naples, where he set up in the place already mentioned the tomb of sannazzaro, which is composed in this fashion. at the lower corners are two pedestals, on each of which are carved the arms of sannazzaro, and between them is a slab of one braccio and a half on which is carved the epitaph that jacopo wrote for himself, supported by two little boys. next, on each of the said pedestals is a seated statue of marble in the round, four braccia in height, these being minerva and apollo; and between them, set off by two ornamental consoles that are at the sides, is a scene two braccia and a half square, in which are carved in low-relief fauns, satyrs, nymphs, and other figures that are playing and singing, after the manner which that most excellent man has described in the pastoral verses of his most learned arcadia. above this scene is placed a sarcophagus of a very beautiful shape in the round, all carved and very ornate, in which are the remains of that poet; and upon it, on a base in the centre, is his head taken from life, with these words at the foot--actius sincerus; accompanied by two boys with wings in the manner of loves, who have some books about them. and in two niches that are at the sides, in the other two walls of the chapel, there are on two bases two upright figures of marble in the round, each of three braccia or little more; these being s. james the apostle and s. nazzaro. when this work had been built up in the manner that has been described, the above-mentioned lords, the executors, were completely satisfied with it, and all naples likewise. [illustration: tomb of andrea doria (_after =fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli=. genoa: s. matteo_) _alinari_] the frate then remembering that he had promised prince doria that he would return to genoa to make his tomb for him in s. matteo and to adorn the whole church, he departed straightway from naples and set out for genoa. having arrived there, he made the models of the work that he was to execute for that lord, which pleased him vastly; and then he set his hand to it, with a good allowance of money and a good number of masters. and thus, dwelling in genoa, the frate made many friendships with noblemen and men of distinction, and in particular with some physicians, who were of much assistance to him; for, helping one another, they made anatomical studies of many human bodies, and gave their attention to architecture and perspective, and so fra giovanni agnolo attained to the greatest excellence. besides this, the prince, going very often to the place where he was working, and much liking his discourse, conceived a very great affection for him. at that time, also, of two nephews that he had left in charge of maestro zaccheria, one, called agnolo, was sent to him, a young man of beautiful genius and exemplary character; and shortly afterwards there was sent to him by the same zaccheria another young man called martino, the son of one bartolommeo, a tailor. of both these young men, teaching them as if they were his sons, the frate availed himself in the work that he had in hand. and when he had finally come to the end of it, he built up the chapel, the tomb, and the other ornaments that he had made for that church, which forms a cross at the head of the central nave and three crosses down along the length of the nave, and has the high-altar standing isolated at the head and in the centre. the chapel, then, is supported at the corners by four large pilasters, which likewise uphold the great cornice that runs right round, over which curve four semicircular arches that lie in line with the pilasters. of these arches, three are adorned in their central space with windows of no great size; and over the arches curves a round cornice that forms four angles between one arch and another at the corners, while above it rises a vaulting in the form of a basin. after the frate, then, had made many ornaments of marble about the altar on all four sides, he placed upon the altar a very rich and beautiful vase of marble for the most holy sacrament, between two angels of the size of life, likewise of marble. next, around the whole runs a pattern of different kinds of stone let into the marble with a beautiful and well-varied arrangement of variegated marbles and rare stones, such as serpentines, porphyries, and jaspers. and in the principal wall, at the head of the chapel, he made another pattern from the level of the floor to the height of the altar, with similar kinds of variegated marble and stone, which forms a base to four pilasters of marble that enclose three spaces. in the central space, which is larger than the others, there is in a tomb the body of i know not what saint, and in those at the sides are two statues of marble, representing two evangelists. above that range of pilasters is a cornice, and above the cornice four other smaller pilasters; and these support another cornice, which is divided into compartments to hold three little tablets that correspond to the spaces below. in the central compartment, which rests upon the great cornice, is a christ of marble rising from the dead, in full-relief, and larger than life. on the walls at the sides the same order of columns is repeated; and above that tomb, in the central space, is a madonna in half-relief, with the dead christ: which madonna is between king david and s. john the baptist; and on the other side are s. andrew and jeremiah the prophet. the lunettes of the arches above the great cornice, wherein are two windows, are in stucco-work, with two children that appear to be adorning the windows. in the angles below the tribune are four sibyls, likewise of stucco, even as the whole vaulting is also wrought in grotesques of various manners. beneath this chapel is built a subterranean chamber, wherein, after descending to it by a marble staircase, one sees at the head a sarcophagus of marble with two children upon it, in which was to be placed--as i believe was done after his death--the body of signor andrea doria himself. and on an altar opposite to the sarcophagus, within a most beautiful vase of bronze, which was made and polished divinely well by him who cast it, whoever he may have been, is a piece of the wood of that most holy cross upon which our blessed jesus christ was crucified; which wood was presented to prince doria by the duke of savoy. the walls of that tomb are all encrusted with marble, and the vaulting wrought in stucco and gold, with many stories of the noble deeds of doria; and the pavement is all divided into compartments with different kinds of variegated stone, to correspond with the vaulting. next, on the walls of the cross of the nave, at the head, are two tombs of marble with two tablets in half-relief; in one is buried count filippino doria, and in the other signor giannettino of the same family. against the pilasters at the beginning of the central nave are two very beautiful pulpits of marble, and at the sides of the aisles there are distributed along the walls in a fine order of architecture some chapels with columns and many other ornaments, which make that church a truly rich and magnificent edifice. the church finished, the same prince doria ordained that work should be begun on his palace, and that new additions of buildings should be made to it, with very beautiful gardens. these were executed under the direction of the frate, who, having at the last constructed a fish-pond in front of that palace, made a sea monster of marble in full-relief, which pours water in great abundance into that fish-pond; and after the likeness of that monster he made for those lords another, which was sent into spain to granvela. he also executed a great neptune in stucco, which was placed on a pedestal in the garden of the prince; and he made in marble two portraits of the same prince and two of charles v, which were taken by covos to spain. much the friends of the frate, while he was living in genoa, were messer cipriano pallavicino, who, being a man of great judgment in the matters of our arts, has always associated readily with the most excellent craftsmen, and has shown them every favour; the lord abbot negro, messer giovanni da montepulciano, the lord prior of s. matteo, and, in a word, all the first lords and gentlemen of that city, in which he acquired both fame and riches. having finished the works described above, fra giovanni agnolo departed from genoa and went to rome to visit buonarroti, whom he had not seen for many years past, and to try if he could by some means pick up again the thread of his connection with the duke of florence and return to complete the hercules that he had left unfinished. but, after arriving in rome, where he bought himself the title of chevalier of s. pietro, he heard by letters received from florence that bandinelli, pretending to be in want of marble, and giving out that the above-named hercules was a piece of marble spoiled, had broken it up, with the leave of riccio the majordomo, and had used it to make cornices for the tomb of signor giovanni, on which he was then at work; and at this he felt such disdain, that for the time being he would not on any account return to visit florence, since it appeared to him that the presumption, arrogance, and insolence of that man were too easily endured. [illustration: fountain of neptune (_after =fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli=. messina: piazza del duomo_) _brogi_] while the frate was thus passing his time in rome, the people of messina, having determined to erect on the piazza of their duomo a fountain with a very great enrichment of statues, had sent men to rome to seek out some excellent sculptor. these men had secured raffaello da montelupo, but he fell ill at the very moment when he was about to depart with them for messina, so that they made another choice and took the frate, who had sought with all insistence, and even with some interest, to obtain that work. having therefore apprenticed as a carpenter in rome his nephew agnolo, who had proved to be less gifted than he had expected, he set out with martino, and they arrived in messina in the month of september, . there, having been provided with rooms, he set his hand to making the conduit for the waters, which come from a distance, and to having marble sent from carrara; and with great promptitude, assisted by many stone-cutters and carvers, he finished that fountain, which is made in the following manner. the fountain, i say, has eight sides--namely, four large, the principal sides, and four smaller. the principal sides are divided, and two of these, projecting outwards, form an angle in the middle, and two, receding inwards, join a straight face that belongs to the four smaller sides, so that in all there are eight. the four angular sides, which jut outwards, making a projection, give space for the four straight sides, which recede inwards; and in each enclosed space is a basin of some size, which receives water in great abundance from one of four river gods of marble that are placed on the edge of the basin of the whole fountain, so as to command all the eight sides already described. the fountain stands on a base of four steps, which form twelve sides; eight longer sides, which contain the angles, and four smaller sides, where the basins are, under the four river gods. the borders of the fountain are five palms high, and at each of the corners (which in all cover twenty sides) there is a terminal figure as an ornament. the circumference of the first basin with eight sides is one hundred and two palms, and the diameter is thirty-four; and in each of the above-named twenty sides is a little scene of marble in low-relief, with poetical subjects appropriate to water and fountains, such as the horse pegasus creating the castalian fount, europa passing over the sea, icarus flying and falling into the same, arethusa transformed into a fount, jason crossing the sea with the golden fleece, narcissus changed into a fount, and diana in the water and transforming actæon into a stag, with other suchlike stories. at the eight angles that divide the projections of the steps of the fountain, which rises two steps towards the basins and river gods, and four towards the angular sides, are eight sea monsters, lying on certain dados, with their front paws resting on some masks that pour water into some vases. the river gods which are on the border, and which rest within the basin on dados so high that they appear as if sitting in the water, are the nile with seven little boys, the tiber surrounded by an infinite number of palms and trophies, the ebro with many victories of charles v, and the river cumano, near messina, from which the waters for the fountain are taken; with some stories and nymphs executed with beautiful conceptions. up to this level of ten palms there are sixteen jets of water, very abundant; eight come from the masks already mentioned, four from the river gods, and four from some fishes seven palms high, which, standing upright in the basin, with their heads out, spout water towards the larger sides. in the centre of the octagonal basin, on a pedestal four palms high, are sirens with wings in place of arms, one at each corner; and above these sirens, which are twined together in the centre, are four tritons eight palms high, which likewise have their tails twined together, and with their arms they support a great tazza, into which water is poured by four masks superbly carved. from the centre of that tazza rises a round shaft that supports two most hideous masks, representing scylla and charybdis, which are trodden under foot by three nude nymphs, each six palms high, above whom is placed the last tazza, which is upheld by them with their arms. in that tazza four dolphins, with their heads down and their tails raised on high, forming a base, support a ball, from the centre of which, through four heads, there issues water that spouts upwards, and so also from the dolphins, upon which are mounted four naked little boys. on the topmost summit, finally, is a figure in armour representing the constellation of orion, which has on the shield the arms of the city of messina, of which orion is said, or rather is fabled, to have been the founder. such, then, is that fountain of messina, although it is not so easy to describe it in words as it would be to picture it in drawing. and since it much pleased the people of messina, they caused him to make another on the shore, where the customs-house is; which also proved to be beautiful and very rich. now, although that fountain has in like manner eight sides, it is nevertheless different from that described above; for it has four straight sides that rise three steps, and four others, smaller, that are semicircular, and upon these stands the fountain with its eight sides. the borders of the great basin on the lowest level have at each angle a carved pedestal of an equal height, and in the centre of four of them, on the front face, is another pedestal. on each side where the steps are semicircular there is an elliptical basin of marble, into which water pours in great abundance through two masks that are on the parapet below the carved border. in the centre of the great basin of the fountain is a pedestal high in proportion, on which are the arms of charles v; at each angle of that pedestal is a sea-horse, which spouts water on high from between its feet; and in the frieze of the same, beneath the upper cornice, are eight great masks that pour jets of water downwards. and on the summit is a neptune of five braccia, who holds the trident in his hand, and has the right leg planted beside a dolphin. at the sides, also, upon two other pedestals, are scylla and charybdis in the forms of two monsters, fashioned very well, with heads of dogs and furies about them. that work, likewise, when finished, much pleased the people of messina, who, having found a man to their liking, made a beginning, when the fountains were completed, with the façade of the duomo, and carried it to some extent forward. and then they ordained that twelve chapels in the corinthian order should be made in that duomo, six on either side, with the twelve apostles in marble, each of five braccia. of these chapels only four were finished by the frate, who also made with his own hand a s. peter and a s. paul, which were two large and very good figures. he was also commissioned to make a christ of marble for the head of the principal chapel, with a very rich ornament all around, and a scene in low-relief beneath each of the statues of the apostles; but at that time he did nothing more. on the piazza of the same duomo he directed the building of the temple of s. lorenzo, in a beautiful manner of architecture, which won him much praise; and on the shore there was built under his direction the beacon-tower. and while these works were being carried forward, he caused a chapel to be erected for the captain cicala in s. domenico, for which he made a madonna of marble as large as life; and for the chapel of signor agnolo borsa, in the cloister of the same church, he executed a scene of marble in low-relief, which was held to be beautiful, and was wrought with much diligence. he also caused water to be conducted by way of the wall of s. agnolo for a fountain, and made for it with his own hand a large boy of marble, which pours water into a vase that is very ornate and beautifully contrived; which was held to be a lovely work. at the wall of the virgin he made another fountain, with a virgin by his own hand, which pours water into a basin; and for that which is erected at the palace of signor don filippo laroca, he made a boy larger than life, of a kind of stone that is used at messina, which boy, surrounded by certain monsters and other products of the sea, pours water into a vase. and he made a statue in marble of four braccia, a very beautiful figure of s. catharine the martyr, which was sent to taormina, a place twenty-four miles distant from messina. [illustration: high altar (_after =fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli=. bologna: s. maria dei servi_) _alinari_] friends of fra giovanni agnolo, while he was living at messina, were the above-named signor don filippo laroca, and don francesco of the same family; messer bardo corsi, giovan francesco scali, and m. lorenzo borghini, all three florentine gentlemen then in messina; serafino da fermo, and the grand master of rhodes, which last many times sought to draw him to malta and to make him a knight; but he answered that he did not wish to confine himself in that island, besides which, feeling that he was doing ill not to be wearing the habit of his order, he thought at times of going back to it. and, in truth, i know that even if he had not been in a manner forced to do it, he was determined to resume the habit and to go back to live like a good churchman. when, therefore, in the time of pope paul iv, in the year , all the apostates, or rather, friars who had thrown off the habit, were constrained to return to their orders under threat of the severest penalties, fra giovanni agnolo abandoned the works that he had in hand, leaving his disciple martino in his place, and went in the month of may from messina to naples, intending to return to his servite monastery in florence. but before doing any other thing, wishing to devote himself entirely to god, he set about thinking how he might dispose of his great gains most suitably. and so, after having given in marriage certain nieces who were poor girls, and others from his native country and from montorsoli, he ordained that a thousand crowns should be given to his nephew agnolo, of whom mention has been already made, in rome, and that a knighthood of the lily should be bought for him. to each of two hospitals in naples he gave a good sum of money in alms. to his own servite convent he left a thousand crowns to buy a farm, and also that at montorsoli which had belonged to his forefathers, on the condition that twenty-five crowns should be paid to each of two nephews of his own, friars of the same order, every year during their lifetime, together with other charges that will be mentioned later. all these matters being arranged, he showed himself in rome and resumed the habit, with much joy to himself and to his fellow-friars, and particularly to maestro zaccheria. then, having gone to florence, he was received and welcomed by his relatives and friends with incredible pleasure and gladness. but, although the frate had determined that he would spend the rest of his life in the service of our lord god and the salvation of his soul, and live in peace and quietness, enjoying a knighthood that he had reserved for himself, he did not succeed in this so easily. for he was summoned to bologna with great insistence by maestro giulio bovio, the uncle of vascone bovio, to the end that he might make the high-altar in the church of the servites, which was to be all of marble and isolated, and in addition a tomb with figures, richly decorated with variegated stone and incrustations of marble; and he was not able to refuse him, particularly because that work was to be executed in a church of his order. having therefore gone to bologna, he set his hand to the work and executed it in twenty-eight months, making that altar, which shuts off the choir of the friars from one pilaster to the other, all of marble both within and without, with a nude christ of two braccia and a half in the centre, and with some other statues at the sides. that work is truly beautiful in architecture, well designed and distributed, and so well put together, that nothing better could be done; the pavement, also, wherein there is the tomb of bovio on the level of the ground, is wrought in a beautifully ordered pattern; certain candelabra of marble, with some little figures and scenes, are passing well contrived; and every part is rich in carving. but the figures, besides that they are small, on account of the difficulty that is found in conveying large pieces of marble to bologna, are not equal to the architecture, nor much worthy to be praised. while fra giovanni agnolo was executing that work in bologna, he was ever pondering, as one who was not yet firmly resolved in the matter, in what place, among those of his order, he might be able most conveniently to spend his last years; when maestro zaccheria, his very dear friend, who was then prior of the nunziata in florence, desiring to attract him to that place and to settle him there, spoke of him to duke cosimo, recalling to his memory the excellence of the frate, and praying that he should deign to make use of him. to which the duke having answered graciously, saying that he would avail himself of the frate as soon as he had returned from bologna, maestro zaccheria wrote to him of the whole matter, and then sent him a letter of cardinal giovanni de' medici, in which that lord exhorted him that he should return to his own country to execute some important work with his own hand. having received these letters, the frate, remembering that messer pier francesco riccio, after having been mad many years, had died, and that bandinelli also had left the world, which men had seemed to be little his friends, wrote back that he would not fail to return as soon as he might be able, in order to serve his most illustrious excellency, and to execute under his protection not profane things, but some sacred work, since he had a mind wholly turned to the service of god and of his saints. finally, then, having returned to florence in the year , he went off with maestro zaccheria to pisa, where the lord duke and the cardinal were, to do reverence to their most illustrious lordships; and after he had been received with much kindness and favour by those lords, and informed by the duke that after his return to florence he would be given a work of importance to execute, he went back. then, having obtained leave from his fellow-friars of the nunziata by means of maestro zaccheria, he erected in the centre of the chapter-house of that convent, where many years before he had made the moses and s. paul of stucco, as has been related above, a very beautiful tomb for himself and for all such men of the arts of design, painters, sculptors, and architects, as had not a place of their own in which to be buried; intending to arrange by a contract, as he did, that those friars, in return for the property that he was to leave to them, should be obliged to say mass on some feast-days and ordinary days in that chapter-house, and that every year, on the day of the most holy trinity, a solemn festival should be held there, and on the following day an office of the dead for the souls of those buried in that place. this design having then been imparted by fra giovanni agnolo and maestro zaccheria to giorgio vasari, who was very much their friend, they discoursed together on the affairs of the company of design, which had been created in the time of giotto, and had a home in s. maria nuova in florence, which it had possessed from that time down to our own, as may still be seen at the present day from a record at the high-altar of that hospital; and they thought with this occasion to revive it and set it up again. for that company had been removed from the above-mentioned high-altar, as has been related in the life of jacopo di casentino, to a place under the vaulting of the same hospital at the corner of the via della pergola, and finally had been removed and driven from that place also by don isidoro montaguti, the director of the hospital, so that it was almost entirely dispersed, and no longer assembled. now, after fra giovanni agnolo, maestro zaccheria, and giorgio had thus discoursed at some length of the condition of that company, and the frate had spoken of it with bronzino, francesco da san gallo, ammanati, vincenzio de' rossi, michele di ridolfo, and many other sculptors and painters of the first rank, and had declared his mind to them, when the morning of the most holy trinity came, all the most noble and excellent craftsmen of the arts of design, to the number of forty-eight, were assembled in the above-named chapter-house, where a most beautiful festival had been prepared, and where the tomb was already finished, and the altar so far advanced that there were wanting only some figures of marble that were going into it. there, after a most solemn mass had been said, a beautiful oration was made by one of those fathers in praise of fra giovanni agnolo, and of the magnificent liberality that he was showing to the company by presenting to them that chapter-house, that tomb, and that chapel, in order to take possession of which, he said in conclusion, it had been already arranged that the body of pontormo, which had been placed in a vault in the first little cloister of the nunziata, should be laid in the new tomb before any other. when, therefore, the mass and the oration were finished, they all went into the church, where there were on a bier the remains of that pontormo; and then, having placed the bier on the shoulders of the younger men, with a taper for each and also some torches, they passed around the piazza and carried it into the chapter-house, which, previously draped with cloth of gold, they found all black and covered with painted corpses and other suchlike things; and thus was pontormo laid in the new tomb. the company then dispersing, the first meeting was ordained for the next sunday, when, besides settling the constitution of the company, they were to make a selection of the best and create an academy, with the assistance of which those without knowledge might learn, and those with knowledge, spurred by honourable and praiseworthy emulation, might proceed to make greater proficience. giorgio, meanwhile, had spoken of these matters with the duke, and had besought him that he should favour the study of these noble arts, even as he had favoured the study of letters by reopening the university of pisa, creating a college for scholars, and making a beginning with the florentine academy; and he found him as ready to assist and favour that enterprise as he could have desired. after these things, the servite friars, having thought better over the matter, came to a resolution, which they made known to the company, that they would not have their chapter-house used by them save for holding festivals, offices, and burials, and would not have their convent disturbed by the company's meetings and assemblies, or in any other way. of which giorgio having spoken with the duke, demanding some place from him, his excellency said that he had thought of providing them with one wherein they might not only be able to erect a building for the company, but also have room enough to work and demonstrate their worth. and shortly afterwards he wrote through m. lelio torelli to the prior and monks of the angeli, giving them to understand that they were to accommodate the above-named company in the temple that had been begun in their monastery by filippo scolari, called lo spano. the monks obeyed, and the company was provided with certain rooms, in which they assembled many times with the gracious leave of those fathers, who received them sometimes even in their own chapter-house with much courtesy. but the duke having been informed afterwards that some of those monks were not altogether content that the company's building should be erected in their precincts, because the monastery would be encumbered thereby, and the above-named temple, which the craftsmen said that they wished to fill with their works, would do very well as it was, so far as they were concerned, his excellency made it known to the men of the academy, which had already made a beginning and had held the festival of s. luke in that temple, that the monks, so he understood, were not very willing to have them in their house, and that therefore he would not fail to provide them with another place. the same lord duke also said, like the truly magnanimous prince that he is, that he wished not only always to favour that academy, but also to be himself its chief, guide, and protector, and that for that reason he would appoint year by year a lieutenant who might be present in his stead at all their meetings. acting on this promise, he chose as the first the reverend don vincenzio borghini, the director of the hospital of the innocenti; and for these favours and courtesies shown by the lord duke to his new academy, he was thanked by ten of the oldest and most excellent of its members. but since the reformation of the company and the rules of the academy are described at great length in the statutes that were drawn up by the men elected and deputed for that purpose as reformers by the whole body (who were fra giovanni agnolo, francesco da san gallo, agnolo bronzino, giorgio vasari, michele di ridolfo, and pier francesco di jacopo di sandro), in the presence of the said lieutenant, and with the approval of his excellency, i shall say no more about it in this place. i must mention, however, that since the old seal and arms, or rather, device of the company, which was a winged ox lying down, the animal of s. luke the evangelist, displeased many of them, it was ordained that each one should give in words his suggestion for a new one, or show it in a drawing, and then there were seen the most beautiful inventions and the most lovely and extravagant fantasies that could be imagined. but for all that it is not yet completely determined which of them is to be accepted. meanwhile martino, the disciple of the frate, having come from messina to florence, died in a few days, and was buried in the above-named tomb that had been made by his master. and not long afterwards, in , the good father himself, fra giovanni agnolo, who had been so excellent a sculptor, was buried in the same tomb with most honourable obsequies, a very beautiful oration being delivered in his praise in the temple of the nunziata by the very reverend and most learned maestro michelagnolo. truly great is the debt that our arts for many reasons owe to fra giovanni agnolo, in that he bore infinite love to them and likewise to their craftsmen; and of what great service has been and still is that academy, which may be said to have received its origin from him in the manner that has been described, and which is now under the protection of the lord duke cosimo, and assembles by his command in the new sacristy of s. lorenzo, where there are so many works in sculpture by michelagnolo, may be recognized from this, that not only in the obsequies of that buonarroti (which, thanks to our craftsmen and to the assistance of the prince, were not merely magnificent, but little less than regal, and which will be described in his life), but also in many other undertakings, the same men, from emulation, and from a desire not to be unworthy of their academy, have achieved marvellous things, and particularly in the nuptials of the most illustrious lord, don francesco de' medici, prince of florence and siena, and of her serene highness, queen joanna of austria, which have been described fully and in due order by others, and will be described again by us at great length in a more convenient place. and since not only in this good father, but also in many others of whom we have spoken above, it has been seen, as it still continues to be, that good churchmen are useful and serviceable to the world in the arts and in the other more noble exercises no less than in letters, in public instruction, and in sacred councils, and that they have no reason to fear comparison in this respect with others, it may be said that there is probably no truth whatever in that which certain persons, influenced more by anger or by some private spite than by reason and love of truth, declare so freely of them--namely, that they devote themselves to such a life because from poverty of spirit they have not, like other men, the power to make a livelihood; for which may god forgive them. fra giovanni agnolo lived fifty-six years, and died on the last day of august, . francesco salviati life of francesco salviati painter of florence the father of francesco salviati, whose life we are now about to write, and who was born in the year , was a good man called michelagnolo de' rossi, a weaver of velvets; and he, having not only this child but also many others, both male and female, and being therefore in need of assistance, had determined in his own mind that he would at all costs make francesco devote himself to his own calling of weaving velvets. but the boy, who had turned his mind to other things, and did not like the pursuit of that trade, although in the past it had been practised by persons, i will not say noble, but passing rich and prosperous, followed his father's wishes in that matter with no good-will. indeed, associating in the via de' servi, where his father had a house, with the children of domenico naldini, their neighbour and an honoured citizen, he showed himself all given to gentle and honourable ways, and much inclined to design. in which matter he received no little assistance for a time from a cousin of his own called diacceto, a young goldsmith, who had a passing good knowledge of design, in that he not only taught him all that he knew, but also furnished him with many drawings by various able men, over which, without telling his father, francesco practised day and night with extraordinary zeal. and domenico naldini, having become aware of this, first examined the boy well, and then prevailed upon his father, michelagnolo, to place him in his uncle's shop to learn the goldsmith's art; by reason of which opportunity for design francesco in a few months made so much proficience, that everyone was astonished. in those days a company of young goldsmiths and painters used to assemble together at times and go throughout florence on feast-days drawing the most famous works, and not one of them laboured more or with greater love than did francesco. the young men of that company were nanni di prospero delle corniole, the goldsmith francesco di girolamo dal prato, nannoccio da san giorgio, and many other lads who afterwards became able men in their professions. [illustration: portrait of a man (_after the panel by =francesco salviati [francesco de' rossi]=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] at this time francesco and giorgio vasari, both being still boys, became fast friends, and in the following manner. in the year , silvio passerini, cardinal of cortona, passing through arezzo as the legate of pope clement vii, antonio vasari, his kinsman, took giorgio, his eldest son, to make his reverence to the cardinal. and the cardinal, finding that the boy, who at that time was not more than nine years of age, had been so well grounded in his first letters by the diligence of m. antonio da saccone and of messer giovanni pollastra, an excellent poet of arezzo, that he knew by heart a great part of the _Æneid_ of virgil, which he was pleased to hear him recite, and that he had learned to draw from guglielmo da marcilla, the french painter--the cardinal, i say, ordained that antonio should himself take the boy to florence. there giorgio was settled in the house of m. niccolò vespucci, knight of rhodes, who lived on the abutment of the ponte vecchio, above the church of the sepolcro, and was placed with michelagnolo buonarroti; and this circumstance came to the knowledge of francesco, who was then living in the chiasso di messer bivigliano, where his father rented a great house that faced on the vacchereccia, employing many workmen. whereupon, since like always draws to like, he so contrived that he became the friend of giorgio, by means of m. marco da lodi, a gentleman of the above-named cardinal of cortona, who showed to giorgio a portrait, which much pleased him, by the hand of francesco, who a short time before had been placed to learn painting with giuliano bugiardini. meanwhile vasari, not neglecting the study of letters, by order of the cardinal spent two hours every day with ippolito and alessandro de' medici, under their master pierio, an able man. and this friendship, contracted as described above between vasari and francesco, became such that it never ceased to bind them together, although, by reason of their rivalry and a certain somewhat haughty manner of speech that francesco had, some persons thought otherwise. when vasari had been some months with michelagnolo, that excellent man was summoned to rome by pope clement, to receive instructions for beginning the library of s. lorenzo; and he was placed by him, before he departed, with andrea del sarto. and devoting himself under him to design, giorgio was continually lending his master's drawings in secret to francesco, who had no greater desire than to obtain and study them, as he did day and night. afterwards giorgio was placed by the magnificent ippolito with baccio bandinelli, who was pleased to have the boy with him and to teach him; and vasari contrived to obtain francesco as his companion, with great advantage to them both, for the reason that while working together they learned more and made greater progress in one month than they had done in two years while drawing by themselves. and the same did another young man who was likewise working under bandinelli at that time, called nannoccio of the costa san giorgio, of whom mention was made not long ago. in the year , the medici being expelled from florence, there was a fight for the palace of the signoria, and a bench was thrown down from on high so as to fall upon those who were assaulting the door; but, as fate would have it, that bench hit an arm of the david in marble by buonarroti, which is beside the door on the ringhiera, and broke it into three pieces. these pieces having remained on the ground for three days, without being picked up by anyone, francesco went to the ponte vecchio to find giorgio, and told him his intention; and then, children as they were, they went to the piazza, and, without thinking of any danger, in the midst of the soldiers of the guard, they took the pieces of that arm and carried them to the house of michelagnolo, the father of francesco, in the chiasso di m. bivigliano. from which house having afterwards recovered them, duke cosimo in time caused them to be restored to their places with pegs of copper. after this, the medici being in exile, and with them the above-mentioned cardinal of cortona, antonio vasari took his son back to arezzo, to the no little regret of giorgio and francesco, who loved one another as brothers. but they did not long remain separated from each other, for the reason that after the plague, which came in the following august, had killed giorgio's father and the best part of his family, he was so pressed with letters by francesco, who also came very near dying of plague, that he returned to florence. there, working with incredible zeal for a period of two years, being driven by necessity and by the desire to learn, they made marvellous proficience, having recourse, together with the above-named nannoccio da san giorgio, to the workshop of the painter raffaello da brescia, under whom francesco, being the one who had most need to provide himself with the means to live, executed many little pictures. having come to the year , since it did not appear to francesco that staying in brescia's workshop was doing him much good, he and nannoccio went to work with andrea del sarto, and stayed with him all the time that the siege lasted, but in such discomfort, that they repented that they had not followed giorgio, who spent that year in pisa with the goldsmith manno, giving his attention for four months to the goldsmith's craft to occupy himself. vasari having then gone to bologna, at the time when the emperor charles v was crowned there by clement vii, francesco, who had remained in florence, executed on a little panel a votive picture for a soldier who had been murderously attacked in bed by certain other soldiers during the siege; and although it was a paltry thing, he studied it and executed it to perfection. that votive picture fell not many years ago into the hands of giorgio vasari, who presented it to the reverend don vincenzio borghini, the director of the hospital of the innocenti, who holds it dear. for the black friars of the badia francesco painted three little scenes on a tabernacle of the sacrament made by the carver tasso in the manner of a triumphal arch. in one of these is the sacrifice of abraham, in the second the manna, and in the third the hebrews eating the paschal lamb on their departure from egypt; and the work was such that it gave an earnest of the success that he has since achieved. he then painted in a picture for francesco sertini, who sent it to france, a dalilah who was cutting off the locks of samson, and in the distance samson embracing the columns of the temple and bringing it down upon the philistines; which picture made francesco known as the most excellent of the young painters that were then in florence. not long afterwards the elder cardinal salviati having requested benvenuto della volpaia, a master of clock-making, who was in rome at that time, to find for him a young painter who might live with him and paint some pictures for his delight, benvenuto proposed to him francesco, who was his friend, and whom he knew to be the most competent of all the young painters of his acquaintance; which he did all the more willingly because the cardinal had promised that he would give the young man every facility and all assistance to enable him to study. the cardinal, then, liking the young francesco's qualities, said to benvenuto that he should send for him, and gave him money for that purpose. and so, when francesco had arrived in rome, the cardinal, being pleased with his method of working, his ways, and his manners, ordained that he should have rooms in the borgo vecchio, and four crowns a month, with a place at the table of his gentlemen. the first works that francesco (to whom it appeared that he had been very fortunate) executed for the cardinal were a picture of our lady, which was held to be very beautiful, and a canvas of a french nobleman who is running in chase of a hind, which, flying from him, takes refuge in the temple of diana: of which work i keep the design, drawn by his hand, in my book, in memory of him. that canvas finished, the cardinal caused him to portray in a very beautiful picture of our lady a niece of his own, married to signor cagnino gonzaga, and likewise that lord himself. now, while francesco was living in rome, with no greater desire than to see his friend giorgio vasari in that city, fortune was favourable to his wishes in that respect, and even more to vasari. for, cardinal ippolito having parted in great anger from pope clement for reasons that were discussed at the time, but returning not long afterwards to rome accompanied by baccio valori, in passing through arezzo he found giorgio, who had been left without a father and was occupying himself as best he could; wherefore, desiring that he should make some proficience in art, and wishing to have him near his person, he commanded tommaso de' nerli, who was commissary there, that he should send him to rome as soon as he should have finished a chapel that he was painting in fresco for the monks of s. bernardo, of the order of monte oliveto, in that city. that commission nerli executed immediately, and giorgio, having thus arrived in rome, went straightway to find francesco, who joyfully described to him in what favour he was with his lord the cardinal, and how he was in a place where he could satisfy his hunger for study; adding, also: "not only do i enjoy the present, but i hope for even better things, for, besides seeing you in rome, with whom, as the young friend nearest to my heart, i shall be able to study and discuss the matters of art, i also live in hope of entering the service of cardinal ippolito de' medici, from whose liberality, as well as from the favour of the pope, i may look for greater things than i have at present; and this will happen without a doubt if a certain young man, who is expected from abroad, does not arrive." giorgio, although he knew that the young man who was expected was himself, and that the place was being kept for him, yet would not reveal himself, because of a certain doubt that had entered his mind as to whether the cardinal might not have another in view, and also from a wish not to declare a circumstance that might afterwards fall out differently. giorgio had brought a letter from the above-named commissary nerli to the cardinal, which, after having been five days in rome, he had not yet presented. finally giorgio and francesco went to the palace and found in what is now the hall of kings messer marco da lodi, who had formerly been with the cardinal of cortona, as was related above, but was then in the service of medici. to him giorgio presented himself, saying that he had a letter from the commissary of arezzo that was to be delivered to the cardinal, and praying that he should give it to him; which messer marco was promising to do immediately, when at that very moment the cardinal himself appeared there. whereupon giorgio, coming forward before him, presented the letter and kissed his hands; and he was received graciously, and shortly afterwards given into the charge of jacopone da bibbiena, the master of the household, who was commanded to provide him with rooms and with a place at the table of the pages. it appeared a strange thing to francesco that giorgio should not have confided the matter to him; but he was persuaded that he had done it for the best and with a good intention. when the above-named jacopone, therefore, had given giorgio some rooms behind s. spirito, near francesco, the two devoted themselves in company all that winter to the study of art, with much profit, leaving no noteworthy work, either in the palace or in any other part of rome, that they did not draw. and since, when the pope was in the palace, they were not able to stay there drawing at their ease, as soon as his holiness had ridden forth to the magliana, as he often did, they would gain admittance by means of friends into those apartments to draw, and would stay there from morning till night without eating anything but a little bread, and almost freezing with cold. cardinal salviati having then commanded francesco that he should paint in fresco in the chapel of his palace, where he heard mass every morning, some stories of the life of s. john the baptist, francesco set himself to study nudes from life, and giorgio with him, in a bath-house near there; and afterwards they made some anatomical studies in the campo santo. the spring having then come, cardinal ippolito, being sent by the pope to hungary, ordained that giorgio should be sent to florence, and should there execute some pictures and portraits that he had to despatch to rome. but in the july following, what with the fatigues of the past winter and the heat of summer, giorgio fell ill and was carried by litter to arezzo, to the great sorrow of francesco, who also fell sick and was like to die. however, being restored to health, francesco was commissioned by maestro filippo da siena, at the instance of antonio l'abacco, a master-worker in wood, to paint in fresco in a niche over the door at the back of s. maria della pace, a christ speaking with s. filippo, and in two angles the virgin and the angel of the annunciation; which pictures, much pleasing maestro filippo, were the reason that he caused him to paint the assumption of our lady in the same place, in a large square space that was not yet painted in one of the eight sides of that temple. whereupon francesco, reflecting that he had to execute that work not merely in a public place, but in a place where there were pictures by the rarest masters--raffaello da urbino, rosso, baldassarre da siena, and others--put all possible study and diligence into executing it in oils on the wall, so that it proved to be a beautiful picture, and was much extolled; and excellent among other figures is held to be the portrait that he painted there of the above-named maestro filippo with the hands clasped. and since francesco lived, as has been told, with cardinal salviati, and was known as his protégé, he began to be called and known by no other name but cecchino salviati, and he kept that name to the day of his death. pope clement vii being dead and paul iii elected, m. bindo altoviti caused francesco to paint on the façade of his house at the ponte s. agnolo the arms of the new pontiff, with some large nude figures, which gave infinite satisfaction. about the same time he made a portrait of that messer bindo, which was a very good figure and a beautiful portrait; and this was afterwards sent to his villa of s. mizzano in the valdarno, where it still is. he then painted for the church of s. francesco a ripa a very beautiful altar-picture of the annunciation in oils, which was executed with the greatest diligence. for the coming of charles v to rome in the year , he painted for antonio da san gallo some scenes in chiaroscuro, which were placed on the arch that was made at s. marco; and these pictures, as has been said in another place, were the best that there were in all those festive decorations. afterwards signor pier luigi farnese, who had been made lord of nepi at that time, wishing to adorn that city with new buildings and pictures, took francesco into his service, giving him rooms in the belvedere; and there francesco painted for him on large canvases some scenes in gouache of the actions of alexander the great, which were afterwards carried into execution and woven into tapestries in flanders. for the same lord of nepi he decorated a large and very beautiful bathroom with many scenes and figures executed in fresco. then, the same lord having been created duke of castro, for his first entry rich and most beautiful decorations were made in that city under the direction of francesco, and at the gate an arch all covered with scenes, figures, and statues, executed with much judgment by able men, and in particular by alessandro, called scherano, a sculptor of settignano. another arch, in the form of a façade, was made at the petrone, and yet another on the piazza, which arches, with regard to the woodwork, were executed by battista botticelli; and in these festive preparations, among other things, francesco made a beautiful perspective-scene for a comedy that was performed. about the same time, giulio camillo, who was then in rome, having made a book of his compositions in order to send it to king francis of france, had it all illustrated by francesco salviati, who put into it all the diligence that it is possible to devote to such a work. cardinal salviati, having a desire to possess a picture in tinted woods (that is, in tarsia) by the hand of fra damiano da bergamo, a lay-brother of s. domenico at bologna, sent him a design done in red chalk by the hand of francesco, as a pattern for its execution; which design, representing king david being anointed by samuel, was the best thing that cecchino salviati ever drew, and truly most rare. after this, giovanni da cepperello and battista gobbo of san gallo--who had caused the florentine painter jacopo del conte, then a young man, to paint in the florentine company of the misericordia in s. giovanni decollato, under the campidoglio at rome, namely, in the second church where they hold their assemblies, a story of that same s. john the baptist, showing the angel appearing to zacharias in the temple--commissioned francesco to paint below that scene another story of the same saint, namely, the visitation of our lady to s. elizabeth. that work, which was finished in the year , he executed in fresco in such a manner, that it is worthy to be numbered among the most graceful and best conceived pictures that francesco ever painted, in the invention, in the composition of the scene, in the method and the attention to rules for the gradation of the figures, in the perspective and the architecture of the buildings, in the nudes, in the draped figures, in the grace of the heads, and, in short, in every part; wherefore it is no marvel if all rome was struck with astonishment by it. around a window he executed some bizarre fantasies in imitation of marble, and some little scenes that have marvellous grace. and since francesco never wasted any time, while he was engaged on that work he executed many other things, and also drawings, and he coloured a phaëthon with the horses of the sun, which michelagnolo had drawn. all these things salviati showed to giorgio, who after the death of duke alessandro had gone to rome for two months; saying to him that, once he had finished a picture of a young s. john that he was painting for his master cardinal salviati, a passion of christ on canvas that was to be sent to spain, and a picture of our lady that he was painting for raffaello acciaiuoli, he wished to turn his steps to florence in order to revisit his native place, his relatives, and his friends, for his father and mother were still alive, to whom he was always of the greatest assistance, and particularly in settling two sisters, one of whom was married, and the other is a nun in the convent of monte domini. coming thus to florence, where he was received with much rejoicing by his relatives and friends, it chanced that he arrived there at the very moment when the festive preparations were being made for the nuptials of duke cosimo and the lady donna leonora di toledo. wherefore he was commissioned to paint one of the already mentioned scenes that were executed in the courtyard, which he accepted very willingly; and that was the one in which the emperor was placing the ducal crown on the head of duke cosimo. but being seized, before he had finished it, with a desire to go to venice, francesco left it to carlo portelli of loro, who finished it after francesco's design; which design, with many others by the same hand, is in our book. having departed from florence and made his way to bologna, francesco found there giorgio vasari, who had returned two days before from camaldoli, where he had finished the two altar-pieces that are in the tramezzo[ ] of the church, and had begun that of the high-altar; and vasari was arranging to paint three great panel-pictures for the refectory of the fathers of s. michele in bosco, where he kept francesco with him for two days. during that time, some of his friends made efforts to obtain for him the commission for an altar-piece that was to be allotted by the men of the della morte hospital. but, although salviati made a most beautiful design, those men, having little understanding, were not able to recognize the opportunity that messer domeneddio[ ] had sent them of obtaining for bologna a work by the hand of an able master. wherefore francesco went away in some disdain, leaving some very beautiful designs in the hands of girolamo fagiuoli, to the end that he might engrave them on copper and have them printed. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. i.] [footnote : a method of alluding to the deity, which, in its playful simplicity, is quite impossible in english.] having arrived in venice, he was received courteously by the patriarch grimani and his brother messer vettorio, who showed him a thousand favours. for that patriarch, after a few days, he painted in oils, in an octagon of four braccia, a most beautiful psyche to whom, as to a goddess, on account of her beauty, incense and votive offerings are presented; which octagon was placed in a hall in the house of that lord, wherein is a ceiling in the centre of which there curve some festoons executed by camillo mantovano, an excellent painter in representing landscapes, flowers, leaves, fruits, and other suchlike things. that octagon, i say, was placed in the midst of four pictures each two braccia and a half square, executed with stories of the same psyche, as was related in the life of genga, by francesco da forlì; and the octagon is not only beyond all comparison more beautiful than those four pictures, but even the most beautiful work of painting that there is in all venice. after that, in a chamber wherein giovanni ricamatori of udine had executed many works in stucco, he painted some little figures in fresco, both nude and draped, which are full of grace. in like manner, in an altar-piece that he executed for the nuns of the corpus domini at venice, he painted with much diligence a dead christ with the maries, and in the air an angel who has the mysteries of the passion in the hands. he made the portrait of m. pietro aretino, which, as a rare work, was sent by that poet to king francis, with some verses in praise of him who had painted it. and for the nuns of s. cristina in bologna, of the order of camaldoli, the same salviati, at the entreaty of don giovan francesco da bagno, their confessor, painted an altar-piece with many figures, a truly beautiful picture, which is in the church of that convent. then, having grown weary of the life in venice, as one who remembered that of rome, and considering that it was no place for men of design, francesco departed in order to return to rome. and so, making a détour by verona and mantua, in the first of which places he saw the many antiquities that are there, and in the other the works of giulio romano, he made his way back to rome by the road through romagna, and arrived there in the year . there, having rested a little, the first works that he made were the portrait of messer giovanni gaddi and that of messer annibale caro, who were much his friends. those finished, he painted a very beautiful altar-piece for the chapel of the clerks of the chamber in the pope's palace. and in the church of the germans he began a chapel in fresco for a merchant of that nation, painting on the vault above the apostles receiving the holy spirit, and in a picture that is half-way up the wall jesus christ rising from the dead, with the soldiers sleeping round the sepulchre in various attitudes, foreshortened in a bold and beautiful manner. on one side he painted s. stephen, and on the other side s. george, in two niches; and at the foot he painted s. giovanni limosinario, who is giving alms to a naked beggar, with a charity on one side of him, and on the other side s. alberto, the carmelite friar, between logic and prudence. and in the great altar-picture, finally, he painted in fresco the dead christ with the maries. having formed a friendship with piero di marcone, a florentine goldsmith, and having become his gossip, francesco made to piero's wife, who was also his gossip, after her delivery, a present of a very beautiful design, which was to be painted on one of those round baskets in which food is brought to a newly-delivered woman. in that design there was the life of man, in a number of square compartments containing very beautiful figures, both on one side and on the other; namely, all the ages of human life, each of which rested on a different festoon appropriate to the particular age and the season. in that bizarre composition were included, in two long ovals, figures of the sun and moon, and between them sais, a city of egypt, standing before the temple of the goddess pallas and praying for wisdom, as if to signify that on behalf of newborn children one should pray before any other thing for wisdom and goodness. that design piero held ever afterwards as dear as if it had been, as indeed it was, a most beautiful jewel. not long afterwards, the above-named piero and other friends having written to francesco that he would do well to return to his native place, for the reason that it was held to be certain that he would be employed by the lord duke cosimo, who had no masters about him save such as were slow and irresolute, he finally determined (trusting much, also, in the favour of m. alamanno, the brother of the cardinal and uncle of the duke) to return to florence. having arrived, therefore, before attempting any other thing, he painted for the above-named m. alamanno salviati a very beautiful picture of our lady, which he executed in a room in the office of works of s. maria del fiore that was occupied by francesco dal prato, who at that time, from being a goldsmith and a master of tausia,[ ] had set himself to casting little figures in bronze and to painting, with much profit and honour. in that same place, then, which that master held as the official in charge of the woodwork of the office of works, francesco made portraits of his friend piero di marcone and of avveduto del cegia, the dresser of minever-furs, who was also much his friend; which avveduto, besides many other things by the hand of francesco that he possesses, has a portrait of francesco himself, executed in oils with his own hand, and very lifelike. [footnote : damascening.] [illustration: justice (_after the fresco by =francesco salviati [francesco de' rossi]=. florence: bargello_) _alinari_] the above-mentioned picture of our lady, being, after it was finished, in the shop of the wood-carver tasso, who was then architect of the palace, was seen by many persons and vastly extolled; but what caused it even more to be considered a rare picture was that tasso, who was accustomed to censure almost everything, praised it to the skies. and, what was more, he said to m. pier francesco, the majordomo, that it would be an excellent thing for the duke to give francesco some work of importance to execute; whereupon m. pier francesco and cristofano rinieri, who had the ear of the duke, played their part in such a way, that m. alamanno spoke to his excellency, saying to him that francesco desired to be commissioned to paint the hall of audience, which is in front of the chapel of the ducal palace, and that he cared nothing about payment; and the duke was content that this should be granted to him. whereupon francesco, having made small designs of the triumph of furius camillus and of many stories of his life, set himself to contrive the division of that hall according to the spaces left by the windows and doors, some of which are high and some low; and there was no little difficulty in making that division in such a way that it might be well-ordered and might not disturb the sequence of the stories. in the wall where there is the door by which one enters into the hall, there were two large spaces, divided by the door. opposite to that, where there are the three windows that look out over the piazza, there were four spaces, but not wider than about three braccia each. in the end-wall that is on the right hand as one enters, wherein are two windows that likewise look out on the piazza, but in another direction, there were three similar spaces, each about three braccia wide; and in the end-wall that is on the left hand, opposite to the other, what with the marble door that leads into the chapel, and a window with a grating of bronze, there remained only one space large enough to contain a work of importance. on the wall of the chapel, then--within an ornament of corinthian columns that support an architrave, which has below it a recess, wherein hang two very rich festoons, and two pendants of various fruits, counterfeited very well, while upon it sits a naked little boy who is holding the ducal arms, namely, those of the houses of medici and toledo--he painted two scenes; on the right hand camillus, who is commanding that the schoolmaster shall be given up to the vengeance of his young scholars, and on the other the same camillus, while the army is in combat and fire is burning the stockades and tents of the camp, is routing the gauls. and beside that, where the same range of pilasters continues, he painted a figure of opportunity, large as life, who has seized fortune by the locks, and some devices of his excellency, with many ornaments executed with marvellous grace. on the main wall, where there are two great spaces divided by the principal door, he painted two large and very beautiful scenes. in the first are the gauls, who, weighing the gold of the tribute, add to it a sword, to the end that the weight may be the greater, and camillus, full of rage, delivers himself from the tribute by force of arms; which scene is very beautiful, and crowded with figures, landscapes, antiquities, and vases counterfeited very well and in various manners in imitation of gold and silver. in the other scene, beside the first, is camillus in the triumphal chariot, drawn by four horses; and on high is fame, who is crowning him. before the chariot are priests very richly apparelled, with the statue of the goddess juno, and holding vases in their hands, and with some trophies and spoils of great beauty. about the chariot are innumerable prisoners in various attitudes, and behind it the soldiers of the army in their armour, among whom francesco made a portrait of himself, which is so good that it seems as if alive. in the distance, where the triumphal procession is passing, is a very beautiful picture of rome, and above the door is a figure of peace in chiaroscuro, who is burning the arms, with some prisoners; all which was executed by francesco with such diligence and study, that there is no more beautiful work to be seen. on the wall towards the west he painted in a niche in one of the larger spaces, in the centre, a mars in armour, and below that a nude figure representing a gaul,[ ] with a crest on the head similar to that of a cock; and in another niche a diana with a skin about her waist, who is drawing an arrow from her quiver, with a dog. in the two corners next the other two walls are two figures of time, one adjusting weights in a balance, and the other tempering the liquid in two vases by pouring one into the other. on the last wall, which is opposite to the chapel and faces towards the north, in a corner on the right hand, is the sun figured in the manner wherein the egyptians represent him, and in the other corner the moon in the same manner. in the middle is favour, represented as a nude young man on the summit of the wheel, with envy, hatred, and malice on one side, and on the other side honours, pleasure, and all the other things described by lucian. above the windows is a frieze all full of most beautiful nudes, as large as life, and in various forms and attitudes; with some scenes likewise from the life of camillus. and opposite to the peace that is burning the arms is the river arno, who, holding a most abundant horn of plenty, raises with one hand a curtain and reveals florence and the greatness of her pontiffs and the heroes of the house of medici. he painted there, besides all that, a base that runs round below those scenes, and niches with some terminal figures of women that support festoons; and in the centre are certain ovals with scenes of people adorning a sphinx and the river arno. [footnote : a play on the word gallo, which means both gaul and cock.] francesco put into the execution of that work all the diligence and study that are possible; and, although he had many contradictions, he carried it to a happy conclusion, desiring to leave in his native city a work worthy of himself and of so great a prince. francesco was by nature melancholy, and for the most part he did not care to have anyone about him when he was at work. but nevertheless, when he first began that undertaking, almost doing violence to his nature and affecting an open heart, with great cordiality he allowed tasso and others of his friends, who had done him some service, to stand and watch him at work, showing them every courtesy that he was able. but when he had gained a footing at court, as the saying goes, and it seemed to him that he was in good favour, returning to his choleric and biting nature, he paid them no attention. nay, what was worse, he used the most bitter words according to his wont (which served as an excuse to his adversaries), censuring and decrying the works of others, and praising himself and his own works to the skies. these methods, which displeased most people and likewise certain craftsmen, brought upon him such odium, that tasso and many others, who from being his friends had become his enemies, began to give him cause for thought and for action. for, although they praised the excellence of the art that was in him, and the facility and rapidity with which he executed his works so well and with such unity, they were not at a loss, on the other hand, for something to censure. and since, if they had allowed him to gain a firm footing and to settle his affairs, they would not have been able afterwards to hinder or hurt him, they began in good time to give him trouble and to molest him. whereupon many of the craftsmen and others, banding themselves together and forming a faction, began to disseminate among the people of importance a rumour that salviati's work was not succeeding, and that he was labouring by mere skill of hand, and devoting no study to anything that he did. in which, in truth, they accused him wrongly, for, although he never toiled over the execution of his works, as they themselves did, yet that did not mean that he did not study them and that his works had not infinite grace and invention, or that they were not carried out excellently well. not being able to surpass his excellence with their works, those adversaries wished to overwhelm it with such words and reproaches; but in the end truth and excellence have too much force. at first francesco made light of such rumours, but later, perceiving that they were growing beyond all reason, he complained of it many times to the duke. but, since it began to be seen that the duke, to all appearance, was not showing him such favours as he would have liked, and it seemed that his excellency cared nothing for those complaints, francesco began to fall from his position in such a manner, that his adversaries, taking courage from that, sent forth a rumour that his scenes in the hall were to be thrown to the ground, because they did not give satisfaction and had in them no particle of excellence. all these calumnies, which were pressed against him with incredible envy and malice by his adversaries, had reduced francesco to such a state, that, if it had not been for the goodness of messer lelio torelli, messer pasquino bertini, and others of his friends, he would have retreated before them, which was exactly what they desired. but the above-named friends, exhorting him continually to finish the work of the hall and others that he had in hand, restrained him, even as was done by many other friends not in florence, to whom he wrote of these persecutions. and giorgio vasari, among others, answering a letter that salviati wrote to him on the matter, exhorted him always to have patience, because excellence is refined by persecution as gold by fire; adding that a time was about to come when his art and his genius would be recognized, and that he should complain of no one but himself, in that he did not yet know men's humours, and how the people and the craftsmen of his own country were made. thus, notwithstanding all these contradictions and persecutions that poor francesco suffered, he finished that hall--namely, the work that he had undertaken to execute in fresco on the walls, for the reason that on the ceiling, or rather, soffit, there was no need for him to do any painting, since it was so richly carved and all overlaid with gold, that among works of that kind there is none more beautiful to be seen. and as a finish to the whole the duke caused two new windows of glass to be made, with his devices and arms and those of charles v; and nothing could be better in that kind of work than the manner in which they were executed by battista del borro, an aretine painter excellent in that field of art. after that, francesco painted for his excellency the ceiling of the hall where he dines in winter, with many devices and little figures in distemper; and a most beautiful study which opens out over the green chamber. he made portraits, likewise, of some of the duke's children; and one year, for the carnival, he executed in the great hall the scenery and prospect-view for a comedy that was performed, and that with such beauty and in a manner so different from those that had been done in florence up to that time, that they were judged to be superior to them all. nor is this to be marvelled at, since it is very certain that francesco was always in all his works full of judgment, and well-varied and fertile in invention, and, what is more, he had a perfect knowledge of design, and had a more beautiful manner than any other painter in florence at that time, and handled colours with great skill and delicacy. he also made a head, or rather, a portrait, of signor giovanni de' medici, the father of duke cosimo, which was very beautiful; and it is now in the guardaroba of the same lord duke. for cristofano rinieri, who was much his friend, he painted a most beautiful picture of our lady, which is now in the udienza della decima. for ridolfo landi he executed a picture of charity, which could not be more lovely than it is; and for simone corsi, likewise, he painted a picture of our lady, which was much extolled. for m. donato acciaiuoli, a knight of rhodes, with whom he always maintained a particular intimacy, he executed certain little pictures that are very beautiful. and he also painted in an altar-piece christ showing to s. thomas, who would not believe that he had newly risen from the dead, the marks of the blows and wounds that he had received from the jews; which altar-piece was taken by tommaso guadagni into france, and placed in the chapel of the florentines in a church at lyons. francesco also depicted at the request of the above-named cristofano rinieri and of maestro giovanni rosto, the flemish master of tapestry, the whole story of tarquinius and the roman lucretia in many cartoons, which, being afterwards put into execution in tapestries woven in silk, floss-silk, and gold, proved to be a marvellous work. which hearing, the duke, who was at that time having similar tapestries, all in silk and gold, made in florence by the same maestro giovanni for the sala de' dugento, and had caused cartoons with the stories of the hebrew joseph to be executed by bronzino and pontormo, as has been related, commanded that francesco also should make a cartoon, which was that with the interpretation of the dream of the seven fat and seven lean kine. into that cartoon francesco put all the diligence that could possibly be devoted to such a work, and that is required for pictures that are to be woven; for there must be fantastic inventions and variety of composition in the figures, and these must stand out one from another, so that they may have strong relief, and they must come out bright in colouring and rich in the costumes and vestments. that piece of tapestry and the others having turned out well, his excellency resolved to establish the art in florence, and caused it to be taught to some boys, who, having grown to be men, are now executing most excellent works for the duke. francesco also executed a most beautiful picture of our lady, likewise in oils, which is now in the chamber of messer alessandro, the son of m. ottaviano de' medici. for the above-named m. pasquino bertini he painted on canvas yet another picture of our lady, with christ and s. john as little children, who are smiling over a parrot that they have in their hands; which was a very pleasing and fanciful work. and for the same man he made a most beautiful design of a crucifix, about one braccio high, with a magdalene at the foot, in a manner so new and so pleasing that it is a marvel; which design m. salvestro bertini lent to girolamo razzi, his very dear friend, who is now don silvano, and two pictures were painted from it by carlo of loro, who has since executed many others, which are dispersed about florence. giovanni and piero d'agostino dini had erected in s. croce, on the right hand as one enters by the central door, a very rich chapel of grey sandstone and a tomb for agostino and others of their family; and they gave the commission for the altar-piece of that chapel to francesco, who painted in it christ taken down from the cross by joseph of arimathæa and nicodemus, and at the foot the madonna in a swoon, with mary magdalene, s. john, and the other maries. that altar-piece was executed by francesco with so much art and study, that not only the nude christ is very beautiful, but all the other figures likewise are well disposed and coloured with relief and force; and although at first the picture was censured by francesco's adversaries, nevertheless it won him a great name with men in general, and those who have painted others after him out of emulation have not surpassed him. the same francesco, before he departed from florence, painted the portrait of the above-mentioned m. lelio torelli, and some other works of no great importance, of which i know not the particulars. but, among other things, he brought to completion a design of the conversion of s. paul that he had drawn long before in rome, which is very beautiful; and he had it engraved on copper in florence by enea vico of parma, and the duke was content to retain him in florence until that should be done, with his usual salary and allowances. during that time, which was in the year , giorgio vasari being at rimini in order to execute in fresco and in oils the works of which we have spoken in another place, francesco wrote him a long letter, informing him in exact detail how his affairs were passing in florence, and, in particular, that he had made a design for the principal chapel of s. lorenzo, which was to be painted by order of the lord duke, but that with regard to that work infinite mischief had been done against him with his excellency, and, among other things, that he held it almost as certain that m. pier francesco, the majordomo, had not presented his design, so that the work had been allotted to pontormo. and finally he said that for these reasons he was returning to rome, much dissatisfied with the men and the craftsmen of his native country. [illustration: the deposition (_after the painting by =francesco salviati [francesco de' rossi]=. florence: s. croce, the refectory_) _alinari_] having thus returned to rome, he bought a house near the palace of cardinal farnese, and, while he was occupying himself with executing some works of no great importance, he received from that cardinal, through m. annibale caro and don giulio clovio, the commission to paint the chapel of the palace of s. giorgio, in which he executed an ornament of most beautiful compartments in stucco, and a vaulting in fresco with stories of s. laurence and many figures, full of grace, and on a panel of stone, in oils, the nativity of christ, introducing into that work, which was very beautiful, the portrait of the above-named cardinal. then, having another work allotted to him in the above-mentioned company of the misericordia (where jacopo del conte had painted the preaching and the baptism of s. john, in which, although he had not surpassed francesco, he had acquitted himself very well, and where some other works had been executed by the venetian battista franco and by pirro ligorio), francesco painted, on that part that is exactly beside his own picture of the visitation, the nativity of s. john, which, although he executed it excellently well, was nevertheless not equal to the first. at the head of that company, likewise, he painted for m. bartolommeo bussotti two very beautiful figures in fresco--s. andrew and s. bartholomew, the apostles--which are one on either side of the altar-piece, wherein is a deposition from the cross by the hand of the same jacopo del conte, which is a very good picture and the best work that he had ever done up to that time. in the year , julius iii having been elected supreme pontiff, francesco painted some very beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro for the arch that was erected above the steps of s. pietro, among the festive preparations for the coronation. and then, in the same year, a sepulchre with many steps and ranges of columns having been made in the minerva by the company of the sacrament, francesco painted upon it some scenes and figures in terretta, which were held to be very beautiful. in a chapel of s. lorenzo in damaso he executed two angels in fresco that are holding a canopy, the design of one of which is in our book. in the refectory of s. salvatore del lauro at monte giordano, on the principal wall, he painted in fresco, with a great number of figures, the marriage of cana in galilee, at which jesus christ turned water into wine; and at the sides some saints, with pope eugenius iv, who belonged to that order, and other founders. above the door of that refectory, on the inner side, he painted a picture in oils of s. george killing the dragon, and he executed that whole work with much mastery, finish, and charm of colouring. about the same time he sent to florence, for m. alamanno salviati, a large picture in which are adam and eve beside the tree of life in the earthly paradise, eating the forbidden fruit, which is a very beautiful work. for signor ranuccio, cardinal sant'agnolo, of the house of farnese, francesco painted with most beautiful fantasy two walls in the hall that is in front of the great hall in the farnese palace. on one wall he depicted signor ranuccio the elder receiving from eugenius iv his baton as captain-general of holy church, with some virtues, and on the other pope paul iii, of the farnese family, who is giving the baton of the church to signor pier luigi, while there is seen approaching from a distance the emperor charles v, accompanied by cardinal alessandro farnese and by other lords portrayed from life; and on that wall, besides the things described above and many others, he painted a fame and a number of other figures, which are executed very well. it is true, indeed, that the work received its final completion, not from him, but from taddeo zucchero of sant'agnolo, as will be related in the proper place. he gave completion and proportion to the chapel of the popolo, which fra sebastiano viniziano had formerly begun for agostino chigi, but had not finished; and francesco finished it, as has been described in the life of fra sebastiano. for cardinal riccio of montepulciano he painted a most beautiful hall in his palace in the strada giulia, where he executed in fresco various pictures with many stories of david; and, among others, one of bathsheba bathing herself in a bath, with many other women, while david stands gazing at her, is a scene very well composed and full of grace, and as rich in invention as any other that there is to be seen. in another picture is the death of uriah, in a third the ark, before which go many musical instruments, and finally, after some others, a battle that is being fought between david and his enemies, very well composed. and, to put it briefly, the work of that hall is all full of grace, of most beautiful fantasies, and of many fanciful and ingenious inventions; the distribution of the parts is done with much consideration, and the colouring is very pleasing. to tell the truth, francesco, feeling himself bold and fertile in invention, and having a hand obedient to his brain, would have liked always to have on his hands works large and out of the ordinary. and for no other reason was he strange in his dealings with his friends, save only for this, that, being variable and in certain things not very stable, what pleased him one day he hated the next; and he did few works of importance without having in the end to contend about the price, on which account he was avoided by many. after these works, andrea tassini, having to send a painter to the king of france, in the year sought out giorgio vasari, but in vain, for he said that not for any salary, however great, or promises, or expectations, would he leave the service of his lord, duke cosimo; and finally andrea came to terms with francesco and took him to france, undertaking to recompense him in rome if he were not satisfied in france. before francesco departed from rome, as if he thought that he would never return, he sold his house, his furniture, and every other thing, excepting the offices that he held. but the venture did not succeed as he had expected, for the reason that, on arriving in paris, where he was received kindly and with many courtesies by m. francesco primaticcio, painter and architect to the king, and abbot of s. martin, he was straightway recognized, so it is said, as the strange sort of man that he was, for he saw no work either by rosso or by any other master that he did not censure either openly or in some subtle way. everyone therefore expecting some great work from him, he was set by the cardinal of lorraine, who had sent for him, to execute some pictures in his palace at dampierre. whereupon, after making many designs, finally he set his hand to the work, and executed some pictures with scenes in fresco over the cornices of chimney-pieces, and a little study full of scenes, which are said to have shown great mastery; but, whatever may have been the reason, these works did not win him much praise. besides that, francesco was never much liked there, because he had a nature altogether opposed to that of the men of that country, where, even as those merry and jovial men are liked and held dear who live a free life and take part gladly in assemblies and banquets, so those are, i do not say shunned, but less liked and welcomed, who are by nature, as francesco was, melancholy, abstinent, sickly, and cross-grained. for some things he might have deserved to be excused, since his habit of body would not allow him to mix himself up with banquets and with eating and drinking too much, if only he could have been more agreeable in conversation. and, what was worse, whereas it was his duty, according to the custom of that country and that court, to show himself and pay court to others, he would have liked, and thought that he deserved, to be himself courted by everyone. in the end, the king being occupied with matters of war, and likewise the cardinal, and himself being disappointed of his salary and promised benefits, francesco, after having been there twenty months, resolved to return to italy. and so he made his way to milan, where he was courteously received by the chevalier leone aretino in the house that he has built for himself, very ornate and all filled with statues ancient and modern, and with figures cast in gesso from rare works, as will be told in another place; and after having stayed there a fortnight and rested himself, he went on to florence. there he found giorgio vasari and told him how well he had done not to go to france, giving him an account that would have driven the desire to go there, no matter how great, out of anyone. from florence he returned to rome, and there entered an action against those who had guaranteed his allowances from the cardinal of lorraine, and compelled them to pay him in full; and when he had received the money he bought some offices, in addition to others that he held before, with a firm resolve to look after his own life, knowing that he was not in good health and that he had wholly ruined his constitution. notwithstanding that, he would have liked to be employed in great works; but in this he did not succeed so readily, and he occupied himself for a time with executing pictures and portraits. pope paul iv having died, pius was elected, likewise the fourth of that name, who, much delighting in building, availed himself of pirro ligorio in matters of architecture; and his holiness ordained that cardinals alessandro farnese and emulio should cause the great hall, called the hall of kings, to be finished by daniello da volterra, who had begun it. that very reverend farnese did his utmost to obtain the half of that work for francesco, and in consequence there was a long contention between daniello and francesco, particularly because michelagnolo buonarroti exerted himself in favour of daniello, and for a time they arrived at no conclusion. meanwhile, vasari having gone with cardinal giovanni de' medici, the son of duke cosimo, to rome, francesco related to him his many difficulties, and in particular that in which, for the reasons just given, he then found himself; and giorgio, who much loved the excellence of the man, showed him that up to that time he had managed his affairs very badly, and that for the future he should let him (vasari) manage them, for he would so contrive that in one way or another the half of that hall of kings would fall to him to execute, which daniello was not able to finish by himself, being a slow and irresolute person, and almost certainly not as able and versatile as francesco. matters standing thus, and nothing more being done for the moment, not many days afterwards giorgio himself was requested by the pope to paint part of that hall, but he answered that he had one three times larger to paint in the palace of his master, duke cosimo, and, in addition, that he had been so badly treated by pope julius iii, for whom he had executed many labours in the vigna on the monte and elsewhere, that he no longer knew what to expect from certain kinds of men; adding that he had painted for the palace of the same pontiff, without being paid, an altar-piece of christ calling peter and andrew from their nets on the sea of tiberias (which had been taken away by pope paul iv from a chapel that julius had built over the corridor of the belvedere, and which was to be sent to milan), and that his holiness should cause it to be either paid for or restored to him. to which the pope said in answer--and whether it was true or not, i do not know--that he knew nothing of that altar-piece, but wished to see it; whereupon it was sent for, and, after his holiness had seen it, but in a bad light, he was content that it should be restored. the discussion about the hall being then resumed, giorgio told the pope frankly that francesco was the first and best painter in rome, that his holiness would do well to employ him, since no one could serve him better, and that, although buonarroti and the cardinal of carpi favoured daniello, they did so more from the motive of friendship, and perhaps out of animosity, than for any other reason. but to return to the altar-piece; giorgio had no sooner left the pope than he sent it to the house of francesco, who afterwards had it taken to arezzo, where, as we have related in another place, it has been deposited by vasari with a rich, costly, and handsome ornament, in the pieve of that city. the affairs of the hall of kings remaining in the condition that has been described above, when duke cosimo departed from siena in order to go to rome, vasari, who had gone as far as that with his excellency, recommended salviati warmly to him, beseeching him to make interest on his behalf with the pope, and to francesco he wrote as to all that he was to do when the duke had arrived in rome. in all which francesco departed in no way from the advice given him by giorgio, for he went to do reverence to the duke, and was welcomed by his excellency with an aspect full of kindness, and shortly afterwards so much was said to his holiness on his behalf, that the half of the above-mentioned hall was allotted to him. setting his hand to the work, before doing any other thing he threw to the ground a scene that had been begun by daniello; on which account there were afterwards many contentions between them. the pontiff was served in matters of architecture, as has been already related, by pirro ligorio, who at first had much favoured francesco, and would have continued to favour him; but francesco paying no more attention either to pirro or to any other after he had begun to work, this was the reason that ligorio, from being his friend, became in a certain sort his adversary, and of this very manifest signs were seen, for pirro began to say to the pope that since there were many young painters of ability in rome, and he wished to have that hall off his hands, it would be a good thing to allot one scene to each of them, and thus to see it finished once and for all. these proceedings of pirro's, to which it was evident that the pope was favourable, so displeased francesco, that in great disdain he retired from the work and all the contentions, considering that he was held in little estimation. and so, mounting his horse and not saying a word to anyone, he went off to florence, where, like the strange creature that he was, without giving a thought to any of the friends that he had there, he took up his abode in an inn, as if he did not belong to the place and had no acquaintance there nor anyone who cared for him in any way. afterwards, having kissed the hands of the duke, he was received with such kindness, that he might well have looked for some good result, if only he had been different in nature and had adhered to the advice of giorgio, who urged him to sell the offices that he had in rome and to settle in florence, so as to enjoy his native place with his friends and to avoid the danger of losing, together with his life, all the fruits of his toil and grievous labours. but francesco, moved by sensitiveness and anger, and by his desire to avenge himself, resolved that he would at all costs return to rome in a few days. meanwhile, moving from that inn at the entreaty of his friends, he retired to the house of m. marco finale, the prior of s. apostolo, where he executed a pietà in colours on cloth of silver for m. jacopo salviati, as it were to pass the time, with the madonna and the other maries, which was a very beautiful work. he renewed in colours a medallion with the ducal arms, which he had made on a former occasion and placed over a door in the palace of messer alamanno. and for the above-named m. jacopo he made a most beautiful book of bizarre costumes and various headdresses of men and horses for masquerades, for which he received innumerable courtesies from the liberality of that lord, who lamented the strange and eccentric nature of francesco, whom he was never able to attract into his house on this occasion, as he had done at other times. finally, francesco being about to set out for rome, giorgio, as his friend, reminded him that, being rich, advanced in years, weak in health, and little fitted for more fatigues, he should think of living in peace and shun strife and contention, which he would have been able to do with ease, having acquired honour and property in plenty, if he had not been too avaricious and desirous of gain. he exhorted him, in addition, to sell the greater part of the offices that he possessed and to arrange his affairs in such a manner, that in any emergency or any misfortune that might happen he might be able to remember his friends and those who had given him faithful and loving service. francesco promised that he would do right both in word and deed, and confessed that giorgio had spoken the truth; but, as happens to most of the men who think that time will last for ever, he did nothing more in the matter. having arrived in rome, francesco found that cardinal emulio had distributed the scenes of the hall, giving two of them to taddeo zucchero of sant' agnolo, one to livio da forlì, another to orazio da bologna, yet another to girolamo da sermoneta, and the rest to others. which being reported by francesco to giorgio, whom he asked whether it would be well for him to continue the work that he had begun, he received the answer that it would be a good thing, after making so many little designs and large cartoons, to finish at least one picture, notwithstanding that the greater part of the work had been allotted to so many others, all much inferior to him, and that he should make an effort to approach as near as possible in his work to the pictures by buonarroti on the walls and vaulting of the sistine chapel, and to those of the pauline; for the reason that after his work was seen, the others would be thrown to the ground, and all, to his great glory, would be allotted to him. and giorgio warned him to give no thought to profit or money, or to any vexation that he might suffer from those in charge of the work, telling him that the honour was much more important than any other thing. of all these letters and of the replies, the originals, as well as copies, are among those that we ourselves treasure in memory of so great a man, who was our dearest friend, and among those by our own hand that must have been found among his possessions. after these things francesco was living in an angry mood, in no way certain as to what he wished to do, afflicted in mind, feeble in body, and weakened by everlasting medicines, when finally he fell ill with the illness of death, which carried him in a short time to the last extremity, without having given him time to make a complete disposal of his possessions. to a disciple called annibale, the son of nanni di baccio bigio, he left sixty crowns a year on the monte delle farine, fourteen pictures, and all his designs and other art possessions. the rest of his property he left to suor gabriella, his sister, a nun, although i understand that she did not receive, as the saying goes, even the "cord of the sack." however, there must have come into her hands a picture painted on cloth of silver, with embroidery around it, which he had executed for the king of portugal or of poland, whichever it was, and left to her to the end that she might keep it in memory of him. all his other possessions, such as the offices that he had bought after unspeakable fatigues, all were lost. francesco died on s. martin's day, the th of november, in the year , and was buried in s. gieronimo, a church near the house where he lived. the death of francesco was a very great loss to art, seeing that, although he was fifty-four years of age and weak in health, he was continually studying and working, cost what it might; and at the very last he had set himself to work in mosaic. it is evident that he was capricious, and would have liked to do many things; and if he had found a prince who could have recognized his humour and could have given him works after his fancy, he would have achieved marvellous things, for, as we have said, he was rich, fertile, and most exuberant in every kind of invention, and a master in every field of painting. he gave great beauty and grace to every kind of head, and he understood the nude as well as any other painter of his time. he had a very graceful and delicate manner in painting draperies, arranging them in such a way that the nude could always be perceived in the parts where that was required, and clothing his figures in new fashions of dress; and he showed fancy and variety in headdresses, foot-wear, and every other kind of ornament. he handled colours in oils, in distemper, and in fresco in such a manner, that it may be affirmed that he was one of the most able, resolute, bold, and diligent craftsmen of our age, and to this we, who associated with him for so many years, are well able to bear testimony. and although there was always between us a certain proper emulation, by reason of the desire that good craftsmen have to surpass one another, none the less, with regard to the claims of friendship, there was never any lack of love and affection between us, although each of us worked in competition in the most famous places in italy, as may be seen from a vast number of letters that are in my possession, as i have said, written by the hand of francesco. salviati was affectionate by nature, but suspicious, acute, subtle, and penetrative, and yet ready to believe anything; and when he set himself to speak of some of the men of our arts, either in jest or in earnest, he was likely to give offence, and at times touched them to the quick. it pleased him to mix with men of learning and great persons, and he always held plebeian craftsmen in detestation, even though they might be able in some field of art. he avoided such persons as always speak evil, and when the conversation turned on them he would tear them to pieces without mercy. but most of all he abhorred the knaveries that craftsmen sometimes commit, of which, having been in france, and having heard something of them, he was only too well able to speak. at times, in order to be less weighed down by his melancholy, he used to mingle with his friends and force himself to be cheerful. but in the end his strange nature, so irresolute, suspicious, and solitary, did harm to no one but himself. his dearest friend was manno, a florentine goldsmith in rome, a man rare in his profession and excellent in character and goodness of heart. manno is burdened with a family, and if francesco had been able to dispose of his property, and had not spent all the fruits of his labours on offices, only to leave them to the pope, he would have left a great part of them to that worthy man and excellent craftsman. very dear to him, likewise, was the above-mentioned avveduto dell'avveduto, a dresser of minever-furs, who was the most loving and most faithful friend that francesco ever had; and if he had been in rome when francesco died, salviati would probably have arranged certain of his affairs with better judgment than he did. [illustration: medal of pope clement vii (_after =francesco dal prato=. london: british museum_)] his disciple, also, was the spaniard roviale, who executed many works in company with him, and by himself an altar-piece containing the conversion of s. paul for the church of s. spirito in rome. and salviati was very well disposed towards francesco di girolamo dal prato, in company with whom, as has been related above, he studied design while still a child; which francesco was a man of most beautiful genius, and drew better than any other goldsmith of his time; and he was not inferior to his father girolamo, who executed every kind of work with plates of silver better than any of his rivals. it is said that girolamo succeeded with ease in any kind of work; thus, having beaten the plate of silver with certain hammers, he placed it on a piece of plank, and between the two a layer of wax, tallow and pitch, producing in that way a material midway between soft and hard, and then, beating it with iron instruments both inwards and outwards, he caused it to come out in whatever shapes he desired--heads, breasts, arms, legs, backs, and any other thing that he wished or was demanded from him by those who caused votive offerings to be made, in order to attach them to those holy images that were to be found in any place where they had received favours or had been heard in their prayers. francesco, then, not attending only to the making of votive offerings, as his father did, worked also at tausia and at inlaying steel with gold and silver after the manner of damascening, making foliage, figures, and any other kind of work that he wished; in which manner of inlaid work he made a complete suit of armour for a foot-soldier, of great beauty, for duke alessandro de' medici. among many medals that the same man made, those were by his hand, and very beautiful, which were placed in the foundations of the fortifications at the porta a faenza, with the head of the above-named duke alessandro; together with others in which there was on one side the head of pope clement vii, and on the other a nude christ with the scourges of his passion. francesco also delighted in the work of sculpture, and cast some little figures in bronze, full of grace, which came into the possession of duke alessandro. and the same master polished and carried to great perfection four similar figures, made by baccio bandinelli--namely, a leda, a venus, a hercules, and an apollo--which were given to the same duke. being dissatisfied, then, with the goldsmith's craft, and not being able to give his attention to sculpture, which calls for too many resources, francesco, having a good knowledge of design, devoted himself to painting; and since he was a person who mixed little with others, and did not care to have it known more than was inevitable that he was giving his attention to painting, he executed many works by himself. meanwhile, as was related at the beginning, francesco salviati came to florence, and he worked at the picture for m. alamanno in the rooms that the other francesco occupied in the office of works of s. maria del fiore; wherefore with that opportunity, seeing salviati's method of working, he applied himself to painting with much more zeal than he had done up to that time, and executed a very beautiful picture of the conversion of s. paul, which is now in the possession of guglielmo del tovaglia. and after that, in a picture of the same size, he painted the serpents raining down on the hebrew people, and in another he painted jesus christ delivering the holy fathers from the limbo of hell; which two last-named pictures, both very beautiful, now belong to filippo spini, a gentleman who much delights in our arts. besides many other little works that francesco dal prato executed, he drew much and well, as may be seen from some designs by his hand that are in our book of drawings. he died in the year , and his death much grieved the whole academy, because, besides his having been an able master in art, there was never a more excellent man than francesco. [illustration: the reconciliation of pope alexander iii and frederick barbarossa (_after the fresco by =giuseppe del salviati [giuseppe porta]=. rome: the vatican, sala regia_) _anderson_] another pupil of francesco salviati was giuseppe porta of castelnuovo della garfagnana, who, out of respect for his master, was also called giuseppe salviati. this giuseppe, having been taken to rome as a boy, in the year , by an uncle, the secretary of monsignor onofrio bartolini, archbishop of pisa, was placed with salviati, under whom he learned in a short time not only to draw very finely, but also to use colour excellently well. he then went with his master to venice, where he formed so many connections with noble persons, that, being left there by francesco, he made up his mind that he would choose that city as his home; and so, having taken a wife there, he has lived there ever since, and he has worked in few other places but venice. he painted long ago the façade of the house of the loredani on the campo di s. stefano, with scenes very pleasingly coloured in fresco and executed in a beautiful manner. he painted, likewise, that of the bernardi at s. polo, and another behind s. rocco, which is a very good work. three other façades he has painted in chiaroscuro, very large and covered with various scenes--one at s. moisè, the second at s. cassiano, and the third at s. maria zebenigo. he has also painted in fresco, at a place called treville, near treviso, the whole of the palace of the priuli, a rich and vast building, both within and without; of which building there will be a long account in the life of sansovino; and at pieve di sacco he has painted a very beautiful façade. at bagnuolo, a seat of the friars of s. spirito at venice, he has executed an altar-piece in oils; and for the same fathers he has painted the ceiling, or rather, soffit of the refectory in the convent of s. spirito, with a number of compartments filled with painted pictures, and a most beautiful last supper on the principal wall. for the hall of the doge, in the palace of s. marco, he has painted the sibyls, the prophets, the cardinal virtues, and christ with the maries, which have won him vast praise; and in the above-mentioned library of s. marco he painted two large scenes, in competition with the other painters of venice of whom mention has been made above. being summoned to rome by cardinal emulio after the death of francesco, he finished one of the larger scenes that are in the hall of kings, and began another; and then, pope pius iv having died, he returned to venice, where the signoria commissioned him to paint a ceiling with pictures in oils, which is at the head of the new staircase in the palace. the same master has painted six very beautiful altar-pieces in oils, one of which is on the altar of the madonna in s. francesco della vigna, the second on the high-altar in the church of the servites, the third is with the friars minors, the fourth in the madonna dell'orto, the fifth at s. zaccheria, and the sixth at s. moisè; and he has painted two at murano, which are beautiful and executed with much diligence and in a lovely manner. but of this giuseppe, who is still alive and is becoming a very excellent master, i say no more for the present, save that, in addition to his painting, he devotes much study to geometry. by his hand is the volute of the ionic capital that is to be seen in print at the present day, showing how it should be turned after the ancient measure; and there is to appear soon a work that he has composed on the subject of geometry. a disciple of francesco, also, was one domenico romano, who was of great assistance to him in the hall that he painted in florence, and in other works. domenico engaged himself in the year to signor giuliano cesarino, and he does not work on his own account. daniello ricciarelli life of daniello ricciarelli painter and sculptor of volterra daniello, when he was a lad, learned to draw a little from giovanni antonio sodoma, who went at that time to execute certain works in the city of volterra; and when sodoma had gone away he made much greater and better proficience under baldassarre peruzzi than he had done under the discipline of the other. but to tell the truth, for all that, he achieved no great success at that time, for the reason that in proportion as he devoted great effort and study to seeking to learn, being urged by a strong desire, even so, on the other hand, did his brain and hand fail him. wherefore in his first works, which he executed at volterra, there is evidence of very great, nay, infinite labour, but not yet any promise of a grand or beautiful manner, nor any grace, charm, or invention, such as have been seen at an early hour in many others who have been born to be painters, and who, even in their first beginnings, have shown facility, boldness, and some indication of a good manner. his first works, indeed, seem in truth as if done by a melancholic, being full of effort and executed with much patience and expenditure of time. but let us come to his works, leaving aside those that are not worthy of attention; in his youth he painted in fresco at volterra the façade of m. mario maffei, in chiaroscuro, which gave him a good name and won him much credit. but after he had finished it, perceiving that he had there no competition that might spur him to seek to rise to greater heights, and that there were no works in that city, either ancient or modern, from which he could learn much, he determined at all costs to go to rome, where he heard that there were not at that time many who were engaged in painting, excepting perino del vaga. before departing, he resolved that he would take some finished work that might make him known; and so, having painted a canvas in oils of christ scourged at the column, with many figures, to which he devoted all possible diligence, availing himself of models and portraits from life, he took it with him. and, having arrived in rome, he had not been long there before he contrived by means of friends to show that picture to cardinal triulzi, whom it satisfied in such a manner that he not only bought it, but also conceived a very great affection for daniello; and a short time afterwards he sent him to work in a village without rome belonging to himself, called salone, where he had built a very large house, which he was having adorned with fountains, stucco-work, and paintings, and in which at that very time gian maria da milano and others were decorating certain rooms with stucco and grotesques. arriving there, then, daniello, both out of emulation and from a desire to serve that lord, from whom he could hope to win much honour and profit, painted various things in many rooms and loggie in company with the others, and in particular executed many grotesques, full of various little figures of women. but the work that proved to be more beautiful than all the rest was a story of phaëthon, executed in fresco with figures of the size of life, and a very large river god that he painted there, which is a very good figure; and all these works, since the above-named cardinal went often to see them, and took with him now one and now another of the cardinals, were the reason that daniello formed a friendship and bonds of service with many of them. afterwards, perino del vaga, who at that time was painting the chapel of m. agnolo de' massimi in the trinita, having need of a young man who might help him, daniello, desiring to make proficience, and drawn by his promises, went to work with him and assisted him to execute certain things in the work of that chapel, which he carried to completion with much diligence. now, before the sack of rome perino had painted on the vaulting of the chapel of the crocifisso in s. marcello, as has been related, the creation of adam and eve in figures of the size of life, and in much larger figures two evangelists, s. john and s. mark, which were not yet completely finished, since the figure of s. john was wanting from the middle upwards; and the men of that company resolved, when the affairs of rome had finally become settled again, that the same perino should finish the work. but he, having other work to do, made the cartoons and had it finished by daniello, who completed the s. john that had been left unfinished, painted all by himself the two other evangelists, s. luke and s. matthew, between them two little boys that are holding a candelabrum, and, on the arch of the wall that contains the window, two angels standing poised on their wings in the act of flight, who are holding in their hands the mysteries of the passion of jesus christ; and he adorned the arch richly with grotesques and little naked figures of great beauty. in short, he acquitted himself marvellously well in all that work, although he took a considerable time over it. [illustration: the descent from the cross (_after the fresco by =daniello ricciarelli=. rome: ss. trinita dei monti_) _anderson_] the same perino having then caused daniello to execute a frieze in the hall of the palace of m. agnolo massimi, with many divisions in stucco and other ornaments, and stories of the actions of fabius maximus, he bore himself so well, that signora elena orsina, having seen that work and hearing the ability of daniello much extolled, commissioned him to paint her chapel in the church of the trinita in rome, on the hill, where the friars of s. francesco di paola have their seat. wherefore daniello, putting forth all possible effort and diligence, in order to produce a rare work which might make him known as an excellent painter, did not shrink from devoting to it the labour of many years. from the name of that lady, the title given to the chapel being that of the cross of christ our saviour, the subject chosen was that of the actions of s. helen; and so in the principal altar-piece daniello painted jesus christ taken down from the cross by joseph, nicodemus, and other disciples, and the virgin mary in a swoon, supported on the arms of the magdalene and the other maries, in all which he showed very great judgment, and gave proof of very rare ability, for the reason that, besides the composition of the figures, which has a very rich effect, the figure of christ is very fine and most beautifully foreshortened, with the feet coming forward and the rest backwards. very beautiful and difficult, likewise, are the foreshortenings in the figures of those who, having removed him from the cross, support him with some bands, standing on some ladders and revealing in certain parts the nude flesh, executed with much grace. around that altar-piece he made an ornament in stucco-work of great beauty and variety, full of carvings, with two figures that support the pediment with their heads, while with one hand they hold the capital, and with the other they seek to place the column, which stands at the foot on the base, below the capital to support it; which work is done with extraordinary care. in the arch above the altar-piece he painted two sibyls in fresco, which are the best figures in the whole work; and those sibyls are one on either side of the window, which is above the centre of the altar-piece, giving light to the whole chapel. the vaulting of the chapel is divided into four compartments by bizarre, well varied, and beautiful partitions of stucco-work and grotesques made with new fantasies of masks and festoons; and in those compartments are four stories of the cross and of s. helen, the mother of constantine. in the first is the scene when, before the passion of the saviour, three crosses are constructed; in the second, s. helen commanding certain hebrews to reveal those crosses to her; in the third, the hebrews not consenting to reveal them, she causes to be cast into a well him who knows where they are; and in the fourth he reveals the place where all three are buried. those four scenes are beautiful beyond belief, and executed with great care. on the side-walls are four other scenes, two to each wall, and each is divided off by the cornice that forms the impost of the arch upon which rests the groined vaulting of the chapel. in one is s. helen causing the holy cross and the two others to be drawn up from a well; and in the second is that of the saviour healing a sick man. of the pictures below, in that on the right hand is the same s. helen recognizing the cross of christ because it restores to life a corpse upon which it is laid; to the nude flesh of which corpse daniello devoted extraordinary pains, searching out all the muscles and seeking to render correctly all the parts of the body, as he also did in those who are placing the cross upon it, and in the bystanders, who are all struck with amazement by the sight of that miracle. and, in addition, there is a bier of bizarre shape painted with much diligence, with a skeleton embracing it, executed with great care and with beautiful invention. in the other picture, which is opposite to the first, he painted the emperor heraclius walking barefoot and in his shirt, and carrying the cross of christ through the gate of rome, with men, women, and children kneeling, who are adoring it, many lords in his train, and a groom who is holding his horse. below each scene, forming a kind of base, are two most beautiful women in chiaroscuro, painted in imitation of marble, who appear to be supporting those scenes. and under the first arch, on the front side, he painted on the flat surface, standing upright, two figures as large as life, a s. francesco di paola, the head of the order that administers the above-named church, and a s. jerome robed as a cardinal, which are two very good figures, even as are those of the whole work, which daniello executed in seven years, with incalculable labour and study. but, since pictures that are executed in that way have always a certain hard and laboured quality, the work is wanting in the grace and facility that give most pleasure to the eye. wherefore daniello, himself confessing the fatigue that he had endured in the work, and fearing the fate that did come upon him (namely, that he would be censured), made below the feet of those two saints, to please himself, and as it were in his own defence, two little scenes of stucco in low-relief, in which he sought to show that, although he worked slowly and with effort, nevertheless, since michelagnolo buonarroti and fra sebastiano del piombo were his friends, and he was always imitating their works and observing their precepts, his imitation of those two men should be enough to defend him from the biting words of envious and malignant persons, whose evil nature must perforce be revealed, although they may not think it. in one of these scenes, then, he made many figures of satyrs that are weighing legs, arms, and other members of figures with a steelyard, in order to put on one side those that are correct in weight and satisfactory, and to give those that are bad to michelagnolo and fra sebastiano, who are holding conference over them; and in the other is michelagnolo looking at himself in a mirror, the significance of which is clear enough. at two angles of the arch, likewise, on the outer side, he painted two nudes in chiaroscuro, which are of the same excellence as the other figures in that work. when it was all uncovered, which was after a very long time, it was much extolled, and held to be a very beautiful work and a triumph over difficulties, and the painter a most excellent master. after that chapel, cardinal alessandro farnese caused him to execute in a room in his palace--namely, at the corner, under one of those very rich ceilings made under the direction of maestro antonio da san gallo for three large chambers that are in a line--a very beautiful frieze in painting, with a scene full of figures on each wall, the scenes being a very beautiful triumph of bacchus, a hunt, and others of that kind. these much pleased the cardinal, who caused him to paint, in addition, in several parts of that frieze, the unicorn in various forms in the lap of a virgin, which is the device of that most illustrious family. which work was the reason that that lord, who has ever been the friend of all talented and distinguished men, always favoured him, and even more would he have done it, if daniello had not been so dilatory over his work; but for that daniello was not to blame, seeing that such was his nature and genius, and he was content to do little well rather than much not so well. now, in addition to the affection that the cardinal bore him, signor annibale caro worked on his behalf in such a manner with his patrons, the farnesi, that they always assisted him. and for madama margherita of austria, the daughter of charles v, he painted in eight spaces in the study of which mention has been made in the life of indaco, in the palace of the medici on the piazza navona, eight little stories of the actions and illustrious deeds of the above-named emperor charles v, with such diligence and excellence, that it would be almost impossible to do better in that kind of work. in the year perino del vaga died, leaving unfinished the hall of kings, which, as has been related, is in the papal palace, in front of the sistine and pauline chapels; and by the mediation of many friends and lords, and in particular of michelagnolo buonarroti, daniello was set in his place by pope paul iii, with the same salary that perino had received, and was commanded to make a beginning with the ornaments of the walls that were to be executed in stucco, with many nudes in the round over certain pediments. now, since the walls of that hall are broken by six large doors in variegated marble, and only one wall is left unbroken, daniello made over each door what is almost a tabernacle in stucco, of great beauty. in each of these he intended to execute in painting one of those kings who have defended the apostolic church, and then to continue on the walls with stories of those kings who have benefited the church with tributes or victories, so that in all there were to be six stories and six niches. after those niches, or rather, tabernacles, daniello with the aid of many assistants executed all the other very rich decorations in stucco that are to be seen in that hall, studying at the same time over the cartoons for all that he had proposed to do in that place in the way of painting. which done, he made a beginning with one of the stories, but he did not paint more than about two braccia of it, and two of the kings in the tabernacles of stucco over the doors. for, although he was pressed by cardinal farnese and by the pope, not reflecting that death very often spoils the designs of men, he carried on the work so slowly that when in the year the death of the pope took place, there was nothing done save what has been described; and then, the conclave having to be held in the hall, which was full of scaffolding and woodwork, it became necessary to throw everything to the ground and uncover the work. the whole being thus seen by everyone, the works in stucco were vastly extolled, as they deserved, but not so the two kings in painting, for it was thought that they were not equal in excellence to the work at the trinita, and that with all those fine allowances and advantages he had gone rather backward than forward. julius iii having been created pontiff in the year , daniello put himself forward by means of friends and interests, hoping to obtain the same salary and to continue the work of that hall, but the pope, not having any inclination in his favour, always put him off; indeed, sending for giorgio vasari, who had been his servant from the time when he was archbishop of siponto, he made use of him in all matters concerned with design. nevertheless, his holiness having determined to make a fountain at the head of the corridor of the belvedere, and not liking a design by michelagnolo (in which was moses striking the rock and causing water to flow from it) because it was a thing that could not be carried out without a great expenditure of time, since michelagnolo wished to make it of marble; his holiness, i say, preferring the advice of giorgio, which was that the cleopatra, a divine figure made by the greeks, should be set up in that place, the charge of that work was given by means of buonarroti to daniello, with orders that he should make in the above-named place a grotto in stucco-work, within which that cleopatra was to be placed. daniello, then, having set his hand to that work, pursued it so slowly, although he was much pressed, that he finished only the stucco-work and the paintings in that room, but as for the many other things that the pope wished to have done, seeing them delayed longer than he had expected, he lost all desire for them, so that nothing more was done and everything was left in the condition that is still to be seen. in a chapel in the church of s. agostino daniello painted in fresco, with figures of the size of life, s. helen causing the cross to be found, and in two niches at the sides s. cecilia and s. lucia, which work was painted partly by him and partly, after his designs, by the young men who worked with him, so that it did not prove as perfect as his others. at this same time there was allotted to him by signora lucrezia della rovere a chapel in the trinita, opposite to that of signora elena orsina. in that chapel, having divided it into compartments with stucco-work, he had the vaulting painted with stories of the virgin, after his own cartoons, by marco da siena and pellegrino da bologna; on one of the walls he caused the nativity of the virgin to be painted by the spaniard bizzerra, and on the other, by giovan paolo rossetti of volterra, his disciple, the presentation of jesus christ to simeon; and he caused the same giovan paolo to execute two scenes that are on the arches above, gabriel bringing the annunciation to the virgin and the nativity of christ. on the outer side, at the angles, he painted two large figures, and on the pilasters, at the foot, two prophets. on the altar-front daniello painted with his own hand the madonna ascending the steps of the temple, and on the principal wall the same virgin ascending into heaven, borne by many most beautiful angels in the forms of little boys, and the twelve apostles below, gazing on her as she ascends. and since the place would not hold so many figures, and he desired to use a new invention in the work, he made it appear as if the altar of that chapel were the sepulchre, and placed the apostles around it, making their feet rest on the floor of the chapel, where the altar begins; which method of daniello's has pleased some, but others, who form the greater and better part, not at all. and although daniello toiled fourteen years over executing that work, it is not a whit better than the first. on the last wall of the chapel that remained to be finished, on which there was to be painted the massacre of the innocents, having himself made the cartoons, he had the whole executed by the florentine michele alberti, his disciple. the florentine monsignor m. giovanni della casa, a man of great learning (to which his most pleasing and learned works, both in latin and in the vulgar tongue, bear witness), having begun to write a treatise on the matters of painting, and wishing to enlighten himself as to certain minute particulars with the help of men of the profession, commissioned daniello to make with all possible care a finished model of a david in clay. and then he caused him to paint, or rather, to copy in a picture, the same david, which is very beautiful, from either side, both the front and the back, which was a fanciful notion; and that picture now belongs to m. annibale rucellai. for the same m. giovanni he executed a dead christ with the maries; and, on a canvas that was to be sent to france, Æneas disrobing in order to go to sleep with dido, and interrupted by mercury, who is represented as speaking to him in the manner that may be read in the verses of virgil. and he painted for the same man in another picture, likewise in oils, a most beautiful s. john in penitence, of the size of life, which was held very dear by that lord as long as he lived; and also a s. jerome, beautiful to a marvel. pope julius iii having died, and paul iv having been elected supreme pontiff, the cardinal of carpi sought to persuade his holiness to give the above-mentioned hall of kings to daniello to finish, but that pope, not delighting in pictures, answered that it was much better to fortify rome than to spend money on painting it. and so he caused a beginning to be made with the great portal of the castle, after the design of salustio, the son of baldassarre peruzzi of siena and his architect, and ordained that in that work, which was being executed all in travertine, after the manner of a sumptuous and magnificent triumphal arch, there should be placed in niches five statues, each of four braccia and a half; whereupon daniello was commissioned to make an angel michael, the other statues having been allotted to other craftsmen. meanwhile monsignor giovanni riccio, cardinal of montepulciano, resolved to erect a chapel in s. pietro a montorio, opposite to that which pope julius had caused to be built under the direction of giorgio vasari, and he allotted the altar-piece, the scenes in fresco and the statues of marble that were going into it, to daniello; and daniello, by that time completely determined that he would abandon painting and devote himself to sculpture, went off to carrara to have the marble quarried both for the s. michael and for the statues that he was to make for the chapel in s. pietro a montorio. with that occasion, coming to see florence and the works that vasari was executing in the palace for the duke, and the other works in that city, he received many courtesies from his innumerable friends, and in particular from vasari himself, to whom buonarroti had recommended him by letter. abiding in florence, then, and perceiving how much the lord duke delighted in all the arts of design, daniello was seized with a desire to attach himself to the service of his most illustrious excellency. many means being therefore employed, the lord duke replied to those who were recommending him that he should be introduced by vasari, and so it was done; and daniello offering himself as the servant of his excellency, the duke answered graciously that he accepted him most willingly, and that after he had fulfilled the engagements that he had in rome, he should come when he pleased, and he would be received very gladly. daniello stayed all that summer in florence, where giorgio lodged him in the house of simon botti, who was much his friend. there, during that time, he cast in gesso nearly all the figures of marble by the hand of michelagnolo that are in the new sacristy of s. lorenzo; and for the fleming michael fugger he made a leda, which was a very beautiful figure. he then went to carrara, and from there, having sent the marble that he desired in the direction of rome, he returned once again to florence, for the following reason. daniello had brought with him, when he first came from rome to florence, a young disciple of his own called orazio pianetti, a talented and very gentle youth; but no sooner had he arrived in florence, whatever may have been the reason, than he died. at which feeling infinite grief and sorrow, daniello, as one who much loved the young man for his fine qualities, and was not able to show his affection for him in any other way, returning that last time to florence, made a portrait of him in marble from the breast upwards, which he copied excellently well from one moulded from his dead body. and when it was finished, he placed it with an epitaph in the church of s. michele berteldi on the piazza degli antinori; in which daniello proved himself, by that truly loving office, to be a man of rare goodness, and a different sort of friend to his friends from the kind that is generally seen at the present day, when there are very few to be found who value anything in friendship beyond their own profit and convenience. after these things, it being a long time since he had been in his native city of volterra, he went there before returning to rome, and was warmly welcomed by his relatives and friends. being besought to leave some memorial of himself in his native place, he executed the story of the innocents in a small panel with little figures, which was held to be a very beautiful work, and placed it in the church of s. piero. then, thinking that he would never return, he sold the little that he possessed there by way of patrimony to leonardo ricciarelli, his nephew, who, having been with him in rome, and having learned very well how to work in stucco, afterwards served giorgio vasari for three years, in company with many others, in the works that were executed at that time in the palace of the duke. when daniello had finally returned to rome, pope paul iv having a desire to throw to the ground the judgment of michelagnolo on account of the nudes, which seemed to him to display the parts of shame in an unseemly manner, it was said by the cardinals and by men of judgment that it would be a great sin to spoil them, and they found a way out of it, which was that daniello should paint some light garments to cover them; and the business was afterwards finished in the time of pius iv by repainting the s. catherine and the s. biagio, which were thought to be unseemly. [illustration: the massacre of the innocents (_after the painting by =daniello ricciarelli=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] in the meantime he began the statues for the chapel of the above-named cardinal of montepulciano, and the s. michael for the great portal; but none the less, being a man who was always going from one notion to another, he did not work with the promptitude that he could and should have used. about this time, after king henry of france had been killed in a tournament, signor ruberto strozzi being about to come to italy and to rome, queen caterina de' medici, having been left regent in that kingdom, and wishing to erect some honourable memorial to her dead husband, commanded the said ruberto to confer with buonarroti and to contrive to have her desire in that matter fulfilled. wherefore, having arrived in rome, he spoke long of the matter with michelagnolo, who, not being able, because he was old, to accept that undertaking himself, advised signor ruberto to give it to daniello, saying that he would not fail to give him all the counsel and assistance that he could. to that offer strozzi attached great importance, and, after they had considered with much deliberation what should be done, it was resolved that daniello should make a horse of bronze all in one piece, twenty palms high from the head to the feet, and about forty in length, and that upon it there should then be placed the statue of king henry in armour, likewise of bronze. daniello having then made a little model of clay after the advice and judgment of michelagnolo, which much pleased signor ruberto, an account of everything was written to france, and in the end an agreement was made between him and daniello as to the method of executing that work, the time, the price, and every other thing. whereupon daniello, setting to work with much study on the horse, made it in clay exactly as it was to be, without ever doing any other work; and then, having made the mould, he was proceeding to prepare to cast it, and, the work being of such importance, was taking advice from many founders as to the method that he ought to pursue, to the end that it might come out well, when pius iv, who had been elected pontiff after the death of paul, gave daniello to understand that he desired, as has been related in the life of salviati, that the work of the hall of kings should be finished, and that therefore every other thing was to be put on one side. to which daniello answered that he was fully occupied and pledged to the queen of france, but would make the cartoons and have the work carried forward by his young men, and, in addition, would also do his own part in it. the pope, not liking that answer, began to think of allotting the whole to salviati; wherefore daniello, seized with jealousy, so went to work with the help of the cardinal of carpi and michelagnolo, that the half of that hall was given to him to paint, and the other half, as we have related, to salviati, although daniello did his utmost to obtain the whole, in order to proceed with it at his leisure and convenience, without competition. but in the end the matter of that work was handled in such a manner, that daniello did not do there one thing more than what he had done before, and salviati did not finish the little that he had begun, and even that little was thrown to the ground for him by certain malicious persons. finally, after four years, daniello was ready, so far as concerned him, to cast the above-mentioned horse, but he was obliged to wait many months more than he would otherwise have done, for want of the supplies of iron instruments, metal, and other materials that signor ruberto was to give him. but in the end, all these things having been provided, daniello embedded the mould, which was a vast mass, between two furnaces for founding in a very suitable room that he had at monte cavallo. the material being melted and the orifices unstopped, for a time the metal ran well enough, but at length the weight of the metal burst the mould of the body of the horse, and all the molten material flowed in a wrong direction. at first this much troubled the mind of daniello, but none the less, having thought well over everything, he found a way to remedy that great misfortune; and so after two months, casting it a second time, his ability prevailed over the impediments of fortune, so that he executed the casting of that horse (which is a sixth, or more, larger than that of antoninus which is on the campidoglio) perfectly uniform and equally delicate throughout, and it is a marvellous thing that a work so large should not weigh more than twenty thousand (libbre). but such were the discomforts and fatigues that were endured in the work by daniello, who was rather feeble in constitution and melancholy than otherwise, that not long afterwards there came upon him a cruel catarrh, which much reduced him; indeed, whereas daniello should have been happy at having surmounted innumerable difficulties in so rare a casting, it seemed that he never smiled again, no matter what good fortune might befall him, and no long time passed before that catarrh, after an illness of two days, robbed him of his life, on the th of april, . but before that, having foreseen his death, he confessed very devoutly, and demanded all the sacraments of the church; and then, making his will, he directed that his body should be buried in the new church that had been begun at the baths by pius iv for the carthusian monks, ordaining also that at his tomb, in that place, there should be set up the statue of the angel that he had formerly begun for the great portal of the castle. and of all this he gave the charge to the florentine michele degli alberti and to feliciano of san vito in the district of rome, making them executors of his will in those matters, and leaving them two hundred crowns for the purpose. which last wishes of daniello's the two of them executed with diligence and love, giving him honourable burial in that place, according as he had directed. to the same men he left all his property pertaining to art, moulds in gesso, models, designs, and all the other materials and implements of his work; wherefore they offered themselves to the ambassador of france, saying that they would deliver completely finished, within a fixed time, the work of the horse and the figure of the king that was to go upon it. and, in truth, both of them having practised many years under the instruction and discipline of daniello, the greatest things may be expected from them. disciples of daniello, likewise, have been biagio da carigliano of pistoia, and giovan paolo rossetti of volterra, who is a very diligent person and of most beautiful genius; which giovan paolo, having retired to volterra many years ago, has executed, as he still does, works worthy of much praise. another who also worked with daniello, and made much proficience, was marco da siena, who, having made his way to naples and chosen that city as his home, lives there and is constantly at work. and giulio mazzoni of piacenza has likewise been a disciple of daniello; which giulio received his first instruction from vasari, when giorgio was executing in florence an altar-piece for m. biagio mei, which was sent to lucca and placed in s. piero cigoli, and when the same giorgio was painting the altar-piece of the high-altar and a great work in the refectory of monte oliveto at naples, besides the sacristy of s. giovanni carbonaro and the doors of the organ in the piscopio, with other altar-pieces and pictures. giulio, having afterwards learned from daniello to work in stucco, in which he equalled his master, has adorned with his own hand all the interior of the palace of cardinal capodiferro, executing there marvellous works not only in stucco, but also of scenes in fresco and in oils, which have won him infinite praise, and that rightly. the same master has made a head of francesco del nero in marble, copying it so well from the life, that i do not believe that it is possible to do better; wherefore it may be hoped that he is destined to achieve a very fine result, and to attain to the greatest excellence and perfection that a man can reach in these our arts. daniello was an orderly and excellent man, but so intent on the studies of art, that he gave little thought to the other circumstances of his life. he was a melancholy person, and very solitary; and he died at about the age of fifty-seven. a request for his portrait was made to those disciples of his, who had taken it in gesso, and when i was in rome last year they promised it to me; but, for all the messages and letters that i have sent to them, they have refused to give it, thus showing little affection for their dead master. however, i have been unwilling to be hindered by that ingratitude on their part, seeing that daniello was my friend, and i have included the portrait given above, which, although it is little like him, must serve as a proof of my diligence and of the little care and lovingness of michele degli alberti and feliciano da san vito. taddeo zucchero life of taddeo zucchero painter of sant'agnolo in vado francesco maria being duke of urbino, there was born in the township of sant'agnolo in vado, a place in that state, on the st of september in the year , to the painter ottaviano zucchero, a male child to whom he gave the name of taddeo; which boy having learned by the age of ten to read and write passing well, his father took him under his own discipline and taught him something of design. but, perceiving that his son had a very beautiful genius and was likely to become a better master in painting than he believed himself to be, ottaviano placed him with pompeo da fano, who was very much his friend, but a commonplace painter. pompeo's works not pleasing taddeo, and likewise his ways, he returned to sant'agnolo, and there, as well as in other places, assisted his father to the best of his power and knowledge. finally, being well grown in years and in judgment, and perceiving that he could not make much progress under the discipline of his father, who was burdened with seven sons and one daughter, and also that with his own little knowledge he could not be of as much assistance to his father as he might wish, he went off all alone, at the age of fourteen, to rome. there, at first, not being known by anyone, and himself knowing no one, he suffered some hardships; and, if he did know one or two persons, he was treated worse by them than by the others. thus, having approached francesco, called sant'agnolo, who was working by the day at grotesques under perino del vaga, he commended himself to him with all humility, praying him that, being his kinsman, he should consent to help him; but no good came of it, for francesco, as certain kinds of kinsmen often do, not only did not assist him by word or deed, but reproved and repelled him harshly. but for all that, not losing heart and not being dismayed, the poor boy contrived to maintain himself (or we should rather say, to starve himself) for many months in rome by grinding colours for a small price, now in one shop and now in another, at times also drawing something, as best he could. and although in the end he placed himself as an assistant with one giovan piero calavrese, he did not gain much profit from that, for the reason that his master, together with his wife, a shrew of a woman, not only made him grind colours all day and all night, but even, among other things, kept him in want of bread, which, lest he should be able to have enough or to take it at his pleasure, they used to keep in a basket hung from the ceiling, with some little bells, which would ring at the least touch of a hand on the basket, and thus give the alarm. but this would have caused little annoyance to taddeo, if only he had had any opportunity of drawing some designs by the hand of raffaello da urbino that his pig of a master possessed. on account of these and many other strange ways taddeo left giovan piero, and resolved to live by himself and to have recourse to the workshops of rome, where he was by that time known, spending a part of the week in doing work for a livelihood, and the rest in drawing, particularly the works by the hand of raffaello that were in the house of agostino chigi and in other places in rome. and since very often, when the evening came on, he had no place wherein to sleep, many a night he took refuge under the loggie of the above-named chigi's house and in other suchlike places; which hardships did something to ruin his constitution, and, if his youth had not helped him, they would have killed him altogether. as it was, falling ill, and not being assisted by his kinsman francesco sant'agnolo any more than he had been before, he returned to his father's house at sant'agnolo, in order not to finish his life in such misery as that in which he had been living. however, not to waste any more time on matters that are not of the first importance, now that i have shown at sufficient length with what difficulties and hardships he made his proficience, let me relate that taddeo, at length restored to health and once more in rome, resumed his usual studies, but with more care of himself than he had taken in the past, and learned so much under a certain jacopone, that he came into some credit. wherefore the above-mentioned francesco, his kinsman, who had behaved so cruelly toward him, perceiving that he had become an able master, and wishing to make use of him, became reconciled with him; and they began to work together, taddeo, who was of a kindly nature, having forgotten all his wrongs. and so, taddeo making the designs, and both together executing many friezes in fresco in chambers and loggie, they went on assisting one another. meanwhile the painter daniello da parma, who had formerly been many years with antonio da correggio, and had associated with francesco mazzuoli of parma, having undertaken to paint a church in fresco for the office of works of s. maria at vitto,[ ] beyond sora, on the borders of the abruzzi, called taddeo to his assistance and took him to vitto. in which work, although daniello was not the best painter in the world, nevertheless, on account of his age, and from his having seen the methods of correggio and parmigiano, and with what softness they executed their paintings, he had such experience that, imparting it to taddeo and teaching him, he was of the greatest assistance to him with his words; no less, indeed, than another might have been by working before him. in that work, which was on a groined vaulting, taddeo painted the four evangelists, two sibyls, two prophets, and four not very large stories of jesus christ and of the virgin his mother. [footnote : alvito.] he then returned to rome, where, m. jacopo mattei, a roman gentleman, discoursing with francesco sant'agnolo of his desire to have the façade of his house painted in chiaroscuro, francesco proposed taddeo to him; but he appeared to that gentleman to be too young, wherefore francesco said to him that he should make trial of taddeo in two scenes, which, if they were not successful, could be thrown to the ground, and, if successful, could be continued. taddeo having then set his hand to the work, the two first scenes proved to be such, that m. jacopo was not only satisfied with them, but astonished. in the year , therefore, when taddeo had finished that work, he was vastly extolled by all rome, and that with good reason, because after polidoro, maturino, vincenzio da san gimignano, and baldassarre da siena, no one had attained in works of that kind to the standard that taddeo had reached, who was then a young man only eighteen years of age. the stories of the work may be understood from these inscriptions, of the deeds of furius camillus, one of which is below each scene. the first, then, runs thus-- tusculani, pace constanti, vim romanam arcent. the second-- m.f.c. signiferum secum in hostem rapit. the third-- m.f.c. auctore, incensa urbs restituitur. the fourth-- m.f.c. pactionibus turbatis prÆlium gallis nunciat. the fifth-- m.f.c. proditorem vinctum falerio reducendum tradit. the sixth-- matronalis auri collatione votum apollini solvitur. the seventh-- m.f.c. junoni reginÆ templum in aventino dedicat. the eighth-- signum junonis reginÆ a veiis romam transfertur. the ninth-- m.f.c. ... anlius dict. decem ... socios capit. from that time until the year , when julius iii was elected pope, taddeo occupied himself with works of no great importance, yet with considerable profits. in which year of , the year of the jubilee, ottaviano, the father of taddeo, with his mother and another of their sons, went to rome to take part in that most holy jubilee, and partly, also, to see their son. after they had been there some weeks with taddeo, on departing they left with him the boy that they had brought with them, who was called federigo, to the end that he might cause him to study letters. but taddeo judged him to be more fitted for painting, as indeed federigo has since been seen to be from the excellent result that he has achieved; and so, after he had learned his first letters, taddeo began to make him give his attention to design, with better fortune and support than he himself had enjoyed. meanwhile taddeo painted in the church of s. ambrogio de' milanesi, on the wall of the high-altar, four stories of the life of that saint, coloured in fresco and not very large, with a frieze of little boys, and women after the manner of terminal figures; which was a work of no little beauty. that finished, he painted a façade full of stories of alexander the great, beside s. lucia della tinta, near the orso, beginning from his birth and continuing with five stories of the most noteworthy actions of that famous man; which work won him much praise, although it had to bear comparison with another façade near it by the hand of polidoro. about that time guidobaldo, duke of urbino, having heard the fame of the young man, who was his vassal, and desiring to give completion to the walls of the chapel in the duomo of urbino, wherein battista franco, as has been related, had painted the vaulting in fresco, caused taddeo to be summoned to urbino. and he, leaving federigo in rome, under the care of persons who might make him give his attention to his studies, and likewise another of his brothers, whom he placed with some friends to learn the goldsmith's art, went off to urbino, where many attentions were paid him by that duke; and then orders were given to him as to all that he was to design in the matter of the chapel and other works. but in the meantime the duke, as general to the signori of venice, had to visit verona and the other fortified places of that dominion, and he took with him taddeo, who copied for him the picture by the hand of raffaello da urbino which, as has been related in another place, is in the house of the noble counts of canossa. and he afterwards began, also for his excellency, a large canvas with the conversion of s. paul, which, unfinished as he left it, is still in the possession of his father ottaviano at sant'agnolo. then, having returned to urbino, he occupied himself for a time with continuing the designs for the above-mentioned chapel, which were of the life of our lady, as may be seen from some of them that are in the possession of his brother federigo, drawn in chiaroscuro with the pen. but, whether it was that the duke had not made up his mind or considered taddeo to be too young, or for some other reason, taddeo remained with him two years without doing anything but some pictures in a little study at pesaro, a large coat of arms in fresco on the façade of the palace, and a picture with a life-size portrait of the duke, which were all beautiful works. finally the duke, having to depart for rome to receive from pope julius iii his baton as general of holy church, left directions that taddeo was to proceed with the above-named chapel, and that he was to be provided with all that he required for that purpose. but the duke's ministers, keeping him, as such men generally do, in want of everything, brought it about that taddeo, after having lost two years of his time, had to go off to rome, where, having found the duke, he excused himself adroitly, without blaming anyone, and promised that he would not fail to do the work when the time came. in the year , stefano veltroni, of monte sansovino--having received orders from the pope and from vasari to have adorned with grotesques the apartments of the villa on the hill without the porta del popolo, which had belonged to cardinal poggio--summoned taddeo, and caused him to paint in the central picture a figure of opportunity, who, having seized fortune by the locks, appears to be about to cut them with her shears (the device of that pope); in which taddeo acquitted himself very well. then, vasari having made before any of the others the designs for the court and the fountain at the foot of the new palace, which were afterwards carried on by vignuola and ammanati and built by baronino, prospero fontana, in painting many pictures there, as will be related hereafter, availed himself not a little of taddeo in many things. and these were the cause of even greater benefits for him, for the pope, liking his method of working, commissioned him to paint in some apartments, above the corridor of the belvedere, some little figures in colour that served as friezes for those apartments; and in an open loggia, behind those that faced towards rome, he painted in chiaroscuro on the wall, with figures as large as life, all the labours of hercules, which were destroyed in the time of pope paul iv, when other apartments and a chapel were built there. at the vigna of pope julius, in the first apartments of the palace, he executed some scenes in colour, and in particular one of mount parnassus, in the centre of the ceilings, and in the court of the same he painted in chiaroscuro two scenes of the history of the sabines, which are one on either side of the principal door of variegated marble that leads into the loggia, whence one descends to the fountain of the acqua vergine; all which works were much commended and extolled. now federigo, while taddeo was in rome with the duke, had returned to urbino, and he had lived there and at pesaro ever since; but taddeo, after the works described above, caused him to return to rome, in order to make use of him in executing a great frieze in a hall, with others in other rooms, of the house of the giambeccari on the piazza di s. apostolo, and in other friezes that he painted in the house of m. antonio portatore at the obelisk of s. mauro, all full of figures and other things, which were held to be very beautiful. maestro mattivolo, the master of the post, bought in the time of pope julius a site on the campo marzio, and built there a large and very commodious house, and then commissioned taddeo to paint the façade in chiaroscuro; which taddeo executed there three stories of mercury, the messenger of the gods, which were very beautiful, and the rest he caused to be painted by others after designs by his own hand. meanwhile m. jacopo mattei, having caused a chapel to be built in the church of the consolazione below the campidoglio, allotted it to taddeo to paint, knowing already how able he was; and he willingly undertook to do it, and for a small price, in order to show to certain persons, who went about saying that he could do nothing save façades and other works in chiaroscuro, that he could also paint in colour. having then set his hand to that work, taddeo would only touch it when he was in the mood and vein to do well, spending the rest of his time on works that did not weigh upon him so much in the matter of honour; and so he executed it at his leisure in four years. on the vaulting he painted in fresco four scenes of the passion of christ, of no great size, with most beautiful fantasies, and all so well executed in invention, design, and colouring, that he surpassed his own self; which scenes are the last supper with the apostles, the washing of feet, the prayer in the garden, and christ taken and kissed by judas. on one of the walls at the sides he painted in figures large as life christ scourged at the column, and on the other pilate showing him after the scourging to the jews, saying "ecce homo"; above this last, in an arch, is the same pilate washing his hands, and in the other arch, opposite to that, christ led before annas. on the altar-wall he painted the same christ crucified, and the maries at the foot of the cross, with our lady in a swoon; on either side of her is a prophet, and in the arch above the ornament of stucco he painted two sibyls; which four figures are discoursing of the passion of christ. and on the vaulting, about certain ornaments in stucco, are four half-length figures representing the four evangelists, which are very beautiful. the whole work, which was uncovered in the year , when taddeo was not more than twenty-six years of age, was held, as it still is, to be extraordinary, and he was judged by the craftsmen at that time to be an excellent painter. that work finished, m. mario frangipane allotted to him his chapel in the church of s. marcello, in which taddeo made use, as he also did in many other works, of the young strangers who are always to be found in rome, and who go about working by the day in order to learn and to gain their bread; but none the less for the time being he did not finish it completely. the same master painted in fresco in the pope's palace, in the time of paul iv, some rooms where cardinal caraffa lived, in the great tower above the guard of halberdiers; and two little pictures in oils of the nativity of christ and the virgin flying with joseph into egypt, which were sent to portugal by the ambassador of that kingdom. the cardinal of mantua, wishing to have painted with the greatest possible rapidity the whole interior of his palace beside the arco di portogallo, allotted that work to taddeo for a proper price; and taddeo, beginning it with the help of a good number of men, in a short time carried it to completion, showing that he had very great judgment in being able to employ so many different brains harmoniously in so great a work, and in managing the various manners in such a way, that the work appears as if all by the same hand. in short, taddeo satisfied in that undertaking, with great profit to himself, the cardinal and all who saw it, disappointing the expectations of those who could not believe that he was likely to succeed amid the perplexities of such a great work. in like manner, he painted some scenes with figures in fresco for m. alessandro mattei in some recesses in the apartments of his palace near the botteghe scure, and some others he caused to be executed by his brother federigo, to the end that he might become accustomed to the work. which federigo, having taken courage, afterwards executed by himself a mount parnassus in the recess of a ceiling in the house of a roman gentleman called stefano margani, below the steps of the araceli. whereupon taddeo, seeing federigo confident and working by himself from his own designs, without being assisted more than was reasonable by anyone, contrived to have a chapel allotted to him by the men of s. maria dell'orto a ripa, making it almost appear that he intended to do it himself, for the reason that it would never have been given to federigo alone, who was still a mere lad. taddeo, then, in order to satisfy these men, painted there the nativity of christ, and federigo afterwards executed all the rest, acquitting himself in such a manner that there could be seen the beginning of that excellence which is now made manifest in him. in those same times the duke of guise, who was then in rome, desiring to take an able and practised painter to paint his palace in france, taddeo was proposed to him; whereupon, having seen some of his works, and liking his manner, he agreed to give him a salary of six hundred crowns a year, on condition that taddeo, after finishing the work that he had in hand, should go to france to serve him. and so taddeo would have done, the money for his preparations having been deposited in a bank, if it had not been for the wars that broke out in france at that time, and shortly afterwards the death of that duke. taddeo then went back to finish the work for frangipane in s. marcello, but he was not able to work for long without being interrupted, for, the emperor charles v having died, preparations were made for giving him most honourable obsequies in rome, fit for an emperor of the romans, and to taddeo were allotted many scenes from the life of that emperor, and also many trophies and other ornaments, which were made by him of pasteboard in a very sumptuous and magnificent manner; and he finished the whole in twenty-five days. for his labours, therefore, and those of federigo and others who had assisted him, six hundred crowns of gold were paid to him. shortly afterwards he painted two great chambers at bracciano for signor paolo giordano orsini, which were very beautiful and richly adorned with stucco-work and gold; in one the stories of cupid and psyche, and in the second, which had been begun previously by others, some stories of alexander the great; and others that remained for him to paint, continuing the history of the same alexander, he caused to be executed by his brother federigo, who acquitted himself very well. and then he painted in fresco for m. stefano del bufalo, in his garden near the fountain of trevi, the muses around the castalian fount and mount parnassus, which was held to be a beautiful work. the wardens of works of the madonna of orvieto, as has been related in the life of simone mosca, had caused some chapels with ornaments of marble and stucco to be built in the aisles of their church, and had also had some altar-pieces executed by girolamo mosciano of brescia; and, having heard the fame of taddeo by means of friends, they sent a summons to him, and he went to orvieto, taking with him federigo. there, settling to work, he executed two great figures on the wall of one of those chapels, one representing the active life, and the other the contemplative, which were despatched with a very sure facility of hand, in the manner wherein he executed works to which he gave little study; and while taddeo was painting those figures, federigo painted three little stories of s. paul in the recess of the same chapel. at the end of which, both having fallen ill, they went away, promising to return in september. taddeo returned to rome, and federigo to sant'agnolo with a slight fever; which having passed, at the end of two months he also returned to rome. there, holy week being close at hand, the two together set to work in the florentine company of s. agata, which is behind the banchi, and painted in four days on the vaulting and the recess of that oratory, for a rich festival that was prepared for holy thursday and good friday, scenes in chiaroscuro of the whole passion of christ, with some prophets and other pictures, which caused all who saw them to marvel. after that, cardinal alessandro farnese, having brought very near completion his palace of caprarola, with vignuola as architect, of whom there will be an account in a short time, gave the charge of painting it all to taddeo, on these conditions: that, since taddeo did not wish to abandon his other works in rome, he should be obliged to make all the cartoons, designs, divisions, and arrangements for the works in painting and in stucco that were to be executed in that place; that the men who were to carry them into execution should be chosen by taddeo, but paid by the cardinal; and that taddeo should be obliged to work there himself for two or three months in the year, and to go there as many times as it might be necessary to see how things were progressing, and to retouch all that was not to his satisfaction. and for all these labours the cardinal promised him a salary of two hundred crowns a year. whereupon taddeo, having so honourable an appointment and the support of so great a lord, determined that he would give himself some peace of mind, and would no longer accept any mean work in rome, as he had done up to that time; desiring, above all, to avoid the censure that many men of art laid upon him, saying that from a certain grasping avarice he would accept any kind of work, in order to gain with the arms of others that which would have been to many of them an honest means to enable them to study, as he himself had done in his early youth. against which reproaches taddeo used to defend himself by saying that he did it on account of federigo and the other brothers that he had on his shoulders, desiring that they should learn with his assistance. having thus resolved to serve farnese and also to finish the chapel in s. marcello, he obtained for federigo from m. tizio da spoleti, the master of the household to the above-named cardinal, the commission to paint the façade of a house that he had on the piazza della dogana, near s. eustachio; which was very welcome to federigo, for he had never desired anything so much as to have some work altogether for himself. on one part of the façade, therefore, he painted in colours the scene of s. eustachio causing himself to be baptized with his wife and children, which was a very good work; and on the centre of the façade he painted the same saint, when, while hunting, he sees jesus christ on the cross between the horns of a stag. now since federigo, when he executed that work, was not more than twenty-eight[ ] years of age, taddeo, who reflected that the work was in a public place, and that it was of great importance to the credit of federigo, not only went sometimes to see him at his painting, but also at times insisted on retouching and improving some part. wherefore federigo, after having had patience for a time, finally, carried away on one occasion by the anger natural in one who would have preferred to work by himself, seized a mason's hammer and dashed to the ground something (i know not what) that taddeo had painted; and in his rage he stayed some days without going back to the house. which being heard by the friends of both the one and the other of them, they so went to work that the two were reconciled, on the understanding that taddeo should be able to set his hand on the designs and cartoons of federigo and correct them at his pleasure, but never the works that he might execute in fresco, in oils, or in any other medium. [footnote : an error of the copyist or printer for eighteen.] [illustration: portrait of the artist (_after the panel by =federigo zucchero=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] federigo having then finished the work of that house, it was universally extolled, and won him the name of an able painter. after that, taddeo was ordered to repaint in the sala de' palafrenieri those apostles which raffaello had formerly executed there in terretta, and which had been thrown to the ground by paul iv; and he, having painted one, caused all the others to be executed by his brother federigo, who acquitted himself very well. next, they painted together a frieze in fresco-colours in one of the halls of the palace of the araceli. then, a proposal being discussed, about the same time that they were working at the araceli, to give to signor federigo borromeo as a wife the lady donna virginia, the daughter of duke guidobaldo of urbino, taddeo was sent to take her portrait, which he did excellently well; and before he departed from urbino he made all the designs for a credence, which that duke afterwards caused to be made in clay at castel durante, for sending to king philip of spain. having returned to rome, taddeo presented to the pope that portrait, which pleased him well enough; but such was the discourtesy of that pontiff, or of his ministers, that the poor painter was not recompensed even for his expenses. in the year the pope expected in rome the lord duke cosimo and the lady duchess leonora, his consort, and proposed to lodge their excellencies in the apartments formerly built by innocent viii, which look out upon the first court of the palace and that of s. pietro, and have in front of them loggie that look out on the piazza where the benediction is given; and taddeo received the charge of painting the pictures and some friezes that were to be executed there, and of overlaying with gold the new ceilings that had been made in place of the old ones, which had been consumed by time. in that work, which was certainly a great and important undertaking, federigo, to whom his brother taddeo gave the charge of almost the whole, acquitted himself very well; but he incurred a great danger, for, as he was painting grotesques in those loggie, he fell from a staging that rested on the main part of the scaffolding, and was near coming to an evil end. no long time passed before cardinal emulio, to whom the pope had given the charge of the matter, commissioned many young men, to the end that the work might be finished quickly, to paint the little palace that is in the wood of the belvedere, which was begun in the time of pope paul iv with a most beautiful fountain and many ancient statues as ornaments, after an architectural design by pirro ligorio. the young men who worked (with great credit to themselves) in that place, were federigo barocci of urbino, a youth of great promise, and leonardo cungi and durante del nero, both of borgo san sepolcro, who executed the apartments of the first floor. at the head of the staircase, which was made in a spiral shape, the first room was painted by santi titi, a painter of florence, who acquitted himself very well; the larger room, which is beside the first, was painted by the above-named federigo zucchero, the brother of taddeo; and the sclavonian giovanni dal carso, a passing good master of grotesques, executed another room beyond it. but, although each of the men named above acquitted himself very well, nevertheless federigo surpassed all the others in some stories of christ that he painted there, such as the transfiguration, the marriage of cana in galilee, and the centurion kneeling before christ. and of two that were still wanting, one was painted by orazio sammacchini, a bolognese painter, and the other by a certain lorenzo costa of mantua. the same federigo zucchero painted in that place the little loggia that looks out over the fish-pond. and then he painted a frieze in the principal hall of the belvedere (to which one ascends by the spiral staircase), with stories of moses and pharaoh, beautiful to a marvel; the design for which work, drawn and coloured with his own hand in a most beautiful drawing, federigo himself gave not long since to the reverend don vincenzio borghini, who holds it very dear as a drawing by the hand of an excellent painter. in the same place, also, federigo painted the angel slaying the first-born in egypt, availing himself, in order to finish it the quicker, of the help of many of his young men. but when those works came to be valued by certain persons, the labours of federigo and the others were not rewarded as they should have been, because there are among our craftsmen in rome, as well as in florence and everywhere else, some most malignant spirits who, blinded by prejudice and envy, are not able or not willing to recognize the merits of the works of others and the deficiency of their own; and such persons are very often the reason that the young men of fine genius, becoming dismayed, grow cold in their studies and their work. after these works, federigo painted in the office of the ruota, about an escutcheon of pope pius iv, two figures larger than life, justice and equity, which were much extolled; thus giving time to taddeo, meanwhile, to attend to the work of caprarola and the chapel in s. marcello. in the meantime his holiness, wishing at all costs to finish the hall of kings, after the many contentions that had taken place between daniello and salviati, as has been related, gave orders to the bishop of forlì as to all that he wished him to do in the matter. wherefore the bishop wrote to vasari (on the rd of september in the year ), that the pope, wishing to finish the work of the hall of kings, had given him the charge of finding men who might once and for all take it off his hands, and that therefore, moved by their ancient friendship and by other reasons, he besought giorgio to consent to go to rome in order to execute that work, with the good pleasure and leave of his master the duke, for the reason that, while giving satisfaction to his holiness, he would win much honour and profit for himself; praying him to answer as soon as possible. replying to which letter, vasari said that, finding himself very well placed in the service of the duke, and remunerated for his labours with rewards different from those that he had received from other pontiffs in rome, he intended to remain in the service of his excellency, for whom he was at that very time to set his hand to a hall much greater than the hall of kings; and that there was no want in rome of men who might be employed in that work. the above-named bishop having received that answer from vasari, and having conferred with his holiness of the whole matter, cardinal emulio, immediately after receiving from the pontiff the charge of having that hall finished, divided the work, as has been related, among many young men, some of whom were already in rome, and others were summoned from other places. to giuseppe porta of castelnuovo della garfagnana, a disciple of salviati, were given two of the largest scenes in the hall; to girolamo siciolante of sermoneta, one of the large scenes and one of the small; to orazio sammacchini of bologna one of the small scenes, to livio da forlì a similar one, and to giovan battista fiorini of bologna yet another of the small scenes. which hearing, taddeo perceived that he had been excluded because it had been said to the above-named cardinal emulio that he was a person who gave more attention to gain than to glory and working well; and he did his utmost with cardinal farnese to obtain a part of that work. but the cardinal, not wishing to move in the matter, answered him that his labours at caprarola should content him, and that it did not seem to him right that his own works should be neglected by reason of the rivalry and emulation between the craftsmen; adding also that, when a master does well, it is the works that give a name to the place, and not the place to the works. notwithstanding this, taddeo so went to work by other means with emulio, that finally he was commissioned to execute one of the smaller scenes over a door, not being able, either by prayers or by any other means, to obtain the commission for one of the large scenes; and, in truth, it is said that emulio was acting with caution in the matter, for the reason that, hoping that giuseppe salviati would surpass all the others, he was minded to give him the rest, and perchance to throw to the ground all that might have been done by the others. now, after all the men named above had carried their works well forward, the pope desired to see them all; and so, everything being uncovered, he recognized (and all the cardinals and the best craftsmen were of the same opinion) that taddeo had acquitted himself better than any of the others, although all had done passing well. his holiness, therefore, commanded signor agabrio that he should cause cardinal emulio to commission him to execute one of the larger scenes; whereupon the head-wall was allotted to him, wherein is the door of the pauline chapel. and there he made a beginning with the work, but he did not carry it any farther, for, the death of the pope supervening, everything was uncovered for the holding of the conclave, although many of those scenes had not been finished. of the scene that taddeo began in that place, we have the design by his hand, sent to us by him, in the book of drawings that we have so often mentioned. taddeo painted at the same time, besides some other little things, a picture with a very beautiful christ, which was to be sent to caprarola for cardinal farnese; which work is now in the possession of his brother federigo, who says that he desires it for himself as long as he lives. the picture receives its light from some weeping angels, who are holding torches. but since the works that taddeo executed at caprarola will be described at some length in a little time, in discoursing of vignuola, who built that fabric, for the present i shall say nothing more of them. federigo was meanwhile summoned to venice, and made an agreement with the patriarch grimani to finish for him the chapel in s. francesco della vigna, which had remained incomplete, as has been related, on account of the death of the venetian battista franco. but, before he began that chapel, he adorned for that patriarch the staircase of his palace in venice, with little figures placed with much grace in certain ornaments of stucco; and then he executed in fresco, in the above-named chapel, the two stories of lazarus and the conversion of the magdalene, the design of which, by the hand of federigo, is in our book. afterwards, in the altar-piece of the same chapel, federigo painted the story of the magi in oils. and then he painted some pictures in a loggia, which are much extolled, at the villa of m. giovan battista pellegrini, between chioggia and monselice, where andrea schiavone and the flemings, lamberto and gualtieri, have executed many works. after the departure of federigo, taddeo continued to work in fresco all that summer in the chapel of s. marcello; and for that chapel, finally, he painted in the altar-piece the conversion of s. paul. in that picture may be seen, executed in a beautiful manner, the saint fallen from his horse and all dazed by the splendour and voice of jesus christ, whom he depicted amid a glory of angels, in the act, so it appears, of saying, "saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?" his followers, who are about him, are likewise struck with awe, and stand as if bereft of their senses. on the vaulting, within certain ornaments of stucco, he painted in fresco three stories of the same saint. in one he is being taken as a prisoner to rome, and disembarks on the island of malta; and there may be seen how, on the kindling of the fire, a viper strikes at his hand to bite it, while some mariners, almost naked, stand in various attitudes about the barque; in another is the scene when a young man, having fallen from a window, is brought to s. paul, who by the power of god restores him to life; and in the third is the beheading and death of the saint. on the walls below are two large scenes, likewise in fresco; in one is s. paul healing a man crippled in the legs, and in the other a disputation, wherein he causes a magician to be struck with blindness; and both the one and the other are truly most beautiful. but that work having been left incomplete by reason of his death, federigo has finished it this year, and it has been thrown open to view with great credit to him. at this same time federigo executed some pictures in oils, which were sent to france by the ambassador of that kingdom. the little hall in the farnese palace having remained unfinished on account of the death of salviati (wanting two scenes, namely, at the entrance, opposite to the great window), cardinal sant'agnolo, of the farnese family, gave them to taddeo to execute, and he carried them to completion very well. but nevertheless he did not surpass or even equal francesco in the works executed by him in the same apartment, as certain envious and malignant spirits went about saying throughout rome, in order to diminish the glory of salviati by their foul calumnies; and although taddeo used to defend himself by saying that he had caused the whole to be executed by his assistants, and that there was nothing in that work by his hand save the design and a few other things, such excuses were not accepted, for the reason that a man who wishes to surpass another in any competition, must not entrust the credit of his art to the keeping of feeble persons, for that is clearly the way to perdition. thus cardinal sant'agnolo, a man of truly supreme judgment in all things, and of surpassing goodness, recognized how much he had lost by the death of salviati; for, although he was proud and even arrogant, and ill-tempered, in matters of painting he was truly most excellent. however, since the best craftsmen had disappeared from rome, that lord, for want of others, resolved to entrust the painting of the great hall in that palace to taddeo, who accepted it willingly, in the hope of being able to prove by means of every effort how great were his ability and knowledge. the florentine lorenzo pucci, cardinal santiquattro, had formerly caused a chapel to be built in the trinita, and all the vaulting to be painted by perino del vaga, with certain prophets on the outer side, and two little boys holding the arms of that cardinal. but the chapel remaining unfinished, with three walls still to be painted, when the cardinal died, those fathers, without any regard for what was just and reasonable, sold that chapel to the archbishop of corfu; and it was afterwards given by that archbishop to taddeo to paint. now although, out of respect for the church and from other reasons, it may have been well to find means of finishing the chapel, at least they should not have allowed the arms of the cardinal to be removed from the part that was finished, only in order to place there those of the above-named archbishop, which they could have set up in another place, instead of offering so manifest an affront to the memory of that good cardinal. having thus so many works on his hands, taddeo was every day urging federigo to return from venice. that federigo, after having finished the chapel for the patriarch, was negotiating to undertake to paint the principal wall of the great hall of the council, where antonio viniziano had formerly painted; but the rivalry and the contentions that he suffered from the venetian painters were the reason that neither they, with all their interest, nor he, likewise, obtained it. meanwhile taddeo, having a desire to see florence and the many works which, so he heard, duke cosimo had carried out and was still carrying out, and the beginning that his friend giorgio vasari was making in the great hall; taddeo, i say, pretending one day to go to caprarola in connection with the work that he was doing there, went off to florence for the festival of s. john, in company with tiberio calcagni, a young florentine sculptor and architect. there, to say nothing of the city, he found vast pleasure in the works of the many excellent sculptors and painters, ancient as well as modern; and if he had not had so many charges and so many works on his hands, he would gladly have stayed there some months. thus he saw the preparations of vasari for the above-named hall--namely, forty-four great pictures, of four, six, seven, or ten braccia each--in which he was executing figures for the most part of six or eight braccia, with the assistance only of the fleming giovanni strada and jacopo zucchi, his disciples, and battista naldini, in all which he took the greatest pleasure, and, hearing that all had been executed in less than a year, it gave him great courage. wherefore, having returned to rome, he set his hand to the above-named chapel in the trinita, with the resolve that he would surpass himself in the stories of our lady that were to be painted there, as will be related presently. now federigo, although he was pressed to return from venice, was not able to refuse to stay in that city for the carnival in company with the architect andrea palladio. and andrea, having made for the gentlemen of the company of the calza a theatre in wood after the manner of a colosseum, in which a tragedy was to be performed, caused federigo to execute for the decoration of the same twelve large scenes, each seven feet and a half square, with innumerable other stories of the actions of hyrcanus, king of jerusalem, after the subject of the tragedy; in which work federigo gained much honour, from its excellence and from the rapidity with which he executed it. next, palladio going to friuli to found the palace of civitale, of which he had previously made the model, federigo went with him in order to see that country; and there he drew many things that pleased him. then, after having seen many things in verona and in many other cities of lombardy, he finally made his way to florence, at the very time when festive preparations, rich and marvellous, were being made for the coming of queen joanna of austria. having arrived there, he executed, after the desire of the lord duke, a most beautiful and fanciful hunt in colours on a vast canvas that covered the stage at the end of the hall, and some scenes in chiaroscuro for an arch; all which gave infinite satisfaction. from florence he went to sant' agnolo, to revisit his relatives and friends, and finally he arrived in rome on the th of the january following; but he was of little assistance to taddeo at that time, for the reason that the death of pope pius iv, followed by that of cardinal sant'agnolo, interrupted the work of the hall of kings and that of the farnese palace. whereupon taddeo, who had finished another apartment of rooms at caprarola, and had carried almost to completion the chapel in s. marcello, proceeded to give his attention to the work of the trinita, much at his leisure, and to execute the passing of our lady, with the apostles standing about the bier. in the meantime, also, taddeo had obtained for federigo a chapel to be painted in fresco in the church of the reformed priests of jesus at the obelisk of s. mauro; and to that federigo straightway set his hand. taddeo, feigning to be angry because federigo had delayed too long to return, appeared to care little for his arrival; but in truth he welcomed it greatly, as was afterwards seen from the result. for he was much annoyed by having to provide for his house (of which annoyance federigo had been accustomed to relieve him), and by the anxious care of that brother who was employed as a goldsmith; but when federigo came they put many inconveniences to rights, in order to be able to attend to their work with a quiet mind. the friends of taddeo were seeking meanwhile to give him a wife, but he, being one who was accustomed to living free, and feared that which generally happens (namely, that he would bring into his house, together with the wife, a thousand vexatious cares and annoyances), could never make up his mind to it. nay, attending to his work in the trinita, he proceeded to make the cartoon of the principal wall, on which there was going the ascension of our lady into heaven; while federigo painted a picture of s. peter in prison for the lord duke of urbino; another, wherein is a madonna in heaven with some angels about her, which was to be sent to milan; and a third with a figure of opportunity, which was sent to perugia. the cardinal of ferrara had kept many painters and masters in stucco at work at the very beautiful villa that he has at tivoli, and finally he sent federigo there to paint two rooms, one of which is dedicated to nobility, and the other to glory; in which federigo acquitted himself very well, executing there beautiful and fantastic inventions. that finished, he returned to the work of the above-mentioned chapel in rome, which he has carried to completion, painting in it a choir of many angels and various glories, with god the father sending down the holy spirit upon the madonna, who is receiving the annunciation from the angel gabriel, while about her are six prophets, larger than life and very beautiful. taddeo, meanwhile, continuing to paint the assumption of the madonna in fresco in the trinita, appeared to be driven by nature to do in that work, as his last, the utmost in his power. and in truth it proved to be his last, for, having fallen ill of a sickness which at first appeared to be slight enough, and caused by the great heat that there was that year, and which afterwards became very grave, he died in the month of september in the year ; having first, like a good christian, received the sacraments of the church, and seen the greater part of his friends, and leaving in his place his brother federigo, who was also ill at that time. and so in a short time, buonarroti, salviati, daniello, and taddeo having been taken from the world, our arts have suffered a very great loss, and particularly the art of painting. taddeo was very bold in his work, and had a manner passing soft and pastose, and very far removed from the hardness often seen. he was very abundant in his compositions, and he made his heads, hands, and nudes very beautiful, keeping them free of the many crudities over which certain painters labour beyond all reason, in order to make it appear that they understand anatomy and art; to which kind of men there often happens that which befell him who, from his seeking to be in his speech more athenian than the athenians, was recognized by a woman of the people to be no athenian. taddeo also handled colours with much delicacy, and he had great facility of manner, for he was much assisted by nature; but at times he sought to make too much use of it. he was so desirous of having something of his own, that he continued for a time to accept any sort of work for the sake of gain; but for all that he executed many, nay, innumerable works worthy of great praise. he kept a number of assistants in order to finish his works, for the reason that it is not possible to do otherwise. he was sanguine, hasty, and quick to take offence, and, in addition, much given to the pleasures of love; but nevertheless, although he was strongly inclined by nature to such pleasures, he contrived to conduct his affairs with a certain degree of decency, and very secretly. he was loving with his friends, and whenever he could help them he never spared himself. at his death he left the work in the trinita not yet uncovered, and the great hall in the farnese palace unfinished, and so also the works of caprarola, but nevertheless these all remained in the hands of his brother federigo, whom the patrons of the works are content to allow to give them completion, as he will do; and, in truth, federigo will be heir to the talents of taddeo no less than to his property. taddeo was given burial by federigo in the ritonda of rome, near the tabernacle where raffaello da urbino, his fellow-countryman, is buried; and certainly they are well placed, one beside the other, for the reason that even as raffaello died at the age of thirty-seven and on the same day that he was born, which was good friday, so taddeo was born on the first day of september, , and died on the second day of the same month in the year . federigo is minded, if it should be granted to him, to restore the other tabernacle in the ritonda, and to make some memorial in that place to his loving brother, to whom he knows himself to be deeply indebted. now, since mention has been made above of jacopo barozzi of vignuola, saying that after his architectural designs and directions the most illustrious cardinal farnese has built his rich and even regal villa of caprarola, let me relate that the same jacopo barozzi of vignuola, a bolognese painter and architect, who is now fifty-eight years of age, was placed in his childhood and youth to learn the art of painting in bologna, but did not make much proficience, because he did not receive good guidance at the beginning. and also, to tell the truth, he had by nature much more inclination for architecture than for painting, as was clearly manifest even at that time from his designs and from the few works of painting that he executed, for there were always to be seen in them pieces of architecture and perspective; and so strong and potent in him was that inclination of nature, that he may be said to have learned almost by himself, in a short time, both the first principles and also the greatest difficulties, and that very well. wherefore, almost before he was known, various designs with most beautiful and imaginative fantasies were seen to issue from his hand, executed for the most part at the request of m. francesco guicciardini, at that time governor of bologna, and for others of his friends; which designs were afterwards put into execution in tinted woods inlaid after the manner of tarsia, by fra damiano da bergamo, of the order of s. domenico in bologna. vignuola then went to rome to work at painting, and to obtain from that art the means to assist his poor family; and at first he was employed at the belvedere with jacopo melighini of ferrara, the architect of pope paul iii, drawing some architectural designs for him. but afterwards, there being in rome at that time an academy of most noble lords and gentlemen who occupied themselves in reading vitruvius (among whom were m. marcello cervini, who afterwards became pope, monsignor maffei, m. alessandro manzuoli, and others), vignuola set himself in their service to take complete measurements of all the antiquities of rome, and to execute certain works after their fancy; which circumstance was of the greatest assistance to him both for learning and for profit. meanwhile francesco primaticcio, the bolognese painter, of whom there will be an account in another place, had arrived in rome, and he made much use of vignuola in making moulds of a great part of the antiques in rome, in order to take those moulds into france, and then to cast from them statues in bronze similar to the antiques; which work having been despatched, primaticcio, in going to france, took vignuola with him, in order to make use of him in matters of architecture and to have his assistance in casting in bronze the above-mentioned statues of which they had made the moulds; which things, both the one and the other, he did with much diligence and judgment. after two years had passed, he returned to bologna, according to the promise made by him to count filippo pepoli, in order to attend to the building of s. petronio. in that place he consumed several years in discussions and disputes with certain others who were his competitors in the affairs there, without doing anything but design and cause to be constructed after his plans the canal that brings vessels into bologna, whereas before that they could not come within three miles; than which work none better or more useful was ever executed, although vignuola, the originator of an enterprise so useful and so praiseworthy, was poorly rewarded for it. pope julius iii having been elected in the year , by means of vasari vignuola was appointed architect to his holiness, and there was given to him the particular charge of conducting the acqua vergine and of superintending the works at the vigna of pope julius, who took vignuola into his service most willingly, because he had come to know him when he was legate in bologna. in that building, and in other works that he executed for that pontiff, he endured much labour, but was badly rewarded for it. finally cardinal alessandro farnese, having recognized the genius of vignuola, to whom he always showed much favour, desired, in carrying out the building of his palace at caprarola, that the whole work should spring from the fanciful design and invention of vignuola. and, in truth, the judgment of that lord in making choice of so excellent an architect was no less than the greatness of his mind in setting his hand to an edifice so noble and grand, which, although it is in a place where it can be enjoyed but little by men in general, being out of the way, yet is none the less marvellous in its site, and very suitable for one who wishes at times to withdraw from the vexations and tumult of the city. this edifice, then, has the form of a pentagon, and is divided into four sets of apartments, without counting the front part, where the principal door is; in which front part is a loggia forty palms in breadth and eighty in length. on one side there curves in a round form a spiral staircase, ten palms wide across the steps, and twenty palms across the space in the centre, which gives light to the staircase, which curves from the base to the third or uppermost story; and these steps are all supported by double columns with cornices, which curve in a round in accordance with the staircase. the whole is a rich and well-varied work, beginning with the doric order, and continuing in the ionic, the corinthian, and the composite, with a wealth of balusters, niches, and other fanciful ornaments, which make it a rare thing, and most beautiful. opposite to this staircase--namely, at the other of the corners that are one on either side of the above-mentioned loggia of the entrance--there is a suite of rooms that begins in a circular vestibule equal in breadth to the staircase, and leads to a great hall on the ground floor, eighty palms long and forty broad. this hall is wrought in stucco and painted with stories of jove--namely, his birth, his being nursed by the goat amaltheia, and her coronation, with two other stories on either side of the last-named, showing her being placed in the heavens among the forty-eight heavenly signs, and another similar story of the same goat, which alludes, as also do the others, to the name of caprarola. on the walls of this hall are perspective-views of buildings drawn by vignuola and coloured by his son-in-law, which are very beautiful and make the room seem larger than it is. beside this hall is a smaller hall of forty palms, which comes exactly at the next corner, and in it, besides the works in stucco, are painted things that are all significant of spring. continuing from this little hall towards the other angle (that is, towards the point of the pentagon, where a tower has been begun), one goes into three chambers, each forty palms broad and thirty long. in the first of these are various inventions executed in stucco and painting, representing summer, to which season this first chamber is dedicated. in that which follows there is painted and wrought in the same manner the season of autumn; and in the last, which is sheltered from the north, and decorated likewise in the same manner, there is represented in a similar kind of work the season of winter. so far we have spoken (with regard to the floor that is over the underground rooms of the basement, cut out of the tufa, where there are rooms for the servants, kitchens, larders, and wine-cellars) of the half of this pentagonal edifice--namely, of the part on the right hand. opposite to that part, on the left hand, there are rooms exactly equal in number and of the same size. within the five angles of the pentagon vignuola has made a circular court, into which all the apartments of the edifice open with their doors; which doors, i mean, all open into the circular loggia surrounding the court, which is eighteen palms in breadth, while the diameter of the remaining space in the court is ninety-five palms and five inches. the pilasters of the loggia (which is divided up by niches), supporting the arches and the vaulting, are in couples, with a niche in the centre, and twenty in number; and each couple covers a breadth of fifteen palms, which is also the breadth of the space of the arches. around the loggia, at the angles that form the shape of the round, are four spiral staircases, which lead from the basement of the palace up to the top, for the convenience of the edifice and of the rooms. and there are reservoirs that collect the rain-water, which feed a very large and beautiful cistern in the centre; to say nothing of the windows and innumerable other conveniences, which make this building appear to be, as indeed it is, a rare and most beautiful fabric. and, besides having the site and form of a fortress, it is furnished on the outer side with an oval flight of steps, with ditches all around, and with drawbridges made with beautiful invention and in a novel manner, which lead into gardens full of rich and well-varied fountains, graceful parterres of verdure, and, in short, all that is required for a truly regal villa. now, ascending by the great spiral staircase from the level of the court to the other apartment above, one finds already finished, over the part of which we have spoken, an equal number of rooms, and also the chapel, which is opposite to the principal round staircase on this floor. in the hall that is exactly above that of jove, and of equal size, there are painted by the hands of taddeo and his young men, with very rich and beautiful ornaments of stucco, the actions of the illustrious men of the house of farnese. on the vaulting are compartments with six scenes, four square and two round, which follow right round the cornice of this hall, and in the centre are three ovals, accompanied along their length by two smaller and rectangular pictures, in one of which is painted fame, and in the other bellona. in the first of the three ovals is peace, in the central oval the ancient arms of the house of farnese, with the helmet-crest, above which is the unicorn, and in the last is religion. in the first of the six above-mentioned scenes, which is a round, is guido farnese, with many persons, all well executed, about him, and with this inscription below: guido farnesius, urbis veteris principatum civibus ipsis deferentibus adeptus, laboranti intestinis discordiis civitati, seditiosa factione ejecta, pacem et tranquillitatem restituit, anno . in an oblong picture is pietro niccolò farnese, who is delivering bologna, with this inscription below: petrus nicolaus, sedis romanÆ potentissimis hostibus memorabili prÆlio superatis, imminenti obsidionis periculo bononiam liberat, anno salutis . in the rectangular picture next to this is pietro farnese, elected captain of the florentines, with this inscription: petrus farnesius, reip. florentinÆ imperator, magnis pisanorum copiis ... urbem florentiam triumphans ingreditur, anno . in the other round picture, which is opposite to that described above, is another pietro farnese, who routs the enemies of the roman church at orbatello, with his inscription. in one of the two other rectangular pictures, which are of equal size, is signor ranieri farnese, elected general of the florentines in place of the above-named signor pietro, his brother, with this inscription: rainerius farnesius a florentinis difficili reip. tempore in petri fratris mortui locum copiarum omnium dux deligitur, anno . in the last picture is ranuccio farnese, chosen by eugenius iii as general of the church, with this inscription: ranutius farnesius, pauli tertii papÆ avus, eugenio tertio p.m. rosÆ aureÆ munere insignitus, pontificii exercitus imperator constituitur, anno christi . in short, there are on this vaulting vast numbers of most beautiful figures, besides the stucco-work and other ornaments overlaid with gold. on the walls are eight scenes, two to each wall. on the first, in a scene on the right hand as one enters, is pope julius iii confirming duke ottavio and the prince his son in the possession of parma and piacenza, in the presence of cardinal farnese, sant'agnolo his brother, the camarlingo santa fiore, the elder salviati, chieti, carpi, polo, and morone, all being portraits from life; with this inscription: julius iii, p.m., alexandro farnesio auctore, octavio farnesio, ejus fratri, parmam amissam restituit, anno salutis . in the second scene is cardinal farnese going to worms as legate to the emperor charles v, and his majesty and the prince, his son, are coming forth to meet him, with a vast multitude of barons, and among them the king of the romans; with the proper inscription. on the wall on the left hand as one enters, in the first scene, is the war fought against the lutherans in germany, where duke ottavio farnese was legate, in the year , with the inscription; and in the second are the above-named cardinal farnese and the emperor with his sons, who are all four under a baldachin carried by various persons portrayed from life, among whom is taddeo, the master of the work, with a company of many lords all around. on one of the head-walls, or rather, ends, are two scenes, and between them an oval, in which is the portrait of king philip, with this inscription: philippo hispaniarum regi maximo, ob eximia in domum farnesiam merita. in one of the scenes is duke ottavio taking madama margherita of austria as his wife, with pope paul iii in the centre, and portraits of cardinal farnese the younger, the cardinal of carpi, duke pier luigi, m. durante, eurialo da cingoli, m. giovanni riccio of montepulciano, the bishop of como, signora livia colonna, claudia mancina, settimia, and donna maria di mendoza. in the other is duke orazio taking as his wife the daughter of king henry of france, with this inscription: henricus ii, valesius, gallorum rex, horatio farnesio castri duci dianam filiam in matrimonium collocat, anno salutis . in which scene, besides the portrait of diana herself with the royal mantle, and that of her husband duke orazio, are portraits of caterina de' medici, queen of france, marguerite, the sister of the king, the king of navarre, the constable, the duke of guise, the duke of nemours, the admiral prince of condé, the younger cardinal of lorraine, guise not yet a cardinal, signor piero strozzi, madame de montpensier, and mademoiselle de rohan. on the other head-wall, opposite to that already described, are likewise two other scenes, with the oval in the centre, in which is the portrait of king henry of france, with this inscription: henrico francorum regi max. familiÆ farnesiÆ conservatori. in one of the scenes (namely, in that which is on the right hand) pope paul iii is investing duke orazio, who is kneeling, with a priestly robe, and making him prefect of rome, with duke pier luigi close at hand, and other lords around; and with these words: paulus iii p.m. horatium farnesium nepotem, summÆ spei adolescentem, prÆfectum urbis creat, anno sal. . and in this scene are portraits of the cardinal of paris, viseo, morone, badia, trento, sfondrato, and ardinghelli. in the other scene, beside the last-named, the same pope is giving the general's baton to pier luigi and his sons, who were not yet cardinals; with portraits of the pope, pier luigi farnese, the camarlingo, duke ottavio, orazio, the cardinal of capua, simonetta, jacobaccio, san jacopo, ferrara, signor ranuccio farnese as a young man, giovio, molza, marcello cervini, who afterwards became pope, the marquis of marignano, signor giovan battista castaldo, signor alessandro vitelli, and signor giovan battista savelli. coming now to the little hall which is beside the hall just described, and which is above the hall of spring, in the vaulting, which is adorned with a vast and rich decoration in stucco and gold, in the recess in the centre, there is the coronation of pope paul iii, with four spaces that form a cruciform inscription, with these words: paulus iii farnesius, pontifex maximus, deo et hominibus approbantibus, sacra tiara solemni ritu coronatur, anno salutis , iii non. novemb. then follow four scenes above the cornice--namely, one over every wall. in the first the pope is blessing the galleys at cività vecchia, when about to send them to tunis in barbary in the year . in the next the same pope is excommunicating the king of england in the year ; with the proper inscription. in the third is a fleet of galleys which the emperor and the venetians fitted out against the turk, with the authority and assistance of the pontiff, in the year . in the fourth, perugia having rebelled against the church, the people of that city go to seek pardon in the year . on the walls of the same little hall are four large scenes, one to each wall, with windows and doors between. in the first large scene the emperor charles v, having returned victorious from tunis, is kissing the feet of pope paul, of the farnese family, in rome, in the year . in the next, which is above the door on the left hand, is the story of the peace that pope paul iii brought about at busseto between the emperor charles v and francis i of france, in the year ; in which scene are these portraits--the elder bourbon, king francis, king henry, the elder lorenzo, tournon, the younger lorenzo, the younger bourbon, and two sons of king francis. in the third the same pope is making cardinal di monte his legate at the council of trent; and there are innumerable portraits. in the last, which is between two windows, the same pontiff is creating many cardinals in preparation for the council, among whom there are four who became popes in succession after him--julius iii, marcello cervini, paul iv, and pius iv. to put it briefly, this little hall is very richly adorned with all that is required in such a place. in the first chamber next to the little hall, which is dedicated to dress, and likewise richly wrought in stucco and gold, there is in the centre a sacrifice, with three nude figures, among which is an armed figure of alexander the great, who is casting some garments of skin upon the fire; and in many other scenes that are in the same place, one sees how men discovered the way to make garments from plants and other wild products; but it would take too long to seek to describe the whole in full. from this chamber one enters into a second, dedicated to sleep, for which, when taddeo had to paint it, he received the inventions given below from the commendatore annibale caro, at the commission of the cardinal; and, to the end that the whole may be the better understood, we shall write here the advice of caro in his own words, which are these-- "the subjects that the cardinal has commanded me to give you for the pictures in the palace of caprarola, it is not enough for them to be explained by word of mouth, because, besides the invention, we must look to the disposition of the figures, the attitudes, the colours, and a number of other considerations, all in accordance with the descriptions that i find of the things that appear to me to be suitable; wherefore i shall put down on paper all that occurs to me in the matter, as briefly and as distinctly as i shall be able. and first with regard to the chamber with the flat vaulting--for of any other, up to the present, he has not given me the charge--it appears to me that since it is destined to contain the bed for the person of his most illustrious lordship, there must be executed there things in keeping with the place and out of the common both in the invention and in the workmanship. now, to declare my conception first in general, i would have a night painted there, because, besides that it would be appropriate to sleep, it would be a subject not very customary and different from those of the other rooms, and would give you an occasion of executing rare and beautiful works in your art, since the strong lights and dark shadows that go into such a subject are wont to give no little grace and relief to the figures; and it would please me to have the time of this night close upon the dawn, to the end that the things represented there may be visible without improbability. and to come to the details and to their disposition, it is necessary that we come to an understanding first about the situation and the distribution of the chamber. let us say, then, that it is divided, as indeed it is, into vaulting and walls, or façades, as we wish to call them. the vaulting has a sunk oval in the centre and four great spandrels at the corners, which, drawing together little by little and continuing one with the other along the façades, embrace the above-mentioned oval. the walls, also, are four, and between the spandrels they form four lunettes. "now, let us give names to all these parts, with the divisions that we shall make in the whole chamber, and we shall thus be able to distinguish each part on every side, all the way round. dividing it into five sections, then, the first shall be the 'head'; and this i presume to be next to the garden. the second, which must be that opposite to the first, we shall call the 'foot'; the third, on the right hand, we shall call the 'right'; the fourth, on the left hand, the 'left'; and the fifth, situated in the midst of the others, shall be named the 'centre.' thus, distinguishing all the parts with these names, we shall speak, for example, of the lunette at the head, the façade at the foot, the concavity on the left, the horn on the right, and so with any other part that it may be necessary to name; and to the spandrels that are at the corners, each between two of these boundaries, we shall give the name both of the one and of the other. and thus, also, we shall determine on the pavement below the situation of the bed, which, in my opinion, must be along the façade at the foot, with the head turned to the left-hand façade. "now, all the parts having received a name, let us turn to give a form to them all in general, and then to each by itself. first of all, the concavity of the vaulting, or rather, the oval, shall be represented--so the cardinal has judiciously determined--as being all heaven. the rest of the vaulting, comprising the four spandrels together with the border that we have already mentioned as enclosing the oval all around, shall be made to appear as the unbroken surface within the chamber, and as resting upon the façades, with some beautiful architectural design of your own devising. the four lunettes i would have counterfeited as likewise concave; and, whereas the oval above represents a heaven, these must represent heaven, earth, and sea, as if without the chamber, in accordance with the various figures and scenes that shall be there. and since, the vaulting being very flat, the lunettes are so low that they will not hold any but little figures, i would divide each lunette into three parts along its length, and, leaving the ends in a line with the height of the spandrels, i would deepen the centre part below that line, in such a manner that it may be like a great high window and show the exterior of the room, as it were, with figures and scenes proportionate in size to the others. and the two extremities that remain on either side, like horns to the lunette--and horns henceforward they will be called--shall be left low, of the height that they are above that line, and in each of them must be painted a figure seated or recumbent, and seeming to be either within or without the room, whichever you please, for you must choose what looks best; and what i say of one lunette i say of all four. "to return to the interior of the chamber as a whole, it appears to me that it should be in itself all in darkness, save in so far as the concavities both of the oval above and of the large windows at the sides may give it a certain degree of light, partly from the heaven, with its celestial lights, and partly from the earth with fires that must be painted there, as will be described later. at the same time, from the centre of the room to the lower end, i would have it that the nearer one may approach to the foot, where the night is to be, the greater shall be the darkness, and that in like manner in the other half, from the centre to the upper end, in proportion as one approaches step by step to the head, where aurora is to be, it shall grow continually lighter. "having thus disposed of the chamber as a whole, let us proceed to distribute the subjects, giving to each part its own. in the oval that is in the vaulting, you must paint at the head, as we have said, a figure of aurora. this figure, i find, may be made in several ways, but of all these i shall choose that which in my opinion can be done with the greatest grace in painting. you must paint, then, a maiden of such beauty as the poets strive to express with words, composing her of roses, gold, purple, dew, and other suchlike graces; and so much for the colours and flesh-tints of her person. as for her dress, composing out of many one that appears most suitable, we must reflect that, even as she has three stages and three distinct colours, so she has three names--alba, vermiglia, and rancia;[ ] and for this reason i would make her down to the girdle a garment delicate in texture, as it were transparent, and white; from the girdle down to the knees an outer garment of scarlet, with certain pinkings and tassels in imitation of the reflections seen on the clouds when she is vermilion, and from the knees down to the feet of the colour of gold, in order to represent her when she is orange, taking heed that this dress must be slit from the thighs downwards, in order to show the bare legs; and both the under garment and the outer must be blown by the wind, so as to flutter in folds. the arms, also, must be naked and of a rosy flesh-tint; on the shoulders you must make her wings of various colours, and on the head a crown of roses; and in her hands you must place a lamp or a lighted torch, or rather, there must go before her a cupid who is carrying a torch, and after her another who with another torch awakens tithonus. she must be seated on a gilded throne in a chariot likewise gilded, drawn by a winged pegasus or by two horses, for she is depicted both in the one way and in the other. as for the colours of the horses, one must be shining white and the other shining red, in order to denote them according to the names that homer gives them of lampus and phaëthon. you must make her rising from a tranquil sea, which should appear rippled, luminous, and glancing. on the wall behind, upon the right-hand horn, you must paint her husband tithonus, and on the left her lover cephalus. tithonus should be an old man white as snow, on an orange-coloured bed, or rather, in a cradle, according to those who make him, on account of his great age, once more a child; and he should be shown in the act of holding her back, or gazing on her with amorous eyes, or sighing after her, as if her departure grieved him. cephalus must be a most beautiful young man dressed in a doublet girt at the waist, with his buskins on his feet, with the spear, which must have the iron head gilded, in his hand, and with a dog at his side, in the act of entering into a wood, as if caring nothing for her by reason of the love that he bears to his procris. between cephalus and tithonus, in the space with the great window, behind the aurora, there must shoot upwards some few rays of the sun, of a splendour more vivid than that of the aurora; but these must be cut off, so as not to be seen, by a large figure of a woman who must appear before them. this woman shall be vigilance, and she must be so painted that it may appear that she is illumined from behind by the rising sun, and that, in order to forestall him, she is entering into the chamber by the great window that has been mentioned. let her form be that of a tall, valorous, and splendid woman, with the eyes well open and the brows well arched; dressed down to the feet in a transparent veil, which is girt at the waist; leaning with one hand on a lance, and with the other gathering together a fold of her gown. let her stand firmly on the right foot, and, holding the left foot suspended, appear from one side to be rooted to the ground, and from the other to be ready to step out. let her raise her head in order to gaze at aurora, and appear to be angry that she has risen before her; and let her have on the head a helmet with a cock upon it, which shall be in the act of beating its wings and crowing. all this must be behind the aurora; and in front of her, in the heaven of the concave oval, i would make certain little figures of girls one behind another, some more bright and some less bright, according as they are more or less near to the light of the aurora, in order to represent the hours which go before her and the sun. these hours shall be painted with the vestments, garlands, and headdresses of virgins, and winged, with the hands full of flowers, as if they were scattering these about. [footnote : white, vermilion, and orange.] "on the opposite side, at the foot of the oval, there shall be night, and even as aurora is rising, night shall be sinking; as the one shows her front, the other shall turn her back; as the first is issuing from a tranquil sea, the second shall be plunging into a sea that is troubled and dark; the horses of the first come with the breast forward, those of the second shall show their croups; and so, also, the person of night shall be altogether different from that of aurora. her flesh-tint shall be dark, dark her mantle, dark her hair, and dark her wings; and these shall be open, as if she were flying. she shall hold her hands on high, and in one a white babe that is sleeping, to represent sleep, and in the other a black babe that appears to be sleeping, to represent death; for of both these she is said to be the mother. she shall appear to be sinking with the head downwards and wrapped in thicker shadow, and the heaven about her shall be of a deeper blue and dotted with many stars. her car shall be of bronze, with the wheels divided into four spaces, to denote her four watches. then, on the façade opposite (namely, at the foot), even as aurora has on either side tithonus and cephalus, night shall have oceanus and atlas. oceanus shall be painted on the right, a great figure of a man with the beard and hair dripping and dishevelled, and both from the beard and from the hair there shall issue here and there some heads of dolphins. he shall be depicted as resting on a car drawn by whales, with the tritons all around in front of him, with their trumpets, and also the nymphs, and behind him some beasts of the sea; or, if not with all these things, at least with some of them, according to the space that you will have, which to me appears little for so much matter. for atlas, on the left hand, there shall be painted a mountain with the breast, arms, and all the upper parts of a robust man, bearded and muscular, in the act of upholding the heavens, as his figure is generally shown. lower down, likewise, over against the vigilance that we have placed opposite to aurora, there should be placed a figure of sleep; but, since it appears to me better, for several reasons, that sleep should be over the bed, we must place in his stead a figure of repose. as for this repose, i find, indeed, that she was worshipped, and that temples were dedicated to her; but i can by no means find how she was figured, unless her figure was that of security, which i do not believe, because security is a thing of the mind and repose of the body. we must therefore figure a repose of our own devising, in this manner: a young maiden of pleasing aspect, who, being weary, yet does not lie down, but sleeps seated with the head resting on the left arm. she shall have a spear with the head lying against her shoulder and the foot fixed in the ground, and shall let one arm hang limply down it, and have one leg crossed over it, in the attitude of resting for the restoration of her strength, and not from indolence. she shall have a crown of poppies, and a sceptre laid on one side, but not so far distant that she cannot readily take it up again; and whereas vigilance has upon her head a cock crowing, so to her we may give a sitting hen, in order to signify that even when resting she is active. "within the same oval, on the right hand, you shall paint a moon. her figure shall be that of a maiden of about eighteen years, tall and virginal in aspect, after the likeness of apollo, with long tresses, thick and somewhat waved, or wearing on the head one of those caps that are called phrygian, wide at the foot and pointed and twisted at the top, like the doge's hat, with two wings over the brow that must hang down and cover the ears, and with two little horns jutting from the head, as of the crescent moon; or, after apuleius, with a flat disk, polished and shining in the manner of a mirror, on the centre of the brow, which must have on either side of it some serpents and over it some few ears of corn, and on the head a crown of dittany, after the greeks, or of various flowers, after marcian, or of helichrysum, after certain others. her dress some would have reaching down to the feet, others only to the knees, girt under the breasts and crossed below the navel after the fashion of a nymph, with a little mantle on the shoulder clasped over the muscle on the right side, and on the feet buskins wrought in a pleasing pattern. pausanias, alluding, i believe, to diana, makes her dressed in deerskin; apuleius, taking her perchance for isis, gives her a vestment of the finest veiling in various colours, white, yellow, and red, and another garment all black, but bright and shining, dotted with many stars and with a moon in the centre, and all around it a border with ornaments of fruits and flowers hanging down after the manner of tassels. of these vestments, take whichever looks best. the arms you must make bare, with the sleeves broad; with the right hand she must hold a lighted torch, and with the left an unbent bow, which, according to claudian, is of horn, and, according to ovid, of gold. make it as seems best to you, and attach the quiver to her shoulders. she is found in pausanias with two serpents in the left hand, and in apuleius she has a gilded vase with a serpent as a handle, which appears as if swollen with poison, the foot of the vase being adorned with palm leaves; but by this i believe that he means to indicate isis, and i have therefore resolved that you shall represent her with the bow, as described above. she shall ride on a car drawn by horses, one black and the other white, or, if you desire variety, by a mule, after festus pompeius, or by bullocks, after claudian and ausonius; and if you choose bullocks, they must have the horns very small and a white patch on the right flank. the attitude of the moon must be that of looking down from the heaven in the oval towards the horn of the façade that looks out over the garden, where you must place her lover endymion, and she shall lean down from the car to kiss him, and, not being able by reason of the interposition of the border, she shall gaze lovingly upon him and illumine him with her radiance. for endymion you must make a beautiful young shepherd, asleep at the foot of mount latmus. in the horn on the other side there shall be pan, the god of shepherds, who was enamoured of the moon; his figure is very well known. round his neck place his pipes, and with both hands he shall hold out towards the moon a skein of white wool, with which he is fabled to have won her love; and with that present he must appear to be persuading her to come down to live with him. in the rest of the space of the same great window you must paint a scene, and that shall be the scene of the sacrifices to the lemures, which men used to hold at night in order to drive evil spirits from their houses. the ritual of these sacrifices was to go about, with the hands washed and the feet bare, scattering black beans; first rolling them about in the mouth, and then throwing them over the shoulder; and among the company were some who made a noise by sounding basins and suchlike instruments of copper. "on the left side of the oval you must paint mercury in the ordinary manner, with the little winged cap, with the winged sandals on the feet, with the caduceus in the left hand, and with the purse in the right; altogether nude, save for his little mantle on the shoulder; a most beautiful youth, but with a natural beauty, without any artifice; of a cheerful countenance, spirited eyes, beardless, or with the first down, with reddish hair, and narrow in the shoulders. some place wings over his ears, and make certain golden feathers coming out of his hair. the attitude you may make as you please, provided only that it shows him gliding down from heaven in order to infuse sleep, and, turning towards the side of the bed, about to touch the tester with his wand. on the left-hand façade, in the horn next to the façade at the foot, we might have the lares, his two sons, who were the tutelary spirits of private houses; namely, two young men dressed in the skins of dogs, with certain garments girt up and thrown over the left shoulder in such a way that they may come out under the right, in order to signify that they are unencumbered and ready to guard the house. they shall sit one beside the other, each holding a spear in the right hand, and between them, in the centre, there shall be a dog, and above them a small head of vulcan, wearing a little cap, with a smith's pincers beside it. in the other horn, next to the façade at the head, you must paint a battus being converted into stone for having revealed the cattle stolen by mercury. let him be an old shepherd seated, showing with the forefinger of the right arm the place where the cattle were hidden, and leaning with the left arm on a stick or rod, the herdsman's staff; and from the waist downwards he must be of black stone of the colour of basanite, into which stone he was converted. then in the rest of the great window you must paint the scene of the sacrifice that the ancients used to offer to mercury to the end that their sleep might not be interrupted; and to represent this it is necessary to make an altar with his statue upon it, at the foot of that a fire, and all around persons who are throwing into it pieces of wood for burning, and who, having in their hands cups full of wine, are sprinkling part of the wine and drinking the rest. "in the centre of the oval, in order to fill up all the space of the heaven, i would paint twilight, as being the mean between aurora and night. to represent him, i find that one must paint a young man wholly naked, sometimes with wings and sometimes without, and with two lighted torches, one of which we must show being kindled at that of aurora, and the other held out towards night. some represent this young man, with the same two torches, as riding on one of the horses of the sun or of aurora, but this would not be a composition suitable for our purpose; wherefore we shall make him as described above, turned towards night, and place behind him, between his legs, a great star, which shall be that of venus, because venus, phosphorus, hesperus, and twilight seem to be regarded as one and the same thing. and with the exception of this star, see to it that all the lesser stars near the aurora shall have disappeared. "now, having by this time filled up all the exterior of the chamber both above in the oval and on the sides and façades, it remains for us to come to the interior, the four spandrels of the vaulting. beginning with that over the bed, which is between the left-hand façade and that at the foot, you must paint sleep there; and in order to figure him, you must first figure his home. ovid places it in lemnos and among the cimmerii, homer in the Ægean sea, statius among the ethiopians, and ariosto in arabia. wherever it may be, it is enough to depict a mountain, such an one as may be imagined where there is always darkness and never any sun; at the foot of it a deep hollow, through which water shall pass, as still as death, in order to signify that it makes no murmur, and this water must be of a sombre hue, because they make it a branch of lethe. within this hollow shall be a bed, which, being fabled to be of ebony, shall be black in colour and covered with black draperies. in this bed shall be placed sleep, a young man of perfect beauty, for they make him surpassing beautiful and serene; nude, according to some, and according to others clothed in two garments, one black below and another white over it, with wings on the shoulders, and, according to statius, also at the top of the head. under his arm he shall hold a horn, which shall appear to be spilling a liquid of a livid hue over the bed, in order to denote oblivion; although others make the horn full of fruits. in one hand he shall hold the wand, and in the other three poppy-heads. he shall be sleeping like one sick, with the head and the limbs hanging limp, as if wholly relaxed in slumber. about his head shall be seen morpheus, icelus, and phantasus, and a great number of dreams, all which are his children. the dreams shall be little figures, some of a beautiful aspect and others hideous, as being things that partly please and partly terrify. let them, likewise, have wings, and also twisted feet, as being unstable and uncertain things, and let them hover and whirl about him, making a kind of dramatic spectacle by transforming themselves into things possible and impossible. morpheus is called by ovid the creator and fashioner of figures, and i would therefore make him in the act of fashioning various masks with grotesque faces and placing some of them on feet. icelus, they say, transforms himself into many shapes, and him i would figure in such a way that as a whole he may have the appearance of a man, and yet may have parts of a wild beast, of a bird, and of a serpent, as the same ovid describes him. phantasus, they have it, transforms himself into various inanimate things, and him, also, we may represent, after the words of ovid, partly of stone, partly of water, and partly of wood. you must feign that in this place there are two gates, one of ivory, whence there issue the false dreams, and one of horn, whence the true dreams come; the true shall be more distinct in colour, more luminous, and better executed, and the false shall be confused, sombre, and imperfect. "in the next spandrel, between the façade at the foot and that on the right hand, you shall place brizo, the goddess of prophecy and the interpretress of dreams. for her i cannot find the vestments, but i would make her in the manner of a sibyl, seated at the foot of the elm described by virgil, under the branches of which are placed innumerable images, which, falling from those branches, must be shown flying about her in the forms that we have given them; as has been related, some lighter and some darker, some broken and some indistinct, and others almost wholly invisible; in order to represent by these the dreams, the visions, the oracles, the phantasms, and the vain things that are seen in sleep (for into these five kinds macrobius appears to divide them); and she shall be as it were lost in thought, interpreting them, and shall have about her persons offering to her baskets filled with all manner of things, excepting only fishes. "in the spandrel between the right-hand façade and that at the head it will be well to place harpocrates, the god of silence, because this, presenting itself at the first glance before those who enter by the door that leads from the great painted chamber, will warn them as they enter that they must not make any noise. his figure is that of a young man, or rather, of a boy, black in colour, from his being god of the egyptians, and with his finger to his mouth in the act of commanding silence. he shall carry in his hand a branch of a peach-tree, and, if you think it well, a garland of the leaves of the same tree. they feign that he was born weak in the legs, and that, having been killed, his mother isis restored him to life; and for this reason some make him stretched out on the ground, and others in the lap of his mother, with the feet joined together. but, for the sake of harmony with the other figures, i would make him standing, supported in some way, or rather, seated, like that of the most illustrious cardinal sant'agnolo, which is likewise winged and holds a horn of plenty. he shall have about him persons offering to him, as was the custom, first-fruits of lentils and other vegetables, and also of peaches, as mentioned above. others used to make for this same god a figure without a face, with a little cap on the head, and about him a wolf's skin, all covered with eyes and ears. take which of these two you please. "in the last spandrel, between the façade at the head and that on the left, it will be well to place angerona, the goddess of secrecy, which figure, coming within the same door of entrance, will admonish those who come out of the chamber to keep secret all that they have seen and heard, as is the duty of the servants of noblemen. the figure is that of a woman placed upon an altar, with the mouth bound and sealed. i know not with what vestments she used to be depicted, but i would envelop her in a long gown covering her whole person, and would represent her as shrugging her shoulders. around her there must be painted some priests, by whom sacrifices used to be offered to her before the gate in the curia, to the end that it might be unlawful for any person to reveal to the prejudice of the republic any matter that might be discussed there. "the space within the spandrels being filled up, it now only remains to say that around all this work it seems to me that there should be a frieze to encircle it on every side, and in this i would make either grotesques or small scenes with little figures. the matter of these i would have in harmony with the subjects already given above, each in accord with that nearest to it; and if you paint little scenes, it would please me to have them representing the actions that men and also animals do at the hour that we have fixed there. now, beginning at the head, i would paint in the frieze of that façade, as things appropriate to the dawn, artisans, workmen, and persons of various kinds who, having risen, are returning to the labours of their pursuits--as smiths to the forge, men of letters to their studies, huntsmen to the open country, and muleteers to the road, and above all would i like to have the poor old woman from petrarca rising from her spinning and lighting the fire, with her feet bare and her clothes dishevelled. and if you think fit to make grotesques of animals there, make them of birds singing, geese going forth to their pasture, cocks announcing the day, and similar fancies. in the frieze on the façade at the foot, in accord with the darkness there, i would make persons going fowling by night, spies, adulterers, climbers of windows, and other suchlike things; and for grotesques, porcupines, hedgehogs, badgers, a peacock with the tail spread, signifying the night of stars, owls large and small, bats, and suchlike animals. in the frieze on the right-hand façade you must paint things in keeping with the moon, such as fishers of the night, mariners navigating with the compass, necromancers, witches, and the like; for grotesques, a beacon-tower in the distance, nets, weir-baskets with some fishes in them, crabs feeding by the light of the moon, and, if there be space enough, an elephant kneeling in adoration of her. and, finally, in the frieze on the left-hand façade, mathematicians with their instruments for measuring, thieves, false-coiners, robbers of buried treasure, shepherds with their folds still closed, lying around their fires, and the like; and for animals i would make there wolves, foxes, apes, weasels, and any other treacherous animals that lie in wait for other creatures. "in this part i have placed these phantasies thus at random in order to suggest what kinds of inventions could be painted there; but, since they are not things that need to be described, i leave you to imagine them in your own manner, knowing that painters are by their nature full of resource and grace in inventing such bizarre fantasies. and now, having filled in all the parts of the work both within and without the chamber, there is no occasion for us to say any more, save that you must discuss the whole matter with the most illustrious monsignore, and, according to his taste, adding or taking away whatever may be necessary, you must strive on your part to do yourself honour. fare you well." now, although all these beautiful inventions of caro's were very ingenious, fanciful, and worthy of praise, nevertheless taddeo was not able to carry into execution more than the place would contain; but those that he painted there were the greater part, and they were executed by him with much grace and in a most beautiful manner. next to this chamber, in the last of the three, which is dedicated to solitude, taddeo, with the help of his assistants, painted christ preaching to the apostles in the desert and in the woods, with a s. john on the right hand that is very well executed. in another scene, which is opposite to the first, are painted many figures of men who are living in the forest in order to avoid the conversation of mankind; and these certain others are seeking to disturb, throwing stones at them, while some are plucking out their own eyes so as not to see. and in this scene, likewise, is painted the emperor charles v, portrayed from life, with this inscription-- post innumeros labores ociosam quietamque vitam traduxit. opposite to charles is the portrait of the last grand turk, who much delighted in solitude, with these words-- animum a negocio ad ocium revocavit. near him is aristotle, who has beneath him these words-- anima fit sedendo et quiescendo prudentior. opposite to him, beneath another figure by the hand of taddeo, is written this-- quemadmodum negocii, sic et ocii ratio habenda. beneath another may be read-- ocium cum dignitate, negocium sine periculo. and opposite to that, under another figure, is this motto-- virtutis et liberÆ vitÆ optima magistra solitudo. beneath another-- plus agunt qui nihil agere videntur. and under the last-- qui agit plurima, plurimum peccat. to put it briefly, this room is very ornate with beautiful figures, and likewise very rich in stucco and gold. but to return to vignuola; how excellent he is in matters of architecture, the works that he has written and published and still continues to write, in addition to his marvellous buildings, bear ample testimony, and in the life of michelagnolo we shall say all that it may be expedient for us to say in this connection. taddeo, in addition to the works described above, executed many others of which there is no need to make mention; but in particular a chapel in the church of the goldsmiths in the strada giulia, a façade in chiaroscuro at s. gieronimo, and the chapel of the high-altar in s. sabina. and his brother federigo is painting for the chapel of s. lorenzo, which is all wrought in stucco, in s. lorenzo in damaso, an altar-piece with that saint on the gridiron and paradise all open; which altar-piece is expected to prove a very beautiful work. and, in order not to omit anything that may be useful, pleasing, or helpful to anyone who may read these my labours, i shall add this as well. while taddeo was working, as has been related, at the vigna of pope julius and at the façade of mattiuolo, the master of the post, he executed for monsignor innocenzio, the most reverend and illustrious cardinal di monte, two painted pictures of no great size; and one of them, which is beautiful enough, is now in the guardaroba of that cardinal (who has given the other away), in company with a vast number of things ancient and modern, all truly of the rarest, among which, i must not omit to mention, there is a painted picture as fantastic as any work of which we have spoken hitherto. in this picture, which is about two braccia and a half in height, there is nothing to be seen by him who looks at it from the ordinary point of view, from the front, save some letters on a flesh-coloured ground, and in the centre the moon, which goes gradually increasing or diminishing according to the lines of the writing. and yet, if you go below the picture and look in a sphere or mirror that is placed over the picture in the manner of a little baldachin, you see in that mirror, which receives the image from the picture, a most lifelike portrait in painting of king henry ii of france, somewhat larger than life, with these words about it--henry ii, roy de france. you can see the same portrait by lowering the picture, placing your brow on the upper part of the frame, and looking down; but it is true that whoever looks at it in that manner, sees it turned the other way from what it is in the mirror. that portrait, i say, cannot be seen save by looking at it as described above, because it is painted on twenty-eight ridges, too low to be perceived, which are between the lines of the words given below, in which, besides the ordinary meaning, there may be read, by looking at both ends of the lines and in the centre, certain letters somewhat larger than the others, which run thus-- henricus valesius dei gratia gallorum rex invictissimus. it is true, indeed, that the roman m. alessandro taddei, the secretary of that cardinal, and don silvano razzi, my dearest friend, who have given me information about this picture and about many other things, do not know by whose hand it is, but only that it was presented by the above-named king henry to cardinal caraffa, when he was in france, and then by caraffa to the most illustrious cardinal di monte, who treasured it as a very rare thing, which in truth it is. the words painted in the picture, which alone are to be seen by him who looks at it from the ordinary point of view, as one looks at other pictures, are these-- heus tu quid vides nil ut reor nisi lunam crescentem et e regione positam quæ ex intervallo gradatim uti crescit nos admonet ut in una spe fide et charitate tv simul et ego illuminat i verbo dei crescamus, donec ab ejusdem gratia fiat lux in nobis amplissima qui est æternus ille dator lucis in quo et a quo mortales omnes veram lucem recipere si speramus in vanum non sperabimus in the same guardaroba is a most beautiful portrait of signora sofonisba anguisciuola by her own hand, once presented by her to pope julius iii. and there is another thing of great value, a very ancient book with the bucolics, the georgics, and the Æneid of virgil, in characters so old, that it has been judged by many men of learning in rome and in other places that it was written in the very time of cæsar augustus, or little after; wherefore it is no marvel that it should be held by the cardinal in the greatest veneration. and let this be the end of the life of the painter taddeo zucchero. index index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume viii abacco, antonio l', abate, niccolò dell', , agnolo (nephew of montorsoli), , , agnolo, baccio d', agnolo, battista d' (battista del moro), agnolo bronzino, , , , , , agnolo da siena, agostino busto (il bambaja), , agostino da siena, alberti, michele, , , albertinelli, mariotto, alessandro (scherano), alessandro moretto (alessandro bonvicini), , alessandro vittoria, altobello da melone, , ammanati, bartolommeo, , , , , andrea contucci (andrea dal monte sansovino), , andrea da fiesole, andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea contucci), , andrea del sarto, , , , , , , , , , , , , , andrea mantegna, andrea palladio, , andrea schiavone, , , andrea verrocchio, angelo ciciliano, anguisciuola, anna, anguisciuola, europa, , anguisciuola, lucia, , , anguisciuola, minerva, , anguisciuola, sofonisba, - , anna anguisciuola, annibale da carpi, annibale di nanni di baccio bigio, anselmi, michelagnolo, , antonio, fra, antonio bacchiacca, antonio begarelli (il modena), antonio campo, , antonio da correggio, , , , , antonio da san gallo (the elder), antonio da san gallo (the younger), , , , , antonio del ceraiolo, , antonio del pollaiuolo, antonio di donnino mazzieri, antonio filarete, antonio l'abacco, antonio mini, antonio particini, antonio viniziano, apelles, aretino, leone (leone lioni), , aristotile (bastiano) da san gallo, _life_, - . , arrigo (heinrich paludanus), bacchiacca, antonio, bacchiacca, il (francesco ubertini), , , , - baccio bandinelli, , , , , , , baccio d'agnolo, baccio da montelupo, baglioni, raffaello, baldassarre peruzzi (baldassarre da siena), , , , , baldini, giovanni, , bambaja, il (agostino busto), , bandinelli, baccio, , , , , , , barocci, federigo, baronino, bartolommeo, barozzi, jacopo (vignuola), , , - , bartolommeo ammanati, , , , , bartolommeo baronino, bartolommeo di san marco, fra, bartolommeo genga, , - bartolommeo suardi (bramantino), , bastiano (aristotile) da san gallo, _life_, - . , battista botticelli, battista d'agnolo (battista del moro), battista da san gallo (battista gobbo), battista da verona (battista farinato), battista del borro, battista del moro (battista d'agnolo), battista del tasso, , , , battista dossi, , battista farinato (battista da verona), battista franco (battista semolei), _life_, - . , , , - , , , battista gobbo (battista da san gallo), battista naldini, battista semolei (battista franco), _life_, - . , , , - , , , begarelli, antonio (il modena), bellini, giovanni, bello, raffaello, bembi, bonifazio, , benedetto ghirlandajo, _life_, - benvenuto cellini, benvenuto garofalo (benvenuto tisi), _life_, - . , , bergamo, fra damiano da, , bernardino da trevio (bernardino zenale), bernardino luini (bernardino del lupino), bernardino zenale (bernardino da trevio), bernardo soiaro (bernardo de' gatti), , , , bertano, giovan battista, , biagio da carigliano (biagio betti), biagio pupini, , bigio, annibale di nanni di baccio, bizzerra, boccaccino, boccaccio, , , - boccaccino, camillo, bologna, orazio da (orazio sammacchini), , , bologna, pellegrino da (pellegrino pellegrini, or pellegrino tibaldi), , bolognese, marc'antonio, bonifazio bembi, , bonsignori (monsignori), fra girolamo, bonvicini, alessandro (alessandro moretto), , borro, battista del, botticelli, battista, bozzacco (brazzacco), bramante da urbino, , , , , bramantino (bartolommeo suardi), , brambilari (brambilla), francesco, brazzacco (bozzacco), brescia, raffaello da (raffaello brescianino, or raffaello dei piccinelli), brescianino, girolamo (girolamo mosciano, or muziano), , brescianino, raffaello (raffaello da brescia, or raffaello dei piccinelli), bresciano, gian girolamo (gian girolamo savoldo), bronzino, agnolo, , , , , , brunelleschi, filippo, brusciasorzi, domenico (domenico del riccio), , bugiardini, giuliano, - , buonarroti, michelagnolo, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , - , - , , busto, agostino (il bambaja), , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), , , , , , calavrese, calavrese, giovan piero, calcagni, tiberio, caliari, paolo (paolo veronese), , , - , , camillo boccaccino, camillo mantovano, campo, antonio, , campo, galeazzo, campo, giulio, , , , , campo, vincenzio, , caravaggio, polidoro da, , , carigliano, biagio da (biagio betti), carlo portelli, , , , carpi, annibale da, carpi, girolamo da, _life_, - . , carpi, giulio da, carso, giovanni dal, caselli (castelli), cristofano, castelfranco, giorgione da, , , castelli (caselli), cristofano, cellini, benvenuto, ceraiolo, antonio del, , cesare da sesto, ciciliano, angelo, cioli, simone, cioli, valerio, clemente, prospero, , conte, jacopo del, , , conti, domenico, contucci, andrea (andrea dal monte sansovino), , corniole, nanni di prospero delle, correggio, antonio da, , , , , cosini, silvio (silvio da fiesole), costa, ippolito, costa, lorenzo (the elder), , costa, lorenzo (the younger), credi, lorenzo di, , , cremona, geremia da, cristofano castelli (caselli), cristofano gobbo (cristofano solari), cristofano lombardi (tofano lombardino), , cristofano rosa, , , cristofano solari (cristofano gobbo), cungi, leonardo, daniello da parma (daniello porri), daniello da volterra (daniello ricciarelli), _life_, - . - , - , , daniello porri (daniello da parma), daniello ricciarelli (daniello da volterra), _life_, - . - , - , , david ghirlandajo, _life_, - . , diacceto, diana mantovana (sculptore), domenico brusciasorzi (domenico del riccio), , domenico conti, domenico del riccio (domenico brusciasorzi), , domenico ghirlandajo, - , , , domenico panetti, domenico puligo, , domenico romano, donato (donatello), dossi, battista, , dossi, dosso, , , , durante del nero, enea vico, europa anguisciuola, , faenza, jacopone da, fagiuoli, girolamo, fano, pompeo da, farinato, battista (battista da verona), farinato, paolo, federigo barocci, federigo zucchero, , , - , - , , , - , feliciano da san vito, , fermo ghisoni, - ferrarese, girolamo (girolamo lombardi), , ferrari, gaudenzio, ferrucci, francesco (francesco del tadda), , , fiesole, andrea da, fiesole, silvio da (silvio cosini), filarete, antonio, filippo brunelleschi, fiorini, giovan battista, fontana, prospero, forlì, francesco da, forlì, livio da, , fra antonio, fra bartolommeo di san marco, fra damiano da bergamo, , fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, _life_, - . fra girolamo bonsignori (monsignori), fra guglielmo della porta, fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo, , , , , francesca, piero della, francesco brambilari (brambilla), francesco da forlì, francesco da san gallo, , , francesco da volterra, francesco de' rossi (francesco salviati), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , francesco del tadda (francesco ferrucci), , , francesco di girolamo dal prato, , , - francesco ferrucci (francesco del tadda), , , francesco francia, francesco granacci, , , , francesco (l'indaco), francesco mazzuoli (francesco parmigiano), , , , francesco primaticcio, , , , francesco ricchino, francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , francesco sant'agnolo, - francesco ubertini (il bacchiacca), , , , - francia, francesco, franciabigio, franco, battista (battista semolei), _life_, - . , , , - , , , galasso (of ferrara), galeazzo campo, gambara, lattanzio, , , , garofalo, benvenuto (benvenuto tisi), _life_, - . , , gatti, bernardo de' (bernardo soiaro), , , , gaudenzio ferrari, genga, bartolommeo, , - genga, girolamo, , geremia da cremona, ghirlandajo, benedetto, _life_, - ghirlandajo, david, _life_, - . , ghirlandajo, domenico, - , , , ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, - , , ghirlandajo, ridolfo, _life_, - . , , - , - ghisoni, fermo, - gian girolamo bresciano (gian girolamo savoldo), gian maria da milano, giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giorgione da castelfranco, , , giotto, , giovan battista bertano, , giovan battista fiorini, giovan battista ingoni, , giovan battista mantovano (sculptore), giovan francesco da san gallo, giovan francesco rustici, _life_, - giovan paolo rossetti, , giovan piero calavrese, giovanni (the fleming), giovanni agnolo montorsoli, fra, _life_, - . giovanni antonio licinio (pordenone), , , giovanni antonio sodoma, giovanni antonio sogliani, giovanni baldini, , giovanni bellini, giovanni da udine (giovanni nanni, or giovanni ricamatori), _life_, - . giovanni dal carso, giovanni della robbia, giovanni nanni (giovanni da udine, or giovanni ricamatori), _life_, - . giovanni pedoni, giovanni ricamatori (giovanni da udine, or giovanni nanni), _life_, - . giovanni rosto, , giovanni strada (jan van der straet), girolamo bonsignori (monsignori), fra, girolamo brescianino (girolamo mosciano, or muziano), , girolamo da carpi, _life_, - . , girolamo da sermoneta (girolamo siciolante), , , girolamo dal prato, , girolamo fagiuoli, girolamo ferrarese (girolamo lombardi), , girolamo genga, , girolamo lombardi (girolamo ferrarese), , girolamo mazzuoli, , , girolamo mosciano (girolamo muziano, or brescianino), , girolamo romanino, girolamo siciolante (girolamo da sermoneta), , , giuliano bugiardini, - , giuliano da san gallo, giuliano leno, giulio campo, , , , , giulio da carpi, giulio mazzoni, , giulio romano, , - , , , giuseppe porta (giuseppe or joseffo salviati), , , , , gobbo, battista (battista da san gallo), gobbo, cristofano (cristofano solari), grà, marco da, granacci, francesco, , , , gualtieri (the fleming), guazzetto (lorenzo naldini), , - guglielmo da marcilla, guglielmo della porta, fra, guido mazzoni (modanino), heemskerk, martin (martino), , heinrich paludanus (arrigo), il bacchiacca (francesco ubertini), , , , - il bambaja (agostino busto), , il modena (antonio begarelli), il rosso, , indaco, l' (francesco), ingoni, giovan battista, , ippolito costa, jacomo melighino (jacopo melighini), jacone (jacopo), - jacopo barozzi (vignuola), , , - , jacopo da pontormo, , , , , , jacopo del conte, , , jacopo del tedesco, , jacopo di casentino, jacopo melighini (jacomo melighino), jacopo robusti (jacopo tintoretto), - jacopo sansovino, , , jacopo tintoretto (jacopo robusti), - jacopo zucchi, jacopone da faenza, jan van der straet (giovanni strada), joseffo salviati (giuseppe salviati or giuseppe porta), , , , , lamberto (the fleming), lattanzio gambara, , , , leno, giuliano, leonardo cungi, leonardo da vinci, , , , , , leonardo ricciarelli, leone lioni (leone aretino), , licinio, giovanni antonio (pordenone), , , ligorio, pirro, , , , l'indaco (francesco), lioni, leone (leone aretino), , lippi, ruberto di filippo, , livio da forlì, , lombardi, cristofano (tofano lombardino), , lombardi, girolamo (girolamo ferrarese), , lombardino, tofano (cristofano lombardi), , lorenzo costa (the elder), , lorenzo costa (the younger), lorenzo di credi, , , lorenzo naldini (guazzetto), , - lucia anguisciuola, , , luini, bernardino (bernardino del lupino), manno, , mantegna, andrea, mantovana (sculptore), diana, mantovano, camillo, mantovano (sculptore), giovan battista, mantovano, rinaldo, marc'antonio bolognese, marcilla, guglielmo da, marco (son of giovanni rosto), marco da grà, marco da siena (marco del pino), , marco oggioni, marcone, piero di, , mariano da pescia, mariotto albertinelli, martin heemskerk (martino), , martino (pupil of montorsoli), , , , martino (martin heemskerk), , maturino, , mazzieri, antonio di donnino, mazzoni, giulio, , mazzoni, guido (modanino), mazzuoli, francesco (francesco parmigiano), , , , mazzuoli, girolamo, , , melighini, jacopo (jacomo melighino), melone, altobello da, , michelagnolo anselmi, , michelagnolo buonarroti, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , - , - , , michele alberti, , , michele di ridolfo ghirlandajo, - , , michele san michele, milano, gian maria da, minerva anguisciuola, , mini, antonio, modanino (guido mazzoni), modena, il (antonio begarelli), monsignori (bonsignori), fra girolamo, montelupo, baccio da, montelupo, raffaello da, , , , montorsoli, fra giovanni agnolo, _life_, - . moretto, alessandro (alessandro bonvicini), , moro, battista del (battista d'agnolo), mosca, simone, mosciano, girolamo (girolamo muziano, or brescianino), , murano, natalino da, muziano, girolamo (girolamo mosciano, or brescianino), , naldini, battista, naldini, lorenzo (guazzetto), , - nanni, giovanni (giovanni da udine, or giovanni ricamatori), _life_, - . nanni di prospero delle corniole, nannoccio da san giorgio, - natalino da murano, nero, durante del, niccolaio, niccolò (tribolo), , , niccolò dell'abate, , niccolò soggi, nunziata, , nunziata, toto del, oggioni, marco, orazio da bologna (orazio sammacchini), , , orazio pianetti, , orazio sammacchini (orazio da bologna), , , orazio vecelli, ottaviano zucchero, , , palladio, andrea, , paludanus, heinrich (arrigo), panetti, domenico, paolo caliari (paolo veronese), , , - , , paolo farinato, paolo uccello, paolo veronese (paolo caliari), , , - , , parma, daniello da (daniello porri), parmigiano, francesco (francesco mazzuoli), , , , particini, antonio, pedoni, giovanni, pellegrino pellegrini (pellegrino da bologna, or pellegrino tibaldi), , perino del vaga, , , , - , , , perugino, pietro, peruzzi, baldassarre (baldassarre da siena), , , , , peruzzi, salustio, pescia, mariano da, pianetti, orazio, , piccinelli, raffaello dei (raffaello da brescia, or raffaello brescianino), pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, , piero da sesto, piero della francesca, piero di marcone, , pietro perugino, piloto, pino, marco del (marco da siena), , piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del, , , , , pirro ligorio, , , , poggino (zanobi poggini), polidoro da caravaggio, , , pollaiuolo, antonio del, pompeo da fano, pontormo, jacopo da, , , , , , pordenone (giovanni antonio licinio), , , porri, daniello (daniello da parma), porta, fra guglielmo della, porta, giuseppe (giuseppe or joseffo salviati), , , , , portelli, carlo, , , , prato, francesco di girolamo dal, , , - prato, girolamo dal, , primaticcio, francesco, , , , properzia de' rossi, prospero clemente, , prospero fontana, puligo, domenico, , pupini, biagio, , raffaello baglioni, raffaello bello, raffaello da brescia (raffaello brescianino, or raffaello dei piccinelli), raffaello da montelupo, , , , raffaello da urbino (raffaello sanzio), , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , raffaello dei piccinelli (raffaello da brescia, or raffaello brescianino), raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , ricamatori, giovanni (giovanni da udine, or giovanni nanni), _life_, - . ricchino, francesco, ricciarelli, daniello (daniello da volterra), _life_, - . - , - , , ricciarelli, leonardo, riccio, domenico del (domenico brusciasorzi), , ridolfo ghirlandajo, _life_, - . , , - , - rinaldo mantovano, robbia, giovanni della, robetta, , robusti, jacopo (jacopo tintoretto), - romanino, girolamo, romano, domenico, romano, giulio, , - , , , rosa, cristofano, , , rosa, stefano, , , rossetti, giovan paolo, , rossi, francesco de' (francesco salviati), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , rossi, properzia de', rossi, vincenzio de', rosso, il, , rosto, giovanni, , roviale, ruberto di filippo lippi, , rustici, giovan francesco, _life_, - salustio peruzzi, salviati, francesco (francesco de' rossi), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , salviati, giuseppe (joseffo salviati, or giuseppe porta), , , , , sammacchini, orazio (orazio da bologna), , , san gallo, antonio da (the elder), san gallo, antonio da (the younger), , , , , san gallo, bastiano (aristotile) da, _life_, - . , san gallo, battista da (battista gobbo), san gallo, francesco da, , , san gallo, giovan francesco da, san gallo, giuliano da, san gimignano, vincenzio da, san giorgio, nannoccio da, - san marco, fra bartolommeo di, san michele, michele, san vito, feliciano da, , sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, , sansovino, andrea dal monte (andrea contucci), , sansovino, jacopo, , , sant'agnolo, francesco, - santi titi, sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , sarto, andrea del, , , , , , , , , , , , , , savoldo, gian girolamo (gian girolamo bresciano), scheggia, scherano (alessandro), schiavone, andrea, , , sculptore (mantovana), diana, sculptore (mantovano), giovan battista, sebastiano viniziano del piombo, fra, , , , , semolei, battista (battista franco), _life_, - . , , , - , , , sermoneta, girolamo da (girolamo siciolante), , , sesto, cesare da, sesto, piero da, settignano, solosmeo da, siciolante, girolamo (girolamo da sermoneta), , , siena, agnolo da, siena, agostino da, siena, baldassarre da (baldassarre peruzzi), , , , , siena, marco da (marco del pino), , silvio da fiesole (silvio cosini), simone cioli, simone mosca, sodoma, giovanni antonio, sofonisba anguisciuola, - , soggi, niccolò, sogliani, giovanni antonio, soiaro, bernardo (bernardo de' gatti), , , , solari, cristofano (cristofano gobbo), solosmeo da settignano, spillo, , stefano rosa, , , stefano veltroni, strada, giovanni (jan van der straet), suardi, bartolommeo (bramantino), , tadda, francesco del (francesco ferrucci), , , taddeo zucchero, _life_, - , - . , tasso, battista del, , , , tedesco, jacopo del, , tibaldi, pellegrino (pellegrino pellegrini, or pellegrino da bologna), , tiberio calcagni, tintoretto, jacopo (jacopo robusti), - tisi, benvenuto (benvenuto garofalo), _life_, - . , , titi, santi, tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), , , , , , tofano lombardino (cristofano lombardi), , toto del nunziata, trevio, bernardino da (bernardino zenale), tribolo (niccolò), , , ubertini, francesco (il bacchiacca), , , , - uccello, paolo, udine, giovanni da (giovanni nanni, or giovanni ricamatori), _life_, - . urbino, bramante da, , , , , urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , vaga, perino del, , , , - , , , valerio cioli, valerio vicentino, vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , - , - , , , , , , , - , - , , - , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , as painter, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as architect, , , vecelli, orazio, vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), , , , , , veltroni, stefano, verona, battista da (battista farinato), veronese, paolo (paolo caliari), , , - , , verrocchio, andrea, vicentino, valerio, vico, enea, vignuola (jacopo barozzi), , , - , vincenzio campo, , vincenzio da san gimignano, vincenzio de' rossi, vinci, leonardo da, , , , , , viniziano, antonio, vitruvius, , vittoria, alessandro, volterra, daniello da (daniello ricciarelli), _life_, - . - , - , , volterra, francesco da, zanobi poggini (poggino), zenale, bernardino (bernardino da trevio), zucchero, federigo, , , - , - , , , - , zucchero, ottaviano, , , zucchero, taddeo, _life_, - , - . , zucchi, jacopo, printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury mornings in florence by john ruskin, m.a. mornings in florence. the first morning. santa croce. if there is one artist, more than another, whose work it is desirable that you should examine in florence, supposing that you care for old art at all, it is giotto. you can, indeed, also see work of his at assisi; but it is not likely you will stop there, to any purpose. at padua there is much; but only of one period. at florence, which is his birthplace, you can see pictures by him of every date, and every kind. but you had surely better see, first, what is of his best time and of the best kind. he painted very small pictures and very large--painted from the age of twelve to sixty--painted some subjects carelessly which he had little interest in--some carefully with all his heart. you would surely like, and it would certainly be wise, to see him first in his strong and earnest work,--to see a painting by him, if possible, of large size, and wrought with his full strength, and of a subject pleasing to him. and if it were, also, a subject interesting to yourself,--better still. now, if indeed you are interested in old art, you cannot but know the power of the thirteenth century. you know that the character of it was concentrated in, and to the full expressed by, its best king, st. louis. you know st. louis was a franciscan, and that the franciscans, for whom giotto was continually painting under dante's advice, were prouder of him than of any other of their royal brethren or sisters. if giotto ever would imagine anybody with care and delight, it would be st. louis, if it chanced that anywhere he had st. louis to paint. also, you know that he was appointed to build the campanile of the duomo, because he was then the best master of sculpture, painting, and architecture in florence, and supposed to be without superior in the world. [footnote: "cum in universe orbe non reperiri dicatur quenquam qui sufficientior sit in his et aliis multis artibus magistro giotto bondonis de florentia, pictore, et accipiendus sit in patriâ, velut magnus magister."--(decree of his appointment, quoted by lord lindsay, vol. ii., p. .)] and that this commission was given him late in life, (of course he could not have designed the campanile when he was a boy;) so therefore, if you find any of his figures painted under pure campanile architecture, and the architecture by his hand, you know, without other evidence, that the painting must be of his strongest time. so if one wanted to find anything of his to begin with, especially, and could choose what it should be, one would say, "a fresco, life size, with campanile architecture behind it, painted in an important place; and if one might choose one's subject, perhaps the most interesting saint of all saints--for him to do for us--would be st. louis." wait then for an entirely bright morning; rise with the sun, and go to santa croce, with a good opera-glass in your pocket, with which you shall for once, at any rate, see an opus; and, if you have time, several opera. walk straight to the chapel on the right of the choir ("k" in your murray's guide). when you first get into it, you will see nothing but a modern window of glaring glass, with a red-hot cardinal in one pane--which piece of modern manufacture takes away at least seven-eighths of the light (little enough before) by which you might have seen what is worth sight. wait patiently till you get used to the gloom. then, guarding your eyes from the accursed modern window as best you may, take your opera-glass and look to the right, at the uppermost of the two figures beside it. it is st. louis, under campanile architecture, painted by--giotto? or the last florentine painter who wanted a job--over giotto? that is the first question you have to determine; as you will have henceforward, in every case in which you look at a fresco. sometimes there will be no question at all. these two grey frescos at the bottom of the walls on the right and left, for instance, have been entirely got up for your better satisfaction, in the last year or two--over giotto's half-effaced lines. but that st. louis? re-painted or not, it is a lovely thing,--there can be no question about that; and we must look at it, after some preliminary knowledge gained, not inattentively. your murray's guide tells you that this chapel of the bardi della libertà, in which you stand, is covered with frescos by giotto; that they were whitewashed, and only laid bare in ; that they were painted between and ; that they represent scenes in the life of st. francis; and that on each side of the window are paintings of st. louis of toulouse, st. louis king of france, st. elizabeth, of hungary, and st. claire,--"all much restored and repainted." under such recommendation, the frescos are not likely to be much sought after; and accordingly, as i was at work in the chapel this morning, sunday, th september, , two nice-looking englishmen, under guard of their valet de place, passed the chapel without so much as looking in. you will perhaps stay a little longer in it with me, good reader, and find out gradually where you are. namely, in the most interesting and perfect little gothic chapel in all italy--so far as i know or can hear. there is no other of the great time which has all its frescos in their place. the arena, though far larger, is of earlier date--not pure gothic, nor showing giotto's full force. the lower chapel at assisi is not gothic at all, and is still only of giotto's middle time. you have here, developed gothic, with giotto in his consummate strength, and nothing lost, in form, of the complete design. by restoration--judicious restoration, as mr. murray usually calls it--there is no saying how much you have lost, putting the question of restoration out of your mind, however, for a while, think where you are, and what you have got to look at. you are in the chapel next the high altar of the great franciscan church of florence. a few hundred yards west of you, within ten minutes' walk, is the baptistery of florence. and five minutes' walk west of that is the great dominican church of florence, santa maria novella. get this little bit of geography, and architectural fact, well into your mind. there is the little octagon baptistery in the middle; here, ten minutes' walk east of it, the franciscan church of the holy cross; there, five minutes walk west of it, the dominican church of st. mary. now, that little octagon baptistery stood where it now stands (and was finished, though the roof has been altered since) in the eighth century. it is the central building of etrurian christianity,--of european christianity. from the day it was finished, christianity went on doing her best, in etruria and elsewhere, for four hundred years,--and her best seemed to have come to very little,--when there rose up two men who vowed to god it should come to more. and they made it come to more, forthwith; of which the immediate sign in florence was that she resolved to have a fine new cross-shaped cathedral instead of her quaint old little octagon one; and a tower beside it that should beat babel:--which two buildings you have also within sight. but your business is not at present with them; but with these two earlier churches of holy cross and st. mary. the two men who were the effectual builders of these were the two great religious powers and reformers of the thirteenth century;--st. francis, who taught christian men how they should behave, and st. dominic, who taught christian men what they should think. in brief, one the apostle of works; the other of faith. each sent his little company of disciples to teach and to preach in florence: st. francis in ; st. dominic in . the little companies were settled--one, ten minutes' walk east of the old baptistery; the other five minutes' walk west of it. and after they had stayed quietly in such lodgings as were given them, preaching and teaching through most of the century; and had got florence, as it were, heated through, she burst out into christian poetry and architecture, of which you have heard much talk:--burst into bloom of arnolfo, giotto, dante, orcagna, and the like persons, whose works you profess to have come to florence that you may see and understand. florence then, thus heated through, first helped her teachers to build finer churches. the dominicans, or white friars the teachers of faith, began their church of st. mary's in . the franciscans, or black friars, the teachers of works, laid the first stone of this church of the holy cross in . and the whole city laid the foundations of its new cathedral in . the dominicans designed their own building; but for the franciscans and the town worked the first great master of gothic art, arnolfo; with giotto at his side, and dante looking on, and whispering sometimes a word to both. and here you stand beside the high altar of the franciscans' church, under a vault of arnolfo's building, with at least some of giotto's colour on it still fresh; and in front of you, over the little altar, is the only reportedly authentic portrait of st. francis, taken from life by giotto's master. yet i can hardly blame my two english friends for never looking in. except in the early morning light, not one touch of all this art can be seen. and in any light, unless you understand the relations of giotto to st. francis, and of st. francis to humanity, it will be of little interest. observe, then, the special character of giotto among the great painters of italy is his being a practical person. whatever other men dreamed of, he did. he could work in mosaic; he could work in marble; he could paint; and he could build; and all thoroughly: a man of supreme faculty, supreme common sense. accordingly, he ranges himself at once among the disciples of the apostle of works, and spends most of his time in the same apostleship. now the gospel of works, according to st. francis, lay in three things. you must work without money, and be poor. you must work without pleasure, and be chaste. you must work according to orders, and be obedient. those are st. francis's three articles of italian opera. by which grew the many pretty things you have come to see here. and now if you will take your opera-glass and look up to the roof above arnolfo's building, you will see it is a pretty gothic cross vault, in four quarters, each with a circular medallion, painted by giotto. that over the altar has the picture of st. francis himself. the three others, of his commanding angels. in front of him, over the entrance arch, poverty. on his right hand, obedience. on his left, chastity. poverty, in a red patched dress, with grey wings, and a square nimbus of glory above her head, is flying from a black hound, whose head is seen at the corner of the medallion. chastity, veiled, is imprisoned in a tower, while angels watch her. obedience bears a yoke on her shoulders, and lays her hand on a book. now, this same quatrefoil, of st. francis and his three commanding angels, was also painted, but much more elaborately, by giotto, on the cross vault of the lower church of assisi, and it is a question of interest which of the two roofs was painted first. your murray's guide tells you the frescos in this chapel were painted between and . but as they represent, among other personages, st. louis of toulouse, who was not canonized till , that statement is not altogether tenable. also, as the first stone of the church was only laid in , when giotto was a youth of eighteen, it is little likely that either it would have been ready to be painted, or he ready with his scheme of practical divinity, two years later. farther, arnolfo, the builder of the main body of the church, died in . and as st. louis of toulouse was not a saint till seven years afterwards, and the frescos therefore beside the window not painted in arnolfo's day, it becomes another question whether arnolfo left the chapels or the church at all, in their present form. on which point--now that i have shown you where giotto's st. louis is--i will ask you to think awhile, until you are interested; and then i will try to satisfy your curiosity. there fore, please leave the little chapel for the moment, and walk down the nave, till you come to two sepulchral slabs near the west end, and then look about you and see what sort of a church santa croce is. without looking about you at all, you may find, in your murray, the useful information that it is a church which "consists of a very wide nave and lateral aisles, separated by seven fine pointed arches." and as you will be--under ordinary conditions of tourist hurry--glad to learn so much, _without_ looking, it is little likely to occur to you that this nave and two rich aisles required also, for your complete present comfort, walls at both ends, and a roof on the top. it is just possible, indeed, you may have been struck, on entering, by the curious disposition of painted glass at the east end;--more remotely possible that, in returning down the nave, you may this moment have noticed the extremely small circular window at the west end; but the chances are a thousand to one that, after being pulled from tomb to tomb round the aisles and chapels, you should take so extraordinary an additional amount of pains as to look up at the roof,--unless you do it now, quietly. it will have had its effect upon you, even if you don't, without your knowledge. you will return home with a general impression that santa croce is, somehow, the ugliest gothic church you ever were in. well, that is really so; and now, will you take the pains to see why? there are two features, on which, more than on any others, the grace and delight of a fine gothic building depends; one is the springing of its vaultings, the other the proportion and fantasy of its traceries. _this_ church of santa croce has no vaultings at all, but the roof of a farm-house barn. and its windows are all of the same pattern,--the exceedingly prosaic one of two pointed arches, with a round hole above, between them. and to make the simplicity of the roof more conspicuous, the aisles are successive sheds, built at every arch. in the aisles of the campo santo of pisco, the unbroken flat roof leaves the eye free to look to the traceries; but here, a succession of up-and-down sloping beam and lath gives the impression of a line of stabling rather than a church aisle. and lastly, while, in fine gothic buildings, the entire perspective concludes itself gloriously in the high and distant apse, here the nave is cut across sharply by a line of ten chapels, the apse being only a tall recess in the midst of them, so that, strictly speaking, the church is not of the form of a cross, but of a letter t. can this clumsy and ungraceful arrangement be indeed the design of the renowned arnolfo? yes, this is purest arnolfo-gothic; not beautiful by any means; but deserving, nevertheless, our thoughtfullest examination. we will trace its complete character another day; just now we are only concerned with this pre-christian form of the letter t, insisted upon in the lines of chapels. respecting which you are to observe, that the first christian churches in the catacombs took the form of a blunt cross naturally; a square chamber having a vaulted recess on each side; then the byzantine churches were structurally built in the form of an equal cross; while the heraldic and other ornamental equal-armed crosses are partly signs of glory and victory, partly of light, and divine spiritual presence. [footnote: see, on this subject generally, mr. r. st. j. tyrwhitt's "art-teaching of the primitive church." s. p. b. k., .] but the franciscans and dominicans saw in the cross no sign of triumph, but of trial.[footnote: i have never obtained time for any right study of early christian church-discipline,--nor am i sure to how many other causes, the choice of the form of the basilica may be occasionally attributed, or by what other communities it may be made. symbolism, for instance, has most power with the franciscans, and convenience for preaching with the dominicans; but in all cases, and in all places, the transition from the close tribune to the brightly-lighted apse, indicates the change in christian feeling between regarding a church as a place for public judgment or teaching, or a place for private prayer and congregational praise. the following passage from the dean of westminster's perfect history of his abbey ought to be read also in the florentine church:--"the nearest approach to westminster abbey in this aspect is the church of santa croce at florence. there, as here, the present destination of the building was no part of the original design, but was the result of various converging causes. as the church of one of the two great preaching orders, it had a nave large beyond all proportion to its choir. that order being the franciscan, bound by vows of poverty, the simplicity of the worship preserved the whole space clear from any adventitious ornaments. the popularity of the franciscans, especially in a convent hallowed by a visit from st. francis himself, drew to it not only the chief civic festivals, but also the numerous families who gave alms to the friars, and whose connection with their church was, for this reason, in turn encouraged by them. in those graves, piled with standards und achievements of the noble families of florence, were successively interred--not because of their eminence, but as members or friends of those families--some of the most illustrious personages of the fifteenth century. thus it came to pass, as if by accident, that in the vault of the buonarotti was laid michael angelo; in the vault of the viviani the preceptor of one of their house, galileo. from those two burials the church gradually be same the recognized shrine of italian genius."] the wounds of their master were to be their inheritance. so their first aim was to make what image to the cross their church might present, distinctly that of the actual instrument of death. and they did this most effectually by using the form of the letter t, that of the furca or gibbet,--not the sign of peace. also, their churches were meant for use; not show, nor self-glorification, nor town-glorification. they wanted places for preaching, prayer, sacrifice, burial; and had no intention of showing how high they could build towers, or how widely they could arch vaults. strong walls, and the roof of a barn,--these your franciscan asks of his arnolfo. these arnolfo gives,--thoroughly and wisely built; the successions of gable roof being a new device for strength, much praised in its day. this stern humor did not last long. arnolfo himself had other notions; much more cimabue and giotto; most of all, nature and heaven. something else had to be taught about christ than that he was wounded to death. nevertheless, look how grand this stern form would be, restored to its simplicity. it is not the old church which is in itself unimpressive. it is the old church defaced by vasari, by michael angelo, and by modern florence. see those huge tombs on your right hand and left, at the sides of the aisles, with their alternate gable and round tops, and their paltriest of all possible sculpture, trying to be grand by bigness, and pathetic by expense. tear them all down in your imagination; fancy the vast hall with its massive pillars,--not painted calomel-pill colour, as now, but of their native stone, with a rough, true wood for roof,--and a people praying beneath them, strong in abiding, and pure in life, as their rocks and olive forests that was arnolfo's santa croce. nor did his work remain long without grace. that very line of chapels in which we found our st. louis shows signs of change in temper. _they_ have no pent-house roofs, but true gothic vaults: we found our four-square type of franciscan law on one of them. it is probable, then, that these chapels may be later than the rest--even in their stonework. in their decoration, they are so, assuredly; belonging already to the time when the story of st. francis was becoming a passionate tradition, told and painted everywhere with delight. and that high recess, taking the place of apse, in the centre,--see how noble it is in the coloured shade surrounding and joining the glow of its windows, though their form be so simple. you are not to be amused here by patterns in balanced stone, as a french or english architect would amuse you, says arnolfo. "you are to read and think, under these severe walls of mine; immortal hands will write upon them." we will go back, therefore, into this line of manuscript chapels presently; but first, look at the two sepulchral slabs by which you are standing. that farther of the two from the west end is one of the most beautiful pieces of fourteenth century sculpture in this world; and it contains simple elements of excellence, by your understanding of which you may test your power of understanding the more difficult ones you will have to deal with presently. it represents an old man, in the high deeply-folded cap worn by scholars and gentlemen in florence from -- , lying dead, with a book in his breast, over which his hands are folded. at his feet is this inscription: "temporibus hic suis phylosophye atq. medicine culmen fuit galileus de galileis olim bonajutis qui etiam summo in magistratu miro quodam modo rempublicam dilexit, cujus sancte memorie bene acte vite pie benedictus filius hunc tumulum patri sibi suisq. posteris edidit." mr. murray tells you that the effigies "in low relief" (alas, yes, low enough now--worn mostly into flat stones, with a trace only of the deeper lines left, but originally in very bold relief,) with which the floor of santa croce is inlaid, of which this by which you stand is characteristic, are "interesting from the costume," but that, "except in the case of john ketterick, bishop of st. david's, few of the other names have any interest beyond the walls of florence." as, however, you are at present within the walls of florence, you may perhaps condescend to take some interest in this ancestor or relation of the galileo whom florence indeed left to be externally interesting, and would not allow to enter in her walls. [footnote: "seven years a prisoner at the city gate, let in but his grave-clothes." _rogers' "italy_."] i am not sure if i rightly place or construe the phrase in the above inscription, "cujus sancte memorie bene acte;" but, in main purport, the legend runs thus: "this galileo of the galilei was, in his times, the head of philosophy and medicine; who also in the highest magistracy loved the republic marvellously; whose son, blessed in inheritance of his holy memory and well-passed and pious life, appointed this tomb for his father, for himself, and for his posterity." there is no date; but the slab immediately behind it, nearer the western door, is of the same style, but of later and inferior work, and bears date--i forget now of what early year in the fifteenth century. but florence was still in her pride; and you may observe, in this epitaph, on what it was based. that her philosophy was studied _together with useful arts,_ and as a part of them; that the masters in these became naturally the masters in public affairs; that in such magistracy, they loved the state, and neither cringed to it nor robbed it; that the sons honoured their fathers, and received their fathers' honour as the most blessed inheritance. remember the phrase "vite pie bene dictus filius," to be compared with the "nos nequiores" of the declining days of all states,--chiefly now in florence, france and england. thus much for the local interest of name. next for the universal interest of the art of this tomb. it is the crowning virtue of all great art that, however little is left of it by the injuries of time, that little will be lovely. as long as you can see anything, you can see--almost all;--so much the hand of the master will suggest of his soul. and here you are well quit, for once, of restoration. no one cares for this sculpture; and if florence would only thus put all her old sculpture and painting under her feet, and simply use them for gravestones and oilcloth, she would be more merciful to them than she is now. here, at least, what little is left is true. and, if you look long, you will find it is not so little. that worn face is still a perfect portrait of the old man, though like one struck out at a venture, with a few rough touches of a master's chisel. and that falling drapery of his cap is, in its few lines, faultless, and subtle beyond description. and now, here is a simple but most useful test of your capacity for understanding florentine sculpture or painting. if you can see that the lines of that cap are both right, and lovely; that the choice of the folds is exquisite in its ornamental relations of line; and that the softness and ease of them is complete,--though only sketched with a few dark touches,--then you can understand giotto's drawing, and botticelli's;--donatello's carving and luca's. but if you see nothing in _this_ sculpture, you will see nothing in theirs, _of_ theirs. where they choose to imitate flesh, or silk, or to play any vulgar modern trick with marble--(and they often do)--whatever, in a word, is french, or american, or cockney, in their work, you can see; but what is florentine, and for ever great--unless you can see also the beauty of this old man in his citizen's cap,--you will see never. there is more in this sculpture, however, than its simple portraiture and noble drapery. the old man lies on a piece of embroidered carpet; and, protected by the higher relief, many of the finer lines of this are almost uninjured; in particular, its exquisitely-wrought fringe and tassels are nearly perfect. and if you will kneel down and look long at the tassels of the cushion under the head, and the way they fill the angles of the stone, you will,--or may--know, from this example alone, what noble decorative sculpture is, and was, and must be, from the days of earliest greece to those of latest italy. "exquisitely sculptured fringe!" and you have just been abusing sculptors who play tricks with marble! yes, and you cannot find a better example, in all the museums of europe, of the work of a man who does _not_ play tricks with it--than this tomb. try to understand the difference: it is a point of quite cardinal importance to all your future study of sculpture. i _told_ you, observe, that the old galileo was lying on a piece of embroidered carpet. i don't think, if i had not told you, that you would have found it out for yourself. it is not so like a carpet as all that comes to. but had it been a modern trick-sculpture, the moment you came to the tomb you would have said, "dear me! how wonderfully that carpet is done,--it doesn't look like stone in the least--one longs to take it up and beat it, to get the dust off." now whenever you feel inclined to speak so of a sculptured drapery, be assured, without more ado, the sculpture is base, and bad. you will merely waste your time and corrupt your taste by looking at it. nothing is so easy as to imitate drapery in marble. you may cast a piece any day; and carve it with such subtlety that the marble shall be an absolute image of the folds. but that is not sculpture. that is mechanical manufacture. no great sculptor, from the beginning of art to the end of it, has ever carved, or ever will, a deceptive drapery. he has neither time nor will to do it. his mason's lad may do that if he likes. a man who can carve a limb or a face never finishes inferior parts, but either with a hasty and scornful chisel, or with such grave and strict selection of their lines as you know at once to be imaginative, not imitative. but if, as in this case, he wants to oppose the simplicity of his central subject with a rich background,--a labyrinth of ornamental lines to relieve the severity of expressive ones,--he will carve you a carpet, or a tree, or a rose thicket, with their fringes and leaves and thorns, elaborated as richly as natural ones; but always for the sake of the ornamental form, never of the imitation; yet, seizing the natural character in the lines he gives, with twenty times the precision and clearness of sight that the mere imitator has. examine the tassels of the cushion, and the way they blend with the fringe, thoroughly; you cannot possibly see finer ornamental sculpture. then, look at the same tassels in the same place of the slab next the west end of the church, and you will see a scholar's rude imitation of a master's hand, though in a fine school. (notice, however, the folds of the drapery at the feet of this figure: they are cut so as to show the hem of the robe within as well as without, and are fine.) then, as you go back to giotto's chapel, keep to the left, and just beyond the north door in the aisle is the much celebrated tomb of c. marsuppini, by desiderio of settignano. it is very fine of its kind; but there the drapery is chiefly done to cheat you, and chased delicately to show how finely the sculptor could chisel it. it is wholly vulgar and mean in cast of fold. under your feet, as you look at it, you will tread another tomb of the fine time, which, looking last at, you will recognize the difference between the false and true art, as far as there is capacity in you at present to do so. and if you really and honestly like the low-lying stones, and see more beauty in them, you have also the power of enjoying giotto, into whose chapel we will return to-morrow;--not to-day, for the light must have left it by this time; and now that you have been looking at these sculptures on the floor you had better traverse nave and aisle across and across; and get some idea of that sacred field of stone. in the north transept you will find a beautiful knight, the finest in chiselling of all these tombs, except one by the same hand in the south aisle just where it enters the south transept. examine the lines of the gothic niches traced above them; and what is left of arabesque on their armour. they are far more beautiful and tender in chivalric conception than donatello's st. george, which is merely a piece of vigorous naturalism founded on these older tombs. if you will drive in the evening to the chartreuse in val d'ema, you may see there an uninjured example of this slab-tomb by donatello himself; very beautiful; but not so perfect as the earlier ones on which it is founded. and you may see some fading light and shade of monastic life, among which if you stay till the fireflies come out in the twilight, and thus get to sleep when you come home, you will be better prepared for to-morrow morning's walk--if you will take another with me--than if you go to a party, to talk sentiment about italy, and hear the last news from london and new york. the second morning. the golden gate. to-day, as early as you please, and at all events before doing anything else, let us go to giotto's own parish-church, santa maria novella. if, walking from the strozzi palace, you look on your right for the "way of the beautiful ladies," it will take you quickly there. do not let anything in the way of acquaintance, sacristan, or chance sight, stop you in doing what i tell you. walk straight up to the church, into the apse of it;--(you may let your eyes rest, as you walk, on the glow of its glass, only mind the step, half way;)--and lift the curtain; and go in behind the grand marble altar, giving anybody who follows you anything they want, to hold their tongues, or go away. you know, most probably, already, that the frescos on each side of you are ghirlandajo's. you have been told they are very fine, and if you know anything of painting, you know the portraits in them are so. nevertheless, somehow, you don't really enjoy these frescos, nor come often here, do you? the reason of which is, that if you are a nice person, they are not nice enough for you; and if a vulgar person, not vulgar enough. but if you are a nice person, i want you to look carefully, to-day, at the two lowest, next the windows, for a few minutes, that you may better feel the art you are really to study, by its contrast with these. on your left hand is represented the birth of the virgin, on your right, her meeting with elizabeth. you can't easily see better pieces--nowhere more pompous pieces--of flat goldsmiths' work. ghirlandajo was to the end of his life a mere goldsmith, with a gift of portraiture. and here he has done his best, and has put a long wall in wonderful perspective, and the whole city of florence behind elizabeth's house in the hill country; and a splendid bas-relief, in the style of luca della robbia, in st. anne's bedroom; and he has carved all the pilasters, and embroidered all the dresses, and flourished and trumpeted into every corner; and it is all done, within just a point, as well as it can be done; and quite as well as ghirlandajo could do it. but the point in which it _just_ misses being as well as it can be done, is the vital point. and it is all simply--good for nothing. extricate yourself from the goldsmith's rubbish of it, and look full at the salutation. you will say, perhaps, at first, "what grand and graceful figures!" are you sure they are graceful? look again and you will see their draperies hang from them exactly as they would from two clothes-pegs. now, fine drapery, really well drawn, as it hangs from a clothes-peg, is always rather impressive, especially if it be disposed in large breadths and deep folds; but that is the only grace of their figures. secondly. look at the madonna, carefully. you will find she is not the least meek--only stupid,--as all the other women in the picture are. "st. elizabeth, you think, is nice"? yes; "and she says, 'whence is this to me, that the mother of my lord should come to me?' really with a great deal of serious feeling?" yes, with a great deal. well, you have looked enough at those two. now--just for another minute--look at the birth of the virgin. "a most graceful group, (your murray's guide tells you,) in the attendant servants." extremely so. also, the one holding the child is rather pretty. also, the servant pouring out the water does it from a great height, without splashing, most cleverly. also, the lady coming to ask for st. anne, and see the baby, walks majestically and is very finely dressed. and as for that bas-relief in the style of luca della robbia, you might really almost think it _was_ luca! the very best plated goods, master ghirlandajo, no doubt--always on hand at your shop. well, now you must ask for the sacristan, who is civil and nice enough, and get him to let you into the green cloister, and then go into the less cloister opening out of it on the right, as you go down the steps; and you must ask for the tomb of the marcheza stiozzi ridolfi; and in the recess behind the marcheza's tomb--very close to the ground, and in excellent light, if the day is fine--you will see two small frescos, only about four feet wide each, in odd-shaped bits of wall--quarters of circles; representing--that on the left, the meeting of joachim and anna at the golden gate; and that on the right, the birth of the virgin. no flourish of trumpets here, at any rate, you think! no gold on the gate; and, for the birth of the virgin--is this all! goodness!--nothing to be seen, whatever, of bas-reliefs, nor fine dresses, nor graceful pourings out of water, nor processions of visitors? no. there's but one thing you can see, here, which you didn't in ghirlandajo's fresco, unless you were very clever and looked hard for it--the baby! and you are never likely to see a more true piece of giotto's work in this world. a round-faced, small-eyed little thing, tied up in a bundle! yes, giotto was of opinion she must have appeared really not much else than that. but look at the servant who has just finished dressing her;--awe-struck, full of love and wonder, putting her hand softly on the child's head, who has never cried. the nurse, who has just taken her, is--the nurse, and no more: tidy in the extreme, and greatly proud and pleased: but would be as much so with any other child. ghirlandajo's st. anne (i ought to have told you to notice that,--you can afterwards) is sitting strongly up in bed, watching, if not directing, all that is going on. giotto's lying down on the pillow, leans her face on her hand; partly exhausted, partly in deep thought. she knows that all will be well done for the child, either by the servants, or god; she need not look after anything. at the foot of the bed is the midwife, and a servant who has brought drink for st. anne. the servant stops, seeing her so quiet; asking the midwife, shall i give it her now? the midwife, her hands lifted under her robe, in the attitude of thanksgiving, (with giotto distinguishable always, though one doesn't know how, from that of prayer,) answers, with her look, "let be--she does not want anything." at the door a single acquaintance is coming in, to see the child. of ornament, there is only the entirely simple outline of the vase which the servant carries; of colour, two or three masses of sober red, and pure white, with brown and gray. that is all. and if you can be pleased with this, you can see florence. but if not, by all means amuse yourself there, if you find it amusing, as long as you like; you can never see it. but if indeed you are pleased, ever so little, with this fresco, think what that pleasure means. i brought you, on purpose, round, through the richest overture, and farrago of tweedledum and tweedledee, i could find in florence; and here is a tune of four notes, on a shepherd's pipe, played by the picture of nobody; and yet you like it! you know what music is, then. here is another little tune, by the same player, and sweeter. i let you hear the simplest first. the fresco on the left hand, with the bright blue sky, and the rosy figures! why, anybody might like that! yes; but, alas, all the blue sky is repainted. it _was_ blue always, however, and bright too; and i dare say, when the fresco was first done, anybody _did_ like it. you know the story of joachim and anna, i hope? not that i do, myself, quite in the ins and outs; and if you don't i'm not going to keep you waiting while i tell it. all you need know, and you scarcely, before this fresco, need know so much, is, that here are an old husband and old wife, meeting again by surprise, after losing each other, and being each in great fear;--meeting at the place where they were told by god each to go, without knowing what was to happen there. "so they rushed into one another's arms, and kissed each other." no, says giotto,--not that. "they advanced to meet, in a manner conformable to the strictest laws of composition; and with their draperies cast into folds which no one until raphael could have arranged better." no, says giotto,--not that. st. anne has moved quickest; her dress just falls into folds sloping backwards enough to tell you so much. she has caught st. joachim by his mantle, and draws him to her, softly, by that. st. joachim lays his hand under her arm, seeing she is like to faint, and holds her up. they do not kiss each other--only look into each other's eyes. and god's angel lays his hand on their heads. behind them, there are two rough figures, busied with their own affairs,--two of joachim's shepherds; one, bare headed, the other wearing the wide florentine cap with the falling point behind, which is exactly like the tube of a larkspur or violet; both carrying game, and talking to each other about--greasy joan and her pot, or the like. not at all the sort of persons whom you would have thought in harmony with the scene;--by the laws of the drama, according to racine or voltaire. no, but according to shakespeare, or giotto, these are just the kind of persons likely to be there: as much as the angel is likely to be there also, though you will be told nowadays that giotto was absurd for putting _him_ into the sky, of which an apothecary can always produce the similar blue, in a bottle. and now that you have had shakespeare, and sundry other men of head and heart, following the track of this shepherd lad, _you_ can forgive him his grotesques in the corner. but that he should have forgiven them to himself, after the training he had, this is the wonder! _we_ have seen simple pictures enough in our day; and therefore we think that of course shepherd boys will sketch shepherds: what wonder is there in that? i can show you how in _this_ shepherd boy it was very wonderful indeed, if you will walk for five minutes back into the church with me, and up into the chapel at the end of the south transept,--at least if the day is bright, and you get the sacristan to undraw the window-curtain in the transept itself. for then the light of it will be enough to show you the entirely authentic and most renowned work of giotto's master; and you will see through what schooling the lad had gone. a good and brave master he was, if ever boy had one; and, as you will find when you know really who the great men are, the master is half their life; and well they know it--always naming themselves from their master, rather than their families. see then what kind of work giotto had been first put to. there is, literally, not a square inch of all that panel--some ten feet high by six or seven wide--which is not wrought in gold and colour with the fineness of a greek manuscript. there is not such an elaborate piece of ornamentation in the first page of any gothic king's missal, as you will find in that madonna's throne;--the madonna herself is meant to be grave and noble only; and to be attended only by angels. and here is this saucy imp of a lad declares his people must do without gold, and without thrones; nay, that the golden gate itself shall have no gilding that st. joachim and st. anne shall have only one angel between them: and their servants shall have their joke, and nobody say them nay! it is most wonderful; and would have been impossible, had cimabue been a common man, though ever so great in his own way. nor could i in any of my former thinking understand how it was, till i saw cimabue's own work at assisi; in which he shows himself, at heart, as independent of his gold as giotto,--even more intense, capable of higher things than giotto, though of none, perhaps, so keen or sweet. but to this day, among all the mater dolorosas of christianity, cimabue's at assisi is the noblest; nor did any painter after him add one link to the chain of thought with which he summed the creation of the earth, and preached its redemption. he evidently never checked the boy, from the first day he found him. showed him all he knew: talked with him of many things he felt himself unable to paint: made him a workman and a gentleman,--above all, a christian,--yet left him--a shepherd. and heaven had made him such a painter, that, at his height, the words of his epitaph are in nowise overwrought: "ille ego sum, per quem pictura extincta revixit." a word or two, now, about the repainting by which _this_ pictura extincta has been revived to meet existing taste. the sky is entirely daubed over with fresh blue; yet it leaves with unusual care the original outline of the descending angel, and of the white clouds about his body. this idea of the angel laying his hands on the two heads--(as a bishop at confirmation does, in a hurry; and i've seen one sweep four together, like arnold de winkelied),--partly in blessing, partly as a symbol of their being brought together to the same place by god,--was afterwards repeated again and again: there is one beautiful little echo of it among the old pictures in the schools of oxford. this is the first occurrence of it that i know in pure italian painting; but the idea is etruscan-greek, and is used by the etruscan sculptors of the door of the baptistery of pisa, of the _evil_ angel, who "lays the heads together" of two very different persons from these--herodias and her daughter. joachim, and the shepherd with the larkspur cap, are both quite safe; the other shepherd a little reinforced; the black bunches of grass, hanging about are retouches. they were once bunches of plants drawn with perfect delicacy and care; you may see one left, faint, with heart-shaped leaves, on the highest ridge of rock above the shepherds. the whole landscape is, however, quite undecipherably changed and spoiled. you will be apt to think at first, that if anything has been restored, surely the ugly shepherd's uglier feet have. no, not at all. restored feet are always drawn with entirely orthodox and academical toes, like the apollo belvidere's. you would have admired them very much. these are giotto's own doing, every bit; and a precious business he has had of it, trying again and again--in vain. even hands were difficult enough to him, at this time; but feet, and bare legs! well, he'll have a try, he thinks, and gets really a fair line at last, when you are close to it; but, laying the light on the ground afterwards, he dare not touch this precious and dear-bought outline. stops all round it, a quarter of an inch off, [footnote: perhaps it is only the restorer's white on the ground that stops; but i think a restorer would never have been so wise, but have gone right up to the outline, and spoiled all.] with such effect as you see. but if you want to know what sort of legs and feet he _can_ draw, look at our _lambs_, in the corner of the fresco under the arch on your left! and there is one on your right, though more repainted--the little virgin presenting herself at the temple,--about which i could also say much. the stooping figure, kissing the hem of her robe without her knowing, is, as far as i remember, first in this fresco; the origin, itself, of the main design in all the others you know so well; (and with its steps, by the way, in better perspective already than most of them). "_this_ the original one!" you will be inclined to exclaim, if you have any general knowledge of the subsequent art. "_this_ giotto! why it's a cheap rechauffé of titian!" no, my friend. the boy who tried so hard to draw those steps in perspective had been carried down others, to his grave, two hundred years before titian ran alone at cadore. but, as surely as venice looks on the sea, titian looked upon this, and caught the reflected light of it forever. what kind of boy is this, think you, who can make titian his copyist,--dante his friend? what new power is here which is to change the heart of italy?--can you see it, feel it, writing before you these words on the faded wall? "you shall see things--as they are." "and the least with the greatest, because god made them." "and the greatest with the least, because god made _you_, and gave you eyes and a heart." i. you shall see things--as they are. so easy a matter that, you think? so much more difficult and sublime to paint grand processions and golden thrones, than st. anne faint on her pillow, and her servant at pause? easy or not, it is all the sight that is required of you in this world,--to see things, and men, and yourself,--as they are. ii. and the least with the greatest, because god made them,--shepherd, and flock, and grass of the field, no less than the golden gate. iii. but also the golden gate of heaven itself, open, and the angels of god coming down from it. these three things giotto taught, and men believed, in his day. of which faith you shall next see brighter work; only before we leave the cloister, i want to sum for you one or two of the instant and evident technical changes produced in the school of florence by this teaching. one of quite the first results of giotto's simply looking at things as they were, was his finding out that a red thing was red, and a brown thing brown, and a white thing white--all over. the greeks had painted anything anyhow,--gods black, horses red, lips and cheeks white; and when the etruscan vase expanded into a cimabue picture, or a tafi mosaic, still,--except that the madonna was to have a blue dress, and everything else as much gold on it as could be managed,--there was very little advance in notions of colour. suddenly, giotto threw aside all the glitter, and all the conventionalism; and declared that he saw the sky blue, the tablecloth white, and angels, when he dreamed of them, rosy. and he simply founded the schools of colour in italy--venetian and all, as i will show you to-morrow morning, if it is fine. and what is more, nobody discovered much about colour after him. but a deeper result of his resolve to look at things as they were, was his getting so heartily interested in them that he couldn't miss their decisive _moment_. there is a decisive instant in all matters; and if you look languidly, you are sure to miss it. nature seems always, somehow, trying to make you miss it. "i will see that through," you must say, "with out turning my head"; or you won't see the trick of it at all. and the most significant thing in all his work, you will find hereafter, is his choice of moments. i will give you at once two instances in a picture which, for other reasons, you should quickly compare with these frescos. return by the via delle belle donne; keep the casa strozzi on your right; and go straight on, through the market. the florentines think themselves so civilized, forsooth, for building a nuovo lung-arno, and three manufactory chimneys opposite it: and yet sell butchers' meat, dripping red, peaches, and anchovies, side by side: it is a sight to be seen. much more, luca della robbia's madonna in the circle above the chapel door. never pass near the market without looking at it; and glance from the vegetables underneath to luca's leaves and lilies, that you may see how honestly he was trying to make his clay like the garden-stuff. but to-day, you may pass quickly on to the uffizii, which will be just open; and when you enter the great gallery, turn to the right, and there, the first picture you come at will be no. , giotto's "agony in the garden." i used to think it so dull that i could not believe it was giotto's. that is partly from its dead colour, which is the boy's way of telling you it is night:--more from the subject being one quite beyond his age, and which he felt no pleasure in trying at. you may see he was still a boy, for he not only cannot draw feet yet, in the least, and scrupulously hides them therefore; but is very hard put to it for the hands, being obliged to draw them mostly in the same position,--all the four fingers together. but in the careful bunches of grass and weeds you will see what the fresco foregrounds were before they got spoiled; and there are some things he can understand already, even about that agony, thinking of it in his own fixed way. some things,--not altogether to be explained by the old symbol of the angel with the cup. he will try if he cannot explain them better in those two little pictures below; which nobody ever looks at; the great roman sarcophagus being put in front of them, and the light glancing on the new varnish so that you must twist about like a lizard to see anything. nevertheless, you may make out what giotto meant. "the cup which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it?" in what was its bitterness?--thought the boy. "crucifixion?--well, it hurts, doubtless; but the thieves had to bear it too, and many poor human wretches have to bear worse on our battlefields. but"--and he thinks, and thinks, and then he paints his two little pictures for the predella. they represent, of course, the sequence of the time in gethsemane; but see what choice the youth made of his moments, having two panels to fill. plenty of choice for him--in pain. the flagellation--the mocking--the bearing of the cross;--all habitually given by the margheritones, and their school, as extremes of pain. "no," thinks giotto. "there was worse than all that. many a good man has been mocked, spitefully entreated, spitted on, slain. but who was ever so betrayed? who ever saw such a sword thrust in his mother's heart?" he paints, first, the laying hands on him in the garden, but with only two principal figures,--judas and peter, of course; judas and peter were always principal in the old byzantine composition,--judas giving the kiss--peter cutting off the servant's ear. but the two are here, not merely principal, but almost alone in sight, all the other figures thrown back; and peter is not at all concerned about the servant, or his struggle with him. he has got him down,--but looks back suddenly at judas giving the kiss. what!--_you_ are the traitor, then--you! "yes," says giotto; "and you, also, in an hour more." the other picture is more deeply felt, still. it is of christ brought to the foot of the cross. there is no wringing of hands or lamenting crowd--no haggard signs of fainting or pain in his body. scourging or fainting, feeble knee and torn wound,--he thinks scorn of all that, this shepherd-boy. one executioner is hammering the wedges of the cross harder down. the other--not ungently--is taking christ's red robe off his shoulders. and st. john, a few yards off, is keeping his mother from coming nearer. she looks _down_, not at christ; but tries to come. and now you may go on for your day's seeings through the rest of the gallery, if you will--fornarina, and the wonderful cobbler, and all the rest of it. i don't want you any more till to-morrow morning. but if, meantime, you will sit down,--say, before sandro botticelli's "fortitude," which i shall want you to look at, one of these days; (no. , innermost room from the tribune,) and there read this following piece of one of my oxford lectures on the relation of cimabue to giotto, you will be better prepared for our work to-morrow morning in santa croce; and may find something to consider of, in the room you are in. where, by the way, observe that no. is a most true early lionardo, of extreme interest: and the savants who doubt it are--never mind what; but sit down at present at the feet of fortitude, and read. those of my readers who have been unfortunate enough to interest themselves in that most profitless of studies--the philosophy of art--have been at various times teased or amused by disputes respecting the relative dignity of the contemplative and dramatic schools. contemplative, of course, being the term attached to the system of painting things only for the sake of their own niceness--a lady because she is pretty, or a lion because he is strong: and the dramatic school being that which cannot be satisfied unless it sees something going on: which can't paint a pretty lady unless she is being made love to, or being murdered; and can't paint a stag or a lion unless they are being hunted, or shot, or the one eating the other. you have always heard me--or, if not, will expect by the very tone of this sentence to hear me, now, on the whole recommend you to prefer the contemplative school. but the comparison is always an imperfect and unjust one, unless quite other terms are introduced. the real greatness or smallness of schools is not in their preference of inactivity to action, nor of action to inactivity. it is in their preference of worthy things to unworthy, in rest; and of kind action to unkind, in business. a dutchman can be just as solemnly and entirely contemplative of a lemon pip and a cheese paring, as an italian of the virgin in glory. an english squire has pictures, purely contemplative, of his favorite horse--and a parisian lady, pictures, purely contemplative, of the back and front of the last dress proposed to her in la mode artistique. all these works belong to the same school of silent admiration;--the vital question concerning them is, "what do you admire?" now therefore, when you hear me so often saying that the northern races--norman and lombard,--are active, or dramatic, in their art; and that the southern races--greek and arabian,--are contemplative, you ought instantly to ask farther, active in what? contemplative of what? and the answer is, the active art--lombardic,--rejoices in hunting and fighting; the contemplative art--byzantine,--contemplates the mysteries of the christian faith. and at first, on such answer, one would be apt at once to conclude--all grossness must be in the lombard; all good in the byzantine. but again we should be wrong,--and extremely wrong. for the hunting and fighting did practically produce strong, and often virtuous, men; while the perpetual and inactive contemplation of what it was impossible to understand, did not on the whole render the contemplative persons, stronger, wiser, or even more amiable. so that, in the twelfth century, while the northern art was only in need of direction, the southern was in need of life. the north was indeed spending its valour and virtue on ignoble objects; but the south disgracing the noblest objects by its want of valour and virtue. central stood etruscan florence--her root in the earth, bound with iron and brass--wet with the dew of heaven. agriculture in occupation, religious in thought, she accepted, like good ground, the good; refused, like the rock of fesole, the evil; directed the industry of the northman into the arts of peace; kindled the dreams of the byzantine with the fire of charity. child of her peace, and exponent of her passion, her cimabue became the interpreter to mankind of the meaning of the birth of christ. we hear constantly, and think naturally, of him as of a man whose peculiar genius in painting suddenly reformed its principles; who suddenly painted, out of his own gifted imagination, beautiful instead of rude pictures; and taught his scholar giotto to carry on the impulse; which we suppose thenceforward to have enlarged the resources and bettered the achievements of painting continually, up to our own time,--when the triumphs of art having been completed, and its uses ended, something higher is offered to the ambition of mankind; and watt and faraday initiate the age of manufacture and science, as cimabue and giotto instituted that of art and imagination. in this conception of the history of mental and physical culture, we much overrate the influence, though we cannot overrate the power, of the men by whom the change seems to have been effected. we cannot overrate their power,--for the greatest men of any age, those who become its leaders when there is a great march to be begun, are indeed separated from the average intellects of their day by a distance which is immeasurable in any ordinary terms of wonder. but we far overrate their influence; because the apparently sudden result of their labour or invention is only the manifested fruit of the toil and thought of many who preceded them, and of whose names we have never heard. the skill of cimabue cannot be extolled too highly; but no madonna by his hand could ever have rejoiced the soul of italy, unless for a thousand years before, many a nameless greek and nameless goth had adorned the traditions, and lived in the love, of the virgin. in like manner, it is impossible to overrate the sagacity, patience, or precision, of the masters in modern mechanical and scientific discovery. but their sudden triumph, and the unbalancing of all the world by their words, may not in any wise be attributed to their own power, or even to that of the facts they have ascertained. they owe their habits and methods of industry to the paternal example, no less than the inherited energy, of men who long ago prosecuted the truths of nature, through the rage of war, and the adversity of superstition; and the universal and overwhelming consequences of the facts which their followers have now proclaimed, indicate only the crisis of a rapture produced by the offering of new objects of curiosity to nations who had nothing to look at; and of the amusement of novel motion and action to nations who had nothing to do. nothing to look at! that is indeed--you will find, if you consider of it--our sorrowful case. the vast extent of the advertising frescos of london, daily refreshed into brighter and larger frescos by its billstickers, cannot somehow sufficiently entertain the popular eyes. the great mrs. allen, with her flowing hair, and equally flowing promises, palls upon repetition, and that madonna of the nineteenth century smiles in vain above many a borgo unrejoiced; even the excitement of the shop-window, with its unattainable splendours, or too easily attainable impostures, cannot maintain itself in the wearying mind of the populace, and i find my charitable friends inviting the children, whom the streets educate only into vicious misery, to entertainments of scientific vision, in microscope or magic lantern; thus giving them something to look at, such as it is;--fleas mostly; and the stomachs of various vermin; and people with their heads cut off and set on again;--still _something_, to look at. the fame of cimabue rests, and justly, on a similar charity. he gave the populace of his day something to look at; and satisfied their curiosity with science of something they had long desired to know. we have continually imagined in our carelessness, that his triumph consisted only in a new pictorial skill; recent critical writers, unable to comprehend how any street populace could take pleasure in painting, have ended by denying his triumph altogether, and insisted that he gave no joy to florence; and that the "joyful quarter" was accidentally so named--or at least from no other festivity than that of the procession attending charles of anjou. i proved to you, in a former lecture, that the old tradition was true, and the delight of the people unquestionable. but that delight was not merely in the revelation of an art they had not known how to practise; it was delight in the revelation of a madonna whom they had not known how to love. again; what was revelation to _them_--we suppose farther and as unwisely, to have been only art in _him_; that in better laying of colours,--in better tracing of perspectives--in recovery of principles, of classic composition--he had manufactured, as our gothic firms now manufacture to order, a madonna--in whom he believed no more than they. not so. first of the florentines, first of european men--he attained in thought, and saw with spiritual eyes, exercised to discern good from evil,--the face of her who was blessed among women; and with his following hand, made visible the magnificat of his heart. he magnified the maid; and florence rejoiced in her queen. but it was left for giotto to make the queenship better beloved, in its sweet humiliation. you had the etruscan stock in florence--christian, or at least semi-christian; the statue of mars still in its streets, but with its central temple built for baptism in the name of christ. it was a race living by agriculture; gentle, thoughtful, and exquisitely fine in handiwork. the straw bonnet of tuscany--the leghorn--is pure etruscan art, young ladies:--only plaited gold of god's harvest, instead of the plaited gold of his earth. you had then the norman and lombard races coming down on this: kings, and hunters--splendid in war--insatiable of action. you had the greek and arabian races flowing from the east, bringing with them the law of the city, and the dream of the desert. cimabue--etruscan born, gave, we saw, the life of the norman to the tradition of the greek: eager action to holy contemplation. and what more is left for his favourite shepherd boy giotto to do, than this, except to paint with ever-increasing skill? we fancy he only surpassed cimabue--eclipsed by greater brightness. not so. the sudden and new applause of italy would never have been won by mere increase of the already-kindled light. giotto had wholly another work to do. the meeting of the norman race with the byzantine is not merely that of action with repose--not merely that of war with religion,--it is the meeting of _domestic_ life with _monastic_, and of practical household sense with unpractical desert insanity. i have no other word to use than this last. i use it reverently, meaning a very noble thing; i do not know how far i ought to say--even a divine thing. decide that for yourselves. compare the northern farmer with st. francis; the palm hardened by stubbing thornaby waste, with the palm softened by the imagination of the wounds of christ. to my own thoughts, both are divine; decide that for yourselves; but assuredly, and without possibility of other decision, one is, humanly speaking, healthy; the other _un_healthy; one sane, the other--insane. to reconcile drama with dream, cimabue's task was comparatively an easy one. but to reconcile sense with--i still use even this following word reverently--nonsense, is not so easy; and he who did it first,--no wonder he has a name in the world. i must lean, however, still more distinctly on the word "domestic." for it is not rationalism and commercial competition--mr. stuart mill's" other career for woman than that of wife and mother "--which are reconcilable, by giotto, or by anybody else, with divine vision. but household wisdom, labour of love, toil upon earth according to the law of heaven--these are reconcilable, in one code of glory, with revelation in cave or island, with the endurance of desolate and loveless days, with the repose of folded hands that wait heaven's time. domestic and monastic. he was the first of italians--the first of christians--who _equally_ knew the virtue of both lives; and who was able to show it in the sight of men of all ranks,--from the prince to the shepherd; and of all powers,--from the wisest philosopher to the simplest child. for, note the way in which the new gift of painting, bequeathed to him by his great master, strengthened his hands. before cimabue, no beautiful rendering of human form was possible; and the rude or formal types of the lombard and byzantine, though they would serve in the tumult of the chase, or as the recognized symbols of creed, could not represent personal and domestic character. faces with goggling eyes and rigid lips might be endured with ready help of imagination, for gods, angels, saints, or hunters--or for anybody else in scenes of recognized legend, but would not serve for pleasant portraiture of one's own self--or of the incidents of gentle, actual life. and even cimabue did not venture to leave the sphere of conventionally reverenced dignity. he still painted--though beautifully--only the madonna, and the st. joseph, and the christ. these he made living,--florence asked no more: and "credette cimabue nella pintura tener lo campo." but giotto came from the field, and saw with his simple eyes a lowlier worth. and he painted--the madonna, and st. joseph, and the christ,--yes, by all means if you choose to call them so, but essentially,--mamma, papa, and the baby. and all italy threw up its cap,--"ora ha giotto il grido." for he defines, explains, and exalts, every sweet incident of human nature; and makes dear to daily life every mystic imagination of natures greater than our own. he reconciles, while he intensifies, every virtue of domestic and monastic thought. he makes the simplest household duties sacred, and the highest religious passions serviceable and just. the third morning. before the soldan. i promised some note of sandro's fortitude, before whom i asked you to sit and read the end of my last letter; and i've lost my own notes about her, and forget, now, whether she has a sword, or a mace;--it does not matter. what is chiefly notable in her is--that you would not, if you had to guess who she was, take her for fortitude at all. everybody else's fortitudes announce themselves clearly and proudly. they have tower-like shields, and lion-like helmets--and stand firm astride on their legs,--and are confidently ready for all comers. yes;--that is your common fortitude. very grand, though common. but not the highest, by any means. ready for all comers, and a match for them,--thinks the universal fortitude;--no thanks to her for standing so steady, then! but botticelli's fortitude is no match, it may be, for any that are coming. worn, somewhat; and not a little weary, instead of standing ready for all comers, she is sitting,--apparently in reverie, her fingers playing restlessly and idly--nay, i think--even nervously, about the hilt of her sword. for her battle is not to begin to-day; nor did it begin yesterday. many a morn and eve have passed since it began--and now--is this to be the ending day of it? and if this--by what manner of end? that is what sandro's fortitude is thinking. and the playing fingers about the sword-hilt would fain let it fall, if it might be: and yet, how swiftly and gladly will they close on it, when the far-off trumpet blows, which she will hear through all her reverie! there is yet another picture of sandro's here, which you must look at before going back to giotto: the small judith in the room next the tribune, as you return from this outer one. it is just under lionardo's medusa. she is returning to the camp of her israel, followed by her maid carrying the head of holofernes. and she walks in one of botticelli's light dancing actions, her drapery all on flutter, and her hand, like fortitude's, light on the sword-hilt, but daintily--not nervously, the little finger laid over the cross of it. and at the first glance--you will think the figure merely a piece of fifteenth-century affectation. 'judith, indeed!--say rather the daughter of herodias, at her mincingest.' well, yes--botticelli _is_ affected, in the way that all men in that century necessarily were. much euphuism, much studied grace of manner, much formal assertion of scholarship, mingling with his force of imagination. and he likes twisting the fingers of hands about, just as correggio does. but he never does it like correggio, without cause. look at judith again,--at her face, not her drapery,--and remember that when a man is base at the heart, he blights his virtues into weaknesses; but when he is true at the heart, he sanctifies his weaknesses into virtues. it is a weakness of botticelli's, this love of dancing motion and waved drapery; but why has he given it full flight here? do you happen to know anything about judith yourself, except that she cut off holofernes' head; and has been made the high light of about a million of vile pictures ever since, in which the painters thought they could surely attract the public to the double show of an execution, and a pretty woman,--especially with the added pleasure of hinting at previously ignoble sin? when you go home to-day, take the pains to write out for yourself, in the connection i here place them, the verses underneath numbered from the book of judith; you will probably think of their meaning more carefully as you write. begin thus: "now at that time, judith heard thereof, which was the daughter of merari, ... the son of simeon, the son of israel." and then write out, consecutively, these pieces-- chapt. viii., verses to . (always inclusive,) and read the whole chapter. chapt. ix., verses and to , beginning this piece with the previous sentence, "oh god, oh my god, hear me also, a widow." chapt. ix., verses to . chapter x., verses to . chapter xiii., verses to . chapter xv., verses to . chapter xvi., verses to . chapter xvi., verses to . chapter xvi., verses and . chapter xvi., verses to . now, as in many other cases of noble history, apocryphal and other, i do not in the least care how far the literal facts are true. the conception of facts, and the idea of jewish womanhood, are there, grand and real as a marble statue,--possession for all ages. and you will feel, after you have read this piece of history, or epic poetry, with honourable care, that there is somewhat more to be thought of and pictured in judith, than painters have mostly found it in them to show you; that she is not merely the jewish delilah to the assyrian samson; but the mightiest, purest, brightest type of high passion in severe womanhood offered to our human memory. sandro's picture is but slight; but it is true to her, and the only one i know that is; and after writing out these verses, you will see why he gives her that swift, peaceful motion, while you read in her face, only sweet solemnity of dreaming thought. "my people delivered, and by my hand; and god has been gracious to his handmaid!" the triumph of miriam over a fallen host, the fire of exulting mortal life in an immortal hour, the purity and severity of a guardian angel--all are here; and as her servant follows, carrying indeed the head, but invisible--(a mere thing to be carried--no more to be so much as thought of)--she looks only at her mistress, with intense, servile, watchful love. faithful, not in these days of fear only, but hitherto in all her life, and afterwards forever. after you have seen it enough, look also for a little while at angelico's marriage and death of the virgin, in the same room; you may afterwards associate the three pictures always together in your mind. and, looking at nothing else to-day in the uffizi, let us go back to giotto's chapel. we must begin with this work on our left hand, the death of st. francis; for it is the key to all the rest. let us hear first what mr. crowe directs us to think of it. "in the composition of this scene, giotto produced a masterpiece, which served as a model but too often feebly imitated by his successors. good arrangement, variety of character and expression in the heads, unity and harmony in the whole, make this an exceptional work of its kind. as a composition, worthy of the fourteenth century, ghirlandajo and benedetto da majano both imitated, without being able to improve it. no painter ever produced its equal except raphael; nor could a better be created except in so far as regards improvement in the mere rendering of form." to these inspiring observations by the rapturous crowe, more cautious cavalcasella [footnote: i venture to attribute the wiser note to signor cavalcasella because i have every reason to put real confidence in his judgment. but it was impossible for any man, engaged as he is, to go over all the ground covered by so extensive a piece of critical work as these three volumes contain, with effective attention.] appends a refrigerating note, saying, "the st. francis in the glory is new, but the angels are in part preserved. the rest has all been more or less retouched; and no judgment can be given as to the colour of this--or any other (!)--of these works." you are, therefore--instructed reader--called upon to admire a piece of art which no painter ever produced the equal of except raphael; but it is unhappily deficient, according to crowe, in the "mere rendering of form"; and, according to signor cavalcasella, "no opinion can be given as to its colour." warned thus of the extensive places where the ice is dangerous, and forbidden to look here either for form or colour, you are to admire "the variety of character and expression in the heads." i do not myself know how these are to be given without form or colour; but there appears to me, in my innocence, to be only one head in the whole picture, drawn up and down in different positions. the "unity and harmony" of the whole--which make this an exceptional work of its kind--mean, i suppose, its general look of having been painted out of a scavenger's cart; and so we are reduced to the last article of our creed according to crowe,-- "in the composition of this scene giotto produced a masterpiece." well, possibly. the question is, what you mean by 'composition.' which, putting modern criticism now out of our way, i will ask the reader to think, in front of this wreck of giotto, with some care. was it, in the first place, to giotto, think you, the "composition of a scene," or the conception of a fact? you probably, if a fashionable person, have seen the apotheosis of margaret in faust? you know what care is taken, nightly, in the composition of that scene,--how the draperies are arranged for it; the lights turned off, and on; the fiddlestrings taxed for their utmost tenderness; the bassoons exhorted to a grievous solemnity. you don't believe, however, that any real soul of a margaret ever appeared to any mortal in that manner? _here_ is an apotheosis also. composed!--yes; figures high on the right and left, low in the middle, etc., etc., etc. but the important questions seem to me, was there ever a st. francis?--_did_ he ever receive stigmata?--_did_his soul go up to heaven--did any monk see it rising--and did giotto mean to tell us so? if you will be good enough to settle these few small points in your mind first, the "composition" will take a wholly different aspect to you, according to your answer. nor does it seem doubtful to me what your answer, after investigation made, must be. there assuredly was a st. francis, whose life and works you had better study than either to-day's galignani, or whatever, this year, may supply the place of the tichborne case, in public interest. his reception of the stigmata is, perhaps, a marvellous instance of the power of imagination over physical conditions; perhaps an equally marvellous instance of the swift change of metaphor into tradition; but assuredly, and beyond dispute, one of the most influential, significant, and instructive traditions possessed by the church of christ. and, that, if ever soul rose to heaven from the dead body, his soul did so rise, is equally sure. and, finally, giotto believed that all he was called on to represent, concerning st. francis, really had taken place, just as surely as you, if you are a christian, believe that christ died and rose again; and he represents it with all fidelity and passion: but, as i just now said, he is a man of supreme common sense;--has as much humour and clearness of sight as chaucer, and as much dislike of falsehood in clergy, or in professedly pious people: and in his gravest moments he will still see and say truly that what is fat, is fat--and what is lean, lean--and what is hollow, empty. his great point, however, in this fresco, is the assertion of the reality of the stigmata against all question. there is not only one st. thomas to be convinced; there are five;--one to each wound. of these, four are intent only on satisfying their curiosity, and are peering or probing; one only kisses the hand he has lifted. the rest of the picture never was much more than a grey drawing of a noble burial service; of all concerned in which, one monk, only, is worthy to see the soul taken up to heaven; and he is evidently just the monk whom nobody in the convent thought anything of. (his face is all repainted; but one can gather this much, or little, out of it, yet.) of the composition, or "unity and harmony of the whole," as a burial service, we may better judge after we have looked at the brighter picture of st. francis's birth--birth spiritual, that is to say, to his native heaven; the uppermost, namely, of the three subjects on this side of the chapel. it is entirely characteristic of giotto; much of it by his hand--all of it beautiful. all important matters to be known of giotto you may know from this fresco. 'but we can't see it, even with our opera-glasses, but all foreshortened and spoiled. what is the use of lecturing us on this?' that is precisely the first point which is essentially giottesque in it; its being so out of the way! it is this which makes it a perfect specimen of the master. i will tell you next something about a work of his which you can see perfectly, just behind you on the opposite side of the wall; but that you have half to break your neck to look at this one, is the very first thing i want you to feel. it is a characteristic--(as far as i know, quite a universal one)--of the greatest masters, that they never expect you to look at them; seem always rather surprised if you want to; and not overpleased. tell them you are going to hang their picture at the upper end of the table at the next great city dinner, and that mr. so and so will make a speech about it; you produce no impression upon them whatever, or an unfavourable one. the chances are ten to one they send you the most rubbishy thing they can find in their lumber-room. but send for one of them in a hurry, and tell him the rats have gnawed a nasty hole behind the parlor door, and you want it plastered and painted over;--and he does you a masterpiece which the world will peep behind your door to look at for ever. i have no time to tell you why this is so; nor do i know why, altogether; but so it is. giotto, then, is sent for, to paint this high chapel: i am not sure if he chose his own subjects from the life of st. francis: i think so,--but of course can't reason on the guess securely. at all events, he would have much of his own way in the matter. now you must observe that painting a gothic chapel rightly is just the same thing as painting a greek vase rightly. the chapel is merely the vase turned upside-down, and outside-in. the principles of decoration are exactly the same. your decoration is to be proportioned to the size of your vase; to be together delightful when you look at the cup, or chapel, as a whole; to be various and entertaining when you turn the cup round; (you turn _yourself_ round in the chapel;) and to bend its heads and necks of figures about, as it best can, over the hollows, and ins and outs, so that anyhow, whether too long or too short-possible or impossible--they may be living, and full of grace. you will also please take it on my word today--in another morning walk you shall have proof of it--that giotto was a pure etruscan-greek of the thirteenth century: converted indeed to worship st. francis instead of heracles; but as far as vase-painting goes, precisely the etruscan he was before. this is nothing else than a large, beautiful, coloured etruscan vase you have got, inverted over your heads like a diving-bell.' [footnote: i observe that recent criticism is engaged in proving all etruscan vases to be of late manufacture, in imitation of archaic greek. and i therefore must briefly anticipate a statement which i shall have to enforce in following letters. etruscan art remains in its own italian valleys, of the arno and upper tiber, in one unbroken series of work, from the seventh century before christ, to this hour, when the country whitewasher still scratches his plaster in etruscan patterns. all florentine work of the finest kind--luca della robbia's, ghiberti's, donatello's, filippo lippi's, botticelli's, fra angelico's--is absolutely pure etruscan, merely changing its subjects, and representing the virgin instead of athena, and christ instead of jupiter. every line of the florentine chisel in the fifteenth century is based on national principles of art which existed in the seventh century before christ; and angelico, in his convent of st. dominic, at the foot of the hill of fésole, is as true an etruscan as the builder who laid the rude stones of the wall along its crest--of which modern civilization has used the only arch that remained for cheap building stone. luckily, i sketched it in . but alas, too carelessly,--never conceiving of the brutalities of modern italy as possible.] accordingly, after the quatrefoil ornamentation of the top of the bell, you get two spaces at the sides under arches, very difficult to cramp one's picture into, if it is to be a picture only; but entirely provocative of our old etruscan instinct of ornament. and, spurred by the difficulty, and pleased by the national character of it, we put our best work into these arches, utterly neglectful of the public below,--who will see the white and red and blue spaces, at any rate, which is all they will want to see, thinks giotto, if he ever looks down from his scaffold. take the highest compartment, then, on the left, looking towards the window. it was wholly impossible to get the arch filled with figures, unless they stood on each other's heads; so giotto ekes it out with a piece of fine architecture. raphael, in the sposalizio, does the same, for pleasure. then he puts two dainty little white figures, bending, on each flank, to stop up his corners. but he puts the taller inside on the right, and outside on the left. and he puts his greek chorus of observant and moralizing persons on each side of his main action. then he puts one choragus--or leader of chorus, supporting the main action--on each side. then he puts the main action in the middle--which is a quarrel about that white bone of contention in the centre. choragus on the right, who sees that the bishop is going to have the best of it, backs him serenely. choragus on the left, who sees that his impetuous friend is going to get the worst of it, is pulling him back, and trying to keep him quiet. the subject of the picture, which, after you are quite sure it is good as a decoration, but not till then, you may be allowed to understand, is the following. one of st. francis's three great virtues being obedience, he begins his spiritual life by quarreling with his father. he, i suppose in modern terms i should say, commercially invests some of his father's goods in charity. his father objects to that investment; on which st. francis runs away, taking what he can find about the house along with him. his father follows to claim his property, but finds it is all gone, already; and that st. francis has made friends with the bishop of assisi. his father flies into an indecent passion, and declares he will disinherit him; on which st. francis then and there takes all his clothes off, throws them frantically in his father's face, and says he has nothing more to do with clothes or father. the good bishop, in tears of admiration, embraces st. francis, and covers him with his own mantle. i have read the picture to you as, if mr. spurgeon knew anything about art, mr. spurgeon would read it,--that is to say, from the plain, common sense, protestant side. if you are content with that view of it, you may leave the chapel, and, as far as any study of history is concerned, florence also; for you can never know anything either about giotto, or her. yet do not be afraid of my re-reading it to you from the mystic, nonsensical, and papistical side. i am going to read it to you--if after many and many a year of thought, i am able--as giotto meant it; giotto being, as far as we know, then the man of strongest brain and hand in florence; the best friend of the best religious poet of the world; and widely differing, as his friend did also, in his views of the world, from either mr. spurgeon, or pius ix. the first duty of a child is to obey its father and mother; as the first duty of a citizen to obey the laws of his state. and this duty is so strict that i believe the only limits to it are those fixed by isaac and iphigenia. on the other hand, the father and mother have also a fixed duty to the child--not to provoke it to wrath. i have never heard this text explained to fathers and mothers from the pulpit, which is curious. for it appears to me that god will expect the parents to understand their duty to their children, better even than children can be expected to know their duty to their parents. but farther. a _child's_ duty is to obey its parents. it is never said anywhere in the bible, and never was yet said in any good or wise book, that a man's, or woman's, is. _when,_ precisely, a child becomes a man or a woman, it can no more be said, than when it should first stand on its legs. but a time assuredly comes when it should. in great states, children are always trying to remain children, and the parents wanting to make men and women of them. in vile states, the children are always wanting to be men and women, and the parents to keep them children. it may be--and happy the house in which it is so--that the father's at least equal intellect, and older experience, may remain to the end of his life a law to his children, not of force, but of perfect guidance, with perfect love. rarely it is so; not often possible. it is as natural for the old to be prejudiced as for the young to be presumptuous; and, in the change of centuries, each generation has something to judge of for itself. but this scene, on which giotto has dwelt with so great force, represents, not the child's assertion of his independence, but his adoption of another father. you must not confuse the desire of this boy of assisi to obey god rather than man, with the desire of your young cockney hopeful to have a latch-key, and a separate allowance. no point of duty has been more miserably warped and perverted by false priests, in all churches, than this duty of the young to choose whom they will serve. but the duty itself does not the less exist; and if there be any truth in christianity at all, there will come, for all true disciples, a time when they have to take that saying to heart, "he that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me." '_loveth_'--observe. there is no talk of disobeying fathers or mothers whom you do not love, or of running away from a home where you would rather not stay. but to leave the home which is your peace, and to be at enmity with those who are most dear to you,--this, if there be meaning in christ's words, one day or other will be demanded of his true followers. and there is meaning in christ's words. whatever misuse may have been made of them,--whatever false prophets--and heaven knows there have been many--have called the young children to them, not to bless, but to curse, the assured fact remains, that if you will obey god, there will come a moment when the voice of man will be raised, with all its holiest natural authority, against you. the friend and the wise adviser--the brother and the sister--the father and the master--the entire voice of your prudent and keen-sighted acquaintance--the entire weight of the scornful stupidity of the vulgar world--for _once_, they will be against you, all at one. you have to obey god rather than man. the human race, with all its wisdom and love, all its indignation and folly, on one side,--god alone on the other. you have to choose. that is the meaning of st. francis's renouncing his inheritance; and it is the beginning of giotto's gospel of works. unless this hardest of deeds be done first,--this inheritance of mammon and the world cast away,--all other deeds are useless. you cannot serve, cannot obey, god and mammon. no charities, no obediences, no self-denials, are of any use, while you are still at heart in conformity with the world. you go to church, because the world goes. you keep sunday, because your neighbours keep it. but you dress ridiculously, because your neighbours ask it; and you dare not do a rough piece of work, because your neighbours despise it. you must renounce your neighbour, in his riches and pride, and remember him in his distress. that is st. francis's 'disobedience.' and now you can understand the relation of subjects throughout the chapel, and giotto's choice of them. the roof has the symbols of the three virtues of labour--poverty, chastity, obedience. a. highest on the left side, looking to the window. the life of st. francis begins in his renunciation of the world. b. highest on the right side. his new life is approved and ordained by the authority of the church. c. central on the left side. he preaches to his own disciples. d. central on the right side. he preaches to the heathen. e. lowest on the left side. his burial. f. lowest on the right side. his power after death. besides these six subjects, there are, on the sides of the window, the four great franciscan saints, st. louis of france, st. louis of toulouse, st. clare, and st. elizabeth of hungary. so that you have in the whole series this much given you to think of: first, the law of st. francis's conscience; then, his own adoption of it; then, the ratification of it by the christian church; then, his preaching it in life; then, his preaching it in death; and then, the fruits of it in his disciples. i have only been able myself to examine, or in any right sense to see, of this code of subjects, the first, second, fourth, and the st. louis and elizabeth. i will ask _you_ only to look at two more of them, namely, st. francis before the soldan, midmost on your right, and st. louis. the soldan, with an ordinary opera-glass, you may see clearly enough; and i think it will be first well to notice some technical points in it. if the little virgin on the stairs of the temple reminded you of one composition of titian's, this soldan should, i think, remind you of all that is greatest in titian; so forcibly, indeed, that for my own part, if i had been told that a careful early fresco by titian had been recovered in santa croce, i could have believed both report and my own eyes, more quickly than i have been able to admit that this is indeed by giotto. it is so great that--had its principles been understood-there was in reality nothing more to be taught of art in italy; nothing to be invented afterwards, except dutch effects of light. that there is no 'effect of light' here arrived at, i beg you at once to observe as a most important lesson. the subject is st. francis challenging the soldan's magi,--fire-worshippers--to pass with him through the fire, which is blazing red at his feet. it is so hot that the two magi on the other side of the throne shield their faces. but it is represented simply as a red mass of writhing forms of flame; and casts no firelight whatever. there is no ruby colour on anybody's nose: there are no black shadows under anybody's chin; there are no rembrandtesque gradations of gloom, or glitterings of sword-hilt and armour. is this ignorance, think you, in giotto, and pure artlessness? he was now a man in middle life, having passed all his days in painting, and professedly, and almost contentiously, painting things as he saw them. do you suppose he never saw fire cast firelight?--and he the friend of dante! who of all poets is the most subtle in his sense of every kind of effect of light--though he has been thought by the public to know that of fire only. again and again, his ghosts wonder that there is no shadow cast by dante's body; and is the poet's friend, _because_ a painter, likely, therefore, not to have known that mortal substance casts shadow, and terrestrial flame, light? nay, the passage in the 'purgatorio' where the shadows from the morning sunshine make the flames redder, reaches the accuracy of newtonian science; and does giotto, think you, all the while, see nothing of the sort? the fact was, he saw light so intensely that he never for an instant thought of painting it. he knew that to paint the sun was as impossible as to stop it; and he was no trickster, trying to find out ways of seeming to do what he did not. i can paint a rose,--yes; and i will. i can't paint a red-hot coal; and i won't try to, nor seem to. this was just as natural and certain a process of thinking with _him_, as the honesty of it, and true science, were impossible to the false painters of the sixteenth century. nevertheless, what his art can honestly do to make you feel as much as he wants you to feel, about this fire, he will do; and that studiously. that the fire be _luminous_ or not, is no matter just now. but that the fire is _hot_, he would have you to know. now, will you notice what colours he has used in the whole picture. first, the blue background, necessary to unite it with the other three subjects, is reduced to the smallest possible space. st. francis must be in grey, for that is his dress; also the attendant of one of the magi is in grey; but so warm, that, if you saw it by itself, you would call it brown. the shadow behind the throne, which giotto knows he _can_ paint, and therefore does, is grey also. the rest of the picture [footnote: the floor has been repainted; but though its grey is now heavy and cold, it cannot kill the splendour of the rest.] in at least six-sevenths of its area--is either crimson, gold, orange, purple, or white, all as warm as giotto could paint them; and set off by minute spaces only of intense black,--the soldan's fillet at the shoulders, his eyes, beard, and the points necessary in the golden pattern behind. and the whole picture is one glow. a single glance round at the other subjects will convince you of the special character in this; but you will recognize also that the four upper subjects, in which st. francis's life and zeal are shown, are all in comparatively warm colours, while the two lower ones--of the death, and the visions after it--have been kept as definitely sad and cold. necessarily, you might think, being full of monks' dresses. not so. was there any need for giotto to have put the priest at the foot of the dead body, with the black banner stooped over it in the shape of a grave? might he not, had he chosen, in either fresco, have made the celestial visions brighter? might not st. francis have appeared in the centre of a celestial glory to the dreaming pope, or his soul been seen of the poor monk, rising through more radiant clouds? look, however, how radiant, in the small space allowed out of the blue, they are in reality. you cannot anywhere see a lovelier piece of giottesque colour, though here, you have to mourn over the smallness of the piece, and its isolation. for the face of st. francis himself is repainted, and all the blue sky; but the clouds and four sustaining angels are hardly retouched at all, and their iridescent and exquisitely graceful wings are left with really very tender and delicate care by the restorer of the sky. and no one but giotto or turner could have painted them. for in all his use of opalescent and warm colour, giotto is exactly like turner, as, in his swift expressional power, he is like gainsborough. all the other italian religious painters work out their expression with toil; he only can give it with a touch. all the other great italian colourists see only the beauty of colour, but giotto also its brightness. and none of the others, except tintoret, understood to the full its symbolic power; but with those--giotto and tintoret--there is always, not only a colour harmony, but a colour secret. it is not merely to make the picture glow, but to remind you that st. francis preaches to a fire-worshipping king, that giotto covers the wall with purple and scarlet;--and above, in the dispute at assisi, the angry father is dressed in red, varying like passion; and the robe with which his protector embraces st. francis, blue, symbolizing the peace of heaven, of course certain conventional colours were traditionally employed by all painters; but only giotto and tintoret invent a symbolism of their own for every picture. thus in tintoret's picture of the fall of the manna, the figure of god the father is entirely robed in white, contrary to all received custom: in that of moses striking the rock, it is surrounded by a rainbow. of giotto's symbolism in colour at assisi, i have given account elsewhere. [footnote: 'fors clavigera' for september, .] you are not to think, therefore, the difference between the colour of the upper and lower frescos unintentional. the life of st. francis was always full of joy and triumph. his death, in great suffering, weariness, and extreme humility. the tradition of him reverses that of elijah; living, he is seen in the chariot of fire; dying, he submits to more than the common sorrow of death. there is, however, much more than a difference in colour between the upper and lower frescos. there is a difference in manner which i cannot account for; and above all, a very singular difference in skill,--indicating, it seems to me, that the two lower were done long before the others, and afterwards united and harmonized with them. it is of no interest to the general reader to pursue this question; but one point he can notice quickly, that the lower frescos depend much on a mere black or brown outline of the features, while the faces above are evenly and completely painted in the most accomplished venetian manner:--and another, respecting the management of the draperies, contains much interest for us. giotto never succeeded, to the very end of his days, in representing a figure lying down, and at ease. it is one of the most curious points in all his character. just the thing which he could study from nature without the smallest hindrance, is the thing he never can paint; while subtleties of form and gesture, which depend absolutely on their momentariness, and actions in which no model can stay for an instant, he seizes with infallible accuracy. not only has the sleeping pope, in the right hand lower fresco, his head laid uncomfortably on his pillow, but all the clothes on him are in awkward angles, even giotto's instinct for lines of drapery failing him altogether when he has to lay it on a reposing figure. but look at the folds of the soldan's robe over his knees. none could be more beautiful or right; and it is to me wholly inconceivable that the two paintings should be within even twenty years of each other in date--the skill in the upper one is so supremely greater. we shall find, however, more than mere truth in its casts of drapery, if we examine them. they are so simply right, in the figure of the soldan, that we do not think of them;--we see him only, not his dress but we see dress first, in the figures of the discomfited magi. very fully draped personages these, indeed,--with trains, it appears, four yards long, and bearers of them. the one nearest the soldan has done his devoir as bravely as he could; would fain go up to the fire, but cannot; is forced to shield his face, though he has not turned back. giotto gives him full sweeping breadth of fold; what dignity he can;--a man faithful to his profession, at all events. the next one has no such courage. collapsed altogether, he has nothing more to say for himself or his creed. giotto hangs the cloak upon him, in ghirlandajo's fashion, as from a peg, but with ludicrous narrowness of fold. literally, he is a 'shut-up' magus--closed like a fan. he turns his head away, hopelessly. and the last magus shows nothing but his back, disappearing through the door. opposed to them, in a modern work, you would have had a st. francis standing as high as he could in his sandals, contemptuous, denunciatory; magnificently showing the magi the door. no such thing, says giotto. a somewhat mean man; disappointing enough in presence-even in feature; i do not understand his gesture, pointing to his forehead--perhaps meaning, 'my life, or my head, upon the truth of this.' the attendant monk behind him is terror-struck; but will follow his master. the dark moorish servants of the magi show no emotion--will arrange their masters' trains as usual, and decorously sustain their retreat. lastly, for the soldan himself. in a modern work, you would assuredly have had him staring at st. francis with his eyebrows up, or frowning thunderously at his magi, with them bent as far down as they would go. neither of these aspects does he bear, according to giotto. a perfect gentleman and king, he looks on his magi with quiet eyes of decision; he is much the noblest person in the room--though an infidel, the true hero of the scene, far more than st. francis. it is evidently the soldan whom giotto wants you to think of mainly, in this picture of christian missionary work. he does not altogether take the view of the heathen which you would get in an exeter hall meeting. does not expatiate on their ignorance, their blackness, or their nakedness. does not at all think of the florentine islington and pentonville, as inhabited by persons in every respect superior to the kings of the east; nor does he imagine every other religion but his own to be log-worship. probably the people who really worship logs--whether in persia or pentonville--will be left to worship logs to their hearts' content, thinks giotto. but to those who worship _god_, and who have obeyed the laws of heaven written in their hearts, and numbered the stars of it visible to them,--to these, a nearer star may rise; and a higher god be revealed. you are to note, therefore, that giotto's soldan is the type of all noblest religion and law, in countries where the name of christ has not been preached. there was no doubt what king or people should be chosen: the country of the three magi had already been indicated by the miracle of bethlehem; and the religion and morality of zoroaster were the purest, and in spirit the oldest, in the heathen world. therefore, when dante, in the nineteenth and twentieth books of the paradise, gives his final interpretation of the law of human and divine justice in relation to the gospel of christ--the lower and enslaved body of the heathen being represented by st. philip's convert, ("christians like these the ethiop shall condemn")--the noblest state of heathenism is at once chosen, as by giotto: "what may the _persians_ say unto _your_ kings?" compare also milton,-- "at the soldan's chair, defied the best of paynim chivalry." and now, the time is come for you to look at giotto's st. louis, who is the type of a christian king. you would, i suppose, never have seen it at all, unless i had dragged you here on purpose. it was enough in the dark originally--is trebly darkened by the modern painted glass--and dismissed to its oblivion contentedly by mr. murray's "four saints, all much restored and repainted," and messrs. crowe and cavalcasella's serene "the st. louis is quite new." now, i am the last person to call any restoration whatever, judicious. of all destructive manias, that of restoration is the frightfullest and foolishest. nevertheless, what good, in its miserable way, it can bring, the poor art scholar must now apply his common sense to take; there is no use, because a great work has been restored, in now passing it by altogether, not even looking for what instruction we still may find in its design, which will be more intelligible, if the restorer has had any conscience at all, to the ordinary spectator, than it would have been in the faded work. when, indeed, mr. murray's guide tells you that a _building_ has been 'magnificently restored,' you may pass the building by in resigned despair; for _that_ means that every bit of the old sculpture has been destroyed, and modern vulgar copies put up in its place. but a restored picture or fresco will often be, to _you_, more useful than a pure one; and in all probability--if an important piece of art--it will have been spared in many places, cautiously completed in others, and still assert itself in a mysterious way--as leonardo's cenacolo does--through every phase of reproduction. [footnote: for a test of your feeling in the matter, having looked well at these two lower frescos in this chapel, walk round into the next, and examine the lower one on your left hand as you enter that. you will find in your murray that the frescos in this chapel "were also till lately, ( ) covered with whitewash"; but i happen to have a long critique of this particular picture written in the year , and i see no change in it since then. mr. murray's critic also tells you to observe in it that "the daughter of herodias playing on a violin is not unlike perugino's treatment of similar subjects." by which mr. murray's critic means that the male musician playing on a violin, whom, without looking either at his dress, or at the rest of the fresco, he took for the daughter of herodias, has a broad face. allowing you the full benefit of this criticism--there is still a point or two more to be observed. this is the only fresco near the ground in which giotto's work is untouched, at least, by the modern restorer. so felicitously safe it is, that you may learn from it at once and for ever, what good fresco painting is--how quiet--how delicately clear--how little coarsely or vulgarly attractive--how capable of the most tender light and shade, and of the most exquisite and enduring colour. in this latter respect, this fresco stands almost alone among the works of giotto; the striped curtain behind the table being wrought with a variety and fantasy of playing colour which paul veronese could not better at his best. you will find, without difficulty, in spite of the faint tints, the daughter of herodias in the middle of the picture---slowly _moving_, not dancing, to the violin music--she herself playing on a lyre. in the farther corner of the picture, she gives st. john's head to her mother; the face of herodias is almost entirely faded, which may be a farther guarantee to you of the safety of the rest. the subject of the apocalypse, highest on the right, is one of the most interesting mythic pictures in florence; nor do i know any other so completely rendering the meaning of the scene between the woman in the wilderness, and the dragon enemy. but it cannot be seen from the floor level: and i have no power of showing its beauty in words.] but i can assure you, in the first place, that st. louis is by no means altogether new. i have been up at it, and found most lovely and true colour left in many parts: the crown, which you will find, after our mornings at the spanish chapel, is of importance, nearly untouched; the lines of the features and hair, though all more or less reproduced, still of definite and notable character; and the junction throughout of added colour so careful, that the harmony of the whole, if not delicate with its old tenderness, is at least, in its coarser way, solemn and unbroken. such as the figure remains, it still possesses extreme beauty--profoundest interest. and, as you can see it from below with your glass, it leaves little to be desired, and may be dwelt upon with more profit than nine out of ten of the renowned pictures of the tribune or the pitti. you will enter into the spirit of it better if i first translate for you a little piece from the fioretti di san francesco. _"how st. louis, king of france, went personally in the guise of a pilgrim, to perugia, to visit the holy brother giles._--st. louis, king of france, went on pilgrimage to visit the sanctuaries of the world; and hearing the most great fame of the holiness of brother giles, who had been among the first companions of st. francis, put it in his heart, and determined assuredly that he would visit him personally; wherefore he came to perugia, where was then staying the said brother. and coming to the gate of the place of the brothers, with few companions, and being unknown, he asked with great earnestness for brother giles, telling nothing to the porter who he was that asked. the porter, therefore, goes to brother giles, and says that there is a pilgrim asking for him at the gate. and by god it was inspired in him and revealed that it was the king of france; whereupon quickly with great fervour he left his cell and ran to the gate, and without any question asked, or ever having seen each other before, kneeling down together with greatest devotion, they embraced and kissed each other with as much familiarity as if for a long time they had held great friendship; but all the while neither the one nor the other spoke, but stayed, so embraced, with such signs of charitable love, in silence. and so having remained for a great while, they parted from one another, and st. louis went on his way, and brother giles returned to his cell. and the king being gone, one of the brethren asked of his companion who he was, who answered that he was the king of france. of which the other brothers being told, were in the greatest melancholy because brother giles had never said a word to him; and murmuring at it, they said, 'oh, brother giles, wherefore hadst thou so country manners that to so holy a king, who had come from france to see thee and hear from thee some good word, thou hast spoken nothing?' "answered brother giles: 'dearest brothers, wonder not ye at this, that neither i to him, nor he to me, could speak a word; for so soon as we had embraced, the light of the divine wisdom revealed and manifested, to me, his heart, and to him, mine; and so by divine operation we looked each in the other's heart on what we would have said to one another, and knew it better far than if we had spoken with the mouth, and with more consolation, because of the defect of the human tongue, which cannot clearly express the secrets of god, and would have been for discomfort rather than comfort. and know, therefore, that the king parted from me marvellously content, and comforted in his mind.'" of all which story, not a word, of course, is credible by any rational person. certainly not: the spirit, nevertheless, which created the story, is an entirely indisputable fact in the history of italy and of mankind. whether st. louis and brother giles ever knelt together in the street of perugia matters not a whit. that a king and a poor monk could be conceived to have thoughts of each other which no words could speak; and that indeed the king's tenderness and humility made such a tale credible to the people,--this is what you have to meditate on here. nor is there any better spot in the world,--whencesoever your pilgrim feet may have journeyed to it, wherein to make up so much mind as you have in you for the making, concerning the nature of kinghood and princedom generally; and of the forgeries and mockeries of both which are too often manifested in their room. for it happens that this christian and this persian king are better painted here by giotto than elsewhere by any one, so as to give you the best attainable conception of the christian and heathen powers which have both received, in the book which christians profess to reverence, the same epithet as the king of the jews himself; anointed, or christos:--and as the most perfect christian kinghood was exhibited in the life, partly real, partly traditional, of st. louis, so the most perfect heathen kinghood was exemplified in the life, partly real, partly traditional, of cyrus of persia, and in the laws for human government and education which had chief force in his dynasty. and before the images of these two kings i think therefore it will be well that you should read the charge to cyrus, written by isaiah. the second clause of it, if not all, will here become memorable to you--literally illustrating, as it does, the very manner of the defeat of the zoroastrian magi, on which giotto founds his triumph of faith. i write the leading sentences continuously; what i omit is only their amplification, which you can easily refer to at home. (isaiah xliv. , to xlv. .) "thus saith the lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb. i the lord that maketh all; that stretcheth forth the heavens, alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth, alone; _that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge, foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and fulfilleth the counsel of his messengers_: that saith of cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to jerusalem, 'thou shalt be built,' and to the temple, 'thy foundations shall be laid." "thus saith the lord to his christ;--to cyrus, whose right hand i have holden, to subdue nations before him, and i will loose the loins of kings. "i will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; i will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; and i will give _thee_ the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that i the lord, which call thee by thy name, am the god of israel. "for jacob my servant's sake, and israel mine elect, i have even called thee by thy name; i have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. "i am the lord, and there is none else; there is no god beside me. i girded thee, though thou hast not known me. that they may know, from the _rising of the sun_, and from the west, that there is none beside me; i am the lord and there is none else. _i form the light_, and create darkness; i make peace, and create evil. i the lord do all these things. "i have raised him up in righteousness, and will direct all his ways; he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the lord of nations." to this last verse, add the ordinance of cyrus in fulfilling it, that you may understand what is meant by a king's being "raised up in righteousness," and notice, with respect to the picture under which you stand, the persian king's thought of the jewish temple. "in the first year of the reign of cyrus, [footnote: st esdras vi. .] king cyrus commanded that the house of the lord at jerusalem should be built again, _where they do service with perpetual fire_; (the italicized sentence is darius's, quoting cyrus's decree--the decree itself worded thus), thus saith cyrus, king of persia: [footnote: ezra i. , and nd esdras ii. .] the lord god of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him an house at jerusalem. "who is there among you of all his people?--his god be with him, and let him go up to jerusalem which is in judah, and let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold, and with goods and with beasts." between which "bringing the prisoners out of captivity" and modern liberty, free trade, and anti-slavery eloquence, there is no small interval. to these two ideals of kinghood, then, the boy has reached, since the day he was drawing the lamb on the stone, as cimabue passed by. you will not find two other such, that i know of, in the west of europe; and yet there has been many a try at the painting of crowned heads,--and king george iii and queen charlotte, by sir joshua reynolds, are very fine, no doubt. also your black-muzzled kings of velasquez, and vandyke's long-haired and white-handed ones; and rubens' riders--in those handsome boots. pass such shadows of them as you can summon, rapidly before your memory--then look at this st. louis. his face--gentle, resolute, glacial-pure, thin-cheeked; so sharp at the chin that the entire head is almost of the form of a knight's shield--the hair short on the forehead, falling on each side in the old greek-etruscan curves of simplest line, to the neck; i don't know if you can see without being nearer, the difference in the arrangement of it on the two sides-the mass of it on the right shoulder bending inwards, while that on the left falls straight. it is one of the pretty changes which a modern workman would never dream of--and which assures me the restorer has followed the old lines rightly. he wears a crown formed by an hexagonal pyramid, beaded with pearls on the edges: and walled round, above the brow, with a vertical fortress-parapet, as it were, rising into sharp pointed spines at the angles: it is chasing of gold with pearl--beautiful in the remaining work of it; the soldan wears a crown of the same general form; the hexagonal outline signifying all order, strength, and royal economy. we shall see farther symbolism of this kind, soon, by simon memmi, in the spanish chapel. i cannot tell you anything definite of the two other frescos--for i can only examine one or two pictures in a day; and never begin with one till i have done with another; and i had to leave florence without looking at these--even so far as to be quite sure of their subjects. the central one on the left is either the twelfth subject of assisi--st. francis in ecstacy; [footnote: "represented" (next to st. francis before the soldan, at assisi) "as seen one night by the brethren, praying, elevated from the ground, his hands extended like the cross, and surrounded by a shining cloud."--_lord lindsay_.] or the eighteenth, the apparition of st. francis at arles; [footnote: "st. anthony of padua was preaching at a general chapter of the order, held at arles, in , when st. francis appeared in the midst, his arms extended, and in an attitude of benediction."--_lord lindsay_.] while the lowest on the right may admit choice between two subjects in each half of it: my own reading of them would be--that they are the twenty-first and twenty-fifth subjects of assisi, the dying friar [footnote: "a brother of the order, lying on his deathbed, saw the spirit of st. francis rising to heaven, and springing forward, cried, 'tarry, father, i come with thee!' and fell back dead."--_lord lindsay_.] and vision of pope gregory ix.; [footnote: "he hesitated, before canonizing st. francis; doubting the celestial infliction of the stigmata. st. francis appeared to him in a vision, and with a severe countenance reproving his unbelief, opened his robe, and, exposing the wound in his side, filled a vial with the blood that flowed from it, and gave it to the pope, who awoke and found it in his hand."--_lord lindsay_.] but crowe and cavalcasella may be right in their different interpretation; [footnote: "as st. francis was carried on his bed of sickness to st. maria degli angeli, he stopped at an hospital on the roadside, and ordering his attendants to turn his head in the direction of assisi, he rose in his litter and said, 'blessed be thou amongst cities! may the blessing of god cling to thee, oh holy place, for by thee shall many souls be saved;' and, having said this, he lay down and was carried on to st. maria degli angeli. on the evening of the th of october his death was revealed at the very hour to the bishop of assisi on mount sarzana."--_crowe and cavalcasella._] in any case, the meaning of the entire system of work remains unchanged, as i have given it above. the fourth morning. the vaulted book. as early as may be this morning, let us look for a minute or two into the cathedral:--i was going to say, entering by one of the side doors of the aisles;--but we can't do anything else, which perhaps might not strike you unless you were thinking specially of it. there are no transept doors; and one never wanders round to the desolate front. from either of the side doors, a few paces will bring you to the middle of the nave, and to the point opposite the middle of the third arch from the west end; where you will find yourself--if well in the mid-wave--standing on a circular slab of green porphyry, which marks the former place of the grave of the bishop zenobius. the larger inscription, on the wide circle of the floor outside of you, records the translation of his body; the smaller one round the stone at your feet--"quiescimus, domum hanc quum adimus ultimam"--is a painful truth, i suppose, to travellers like us, who never rest anywhere now, if we can help it. resting here, at any rate, for a few minutes, look up to the whitewashed vaulting of the compartment of the roof next the west end. you will see nothing whatever in it worth looking at. nevertheless, look a little longer. but the longer you look, the less you will understand why i tell you to look. it is nothing but a whitewashed ceiling: vaulted indeed,--but so is many a tailor's garret window, for that matter. indeed, now that you have looked steadily for a minute or so, and are used to the form of the arch, it seems to become so small that you can almost fancy it the ceiling of a good-sized lumber-room in an attic. having attained to this modest conception of it, carry your eyes back to the similar vault of the second compartment, nearer you. very little further contemplation will reduce that also to the similitude of a moderately-sized attic. and then, resolving to bear, if possible--for it is worth while,--the cramp in your neck for another quarter of a minute, look right up to the third vault, over your head; which, if not, in the said quarter of a minute, reducible in imagination to a tailor's garret, will at least sink, like the two others, into the semblance of a common arched ceiling, of no serious magnitude or majesty. then, glance quickly down from it to the floor, and round at the space, (included between the four pillars), which that vault covers. it is sixty feet square,[footnote: approximately. thinking i could find the dimensions of the duomo anywhere, i only paced it myself,--and cannot, at this moment, lay my hand on english measurements of it.]--four hundred square yards of pavement,--and i believe you will have to look up again more than once or twice, before you can convince yourself that the mean-looking roof is swept indeed over all that twelfth part of an acre. and still less, if i mistake not, will you, without slow proof, believe, when you turn yourself round towards the east end, that the narrow niche (it really looks scarcely more than a niche) which occupies, beyond the dome, the position of our northern choirs, is indeed the unnarrowed elongation of the nave, whose breadth extends round you like a frozen lake. from which experiments and comparisons, your conclusion, i think, will be, and i am sure it ought to be, that the most studious ingenuity could not produce a design for the interior of a building which should more completely hide its extent, and throw away every common advantage of its magnitude, than this of the duomo of florence. having arrived at this, i assure you, quite securely tenable conclusion, we will quit the cathedral by the western door, for once, and as quickly as we can walk, return to the green cloister of sta. maria novella; and place ourselves on the south side of it, so as to see as much as we can of the entrance, on the opposite side, to the so-called 'spanish chapel.' there is, indeed, within the opposite cloister, an arch of entrance, plain enough. but no chapel, whatever, externally manifesting itself as worth entering. no walls, or gable, or dome, raised above the rest of the outbuildings--only two windows with traceries opening into the cloister; and one story of inconspicuous building above. you can't conceive there should be any effect of _magnitude_ produced in the interior, however it has been vaulted or decorated. it may be pretty, but it cannot possibly look large. entering it, nevertheless, you will be surprised at the effect of height, and disposed to fancy that the circular window cannot surely be the same you saw outside, looking so low, i had to go out again, myself, to make sure that it was. and gradually, as you let the eye follow the sweep of the vaulting arches, from the small central keystone-boss, with the lamp carved on it, to the broad capitals of the hexagonal pillars at the angles,--there will form itself in your mind, i think, some impression not only of vastness in the building, but of great daring in the builder; and at last, after closely following out the lines of a fresco or two, and looking up and up again to the coloured vaults, it will become to you literally one of the grandest places you ever entered, roofed without a central pillar. you will begin to wonder that human daring ever achieved anything so magnificent. but just go out again into the cloister, and recover knowledge of the facts. it is nothing like so large as the blank arch which at home we filled with brickbats or leased for a gin-shop under the last railway we made to carry coals to newcastle. and if you pace the floor it covers, you will find it is three feet less one way, and thirty feet less the other, than that single square of the cathedral which was roofed like a tailor's loft,--accurately, for i did measure here, myself, the floor of the spanish chapel is fifty-seven feet by thirty-two. i hope, after this experience, that you will need no farther conviction of the first law of noble building, that grandeur depends on proportion and design--not, except in a quite secondary degree, on magnitude. mere size has, indeed, under all disadvantage, some definite value; and so has mere splendour. disappointed as you may be, or at least ought to be, at first, by st. peter's, in the end you will feel its size,--and its brightness. these are all you _can_ feel in it--it is nothing more than the pump-room at leamington built bigger;--but the bigness tells at last: and corinthian pillars whose capitals alone are ten feet high, and their acanthus leaves, three feet six long, give you a serious conviction of the infallibility of the pope, and the fallibility of the wretched corinthians, who invented the style indeed, but built with capitals no bigger than hand-baskets. vastness _has_ thus its value. but the glory of architecture is to be--whatever you wish it to be,--lovely, or grand, or comfortable,--on such terms as it can easily obtain. grand, by proportion--lovely, by imagination--comfortable, by ingenuity--secure, by honesty: with such materials and in such space as you have got to give it. grand--by proportion, i said; but ought to have said by _dis_proportion. beauty is given by the relation of parts--size, by their comparison. the first secret in getting the impression of size in this chapel is the _dis_proportion between pillar and arch. you take the pillar for granted,--it is thick, strong, and fairly high above your head. you look to the vault springing from it--and it soars away, nobody knows where. another great, but more subtle secret is in the _in_equality and immeasurability of the curved lines; and the hiding of the form by the colour. to begin, the room, i said, is fifty-seven feet wide, and only thirty-two deep. it is thus nearly one-third larger in the direction across the line of entrance, which gives to every arch, pointed and round, throughout the roof, a different spring from its neighbours. the vaulting ribs have the simplest of all profiles--that of a chamfered beam. i call it simpler than even that of a square beam; for in barking a log you cheaply get your chamfer, and nobody cares whether the level is alike on each side: but you must take a larger tree, and use much more work to get a square. and it is the same with stone. and this profile is--fix the conditions of it, therefore, in your mind,--venerable in the history of mankind as the origin of all gothic tracery-mouldings; venerable in the history of the christian church as that of the roof ribs, both of the lower church of assisi, bearing the scroll of the precepts of st. francis, and here at florence, bearing the scroll of the faith of st. dominic. if you cut it out in paper, and cut the corners off farther and farther, at every cut, you will produce a sharper profile of rib, connected in architectural use with differently treated styles. but the entirely venerable form is the massive one in which the angle of the beam is merely, as it were, secured and completed in stability by removing its too sharp edge. well, the vaulting ribs, as in giotto's vault, then, have here, under their painting, this rude profile: but do not suppose the vaults are simply the shells cast over them. look how the ornamental borders fall on the capitals! the plaster receives all sorts of indescribably accommodating shapes--the painter contracting and stopping his design upon it as it happens to be convenient. you can't measure anything; you can't exhaust; you can't grasp,--except one simple ruling idea, which a child can grasp, if it is interested and intelligent: namely, that the room has four sides with four tales told upon them; and the roof four quarters, with another four tales told on those. and each history in the sides has its correspondent history in the roof. generally, in good italian decoration, the roof represents constant, or essential facts; the walls, consecutive histories arising out of them, or leading up to them. thus here, the roof represents in front of you, in its main quarter, the resurrection--the cardinal fact of christianity; opposite (above, behind you), the ascension; on your left hand, the descent of the holy spirit; on your right, christ's perpetual presence with his church, symbolized by his appearance on the sea of galilee to the disciples in the storm. the correspondent walls represent: under the first quarter, (the resurrection), the story of the crucifixion; under the second quarter, (the ascension), the preaching after that departure, that christ will return--symbolized here in the dominican church by the consecration of st. dominic; under the third quarter, (the descent of the holy spirit), the disciplining power of human virtue and wisdom; under the fourth quarter, (st. peter's ship), the authority and government of the state and church. the order of these subjects, chosen by the dominican monks themselves, was sufficiently comprehensive to leave boundless room for the invention of the painter. the execution of it was first intrusted to taddeo gaddi, the best architectural master of giotto's school, who painted the four quarters of the roof entirely, but with no great brilliancy of invention, and was beginning to go down one of the sides, when, luckily, a man of stronger brain, his friend, came from siena. taddeo thankfully yielded the room to him; he joined his own work to that of his less able friend in an exquisitely pretty and complimentary way; throwing his own greater strength into it, not competitively, but gradually and helpfully. when, however, he had once got himself well joined, and softly, to the more simple work, he put his own force on with a will and produced the most noble piece of pictorial philosophy [footnote: there is no philosophy _taught_ either by the school of athens or michael angelo's 'last judgment,' and the 'disputa' is merely a graceful assemblage of authorities, the effects of such authority not being shown.] and divinity existing in italy. this pretty, and, according to all evidence by me attainable, entirely true, tradition has been all but lost, among the ruins of fair old florence, by the industry of modern mason-critics--who, without exception, labouring under the primal (and necessarily unconscious) disadvantage of not knowing good work from bad, and never, therefore, knowing a man by his hand or his thoughts, would be in any case sorrowfully at the mercy of mistakes in a document; but are tenfold more deceived by their own vanity, and delight in overthrowing a received idea, if they can. farther: as every fresco of this early date has been retouched again and again, and often painted half over,--and as, if there has been the least care or respect for the old work in the restorer, he will now and then follow the old lines and match the old colours carefully in some places, while he puts in clearly recognizable work of his own in others,--two critics, of whom one knows the first man's work well, and the other the last's, will contradict each other to almost any extent on the securest grounds. and there is then no safe refuge for an uninitiated person but in the old tradition, which, if not literally true, is founded assuredly on some root of fact which you are likely to get at, if ever, through it only. so that my general directions to all young people going to florence or rome would be very short: "know your first volume of vasari, and your two first books of livy; look about you, and don't talk, nor listen to talking." on those terms, you may know, entering this chapel, that in michael angelo's time, all florence attributed these frescos to taddeo gaddi and simon memmi. i have studied neither of these artists myself with any speciality of care, and cannot tell you positively, anything about them or their works. but i know good work from bad, as a cobbler knows leather, and i can tell you positively the quality of these frescos, and their relation to contemporary panel pictures; whether authentically ascribed to gaddi, memmi, or any one else, it is for the florentine academy to decide. the roof, and the north side, down to the feet of the horizontal line of sitting figures, were originally third-rate work of the school of giotto; the rest of the chapel was originally, and most of it is still, magnificent work of the school of siena. the roof and north side have been heavily repainted in, many places; the rest is faded and injured, but not destroyed in its most essential qualities. and now, farther, you must bear with just a little bit of tormenting history of painters. there were two gaddis, father and son,--taddeo and angelo. and there were two memmis, brothers,--simon and philip. i daresay you will find, in the modern books, that simon's real name was peter, and philip's real name was bartholomew; and angelo's real name was taddeo, and taddeo's real name was angelo; and memmi's real name was gaddi, and gaddi's real name was memmi. you may find out all that at your leisure, afterwards, if you like. what it is important for you to know here, in the spanish chapel, is only this much that follows:--there were certainly two persons once called gaddi, both rather stupid in religious matters and high art; but one of them, i don't know or care which, a true decorative painter of the most exquisite skill, a perfect architect, an amiable person, and a great lover of pretty domestic life. vasari says this was the father, taddeo. he built the ponte vecchio; and the old stones of it--which if you ever look at anything on the ponte vecchio but the shops, you may still see (above those wooden pent-houses) with the florentine shield--were so laid by him that they are unshaken to this day. he painted an exquisite series of frescos at assisi from the life of christ; in which,--just to show you what the man's nature is,--when the madonna has given christ into simeon's arms, she can't help holding out her own arms to him, and saying, (visibly,) "won't you come back to mamma?" the child laughs his answer--"i love _you_, mamma; but i'm quite happy just now." well; he, or he and his son together, painted these four quarters of the roof of the spanish chapel. they were very probably much retouched afterwards by antonio veneziano, or whomsoever messrs. crowe and cavalcasella please; but that architecture in the descent of the holy ghost is by the man who painted the north transept of assisi, and there need be no more talk about the matter,--for you never catch a restorer doing his old architecture right again. and farther, the ornamentation of the vaulting ribs _is_ by the man who painted the entombment, no. in the galerie des grands tableaux, in the catalogue of the academy for . whether that picture is taddeo gaddi's or not, as stated in the catalogue, i do not know; but i know the vaulting ribs of the spanish chapel are painted by the same hand. again: of the two brothers memmi, one or other, i don't know or care which, had an ugly way of turning the eyes of his figures up and their mouths down; of which you may see an entirely disgusting example in the four saints attributed to filippo memmi on the cross wall of the north (called always in murray's guide the south, because he didn't notice the way the church was built) transept of assisi. you may, however, also see the way the mouth goes down in the much repainted, but still characteristic no. in the uffizii. [footnote: this picture bears the inscription (i quote from the french catalogue, not having verified it myself), "simon martini, et lippus memmi de senis me pinxerunt." i have no doubt whatever, myself, that the two brothers worked together on these frescoes of the spanish chapel: but that most of the limbo is philip's, and the paradise, scarcely with his interference, simon's.] now i catch the wring and verjuice of this brother again and again, among the minor heads of the lower frescoes in this spanish chapel. the head of the queen beneath noah, in the limbo,--(see below) is unmistakable. farther: one of the two brothers, i don't care which, had a way of painting leaves; of which you may see a notable example in the rod in the hand of gabriel in that same picture of the annunciation in the uffizii. no florentine painter, or any other, ever painted leaves as well as that, till you get down to sandro botticelli, who did them much better. but the man who painted that rod in the hand of gabriel, painted the rod in the right hand of logic in the spanish chapel,--and nobody else in florence, or the world, _could_. farther (and this is the last of the antiquarian business); you see that the frescoes on the roof are, on the whole, dark with much blue and red in them, the white spaces coming out strongly. this is the characteristic colouring of the partially defunct school of giotto, becoming merely decorative, and passing into a colourist school which connected itself afterwards with the venetians. there is an exquisite example of all its specialities in the little annunciation in the uffizii, no. , attributed to angelo gaddi, in which you see the madonna is stupid, and the angel stupid, but the colour of the whole, as a piece of painted glass, lovely; and the execution exquisite,--at once a painter's and jeweller's; with subtle sense of chiaroscuro underneath; (note the delicate shadow of the madonna's arm across her breast). the head of this school was (according to vasari) taddeo gaddi; and henceforward, without further discussion, i shall speak of him as the painter of the roof of the spanish chapel,--not without suspicion, however, that his son angelo may hereafter turn out to have been the better decorator, and the painter of the frescoes from the life of christ in the north transept of assisi,--with such assistance as his son or scholars might give--and such change or destruction as time, antonio veneziano, or the last operations of the tuscan railroad company, may have effected on them. on the other hand, you see that the frescos on the walls are of paler colours, the blacks coming out of these clearly, rather than the whites; but the pale colours, especially, for instance, the whole of the duomo of florence in that on your right, very tender and lovely. also, you may feel a tendency to express much with outline, and draw, more than paint, in the most interesting parts; while in the duller ones, nasty green and yellow tones come out, which prevent the effect of the whole from being very pleasant. these characteristics belong, on the whole, to the school of siena; and they indicate here the work _assuredly_ of a man of vast power and most refined education, whom i shall call without further discussion, during the rest of this and the following morning's study, simon memmi. and of the grace and subtlety with which he joined his work to that of the gaddis, you may judge at once by comparing the christ standing on the fallen gate of the limbo, with the christ in the resurrection above. memmi has retained the dress and imitated the general effect of the figure in the roof so faithfully that you suspect no difference of mastership--nay, he has even raised the foot in the same awkward way: but you will find memmi's foot delicately drawn-taddeo's, hard and rude: and all the folds of memmi's drapery cast with unbroken grace and complete gradations of shade, while taddeo's are rigid and meagre; also in the heads, generally taddeo's type of face is square in feature, with massive and inelegant clusters or volutes of hair and beard; but memmi's delicate and long in feature, with much divided and flowing hair, often arranged with exquisite precision, as in the finest greek coins. examine successively in this respect only the heads of adam, abel, methuselah, and abraham, in the limbo, and you will not confuse the two designers any more. i have not had time to make out more than the principal figures in the limbo, of which indeed the entire dramatic power is centred in the adam and eve. the latter dressed as a nun, in her fixed gaze on christ, with her hands clasped, is of extreme beauty: and however feeble the work of any early painter may be, in its decent and grave inoffensiveness it guides the imagination unerringly to a certain point. how far you are yourself capable of filling up what is left untold and conceiving, as a reality, eve's first look on this her child, depends on no painter's skill, but on your own understanding. just above eve is abel, bearing the lamb: and behind him, noah, between his wife and shem: behind them, abraham, between isaac and ishmael; (turning from ishmael to isaac), behind these, moses, between aaron and david. i have not identified the others, though i find the white-bearded figure behind eve called methuselah in my notes: i know not on what authority. looking up from these groups, however, to the roof painting, you will at once feel the imperfect grouping and ruder features of all the figures; and the greater depth of colour. we will dismiss these comparatively inferior paintings at once. the roof and walls must be read together, each segment of the roof forming an introduction to, or portion of, the subject on the wall below. but the roof must first be looked at alone, as the work of taddeo gaddi, for the artistic qualities and failures of it. i. in front, as you enter, is the compartment with the subject of the resurrection. it is the traditional byzantine composition: the guards sleeping, and the two angels in white saying to the women, "he is not here," while christ is seen rising with the flag of the cross. but it would be difficult to find another example of the subject, so coldly treated--so entirely without passion or action. the faces are expressionless; the gestures powerless. evidently the painter is not making the slightest effort to conceive what really happened, but merely repeating and spoiling what he could remember of old design, or himself supply of commonplace for immediate need. the "noli me tangere," on the right, is spoiled from giotto, and others before him; a peacock, woefully plumeless and colourless, a fountain, an ill drawn toy-horse, and two toy-children gathering flowers, are emaciate remains of greek symbols. he has taken pains with the vegetation, but in vain. yet taddeo gaddi was a true painter, a very beautiful designer, and a very amiable person. how comes he to do that resurrection so badly? in the first place, he was probably tired of a subject which was a great strain to his feeble imagination; and gave it up as impossible: doing simply the required figures in the required positions. in the second, he was probably at the time despondent and feeble because of his master's death. see lord lindsay, ii. , where also it is pointed out that in the effect of the light proceeding from the figure of christ, taddeo gaddi indeed was the first of the giottisti who showed true sense of light and shade. but until lionardo's time the innovation did not materially affect florentine art. ii. the ascension (opposite the resurrection, and not worth looking at, except for the sake of making more sure our conclusions from the first fresco). the madonna is fixed in byzantine stiffness, without byzantine dignity. iii. the descent of the holy ghost, on the left hand. the madonna and disciples are gathered in an upper chamber: underneath are the parthians, medes, elamites, etc., who hear them speak in their own tongues. three dogs are in the foreground--their mythic purpose the same as that of the two verses which affirm the fellowship of the dog in the journey and return of tobias: namely, to mark the share of the lower animals in the gentleness given by the outpouring of the spirit of christ. iv. the church sailing on the sea of the world. st. peter coming to christ on the water. i was too little interested in the vague symbolism of this fresco to examine it with care--the rather that the subject beneath, the literal contest of the church with the world, needed more time for study in itself alone than i had for all florence. on this, and the opposite side of the chapel, are represented, by simon memmi's hand, the teaching power of the spirit of god, and the saving power of the christ of god, in the world, according to the understanding of florence in his time. we will take the side of intellect first, beneath the pouring forth of the holy spirit. in the point of the arch beneath, are the three evangelical virtues. without these, says florence, you can have no science. without love, faith, and hope--no intelligence. under these are the four cardinal virtues, the entire group being thus arranged:-- a b c d e f g a, charity; flames issuing from her head and hands. b, faith; holds cross and shield, quenching fiery darts. this symbol, so frequent in modern adaptation from st. paul's address to personal faith, is rare in older art. c, hope, with a branch of lilies. d, temperance; bridles a black fish, on which she stands. e, prudence, with a book. f, justice, with crown and baton. g, fortitude, with tower and sword. under these are the great prophets and apostles; on the left,[footnote: i can't find my note of the first one on the left; answering to solomon, opposite.] david, st. paul, st. mark, st. john; on the right, st. matthew, st. luke, moses, isaiah, solomon. in the midst of the evangelists, st. thomas aquinas, seated on a gothic throne. now observe, this throne, with all the canopies below it, and the complete representation of the duomo of florence opposite, are of finished gothic of orecagna's school--later than giotto's gothic. but the building in which the apostles are gathered at the pentecost is of the early romanesque mosaic school, with a wheel window from the duomo of assisi, and square windows from the baptistery of florence. and this is always the type of architecture used by taddeo gaddi: while the finished gothic could not possibly have been drawn by him, but is absolute evidence of the later hand. under the line of prophets, as powers summoned by their voices, are the mythic figures of the seven theological or spiritual, and the seven _ge_ological or natural sciences: and under the feet of each of them, the figure of its captain-teacher to the world. i had better perhaps give you the names of this entire series of figures from left to right at once. you will see presently why they are numbered in a reverse order. beneath whom . civil law. the emperor justinian. . canon law. pope clement v. . practical theology. peter lombard. . contemplative theology. dionysius the areopagite. . dogmatic theology. boethius. . mystic theology. st. john damascene. . polemic theology. st. augustine. . arithmetic. pythagoras. . geometry. euclid. . astronomy. zoroaster. . music. tubalcain. . logic. aristotle. . rhetoric. cicero. . grammar. priscian. here, then, you have pictorially represented, the system of manly education, supposed in old florence to be that necessarily instituted in great earthly kingdoms or republics, animated by the spirit shed down upon the world at pentecost. how long do you think it will take you, or ought to take, to see such a picture? we were to get to work this morning, as early as might be: you have probably allowed half an hour for santa maria novella; half an hour for san lorenzo; an hour for the museum of sculpture at the bargello; an hour for shopping; and then it will be lunch time, and you mustn't be late, because you are to leave by the afternoon train, and must positively be in rome to-morrow morning. well, of your half-hour for santa maria novella,--after ghirlandajo's choir, orcagna's transept, and cimabue's madonna, and the painted windows, have been seen properly, there will remain, suppose, at the utmost, a quarter of an hour for the spanish chapel. that will give you two minutes and a half for each side, two for the ceiling, and three for studying murray's explanations or mine. two minutes and a half you have got, then--(and i observed, during my five weeks' work in the chapel, that english visitors seldom gave so much)--to read this scheme given you by simon memmi of human spiritual education. in order to understand the purport of it, in any the smallest degree, you must summon to your memory, in the course of these two minutes and a half, what you happen to be acquainted with of the doctrines and characters of pythagoras, zoroaster, aristotle, dionysius the areopagite, st. augustine, and the emperor justinian, and having further observed the expressions and actions attributed by the painter to these personages, judge how far he has succeeded in reaching a true and worthy ideal of them, and how large or how subordinate a part in his general scheme of human learning he supposes their peculiar doctrines properly to occupy. for myself, being, to my much sorrow, now an old person; and, to my much pride, an old-fashioned one, i have not found my powers either of reading or memory in the least increased by any of mr. stephenson's or mr. wheatstone's inventions; and though indeed i came here from lucca in three hours instead of a day, which it used to take, i do not think myself able, on that account, to see any picture in florence in less time than it took formerly, or even obliged to hurry myself in any investigations connected with it. accordingly, i have myself taken five weeks to see the quarter of this picture of simon memmi's: and can give you a fairly good account of that quarter, and some partial account of a fragment or two of those on the other walls: but, alas! only of their pictorial qualities in either case; for i don't myself know anything whatever, worth trusting to, about pythagoras, or dionysius the areopagite; and have not had, and never shall have, probably, any time to learn much of them; while in the very feeblest light only,--in what the french would express by their excellent word 'lueur,'--i am able to understand something of the characters of zoroaster, aristotle, and justinian. but this only increases in me the reverence with which i ought to stand before the work of a painter, who was not only a master of his own craft, but so profound a scholar and theologian as to be able to conceive this scheme of picture, and write the divine law by which florence was to live. which law, written in the northern page of this vaulted book, we will begin quiet interpretation of, if you care to return hither, to-morrow morning. the fifth morning. the strait gate. as you return this morning to st. mary's, you may as well observe--the matter before us being concerning gates,--that the western façade of the church is of two periods. your murray refers it all to the latest of these;--i forget when, and do not care;--in which the largest flanking columns, and the entire effective mass of the walls, with their riband mosaics and high pediment, were built in front of, and above, what the barbarian renaissance designer chose to leave of the pure old dominican church. you may see his ungainly jointings at the pedestals of the great columns, running through the pretty, parti-coloured base, which, with the 'strait' gothic doors, and the entire lines of the fronting and flanking tombs (where not restored by the devil-begotten brood of modern florence), is of pure, and exquisitely severe and refined, fourteenth century gothic, with superbly carved bearings on its shields. the small detached line of tombs on the left, untouched in its sweet colour and living weed ornament, i would fain have painted, stone by stone: but one can never draw in front of a church in these republican days; for all the blackguard children of the neighbourhood come to howl, and throw stones, on the steps, and the ball or stone play against these sculptured tombs, as a dead wall adapted for that purpose only, is incessant in the fine days when i could have worked. if you enter by the door most to the left, or north, and turn immediately to the right, on the interior of the wall of the façade is an annunciation, visible enough because well preserved, though in the dark, and extremely pretty in its way,--of the decorated and ornamental school following giotto:--i can't guess by whom, nor does it much matter; but it is well to look at it by way of contrast with the delicate, intense, slightly decorated design of memmi,--in which, when you return into the spanish chapel, you will feel the dependence for its effect on broad masses of white and pale amber, where the decorative school would have had mosaic of red, blue, and gold. our first business this morning must be to read and understand the writing on the book held open by st. thomas aquinas, for that informs us of the meaning of the whole picture. it is this text from the book of wisdom vii. . "optavi, et datus est mihi sensus. invocavi, et venit in me spiritus sapientiae, et preposui illam regnis et sedibus." "i willed, and sense was given me. i prayed, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me. and i set her before, (preferred her to,) kingdoms and thrones." the common translation in our english apocrypha loses the entire meaning of this passage, which--not only as the statement of the experience of florence in her own education, but as universally descriptive of the process of all noble education whatever--we had better take pains to understand. first, says florence "i willed, (in sense of resolutely desiring,) and sense was given me." you must begin your education with the distinct resolution to know what is true, and choice of the strait and rough road to such knowledge. this choice is offered to every youth and maid at some moment of their life;--choice between the easy downward road, so broad that we can dance down it in companies, and the steep narrow way, which we must enter alone. then, and for many a day afterwards, they need that form of persistent option, and will: but day by day, the 'sense' of the rightness of what they have done, deepens on them, not in consequence of the effort, but by gift granted in reward of it. and the sense of difference between right and wrong, and between beautiful and unbeautiful things, is confirmed in the heroic, and fulfilled in the industrious, soul. that is the process of education in the earthly sciences, and the morality connected with them. reward given to faithful volition. next, when moral and physical senses are perfect, comes the desire for education in the higher world, where the senses are no more our teachers; but the maker of the senses. and that teaching, we cannot get by labour, but only by petition. "invocavi, et venit in me spiritus sapientiae"--"i prayed, and the spirit of wisdom," (not, you observe, _was given_, [footnote: i in careless error, wrote "was given" in 'fors clavigera.] but,) "_came_ upon me." the _personal_ power of wisdom: the "[greek: sophia]" or santa sophia, to whom the first great christian temple was dedicated. this higher wisdom, governing by her presence, all earthly conduct, and by her teaching, all earthly art, florence tells you, she obtained only by prayer. and these two earthly and divine sciences are expressed beneath in the symbols of their divided powers;--seven terrestrial, seven celestial, whose names have been already indicated to you:--in which figures i must point out one or two technical matters, before touching their interpretation. they are all by simon memmi originally; but repainted, many of them all over, some hundred years later,--(certainly after the discovery of america, as you will see)--by an artist of considerable power, and some feeling for the general action of the figures; but of no refinement or carelessness. he dashes massive paint in huge spaces over the subtle old work, puts in his own chiaro-oscuro where all had been shadeless, and his own violent colour where all had been pale, and repaints the faces so as to make them, to his notion, prettier and more human: some of this upper work has, however, come away since, and the original outline, at least, is traceable; while in the face of the logic, the music, and one or two others, the original work is very pure. being most interested myself in the earthly sciences, i had a scaffolding put up, made on a level with them, and examined them inch by inch, and the following report will be found accurate until next repainting. for interpretation of them, you must always take the central figure of the science, with the little medallion above it, and the figure below, all together. which i proceed to do, reading first from left to right for the earthly sciences, and then from right to left the heavenly ones, to the centre, where their two highest powers sit, side by side. we begin, then, with the first in the list given above, (vaulted book, page ):--grammar, in the corner farthest from the window. . grammar: more properly grammaticë, "grammatic act" the art of _letters_ or "literature," or using the word which to some english ears will carry most weight with it,--"scripture," and its use. the art of faithfully reading what has been written for our learning; and of clearly writing what we would make immortal of our thoughts. power which consists first in recognizing letters; secondly, in forming them; thirdly, in the understanding and choice of words which errorless shall express our thought. severe exercises all, reaching--very few living persons know, how far: beginning properly in childhood, then only to be truly acquired. it is wholly impossible--this i say from too sorrowful experience--to conquer by any effort or time, habits of the hand (much more of head and soul) with which the vase of flesh has been formed and filled in youth,--the law of god being that parents shall compel the child in the day of its obedience into habits of hand, and eye, and soul, which, when it is old, shall not, by any strength, or any weakness, be departed from. "enter ye in," therefore, says grammaticë, "at the strait gate." she points through it with her rod, holding a fruit(?) for reward, in her left hand. the gate is very strait indeed--her own waist no less so, her hair fastened close. she had once a white veil binding it, which is lost. not a gushing form of literature, this,--or in any wise disposed to subscribe to mudie's, my english friends--or even patronize tauchnitz editions of--what is the last new novel you see ticketed up today in mr. goodban's window? she looks kindly down, nevertheless, to the three children whom she is teaching--two boys and a girl: (qy. does this mean that one girl out of every two should not be able to read or write? i am quite willing to accept that inference, for my own part,--should perhaps even say, two girls out of three). this girl is of the highest classes, crowned, her golden hair falling behind her the florentine girdle round her hips--(not waist, the object being to leave the lungs full play; but to keep the dress always well down in dancing or running). the boys are of good birth also, the nearest one with luxuriant curly hair--only the profile of the farther one seen. all reverent and eager. above, the medallion is of a figure looking at a fountain. underneath, lord lindsay says, priscian, and is, i doubt not, right. _technical points_.--the figure is said by crowe to be entirely repainted. the dress is so throughout--both the hands also, and the fruit, and rod. but the eyes, mouth, hair above the forehead, and outline of the rest, with the faded veil, and happily, the traces left of the children, are genuine; the strait gate perfectly so, in the colour underneath, though reinforced; and the action of the entire figure is well preserved: but there is a curious question about both the rod and fruit. seen close, the former perfectly assumes the shape of folds of dress gathered up over the raised right arm, and i am not absolutely sure that the restorer has not mistaken the folds--at the same time changing a pen or style into a rod. the fruit also i have doubts of, as fruit is not so rare at florence that it should be made a reward. it is entirely and roughly repainted, and is oval in shape. in giotto's charity, luckily not restored, at assisi, the guide-books have always mistaken the heart she holds for an apple:--and my own belief is that originally, the grammaticë of simon memmi made with her right hand the sign which said, "enter ye in at the strait gate," and with her left, the sign which said, "my son, give me thine heart." ii. rhetoric. next to learning how to read and write, you are to learn to speak; and, young ladies and gentlemen, observe,--to speak as little as possible, it is farther implied, till you _have_ learned. in the streets of florence at this day you may hear much of what some people call "rhetoric"--very passionate speaking indeed, and quite "from the heart"--such hearts as the people have got. that is to say, you never hear a word uttered but in a rage, either just ready to burst, or for the most part, explosive instantly: everybody--man, woman, or child--roaring out their incontinent, foolish, infinitely contemptible opinions and wills, on every smallest occasion, with flashing eyes, hoarsely shrieking and wasted voices,--insane hope to drag by vociferation whatever they would have, out of man and god. now consider simon memmi's rhetoric. the science of speaking, primarily; of making oneself _heard_ therefore: which is not to be done by shouting. she alone, of all the sciences, carries a scroll: and being a speaker gives you something to read. it is not thrust forward at you at all, but held quietly down with her beautiful depressed right hand; her left hand set coolly and strongly on her side. and you will find that, thus, she alone of all the sciences _needs no use of her hands_. all the others have some important business for them. she none. she can do all with her lips, holding scroll, or bridle, or what you will, with her right hand, her left on her side. again, look at the talkers in the streets of florence, and see how, being essentially _un_able to talk, they try to make lips of their fingers! how they poke, wave, flourish, point, jerk, shake finger and fist at their antagonists--dumb essentially, all the while, if they knew it; unpersuasive and ineffectual, as the shaking of tree branches in the wind. you will at first think her figure ungainly and stiff. it is so, partly, the dress being more coarsely repainted than in any other of the series. but she is meant to be both stout and strong. what she has to say is indeed to persuade you, if possible; but assuredly to overpower you. and _she_ has not the florentine girdle, for she does not want to move. she has her girdle broad at the waist--of all the sciences, you would at first have thought, the one that most needed breath! no, says simon memmi. you want breath to run, or dance, or fight with. but to speak!--if you know _how_, you can do your work with few words; very little of this pure florentine air will be enough, if you shape it rightly. note, also, that calm setting of her hand against her side. you think rhetoric should be glowing, fervid, impetuous? no, says simon memmi. above all things,--_cool_. and now let us read what is written on her scroll:--mulceo, dum loquor, varios induta colores. her chief function, to melt; make soft, thaw the hearts of men with kind fire; to overpower with peace; and bring rest, with rainbow colours. the chief mission of all words that they should be of comfort. you think the function of words is to excite? why, a red rag will do that, or a blast through a brass pipe. but to give calm and gentle heat; to be as the south wind, and the iridescent rain, to all bitterness of frost; and bring at once strength, and healing. this is the work of human lips, taught of god. one farther and final lesson is given in the medallion above. aristotle, and too many modern rhetoricians of his school, thought there could be good speaking in a false cause. but above simon memmi's rhetoric is _truth_, with her mirror. there is a curious feeling, almost innate in men, that though they are bound to speak truth, in speaking to a single person, they may lie as much as they please, provided they lie to two or more people at once. there is the same feeling about killing: most people would shrink from shooting one innocent man; but will fire a mitrailleuse contentedly into an innocent regiment. when you look down from the figure of the science, to that of cicero, beneath, you will at first think it entirely overthrows my conclusion that rhetoric has no need of her hands. for cicero, it appears, has three instead of two. the uppermost, at his chin, is the only genuine one. that raised, with the finger up, is entirely false. that on the book, is repainted so as to defy conjecture of its original action. but observe how the gesture of the true one confirms instead of overthrowing what i have said above. cicero is not speaking at all, but profoundly thinking _before_ he speaks. it is the most abstractedly thoughtful face to be found among all the philosophers; and very beautiful. the whole is under solomon, in the line of prophets. _technical points_.--these two figures have suffered from restoration more than any others, but the right hand of rhetoric is still entirely genuine, and the left, except the ends of the fingers. the ear, and hair just above it, are quite safe, the head well set on its original line, but the crown of leaves rudely retouched, and then faded. all the lower part of the figure of cicero has been not only repainted but changed; the face is genuine--i believe retouched, but so cautiously and skilfully, that it is probably now more beautiful than at first. iii. logic. the science of reasoning, or more accurately reason herself, or pure intelligence. science to be gained after that of expression, says simon memmi; so, young people, it appears, that though you must not speak before you have been taught how to speak, you may yet properly speak before you have been taught how to think. for indeed, it is only by frank speaking that you _can_ learn how to think. and it is no matter how wrong the first thoughts you have may be, provided you express them clearly;--and are willing to have them put right. fortunately, nearly all of this beautiful figure is practically safe, the outlines pure everywhere, and the face perfect: the _prettiest_, as far as i know, which exists in italian art of this early date. it is subtle to the extreme in gradations of colour: the eyebrows drawn, not with a sweep of the brush, but with separate cross touches in the line of their growth--exquisitely pure in arch; the nose straight and fine; the lips--playful slightly, proud, unerringly cut; the hair flowing in sequent waves, ordered as if in musical time; head perfectly upright on the shoulders; the height of the brow completed by a crimson frontlet set with pearls, surmounted by a _fleur-de-lys_. her shoulders were exquisitely drawn, her white jacket fitting close to soft, yet scarcely rising breasts; her arms singularly strong, at perfect rest; her hands, exquisitely delicate. in her right, she holds a branching and leaf-bearing rod, (the syllogism); in her left, a scorpion with double sting, (the dilemma)--more generally, the powers of rational construction and dissolution. beneath her, aristotle,--intense keenness of search in his half-closed eyes. medallion above, (less expressive than usual) a man writing, with his head stooped. the whole under isaiah, in the line of prophets. _technical points_.--the only parts of this figure which have suffered seriously in repainting are the leaves of the rod, and the scorpion. i have no idea, as i said above, what the background once was; it is now a mere mess of scrabbled grey, carried over the vestiges, still with care much redeemable, of the richly ornamental extremity of the rod, which was a cluster of green leaves on a black ground. but the scorpion is indecipherably injured, most of it confused repainting, mixed with the white of the dress, the double sting emphatic enough still, but not on the first lines. the aristotle is very genuine throughout, except his hat, and i think that must be pretty nearly on the old lines, through i cannot trace them. they are good lines, new or old. iv. music. after you have learned to reason, young people, of course you will be very grave, if not dull, you think. no, says simon memmi. by no means anything of the kind. after learning to reason, you will learn to sing; for you will want to. there is so much reason for singing in the sweet world, when one thinks rightly of it. none for grumbling, provided always you _have_ entered in at the strait gate. you will sing all along the road then, in a little while, in a manner pleasant for other people to hear. this figure has been one of the loveliest in the series, an extreme refinement and tender severity being aimed at throughout. she is crowned, not with laurel, but with small leaves,--i am not sure what they are, being too much injured: the face thin, abstracted, wistful; the lips not far open in their low singing; the hair rippling softly on the shoulders. she plays on a small organ, richly ornamented with gothic tracery, the down slope of it set with crockets like those of santa maria del fiore. simon memmi means that _all_ music must be "sacred." not that you are never to sing anything but hymns, but that whatever is rightly called music, or work of the muses, is divine in help and healing. the actions of both hands are singularly sweet. the right is one of the loveliest things i ever saw done in painting. she is keeping down one note only, with her third finger, seen under the raised fourth: the thumb, just passing under; all the curves of the fingers exquisite, and the pale light and shade of the rosy flesh relieved against the ivory white and brown of the notes. only the thumb and end of the forefinger are seen of the left hand, but they indicate enough its light pressure on the bellows. fortunately, all these portions of the fresco are absolutely intact. underneath, tubal-cain. not jubal, as you would expect. jubal is the inventor of musical instruments. tubal-cain, thought the old florentines, invented harmony. they, the best smiths in the world, knew the differences in tones of hammer strokes on anvil. curiously enough, the only piece of true part-singing, done beautifully and joyfully, which i have heard this year in italy, (being south of alps exactly six months, and ranging from genoa to palermo) was out of a busy smithy at perugia. of bestial howling, and entirely frantic vomiting up of hopelessly damned souls through their still carnal throats, i have heard more than, please god, i will ever endure the hearing of again in one of his summers. you think tubal-cain very ugly? yes. much like a shaggy baboon: not accidentally, but with most scientific understanding of baboon character. men must have looked like that, before they had invented harmony, or felt that one note differed from another, says, and knows simon memmi. darwinism, like all widely popular and widely mischievous fallacies, has many a curious gleam and grain of truth in its tissue. under moses. medallion, a youth drinking. otherwise, you might have thought only church music meant, and not feast music also. _technical points_.--the tubal-cain, one of the most entirely pure and precious remnants of the old painting, nothing lost: nothing but the redder ends of his beard retouched. green dress of music, in the body and over limbs entirely repainted: it was once beautifully embroidered; sleeves, partly genuine, hands perfect, face and hair nearly so. leaf crown faded and broken away, but not retouched. v. astronomy. properly astro-logy, as (theology) the knowledge of so much of the stars as we can know wisely; not the attempt to define their laws for them. not that it is unbecoming of us to find out, if we can, that they move in ellipses, and so on; but it is no business of ours. what effects their rising and setting have on man, and beast, and leaf; what their times and changes are, seen and felt in this world, it is our business to know, passing our nights, if wakefully, by that divine candlelight, and no other. she wears a dark purple robe; holds in her left hand the hollow globe with golden zodiac and meridians: lifts her right hand in noble awe. "when i consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained." crowned with gold, her dark hair in elliptic waves, bound with glittering chains of pearl. her eyes dark, lifted. beneath her, zoroaster,[footnote: atlas! according to poor vasari, and sundry modern guides. i find vasari's mistakes usually of this _brightly_ blundering kind. in matters needing research, after a while, i find _he_ is right, usually.] entirely noble and beautiful, the delicate persian head made softer still by the elaborately wreathed silken hair, twisted into the pointed beard, and into tapering plaits, falling on his shoulders. the head entirely thrown back, he looks up with no distortion of the delicately arched brow: writing, as he gazes. for the association of the religion of the magi with their own in the mind of the florentines of this time, see "before the soldan." the dress must always have been white, because of its beautiful opposition to the purple above and that of tubal-cain beside it. but it has been too much repainted to be trusted anywhere, nothing left but a fold or two in the sleeves. the cast of it from the knees down is entirely beautiful, and i suppose on the old lines; but the restorer could throw a fold well when he chose. the warm light which relieves the purple of zoroaster above, is laid in by him. i don't know if i should have liked it better, flat, as it was, against the dark purple; it seems to me quite beautiful now. the full red flush on the face of the astronomy is the restorer's doing also. she was much paler, if not quite pale. under st. luke. medallion, a stern man, with sickle and spade. for the flowers, and for us, when stars have risen and set such and such times;--remember. _technical points_.--left hand globe, most of the important folds of the purple dress, eyes, mouth, hair in great part, and crown, genuine. golden tracery on border of dress lost; extremity of falling folds from left sleeve altered and confused, but the confusion prettily got out of. right hand and much of face and body of dress repainted. zoroaster's head quite pure. dress repainted, but carefully, leaving the hair untouched. right hand and pen, now a common feathered quill, entirely repainted, but dexterously and with feeling. the hand was once slightly different in position, and held, most probably, a reed. vi. geometry. you have now learned, young ladies and gentlemen, to read, to speak, to think, to sing, and to see. you are getting old, and will have soon to think of being married; you must learn to build your house, therefore. here is your carpenter's square for you, and you may safely and wisely contemplate the ground a little, and the measures and laws relating to that, seeing you have got to abide upon it:--and that you have properly looked at the stars; not before then, lest, had you studied the ground first, you might perchance never have raised your heads from it. this is properly the science of all laws of practical labour, issuing in beauty. she looks down, a little puzzled, greatly interested, holding her carpenter's square in her left hand, not wanting that but for practical work; following a diagram with her right. her beauty, altogether soft and in curves, i commend to your notice, as the exact opposite of what a vulgar designer would have imagined for her. note the wreath of hair at the back of her head, which though fastened by a _spiral_ fillet, escapes at last, and flies off loose in a sweeping curve. contemplative theology is the only other of the sciences who has such wavy hair. beneath her, euclid, in white turban. very fine and original work throughout; but nothing of special interest in him. under st. matthew. medallion, a soldier with a straight sword (best for science of defence), octagon shield, helmet like the beehive of canton vaud. as the secondary use of music in feasting, so the secondary use of geometry in war--her noble art being all in sweetest peace--is shown in the medallion. _technical points_.--it is more than fortunate that in nearly every figure, the original outline of the hair is safe. geometry's has scarcely been retouched at all, except at the ends, once in single knots, now in confused double ones. the hands, girdle, most of her dress, and her black carpenter's square are original. face and breast repainted. vii. arithmetic. having built your house, young people, and understanding the light of heaven, and the measures of earth, you may marry--and can't do better. and here is now your conclusive science, which you will have to apply, all your days, to all your affairs. the science of number. infinite in solemnity of use in italy at this time; including, of course, whatever was known of the higher abstract mathematics and mysteries of numbers, but reverenced especially in its vital necessity to the prosperity of families and kingdoms, and first fully so understood here in commercial florence. her hand lifted, with two fingers bent, two straight, solemnly enforcing on your attention her primal law--two and two are--four, you observe,--not five, as those accursed usurers think. under her, pythagoras. above, medallion of king, with sceptre and globe, counting money. have you ever chanced to read carefully carlyle's account of the foundation of the existing prussian empire, in economy? you can, at all events, consider with yourself a little, what empire this queen of the terrestrial sciences must hold over the rest, if they are to be put to good use; or what depth and breadth of application there is in the brief parables of the counted cost of power, and number of armies. to give a very minor, but characteristic, instance. i have always felt that with my intense love of the alps, i ought to have been able to make a drawing of chamouni, or the vale of cluse, which should give people more pleasure than a photograph; but i always wanted to do it as i saw it, and engrave pine for pine, and crag for crag, like albert dürer. i broke my strength down for many a year, always tiring of my work, or finding the leaves drop off, or the snow come on, before i had well begun what i meant to do. if i had only _counted_ my pines first, and calculated the number of hours necessary to do them in the manner of dürer, i should have saved the available drawing time of some five years, spent in vain effort. but turner counted his pines, and did all that could be done for them, and rested content with that. so in all the affairs of life, the arithmetical part of the business is the dominant one. how many and how much have we? how many and how much do we want? how constantly does noble arithmetic of the finite lose itself in base avarice of the infinite, and in blind imagination of it! in counting of minutes, is our arithmetic ever solicitous enough? in counting our days, is she ever severe enough? how we shrink from putting, in their decades, the diminished store of them! and if we ever pray the solemn prayer that we may be taught to number them, do we even try to do it after praying? _technical points_.--the pythagoras almost entirely genuine. the upper figures, from this inclusive to the outer wall, i have not been able to examine thoroughly, my scaffolding not extending beyond the geometry. here then we have the sum of sciences,--seven, according to the florentine mind--necessary to the secular education of man and woman. of these the modern average respectable english gentleman and gentlewoman know usually only a little of the last, and entirely hate the prudent applications of that: being unacquainted, except as they chance here and there to pick up a broken piece of information, with either grammar, rhetoric, music, [footnote: being able to play the piano and admire mendelssohn is not knowing music.] astronomy, or geometry; and are not only unacquainted with logic, or the use of reason, themselves, but instinctively antagonistic to its use by anybody else. we are now to read the series of the divine sciences, beginning at the opposite side, next the window. viii. civil law. civil, or 'of citizens,' not only as distinguished from ecclesiastical, but from local law. she is the universal justice of the peaceful relations of men throughout the world, therefore holds the globe, with its _three_ quarters, white, as being justly governed, in her left hand. she is also the law of eternal equity, not erring statute; therefore holds her sword _level_ across her breast. she is the foundation of all other divine science. to know anything whatever about god, you must begin by being just. dressed in red, which in these frescoes is always a sign of power, or zeal; but her face very calm, gentle and beautiful. her hair bound close, and crowned by the royal circlet of gold, with pure thirteenth century strawberry leaf ornament. under her, the emperor justinian, in blue, with conical mitre of white and gold; the face in profile, very beautiful. the imperial staff in his right hand, the institutes in his left. medallion, a figure, apparently in distress, appealing for justice. (trajan's suppliant widow?) _technical points_.--the three divisions of the globe in her hand were originally inscribed asia, africa, europe. the restorer has ingeniously changed af into ame--rica. faces, both of the science and emperor, little retouched, nor any of the rest altered. ix. christian law. after the justice which rules men, comes that which rules the church of christ. the distinction is not between secular law, and ecclesiastical authority, but between the equity of humanity, and the law of christian discipline. in full, straight-falling, golden robe, with white mantle over it; a church in her left hand; her right raised, with the forefinger lifted; (indicating heavenly source of all christian law? or warning?) head-dress, a white veil floating into folds in the air. you will find nothing in these frescoes without significance; and as the escaping hair of geometry indicates the infinite conditions of lines of the higher orders, so the floating veil here indicates that the higher relations of christian justice are indefinable. so her golden mantle indicates that it is a glorious and excellent justice beyond that which unchristian men conceive; while the severely falling lines of the folds, which form a kind of gabled niche for the head of the pope beneath, correspond with the strictness of true church discipline firmer as well as more luminous statute. beneath, pope clement v., in red, lifting his hand, not in the position of benediction, but, i suppose, of injunction,--only the forefinger straight, the second a little bent, the two last quite. note the strict level of the book; and the vertical directness of the key. the medallion puzzles me. it looks like a figure counting money. _technical points_.--fairly well preserved; but the face of the science retouched: the grotesquely false perspective of the pope's tiara, one of the most curiously naïve examples of the entirely ignorant feeling after merely scientific truth of form which still characterized italian art. type of church interesting in its extreme simplicity; no idea of transept, campanile, or dome. x. practical theology. the beginning of the knowledge of god being human justice, and its elements defined by christian law, the application of the law so defined follows, first with respect to man, then with respect to god. "render unto caesar the things that are caesar's--and to god the things that are god's." we have therefore now two sciences, one of our duty--to men, the other to their maker. this is the first: duty to men. she holds a circular medallion, representing christ preaching on the mount, and points with her right hand to the earth. the sermon on the mount is perfectly expressed by the craggy pinnacle in front of christ, and the high dark horizon. there is curious evidence throughout all these frescos of simon memmi's having read the gospels with a quite clear understanding of their innermost meaning. i have called this science practical theology:--the instructive knowledge, that is to say, of what god would have us do, personally, in any given human relation: and the speaking his gospel therefore by act. "let your light so shine before men." she wears a green dress, like music her hair in the arabian arch, with jewelled diadem. under david. medallion, almsgiving. beneath her, peter lombard, _technical points_.--it is curious that while the instinct of perspective was not strong enough to enable any painter at this time to foreshorten a foot, it yet suggested to them the expression of elevation by raising the horizon. i have not examined the retouching. the hair and diadem at least are genuine, the face is dignified and compassionate, and much on the old lines. xi. devotional theology.--giving glory to god, or, more accurately, whatever feelings he desires us to have towards him, whether of affection or awe. this is the science or method of _devotion_ for christians universally, just as the practical theology is their science or method of _action_. in blue and red: a narrow black rod still traceable in the left hand; i am not sure of its meaning. ("thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me?") the other hand open in admiration, like astronomy's; but devotion's is held at her breast. her head very characteristic of memmi, with upturned eyes, and arab arch in hair. under her, dionysius the areopagite--mending his pen! but i am doubtful of lord lindsay's identification of this figure, and the action is curiously common and meaningless. it may have meant that meditative theology is essentially a writer, not a preacher. the medallion, on the other hand, is as ingenious. a mother lifting her hands in delight at her child's beginning to take notice. under st. paul. _technical points_.--both figures very genuine, the lower one almost entirely so. the painting of the red book is quite exemplary in fresco style. xii. dogmatic theology.--after action and worship, thought becoming too wide and difficult, the need of dogma becomes felt; the assertion, that is, within limited range, of the things that are to be believed. since whatever pride and folly pollute christian scholarship naturally delight in dogma, the science itself cannot but be in a kind of disgrace among sensible men: nevertheless it would be difficult to overvalue the peace and security which have been given to humble persons by forms of creed; and it is evident that either there is no such thing as theology, or some of its knowledge must be thus, if not expressible, at least reducible within certain limits of expression, so as to be protected from misinterpretation. in red,--again the sign of power,--crowned with a black (once golden?) triple crown, emblematic of the trinity. the left hand holding a scoop for winnowing corn; the other points upwards. "prove all things--hold fast that which is good, or of god." beneath her, boethius. under st. mark. medallion, female figure, laying hands on breast. _technical points_.--the boethius entirely genuine, and the painting of his black book, as of the red one beside it, again worth notice, showing how pleasant and interesting the commonest things become, when well painted. i have not examined the upper figure. xiii. mystic theology. [footnote: blunderingly in the guide-books called 'faith!'] monastic science, above dogma, and attaining to new revelation by reaching higher spiritual states. in white robes, her left hand gloved (i don't know why)--holding chalice. she wears a nun's veil fastened under her chin, her hair fastened close, like grammar's, showing her necessary monastic life; all states of mystic spiritual life involving retreat from much that is allowable in the material and practical world. there is no possibility of denying this fact, infinite as the evils are which have arisen from misuse of it. they have been chiefly induced by persons who falsely pretended to lead monastic life, and led it without having natural faculty for it. but many more lamentable errors have arisen from the pride of really noble persons, who have thought it would be a more pleasing thing to god to be a sibyl or a witch, than a useful housewife. pride is always somewhat involved even in the true effort: the scarlet head-dress in the form of a horn on the forehead in the fresco indicates this, both here, and in the contemplative theology. under st. john. medallion unintelligible, to me. a woman laying hands on the shoulders of two small figures. _technical points_.--more of the minute folds of the white dress left than in any other of the repainted draperies. it is curious that minute division has always in drapery, more or less, been understood as an expression of spiritual life, from the delicate folds of athena's peplus down to the rippled edges of modern priests' white robes; titian's breadth of fold, on the other hand, meaning for the most part bodily power. the relation of the two modes of composition was lost by michael angelo, who thought to express spirit by making flesh colossal. for the rest, the figure is not of any interest, memmi's own mind being intellectual rather than mystic. xiv. polemic theology.[footnote: blunderingly called 'charity' in the guide-books.] "who goes forth, conquering and to conquer?" "for we war, not with flesh and blood," etc. in red, as sign of power, but not in armour, because she is herself invulnerable. a close red cap, with cross for crest, instead of helmet. bow in left hand; long arrow in right. she partly means aggressive logic: compare the set of her shoulders and arms with logic's. she is placed the last of the divine sciences, not as their culminating power, but as the last which can be rightly learned. you must know all the others, before you go out to battle. whereas the general principle of modern christendom is to go out to battle without knowing _any one_ of the others; one of the reasons for this error, the prince of errors, being the vulgar notion that truth may be ascertained by debate! truth is never learned, in any department of industry, by arguing, but by working, and observing. and when you have got good hold of one truth, for certain, two others will grow out of it, in a beautifully dicotyledonous fashion, (which, as before noticed, is the meaning of the branch in logic's right hand). then, when you have got so much true knowledge as is worth fighting for, you are bound to fight for it. but not to debate about it, any more. there is, however, one further reason for polemic theology being put beside mystic. it is only in some approach to mystic science that any man becomes aware of what st. paul means by "spiritual wickedness in heavenly [footnote: with cowardly intentional fallacy, translated 'high' in the english bible.] places;" or, in any true sense, knows the enemies of god and of man. beneath st. augustine. showing you the proper method of controversy;--perfectly firm; perfectly gentle. you are to distinguish, of course, controversy from rebuke. the assertion of truth is to be always gentle: the chastisement of wilful falsehood may be--very much the contrary indeed. christ's sermon on the mount is full of polemic theology, yet perfectly gentle:--"ye have heard that it hath been said--but _i_ say unto you";--"and if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?" and the like. but his "ye fools and blind, for whether is greater," is not merely the exposure of error, but rebuke of the avarice which made that error possible. under the throne of st. thomas; and next to arithmetic, of the terrestrial sciences. medallion, a soldier, but not interesting. technical points.--very genuine and beautiful throughout. note the use of st. augustine's red bands, to connect him with the full red of the upper figures; and compare the niche formed by the dress of canon law, above the pope, for different artistic methods of attaining the same object,--unity of composition. but lunch time is near, my friends, and you have that shopping to do, you know. the sixth morning. the shepherd's tower. i am obliged to interrupt my account of the spanish chapel by the following notes on the sculptures of giotto's campanile: first because i find that inaccurate accounts of those sculptures are in course of publication; and chiefly because i cannot finish my work in the spanish chapel until one of my good oxford helpers, mr. caird, has completed some investigations he has undertaken for me upon the history connected with it. i had written my own analysis of the fourth side, believing that in every scene of it the figure of st. dominic was repeated. mr. caird first suggested, and has shown me already good grounds for his belief,[footnote: he wrote thus to me on th november last: "the three preachers are certainly different. the first is dominic; the second, peter martyr, whom i have identified from his martyrdom on the other wall; and the third, aquinas."] that the preaching monks represented are in each scene intended for a different person. i am informed also of several careless mistakes which have got into my description of the fresco of the sciences; and finally, another of my young helpers, mr. charles f. murray,--one, however, whose help is given much in the form of antagonism,--informs me of various critical discoveries lately made, both by himself, and by industrious germans, of points respecting the authenticity of this and that, which will require notice from me: more especially he tells me of certification that the picture in the uffizii, of which i accepted the ordinary attribution to giotto, is by lorenzo monaco,--which indeed may well be, without in the least diminishing the use to you of what i have written of its predella, and without in the least, if you think rightly of the matter, diminishing your confidence in what i tell you of giotto generally. there is one kind of knowledge of pictures which is the artist's, and another which is the antiquary's and the picture-dealer's; the latter especially acute, and founded on very secure and wide knowledge of canvas, pigment, and tricks of touch, without, necessarily, involving any knowledge whatever of the qualities of art itself. there are few practised dealers in the great cities of europe whose opinion would not be more trustworthy than mine, (if you could _get_ it, mind you,) on points of actual authenticity. but they could only tell you whether the picture was by such and such a master, and not at all what either the master or his work were good for. thus, i have, before now, taken drawings by varley and by cousins for early studies by turner, and have been convinced by the dealers that they knew better than i, as far as regarded the authenticity of those drawings; but the dealers don't know turner, or the worth of him, so well as i, for all that. so also, you may find me again and again mistaken among the much more confused work of the early giottesque schools, as to the authenticity of this work or the other; but you will find (and i say it with far more sorrow than pride) that i am simply the only person who can at present tell you the real worth of _any_; you will find that whenever i tell you to look at a picture, it is worth your pains; and whenever i tell you the character of a painter, that it _is_ his character, discerned by me faithfully in spite of all confusion of work falsely attributed to him in which similar character may exist. thus, when i mistook cousins for turner, i was looking at a piece of subtlety in the sky of which the dealer had no consciousness whatever, which was essentially turneresque, but which another man might sometimes equal; whereas the dealer might be only looking at the quality of whatman's paper, which cousins used, and turner did not. not, in the meanwhile, to leave you quite guideless as to the main subject of the fourth fresco in the spanish chapel,--the pilgrim's progress of florence,--here is a brief map of it: on the right, in lowest angle, st. dominic preaches to the group of infidels; in the next group towards the left, he (or some one very like him) preaches to the heretics: the heretics proving obstinate, he sets his dogs at them, as at the fatallest of wolves, who being driven away, the rescued lambs are gathered at the feet of the pope. i have copied the head of the very pious, but slightly weak-minded, little lamb in the centre, to compare with my rough cumberland ones, who have had no such grave experiences. the whole group, with the pope above, (the niche of the duomo joining with and enriching the decorative power of his mitre,) is a quite delicious piece of design. the church being thus pacified, is seen in worldly honour under the powers of the spiritual and temporal rulers. the pope, with cardinal and bishop descending in order on his right; the emperor, with king and baron descending in order on his left; the ecclesiastical body of the whole church on the right side, and the laity,--chiefly its poets and artists, on the left. then, the redeemed church nevertheless giving itself up to the vanities and temptations of the world, its forgetful saints are seen feasting, with their children dancing before them, (the seven mortal sins, say some commentators). but the wise-hearted of them confess their sins to another ghost of st. dominic; and confessed, becoming as little children, enter hand in hand the gate of the eternal paradise, crowned with flowers by the waiting angels, and admitted by st. peter among the serenely joyful crowd of all the saints, above whom the white madonna stands reverently before the throne. there is, so far as i know, throughout all the schools of christian art, no other so perfect statement of the noble policy and religion of men. i had intended to give the best account of it in my power; but, when at florence, lost all time for writing that i might copy the group of the pope and emperor for the schools of oxford; and the work since done by mr. caird has informed me of so much, and given me, in some of its suggestions, so much to think of, that i believe it will be best and most just to print at once his account of the fresco as a supplement to these essays of mine, merely indicating any points on which i have objections to raise, and so leave matters till fors lets me see florence once more. perhaps she may, in kindness forbid my ever seeing it more, the wreck of it being now too ghastly and heartbreaking to any human soul that remembers the days of old. forty years ago, there was assuredly no spot of ground, out of palestine, in all the round world, on which, if you knew, even but a little, the true course of that world's history, you saw with so much joyful reverence the dawn of morning, as at the foot of the tower of giotto. for there the traditions of faith and hope, of both the gentile and jewish races, met for their beautiful labour: the baptistery of florence is the last building raised on the earth by the descendants of the workmen taught by dædalus: and the tower of giotto is the loveliest of those raised on earth under the inspiration of the men who lifted up the tabernacle in the wilderness. of living greek work there is none after the florentine baptistery; of living christian work, none so perfect as the tower of giotto; and, under the gleam and shadow of their marbles, the morning light was haunted by the ghosts of the father of natural science, galileo; of sacred art, angelico, and the master of sacred song. which spot of ground the modern florentine has made his principal hackney-coach stand and omnibus station. the hackney coaches, with their more or less farmyard-like litter of occasional hay, and smell of variously mixed horse-manure, are yet in more permissible harmony with the place than the ordinary populace of a fashionable promenade would be, with its cigars, spitting, and harlot-planned fineries: but the omnibus place of call being in front of the door of the tower, renders it impossible to stand for a moment near it, to look at the sculptures either of the eastern or southern side; while the north side is enclosed with an iron railing, and usually encumbered with lumber as well: not a soul in florence ever caring now for sight of any piece of its old artists' work; and the mass of strangers being on the whole intent on nothing but getting the omnibus to go by steam; and so seeing the cathedral in one swift circuit, by glimpses between the puffs of it. the front of notre dame of paris was similarly turned into a coach-office when i last saw it-- . [footnote: see fors clavigera in that year.] within fifty yards of me as i write, the oratory of the holy ghost is used for a tobacco-store, and in fine, over all europe, mere caliban bestiality and satyric ravage staggering, drunk and desperate, into every once enchanted cell where the prosperity of kingdoms ruled and the miraculous-ness of beauty was shrined in peace. deluge of profanity, drowning dome and tower in stygian pool of vilest thought,--nothing now left sacred, in the places where once--nothing was profane. for _that_ is indeed the teaching, if you could receive it, of the tower of giotto; as of all christian art in its day. next to declaration of the facts of the gospel, its purpose, (often in actual work the eagerest,) was to show the _power_ of the gospel. history of christ in due place; yes, history of all he did, and how he died: but then, and often, as i say, with more animated imagination, the showing of his risen presence in granting the harvests and guiding the labour of the year. all sun and rain, and length or decline of days received from his hand; all joy, and grief, and strength, or cessation of labour, indulged or endured, as in his sight and to his glory. and the familiar employments of the seasons, the homely toils of the peasant, the lowliest skills of the craftsman, are signed always on the stones of the church, as the first and truest condition of sacrifice and offering. of these representations of human art under heavenly guidance, the series of bas-reliefs which stud the base of this tower of giotto's must be held certainly the chief in europe. [footnote: for account of the series on the main archivolt of st. mark's, see my sketch of the schools of venetian sculpture in third forthcoming number of 'st. mark's rest.'] at first you may be surprised at the smallness of their scale in proportion to their masonry; but this smallness of scale enabled the master workmen of the tower to execute them with their own hands; and for the rest, in the very finest architecture, the decoration of most precious kind is usually thought of as a jewel, and set with space round it,--as the jewels of a crown, or the clasp of a girdle. it is in general not possible for a great workman to carve, himself, a greatly conspicuous series of ornament; nay, even his energy fails him in design, when the bas-relief extends itself into incrustation, or involves the treatment of great masses of stone. if his own does not, the spectator's will. it would be the work of a long summer's day to examine the over-loaded sculptures of the certosa of pavia; and yet in the tired last hour, you would be empty-hearted. read but these inlaid jewels of giotto's once with patient following; and your hour's study will give you strength for all your life. so far as you can, examine them of course on the spot; but to know them thoroughly you must have their photographs: the subdued colour of the old marble fortunately keeps the lights subdued, so that the photograph may be made more tender in the shadows than is usual in its renderings of sculpture, and there are few pieces of art which may now be so well known as these, in quiet homes far away. we begin on the western side. there are seven sculptures on the western, southern, and northern sides: six on the eastern; counting the lamb over the entrance door of the tower, which divides the complete series into two groups of eighteen and eight. itself, between them, being the introduction to the following eight, you must count it as the first of the terminal group; you then have the whole twenty-seven sculptures divided into eighteen and nine. thus lettering the groups on each side for west, south, east, and north, we have: w. s. e. n. + + + = ; or, w. s. e. + + = ; and, e. n. + = there is a very special reason for this division by nines but, for convenience' sake, i shall number the whole from to , straightforwardly. and if you will have patience with me, i should like to go round the tower once and again; first observing the general meaning and connection of the subjects and then going back to examine the technical points in each, and such minor specialties as it may be well, at the first time, to pass over. . the series begins, then, on the west side, with the creation of man. it is not the beginning of the story of genesis; but the simple assertion that god made us, and breathed, and still breathes, into our nostrils the breath of life. this, giotto tells you to believe as the beginning of all knowledge and all power. [footnote: so also the master-builder of the ducal palace of venice. see fors clavigera for june of this year.] this he tells you to believe, as a thing which he himself knows. he will tell you nothing but what he _does_ know. . therefore, though giovanna pisano and his fellow sculptors had given, literally, the taking of the rib out of adam's side, giotto merely gives the mythic expression of the truth he knows,--"they two shall be one flesh." . and though all the theologians and poets of his time would have expected, if not demanded, that his next assertion, after that of the creation of man, should be of the fall of man, he asserts nothing of the kind. he knows nothing of what man was. what he is, he knows best of living men at that hour, and proceeds to say. the next sculpture is of eve spinning and adam hewing the ground into clods. not _digging_: you cannot, usually, dig but in ground already dug. the native earth you must hew. they are not clothed in skins. what would have been the use of eve spinning if she could not weave? they wear, each, one simple piece of drapery, adam's knotted behind him, eve's fastened around her neck with a rude brooch. above them are an oak and an apple-tree. into the apple-tree a little bear is trying to climb. the meaning of which entire myth is, as i read it, that men and women must both eat their bread with toil. that the first duty of man is to feed his family, and the first duty of the woman to clothe it. that the trees of the field are given us for strength and for delight, and that the wild beasts of the field must have their share with us. [footnote: the oak and apple boughs are placed, with the same meaning, by sandro botticelli, in the lap of zipporah. the figure of the bear is again represented by jacopo della quercia, on the north door of the cathedral of florence. i am not sure of its complete meaning.] . the fourth sculpture, forming the centre-piece of the series on the west side, is nomad pastoral life. jabal, the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle, lifts the curtain of his tent to look out upon his flock. his dog watches it. . jubal, the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. that is to say, stringed and wind instruments;--the lyre and reed. the first arts (with the jew and greek) of the shepherd david, and shepherd apollo. giotto has given him the long level trumpet, afterwards adopted so grandly in the sculptures of la robbia and donatello. it is, i think, intended to be of wood, as now the long swiss horn, and a long and shorter tube are bound together. . tubal cain, the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. giotto represents him as sitting, _fully robed_, turning a wedge of bronze on the anvil with extreme watchfulness. these last three sculptures, observe, represent the life of the race of cain; of those who are wanderers, and have no home. _nomad_ pastoral life; nomad artistic life, wandering willie; yonder organ man, whom you want to send the policeman after, and the gipsy who is mending the old schoolmistress's kettle on the grass, which the squire has wanted so long to take into his park from the roadside. . then the last sculpture of the seven begins the story of the race of seth, and of home life. the father of it lying drunk under his trellised vine; such the general image of civilized society, in the abstract, thinks giotto. with several other meanings, universally known to the catholic world of that day,--too many to be spoken of here. the second side of the tower represents, after this introduction, the sciences and arts of civilized or home life. . astronomy. in nomad life you may serve yourself of the guidance of the stars; but to know the laws of _their_ nomadic life, your own must be fixed. the astronomer, with his sextant revolving on a fixed pivot, looks up to the vault of the heavens and beholds their zodiac; prescient of what else with optic glass the tuscan artist viewed, at evening, from the top of fésole. above the dome of heaven, as yet unseen, are the lord of the worlds and his angels. to-day, the dawn and the daystar: to-morrow, the daystar arising in the heart. . defensive architecture. the building of the watchtower. the beginning of security in possession. . pottery. the making of pot, cup, and platter. the first civilized furniture; the means of heating liquid, and serving drink and meat with decency and economy. . riding. the subduing of animals to domestic service. . weaving. the making of clothes with swiftness, and in precision of structure, by help of the loom. . law, revealed as directly from heaven. . dædalus (not icarus, but the father trying the wings). the conquest of the element of air. as the seventh subject of the first group introduced the arts of home after those of the savage wanderer, this seventh of the second group introduces the arts of the missionary, or civilized and gift-bringing wanderer. . the conquest of the sea. the helmsman, and two rowers, rowing as venetians, face to bow. . the conquest of the earth. hercules victor over antæus. beneficent strength of civilization crushing the savageness of inhumanity. . agriculture. the oxen and plough. . trade. the cart and horses. . and now the sculpture over the door of the tower. the lamb of god, expresses the law of sacrifice, and door of ascent to heaven. and then follow the fraternal arts of the christian world. . geometry. again the angle sculpture, introductory to the following series. we shall see presently why this science must be the foundation of the rest. . sculpture. . painting. . grammar. . arithmetic. the laws of number, weight, and measures of capacity. music. the laws of number, weight (or force), and measure, applied to sound. . logic. the laws of number and measure applied to thought. . the invention of harmony. you see now--by taking first the great division of pre-christian and christian arts, marked by the door of the tower; and then the divisions into four successive historical periods, marked by its angles--that you have a perfect plan of human civilization. the first side is of the nomad life, learning how to assert its supremacy over other wandering creatures, herbs, and beasts. then the second side is the fixed home life, developing race and country; then the third side, the human intercourse between stranger races; then the fourth side, the harmonious arts of all who are gathered into the fold of christ. now let us return to the first angle, and examine piece by piece with care. . _creation of man._ scarcely disengaged from the clods of the earth, he opens his eyes to the face of christ. like all the rest of the sculptures, it is less the representation of a past fact than of a constant one. it is the continual state of man, 'of the earth,' yet seeing god. christ holds the book of his law--the 'law of life'--in his left hand. the trees of the garden above are,--central above christ, palm (immortal life); above adam, oak (human life). pear, and fig, and a large-leaved ground fruit (what?) complete the myth of the food of life. as decorative sculpture, these trees are especially to be noticed, with those in the two next subjects, and the noah's vine as differing in treatment from giotto's foliage, of which perfect examples are seen in and . giotto's branches are set in close sheaf-like clusters; and every mass disposed with extreme formality of radiation. the leaves of these first, on the contrary, are arranged with careful concealment of their ornamental system, so as to look inartificial. this is done so studiously as to become, by excess, a little unnatural!--nature herself is more decorative and formal in grouping. but the occult design is very noble, and every leaf modulated with loving, dignified, exactly right and sufficient finish; not done to show skill, nor with mean forgetfulness of main subject, but in tender completion and harmony with it. look at the subdivisions of the palm leaves with your magnifying glass. the others are less finished in this than in the next subject. man himself incomplete, the leaves that are created with him, for his life, must not be so. (are not his fingers yet short; growing?) . _creation of woman._ far, in its essential qualities, the transcendent sculpture of this subject, ghiberti's is only a dainty elaboration and beautification of it, losing its solemnity and simplicity in a flutter of feminine grace. the older sculptor thinks of the uses of womanhood, and of its dangers and sins, before he thinks of its beauty; but, were the arm not lost, the quiet naturalness of this head and breast of eve, and the bending grace of the submissive rendering of soul and body to perpetual guidance by the hand of christ--(_grasping_ the arm, note, for full support)--would be felt to be far beyond ghiberti's in beauty, as in mythic truth. the line of her body joins with that of the serpent-ivy round the tree trunk above her: a double myth--of her fall, and her support afterwards by her husband's strength. "thy desire shall be to thy husband." the fruit of the tree--double-set filbert, telling nevertheless the happy equality. the leaves in this piece are finished with consummate poetical care and precision. above adam, laurel (a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband); the filbert for the two together; the fig, for fruitful household joy (under thy vine and fig-tree [footnote: compare fors clavigera, february, .]--but vine properly the masculine joy); and the fruit taken by christ for type of all naturally growing food, in his own hunger. examine with lens the ribbing of these leaves, and the insertion on their stem of the three laurel leaves on extreme right: and observe that in all cases the sculptor works the moulding _with_ his own part of the design; look how he breaks variously deeper into it, beginning from the foot of christ, and going up to the left into full depth above the shoulder. . _original labour._ much poorer, and intentionally so. for the myth of the creation of humanity, the sculptor uses his best strength, and shows supremely the grace of womanhood; but in representing the first peasant state of life, makes the grace of woman by no means her conspicuous quality. she even walks awkwardly; some feebleness in foreshortening the foot also embarrassing the sculptor. he knows its form perfectly--but its perspective, not quite yet. the trees stiff and stunted--they also needing culture. their fruit dropping at present only into beasts' mouths. . _jabal._ if you have looked long enough, and carefully enough, at the three previous sculptures, you cannot but feel that the hand here is utterly changed. the drapery sweeps in broader, softer, but less true folds; the handling is far more delicate; exquisitely sensitive to gradation over broad surfaces--scarcely using an incision of any depth but in outline; studiously reserved in appliance of shadow, as a thing precious and local--look at it above the puppy's head, and under the tent. this is assuredly painter's work, not mere sculptor's. i have no doubt whatever it is by the own hand of the shepherd-boy of fésole. cimabue had found him drawing, (more probably _scratching_ with etrurian point,) one of his sheep upon a stone. these, on the central foundation-stone of his tower he engraves, looking back on the fields of life: the time soon near for him to draw the curtains of his tent. i know no dog like this in method of drawing, and in skill of giving the living form without one touch of chisel for hair, or incision for eye, except the dog barking at poverty in the great fresco of assisi. take the lens and look at every piece of the work from corner to corner--note especially as a thing which would only have been enjoyed by a painter, and which all great painters do intensely enjoy--the _fringe_ of the tent, [footnote: "i think jabal's tent is made of leather; the relaxed intervals between the tent-pegs show a curved ragged edge like leather near the ground" (mr. caird). the edge of the opening is still more characteristic, i think.] and precise insertion of its point in the angle of the hexagon, prepared for by the archaic masonry indicated in the oblique joint above; [footnote: prints of these photographs which do not show the masonry all round the hexagon are quite valueless for study.] architect and painter thinking at once, and _doing_ as they thought. i gave a lecture to the eton boys a year or two ago, on little more than the shepherd's dog, which is yet more wonderful in magnified scale of photograph. the lecture is partly published--somewhere, but i can't refer to it. . _jubal_. still giotto's, though a little less delighted in; but with exquisite introduction of the gothic of his own tower. see the light surface sculpture of a mosaic design in the horizontal moulding. note also the painter's freehand working of the complex mouldings of the table--also resolvedly oblong, not square; see central flower. . _tubal cain_. still giotto's, and entirely exquisite; finished with no less care than the shepherd, to mark the vitality of this art to humanity; the spade and hoe--its heraldic bearing--hung on the hinged door. [footnote: pointed out to me by mr. caird, who adds farther, "i saw a forge identical with this one at pelago the other day,--the anvil resting on a tree-stump: the same fire, bellows, and implements; the door in two parts, the upper part like a shutter, and used for the exposition of finished work as a sign of the craft; and i saw upon it the same finished work of the same shape as in the bas-relief--a spade and a hoe."] for subtlety of execution, note the texture of wooden block under anvil, and of its iron hoop. the workman's face is the best sermon on the dignity of labour yet spoken by thoughtful man. liberal parliaments and fraternal reformers have nothing essential to say more. . _noah_. andrea pisano's again, more or less imitative of giotto's work. . _astronomy_. we have a new hand here altogether. the hair and drapery bad; the face expressive, but blunt in cutting; the small upper heads, necessarily little more than blocked out, on the small scale; but not suggestive of grace in completion: the minor detail worked with great mechanical precision, but little feeling; the lion's head, with leaves in its ears, is quite ugly; and by comparing the work of the small cusped arch at the bottom with giotto's soft handling of the mouldings of his, in , you may for ever know common mason's work from fine gothic. the zodiacal signs are quite hard and common in the method of bas-relief, but quaint enough in design: capricorn, aquarius, and pisces, on the broad heavenly belt; taurus upside down, gemini, and cancer, on the small globe. i think the whole a restoration of the original panel, or else an inferior workman's rendering of giotto's design, which the next piece is, with less question. . _building_. the larger figure, i am disposed finally to think, represents civic power, as in lorenzetti's fresco at siena. the extreme rudeness of the minor figures may be guarantee of their originality; it is the smoothness of mass and hard edge work that make me suspect the th for a restoration. . _pottery_. very grand; with much painter's feeling, and fine mouldings again. the _tiled_ roof projecting in the shadow above, protects the first ceramicus-home. i think the women are meant to be carrying some kind of wicker or reed-bound water-vessel. the potter's servant explains to them the extreme advantages of the new invention. i can't make any conjecture about the author of this piece. . _riding_. again andrea pisano's, it seems to me. compare the tossing up of the dress behind the shoulders, in and . the head is grand, having nearly an athenian profile: the loss of the horse's fore-leg prevents me from rightly judging of the entire action. i must leave riders to say. . _weaving_. andrea's again, and of extreme loveliness; the stooping face of the woman at the loom is more like a leonardo drawing than sculpture. the action of throwing the large shuttle, and all the structure of the loom and its threads, distinguishing rude or smooth surface, are quite wonderful. the figure on the right shows the use and grace of finely woven tissue, under and upper--that over the bosom so delicate that the line of separation from the flesh of the neck is unseen. if you hide with your hand the carved masonry at the bottom, the composition separates itself into two pieces, one disagreeably rectangular. the still more severely rectangular masonry throws out by contrast all that is curved and rounded in the loom, and unites the whole composition; that is its aesthetic function; its historical one is to show that weaving is queen's work, not peasant's; for this is palace masonry. . _the giving of law_. more strictly, of _the_ book of god's law: the only one which _can_ ultimately be obeyed. [footnote: mr. caird convinced me of the real meaning of this sculpture. i had taken it for the giving of a book, writing further of it as follows:-- all books, rightly so called, are books of law, and all scripture is given by inspiration of god. (what _we_ now mostly call a book, the infinite reduplication and vibratory echo of a lie, is not given but belched up out of volcanic clay by the inspiration of the devil.) on the book-giver's right hand the students in cell, restrained by the lifted right hand: "silent, you, till you know"; then, perhaps, you also. on the left, the men of the world, kneeling, receive the gift. recommendable seal, this, for mr. mudie! mr. caird says: "the book is written law, which is given by justice to the inferiors, that they may know the laws regulating their relations to their superiors--who are also under the hand of law. the vassal is protected by the accessibility of formularized law. the superior is restrained by the right hand of power." ] the authorship of this is very embarrassing to me. the face of the central figure is most noble, and all the work good, but not delicate; it is like original work of the master whose design no. might be a restoration. _dædalus_. andrea pisano again; the head superb, founded on greek models, feathers of wings wrought with extreme care; but with no precision of arrangement or feeling. how far intentional in awkwardness, i cannot say; but note the good mechanism of the whole plan, with strong standing board for the feet. . _navigation_. an intensely puzzling one; coarse (perhaps unfinished) in work, and done by a man who could not row; the plaited bands used for rowlocks being pulled the wrong way. right, had the rowers been rowing englishwise: but the water at the boat's head shows its motion forwards, the way the oarsmen look. i cannot make out the action of the figure at the stern; it ought to be steering with the stern oar. the water seems quite unfinished. meant, i suppose, for surface and section of sea, with slimy rock at the bottom; but all stupid and inefficient. . _hercules and antæus._ the earth power, half hidden by the earth, its hair and hand becoming roots, the strength of its life passing through the ground into the oak tree. with cercyon, but first named, (plato, _laws_, book vii., ), antæus is the master of contest without use;--[greek: philoneikias achrestou]--and is generally the power of pure selfishness and its various inflation to insolence and degradation to cowardice;--finding its strength only in fall back to its earth,--he is the master, in a word, of all such kind of persons as have been writing lately about the "interests of england." he is, therefore, the power invoked by dante to place virgil and him in the lowest circle of hell;--"alcides whilom felt,--that grapple, straitened sore," etc. the antæus in the sculpture is very grand; but the authorship puzzles me, as of the next piece, by the same hand. i believe both giotto's design. . _ploughing._ the sword in its christian form. magnificent: the grandest expression of the power of man over the earth and its strongest creatures that i remember in early sculpture,--(or for that matter, in late). it is the subduing of the bull which the sculptor thinks most of; the plough, though large, is of wood, and the handle slight. but the pawing and bellowing labourer he has bound to it!--here is victory. . _the chariot._ the horse also subdued to draught--achilles' chariot in its first, and to be its last, simplicity. the face has probably been grand--the figure is so still. andrea's, i think by the flying drapery. . _the lamb, with the symbol of resurrection._ over the door: 'i am the door;--by me, if any man enter in,' etc. put to the right of the tower, you see, fearlessly, for the convenience of staircase ascent; all external symmetry being subject with the great builders to interior use; and then, out of the rightly ordained infraction of formal law, comes perfect beauty; and when, as here, the spirit of heaven is working with the designer, his thoughts are suggested in truer order, by the concession to use. after this sculpture comes the christian arts,--those which necessarily imply the conviction of immortality. astronomy without christianity only reaches as far as--'thou hast made him a little lower than the angels--and put all _things_ under his feet':--christianity says beyond this,--'know ye not that we shall judge angels (as also the lower creatures shall judge us!)' [footnote: in the deep sense of this truth, which underlies all the bright fantasy and humour of mr. courthope's "paradise of birds," that rhyme of the risen spirit of aristophanes may well be read under the tower of giotto, beside his watch-dog of the fold.] the series of sculptures now beginning, show the arts which _can_ only be accomplished through belief in christ. . _geometry_. not 'mathematics': _they_ have been implied long ago in astronomy and architecture; but the due measuring of the earth and all that is on it. actually done only by christian faith--first inspiration of the great earth-measurers. your prince henry of spain, your columbus, your captain cook, (whose tomb, with the bright artistic invention and religious tenderness which are so peculiarly the gifts of the nineteenth century, we have just provided a fence for, of old cannon open-mouthed, straight up towards heaven--your modern method of symbolizing the only appeal to heaven of which the nineteenth century has left itself capable--'the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me'--your outworn cannon, now silently agape, but sonorous in the ears of angels with that appeal)--first inspiration, i say, of these; constant inspiration of all who set true landmarks and hold to them, knowing their measure; the devil interfering, i observe, lately in his own way, with the geometry of yorkshire, where the landed proprietors, [footnote: i mean no accusation against any class; probably the one-fielded statesman is more eager for his little gain of fifty yards of grass than the squire for his bite and sup out of the gypsy's part of the roadside. but it is notable enough to the passing traveller, to find himself shut into a narrow road between high stone dykes which he can neither see over nor climb over, (i always deliberately pitch them down myself, wherever i need a gap,) instead of on a broad road between low grey walls with all the moor beyond--and the power of leaping over when he chooses in innocent trespass for herb, or view, or splinter of grey rock.] when the neglected walls by the roadside tumble down, benevolently repair the same, with better stonework, _outside_ always of the fallen heaps;--which, the wall being thus built _on_ what was the public road, absorb themselves, with help of moss and time, into the heaving swells of the rocky field-and behold, gain of a couple of feet--along so much of the road as needs repairing operations. this then, is the first of the christian sciences: division of land rightly, and the general law of measuring between wisely-held compass points. the type of mensuration, circle in square, on his desk, i use for my first exercise in the laws of fésole. . _sculpture_. the first piece of the closing series on the north side of the campanile, of which some general points must be first noted, before any special examination. the two initial ones, sculpture and painting, are by tradition the only ones attributed to giotto's own hand. the fifth, song, is known, and recognizable in its magnificence, to be by luca della robbia. the remaining four are all of luca's school,--later work therefore, all these five, than any we have been hitherto examining, entirely different in manner, and with late flower-work beneath them instead of our hitherto severe gothic arches. and it becomes of course instantly a vital question--did giotto die leaving the series incomplete, only its subjects chosen, and are these two bas-reliefs of sculpture and painting among his last works? or was the series ever completed, and these later bas-reliefs substituted for the earlier ones, under luca's influence, by way of conducting the whole to a grander close, and making their order more representative of florentine art in its fulness of power? i must repeat, once more, and with greater insistence respecting sculpture than painting, that i do not in the least set myself up for a critic of authenticity,--but only of absolute goodness. my readers may trust me to tell them what is well done or ill; but by whom, is quite a separate question, needing for any certainty, in this school of much-associated masters and pupils, extremest attention to minute particulars not at all bearing on my objects in teaching. of this closing group of sculptures, then, all i can tell you is that the fifth is a quite magnificent piece of work, and recognizably, to my extreme conviction, luca della robbia's; that the last, harmonia, is also fine work; that those attributed to giotto are fine in a different way,--and the other three in reality the poorest pieces in the series, though done with much more advanced sculptural dexterity. but i am chiefly puzzled by the two attributed to giotto, because they are much coarser than those which seem to me so plainly his on the west side, and slightly different in workmanship--with much that is common to both, however, in the casting of drapery and mode of introduction of details. the difference may be accounted for partly by haste or failing power, partly by the artist's less deep feeling of the importance of these merely symbolic figures, as compared with those of the fathers of the arts; but it is very notable and embarrassing notwithstanding, complicated as it is with extreme resemblance in other particulars. you cannot compare the subjects on the tower itself; but of my series of photographs take and , and put them side by side. i need not dwell on the conditions of resemblance, which are instantly visible; but the _difference_ in the treatment of the heads is incomprehensible. that of the tubal cain is exquisitely finished, and with a painter's touch; every lock of the hair laid with studied flow, as in the most beautiful drawing. in the 'sculpture,' it is struck out with ordinary tricks of rapid sculptor trade, entirely unfinished, and with offensively frank use of the drill hole to give picturesque rustication to the beard. next, put and back to back. you see again the resemblance in the earnestness of both figures, in the unbroken arcs of their backs, in the breaking of the octagon moulding by the pointed angles; and here, even also in the general conception of the heads. but again, in the one of painting, the hair is struck with more vulgar indenting and drilling, and the gothic of the picture frame is less precise in touch and later in style. observe, however,--and this may perhaps give us some definite hint for clearing the question,--a picture-frame _would be_ less precise in making, and later in style, properly, than cusped arches to be put under the feet of the inventor of all musical sound by breath of man. and if you will now compare finally the eager tilting of the workman's seat in and , and the working of the wood in the painter's low table for his pots of colour, and his three-legged stool, with that of tubal cain's anvil block; and the way in which the lines of the forge and upper triptych are in each composition used to set off the rounding of the head, i believe you will have little hesitation in accepting my own view of the matter--namely, that the three pieces of the fathers of the arts were wrought with giotto's extremest care for the most precious stones of his tower; that also, being a sculptor and painter, he did the other two, but with quite definite and wilful resolve that they _should be_, as mere symbols of his own two trades, wholly inferior to the other subjects of the patriarchs; that he made the sculpture picturesque and bold as you see it is, and showed all a sculptor's tricks in the work of it; and a sculptor's greek subject, bacchus, for the model of it; that he wrought the painting, as the higher art, with more care, still keeping it subordinate to the primal subjects, but showed, for a lesson to all the generations of painters for evermore,--this one lesson, like his circle of pure line containing all others,--'your soul and body must be all in every touch.' i can't resist the expression of a little piece of personal exultation, in noticing that he holds his pencil as i do myself: no writing master, and no effort (at one time very steady for many months), having ever cured me of that way of holding both pen and pencil between my fore and second finger; the third and fourth resting the backs of them on my paper. as i finally arrange these notes for press, i am further confirmed in my opinion by discovering little finishings in the two later pieces which i was not before aware of. i beg the masters of high art, and sublime generalization, to take a good magnifying glass to the 'sculpture' and look at the way giotto has cut the compasses, the edges of the chisels, and the keyhole of the lock of the toolbox. for the rest, nothing could be more probable, in the confused and perpetually false mass of florentine tradition, than the preservation of the memory of giotto's carving his own two trades, and the forgetfulness, or quite as likely ignorance, of the part he took with andrea pisano in the initial sculptures. i now take up the series of subjects at the point where we broke off, to trace their chain of philosophy to its close. to geometry, which gives to every man his possession of house and land, succeed , sculpture, and , painting, the adornments of permanent habitation. and then, the great arts of education in a christian home. first-- . _grammar_, or more properly literature altogether, of which we have already seen the ancient power in the spanish chapel series; then, . _arithmetic_, central here as also in the spanish chapel, for the same reasons; here, more impatiently asserting, with both hands, that two, on the right, you observe-and two on the left-do indeed and for ever make four. keep your accounts, you, with your book of double entry, on that principle; and you will be safe in this world and the next, in your steward's office. but by no means so, if you ever admit the usurers gospel of arithmetic, that two and two make five. you see by the rich hem of his robe that the asserter of this economical first principle is a man well to do in the world. . _logic_. the art of demonstration. vulgarest of the whole series, far too expressive of the mode in which argument is conducted by those who are not masters of its reins. . _song._ the essential power of music in animal life. orpheus, the symbol of it all, the inventor properly of music, the law of kindness, as dædalus of music, the law of construction. hence the "orphic life" is one of ideal mercy, (vegetarian,)--plato, _laws_, book vi., ,--and he is named first after dædalus, and in balance to him as head of the school of harmonists, in book iii., , (steph.) look for the two singing birds clapping their wings in the tree above him; then the five mystic beasts,--closest to his feet the irredeemable boar; then lion and bear, tiger, unicorn, and fiery dragon closest to his head, the flames of its mouth mingling with his breath as he sings. the audient eagle, alas! has lost the beak, and is only recognizable by his proud holding of himself; the duck, sleepily delighted after muddy dinner, close to his shoulder, is a true conquest. hoopoe, or indefinite bird of crested race, behind; of the other three no clear certainty. the leafage throughout such as only luca could do, and the whole consummate in skill and understanding. . _harmony._ music of song, in the full power of it, meaning perfect education in all art of the muses and of civilized life: the mystery of its concord is taken for the symbol of that of a perfect state; one day, doubtless, of the perfect world. so prophesies the last corner stone of the shepherd's tower. lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume iii. filarete and simone to mantegna newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume iii page antonio filarete and simone giuliano da maiano piero della francesca [piero borghese] fra giovanni da fiesole [fra angelico] leon batista alberti lazzaro vasari antonello da messina alesso baldovinetti vellano da padova fra filippo lippi paolo romano, maestro mino [mino del regno _or_ mino del reame], and chimenti camicia andrea dal castagno of mugello [andrea degl' impiccati] and domenico viniziano [domenico da venezia] gentile da fabriano and vittore pisanello of verona pesello and francesco peselli [pesellino _or_ francesco di pesello] benozzo gozzoli francesco di giorgio and lorenzo vecchietto galasso ferrarese [galasso galassi] antonio rossellino [rossellino dal proconsolo] and bernardo his brother desiderio da settignano mino da fiesole [mino di giovanni] lorenzo costa ercole ferrarese [ercole da ferrara] jacopo, giovanni, and gentile bellini cosimo rosselli cecca don bartolommeo della gatta, abbot of s. clemente gherardo domenico ghirlandajo antonio and piero pollaiuolo sandro botticelli [alessandro filipepi _or_ sandro di botticello] benedetto da maiano andrea verrocchio andrea mantegna index of names illustrations to volume iii plates in colour facing page vincenzio di zoppa (foppa) madonna and child settignano: berenson collection piero della francesca federigo da montefeltro, duke of urbino, and battista sforza, his wife florence: uffizi, piero della francesca the baptism in jordan london: n. g., fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico) the annunciation cortona: gesù gallery antonello da messina portrait of a young man berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, antonello da messina the crucifixion london: n. g., alesso baldovinetti madonna and child in a landscape paris: louvre, b fra filippo lippi the annunciation london: n. g., andrea dal castagno dante florence: s. apollonia gentile da fabriano detail from the adoration of the magi: madonna and child, with three kings florence: accademia, vittore pisanello the vision of s. eustace london: n. g., francesco peselli (pesellino) madonna enthroned, with saints and angels empoli: gallery benozzo gozzoli madonna and child berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, b francesco di giorgio s. dorothy london: n. g., jacopo bellini madonna and child florence: uffizi, giovanni bellini the doge leonardo loredano london: n. g., giovanni bellini fortuna venice: accademia, giovanni bellini the dead christ milan: poldi pezzoli, gentile bellini s. dominic london: n. g., domenico ghirlandajo the vision of s. fina san gimignano antonio pollaiuolo david victor berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a sandro botticelli pallas and the centaur florence: pitti palace sandro botticelli giovanna tornabuoni and the graces paris: louvre, sandro botticelli madonna of the pomegranate florence: uffizi, andrea mantegna madonna of the rocks florence: uffizi, plates in monochrome facing page antonio filarete bronze doors rome: s. peter's simone tomb of pope martin v rome: s. giovanni in laterano benedetto da maiano s. sebastian florence: oratorio della misericordia piero della francesca the resurrection borgo s. sepolcro piero della francesca the vision of constantine arezzo: s. francesco fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico) the transfiguration florence: s. marco fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico) s. stephen preaching rome: the vatican, chapel of nicholas v leon batista alberti facade of s. andrea mantua alesso baldovinetti the annunciation florence: uffizi, graffione the trinity florence: s. spirito vellano da padova jonah cast into the sea padua: s. antonio fra filippo lippi the virgin adoring florence: accademia, fra filippo lippi madonna and child florence: pitti, andrea dal castagno the last supper florence: s. apollonia domenico viniziano madonna and child london: n. g., vittore pisanello medals: n. piccinino and sigismondo malatesta london: british museum benozzo gozzoli detail: procession of the magi florence: palazzo riccardi benozzo gozzoli the death of s. augustine san gimignano: s. agostino lorenzo vecchietto the risen christ siena: s. maria della scala cosmÈ (cosimo tura) the madonna enthroned berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, antonio rossellino tomb of cardinal jacopo of portugal florence: s. miniato bernardo rossellino tomb of leonardo bruni florence: s. croce desiderio da settignano tomb of carlo marsuppini florence: s. croce mino da fiesole tomb of margrave hugo florence: la badia lorenzo costa the coronation of the virgin bologna: s. giovanni in monte ercole ferrarese the israelites gathering manna london: n. g., gentile bellini the miracle of the true cross venice: accademia, giovanni bellini madonna and saints venice: s. francesco della vigna cosimo rosselli detail: christ healing the leper rome: sistine chapel domenico ghirlandajo the death of s. francis florence: s. trinita domenico ghirlandajo the birth of s. john the baptist florence: s. maria novella bastiano mainardi the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas florence: s. croce piero pollaiuolo ss. eustace, james, and vincent florence: uffizi, antonio pollaiuolo the martyrdom of s. sebastian london: n. g., antonio pollaiuolo tomb of pope sixtus iv rome: s. peter's sandro botticelli the adoration of the magi florence: uffizi, sandro botticelli the calumny of apelles florence: uffizi, benedetto da maiano pulpit florence: s. croce andrea verrocchio david florence: bargello andrea verrocchio detail: corner and foot of the medici sarcophagus florence: s. lorenzo andrea verrocchio statue of bartolommeo colleoni venice: campo ss. giovanni e paolo andrea mantegna the martyrdom of s. james padua: eremitani andrea mantegna madonna and angels milan: brera, andrea mantegna judith with the head of holofernes dublin: n. g. antonio filarete and simone lives of antonio filarete and simone sculptors of florence if pope eugenius iv, when he resolved to make the bronze door for s. pietro in rome, had used diligence in seeking for men of excellence to execute that work (and he would easily have been able to find them at that time, when filippo di ser brunellesco, donatello, and other rare craftsmen were alive), it would not have been carried out in the deplorable manner which it reveals to us in our own day. but perchance the same thing happened to him that is very often wont to happen to the greater number of princes, who either have no understanding of such works or take very little delight in them. now, if they were to consider how important it is to show preference to men of excellence in public works, by reason of the fame that comes from these, it is certain that neither they nor their ministers would be so negligent; for the reason that he who encumbers himself with poor and inept craftsmen ensures but a short life to his works or his fame, not to mention that injury is done to the public interest and to the age in which he was born, for it is firmly believed by all who come after, that, if there had been better masters to be found in that age, the prince would have availed himself rather of them than of the inept and vulgar. now, after being created pontiff in the year , pope eugenius iv, hearing that the florentines were having the doors of s. giovanni made by lorenzo ghiberti, conceived a wish to try to make one of the doors of s. pietro in like manner in bronze. but since he had no knowledge of such works, he entrusted the matter to his ministers, with whom antonio filarete, then a youth, and simone, the brother of donatello, both sculptors of florence, had so much interest, that the work was allotted to them. putting their hands to this, therefore, they toiled for twelve years to complete it; and although pope eugenius fled from rome and was much harassed by reason of the councils, yet those who had charge of s. pietro contrived to prevent that work from being abandoned. filarete, then, wrought that door in low-relief, making a simple division, with two upright figures in each part--namely, the saviour and the madonna above, and s. peter and s. paul below; and at the foot of s. peter is that pope on his knees, portrayed from life. beneath each figure, likewise, there is a little scene from the life of the saint that is above; below s. peter, his crucifixion, and below s. paul, his beheading; and beneath the saviour and the madonna, also, some events from their lives. at the foot of the inner side of the said door, to amuse himself, antonio made a little scene in bronze, wherein he portrayed himself and simone and their disciples going with an ass laden with good cheer to take their pleasure in a vineyard. but since they were not always at work on the said door during the whole of those twelve years, they also made in s. pietro some marble tombs for popes and cardinals, which were thrown to the ground in the building of the new church. [illustration: bronze doors (_after =antonio filarete=. rome: s. peter's_) _alinari_] after these works, antonio was summoned to milan by duke francesco sforza, then gonfalonier of holy church (who had seen his works in rome), to the end that there might be made with his design, as it afterwards was, the albergo de' poveri di dio,[ ] which is a hospital that serves for sick men and women, and for the innocent children born out of wedlock. the division for the men in this place is in the form of a cross, and extends braccia in all directions; and that of the women is the same. the width is braccia, and within the four square sides that enclose the crosses of each of these two divisions there are four courtyards surrounded by porticoes, loggie, and rooms for the use of the director, the officials, the servants, and the nurses of the hospital, all very commodious and useful. on one side there is a channel with water continually running for the service of the hospital and for grinding corn, with no small benefit and convenience for that place, as all may imagine. between the two divisions of the hospital there is a cloister, braccia in extent in one direction and in the other, in the middle of which is the church, so contrived as to serve for both divisions. in a word, this place is so well built and designed, that i do not believe that there is its like in europe. according to the account of filarete himself, the first stone of this building was laid with a solemn procession of the whole of the clergy of milan, in the presence of duke francesco sforza, the lady bianca maria, and all their children, with the marquis of mantua, the ambassador of king alfonso of arragon, and many other lords. on the first stone which was laid in the foundations, as well as on the medals, were these words: franciscus sfortia dux iv, qui amissum per prÆcessorum obitum urbis imperium recuperavit, hoc munus christi pauperibus dedit fundavitque mcccclvii, die xii april. these scenes were afterwards depicted on the portico by maestro vincenzio di zoppa, a lombard, since no better master could be found in those parts. a work by the same antonio, likewise, was the principal church of bergamo, which he built with no less diligence and judgment than he had shown in the above-named hospital. and because he also took delight in writing, the while that these works of his were in progress he wrote a book divided into three parts. in the first he treats of the measurements of all edifices, and of all that is necessary for the purpose of building. in the second he speaks of the methods of building, and of the manner wherein a most beautiful and most convenient city might be laid out. in the third he invents new forms of buildings, mingling the ancient with the modern. the whole work is divided into twenty-four books, illustrated throughout by drawings from his own hand; but, although there is something of the good to be found in it, it is nevertheless mostly ridiculous, and perhaps the most stupid book that was ever written. it was dedicated by him in the year to the magnificent piero di cosimo de' medici, and it is now in the collection of the most illustrious lord duke cosimo. and in truth, since he put himself to so great pains, the book might be commended in some sort, if he had at least made some records of the masters of his day and of their works; but as there are few to be found therein, and those few are scattered throughout the book without method and in the least suitable places, he has toiled only to beggar himself, as the saying goes, and to be thought a man of little judgment for meddling with something that he did not understand. but i have said quite enough about filarete, and it is now time to turn to simone, the brother of donato. this man, after the work of the door, made the bronze tomb of pope martin. he likewise made some castings that were sent to france, of many of which the fate is not known. for the church of the ermini, in the canto alla macine in florence, he wrought a life-size crucifix for carrying in processions, and to render it the lighter he made it of cork. in s. felicita he made a terra-cotta figure of s. mary magdalene in penitence, three braccia and a half in height and beautifully proportioned, and revealing the muscles in such a manner as to show that he had a very good knowledge of anatomy. he also wrought a marble tombstone for the company of the nunziata in the church of the servi, inlaying it with a figure in grey and white marble in the manner of a painting (which was much extolled), like the work already mentioned as having been done by the sienese duccio in the duomo of siena. at prato he made the bronze grille for the chapel of the girdle. at forlì, over the door of the canon's house, he wrought a madonna with two angels in low-relief; and he adorned the chapel of the trinità in s. francesco with work in half-relief for messer giovanni da riolo. in the church of s. francesco at rimini, for sigismondo malatesti, he built the chapel of s. sigismondo, wherein there are many elephants, the device of that lord, carved in marble. to messer bartolommeo scamisci, canon of the pieve of arezzo, he sent a madonna with the child in her arms, made of terra-cotta, with certain angels in half-relief, very well executed; which madonna is now in the said pieve, set up against a column. for the baptismal font of the vescovado of arezzo, likewise, he wrought, in some scenes in low-relief, a christ being baptized by s. john. in the church of the nunziata in florence he made a marble tomb for messer orlando de' medici. finally, at the age of fifty-five, he rendered up his spirit to god who had given it to him. nor was it long before filarete, having returned to rome, died at the age of sixty-nine, and was buried in the minerva, where he had caused giovanni foccora, a painter of no small repute, to make a portrait of pope eugenius, while he was staying in rome in the service of that pontiff. the portrait of antonio, by his own hand, is at the beginning of his book, where he gives instructions for building. his disciples were varrone and niccolò, both florentines, who made the marble statue for pope pius ii near pontemolle, at the time when he brought the head of s. andrew to rome. by order of the same pope they restored tigoli almost from the foundations; and in s. pietro they made the ornament of marble that is above the columns of the chapel wherein the said head of s. andrew is preserved. near that chapel is the tomb of the said pope pius, made by pasquino da montepulciano, a disciple of filarete, and bernardo ciuffagni. this bernardo wrought a tomb of marble for gismondo malatesti in s. francesco at rimini, making his portrait there from nature; and he also executed some works, so it is said, in lucca and in mantua. [illustration: vincenzio di zoppa (foppa): madonna and child (_settignano: berenson collection. panel_)] [illustration: tomb of pope martin v (_after the bronze relief by =simone=. rome: s. giovanni in laterano_) _anderson_] footnote: [ ] literally, hospice for god's poor. giuliano da maiano life of giuliano da maiano sculptor and architect no small error do those fathers of families make who do not allow the minds of their children to run the natural course in their childhood, and do not suffer them to follow the calling that is most in accordance with their taste; for to try to turn them to something for which they have no inclination is manifestly to prevent them from ever being excellent in anything, because we almost always find that those who labour at something that they do not like make little progress in any occupation whatsoever. on the other hand, those who follow the instinct of nature generally become excellent and famous in the arts that they pursue; as was seen clearly in giuliano da maiano. the father of this man, after living a long time on the hill of fiesole, in the part called maiano, working at the trade of stone-cutter, finally betook himself to florence, where he opened a shop for the sale of dressed stone, keeping it furnished with the sort of work that is apt very often to be called for without warning by those who are erecting some building. living in florence, then, there was born to him a son, giuliano, whom his father, growing convinced in the course of time that he had a good intelligence, proposed to make into a notary, for it appeared to him that his own occupation of stone-cutting was too laborious and too unprofitable an exercise. but this did not come to pass, because, although giuliano went to a grammar-school for a little, his thoughts were never there, and in consequence he made no progress; nay, he played truant very often, and showed that he had his mind wholly set on sculpture, although at first he applied himself to the calling of joiner and also gave attention to drawing. it is said that in company with giusto and minore, masters of tarsia,[ ] he wrought the seats of the sacristy of the nunziata, and likewise those of the choir that is beside the chapel, and many things in the badia of florence and in s. marco; and that, having acquired a name through these works, he was summoned to pisa, in the duomo of which he wrought the seat that is beside the high-altar, in which the priest, the deacon, and the sub-deacon sit when mass is being sung; making in tarsia on the back of this seat, with tinted and shaded woods, the three prophets that are seen therein. in this work he availed himself of guido del servellino and maestro domenico di mariotto, joiners of pisa, to whom he taught the art so well that they afterwards wrought the greater part of that choir both with carvings and with tarsia-work; which choir has been finished in our own day, with a manner no little better, by batista del cervelliera of pisa, a man truly ingenious and fanciful. but to return to giuliano; he made the presses of the sacristy of s. maria del fiore, which were held at that time to be admirable examples of tarsia and inlaid-work. now, while giuliano thus continued to devote himself to tarsia, to sculpture, and to architecture, filippo di ser brunellesco died; whereupon, being chosen by the wardens of works to succeed him, he made the borders, incrusted with black and white marble, which are round the circular windows below the vault of the cupola; and at the corners he placed the marble pilasters on which baccio d'agnolo afterwards laid the architrave, frieze, and cornice, as will be told below. it is true that, as it appears from some designs by his hand that are in our book, he wished to make another arrangement of frieze, cornice, and gallery, with pediments on each of the eight sides of the cupola; but he had not time to put this into execution, for, being carried away by an excess of work from one day to another, he died. before this happened, however, he went to naples and designed the architecture of the magnificent palace at poggio reale for king alfonso, with the beautiful fountains and conduits that are in the courtyard. in the city, likewise, he made designs for many fountains, some for the houses of noblemen and some for public squares, with beautiful and fanciful inventions; and he had the said palace of poggio reale all wrought with paintings by piero del donzello and his brother polito. working in sculpture, likewise, for the said king alfonso, then duke of calabria, he wrought scenes in low-relief over a door (both within and without) in the great hall of the castle of naples; and he made a marble gate for the castle after the corinthian order, with an infinite number of figures, giving to that work the form of a triumphal arch, on which stories from the life of that king and some of his victories are carved in marble. giuliano also wrought the decorations of the porta capovana, making therein many varied and beautiful trophies; wherefore he well deserved that great love should be felt for him by that king, who, rewarding him liberally for his labours, enriched his descendants. giuliano had taught to his nephew benedetto the arts of tarsia and architecture, and something about working in marble; and benedetto was living in florence, devoting himself to working at tarsia, because this brought him greater gains than the other arts did. now giuliano was summoned to rome by messer antonio rosello of arezzo, secretary to pope paul ii, to enter the service of that pontiff. having gone thither, he designed the loggie of travertine in the first court of the palace of s. pietro, with three ranges of columns, of which the first is on the lowest floor, where there are now the signet office and other offices; the second is above this, where the datary and other prelates live; and the third and last is where those rooms are that look out on the court of s. pietro, which he adorned with gilded ceilings and other ornaments. from his design, likewise, were made the marble loggie from which the pope gives his benediction--a very great work, as may still be seen to-day. but the most stupendous and marvellous work that he made was the palace that he built for that pope, together with the church of s. marco in rome, for which there was used an infinite quantity of travertine blocks, said to have been excavated from certain vineyards near the arch of constantine, where they served as buttresses for the foundations of that part of the colosseum which is now in ruins, perchance because of the weakening of that edifice. giuliano was sent by the same pontiff to the madonna of loreto, where he rebuilt the foundations and greatly enlarged the body of the church, which had formerly been small and built over piers in rustic-work. he did not go higher than the string-course that was there already; but he summoned his nephew benedetto to that place, and he, as will be told, afterwards raised the cupola. being then forced to return to naples in order to finish the works that he had begun, giuliano received a commission from king alfonso for a gate near the castle, which was to include more than eighty figures, which benedetto had to execute in florence; but the whole remained unfinished by reason of the death of that king. there are still some relics of these figures in the misericordia in florence, and there were others in our own day in the canto alla macine; but i do not know where these are now to be found. before the death of the king, however, giuliano died in naples at the age of seventy, and was greatly honoured with rich obsequies; for the king had fifty men clothed in mourning, who accompanied giuliano to the grave, and then he gave orders that a marble tomb should be made for him. the continuation of his work was left to polito, who completed the conduits for the waters of poggio reale. benedetto, devoting himself afterwards to sculpture, surpassed his uncle giuliano in excellence, as will be told; and in his youth he was the rival of a sculptor named modanino da modena, who worked in terra-cotta, and who wrought for the said alfonso a pietà with an infinite number of figures in the round, made of terra-cotta and coloured, which were executed with very great vivacity, and were placed by the king in the church of monte oliveto, a very highly honoured monastery in the city of naples. in this work the said king is portrayed on his knees, and he appears truly more than alive; wherefore modanino was remunerated by him with very great rewards. but when the king died, as it has been said, polito and benedetto returned to florence; where, no long time after, polito followed giuliano into eternity. the sculptures and pictures of these men date about the year of our salvation . [illustration: s. sebastian (_after the marble by =benedetto da maiano=. florence: oratorio della misericordia_) _alinari_] footnote: [ ] inlaying with various kinds of coloured wood. piero della francesca life of piero della francesca [_piero borghese_] painter of borgo a san sepolcro truly unhappy are those who, labouring at their studies in order to benefit others and to make their own name famous, are hindered by infirmity and sometimes by death from carrying to perfection the works that they have begun. and it happens very often that, leaving them all but finished or in a fair way to completion, they are falsely claimed by the presumption of those who seek to conceal their asses' skin under the honourable spoils of the lion. and although time, who is called the father of truth, sooner or later makes manifest the real state of things, it is none the less true that for a certain space of time the true craftsman is robbed of the honour that is due to his labours; as happened to piero della francesca of borgo a san sepolcro. he, having been held a rare master of the difficulties of drawing regular bodies, as well as of arithmetic and geometry, was yet not able--being overtaken in his old age by the infirmity of blindness, and finally by the close of his life--to bring to light his noble labours and the many books written by him, which are still preserved in the borgo, his native place. the very man who should have striven with all his might to increase the glory and fame of piero, from whom he had learnt all that he knew, was impious and malignant enough to seek to blot out the name of his teacher, and to usurp for himself the honour that was due to the other, publishing under his own name, fra luca dal borgo, all the labours of that good old man, who, besides the sciences named above, was excellent in painting. piero was born in borgo a san sepolcro, which is now a city, although it was not one then; and he was called della francesca after the name of his mother, because she had been left pregnant with him at the death of her husband, his father, and because it was she who had brought him up and assisted him to attain to the rank that his good-fortune held out to him. piero applied himself in his youth to mathematics, and although it was settled when he was fifteen years of age that he was to be a painter, he never abandoned this study; nay, he made marvellous progress therein, as well as in painting. he was employed by guidobaldo feltro the elder, duke of urbino, for whom he made many very beautiful pictures with little figures, which have been for the most part ruined on the many occasions when that state has been harassed by wars. nevertheless, there were preserved there some of his writings on geometry and perspective, in which sciences he was not inferior to any man of his own time, or perchance even to any man of any other time; as is demonstrated by all his works, which are full of perspectives, and particularly by a vase drawn in squares and sides, in such a manner that the base and the mouth can be seen from the front, from behind, and from the sides; which is certainly a marvellous thing, for he drew the smallest details therein with great subtlety, and foreshortened the curves of all the circles with much grace. having thus acquired credit and fame at that court, he resolved to make himself known in other places; wherefore he went to pesaro and ancona, whence, in the very thick of his work, he was summoned by duke borso to ferrara, where he painted many apartments in his palace, which were afterwards destroyed by duke ercole the elder in the renovation of the palace, insomuch that there is nothing by the hand of piero left in that city, save a chapel wrought in fresco in s. agostino; and even that has been injured by damp. afterwards, being summoned to rome, he painted two scenes for pope nicholas v in the upper rooms of his palace, in competition with bramante da milano; but these also were thrown to the ground by pope julius ii--to the end that raffaello da urbino might paint there the imprisonment of s. peter and the miracle of the corporale of bolsena--together with certain others that had been painted by bramantino, an excellent painter in his day. [illustration: piero della francesca: battista sforza, wife of federigo da montefeltro (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] now, seeing that i cannot write the life of this man, nor particularize his works, because they have been ruined, i will not grudge the labour of making some record of him, for it seems an apt occasion. in the said works that were thrown to the ground, so i have heard tell, he had made some heads from nature, so beautiful and so well executed that speech alone was wanting to give them life. of these heads not a few have come to light, because raffaello da urbino had them copied in order that he might have the likenesses of the subjects, who were all people of importance; for among them were niccolò fortebraccio, charles vii, king of france, antonio colonna, prince of salerno, francesco carmignuola, giovanni vitellesco, cardinal bessarione, francesco spinola, and battista da canneto. all these portraits were given to giovio by giulio romano, disciple and heir of raffaello da urbino, and they were placed by giovio in his museum at como. over the door of s. sepolcro in milan i have seen a dead christ wrought in foreshortening by the hand of the same man, in which, although the whole picture is not more than one braccio in height, there is an effect of infinite length, executed with facility and with judgment. by his hand, also, are some apartments and loggie in the house of the marchesino ostanesia in the same city, wherein there are many pictures wrought by him that show mastery and very great power in the foreshortening of the figures. and without the porta vercellina, near the castle, in certain stables now ruined and destroyed, he painted some grooms currying horses, among which there was one so lifelike and so well wrought, that another horse, thinking it a real one, lashed out at it repeatedly with its hooves. [illustration: piero della francesca: federigo da montefeltro, duke of urbino (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] but to return to piero della francesca; his work in rome finished, he returned to the borgo, where his mother had just died; and on the inner side of the central door of the pieve he painted two saints in fresco, which are held to be very beautiful. in the convent of the friars of s. augustine he painted the panel of the high-altar, which was a thing much extolled; and he wrought in fresco a madonna della misericordia for a company, or rather, as they call it, a confraternity; with a resurrection of christ in the palazzo de' conservadori, which is held the best of all the works that are in the said city, and the best that he ever made. in company with domenico da vinezia, he painted the beginning of a work on the vaulting of the sacristy of s. maria at loreto; but they left it unfinished from fear of plague, and it was afterwards completed by luca da cortona,[ ] a disciple of piero, as will be told in the proper place. going from loreto to arezzo, piero painted for luigi bacci, a citizen of arezzo, the chapel of the high-altar of s. francesco, belonging to that family, the vaulting of which had been already begun by lorenzo di bicci. in this work there are stories of the cross, from that wherein the sons of adam are burying him and placing under his tongue the seed of the tree from which there came the wood for the said cross, down to the exaltation of the cross itself performed by the emperor heraclius, who, walking barefoot and carrying it on his shoulder, is entering with it into jerusalem. here there are many beautiful conceptions and attitudes worthy to be extolled; such as, for example, the garments of the women of the queen of sheba, executed in a sweet and novel manner; many most lifelike portraits from nature of ancient persons; a row of corinthian columns, divinely well proportioned; and a peasant who, leaning with his hands on his spade, stands listening to the words of s. helena--while the three crosses are being disinterred--with so great attention, that it would not be possible to improve it. very well wrought, also, is the dead body that is restored to life at the touch of the cross, together with the joy of s. helena and the marvelling of the bystanders, who are kneeling in adoration. but above every other consideration, whether of imagination or of art, is his painting of night, with an angel in foreshortening who is flying with his head downwards, bringing the sign of victory to constantine, who is sleeping in a pavilion, guarded by a chamberlain and some men-at-arms who are seen dimly through the darkness of the night; and with his own light the angel illuminates the pavilion, the men-at-arms, and all the surroundings. this is done with very great thought, for piero gives us to know in this darkness how important it is to copy things as they are and to ever take them from the true model; which he did so well that he enabled the moderns to attain, by following him, to that supreme perfection wherein art is seen in our own time. in this same story he represented most successfully in a battle fear, animosity, dexterity, vehemence, and all the other emotions that can be imagined in men who are fighting, and likewise all the incidents of battle, together with an almost incredible carnage, what with the wounded, the fallen, and the dead. in these piero counterfeited in fresco the glittering of their arms, for which he deserves no less praise than he does for the flight and submersion of maxentius painted on the other wall, wherein he made a group of horses in foreshortening, so marvellously executed that they can be truly called too beautiful and too excellent for those times. in the same story he made a man, half nude and half clothed in the dress of a saracen, riding a lean horse, which reveals a very great mastery of anatomy, a science little known in his age. for this work, therefore, he well deserved to be richly rewarded by luigi bacci, whom he portrayed there in the scene of the beheading of a king, together with carlo and others of his brothers and many aretines who were then distinguished in letters; and to be loved and revered ever afterwards, as he was, in that city, which he had made so illustrious with his works. [illustration: the resurrection (_after the fresco by =piero della francesca=. borgo san sepolchro_) _alinari_] in the vescovado of the same city, also, he made a s. mary magdalene in fresco beside the door of the sacristy; and for the company of the nunziata he painted the banner that is carried in processions. at the head of a cloister at s. maria delle grazie, without that district, he painted s. donatus in his robes, seated in a chair drawn in perspective, together with certain boys; and in a niche high up on a wall of s. bernardo, for the monks of monte oliveto, he made a s. vincent, which is much esteemed by craftsmen. in a chapel at sargiano, a seat of the frati zoccolanti di s. francesco, without arezzo, he painted a very beautiful christ praying by night in the garden. in perugia, also, he wrought many works that are still to be seen in that city; as, for example, a panel in distemper in the church of the nuns of s. anthony of padua, containing a madonna with the child in her lap, s. francis, s. elizabeth, s. john the baptist, and s. anthony of padua. above these is a most beautiful annunciation, with an angel that seems truly to have come out of heaven; and, what is more, a row of columns diminishing in perspective, which is indeed beautiful. in the predella there are scenes with little figures, representing s. anthony restoring a boy to life; s. elizabeth saving a child that has fallen into a well; and s. francis receiving the stigmata. in s. ciriaco at ancona, on the altar of s. giuseppe, he painted a most beautiful scene of the marriage of our lady. piero, as it has been said, was a very zealous student of art, and gave no little attention to perspective; and he had a very good knowledge of euclid, insomuch that he understood all the best curves drawn in regular bodies better than any other geometrician, and the clearest elucidations of these matters that we have are from his hand. now maestro luca dal borgo, a friar of s. francis, who wrote about the regular geometrical bodies, was his pupil; and when piero, after having written many books, grew old and finally died, the said maestro luca, claiming the authorship of these books, had them printed as his own, for they had fallen into his hands after the death of piero. piero was much given to making models in clay, on which he spread wet draperies with an infinity of folds, in order to make use of them for drawing. a disciple of piero was lorentino d'angelo of arezzo, who made many pictures in arezzo, imitating his manner, and completed those that piero, overtaken by death, left unfinished. near the s. donatus that piero wrought in the madonna delle grazie, lorentino painted in fresco some stories of s. donatus, with very many works in many other places both in that city and in the district, partly because he would never stay idle, and partly to assist his family, which was then very poor. in the said church of the grazie the same man painted a scene wherein pope sixtus iv, between the cardinal of mantua and cardinal piccolomini (who was afterwards pope pius iii), is granting an indulgence to that place; in which scene lorentino portrayed from the life, on their knees, tommaso marzi, piero traditi, donato rosselli, and giuliano nardi, all citizens of arezzo and wardens of works for that building. in the hall of the palazzo de' priori, moreover, he portrayed from the life cardinal galeotto da pietramala, bishop guglielmino degli ubertini, and messer angelo albergotti, doctor of laws; and he made many other works, which are scattered throughout that city. [illustration: piero della francesca: the baptism in jordan (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] it is said that once, when the carnival was close at hand, the children of lorentino kept beseeching him to kill a pig, as it is the custom to do in that district; and that, since he had not the means to buy one, they would say, "what will you do about buying a pig, father, if you have no money?" to which lorentino would answer, "some saint will help us." but when he had said this many times and the season was passing by without any pig appearing, they had lost hope, when at length there arrived a peasant from the pieve a quarto, who wished to have a s. martin painted in fulfilment of a vow, but had no means of paying for the picture save a pig, which was worth five lire. this man, coming to lorentino, told him that he wished to have the s. martin painted, but that he had no means of payment save the pig. whereupon they came to an agreement, and lorentino painted him the saint, while the peasant brought him the pig; and so the saint provided the pig for the poor children of this painter. another disciple of piero was pietro da castel della pieve,[ ] who painted an arch above s. agostino, and a s. urban for the nuns of s. caterina in arezzo, which has been thrown to the ground in rebuilding the church. his pupil, likewise, was luca signorelli of cortona, who did him more honour than all the others. piero borghese, whose pictures date about the year , became blind through an attack of catarrh at the age of sixty, and lived thus up to the eighty-sixth year of his life. he left very great possessions in the borgo, with some houses that he had built himself, which were burnt and destroyed in the strife of factions in the year . he was honourably buried by his fellow-citizens in the principal church, which formerly belonged to the order of camaldoli, and is now the vescovado. piero's books are for the most part in the library of frederick ii, duke of urbino, and they are such that they have deservedly acquired for him the name of the best geometrician of his time. [illustration: the vision of constantine (_after the fresco by =piero della francesca=. arezzo: s. francesco_) _alinari_] footnotes: [ ] luca signorelli. [ ] pietro perugino. fra giovanni da fiesole fra giovanni da fiesole [_fra angelico_] painter of the order of preaching friars fra giovanni angelico da fiesole, who was known in the world as guido, was no less excellent as painter and illuminator than he was upright as churchman, and for both one and the other of these reasons he deserves that most honourable record should be made of him. this man, although he could have lived in the world with the greatest comfort, and could have gained whatever he wished, besides what he possessed, by means of those arts, of which he had a very good knowledge even in his youth, yet resolved, for his own peace and satisfaction, being by nature serious and upright, and above all in order to save his soul, to take the vows of the order of preaching friars; for the reason that, although it is possible to serve god in all walks of life, nevertheless it appears to some men that they can gain salvation in monasteries better than in the world. now in proportion as this plan succeeds happily for good men, so, on the contrary, it has a truly miserable and unhappy issue for a man who takes the vows with some other end in view. there are some choral books illuminated by the hand of fra giovanni in his convent of s. marco in florence, so beautiful that words are not able to describe them; and similar to these are some others that he left in s. domenico da fiesole, wrought with incredible diligence. it is true, indeed, that in making these he was assisted by an elder brother, who was likewise an illuminator and well practised in painting. one of the first works in painting wrought by this good father was a panel in the certosa of florence, which was placed in the principal chapel (belonging to cardinal acciaiuoli); in which panel is a madonna with the child in her arms, and with certain very beautiful angels at her feet, sounding instruments and singing; at the sides are s. laurence, s. mary magdalene, s. zanobi, and s. benedict; and in the predella are little stories of these saints, wrought in little figures with infinite diligence. in the cross of the said chapel are two other panels by the hand of the same man; one containing the coronation of our lady, and the other a madonna with two saints, wrought with most beautiful ultramarine blues. afterwards, in the tramezzo[ ] of s. maria novella, beside the door opposite to the choir, he painted in fresco s. dominic, s. catherine of siena, and s. peter martyr; and some little scenes in the chapel of the coronation of our lady in the said tramezzo. on canvas, fixed to the doors that closed the old organ, he painted an annunciation, which is now in the convent, opposite to the door of the lower dormitory, between one cloister and the other. this father was so greatly beloved for his merits by cosimo de' medici, that, after completing the construction of the church and convent of s. marco, he caused him to paint the whole passion of jesus christ on a wall in the chapter-house; and on one side all the saints who have been heads and founders of religious bodies, mourning and weeping at the foot of the cross, and on the other side s. mark the evangelist beside the mother of the son of god, who has swooned at the sight of the saviour of the world crucified, while round her are the maries, all grieving and supporting her, with s. cosimo and s. damiano. it is said that in the figure of s. cosimo fra giovanni portrayed from the life nanni d' antonio di banco, a sculptor and his friend. below this work, in a frieze above the panelling, he made a tree with s. dominic at the foot of it, and, in certain medallions encircled by the branches, all the popes, cardinals, bishops, saints, and masters of theology whom his order of preaching friars had produced up to that time. in this work he made many portraits from nature, being assisted by the friars, who sent for them to various places; and they were the following: s. dominic in the middle, grasping the branches of the tree; pope innocent v, a frenchman; the blessed ugone, first cardinal of that order; the blessed paolo, florentine and patriarch; s. antonino, archbishop of florence; the blessed giordano, a german, and the second general of that order; the blessed niccolò; the blessed remigio, a florentine; and the martyr boninsegno, a florentine; all these are on the right hand. on the left are benedict ii[ ] of treviso; giandomenico, a florentine cardinal; pietro da palude, patriarch of jerusalem; alberto magno, a german; the blessed raimondo di catalonia, third general of the order; the blessed chiaro, a florentine, and provincial of rome; s. vincenzio di valenza; and the blessed bernardo, a florentine. all these heads are truly gracious and very beautiful. then, over certain lunettes in the first cloister, he made many very beautiful figures in fresco, and a crucifix with s. dominic at the foot, which is much extolled; and in the dormitory, besides many other things throughout the cells and on the surface of the walls, he painted a story from the new testament, of a beauty beyond the power of words to describe. particularly beautiful and marvellous is the panel of the high-altar of that church; for, besides the fact that the madonna rouses all who see her to devotion by her simplicity, and that the saints that surround her are like her in this, the predella, in which there are stories of the martyrdom of s. cosimo, s. damiano, and others, is so well painted, that one cannot imagine it possible ever to see a work executed with greater diligence, or little figures more delicate or better conceived than these are. in s. domenico da fiesole, likewise, he painted the panel of the high-altar, which has been retouched by other masters and injured, perchance because it appeared to be spoiling. but the predella and the ciborium of the sacrament have remained in better preservation; and the innumerable little figures that are to be seen there, in a celestial glory, are so beautiful, that they appear truly to belong to paradise, nor can any man who approaches them ever have his fill of gazing on them. in a chapel of the same church is a panel by his hand, containing the annunciation of our lady by the angel gabriel, with features in profile, so devout, so delicate, and so well executed, that they appear truly to have been made rather in paradise than by the hand of man; and in the landscape at the back are adam and eve, because of whom the redeemer was born from the virgin. in the predella, also, there are some very beautiful little scenes. but superior to all the other works that fra giovanni made, and the one wherein he surpassed himself and gave supreme proof of his talent and of his knowledge of art, was a panel that is beside the door of the same church, on the left hand as one enters, wherein jesus christ is crowning our lady in the midst of a choir of angels and among an infinite multitude of saints, both male and female, so many in number, so well wrought, and with such variety in the attitudes and in the expressions of the heads, that incredible pleasure and sweetness are felt in gazing at them; nay, one is persuaded that those blessed spirits cannot look otherwise in heaven, or, to speak more exactly, could not if they had bodies; for not only are all these saints, both male and female, full of life and sweet and delicate in expression, but the whole colouring of that work appears to be by the hand of a saint or an angel like themselves; wherefore it was with very good reason that this excellent monk was ever called fra giovanni angelico. moreover, the stories of the madonna and of s. dominic in the predella are divine in their own kind; and i, for one, can declare with truth that i never see this work without thinking it something new, and that i never leave it sated. in the chapel of the nunziata in florence which piero di cosimo de' medici caused to be built, he painted the doors of the press (in which the silver is kept) with little figures executed with much diligence. this father painted so many pictures, now to be found in the houses of florentine citizens, "that i sometimes stand marvelling how one single man could execute so much work to such perfection, even in the space of many years. the very reverend don vincenzio borghini, director of the hospital of the innocenti, has a very beautiful little madonna by the hand of this father; and bartolommeo gondi, as devoted a lover of these arts as any gentleman that one could think of, has a large picture, a small one, and a crucifix, all by the same hand. the pictures that are in the arch over the door of s. domenico are also by the same man; and in the sacristy of s. trinita there is a panel containing a deposition from the cross, into which he put so great diligence, that it can be numbered among the best works that he ever made. in s. francesco, without the porta a s. miniato, there is an annunciation; and in s. maria novella, besides the works already named, he painted with little scenes the paschal candle and some reliquaries which are placed on the altar in the most solemn ceremonies. [illustration: the transfiguration (_after the fresco by =fra giovanni da fiesole= [fra angelico]. florence: s. marco_) _anderson_] over a door of the cloister of the badia in the same city he painted a s. benedict, who is making a sign enjoining silence. for the linen-manufacturers he painted a panel that is in the office of their guild; and in cortona he painted a little arch over the door of the church of his order, and likewise the panel of the high-altar. at orvieto, on a part of the vaulting of the chapel of the madonna in the duomo, he began certain prophets, which were finished afterwards by luca da cortona. for the company of the temple in florence he painted a dead christ on a panel; and in the church of the monks of the angeli he made a paradise and a hell with little figures, wherein he showed fine judgment by making the blessed very beautiful and full of jubilation and celestial gladness, and the damned all ready for the pains of hell, in various most woeful attitudes, and bearing the stamp of their sins and unworthiness on their faces. the blessed are seen entering the gate of paradise in celestial dance, and the damned are being dragged by demons to the eternal pains of hell. this work is in the aforesaid church, on the right hand as one goes towards the high-altar, where the priest sits when mass is sung. for the nuns of s. piero martire--who now live in the monastery of s. felice in piazza, which used to belong to the order of camaldoli--he painted a panel with our lady, s. john the baptist, s. dominic, s. thomas, and s. peter martyr, and a number of little figures. and in the tramezzo[ ] of s. maria nuova there may also be seen a panel by his hand. these many labours having made the name of fra giovanni illustrious throughout all italy, pope nicholas v sent for him and caused him to adorn that chapel of his palace in rome wherein the pope hears mass with a deposition from the cross and some very beautiful stories of s. laurence, and also to illuminate some books, which are most beautiful. in the minerva he painted the panel of the high-altar, and an annunciation that is now set up against a wall beside the principal chapel. he also painted for the said pope in the palace the chapel of the sacrament, which was afterwards destroyed by paul iii in the making of a staircase through it. in that work, which was an excellent example of his manner, he had wrought in fresco some scenes from the life of jesus christ, and he had made therein many portraits from life of distinguished persons of those times, which would probably now be lost if giovio had not caused the following among them to be preserved for his museum--namely, pope nicholas v; the emperor frederick, who came to italy at that time; frate antonino, who was afterwards archbishop of florence; biondo da forlì; and ferrante of arragon. now fra giovanni appeared to the pope to be, as indeed he was, a person of most holy life, peaceful and modest; and, since the archbishopric of florence was at that time vacant, the pope had judged him worthy of that rank; but the said friar, hearing this, implored his holiness to find another man, for the reason that he did not feel himself fitted for ruling others, whereas his order contained a brother most learned and well able to govern, a godfearing man and a friend of the poor, on whom that dignity would be conferred much more fittingly than on himself. the pope, hearing this and remembering that what he said was true, granted him the favour willingly; and thus the archbishopric of florence was given to frate antonino of the order of preaching friars, a man truly very famous both for sanctity and for learning, and of such a character, in short, that he was deservedly canonized in our own day by adrian vi. [illustration: s. stephen preaching (_after the fresco by =fra giovanni da fiesole= [fra angelico] rome: the vatican, chapel of nicholas v_) _anderson_] great excellence was that of fra giovanni, and a thing truly very rare, to resign a dignity and honour and charge so important, offered to himself by a supreme pontiff, in favour of the man whom he, with his singleness of eye and sincerity of heart, judged to be much more worthy of it than himself. let the churchmen of our own times learn from this holy man not to take upon themselves charges that they cannot worthily carry out, and to yield them to those who are most worthy of them. would to god, to return to fra giovanni (and may this be said without offence to the upright among them), that all churchmen would spend their time as did this truly angelic father, seeing that he spent every minute of his life in the service of god and in benefiting both the world and his neighbour. and what can or ought to be desired more than to gain the kingdom of heaven by living a life of holiness, and to win eternal fame in the world by labouring virtuously? and in truth a talent so extraordinary and so supreme as that of fra giovanni could not and should not descend on any save a man of most holy life, for the reason that those who work at religious and holy subjects should be religious and holy men; for it is seen, when such works are executed by persons of little faith who have little esteem for religion, that they often arouse in men's minds evil appetites and licentious desires; whence there comes blame for the evil in their works, with praise for the art and ability that they show. now i would not have any man deceive himself by considering the rude and inept as holy, and the beautiful and excellent as licentious; as some do, who, seeing figures of women or of youths adorned with loveliness and beauty beyond the ordinary, straightway censure them and judge them licentious, not perceiving that they are very wrong to condemn the good judgment of the painter, who holds the saints, both male and female, who are celestial, to be as much more beautiful than mortal man as heaven is superior to earthly beauty and to the works of human hands; and, what is worse, they reveal the unsoundness and corruption of their own minds by drawing evil and impure desires out of works from which, if they were lovers of purity, as they seek by their misguided zeal to prove themselves to be, they would gain a desire to attain to heaven and to make themselves acceptable to the creator of all things, in whom, as most perfect and most beautiful, all perfection and beauty have their source. what would such men do if they found themselves, or rather, what are we to believe that they do when they actually find themselves, in places containing living beauty, accompanied by licentious ways, honey-sweet words, movements full of grace, and eyes that ravish all but the stoutest of hearts, if the very image of beauty, nay, its mere shadow, moves them so profoundly? however, i would not have any believe that i approve of those figures that are painted in churches in a state of almost complete nudity, for in these cases it is seen that the painter has not shown the consideration that was due to the place; because, even although a man has to show how much he knows, he should proceed with due regard for circumstances and pay respect to persons, times, and places. fra giovanni was a man of great simplicity, and most holy in his ways; and his goodness may be perceived from this, that, pope nicholas v wishing one morning to entertain him at table, he had scruples of conscience about eating meat without leave from his prior, forgetting about the authority of the pontiff. he shunned the affairs of the world; and, living a pure and holy life, he was as much the friend of the poor as i believe his soul to be now the friend of heaven. he was continually labouring at his painting, and he would never paint anything save saints. he might have been rich, but to this he gave no thought; nay, he used to say that true riches consist only in being content with little. he might have ruled many, but he would not, saying that it was less fatiguing and less misleading to obey others. he had the option of obtaining dignities both among the friars and in the world, but he despised them, declaring that he sought no other dignity save that of seeking to avoid hell and draw near to paradise. and what dignity, in truth, can be compared to that which all churchmen, nay, all men, should seek, and which is to be found only in god and in a life of virtue? he was most kindly and temperate; and he lived chastely and withdrew himself from the snares of the world, being wont very often to say that he who pursued such an art had need of quiet and of a life free from cares, and that he whose work is connected with christ must ever live with christ. he was never seen in anger among his fellow-friars, which is a very notable thing, and almost impossible, it seems to me, to believe; and it was his custom to admonish his friends with a simple smile. with incredible sweetness, if any sought for works from him, he would say that they had only to gain the consent of the prior, and that then he would not fail them. in short, this never to be sufficiently extolled father was most humble and modest in all his works and his discourse, and facile and devout in his pictures; and the saints that he painted have more the air and likeness of saints than those of any other man. it was his custom never to retouch or improve any of his pictures, but to leave them ever in the state to which he had first brought them; believing, so he used to say, that this was the will of god. some say that fra giovanni would never have taken his brushes in his hand without first offering a prayer. he never painted a crucifix without the tears streaming down his cheeks; wherefore in the countenances and attitudes of his figures one can recognize the goodness, nobility, and sincerity of his mind towards the christian religion. [illustration: fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico): the annunciation (_cortona: gesù gallery. panel_)] he died in at the age of sixty-eight, and left disciples in benozzo, a florentine, who ever imitated his manner, and zanobi strozzi, who painted pictures and panels throughout all florence for the houses of citizens, and particularly a panel that is now in the tramezzo[ ] of s. maria novella, beside that by fra giovanni, and one in s. benedetto, a monastery of the monks of camaldoli without the porta a pinti, now in ruins. the latter panel is at present in the little church of s. michele in the monastery of the angeli, before one enters the principal church, set up against the wall on the right as one approaches the altar. there is also a panel in the chapel of the nasi in s. lucia, and another in s. romeo; and in the guardaroba of the duke there is the portrait of giovanni di bicci de' medici, with that of bartolommeo valori, in one and the same picture by the hand of the same man. another disciple of fra giovanni was gentile da fabriano, as was also domenico di michelino, who painted the panel for the altar of s. zanobi in s. apollinare at florence, and many other pictures. fra giovanni was buried by his fellow-friars in the minerva in rome, near the lateral door beside the sacristy, in a round tomb of marble, with himself, portrayed from nature, lying thereon. the following epitaph may be read, carved in the marble: non mihi sit laudi, quod eram velut alter apelles, sed quod lucra tuis omnia, christe, dabam; altera nam terris opera extant, altera c[oe]lo. urbs me joannem flos tulit etruriÆ. in s. maria del fiore are two very large books illuminated divinely well by the hand of fra giovanni, which are held in great veneration and richly adorned, nor are they ever seen save on days of the highest solemnity. a celebrated and famous illuminator at the same time as fra giovanni was one attavante, a florentine, of whom i know no other name. this man, among many other works, illuminated a silius italicus, which is now in s. giovanni e polo in venice; of which work i will not withhold certain particulars, both because they are worthy of the attention of craftsmen, and because, to my knowledge, no other work by this master is to be found; nor should i know even of this one, had it not been for the affection borne to these noble arts by the very reverend maestro cosimo bartoli, a gentleman of florence, who gave me information about it, to the end that the talent of attavante might not remain, as it were, buried out of sight. in the said book, then, the figure of silius has on the head a helmet with a crest of gold and a chaplet of laurel; he is wearing a blue cuirass picked out with gold in the ancient manner, while he is holding a book in his right hand, and the left he has on a short sword. over the cuirass he has a red chlamys, fastened in front with a knot, and fringed with gold, which hangs down from his shoulders. the inside of this chlamys is seen to be of changing colours and embroidered with gold. his buskins are yellow, and he is standing on his right foot in a niche. the next figure in this work represents scipio africanus. he is wearing a yellow cuirass, and his sword-belt and sleeves, which are blue in colour, are all embroidered with gold. on his head he has a helmet with two little wings and a fish by way of crest. the young man's countenance is fair and very beautiful; and he is raising his right arm proudly, holding in that hand a naked sword, while in the left hand he has the scabbard, which is red and embroidered with gold. the hose are green in colour and plain; and the chlamys, which is blue, has a red lining with a fringe of gold all round, and it is fastened at the throat, leaving the front quite open, and falling behind with beautiful grace. this young man, who stands in a niche of mixed green and grey marble, with blue buskins embroidered with gold, is looking with indescribable fierceness at hannibal, who faces him on the opposite page of the book. this figure of hannibal is that of a man about thirty-six years of age; he is frowning, with two furrows in his brow expressive of impatience and anger, and he, too, is looking fixedly at scipio. on his head he has a yellow helmet, with a green and yellow dragon for crest and a serpent for chaplet. he is standing on his left foot and raising his right arm, with which he holds the shaft of an ancient javelin, or rather, of a little partisan. his cuirass is blue, his sword-belt partly blue and partly yellow, his sleeves of changing blue and red, and his buskins yellow. his chlamys, of changing red and yellow, is fastened on the right shoulder and lined with green; and, holding his left hand on his sword, he is standing in a niche of varicoloured marbles, yellow, white, and changing. on another page is pope nicholas v, portrayed from the life, with a mantle of changing purple and red and all embroidered with gold. he is without a beard and in full profile, and he is looking towards the beginning of the book, which is opposite to him; and he is pointing to it with his right hand, as though in a marvel. the niche is green, white, and red. then in the border there are certain little half-length figures in an ornament composed of ovals and circles, and other things of that kind, together with an infinite number of little birds and children, so well wrought that nothing more could be desired. close to this, in like manner, are hanno the carthaginian, hasdrubal, laelius, massinissa, c. salinator, nero, sempronius, m. marcellus, q. fabius, the other scipio, and vibius. at the end of the book there is seen a mars in an antique chariot drawn by two reddish horses. on his head he has a helmet of red and gold, with two little wings; on his left arm he has an antique shield, which he holds before him, and in his right hand a naked sword. he is standing on his left foot only, holding the other in the air. he has a cuirass in the antique manner, all red and gold, as are his hose and his buskins. his chlamys is blue without, and within all green and embroidered with gold. the chariot is covered with red cloth embroidered with gold, with a border of ermine all round; and it stands in a verdant and flowery champaign country, surrounded by cliffs and rocks; while landscapes and cities are seen in the distance, with a sky of a most marvellous blue. on the opposite page is a young neptune, whose clothing is in the shape of a long shirt, embroidered all round with the colour formed from terretta verde. the flesh-colour is very pale. in his right hand he is holding a little trident, and with his left he is raising his dress. he is standing with both feet on the chariot, which has a covering of red, embroidered with gold and fringed all round with sable. this chariot has four wheels, like that of mars, but it is drawn by four dolphins, and accompanied by three sea-nymphs, two boys, and a great number of fishes, all wrought with a water-colour similar to the terretta, and very beautiful in expression. after these is seen carthage in despair, in the form of a woman standing upright with dishevelled hair. her upper garment is green, and it is open from the waist downwards, being lined with red cloth embroidered in gold; and through this opening there may be seen another garment, delicate and of changing purple and white colour. the sleeves are red and gold, with certain puffs and floating folds made by the upper garment, and she is stretching out her left hand towards rome, who is opposite to her, as though saying, "what is thy wish? i have my answer ready;" and in her right hand she holds a naked sword, with an air of frenzy. her buskins are blue, and she is standing on a rock in the middle of the sea, surrounded by a very beautiful sky. rome is a maiden as beautiful as it is possible for man to imagine, with dishevelled hair and certain tresses wrought with infinite grace. her clothing is pure red, with only an embroidered border at the foot; the lining of her robe is yellow, and the garment beneath, which is seen through the opening, is of changing purple and white. her buskins are green; in her right hand she has a sceptre, in her left a globe; and she, too, is standing on a rock, in the midst of a sky that could not be more beautiful than it is. now, although i have striven to the best of my power to show with what great art these figures were wrought by attavante, let no one believe that i have said more than a very small part of what might be said about their beauty, seeing that, considering the time, there are no better examples of illumination to be seen, nor any work wrought with more invention, judgment, and design; and the colours, above all, could not be more beautiful or laid in their places more delicately, so perfect is their grace. footnotes: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. [ ] this seems to be a mistake for benedict xi. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. leon batista alberti life of leon batista alberti architect of florence very great is the advantage bestowed by learning, without exception, on all those craftsmen who take delight in it, but particularly on sculptors, painters, and architects, for it opens up the way to invention in all the works that are made; not to mention that a man cannot have a perfect judgment, be his natural gifts what they may, if he is deprived of the complemental advantage of being assisted by learning. for who does not know that it is necessary, in choosing sites for buildings, to show enlightenment in the avoidance of danger from pestiferous winds, insalubrious air, and the smells and vapours of impure and unwholesome waters? who is ignorant that a man must be able, in whatever work he is seeking to carry out, to reject or adopt everything for himself after mature consideration, without having to depend on help from another man's theory? for theory, when separated from practice, is generally of very little use; but when the two chance to come together, there is nothing that is more helpful to our life, both because art becomes much richer and more perfect by the aid of science, and because the counsels and the writings of learned craftsmen have in themselves greater efficacy and greater credit than the words or works of those who know nothing but mere practice, whether they do it well or ill. and that all this is true is seen manifestly in leon batista alberti, who, having studied the latin tongue, and having given attention to architecture, to perspective, and to painting, left behind him books written in such a manner, that, since not one of our modern craftsmen has been able to expound these matters in writing, although very many of them in his own country have excelled him in working, it is generally believed--such is the influence of his writings over the pens and speech of the learned--that he was superior to all those who were actually superior to him in work. wherefore, with regard to name and fame, it is seen from experience that writings have greater power and longer life than anything else; for books go everywhere with ease, and everywhere they command belief, if only they be truthful and not full of lies. it is no marvel, then, if the famous leon batista is known more for his writings than for the work of his hands. this man, born in florence of the most noble family of the alberti, of which we have spoken in another place, devoted himself not only to studying geography and the proportions of antiquities, but also to writing, to which he was much inclined, much more than to working. he was excellent in arithmetic and geometry, and he wrote ten books on architecture in the latin tongue, which were published by him in , and may now be read in a translation in the florentine tongue made by the reverend maestro cosimo bartoli, provost of s. giovanni in florence. he wrote three books on painting, now translated into the tuscan tongue by messer lodovico domenichi; he composed a treatise on traction and on the rules for measuring heights, as well as the books on the "vita civile," and some erotic works in prose and verse; and he was the first who tried to reduce italian verse to the measure of the latin, as is seen in the following epistle by his pen: questa per estrema miserabile pistola mando a te, che spregi miseramente noi. arriving at rome in the time of nicholas v, who had turned the whole of rome upside down with his manner of building, leon batista, through the agency of biondo da forlì, who was much his friend, became intimate with that pope, who had previously carried out all his building after the advice of bernardo rossellino, a sculptor and architect of florence, as will be told in the life of his brother antonio. this man, having put his hand to restoring the pope's palace and to certain works in s. maria maggiore, thenceforward, according to the will of the pope, ever sought the advice of leon batista. wherefore, using one of them as adviser and the other as executor, the pope carried out many useful and praiseworthy works, such as the restoring of the conduit of the acqua vergine, which was in ruins; and there was made the fountain on the piazza de' trevi, with those marble ornaments that are seen there, on which are the arms of that pontiff and of the roman people. afterwards, having gone to signor sigismondo malatesti of rimini, he made for him the model of the church of s. francesco, and in particular that of the façade, which was made of marble; and likewise the side facing towards the south, which was built with very great arches and with tombs for the illustrious men of that city. in short, he brought that building to such a form that in point of solidity it is one of the most famous temples in italy. within it are six most beautiful chapels, one of which, dedicated to s. jerome, is very ornate; and in it are preserved many relics brought from jerusalem. in the same chapel are the tombs of the said signor sigismondo and of his wife, constructed very richly of marble in the year ; on one there is the portrait of sigismondo himself, and in another part of the work there is that of leon batista. after this, in the year , when the very useful method of printing books was discovered by johann gutenberg the german, leon batista, working on similar lines, discovered a way of tracing natural perspectives and of effecting the diminution of figures by means of an instrument, and likewise the method of enlarging small things and reproducing them on a greater scale; all ingenious inventions, useful to art and very beautiful. in leon batista's time giovanni di paolo rucellai wished to build the principal façade of s. maria novella entirely of marble at his own expense, and he spoke of this to leon batista, who was very much his friend; and having received from him not only counsel, but the actual model, giovanni resolved to have the work executed at all costs, in order to leave it behind him as a memorial of himself. a beginning having been made, therefore, it was finished in the year , to the great satisfaction of all the city, which was pleased with the whole work, but particularly with the door, from which it is seen that leon batista took more than ordinary pains. for cosimo rucellai, likewise, he made the design for the palace which that man built in the street which is called la vigna, and that for the loggia which is opposite to it. in the latter, having turned his arches over columns close together, both in the front and at the ends, since he wished to adhere to this plan and not to make one single arch, he had a certain space left over on each side; wherefore he was forced to make certain projections at the inner corners. and then, when he wished to turn the arch of the inner vaulting, having seen that he could not give it the shape of a half-circle, which would have been flat and awkward, he resolved to turn certain small arches at the corners from one projection to another; and this lack of judgment in design gives us to know clearly that practice is necessary as well as science, for the judgment can never become perfect unless science attains to experience by actual work. it is said that the same man made the design for the house and garden of these rucellai in the via della scala. this house is built with much judgment and very commodious, for, besides many other conveniences, it has two loggie, one facing south and the other west, both very beautiful, and made without arches on the columns, which is the true and proper method that the ancients used, for the reason that the architraves which are placed on the capitals of the columns lie level, whereas a four-sided thing like a curving arch cannot rest on a round column without the corners jutting out over space. the good method, therefore, demands that architraves should rest on columns, and that, when arches are to be turned, pilasters and not columns should be made. for the same rucellai leon batista made a chapel in the same manner in s. pancrazio, which rests on great architraves placed on two columns and two pilasters, piercing the wall of the church below; which is a difficult thing, but safe; wherefore this work is one of the best that this architect ever made. in the middle of this chapel is a tomb of marble, wrought very well in the form of a rather long oval, and similar, as may be read on it, to the sepulchre of jesus christ in jerusalem. [illustration: faÇade of s. andrea (_after =leon batista alberti=. mantua_) _alinari_] about the same time lodovico gonzaga, marquis of mantua, wished to build the tribune and the principal chapel in the nunziata, the church of the servi in florence, after the design and model of leon batista; and pulling down a square chapel, old, not very large, and painted in the ancient manner, which stood at the head of the church, he built the said tribune in the bizarre and difficult form of a round temple surrounded by nine chapels, all curving in a round arch, and each within in the shape of a niche. now, since the arches of the said chapels rest on the pilasters in front, the result is that the stone dressings of the arches, inclining towards the wall, tend to draw ever backwards in order to meet the said wall, which turns in the opposite direction according to the shape of the tribune; wherefore, when the said arches of the chapels are looked at from the side, it appears that they are falling backwards, and that they are clumsy, as indeed they are, although the proportions are correct, and the difficulties of the method must be remembered. truly it would have been better if leon batista had avoided this method, for, although there is some credit for the difficulty of its execution, it is clumsy both in great things and in small, and it cannot have a good result. and that this is true of great things is proved by the great arch in front, which forms the entrance to the said tribune; for, although it is very beautiful on the outer side, on the inner side, where it has to follow the curve of the chapel, which is round, it appears to be falling backwards and to be extremely clumsy. this leon batista would perhaps not have done, if, in addition to science and theory, he had possessed practical experience in working; for another man would have avoided this difficulty, and would have rather aimed at grace and greater beauty for the edifice. the whole work is otherwise in itself very beautiful, bizarre, and difficult; and nothing save great courage could have enabled leon batista to vault that tribune in those times in the manner that he did. being then summoned by the same marquis lodovico to mantua, leon batista made for him the models of the church of s. andrea and of some other works; and on the road leading from mantua to padua there may be seen certain temples built after his manner. many of the designs and models of leon batista were carried into execution by salvestro fancelli, a passing good architect and sculptor of florence, who, according to the desire of the said leon batista, executed with judgment and extraordinary diligence all the works that he undertook in florence. for those in mantua he employed one luca, a florentine, who, living ever afterwards in that city and dying there, left his name--so filarete tells us--to the family of the luchi, which is still there to-day. it was no small good-fortune for him to have friends who understood him and were able and willing to serve him, because architects cannot be always standing over their work, and it is of the greatest use to them to have a faithful and loving assistant; and if any man ever knew it, i know it very well by long experience. in painting leon batista did not do great or very beautiful works, for the few by his hand that are to be seen do not show much perfection; nor is this to be wondered at, seeing that he devoted himself more to his studies than to draughtsmanship. yet he could express his conceptions well enough in drawing, as may be seen from some sketches by his hand that are in our book, in which there are drawn the bridge of s. angelo and the covering that was made for it with his design in the form of a loggia, for protection from the sun in summer and from the rain and wind in winter. this work he was commissioned to execute by pope nicholas v, who had intended to carry out many similar works throughout the whole of rome; but death intervened to hinder him. there is a work of leon batista's in a little chapel of our lady on the abutment of the ponte alla carraja in florence--namely, an altar-predella, containing three little scenes with some perspectives, which he was much more able to describe with the pen than to paint with the brush. in the house of the palla rucellai family, also in florence, there is a portrait of himself made with a mirror; and a panel with rather large figures in chiaroscuro. he also made a picture of venice in perspective, with s. marco, but the figures therein were executed by other masters; and this is one of the best examples of his painting that there are to be seen. leon batista was a person of most honest and laudable ways, the friend of men of talent, and very open and courteous to all; and he lived honourably and like a gentleman--which he was--through the whole course of his life. finally, having reached a mature enough age, he passed content and tranquil to a better life, leaving a most honourable name behind him. lazzaro vasari life of lazzaro vasari painter of arezzo truly great is the pleasure of those who find one of their ancestors and of their own family to have been distinguished and famous in some profession, whether that of arms, or of letters, or of painting, or any other noble calling whatsoever; and those men who find some honourable mention of one of their forefathers in history, if they gain nothing else thereby, have an incitement to virtue and a bridle to restrain them from doing anything unworthy of a family which has produced illustrious and very famous men. how great is this pleasure, as i said at the beginning, i have experienced for myself in finding that one among my ancestors, lazzaro vasari, was famous as a painter in his day not only in his native place, but throughout all tuscany; and that certainly not without reason, as i could clearly prove, if it were permissible for me to speak as freely of him as i have spoken of others. but, since i was born of his blood, it might be readily believed that i had exceeded all due bounds in praising him; wherefore, leaving on one side the merits of the man himself and of the family, i will simply tell what i cannot and should not under any circumstances withhold, if i would not fall short of the truth, on which all history hangs. lazzaro vasari, then, a painter of arezzo, was very much the friend of piero della francesca of borgo a san sepolcro, and ever held intercourse with him while piero was working, as it has been said, in arezzo. and, as it often comes to pass, this friendship brought him nothing but advantage, for the reason that, whereas lazzaro had formerly devoted himself only to making little figures for certain works according to the custom of those times, he was persuaded by piero della francesca to set himself to do bigger things. his first work in fresco was a s. vincent in s. domenico at arezzo, in the second chapel on the left as one enters the church; and at his feet he painted himself and his young son giorgio kneeling, clothed in honourable costumes of those times, and recommending themselves to the saint, because the boy had inadvertently cut his face with a knife. although there is no inscription on this work, yet certain memories of old men belonging to our house and the fact that it contains the vasari arms, enable us to attribute it to him without a doubt. of this there must certainly have been some record in that convent, but their papers and everything else have been destroyed many times by soldiers, and i do not marvel at the lack of records. the manner of lazzaro was so similar to that of piero borghese, that very little difference could be seen between one and the other. now it was very much the custom at that time to paint various things, such as the quarterings of arms, on the caparisons of horses, according to the rank of those who bore them; and in this work lazzaro was an excellent master, and the rather as it was his province to make very graceful little figures, which were very well suited to such caparisons. lazzaro wrought for niccolò piccino and for his soldiers and captains many things full of stories and arms, which were held in great price, with so much profit for himself, that the gains that he drew from this work enabled him to recall to arezzo many of his brothers, who were living at cortona and working at the manufacture of earthenware vases. he also brought into his house his nephew, luca signorelli of cortona, his sister's son, whom he placed, by reason of his good intelligence, with piero borghese, to the end that he might learn the art of painting; which he contrived to do very well, as will be told in the proper place. lazzaro, then, devoting himself continually to the study of art, became every day more excellent, as is shown by some very good drawings by his hand that are in our book. and because he took much pleasure in depicting certain natural effects full of emotions, in which he expressed very well weeping, laughing, crying, fear, trembling, and the like, his pictures are mostly full of such inventions; as may be seen in a little chapel painted in fresco by his hand in s. gimignano at arezzo, wherein there is a crucifix, with the madonna, s. john, and the magdalene at the foot of the cross, in various attitudes, and weeping so naturally, that they acquired credit and fame for him among his fellow-citizens. for the company of s. antonio, in the same city, he painted a cloth banner that is borne in processions, on which he wrought jesus christ at the column, naked and bound and so lifelike, that he appears to be trembling, and, with his shoulders all drawn together, to be enduring with incredible humility and patience the blows that two jews are giving him. one of these, firmly planted on his feet, is plying his scourge with both his hands, turning his back towards christ in an attitude full of cruelty. the other is seen in profile, raising himself on tip-toe; and grasping the scourge with his hands, and gnashing his teeth, he is wielding it with so great rage that words are powerless to express it. both these men lazzaro painted with their garments torn, the better to reveal the nude, contenting himself with covering after a fashion their private and less honourable parts. this work painted on cloth has lasted all these years--which truly makes me marvel--right up to our own day; and by reason of its beauty and excellence the men of that company caused a copy to be made of it by the french prior,[ ] as we will relate in the proper place. at perugia, also, lazzaro wrought some stories of the madonna, with a crucifix, in a chapel beside the sacristy of the church of the servi. in the pieve of montepulciano he executed a predella with little figures, and at castiglione aretino he painted a panel in distemper in s. francesco; together with many other works, which, for the sake of brevity, i refrain from describing, more particularly many chests that are in the houses of citizens, which he painted with little figures. in the palace of the guelphs in florence, among the ancient arms, there may be seen some caparisons wrought very well by him. he also painted a banner for the company of s. sebastiano, containing the said saint at the column, with certain angels crowning him; but it is now spoilt and all eaten away by time. in lazzaro's time there was one who made glass windows in arezzo, fabiano sassoli, a young aretine of great excellence in that profession, as is proved by those of his works that are in the vescovado, the abbey, the pieve, and other places in that city; but he knew little of design, and he was very far from reaching the excellence of those that parri spinelli made. wherefore he determined that, even as he knew well how to fire, to put together, and to mount the glass, so he would make some work that should also be passing good with regard to the painting; and he caused lazzaro to execute for him two cartoons of his own invention, in order to make two windows for the madonna delle grazie. having obtained these from lazzaro, who was his friend and a courteous craftsman, he made the said windows, which turned out so beautiful and so well wrought that there are not many to which they have to give precedence. in one there is a very beautiful madonna; and in the other, which is by far the better of the two, there is the resurrection of christ, with an armed man in foreshortening in front of the sepulchre; and it is a marvel, considering the small size of the window and consequently of the picture, how those figures can appear so large in so small a space. many other things could i tell of lazzaro, who was a very good draughtsman, as may be seen from certain drawings in our book; but i think it best for me to pass them by. lazzaro was a pleasant person and very witty in his speech; and although he was much given to pleasure, nevertheless he never strayed from the path of right living. his life lasted seventy-two years, and he left a son called giorgio, who occupied himself continually with the ancient aretine vases of terra-cotta; and at the time when messer gentile of urbino, bishop of arezzo, was dwelling in that city, giorgio rediscovered the method of giving red and black colours to terra-cotta vases, such as those that the ancient aretines made up to the time of king porsena. being a most industrious person, he made large vases with the potter's wheel, one braccio and a half in height, which are still to be seen in his house. men say that while searching for vases in a place where he thought that the ancients had worked, he found three arches of their ancient furnaces three braccia below the surface in a field of clay near the bridge at calciarella, a place called by that name; and round these he found some of the mixture for making the vases, and many broken ones, with four that were whole. these last were given by giorgio, through the mediation of the bishop, to the magnificent lorenzo de' medici on his visiting arezzo; wherefore they were the source and origin of his entering into the service of that most exalted family, in which he remained ever afterwards. giorgio worked very well in relief, as may be seen from some heads by his hand that are in his house. he had five sons, who all followed the same calling; two of them, lazzaro and bernardo, were good craftsmen, of whom the latter died very young in rome; and in truth, by reason of his intelligence, which is known to have been dexterous and ready, if death had not snatched him so prematurely from his house, he would have brought honour to his native place. the elder lazzaro died in , and his son, giorgio, died in at the age of sixty-eight; and both were buried in the pieve of arezzo at the foot of their own chapel of s. giorgio, where the following verses were set up after a time in praise of lazzaro: aretii exultet tellus clarissima; namque est rebus in angustis, in tenuique labor. vix operum istius partes cognoscere possis: myrmecides taceat; callicrates sileat. finally, the last giorgio vasari, writer of this history, in gratitude for the benefits for which he has to thank in great measure the excellence of his ancestors, having received the principal chapel of the said pieve as a gift from his fellow-citizens and from the wardens of works and canons, as was told in the life of pietro laurati, and having brought it to the condition that has been described, has made a new tomb in the middle of the choir, which is behind the altar; and in this he has laid the bones of the said lazzaro the elder and giorgio the elder, having removed them from their former resting-place, and likewise those of all the other members of the said family, both male and female; and thus he has made a new burial-place for all the descendants of the house of vasari. in like manner, the body of his mother (who died in florence in the year ), after having remained for some years in s. croce, has been deposited by him in the said tomb, according to her own desire, together with antonio, her husband and his father, who died of plague at the end of the year . in the predella that is below the panel of the said altar there are portraits from nature, made by the said giorgio, of lazzaro, of the elder giorgio, his grandfather, of his father antonio, and of his mother monna maddalena de' tacci. and let this be the end of the life of lazzaro vasari, painter of arezzo. footnote: [ ] guglielmo da marcilla. antonello da messina life of antonello da messina painter when i consider within my own mind the various qualities of the benefits and advantages that have been conferred on the art of painting by many masters who have followed the second manner, i cannot do otherwise than call them, by reason of their efforts, truly industrious and excellent, because they sought above all to bring painting to a better condition, without thinking of discomfort, expense, or any particular interest of their own. they continued, then, to employ no other method of colouring save that of distemper for panels and for canvases, which method had been introduced by cimabue in the year , when he was working with those greeks, and had been afterwards followed by giotto and by the others of whom we have spoken up to the present; and they were still adhering to the same manner of working, although the craftsmen recognized clearly that pictures in distemper were wanting in a certain softness and liveliness, which, if they could be obtained, would be likely to give more grace to their designs, loveliness to their colouring, and greater facility in blending the colours together; for they had ever been wont to hatch their works merely with the point of the brush. but although many had made investigations and sought for something of the sort, yet no one had found any good method, either by the use of liquid varnish or by the mixture of other kinds of colours with the distemper. among many who made trial of these and other similar expedients, but all in vain, were alesso baldovinetti, pesello, and many others, not one of whom succeeded in giving to his works the beauty and excellence that he had imagined. and even if they had found what they were seeking, they still lacked the method of making their figures on panel adhere as well as those painted on walls, and also that of making them so that they could be washed without destroying the colours, and would endure any shock in handling. these matters a great number of craftsmen had discussed many times in common, but without result. this same desire was felt by many lofty minds that were devoted to painting beyond the bounds of italy--namely, by all the painters of france, spain, germany, and other countries. now, while matters stood thus, it came to pass that, while working in flanders, johann[ ] of bruges, a painter much esteemed in those parts by reason of the great mastery that he had acquired in his profession, set himself to make trial of various sorts of colours, and, as one who took delight in alchemy, to prepare many kinds of oil for making varnishes and other things dear to men of inventive brain, such as he was. now, on one occasion, having taken very great pains with the painting of a panel, and having brought it to completion with much diligence, he gave it the varnish and put it to dry in the sun, as is the custom. but, either because the heat was too violent, or perchance because the wood was badly joined together or not seasoned well enough, the said panel opened out at the joinings in a ruinous fashion. whereupon johann, seeing the harm that the heat of the sun had done to it, determined to bring it about that the sun should never again do such great damage to his works. and so, being disgusted no less with his varnish than with working in distemper, he began to look for a method of making a varnish that should dry in the shade, without putting his pictures in the sun. wherefore, after he had made many experiments with substances both pure and mixed together, he found at length that linseed oil and oil of nuts dried more readily than all the others that he had tried. these, then, boiled together with other mixtures of his, gave him the varnish that he--nay, all the painters in the world--had long desired. afterwards, having made experiments with many other substances, he saw that mixing the colours with those oils gave them a very solid consistency, not only securing the work, when dried, from all danger from water, but also making the colour so brilliant as to give it lustre by itself without varnish; and what appeared most marvellous to him was this, that it could be blended infinitely better than distemper. rejoicing greatly over such a discovery, as was only reasonable, johann made a beginning with many works and filled all those parts with them, with incredible pleasure for others and very great profit for himself; and, assisted by experience from day to day, he kept on ever making greater and better works. no long time passed before the fame of his invention, spreading not only throughout flanders but through italy and many other parts of the world, awakened in all craftsmen a very great desire to know by what method he gave so great a perfection to his works. these craftsmen, seeing his works and not knowing what means he employed, were forced to extol him and to give him immortal praise, and at the same time to envy him with a blameless envy, the rather as he refused for some time to allow himself to be seen at work by anyone, or to reveal his secret to any man. at length, however, having grown old, he imparted it to roger of bruges, his pupil, who passed it on to his disciple ausse[ ] and to the others whom we have mentioned in speaking of colouring in oil with regard to painting. but with all this, although merchants did a great business in his pictures and sent them all over the world to princes and other great persons, to their own great profit, yet the knowledge did not spread beyond flanders; and although these pictures had a very pungent odour, given to them by the mixture of colours and oils, particularly when they were new, so that it seemed possible for the secret to be found out, yet for many years it was not discovered. but certain florentines, who traded between flanders and naples, sent to king alfonso i of naples a panel with many figures painted in oil by johann, which became very dear to that king both for the beauty of the figures and for the novel invention shown in the colouring; and all the painters in that kingdom flocked together to see it, and it was consummately extolled by all. now there was one antonello da messina, a person of good and lively intelligence, of great sagacity, and skilled in his profession, who, having studied design for many years in rome, had first retired to palermo, where he had worked for many years, and finally to his native place, messina, where he had confirmed by his works the good opinion that his countrymen had of his excellent ability in painting. this man, then, going once on some business of his own from sicily to naples, heard that the said king alfonso had received from flanders the aforesaid panel by the hand of johann of bruges, painted in oil in such a manner that it could be washed, would endure any shock, and was in every way perfect. thereupon, having contrived to obtain a view of it, he was so strongly impressed by the liveliness of the colours and by the beauty and harmony of that painting, that he put on one side all other business and every thought and went off to flanders. having arrived in bruges, he became very intimate with the said johann, making him presents of many drawings in the italian manner and other things, insomuch that the latter, moved by this and by the respect shown by antonello, and being now old, was content that he should see his method of colouring in oil; wherefore antonello did not depart from that place until he had gained a thorough knowledge of that way of colouring, which he desired so greatly to know. and no long time after, johann having died, antonello returned from flanders in order to revisit his native country and to communicate to all italy a secret so useful, beautiful, and advantageous. then, having stayed a few months in messina, he went to venice, where, being a man much given to pleasure and very licentious, he resolved to take up his abode and finish his life, having found there a mode of living exactly suited to his taste. and so, putting himself to work, he made there many pictures in oil according to the rules that he had learned in flanders; these are scattered throughout the houses of noblemen in that city, where they were held in great esteem by reason of the novelty of the work. he made many others, also, which were sent to various places. finally, having acquired fame and great repute there, he was commissioned to paint a panel that was destined for s. cassiano, a parish church in that city. this panel was wrought by antonio with all his knowledge and with no sparing of time; and when finished, by reason of the novelty of the colouring and the beauty of the figures, which he had made with good design, it was much commended and held in very great price. and afterwards, when men heard of the new secret that he had brought from flanders to that city, he was ever loved and cherished by the magnificent noblemen of venice throughout the whole course of his life. [illustration: antonello da messina: portrait of a young man (_berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, . panel_)] among the painters who were then in repute in venice, a certain maestro domenico was held very excellent. this man, on the arrival of antonello in venice, received him with such great lovingness and courtesy, that he could not have shown more to a very dear and cherished friend. for this reason antonello, who would not be beaten in courtesy by maestro domenico, after a few months taught him the secret and method of colouring in oil. nothing could have been dearer to domenico than this extraordinary courtesy and friendliness; and well might he hold it dear, since it caused him, as he had foreseen, to be greatly honoured ever afterwards in his native city. grossly deceived, in truth, are those who think that, while they grudge to others even those things that cost them nothing, they should be served by all for the sake of their sweet smile, as the saying goes. the courtesies of maestro domenico viniziano wrested from the hands of antonello that which he had won for himself with so much fatigue and labour, and which he would probably have refused to hand over to any other even for a large sum of money. but since, with regard to maestro domenico, we will mention in due time all that he wrought in florence, and who were the men with whom he generously shared the secret that he had received as a courteous gift from another, let us pass to antonello. after the panel for s. cassiano, he made many pictures and portraits for various venetian noblemen. messer bernardo vecchietti, the florentine, has a painting by his hand of s. francis and s. dominic, both in the one picture, and very beautiful. then, after receiving a commission from the signoria to paint certain scenes in their palace (which they had refused to give to francesco di monsignore of verona, although he had been greatly favoured by the duke of mantua), he fell sick of a pleurisy and died at the age of forty-nine, without having set a hand to the work. he was greatly honoured in his obsequies by the craftsmen, by reason of the gift bestowed by him on art in the form of the new manner of colouring, as the following epitaph testifies: d. o. m. antonius pictor, prÆcipuum messanÆ suÆ et siciliÆ totius ornamentum, hac humo contegitur. non solum suis picturis, in quibus singulare artificium et venustas fuit, sed et quod coloribus oleo miscendis splendorem et perpetuitatem primus italicÆ picturÆ contulit, summo semper artificium studio celebratus. the death of antonello was a great grief to his many friends, and particularly to the sculptor andrea riccio, who wrought the nude marble statues of adam and eve, held to be very beautiful, which are seen in the courtyard of the palace of the signoria in venice. such was the end of antonello, to whom our craftsmen should certainly feel no less indebted for having brought the method of colouring in oil into italy than they should to johann of bruges for having discovered it in flanders. both of them benefited and enriched the art; for it is by means of this invention that craftsmen have since become so excellent, that they have been able to make their figures all but alive. their services should be all the more valued, inasmuch as there is no writer to be found who attributes this manner of colouring to the ancients; and if it could be known for certain that it did not exist among them, this age would surpass all the excellence of the ancients by virtue of this perfection. since, however, even as nothing is said that has not been said before, so perchance nothing is done that has not been done before, i will let this pass without saying more; and praising consummately those who, in addition to draughtsmanship, are ever adding something to art, i will proceed to write of others. [illustration: antonello da messina: the crucifixion (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] footnotes: [ ] jan van eyck. [ ] it is reasonable to suppose that this stands for hans (memling). alesso baldovinetti [illustration: the annunciation (_after the panel by =alesso baldovinetti=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] life of alesso baldovinetti painter of florence so great an attraction has the noble art of painting, that many eminent men have deserted the callings in which they might have become very rich, and, drawn by their inclination against the wishes of their parents, have followed the promptings of their nature and devoted themselves to painting, to sculpture, or to some similar pursuit. and, to tell the truth, if a man estimates riches at their true worth and no higher, and regards excellence as the end of all his actions, he acquires treasures very different from silver and gold; not to mention that he is never afraid of those things that rob us in a moment of those earthly riches, which are foolishly esteemed by men at more than their true value. recognizing this, alesso baldovinetti, drawn by a natural inclination, abandoned commerce--in which his relatives had ever occupied themselves, insomuch that by practising it honourably they had acquired riches and lived like noble citizens--and devoted himself to painting, in which he showed a peculiar ability to counterfeit very well the objects of nature, as may be seen in the pictures by his hand. this man, while still very young, and almost against the wish of his father, who would have liked him to give his attention to commerce, devoted himself to drawing; and in a short time he made so much progress therein, that his father was content to allow him to follow the inclination of his nature. the first work that alesso executed in fresco was in s. maria nuova, on the front wall of the chapel of s. gilio, which was much extolled at that time, because, among other things, it contained a s. egidio that was held to be a very beautiful figure. in like manner, he painted in s. trinita the chapel in fresco and the chief panel in distemper, for messer gherardo and messer bongianni gianfigliazzi, most honourable and wealthy gentlemen of florence. in this chapel alesso painted some scenes from the old testament, which he first sketched in fresco and then finished on the dry, tempering his colours with yolk of egg mingled with a liquid varnish prepared over a fire. this vehicle, he thought, would preserve the paintings from damp; but it was so strong that where it was laid on too thickly the work has peeled off in many places; and thus, whereas he thought he had found a rare and very beautiful secret, he was deceived in his hopes. he drew many portraits from nature, and in the scene of the queen of sheba going to hear the wisdom of solomon, which he painted in the aforesaid chapel, he portrayed the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, father of pope leo x, and lorenzo della volpaia, a most excellent maker of clocks and a very fine astrologer, who was the man who made for the said lorenzo de' medici the very beautiful clock that the lord duke cosimo now has in his palace; in which clock all the wheels of the planets are perpetually moving, which is a rare thing, and the first that was ever made in this manner. in the scene opposite to that one alesso portrayed luigi guicciardini the elder, luca pitti, diotisalvi neroni, and giuliano de' medici, father of pope clement vii; and beside the stone pilaster he painted gherardo gianfigliazzi the elder, the chevalier messer bongianni, who is wearing a blue robe, with a chain round his neck, and jacopo and giovanni, both of the same family. near these are filippo strozzi the elder and the astrologer messer paolo dal pozzo toscanelli. on the vaulting are four patriarchs, and on the panel is the trinity, with s. giovanni gualberto kneeling, and another saint. all these portraits are very easily recognized from their similarity to those that are seen in other works, particularly in the houses of their descendants, whether in gesso or in painting. alesso gave much time to this work, because he was very patient and liked to execute his works at his ease and convenience. [illustration: alesso baldovinetti: madonna and child in a landscape (_paris: louvre, b. panel_)] he drew very well, as may be seen from a mule drawn from nature in our book, wherein the curves of the hair over the whole body are done with much patience and with beautiful grace. alesso was very diligent in his works, and he strove to be an imitator of all the minute details that mother nature creates. he had a manner somewhat dry and harsh, particularly in draperies. he took much delight in making landscapes, copying them from the life of nature exactly as they are; wherefore there are seen in his pictures streams, bridges, rocks, herbs, fruits, roads, fields, cities, castles, sand, and an infinity of other things of the kind. in the nunziata at florence, in the court, exactly behind the wall where the annunciation itself is painted, he painted a scene in fresco, retouched on the dry, in which there is a nativity of christ, wrought with so great labour and diligence that one could count the stalks and knots of the straw in a hut that is there; and he also counterfeited there the ruin of a house with the stones mouldering, all eaten away and consumed by rain and frost, and a thick ivy root that covers a part of the wall, wherein it is to be observed that with great patience he made the outer side of the leaves of one shade of green, and the under side of another, as nature does, neither more nor less; and, in addition to the shepherds, he made a serpent, or rather, a grass-snake, crawling up a wall, which is most life-like. it is said that alesso took great pains to discover the true method of making mosaic, but that he never succeeded in anything that he wanted to do, until at length he came across a german who was going to rome to obtain some indulgences. this man he took into his house, and he gained from him a complete knowledge of the method and the rules for executing mosaic, insomuch that afterwards, having set himself boldly to work, he made some angels holding the head of christ over the bronze doors of s. giovanni, in the arches on the inner side. his good method of working becoming known by reason of this work, he was commissioned by the consuls of the guild of merchants to clean and renovate all the vaulting of that church, which had been wrought, as has been said, by andrea tafi; for it had been spoilt in many places, and was in need of being renewed and restored. this he did with love and diligence, availing himself for that purpose of a wooden staging made for him by cecca, who was the best architect of that age. alesso taught the craft of mosaic to domenico ghirlandajo, who portrayed him afterwards near himself in the chapel of the tornabuoni in s. maria novella, in the scene where joachim is driven from the temple, in the form of a clean-shaven old man with a red cap on his head. alesso lived eighty years, and when he began to draw near to old age, as one who wished to be able to attend with a quiet mind to the studies of his profession, he retired into the hospital of s. paolo, as many men are wont to do. and perhaps to the end that he might be received more willingly and better treated (or it may have been by chance), he had a great chest carried into his rooms in the said hospital, giving out that it contained a good sum of money. wherefore the director and the other officials of the hospital, believing this to be true, and knowing that he had bequeathed to the hospital all that might be found after his death, showed him all the attention in the world. but on the death of alesso, there was nothing found in it save drawings, portraits on paper, and a little book that explained the preparation of the stones and stucco for mosaic and the method of using them. nor was it any marvel, so men said, that no money was found there, because he was so open-handed that he had nothing that did not belong as much to his friends as to himself. a disciple of alesso was the florentine graffione, who wrought in fresco, over the door of the innocenti, that figure of god the father and those angels that are still there. it is said that the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, conversing one day with graffione, who was an original, said to him, "i wish to have all the ribs of the inner cupola adorned with mosaic and stucco-work;" and that graffione replied, "you have not the masters." to which lorenzo answered, "we have enough money to make some." graffione instantly retorted, "ah, lorenzo, 'tis not the money that makes the masters, but the masters that make the money." this man was a bizarre and fantastic person. in his house he would never eat off any table-cloth save his own cartoons, and he slept in no other bed than a chest filled with straw, without sheets. but to return to alesso; he took leave of his art and of his life in , and he was honourably buried by his relatives and fellow-citizens. [illustration: the trinity (_after the panel by =graffione=. florence: s. spirito_) _alinari_] vellano da padova life of vellano da padova sculptor so great is the effect of counterfeiting anything with love and diligence, that very often, when the manner of any master of these our arts has been well imitated by those who take delight in his works, the imitation resembles the thing imitated so closely, that no difference is discerned save by those who have a sharpness of eye beyond the ordinary; and it rarely comes to pass that a loving disciple fails to learn, at least in great measure, the manner of his master. vellano da padova strove with so great diligence to counterfeit the manner and the method of donato in sculpture, particularly in bronze, that in his native city of padua he was left the heir to the excellence of the florentine donatello; and to this witness is borne by his works in the santo, which nearly every man that has not a complete knowledge of the matter attributes to donato, so that every day many are deceived, if they are not informed of the truth. this man, then, fired by the great praise that he heard given to donato, the sculptor of florence, who was then working in padua, and by a desire for those profits that come into the hands of good craftsmen through the excellence of their works, placed himself under donato in order to learn sculpture, and devoted himself to it in such a manner, that, with the aid of so great a master, he finally achieved his purpose; wherefore, before donatello had finished his works and departed from padua, vellano had made such great progress in the art that great expectations were already entertained about him, and he inspired such confidence in his master as to induce him (and that rightly) to leave to his pupil all the equipment, designs, and models for the scenes in bronze that were to be made round the choir of the santo in that city. this was the reason why, when donato departed, as has been said, the commission for the whole of that work was publicly given to vellano in his native city, to his very great honour. whereupon he made all the scenes in bronze that are on the outer side of the choir of the santo, wherein, among others, there is the scene of samson embracing the column and destroying the temple of the philistines, in which one sees the fragments of the ruined building duly falling, and the death of so many people, not to mention a great diversity of attitudes among them as they die, some through the ruins, and some through fear; and all this vellano represented marvellously. in the same place are certain works in wax and the models for these scenes, and likewise some bronze candelabra wrought by the same man with much judgment and invention. from what we see, this craftsman appears to have had a very great desire to attain to the standard of donatello; but he did not succeed, for he aimed too high in a most difficult art. vellano also took delight in architecture, and was more than passing good in that profession; wherefore, having gone to rome in the year , at the time of pope paul the venetian, for which pontiff giuliano da maiano was architect in the building of the vatican, he too was employed in many things; and by his hand, among other works that he made, are the arms of that pontiff which are seen there with his name beside them. he also wrought many of the ornaments of the palace of s. marco for the same pope, whose head, by the hand of vellano, is at the top of the staircase. for that building the same man designed a stupendous courtyard, with a commodious and elegant flight of steps, but the death of the pontiff intervened to hinder the completion of the whole. the while that he stayed in rome, vellano made many small things in marble and in bronze for the said pope and for others, but i have not been able to find them. in perugia the same master made a bronze statue larger than life, in which he portrayed the said pope from nature, seated in his pontifical robes; and at the foot of this he placed his name and the year when it was made. this figure is in a niche of several kinds of stone, wrought with much diligence, without the door of s. lorenzo, which is the duomo of that city. the same man made many medals, some of which are still to be seen, particularly that of the aforesaid pope, and those of antonio rosello of arezzo and batista platina, both secretaries to that pontiff. [illustration: jonah cast into the sea (_after the bronze relief by =vellano da padova=. padua: s. antonio_) _anderson_] having returned after these works to padua with a very good name, vellano was held in esteem not only in his native city, but in all lombardy and in the march of treviso, both because up to that time there had been no craftsmen of excellence in those parts, and because he had very great skill in the founding of metals. afterwards, when vellano was already old, the signoria of venice determined to have an equestrian statue of bartolommeo da bergamo made in bronze; and they allotted the horse to andrea del verrocchio of florence, and the figure to vellano. on hearing this, andrea, who thought that the whole work should fall to him, knowing himself to be, as indeed he was, a better master than vellano, flew into such a rage that he broke up and destroyed the whole model of the horse that he had already finished, and went off to florence. but after a time, being recalled by the signoria, who gave him the whole work to do, he returned once more to finish it; at which vellano felt so much displeasure that he departed from venice, without saying a word or expressing his resentment in any manner, and returned to padua, where he afterwards lived in honour for the rest of his life, contenting himself with the works that he had made and with being loved and honoured, as he ever was, in his native place. he died at the age of ninety-two, and was buried in the santo with that distinction which his excellence, having honoured both himself and his country, had deserved. his portrait was sent to me from padua by certain friends of mine, who had it, so they told me, from the very learned and very reverend cardinal bembo, whose love of our arts was no less remarkable than his supremacy over all other men of our age in all the rarest qualities and gifts both of mind and body. fra filippo lippi life of fra filippo lippi painter of florence fra filippo di tommaso lippi, a carmelite, was born in florence in a street called ardiglione, below the canto alla cuculia and behind the convent of the carmelites. by the death of his father tommaso he was left a poor little orphan at the age of two, with no one to take care of him, for his mother had also died not long after giving him birth. he was left, therefore, in the charge of one mona lapaccia, his aunt, sister of his father, who brought him up with very great inconvenience to herself; and when he was eight years of age and she could no longer support him, she made him a friar in the aforesaid convent of the carmine. living there, in proportion as he showed himself dexterous and ingenious in the use of his hands, so was he dull and incapable of making any progress in the learning of letters, so that he would never apply his intelligence to them or regard them as anything save his enemies. this boy, who was called by his secular name of filippo, was kept with others in the noviciate under the discipline of the schoolmaster, in order to see what he could do; but in place of studying he would never do anything save deface his own books and those of the others with caricatures. whereupon the prior resolved to give him every opportunity and convenience for learning to paint. there was then in the carmine a chapel that had been newly painted by masaccio, which, being very beautiful, pleased fra filippo so greatly that he would haunt it every day for his recreation; and continually practising there in company with many young men, who were ever drawing in it, he surpassed the others by a great measure in dexterity and knowledge, insomuch that it was held certain that in time he would do something marvellous. nay, not merely in his maturity, but even in his early childhood, he executed so many works worthy of praise that it was a miracle. it was no long time before he wrought in terra-verde in the cloister, close to the consecration painted by masaccio, a pope confirming the rule of the carmelites; and he painted pictures in fresco on various walls in many parts of the church, particularly a s. john the baptist with some scenes from his life. and thus, making progress every day, he had learnt the manner of masaccio very well, so that he made his works so similar to those of the other that many said that the spirit of masaccio had entered into the body of fra filippo. on a pilaster in the church, close to the organ, he made a figure of s. marziale which brought him infinite fame, for it could bear comparison with the works that masaccio had painted. wherefore, hearing himself so greatly praised by the voices of all, at the age of seventeen he boldly threw off his monastic habit. now, chancing to be in the march of ancona, he was disporting himself one day with some of his friends in a little boat on the sea, when they were all captured together by the moorish galleys that were scouring those parts, and taken to barbary, where each of them was put in chains and held as a slave; and thus he remained in great misery for eighteen months. but one day, seeing that he was thrown much into contact with his master, there came to him the opportunity and the whim to make a portrait of him; whereupon, taking a piece of dead coal from the fire, with this he portrayed him at full length on a white wall in his moorish costume. when this was reported by the other slaves to the master (for it appeared a miracle to them all, since drawing and painting were not known in these parts), it brought about his liberation from the chains in which he had been held for so long. truly glorious was it for this art to have caused one to whom the power of condemnation and punishment was granted by law, to do the very opposite--nay, in place of inflicting pains and death, to consent to show friendliness and grant liberty! after having wrought some works in colour for his master, he was brought safely to naples, where he painted for king alfonso, then duke of calabria, a panel in distemper for the chapel of the castle, where the guard-room now is. [illustration: fra filippo lippi: the annunciation (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] after this there came upon him a desire to return to florence, where he remained for some months. there he wrought a very beautiful panel for the high-altar of the nuns of s. ambrogio, which made him very dear to cosimo de' medici, who became very much his friend for this reason. he also painted a panel for the chapter-house of s. croce, and another that was placed in the chapel of the house of the medici, on which he painted the nativity of christ. for the wife of the said cosimo, likewise, he painted a panel with the same nativity of christ and with s. john the baptist, which was to be placed in the hermitage of camaldoli, in one of the hermits' cells, dedicated to s. john the baptist, which she had caused to be built in proof of her devotion. and he painted some little scenes that were sent by cosimo as a gift to pope eugenius iv, the venetian; wherefore fra filippo acquired great favour with that pope by reason of this work. it is said that he was so amorous, that, if he saw any women who pleased him, and if they were to be won, he would give all his possessions to win them; and if he could in no way do this, he would paint their portraits and cool the flame of his love by reasoning with himself. so much a slave was he to this appetite, that when he was in this humour he gave little or no attention to the works that he had undertaken; wherefore on one occasion cosimo de' medici, having commissioned him to paint a picture, shut him up in his own house, in order that he might not go out and waste his time; but after staying there for two whole days, being driven forth by his amorous--nay, beastly--passion, one night he cut some ropes out of his bed-sheets with a pair of scissors and let himself down from a window, and then abandoned himself for many days to his pleasures. thereupon, since he could not be found, cosimo sent out to look for him, and finally brought him back to his labour; and thenceforward cosimo gave him liberty to go out when he pleased, repenting greatly that he had previously shut him up, when he thought of his madness and of the danger that he might run. for this reason he strove to keep a hold on him for the future by kindnesses; and so he was served by filippo with greater readiness, and was wont to say that the virtues of rare minds were celestial beings, and not slavish hacks. for the church of s. maria primerana, on the piazza of fiesole, he painted a panel containing the annunciation of our lady by the angel, which shows very great diligence, and there is such beauty in the figure of the angel that it appears truly a celestial thing. for the nuns of the murate he painted two panels: one, containing an annunciation, is placed on the high-altar; and the other is on an altar in the same church, and contains stories of s. benedict and s. bernard. in the palace of the signoria he painted an annunciation on a panel, which is over a door; and over another door in the said palace he also painted a s. bernard. for the sacristy of s. spirito in florence he executed a panel with the madonna surrounded by angels, and with saints on either side--a rare work, which has ever been held in the greatest veneration by the masters of these our arts. in the chapel of the wardens of works in s. lorenzo he wrought a panel with another annunciation; with one for the della stufa chapel, which he did not finish. for a chapel in s. apostolo, in the same city, he painted a panel with some figures round a madonna. in arezzo, by order of messer carlo marsuppini, he painted the panel of the chapel of s. bernardo for the monks of monte oliveto, depicting therein the coronation of our lady, surrounded by many saints; which picture has remained so fresh, that it appears to have been made by the hand of fra filippo at the present day. it was then that he was told by the aforesaid messer carlo to give attention to the painting of the hands, seeing that his works were much criticized in this respect; wherefore from that day onwards, in painting hands, fra filippo covered the greater part of them with draperies or with some other contrivance, in order to avoid the aforesaid criticism. in this work he portrayed the said messer carlo from the life. [illustration: the virgin adoring (_after the panel by =fra filippo lippi=. florence: accademia, _) _anderson_] for the nuns of annalena in florence he painted a manger on a panel; and some of his pictures are still to be seen in padua. he sent two little scenes with small figures, painted by his hand, to cardinal barbo in rome; these were very excellently wrought, and executed with great diligence. truly marvellous was the grace with which he painted, and very perfect the harmony that he gave to his works, for which he has been ever esteemed by craftsmen and honoured by our modern masters with consummate praise; nay, so long as the voracity of time allows his many excellent labours to live, he will be held in veneration by every age. in prato, near florence, where he had some relatives, he stayed for many months, executing many works throughout that whole district in company with fra diamante, a friar of the carmine, who had been his comrade in the noviciate. after this, having been commissioned by the nuns of s. margherita to paint the panel of their high-altar, he was working at this when there came before his eyes a daughter of francesco buti, a citizen of florence, who was living there as a ward or as a novice. having set eyes on lucrezia (for this was the name of the girl), who was very beautiful and graceful, fra filippo contrived to persuade the nuns to allow him to make a portrait of her for a figure of our lady in the work that he was doing for them. with this opportunity he became even more enamoured of her, and then wrought upon her so mightily, what with one thing and another, that he stole her away from the nuns and took her off on the very day when she was going to see the girdle of our lady, an honoured relic of that township, being exposed to view. whereupon the nuns were greatly disgraced by such an event, and her father, francesco, who never smiled again, made every effort to recover her; but she, either through fear or for some other reason, refused to come back--nay, she insisted on staying with filippo, to whom she bore a male child, who was also called filippo, and who became, like his father, a very excellent and famous painter. in s. domenico, in the aforesaid prato, there are two of his panels; and in the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. francesco there is a madonna, in the removing of which from the place where it was at first, it was cut out from the wall on which it was painted, in order not to spoil it, and bound round with wood, and then transported to that wall of the church where it is still to be seen to-day. in a courtyard of the ceppo of francesco di marco, over a well, there is a little panel by the hand of the same man, containing the portrait of the said francesco di marco, the creator and founder of that holy place. in the pieve of the said township, on a little panel over the side-door as one ascends the steps, he painted the death of s. bernard, by the touch of whose bier many cripples are being restored to health. in this picture are friars bewailing the death of their master, and it is a marvellous thing to see the beautiful expression of the sadness of lamentation in the heads, counterfeited with great art and resemblance to nature. here there are draperies in the form of friars' gowns with most beautiful folds, which deserve infinite praise for their good design, colouring, and composition; not to mention the grace and proportion that are seen in the said work, which was executed with the greatest delicacy by the hand of fra filippo. the wardens of works for the said pieve, in order to have some memorial of him, commissioned him to paint the chapel of the high-altar in that place; and he gave great proof of his worth in that work, which, besides its general excellence and masterliness, contains most admirable draperies and heads. he made the figures therein larger than life, thus introducing to our modern craftsmen the method of giving grandeur to the manner of our own day. there are certain figures with garments little used in those times, whereby he began to incite the minds of men to depart from that simplicity which should be called rather old-fashioned than ancient. in the same work are the stories of s. stephen (the titular saint of the said pieve), distributed over the wall on the right hand--namely, the disputation, the stoning, and the death of that protomartyr, in whose face, as he disputes with the jews, filippo depicted so much zeal and so much fervour, that it is a difficult thing to imagine it, and much more to express it; and in the faces and the various attitudes of the jews he revealed their hatred, disdain, and anger at seeing themselves overcome by him. even more clearly did he make manifest the brutality and rage of those who are slaying him with stones, which they have grasped, some large, some small, with a horrible gnashing of teeth, and with gestures wholly cruel and enraged. none the less, amid so terrible an onslaught, s. stephen, raising his countenance with great calmness to heaven, is seen making supplication to the eternal father with the warmest love and fervour for the very men who are slaying him. all these conceptions are truly very beautiful, and serve to show to others how great is the value of invention and of knowing how to express emotions in pictures; and this he remembered so well, that in those who are burying s. stephen he made gestures so dolorous, and some faces so afflicted and broken with weeping, that it is scarcely possible to look at them without being moved. on the other side he painted the birth of s. john the baptist, the preaching, the baptism, the feast of herod, and the beheading of the saint. here, in his countenance as he is preaching, there is seen the divine spirit; with various emotions in the multitude that is listening, joy and sorrow both in the women and in the men, who are all hanging intently on the teaching of s. john. in the baptism are seen beauty and goodness; and, in the feast of herod, the majesty of the banquet, the dexterity of herodias, the astonishment of the company, and their immeasurable grief when the severed head is presented in the charger. round the banqueting-table are seen innumerable figures with very beautiful attitudes, and with good execution both in the draperies and in the expressions of the faces. among these, with a mirror, he portrayed himself dressed in the black habit of a prelate; and he made a portrait of his disciple fra diamante among those who are bewailing s. stephen. this work is in truth the most excellent of all his paintings, both for the reasons mentioned above, and because he made the figures somewhat larger than life, which encouraged those who came after him to give grandeur to their manner. so greatly was he esteemed for his excellent gifts, that many circumstances in his life that were worthy of blame were passed over in consideration of the eminence of his great talents. in this work he portrayed messer carlo, the natural son of cosimo de' medici, who was then provost of that church, which received great benefactions from him and from his house. in the year , when he had finished this work, he painted a panel in distemper, containing a very beautiful annunciation, for the church of s. jacopo in pistoia, by order of messer jacopo bellucci, of whom he made therein a most vivid portrait from the life. in the house of pulidoro bracciolini there is a picture by his hand of the birth of our lady; and in the hall of the tribunal of eight in florence he painted in distemper a madonna with the child in her arms, on a lunette. in the house of lodovico capponi there is another picture with a very beautiful madonna; and in the hands of bernardo vecchietti, a gentleman of florence and a man of a culture and excellence beyond my power of expression, there is a little picture by the hand of the same man, containing a very beautiful s. augustine engaged in his studies. even better is a s. jerome in penitence, of the same size, in the guardaroba of duke cosimo; for if fra filippo was a rare master in all his pictures, he surpassed himself in the small ones, to which he gave such grace and beauty that nothing could be better, as may be seen in the predelle of all the panels that he painted. in short, he was such that none surpassed him in his own times, and few in our own; and michelagnolo has not only always extolled him, but has imitated him in many things. for the church of s. domenico vecchio in perugia, also, he painted a panel that was afterwards placed on the high-altar, containing a madonna, s. peter, s. paul, s. louis, and s. anthony the abbot. messer alessandro degli alessandri, a chevalier of that day and a friend of filippo, caused him to paint a panel for the church of his villa at vincigliata on the hill of fiesole, containing a s. laurence and other saints, among whom he portrayed alessandro and two sons of his. fra filippo was much the friend of gay spirits, and he ever lived a joyous life. he taught the art of painting to fra diamante, who executed many pictures in the carmine at prato; and he did himself great credit by the close imitation of his master's manner, for he attained to the greatest perfection. sandro botticelli, pesello, and jacopo del sellaio of florence worked with fra filippo in their youth (the last-named painted two panels in s. friano, and one wrought in distemper in the carmine), with a great number of other masters, to whom he ever taught the art with great friendliness. he lived honourably by his labours, spending extraordinary sums on the pleasures of love, in which he continued to take delight right up to the end of his life. he was requested by the commune of spoleto, through the mediation of cosimo de' medici, to paint the chapel in their principal church (dedicated to our lady), which he brought very nearly to completion, working in company with fra diamante, when death intervened to prevent him from finishing it. some say, indeed, that in consequence of his great inclination for his blissful amours some relations of the lady that he loved had him poisoned. [illustration: madonna and child (_after the panel (tondo) by =fra filippo lippi=. florence: pitti, _) _anderson_] fra filippo finished the course of his life in , at the age of fifty-seven, and left a will entrusting to fra diamante his son filippo, a little boy of ten years of age, who learnt the art of painting from his guardian. fra diamante returned with him to florence, carrying away three hundred ducats, which remained to be received from the commune of spoleto for the work done; with these he bought some property for himself, giving but a little share to the boy. filippo was placed with sandro botticelli, who was then held a very good master; and the old man was buried in a tomb of red and white marble, which the people of spoleto caused to be erected in the church that he had been painting. his death grieved many friends, particularly cosimo de' medici, as well as pope eugenius, who offered in his life-time to give him a dispensation, so that he might make lucrezia, the daughter of francesco buti, his legitimate wife; but this he refused to do, wishing to have complete liberty for himself and his appetites. while sixtus iv was alive, lorenzo de' medici became ambassador to the florentines, and made the journey to spoleto, in order to demand from that community the body of fra filippo, to the end that it might be laid in s. maria del fiore in florence; but their answer to him was that they were lacking in ornaments, and above all in distinguished men, for which reason they demanded filippo from him as a favour in order to honour themselves, adding that since there was a vast number of famous men in florence, nay, almost a superfluity, he should consent to do without this one; and more than this he could not obtain. it is true, indeed, that afterwards, having determined to do honour to him in the best way that he could, he sent his son filippino to rome to paint a chapel for the cardinal of naples; and filippino, passing through spoleto, caused a tomb of marble to be erected for him at the commission of lorenzo, beneath the organ and over the sacristy, on which he spent one hundred ducats of gold, which were paid by nofri tornabuoni, master of the bank of the medici; and lorenzo also caused messer angelo poliziano to write the following epigram, which is carved on the said tomb in antique lettering: conditus hic ego sum picturÆ fama philippus; nulli ignota meÆ est gratia mira manus. artifices potui digitis animare colores, sperataque animos fallere voce diu. ipsa meis stupuit natura expressa figuris, meque suis fassa est artibus esse parem. marmoreo tumulo medices laurentius hic me condidit; ante humili pulvere tectus eram. fra filippo was a very good draughtsman, as may be seen in our book of drawings by the most famous painters, particularly in some wherein the panel of s. spirito is drawn, with others showing the chapel in prato. footnotes: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. paolo romano, maestro mino, and chimenti camicia lives of paolo romano and maestro mino, sculptors [_mino del regno, or mino del reame_] and chimenti camicia, architect we have now to speak of paolo romano and mino del regno, who were contemporaries and of the same profession, but very different in character and in knowledge of art, for paolo was modest and quite able, and mino much less able, but so presumptuous and arrogant, that he was not only overbearing in his actions, but also with his speech exalted his own works beyond all due measure. when pope pius ii gave a commission for a figure to the roman sculptor paolo, mino tormented and persecuted him out of envy so greatly, that paolo, who was a good and most modest man, was forced to show resentment. whereupon mino, falling into a rage with paolo, offered to bet a thousand ducats that he would make a figure better than paolo's; and this he said with the greatest presumption and effrontery, knowing the nature of paolo, who disliked any annoyance, and believing that he would not accept such a challenge. but paolo accepted the invitation, and mino, half repentant, bet a hundred ducats merely to save his honour the figures finished, the victory was given to paolo as a rare and excellent master, which he was; and mino was scorned as the sort of craftsman whose words were worth more than his works. by the hand of mino are certain works in marble at naples, and a tomb at monte cassino, a seat of the black friars in the kingdom of naples; the s. peter and the s. paul that are at the foot of the steps of s. pietro in rome, and the tomb of pope paul ii in s. pietro. the figure that paolo made in competition with mino was the s. paul that is to be seen on a marble base at the head of the ponte s. angelo, which stood unnoticed for a long time in front of the chapel of sixtus iv. it afterwards came to pass that one day pope clement vii observed this figure, which pleased him greatly, for he was a man of knowledge and judgment in such matters; wherefore he determined to have a s. peter made of the same size, and also, after removing two little chapels of marble, dedicated to those apostles, which stood at the head of the ponte s. angelo and obstructed the view of the castle, to put these two statues in their place. it may be read in the work of antonio filarete that paolo was not only a sculptor but also an able goldsmith, and that he wrought part of the twelve apostles in silver which stood, before the sack of rome, over the altar of the papal chapel. part of the work of these statues was done by niccolò della guardia and pietro paolo da todi, disciples of paolo, who were afterwards passing good masters in sculpture, as is seen from the tombs of pope pius ii and pope pius iii, on which the said pontiffs are portrayed from nature. by the hand of the same men are medals of three emperors and other great persons. the said paolo made a statue of an armed man on horseback, which is now on the ground in s. pietro, near the chapel of s. andrea. a pupil of paolo was the roman gian cristoforo, who was an able sculptor; and there are certain works by his hand in s. maria trastevere and in other places. chimenti camicia, of whose origin nothing is known save that he was a florentine, was employed in the service of the king of hungary, for whom he made palaces, gardens, fountains, churches, fortresses, and many other buildings of importance, with ornaments, carvings, decorated ceilings, and other things of the kind, which were executed with much diligence by baccio cellini. after these works, drawn by love for his country, chimenti returned to florence, whence he sent to baccio (who remained there), as presents for the king, certain pictures by the hand of berto linaiuolo, which were held very beautiful in hungary and much extolled by that king. this berto (of whom i will not refrain from making this record as well), after having painted many pictures in a beautiful manner, which are in the houses of many citizens, died at the very height of his powers, cutting short the great expectations that had been formed of him. but to return to chimenti; he had not been long in florence when he returned to hungary, where he continued to serve the king; but while he was journeying on the danube in order to give designs for mills, in consequence of fatigue he was seized by a sickness, which carried him off in a few days to the other life. the works of these masters date about the year . about the same time, during the pontificate of pope sixtus iv, there lived in rome one baccio pintelli, a florentine, who was rewarded for the great skill that he had in architecture by being employed by that pope in all his building enterprises. with his design, then, were built the church and convent of s. maria del popolo, and certain highly ornate chapels therein, particularly that of domenico della rovere, cardinal of san clemente and nephew of that pope. the same pontiff erected a palace in borgo vecchio after the design of baccio, which was then held to be a very beautiful and well-planned edifice. the same master built the great library under the apartments of niccola, and that chapel in the palace that is called the sistine, which is adorned with beautiful paintings. he also rebuilt the structure of the new hospital of s. spirito in sassia (which was burnt down almost to the foundations in the year ), adding to it a very long loggia and all the useful conveniences that could be desired. within the hospital, along its whole length, he caused scenes to be painted from the life of pope sixtus, from his birth up to the completion of that building--nay, up to the end of his life. he also made the bridge that is called the ponte sisto, from the name of that pontiff; this was held to be an excellent work, because baccio built it with such stout piers and with the weight so well distributed, that it is very strong and very well founded. in the year of the jubilee of , likewise, he built many new little churches throughout rome, which are recognized by the arms of pope sixtus--in particular, s. apostolo, s. pietro in vincula, and s. sisto. for cardinal guglielmo, bishop of ostia, he made the model of his church, with that of the façade and of the steps, in the manner wherein they are seen to-day. many declare that the design of the church of s. pietro a montorio in rome was by the hand of baccio, but i cannot say with truth that i have found this to be so. this church was built at the expense of the king of portugal, almost at the same time that the spanish nation had the church of s. jacopo erected in rome. the talent of baccio was so highly esteemed by that pontiff, that he would never have done anything in the way of building without his counsel; wherefore, in the year , hearing that the church and convent of s. francesco at assisi were threatening to fall, he sent baccio thither; and he, making a very stout counterfort on the side of the plain, rendered that marvellous fabric perfectly secure. on one buttress he placed a statue of that pontiff, who, not many years before, had caused to be made in that same convent many apartments, in the form of chambers and halls, which are known not only by their magnificence but also by the arms of the said pope that are seen in them. in the courtyard there is one coat of arms much larger than the others, with some latin verses in praise of pope sixtus iv, who gave many proofs that he held that holy place in great veneration. andrea dal castagno of mugello and domenico viniziano lives of andrea dal castagno of mugello and domenico viniziano [_andrea degl' impiccati and domenico da venezia_] painters how reprehensible is the vice of envy, which should never exist in anyone, when found in a man of excellence, and how wicked and horrible a thing it is to seek under the guise of a feigned friendship to extinguish not only the fame and glory of another but his very life, i truly believe it to be impossible to express with words, for the wickedness of the act overcomes all power and force of speech, however eloquent. for this reason, without enlarging further on this subject, i will only say that in such men there dwells a spirit not merely inhuman and savage but wholly cruel and devilish, and so far removed from any sort of virtue that they are no longer men or even animals, and do not deserve to live. for even as emulation and rivalry, when men seek by honest endeavour to vanquish and surpass those greater than themselves in order to acquire glory and honour, are things worthy to be praised and to be held in esteem as necessary and useful to the world, so, on the contrary, the wickedness of envy deserves a proportionately greater meed of blame and vituperation, when, being unable to endure the honour and esteem of others, it sets to work to deprive of life those whom it cannot despoil of glory; as did that miserable andrea dal castagno, who was truly great and excellent in painting and design, but even more notable for the rancour and envy that he bore towards other painters, insomuch that with the blackness of his crime he concealed and obscured the splendour of his talents. this man, having been born at a small village called castagno in mugello, in the territory of florence, took that name as his own surname when he came to live in florence, which came about in the following manner. having been left without a father in his earliest childhood, he was adopted by an uncle, who employed him for many years in watching his herds, since he saw him to be very ready and alert, and so masterful, that he could look after not only his cattle but the pastures and everything else that touched his own interest. now, while he was following this calling, it came to pass one day that he chanced to seek shelter from the rain in a place wherein one of those local painters, who work for small prices, was painting a shrine for a peasant. whereupon andrea, who had never seen anything of the kind before, was seized by a sudden marvel and began to look most intently at the work and to study its manner; and there came to him on the spot a very great desire and so violent a love for that art, that without losing time he began to scratch drawings of animals and figures on walls and stones with pieces of charcoal or with the point of his knife, in so masterly a manner that it caused no small marvel to all who saw them. the fame of this new study of andrea's then began to spread among the peasants; whereupon, as his good-fortune would have it, the matter coming to the ears of a florentine gentleman named bernardetto de' medici, whose possessions were in that district, he expressed a wish to know the boy; and finally, having seen him and having heard him discourse with great readiness, he asked him whether he would like to learn the art of painting. andrea answered that nothing could happen to him that would be more welcome or more pleasing than this, and bernardetto took the boy with him to florence, to the end that he might become perfect in that art, and set him to work with one of those masters who were then esteemed the best. [illustration: the last supper (_after the fresco by =andrea dal castagno=. florence: s. apollonia_) _alinari_] thereupon andrea, following the art of painting and devoting himself heart and soul to its studies, displayed very great intelligence in the difficulties of that art, above all in draughtsmanship. but he was not so successful in the colouring of his works, which he made somewhat crude and harsh, thus impairing to a great extent their excellence and grace, and depriving them, above all, of a certain quality of loveliness, which is not found in his colouring. he showed very great boldness in the movements of his figures and much vehemence in the heads both of men and of women, making them grave in aspect and excellent in draughtsmanship. there are works coloured in fresco, painted by his hand in his early youth, in the cloister of s. miniato al monte as one descends from the church to go into the convent, including a story of s. miniato and s. cresci leaving their father and mother. in s. benedetto, a most beautiful monastery without the porta a pinti, both in a cloister and in the church, there were many pictures by the hand of andrea, of which there is no need to make mention, since they were thrown to the ground in the siege of florence. within the city, in the first cloister of the monastery of the monks of the angeli, opposite to the principal door, he painted the crucifix that is still there to-day, with the madonna, s. john, s. benedict, and s. romualdo; and at the head of the cloister, which is above the garden, he made another like it, only varying the heads and a few other details. in s. trinita, beside the chapel of maestro luca, he painted a s. andrew. in a hall at legnaia he painted many illustrious men for pandolfo pandolfini; and a standard to be borne in processions, which is held very beautiful, for the company of the evangelist. in certain chapels of the church of the servi in the said city he wrought three flat niches in fresco. in one of these, that of s. giuliano, there are scenes from the life of that saint, with a good number of figures, and a dog in foreshortening that was much extolled. above this, in the chapel dedicated to s. girolamo, he painted that saint shaven and wasted away, with good design and great diligence. over this he painted a trinity, with a crucifix so well foreshortened that andrea deserves to be greatly extolled for it, seeing that he executed the foreshortenings with a much better and more modern manner than the others before him had shown; but this picture, having been afterwards covered with a panel by the family of the montaguti, can no longer be seen. in the third, which is beside the one below the organ, and which was erected by messer orlando de' medici, he painted lazarus, martha, and the magdalene. for the nuns of s. giuliano, over their door, he made a crucifix in fresco, with a madonna, a s. dominic, a s. julian, and a s. john; which picture, one of the best that andrea ever made, is universally praised by all craftsmen. in the chapel of the cavalcanti in s. croce he painted a s. john the baptist and a s. francis, which are held to be very good figures. but what caused all the craftsmen to marvel was a very beautiful picture in fresco that he made at the head of the new cloister of the said convent, opposite to the door, of christ being scourged at the column, wherein he painted a loggia with columns in perspective, and groined vaulting with diminishing lines, and walls inlaid in a pattern of mandorle, with so much art and so much diligence, that he showed that he had no less knowledge of the difficulties of perspective than he had of design in painting. in the same scene there are beautiful and most animated attitudes in those who are scourging christ, showing hatred and rage in their faces as clearly as jesus christ is showing patience and humility. in the body of christ, which is bound tightly with ropes to the column, it appears that andrea tried to demonstrate the suffering of the flesh, while the divinity concealed in that body maintains a certain noble splendour, which seems to be moving pilate, who is seated among his councillors, to seek to find some means of liberating him. in short, this picture is such that, if the little care that has been taken of it had not allowed it to be scratched and spoilt by children and simpletons, who have scratched all the heads and the arms and almost the entire persons of the jews, as though they would thus take vengeance on them for the wrongs of our lord, it would certainly be the most beautiful of all the works of andrea. and if nature had given grace of colouring to this craftsman, even as she gave him invention and design, he would have been held truly marvellous. in s. maria del fiore he painted the image of niccolò da tolentino on horseback; and while he was working at this a boy who was passing shook his ladder, whereupon he flew into such a rage, like the brutal man that he was, that he jumped down and ran after him as far as the canto de' pazzi. in the cemetery of s. maria nuova, also, below the ossa, he painted a s. andrew, which gave so much satisfaction that he was afterwards commissioned to paint the last supper of christ with his apostles in the refectory, where the nurses and other attendants have their meals. having acquired favour through this work with the house of portinari and with the director of the hospital, he was appointed to paint a part of the principal chapel, of which another part was allotted to alesso baldovinetti, and the third to the then greatly celebrated painter domenico da venezia, who had been summoned to florence by reason of the new method that he knew of painting in oil. now, while each of them applied himself to his part of the work, andrea was very envious of domenico, because, while knowing himself to be superior to the other in design, he was much displeased that the venetian, although a foreigner, should be welcomed and entertained by the citizens; wherefore anger and disdain moved him so strongly, that he began to think whether he could not in one way or another remove him from his path. andrea was no less crafty in dissimulation than he was excellent in painting, being cheerful of countenance at his pleasure, ready of speech, fiery in spirit, and as resolute in every bodily action as he was in mind; he felt towards others as he did towards domenico, and, if he saw some error in the works of other craftsmen, he was wont to mark it secretly with his nail. and in his youth, when his works were criticized in any respect, he would give the critics to know by means of blows and insults that he was ever able and willing to take revenge in one way or another for any affront. but let us say something of domenico, before we come to the work of the said chapel. before coming to florence, domenico had painted some pictures with much grace in the sacristy of s. maria at loreto, in company with piero della francesca; which pictures, besides what he had wrought in other places (such as an apartment in the house of the baglioni in perugia, which is now in ruins), had made his fame known in florence. being summoned to that city, before doing anything else, he painted a madonna in the midst of some saints, in fresco, in a shrine on the canto de' carnesecchi, at the corner of two streets, of which one leads to the new piazza di s. maria novella and the other to the old. this work, being approved and greatly extolled by the citizens and by the craftsmen of those times, caused even greater disdain and envy to blaze up in the accursed mind of andrea against poor domenico; wherefore andrea, having determined to effect by deceit and treachery what he could not carry out openly without manifest peril to himself, pretended to be very much the friend of domenico, who, being a good and affectionate fellow, fond of singing and devoted to playing on the lute, received him as a friend very willingly, thinking andrea to be a clever and amusing person. and so, continuing this friendship, so true on one side and so false on the other, they would come together every night to make merry and to serenade their mistresses; and this gave great delight to domenico, who, loving andrea sincerely, taught him the method of colouring in oil, which as yet was not known in tuscany. andrea, then (to take events in their due order), working on his wall in the chapel of s. maria nuova, painted an annunciation, which is held very beautiful, for in that work he painted the angel in the air, which had never been done up to that time. but a much more beautiful work is held to be that wherein he made the madonna ascending the steps of the temple, on which he depicted many beggars, and one among them hitting another on the head with a pitcher; and not only that figure but all the others are wondrously beautiful, for he wrought them with much care and love, out of rivalry with domenico. there is seen, also, in the middle of a square, an octagonal temple drawn in perspective, standing by itself and full of pilasters and niches, with the façade very richly adorned with figures painted to look like marble. round the square are various very beautiful buildings; and on one side of these there falls the shadow of the temple, caused by the light of the sun--a beautiful conception, carried out with great ingenuity and art. maestro domenico, on his part, painting in oil, represented joachim visiting his consort s. anna, and below this the birth of our lady, wherein he depicted a very ornate chamber, and a boy beating very gracefully with a hammer on the door of the said chamber. beneath this he painted the marriage of the virgin, with a good number of portraits from the life, among which are those of messer bernardetto de' medici, constable of the florentines, wearing a large red barret-cap; bernardo guadagni, who was gonfalonier; folco portinari, and others of that family. he also painted a dwarf breaking a staff, very life-like, and some women wearing garments customary in those times, lovely and graceful beyond belief. but this work remained unfinished, for reasons that will be told below. [illustration: andrea dal castagno: dante _(florence: s. apollonia. fresco)_] meanwhile andrea had painted in oil on his wall the death of our lady, in which, both by reason of his rivalry with domenico and in order to make himself known for the able master that he truly was, he wrought in foreshortening, with incredible diligence, a bier containing the dead virgin, which appears to be three braccia in length, although it is not more than one and a half. round her are the apostles, wrought in such a manner, that, although there is seen in their faces their joy at seeing their madonna borne to heaven by jesus christ, there is also seen in them their bitter sorrow at being left on earth without her. among the apostles are some angels holding burning lights, with beautiful expressions in their faces, and so well executed that it is seen that he was as well able to manage oil-colours as his rival domenico. in these pictures andrea made portraits from life of messer rinaldo degli albizzi, puccio pucci, and falganaccio, who brought about the liberation of cosimo de' medici, together with federigo malevolti, who held the keys of the alberghetto. in like manner he portrayed messer bernardo di domenico della volta, director of that hospital, who is kneeling and appears to be alive; and in a medallion at the beginning of the work he painted himself with the face of judas iscariot, whom he resembled both in appearance and in deed. now andrea, having carried this work very nearly to completion, being blinded by envy of the praises that he heard given to the talent of domenico, determined to remove him from his path; and after having thought of many expedients, he put one of them into execution in the following manner. one summer evening, according to his custom, domenico took his lute and went forth from s. maria nuova, leaving andrea in his room drawing, for he had refused to accept the invitation to take his recreation with domenico, under the pretext of having to do certain drawings of importance. domenico therefore went to take his pleasure by himself, and andrea set himself to wait for him in hiding behind a street corner; and when domenico, on his way home, came up to him, he crushed his lute and his stomach at one and the same time with certain pieces of lead, and then, thinking that he had not yet finished him off, beat him grievously on the head with the same weapons; and finally, leaving him on the ground, he returned to his room in s. maria nuova, where he put the door ajar and sat down to his drawing in the manner that he had been left by domenico. meanwhile an uproar had arisen, and the servants, hearing of the matter, ran to call andrea and to give the bad news to the murderer and traitor himself, who, running to where the others were standing round domenico, was not to be consoled, and kept crying out: "alas, my brother! alas, my brother!" finally domenico expired in his arms; nor could it be discovered, for all the diligence that was used, who had murdered him; and if andrea had not revealed the truth in confession on his death-bed, it would not be known now. in s. miniato fra le torri in florence andrea painted a panel containing the assumption of our lady, with two figures; and in a shrine in the nave a lanchetta, without the porta alla croce, he painted a madonna. in the house of the carducci, now belonging to the pandolfini, the same man depicted certain famous men, some from imagination and some portrayed from life, among whom are filippo spano degli scolari, dante, petrarca, boccaccio, and others. at scarperia in mugello, over the door of the vicar's palace, he painted a very beautiful nude figure of charity, which has since been ruined. in the year , when giuliano de' medici was killed and his brother lorenzo wounded in s. maria del fiore by the family of the pazzi and their adherents and fellow-conspirators, it was ordained by the signoria that all those who had shared in the plot should be painted as traitors on the wall of the palace of the podestà. this work was offered to andrea, and he, as a servant and debtor of the house of medici, accepted it very willingly, and, taking it in hand, executed it so beautifully that it was a miracle. it would not be possible to express how much art and judgment were to be seen in those figures, which were for the most part portraits from life, and which were hung up by the feet in strange attitudes, all varied and very beautiful. this work, which pleased the whole city and particularly all who had understanding in the art of painting, brought it about that from that time onwards he was called no longer andrea dal castagno but andrea degl' impiccati.[ ] [illustration: madonna and child (_after the fresco by =domenico viniziano=. london: national gallery, _) _mansell_] andrea lived in honourable style, and since he spent his money freely, particularly on dress and on maintaining a fine household, he left little property when he passed to the other life at the age of seventy-one. but since the crime that he had committed against domenico, who loved him so, became known a short time after his death, it was with shameful obsequies that he was buried in s. maria nuova, where, at the age of fifty-six, the unhappy domenico had also been buried. the work begun by the latter in s. maria nuova remained unfinished, nor did he ever complete it, as he had done the panel of the high-altar in s. lucia de' bardi, wherein he executed with much diligence a madonna with the child in her arms, s. john the baptist, s. nicholas, s. francis, and s. lucia; which panel he had brought to perfect completion a little before he was murdered. disciples of andrea were jacopo del corso, who was a passing good master, pisanello, marchino, piero del pollaiuolo, and giovanni da rovezzano. footnotes: [ ] _i.e._, hung up. gentile da fabriano and vittore pisanello of verona lives of gentile da fabriano and vittore pisanello of verona[ ] painters very great is the advantage enjoyed by one who follows in the steps of a predecessor who has gained honour and fame by means of some rare talent, for the reason that, if only he follows to some extent the path prepared by his master, he seldom fails to arrive without much fatigue at an honourable goal; whereas, if he had to reach it by himself, he would have need of a much longer time and far greater labours. the truth of this could be seen, ready for the finger to point to, as the saying is, among many other examples, in that of pisano, or rather, pisanello, a painter of verona, who, having spent many years in florence with andrea dal castagno, and having finished his works after his death, acquired so much credit by means of andrea's name, that pope martin v, coming to florence, took him in his train to rome, where he caused him to paint some scenes in fresco in s. giovanni laterano, which are very lovely and beautiful beyond belief, because he used therein a great abundance of a sort of ultramarine blue given to him by the said pope, which was so beautiful in colour that it has never yet been equalled. in competition with pisanello, below the aforesaid scenes, certain others were painted by gentile da fabriano; of which platina makes mention in his life of pope martin, saying that when that pontiff had caused the pavement, the ceiling, and the roof of s. giovanni laterano to be reconstructed, gentile da fabriano painted many pictures there, and, among other figures between the windows, in terretta and in chiaroscuro, certain prophets, which are held to be the best paintings in the whole of that work. the same gentile executed an infinite number of works in the march, particularly in agobbio, where some of them are still to be seen, and likewise throughout the whole state of urbino. he worked in s. giovanni at siena; and in the sacristy of s. trinita in florence he painted the story of the magi on a panel, wherein he portrayed himself from the life. in s. niccolò, near the porta a s. miniato, for the family of the quaratesi, he painted the panel of the high-altar, which appears to me without a doubt the best of all the works that i have seen by his hand, for, not to mention the madonna surrounded by many saints, all well wrought, the predella of the said panel, full of scenes with little figures from the life of s. nicholas, could not be more beautiful or executed better than it is. in s. maria nuova in rome, in a little arch over the tomb of the florentine cardinal adimari, archbishop of pisa, which is beside that of pope gregory ix, he painted the madonna with the child in her arms, between s. benedict and s. joseph. this work was held in esteem by the divine michelagnolo, who was wont to say, speaking of gentile, that his hand in painting was similar to his name. the same master executed a very beautiful panel in s. domenico in perugia; and in s. agostino at bari he painted a crucifix outlined in the wood, with three very beautiful half-length figures, which are over the door of the choir. but to return to vittore pisano; the account that has been given of him above was written by us, with nothing more, when this our book was printed for the first time, because we had not then received that information and knowledge of the works of this excellent craftsman which we have since gained from notices supplied by that very reverend and most learned father, fra marco de' medici of verona, of the order of preaching friars, and from the narrative of biondo da forlì, where he speaks of verona in his "italia illustrata." vittore was equal in excellence to any painter of his age; and to this, not to speak of the works enumerated above, most ample testimony is borne by many others that are seen in his most noble native city of verona, although many are almost eaten away by time. and because he took particular delight in depicting animals, he painted in the chapel of the pellegrini family, in the church of s. anastasia at verona, a s. eustace caressing a dog spotted with white and tan, which, with its feet raised and leaning against the leg of the said saint, is turning its head backwards as though it had heard some noise; and it is making this movement with so great vivacity, that a live dog could not do it better. beneath this figure there is seen painted the name of pisano, who used to call himself sometimes pisano, and sometimes pisanello, as may be seen from the pictures and the medals by his hand. after the said figure of s. eustace, which is truly very beautiful and one of the best that this craftsman ever wrought, he painted the whole outer wall of the same chapel; and on the other side he made a s. george clad in white armour made of silver, as was the custom in that age not only with him but with all the other painters. this s. george, wishing to replace his sword in the scabbard after slaying the dragon, is raising his right hand, which holds the sword, the point of which is already in the scabbard, and is lowering the left hand, to the end that the increased distance may make it easier for him to sheathe the sword, which is long; and this he is doing with so much grace and with so beautiful a manner, that nothing better could be seen. michele san michele of verona, architect to the most illustrious signoria of venice, and a man with a very wide knowledge of these fine arts, was often seen during his life contemplating these works of vittore in a marvel, and then heard to say that there was little to be seen that was better than the s. eustace, the dog, and the s. george described above. over the arch of the said chapel is painted the scene when s. george, having slain the dragon, is liberating the king's daughter, who is seen near the saint, clad in a long dress after the custom of those times. marvellous, likewise, in this part of the work, is the figure of the same s. george, who, armed as above, and about to remount his horse, is standing with his face and person turned towards the spectator, and is seen, with one foot in the stirrup and his left hand on the saddle, almost in the act of leaping on to the horse, which has its hindquarters towards the spectator, so that the whole animal, being foreshortened, is seen very well, although in a small space. in a word, it is impossible to contemplate without infinite marvel--nay, amazement--a work executed with such extraordinary design, grace, and judgment. [illustration: gentile da fabriano: madonna and child, with three kings (detail from the adoration of the magi) (_florence: accademia, . panel_)] the same pisano painted a picture in s. fermo maggiore at verona (a church of the conventual friars of s. francis), in the chapel of the brenzoni, on the left as one enters by the principal door of the said church, over the tomb of the resurrection of our lord, wrought in sculpture and very beautiful for those times; he painted, i say, as an ornament for that work, the virgin receiving the annunciation from the angel, which two figures, picked out with gold according to the use of those times, are very beautiful, as are certain very well drawn buildings, as well as some little animals and birds scattered throughout the work, which are as natural and lifelike as it is possible to imagine. the same vittore cast in medallions innumerable portraits of princes and other persons of his time, from which there have since been made many portraits in painting. and monsignor giovio, speaking of vittore pisano in an italian letter written to the lord duke cosimo, which may be read in print together with many others, says the following words: "this man was also very excellent in the work of low-relief, which is esteemed very difficult among craftsmen, because it is the mean between the flat surface of painting and the roundness of statuary. for this reason there are seen many highly esteemed medals of great princes by his hand, made in a large form, and in the same proportions as that reverse of the horse clad in armour that guidi has sent me. of these i have that of the great king alfonso with his hair long, with a captain's helmet on the reverse; that of pope martin, with the arms of the house of colonna as the reverse; that of the sultan mahomet (who took constantinople), showing him on horseback in turkish dress, with a scourge in his hand; sigismondo malatesta, with madonna isotta of rimini on the reverse; and that of niccolò piccinino, wearing a large oblong cap on his head, with the said reverse sent to me by guidi, which i am returning. besides these, i have also a very beautiful medal of john palæologus, emperor of constantinople, with that bizarre greek cap which the emperors used to wear. this was made by pisano in florence, at the time of the council of eugenius, at which the aforesaid emperor was present; and it has on the reverse the cross of christ, sustained by two hands--namely, the latin and the greek." [illustration: vittore pisanello: the vision of s. eustace (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] so far giovio, and still further, vittore also made medals with portraits of filippo de' medici, archbishop of pisa, braccio da montone, giovan galeazzo visconti, carlo malatesta, lord of rimini, giovan caracciolo, grand seneschal of naples, borso and ercole d'este, and many other nobles and men distinguished in arms and in letters. by reason of his fame and reputation in that art, this master gained the honour of being celebrated by very great men and rare writers; for, besides what biondo wrote of him, as has been said, he was much extolled in a latin poem by the elder guerino, his compatriot and a very great scholar and writer of those times; of which poem, called, from the surname of its subject, "il pisano del guerino," honourable mention is made by biondo. he was also celebrated by the elder strozzi, tito vespasiano, father of the other strozzi, both of whom were very rare poets in the latin tongue. the father honoured the memory of vittore pisano with a very beautiful epigram, which is in print with the others. such are the fruits that are borne by a worthy life. some say that when he was learning art in florence in his youth, he painted in the old church of the temple, which stood where the old citadel now is, the stories of that pilgrim who was going to s. jacopo di galizia, when the daughter of his host put a silver cup into his wallet, to the end that he might be punished as a robber; but he was rescued by s. jacopo, who brought him back home in safety. in this pisano gave promise of becoming, as he did, an excellent painter. finally, having come to a good old age, he passed to a better life. and gentile, after making many works in città di castello, became palsied, and was reduced to such a state that he could no longer do anything good; and at length, wasted away by old age, and having lived eighty years, he died. the portrait of pisano i have not been able to find in any place whatsoever. both these painters drew very well, as may be seen in our book. [illustration: medals of sigismondo pandolfo malatesta and niccolÒ piccinino (_after =vittore pisanello=. london: british museum_)] footnotes: [ ] it has recently been shown that pisanello's name was not vittore but antonio; see article by g. f. hill, on p. , vol. xiii. of the _burlington magazine_. in the translation, however, vittore, the name given by vasari, will be kept. pesello and francesco peselli lives of pesello and francesco peselli [_pesellino, or francesco di pesello_] painters of florence it is rarely wont to happen that the disciples of the best masters, if they observe their precepts, fail to become very excellent, or, if they do not actually surpass them, at least to equal them and to make themselves in every way like them. for the burning zeal of imitation, with assiduity in studying, has power to make them equal the talent of those who show them the true method of working; wherefore the disciples become such that they afterwards compete with their masters, and even find it easy to outstrip them, because it is always but little labour to add to what has been discovered by others. that this is true is proved by francesco di pesello, who imitated the manner of fra filippo so well that he would have surpassed him by a long way, if death had not cut him off so prematurely. it is also known that pesello imitated the manner of andrea dal castagno; and he took so much pleasure in counterfeiting animals, of which he kept some of all sorts alive in his house, and made them so lifelike and vivacious, that there was no one in his time who equalled him in this branch of his profession. he worked up to the age of thirty under the discipline of andrea, learning from him, and became a very good master. wherefore, having given good proof of his knowledge, he was commissioned by the signoria of florence to paint a panel in distemper of the magi bringing offerings to christ, which was placed half-way up the staircase of their palace, and acquired great fame for pesello, above all because he had made certain portraits therein, including that of donato acciaiuoli. in s. croce, also, in the chapel of the cavalcanti, below the annunciation of donato, he painted a predella with little figures, containing stories of s. nicholas. in the house of the medici he adorned some panelling very beautifully with animals, and certain coffers with little scenes of jousts on horseback. and in the same house there are seen to this day certain canvases by his hand, representing lions pressing against a grating, which appear absolutely alive; and he made others on the outside, together with one fighting with a serpent; and on another canvas he painted an ox, a fox, and other animals, very animated and vivacious. in the chapel of the alessandri, in s. piero maggiore, he made four little scenes with little figures of s. peter, of s. paul, of s. zanobi restoring to life the son of the widow, and of s. benedict. in s. maria maggiore in the same city of florence, in the chapel of the orlandini, he made a madonna and two other very beautiful figures. for the children of the company of s. giorgio he painted a crucifix, s. jerome, and s. francis; and he made an annunciation on a panel in the church of s. giorgio. in the church of s. jacopo at pistoia he painted a trinity, s. zeno, and s. james; and throughout the houses of citizens in florence there are many pictures, both round and square, by the hand of the same man. pesello was a temperate and gentle person; and whenever it was in his power to assist his friends, he would do it very lovingly and willingly. he married young, and had a son named francesco, known as pesellino, who became a painter, following very closely in the steps of fra filippo. from what is known of this man, it is clear that if he had lived longer he would have done much more than he did, for he was a zealous student of his art, and would draw all day and night without ceasing. in the chapel of the noviciate in s. croce, below the panel by fra filippo, there is still seen a most marvellous predella with little figures, which appear to be by the hand of fra filippo. he made many little pictures with small figures throughout florence, where, having acquired a great name, he died at the age of thirty-one; to the great grief of pesello, who followed him after no long time, at the age of seventy-seven. [illustration: pesellino: madonna enthroned with saints and angels (_empoli: gallery. panel_)] benozzo gozzoli [illustration: the procession of the magi (_detail, after the fresco by =benozzo gozzoli=. florence: palazzo riccardi_) _anderson_] life of benozzo gozzoli[ ] painter of florence he who pursues the path of excellence in his labours, although it is, as men say, both stony and full of thorns, finds himself finally at the end of the ascent on a broad plain, with all the blessings that he has desired. and as he looks downwards and sees the difficult and perilous way that he has come, he thanks god for having brought him out safely, and with the greatest contentment he blesses those labours that he has just been finding so burdensome. and so, recompensed for his past sufferings by the gladness of the happy present, he labours without fatigue, in order to demonstrate to all who see him how heat, cold, sweat, hunger, thirst, and all the other discomforts that are endured in the acquiring of excellence, deliver men from poverty, and bring them to that secure and tranquil state in which, with so much contentment, benozzo gozzoli enjoyed repose from his labours. this man was a disciple of fra giovanni angelico, by whom he was loved with good reason; and by all who knew him he was held to be a practised master, very rich in invention, and very productive in the painting of animals, perspectives, landscapes, and ornaments. he wrought so many works in his day that he showed that he cared little for other delights; and although, in comparison with many who surpassed him in design, he was not very excellent, yet in this great mass of work he surpassed all the painters of his age, for in such a multitude of pictures he succeeded in making some that were good. in his youth he painted a panel for the altar of the company of s. marco in florence, and, in s. friano, a picture of the passing of s. jerome, which has been spoilt in restoring the façade of the church along the street. in the chapel of the palace of the medici he painted the story of the magi in fresco. in the araceli at rome, in the chapel of the cesarini, he painted the stories of s. anthony of padua, wherein he made portraits from life of cardinal giuliano cesarini and antonio colonna. in the conti tower, likewise, over a door under which one passes, he made in fresco a madonna with many saints; and in a chapel in s. maria maggiore, on the right hand as one enters the church by the principal door, he painted many figures in fresco, which are passing good. after returning from rome to florence, benozzo went to pisa, where he worked in the cemetery called the campo santo, which is beside the duomo, covering the surface of a wall that runs the whole length of the building with stories from the old testament, wherein he showed very great invention. and this may be said to be a truly tremendous work, seeing that it contains all the stories of the creation of the world from one day to another. after this come noah's ark and the inundation of the flood, represented with very beautiful composition and an abundance of figures. then there follow the building of the proud tower of nimrod, the burning of sodom and the other neighbouring cities, and the stories of abraham, wherein there are some very beautiful effects to be observed, for the reason that, although benozzo was not remarkable for the drawing of figures, yet he showed his art effectually in the sacrifice of isaac, for there he painted an ass foreshortened in such a manner that it seems to turn to either side, which is held something very beautiful. after this comes the birth of moses, together with all those signs and prodigies that were seen, up to the time when he led his people out of egypt and fed them for so many years in the desert. to these he added all the stories of the hebrews up to the time of david and his son solomon; and in this work benozzo displayed a spirit truly more than bold, for, whereas so great an enterprise might very well have daunted a legion of painters, he alone wrought the whole and brought it to perfection. wherefore, having thus acquired very great fame, he won the honour of having the following epigram placed in the middle of the work: [illustration: benozzo bozzoli: madonna and child (_berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, b. panel_)] quid spectas volucres, pisces, et monstra ferarum, et virides silvas Æthereasque domos, et pueros, juvenes, matres, canosque parentes, queis semper vivum spirat in ore decus? non hÆc tam variis finxit simulacra figuris natura, ingenio f[oe]tibus apta suo: est opus artificis: pinxit viva ora benoxus; o superi, vivos fundite in ora sonos. throughout this whole work there are scattered innumerable portraits from the life; but, since we have not knowledge of them all, i will mention only those that i have recognized as important, and those that i know by means of some record. in the scene of the queen of sheba going to visit solomon there is the portrait of marsilio ficino among certain prelates, with those of argiropolo, a very learned greek, and of batista platina, whom he had previously portrayed in rome; while he himself is on horseback, in the form of an old man shaven and wearing a black cap, in the fold of which there is a white paper, perchance as a sign, or because he intended to write his own name thereon. in the same city of pisa, for the nuns of s. benedetto a ripa d'arno, he painted all the stories of the life of that saint; and in the building of the company of the florentines, which then stood where the monastery of s. vito now is, he wrought the panel and many other pictures. in the duomo, behind the chair of the archbishop, he painted a s. thomas aquinas on a little panel in distemper, with an infinite number of learned men disputing over his works, among whom there is a portrait of pope sixtus iv, together with a number of cardinals and many chiefs and generals of various orders. this is the best and most highly finished work that benozzo ever made. in s. caterina, a seat of the preaching friars in the same city, he executed two panels in distemper, which are known very well by the manner; and he also painted another in the church of s. niccola, with two in s. croce without pisa. in his youth, benozzo also painted the altar of s. bastiano in the pieve of san gimignano, opposite to the principal chapel; and in the hall of the council there are some figures, partly by his hand, and partly old works restored by him. for the monks of monte oliveto, in the same territory, he painted a crucifix and other pictures; but the best work that he made in that place was in the principal chapel of s. agostino, where he painted stories of s. augustine in fresco, from his conversion to his death; of the whole of which work i have the design by his hand in my book, together with many drawings of the aforesaid scenes in the campo santo of pisa. in volterra, likewise, he executed certain works, of which there is no need to make mention. now, while benozzo was working in rome, there was another painter there called melozzo, who came from forlì; and many who know no more than this, having found the name of melozzo written and having compared the dates, have believed that melozzo stands for benozzo; but they are mistaken, for the said painter was one who lived at the same time and was a very zealous student of the problems of art, devoting particular diligence and study to the making of foreshortenings, as may be seen in s. apostolo at rome, in the tribune of the high-altar, where, in a frieze drawn in perspective, as an ornament for that work, there are some figures picking grapes, with a cask, which show no little of the good. but this is seen more clearly in the ascension of jesus christ, in the midst of a choir of angels who are leading him up to heaven, wherein the figure of christ is so well foreshortened that it seems to be piercing the ceiling, and the same is true of the angels, who are circling with various movements through the spacious sky. the apostles, likewise, who are on the earth below, are so well foreshortened in their various attitudes that the work brought him much praise, as it still does, from the craftsmen, who have learnt much from his labours. he was also a great master of perspective, as is demonstrated by the buildings painted in this work, which he executed at the commission of cardinal riario, nephew of pope sixtus iv, by whom he was richly rewarded. [illustration: the death of s. augustine (_after the fresco by =benozzo gozzoli=. san gimigano: s. agostino_) brogi] but to return to benozzo; wasted away at last by length of years and by his labours, he went to his true rest, in the city of pisa, at the age of seventy-eight, while dwelling in a little house that he had bought in carraia di san francesco during his long sojourn there. this house he left at his death to his daughter; and, mourned by the whole city, he was honourably buried in the campo santo, with the following epitaph, which is still to be read there: hic tumulus est benotii florentini, qui proxime has pinxit historias. hunc sibi pisanor. donavit humanitas, mcccclxxviii. benozzo ever lived the well-ordered life of a true christian, spending all his years in honourable labour. for this and for his good manner and qualities he was long looked upon with favour in that city. the disciples whom he left behind him were zanobi macchiavelli, a florentine, and others of whom there is no need to make further record. footnotes: [ ] in the heading to the life vasari calls him simply benozzo. francesco di giorgio and lorenzo vecchietto [illustration: francesco di giorgio: s. dorothy (_london: national gallery_, . _panel_)] lives of francesco di giorgio sculptor and architect of siena and lorenzo vecchietto sculptor and painter of siena francesco di giorgio of siena, who was an excellent sculptor and architect, made the two bronze angels that are on the high-altar of the duomo in that city. these were truly very beautiful pieces of casting, and he finished them afterwards by himself with the greatest diligence that it is possible to imagine. this he could do very conveniently, for he was endowed with good means as well as with a rare intelligence; wherefore he would work when he felt inclined, not through greed of gain, but for his own pleasure and in order to leave some honourable memorial behind him. he also gave attention to painting and executed some pictures, but these did not equal his sculptures. he had very good judgment in architecture, and proved that he had a very good knowledge of that profession; and to this ample testimony is borne by the palace that he built for duke federigo feltro at urbino, which is commodiously arranged and beautifully planned, while the bizarre staircases are well conceived and more pleasing than any others that had been made up to his time. the halls are large and magnificent, and the apartments are conveniently distributed and handsome beyond belief. in a word, the whole of that palace is as beautiful and as well built as any other that has been erected down to our own day. francesco was a very able engineer, particularly in connection with military engines, as he showed in a frieze that he painted with his own hand in the said palace at urbino, which is all full of rare things of that kind for the purposes of war. he also filled some books with designs of such instruments; and the lord duke cosimo de' medici has the best of these among his greatest treasures. the same man was so zealous a student of the warlike machines and instruments of the ancients, and spent so much time in investigating the plans of the ancient amphitheatres and other things of that kind, that he was thereby prevented from giving equal attention to sculpture; but these studies brought him and still bring him no less honour than sculpture could have gained for him. for all these reasons he was so dear to the said duke federigo, whose portrait he made both on medals and in painting, that when he returned to his native city of siena he found his honours were equal to his profits. for pope pius ii he made all the designs and models of the palace and vescovado of pienza, the native place of the said pope, which was raised by him to the position of a city, and called pienza after himself, in place of its former name of corsignano. these buildings were as magnificent and handsome as they could be for that place; and he did the same for the general form and the fortifications of the said city, together with the palace and loggia built for the same pontiff. wherefore he ever lived in honour, and was rewarded with the supreme magistracy of the signoria in his native city; but finally, having reached the age of forty-seven, he died. his works date about . he left behind him his companion and very dear friend, jacopo cozzerello, who devoted himself to sculpture and architecture, making some figures of wood in siena, and a work of architecture without the porta a tufi--namely, s. maria maddalena, which remained unfinished by reason of his death. to him we are also indebted for the portrait of the aforesaid francesco, which he made with his own hand; to which francesco much gratitude is due for his having facilitated the art of architecture, and for his having rendered to it greater services than any other man had done from the time of filippo di ser brunellesco to his own. [illustration: the risen christ (_after the bronze by =lorenzo vecchietto=. siena: s. maria della scala_) _alinari_] a sienese and also a much extolled sculptor was lorenzo, the son of piero vecchietti who, having first been a highly esteemed goldsmith, finally devoted himself to sculpture and to casting in bronze; which arts he studied so zealously that he became excellent in them, and was commissioned to make a tabernacle in bronze for the high-altar of the duomo in his native city of siena, together with the marble ornaments that are still seen therein. this casting, which is admirable, acquired very great fame and repute for him by reason of the proportion and grace that it shows in all its parts; and whosoever observes this work well can see that the design is good, and that the craftsman was a man of judgment and of practised ability. for the chapel of the painters of siena, in the great hospital of the scala, the same man made a beautiful metal casting of a nude christ, of the size of life and holding the cross in his hand; which work was finished with a love and diligence worthy of the beautiful success of the casting. in the pilgrim's hall in the same place there is a scene painted in colours by lorenzo. over the door of s. giovanni he painted an arch with figures wrought in fresco; and in like manner, since the baptismal font was not finished, he wrought for it certain little figures in bronze, besides finishing, also in bronze, a scene formerly begun by donatello. in this place two scenes in bronze had been already wrought by jacopo della fonte, whose manner lorenzo ever imitated as closely as he was able. this lorenzo brought the said baptismal font to perfect completion, adding to it some bronze figures, formerly cast by donato but entirely finished by himself, which are held to be very beautiful. for the loggia of the ufficiali[ ] in banchi lorenzo made two life-size figures in marble of s. peter and s. paul, wrought with consummate grace and executed with fine mastery. he disposed the works that he made in such a manner that he deserves as much praise for them after death as he did when alive. he was a melancholic and solitary person, ever lost in contemplation; which was perchance the reason that he did not live longer, for he passed to the other life at the age of fifty-eight. his works date about the year . footnotes: [ ] the officials of the mercanzia. galasso ferrarese life of galasso ferrarese[ ] [_galasso galassi_] painter when strangers come to do work in a city in which there are no craftsmen of excellence, there is always some man whose intelligence is afterwards stirred to strive to learn that same art, and to bring it about that from that time onwards there should be no need for strangers to come and embellish his city and carry away her wealth, which he now labours to deserve by his own ability, seeking to acquire for himself those riches that seemed to him too splendid to be given to foreigners. this was made clearly manifest by galasso ferrarese, who, seeing piero dal borgo a san sepolcro rewarded by the duke of ferrara for the works that he executed, and also honourably received in ferrara, was incited so strongly by such an example, after piero's departure, to devote himself to painting, that he acquired the name of a good and excellent master in ferrara. besides this, he was held in all the greater favour in that place for having gone to venice and there learnt the method of painting in oil, which he brought to his native place, for he afterwards made an infinity of figures in that manner, which are scattered about in many churches throughout ferrara. next, having gone to bologna, whither he was summoned by certain dominican friars, he painted in oil a chapel in s. domenico; and so his fame increased, together with his credit. after this he painted many pictures in fresco in s. maria del monte, a seat of the black friars without bologna, beyond the porta di s. mammolo; and the whole church of the casa di mezzo, on the same road, was likewise painted by his hand with works in fresco, in which he depicted the stories of the old testament. his life was ever most praiseworthy, and he showed himself very courteous and agreeable; which arose from his being used to live and dwell more out of his native place than in it. it is true, indeed, that through his being somewhat irregular in his way of living, his life did not last long; for he left it at the age of about fifty, to go to that life which has no end. after his death he was honoured by a friend with the following epitaph: galassus ferrariensis. sum tanto studio naturam imitatus et arte dum pingo rerum quÆ creat illa parens; hÆc ut sÆpe quidem non picta putaverit a me, a se crediderit sed generata magis. in these same times lived cosmè, also of ferrara. works by his hand that are to be seen are a chapel in s. domenico in the said city, and two folding-doors that close the organ in the duomo. this man was better as a draughtsman than as a painter; indeed, from what i have been able to gather, he does not seem to have painted much. [illustration: the madonna enthroned (_after the tempera panel by =cosmè= [cosimo tura]. berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, _) _hanfstaengl_] footnotes: [ ] this life appears only in vasari's first edition. antonio and bernardo rossellino lives of antonio rossellino, sculptor of florence [_rossellino dal proconsolo_] and bernardo, his brother it has ever been a truly laudable and virtuous thing to be modest and to be adorned with that gentleness and those rare qualities that are easily recognized in the honourable actions of the sculptor antonio rossellino, who put so much grace into his art that he was esteemed by all who knew him as something much more than man, and adored almost as a saint, for those supreme virtues that were united to his talent. antonio was called rossellino dal proconsolo, because he ever had his shop in a part of florence called by that name. he showed such sweetness and delicacy in his works, with a finish and a refinement so perfect, that his manner may be rightly called the true one and truly modern. for the palace of the medici he made the marble fountain that is in the second court; in which fountain are certain children opening the mouths of dolphins that pour out water; and the whole is finished with consummate grace and with a most diligent manner. in the church of s. croce, near the holy-water basin, he made a tomb for francesco nori, with a madonna in low-relief above it; and another madonna in the house of the tornabuoni, together with many other things sent to various foreign parts, such as a tomb of marble for lyons in france. at s. miniato al monte, a monastery of white friars without the walls of florence, he was commissioned to make the tomb of the cardinal of portugal, which was executed by him so marvellously and with such great diligence and art, that no craftsman can ever expect to be able to see any work likely to surpass it in any respect whatsoever with regard to finish or grace. and in truth, if one examines it, it appears not merely difficult but impossible for it to have been executed so well; for certain angels in the work reveal such grace, beauty, and art in their expressions and their draperies, that they appear not merely made of marble but absolutely alive. one of these is holding the crown of chastity of that cardinal, who is said to have died celibate; the other bears the palm of victory, which he had won from the world. among the many most masterly things that are there, one is an arch of grey-stone supporting a looped-back curtain of marble, which is so highly-finished that, what with the white of the marble and the grey of the stone, it appears more like real cloth than like marble. on the sarcophagus are some truly very beautiful boys and the dead man himself, with a madonna, very well wrought, in a medallion. the sarcophagus has the shape of that one made of porphyry which is in the piazza della ritonda in rome. this tomb of the cardinal was erected in ; and its form, with the architecture of the chapel, gave so much satisfaction to the duke of malfi, nephew of pope pius ii, that he had another made in naples by the hand of the same master for his wife, similar to the other in every respect save in the figure of the dead. for this, moreover, antonio made a panel containing the nativity of christ and the manger, with a choir of angels over the hut, dancing and singing with open mouths, in such a manner, that he truly seems to have given them all possible movement and expression short of breath itself, and that with so much grace and so high a finish, that iron tools and man's intelligence could effect nothing more in marble. wherefore his works have been much esteemed by michelagnolo and by all the rest of the supremely excellent craftsmen. in the pieve of empoli he made a s. sebastian of marble, which is held to be a very beautiful work; and of this we have a drawing by his hand in our book, together with others of all the architecture and the figures in the said chapel in s. miniato al monte, and likewise his own portrait. antonio finally died in florence at the age of forty-six, leaving a brother called bernardo, an architect and sculptor, who made a marble tomb in s. croce for messer lionardo bruni of arezzo, who wrote the history of florence and was a very learned man as all the world knows. this bernardo was much esteemed for his knowledge of architecture by pope nicholas v, who loved him dearly and made use of him in very many works that he carried out in his pontificate, of which he would have executed even more if death had not intervened to hinder the works that he had in mind. he caused him, therefore, according to the account of giannozzo manetti, to reconstruct the piazza of fabriano, in the year when he spent some months there by reason of the plague; and whereas it was narrow and badly designed, he enlarged it and brought it to a good shape, surrounding it with a row of shops, which were useful, very commodious, and very beautiful. after this he restored and founded anew the church of s. francesco in the same district, which was going to ruin. at gualdo he rebuilt the church of s. benedetto; almost anew, it may be said, for he added to it good and beautiful buildings. at assisi he made new and stout foundations and a new roof for the church of s. francesco, which was ruined in certain parts and threatened to go to ruin in certain others. at civitavecchia he built many beautiful and magnificent edifices. at cività castellana he rebuilt more than a third part of the walls in a good form. at narni he rebuilt the fortress, enlarging it with good and beautiful walls. at orvieto he made a great fortress with a most beautiful palace--a work of great cost and no less magnificence. at spoleto, likewise, he enlarged and strengthened the fortress, making within it dwellings so beautiful, so commodious, and so well conceived, that nothing better could be seen. he restored the baths of viterbo at great expense and in a truly royal spirit, making certain dwellings there that would have been worthy not merely of the invalids who went to bathe there every day, but of the greatest of princes. all these works were executed by the said pontiff without the city of rome, from the designs of bernardo. in rome he restored, and in many places renewed, the walls of the city, which were for the greater part in ruins; adding to them certain towers, and enclosing within these some new fortifications that he built without the castle of s. angelo, with many apartments and decorations that he made within. the said pontiff also had a project in his mind, of which he brought the greater part nearly to completion, of restoring or rebuilding, according as it might be necessary, the forty churches of the stations formerly instituted by the saint, pope gregory i, who received the surname of great. thus he restored s. maria trastevere, s. prassedia, s. teodoro, s. pietro in vincula, and many other minor churches. but it was with much greater zeal, adornment, and diligence that he did this for six of the seven greater and principal churches--namely, s. giovanni laterano, s. maria maggiore, s. stefano in celio monte, s. apostolo, s. paolo, and s. lorenzo extra muros. i say nothing of s. pietro, for of this he made an undertaking by itself. the same pope was minded to make the whole of the vatican into a separate city, in the form of a fortress; and for this he was designing three roads that should lead to s. pietro, situated, i believe, where the borgo vecchio and the borgo nuovo now are; and on both sides of these roads he meant to build loggie, with very commodious shops, keeping the nobler and richer trades separate from the humbler, and grouping each in a street by itself. he had already built the great round tower, which is still called the torrione di niccola. over these shops and loggie were to be erected magnificent and commodious houses, built in a very beautiful and very practical style of architecture, and designed in such a manner as to be sheltered and protected from all the pestiferous winds of rome, and freed from all the inconveniences of water and garbage likely to generate unhealthy exhalations. all this the said pontiff would have finished if he had been granted a little longer life, for he had a great and resolute spirit, and an understanding so profound, that he gave as much guidance and direction to the craftsmen as they gave to him. when this is so, and when the patron has knowledge of his own and capacity enough to take an immediate resolution, great enterprises can be easily brought to completion; whereas an irresolute and incapable man, wavering between yes and no in a sea of conflicting designs and opinions, very often lets time slip past unprofitably without doing anything. but of this design of nicholas there is no need to say any more, since it was not carried into effect. [illustration: tomb of cardinal jacopo of portugal (_after =antonio rossellino=. florence: s. miniato_) _brogi_] besides this, he wished to build the papal palace with so much magnificence and grandeur, and with so many conveniences and such loveliness, that it might be in all respects the greatest and most beautiful edifice in christendom; and he intended that it should not only serve for the person of the supreme pontiff, the chief of all christians, and for the sacred college of cardinals, who, being his counsellors and assistants, had always to be about him, but also that it should provide accommodation for the transaction of all the business, resolutions, and judicial affairs of the court; so that the grouping together of all the offices and courts would have produced great magnificence, and, if such a word may be used in such a context, an effect of incredible pomp. what is infinitely more, it was meant for the reception of all emperors, kings, dukes, and other christian princes who might, either on affairs of their own or out of devotion, visit that most holy apostolic seat. it is incredible, but he proposed to make there a theatre for the crowning of the pontiffs, with gardens, loggie, aqueducts, fountains, chapels, libraries, and a most beautiful building set apart for the conclave. in short, this edifice--i know not whether i should call it palace, or castle, or city--would have been the most superb work that had ever been made, so far as is known, from the creation of the world to our own day. what great glory it would have been for the holy roman church to see the supreme pontiff, her chief, gather together, as into the most famous and most holy of monasteries, all those ministers of god who dwell in the city of rome, to live there, as it were in a new earthly paradise, a celestial, angelic, and most holy life, giving an example to all christendom, and awakening the minds of the infidels to the true worship of god and of the blessed jesus christ! but this great work remained unfinished--nay, scarcely begun--by reason of the death of that pontiff; and the little that was carried out is known by his arms, or the device that he used as his arms, namely, two keys crossed on a field of red. the fifth of the five works that the same pope intended to execute was the church of s. pietro, which he had proposed to make so vast, so rich, and so ornate, that it is better to be silent than to attempt to speak of it, because i could not describe even the least part of it, and the rather as the model was afterwards destroyed, and others have been made by other architects. if any man wishes to gain a full knowledge of the grand conception of pope nicholas v in this matter, let him read what giannozzo manetti, a noble and learned citizen of florence, has written with the most minute detail in the life of the said pontiff, who availed himself in all the aforesaid designs, as has been said, as well as in his others, of the intelligence and great industry of bernardo rossellino. antonio, brother of bernardo (to return at length to the point whence, with so fair an occasion, i digressed), wrought his sculptures about the year ; and since the more men's works display diligence and difficulties the more they are admired, and these two characteristics are particularly noticeable in antonio's works, he deserves fame and honour as a most illustrious example from which modern sculptors have been able to learn how those statues should be made that are to secure the greatest praise and fame by reason of their difficulties. for after donatello he did most towards adding a certain finish and refinement to the art of sculpture, seeking to give such depth and roundness to his figures that they appear wholly round and finished, a quality which had not been seen to such perfection in sculpture up to that time; and since he first introduced it, in the ages after his and in our own it appears a marvel. [illustration: tomb of leonardo bruni (_after =bernardo rossellino=. florence: s. croce_) _brogi_] desiderio da settignano life of desiderio da settignano sculptor very great is the obligation that is owed to heaven and to nature by those who bring their works to birth without effort and with a certain grace which others cannot give to their creations, either by study or by imitation. it is a truly celestial gift, which pours down on these works in such a manner, that they ever have about them a loveliness and a charm which attract not only those who are versed in that calling, but also many others who do not belong to the profession. and this springs from facility in the production of the good, which presents no crudeness or harshness to the eye, such as is often shown by works wrought with labour and difficulty; and this grace and simplicity, which give universal pleasure and are recognized by all, are seen in all the works made by desiderio. of this man, some say that he came from settignano, a place two miles distant from florence, while certain others hold him to be a florentine; but this matters nothing, the distance between the one place and the other being so small. he was an imitator of the manner of donato, although he had a natural gift of imparting very great grace and loveliness to his heads; and in the expressions of his women and children there is seen a delicate, sweet, and charming manner, produced as much by nature, which had inclined him to this, as by the zeal with which he had practised his intelligence in the art. in his youth he wrought the base of donato's david, which is in the duke's palace in florence, making on it in marble certain very beautiful harpies, and some vine-tendrils in bronze, very graceful and well conceived. on the façade of the house of the gianfigliazzi he made a large and very beautiful coat of arms, with a lion; besides other works in stone, which are in the same city. for the chapel of the brancacci in the carmine he made an angel of wood; and he finished with marble the chapel of the sacrament in s. lorenzo, carrying it to complete perfection with much diligence. there was in it a child of marble in the round, which was removed and is now set up on the altar at the festivals of the nativity of christ, as an admirable work; and in place of this baccio da montelupo made another, also of marble, which stands permanently over the tabernacle of the sacrament. in s. maria novella he made a marble tomb for the blessed villana, with certain graceful little angels, and portrayed her there from nature in such a manner that she appears not dead but asleep; and for the nuns of the murate he wrought a little madonna with a lovely and graceful manner, in a tabernacle standing on a column; insomuch that both these works are very highly esteemed and very greatly prized. in s. pietro maggiore, also, he made the tabernacle of the sacrament in marble with his usual diligence; and although there are no figures in this work, yet it shows a beautiful manner and infinite grace, like his other works. and he portrayed from the life, likewise in marble, the head of marietta degli strozzi, who was so beautiful that the work turned out very excellent. in s. croce he made a tomb for messer carlo marsuppini of arezzo, which not only amazed the craftsmen and the people of understanding who saw it at that time, but still fills with marvel all who see it at the present day; for on the sarcophagus he wrought some foliage, which, although somewhat stiff and dry, was held--since but few antiquities had been discovered up to that time--to be something very beautiful. among other parts of the said work are seen certain wings, acting as ornaments for a shell at the foot of the sarcophagus, which seem to be made not of marble but of feathers--difficult things to imitate in marble, seeing that the chisel is not able to counterfeit hair and feathers. there is a large shell of marble, more real than if it were an actual shell. there are also some children and some angels, executed with a beautiful and lively manner; and consummate excellence and art are likewise seen in the figure of the dead, portrayed from nature on the sarcophagus, and in a madonna in low-relief on a medallion, wrought after the manner of donato with judgment and most admirable grace; as are many other works that he made in low-relief on marble, some of which are in the guardaroba of the lord duke cosimo, and in particular a medallion with the head of our lord jesus christ and with that of john the baptist as a boy. at the foot of the tomb of the said messer carlo he laid a large stone in memory of messer giorgio, a famous doctor, and secretary to the signoria of florence, with a very beautiful portrait in low-relief of messer giorgio, clad in his doctor's robes according to the use of those times. [illustration: tomb of carlo marsuppini (_after =desiderio da settignano=. florence: s. croce_) _alinari_] if death had not snatched so prematurely from the world a spirit which worked so nobly, he would have done so much later on by means of experience and study, that he would have outstripped in art all those whom he had surpassed in grace. death cut the thread of his life at the age of twenty-eight, which caused great grief to those who were looking forward to seeing so great an intellect attain to perfection in old age; and they were left in the deepest dismay at such a loss. he was followed by his relatives and by many friends to the church of the servi; and a vast number of epigrams and sonnets continued for a long time to be placed on his tomb, of which i have contented myself with including only the following: come vide natura dar desiderio ai freddi marmi vita, e poter la scultura agguagliar sua bellezza alma e infinita, si fermÒ sbigottita e disse; omai sarÀ mia gloria oscura. e piena d'alto sdegno troncÒ la vita a cosÌ bell' ingegno. ma in van; che se costui diÈ vita eterna ai marmi, e i marmi a lui. the sculptures of desiderio date about . he left unfinished a figure of s. mary magdalene in penitence, which was afterwards completed by benedetto da maiano, and is now in s. trinita in florence, on the right hand as one enters the church; and the beauty of this figure is beyond the power of words to express. in our book are certain very beautiful pen-drawings by desiderio; and his portrait was obtained from some of his relatives in settignano. mino da fiesole life of mino da fiesole [_mino di giovanni_] sculptor when our craftsmen seek to do no more in the works that they execute than to imitate the manner of their masters, or that of some other man of excellence whose method of working pleases them, either in the attitudes of the figures, or in the expressions of the heads, or in the folds of the draperies, and when they study these things only, they may with time and diligence come to make them exactly the same, but they cannot by these means alone attain to perfection in their art, seeing that it is clearly evident that one who ever walks behind rarely comes to the front, since the imitation of nature becomes fixed in the manner of a craftsman who has developed that manner out of long practice. for imitation is a definite art of copying what you represent exactly after the model of the most beautiful things of nature, which you must take pure and free from the manner of your master or that of others, who also reduce to a manner the things that they take from nature. and although it may appear that the imitations made by excellent craftsmen are natural objects, or absolutely similar, it is not possible with all the diligence in the world to make them so similar that they shall be like nature herself, or even, by selecting the best, to compose a body so perfect as to make art excel nature. now, if this is so, it follows that only objects taken from nature can make pictures and sculptures perfect, and that if a man studies closely only the manner of other craftsmen, and not bodies and objects of nature, it is inevitable that he should make works inferior both to nature and to those of the man whose manner he adopts. wherefore it has been seen in the case of many of our craftsmen, who have refused to study anything save the works of their masters, leaving nature on one side, that they have failed to gain any real knowledge of them or to surpass their masters, but have done very great injury to their own powers; whereas, if they had studied the manner of their masters and the objects of nature together, they would have produced much greater fruits in their works than they did. this is seen in the works of the sculptor mino da fiesole, who, having an intelligence capable of achieving whatsoever he wished, was so captivated by the manner of his master desiderio da settignano, by reason of the beautiful grace that he gave to the heads of women, children, and every other kind of figure, which appeared to mino's judgment to be superior to nature, that he practised and studied it alone, abandoning natural objects and thinking them useless; wherefore he had more grace than solid grounding in his art. it was on the hill of fiesole, a very ancient city near florence, that there was born the sculptor mino di giovanni, who, having been apprenticed to the craft of stone-cutting under desiderio da settignano, a young man excellent in sculpture, showed so much inclination to his master's art, that, while he was labouring at the hewing of stones, he learnt to copy in clay the works that desiderio had made in marble; and this he did so well that his master, seeing that he was likely to make progress in that art, brought him forward and set him to work on his own figures in marble, in which he sought with very great attention to reproduce the model before him. nor did he continue long at this before he became passing skilful in that calling; at which desiderio was greatly pleased, and still more pleased was mino by the loving-kindness of his master, seeing that desiderio was ever ready to teach him how to avoid the errors that can be committed in that art. now, while he was on the way to becoming excellent in his profession, his ill luck would have it that desiderio should pass to a better life, and this loss was a very great blow to mino, who departed from florence, almost in despair, and went to rome. there, assisting masters who were then executing works in marble, such as tombs of cardinals, which were placed in s. pietro, although they have since been thrown to the ground in the building of the new church, he became known as a very experienced and capable master; and he was commissioned by cardinal guglielmo destovilla, who was pleased with his manner, to make the marble altar where lies the body of s. jerome, in the church of s. maria maggiore, together with scenes in low-relief from his life, which he executed to perfection, with a portrait of that cardinal. [illustration: tomb of margrave hugo (_after =mino da fiesole=. florence: badia_) _alinari_] afterwards, when pope paul ii, the venetian, was erecting his palace of s. marco, mino was employed thereon in making certain coats of arms. after the death of that pope, mino was commissioned to make his tomb, which he delivered finished and erected in s. pietro in the space of two years. this tomb was then held to be the richest, both in ornaments and in figures, that had ever been made for any pontiff; but it was thrown to the ground by bramante in the demolition of s. pietro, and remained there buried among the rubbish for some years, until , when certain venetians had it rebuilt in the old s. pietro, against a wall near the chapel of pope innocent. and although some believe that this tomb is by the hand of mino del reame, yet, notwithstanding that these two masters lived almost at the same time, it is without doubt by the hand of mino da fiesole. it is true, indeed, that the said mino del reame made some little figures on the base, which can be recognized; if in truth his name was mino, and not, as some maintain, dino. but to return to our craftsman; having acquired a good name in rome by the said tomb, by the sarcophagus that he made for the minerva, on which he placed a marble statue of francesco tornabuoni from nature, which is held very beautiful, and by other works, it was not long before he returned to fiesole with a good sum of money saved, and took a wife. and no long time after this, working for the nuns of the murate, he made a marble tabernacle in half-relief to contain the sacrament, which was brought to perfection by him with all the diligence in his power. this he had not yet fixed into its place, when the nuns of s. ambrogio--who desired to have an ornament made, similar in design but richer in adornment, to contain that most holy relic, the miracle of the sacrament--hearing of the ability of mino, commissioned him to execute that work, which he finished with so great diligence that those nuns, being satisfied with him, gave him all that he asked as the price of the work. and a little after this he undertook, at the instance of messer dietisalvi neroni, to make a little panel with figures of our lady with the child in her arms, and s. laurence on one side and s. leonard on the other, in half-relief, which was intended for the priests or chapter of s. lorenzo; but it has remained in the sacristy of the badia of florence. for those monks he made a marble medallion containing a madonna in relief with the child in her arms, which they placed over the principal door of entrance into the church; and since it gave great satisfaction to all, he received a commission for a tomb for the magnificent chevalier, messer bernardo de' giugni, who, having been an honourable man of high repute, rightly received this memorial from his brothers. on this tomb, besides the sarcophagus and the portrait from nature of the dead man, mino executed a figure of justice, which resembles the manner of desiderio closely, save only that its draperies are a little too full of detail in the carving. this work induced the abbot and monks of the badia of florence, in which place the said tomb was erected, to entrust mino with the making of one for count ugo, son of the marquis uberto of magdeburg, who bequeathed great wealth and many privileges to that abbey. and so, desiring to honour him as much as they could, they caused mino to make a tomb of carrara marble, which was the most beautiful work that mino ever made; for in it there are some boys, upholding the arms of that count, who are standing in very spirited attitudes, with a childish grace; and besides the figure of the dead count, with his likeness, which he made on the sarcophagus, in the middle of the wall above the bier there is a figure of charity, with certain children, wrought with much diligence and very well in harmony with the whole. the same is seen in a madonna with the child in her arms, in a lunette, which mino made as much like the manner of desiderio as he could; and if he had assisted his methods of work by studying from the life, there is no doubt that he would have made very great progress in his art. this tomb, with all its expenses, cost , lire, and he finished it in , thereby acquiring much honour, and obtaining a commission to make a tomb for lionardo salutati, bishop of fiesole, in the vescovado of that place, in a chapel near the principal chapel, on the right hand as one goes up; on which tomb he portrayed him in his episcopal robes, as lifelike as possible. for the same bishop he made a head of christ in marble, life-size and very well wrought, which was left among other bequests to the hospital of the innocenti; and at the present day the very reverend don vincenzio borghini, prior of that hospital, holds it among his most precious examples of these arts, in which he takes a delight beyond my power to express in words. in the pieve of prato mino made a pulpit entirely of marble, in which there are stories of our lady, executed with much diligence and put together so well, that the work appears all of one piece. this pulpit stands over one corner of the choir, almost in the middle of the church, above certain ornaments made under the direction of the same mino. he also made portraits of piero di lorenzo de' medici and his wife, marvellously lifelike and true to nature. these two heads stood for many years over two doors in piero's apartment in the house of the medici, each in a lunette; afterwards they were removed, with the portraits of many other illustrious men of that house, to the guardaroba of the lord duke cosimo. mino also made a madonna in marble, which is now in the audience chamber of the guild of the masters in wood and stone; and to perugia, for messer baglione ribi, he sent a marble panel, which was placed in the chapel of the sacrament in s. pietro, the work being in the form of a tabernacle, with s. john on one side and s. jerome on the other--good figures in half-relief. the tabernacle of the sacrament in the duomo of volterra is likewise by his hand, with the two angels standing one on either side of it, so well and so diligently executed that this work is deservedly praised by all craftsmen. finally, attempting one day to move certain stones, and not having the needful assistance at hand, mino fatigued himself so greatly that he was seized by pleurisy and died of it; and he was honourably buried by his friends and relatives in the canon's house at fiesole in the year . the portrait of mino is in our book of drawings, but i do not know by whose hand; it was given to me together with some drawings made with blacklead by mino himself, which have no little beauty. lorenzo costa life of lorenzo costa painter of ferrara although men have ever practised the arts of design more in tuscany than in any other province of italy, and perhaps of europe, yet it is none the less true that in every age there has arisen in the other provinces some genius who has proved himself rare and excellent in the same professions, as has been shown up to the present in many of the lives, and will be demonstrated even more in those that are to follow. it is true, indeed, that where there are no studies, and where men are not disposed by custom to learn, they are not able to advance so rapidly or to become so excellent as they do in those places where craftsmen are for ever practising and studying in competition. but as soon as one or two make a beginning, it seems always to come to pass that many others--such is the force of excellence--strive to follow them, with honour both for themselves and for their countries. lorenzo costa of ferrara, being inclined by nature to the art of painting, and hearing that fra filippo, benozzo, and others were celebrated and highly esteemed in tuscany, betook himself to florence in order to see their works; and on his arrival, finding that their manner pleased him greatly, he stayed there many months, striving to imitate them to the best of his power, particularly in drawing from nature. in this he succeeded so happily, that, after returning to his own country, although his manner was a little dry and hard, he made many praiseworthy works there; as may be seen from the choir of the church of s. domenico in ferrara, wrought entirely by his hand, from which it is evident that he used great diligence in his art and put much labour into his works. in the guardaroba of the lord duke of ferrara there are seen portraits from life in many pictures by his hand, which are very well wrought and very lifelike. in the houses of noblemen, likewise, there are works by his hand which are held in great veneration. in the church of s. domenico at ravenna, in the chapel of s. sebastiano, he painted the panel in oil and certain scenes in fresco, which were much extolled. being next summoned to bologna, he painted a panel in the chapel of the mariscotti in s. petronio, representing s. sebastian bound to the column and pierced with arrows, with many other figures, which was the best work in distemper that had been made up to that time in that city. by his hand, also, was the panel of s. jerome in the chapel of the castelli, and likewise that of s. vincent, wrought in like manner in distemper, which is in the chapel of the griffoni; the predella of this he caused to be painted by a pupil of his, who acquitted himself much better than the master did in the panel, as will be told in the proper place. in the same city, and in the same church, lorenzo painted a panel for the chapel of the rossi, with our lady, s. james, s. george, s. sebastian, and s. jerome; which work is better and sweeter in manner than any other that he ever made. afterwards, having entered the service of signor francesco gonzaga, marquis of mantua, lorenzo painted many scenes for him, partly in gouache and partly in oil, in an apartment in the palace of s. sebastiano. in one is the marchioness isabella, portrayed from life, accompanied by many ladies who are singing various parts and making a sweet harmony. in another is the goddess latona, who is transforming certain peasants into frogs, according to the fable. in the third is the marquis francesco, led by hercules along the path of virtue upon the summit of a mountain consecrated to eternity. in another picture the same marquis is seen triumphant on a pedestal, with a staff in his hand; and round him are many nobles and retainers with standards in their hands, all rejoicing and full of jubilation at his greatness, among whom there is an infinite number of portraits from the life. and in the great hall, where the triumphal processions by the hand of mantegna now are, he painted two pictures, one at each end. in the first, which is in gouache, are many naked figures lighting fires and making sacrifices to hercules; and in this is a portrait from life of the marquis, with his three sons, federigo, ercole, and ferrante, who afterwards became very great and very illustrious lords; and there are likewise some portraits of great ladies. in the other, which was painted in oil many years after the first, and which was one of the last works that lorenzo executed, is the marquis federigo, grown to man's estate, with a staff in his hand, as general of holy church under leo x; and round him are many lords portrayed by costa from the life. [illustration: the coronation of the virgin (_after the panel by =lorenzo costa=. bologna: s. giovanni in monte_) _alinari_] in bologna, in the palace of messer giovanni bentivogli, the same man painted certain rooms in competition with many other masters; but of these, since they were thrown to the ground in the destruction of that palace, no further mention will be made. but i will not forbear to say that, of the works that he executed for the bentivogli, only one remained standing--namely, the chapel that he painted for messer giovanni in s. jacopo, wherein he wrought two scenes of triumphal processions, which are held very beautiful, with many portraits. in the year , also, for jacopo chedini, he painted a panel for a chapel in s. giovanni in monte, in which he wished to be buried after death; in this he made a madonna, s. john the evangelist, s. augustine, and other saints. on a panel in s. francesco he painted a nativity, s. james, and s. anthony of padua. in s. pietro he made a most beautiful beginning in a chapel for domenico garganelli, a gentleman of bologna; but, whatever may have been the reason, after making some figures on the ceiling, he left it unfinished, nay, scarcely begun. in mantua, besides the works that he executed there for the marquis, of which we have spoken above, he painted a madonna on a panel for s. silvestro; and on one side, s. sylvester recommending the people of that city to her, and, on the other, s. sebastian, s. paul, s. elizabeth, and s. jerome. it is reported that the said panel was placed in that church after the death of costa, who, having finished his life in mantua, in which city his descendants have lived ever since, wished to have a burial-place in that church both for himself and for his successors. the same man made many other pictures, of which nothing more will be said, for it is enough to have recorded the best. his portrait i received in mantua from fermo ghisoni, an excellent painter, who assured me that it was by the hand of costa, who was a passing good draughtsman, as may be seen from a pen-drawing on parchment in our book, wherein is the judgment of solomon, with a s. jerome in chiaroscuro, which are both very well wrought. disciples of lorenzo were ercole da ferrara, his compatriot, whose life will be written below, and lodovico malino, likewise of ferrara, by whom there are many works in his native city and in other places; but the best that he made was a panel which is in the church of s. francesco in bologna, in a chapel near the principal door, representing jesus christ at the age of twelve disputing with the doctors in the temple. the elder dosso of ferrara, of whose works mention will be made in the proper place, also learnt his first principles from costa. and this is as much as i have been able to gather about the life and works of lorenzo costa of ferrara. ercole ferrarese life of ercole ferrarese [_ercole da ferrara_] painter although, long before lorenzo costa died, his disciple ercole ferrarese was in very good repute and was invited to work in many places, he would never abandon his master (a thing which is rarely wont to happen), and was content to work with him for meagre gains and praise, rather than labour by himself for greater profit and credit. for this gratitude, in view of its rarity among the men of to-day, all the more praise is due to ercole, who, knowing himself to be indebted to lorenzo, put aside all thought of his own interest in favour of his master's wishes, and was like a brother or a son to him up to the end of his life. ercole, then, who was a better draughtsman than costa, painted, below the panel executed by lorenzo in the chapel of s. vincenzio in s. petronio, certain scenes in distemper with little figures, so well and with so beautiful and good a manner, that it is scarcely possible to see anything better, or to imagine the labour and diligence that ercole put into the work: and thus the predella is a much better painting than the panel. both were wrought at one and the same time during the life of costa. after his master's death, ercole was employed by domenico garganelli to finish that chapel in s. petronio which lorenzo, as has been said above, had begun, completing only a small part. ercole, to whom the said domenico was giving four ducats a month for this, with his own expenses and those of a boy, and all the colours that were to be used for the painting, set himself to work and finished the whole in such a manner, that he surpassed his master by a long way both in drawing and colouring as well as in invention. in the first part, or rather, wall, is the crucifixion of christ, wrought with much judgment: for besides the christ, who is seen there already dead, he represented very well the tumult of the jews who have come to see the messiah on the cross, among whom there is a marvellous variety of heads, whereby it is seen that ercole sought with very great pains to make them so different one from another that they should not resemble each other in any respect. there are also some figures bursting into tears of sorrow, which demonstrate clearly enough how much he sought to imitate reality. there is the swooning of the madonna, which is most moving; but much more so are the maries, who are facing her, for they are seen full of compassion and with an aspect so heavy with sorrow, that it is almost impossible to imagine it, at seeing that which mankind holds most dear dead before their eyes, and themselves in danger of losing the second. among other notable things in this work is longinus on horseback, riding a lean beast, which is foreshortened and in very strong relief; and in him we see the impiety that made him pierce the side of christ, and the penitence and conversion that followed from his enlightenment. he gave strange attitudes, likewise, to the figures of certain soldiers who are playing for the raiment of christ, with bizarre expressions of countenance and fanciful garments. well wrought, too, with beautiful invention, are the thieves on the cross. and since ercole took much delight in making foreshortenings, which, if well conceived, are very beautiful, he made in that work a soldier on a horse, which, rearing its fore-legs on high, stands out in such a manner that it appears to be in relief; and as the wind is bending a banner that the soldier holds in his hand, he is making a most beautiful effort to hold it up. he also made a s. john, flying away wrapped in a sheet. in like manner, the soldiers that are in this work are very well wrought, with more natural and appropriate movements than had been seen in any other figures up to that time; and all these attitudes and gestures, which could scarcely be better done, show that ercole had a very great intelligence and took great pains with his art. on the wall opposite to this one the same man painted the passing of our lady, who is surrounded by the apostles in very beautiful attitudes, among whom are six figures portrayed so well from life, that those who knew them declare that these are most vivid likenesses. in the same work he also made his own portrait, and that of domenico garganelli, the owner of the chapel, who, when it was finished, moved by the love that he bore to ercole and by the praises that he heard given to the work, bestowed upon him a thousand lire in bolognese currency. it is said that ercole spent twelve years in labouring at this work; seven in executing it in fresco, and five in retouching it on the dry. it is true, indeed, that during this time he painted some other works; and in particular, so far as is known, the predella of the high-altar of s. giovanni in monte, in which he wrought three scenes of the passion of christ. [illustration: the israelites gathering manna (_after the panel by =ercole ferrarese=. london: national gallery, _) _mansell_] ercole was eccentric in character, particularly in his custom of refusing to let any man, whether painter or not, see him at work; wherefore he was greatly hated in bologna by the painters of that city, who have ever borne an envious hatred to the strangers who have been summoned to work there; nay, they sometimes show the same among themselves out of rivalry with each other, although this may be said to be the particular vice of the professors of these our arts in every place. certain bolognese painters, then, having come to an agreement one day with a carpenter, shut themselves up by his help in the church, close to the chapel where ercole was working; and when night came, breaking into it by force, they did not content themselves with seeing the work, which should have sufficed them, but carried off all his cartoons, sketches, and designs, and every other thing of value that was there. at this ercole fell into such disdain that when the work was finished he departed from bologna, without stopping another day there, taking with him duca tagliapietra, a sculptor of much renown, who carved the very beautiful foliage in marble which is in the parapet in front of the chapel wherein ercole painted the said work, and who afterwards made all the stone windows of the ducal palace at ferrara, which are most beautiful. ercole, therefore, weary at length of living away from home, remained ever after in company with this man in ferrara, and made many works in that city. ercole had an extraordinary love of wine, and his frequent drunkenness did much to shorten his life, which he had enjoyed without any accident up to the age of forty, when he was smitten one day by apoplexy, which made an end of him in a short time. he left a pupil, the painter guido bolognese, who, in , as may be seen from the place where he put his name, under the portico of s. pietro at bologna, painted a crucifixion in fresco, with the maries, the thieves, horses, and other passing good figures. and desiring very greatly to become esteemed in that city, as his master had been, he studied so zealously and subjected himself to so many hardships that he died at the age of thirty-five. if guido had set himself to learn his art in his childhood, and not, as he did, at the age of eighteen, he would not only have equalled his master without difficulty, but would even have surpassed him by a great measure. in our book there are drawings by the hands of ercole and guido, very well wrought, and executed with grace and in a good manner. jacopo, giovanni, and gentile bellini lives of jacopo, giovanni, and gentile bellini painters of venice enterprises that are founded on excellence, although their beginnings often appear humble and mean, keep climbing higher step by step, nor do they ever halt or take rest until they have reached the supreme heights of glory: as could be clearly seen from the poor and humble beginning of the house of the bellini, and from the rank to which it afterwards rose by means of painting. jacopo bellini, a painter of venice, having been a disciple of gentile da fabriano, worked in competition with that domenico who taught the method of colouring in oil to andrea dal castagno; but, although he laboured greatly to become excellent in that art, he did not acquire fame therein until after the departure of domenico from venice. then, finding himself in that city without any competitor to equal him, he kept growing in credit and fame, and became so excellent that he was the greatest and most renowned man in his profession. and to the end that the name which he had acquired in painting might not only be maintained in his house and for his descendants, but might grow greater, there were born to him two sons of good and beautiful intelligence, strongly inclined to the art: one was giovanni, and the other gentile, to whom he gave that name in tender memory of gentile da fabriano, who had been his master and like a loving father to him. now, when the said two sons had grown to a certain age, jacopo himself with all diligence taught them the rudiments of drawing; but no long time passed before both one and the other surpassed his father by a great measure, whereat he rejoiced greatly, ever encouraging them and showing them that he desired them to do as the tuscans did, who gloried among themselves in making efforts to outstrip each other, according as one after another took up the art: even so should giovanni vanquish himself, and gentile should vanquish them both, and so on in succession. the first works that brought fame to jacopo were the portraits of giorgio cornaro and of caterina, queen of cyprus; a panel which he sent to verona, containing the passion of christ, with many figures, among which he portrayed himself from the life; and a picture of the story of the cross, which is said to be in the scuola of s. giovanni evangelista. all these works and many others were painted by jacopo with the aid of his sons; and the last-named picture was painted on canvas, as it has been almost always the custom to do in that city, where they rarely paint, as is done elsewhere, on panels of the wood of that tree that is called by many oppio[ ] and by some gattice.[ ] this wood, which grows mostly beside rivers or other waters, is very soft, and admirable for painting on, for it holds very firmly when joined together with carpenters' glue. but in venice they make no panels, and, if they do make a few, they use no other wood than that of the fir, of which that city has a great abundance by reason of the river adige, which brings a very great quantity of it from germany, not to mention that no small amount comes from sclavonia. it is much the custom in venice, then, to paint on canvas, either because it does not split and does not grow worm-eaten, or because it enables pictures to be made of any size that is desired, or because, as was said elsewhere, they can be sent easily and conveniently wherever they are wanted, with very little expense and labour. be the reason what it may, jacopo and gentile, as was said above, made their first works on canvas. [illustration: jacopo bellini: the madonna and child (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] to the last-named story of the cross gentile afterwards added by himself seven other pictures, or rather, eight, in which he painted the miracle of the cross of christ, which the said scuola preserves as a relic; which miracle was as follows. the said cross was thrown, i know not by what chance, from the ponte della paglía into the canal, and, by reason of the reverence that many bore to the piece of the cross of christ that it contained, they threw themselves into the water to recover it; but it was the will of god that no one should be worthy to succeed in grasping it save the prior of that scuola. gentile, therefore, representing this story, drew in perspective, along the grand canal, many houses, the ponte della paglía, the piazza di s. marco, and a long procession of men and women walking behind the clergy; also many who have leapt into the water, others in the act of leaping, many half immersed, and others in other very beautiful actions and attitudes; and finally he painted the said prior recovering the cross. truly great were the labour and diligence of gentile in this work, considering the infinite number of people, the many portraits from life, the diminution of the figures in the distance, and particularly the portraits of almost all the men who then belonged to that scuola, or rather, confraternity. last comes the picture of the replacing of the said cross, wrought with many beautiful conceptions. all these scenes, painted on the aforesaid canvases, acquired a very great name for gentile. [illustration: giovanni bellini: the doge leonardo loredano (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] afterwards, jacopo withdrew to work entirely by himself, as did his two sons, each of them devoting himself to his own studies in the art. of jacopo i will make no further mention, seeing that his works were nothing out of the ordinary in comparison with those of his sons, and because he died not long after his sons withdrew themselves from him; and i judge it much better to speak at some length only of giovanni and gentile. i will not, indeed, forbear to say that although these brothers retired to live each by himself, nevertheless they had so much respect for each other, and both had such reverence for their father, that each, extolling the other, ever held himself inferior in merit; and thus they sought modestly to surpass one another no less in goodness and courtesy than in the excellence of their art. the first works of giovanni were some portraits from the life, which gave much satisfaction, and particularly that of doge loredano--although some say that this was a portrait of giovanni mozzenigo, brother of that piero who was doge many years before loredano. giovanni then painted a panel for the altar of s. caterina da siena in the church of s. giovanni, in which picture--a rather large one--he painted our lady seated, with the child in her arms, and s. dominic, s. jerome, s. catherine, s. ursula, and two other virgins; and at the feet of the madonna he made three boys standing, who are singing from a book--a very beautiful group. above this he made the inner part of a vault in a building, which is very beautiful. this work was one of the best that had been made in venice up to that time. for the altar of s. giobbe in the church of that saint, the same man painted a panel with good design and most beautiful colouring, in the middle of which he made the madonna with the child in her arms, seated on a throne slightly raised from the ground, with nude figures of s. job and s. sebastian, beside whom are s. dominic, s. francis, s. john, and s. augustine; and below are three boys, sounding instruments with much grace. this picture was not only praised then, when it was seen as new, but it has likewise been extolled ever afterwards as a very beautiful work. certain noblemen, moved by the great praises won by these works, began to suggest that it would be a fine thing, in view of the presence of such rare masters, to have the hall of the great council adorned with stories, in which there should be depicted the glories and the magnificence of their marvellous city--her great deeds, her exploits in war, her enterprises, and other things of that kind, worthy to be perpetuated by painting in the memory of those who should come after--to the end that there might be added, to the profit and pleasure drawn from the reading of history, entertainment both for the eye and for the intellect, from seeing the images of so many illustrious lords wrought by the most skilful hands, and the glorious works of so many noblemen right worthy of eternal memory and fame. and so giovanni and gentile, who kept on making progress from day to day, received the commission for this work by order of those who governed the city, who commanded them to make a beginning as soon as possible. but it must be remarked that antonio viniziano had made a beginning long before with the painting of the same hall, as was said in his life, and had already finished a large scene, when he was forced by the envy of certain malignant spirits to depart and to leave that most honourable enterprise without carrying it on further. [illustration: the miracle of the true cross (_after the panel by =gentile bellini=. venice: accademia, _) _anderson_] now gentile, either because he had more experience and greater skill in painting on canvas than in fresco, or for some other reason, whatever it may have been, contrived without difficulty to obtain leave to execute that work not in fresco but on canvas. and thus, setting to work, in the first scene he made the pope presenting a wax candle to the doge, that he might bear it in the solemn processions which were to take place; in which picture gentile painted the whole exterior of s. marco, and made the said pope standing in his pontifical robes, with many prelates behind him, and the doge likewise standing, accompanied by many senators. in another part he represented the emperor barbarossa; first, when he is receiving the venetian envoys in friendly fashion, and then, when he is preparing for war, in great disdain; in which scene are very beautiful perspectives, with innumerable portraits from the life, executed with very good grace and amid a vast number of figures. in the following scene he painted the pope exhorting the doge and the signori of venice to equip thirty galleys at their common expense, to go out to battle against frederick barbarossa. this pope is seated in his rochet on the pontifical chair, with the doge beside him and many senators at his feet. in this part, also, gentile painted the piazza and the façade of s. marco, and the sea, but in another manner, with so great a multitude of men that it is truly a marvel. then in another part the same pope, standing in his pontifical robes, is giving his benediction to the doge, who appears to be setting out for the fray, armed, and with many soldiers at his back; behind the doge are seen innumerable noblemen in a long procession, and in the same part are the palace and s. marco, drawn in perspective. this is one of the best works that there are to be seen by the hand of gentile, although there appears to be more invention in that other which represents a naval battle, because it contains an infinite number of galleys fighting together and an incredible multitude of men, and because, in short, he showed clearly therein that he had no less knowledge of naval warfare than of his own art of painting. and indeed, all that gentile executed in this work--the crowd of galleys engaged in battle; the soldiers fighting; the boats duly diminishing in perspective; the finely ordered combat; the soldiers furiously striving, defending, and striking; the wounded dying in various manners; the cleaving of the water by the galleys; the confusion of the waves; and all the kinds of naval armament--all this vast diversity of subjects, i say, cannot but serve to prove the great spirit, art, invention, and judgment of gentile, each detail being most excellently wrought in itself, as well as the composition of the whole. in another scene he made the doge returning with the victory so much desired, and the pope receiving him with open arms, and giving him a ring of gold wherewith to espouse the sea, as his successors have done and still do every year, as a sign of the true and perpetual dominion that they deservedly hold over it. in this part there is otto, son of frederick barbarossa, portrayed from the life, and kneeling before the pope; and as behind the doge there are many armed soldiers, so behind the pope there are many cardinals and noblemen. in this scene only the poops of the galleys appear; and on the admiral's galley is seated a victory painted to look like gold, with a crown on her head and a sceptre in her hand. the scenes that were to occupy the other parts of the hall were entrusted to giovanni, the brother of gentile; but since the order of the stories that he painted there is connected with those executed in great part, but not finished, by vivarino, it is necessary to say something of the latter. that part of the hall which was not done by gentile was given partly to giovanni and partly to the said vivarino, to the end that rivalry might induce each man to do his best. vivarino, then, putting his hand to the part that belonged to him, painted, beside the last scene of gentile, the aforesaid otto offering to the pope and to the venetians to go to conclude peace between them and his father frederick; and, having obtained this, he is dismissed on oath and goes his way. in this first part, besides other things, which are all worthy of consideration, vivarino painted an open temple in beautiful perspective, with steps and many figures. before the pope, who is seated and surrounded by many senators, is the said otto on his knees, binding himself by an oath. beside this scene, he painted the arrival of otto before his father, who is receiving him gladly; with buildings wrought most beautifully in perspective, barbarossa on his throne, and his son kneeling and taking his hand, accompanied by many venetian noblemen, who are portrayed from the life so finely that it is clear that he imitated nature very well. poor vivarino would have completed the remainder of his part with great honour to himself, but, having died, as it pleased god, from exhaustion and through being of a weakly habit of body, he carried it no further--nay, even what he had done was not wholly finished, and it was necessary for giovanni bellini to retouch it in certain places. [illustration: giovanni bellini: la fortuna (_venice: accademia, . panel_)] [illustration: giovanni bellini: the dead christ (_milan: poldi pezzoli, . panel_)] meanwhile, giovanni had also made a beginning with four scenes, which follow in due order those mentioned above. in the first he painted the said pope in s. marco--which church he portrayed exactly as it stood--presenting his foot to frederick barbarossa to kiss; but this first picture of giovanni's, whatever may have been the reason, was rendered much more lifelike and incomparably better by the most excellent tiziano. however, continuing his scenes, giovanni made in the next the pope saying mass in s. marco, and afterwards, between the said emperor and the doge, granting plenary and perpetual indulgence to all who should visit the said church of s. marco at certain times, particularly at that of the ascension of our lord. there he depicted the interior of that church, with the said pope in his pontifical robes at the head of the steps that issue from the choir, surrounded by many cardinals and noblemen--a vast group, which makes this a crowded, rich, and beautiful scene. in the one below this the pope is seen in his rochet, presenting a canopy to the doge, after having given another to the emperor and keeping two for himself. in the last that giovanni painted are seen pope alexander, the emperor, and the doge arriving in rome, without the gates of which the pope is presented by the clergy and by the people of rome with eight standards of various colours and eight silver trumpets, which he gives to the doge, that he and his successors may have them for insignia. here giovanni painted rome in somewhat distant perspective, a great number of horses, and an infinity of foot-soldiers, with many banners and other signs of rejoicing on the castle of s. angelo. and since these works of giovanni, which are truly very beautiful, gave infinite satisfaction, arrangements were just being made to give him the commission to paint all the rest of that hall, when, being now old, he died. up to the present we have spoken of nothing save the hall, in order not to interrupt the sequence of the scenes; but now we must turn back a little and say that there are many other works to be seen by the hand of the same man. one is a panel which is now on the high-altar of s. domenico in pesaro. in the church of s. zaccheria in venice, in the chapel of s. girolamo, there is a panel of our lady and many saints, executed with great diligence, with a building painted with much judgment; and in the same city, in the sacristy of the friars minor, called the "cà grande," there is another by the same man's hand, wrought with beautiful design and a good manner. there is likewise one in s. michele di murano, a monastery of monks of camaldoli; and in the old church of s. francesco della vigna, a seat of the frati del zoccolo, there was a picture of a dead christ, so beautiful that it was highly extolled before louis xi, king of france, whereupon he demanded it from its owners with great insistence, so that they were forced, although very unwillingly, to gratify his wish. in its place there was put another with the name of the same giovanni, but not so beautiful or so well executed as the first; and some believe that this substitute was wrought for the most part by girolamo moretto, a pupil of giovanni. the confraternity of s. girolamo also possesses a work with little figures by the same bellini, which is much extolled. and in the house of messer giorgio cornaro there is a picture, likewise very beautiful, containing christ, cleophas, and luke. in the aforesaid hall he also painted, though not at the same time, a scene of the venetians summoning forth from the monastery of the carità a pope--i know not which--who, having fled to venice, had secretly served for a long time as cook to the monks of that monastery; in which scene there are many portraits from the life, and other very beautiful figures. [illustration: madonna and saints (_after the panel by =giovanni bellini=. venice: s. francesco della vigna_) _anderson_] no long time after, certain portraits were taken to turkey by an ambassador as presents for the grand turk, which caused such astonishment and marvel to that emperor, that, although pictures are forbidden among that people by the mahometan law, nevertheless he accepted them with great good-will, praising the art and the craftsman without ceasing; and what is more, he demanded that the master of the work should be sent to him. whereupon the senate, considering that giovanni had reached an age when he could ill endure hardships, not to mention that they did not wish to deprive their own city of so great a man, particularly because he was then engaged on the aforesaid hall of the great council, determined to send his brother gentile, believing that he would do as well as giovanni. therefore, having caused gentile to make his preparations, they brought him safely in their own galleys to constantinople, where, after being presented by the commissioner of the signoria to mahomet, he was received very willingly and treated with much favour as something new, above all after he had given that prince a most lovely picture, which he greatly admired, being wellnigh unable to believe that a mortal man had within himself so much divinity, so to speak, as to be able to represent the objects of nature so vividly. gentile had been there no long time when he portrayed the emperor mahomet from the life so well, that it was held a miracle. that emperor, after having seen many specimens of his art, asked gentile whether he had the courage to paint his own portrait; and gentile, having answered "yes," did not allow many days to pass before he had made his own portrait with a mirror, with such resemblance that it appeared alive. this he brought to the sultan, who marvelled so greatly thereat, that he could not but think that he had some divine spirit within him; and if it had not been that the exercise of this art, as has been said, is forbidden by law among the turks, that emperor would never have allowed gentile to go. but either in fear of murmurings, or for some other reason, one day he summoned him to his presence, and after first causing him to be thanked for the courtesy that he had shown, and then praising him in marvellous fashion as a man of the greatest excellence, he bade him demand whatever favour he wished, for it would be granted to him without fail. gentile, like the modest and upright man that he was, asked for nothing save a letter of recommendation to the most serene senate and the most illustrious signoria of venice, his native city. this was written in the warmest possible terms, and afterwards he was dismissed with honourable gifts and with the dignity of chevalier. among other things given to him at parting by that sovereign, in addition to many privileges, there was placed round his neck a chain wrought in the turkish manner, equal in weight to gold crowns, which is still in the hands of his heirs in venice. departing from constantinople, gentile returned after a most prosperous voyage to venice, where he was received with gladness by his brother giovanni and by almost the whole city, all men rejoicing at the honours paid to his talent by mahomet. afterwards, on going to make his reverence to the doge and the signoria, he was received very warmly, and commended for having given great satisfaction to that emperor according to their desire. and to the end that he might see in what great account they held the letters in which that prince had recommended him, they decreed him a provision of crowns a year, which was paid to him for the rest of his life. gentile made but few works after his return; finally, having almost reached the age of eighty, and having executed the aforesaid works and many others, he passed to the other life, and was given honourable burial by his brother giovanni in s. giovanni e paolo, in the year . giovanni, thus bereft of gentile, whom he had ever loved most tenderly, went on doing a little work, although he was old, to pass the time. and having devoted himself to making portraits from the life, he introduced into venice the fashion that everyone of a certain rank should have his portrait painted either by him or by some other master; wherefore in all the houses of venice there are many portraits, and in many gentlemen's houses one may see their fathers and grandfathers, up to the fourth generation, and in some of the more noble they go still farther back--a fashion which has ever been truly worthy of the greatest praise, and existed even among the ancients. who does not feel infinite pleasure and contentment, to say nothing of the honour and adornment that they confer, at seeing the images of his ancestors, particularly if they have been famous and illustrious for their part in governing their republics, for noble deeds performed in peace or in war, or for learning or any other notable and distinguished talent? and to what other end, as has been said in another place, did the ancients set up images of their great men in public places, with honourable inscriptions, than to kindle in the minds of their successors a love of excellence and of glory? [illustration: gentile bellini: s. dominic (_london: national gallery, . canvas_)] for messer pietro bembo, then, before he went to live with pope leo x, giovanni made a portrait of the lady that he loved, so lifelike that, even as simone sanese had been celebrated in the past by the florentine petrarca, so was giovanni deservedly celebrated in his verses by this venetian, as in the following sonnet: o imagine mia celeste e pura, where, at the beginning of the second quatrain, he says, credo che'l mio bellin con la figura, with what follows. and what greater reward can our craftsmen desire for their labours than that of being celebrated by the pens of illustrious poets, as that most excellent tiziano has been by the very learned messer giovanni della casa, in that sonnet which begins-- ben veggio, tiziano, in forme nuove, and in that other-- son queste, amor, le vaghe treccie bionde. was not the same bellini numbered among the best painters of his age by the most famous ariosto, at the beginning of the thirty-third canto of the "_orlando furioso_"? but to return to the works of giovanni--that is, to his principal works, for it would take too long to try to make mention of all the pictures and portraits that are in the houses of gentlemen in venice and in other parts of that country. in rimini, for signor sigismondo malatesti, he made a large picture containing a pietà, supported by two little boys, which is now in s. francesco in that city. and among other portraits he made one of bartolommeo da liviano, captain of the venetians. giovanni had many disciples, for he was ever most willing to teach anyone. among them, now sixty years ago, was jacopo da montagna, who imitated his manner closely, in so far as is shown by his works, which are to be seen in padua and in venice. but the man who imitated him most faithfully and did him the greatest honour was rondinello da ravenna, of whom giovanni availed himself much in all his works. this master painted a panel in s. domenico at ravenna, and another in the duomo, which is held a very beautiful example of that manner. but the work that surpassed all his others was that which he made in the church of s. giovanni battista, a seat of the carmelite friars, in the same city; in which picture, besides our lady, he made a very beautiful head in a figure of s. alberto, a friar of that order, and the whole figure is much extolled. a pupil of giovanni's, also, although he gained but little thereby, was benedetto coda of ferrara, who dwelt in rimini, where he made many pictures, leaving behind him a son named bartolommeo, who did the same. it is said that giorgione castelfranco also pursued his first studies of art under giovanni, and likewise many others, both from the territory of treviso and from lombardy, of whom there is no need to make record. finally, having lived ninety years, giovanni passed from this life, overcome by old age, leaving an eternal memorial of his name in the works that he had made both in his native city of venice and abroad; and he was honourably buried in the same church and in the same tomb in which he had laid his brother gentile to rest. nor were there wanting in venice men who sought to honour him when dead with sonnets and epigrams, even as he, when alive, had honoured both himself and his country. about the same time that these bellini were alive, or a little before, many pictures were painted in venice by giacomo marzone, who, among other things, painted one in the chapel of the assumption in s. lena--namely, the virgin with a palm, s. benedict, s. helen, and s. john; but in the old manner, with the figures on tip-toe, as was the custom of those painters who lived in the time of bartolommeo da bergamo. footnotes: [ ] poplar. [ ] white poplar. cosimo rosselli life of cosimo rosselli painter of florence many men take an unholy delight in covering others with ridicule and scorn--a delight which generally turns to their own confusion, as it came to pass in the case of cosimo rosselli, who threw back on their own heads the ridicule of those who sought to vilify his labours. this cosimo, although he was not one of the rarest or most excellent painters of his time, nevertheless made works that were passing good. in his youth he painted a panel in the church of s. ambrogio in florence, which is on the right hand as one enters the church; and three figures over an arch for the nuns of s. jacopo delle murate. in the church of the servi, also in florence, he painted the panel of the chapel of s. barbara; and in the first court, before one enters into the church, he wrought in fresco the story of the blessed filippo taking the habit of our lady. for the monks of cestello he painted the panel of their high-altar, with another in a chapel in the same church; and likewise that one which is in a little church above the bernardino, beside the entrance to cestello. he painted a standard for the children of the company of the said bernardino, and likewise that of the company of s. giorgio, on which there is an annunciation. for the aforesaid nuns of s. ambrogio he painted the chapel of the miracle of the sacrament, which is a passing good work, and is held the best of his in florence; in this he counterfeited a procession on the piazza of that church, with the bishop bearing the tabernacle of the said miracle, accompanied by the clergy and by an infinity of citizens and women in costumes of those times. here, among many others, is a portrait from life of pico della mirandola, so excellently wrought that it appears not a portrait but a living man. in the church of s. martino in lucca, by the entrance into the church through the lesser door of the principal façade, on the right hand, he painted a scene of nicodemus making the statue of the holy cross, and then that statue being brought by sea in a boat and by land to lucca. in this work are many portraits, and in particular that of paolo guinigi, which he copied from one done in clay by jacopo della fonte when the latter made the tomb of paolo's wife. in s. marco at florence, in the chapel of the cloth weavers, he painted a panel with the holy cross in the middle, and, at the sides, s. mark, s. john the evangelist, s. antonino, archbishop of florence, and other figures. being afterwards summoned, with the other painters, to execute the work that pope sixtus iv had undertaken in the chapel of the palace, he laboured there in company with sandro botticelli, domenico ghirlandajo, the abbot of s. clemente, luca da cortona, and pietro perugino, and painted three scenes with his own hand, wherein he depicted the submersion of pharaoh in the red sea, the preaching of christ to the people on the shore of the sea of tiberias, and the last supper of the apostles with the saviour. in this last scene he made an octagonal table drawn in perspective, with the ceiling above it likewise octagonal, the eight angles of which he foreshortened so well as to show that he had as good a knowledge of this art as any of the others. it is said that the pope had offered a prize, which was to be given to the man who, in the judgment of the pontiff himself, should turn out to have done the best work in these pictures. the scenes finished, therefore, his holiness went to see them; and each of the painters had done his utmost to merit the said prize and honour. cosimo, feeling himself weak in invention and draughtsmanship, had sought to conceal his shortcomings by covering his work with the finest ultramarine blues and other lively colours, and had illuminated his scenes with a plentiful amount of gold, so that there was no tree, or plant, or drapery, or cloud, that was not thus illuminated; for he was convinced that the pope, like a man who knew little of that art, must therefore give him the prize of victory. when the day arrived on which the works of all were to be unveiled, that of cosimo was seen with the rest, and was scorned and ridiculed with much laughter and jeering by all the other craftsmen, who all mocked him instead of having compassion on him. but the scorners turned out to be the scorned, for, as cosimo had foreseen, those colours at the first glance so dazzled the eyes of the pope, who had little knowledge of such things, although he took no little delight in them, that he judged the work of cosimo to be much better than that of the others. and so, causing the prize to be given to him, he bade all the others cover their pictures with the best blues that could be found, and to pick them out with gold, to the end that they might be similar to those of cosimo in colouring and in richness. whereupon the poor painters, in despair at having to satisfy the small intelligence of the holy father, set themselves to spoil all the good work that they had done; and cosimo laughed at the men who had just been laughing at his methods. afterwards, returning to florence with some money, he set himself to work as usual, living much at his ease, and having as his companion that piero, his disciple, who was ever called piero di cosimo, and who assisted him in his labours in the sistine chapel at rome, and painted there, besides other things, a landscape in the picture of the preaching of christ, which landscape is held to be the best thing there. andrea di cosimo also worked with him, occupying himself much with grotesques. finally, having reached the age of sixty-eight, cosimo died in the year , wasted away by a long infirmity; and he was buried in s. croce by the company of bernardino. cosimo took so much delight in alchemy that he wasted therein all that he possessed, as all do who meddle with it, insomuch that it swallowed up all his means and finally reduced him from easy circumstances to the greatest poverty. he was a very good draughtsman, as may be seen in our book, not only from the drawing of the aforesaid story of the preaching which he painted in the sistine chapel, but also from many others made with the style and in chiaroscuro. and in the said book we have his portrait by the hand of agnolo di donnino, a painter who was much his friend. this agnolo showed great diligence in his works, as may be seen, not to mention his drawings, in the loggia of the hospital of bonifazio, where, upon the corbel of a vault, there is a trinity in fresco by his hand; and beside the door of the said hospital, where the foundlings now live, there are certain beggars painted by the same man, with the director receiving them, all very well wrought, and likewise certain women. this man spent his life labouring and wasting all his time over drawings, without putting them into execution; and at length he died as poor as he could well be. but to return to cosimo; he left only one son, who was a builder and a passing good architect. [illustration: christ healing the leper (_detail from the fresco by =cosimo rosselli=. rome: sistine chapel_) _anderson_] cecca cecca engineer of florence if necessity had not forced men to exercise their ingenuity for their own advantage and convenience, architecture would not have become so excellent and so marvellous in the minds and in the works of those who have practised it in order to acquire profit and fame, gaining that great honour which is paid to them every day by all who have knowledge of the good. it was necessity that first gave rise to buildings; necessity that created ornaments for them; necessity that led to the various orders, the statues, the gardens, the baths, and all those other sumptuous adjuncts which all desire but few possess; and it was necessity that excited rivalry and competition in the minds of men with regard not only to buildings, but also to their accessories. for this reason craftsmen have been forced to display industry in inventing appliances for traction, and in making engines of war, waterworks, and all those devices and contrivances which, under the name of mechanical and architectural inventions, confer beauty and convenience on the world, discomfiting their enemies and assisting their friends. and whenever a man has been able to make such things better than his fellows, he has not only raised himself beyond all the anxieties of want, but has also been consummately extolled and prized by all other men. this was the case in the time of our fathers with the florentine cecca, into whose hands there came many highly honourable works in his day; and in these he acquitted himself so well, toiling in the service of his country with economy and with great satisfaction to his fellow-citizens, that his ingenious and industrious labours have made him famous and illustrious among the number of distinguished and renowned craftsmen. it is said that in his youth cecca was a very good carpenter, and that he had concentrated all his powers on seeking to solve the difficulties connected with engines, and how to make machines for assaulting walls in war--scaling-ladders for climbing into cities, battering-rams for breaching fortifications, defences for protecting soldiers in the attack, and everything that could injure his enemies and assist his friends--wherefore, being a person of the greatest utility to his country, he well deserved the permanent provision that the signoria of florence gave him. for this reason, when there was no war going on, he would go through the whole territory inspecting the fortresses and the walls of cities and townships, and, if any were weak, he would provide them with designs for ramparts and everything else that was wanting. it is said that the clouds which were borne in procession throughout florence on the festival of s. john--things truly most ingenious and beautiful--were invented by cecca, who was much employed in such matters at that time, when the city was greatly given to holding festivals. in truth, although such festivals and representations have now fallen almost entirely out of use, they were very beautiful spectacles, and they were celebrated not only by the companies, or rather, confraternities, but also in the private houses of gentlemen, who were wont to form certain associations and societies, and to meet together at certain times to make merry; and among them there were ever many courtly craftsmen, who, besides being fanciful and amusing, served to make the preparations for such festivals. among others, four most solemn public spectacles took place almost every year, one for each quarter of the city, with the exception of that of s. giovanni, for the festival of which a most solemn procession was held, as will be told. the quarter of s. maria novella kept the feast of s. ignazio; s. croce, that of s. bartholomew, called s. baccio; s. spirito, that of the holy spirit; and the carmine, those of the ascension of our lord and of the assumption of our lady. this festival of the ascension--for of the others of importance an account has been or will be given--was very beautiful, seeing that christ was uplifted on a cloud covered with angels from a mount very well made of wood, and was borne upwards to a heaven, leaving the apostles on the mount; and the whole was so well contrived that it was a marvel, above all because the said heaven was somewhat larger than that of s. felice in piazza, although the machinery was almost the same. and since the said church of the carmine, where this representation used to take place, is no little broader and higher than that of s. felice, in addition to the part that supported christ another heaven was sometimes erected, according as it was thought advisable, over the chief tribune, wherein were certain great wheels made in the shape of reels, which, from the centres to the edges, moved in most beautiful order ten circles standing for the ten heavens, which were all full of little lights representing the stars, contained in little copper lamps hanging on pivots, so that when the wheels revolved they remained upright, in the manner of certain lanterns that are now universally used by all. from this heaven, which was truly a very beautiful thing, there issued two stout ropes fastened to the staging or tramezzo[ ] which is in the said church, and over which the representation took place. to these ropes were attached, by each end of a so-called brace-fastening, two little bronze pulleys which supported an iron upright fixed into a level platform, on which stood two angels fastened by their girdles. these angels were kept upright by a counterpoise of lead which they had under their feet, and by another that was under the platform on which they stood; and this also served to make them balanced one with another. the whole was covered with a quantity of cotton-wool, very well arranged in the form of a cloud, which was full of cherubim and seraphim, and similar kinds of angels, varied in colour and very well contrived. these angels, when a little rope was unwound from the heaven above, came down the two larger ropes on to the said tramezzo, where the representation took place, and announced to christ that he was to ascend into heaven, and performed their other functions. and since the iron to which they were bound by the girdle was fixed to the platform on which they stood, in such a way that they could turn round and round, they could make obeisance and turn about both when they had come forth and when they were returning, according as was necessary; wherefore in reascending they turned towards the heaven, and were then drawn up again as they had come down. these machines and inventions are said to have been cecca's, for, although filippo brunelleschi had made similar things long before, many additions were made to them with great judgment by cecca; and it was from these that the thought came to the same man to make those clouds which were borne in procession through the city every year on s. john's eve, and the other beautiful things that were made. and this was his charge, because, as it has been said, he was a servant of the public. now with this occasion it will not be out of place to describe some of the features of the said festival and procession, to the end that some memory of them may descend to posterity, seeing that they have now for the most part fallen into disuse. first, then, the piazza di s. giovanni was all covered over with blue cloth, on which were sewn many large lilies of yellow cloth; and in the middle, on certain circles also of cloth, and ten braccia in diameter, were the arms of the people and commune of florence, with those of the captain of the guelph party and others; and all around, from the borders of the said canopy, which covered the whole piazza, vast as it is, there hung great banners also of cloth, painted with various devices, with the arms of magisterial bodies and guilds, and with many lions, which form one of the emblems of the city. this canopy, or rather, awning, made thus, was about twenty braccia off the ground, and was supported by very strong ropes fastened to a number of irons, which are still to be seen round the church of s. giovanni, on the façade of s. maria del fiore, and on the houses that surround the said piazza on every side. between one rope and another ran cords that likewise supported the awning, which was so well strengthened throughout, particularly at the edges, with ropes, cords, linings, double widths of cloth, and hems of sacking, that it is impossible to imagine anything better. what is more, everything was arranged so well and with such great diligence, that although the awning was often swelled out and shaken by the wind, which is always very powerful in that place, as everyone knows, yet it was never disturbed or damaged in any way whatever. this awning was made of five pieces, to the end that it might be easier to handle, but, when set into place, they were all joined and fastened and sewn together in such a manner that it appeared like one whole. three pieces covered the piazza and the space that is between s. giovanni and s. maria del fiore; and in the middle piece, in a straight line between the principal doors, were the aforesaid circles containing the arms of the commune. and the remaining two pieces covered the sides--one towards the misericordia, and the other towards the canon's house and the office of works of s. giovanni. the clouds, which were made of various kinds and with diverse inventions by the companies, were generally fashioned in the following manner. a square framework was made of planks, about two braccia in height, with four stout legs at the corners, contrived after the manner of the trestles of a table, and fastened together with cross-pieces. on this framework two panels were laid crosswise, each one braccio wide, with a hole in the middle half a braccio in diameter, in which was fixed a high pole, whereon there was placed a mandorla all covered with cotton-wool, cherubim, lights, and other ornaments, and within this, on a horizontal bar of iron, there sat or stood, according as might be desired, a person representing that saint whom the particular company principally honoured as their peculiar patron and protector--to be exact, a christ, or a madonna, or a s. john, or some other--and the draperies of this figure covered the iron bar in such a manner that it could not be seen. round the same pole, lower down, below the mandorla, there radiated four or five iron bars in the manner of the branches of a tree, and at the end of each, attached likewise with irons, stood a little boy dressed like an angel. these boys could move round and round at pleasure on the iron brackets on which their feet rested, for the brackets hung on hinges. and with similar branches there were sometimes made two or three tiers of angels or of saints, according to the nature of the subjects to be represented. the whole of this structure, with the pole and the iron bars (which sometimes represented a lily, sometimes a tree, and often a cloud or some other similar thing), was covered with cotton-wool, and, as has been said, with cherubim, seraphim, golden stars, and other suchlike ornaments. within were porters or peasants, who carried it on their shoulders, placing themselves round the wooden base that we have called the framework, in which, below the places where the weight rested on their shoulders, were fixed cushions of leather stuffed with down, or cotton-wool, or some other soft and yielding material. all the machinery, steps, and other things were covered, as has been said above, with cotton-wool, which made a beautiful effect; and all these contrivances were called clouds. behind them came troops of men on horseback and foot-soldiers of various sorts, according to the nature of the story to be represented, even as in our own day they go behind the cars or other things that are used in place of the said clouds. of the form of the latter i have some designs in my book of drawings, very well done by the hand of cecca, which are truly ingenious and full of beautiful conceptions. it was from the plans of the same man that those saints were made that went or were carried in processions, either dead or tortured in various ways, for some appeared to be transfixed by a lance or a sword, others had a dagger in the throat, and others had other suchlike weapons in their bodies. with regard to this, it is very well known to-day that it is done with a sword, lance, or dagger broken in half, the pieces of which are held firmly opposite to one another on either side by iron rings, after taking away the proportionate amount that has to appear to be fixed in the person of the sufferer; wherefore i will say no more about them, save that they seem for the most part to have been invented by cecca. the giants, likewise, that went about in the said festival, were made in the following manner. certain men who were very skilful at walking on stilts, or, as they are called in other parts, on wooden legs, had some made five or six braccia high, and, having dressed and decked them with great masks and other ornaments in the way of draperies, and imitations of armour, so that they seemed to have the members and heads of giants, they mounted them and walked dexterously along, appearing truly to be giants. in front of them, however, they had a man who carried a pike, on which the giant leant with one hand, but in such a fashion that the pike appeared to be his own weapon, whether mace, lance, or a great bell-clapper, such as morgante is said by the poets of romance to have been wont to carry. and even as there were giants, so there were also giantesses, which produced a truly beautiful and marvellous effect. different from these, again, were the little phantoms, for these walked on similar stilts five or six braccia high, without anything save their own proper form, in such a manner that they appeared to be true spirits. they likewise had a man in front of them with a pike to assist them; but it is stated that some actually walked very well at so great a height without leaning on anything whatsoever, and i am sure that he who knows what florentine brains are will in no way marvel at this. for, not to mention that native of montughi (near florence) who has surpassed all the masters that ever lived at climbing and dancing on the rope, whoever knew a man called ruvidino, who died less than ten years ago, remembers that climbing to any height on a rope or cord, leaping from the walls of florence to the earth, and walking on stilts much higher than those described above, were as easy to him as it is for an ordinary man to walk on the level. wherefore it is no marvel if the men of those times, who practised suchlike exercises for money or for other reasons, did what has been related above, and even greater things. i will not speak of certain waxen candles which used to be painted with various fanciful devices, but so rudely that they have given their name to vulgar painters, insomuch that bad pictures are called "candle puppets"; for it is not worth the trouble. i will only say that at the time of cecca they fell for the most part into disuse, and that in their place were made the cars that are still used to-day, in the form of triumphal chariots. the first of these was the car[ ] of the mint, which was brought to that perfection which is still seen every year when it is sent out for the said festival by the masters and lords of the mint, with a s. john on the highest part and with many other angels and saints around and below him, all represented by living persons. not long ago it was determined that one should be made for every borough that gave an offering of wax, and ten were made, in order to do magnificent honour to that festival; but the plan was carried no further, by reason of events that supervened no long time after. that first car of the mint, then, was made under the direction of cecca by domenico, marco, and giuliano del tasso, who were among the best master-carpenters, both in squared-work and in carving, who were then working in florence; and in this car, among other things, no small praise is due to the wheels below it, which are pivoted, in order that the structure may be able to turn sharp corners, and may be managed in such a manner as to shake it as little as possible, particularly for the sake of those who stand fastened upon it. the same man made a structure for the cleaning and restoration of the mosaics in the tribune of s. giovanni, which could be turned, raised, lowered, and advanced at pleasure, and that with such ease that two men could handle it; which invention gave cecca very great repute. when the florentine army was besieging piancaldoli, cecca ingeniously contrived to enable the soldiers to enter it by means of mines, without striking a blow. afterwards, continuing to follow the same army to certain other strongholds, his evil fortune would have it that he should be killed while attempting to measure certain heights at a difficult point; for when he had put his head out beyond the wall in order to let a plumb-line down, a priest who was with the enemy (who feared the genius of cecca more than the might of the whole camp) discharged a catapult at him and fixed a great dart in his head, insomuch that the poor fellow died on the spot. the fate and the loss of cecca caused great grief to the whole army and to his fellow-citizens; but since there was no remedy, they sent him back in a coffin to florence, where his sisters gave him honourable burial in s. piero scheraggio; and below his portrait in marble there was placed the following epitaph: fabrum magister cicca, natus oppidis vel obsidendis vel tuendis, hic jacet. vixit ann. xxxxi, mens. iv, dies xiv. obiit pro patria telo ictus. piÆ sorores monumentum fecerunt mccccxcix. footnotes: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. [ ] the word in the italian text is not "carro" but "cero," which is obviously an error. don bartolommeo della gatta don bartolommeo della gatta, abbot of s. clemente illuminator and painter rarely does it happen that a man of good character and exemplary life fails to be provided by heaven with the best of friends and with honourable dwellings, or to be held in veneration when alive by reason of the goodness of his ways, and very greatly regretted when dead by all who knew him, as was don bartolommeo della gatta, abbot of s. clemente in arezzo, who was excellent in diverse pursuits and most praiseworthy in all his actions. this man, who was a monk of the angeli in florence, a seat of the order of camaldoli, was in his youth--perchance for the reasons mentioned above in the life of don lorenzo--a very rare illuminator, and a very able master of design. of this we have proof in the books that he illuminated for the monks of ss. fiore e lucilla in the abbey of arezzo, particularly a missal that was presented to pope sixtus, in which, on the first page of the secret prayers, there was a very beautiful passion of christ. those are likewise by his hand which are in s. martino, the duomo of lucca. a little while after these works the said abbey of s. clemente in arezzo was presented to this father by mariotto maldoli of arezzo, general of the order of camaldoli, who belonged to the same family from which sprang that maldolo who gave the site and lands of camaldoli, then called campo di maldolo, to s. romualdo, the founder of that order. don bartolommeo, in gratitude for that benefice, afterwards executed many works for that general and for his order. after this there came the plague of , by reason of which the abbot, like many others, stayed indoors without going about much, and devoted himself to painting large figures; and seeing that he was succeeding as well as he could desire, he began to execute certain works. the first was a s. rocco that he painted on a panel for the rectors of the confraternity of arezzo, which is now in the audience chamber where they assemble. this figure is recommending the people of arezzo to our lady, and in this picture he portrayed the piazza of the said city and the holy house of that confraternity, with certain grave-diggers who are returning from burying the dead. he also painted another s. rocco for the church of s. pietro, likewise on a panel, wherein he portrayed the city of arezzo exactly as it stood at that time, when it was very different from what it is to-day. and he made another, which was much better than the two mentioned above, on a panel which is in the chapel of the lippi in the church of the pieve of arezzo; and this s. rocco is a rare and beautiful figure, almost the best that he ever made, and the head and hands are as beautiful and natural as they could be. in the same city of arezzo, in s. pietro, a seat of the servite friars, he painted an angel raphael on a panel; and in the same place he made a portrait of the blessed jacopo filippo of piacenza. afterwards, being summoned to rome, he painted a scene in the chapel of pope sixtus, in company with luca da cortona and pietro perugino. on returning to arezzo, he painted a s. jerome in penitence in the chapel of the gozzari in the vescovado; and this figure, lean and shaven, with the eyes fixed most intently on the crucifix, and beating his breast, shows very clearly how greatly the passions of love can disturb the chastity even of a body so grievously wasted away. in this work he made an enormous crag, with certain cliffs of rock, among the fissures of which he painted some stories of that saint, with very graceful little figures. after this, in a chapel in s. agostino, for the nuns of the third order, as they are called, he wrought in fresco a coronation of our lady, which is very well done and much extolled; and below this, in another chapel, a large panel with an assumption and certain angels beautifully robed in delicate draperies. this panel, for a work made in distemper, is much extolled, and in truth it was wrought with good design and executed with extraordinary diligence. in the lunette that is over the door of the church of s. donato, in the fortress of arezzo, the same man painted in fresco a madonna with the child in her arms, s. donatus, and s. giovanni gualberto, all very beautiful figures. in the abbey of s. fiore in the said city, beside the principal door of entrance into the church, there is a chapel painted by his hand, wherein are s. benedict and other saints, wrought with much grace, good handling, and sweetness. for gentile of urbino, bishop of arezzo, who was much his friend, and with whom he almost always lived, he painted a dead christ in a chapel in the palace of the vescovado; and in a loggia he portrayed the bishop himself, his vicar, and ser matteo francini, his court-notary, who is reading a bull to him; and there he also made his own portrait and those of certain canons of that city. for the same bishop he designed a loggia which issues from the palace and leads to the vescovado, on the same level with both. in the centre of this the bishop had intended to make a place of burial for himself in the form of a chapel, in which he wished to be interred after his death; and he had carried it well on, when he was overtaken by death, and it remained unfinished, for, although he left orders that it should be completed by his successor, nothing more was done, as generally happens with works of this sort which are left by a man to be finished after his death. for the said bishop the abbot painted a large and beautiful chapel in the duomo vecchio, but, as it had only a short life, there is no need to say more about it. besides this, he made works in various places throughout the whole city, such as three figures in the carmine, and the chapel of the nuns of s. orsina. at castiglione aretino, for the chapel of the high-altar in the pieve of s. giuliano, he painted a panel in distemper, containing a very beautiful madonna, s. julian, and s. michelagnolo--figures very well wrought and executed, particularly s. julian, who, with his eyes fixed on the christ lying in the arms of the madonna, appears to be much afflicted at having killed his father and mother. in a chapel a little below this, likewise, is a little door painted by his hand (which formerly belonged to an old organ), wherein there is a s. michael, which is held to be a marvellous thing, with a child in swaddling-clothes, which appears alive, in the arms of a woman. for the nuns of the murate at arezzo he painted the chapel of the high-altar, a work which is truly much extolled. at monte san savino he painted a shrine opposite to the palace of cardinal di monte, which was held very beautiful. and at borgo san sepolcro, where there is now the vescovado, he decorated a chapel, which brought him very great praise and profit. don clemente was a man of very versatile intelligence, and, besides being a great musician, he made organs of lead with his own hand. in s. domenico he made one of cardboard, which has ever remained sweet and good; and in s. clemente there was another, also by his hand, which was placed on high, with the keyboard below on the level of the choir--truly with very beautiful judgment, since, the place being such that the monks were few, he wished that the organist should sing as well as play. and since this abbot loved his order, like a true minister and not a squanderer of the things of god, he enriched that place greatly with buildings and pictures, particularly by rebuilding the principal chapel of his church and painting the whole of it; and in two niches, one on either side of it, he painted a s. rocco and a s. bartholomew, which were ruined together with the church. but to return to the abbot, who was a good and worthy churchman. he left a disciple in painting named maestro lappoli, an aretine, who was an able and practised painter, as is shown by the works from his hand which are in s. agostino, in the chapel of s. sebastiano, where there is that saint wrought in relief by the same man, with figures round him, in painting, of s. biagio, s. rocco, s. anthony of padua, and s. bernardino; while on the arch of the chapel is an annunciation, and on the vaulting are the four evangelists, wrought in fresco with a high finish. by the hand of the same man, in another chapel on the left hand as one enters the said church by the side-door, is a nativity in fresco, with the madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel, in the figure of which angel he portrayed giuliano bacci, then a young man of very beautiful aspect. over the said door, on the outer side, he made an annunciation, with s. peter on one side and s. paul on the other, portraying in the face of the madonna the mother of messer pietro aretino, a very famous poet. in s. francesco, for the chapel of s. bernardino, he painted a panel with that saint, who appears alive, and so beautiful that this is the best figure that he ever made. in the chapel of the pietramaleschi in the vescovado he painted a very beautiful s. ignazio on a panel in distemper; and in the pieve, at the entrance of the upper door which opens on the piazza, a s. andrew and a s. sebastian. for the company of the trinità, by order of buoninsegna buoninsegni of arezzo, he made a work with beautiful invention, which can be numbered among the best that he ever executed, and this was a crucifix over an altar, with a s. martin on one side and a s. rocco on the other, and two figures kneeling at the foot, one in the form of a poor man, lean, emaciated, and wretchedly clothed, from whom there issued certain rays that shone straight on the wounds of the saviour, while the saint gazed on him most intently; and the other in the form of a rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, and all ruddy and cheerful in countenance, whose rays, as he was adoring christ, although they were issuing from his heart, like those of the poor man, appeared not to shine directly on the wounds of the crucified christ, but to stray and spread over certain plains and fields full of grain, green crops, cattle, gardens, and other suchlike things, while some diverged over the sea towards certain boats laden with merchandise; and others, finally, shone on certain money-changers' tables. all these things were wrought by matteo with judgment, great mastery, and much diligence; but they were thrown to the ground no long time after in the making of a chapel. beneath the pulpit of the pieve the same man made a christ with the cross for messer leonardo albergotti. a disciple of the abbot of s. clemente, likewise, was a servite friar of arezzo, who painted in colours the façade of the house of the belichini in arezzo, and two chapels in fresco, one beside the other, in s. pietro. another disciple of don bartolommeo was domenico pecori of arezzo, who made three figures in distemper on a panel at sargiano, and painted a very beautiful banner in oil, to be carried in processions, for the company of s. maria maddalena. for messer presentino bisdomini, in the chapel of s. andrea in the pieve, he made a picture of s. apollonia, similar to that mentioned above; and he finished many works left incomplete by his master, such as the panel of s. sebastian and s. fabiano with the madonna, in s. pietro, for the family of the benucci. in the church of s. antonio he painted the panel of the high-altar, wherein is a very devout madonna, with some saints; and since the said madonna is adoring the child, whom she has in her lap, he made it appear that a little angel, kneeling behind her, is supporting our lord on a cushion, the madonna not being able to uphold him because she has her hands clasped in the act of adoration. in the church of s. giustino, for messer antonio roselli, he painted a chapel with the magi in fresco; and for the company of the madonna, in the pieve, he painted a very large panel containing a madonna in the sky, with the people of arezzo beneath, in which he made many portraits from the life. in this last work he was helped by a spanish painter, who painted very well in oil and therein gave assistance to domenico, who had not as much skill in painting in oil as he had in distemper. with the help of the same man he executed a panel for the company of the trinità, containing the circumcision of our lord, which was held a very good work, and a "noli me tangere" in fresco in the garden of s. fiore. finally, he painted a panel with many figures in the vescovado, for messer donato marinelli, primicere. this work, which then brought him and still continues to bring him very great honour, shows good invention, good design, and strong relief; and in making it, being now very old, he called in the aid of a sienese painter, capanna, a passing good master, who painted so many walls in chiaroscuro and so many panels in siena, and who, if he had lived longer, would have done himself much credit in his art, in so far as one may judge from the little that he executed. domenico wrought for the confraternity of arezzo a baldacchino painted in oil, a rich and costly work, which was lent not many years ago for the holding of a representation in s. francesco at the festival of s. john and s. paul, to adorn a paradise near the roof of the church. a fire breaking out in consequence of the great quantity of lights, this work was burnt, together with the man who was representing god the father, who, being fastened, could not escape, as the angels did, and many church-hangings were destroyed, while great harm came to the spectators, who, terrified by the fire, struggled furiously to fly from the church, everyone seeking to be the first, so that about eighty were trampled down in the press, which was something very pitiful. this baldacchino was afterwards reconstructed with greater richness, and painted by giorgio vasari. domenico then devoted himself to the making of glass windows, and there were three by his hand in the vescovado, which were ruined by the artillery in the wars. another pupil of the same master was the painter angelo di lorentino, who was a man of passing good ability. he painted the arch over the door of s. domenico, and if he had received assistance he would have become a very good master. the abbot died at the age of eighty-three, leaving unfinished the temple of the madonna delle lacrime, for which he had made a model; it was afterwards completed by various masters. he deserves praise, then, as illuminator, architect, painter, and musician. he was given burial by his monks in his abbey of s. clemente, and his works have ever been so highly esteemed in the said city that the following verses may be read over his tomb: pingebat docte zeusis, condebat et aedes nicon, pan capripes, fistula prima tua est. non tamen ex vobis mecum certaverit ullus; quÆ tres fecistis, unicus hÆc facio. he died in , having added to the art of illumination that beauty which is seen in all his works, as some drawings by his hand can bear witness which are in our book. his method of working was afterwards imitated by girolamo padovano in some books that he illuminated for s. maria nuova in florence; by gherardo, a florentine illuminator; (and by attavante,[ ]) who was also called vante, of whom we have spoken in another place, particularly with regard to those of his works which are in venice; with respect to which i included word for word a note sent to me by certain gentlemen of venice, contenting myself, in order to recompense them for the great pains that they had taken to discover all that is to be read there, with relating the whole as they wrote it, since i had no personal knowledge of these works on which to form a judgment of my own. footnotes: [ ] the words in brackets have been added to correct an obvious omission in the text. the account of attavante is to be found at the end of the life of fra giovanni angelico. gherardo gherardo illuminator of florence it is certain that among all the enduring works that are made in colours there is none that resists the assault of wind and water better than mosaic. and well was this known in his day to the elder lorenzo de' medici of florence, who, like a man of spirit given to investigating the memorials of the ancients, sought to bring back into use what had been hidden for many years, and, since he took great delight in pictures and sculptures, could not fail to take delight also in mosaic. wherefore, seeing that gherardo, an illuminator of that time and a man of inquiring brain, was investigating the difficulties of that calling, he showed him great favour, as one who ever assisted those in whom he saw some germ of spirit and intellect. placing him, therefore, in the company of domenico del ghirlandajo, he obtained for him from the wardens of works of s. maria del fiore a commission for decorating the chapels of the transepts, beginning with that of the sacrament, wherein lies the body of s. zanobi. whereupon gherardo, growing ever in keenness of intelligence, would have executed most marvellous works in company with domenico, if death had not intervened, as may be judged from the beginning of that chapel, which remained unfinished. gherardo, in addition to his mosaics, was a most delicate illuminator, and he also made large figures on walls. without the porta alla croce there is a shrine in fresco by his hand, and there is another in florence, much extolled, at the head of the via larga. on the façade of the church of s. gilio at s. maria nuova, beneath the stories painted by lorenzo di bicci, wherein is the consecration of that church by pope martin v, gherardo depicted the same pope conferring the monk's habit and many privileges on the director of the hospital. in this scene there were far fewer figures than it appeared to require, because it was cut in half by a shrine containing a madonna, which has been removed recently by don isidoro montaguto, the present director of that place, in the reconstructing of a principal door for the building; and francesco brini, a young painter of florence, has been commissioned to paint the rest of the scene. but to return to gherardo; it would scarcely have been possible for even a well-practised master to accomplish without great fatigue and diligence what he did in that work, which is wrought most excellently in fresco. for the church of the same hospital gherardo illuminated an infinite number of books, with some for s. maria del fiore in florence, and certain others for matthias corvinus, king of hungary. these last, on the death of the said king, together with some by the hand of vante and of other masters who worked for that king in florence, were purchased and taken over by the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, who placed them among those so greatly celebrated which were being collected for the formation of the library afterwards built by pope clement vii, which is now being thrown open to the public by order of duke cosimo. having thus developed, as has been related, from a master of illumination into a painter, in addition to the said works, he made some great figures in a large cartoon for the evangelists that he had to make in mosaic in the chapel of s. zanobi. but before the magnificent lorenzo de' medici had obtained for him the commission for the said chapel, wishing to show that he understood the art of mosaic, and that he could work without a companion, he made a life-size head of s. zanobi, which remained in s. maria del fiore, and on days of the highest solemnity it is set up on the altar of the said saint, or in some other place, as a rare thing. the while that gherardo was labouring at these things, there were brought to florence certain prints in the german manner wrought by martin and by albrecht dürer; whereupon, being much pleased with that sort of engraving, he set himself to work with the graver and copied some of those plates very well, as may be seen from certain examples that are in our book, together with some drawings by the same man's hand. gherardo painted many pictures which were sent abroad, one of which is in the chapel of s. caterina da siena in the church of s. domenico at bologna, containing a very good painting of s. catherine. and in s. marco at florence, over the table of pardons, he painted a lunette full of very graceful figures. but the more he satisfied others the less did he satisfy himself in any of his works, with the exception of mosaic, in which sort of painting he was rather the rival than the companion of domenico ghirlandajo; and if he had lived longer he would have become most excellent in that art, for he was very willing to take pains with it, and he had discovered the greater part of its best secrets. some declare that attavante, otherwise vante, an illuminator of florence, of whom we have spoken above in more than one place, was a disciple of gherardo, as was stefano, likewise a florentine illuminator; but i hold it as certain, considering that both lived at the same time, that attavante was rather the friend, companion, and contemporary of gherardo than his disciple. gherardo died well advanced in years, leaving everything that he used in his art to his disciple stefano, who, devoting himself no long time after to architecture, abandoned the art of illuminating, and handed over all his appliances in connection with that profession to the elder boccardino, who illuminated the greater part of the books that are in the badia of florence. gherardo died at the age of sixty-three, and his works date about the year of our salvation . domenico ghirlandajo domenico ghirlandajo painter of florence domenico di tommaso del ghirlandajo, who, from his talent and from the greatness and the vast number of his works, may be called one of the most important and most excellent masters of his age, was made by nature to be a painter; and for this reason, in spite of the opposition of those who had charge of him (which often nips the finest fruits of our intellects in the bud by occupying them with work for which they are not suited, and by diverting them from that to which nature inclines them), he followed his natural instinct, secured very great honour for himself and profit for his art and for his kindred, and became the great delight of his age. he was apprenticed by his father to his own art of goldsmith, in which tommaso was a master more than passing good, for it was he who made the greater part of the silver votive offerings that were formerly preserved in the press of the nunziata, and the silver lamps of the chapel, which were all destroyed in the siege of the city in the year . tommaso was the first who invented and put into execution those ornaments worn on the head by the girls of florence, which are called ghirlande;[ ] whence he gained the name of ghirlandajo, not only because he was their first inventor, but also because he made an infinite number of them, of a beauty so rare that none appeared to please save such as came out of his shop. being thus apprenticed to the goldsmith's art, but taking no pleasure therein, he was ever occupied in drawing. endowed by nature with a perfect spirit and with an admirable and judicious taste in painting, although he was a goldsmith in his boyhood, yet, by devoting himself ever to design, he became so quick, so ready, and so facile, that many say that while he was working as a goldsmith he would draw a portrait of all who passed the shop, producing a likeness in a second; and of this we still have proof in an infinite number of portraits in his works, which show a most lifelike resemblance. his first pictures were in the chapel of the vespucci in ognissanti, where there is a dead christ with some saints, and a misericordia over an arch, in which is the portrait of amerigo vespucci, who made the voyages to the indies; and in the refectory of that place he painted a last supper in fresco. in s. croce, on the right hand of the entrance into the church, he painted the story of s. paulino; wherefore, having acquired very great fame and coming into much credit, he painted a chapel in s. trinita for francesco sassetti, with stories of s. francis. this work was admirably executed by him, and wrought with grace, lovingness, and a high finish; and he counterfeited and portrayed therein the ponte a s. trinita, with the palace of the spini. on the first wall he depicted the story of s. francis appearing in the air and restoring the child to life; and here, in those women who see him being restored to life--after their sorrow for his death as they bear him to the grave--there are seen gladness and marvel at his resurrection. he also counterfeited the friars issuing from the church behind the cross, together with some grave-diggers, to bury him, all wrought very naturally; and there are likewise other figures marvelling at that event which give no little pleasure to the eye, among which are portraits of maso degli albizzi, messer agnolo acciaiuoli, and messer palla strozzi, eminent citizens often cited in the history of the city. on another wall he painted s. francis, in the presence of the vicar, renouncing his inheritance from his father, pietro bernardone, and assuming the habit of sackcloth, which he is girding round him with the cord. on the middle wall he is shown going to rome and having his rule confirmed by pope honorius, and presenting roses in january to that pontiff. in this scene he depicted the hall of the consistory, with cardinals seated around, and certain steps ascending to it, furnishing the flight of steps with a balustrade, and painting there some half-length figures portrayed from the life, among which is the portrait of the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent; and there he also painted s. francis receiving the stigmata. in the last he made the saint dead, with his friars mourning for him, among whom is one friar kissing his hands--an effect that could not be rendered better in painting; not to mention that a bishop in full robes, with spectacles on his nose, is chanting the prayers for the dead so vividly, that only the lack of sound shows him to be painted. in one of two pictures that are on either side of the panel he portrayed francesco sassetti on his knees, and in the other his wife, monna nera, with their children (but these last are in the aforesaid scene of the child being restored to life), and with certain beautiful maidens of the same family, whose names i have not been able to discover, all in the costumes and fashions of that age, which gives no little pleasure. besides this, he made four sibyls on the vaulting, and an ornament above the arch on the front wall without the chapel, containing the scene of the tiburtine sibyl making the emperor octavian adore christ, which is executed in a masterly manner for a work in fresco, with much vivacity and loveliness in the colours. to this work he added a panel wrought in distemper, also by his hand, containing a nativity of christ that should amaze any person of understanding, wherein he portrayed himself and made certain heads of shepherds, which are held to be something divine. of this sibyl and of other parts of this work there are some very beautiful drawings in our book, made in chiaroscuro, and in particular the view in perspective of the ponte a s. trinita. for the frati ingesuati he painted a panel for their high-altar, with certain saints kneeling--namely, s. giusto, bishop of volterra, who was the titular saint of that church; s. zanobi, bishop of florence; an angel raphael; a s. michael, clad in most beautiful armour; and other saints. for this work domenico truly deserves praise, for he was the first who began to counterfeit with colours certain trimmings and ornaments of gold, which had not been done up to that time; and he swept away in great measure those borders of gilding that were made with mordant or with bole, which were more suitable for church-hangings than for the work of good masters. more beautiful than all the other figures is the madonna, who has the child in her arms and four little angels round her. this panel, which is wrought as well as any work in distemper could be, was then placed in the church of those friars without the porta a pinti; but since that building, as will be told elsewhere, was destroyed, it is now in the church of s. giovannino, within the porta s. piero gattolini, where there is the convent of the aforesaid ingesuati. in the church of cestello he painted a panel--afterwards finished by his brothers david and benedetto--containing the visitation of our lady, with certain most charming and beautiful heads of women. in the church of the innocenti he painted the story of the magi on a panel in distemper, which is much extolled. in this are heads most beautiful in expression and varied in features, both young and old; and in the head of our lady, in particular, are seen all the dignity, beauty, and grace that art can give to the mother of the son of god. on the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. marco there is another panel, with a last supper in the guest-room, both executed with diligence; and in the house of giovanni tornabuoni there is a round picture with the story of the magi, wrought with diligence. in the little hospital, for the elder lorenzo de' medici, he painted the story of vulcan, in which many nude figures are at work with hammers making thunderbolts for jove. and in the church of ognissanti in florence, in competition with sandro di botticello, he painted a s. jerome in fresco (which is now beside the door that leads to the choir), surrounding him with an infinite number of instruments and books, such as are used by the learned. the friars having occasion to remove the choir from the place where it stood, this picture, together with that of sandro di botticello, has been bound round with irons and transported without injury into the middle of the church, at the very time when these lives are being printed for the second time. he also painted the arch over the door of s. maria ughi, and a little shrine for the guild of linen-manufacturers, and likewise a very beautiful s. george, slaying the dragon, in the same church of ognissanti. and in truth he had a very good knowledge of the method of painting on walls, which he did with very great facility, although he was scrupulously careful in the composition of his works. [illustration: the death of s. francis (_after the fresco by =domenico ghirlandajo=. florence: s. trinita_) _alinari_] being then summoned to rome by pope sixtus iv to paint his chapel, in company with other masters, he painted there christ calling peter and andrew from their nets, and the resurrection of jesus christ, the greater part of which has since been spoilt in consequence of being over the door, on which it became necessary to replace an architrave that had fallen down. there was living in rome at this same time francesco tornabuoni, a rich and honoured merchant, much the friend of domenico. this man, whose wife had died in childbirth, as is told in the life of andrea verrocchio, desiring to honour her as became their noble station, had caused a tomb to be made for her in the minerva; and he also wished domenico to paint the whole wall against which this tomb stood, and likewise to make for it a little panel in distemper. on that wall, therefore, he painted four stories--two of s. john the baptist and two of the madonna--which brought him truly great praise at that time. and francesco took so much pleasure in his dealings with domenico, that, when the latter returned to florence rich in honour and in gains, francesco recommended him by letters to his relative giovanni, telling him how well the painter had served him in that work, and how well satisfied the pope had been with his pictures. hearing this, giovanni began to contemplate employing him on some magnificent work, such as would honour his own memory and bring fame and profit to domenico. now it chanced that the principal chapel of s. maria novella (a convent of preaching friars), formerly painted by andrea orcagna, was injured in many parts by rain in consequence of the roof of the vaulting being badly covered. for this reason many citizens had wished to restore it, or rather, to have it painted anew; but the owners, who belonged to the family of the ricci, had never consented to this, being unable to bear so great an expense themselves, and unwilling to allow others to do so, lest they should lose the rights of ownership and the distinction of the arms handed down to them by their ancestors. giovanni, then, being desirous that domenico should make him his memorial there, set to work in this matter, trying various ways; and finally he promised the ricci to bear the whole expense himself, to give them some sort of recompense, and to have their arms placed in the most conspicuous and honourable place in that chapel. and so they came to an agreement, making a contract in the form of a very precise instrument according to the terms described above. giovanni allotted this work to domenico, with the same subjects as were painted there before; and they agreed that the price should be , gold ducats of full weight, with more in the event of the work giving satisfaction to giovanni. thereupon domenico put his hand to the work and laboured without ceasing for four years until he had finished it--which was in --to the very great satisfaction and contentment of giovanni, who, while admitting that he had been well served, and confessing ingenuously that domenico had earned the additional ducats, said that he would be pleased if he would be satisfied with the original price. and domenico, who esteemed glory and honour much more than riches, immediately let him off all the rest, declaring that he set much greater store on having given him satisfaction than on the matter of complete payment. giovanni afterwards caused two large coats of arms to be made of stone--one for the tornaquinci and the other for the tornabuoni--and placed on the pilasters without the chapel, and in the arch he placed other arms belonging to that family, which is divided into various names and various arms--namely, in addition to the two already mentioned, those of the ghiachinotti, popoleschi, marabottini, and cardinali. and afterwards, when domenico painted the altar-panel, he caused to be placed in the gilt ornament, under an arch, as a finishing touch to that panel, a very beautiful tabernacle of the sacrament, on the frontal of which he made a little shield a quarter of a braccio in length, containing the arms of the said owners--that is, the ricci. and a fine jest it was at the opening of the chapel, for these ricci looked for their arms with much ado, and finally, not being able to find them, went off to the tribunal of eight, contract in hand. whereupon the tornabuoni showed that these arms had been placed in the most conspicuous and most honourable part of the work; and although the others exclaimed that they were invisible, they were told that they were in the wrong, and that they must be content, since the tornabuoni had caused them to be placed in so honourable a position as the neighbourhood of the most holy sacrament. and so it was decided by that tribunal that they should be left untouched, as they may be seen to-day. now, if this should appear to anyone to be outside the scope of the life that i have to write, let him not be vexed, for it all flowed naturally from the tip of my pen. and it should serve, if for nothing else, at least to show how easily poverty falls a prey to riches, and how riches, if accompanied by discretion, achieve without censure anything that a man desires. [illustration: domenico ghirlandajo: the vision of s. fina (_san gimignano. fresco_)] but to return to the beautiful works of domenico; in that chapel, first of all, are the four evangelists on the vaulting, larger than life; and, on the window-wall, stories of s. dominic, s. peter martyr, s. john going into the desert, the madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel, and many patron saints of florence on their knees above the window; while at the foot, on the right hand, is a portrait from life of giovanni tornabuoni, with one of his wife on the left, which are both said to be very lifelike. on the right-hand wall are seven scenes--six below, in compartments as large as the wall allows, and the last above, twice as broad as any of the others and bounded by the arch of the vaulting; and on the left-hand wall are also seven scenes from the life of s. john the baptist. the first on the right-hand wall is the expulsion of joachim from the temple, wherein patience is depicted in his countenance, with that contempt and hatred in the faces of the others which the jews felt for those who came to the temple without having children. in this scene, in the part near the window, are four men portrayed from life, one of whom, old, shaven, and wearing a red cap, is alesso baldovinetti, domenico's master in painting and in mosaic. another, bareheaded, who is holding one hand on his side and is wearing a red mantle, with a blue garment below, is domenico himself, the master of the work, who portrayed himself in a mirror. the one who has long black locks and thick lips is bastiano da san gimignano, his disciple and brother-in-law; and the last, who has his back turned, with a little cap on his head, is the painter david ghirlandajo, his brother. all these are said, by those who knew them, to be truly vivid and lifelike portraits. in the second scene is the nativity of our lady, executed with great diligence, and, among other notable things that he painted therein, there is in the building (drawn in perspective) a window that gives light to the room, which deceives all who see it. besides this, while s. anna is in bed, and certain ladies are visiting her, he painted some women washing the madonna with great care--one is getting ready the water, another is preparing the swaddling-clothes, a third is busy with some service, a fourth with another, and, while each is attending to her own duty, another woman is holding the little child in her arms and making her laugh by smiling at her, with a womanly grace truly worthy of such a work; besides many other expressions that are in each figure. in the third, which is above the first, is the madonna ascending the steps of the temple, with a building which recedes from the eye correctly enough, in addition to a nude figure that brought him praise at that time, when few were to be seen, although it had not that complete perfection which is shown by those painted in our own day, for those masters were not as excellent as ours. next to this is the marriage of our lady, wherein he represented the unbridled rage of those who are breaking their rods because they do not blossom like that of joseph; and this scene has an abundance of figures in an appropriate building. in the fifth are seen the magi arriving in bethlehem with a great number of men, horses, and dromedaries, and a variety of other things--a scene truly well composed. next to this is the sixth, showing the impious cruelty practised by herod against the innocents, wherein there is seen a most beautiful combat between women and soldiers, with horses that are striking and driving them about; and in truth this is the best of all the stories that are to be seen by his hand, for it is executed with judgment, intelligence, and great art. there may be seen therein the impious resolution of those who, at the command of herod, without regard for the mothers, are slaying those poor infants, among which is one, still clinging to the breast, that is dying from wounds received in its throat, so that it is sucking, not to say drinking, as much blood as milk from that breast--an effect truly natural, and, being wrought in such a manner as it is, able to kindle a spark of pity in the coldest heart. there is also a soldier who has seized a child by force, and while he runs off with it, pressing it against his breast to kill it, the mother is seen hanging from his hair in the utmost fury, and forcing him to bend his back in the form of an arch, so that three very beautiful effects are shown among them--one in the death of the child, which is seen expiring; the second in the impious rage of the soldier, who, feeling himself drawn backwards so strangely, is shown in the act of avenging himself on the child; and the third is that the mother, seeing the death of her babe, is seeking with fury, grief, and disdain to prevent the villain from going off scathless; and the whole is truly more the work of a philosopher admirable in judgment than of a painter. there are many other emotions depicted, which will demonstrate to him who studies them that this man was without doubt an excellent master in his time. above this, in the seventh scene, which embraces the space of two, and is bounded by the arch of the vaulting, are the death and the assumption of our lady, with an infinite number of angels, and innumerable figures, landscapes, and other ornaments, of which he used to paint an abundance in his facile and practised manner. [illustration: the birth of s. john the baptist (_after the fresco by =domenico ghirlandajo=. florence: s. maria novella_) _anderson_] on the other wall are stories of s. john, and in the first is zacharias sacrificing in the temple, when the angel appears to him and makes him dumb for his unbelief. in this scene, showing how sacrifices in temples are ever attended by a throng of the most distinguished men, and wishing to make it as honourable as he was able, he portrayed a good number of the florentine citizens who then governed that state, particularly all those of the house of tornabuoni, both young and old. besides this, in order to show that his age was rich in every sort of talent, above all in learning, he made a group of four half-length figures conversing together at the foot of the scene, representing the most learned men then to be found in florence. the first of these, who is wearing the dress of a canon, is messer marsilio ficino; the second, in a red mantle, with a black band round his neck, is cristofano landino; the figure turning towards him is demetrius the greek; and he who is standing between them, with one hand slightly raised, is messer angelo poliziano; and all are very lifelike and vivacious. in the second scene, next to this, there follows the visitation of our lady to s. elizabeth, with a company of many women dressed in costumes of those times, among whom is a portrait of ginevra de' benci, then a most beautiful maiden. in the third, above the first, is the birth of s. john, wherein there is a very beautiful scene, for while s. elizabeth is lying in bed, and certain neighbours come to see her, and the nurse is seated suckling the infant, one woman is joyfully demanding it from her, that she may show to the others what an unexampled feat the mistress of the house has performed in her old age. finally, there is a woman, who is very beautiful, bringing fruits and flasks from the country, according to the florentine custom. in the fourth scene, next to this, is zacharias, still dumb, marvelling--but with undaunted heart--that this child should have been born to him; and while they keep asking him about the name, he is writing on his knee, with his eyes fixed on his son, whom a woman who has knelt down before him is holding reverently in her arms, and he is tracing with his pen on the paper, "john shall be his name," to the no little marvel of many other figures, who appear to be in doubt whether the thing be true or not. there follows in the fifth his preaching to the multitude, in which scene there is shown that attention which the populace ever gives when hearing new things, particularly in the heads of the scribes, who, while listening to john, appear from a certain expression of countenance to be deriding his law, and even to hate it; and there are seen many men and women, variously attired, both standing and seated. in the sixth s. john is seen baptizing christ, in whose reverent expression domenico showed very clearly the faith that should be placed in such a sacrament. and since this did not fail to achieve a very great effect, he depicted many already naked and barefooted, waiting to be baptized, and revealing faith and willingness carved in their faces; and one among them, who is taking off his shoe, personifies readiness itself. in the last, which is in the arch next to the vaulting, are the sumptuous feast of herod and the dance of herodias, with an infinite number of servants performing various services in that scene; not to mention the grandeur of an edifice drawn in perspective, which proves the talent of domenico no less clearly than do the other pictures. the panel, which stands by itself, he executed in distemper, as he did the other figures in the six pictures. besides the madonna, who is seated in the sky with the child in her arms, and the other saints who are round her, there are s. laurence and s. stephen, who are absolutely alive, with s. vincent and s. peter martyr, who lack nothing save speech. it is true that a part of this panel remained unfinished in consequence of his death; but he had carried it so far on that there was nothing left to complete save certain figures on the back, where there is the resurrection of christ, with three figures in the other pictures, and the whole was afterwards finished by benedetto and david ghirlandajo, his brothers. this chapel was held to be a very beautiful work, grand, ornate, and lovely, through the vivacity of the colours, through the masterly finish in their application on the walls, and because very little retouching was done on the dry, not to mention the invention and the composition of the subjects. and in truth domenico deserves the greatest praise on all accounts, particularly for the liveliness of the heads, which, being portrayed from nature, present to every eye most lifelike effigies of many distinguished persons. for the same giovanni tornabuoni, at his villa of casso maccherelli, which stands on the river terzolle at no great distance from the city, he painted a chapel which has since been half destroyed through being too near to the river; but the paintings, although they have been uncovered for many years, continually washed by rain and scorched by the sun, have remained so fresh that one might think they had been covered--so great is the value of working in fresco, when the work is done with care and judgment and not retouched on the dry. he also made many figures of florentine saints, with most beautiful adornments, in that hall of the palace of the signoria which contains the marvellous clock of lorenzo della volpaia. and so great was his love of working and of giving satisfaction to all, that he commanded his lads to accept any work that might be brought to his shop, even hoops for women's baskets, saying that if they would not do them he would paint them himself, to the end that none might leave the shop unsatisfied. but when household cares fell upon him he was troubled, and he therefore laid the charge of all expenditure on his brother david, saying to him, "leave me to work, and do thou provide, for now that i have begun to understand the methods of this art, it grieves me that they will not commission me to paint the whole circuit of the walls of the city of florence with stories"; thus revealing a spirit absolutely invincible and resolute in every action. for s. martino in lucca he painted s. peter and s. paul on a panel. in the abbey of settimo, without florence, he painted the wall of the principal chapel in fresco, with two panels in distemper in the tramezzo[ ] of the church. in florence, also, he executed many pictures, round, square, and of other kinds, which can only be seen in the houses of individual citizens. in pisa he painted the recess behind the high-altar of the duomo, and he worked in many parts of that city, painting, for example, on the front wall of the office of works, a scene of king charles, portrayed from life, making supplication for pisa; and two panels in distemper, that of the high-altar and another, for the frati gesuati in s. girolamo. in that place there is also a picture of s. rocco and s. sebastian by the hand of the same man, which was given by one or other of the medici to those fathers, who have therefore added to it the arms of pope leo x. he is said to have been so accurate in draughtsmanship, that, when making drawings of the antiquities of rome, such as arches, baths, columns, colossea, obelisks, amphitheatres, and aqueducts, he would work with the eye alone, without rule, compasses, or measurements; and after he had made them, on being measured, they were found absolutely correct, as if he had used measurements. he drew the colosseum by the eye, placing at the foot of it a figure standing upright, from the proportions of which the whole edifice could be measured; this was tried by some masters after his death, and found quite correct. over a door of the cemetery of s. maria nuova he painted a s. michael in fresco, clad in armour which reflects the light most beautifully--a thing seldom done before his day. at the abbey of passignano, a seat of the monks of vallombrosa, he wrought certain works in company with his brother david and bastiano da san gimignano. here the two others, finding themselves poorly fed by the monks before the arrival of domenico, complained to the abbot, praying him to have them better served, since it was not right that they should be treated like bricklayers' labourers. this the abbot promised to do, saying in excuse that it was due more to the ignorance of the monks who looked after strangers than to malice. domenico arrived, but everything continued just the same; whereupon david, seeking out the abbot once again, declared with due apologies that he was not doing this for his own sake but on account of the merits and talents of his brother. but the abbot, like the ignorant man that he was, made no other answer. that evening, then, when they had sat down to supper, up came the stranger's steward with a board covered with bowls and messes only fit for a hangman, exactly the same as before. thereupon david, flying into a rage, upset the soup over the friar, and, seizing the loaf that was on the table, fell upon him with it and belaboured him in such a manner that he was carried away to his cell more dead than alive. the abbot, who was already in bed, got up and ran to the noise, believing that the monastery was tumbling down; and finding the friar in a sorry plight, he began to upbraid david. enraged by this, david bade him be gone out of his sight, saying that the talent of domenico was worth more than all the pigs of abbots like him that had ever lived in that monastery. whereupon the abbot, seeing himself in the wrong, did his utmost from that time onwards to treat them like the important men that they were. this work finished, domenico returned to florence, where he painted a panel for signor di carpi, sending another to rimini for signor carlo malatesta, who had it placed in his chapel in s. domenico. the latter panel was in distemper, with three very beautiful figures, and with little scenes below; and behind were figures painted to look like bronze, with very great design and art. besides these, he painted two panels for the abbey of s. giusto, a seat of the order of camaldoli, without volterra; these panels, which are wondrously beautiful, he executed at the order of the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, for the reason that the abbey was then held "in commendam" by his son cardinal giovanni de' medici, who was afterwards pope leo. this abbey was restored not many years ago by the very reverend messer giovan batista bava of volterra, who likewise held it "in commendam," to the said congregation of camaldoli. being then summoned to siena through the agency of the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, domenico undertook to adorn the façade of the duomo with mosaics, lorenzo acting as surety for him in this work to the extent of , ducats. and he began the work with much confidence and a better manner, but, being overtaken by death, he left it unfinished; even as, by reason of the death of the aforesaid magnificent lorenzo, there remained unfinished at florence the chapel of s. zanobi, on which domenico had begun to work in mosaic in company with the illuminator gherardo. by the hand of domenico is a very beautiful annunciation in mosaic that is to be seen over that side-door of s. maria del fiore which leads to the servi; and nothing better than this has yet been seen among the works of our modern masters of mosaic. domenico used to say that painting was mere drawing, and that the true painting for eternity was mosaic. a pupil of his, who lived with him in order to learn, was bastiano mainardi da san gimignano, who became a very able master of his manner in fresco; wherefore he went with domenico to san gimignano, where they painted in company the chapel of s. fina, which is a beautiful work. now the faithful and willing service of bastiano, who acquitted himself very well, induced domenico to judge him worthy to have a sister of his own for wife; and so their friendship was changed into relationship--a proof of liberality worthy of a loving master, who was pleased to reward the proficiency that his disciple had acquired by labouring at his art. domenico caused the said bastiano to paint a madonna ascending into heaven in the chapel of the baroncelli and bandini in s. croce (although he made the cartoon himself), with s. thomas below receiving the girdle--a beautiful work in fresco. in siena, in an apartment of the palace of the spannocchi, domenico and bastiano together painted many scenes in distemper, with little figures; and in pisa, in addition to the aforesaid recess in the duomo, they filled the whole arch of that chapel with angels, besides painting the folding doors that close the organ, and beginning to overlay the ceiling with gold. afterwards, just when domenico was about to put his hand to some very great works both in pisa and in siena, he fell sick of a most grievous putrid fever, which cut short his life in five days. as he lay ill, the tornabuoni sent him a hundred ducats of gold as a gift, proving their regard and particular friendship for domenico in return for his unceasing labours in the service of giovanni and of his house. domenico lived forty-four years, and he was buried with beautiful obsequies in s. maria novella by his brothers david and benedetto and his son ridolfo, amid much weeping and sorrowful regrets. the loss of so great a man was a great grief to his friends; and many excellent foreign painters, hearing that he was dead, wrote to his relatives lamenting his most untimely death. the disciples that he left were david and benedetto ghirlandajo, bastiano mainardi da san gimignano, the florentine michelagnolo buonarroti, francesco granaccio, niccolò cieco, jacopo del tedesco, jacopo dell' indaco, baldino baldinelli, and other masters, all florentines. he died in . [illustration: the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas (_after the panel by =bastiano mainardi=. florence: s. croce_) _brogi_] domenico enriched the art of painting by working in mosaic with a manner more modern than was shown by any of the innumerable tuscans who essayed it, as is proved by the works that he wrought, few though they may be. wherefore he has deserved to be held in honour and esteem for such rich and undying benefits to art, and to be celebrated with extraordinary praises after his death. footnotes: [ ] garlands. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. antonio and piero pollaiuolo lives of antonio and piero pollaiuolo painters and sculptors of florence many men begin in a humble spirit with unimportant works, who, gaining courage from proficiency, grow also in power and ability, in such a manner that they aspire to greater undertakings and almost reach heaven with their beautiful thoughts. raised by fortune, they very often chance upon some liberal prince, who, finding himself well served by them, is forced to remunerate their labours so richly that their descendants derive great benefits and advantages from them. wherefore such men walk through this life to the end with so much glory, that they leave marvellous memorials of themselves to the world, as did antonio and piero del pollaiuolo, who were greatly esteemed in their day for the rare acquirements that they had made with their industry and labour. these men were born in the city of florence, one no long time after the other, from a father of humble station and no great wealth, who, recognizing by many signs the good and acute intelligence of his sons, but not having the means to educate them in letters, apprenticed antonio to the goldsmith's art under bartoluccio ghiberti, a very excellent master in that calling at that time; and piero he placed under andrea dal castagno, who was then the best painter in florence, to learn painting. antonio, then, being pushed on by bartoluccio, not only learnt to set jewels and to fire enamels on silver, but was also held the best master of the tools of that art. wherefore lorenzo ghiberti, who was then working on the doors of s. giovanni, having observed the manner of antonio, called him into that work in company with many other young men, and set him to labour on one of the festoons which he then had in hand. on this antonio made a quail which is still in existence, so beautiful and so perfect that it lacks nothing but the power of flight. antonio, therefore, had not spent many weeks over this work before he was known as the best, both in design and in patient execution, of all those who were working there, and as more gifted and more diligent than any other. whereupon, growing ever both in ability and in fame, he left bartoluccio and lorenzo, and opened a fine and magnificent goldsmith's shop for himself in the mercato nuovo in that city. and for many years he followed that art, never ceasing to make new designs, and executing in relief wax candles and other things of fancy, which in a short time caused him to be held--as he was--the first master of his calling. there lived at the same time another goldsmith called maso finiguerra, who had an extraordinary fame, and deservedly, since there had never been seen any master of engraving and of niello who could make so great a number of figures as he could, whether in a small or in a large space; as is still proved by certain paxes in the church of s. giovanni in florence, wrought by him with most minutely elaborated stories from the passion of christ. this man drew very well and in abundance, and in our book are many of his drawings of figures, both draped and nude, and scenes done in water-colour. in competition with him antonio executed certain scenes, in which he equalled him in diligence and surpassed him in design; wherefore the consuls of the guild of merchants, seeing the excellence of antonio, and remembering that there were certain scenes in silver to be wrought for the altar of s. giovanni, such as it had ever been the custom for various masters to make at different times, determined among themselves that antonio also should make some. this came to pass; and his works turned out so excellent, that they are recognized as the best among them all. these were the feast of herod and the dance of herodias; but more beautiful than anything else was the s. john that is in the middle of the altar, a work wrought wholly with the chasing-tool, and much extolled. for this reason he was commissioned by the said consuls to make the candelabra of silver, each three braccia in height, and the cross in proportion; which work he brought to such perfection, with such an abundance of carving, that it has ever been esteemed a marvellous thing both by foreigners and by his countrymen. [illustration: ss. eustace, james, and vincent (_after the panel by =piero pollaiuolo=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] in this calling he took infinite pains, both with the works that he executed in gold and with those in enamel and silver. among these are some very beautiful paxes in s. giovanni, coloured by the action of fire, which are such that they could be scarcely improved with the brush; and some of his marvellous enamels may be seen in other churches in florence, rome, and other parts of italy. he taught this art to the florentine mazzingo and to giuliano del facchino, both passing good masters, and to giovanni turini of siena, who surpassed these his companions considerably in that profession, in which, from antonio di salvi--who made many good works, such as a large silver cross for the badia of florence, and other things--to our own day, there has been nothing done than can be held in particular account. but of his works and of those of the pollaiuoli many have been destroyed and melted down to meet the necessities of the city in times of war. for this reason, recognizing that this art gave no long life to the labours of its craftsmen, and desiring to gain a more lasting memory, antonio resolved to pursue it no longer. and so, his brother piero being a painter, he associated himself with him in order to learn the methods of handling and using colours; but it appeared to him an art so different from the goldsmith's, that, if he had not been so hasty in resolving to abandon his own art entirely, it might well have been that he would never have brought himself to turn to the other. however, spurred by fear of shame rather than by hope of profit, in a few months he acquired a practical knowledge of colouring and became an excellent master. he associated himself entirely with piero, and they made many pictures in company; among others, since they took great delight in colour, a panel in oil in s. miniato al monte without florence, for the cardinal of portugal. on this panel, which was placed on the altar of his chapel, they painted s. james the apostle, s. eustace, and s. vincent, which have been much extolled. piero, in particular, painted certain prophets on the wall in oil (a method that he had learnt from andrea dal castagno), in the corners of the angles below the architrave, where the lunettes of the arches run; and in one of the lunettes he painted the virgin receiving the annunciation, with three figures. for the capitani di parte he painted a madonna with the child in her arms in a lunette, with a frieze of seraphim all round, also wrought in oil. they also painted in oil, on canvas, on a pilaster of s. michele in orto, an angel raphael with tobias; and they made certain virtues in the mercatanzia of florence, in the very place where that tribunal holds its sittings. in the proconsulate antonio made portraits from life of messer poggio, secretary to the signoria of florence, who continued the history of florence after messer leonardo d'arezzo, and of messer giannozzo manetti, a man of no small learning and repute, in the same place where other masters some time before had made portraits of zanobi da strada, a poet of florence, donato acciaiuoli, and others. in the chapel of the pucci, in s. sebastiano de' servi, he painted the panel of the altar, which is a rare and excellent work, containing marvellous horses, nudes, and very beautiful figures in foreshortening, and s. sebastian himself portrayed from life--namely, from gino di lodovico capponi. this work received greater praise than any other that antonio ever made, since, seeking to imitate nature to the utmost of his power, he showed in one of the archers, who is resting his cross-bow against his chest and bending down to the ground in order to load it, all the force that a man of strong arm can exert in loading that weapon, for we see his veins and muscles swelling, and the man himself holding his breath in order to gain more strength. nor is this the only figure wrought with careful consideration, for all the others in their various attitudes also demonstrate clearly enough the thought and the intelligence that he put into this work, which was certainly appreciated by antonio pucci, who gave him crowns for it, declaring that he was barely paying him for the colours. it was finished in the year . [illustration: antonio pollaiuolo: david victor (_berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a. panel_)] gaining courage from this, therefore, he painted at s. miniato fra le torri, without the gate, a s. cristopher ten braccia in height, a very beautiful work executed in a modern manner, the figure being better proportioned than any other of that size that had been made up to that time. he then made a crucifix with s. antonino, on canvas, which was placed in the chapel of that saint in s. marco. in the palace of the signoria of florence, at the porta della catena, he made a s. john the baptist; and in the house of the medici he painted for the elder lorenzo three figures of hercules in three pictures, each five braccia in height. the first of these, which is slaying antaeus, is a very beautiful figure, in which the strength of hercules as he crushes the other is seen most vividly, for the muscles and nerves of that figure are all strained in the struggle to destroy antaeus. the head of hercules shows the gnashing of the teeth so well in harmony with the other parts, that even the toes of his feet are raised in the effort. nor did he take less pains with antaeus, who, crushed in the arms of hercules, is seen sinking and losing all his strength, and giving up his breath through his open mouth. the second hercules, who is slaying the lion, has the left knee pressed against its chest, and, setting his teeth and extending his arms, and grasping the lion's jaws with both his hands, he is opening them and rending them asunder by main force, although the beast is tearing his arms grievously with its claws in self-defence. the third picture, wherein hercules is slaying the hydra, is something truly marvellous, particularly the serpent, which he made so lively and so natural in colouring that nothing could be made more life-like. in that beast are seen venom, fire, ferocity, rage, and such vivacity, that he deserves to be celebrated and to be closely imitated in this by all good craftsmen. for the company of s. angelo in arezzo he executed an oil-painting on cloth, with a crucifix on one side, and on the other s. michael in combat with the dragon, as beautiful as any work that there is to be seen by his hand; for the figure of s. michael, who is bravely confronting the dragon, setting his teeth and knitting his brows, truly seems to have descended from heaven in order to effect the vengeance of god against the pride of lucifer, and it is indeed a marvellous work. he had a more modern grasp of the nude than the masters before his day, and he dissected many bodies in order to study their anatomy. he was the first to demonstrate the method of searching out the muscles, in order that they might have their due form and place in his figures, and he engraved on copper a battle of nude figures all girt round with a chain; and after this one he made other engravings, with much better workmanship than had been shown by the other masters who had lived before him. for these reasons, then, he became famous among craftsmen, and after the death of pope sixtus iv he was summoned by his successor, pope innocent, to rome, where he made a tomb of metal for the said innocent, wherein he portrayed him from nature, seated in the attitude of giving the benediction; and this was placed in s. pietro. that of the said pope sixtus, which was finished at very great cost, was placed in the chapel that is called by the name of that pontiff. it stands quite by itself, with very rich adornments, and on it there lies an excellent figure of the pope; and the tomb of innocent stands in s. pietro, beside the chapel that contains the lance of christ. it is said that the same man designed the palace of the belvedere for the said pope innocent, although, since he had little experience of building, it was erected by others. finally, after becoming rich, these two brothers died almost at the same time in , and were buried by their relatives in s. pietro in vincula; and in memory of them, beside the middle door, on the left as one enters into the church, there were placed two medallions of marble with their portraits and with the following epitaph: antonius pullarius patria florentinus, pictor insignis, qui duorum pontif. xisti et innocentii Ærea monimenta miro opific. expressit, re famil. composita ex test. hic se cum petro fratre condi voluit. vix. an. lxxii. obiit anno sal. miid. the same man made a very beautiful battle of nude figures in low-relief and of metal, which went to spain; of this every craftsman in florence has a plaster cast. and after his death there were found the design and model that he had made at the command of lodovico sforza for the equestrian statue of francesco sforza, duke of milan, of which design there are two forms in our book; in one the duke has verona beneath him, and in the other he is on a pedestal covered with battle pieces, in full armour, and forcing his horse to leap on a man in armour. but the reason why he did not put these designs into execution i have not yet been able to discover. the same man made some very beautiful medals; among others, one representing the conspiracy of the pazzi, containing on one side the heads of lorenzo and giuliano de' medici, and on the reverse the choir of s. maria del fiore, with the whole event exactly as it happened. he also made the medals of certain pontiffs, and many other things that are known to craftsmen. [illustration: the martyrdom of s. sebastian (_after the panel by =antonio pollaiuolo=. london: national gallery, _) _mansell_] [illustration: tomb of pope sixtus iv (_after =antonio pollaiuolo=. rome: s. peter's_) _anderson_] antonio was seventy-two years of age when he died, and piero sixty-five. the former left many disciples, among whom was andrea sansovino. antonio had a most fortunate life in his day, finding rich pontiffs, and his own city at the height of its greatness and delighting in talent, wherefore he was much esteemed; whereas, if he had chanced to live in an unfavourable age, he would not have produced such fruits as he did, since troublous times are deadly enemies to the sciences in which men labour and take delight. for s. giovanni in florence, after the design of this man, there were made two dalmatics, a chasuble, and a cope, of double brocade, all woven in one piece without a single seam; and for these, as borders and ornaments, there were embroidered the stories of the life of s. john, with most delicate workmanship and art, by paolo da verona, a divine master of that profession and rare in intelligence beyond all others, who executed the figures no less well with the needle than antonio would have done them with his brush; wherefore we owe no small obligation to the one for his design and to the other for his patience in embroidering it. this work took twenty-six years to complete; but of these embroideries, which, being made with the close stitch, are not only more durable but also seem like a real painting done with the brush, the good method is now all but lost, since we now use a more open stitch, which is less durable and less lovely to the eye. sandro botticelli life of sandro botticelli [_alessandro filipepi or sandro di botticello_] painter of florence at the same time with the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, which was truly a golden age for men of intellect, there also flourished one alessandro, called sandro after our custom, and surnamed di botticello for a reason that we shall see below. this man was the son of mariano filipepi, a citizen of florence, who brought him up with care, and had him instructed in all those things that are usually taught to children before they are old enough to be apprenticed to some calling. but although he found it easy to learn whatever he wished, nevertheless he was ever restless, nor was he contented with any form of learning, whether reading, writing, or arithmetic, insomuch that his father, weary of the vagaries of his son's brain, in despair apprenticed him as a goldsmith with a boon-companion of his own, called botticello, no mean master of that art in his day. now in that age there was a very close connection--nay, almost a constant intercourse--between the goldsmiths and the painters; wherefore sandro, who was a ready fellow and had devoted himself wholly to design, became enamoured of painting, and determined to devote himself to that. for this reason he spoke out his mind freely to his father, who, recognizing the inclination of his brain, took him to fra filippo of the carmine, a most excellent painter of that time, with whom he placed him to learn the art, according to sandro's own desire. thereupon, devoting himself heart and soul to that art, sandro followed and imitated his master so well that fra filippo, growing to love him, taught him very thoroughly, so that he soon rose to such a rank as none would have expected for him. while still quite young, he painted a figure of fortitude in the mercatanzia of florence, among the pictures of virtues that were wrought by antonio and piero del pollaiuolo. for the chapel of the bardi in s. spirito at florence he painted a panel, wrought with diligence and brought to a fine completion, which contains certain olive-trees and palms executed with consummate lovingness. he painted a panel for the convertite nuns, and another for those of s. barnaba. in the tramezzo[ ] of the ognissanti, by the door that leads into the choir, he painted for the vespucci a s. augustine in fresco, with which he took very great pains, seeking to surpass all the painters of his time, and particularly domenico ghirlandajo, who had made a s. jerome on the other side; and this work won very great praise, for in the head of that saint he depicted the profound meditation and acute subtlety that are found in men of wisdom who are ever concentrated on the investigation of the highest and most difficult matters. this picture, as was said in the life of ghirlandajo, has this year ( ) been removed safe and sound from its original position. having thus come into credit and reputation, he was commissioned by the guild of porta santa maria to paint in s. marco a panel with the coronation of our lady and a choir of angels, which he designed and executed very well. he made many works in the house of the medici for the elder lorenzo, particularly a pallas on a device of great branches, which spouted forth fire: this he painted of the size of life, as he did a s. sebastian. in s. maria maggiore in florence, beside the chapel of the panciatichi, there is a very beautiful pietà with little figures. for various houses throughout the city he painted round pictures, and many female nudes, of which there are still two at castello, a villa of duke cosimo's; one representing the birth of venus, with those winds and zephyrs that bring her to the earth, with the cupids; and likewise another venus, whom the graces are covering with flowers, as a symbol of spring; and all this he is seen to have expressed very gracefully. round an apartment of the house of giovanni vespucci, now belonging to piero salviati, in the via de' servi, he made many pictures which were enclosed by frames of walnut-wood, by way of ornament and panelling, with many most lively and beautiful figures. in the house of the pucci, likewise, he painted with little figures boccaccio's tale of nastagio degli onesti in four square pictures of most charming and beautiful workmanship, and the epiphany in a round picture. for a chapel in the monastery of cestello he painted an annunciation on a panel. near the side-door of s. pietro maggiore, for matteo palmieri, he painted a panel with an infinite number of figures--namely, the assumption of our lady, with the zones of heaven as they are represented, and the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the evangelists, the martyrs, the confessors, the doctors, the virgins, and the hierarchies; all from the design given to him by matteo, who was a learned and able man. this work he painted with mastery and consummate diligence; and at the foot is a portrait of matteo on his knees, with that of his wife. but for all that the work is most beautiful, and should have silenced envy, nevertheless there were certain malignant slanderers who, not being able to do it any other damage, said that both matteo and sandro had committed therein the grievous sin of heresy. as to whether this be true or false, i cannot be expected to judge; it is enough that the figures painted therein by sandro are truly worthy of praise, by reason of the pains that he took in drawing the zones of heaven and in the distribution of figures, angels, foreshortenings, and views, all varied in diverse ways, the whole being executed with good design. [illustration: sandro botticelli: pallas and the centaur (_florence: pitti palace, panel_)] [illustration: sandro botticelli: giovanna tornabuoni and the graces (_paris: louvre, . fresco_)] at this time sandro was commissioned to paint a little panel with figures three-quarters of a braccio in length, which was placed between two doors in the principal façade of s. maria novella, on the left as one enters the church by the door in the centre. it contains the adoration of the magi, and wonderful feeling is seen in the first old man, who, kissing the foot of our lord, and melting with tenderness, shows very clearly that he has achieved the end of his long journey. the figure of this king is an actual portrait of the elder cosimo de' medici, the most lifelike and most natural that is to be found of him in our own day. the second, who is giuliano de' medici, father of pope clement vii, is seen devoutly doing reverence to the child with a most intent expression, and presenting him with his offering. the third, also on his knees, appears to be adoring him and giving him thanks, while confessing that he is the true messiah; this is giovanni, son of cosimo. it is not possible to describe the beauty that sandro depicted in the heads that are therein seen, which are drawn in various attitudes, some in full face, some in profile, some in three-quarter face, others bending down, and others, again, in various manners; with different expressions for the young and the old, and with all the bizarre effects that reveal to us the perfection of his skill; and he distinguished the courts of the three kings one from another, insomuch that one can see which are the retainers of each. this is truly a most admirable work, and executed so beautifully, whether in colouring, drawing, or composition, that every craftsman at the present day stands in a marvel thereat. and at that time it brought him such great fame, both in florence and abroad, that pope sixtus iv, having accomplished the building of the chapel of his palace in rome, and wishing to have it painted, ordained that he should be made head of that work; whereupon he painted therein with his own hand the following scenes--namely, the temptation of christ by the devil, moses slaying the egyptian, moses receiving drink from the daughters of jethro the midianite, and likewise fire descending from heaven on the sacrifice of the sons of aaron, with certain sanctified popes in the niches above the scenes. having therefore acquired still greater fame and reputation among the great number of competitors who worked with him, both florentines and men of other cities, he received from the pope a good sum of money, the whole of which he consumed and squandered in a moment during his residence in rome, where he lived in haphazard fashion, as was his wont. having at the same time finished and unveiled the part that had been assigned to him, he returned immediately to florence, where, being a man of inquiring mind, he made a commentary on part of dante, illustrated the inferno, and printed it; on which he wasted much of his time, bringing infinite disorder into his life by neglecting his work. he also printed many of the drawings that he had made, but in a bad manner, for the engraving was poorly done. the best of these that is to be seen by his hand is the triumph of the faith effected by fra girolamo savonarola of ferrara, of whose sect he was so ardent a partisan that he was thereby induced to desert his painting, and, having no income to live on, fell into very great distress. for this reason, persisting in his attachment to that party, and becoming a piagnone[ ] (as the members of the sect were then called), he abandoned his work; wherefore he ended in his old age by finding himself so poor, that, if lorenzo de' medici, for whom, besides many other things, he had done some work at the little hospital in the district of volterra, had not succoured him the while that he lived, as did afterwards his friends and many excellent men who loved him for his talent, he would have almost died of hunger. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the panel by =sandro botticelli=. florence: uffizi, _) _m. s._] in s. francesco, without the porta a san miniato, there is a madonna in a round picture by the hand of sandro, with some angels of the size of life, which was held a very beautiful work. sandro was a man of very pleasant humour, often playing tricks on his disciples and his friends; wherefore it is related that once, when a pupil of his who was called biagio had made a round picture exactly like the one mentioned above, in order to sell it, sandro sold it for six florins of gold to a citizen; then, finding biagio, he said to him, "at last i have sold this thy picture; so this evening it must be hung on high, where it will be seen better, and in the morning thou must go to the house of the citizen who has bought it, and bring him here, that he may see it in a good light in its proper place; and then he will pay thee the money." "o, my master," said biagio, "how well you have done." then, going into the shop, he hung the picture at a good height, and went off. meanwhile sandro and jacopo, who was another of his disciples, made eight caps of paper, like those worn by citizens, and fixed them with white wax on the heads of the eight angels that surrounded the madonna in the said picture. now, in the morning, up comes biagio with his citizen, who had bought the picture and was in the secret. they entered the shop, and biagio, looking up, saw his madonna seated, not among his angels, but among the signoria of florence, with all those caps. thereupon he was just about to begin to make an outcry and to excuse himself to the man who had bought it, when, seeing that the other, instead of complaining, was actually praising the picture, he kept silent himself. finally, going with the citizen to his house, biagio received his payment of six florins, the price for which his master had sold the picture; and then, returning to the shop just as sandro and jacopo had removed the paper caps, he saw his angels as true angels, and not as citizens in their caps. all in a maze, and not knowing what to say, he turned at last to sandro and said: "master, i know not whether i am dreaming, or whether this is true. when i came here before, these angels had red caps on their heads, and now they have not; what does it mean?" "thou art out of thy wits, biagio," said sandro; "this money has turned thy head. if it were so, thinkest thou that the citizen would have bought the picture?" "it is true," replied biagio, "that he said nothing to me about it, but for all that it seemed to me strange." finally, all the other lads gathered round him and wrought on him to believe that it had been a fit of giddiness. another time a cloth-weaver came to live in a house next to sandro's, and erected no less than eight looms, which, when at work, not only deafened poor sandro with the noise of the treadles and the movement of the frames, but shook his whole house, the walls of which were no stronger than they should be, so that what with the one thing and the other he could not work or even stay at home. time after time he besought his neighbour to put an end to this annoyance, but the other said that he both would and could do what he pleased in his own house; whereupon sandro, in disdain, balanced on the top of his own wall, which was higher than his neighbour's and not very strong, an enormous stone, more than enough to fill a wagon, which threatened to fall at the slightest shaking of the wall and to shatter the roof, ceilings, webs, and looms of his neighbour, who, terrified by this danger, ran to sandro, but was answered in his very own words--namely, that he both could and would do whatever he pleased in his own house. nor could he get any other answer out of him, so that he was forced to come to a reasonable agreement and to be a good neighbour to sandro. [illustration: sandro botticelli: the madonna of the pomegranate (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] it is also related that sandro, for a jest, accused a friend of his own of heresy before his vicar, and the friend, on appearing, asked who the accuser was and what the accusation; and having been told that it was sandro, who had charged him with holding the opinion of the epicureans, and believing that the soul dies with the body, he insisted on being confronted with the accuser before the judge. sandro therefore appeared, and the other said: "it is true that i hold this opinion with regard to this man's soul, for he is an animal. nay, does it not seem to you that he is the heretic, since without a scrap of learning, and scarcely knowing how to read, he plays the commentator to dante and takes his name in vain?" it is also said that he had a surpassing love for all whom he saw to be zealous students of art; and that he earned much, but wasted everything through negligence and lack of management. finally, having grown old and useless, and being forced to walk with crutches, without which he could not stand upright, he died, infirm and decrepit, at the age of seventy-eight, and was buried in ognissanti at florence in the year . in the guardaroba of the lord duke cosimo there are two very beautiful heads of women in profile by his hand, one of which is said to be the mistress of giuliano de' medici, brother of lorenzo, and the other madonna lucrezia de' tornabuoni, wife of the said lorenzo. in the same place, likewise by the hand of sandro, is a bacchus who is raising a cask with both his hands, and putting it to his mouth--a very graceful figure. and in the duomo of pisa he began an assumption, with a choir of angels, in the chapel of the impagliata; but afterwards, being displeased with it, he left it unfinished. in s. francesco at montevarchi he painted the panel of the high-altar; and in the pieve of empoli, on the same side as the s. sebastian of rossellino, he made two angels. he was among the first to discover the method of decorating standards and other sorts of hangings with the so-called inlaid work, to the end that the colours might not fade and might show the tint of the cloth on either side. by his hand, and made thus, is the baldacchino of orsanmichele, covered with beautiful and varied figures of our lady; which proves how much better such a method preserves the cloth than does the use of mordants, which eat it away and make its life but short, although, being less costly, mordants are now used more than anything else. sandro's drawings were extraordinarily good, and so many, that for some time after his death all the craftsmen strove to obtain some of them; and we have some in our book, made with great mastery and judgment. his scenes abounded with figures, as may be seen from the embroidered border of the cross that the friars of s. maria novella carry in processions, all made from his design. great was the praise, then, that sandro deserved for all the pictures that he chose to make with diligence and love, as he did the aforesaid panel of the magi in s. maria novella, which is marvellous. very beautiful, too, is a little round picture by his hand that is seen in the apartment of the prior of the angeli in florence, in which the figures are small but very graceful and wrought with beautiful consideration. of the same size as the aforesaid panel of the magi, and by the same man's hand, is a picture in the possession of messer fabio segni, a gentlemen of florence, in which there is painted the calumny of apelles, as beautiful as any picture could be. under this panel, which sandro himself presented to antonio segni, who was much his friend, there may now be read the following verses, written by the said messer fabio: indicio quemquam ne falso lÆdere tentent terrarum reges, parva tabella monet. huic similem Ægypti regi donavit apelles; rex fuit et dignus munere, munus eo. [illustration: the calumny of apelles (_after the panel by =sandro botticelli=. florence: uffizi, _) _m. s._] footnotes: [ ] see note on p. , vol. . [ ] mourner, or weeper. benedetto da maiano life of benedetto da maiano sculptor and architect benedetto da maiano, a sculptor of florence, who was in his earliest years a wood-carver, was held the most able master of all who were then handling the tools of that profession; and he was particularly excellent as a craftsman in that form of work which, as has been said elsewhere, was introduced at the time of filippo brunelleschi and paolo uccello--namely, the inlaying of pieces of wood tinted with various colours, in order to make views in perspective, foliage, and many other diverse things of fancy. in this craft, then, benedetto da maiano was in his youth the best master that there was to be found, as is clearly demonstrated by many works of his that are to be seen in various parts of florence, particularly by all the presses in the sacristy of s. maria del fiore, the greater part of which he finished after the death of his uncle giuliano; these are full of figures executed in inlaid work, foliage, and other devices, all wrought with great expense and craftsmanship. having gained a very great name through the novelty of this art, he made many works, which were sent to diverse places and to various princes; and among others king alfonso of naples had the furniture for a study, made under the direction of giuliano, uncle of benedetto, who was serving that king as architect. benedetto himself went to join him there; but, being displeased with the position, he returned to florence, where, no long time after, he made for matthias corvinus, king of hungary, who had many florentines in his court and took delight in all rare works, a pair of coffers inlaid in wood with difficult and most beautiful craftsmanship. he then determined, being invited with great favour by that king, to consent to go thither at all costs; and so, having packed up his coffers and embarked with them on board ship, he set off for hungary. there, after doing obeisance to that king, by whom he was received most graciously, he sent for the said coffers and had them unpacked in the presence of the monarch, who was very eager to see them; whereupon he saw that the damp from the water and the exhalations from the sea had so softened the glue, that, on the opening of the waxed cloths, almost all the pieces which had been attached to the coffers fell to the ground. whether benedetto, therefore, in the presence of so many nobles, stood in dumb amazement, everyone may judge for himself. however, putting the work together as well as he was able, he contrived to leave the king well enough satisfied; but in spite of this he took an aversion to that craft and could no longer endure it, through the shame that it had brought upon him. and so, casting off all timidity, he devoted himself to sculpture, in which art he had already worked at loreto while living with his uncle giuliano, making a lavatory with certain angels of marble for the sacristy. labouring at this art, before he left hungary he gave that king to know that if he had been put to shame at the beginning, the fault had lain with that craft, which was a mean one, and not with his intellect, which was rare and exalted. having therefore made in those parts certain works both in clay and in marble, which gave great pleasure to that king, he returned to florence; and he had no sooner arrived there than he was commissioned by the signori to make the marble ornament for the door of their audience chamber. for this he made some boys supporting with their arms certain festoons, all very beautiful; but the most beautiful part of the work was the figure in the middle, two braccia in height, of a young s. john, which is held to be a thing of rare excellence. and to the end that the whole work might be by his own hand, he made by himself the wood-work that closes the said door, and executed a figure with inlaid woods on either part of it, that is, dante on one and petrarca on the other; which two figures are enough to show to any man who may have seen no other work of that kind by the hand of benedetto, how rare and excellent a master he was of that craft. this audience chamber has been painted in our own day by francesco salviati at the command of the lord duke cosimo, as will be told in the proper place. [illustration: pulpit in s. croce, florence (_after =benedetto da maiano=. florence_) _alinari_] in s. maria novella at florence, where filippino painted the chapel, benedetto afterwards made a tomb of black marble, with a madonna and certain angels in a medallion, with much diligence, for the elder filippo strozzi, whose portrait, which he made there in marble, is now in the strozzi palace. the same benedetto was commissioned by the elder lorenzo de' medici to make in s. maria del fiore a portrait of the florentine painter giotto, which he placed over the epitaph, of which enough has been said above in the life of giotto himself. this piece of marble sculpture is held to be passing good. having afterwards gone to naples by reason of the death of his uncle giuliano, whose heir he was, benedetto, besides certain works that he executed for that king, made a marble panel for the count of terranuova in the monastery of the monks of monte oliveto, containing an annunciation with certain saints, and surrounded by very beautiful boys, who are supporting some festoons; and in the predella of the said work he made many low-reliefs in a good manner. in faenza he made a very beautiful tomb of marble for the body of s. savino, and on this he wrought six scenes in low-relief from the life of that saint, with much invention and design both in the buildings and in the figures; insomuch that both from this work and from others by his hand he was recognized as a man excellent in sculpture. wherefore, before he left romagna, he was commissioned to make a portrait of galeotto malatesta. he also made one, i know not whether before this or after, of henry vii, king of england, after a drawing on paper that he had received from some florentine merchants. the studies for these two portraits, together with many other things, were found in his house after his death. having finally returned to florence, he made in s. croce, for pietro mellini, a citizen of florence and a very rich merchant at that time, the marble pulpit that is seen there, which is held to be a very rare thing and more beautiful than any other that has ever been executed in that manner, since the marble figures that are to be seen therein, in the stories of s. francis, are wrought with so great excellence and diligence that nothing more could be looked for in marble. for with great art benedetto carved there trees, rocks, houses, views in perspective, and certain things in marvellously bold relief; not to mention a projection on the ground below the said pulpit, which serves as a tombstone, wrought with so much design that it is not possible to praise it enough. it is said that in making this work he had some difficulty with the wardens of works of s. croce, because, while he wished to erect the said pulpit against a column that sustains some of the arches which support the roof, and to perforate that column in order to accommodate the steps and the entrance to the pulpit, they would not consent, fearing lest it might be so weakened by the hollow required for the steps as to collapse under the weight above, with great damage to a part of that church. but mellini having guaranteed that the work would be finished without any injury to the church, they finally consented. having, therefore, bound the outer side of the column with bands of bronze (the part, namely, from the pulpit downwards, which is covered with hard stone), benedetto made within it the steps for ascending to the pulpit, and in proportion as he hollowed it out within, so did he strengthen the outer side with the said hard stone, in the manner that is still to be seen. and he brought this work to perfection to the amazement of all who see it, showing in each part and in the whole together the utmost excellence that could be desired in such a work. many declare that the elder filippo strozzi, when intending to build his palace, sought the advice of benedetto, who made him a model, according to which it was begun, although it was afterwards carried on and finished by cronaca on the death of benedetto. the latter, having acquired enough to live upon, would do no more works in marble after those described above, save that he finished in s. trinita the s. mary magdalene begun by desiderio da settignano, and made the crucifix that is over the altar of s. maria del fiore, with certain others like it. as for architecture, although he put his hand to but few works, yet in these he showed no less judgment than in sculpture; particularly in three ceilings which were made at very great expense, under his guidance and direction, in the palace of the signoria at florence. the first of these was the ceiling of the hall that is now called the sala de' dugento, over which it was proposed to make, not a similar hall, but two apartments, that is, a hall and an audience chamber, so that it was necessary to make a wall, and no light one either, containing a marble door of reasonable thickness; wherefore, for the execution of such a work, there was need of intelligence and judgment no less than those possessed by benedetto. benedetto, then, in order not to diminish the said hall and yet divide the space above into two, went to work in the following manner. on a beam one braccio in thickness, and as long as the whole breadth of the hall, he laid another consisting of two pieces, in such a manner that it projected with its thickness to the height of two-thirds of a braccio. at the ends, these two beams, bound and secured together very firmly, gave a height of two braccia at the edge of the wall on each side; and the said two ends were grooved with a claw-shaped cut, in such a way that there could be laid upon them an arch of half a braccio in thickness, made of two layers of bricks, with its flanks resting on the principal walls. these two beams, then, were dove-tailed together with tenon and mortise, and so firmly bound and united with good bands of iron, that out of two there was made one single beam. besides this, having made the said arch, and wishing that these timbers of the ceiling should have nothing more to sustain than the wall under the arch, and that the arch itself should sustain the rest, he also attached to this arch two great supports of iron, which, being firmly bolted to the said beams below, upheld and still uphold them; while, even if they were not to suffice by themselves, the arch would be able--by means of the said supports which encircle the beams, one on one side of the marble door and one on the other--to support a weight much greater than that of the partition wall, which is made of bricks and half a braccio in thickness. what is more, he had the bricks in the said wall laid on edge and in the manner of an arch, so that the pressure came against the solid part, at the corners, and the whole was thus more stable. in this manner, by means of the good judgment of benedetto, the said sala de' dugento remained as large as before, and over the same space, with a partition wall between, were made the hall that is called the sala dell' orivolo[ ] and the audience chamber wherein is the triumph of camillus, painted by the hand of salviati. the soffit of this ceiling was richly wrought and carved by marco del tasso and his brothers, domenico and giuliano, who likewise executed that of the sala dell' orivolo and that of the audience chamber. and since the said marble door had been made double by benedetto, on the arch of the inner door--we have already spoken of the outer one--he wrought a seated figure of justice in marble, with the globe of the world in one hand and a sword in the other; and round the arch run the following words: diligite justitiam qui judicatis terram. the whole of this work was executed with marvellous diligence and art. for the church of the madonna delle grazie, which is a little distance without the city of arezzo, the same man made a portico with a flight of steps in front of the door. in making the portico he placed the arches on the columns, and right round alongside the roof he made an architrave, frieze, and great cornice; and in the latter, by way of drip, he placed a garland of rosettes carved in grey-stone, which jut out to the extent of one braccio and a third, insomuch that between the projection of the front of the cyma above to the dentils and ovoli below the drip there is a space of two braccia and a half, which, with the half braccio added by the tiles, makes a projecting roof all round of three braccia in width, beautiful, rich, useful, and ingenious. in this work there is a contrivance worthy to be well considered by craftsmen, for, wishing to give this roof all that projection without modillions or corbels to support it, he made the slabs, on which the rosettes are carved, so large that only the half of their length projected, and the other half was built into the solid wall; wherefore, being thus counterpoised, they were able to support the rest and all that was laid upon them, as they have done up to the present day, without any danger to that building. and since he did not wish this roof to appear to be made, as it was, of pieces, he surrounded it all, piece by piece, with a moulding made of sections well dove-tailed and let into one another, which served as a ground to the garland of rosettes; and this united the whole work together in such a manner that all who see it judge it to be of one piece. in the same place he had a flat ceiling made of gilded rosettes, which is much extolled. now benedetto had bought a farm without prato, on the road from the porta fiorentina in the direction of florence, and no more than half a mile from that place. on the main road, beside the gate, he built a most beautiful little chapel, with a niche wherein he placed a madonna with the child in her arms, so well wrought in terra-cotta, that even as it is, with no other colour, it is as beautiful as if it were of marble. so are two angels that are above by way of ornament, each with a candelabrum in his hand. on the predella of the altar there is a pietà with our lady and s. john, made of marble and very beautiful. at his death he left in his house many things begun both in clay and in marble. benedetto was a very good draughtsman, as may be seen in certain drawings in our book. finally he died in , at the age of fifty-four, and was honourably buried in s. lorenzo; and he left directions that all his property, after the death of certain of his relatives, should go to the company of the bigallo. while benedetto in his youth was working as a joiner and at the inlaying of wood, he had among his rivals baccio cellini, piper to the signoria of florence, who made many very beautiful inlaid works in ivory, and among others an octagon of figures in ivory, outlined in black and marvellously beautiful, which is in the guardaroba of the duke. in like manner, girolamo della cecca, a pupil of baccio and likewise piper to the signoria, also executed many inlaid works at that same time. a contemporary of these was david pistoiese, who made a s. john the evangelist of inlaid work at the entrance to the choir of s. giovanni evangelista in pistoia--a work more notable for great diligence in execution than for any great design. there was also geri aretino, who wrought the choir and the pulpit of s. agostino at arezzo with figures and views in perspective, likewise of inlaid wood. this geri was a very fanciful man, and he made with wooden pipes an organ most perfect in sweetness and softness, which is still at the present day over the door of the sacristy of the vescovado at arezzo, with its original goodness as sound as ever--a work worthy of marvel, and first put into execution by him. but not one of these men, nor any other, was as excellent by a great measure as was benedetto; wherefore he deserves to be ever numbered with praise among the best craftsmen of his professions. footnotes: [ ] _i.e._, clock. andrea verrocchio [illustration: david (_after the bronze by =andrea verrocchio=. florence: bargello_) _anderson_] life of andrea verrocchio painter, sculptor, and architect of florence andrea del verrocchio, a florentine, was in his day a goldsmith, a master of perspective, a sculptor, a wood-carver, a painter, and a musician; but in the arts of sculpture and painting, to tell the truth, he had a manner somewhat hard and crude, as one who acquired it rather by infinite study than by the facility of a natural gift. even if he had been as poor in this facility as he was rich in the study and diligence that exalted him, he would have been most excellent in those arts, which, for their highest perfection, require a union of study and natural power. if either of these is wanting, a man rarely attains to the first rank; but study will do a great deal, and thus andrea, who had it in greater abundance than any other craftsman whatsoever, is counted among the rare and excellent masters of our arts. in his youth he applied himself to the sciences, particularly to geometry. among many other things that he made while working at the goldsmith's art were certain buttons for copes, which are in s. maria del fiore at florence; and he also made larger works, particularly a cup, full of animals, foliage, and other bizarre fancies, which is known to all goldsmiths, and casts are taken of it; and likewise another, on which there is a very beautiful dance of little children. having given a proof of his powers in these two works, he was commissioned by the guild of merchants to make two scenes in silver for the ends of the altar of s. giovanni, from which, when put into execution, he acquired very great praise and fame. there were wanting at this time in rome some of those large figures of the apostles which generally stood on the altar of the chapel of the pope, as well as certain other works in silver that had been destroyed; wherefore pope sixtus sent for andrea and with great favour commissioned him to do all that was necessary in this matter, and he brought the whole to perfection with much diligence and judgment. meanwhile, perceiving that the many antique statues and other things that were being found in rome were held in very great esteem, insomuch that the famous bronze horse was set up by the pope at s. giovanni laterano, and that even the fragments--not to speak of complete works--which were being discovered every day, were prized, andrea determined to devote himself to sculpture. and so, completely abandoning the goldsmith's art, he set himself to cast some little figures in bronze, which were greatly extolled. thereupon, growing in courage, he began to work in marble. now in those days the wife of francesco tornabuoni had died in childbirth, and her husband, who had loved her much, and wished to honour her in death to the utmost of his power, entrusted the making of a tomb for her to andrea, who carved on a slab over a sarcophagus of marble the lady herself, her delivery, and her passing to the other life; and beside this he made three figures of virtues, which were held very beautiful, for the first work that he had executed in marble; and this tomb was set up in the minerva. having then returned to florence with money, fame, and honour, he was commissioned to make a david of bronze, two braccia and a half in height, which, when finished, was placed in the palace, with great credit to himself, at the head of the staircase, where the catena was. the while that he was executing the said statue, he also made that madonna of marble which is over the tomb of messer lionardo bruni of arezzo in s. croce; this he wrought, when still quite young, for bernardo rossellino, architect and sculptor, who executed the whole of that work in marble, as has been said. the same andrea made a half-length madonna in half-relief, with the child in her arms, in a marble panel, which was formerly in the house of the medici, and is now placed, as a very beautiful thing, over a door in the apartment of the duchess of florence. he also made two heads of metal, likewise in half-relief; one of alexander the great, in profile, and the other a fanciful portrait of darius; each being a separate work by itself, with variety in the crests, armour, and everything else. both these heads were sent to hungary by the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, to king matthias corvinus, together with many other things, as will be told in the proper place. having acquired the name of an excellent master by means of these works, above all through many works in metal, in which he took much delight, he made a tomb of bronze in s. lorenzo, wholly in the round, for giovanni and pietro di cosimo de' medici, with a sarcophagus of porphyry supported by four corner-pieces of bronze, with twisted foliage very well wrought and finished with the greatest diligence. this tomb stands between the chapel of the sacrament and the sacristy, and no work could be better done, whether wrought in bronze or cast; above all since at the same time he showed therein his talent in architecture, for he placed the said tomb within the embrasure of a window which is about five braccia in breadth and ten in height, and set it on a base that divides the said chapel of the sacrament from the old sacristy. and over the sarcophagus, to fill up the embrasure right up to the vaulting, he made a grating of bronze ropes in a pattern of mandorle, most natural, and adorned in certain places with festoons and other beautiful things of fancy, all remarkable and executed with much mastery, judgment, and invention. now donatello had made for the tribunal of six of the mercanzia that marble shrine which is now opposite to s. michael, in the oratory of orsanmichele, and for this there was to have been made a s. thomas in bronze, feeling for the wound in the side of christ; but at that time nothing more was done, for some of the men who had the charge of this wished to have it made by donatello, and others favoured lorenzo ghiberti. matters stood thus as long as donatello and ghiberti were alive; but finally the said two statues were entrusted to andrea, who, having made the models and moulds, cast them; and they came out so solid, complete, and well made, that it was a most beautiful casting. thereupon, setting himself to polish and finish them, he brought them to that perfection which is seen at the present day, which could not be greater than it is, for in s. thomas we see incredulity and a too great anxiety to assure himself of the truth, and at the same time the love that makes him lay his hand in a most beautiful manner on the side of christ; and in christ himself, who is raising one arm and opening his raiment with a most spontaneous gesture, and dispelling the doubts of his incredulous disciple, there are all the grace and divinity, so to speak, that art can give to any figure. andrea clothed both these figures in most beautiful and well-arranged draperies, which give us to know that he understood that art no less than did donato, lorenzo, and the others who had lived before him; wherefore this work well deserved to be set up in a shrine made by donatello, and to be ever afterwards held in the greatest price and esteem. now the fame of andrea could not go further or grow greater in that profession, and he, as a man who was not content with being excellent in one thing only, but desired to become the same in others as well by means of study, turned his mind to painting, and so made the cartoons for a battle of nude figures, very well drawn with the pen, to be afterwards painted in colours on a wall. he also made the cartoons for some historical pictures, and afterwards began to put them into execution in colours; but for some reason, whatever it may have been, they remained unfinished. there are some drawings by his hand in our book, made with much patience and very great judgment, among which are certain heads of women, beautiful in expression and in the adornment of the hair, which leonardo da vinci was ever imitating for their beauty. in our book, also, are two horses with the due measures and protractors for reproducing them on a larger scale from a smaller, so that there may be no errors in their proportions; and there is in my possession a horse's head of terra-cotta in relief, copied from the antique, which is a rare work. the very reverend don vincenzio borghini has some of his drawings in his book, of which we have spoken above; among others, a design for a tomb made by him in venice for a doge, a scene of the adoration of christ by the magi, and the head of a woman painted on paper with the utmost delicacy. he also made for lorenzo de' medici, for the fountain of his villa at careggi, a boy of bronze squeezing a fish, which the lord duke cosimo has caused to be placed, as may be seen at the present day, on the fountain that is in the courtyard of his palace; which boy is truly marvellous. [illustration: corner and foot of the medici sarcophagus (_detail, after =andrea verrocchio=. florence: s. lorenzo_) _alinari_] afterwards, the building of the cupola of s. maria del fiore having been finished, it was resolved, after much discussion, that there should be made the copper ball which, according to the instructions left by filippo brunelleschi, was to be placed on the summit of that edifice. whereupon the task was given to andrea, who made the ball four braccia high, and, placing it on a knob, secured it in such a manner that afterwards the cross could be safely erected upon it; and the whole work, when finished, was put into position with very great rejoicing and delight among the people. truly great were the ingenuity and diligence that had to be used in making it, to the end that it might be possible, as it is, to enter it from below, and also in securing it with good fastenings, lest the winds might do it damage. andrea was never at rest, but was ever labouring at some work either in painting or in sculpture; and sometimes he would change from one to another, in order to avoid growing weary of working always at the same thing, as many do. wherefore, although he did not put the aforesaid cartoons into execution, yet he did paint certain pictures; among others, a panel for the nuns of s. domenico in florence, wherein it appeared to him that he had acquitted himself very well; whence, no long time after, he painted another in s. salvi for the monks of vallombrosa, containing the baptism of christ by s. john. in this work he was assisted by leonardo da vinci, his disciple, then quite young, who painted therein an angel with his own hand, which was much better than the other parts of the work; and for that reason andrea resolved never again to touch a brush, since leonardo, young as he was, had acquitted himself in that art much better than he had done. now cosimo de' medici, having received many antiquities from rome, had caused to be set up within the door of his garden, or rather, courtyard, which opens on the via de' ginori, a very beautiful marsyas of white marble, bound to a tree-trunk and ready to be flayed; and his grandson lorenzo, into whose hands there had come the torso and head of another marsyas, made of red stone, very ancient, and much more beautiful than the first, wished to set it beside the other, but could not, because it was so imperfect. thereupon he gave it to andrea to be restored and completed, and he made the legs, thighs, and arms that were lacking in this figure out of pieces of red marble, so well that lorenzo was highly satisfied and had it placed opposite to the other, on the other side of the door. this ancient torso, made to represent a flayed marsyas, was wrought with such care and judgment that certain delicate white veins, which were in the red stone, were carved by the craftsman exactly in the right places, so as to appear to be little nerves, such as are seen in real bodies when they have been flayed; which must have given to that work, when it had its original finish, a most life-like appearance. the venetians, meanwhile, wishing to honour the great valour of bartolommeo da bergamo, thanks to whom they had gained many victories, in order to encourage others, and having heard the fame of andrea, summoned him to venice, where he was commissioned to make an equestrian statue of that captain in bronze, to be placed on the piazza di ss. giovanni e polo. andrea, then, having made the model of the horse, had already begun to get it ready for casting in bronze, when, thanks to the favour of certain gentlemen, it was determined that vellano da padova should make the figure and andrea the horse. having heard this, andrea broke the legs and head of his model and returned in great disdain to florence, without saying a word. the signoria, receiving news of this, gave him to understand that he should never be bold enough to return to venice, for they would cut his head off; to which he wrote in answer that he would take good care not to, because, once they had cut a man's head off, it was not in their power to put it on again, and certainly not one like his own, whereas he could have replaced the head that he had knocked off his horse with one even more beautiful. after this answer, which did not displease those signori, his payment was doubled and he was persuaded to return to venice, where he restored his first model and cast it in bronze; but even then he did not finish it entirely, for he caught a chill by overheating himself during the casting, and died in that city within a few days; leaving unfinished not only that work (although there was only a little polishing to be done), which was set up in the place for which it was destined, but also another which he was making in pistoia, that is, the tomb of cardinal forteguerra, with the three theological virtues, and a god the father above; which work was afterwards finished by lorenzetto, a sculptor of florence. [illustration: statue of bartolommeo colleoni (_after the bronze by =andrea verrocchio=. venice: campo ss. giovanni e paolo_) _anderson_] andrea was fifty-six years of age when he died. his death caused infinite grief to his friends and to his disciples, who were not few; above all to the sculptor nanni grosso, a most eccentric person both in his art and in his life. this man, it is said, would not have worked outside his shop, particularly for monks or friars, if he had not had free access to the door of the vault, or rather, wine-cellar, so that he might go and drink whenever he pleased, without having to ask leave. it is also told of him that once, having returned from s. maria nuova completely cured of some sickness, i know not what, he was visited by his friends, who asked him how it went with him. "ill," he answered. "but thou art cured," they replied. "that is why it goes ill with me," said he, "for i would dearly love a little fever, so that i might lie there in the hospital, well attended and at my ease." as he lay dying, again in the hospital, there was placed before him a wooden crucifix, very rude and clumsily wrought; whereupon he prayed them to take it out of his sight and to bring him one by the hand of donato, declaring that if they did not take it away he would die in misery, so greatly did he detest badly wrought works in his own art. disciples of the same andrea were pietro perugino and leonardo da vinci, of whom we will speak in the proper place, and francesco di simone of florence, who made a tomb of marble in the church of s. domenico in bologna, with many little figures, which appear from the manner to be by the hand of andrea, for messer alessandro tartaglia, a doctor of imola, and another in s. pancrazio at florence, facing the sacristy and one of the chapels of the church, for the chevalier messer pietro minerbetti. another pupil of andrea was agnolo di polo, who worked with great mastery in clay, filling the city with works by his hand; and if he had deigned to apply himself properly to his art, he would have made very beautiful things. but the one whom he loved more than all the others was lorenzo di credi, who brought his remains from venice and laid them in the church of s. ambrogio, in the tomb of ser michele di cione, on the stone of which there are carved the following words: ser michÆlis de cionis, et suorum. and beside them: hic ossa jacent andreÆ verrochii, qui obiit venetiis, mcccclxxxviii. andrea took much delight in casting in a kind of plaster which would set hard--that is, the kind that is made of a soft stone which is quarried in the districts of volterra and of siena and in many other parts of italy. this stone, when burnt in the fire, and then pounded and mixed with tepid water, becomes so soft that men can make whatever they please with it; but afterwards it solidifies and becomes so hard, that it can be used for moulds for casting whole figures. andrea, then, was wont to cast in moulds of this material such natural objects as hands, feet, knees, legs, arms, and torsi, in order to have them before him and imitate them with greater convenience. afterwards, in his time, men began to cast the heads of those who died--a cheap method; wherefore there are seen in every house in florence, over the chimney-pieces, doors, windows, and cornices, infinite numbers of such portraits, so well made and so natural that they appear alive. and from that time up to the present the said custom has been continued, and it still continues, with great convenience to ourselves, for it has given us portraits of many who have been included in the stories in the palace of duke cosimo. and for this we should certainly acknowledge a very great obligation to the talent of andrea, who was one of the first to begin to bring the custom into use. from this men came to make more perfect images, not only in florence, but in all the places in which there is devoutness, and to which people flock to offer votive images, or, as they are called, "miracoli," in return for some favour received. for whereas they were previously made small and of silver, or only in the form of little panels, or rather of wax, and very clumsy, in the time of andrea they began to be made in a much better manner, since andrea, having a very strait friendship with orsino, a florentine worker in wax, who had no little judgment in that art, began to show him how he could become excellent therein. now the due occasion arrived in the form of the death of giuliano de' medici and the danger incurred by his brother lorenzo, who was wounded in s. maria del fiore, when it was ordained by the friends and relatives of lorenzo that images of him should be set up in many places, to render thanks to god for his deliverance. wherefore orsino, among others that he made, executed three life-size figures of wax with the aid and direction of andrea, making the skeleton within of wood, after the method described elsewhere, interwoven with split reeds, which were then covered with waxed cloths folded and arranged so beautifully that nothing better or more true to nature could be seen. then he made the heads, hands, and feet with wax of greater thickness, but hollow within, portrayed from life, and painted in oils with all the ornaments of hair and everything else that was necessary, so lifelike and so well wrought that they seemed no mere images of wax, but actual living men, as may be seen in each of the said three, one of which is in the church of the nuns of chiarito in the via di s. gallo, opposite to the crucifix that works miracles. this figure is clothed exactly as lorenzo was, when, with his wounded throat bandaged, he showed himself at the window of his house before the eyes of the people, who had flocked thither to see whether he were alive, as they hoped, or to avenge him if he were dead. the second figure of the same man is in the lucco, the gown peculiar to the citizens of florence; and it stands in the servite church of the nunziata, over the lesser door, which is beside the counter where candles are sold. the third was sent to s. maria degli angeli at assisi, and set up before the madonna of that place, where the same lorenzo de' medici, as has been already related, caused the road to be paved with bricks all the way from s. maria to that gate of assisi which leads to s. francesco, besides restoring the fountains that his grandfather cosimo had caused to be made in that place. but to return to the images of wax: all those in the said servite church are by the hand of orsino, which have a large o in the base as a mark, with an r within it and a cross above; and they are all so beautiful that there are few since his day who have equalled him. this art, although it has remained alive up to our own time, is nevertheless rather on the decline than otherwise, either because men's devoutness has diminished, or for some other reason, whatever it may be. and to return to verrocchio; besides the aforesaid works, he made crucifixes of wood, with certain things of clay, in which he was excellent, as may be seen from the models for the scenes that he executed for the altar of s. giovanni, from certain very beautiful boys, and from a head of s. jerome, which is held to be marvellous. by the hand of the same man is the boy on the clock of the mercato nuovo, who has his arms working free, in such a manner that he can raise them to strike the hours with a hammer that he holds in his hands; which was held in those times to be something very beautiful and fanciful. and let this be the end of the life of that most excellent sculptor, andrea verrocchio. there lived in the time of andrea one benedetto buglioni, who received the secret of glazed terra-cotta work from a woman related to the house of andrea della robbia; wherefore he made many works in that manner both in florence and abroad, particularly a christ rising from the dead, with certain angels, which, for a work in glazed terra-cotta, is beautiful enough, in the church of the servi, near the chapel of s. barbara. he made a dead christ in a chapel in s. pancrazio, and the lunette that is seen over the principal door of the church of s. pietro maggiore. from benedetto the secret descended to santi buglioni, the only man who now knows how to work at this sort of sculpture. andrea mantegna [illustration: the martyrdom of s. james (_after the fresco by =andrea mantegna=. padua: eremitani_) _anderson_] life of andrea mantegna painter of mantua how great is the effect of reward on talent is known to him who labours valiantly and receives a certain measure of recompense, for he feels neither discomfort, nor hardship, nor fatigue, when he expects honour and reward for them; nay, what is more, they render his talent every day more renowned and illustrious. it is true, indeed, that there is not always found one to recognize, esteem, and remunerate it as that of andrea mantegna was recognized. this man was born from very humble stock in the district of mantua; and, although as a boy he was occupied in grazing herds, he was so greatly exalted by destiny and by his merit that he attained to the honourable rank of chevalier, as will be told in the proper place. when almost full grown he was taken to the city, where he applied himself to painting under jacopo squarcione, a painter of padua, who--as it is written in a latin letter from messer girolamo campagnola to messer leonico timeo, a greek philosopher, wherein he gives him information about certain old painters who served the family of carrara, lords of padua--took him into his house, and a little time afterwards, having recognized the beauty of his intelligence, adopted him as his son. now this squarcione knew that he himself was not the most able painter in the world; wherefore, to the end that andrea might learn more than he himself knew, he made him practise much on casts taken from ancient statues and on pictures painted upon canvas which he caused to be brought from diverse places, particularly from tuscany and from rome. by these and other methods, therefore, andrea learnt not a little in his youth; and the competition of marco zoppo of bologna, darlo da treviso, and niccolò pizzolo of padua, disciples of his master and adoptive father, was of no small assistance to him, and a stimulus to his studies. now after andrea, who was then no more than seventeen years of age, had painted the panel of the high-altar of s. sofia in padua, which appears wrought by a mature and well-practised master, and not by a youth, squarcione was commissioned to paint the chapel of s. cristofano, which is in the church of the eremite friars of s. agostino in padua; and he gave the work to the said niccolò pizzolo and to andrea. niccolò made therein a god the father seated in majesty between the doctors of the church, and these paintings were afterwards held to be in no way inferior to those that andrea executed there. and in truth, if niccolò, whose works were few, but all good, had taken as much delight in painting as he did in arms, he would have become excellent, and might perchance have lived much longer than he did; for he was ever under arms and had many enemies, and one day, when returning from work, he was attacked and slain by treachery. niccolò left no other works that i know of, save another god the father in the chapel of urbano perfetto.[ ] [illustration: andrea mantegna: the madonna of the rocks (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] andrea, thus left alone in the said chapel, painted the four evangelists, which were held very beautiful. by reason of this and other works andrea began to be watched with great expectation, and with hopes that he would attain to that success to which he actually did attain; wherefore jacopo bellini, the venetian painter, father of gentile and giovanni, and rival of squarcione, contrived to get him to marry his daughter, the sister of gentile. hearing this, squarcione fell into such disdain against andrea that they were enemies ever afterwards; and in proportion as squarcione had formerly been ever praising the works of andrea, so from that day onward did he ever decry them in public. above all did he censure without reserve the pictures that andrea had made in the said chapel of s. cristofano, saying that they were worthless, because in making them he had imitated the ancient works in marble, from which it is not possible to learn painting perfectly, for the reason that stone is ever from its very essence hard, and never has that tender softness that is found in flesh and in things of nature, which are pliant and move in various ways; adding that andrea would have made those figures much better, and that they would have been more perfect, if he had given them the colour of marble and not such a quantity of colours, because his pictures resembled not living figures but ancient statues of marble or other suchlike things. this censure piqued the mind of andrea; but, on the other hand, it was of great service to him, for, recognizing that squarcione was in great measure speaking the truth, he set himself to portray living people, and made so much progress in this art, that, in a scene which still remained to be painted in the said chapel, he showed that he could wrest the good from living and natural objects no less than from those wrought by art. but for all this andrea was ever of the opinion that the good ancient statues were more perfect and had greater beauty in their various parts than is shown by nature, since, as he judged and seemed to see from those statues, the excellent masters of old had wrested from living people all the perfection of nature, which rarely assembles and unites all possible beauty into one single body, so that it is necessary to take one part from one body and another part from another. in addition to this, it appeared to him that the statues were more complete and more thorough in the muscles, veins, nerves, and other particulars, which nature, covering their sharpness somewhat with the tenderness and softness of flesh, sometimes makes less evident, save perchance in the body of an old man or in one greatly emaciated; but such bodies, for other reasons, are avoided by craftsmen. and that he was greatly enamoured of this opinion is recognized from his works, in which, in truth, the manner is seen to be somewhat hard and sometimes suggesting stone rather than living flesh. be this as it may, in this last scene, which gave infinite satisfaction, andrea portrayed squarcione in an ugly and corpulent figure, lance and sword in hand. in the same work he portrayed the florentine noferi, son of messer palla strozzi, messer girolamo della valle, a most excellent physician, messer bonifazio fuzimeliga, doctor of laws, niccolò, goldsmith to pope innocent viii, and baldassarre da leccio, all very much his friends, whom he represented clad in white armour, burnished and resplendent, as real armour is, and truly with a beautiful manner. he also portrayed there the chevalier messer bonramino, and a certain bishop of hungary, a man wholly witless, who would wander about rome all day, and then at night would lie down to sleep like a beast in a stable; and he made a portrait of marsilio pazzo in the person of the executioner who is cutting off the head of s. james, together with one of himself. this work, in short, by reason of its excellence, brought him a very great name. the while that he was working on this chapel, he also painted a panel, which was placed on the altar of s. luca in s. justina, and afterwards he wrought in fresco the arch that is over the door of s. antonino, on which he wrote his name. in verona he painted a panel for the altar of s. cristofano and s. antonio, and he made some figures at the corner of the piazza della paglía. in s. maria in organo, for the monks of monte oliveto, he painted the panel of the high-altar, which is most beautiful, and likewise that of s. zeno. and among other things that he wrought while living in verona and sent to various places, one, which came into the hands of an abbot of the abbey of fiesole, his friend and relative, was a picture containing a half-length madonna with the child in her arms, and certain heads of angels singing, wrought with admirable grace; which picture, now to be seen in the library of that place, has been held from that time to our own to be a rare thing. now, the while that he lived in mantua, he had laboured much in the service of the marquis lodovico gonzaga, and that lord, who always showed no little esteem and favour towards the talent of andrea, caused him to paint a little panel for the chapel of the castle of mantua; in which panel there are scenes with figures not very large but most beautiful. in the same place are many figures foreshortened from below upwards, which are greatly extolled, for although his treatment of the draperies was somewhat hard and precise, and his manner rather dry, yet everything there is seen to have been wrought with much art and diligence. for the same marquis, in a hall of the palace of s. sebastiano in mantua, he painted the triumph of cæsar, which is the best thing that he ever executed. in this work we see, grouped with most beautiful design in the triumph, the ornate and lovely car, the man who is vituperating the triumphant cæsar, and the relatives, the perfumes, the incense, the sacrifices, the priests, the bulls crowned for the sacrifice, the prisoners, the booty won by the soldiers, the ranks of the squadrons, the elephants, the spoils, the victories, the cities and fortresses counterfeited in various cars, with an infinity of trophies borne on spears, and a variety of helmets and body-armour, head-dresses, and ornaments and vases innumerable; and in the multitude of spectators is a woman holding the hand of a boy, who, having pierced his foot with a thorn, is showing it, weeping, to his mother, in a graceful and very lifelike manner. andrea, as i may have pointed out elsewhere, had a good and beautiful idea in this scene, for, having set the plane on which the figures stood higher than the level of the eye, he placed the feet of the foremost on the outer edge and outline of that plane, making the others recede inwards little by little, so that their feet and legs were lost to sight in the proportion required by the point of view; and so, too, with the spoils, vases, and other instruments and ornaments, of which he showed only the lower part, concealing the upper, as was required by the rules of perspective; which same consideration was also observed with much diligence by andrea degli impiccati[ ] in the last supper, which is in the refectory of s. maria nuova. wherefore it is seen that in that age these able masters set about investigating with much subtlety, and imitating with great labour, the true properties of natural objects. and this whole work, to put it briefly, is as beautiful and as well wrought as it could be; so that if the marquis loved andrea before, he loved and honoured him much more ever afterwards. [illustration: madonna and angels (_after the panel by =andrea mantegna=. milan: brera, _) _alinari_] what is more, he became so famous thereby that pope innocent viii, hearing of his excellence in painting and of the other good qualities wherewith he was so marvellously endowed, sent for him, even as he was sending for many others, to the end that he might adorn with his pictures the walls of the belvedere, the building of which had just been finished. having gone to rome, then, greatly favoured and recommended by the marquis, who made him a chevalier in order to honour him the more, he was received lovingly by that pontiff and straightway commissioned to paint a little chapel that is in the said place. this he executed with diligence and love, and with such minuteness that the vaulting and the walls appear rather illuminated than painted; and the largest figures that are therein, which he painted in fresco like the others, are over the altar, representing the baptism of christ by s. john, with many people around, who are showing by taking off their clothes that they wish to be baptized. among these is one who, seeking to draw off a stocking that has stuck to his leg through sweat, has crossed that leg over the other and is drawing the stocking off inside out, with such great effort and difficulty, that both are seen clearly in his face; which bizarre fancy caused marvel to all who saw it in those times. it is said that this pope, by reason of his many affairs, did not pay mantegna as often as he would have liked, and that therefore, while painting certain virtues in terretta in that work, he made a figure of discretion among the rest, whereupon the pope, having gone one day to see the work, asked andrea what figure that was; to which andrea answered that it was discretion; and the pope added: "if thou wouldst have her suitably accompanied, put patience beside her." the painter understood what the meaning of the holy father was, and he never said another word. the work finished, the pope sent him back to the duke with much favour and honourable rewards. the while that andrea was working in rome, he painted, besides the said chapel, a little picture of the madonna with the child sleeping in her arms; and within certain caverns in the landscape, which is a mountain, he made some stone-cutters quarrying stone for various purposes, all wrought with such delicacy and such great patience, that it does not seem possible for such good work to be done with the thin point of a brush. this picture is now in the possession of the most illustrious lord, don francesco medici, prince of florence, who holds it among his dearest treasures. in our book is a drawing by the hand of andrea on a half-sheet of royal folio, finished in chiaroscuro, wherein is a judith who is putting the head of holofernes into the wallet of her moorish slave-girl; which chiaroscuro is executed in a manner no longer used, for he left the paper white to serve for the light in place of white lead, and that so delicately that the separate hairs and other minute details are seen therein, no less than if they had been wrought with much diligence by the brush; wherefore in a certain sense this may be called rather a work in colour than a drawing. the same man, like pollaiuolo, delighted in engraving on copper; and, among other things, he made engravings of his own triumphs, which were then held in great account, since nothing better had been seen. one of the last works that he executed was a panel-picture for s. maria della vittoria, a church built after the direction and design of andrea by the marquis francesco, in memory of the victory that he gained on the river taro, when he was general of the venetian forces against the french. in this panel, which was wrought in distemper and placed on the high-altar, there is painted the madonna with the child seated on a pedestal; and below are s. michelagnolo, s. anna, and joachim, who are presenting the marquis--who is portrayed from life so well that he appears alive--to the madonna, who is offering him her hand. which picture, even as it gave and still continues to give universal pleasure, also satisfied the marquis so well that he rewarded most liberally the talent and labour of andrea, who, having been remunerated by princes for all his works, was able to maintain his rank of chevalier most honourably up to the end of his life. andrea had competitors in lorenzo da lendinara--who was held in padua to be an excellent painter, and who also wrought some things in terra-cotta for the church of s. antonio--and in certain others of no great worth. he was ever the friend of dario da treviso and marco zoppo of bologna, since he had been brought up with them under the discipline of squarcione. for the friars minor of padua this marco painted a loggia which serves as their chapter-house; and at pesaro he painted a panel that is now in the new church of s. giovanni evangelista; besides portraying in a picture guidobaldo da montefeltro, at the time when he was captain of the florentines. a friend of mantegna's, likewise, was stefano, a painter of ferrara, whose works were few but passing good; and by his hand is the adornment of the sarcophagus of s. anthony to be seen in padua, with the virgin mary, that is called the vergine del pilastro. but to return to andrea himself; he built a very beautiful house in mantua for his own use, which he adorned with paintings and enjoyed while he lived. finally he died in , at the age of sixty-six, and was buried with honourable obsequies in s. andrea; and on his tomb, over which stands his portrait in bronze, there was placed the following epitaph: esse parem hunc noris, si non prÆponis, apelli; Ænea mantineÆ qui simulacra vides. andrea was so kindly and praiseworthy in all his actions, that his memory will ever live, not only in his own country, but in the whole world; wherefore he well deserved, no less for the sweetness of his ways than for his excellence in painting, to be celebrated by ariosto at the beginning of his thirty-third canto, where he numbers him among the most illustrious painters of his time, saying: leonardo, andrea mantegna, gian bellino. this master showed painters a much better method of foreshortening figures from below upwards, which was truly a difficult and ingenious invention; and he also took delight, as has been said, in engraving figures on copper for printing, a method of truly rare value, by means of which the world has been able to see not only the bacchanalia, the battle of marine monsters, the deposition from the cross, the burial of christ, and his resurrection, with longinus and s. andrew, works by mantegna himself, but also the manners of all the craftsmen who have ever lived. [illustration: judith with the head of holofernes (_after the painting by =andrea mantegna=. dublin: national gallery_) _mansell_] footnotes: [ ] this seems to be a printer's or copyist's error for prefetto. [ ] andrea dal castagno. index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume iii abbot of s. clemente (don bartolommeo della gatta), _life_, - . agnolo, baccio d', agnolo di donnino, , agnolo di lorenzo (angelo di lorentino), agnolo di polo, , alberti, leon batista, _life_, - albrecht dürer, alessandro filipepi (sandro botticelli, or sandro di botticello), _life_, - . , , , , - alesso baldovinetti, _life_, - . , - , , andrea contucci (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), andrea dal castagno (andrea degli' impiccati), _life_, - . , , , , , andrea della robbia, andrea di cione orcagna, andrea di cosimo, andrea mantegna, _life_, - . andrea riccio, andrea sansovino (andrea contucci, or andrea dal monte sansovino), andrea tafi, andrea verrocchio, _life_, - . , angelico, fra (fra giovanni da fiesole), _life_, - . angelo, lorentino d'. , angelo di lorentino (agnolo di lorenzo), antonello da messina, _life_, - antonio di salvi, antonio filarete, _life_, - . , antonio (or vittore) pisanello, _life_, - . antonio pollaiuolo, _life_, - . , antonio rossellino (rossellino dal proconsolo), _life_, - . , antonio viniziano, apelles, , , aretino, geri, , attavante (or vante), - , , , ausse (hans memling), baccio cellini, , baccio d' agnolo, baccio da montelupo, baccio pintelli, - baldinelli, baldino, baldovinetti, alesso, _life_, - . , - , , banco, nanni d' antonio di, bartolommeo coda, bartolommeo della gatta, don (abbot of s. clemente), _life_, - . bartoluccio ghiberti, , bastiano mainardi (bastiano da san gimignano), , - batista del cervelliera, bellini, gentile, _life_, - . bellini, giovanni, _life_, - . , bellini, jacopo, _life_, - . benedetto buglioni, benedetto coda, benedetto da maiano, _life_, - . , , . - benedetto ghirlandajo, , , benozzo gozzoli, _life_, - . , bernardo ciuffagni, bernardo rossellino, _life_, - . , bernardo vasari, berto linaiuolo, biagio (pupil of botticelli), , bicci, lorenzo di, , boccardino, the elder, bolognese, guido, borghese, piero (piero della francesca, or piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), _life_, - . , , , botticelli, sandro (sandro di botticello, or alessandro filipepi), _life_, - . , , , , - botticello, bramante da milano, bramante da urbino, bramantino, , brini, francesco, bruges, johann of (jan van eyck), - , bruges, roger of (roger van der weyden), brunelleschi, filippo (filippo di ser brunellesco), , , , , , buglioni, benedetto, buglioni, santi, buonarroti, michelagnolo, , , , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), , callicrates, camicia, chimenti, _life_, - campagnola, girolamo, capanna (of siena), castagno, andrea dal (andrea degl' impiccati), _life_, - . , , , , , castel della pieve, pietro da (pietro perugino, or pietro vannucci), , , , castelfranco, giorgione da, cecca, _life_, - . cecca, girolamo della, cellini, baccio, , cervelliera, batista del, chimenti camicia, _life_, - cieco, niccolò, cimabue, giovanni, ciuffagni, bernardo, coda, bartolommeo, coda, benedetto, contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), corso, jacopo del, cortona, luca da (luca signorelli), , , , , , cosimo, andrea di, cosimo, piero di, cosimo rosselli, _life_, - cosmè, costa, lorenzo, _life_, - . cozzerello, jacopo, credi, lorenzo di, cronaca, il, dario da treviso, , david ghirlandajo, , , - , david pistoiese, desiderio da settignano, _life_, - . , , diamante, fra, , - domenico del tasso, , domenico di mariotto, domenico di michelino, domenico ghirlandajo, _life_, - . , , , , , - , domenico pecori, - domenico viniziano (domenico da venezia), _life_, - . , , - , don bartolommeo della gatta (abbot of s. clemente), _life_, - . don lorenzo monaco, donato (donatello), , , , , , , , , , , , donnino, agnolo di, , donzello, piero del, donzello, polito del, , dosso, the elder (dosso dossi), duca tagliapietra, duccio, dürer, albrecht, ercole ferrarese (ercole da ferrara), life, - . eyck, jan van (johann of bruges), - , fabiano sassoli, fabriano, gentile da, _life_, - . , facchino, giuliano del, fancelli, luca, fancelli, salvestro, fermo ghisoni, ferrara, ercole da (ercole ferrarese), _life_, - . ferrara, stefano da, , ferrarese, ercole (ercole da ferrara), _life_, - . ferrarese, galasso (galasse galassi), _life_ - fiesole, fra giovanni da (fra angelico), _life_, - . fiesole, mino da (mino di giovanni), _life_, - filarete, antonio, _life_, - . , filipepi, alessandro (sandro botticelli, or sandro di botticello), _life_, - . , , , , - filippino lippi (filippo lippi), , , filippo brunelleschi (filippo di ser brunellesco), , , , , , filippo lippi (filippino lippi), , , filippo lippi, fra, _life_, - . , , , finiguerra, maso, foccora, giovanni, fonte, jacopo della (jacopo della quercia), , forlì, melozzo da, fra angelico (fra giovanni da fiesole), _life_, - . fra diamante, , - fra filippo lippi, _life_, - . , , , fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico), _life_, - . francesca, piero della (piero borghese, or piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), _life_, - . , , , francesco brini, francesco di giorgio, _life_, - francesco di monsignore, francesco di simone, francesco granacci (il granaccio), francesco peselli (francesco di pesello, or pesellino), _life_, - . francesco salviati, , galasso ferrarese (galasso galassi), _life_, - gatta, don bartolommeo della (abbot of s. clemente), _life_, - . gentile bellini, _life_, - . gentile da fabriano, _life_, - . , geri aretino, , gherardo, _life_, - . , ghiberti, bartoluccio, , ghiberti, lorenzo (lorenzo di cione ghiberti, or lorenzo di bartoluccio ghiberti), , , , , ghirlandajo, benedetto, , , ghirlandajo, david, , , - , ghirlandajo, domenico, _life_, - . , , , , , - , ghirlandajo, ridolfo, ghirlandajo, tommaso, ghisoni, fermo, giacomo marzone, gian cristoforo, giorgio, francesco di, _life_, - giorgio vasari, see vasari (giorgio) giorgio vasari (son of lazzaro vasari, the elder), , - giorgione da castelfranco, giotto, , giovanni, mino di (mino da fiesole), _life_, - giovanni bellini, _life_, - . , giovanni cimabue, giovanni da rovezzano, giovanni foccora, giovanni turini, girolamo campagnola, girolamo della cecca, girolamo moretto (or mocetto), girolamo padovano, giuliano da maiano, _life_, - . , - giuliano del facchino, giuliano del tasso, , giulio romano, giusto, gozzoli, benozzo, _life_, - . , graffione, granacci, francesco (il granaccio), grosso, nanni, guardia, niccolò della, guglielmo da marcilla (guillaume de marcillac, or the french prior), guido bolognese, guido del servellino, hans memling (ausse), il cronaca, il granaccio (francesco granacci), impiccati, andrea degl' (andrea dal castagno), _life_, - . , , , , , indaco, jacopo dell', jacopo (pupil of botticelli), , jacopo bellini, _life_, - . jacopo cozzerello, jacopo da montagna, jacopo del corso, jacopo del sellaio, jacopo del tedesco, jacopo della quercia (jacopo della fonte), , jacopo dell' indaco, jacopo squarcione, - , johann of bruges (jan van eyck), - , lappoli, matteo, , laurati, pietro (pietro lorenzetti), lazzaro vasari (the elder), _life_, - lazzaro vasari (the younger), lendinara, lorenzo da, leon batista alberti, _life_, - leonardo da vinci, , , , linaiuolo, berto, lippi, filippo (filippino lippi), , , lippi, fra filippo, _life_, - . , , , lodovico malino (lodovico mazzolini), lorentino, angelo di (agnolo di lorenzo), lorentino d'angelo, , lorenzetti, pietro (pietro laurati), lorenzetto, lorenzo, agnolo di (angelo di lorentino), lorenzo costa, _life_, - . lorenzo da lendinara, lorenzo di bicci, , lorenzo di credi, lorenzo ghiberti (lorenzo di cione ghiberti, or lorenzo di bartoluccio ghiberti), , , , , lorenzo monaco, don, lorenzo vecchietto, _life_, - luca fancelli, luca signorelli (luca da cortona), , , , , , luigi vivarino, , macchiavelli, zanobi, maestro mino (mino del regno, or mino del reame). _life_, - . maiano, benedetto da, _life_, - . , , , - maiano, giuliano da, _life_, - . , - mainardi, bastiano (bastiano da san gimignano), , - malino, lodovico (lodovico mazzolini), mantegna, andrea, _life_, - . marchino, marcilla, guglielmo da (guillaume de marcillac, or the french prior), marco del tasso, , marco zoppo, , , mariotto, domenico di, martin schongauer, martini, simone (simone sanese or memmi), marzone, giacomo, masaccio, , maso finiguerra, matteo lappoli, , mazzingo, mazzolini, lodovico (lodovico malino), melozzo da forlì, memling, hans (ausse), memmi, simone (simone sanese or martini), messina, antonello da, _life_, - michelagnolo buonarroti, , , , michele san michele, michelino, domenico di, milano, bramante da, mino, maestro (mino del regno, or mino del reame), _life_, - . mino da fiesole (mino di giovanni), _life_, - minore, modanino da modena, monaco, don lorenzo, monsignore, francesco di, montagna, jacopo da, montelupo, baccio da, montepulciano, pasquino da, moretto (or mocetto), girolamo, myrmecides, nanni d' antonio di banco, nanni grosso, niccolò (goldsmith to pope innocent viii), niccolò (of florence), niccolò cieco, niccolò della guardia, niccolò pizzolo, nicon, orcagna, andrea di cione, orsino, , padova, vellano da, _life_, - . padovano, girolamo, paolo da verona, paolo romano, _life_, - paolo uccello, parri spinelli, pasquino da montepulciano, pecori, domenico, - perugino, pietro (pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve), , , , pesellino (francesco peselli, or francesco di pesello), _life_, - . pesello, _life_, - . piero del donzello, piero della francesca (piero borghese, or piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), _life_, - . , , , piero di cosimo, piero pollaiuolo, _life_, - . , pietro laurati (pietro lorenzetti), pietro paolo da todi, pietro perugino (pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve), , , , pintelli, baccio, - pisanello, vittore (or antonio), _life_, - . pistoiese, david, pizzolo, niccolò, polito del donzello, , pollaiuolo, antonio, _life_, - . , pollaiuolo, piero, _life_, - . , polo, agnolo di, , proconsolo, rossellino dal (antonio rossellino), _life_, - . , quercia, jacopo della (jacopo della fonte), , raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), , ravenna, rondinello da, , regno, mino del (maestro mino, or mino del reame), _life_, - . riccio, andrea, ridolfo ghirlandajo, robbia, andrea della, roger of bruges (roger van der weyden), romano, giulio, romano, paolo, _life_, - rondinello da ravenna, , rosselli, cosimo, _life_, - rossellino, antonio (rossellino dal proconsolo), _life_, - . , rossellino, bernardo, _life_, - . , rovezzano, giovanni da, salvestro fancelli, salvi, antonio di, salviati, francesco, , s. clemente, abbot of (don bartolommeo della gatta), _life_, - . san gimignano, bastiano da (bastiano mainardi), , - sandro botticelli (sandro di botticello, or alessandro filipepi), _life_, - . , , , , - sanese, simone (simone martini or memmi), sansovino, andrea (andrea contucci, or andrea dal monte sansovino), santi buglioni, sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), , sassoli, fabiano, schongauer, martin, sellaio, jacopo del, servellino, guido del, settignano, desiderio da, _life_, - . , , signorelli, luca (luca da cortona), , , , , , simone (brother of donatello), _life_, - simone, francesco di, simone sanese (simone martini or memmi), spinelli, parri, squarcione, jacopo, - , stefano (of florence), stefano da ferrara, , strozzi, zanobi, tafi, andrea, tagliapietra, duca, tasso, domenico del, , tasso, giuliano del, , tasso, marco del, , tedesco, jacopo del, tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), , todi, pietro paolo da, tommaso ghirlandajo, treviso, dario da, , turini, giovanni, uccello, paolo, urbino, bramante da, urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), , vannucci, pietro (pietro perugino, or pietro da castel della pieve), , , , vante (or attavante), - , , , varrone (of florence), vasari, bernardo, vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , as painter, , as architect, vasari, giorgio (son of lazzaro vasari, the elder), , - vasari, lazzaro (the elder), _life_, - vasari, lazzaro (the younger), vecchietto, lorenzo, _life_, - vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), , vellano da padova, _life_, - . venezia, domenico da (domenico viniziano), _life_, - . , , - , verona, paolo da, verrocchio, andrea, _life_, - . , vincenzio di zoppa, vinci, leonardo da, , , , viniziano, antonio, viniziano, domenico (domenico da venezia), _life_, - . , , - , vittore (or antonio) pisanello, _life_, - . vivarino, luigi, , weyden, roger van der (roger of bruges), zanobi macchiavelli, zanobi strozzi, zeuxis, zoppa, vincenzio di, zoppo, marco, , , end of vol. iii. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury [transcriber's note: bold text is marked with =." obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained.] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume iv. filippino lippi to domenico puligo newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume iv page filippo lippi, called filippino bernardino pinturicchio francesco francia pietro perugino [pietro vannucci, _or_ pietro da castel della pieve] vittore scarpaccia [carpaccio], and other venetian and lombard painters jacopo, called l'indaco luca signorelli [luca da cortona] the author's preface to the third part leonardo da vinci giorgione da castelfranco antonio da correggio piero di cosimo bramante da urbino fra bartolommeo di san marco [baccio della porta] mariotto albertinelli raffaellino del garbo torrigiano giuliano and antonio da san gallo raffaello da urbino [raffaello sanzio] guglielmo da marcilla [guillaume de marcillac] simone, called il cronaca [simone del pollaiuolo] domenico puligo index of names illustrations to volume iv plates in colour facing page filippo lippi (filippino) the vision of s. bernard florence: church of the badia bernardino pinturicchio the madonna in glory san gimignano: palazzo pubblico benedetto buonfiglio madonna, child, and three angels perugia: pinacoteca francesco francia pietà london: n.g., pietro perugino apollo and marsyas paris: louvre, pietro perugino triptych: the madonna adoring, with the archangels michael, raphael, and tobit london: n.g., vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio) the vision of s. ursula venice: accademia, vincenzio catena s. jerome in his study london: n.g., giovan battista da conigliano (cima) detail: tobit and the angel venice: accademia, luca signorelli pan berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a andrea verrocchio the baptism in jordan florence: accademia, leonardo da vinci monna lisa (formerly) paris: louvre, giorgione da castelfranco figures in a landscape venice: prince giovanelli's collection antonio da correggio antiope paris: louvre, antonio da correggio the adoration of the magi milan: brera, piero di cosimo the death of procris london: n.g., fra bartolommeo di san marco the deposition from the cross florence: pitti, mariotto albertinelli the salutation florence: uffizi, raffaello da urbino s. george and the dragon s. petersburg: hermitage, raffaello da urbino angelo doni florence: pitti, raffaello da urbino the three graces chantilly, raffaello da urbino baldassare gastiglione paris: louvre, plates in monochrome facing page filippo lippi (filippino) the liberation of s. peter florence: s. maria del carmine filippo lippi (filippino) s. john the evangelist raising drusiana from the dead florence: s. maria novella, strozzi chapel filippo lippi (filippino) the adoration of the magi florence: uffizi, bernardino pinturicchio frederick iii crowning the poet Æneas sylvius siena: sala piccolominea bernardino pinturicchio pope alexander vi adoring the risen christ rome: the vatican, borgia apartments francesco francia and a pupil medals london: british museum francesco francia madonna and child, with saints bologna: s. giacomo maggiore, bentivoglio chapel pietro perugino the deposition florence: pitti, pietro perugino christ giving the keys to s. peter rome: sistine chapel pietro perugino fortitude and temperance, with warriors perugia: collegio del cambio giovanni (lo spagna) madonna and child, with saints assisi: lower church stefano da verona (da zevio) the madonna and child with s. catharine in a rose garden verona: gallery, aldigieri da zevio (altichiero) presentation to the madonna of three knights of the cavalli family verona: s. anastasia vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio) s. george and the dragon venice: s. giorgio degli schiavoni marco bassiti (basaiti) christ on the mount of olives venice: accademia, giovanni buonconsigli pietà vicenza: pinacoteca, luca signorelli detail: the last judgment orvieto: duomo leonardo da vinci the adoration of the magi florence: uffizi, leonardo da vinci the last supper milan: s. maria delle grazie leonardo da vinci cartoon: the madonna and child with s. anne london: burlington house leonardo da vinci (?) fragment of cartoon: the battle of the standard oxford: ashmolean museum giovan antonio boltraffio man and woman praying milan: brera, giorgione da castelfranco portrait of a young man berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a giorgione da castelfranco judith s. petersburg: hermitage, giorgione da castelfranco (?) caterina, queen of cyprus milan: crespi collection antonio da correggio detail: s. thomas and s. james the less parma: s. giovanni evangelista antonio da correggio the madonna and child with s. jerome parma: gallery, piero di cosimo perseus delivering andromeda florence: uffizi, piero di cosimo venus, mars, and cupid berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, piero di cosimo francesco giamberti hague: royal museum, bramante da urbino interior of sacristy milan: s. satiro bramante da urbino tempietto rome: s. pietro in montorio bramante da urbino palazzo giraud rome fra bartolommeo di san marco the holy family rome: corsini gallery, fra bartolommeo di san marco s. mark florence: pitti, fra bartolommeo di san marco god the father, with ss. mary magdalen and catharine lucca: gallery, mariotto albertinelli the madonna enthroned, with saints florence: accademia, raffaellino del garbo the resurrection florence: accademia, torrigiano tomb of henry vii london: westminster abbey giuliano da san gallo façade of s. maria delle carceri prato raffaello da urbino lo sposalizio milan: brera, raffaello da urbino maddalena doni florence: pitti, raffaello da urbino "the school of athens" rome: the vatican raffaello da urbino the "disputa del sacramento" rome: the vatican raffaello da urbino the mass of bolsena rome: the vatican raffaello da urbino pope leo x with two cardinals florence: pitti, raffaello da urbino the transfiguration rome: the vatican simone (il cronaca) detail of cornice florence: palazzo strozzi niccolÒ grosso iron link-holder florence: palazzo strozzi niccolÒ grosso iron lantern florence: palazzo strozzi simone (il cronaca) interior of sacristy florence: s. spirito domenico puligo (?) madonna and child, with saints florence: s. maria maddalena de' pazzi filippo lippi [illustration: filippo lippi (filippino): the vision of s. bernard (_florence: church of the badia. panel_)] life of filippo lippi, called filippino painter of florence there was at this same time in florence a painter of most beautiful intelligence and most lovely invention, namely, filippo, son of fra filippo of the carmine, who, following in the steps of his dead father in the art of painting, was brought up and instructed, being still very young, by sandro botticelli, notwithstanding that his father had commended him on his death-bed to fra diamante, who was much his friend--nay, almost his brother. such was the intelligence of filippo, and so abundant his invention in painting, and so bizarre and new were his ornaments, that he was the first who showed to the moderns the new method of giving variety to vestments, and embellished and adorned his figures with the girt-up garments of antiquity. he was also the first to bring to light grotesques, in imitation of the antique, and he executed them on friezes in terretta or in colours, with more design and grace than the men before him had shown; wherefore it was a marvellous thing to see the strange fancies that he expressed in painting. what is more, he never executed a single work in which he did not avail himself with great diligence of roman antiquities, such as vases, buskins, trophies, banners, helmet-crests, adornments of temples, ornamental head-dresses, strange kinds of draperies, armour, scimitars, swords, togas, mantles, and such a variety of other beautiful things, that we owe him a very great and perpetual obligation, seeing that he added beauty and adornment to art in this respect. in his earliest youth he completed the chapel of the brancacci in the carmine at florence, begun by masolino, and left not wholly finished by masaccio on account of his death. filippo, therefore, gave it its final perfection with his own hand, and executed what was lacking in one scene, wherein s. peter and s. paul are restoring to life the nephew of the emperor. in the nude figure of this boy he portrayed the painter francesco granacci, then a youth; and he also made portraits of the chevalier, messer tommaso soderini, piero guicciardini, father of messer francesco the historian, piero del pugliese, and the poet luigi pulci; likewise antonio pollaiuolo, and himself as a youth, as he then was, which he never did again throughout the whole of his life, so that it has not been possible to find a portrait of him at a more mature age. in the scene following this he portrayed sandro botticelli, his master, and many other friends and people of importance; among others, the broker raggio, a man of great intelligence and wit, who executed in relief on a conch the whole inferno of dante, with all the circles and divisions of the pits and the nethermost well in their exact proportions, and all the figures and details that were most ingeniously imagined and described by that great poet; which conch was held in those times to be a marvellous thing. next, in the chapel of francesco del pugliese at campora, a seat of the monks of the badia, without florence, he painted a panel in distemper of s. bernard, to whom our lady is appearing with certain angels, while he is writing in a wood; which picture is held to be admirable in certain respects, such as rocks, books, herbage, and similar things, that he painted therein, besides the portrait from life of francesco himself, so excellent that he seems to lack nothing save speech. this panel was removed from that place on account of the siege, and placed for safety in the sacristy of the badia of florence. in s. spirito in the same city, for tanai de' nerli, he painted a panel with our lady, s. martin, s. nicholas, and s. catherine; with a panel in the chapel of the rucellai in s. pancrazio, and a crucifix and two figures on a ground of gold in s. raffaello. in front of the sacristy of s. francesco, without the porta a s. miniato, he made a god the father, with a number of children. at palco, a seat of the frati del zoccolo, without prato, he painted a panel; and in the audience chamber of the priori in that territory he executed a little panel containing the madonna, s. stephen, and s. john the baptist, which has been much extolled. on the canto al mercatale, also in prato, in a shrine opposite to the nuns of s. margherita, and near some houses belonging to them, he painted in fresco a very beautiful madonna, with a choir of seraphim, on a ground of dazzling light. in this work, among other things, he showed art and beautiful judgment in a dragon that is at the feet of s. margaret, which is so strange and horrible, that it is revealed to us as a true fount of venom, fire, and death; and the whole of the rest of the work is so fresh and vivacious in colouring, that it deserves infinite praise. he also wrought certain things in lucca, particularly a panel in a chapel of the church of s. ponziano, which belongs to the monks of monte oliveto; in the centre of which chapel there is a niche containing a very beautiful s. anthony in relief by the hand of andrea sansovino, a most excellent sculptor. being invited to go to hungary by king matthias, filippo refused, but made up for this by painting two very beautiful panels for that king in florence, and sending them to him; and in one of these he made a portrait of the king, taken from his likeness on medals. he also sent certain works to genoa; and beside the chapel of the high-altar in s. domenico at bologna, on the left hand, he painted a s. sebastian on a panel, which was a thing worthy of much praise. for tanai de' nerli he executed another panel in s. salvadore, without florence; and for his friend piero del pugliese he painted a scene with little figures, executed with so much art and diligence that when another citizen besought him to make a second like it, he refused, saying that it was not possible to do it. after these things he executed a very great work in rome for the neapolitan cardinal, olivieri caraffa, at the request of the elder lorenzo de' medici, who was a friend of that cardinal. while going thither for that purpose, he passed through spoleto at the wish of lorenzo, in order to give directions for the making of a marble tomb for his father fra filippo at the expense of lorenzo, who had not been able to obtain his body from the people of spoleto for removal to florence. filippo, therefore, made a beautiful design for the said tomb, and lorenzo had it erected after that design (as has been told in another place), sumptuous and beautiful. afterwards, having arrived in rome, filippo painted a chapel in the church of the minerva for the said cardinal caraffa, depicting therein scenes from the life of s. thomas aquinas, and certain most beautiful poetical compositions ingeniously imagined by himself, for he had a nature ever inclined to this. in the scene, then, wherein faith has taken infidelity captive, there are all the heretics and infidels. hope has likewise overcome despair, and so, too, there are many other virtues that have subjugated the vice that is their opposite. in a disputation is s. thomas defending the church "ex cathedra" against a school of heretics, and holding vanquished beneath him sabellius, arius, averroes, and others, all clothed in graceful garments; of which scene we have in our book of drawings the original design by filippo's own hand, with certain others by the same man, wrought with such mastery that they could not be bettered. there, too, is the scene when, as s. thomas is praying, the crucifix says to him, "bene scripsisti de me, thoma"; while a companion of the saint, hearing that crucifix thus speaking, is standing amazed and almost beside himself. in the panel is the virgin receiving the annunciation from gabriel; and on the main wall there is her assumption into heaven, with the twelve apostles round the sepulchre. the whole of this work was held, as it still is, to be very excellent and wrought perfectly for a work in fresco. it contains a portrait from life of the said cardinal olivieri caraffa, bishop of ostia, who was buried in this chapel in the year , and afterwards removed to the piscopio in naples. [illustration: the liberation of s. peter (_after the fresco by =filippo lippi (filippino)=. florence: s. maria del carmine_) _anderson_] having returned to florence, filippo undertook to paint at his leisure the chapel of the elder filippo strozzi in s. maria novella, and he actually began it; but, having finished the ceiling, he was compelled to return to rome, where he wrought a tomb with stucco-work for the said cardinal, and decorated with gesso a little chapel beside that tomb in a part of the same church of the minerva, together with certain figures, some of which were executed by his disciple, raffaellino del garbo. the chapel described above was valued by maestro lanzilago of padua and by the roman antonio, known as antoniasso, two of the best painters that were then in rome, at , ducats of gold, without the cost of the blues and of the assistants. having received this sum, filippo returned to florence, where he finished the aforesaid chapel of the strozzi, which was executed so well, and with so much art and design, that it causes all who see it to marvel, by reason of the novelty and variety of the bizarre things that are seen therein--armed men, temples, vases, helmet-crests, armour, trophies, spears, banners, garments, buskins, head-dresses, sacerdotal vestments, and other things--all executed in so beautiful a manner that they deserve the highest commendation. in this work there is the scene of drusiana being restored to life by s. john the evangelist, wherein we see most admirably expressed the marvel of the bystanders at beholding a man restore life to a dead woman by a mere sign of the cross; and the greatest amazement of all is seen in a priest, or rather philosopher, whichever he may be, who is clothed in ancient fashion and has a vase in his hand. in the same scene, likewise, among a number of women draped in various manners, there is a little boy, who, terrified by a small spaniel spotted with red, which has seized him with its teeth by one of his swathing-bands, is running round his mother and hiding himself among her clothes, and appears to be as much afraid of being bitten by the dog as his mother is awestruck and filled with a certain horror at the resurrection of drusiana. next to this, in the scene where s. john himself is being boiled in oil, we see the wrath of the judge, who is giving orders for the fire to be increased, and the flames reflected on the face of the man who is blowing at them; and all the figures are painted in beautiful and varied attitudes. on the other side is s. philip in the temple of mars, compelling the serpent, which has slain the son of the king with its stench, to come forth from below the altar. in certain steps the painter depicted the hole through which the serpent issued from beneath the altar, and so well did he paint the cleft in one of the steps, that one evening one of filippo's lads, wishing to hide something, i know not what, from the sight of someone who was knocking for admittance, ran up in haste in order to conceal it in the hole, being wholly deceived by it. filippo also showed so much art in the serpent, that its venom, fetid breath, and fire, appear rather real than painted. greatly extolled, too, is his invention in the scene of the crucifixion of that saint, for he imagined to himself, so it appears, that the saint was stretched on the cross while it lay on the ground, and that afterwards the whole was drawn up and raised on high by means of ropes, cords, and poles; which ropes and cords are wound round certain fragments of antiquities, pieces of pillars, and bases, and pulled by certain ministers. on the other side the weight of the said cross and of the saint who is stretched nude thereon is supported by two men, on the one hand by a man with a ladder, with which he is propping it up, and on the other hand by another with a pole, upholding it, while two others, setting a lever against the base and stem of the cross, are balancing its weight and seeking to place it in the hole made in the ground, wherein it had to stand upright. but why say more? it would not be possible for the work to be better either in invention or in drawing, or in any other respect whatsoever of industry or art. besides this, it contains many grotesques and other things wrought in chiaroscuro to resemble marble, executed in strange fashion with invention and most beautiful drawing. [illustration: s. john the evangelist raising drusiana from the dead (_after the fresco by =filippo lippi [filippino]=. florence: s. maria novella, strozzi chapel_) _anderson_] for the frati scopetini, also, at s. donato, without florence, which is called scopeto and is now in ruins, he painted a panel with the magi presenting their offerings to christ, finished with great diligence, wherein he portrayed the elder pier francesco de' medici, son of lorenzo di bicci, in the figure of an astrologer who is holding a quadrant in his hand, and likewise giovanni, father of signor giovanni de' medici, and another pier francesco, brother of that signor giovanni, and other people of distinction. in this work are moors, indians, costumes of strange shapes, and a most bizarre hut. in a loggia at poggio a cajano he began a sacrifice in fresco for lorenzo de' medici, but it remained unfinished. and for the nunnery of s. geronimo, above the costa di s. giorgio in florence, he began the panel of the high-altar, which was brought nearly to completion after his death by the spaniard alonzo berughetta, but afterwards wholly finished by other painters, alonzo having gone to spain. in the palazzo della signoria he painted the panel of the hall where the council of eight held their sittings, and he made the design for another large panel, with its ornament, for the sala del consiglio; which design his death prevented him from beginning to put into execution, although the ornament was carved; which ornament is now in the possession of maestro baccio baldini, a most excellent physician of florence, and a lover of every sort of talent. for the church of the badia of florence he made a very beautiful s. jerome; and he began a deposition from the cross for the high-altar of the friars of the nunziata, but only finished the figures in the upper half of the picture, for, being overcome by a most cruel fever and by that contraction of the throat that is commonly known as quinsy, he died in a few days at the age of forty-five. thereupon, having ever been courteous, affable, and kindly, he was lamented by all those who had known him, and particularly by the youth of his noble native city, who, in their public festivals, masques, and other spectacles, ever availed themselves, to their great satisfaction, of the ingenuity and invention of filippo, who has never had an equal in things of that kind. nay, he was so excellent in all his actions, that he blotted out the stain (if stain it was) left to him by his father--blotted it out, i say, not only by the excellence of his art, wherein he was inferior to no man of his time, but also by the modesty and regularity of his life, and, above all, by his courtesy and amiability; and how great are the force and power of such qualities to conciliate the minds of all men without exception, is only known to those who either have experienced or are experiencing it. filippo was buried by his sons in s. michele bisdomini, on april , ; and while he was being borne to his tomb all the shops in the via de' servi were closed, as is done sometimes for the obsequies of great men. among the disciples of filippo, who all failed by a great measure to equal him, was raffaellino del garbo, who made many works, as will be told in the proper place, although he did not justify the opinions and hopes that were conceived of him while filippo was alive and raffaellino himself still a young man. the fruits, indeed, are not always equal to the blossoms that are seen in the spring. nor did any great success come to niccolò zoccolo, otherwise known as niccolò cartoni, who was likewise a disciple of filippo, and painted at arezzo the wall that is over the altar of s. giovanni decollato; a little panel, passing well done, in s. agnesa; a panel over a lavatory in the abbey of s. fiora, containing a christ who is asking for water from the woman of samaria; and many other works, which, since they were commonplace, are not mentioned. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the panel by =filippo lippi (filippino)=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] bernardino pinturicchio life of bernardino pinturicchio painter of perugia even as many are assisted by fortune without being endowed with much talent, so, on the contrary, there is an infinite number of able men who are persecuted by an adverse and hostile fortune; whence it is clearly manifest that she acknowledges as her children those who depend upon her without the aid of any talent, since it pleases her to exalt by her favour certain men who would never be known through their own merit; which is seen in pinturicchio of perugia, who, although he made many works and was assisted by various helpers, nevertheless had a much greater name than his works deserved. however, he was a man who had much practice in large works, and ever kept many assistants to aid him in his labours. now, having worked at many things in his early youth under his master pietro da perugia,[ ] receiving a third of all that was earned, he was summoned to siena by cardinal francesco piccolomini to paint the library made by pope pius ii in the duomo of that city. it is true, indeed, that the sketches and cartoons for all the scenes that he painted there were by the hand of raffaello da urbino, then a youth, who had been his companion and fellow-disciple under the same pietro, whose manner the said raffaello had mastered very well. one of these cartoons is still to be seen at the present day in siena, and some of the sketches, by the hand of raffaello, are in our book. [illustration: bernardino pinturicchio: the madonna in glory (_san gimignano. panel_)] now the stories in this work, wherein pinturicchio was aided by many pupils and assistants, all of the school of pietro, were divided into ten pictures. in the first is painted the scene when the said pope pius ii was born to silvio piccolomini and vittoria, and was called Æneas, in the year , in valdorcia, at the township of corsignano, which is now called pienza after the name of that pope, who afterwards enriched it with buildings and made it a city; and in this picture are portraits from nature of the said silvio and vittoria. in the same is the scene when, in company with cardinal domenico of capranica, he is crossing the alps, which are covered with ice and snow, on his way to the council of bâle. in the second the council is sending Æneas on many embassies--namely, to argentina (three times), to trent, to constance, to frankfurt, and to savoy. in the third is the sending of the same Æneas by the antipope felix as ambassador to the emperor frederick iii, with whom the ready intelligence, the eloquence, and the grace of Æneas found so much favour that he was given the poet's crown of laurel by frederick himself, who made him his protonotary, received him into the number of his friends, and appointed him his first secretary. in the fourth he is sent by frederick to eugenius iv, by whom he was made bishop of trieste, and then archbishop of siena, his native city. in the fifth scene the same emperor, who is about to come to italy to receive the crown of empire, is sending Æneas to telamone, a port of the people of siena, to meet his wife, leonora, who was coming from portugal. in the sixth Æneas is going to calistus iv,[ ] at the bidding of the said emperor, to induce him to make war against the turks; and in this part, siena being harassed by the count of pittigliano and by others at the instigation of king alfonso of naples, that pontiff is sending him to treat for peace. this effected, war is planned against the orientals; and he, having returned to rome, is made a cardinal by the said pontiff. in the seventh, calistus being dead, Æneas is seen being created supreme pontiff, and called pius ii. in the eighth the pope goes to mantua for the council about the expedition against the turks, where the marquis lodovico receives him with most splendid pomp and incredible magnificence. in the ninth the same pope is placing in the catalogue of saints--or, as the saying is, canonizing--catherine of siena, a holy woman and nun of the preaching order. in the tenth and last, while preparing a vast expedition against the turks with the help and favour of all the christian princes, pope pius dies at ancona; and a hermit of the hermitage of camaldoli, a holy man, sees the soul of the said pontiff being borne by angels into heaven at the very moment of his death, as may also be read. afterwards, in the same picture, the body of the same pope is seen being borne from ancona to rome by a vast and honourable company of lords and prelates, who are lamenting the death of so great a man and so rare and holy a pontiff. the whole of this work is full of portraits from the life, so numerous that it would be a long story to recount their names; and it is all painted with the finest and most lively colours, and wrought with various ornaments of gold, and with very well designed partitions in the ceiling. below each scene is a latin inscription, which describes what is contained therein. in the centre of this library the said cardinal francesco piccolomini, nephew of the pope, placed the three graces of marble, ancient and most beautiful, which are still there, and which were the first antiquities to be held in price in those times. this library, wherein are all the books left by the said pius ii, was scarcely finished, when the same cardinal francesco, nephew of the aforesaid pontiff, pius ii, was created pope, choosing the name of pius iii in memory of his uncle. over the door of that library, which opens into the duomo, the same pinturicchio painted in a very large scene, occupying the whole extent of the wall, the coronation of the said pope pius iii, with many portraits from life; and beneath it may be read these words: pius iii senensis, pii secundi nepos, mdiii, septembris xxi, apertis electus suffragiis, octavo octobris coronatus est. when pinturicchio was working with pietro perugino and painting at rome in the time of pope sixtus, he had also been in the service of domenico della rovere, cardinal of san clemente; wherefore the said cardinal, having built a very beautiful palace in the borgo vecchio, charged pinturicchio to paint the whole of it, and to make on the façade the coat of arms of pope sixtus, with two little boys as supporters. the same master executed certain works for sciarra colonna in the palace of s. apostolo; and no long time after--namely, in the year --innocent viii, the genoese, caused him to paint certain halls and loggie in the palace of the belvedere, where, among other things, by order of that pope, he painted a loggia full of landscapes, depicting therein rome, milan, genoa, florence, venice, and naples, after the manner of the flemings; and this, being a thing not customary at that time, gave no little satisfaction. in the same place, over the principal door of entrance, he painted a madonna in fresco. in s. pietro, in the chapel that contains the lance which pierced the side of christ, he painted a panel in distemper, with the madonna larger than life, for the said innocent viii; and he painted two chapels in the church of s. maria del popolo, one for the aforesaid domenico della rovere, cardinal of san clemente, who was afterwards buried therein, and the other for cardinal innocenzio cibo, wherein he also was afterwards buried; and in each of these chapels he portrayed the cardinal who had caused him to paint it. in the palace of the pope he painted certain rooms that look out upon the courtyard of s. pietro, the ceilings and paintings of which were renovated a few years ago by pope pius iv. in the same palace alexander vi caused pinturicchio to paint all the rooms that he occupied, together with the whole of the borgia tower, wherein he wrought stories of the liberal arts in one room, besides decorating all the ceilings with stucco and gold; but, since they did not then know the method of stucco-work that is now in use, the aforesaid ornaments are for the most part ruined. over the door of an apartment in the said palace he portrayed the signora giulia farnese in the countenance of a madonna, and, in the same picture, the head of pope alexander in a figure that is adoring her. bernardino was much given to making gilt ornaments in relief for his pictures, to satisfy people who had little understanding of his art with the more showy lustre that this gave them, which is a most barbarous thing in painting. having then executed a story of s. catherine in the said apartments, he depicted the arches of rome in relief and the figures in painting, insomuch that, the figures being in the foreground and the buildings in the background, the things that should recede stand out more prominently than those that should strike the eye as the larger--a very grave heresy in our art. [illustration: frederick iii crowning the poet Æneas sylvius (_after the fresco by =bernardino pinturicchio=. siena: sala piccolominea_) _brogi_] in the castello di s. angelo he painted a vast number of rooms with grotesques; and in the great tower, in the garden below, he painted stories of pope alexander, with portraits of the catholic queen, isabella; niccolò orsino, count of pittigliano; gianjacomo trivulzi, and many other relatives and friends of the said pope, in particular cæsar borgia and his brother and sisters, with many talented men of those times. at monte oliveto in naples, in the chapel of paolo tolosa, there is a panel with an assumption by the hand of pinturicchio. this master made an infinite number of other works throughout all italy, which, since they are of no great excellence, and wrought in a superficial manner, i will pass over in silence. pinturicchio used to say that a painter could only give the greatest relief to his figures when he had it in himself, without owing anything to principles or to others. he also made works in perugia, but these were few. in the araceli he painted the chapel of s. bernardino; and in s. maria del popolo, where, as we have said, he painted the two chapels, he made the four doctors of the church on the vaulting of the principal chapel. [illustration: pope alexander vi adoring the risen christ (_after the fresco by =bernardino pinturicchio=. rome: the vatican, borgia apartments_) _anderson_] afterwards, having reached the age of fifty-nine, he was commissioned to paint the nativity of our lady on a panel in s. francesco at siena. to this he set his hand, and the friars assigned to him a room to live in, which they gave to him, as he wished, empty and stripped of everything, save only a huge old chest, which appeared to them too awkward to remove. but pinturicchio, like the strange and whimsical man that he was, made such an outcry at this, and repeated it so often, that finally in despair the friars set themselves to carry it away. now their good fortune was such, that in removing it there was broken a plank which contained roman ducats of gold; at which pinturicchio was so displeased, and felt so aggrieved at the good luck of those poor friars, that it can hardly be imagined--nay, he took it so much to heart, being unable to get it out of his thoughts, that it was the death of him. his pictures date about the year . a companion and friend of pinturicchio, although he was a much older man, was benedetto buonfiglio, a painter of perugia, who executed many works in company with other masters in the papal palace at rome. in the chapel of the signoria in perugia, his native city, he painted scenes from the life of s. ercolano, bishop and protector of that city, and in the same place certain miracles wrought by s. louis. in s. domenico he painted the story of the magi on a panel in distemper, and many saints on another. in the church of s. bernardino he painted a christ in the sky, with s. bernardino himself, and a multitude below. in short, this master was in no little repute in his native city before pietro perugino had come to be known. another friend of pinturicchio, associated with him in not a few of his works, was gerino pistoiese, who was held to be a diligent colourist and a faithful imitator of the manner of pietro perugino, with whom he worked nearly up to his death. he did little work in his native city of pistoia; but for the company of the buon gesù in borgo san sepolcro he painted a circumcision in oil on a panel, which is passing good. in the pieve of the same place he painted a chapel in fresco; and on the bank of the tiber, on the road that leads to anghiari, he painted another chapel, also in fresco, for the commune. and he painted still another chapel in the same place, in s. lorenzo, an abbey of the monks of camaldoli. by reason of all these works he made so long a stay in the borgo that he almost adopted it as his home. he was a sorry fellow in matters of art, labouring with the greatest difficulty, and toiling with such pains at the execution of a work, that it was a torture to him. [illustration: benedetto buonfiglio: madonna, child and three angels (_perugia: pinacoteca. panel_)] at this same time there was a painter in the city of foligno, niccolò alunno, who was held to be excellent, for it was little the custom before pietro perugino's day to paint in oil, and many were held to be able men who did not afterwards justify this opinion. niccolò therefore gave no little satisfaction with his works, since, although he only painted in distemper, he portrayed the heads of his figures from life, so that they appeared alive, and his manner won considerable praise. in s. agostino at foligno there is a panel by his hand with a nativity of christ, and a predella with little figures. at assisi he painted a banner that is borne in processions, besides the panel of the high-altar in the duomo, and another panel in s. francesco. but the best painting that niccolò ever did was in a chapel in the duomo, where, among other things, there is a pietà, with two angels who are holding two torches and weeping so naturally, that i do not believe that any other painter, however excellent, would have been able to do much better. in the same place he also painted the façade of s. maria degli angeli, besides many other works of which there is no need to make mention, it being enough to have touched on the best. and let this be the end of the life of pinturicchio, who, besides his other qualities, gave no little satisfaction to many princes and lords because he finished and delivered his works quickly, which is their pleasure, although such works are perchance less excellent than those that are made slowly and deliberately. footnote: [ ] pietro perugino. [ ] this seems to be an error for calistus iii. francesco francia [illustration: medals (_london: british museum_) . ulisse musotti . francesco alidosi . giovanni ii bentivoglio . bernardo rossi (_after_ francesco francia) (_after_ a pupil of francesco francia)] life of francesco francia goldsmith and painter of bologna francesco francia, who was born in bologna in the year , of parents who were artisans, but honest and worthy enough, was apprenticed in his earliest boyhood to the goldsmith's art, in which calling he worked with intelligence and spirit; and as he grew up he became so well proportioned in person and appearance, and so sweet and pleasant in manner and speech, that he was able to keep the most melancholy of men cheerful and free from care with his talk; for which reason he was beloved not only by all those who knew him, but also by many italian princes and other lords. while working as a goldsmith, then, he gave attention to design, in which he took so much pleasure, that his mind began to aspire to higher things, and he made very great progress therein, as may be seen from many works in silver that he executed in his native city of bologna, and particularly from certain most excellent works in niello. in this manner of work he often put twenty most beautiful and well-proportioned little figures within a space no higher than the breadth of two fingers and not much more in length. he also enamelled many works in silver, which were destroyed at the time of the ruin and exile of the bentivogli. in a word, he did everything that can be done in that art better than any other man. but that in which he delighted above all, and in which he was truly excellent, was the making of dies for medals, wherein he was the rarest master of his day, as may be seen in some that he made with a most lifelike head of pope julius ii, which bear comparison with those of caradosso; not to mention that he made medals of signor giovanni bentivogli, in which he appears alive, and of an infinite number of princes, who would stop in bologna on their way through the city, whereupon he would make their portraits in wax for medals, and afterwards, having finished the matrices of the dies, he would send them; for which, besides immortal fame, he also received very rich presents. as long as he lived he was ever master of the mint in bologna, for which he made the stamps of all the dies, both under the rule of the bentivogli and also during the lifetime of pope julius, after their departure, as is proved by the coins struck by that pope on his entrance into the city, which had on one side his head portrayed from life, and on the other these words: bononia per julium a tyranno liberata. so excellent was he held in this profession, that he continued to make the dies for the coinage down to the time of pope leo; and the impressions of his dies are so greatly prized, and those who have some hold them in such esteem, that money cannot buy them. [illustration: madonna and child, with saints (_after the panel by =francesco francia=. bologna: s. giacomo maggiore, bentivoglio chapel_) _anderson_] now it came to pass that francia, being desirous of greater glory, and having known andrea mantegna and many other painters who had gained wealth and honours by their art, determined to try whether he could succeed in that part of painting which had to do with colour; his drawing was already such that it could well bear comparison with theirs. thereupon, having made arrangements to try his hand, he painted certain portraits and some little things, keeping in his house for many months men of that profession to teach him the means and methods of colouring, insomuch that, having very good judgment, he soon acquired the needful practice. the first work that he made was a panel of no great size for messer bartolommeo[ ] felicini, who placed it in the misericordia, a church without bologna; in which panel there is a madonna seated on a throne, with many other figures, and the said messer bartolommeo portrayed from life. this work, which was wrought in oil with the greatest diligence, was painted by him in the year ; and it gave such satisfaction in bologna, that messer giovanni bentivogli, desiring to honour his own chapel, which was in s. jacopo in that city, with works by this new painter, commissioned him to paint a panel with the madonna in the sky, two figures on either side of her, and two angels below sounding instruments; which work was so well executed by francia, that he won from messer giovanni, besides praise, a most honourable present. wherefore monsignore de' bentivogli, impressed by this work, caused him to paint a panel containing the nativity of christ, which was much extolled, for the high-altar of the misericordia; wherein, besides the design, which is not otherwise than beautiful, the invention and the colouring are worthy of nothing but praise. in this work he made a portrait of monsignore de' bentivogli from the life (a very good likeness, so it is said by those who knew him), clothed in that very pilgrim's dress in which he returned from jerusalem. he also painted a panel in the church of the nunziata, without the porta di s. mammolo, representing the madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel, with two figures on either side, which is held to be a very well executed work. now that francia's works had spread his fame abroad, even as his painting in oil had brought him both profit and repute, so he determined to try whether he would succeed as well at working in fresco. messer giovanni bentivogli had caused his palace to be painted by diverse masters of ferrara and bologna, and by certain others from modena; but, having seen francia's experiments in fresco, he determined that this master should paint a scene on one wall of an apartment that he occupied for his own use. there francia painted the camp of holofernes, guarded by various sentinels both on foot and on horseback, who were keeping watch over the pavilions; and the while that they were intent on something else, the sleeping holofernes was seen surprised by a woman clothed in widow's garments, who, with her left hand, was holding his hair, which was wet with the heat of wine and sleep, and with her right hand she was striking the blow to slay her enemy, the while that an old wrinkled handmaid, with the true air of a most faithful slave, and with her eyes fixed on those of her judith in order to encourage her, was bending down and holding a basket near the ground, to receive therein the head of the slumbering lover. this scene was one of the most beautiful and most masterly that francia ever painted, but it was thrown to the ground in the destruction of that edifice at the time of the expulsion of the bentivogli, together with another scene over that same apartment, coloured to look like bronze, and representing a disputation of philosophers, which was excellently wrought, with his conception very well expressed. these works brought it about that he was loved and honoured by messer giovanni and all the members of his house, and, after them, by all the city. in the chapel of s. cecilia, which is attached to the church of s. jacopo, he painted two scenes wrought in fresco, in one of which he made the marriage of our lady with joseph, and in the other the death of s. cecilia--a work held in great esteem by the people of bologna. and, indeed, francia gained such mastery and such confidence from seeing his works advancing towards the perfection that he desired, that he executed many pictures, of which i will make no mention, it being enough for me to point out, to all who may wish to see his works, only the best and most notable. nor did his painting hinder him from carrying on both the mint and his other work of making medals, as he had done from the beginning. francia, so it is said, felt the greatest sorrow at the departure of messer giovanni bentivogli, for he had received such great benefits from messer giovanni, that it caused him infinite grief; however, like the prudent and orderly man that he was, he kept at his work. after his parting from his patron, he painted three panels that went to modena, in one of which there was the baptism of christ by s. john; in the second, a very beautiful annunciation; and in the last, which was placed in the church of the frati dell' osservanza, a madonna in the sky with many figures. [illustration: francesco francia: pietÀ (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] the fame of so excellent a master being spread abroad by means of so many works, the cities contended with one another to obtain his pictures. whereupon he painted a panel for the black friars of s. giovanni in parma, containing a dead christ in the lap of our lady, surrounded by many figures; which panel was universally held to be a most beautiful work; and the same friars, therefore, thinking that they had been well served, induced him to make another for a house of theirs at reggio in lombardy, wherein he painted a madonna with many figures. at cesena, likewise for the church of these friars, he executed another panel, painting therein the circumcision of christ, with lovely colouring. nor would the people of ferrara consent to be left behind by their neighbours; nay, having determined to adorn their duomo with works by francia, they commissioned him to paint a panel, on which he made a great number of figures; and they named it the panel of ognissanti. he painted one in s. lorenzo at bologna, with a madonna, a figure on either side, and two children below, which was much extolled; and scarcely had he finished this when he had to make another in s. giobbe, representing a crucifixion, with that saint kneeling at the foot of the cross, and two figures at the sides. so widely had the fame and the works of this craftsman spread throughout lombardy, that even from tuscany men sent for something by his hand, as they did from lucca, whither there went a panel containing a s. anne and a madonna, with many other figures, and a dead christ above in the lap of his mother; which work is set up in the church of s. fridiano, and is held in great price by the people of lucca. for the church of the nunziata in bologna he painted two other panels, which were wrought with much diligence; and in the misericordia, likewise, without the porta a strà castione, at the request of a lady of the manzuoli family, he painted another, wherein he depicted the madonna with the child in her arms, s. george, s. john the baptist, s. stephen, and s. augustine, with an angel below, who has his hands clasped with such grace, that he appears truly to belong to paradise. he executed another for the company of s. francesco in the same city, and likewise one for the company of s. gieronimo. he lived in close intimacy with messer polo zambeccaro, who, being much his friend, and wishing to have some memorial of him, caused him to paint a rather large picture of the nativity of christ, which is one of the most celebrated works that he ever made; and for this reason messer polo commissioned him to paint at his villa two figures in fresco, which are very beautiful. he also executed a most charming scene in fresco in the house of messer gieronimo bolognino, with many varied and very beautiful figures. all these works together had won him such veneration in that city, that he was held in the light of a god; and what made this infinitely greater was that the duke of urbino caused him to paint a set of horse's caparisons, in which he made a vast forest of trees that had caught fire, from which there were issuing great numbers of all sorts of animals, both of the air and of the earth, and certain figures--a terrible, awful, and truly beautiful thing, which was held in no little esteem by reason of the time spent in painting the plumage of the birds, and the various sorts of terrestrial animals, to say nothing of the diversity of foliage and the variety of branches that were seen in the different trees. for this work francia was rewarded with gifts of great value as a recompense for his labours, not to mention that the duke ever held himself indebted to him for the praises that he received for it. duke guido baldo, also, has in his guardaroba a picture of the roman lucretia, which he esteems very highly, by the same man's hand, together with many other pictures, of which mention will be made when the time comes. after these things he painted a panel for the altar of the madonna in ss. vitale e agricola; in which panel are two very beautiful angels, who are playing on the lute. i will not enumerate the pictures that are scattered throughout bologna in the houses of gentlemen of that city, and still less the infinite number of portraits that he made from life, for it would be too wearisome. let it be enough to say that while he was living in such glory and enjoying the fruits of his labours in peace, raffaello da urbino was in rome, and all day long there flocked round him many strangers, among them many gentlemen of bologna, eager to see his works. and since it generally comes to pass that every man extols most willingly the intellects of his native place, these bolognese began to praise the works, the life, and the talents of francia in the presence of raffaello, and they established such a friendship between them with these words, that francia and raffaello sent letters of greeting to each other. and francia, hearing such great praise spoken of the divine pictures of raffaello, desired to see his works; but he was now old, and too fond of his comfortable life in bologna. now after this it came about that raffaello painted in rome for cardinal santi quattro, of the pucci family, a panel-picture of s. cecilia, which had to be sent to bologna to be placed in a chapel of s. giovanni in monte, where there is the tomb of the blessed elena dall' olio. this he packed up and addressed to francia, who, as his friend, was to have it placed on the altar of that chapel, with the ornament, just as he had prepared it himself. right readily did francia accept this charge, which gave him a chance of seeing a work by raffaello, as he had so much desired. and having opened the letter that raffaello had written to him, in which he besought francia, if there were any scratch in the work, to put it right, and likewise, as a friend, to correct any error that he might notice, with the greatest joy he had the said panel taken from its case into a good light. but such was the amazement that it caused him, and so great his marvel, that, recognizing his own error and the foolish presumption of his own rash confidence, he took it greatly to heart, and in a very short time died of grief. raffaello's panel was divine, not so much painted as alive, and so well wrought and coloured by him, that among all the beautiful pictures that he painted while he lived, although they are all miraculous, it could well be called most rare. wherefore francia, half dead with terror at the beauty of the picture, which lay before his eyes challenging comparison with those by his own hand that he saw around him, felt all confounded, and had it placed with great diligence in that chapel of s. giovanni in monte for which it was destined; and taking to his bed in a few days almost beside himself, thinking that he was now almost of no account in his art in comparison with the opinion held both by himself and by others, he died of grief and melancholy, so some believe, overtaken by the same fate, through contemplating too attentively that most lifelike picture of raffaello's, as befell fivizzano from feasting his eyes with his own beautiful death, about which the following epigram was written: me veram pictor divinus mente recepit; admota est operi deinde perita manus. dumque opere in facto defigit lumina pictor, intentus nimium, palluit et moritur. viva igitur sum mors, non mortua mortis imago, si fungor quo mors fungitur officio. however, certain others say that his death was so sudden, that from many symptoms it appeared to be due rather to poison or apoplexy than to anything else. francia was a prudent man, most regular in his way of life, and very robust. after his death, in the year , he was honourably buried by his sons in bologna. footnote: [ ] the text says "messer bart...." pietro perugino life of pietro perugino [_pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve_] painter how great a benefit poverty may be to men of genius, and how potent a force it may be to make them become excellent--nay, perfect--in the exercise of any faculty whatsoever, can be seen clearly enough in the actions of pietro perugino, who, flying from the extremity of distress at perugia, and betaking himself to florence in the desire to attain to some distinction by means of his talent, remained for many months without any other bed than a miserable chest to sleep in, turning night into day, and devoting himself with the greatest ardour to the unceasing study of his profession. and, having made a habit of this, he knew no other pleasure than to labour continually at his art, and to be for ever painting; for with the fear of poverty constantly before his eyes, he would do for gain such work as he would probably not have looked at if he had possessed the wherewithal to live. riches, indeed, might perchance have closed the path on which his talent should advance towards excellence, no less effectually than poverty opened it to him, while necessity spurred him on in his desire to rise from so low and miserable a condition, if not to supreme eminence, at least to a rank in which he might have the means of life. for this reason he never took heed of cold, of hunger, of hardship, of discomfort, of fatigue, or of ridicule, if only he might one day live in ease and repose; ever saying, as it were by way of proverb, that after bad weather there must come the good, and that during the good men build the houses that are to shelter them when there is need. [illustration: pietro perugino: apollo and marsyas (_paris: louvre, . panel_)] but in order that the rise of this craftsman may be better known, let me begin with his origin, and relate that, according to common report, there was born in the city of perugia, to a poor man of castello della pieve, named cristofano, a son who was baptized with the name of pietro. this son, brought up amid misery and distress, was given by his father as a shop-boy to a painter of perugia, who was no great master of his profession, but held in great veneration both the art and the men who were excellent therein; nor did he ever cease to tell pietro how much gain and honour painting brought to those who practised it well, and he would urge the boy to the study of that art by recounting to him the rewards won by ancient and modern masters; wherefore he fired his mind in such a manner, that pietro took it into his head to try, if only fortune would assist him, to become one of these. for this reason he was often wont to ask any man whom he knew to have seen the world, in what part the best craftsmen in that calling were formed; particularly his master, who always gave him one and the same answer--namely, that it was in florence more than in any other place that men became perfect in all the arts, especially in painting, since in that city men are spurred by three things. the first is censure, which is uttered freely and by many, seeing that the air of that city makes men's intellects so free by nature, that they do not content themselves, like a flock of sheep, with mediocre works, but ever consider them with regard to the honour of the good and the beautiful rather than out of respect for the craftsman. the second is that, if a man wishes to live there, he must be industrious, which is naught else than to say that he must continually exercise his intelligence and his judgment, must be ready and adroit in his affairs, and, finally, must know how to make money, seeing that the territory of florence is not so wide or abundant as to enable her to support at little cost all who live there, as can be done in countries that are rich enough. the third, which is perchance no less potent than the others, is an eager desire for glory and honour, which is generated mightily by that air in the men of all professions; and this desire, in all persons of spirit, will not let them stay content with being equal, much less inferior, to those whom they see to be men like themselves, although they may recognize them as masters--nay, it forces them very often to desire their own advancement so eagerly, that, if they are not kindly or wise by nature, they turn out evil-speakers, ungrateful, and unthankful for benefits. it is true, indeed, that when a man has learnt there as much as suffices him, he must, if he wishes to do more than live from day to day like an animal, and desires to become rich, take his departure from that place and find a sale abroad for the excellence of his works and for the repute conferred on him by that city, as the doctors do with the fame derived from their studies. for florence treats her craftsmen as time treats its own works, which when perfected, it destroys and consumes little by little. moved by these counsels, therefore, and by the persuasions of many others, pietro came to florence, minded to become excellent; and well did he succeed, for the reason that in those times works in his manner were held in very great price. he studied under the discipline of andrea verrocchio, and his first figures were painted without the porta a prato, in the nunnery of s. martino, now in ruins by reason of the wars. in camaldoli he made a s. jerome on a wall, which was then much esteemed by the florentines and celebrated with great praise, for the reason that he made that saint old, lean, and emaciated, with his eyes fixed on the crucifix, and so wasted away, that he seems like an anatomical model, as may be seen from a copy of that picture which is in the hands of the aforesaid bartolommeo gondi. in a few years, then, he came into such credit, that his works filled not only florence and all italy, but also france, spain, and many other countries to which they were sent. wherefore, his paintings being held in very great price and repute, merchants began to buy them up wholesale and to send them abroad to various countries, to their own great gain and profit. for the nuns of s. chiara he painted a dead christ on a panel, with such lovely and novel colouring, that he made the craftsmen believe that he would become excellent and marvellous. in this work there are seen some most beautiful heads of old men, and likewise certain figures of the maries, who, having ceased to weep, are contemplating the dead jesus with extraordinary awe and love; not to mention that he made therein a landscape that was then held most beautiful, because the true method of making them, such as it appeared later, had not yet been seen. it is said that francesco del pugliese offered to give to the aforesaid nuns three times as much money as they had paid to pietro, and to have a similar one made for them by the same man's hand, but that they would not consent, because pietro said that he did not believe he could equal it. there were also many things by the hand of pietro in the convent of the frati gesuati, without the porta a pinti; and since the said church and convent are now in ruins, i do not wish, with this occasion, and before i proceed further with this life, to grudge the labour of giving some little account of them. this church, then, the architect of which was antonio di giorgio of settignano, was forty braccia long and twenty wide. at the upper end one ascended by four treads, or rather steps, to a platform six braccia in extent, on which stood the high-altar, with many ornaments carved in stone; and on the said altar was a panel with a rich ornament, by the hand, as has been related, of domenico ghirlandajo. in the centre of the church was a partition-wall, with a door wrought in open-work from the middle upwards, on either side of which was an altar, while over either altar, as will be told, there stood a panel by the hand of pietro perugino. over the said door was a most beautiful crucifix by the hand of benedetto da maiano, with a madonna on one side and a s. john on the other, both in relief. before the said platform of the high-altar, and against the said partition-wall, was a choir of the doric order, very well wrought in walnut-wood; and over the principal door of the church there was another choir, which rested on well-strengthened woodwork, with the under part forming a ceiling, or rather soffit, beautifully partitioned, and with a row of balusters acting as parapet to the front of the choir, which faced towards the high-altar. this choir was very convenient to the friars of that convent for holding their night services, for saying their individual prayers, and likewise for week-days. over the principal door of the church--which was made with most beautiful ornaments of stone, and had a portico in front raised on columns, which made a covered way as far as the door of the convent--was a lunette with a very beautiful figure of s. giusto, the bishop, and an angel on either side, by the hand of the illuminator gherardo; and this because that church was dedicated to the said s. giusto, and within it those friars preserved a relic of that saint--that is, an arm. at the entrance of the convent was a little cloister of exactly the same size as the church--namely, forty braccia long and twenty wide--with arches and vaulting going right round and supported by columns of stone, thus making a spacious and most commodious loggia on every side. in the centre of the court of this cloister, which was all neatly paved with squared stone, was a very beautiful well, with a loggia above, which likewise rested on columns of stone, and made a rich and beautiful ornament. in this cloister were the chapter-house of the friars, the side-door of entrance into the church, and the stairs that ascended to the dormitory and other rooms for the use of the friars. on the farther side of this cloister, in a straight line with the principal door of the convent, was a passage as long as the chapter-house and the steward's room put together, leading into another cloister larger and more beautiful than the first; and the whole of this straight line--that is, the forty braccia of the loggia of the first cloister, the passage, and the line of the second cloister--made a very long enfilade, more beautiful than words can tell, and the rather as from that farther cloister, in the same straight line, there issued a garden-walk two hundred braccia in length; and all this, as one came from the principal door of the convent, made a marvellous view. in the said second cloister was a refectory, sixty braccia long and eighteen wide, with all those well-appointed rooms, and, as the friars call them, offices, which were required in such a convent. over this was a dormitory in the shape of a =t=, one part of which--namely, the principal part in the direct line, which was sixty braccia long--was double--that is to say, it had cells on either side, and at the upper end, in a space of fifteen braccia, was an oratory, over the altar of which there was a panel by the hand of pietro perugino; and over the door of this oratory was another work by the same man's hand, in fresco, as will be told. and on the same floor, above the chapter-house, was a large room where those fathers worked at making glass windows, with the little furnaces and other conveniences that were necessary for such an industry; and since while pietro lived he made the cartoons for many of their works, those that they executed in his time were all excellent. then the garden of this convent was so beautiful and so well kept, and the vines were trained round the cloister and in every place with such good order, that nothing better could be seen in the neighbourhood of florence. in like manner the room wherein they distilled scented waters and medicines, as was their custom, had all the best conveniences that could possibly be imagined. in short, that convent was one of the most beautiful and best appointed that there were in the state of florence; and it is for this reason that i have wished to make this record of it, and the rather as the greater part of the pictures that were therein were by the hand of our pietro perugino. [illustration: the deposition (_after the panel by =pietro perugino=. florence: pitti, _) _anderson_] returning at length to this pietro, i have to say that of the works that he made in the said convent none have been preserved save the panels, since those executed in fresco were thrown to the ground, together with the whole of that building, by reason of the siege of florence, when the panels were carried to the porta a s. pier gattolini, where a home was given to those friars in the church and convent of s. giovannino. now the two panels on the aforesaid partition-wall were by the hand of pietro; and in one was christ in the garden, with the apostles sleeping, in whom pietro showed how well sleep can prevail over pains and discomforts, having represented them asleep in attitudes of perfect ease. in the other he made a pietà--that is, christ in the lap of our lady--surrounded by four figures no less excellent than any others in his manner; and, to mention only one thing, he made the dead christ all stiffened, as if he had been so long on the cross that the length of time and the cold had reduced him to this; wherefore he painted him supported by john and the magdalene, all sorrowful and weeping. in another panel he painted the crucifixion, with the magdalene, and, at the foot of the cross, s. jerome, s. john the baptist, and the blessed giovanni colombini, founder of that order; all with infinite diligence. these three panels have suffered considerably, and they are all cracked in the dark parts and where there are shadows; and this comes to pass when the first coat of colour, which is laid on the ground (for three coats of colour are used, one over the other), is worked on before it is thoroughly dry; wherefore afterwards, with time, in the drying, they draw through their thickness and come to have the strength to make those cracks; which pietro could not know, seeing that in his time they were only just beginning to paint well in oil. now, the works of pietro being much commended by the florentines, a prior of the same convent of the ingesuati, who took delight in art, caused him to make a nativity, with the magi, on a wall in the first cloister, after the manner of a miniature. this he brought to perfect completion with great loveliness and a high finish, and it contained an infinite number of different heads, many of them portrayed from life, among which was the head of andrea del verrocchio, his master. in the same court, over the arches of the columns, he made a frieze with heads of the size of life, very well executed, among which was one of the said prior, so lifelike and wrought in so good a manner, that it was judged by the most experienced craftsmen to be the best thing that pietro ever made. in the other cloister, over the door that led into the refectory, he was commissioned to paint a scene of pope boniface confirming the habit of his order to the blessed giovanni colombino, wherein he portrayed eight of the aforesaid friars, and made a most beautiful view receding in perspective, which was much extolled, and rightly, since pietro made a particular profession of this. in another scene below the first he began a nativity of christ, with certain angels and shepherds, wrought with the freshest colouring. and in an arch over the door of the aforesaid oratory he made three half-length figures--our lady, s. jerome, and the blessed giovanni--with so beautiful a manner, that this was held to be one of the best mural paintings that pietro ever wrought. the said prior, so i once heard tell, was very excellent at making ultramarine blues, and, therefore, having an abundance of them, he desired that pietro should use them freely in all the above-mentioned works; but he was nevertheless so mean and suspicious that he would never trust pietro, and always insisted on being present when he was using blue in the work. wherefore pietro, who had an honest and upright nature, and had no desire for another man's goods save in return for his own labour, took the prior's distrust very ill, and resolved to put him to shame; and so, having taken a basin of water, and having laid on the ground for draperies or for anything else that he wished to paint in blue and white, from time to time he caused the prior, who turned grudgingly to his little bag, to put some ultramarine into the little vase that contained the tempera-water, and then, setting to work, at every second stroke of the brush pietro would dip his brush in the basin, so that there remained more in the water than he had used on the picture. the prior, who saw his little bag becoming empty without much to show for it in the work, kept saying time after time: "oh, what a quantity of ultramarine this plaster consumes!" "does it not?" pietro would answer. after the departure of the prior, pietro took the ultramarine from the bottom of the basin, and gave it back to him when he thought the time had come, saying: "father, this is yours; learn to trust honest men, who never cheat those who trust them, although, if they wished, they could cheat such distrustful persons as yourself." by reason of these works, then, and many others, pietro came into such repute that he was almost forced to go to siena, where he painted a large panel, which was held very beautiful, in s. francesco; and he painted another in s. agostino, containing a crucifix with some saints. a little time after this, for the church of s. gallo in florence, he painted a panel-picture of s. jerome in penitence, which is now in s. jacopo tra fossi, where the aforesaid friars live, near the canto degli alberti. he was commissioned to paint a dead christ, with the madonna and s. john, above the steps of the side-door of s. pietro maggiore; and this he wrought in such a manner, that it has been preserved, although exposed to rain and wind, as fresh as if it had only just been finished by pietro's hand. truly intelligent was pietro's understanding of colour, both in fresco and in oil; wherefore all experienced craftsmen are indebted to him, for it is through him that they have knowledge of the lights that are seen throughout his works. [illustration: christ giving the keys to s. peter (_after the fresco by =pietro perugino=. rome: sistine chapel_) _alinari_] in s. croce, in the same city, he made a pietà--that is, our lady with the dead christ in her arms--and two figures, which are marvellous to behold, not so much for their excellence, as for the fact that they have remained so fresh and vivid in colouring, painted as they are in fresco. he was commissioned by bernardino de' rossi, a citizen of florence, to paint a s. sebastian to be sent into france, the price agreed on being one hundred gold crowns; but this work was sold by bernardino to the king of france for four hundred gold ducats. at vallombrosa he painted a panel for the high-altar; and in the certosa of pavia, likewise, he executed a panel for the friars of that place. at the command of cardinal caraffa of naples he painted an assumption of our lady, with the apostles marvelling round the tomb, for the high-altar of the piscopio; and for abbot simone de' graziani of borgo a san sepolcro he executed a large panel, which was painted in florence, and then borne to s. gilio in the borgo on the shoulders of porters, at very great expense. to s. giovanni in monte at bologna he sent a panel with certain figures standing upright, and a madonna in the sky. [illustration: fortitude and temperance, with warriors (_after the fresco by =pietro perugino=. perugia: collegio del cambio_) _alinari_] thereupon the fame of pietro spread so widely throughout italy and abroad, that to his great glory he was summoned to rome by pope sixtus iv to work in his chapel in company with the other excellent craftsmen. there, in company with don bartolommeo della gatta, abbot of s. clemente at arezzo, he painted the scene of christ giving the keys to s. peter; and likewise the nativity and baptism of christ, and the birth of moses, with the daughter of pharaoh finding him in the little ark. and on the same wall where the altar is he painted a mural picture of the assumption of our lady, with a portrait of pope sixtus on his knees. but these works were thrown to the ground in preparing the wall for the judgment of the divine michelagnolo, in the time of pope paul iii. on a vault of the borgia tower in the papal palace he painted certain stories of christ, with some foliage in chiaroscuro, which had an extraordinary name for excellence in his time. in s. marco, likewise in rome, he painted a story of two martyrs beside the sacrament--one of the best works that he made in rome. for sciarra colonna, also, in the palace of s. apostolo, he painted a loggia and certain rooms. these works brought him a very great sum of money; wherefore, having resolved to remain no longer in rome, and having departed in good favour with the whole court, he returned to his native city of perugia, in many parts of which he executed panels and works in fresco; and, in particular, a panel-picture painted in oils for the chapel of the palace of the signori, containing our lady and other saints. in s. francesco del monte he painted two chapels in fresco, one with the story of the magi going to make offering to christ, and the other with the martyrdom of certain friars of s. francis, who, going to the soldan of babylon, were put to death. in s. francesco del convento, likewise, he painted two panels in oil, one with the resurrection of christ, and the other with s. john the baptist and other saints. for the church of the servi he also painted two panels, one of the transfiguration of our lord, and in the other, which is beside the sacristy, the story of the magi; but, since these are not of the same excellence as the other works of pietro, it is held to be certain that they are among the first that he made. in the chapel of the crocifisso in s. lorenzo, the duomo of the same city, there are by the hand of pietro the madonna, the other maries, s. john, s. laurence, s. james, and other saints. and for the altar of the sacrament, where there is preserved the ring with which the virgin mary was married, he painted the marriage of the virgin. [illustration: pietro perugino: triptych (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] afterwards he painted in fresco the whole of the audience chamber of the cambio,[ ] adorning the compartments of the vaulting with the seven planets, drawn in certain cars by diverse animals, according to the old usage; on the wall opposite to the door of entrance he painted the nativity and resurrection of christ, with a panel containing s. john the baptist in the midst of certain other saints. the side-walls he painted in his own manner; one with figures of fabius maximus, socrates, numa pompilius, f. camillus, pythagoras, trajan, l. sicinius, the spartan leonidas, horatius cocles, fabius, sempronius, the athenian pericles, and cincinnatus. on the other wall he made the prophets, isaiah, moses, daniel, david, jeremiah, and solomon; and the sibyls, the erythræan, the libyan, the tiburtine, the delphic, and the others. below each of the said figures he placed, in the form of a written motto, something said by them, and appropriate to that place. and in one of the ornaments he made his own portrait, which appears absolutely alive, and he wrote his own name below it in the following manner: petrus perusinus egregius pictor. perdita si fuerat, pingendo hic retulit artem; si nunquam inventa esset hactenus, ipse dedit. anno d. . this work, which was very beautiful and more highly extolled than any other that was executed by pietro in perugia, is now held in great price by the men of that city in memory of so famous a craftsman of their own country. afterwards, in the principal chapel of the church of s. agostino, the same man executed a large panel standing by itself and surrounded by a rich ornament, with s. john baptizing christ on the front part, and on the back--that is, on the side that faces the choir--the nativity of christ, with certain saints in the upper parts, and in the predella many scenes wrought very diligently with little figures. and in the chapel of s. niccolò, in the said church, he painted a panel for messer benedetto calera. after this, returning to florence, he painted a s. bernard on a panel for the monks of cestello, and in the chapter-house a crucifix, the madonna, s. benedict, s. bernard, and s. john. and in s. domenico da fiesole, in the second chapel on the right hand, he painted a panel containing our lady and three figures, among which is a s. sebastian worthy of the highest praise. now pietro had done so much work, and he always had so many works in hand, that he would very often use the same subjects; and he had reduced the theory of his art to a manner so fixed, that he made all his figures with the same expression. by that time michelagnolo buonarroti had already come to the front, and pietro greatly desired to see his figures, by reason of the praise bestowed on him by craftsmen; and seeing the greatness of his own name, which he had acquired in every place through so grand a beginning, being obscured, he was ever seeking to wound his fellow-workers with biting words. for this reason, besides certain insults aimed at him by the craftsmen, he had only himself to blame when michelagnolo told him in public that he was a clumsy fool at his art. but pietro being unable to swallow such an affront, they both appeared before the tribunal of eight, where pietro came off with little honour. meanwhile the servite friars of florence, wishing to have the altar-piece of their high-altar painted by some famous master, had handed it over, by reason of the departure of leonardo da vinci, who had gone off to france, to filippino; but he, when he had finished half of one of two panels that were to adorn the altar, passed from this life to the next; wherefore the friars, by reason of the faith that they had in pietro, entrusted him with the whole work. in that panel, wherein he was painting the deposition of christ from the cross, filippino had finished the figures of nicodemus that are taking him down; and pietro continued the lower part with the swooning of the madonna, and certain other figures. now this work was to be composed of two panels, one facing towards the choir of the friars, and the other towards the body of the church, and the deposition from the cross was to be placed behind, facing the choir, with the assumption of our lady in front; but pietro made the latter so commonplace, that the deposition of christ was placed in front, and the assumption on the side of the choir. these panels have now been removed, both one and the other, and replaced by the tabernacle of the sacrament; they have been set up over certain other altars in that church, and out of the whole work there only remain six pictures, wherein are some saints painted by pietro in certain niches. it is said that when the work was unveiled, it received no little censure from all the new craftsmen, particularly because pietro had availed himself of those figures that he had been wont to use in other pictures; with which his friends twitted him, saying that he had taken no pains, and that he had abandoned the good method of working, either through avarice or to save time. to this pietro would answer: "i have used the figures that you have at other times praised, and which have given you infinite pleasure; if now they do not please you, and you do not praise them, what can i do?" but they kept assailing him bitterly with sonnets and open insults; whereupon, although now old, he departed from florence and returned to perugia. there he executed certain works in fresco in the church of s. severo, a place belonging to the monks of the order of camaldoli, wherein raffaello da urbino, when quite young and still the disciple of pietro, had painted certain figures, as will be told in his life. pietro likewise worked at montone, at la fratta, and in many other places in the district of perugia; more particularly in s. maria degli angeli at assisi, where he painted in fresco a christ on the cross, with many figures, on the wall at the back of the chapel of the madonna, which faces the choir of the monks. and for the high-altar of the church of s. pietro, an abbey of black friars in perugia, he painted a large panel containing the ascension, with the apostles below gazing up to heaven; in the predella of which panel are three stories, wrought with much diligence--namely, that of the magi, the baptism of christ, and his resurrection. the whole of this picture is seen to be full of beautiful and careful work, insomuch that it is the best of those wrought in oil by the hand of pietro which are in perugia. the same man began a work in fresco of no small importance at castello della pieve, but did not finish it. it was ever pietro's custom on his going and coming between the said castello and perugia, like a man who trusted nobody, to carry all the money that he possessed about his person. wherefore certain men, lying in wait for him at a pass, robbed him, but at his earnest entreaty they spared his life for the love of god; and afterwards, by means of the services of his friends, who were numerous enough, he also recovered a great part of the money that had been taken from him; but none the less he came near dying of vexation. pietro was a man of very little religion, and he could never be made to believe in the immortality of the soul--nay, with words in keeping with his head of granite, he rejected most obstinately every good suggestion. he placed all his hopes in the goods of fortune, and he would have sold his soul for money. he earned great riches; and he both bought and built houses in florence, and acquired much settled property both at perugia and at castello della pieve. he took a most beautiful young woman to wife, and had children by her; and he delighted so greatly in seeing her wearing beautiful head-dresses, both abroad and at home, that it is said that he would often tire her head with his own hand. finally, having reached the age of seventy-eight, pietro finished the course of his life at castello della pieve, where he was honourably buried, in the year . pietro made many masters in his own manner, and one among them, who was truly most excellent, devoted himself heart and soul to the honourable studies of painting, and surpassed his master by a great measure; and this was the miraculous raffaello sanzio of urbino, who worked for many years under pietro in company with his father, giovanni de' santi. another disciple of this man was pinturicchio, a painter of perugia, who, as it has been said in his life, ever held to pietro's manner. his disciple, likewise, was rocco zoppo, a painter of florence, by whose hand is a very beautiful madonna in a round picture, which is in the possession of filippo salviati; although it is true that it was brought to completion by pietro himself. the same rocco painted many pictures of our lady, and made many portraits, of which there is no need to speak; i will only say that in the sistine chapel in rome he painted portraits of girolamo riario and of f. pietro, cardinal of san sisto. another disciple of pietro was montevarchi, who painted many pictures in san giovanni di valdarno; more particularly, in the madonna, the stories of the miracle of the milk. he also left many works in montevarchi, his birth-place. likewise a pupil of pietro's, working with him for no little time, was gerino da pistoia, of whom there has been mention in the life of pinturicchio; and so also was baccio ubertino of florence, who was most diligent both in colouring and in drawing, for which reason pietro made much use of him. by this man's hand is a drawing in our book, done with the pen, of christ being scourged at the column, which is a very lovely thing. [illustration: madonna and child, with saints (_after the panel by =giovanni (lo spagna)=. assisi: lower church_) _anderson_] a brother of this baccio, and likewise a disciple of pietro, was francesco, called il bacchiaccha by way of surname, who was a most diligent master of little figures, as may be seen in many works wrought by him in florence, above all in the house of giovan maria benintendi and in that of pier francesco borgherini. bacchiaccha delighted in painting grotesques, wherefore he covered a little cabinet belonging to the lord duke cosimo with animals and rare plants, drawn from nature, which are held very beautiful. besides this, he made the cartoons for many tapestries, which were afterwards woven in silk by the flemish master, giovanni rosto, for the apartments of his excellency's palace. still another disciple of pietro was the spaniard giovanni, called lo spagna by way of surname, who was a better colourist than any of the others whom pietro left behind him at his death; after which this giovanni would have settled in perugia, if the envy of the painters of that city, so hostile to strangers, had not persecuted him in such wise as to force him to retire to spoleto, where, by reason of his excellence and virtue, he obtained a wife of good family and was made a citizen of that city. he made many works in that place, and likewise in all the other cities of umbria; and at assisi, in the lower church of s. francesco, he painted the panel of the chapel of s. caterina, for the spanish cardinal egidio, and also one in s. damiano. in s. maria degli angeli, in the little chapel where s. francis died, he painted some half-length figures of the size of life--that is, certain companions of s. francis and other saints--all very lifelike, on either side of a s. francis in relief. but the best master among all the aforesaid disciples of pietro was andrea luigi of assisi, called l'ingegno, who in his early youth competed with raffaello da urbino under the discipline of pietro, who always employed him in the most important pictures that he made; as may be seen in the audience chamber of the cambio in perugia, where there are some very beautiful figures by his hand; in those that he wrought at assisi; and, finally, in the chapel of pope sixtus at rome. in all these works andrea gave such proof of his worth, that he was expected to surpass his master by a great measure, and so, without a doubt, it would have come to pass; but fortune, which is almost always pleased to oppose herself to lofty beginnings, did not allow l'ingegno to reach perfection, for a flux of catarrh fell upon his eyes, whence the poor fellow became wholly blind, to the infinite grief of all who knew him. hearing of this most pitiful misfortune, pope sixtus, like a man who ever loved men of talent, ordained that a yearly provision should be paid to andrea in assisi during his lifetime by those who managed the revenues there; and this was done until he died at the age of eighty-six. likewise disciples of pietro, and also natives of perugia, were eusebio san giorgio, who painted the panel of the magi in s. agostino; domenico di paris, who made many works in perugia and in the neighbouring townships, being followed by his brother orazio; and also gian niccola, who painted christ in the garden on a panel in s. francesco, the panel of ognissanti in the chapel of the baglioni in s. domenico, and stories of s. john the baptist in fresco in the chapel of the cambio. benedetto caporali, otherwise called bitti, was also a disciple of pietro, and there are many pictures by his hand in his native city of perugia. and he occupied himself so greatly with architecture, that he not only executed many works, but also wrote a commentary on vitruvius in the manner that all can see, for it is printed; in which studies he was followed by his son giulio, a painter of perugia. but not one out of all these disciples ever equalled pietro's diligence, or the grace of colouring that he showed in that manner of his own, which pleased his time so much, that many came from france, from spain, from germany, and from other lands, to learn it. and a trade was done in his works, as has been said, by many who sent them to diverse places, until there came the manner of michelagnolo, which, having shown the true and good path to these arts, has brought them to that perfection which will be seen in the third part, about to follow, wherein we will treat of the excellence and perfection of art, and show to craftsmen that he who labours and studies continuously, and not in the way of fantasy or caprice, leaves true works behind him and acquires fame, wealth, and friends. footnote: [ ] exchange or bank. vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio), and other venetian and lombard painters lives of vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio), and of other venetian and lombard painters it is very well known that when some of our craftsmen make a beginning in some province, they are afterwards followed by many, one after another; and very often there is an infinite number of them at one and the same time, for the reason that rivalry, emulation, and the fact that they have been dependent on others, one on one excellent master, and one on another, bring it about that the craftsmen seek with all the greater effort to surpass one another, to the utmost of their ability. and even when many depend on one, no sooner do they separate, either at the death of their master or for some other reason, than they straightway also separate in aim; whereupon each seeks to prove his own worth, in order to appear better than the rest and a master by himself. of many, then, who flourished almost at one and the same time and in one and the same province, and about whom i have not been able to learn and am not able to write every particular, i will give some brief account, to the end that, now that i find myself at the end of the second part of this my work, i may not omit some who have laboured to leave the world adorned by their works. of these men, i say, besides having been unable to discover their whole history, i have not even been able to find the portraits, excepting that of scarpaccia, whom for this reason i have made head of the others. let my readers therefore accept what i can offer in this connection, seeing that i cannot offer what i would wish. there lived, then, in the march of treviso and in lombardy, during a period of many years, stefano veronese, aldigieri da zevio, jacopo davanzo of bologna, sebeto da verona, jacobello de flore, guerriero da padova, giusto, girolamo campagnola and his son giulio, and vincenzio bresciano; vittore, sebastiano,[ ] and lazzaro[ ] scarpaccia, venetians; vincenzio catena, luigi vivarini, giovan battista da conigliano, marco basarini,[ ] giovanetto cordegliaghi, il bassiti, bartolommeo vivarini, giovanni mansueti, vittore bellini, bartolommeo montagna of vicenza, benedetto diana, and giovanni buonconsigli, with many others, of whom there is no need to make mention here. [illustration: the madonna and child with s. catharine in a rose garden (_after the panel by =stefano da verona (da zevio)=. verona: gallery, _) _brogi_] to begin with the first, i start by saying that stefano veronese, of whom i gave some account in the life of agnolo gaddi, was a painter more than passing good in his day. and when donatello was working in padua, as has been already told in his life, going on one of several occasions to verona, he was struck with marvel at the works of stefano, declaring that the pictures which he had made in fresco were the best that had been wrought in those parts up to that time. the first works of this man were in the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. antonio at verona, at the top of a wall on the left, below the curve of a part of the vaulting; and the subjects were a madonna with the child in her arms, and s. james and s. anthony, one on either side of her. this work is held very beautiful in that city even at the present day, by reason of a certain liveliness that is seen in the said figures, particularly in the heads, which are wrought with much grace. in s. niccolò, a parish church of that city, likewise, he painted a s. nicholas in fresco, which is very beautiful. on the front of a house in the via di s. polo, which leads to the porta del vescovo, he painted the virgin, with certain very beautiful angels and a s. christopher; and over the wall of the church of s. consolata in the via del duomo, in a recess made in the wall, he painted a madonna and certain birds, in particular a peacock, his emblem. in s. eufemia, a convent of the eremite friars of s. augustine, he painted over the side-door a s. augustine with two other saints, and under the mantle of this s. augustine are many friars and nuns of his order; but the most beautiful things in this work are two half-length prophets of the size of life, for the reason that they have the most beautiful and most lifelike heads that stefano ever made; and the colouring of the whole work, having been executed with diligence, has remained beautiful even to our own day, notwithstanding that it has been much exposed to rain, wind, and frost. if this work had been under cover, it would still be as beautiful and fresh as it issued from his hands, for the reason that stefano did not retouch it on the dry, but used diligence in executing it well in fresco; as it is, it has suffered a little. within the church, in the chapel of the sacrament--namely, round the tabernacle--he afterwards painted certain angels flying, some of whom are sounding instruments, some singing, and others burning incense before the sacrament; together with a figure of jesus christ, which he painted at the top as a finish to the tabernacle. below there are other angels, who are supporting him, clothed in white garments reaching to their feet, and ending, as it were, in clouds, which was an idea peculiar to stefano in painting figures of angels, whom he always made most gracious in countenance and very beautiful in expression. in this same work are life-size figures of s. augustine and s. jerome, one on either side; and these are supporting with their hands the church of god, as if to show that both of them defend holy church from heretics with their learning, and support her. on a pilaster of the principal chapel in the same church he painted a s. eufemia in fresco, with a beautiful and gracious expression of countenance; and there he wrote his own name in letters of gold, perchance since it appeared to him to be, as in fact it is, one of the best pictures that he had made; and according to his custom he painted there a very beautiful peacock, and beside it two lion cubs, which are not very beautiful, because at that time he could not see live ones, as he saw the peacock. he also painted for the same place a panel containing, as was the custom in those times, many half-length figures, such as s. niccola da tolentino and others; and he filled the predella with scenes in little figures from the life of that saint. in s. fermo, a church in the same city belonging to the friars of s. francis, he painted, as an ornament for a deposition from the cross on the wall opposite to the side-door of entrance, twelve half-length prophets of the size of life, with adam and eve lying below them, and his usual peacock, which is almost the hall-mark of pictures executed by him. in mantua, at the martello gate of the church of s. domenico, the same stefano painted a most beautiful madonna; the head of which madonna, when they had need to build in that place, those fathers placed with care in the tramezzo[ ] of the church--that is, in the chapel of s. orsola, which belongs to the recuperati family, and contains some pictures in fresco by the hand of the same man. and in the church of s. francesco, on the right hand as one enters by the principal door, there is a row of chapels formerly built by the noble della ramma family, in one of which are seated figures of the four evangelists, painted on the vaulting by the hand of stefano; and behind their shoulders, for a background, he made certain espaliers of roses, with a cane trellis-work in a pattern of mandorle, above which are various trees and other greenery full of birds, particularly of peacocks; and there are also some very beautiful angels. in this same church, on a column on the right hand as one enters, he painted a life-size figure of s. mary magdalene. and in the same city, on the frontal of a door in the street called rompilanza, he painted in fresco a madonna with the child in her arms, and some angels kneeling before her; and the background he made of trees covered with fruit. these, then, are the works that are found to have been executed by stefano, although it may well be believed, since his life was not a short one, that he made many others. but even as i have not been able to discover any more of them, so i have failed to find his surname, his father's name, his portrait, or any other particulars. some declare that before he came to florence he was a disciple of maestro liberale, a painter of verona; but this matters nothing. it is enough that he learnt all that there was of the good in him from agnolo gaddi in florence. [illustration: presentation to the madonna of three knights of the cavalli family (_after the fresco by =aldigieri da zevio [altichiero]=. verona: s. anastasia_) _alinari_] of the same city of verona was aldigieri da zevio, who was very much the friend of the signori della scala, and who, besides many other works, painted the great hall of their palace (which is now the habitation of the podestà), depicting therein the war of jerusalem, according as it is described by josephus. in this work aldigieri showed great spirit and judgment, distributing one scene over the walls of that hall on every side, with a single ornament encircling it right round; on the upper part of which ornament, as it were to set it off, he placed a row of medallions, in which it is believed that there are the portraits from life of many distinguished men of those times, particularly of many of those signori della scala; but, since the truth about this is not known, i will say no more of it. i must say, indeed, that aldigieri showed in this work that he had intelligence, judgment, and invention, seeing that he took into consideration all the things that can be taken into consideration in a serious war. besides this, the colouring has remained very fresh; and among many portraits of men of distinction and learning, there is seen that of messer francesco petrarca. jacopo avanzi, a painter of bologna, shared the work of this hall with aldigieri, and below the aforesaid pictures he painted two most beautiful triumphs, likewise in fresco, with so much art and so good a manner, that girolamo campagnola declares that mantegna used to praise them as pictures of the rarest merit. the same jacopo, together with aldigieri and sebeto da verona, painted the chapel of s. giorgio, which is beside the church of s. antonio, in padua, according to the directions left in the testaments of the marquesses of carrara. jacopo avanzi painted the upper part; below this were certain stories of s. lucia, with a last supper, by aldigieri; and sebeto painted stories of s. john. afterwards these three masters, having all returned to verona, joined together to paint a wedding-feast, with many portraits and costumes of those times, in the house of the counts serenghi. now the work of jacopo avanzi was held to be the best of all; but, since mention has been made of him in the life of niccolò d' arezzo by reason of the works that he made in bologna in competition with the painters simone, cristofano, and galasso, i will say no more about him in this place. a man who was held in esteem at venice about the same time, although he adhered to the greek manner, was jacobello de flore, who made a number of works in that city; in particular, a panel for the nuns of the corpus domini, which stands on the altar of s. domenico in their church. a competitor of this master was giromin morzone, who painted a number of pictures in venice and in many cities of lombardy; but, since he held to the old manner and made all his figures on tiptoe, we will say nothing about him, save that there is a panel by his hand, with many saints, on the altar of the assumption in the church of s. lena. a much better master than morzone was guerriero, a painter of padua, who, besides many other works, painted the principal chapel of the eremite friars of s. augustine in padua, and a chapel for the same friars in the first cloister. he also painted a little chapel in the house of the urban prefect, and the hall of the roman emperors, where the students go to dance at the time of the carnival. he also painted in fresco, in the chapel of the podestà of the same city, some scenes from the old testament. giusto, likewise a painter of padua, painted in the chapel of s. giovanni battista, without the church of the vescovado, not only certain scenes from the old testament and the new, but also the revelations of the apocalypse of s. john the evangelist; and in the upper part he made a paradise containing many choirs of angels and other adornments, wrought with beautiful conceptions. in the church of s. antonio he painted in fresco the chapel of s. luca; and in a chapel in the church of the eremite friars of s. augustine he painted the liberal arts, with the virtues and vices beside them, and likewise those who have been celebrated for their virtues, and those who have fallen by reason of their vices into the extreme of misery and into the lowest depth of hell. there was working in padua, in this man's time, stefano, a painter of ferrara, who, as has been said elsewhere, adorned with various pictures the chapel and the tomb wherein is the body of s. anthony, and also painted the virgin mary that is called the vergine del pilastro. [illustration: vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio): the vision of s. ursula (_venice: accademia, . canvas_)] another man who was held in esteem in the same times was vincenzio, a painter of brescia, according to the account of filarete, as was also girolamo campagnola, another paduan painter, and a disciple of squarcione. then giulio, son of girolamo, made many beautiful works of painting, illumination, and copper-engraving, both in padua and in other places. in the same city of padua many things were wrought by niccolò moreto, who lived eighty years, and never ceased to exercise his art. [illustration: s. george and the dragon (_after the panel by =vittore scarpaccia [carpaccio]=. venice: s. giorgio segli schiavoni_) _anderson_] besides these there were many others, who were connected with gentile and giovanni bellini; but vittore scarpaccia was truly the first among them who made works of importance. his first works were in the scuola of s. orsola, where he painted on canvas the greater part of the stories that are there, representing the life and death of that saint; the labours of which pictures he contrived to carry out so well and with such great diligence and art, that he acquired thereby the name of a very good and practised master. this, so it is said, was the reason that the people of milan caused him to paint a panel in distemper with many figures for the friars minor, in their chapel of s. ambrogio. on the altar of the risen christ in the church of s. antonio he painted the scene of christ appearing to the magdalene and the other maries, in which he made a very beautiful view in perspective of a landscape receding into the distance; and in another chapel he painted the story of the martyrs--that is, their crucifixion--in which work he made more than three hundred figures, what with the large and the small, besides a number of horses and trees, an open heaven, figures both nude and clothed in diverse attitudes, many foreshortenings, and so many other things, that it can be seen that he did not execute it without extraordinary labour. for the altar of the madonna, in the church of s. giobbe in canareio, he painted her presenting the infant christ to simeon, and depicted the madonna herself standing, and simeon in his cope between two ministers clothed as cardinals; behind the virgin are two women, one of whom has two doves, and below are three boys, who are playing on a lute, a serpent, and a lyre, or rather a viol; and the colouring of the whole panel is very charming and beautiful. and, in truth, vittore was a very diligent and practised master, and many pictures by his hand that are in venice, both portraits from life and other kinds, are much esteemed for works wrought in those times. he taught his art to two brothers of his own, who imitated him closely, one being lazzaro, and the other sebastiano; and by their hand is a panel on the altar of the virgin in the church of the nuns of the corpus domini, showing her seated between s. catherine and s. martha, with other female saints, two angels who are sounding instruments, and a very beautiful view of buildings in perspective as a background to the whole work, of which we have the original drawings, by the hand of these men, in our book. another passing good painter in the time of these masters was vincenzio catena, who occupied himself much more with making portraits from the life than with any other sort of painting; and, in truth, some that are to be seen by his hand are marvellous--among others, that of a german of the fugger family, a man of rank and importance, who was then living in the fondaco de' tedeschi at venice, was painted with great vivacity. another man who made many works in venice, about the same time, was a disciple of giovanni bellini, giovan battista da conigliano, by whose hand is a panel on the altar of s. pietro martire in the aforesaid church of the nuns of the corpus domini, containing the said saint, s. nicholas, and s. benedict, with landscapes in perspective, an angel tuning a cithern, and many little figures more than passing good. and if this man had not died young, it may be believed that he would have equalled his master. the name of a master not otherwise than good, likewise, in the same art and at the same time, was enjoyed by marco basarini, who, painting in venice, where he was born from a greek father and mother, executed in s. francesco della vigna a panel with a deposition of christ from the cross, and another panel in the church of s. giobbe, representing christ in the garden, and below him the three apostles, who are sleeping, and s. francis, s. dominic, and two other saints; but what was most praised in this work was a landscape with many little figures wrought with good grace. in that same church the same marco painted s. bernardino on a rock, with other saints. [illustration: vincenzio catena (di biagio): s. jerome in his study (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] giovanetto cordegliaghi made an infinity of devotional pictures in the same city; nay, he scarcely worked at anything else, and, in truth, he had in this sort of painting a very delicate and sweet manner, no little better than that of the aforesaid masters. in s. pantaleone, in a chapel beside the principal one, this man painted s. peter making disputation with two other saints, who are wearing most beautiful draperies, and are wrought with a beautiful manner. [illustration: giovan battista da conigliano (cima): tobit and the angel (detail) (_venice: accademia, . panel transferred to canvas_)] marco bassiti was in good repute almost at the same time, and by his hand is a large panel in the church of the carthusian monks at venice, in which he painted christ between peter and andrew on the sea of tiberias, with the sons of zebedee; making therein an arm of the sea, a mountain, and part of a city, with many persons in the form of little figures. many other works by this man could be enumerated, but let it be enough to have spoken of this one, which is the best. bartolommeo vivarini of murano also acquitted himself very well in the works that he made, as may be seen, besides many other examples, in the panel that he executed for the altar of s. luigi in the church of ss. giovanni e polo; in which panel he portrayed the said s. luigi seated, wearing the cope, with s. gregory, s. sebastian, and s. dominic on one side of him, and on the other side s. nicholas, s. jerome, and s. rocco, and above them half-length figures of other saints. another man who executed his pictures very well, taking much delight in counterfeiting things of nature, figures, and distant landscapes, was giovanni mansueti, who, imitating the works of gentile bellini not a little, made many pictures in venice. at the upper end of the audience chamber of the scuola of s. marco he painted a s. mark preaching on the piazza; in which picture he painted the façade of the church, and, among the multitude of men and women who are listening to the saint, turks, greeks, and the faces of men of diverse nations, with bizarre costumes. in the same place, in another scene wherein he painted s. mark healing a sick man, he made a perspective view of two staircases and many loggie. in another picture, near to that one, he made a s. mark converting an infinite multitude to the faith of christ; in this he made an open temple, with a crucifix on an altar, and throughout the whole work there are diverse persons with a beautiful variety of expression, dress, and features. the work in the same place was continued after him by vittore bellini, who made a view of buildings in perspective, which is passing good, in a scene wherein s. mark is taken prisoner and bound, with a number of figures, in which he imitated his predecessors. after these men came bartolommeo montagna of vicenza, a passing good painter, who lived ever in venice and made many pictures there; and he painted a panel in the church of s. maria d' artone at padua. benedetto diana, likewise, was a painter no less esteemed than the masters mentioned above, as is proved, to say nothing of his other works, by those from his hand that are in s. francesco della vigna at venice, where, for the altar of s. giovanni, he painted that saint standing between two other saints, each of whom has a book in his hand. another man who was accounted a good master was giovanni buonconsigli, who painted a picture in the church of ss. giovanni e polo for the altar of s. tommaso d' aquino, showing that saint surrounded by many figures, to whom he is reading the holy scriptures; and he made therein a perspective view of buildings, which is not otherwise than worthy of praise. there also lived in venice throughout almost the whole course of his life the florentine sculptor, simon bianco, as did tullio lombardo, an excellent master of intaglio. in lombardy, likewise, there were excellent sculptors in bartolommeo clemente of reggio and agostino busto; and, in intaglio, jacopo davanzo of milan, with gasparo and girolamo misceroni. in brescia there was a man who was able and masterly at working in fresco, called vincenzio verchio, who acquired a very great name in his native place by reason of his beautiful works. the same did girolamo romanino, a fine master of design, as is clearly demonstrated by the works made by him in brescia and in the neighbourhood for many miles around. and not inferior to these--nay, even superior--was alessandro moretto, who was very delicate in his colouring, and much the friend of diligence, as the works made by him demonstrate. [illustration: christ on the mount of olives (_after the panel by =marco bassiti [basaiti]=. venice: accademia, _) _anderson_] but to return to verona, in which city there have flourished excellent craftsmen, even as they flourish more than ever to-day; there, in times past, were excellent masters in francesco bonsignori and francesco caroto, and afterwards maestro zeno of verona, who painted the panel of s. marino in rimini, with two others, all with much diligence. but the man who surpassed all others in making certain marvellous figures from life was il moro of verona, or rather, as others called him, francesco turbido, by whose hand is a portrait now in the house of monsignor de' martini at venice, of a gentleman of the house of badovaro, painted in the character of a shepherd; which portrait appears absolutely alive, and can challenge comparison with any of the great number that have been seen in these parts. battista d' angelo, son-in-law of this francesco, is also so lovely in colouring and so masterly in drawing, that he is rather superior than inferior to his father-in-law. but since it is not my intention to speak at present of the living, it must suffice me to have spoken in this place of some with regard to whose lives, as i said at the beginning of this life, i have not been able to discover every particular with equal minuteness, to the end that their talents and merits may receive from me at least all that little which i, who would fain make it much, am able to give them. [illustration: pietÀ (_after the panel by =giovanni buonconsigli=. vincenza: pinacoteca, _) _alinari_] footnote: [ ] it is now generally accepted that these two men are one, under the name of lazzaro bastiani. [ ] this master has been identified with il bassiti, under the name of basaiti. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. jacopo, called l'indaco life of jacopo, called l'indaco painter jacopo, called l'indaco, who was a disciple of domenico del ghirlandajo, and who worked in rome with pinturicchio, was a passing good master in his day; and although he did not make many works, yet those that he did make are worthy of commendation. nor is there any need to marvel that only very few works issued from his hands, for the reason that, being a gay and humorous fellow and a lover of good cheer, he harboured but few thoughts and would never work save when he could not help it; and so he used to say that doing nothing else but labour, without taking a little pleasure in the world, was no life for a christian. he lived in close intimacy with michelagnolo, for when that craftsman, supremely excellent beyond all who have ever lived, wished to have some recreation after his studies and his continuous labours of body and mind, no one was more pleasing to him for the purpose or more suited to his humour than this man. jacopo worked for many years in rome, or, to be more precise, he lived many years in rome, working very little. by his hand, in that city, is the first chapel on the right hand as one enters the church of s. agostino by the door of the façade; on the vaulting of which chapel are the apostles receiving the holy spirit, and on the wall below are two stories of christ--in one his taking peter and andrew from their nets, and in the other the feast of simon and the magdalene, in which there is a ceiling of planks and beams, counterfeited very well. in the panel of the same chapel, which he painted in oil, is a dead christ, wrought and executed with much mastery and diligence. in the trinità at rome, likewise, there is a little panel by his hand with the coronation of our lady. but what need is there to say more about this man? what more, indeed, is there to say? it is enough that he loved gossiping as much as he always hated working and painting. now seeing that, as has been said, michelagnolo used to take pleasure in this man's chattering and in the jokes that he was ever making, he kept him almost always at his table; but one day jacopo wearied him--as such fellows more often than not do come to weary their friends and patrons with their incessant babbling, so often ill-timed and senseless; babbling, i call it, for reasonable talk it cannot be called, since for the most part there is neither reason nor judgment in such people--and michelagnolo, who, perchance, had other thoughts in his mind at the time and wished to get rid of him, sent him to buy some figs; and no sooner had jacopo left the house than michelagnolo bolted the door behind him, determined not to open to him when he came back. l'indaco, then, on returning from the market-square, perceived, after having knocked at the door for a time in vain, that michelagnolo did not intend to open to him; whereupon, flying into a rage, he took the figs and the leaves and spread them all over the threshold of the door. this done, he went his way and for many months refused to speak to michelagnolo; but at last, becoming reconciled with him, he was more his friend than ever. finally, having reached the age of sixty-eight, he died in rome. not unlike jacopo was a younger brother of his, whose proper name was francesco, although he too was afterwards called l'indaco by way of surname; and he, likewise, was a painter, and more than passing good. he was not unlike jacopo--i mean, in his unwillingness to work (to say the least), and in his love of talking--but in one respect he surpassed jacopo, for he was ever speaking evil of everyone and decrying the works of every craftsman. this man, after having wrought certain things in montepulciano both in painting and in clay, painted a little panel for the audience chamber of the company of the nunziata in arezzo, containing an annunciation, and a god the father in heaven surrounded by many angels in the form of children. and in the same city, on the first occasion when duke alessandro went there, he made a most beautiful triumphal arch, with many figures in relief, at the gate of the palazzo de' signori; and also, in competition with other painters who executed a number of other works for the entry of the said duke, the scenery for the representation of a play, which was held to be very beautiful. afterwards, having gone to rome at the time when the emperor charles v was expected there, he made some figures in clay, and a coat of arms in fresco for the roman people on the campidoglio, which was much extolled. but the best work that ever issued from the hands of this master, and the most highly praised, was a little study wrought in stucco for the duchess margherita of austria in the palace of the medici at rome--a thing so beautiful and so ornate that there is nothing better to be seen; nor do i believe that it is possible, in a certain sense, to do with silver what l'indaco did in this work with stucco. from these things it may be judged that if this man had taken pleasure in work and had made use of his intelligence, he would have become excellent. francesco drew passing well, but jacopo much better, as may be seen in our book. luca signorelli of cortona life of luca signorelli of cortona [_luca da cortona_] painter luca signorelli, an excellent painter, of whom, according to the order of time, we have now to speak, was more famous throughout italy in his day, and his works were held in greater price than has ever been the case with any other master at any time whatsoever, for the reason that in the works that he executed in painting he showed the true method of making nudes, and how they can be caused, although only with art and difficulty, to appear alive. he was a pupil and disciple of piero dal borgo a san sepolcro, and greatly did he strive in his youth to imitate his master, and even to surpass him; and the while that he was working with piero at arezzo, living in the house of his uncle lazzaro vasari, as it has been told, he imitated the manner of the said piero so well that the one could scarcely be distinguished from the other. the first works of luca were in s. lorenzo at arezzo, where he painted the chapel of s. barbara in fresco in the year ; and he painted for the company of s. caterina, on cloth and in oil, the banner that is borne in processions, and likewise that of the trinità, although this does not appear to be by the hand of luca, but by piero dal borgo himself. in s. agostino in the same city he painted the panel of s. niccola da tolentino, with most beautiful little scenes, executing the work with good drawing and invention; and in the same place, in the chapel of the sacrament, he made two angels wrought in fresco. in the chapel of the accolti in the church of s. francesco, for messer francesco, doctor of laws, he painted a panel in which he portrayed the said messer francesco with some of his relatives. in this work is a s. michael weighing souls, who is admirable; and in him there is seen the knowledge of luca, both in the splendour of his armour and in the reflected lights, and, in short, throughout the whole work. in his hands he placed a pair of scales, in which are nude figures, very beautifully foreshortened, one going up and the other down; and among other ingenious things that are in this picture is a nude figure most skilfully transformed into a devil, with a lizard licking the blood from a wound in its body. besides this, there is a madonna with the child on her lap, with s. stephen, s. laurence, s. catherine, and two angels, of whom one is playing on a lute and the other on a rebec; and all these figures are draped and adorned so beautifully that it is a marvel. but the most miraculous part of this panel is the predella, which is full of friars of the said s. catherine in the form of little figures. [illustration: luca signorelli: pan (_berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a. canvas_) in perugia, also, he made many works; among others, a panel in the duomo for messer jacopo vannucci of cortona, bishop of that city; in which panel are our lady, s. onofrio, s. ercolano, s. john the baptist, and s. stephen, with a most beautiful angel, who is tuning a lute. at volterra, over the altar of a company in the church of s. francesco, he painted in fresco the circumcision of our lord, which is considered beautiful to a marvel, although the infant, having been injured by damp, was restored by sodoma and made much less beautiful than before. and, in truth, it would be sometimes better to leave works half spoilt, when they have been made by men of excellence, rather than to have them retouched by inferior masters. in s. agostino in the same city he painted a panel in distemper, and the predella of little figures, with stories of the passion of christ; and this is held to be extraordinarily beautiful. at s. maria a monte he painted a dead christ on a panel for the monks of that place; and at città di castello a nativity of christ in s. francesco, with a s. sebastian on another panel in s. domenico. in s. margherita, a seat of the frati del zoccolo in his native city of cortona, he painted a dead christ, one of the rarest of his works; and for the company of the gesù, in the same city, he executed three panels, of which the one that is on the high-altar is marvellous, showing christ administering the sacrament to the apostles, and judas placing the host into his wallet. in the pieve, now called the vescovado, in the chapel of the sacrament, he painted some life-size prophets in fresco; and round the tabernacle are some angels who are opening out a canopy, with s. jerome and s. thomas aquinas at the sides. for the high-altar of the said church he painted a panel with a most beautiful assumption, and he designed the pictures for the principal round window of the same church; which pictures were afterwards executed by stagio sassoli of arezzo. in castiglione aretino he made a dead christ, with the maries, over the chapel of the sacrament; and in s. francesco, at lucignano, he painted the folding-doors of a press, wherein there is a tree of coral surmounted by a cross. at siena, in the chapel of s. cristofano in s. agostino, he painted a panel with some saints, in the midst of whom is a s. cristopher in relief. having gone from siena to florence in order to see both the works of those masters who were then living and those of many already dead, he painted for lorenzo de' medici certain nude gods on a canvas, for which he was much commended, and a picture of our lady with two little prophets in terretta, which is now at castello, a villa of duke cosimo's. these works, both the one and the other, he presented to the said lorenzo, who would never be beaten by any man in liberality and magnificence. he also painted a round picture of our lady, which is in the audience chamber of the captains of the guelph party--a very beautiful work. at chiusuri in the district of siena, the principal seat of the monks of monte oliveto, he painted eleven scenes of the life and acts of s. benedict on one side of the cloister. and from cortona he sent some of his works to montepulciano; to foiano the panel which is on the high-altar of the pieve; and other works to other places in valdichiana. in the madonna, the principal church of orvieto, he finished with his own hand the chapel that fra giovanni da fiesole had formerly begun there; in which chapel he painted all the scenes of the end of the world with bizarre and fantastic invention--angels, demons, ruins, earthquakes, fires, miracles of antichrist, and many other similar things besides, such as nudes, foreshortenings, and many beautiful figures; imagining the terror that there shall be on that last and awful day. by means of this he encouraged all those who have lived after him, insomuch that since then they have found easy the difficulties of that manner; wherefore i do not marvel that the works of luca were ever very highly extolled by michelagnolo, nor that in certain parts of his divine judgment, which he made in the chapel, he should have deigned to avail himself in some measure of the inventions of luca, as he did in the angels, the demons, the division of the heavens, and other things, in which michelagnolo himself imitated luca's method, as all may see. in this work luca portrayed himself and many of his friends; niccolò, paolo, and vitelozzo vitelli, giovan paolo and orazio baglioni, and others whose names are not known. in the sacristy of s. maria at loreto he painted in fresco the four evangelists, the four doctors, and other saints, all very beautiful; and for this work he was liberally rewarded by pope sixtus. it is said that a son of his, most beautiful in countenance and in person, whom he loved dearly, was killed at cortona; and that luca, heart-broken as he was, had him stripped naked, and with the greatest firmness of soul, without lamenting or shedding a tear, portrayed him, to the end that, whenever he might wish, he might be able by means of the work of his own hands to see that which nature had given him and adverse fortune had snatched away. being then summoned by the said pope sixtus to work in the chapel of his palace in competition with many other painters, he painted therein two scenes, which are held the best among so many; one is moses declaring his testament to the jewish people on having seen the promised land, and the other is his death. [illustration: the last judgment (_detail, after the fresco by =luca signorelli=. orvieto: duomo_) _anderson_] finally, having executed works for almost every prince in italy, and being now old, he returned to cortona, where, in those last years of his life, he worked more for pleasure than for any other reason, as one who, being used to labour, neither could nor would stay idle. in this his old age, then, he painted a panel for the nuns of s. margherita at arezzo, and one for the company of s. girolamo, which was paid for in part by messer niccolò gamurrini, doctor of laws and auditor of the ruota,[ ] who is portrayed from life in that panel, kneeling before the madonna, to whom he is being presented by a s. nicholas who is in the same panel; there are also s. donatus and s. stephen, and lower down a nude s. jerome, and a david who is singing to a psaltery; and also two prophets, who, as it appears from the scrolls that they have in their hands, are speaking about the conception. this work was brought from cortona to arezzo on the shoulders of the men of that company; and luca, old as he was, insisted on coming to set it in place, and partly also in order to revisit his friends and relatives. and since he lodged in the house of the vasari, in which i then was, a little boy of eight years old, i remember that the good old man, who was most gracious and courteous, having heard from the master who was teaching me my first letters, that i gave my attention to nothing in lesson-time save to drawing figures, i remember, i say, that he turned to my father antonio and said to him: "antonio, if you wish little giorgio not to become backward, by all means let him learn to draw, for, even were he to devote himself to letters, design cannot be otherwise than helpful, honourable, and advantageous to him, as it is to every gentleman." then, turning to me, who was standing in front of him, he said: "mind your lessons, little kinsman." he said many other things about me, which i withhold, for the reason that i know that i have failed by a great measure to justify the opinion which the good old man had of me. and since he heard, as was true, that the blood used to flow from my nose at that age in such quantities that this left me sometimes half dead, with infinite lovingness he bound a jasper round my neck with his own hand; and this memory of luca will stay for ever fixed in my mind. the said panel set in place, he returned to cortona, accompanied for a great part of the way by many citizens, friends, and relatives, as was due to the excellence of luca, who always lived rather as a noble and a man of rank than as a painter. about the same time a palace had been built for cardinal silvio passerini of cortona, half a mile beyond the city, by benedetto caporali, a painter of perugia, who, delighting in architecture, had written a commentary on vitruvius a short time before; and the said cardinal determined to have almost the whole of it painted. wherefore benedetto, putting his hand to this with the aid of maso papacello of cortona (who was his disciple and had also learnt not a little from giulio romano, as will be told), of tommaso, and of other disciples and lads, did not cease until he had painted it almost all over in fresco. but the cardinal wishing to have some painting by the hand of luca as well, he, old as he was, and hindered by palsy, painted in fresco, on the altar-wall of the chapel of that palace, the scene of s. john the baptist baptizing the saviour; but he was not able to finish it completely, for while still working at it he died, having reached the age of eighty-two. luca was a man of most excellent character, true and loving with his friends, sweet and amiable in his dealings with every man, and, above all, courteous to all who had need of him, and kindly in teaching his disciples. he lived splendidly, and he took delight in clothing himself well. and for these good qualities he was ever held in the highest veneration both in his own country and abroad. and so, with the end of this master's life, which was in , we will bring to an end the second part of these lives; concluding with luca, as the man who, with his profound mastery of design, particularly in nudes, and with his grace in invention and in the composition of scenes, opened to the majority of craftsmen the way to the final perfection of art, to which those men who followed were afterwards enabled to add the crown, of whom we are henceforward to speak. footnote: [ ] a judicial court, the members of which sat in rotation. the third part of the lives of the sculptors, painters, and architects, who have lived from cimabue to our own day. written by messer giorgio vasari, painter and architect of arezzo preface to the third part truly great was the advancement conferred on the arts of architecture, painting, and sculpture by those excellent masters of whom we have written hitherto, in the second part of these lives, for to the achievements of the early masters they added rule, order, proportion, draughtsmanship, and manner; not, indeed, in complete perfection, but with so near an approach to the truth that the masters of the third age, of whom we are henceforward to speak, were enabled, by means of their light, to aspire still higher and attain to that supreme perfection which we see in the most highly prized and most celebrated of our modern works. but to the end that the nature of the improvement brought about by the aforesaid craftsmen may be even more clearly understood, it will certainly not be out of place to explain in a few words the five additions that i have named, and to give a succinct account of the origin of that true excellence which, having surpassed the age of the ancients, makes the modern so glorious. rule, then, in architecture, was the process of taking measurements from antiquities and studying the ground-plans of ancient edifices for the construction of modern buildings. order was the separating of one style from another, so that each body should receive its proper members, with no more interchanging between doric, ionic, corinthian, and tuscan. proportion was the universal law applying both to architecture and to sculpture, that all bodies should be made correct and true, with the members in proper harmony; and so, also, in painting. draughtsmanship was the imitation of the most beautiful parts of nature in all figures, whether in sculpture or in painting; and for this it is necessary to have a hand and a brain able to reproduce with absolute accuracy and precision, on a level surface--whether by drawing on paper, or on panel, or on some other level surface--everything that the eye sees; and the same is true of relief in sculpture. manner then attained to the greatest beauty from the practice which arose of constantly copying the most beautiful objects, and joining together these most beautiful things, hands, heads, bodies, and legs, so as to make a figure of the greatest possible beauty. this practice was carried out in every work for all figures, and for that reason it is called the beautiful manner. these things had not been done by giotto or by the other early craftsmen, although they had discovered the rudiments of all these difficulties, and had touched them on the surface; as in their drawing, which was sounder and more true to nature than it had been before, and likewise in harmony of colouring and in the grouping of figures in scenes, and in many other respects of which enough has been said. now although the masters of the second age improved our arts greatly with regard to all the qualities mentioned above, yet these were not made by them so perfect as to succeed in attaining to complete perfection, for there was wanting in their rule a certain freedom which, without being of the rule, might be directed by the rule and might be able to exist without causing confusion or spoiling the order; which order had need of an invention abundant in every respect, and of a certain beauty maintained in every least detail, so as to reveal all that order with more adornment. in proportion there was wanting a certain correctness of judgment, by means of which their figures, without having been measured, might have, in due relation to their dimensions, a grace exceeding measurement. in their drawing there was not the perfection of finish, because, although they made an arm round and a leg straight, the muscles in these were not revealed with that sweet and facile grace which hovers midway between the seen and the unseen, as is the case with the flesh of living figures; nay, they were crude and excoriated, which made them displeasing to the eye and gave hardness to the manner. this last was wanting in the delicacy that comes from making all figures light and graceful, particularly those of women and children, with the limbs true to nature, as in the case of men, but veiled with a plumpness and fleshiness that should not be awkward, as they are in nature, but refined by draughtsmanship and judgment. they also lacked our abundance of beautiful costumes, our great number and variety of bizarre fancies, loveliness of colouring, wide knowledge of buildings, and distance and variety in landscapes. and although many of them, such as andrea verrocchio and antonio del pollaiuolo, and many others more modern, began to seek to make their figures with more study, so as to reveal in them better draughtsmanship, with a degree of imitation more correct and truer to nature, nevertheless the whole was not yet there, even though they had one very certain assurance--namely, that they were advancing towards the good, and their figures were thus approved according to the standard of the works of the ancients, as was seen when andrea verrocchio restored in marble the legs and arms of the marsyas in the house of the medici in florence. but they lacked a certain finish and finality of perfection in the feet, hands, hair, and beards, although the limbs as a whole are in accordance with the antique and have a certain correct harmony in the proportions. now if they had had that minuteness of finish which is the perfection and bloom of art, they would also have had a resolute boldness in their works; and from this there would have followed delicacy, refinement, and supreme grace, which are the qualities produced by the perfection of art in beautiful figures, whether in relief or in painting; but these qualities they did not have, although they give proof of diligent striving. that finish, and that certain something that they lacked, they could not achieve so readily, seeing that study, when it is used in that way to obtain finish, gives dryness to the manner. after them, indeed, their successors were enabled to attain to it through seeing excavated out of the earth certain antiquities cited by pliny as amongst the most famous, such as the laocoon, the hercules, the great torso of the belvedere, and likewise the venus, the cleopatra, the apollo, and an endless number of others, which, both with their sweetness and their severity, with their fleshy roundness copied from the greatest beauties of nature, and with certain attitudes which involve no distortion of the whole figure but only a movement of certain parts, and are revealed with a most perfect grace, brought about the disappearance of a certain dryness, hardness, and sharpness of manner, which had been left to our art by the excessive study of piero della francesca, lazzaro vasari, alesso baldovinetti, andrea dal castagno, pesello, ercole ferrarese, giovanni bellini, cosimo rosselli, the abbot of s. clemente, domenico del ghirlandajo, sandro botticelli, andrea mantegna, filippo, and luca signorelli. these masters sought with great efforts to do the impossible in art by means of labour, particularly in foreshortenings and in things unpleasant to the eye, which were as painful to see as they were difficult for them to execute. and although their works were for the most part well drawn and free from errors, yet there was wanting a certain resolute spirit which was never seen in them, and that sweet harmony of colouring which the bolognese francia and pietro perugino first began to show in their works; at the sight of which people ran like madmen to this new and more lifelike beauty, for it seemed to them quite certain that nothing better could ever be done. but their error was afterwards clearly proved by the works of leonardo da vinci, who, giving a beginning to that third manner which we propose to call the modern--besides the force and boldness of his drawing, and the extreme subtlety wherewith he counterfeited all the minutenesses of nature exactly as they are--with good rule, better order, right proportion, perfect drawing, and divine grace, abounding in resources and having a most profound knowledge of art, may be truly said to have endowed his figures with motion and breath. there followed after him, although at some distance, giorgione da castelfranco, who obtained a beautiful gradation of colour in his pictures, and gave a sublime movement to his works by means of a certain darkness of shadow, very well conceived; and not inferior to him in giving force, relief, sweetness, and grace to his pictures, with his colouring, was fra bartolommeo di san marco. but more than all did the most gracious raffaello da urbino, who, studying the labours of the old masters and those of the modern, took the best from them, and, having gathered it together, enriched the art of painting with that complete perfection which was shown in ancient times by the figures of apelles and zeuxis; nay, even more, if we may make bold to say it, as might be proved if we could compare their works with his. wherefore nature was left vanquished by his colours; and his invention was facile and peculiar to himself, as may be perceived by all who see his painted stories, which are as vivid as writings, for in them he showed us places and buildings true to reality, and the features and costumes both of our own people and of strangers, according to his pleasure; not to mention his gift of imparting grace to the heads of young men, old men, and women, reserving modesty for the modest, wantonness for the wanton, and for children now mischief in their eyes, now playfulness in their attitudes; and the folds of his draperies, also, are neither too simple nor too intricate, but of such a kind that they appear real. in the same manner, but sweeter in colouring and not so bold, there followed andrea del sarto, who may be called a rare painter, for his works are free from errors. nor is it possible to describe the charming vivacity seen in the works of antonio da correggio, who painted hair in detail, not in the precise manner used by the masters before him, which was constrained, sharp, and dry, but soft and feathery, with each single hair visible, such was his facility in making them; and they seemed like gold and more beautiful than real hair, which is surpassed by that which he painted. the same did francesco mazzuoli of parma, who excelled him in many respects in grace, adornment, and beauty of manner, as may be seen in many of his pictures, which smile on whoever beholds them; and even as there is a perfect illusion of sight in the eyes, so there is perceived the beating of the pulse, according as it best pleased his brush. but whosoever shall consider the mural paintings of polidoro and maturino, will see figures in attitudes that seem beyond the bounds of possibility, and he will wonder with amazement how it can be possible, not to describe with the tongue, which is easy, but to express with the brush the tremendous conceptions which they put into execution with such mastery and dexterity, in representing the deeds of the romans exactly as they were. and how many there are who, having given life to their figures with their colours, are now dead, such as il rosso, fra sebastiano, giulio romano, and perino del vaga! for of the living, who are known to all through their own efforts, there is no need to speak here. but what most concerns the whole world of art is that they have now brought it to such perfection, and made it so easy for him who possesses draughtsmanship, invention, and colouring, that, whereas those early masters took six years to paint one panel, our modern masters can paint six in one year, as i can testify with the greatest confidence both from seeing and from doing; and our pictures are clearly much more highly finished and perfect than those executed in former times by masters of account. but he who bears the palm from both the living and the dead, transcending and eclipsing all others, is the divine michelagnolo buonarroti, who holds the sovereignty not merely of one of these arts, but of all three together. this master surpasses and excels not only all those moderns who have almost vanquished nature, but even those most famous ancients who without a doubt did so gloriously surpass her; and in his own self he triumphs over moderns, ancients, and nature, who could scarcely conceive anything so strange and so difficult that he would not be able, by the force of his most divine intellect and by means of his industry, draughtsmanship, art, judgment, and grace, to excel it by a great measure; and that not only in painting and in the use of colour, under which title are comprised all forms, and all bodies upright or not upright, palpable or impalpable, visible or invisible, but also in the highest perfection of bodies in the round, with the point of his chisel. and from a plant so beautiful and so fruitful, through his labours, there have already spread branches so many and so noble, that, besides having filled the world in such unwonted profusion with the most luscious fruits, they have also given the final form to these three most noble arts. and so great and so marvellous is his perfection, that it may be safely and surely said that his statues are in all their parts much more beautiful than the ancient; for if we compare the heads, hands, arms, and feet shaped by the one with those of the others, we see in his a greater depth and solidity, a grace more completely graceful, and a much more absolute perfection, accomplished with a manner so facile in the overcoming of difficulties, that it is not possible ever to see anything better. and the same may be believed of his pictures, which; if we chanced to have some by the most famous greeks and romans, so that we might compare them face to face, would prove to be as much higher in value and more noble as his sculptures are clearly superior to all those of the ancients. but if we admire so greatly those most famous masters who, spurred by such extraordinary rewards and by such good-fortune, gave life to their works, how much more should we not celebrate and exalt to the heavens those rare intellects who, not only without reward, but in miserable poverty, bring forth fruits so precious? we must believe and declare, then, that if, in this our age, there were a due meed of remuneration, there would be without a doubt works greater and much better than were ever wrought by the ancients. but the fact that they have to grapple more with famine than with fame, keeps our hapless intellects submerged, and, to the shame and disgrace of those who could raise them up but give no thought to it, prevents them from becoming known. and let this be enough to have said on this subject; for it is now time to return to the lives, and to treat in detail of all those who have executed famous works in this third manner, the creator of which was leonardo da vinci, with whom we will now begin. leonardo da vinci life of leonardo da vinci[ ] painter and sculptor of florence the greatest gifts are often seen, in the course of nature, rained by celestial influences on human creatures; and sometimes, in supernatural fashion, beauty, grace, and talent are united beyond measure in one single person, in a manner that to whatever such an one turns his attention, his every action is so divine, that, surpassing all other men, it makes itself clearly known as a thing bestowed by god (as it is), and not acquired by human art. this was seen by all mankind in leonardo da vinci, in whom, besides a beauty of body never sufficiently extolled, there was an infinite grace in all his actions; and so great was his genius, and such its growth, that to whatever difficulties he turned his mind, he solved them with ease. in him was great bodily strength, joined to dexterity, with a spirit and courage ever royal and magnanimous; and the fame of his name so increased, that not only in his lifetime was he held in esteem, but his reputation became even greater among posterity after his death. truly marvellous and celestial was leonardo, the son of ser piero da vinci; and in learning and in the rudiments of letters he would have made great proficience, if he had not been so variable and unstable, for he set himself to learn many things, and then, after having begun them, abandoned them. thus, in arithmetic, during the few months that he studied it, he made so much progress, that, by continually suggesting doubts and difficulties to the master who was teaching him, he would very often bewilder him. he gave some little attention to music, and quickly resolved to learn to play the lyre, as one who had by nature a spirit most lofty and full of refinement: wherefore he sang divinely to that instrument, improvising upon it. nevertheless, although he occupied himself with such a variety of things, he never ceased drawing and working in relief, pursuits which suited his fancy more than any other. ser piero, having observed this, and having considered the loftiness of his intellect, one day took some of his drawings and carried them to andrea del verrocchio, who was much his friend, and besought him straitly to tell him whether leonardo, by devoting himself to drawing, would make any proficience. andrea was astonished to see the extraordinary beginnings of leonardo, and urged ser piero that he should make him study it; wherefore he arranged with leonardo that he should enter the workshop of andrea, which leonardo did with the greatest willingness in the world. and he practised not one branch of art only, but all those in which drawing played a part; and having an intellect so divine and marvellous that he was also an excellent geometrician, he not only worked in sculpture, making in his youth, in clay, some heads of women that are smiling, of which plaster casts are still taken, and likewise some heads of boys which appeared to have issued from the hand of a master; but in architecture, also, he made many drawings both of ground-plans and of other designs of buildings; and he was the first, although but a youth, who suggested the plan of reducing the river arno to a navigable canal from pisa to florence. he made designs of flour-mills, fulling-mills, and engines, which might be driven by the force of water: and since he wished that his profession should be painting, he studied much in drawing after nature, and sometimes in making models of figures in clay, over which he would lay soft pieces of cloth dipped in clay, and then set himself patiently to draw them on a certain kind of very fine rheims cloth, or prepared linen: and he executed them in black and white with the point of his brush, so that it was a marvel, as some of them by his hand, which i have in our book of drawings, still bear witness; besides which, he drew on paper with such diligence and so well, that there is no one who has ever equalled him in perfection of finish; and i have one, a head drawn with the style in chiaroscuro, which is divine. and there was infused in that brain such grace from god, and a power of expression in such sublime accord with the intellect and memory that served it, and he knew so well how to express his conceptions by draughtsmanship, that he vanquished with his discourse, and confuted with his reasoning, every valiant wit. and he was continually making models and designs to show men how to remove mountains with ease, and how to bore them in order to pass from one level to another; and by means of levers, windlasses, and screws, he showed the way to raise and draw great weights, together with methods for emptying harbours, and pumps for removing water from low places, things which his brain never ceased from devising; and of these ideas and labours many drawings may be seen, scattered abroad among our craftsmen; and i myself have seen not a few. he even went so far as to waste his time in drawing knots of cords, made according to an order, that from one end all the rest might follow till the other, so as to fill a round; and one of these is to be seen in stamp, most difficult and beautiful, and in the middle of it are these words, "leonardus vinci accademia." and among these models and designs, there was one by which he often demonstrated to many ingenious citizens, who were then governing florence, how he proposed to raise the temple of s. giovanni in florence, and place steps under it, without damaging the building; and with such strong reasons did he urge this, that it appeared possible, although each man, after he had departed, would recognize for himself the impossibility of so vast an undertaking. he was so pleasing in conversation, that he attracted to himself the hearts of men. and although he possessed, one might say, nothing, and worked little, he always kept servants and horses, in which latter he took much delight, and particularly in all other animals, which he managed with the greatest love and patience; and this he showed when often passing by the places where birds were sold, for, taking them with his own hand out of their cages, and having paid to those who sold them the price that was asked, he let them fly away into the air, restoring to them their lost liberty. for which reason nature was pleased so to favour him, that, wherever he turned his thought, brain, and mind, he displayed such divine power in his works, that, in giving them their perfection, no one was ever his peer in readiness, vivacity, excellence, beauty, and grace. it is clear that leonardo, through his comprehension of art, began many things and never finished one of them, since it seemed to him that the hand was not able to attain to the perfection of art in carrying out the things which he imagined; for the reason that he conceived in idea difficulties so subtle and so marvellous, that they could never be expressed by the hands, be they ever so excellent. and so many were his caprices, that, philosophizing of natural things, he set himself to seek out the properties of herbs, going on even to observe the motions of the heavens, the path of the moon, and the courses of the sun. he was placed, then, as has been said, in his boyhood, at the instance of ser piero, to learn art with andrea del verrocchio, who was making a panel-picture of s. john baptizing christ, when leonardo painted an angel who was holding some garments; and although he was but a lad, leonardo executed it in such a manner that his angel was much better than the figures of andrea; which was the reason that andrea would never again touch colour, in disdain that a child should know more than he. [illustration: andrea verrocchio: the baptism in jordan (_florence: accademia, . panel_)] he was commissioned to make a cartoon for a door-hanging that was to be executed in flanders, woven in gold and silk, to be sent to the king of portugal, of adam and eve sinning in the earthly paradise; wherein leonardo drew with the brush in chiaroscuro, with the lights in lead-white, a meadow of infinite kinds of herbage, with some animals, of which, in truth, it may be said that for diligence and truth to nature divine wit could not make it so perfect. in it is the fig-tree, together with the foreshortening of the leaves and the varying aspects of the branches, wrought with such lovingness that the brain reels at the mere thought how a man could have such patience. there is also a palm-tree which has the radiating crown of the palm, executed with such great and marvellous art that nothing save the patience and intellect of leonardo could avail to do it. this work was carried no farther; wherefore the cartoon is now at florence, in the blessed house of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, presented to him not long ago by the uncle of leonardo. it is said that ser piero da vinci, being at his villa, was besought as a favour, by a peasant of his, who had made a buckler with his own hands out of a fig-tree that he had cut down on the farm, to have it painted for him in florence, which he did very willingly, since the countryman was very skilful at catching birds and fishing, and ser piero made much use of him in these pursuits. thereupon, having had it taken to florence, without saying a word to leonardo as to whose it was, he asked him to paint something upon it. leonardo, having one day taken this buckler in his hands, and seeing it twisted, badly made, and clumsy, straightened it by the fire, and, having given it to a turner, from the rude and clumsy thing that it was, caused it to be made smooth and even. and afterwards, having given it a coat of gesso, and having prepared it in his own way, he began to think what he could paint upon it, that might be able to terrify all who should come upon it, producing the same effect as once did the head of medusa. for this purpose, then, leonardo carried to a room of his own into which no one entered save himself alone, lizards great and small, crickets, serpents, butterflies, grasshoppers, bats, and other strange kinds of suchlike animals, out of the number of which, variously put together, he formed a great ugly creature, most horrible and terrifying, which emitted a poisonous breath and turned the air to flame; and he made it coming out of a dark and jagged rock, belching forth venom from its open throat, fire from its eyes, and smoke from its nostrils, in so strange a fashion that it appeared altogether a monstrous and horrible thing; and so long did he labour over making it, that the stench of the dead animals in that room was past bearing, but leonardo did not notice it, so great was the love that he bore towards art. the work being finished, although it was no longer asked for either by the countryman or by his father, leonardo told the latter that he might send for the buckler at his convenience, since, for his part, it was finished. ser piero having therefore gone one morning to the room for the buckler, and having knocked at the door, leonardo opened to him, telling him to wait a little; and, having gone back into the room, he adjusted the buckler in a good light on the easel, and put to the window, in order to make a soft light, and then he bade him come in to see it. ser piero, at the first glance, taken by surprise, gave a sudden start, not thinking that that was the buckler, nor merely painted the form that he saw upon it, and, falling back a step, leonardo checked him, saying, "this work serves the end for which it was made; take it, then, and carry it away, since this is the effect that it was meant to produce." this thing appeared to ser piero nothing short of a miracle, and he praised very greatly the ingenious idea of leonardo; and then, having privately bought from a pedlar another buckler, painted with a heart transfixed by an arrow, he presented it to the countryman, who remained obliged to him for it as long as he lived. afterwards, ser piero sold the buckler of leonardo secretly to some merchants in florence, for a hundred ducats; and in a short time it came into the hands of the duke of milan, having been sold to him by the said merchants for three hundred ducats. leonardo then made a picture of our lady, a most excellent work, which was in the possession of pope clement vii; and, among other things painted therein, he counterfeited a glass vase full of water, containing some flowers, in which, besides its marvellous naturalness, he had imitated the dew-drops on the flowers, so that it seemed more real than the reality. for antonio segni, who was very much his friend, he made, on a sheet of paper, a neptune executed with such careful draughtsmanship that it seemed absolutely alive. in it one saw the ocean troubled, and neptune's car drawn by sea-horses, with fantastic creatures, marine monsters and winds, and some very beautiful heads of sea-gods. this drawing was presented by fabio, the son of antonio, to messer giovanni gaddi, with this epigram: pinxit virgilius neptunum, pinxit homerus, dum maris undisoni per vada flectit equos. mente quidem vates illum conspexit uterque, vincius ast oculis; jureque vincit eos. [illustration: the adoration of the magi (_after the panel by =leonardo da vinci=. florence: uffizi, _) _anderson_] the fancy came to him to paint a picture in oils of the head of a medusa, with the head attired with a coil of snakes, the most strange and extravagant invention that could ever be imagined; but since it was a work that took time, it remained unfinished, as happened with almost all his things. it is among the rare works of art in the palace of duke cosimo, together with the head of an angel, who is raising one arm in the air, which, coming forward, is foreshortened from the shoulder to the elbow, and with the other he raises the hand to the breast. it is an extraordinary thing how that genius, in his desire to give the highest relief to the works that he made, went so far with dark shadows, in order to find the darkest possible grounds, that he sought for blacks which might make deeper shadows and be darker than other blacks, that by their means he might make his lights the brighter; and in the end this method turned out so dark, that, no light remaining there, his pictures had rather the character of things made to represent an effect of night, than the clear quality of daylight; which all came from seeking to give greater relief, and to achieve the final perfection of art. he was so delighted when he saw certain bizarre heads of men, with the beard or hair growing naturally, that he would follow one that pleased him a whole day, and so treasured him up in idea, that afterwards, on arriving home, he drew him as if he had had him in his presence. of this sort there are many heads to be seen, both of women and of men, and i have several of them, drawn by his hand with the pen, in our book of drawings, which i have mentioned so many times; such was that of amerigo vespucci, which is a very beautiful head of an old man drawn with charcoal, and likewise that of scaramuccia, captain of the gypsies, which afterwards came into the hands of m. donato valdambrini of arezzo, canon of s. lorenzo, left to him by giambullari. he began a panel-picture of the adoration of the magi, containing many beautiful things, particularly the heads, which was in the house of amerigo benci, opposite the loggia de' peruzzi; and this, also, remained unfinished, like his other works. it came to pass that giovan galeazzo, duke of milan, being dead, and lodovico sforza raised to the same rank, in the year , leonardo was summoned to milan in great repute to the duke, who took much delight in the sound of the lyre, to the end that he might play it: and leonardo took with him that instrument which he had made with his own hands, in great part of silver, in the form of a horse's skull--a thing bizarre and new--in order that the harmony might be of greater volume and more sonorous in tone; with which he surpassed all the musicians who had come together there to play. besides this, he was the best improviser in verse of his day. the duke, hearing the marvellous discourse of leonardo, became so enamoured of his genius, that it was something incredible: and he prevailed upon him by entreaties to paint an altar-panel containing a nativity, which was sent by the duke to the emperor. he also painted in milan, for the friars of s. dominic, at s. maria delle grazie, a last supper, a most beautiful and marvellous thing; and to the heads of the apostles he gave such majesty and beauty, that he left the head of christ unfinished, not believing that he was able to give it that divine air which is essential to the image of christ. this work, remaining thus all but finished, has ever been held by the milanese in the greatest veneration, and also by strangers as well; for leonardo imagined and succeeded in expressing that anxiety which had seized the apostles in wishing to know who should betray their master. for which reason in all their faces are seen love, fear, and wrath, or rather, sorrow, at not being able to understand the meaning of christ; which thing excites no less marvel than the sight, in contrast to it, of obstinacy, hatred, and treachery in judas; not to mention that every least part of the work displays an incredible diligence, seeing that even in the tablecloth the texture of the stuff is counterfeited in such a manner that linen itself could not seem more real. [illustration: the last supper (_after the oil fresco by =leonardo da vinci=. milan: s. maria delle grazie_) _m.s._] it is said that the prior of that place kept pressing leonardo, in a most importunate manner, to finish the work; for it seemed strange to him to see leonardo sometimes stand half a day at a time, lost in contemplation, and he would have liked him to go on like the labourers hoeing in his garden, without ever stopping his brush. and not content with this, he complained of it to the duke, and that so warmly, that he was constrained to send for leonardo and delicately urged him to work, contriving nevertheless to show him that he was doing all this because of the importunity of the prior. leonardo, knowing that the intellect of that prince was acute and discerning, was pleased to discourse at large with the duke on the subject, a thing which he had never done with the prior: and he reasoned much with him about art, and made him understand that men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work the least, seeking out inventions with the mind, and forming those perfect ideas which the hands afterwards express and reproduce from the images already conceived in the brain. and he added that two heads were still wanting for him to paint; that of christ, which he did not wish to seek on earth; and he could not think that it was possible to conceive in the imagination that beauty and heavenly grace which should be the mark of god incarnate. next, there was wanting that of judas, which was also troubling him, not thinking himself capable of imagining features that should represent the countenance of him who, after so many benefits received, had a mind so cruel as to resolve to betray his lord, the creator of the world. however, he would seek out a model for the latter; but if in the end he could not find a better, he should not want that of the importunate and tactless prior. this thing moved the duke wondrously to laughter, and he said that leonardo had a thousand reasons on his side. and so the poor prior, in confusion, confined himself to urging on the work in the garden, and left leonardo in peace, who finished only the head of judas, which seems the very embodiment of treachery and inhumanity; but that of christ, as has been said, remained unfinished. the nobility of this picture, both because of its design, and from its having been wrought with an incomparable diligence, awoke a desire in the king of france to transport it into his kingdom; wherefore he tried by all possible means to discover whether there were architects who, with cross-stays of wood and iron, might have been able to make it so secure that it might be transported safely; without considering any expense that might have been involved thereby, so much did he desire it. but the fact of its being painted on the wall robbed his majesty of his desire; and the picture remained with the milanese. in the same refectory, while he was working at the last supper, on the end wall where is a passion in the old manner, leonardo portrayed the said lodovico, with massimiliano, his eldest son; and, on the other side, the duchess beatrice, with francesco, their other son, both of whom afterwards became dukes of milan; and all are portrayed divinely well. while he was engaged on this work, he proposed to the duke to make a horse in bronze, of a marvellous greatness, in order to place upon it, as a memorial, the image of the duke. and on so vast a scale did he begin it and continue it, that it could never be completed. and there are those who have been of the opinion (so various and so often malign out of envy are the judgments of men) that he began it with no intention of finishing it, because, being of so great a size, an incredible difficulty was encountered in seeking to cast it in one piece; and it might also be believed that, from the result, many may have formed such a judgment, since many of his works have remained unfinished. but, in truth, one can believe that his vast and most excellent mind was hampered through being too full of desire, and that his wish ever to seek out excellence upon excellence, and perfection upon perfection, was the reason of it. "tal che l' opera fosse ritardata dal desio," as our petrarca has said. and, indeed, those who saw the great model that leonardo made in clay vow that they have never seen a more beautiful thing, or a more superb; and it was preserved until the french came to milan with king louis of france, and broke it all to pieces. lost, also, is a little model of it in wax, which was held to be perfect, together with a book on the anatomy of the horse made by him by way of study. [illustration: the madonna and child with s. anne (_after the cartoon by =leonardo da vinci=. london: burlington house_) _vasari society_] he then applied himself, but with greater care, to the anatomy of man, assisted by and in turn assisting, in this research, messer marc' antonio della torre, an excellent philosopher, who was then lecturing at pavia, and who wrote of this matter; and he was one of the first (as i have heard tell) that began to illustrate the problems of medicine with the doctrine of galen, and to throw true light on anatomy, which up to that time had been wrapped in the thick and gross darkness of ignorance. and in this he found marvellous aid in the brain, work, and hand of leonardo, who made a book drawn in red chalk, and annotated with the pen, of the bodies that he dissected with his own hand, and drew with the greatest diligence; wherein he showed all the frame of the bones; and then added to them, in order, all the nerves, and covered them with muscles; the first attached to the bone, the second that hold the body firm, and the third that move it; and beside them, part by part, he wrote in letters of an ill-shaped character, which he made with the left hand, backwards; and whoever is not practised in reading them cannot understand them, since they are not to be read save with a mirror. of these papers on the anatomy of man, a great part is in the hands of messer francesco da melzo, a gentleman of milan, who in the time of leonardo was a very beautiful boy, and much beloved by him, and now is a no less beautiful and gentle old man; and he holds them dear, and keeps such papers together as if they were relics, in company with the portrait of leonardo of happy memory; and to all who read these writings, it seems impossible that that divine spirit should have discoursed so well of art, and of the muscles, nerves, and veins, and with such diligence of everything. so, also, there are in the hands of ----,[ ] a painter of milan, certain writings of leonardo, likewise in characters written with the left hand, backwards, which treat of painting, and of the methods of drawing and colouring. this man, not long ago, came to florence to see me, wishing to print this work, and he took it to rome, in order to put it into effect; but i do not know what may afterwards have become of it. and to return to the works of leonardo; there came to milan, in his time, the king of france, wherefore leonardo being asked to devise some bizarre thing, made a lion which walked several steps and then opened its breast, and showed it full of lilies. in milan he took for his assistant the milanese salai, who was most comely in grace and beauty, having fine locks, curling in ringlets, in which leonardo greatly delighted; and he taught him many things of art; and certain works in milan, which are said to be by salai, were retouched by leonardo. he returned to florence, where he found that the servite friars had entrusted to filippino the painting of the panel for the high-altar of the nunziata; whereupon leonardo said that he would willingly have done such a work. filippino, having heard this, like the amiable fellow that he was, retired from the undertaking; and the friars, to the end that leonardo might paint it, took him into their house, meeting the expenses both of himself and of all his household; and thus he kept them in expectation for a long time, but never began anything. in the end, he made a cartoon containing a madonna and a s. anne, with a christ, which not only caused all the craftsmen to marvel, but, when it was finished, men and women, young and old, continued for two days to flock for a sight of it to the room where it was, as if to a solemn festival, in order to gaze at the marvels of leonardo, which caused all those people to be amazed; for in the face of that madonna was seen whatever of the simple and the beautiful can by simplicity and beauty confer grace on a picture of the mother of christ, since he wished to show that modesty and that humility which are looked for in an image of the virgin, supremely content with gladness at seeing the beauty of her son, whom she was holding with tenderness in her lap, while with most chastened gaze she was looking down at s. john, as a little boy, who was playing with a lamb; not without a smile from s. anne, who, overflowing with joy, was beholding her earthly progeny become divine--ideas truly worthy of the brain and genius of leonardo. this cartoon, as will be told below, afterwards went to france. he made a portrait of ginevra d' amerigo benci, a very beautiful work; and abandoned the work for the friars, who restored it to filippino; but he, also, failed to finish it, having been overtaken by death. leonardo undertook to execute, for francesco del giocondo, the portrait of monna lisa, his wife; and after toiling over it for four years, he left it unfinished; and the work is now in the collection of king francis of france, at fontainebleau. in this head, whoever wished to see how closely art could imitate nature, was able to comprehend it with ease; for in it were counterfeited all the minutenesses that with subtlety are able to be painted, seeing that the eyes had that lustre and watery sheen which are always seen in life, and around them were all those rosy and pearly tints, as well as the lashes, which cannot be represented without the greatest subtlety. the eyebrows, through his having shown the manner in which the hairs spring from the flesh, here more close and here more scanty, and curve according to the pores of the skin, could not be more natural. the nose, with its beautiful nostrils, rosy and tender, appeared to be alive. the mouth, with its opening, and with its ends united by the red of the lips to the flesh-tints of the face, seemed, in truth, to be not colours but flesh. in the pit of the throat, if one gazed upon it intently, could be seen the beating of the pulse. and, indeed, it may be said that it was painted in such a manner as to make every valiant craftsman, be he who he may, tremble and lose heart. he made use, also, of this device: monna lisa being very beautiful, he always employed, while he was painting her portrait, persons to play or sing, and jesters, who might make her remain merry, in order to take away that melancholy which painters are often wont to give to the portraits that they paint. and in this work of leonardo's there was a smile so pleasing, that it was a thing more divine than human to behold; and it was held to be something marvellous, since the reality was not more alive. by reason, then, of the excellence of the works of this most divine craftsman, his fame had so increased that all persons who took delight in art--nay, the whole city of florence--desired that he should leave them some memorial, and it was being proposed everywhere that he should be commissioned to execute some great and notable work, whereby the commonwealth might be honoured and adorned by the great genius, grace and judgment that were seen in the works of leonardo. and it was decided between the gonfalonier and the chief citizens, the great council chamber having been newly built--the architecture of which had been contrived with the judgment and counsel of giuliano da san gallo, simone pollaiuolo, called il cronaca, michelagnolo buonarroti, and baccio d' agnolo, as will be related with more detail in the proper places--and having been finished in great haste, it was ordained by public decree that leonardo should be given some beautiful work to paint; and so the said hall was allotted to him by piero soderini, then gonfalonier of justice. whereupon leonardo, determining to execute this work, began a cartoon in the sala del papa, an apartment in s. maria novella, representing the story of niccolò piccinino, captain of duke filippo of milan; wherein he designed a group of horsemen who were fighting for a standard, a work that was held to be very excellent and of great mastery, by reason of the marvellous ideas that he had in composing that battle; seeing that in it rage, fury, and revenge are perceived as much in the men as in the horses, among which two with the fore-legs interlocked are fighting no less fiercely with their teeth than those who are riding them do in fighting for that standard, which has been grasped by a soldier, who seeks by the strength of his shoulders, as he spurs his horse to flight, having turned his body backwards and seized the staff of the standard, to wrest it by force from the hands of four others, of whom two are defending it, each with one hand, and, raising their swords in the other, are trying to sever the staff; while an old soldier in a red cap, crying out, grips the staff with one hand, and, raising a scimitar with the other, furiously aims a blow in order to cut off both the hands of those who, gnashing their teeth in the struggle, are striving in attitudes of the utmost fierceness to defend their banner; besides which, on the ground, between the legs of the horses, there are two figures in foreshortening that are fighting together, and the one on the ground has over him a soldier who has raised his arm as high as possible, that thus with greater force he may plunge a dagger into his throat, in order to end his life; while the other, struggling with his legs and arms, is doing what he can to escape death. it is not possible to describe the invention that leonardo showed in the garments of the soldiers, all varied by him in different ways, and likewise in the helmet-crests and other ornaments; not to mention the incredible mastery that he displayed in the forms and lineaments of the horses, which leonardo, with their fiery spirit, muscles, and shapely beauty, drew better than any other master. it is said that, in order to draw that cartoon, he made a most ingenious stage, which was raised by contracting it and lowered by expanding. and conceiving the wish to colour on the wall in oils, he made a composition of so gross an admixture, to act as a binder on the wall, that, going on to paint in the said hall, it began to peel off in such a manner that in a short time he abandoned it, seeing it spoiling. [illustration: leonardo da vinci: monna lisa (_formerly paris: the louvre, . canvas on panel_)] leonardo had very great spirit, and in his every action was most generous. it is said that, going to the bank for the allowance that he used to draw every month from piero soderini, the cashier wanted to give him certain paper-packets of pence; but he would not take them, saying in answer, "i am no penny-painter." having been blamed for cheating piero soderini, there began to be murmurings against him; wherefore leonardo so wrought upon his friends, that he got the money together and took it to piero to repay him; but he would not accept it. he went to rome with duke giuliano de' medici, at the election of pope leo, who spent much of his time on philosophical studies, and particularly on alchemy; where, forming a paste of a certain kind of wax, as he walked he shaped animals very thin and full of wind, and, by blowing into them, made them fly through the air, but when the wind ceased they fell to the ground. on the back of a most bizarre lizard, found by the vine-dresser of the belvedere, he fixed, with a mixture of quicksilver, wings composed of scales stripped from other lizards, which, as it walked, quivered with the motion; and having given it eyes, horns, and beard, taming it, and keeping it in a box, he made all his friends, to whom he showed it, fly for fear. he used often to have the guts of a wether completely freed of their fat and cleaned, and thus made so fine that they could have been held in the palm of the hand; and having placed a pair of blacksmith's bellows in another room, he fixed to them one end of these, and, blowing into them, filled the room, which was very large, so that whoever was in it was obliged to retreat into a corner; showing how, transparent and full of wind, from taking up little space at the beginning they had come to occupy much, and likening them to virtue. he made an infinite number of such follies, and gave his attention to mirrors; and he tried the strangest methods in seeking out oils for painting, and varnish for preserving works when painted. he made at this time, for messer baldassarre turini da pescia, who was datary to pope leo, a little picture of the madonna with the child in her arms, with infinite diligence and art; but whether through the fault of whoever primed the panel with gesso, or because of his innumerable and capricious mixtures of grounds and colours, it is now much spoilt. and in another small picture he made a portrait of a little boy, which is beautiful and graceful to a marvel; and both of them are now at pescia, in the hands of messer giuliano turini. it is related that, a work having been allotted to him by the pope, he straightway began to distil oils and herbs, in order to make the varnish; at which pope leo said: "alas! this man will never do anything, for he begins by thinking of the end of the work, before the beginning." there was very great disdain between michelagnolo buonarroti and him, on account of which michelagnolo departed from florence, with the excuse of duke giuliano, having been summoned by the pope to the competition for the façade of s. lorenzo. leonardo, understanding this, departed and went into france, where the king, having had works by his hand, bore him great affection; and he desired that he should colour the cartoon of s. anne, but leonardo, according to his custom, put him off for a long time with words. finally, having grown old, he remained ill many months, and, feeling himself near to death, asked to have himself diligently informed of the teaching of the catholic faith, and of the good way and holy christian religion; and then, with many moans, he confessed and was penitent; and although he could not raise himself well on his feet, supporting himself on the arms of his friends and servants, he was pleased to take devoutly the most holy sacrament, out of his bed. the king, who was wont often and lovingly to visit him, then came into the room; wherefore he, out of reverence, having raised himself to sit upon the bed, giving him an account of his sickness and the circumstances of it, showed withal how much he had offended god and mankind in not having worked at his art as he should have done. thereupon he was seized by a paroxysm, the messenger of death; for which reason the king having risen and having taken his head, in order to assist him and show him favour, to the end that he might alleviate his pain, his spirit, which was divine, knowing that it could not have any greater honour, expired in the arms of the king, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. [illustration: fragment from "the battle of the standard" (_after the cartoon attributed to_ leonardo da vinci. _oxford: ashmolean museum_) _reproduced by permission of the visitors of the ashmolean museum_] the loss of leonardo grieved beyond measure all those who had known him, since there was never any one who did so much honour to painting. with the splendour of his aspect, which was very beautiful, he made serene every broken spirit: and with his words he turned to yea, or nay, every obdurate intention. by his physical force he could restrain any outburst of rage: and with his right hand he twisted the iron ring of a door-bell, or a horse-shoe, as if it were lead. with his liberality he would assemble together and support his every friend, poor or rich, if only he had intellect and worth. he adorned and honoured, in every action, no matter what mean and bare dwelling; wherefore, in truth, florence received a very great gift in the birth of leonardo, and an incalculable loss in his death. in the art of painting, he added to the manner of colouring in oils a certain obscurity, whereby the moderns have given great force and relief to their figures. and in statuary, he proved his worth in the three figures of bronze that are over the door of s. giovanni, on the side towards the north, executed by giovan francesco rustici, but contrived with the advice of leonardo; which are the most beautiful pieces of casting, the best designed, and the most perfect that have as yet been seen in modern days. by leonardo we have the anatomy of the horse, and that of man even more complete. and so, on account of all his qualities, so many and so divine, although he worked much more by words than by deeds, his name and fame can never be extinguished; wherefore it was thus said in his praise by messer giovan battista strozzi: vince costui pur solo tutti altri; e vince fidia e vince apelle e tutto il lor vittorioso stuolo. [illustration: man and woman praying (_after the panel by =giovan antonio boltraffio=. milan: brera, _) _anderson_] a disciple of leonardo was giovan antonio boltraffio of milan, a person of great skill and understanding, who, in the year , painted with much diligence, for the church of the misericordia, without bologna, a panel in oils containing our lady with the child in her arms, s. john the baptist, s. sebastian naked, and the patron who caused it to be executed, portrayed from the life, on his knees--a truly beautiful work, on which he wrote his name, calling himself a disciple of leonardo. he has made other works, both at milan and elsewhere; but it must be enough here to have named this, which is the best. another (of his disciples) was marco oggioni, who painted, in s. maria della pace, the passing of our lady and the marriage of cana in galilee. footnote: [ ] two accurate literal translations of the same original must often coincide; and in dealing with this beautiful life, the translator has had to take the risk either of seeming to copy the almost perfect rendering of mr. h. p. horne, or of introducing unsatisfactory variants for mere variety's sake. having rejected the latter course, he feels doubly bound to record once more his deep obligation to mr. horne's example. [ ] this name is missing in the text. giorgione da castelfranco life of giorgione da castelfranco painter of venice at the same time when florence was acquiring such fame by reason of the works of leonardo, no little adornment was conferred on venice by the talent and excellence of one of her citizens, who surpassed by a great measure not only the bellini, whom the venetians held in such esteem, but also every other master who had painted up to that time in that city. this was giorgio, who was born at castelfranco in the territory of treviso, in the year , when the doge was giovanni mozzenigo, brother of doge piero. in time, from the nature of his person and from the greatness of his mind, giorgio came to be called giorgione; and although he was born from very humble stock, nevertheless he was not otherwise than gentle and of good breeding throughout his whole life. he was brought up in venice, and took unceasing delight in the joys of love; and the sound of the lute gave him marvellous pleasure, so that in his day he played and sang so divinely that he was often employed for that purpose at various musical assemblies and gatherings of noble persons. he studied drawing, and found it greatly to his taste; and in this nature favoured him so highly, that he, having become enamoured of her beauties, would never represent anything in his works without copying it from life; and so much was he her slave, imitating her continuously, that he acquired the name not only of having surpassed giovanni and gentile bellini, but also of being the rival of the masters who were working in tuscany and who were the creators of the modern manner. giorgione had seen some things by the hand of leonardo with a beautiful gradation of colours, and with extraordinary relief, effected, as has been related, by means of dark shadows; and this manner pleased him so much that he was for ever studying it as long as he lived, and in oil-painting he imitated it greatly. taking pleasure in the delights of good work, he was ever selecting, for putting into his pictures, the greatest beauty and the greatest variety that he could find. and nature gave him a spirit so benign, and with this, both in oil-painting and in fresco, he made certain living forms and other things so soft, so well harmonized, and so well blended in the shadows, that many of the excellent masters of his time were forced to confess that he had been born to infuse spirit into figures and to counterfeit the freshness of living flesh better than any other painter, not only in venice, but throughout the whole world. [illustration: giorgione da castelfranco: figures in a landscape (_venice: prince giovanelli. canvas_)] in his youth he executed in venice many pictures of our lady and other portraits from nature, which are very lifelike and beautiful; of which we still have proof in three most beautiful heads in oils by his hand, which are in the study of the very reverend grimani, patriarch of aquileia. one represents david--and it is reported to be his own portrait--with long locks reaching to the shoulders, as was the custom of those times; it is so vivacious and so fresh in colouring that it seems to be living flesh, and there is armour on the breast, as there is on the arm with which he is holding the severed head of goliath. the second is a much larger head, portrayed from nature; one hand is holding the red cap of a commander, and there is a cape of fur, below which is one of the old-fashioned doublets. this is believed to represent some military leader. the third is that of a boy, as beautiful as could be, with fleecy hair. these works demonstrate the excellence of giorgione, and no less the affection which that great patriarch has ever borne to his genius, holding them very dear, and that rightly. in florence, in the house of the sons of giovanni borgherini, there is a portrait by his hand of the said giovanni, taken when he was a young man in venice, and in the same picture is the master who was teaching him; and there are no two heads to be seen with better touches in the flesh-colours or with more beautiful tints in the shadows. in the house of anton de' nobili there is another head of a captain in armour, very lively and spirited, which is said to be one of the captains whom consalvo ferrante took with him to venice when he visited doge agostino barberigo; at which time, it is related, giorgione made a portrait of the great consalvo in armour, which was a very rare work, insomuch that there was no more beautiful painting than this to be seen, and consalvo took it away with him. giorgione made many other portraits which are scattered throughout many parts of italy; all very beautiful, as may be believed from that of leonardo loredano, painted by giorgione when leonardo was doge, which i saw exhibited on one ascension day, when i seemed to see that most illustrious prince alive. there is also one at faenza, in the house of giovanni da castel bolognese, an excellent engraver of cameos and crystals; which work, executed for his father-in-law, is truly divine, since there is such a harmony in the gradation of the colours that it appears to be rather in relief than painted. giorgione took much delight in painting in fresco, and one among many works that he executed was the whole of a façade of the ca soranzo on the piazza di s. polo; wherein, besides many pictures and scenes and other things of fancy, there may be seen a picture painted in oils on the plaster, a work which has withstood rain, sun, and wind, and has remained fresh up to our own day. there is also a spring, which appears to me to be one of the most beautiful works that he painted in fresco, and it is a great pity that time has consumed it so cruelly. for my part, i know nothing that injures works in fresco more than the sirocco, and particularly near the sea, where it always brings a salt moisture with it. there broke out at venice, in the year , in the fondaco de' tedeschi by the ponte del rialto, a most terrible fire, which consumed the whole building and all the merchandise, to the very great loss of the merchants; wherefore the signoria of venice ordained that it should be rebuilt anew, and it was speedily finished with more accommodation in the way of living-rooms, and with greater magnificence, adornment, and beauty. thereupon, the fame of giorgione having grown great, it was ordained after deliberation by those who had charge of the matter, that giorgione should paint it in fresco with colours according to his own fancy, provided only that he gave proof of his genius and executed an excellent work, since it would be in the most beautiful place and most conspicuous site in the city. and so giorgione put his hand to the work, but thought of nothing save of making figures according to his own fancy, in order to display his art, so that, in truth, there are no scenes to be found there with any order, or representing the deeds of any distinguished person, either ancient or modern; and i, for my part, have never understood them, nor have i found, for all the inquiries that i have made, anyone who understands them, for in one place there is a woman, in another a man, in diverse attitudes, while one has the head of a lion near him, and another an angel in the guise of a cupid, nor can one tell what it may all mean. there is, indeed, over the principal door, which opens into the merceria, a woman seated who has at her feet the severed head of a giant, almost in the form of a judith; she is raising the head with her sword, and speaking with a german, who is below her; but i have not been able to determine for what he intended her to stand, unless, indeed, he may have meant her to represent germany. however, it may be seen that his figures are well grouped, and that he was ever making progress; and there are in it heads and parts of figures very well painted, and most vivacious in colouring. in all that he did there he aimed at being faithful to nature, without any imitation of another's manner; and the work is celebrated and famous in venice, no less for what he painted therein than through its convenience for commerce and its utility to the commonwealth. he executed a picture of christ bearing the cross, with a jew dragging him along, which in time was placed in the church of s. rocco, and which now, through the veneration that many feel for it, works miracles, as all may see. he worked in various places, such as castelfranco, and throughout the territory of treviso, and he made many portraits for italian princes; and many of his works were sent out of italy, as things truly worthy to bear testimony that if tuscany had a superabundance of craftsmen in every age, the region beyond, near the mountains, was not always abandoned and forgotten by heaven. [illustration: portrait of a young man (_after the painting by =giorgione da castelfranco=. berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, a_) _bruckmann_] it is related that giorgione, at the time when andrea verrocchio was making his bronze horse, fell into an argument with certain sculptors, who maintained, since sculpture showed various attitudes and aspects in one single figure to one walking round it, that for this reason it surpassed painting, which only showed one side of a figure. giorgione was of the opinion that there could be shown in a painted scene, without any necessity for walking round, at one single glance, all the various aspects that a man can present in many gestures--a thing which sculpture cannot do without a change of position and point of view, so that in her case the points of view are many, and not one. moreover, he proposed to show in one single painted figure the front, the back, and the profile on either side, a challenge which brought them to their senses; and he did it in the following way. he painted a naked man with his back turned, at whose feet was a most limpid pool of water, wherein he painted the reflection of the man's front. at one side was a burnished cuirass that he had taken off, which showed his left profile, since everything could be seen on the polished surface of the piece of armour; and on the other side was a mirror, which reflected the other profile of the naked figure; which was a thing of most beautiful and bizarre fancy, whereby he sought to prove that painting does in fact, with more excellence, labour, and effect, achieve more at one single view of a living figure than does sculpture. and this work was greatly extolled and admired, as something ingenious and beautiful. [illustration: judith (_after the painting by =giorgione da castelfranco=. s. petersburg: hermitage, _) _m.s._] he also made a portrait from life of caterina, queen of cyprus, which i once saw in the hands of the illustrious messer giovanni cornaro. there is in our book a head coloured in oils, the portrait of a german of the fugger family, who was at that time one of the chief merchants in the fondaco de' tedeschi, which is an admirable work; together with other sketches and drawings made by him with the pen. while giorgione was employed in doing honour both to himself and to his country, and frequenting many houses in order to entertain his various friends with his music, he became enamoured of a lady, and they took much joy, one with another, in their love. now it happened that in the year she became infected with plague, without, however, knowing anything about it; and giorgione, visiting her as usual, caught the plague in such a manner, that in a short time, at the age of thirty-four, he passed away to the other life, not without infinite grief on the part of his many friends, who loved him for his virtues, and great hurt to the world, which thus lost him. however, they could bear up against this hurt and loss, in that he left behind him two excellent disciples in sebastiano, the venetian, who afterwards became friar of the piombo[ ] at rome, and tiziano da cadore, who not only equalled him, but surpassed him greatly; of both of whom we will speak at the proper time, describing fully the honour and benefit that they have conferred on art. [illustration: caterina, queen of cyprus (_after the painting by =giorgione da castelfranco= (?). milan: crespi collection_) _anderson_] footnote: [ ] signet-office, for the sealing of papal bulls and other papers of the papal court. antonio da correggio life of antonio da correggio painter i do not wish to leave that country wherein our great mother nature, in order not to be thought partial, gave to the world extraordinary men of that sort with which she had already for many and many a year adorned tuscany; among whom was one endowed with an excellent and very beautiful genius, by name antonio da correggio, a most rare painter, who acquired the modern manner so perfectly, that in a few years, what with his natural gifts and his practice in art, he became a most excellent and marvellous craftsman. he was very timid by nature, and with great discomfort to himself he was continually labouring at the exercise of his art, for the sake of his family, which weighed upon him; and although it was a natural goodness that impelled him, nevertheless he afflicted himself more than was right in bearing the burden of those sufferings which are wont to crush mankind. he was very melancholy in his practice of art, a slave to her labours, and an unwearying investigator of all the difficulties of her realm; to which witness is borne by a vast multitude of figures in the duomo of parma, executed in fresco and well finished, which are to be found in the great tribune of the said church, and are seen foreshortened from below with an effect of marvellous grandeur. antonio was the first who began to work in the modern manner in lombardy; wherefore it is thought that if he, with his genius, had gone forth from lombardy and lived in rome, he would have wrought miracles, and would have brought the sweat to the brow of many who were held to be great men in his time. for, his works being such as they are without his having seen any of the ancient or the best of the modern, it necessarily follows that, if he had seen them, he would have vastly improved his own, and, advancing from good to better, would have reached the highest rank. it may, at least, be held for certain that no one ever handled colours better than he, and that no craftsman ever painted with greater delicacy or with more relief, such was the softness of his flesh-painting, and such the grace with which he finished his works. [illustration: antonio da correggio: antiope (_paris: louvre, . canvas_)] in the same place, also, he painted two large pictures executed in oils, in one of which, among other figures, there may be seen a dead christ, which was highly extolled. and in s. giovanni, in the same city, he painted a tribune in fresco, wherein he represented our lady ascending into heaven amidst a multitude of angels, with other saints around; as to which, it seems impossible that he should have been able, i do not say to express it with his hand, but even to conceive it in his imagination, so beautiful are the curves of the draperies and the expressions that he gave to those figures. of these there are some drawings in our book, done in red chalk by his hand, with some very beautiful borders of little boys, and other borders drawn in that work by way of ornament, with various fanciful scenes of sacrifices in the ancient manner. and in truth, if antonio had not brought his works to that perfection which is seen in them, his drawings (although they show excellence of manner, and the charm and practised touch of a master) would not have gained for him among craftsmen the name that he has won with his wonderful paintings. this art is so difficult, and has so many branches, that very often a craftsman is not able to practise them all to perfection; for there have been many who have drawn divinely well, but have shown some imperfection in colouring, and others have been marvellous in colouring, but have not drawn half so well. all this depends on choice, and on the practice bestowed, in youth, in one case on drawing, in another on colour. but since all is learnt in order to carry works to the height of perfection, which is to put good colouring, together with draughtsmanship, into everything that is executed, for this reason correggio deserves great praise, having attained to the height of perfection in the works that he coloured either in oils or in fresco; as he did in the church of the frati de' zoccoli di s. francesco, in the same city, where he painted an annunciation in fresco so well, that, when it became necessary to pull it down in making some changes in that building, those friars caused the wall round it to be bound with timber strengthened with iron, and, cutting it away little by little, they saved it; and it was built by them into a more secure place in the same convent. he painted, also, over one of the gates of that city, a madonna who has the child in her arms; and it is an astounding thing to see the lovely colouring of this work in fresco, through which he has won from passing strangers, who have seen nothing else of his, infinite praise and honour. for s. antonio, likewise in that city, he painted a panel wherein is a madonna, with s. mary magdalene; and near them is a boy in the guise of a little angel, holding a book in his hand, who is smiling, with a smile that seems so natural that he moves whoever beholds him to smile also, nor can any person, be his nature ever so melancholy, see him without being cheered. there is also a s. jerome; and the whole work is coloured in a manner so wonderful and so astounding, that painters revere it for the marvel of its colouring, and it is scarcely possible to paint better. in like manner, he executed square pictures and other paintings for many lords throughout lombardy; and, among other works, two pictures in mantua for duke federigo ii, to be sent to the emperor, a gift truly worthy of such a prince. giulio romano, seeing these works, said that he had never seen any colouring that attained to such perfection. one was a naked leda, and the other a venus; both so soft in colouring, with the shadows of the flesh so well wrought, that they appeared to be not colours, but flesh. in one there was a marvellous landscape, nor was there ever a lombard who painted such things better than he; and, besides this, hair so lovely in colour, and executed in detail with such exquisite finish, that it is not possible to see anything better. there were also certain loves, executed with beautiful art, who were making trial of their arrows, some of gold and some of lead, on a stone; and what lent most grace to the venus was a clear and limpid stream, which ran among some stones and bathed her feet, but scarcely concealed any part of them, so that the sight of their delicate whiteness was a moving thing for the eye to behold. for which reason antonio most certainly deserved all praise and honour during his lifetime, and the greatest glory from the lips and pens of men after his death. in modena, also, he painted a panel-picture of our lady, which is held in esteem by all painters, as the best picture in that city. in bologna, likewise, in the house of the ercolani, gentlemen of that city, there is a work by his hand, a christ appearing to mary magdalene in the garden, which is very beautiful. in reggio there was a rare and most beautiful picture; and not long since, messer luciano pallavigino, who takes much delight in noble paintings, passing through the city and seeing it, gave no thought to the cost, and, as if he had bought a jewel, sent it to his house in genoa. at reggio, likewise, is a panel containing a nativity of christ, wherein the splendour radiating from him throws its light on the shepherds and all around on the figures that are contemplating him; and among the many conceptions shown in that subject, there is a woman who, wishing to gaze intently at christ, and not being able with her mortal sight to bear the light of his divinity, which seems to be beating upon her with its rays, places a hand before her eyes; which is expressed so well that it is a marvel. over the hut is a choir of angels singing, who are so well executed, that they appear rather to have rained down from heaven than to have been made by the hand of a painter. and in the same city there is a little picture, a foot square, the rarest and most beautiful work that is to be seen by his hand, of christ in the garden, representing an effect of night, and painted with little figures; wherein the angel, appearing to christ, illumines him with the splendour of his light, with such truth to nature, that nothing better can be imagined or expressed. below, on a plain at the foot of the mountain, are seen the three apostles sleeping, over whom the mountain on which christ is praying casts a shadow, giving those figures a force which one is not able to describe. far in the background, over a distant landscape, there is shown the appearing of the dawn; and on one side are seen coming some soldiers, with judas. and although it is so small, this scene is so well conceived, that there is no work of the same kind to equal it either in patience or in study. [illustration: s. thomas and s. james the less (_detail, after the fresco by =antonio da correggio=. parma: s. giovanni evangelista_) _anderson_] many things might be said of the works of this master; but since, among the eminent men of our art, everything that is to be seen by his hand is admired as something divine, i will say no more. i have used all possible diligence in order to obtain his portrait, but, since he himself did not make it, and he was never portrayed by others, for he always lived in retirement, i have not been able to find one. he was, in truth, a person who had no opinion of himself, nor did he believe himself to be an able master of his art, contrasting his deficiencies with that perfection which he would have liked to achieve. he was contented with little, and he lived like an excellent christian. [illustration: the madonna and child with s. jerome (_after the painting by =antonio da correggio=. parma: gallery, _) _anderson_] antonio, like a man who was weighed down by his family, was anxious to be always saving, and he had thereby become as miserly as he could well be. wherefore it is related that, having received at parma a payment of sixty crowns in copper coins, and wishing to take them to correggio to meet some demand, he placed the money on his back and set out to walk on foot; but, being smitten by the heat of the sun, which was very great, and drinking water to refresh himself, he was seized by pleurisy, and had to take to his bed in a raging fever, nor did he ever raise his head from it, but finished the course of his life at the age of forty, or thereabout. his pictures date about ; and he bestowed a very great gift on painting by his handling of colours, which was that of a true master; and it was by means of him that men's eyes were opened in lombardy, where so many beautiful intellects have been seen in painting, following him in making works worthy of praise and memory. thus, by showing them his treatment of hair, executed with such facility, for all the difficulty of painting it, he taught them how it should be painted; for which all painters owe him an everlasting debt. at their instance the following epigram was written to him by messer fabio segni, a gentleman of florence: hujus cum regeret mortales spiritus artus pictoris, charites supplicuere jovi. non alia pingi dextra, pater alme, rogamus; hunc præter, nulli pingere nos liceat. annuit his votis summi regnator olympi, et juvenem subito sidera ad alta tulit, ut posset melius charitum simulacra referre præsens, et nudas cerneret inde deas. at this same time lived andrea del gobbo of milan, a very pleasing painter and colourist, many of whose works are scattered about in the houses of his native city of milan. there is a large panel-picture of the assumption of our lady, by his hand, in the certosa of pavia, but it was left unfinished, on account of death overtaking him; which panel shows how excellent he was, and how great a lover of the labours of art. [illustration: antonio da correggio: the adoration of the magi (_milan: brera, . canvas_)] piero di cosimo life of piero di cosimo painter of florence while giorgione and correggio, to their own great credit and glory, were honouring the regions of lombardy, tuscany, on her part, was not wanting in men of beautiful intellect; among whom, not one of the least was piero, the son of one lorenzo, a goldsmith, and a pupil of cosimo rosselli, after whom he was always called piero di cosimo, and known by no other name. and in truth, when a man teaches us excellence and gives us the secret of living rightly, he deserves no less gratitude from us, and should be held no less as a true father, than he who begets us and gives us life and nothing more. piero was entrusted by his father, who saw in his son a lively intelligence and an inclination to the art of design, to the care of cosimo, who took him with no ordinary willingness; and seeing him grow no less in ability than in years, among the many disciples that he had, he bore him love as to a son, and always held him as such. this young man had by nature a most lofty spirit, and he was very strange, and different in fancy from the other youths who were working with cosimo in order to learn the same art. he was at times so intent on what he was doing, that when some subject was being discussed, as often happens, at the end of the discussion it was necessary to go back to the beginning and tell him the whole, so far had his brain wandered after some other fancy of his own. and he was likewise so great a lover of solitude, that he knew no pleasure save that of going off by himself with his thoughts, letting his fancy roam and building his castles in the air. right good reason had cosimo, his master, for wishing him well, seeing that he made so much use of him in his works, that very often he caused him to execute things of great importance, knowing that piero had a more beautiful manner, as well as better judgment, than himself. for this reason he took piero with him to rome, when he was summoned thither by pope sixtus in order to paint the scenes in his chapel; in one of which piero executed a very beautiful landscape, as was related in the life of cosimo. and since piero drew most excellently from the life, he made in rome many portraits of distinguished persons; in particular, those of virginio orsino and ruberto sanseverino, which he placed in the aforesaid scenes. afterwards, also, he made a portrait of duke valentino, the son of pope alexander vi; which painting, to my knowledge, is not now to be found; but the cartoon by his hand still exists, being in the possession of the reverend and cultured m. cosimo bartoli, provost of s. giovanni. in florence, he painted many pictures for a number of citizens, which are dispersed among their various houses, and of such i have seen some that are very good; and so, also, various things for many other persons. in the noviciate of s. marco is a picture by his hand of our lady, standing, with the child in her arms, coloured in oils. and for the chapel of gino capponi, in the church of s. spirito at florence, he painted a panel wherein is the visitation of our lady, with s. nicholas, and a s. anthony who is reading with a pair of spectacles on his nose, a very spirited figure. here he counterfeited a book bound in parchment, somewhat old, which seems to be real, and also some balls that he gave to the s. nicholas, shining and casting gleams of light and reflections from one to another; from which even by that time men could perceive the strangeness of his brain, and his constant seeking after difficulties. [illustration: piero di cosimo: the death of procris (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] even better did he show this after the death of cosimo, when he kept himself constantly shut up, and would not let himself be seen at work, leading the life of a man who was less man than beast. he would never have his rooms swept, he would only eat when hunger came to him, and he would not let his garden be worked or his fruit-trees pruned; nay, he allowed his vines to grow, and the shoots to trail over the ground, nor were his fig-trees ever trimmed, or any other trees, for it pleased him to see everything wild, like his own nature; and he declared that nature's own things should be left to her to look after, without lifting a hand to them. he set himself often to observe such animals, plants, or other things as nature at times creates out of caprice, or by chance; in which he found a pleasure and satisfaction that drove him quite out of his mind with delight; and he spoke of them so often in his discourse, that at times, although he found pleasure in them, it became wearisome to others. he would sometimes stop to gaze at a wall against which sick people had been for a long time discharging their spittle, and from this he would picture to himself battles of horsemen, and the most fantastic cities and widest landscapes that were ever seen; and he did the same with the clouds in the sky. he gave his attention to colouring in oils, having seen some works of leonardo's, executed with that gradation of colour, and finished with that extraordinary diligence, which leonardo used to employ when he wished to display his art. and so piero, being pleased with his method, sought to imitate it, although he was afterwards very distant from leonardo, and worlds away from any other manner. it may be said, in truth, that he changed his manner almost for every work that he executed. if piero had not been so solitary, and had taken more care of himself in his way of living than he did, he would have made known the greatness of his intellect in such a way that he would have been revered, whereas, by reason of his uncouth ways, he was rather held to be a madman, although in the end he did no harm save to himself alone, while his works were beneficial and useful to his art. for which reason every good intellect and every excellent craftsman should always be taught, from such an example, to keep his eyes on the end of life. nor will i refrain from saying that piero, in his youth, being fanciful and extravagant in invention, was much employed for the masquerades that are held during the carnival; and he became very dear to the young noblemen of florence, having improved their festivals much in invention, adornment, grandeur, and pomp. as to that kind of pastime, it is said that he was one of the first to contrive to marshal them in the form of triumphal processions; at least, he improved them greatly, by accompanying the invention of the story represented, not only with music and with words suited to the subject, but also with a train of incredible pomp, formed of men on foot and on horseback, with habits and ornaments in keeping with the story; which produced a very rich and beautiful effect, and had in it something both grand and ingenious. and it was certainly a very beautiful thing to see, by night, twenty-five or thirty pairs of horses, most richly caparisoned, with their riders in costume, according to the subject of the invention, and six or eight grooms to each rider, with torches in their hands, and all clothed in one and the same livery, sometimes more than four hundred in number; and then the chariot, or triumphal car, covered with ornaments, trophies, and most bizarre things of fancy; altogether, a thing which makes men's intellects more subtle, and gives great pleasure and satisfaction to the people. [illustration: perseus delivering andromeda (_after the panel by =piero di cosimo=. florence: uffizi, _) _brogi_] among these spectacles, which were numerous and ingenious, it is my pleasure to give a brief description of one, which was contrived mostly by piero, when he was already of a mature age, and which was not, like many, pleasing through its beauty, but, on the contrary, on account of a strange, horrible, and unexpected invention, gave no little satisfaction to the people: for even as in the matter of food bitter things sometimes give marvellous delight to the human palate, so do horrible things in such pastimes, if only they be carried out with judgment and art; which is evident in the representation of tragedies. this was the car of death, wrought by him with the greatest secrecy in the sala del papa, so that nothing could ever be found out about it, until it was seen and known at one and the same moment. this triumphal chariot was an enormous car drawn by buffaloes, black all over and painted with skeletons and white crosses; and upon the highest point of the car stood a colossal figure of death, scythe in hand, and right round the car were a number of covered tombs; and at all the places where the procession halted for the chanting of dirges, these tombs opened, and from them issued figures draped in black cloth, upon which were painted all the bones of a skeleton, over their arms, breasts, flanks, and legs; which, what with the white over the black, and the appearing in the distance of some figures carrying torches, with masks that represented a death's head both in front and behind, as well as the neck, not only gave an appearance of the greatest reality, but was also horrible and terrifying to behold. and these figures of the dead, at the sound of certain muffled trumpets, low and mournful in tone, came half out of their tombs, and, seating themselves upon them, sang to music full of melancholy that song so celebrated at the present day: "dolor, pianto, e penitenzia." before and after the car came a great number of the dead, riding on certain horses picked out with the greatest diligence from among the leanest and most meagre that could be found, with black caparisons covered with white crosses; and each had four grooms draped in the garb of death, with black torches, and a large black standard with crosses, bones, and death's heads. after the car were trailed ten black standards; and as they walked, the whole company sang in unison, with trembling voices, that psalm of david that is called the miserere. this dread spectacle, through its novelty and terror, as i have said, filled the whole city with fear and marvel together; and although at the first sight it did not seem suited to a carnival, nevertheless, being new and very well arranged, it pleased the minds of all, and piero, the creator and inventor of the whole, gained consummate praise and commendation for it; and it was the reason that afterwards, going from one thing to another, men continued to contrive lively and ingenious inventions, so that in truth, for such representations and for holding similar festivals, this city has never had an equal. and in those old men who saw it there still remains a vivid memory of it, nor are they ever weary of celebrating this fantastic invention. i have heard from the lips of andrea di cosimo, who helped him to carry out the work, and of andrea del sarto, who was piero's disciple, and who also had a hand in it, that it was a common opinion at that time that this invention was intended to foreshadow the return of the medici family to florence in the year , since at the time when the procession was held they were exiles, and, so to speak, dead, but destined in a short time to come to life; and in this sense were interpreted the following words in the song-- morti siam come vedete, così morti vedrem voi; fummo già come voi siete, voi sarete come noi, etc. whereby men wished to signify the return of that family (a resurrection, as it were, from death to life), and the expulsion and abasement of their enemies; or it may have been that many gave it that significance from the subsequent fact of the return of that illustrious house to florence--so prone is the human intellect to applying every word and act that has come previously, to the events that happen afterwards. certain it is that this was the opinion of many at that time; and it was much spoken of. [illustration: venus, mars, and cupid (_after the panel by =piero di cosimo=. berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, _) _hanfstaengl_] but to return to the art and actions of piero; he was given the commission for a panel in the church of the servite friars, in the chapel of the tedaldi, where they keep the garment and the pillow of s. filippo, a brother of their order; wherein he depicted our lady standing, raised from the ground on a pedestal, and uplifting her head towards heaven, with a book in her hand, but without her son; and above her is the holy spirit, bathing her with light. nor did he wish that any other light than that of the dove should illumine her and the figures that are round her, such as a s. margaret and a s. catherine, who are on their knees, adoring her, while s. peter and s. john the evangelist are standing, contemplating her, together with s. filippo, the servite friar, and s. antonino, archbishop of florence. moreover, he made there a landscape that is very bizarre, what with the strange trees and certain grottoes. and in truth, there are some very beautiful things in this work, such as certain heads that reveal both draughtsmanship and grace; besides the colouring, which is very harmonious, for it is certain that piero was a great master of colouring in oils. in the predella he painted some little scenes, very well executed; and, among others, there is one of s. margaret issuing from the belly of the dragon, wherein he made that animal so monstrous and hideous, that i do not think that there is anything better of that kind to be seen, for with its eyes it reveals venom, fire, and death, in an aspect truly terrifying. and certainly, as for such things, i do not believe that any one ever did them better than he, or came near him in imagining them; to which witness is borne by a marine monster that he made and presented to the magnificent giuliano de' medici, which is so extravagant, bizarre, and fantastic in its deformity, that it seems impossible that nature should produce anything so deformed and strange among her creations. this monster is now in the guardaroba of duke cosimo de' medici, as is also a book, likewise by the hand of piero, of animals of the same kind, most beautiful and bizarre, hatched very diligently with the pen, and finished with an incredible patience; which book was presented to him by m. cosimo bartoli, provost of s. giovanni, who is very much my friend, as he is of all our craftsmen, being a man who has always delighted, and still delights, in our profession. he also executed, round a chamber in the house of francesco del pugliese, various scenes with little figures; nor is it possible to describe the different fantastic things that he delighted to paint in all those scenes, what with the buildings, the animals, the costumes, the various instruments, and any other fanciful things that came into his head, since the stories were drawn from fables. these scenes, after the death of francesco del pugliese and his sons, were taken away, nor do i know what has become of them; and the same thing has happened to a picture of mars and venus, with her loves and vulcan, executed with great art and with an incredible patience. piero painted, for the elder filippo strozzi, a picture with little figures of perseus delivering andromeda from the monster, in which are some very beautiful things. it is now in the house of signor sforza almeni, first chamberlain to duke cosimo, having been presented to him by messer giovanni battista, the son of lorenzo strozzi, who knew how much that nobleman delighted in painting and sculpture; and he holds it in great account, for piero never made a more lovely or more highly finished picture than this one, seeing that it is not possible to find a more bizarre or more fantastic sea-monster than that which piero imagined and painted, or a fiercer attitude than that of perseus, who is raising his sword in the air to smite the beast. in it, trembling between fear and hope, andromeda is seen bound, most beautiful in countenance; and in the foreground are many people in various strange costumes, playing instruments and singing; among whom are some heads, smiling and rejoicing at seeing the deliverance of andromeda, that are divine. the landscape is very beautiful, and the colouring sweet and full of grace. in short, with regard to the harmony and gradation of the colours, he executed this work with the greatest possible diligence. he painted, also, a picture containing a nude venus, with a mars, likewise nude, who is sleeping in a meadow full of flowers, and all around are various loves, who are carrying away, some here, some there, the helmet, armlets, and other pieces of armour of mars; there is a grove of myrtle, with a cupid that is afraid of a rabbit, and there are also the doves of venus and the other emblems of love. this picture is at florence, in the house of giorgio vasari, who keeps it in memory of that master, whose caprices have always pleased him. the director of the hospital of the innocenti was much the friend of piero; and wishing to have a panel painted, which was to be placed in the pugliese chapel, near the entrance into the church, on the left hand, he gave the commission for it to piero, who brought it to completion at his leisure; but first he reduced his patron to despair, for on no account would he let him see it until it was finished. how strange this seemed to the patron, both because of their friendship, and because of his supplying piero continually with money, without seeing what was being done, he himself showed, when, on the occasion of the final payment, he refused to give it to him without seeing the work. but, on piero threatening that he would destroy all that he had painted, he was forced to give him the rest, and to wait patiently, in a greater rage than ever, for it to be set in place. this picture contains much that is truly beautiful. he undertook to paint a panel for a chapel in the church of s. piero gattolini, and in this he represented our lady seated, with four figures round her, and two angels in the sky, who are crowning her; which work, executed with such diligence that it brought him praise and honour, is now to be seen in s. friano, the other church having been ruined. for the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. francesco, at fiesole, he painted a little panel-picture of the conception, which is a passing good little work, the figures being of no great size. for giovanni vespucci, who lived in a house now belonging to piero salviati, opposite to s. michele, in the via de' servi, he executed some bacchanalian scenes, which are round an apartment; wherein he made such strange fauns, satyrs, sylvan gods, little boys, and bacchanals, that it is a marvel to see the diversity of the bay horses and garments, and the variety of the goatlike features, and all with great grace and most vivid truth to nature. in one scene is silenus riding on an ass, with many children, some supporting him, and some giving him drink; and throughout the whole is a feeling of the joy of life, produced by the great genius of piero. and in truth, in all that there is to be seen by his hand, one recognizes a spirit very different and far distant from that of other painters, and a certain subtlety in the investigation of some of the deepest and most subtle secrets of nature, without grudging time or labour, but only for his own delight and for his pleasure in the art. and it could not well be otherwise; since, having grown enamoured of her, he cared nothing for his own comfort, and reduced himself to eating nothing but boiled eggs, which, in order to save firing, he cooked when he was boiling his glue, and not six or eight at a time, but in fifties; and, keeping them in a basket, he would eat them one by one. in this life he found such peculiar pleasure that any other, in comparison with his own, seemed to him slavery. he could not bear the crying of children, the coughing of men, the sound of bells, and the chanting of friars; and when the rain was pouring in torrents from the sky, it pleased him to see it streaming straight down from the roofs and splashing on the ground. he had the greatest terror of lightning; and, when he heard very loud thunder, he wrapped himself in his mantle, and, having closed the windows and the door of the room, he crouched in a corner until the storm should pass. he was very varied and original in his discourse, and sometimes said such beautiful things, that he made his hearers burst with laughter. but when he was old, and near the age of eighty, he had become so strange and eccentric that nothing could be done with him. he would not have assistants standing round him, so that his misanthropy had robbed him of all possible aid. he was sometimes seized by a desire to work, but was not able, by reason of the palsy, and fell into such a rage that he tried to force his hands to labour; but, as he muttered to himself, the mahlstick fell from his grasp, and even his brushes, so that it was pitiable to behold. flies enraged him, and even shadows annoyed him. and so, having become ill through old age, he was visited by one or two friends, who besought him to make his peace with god; but he would not believe that he was dying, and put them off from one day to another; not that he was hard of heart, or an unbeliever, for he was a most zealous christian, although his life was that of a beast. he discoursed at times on the torments of those ills that destroy men's bodies, and of the suffering endured by those who come to die with their strength wasting away little by little, which he called a great affliction. he spoke evil of physicians, apothecaries, and those who nurse the sick, saying that they cause them to die of hunger; besides the tortures of syrups, medicines, clysters, and other martyrdoms, such as not being allowed to sleep when you are drowsy, making your will, seeing your relatives round you, and staying in a dark room. he praised death by the hand of justice, saying that it was a fine thing to go to your death in that way; to see the broad sky about you, and all that throng; to be comforted with sweetmeats and with kind words; to have the priest and the people praying for you; and to go into paradise with the angels; so that whoever departed from this life at one blow, was very fortunate. and as he discoursed, he would twist everything to the strangest meanings that were ever heard. wherefore, living in such strange fashion, he reduced himself to such a state with his extravagant fancies, that one morning he was found dead at the foot of a staircase, in the year ; and he was given burial in s. piero maggiore. his disciples were many, and one among them was andrea del sarto, who was a host in himself. piero's portrait i received from francesco da san gallo, who was much his friend and intimate companion, and who made it when piero was old; which francesco still has a work by the hand of piero that i must not pass by, a very beautiful head of cleopatra, with an asp wound round her neck, and two portraits, one of his father giuliano, and the other of his grandfather francesco giamberti, which seem to be alive. [illustration: francesco giamberti (_after the panel by =piero di cosimo=. hague: royal museum, _) _bruckmann_] footnote: [ ] see note on p. , vol. i. bramante da urbino life of bramante da urbino architect of very great advantage to architecture, in truth, was the new method of filippo brunelleschi, who imitated and restored to the light, after many ages, the noble works of the most learned and marvellous ancients. but no less useful to our age was bramante, in following the footsteps of filippo, and making the path of his profession of architecture secure for all who came after him, by means of his courage, boldness, intellect, and science in that art, wherein he had the mastery not of theory only, but of supreme skill and practice. nor could nature have created a more vigorous intellect, or one to exercise his art and carry it into execution with greater invention and proportion, or with a more thorough knowledge, than bramante. but no less essential than all this was the election to the pontificate, at that time, of julius ii, a pope of great spirit, full of desire to leave memorials behind him. and it was fortunate both for us and for bramante that he found such a prince (a thing which rarely happens to men of great genius), at whose expense he might be able to display the worth of his intellect, and that mastery over difficulties which he showed in architecture. his ability was so universal in the buildings that he erected, that the outlines of the cornices, the shafts of the columns, the graceful capitals, the bases, the consoles and corners, the vaults, the staircases, the projections, and every detail of every order of architecture, contrived from the counsel or model of this craftsman, never failed to astonish all who saw them. wherefore it appears to me that the everlasting gratitude which is due to the ancients from the intellects that study their works, is also due from them to the labours of bramante; for if the greeks were the inventors of architecture, and the romans their imitators, bramante not only imitated what he saw, with new invention, and taught it to us, but also added very great beauty and elaboration to the art, which we see embellished by him at the present day. he was born at castel durante, in the state of urbino, of poor but honest parentage. in his boyhood, besides reading and writing, he gave much attention to arithmetic; but his father, who had need that he should earn money, perceiving that he delighted much in drawing, applied him, when still a mere boy, to the art of painting; whereupon bramante gave much study to the works of fra bartolommeo, otherwise called fra carnovale da urbino, who painted the panel-picture of s. maria della bella at urbino. but since he always delighted in architecture and perspective, he departed from castel durante, and made his way to lombardy, where he went now to one city, and now to another, working as best he could, but not on things of great cost or much credit, having as yet neither name nor reputation. for this reason he determined at least to see some noteworthy work, and betook himself to milan, in order to see the duomo. in that city there was then living one cesare cesariano, reputed to be a good geometrician and an able architect, who wrote a commentary on vitruvius, and, out of despair at not having received for this the remuneration that he had expected, became so strange that he would work no more; and, having grown almost savage, he died more like a beast than like a human being. there was also one bernardino da trevio, a milanese, engineer and architect for the duomo, and an excellent draughtsman, who was held by leonardo da vinci to be a rare master, although his manner was rather crude and somewhat hard in painting. by his hand is a resurrection of christ to be seen at the upper end of the cloister of the grazie, with some very beautiful foreshortenings; and a chapel in fresco in s. francesco, containing the deaths of s. peter and s. paul. he painted many other works in milan, and he also made a good number in the surrounding district, which are held in esteem; and in our book there is a head of a very beautiful woman, in charcoal and lead-white, which still bears witness to the manner that he followed. [illustration: interior of sacristy (_after_ bramante da urbino. _milan: s. satiro_) _brogi_] but to return to bramante; having studied that building, and having come to know those engineers, he so took courage, that he resolved to devote himself wholly to architecture. having therefore departed from milan, he betook himself, just before the holy year of , to rome, where he was recognized by some friends, both from his own country and from lombardy, and received a commission to paint, over the porta santa of s. giovanni laterano, which is opened for the jubilee, the coat of arms of pope alexander vi, to be executed in fresco, with angels and other figures acting as supporters. bramante had brought some money from lombardy, and he earned some more in rome by executing certain works; and this he spent with the greatest economy, since he wished to be able to live independently, and at the same time, without having to work, to be free to take measurements, at his ease, of all the ancient buildings in rome. and having put his hand to this, he set out, alone with his thoughts; and within no great space of time he had measured all the buildings in that city and in the campagna without; and he went as far as naples, and wherever he knew that there were antiquities. he measured all that was at tivoli and in the villa of hadrian, and, as will be related afterwards in the proper place, made great use of it. the mind of bramante becoming known in this way, the cardinal of naples, having noticed him, began to favour him. whereupon, while bramante was continuing his studies, the desire came to the said cardinal to have the cloister of the frati della pace rebuilt in travertine, and he gave the charge of this cloister to bramante, and he, desiring to earn money and to gain the good will of that cardinal, set himself to work with all possible industry and diligence, and brought it quickly to perfect completion. and although it was not a work of perfect beauty, it gave him a very great name, since there were not many in rome who followed the profession of architecture with such zeal, study, and resolution as bramante. at the beginning he served as under-architect to pope alexander vi for the fountain of trastevere, and likewise for that which was made on the piazza di s. pietro. he also took part, together with other excellent architects, when his reputation had increased, in the planning of a great part of the palace of s. giorgio, and of the church of s. lorenzo in damaso, at the commission of raffaello riario, cardinal of s. giorgio, near the campo di fiore; which palace, whatever better work may have been executed afterwards, nevertheless was and still is held, on account of its greatness, to be a commodious and magnificent habitation; and the building of this edifice was carried out by one antonio montecavallo. bramante was consulted with regard to the enlargement of s. jacopo degli spagnuoli, on the piazza navona, and likewise in the deliberations for the building of s. maria de anima, which was afterwards carried out by a german architect. from his design, also, was the palace of cardinal adriano da corneto in the borgo nuovo, which was built slowly, and then finally remained unfinished by reason of the flight of that cardinal; and in like manner, the enlargement of the principal chapel of s. maria del popolo was executed from his design. these works brought him so much credit in rome, that he was considered the best architect, in that he was resolute, prompt, and most fertile in invention; and he was continually employed by all the great persons in that city for their most important undertakings. wherefore, after julius ii had been elected pope, in the year , he entered into his service. the fancy had taken that pontiff to so transform the space that lay between the belvedere and the papal palace, as to give it the aspect of a square theatre, embracing a little valley that ran between the old papal palace and the new buildings that innocent viii had erected as a habitation for the popes; and he intended, by means of two corridors, one on either side of this little valley, to make it possible to go from the belvedere to the palace under loggie, and also to go from the palace to the belvedere in the same way, and likewise, by means of various flights of steps, to ascend to the level of the belvedere. whereupon bramante, who had very good judgment and an inventive genius in such matters, distributed two ranges of columns along the lowest part; first, a very beautiful doric loggia, similar to the colosseum of the savelli (although, in place of half-columns, he used pilasters), and all built of travertine; and over this a second range of the ionic order, full of windows, of such a height as to come to the level of the first-floor rooms of the papal palace, and to the level of those of the belvedere; intending to make, afterwards, a loggia more than four hundred paces long on the side towards rome, and likewise another on the side towards the wood, with which, one on either hand, he proposed to enclose the valley; into which, after it had been levelled, was to be brought all the water from the belvedere; and for this a very beautiful fountain was to be made. of this design, bramante finished the first corridor, which issues from the palace and leads to the belvedere on the side towards rome, except the upper loggia, which was to go above it. as for the opposite part, on the side towards the wood, the foundations, indeed, were laid, but it could not be finished, being interrupted by the death of julius, and then by that of bramante. his design was held to be so beautiful in invention, that it was believed that from the time of the ancients until that day, rome had seen nothing better. but of the other corridor, as has been said, he left only the foundations, and the labour of finishing it has dragged on down to our own day, when pius iv has brought it almost to completion. bramante also erected the head-wall of the museum of ancient statues in the belvedere, together with the range of niches; wherein were placed, in his lifetime, the laocoon, one of the rarest of ancient statues, the apollo, and the venus; and the rest of the statues were set up there afterwards by leo x, such as the tiber, the nile, and the cleopatra, with some others added by clement vii; and in the time of paul iii and julius iii many important improvements were made, at great expense. but to return to bramante; he was very resolute, although he was hindered by the avarice of those who supplied him with the means to work, and he had a marvellous knowledge of the craft of building. this construction at the belvedere was executed by him with extraordinary speed, and such was his eagerness as he worked, and that of the pope, who would have liked to see the edifice spring up from the ground, without needing to be built, that the builders of the foundations brought the sand and the solid foundation-clay by night and let[ ] it down by day in the presence of bramante, who caused the foundations to be made without seeing anything more of the work. this inadvertence was the reason that all his buildings have cracked, and are in danger of falling down, as did this same corridor, of which a piece eighty braccia in length fell to the ground in the time of clement vii, and was afterwards rebuilt by pope paul iii, who also had the foundations restored and the whole strengthened. from his design, also, are many flights of steps in the belvedere, varied according to their situations, whether high or low, in the doric, ionic, and corinthian orders--a very beautiful work, executed with extraordinary grace. and he had made a model for the whole, which is said to have been a marvellous thing, as may still be imagined from the beginning of the work, unfinished as it is. moreover, he made a spiral staircase upon mounting columns, in such a way that one can ascend it on horseback; wherein the doric passes into the ionic, and the ionic into the corinthian, rising from one into the other; a work executed with supreme grace, and with truly excellent art, which does him no less honour than any other thing by his hand that is therein. this invention was copied by bramante from s. niccolò at pisa, as was said in the lives of giovanni and niccola of pisa. the fancy took bramante to make, in a frieze on the outer façade of the belvedere, some letters after the manner of ancient hieroglyphics, representing the name of the pope and his own, in order to show his ingenuity: and he had begun thus, "julio ii, pont. massimo," having caused a head in profile of julius cæsar to be made, and a bridge, with two arches, which signified, "julio ii, pont.," and an obelisk from the circus maximus, to represent "max." at which the pope laughed, and caused him to make the letters in the ancient manner, one braccio in height, which are there at the present day; saying that he had copied this folly from a door at viterbo, over which one maestro francesco, an architect, had placed his name, carved in the architrave, and represented by a s. francis (s. francesco), an arch (arco), a roof (tetto), and a tower (torre), which, interpreted in his own way, denoted, "maestro francesco architettore." the pope, on account of his ability in architecture, was very well disposed towards him. [illustration: tempietto (_after_ bramante da urbino. _rome: s. pietro in montorio_) _anderson_] for these reasons he was rightly held worthy by the aforesaid pope, who loved him very dearly for his great gifts, to be appointed to the office of the piombo, for which he made a machine for printing bulls, with a very beautiful screw. in the service of that pontiff bramante went to bologna, in the year , when that city returned to the church; and he occupied himself, throughout the whole war against mirandola, on many ingenious things of the greatest importance. he made many designs for ground-plans and complete buildings, which he drew very well; and of such there are some to be seen in our book, accurately drawn and executed with very great art. he taught many of the rules of architecture to raffaello da urbino; designing for him, for example, the buildings that raffaello afterwards drew in perspective in that apartment of the pope wherein there is mount parnassus; in which apartment he made a portrait of bramante taking measurements with a pair of compasses. the pope resolved, having had the strada julia straightened out by bramante, to place in it all the public offices and tribunals of rome, on account of the convenience which this would bring to the merchants in their business, which up to that time had always been much hindered. wherefore bramante made a beginning with the palace that is to be seen by s. biagio sul tevere, wherein there is still an unfinished corinthian temple, a thing of rare excellence. the rest of this beginning is in rustic work, and most beautiful; and it is a great pity that a work so honourable, useful, and magnificent, which is held by the masters of the profession to be the most beautiful example of design in that kind that has ever been seen, should not have been finished. he made, also, in the first cloister of s. pietro a montorio, a round temple of travertine, than which nothing more shapely or better conceived, whether in proportion, design, variety, or grace, could be imagined; and even more beautiful would it have been, if the whole extent of the cloister, which is not finished, had been brought to the form that is to be seen in a drawing by his hand. he directed the building, in the borgo, of the palace which afterwards belonged to raffaello da urbino, executed with bricks and mould-castings, the columns and bosses being of the doric order and of rustic work--a very beautiful work--with a new invention in the making of these castings. he also made the design and preparations for the decoration of s. maria at loreto, which was afterwards continued by andrea sansovino; and an endless number of models for palaces and temples, which are in rome and throughout the states of the church. so sublime was the intellect of this marvellous craftsman, that he made a vast design for restoring and rearranging the papal palace. and so greatly had his courage grown, on seeing the powers and desires of the pope rise to the level of his own wishes and genius, that, hearing that he was minded to throw the church of s. pietro to the ground, in order to build it anew, he made him an endless number of designs. and among those that he made was one that was very wonderful, wherein he showed the greatest possible judgment, with two bell-towers, one on either side of the façade, as we see it in the coins afterwards struck for julius ii and leo x by caradosso, a most excellent goldsmith, who had no peer in making dies, as may still be seen from the medal of bramante, executed by him, which is very beautiful. and so, the pope having resolved to make a beginning with the vast and sublime structure of s. pietro, bramante caused half of the old church to be pulled down, and put his hand to the work, with the intention that it should surpass, in beauty, art, invention, and design, as well as in grandeur, richness, and adornment, all the buildings that had been erected in that city by the power of the commonwealth, and by the art and intellect of so many able masters; and with his usual promptness he laid the foundations, and carried the greater part of the building, before the death of the pope and his own, to the height of the cornice, where are the arches to all the four piers; and these he turned with supreme expedition and art. he also executed the vaulting of the principal chapel, where the recess is, giving his attention at the same time to pressing on the building of the chapel that is called the chapel of the king of france. for this work he invented the method of casting vaults in wooden moulds, in such a manner that patterns of friezes and foliage, like carvings, come out in the plaster; and in the arches of this edifice he showed how they could be turned with flying scaffoldings, a method that we have since seen followed by antonio da san gallo. in the part that was finished by him, the cornice that runs right round the interior is seen to be so graceful, that no other man's hand could take away or alter anything from its design without spoiling it. it is evident from his capitals, which are of olive leaves within, and from all the doric work on the outer side, which is extraordinarily beautiful, how sublime was the courage of bramante, whereby, in truth, if he had possessed physical powers equal to the intellect that adorned his spirit, he would most certainly have achieved even more unexampled things than he did. this work, as will be related in the proper places, since his death and down to the present day, has been much mutilated by other architects, insomuch that it may be said that with the exception of four arches which support the tribune, nothing of his has remained there. for raffaello da urbino and giuliano da san gallo, who carried on the work after the death of julius ii, together with fra giocondo of verona, thought fit to begin to alter it; and after the death of those masters, baldassarre peruzzi, in building the chapel of the king of france, in the transept on the side towards the campo santo, changed bramante's design; and under paul iii antonio da san gallo changed it again entirely. finally, michelagnolo buonarroti, sweeping away the countless opinions and superfluous expenses, has brought it to such beauty and perfection as not one of those others ever thought of, which all comes from his judgment and power of design; although he said to me several times that he was only the executor of the design and arrangements of bramante, seeing that he who originally lays the foundations of a great edifice is its true creator. vast, indeed, seemed the conception of bramante in this work, and he gave it a very great beginning, which, even if he had begun on a smaller scale, neither san gallo nor the others, nor even buonarroti, would have had enough power of design to increase, although they were able to diminish it; so immense, stupendous, and magnificent was this edifice, and yet bramante had conceived something even greater. it is said that he was so eager to see this structure making progress, that he pulled down many beautiful things in s. pietro, such as tombs of popes, paintings, and mosaics, and that for this reason we have lost all trace of many portraits of distinguished persons, which were scattered throughout that church, which was the principal church of all christendom. he preserved only the altar of s. pietro, and the old tribune, round which he made a most beautiful ornament of the doric order, all of peperino-stone, to the end that when the pope came to s. pietro to say mass, he might be able to stand within it with all his court and with the ambassadors of the christian princes; but death prevented him from finishing it entirely, and the sienese baldassarre afterwards brought it to completion. bramante was a very merry and pleasant person, ever delighting to help his neighbour. he was very much the friend of men of ability, and favoured them in whatever way he could; as may be seen from his kindness to the gracious raffaello da urbino, most celebrated of painters, whom he brought to rome. he always lived in the greatest splendour, doing honour to himself; and in the rank to which his merits had raised him, what he possessed was nothing to what he would have been able to spend. he delighted in poetry, and loved to improvise upon the lyre, or to hear others doing this: and he composed some sonnets, if not as polished as we now demand them, at least weighty and without faults. he was much esteemed by the prelates, and was received by an endless number of noblemen who made his acquaintance. in his lifetime he had very great renown, and even greater after his death, because of which the building of s. pietro was interrupted for many years. he lived to the age of seventy, and he was borne to his tomb in rome, with most honourable obsequies, by the court of the pope and by all the sculptors, architects, and painters. he was buried in s. pietro, in the year . [illustration: palazzo giraud (_after_ bramante da urbino. _rome_) _anderson_] very great was the loss that architecture suffered in the death of bramante, who was the discoverer of many good methods wherewith he enriched that art, such as the invention of casting vaults, and the secret of stucco; both of which were known to the ancients, but had been lost until his time through the ruin of their buildings. and those who occupy themselves with measuring ancient works of architecture, find in the works of bramante no less science and design than in any of the former; wherefore, among those who are versed in the profession, he can be accounted one of the rarest intellects that have adorned our age. he left behind him an intimate friend, giuliano leno, who had much to do with the buildings of his time, but was employed rather to make preparations and to carry out the wishes of whoever designed them, than to work on his own account, although he had judgment and great experience. during his lifetime, bramante employed in his works one ventura, a carpenter of pistoia, who was a man of very good ability, and drew passing well. this ventura, while in rome, delighted much in taking measurements of antiquities; and afterwards, wishing to live once more in his native place, he returned to pistoia. now it happened in that city, in the year , that a madonna, which is now called the madonna della umiltà, worked miracles; and since many offerings were brought to her, the signoria that was then governing the city determined to build a temple in her honour. whereupon ventura, confronted with this opportunity, made with his own hand a model of an octagonal temple ...[ ] braccia in breadth and ... braccia in height, with a vestibule or closed portico in front, very ornate within and truly beautiful. this having given satisfaction to the signoria and to the chief men of the city, the building was begun according to the plans of ventura, who, having laid the foundations of the vestibule and the temple, completely finished the vestibule, which he made very rich in pilasters and cornices of the corinthian order, with other carved stonework; while all the vaults in that work were made in like manner, with squares surrounded by mouldings, also in stone, and filled with rosettes. afterwards, the octagonal temple was also carried to the height of the last cornice, from which the vaulting of the tribune was to rise, during the lifetime of ventura; and since he was not very experienced in works of that size, he did not consider how the weight of the tribune might be safely laid on the building, but made within the thickness of the wall, at the first range of windows, and at the second, where the others are, a passage that runs right round, whereby he contrived to weaken the walls so much, that, the edifice being without buttresses at the base, it was dangerous to raise a vault over it, and particularly on the angles at the corners, upon which all the weight of the vault of that tribune must rest. wherefore, after the death of ventura, there was no architect with courage enough to raise that vault: nay, they had caused long and stout beams of timber to be brought to the place, in order to make a tent-shaped roof; but this did not please the citizens, and they would not have it put into execution. and so the building remained for many years without a roof, until, in the year , the wardens of works besought duke cosimo that his excellency should so favour them as to cause that tribune to be vaulted. whereupon, in order to meet their wishes, the duke ordered giorgio vasari to go there and see whether he could find some method of vaulting it; and he, having done this, made a model raising the building to the height of eight braccia above the cornice that ventura had left, in order to make buttresses for it; and he decreased the breadth of the passage that runs right round between the walls, and reinforced the building with buttresses, besides binding the corners and the parts below the passages that ventura had made, between the windows, with stout keys of iron, double at the angles; which secured the whole in such a manner that the vault could be raised with safety. whereupon his excellency was pleased to visit the place, and, being satisfied with everything, gave orders for the work to be executed; and so all the buttresses have been built, and a beginning has already been made with the raising of the cupola. thus, then, the work of ventura will become richer, greater in size and adornment, and better in proportions; but he truly deserves to have record made of him, since that building is the most noteworthy modern work in the city of pistoia. footnote: [ ] the word "calavano" has been substituted here for the "cavavano" of the text, which gives no sense. [ ] these numbers are missing from the text. fra bartolommeo di san marco life of fra bartolommeo di san marco [_baccio della porta_] painter of florence near the territory of prato, which is ten miles distant from florence, in a village called savignano, was born bartolommeo, known, according to the tuscan custom, by the name of baccio. he, having shown in his childhood not merely inclination, but also aptitude, for drawing, was placed, through the good services of benedetto da maiano, with cosimo rosselli, and lodged in the house of some relatives of his own, who lived at the porta a s. piero gattolini; where he stayed for many years, so that he was never called or known by any other name than that of baccio della porta. after taking his leave of cosimo rosselli, he began to study with great devotion the works of leonardo da vinci; and in a short time he made such proficience and such progress in colouring, that he acquired the name and reputation of being one of the best young men of his art, both in colouring and in drawing. he had a companion in mariotto albertinelli, who in a short time acquired his manner passing well; and together with him he executed many pictures of our lady, which are scattered throughout florence. to speak of all these would take too long, and i will mention only some excellently painted by baccio. there is one, containing a madonna, in the house of filippo di averardo salviati, which is most beautiful, and which he holds very dear and in great price. another was bought not long since, at a sale of old furniture, by pier maria delle pozze, a person greatly devoted to pictures, who, having recognized its beauty, will not let it go for any sum of money; in which work is a madonna executed with extraordinary diligence. piero del pugliese had a little madonna of marble, in very low relief, a very rare work by the hand of donatello, for which, in order to do it honour, he caused a wooden tabernacle to be made, with two little doors to enclose it. this he gave to baccio della porta, who painted, on the inner side of the doors, two little scenes, of which one was the nativity of christ, and the other his circumcision; which baccio executed with little figures after the manner of miniatures, in such a way that it would not be possible to do better work in oils; and then he painted our lady receiving the annunciation from the angel, in chiaroscuro, and likewise in oils, on the outer side of the same little doors, so as to be seen when they are closed. this work is now in the study of duke cosimo, wherein he keeps all his little antique figures of bronze, medals, and other rare pictures in miniature; and it is treasured by his most illustrious excellency as a rare thing, as indeed it is. [illustration: fra bartolommeo di san marco: the deposition from the cross (_florence: pitti, . panel_)] baccio was beloved in florence for his virtues, for he was assiduous in his work, quiet and good by nature, and a truly god-fearing man; he had a great liking for a life of peace, and he shunned vicious company, delighted much in hearing sermons, and always sought the society of learned and serious persons. and in truth, it is seldom that nature creates a man of good parts and a gentle craftsman, without also providing him, after some time, with peace and favour, as she did for baccio, who, as will be told below, obtained all that he desired. the report having spread abroad that he was no less good than able, his fame so increased that he was commissioned by gerozzo di monna venna dini to paint the chapel wherein the bones of the dead are kept, in the cemetery of the hospital of s. maria nuova. there he began a judgment in fresco, which he executed with such diligence and beauty of manner in the part which he finished, that he acquired extraordinary fame thereby, in addition to what he had already, and became greatly celebrated, on account of his having represented with excellent conceptions the glory of paradise, and christ with the twelve apostles judging the twelve tribes, wherein the figures are soft in colouring and most beautifully draped. moreover, in those figures that are being dragged to hell, in the part that was designed but left unfinished, one sees the despair, grief, and shame of everlasting death, even as one perceives contentment and gladness in those that are being saved; although this work remained unfinished, since baccio was inclined to give his attention more to religion than to painting. for there was living in s. marco, at this time, fra girolamo savonarola of ferrara, of the order of preaching friars, a very famous theologian; and baccio, going continually to hear his preaching, on account of the devotion that he felt for him, contracted a very strait intimacy with him, and passed almost all his time in the convent, having also become the friend of the other friars. now it happened that fra girolamo, continuing his preaching, and crying out every day from the pulpit that lascivious pictures, music, and amorous books often lead the mind to evil, became convinced that it was not right to keep in houses where there were young girls painted figures of naked men and women. and at the next carnival--when it was the custom in the city to make little huts of faggots and other kinds of wood on the public squares, and on the tuesday evening, according to ancient use, to burn these, with amorous dances, in which men and women, joining hands, danced round these fires, singing certain airs--the people were so inflamed by fra girolamo, and he wrought upon them so strongly with his words, that on that day they brought to the place a vast quantity of nude figures, both in painting and in sculpture, many by the hand of excellent masters, and likewise books, lutes, and volumes of songs, which was a most grievous loss, particularly for painting. thither baccio carried all the drawings of nudes that he had made by way of studies, and he was followed by lorenzo di credi and by many others, who had the name of piagnoni. and it was not long before baccio, on account of the affection that he bore to fra girolamo, made a very beautiful portrait of him in a picture, which was then taken to ferrara; but not long ago it came back to florence, and it is now in the house of filippo di alamanno salviati, who, since it is by the hand of baccio, holds it very dear. it happened, after this, that one day the opponents of fra girolamo rose against him, in order to take him and deliver him over to the hands of justice, on account of the disturbances that he had caused in the city; and his friends, seeing this, also banded themselves together, to the number of more than five hundred, and shut themselves up in s. marco, and baccio with them, on account of the great affection that he had for their party. it is true that, being a person of little courage, nay, even timorous and mean-spirited, and hearing an attack being made a little time after this on the convent, and men being wounded and killed, he began to have serious doubts about himself. for which reason he made a vow that if he were to escape from that turmoil, he would straightway assume the habit of that order; which vow he carried out afterwards most faithfully, for when the uproar had ceased, and fra girolamo had been taken and condemned to death, as the writers of history relate with more detail, baccio betook himself to prato and became a monk in s. domenico, in that city, on july , in the year , as is found written in the chronicles of that same convent in which he assumed the habit; to the great displeasure of all his friends, who were grieved beyond measure at having lost him, and particularly because they heard that he had taken it into his head to forsake his painting. whereupon mariotto albertinelli, his friend and companion, at the entreaties of gerozzo dini, took over the materials of fra bartolommeo--which was the name given by the prior to baccio, on investing him with the habit--and brought to completion the work of the ossa in s. maria nuova; where he portrayed from life the director of the hospital at that time, and some friars skilled in surgery, with gerozzo, the patron of the work, and his wife, full-length figures on their knees, upon the walls on either side; and in a nude figure that is seated, he portrayed giuliano bugiardini, his pupil, as a young man, with long locks according to the custom of that time, in which each separate hair might be counted, so carefully are they painted. he made there, likewise, his own portrait, in the head, with long locks, of a figure that is issuing from one of the tombs; and in that work, in the region of the blessed, there is also the portrait of fra giovanni da fiesole, the painter, whose life we have written. this painting was executed wholly in fresco, both by fra bartolommeo and by mariotto, so that it has remained, and still remains, marvellously fresh, and is held in esteem by craftsmen, since it is scarcely possible to do better in that kind of work. [illustration: the holy family (_after the panel by =fra bartolommeo di san marco=. rome: corsini gallery, _) _anderson_] when fra bartolommeo had been many months in prato, he was sent by his superiors to take up his abode in s. marco at florence, and on account of his virtues he was received very warmly by the friars of that convent. in those days bernardo del bianco had caused to be erected, in the badia of florence, a chapel of grey-stone, full of carving, and very rich and beautiful, from the design of benedetto da rovezzano: which chapel was and still is much esteemed on account of some ornamental work of great variety, wherein benedetto buglioni placed, in some niches, angels and other figures made of glazed terra-cotta, in the round, to adorn it the more, with friezes containing cherubs and the devices of bianco. and bernardo, wishing to set up in the chapel a panel-picture that should be worthy of that adornment, and conceiving the idea that fra bartolommeo would be the right man for the work, sought in every possible way, through the intervention of his friends, to persuade him. fra bartolommeo was living in his convent, giving his attention to nothing save the divine offices and the duties of his rule, although often besought by the prior and by his dearest friends that he should work again at his painting; and for more than four years he had refused to touch a brush. but on this occasion, being pressed by bernardo del bianco, at length he began the panel-picture of s. bernard, in which the saint is writing, and gazing with such deep contemplation at the madonna, with the child in her arms, being borne by many angels and children, all coloured with great delicacy, that there is clearly perceived in him a certain celestial quality, i know not what, which seems, to him who studies it with attention, to shine out over that work, into which baccio put much diligence and love; not to mention an arch executed in fresco, which is above it. he also made some pictures for cardinal giovanni de' medici; and for agnolo doni he painted a picture of our lady, which stands on the altar of a chapel in his house--a work of extraordinary beauty. at this time the painter raffaello da urbino came to florence to study his art, and taught the best principles of perspective to fra bartolommeo; and desiring to acquire the friar's manner of colouring, and being pleased with his handling of colours and his method of harmonizing them, raffaello was always in his company. fra bartolommeo painted about the same time, in s. marco at florence, a panel with an infinite number of figures, which is now in the possession of the king of france, having been presented to him after being exposed to view for many months in s. marco. afterwards, he painted another in that convent, containing an endless number of figures, in place of the one that was sent into france; in which picture are some children who are flying in the air and holding open a canopy, executed with such good drawing and art, and with such strong relief, that they appear to stand out from the panel, while the colouring of the flesh reveals that beauty and excellence which every able craftsman seeks to give to his pictures; and this work is still considered at the present day to be most excellent. in it are many figures surrounding a madonna, all most admirable, and executed with grace, feeling, boldness, spirit, and vivacity; and coloured, moreover, in so striking a manner, that they seem to be in relief, since he wished to show that he was able not only to draw, but also to give his figures force and make them stand out by means of the darkness of the shadows, as may be seen in some children who are round a canopy, upholding it, who, as they fly through the air, almost project from the panel. besides this, there is an infant christ who is marrying s. catherine the nun, than which it would not be possible to paint anything more lifelike with the dark colouring that he used. there is a circle of saints on one side diminishing in perspective, round the depth of a great recess, who are distributed with such fine design that they seem to be real; and the same may be seen on the other side. and in truth, in this manner of colouring, he imitated to a great extent the works of leonardo; particularly in the darks, for which he used printer's smoke-black and the black of burnt ivory. this panel has now become much darker than it was when he painted it, on account of those blacks, which have kept growing heavier and darker. in the foreground, among the principal figures, he made a s. george in armour, who has a standard in his hand, a bold, spirited, and vivacious figure, in a beautiful attitude. there is also a s. bartholomew, standing, a figure that deserves the highest praise; with two children who are playing, one on a lute, and the other on a lyre, one of whom he made with a leg drawn up and his instrument resting upon it, and with the hands touching the strings in the act of running over them, an ear intent on the harmony, the head upraised, and the mouth slightly open, in such a way that whoever beholds him cannot persuade himself that he should not also hear the voice. no less lifelike is the other, who, leaning on one side, and bending over with one ear to the lyre, appears to be listening to learn how far it is in accord with the sound of the lute and the voice, while, with his eyes fixed on the ground, and his ear turned intently towards his companion, who is playing and singing, he seeks to follow in harmony with the air. these conceptions and expressions are truly ingenious; the children, who are seated, and clothed in veiling, are marvellous and executed with great industry by the practised hand of fra bartolommeo; and the whole work is brought out into strong relief by a fine gradation of dark shadows. a little time afterwards he painted another panel, to stand opposite to the former, and containing a madonna surrounded by some saints, which is held to be a good work. he won extraordinary praise for having introduced a method of blending the colouring of his figures in such a way as to add a marvellous degree of harmony to art, making them appear to be in relief and alive, and executing them with supreme perfection of manner. hearing much of the noble works made in rome by michelagnolo, and likewise those of the gracious raffaello, and being roused by the fame, which was continually reaching him, of the marvels wrought by those two divine craftsmen, with leave from his prior he betook himself to rome. there he was entertained by fra mariano fetti, friar of the piombo, for whom he painted two pictures of s. peter and s. paul at his convent of s. silvestro a monte cavallo. but since he did not succeed in working as well in the air of rome as he had done in that of florence, while the vast number of works that he saw, what with the ancient and the modern, bewildered him so that much of the ability and excellence that he believed himself to possess, fell away from him, he determined to depart, leaving to raffaello the charge of finishing one of those pictures, that of s. peter, which he had not completed; which picture was retouched all over by the hand of the marvellous raffaello, and given to fra mariano. thus, then, fra bartolommeo returned to florence. there he had been accused many times of not knowing how to paint nudes; for which reason he resolved to put himself to the test, and to show by means of his labour that he was as well fitted as any other master for the highest achievements of his art. whereupon, to prove this, he painted a picture of s. sebastian, naked, very lifelike in the colouring of the flesh, sweet in countenance, and likewise executed with corresponding beauty of person, whereby he won infinite praise from the craftsmen. it is said that, while this figure was exposed to view in the church, the friars found, through the confessional, women who had sinned at the sight of it, on account of the charm and melting beauty of the lifelike reality imparted to it by the genius of fra bartolommeo; for which reason they removed it from the church and placed it in the chapter-house, where it did not remain long before it was bought by giovan battista della palla and sent to the king of france. [illustration: s. mark (_after the painting by =fra bartolommeo di san marco=. florence: pitti, _) _anderson_] fra bartolommeo had fallen into a rage against the joiners who made the ornamental frames for his panels and pictures, for it was their custom, as it still is at the present day, always to cover an eighth part of the figures with the projecting inner edges of the frames. he determined, therefore, to invent some means of doing without frames for panels; and for this s. sebastian he caused the panel to be made in the form of a half-circle, wherein he drew a niche in perspective, which has the appearance of being carved in relief in the panel. thus, painting a frame all round, he made an ornament for the figure in the middle; and he did the same for our s. vincent, and for the s. mark that will be described after the s. vincent. for the arch of a door leading into the sacristy, he painted in oils, on wood, a figure of s. vincent, a brother of that order, representing him in the act of preaching on the judgment, so that there may be perceived in his gestures, and particularly in his head, that vehemence and fury which are generally seen in the faces of preachers, when they are doing their utmost, with threats of the vengeance of god, to lead men hardened in sin into the perfect life; in such a manner that this figure appears, to one who studies it with attention, to be not painted but real and alive, with such strong relief is it executed; and it is a pity that it is all cracking and spoiling, on account of its having been painted with fresh coats of colour on fresh size, as i said of the works of pietro perugino in the convent of the ingesuati. the fancy took him, in order to show that he was able to make large figures--for he had been told that his manner was that of a miniaturist--to paint on panel, for the wall in which is the door of the choir, a figure of s. mark the evangelist, five braccia in height, and executed with very good draughtsmanship and supreme excellence. after this, salvadore billi, a florentine merchant, on his return from naples, having heard the fame of fra bartolommeo, and having seen his works, caused him to paint a panel-picture of christ the saviour, in allusion to his own name, with the four evangelists round him; wherein, at the foot, are also two little boys upholding the globe of the world, whose flesh, fresh and tender, is excellently painted, as is the whole work, in which there are likewise two prophets that are much extolled. this panel stands in the nunziata at florence, below the great organ, according to the wish of salvadore; it is a very beautiful work, finished by fra bartolommeo with much lovingness and great perfection; and it is surrounded by an ornament of marble, all carved by the hand of pietro rosselli. afterwards, having need of a change of air, the prior at that time, who was his friend, sent him away to a monastery of his order, wherein, while he stayed there, he combined the labour of his hands with the contemplation of death, with profit[ ] both for his soul and for the convent. for s. martino in lucca he painted a panel wherein, at the feet of a madonna, there is a little angel playing on a lute, together with s. stephen and s. john; in which picture, executed with excellent draughtsmanship and colouring, he proved his ability. for s. romano, likewise, he painted a panel on canvas of the madonna della misericordia, who is placed on a pedestal of stone, with some angels holding her mantle; and together with her he depicted a throng of people on some steps, some standing, others seated, and others kneeling, but all gazing at a figure of christ on high, who is sending down lightnings and thunderbolts upon the people. clearly did fra bartolommeo prove in this work how well he was able to manage the gradation of shadows and darks in painting, giving extraordinary relief to his figures, and showing a rare and excellent mastery over the difficulties of his art in colouring, drawing, and invention; and the work is as perfect as any that he ever made. for the same church he painted another panel, also on canvas, containing a christ and s. catherine the martyr, together with a s. catherine of siena, rapt in ecstasy from the earth, a figure as good as any that could possibly be painted in that manner. [illustration: god the father, with ss. mary magdalen and catharine (_after the painting by =fra bartolommeo di san marco=. lucca: gallery, _) _alinari_] returning to florence, he gave some attention to the study of music; and, delighting much therein, he would sometimes sing to pass the time. at prato, opposite to the prison, he painted a panel-picture of the assumption. he executed some pictures of our lady for the house of the medici, and also other paintings for various people, such as a picture of our lady which lodovico di lodovico capponi has in his apartment, and likewise another of the virgin holding the child in her arms, with two heads of saints, that is in the possession of the very excellent messer lelio torelli, chief secretary to the most illustrious duke cosimo, who holds it very dear both on account of the genius of fra bartolommeo, and because he delights in, loves, and favours not only the men of our art, but every fine intellect. in the house of piero del pugliese, which now belongs to matteo botti, a citizen and merchant of florence, in an antechamber at the head of a staircase, he painted a s. george in armour, on horseback, who is slaying the dragon with his lance--a very spirited figure. this he executed in chiaroscuro, in oils, a method that he much delighted to use for all his works, sketching them in the manner of a cartoon, with ink or with bitumen, before colouring them; as may still be seen from many beginnings of pictures and panels, which he left unfinished on account of his death, and as may also be perceived from many drawings by his hand, executed in chiaroscuro, of which the greater part are now in the monastery of s. caterina da siena on the piazza di s. marco, in the possession of a nun who paints, and of whom record will be made in the proper place; while many made in the same way adorn our book of drawings, honouring his memory, and some are in the hands of messer francesco del garbo, a most excellent physician. fra bartolommeo always liked to have living objects before him when he was working; and in order to be able to draw draperies, armour, and other suchlike things, he caused a life-size figure of wood to be made, which moved at the joints; and this he clothed with real draperies, from which he painted most beautiful things, being able to keep them in position as long as he pleased, until he had brought his work to perfection. this figure, worm-eaten and ruined as it is, is in our possession, treasured in memory of him. at arezzo, for the abbey of the black friars, he made a head of christ in dark tints--a very beautiful work. he painted, also, the panel of the company of the contemplanti, which was preserved in the house of the magnificent messer ottaviano de' medici, and has now been placed in a chapel of that house, with many ornaments, by his son messer alessandro, who holds it very dear in memory of fra bartolommeo, and also because he takes vast pleasure in painting. in the chapel of the noviciate of s. marco there is a panel-picture of the purification, very lovely, which he executed with good draughtsmanship and high finish. at s. maria maddalena, a seat of the friars of his order, without florence, while staying there for his own pleasure, he made a christ and a magdalene; and he also painted certain things in fresco in that convent. in like manner, he wrought in fresco an arch over the strangers' apartment in s. marco, in which he painted christ with cleophas and luke, and made a portrait of fra niccolò della magna, who was then a young man, and who afterwards became archbishop of capua, and finally a cardinal. he began a panel for s. gallo, afterwards finished by giuliano bugiardini, which is now on the high-altar of s. jacopo fra fossi, on the canto degli alberti; and likewise a picture of the rape of dinah, now in the possession of messer cristofano rinieri, and afterwards coloured by the same giuliano, in which are buildings and conceptions that are much extolled. from piero soderini he received the commission for the panel of the council chamber, which he began in such a manner, drawing it in chiaroscuro, that it seemed destined to do him very great credit; and, unfinished as it is, it now has a place of honour in the chapel of the magnificent ottaviano de' medici, in s. lorenzo. in it are all the patron saints of the city of florence, and those saints on whose days that city has gained her victories; and there is also the portrait of fra bartolommeo himself, made by him with a mirror. he had begun this picture, and had drawn the whole design, when it happened that, from working continually under a window, with the light from it beating on his back, he became completely paralyzed on that side of his body, and quite unable to move. thereupon he was advised--such being the orders of his physicians--to go to the baths of san filippo; where he stayed a long time, but became very little better thereby. now fra bartolommeo was a great lover of fruit, which pleased his palate mightily, although it was ruinous to his health. wherefore one morning, having eaten many figs, there came upon him, in addition to his other infirmity, a very violent fever, which cut short the course of his life in four days, at the age of forty-eight; when, still wholly conscious, he rendered up his soul to heaven. his death grieved his friends, and particularly the friars, who gave him honourable sepulture in their burial-place in s. marco, on october , in the year . he had a dispensation from attending any of the offices in the choir with the other friars, and the gains from his works went to the convent, enough money being left in his hands to pay for colours and other materials necessary for his painting. he left disciples in cecchino del frate, benedetto cianfanini, gabriele rustici, and fra paolo pistoiese, the latter inheriting all his possessions. this fra paolo painted many panels and pictures from his master's drawings, after his death; of which three are in s. domenico at pistoia, and one at s. maria del sasso in the casentino. fra bartolommeo gave such grace to his figures with his colouring, and made them so novel and so modern in manner, that for these reasons he deserves to be numbered by us among the benefactors of art. footnote: [ ] the word "utilmente" is substituted here for the "ultimamente" of the text, which makes no sense. mariotto albertinelli life of mariotto albertinelli painter of florence mariotto albertinelli, the closest and most intimate friend of fra bartolommeo--his other self, one might call him, not only on account of the constant connection and intercourse between them, but also through their similarity of manner during the period when mariotto gave proper attention to art--was the son of biagio di bindo albertinelli. at the age of twenty he abandoned his calling of gold-beater, in which he had been employed up to that time; and he learnt the first rudiments of painting in the workshop of cosimo rosselli, where he formed such an intimacy with baccio della porta, that they were one soul and one body. such, indeed, was the brotherly friendship between them, that when baccio took his leave of cosimo, in order to practise his art as a master by himself, mariotto went off with him; whereupon they lived for a long time, both one and the other, at the porta a s. piero gattolini, executing many works in company. and since mariotto was not so well grounded in drawing as was baccio, he devoted himself to the study of such antiquities as were then in florence, the greater part and the best of which were in the house of the medici. he made a number of drawings of certain little panels in half-relief that were under the loggia in the garden, on the side towards s. lorenzo, in one of which is adonis with a very beautiful dog, and in another two nude figures, one seated, with a dog at its feet, and the other standing with the legs crossed, leaning on a staff. both these panels are marvellous; and there are likewise two others of the same size, in one of which are two little boys carrying jove's thunderbolt, while in the other is the nude figure of an old man, with wings on his shoulders and feet, representing chance, and balancing a pair of scales in his hands. in addition to these works, that garden was full of torsi of men and women, which were a school not only for mariotto, but for all the sculptors and painters of his time. a good part of these are now in the guardaroba of duke cosimo, and others, such as the two torsi of marsyas, the heads over the windows, and those of the emperors over the doors, are still in the same place. by studying these antiquities, mariotto made great proficience in drawing; and he entered into the service of the mother of duke lorenzo, madonna alfonsina, who, desiring that he should devote himself to becoming an able master, offered him all possible assistance. dividing his time, therefore, between drawing and colouring, he became a passing good craftsman, as is proved by some pictures that he executed for that lady, which were sent by her to rome, for carlo and giordano orsini, and which afterwards came into the hands of cæsar borgia. he made a very good portrait of madonna alfonsina from the life; and it seemed to him, on account of his friendship with her, that his fortune was made, when, in the year , piero de' medici was banished, and her assistance and favour failed him. whereupon he returned to the workshop of baccio, where he set himself with even greater zeal to make models of clay and to increase his knowledge, labouring at the study of nature, and imitating the works of baccio, so that in a few years he became a sound and practised master. and then, seeing his work succeeding so well, he so grew in courage, that, imitating the manner and method of his companion, the hand of mariotto was taken by many for that of fra bartolommeo. [illustration: the madonna enthroned, with saints (_after the panel by =mariotto albertinelli=. florence: accademia, _) _alinari_] but when he heard that baccio had gone off to become a monk, mariotto was almost overwhelmed and out of his mind; and so strange did the news seem to him, that he was in despair, and nothing could cheer him. if it had not been, indeed, that mariotto could not then endure having anything to do with monks, against whom he was ever railing, and belonged to the party that was opposed to the faction of fra girolamo of ferrara, his love for baccio would have wrought upon him so strongly, that it would have forced him to don the cowl in the same convent as his companion. however, he was besought by gerozzo dini, who had given the commission for the judgment that baccio had left unfinished in the ossa, that he, having a manner similar to baccio's, should undertake to finish it; whereupon, being also moved by the circumstance that the cartoon completed by the hand of baccio and other drawings were there, and by the entreaties of fra bartolommeo himself, who had received money on account of the painting, and was troubled in conscience at not having kept his promise, he finished the work, and executed all that was wanting with diligence and love, in such a way that many, not knowing this, think that it was painted by one single hand; and this brought him vast credit among craftsmen. in the chapter-house of the certosa of florence he executed a crucifixion, with our lady and the magdalene at the foot of the cross, and some angels in the sky, who are receiving the blood of christ; a work wrought in fresco, with diligence and lovingness, and passing well painted. now some of the young men who were learning art under him, thinking that the friars were not giving them proper food, had counterfeited, without the knowledge of mariotto, the keys of those windows opening into the friar's rooms, through which their pittance is passed; and sometimes, in secret, they stole some of it, now from one and now from another. there was a great uproar about this among the friars, since in the matter of eating they are as sensitive as any other person; but the lads did it with great dexterity, and, since they were held to be honest fellows, the blame fell on some of the friars, who were said to be doing it from hatred of one another. however, one day the truth was revealed, and the friars, to the end that the work might be finished, gave a double allowance to mariotto and his lads, who finished the work with great glee and laughter. for the nuns of s. giuliano in florence he painted the panel of their high-altar, which he executed in a room that he had in the gualfonda; together with another for the same church, with a crucifix, some angels, and god the father, representing the trinity, in oils and on a gold ground. mariotto was a most restless person, devoted to the pleasures of love, and a good liver in the matter of eating; wherefore, conceiving a hatred for the subtleties and brain-rackings of painting, and being often wounded by the tongues of other painters (according to the undying custom among them, handed down from one to another), he resolved to turn to a more humble, less fatiguing, and more cheerful art. and so, having opened a very fine inn, without the porta s. gallo, and a tavern and inn on the ponte vecchio, at the dragon, he followed that calling for many months, saying that he had chosen an art without foreshortenings, muscles, and perspectives, and, what was much more important, free from censure, and that the art which he had given up was quite the contrary of his new one, since the former imitated flesh and blood, and the latter made both blood and flesh; and now, having good wine, he heard himself praised all day long, whereas before he used to hear nothing but censure. [illustration: mariotto albertinelli: the salutation (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] however, having grown weary of this as well, and ashamed of the baseness of his calling, he returned to painting, and executed pictures and paintings for the houses of citizens in florence. for giovan maria benintendi he painted three little scenes with his own hand; and for the house of the medici, at the election of leo x, he painted a round picture of his arms, in oils, with faith, hope, and charity, which hung for a long time over the door of their palace. he undertook to make, in the company of s. zanobi, near the chapter-house of s. maria del fiore, a panel-picture of the annunciation, which he executed with great labour. for this he caused special windows to be made, wishing to work on the spot, in order to be able to make the views recede, where they were high and distant, by lowering the tones, or to bring them forward, at his pleasure. now he had conceived the idea that pictures which have no relief and force, combined with delicacy, are of no account; but since he knew that they cannot be made to stand out from the surface without shadows, which, if they are too dark, remain indistinct, while, if they are delicate, they have no force, he was eager to combine this delicacy with a certain method of treatment to which up to that time, so it seemed to him, art had not attained in any satisfactory manner. wherefore, looking on this work as an opportunity for accomplishing this, he set himself, to this end, to make extraordinary efforts, which may be recognized in a figure of god the father, which is in the sky, and in some little children, who stand out from the panel in strong relief against a dark background in perspective that he made there with a ceiling in the form of a barrel-shaped vault, which, with its arches curving and its lines diminishing to a point, recedes inwards in such a manner that it appears to be in relief; besides which, there are some angels scattering flowers as they fly, that are very graceful. this work was painted out and painted in again many times by mariotto before he could bring it to completion. he was for ever changing the colouring, making it now lighter, now darker, and sometimes more lively and glowing, sometimes less; but, never being completely satisfied, and never persuaded that he had done justice with his hand to the thoughts of his intellect, he wished to find a white that should be more brilliant than lead-white, and set himself, therefore, to clarify the latter, in order to be able to heighten the highest light to his own satisfaction. however, having recognized that he was not able to express by means of art all that the intelligence of the human brain grasps and comprehends, he contented himself with what he had achieved, since he could not attain to what it was not possible to reach. this work brought mariotto praise and honour among craftsmen, but by no means as much profit as he hoped to gain from his patrons in return for his labours, since a dispute arose between him and those who had commissioned him to paint it. but pietro perugino, then an old man, ridolfo ghirlandajo, and francesco granacci valued it, and settled the price of the work by common consent. for s. pancrazio, in florence, mariotto painted a semicircular picture of the visitation of our lady. for s. trinità, likewise, he executed with diligence a panel-picture of our lady, s. jerome, and s. zanobi, at the commission of zanobi del maestro; and for the church of the congregation of the priests of s. martino, he painted a picture on panel of the visitation, which is much extolled. he was invited to the convent of la quercia, without viterbo; but after having begun a panel there, he conceived a desire to see rome. having made his way to that city, therefore, he executed to perfection for the chapel of fra mariano fetti in s. silvestro di monte cavallo, a panel-picture in oils of s. dominic, s. catherine of siena, with christ marrying her, and our lady, in a delicate manner. he then returned to la quercia, where he had a mistress, to whom, on account of the desire that he had felt while he was in rome and could not enjoy her love, he sought to show that he was valiant in the lists; wherefore he exerted himself so much, that, being no longer young and so stalwart in such efforts, he was forced to take to his bed. and laying the blame for this on the air of the place, he had himself carried to florence in a litter; but no expedients or remedies availed him in his sickness, from which he died in a few days, at the age of forty-five. he was buried in s. piero maggiore, in that city. there are some drawings by the hand of this master in our book, executed with the pen and in chiaroscuro, which are very good; particularly a spiral staircase, drawn with great ingenuity in perspective, of which he had a good knowledge. mariotto had many disciples; among others, giuliano bugiardini and franciabigio, both florentines, and innocenzio da imola, of whom we will speak in the proper place. visino, a painter of florence, was likewise his disciple, and excelled all these others in drawing, colouring, and industry, showing, also, a better manner in the works that he made, which he executed with great diligence. a few of them are still in florence; and one can study his work at the present day in the house of giovan battista d' agnol doni, in a mirror[ ]--picture painted in oils after the manner of a miniature, wherein are adam and eve naked, eating the apple, a work executed with great care; and from another picture, of christ being taken down from the cross, together with the thieves, in which there is a beautifully contrived complication of ladders, with some men aiding each other to take down the body of christ, and others bearing one of the thieves on their shoulders to burial, and all the figures in varied and fantastic attitudes, suited to that subject, and proving that he was an able man. the same master was brought by some florentine merchants to hungary, where he executed many works and gained great renown. but the poor man was soon in danger of coming to an evil end, because, being of a frank and free-spoken nature, he was not able to endure the wearisome persistence of some hungarians, who kept tormenting him all day long with praises of their own country, as if there were no pleasure or happiness in anything except eating and drinking in their stifling rooms, and no grandeur or nobility save in their king and his court, all the rest of the world being rubbish. it seemed to him (and indeed it is true) that in italy there was another kind of excellence, culture, and beauty; and one day, being weary of their nonsense, and chancing to be a little merry, he let slip the opinion that a flask of trebbiano and a berlingozzo[ ] were worth all the kings and queens that had ever reigned in those regions. and if the matter had not happened to fall into the hands of a bishop, who was a gentleman and a man of the world, and also, above all, a tactful person, both able and willing to turn the thing into a joke, visino would have learnt not to play with savages; for those brutes of hungarians, not understanding his words, and thinking that he had uttered something terrible, such as a threat that he would rob their king of his life and throne, wished to give him short shrift and crucify him by mob-law. but the good bishop drew him out of all embarrassment, and, appraising the merit of the excellent master at its true value, and putting a good complexion on the affair, restored him to the favour of the king, who, on hearing the story, was much amused by it. his good fortune, however, did not last long, for, not being able to endure the stifling rooms and the cold air, which ruined his constitution, in a short time this brought his life to an end; although his repute and fame survived in the memory of those who knew him when alive, and of those who saw his works in the years after his death. his pictures date about the year . footnote: [ ] the words of the text, "un quadro d' una spera," are a little obscure; but the translator has been strengthened in his belief that his rendering is correct by seeing a little picture, painted on a mirror, and numbered , in the victoria and albert museum. the subject of this picture, which the translator was enabled to see by the courtesy of mr. b. s. long, of the department of paintings, is the same as that of the work mentioned by vasari, and it may be a copy. [ ] florentine puff-pastry. raffaellino del garbo life of raffaellino del garbo painter of florence raffaello del garbo, while he was a little boy, was called by the pet name of raffaellino, which he retained ever afterwards; and in his earliest days he gave such promise in his art, that he was already numbered among the most excellent masters, a thing which happens to few. but still fewer meet the fate which afterwards came upon him, in that from a splendid beginning and almost certain hopes, he arrived at a very feeble end. for it is a general rule, in the world both of nature and of art, for things to grow gradually from small beginnings, little by little, until they reach their highest perfection. it is true, however, that many laws both of art and of nature are unknown to us, nor do they hold to one unvarying order at all times and in every case, a thing which very often renders uncertain the judgments of men. how this may happen is seen in raffaellino, since it appeared that in him nature and art did their utmost to set out from extraordinary beginnings, the middle stage of which was below mediocrity, and the end almost nothing. in his youth he drew as much as any painter who has ever exercised himself in drawing in order to become perfect; wherefore there may still be seen, throughout the world of art, a great number of his drawings, which have been dispersed by a son of his for ridiculous prices, partly drawn with the style, partly with the pen or in water-colours, but all on tinted paper, heightened with lead-white, and executed with marvellous boldness and mastery; and there are many of them in our book, drawn in a most beautiful manner. besides this, he learnt to paint so well in distemper and in fresco, that his first works were executed with an incredible patience and diligence, as has been related. in the minerva, round the tomb of cardinal caraffa, he painted the vaulted ceiling, with such delicacy, that it seems like the work of an illuminator; wherefore it was held in great estimation by craftsmen at that time. his master, filippo, regarded him in some respects as a much better painter than himself; and raffaellino had acquired filippo's manner so well, that there were few who could distinguish the one from the other. later, after having left his master, he gave much more delicacy to that manner in the draperies, and greater softness to hair and to the expressions of the heads; and he was held in such expectation by craftsmen, that, while he followed this manner, he was considered the first of the young painters of his day. now the family of the capponi, having built a chapel that is called the paradiso, on the hill below the church of s. bartolommeo a monte oliveto, without the porta a s. friano, wished to have the panel executed by raffaellino, and gave him the commission; whereupon he painted in oils the resurrection of christ, with some soldiers who have fallen, as if dead, round the sepulchre. these figures are very spirited and beautiful, and they have the most graceful heads that it is possible to see; among which, in the head of a young man, is a marvellous portrait of niccola capponi, while, in like manner, the head of one who is crying out because the stone covering of the tomb has fallen upon him, is most beautiful and bizarre. wherefore the capponi, having seen that raffaellino's picture was a rare work, caused a frame to be made for it, all carved, with round columns richly adorned with burnished gold on a ground of bole. before many years had passed, the campanile of that building was struck by lightning, which pierced the vault and fell near that panel, which, having been executed in oils, suffered no harm; but where the fluid passed near the gilt frame, it consumed the gold, leaving nothing there but the bare bole. it has seemed to me right to say that much with regard to oil-painting, to the end that all may see how important it is to know how to guard against such injury, which lightning has done not only to this work, but to many others. [illustration: the resurrection (_after the panel by =raffaellino del garbo=. florence: accademia, _) _anderson_] he painted in fresco, at the corner of a house that now belongs to matteo botti, between the canto del ponte alla carraja and the canto della cuculia, a little shrine containing our lady with the child in her arms, with s. catherine and s. barbara kneeling, a very graceful and carefully executed work. for the villa of marignolle, belonging to the girolami, he painted two most beautiful panels, with our lady, s. zanobi, and other saints; and he filled the predella below both of these with little figures representing scenes from the lives of those saints, executed with great diligence. on the wall above the door of the church of the nuns of s. giorgio, he painted a pietà, with a group of the maries; and in like manner, in another arch below this, a figure of our lady, a work worthy of great praise, executed in the year . in the church of s. spirito at florence, in a panel over that of the nerli, which his master filippo had executed, he painted a pietà, which is held to be a very good and praiseworthy work; but in another, representing s. bernard, he fell short of that standard. below the door of the sacristy are two panel-pictures by his hand; one showing s. gregory the pope saying mass, when christ appears to him, naked, with the cross on his shoulder, and shedding blood from his side, with the deacon and sub-deacon, in their vestments, serving the mass, and two angels swinging censers over the body of christ. for another chapel, lower down, he executed a panel-picture containing our lady, s. jerome, and s. bartholomew. on these two works he bestowed no little labour; but he went on deteriorating from day to day. i do not know to what i should attribute his misfortune, for poor raffaellino was not wanting in industry, diligence, and application; yet they availed him little. it is believed, indeed, that, becoming overburdened and impoverished by the cares of a family, and being compelled to use for his daily needs whatever he earned, not to mention that he was a man of no great spirit and undertook to do work for small prices, in this way he went on growing worse little by little; although there is always something of the good to be seen in his works. for the monks of cestello, on the wall of their refectory, he painted a large scene coloured in fresco, in which he depicted the miracle wrought by jesus christ with the five loaves and two fishes, with which he satisfied five thousand people. for the abbot de' panichi he executed the panel-picture of the high-altar in the church of s. salvi, without the porta alla croce, painting therein our lady, s. giovanni gualberto, s. salvi, s. bernardo, a cardinal of the uberti family, and s. benedetto the abbot, and, at the sides, s. batista and s. fedele in armour, in two niches on either hand of the picture, which had a rich frame; and in the predella are several scenes, with little figures, from the life of s. giovanni gualberto. in all this he acquitted himself very well, because he was assisted in his wretchedness by that abbot, who took pity on him for the sake of his talents; and in the predella of the panel raffaellino made a portrait of him from life, together with one of the general who was then ruling his order. in s. piero maggiore, on the right as one enters the church, there is a panel by his hand, and in the murate there is a picture of s. sigismund, the king. for girolamo federighi, in that part of s. pancrazio where he was afterwards buried, he painted a trinity in fresco, with portraits of him and of his wife on their knees; and here he began to decline into pettiness of manner. he also made two figures in distemper for the monks of cestello, a s. rocco and a s. ignazio, which are in the chapel of s. sebastiano. and in a little chapel on the abutment of the ponte rubaconte, on the side towards the mills, he painted a madonna, a s. laurence, and another saint. in the end he was reduced to undertaking any work, however mean; and he was employed by certain nuns and other persons, who were embroidering a quantity of church vestments and hangings at that time, to make designs in chiaroscuro and ornamental borders containing saints and stories, for ridiculous prices. for although he had deteriorated, there sometimes issued from his hand most beautiful designs and fancies, as is proved by many drawings that were sold and dispersed after the death of those who used them for embroidery; of which there are many in the book of the illustrious hospital-director,[ ] that show how able he was in draughtsmanship. this was the reason that many vestments, hangings, and ornaments, which are held to be very beautiful, were made for the churches of florence and throughout the florentine territory, and also for cardinals and bishops in rome. at the present day this method of embroidery, which was used by paolo da verona, the florentine galieno, and others like them, is almost lost, and another method, with wide stitches, has been introduced, which has neither the same beauty nor the same careful workmanship, and is much less durable than the other. wherefore, in return for this benefit, although poverty caused him misery and hardship during his lifetime, he deserves to have honour and glory for his talents after his death. and in truth raffaellino was unfortunate in his connections, for he always mixed with poor and humble people, like a man who had sunk and become ashamed of himself, seeing that in his youth he had given such great promise, and now knew how distant he was from the extraordinary excellence of the works that he had made at that time. and thus, growing old, he fell away so much from his early standard, that his works no longer appeared to be by his hand; and forgetting his art more and more every day, he was reduced to painting, in addition to his usual panels and pictures, the meanest kinds of works. and he sank so low that everything was a torment to him, but above all his burdensome family of children, which turned all his ability in art into mere clumsiness. wherefore, being overtaken by infirmities and impoverished, he finished his life in misery at the age of fifty-eight, and was buried in s. simone, at florence, by the company of the misericordia, in the year . he left behind him many pupils who became able masters. one, who went in his boyhood to learn the rudiments of art from raffaellino, was the florentine painter bronzino, who afterwards acquitted himself so well under the wing of jacopo da pontormo, another painter of florence, that he has made as much proficience in the art as his master jacopo. the portrait of raffaellino was copied from a drawing that belonged to bastiano da monte carlo, who was also his disciple, and who, for a man with no draughtsmanship, became a passing good master. footnote: [ ] don vincenzio borghini. torrigiano life of torrigiano sculptor of florence great is the power of anger in the soul of one who is seeking, with arrogance and pride, to gain a reputation for excellence in some profession, when he sees rising in the same art, at a time when he does not expect it, some unknown man of beautiful genius, who not only equals him, but in time surpasses him by a great measure. of such persons, in truth, it may be said that there is no iron that they would not gnaw in their rage, nor any evil which they would not do if they were able, for it seems to them too grievous an affront in the eyes of the world, that children whom they saw born should have reached maturity almost in one bound from their cradles. they do not reflect that every day one may see the will of young men, spurred on by zeal in their tender years, and exercised by them in continual studies, rise to infinite heights; while the old, led by fear, pride, and ambition, lose the cunning of their hands, so that the better they think to work, the worse they do it, and where they believe that they are advancing, they are going backwards. wherefore, out of envy, they never give credit to the young for the perfection of their works, however clearly they may see it, on account of the obstinacy that possesses them. and it is known from experience that when, in order to show what they can do, they exert themselves to the utmost of their power, they often produce works that are ridiculous and a mere laughing-stock. in truth, when craftsmen have reached the age when the eye is no longer steady and the hand trembles, their place, if they have saved the wherewithal to live, is to give advice to men who can work, for the reason that the arts of painting and sculpture call for a mind in every way vigorous and awake (as it is at the age when the blood is boiling), full of burning desire, and a capital enemy of the pleasures of the world. and whoever is not temperate with regard to the delights of the world should shun the studies of any art or science whatsoever, seeing that such pleasures and study can never agree well together. since, therefore, these arts involve so many burdens, few, indeed, are they who attain to the highest rank; and those who start with eagerness from the post are greater in number than those who run well in the race and win the prize. now there was more pride than art, although he was very able, to be seen in torrigiano, a sculptor of florence, who in his youth was maintained by the elder lorenzo de' medici in the garden which that magnificent citizen possessed on the piazza di s. marco in florence. this garden was in such wise filled with the best ancient statuary, that the loggia, the walks, and all the apartments were adorned with noble ancient figures of marble, pictures, and other suchlike things, made by the hands of the best masters who ever lived in italy or elsewhere. and all these works, in addition to the magnificence and adornment that they conferred on that garden, were as a school or academy for the young painters and sculptors, as well as for all others who were studying the arts of design, and particularly for the young nobles; since the magnificent lorenzo had a strong conviction that those who are born of noble blood can attain to perfection in all things more readily and more speedily than is possible, for the most part, for men of humble birth, in whom there are rarely seen those conceptions and that marvellous genius which are perceived in men of illustrious stock. moreover, the less highly born, having generally to defend themselves from hardship and poverty, and being forced in consequence to undertake any sort of work, however mean, are not able to exercise their intellect, or to attain to the highest degree of excellence. wherefore it was well said by the learned alciato--when speaking of men of beautiful genius, born in poverty, who are not able to raise themselves, because, in proportion as they are impelled upwards by the wings of their genius, so are they held down by their poverty-- ut me pluma levat, sic grave mergit onus. lorenzo the magnificent, then, always favoured men of genius, and particularly such of the nobles as showed an inclination for these our arts; wherefore it is no marvel that from that school there should have issued some who have amazed the world. and what is more, he not only gave the means to buy food and clothing to those who, being poor, would otherwise not have been able to pursue the studies of design, but also bestowed extraordinary gifts on any one among them who had acquitted himself in some work better than the others; so that the young students of our arts, competing thus with each other, thereby became very excellent, as i will relate. the guardian and master of these young men, at that time, was the florentine sculptor bertoldo, an old and practised craftsman, who had once been a disciple of donato. he taught them, and likewise had charge of the works in the garden, and of many drawings, cartoons, and models by the hand of donato, pippo,[ ] masaccio, paolo uccello, fra giovanni, fra filippo, and other masters, both native and foreign. it is a sure fact that these arts can only be acquired by a long course of study in drawing and diligently imitating works of excellence; and whoever has not such facilities, however much he may be assisted by nature, can never arrive at perfection, save late in life. but to return to the antiquities of the garden; they were in great part dispersed in the year , when piero, the son of the aforesaid lorenzo, was banished from florence, all being sold by auction. the greater part of them, however, were restored to the magnificent giuliano in the year , at the time when he and the other members of the house of medici returned to their country; and at the present day they are for the most part preserved in the guardaroba of duke cosimo. truly magnificent was the example thus given by lorenzo, and whenever princes and other persons of high degree choose to imitate it, they will always gain everlasting honour and glory thereby; since he who assists and favours, in their noble undertakings, men of rare and beautiful genius, from whom the world receives such beauty, honour, convenience and benefit, deserves to live for ever in the minds and memories of mankind. among those who studied the arts of design in that garden, the following all became very excellent masters; michelagnolo, the son of lodovico buonarroti; giovan francesco rustici; torrigiano torrigiani; francesco granacci; niccolò, the son of jacopo[ ] soggi; lorenzo di credi, and giuliano bugiardini; and, among the foreigners, baccio da montelupo, andrea contucci of monte sansovino, and others, of whom mention will be made in the proper places. torrigiano, then, whose life we are now about to write, was a student in the garden with those named above; and he was not only powerful in person, and proud and fearless in spirit, but also by nature so overbearing and choleric, that he was for ever tyrannizing over all the others both with words and deeds. his chief profession was sculpture, yet he worked with great delicacy in terra-cotta, in a very good and beautiful manner. but not being able to endure that any one should surpass him, he would set himself to spoil with his hands such of the works of others as showed an excellence that he could not achieve with his brain; and if these others resented this, he often had recourse to something stronger than words. he had a particular hatred for michelagnolo, for no other reason than that he saw him attending zealously to the study of art, and knew that he used to draw in secret at his own house by night and on feast-days, so that he came to succeed better in the garden than all the others, and was therefore much favoured by lorenzo the magnificent. wherefore, moved by bitter envy, torrigiano was always seeking to affront him, both in word and deed; and one day, having come to blows, torrigiano struck michelagnolo so hard on the nose with his fist, that he broke it, insomuch that michelagnolo had his nose flattened for the rest of his life. this matter becoming known to lorenzo, he was so enraged that torrigiano, if he had not fled from florence, would have suffered some heavy punishment. [illustration: tomb of henry vii (_after_ torrigiano. _london: westminster abbey_) _mansell_] having therefore made his way to rome, where alexander vi was then pressing on the work of the borgia tower, torrigiano executed in it a great quantity of stucco-work, in company with other masters. afterwards, money being offered in the service of duke valentino, who was making war against the people of romagna, torrigiano was led away by certain young florentines; and, having changed himself in a moment from a sculptor to a soldier, he bore himself valiantly in those campaigns of romagna. he did the same under paolo vitelli in the war with pisa; and he was with piero de' medici at the action on the garigliano, where he won the right to arms, and the name of a valiant standard-bearer. but in the end, recognizing that he was never likely to reach the rank of captain that he desired, although he deserved it, and that he had saved nothing in the wars, and had, on the contrary, wasted his time, he returned to sculpture. for certain florentine merchants, then, he made small works in marble and bronze, little figures, which are scattered throughout the houses of citizens in florence, and he executed many drawings in a bold and excellent manner, as may be seen from some by his hand that are in our book, together with others which he made in competition with michelagnolo. and having been brought by those merchants to england, he executed there, in the service of the king, an endless number of works in marble, bronze, and wood, competing with some masters of that country, to all of whom he proved superior. for this he was so well and so richly rewarded, that, if he had not been as reckless and unbridled as he was proud, he might have lived a life of ease and ended his days in comfort; but what happened to him was the very opposite. after this, having been summoned from england into spain, he made many works there, which are scattered about in various places, and are held in great estimation; and, among others, he made a crucifix of terra-cotta, which is the most marvellous thing that there is in all spain. for a monastery of friars of s. jerome, without the city of seville, he made another crucifix; a s. jerome in penitence, with his lion, the figure of that saint being a portrait of an old house-steward of the botti family, florentine merchants settled in spain; and a madonna with the child. this last figure was so beautiful that it led to his making another like it for the duke of arcus, who, in order to obtain it, made such promises to torrigiano, that he believed that it would make him rich for the rest of his life. the work being finished, the duke gave him so many of those coins that are called "maravedis," which are worth little or nothing, that torrigiano, to whose house there came two persons laden with them, became even more confirmed in his belief that he was to be a very rich man. but afterwards, having shown this money to a florentine friend of his, and having asked him to count it and reckon its value in italian coin, he saw that all that vast sum did not amount to thirty ducats; at which, holding himself to have been fooled, he went in a violent rage to where the figure was that he had made for the duke, and wholly destroyed it. whereupon that spaniard, considering himself affronted, denounced torrigiano as a heretic; on which account he was thrown into prison, and after being examined every day, and sent from one inquisitor to the other, he was finally judged to deserve the severest penalty. but this was never put into execution, because torrigiano himself was plunged thereby into such melancholy, that, remaining many days without eating, and thus becoming very weak, little by little he put an end to his own life; and in this way, by denying himself his food, he avoided the shame into which he would perchance have fallen, for it was believed that he had been condemned to death. the works of this master date about the year of our salvation, , and he died in the year . footnote: [ ] filippo brunelleschi. [ ] the name given in the text is domenico. giuliano and antonio da san gallo lives of giuliano and antonio da san gallo architects of florence francesco di paolo giamberti, who was a passing good architect in the time of cosimo de' medici, and was much employed by him, had two sons, giuliano and antonio, whom he apprenticed to the art of wood-carving. one of these two sons, giuliano, he placed with francione, a joiner, an ingenious person, who gave attention at the same time to wood-carving and to perspective, and with whom francesco was very intimate, since they had executed many works in company, both in carving and in architecture, for lorenzo de' medici. this giuliano learnt so well all that francione taught him, that the carvings and beautiful perspectives that he afterwards executed by himself in the choir of the duomo of pisa are still regarded not without marvel at the present day, even among the many new perspectives. while giuliano was studying design, and his young blood ran hot in his veins, the army of the duke of calabria, by reason of the hatred which that lord bore to lorenzo de' medici, encamped before castellina, in order to occupy the dominions of the signoria of florence, and also, if this should be successful, in order to accomplish some greater design. wherefore lorenzo the magnificent was forced to send an engineer to castellina, who might make mills and bastions, and should have the charge of handling the artillery, which few men at that time were able to do; and he sent thither giuliano, considering him to have a mind more able, more ready, and more resolute than any other man, and knowing him already as the son of francesco, who had been a devoted servant of the house of medici. arriving at castellina, therefore, giuliano fortified that place with good walls and mills, both within and without, and furnished it with everything else necessary for the defence. then, observing that the artillery-men stood at a great distance from their pieces, handling, loading, and discharging them with much timidity, he gave his attention to this, and so contrived that from that time onwards the artillery did harm to no one, whereas it had previously killed many of them, since they had not had judgment and knowledge enough to avoid suffering injury from the recoil. having therefore taken charge of the artillery, giuliano showed great skill in discharging it to the best possible advantage; and the duke's forces so lost heart by reason of this and other adverse circumstances, that they were glad to make terms and depart from the town. in consequence of this giuliano won no little praise from lorenzo in florence, and was looked upon with favour and affection ever afterwards. having meanwhile given his attention to architecture, he began the first cloister of the monastery of cestello, and executed that part of it that is seen to be of the ionic order; placing capitals on the columns with volutes curving downwards to the collarino, where the shaft of the column ends, and making, below the ovoli and the fusarole, a frieze, one-third in height of the diameter of the column. this capital was copied from a very ancient one of marble, found at fiesole by messer leonardo salutati, bishop of that place, who kept it for some time, together with other antiquities, in a house and garden that he occupied in the via di s. gallo, opposite to s. agata; and it is now in the possession of messer giovan battista da ricasoli, bishop of pistoia, and is prized for its beauty and variety, since among the ancient capitals there has not been seen another like it. but that cloister remained unfinished, because those monks were not then able to bear such an expense. meanwhile giuliano had come into even greater credit with lorenzo; and the latter, who was intending to build a palace at poggio a cajano, a place between florence and pistoia, and had caused several models to be made for it by francione and by others, commissioned giuliano, also, to make one of the sort of building that he proposed to erect. and giuliano made it so completely different in form from the others, and so much to lorenzo's fancy, that he began straightway to have it carried into execution, as the best of all the models; on which account he took giuliano even more into his favour, and ever afterwards gave him an allowance. after this, giuliano wishing to make a vaulted ceiling for the great hall of that palace in the manner that we call barrel-shaped, lorenzo could not believe, on account of the great space, that it could be raised. whereupon giuliano, who was building a house for himself in florence, made a ceiling for his hall according to the design of the other, in order to convince the mind of that magnificent prince; and lorenzo therefore gave orders for the ceiling at the poggio to be carried out, which was successfully done. by that time the fame of giuliano had so increased, that, at the entreaty of the duke of calabria, he was commissioned by lorenzo the magnificent to make the model for a palace that was to be built at naples; and he spent a long time over executing it. now while he was working at this, the castellan of ostia, then bishop della rovere, who after a time became pope julius ii, wishing to restore that stronghold and to put it into good order, and having heard the fame of giuliano, sent to florence for him; and, having supplied him with a good provision, he kept him employed for two years in making therein all the useful improvements that he was able to execute by means of his art. and to the end that the model for the duke of calabria might not be neglected, but might be brought to conclusion, he left it to his brother antonio, who finished it according to his directions, which, in executing it and carrying it to completion, he followed with great diligence, for he was no less competent in that art than giuliano himself. now giuliano was advised by the elder lorenzo to present it in person, to the end that he might show from the model itself the difficulties that he had triumphed over in making it. whereupon he departed for naples, and, having presented the work, was received with honour; for men were as much impressed by the gracious manner in which the magnificent lorenzo had sent him, as they were struck with marvel at the masterly work in the model, which gave such satisfaction that the building was straightway begun near the castel nuovo. after giuliano had been some time in naples, he sought leave from the duke to return to florence; whereupon he was presented by the king with horses and garments, and, among other things, with a silver cup containing some hundreds of ducats. these things giuliano would not accept, saying that he served a patron who had no need of silver or gold, but that if he did indeed wish to give him some present or some token of approbation, to show that he had been in that city, he might bestow upon him some of his antiquities, which he would choose himself. these the king granted to him most liberally, both for love of the magnificent lorenzo and on account of giuliano's own worth; and they were a head of the emperor hadrian, which is now above the door of the garden at the house of the medici, a nude woman, more than life-size, and a cupid sleeping, all in marble and in the round. giuliano sent them as presents to the magnificent lorenzo, who expressed vast delight at the gift, and never tired of praising the action of this most liberal of craftsmen, who had refused gold and silver for the sake of art, a thing which few would have done. that cupid is now in the guardaroba of duke cosimo. [illustration: faÇade of s. maria delle carceri (_after_ giuliano da san gallo. _prato_) _alinari_] having then returned to florence, giuliano was received most graciously by the magnificent lorenzo. now the fancy had taken that prince to build a convent capable of holding a hundred friars, without the porta s. gallo, in order to give satisfaction to fra mariano da ghinazzano, a most learned member of the order of eremite friars of s. augustine. for this convent models were made by many architects, and in the end that of giuliano was put into execution, which was the reason that lorenzo, from this work, gave him the name of giuliano da san gallo. wherefore giuliano, who heard himself called by everyone "da san gallo," said one day in jest to the magnificent lorenzo, "by giving me this new name of 'da san gallo,' you are making me lose the ancient name of my house, so that, in place of going forward in the matter of lineage, as i thought to do, i am going backward." whereupon lorenzo answered that he would rather have him become the founder of a new house through his own worth, than depend on others; at which giuliano was well content. meanwhile the work of s. gallo was carried on, together with lorenzo's other buildings; but neither the convent nor the others were finished, by reason of the death of lorenzo. and even the completed part of this structure of s. gallo did not long remain standing, because in , on account of the siege of florence, it was destroyed and thrown to the ground, together with the whole suburb, the piazza of which was completely surrounded by very beautiful buildings; and at the present day there is no trace to be seen there of house, church, or convent. at this time there took place the death of the king of naples, whereupon giuliano gondi, a very rich florentine merchant, returned from that city to florence, and commissioned giuliano da san gallo, with whom he had become very intimate on account of his visit to naples, to build him a palace in rustic work, opposite to s. firenze, above the place where the lions used to be. this palace was to form the angle of the piazza and to face the old mercatanzia; but the death of giuliano gondi put a stop to the work. in it, among other things, giuliano made a chimney-piece, very rich in carvings, and so varied and beautiful in composition, that up to that time there had never been seen the like, nor one with such a wealth of figures. the same master made a palace for a venetian in camerata, without the porta a pinti, and many houses for private citizens, of which there is no need to make mention. lorenzo the magnificent, in order to benefit the commonwealth and adorn the state, and at the same time to leave behind him some splendid monument, in addition to the endless number that he had already erected, wished to execute the fortification of the poggio imperiale, above poggibonsi, on the road to rome, with a view to founding a city there; and he would not lay it out without the advice and design of giuliano. wherefore that master began that most famous structure, in which he made the well-designed and beautiful range of fortifications that we see at the present day. these works brought him such fame, that he was then summoned to milan, through the mediation of lorenzo, by the duke of milan, to the end that he might make for him the model of a palace; and there giuliano was no less honoured by the duke than he had previously been honoured by the king of naples, when that sovereign had invited him to that city. for when he had presented the model to him, on the part of the magnificent lorenzo, the duke was filled with astonishment and marvel at seeing the vast number of beautiful adornments in it, so well arranged and distributed, and all accommodated in their places with art and grace; for which reason all the materials necessary for the work were got together, and they began to put it into execution. in the same city, together with giuliano, was leonardo da vinci, who was working for the duke; and leonardo, speaking with giuliano about the casting of the horse that he was proposing to make, received from him some excellent suggestions. this work was broken to pieces on the arrival of the french, so that the horse was never finished; nor could the palace be brought to completion. having returned to florence, giuliano found that his brother antonio, who worked for him on his models, had become so excellent, that there was no one in his day who was a better master in carving, particularly for large crucifixes of wood; to which witness is borne by the one over the high-altar of the nunziata in florence, by another that is kept by the friars of s. gallo in s. jacopo tra fossi, and by a third in the company of the scalzo, which are all held to be very good. but giuliano removed him from that profession and caused him to give his attention to architecture, in company with himself, since he had many works to execute, both public and private. now it happened, as it is always happening, that fortune, the enemy of talent, robbed the followers of the arts of their hope and support by the death of lorenzo de' medici, which was a heavy loss not only to all able craftsmen and to his country, but also to all italy. wherefore giuliano, together with all the other lofty spirits, was left wholly inconsolable; and in his grief he betook himself to prato, near florence, in order to build the temple of the madonna delle carcere, since all building in florence, both public and private, was at a standstill. he lived in prato, therefore, three whole years, supporting the expense, discomfort, and sorrow as best he could. at the end of that time, it being proposed to roof the church of the madonna at loreto, and to raise the cupola, which had been formerly begun but not finished by giuliano da maiano, and those who had charge of the matter doubting that the piers were too weak to bear such a weight, they wrote, therefore, to giuliano, that if he desired such a work, he should go and see it for himself. and having gone, like the bold and able man that he was, he showed them that the cupola could be raised with ease, and that he had courage enough for the task; and so many, and of such a kind, were the reasons that he put before them, that the work was allotted to him. after receiving this commission, he caused the work in prato to be despatched, and made his way, with the same master-builders and stone-cutters, to loreto. and to the end that this structure, besides beauty of form, might be firm, solid, stable, and well bound in the stonework, he sent to rome for pozzolana[ ]; nor was any lime used that was not mixed with it, nor any stone built in without it; and thus, within the space of three years, it was brought to perfect completion, ready for use. giuliano then went to rome, where, for pope alexander vi, he restored the roof of s. maria maggiore, which was falling into ruin; and he made there the ceiling that is to be seen at the present day. while he was thus employed about the court, bishop della rovere, who had been the friend of giuliano from the time when he was castellan of ostia, and who had been created cardinal of s. pietro in vincula, caused him to make a model for the palace of s. pietro in vincula. and a little time after, desiring to build a palace in his own city of savona, he wished to have it erected likewise from the design and under the eye of giuliano. but such a journey was difficult for giuliano, for the reason that his ceiling was not yet finished, and pope alexander would not let him go. he entrusted the finishing of it, therefore, to his brother antonio, who, having a good and versatile intelligence, and coming thus into contact with the court, entered into the service of the pope, who conceived a very great affection for him; and this he proved when he resolved to restore, with new foundations and with defences after the manner of a castle, the mausoleum of hadrian, now called the castello di s. angelo, for antonio was made overseer of this undertaking, and under his direction were made the great towers below, the ditches, and the rest of the fortifications that we see at the present day. this work brought him great credit with the pope, and with his son, duke valentino; and it led to his building the fortress that is now to be seen at cività castellana. thus, then, while that pontiff was alive, he was continually employed in building; and while working for him, he was rewarded by him no less than he was esteemed. giuliano had already carried well forward the work at savona, when the cardinal returned to rome on some business of his own, leaving many workmen to bring the building to completion after the directions and design of giuliano, whom he took with him to rome. giuliano made that journey willingly, wishing to see antonio and his works; and he stayed there some months. during that time, however, the cardinal fell into disgrace with the pope, and departed from rome, in order not to be taken prisoner, and giuliano, as before, went in his company. on arriving at savona, they set a much greater number of master-builders and other artificers to work on the building. but the threats of the pope against the cardinal becoming every day louder, it was not long before he made his way to avignon. from there he sent as a present to the king of france a model for a palace that giuliano had made for him, which was marvellous, very rich in ornament, and spacious enough for the accommodation of his whole court. the royal court was at lyons when giuliano presented his model; and the gift was so welcome and acceptable to the king, that he rewarded giuliano liberally and gave him infinite praise, besides rendering many thanks for it to the cardinal, who was at avignon. meanwhile they received news that the palace at savona was already nearly finished; whereupon the cardinal determined that giuliano should once more see the work, and giuliano, having gone for this purpose to savona, had not been there long when it was completely finished. then, desiring to return to florence, where he had not been for a long time, giuliano took the road for that city together with his master-builders. now at that time the king of france had restored pisa her liberty, and the war between the florentines and the pisans was still raging; and giuliano, wishing to pass through pisan territory, had a safe-conduct made out for his company at lucca, for they had no small apprehension about the pisan soldiers. nevertheless, while passing near altopascio, they were captured by the pisans, who cared nothing for safe-conducts or for any other warrant that they might have. and for six months giuliano was detained in pisa, his ransom being fixed at three hundred ducats; nor was he able to return to florence until he had paid it. antonio had heard this news in rome, and, desiring to see his native city and his brother again, obtained leave to depart from rome; and on his way he designed for duke valentino the fortress of montefiascone. finally, in the year , he reached florence, where the two brothers and their friends took joyful pleasure in each other's company. there now ensued the death of alexander vi, and the election of pius iii, who lived but a short time; whereupon the cardinal of s. pietro in vincula was created pontiff, under the name of pope julius ii; which brought great joy to giuliano, on account of his having been so long in his service, and he determined, therefore, to go to kiss the pope's foot. having then arrived in rome, he was warmly received and welcomed lovingly, and was straightway commissioned to execute the first buildings undertaken by that pope before the coming of bramante. antonio, who had remained in florence, continued, in the absence of giuliano (piero soderini being gonfalonier), the building of the poggio imperiale, to which all the pisan prisoners were sent to labour, in order to finish the work the quicker. after this, by reason of the troubles at arezzo, the old fortress was destroyed, and antonio made the model for the new one, with the consent of giuliano, who had come from rome for this purpose, but soon returned thither; and this work was the reason that antonio was appointed architect to the commune of florence for all the fortifications. on the return of giuliano to rome, the question was being debated as to whether the divine michelagnolo buonarroti should make the tomb of pope julius; whereupon giuliano exhorted the pope to pursue that undertaking, adding that it seemed to him that it was necessary to build a special chapel for such a monument, and that it should not be placed in the old s. pietro, in which there was no space for it, whereas a new chapel would bring out all the perfection of the work. after many architects, then, had made designs, the matter little by little became one of such importance, that, in place of erecting a chapel, a beginning was made with the great fabric of the new s. pietro. there had arrived in rome, about that time, the architect bramante of castel durante, who had been in lombardy; and he went to work in such a manner, with various extraordinary means and methods of his own, and with his fantastic ideas, having on his side baldassarre peruzzi, raffaello da urbino, and other architects, that he put the whole undertaking into confusion; whereby much time was consumed in discussions. finally--so well did he know how to set about the matter--the work was entrusted to him, as the man who had shown the finest judgment, the best intelligence, and the greatest invention. giuliano, resenting this, for it appeared to him that he had received an affront from the pope, in view of the faithful service that he had rendered to him when his rank was not so high, and of the promise made to him by the pope that he should have that building, sought leave to go; and so, notwithstanding that he was appointed companion to bramante for other edifices that were being erected in rome, he departed, and returned, with many gifts received from that pontiff, to florence. this was a great joy to piero soderini, who straightway set him to work. nor had six months gone by, when messer bartolommeo della rovere, the nephew of the pope, and a friend of giuliano, wrote to him in the name of his holiness that he should return for his own advantage to rome; but neither terms nor promises availed to move giuliano, who considered that he had been put to shame by the pope. finally, however, a letter was written to piero soderini, urging him in one way or another to send giuliano to rome, since his holiness wished to finish the fortifications of the great round tower, which had been begun by nicholas v, and likewise those of the borgo and the belvedere, with other works; and giuliano allowed himself to be persuaded by soderini, and therefore went to rome, where he received a gracious welcome and many gifts from the pope. having afterwards gone to bologna, from which the bentivogli had just been driven out, the pope resolved, by the advice of giuliano, to have a figure of himself in bronze made by michelagnolo buonarroti; and this was carried out, as will be related in the life of michelagnolo himself. giuliano also followed the pope to mirandola, and after it was taken, having endured much fatigue and many discomforts, he returned with the court to rome. but the furious desire to drive the french out of italy not having yet got out of the head of the pope, he strove to wrest the government of florence out of the hands of piero soderini, whose power was no small hindrance to him in the project that he had in mind. whereupon, since the pontiff, for these reasons, had turned aside from building and had embroiled himself in wars, giuliano, by this time weary, and perceiving that attention was being given only to the construction of s. pietro, and not much even to that, sought leave from him to depart. but the pope answered him in anger, "do you believe that you are the only giuliano da san gallo to be found?" to which he replied that none could be found equal to him in faithful service, while he himself would easily find princes truer to their promises than the pope had been towards him. however, the pontiff would by no means give him leave to go, saying that he would speak to him about it another time. meanwhile bramante, having brought raffaello da urbino to rome, set him to work at painting the papal apartments; whereupon giuliano, perceiving that the pope took great delight in those pictures, and knowing that he wished to have the ceiling of the chapel of his uncle sixtus painted, spoke to him of michelagnolo, adding that he had already executed the bronze statue in bologna. which news pleased the pope so much that he sent for michelagnolo, who, on arriving in rome, received the commission for the ceiling of that chapel. a little time after this, giuliano coming back once more to seek leave from the pope to depart, his holiness, seeing him determined on this, was content that he should return to florence, without forfeiting his favour; and, after having blessed him, he gave him a purse of red satin containing five hundred crowns, telling him that he might return home to rest, but that he would always be his friend. giuliano, then, having kissed the sacred foot, returned to florence, at the very time when pisa was surrounded and besieged by the army of florence. no sooner had he arrived, therefore, than piero soderini, after the due greetings, sent him to the camp to help the military commissaries, who had found themselves unable to prevent the pisans from passing provisions into pisa by way of the arno. giuliano made a design for a bridge of boats to be built at some better season, and then went back to florence; and when spring had come, taking with him his brother antonio, he made his way to pisa, where they constructed a bridge, which was a very ingenious piece of work, since, besides the fact that, rising or falling with the water, and being well bound with chains, it stood safe and sound against floods, it carried out the desires of the commissaries in such a manner, cutting off pisa from access to the sea by way of the arno, that the pisans, having no other expedient in their sore straits, were forced to come to terms with the florentines; and so they surrendered. nor was it long before the same piero soderini again sent giuliano, with a vast number of master-builders, to pisa, where with extraordinary swiftness he erected the fortress that still stands at the porta a s. marco, and also the gate itself, which he built in the doric order. and the while that giuliano was engaged on this work, which was until the year , antonio went through the whole dominion, inspecting and restoring the fortresses and other public buildings. after this, by the favour of the same pope julius, the house of medici was reinstated in the government of florence, from which they had been driven out on the invasion of italy by charles viii, king of france, and piero soderini was expelled from the palace; and the medici showed their gratitude to giuliano and antonio for the services that they had rendered in the past to their illustrious family. now cardinal giovanni de' medici having been elected pope a short time after the death of julius ii, giuliano was forced once again to betake himself to rome; where, bramante dying not long after his arrival, it was proposed to give to giuliano the charge of the building of s. pietro. but he, being worn out by his labours, and crushed down by old age and by the stone, which made his life a burden, returned by leave of his holiness to florence; and that commission was given to the most gracious raffaello da urbino. and giuliano, after two years, was pressed so sorely by his malady, that he died at the age of seventy-four in the year , leaving his name to the world, his body to the earth, and his soul to god. by his departure he left a heavy burden of sorrow to his brother antonio, who loved him tenderly, and to a son of his own named francesco, who was engaged in sculpture, although he was still quite young. this francesco, who has preserved up to our own day all the treasures of his elders, and holds them in veneration, executed many works at florence and elsewhere, both in sculpture and in architecture, and by his hand is the madonna of marble, with the child in her arms, and lying in the lap of s. anne, that is in orsanmichele; which work, with the figures carved in the round out of one single block, was held, as it still is, to be very beautiful. he has also executed the tomb that pope clement caused to be made for piero de' medici at monte cassino, besides many other works, of which no mention is here made because the said francesco is still alive. after the death of giuliano, antonio, being a man who was not willing to stay idle, made two large crucifixes of wood, one of which was sent into spain, while the other, by order of the vice-chancellor, cardinal giulio de' medici, was taken by domenico buoninsegni into france. it being then proposed to build the fortress of livorno, antonio was sent thither by cardinal de' medici to make the design for it; which he did, although it was afterwards not carried completely into execution, nor even after the method suggested by antonio. after this, the men of montepulciano determining, by reason of the miracles wrought by an image of our lady, to build a temple for it at very great cost, antonio made the model for this, and became head of the undertaking; on which account he visited that building twice a year. at the present day it is to be seen carried to perfect completion, having been executed with supreme grace, and with truly marvellous beauty and variety of composition, by the genius of antonio, and all the masonry is of a certain stone that has a tinge of white, after the manner of travertine. it stands without the porta di s. biagio, on the right hand, half-way up the slope of the hill. at this time, he made a beginning with a palace in the township of monte san sovino, for antonio di monte, cardinal of santa prassedia; and he built another for the same man at montepulciano, both being executed and finished with extraordinary grace. he made the design for the side of the buildings of the servite friars (in florence), on their piazza, following the order of the loggia of the innocenti; and at arezzo he made models for the aisles of the madonna delle lacrime, although that work was very badly conceived, because it is out of harmony with the original part of the building, and the arches at the ends are not in true line with the centre. he also made a model for the madonna of cortona; but i do not think that this was put into execution. he was employed in the siege on the bastions and fortifications within the city, and in this undertaking he had as a companion his nephew francesco. after this, the giant of the piazza, executed by the hand of michelagnolo, having been set into place in the time of giuliano, the brother of our antonio, it was proposed to set up the other, which had been made by baccio bandinelli; and the task of bringing it safely into position was given to antonio, who, taking baccio d' agnolo as his companion, carried this out by means of very powerful machines, and placed it in safety on the base that had been prepared for that purpose. in the end, having become old, he took no pleasure in anything save agriculture, of which he had an excellent knowledge. and then, when on account of old age he was no longer able to bear the discomforts of this world, he rendered up his soul to god, in the year , and was laid to rest by the side of his brother giuliano in the tomb of the giamberti, in the church of s. maria novella. the marvellous works of these two brothers will bear witness before the world to the extraordinary genius that they possessed; and for their lives, their honourable ways, and their every action, they were held in estimation by all men. giuliano and antonio bequeathed to the art of architecture methods that gave the tuscan order of building better form than any other architect had yet achieved, and the doric order they enriched with better measures and proportions than their predecessors, following the rules and canons of vitruvius, had been wont to use. they collected in their houses at florence an infinite number of most beautiful antiquities in marble, which adorned florence, and still adorn her, no less than those masters honoured themselves and their art. giuliano brought from rome the method of casting vaults with such materials as made them ready carved; examples of which may be seen in a room in his own house, and in the vaulting of the great hall at poggio a cajano, which is still to be seen there. wherefore we should acknowledge our obligation to their labours, whereby they fortified the dominion of florence, adorned the city, and gave a name, throughout the many regions where they worked, to florence and to the intellects of tuscany, who, to honour their memory, have written to them these verses-- cedite romani structores, cedite graii, artis, vitruvi, tu quoque cede parens. etruscos celebrare viros, testudinis arcus, urna, tholus, statuæ, templa, domusque petunt. footnote: [ ] a friable volcanic tufa. raffaello da urbino life of raffaello da urbino [_raffaello sanzio_] painter and architect how bountiful and benign heaven sometimes shows itself in showering upon one single person the infinite riches of its treasures, and all those graces and rarest gifts that it is wont to distribute among many individuals, over a long space of time, could be clearly seen in the no less excellent than gracious raffaello sanzio da urbino, who was endowed by nature with all that modesty and goodness which are seen at times in those who, beyond all other men, have added to their natural sweetness and gentleness the beautiful adornment of courtesy and grace, by reason of which they always show themselves agreeable and pleasant to every sort of person and in all their actions. him nature presented to the world, when, vanquished by art through the hands of michelagnolo buonarroti, she wished to be vanquished, in raffaello, by art and character together. and in truth, since the greater part of the craftsmen who had lived up to that time had received from nature a certain element of savagery and madness, which, besides making them strange and eccentric, had brought it about that very often there was revealed in them rather the obscure darkness of vice than the brightness and splendour of those virtues that make men immortal, there was right good reason for her to cause to shine out brilliantly in raffaello, as a contrast to the others, all the rarest qualities of the mind, accompanied by such grace, industry, beauty, modesty, and excellence of character, as would have sufficed to efface any vice, however hideous, and any blot, were it ever so great. wherefore it may be surely said that those who are the possessors of such rare and numerous gifts as were seen in raffaello da urbino, are not merely men, but, if it be not a sin to say it, mortal gods; and that those who, by means of their works, leave an honourable name written in the archives of fame in this earthly world of ours, can also hope to have to enjoy in heaven a worthy reward for their labours and merits. [illustration: raphael: s. george and the dragon (_s. petersburg: hermitage, . panel_)] raffaello was born at urbino, a very famous city in italy, at three o'clock of the night on good friday, in the year , to a father named giovanni de' santi, a painter of no great excellence, and yet a man of good intelligence, well able to direct his children on that good path which he himself had not been fortunate enough to have shown to him in his boyhood. and since giovanni knew how important it is to rear infants, not with the milk of nurses, but with that of their own mothers, no sooner was raffaello born, to whom with happy augury he gave that name at baptism, than he insisted that this his only child--and he had no more afterwards--should be suckled by his own mother, and that in his tender years he should have his character formed in the house of his parents, rather than learn less gentle or even boorish ways and habits in the houses of peasants or common people. when he was well grown, he began to exercise him in painting, seeing him much inclined to such an art, and possessed of a very beautiful genius: wherefore not many years passed before raffaello, still a boy, became a great help to giovanni in many works that he executed in the state of urbino. in the end, this good and loving father, knowing that his son could learn little from him, made up his mind to place him with pietro perugino, who, as he heard tell, held the first place among painters at that time. he went, therefore, to perugia: but not finding pietro there, he set himself, in order to lessen the annoyance of waiting for him, to execute some works in s. francesco. when pietro had returned from rome, giovanni, who was a gentle and well-bred person, formed a friendship with him, and, when the time appeared to have come, in the most adroit method that he knew, told him his desire. and so pietro, who was very courteous and a lover of beautiful genius, agreed to have raffaello: whereupon giovanni, going off rejoicing to urbino, took the boy, not without many tears on the part of his mother, who loved him dearly, and brought him to perugia, where pietro, after seeing raffaello's method of drawing, and his beautiful manners and character, formed a judgment of him which time, from the result, proved to be very true. it is a very notable thing that raffaello, studying the manner of pietro, imitated it in every respect so closely, that his copies could not be distinguished from his master's originals, and it was not possible to see any clear difference between his works and pietro's; as is still evident from some figures in a panel in s. francesco at perugia, which he executed in oils for madonna maddalena degli oddi. these are a madonna who has risen into heaven, with jesus christ crowning her, while below, round the sepulchre, are the twelve apostles, contemplating the celestial glory, and at the foot of the panel is a predella divided into three scenes, painted with little figures, of the madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel, of the magi adoring christ, and of christ in the arms of simeon in the temple. this work is executed with truly supreme diligence; and one who had not a good knowledge of the two manners, would hold it as certain that it is by the hand of pietro, whereas it is without a doubt by the hand of raffaello. after this work, pietro returning to florence on some business of his own, raffaello departed from perugia and went off with some friends to città di castello, where he painted a panel for s. agostino in the same manner, and likewise one of a crucifixion for s. domenico, which, if his name were not written upon it, no one would believe to be a work by raffaello, but rather by pietro. for s. francesco, also in the same city, he painted a little panel-picture of the marriage of our lady, in which one may recognize the excellence of raffaello increasing and growing in refinement, and surpassing the manner of pietro. in this work is a temple drawn in perspective with such loving care, that it is a marvellous thing to see the difficulties that he was for ever seeking out in this branch of his profession. meanwhile, when he had acquired very great fame by following his master's manner, pope pius ii[ ] had given the commission for painting the library of the duomo at siena to pinturicchio; and he, being a friend of raffaello, and knowing him to be an excellent draughtsman, brought him to siena, where raffaello made for him some of the drawings and cartoons for that work. the reason that he did not continue at it was that some painters in siena kept extolling with vast praise the cartoon that leonardo da vinci had made in the sala del papa[ ] of a very beautiful group of horsemen, to be painted afterwards in the hall of the palace of the signoria, and likewise some nudes executed by michelagnolo buonarroti in competition with leonardo, and much better; and raffaello, on account of the love that he always bore to the excellent in art, was seized by such a desire to see them, that, putting aside that work and all thought of his own advantage and comfort, he went off to florence. having arrived there, and being pleased no less with the city than with those works, which appeared to him to be divine, he determined to take up his abode there for some time; and thus he formed a friendship with some young painters, among whom were ridolfo ghirlandajo, aristotile da san gallo, and others, and became much honoured in that city, particularly by taddeo taddei, who, being one who always loved any man inclined to excellence, would have him ever in his house and at his table. and raffaello, who was gentleness itself, in order not to be beaten in courtesy, made him two pictures, which incline to his first manner, derived from pietro, but also to the other much better manner that he afterwards acquired by study, as will be related; which pictures are still in the house of the heirs of the said taddeo. [illustration: lo sposalizio (_after the panel by =raffaello da urbino=. milan: brera, _) _anderson_] raffaello also formed a very great friendship with lorenzo nasi; and for this lorenzo, who had taken a wife about that time, he painted a picture in which he made a madonna, and between her legs her son, to whom a little s. john, full of joy, is offering a bird, with great delight and pleasure for both of them. in the attitude of each is a certain childlike simplicity which is wholly lovely, besides that they are so well coloured, and executed with such diligence, that they appear to be rather of living flesh than wrought by means of colour and draughtsmanship; the madonna, likewise, has an air truly full of grace and divinity; and the foreground, the landscapes, and in short all the rest of the work, are most beautiful. this picture was held by lorenzo nasi, as long as he lived, in very great veneration, both in memory of raffaello, who had been so much his friend, and on account of the dignity and excellence of the work; but afterwards, on august , in the year , it met an evil fate, when, on account of the collapse of the hill of s. giorgio, the house of lorenzo fell down, together with the ornate and beautiful houses of the heirs of marco del nero, and other neighbouring dwellings. however, the pieces of the picture being found among the fragments of the ruins, the son of lorenzo, battista, who was a great lover of art, had them put together again as well as was possible. [illustration: maddalena doni (_after the panel by =raffaello da urbino=. florence: pitti, _) _anderson_] after these works, raffaello was forced to depart from florence and go to urbino, where, on account of the death of his mother and of his father giovanni, all his affairs were in confusion. while he was living in urbino, therefore, he painted for guidobaldo da montefeltro, then captain of the florentines, two pictures of our lady, small but very beautiful, and in his second manner, which are now in the possession of the most illustrious and excellent guidobaldo, duke of urbino. for the same patron he painted a little picture of christ praying in the garden, with the three apostles sleeping at some distance from him. this painting is so highly finished, that a miniature could not be better, or in any way different; and after having been a long time in the possession of francesco maria, duke of urbino, it was then presented by the most illustrious signora leonora, his consort, to the venetians don paolo giustiniano and don pietro quirini, hermits of the holy hermitage of camaldoli, who afterwards placed it, as a relic and a very rare thing, and, in a word, as a work by the hand of raffaello da urbino, and also to honour the memory of that most illustrious lady, in the apartment of the superior of that hermitage, where it is held in the veneration that it deserves. having executed these works and settled his affairs, raffaello returned to perugia, where he painted a panel-picture of our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. nicholas, for the chapel of the ansidei in the church of the servite friars. and in the chapel of the madonna in s. severo, a little monastery of the order of camaldoli, in the same city, he painted in fresco a christ in glory, and a god the father with angels round him, and six saints seated, s. benedict, s. romualdo, s. laurence, s. jerome, s. mauro, and s. placido, three on either side; and on this picture, which was held at that time to be most beautiful for a work in fresco, he wrote his name in large and very legible letters. in the same city, also, he was commissioned by the nuns of s. anthony of padua to paint a panel-picture of our lady, with jesus christ fully dressed, as it pleased those simple and venerable sisters, in her lap, and on either side of the madonna s. peter, s. paul, s. cecilia, and s. catherine; to which two holy virgins he gave the sweetest and most lovely expressions of countenance and the most beautifully varied head-dresses that are anywhere to be seen, which was a rare thing in those times. above this panel, in a lunette, he painted a very beautiful god the father, and in the predella of the altar three scenes with little figures, of christ praying in the garden, bearing the cross (wherein are some soldiers dragging him along with most beautiful movements), and lying dead in the lap of his mother. this work is truly marvellous and devout; and it is held in great veneration by those nuns, and much extolled by all painters. i will not refrain from saying that it was recognized, after he had been in florence, that he changed and improved his manner so much, from having seen many works by the hands of excellent masters, that it had nothing to do with his earlier manner; indeed, the two might have belonged to different masters, one much more excellent than the other in painting. before he departed from perugia, madonna atalanta baglioni besought him that he should consent to paint a panel for her chapel in the church of s. francesco; but since he was not able to meet her wishes at that time, he promised her that, after returning from florence, whither he was obliged to go on some affairs, he would not fail her. and so, having come to florence, where he applied himself with incredible labour to the studies of his art, he made the cartoon for that chapel, with the intention of going, as he did, as soon as the occasion might present itself, to put it into execution. [illustration: raffaello da urbino: angelo doni (_florence: pitti, . panel_)] while he was thus staying in florence, agnolo doni--who was very careful of his money in other things, but willing to spend it, although still with the greatest possible economy, on works of painting and sculpture, in which he much delighted--caused him to make portraits of himself and of his wife; and these may be seen, painted in his new manner, in the possession of giovan battista, his son, in the beautiful and most commodious house that the same agnolo built on the corso de' tintori, near the canto degli alberti, in florence. for domenico canigiani, also, he painted a picture of our lady, with the child jesus welcoming a little s. john brought to him by s. elizabeth, who, as she holds him, is gazing with a most animated expression at a s. joseph, who is standing with both his hands leaning on a staff, and inclines his head towards her, as though praising the greatness of god and marvelling that she, so advanced in years, should have so young a child. and all appear to be amazed to see with how much feeling and reverence the two cousins, for all their tender age, are caressing one another; not to mention that every touch of colour in the heads, hands, and feet seems to be living flesh rather than a tint laid on by a master of that art. this most noble picture is now in the possession of the heirs of the said domenico canigiani, who hold it in the estimation that is due to a work by raffaello da urbino. this most excellent of painters studied in the city of florence the old works of masaccio; and what he saw in those of leonardo and michelagnolo made him give even greater attention to his studies, in consequence of which he effected an extraordinary improvement in his art and manner. while he was living in florence, raffaello, besides other friendships, became very intimate with fra bartolommeo di san marco, being much pleased with his colouring, and taking no little pains to imitate it: and in return he taught that good father the principles of perspective, to which up to that time the monk had not given any attention. but at the very height of this friendly intercourse, raffaello was recalled to perugia, where he began by finishing the work for the aforesaid madonna atalanta baglioni in s. francesco, for which, as has been related, he had made the cartoon in florence. in this most divine picture there is a dead christ being borne to the sepulchre, executed with such freshness and such loving care, that it seems to the eye to have been only just painted. in the composition of this work, raffaello imagined to himself the sorrow that the nearest and most affectionate relatives of the dead one feel in laying to rest the body of him who has been their best beloved, and on whom, in truth, the happiness, honour, and welfare of a whole family have depended. our lady is seen in a swoon; and the heads of all the figures are very gracious in their weeping, particularly that of s. john, who, with his hands clasped, bows his head in such a manner as to move the hardest heart to pity. and in truth, whoever considers the diligence, love, art, and grace shown by this picture, has great reason to marvel, for it amazes all who behold it, what with the air of the figures, the beauty of the draperies, and, in short, the supreme excellence that it reveals in every part. [illustration: "the school of athens" (_after the fresco by =raffaello da urbino=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] this work finished, he returned to florence, where he received from the dei, citizens of that city, the commission for an altar-panel that was to be placed in their chapel in s. spirito; and he began it, and brought the sketch very nearly to completion. at the same time he painted a picture that was afterwards sent to siena, although, on the departure of raffaello, it was left with ridolfo ghirlandajo, to the end that he might finish a piece of blue drapery that was wanting. this happened because bramante da urbino, who was in the service of julius ii, wrote to raffaello, on account of his being distantly related to him and also his compatriot, that he had so wrought upon the pope, who had caused some new rooms to be made (in the vatican), that raffaello would have a chance of showing his worth in them. this proposal pleased raffaello: wherefore, abandoning his works in florence, and leaving the panel for the dei unfinished, in the state in which messer baldassarre da pescia had it placed in the pieve of his native city after the death of raffaello, he betook himself to rome. having arrived there, he found that most of the rooms in the palace had been painted, or were still being painted, by a number of masters. to be precise, he saw that there was one room in which a scene had been finished by piero della francesca; luca da cortona had brought one wall nearly to completion; and don pietro[ ] della gatta, abbot of s. clemente at arezzo, had begun some works there. bramantino, the milanese, had likewise painted many figures, which were mostly portraits from life, and were held to be very beautiful. after his arrival, therefore, having been received very warmly by pope julius, raffaello began in the camera della segnatura a scene of the theologians reconciling philosophy and astrology with theology: wherein are portraits of all the sages in the world, disputing in various ways. standing apart are some astrologers, who have made various kinds of figures and characters of geomancy and astrology on some little tablets, which they send to the evangelists by certain very beautiful angels; and these evangelists are expounding them. among them is diogenes with his cup, lying on the steps, and lost in thought, a figure very well conceived, which, for its beauty and the characteristic negligence of its dress, is worthy to be extolled. there, also, are aristotle and plato, one with the timæus in his hand, the other with the ethics; and round them, in a circle, is a great school of philosophers. nor is it possible to express the beauty of those astrologers and geometricians who are drawing a vast number of figures and characters with compasses on tablets: among whom, in the figure of a young man, shapely and handsome, who is throwing out his arms in admiration, and inclining his head, is the portrait of federigo ii, duke of mantua, who was then in rome. there is also a figure that is stooping to the ground, holding in its hand a pair of compasses, with which it is making a circle on a tablet: this is said to be the architect bramante, and it is no less the man himself than if he were alive, so well is it drawn. beside a figure with its back turned and holding a globe of the heavens in its hand, is the portrait of zoroaster; and next to him is raffaello, the master of the work, who made his own portrait by means of a mirror, in a youthful head with an air of great modesty, filled with a pleasing and excellent grace, and wearing a black cap. nor is one able to describe the beauty and goodness that are to be seen in the heads and figures of the evangelists, to whose countenances he gave an air of attention and intentness very true to life, and particularly in those who are writing. thus, behind s. matthew, who is copying the characters from the tablet wherein are the figures (which is held before him by an angel), and writing them down in a book, he painted an old man who, having placed a piece of paper on his knee, is copying all that s. matthew writes down; and while intent on his work in that uncomfortable position, he seems to twist his head and his jaws in time with the motion of the pen. and in addition to the details of the conceptions, which are numerous enough, there is the composition of the whole scene, which is truly arranged with so much order and proportion, that he may be said to have given therein such a proof of his powers as made men understand that he was resolved to hold the sovereignty, without question, among all who handled the brush. he also adorned this work with a view in perspective and with many figures, executed in such a sweet and delicate manner, that pope julius was induced thereby to cause all the scenes of the other masters, both the old and the new, to be thrown to the ground, so that raffaello alone might have the glory of all the labours that had been devoted to these works up to that time. the work of giovanni antonio sodoma of vercelli, which was above raffaello's painting, was to be thrown down by order of the pope; but raffaello determined to make use of its compartments and grotesques. there were also some medallions, four in number, and in each of these he made a figure as a symbol of the scenes below, each figure being on the same side as the scene that it represented. over the first scene, wherein he painted philosophy, astrology, geometry, and poetry making peace with theology, is a woman representing knowledge, who is seated on a throne that is supported on either side by a figure of the goddess cybele, each with those many breasts which in ancient times were the attributes of diana polymastes; and her dress is of four colours, standing for the four elements; from the head downwards there is the colour of fire, below the girdle that of the sky, from the groin to the knees there is the colour of earth, and the rest, down to the feet, is the colour of water. with her, also, are some truly beautiful little boys. in another medallion, on the side towards the window that looks over the belvedere, is a figure of poetry, who is in the form of polyhymnia, crowned with laurel, and holds an antique musical instrument in one hand, and a book in the other, and has her legs crossed. with a more than human beauty of expression in her countenance, she stands with her eyes uplifted towards heaven, accompanied by two little boys, who are lively and spirited, and who make a group of beautiful variety both with her and with the others. on this side, over the aforesaid window, raffaello afterwards painted mount parnassus. in the third medallion, which is above the scene where the holy doctors are ordaining the mass, is a figure of theology, no less beautiful than the others, with books and other things round her, and likewise accompanied by little boys. and in the fourth medallion, over the other window, which looks out on the court, he painted justice with her scales, and her sword uplifted, and with the same little boys that are with the others; of which the effect is supremely beautiful, for in the scene on the wall below he depicted the giving of the civil and the canon law, as we will relate in the proper place. in like manner, on the same ceiling, in the angles of the pendentives, he executed four scenes which he drew and coloured with great diligence, but with figures of no great size. in one of these, that near the theology, he painted the sin of adam, the eating of the apple, which he executed with a most delicate manner; and in the second, near the astrology, is a figure of that science setting the fixed stars and planets in their places. in the next, that belonging to mount parnassus, is marsyas, whom apollo has caused to be bound to a tree and flayed; and on the side of the scene wherein the decretals are given, there is the judgment of solomon, showing him proposing to have the child cut in half. these four scenes are all full of expression and feeling, and executed with excellent draughtsmanship, and with pleasing and gracious colouring. but now, having finished with the vaulting--that is, the ceiling--of that apartment, it remains for us to describe what he painted below the things mentioned above, wall by wall. on the wall towards the belvedere, where there are mount parnassus and the fount of helicon, he made round that mount a laurel wood of darkest shadows, in the verdure of which one almost sees the leaves quivering in the gentle zephyrs; and in the air are vast numbers of naked loves, most beautiful in feature and expression, who are plucking branches of laurel and with them making garlands, which they throw and scatter about the mount. over the whole, in truth, there seems to breathe a spirit of divinity, so beautiful are the figures, and such the nobility of the picture, which makes whoever studies it with attention marvel how a human brain, by the imperfect means of mere colours, and by excellence of draughtsmanship, could make painted things appear alive. most lifelike, also, are those poets who are seen here and there about the mount, some standing, some seated, some writing, and others discoursing, and others, again, singing or conversing together, in groups of four or six, according as it pleased him to distribute them. there are portraits from nature of all the most famous poets, ancient and modern, and some only just dead, or still living in his day; which were taken from statues or medals, and many from old pictures, and some, who were still alive, portrayed from the life by himself. and to begin with one end, there are ovid, virgil, ennius, tibullus, catullus, propertius, and homer; the last-named, blind and chanting his verses with uplifted head, having at his feet one who is writing them down. next, in a group, are all the nine muses and apollo, with such beauty in their aspect, and such divinity in the figures, that they breathe out a spirit of grace and life. there, also, are the learned sappho, the most divine dante, the gracious petrarca, and the amorous boccaccio, who are wholly alive, with tibaldeo, and an endless number of other moderns; and this scene is composed with much grace, and executed with diligence. on another wall he made a heaven, with christ, our lady, s. john the baptist, the apostles, the evangelists, and the martyrs, enthroned on clouds, with god the father sending down the holy spirit over them all, and particularly over an endless number of saints, who are below, writing the mass, and engaged in disputation about the host, which is on the altar. among these are the four doctors of the church, who have about them a vast number of saints, such as dominic, francis, thomas aquinas, buonaventura, scotus, and nicholas of lira, with dante, fra girolamo savonarola of ferrara, and all the christian theologians, with an infinite number of portraits from nature; and in the air are four little children, who are holding open the gospels. anything more graceful or more perfect than these figures no painter could create, since those saints are represented as seated in the air, in a circle, and so well, that in truth, besides the appearance of life that the colouring gives them, they are foreshortened and made to recede in such a manner, that they would not be otherwise if they were in relief. moreover, their vestments show a rich variety, with most beautiful folds in the draperies, and the expressions of the heads are more divine than human; as may be seen in that of christ, which reveals all the clemency and devoutness that divinity can show to mortal men through the medium of painting. for raffaello received from nature a particular gift of making the expressions of his heads very sweet and gracious; of which we have proof also in the madonna, who, with her hands pressed to her bosom, gazing in contemplation upon her son, seems incapable of refusing any favour; not to mention that he showed a truly beautiful sense of fitness, giving a look of age to the expressions of the holy patriarchs, simplicity to the apostles, and faith to the martyrs. even more art and genius did he display in the holy christian doctors, in whose features, while they make disputation throughout the scene in groups of six or three or two, there may be seen a kind of eagerness and distress in seeking to find the truth of that which is in question, revealing this by gesticulating with their hands, making various movements of their persons, turning their ears to listen, knitting their brows, and expressing astonishment in many different ways, all truly well varied and appropriate; save only the four doctors of the church, who, illumined by the holy spirit, are unravelling and expounding, by means of the holy scriptures, all the problems of the gospels, which are held up by those little boys who have them in their hands as they hover in the air. on another wall, where the other window is, on one side, he painted justinian giving the laws to the doctors to be revised; and above this, temperance, fortitude, and prudence. on the other side he painted the pope giving the canonical decretals; for which pope he made a portrait from life of pope julius, and, beside him, cardinal giovanni de' medici, who became pope leo, cardinal antonio di monte, and cardinal alessandro farnese, who afterwards became pope paul iii, with other portraits. the pope was very well satisfied with this work; and in order to make the panelling worthy of the paintings, he sent to monte oliveto di chiusuri, a place in the territory of siena, for fra giovanni da verona, a great master at that time of perspective-views in inlaid woodwork, who made there not only the panelling right round, but also very beautiful doors and seats, wrought with perspective-views, which brought him great favour, rewards, and honour from the pope. and it is certain that in that craft there was never any man more able than giovanni, either in design or in workmanship: of which we still have proof in the sacristy, wrought most beautifully with perspective-views in woodwork, of s. maria in organo in his native city of verona, in the choir of monte oliveto di chiusuri and that of s. benedetto at siena, in the sacristy of monte oliveto at naples, and also in the choir of the chapel of paolo da tolosa in the same place, executed by that master. wherefore he well deserved to be esteemed and held in very great honour by the convent of his order, in which he died at the age of sixty-eight, in the year . of him, as of a person truly excellent and rare, i have thought it right to make mention, believing that this was due to his talents, which, as will be related in another place, led to many beautiful works being made by other masters after him. [illustration: the "disputa del sacramento" (_after the fresco by =raffaello da urbino=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] but to return to raffaello; his powers grew in such a manner, that he was commissioned by the pope to go on to paint a second room, that near the great hall. and at this time, when he had gained a very great name, he also made a portrait of pope julius in a picture in oils, so true and so lifelike, that the portrait caused all who saw it to tremble, as if it had been the living man himself. this work is now in s. maria del popolo, together with a very beautiful picture of our lady, painted at the same time by the same master, and containing the nativity of jesus christ, wherein is the virgin laying a veil over her son, whose beauty is such, both in the air of the head and in all the members, as to show that he is the true son of god. and no less beautiful than the child is the madonna, in whom, besides her supreme loveliness, there may be seen piety and gladness. there is also a joseph, who, leaning with both his hands on a staff, and lost in thoughtful contemplation of the king and queen of heaven, gazes with the adoration of a most saintly old man. both these pictures are exhibited on days of solemn festival. by this time raffaello had acquired much fame in rome; but, although his manner was graceful and held by all to be very beautiful, and despite the fact that he had seen so many antiquities in that city, and was for ever studying, nevertheless he had not yet given thereby to his figures that grandeur and majesty which he gave to them from that time onward. for it happened in those days that michelagnolo made the terrifying outburst against the pope in the chapel, of which we will speak in his life; whence he was forced to fly to florence. whereupon bramante, having the keys of the chapel, allowed raffaello, who was his friend, to see it, to the end that he might be able to learn the methods of michelagnolo. and the sight of it was the reason that raffaello straightway repainted, although he had already finished it, the prophet isaiah that is to be seen in s. agostino at rome, above the s. anne by andrea sansovino; in which work, by means of what he had seen of michelagnolo's painting, he made the manner immeasurably better and more grand, and gave it greater majesty. wherefore michelagnolo, on seeing afterwards the work of raffaello, thought, as was the truth, that bramante had done him that wrong on purpose in order to bring profit and fame to raffaello. not long after this, agostino chigi, a very rich merchant of siena, who was much the friend of every man of excellence, gave raffaello the commission to paint a chapel; and this he did because a short time before raffaello had painted for him in his softest manner, in a loggia of his palace, now called the chigi, in the trastevere, a galatea in a car on the sea drawn by two dolphins, and surrounded by tritons and many sea-gods. raffaello, then, having made the cartoon for that chapel, which is at the entrance of the church of s. maria della pace, on the right hand as one goes into the church by the principal door, executed it in fresco, in his new manner, which was no little grander and more magnificent than his earlier manner. in this painting raffaello depicted some prophets and sibyls, before michelagnolo's chapel had been thrown open to view, although he had seen it; and in truth it is held to be the best of his works, and the most beautiful among so many that are beautiful, for in the women and children that are in it, there may be seen a marvellous vivacity and perfect colouring. and this work caused him to be greatly esteemed both in his lifetime and after his death, being the rarest and most excellent that raffaello executed in all his life. next, spurred by the entreaties of a chamberlain of pope julius, he painted the panel for the high-altar of the araceli, wherein he made a madonna in the sky, with a most beautiful landscape, a s. john, a s. francis, and a s. jerome represented as a cardinal; in which madonna may be seen a humility and a modesty truly worthy of the mother of christ; and besides the beautiful gesture of the child as he plays with his mother's hand, there is revealed in s. john that penitential air which fasting generally gives, while his head displays the sincerity of soul and frank assurance appropriate to those who live away from the world and despise it, and, in their dealings with mankind, make war on falsehood and speak out the truth. in like manner, the s. jerome has his head uplifted with his eyes on the madonna, deep in contemplation; and in them seem to be suggested all the learning and knowledge that he showed in his writings, while with both his hands he is presenting the chamberlain, in the act of recommending him to her; which portrait of the chamberlain is as lifelike as any ever painted. nor did raffaello fail to do as well in the figure of s. francis, who, kneeling on the ground, with one arm outstretched, and with his head upraised, is gazing up at the madonna, glowing with a love in tone with the feeling of the picture, which, both by the lineaments and by the colouring, shows him melting with affection, and taking comfort and life from the gracious sight of her beauty and of the vivacity and beauty of her son. in the middle of the panel, below the madonna, raffaello made a little boy standing, who is raising his head towards her and holding an inscription: than whom none better or more graceful could be painted, what with the beauty of his features and the proportionate loveliness of his person. and in addition there is a landscape, which is singularly beautiful in its absolute perfection. [illustration: the mass of bolsena (_after the fresco by =raffaello da urbino=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] afterwards, going on with the apartments of the palace, he painted a scene of the miracle of the sacramental corporal of orvieto, or of bolsena, whichever it may be called. in this scene there may be perceived in the face of the priest who is saying mass, which is glowing with a blush, the shame that he felt on seeing the host turned into blood on the corporal on account of his unbelief. with terror in his eyes, dumbfoundered and beside himself in the presence of his hearers, he seems like one who knows not what to do; and in the gesture of his hands may almost be seen the fear and trembling that a man would feel in such a case. round him raffaello made many figures, all varied and different, some serving the mass, others kneeling on a flight of steps; and all, bewildered by the strangeness of the event, are making various most beautiful movements and gestures, while in many, both men and women, there is revealed a belief that they are to blame. among the women is one who is seated on the ground at the foot of the scene, holding a child in her arms; and she, hearing the account that another appears to be giving her of the thing that has happened to the priest, turns in a marvellous manner as she listens to this, with a womanly grace that is very natural and lifelike. on the other side he painted pope julius hearing that mass, a most marvellous work, wherein he made a portrait of cardinal di san giorgio, with innumerable others; and the window-opening he turned to advantage by making a flight of steps, in such a way that all the painting seems to be one whole: nay, it appears as if, were that window-space not there, the work would in nowise have been complete. wherefore it may be truly credited to him that in the invention and composition of every kind of painted story, no one has ever been more dexterous, facile, and able than raffaello. this he also proved in another scene in the same place, opposite to the last-named, of s. peter in the hands of herod, and guarded in prison by men-at-arms; wherein he showed such a grasp of architecture, and such judgment in the buildings of the prison, that in truth the others after him seem to have more confusion than he has beauty. for he was ever seeking to represent stories just as they are written, and to paint in them things gracious and excellent; as is proved in this one by the horror of the prison, wherein that old man is seen bound in chains of iron between the two men-at-arms, by the deep slumber of the guards, and by the dazzling splendour of the angel, which, in the thick darkness of the night, reveals with its light every detail of the prison, and makes the arms of the soldiers shine resplendent, in such a way that their burnished lustre seems more lifelike than if they were real, although they are only painted. no less art and genius are there in the action of s. peter, when, freed from his chains, he goes forth from the prison, accompanied by the angel, wherein one sees in the face of the saint a belief that it is rather a dream than a reality; and so, also, terror and dismay are shown in some other armed guards without the prison, who hear the noise of the iron door, while a sentinel with a torch in his hand rouses the others, and, as he gives them light with it, the blaze of the torch is reflected in all their armour; and all that its glow does not reach is illumined by the light of the moon. this composition raffaello painted over the window, where the wall is darkest; and thus, when you look at the picture, the light strikes you in the face, and the real light conflicts so well with the different lights of the night in the painting, that the smoke of the torch, the splendour of the angel, and the thick darkness of the night seem to you to be wholly real and natural, and you would never say that it was all painted, so vividly did he express this difficult conception. in it are seen shadows playing on the armour, other shadows projected, reflections, and a vaporous glare from the lights, all executed with darkest shade, and so well, that it may be truly said that he was the master of every other master; and as an effect of night, among all those that painting has ever produced, this is the most real and most divine, and is held by all the world to be the rarest. on one of the unbroken walls, also, he painted the divine worship and the ark of the hebrews, with the candlestick; and likewise pope julius driving avarice out of the temple, a scene as beautiful and as excellent as the night described above. here, in some bearers who are carrying pope julius, a most lifelike figure, in his chair, are portraits of men who were living at that time. and while the people, some women among them, are making way for the pope, so that he may pass, one sees the furious onset of an armed man on horseback, who, accompanied by two on foot, and in an attitude of the greatest fierceness, is smiting and riding down the proud heliodorus, who is seeking, at the command of antiochus, to rob the temple of all the wealth stored for the widows and orphans. already the riches and treasures could be seen being removed and taken away, when, on account of the terror of the strange misfortune of heliodorus, so rudely struck down and smitten by the three figures mentioned above (although, this being a vision, they are seen and heard by him alone), behold, they are all dropped and upset on the ground, those who were carrying them falling down through the sudden terror and panic that had come upon all the following of heliodorus. apart from these may be seen the holy onias, the high priest, dressed in his robes of office, with his eyes and hands raised to heaven, and praying most fervently, being seized with pity for the poor innocents who were thus nearly losing their possessions, and rejoicing at the help that he feels has come down from on high. besides this, through a beautiful fancy of raffaello's, one sees many who have climbed on to the socles of the column-bases, and, clasping the shafts, stand looking in most uncomfortable attitudes; with a throng of people showing their amazement in many various ways, and awaiting the result of this event. this work is in every part so stupendous, that even the cartoons are held in the greatest veneration; wherefore messer francesco masini, a gentleman of cesena--who, without the help of any master, but giving his attention by himself from his earliest childhood, guided by an extraordinary instinct of nature, to drawing and painting, has painted pictures that have been much extolled by good judges of art--possesses, among his many drawings and some ancient reliefs in marble, certain pieces of the cartoon which raffaello made for this story of heliodorus, and he holds them in the estimation that they truly deserve. nor will i refrain from saying that messer niccolò masini, who has given me information about these matters, is as much a true lover of our arts as he is a man of real culture in all other things. but to return to raffaello; on the ceiling above these works, he then executed four scenes, god appearing to abraham and promising him the multiplication of his seed, the sacrifice of isaac, jacob's ladder, and the burning bush of moses: wherein may be recognized no less art, invention, draughtsmanship, and grace, than in the other works that he painted. while the happy genius of this craftsman was producing such marvels, the envy of fortune cut short the life of julius ii, who had fostered such abilities, and had been a lover of every excellent work. whereupon a new pope was elected in leo x, who desired that the work begun should be carried on; and raffaello thereby soared with his genius into the heavens, and received endless favours from him, fortunate in having come upon a prince so great, who had by the inheritance of blood a strong inclination for such an art. raffaello, therefore, thus encouraged to pursue the work, painted on the other wall the coming of attila to rome, and his encounter at the foot of monte mario with leo iii, who drove him away with his mere benediction. in this scene raffaello made s. peter and s. paul in the air, with swords in their hands, coming to defend the church; and while the story of leo iii says nothing of this, nevertheless it was thus that he chose to represent it, perchance out of fancy, for it often happens that painters, like poets, go straying from their subject in order to make their work the more ornate, although their digressions are not such as to be out of harmony with their first intention. in those apostles may be seen that celestial wrath and ardour which the divine justice is wont often to impart to the features of its ministers, charged with defending the most holy faith; and of this we have proof in attila, who is to be seen riding a black horse with white feet and a star on its forehead, as beautiful as it could be, for in an attitude of the utmost terror he throws up his head and turns his body in flight. there are other most beautiful horses, particularly a dappled jennet, which is ridden by a figure that has all the body covered with scales after the manner of a fish; which is copied from the column of trajan, wherein the figures have armour of that kind; and it is thought that such armour is made from the skins of crocodiles. there is monte mario, all aflame, showing that when soldiers march away, their quarters are always left a prey to fire. he made portraits from nature, also, in some mace-bearers accompanying the pope, who are marvellously lifelike, as are the horses on which they are riding; and the same is true of the retinue of cardinals, and of some grooms who are holding the palfrey on which rides the pope in full pontificals (a portrait of leo x, no less lifelike than those of the others), with many courtiers; the whole being a most pleasing spectacle and well in keeping with such a work, and also very useful to our art, particularly for those who have no such objects at their command. at this same time he painted a panel containing our lady, s. jerome robed as a cardinal, and an angel raphael accompanying tobias, which was placed in s. domenico at naples, in that chapel wherein is the crucifix that spoke to s. thomas aquinas. for signor leonello da carpi, lord of meldola, who is still alive, although more than ninety years old, he executed a picture that was most marvellous in colouring, and of a singular beauty, for it is painted with such force, and also with a delicacy so pleasing, that i do not think it is possible to do better. in the countenance of the madonna may be seen such a divine air, and in her attitude such a dignity, that no one would be able to improve her; and he made her with the hands clasped, adoring her son, who is seated on her knees, caressing a s. john, a little boy, who is adoring him, in company with s. elizabeth and joseph. this picture was once in the possession of the very reverend cardinal da carpi, the son of the said signor leonello, and a great lover of our arts; and it should be at the present day in the hands of his heirs. afterwards, lorenzo pucci, cardinal of santi quattro, having been created grand penitentiary, raffaello was favoured by him with a commission to paint a panel for s. giovanni in monte at bologna, which is now set up in the chapel wherein lies the body of the blessed elena dall' olio: in which work it is evident how much grace, in company with art, could accomplish by means of the delicate hands of raffaello. in it is a s. cecilia, who, entranced by a choir of angels on high, stands listening to the sound, wholly absorbed in the harmony; and in her countenance is seen that abstraction which is found in the faces of those who are in ecstasy. scattered about the ground, moreover, are musical instruments, which have the appearance of being, not painted, but real and true; and such, also, are some veils that she is wearing, with vestments woven in silk and gold, and, below these, a marvellous hair-shirt. and in a s. paul, who has the right arm leaning on his naked sword, and the head resting on the hand, one sees his profound air of knowledge, no less well expressed than the transformation of his pride of aspect into dignity. he is clothed in a simple red garment by way of mantle, below which is a green tunic, after the manner of the apostles, and his feet are bare. there is also s. mary magdalene, who is holding in her hands a most delicate vase of stone, in an attitude of marvellous grace; turning her head, she seems full of joy at her conversion; and indeed, in that kind of painting, i do not think that anything better could be done. very beautiful, likewise, are the heads of s. augustine and s. john the evangelist. of a truth, other pictures may be said to be pictures, but those of raffaello life itself, for in his figures the flesh quivers, the very breath may be perceived, the pulse beats, and the true presentment of life is seen in them; on which account this picture gave him, in addition to the fame that he had already, an even greater name. wherefore many verses were written in his honour, both latin and in the vulgar tongue, of which, in order not to make my story longer than i have set out to do, i will cite only the following: pingant sola alii referantque coloribus ora; cæciliæ os raphael atque animum explicuit. after this he also painted a little picture with small figures, which is likewise at bologna, in the house of count vincenzio ercolano, containing a christ after the manner of jove in heaven, surrounded by the four evangelists as ezekiel describes them, one in the form of a man, another as a lion, the third an eagle, and the fourth an ox, with a little landscape below to represent the earth: which work, in its small proportions, is no less rare and beautiful than his others in their greatness. [illustration: pope leo x with two cardinals (_after the panel by =raffaello da urbino=. florence: pitti, _) _m.s._] to the counts of canossa in verona he sent a large picture of equal excellence, in which is a very beautiful nativity of our lord, with a daybreak that is much extolled, as is also the s. anne, and, indeed, the whole work, which cannot be more highly praised than by saying that it is by the hand of raffaello da urbino. wherefore those counts rightly hold it in supreme veneration, nor have they ever consented, for all the vast prices that have been offered to them by many princes, to sell it to anyone. for bindo altoviti, he made a portrait of him when he was a young man, which is held to be extraordinary; and likewise a picture of our lady, which he sent to florence, and which is now in the palace of duke cosimo, in the chapel of the new apartments, which were built and painted by me, where it serves as altar-piece. in it is painted a very old s. anne, seated, and holding out to our lady her son, the features of whose countenance, as well as the whole of his nude form, are so beautiful that with his smile he rejoices whoever beholds him; besides which, raffaello depicted, in painting the madonna, all the beauty that can be imparted to the aspect of a virgin, with the complement of chaste humility in the eyes, honour in the brow, grace in the nose, and virtue in the mouth; not to mention that her raiment is such as to reveal infinite simplicity and dignity. and, indeed, i do not think that there is anything better to be seen than this whole work. there is a nude s. john, seated, with a female saint, who is likewise very beautiful; and for background there is a building, in which he painted a linen-covered window that gives light to the room wherein are the figures. in rome he made a picture of good size, in which he portrayed pope leo, cardinal giulio de' medici, and cardinal de' rossi. in this the figures appear to be not painted, but in full relief; there is the pile of the velvet, with the damask of the pope's vestments shining and rustling, the fur of the linings soft and natural, and the gold and silk so counterfeited that they do not seem to be in colour, but real gold and silk. there is an illuminated book of parchment, which appears more real than the reality; and a little bell of wrought silver, which is more beautiful than words can tell. among other things, also, is a ball of burnished gold on the pope's chair, wherein are reflected, as if it were a mirror (such is its brightness), the light from the windows, the shoulders of the pope, and the walls round the room. and all these things are executed with such diligence, that one may believe without any manner of doubt that no master is able, or is ever likely to be able, to do better. for this work the pope was pleased to reward him very richly; and the picture is still to be seen in florence, in the guardaroba of the duke. in like manner he executed portraits of duke lorenzo and duke giuliano, with a perfect grace of colouring not achieved by any other than himself, which are in the possession of the heirs of ottaviano de' medici at florence. thereupon there came to raffaello a great increase of glory, and likewise of rewards; and for this reason, in order to leave some memorial of himself, he caused a palace to be built in the borgo nuovo at rome, which bramante executed with castings. now, the fame of this most noble craftsman, by reason of the aforesaid works and many others, having passed into france and flanders, albrecht dürer, a most marvellous german painter, and an engraver of very beautiful copperplates, rendered tribute to raffaello out of his own works, and sent to him a portrait of himself, a head, executed by him in gouache on a cloth of fine linen, which showed the same on either side, the lights being transparent and obtained without lead-white, while the only grounding and colouring was done with water-colours, the white of the cloth serving for the ground of the bright parts. this work seemed to raffaello to be marvellous, and he sent him, therefore, many drawings executed by his own hand, which were received very gladly by albrecht. that head was among the possessions of giulio romano, the heir of raffaello, in mantua. raffaello, having thus seen the manner of the engravings of albrecht dürer, and desiring on his own behalf to show what could be done with his work by such an art, caused marc' antonio bolognese to make a very thorough study of the method; and that master became so excellent, that raffaello commissioned him to make prints of his first works, such as the drawing of the innocents, a last supper, the neptune, and the s. cecilia being boiled in oil. marc' antonio afterwards made for raffaello a number of other engravings, which raffaello finally gave to baviera, his assistant, who had charge of a mistress whom raffaello loved to the day of his death. of her he made a very beautiful portrait, wherein she seemed wholly alive: and this is now in florence, in the possession of that most gentle of men, matteo botti, a florentine merchant, and an intimate friend of every able person, and particularly of painters, who treasures it as a relic, on account of the love that he bears to art, and above all to raffaello. and no less esteem is shown to the works of our arts and to the craftsmen by his brother, simon botti, who, besides being held by us all to be one of the most loving spirits that show favour to the men of our professions, is held in estimation by me in particular as the best and greatest friend that ever man loved after a long experience; not to mention the good judgment that he has and shows in matters of art. but to return to the engravings; the favour shown by raffaello to baviera was the reason that there afterwards sprang up marco da ravenna and a host of others, insomuch that the dearth of copper engravings was changed into that abundance that we see at the present day. thereupon ugo da carpi, having a brain inclined to ingenious and fanciful things, and showing beautiful invention, discovered the method of wood-engraving, whereby, with three blocks, giving the middle values, the lights, and the shadows, it is possible to imitate drawings in chiaroscuro, which was certainly a thing of beautiful and fanciful invention; and from this, also, there afterwards came an abundance of prints, as will be related with greater detail in the life of marc' antonio bolognese. raffaello then painted for the monastery of the monks of monte oliveto, called s. maria dello spasmo, at palermo, a panel-picture of christ bearing the cross, which is held to be a marvellous work. in this may be seen the impious ministers of the crucifixion, leading him with wrath and fury to his death on mount calvary; and christ, broken with agony at the near approach of death, has fallen to the ground under the weight of the tree of the cross, and, bathed with sweat and blood, turns towards the maries, who are in a storm of weeping. moreover, there is seen among them veronica, who stretches out her arms and offers him a cloth, with an expression of the tenderest love, not to mention that the work is full of men-at-arms both on horseback and on foot, who are pouring forth from the gate of jerusalem with the standards of justice in their hands, in various most beautiful attitudes. this panel, when completely finished, but not yet brought to its resting-place, was very near coming to an evil end, for the story goes that after it had been put on shipboard, in order that it might be carried to palermo, a terrible storm dashed against a rock the ship that was carrying it, in such a manner that the timbers broke asunder, and all the men were lost, together with the merchandise, save only the panel, which, safely packed in its case, was washed by the sea on to the shore of genoa. there, having been fished up and drawn to land, it was found to be a thing divine, and was put into safe keeping; for it had remained undamaged and without any hurt or blemish, since even the fury of the winds and the waves of the sea had respect for the beauty of such a work. the news of this being then bruited abroad, the monks took measures to recover it, and no sooner had it been restored to them, by the favour of the pope, than they gave satisfaction, and that liberally, to those who had rescued it. thereupon it was once more put on board ship and brought at last to sicily, where they set it up in palermo; in which place it has more fame and reputation than the mount of vulcan itself. while raffaello was engaged on these works, which, having to gratify great and distinguished persons, he could not refuse to undertake--not to mention that his own private interests prevented him from saying them nay--yet for all this he never ceased to carry on the series of pictures that he had begun in the papal apartments and halls; wherein he always kept men who pursued the work from his own designs, while he himself, continually supervising everything, lent to so vast an enterprise the aid of the best efforts of which he was capable. no long time passed, therefore, before he threw open that apartment of the borgia tower in which he had painted a scene on every wall, two above the windows, and two others on the unbroken walls. in one was the burning of the borgo vecchio of rome, when, all other methods having failed to put out the fire, s. leo iv presents himself at the loggia of his palace and extinguishes it completely with his benediction. in this scene are represented various perils. on one side are women who are bearing vessels filled with water in their hands and on their heads, whereby to extinguish the flames; and their hair and draperies are blown about by the terrible fury of a tempestuous wind. others, who are seeking to throw water on the fire, are blinded by the smoke and wholly bewildered. on the other side, after the manner of virgil's story of anchises being carried by Æneas, is shown an old sick man, overcome by his infirmity and the flames of the fire; and in the figure of the young man are seen courage and strength, and great effort in all his limbs under the weight of the old man, who lies helpless on the young man's back. he is followed by an old woman with bare feet and disordered garments, who is flying from the fire; and a little naked boy runs before them. on the top of some ruins, likewise, may be seen a naked woman, with hair all dishevelled, who has her child in her hands and is throwing him to a man of her house, who, having escaped from the flames, is standing in the street on tiptoe, with arms outstretched to receive the child wrapped in swathing-bands; wherein the eager anxiety of the woman to save her son may be recognized no less clearly than her torment in the peril of the fierce flames, which are already licking around her. and no less suffering is evident in him who is receiving the child, both for its sake and on account of his own fear of death. nor is it possible to describe the imagination that this most ingenious and most marvellous craftsman showed in a mother with her feet bare, her garments in disorder, her girdle unbound, and her hair dishevelled, who has gathered her children before her and is driving them on, holding part of her clothing in one hand, that they may escape from the ruins and from that blazing furnace; not to mention that there are also some women who, kneeling before the pope, appear to be praying to his holiness that he should make the fire cease. the next scene is from the life of the same s. leo iv, wherein raffaello depicted the port of ostia occupied by the fleet of the turks, who had come to take the pope prisoner. the christians may be seen fighting against that fleet on the sea; and already there has come to the harbour an endless number of prisoners, who are disembarking from a boat and being dragged by the beard by some soldiers, who are very beautiful in features and most spirited in their attitudes. the prisoners, dressed in the motley garb of galley-slaves, are being led before s. leo, whose figure is a portrait of pope leo x. here raffaello painted his holiness in pontificals, between cardinal santa maria in portico, who was bernardo divizio of bibbiena, and cardinal giulio de' medici, who afterwards became pope clement. nor is it possible to describe in detail the beautiful conceptions that this most ingenious craftsman showed in the expressions of the prisoners, wherein one can recognize, without speech, their grief and the fear of death. in the first of the other two scenes is pope leo x consecrating the most christian king, francis i of france, chanting the mass in his pontificals, and blessing the oil for the anointing of the king, and likewise the royal crown. there, besides the great number of cardinals and bishops in their robes, who are assisting, he portrayed from life many ambassadors and other persons, and also some figures dressed in the french fashion, according to the style of that time. in the other scene he painted the crowning of the same king, wherein are portraits from life of the pope and of francis, one in armour and the other in his pontificals; besides which, all the cardinals, bishops, chamberlains, esquires, and grooms of the chamber are seated in due order in their places, as is the custom in the chapel, all in their robes and portrayed from life, among them being giannozzo pandolfini, bishop of troia, a close friend of raffaello, with many others who were distinguished at that time. near the king is a little boy kneeling, who is holding the royal crown--a portrait of ippolito de' medici, who afterwards became cardinal and vice-chancellor, a man of great repute, and much the friend not only of this art, but of all others, to whose blessed memory i acknowledge a vast obligation, seeing that my first steps, such as they were, were taken under his auspices. it is not possible to write of every detail in the works of this craftsman, wherein every least thing, although dumb, appears to have speech: save only of the bases executed below these pictures, with various figures of defenders and benefactors of the church, and various terminal figures on either side of them, the whole being wrought in such a manner that everything reveals spirit, feeling, and thought, and with such a harmony and unity of colouring that nothing better can be conceived. and since the ceiling of that apartment had been painted by pietro perugino, his master, raffaello would not destroy it, moved by respect for his memory and by the love that he bore to the man who had been the origin of the rank that he held in his art. such was the greatness of this master, that he kept designers all over italy, at pozzuolo, and even in greece; and he was for ever searching out everything of the good that might help his art. now, continuing his work, he also painted a hall, wherein were some figures of the apostles and other saints in tabernacles, executed in terretta; and there he caused to be made by giovanni da udine, his disciple, who has no equal in the painting of animals, all the animals that pope leo possessed, such as the chameleon, the civet-cats, the apes, the parrots, the lions, the elephants, and other beasts even more strange. and besides embellishing the palace greatly with grotesques and varied pavements, he also gave the designs for the papal staircases, as well as for the loggie begun by the architect bramante, but left unfinished on account of his death, and afterwards carried out with the new design and architecture of raffaello, who made for this a model of wood with better proportion and adornment than had been accomplished by bramante. the pope wishing to demonstrate the greatness and magnificence of his generous ambition, raffaello made the designs for the ornaments in stucco and for the scenes that were painted there, and likewise for the compartments; and as for the stucco and the grotesques, he placed at the head of that work giovanni da udine, and the figures he entrusted to giulio romano, although that master worked but little at them; and he also employed giovanni francesco, il bologna, perino del vaga, pellegrino da modena, vincenzio da san gimignano, and polidoro da caravaggio, with many other painters, who executed scenes and figures and other things that were required throughout that work, which raffaello caused to be completed with such perfection, that he even sent to florence for pavements by the hand of luca della robbia. wherefore it is certain that with regard to the paintings, the stucco-ornaments, the arrangement, or any of the beautiful inventions, no one would be able to execute or even to imagine a more marvellous work; and its beauty was the reason that raffaello received the charge of all the works of painting and architecture that were in progress in the palace. it is said that the courtesy of raffaello was such that he prevailed upon the masons, in order that he might accommodate his friends, not to build the walls absolutely solid and unbroken, but to leave, above the old rooms below, various openings and spaces for the storage of barrels, flasks, and wood; which holes and spaces so weakened the lower part of the masonry, that afterwards they had to be filled in, because the whole was beginning to show cracks. he commissioned gian barile to adorn all the doors and ceilings of woodwork with a good number of carvings, which he executed and finished with beautiful grace. he gave architectural designs for the vigna[ ] of the pope, and for many houses in the borgo; in particular, for the palace of messer giovanni battista dall' aquila, which was a very beautiful work. he also designed one for the bishop of troia, who had it built in the via di s. gallo at florence. for the black friars of s. sisto in piacenza, he painted the picture for their high-altar, containing the madonna with s. sisto and s. barbara, a truly rare and extraordinary work. he executed many pictures to be sent into france, and in particular, for the king, a s. michael fighting with the devil, which was held to be a marvellous thing. in this work he painted a fire-scarred rock, to represent the centre of the earth, from the fissures of which were issuing sulphurous flames; and in lucifer, whose scorched and burned limbs are painted with various tints of flesh-colour, could be seen all the shades of anger that his venomous and swollen pride calls up against him who overbears the greatness of him who is deprived of any kingdom where there might be peace, and doomed to suffer perpetual punishment. the opposite may be perceived in the s. michael, clad in armour of iron and gold, who, although he is painted with a celestial air, yet has valour, force, and terror in his aspect, and has already thrown lucifer down and hurled him backwards with his spear. in a word, this work was of such a kind that he won for it, and rightly, a most honourable reward from that king. he made portraits of beatrice of ferrara and other ladies, and in particular that of his own mistress, with an endless number of others. raffaello was a very amorous person, delighting much in women, and ever ready to serve them; which was the reason that, in the pursuit of his carnal pleasures, he found his friends more complacent and indulgent towards him than perchance was right. wherefore, when his dear friend agostino chigi commissioned him to paint the first loggia in his palace, raffaello was not able to give much attention to his work, on account of the love that he had for his mistress; at which agostino fell into such despair, that he so contrived by means of others, by himself, and in other ways, as to bring it about, although only with difficulty, that this lady should come to live continually with raffaello in that part of the house where he was working; and in this manner the work was brought to completion. for this work he made all the cartoons, and he coloured many of the figures in fresco with his own hand. and on the ceiling he made the council of the gods in heaven, wherein, in the forms of the gods, are seen many vestments and lineaments copied from the antique, and executed with very beautiful grace and draughtsmanship. in like manner he made the marriage of psyche, with ministers serving jove, and the graces scattering flowers over the table. in the spandrels of the vaulting he executed many scenes, in one of which is mercury with his flute, who, as he flies, has all the appearance of descending from heaven; and in another is jove with an air of celestial dignity, kissing ganymede; and in another, likewise, lower down, is the car of venus, and the graces, with mercury, drawing psyche up to heaven; with many other scenes from the poets in the other spandrels. and in the spherical triangles of the vaulting above the arches, between the spandrels, are many most beautiful little boys in foreshortening, hovering in the air and carrying all the instruments of the gods; jove's lightnings and thunderbolts, the helmet, sword, and shield of mars, vulcan's hammers, the club and lion-skin of hercules, the caduceus of mercury, pan's pipes, and the agricultural rakes of vertumnus. all are accompanied by animals appropriate to their character; and the whole work, both as picture and as poem, is truly beautiful. round these scenes he caused giovanni da udine to make a border of all kinds of flowers, foliage, and fruits, in festoons, which are as beautiful as they could be. raffaello made the designs for the architecture of the stables of the chigi, and the design for the chapel of the aforesaid agostino in s. maria del popolo, wherein, besides painting it, he made arrangements for the erection of a marvellous tomb, causing lorenzetto, a sculptor of florence, to execute two figures, which are still in his house in the macello de' corbi at rome; but the death of raffaello, followed by that of agostino, brought it about that this work was given to sebastiano viniziano. meanwhile raffaello had risen to such greatness, that leo x ordained that he should set to work on the great hall on the upper floor, wherein are the victories of constantine; and with this he made a beginning. a fancy likewise took the pope to have some very rich tapestries made in gold and floss-silk; whereupon raffaello drew and coloured with his own hand, of the exact form and size, all the cartoons, which were sent to flanders to be woven; and the tapestries, when finished, were brought to rome. this work was executed so marvellously, that it arouses astonishment in whoever beholds it, wondering how it could have been possible to weave the hair and beards in such detail, and to give softness to the flesh with mere threads; and it is truly rather a miracle than the work of human art, seeing that in these tapestries are animals, water, and buildings, all made in such a way that they seem to be not woven, but really wrought with the brush. the work cost , crowns, and it is still preserved in the papal chapel. for cardinal colonna he painted a s. john on canvas, for which, on account of its beauty, that cardinal had an extraordinary love; but happening to be attacked by illness, he was asked by messer jacopo da carpi, the physician who cured him, to give it to him as a present; and because of this desire of messer jacopo, to whom he felt himself very deeply indebted, he gave it up. it is now in the possession of francesco benintendi, in florence. [illustration: the transfiguration (_after the panel by =raffaello da urbino=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] for giulio de' medici, cardinal and vice-chancellor, he painted a panel-picture, to be sent into france, of the transfiguration of christ, at which he laboured without ceasing, and brought it to the highest perfection with his own hand. in this scene he represented christ transfigured on mount tabor, at the foot of which are the eleven disciples awaiting him. there may be seen a young man possessed by a spirit, who has been brought thither in order that christ, after descending from the mountain, may deliver him; which young man stretches himself out in a distorted attitude, crying and rolling his eyes, and reveals his suffering in his flesh, his veins, and the beat of his pulse, all infected by that malignant spirit; and the colour of his flesh, as he makes those violent and fearsome gestures, is very pale. this figure is supported by an old man, who, having embraced him and taken heart, with his eyes wide open and the light shining in them, is raising his brows and wrinkling his forehead, showing at one and the same time both strength and fear; gazing intently, however, at the apostles, he appears to be encouraging himself by trusting in them. among many women is one, the principal figure in that panel, who, having knelt down before the apostles, and turning her head towards them, stretches her arms in the direction of the maniac and points out his misery; besides which the apostles, some standing, some seated, and others kneeling, show that they are moved to very great compassion by such misfortune. and, indeed, he made therein figures and heads so fine in their novelty and variety, to say nothing of their extraordinary beauty, that it is the common opinion of all craftsmen that this work, among the vast number that he painted, is the most glorious, the most lovely, and the most divine. for whoever wishes to know how christ transfigured and made divine should be represented in painting, must look at this work, wherein raffaello made him in perspective over that mount, in a sky of exceeding brightness, with moses and elias, who, illumined by a dazzling splendour, burst into life in his light. prostrate on the ground, in attitudes of great beauty and variety, are peter, james, and john; one has his head to the earth, and another, shading his eyes with his hands, is defending himself from the rays and intense light of the splendour of christ. he, clothed in snow-white raiment, with his arms outstretched and his head raised, appears to reveal the divine essence and nature of all the three persons united and concentrated in himself by the perfect art of raffaello, who seems to have summoned up all his powers in such a manner, in order to show the supreme force of his art in the countenance of christ, that, after finishing this, the last work that he was to do, he never again touched a brush, being overtaken by death. [illustration: raffaello da urbino: the three graces (_chantilly, . panel_)] now, having described the works of this most excellent craftsman, before i come to relate other particulars of his life and death, i do not wish to grudge the labour of saying something, for the benefit of the men of our arts, about the various manners of raffaello. he, then, after having imitated in his boyhood the manner of his master, pietro perugino, which he made much better in draughtsmanship, colouring, and invention, believed that he had done enough; but he recognized, when he had reached a riper age, that he was still too far from the truth. for, after seeing the works of leonardo da vinci, who had no peer in the expressions of heads both of men and of women, and surpassed all other painters in giving grace and movement to his figures, he was left marvelling and amazed; and in a word, the manner of leonardo pleasing him more than any other that he had ever seen, he set himself to study it, and abandoning little by little, although with great difficulty, the manner of pietro, he sought to the best of his power and knowledge to imitate that of leonardo. but for all his diligence and study, in certain difficulties he was never able to surpass leonardo; and although it appears to many that he did surpass him in sweetness and in a kind of natural facility, nevertheless he was by no means superior to him in that sublime groundwork of conceptions and that grandeur of art in which few have been the peers of leonardo. yet raffaello came very near to him, more than any other painter, and above all in grace of colouring. but to return to raffaello himself; in time he found himself very much hindered and impeded by the manner that he had adopted from pietro when he was quite young, which he acquired with ease, since it was over-precise, dry, and feeble in draughtsmanship. his being unable to forget it was the reason that he had great difficulty in learning the beauties of the nude and the methods of difficult foreshortenings from the cartoon that michelagnolo buonarroti made for the council hall in florence; and another might have lost heart, believing that he had been previously wasting his time, and would never have achieved, however lofty his genius, what raffaello accomplished. but he, having purged himself of pietro's manner, and having thoroughly freed himself of it, in order to learn the manner of michelagnolo, so full of difficulties in every part, was changed, as it were, from a master once again into a disciple; and he forced himself with incredible study, when already a man, to do in a few months what might have called for the tender age at which all things are best acquired, and for a space of many years. for in truth he who does not learn in good time right principles and the manner that he wishes to follow, and does not proceed little by little to solve the difficulties of the arts by means of experience, seeking to understand every part, and to put it into practice, can scarcely ever become perfect; and even if he does, that can only be after a longer space of time and much greater labour. when raffaello resolved to set himself to change and improve his manner, he had never given his attention to nudes with that zealous study which is necessary, and had only drawn them from life in the manner that he had seen practised by his master pietro, imparting to them the grace that he had from nature. he then devoted himself to studying the nude and to comparing the muscles of anatomical subjects and of flayed human bodies with those of the living, which, being covered with skin, are not clearly defined, as they are when the skin has been removed; and going on to observe in what way they acquire the softness of flesh in the proper places, and how certain graceful flexures are produced by changing the point of view, and also the effect of inflating, lowering, or raising either a limb or the whole person, and likewise the concatenation of the bones, nerves, and veins, he became excellent in all the points that are looked for in a painter of eminence. knowing, however, that in this respect he could never attain to the perfection of michelagnolo, he reflected, like a man of supreme judgment, that painting does not consist only in representing the nude human form, but has a wider field; that one can enumerate among the perfect painters those who express historical inventions well and with facility, and who show fine judgment in their fancies; and that he who, in the composition of scenes, can make them neither confused with too much detail nor poor with too little, but distributed with beautiful invention and order, may also be called an able and judicious craftsman. to this, as raffaello was well aware, may be added the enriching those scenes with a bizarre variety of perspectives, buildings, and landscapes, the method of clothing figures gracefully, the making them fade away sometimes in the shadows, and sometimes come forward into the light, the imparting of life and beauty to the heads of women, children, young men and old, and the giving them movement and boldness, according to necessity. he considered, also, how important is the furious flight of horses in battles, fierceness in soldiers, the knowledge how to depict all the sorts of animals, and above all the power to give such resemblance to portraits that they seem to be alive, and that it is known whom they represent; with an endless number of other things, such as the adornment of draperies, foot-wear, helmets, armour, women's head-dresses, hair, beards, vases, trees, grottoes, rocks, fires, skies turbid or serene, clouds, rain, lightning, clear weather, night, the light of the moon, the splendour of the sun, and innumerable other things, which are called for every moment by the requirements of the art of painting. pondering over these things, i say, raffaello resolved, since he could not approach michelagnolo in that branch of art to which he had set his hand, to seek to equal, and perchance to surpass him, in these others; and he devoted himself, therefore, not to imitating the manner of that master, but to the attainment of a catholic excellence in the other fields of art that have been described. and if the same had been done by many craftsmen of our own age, who, having determined to pursue the study of michelagnolo's works alone, have failed to imitate him and have not been able to reach his extraordinary perfection, they would not have laboured in vain nor acquired a manner so hard, so full of difficulty, wanting in beauty and colouring, and poor in invention, but would have been able, by aiming at catholicity and at imitation in the other fields of art, to render service both to themselves and to the world. raffaello, then, having made this resolution, and having recognized that fra bartolommeo di san marco had a passing good method of painting, well-grounded draughtsmanship, and a pleasing manner of colouring, although at times, in order to obtain stronger relief, he made too much use of darks, took from him what appeared to him to suit his need and his fancy--namely, a middle course, both in drawing and in colouring; and mingling with that method certain others selected from the best work of other masters, out of many manners he made one, which was looked upon ever afterwards as his own, and which was and always will be vastly esteemed by all craftsmen. this was then seen perfected in the sibyls and prophets of the work that he executed, as has been related, in s. maria della pace; in the carrying out of which work he was greatly assisted by having seen the paintings of michelagnolo in the chapel of the pope. and if raffaello had remained content with this same manner, and had not sought to give it more grandeur and variety in order to prove that he had as good a knowledge of the nude as michelagnolo, he would not have lost a part of the good name that he had acquired; but the nudes that he made in that apartment of the borgia tower where there is the burning of the borgo, although they are fine, are not in every way excellent. in like manner, those that were painted likewise by him on the ceiling of the palace of agostino chigi in the trastevere did not give complete satisfaction, for they are wanting in that grace and sweetness which were peculiar to raffaello; the reason of which, in great part, was the circumstance that he had them coloured by others after his design. however, repenting of this error, like a man of judgment, he resolved afterwards to execute by himself, without assistance from others, the panel-picture of the transfiguration of christ that is in s. pietro a montorio, wherein are all those qualities which, as has already been described, are looked for and required in a good picture. and if he had not employed in this work, as it were from caprice, printer's smoke-black, the nature of which, as has been remarked many times, is to become ever darker with time, to the injury of the other colours with which it is mixed, i believe that the picture would still be as fresh as when he painted it; whereas it now appears to be rather a mass of shadows than aught else. i have thought fit, almost at the close of this life, to make this discourse, in order to show with what labour, study, and diligence this honoured craftsman always pursued his art; and even more for the sake of other painters, to the end that they may learn how to avoid those hindrances from which the wisdom and genius of raffaello were able to deliver him. i must add this as well, that every man should be satisfied and contented with doing that work to which he feels himself drawn by a natural inclination, and should not seek, out of emulation, to put his hand to that for which nature has not adapted him; for otherwise he will labour in vain, and often to his own shame and loss. moreover, where striving is enough, no man should aim at super-striving,[ ] merely in order to surpass those who, by some great gift of nature, or by some special grace bestowed on them by god, have performed or are performing miracles in art; for the reason that he who is not suited to any particular work, can never reach, let him labour as he may, the goal to which another, with the assistance of nature, has attained with ease. of this, among the old craftsmen, we may see an example in paolo uccello, who, striving against the limitations of his powers, in order to advance, did nothing but go backwards. the same has been done in our own day, no long time since, by jacopo da pontormo, and it has been proved by the experience of many others, as we have shown before and will point out yet again. and this, perchance, happens because heaven always distributes its favours, to the end that every man may rest content with that which falls to him. but now, having discoursed on these matters of art, perchance at greater length than was needful, let us return to the life and death of raffaello. he had a strait friendship with cardinal bernardo divizio of bibbiena, who had importuned him for many years to take a wife of his choosing; and raffaello, while not directly refusing to obey the wishes of the cardinal, had yet put the matter off, saying that he would rather wait till three or four years had passed. this term came upon raffaello when he was not expecting it, and he was reminded by the cardinal of his promise; whereupon, seeing himself bound, like the courteous man that he was, he would not break his word, and thus accepted as his wife a niece of that cardinal. and because he was always very ill content with this entanglement, he continued to delay the matter in such a way that many months passed without the marriage being brought to pass. but it was with no dishonourable motive that he did this, for, having been so many years in the service of the court, and being the creditor of leo for a good sum, it had been hinted to him that when the hall on which he was engaged was finished, the pope proposed to reward him for his labours and abilities by giving him a red hat, of which he had already determined to distribute a good number, and some of them to men of less merit than raffaello. meanwhile, pursuing his amours in secret, raffaello continued to divert himself beyond measure with the pleasures of love; whence it happened that, having on one occasion indulged in more than his usual excess, he returned to his house in a violent fever. the physicians, therefore, believing that he had overheated himself, and receiving from him no confession of the excess of which he had been guilty, imprudently bled him, insomuch that he was weakened and felt himself sinking; for he was in need rather of restoratives. thereupon he made his will: and first, like a good christian, he sent his mistress out of the house, leaving her the means to live honourably. next, he divided his possessions among his disciples, giulio romano, whom he had always loved dearly, and the florentine giovanni francesco, called il fattore, with a priest of urbino, his kinsman, whose name i do not know. then he gave orders that some of his wealth should be used for restoring with new masonry one of the ancient tabernacles in s. maria ritonda, and for making an altar, with a marble statue of our lady, in that church, which he chose as his place of repose and burial after death; and he left all the rest to giulio and giovanni francesco, appointing as executor of his will messer baldassarre da pescia, then datary to the pope. finally, he confessed and was penitent, and ended the course of his life at the age of thirty-seven, on the same day that he was born, which was good friday. and even as he embellished the world with his talents, so, it may be believed, does his soul adorn heaven by its presence. as he lay dead in the hall where he had been working, there was placed at his head the picture of the transfiguration, which he had executed for cardinal de' medici; and the sight of that living picture, in contrast with the dead body, caused the hearts of all who beheld it to burst with sorrow. that work, in memory of the loss of raffaello, was placed by the cardinal on the high-altar of s. pietro a montorio; and on account of the nobility of his every action, it was held ever afterwards in great estimation. his body received that honourable burial which his noble spirit had deserved, for there was no craftsman who did not weep with sorrow and follow him to the grave. his death was also a great grief to the whole court of the pope, first because he had held in his lifetime the office of groom of the chamber, and likewise because he had been so dear to the pope that his loss caused him to weep bitterly. [illustration: rafaello sanzio: baldassare castiglione (_paris: louvre, . canvas_)] o happy and blessed spirit, in that every man is glad to speak of thee, to celebrate thy actions, and to admire every drawing that thou didst leave to us! when this noble craftsman died, the art of painting might well have died also, seeing that when he closed his eyes, she was left as it were blind. and now for us who have survived him, it remains to imitate the good, nay, the supremely excellent method bequeathed to us by him as a pattern, and, as is called for by his merit and our obligations, to hold a most grateful remembrance of this in our minds, and to pay the highest honour to his memory with our lips. for in truth we have from him art, colouring, and invention harmonized and brought to such a pitch of perfection as could scarcely be hoped for; nor may any intellect ever think to surpass him. and in addition to this benefit that he conferred on art, like a true friend to her, as long as he lived he never ceased to show how one should deal with great men, with those of middle station, and with the lowest. and, indeed, among his extraordinary gifts, i perceive one of such value that i for my part am amazed at it, in that heaven gave him the power to produce in our art an effect wholly contrary to the nature of us painters, which was that our craftsmen--i do not mean only the lesser, but also those whose humour it was to be great persons; and of this humour art creates a vast number--while working in company with raffaello, felt themselves naturally united and in such accord, that all evil humours vanished at the sight of him, and every vile and base thought fell away from their minds. such unity was never greater at any other time than his; and this happened because they were overcome both by his courtesy and by his art, and even more by the good disposition of his nature, which was so full of gentleness and so overflowing with loving-kindness, that it was seen that the very animals, not to speak of men, honoured him. it is said that if any painter who knew him, and even any who did not know him, asked him for some drawing that he needed, raffaello would leave his own work in order to assist him. and he always kept a vast number of them employed, aiding them and teaching them with such a love as might have been the due rather of his own children than of fellow-craftsmen; for which reason he was never seen to go to court without having with him, as he left his house, some fifty painters, all able and excellent, who kept him company in order to do him honour. in short, he lived not like a painter, but like a prince. wherefore, o art of painting, thou couldst then esteem thyself indeed most blessed, in possessing a craftsman who, both with his genius and his virtues, exalted thee higher than heaven! truly happy mightest thou call thyself, in that thy disciples, following in the footsteps of so great a man, have seen how life should be lived, and how important is the union of art and virtue, which, wedded in raffaello, had strength to prevail on the magnificent julius ii and the magnanimous leo x, exalted as they were in rank and dignity, to make him their most intimate friend and show him all possible generosity, insomuch that by their favour and by the wealth that they bestowed upon him, he was enabled to do vast honour both to himself and to art. blessed, also, may be called all those who, employed in his service, worked under him, since whoever imitated him found that he had reached an honourable haven; and in like manner all those who imitate his labours in art will be honoured by the world, even as, by resembling him in uprightness of life, they will win rewards from heaven. raffaello received from bembo the following epitaph: d. o. m. raphaelli sanctio joan. f. urbinat. pictori eminentiss. veterumque Æmulo, cujus spiranteis prope imagineis si contemplere, naturÆ atque artis foedus facile inspexeris. julii ii et leonis x pontt. maxx. picturÆ et architect. operibus gloriam auxit. vixit an. xxxvii, integer, integros. quo die natus est, eo esse desiit, viii id. april. mdxx. ille hic est raphael, timuit quo sospite vinci rerum magna parens, et moriente mori. and count baldassarre castiglione wrote of his death in the following manner: quod lacerum corpus medica sanaverit arte, hyppolitum stygiis et revocarit aquis, ad stygias ipse est raptus epidaurius undas; sic precium vitæ mors fuit artifici. tu quoque dum toto laniatam corpore romam componis miro, raphael, ingenio, atque urbis lacerum ferro, igni, annisque cadaver, ad vitam antiquum jam revocasque decus, movisti superum invidiam, indignataque mors est te dudum extinctis reddere posse animam, et quod longa dies paulatim aboleverat, hoc te mortali spreta lege parare iterum. sic, miser, heu, prima cadis intercepte juventa, deberi et morti nostraque nosque mones. footnote: [ ] in the life of pinturicchio, vasari says that this commission was given to pinturicchio by cardinal francesco piccolomini, who afterwards became pope pius iii. [ ] the text reads palazzo, which is obviously an error for papa. [ ] this seems to be an error for bartolommeo. [ ] villa madama. [ ] the use of this word, though perhaps too modern, seems to the translator to be the only way to preserve the play of words in the text. guglielmo da marcilla life of guglielmo da marcilla [_guillaume de marcillac, or the french prior_] french painter and master of glass windows at this same time, wherein our arts were endowed by god with the greatest felicity that they could possibly enjoy, there flourished one guglielmo da marcilla, a frenchman, who, from his constant residence in arezzo, and from the affection that he bore to that city, may be said to have chosen it for his country, insomuch that all men considered and called him an aretine. and, in truth, among the benefits that are derived from ability, one is that from whatever strange and distant region and from however barbarous and unknown a race a man may come, be he who he may, if only he has a mind adorned with ability and practises some ingenious craft with his hands, no sooner does he make his first appearance in each city to which he turns his steps, demonstrating his worth, than the skill of his hand works so powerfully, that his name, passing from lip to lip, in a short time waxes great, and his qualities become very highly prized and honoured. and it happens often to a great number of men, who have left their country far behind them, that they chance upon nations that are lovers of ability and of foreigners, where, by reason of their upright walk of life, they find themselves recognized and cherished in such a manner, that they forget the country of their birth and choose a new one for their last resting-place. even so was arezzo chosen as a final home by guglielmo, who, as a youth in france, applied himself to the art of design, and together with that gave attention to glass windows, in which he made figures no less harmonious in colouring than if they had been painted with the greatest beauty and harmony in oils. while in his own country, persuaded by the entreaties of certain of his friends, he was present at the slaying of one who was their enemy: on which account he was forced to assume the habit of a monk in the order of s. dominic in france, in order to escape the courts and the hand of justice. but although he remained in that order, yet he never abandoned the study of art; nay, continuing it, he arrived at the highest perfection. now, by order of pope julius ii, a commission was given to bramante da urbino to have a number of glass windows made for the palace; whereupon he, making inquiries about the most excellent craftsmen, received information of many who were working at that craft, and among them of some who were executing marvellous works in france; and of these he saw a specimen through the french ambassador who was then at the court of his holiness, and who had in the frame of a window in his study a figure executed on a piece of white glass with a vast number of colours, fixed on the glass by the action of fire. wherefore, by order of bramante, a letter was written to france, inviting them to come to rome, and offering them good payments. thereupon maestro claudio, a frenchman, the head of that art, having received the intelligence, and knowing the excellence of guglielmo, so went to work with money and fair promises, that it was no difficult matter to draw him out of the convent, particularly because guglielmo, on account of the discourtesy shown to him and the jealousies that there always are among monks, was even more eager to leave it than was maestro claudio to get him out. they went, therefore, to rome, where the habit of s. dominic was changed for that of s. peter. bramante at that time had caused two windows of travertine to be made in the palace of the pope, which were in the hall in front of the chapel, now embellished by a vaulted ceiling by antonio da san gallo, and by marvellous stucco-work from the hand of perino del vaga of florence. these windows were executed by maestro claudio and guglielmo, although afterwards, during the sack of rome, they were broken to pieces, in order to extract the lead to make harquebus-balls; and they were truly marvellous. in addition to these, they made an endless number of them for the apartments of the pope, which met with the same fate as the other two. and even now there is one to be seen in the room containing raffaello's burning of the borgo, in the borgia tower; in which are angels who are holding the escutcheon of leo x. they also made two windows for the chapel behind the madonna in s. maria del popolo, with the stories of her life, which were highly praiseworthy examples of that craft. these works brought them no less fame and renown than comfort in life. but maestro claudio, being very intemperate in eating and drinking, according to the custom of his race, which is a deadly thing in the air of rome, fell sick of so violent a fever, that in six days he passed to the other life. whereupon guglielmo, left alone, and almost like one lost without his companion, painted by himself a window, likewise of glass, in s. maria de anima, the church of the germans in rome; which was the reason that cardinal silvio of cortona made him an offer, and made a contract with him that he should execute some windows and other works in his native city of cortona. wherefore the cardinal took him in his company to take up his abode in cortona; and the first work that he executed was the façade of the cardinal's house on the side towards the piazza, which he painted in chiaroscuro, depicting therein croton and the other original founders of that city. thereupon the cardinal, who saw that guglielmo was no less upright as a man than excellent as a master of that art, caused him to execute, for the pieve of cortona, the window of the principal chapel, in which he made the nativity of christ and the magi adoring him. guglielmo was a man of fine spirit and intelligence, and of very great mastery in handling glass, and particularly in so distributing the colours that the brightest should come in the foremost figures, those in the other figures being darker in proportion as they receded; in which point he was a rare and truly excellent master. moreover, he showed very good judgment in the painting of his figures; whereby he executed them with such unity, that they fell back into the distance little by little, in such a way that they did not cling either to the buildings or to the landscapes, and had the appearance of being painted on panel, or rather in relief. he showed invention and variety in the composition of scenes, making them rich and well grouped; and he rendered easy the process of making such pictures as are put together out of pieces of glass, which was held to be very difficult, as indeed it is for one who has not his skill and dexterity. he designed the pictures for his windows with such good method and order, that the mountings of lead and iron, which cross them in certain places, were so well fitted into the joinings of the figures and the folds of the draperies, that they cannot be seen--nay, they gave the whole such grace, that the brush could not have done more--and thus he was able to make a virtue of necessity. guglielmo used only two kinds of colour for the shading of such glass as he proposed to subject to the action of fire; one was scale of iron, and the other scale of copper. that of iron, which is dark, served to shade draperies, hair, and buildings; and the other, that of copper, which produces a tawny tint, served for flesh colours. he also made much use of a hard stone that comes from flanders and france, called at the present day hematite, which is red in colour and is much employed for burnishing gold. this, having first been pounded in a bronze mortar, and then ground with an iron brazing instrument on a plate of copper or yellow brass, and tempered with gum, works divinely well on glass. when guglielmo first arrived in rome, he was no great draughtsman, although he was well practised in every other respect. but having recognized the need of this, he applied himself to the study of drawing, in spite of his being well advanced in years; and thus little by little he achieved the improvement that is evident in the windows that he afterwards made for the palace of the said cardinal at cortona, and for the other without the city, in a round window that is in the aforesaid pieve, over the façade, on the right hand as one enters the church, wherein are the arms of pope leo x, and likewise in two little windows that are in the company of gesù, in one of which is a christ, and in the other a s. onofrio. these are no little different from his early works, and much better. now while guglielmo, as has been related, was living in cortona, there died at arezzo one fabiano di stagio sassoli, an aretine, who had been a very good master of the making of large windows. thereupon the wardens of works for the vescovado gave the commission for three windows in the principal chapel, each twenty braccia in height, to stagio, the son of the said fabiano, and to the painter domenico pecori; but when these were finished and fixed in their places, they gave no great satisfaction to the aretines, although they were passing good and rather worthy of praise than otherwise. it happened at this time that messer lodovico belichini, an excellent physician, and one of the first men in the government of the city of arezzo, went to cortona to cure the mother of the aforesaid cardinal; and there he became well acquainted with our guglielmo, with whom, when he had time, he was very willing to converse. and guglielmo, who was then called the prior, from his having received about that time the benefice of a priory, likewise conceived an affection for that physician, who asked him one day whether, with the good will of the cardinal, he would go to arezzo to execute some windows; at which guglielmo promised that he would, and with the permission and good will of the cardinal he made his way to that city. now stagio, of whom we have spoken above, having parted from the company of domenico, received guglielmo into his house; and the latter, for his first work, executed for a window of the chapel of s. lucia, belonging to the albergotti, in the vescovado of arezzo, that saint and a s. sylvester, in so good a manner that the work may truly be said to be made with living figures, and not of coloured and transparent glass, or at least to be a picture worthy of praise and marvellous. for besides the mastery shown in the flesh-colours, the glasses are flashed; that is, in some places the first skin has been removed, and the glass then coloured with another tint; by which is meant, for example, the placing of yellow over red flashed glass, or the application of white and green over blue; which is a difficult and even miraculous thing in this craft. the first or true colour, then, such as red, blue, or green, covers the whole of one side; and the other part, which is as thick as the blade of a knife, or a little more, is white. many, being afraid that they might break the glasses, on account of their lack of skill in handling them, do not employ a pointed iron for removing that layer, but in place of this, for greater safety, set about grinding the glasses with a copper wheel fixed on the end of an iron instrument; and thus, little by little, by the use of emery, they contrive to leave only a layer of white glass, which turns out very clear. then, if a yellow colour has to be applied to the piece of glass thus left white, at the moment when it is to be placed into the furnace for firing, it is painted by means of a brush with calcined silver, which is a colour similar to bole, but somewhat thick; and in the fire this melts over the glass, fuses, and takes a firm hold, penetrating into the glass and making a very beautiful yellow. these methods of working no one used better, or with more ingenuity and art, than prior guglielmo; and it is in these things that the difficulty consists, for painting the glass with oil-colours or in any other manner is little or nothing, and that it should be diaphanous or transparent is not a matter of much importance, whereas firing it in the furnace and making it such that it will withstand the action of water and remain fresh for ever, is a difficult work and well worthy of praise. wherefore this excellent master deserves the highest praise, since there is not a man of his profession who has done as much, whether in design, or invention, or colouring, or general excellence. he then made the great round-window of the same church, containing the descent of the holy spirit, and likewise the baptism of christ by s. john, wherein he represented christ in the jordan, awaiting s. john, who has taken a cup of water in order to baptize him, while a nude old man is taking off his shoes, and some angels are preparing christ's raiment, and on high is the father, sending down the holy spirit upon his son. this window is over the baptismal font of that duomo, for which he also executed the window containing the resurrection of lazarus on the fourth day after death; wherein it seems impossible that he could have included in so small a space such a number of figures, in which may be recognized the terror and amazement of the people, with the stench from the body of lazarus, whose resurrection causes his two sisters to rejoice amid their tears. in this work are innumerable colours, flashed one over the other in the glass, and every least thing truly appears most natural in its own kind. and whoever wishes to learn how much the hand of the prior was able to effect in this art, should study the window of s. matthew over the chapel of that apostle, and observe the marvellous invention of that scene, wherein he can see a living figure of christ calling matthew from his tables, while matthew, following him and stretching out his arms to receive him, abandons the riches and treasures that he has acquired. and at the same time an apostle may be seen in a very spirited attitude, awaking another who has fallen asleep on some steps; and in like manner there may also be perceived a s. peter speaking with s. john, both being so beautiful that they seem truly divine. in this same window are temples in perspective, staircases, and figures so well grouped, and landscapes so natural, that one would never think it was glass, but rather a thing rained down from heaven for the consolation of mankind. in the same place he made the window of s. anthony and that of s. nicholas, both most beautiful, with two others, one containing the scene of christ driving the traders from the temple, and the other that of the woman taken in adultery; all these works being held to be truly excellent and marvellous. so fully were the labours and abilities of the prior recognized by the aretines, what with praises, favours, and rewards, and so satisfied and contented was he by this result, that he resolved to adopt that city as his home, and to change himself from a frenchman into an aretine. afterwards, reflecting in his own mind that the art of glass-painting, on account of the destruction that takes place every moment in such works, was no lasting one, there came to him a desire to devote himself to painting, and he therefore undertook to execute for the wardens of works of the vescovado in that city three very large vaults in fresco, thinking thus to leave a memorial of himself behind him. the aretines, in return for this, presented to him a farm that belonged to the confraternity of s. maria della misericordia, near their city, with some excellent houses, for his enjoyment during his lifetime. and they ordained that when the work was finished, its value should be estimated by some distinguished craftsman, and that the wardens should make this good to him in full. whereupon he made up his mind to show his worth in this undertaking, and he made his figures very large on account of the height, after the manner of the works in michelagnolo's chapel. and so mightily did his wish to become excellent in such an art avail in him, that although he was fifty years of age, he improved little by little in such a manner, that he showed that his knowledge and comprehension of the beautiful were not less than his delight in imitating the good in the execution of his work. he went on to represent the earlier events of the new testament, even as in the three large works he had depicted the beginning of the old. for this reason, therefore, i am inclined to believe that any man of genius who has the desire to attain to perfection, is able, if he will but take the pains, to make naught of the limits of any science. at the beginning of those works, indeed, he was alarmed by their size, and because he had never executed any before; which was the reason that he sent to rome for maestro giovanni, a french miniaturist, who, coming to arezzo, painted over s. antonio an arch with a christ in fresco, and for that company the banner that is carried in processions, which he executed with great diligence, having received the commission for them from the prior. at the same time guglielmo made the round window for the façade of the church of s. francesco, a great work, in which he represented the pope in consistory, with the conclave of cardinals, and s. francis going to rome for the confirmation of his rule and bearing the roses of january. in this work he proved what a master of composition he was, so that it may be said with truth that he was born for that profession; nor may any craftsman ever think to equal him in beauty, in abundance of figures, or in grace. there are innumerable windows executed by him throughout that city, all most beautiful, such as the great round window in the madonna delle lacrime, containing the assumption of our lady and the apostles, and a very beautiful window with an annunciation; a round window with the marriage of the virgin, and another containing a s. jerome executed for the spadari, and likewise three other windows below, in various parts of the church; with a most beautiful round window with the nativity of christ in the church of s. girolamo, and another in s. rocco. he sent some, also, to various places, such as castiglione del lago, and one to florence for lodovico capponi, to be set up in s. felicita, where there is the panel by jacopo da pontormo, a most excellent painter, and the chapel adorned by him with mural paintings in oils and in fresco and with panel-pictures; which window came into the hands of the frati ingesuati in florence, who worked at that craft, and they took it all to pieces in order to learn how it was made, removing many pieces as specimens and replacing them with new ones, so that in the end they made quite a different window. he also conceived the wish to paint in oils, and for the chapel of the conception in s. francesco at arezzo he executed a panel-picture wherein are some vestments very well painted, and many heads most lifelike, and so beautiful that he was honoured thereby ever afterwards, seeing that this was the first work that he had ever done in oils. the prior was a very honourable person, and delighted in agriculture and in making alterations in buildings; wherefore, having bought a most beautiful house, he made in it a vast number of improvements. as a man of religion, he was always most upright in his ways; and the remorse of conscience, on account of his departure from his convent, kept him sorely afflicted. for which reason he made a very beautiful window for the chapel of the high-altar in s. domenico, a convent of his order at arezzo; wherein he depicted a vine that issues from the body of s. dominic and embraces a great number of sanctified friars, who constitute the tree of the order; and at the highest point is our lady, with christ, who is marrying s. catherine of siena--a work much extolled and of great mastery, for which he would accept no payment, believing himself to be much indebted to that order. he sent a very beautiful window to s. lorenzo in perugia, and an endless number of others to many places round arezzo. and because he took much pleasure in matters of architecture, he made for the citizens of that country a number of designs of buildings and adornments for their city, such as the two doors of s. rocco in stone, and the ornament of grey-stone that was added to the panel-picture of maestro luca in s. girolamo; and he designed an ornament in the abbey of cipriano d' anghiari, and another for the company of the trinità in the chapel of the crocifisso, and a very rich lavatory for the sacristy; which were all executed with great perfection by the stone-cutter santi. finally, ever delighting in labour, and continually working both winter and summer at his mural painting, which breaks down the healthiest of men, he became so afflicted by the damp and so swollen with dropsy, that his physicians had to tap him, and in a few days he rendered up his soul to him who had given it. first, like a good christian, he partook of the sacraments of the church, and made his will. then, having a particular devotion for the hermits of camaldoli, who have their seat on the summit of the apennines, twenty miles distant from arezzo, he bequeathed to them his property and his body, and to pastorino da siena, his assistant, who had been with him many years, he left his glasses, his working-instruments, and his designs, of which there is one in our book, a scene of the submersion of pharaoh in the red sea. this pastorino afterwards applied himself to many other fields of art, and also to glass windows, although the works that he produced in that craft were but few. guglielmo was much imitated, also, by one maso porro of cortona, who was more able in firing and putting together the glass than in painting it. one of the pupils of guglielmo was battista borro of arezzo, who continues to imitate him greatly in the making of windows; and he also taught the first rudiments to benedetto spadari and to giorgio vasari of arezzo. the prior lived sixty-two years, and died in the year . he deserves infinite praise, in that by him there was brought into tuscany the art of working in glass with the greatest mastery and delicacy that could be desired. wherefore, since he conferred such great benefits upon us, we also will pay him honour, exalting him continually with loving and unceasing praise both for his life and for his works. simone life of simone, called il cronaca [_simone del pollaiuolo_] architect of florence many intellects are lost that would make rare and worthy works, if, on coming into the world, they were to hit upon persons able and willing to set them to work on those labours for which they are fitted. but it often happens that he who has the means is neither capable nor willing; and if, indeed, there chances to be one willing to erect some worthy building, he often takes no manner of care to seek out an architect of real merit or of any loftiness of spirit. nay, he puts his honour and glory into the keeping of certain thievish creatures, who generally disgrace the name and fame of such memorials; and in order to thrust forward into greatness those who depend entirely upon him (so great is the power of ambition), he often rejects the good designs that are offered to him, and puts into execution the very worst; wherefore his own fame is left besmirched by the clumsiness of the work, since it is considered by all men of judgment that the craftsman and the patron who employs him, in that they are conjoined in their works, are of one and the same mind. and on the other hand, how many princes of little understanding have there been, who, through having chanced upon persons of excellence and judgment, have obtained after death no less fame from the memory of their buildings than they enjoyed when alive from their sovereignty over their people. truly fortunate, however, in his day, was cronaca, in that he not only had the knowledge, but also found those who kept him continually employed, and that always on great and magnificent works. of him it is related that while antonio pollaiuolo was in rome, working at the tombs of bronze that are in s. pietro, there came to his house a young lad, his relative, whose proper name was simone, and who had fled from florence on account of some brawl. this simone, having worked with a master in woodwork, and being much inclined to the art of architecture, began to observe the beautiful antiquities of that city, and, delighting in them, went about measuring them with the greatest diligence. and, going on with this, he had not been long in rome before he showed that he had made much proficience, both in taking measurements and in carrying one or two things into execution. thereupon he conceived the idea of returning to florence, and departed from rome; and on arriving in his native city, having become a passing good master of words, he described the marvels of rome and of other places with such accuracy, that from that time onwards he was called il cronaca, every man thinking that he was truly a chronicle of information in his discourse. now he had become such that he was held to be the most excellent of the modern architects in the city of florence, seeing that he had good judgment in choosing sites, and showed that he had an intellect more lofty than that of many others who were engaged in that profession; for it was evident from his works how good an imitator he was of antiquities, and how closely he had observed the rules of vitruvius and the works of filippo di ser brunellesco. [illustration: detail of cornice (_after_ simone [il cronaca], _florence: palazzo strozzi_) _alinari_] there was then in florence that filippo strozzi who is now called "the elder," to distinguish him from his son; and he, being very rich, wished to leave to his native city and to his children, among other memorials of himself, one in the form of a beautiful palace. wherefore benedetto da maiano, having been called upon by him for this purpose, made him a model entirely isolated, which was afterwards put into execution, although not in all its extent, as will be related below, for some of his neighbours would not give up their houses to accommodate him. benedetto began the palace, therefore, in the best way that he could, and brought the outer shell almost to completion before the death of filippo: which outer shell is in the rustic order, with varying degrees of rustication, as may be seen, since the boss-covered part from the first range of windows downwards, together with the doors, is very much rustic, and the part from the first range of windows to the second is much less rustic. now it happened that at the very moment when benedetto was leaving florence, cronaca returned from rome; whereupon, simone being presented to filippo, the latter was so pleased with the model that he made for the courtyard and for the great cornice which goes round the outer side of the palace, that, having recognized the excellence of his intellect, he decided that thenceforward the whole work should pass through his hands, and availed himself of his services ever afterwards. cronaca, then, in addition to the beautiful exterior in the tuscan order, made at the top a very magnificent corinthian cornice, which serves to complete the roof; and half of it is seen finished at the present day, with such extraordinary grace that nothing could be added to it, nor could anything more beautiful be desired. this cornice was taken by cronaca, who copied it in rome with exact measurements, from an ancient one that is to be found at spoglia cristo, which is held to be the most beautiful among the many that are in that city; although it is true that it was enlarged by cronaca to the proportions required by the palace, to the end that it might make a suitable finish, and might also complete the roof of that palace by means of its projection. thus, then, the genius of cronaca was able to make use of the works of others and to transform them almost into his own; which does not succeed with many, since the difficulty lies not in merely having drawings and copies of beautiful things, but in accommodating them to the purpose which they have to serve, with grace, true measurement, proportion, and fitness. but just as much as this cornice of cronaca's was and always will be extolled, so was that one censured which was made for the palace of the bartolini in the same city by baccio d' agnolo, who, seeking to imitate cronaca, placed over a small façade, delicate in detail, a great ancient cornice copied with the exact measurements from the frontispiece of monte cavallo; which resulted in such ugliness, from his not having known how to adapt it with judgment, that it could not look worse, for it seems like an enormous cap on a small head. it is not enough for craftsmen, when they have executed their works, to excuse themselves, as many do, by saying that they were taken with exact measurements from the antique and copied from good masters, seeing that good judgment and the eye play a greater part in all such matters than measuring with compasses. cronaca, then, executed half of the said cornice with great art right round that palace, together with dentils and ovoli, and finished it completely on two sides, counterpoising the stones in such a way, in order that they might turn out well bound and balanced, that there is no better masonry to be seen, nor any carried to perfection with more diligence. in like manner, all the other stones are so well put together, and with so high a finish, that the whole does not appear to be of masonry, but rather all of one piece. and to the end that everything might be in keeping, he caused beautiful pieces of iron-work to be made for all parts of the palace, as adornments for it, and the lanterns that are at the corners, which were all executed with supreme diligence by niccolò grosso, called il caparra, a smith of florence. in those marvellous lanterns may be seen cornices, columns, capitals, and brackets of iron, fixed together with wonderful craftsmanship; nor has any modern ever executed in iron works so large and so difficult, and with such knowledge and mastery. [illustration: iron link-holder (_after_ niccolò grosso. _florence: palazzo strozzi_) _alinari_] niccolò grosso was an eccentric and self-willed person, claiming justice for himself and giving it to others, and never covetous of what was not his own. he would never give anyone credit in the payment of his works, and always insisted on having his earnest-money. for this reason lorenzo de' medici called him il caparra,[ ] and he was known to many others by that name. he had a sign fixed over his shop, wherein were books burning; wherefore, when one asked for time to make his payment, he would say, "i cannot give it, for my books are burning, and i can enter no more debtors in them." he was commissioned by the honourable captains of the guelph party to make a pair of andirons, which, when he had finished them, were sent for several times. but he kept saying, "on this anvil do i sweat and labour, and on it will i have my money paid down." whereupon they sent to him once more for the work, with a message that he should come for his money, for he would straightway be paid; but he, still obstinate, answered that they must first bring the money. the provveditore, therefore, knowing that the captains wished to see the work, fell into a rage, and sent to him saying that he had received half the money, and that when he had dispatched the andirons, he would pay him the rest. on which account caparra, recognizing that this was true, gave one of the andirons to the messenger, saying: "take them this one, for it is theirs; and if it pleases them, bring me the rest of the money, and i will hand over the other; but at present it is mine." the officials, seeing the marvellous work that he had put into it, sent the money to his shop; and he sent them the other andiron. it is related, also, that lorenzo de' medici resolved to have some pieces of iron-work made, to be sent abroad as presents, in order that the excellence of caparra might be made known. he went, therefore, to his shop, and happened to find him working at some things for certain poor people, from whom he had received part of the price as earnest-money. on lorenzo making his request, niccolò would in no way promise to serve him before having satisfied the others, saying that they had come to his shop before lorenzo, and that he valued their money as much as his. to the same master some young men of the city brought a design, from which he was to make for them an iron instrument for breaking and forcing open other irons by means of a screw, but he absolutely refused to serve them; nay, he upbraided them, and said: "nothing will induce me to serve you in such a matter; for these things are nothing but thieves' tools, or instruments for abducting and dishonouring young girls. such things are not for me, i tell you, nor for you, who seem to me to be honest men." and they, perceiving that caparra would not do their will, asked him who there was in florence who might serve them; whereupon, flying into a rage, he drove them away with a torrent of abuse. he would never work for jews, and was wont, indeed, to say that their money was putrid and stinking. he was a good man and a religious, but whimsical in brain and obstinate: and he would never leave florence, for all the offers that were made to him, but lived and died in that city. of him i have thought it right to make this record, because he was truly unique in his craft, and has never had and never will have an equal, as may be seen best from the iron-work and the beautiful lanterns of the palace of the strozzi. [illustration: iron lantern (_after_ niccolò grosso. _florence: palazzo strozzi_) _alinari_] this palace was brought to completion by cronaca, and adorned with a very rich courtyard in the corinthian and doric orders, with ornaments in the form of columns, capitals, cornices, windows, and doors, all most beautiful. and if it should appear to anyone that the interior of this palace is not in keeping with the exterior, he must know that the fault is not cronaca's, for the reason that he was forced to adapt his interior to an outer shell begun by others, and to follow in great measure what had been laid down by those before him; and it was no small feat for him to have given it such beauty as it displays. the same answer may be made to any who say that the ascent of the stairs is not easy, nor correct in proportion, but too steep and sudden; and likewise, also, to such as say that the rooms and apartments of the interior in general are out of keeping, as has been described, with the grandeur and magnificence of the exterior. nevertheless this palace will never be held as other than truly magnificent, and equal to any private building whatsoever that has been erected in italy in our own times; wherefore cronaca rightly obtained, as he still does, infinite commendation for this work. the same master built the sacristy of s. spirito in florence, which is in the form of an octagonal temple, beautiful in proportions, and executed with a high finish; and among other things to be seen in this work are some capitals fashioned by the happy hand of andrea dal monte sansovino, which are wrought with supreme perfection; and such, likewise, is the antechamber of that sacristy, which is held to be very beautiful in invention, although the coffered ceiling, as will be described, is not well distributed over the columns. the same cronaca also erected the church of s. francesco dell' osservanza on the hill of s. miniato, without florence; and likewise the whole of the convent of the servite friars, which is a highly extolled work. [illustration: interior of sacristy (_after_ simone [il cronaca]. _florence: s. spirito_) _alinari_] at this same time there was about to be built, by the advice of fra girolamo savonarola, a most famous preacher of that day, the great council chamber of the palace of the signoria in florence; and for this opinions were taken from leonardo da vinci, michelagnolo buonarroti, although he was a mere lad, giuliano da san gallo, baccio d' agnolo, and simone del pollaiuolo, called il cronaca, who was the devoted friend and follower of savonarola. these men, after many disputes, came to an agreement, and decided that the hall should be made in that form which it retained down to our own times, when, as has been mentioned and will be related yet again in another place, it was almost rebuilt. the charge of the whole work was given to cronaca, as a man of talent and also as the friend of the aforesaid fra girolamo; and he executed it with great promptitude and diligence, showing the beauty of his genius particularly in the making of the roof, since the structure is of vast extent in every direction. he made the tie-beams of the roof-truss, which are thirty-eight braccia in length from wall to wall, of a number of timbers well scarfed and fastened together, since it was not possible to find beams of sufficient size for the purpose; and whereas the tie-beams of other roof-trusses have only one king-post, all those of this hall have three each, a king-post in the middle, and a queen-post on either side. the rafters are long in proportion, and so are the struts of each king-post and queen-post; nor must i omit to say that the struts of the queen-posts, on the side nearest the wall, thrust against the rafters, and, towards the centre, against the struts of the king-post. i have thought it right to describe how this roof-truss is made, because it was constructed with beautiful design, and i have seen drawings made of it by many for sending to various places. when these tie-beams, thus contrived, had been drawn up and placed at intervals of six braccia, and the roof had been likewise laid down in a very short space of time, cronaca attended to the fixing of the ceiling, which was then made of plain wood and divided into panels, each of which was four braccia square and surrounded by an ornamental cornice of few members; and a flat moulding was made of the same width as the planks, which enclosed the panels and the whole work, with large bosses at the intersections and the corners of the whole ceiling. and although the end walls of this hall, one on either side, were eight braccia out of the square, they did not make up their minds, as they might have done, to thicken the walls so as to make it square, but carried them up to the roof just as they were, making three large windows on each of those end walls. but when the whole was finished, the hall, on account of its extraordinary size, turned out to be too dark, and also stunted and wanting in height in relation to its great length and breadth; in short, almost wholly out of proportion. they sought, therefore, but with little success, to improve it by making two windows in the middle of the eastern side of the hall, and four on the western side. after this, in order to give it its final completion, they made on the level of the brick floor, with great rapidity, being much pressed by the citizens, a wooden tribune right round the walls of the hall, three braccia both in breadth and height, with seats after the manner of a theatre, and with a balustrade in front; on which tribune all the magistrates of the city were to sit. in the middle of the eastern side was a more elevated daïs, on which the signori sat with the gonfalonier of justice; and on either side of this more prominent place was a door, one of them leading to the segreto[ ] and the other to the specchio.[ ] opposite to this, on the west side, was an altar at which mass was read, with a panel by the hand of fra bartolommeo, as has been mentioned; and beside the altar was the pulpit for making speeches. in the middle of the hall, then, were benches in rows laid crossways, for the citizens; while in the centre and at the corners of the tribune were some gangways with six steps, providing a convenient ascent for the ushers in the collection of votes. in this hall, which was much extolled at that day for its many beautiful features and the rapidity with which it was erected, time has since served to reveal such errors as that it is low, dark, gloomy, and out of the square. nevertheless cronaca and the others deserve to be excused, both on account of the haste with which it was executed at the desire of the citizens, who intended in time to have it adorned with pictures and the ceiling overlaid with gold, and because up to that day there had been no greater hall built in italy; although there are others very large, such as that of the palace of s. marco in rome, that of the vatican, erected by pius ii and innocent viii, that of the castle of naples, that of the palace of milan, and those of urbino, venice, and padua. after this, to provide an ascent to this hall, cronaca, with the advice of the same masters, made a great staircase six braccia wide and curving in two flights, richly adorned with grey-stone, and with corinthian pilasters and capitals, double cornices, and arches, of the same stone; and with barrel-shaped vaulting, and windows with columns of variegated marble and carved marble capitals. but although this work was much extolled, it would have won even greater praise if the staircase had not turned out inconvenient and too steep; for it is a sure fact that it could have been made more gentle, as has been done in the time of duke cosimo, within the same amount of space and no more, in the new staircase made, opposite to that of cronaca, by giorgio vasari, which is so gentle in ascent and so convenient, that going up it is almost like walking on the level. this has been the work of the aforesaid lord duke cosimo, who, being a man of most happy genius and most profound judgment both in the government of his people and in all other things, grudges neither expense nor anything else in his desire to make all the fortifications and other buildings, both public and private, correspond to the greatness of his own mind, and not less beautiful than useful or less useful than beautiful. his excellency, then, reflecting that the body of this hall is the largest, the most magnificent, and the most beautiful in all europe, has resolved to have it improved in such parts as are defective, and to have it made in every other part more ornate than any other structure in italy, by the design and hand of giorgio vasari of arezzo. and thus, the walls having been raised twelve braccia above their former height, in such a manner that the height from the pavement to the ceiling is thirty-two braccia, the roof-truss made by cronaca to support the roof has been restored and replaced on high after a new arrangement; and the old ceiling, which was simple and commonplace, and by no means worthy of that hall, has been remodelled with a system of compartments of great variety, rich in mouldings, full of carvings, and all overlaid with gold, together with thirty-nine painted panels, square, round, and octagonal, the greater number of which are each nine braccia in extent, and some even more, and all containing scenes painted in oils, with the largest figures seven or eight braccia high. in these stories, commencing with the very beginning, may be seen the rise, the honours, the victories, and the glorious deeds of the city and state of florence, and in particular the wars of pisa and siena, together with an endless number of other things, which it would take too long to describe. and on each of the side walls there has been left a convenient space of sixty braccia, in each of which are to be painted three scenes in keeping with the ceiling and embracing the space of seven pictures on either side, which represent events from the wars of pisa and siena. these compartments on the walls are so large, that no greater spaces for the painting of historical pictures have ever been seen either by the ancients or by the moderns. and the said compartments are adorned by some vast stone ornaments which meet at the ends of the hall, at one side of which, namely, the northern side, the lord duke has caused to be finished a work begun and carried nearly to completion by baccio bandinelli, that is, a façade filled with columns and pilasters and with niches containing statues of marble; which space is to serve as a public audience chamber, as will be related in the proper place. on the other side, opposite to this, there is to be, in a similar façade that is being made by the sculptor and architect ammanati, a fountain to throw up water in the hall, with a rich and most beautiful adornment of columns and statues of marble and bronze. nor will i forbear to say that this hall, in consequence of the roof having been raised twelve braccia, has gained not only height, but also an ample supply of windows, since, in addition to the others that are higher up, in each of those end walls are to be made three large windows, which will be over the level of a corridor that is to form a loggia within the hall and to extend on one side over the work of bandinelli, whence there will be revealed a most beautiful view of the whole piazza. but of this hall, and of the other improvements that have been or are being made in the palace, there will be a longer account in another place. this only let me say at present, that if cronaca and those other ingenious craftsmen who gave the design for the hall could return to life, in my belief they would not recognize either the palace, or the hall, or any other thing that is there. the hall, namely, that part which is rectangular, without counting the works of bandinelli and ammanati, is ninety braccia in length and thirty-eight braccia in breadth. but returning to cronaca: in the last years of his life there entered into his head such a frenzy for the cause of fra girolamo savonarola, that he would talk of nothing else but that. living thus, in the end he died after a passing long illness, at the age of fifty-five, and was buried honourably in the church of s. ambrogio at florence, in the year ; and after no long space of time the following epitaph was written for him by messer giovan battista strozzi: cronaca vivo, e mille e mille anni e mille ancora, mercÈ de' vivi miei palazzi e tempi, bella roma, vivrÀ l' alma mia flora. cronaca had a brother called matteo, who gave himself to sculpture and worked under the sculptor antonio rossellino; but although he was a man of good and beautiful intelligence, a fine draughtsman, and well practised in working marble, he left no finished work, because, being snatched from the world by death at the age of nineteen, he was not able to accomplish that which was expected from him by all who knew him. footnote: [ ] earnest-money. [ ] room in which the beans used in voting for the election of magistrates were counted. [ ] office of those who had charge of the specchio, the book in which were inscribed the names of such citizens as were in arrears with their taxes. domenico puligo life of domenico puligo painter of florence it is a marvellous and almost incredible thing, that many followers of the art of painting, through continual practice and handling of colours, either by an instinct of nature or by the trick of a good manner, acquired without any draughtsmanship or grounding, carry their works to such thorough completion, and very often contrive to make them so good, that, although the craftsmen themselves may be none of the rarest, their pictures force the world to extol them and to hold them in supreme veneration. and it has been perceived in the past from many examples, and in many of our painters, that the most vivacious and perfect works are produced by those who have a beautiful manner from nature, although they must exercise it with continual study and labour; while this gift of nature has such power, that even if they neglect or abandon the studies of art, and pay attention to nothing save the mere practice of painting and of handling colours with a grace infused in them by nature, at the first glance their works have the appearance of displaying all the excellent and marvellous qualities that are wont to appear after a close inspection in the works of those masters whom we hold to be the best. and that this is true, is demonstrated to us in our own day by experience, from the works of domenico puligo, a painter of florence; wherein what has been said above may be clearly recognized by one who has knowledge of the matters of art. [illustration: madonna and child, with saints (_after the panel by =domenico puligo= (?). florence: s. maria maddalena de' pazzi_) _alinari_] while ridolfo, the son of domenico ghirlandajo, was executing a number of works in painting at florence, as will be related, he followed his father's habit of always keeping many young men painting in his workshop: which was the reason that not a few of them, through competing one with another, became very good masters, some at making portraits from life, some at working in fresco, others in distemper, and others at painting readily on cloth. making these lads execute pictures, panels, and canvases, in the course of a few years ridolfo, with great profit for himself, sent an endless number of these to england, to germany, and to spain. baccio gotti and toto del nunziata, disciples of ridolfo, were summoned, one to france by king francis, and the other to england by the king of that country, each of whom invited them after having seen some of their work. two other disciples of the same master remained with him, working under him for many years, because, although they had many invitations into spain and hungary from merchants and others, they were never induced either by promises or by money to tear themselves away from the delights of their country, in which they had more work to do than they were able to execute. one of these two was antonio del ceraiuolo, a florentine, who, having been many years with lorenzo di credi, had learnt from him, above all, to draw so well from nature, that with supreme facility he gave his portraits an extraordinary likeness to the life, although otherwise he was no great draughtsman. and i have seen some heads portrayed from life by his hand, which, although they have, for example, the nose crooked, one lip small and the other large, and other suchlike deformities, nevertheless resemble the life, through his having well caught the expression of the subject; whereas, on the other hand, many excellent masters have made pictures and portraits of absolute perfection with regard to art, but with no resemblance whatever to those that they are supposed to represent. and to tell the truth, he who executes portraits must contrive, without thinking of what is looked for in a perfect figure, to make them like those for whom they are intended. when portraits are like and also beautiful, then may they be called rare works, and their authors truly excellent craftsmen. this antonio, then, besides many portraits, executed a number of panel-pictures in florence; but for the sake of brevity i will make mention only of two. one of these, wherein he painted a crucifixion, with s. mary magdalene and s. francis, is in s. jacopo tra fossi, on the canto degli alberti; and in the other, which is in the nunziata, is a s. michael who is weighing souls. the other of the two aforesaid disciples was domenico puligo, who was more excellent in draughtsmanship and more pleasing and gracious in colouring than any of the others mentioned above. he, considering that his method of painting with softness, without overloading his works with colour or making them hard, but causing the distances to recede little by little as though veiled with a kind of mist, gave his pictures both relief and grace, and that although the outlines of the figures that he made were lost in such a way that his errors were concealed and hidden from view in the dark grounds into which the figures merged, nevertheless his colouring and the beautiful expressions of his heads made his works pleasing, always kept to the same method of working and to the same manner, which caused him to be held in esteem as long as he lived. but omitting to give an account of the pictures and portraits that he made while in the workshop of ridolfo, some of which were sent abroad and some remained in the city, i shall speak only of those which he painted when he was rather the friend and rival of ridolfo than his disciple, and of those that he executed when he was so much the friend of andrea del sarto, that nothing was more dear to him than to see that master in his workshop, in order to learn from him, showing him his works and asking his opinion of them, so as to avoid such errors and defects as those men often fall into who do not show their work to any other craftsman, but trust so much in their own judgment that they would rather incur the censure of all the world when those works are finished, than correct them by means of the suggestions of loving friends. one of the first things that domenico executed was a very beautiful picture of our lady for messer agnolo della stufa, who has it in his abbey of capalona in the district of arezzo, and holds it very dear for the great diligence of its execution and the beauty of its colouring. he painted another picture of our lady, no less beautiful than that one, for messer agnolo niccolini, now archbishop of pisa and a cardinal, who keeps it in his house on the canto de' pazzi in florence; and likewise another, of equal size and excellence, which is now in the possession of filippo dell' antella, at florence. in another, which is about three braccia in height, domenico made a full-length madonna with the child between her knees, a little s. john, and another head; and this picture, which is held to be one of the best works that he executed, since there is no sweeter colouring to be seen, is at the present day in the possession of messer filippo spini, treasurer to the most illustrious prince of florence, and a gentleman of magnificent spirit, who takes much delight in works of painting. among other portraits that domenico made from the life, which are all beautiful and also good likenesses, the most beautiful is the one which he painted of monsignore messer piero carnesecchi, at that time a marvellously handsome youth, for whom he also made some other pictures, all very beautiful and executed with much diligence. in like manner, he portrayed in a picture the florentine barbara, a famous and most lovely courtesan of that day, much beloved by many no less for her fine culture than for her beauty, and particularly because she was an excellent musician and sang divinely. but the best work that domenico ever executed was a large picture wherein he made a life-size madonna, with some angels and little boys, and a s. bernard who is writing; which picture is now in the hands of giovanni gualberto del giocondo, and of his brother messer niccolò, a canon of s. lorenzo in florence. the same master made many other pictures, which are dispersed among the houses of citizens, and in particular some wherein may be seen a half-length figure of cleopatra, causing an asp to bite her on the breast, and others wherein is the roman lucretia killing herself with a dagger. there are also some very beautiful portraits from life and pictures by the same hand at the porta a pinti, in the house of giulio scali, a man whose judgment is as fine in the matters of our arts as it is in those of every other most noble and most honourable profession. domenico executed for francesco del giocondo, in a panel for his chapel in the great tribune of the church of the servi at florence, a s. francis who is receiving the stigmata; which work is very sweet and soft in colouring, and wrought with much diligence. in the church of cestello, round the tabernacle of the sacrament, he painted two angels in fresco, and on the panel of a chapel in the same church he made a madonna with her son in her arms, s. john the baptist, s. bernard, and other saints. and since it appeared to the monks of that place that he had acquitted himself very well in those works, they caused him to paint in a cloister of their abbey of settimo, without florence, the visions of count ugo, who built seven abbeys. and no long time after, puligo painted, in a shrine at the corner of the via mozza da s. catarina, a madonna standing, with her son in her arms marrying s. catherine, and a figure of s. peter martyr. for a company in the township of anghiari he executed a deposition from the cross, which may be numbered among his best works. but since it was his profession to attend rather to pictures of our lady, portraits, and other heads, than to great works, he gave up almost all his time to such things. now if he had devoted himself not so much to the pleasures of the world, as he did, and more to the labours of art, there is no doubt that he would have made great proficience in painting, and especially as andrea del sarto, who was much his friend, assisted him on many occasions both with advice and with drawings; for which reason many of his works reveal a draughtsmanship as fine as the good and beautiful manner of the colouring. but the circumstance that domenico was unwilling to endure much fatigue, and accustomed to labour rather in order to get through work and make money than for the sake of fame, prevented him from reaching a greater height. and thus, associating with gay spirits and lovers of good cheer, and with musicians and women, he died at the age of fifty-two, in the year , in the pursuit of a love-affair, having caught the plague at the house of his mistress. colour was handled by him in so good and harmonious a manner, that it is for that reason, rather than for any other, that he deserves praise. among his disciples was domenico beceri of florence, who, giving a high finish to his colouring, executed his works in an excellent manner. index index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume iv abbot of s. clemente (don bartolommeo della gatta), , , , agnolo, baccio d', , , , agnolo gaddi, , agostino busto, albertinelli, biagio di bindo, albertinelli, mariotto, _life_, - . , albrecht dürer, aldigieri (altichiero) da zevio, , , alessandro filipepi (sandro botticelli, or sandro di botticello), , , alessandro moretto, alesso baldovinetti, alonzo berughetta, alunno, niccolò, , ammanati, andrea contucci (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), , , , , andrea dal castagno (andrea degl' impiccati), andrea dal monte sansovino (andrea sansovino, or andrea contucci), , , , , andrea degl' impiccati (andrea dal castagno), andrea del gobbo, andrea del sarto, , , , , andrea di cosimo, andrea luigi (l'ingegno), andrea mantegna, , , andrea sansovino (andrea contucci, or andrea dal monte sansovino), , , , , andrea verrocchio, , , , , , angelico, fra (fra giovanni da fiesole), , , angelo, battista d', antonio (antoniasso), , antonio da correggio, _life_, - . , antonio da san gallo, _life_, - . , antonio del ceraiuolo, antonio di giorgio, antonio filarete, antonio montecavallo, antonio pollaiuolo, , , antonio rossellino, apelles, , , arezzo, niccolò d', aristotile da san gallo, avanzi, jacopo (jacopo davanzo), , bacchiaccha, il (francesco), baccio bandinelli, , baccio d' agnolo, , , , baccio da montelupo, baccio della porta (fra bartolommeo di san marco), _life_, - . , - , - , , , baccio gotti, baccio ubertino, baldassarre peruzzi, , , baldovinetti, alesso, bandinelli, baccio, , barile, gian, bartolommeo, fra (fra carnovale da urbino), bartolommeo clemente of reggio, bartolommeo della gatta, don (abbot of s. clemente), , , , bartolommeo di san marco, fra (baccio della porta), _life_, - . , - , - , , , bartolommeo montagna, , bartolommeo vivarini, , basaiti, marco (il bassiti, or marco basarini), , bastiani, lazzaro (sebastiano scarpaccia, or lazzaro scarpaccia), , , bastiano da monte carlo, battista borro, battista d' angelo, baviera, , bazzi, giovanni antonio (sodoma), , beceri, domenico, bellini, gentile, , , bellini, giovanni, , , , bellini, vittore (belliniano), , , benedetto buglioni, benedetto buonfiglio, , benedetto (giovan battista) caporali, , , benedetto cianfanini, benedetto da maiano, , , , benedetto da rovezzano, benedetto diana, , benedetto spadari, bernardino da trevio, bernardino pinturicchio, _life_, - . , , , bertoldo, berughetta, alonzo, biagio di bindo albertinelli, bianco, simon, bologna, il, bolognese, marc' antonio, , boltraffio, giovanni antonio, bonsignori, francesco, borgo a san sepolcro, piero dal (piero della francesca), , , borro, battista, botticelli, sandro (alessandro filipepi, or sandro di botticello), , , bramante da urbino, _life_, - . - , , , , , , bramantino, bresciano, vincenzio (vincenzio zoppa or foppa), , , bronzino, brunelleschi, filippo (filippo di ser brunellesco), , , bugiardini, giuliano, , , , buglioni, benedetto, buonarroti, michelagnolo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , buonconsigli, giovanni, , buonfiglio, benedetto, , busto, agostino, cadore, tiziano da, campagnola, girolamo, , , campagnola, giulio, , , caparra, il (niccolò grosso), , caporali, benedetto (giovan battista), , , caporali, giulio, caradosso, , caravaggio, polidoro da, , carnovale da urbino, fra (fra bartolommeo), caroto, francesco, carpaccio (scarpaccia), vittore, _life_, - carpi, ugo da, cartoni, niccolò (niccolò zoccolo), , castagno, andrea dal (andrea degl' impiccati), castel bolognese, giovanni da, castel della pieve, pietro da (pietro vannucci, or pietro perugino), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , - , , , castelfranco, giorgione da, _life_, - . , catena, vincenzio, , cecchino del frate, ceraiuolo, antonio del, cesare cesariano, cianfanini, benedetto, cimabue, giovanni, claudio, maestro, , conigliano, giovan battista da, , contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino, or andrea dal monte sansovino), , , , , cordegliaghi, giovanetto, , , correggio, antonio da, _life_, - . , cortona, luca da (luca signorelli), _life_, - . , , cosimo, andrea di, cosimo, piero di, _life_, - cosimo rosselli, , , , , credi, lorenzo di, , , cristofano, cronaca, il (simone, or simone del pollaiuolo), _life_, - . davanzo, jacopo (jacopo avanzi), , davanzo, jacopo (of milan), diamante, fra, diana, benedetto, , domenico beceri, domenico di paris, domenico ghirlandajo, , , , domenico pecori, domenico puligo, _life_, - don bartolommeo della gatta (abbot of s. clemente), , , , donato (donatello), , , dürer, albrecht, ercole ferrarese (ercole da ferrara), eusebio san giorgio, fabiano di stagio sassoli, , ferrara, stefano da, ferrarese, ercole (ercole da ferrara), ferrarese, galasso (galasso galassi), fiesole, fra giovanni da (fra angelico), , , filarete, antonio, filipepi, alessandro (sandro botticelli, or sandro di botticello), , , filippo brunelleschi (filippo di ser brunellesco), , , filippo lippi (filippino), _life_, - . , , , , , filippo lippi, fra, , , , fivizzano, flore, jacobello de, , foppa, vincenzio (vincenzio zoppa, or vincenzio bresciano), , , fra angelico (fra giovanni da fiesole), , , fra bartolommeo (fra carnovale da urbino), fra bartolommeo di san marco (baccio della porta), _life_, - . , - , - , , , fra carnovale da urbino (fra bartolommeo), . fra diamante, fra filippo lippi, , , , fra giocondo of verona, fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico), , , fra giovanni da verona, fra paolo pistoiese, fra sebastiano del piombo, , , francesca, piero della (piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), , , francesco (il bacchiaccha), francesco (l'indaco), , francesco, maestro, francesco bonsignori, francesco caroto, francesco da melzo, francesco da san gallo, , , francesco francia, _life_, - . francesco giamberti, , francesco granacci (il granaccio), , , francesco masini, messer, francesco mazzuoli (parmigiano), francesco turbido (il moro), francia, francesco, _life_, - . franciabigio, francione, , frate, cecchino del, gabriele rustici, gaddi, agnolo, , galasso ferrarese (galasso galassi), galieno, garbo, raffaellino del, _life_, - . , gasparo misceroni, gatta, don bartolommeo della (abbot of s. clemente), , , , gentile bellini, , , gerino pistoiese (gerino da pistoia), , gherardo, ghirlandajo, domenico, , , , ghirlandajo, ridolfo, , , , - giamberti, francesco, , gian barile, gian niccola, , giocondo of verona, fra, giorgio, antonio di, giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giorgione da castelfranco, _life_, - . , giotto, giovan battista da conigliano, , giovan battista (benedetto) caporali, , , giovan francesco penni, , giovan francesco rustici, , giovanetto cordegliaghi, , , giovanni (lo spagna), , giovanni, maestro, giovanni antonio bazzi (sodoma), , giovanni antonio boltraffio, giovanni bellini, , , , giovanni buonconsigli. . giovanni cimabue, giovanni da castel bolognese, giovanni da fiesole, fra (fra angelico), , , giovanni da udine, , giovanni da verona, fra, giovanni de' santi, , , , giovanni mansueti, , giovanni pisano, giovanni rosto, girolamo campagnola, , , girolamo misceroni, girolamo romanino, giromin morzone, , giuliano bugiardini, , , , giuliano da maiano, giuliano da san gallo, _life_, - . , , , - , giuliano leno, giulio campagnola, , , giulio caporali, giulio romano, , , , , , giusto (of padua), , gobbo, andrea del, gotti, baccio, granacci, francesco (il granaccio), , , grosso, niccolò (il caparra), , guerriero da padova, , guglielmo da marcilla (guillaume de marcillac), _life_, - il bacchiaccha (francesco), il bassiti (marco basarini, or marco basaiti), , il bologna, il caparra (niccolò grosso), , il cronaca (simone, or simone del pollaiuolo), _life_, - . il granaccio (francesco granacci), , , il moro (francesco turbido), il rosso, imola, innocenzio da, impiccati, andrea degl' (andrea dal castagno), indaco, l' (francesco), , indaco, l' (jacopo), _life_, - innocenzio da imola, jacobello de flore, , jacopo (l'indaco), _life_, - jacopo avanzi (jacopo davanzo), , jacopo davanzo (of milan), jacopo da pontormo, , , lanzilago, maestro, , lazzaro scarpaccia (sebastiano scarpaccia, or lazzaro bastiani), , , lazzaro vasari (the elder), , leno, giuliano, leonardo da vinci, _life_. - . , , , - , , , , , , , , , , liberale, maestro, l'indaco (francesco), , l'indaco (jacopo), _life_, - l'ingegno (andrea luigi), lippi, filippo (filippino), _life_, - . , , , , , lippi, fra filippo, , , , lo spagna (giovanni), , lombardo, tullio, lorenzetto, lorenzo (father of piero di cosimo), lorenzo di credi, , , luca da cortona (luca signorelli), _life_, - . , , luca della robbia (the younger), luca signorelli (luca da cortona), _life_, - . , , luigi, andrea (l'ingegno), luigi vivarini, maestro claudio, , maestro francesco, maestro giovanni, maestro lanzilago, , maestro liberale, maestro zeno, maiano, benedetto da, , , , maiano, giuliano da, mansueti, giovanni, , mantegna, andrea, , , marc' antonio bolognese, , marcilla, guglielmo da (guillaume de marcillac), _life_, - marco basaiti (il bassiti, or marco basarini), , marco da ravenna, marco oggioni, mariotto albertinelli, _life_, - . , masaccio, , , masini, messer francesco, maso papacello, maso porro, masolino da panicale, matteo (brother of cronaca), maturino, mazzuoli, francesco (parmigiano), melzo, francesco da, messer francesco masini, michelagnolo buonarroti, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - . , misceroni, gasparo, misceroni, girolamo, modena, pellegrino da, montagna, bartolommeo, , monte carlo, bastiano da, montecavallo, antonio, montelupo, baccio da, montevarchi, monte sansovino, andrea dal (andrea contucci, or andrea sansovino), , , , , moreto, niccolò, moretto, alessandro, moro, il (francesco turbido), morzone, giromin, , niccola pisano, niccolò alunno, , niccolò cartoni (niccolò zoccolo), , niccolò d' arezzo, niccolò grosso (il caparra), , niccolò moreto, niccolò soggi, niccolò zoccolo (niccolò cartoni), , nunziata, toto del, oggioni, marco, orazio di paris, padova, guerriero da, , panicale, masolino da, paolo da verona, paolo pistoiese, fra, paolo uccello, , papacello, maso, paris, domenico di, paris, orazio di, parmigiano (francesco mazzuoli), pastorino da siena, pecori, domenico, pellegrino da modena, penni, giovan francesco, , perino del vaga, , , perugino, pietro (pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , - , , , peruzzi, baldassarre, , , pesello, pheidias, piero della francesca (piero dal borgo a san sepolcro), , , piero di cosimo, _life_, - pietro perugino (pietro vannucci, or pietro da castel della pieve), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , - , , , pietro rosselli, pinturicchio, bernardino, _life_, - . , , , piombo, fra sebastiano del, , , pisano, giovanni, pisano, niccola, pistoiese, fra paolo, pistoiese, gerino (gerino da pistoia), , polidoro da caravaggio, , pollaiuolo, antonio, , , pollaiuolo, simone del (simone, or il cronaca), _life_, - . pontormo, jacopo da, , , porro, maso, porta, baccio della (fra bartolommeo di san marco), _life_, - . , - , - , , , puligo, domenico, _life_, - raffaellino del garbo, _life_, - . , raffaello da urbino (raffaello sanzio), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , raggio, ravenna, marco da, ridolfo ghirlandajo, , , , - robbia, luca della (the younger), rocco zoppo, romanino, girolamo, romano, giulio, , , , , , rosselli, cosimo, , , , , rosselli, pietro, rossellino, antonio, rosso, il, rosto, giovanni, rovezzano, benedetto da, rustici, gabriele, rustici, giovan francesco, , salai, s. clemente, abbot of (don bartolommeo della gatta), , , , san gallo, antonio da, _life_, - . , san gallo, aristotile da, san gallo, francesco da, , , san gallo, giuliano da, _life_, - . , , , - , san gimignano, vincenzio da, san giorgio, eusebio, san marco, fra bartolommeo di (baccio della porta), _life_, - . , - , - , , , sandro botticelli (alessandro filipepi, or sandro di botticello), , , sansovino, andrea (andrea contucci, or andrea dal monte sansovino), , , , , santi, santi, giovanni de', , , , sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , sarto, andrea del, , , , , sassoli, fabiano di stagio, , sassoli, stagio, , scarpaccia, lazzaro (sebastiano scarpaccia, or lazzaro bastiani), , , scarpaccia, sebastiano (lazzaro scarpaccia, or lazzaro bastiani), , , scarpaccia (carpaccio), vittore, _life_, - sebastiano del piombo, fra, , , sebastiano scarpaccia (lazzaro scarpaccia, or lazzaro bastiani), , , sebeto da verona, , siena, pastorino da, signorelli, luca (luca da cortona), _life_, - . , , simon bianco, simone, simone (simone del pollaiuolo, or il cronaca), _life_, - . sodoma (giovanni antonio bazzi), , soggi, niccolò, spadari, benedetto, spagna, lo (giovanni), , squarcione, stagio sassoli, , stefano da ferrara, stefano da zevio (stefano veronese), - stefano veronese (stefano da zevio), - tiziano da cadore, tommaso, torrigiano, _life_, - toto del nunziata, trevio, bernardino da, tullio lombardo, turbido, francesco (il moro), ubertino, baccio, uccello, paolo, , udine, giovanni da, , ugo da carpi, urbino, bramante da, _life_, - . - , , , , , , urbino, fra carnovale da (fra bartolommeo), urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , vaga, perino del, , , vannucci, pietro (pietro perugino, or pietro da castel della pieve), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , - , , , vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , , , , as painter, , , , as architect, , , , vasari, lazzaro (the elder), , ventura, , verchio, vincenzio, verona, fra giovanni da, verona, paolo da, verona, sebeto da, , veronese, stefano (stefano da zevio), - verrocchio, andrea, , , , , , vincenzio bresciano (vincenzio zoppa, or foppa), , , vincenzio catena, , vincenzio da san gimignano, vincenzio foppa (vincenzio bresciano, or vincenzio zoppa), , , vincenzio verchio, vincenzio zoppa (vincenzio bresciano, or vincenzio foppa), , , vinci, leonardo da, _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , , , , , visino, , vitruvius, , , , , vittore scarpaccia (carpaccio), _life_, - vittore bellini (belliniano), , , vivarini, bartolommeo, , vivarini, luigi, zeno, maestro, zeuxis, , zevio, aldigieri (altichiero) da, , , zevio, stefano da (stefano veronese), - zoccolo, niccolò (niccolò cartoni), , zoppa, vincenzio (vincenzio foppa, or vincenzio bresciano), , , zoppo, rocco, end of vol. iv. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury none renaissance in italy the fine arts by john addington symonds author of "an introduction to the study of dante", "studies of the greek poets" and "sketches in italy and greece" * * * * * dii romae indigetes, trojae tuque auctor, apollo, unde genus nostrum coeli se tollit ad astra, hanc saltem auferri laudem prohibete latinis: artibus emineat semper, studiisque minervae, italia, et gentes doceat pulcherrima roma; quandoquidem armorum penitus fortuna recessit, tanta italos inter crevit discordia reges; ipsi nos inter saevos distringimus enses, nec patriam pudet externis aperire tyrannis vida, _poetica_, lib. ii. * * * * * london smith, elder & co preface[ ] this third volume of my book on the "renaissance in italy" does not pretend to retrace the history of the italian arts, but rather to define their relation to the main movement of renaissance culture. keeping this, the chief object of my whole work, steadily in view, i have tried to explain the dependence of the arts on mediaeval christianity at their commencement, their gradual emancipation from ecclesiastical control, and their final attainment of freedom at the moment when the classical revival culminated. not to notice the mediaeval period in this evolution would be impossible; since the revival of sculpture and painting at the end of the thirteenth century was among the earliest signs of that new intellectual birth to which we give the title of renaissance. i have, therefore, had to deal at some length with stages in the development of architecture, sculpture, and painting, which form a prelude to the proper age of my own history. in studying the architectural branch of the subject, i have had recourse to fergusson's "illustrated handbook of architecture," to burckhardt's "cicerone," to grüner's "terra-cotta buildings of north italy," to milizia's "memorie degli architetti," and to many illustrated works on single buildings in rome, tuscany, lombardy, and venice. for the history of sculpture i have used burckhardt's "cicerone," and the two important works of charles c. perkins, entitled "tuscan sculptors," and "italian sculptors." such books as "le tre porte del battistero di firenze," grüner's "cathedral of orvieto," and lasinio's "tabernacolo della madonna d'orsammichele" have been helpful by their illustrations. for the history of painting i have made use principally of vasari's "vite de' più eccellenti pittori," &c., in le monnier's edition of crowe and cavalcaselle's "history of painting," of burckhardt's "cicerone," of rosini's illustrated "storia della pittura italiana," of rio's "l'art chrétien," and of henri beyle's "histoire de la peinture en italie." i should, however, far exceed the limits of a preface were i to make a list of all the books i have consulted with profit on the history of the arts in italy. in this part of my work i feel that i owe less to reading than to observation. i am not aware of having mentioned any important building, statue, or picture which i have not had the opportunity of studying. what i have written in this volume about the monuments of italian art has always been first noted face to face with the originals, and afterwards corrected, modified, or confirmed in the course of subsequent journeys to italy. i know that this method of composition, if it has the merit of freshness, entails some inequality of style and disproportion in the distribution of materials. in the final preparation of my work for press i have therefore endeavoured, as far as possible, to compensate this disadvantage by adhering to the main motive of my subject--the illustration of the renaissance spirit as this was manifested in the arts. i must add, in conclusion, that chapters vii. and ix. and appendix ii. are in part reprinted from the "westminster," the "cornhill," and the "contemporary." clifton: _march_ . contents chapter i the problem for the fine arts art in italy and greece--the leading phase of culture--Æsthetic type of literature--painting the supreme italian art--its task in the renaissance--christian and classical traditions--sculpture for the ancients--painting for the romance nations--mediaeval faith and superstition--the promise of painting--how far can the figurative arts express christian ideas?--greek and christian religion--plastic art incapable of solving the problem--a more emotional art needed--place of sculpture in the renaissance--painting and christian story--humanization of ecclesiastical ideas by art--hostility of the spirit of true piety to art--compromises effected by the church--fra bartolommeo's s. sebastian--irreconcilability of art and theology, art and philosophy--recapitulation--art in the end paganises--music--the future of painting after the renaissance. chapter ii architecture architecture of mediaeval italy--milan, genoa, venice--the despots as builders--diversity of styles--local influences--lombard, tuscan, romanesque, gothic--italian want of feeling for gothic--cathedrals of siena and orvieto--secular buildings of the middle ages--florence and venice--private palaces--public halls--palazzo della signoria at florence--arnolfo di cambio--s. maria del fiore--brunelleschi's dome--classical revival in architecture--roman ruins--three periods in renaissance architecture--their characteristics--brunelleschi --alberti--palace-building--michellozzo--decorative work of the revival--bramante--vitoni's church of the umiltà at pistoja--palazzo del te--villa farnesina--sansovino at venice--michael angelo--the building of s. peter's--palladio--the palazzo della ragione at vicenza--lombard architects--theorists and students of vitruvius--vignola and scamozzi--european influence of the palladian style--comparison of scholars and architects in relation to the revival of learning. chapter iii sculpture niccola pisano--obscurity of the sources for a history of early italian sculpture--vasari's legend of pisano--deposition from the cross at lucca--study of nature and the antique--sarcophagus at pisa--pisan pulpit--niccola's school--giovanni pisano--pulpit in s. andrea at pistoja--fragments of his work at pisa--tomb of benedict xi. at perugia--bas-reliefs at orvieto--andrea pisano--relation of sculpture to painting--giotto--subordination of sculpture to architecture in italy--pisano's influence in venice--balduccio of pisa--orcagna--the tabernacle of orsammichele--the gates of the florentine baptistery --competition of ghiberti, brunelleschi, and della quercia--comparison of ghiberti's and brunelleschi's trial-pieces--comparison of ghiberti and della quercia--the bas-reliefs of s. petronio--ghiberti's education--his pictorial style in bas-relief--his feeling for the antique--donatello--early visit to rome--christian subjects--realistic treatment--s. george and david--judith--equestrian statue of gattamelata--influence of donatello's naturalism--andrea verocchio--his david--statue of colleoni--alessandro leopardi--lionardo's statue of francesco sforza--the pollajuoli--tombs of sixtus iv. and innocent viii.--luca della robbia--his treatment of glazed earthenware--agostino di duccio--the oratory of s. bernardino at perugia--antonio rossellino--matteo civitali--mino da fiesole--benedetto da majano--characteristics and masterpieces of this group--sepulchral monuments--andrea contucci's tombs in s. maria del popolo--desiderio da settignano--sculpture in s. francesco at rimini--venetian sculpture--verona--guido mazzoni of modena--certosa of pavia--colleoni chapel at bergamo--sansovino at venice--pagan sculpture--michael angelo's scholars--baccio bandinelli--bartolommeo ammanati--cellini--gian bologna--survey of the history of renaissance sculpture. chapter iv painting distribution of artistic gifts in italy--florence and venice --classification by schools--stages in the evolution of painting--cimabue --the rucellai madonna--giotto--his widespread activity--the scope of his art--vitality--composition--colour--naturalism--healthiness--frescoes at assisi and padua--legend of s. francis--the giotteschi--pictures of the last judgment--orcagna in the strozzi chapel--ambrogio lorenzetti at pisa--dogmatic theology--cappella degli spagnuoli--traini's "triumph, of s. thomas aquinas"--political doctrine expressed in fresco--sala della pace at siena--religious art in siena and perugia--the relation of the giottesque painters to the renaissance. chapter v painting mediaeval motives exhausted--new impulse toward technical perfection--naturalists in painting--intermediate achievement needed for the great age of art--positive spirit of the fifteenth century--masaccio--the modern manner--paolo uccello--perspective--realistic painters--the model--piero della francesca--his study of form--resurrection at borgo san sepolcro--melozzo da forli--squarcione at padua--gentile da fabriano--fra angelico--benozzo gozzoli--his decorative style--lippo lippi--frescoes at prato and spoleto--filippino lippi--sandro botticelli--his value for the student of renaissance fancy--his feeling for mythology--piero di cosimo--domenico ghirlandajo--in what sense he sums up the age--prosaic spirit--florence hitherto supreme in painting--extension of art activity throughout italy--medicean patronage. chapter vi painting two periods in the true renaissance--andrea mantegna--his statuesque design--his naturalism--roman inspiration--triumph of julius caesar--bas-reliefs--luca signorelli--the precursor of michael angelo--anatomical studies--sense of beauty--the chapel of s. brizio at orvieto--its arabesques and medallions--degrees in his ideal--enthusiasm for organic life--mode of treating classical subjects--perugino--his pietistic style--his formalism--the psychological problem of his life--perugino's pupils--pinturicchio--at spello and siena--francia--fra bartolommeo--transition to the golden age--lionardo da vinci--the magician of the renaissance--raphael--the melodist--correggio--the faun--michael angelo--the prophet. chapter vii venetian painting painting bloomed late in venice--conditions offered by venice to art--shelley and pietro aretino--political circumstances of venice--comparison with florence--the ducal palace--art regarded as an adjunct to state pageantry--myth of venezia--heroic deeds of venice--tintoretto's paradise and guardi's picture of a ball--early venetian masters of murano--gian bellini--carpaccio's little angels--the madonna of s. zaccaria--giorgione--allegory, idyll, expression of emotion--the monk at the clavichord--titian, tintoret, and veronese--tintoretto's attempt to dramatise venetian art--veronese's mundane splendour--titian's sophoclean harmony--their schools--further characteristics of veronese--of tintoretto--his imaginative energy--predominant poetry--titian's perfection of balance--assumption of madonna--spirit common to the great venetians. chapter viii life of michael angelo contrast of michael angelo and cellini--parentage and boyhood of michael angelo--work with ghirlandajo--gardens of s. marco--the medicean circle--early essays in sculpture--visit to bologna--first visit to rome--the pietà of s. peter's--michael angelo as a patriot and a friend of the medici--cartoon for the battle of pisa--michael angelo and julius ii.--the tragedy of the tomb--design for the pope's mausoleum--visit to carrara--flight from rome--michael angelo at bologna--bronze statue of julius--return to rome--ceiling of the sistine chapel--greek and modern art--raphael--michael angelo and leo x.--s. lorenzo--the new sacristy--circumstances under which it was designed and partly finished--meaning of the allegories--incomplete state of michael angelo's marbles--paul iii.--the "last judgment"--critiques of contemporaries--the dome of s. peter's--vittoria colonna--tommaso cavalieri--personal habits of michael angelo--his emotional nature--last illness. chapter ix life of benvenuto cellini his fame--his autobiography--its value for the student of history, manners, and character in the renaissance--birth, parentage, and boyhood--flute-playing--apprenticeship to marcone--wanderjahr--the goldsmith's trade at florence--torrigiani and england--cellini leaves florence for rome--quarrel with the guasconti--homicidal fury--cellini a law to himself--three periods in his manhood--life in rome--diego at the banquet--renaissance feeling for physical beauty--sack of rome--miracles in cellini's life--his affections--murder of his brother's assassin--sanctuary--pardon and absolution--incantation in the colosseum--first visit to france--adventures on the way--accused of stealing crown jewels in rome--imprisonment in the castle of s. angelo--the governor--cellini's escape--his visions--the nature of his religion--second visit to france--the wandering court--le petit nesle--cellini in the french law courts--scene at fontainebleau--return to florence--cosimo de' medici as a patron--intrigues of a petty court--bandinelli--the duchess--statue of perseus--end of cellini's life--cellini and machiavelli. chapter x the epigoni full development and decline of painting--exhaustion of the old motives--relation of lionardo to his pupils--his legacy to the lombard school--bernardino luini--gaudenzio ferrari--the devotion of the sacri monti--the school of raphael--nothing left but imitation--unwholesome influences of rome--giulio romano--michael angelesque mannerists--misconception of michael angelo--correggio founds no school--parmigianino--macchinisti--the bolognese--after-growth of art in florence--andrea del sarto--his followers--pontormo--bronzino--revival of painting in siena--sodoma--his influence on pacchia, beccafumi, peruzzi--garofalo and dosso dossi at ferrari--the campi at cremona--brescia and bergamo--the decadence in the second half of the sixteenth century--the counter-reformation--extinction of the renaissance impulse. appendices i.--the pulpits of pisa and ravello ii.--michael angelo's sonnets iii.--chronological tables footnotes: [ ] to the original edition of this volume. chapter i the problem for the fine arts art in italy and greece--the leading phase of culture--Æsthetic type of literature--painting the supreme italian art--its task in the renaissance--christian and classical traditions--sculpture for the ancients--painting for the romance nations--mediaeval faith and superstition--the promise of painting--how far can the figurative arts express christian ideas?--greek and christian religion--plastic art incapable of solving the problem--a more emotional art needed--place of sculpture in the renaissance--painting and christian story--humanization of ecclesiastical ideas by art--hostility of the spirit of true piety to art--compromises effected by the church--fra bartolommeo's s. sebastian--irreconcilability of art and theology, art and philosophy--recapitulation--art in the end paganises--music--the future of painting after the renaissance. it has been granted only to two nations, the greeks and the italians, and to the latter only at the time of the renaissance, to invest every phase and variety of intellectual energy with the form of art. nothing notable was produced in italy between the thirteenth and the seventeenth centuries that did not bear the stamp and character of fine art. if the methods of science may be truly said to regulate our modes of thinking at the present time, it is no less true that, during the renaissance, art exercised a like controlling influence. not only was each department of the fine arts practised with singular success; not only was the national genius to a very large extent absorbed in painting, sculpture, and architecture; but the aesthetic impulse was more subtly and widely diffused than this alone would imply. it possessed the italians in the very centre of their intellectual vitality, imposing its conditions on all the manifestations of their thought and feeling, so that even their shortcomings may be ascribed in a great measure to their inability to quit the aesthetic point of view. we see this in their literature. it is probable that none but artistic natures will ever render full justice to the poetry of the renaissance. critics endowed with a less lively sensibility to beauty of outline and to harmony of form than the italians, complain that their poetry lacks substantial qualities; nor is it except by long familiarity with the plastic arts of their contemporaries that we come to understand the ground assumed by ariosto and poliziano. we then perceive that these poets were not so much unable as instinctively unwilling to go beyond a certain circle of effects. they subordinated their work to the ideal of their age, and that ideal was one to which a painter rather than a poet might successfully aspire. a succession of pictures, harmoniously composed and delicately toned to please the mental eye, satisfied the taste of the italians. but, however exquisite in design, rich in colour, and complete in execution this literary work may be, it strikes a northern student as wanting in the highest elements of genius--sublimity of imagination, dramatic passion, energy and earnestness of purpose. in like manner, he finds it hard to appreciate those didactic compositions on trifling or prosaic themes, which delighted the italians for the very reason that their workmanship surpassed their matter. these defects, as we judge them, are still more apparent in the graver branches of literature. in an essay or a treatise we do not so much care for well-balanced disposition of parts or beautifully rounded periods, though elegance may be thought essential to classic masterpieces, as for weighty matter and trenchant observations. having the latter, we can dispense at need with the former. the italians of the renaissance, under the sway of the fine arts, sought after form, and satisfied themselves with rhetoric. therefore we condemn their moral disquisitions and their criticisms as the flimsy playthings of intellectual voluptuaries. yet the right way of doing justice to these stylistic trifles is to regard them as products of an all-embracing genius for art, in a people whose most serious enthusiasms were aesthetic. the speech of the italians at that epoch, their social habits, their ideal of manners, their standard of morality, the estimate they formed of men, were alike conditioned and qualified by art. it was an age of splendid ceremonies and magnificent parade, when the furniture of houses, the armour of soldiers, the dress of citizens, the pomp of war, and the pageantry of festival were invariably and inevitably beautiful. on the meanest articles of domestic utility, cups and platters, door-panels and chimney-pieces, coverlets for beds and lids of linen-chests, a wealth of artistic invention was lavished by innumerable craftsmen, no less skilled in technical details than distinguished by rare taste. from the pope upon s. peter's chair to the clerks in a florentine counting-house, every italian was a judge of art. art supplied the spiritual oxygen, without which the life of the renaissance must have been atrophied. during that period of prodigious activity the entire nation seemed to be endowed with an instinct for the beautiful, and with the capacity for producing it in every conceivable form. as we travel through italy at the present day, when "time, war, pillage, and purchase" have done their worst to denude the country of its treasures, we still marvel at the incomparable and countless beauties stored in every burgh and hamlet. pacing the picture galleries of northern europe, the country seats of english nobles, and the palaces of spain, the same reflection is still forced upon us: how could italy have done what she achieved within so short a space of time? what must the houses and the churches once have been, from which these spoils were taken, but which still remain so rich in masterpieces? psychologically to explain this universal capacity for the fine arts in the nation at this epoch, is perhaps impossible. yet the fact remains, that he who would comprehend the italians of the renaissance must study their art, and cling fast to that ariadne-thread throughout the labyrinthine windings of national character. he must learn to recognise that herein lay the sources of their intellectual strength as well as the secret of their intellectual weakness. it lies beyond the scope of this work to embrace in one inquiry the different forms of art in italy, or to analyse the connection of the aesthetic instinct with the manifold manifestations of the renaissance. even the narrower task to which i must confine myself, is too vast for the limits i am forced to impose upon its treatment. i intend to deal with italian painting as the one complete product which remains from the achievements of this period, touching upon sculpture and architecture more superficially. not only is painting the art in which the italians among all the nations of the modern world stand unapproachably alone, but it is also the one that best enables us to gauge their genius at the time when they impressed their culture on the rest of europe. in the history of the italian intellect painting takes the same rank as that of sculpture in the greek. before beginning, however, to trace the course of italian art, it will be necessary to discuss some preliminary questions, important for a right understanding of the relations assumed by painting to the thoughts of the renaissance, and for explaining its superiority over the sister art of sculpture in that age. this i feel the more bound to do because it is my object in this volume to treat of art with special reference to the general culture of the nation. what, let us ask in the first place, was the task appointed for the fine arts on the threshold of the modern world? they had, before all things, to give form to the ideas evolved by christianity, and to embody a class of emotions unknown to the ancients.[ ] the inheritance of the middle ages had to be appropriated and expressed. in the course of performing this work, the painters helped to humanise religion, and revealed the dignity and beauty of the body of man. next, in the fifteenth century, the riches of classic culture were discovered, and art was called upon to aid in the interpretation of the ancient to the modern mind. the problem was no longer simple. christian and pagan traditions came into close contact, and contended for the empire of the newly liberated intellect. during this struggle the arts, true to their own principles, eliminated from both traditions the more strictly human elements, and expressed them in beautiful form to the imagination and the senses. the brush of the same painter depicted bacchus wedding ariadne and mary fainting on the hill of calvary. careless of any peril to dogmatic orthodoxy, and undeterred by the dread of encouraging pagan sensuality, the artists wrought out their modern ideal of beauty in the double field of christian and hellenic legend. before the force of painting was exhausted, it had thus traversed the whole cycle of thoughts and feelings that form the content of the modern mind. throughout this performance, art proved itself a powerful co-agent in the emancipation of the intellect; the impartiality wherewith its methods were applied to subjects sacred and profane, the emphasis laid upon physical strength and beauty as good things and desirable, the subordination of classical and mediaeval myths to one aesthetic law of loveliness, all tended to withdraw attention from the differences between paganism and christianity, and to fix it on the goodliness of that humanity wherein both find their harmony. this being in general the task assigned to art in the renaissance, we may next inquire what constituted the specific quality of modern as distinguished from antique feeling, and why painting could not fail to take the first place among modern arts. in other words, how was it that, while sculpture was the characteristic fine art of antiquity, painting became the distinguishing fine art of the modern era? no true form of figurative art intervened between greek sculpture and italian painting. the latter took up the work of investing thought with sensible shape from the dead hands of the former. nor had the tradition that connected art with religion been interrupted, although a new cycle of religious ideas had been substituted for the old ones. the late roman and byzantine manners, through which the vital energies of the athenian genius dwindled into barren formalism, still lingered, giving crude and lifeless form to christian conceptions. but the thinking and feeling subject, meanwhile, had undergone a change so all-important that it now imperatively required fresh channels for its self-expression. it was destined to find these, not as of old in sculpture, but in painting. during the interval between the closing of the ancient and the opening of the modern age, the faith of christians had attached itself to symbols and material objects little better than fetishes. the host, the relic, the wonder-working shrine, things endowed with a mysterious potency, evoked the yearning and the awe of medieval multitudes. to such concrete actualities the worshippers referred their sense of the invisible divinity. the earth of jerusalem, the holy sepulchre, the house of loreto, the sudarium of saint veronica, aroused their deepest sentiments of aweful adoration. like thomas, they could not be contented with believing; they must also touch and handle. at the same time, in apparent contradistinction to this demand for things of sense as signs of super-sensual power, the claims of dogma on the intellect grew more imperious, and mysticism opened for the dreaming soul a realm of spiritual rapture. for the figurative arts there was no true place in either of these regions. painting and sculpture were alike alien to the grosser superstitions, the scholastic subtleties, and the ecstatic trances of the middle ages; nor had they anything in common with the logic of theology. votaries who kissed a fragment of the cross with passion, could have found but little to satisfy their ardour in pictures painted by a man of genius. a formless wooden idol, endowed with the virtue of curing disease, charmed the pilgrim more than a statue noticeable only for its beauty or its truth to life. we all know that _wunderthätige bilder sind meist nur schlechte gemälde_. in architecture alone, the mysticism of the middle ages, their vague but potent feelings of infinity, their yearning towards a deity invisible, but localised in holy things and places, found artistic outlet. therefore architecture was essentially a medieval art. the rise of sculpture and painting indicated the quickening to life of new faculties, fresh intellectual interests, and a novel way of apprehending the old substance of religious feeling; for comprehension of these arts implies delight in things of beauty for their own sake, a sympathetic attitude towards the world of sense, a new freedom of the mind produced by the regeneration of society through love. the mediaeval faiths were still vivid when the first italian painters began their work, and the sincere endeavour of these men was to set forth in beautiful and worthy form the truths of christianity. the eyes of the worshipper should no longer have a mere stock or stone to contemplate: his imagination should be helped by the dramatic presentation of the scenes of sacred history, and his devotion be quickened by lively images of the passion of our lord. spirit should converse with spirit, through no veil of symbol, but through the transparent medium of art, itself instinct with inbreathed life and radiant with ideal beauty. the body and the soul, moreover, should be reconciled; and god's likeness should be once more acknowledged in the features and the limbs of man. such was the promise of art; and this promise was in a great measure fulfilled by the painting of the fourteenth century. men ceased to worship their god in the holiness of ugliness; and a great city called its street glad on the birthday-festival of the first picture investing religious emotion with aesthetic charm. but in making good the promise they had given, it was needful for the arts on the one hand to enter a region not wholly their own--the region of abstractions and of mystical conceptions; and on the other to create a world of sensuous delightfulness, wherein the spiritual element was materialised to the injury of its own essential quality. spirit, indeed, spake to spirit, so far as the religious content was concerned; but flesh spake also to flesh in the aesthetic form. the incarnation promised by the arts involved a corresponding sensuousness. heaven was brought down to earth, but at the cost of making men believe that earth itself was heavenly. at this point the subject of our inquiry naturally divides into two main questions. the first concerns the form of figurative art specially adapted to the requirements of religious thought in the fourteenth century. the second treats of the effect resulting both to art and religion from the expression of mystical and theological conceptions in plastic form. when we consider the nature of the ideas assimilated in the middle ages by the human mind, it is clear that art, in order to set them forth, demanded a language the greeks had never greatly needed, and had therefore never fully learned. to over-estimate the difference from an aesthetic point of view between the religious notions of the greeks and those which christianity had made essential, would be difficult. faith, hope, and charity; humility, endurance, suffering; the resurrection and the judgment; the pall and the redemption; heaven and hell; the height and depth of man's mixed nature; the drama of human destiny before the throne of god: into the sphere of thoughts like these, vivid and solemn, transcending the region of sense and corporeity, carrying the mind away to an ideal world, where the things of this earth obtained a new reality by virtue of their relation to an invisible and infinite beyond, the modern arts in their infancy were thrust. there was nothing finite here or tangible, no gladness in the beauty of girlish foreheads or the swiftness of a young man's limbs, no simple idealisation of natural delightfulness. the human body, which the figurative arts must needs use as the vehicle of their expression, had ceased to have a value in and for itself, had ceased to be the true and adequate investiture of thoughts demanded from the artist. at best it could be taken only as the symbol of some inner meaning, the shrine of an indwelling spirit nobler than itself; just as a lamp of alabaster owes its beauty and its worth to the flame it more than half conceals, the light transmitted through its scarce transparent walls. in ancient art those moral and spiritual qualities which the greeks recognised as truly human and therefore divine, allowed themselves to be incarnated in well-selected types of physical perfection. the deities of the greek mythology were limited to the conditions of natural existence: they were men and women of a larger mould and freer personality; less complex, inasmuch as each completed some one attribute; less thwarted in activity, inasmuch as no limit was assigned to exercise of power. the passions and the faculties of man, analysed by unconscious psychology, and deified by religious fancy, were invested by sculpture with appropriate forms, the tact of the artist selecting corporeal qualities fitted to impersonate the special character of each divinity. nor was it possible that, the gods and goddesses being what they were, exact analogues should not be found for them in idealised humanity. in a greek statue there was enough soul to characterise the beauty of the body, to render her due meed of wisdom to pallas, to distinguish the swiftness of hermes from the strength of heracles, or to contrast the virginal grace of artemis with the abundance of aphrodite's charms. at the same time the spirituality that gave its character to each greek deity, was not such that, even in thought, it could be dissociated from corporeal form. the greeks thought their gods as incarnate persons; and all the artist had to see to, was that this incarnate personality should be impressive in his marble. christianity, on the other hand, made the moral and spiritual nature of man all-essential. it sprang from an earlier religion, that judged it impious to give any form to god. the body and its terrestrial activity occupied but a subordinate position in its system. it was the life of the soul, separable from this frame of flesh, and destined to endure when earth and all that it contains had ended--a life that upon this planet was continued conflict and aspiring struggle--which the arts, insofar as they became its instrument, were called upon to illustrate. it was the worship of a deity, all spirit, to be sought on no one sacred hill, to be adored in no transcendent shape, that they were bound to heighten. the most highly prized among the christian virtues had no necessary connection with beauty of feature or strength of limb. such beauty and such strength at any rate were accidental, not essential. a greek faun could not but be graceful; a greek hero was of necessity vigorous. but s. stephen might be steadfast to the death without physical charm; s. anthony might put to flight the devils of the flesh without muscular force. it is clear that the radiant physical perfection proper to the deities of greek sculpture was not sufficient in this sphere. again, the most stirring episodes of the christian mythology involved pain and perturbation of the spirit; the victories of the christian athletes were won in conflicts carried on within their hearts and souls--"for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers," demoniac leaders of spiritual legions. it is, therefore, no less clear that the tranquillity and serenity of the hellenic ideal, so necessary to consummate sculpture, was here out of place. how could the last judgment, that day of wrath, when every soul, however insignificant on earth, will play the first part for one moment in an awful tragedy, be properly expressed in plastic form, harmonious and pleasing? and supposing that the artist should abandon the attempt to exclude ugliness and discord, pain and confusion, from his representation of the _dies irae_, how could he succeed in setting forth by the sole medium of the human body the anxiety and anguish of the soul at such a time? the physical form, instead of being adequate to the ideas expressed, and therefore helpful to the artist, is a positive embarrassment, a source of weakness. the most powerful pictorial or sculpturesque delineation of the judgment, when compared with the pangs inflicted on the spirit by a guilty conscience, pangs whereof words may render some account, but which can find no analogue in writhings of the limbs or face, must of necessity be found a failure. still more impossible, if we pursue this train of thought into another region, is it for the figurative arts to approach the christian conception of god in his omnipotence and unity. christ himself, the central figure of the christian universe, the desired of all nations, in whom the deity assumed a human form and dwelt with men, is no fit subject for such art at any rate as the greeks had perfected. the fact of his incarnation brought him indeed within the proper sphere of the fine arts; but the religious idea which he represents removed him beyond the reach of sculpture. this is an all-important consideration. it is to this that our whole argument is tending. therefore to enlarge upon this point will not be useless. christ is specially adored in his last act of love on calvary; and how impossible it is to set that forth consistently with the requirements of strictly plastic art, may be gathered by comparing the passion of s. bernard's hymn to our lord upon the cross with all that winckelmann and hegel have so truly said about the restrained expression, dignified generality, and harmonious beauty essential to sculpture. it is the negation of tranquillity, the excess of feeling, the absence of comeliness, the contrast between visible weakness and invisible omnipotence, the physical humiliation voluntarily suffered by him that "ruled over all the angels, that walked on the pavements of heaven, whose feet were clothed with stars"--it is all this that gives their force and pathos to these stanzas: omnis vigor atque viror hinc recessit; non admiror: mors apparet in inspectu, totus pendens in defectu, attritus aegrâ macie. sic affectus, sic despectus, propter me sic interfectus, peccatori tam indigno cum amoris in te signo appare clarâ facie[ ]. we have never heard that pheidias or praxiteles chose prometheus upon caucasus for the supreme display of his artistic skill; and even the anguish expressed in the group of the laocoon is justly thought to violate the laws of antique sculpture. yet here was a greater than prometheus--one who had suffered more, and on whose suffering the salvation of the human race depended, to exclude whom from the sphere of representation in art was the same as confessing the utter impotence of art to grasp the vital thought of modern faith. it is clear that the muses of the new age had to haunt calvary instead of helicon, slaking their thirst at no castalian spring, but at the fount of tears outpoured by all creation for a stricken god. what hellas had achieved supplied no norm or method for the arts in this new service. from what has hitherto been advanced, we may assert with confidence that, if the arts were to play an important part in christian culture, an art was imperatively demanded that should be at home in the sphere of intense feeling, that should treat the body as the interpreter and symbol of the soul, and should not shrink from pain and passion. how far the fine arts were at all qualified to express the essential thoughts of christianity--a doubt suggested in the foregoing paragraphs--and how far, through their proved inadequacy to perform this task completely, they weakened the hold of mediaeval faiths upon the modern mind, are questions to be raised hereafter. for the present it is enough to affirm that, least of all the arts, could sculpture, with its essential repose and its dependence on corporeal conditions, solve the problem. sculpture had suited the requirements of greek thought. it belonged by right to men who not unwillingly accepted the life of this world as final, and who worshipped in their deities the incarnate personality of man made perfect. but it could not express the cycle of christian ideas. the desire of a better world, the fear of a worse; the sense of sin referred to physical appetites, and the corresponding mortification of the flesh; hope, ecstasy, and penitence and prayer; all these imply contempt or hatred for the body, suggest notions too spiritual to be conveyed by the rounded contours of beautiful limbs, too full of struggle for statuesque tranquillity. the new element needed a more elastic medium of expression. motives more varied, gradations of sentiment more delicate, the fugitive and transient phases of emotion, the inner depths of consciousness, had somehow to be seized. it was here that painting asserted its supremacy. painting is many degrees further removed than sculpture from dependence on the body in the fulness of its physical proportions. it touches our sensibilities by suggestions more indirect, more mobile, and more multiform. colour and shadow, aërial perspective and complicated grouping, denied to sculpture, but within the proper realm of painting, have their own significance, their real relation to feelings vaguer, but not less potent, than those which find expression in the simple human form. to painting, again, belongs the play of feature, indicative of internal movement, through a whole gamut of modulations inapprehensible by sculpture. all that drapery by its partial concealment of the form it clothes, and landscape by its sympathies with human sentiment, may supply to enhance the passion of the spectator, pertains to painting. this art, therefore, owing to the greater variety of means at its disposal, and its greater adequacy to express emotion, became the paramount italian art. to sculpture in the renaissance, shorn of the divine right to create gods and heroes, was left the narrower field of decoration, portraiture, and sepulchral monuments. in the last of these departments it found the noblest scope for its activity; for beyond the grave, according to christian belief, the account of the striving, hoping, and resisting soul is settled. the corpse upon the bier may bear the stamp of spiritual character impressed on it in life; but the spirit, with its struggle and its passion, has escaped as from a prison-house, and flown else-whither. the body of the dead man, for whom this world is over, and who sleeps in peace, awaiting resurrection, and thereby not wholly dead, around whose tomb watch sympathising angels or contemplative genii, was, therefore, the proper subject for the highest christian sculpture. here, if anywhere, the right emotion could be adequately expressed in stone, and the moulded form be made the symbol of repose, expectant of restored activity. the greatest sculptor of the modern age was essentially a poet of death. painting, then, for the reasons already assigned and insisted on, was the art demanded by the modern intellect upon its emergence from the stillness of the middle ages. the problem, however, even for the art of painting was not simple. the painters, following the masters of mosaic, began by setting forth the history, mythology, and legends of the christian church in imagery freer and more beautiful than lay within the scope of treatment by romanesque or byzantine art. so far their task was comparatively easy; for the idyllic grace of maternal love in the madonna, the pathetic incidents of martyrdom, the courage of confessors, the ecstasies of celestial joy in redeemed souls, the loveliness of a pure life in modest virgins, and the dramatic episodes of sacred story, furnish a multitude of motives admirably pictorial. there was, therefore, no great obstacle upon the threshold, so long as artists gave their willing service to the church. yet, looking back upon this phase of painting, we are able to perceive that already the adaptation of art to christian dogma entailed concessions on both sides. much, on the one hand, had to be omitted from the programme offered to artistic treatment, for the reason that the fine arts could not deal with it at all. much, on the other hand, had to be expressed by means which painting in a state of perfect freedom would repudiate. allegorical symbols, like prudence with two faces, and painful episodes of agony and anguish, marred her work of beauty. there was consequently a double compromise, involving a double sacrifice of something precious. the faith suffered by having its mysteries brought into the light of day, incarnated in form, and humanised. art suffered by being forced to render intellectual abstractions to the eye through figured symbols. as technical skill increased, and as beauty, the proper end of art, became more rightly understood, the painters found that their craft was worthy of being made an end in itself, and that the actualities of life observed around them had claims upon their genius no less weighty than dogmatic mysteries. the subjects they had striven at first to realise with all simplicity now became little better than vehicles for the display of sensuous beauty, science, and mundane pageantry. the human body received separate and independent study, as a thing in itself incomparably beautiful, commanding more powerful emotions by its magic than aught else that sways the soul. at the same time the external world, with all its wealth of animal and vegetable life, together with the works of human ingenuity in costly clothing and superb buildings, was seen to be in every detail worthy of most patient imitation. anatomy and perspective taxed the understanding of the artist, whose whole force was no longer devoted to the task of bringing religious ideas within the limits of the representable. next, when the classical revival came into play, the arts, in obedience to the spirit of the age, left the sphere of sacred subjects, and employed their full-grown faculties in the domain of myths and pagan fancies. in this way painting may truly be said to have opened the new era of culture, and to have first manifested the freedom of the modern mind. when luca signorelli drew naked young men for a background to his picture of madonna and the infant christ, he created for the student a symbol of the attitude assumed by fine art in its liberty of outlook over the whole range of human interests. standing before this picture in the uffizzi, we feel that the church, while hoping to adorn her cherished dogmas with aesthetic beauty, had encouraged a power antagonistic to her own, a power that liberated the spirit she sought to enthral, restoring to mankind the earthly paradise from which monasticism had expelled it. not to diverge at this point, and to entertain the difficult problem of the relation of the fine arts to christianity, would be to shrink from the most thorny question offered to the understanding by the history of the renaissance. on the very threshold of the matter i am bound to affirm my conviction that the spiritual purists of all ages--the jews, the iconoclasts of byzantium, savonarola, and our puritan ancestors--were justified in their mistrust of plastic art. the spirit of christianity and the spirit of figurative art are opposed, not because such art is immoral, but because it cannot free itself from sensuous associations[ ]. it is always bringing us back to the dear life of earth, from which the faith would sever us. it is always reminding us of the body which piety bids us to forget. painters and sculptors glorify that which saints and ascetics have mortified. the masterpieces of titian and correggio, for example, lead the soul away from compunction, away from penitence, away from worship even, to dwell on the delight of youthful faces, blooming colour, graceful movement, delicate emotion[ ]. nor is this all: religious motives may be misused for what is worse than merely sensuous suggestiveness. the masterpieces of the bolognese and neapolitan painters, while they pretend to quicken compassion for martyrs in their agony, pander to a bestial blood-lust lurking in the darkest chambers of the soul[ ]. therefore it is that piety, whether the piety of monastic italy or of puritan england, turns from these aesthetic triumphs as from something alien to itself. when the worshipper would fain ascend on wings of ecstasy to god, the infinite, ineffable, unrealised, how can he endure the contact of those splendid forms, in which the lust of the eye and the pride of life, professing to subserve devotion, remind him rudely of the goodliness of sensual existence? art, by magnifying human beauty, contradicts these pauline maxims: "for me to live is christ, and to die is gain;" "set your affections on things above, not on things on earth;" "your life is hid with christ in god." the sublimity and elevation it gives to carnal loveliness are themselves hostile to the spirit that holds no truce or compromise of traffic with the flesh. as displayed in its most perfect phases, in greek sculpture and venetian painting, art dignifies the actual mundane life of man; but christ, in the language of uncompromising piety, means everything most alien to this mundane life--self-denial, abstinence from fleshly pleasure, the waiting for true bliss beyond the grave, seclusion even from social and domestic ties. "he that loveth father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me," "he that taketh not his cross and followeth me, is not worthy of me." it is needful to insist upon these extremest sentences of the new testament, because upon them was based the religious practice of the middle ages, more sincere in their determination to fulfil the letter and embrace the spirit of the gospel than any succeeding age has been.[ ] if, then, there really exists this antagonism between fine art glorifying human life and piety contemning it, how came it, we may ask, that even in the middle ages the church hailed art as her coadjutor? the answer lies in this, that the church has always compromised. the movement of the modern world, upon the close of the middle ages, offered the church a compromise, which it would have been difficult to refuse, and in which she perceived art first no peril to her dogmas. when the conflict of the first few centuries of christianity had ended in her triumph, she began to mediate between asceticism and the world. intent on absorbing all existent elements of life and power, she conformed her system to the roman type, established her service in basilicas and pagan temples, adopted portions of the antique ritual, and converted local genii into saints. at the same time she utilised the spiritual forces of monasticism, and turned the mystic impulse of ecstatics to account. the orders of the preachers and the begging friars became her militia and police; the mystery of christ's presence in the eucharist was made an engine of the priesthood; the dreams of paradise and purgatory gave value to her pardons, interdictions, jubilees, indulgences, and curses. in the church the spirit of the cloister and the spirit of the world found neutral ground, and to the practical accommodation between these hostile elements she owed her wide supremacy. the christianity she formed and propagated was different from that of the new testament, inasmuch as it had taken up into itself a mass of mythological anthropomorphic elements. thus transmuted and materialised, thus accepted by the vivid faith of an unquestioning populace, christianity offered a proper medium for artistic activity. the whole first period of italian painting was occupied with the endeavour to set forth in form and colour the popular conceptions of a faith at once unphilosophical and unspiritual, beautiful and fit for art by reason of the human elements it had assumed into its substance. it was natural, therefore, that the church should show herself indulgent to the arts, which were effecting in their own sphere what she had previously accomplished, though purists and ascetics, holding fast by the original spirit of their creed, might remain irreconcilably antagonistic to their influence. the reformation, on the contrary, rejecting the whole mass of compromises sanctioned by the church, and returning to the elemental principles of the faith, was no less naturally opposed to fine arts, which, after giving sensuous form to catholic mythology, had recently attained to liberty and brought again the gods of greece. a single illustration might be selected from the annals of italian painting to prove how difficult even the holiest-minded and most earnest painter found it to effect the proper junction between plastic beauty and pious feeling. fra bartolommeo, the disciple of savonarola, painted a sebastian in the cloister of s. marco, where it remained until the dominican confessors became aware, through the avowals of female penitents, that this picture was a stumbling-block and snare to souls. it was then removed, and what became of it we do not know for certain. fra bartolommeo undoubtedly intended this ideal portrait of the martyr to be edifying. s. sebastian was to stand before the world as the young man, strong and beautiful, who endured to the end and won the crown of martyrdom. no other ideas but those of heroism, constancy, or faith were meant to be expressed; but the painter's art demanded that their expression should be eminently beautiful, and the beautiful body of the young man distracted attention from his spiritual virtues to his physical perfections. a similar maladjustment of the means of plastic art to the purposes of religion would have been impossible in hellas, where the temples of eros and of phoebus stood side by side; but in christian florence the craftsman's skill sowed seeds of discord in the souls of the devout[ ]. this story is but a coarse instance of the separation between piety and plastic art. in truth, the difficulty of uniting them in such a way that the latter shall enforce the former, lies far deeper than its powers of illustration reach. religion has its proper end in contemplation and in conduct. art aims at presenting sensuous embodiment of thoughts and feelings with a view to intellectual enjoyment. now, many thoughts are incapable of sensuous embodiment; they appear as abstractions to the philosophical intellect or as dogmas to the theological understanding. to effect an alliance between art and philosophy or art and theology in the specific region of either religion or speculation is, therefore, an impossibility. in like manner there are many feelings which cannot properly assume a sensuous form; and these are precisely religious feelings, in which the soul abandons sense, and leaves the actual world behind, to seek her freedom in a spiritual region.[ ] yet, while we recognise the truth of this reasoning, it would be unscientific to maintain that, until they are brought into close and inconvenient contact, there is direct hostility between religion and the arts. the sphere of the two is separate; their aims are distinct; they must be allowed to perfect themselves, each after its own fashion. in the large philosophy of human nature, represented by goethe's famous motto, there is room for both, because those who embrace it bend their natures neither wholly to the pietism of the cloister nor to the sensuality of art. they find the meeting-point of art and of religion in their own humanity, and perceive that the antagonism of the two begins when art is set to do work alien to its nature, and to minister to what it does not naturally serve. at the risk of repetition i must now resume the points i have attempted to establish in this chapter. as in ancient greece, so also in renaissance italy, the fine arts assumed the first place in the intellectual culture of the nation. but the thought and feeling of the modern world required an aesthetic medium more capable of expressing emotion in its intensity, variety, and subtlety than sculpture. therefore painting was the art of arts for italy. yet even painting, notwithstanding the range and wealth of its resources, could not deal with the motives of christianity so successfully as sculpture with the myths of paganism. the religion it interpreted transcended the actual conditions of humanity, while art is bound down by its nature to the limitations of the world we live in. the church imagined art would help her; and within a certain sphere of subjects, by vividly depicting scripture histories and the lives of saints, by creating new types of serene beauty and pure joy, by giving form to angelic beings, by interpreting mariolatry in all its charm and pathos, and by rousing deep sympathy with our lord in his passion, painting lent efficient aid to piety. yet painting had to omit the very pith and kernel of christianity as conceived by devout, uncompromising purists. nor did it do what the church would have desired. instead of riveting the fetters of ecclesiastical authority, instead of enforcing mysticism and asceticism, it really restored to humanity the sense of its own dignity and beauty, and helped to proved the untenability of the mediaeval standpoint; for art is essentially and uncontrollably free, and, what is more, is free precisely in that realm of sensuous delightfulness from which cloistral religion turns aside to seek her own ecstatic liberty of contemplation. the first step in the emancipation of the modern mind was taken thus by art, proclaiming to men the glad tidings of their goodliness and greatness in a world of manifold enjoyment created for their use. whatever painting touched, became by that touch human; piety, at the lure of art, folded her soaring wings and rested on the genial earth. this the church had not foreseen. because the freedom of the human spirit expressed itself in painting only under visible images, and not, like heresy, in abstract sentences; because this art sufficed for mariolatry and confirmed the cult of local saints; because its sensuousness was not at variance with a creed that had been deeply sensualised--the painters were allowed to run their course unchecked. then came a second stage in their development of art. by placing the end of their endeavour in technical excellence and anatomical accuracy, they began to make representation an object in itself, independently of its spiritual significance. next, under the influence of the classical revival, they brought home again the old powers of the earth--aphrodite and galatea and the loves, adonis and narcissus and the graces, phoebus and daphne and aurora, pan and the fauns, and the nymphs of the woods and the waves. when these dead deities rose from their sepulchres to sway the hearts of men in the new age, it was found that something had been taken from their ancient bloom of innocence, something had been added of emotional intensity. italian art recognised their claim to stand beside madonna and the saints in the pantheon of humane culture; but the painters re-made them in accordance with the modern spirit. this slight touch of transformation proved that, though they were no longer objects of religious devotion, they still preserved a vital meaning for an altered age. having personified for the antique world qualities which, though suppressed and ignored by militant and mediaeval christianity, were strictly human, the hellenic deities still signified those qualities for modern europe, now at length re-fortified by contact with the ancient mind. for it is needful to remember that in all movements of the renaissance we ever find a return in all sincerity and faith to the glory and gladness of nature, whether in the world without or in the soul of man. to apprehend that glory and that gladness with the pure and primitive perceptions of the early mythopoets, was not given to the men of the new world. yet they did what in them lay, with senses sophisticated by many centuries of subtlest warping, to replace the first, free joy of kinship with primeval things. for the painters, far more than for the poets of the sixteenth century, it was possible to reproduce a thousand forms of beauty, each attesting to the delightfulness of physical existence, to the inalienable rights of natural desire, and to the participation of mankind in pleasures held in common by us with the powers of earth and sea and air. it is wonderful to watch the blending of elder and of younger forces in this process. the old gods lent a portion of their charm even to christian mythology, and showered their beauty-bloom on saints who died renouncing them. sodoma's sebastian is but hyacinth or hylas, transpierced with arrows, so that pain and martyrdom add pathos to his poetry of youthfulness. lionardo's s. john is a faun of the forest, ivy-crowned and laughing, on whose lips the word "repent" would be a gleeful paradox. for the painters of the full renaissance, roman martyrs and olympian deities--the heroes of the _acta sanctorum_, and the heroes of greek romance--were alike burghers of one spiritual city, the city of the beautiful and human. what exquisite and evanescent fragrance was educed from these apparently diverse blossoms by their interminglement and fusion--how the high-wrought sensibilities of the christian were added to the clear and radiant fancies of the greek, and how the frank sensuousness of the pagan gave body and fulness to the floating wraiths of an ascetic faith--remains a miracle for those who, like our master lionardo, love to scrutinise the secrets of twin natures and of double graces. there are not a few for whom the mystery is repellent, who shrink from it as from hermaphroditus. these will always find something to pain them in the art of the renaissance. having co-ordinated the christian and pagan traditions in its work of beauty, painting could advance no farther. the stock of its sustaining motives was exhausted. a problem that preoccupied the minds of thinking men at this epoch was how to harmonise the two chief moments of human culture, the classical and the ecclesiastical. without being as conscious of their hostility as we are, men felt that the pagan ideal was opposed to the christian, and at the same time that a reconciliation had to be effected. each had been worked out separately; but both were needed for the modern synthesis. all that aesthetic handling, in this region more precocious and more immediately fruitful than pure thought, could do towards mingling them, was done by the impartiality of the fine arts. painting, in the work of raphael, accomplished a more vital harmony than philosophy in the writings of pico and ficino. a new catholicity, a cosmopolitan orthodoxy of the beautiful, was manifested in his pictures. it lay outside his power, or that of any other artist, to do more than to extract from both revelations the elements of plastic beauty they contained, and to show how freely he could use them for a common purpose. nothing but the scientific method can in the long run enable us to reach that further point, outside both christianity and paganism, at which the classical ideal of a temperate and joyous natural life shall be restored to the conscience educated by the gospel. this, perchance, is the religion, still unborn or undeveloped, whereof joachim of flora dimly prophesied when he said that the kingdom of the father was past, the kingdom of the son was passing, and the kingdom of the spirit was to be. the essence of it is contained in the whole growth to usward of the human mind; and though a creed so highly intellectualised as that will be, can never receive adequate expression from the figurative arts, still the painting of the sixteenth century forms for it, as it were, a not unworthy vestibule. it does so, because it first succeeded in humanising the religion of the middle ages, in proclaiming the true value of antique paganism for the modern mind, and in making both subserve the purposes of free and unimpeded art. meanwhile, at the moment when painting was about to be exhausted, a new art had arisen, for which it remained, within the aesthetic sphere, to achieve much that painting could not do. when the cycle of christian ideas had been accomplished by the painters, and when the first passion for antiquity had been satisfied, it was given at last to music to express the soul in all its manifold feeling and complexity of movement. in music we see the point of departure where art leaves the domain of myths, christian as well as pagan, and occupies itself with the emotional activity of man alone, and for its own sake. melody and harmony, disconnected from words, are capable of receiving most varied interpretations, so that the same combinations of sound express the ecstasies of earthly and of heavenly love, conveying to the mind of the hearer only that element of pure passion which is the primitive and natural ground-material of either. they give distinct form to moods of feeling as yet undetermined; or, as the italians put it, _la musica è il lamento dell' amore o la preghiera a gli dei_. this, combined with its independence of all corporeal conditions, fenders music the true exponent of the spirit in its freedom, and therefore the essentially modern art. for painting, after the great work accomplished during the renaissance, when the painters ran through the whole domain of thought within the scope of that age, there only remained portraiture, history, dramatic incident, landscape, _genre_, still life, and animals. in these spheres the art is still exercised, and much good work, undoubtedly, is annually produced by european painters. but painting has lost its hold upon the centre of our intellectual activity. it can no longer give form to the ideas that at the present epoch rule the modern world. these ideas are too abstract, too much a matter of the understanding, to be successfully handled by the figurative arts; and it cannot be too often or too emphatically stated that these arts produce nothing really great and universal in relation to the spirit of their century, except by a process analogous to the mythopoetic. with conceptions incapable of being sensuously apprehended, with ideas that lose their value when they are incarnated, they have no power to deal. as meteors become luminous by traversing the grosser element of our terrestrial atmosphere, so the thoughts that art employs must needs immerse themselves in sensuousness. they must be of a nature to gain rather than to suffer by such immersion; and they must make a direct appeal to minds habitually apt to think in metaphors and myths. of this sort are all religious ideas at a certain stage of their development, and this attitude at certain moments of history is adopted by the popular consciousness. we have so far outgrown it, have so completely exchanged mythology for curiosity, and metaphor for science, that the necessary conditions for great art are wanting. our deepest thoughts about the world and god are incapable of personification by any aesthetic process; they never enter that atmosphere wherein alone they could become through fine art luminous. for the painter, who is the form-giver, they have ceased to be shining stars, and are seen as opaque stones; and though divinity be in them, it is a deity that refuses the investiture of form. footnotes: [ ] it may fairly be questioned whether that necessary connection between art and religion, which is commonly taken for granted, does in truth exist; in other words, whether great art might not flourish without any religious content. this, however, is a speculative problem, for present and the future rather than the past. historically, it has always been found that the arts in their origin are dependent on religion. nor is the reason far to seek. art aims at expressing an ideal; and this ideal is the transfiguration of human elements into something nobler, felt and apprehended by the imagination. such an ideal, such an all-embracing glorification of humanity only exists for simple and unsophisticated societies in the form of religion. religion is the universal poetry which all possess; and the artist, dealing with the mythology of his national belief, feels himself in vital sympathy with the imagination of the men for whom he works. more than the painter is required for the creation of great painting, and more than the poet for the exhibition of immortal verse. painters are but the hands, and poets but the voices, whereby peoples express their accumulated thoughts and permanent emotions. behind them crowd the generations of the myth-makers; and around them floats the vital atmosphere of enthusiasms on which their own souls and the souls of their brethren have been nourished. [ ] all thy strength and bloom are faded: who hath thus thy state degraded? death upon thy form is written; see the wan worn limbs, the smitten breast upon the cruel tree! thus despised and desecrated, thus in dying desolated, slain for me, of sinners vilest, loving lord, on me thou smilest: shine, bright face, and strengthen me! [ ] i am aware that many of my readers will demur that i am confounding christianity with ascetic or monastic christianity; yet i cannot read the new testament, the _imitatio christi_, the _confessions_ of s. augustine, and the _pilgrim's progress_ without feeling that christianity in its origin, and as understood by its chief champions, was and is ascetic. of this christianity i therefore speak, not of the philosophised christianity, which is reasonably regarded with suspicion by the orthodox and the uncompromising. it was, moreover, with christianity of this primitive type that the arts came first into collision. [ ] titian's "assumption of the virgin" at venice, correggio's "coronation of the virgin" at parma. [ ] domenichino, guido, ribera, salvator rosa. [ ] not to quote again the _imitatio christi,_ it is enough to allude to s. francis as shown in the _fioretti_. [ ] the difficulty of combining the true spirit of piety with the ideal of natural beauty in art was strongly felt by savonarola. rio (_l'art chrétien_, vol. ii. pp. - ) has written eloquently on this subject, but without making it plain how savonarola's condemnation of life studies from the nude could possibly have been other than an obstacle to the liberal and scientific prosecution of the art of painting. [ ] see rio, _l'art chrétien,_ vol. ii. chap. xi. pp. - , for an ingenious defence of mystic art. the tales he tells of bernardino da siena and the blessed umiliana will not win the sympathy of teutonic christians, who must believe that semi-sensuous, semi-pious raptures, like those described by s. catherine of siena and s. theresa, have something in them psychologically morbid. chapter ii architecture architecture of mediaeval italy--milan, genoa, venice--the despots as builders--diversity of styles--local influences--lombard, tuscan, romanesque, gothic--italian want of feeling for gothic--cathedrals of siena and orvieto--secular buildings of the middle ages--florence and venice--private palaces--public halls--palazzo della signoria at florence--arnolfo di cambio--s. maria del fiore--brunelleschi's dome--classical revival in architecture--roman ruins--three periods in renaissance architecture--their characteristics--brunelleschi --alberti--palace-building--michellozzo--decorative work of the revival--bramante--vitoni's church of the umiltà at pistoja--palazzo del te--villa farnesina--sansovino at venice--michael angelo--the building of s. peter's--palladio--the palazzo della ragione at vicenza--lombard architects--theorists and students of vitruvius--vignola and scamozzi--european influence of the palladian style--comparison of scholars and architects in relation to the revival of learning. architecture is always the first of the fine arts to emerge from barbarism in the service of religion and of civic life. a house, as hegel says, must be built for the god, before the image of the god, carved in stone or figured in mosaic, can be placed there. council chambers must be prepared for the senate of a state before the national achievements can be painted on the walls. thus italy, before the age of the renaissance proper, found herself provided with churches and palaces, which were destined in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to be adorned with frescoes and statues. it was in the middle of the thirteenth century, during the long struggle for independence carried on by the republics of lombardy and tuscany against the empire and the nobles, that some of the most durable and splendid public works were executed. the domes and towers of florence and of pisa were rising above the city walls, while the burghers who subscribed for their erection were staining the waves of meloria and the cane-brakes of the arbia with their blood. lombardy, at the end of her duel with frederick barbarossa, completed a vast undertaking, by which the fields of milan are still rendered more productive than any other pastureland in europe. the naviglio grande, bringing the waters of the ticino through a plain of thirty miles to milan, was begun in , and was finished in . the torrents of s. gothard and the simplon, which, after filling the lago maggiore, seemed destined to run wasteful through a wilderness of pebbles to the sea, were thus turned to account; and to this great engineering work, as bold as it was simple, milan owed the wealth that placed her princes on a level with the sovereigns of europe. at the same period she built her walls, and closed their circuit with the sixteen gates that showed she loved magnificence combined with strength. genoa, between and , protected her harbours by a gigantic mole, and in brought the streams of the ligurian alps into the city by an aqueduct worthy of old rome. venice had to win her very footing from the sea and sand. so firmly did she drive her piles, so vigilantly watch their preservation, that palaces and cathedrals of marble might be safely reared upon the bosom of the deep. meanwhile, stone bridges began to span the rivers of italy; the streets and squares of towns were everywhere paved with flags. before the first years of the fourteenth century the italian cities presented a spectacle of solid and substantial comfort, very startling to northerners who travelled from the unpaved lanes of london and the muddy labyrinths of paris. sismondi remarks with just pride that these great works were republican. they were set on foot for the public use, and were constructed at the expense of the commonwealths. it is, however, right to add that what the communes had begun the princes continued. to the splendid taste of the visconti dynasty, for instance, milan owed her wonderful duomo and the octagon bell-tower of s. gottardo. the certosas of pavia and chiaravalle, the palace of pavia, and a host of minor monuments remain in milan and its neighbourhood to prove how much a single family performed for the adornment of the cities they had subjugated. and what is true of milan applies to italy throughout its length and breadth. the despots held their power at the price of magnificence in schemes of public utility. so much at least of the free spirit of the communes survived in them, that they were always rivalling each other in great works of architecture. italian tyranny implied aesthetic taste and liberality of expenditure. in no way is the characteristic diversity of the italian communities so noticeable as in their buildings. each district, each town, has a well-defined peculiarity, reflecting the specific qualities of the inhabitants and the conditions under which they grew in culture. in some cases we may refer this local character to nationality and geographical position. thus the name of the lombards has been given to a style of romanesque, which prevailed through northern and central italy during the period of lombard ascendency.[ ] the tuscans never forgot the domes of their remote ancestors; the romans adhered closely to latin traditions; the southerners were affected by byzantine and saracenic models. in many instances the geology of the neighbourhood determined the picturesque features of its architecture. the clay-fields of the valley of the po produced the brickwork of cremona, pavia, crema, chiaravalle, and vercelli. to their quarries of _mandorlato_ the veronese builders owed the peach-bloom colours of their columned aisles. carrara provided the pisans with mellow marble for their baptistery and cathedral; monte ferrato supplied pistoja and prato with green serpentine; while the _pietra serena_ of the apennines added austerity to the interior of florentine buildings. again, in other instances, we detect the influence of commerce or of conquest. the intercourse of venice with alexandria determined the unique architecture of s. mark's. the arabs and the normans left ineffaceable traces of their sojourn on palermo. naples and messina still bear marks upon their churches of french workmen. all along the coasts we here and there find evidences of oriental style imported into mediaeval italy, while the impress of the spaniard is no less manifest in edifices of a later period. existing thus in the midst of many potent influences, and surrounded by the ruins of past civilisations, the italians recombined and mingled styles of marked variety. the roman, byzantine, saracenic, lombard, and german traditions were blended in their architecture, as the presiding genius of each place determined. it followed that master-works of rare and subtle invention were produced, while no one type was fully perfected, nor can we point to any paramount italian manner. in italy what was gained in richness and individuality was lost in uniformity and might. yet we may well wonder at the versatile appreciation of all types of beauty that these monuments evince. how strange, for example, it is to think of the venetians borrowing the form and structure of their temple from the mosques of alexandria, decking its façade with the horses of lysippus, and panelling the sanctuary with marbles from the harem-floors of eastern emperors; while at the other end of italy, at palermo, close beside the ruined colonnades of greek segesta, norman kings were embroidering their massive churches with saracenic arabesques and byzantine mosaics, interspersing delicate arabian tracery with rope-patterns and monsters of the deep, and linking cuphic sentences with scandinavian runes. meanwhile, at rome, tombs, baths, and theatres had been turned into fortresses. the orsini held the mole of hadrian; the savelli ensconced themselves in the theatre of marcellus, and the colonnesi in the mausoleum of augustus; the colosseum and the arches of constantine and titus harboured the frangipani; the baths of trajan housed the capocci; while the gaetani made a castle of caecilia metella's tomb. under those vast resounding vaults swarmed a brood of mediaeval _bravi_--like the wasps that hang their pear-shaped combs along the cloisters of pavia. there the ghost of the dead empire still sat throned and sceptred. the rites of christianity were carried on beneath agrippa's dome, in diocletian's baths, in the basilicas. no other style but that of the imperial people struck root near the eternal city. among her three hundred churches, rome can only show one gothic building. further to the north, where german influences were more potent, the cathedrals still displayed, each after its own kind, a sunny southern waywardness. glowing with marbles and mosaics, glittering with ornaments, where the foliage of the corinthian acanthus hides the symbols of the passion, and where birds and cupids peep from tangled fruits beneath grave brows of saints and martyrs; leaning now to the long low colonnades of the basilica, now to the high-built arches of the purely pointed style; surmounting the meeting point of nave and transept with etruscan domes; covering the façade with bas-reliefs, the roof with statues; raising the porch-pillars upon lions and winged griffins; flanking the nave with bell-towers, or planting them apart like flowers in isolation on the open square--these wonderful buildings, the delight and joy of all who love to trace variety in beauty, and to note the impress of a nation's genius upon its art, seem, like italy herself, to feel all influences and to assimilate all nationalities. amid the many styles of architecture contending for mastery in italy, three, before the age of the revival, bid fair to win the battle. these were the lombard, the tuscan romanesque, and the gothic. chronologically the two former flourished nearly during the same centuries, while gothic, coming from without, suspended their development. but chronology is of little help in the history of italian architecture; its main features being, not uniformity of progression, but synchronous diversity and salience of local type. what remained fixed through all changes in italy was a bias toward the forms of roman building, which eventually in the renaissance, becoming scientifically apprehended, determined the taste of the whole nation. it is, perhaps, not wholly fanciful to say that, as the lombards just failed to mould the italians by conquest into an united people, so their architecture fell short of creating one type for the peninsula.[ ] from some points of view the historian might regret that italy did not receive that thorough subjugation in the eighth century, which would have broken down local distinctions. such regrets, however, are singularly idle; for the main currents of the world's history move not by chance; and how, moreover, could italy have fulfilled her destiny without the divers forms of political existence that made her what she was? yet, standing before some of the great lombard churches, we are inclined to speculate, perhaps with better reason, what the result would have been if that style of architecture could have assumed the complete ascendency over the italians which the romanesque and gothic of the north exerted over france and england?[ ] the pyramidal façade common in these buildings, the campanili that suspend aërial lanterns upon plain square towers, the domes rising tier over tier from the intersection of nave and transept to end in minarets and pinnacles, the low long colonnades of marble pilasters, the open porches resting upon lions, the harmonious blending of baked clay and rosy-tinted stone, the bold combination of round and pointed arches, and the weird invention whereby every string-course and capital has been carved with lions, sphinxes, serpents, mermaids, griffins, harpies, winged horses, lizards, and knights in armour--all these are elements that might, we fancy, have been developed into a noble national style. as it is, the churches in question are often more bizarre than really beautiful. their peculiar character, however, is inseparably associated with the long reaches of green plain, the lordly rivers, and the background of blue hills and snowy alps that constitute the charm of lombard landscape. if lombard architecture, properly so-called, was partial in its influence and confined to a comparatively narrow local sphere, the same is true of the tuscan romanesque. the church of samminiato, near florence [about ], and the cathedral of pisa [begun ], not to mention other less eminent examples at lucca and pistoja, are sufficient evidences that in the darkest period of the middle ages the italians were aiming at an architectural renaissance. the influence of classical models is apparent both in the construction and the detail of these basilicas; while the deeply grounded preference of the italian genius for round arches, for colonnades of pillars and pilasters, and for large rectangular spaces, with low roofs and shallow tribunes, finds full satisfaction in these original and noble buildings. it is impossible to refrain from deploring that the romanesque of tuscany should have been checked in its development by the intrusion of the german gothic. had it run its course unthwarted, a national style suited to the temperament of the people might have been formed, and much that was pedantic in the revival of the fifteenth century have been obviated. the place of gothic architecture in italy demands fuller treatment. it was due partly to the direct influence of german emperors, partly to the imperial sympathies of the great nobles, partly to the franciscan friars, who aimed at building large churches cheaply, and partly to the admiration excited by the grandeur of the pointed style as it prevailed in northern europe, that gothic--so alien to the italian genius and climate--took root, spread widely, and flourished freely for a season. in thus enumerating the conditions favourable to the spread of gottico-tedesco, i am far from wishing to assert that this style was purely foreign. italy, in common with the rest of europe, passed by a natural process of evolution from the romanesque to the pointed manner, and treated the latter with an originality that proves a certain natural assimilation. yet the first gothic church, that of s. francis at assisi, was designed by a german; the most splendid, that of our lady at milan, is emphatically german.[ ] during the comparatively brief period of gothic ascendency the italians never forgot their latin and lombard sympathies. the mood of mind in which they gothicised was partial and transient. the evolution of this style was, therefore, neither so spontaneous and simple, nor yet so uninterrupted and complete, in italy as in the north. while it produced the church of s. francesco at assisi and the cathedrals of siena, orvieto, lucca, bologna, florence, and milan, together with the town-halls of perugia, siena, and florence, it failed to take firm hold upon the national taste, and died away before the growing passion for antiquity that restored the italians to a sense of their own intellectual greatness. it is clear that, as soon as they were conscious of their vocation to revive the culture of the classic age, they at once and for ever abandoned the style appropriate to northern feudalism. they seem to have adopted it half-unwillingly and to have understood it only in the imperfect way in which they comprehended chivalry. the italians never rightly apprehended the specific nature of gothic architecture. they could not forget the horizontal lines, flat roofs, and blank walls of the basilica. like their roman ancestors, they aimed at covering the ground with the smallest possible expenditure of construction; to enclose large spaces within simple limits was their first object, and the effect of beauty or sublimity was gained by the proportions given to the total area. when, therefore, they adopted the gothic style, they failed to perceive that its true merit consists in the negation of nearly all that the latin style holds precious. horizontal lines are as far as possible annihilated; walls are lost in windows; aisles and columns, apses and chapels, are multiplied with a view to complexity of architectonic effect; flat roofs become intolerable. the whole force employed in the construction has an upward tendency, and the spire is the completion of the edifice; for to the spire its countless soaring lines--lines not of stationary strength, but of ascendent growth--converge. all this the italians were slow to comprehend. the campanile, for example, never became an integral part of their buildings. it stood alone, and was reserved for its original purpose of keeping the bells. the windows, for a reason very natural in italy, where there is rather too much than too little sunlight, were curtailed; and instead of the multiplied bays and clustered columns of a northern gothic aisle, the nave of so vast a church as s. petronio at bologna is measured by six arches raised on simple piers. the façade of an italian cathedral was studied as a screen, quite independently of its relation to the interior; in the beautiful church of crema, for example, the moon at night looks through the upper windows of a frontispiece raised far above the low roof of the nave. for the total effect of the exterior, as will be apparent to anyone who observes the duomo of orvieto from behind, no thought was taken. in this way the italians missed the point and failed to perceive the poetry of gothic architecture. its symbolical significance was lost upon them; perhaps we ought to say that the italian temperament, in art as in religion, was incapable of assimilating the vague yet powerful mysticism of the teutonic races. on the other hand, what they sacrificed of genuine gothic character, was made good after their own fashion. surface decoration, whether of fresco or mosaic, bronze-work or bas-relief, wood-carving or panelling in marble, baked clay or enamelled earthenware was never carried to such perfection in gothic buildings of the purer type; nor had sculpture in the north an equal chance of detaching itself from the niche and tabernacle, which forced it to remain the slave of architecture. thus the comparative defects of italian gothic were directly helpful in promoting those very arts for which the people had a genius unrivalled among modern nations. it is only necessary to contrast the two finest cathedrals of this style, those of siena and orvieto, with two such buildings as the cathedrals of rheims and salisbury, in order to perceive the structural inferiority of the former, as well as their superiority for all subordinate artistic purposes. long straight lines, low roofs, narrow windows, a façade of surprising splendour but without a strict relation to the structure of the nave and aisles, a cupola surmounting the intersection of nave, choir, and transepts; simple tribunes at the east end, a detached campanile, round columns instead of clustered piers, a mixture of semicircular and pointed arches; these are some of the most salient features of the sienese duomo. but the material is all magnificent; and the hand, obedient to the dictates of an artist's brain, has made itself felt on every square foot of the building. alternate courses of white and black marble, cornices loaded with grave or animated portraits of the popes, sculptured shrines, altars, pulpits, reliquaries, fonts and holy-water vases, panels of inlaid wood and pictured pavements, bronze candelabra and wrought-iron screens, gilding and colour and precious work of agate and lapis lazuli--the masterpieces of men famous each in his own line--delight the eye in all directions. the whole church is a miracle of richness, a radiant and glowing triumph of inventive genius, the product of a hundred master-craftsmen toiling through successive centuries to do their best. all its countless details are so harmonised by the controlling taste, so brought together piece by piece in obedience to artistic instinct, that the total effect is ravishingly beautiful. yet it is clear that no one paramount idea, determining and organising all these marvels, existed in the mind of the first architect. in true gothic work the details that make up the charm of this cathedral would have been subordinated to one architectonic thought; they would not have been suffered to assert their individuality, or to contribute, except as servants, to the whole effect. the northern gothic church is like a body with several members; the southern gothic church is an accretion of beautiful atoms. the northern gothic style corresponds to the national unity of federalised races, organised by a social hierarchy of mutually dependent classes. in the southern gothic style we find a mirror of political diversity, independent personality, burgher-like equality, despotic will. thus the specific qualities of italy on her emergence from the middle ages may be traced by no undue exercise of the fancy in her monuments. they are emphatically the creation of citizens--of men, to use giannotti's phrase, distinguished by alternating obedience and command, not ranked beneath a monarchy, but capable themselves of sovereign power.[ ] what has been said of siena is no less true of the duomo of orvieto. though it seems to aim at a severer gothic, and though the façade is more architecturally planned, a single glance at the exterior of the edifice shows that the builders had no lively sense of the requirements of the style they used. what can be more melancholy than those blank walls, broken by small round recesses protruding from the side chapels of the nave, those gaunt and barren angles at the east end, and those few pinnacles appended at a venture? it is clear that the spirit of the northern gothic manner has been wholly misconceived. on the other hand, the interior is noble. the feeling for space possessed by the architect has expressed itself in proportions large and solemn; the area enclosed, though somewhat cold and vacuous to northern taste, is at least impressive by its severe harmony. but the real attractions of the church are isolated details. wherever the individual artist-mind has had occasion to emerge, there our gaze is riveted, our criticism challenged, our admiration won. the frescoes of signorelli, the bas-reliefs of the pisani, the statuary of lo scalza and mosca, the tarsia of the choir stalls, the alexandrine work and mosaics of the façade, the bronzes placed upon its brackets, and the wrought acanthus scrolls of its superb pilasters--these are the objects for inexhaustible wonder in the cathedral of orvieto. on approaching a building of this type, we must abandon our conceptions of organic architecture: only the greek and northern gothic styles deserve that epithet. we must not seek for severe discipline and architectonic design. instead of one presiding, all-determining idea, we must be prepared to welcome a wealth of separate beauties, wrought out by men of independent genius, whereby each part is made a masterpiece, and many diverse elements become a whole of picturesque rather than architectural impressiveness. it would not be difficult to extend this kind of criticism to the duomo of milan. speaking strictly, a more unlucky combination of different styles--the pyramidal façade of lombard architecture and the long thin lights of german gothic, for example--a clumsier misuse of ill-appropriated details in the heavy piers of the nave, or a more disastrous adjustment of the monster windows to the main lines of the nave and aisles, could scarcely be imagined. yet no other church, perhaps, in europe leaves the same impression of the marvellous upon the fancy. the splendour of its pure white marble, blushing with the rose of evening or of dawn, radiant in noonday sunlight, and fabulously fairy-like beneath the moon and stars, the multitudes of statues sharply cut against a clear blue sky, and gazing at the alps across that memorable tract of plain, the immense space and light-irradiated gloom of the interior, the deep tone of the bells above at a vast distance, and the gorgeous colours of the painted glass, contribute to a scenical effect unparalleled in christendom. the two styles, lombard and gothic, of which i have been speaking, were both in a certain sense exotic. within the great cities the pith of the population was latin; and no style of building that did not continue the tradition of the romans, in the spirit of the roman manner, and with strict observance of its details, satisfied them. it was a main feature of the renaissance that, when the italians undertook the task of reuniting themselves by study with the past, they abandoned all other forms of architecture, and did their best to create one in harmony with the relics of latin monuments. to trace the history of this revived classic architecture will occupy me later in this chapter; but for the moment it is necessary to turn aside and consider briefly the secular buildings of italy before the date of the renaissance proper. about the same time that the cathedrals were being built, the nobles filled the towns with fortresses. these at first were gaunt and unsightly; how overcrowded with tall bare towers a mediaeval italian city could be, is still shown by san gemignano, the only existing instance where the _torroni_ have been left untouched.[ ] in course of time, when the aristocracy came to be fused with the burghers, and public order was maintained by law in the great cities, these forts made way for spacious palaces. the temper of the citizens in each place and the local character of artistic taste determined the specific features of domestic as of ecclesiastical architecture. though it is hard to define what are the social differences expressed by the large quadrangles of francesco sforza's hospital at milan, and the heavy cube of the riccardi palace at florence, we feel that the _genius loci_ has in each case controlled the architect. the sunny spaces of the one building, with its terra-cotta traceries of birds and grapes and cupids, contrast with the stern brown mouldings and impenetrable solidity of the other. that the one was raised by the munificence of a sovereign in his capital, while the other was the dwelling of a burgher in a city proud of its antique sobriety, goes some way to explain the difference. in like manner the court-life of a dynastic principality produced the castle of urbino, so diverse in its style and adaptation from the ostentatious mansions of the genoese merchants. it is not fanciful to say that the civic life of a free and factious republic is represented by the heavy walls and narrow windows of florentine dwelling-places. in their rings of iron, welded between rock and rock about the basement, as though for the beginning of a barricade--in their torch-rests of wrought metal, gloomy portals and dimly-lighted courts, we trace the habits of caution and reserve that marked the men who led the parties of uberti and albizzi. the sienese palaces are lighter and more elegant in style, as belonging to a people proverbially pleasure-loving; while a still more sumptuous and secure mode of life finds expression in the open loggie and spacious staircases of venice. the graceful buildings which overhang the grand canal are exactly fitted for an oligarchy, sure of its own authority and loved of the people. feudal despotism, on the contrary, reigns in the heart of ferrara, where the este's stronghold, moated, draw-bridged, and portcullised, casting dense shadow over the water that protects the dungeons, still seems to threaten the public square and overawe the homes of men. to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, again, we owe the town halls and public palaces that form so prominent a feature in the city architecture of italy. the central vitality of once powerful states is symbolised in the _broletti_ of the lombard cities, dusty and abandoned now in spite of their clear-cut terra-cotta traceries. there is something strangely melancholy in their desolation. wandering through the vast hall of the ragione at padua, where the very shadows seem asleep as they glide over the wide unpeopled floor, it is not easy to remember that this was once the theatre of eager intrigues, ere the busy stir of the old burgh was utterly extinguished. few of these public palaces have the good fortune to be distinguished, like that of the doge at venice, by world-historical memories and by works of art as yet unrivalled. the spirit of the venetian republic still lives in that unique building. architects may tell us that its gothic arcades are melodramatic; sculptors may depreciate the decorative work of sansovino; painters may assert that the genius of titian, tintoret, and veronese shines elsewhere with greater lustre. yet the poet clings with ever-deepening admiration to the sea-born palace of the ancient mistress of the sea, and the historian feels that here, as at athens, art has made the past towards which he looks eternal. two other great italian houses of the commonwealth, rearing their towers above the town for tocsin and for ward, owe immortality to their intrinsic beauty. these are the palazzo pubblico of siena and the palazzo vecchio of florence. few buildings in europe are more picturesquely fascinating than the palace of siena, with its outlook over hill and dale to cloud-capped monte amiata. yet, in spite of its unparalleled position on the curved and sloping piazza, where the _contrade_ of siena have run their _palio_ for centuries, this palace lacks the vivid interest attaching to the home arnolfo raised at florence for the rulers of his native city. during their term of office the priors never quitted the palace of the signory. all deliberations on state affairs took place within its walls, and its bell was the pulse that told how the heart of florence throbbed. the architect of this huge mass of masonry was arnolfo del cambio, one of the greatest builders of the middle ages, a man who may be called the michael angelo of the thirteenth century[ ]. in he was ordered to erect a dwelling-place for the commonwealth, to the end that the people might be protected in their fortress from the violence of the nobles. the building of the palace and the levelling of the square around it were attended with circumstances that bring forcibly before our minds the stern conditions of republican life in mediaeval italy. a block of houses had to be bought from the family of foraboschi; and their tower, called torre della vacca, was raised and turned into the belfry of the priors. there was not room enough, however, to construct the palace itself with right angles, unless it were extended into the open space where once had stood the houses of the uberti, "traitors to florence and ghibellines." in destroying these, the burghers had decreed that thenceforth for ever the feet of men should pass where the hearths of the proscribed nobles once had blazed. arnolfo begged that he might trespass on this site; but the people refused permission. where the traitors' nest had been, there the sacred foundations of the public house should not be laid. consequently the florentine palazzo is, was, and will be cramped of its correct proportions[ ]. no italian architect has enjoyed the proud privilege of stamping his own individuality more strongly on his native city than arnolfo; and for this reason it may be permitted to enlarge upon his labours here. when we take our stand upon the hill of samminiato, the florence at our feet owes her physiognomy in a great measure to this man. the tall tower of the palazzo vecchio, the bulk of the duomo, and the long low oblong mass of santa croce are all his. his too are the walls that define the city of flowers from the gardens round about her.[ ] even the master-works of his successors subordinate their beauty to his first conception. giotto's campanile, brunelleschi's cupola, and orcagna's church of orsammichele, in spite of their undoubted and authentic originality, are placed where he had planned. in the florentines determined to rebuild their mother-church upon a scale of unexampled grandeur. the commission given to their architect displays so strikingly the lordly spirit in which these burghers set about the work, that, though it has been often quoted, a portion of the document shall be recited here. "since the highest mark of prudence in a people of noble origin is to proceed in the management of their affairs so that their magnanimity and wisdom may be evinced in their outward acts, we order arnolfo, head-master of our commune, to make a design for the renovation of santa reparata in a style of magnificence which neither the industry nor the power of man can surpass, that it may harmonise with the opinion of many wise persons in this city and state, who think that this commune should not engage in any enterprise unless its intention be to make the result correspond with that noblest sort of heart which is composed of the united will of many citizens."[ ] from giovanni villani we learn what taxes were levied by the wool-guild, and set apart in for the completion of the building. they were raised upon all goods bought or sold within the city in two separate rates, the net produce amounting in the first year to , lire.[ ] the cathedral designed by arnolfo was of vast dimensions: it covers , feet, while that of cologne covers , feet; and, says fergusson, "as far as mere conception of plan goes, there can be little doubt but that the florentine cathedral far surpasses its german rival."[ ] nothing, indeed, can be imagined more noble than the scheme of this huge edifice. studying its ground-plan, and noting how the nave unfolds into a mighty octagon, which in its turn displays three well-proportioned apses, we are induced to think that a sublimer thought has never been expressed in stone. at this point, however, our admiration receives a check. in the execution of the parts the builder dwarfed what had been conceived on so magnificent a scale; aiming at colossal simplicity, he failed to secure the multiplicity of subordinated members essential to the total effect of size. "like all inexperienced architects, he seems to have thought that greatness of parts would add to the greatness of the whole, and in consequence used only four great arches in the whole length of his nave, giving the central aisle a width of fifty-five feet clear. the whole width is within ten feet of that of cologne, and the height about the same; and yet, in appearance, the height is about half, and the breadth less than half, owing to the better proportion of the parts and to the superior appropriateness in the details on the part of the german cathedral."[ ] the truth of these remarks will be felt by every one on whom the ponderous vacuity of the interior has weighed. other notable defects there are too in this building, proceeding chiefly from the italian misconception of gothic style. the windows are few and narrow, so that little light even at noonday struggles through them; and broad barren spaces of grey walls oppress the eye. externally the whole church is panelled with parti-coloured marbles, according to florentine custom; but this panelling bears no relation to the structure: it is so much surface decoration possessing value chiefly for the colourist. arnolfo died before the dome, as he designed it, could be placed upon the octagon, and nothing is known for certain about the form he meant it to assume. it seems, however, probable that he intended to adopt something similar to the dome of chiaravalle, which ends, after a succession of narrowing octagons, in a slender conical pyramid.[ ] subordinate spires would then have been placed at each of the four angles where the nave and transepts intersect; and the whole external effect, for richness and variety, would have outrivalled that of any european building. it is well known that the erection of the dome was finally entrusted to brunelleschi in . arnolfo's church now sustains in air an octagonal cupola of the simplest possible design, in height and size rivalling that of s. peter's. it was thus that the genius of the renaissance completed what the genius of the middle ages had begun. but in italy there was no real break between the two periods. though arnolfo employed the pointed style in his design, we find nothing genuinely gothic in the church. it has no pinnacles, flying buttresses, side chapels, or subordinate supports. to use the phrase of michelet, who has chosen the dramatic episode of brunelleschi's intervention in the rearing of the dome for a parable of the renaissance, "the colossal church stood up simply, naturally, as a strong man in the morning rises from his bed without the need of staff or crutch."[ ] this indeed is the glory of italian as compared with northern architecture. the italians valued the strength of simple perspicuity: all the best works of their builders are geometrical ideas of the purest kind translated into stone. it is, however, true that the gain of vast aërial space was hardly sufficient to compensate for the impression of emptiness they leave upon the senses. we feel this very strongly when we study the model prepared by bramante's pupil, cristoforo rocchi, for the cathedral of pavia; yet here we see the neo-latin genius of the italian artist working freely in an element exactly suited to his powers. when the same order of genius sought to express its conception through the language of the gothic style, the result was invariably defective.[ ] the classical revival of the fifteenth century made itself immediately felt in architecture; and brunelleschi's visit to rome in may be fixed as the date of the renaissance in this art. gothic, as we have already seen, was an alien in italy. its importation from the north had checked the free development of national architecture, which in the eleventh century began at pisa by a conscious return to classic details. but the reign of gothic was destined to be brief. petrarch and boccaccio, as i showed in my last volume, turned the whole intellectual energy of the florentines into the channels of latin and greek scholarship.[ ] the ancient world absorbed all interests, and the italians with one will shook themselves free of the medieval style they never rightly understood, and which they henceforth stigmatised as barbarous.[ ] the problem that occupied all the renaissance architects was how to restore the manner of ancient rome as far as possible, adapting it to the modern requirements of ecclesiastical, civic, and domestic buildings. of greek art they knew comparatively nothing: nor indeed could greek architecture have offered for their purpose the same plastic elements as roman--itself a derived style, admitting of easier adjustment to modern uses than the inflexibly pure art of greece. at the same time they possessed but imperfect fragments of roman work. the ruins of baths, theatres, tombs, temple-fronts, and triumphal arches, were of little immediate assistance in the labour of designing churches and palaces. all that the architects could do, after familiarising themselves with the remains of ancient rome, and assimilating the spirit of roman art, was to clothe their own inventions with classic details. the form and structure of their edifices were modern; the parts were copied from antique models. a want of organic unity and structural sincerity is always the result of those necessities under which a secondary and adapted style must labour; and thus the pseudo-roman buildings even of the best renaissance period display faults similar to those of the italian gothic. while they are remarkable for grandeur of effect in all that concerns the distribution of light and shade, the covering and enclosing of space, and the disposition of masses, they show at best but a superficial correspondence between the borrowed forms and the construction these are used to mask.[ ] the edifices of this period abound in more or less successful shams, in surface decoration more or less pleasing to the eye; their real greatness, meanwhile, consists in the feeling for spatial proportions and for linear harmonies possessed by their architects. three periods in the development of renaissance architecture may be roughly marked.[ ] the first, extending from to , is the age of experiment and of luxuriant inventiveness. the second embraces the first forty years of the sixteenth century. the most perfect buildings of the italian renaissance were produced within this short space of time. the third, again comprising about forty years, from to , leads onward to the reign of mannerism and exaggeration, called by the italians _barocco_. in itself the third period is distinguished by a scrupulous purism bordering upon pedantry, strict adherence to theoretical rules, and sacrifice of inventive qualities to established canons. to do more than briefly indicate the masterpieces of these three periods, would be impossible in a work that does not pretend to treat of architecture exhaustively: and yet to omit all notice of the builders of this age and of their styles, would be to neglect the most important art-phase of the time i have undertaken to illustrate. in the first period we are bewildered by the luxuriance of creative powers and by the rioting of the fancy in all forms of beauty indiscriminately mingled. in general we detect a striving after effects not fully realised, and a tendency to indulge in superfluous ornament without regard for strictness of design. the imperfect comprehension of classical models and the exuberant vivacity of the imagination in the fifteenth century account for the florid work of this time. something too is left of mediaeval fancy; the details borrowed from the antique undergo fantastic transmutation at the hands of men accustomed to the vehement emotion of the romantic ages. whatever the renaissance took from antique art, it was at first unable to assimilate either the moderation of the greeks or the practical sobriety of the romans. christianity had deepened and intensified the sources of imaginative life; and just as reminiscences of classic style impaired italian gothic, so now a trace of gothic is perceptible in the would-be classic work of the revival. the result of these combined influences was a wonderful and many-featured hybrid, best represented in one monument by the façade of the certosa at pavia. while characterising the work of the earlier renaissance as fused of divers manners, we must not forget that it was truly living, full of purpose, and according to its own standard sincere. it was a new birth; no mere repetition of something dead and gone, but the product of vivid forces stirred to original creativeness by admiration for the past. it corresponded, moreover, with exquisite exactitude to the halting of the conscience between christianity and paganism, and to the blent beauty that the poets loved. on reeds dropped from the hands of dead pan the artists of this period, each in his, own sphere, piped ditties of romance. to these general remarks upon the style of the first period the florentine architects offer an exception; and yet the first marked sign of a new era in the art of building was given at florence. purity of taste and firmness of judgment, combined with scientific accuracy, were always distinctive of florentines. to such an extent did these qualities determine their treatment of the arts that acute critics have been found to tax them--and in my opinion justly--with hardness and frigidity.[ ] brunelleschi in designed the basilica of s. lorenzo after an original but truly classic type, remarkable for its sobriety and correctness. what he had learned from the ruins of rome he here applied in obedience to his own artistic instinct. s. lorenzo is a columnar edifice with round arches and semicircular apses. not a form or detail in the whole church is strictly speaking at variance with roman precedent; and yet the general effect resembles nothing we possess of antique work. it is a masterpiece of intelligent renaissance adaptation. the same is true of s. spirito, built in , after brunelleschi's death, according to his plans. the extraordinary capacity of this great architect will, however, win more homage from ordinary observers when they contemplate the pitti palace and the cupola of the cathedral. both of these are master-works of personal originality. what is roman in the pitti palace, is the robust simplicity of massive strength; but it is certain that no patrician of the republic or the empire inhabited a house at all resembling this. the domestic habits of the middle ages, armed for self-defence, and on guard against invasion from without, still find expression in the solid bulk of this forbidding dwelling-place, although its majesty and largeness show that the reign of milder and more courtly manners has begun. to speak of the cupola of the duomo in connection with a simple revival of roman taste, would be equally inappropriate. it remains a tour de force of individual genius, cultivated by the experience of gothic vault-building, and penetrated with the greatness of imperial rome. its spirit of dauntless audacity and severe concentration alone is antique. almost contemporary with brunelleschi was leo battista alberti, a florentine, who, working upon somewhat different principles, sought more closely to reproduce the actual elements of roman architecture.[ ] in his remodelling of s. francesco at rimini the type he followed was that of the triumphal arch, and what was finished of that wonderful façade, remains to prove how much might have been made of well-proportioned pilasters and nobly curved arcades.[ ] the same principle is carried out in s. andrea at mantua. the frontispiece of this church is a gigantic arch of triumph; the interior is noticeable for its simple harmony of parts, adopted from the vaulted baths of rome. the combination of these antique details in an imposing structure implied a high imaginative faculty at a moment when the rules of classic architecture had not been as yet reduced to method. yet the weakness of alberti's principle is revealed when we consider that here the lofty central arch of the façade serves only for a decoration. too high and spacious even for the chariots of a roman triumph, it forms an inappropriate entrance to the modest vestibule of a christian church. like brunelleschi, alberti applied his talents to the building of a palace in florence that became a model to subsequent architects. the palazzo rucellai retains many details of the mediaeval tuscan style, especially in the windows divided by slender pilasters. but the three orders introduced by way of surface decoration, the doorways, and the cornices, are transcripts from roman ruins. this building, one of the most beautiful in italy, was copied by francesco di giorgio and bernardo fiorentino for the palaces they constructed at pienza. this was the age of sumptuous palace-building; and for no purpose was the early renaissance style better adapted than for the erection of dwelling-houses that should match the free and worldly splendour of those times. the just medium between mediaeval massiveness and classic simplicity was attained in countless buildings beautiful and various beyond description. bologna is full of them; and urbino, in the ducal palace, contains one specimen unexampled in extent and unique in interest. yet here, as in all departments of fine art, florence takes the lead. after brunelleschi and alberti came michellozzo, the favourite architect of cosimo de' medici; benedetto da majano; giuliano and antonio di san gallo; and il cronaca. cosimo de' medici, having said that "envy is a plant no man should water," denied himself the monumental house designed by brunelleschi, and chose instead the modest plan of michellozzo. brunelleschi had meant to build the casa medici along one side of the piazza di s. lorenzo; but when cosimo refused his project, he broke up the model he had made, to the great loss of students of this age of architecture. michellozzo was then commissioned to raise the mighty, but comparatively humble, riccardi palace at the corner of the via larga, which continued to be the residence of the medici through all their chequered history, until at last they took possession of the palazzo pitti.[ ] the most beautiful of all florentine dwelling-houses designed at this period is that which benedetto da majano built for filippo strozzi. combining the burgher-like austerity of antecedent ages with a grandeur and a breadth of style peculiar to the renaissance, the palazzo strozzi may be chosen as the perfect type of florentine domestic architecture.[ ] other cities were supplied by florence with builders, and milan owed her fanciful ospedale maggiore at this epoch to antonio filarete, a florentine. this great edifice illustrates the emancipation from fixed rule that distinguishes much of the architecture of the earlier renaissance. the detail is not unfrequently gothic, especially in the pointed windows; but the feeling of the whole structure, in its airy space and lightness, delicate terra-cotta mouldings, and open loggie, is truly cinque cento.[ ] in no other style than this of the earlier renaissance is the builder more inseparably connected with the decorator. the labours of the stone-carver, who provided altars chased with scripture histories in high relief, pulpits hung against a column of the nave, tombs with canopies and floral garlands, organ galleries enriched with bas-reliefs of singing boys, ciboria with kneeling and adoring angels, marble tabernacles for relics, vases for holy water, fonts and fountains, and all the indescribable wealth of scrolls and friezes around doors and screens and balustrades that fence the choir, are added to those of the bronze-founder, with his mighty doors and pendent lamps, his candelabra sustained by angels, torch-rests and rings, embossed basements for banners of state, and portraits of recumbent senators or prelates.[ ] the wood carver contributes _tarsia_ like that of fra giovanni da verona.[ ] the worker in wrought iron welds such screens as guard the chapel of the sacra cintola at prato. the robbias prepare their delicately-toned reliefs for the lunettes above the doorways. modellers in clay produce the terra-cotta work of the certosa, or the carola of angels who surround the little cupola behind the church of s. eustorgio at milan.[ ] meanwhile mosaics are provided for the dome or let into the floor;[ ] agates and marbles and lapis lazuli are pieced together for altar fronts and panellings;[ ] stalls are carved into fantastic patterns, and heavy roofs are embossed with figures of the saints and armorial emblems.[ ] tapestry is woven from the designs of excellent masters;[ ] great painters contribute arabesques of fresco or of stucco mixed with gilding, and glass is coloured from the outlines of such draughtsmen as ghiberti. some of the decorative elements i have hastily enumerated, will be treated in connection with the respective arts of sculpture and painting. the fact, meanwhile, deserves notice that they received a new development in relation to architecture during the first period of the renaissance, and that they formed, as it were, an integral part of its main aesthetical purpose. strip a chapel of the fifteenth century of ornamental adjuncts, and an uninteresting shell is left: what, for instance, would the façades of the certosa and the cappella colleoni be without their sculptured and inlaid marbles? the genius of the age found scope in subordinate details, and the most successful architect was the man who combined in himself a feeling for the capacities of the greatest number of associated arts. as the consequence of this profuse expenditure of loving care on every detail, the monuments of architecture belonging to the earlier renaissance have a poetry that compensates for structural defects; just as its wildest literary extravagances--the _hypnerotomachia poliphili_, for instance--have a charm of wanton fancy and young joy that atones to sympathetic students for intolerable pedantries. in the second period the faults of the first group of renaissance builders were in a large measure overcome, and their striving after the production of new yet classic form was more completely realised. the reckless employment of luxuriant decoration yielded to a chastened taste, without the sacrifice of beauty or magnificence. style was refined; the construction of large buildings was better understood, and the instinct for what lies within the means of a revived and secondary manner was more true. to bramante must be assigned the foremost place among the architects of the golden age.[ ] though little of his work survives entire and unspoiled, it is clear that he exercised the profoundest influence over both successors and contemporaries. what they chiefly owed to him, was the proper subordination of beauty in details to the grandeur of simplicity and to unity of effect. he came at a moment when constructive problems had been solved, when mechanical means were perfected, and when the sister arts had reached their highest point. his early training in lombardy accustomed him to the adoption of clustered piers instead of single columns, to semicircular apses and niches, and to the free use of minor cupolas--elements of design introduced neither by brunelleschi nor by alberti into the renaissance style of florence, but which were destined to determine the future of architecture for all italy. nature had gifted bramante with calm judgment and refined taste; his sense of the right limitations of the pseudo-roman style was exquisite, and his feeling for structural symmetry was just. if his manner strikes us as somewhat cold and abstract when compared with the more genial audacities of the earlier renaissance, we must remember how salutary was the example of a rigorous and modest manner in an age which required above all things to be preserved from its own luxuriant waywardness of fancy. it is hard to say how much of the work ascribed to bramante in northern italy is genuine; most of it, at any rate, belongs to the manner of his youth. the church of s. maria della consolazione at todi, the palace of the cancelleria at rome, and the unfinished cathedral of pavia, enable us to comprehend the general character of this great architect's refined and noble manner. s. peter's, it may be said in passing, retains, in spite of all subsequent modifications, many essentially bramantesque features--especially in the distribution of the piers and rounded niches. bramante formed no school strictly so called, though his pupils, cristoforo rocchi and ventura vitoni, carried out his principles of building at pavia and pistoja. vitoni's church of the umiltà in the latter city is a pure example of conscientious neo-roman architecture. it consists of a large octagon surmounted by a dome and preceded by a lofty vaulted atrium or vestibule. the single round arch of this vestibule repeats the _testudo_ of a roman bath, and the decorative details are accurately reproduced from similar monuments. unfortunately, giorgio vasari, who was employed to finish the cupola, spoiled its effect by raising it upon an ugly attic; it is probable that the church, as designed by vitoni, would have presented the appearance of a miniature pantheon. at rome the influence of bramante was propagated through raphael, giulio romano, and baldassare peruzzi. raphael's claim to consideration as an architect rests upon the palazzi vidoni and pandolfini, the cappella chigi in s. maria del popolo, and the villa madama. the last-named building, executed by giulio romano after raphael's design, is carried out in a style so forcible as to make us fancy that the pupil had a larger share in its creation than his teacher. these works, however, sink into insignificance before the palazzo del te at mantua, the masterpiece of giulio's genius. this most noble of italian pleasure-houses remains to show what the imagination of a poet-artist could recover from the splendour of old rome and adapt to the use of his own age. the vaults of the thermae of titus, with their cameos of stucco and frescoed arabesques, are here repeated on a scale and with an exuberance of invention that surpass the model. open loggie yield fair prospect over what were once trim gardens; spacious halls, adorned with frescoes in the vehement and gorgeous style of the roman school, form a fit theatre for the grand parade-life of an italian prince. the whole is pagan in its pride and sensuality, its prodigality of strength and insolence of freedom. having seen this palace, we do not wonder that the fame of giulio flew across the alps and lived upon the lips of shakspere: for in his master-work at mantua he collected, as it were, and epitomised in one building all that enthralled the fancy of the northern nations when they thought of italy. a pendant to the palazzo del te is the villa farnesina, raised on the banks of the tiber by baldassare peruzzi for his fellow townsman agostino chigi of siena. it is an idyll placed beside a lyric ode, gentler and quieter in style, yet full of grace, breathing the large and liberal spirit of enjoyment that characterised the age of leo. the frescoes of galatea and psyche, executed by raphael and his pupils, have made this villa famous in the annals of italian painting. the memory of the roman banker's splendid style of living marks it out as no less noteworthy in the history of renaissance manners.[ ] among the great edifices of this second period we may reckon jacopo sansovino's buildings at venice, though they approximate rather to the style of the earlier renaissance in all that concerns exuberance of decorative detail. the venetians, somewhat behind the rest of italy in the development of the fine arts, were at the height of prosperity and wealth during the middle period of the renaissance; and no city is more rich in monuments of the florid style. something of their own delight in sensuous magnificence they communicated even to the foreigners who dwelt among them. the court of the ducal palace, the scuola di s. rocco, the palazzo corner, and the palazzo vendramini-calergi, illustrate the, strong yet fanciful _bravura_ style that pleased the aristocracy of venice. nowhere else does the architecture of the middle ages melt by more imperceptible degrees into that of the revival, retaining through all changes the impress of a people splendour-loving in the highest sense. the library of s. mark, built by sansovino in , remains, however, the crowning triumph of venetian art. it is impossible to contemplate its noble double row of open arches without feeling the eloquence of rhetoric so brilliant, without echoing the judgment of palladio, that nothing more sumptuous or beautiful had been invented since the age of ancient rome. time would fail to tell of all the architects who crowd the first half of the sixteenth century--of antonio di san gallo, famous for fortifications; of baccio d'agnolo, who raised the campanile of s. spirito at florence; of giovanni maria falconetto, to whose genius padua owed so many princely edifices; of michele sanmicheli, the military architect of verona, and the builder of five mighty palaces for the nobles of his native city. yet the greatest name of all this period cannot be omitted: michael angelo must be added to the list of builders in the golden age. in architecture, as in sculpture, he not only bequeathed to posterity masterpieces of individual energy and original invention, in their kind unrivalled; but he also prepared for his successors a false way of working, and justified by his example the extravagances of the decadence. without noticing the façade designed for s. lorenzo at florence, the transformation of the baths of diocletian into a church, the remodelling of the capitoline buildings, and the continuation of the palazzo farnese--works that either exist only in drawings or have been confused by later alterations--it is enough here to mention the sagrestia nuova of s. lorenzo and the cupola of s. peter's. the sacristy may be looked on either as the masterpiece of a sculptor who required fit setting for his statues, or of an architect who designed statues to enhance the structure he had planned. both arts are used with equal ease, nor has the genius of michael angelo dealt more masterfully with the human frame than with the forms of roman architecture in this chapel. he seems to have paid no heed to classic precedent, and to have taken no pains to adapt the parts to the structural purpose of the building. it was enough for him to create a wholly novel framework for the modern miracle of sculpture it enshrines, attending to such rules of composition as determine light and shade, and seeking by the slightness of mouldings and pilasters to enhance the terrible and massive forms that brood above the medicean tombs. the result is a product of picturesque and plastic art, as true to the michaelangelesque spirit as the temple of the wingless victory to that of pheidias. but where michael angelo achieved a triumph of boldness, lesser natures were betrayed into bizarrerie; and this chapel of the medici, in spite of its grandiose simplicity, proved a stumbling-block to subsequent architects by encouraging them to despise propriety and violate the laws of structure. the same may be said with even greater truth of the laurentian library and its staircase. the false windows, repeated pillars, and barefaced aiming at effect, that mark the insincerity of the _barocco_ style, are found here almost for the first time. what s. peter's would have been, if michael angelo had lived to finish it, can be imagined from his plans and elevations still preserved. it must always remain a matter of profound regret that his project was so far altered as to sacrifice the effect of the dome from the piazza. this dome is michael angelo's supreme achievement as an architect. it not only preserves all that is majestic in the cupola of brunelleschi; but it also avoids the defects of its avowed model, by securing the entrance of abundant light, and dilating the imagination with the sense of space to soar and float in. it is the dome that makes s. peter's what it is--the adequate symbol of the church in an age that had abandoned mediaevalism and produced a new type of civility for the modern nations. on the connection between the building of s. peter's and the reformation i have touched already.[ ] this mighty temple is the shrine of catholicity, no longer cosmopolitan by right of spiritual empire, but secularised and limited to latin races. at the same time it represents the spirit of a period when the popes still led the world as intellectual chiefs. as the decree for its erection was the last act of the papacy before the schism of the north had driven it into blind conflict with advancing culture, so s. peter's remains the monument to after ages of a moment when the roman church, unterrified as yet by german rebels, dared to share the mundane impulse of the classical revival. she had forgotten the catacombs and ruthlessly destroyed the basilica of constantine. by rebuilding the mother church of western christianity upon a new plan, she broke with tradition; and if rome has not ceased to be the eternal city, if all ways are still leading to rome, we may even hazard a conjecture that in the last days of their universal monarchy the popes reared this fane to be the temple of a spirit alien to their own. it is at any rate certain that s. peter's produces an impression less ecclesiastical, and less strictly christian, than almost any of the elder and far humbler churches of europe. raised by proud and secular pontiffs in the heyday of renascent humanism, it seems to wait the time when the high priests of a religion no longer hostile to science or antagonistic to the inevitable force of progress will chaunt their hymns beneath its spacious dome. the building of s. peter's was so momentous in modern history, and so decisive for italian architecture, that it may be permitted me to describe the vicissitudes through which the structure passed before reaching completion. nicholas v., founder of the secular papacy and chief patron of the humanistic movement in rome, had approved a scheme for thoroughly rebuilding and refortifying the pontifical city.[ ] part of this plan involved the reconstruction of s. peter's. the old basilica was to be removed, and on its site was to rise a mighty church, shaped like a latin cross, with a central dome and two high towers flanking the vestibule. nicholas died before his project could be carried into effect. beyond destroying the old temple of probus and marking out foundations for the tribune of the new church, nothing had been accomplished;[ ] nor did his successors until the reign of julius think of continuing what he had begun. in , on the th of april, julius laid the first stone of s. peter's according to the plans provided by bramante. the basilica was designed in the shape of a greek cross, surmounted by a colossal dome, and approached by a vestibule fronted with six columns. as in all the works of bramante, simplicity and dignity distinguished this first scheme.[ ] for eight years, until his death in , bramante laboured on the building. julius, the most impatient of masters, urged him to work rapidly. in consequence of this haste, the substructures of the new church proved insecure, and the huge piers raised to support the cupola were imperfect, while the venerable monuments contained in the old church were ruthlessly destroyed.[ ] after bramante's death giuliano di s. gallo, fra giocondo, and raphael successively superintended the construction, each for a short period. raphael, under leo x., was appointed sole architect, and went so far as to alter the design of bramante by substituting the latin for the greek cross. upon his death, baldassare peruzzi continued the work, and supplied a series of new designs, restoring the ground-plan of the church to its original shape. he was succeeded in the reign of paul iii. by antonio di s. gallo, who once more reverted to the latin cross, and proposed a novel form of cupola with flanking towers for the façade, of bizarre rather than beautiful proportions. after a short interregnum, during which giulio romano superintended the building and did nothing remarkable, michael angelo was called in to undertake the sole charge of the edifice. he declared that wherever subsequent architects had departed from bramante's project, they had erred. "it is impossible to deny that bramante was as great in architecture as any man has been since the days of the ancients. when he first laid the plan of s. peter's, he made it not a mass of confusion, but clear and simple, well lighted, and so thoroughly detached that it in no way interfered with any portion of the palace."[ ] having thus pronounced himself in general for bramante's scheme, michael angelo proceeded to develop it in accordance with his own canons of taste. he retained the greek cross; but the dome, as he conceived it, and the details designed for each section of the building, differed essentially from what the earlier master would have sanctioned. not the placid and pure taste of bramante, but the masterful and fiery genius of buonarroti, is responsible for the colossal scale of the subordinate parts and variously broken lineaments of the existing church. in spite of all changes of direction, the fabric of s. peter's had been steadily advancing. michael angelo was, therefore, able to raise the central structure as far as the drum of the cupola before his death. his plans and models were carefully preserved, and a special papal ordinance decreed that henceforth there should be no deviation from the scheme he had laid down. unhappily this rule was not observed. under pius v., vignola and piero ligorio did indeed continue his tradition; under gregory xiii., sixtus v., and clement viii., giacomo della porta made no substantial alterations; and in domenico fontana finished the dome. but during the pontificate of paul v., carlo maderno resumed the form of the latin cross, and completed the nave and vestibule, as they now stand, upon this altered plan ( ). the consequence is what has been already noted--at a moderate distance from the church the dome is lost to view; it only takes its true position of predominance when seen from far. in the year , s. peter's was consecrated by urban viii., and the mighty work was finished. it remained for bernini to add the colonnades of the piazza, no less picturesque in their effect than admirably fitted for the pageantry of world-important ceremonial. at the end of the eighteenth century it was reckoned that the church had cost but little less than fifty million scudi. michael angelo forms the link between the second and third periods of the renaissance. among the architects of the latter age we have to reckon those who based their practice upon minute study of antique writers, and who, more than any of their predecessors, realised the long-sought restitution of the classic style according to precise scholastic canons.[ ] a new age had now begun for italy. the glory and the grace of the renaissance, its blooming time of beauty, and its springtide of young strength, were over. strangers held the reins of power, and the reformation had begun to make itself felt in the northern provinces of christendom. a colder and more formal spirit everywhere prevailed. the sources of invention in the art of painting were dried up. scholarship had pined away into pedantic purism. correct taste was coming to be prized more highly than originality of genius in literature. nor did architecture fail to manifest the operation of this change. the greatest builder of the period was andrea palladio of vicenza, who combined a more complete analytical knowledge of antiquity with a firmer adherence to rule and precedent than even the most imitative of his forerunners. it is useless to seek for decorative fancy, wealth of detail, or sallies of inventive genius in the palladian style. all is cold and calculated in the many palaces and churches of this master which adorn both venice and vicenza; they make us feel that creative inspiration has been superseded by the labour of the calculating reason. one great public building of palladio's, however--the palazzo della ragione at vicenza--may be cited as, perhaps, the culminating point of pure renaissance architecture. in its simple and heroical arcades, its solid columns, and noble open spaces, the strength of rome is realised to the eyes of those who do not penetrate too far inside the building.[ ] here, and here only, the architectural problem of the epoch--how to bring the art of the ancients back to life and use again--was solved according to the spirit and the letter of the past. palladio never equalled this, the earliest of all his many works. in the first half of the sixteenth century the dictatorship of art had been already transferred from florence and rome to lombardy.[ ] the painters who carried on the great traditions were venetian. among the architects, palladio was a native of vicenza; giacomo barozzi, the author of the "treatise on the orders," took the name by which he is known from his birthplace, vignola; vincenzo scamozzi was a fellow-townsman of palladio; galeazzo alessi, though born at perugia, spent his life and developed his talents in genoa; andrea formigine, the palace-builder, was a bolognese; bartolommeo ammanati alone at florence exercised the arts of sculpture and architecture in their old conjunction. vignola, palladio's elder by a few years, displays in his work even more of the scholastically frigid spirit of the late renaissance, the narrowing of poetic impulse, and the dwindling of vitality, that sadden the second half of the sixteenth century in italy. scamozzi, labouring at venice on works that sansovino left unfinished, caught the genial spirit of the old venetian style. alessi, in like manner, at genoa, felt the influences of a rich and splendour-loving aristocracy. his church of s. maria di carignano is one of the most successful ecclesiastical buildings of the late renaissance, combining the principles of bramante and michael angelo in close imitation of s. peter's, and adhering in detail to the canons of the new taste. these canons were based upon a close study of vitruvius. palladio, vignola, and scamozzi were no less ambitious as authors than as architects;[ ] their minute analysis of antique treatises on the art of construction led to the formation of exact rules for the treatment of the five classic orders, the proportions of the chief parts used in building, and the correct method of designing theatres and palaces, church-fronts and cupolas. thus architecture in its third renaissance period passed into scholasticism. the masters of this age, chiefly through the weight of their authority as writers, exercised a wider european influence than any of their predecessors. we english, for example, have given palladio's name to the italian style adopted by us in the seventeenth century. this selection of one man to represent an epoch was due partly no doubt to the prestige of palladio's great buildings in the south, but more, i think, to the facility with which his principles could be assimilated. depending but little for effect upon the arts of decoration, his style was easily imitated in countries where painting and sculpture were unknown, and where a genius like jean goujon, the sansovino of the french, has never been developed. to have rivalled the façade of the certosa would have been impossible in london. yet here wren produced a cathedral worthy of comparison with the proudest of the late italian edifices. moreover, the principles of taste that governed europe in the seventeenth century were such as found fitter architectural expression in this style than in the more genial and capricious manner of the earlier periods. after reviewing the rise and development of renaissance architecture, it is almost irresistible to compare the process whereby the builders of this age learned to use dead forms for the expression of their thoughts, with the similar process by which the scholars accustomed themselves to latin metres and the cadences of ciceronian periods.[ ] the object in each case was the same--to be as true to the antique as possible, and without actually sacrificing the independence of the modern mind, to impose upon it the limitations of a bygone civilisation. at first the enthusiasm for antiquity inspired architects and scholars alike with a desire to imitate _per saltum_, and many works of fervid sympathy and pure artistic intuition were produced. in course of time the laws both of language and construction were more accurately studied; invention was superseded by pedantry; after poliziano and alberti came bembo and palladio. in proportion as architects learned more about vitruvius, and scholars narrowed their taste to virgil, the style of both became more cramped and formal. it ceased at last to be possible to express modern ideas freely in the correct latinity required by cultivated ears, while no room for originality, no scope for poetry of invention, remained in the elaborated method of the architects. neo-latin literature dwindled away to nothing, and palladio was followed by the violent reactionaries of the _barocco_ mannerism. in one all-important respect this parallel breaks down. while the labours of the latinists subserved the simple process of instruction, by purifying literary taste and familiarising the modern mind with the masterpieces of the classic authors, the architects created a new common style for europe. with all its defects, it is not likely that the neo-roman architecture, so profoundly studied by the italians, and so anxiously refined by their chief masters, will ever wholly cease to be employed. in all cases where a grand and massive edifice, no less suited to purposes of practical utility than imposing by its splendour, is required, this style of building will be found the best. changes of taste and fashion, local circumstances, and the personal proclivities of modern architects may determine the choice of one type rather than another among the numerous examples furnished by italian masters. but it is not possible that either greek or gothic should permanently take the place assigned to neo-roman architecture in the public buildings of european capitals. footnotes: [ ] the question of the genesis of the lombard style is one of the most difficult in italian art-history. i would not willingly be understood to speak of lombard architecture in any sense different from that in which it is usual to speak of norman. to suppose that either the lombards or the normans had a style of their own, prior to their occupation of districts from the monuments of which they learned rudely to use the decayed roman manner, would be incorrect. yet it seems impossible to deny that both normans and lombards in adapting antecedent models added something of their own, specific to themselves as northerners. the lombard, like the norman or the rhenish romanesque, is the first stage in the progressive mediaeval architecture of its own district. [ ] i use the term lombard architecture here, as defined above (p. , note), for the style of building prevalent in italy during the lombard occupation, or just after. [ ] the essential difference between italy and either northern france or england, was that in italy there existed monuments of roman greatness, which could never be forgotten by her architects. they always worked with at least half of their attention turned to the past: nor had they the exhilarating sense of free, spontaneous, and progressive invention. this point has been well worked out by mr. street in the last chapter of his hook on the _architecture of north italy_. [ ] even though it be now proved that not heinrich von gmunden, but marco frisone da campione, not a german, but a milanese, was the first architect, this is none the less true about its style. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] pavia, it may be mentioned, has still many towers standing, and the two at bologna are famous. [ ] arnolfo was born in at colle, in the val d'elsa. he was a sculptor as well as architect, the assistant of niccola pisano at siena, and the maker of the tomb of cardinal de braye at orvieto. this tomb is remarkable as the earliest instance of the canopy withdrawn by attendant angels from the dead man's form, afterwards so frequently adopted by the pisan school. [ ] giov. villani, viii. . [ ] see milizia, vol. i. p. . these walls were not finished till some, time after arnolfo's death. they lost their ornament of towers in the siege of , and they are now being rapidly destroyed. [ ] from perkins's _tuscan sculptors_, vol. i. p. . a recent work by signor g.j. cavallucci, entitled _s. maria del fiore_, firenze, , has created a revolution in our knowledge regarding this church. [ ] giov. villani, x. . [ ] _illustrated handbook of architecture_, book vi. chap. i. [ ] _ib._ [ ] see grüner's _terra cotta architecture of north italy_, plates and . [ ] compare what alberti says in his preface to the treatise on painting, _opere_, vol. iv. p. . "chi mai sì duro e sì invido non lodasse pippo architetto vedendo quì struttura si grande, erta sopra i cieli, ampla da coprire con sua ombra tutti i popoli toscani, fatta sanza alcuno aiuto di travamenti o di copia di legname, quale artificio certo, se io ben giudico, come a questi tempi era incredibile potersi, così forse appresso gli antiqui fu non saputo nè conosciuto?" [ ] what the church of s. petronio at bologna would have been, if it had been completed on the scale contemplated, can hardly be imagined. as it stands, it is immense, and coldly bare in its immensity. yet the present church is but the nave of a temple designed with transepts and choir. the length was to have been feet, the width of the transepts , the dome feet in diameter. a building so colossal in extent, and so monotonously meagre in conception, could not but have been a failure. [ ] vol. ii., _revival of learning_, chap, . [ ] the following passage quoted from milizia, _memorie degli architetti_, parma, , vol. i. p. , illustrates the contemptuous attitude of italian critics to gothic architecture. after describing arnolfo's building of the florentine duomo, he proceeds: "in questo architetto si vide qualche leggiero barlume di buona architettura, come di pittura in cimabue suo contemporaneo. ma in tutte le cose e fisiche e morali i passaggi si fanno per insensibili gradagioni; onde per lungo tempo ancora si mantenne il corrotto gusto, che si può chiamare arabo-tedesco." [ ] observe, for example, the casing of a gothic church at rimini by alberti with a series of roman arches; or the façade of s. andrea at mantua, where the vast and lofty central arch leads, not into the nave itself, but into a shallow vestibule. [ ] see burckhardt, _cicerone_, vol. i. p. . [ ] see de stendhal, _histoire de la peinture en italie_, p. . [ ] for a notice of his life, see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. . [ ] the arch of augustus at rimini was the model followed by alberti in this façade. he intended to cover the church with a cupola, as may be seen from the design on a medal of sigismondo pandolfo malatesta. see too the letter written by him to matteo da bastia, alberti, _opere_, vol. iv. p. . [ ] this ancestral palace of the medici passed in to the marchese gabriele riccardi, from the duke francesco ii. [ ] von reumont, _lorenzo de' medici_, vol. ii. pp. - , may be consulted for an interesting account of the building of this casa grande by filippo strozzi. the preparations were made with great caution, lest it should seem that a work too magnificent for a simple citizen was being undertaken; in particular, filippo so contrived that the costly _opus rusticum_ employed in the construction of the basement should appear to have been forced upon him. this is characteristic of florence in the days of cosimo. the foundation stone was laid in the morning of august , , at the moment when the sun arose above the summits of the casentino. the hour, prescribed by astrologers as propitious, had been settled by the horoscope; masses meanwhile were said in several churches, and alms distributed. [ ] antonio filarete, or averulino, architect and sculptor, was author of a treatise on the building of the ideal city, one of the most curious specimens of renaissance fancy, to judge from the account rendered of the manuscript by rio, vol. iii. pp. - . [ ] matteo civitale, benedetto da majano, mino da fiesole, luca della robbia, donatello, jacopo della quercia, lo scalza, omodeo, and the sansovini, not to mention less illustrious sculptors, filled the churches of italy with this elaborate stone-work. among the bronze-founders it is enough to name ghiberti, antonio filarete, antonio pollajuolo, donatello and his pupil bertoldo, andrea riccio, the master of the candelabrum in s. antonio at padua, jacopo sansovino, the master of the door of the sacristy in s. mark's at venice, alessandro leopardi, the master of the standard-pedestals of the piazza of s. mark's. i do not mean these lists to be in any sense exhaustive, but simply to remind the reader of the rare and many-sided men of genius who devoted their abilities to this kind of work. some of their masterpieces will be noticed in detail in the chapter on sculpture. [ ] especially his work at monte oliveto, near siena, and in the church of monte oliveto at naples. the sala del cambio at perugia may also be cited as rich in tarsia-work designed by perugino, while the church of s. pietro de' cassinensi outside the city is a museum of masterpieces executed by fra damiano da bergamo and stefano da bergamo from designs of raphael. not less beautiful are the inlaid wood panels in the palace of urbino, by maestro giacomo of florence. [ ] the churches and palaces of lombardy are peculiarly rich in this kind of decoration. the façade of the oratory of s. bernardino at perugia, designed and executed by agostino di duccio, is a masterpiece of rare beauty in this style. [ ] not to mention the renaissance mosaics of s. mark's at venice, the cupola of s. maria del popolo at rome, executed in mosaic by raphael, deserves special mention. a work illustrative of this cupola is one of ludwig grüner's best publications. [ ] south italy and florence are distinguished by two marked styles in this decoration of inlaid marbles or _opera di commesso_. compare the medicean chapel in s. lorenzo, for instance, with the high altar of the cathedral of messina. [ ] the roof of the duomo at volterra is a fine specimen. [ ] it will not be forgotten that raphael's cartoons were made for tapestry. [ ] bramante lazzari was born at castel durante, near urbino, in . he spent the early years of his architect's life in lombardy, in the service of lodovico sforza, and came probably to rome upon his patron's downfall in . [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . see gregorovius, _geschichte der stadt rom_, vol. viii. p. , and the quotation there translated from pallavicini's _history of the council of trent_. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, pp. - . vol. ii., _revival of learning_, pp. - . for his architectural designs see his life, by manetti, book ii., in muratori, vol. iii. part ii. [ ] gregorovius, vol. vii. p. . [ ] besides the great work of bonanni, _templi vaticani historia_, i may refer my readers to the atlas volume of _illustrations, architectural and pictorial, of the genius of michael angelo buonarroti_, compiled by mr. harford (colnaghi, ). plates to of that work are devoted to the plans of s. peter's. plate is specially interesting, since it represents in one view the old basilica and the design of bramante, together with those of antonio di s. gallo and michael angelo. [ ] the subterranean vaults of s. peter's contain mere fragments of tombs, some precious as historical records, some valuable as works of art, swept together pell-mell from the ruins of the old basilica. [ ] see the original letter to ammanati, published from the archivio buonarroti, by signor milanesi, p. . [ ] i am far from meaning that the earlier architects had not been guided by ancient authors. alberti's _treatise on the art of building_ is a sufficient proof of their study of vitruvius, and we know that fabio calvi translated that writer into italian for raphael. in the later renaissance this study passed into purism. [ ] it must be confessed that this grandiose and picturesque structure is but a shell to mask an earlier gothic edifice. [ ] compare vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. , for the same transference of power in literature from central to northern italy at this time. [ ] palladio's _four books of architecture_, first published at venice in , and vignola's _treatise on the five orders_, have been translated into all the modern languages. scamozzi projected, and partly finished, a comprehensive work on _universal architecture_, which was printed in at venice. [ ] see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, chap. viii. chapter iii sculpture niccola pisano--obscurity of the sources for a history of early italian sculpture--vasari's legend of pisano--deposition from the cross at lucca--study of nature and the antique--sarcophagus at pisa--pisan pulpit--niccola's school--giovanni pisano--pulpit in s. andrea at pistoja--fragments of his work at pisa--tomb of benedict xi. at perugia--bas-reliefs at orvieto--andrea pisano--relation of sculpture to painting--giotto--subordination of sculpture to architecture in italy--pisano's influence in venice--balduccio of pisa--orcagna--the tabernacle of orsammichele--the gates of the florentine baptistery --competition of ghiberti, brunelleschi, and della quercia--comparison of ghiberti's and brunelleschi's trial-pieces--comparison of ghiberti and della quercia--the bas-reliefs of s. petronio--ghiberti's education--his pictorial style in bas-relief--his feeling for the antique--donatello--early visit to rome--christian subjects--realistic treatment--s. george and david--judith--equestrian statue of gattamelata--influence of donatello's naturalism--andrea verocchio--his david--statue of colleoni--alessandro leopardi--lionardo's statue of francesco sforza--the pollajuoli--tombs of sixtus iv. and innocent viii.--luca della robbia--his treatment of glazed earthenware--agostino di duccio--the oratory of s. bernardino at perugia--antonio rossellino--matteo civitali--mino da fiesole--benedetto da majano--characteristics and masterpieces of this group--sepulchral monuments--andrea contucci's tombs in s. maria del popolo--desiderio da settignano--sculpture in s. francesco at rimini--venetian sculpture--verona--guido mazzoni of modena--certosa of pavia--colleoni chapel at bergamo--sansovino at venice--pagan sculpture--michael angelo's scholars--baccio bandinelli--bartolommeo ammanati--cellini--gian bologna--survey of the history of renaissance sculpture. in the procession of the fine arts, sculpture always follows close upon the steps of architecture, and at first appears in some sense as her handmaid. mediaeval italy found her pheidias in a great man of pisan origin, born during the first decade of the thirteenth century. it was niccola pisano, architect and sculptor, who first breathed with the breath of genius life into the dead forms of plastic art. from him we date the dawn of the aesthetical renaissance with the same certainty as from petrarch that of humanism; for he determined the direction not only of sculpture but also of painting in italy. to quote the language of lord lindsay's panegyric: "neither dante nor shakspere can boast such extent and durability of influence; for whatever of highest excellence has been achieved in sculpture and painting, not in italy only but throughout europe, has been in obedience to the impulse he primarily gave, and in following up the principle which he first struck out."[ ] in truth, niccola pisano put the artist on the right track of combining the study of antiquity with the study of nature; and to him belongs the credit not merely of his own achievement, considerable as that may be, but also of the work of his immediate scholars and of all who learned from him to portray life. from niccola pisano onward to michael angelo and cellini we trace one genealogy of sculptors, who, though they carried art beyond the sphere of his invention, looked back to him as their progenitor. the man who first emancipated sculpture from servile bondage, and opened a way for the attainment of true beauty, would by the greeks have been honoured with a special cultas as the hero eponym of art. it remains for us after our own fashion to pay some such homage to pisano. the chief difficulty with which the student of early art and literature has to deal, is the insufficiency of positive information. instead of accurate dates and well-established facts he finds a legend, rich apparently in detail, but liable at every point to doubt, and subject to attack by plausible conjecture. in the absence of contemporary documents and other trustworthy sources of instruction, he is tempted to substitute his own hypotheses for tradition and to reconstruct the faulty outlines of forgotten history according to his own ideas of fitness. the germans have been our masters in this species of destructive, dubitative, restorative criticism; and it is undoubtedly flattering to the historian's vanity to constitute himself a judge and arbiter in cases where tact and ingenuity may claim to sift the scattered fragment of confused narration. yet to resist this temptation is in many cases a plain and simple duty. tradition, when not positively disproved, should be allowed to have its full value; and a sounder historic sense is exercised in adopting its testimony with due caution, than in recklessly rejecting it and substituting guesses which the lack of knowledge renders unsubstantial. tradition may err about dates, details, and names. it is just here that antiquarian research can render valuable help. but there are occasions when the perusal of documents and the exercise of what is called the higher criticism afford no surer basis for opinion. if in such cases a legend has been formed and recorded, the student will advance further toward comprehending the spirit of his subject by patiently considering what he knows to be in part perhaps a mythus, than by starting with the foregone conclusion that the legend must of necessity be worthless, and that his cunning will suffice to supply the missing clue.[ ] thus much i have said by way of preface to what follows upon niccola pisano. almost all we know about him is derived from a couple of inscriptions, a few contracts, and his life by giorgio vasari. it is clear that vasari often wrote with carelessness, confusing dates and places, and taking no pains to verify the truth of his assertions. much of niccola's biography reads like a legend in his pages--the popular and oral tradition of a great man, whose panegyric it was more easy in the sixteenth century to adorn with rhetoric than to chronicle the details of his life with scrupulous fidelity. a well-founded conviction of vasari's frequent inaccuracy has induced recent critics to call in question many hitherto accepted points about the nationality and training of pisano. the discussion, of their arguments i leave for the appendix, contenting myself at present with relating so much of vasari's legend as cannot, i think, reasonably be rejected.[ ] before the sculptor appeared in niccola pisano, he was already a famous architect; and it must always be remembered that he and his school subordinated the plastic to the constructive arts. it was not until the year , or , according to different modern calculations, that he executed his first masterpiece in sculpture.[ ] this was a "deposition from the cross," in high relief, placed in a lunette over one of the side doors of s. martino at lucca. the noble forms of this group, the largeness of its style, the breadth of drapery and freedom of action it displays, but, above all, the unity of its design, proclaimed that a new era had begun for art. in order to appreciate the importance of this relief, it is only necessary to compare it with the processional treatment of similar subjects upon early christian sarcophagi, where each figure stands up stiff and separate, nor can the controlling and combining artist's thought be traced in any effort after composition. ever since the silver age of hadrian, when a bithynian slave by his beauty gave a final impulse to the genius of greece, sculpture had been gradually declining until nothing was left but a formal repetition of conventional outlines. the so-called romanesque and byzantine styles were but the dotage of second childhood, fumbling with the methods and materials of an irrecoverable past. it is true, indeed, that unknown mediaeval carvers had shown an instinct for the beautiful as well as great fertility of grotesque invention. the façades of lombard churches are covered with fanciful and sometimes forcibly dramatic groups of animals and men in combat; and contemporaneously with niccola pisano, many gothic sculptors of the north were adorning the façades and porches of cathedrals with statuary unrivalled in one style of loveliness.[ ] yet the founder of a line of progressive artists had not arisen, and, except in italy, the conditions were still wanting under which alone the plastic arts could attain to independence. a fresh start, at once conscious and scientific, was imperatively demanded. this new beginning sculpture took in the brain of niccola pisano, who returned from the bye-paths of his predecessors to the free field of nature, and who learned precious lessons from the fragments of classical sculpture existing in his native town. as though to prove the essential dependence of the modern revival upon the recovery of antique culture, we find that his genius, in spite of its powerful originality and profoundly christian bias, required the confirmation which could only be derived from graeco-roman precedent. in the campo santo at pisa may still be seen a sarcophagus representing the story of hippolytus and phaedra, where once reposed the dust of beatrice, the mother of the pious countess matilda of tuscany. studying the heroic nudities and noble attitudes of this bas-relief, niccola rediscovered the right way of art--not by merely copying his model, but by divining the secret of the grand style. his work at pisa contains abundant evidence that, while he could not wholly free himself from the defects of the later romanesque manner, betrayed by his choice of short and square-set types, he nevertheless learned from the antique how to aim at beauty and freedom in his imitation of the living human form. a marble vase, sculptured with indian bacchus and his train of maenads, gave him further help. from these grave or graceful classic forms, satisfied with their own goodliness, and void of inner symbolism, the christian sculptor drank the inspiration of renaissance art. in the "adoration of the magi," carved upon his pisan pulpit, madonna assumes the haughty pose of theseus' wife; while the high priest, in the "circumcision," displays the majesty of dionysus leaning on the neck of ampelus. nor again is the naked vigour of hippolytus without its echo in the figure of the young man--hercules or fortitude--upon a bracket of the same pulpit. these sculptures of pisano are thus for us a symbol of what happened in the age of the revival. the old world and the new shook hands; christianity and hellenism kissed each other. and yet they still remained antagonistic--fused externally by art, but severed in the consciousness that, during those strange years of dubious impulse, felt the might of both. monks leaning from pisano's pulpit preached the sinfulness of natural pleasure to women whose eyes were fixed on the adolescent beauty of an athlete. not far off was the time when filarete should cast in bronze the legends of ganymede and leda for the portals of s. peter's, when raphael should mingle a carnival of more than pagan sensuality with bible subjects in leo's loggie, when guglielmo della porta should place the naked portrait of giulia bella in marble at the feet of paul iii. upon his sepulchre.[ ] niccola, meanwhile, did not follow his roman models in any slavish spirit. they were neither numerous nor excellent enough to compel blind imitation or to paralyse inventive impulse. the thoughts to be expressed in marble by the first modern artist were not greek. this in itself saved him from that tendency to idle reproduction which proved the ruin of the later neo-pagan sculptors. yet the fragments of antique work he found within his reach, helped him to struggle after a higher quality of style, and established standards of successful treatment. for the rest, his choice of form and the proportions of his figures show that niccola resorted to native tuscan models. if nothing of his handiwork were left but the bas-relief of the "inferno" on the pisan pulpit, the torsos of the men struggling with demons in that composition would prove this point. it remains his crowning merit to have first expressed the mythology of christianity and the sentiment of the middle ages with the conscious aim of a real artist. and here it may be noticed that, a true italian, he infused but little of intense or mystical emotion into his art. niccola is more of a humanist, if this word may be applied to a sculptor, than some of his immediate successors. the hexagonal pulpit in the baptistery of pisa, the octagonal pulpit in the cathedral of siena, the fountain in the marketplace of perugia, and the shrine of s. dominic at bologna, all of them designed and partly finished between and by niccola and his scholars, display his mastery over the art of sculpture in the maturity of his genius. so highly did the pisans prize their fellow-townsman's pulpit that a law was passed and guardians were appointed for its preservation--much in the same way as the zeus of pheidias was consigned to the care of the phaidruntai. niccola pisano founded a school. his son giovanni, and the numerous pupils employed upon the monuments just mentioned at siena, bologna, and perugia, carried on the tradition of their master, and spread his style abroad through italy. giovanni pisano, to whom we owe the spina chapel and the campo santo at pisa, the façade of the sienese duomo, and the altar-shrine of s. donato at arezzo--four of the purest works of gothic art in italy--showed a very decided leaning to the vehement and mystic style of the transalpine sculptors. we trace a dramatic intensity in giovanni's work, not derived from his father, not caught from study of the antique, and curiously blended with the general characteristics of the pisan school. in spite of the gothic cusps introduced by niccola into his pulpits, the spirit of his work remained classical. the young hercules holding the lion's cub in his right hand upon his shoulder, while with his left he tames the raging lioness, has the true italian instinct for a return to latin style. the same sympathy with the past is observable in the self-restraint and comparative coldness of the bas-reliefs at pisa. the junonian attitude of madonna, the senatorial dignity of simeon, the ponderous folding of the drapery, and the massive carriage of the neck throughout, denote an effort to revivify an antique manner. what, therefore, niccola effected for sculpture was a classical revival in the very depth of the middle ages. the case is different with his son giovanni. profiting by the labours of his father, and following in his footsteps, he carried the new art into another region, and brought a genius of more picturesque and forcible temper into play. the value of this new direction given to sculpture for the arts of italy, especially for painting, cannot be exaggerated. without giovanni's intervention, the achievement of niccola might possibly have been as unproductive of immediate results as the tuscan romanesque, that mediaeval effort after the renaissance, was in architecture.[ ] the gothic element, so cautiously adopted by niccola, is used with sympathy and freedom by his son, whose masterpiece, the pulpit of s. andrea at pistoja, might be selected as the supreme triumph of italian gothic sculpture. the superiority of that complex and consummate work of plastic art over the pulpit of the pisan baptistery, in all the most important qualities of style and composition, can scarcely be called in question. its only serious fault is an exaggeration of the height of the pillars in proportion to the size of the hexagon they support. like the pulpits of the baptistery, of the duomo of pisa, and of the duomo of siena, it combines bas-reliefs and detached statues, carved capitals, and sculptured lions, in a maze of marvellous invention; but it has no rival in the architectonic effect of harmony, and the masterly feeling for balanced masses it displays. the five subjects chosen by giovanni for his bas-reliefs are the "nativity," the "adoration of the magi," the "massacre of the innocents," the "crucifixion," and the "last judgment." in the "nativity" our lady is no longer the roman matron of niccola's conception, but a graceful mother, young in years, and bending with the weakness of childbirth. her attitude, exquisite by the suggestion of tenderness and delicacy, is one that often reappears in the later work of the pisan school--for example, in the rough _abozzamento_ in the campo santo at pisa, above the north door of the duomo at lucca, and at orvieto on the façade of the cathedral; but it has nowhere else been treated with the same sense of beauty. the "massacre of the innocents," compared with this relief, is a tragedy beside an idyll. here the whole force of giovanni's eminently dramatic genius comes into full play. not only has he treated the usual incidents of mothers struggling with soldiers and bewailing their dead darlings, but he has also introduced a motive, which might well have been used by subsequent artists in dealing with the same subjects. herod is throned in one corner of the composition; before him stand a group of men and women, some imploring the tyrant for mercy, some defying him in impotent despair, and some invoking the curse of god upon his head. in the "adoration of the magi," again, giovanni shows originality by the double action he has chosen to develop. on one side the kings are sleeping, while an angel comes to wake them, pointing out the star. on the other side they fall at the feet of the madonna. it will be gathered even from these bare descriptions that giovanni introduced a stir of life and movement, and felt his subjects with a poetic intensity, alien to the ideal of graeco-roman sculpture. he effected a fusion between the grand style revived by niccola and the romantic fervour of the modern imagination. it was in this way that the tradition handed down by him proved inestimably serviceable to the painters. the bas-reliefs, however, by no means form the chief attraction of this pulpit. at each of its six angles stand saints, evangelists, and angels, whose symbolism it is not now so easy to decipher. the most beautiful groups are a company of angels blowing the judgment trumpets, and a winged youth standing above a winged lion and bull. these groups separate the several compartments of the bas-reliefs, and help to form the body of the pulpit. beneath, on capital's of the supporting pillars, stand the sibyls, each with her attendant genius, while prophets lean or crouch within the spandrils of the arches. thus every portion of this master-work is crowded with figures--some detached, some executed in relief; and yet, amid so great a multitude, the eye is not confused; the total effect is nowhere dissipated. the whole seems governed by one constructive thought, projected as a perfect unity of composition.[ ] a later work of giovanni pisano was the pulpit executed for the cathedral of pisa, now unfortunately broken up. an interesting fragment, one of the supporting columns of the octagon which formed the body of this structure, still exists in the museum of the campo santo. it is an allegorical statue of pisa. the ghibelline city is personified as a crowned woman, suckling children at her breast, and standing on a pedestal supported by the eagle of the empire. she wears a girdle of rope seven times knotted, to betoken the rule of pisa over seven subject islands. at the four corners of her throne stand the four human virtues, prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude, distinguished less by beauty of shape than by determined energy of symbolism. temperance is a naked woman, with hair twisted in the knots and curls of a greek aphrodite. justice is old and wrinkled, clothed with massive drapery, and holding in her hand the scales. throughout this group there is no attempt to realise forms pleasing to the eye; the sculptor has aimed at suggesting to the mind as many points of intellectual significance as possible. in spite of ugliness and hardness, the "allegory of pisa" commands respect by vigour of conception, and rivets attention by force of execution. a more popular and pleasing monument by giovanni pisano is the tomb of benedict xi. in the church of s. domenico at perugia. the pope, whose life was so obnoxious to the ambition of philip le bel that his timely death aroused suspicion of poison, lies asleep upon his marble bier with hands crossed in an attitude of peaceful expectation.[ ] at his head and feet stand angels drawing back the curtains that would else have shrouded this last slumber of a good man from the eyes of the living.[ ] a contrast is thus established between the repose of the dead and the ever-watchful activity of celestial ministers. sleep so guarded, the sculptor seeks to tell us, must have glorious waking; and when those hands unfold upon the resurrection morning, the hushed sympathy of the attendant angels will break into smiles and singing, as they lead the just man to the lord he served in life. whether giovanni pisano had any share in the sculpture on the façade of the cathedral at orvieto, is not known for certain. vasari asserts that niccola and his pupils worked upon this series of bas-reliefs, setting forth the whole biblical history and the cycle of christian beliefs from the creation of the world to the last judgment. yet we know that niccola himself died at least twelve years before the foundation of the church in ; nor is there any proof that his immediate scholars were engaged upon the fabric. the orvietan archives are singularly silent with regard to a monument of so large extent and vast importance, which must have taxed to the uttermost the resources of the ablest stone-carvers in italy.[ ] meanwhile, what vasari says is valuable only as a witness to the fame of niccola pisano. his manner, as continued and developed by his school, is unmistakable at orvieto: but in the absence of direct information, we are left to conjecture the conditions under which this, the closing if not the crowning achievement of thirteenth-century sculpture, was produced. when the great founder of italian art visited siena in for the completion of his pulpit in the duomo, he found a guild of sculptors, or _taglia-pietri_, in that city, numbering some sixty members, and governed by a rector and three chamberlains. instead of regarding niccola with jealousy, these craftsmen only sought to learn his method. accordingly it seems that a new impulse was given to sculpture in siena; and famous workmen arose who combined this art with that of building. the chief of these was lorenzo maitani, who died in , having designed and carried to completion the duomo of orvieto during his lifetime.[ ] while engaged in this great undertaking, maitani directed a body of architects, stone-carvers, bronze-founders, mosaists, and painters, gathered together into a guild from the chief cities of tuscany. it cannot be proved that any of the pisani, properly so called, were among their number. lacking evidence to the contrary, we must give to maitani, the master-spirit of the company, full credit for the sculpture carried out in obedience to his general plan. as the church of s. francis at assisi formed an epoch in the history of painting, by concentrating the genius of giotto on a series of masterpieces, so the duomo of orvieto, by giving free scope to the school of pisa, marked a point in the history of sculpture. it would be difficult to find elsewhere even separate works of greater force and beauty belonging to this, the first or architectural, period of italian sculpture; and nowhere has the whole body of christian belief been set forth with method more earnest and with vigour more sustained.[ ] the subjects selected by these unknown craftsmen for illustration in marble, are in many instances the same as those afterwards painted in fresco by michael angelo and raphael at borne. their treatment, for example, of the creation of adam and eve, adopted in all probability from still earlier and ruder workmen, after being refined by the improvements of successive generations, may still be observed in the triumphs of the sistine chapel and the loggie.[ ] it was the practice of italian artists not to seek originality by diverging from the traditional modes of presentation, but to prove their mastery by rendering these as perfect and effective as the maturity of art could make them. for the italians, as before them for the greeks, plagiarism was a word unknown, in all cases where it was possible to improve upon the invention of less fortunate predecessors. the student of art may, therefore, now enjoy the pleasure of tracing sculpturesque or pictorial motives from their genesis in some rude fragment to their final development in the master-works of a lionardo or a raphael, where scientific grouping of figures, higher idealisation of style, the suggestion of freer movement, and more varied dramatic expression yield at last the full flower that the simple germ enfolded. among the most distinguished scholars of niccola pisano's tradition must now be mentioned andrea da pontadera, called andrea pisano, who carried the manner of his master to florence, and helped to fulfil the destiny of italian sculpture by submitting it to the rising art of painting. under the direction of giotto he carved statues for the campanile and the façade of s. maria del fiore; and in the first gate of the baptistery, he bequeathed a model of bas-relief in bronze, which largely influenced the style of masters in the fifteenth century. to overpraise the simplicity and beauty of design, the purity of feeling, and the technical excellence of andrea's bronze-work, would be difficult. many students will always be found to prefer his self-restraint and delicacy to the more florid manner of ghiberti.[ ] what we chiefly observe in this gate is the control exercised by the sister art of painting over his mode of conception and treatment. if giovanni pisano developed the dramatic and emphatic qualities of gothic sculpture, andrea was attracted to its allegories; if giovanni infused romantic vehemence of feeling into the frigid classicism of his father, andrea diverged upon another track of picturesque delineation. a new sun had now arisen in the heavens of art. this was the sun of giotto, whose genius, eminently pictorial, brought the italians to a true sense of their aesthetical vocation, illuminating with its brightness the elder and more technically finished craft of the stone-carver. sculpture, which in the school of niccola pisano had been subordinate to architecture, became a sub-species of painting in the hands of andrea. it was thus, as i have elsewhere stated, that the twofold doom of plastic art in italy was accomplished. in order to embody the ideas of christianity, art had to think more of expression than of pure form. expression is the special sphere of painting; and therefore sculpture followed the lead of the sister art, as soon as painting was strong enough to give that lead, instead of remaining, as in greece, the mistress of her own domain. on the deeper reasons for this subordination of sculpture to painting i have dwelt already, while showing that a large class of subjects, where physical qualities are comparatively indifferent and of no account, were forced upon the artist by christianity.[ ] humility and charity may be found alike in blooming youth or in ascetic age; nor is it possible to characterize saints and martyrs by those corporeal characteristics which distinguish a runner from a boxer, or a chaste huntress from a voluptuous queen of love. italian sculpture abandoned the presentation of the naked human body as useless. the emotions written on the face became of more importance than the modelling of the limbs, and recourse was had to allegorical symbols or emblematic attitudes for the interpretation of the artist's thought. andrea pisano's figure of hope, raising hands and eyes toward an offered crown, seems but a repetition of the motive expressed by giotto in the chiaroscuro frescoes of the arena chapel.[ ] owing to similar causes, drapery, which in greece had served to illustrate the structure or the movement of the body it clothed, was used by the italian sculptors to conceal the limbs, and to enhance by flowing skirt or sinuous fold or agitated scarf some quality of the emotions. the result was that sculpture assumed a place subordinate to painting, and that the masterpieces of the early italian carvers are chiefly bas-reliefs--pictures in bronze or marble.[ ] in a like degree, though not for the same reason, sculpture in italy remained subordinate to architecture, until such time as the neo-hellenism of the full renaissance produced a crowd of pseudo-classic statues, destined to take their places--not in churches, but in the courtyards of palaces and on the open squares of cities. the cause of this fact is not far to seek. in ancient greece the temple had been erected for the god, and the statue dwelt within the cella like a master in his house. christianity forbade an image of the living god; consequently the church had another object than to roof the statue of a deity. it was the meeting-place of a congregation bent on worshipping him who dwells not in houses made with hands, and whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain. the vast spaces and aërial arcades of mediaeval architecture had their meaning in relation to the mystic apprehension of an unseen power. it followed of necessity that the carved work destined to decorate a christian temple could never be the main feature of the building. it existed for the church, and not the church for it.[ ] through andrea pisano the style of niccola was extended to venice. there is reason to believe that he instructed filippo calendario, to whom we should ascribe the sculptured corners of the ducal palace. venice, however, invariably exercised her own controlling influence over the arts of aliens; so we find a larger, freer, richer, and more mundane treatment in these splendid carvings than in aught produced by pisan workmen for their native towns of tuscany. nino, the sculptor of the "madonna della rosa," the chief ornament of the spina chapel, and tommaso, both sons of andrea da pontadera, together with giovanni balduccio of pisa, continued the traditions of the school founded by niccola. balduccio, invited by azzo visconti to milan, carved the shrine of s. peter martyr in the church of s. eustorgio, and impressed his style on matteo da campione, the sculptor of the shrine of s. augustine at pavia.[ ] these facts, though briefly stated, are not without significance. travellers who have visited the churches of pavia and milan, after studying the shrine, or _arca_ as italians call it, of s. dominic at bologna, must have noticed the ascendency of pisan style in these three lombard towns, and have felt how widely niccola's creative genius was exercised. traces of the same influence may perhaps be observed in the tombs of the scaligers at verona.[ ] the most eminent pupil of andrea pisano, however, was a florentine--the great andrea arcagnuolo di cione, commonly known as orcagna. this man, like the more illustrious giotto, was one among the earliest of those comprehensive, many-sided natures produced by florence for her everlasting glory. he studied the goldsmith's craft under his father, cione, passing the years of his apprenticeship, like other tuscan artists, in the technical details of an industry that then supplied the strictest method of design. with his brother, bernardo, he practised painting. like giotto, he was no mean poet;[ ] and like all the higher craftsmen of his age, he was an architect. though the church of orsammichele owes its present form to taddeo gaddi, orcagna, as _capo maëstro_ after gaddi's death, completed the structure; and though the loggia de' lanzi, long ascribed to him by writers upon architecture, is now known to be the work of benci di cione, yet orcagna's loggia del bigallo, more modest but not less beautiful, prepared the way for its construction. of his genius as a painter, proved by the frescoes in the strozzi chapel, i shall have to speak hereafter. as a sculptor he is best known through the tabernacle of orsammichele, built to enshrine the picture of the madonna by ugolino da siena.[ ] in this monument orcagna employed carved bas-reliefs and statuettes, intaglios and mosaics, incrustations of agates, enamels, and gilded glass patterns, with a sense of harmony so refined, and a mastery over each kind of workmanship so perfect, that the whole tabernacle is an epitome of the minor arts of mediaeval italy. the subordination of sculpture to architectural effect is noticeable; and the giottesque influence appears even more strongly here than in the gate of andrea pisano. this influence orcagna received indirectly through his master in stone carving; it formed, indeed, the motive force of figurative art during his lifetime. the subjects of the "annunciation," the "nativity," the "marriage of the virgin," and the "adoration of the three kings," framed in octagonal mouldings at the base of the tabernacle, illustrate the domination of a spirit distinct both from the neo-romanism of niccola and the gothicism of giovanni pisano. that spirit is florentine in a general sense, and specifically giottesque. charity, again, with a flaming heart in her hand, crowned with a flaming brazier, and suckling a child, is giottesque not only in allegorical conception but also in choice of type and treatment of drapery. while admiring the tabernacle of orsammichele, we are reminded that orcagna was a goldsmith to begin with, and a painter. sculpture he practised as an accessory. what the artists of florence gained in delicacy of execution, accuracy of modelling, and precision of design by their apprenticeship to the goldsmith's trade, was hardly perhaps sufficient to compensate for loss of training in a larger style. it was difficult, we fancy, for men so educated to conceive the higher purposes of sculpture. contented with elaborate workmanship and beauty of detail, they failed to attain to such independence of treatment as may be reached by sculptors who do not carry to their work the preconceptions of a narrower handicraft. thus even orcagna's masterpiece may strike us not as the plaything of a pheidian genius condescending for once to "breathe through silver," but of a consummate goldsmith taxing the resources of his craft to form a monumental jewel.[ ] the façade of orvieto was the final achievement of the first or architectural period of italian sculpture. giotto, andrea pisano, and orcagna, formed the transition to the second period. to find one characteristic title for the style of the fifteenth century is not easy, since it was marked by many distinct peculiarities. if, however, we choose to call it pictorial, we shall sufficiently mark the quality of some eminent masters, and keep in view the supremacy of painting at this epoch. a great public enterprise at florence brings together in honourable rivalry the chief craftsmen of the new age, and marks the advent of the renaissance. when the signory, in concert with the arte de' mercanti, decided to complete the bronze gates of the baptistery in the first year of the fifteenth century, they issued a manifesto inviting the sculptors of italy to prepare designs for competition. their call was answered by giacomo della quercia of siena, by filippo brunelleschi and lorenzo di cino ghiberti of florence, and by two other tuscan artists of less note. the young donatello, aged sixteen, is said to have been consulted as to the rival merits of the proofs submitted to the judges. thus the four great masters of tuscan art in its prime met before the florentine baptistery.[ ] giacomo della quercia was excluded from the competition at an early stage; but the umpires wavered long between ghiberti and brunelleschi, until the latter, with notable generosity, feeling the superiority of his rival, and conscious perhaps that his own laurels were to be gathered in the field of architecture, withdrew his claim. in , ghiberti received the commission for the first of the two remaining gates. he afterwards obtained the second; and as they were not finished until , the better part of his lifetime was spent upon them. he received in all a sum of , golden florins for his labour and the cost of the material employed. the trial-pieces prepared by brunelleschi and ghiberti are now preserved in the bargello.[ ] their subject is the "sacrifice of isaac;" and a comparison of the two leaves no doubt of ghiberti's superiority. the faults of brunelleschi's model are want of repose and absence of composition. abraham rushes in a frenzy of murderous agitation at his son, who writhes beneath the knife already at his throat. the angel swoops from heaven with extended arms, reaching forth one hand to show the ram to abraham, and clasping the patriarch's wrist with the other. the ram meanwhile is scratching his nose with his near hind leg; one of the servants is taking a thorn from his foot, while the other fills a cup from the stream at which the ass is drinking. thus each figure has a separate uneasy action. those critics who contend that the unrest of sixteenth-century sculpture was due to changes in artistic and religious feeling wrought by the renaissance, would do well to examine this plate, and see how much account must be taken of the artist's temperament in forming their opinion. brunelleschi adhered to the style and taste of the fifteenth century at its commencement; but the too fervid quality of his character impaired his work as a sculptor. ghiberti, on the other hand, translated the calm of his harmonious nature into his composition. the angel leans from heaven and points to the ram, which is seated quietly and out of sight of the main actors. isaac kneels in the attitude of a submissive victim, though his head is turned aside, as if attracted by the rush of pinions through the air; while abraham has but just lifted his hand, and the sacrifice is only suggested as a possibility by the naked knife. the two servants are grouped below in conversation, one on each side of the browsing ass. this power of telling a story plainly, but without dramatic vehemence; of eliminating the painful details of the subject, and combining its chief motives into one agreeable whole, gave peculiar charm to ghiberti's manner. it marked him as an artist distinguished by good taste. how delia quercia treated the "sacrifice of isaac" we do not know. his bas-reliefs upon the façade of s. petronio at bologna, and round the font of s. john's chapel in the cathedral of siena, enable us, however, to compare his style with that of ghiberti in the handling of a subject common to both, the "creation of eve."[ ] there is no doubt but that della quercia was a formidable rival. had the gates of the baptistery been entrusted to his execution, we might have possessed a masterpiece of more heroic style. while smoothness and an almost voluptuous suavity of outline distinguish ghiberti's naked eve, gliding upheld by angels from the side of adam at her maker's bidding, della quercia's group, by the concentration of robust and rugged power, anticipates the style of michael angelo. ghiberti treats the subject pictorially, placing his figures in a landscape, and lavishing attendant angels. della quercia, in obedience to the stricter laws of sculpture, restrains his composition to the three chief persons, and brings them into close connection. while adam reclines asleep in a beautiful and highly studied attitude, eve has just stepped forth behind him, and god stands robed in massive drapery, raising his hand as though to draw her into life. there is, perhaps, an excess of dramatic action in the lifted right leg of eve, and too much of pantomimic language in the expressive hands of eve and her creator. the robe, again, in its voluminous and snaky coils, and the triangular nimbus of the deity, convey an effect of heaviness rather than of majesty. yet we feel, while studying this composition, that it is a noble and original attempt, falling but little short of supreme accomplishment. without this antecedent sketch, michael angelo might not have matured the most complete of all his designs in the sistine chapel. the similarity between delia quercia's bas-relief and buonarroti's fresco of eve is incontestable. the young florentine, while an exile in bologna, and engaged upon the shrine of s. dominic, must have spent hours of study before the sculptures of s. petronio; so that this seed of della quercia's sowing bore after many years the fruit of world-renowned achievement in rome. two other memorable works of della quercia must be parenthetically mentioned. these are the fonte gaja on the public square of siena, now unhappily restored, and the portrait of ilaria del carretto on her tomb in the cathedral of lucca. the latter has long been dear to english students of italian art through words inimitable for their strength of sympathetic criticism.[ ] ghiberti was brought up as a goldsmith by his stepfather, and it is said that while a youth he spent much of his leisure in modelling portraits and casting imitations of antique gems and coins for his friends. at the same time he practised painting. we find him employed in decorating a palace at rimini for carlo malatesta, when his stepfather recalled him to florence, in order that he might compete for the gate of the baptistery. it is probable that from this early training ghiberti derived the delicacy of style and smoothness of execution that are reckoned among the chief merits of his work. he also developed a manner more pictorial than sculpturesque, which justifies our calling him a painter in bronze. when sir joshua reynolds remarked, "ghiberti's landscape and buildings occupied so large a portion of the compartments, that the figures remained but secondary objects,"[ ] his criticism might fairly have been taxed with some injustice even to the second of the two gates. yet, though exaggerated in severity, his words convey a truth important for the understanding of this period of italian art. the first gate may be cited as the supreme achievement of bronze-casting in the tuscan prime. in the second, by the introduction of elaborate landscapes and the massing together of figures arranged in multitudes at three and sometimes four distances, ghiberti overstepped the limits that separate sculpture from painting. having learned perspective from brunelleschi, he was eager to apply this new science to his own craft, not discerning that it has no place in noble bas-relief. he therefore abandoned the classical and the early tuscan tradition, whereby reliefs, whether high or low, are strictly restrained to figures arranged in line or grouped together without accessories. instead of painting frescoes, he set himself to model in bronze whole compositions that might have been expressed with propriety in colour. the point of sir joshua's criticism, therefore, is that ghiberti's practice of distributing figures on a small scale in spacious landscape framework was at variance with the severity of sculptural treatment. the pernicious effect of his example may be traced in much florentine work of the mid renaissance period which passed for supremely clever when it was produced. what the unique genius of ghiberti made not merely pardonable but even admirable, became under other hands no less repulsive than the transference of pictorial effects to painted glass.[ ] that ghiberti was not a great sculptor of statues is proved by his work at orsammichele. he was no architect, as we know from his incompetence to do more than impede brunelleschi in the building of the dome. he came into the world to create a new and inimitable style of hybrid beauty in those gates of paradise. his susceptibility to the first influences of the classical revival deserves notice here, since it shows to what an extent a devotee of greek art in the fifteenth century could worship the relics of antiquity without passing over into imitation. when the "hermaphrodite" was discovered in the vineyard of s. celso, ghiberti's admiration found vent in exclamations like the following: "no tongue could describe the learning and art displayed in it, or do justice to its masterly style." another antique, found near florence, must, he conjectures, have been hidden out of harm's way by "some gentle spirit in the early days of christianity." "the touch only," he adds, "can discover its beauties, which escape the sense of sight in any light."[ ] it would be impossible to express a reverential love of ancient art more tenderly than is done in these sentences. so intense was ghiberti's passion for the greeks, that he rejected christian chronology and reckoned by olympiads--a system that has thrown obscurity over his otherwise precious notes of tuscan artists. in spite of this devotion, he never appears to have set himself consciously to reproduce the style of greek sculpture, or to have set forth hellenic ideas. he remained unaffectedly natural, and in a true sense christian. the paganism of the renaissance is a phrase with no more meaning for him than for that still more delicate florentine spirit, luca della robbia; and if his works are classical, they are so only in goethe's sense, when he pronounced, "the point is for a work to be thoroughly good, and then it is sure to be classical." one great advantage of the early days of the renaissance over the latter was this, that pseudo-paganism and pedantry had not as yet distorted the judgment or misdirected the aims of artists. contact with the antique world served only to stimulate original endeavour, by leading the student back to the fountain of all excellence in nature, and by exhibiting types of perfection in technical processes. to ape the sculptors of antinous, or to bring to life again the gods who died with pan, was not yet longed for. of the impunity with which a sculptor in that period could submit his genius to the service and the study of ancient art without sacrificing individuality, donatello furnishes a still more illustrious example than ghiberti. early in his youth donatello journeyed with brunelleschi to rome, in order to acquaint himself with the monuments then extant. how thoroughly he comprehended the classic spirit is proved by the bronze patera wrought for his patron ruberto martelli, and by the frieze of the triumphant bacchus.[ ] yet the great achievements of his genius were christian in their sentiment and realistic in their style. the bronze "magdalen" of the florentine baptistery and the bronze "baptist" of the duomo at siena[ ] are executed with an unrelenting materialism, not alien indeed to the sincerity of classic art, but divergent from antique tradition, inasmuch as the ideas of repentant and prophetic asceticism had no place in greek mythology. donatello, with the uncompromising candour of an artist bent on marking character, felt that he was bound to seize the very pith and kernel of his subject. if a magdalen were demanded of him, he would not condescend to model a venus and then place a book and skull upon a rock beside her; nor did he imagine that the bloom and beauty of a laughing faun were fitting attributes for the preacher of repentance. it remained for later artists, intoxicated with antique loveliness and corroded with worldly scepticism, to reproduce the outward semblance of greek deities under the pretence of setting forth the myths of christianity. such compromise had not occurred to donatello. the motive of his art was clearly apprehended, his method was sincere; certain phases of profound emotion had to be represented with the physical characteristics proper to them. the result, ugly and painful as it may sometimes be, was really more concordant with the spirit of greek method than lionardo's "john" or correggio's "magdalen." that is to say, it was straightforward and truthful; whereas the strange caprices of the later renaissance too often betrayed a double mind, disloyal alike to paganism and to christianity, in their effort to combine divergent forces. it may still be argued that such conceptions as sorrow for sin and mortification of the flesh, unflinchingly portrayed by haggard gauntness in the saints of donatello, are unfit for sculpturesque expression. a more felicitous embodiment of modern feeling was achieved by donatello in "s. george" and "david." the former is a marble statue placed upon the north wall of orsammichele; the latter is a bronze, cast for cosimo de' medici, and now exhibited in the bargello.[ ] without striving to idealise his models, the sculptor has expressed in both the christian conception of heroism, fearless in the face of danger, and sustained by faith. the naked beauty of the boy david and the mailed manhood of s. george are raised to a spiritual region by the type of feature and the pose of body selected to interpret their animating impulse. these are no mere portraits of wrestlers, such, as peopled the groves of altis at olympia, no ideals of physical strength translated into brass and marble, like the "hercules" of naples or the vatican. the one is a christian soldier ready to engage apollyon in battle to the death; the other the boy-hero of a marvellous romance. the body in both is but the shrine of an indwelling soul, the instrument and agent of a faith-directed will; and the crown of their conflict is no wreath of laurel or of parsley. in other words, the value of s. george and david to the sculptor lay not in their strength and youthful beauty--though he has endowed them with these excellent gifts--so much as in their significance for the eternal struggle of the soul with evil. the same power of expressing christian sentiment in a form of perfect beauty, transcending the greek type by profounder suggestion of feeling, is illustrated in the well-known low-relief of an angel's head in profile, technically one of donatello's most masterly productions.[ ] it is no part of my present purpose to enumerate the many works of donatello in marble and bronze; yet some allusion to their number and variety is necessary in order to show how widely his influence was diffused through italy. in the monuments of pope john xxiii., of cardinal brancacci, and of bartolommeo aragazzi, he subordinated his genius to the treatment of sepulchral and biographical subjects according to time-honoured tuscan usage. they were severally placed in florence, naples, and montepulciano. for the cathedral of prato he executed bas-reliefs of dancing boys; a similar series, intended for the balustrades of the organ in s. maria del fiore, is now preserved in the bargello museum. the exultation of movement has never been expressed in stone with more fidelity to the strict rules of plastic art. for his friend and patron, cosimo de' medici, he cast in bronze the group of "judith and holofernes"--a work that illustrates the clumsiness of realistic treatment, and deserves to be remembered chiefly for its strange fortunes. when the medici fled from florence in , their palace was sacked; the new republic took possession of donatello's "judith," and placed it on a pedestal before the gate of the palazzo vecchio, with this inscription, ominous to would-be despots: _exemplum salutis publicae cives posuere. mccccxcv_. it now stands near cellini's "perseus" under the loggia de' lanzi. for the pulpits of s. lorenzo, donatello made designs of intricate bronze bas-reliefs, which were afterwards completed by his pupil bertoldo. these, though better known to travellers, are less excellent than the reliefs in bronze wrought by donatello's own hand for the church of s. anthony at padua.[ ] to that city he was called in , in order that he might model the equestrian statue of gattamelata. it still stands on the piazza, a masterpiece of scientific bronze-founding, the first great portrait of a general on horseback since the days of rome.[ ] at padua, in the hall of the palazzo della ragione, is also preserved the wooden horse, which is said to have been constructed by the sculptor for the noble house of capodilista. these two examples of equestrian modelling marked an epoch in italian statuary. when donato di nicolo di betto bardi, called donatello because men loved his sweet and cheerful temper, died in at the age of eighty, the brightest light of italian sculpture in its most promising period was extinguished. donatello's influence, felt far and wide through italy, was of inestimable value in correcting the false direction toward pictorial sculpture which ghiberti, had he flourished alone at florence, might have given to the art. his style was always eminently masculine. however tastes may differ about the positive merits of his several works, there can be no doubt that the principles of sincerity, truth to nature, and technical accuracy they illustrate, were all-important in an age that lent itself too readily to the caprices of the fancy and the puerilities of florid taste. to regret that donatello lacked ghiberti's exquisite sense of beauty, is tantamount to wishing that two of the greatest artists of the world had made one man between them. donatello did not, in the strict sense of the term, found a school.[ ] andrea verocchio, goldsmith, painter, and worker in bronze, was the most distinguished of his pupils. to all the arts he practised, verocchio applied limited powers, a meagre manner, and a prosaic mind. yet few men have exercised at a very critical moment a more decided influence. the mere fact that he numbered lionardo da vinci, lorenzo di credi, and pietro perugino among his scholars, proves the esteem of his contemporaries; and when we have observed that the type of face selected by lionardo and transmitted to his followers, appears also in the pictures of lorenzo di credi and is first found in the "david" of verocchio, we have a right to affirm that the master of these men was an artist of creative genius as well as a careful workman. florence still points with pride to the "incredulity of thomas" on the eastern wall of orsammichele, to the "boy and dolphin" in the court of the palazzo vecchio, and to the "david" of this sculptor: but the first is spoiled by heaviness and angularity of drapery; the second, though fanciful and marked by fluttering movement, is but a caprice; the third outdoes the hardest work of donatello by its realism. verocchio's "david," a lad of some seventeen years, has the lean, veined arms of a stone-hewer or gold-beater. as a faithful portrait of the first florentine prentice who came to hand, this statue might have merit but for the awkward cuirass and kilt that partly drape the figure. the name of verocchio is best known to the world through the equestrian statue of bartolommeo colleoni. when this great condottiere, the last surviving general trained by braccio da montone, died in , he bequeathed a large portion of his wealth to venice, on condition that his statue on horseback should be erected in the piazza di s. marco. colleoni, having long held the bâton of the republic, desired that after death his portrait, in his habit as he lived, should continue to look down on the scene of his old splendour. by an ingenious quibble the senators adhered to the letter of his will without infringing a law that forbade them to charge the square of s. mark with monuments. they ruled that the piazza in front of the scuola di s. marco, better known as the campo di s. zanipolo, might be chosen as the site of colleoni's statue, and to andrea verocchio was given the commission for its erection. andrea died in before the model for the horse was finished. the work was completed, and the pedestal was supplied by alessandro leopardi. to verocchio, profiting by the example of donatello's "gattamelata," must be assigned the general conception of this statue; but the breath of life that animates both horse and rider, the richness of detail that enhances the massive grandeur of the group, and the fiery spirit of its style of execution were due to the venetian genius of leopardi. verocchio alone produced nothing so truly magnificent. this joint creation of florentine science and venetian fervour is one of the most precious monuments of the renaissance. from it we learn what the men who fought the bloodless battles of the commonwealths, and who aspired to principality, were like. "he was tall," writes a biographer of colleoni,[ ] "of erect and well-knit figure, and of well-proportioned limbs. his complexion tended rather to brown, marked withal by bright and sanguine flesh-tints. he had black eyes; their brilliancy was vivid, their gaze terrible and penetrating. in the outline of his nose and in all his features he displayed a manly nobleness combined with goodness and prudence." better phrases cannot be chosen to describe his statue. while admiring this masterpiece and dwelling on its royal style, we are led to deplore most bitterly the loss of the third equestrian statue of the renaissance. nothing now remains but a few technical studies made by lionardo da vinci for his portrait of francesco sforza. the two elaborate models he constructed and the majority of his minute designs have been destroyed. he intended, we are told, to represent the first duke of the sforza dynasty on his charger, trampling the body of a prostrate and just conquered enemy. rubens' transcript from the "battle of the standard," enables us to comprehend to some extent how lionardo might have treated this motive. the severe and cautious style of donatello, after gaining freedom and fervour from leopardi, was adapted to the ideal presentation of dramatic passion by lionardo. thus gattamelata, colleoni, and francesco sforza would, through their statues, have marked three distinct phases in the growth of art. the final effort of italian sculpture to express human activity in the person of a mounted warrior has perished. in this sphere we possess nothing which, like the tombs of s. lorenzo in relation to sepulchral statuary, completes a series of development. if donatello founded no school, this was far more the case with ghiberti. his supposed pupil, antonio del pollajuolo, showed no sign of ghiberti's influence, but struck out for himself a style distinguished by almost brutal energy and bizarre realism--characteristics the very opposite to those of his master. if the bronze relief of the "crucifixion" in the bargello be really pollajuolo's, we may even trace a leaning to verocchio in his manner. the emphatic passion of the women recalls the group of mourners round the death-bed of selvaggia tornabuoni in verocchio's celebrated bas-relief. pollajuolo, like so many florentine artists, was a goldsmith, a painter, and a worker in niello, before he took to sculpture. as a goldsmith he is said to have surpassed all his contemporaries, and his mastery over this art influenced his style in general. what we chiefly notice, however, in his choice of subjects is a frenzy of murderous enthusiasm, a grimness of imagination, rare among italian artists. the picture in the uffizzi of "hercules and antaeus" and the well-known engraving of naked men fighting a series of savage duels in a wood, might be chosen as emphatic illustrations of his favourite motives. the fiercest emotions of the renaissance find expression in the clenched teeth, strained muscles, knotted brows, and tense nerves, depicted by pollajuolo with eccentric energy. we seem to be assisting at some of those combats _a steccato chiuso_ wherein sixtus iv. delighted, or to have before our eyes a fray between crocensi and vallensi in the streets of rome.[ ] the same remarks apply to the terra-cotta relief by pollajuolo in the south kensington museum. this piece displays the struggles of twelve naked men, divided into six pairs of combatants. two of the couples hold short chains with the left hand, and seek to stab each other with the right. in the case of another two couples the fight is over, and the victor is insulting his fallen foe. in each of the remaining pairs one gladiator is on the point of yielding to his adversary. there are thus three several moments of duel to the death, each illustrated by two couples. the mathematical distribution of these dreadful groups gives an effect of frozen passion; while the vigorous workmanship displays not only an enthusiasm for muscular anatomy, but a real sympathy with blood-fury in the artist. there was, therefore, a certain propriety in the choice of pollajuolo to cast the sepulchre of sixtus iv. in bronze at rome. the best judges complain, not without reason, that the allegories surrounding this tomb are exaggerated and affected in style; yet the dead pope, stretched in pomp upon his bier, commands more than merely historical interest; while the figures, seated as guardians round the old man, terrible in death, communicate an impression of monumental majesty. criticised in detail, each separate figure may be faulty. the composition, as a whole, is picturesque and grandiose. the same can scarcely be said about the tomb of innocent viii., erected by antonio and his brother piero del pollajuolo. while it perpetuates the memory of an uninteresting pontiff, it has but little, as a work of art, to recommend it. the pollajuoli were not great sculptors. in the history of italian art they deserve a place, because of the vivid personality impressed upon some portions of their work. few draughtsmen carried the study of muscular anatomy so far as antonio.[ ] luca della robbia, whose life embraced the first eighty years of the fifteenth century, offers in many important respects a contrast to his contemporaries ghiberti and donatello, and still more to their immediate followers. he made his art as true to life as it is possible to be, without the rugged realism of donatello or the somewhat effeminate graces of ghiberti. the charm of his work is never impaired by scientific mannerism--that stumbling-block to critics like de stendhal in the art of florence; nor does it suffer from the picturesqueness of a sentimental style. how to render the beauty of nature in her most delightful moments--taking us with him into the holiest of holies, and handling the sacred vessels with a child's confiding boldness--was a secret known to luca della robbia alone. we may well find food for meditation in the innocent and cheerful inspiration of this man, whose lifetime coincided with a period of sordid passions and debased ambition in the church and states of italy. luca was apprenticed in his youth to a goldsmith; but of what he wrought before the age of forty-five, we know but little.[ ] at that time his faculty had attained full maturity, and he produced the groups of dancing children and choristers intended for the organ gallery of the duomo. wholly free from affectation, and depending for effect upon no merely decorative detail, these bas-reliefs deserve the praise bestowed by dante on the sculpture seen in purgatory:[ ]-- dinanzi a noi pareva si verace, quivi intagliato in un atto soave, che non sembrava immagine che tace. movement has never been suggested in stone with less exaggeration, nor have marble lips been made to utter sweeter and more varied music. luca's true perception of the limits to be observed in sculpture, appears most eminently in the glazed terra-cotta work by which he is best known. an ordinary artist might have found the temptation to aim at showy and pictorial effects in this material overwhelming. luca restrained himself to pure white on pale blue, and preserved an exquisite simplicity of line in all his compositions. there is an almost unearthly beauty in the profiles of his madonnas, a tempered sweetness in the modulation of their drapery and attitude, that prove complete mastery in the art of rendering evanescent moments of expression, the most fragile subtleties of the emotions that can stir a tranquil spirit. andrea della robbia, the nephew of luca, with his four sons, giovanni, luca, ambrogio, and girolamo, continued to manufacture the glazed earthenware of luca's invention. these men, though excellent artificers, lacked the fine taste of their teacher. coarser colours were introduced; the eye was dazzled with variety; but the power of speaking to the soul as luca spoke was lost.[ ] after the della robbias, this is the place to mention agostino di gucci or di duccio,[ ] a sculptor who handled terra-cotta somewhat in the manner of donatello's flat-relief, introducing more richness of detail and aiming at more passion than luca's taste permitted. for the oratory of s. bernardino at perugia he designed the façade partly in stone and partly in baked clay--crowded with figures, flying, singing, playing upon instruments of music, with waving draperies and windy hair and the ecstasy of movement in their delicately modelled limbs. if nothing else remained of agostino's workmanship, this façade alone would place him in the first rank of contemporary artists. he owed something, perhaps, to his material; for terra-cotta has the charm of improvisation. the hand, obedient to the brain, has made it in one moment what it is, and no slow hours of labour at the stone have dulled the first caprice of the creative fancy. work, therefore, which, if translated into marble, might have left our sympathy unstirred, affects us with keen pleasure in the mould of plastic clay. what prodigality of thought and invention has been lavished on the terra-cotta models of unknown italian artists! what forms and faces, beautiful as shapes of dreams, and, like dreams, so airy that we think they will take flight and vanish, lean to greet us from cloisters and palace fronts in lombardy! to catalogue their multitude would be impossible. it is enough to select one instance out of many; this shall be taken from the chapel of s. peter martyr in s. eustorgio at milan. high up around the cupola runs a frieze of angels, singing together and dancing with joined hands, while bells composed of fruits and flowers hang down between them. each angel is an individual shape of joy; the soul in each moves to its own deep melody, but the music made of all is one. their raiment flutters, the bells chime; the chorus of their gladness falls like voices through a star-lit heaven, half-heard in dreams and everlastingly remembered. four sculptors, the younger contemporaries of luca della robbia, and marked by certain common qualities, demand attention next. all the work of antonio rossellino, matteo civitali, mino da fiesole, and benedetto da majano, is distinguished by sweetness, grace, tranquillity, and self-restraint--as though these artists had voluntarily imposed limits on their genius, refusing to trespass beyond a traced circle of religious subjects, or to aim at effects unrealisable by purity of outline, suavity of expression, delicacy of feeling, and urbanity of style. the charm of manner they possess in common, can scarcely he defined except by similes. the innocence of childhood, the melody of a lute or song-bird as distinguished from the music of an orchestra, the rathe tints of early dawn, cheerful light on shallow streams, the serenity of a simple and untainted nature that has never known the world--many such images occur to the mind while thinking of the sculpture of these men. to charge them with insipidity, immaturity, and monotony, would be to mistake the force of genius and skill displayed by them. we should rather assume that they confined themselves to certain types of tranquil beauty, without caring to realise more obviously striking effects, and that this was their way of meeting the requirements of sculpture considered as a christian art. the melody of their design, meanwhile, is like the purest song-music of pergolese or salvator rosa, unapproachably perfect in simple outline, and inexhaustibly refreshing. though it is possible to characterise the style of these sculptors by some common qualities observable in their work, it should rather be the aim of criticism to point out their differences. antonio rossellino, for example, might be distinguished by his leaning toward the manner of ghiberti, whose landscape backgrounds he has adopted in the circular medallions of his monumental sculpture. a fine perception of the poetic capabilities of christian art is displayed in rossellino's idyllic treatment of the nativity--the adoration of the shepherds, the hush of reverential stillness in the worship mary pays her infant son.[ ] to the qualities of sweetness and tranquillity rare dignity is added in the monument of the young cardinal di portogallo.[ ] the sublimity of the slumber that is death has never been more nobly and feelingly portrayed than in the supine figure and sleeping features of this most beautiful young man, who lies watched by angels beneath a heavy-curtained canopy. the genii of eternal repose modelled by greek sculptors are twin-brothers of love, on whom perpetual slumber has descended amid poppy-fields by lethe's stream. the turmoil of the world is over for them; they will never wake again; they do not even dream. sleep is the only power that still has life in them. but the christian cannot thus conceive the mystery of the soul "fallen on sleep." his art must suggest a time of waiting and a time of waking; and this it does partly through the ministration of attendant angels, who would not be standing there on guard if the clay-cold corpse had no futurity, partly by breathing upon the limbs and visage of the dead a spirit as of life suspended for a while. thus the soul herself is imaged in the marble "most sweetly slumbering in the gates of dreams." what vespasiano tells us of this cardinal, born of the royal house of portugal, adds the virtue of sincerity to rossellino's work, proving there is no flattery of the dead man in his sculpture.[ ] "among his other admirable virtues," says the biographer, "messer jacopo di portogallo determined to preserve his virginity, though he was beautiful above all others of his age. consequently he avoided all things that might prove impediments to his vow, such as free discourse, the society of women, balls, and songs. in this mortal flesh he lived as though he had been free from it--the life, we may say, rather of an angel than a man. and if his biography were written from his childhood to his death, it would be not only an ensample, but confusion to the world. upon his monument the hand was modelled from his own, and the face is very like him, for he was most lovely in his person, but still more in his soul." while contemplating this monument of the young cardinal, we feel that the italians of that age understood sepulchral sculpture far better than their immediate successors. they knew how to carve the very soul, according to the lines which our webster, a keen observer of all things relating to the grave and death, has put into jolenta's lips:-- but indeed, if ever i would have mine drawn to the life, i would have a painter steal it at such time i were devoutly kneeling at my prayers; there is then a heavenly beauty in't; _the soul moves in the superficies_. the same webster condemns that evil custom of aping life and movement on the monuments of dead men, which began to obtain when the motives of pure repose had been exhausted. "why," asks the duchess of malfi, "do we grow fantastical in our death-bed? do we affect fashion in the grave?" "most ambitiously," answers bosola; "princes' images on their tombs do not lie as they were wont, seeming to pray up to heaven; but with their hands under their cheeks (as if they died of the toothache): they are not carved with their eyes fixed upon the stars; but, as their minds were wholly bent upon the world, the self-same way they seem to turn their faces." a more trenchant criticism than this could hardly have been pronounced upon andrea contucci di monte sansavino's tombs of ascanio sforza and girolamo della rovere, if bosola had been standing before them in the church of s. maria del popolo when he spoke. were it the function of monumental sculpture to satirise the dead, or to point out their characteristic faults for the warning of posterity, then the sepulchres of these worldly cardinals of sixtus iv.'s creation would be artistically justified. but the object of art is not this. the idea of death, as conceived by christians, has to be portrayed. the repose of the just, the resurrection of the body, and the coming judgment, afford sufficient scope for treatment of good men and bad alike. or if the sculptor have sublime imagination, he may, like michael angelo, suggest the alternations of the day and night, slumber and waking, whereby "our little life is rounded with a sleep." this digression will hardly be thought superfluous when we reflect how large a part of the sculptor's energy was spent on tombs in italy. matteo civitali of lucca was at least rossellino's equal in the sculpturesque delineation of spiritual qualities; but the motives he chose for treatment were more varied. all his work is penetrated with deep, prayerful, intense feeling; as though the artist's soul, poured forth in ecstasy and adoration, had been given to the marble. this is especially true of two angels kneeling upon the altar of the chapel of the sacrament in lucca cathedral. civitali, by singular good fortune, was chosen in the best years of his life to adorn the cathedral of his native city; and it is here, rather than at genoa, where much of his sculpture may also be seen, that he deserves to be studied. for the people of lucca he designed the chapel of the santo volto--a gem of the purest renaissance architecture--and a pulpit in the same style. his most remarkable sculpture is to be found in three monuments: the tombs of domenico bertini and pietro da noceto, and the altar of s. regulus. the last might be chosen as an epitome of all that is most characteristic in tuscan sculpture of the earlier renaissance. it is built against the wall, and architecturally designed so as to comprehend a full-length figure of the bishop stretched upon his bier and watched by angels, a group of madonna and her child seated above him, a row of standing saints below, and a predella composed of four delicately finished bas-reliefs. every part of this complex work is conceived with spirit and executed with care; and the various elements are so combined as to make one composition, the body of the saint on his sarcophagus forming the central object of the whole. to do more than briefly mention the minor sculptors of this group would be impossible. mino di giovanni, called da fiesole, was characterised by grace that tended to degenerate into formality. the tombs in the abbey of florence have an almost infantine sweetness of style, which might be extremely piquant, were it not that mino pushed this quality in other works to the verge of mannerism.[ ] their architectural features are the same as those of similar monuments in tuscany:--a shallow recess, flanked by renaissance pilasters, and roofed with a semicircular arch; within the recess, the full-length figure of the dead man on a marble coffin of antique design; in the lunette above, a madonna carved in low relief.[ ] mino's bust of bishop salutati in the cathedral church of fiesole is a powerful portrait, no less distinguished for vigorous individuality than consummate workmanship. the waxlike finish of the finely chiselled marble alone betrays that delicacy which with mino verged on insipidity. the same faculty of character delineation is seen in three profiles, now in the bargello museum, attributed to mino. they represent frederick duke of urbino, battista sforza, and galeazzo sforza. the relief is very low, rising at no point more than half an inch above the surface of the ground, but so carefully modulated as to present a wonderful variety of light and shade, and to render the facial expression with great vividness. desiderio da settignano, one of donatello's few scholars, was endowed with the same gift of exquisite taste as his friend mino da fiesole;[ ] but his inventive faculty was bolder, and his genius more robust, in spite of the profuse ornamentation and elaborate finish of his masterpiece, the tomb of carlo marsuppini in s. croce. the bust he made of marietta di palla degli strozzi enables us to compare his style in portraiture with that of mino.[ ] it would be hard to find elsewhere a more captivating combination of womanly sweetness and dignity. we feel, in looking at these products of the best age of italian sculpture, that the artists who conceived them were, in the truest sense of the word, gentle. none but men courteous and unaffected could have carved a face like that of marietta strozzi, breathing the very spirit of urbanity. to express the most amiable qualities of a living person in a work of art that should suggest emotional tranquillity by harmonious treatment, and indicate the temperance of a disciplined nature by self-restraint and moderation of style, and to do this with the highest technical perfection, was the triumph of fifteenth-century sculpture. an artist who claims a third place beside mino and his friend, "il bravo desider si dolce e bello,"[ ] is benedetto da majano. in benedetto's bas-reliefs at san gemignano, carved for the altars of those unlovely tuscan worthies, s. fina and s. bartolo, we find a pictorial treatment of legendary subjects, proving that he had studied ghirlandajo's frescoes. the same is true about his pulpit in s. croce at florence, his treatment of the story of s. savino at faenza, and his "annunciation" in the church of monte oliveto at naples. benedetto, indeed, may be said to illustrate the working of ghiberti's influence by his liberal use of landscape and architectural backgrounds; but the style is rather ghirlandajo's than ghiberti's. if it was a mistake in the sculptors of that period to subordinate their art to painting, the error, we feel, was aggravated by the imitation of a manner so prosaic as that of ghirlandajo. that benedetto began life as a _tarsiatore_ may perhaps help to account for his pictorial style in bas-relief.[ ] in estimating his total claim as an artist, we must not forget that he designed the formidable and splendid strozzi palace. it will be observed that all the sculptors hitherto mentioned have been tuscans; and this is due to no mere accident--nor yet to caprice on the part of their historian. though the other districts of italy produced admirable workmen, the direction given to this art proceeded from tuscany. florence, the metropolis of modern culture, determined the course of the aesthetical renaissance. even at rimini we cannot account for the carvings in low relief, so fanciful, so delicately wrought, and so profusely scattered over the side chapels of s. francesco, without the intervention of two florentines, bernardo ciuffagni and donatello's pupil simone; while in the palace of urbino we trace some hand not unlike that of mino da fiesole at work upon the mouldings of door and architrave, cornice and high-built chimney.[ ] not only do we thus find tuscan craftsmen or their scholars employed on all the great public buildings throughout italy; but it also happens that, except in tuscany, the decoration of churches and palaces is not unfrequently anonymous. this does not, however, interfere with the truth that sculpture, like all the arts, assumed a somewhat different character in each italian city. the venetian stone-carvers leaned from the first to a richer and more passionate style than the florentine, reproducing the types of cima's and bellini's paintings.[ ] whole families, like the bregni--classes, like the lombardi--schools, like that of alessandro leopardi, worked together on the monumental sculpture of s. zanipolo. in the tombs of the doges the old pisan motive of the curtains (first used by arnolfo di cambio at orvieto, and afterwards with grand effect by giovanni pisano at perugia) is expanded into a sumptuous tent-canopy. pages and genii and mailed heroes take the place of angels, and the marine details of roman reliefs are copied in the subordinate decoration. at verona the mediaeval tombs of the scaligers, with their vast chest-like sarcophagi and mounted warriors, exhibit features markedly different from the monuments of tuscany; while the mixture of fresco with sculpture, in monuments like that of the cavalli in s. anastasia, and in many altar-pieces, is at variance with florentine usage. on the terra-cotta mouldings, so frequent in lombard cities, i have already had occasion to touch briefly. they almost invariably display a feeling for beauty more sensuous, with less of scientific purpose in their naturalism, than is common in the tuscan style. guido mazzoni of modena, called il modanino, may be mentioned as the sculptor who freed terra-cotta from its dependence upon architecture, and who modelled groups of overpowering dramatic realism. his "pietà," in the church of monte oliveto at naples, is valuable, less for its passionate intensity of expression than for the portraits of pontano, sannazzaro, and alfonso of aragon.[ ] this sub-species of sculpture was freely employed in north italy to stimulate devotion, and to impress the people with lively pictures of the passion. the sacro monte at varallo, for example, is covered with a multitude of chapels, each one of which presents some chapter of bible history dramatically rendered by life-size groups of terra-cotta figures. some of these were designed by eminent painters, and executed by clever modellers in clay. even now they are scarcely less stirring to the mind of a devout spectator than the scenes of a mediaeval mystery may have been. the certosa of pavia, lastly, is the centre of a school of sculpture that has little in common with the florentine tradition. antonio amadeo[ ] and andrea fusina, acting in concert with ambrogio borgognone the painter, gave it in the fifteenth century that character of rich and complex decorative beauty which many generations of artists were destined to continue and complete. among the countless sculptors employed upon its marvellous façade amadeo asserts an individuality above the rest, which is further manifested in his work in the cappella colleoni at bergamo. we there learn to know him, not only as an enthusiastic cultivator of the mingled christian and pagan manner of the _quattrocento_, but as an artist in the truest sense of the word sympathetic. the sepulchral portrait of medea, daughter of the great condottiere, has a grace almost beyond that of della quercia's "ilaria."[ ] much, no doubt, is due to the peculiarly fragile beauty of the girl herself, who lies asleep with little crisp curls clustering upon her forehead, and with a string of pearls around her slender throat. but the sensibility to loveliness so delicate, and the power to render it in marble with so ethereal a touch upon the rigid stone, belong to the sculptor, and win for him our worship. the list of fifteenth-century sculptors is almost ended; and already, on the threshold of the sixteenth, stands the mighty form of michael angelo. andrea contucci da sansavino and his pupil jacopo tatti, called also sansovino, after his master, must, however, next be mentioned as continuing the florentine tradition without subservience to the style of buonarroti. andrea da sansavino was a sculptor in whom for the first time the faults of the mid-renaissance period are glaringly apparent. he persistently sacrificed simplicity of composition to decorative ostentation, and tranquillity of feeling to theatrical effect. the truth of this will be acknowledged by all who have studied the tombs of the cardinals in s. maria del popolo already mentioned,[ ] and the bas-reliefs upon the santa casa at loreto. in technical workmanship andrea proved himself an able craftsman, modelling marble with the plasticity of wax, and lavishing patterns of the most refined invention. yet the decorative prodigality of this master corresponded to the frigid and stylistic graces of the neo-latin poets. it was so much mannerism--adopted without real passion from the antique, and applied with a rhetorical intention. those acanthus scrolls and honeysuckle borders, in spite of their consummate finish, fail to arrest attention, leaving the soul as unstirred as the ovidian cadences of bembo. jacopo tatti was a genius of more distinction. together with san gallo and bramante he studied the science of architecture in rome, where he also worked at the restoration of newly discovered antiques, and cast in bronze a copy of the "laocoon." thus equipped with the artistic learning of his age, he was called in by the doge, andrea gritti, to venice. the material pomp of venice at this epoch, and the pride of her unrivalled luxury, affected his imagination so powerfully that his genius, tutored by florentine and umbrian masters among the ruins of old rome, became at once venetian. in the history of the renaissance the names of titian and aretino, themselves acclimatised aliens, are inseparably connected with that of their friend sansovino. at venice he lived until his death in , building the zecca, the library, the scala d'oro in the ducal palace, and the loggietta beneath the bell-tower of s. mark. in all his work he subordinated sculpture to architecture, and his statuary is conceived in the _bravura_, manner of renaissance paganism. whatever may be the faults of sansovino in both arts, it cannot be denied that he expressed, in a style peculiar to himself, the large voluptuous external life of venice at a moment when this city was the paris or the corinth of renaissance europe. at the same time, the shallowness of sansovino's inspiration as a sculptor is patent in his masterpieces of parade--the "neptune" and the "mars," guarding the scala d'oro. separated from the architecture of the court and staircase, they are insignificant in spite of their colossal scale. in their place they add a haughty grandeur, by the contrast which their flowing forms and arrogant attitudes present to the severer lines of the construction. but they are devoid of artistic sincerity, and occupy the same relation to true sculpture as flourishes of rhetoric, however brilliant, to poetry embodying deep thought or passion. at first sight they impose: on further acquaintance we find them chiefly interesting as illustrations of a potent civic life upon the wane, gorgeous in its decay. sansovino was a first-rate craftsman. the most finished specimen of his skill is the bronze door of the sacristy of s. marco, upon which he is said to have worked through twenty years. portraits of the sculptor, titian, and pietro aretino are introduced into the decorative border. these heads start from the surface of the gate with astonishing vivacity. that aretino should thus daily assist in effigy at the procession of priests bearing the sacred emblems from the sacristy to the high altar of s. mark, is one of the most characteristic proofs of sixteenth-century indifference to things holy and things profane. jacopo sansovino marks the final intrusion of paganism into modern art. the classical revival had worked but partially and indirectly upon ghiberti and donatello--not because they did not feel it most intensely, but because they clung to nature far more closely than to antique precedent. this enthusiasm inspired sansovino with the best and strongest qualities that he can boast; and if his genius had been powerful enough to resist the fascination of merely rhetorical effects, he might have produced a perfect restoration of the classic style. his was no lifeless or pedantic imitation of antique fragments, but a real expression of the fervour with which the modern world hailed the discoveries revealed to it by scholarship. this is said advisedly. the most beautiful and spirited pagan statue of the renaissance period, justifying the estimate here made of sansovino's genius, is the "bacchus" exhibited in the bargello museum. both the bacchus and the satyriscus at his side are triumphs of realism, irradiated and idealised by the sculptor's vivid sense of natural gladness. considered as a restitution of the antique manner, this statue is decidedly superior to the "bacchus" of michael angelo. while the mundane splendour of venice gave body and fulness to sansovino's paganism, he missed the self-restraint and purity of taste peculiar to the studious shades of florence. in his style, both architectural and sculptural, the neo-pagan sensuality of italy expanded all its bloom. for the artist at this period a greek myth and a christian legend were all one. both afforded the occasion for displaying technical skill in fluent forms, devoid of any but voluptuous feeling; while both might be subordinated to rich effects of decoration.[ ] to this point the intellectual culture of the fifteenth century had brought the plastic arts of italy, by a process similar to that which ended in the "partus virginis" of sannazzaro. they were still indisputably vigorous, and working in accordance with the movement of the modern spirit. yet the synthesis they attempted to effect between heathenism and christianity, by a sheer effort of style, and by indifferentism, strikes us from the point of view of art alone, not reckoning religion or morality, as unsuccessful. still, if it be childish on the one hand to deplore that the christian earnestness of the earlier masters had failed, it would be even more ridiculous to complain that paganism had not been more entirely recovered. the double-mind of the renaissance, the source of its weakness in art as in thought, could not be avoided, because humanity at this moment had to lose the mediaeval sincerity of faith, and to assimilate the spirit of a bygone civilisation. this, for better or for worse, was the phase through which the intellect of modern europe was obliged to pass; and those who have confidence in the destinies of the human race, will not spend their strength in moaning over such shortcomings as the periods of transition bring inevitably with them. the student of italian history may indeed more reasonably be allowed to question whether the arts, if left to follow their own development unchecked, might not have recovered from the confusion of the renaissance and have entered on a stage of nobler activity through earnest and unaffected study of nature. but the enslavement of the country, together with the counter-reformation, suspended the renaissance in mid-career; and what remains of italian art is incomplete. besides, it must be borne in mind that the confusion of opinions consequent upon the clash of the modern with the ancient world, left no body of generally accepted beliefs to express; nor has the time even yet arrived for a settlement and synthesis that shall be favourable to the activity of the figurative arts. sansovino himself was neither original nor powerful enough, to elevate the mixed motives of renaissance sculpture by any lofty idealisation. to do that remained for michael angelo. the greatness of michael angelo consists in this--that while literature was sinking into the frivolity of academies and the filth of the bernesque "capitoli," while the barefaced villanies of aretino won him credit, while sensual magnificence formed the ideal of artists who were neither greeks nor christians, while ariosto found no subject fitter for his genius than a glittering romance, he and he alone maintained the dantesque dignity of the italian intellect in his sculpture. michael angelo stands so far apart from other men, and is so gigantic a force for good and evil in the history of art, that to estimate his life and labour in relation to the renaissance must form the subject of a separate chapter. for the present it is enough to observe that his immediate scholars, raffaello da montelupo, and gian angelo montorsoli, caught little from their master but the mannerism of contorted form and agitated action. this mannerism, a blemish even in the strong work of buonarroti, became ridiculous when adopted by men of feeble powers and passionless imagination. by straining the art of sculpture to its utmost limits, michael angelo expressed vehement emotions in marble; and the forced attitudes affected in his work had their value as significant of spiritual struggle. his imitators showed none of their master's sublime force, none of that _terribilità_ which made him unapproachable in social intercourse and inimitable in art. they merely fancied that dignity and beauty were to be achieved by placing figures in difficult postures, exaggerated muscular anatomy, and twisting the limbs of their models upon sections of ellipses in uncomfortable attitudes, till the whole of their work was writhen into uncouth lines. buonarroti himself was not responsible for these results. he wrought out his own ideal with the firmness of a genius that obeys the law of its own nature, doing always what it must. that the decadence of sculpture into truculent bravado was independent of his direct influence, is further proved by the inefficiency of his contemporaries. baccio bandinelli and bartolommeo ammanati filled the squares of the italian cities with statues of hercules and satyrs, neptune and river-gods. we know not whether to select the vulgarity, the feebleness, or the pretentiousness of these pseudo-classical colossi for condemnation. they have nothing greek about them but their names, their nakedness, and their association with myths, the significance whereof was never really felt by the sculptors. some of bandinelli's designs, it is true, are vigorous; but they are mere drawings from undraped peasants, life studies depicting the human animal. his "hercules and cacus," while it deserves all the sarcasm hurled at it by cellini, proves that bandinelli could not rise above the wrestling bout of a porter and a coal-heaver. nor would it be possible to invent a motive less in accordance with greek taste than the conceit of ammanati's fountain at castello, where hercules by squeezing the body of antaeus makes the drinking water of a city spout from a giant's mouth. such pitiful misapplications of an art which is designed to elevate the commonplace of human form, and to render permanent the nobler qualities of physical existence, show how superficially and wrongly the antique spirit had been apprehended. some years before his death ammanati expressed in public his regret that he had made so many giants and satyrs, feeling that, by exhibiting forms of lust, brutality, and animalism to the gaze of his fellow-countrymen, he had sinned against the higher law revealed by christianity. for a greek artist to have spoken thus would have been impossible. the faun, the titan, and the satyr had a meaning for him, which he sought to set forth in accordance with the semi-religious, semi-poetical traditions of his race; and when he was at work upon a myth of nature-forces, he well knew that at the other end of the scale, separated by no spiritual barrier, but removed to an almost infinite distance of refinement, zeus, phoebus, and pallas claimed his loftier artistic inspiration. ammanati's confession, on the contrary, betrays that schism between the conscience of christianity and the lusts let loose by ill-assimilated sympathy with antique heathenism, which was a marked characteristic of the renaissance. the coarser passions, held in check by ecclesiastical discipline, dared to emerge into the light of day under the supposed sanction of classical examples. what the visconti and the borgias practised in their secret chambers, the sculptors exposed in marble and the poets in verse. all alike, however, were mistaken in supposing that antique precedent sanctioned this efflorescence of immorality. no amount of greek epigrams by strato and meleager, nor all the hermaphrodites and priapi of rome, had power to annul the law of conduct established by the founders of christianity, and ratified by the higher instincts of the middle ages. nor again were artists justified before the bar of conscience in selecting the baser elements of paganism for imitation, instead of aiming at greek self-restraint and roman strength of character. all this the men of the renaissance felt when they listened to the voice within them. their work, therefore, in so far as it pretended to be a reconstruction of the antique was false. the sensuality it shared in common with many greek and roman masterpieces, had ceased to be frank and in the true sense pagan. to shake off christianity, and to revert with an untroubled conscience to the manners of a bygone age, was what they could not do. the errors i have attempted to characterise did not, however, prevent the better and more careful works of sculpture, executed in illustration of classical mythology, from having a true value. the "perseus" of cellini and some of gian bologna's statues belong to a class of aesthetic productions which show how much that is both original and excellent may be raised in the hotbed of culture.[ ] they express a genuine moment of the renaissance with vigour, and deserve to be ranked with the latin poetry of poliziano, bembo, and pontano. the worst that can be said of them is that their inspiration was factitious, and that their motives had been handled better in the age of greek sincerity. gian bologna, born at douai, but a florentine by education, devoted himself almost exclusively to mythological sculpture. that he was a greater sculptor than his immediate predecessors will be affirmed by all who have studied his bronze "mercury," the "venus of petraja," and the "neptune" on the fountain of bologna. something of the genuine classic feeling had passed into his nature. the "mercury" is not a reminiscence of any antique statue. it gives in bronze a faithful and spirited reading of virgil's lines, and is conceived with artistic purity not unworthy of a good greek period. the "neptune" is something more than a muscular old man; and, in its place, it forms one of the most striking ornaments of italy. it is worthy of remark that sculpture, in this stage, continued to be decorative. fountains are among the most successful monuments of the late renaissance. even montorsoli's fountain at messina is in a high sense picturesquely beautiful. casting a glance backward over the foregoing sketch of italian sculpture, it will be seen that three distinct stages were traversed in the evolution of this art. the first may be called architectural, the second pictorial, the third neo-pagan. defined by their artistic purposes, the first idealises christian motives; the second is naturalistic; the third attempts an idealisation inspired by revived paganism. as far as the renaissance is concerned, all three are moments in its history; though it was only during the third that the influences of the classical revival made themselves overwhelmingly felt. niccola pisano in the first stage marked a fresh point of departure for his art by a return to graeco-roman standards of the purest type then attainable, in combination with the study of nature. giovanni pisano effected a fusion between his father's manner and the gothic style. the pisan sculpture was wholly christian; nor did it attempt to free itself from the service of architecture. giotto opened the second stage by introducing new motives, employed by him with paramount mastery in painting. under his influence the sculptors inclined to picturesque effects, and the direction thus given to sculpture lasted through the fifteenth century. for the rest, the style of these masters was distinguished by a fresh and charming naturalism and by rapid growth in technical processes. while assimilating much of the classical spirit, they remained on the whole christian; and herein they were confirmed by the subjects they were chiefly called upon to treat, in the decoration of altars, pulpits, church façades, and tombs. the revived interest in antique literature widened their sympathies and supplied their fancy with new material; but there is no imitative formalism in their work. its beauty consists in a certain immature blending of motives chosen almost indiscriminately from christian and pagan mythology, vitalised by the imagination of the artist, and presented with the originality of true creative instinct. during the third stage the results of prolonged and almost exclusive attention to the classics, on the part of the italians as a people, make themselves manifest. collections of antiquities and libraries had been formed in the fifteenth century; the literary energies of the nation were devoted to the interpretation of greek and latin texts, and the manners of society affected paganism. at the same time a worldly church and a corrupt hierarchy had done their utmost to enfeeble the spirit of christianity. that art should prove itself sensitive to this phase of intellectual and social life was natural. religious subjects were now treated by the sculptors with superficial formalism and cynical indifference, while all their ingenuity was bestowed upon providing pagan myths with new forms. how far they succeeded has been already made the matter of inquiry. the most serious condemnation of art in this third period is that it halted between two opinions, that it could not be sincere. but this double-mindedness, as i have tried to show, was necessary; and therefore to lament over it is weak. what the renaissance achieved for the modern world was the liberation of the reason, the power of starting on a new career of progress. the false direction given to the art of sculpture at one moment of this intellectual revival may be deplored; and still more deplorable is the corresponding sensual debasement of the race who won for us the possibility of freedom. but the life of humanity is long and vigorous, and the philosopher of history knows well that the sum total of accomplishment at any time must be diminished by an unavoidable discount. the renaissance, like a man of genius, had the defects of its qualities. footnotes: [ ] _sketches of the history of christian art_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] since i wrote the paragraph above, i have chanced to read mr. buskin's eloquent tirade against the modern sceptical school of critics in his "mornings in florence," _the vaulted book_, pp. , . with the spirit of it i thoroughly agree; feeling that, in the absence of solid evidence to the contrary, i would always rather accept sixteenth-century italian tradition with vasari, than reject it with german or english speculators of to-day. this does not mean that i wish to swear by vasari, when he can be proved to have been wrong, but that i regard the present tendency to mistrust tradition, only because it is tradition, as in the highest sense uncritical. [ ] see appendix i., on the pulpits of pisa and ravello. [ ] the data is extremely doubtful. were we to trust internal evidence--the evidence of style and handling--we should be inclined to name this not the earliest but the latest and ripest of pisano's works. it may be suggested in passing that the form of the lunette was favourable to the composition by forcing a gradation in the figures from the centre to either side. there is an engraving of this bas-relief in ottley's _italian school of design._ [ ] rheims cathedral, for example, was begun in . upon its western portals is the loveliest of northern gothic sculpture. [ ] antonio filarete was commissioned, soon after , by eugenius iv., to make the great gates of s. peter's. the decorative framework represents a multitude of living creatures--snails, snakes, lizards, mice, butterflies, and birds--half hidden in foliage, together with the best known among greek myths, the rape of proserpine, diana and actaeon, europa and the bull, the labours of hercules, &c. such fables as the fox and the stork, the fox and the crow, and old stories like that of the death of Æschylus, are included in this medley. the monument of paul iii. is placed in the choir of s. peter's. giulia bella was the mistress of alexander vi., and a sister of the farnese, who owed his cardinal's hat to her influence. to represent her as an allegory of truth upon her brother's tomb might well pass for a grim satire. the prudence opposite is said to be a portrait of the pope's mother, giovanna gaëtani. she resembles nothing more than a duenna of the type of martha in goethe's faust. here, again, the allegory would point a scathing sarcasm, if we did not remember the naïveté of the renaissance. [ ] see above, chapter ii, italian want of feeling for gothic. [ ] having said so much about this pulpit of s. andrea, i am sorry that i cannot refer the english reader to any accessible representation of it. for its sake alone, if for no other purpose, pistoja is well worth a visit. [ ] it was long believed that he died of eating poisoned figs. [ ] see above, footnote , for the original conception of this motive at orvieto. [ ] see _il duomo di orvieto, descritto ed illustrato per lodovico luzi_, pp. - . [ ] see luzi, pp. - , and the first extant commission given in to maitani, which follows, pp. - . [ ] the whole series has been admirably engraved under the superintendence of ludwig grüner. special attention may be directed to the groups of angels attendant on the creator in his last day's work; to the "adoration of the shepherds," distinguished by tender and idyllic grace: and to the "adoration of the magi," marked no less by majesty. the dead breaking open the lids of their sarcophagi and rising to judgment are justly famous for spirited action. [ ] in gothic sculpture of an early date the bible narrative is literally represented. god draws eve from the open side of sleeping adam. on the façade of orvieto this motive is less altered than refined. the wound in adam's side is visible, but eve is coming from behind his sleeping body in obedience to the beckoning hand of her creator. ghiberti in the bronze gate of the florentine baptistery still further develops the poetic beauty of the motive. angels lift eve in the air above adam, in whose side there is now no open wound, and sustain her face to face with god, who calls her into life. della quercia, on the façade of s. petronio, confines himself to the creative act, expressed by the raised hand of the maker, and the answering attitude of eve; and this conception receives final treatment from michael angelo in the frescoes of the sistine. [ ] _le tre porte del battistero di san giovanni di firenze, incise ed illustrate_ (firenze, ), contains outlines of all andrea pisano's and ghiberti's work. [ ] see above, chapter i, greek and christian ideals. [ ] see above, chapter i, greek and christian ideals. [ ] what giotto himself was, as a designer for sculpture, is shown in the little reliefs upon the basement of his campanile. [ ] what has previously been noted in the chapter upon architecture deserves repetition here--that the italian style of building gave more scope to independent sculpture, owing to its preference for flat walls, and its rejection of multiplied niches, canopies, and so forth, than the northern gothic. thus, however subordinated to architecture, sculpture in italy still had more scope for self-assertion than in germany or france. [ ] see perkins, _italian sculptors_, p. , for a description of the arca di s. agostino, which he assigns to matteo and bonino da campione. this shrine, now in the duomo, was made for the sacristy of s. pietro in cielo d'oro, where it stood until the year . [ ] bonino da campione, the milanese, who may have had a hand in the arca di s. agostino, carved the tomb of can signorio. that of mastino ii. was executed by another milanese, perino. [ ] see trucchi, _poesie italiane inedite_, vol. ii. [ ] see the illustrated work, _il tabernacolo della madonna d'or sammichele_, firenze, . [ ] the weighty chapter in alberti's _treatise on painting_, lib. iii. cap. , might be used to support this paragraph. [ ] quercia, born ; ghiberti, ; brunelleschi, ; donatello, . [ ] they are engraved in the work cited above, _le tre porte, seconda porta_, tavole i. ii. [ ] the bas-reliefs of s. petronio were executed between and . those of the font in the chapel of s. john (not the lower church of s. john), at siena, are ascribed to quercia, and are in his manner; but when they were finished i do not know. they set forth six subjects from the story of adam and eve, with a compartment devoted to hercules killing the centaur nessus, and another to samson or hercules and the lion. the choice of subjects, affording scope for treatment of the nude, is characteristic; so is the energy of handling, though rude in detail. it may be worth while to notice here a similar series of reliefs upon the façade of the colleoni chapel at bergamo, representing scenes from the story of adam in conjunction with the labours of hercules. [ ] ruskin's _modern painters_, vol. ii. chap, vii., repose. [ ] see flaxman's _lectures on sculpture_, p. . [ ] this criticism of the "gate of paradise" sounds even to the writer of it profane, and demands a palinode. who, indeed, can affirm that he would wish the floating figure of eve, or the three angels at abraham's tent-door, other than they are? [ ] see the _commentaries of ghiberti_, printed in vol. i. of vasari (lemonnier, ). [ ] the patera is at south kensington, the frieze at florence. [ ] as also the wooden baptist in the frari at venice. [ ] there is another "david," by donatello, in marble; also in the bargello, scarcely less stiff and ugly than the "baptist." [ ] the cast was published by the arundel society. the original belongs to lord elcho. [ ] it has been suggested, with good show of reason, that mantegna was largely indebted to these bas-reliefs for his lofty style. [ ] this omits the statues of the scaligers: but no mediaeval work aimed at equal animation. the antique bronze horses at venice and the statue of marcus aurelius must have been in donatello's mind. [ ] the sculptor of a beautiful tomb erected for the countess of montorio and her infant daughter in the church of s. bernardino at aquila was probably andrea dell' aquila, a pupil of donatello. see perkins's _italian sculptors_, pp. , . [ ] _istoria della vita e fatti dell' eccellentissimo capitano di guerra bartolommeo colleoni_, scritta per pietro spino. republished, . [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. , note . [ ] crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. ii. chap, xvi., may be consulted as to the several claims of the two brothers. [ ] his bas-reliefs on giotto's campanile of grammar, astronomy, geometry, plato, aristotle, &c., are anterior to ; and even about this date there is uncertainty, some authorities fixing it at . [ ] _purg._ x. , and xi. . [ ] among the very best works of the later robbian school may be cited the frieze upon the façade of the ospedale del ceppo at pistoja, representing in varied colour, and with graceful vivacity, the seven acts of mercy. date about . [ ] he calls himself agostinus florentine lapicida on his façade of the oratory of s. bernardino. [ ] see especially a roundel in the bargello, and the altar-piece in the church of monte oliveto at naples. those who wish to understand rossellino should study him in the latter place. [ ] in the church of samminiato, near florence. [ ] _vite di uomini illustri_, pp. - . [ ] these tombs in the badia were erected for count ugo, governor of tuscany under otho ii., and for messer bernardo giugni. mino also made the tomb for pope paul ii., parts of which are preserved in the grotte of s. peter's. at rome he carved a tabernacle for s. maria in trastevere, and at volterra a ciborium for the baptistery--one of his most sympathetic productions. the altars in the baglioni chapel of s. pietro cassinense at perugia, in s. ambrogio at florence, and in the cathedral of fiesole, and the pulpit in the duomo at prato, may be mentioned among his best works. [ ] besides civitali's altar of s. regulus, and the tomb of pietro da noceto already mentioned, bernardo rossellino's monument to lionardo bruni, and desiderio's monument to carlo marsuppini in s. croce at florence, may be cited as eminent examples of tuscan sepulchres. [ ] the wooden statue of the magdalen in santa trinità at florence shows desiderio's approximation to the style of his master. she is a careworn and ascetic saint, with the pathetic traces of great beauty in her emaciated face. [ ] this bust is in the palazzo strozzi at florence. [ ] so giovanni santi, raphael's father, described desiderio da settignano. [ ] the following story is told about benedetto's youth. he made two large inlaid chests or _cassoni_, adorned with all the skill of a worker in tarsia, or wood-mosaic, and carried these with him to king matthias corvinus, of hungary. part of his journey was performed by sea. on arriving and unpacking his chests, he found that the sea-damp had unglued the fragile wood-mosaic, and all his work was spoiled. this determined him to practise the more permanent art of sculpture. see perkins, vol. i. p. . [ ] for further description of the sculpture at rimini, i may refer to my _sketches in italy and greece_, pp. - . for the student of italian art, who has no opportunity of visiting rimini, it is greatly to be regretted that these reliefs have never yet even in photography been reproduced. the palace of duke frederick at urbino was designed by luziano, a dalmatian architect, and continued by baccio pontelli, a florentine. the reliefs of dancing cupids, white on blue ground, with wings and hair gilt, and the children holding pots of roses and gilly-flowers, in one of its great rooms, may be selected for special mention. ambrogio or ambrogino da milano, none of whose handiwork is found in his native district, and who may therefore be supposed to have learned and practised his art elsewhere, was the sculptor of these truly genial reliefs. [ ] see, for example, the remarkable bas-relief of the doge lionardo loredano engraved by perkins, _italian sculptors_, p. . [ ] another modenese, antonio begarelli, born in , developed this art of the _plasticatore_, with quite as much pictorial impressiveness, and in a style of stricter science, than his predecessor il modanino. his masterpieces are the "deposition from the cross" in s. francesco, and the "pietà" in s. pietro, of his native city. [ ] the name of this great master is variously written--giovanni antonio amadeo, or omodeo, or degli amadei, or de' madeo, or a madeo--pointing possibly to the town madeo as his native place. through a long life he worked upon the fabric of the milanese duomo, the certosa of pavia, and the chapel of colleoni at bergamo. to him we owe the general design of the façade of the certosa and the cupola of the duomo of milan. for the details of his work and an estimate of his capacity, see perkins, _italian sculptors_, pp. - . [ ] this statue was originally intended for a chapel built and endowed by colleoni at basella, near bergamo. when he determined to erect his chapel in s. maria maggiore at bergamo, he entrusted the execution of this new work to amadeo, and the monument of medea was subsequently placed there. [ ] see above, p. . i have spelt the name _sansovino_, when applied to jacopo tatti, in accordance with time-honoured usage. [ ] to multiply instances is tedious; but notice in this connection the hermaphroditic statue of s. sebastian at orvieto, near the western door. it is a fair work of lo scalza. [ ] this brief allusion to cellini must suffice for the moment, as i intend to treat of him in a separate chapter. chapter iv painting distribution of artistic gifts in italy--florence and venice --classification by schools--stages in the evolution of painting--cimabue --the rucellai madonna--giotto--his widespread activity--the scope of his art--vitality--composition--colour--naturalism--healthiness--frescoes at assisi and padua--legend of s. francis--the giotteschi--pictures of the last judgment--orcagna in the strozzi chapel--ambrogio lorenzetti at pisa--dogmatic theology--cappella degli spagnuoli--traini's "triumph, of s. thomas aquinas"--political doctrine expressed in fresco--sala della pace at siena--religious art in siena and perugia--the relation of the giottesque painters to the renaissance. it is the duty of the historian of painting to trace the beginnings of art in each of the italian communities, to differentiate their local styles, and to explain their mutual connections. for the present generation this work is being done with all-sufficient thoroughness and accuracy.[ ] the historian of culture, on the other hand, for whom the arts form one important branch of intellectual activity, may dispense with these detailed inquiries, and may endeavour to seize the more general outlines of the subject. he need not weigh in balances the claims of rival cities to priority, nor hamper his review of national progress by discussing the special merits of the several schools. still there are certain broad facts about the distribution of artistic gifts in italy which it is necessary to bear in mind. however much we may desire to treat of painting as a phase of national and not of merely local life, the fundamental difficulty of italian history, its complexity and variety, owing to the subdivisions of the nation into divers states, must here as elsewhere be acknowledged. to deny that each of the italian centres had its own strong personality in art--that painting, as practised in genoa or naples, differed from the painting of ferrara or urbino--would be to contradict a law that has been over and over again insisted upon already in these volumes. the broad outlines of the subject can be briefly stated. surveying the map of italy, we find that we may eliminate from our consideration the north-western and the southern provinces. not from piedmont nor from liguria, not from rome nor from the extensive kingdom of naples, does italian painting take its origin, or at any period derive important contributions.[ ] lombardy, with the exception of venice, is comparatively barren of originative elements.[ ] to tuscany, to umbria, and to venice, roughly speaking, are due the really creative forces of italian painting; and these three districts were marked by strong peculiarities. in art, as in politics, florence and venice exhibit distinct types of character.[ ] the florentines developed fresco, and devoted their genius to the expression of thought by scientific design. the venetians perfected oil-painting, and set forth the glory of the world as it appeals to the imagination and the senses. the art of florence may seem to some judges to savour over-much of intellectual dryness; the art of venice, in the apprehension of another class of critics, offers something over-much of material richness. more allied to the tuscan than to the venetian spirit, the umbrian masters produced a style of genuine originality. the cities of the central apennines owed their specific quality of religious fervour to the influences emanating from assisi, the head-quarters of the _cultus_ of s. francis. this pietism, nowhere else so paramount, except for a short period in siena, constitutes the individuality of umbria. with regard to the rest of italy, the old custom of speaking about schools and places, instead of signalising great masters, has led to misconception, by making it appear that local circumstances were more important than the facts justify. we do not find elsewhere what we find in tuscany, in umbria, and in venice--a definite quality, native to the district, shared through many generations by all its painters, and culminating in a few men of commanding genius. when, for instance, we speak of the school of milan, what we mean is the continuation through lionardo da vinci and his pupils of the florentine tradition, as modified by him and introduced into the lombard capital. that a special style was developed by luini, ferrari, and other artists of the milanese duchy, so that their manner differs essentially from that of parma and cremona, does not invalidate the importance of this fact about its origin. the name of roman school, again, has been given to raphael and michael angelo together with their pupils. the truth is that rome, for one brief period, during the pontificates of julius and leo, was the focus of italian intellect. allured by the patronage of the papal curia, not only artists, but scholars and men of letters, flocked from all the cities of italy to rome, where they found a nobler sphere for the exercise of their faculties than elsewhere. but rome, while she lent her imperial quality of grandeur to the genius of her aliens, was in no sense originative. rome produced no first-rate master from her own children, if we except giulio romano. the title of originality is due rather to padua, the birthplace of mantegna, or to parma, the city of correggio, whose works display independence of either florentine or venetian traditions. yet these great masters were isolated, neither expressing in any definite form the character of their districts, nor founding a succession of local artists. their influence was incontestably great, but widely diffused. bologna and ferrara, brescia and bergamo, cremona and verona, have excellent painters; and it is not difficult to show that in each of these cities art assumed specific characters. yet the interest of the schools in these towns is due mainly to the varied influences brought to bear upon them from venice, umbria, and milan. in other words they are affiliated, each according to its geographical position, to the chief originative centres. what i have advanced in the foregoing paragraphs is not meant for a polemic against the time-honoured division of italian painters into local schools, but for a justification of my own proposed method of treatment. having undertaken to deal with painting as the paramount art-product of the renaissance, it will be my object to point out the leading characteristics of aesthetic culture in italy, rather than to dwell upon its specific differences. the venetian painters i intend to reserve for a separate chapter, devoting this and the two next to the general history of the art as developed in tuscany and propagated by tuscan influences.[ ] in pursuing this plan i shall endeavour to show how the successive stages in the evolution of italian painting corresponded to similar stages in the history of the renaissance. beginning as the handmaid of the church, and stimulated by the enthusiasm of the two great popular monastic orders, painting was at first devoted to embodying the thoughts of mediaeval christianity. in proportion as the painters fortified themselves by study of the natural world, their art became more secular. mysticism gave way to realism. it was felt that much beside religious sentiment was worthy of expression. at the same time, about the year , this process of secularisation was hastened by the influences of the classical revival, renewing an interest in the past life of humanity, and stirring a zeal for science. the painters, on the one hand, now aimed at accurate delineation of actual things: good perspective, correct drawing, sound portraiture, occupied their attention, to the exclusion of more purely spiritual motives. on the other hand they conceived an admiration for the fragments of the newly discovered antiques, and felt the plastic beauty of hellenic legends. it is futile to attempt, as m. rio has done, to prove that this abandonment of the religious sphere of earlier art was for painting a plain decline from good to bad, or to make the more or less of spiritual feeling in a painter's style the test of his degree of excellence; nor can we by any sophistries be brought to believe that the popes of the fifteenth century were pastoral protectors of solely christian arts. the truth is, that in the church, in politics, and in society, the fifteenth century witnessed a sensible decrease of religious fervour, and a very considerable corruption of morality. painting felt this change; and the secularisation, which was inevitable, passed onward into paganism. yet the art itself cannot be said to have suffered, when on the threshold of the sixteenth century stand the greatest painters whom the world has known--neither catholics nor heathens, but, in their strength of full accomplished art and science, human. after italy, in the course of that century, had been finally enslaved, then, and not till then, painting suffered from the general depression of the national genius. the great luminaries were extinguished one by one, till none were left but michael angelo in rome, and tintoret in venice. the subsequent history of italian painting is occupied with its revival under the influences of the counter-reformation, when a new religious sentiment, emasculated and ecstatic, was expressed in company with crude naturalism and cruel sensualism by bolognese and neapolitan painters. i need scarcely repeat the tale of cimabue's picture, visited by charles of anjou, and borne in triumph through the streets with trumpeters, beneath a shower of garlands, to s. maria novella.[ ] yet this was the birthday festival of nothing less than what the world now values as italian painting. in this public act of joy the people of florence recognised and paid enthusiastic honour to the art arisen among them from the dead. if we rightly consider the matter, it is not a little wonderful that a whole community should thus have hailed the presence in their midst of a new spirit of power and beauty. it proves the widespread sensibility of the florentines to things of beauty, and shows the sympathy which, emanating from the people, was destined to inspire and brace the artist for his work.[ ] in a dark transept of s. maria novella, raised by steps above the level of the church, still hangs this famous "madonna" of the rucellai--not far, perhaps, from the spot where boccaccio's youths and maidens met that tuesday morning in the year of the great plague; nor far, again, from where the solitary woman, beautiful beyond belief, conversed with machiavelli on the morning of the first of may in .[ ] we who can call to mind the scenes that picture has looked down upon--we who have studied the rise and decadence of painting throughout italy from this beginning even to the last work of the latest bolognese--may do well to visit it with reverence, and to ponder on the race of mighty masters whose lineage here takes its origin. cimabue did not free his style from what are called byzantine or romanesque mannerisms. to unpractised eyes his saints and angels, with their stiff draperies and angular attitudes, though they exhibit stateliness and majesty, belong to the same tribe as the grim mosaics and gaunt frescoes of his predecessors. it is only after careful comparison that we discover, in this picture of the rucellai for example, a distinctly fresh endeavour to express emotion and to depict life. the outstretched arms of the infant christ have been copied from nature, not merely borrowed from tradition. the six kneeling angels display variety of attitude suited to several shades of devout affection and adoring service. the head of the madonna, heavy as it is and conventional in type, still strives to represent maternal affection mingled with an almost melancholy reverence. prolonging our study, we are led to ask whether the painter might not have painted more freely had he chosen--whether, in fact, he was not bound down to the antique mode of presentation consecrated by devout tradition. this question occurs with even greater force before the wall-paintings ascribed to cimabue in the church of s. francis at assisi. it remained for giotto bondone, born at vespignano in , just at the date of niccola pisano's death, to carry painting in his lifetime even further than the pisan sculptor had advanced the sister art. cimabue, so runs a legend luckily not yet discredited, found the child giotto among the sheep-folds on the solemn tuscan hill-side, drawing with boyish art the outline of a sheep upon a stone.[ ] the master recognised his talent, and took him from his father's cottage to the florentine _bottega_, much as young haydn was taken by renter to s. stephen's at vienna. gifted with a large and comprehensive intellect, capable of sustained labour, and devoted with the unaffected zeal of a good craftsman to his art, giotto in the course of his long career filled italy with work that taught succeeding centuries of painters. as we travel from padua in the north, where his arena chapel sets forth the legend of mary and the life of christ in a series of incomparable frescoes, southward to naples, where he adorned the convent of s. chiara, we meet with giotto in almost every city. the "passion of our lord" and the "allegories of s. francis" were painted by him at assisi. s. peter's at borne still shows his mosaic of the "ship of the church." florence raises his wonderful bell-tower, that lily among campanili, to the sky; and preserves two chapels of s. croce, illuminated by him with paintings from the stories of s. francis and s. john. in the chapel of the podestà he drew the portraits of dante, brunetto latini, and charles of valois. and these are but a tithe of his productions. nothing, indeed, in the history of art is more remarkable than the fertility of this originative genius, no less industrious in labour than fruitful of results for men who followed him. the sound common sense, the genial temper, and the humour of the man, as we learn to know him in tales made current by vasari and the novelists, help to explain how he achieved so much, with energy so untiring and with excellence so even. it is no exaggeration to say that giotto and his scholars, within the space of little more than half a century, painted out upon the walls of the churches and public palaces of italy every great conception of the middle ages. and this they achieved without ascetic formalism, energetically, but always reverently, aiming at expressing life and dramatising scripture history. the tale told about giotto's first essay in drawing might be chosen as a parable: he was not found beneath a church roof tracing a mosaic, but on the open mountain, trying to draw the portrait of the living thing committed to his care. what, therefore, giotto gave to art was, before all things else, vitality. his madonnas are no longer symbols of a certain phase of pious awe, but pictures of maternal love. the bride of god suckles her divine infant with a smile, watches him playing with a bird, or stretches out her arms to take him when he turns crying from the hands of the circumcising priest. by choosing incidents like these from real home-life, giotto, through his painting, humanised the mysteries of faith, and brought them close to common feeling. nor was the change less in his method than his motives. before his day painting had been without composition, without charm of colour, without suggestion of movement or the play of living energy. he first knew how to distribute figures in the given space with perfect balance, and how to mass them together in animated groups agreeable to the eye. he caught varied and transient shades of emotion, and expressed them by the posture of the body and the play of feature. the hues of morning and of evening served him. of all painters he was most successful in preserving the clearness and the light of pure, well-tempered colours. his power of telling a story by gesture and action is unique in its peculiar simplicity. there are no ornaments or accessories in his pictures. the whole force of the artist has been concentrated on rendering the image of the life conceived by him. relying on his knowledge of human nature, and seeking only to make his subject intelligible, no painter is more unaffectedly pathetic, more unconsciously majestic. while under the influence of his genius, we are sincerely glad that the requisite science for clever imitation of landscape and architectural backgrounds was not forthcoming in his age. art had to go through a toilsome period of geometrical and anatomical pedantry, before it could venture, in the frescoes of michael angelo and raphael, to return with greater wealth of knowledge on a higher level to the divine simplicity of its childhood in giotto. in the drawing of the figure giotto was surpassed by many meaner artists of the fifteenth century. nor had he that quality of genius which selects a high type of beauty, and is scrupulous to shun the commonplace. the faces of even his most sacred personages are often almost vulgar. in his choice of models for saints and apostles we already trace the florentine instinct for contemporary portraiture. yet, though his knowledge of anatomy was defective, and his taste was realistic, giotto solved the great problem of figurative art far better than more learned and fastidious painters. he never failed to make it manifest that what he meant to represent was living. even to the non-existent he gave the semblance of reality. we cannot help believing in his angels leaning waist-deep from the blue sky, wringing their hands in agony above the cross, pacing like deacons behind christ when he washes the feet of his disciples, or sitting watchful and serene upon the empty sepulchre. he was, moreover, essentially a fresco-painter, working with rapid decision on a large scale, aiming at broad effects, and willing to sacrifice subtlety to clearness of expression. the health of his whole nature and his robust good sense are everywhere apparent in his solid, concrete, human work of art. there is no trace of mysticism, no ecstatic piety, nothing morbid or hysterical, in his imagination. imbuing whatever he handled with the force and freshness of actual existence, giotto approached the deep things of the christian faith and the legend of s. francis in the spirit of a man bent simply on realising the objects of his belief as facts. his allegories of "poverty," "chastity," and "obedience," at assisi, are as beautiful and powerfully felt as they are carefully constructed. yet they conceal no abstruse spiritual meaning, but are plainly painted "for the poor laity of love to read." the artist poet who coloured the virginal form of poverty, with the briars beneath her feet and the roses blooming round her forehead, proved by his well-known _canzone_ that he was free from monastic quixotism, and took a practical view of the value of worldly wealth.[ ] his homely humour saved him from the exaltation and the childishness that formed the weakness of the franciscan revival. by the same firm grasp upon reality he created more than mere abstractions in his _chiaroscuro_ figures of the virtues and vices at padua. fortitude and justice, faith and envy, are gifted by him with a real corporeal existence. they seem fit to play their parts with other concrete personalities upon the stage of this world's history. giotto in truth possessed a share of that power which belonged to the greek sculptors. he embodies myths in physical forms, adequate to their intellectual meaning. this was in part the secret of the influence he exercised over the sculptors of the second period;[ ] and had the conditions of the age been favourable to such development, some of the allegorical types created by him might have passed into the pantheon of popular worship as deities incarnate. the birth of italian painting is closely connected with the religious life of the italians. the building of the church of s. francis at assisi gave it the first great impulse; and to the piety aroused by s. francis throughout italy, but mostly in the valleys of the apennines, it owed its animating spirit in the fourteenth century. the church of assisi is double. one structure of nave, and choir, and transept, is imposed upon another; and the walls of both, from floor to coping-stone, are covered with fresco-painted pictures taking here the place occupied by mosaic in such churches as the cathedral of monreale, or by coloured glass in the northern cathedrals of the pointed style. many of these frescoes date from years before the birth of giotto. giunta the pisan, gaddo gaddi, and cimabue, are supposed to have worked there, painfully continuing or feebly struggling to throw off the decadent traditions of a dying art. in their school giotto laboured, and modern painting arose with the movement of new life beneath his brush. here, pondering in his youth upon the story of christ's suffering, and in his later manhood on the virtues of s. francis and his vow, he learned the secret of giving the semblance of flesh and blood reality to christian thought. his achievement was nothing less than this. the creation, the fall, the redemption of the world, the moral discipline of man, the judgment, and the final state of bliss or misery--all these he quickened into beautiful and breathing forms. those were noble days, when the painter had literally acres of walls given him to cover; when the whole belief of christendom, grasped by his own faith, and firmly rooted in the faith of the people round him, as yet unimpaired by alien emanations from the world of classic culture, had to be set forth for the first time in art. his work was then a bible, a compendium of grave divinity and human history, a book embracing all things needful for the spiritual and the civil life of man. he spoke to men who could not read, for whom there were no printed pages, but whose heart received his teaching through the eye. thus painting was not then what it is now, a decoration of existence, but a potent and efficient agent in the education of the race. such opportunities do not occur twice in the same age. once in greece for the pagan world; once in italy for the modern world;--that must suffice for the education of the human race. like niccola pisano, giotto not only founded a school in his native city, but spread his manner far and wide over italy, so that the first period of the history of painting is the giottesque. the gaddi of florence, giottino, puccio capanna, the lorenzetti of siena, spinello of arezzo, andrea orcagna, domenico veneziano, and the lesser artists of the pisan campo santo, were either formed or influenced by him. to give an account of the frescoes of these painters would be to describe how the religious, social, and philosophical conceptions of the fourteenth century found complete expression in form and colour. by means of allegory and pictured scene they drew the portrait of the middle age in italy, performing jointly and in combination with the followers of niccola pisano what dante had done singly by his poetry. it has often been remarked that the drama of the life beyond this world--its prologue in the courts of death, the tragedy of judgment, and the final state of bliss or misery prepared for souls--preoccupied the mind of the italians at the close of the middle ages. every city had its pictorial representation of the "dies irae;" and within this framework the artist was free to set forth his philosophy of human nature, adding such touches of satire or admonition as suited his own temper or the circumstances of the place for which he worked. dante's poem has immortalised this moment of italian consciousness, when the belief in another world was used to intensify the emotions of this life--when the inscrutable darkness toward which men travel became for them a black and polished mirror reflecting with terrible luminousness the events of the present and the past. so familiar had the italians become with the theme of death artistically treated, that they did not shrink from acted pageants of the tragedy of hell. giovanni villani tells us that in the companies and clubs of pleasure, formed for making festival throughout the town of florence on the st of may, contended with each other for the prize of novelty and rarity in sports provided for the people. "among the rest, the borgo s. friano had it cried about the streets, that whoso wished for news from the other world, should find himself on mayday on the bridge carraja or the neighbouring banks of arno. and in arno they contrived stages upon boats and various small craft, and made the semblance and figure of hell there with flames and other pains and torments, with men dressed as demons horrible to see; and others had the shape of naked souls; and these they gave unto those divers tortures with exceeding great crying and groaning and confusion, the which seemed hateful and appalling unto eyes and ears. the novelty of the sport drew many citizens, and the bridge carraja, then of wood, was so crowded that it brake in several places and fell with the folk upon it, whereby were many killed and drowned, and many were disabled; and as the crier had proclaimed, so now in death went much folk to learn news of the other world." such being the temper of the people, we find that some of the greatest works of art in this age were paintings of death and hell, heaven and judgment. orcagna, in the strozzi chapel of s. maria novella, set forth these scenes with a wonderful blending of beauty and grotesque invention. in the treatment of the inferno he strove to delineate the whole geography of dante's first _cantica_, tracing the successive circles and introducing the various episodes commemorated by the poet. interesting as this work may be for the illustration of the "divine comedy" as understood by dante's immediate successors, we turn from it with a sense of relief to admire the saints and angels ranged in goodly row, "each burning upward to his point of bliss" whereby the painter has depicted paradise. early italian art has nothing more truly beautiful to offer than the white-robed madonna kneeling at the judgment seat of christ.[ ] it will be felt by every genuine student of art that if orcagna painted these frescoes in s. maria novella, whereof there is no doubt, he could not have executed the wall-paintings in the campo santo at pisa attributed to him by vasari. to what artists or artist we owe those three grave and awful panels, may still be regarded an open question.[ ] at the end of the southern wall of the cemetery, exposed to a cold and equal north light from the cloister windows, these great compositions, after the lapse of five centuries, bring us face to face with the most earnest thoughts of mediaeval christianity. their main purpose seems to be to illustrate the advantage of the ascetic over the secular mode of life, and to school men into living with the fear of death before their eyes. the first displays the solitary vigils, self-imposed penances, cruel temptations, firm endurance, and beatific visions of the anchorites in the thebaid. the second is devoted to the triumph of death over the pomp, strength, wealth, and beauty of the world. the third reveals a grimly realistic and yet awfully imaginative vision of judgment, such as it has rarely been granted to a painter to conceive. thus to the awakening soul of the italians, on the threshold of the modern era, with the sonnets of petrarch and the stories of boccaccio sounding in their memories, this terrible master presented the three saddest phantoms of the middle ages--the spectre of death omnipotent, the solitude of the desert as the only refuge from a sinful and doomed world, the dread of divine justice inexorable and inevitable. in those piles of the promiscuous and abandoned dead, those fiends and angels poised in mid-air struggling for souls, those blind and mutilated beggars vainly besieging death with prayers and imprecations for deliverance, while she descends in her robe of woven wire to mow down with her scythe the knights and ladies in their garden of delight; again in those horses snuffing at the open graves, those countesses and princes face to face with skeletons, those serpents coiling round the flesh of what was once fair youth or maid, those multitudes of guilty men and women trembling beneath the trump of the archangel--tearing their cheeks, their hair, their breasts in agony, because they see hell through the prison-bars, and hear the raging of its fiends, and feel the clasp upon their wrists and ankles of clawed hairy demon hands; in all this terrific amalgamation of sinister and tragic ideas, vividly presented, full of coarse dramatic power, and intensified by faith in their material reality, the lorenzetti brethren, if theirs be indeed the hands that painted here, summed up the nightmares of the middle age and bequeathed an ever memorable picture of its desolate preoccupations to the rising world. they have called to their aid poetry, and history, and legend. boccaccio supplies them with the garden scene of youths and damsels dancing among roses, while the plague is at their gates, and death is in the air above. from petrarch they have borrowed the form and mystic robe of death herself[ ]. uguccione della faggiuola has sat for the portrait of the captain who must quail before the terrors of the tomb, and castruccio castracane is the strong man cut off in the blossom of his age. the prisons of the visconti have disgorged their victims, cast adrift with maiming that makes life unendurable but does not hasten death.[ ] the lazar houses and the charnels have been ransacked for forms of grisly decay. thus the whole work is not merely "an hieroglyphical and shadowed lesson" of ascetic philosophy; it is also a realisation of mediaeval life in its cruellest intensity and most uncompromising truth. for mere beauty these painters had but little regard.[ ] their distribution of the subjects chosen for treatment on each panel shows, indeed, a keen sense for the value of dramatic contrast and a masterly power of varying while combining the composition. their chief aim, however, is to produce the utmost realism of effect, to translate the poignancy of passion, the dread certainty of doom, into forms of unmistakable fidelity. therefore they do not shrink from prosaic and revolting details. the knight who has to hold his nose above the open grave, the lady who presses her cheek against her hand with a spasm of distress, the horse who pricks his ears and snorts with open nostrils, the grooms who start aside like savage creatures, all suggest the loathsomeness of death, its physical repulsiveness. in the "last judgment" the same kind of dramatic force is used to heighten a sublime conception. the crouching attitude and the shrouded face of the archangel raphael, whose eyes alone are visible above the hand that he has thrust forth from his cloak to hide the grief he feels, prove more emphatically than any less realistic motive could have done, how terrible, even for the cherubic beings to whose guardianship the human race has been assigned, will be the trumpet of the wrath of god.[ ] studying these frescoes, we cannot but reflect what nerves, what brains, what hearts encased in triple brass the men who thought and felt thus must have possessed. they make us comprehend not merely the stern and savage temper of the middle ages, but the intense and fiery ebullition of the renaissance, into which, as by a sudden liberation, so much imprisoned pent-up force was driven. a different but scarcely less important phase of mediaeval thought is imaged in the frescoes of the cappella degli spagnuoli in s. maria novella.[ ] dogmatic theology is here in the ascendant. while s. francis bequeathed a legend of singular suavity and beauty, overflowing with the milk of charity and mildness, to the church, s. dominic assumed the attitude of the saint militant and orthodox. dante's words about him-- l'amoroso drudo[ ] della fede cristiana, il santo atleta, benigno a' suoi, ed a' nemici crudo, omit nothing that is needed to characterise the impression produced upon the christian world by this remorseless foe of heresy, this champion of the faith who dealt in butcheries and burnings. s. francis taught love; s. dominic taught wrath: and both, perhaps, were needed for the safety of the mediaeval church--the one by resuscitating the spirit of the gospels, the other by resisting the intrusion of alien ideals ere the time for their triumph had arrived. what the painters of these frescoes undertook to delineate for the dominicans of florence, was the fabric of society sustained and held together by the action of inquisitors and doctors issued from their order. the pope with his cardinals, the emperor with his council, represent the two chief forces of christendom, as conceived by the mediaeval jurists and the school of dante. seated on thrones, they are ready to rise in defence of holy church, symbolised by a picture of s. maria del fiore. at their feet the black and white hounds of the dominican order--_domini canes_, according to the monkish pun--are hunting heretical wolves. opposite this painting is the apotheosis of s. thomas aquinas. beneath the footstool of this "dumb ox of sicily," as he was called, grovel the heresiarchs--arius, sabellius, averroes. at again a lower level, as though supporting the saint on either hand, are ranged seven sacred and seven profane sciences, each with its chief representative. thus rhetoric and cicero, civil law and justinian, speculative theology and the areopagite, practical theology and peter lombard, geometry and euclid, arithmetic and abraham, are grouped together. it will be seen that the whole learning of the middle age--its philosophy as well as its divinity--is here combined as in a figured abstract, for the wise to comment on and for the simple to peruse. none can avoid drawing the lesson that knowledge exists for the service of the church, and that the church, while she instructs society, will claim complete obedience to her decrees. the _ipse dixit_ of the dominican author of the "summa" is law. such frescoes, by no means uncommon in dominican cloisters, still retain great interest for the student of scholastic thought. in the church of s. maria sopra minerva at rome, where galileo was afterwards compelled to sign his famous retractation, filippino lippi painted another triumph of s. thomas, conceived in the spirit of taddeo gaddi's, but expressed with the freedom of the middle renaissance. nor should we neglect to notice the remarkable picture by traini in s. caterina at pisa. here the doctor of aquino is represented in an aureole surrounded by a golden sphere or disc, on the edge of which are placed the four evangelists, together with moses and s. paul.[ ] at his side, within the burnished sphere, plato and aristotle stand upright, holding the "timaeus" and the "ethics" in their hands. christ in glory is above the group, emitting from his mouth three rays upon the head of s. thomas. single rays descend in like manner upon the evangelists and moses and s. paul. they, like plato and aristotle, hold open books; and rays from these eight volumes converge upon the head of the angelical doctor, who becomes the focus, as it were, of all the beams sent forth from christ and from the classic teachers, whether directly effused or transmitted through the writers of the bible. s. thomas lastly holds a book open in his hand, and carries others on his lap; while lines of light are shed from these upon two bands of the faithful, chiefly dominican monks, arranged on each side of his footstool. averroes lies prostrate beneath his feet with his book face downwards, lightning-smitten by a shaft from the leaves of the volume in the saint's hand, whereon is written: _veritatem meditabitur guttur meum et labia mea detestabuntur impium_.[ ] this picture, afterwards repeated by benozzo gozzoli with some change in the persons,[ ] has been minutely described, because it is important to bear in mind the measure of inspiration conceded by the mediaeval church to the fathers of greek philosophy, and her utter detestation of the peripatetic traditions transmitted through the arabic by averroes. averroes, though dante placed him with the great souls of pagan civilisation in the first circle of inferno,[ ] was regarded as the protagonist of infidelity. the myth of incredulity that gathered round his memory and made him hated in the middle ages, has been traced with exquisite delicacy by renan,[ ] who shows that his name became a rallying point for freethinkers. scholars like petrarch were eager to confute his sect, and artists used him as a symbol of materialistic disbelief. thus we meet with averroes among the lost souls in the pisan campo santo, distinguished as usual by his turban and long beard. on the other hand, the frank acceptance of pagan philosophy, insofar as it could be accommodated to the doctrine of the church, finds full expression in the art of this early period. on the walls of the palazzo pubblico at siena were painted the figures of curius dentatus and cato,[ ] while the pavement of the duomo showed hermes trismegistus instructing both a pagan and a christian, and socrates ascending the steep hill of virtue. perugino, some years later, decorated the sala del cambio at perugia with the heroes, philosophers, and worthies of the ancient world. we are thus led by a gradual progress up to the final achievement of raphael in the vatican. separating the antique from the christian tradition, but placing them upon an equality in his art, raphael made the "school of athens" an epitome of greek and roman wisdom, while in the "dispute of the sacrament" he symbolised the church in heaven and church on earth. another class of ideas, no less illustrative of mediaevalism, can be studied in the palazzo pubblico at siena. there, on the walls of the sala della pace or de' nove, may be seen the frescoes whereby ambrogio lorenzetti expressed theories of society and government peculiar to his age.[ ] the panels are three in number. in the first the painter has delineated the commune of siena by an imperial male figure in the prime of life, throned on a judgment-seat, holding a sceptre in his right hand and a medallion of justice in his left.[ ] he wears no coronet, but a burgher's cap; and beneath his footstool are the roman twins, suckled by the she-wolf.[ ] above his head in the air float faith, charity, and hope--the christian virtues; while justice, temperance, magnanimity, prudence, fortitude, and peace, six women, crowned, and with appropriate emblems, are enthroned beside him. the majestic giant of the commune towers above them all in bulk and stature, as though to indicate the people's sovereignty. the virtues are his assessors and inspirers--he is king. beneath the daïs occupied by these supreme personages, are ranged on either hand mailed and visored cavaliers, mounted on chargers, the guardians of the state. all the citizens in their degrees advance toward the throne, carrying between them, pair by pair, a rope received from the hands of concord; while some who have transgressed her laws, are being brought with bound hands to the judgment-seat. concord herself, being less the virtue of the government than of the governed, is seated on a line with the burghers in a place apart beneath the throne of civil justice, who is allegorised as the dispenser of rewards and punishments, as well as controller of the armed force and the purse of the community. the whole of this elaborate allegory suffers by the language of description. those who have seen it, and who are familiar with sienese chronicles, feel that, artistically laboured as the painter's work may be, every figure had a passionate and intense meaning for him[ ]. his picture is the epitome of government conducted by a sovereign people. nor can we fail to be struck with the beauty of some details. the pale earnest faces of the horsemen are eminently chivalrous, with knightly honour written on their calm and fearless features. peace, reclining at ease upon her pillow, is a lovely woman in loose raiment, her hair wreathed with blossoms, in her hand an olive branch, her feet reposing upon casque and shield. she is like a painted statue, making us wonder whether the artist had not copied her from the "aphrodite" of lysippus, ere the sienese destroyed this statue in their dread of paganism[ ]. in the other two panels of this hall ambrogio lorenzetti painted the contrast of good and bad government, harmony and discord. a city full of brawls and bloodshed is set in opposition to one where the dance and viol do not cease. merchants are plundered as they issue from the gates on one side; on the other, trains of sumpter mules are securely winding along mountain paths. tyranny, with all the vices for his council and with terror for prime minister, presides over the ill-governed town. the burghers of the happy commune follow trade or pleasure, as they list; a beautiful winged genius, inscribed "securitas," floats above their citadel. it should be added that in both these pictures the architecture is the same; for the painter has designed to teach how different may be the state of one and the same city according to its form of government. such then were the vivid images whereby ambrogio lorenzetti expressed the mediaeval curse of discord, and the ideal of a righteous rule. it is only necessary to read the "diario sanese" of allegretto allegretti in order to see that he drew no fancy picture. the torchlight procession of burghers swearing amity by couples in the cathedral there described, receives exact pictorial illustration in the fresco of the sala della pace[ ]. siena, by her bloody factions and her passionate peacemakings, expressed in daily action what the painter had depicted on her palace walls. the method of treatment adopted for these chapters has obliged me to give priority to florence, and to speak of the two lorenzetti, pietro in the pisan campo santo and ambrogio in the sala della pace at siena, as though they were followers of giotto; so true is it that the main currents of tuscan art were governed by florentine influences, and that giotto's genius made itself felt in all the work of his immediate successors. it must, however, be observed that painting had an independent origin among the sienese, and that guido da siena may claim to rank even earlier than cimabue.[ ] in the year , just before engaging in their duel with florence, the sienese dedicated their city to the virgin; and the victory of montaperti, following immediately upon this vow, gave a marked impulse to their piety.[ ] the early masters of siena devoted themselves to religious paintings, especially to pictures of madonna suited for chapels and oratories. we find upon these mystic panels an ecstasy of adoration and a depth of fervour which are alien to the more sober spirit of florence, combined with an almost infantine delight in pure bright colours, and in the decorative details of the miniaturist. the first great painter among the sienese was duccio di buoninsegna.[ ] the completion of his masterpiece--a picture of the majesty of the virgin, executed for the high altar of the duomo--marked an epoch in the history of siena. nearly two years had been spent upon it; the painter receiving sixteen soldi a day from the commune, together with his materials, in exchange for his whole time and skill and labour. at last, on june , , it was carried from duccio's workshop to its place in the cathedral. a procession was formed by the clergy, with the archbishop at their head, followed by the magistrates of the commune, and the chief men of the monte de' nove. these great folk crowded round their lady; after came a multitude of burghers bearing tapers; while the rear was brought up by women and children. the bells rang and trumpets blew as this new image of the sovereign mistress of siena was borne along the summer-smiling streets of her metropolis to take its throne in her high temple. duccio's altar-piece presented on one face to the spectator a virgin seated with the infant christ upon her lap, and receiving the homage of the patron saints of siena. on the other, he depicted the principal scenes of the gospel story and the passion of our lord in twenty-eight compartments. what gives peculiar value to this elaborate work of sienese art is, that in it duccio managed to combine the tradition of an early hieratic style of painting with all the charm of brilliant colouring and with dramatic force of presentation only rivalled at that time by giotto. independently of giotto, he performed at a stroke what cimabue and his pupil had achieved for the florentines, and bequeathed to the succeeding painters of siena a tradition of art beyond which they rarely passed. far more than their neighbours at florence, the sienese remained fettered by the technical methods and the pietistic formulae of the earliest religious painting. to make their conventional representations of madonna's love and woe and glory burn with all the passion of a fervent spirit, and to testify their worship by the oblation of rich gifts in colouring and gilding massed around her, was their earnest aim. it followed that, when they attempted subjects on a really large scale, the faults of the miniaturist clung about them. i need hardly say that ambrogio and pietro lorenzetti form notable exceptions to this general statement. it may be applied, however, with some truth to simone martini, the painter, who during his lifetime enjoyed a celebrity only second to that of giotto.[ ] like giotto, simone exercised his art in many parts of italy. siena, pisa, assisi, orvieto, naples, and avignon can still boast of wall and easel pictures from his hand; and though it has been suggested that he took no part in the decoration of the cappella degli spagnuoli, the impress of his manner remains at florence in those noble frescoes of the "church militant" and the "consecration of s. dominic."[ ] simone's first undisputed works are to be seen at siena and at assisi, where we learn what he could do as a _frescante_ in competition with the ablest florentines. in the palazzo pubblico of his native city he painted a vast picture of the virgin enthroned beneath a canopy and surrounded by saints;[ ] while at assisi he put forth his whole power in portraying the legend of s. martin. in all his paintings we trace the skill of an exquisite and patient craftsman, elaborately careful to finish his work with the utmost refinement, sensitive to feminine beauty, full of delicate inventiveness, and gifted with a rare feeling for grace. these excellent qualities tend, however, towards affectation and over-softness; nor are they fortified by such vigour of conception or such majesty in composition as belong to the greatest _trecentisti_. the lorenzetti alone soared high above the sienese mannerism into a region of masculine imaginative art. we feel simone's charm mostly in single heads and detached figures, some of which at assisi have incomparable sweetness. "molles senae," the delicate and femininely variable, fond of all things brilliant, and unstable through defect of sternness, was the fit mother of this ingenious and delightful master. after the days of duccio and simone martini, of ambrogio and pietro lorenzetti, were over, there remained but little for the sienese to do in painting. taddeo di bartolo continued the tradition of duccio as the later giottesques continued that of giotto. his most remarkable wall-painting is a fresco of the apostles visiting the virgin, the motive of which is marked by great originality.[ ] our lady is seated in an open loggia with a company of holy men and women round her. descending from the sky and floating through the arches are three of the apostles, while one who has just alighted from his aërial transit kneels and folds his hands in adoration. seldom have the longing and the peace of loving worship been more poetically expressed than here. the seated, kneeling, standing, and flying figures are admirably grouped together; their draperies are dignified and massive; and the architectural accessories help the composition by dividing it into three balanced sections. such power of depicting movement was rare in the fourteenth century. to find its analogue, we must betake ourselves to the frescoes of spinello aretino, a master more decidedly giottesque than his contemporary taddeo di bartolo.[ ] a gabriel, rushing down from heaven to salute madonna, with all the whirr of arch-angelic pinions and the glory of paradise around him, is a fine specimen of spinello's vehemence. the same quality, more tempered, is noticeable in his frescoes of the legend of s. ephesus at pisa.[ ] few faces in the paintings of any period are more fascinating than the profiles under steel-blue battle-caps of that godlike pair--the knightly saint and the archangel michael--breaking by the irresistible force of their onset and their calm youthful beauty through the mailed ranks of the sardinian pagans. spinello was essentially a warlike painter; among the best of his compositions may be named the series of pictures from the history of the venetian campaign against frederick barbarossa.[ ] it is a pity that the war of liberation carried on by the lombard communes with the empire should have left but little trace on italian art; and therefore these paintings of spinello, in addition to their intrinsic merit, have rare historical interest. delighting in the gleam of armour and the shock of speared warriors, spinello communicated something of this fiery spirit even to his saints. the monks of samminiato near florence employed him in to paint their newly-finished sacristy with the legend of s. benedict. in the execution of this task spinello displayed his usual grandeur and vigour, treating the grey-robed brethren of monte cassino like veritable champions of a militant church. when he died in , it might have been truly said that the flame of the torch kindled by giotto was at last extinguished. the student of history cannot but notice with surprise that a city famed like siena for its vanity, its factious quarrels, and its delicate living, should have produced an almost passionately ardent art of piety.[ ] the same reflections are suggested at perugia, torn by the savage feuds of the oddi and baglioni, at warfare with assisi, reduced to exhaustion by the discords of jealous parties, yet memorable in the history of painting as the head-quarters of the pietistic umbrian school. the contradiction is, however, in both cases more apparent than real. the people both of siena and perugia were highly impressible and emotional, quick to obey the promptings of their passion, whether it took the form of hatred or of love, of spiritual fervour or of carnal violence. yielding at one moment to the preachings of s. bernardino, at another to the persuasions of grifonetto degli baglioni, the perugians won the character of being fiends or angels according to the temper of their leaders; while siena might boast with equal right of having given birth to s. catherine and nurtured beccadelli. the religious feeling was a passion with them on a par with all the other movements of their quick and mobile temperament: it needed ecstatic art for its interpretation. what was cold and sober would not satisfy the men of these two cities. the florentines, more justly balanced, less abandoned to the frenzies of impassioned impulse, less capable of feeling the rapt exaltation of the devotee, expressed themselves in art distinguished for its intellectual power, its sanity, its scientific industry, its adequacy to average human needs. therefore, florentine influences determined the course of painting in central italy. therefore giotto, who represented the florentine genius in the fourteenth century, set his stamp upon the lorenzetti. the mystic painters of umbria and siena have their high and honoured place in the history of italian art. they supply an element which, except in the work of fra angelico, was defective at florence; but to the florentines was committed the great charge of interpreting the spirit of italian civilisation in all its branches, not for the cloister only, or the oratory, but for humanity at large, through painting. giotto and his followers, then, in the fourteenth century painted, as we have seen, the religious, philosophical, and social conceptions of their age. as artists, their great discovery was the secret of depicting life. the ideas they expressed belonged to the middle ages. but by their method and their spirit they anticipated the renaissance. in executing their work upon the walls of palaces and churches, they employed a kind of fresco. fresco was essentially the florentine vehicle of expression. among the peoples of central italy it took the place of mosaic in sicily, ravenna, and venice, as the means of communicating ideas by forms to the unlettered laity, and as affording to the artist the widest and the freest sphere for the expression of his thoughts.[ ] footnotes: [ ] in the _history of painting in italy_, by messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle. [ ] nothing is more astonishing than the sterility of genoa and of rome. neither in sculpture nor in painting did these cities produce anything memorable, though genoa was well placed for receiving the influences of pisa, and had the command of the marble quarries of carrara, while rome was the resort of all the art-students of italy. the very early eminence of apulia in architecture and the plastic arts led to no results. [ ] milan, it is true, produced a brilliant school of sculptors, and the certosa of pavia is a monument of her spontaneous artistic genius. but in painting, until the date of lionardo's advent, she achieved little. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, pp. - , for the constitutional characteristics of florence and venice; and vol. ii., _revival of learning_, pp. - , for the intellectual supremacy of florence. [ ] a glance at the map shows to what a large extent the italians owed the progress of their arts to tuscany. pisa, as we have already seen, took the lead in sculpture. florence, at a somewhat later period, revived painting, while siena contemporaneously developed a style peculiar to herself. this sienese style--thoroughly tuscan, though different from that of florence--exercised an important influence over the schools of umbria, and gave a peculiar quality to perugian painting. through piero della francesca, a native of borgo san sepolcro, the florentine tradition was extended to umbria and the roman states. perugia might be even geographically claimed for tuscany, inasmuch as the tiber divides the old etrurian territory from the umbrians and the duchy of spoleto. lionardo was a tuscan settled as an alien in milan. raphael, though a native of urbino, derived his training from florence, indirectly through his father and his master perugino, more immediately from fra bartolommeo and michael angelo. [ ] if vasari is to be trusted, this visit of charles of anjou to cimabue's studio took place in ; but neither the malespini nor villani mention it, and the old belief that the borgo allegri owed its name to the popular rejoicing at that time is now somewhat discredited. see vasari, le monnier, , vol. i. p. , note . gino capponi, in his _storia della repubblica di firenze_, vol. i. p. , refuses however to reject the legend. [ ] see capponi, vol. i. pp. , , for a description of the gay and courteous living of the florentines upon the end of the thirteenth century. [ ] see the _descrizione della peste di firenze_. [ ] i wish i could here transcribe the most beautiful passage from ruskin's _giotto and his works in padua_, pp. , , describing the contrast between the landscape of valdarno and the landscape of the hills of the mugello district. i can only refer readers to the book, printed for the arundel society, . [ ] see trucchi, _poesie italiane inedite_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] see above, chapter iii, relation of sculpture to painting. [ ] the wonderful beauty of orcagna's faces, profile after profile laid together like lilies in a garden border, can only be discovered after long study. it has been my good fortune to examine, through the kindness of mrs. higford burr, of aldermaston, a large series of tracings, taken chiefly by the right hon. a. h. layard, from the frescoes of giottesque and other early masters, which, by the selection of simple form in outline, demonstrate not only the grand composition of these religious paintings, but also the incomparable loveliness of their types. how great the _trecentisti_ were as draughtsmen, how imaginative was the beauty of their conception, can be best appreciated by thus artificially separating their design from their colouring. the semblance of archaism disappears, and leaves a vision of pure beauty, delicate and spiritual. the collection to which i have alluded was made some years ago, when access to the wall-paintings of italy for the purpose of tracing was still possible. it includes nearly the whole of lorenzetti's work in the sala della pace, much of giotto, the gozzoli frescoes at s. gemignano, frescoes of the veronese masters and of the paduan baptistery, a great deal of piero della francesca, mantegna, luini, gaudenzio ferrari, pinturicchio, masolino, &c. the earliest masters of arezzo, pisa, siena, urbino are copiously illustrated, while few burghs or hamlets of the tuscan and umbrian districts have been left unvisited. [ ] see crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. i. pp. - , for a discussion of the question. they incline to the authorship of pietro and ambrogio lorenzetti. but the last florentine edition of vasari renders this opinion doubtful. [ ] ed una donna involta in veste negra, con un furor qual io non so se mai al tempo de' giganti fosse a flegra. _trionfo della morte_, cap. i. . [ ] on a scroll above these wretches is written this legend:-- dacchè prosperitade ci ha lasciati, o morte, medicina d'ogni pena, deh vieni a darne omai l'ultima cena. [ ] this might be used as an argument against the lorenzetti hypothesis; for their work at siena is eminently beautiful. [ ] the attitude and the eyes of this archangel have an imaginative potency beyond that of any other motive used by any painter to suggest the terror of the _dies irae_. simplicity and truth of vision in the artist have here touched the very summit of intense dramatic presentation. [ ] the "triumph of s. thomas aquinas," in this cloister-chapel, has long been declared the work of taddeo gaddi. "the triumph of the church militant," and the "consecration of s. dominic," used to be ascribed, on the faith of vasari, to simone martini of siena. independently of its main subject, this vast wall-painting is specially interesting on account of its portraits. the work has a decidedly sienese character; but recent critics are inclined to assign it to a certain andrea, of florence. see crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. ii. p. . the same critics doubt the hand of taddeo gaddi in the "triumph of s. thomas," vol. i. p. , and remark that "these productions of the art of the fourteenth century are, indeed, second-class works, executed by pupils of the sienese and florentine school, and unworthy of the high praise which has ever been given to them." whatever may be ultimately thought about the question of their authorship and pictorial merit, their interest to the student of italian painting in relation to mediaeval thought will always remain indisputable. few buildings in the length and breadth of italy possess such claims on our attention as the cappella degli spagnuoli. [ ] the amorous fere of the christian faith, the holy athlete, gentle to his own, and to his foes cruel. [ ] everything outside this golden region is studded with stars to signify an epoyranios topos or heaven of heavens. s. thomas and the greeks are inside the golden sphere of science, and below on earth are the heresiarchs and faithful. rosini gives a faithful outline of this picture in his atlas of illustrations. [ ] "for my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips."--prov. viii. . [ ] gozzoli's picture is now in the louvre. i think guillaume de saint amour takes the place of averroes. [ ] _inf._ iv. . [ ] _averroès et l'averroïsme_, pp. - . [ ] in the chapel. they are the work of taddeo di bartolo, and bear this inscription: "specchiatevi in costoro, voi che reggete." the mediaeval painters of italy learned lessons of civility and government as willingly from classical tradition, as they deduced the lessons of piety and godly living from the bible. herein they were akin to dante, who chose virgil for the symbol of the human understanding and beatrice for the symbol of divine wisdom, revealed to man in theology. [ ] he began his work in . [ ] a similar mode of symbolising the commune is chosen in the bas-reliefs of archbishop tarlati's tomb at arezzo, where the discord of the city is represented by an old man of gigantic stature, throned and maltreated by the burghers, who are tearing out his hair by handfuls. over this figure is written "il comune pelato." [ ] these were adopted as the ensign of siena, in the middle ages. [ ] in the year , just before ambrogio began to paint, the sienese republic had concluded a league with florence for the maintenance of the guelf party. the monte de' nove still ruled the city with patriotic spirit and equity, and had not yet become a forceful oligarchy. the power of the visconti was still in its cradle; the great plague had not devastated tuscany. as early as the whole of the fair order represented by ambrogio was shaken to the foundation, and siena deserved the words applied to it by de commines. see vol. l, _age of the despots_, p. , note . [ ] rio, perversely bent on stigmatising whatever in italian art savours of the renaissance, depreciates this lovely form of peace. _l'art chrétien_, vol. i. p. . [ ] see muratori, vol. xxiii., or the passage translated by me in vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] his "madonna" in s. domenico is dated . for a full discussion of guido da siena's date, see crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. i. pp. - . [ ] on their coins the sienese struck this legend: "sena vetus civitas virginis." it will be remembered how the florentines, two centuries and a half later, dedicated their city to christ as king. [ ] date of birth unknown; date of death, about . [ ] he is better known as simone memmi, a name given to him by a mistake of vasari's. he was born in at siena. he died in at avignon. petrarch mentions his portrait of madonna laura, in the th and th sonnets of the "rime in vita di madonna laura." in another place he uses these words about simone: "duos ego novi pictores egregios, nec formosos, jottum florentinum civem, cujus inter modernos fama ingens est, et simonem senensem."--_epist. fam._ lib. v. , p. . petrarch proceeds to mention that he has also known sculptors, and asserts their inferiority to painters in modern times. [ ] see above, chapter iv, theology and s. dominic. messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle reject, not without reason, as it seems to me, the tradition that simone painted the frescoes of s. ranieri in the campo santo at pisa. see vol. ii. p. . what remains of his work at pisa is an altar-piece in s. caterina. [ ] to simone is also attributed the interesting portrait of guidoriccio fogliani de' ricci, on horseback, in the sala del consiglio. this, however, has been so much repainted as to have lost its character. [ ] in s. francesco at pisa. [ ] spinello degli spinelli was born of a ghibelline family, exiled from florence, who settled at arezzo about . he died at arezzo in , aged , according to some computations. [ ] south wall of the campo santo, on the left-hand of the entrance. [ ] in the sala di balia of the public palace at siena. [ ] see _inferno_, xxix. ; the sonnets on the months by cene dalla chitarra, _poeti del primo secolo,_ vol. ii. pp. - ; the epithet "molles senae," given by beccadelli; and the remarks of de comines. [ ] i have not thought it necessary to distinguish between tempera and fresco. in tempera painting the colours were mixed with egg, gum, and other vehicles dissolved in water, and laid upon a dry ground. in fresco painting the colours, mixed only with water, were laid upon plaster while still damp. the latter process replaced the former for wall-paintings in the fourteenth century. chapter v painting mediaeval motives exhausted--new impulse toward technical perfection--naturalists in painting--intermediate achievement needed for the great age of art--positive spirit of the fifteenth century--masaccio--the modern manner--paolo uccello--perspective--realistic painters--the model--piero della francesca--his study of form--resurrection at borgo san sepolcro--melozzo da forli--squarcione at padua--gentile da fabriano--fra angelico--benozzo gozzoli--his decorative style--lippo lippi--frescoes at prato and spoleto--filippino lippi--sandro botticelli--his value for the student of renaissance fancy--his feeling for mythology--piero di cosimo--domenico ghirlandajo--in what sense he sums up the age--prosaic spirit--florence hitherto supreme in painting--extension of art activity throughout italy--medicean patronage. after the splendid outburst of painting in the first half of the fourteenth century, there came a lull. the thoughts and sentiments of mediaeval italy had been now set forth in art. the sincere and simple style of giotto was worked out. but the new culture of the revival had not as yet sufficiently penetrated the italians for the painters to express it; nor had they mastered the technicalities of their craft in such a manner as to render the delineation of more complex forms of beauty possible. the years between and may be roughly marked out as the second period of great, activity in painting. at this time sculpture, under the hands of ghiberti, donatello, and luca della robbia, had reached a higher point than the sister art. the debt the sculptors owed to giotto, they now repaid in full measure to his successors, in obedience to the law whereby sculpture, though subordinated, as in italy, to painting, is more precocious in its evolution. one of the most marked features of this period was the progress in the art of design, due to bronze modelling and bas-relief; for the painters, labouring in the workshops of the goldsmiths and the stone-carvers, learned how to study the articulation of the human body, to imitate the nude, and to aim by means of graduated light and dark at rendering the effect of roundness in their drawing. the laws of perspective and foreshortening were worked out by paolo uccello and brunelleschi. new methods of colouring were attempted by the peselli and the pollajuoli. abandoning the conventional treatment of religious themes, the artists began to take delight in motives drawn from everyday experience. it became the fashion to introduce contemporary costumes, striking portraits, and familiar incidents into sacred subjects, so that many pictures of this period, though worthless to the student of religious art, are interesting for their illustration of florentine custom and character. at the same time the painters began to imitate landscape and architecture, loading the background of their frescoes with pompous vistas of palaces and city towers, or subordinating their figures to fantastic scenery of wood and rock and seashore. many were naturalists, delighting, like gentile da fabriano, in the delineation of field flowers and living creatures, or, like piero di cosimo, in the portrayal of things rare and curious. gardens please their eyes, and birds and beasts and insects. whole menageries and aviaries, for instance, were painted by paolo uccello. others, again, abandoned the old ground of christian story for the tales of greece and rome; and not the least charming products of the time are antique motives treated with the freshness of romantic feeling. we look in vain for the allegories of the giottesque masters: that stage of thought has been traversed, and a new cycle of poetic ideas, fanciful, idyllic, corresponding to boiardo's episodes rather than to dante's vision, opens for the artist. instead of seeking to set forth vast subjects with the equality of mediocrity, like the gaddi, or to invent architectonic compositions embracing the whole culture of their age, like the lorenzetti, the painters were now bent upon realising some special quality of beauty, expressing some fantastic motive, or solving some technical problem of peculiar difficulty. they had, in fact, outgrown the childhood of their art; and while they had not yet attained to mastery, had abandoned the impossible task of making it the medium of universal expression. in this way the manifold efforts of the workers in the first half of the fifteenth century prepared the ground for the great painters of the golden age. it remained for raphael and his contemporaries to achieve the final synthesis of art in masterpieces of consummate beauty. but this they could not have done without the aid of those innumerable intermediate labourers, whose productions occupy in art the place of bacon's _media axiomata_ in science. remembering this, we ought not to complain that the purpose of painting at this epoch was divided, or that its achievements were imperfect. the whole intellectual conditions of the country were those of growth, experiment, preparation, and acquisition, rather than of full accomplishment. what happened in the field of painting, was happening also in the field of scholarship; and we have good reason to be thankful that by the very nature of the arts, these tentative endeavours have a more enduring charm than the dull tomes of contemporary students. nor, again, is it rational to regret that painting, having started with the sincere desire of expressing the hopes and fears that agitate the soul of man, and raise him to a spiritual region, should now be occupied with lessons in perspective and anatomy. in the twofold process of discovering the world and man, this dry ground had inevitably to be explored, and its exploration could not fail to cost the sacrifice of much that was impassioned and imaginative in the earlier and less scientific age of art.[ ] the spirit of cosimo de' medici, almost cynical in its positivism, the spirit of sixtus iv., almost godless in its egotism, were abroad in italy at this period;[ ] indeed, the fifteenth century presents at large a spectacle of prosaic worldliness and unideal aims. yet the work done by the artists was the best work of the epoch, far more fruitful of results and far more permanently valuable than that of filelfo inveighing in filthy satires against his personal foes, or of beccadelli endeavouring to inoculate modern literature with the virus of pagan vices. petrarch in the fourteenth century had preached the evangel of humanism; giotto in the fourteenth century had given life to painting. the students of the fifteenth, though their spirit was so much baser and less large than petrarch's, were following in the path marked out for them and leading forward to erasmus. the painters of the fifteenth, though they lacked the unity of aim and freshness of their master, were learning what was needful for the crowning and fulfilment of his labours on a loftier stage. foremost among the pioneers of renaissance-painting, towering above them all by head and shoulders, like saul among the tribes of israel, stands masaccio.[ ] the brancacci chapel of the carmine at florence, painted in fresco almost entirely by his hand, was the school where all succeeding artists studied, and whence raphael deigned to borrow the composition and the figures of a portion of his cartoons. the "legend of s. catherine," painted by masaccio in . clemente at rome, though an earlier work, is scarcely less remarkable as evidence that a new age had begun for art. in his frescoes the qualities essential to the style of the renaissance--what vasari calls the modern manner--appear precociously full-formed. besides life and nature they have dignity and breadth, the grand and heightened manner of emancipated art. masaccio is not inferior to giotto in his power of telling a story with simplicity; but he understands the value of perspective for realising the circumstances of the scene depicted. his august groups of the apostles are surrounded by landscape tranquillising to the sense and pleasant to the eye. mountain-lines and distant horizons lend space and largeness to his compositions, and the figures of his men and women move freely in a world prepared for them. in masaccio's management of drapery we discern the influence of plastic art; without concealing the limbs, which are always modelled with a freedom that suggests the power of movement even in stationary attitudes, the voluminous folds and broad masses of powerfully coloured raiment invest his forms with a nobility unknown before in painting. his power of representing the nude is not less remarkable. but what above all else renders his style attractive is the sense of aërial space. for the first time in art the forms of living persons are shown moving in a transparent medium of light, graduated according to degrees of distance, and harmonised by tones that indicate an atmospheric unity. in comparing masaccio with giotto we must admit that, with so much gained, something has been sacrificed. giotto succeeded in presenting the idea, the feeling, the pith of the event, and pierced at once to the very ground-root of imagination. masaccio thinks over-much, perhaps, of external form, and is intent on air-effects and colouring. he realises the phenomenal truth with a largeness and a dignity peculiar to himself. but we ask whether he was capable of bringing close to our hearts the secret and the soul of spiritual things. has not art beneath his touch become more scenic, losing thereby somewhat of dramatic poignancy? born in , masaccio left florence in for rome, and was not heard of by his family again. thus perished, at the early age of twenty-seven, a painter whose work reveals not only the originality of real creative genius, but a maturity that moves our wonder. what might he not have done if he had lived? between his style in the brancacci chapel and that of raphael in the vatican there seems to be but a narrow gap, which might perchance have been passed over by this man, if death had spared him. masaccio can by no means be taken as a fair instance of the painters of his age. gifted with exceptional powers, he overleaped the difficulties of his art, and arrived intuitively at results whereof as yet no scientific certainty had been secured. his contemporaries applied humbler talents to severe study, and wrought out by patient industry those principles which masaccio had divined. their work is therefore at the same time more archaic and more pedantic, judged by modern standards. it is difficult to imagine a style of painting less attractive than that of paolo uccello.[ ] yet his fresco of the "deluge" in the cloisters of s. maria novella, and his battlepieces--one of which may be seen in the national gallery--taught nearly all that painters needed of perspective. the lesson was conveyed in hard, dry, uncouth diagrams, ill-coloured and deficient in the quality of animation. at this period the painters, like the sculptors, were trained as goldsmiths, and paolo had been a craftsman of that guild before he gave his whole mind to the study of linear perspective and the drawing of animals. the precision required in this trade forced artists to study the modelling of the human form, and promoted that crude naturalism which has been charged against their pictures. carefully to observe, minutely to imitate some actual person--the sandro of your workshop or the cecco from the marketplace--became the pride of painters. no longer fascinated by the dreams of mediaeval mysticism, and unable for the moment to invest ideals of the fancy with reality, they meanwhile made the great discovery that the body of a man is a miracle of beauty, each limb a divine wonder, each muscle a joy as great as sight of stars or flowers. much that is repulsive in the pictures of the pollajuoli and andrea del castagno, the leaders in this branch of realism, is due to admiration for the newly studied mechanism of the human form. they seem to have cared but little to select their types or to accentuate expression, so long as they were able to portray the man before them with fidelity.[ ] the comeliness of average humanity was enough for them; the difficulties of reproducing what they saw, exhausted their force. thus the master-works on which they staked their reputation show them emulous of fame as craftsmen, while only here and there, in minor paintings for the most part, the poet that was in them sees the light. brunelleschi told donatello the truth when he said that his christ was a crucified _contadino_. intent on mastering the art of modelling, and determined above all things to be accurate, the sculptor had forgotten that something more was wanted in a crucifix than the careful study of a robust peasant-boy. a story of a somewhat later date still further illustrates the dependence of the work of art upon the model in renaissance florence. jacopo sansovino made the statue of a youthful "bacchus" in close imitation of a lad called pippo fabro. posing for hours together naked in a cold studio, pippo fell into ill health, and finally went mad. in his madness he frequently assumed the attitude of the "bacchus" to which his life had been sacrificed, and which is now his portrait. the legend of the painter who kept his model on a cross in order that he might the more minutely represent the agonies of death by crucifixion, is but a mythus of the realistic method carried to its logical extremity. piero della francesca, a native of borgo san sepolcro, and a pupil of domenico veneziano, must be placed among the painters of this period who advanced their art by scientific study. he carried the principles of correct drawing and solid modelling as far as it is possible for the genius of man to do, and composed a treatise on perspective in the vulgar tongue. but these are not his only titles to fame. by dignity of portraiture, by loftiness of style, and by a certain poetical solemnity of imagination, he raised himself above the level of the mass of his contemporaries. those who have once seen his fresco of the "resurrection" in the hall of the compagnia della misericordia at borgo san sepolcro, will never forget the deep impression of solitude and aloofness from all earthly things produced by it. it is not so much the admirable grouping and masterly drawing of the four sleeping soldiers, or even the majestic type of the christ emergent without effort from the grave, as the communication of a mood felt by the painter and instilled into our souls, that makes this by far the grandest, most poetic, and most awe-inspiring picture of the resurrection. the landscape is simple and severe, with the cold light upon it of the dawn before the sun is risen. the drapery of the ascending christ is tinged with auroral colours like the earliest clouds of morning; and his level eyes, with the mystery of the slumber of the grave still upon them, seem gazing, far beyond our scope of vision, into the region of the eternal and illimitable. thus, with piero for mystagogue, we enter an inner shrine of deep religious revelation. the same high imaginative faculty marks the fresco of the "dream of constantine" in s. francesco at arezzo, where, it may be said in passing, the student of art must learn to estimate what piero could do in the way of accurate foreshortening, powerful delineation of solid bodies, and noble treatment of drapery.[ ] to piero, again, we owe most precious portraits of two italian princes, sigismondo pandolfo malatesta and federigo of urbino, masterpieces[ ] of fidelity to nature and sound workmanship. in addition to the many great paintings that command our admiration, piero claims honour as the teacher of melozzo da forli and of luca signorelli. little is left to show the greatness of melozzo; but the frescoes preserved in the quirinal are enough to prove that he continued the grave and lofty manner of his master.[ ] signorelli bears a name illustrious in the first rank of italian painters; and to speak of him will be soon my duty. it was the special merit of these artists to elevate the ideal of form and to seek after sublimity, without departing from the path of conscientious labour, in an age preoccupied on the one hand with technicality and naturalism, on the other with decorative prettiness and pietism. while the florentine and umbro-tuscan masters were perfecting the arts of accurate design, a similar direction toward scientific studies was given to the painters of northern italy at padua. michael savonarola, writing his panegyric of padua about , expressly mentions perspective as a branch of philosophy taught in the high school;[ ] and the influence of francesco squarcione, though exaggerated by vasari, was not inconsiderable. this man, who began life as a tailor or embroiderer, was early interested in the fine arts. like ciriac of ancona, he had a taste for travel and collection,[ ] visiting the sacred soil of greece and sojourning in divers towns of italy, everywhere making drawings, copying pictures, taking casts from statues, and amassing memoranda on the relics of antiquity as well as on the methods practised by contemporary painters. equipped with these aids to study, squarcione returned to padua, his native place, where he opened a kind of school for painters. it is clear that he was himself less an artist than an amateur of painting, with a turn for teaching, and a conviction, based upon the humanistic instincts of his age, that the right way of learning was by imitation of the antique. during the course of his career he is said to have taught no less than pupils, training his apprentices by the exhibition of casts and drawings, and giving them instruction in the science of perspective.[ ] from his studio issued the mighty andrea mantegna, whose life-work, one of the most weighty moments in the history of modern art, will be noticed at length in the next chapter. for the present it is enough to observe that through squarcione the scientific and humanistic movement of the fifteenth century was communicated to the art of northern italy. there, as at florence, painting was separated from ecclesiastical tradition, and a new starting-point was sought in the study of mathematical principles, and the striving after form for its own sake. without attempting the detailed history of painting in this period of divided energy and diverse effort, it is needful here to turn aside and notice those masters of the fifteenth century who remained comparatively uninfluenced by the scholastic studies of their contemporaries. of these, the earliest and most notable was gentile da fabriano, the last great painter of the gubbian school.[ ] in the predella of his masterpiece at florence there is a little panel, which attracts attention as one of the earliest attempts to represent a sunrise. the sun has just appeared above one of those bare sweeping hill-sides so characteristic of central italian landscape. part of the country lies untouched by morning, cold and grey: the rest is silvered with the level light, falling sideways on the burnished leaves and red fruit of the orange trees, and casting shadows from olive branches on the furrows of a new-ploughed field. along the road journey joseph and mary and the infant christ, so that you may call this little landscape a "flight into egypt," if you choose. gentile, with all his umbrian pietism, was a painter for whom the fair sights of the earth had exquisite value. the rich costumes of the eastern kings, their train of servants, their hawks and horses, hounds and monkeys, are painted by him with scrupulous fidelity; and nothing can be more true to nature than the wild flowers he has copied in the framework of this picture. yet we perceive that, though he felt in his own way the naturalistic impulse of the age, he had scarcely anything in common with masters like uccello or verocchio. still less had fra angelico. of all the painters of this period he most successfully resisted the persuasions of the renaissance, and perfected an art that owed little to sympathy with the external world. he thought it a sin to study or to imitate the naked form, and his most beautiful faces seem copied from angels seen in visions, not from any sons of men. while the artists around him were absorbed in mastering the laws of geometry and anatomy, fra angelico sought to express the inner life of the adoring soul. only just so much of realism, whether in the drawing of the body and its drapery, or in the landscape background, as seemed necessary for suggesting the emotion or for setting forth the story, found its way into his pictures. the message they convey might have been told almost as perfectly upon the lute or viol. his world is a strange one--a world not of hills and fields and flowers and men of flesh and blood, but one where the people are embodied ecstasies, the colours tints from evening clouds or apocalyptic jewels, the scenery a flood of light or a background of illuminated gold. his mystic gardens, where the ransomed souls embrace, and dance with angels on the lawns outside the city of the lamb, are such as were never trodden by the foot of man in any paradise of earth. criticism has a hard task in attempting to discern the merit of the several painters of this time. it is clear that we must look not to fra angelico but to masaccio for the progressive forces that were carrying art forward to complete accomplishment. yet the charm of masaccio is as nothing in comparison with that which holds us spell-bound before the sacred and impassioned reveries of the fiesolan monk. masaccio had inestimable value for his contemporaries. fra angelico, now that we know all masaccio can teach, has a quality so unique that we return again and again to the contemplation of his visions. thus it often happens that we are tempted to exaggerate the historical importance of one painter because he touches us by some peculiar quality, and to over-estimate the intrinsic value of another because he was a motive power in his own age. both these temptations should be resolutely resisted by the student who is capable of discerning different kinds of excellence and diverse titles to affectionate remembrance. tracing the history of italian painting is like pursuing a journey down an ever-broadening river, whose affluents are giotto and masaccio, ghirlandajo, signorelli, and mantegna. we have to turn aside and land upon the shore, in order to visit the heaven-reflecting lakelet, self-encompassed and secluded, called angelico. benozzo gozzoli, the pupil of fra angelico, but in no sense the continuator of his tradition, exhibits the blending of several styles by a genius of less creative than assimilative force. that he was keenly interested in the problems of perspective and foreshortening, and that none of the knowledge collected by his fellow-workers had escaped him, is sufficiently proved by his frescoes at pisa. his compositions are rich in architectural details, not always chosen with pure taste, but painted with an almost infantine delight in the magnificence of buildings. quaint birds and beasts and reptiles crowd his landscapes; while his imagination runs riot in rocks and rivers, trees of all variety, and rustic incidents adopted from real life. at the same time he felt an enjoyment like that of gentile da fabriano in depicting the pomp and circumstance of pageantry, and no florentine of the fifteenth century was more fond of assembling the personages of contemporary history in groups.[ ] thus he showed himself sensitive to the chief influences of the earlier renaissance, and combined the scientific and naturalistic tendencies of his age in a manner not devoid of native poetry. what he lacked was depth of feeling, the sense of noble form, the originative force of a great mind. his poetry of invention, though copious and varied, owed its charm to the unstudied grace of improvisation, and he often undertook subjects where his idyllic rather than dramatic genius failed to sustain him. it is difficult, for instance, to comprehend how m. rio could devote two pages to gozzoli's "destruction of sodom," so comparatively unimpressive in spite of its aggregated incidents, when he passes by the "fulminati" of signorelli, so tragic in its terrible simplicity, with a word.[ ] this painter's marvellous rapidity of execution enabled him to produce an almost countless series of decorative works. the best of these are the frescoes of the pisan campo santo, of the riccardi palace of florence, of san gemignano, and of montefalco. it has been well said of gozzoli that, though he attempted grand subjects on a large scale, he could not rise above the limitations of a style better adapted to the decoration of _cassoni_ than to fresco.[ ] yet within the range of his own powers there are few more fascinating painters. his feeling for fresh nature--for hunters in the woods at night or dawn, for vintage-gatherers among their grapes, for festival troops of cavaliers and pages, and for the marriage-dances of young men and maidens--yields a delightful gladness to compositions lacking the simplicity of giotto and the dignity of masaccio.[ ] no one knew better how to sketch the quarrels of little boys in their nursery, or the laughter of serving-women, or children carrying their books to school;[ ] and when the idyllic genius of the man was applied to graver themes, his fancy supplied him with multitudes of angels waving rainbow-coloured wings above fair mortal faces. bevies of them nestle like pigeons on the penthouse of the hut of bethlehem, or crowd together round the infant christ.[ ] from these observations on the style of benozzo gozzoli it will be seen that in the evolution of renaissance culture he may be compared with the romantic poets for whom the cheerfulness of nature and the joy that comes to men from living in a many-coloured world of inexhaustible delight were sufficient sources of inspiration. it should be mentioned lastly that he enjoyed the patronage and friendship of the medicean princes. another painter favoured by the medici was fra filippo lippi, whose life and art-work were alike the deviation of a pleasure-loving temperament from its natural sphere into the service of the church. left an orphan at the age of two years, he was brought up by an aunt, who placed him, as a boy of eight, in the convent of the carmine at florence. for monastic duties he had no vocation, and the irregularities of his behaviour caused scandal even in that age of cynical indulgence. it can scarcely be doubted that the schism between his practice and profession served to debase and vulgarise a genius of fine imaginative quality, while the uncongenial work of decorating choirs and painting altar-pieces limed the wings of his swift spirit with the dulness of routine that savoured of hypocrisy. bound down to sacred subjects, he was too apt to make angels out of street-urchins, and to paint the portraits of his peasant-loves for virgins.[ ] his delicate sense of natural beauty gave peculiar charm to this false treatment of religious themes. nothing, for example, can be more attractive than the rows of angels bearing lilies in his "coronation of the virgin;"[ ] and yet, when we regard them closely, we find that they have no celestial quality of form or feature. their grace is earthly, and the spirit breathed upon the picture is the loveliness of colour, quiet and yet glowing--blending delicate blues and greens with whiteness purged of glare. the beauties as well as the defects of such compositions make us regret that fra filippo never found a more congenial sphere for his imagination. as a painter of subjects half-humorous and half-pathetic, or as the illustrator of romantic stories, we fancy that he might have won fame rivalled only by the greatest colourists. one such picture it was granted him to paint, and this is his masterpiece. in the prime of life he was commissioned to decorate the choir of the cathedral at prato with the legends of s. john baptist and s. stephen. all of these frescoes are noteworthy for their firm grasp upon reality in the portraits of florentine worthies, and for the harmonious disposition of the groups; but the scene of salome dancing before herod is the best for its poetic feeling. her movement across the floor before the tyrant and his guests at table, the quaint fluttering of her drapery, the well-bred admiration of the spectators, their horror when she brings the baptist's head to herodias, and the weak face of the half-remorseful herod are expressed with a dramatic power that shows the genius of a poet painter. and even more lovely than salome are a pair of girls locked in each other's arms close by herodias on the daïs. a natural and spontaneous melody, not only in the suggested movements of this scene, but also in the colouring, choice of form, and treatment of drapery, makes it one of the most musical of pictures ever painted. fra filippo was not so successful in the choir of the cathedral at spoleto, where he undertook; to paint scenes from the life of the virgin. yet those who have not examined these frescoes, ruinous in their decay and spoiled by stupid restoration, can form no just notion of the latent capacity of this great master. the whole of the half-dome above the tribune is filled with, a "coronation of madonna." a circular rainbow surrounds both her and christ. she is kneeling with fiery rays around her, glorified by her assumption into heaven. christ is enthroned, and at his side stands a seat prepared for his mother, as soon as the crown that he is placing on her head shall have made her queen. from the outer courts of heaven, thronged with multitudes of celestial beings, angels are crowding in, breaking the lines of the prismatic aureole, as though the ardour of their joy could scarcely be repressed; while the everlasting light of god sheds radiance from above, and far below, lies earth with diminished sun and moon. the boldness of conception in this singular fresco reveals a genius capable of grappling with such problems as tintoretto solved. fra filippo died at spoleto, and left his work unfinished, to the care of his assistant, the fra diamante. over his tomb lorenzo de' medici caused a monument to be erected, and poliziano wrote latin couplets to commemorate the fame of a painter highly prized by his patrons. the space devoted in these pages to fra lippo lippi is justified not only by the excellence of his own work, but also by the influence he exercised over two of the best florentine painters of the fifteenth century. whether filippino lippi was in truth his son by lucrezia buti, a novice he is said to have carried from her cloister in prato, has been called in question by recent critics; but they adduce no positive arguments for discrediting the story of vasari.[ ] there can, however, be no doubt that to the frate, whether he was his father or only his teacher, filippino owed his style. his greatest works were painted in continuation of masaccio's frescoes in the carmine at florence. it is the best warrant of their excellence that we feel them worthy to hold the place they do, and that raphael transferred one of their motives, the figure of s. paul addressing s. peter in prison, to his cartoon of "mars' hill." that he was not so accomplished as masaccio in the art of composition, that his scale of colour is less pleasing, and that his style in general lacks the elevation of his mighty predecessor, is not sufficient to place him in any position of humiliating inferiority.[ ] what above all things interests the student of the renaissance in filippino's work, is the powerful action of revived classicism on his manner. this can be traced better in the caraffa chapel of s. maria sopra minerva at rome and in the strozzi chapel of s. maria novella at florence than in the carmine. the "triumph of s. thomas aquinas" and the "miracle of s. john" are remarkable for an almost insolent display of roman antiquities--not studied, it need scarcely be observed, with the scientific accuracy of alma tadema--for such science was non-existent in the fifteenth century--but paraded with a kind of passion. to this delight in antique details filippino added violent gestures, strange attitudes, and affected draperies, producing a general result impressive through the artist's energy, but quaint and unattractive. sandro botticelli, the other disciple of fra lippo, bears a name of greater mark. he is one of those artists, much respected in their own days, who suffered eclipse from the superior splendour of immediate successors, and to whom, through sympathy stimulated by prolonged study of the fifteenth century, we have of late paid tardy and perhaps exaggerated honours.[ ] his fellow-workers seem to have admired him as an able draughtsman gifted with a rare if whimsical imagination; but no one recognised in him a leader of his age. for us he has an almost unique value as representing the interminglement of antique and modern fancy at a moment of transition, as embodying in some of his pictures the subtlest thought and feeling of men for whom the classic myths were beginning to live once more, while new guesses were timidly hazarded in the sphere of orthodoxy.[ ] self-confident sensuality had not as yet encouraged painters to substitute a florid rhetoric for the travail of their brain; nor was enough known about antiquity to make the servile imitation of greek or roman fragments possible. yet scholarship had already introduced a novel element into the culture of the nation. it was no doubt with a kind of wonder that the artists heard of fauns and sylvans, and the birth of aphrodite from the waves. such fables took deep hold upon their fancy, stirring them to strange and delicate creations, the offspring of their own thought, and no mere copies of marbles seen in statue galleries. the very imperfection of these pictures lends a value to them in the eyes of the student, by helping him to comprehend exactly how the revelations of the humanists affected the artistic sense of italy. in the mythological work of botticelli there is always an element of allegory, recalling the middle ages and rendering it far truer to the feelings of the fifteenth century than to the myths it illustrates. his painting of the "spring," suggested by a passage from lucretius,[ ] is exquisitely poetic; and yet the true spirit of the latin verse has not been seized--to have done that would have taxed the energies of titian--but something special to the artist and significant for medicean scholarship has been added. there is none of the roman largeness and freedom in its style; venus and her graces are even melancholy, and their movements savour of affectation. this combination or confusion of artistic impulses in botticelli, this treatment of pagan themes in the spirit of mediaeval mysticism, sometimes ended in grotesqueness. it might suffice to cite the pregnant "aphrodite" in the national gallery, if the "mars and venus" in the same collection were not even a more striking instance. mars is a young florentine, whose throat and chest are beautifully studied from the life, but whose legs and belly, belonging no doubt to the same model, fall far short of heroic form. he lies fast asleep with the corners of his mouth drawn down, as though he were about to snore. opposite there sits a woman, weary and wan, draped from neck to foot in the thin raiment botticelli loved. four little goat-footed cupids playing with the armour of the sleeping lad complete the composition. these wanton loves are admirably conceived and exquisitely drawn; nor indeed can any drawing exceed in beauty the line that leads from the flank along the ribs and arm of mars up to his lifted elbow. the whole design, like one of piero di cosimo's pictures in another key, leaves a strong impression on the mind, due partly to the oddity of treatment, partly to the careful work displayed, and partly to the individuality of the artist. it gives us keen pleasure to feel exactly how a painter like botticelli applied the dry naturalism of the early florentine renaissance, as well as his own original imagination, to a subject he imperfectly realised. yet are we right in assuming that he meant the female figure in this group for aphrodite, the sleeping man for ares? a greek or a roman would have rejected this picture as false to the mythus of mars and venus; and whether botticelli wished to be less descriptive than emblematic, might be fairly questioned. the face and attitude of that unseductive venus, wide awake and melancholy, opposite her snoring lover, seems to symbolise the indignities which women may have to endure from insolent and sottish boys with only youth to recommend them. this interpretation, however, sounds like satire. we are left to conjecture whether botticelli designed his composition for an allegory of intemperance, the so-called venus typifying some moral quality. botticelli's "birth of aphrodite" expresses this transient moment in the history of the renaissance with more felicity. it would be impossible for any painter to design a more exquisitely outlined figure than that of his venus, who, with no covering but her golden hair, is wafted to the shore by zephyrs. roses fall upon the ruffled waves, and the young gods of the air twine hands and feet together as they float. in the picture of "spring" there is the same choice of form, the same purity of line, the same rare interlacement in the limbs. it would seem as though botticelli intended every articulation of the body to express some meaning, and this, though it enhances the value of his work for sympathetic students, often leads him to the verge of affectation. nothing but a touch of affectation in the twined fingers of raphael and tobias impairs the beauty of one of botticelli's best pictures at turin. we feel the same discord looking at them as we do while reading the occasional _concetti_ in petrarch; and all the more in each case does the discord pain us because we know that it results from their specific quality carried to excess. botticelli's sensibility to the refinements of drawing gave peculiar character to all his work. attention has frequently been called to the beauty of his roses.[ ] every curl in their frail petals is rendered with as much care as though they were the hands or feet of graces. nor is it, perhaps, a mere fancy to imagine that the corolla of an open rose suggested to botticelli's mind the composition of his best-known picture, the circular "coronation of the virgin" in the uffizzi. that masterpiece combines all botticelli's best qualities. for rare distinction of beauty in the faces it is unique, while the mystic calm and resignation, so misplaced in his aphrodites, find a meaning here[ ]. there is only one other picture in italy, a "madonna and child with s. catherine" in a landscape by boccaccino da cremona, that in any degree rivals the peculiar beauty of its types[ ]. sandro botticelli was not a great painter in the same sense as andrea mantegna. but he was a true poet within the limits of a certain sphere. we have to seek his parallel among the verse-writers rather than the artists of his day. some of the stanzas of poliziano and boiardo, in particular, might have been written to explain his pictures, or his pictures might have been painted to illustrate their verses[ ]. in both poliziano and boiardo we find the same touch upon antique things as in botticelli; and this makes him serviceable almost above all painters to the readers of renaissance poetry. the name of piero di cosimo has been mentioned incidentally in connection with that of botticelli; and though his life exceeds the limits assigned for this chapter, so many links unite him to the class of painters i have been discussing, that i can find no better place to speak of him than this. his biography forms one of the most amusing chapters in vasari, who has taken great delight in noting piero's quaint humours and eccentric habits, and whose description of a carnival triumph devised by him is one of our most precious documents in illustration of renaissance pageantry.[ ] the point that connects him with botticelli is the romantic treatment of classical mythology, best exemplified in his pictures of the tale of perseus and andromeda.[ ] piero was by nature and employment a decorative painter; the construction of cars for pageants, and the adornment of dwelling rooms and marriage chests, affected his whole style, rendering it less independent and more quaint than that of botticelli. landscape occupies the main part of his compositions, made up by a strange amalgam of the most eccentric details--rocks toppling over blue bays, sea-caverns, and fantastic mountain ranges. groups of little figures disposed upon these spaces tell the story, and the best invention of the artist is lavished on the form of monstrous creatures like the dragon slain by perseus. there is no attempt to treat the classic subject in a classic spirit: to do that, and to fail in doing it, remained for cellini.[ ] we have, on the contrary, before us an image of the orc, as it appeared to ariosto's fancy--a creature borrowed from romance and made to play its part in a greek myth. the same criticism applies to piero's picture of the murdered procris watched by a satyr of the woodland.[ ] in creating his satyr the painter has not had recourse to any antique bas-relief, but has imagined for himself a being half human, half bestial, and yet wholly real; nor has he portrayed in procris a nymph of greek form, but a girl of florence. the strange animals and gaudy flowers introduced into the landscape background further remove the subject from the sphere of classic treatment. florentine realism and quaint fancy being thus curiously blended, the artistic result may be profitably studied for the light it throws upon the so-called paganism of the earlier renaissance. fancy at that moment was more free than when superior knowledge of antiquity had created a demand for reproductive art, and when the painters thought less of the meaning of the fable for themselves than of its capability of being used as a machine for the display of erudition. it remains to speak of the painter who closes and at the same time gathers up the whole tradition of this period. domenico ghirlandajo deserves this place of honour not because he had the keenest intuitions, the deepest thought, the strongest passion, the subtlest fancy, the loftiest imagination--for in all these points he was excelled by some one or other of his contemporaries or predecessors--but because his intellect was the most comprehensive and his mastery of art the most complete. his life lasted from to , and he did not distinguish himself as a painter till he was past thirty.[ ] therefore he does not properly fall within the limit of , assigned roughly to this age of transition in painting. but in style and spirit he belonged to it, resuming in his own work the qualities we find scattered through the minor artists of the fifteenth century, and giving them the unity of fusion in a large and lucid manner. like the painters hitherto discussed, he was working toward the full renaissance; yet he reached it neither in ideality nor in freedom. his art is the art of the understanding only; and to this the masters of the golden age added radiance, sublimity, grace, passion--qualities of the imagination beyond the scope of men like ghirlandajo. it is almost with reluctance that a critic feels obliged to name this powerful but prosaic painter as the giotto of the fifteenth century in florence, the tutelary angel of an age inaugurated by masaccio. he was a consummate master of the science collected by his predecessors. no one surpassed him in the use of fresco. his orderly composition, in the distribution of figures and the use of architectural accessories, is worthy of all praise; his portraiture is dignified and powerful;[ ] his choice of form and treatment of drapery, noble. yet we cannot help noting his deficiency in the finer sense of beauty, the absence of poetic inspiration or feeling in his work, the commonplaceness of his colour, and his wearisome reiteration of calculated effects. he never arrests attention by sallies of originality, or charms us by the delicacies of suggestive fancy. he is always at the level of his own achievement, so that in the end we are as tired with able ghirlandajo as the men of athens with just aristides. who, however, but ghirlandajo could have composed the frescoes of "s. fina" at s. gemignano, the fresco of the "death of s. francis" in s. trinità at florence, or that again of the "birth of the virgin" in s. maria novella? there is something irritating in pure common sense imported into art, and ghirlandajo's masterpieces are the apotheosis of that quality. how correct, how judicious, how sagacious, how mathematically ordered! we exclaim; but we gaze without emotion, and we turn away without regret. it does not vex us to read how ghirlandajo used to scold his prentices for neglecting trivial orders that would fill his purse with money. similar traits of character pain us with a sense of impropriety in perugino. they harmonise with all we feel about the work of ghirlandajo. it is bitter mortification to know that michael angelo never found space or time sufficient for his vast designs in sculpture. it is a positive relief to think that ghirlandajo sighed in vain to have the circuit of the walls of florence given him to paint. how he would have covered them with compositions, stately, flowing, easy, sober, and incapable of stirring any feeling in the soul! though ghirlandajo lacked almost every true poetic quality, he combined the art of distributing figures in a given space, with perspective, fair knowledge of the nude, and truth to nature, in greater perfection than any other single painter of the age he represents; and since these were precisely the gifts of that age to the great renaissance masters, we accord to him the place of historical honour. it should be added that, like almost all the artists of this epoch, he handled sacred and profane, ancient and modern, subjects in the same style, introducing contemporary customs and costumes. his pictures are therefore valuable for their portraits and their illustration of florentine life. fresco was his favourite vehicle; and in this preference he showed himself a true master of the school of florence: but he is said to have maintained that mosaic, as more durable, was superior to wall-painting. this saying, if it be authentic, justifies our criticism of his cold achievement as a painter. reviewing the ground traversed in this and the last chapter, we find that the painting of tuscany, and in particular the florentine section of it, has absorbed attention. it is characteristic of the next age that other districts of italy began to contribute their important quota to the general culture of the nation. the force generated in tuscany expanded and dilated till every section of the country took part in the movement which florence had been first to propagate. what was happening in scholarship began to manifest itself in art, for the same law of growth and distribution affected both alike; and thus the local differences of the italians were to some extent abolished. the nation, never destined to acquire political union in the renaissance, possessed at last an intellectual unity in its painters and its students, which justifies our speaking of the great men of the golden period as italians and not as citizens of such or such a burgh. in the middle ages united italy was an idea to theorists like dante, who dreamed for her an actual supremacy beneath her emperor's sway in rome. the reasoning to which they trusted proved fallacious, and their hopes were quenched. instead of the political empire of the "de monarchiâ," a spiritual empire had been created, and the italians were never more powerful in europe than when their sacred city was being plundered by the imperial bandits in . it is necessary, at the risk of some repetition, to keep this point before the reader, if only as an apology for the method of treatment to be followed in the next chapter, where the painters of the mid-renaissance period will be reviewed less in relation to their schools and cities than as representatives of the italian spirit. since the intellectual unity gained by the italians in the age of the renaissance was chiefly due to the florentines, it is a matter of some moment to reconsider the direct influences brought to bear upon the arts in florence during the fifteenth century. i have chosen ghirlandajo as the representative of painting in that period. i have also expressed the opinion that his style is singularly cold and prosaic, and have hinted that this prosaic and cold quality was caused by a defect of emotional enthusiasm, by preoccupation with finite aims. herein ghirlandajo did but reflect the temper of his age--that temper which cosimo de' medici, the greatest patron of both art and scholarship in florence before , represented in his life and in his public policy. it concerns us, therefore, to take into account the nature of the patronage extended by the medici to art. excessive praise and blame have been showered upon these burgher princes in almost equal quantities; so that, if we were to place roscoe and rio, as the representatives of conflicting views, in the scales together, they would balance each other, and leave the index quivering. this bare statement warns the critic to be cautious, and inclines him to accept the intermediate conclusion that neither the medici nor the artists could escape the conditions of their century. it is specially argued on the one hand against the medici that they encouraged a sensual and worldly style of art, employing the painters to decorate their palaces with nude figures, and luring them away from sacred to profane subjects. yet cosimo gave orders to donatello for his "david" and his "judith," employed michellozzo and brunelleschi to build him convents and churches, and filled the library of s. marco, where fra angelico was painting, with a priceless collection of mss. his own private chapel was decorated by benozza gozzoli. fra lippo lippi and michael angelo buonarroti were the house-friends of lorenzo de' medici. leo battista alberti was a member of his philosophical society. the only great florentine artist who did not stand in cordial relations to the medicean circle, was lionardo da vinci. this sufficiently shows that the medicean patronage was commensurate with the best products of florentine genius; nor would it be easy to demonstrate that encouragement, so largely exhibited and so intelligently used, could have been in the main injurious to the arts. there is, however, a truth in the old grudge against the medicean princes. they enslaved florence; and even painting was not slow to suffer from the stifling atmosphere of tyranny. lorenzo deliberately set himself to enfeeble the people by luxury, partly because he liked voluptuous living, partly because he aimed at popularity, and partly because it was his interest to enervate republican virtues. the arts used for the purposes of decoration in triumphs and carnival shows became the instruments of careless pleasure; and there is no doubt that even earnest painters lent their powers with no ill-will and no bad conscience to the service of lascivious patrons. "per la città, in diverse case, fece tondi di sua mano e femmine ignude assai," says vasari about sandro botticelli, who afterwards became a piagnone and refused to touch a pencil.[ ] we may, therefore, reasonably concede that if the medici had never taken hold on florence, or if the spirit of the times had made them other than they were in loftiness of aim and nobleness of heart, the arts of italy in the renaissance might have shown less of worldliness and materialism. it was against the demoralisation of society by paganism, as against the enslavement of florence by her tyrants, that savonarola strove; and since the medici were the leaders of the classical revival, as well as the despots of the dying commonwealth, they justly bear the lion's share of that blame which fell in general upon the vices of their age denounced by the prophet of s. marco. we may regard it either as a singular misfortune for italy or as the strongest sign of deep-seated italian corruption, that the most brilliant leaders of culture both at florence and at rome--cosimo, lorenzo, and giovanni de' medici--promoted rather than checked the debasing influences of the renaissance, and added the weight of their authority to the popular craving for sensuous amusement. meanwhile, what was truly great and noble in renaissance italy, found its proper home in florence; where the spirit of freedom, if only as an idea, still ruled; where the populace was still capable of being stirred to super-sensual enthusiasm; and where the flame of the modern intellect burned with its purest, whitest lustre. footnotes: [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, pp. - . [ ] his real name was tommaso di ser giovanni, of the family of scheggia. masaccio means in tuscan, "great hulking tom," just as masolino, his supposed master and fellow-worker, means "pretty little tom." masolino was tommaso di cristofero fini, born in in s. croce. it is now thought that we have but little of his authentic work except the frescoes at castiglione di olona, near milan. masaccio was born at san giovanni, in the upper valley of the arno, in . he died at borne in . [ ] his family name was doni. he was born about , and died at the age of about . he got his name uccello from his partiality for painting birds, it is said. [ ] see above, chapter iii, andrea verocchio, for what has been said about verocchio's "david." [ ] a drawing made in red chalk for this "dream of constantine" has been published in facsimile by ottley, in his _italian school of design_. he wrongly attributes it, however, to giorgione, and calls it a "subject unknown." [ ] the one in s. francesco at rimini, the other in the uffizzi. [ ] two angels have recently been published by the arundel society who have also copied melozzo's wall-painting of sixtus iv. in the vatican. it is probable that the picture in the royal collection at windsor, of duke frederick of urbino listening to the lecture of a humanist, is also a work of melozzo's, much spoiled by re-painting. see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. . [ ] muratori, vol. xxiv. . [ ] for ciriac of ancona, see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. . [ ] the services rendered by squarcione to art have been thoroughly discussed by messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle, _painting in north italy_, vol. i. chap. . i cannot but think that they underrate the importance of his school. [ ] he was born between and , and he settled at florence about , where he opened a _bottega_ in s. trinità. in he painted his masterpiece, the "adoration of the magi," now exhibited in the florentine academy of arts. [ ] see, for instance, the valuable portraits of the medicean family with picino and poliziano, in the fresco of the "tower of babel" at pisa. [ ] _l'art chrétien_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] the same remark might be made about the venetian bonifazio. it is remarkable that the "adoration of the magi" was always a favourite subject with painters of this calibre. [ ] i may refer to the picture of the hunters in the taylor gallery at oxford, the "vintage of noah" at pisa, the attendants of the magi in the riccardi palace, and the _carola_ in the "marriage of jacob and rachel" at pisa. [ ] "stories of isaac and ishmael and of jacob and esau" at pisa, and "story of s. augustine" at san gemignano. nothing can be prettier than the school children in the latter series. the group of the little boy, horsed upon a bigger boy's back for a whipping, is one of the most natural episodes in painting. [ ] riccardi chapel. [ ] for an example, the picture of madonna worshipping the infant christ upheld by two little angels in the uffizzi. [ ] in the academy of fine arts at florence. [ ] crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. ii. chap. . nothing was more common in the practice of italian arts than for pupils to take their names from their masters, in the same way as they took them from their fathers, by the prefix _di_ or otherwise. [ ] the most simply beautiful of filippino's pictures is the oil-painting in the badia at florence, which represents madonna attended by angels dictating the story of her life to s. bernard. in this most lovely religious picture filippino comes into direct competition with perugino (see the same subject at munich), without suffering by the contrast. the type of our lady, striven after by botticelli and other masters of his way of feeling, seems to me more thoroughly attained by filippino than by any of his fellow-workers. she is a woman acquainted with grief and nowise distinguished by the radiance of her beauty among the daughters of earth. it is measureless love for the mother of his lord that makes s. bernard bow before her with eyes of wistful adoration and hushed reverence. [ ] the study of the fine arts offers few subjects of more curious interest than the vicissitudes through which painters of the type of botticelli, not absolutely and confessedly in the first rank, but attractive by reason of their relation to the spirit of their age, and of the seal of _intimité_ set upon their work have passed. in the last century and the beginning of this, our present preoccupation with botticelli would have passed for a mild lunacy, because he has none of the qualities then most in vogue and most enthusiastically studied, and because the moment in the history of culture he so faithfully represents, was then but little understood. the prophecy of mr. ruskin, the tendencies of our best contemporary art in mr. burne jones's painting, the specific note of our recent fashionable poetry, and, more than all, our delight in the delicately poised psychological problems of the middle renaissance, have evoked a kind of hero-worship for this excellent artist and true poet. [ ] a friend, writing to me from italy, speaks thus of botticelli, and of the painters associated with him: "when i ask myself what it is i find fascinating in him--for instance, which of his pictures, or what element in them--i am forced to admit that it is the touch of paganism in him, the fairy-story element, _the echo of a beautiful lapsed mythology which he has found the means of transmitting._" the words i have printed in italics seem to me very true. at the same time we must bear in mind that the scientific investigation of nature had not in the fifteenth century begun to stand between the sympathetic intellect and the outer world. there was still the possibility of that "lapsed mythology," the dream of poets and the delight of artists, seeming positively the best form of expression for sentiments aroused by nature. [ ] _de rerum naturâ_, lib. v. . [ ] the rose-tree background in a madonna belonging to lord elcho is a charming instance of the value given to flowers by careful treatment. [ ] i cannot bring myself to accept mr. pater's reading of the madonna's expression. it seems to me that botticelli meant to portray the mingled awe and tranquillity of a mortal mother chosen for the son of god. he appears to have sometimes aimed at conveying more than painting can compass; and, since he had not lionardo's genius, he gives sadness, mournfulness, or discontent, for some more subtle mood. next to the madonna of the uffizzi, botticelli's loveliest religious picture to my mind is the "nativity" belonging to mr. fuller maitland. poetic imagination in a painter has produced nothing more graceful and more tender than the dance of angels in the air above, and the embracement of the angels and the shepherds on the lawns below. [ ] in the academy of fine arts at venice. i do not mention this picture as a complete pendant to botticelli's famous _tondo_. the faces of s. catherine and madonna, however, have something of the rarity that is so striking in that work. [ ] i might mention stanzas - of poliziano's _giostra_, describing venus in the lap of mars; or stanzas - , describing the birth of venus; and from boiardo's _orlando innamorato_, i might quote the episode of rinaldo's punishment by love (lib. ii. canto xv. ), or the tale of silvanella and narcissus (lib. ii. canto xvii. ). [ ] i hope to make use of this passage in a future section of my work on the italian poetry of the renaissance. therefore i pass by this portion of piero's art-work now. [ ] uffizzi gallery. [ ] see the bas-relief upon the pedestal of his "perseus" in the loggia de' lanzi. [ ] in the national gallery. [ ] his family name was domenico di currado di doffo bigordi. he probably worked during his youth and early manhood as a goldsmith and got his artist's name from the trade of making golden chaplets for the florentine women. see vasari, vol. v. p. . [ ] what, after all, remains the grandest quality of ghirlandajo is his powerful drawing of characteristic heads. they are as various as they are vigorous. what a nation of strong men must the florentines have been, we feel while gazing at his frescoes. [ ] in many houses he painted roundels with his own hand, and of naked women plenty. chapter vi painting two periods in the true renaissance--andrea mantegna--his statuesque design--his naturalism--roman inspiration--triumph of julius caesar--bas-reliefs--luca signorelli--the precursor of michael angelo--anatomical studies--sense of beauty--the chapel of s. brizio at orvieto--its arabesques and medallions--degrees in his ideal--enthusiasm for organic life--mode of treating classical subjects--perugino--his pietistic style--his formalism--the psychological problem of his life--perugino's pupils--pinturicchio--at spello and siena--francia--fra bartolommeo--transition to the golden age--lionardo da vinci--the magician of the renaissance--raphael--the melodist--correggio--the faun--michael angelo--the prophet. the renaissance, so far as painting is concerned, may be said to have culminated between the years and . these dates, it must be frankly admitted, are arbitrary; nor is there anything more unprofitable than the attempt to define by strict chronology the moments of an intellectual growth so complex, so unequally progressive, and so varied as that of italian art. all that the historian can hope to do, is to strike a mean between his reckoning of years and his more subtle calculations based on the emergence of decisive genius in special men. an instance of such compromise is afforded by lionardo da vinci, who belongs, as far as dates go, to the last half of the fifteenth century, but who must, on any estimate of his achievement, be classed with michael angelo among the final and supreme masters of the full renaissance. to violate the order of time, with a view to what may here be called the morphology of italian art, is, in his case, a plain duty. bearing this in mind, it is still possible to regard the eighty years above mentioned as a period no longer of promise and preparation but of fulfilment and accomplishment. furthermore, the thirty years at the close of the fifteenth century may be taken as one epoch in this climax of the art, while the first half of the sixteenth forms a second. within the former falls the best work of mantegna, perugino, francia, the bellini, signorelli, fra bartolommeo. to the latter we may reckon michael angelo, raphael, giorgione, correggio, titian, and andrea del sarto. lionardo da vinci, though belonging chronologically to the former epoch, ranks first among the masters of the latter; and to this also may be given tintoretto, though his life extended far beyond it to the last years of the century. we thus obtain, within the period of eighty years from to , two subordinate divisions of time, the one including the last part of the fifteenth century, the other extending over the best years of the sixteenth. the subdivisions i have just suggested correspond to two distinct stages in the evolution of art. the painters of the earlier group win our admiration quite as much by their aim as by their achievement. their achievement, indeed, is not so perfect but that they still make some demand upon interpretative sympathy in the student. there is, besides, a sense of reserved strength in their work. we feel that their motives have not been developed to the utmost, that their inspiration is not exhausted; that it will be possible for their successors to advance beyond them on the same path, not realising more consummate excellence in special points, but combining divers qualities, and reaching absolute freedom. the painters of the second group display mastery more perfect, range of faculty more all-embracing. what they design they do; nature and art obey them equally; the resources placed at their command are employed with facile and unfettered exercise of power. the hand obedient to the brain is now so expert that nothing further is left to be desired in the expression of the artist's thought.[ ] the student can only hope to penetrate the master's meaning. to imagine a step further in the same direction is impossible. the full flower of the italian genius has been unfolded. its message to the world in art has been delivered. chronology alone would not justify us in drawing these distinctions. what really separates the two groups is the different degree in which they severally absorbed the spirit and uttered the message of their age. in the former the renaissance was still immature, in the latter it was perfected. yet all these painters deserve in a true sense to be called its children. their common object is art regarded as an independent function, and relieved from the bondage of technical impediments. in their work the liberty of the modern mind finds its first and noblest expression. they deal with familiar and time-honoured christian motives reverently; but they use them at the same time for the exhibition of pure human beauty. pagan influences yield them spirit-stirring inspiration; yet the antique models of style, which proved no less embarrassing to their successors than saul's armour was to david, weigh lightly, like a magician's breast-plate, upon their heroic strength. andrea mantegna was born near padua in . vasari says that in his boyhood he herded cattle, and it is probable that he was the son of a small lombard farmer. what led him to the study of the arts we do not know; but that his talents were precociously developed, is proved by his registration in upon the books of the painter's guild at padua. he is there described as the adopted son of squarcione. at the age of seventeen he signed a picture with his name. studying the casts and drawings collected by squarcione for his paduan school, the young mantegna found congenial exercise for his peculiar gifts.[ ] his early frescoes in the eremitani at padua look as though they had been painted from statues or clay models, carefully selected for the grandeur of their forms, the nobility of their attitudes, and the complicated beauty of their drapery. the figures, arranged on different planes, are perfect in their perspective; the action is indicated by appropriate gestures, and the colouring, though faint and cold, is scientifically calculated. yet not a man or woman in these wondrous compositions seems to live. well provided with bone and muscle, they have neither blood nor anything suggestive of the breath of life within them. it is as though mantegna had been called to paint a people turned to stone, arrested suddenly amid their various occupations, and preserved for centuries from injury in some egyptian solitude of dewless sand. in spite of this unearthly immobility, the paduan frescoes exercise a strange and potent spell. we feel ourselves beneath the sway of a gigantic genius, intent on solving the severest problems of his art in preparation for the portraiture of some high intellectual abstraction. it should also be observed that notwithstanding their frigidity and statuesque composure, the pictures of "s. andrew" and "s. christopher" in the chapel of the eremitani reveal minute study of real objects. transitory movements of the body are noted and transcribed with merciless precision; an italian hill-side, with its olive trees and winding ways and crown of turrets, forms the background of one scene; in another the drama is localised amid renaissance architecture of the costliest style. rustic types have been selected for the soldiers, and commonplace details, down to a patched jerkin or a broken shoe, bear witness to the patience and the observation of the master. but over all these things the glamour of medusa's head has fallen, turning them to stone. we are clearly in the presence of a painter for whom the attractions of nature were subordinated to the fascinations of science--a man the very opposite, for instance, to benozzo gozzoli. if mantegna had passed away in early manhood, like masaccio, his fame would have been that of a cold and calculating genius labouring after an ideal unrealised except in its dry formal elements. the truth is that mantegna's inspiration was derived from the antique.[ ] the beauty of classical bas-relief entered deep into his soul and ruled his imagination. in later life he spent his acquired wealth in forming a collection of greek and roman antiquities.[ ] he was, moreover, the friend of students, eagerly absorbing the knowledge brought to light by ciriac of ancona, flavio biondo, and other antiquaries; and so completely did he assimilate the materials of scholarship, that the spirit of a roman seemed to be re-incarnated in him. thus, independently of his high value as a painter, he embodies for us in art that sincere passion for the ancient world which was the dominating intellectual impulse of his age. the minute learning accumulated in the fifteenth century upon the subject of roman military life found noble illustration in his frieze of "julius caesar's triumph."[ ] nor is this masterpiece a cold display of pedantry. the life we vainly look for in the frescoes of the eremitani chapel may be found here--statuesque, indeed, in style, and stately in movement, but glowing with the spirit of revived antiquity. the processional pomp of legionaries bowed beneath their trophied arms, the monumental majesty of robed citizens, the gravity of stoled and veiled priests, the beauty of young slaves, and all the paraphernalia of spoils and wreaths and elephants and ensigns are massed together with the self-restraint of noble art subordinating pageantry to rules of lofty composition. what must the genius of the man have been who could move thus majestically beneath the weight of painfully accumulated erudition, converting an antiquarian motive into a theme for melodies of line composed in the grave dorian mood? by no process can the classic purity of this bas-relief be better understood than by comparing the original with a transcript made by rubens from a portion of the "triumph."[ ] the flemish painter strives to add richness to the scene by bacchanalian riot and the sensuality of imperial rome. his elephants twist their trunks, and trumpet to the din of cymbals; negroes feed the flaming candelabra with scattered frankincense; the white oxen of clitumnus are loaded with gaudy flowers, and the dancing maidens are dishevelled maenads. but the rhythmic procession of mantegna, modulated to the sound of flutes and soft recorders, carries our imagination back to the best days and strength of rome. his priests and generals, captives and choric women, are as little greek as they are modern. in them awakes to a new life the spirit-quelling energy of the republic. the painter's severe taste keeps out of sight the insolence and orgies of the empire; he conceives rome as shakspeare did in "coriolanus."[ ] in compositions of this type, studied after bas-reliefs and friezes, mantegna displayed a power that was unique. those who have once seen his drawings for judith with the head of holofernes, and for solomon judging between the two mothers, will never forget their sculpture. the lines are graven on our memory. when this marble master chose to be tragic, his intensity was terrible. the designs for a dead christ carried to the tomb among the weeping maries, concentrate within the briefest space the utmost agony; it is as though the very ecstasy of grief had been congealed and fixed for ever. what, again, he could produce of purely beautiful within the region of religious art, is shown by his "madonna of the victory."[ ] no other painter has given to the soldier saints forms at once so heroic and so chivalrously tender. with regard to the circumstances of mantegna's biography, it may be said briefly that, though of humble birth, he spent the greater portion of his life at court and in the service of princes. it was in , after he had distinguished himself by the paduan frescoes, that he first received an invitation from the marquis lodovico gonzaga. of this sovereign i have already had occasion to speak.[ ] reared by vittorino da feltre, to whom his father had committed almost unlimited authority, lodovico had early learned to estimate the real advantages of culture. it was now his object to render his capital no less illustrious by art than by the residence of learned men. with this view he offered mantegna a salary of fifteen ducats a month, together with lodging, corn, and fuel--provided the painter would place his talents at his service. mantegna accepted the invitation; but numerous engagements prevented him from transferring his household from padua to mantua until the year . from that date onwards to , when he died, mantegna remained attached to the gonzaga family serving three marquises in succession, and adorning their palaces, chapels, and country-seats with frescoes now, alas! almost entirely ruined. the grants of land and presents he received in addition to his salary, enabled him to build a villa at buscoldo, where he resided during the summer, as well as to erect a sumptuous mansion in the capital. between mantua, goito, and buscoldo, mantegna spent the last forty-six years of his life in continual employment, broken only by a short visit to florence in , and another to bologna in ,[ ] and by a longer residence in rome between the years and . during the latter period innocent viii. was pope. he had built a chapel in the belvedere of the vatican, and wished the greatest painter of the day to decorate it. therefore he wrote to francesco, marquis of mantua, requesting that he might avail himself of mantegna's skill. francesco, though unwilling to part with his painter in ordinary, thought it unadvisable to disappoint the pope. accordingly he dubbed mantegna knight, and sent him to rome. the chapel painted in fresco for innocent was ruthlessly destroyed by pius vi.; and thus the world has lost one of mantegna's masterpieces, executed while his genius was at its zenith. on his return to mantua he finished the decorations of the castello of the gonzaghi, and completed his greatest surviving work, the "triumph of julius caesar." by his wife, nicolosia, the sister of giovanni and gentile bellini, mantegna had several children, one of whom, francesco, adopted painting as a trade. the great artist was by temper arrogant and haughty; nor could he succeed in living peaceably with any of his neighbours. it appears that he spent habitually more money than he could well afford, freely indulging his taste for magnificence, and disbursing large sums in the purchase of curiosities. long before his death his estate had been involved in debt; and after his decease, his sons were forced to sell the pictures in his studio for the payment of pressing creditors. he was buried in alberti's church of s. andrea at mantua, in a chapel decorated at his own expense. over the grave was placed a bronze bust, most noble in modelling and perfect in execution. the broad forehead with its deeply cloven furrows, the stern and piercing eyes, the large lips compressed with nervous energy, the massive nose, the strength of jaw and chin, and the superb clusters of the hair escaping from a laurel-wreath upon the royal head, are such as realise for us our notion of a roman in the days of the republic. mantegna's own genius has inspired this masterpiece, which tradition assigns to the medallist sperando maglioli. whoever wrought it, must have felt the incubation of the mighty painter's spirit, and have striven to express in bronze the character of his uncompromising art. of a different temperament, yet not wholly unlike mantegna in a certain iron strength of artistic character, was luca signorelli, born about at cortona. the supreme quality of mantegna was studied purity of outline, severe and heightened style. as landor is distinguished by concentration above all the english poets who have made trial of the classic muse, so mantegna holds a place apart among italian painters because of his stern roman self-control. signorelli, on the contrary, made his mark by boldness, pushing experiment almost beyond the verge of truth, and approaching michael angelo in the hardihood of his endeavour to outdo nature. vasari says of him, that "even michael angelo imitated the manner of luca, as every one can see;" and indeed signorelli anticipated the greatest master of the sixteenth century, not only in his profound study of human anatomy, but also in his resolution to express high thought and tragic passion by pure form, discarding all the minor charms of painting. trained in the severe school of piero della francesca, he early learned to draw from the nude with boldness and accuracy; and to this point, too much neglected by his predecessors, he devoted the full powers of his maturity. anatomy he practised, according to the custom of those days, in the graveyard or beneath the gibbet. there is a drawing by him in the louvre of a stalwart man carrying upon his back the corpse of a youth. both are naked. the motive seems to have been taken from some lazar-house. life-long study of perspective in its application to the drawing of the figure, made the difficulties of foreshortening and the delineation of brusque attitude mere child's play to this audacious genius. the most rapid movement, the most perilous contortion of bodies falling through the air or flying, he depicted with hard, firmly-traced, unerring outline. if we dare to criticise the productions of a master so original and so accomplished, all we can say is that signorelli revelled almost too wantonly in the display of hazardous posture, and that he sacrificed the passion of his theme to the display of science.[ ] yet his genius comprehended great and tragic subjects, and to him belongs the credit in an age of ornament and pedantry of having made the human body a language for the utterance of all that is most weighty in the thought of man. a story is told by vasari which brings signorelli very close to our sympathy, and enables us to understand the fascination of pure form he felt so deeply. "it is related of luca that he had a son killed at cortona, a youth of singular beauty in face and person, whom he had tenderly loved. in his grief the father caused the boy to be stripped naked, and with extraordinary constancy of soul, uttering no complaint and shedding no tear, he painted the portrait of his dead son, to the end that he might still be able, through the work of his own hand, to contemplate that which nature had given him, but which an adverse fortune had taken away." so passionate and ardent, so convinced of the indissoluble bond between the soul he loved in life and its dead tenement of clay, and withal so iron-nerved and stout of will, it behoved that man to be, who undertook in the plenitude of his power, at the age of sixty, to paint upon the walls of the chapel of s. brizio at orvieto the images of doomsday, resurrection, heaven, and hell.[ ] it is a gloomy chapel in the gothic cathedral of that forlorn papal city--gloomy by reason of bad lighting, but more so because of the terrible shapes with which signorelli has filled it[ ]. in no other work of the italian renaissance, except in the sistine chapel, has so much thought, engaged upon the most momentous subjects, been expressed with greater force by means more simple and with effect more overwhelming. architecture, landscape, and decorative accessories of every kind, the usual padding of _quattrocento_ pictures, have been discarded from the main compositions. the painter has relied solely upon his power of imagining and delineating the human form in every attitude, and under the most various conditions. darting like hawks or swallows through the air, huddling together to shun the outpoured vials of the wrath of god, writhing with demons on the floor of hell, struggling into new life from the clinging clay, standing beneath the footstool of the judge, floating with lute and viol on the winds of paradise, kneeling in prayer, or clasping "inseparable hands with joy and bliss in overmeasure for ever"--these multitudes of living beings, angelic, diabolic, bestial, human, crowd the huge spaces of the chapel walls. what makes the impression of controlling doom the more appalling, is that we comprehend the drama in its several scenes, while the chief actor, the divine judge, at whose bidding the cherubs sound their clarions, and the dead arise, and weal and woe are portioned to the saved and damned, is himself unrepresented.[ ] we breathe in the presence of embodied consciences, submitting, like our own, to an unseen inevitable will. it would be doing signorelli injustice at orvieto to study only these great panels. the details with which he has filled all the vacant spaces above the chapel stalls and round the doorway, throw new light upon his power. the ostensible motive for this elaborate ornamentation is contained in the portraits of six poets, who are probably homer, virgil, lucan, horace, ovid, and dante, _il sesto tra cotanto senno_.[ ] but the portraits themselves, though vigorously conceived and remarkable for bold foreshortening, are the least part of the whole design. its originality consists in the arabesques, medallions, and _chiaroscuro_ bas-reliefs, where the human form, treated as absolutely plastic, supplies the sole decorative element. the pilasters by the doorway, for example, are composed, after the usual type of italian _grotteschi_, in imitation of antique candelabra, with numerous stages for the exhibition of the artist's fancies. unlike the work of raphael in the loggie, these pilasters of signorelli show no birds or beasts, no flowers or foliage, fruits or fauns, no masks or sphinxes. they are crowded with naked men--drinking, dancing, leaning forward, twisting themselves into strange attitudes, and adapting their bodies to the several degrees of the framework. the same may be said of the arabesques around the portraits of the poets, where men, women, and children, some complete, some ending in foliage or in fish-tails, are lavished with a wild and terrible profusion. hippogriffs and centaurs, sirens and dolphins, are here used as adjuncts to humanity. amid this fantastic labyrinth of twisted forms we find medallions painted in _chiaroscuro_ with subjects taken chiefly from ovidian and dantesque mythology. here every attitude of men in combat and in motion has been studied from the nude, and multitudes of figures draped and undraped are compressed into the briefest compass. all but the human form is sternly eliminated; and the body itself is treated with a mastery and a boldness that prove signorelli to have held its varied capabilities firmly in his brain. he could not have worked out all those postures from the living model. he played freely with his immense stores of knowledge; but his play was the pastime of a prometheus. each pose, however hazardous, carries conviction with it of sincerity and truth; the life and liberty of nature reign throughout. from the whole maze of interlaced and wrestling figures the terrible nature of the artist's genius shines forth. they are almost all strong men in the prime or past the prime of life, chosen for their salient display of vital structure. signorelli was the first, and, with the exception of michael angelo, the last painter thus to use the body, without sentiment, without voluptuousness, without any second intention whatsoever, as the supreme decorative principle. in his absolute sincerity he made, as it were, a parade of hard and rugged types, scorning to introduce an element of beauty, whether sensuous or ideal, that should distract him from the study of the body in and for itself. this distinguishes him in the arabesques at orvieto alike from mantegna and michael angelo, from correggio and raphael, from titian and paolo veronese. this point is so important for its bearing on renaissance art that i may be permitted to dilate at greater length on signorelli's choice of types and treatment of form in general. having a special predilection for the human body, he by no means confined himself to monotony in its presentation. on the contrary, we can trace many distinct grades of corporeal expression. first comes the abstract nude, illustrated by the "resurrection" and the arabesques at orvieto[ ]. contemporary life, with all its pomp of costume and insolence of ruffling youth, is depicted in the "fulminati" at orvieto and in the "soldiers of totila" at monte oliveto[ ]. these transcripts from the courts of princes and camps of condottieri are invaluable as portraits of the lawless young men who filled italy with the noise of their feuds and the violence of their adventures. they illustrate matarazzo's perugian chronicle better than any other renaissance pictures; for in frescoes like those of pinturicchio at siena the same qualities are softened to suit the painter's predetermined harmony, whereas signorelli rejoices in their pure untempered character[ ]. these, then, form a second stage. third in degree we find the type of highly idealised adolescence reserved by signorelli for his angels. all his science and his sympathy with real life are here subordinated to poetic feeling. it is a mistake to say that these angels are the young men of umbria whom he loved to paint in their striped jackets, with the addition of wings to their shoulders. the radiant beings who tune their citherns on the clouds of paradise, or scatter roses for elect souls, could not live and breathe in the fiery atmosphere of sensuous passions to which the baglioni were habituated. a grave and solemn sense of beauty animates these fair male beings, clothed in voluminous drapery, with youthful faces and still earnest eyes. their melody, like that of milton, is severe. nor are signorelli's angelic beings of one uniform type like the angels of fra angelico. the athletic cherubs of the "resurrection," breathing their whole strength into the trumpets that awake the dead; the mailed and winged warriors, keeping guard above the pit of "hell," that none may break their prison-bars among the damned; the lute-players of "paradise," with their almost feminine sobriety of movement; the flame-breathing seraphs of the day of doom; the "gabriel" of volterra, in whom strength is translated into swiftness:--these are the heralds, sentinels, musicians, executioners, and messengers of the celestial court; and each class is distinguished by appropriate physical characteristics. at the other end of the scale, forming a fourth grade, we may mention the depraved types of humanity chosen for his demons--those greenish, reddish, ochreish fiends of the "inferno," whom signorelli created by exaggerating the more grotesque qualities of the nude developed in his arabesques. we thus obtain four several degrees of form: the demoniac, the abstract nude, the adolescent beauty of young men copied from choice models, and the angelic. except in his angels, signorelli was comparatively indifferent to what is commonly considered beauty. he was not careful to select his models, or to idealise their type. the naked human body, apart from facial distinction or refinement of form, contented him. violent contrasts of light and shadow, accentuating the anatomical structure with rough and angular decision, give the effect of illustrative diagrams to his studies. harmony of proportion and the magic of expression are sacrificed to energy emergent in a powerful physique. redundant life, in sinewy limbs, in the proud carriage of the head upon the neck, in the sway of the trunk backward from the reins, the firmly planted calves and brawny thighs, the thick hair, broad shoulders, spare flanks, and massive gluteal muscles of a man of twenty-two or upwards, whose growth has been confined to the development of animal force, was what delighted him. yet there is no coarseness or animalism properly so called in his style. he was attracted by the marvellous mechanism of the human frame--its goodliness regarded as the most highly organised of animate existences. owing, perhaps, to this exclusive predilection for organic life, signorelli was not great as a colourist. his patches of blues and reds in the frescoes of monte oliveto are oppressively distinct; his use of dull brown for the shading of flesh imparts a disagreeable heaviness to his best modelled forms; nor did he often attain in his oil pictures to that grave harmony we admire in his "last supper" at cortona. the world of light and colour was to him a comparatively untravelled land. it remained for other artists to raise these elements of pictorial expression to the height reached by signorelli in his treatment of the nude. before quitting the frescoes at orvieto, some attention should be paid to the medallions spoken of above, in special relation to the classicism of the earlier renaissance. scenes from dante's "purgatorio" and subjects from the "metamorphoses" of ovid are treated here in the same key; but the latter, since they engaged signorelli's fancy upon greek mythology, are the more important for our purpose. two from the legend of "orpheus" and two from that of "proserpine" might be chosen as typical of the whole series. mediaeval intensity, curiously at variance with antique feeling, is discernible throughout. the satellites of hades are gaunt and sinewy devils, eager to do violence to eurydice. pluto himself drives his jarring car-wheels up through the lava-blocks and flames of etna with a fury and a vehemence we seek in vain upon antique sarcophagi. ceres, wandering through sicily in search of her lost daughter, is a gaunt witch with dishevelled hair, raising frantic hands to tear her cheeks; while the snakes that draw her chariot are no grave symbols of the germinating corn, but greedy serpents ready to spit fire against the ravishers of proserpine. thus the tranquillity and self-restraint of greek art yield to a passionate and trenchant realisation of the actual romance. the most thrilling moments in the legend are selected for dramatic treatment, grace and beauty being exchanged for vivid presentation. a whole cycle of human experience separates these medallions from the antique bas-relief at naples, where hermes hands the veiled eurydice to orpheus, and all three are calm. that signorelli, if he chose to do so, could represent a classic myth with more of classic feeling, is shown by his picture of "pan listening to olympus"[ ]. the nymph, the vineleaf-girdled faun, and the two shepherds, all undraped and drawn with subtle feeling for the melodies of line, render this work one of his most successful compositions. it would be interesting to compare signorelli's treatment of the antique with mantegna's or botticelli's. the visions of the pagan world, floating before the mind of all men in the fifteenth century, found very different interpreters in these three painters--botticelli adding the quaint alloy of his own fancy, signorelli imparting the semi-savagery of a terrible imagination, mantegna, with the truest instinct and the firmest touch, confining himself to the processional pageantry of bas-relief. yet, were this comparison to be instituted, we could hardly refrain from carrying it much further. each great master of the renaissance had his own relation to classical mythology. the mystic sympathies of "leda and the swan," as imaged severally by lionardo and michael angelo; correggio's romantic handling of the myths of "danaë" and "io;" titian's and tintoretto's rival pictures of "bacchus and ariadne;" raphael's "galatea;" pollajuolo's "hercules;" the "europa" of veronese; the "circe" of dosso dossi; palma's "venus;" sodoma's "marriage of alexander"--all these, to mention none but pictures familiar to every traveller in italy, raise for the student of the classical revival absorbing questions relative to the influences of pagan myths upon the modern imagination. signorelli was chiefly occupied, during the course of his long career, upon religious pictures; and the high place he occupies in the history of renaissance culture is due partly to his free abandonment of conventional methods in treating sacred subjects. the uffizzi gallery contains a circular "madonna" by his hand, with a row of naked men for background--the forerunner of michael angelo's famous "holy family." so far had art for art's sake already encroached upon the ecclesiastical domain. to discuss signorelli's merits as a painter of altar-pieces would be to extend the space allotted to him far beyond its proper limits. it is not as a religious artist that he takes his rank, but as having powerfully promoted the rehabilitation of the body achieved for art by the renaissance. unlike mantegna, signorelli never entered the service of a prince, though we have seen that he executed commissions for lorenzo de' medici and pandolfo petrucci. he bore a name which, if not noble, had been more than once distinguished in the annals of tuscany. residing at his native place, cortona, he there enjoyed the highest reputation, and was frequently elected to municipal office. concerning his domestic life very little is known, but what we do know is derived from an excellent source[ ]. his mother was the sister of lazzaro, great-grandfather of giorgio vasari. in his biography of signorelli, vasari relates how, when he was himself a boy of eight, his illustrious cousin visited the house of the vasari family at arezzo; and hearing from little giorgio's grammar-master that he spent his time in drawing figures, luca turned to the child's father and said, "antonio, since giorgio takes after his family, you must by all means have him taught; for even though he should pay attention to literature as well, drawing cannot fail to be a source of utility, honour, and recreation to him, as it is to every man of worth." luca's kindness deeply impressed the boy, who afterwards wrote the following description of his personal qualities: "he was a man of the most excellent habits, sincere and affectionate with his friends, sweet of conversation and amusing in society, above all things courteous to those who had need of his work, and easy in giving instruction to his pupils. he lived splendidly, and took delight in dressing handsomely. this excellent disposition caused him to be always held in highest veneration both in his own city and abroad." to turn from signorelli to perugino is to plunge at once into a very different atmosphere[ ]. it is like quitting the rugged gorges of high mountains for a valley of the southern alps--still, pensive, beautiful, and coloured with reflections from an evening sky. perugino knew exactly how to represent a certain mood of religious sentiment, blending meek acquiescence with a prayerful yearning of the impassioned soul. his madonnas worshipping the infant jesus in a tranquil umbrian landscape, his angels ministrant, his pathetic martyrs with upturned holy faces, his sexless s. sebastians and immaculate s. michaels, display the perfection of art able by colour and by form to achieve within a narrow range what it desires. what this artist seems to have aimed at, was to create for the soul amid the pomps and passions of this world a resting-place of contemplation tenanted by saintly and seraphic beings. no pain comes near the folk of his celestial city; no longing poisons their repose; they are not weary, and the wicked trouble them no more. their cheerfulness is no less perfect than their serenity; like the shades of hellas, they have drunk lethean waters from the river of content, and all remembrance of things sad or harsh has vanished from their minds. the quietude of holiness expressed in this ideal region was a legacy to perugino from earlier umbrian masters; but his technical supremacy in fresco-painting and in oils, his correct drawing within certain limits, and his refined sense of colour enabled him to realise it more completely than his less accomplished predecessors. in his best work the renaissance set the seal of absolute perfection upon pietistic art. we english are fortunate in possessing one of perugino's sincerest devotional oil pictures[ ]. his frescoes of "s. sebastian" at panicale, and of the "crucifixion" at florence, are tolerably well known through reproductions[ ]; while the "vision of s. bernard" at munich and the "pietà" in the pitti gallery are familiar to all travelled students of italian painting. these masterpieces belong to perugino's best period, when his inspiration was fresh, and his enthusiasm for artistic excellence was still unimpaired; and when, as m. rio thinks, the failure of his faith had not yet happened. it is only at perugia, however, in the sala del cambio, that we are able to gauge the extent of his power and to estimate the value of his achievement beyond the pale of strictly religious themes. early in the course of his career perugino seems to have become contented with a formal repetition of successful motives, and to have checked the growth of his genius by adhering closely to a prescribed cycle of effects. the praises of his patrons and the prosperity of his trade proved to his keen commercial sense that the raised ecstatic eyes, the upturned oval faces, the pale olive skin, the head inclined upon the shoulder, the thin fluttering hair, the ribands and the dainty dresses of his holy persons found great favour in umbrian palaces and convents. thenceforward he painted but little else; and when, in the sala del cambio, he was obliged to treat the representative heroes of greek and roman story, he adopted the same manner[ ]. leonidas, the lionhearted spartan, and cato, the austere roman, who preferred liberty to life, bend their mild heads like flowers in perugino's frescoes, and gather up their drapery in studied folds with celestial delicacy. jove is a reproduction of the eterno padre, conceived as a benevolent old man for a conventional painting of the "trinity;" and ganymede is a page-boy with the sweet submissive features of tobias. already perugino had opened a manufactory of pietistic pictures, and was employing many pupils on his works. he coined money by fixing artificially beautiful faces upon artificially elegant figures, placing a row of these puppets in a landscape with calm sky behind them, and calling the composition by the name of some familiar scene. his inspiration was dead, his invention exhausted; his chief object seemed to be to make his trade thrive. perugino will always remain a problem to the psychologist who believes in physiognomy, as well as to the student of the passionate times in which he lived. his hard unsympathetic features in the portraits at perugia and florence do not belie, but rather win credence for vasari's tales about his sordid soul.[ ] local traditions and contemporary rumours, again, give colour to what vasari relates about his infidelity; while the criminal records of florence prove that he was not over-scrupulous to keep his hands from violence.[ ] how could such a man, we ask ourselves, have endured to pass a long life in the _fabrication of devotional pictures?_ whence did he derive the sentiment of masterpieces, for piety only equalled by those of fra angelico, either in his own nature or in the society of a city torn to pieces by the factions of the baglioni? how, again, was it possible for an artist who at times touched beauty so ideal, to be contented with the stencilling by his pupils of conventional figures on canvases to which he gave his name? taking these questions separately, we might reply that "there is no art to find the mind's construction in the face;" that painting in the sixteenth century was a trade regulated by the demand for particular wares; that men can live among ruffians without sharing their mood; that the artist and the moral being are separate, and may not be used to interpret each other. yet, after giving due weight to such answers, perugino, being what he was, living at the time he did, not as a recluse, but as a prosperous _impresario_ of painting, and systematically devoting his powers to pietistic art, must be for us a puzzle. that the quietism of his highly artificial style should have been fashionable in perugia, while the baglioni were tearing each other to pieces, and the troops of the vitelli and the borgia were trampling upon umbria, is one of the most striking paradoxes of an age rich in dramatic contradictions. it is much to be regretted, with a view to solving the question of perugino's personality in relation to his art, that his character does not emerge with any salience from the meagre notices we have received concerning him, and that we know but little of his private life. vasari tells us that he married a very beautiful girl, and that one of his chief pleasures was to see this wife handsomely dressed at home and abroad. he often decked her out in clothes and jewels with his own hand. for the rest, we find in perugino, far more than in either mantegna or signorelli, an instance of the simple italian craftsman, employing numerous assistants, undertaking contract work on a large scale, and striking keen bargains with his employers. both at florence and at perugia he opened a _bottega_; and by the exercise of his trade as a master-painter, he realised enough money to buy substantial estates in those cities, as well as in his birthplace.[ ] in all the greatest artworks of the age he took his part. thus we find him painting in the sistine chapel between and , treating with the commune of orvieto for the completion of the chapel of s. brizio in , joining in the debate upon the façade of s. maria del fiore in , giving his opinion upon the erection of michael angelo's "david" at florence in , and competing with signorelli, pinturicchio, and bazzi for the decoration of the stanze of the vatican in . the rising of brighter stars above the horizon during his lifetime somewhat dimmed his fame, and caused him much disquietude; yet neither raphael nor michael angelo interfered with the demand for his pictures, which continued to be lively till the very year of his death. that he was jealous of these younger rivals, appears from the fact that he brought an action against michael angelo for having called his style stupid and antiquated. in the celebrated phrase cast at him by the blunt and scornful master of a new art-mystery[ ], we discern the abrupt line of division between time-honoured tradition and the _maniera moderna_ of the full renaissance. the old titans had to yield their place before the new olympian deities of italian painting. there is something pathetic in the retirement of the grey-haired perugino from rome, to make way for the victorious phoebean beauty of the boy raphael. the influence of perugino upon italian art was powerful though transitory. he formed a band of able pupils, among whom was the great raphael; and though raphael speedily abandoned his master's narrow footpath through the fields of painting, he owed to perugino the invaluable benefit of training in solid technical methods and traditions of pure taste. from none of his elder contemporaries, with the exception of fra bartolommeo, could the young raphael have learnt so much that was congenial to his early instincts. what, for example, might have befallen him if he had worked with signorelli, it is difficult to imagine; for while nothing is more obvious on the one hand than raphael's originality, his strong assimilative bias is scarcely less remarkable. the time has not yet come to speak of raphael; nor will space suffice for detailed observations on his fellow-students in the workshop at perugia. the place occupied by perugino in the evolution of italian painting is peculiar. in the middle of a positive and worldly age, declining fast to frigid scepticism and political corruption, he set the final touch of technical art upon the devotion transmitted from earlier and more enthusiastic centuries. the flower of umbrian piety blossomed in the masterpieces of his youth, and faded into dryness in the affectations of his manhood. nothing was left on the same line for his successors. among these, bernardo pinturicchio can here alone be mentioned. a thorough naturalist, though saturated with the mannerism of the umbrian school, pinturicchio was not distracted either by scientific or ideal aims from the clear and fluent presentation of contemporary manners and costumes. he is a kind of umbrian gozzoli, who brings us here and there in close relation to the men of his own time, and has in consequence a special value for the student of renaissance life. his wall-paintings in the library of the cathedral of siena are so well preserved that we need not seek elsewhere for better specimens of the decorative art most highly prized in the first years of the sixteenth century[ ]. these frescoes have a richness of effect and a vivacity of natural action, which, in spite of their superficiality, render them highly charming. the life of Æneas sylvius piccolomini, pius ii., is here treated like a legend. there is no attempt at representing the dress of half a century anterior to the painter's date, or at rendering accurate historic portraiture. both pope and emperor are romantically conceived, and each portion of the tale is told as though it were a fit in some popular ballad. so much remains of perugian affectation as gives a kind of childlike grace to the studied attitudes and many-coloured groups of elegant young men. we must always be careful to distinguish the importance of an artist considered as the exponent of his age from that which he may claim by virtue of some special skill or some peculiar quality of feeling. the art of perugino, for example, throws but little light upon the renaissance taken as a whole. intrinsically valuable because of its technical perfection and its purity of sentiment, it was already in the painter's lifetime superseded by a larger and a grander manner. the progressive forces of the modern style found their channels outside him. this again is true of francesco raibolini, surnamed francia from his master in the goldsmith's craft. francia is known to englishmen as one of the most sincerely pious of christian painters by his incomparable picture of the "dead christ" in our national gallery. the spirituality that renders fra angelico unintelligible to minds less ecstatically tempered than his own, is not found in such excess in francia, nor does his work suffer from the insipidity of perugino's affectation. deep religious feeling is combined with physical beauty of the purest type in a masterpiece of tranquil grace. a greater degree of _naïveté_ and naturalness compensates for the inferiority of francia's to perugino's supremely perfect handling. this is true of francia's numerous pictures at bologna; where indeed, in order to be rightly known, he should be studied by all lovers of the _quattrocento_ style in its most delightful moments[ ]. for mastery over oil painting and for charm of colour francia challenges comparison with what is best in perugino, though he did not quite attain the same technical excellence. one more painter must delay us yet awhile within the limits of the fifteenth century. bartolommeo di paolo del fattorino, better known as baccio della porta or fra bartolommeo, forms at florence the connecting link between the artists of the earlier renaissance and the golden age[ ]. by chronological reckoning he is nearly a quarter of a century later than lionardo da vinci, and is the exact contemporary of michael angelo. as an artist, he has thoroughly outgrown the _quattrocento_ style, and falls short only by a little of the greatest. in assigning him a place among the predecessors and precursors of the full renaissance, i am therefore influenced rather by the range of subjects he selected, and by the character of his genius, than by calculations of time or estimate of ability. fra bartolommeo was sent, when nine years old, into the workshop of cosimo rosselli, where he began his artist's life by colour-grinding, sweeping out the shop, and errand-running. it was in cosimo's _bottega_ that he made acquaintance with mariotto albertinelli, who became his intimate friend and fellow-worker. in spite of marked differences of character, disagreements upon the fundamental matters of politics and religion, and not unfrequent quarrels, these men continued to be comrades through the better part of their joint lives. baccio was gentle, timid, yielding, and industrious. mariotto was wilful, obstinate, inconsequent, and flighty, baccio fell under the influence of savonarola, professed himself a _piagnone_, and took the cowl of the dominicans[ ]. mariotto was a partisan of the medici, an uproarious _pallesco_, and a loose liver, who eventually deserted the art of painting for the calling of an innkeeper. yet so sweet was the temper of the frate, and so firm was the bond of friendship established in boyhood between this ill-assorted couple, that they did not part company until , three years before mariotto's death and five before that of bartolommeo. during their long association the task of designing fell upon the frate, while albertinelli took his orders and helped to work out his conceptions. both were excellent craftsmen and consummate colourists, as is proved by the pictures executed by each unassisted. albertinelli's "salutation" in the uffizzi yields no point of grace and vigour to any of his more distinguished coadjutor's paintings. the great contributions made by fra bartolommeo to the art of italy were in the double region of composition and colouring. in his justly celebrated fresco of s. maria nuova at florence--a "last judgment" with a christ enthroned amid a choir of saints--he exhibited for the first time a thoroughly scientific scheme of grouping based on geometrical principles. each part is perfectly balanced in itself, and yet is necessary to the structure of the whole. the complex framework may be subdivided into numerous sections no less harmoniously ordered than is the total scheme to which they are subordinated. simple figures--the pyramid and the triangle, upright, inverted, and interwoven like the rhymes in a sonnet--form the basis of the composition. this system was adhered to by the frate in all his subsequent works. to what extent it influenced the style of raphael, will be afterwards discussed. as a colourist, fra bartolommeo was equal to the best of his contemporaries, and superior to any of his rivals in the school of florence. few painters of any age have combined harmony of tone so perfectly with brilliance and richness. it is a real joy to contemplate the pure and splendid folds of the white drapery he loved to place in the foreground of his altar-pieces. solidity and sincerity distinguish his work in every detail, while his feeling is remarkable for elevation and sobriety. all that he lacks, is the boldness of imagination, the depth of passion, and the power of thought, that are indispensable to genius of the highest order. gifted with a sympathetic and a pliant, rather than a creative and self-sustained nature, he was sensitive to every influence. therefore we find him learning much in his youth from lionardo, deriving a fresh impulse from raphael, and endeavouring in his later life, after a visit to rome in , to "heighten his style," as the phrase went, by emulating michael angelo. the attempt to tread the path of buonarroti was a failure. what fra bartolommeo sought to gain in majesty, he lost in charm. his was essentially a pure and gracious manner, upon which sublimity could not be grafted. the gentle soul, who dropped his weapon when the convent of s. marco was besieged by the compagnacci[ ], and who vowed, if heaven preserved him in the tumult, to become a monk, had none of michael angelo's _terribilità_. without possessing some share of that spirit, it was vain to aggrandise the forms and mass the raiment of his prophets in imitation of the sistine. nature made fra bartolommeo the painter of adoration[ ]. his masterpiece at lucca--the "madonna della misericordia"--is a poem of glad worship, a hymn of prayerful praise. our lady stands elate, between earth and heaven, appealing to her son for mercy. at her footstool are her suppliants, the men and women and little children of the city she has saved. the peril is past. salvation has been won; and the song of thanksgiving ascends from all those massed and mingled forms in unison. not less truly is the great unfinished picture of "madonna surrounded by the patron saints of florence" a poem of adoration[ ]. this painting was ordered by the gonfalonier piero soderini, the man who dedicated florence to christ as king. he intended it to take its place in the hall of the consiglio grande, where michael angelo and lionardo gained their earliest laurels. before it could be finished, the republic perished.[ ] "that," says rio, "is the reason why he left but an imperfect work--for those at least who are only struck by what is wanting in it. others will at first regard it with the interest attaching to unfinished poems, interrupted by the jailer's call or by the stern voice of the executioner. then they will study it in all its details, in order to appreciate its beauties; and that appreciation will be the more perfect in proportion as a man is the more fully penetrated with its dominant idea, and with the attendant circumstances that bring this home to him. it is not against an abstract enemy that the intercession of the celestial powers is here invoked: it is not by a caprice of the painter or his patron that, in the group of central figures, s. anne attracts attention before the holy virgin, not only by reason of her pre-eminence, but also through the intensity of her heavenward prayer, and again through her beauty, which far surpasses that of nearly all "madonnas" painted by fra bartolommeo."[ ] but artist and patron had indeed good reason, in this crisis of the commonwealth, to select as the most eminent advocate for florence at the bar of heaven that saint, on whose day, july , , had been celebrated the emancipation of the city from its servitude to walter of brienne. the great event of fra bartolommeo's life was the impression produced on him by savonarola.[ ] having listened to the dominican's terrific denunciations of worldliness and immorality, he carried his life studies to the pyre of vanities, resolved to assume the cowl, and renounced his art. between , when he was engaged in painting the "last judgment" of s. maria nuova, and , he is supposed never to have touched the pencil. when he resumed it savonarola had been burned for heresy, and fra bartolommeo was a brother in his convent of s. marco. savonarola has sometimes been described as an iconoclast, obstinately hostile to the fine arts. this is by no means a true account of the crusade he carried on against the pagan sensuality of his contemporaries. he desired that art should remain the submissive handmaid of the church and the willing servant of pure morality. while he denounced the heathenism of the style in vogue at florence, and forbade the study of the nude, he strove to encourage religious painting, and established a school for its exercise in the cloister of s. marco. it was in this monastic _bottega_ that fra bartolommeo, in concert with his friend albertinelli, worked for the benefit of the convent after the year . the reforms savonarola attempted in the fine arts as in manners, by running counter to the tendencies of the renaissance at a moment when society was too corrupt to be regenerated, and the passion for antiquity was too powerful to be restrained, proved of necessity ineffective. it may further be said that the limitations he imposed would have been fatal to the free development of art if they had been observed. several painters, besides fra baccio, submitted to savonarola's influence. among these the most distinguished were the pure and gentle lorenzo di credi and sandro botticelli, who, after the great preacher's death, is said to have abandoned painting. neither lorenzo di credi nor fra baccio possessed a portion of the prophet's fiery spirit. had that but found expression in their cloistral pictures, one of the most peculiar and characteristic flowers of art the world has ever known, would then have bloomed in florence. the mantle of savonarola, however, if it fell upon any painter, fell on michael angelo, and we must seek an echo of the friar's thunders in the sistine chapel. fra bartolommeo was too tender and too timid. the sublimities of tragic passion lay beyond his scope. though i have ventured to call him the painter of adoration, he did not feel even this movement of the soul with the intensity of fra angelico. in the person of s. dominic kneeling beneath the cross fra angelico painted worship as an ecstasy, wherein the soul goes forth with love and pain and yearning beyond any power of words or tears or music to express what it would utter. to these heights of the ascetic ideal fra bartolommeo never soared. his sobriety bordered upon the prosaic. we have now reached the great age of the italian renaissance, the age in which, not counting for the moment venice, four arch-angelic natures gathered up all that had been hitherto achieved in art since the days of pisano and giotto, adding such celestial illumination from the sunlight of their inborn genius that in them the world for ever sees what art can do. lionardo da vinci was born in valdarno in , and died in france in . michael angelo buonarroti was born at caprese, in the casentino, in , and died at borne in , having outlived the lives of his great peers by nearly half a century. raphael santi was born at urbino in , and died in rome in . antonio allegri was born at correggio in , and died there in . to these four men, each in his own degree and according to his own peculiar quality of mind, the fulness of the renaissance, in its power and freedom, was revealed. they entered the inner shrine, where dwelt the spirit of their age, and bore to the world without the message each of them had heard. in their work posterity still may read the meaning of that epoch, differently rendered according to the difference of gifts in each consummate artist, but comprehended in its unity by study of the four together. lionardo is the wizard or diviner; to him the renaissance offers her mystery and lends her magic. raphael is the phoebean singer; to him the renaissance reveals her joy and dowers him with her gift of melody. correggio is the ariel or faun; he has surprised laughter upon the face of the universe, and he paints this laughter in ever-varying movement. michael angelo is the prophet and sibylline seer; to him the renaissance discloses the travail of her spirit; him she endues with power; he wrests her secret, voyaging, like an ideal columbus, the vast abyss of thought alone. in order that this revelation of the renaissance in painting should be complete, it is necessary to add a fifth power to these four--that of the venetian masters, who are the poets of carnal beauty, the rhetoricians of mundane pomp, the impassioned interpreters of all things great and splendid in the pageant of the outer world. as venice herself, by type of constitution and historical development, remained sequestered from the rest of italy, so her painters demand separate treatment.[ ] it is enough, therefore, for the present to remember that without the note they utter the chord of the renaissance lacks its harmony. lionardo, the natural son of messer pietro, notary of florence and landed proprietor at vinci, was so beautiful of person that no one, says vasari, has sufficiently extolled his charm; so strong of limb that he could bend an iron ring or horse-shoe between his fingers; so eloquent of speech that those who listened to his words were fain to answer "yes" or "no" as he thought fit. this child of grace and persuasion was a wonderful musician. the duke of milan sent for him to play upon his lute and improvise italian canzoni. the lute he carried was of silver, fashioned like a horse's head, and tuned according to acoustic laws discovered by himself. of the songs he sang to its accompaniment none have been preserved. only one sonnet remains to show of what sort was the poetry of lionardo, prized so highly by the men of his own generation. this, too, is less remarkable for poetic beauty than for sober philosophy expressed with singular brevity of phrase.[ ] this story of da vinci's lute might be chosen as a parable of his achievement. art and science were never separated in his work; and both were not unfrequently subservient to some fanciful caprice, some bizarre freak of originality. curiosity and love of the uncommon ruled his nature. by intuition and by persistent interrogation of nature he penetrated many secrets of science; but he was contented with the acquisition of knowledge. once found, he had but little care to distribute the results of his investigations; at most he sought to use them for purposes of practical utility.[ ] even in childhood he is said to have perplexed his teachers by propounding arithmetical problems. in his maturity he carried anatomy further than delia torre; he invented machinery for water-mills and aqueducts; he devised engines of war, discovered the secret of conical rifle-bullets, adapted paddle-wheels to boats, projected new systems of siege artillery, investigated the principles of optics, designed buildings, made plans for piercing mountains, raising churches, connecting rivers, draining marshes, clearing harbours.[ ] there was no branch of study whereby nature through the effort of the inquisitive intellect might be subordinated to the use of man, of which he was not master. nor, richly gifted as was lionardo, did he trust his natural facility. his patience was no less marvellous than the quickness of his insight. he lived to illustrate the definition of genius as the capacity for taking infinite pains. while he was a boy, says vasari, lionardo modelled in terra-cotta certain heads of women smiling. this was in the workshop of verocchio, who had already fixed a smile on david's face in bronze. when an old man, he left "mona lisa" on the easel not quite finished, the portrait of a subtle, shadowy, uncertain smile. this smile, this enigmatic revelation of a movement in the soul, this seductive ripple on the surface of the human personality, was to lionardo a symbol of the secret of the world, an image of the universal mystery. it haunted him all through his life, and innumerable were the attempts he made to render by external form the magic of this fugitive and evanescent charm. through long days he would follow up and down the streets of florence or of milan beautiful unknown faces, learning them by heart, interpreting their changes of expression, reading the thoughts through the features. these he afterwards committed to paper. we possess many such sketches--a series of ideal portraits, containing each an unsolved riddle that the master read; a procession of shadows, cast by reality, that, entering the camera lucida of the artist's brain, gained new and spiritual quality.[ ] in some of them his fancy seems to be imprisoned in the labyrinths of hair; in others the eyes deep with feeling or hard with gemlike brilliancy have caught it, or the lips that tell and hide so much, or the nostrils quivering with momentary emotion. beauty, inexpressive of inner meaning, must, we conceive, have had but slight attraction for him. we do not find that he drew "a fair naked body" for the sake of its carnal charm; his hasty studies of the nude are often faulty, mere memoranda of attitude and gesture. the human form was interesting to him either scientifically or else as an index to the soul. yet he felt the influence of personal loveliness his favourite pupil salaino was a youth "of singular grace, with curled and waving hair, a feature of personal beauty by which lionardo was always greatly pleased." hair, the most mysterious of human things, the most manifold in form and hue, snakelike in its subtlety for the entanglement of souls, had naturally supreme attractiveness for the magician of the arts. with like energy lionardo bent himself to divine the import of ugliness. whole pages of his sketch-book are filled with squalid heads of shrivelled crones and ghastly old men--with idiots, goîtred cretins, criminals, and clowns. it was not that he loved the horrible for its own sake; but he was determined to seize character, to command the gamut of human physiognomy from ideal beauty down to forms bestialised by vice and disease. the story related by giraldi concerning the head of judas in the "cenacolo" at milan, sufficiently illustrates the method of lionardo in creating types and the utility of such caricatures as his notebooks contain.[ ] it is told that he brought into his room one day a collection of reptiles--lizards, newts, toads, vipers, efts--all creatures that are loathsome to the common eye. these, by the magic of imagination, he combined into a shape so terrible that those who saw it shuddered. medusa's snake-enwoven head exhaling poisonous vapour from the livid lips; leda, swanlike beside her swan lover; chimaera, in whom many natures mingled and made one; the conflict of a dragon and a lion; s. john conceived not as a prophet but as a vine-crowned faun, the harbinger of joy:--over pictorial motives of this kind, attractive by reason of their complexity or mystery, he loved to brood; and to this fascination of a sphinx-like charm we owe some of his most exquisite drawings. lionardo more than any other artist who has ever lived (except perhaps his great predecessor leo battista alberti) felt the primal sympathies that bind men to the earth, their mother, and to living things, their brethren.[ ] therefore the borderland between humanity and nature allured him with a spell half aesthetic and half scientific. in the dawn of hellas this sympathetic apprehension of the world around him would have made him a supreme mythopoet. in the dawn of the modern world curiosity claimed the lion's share of his genius: nor can it be denied that his art suffered by this division of interests. the time was not yet come for accurate physiological investigation, or for the true birth of the scientific spirit; and in any age it would have been difficult for one man to establish on a sound basis discoveries made in so many realms as those explored by lionardo. we cannot, therefore, but regret that he was not more exclusively a painter. if, however, he had confined his activity to the production of works equal to the "cenacolo," we should have missed the most complete embodiment in one personality of the twofold impulses of the renaissance and of its boundless passion for discovery. lionardo's turn for physical science led him to study the technicalities of art with fervent industry. whatever his predecessors had acquired in the knowledge of materials, the chemistry of colours, the mathematics of composition, the laws of perspective, and the illusions of _chiaroscuro,_ he developed to the utmost. to find a darker darkness and a brighter brightness than had yet been shown upon the painter's canvas; to solve problems of foreshortening; to deceive the eye by finely graduated tones and subtle touches; to submit the freest play of form to simple figures of geometry in grouping, were among the objects he most earnestly pursued. at the same time his deep feeling for all things that have life, gave him new power in the delineation of external nature. the branching of flower-stems, the outlines of fig-leaves, the attitudes of beasts and birds in motion, the arching of the fan-palm, were rendered by him with the same consummate skill as the dimple on a cheek or the fine curves of a young man's lips.[ ] wherever he perceived a difficulty, he approached and conquered it. love, which is the soul of art--love, the bondslave of beauty and the son of poverty by craft--led him to these triumphs. he used to buy caged birds in the marketplace that he might let them loose. he was attached to horses, and kept a sumptuous stable; and these he would draw in eccentric attitudes, studying their anatomy in detail for his statue of francesco sforza.[ ] in the "battle of the standard," known to us only by a sketch of rubens,[ ] he gave passions to the horse--not human passion, nor yet merely equine--but such as horses might feel when placed upon a par with men. in like manner the warriors are fiery with bestial impulses--leonine fury, wolfish ferocity, fox-like cunning. their very armour takes the shape of monstrous reptiles. to such an extent did the interchange of human and animal properties haunt lionardo's fancy. from what has been already said we shall be better able to understand lionardo's love of the bizarre and grotesque. one day a vine-dresser brought him a very curious lizard. the master fitted it with wings injected with quicksilver to give them motion as the creature crawled. eyes, horns, and a beard, a marvellous dragon's mask, were placed upon its head. this strange beast lived in a cage, where lionardo tamed it; but no one, says vasari, dared so much as to look at it.[ ] on quaint puzzles and perplexing schemes he mused a good part of his life away. at one time he was for making wings to fly with; at another he invented ropes that should uncoil, strand by strand; again, he devised a system of flat corks, by means of which to walk on water.[ ] one day, after having scraped the intestines of a sheep so thin that he could hold them in the hollow of his hand, he filled them with wind from a bellows, and blew and blew until the room was choked, and his visitors had to run into corners. lionardo told them that this was a proper symbol of genius. such stories form what may be called the legend of lionardo's life; and some of them seem simple, others almost childish.[ ] they illustrate what is meant when we call him the wizard of the renaissance. art, nature, life, the mysteries of existence, the infinite capacity of human thought, the riddle of the world, all that the greeks called pan, so swayed and allured him that, while he dreamed and wrought and never ceased from toil, he seemed to have achieved but little. the fancies of his brain were, perhaps, too subtle and too fragile to be made apparent to the eyes of men. he was wont, after years of labour, to leave his work still incomplete, feeling that he could not perfect it as he desired: yet even his most fragmentary sketches have a finish beyond the scope of lesser men. "extraordinary power," says vasari, "was in his case conjoined with remarkable facility, a mind of regal boldness and magnanimous daring." yet he was constantly accused of indolence and inability to execute.[ ] often and often he made vast preparations and accomplished nothing. it is well known how the prior of s. maria delle grazie complained that lionardo stood for days looking at his fresco, and for weeks never came near it; how the monks of the annunziata at florence were cheated out of their painting, for which elaborate designs had yet been made; how leo x., seeing him mix oils with varnish to make a new medium, exclaimed, "alas! this man will do nothing; he thinks of the end before he makes a beginning." a good answer to account for the delay was always ready on the painter's lips, as that the man of genius works most when his hands are idlest; judas, sought in vain through all the thieves' resorts in milan, is not found; i cannot hope to see the face of christ except in paradise. again, when an equestrian statue of francesco sforza had been modelled in all its parts, another model was begun because da vinci would fain show the warrior triumphing over a fallen foe.[ ] the first motive seemed to him tame; the second was unrealisable in bronze. "i can do anything possible to man," he wrote to lodovico sforza, "and as well as any living artist either in sculpture or painting." but he would do nothing as taskwork, and his creative brain loved better to invent than to execute.[ ] "of a truth," continues his biographer, "there is good reason to believe that the very greatness of his most exalted mind, aiming at more than could be effected, was itself an impediment; perpetually seeking to add excellence to excellence and perfection to perfection. this was without doubt the true hindrance, so that, as our petrarch has it, the work was retarded by desire." at the close of that cynical and positive century, the spirit whereof was so well expressed by cosimo de' medici,[ ] lionardo set before himself aims infinite instead of finite. his designs of wings to fly with symbolise his whole endeavour. he believed in solving the insoluble; and nature had so richly dowered him in the very dawntime of discovery, that he was almost justified in this delusion. having caught the proteus of the world, he tried to grasp him; but the god changed shape beneath his touch. having surprised silenus asleep, he begged from him a song; but the song silenus sang was so marvellous in its variety, so subtle in its modulations, that lionardo could do no more than recall scattered phrases. his proteus was the spirit of the renaissance. the silenus from whom he forced the song was the double nature of man and of the world. by ill chance it happened that lionardo's greatest works soon perished. his cartoon at florence disappeared. his model for sforza's statue was used as a target by french bowmen. his "last supper" remains a mere wreck in the convent delle grazie. such as it is, blurred by ill-usage and neglect, more blurred by impious re-painting, that fresco must be seen by those who wish to understand da vinci. it has well been called the compendium of all his studies and of all his writings; and, chronologically, it is the first masterpiece of the perfected renaissance.[ ] other painters had represented the last supper as a solemn prologue to the passion, or as the mystical inauguration of the greatest christian sacrament.[ ] but none had dared to break the calm of the event by a dramatic action. the school of giotto, fra angelico, ghirlandajo, perugino, even signorelli, remained within the sphere of symbolical suggestion; and their work gained in dignity what it lost in intensity. lionardo combined both. he undertook to paint a moment, to delineate the effect of a single word upon twelve men seated at a table, and to do this without sacrificing the tranquillity demanded by ideal art, and without impairing the divine majesty of him from whose lips that word has fallen. the time has long gone by for detailed criticism or description of a painting known to everybody. it is enough to observe that the ideal representation of a dramatic moment, the life breathed into each part of the composition, the variety of the types chosen to express varieties of character, and the scientific distribution of the twelve apostles in four groups of three around the central christ, mark the appearance of a new spirit of power and freedom in the arts. what had hitherto been treated with religious timidity, with conventional stiffness, or with realistic want of grandeur, was now humanised and at the same time transported into a higher intellectual region; and though lionardo discrowned the apostles of their aureoles, he for the first time in the history of painting created a christ not unworthy to be worshipped as the _praesens deus_. we know not whether to admire most the perfection of the painter's art or his insight into spiritual things.[ ] if we are forced to feel that, with da vinci, accomplishment fell short of power and promise, the case is very different with raphael. in him there was no perplexity, no division of interests. he was fascinated by no insoluble mystery and absorbed by no seductive problems. his faculty and his artistic purpose were exactly balanced, adequate, and mutually supporting. he saw by intuition what to do, and he did it without let or hindrance, exercising from his boyhood till his early death an unimpeded energy of pure productiveness. like mozart, to whom he bears in many respects a remarkable resemblance, raphael was gifted with inexhaustible fertility and with unwearied industry. like mozart, again, he had a nature which converted everything to beauty. thought, passion, emotion, became in his art living melody. we almost forget his strength in admiration of his grace; the travail of his intellect is hidden by the serenity of his style. there is nothing over-much in any portion of his work, no sense of effort, no straining of a situation, not even that element of terror needful to the true sublime. it is as though the spirit of young greece had lived in him again, purifying his taste to perfection and restraining him from the delineation of things stern or horrible. raphael found in this world nothing but its joy, and communicated to his ideal the beauty of untouched virginity. brescia might be sacked with sword and flame. the baglioni might hew themselves to pieces in perugia. the plains of ravenna might flow with blood. urbino might change masters and obey the viperous duke valentino. raphael, meanwhile, working through his short may-life of less than twenty [handwritten: ] years, received from nature and from man a message that was harmony unspoiled by one discordant note. his very person was a symbol of his genius. lionardo was beautiful but stately, with firm lips and penetrating glance; he conquered by the magnetism of an incalculable personality. the loveliness of raphael was fair and flexible, fascinating not by power or mystery, but by the winning charm of open-hearted sweetness. to this physical beauty, rather delicate than strong, he united spiritual graces of the most amiable nature. he was gentle, docile, modest, ready to oblige, free from jealousy, binding all men to him by his cheerful courtesy.[ ] in morals he was pure. indeed, judged by the lax standard of those times, he might be called almost immaculate. his intellectual capacity, in all that concerned the art of painting, was unbounded; but we cannot place him among the many-sided heroes of the renaissance. what he attempted in sculpture, though elegant, is comparatively insignificant; and the same may be said about his buildings. as a painter he was capable of comprehending and expressing all things without excess or sense of labour. of no other artist do we feel that he was so instinctively, unerringly right in what he thought and did. among his mental faculties the power of assimilation seems to have been developed to an extraordinary degree. he learned the rudiments of his art in the house of his father santi at urbino, where a madonna is still shown--the portrait of his mother, with a child, perhaps the infant raphael, upon her lap. starting, soon after his father's death, as a pupil of perugino, he speedily acquired that master's manner so perfectly that his earliest works are only to be distinguished from perugino's by their greater delicacy, spontaneity, and inventiveness. though he absorbed all that was excellent in the peruginesque style, he avoided its affectations, and seemed to take departure for a higher flight from the most exquisite among his teacher's early paintings. later on, while still a lad, he escaped from umbrian conventionality by learning all that was valuable in the art of masaccio and fra bartolommeo. to the latter master, himself educated by the influence of lionardo, raphael owed more, perhaps, than to any other of his teachers. the method of combining figures in masses, needful to the general composition, while they preserve a subordinate completeness of their own, had been applied with almost mathematical precision by the frate in his fresco at s. maria nuova.[ ] it reappears in all raphael's work subsequent to his first visit to florence[ ] ( - ). so great, indeed, is the resemblance of treatment between the two painters that we know not well which owed the other most. many groups of women and children in the stanze, for example--especially in the "miracle of bolsena" and the "heliodorus"--seem almost identical with fra bartolommeo's "madonna della misericordia" at lucca. finally, when raphael settled in rome, he laid himself open to the influence of michael angelo, and drank in the classic spirit from the newly discovered antiques. here at last it seemed as though his native genius might suffer from contact with the potent style of his great rival; and there are many students of art who feel that raphael's later manner was a declension from the divine purity of his early pictures. there is, in fact, a something savouring of overbloom in the farnesina frescoes, as though the painter's faculty had been strained beyond its natural force. muscles are exaggerated to give the appearance of strength, and open mouths are multiplied to indicate astonishment and action. these faults may be found even in the cartoons. yet who shall say that raphael's power was on the decline, or that his noble style was passing into mannerism, after studying both the picture of the "transfiguration" and the careful drawings from the nude prepared for this last work? so delicate was the assimilative tendency in raphael, that what he learned from all his teachers, from perugino, fra bartolommeo, masaccio, da vinci, michael angelo, and the antique, was mingled with his own style without sacrifice of individuality. inferior masters imitated him, and passed their pictures off upon posterity as raphael's; but to mistake a genuine piece of his painting for the performance of another is almost impossible. each successive step he made was but a liberation of his genius, a stride toward the full expression of the beautiful he saw and served. he was never an eclectic. the masterpieces of other artists taught him how to comprehend his own ideal. raphael is not merely a man, but a school. just as in his genius he absorbed and comprehended many diverse styles, so are many worthy craftsmen included in his single name. fresco-painters, masters of the easel, workmen in mosaic and marquetrie, sculptors, builders, arras-weavers, engravers, decorators of ceilings and of floors, all laboured under his eye, receiving designs from, his hand, and executing what was called thereafter by his name.[ ] it was thus partly by his facility and energy, partly by the use he made of other men, that raphael was able to achieve so much. in the vatican he covered the walls and ceilings of the stanze with historical and symbolical frescoes that embrace the whole of human knowledge. the cramping limits of ecclesiastical tradition are transcended. the synod of the antique sages finds a place beside the synod of the fathers and the company of saints. parnassus and the allegory of the virtues front each other. the legend of marsyas and the mythus of the fall are companion pictures. a new catholicity, a new orthodoxy of the beautiful, appears. the renaissance in all its breadth and liberality of judgment takes ideal form. nor is there any sense of discord; for the genius of raphael views both revelations, christian and pagan, from a point of view of art above them. to his pure and unimpeded faculty the task of translating motives so diverse into mutually concordant shapes was easy. on the domed ceilings of the loggie he painted sacred history in a series of exquisitely simple compositions, known as raphael's bible. the walls and pilasters were adorned with arabesques that anticipated the discovery of pompeii, and surpassed the best of roman frescoes in variety and freedom. with his own hands he coloured the incomparable "triumph of galatea" in agostino chigi's villa on the tiber, while his pupils traced the legend of cupid and psyche from his drawings on the roof of the great banquet hall. remaining within the circuit of rome, we may turn from the sibyls of s. maria della pace to the genii of the planets in s. maria del popolo, from the "violin-player" of the sciarra palace to the "transfiguration" in the vatican: wherever we go, we find the masterpieces of this youth, so various in conception, so equal in performance. and then, to think that the palaces and picture-galleries of europe are crowded with his easel-pictures, that his original drawings display a boundless store of prodigal inventive creativeness, that the cartoons, of which england is proud, are alone enough to found a mighty master's fame! the vast mass of raphael's works is by itself astounding. the accuracy of their design and the perfection of their execution are literally overwhelming to the imagination, that attempts to realise the conditions of his short life. there is nothing, or but very little, of rhetoric in all this world of pictures. the brain has guided the hand throughout, and the result is sterling poetry. the knowledge, again, expressed in many of his frescoes is so thorough that we wonder whether in his body lived again the soul of some accomplished sage. how, for example, did he appropriate the history of philosophy, set forth so luminously in the "school of athens," that each head, each gesture, is the epitome of some system? fabio calvi may, indeed, have supplied him with serviceable notes on greek philosophy. but to raphael alone belongs the triumph of having personified the dry elements of learning in appropriate living forms. the same is true of the "parnassus," and, in a less degree, of the "disputa." to the physiognomist these frescoes will always be invaluable. the "heliodorus," the "miracle of bolsena," and the cartoons, display a like faculty applied with more dramatic purpose. passion and action take the place of representative ideas; but the capacity for translating into perfect human form what has first been intellectually apprehended by the artist, is the same. if, after estimating the range of thought revealed in this portion of raphael's work, we next consider the labour of the mind involved in the distribution of so many multitudes of beautiful and august human figures, in the modelling of their drapery, the study of their expression, and their grouping into balanced compositions, we may form some notion of the magnitude of raphael's performance. it is, indeed, probable that all attempts at reflective analysis of this kind do injustice to the spontaneity of the painter's method. yet, even supposing that the "miraculous draught of fishes" or the "school of athens" were seen by him as in a vision, this presumption will increase our wonder at the imagination which could hold so rich a store of details ready for immediate use. that raphael paid the most minute attention to the details of his work, is shown by the studies made for these two subjects, and by the drawings for the "transfiguration." a young man bent on putting forth his power the first time in a single picture that should prove his mastery, could not have laboured with more diligence than raphael at the height of his fame and in full possession of his matured faculty. when, furthermore, we take into account the variety of raphael's work, we arrive at a new point of wonder. the drawing of "alexander's marriage with roxana," the "temptation of adam by eve," and the "massacre of the innocents," engraved by marc antonio, are unsurpassed not only as compositions, but also as studies of the nude in chosen attitudes, powerfully felt and nobly executed. in these designs, which he never used for painting, the same high style is successively applied to a pageant, an idyll, and a drama.[ ] the rapture of greek art in its most youthful moment has never been recaptured by a modern painter with more force and fire of fancy than in the "galatea." the tenderness of christian feeling has found no more exalted expression than in the multitudes of the madonnas, one more lovely than another, like roses on a tree in june, from the maidenly "madonna del gran' duca" to the celestial vision of the san sisto, that sublimest lyric of the art of catholicity.[ ] it is only by hurrying through a list like this that we can appreciate the many-sided perfection of raphael's accomplishment. how, lastly, was it possible that this young painter should have found the time to superintend the building of s. peter's, and to form a plan for excavating rome in its twelve ancient regions?[ ] when lomazzo assigned emblems to the chief painters of the renaissance, he gave to michael angelo the dragon of contemplation, and to mantegna the serpent of sagacity. for raphael, by a happier instinct, he reserved man, the microcosm, the symbol of powerful grace, incarnate intellect. this quaint fancy of the milanese critic touches the truth. what distinguishes the whole work of raphael, is its humanity in the double sense of the humane and human. phoebus, as imagined by the greeks, was not more radiant, more victorious by the marvel of his smile, more intolerant of things obscene or ugly. like apollo chasing the eumenides from his delphian shrine, raphael will not suffer his eyes to fall on what is loathsome or horrific. even sadness and sorrow, tragedy and death, take loveliness from him. and here it must be mentioned that he shunned stern and painful subjects. he painted no martyrdom, no "last judgment," and no "crucifixion," if we except the little early picture belonging to lord dudley.[ ] his men and women are either glorious with youth or dignified in hale old age. touched by his innocent and earnest genius, mankind is once more gifted with the harmony of intellect and flesh and feeling, that belonged to hellas. instead of asceticism, hellenic temperance is the virtue prized by raphael. over his niche in the temple of fame might be written: "i have said ye are gods;"--for the children of men in his ideal world are divinized. the godlike spirit of man is all in all. happy indeed was the art that by its limitations and selections could thus early express the good news of the renaissance; while in the spheres of politics and ethics, science and religion, we are still far from having learned its lesson. correggio is the faun or ariel of renaissance painting. turning to him from raphael, we are naturally first struck by the affinities and differences between them. both drew from their study of the world the elements of joy which it contains; but the gladness of correggio was more sensuous than that of raphael; his intellectual faculties were less developed; his rapture was more tumultuous and bacchantic. like raphael, correggio died young; but his brief life was spent in comparative obscurity and solitude. far from the society of scholars and artists, ignorant of courts, unpatronised by princes, he wrought for himself alone the miracle of brightness and of movement that delights us in his frescoes and his easel-pictures. like a poet hidden in the light of thought, singing hymns unbidden, was this lyrist of luxurious ecstasy. in his work there was nothing worldly; that divides him from the venetians, whose sensuousness he shared: nothing scientific; that distinguishes him from da vinci, the magic of whose _chiaroscuro_ he comprehended: nothing contemplative; that separates him from michael angelo, the audacity of whose design in dealing with forced attitudes he rivalled, without apparently having enjoyed the opportunity of studying his works. the cheerfulness of raphael, the wizardry of lionardo, and the boldness of michael angelo, met in him to form a new style, the originality of which is indisputable, and which takes us captive--not by intellectual power, but by the impulse of emotion. of his artistic education we know nothing; and when we call him the ariel of painting, this means that we are compelled to think of him as an elemental spirit, whose bidding the air and the light and the hues of the morning obey. correggio created a world of beautiful human beings, the whole condition of whose existence is an innocent and radiant wantonness.[ ] over the domain of tragedy he had no sway; nor could he deal with subjects demanding pregnancy of intellectual meaning. he paints the three fates for instance like young and joyous bacchantes; if we placed rose-garlands and thyrsi in their hands instead of the distaff and the thread of human destinies, they might figure upon the panels of a banquet-chamber in pompeii. nor, again, did he possess that severe and lofty art of composition which seeks the highest beauty of design in architectural harmony supreme above the melodies of gracefulness in detail. he was essentially a lyrical as distinguished from an epical or dramatic poet. the unity of his work is derived from the effect of light and atmosphere, the inbreathed soul of tremulous and throbbing life, which bathes and liquefies the whole. it was enough for him to produce a gleeful symphony by the play of light and colour, by the animation of his figures, and by the intoxicating beauty of his forms. his angels are genii disimprisoned from the chalices of flowers, houris of an erotic paradise, elemental sprites of nature wantoning in eden in her prime. they belong to the generation of the fauns. like fauns, they combine a certain wildness, a dithyrambic ecstasy, a delight in rapid motion as they revel amid clouds and flowers, with the permanent and all-pervading sweetness of the painter's style. correggio's sensibility to light and colour--that quality which makes him unique among painters--was on a par with his feeling for form. brightness and darkness are woven together on his figures like an impalpable veil, aërial and transparent, enhancing the palpitations of voluptuous movement which he loved. his colouring does not glow or burn; blithesome and delicate, it seems exactly such a beauty-bloom as sense requires for its satiety. that cord of jocund colour which may fitly be combined with the smiles of daylight, the clear blues found in laughing eyes, the pinks that tinge the cheeks of early youth, and the warm yet silvery tones of healthy flesh, mingle, as in a pearl-shell, on his pictures. within his own magic circle correggio reigns supreme; no other artist having blent the witcheries of colouring, _chiaroscuro_, and wanton loveliness of form, into a harmony so perfect in its sensuous charm. to feel his influence, and at the same moment to be the subject of strong passion, or intense desire, or heroic resolve, or profound contemplation, or pensive melancholy, is impossible. the northern traveller, standing beneath his master-works in parma, may hear from each of those radiant and laughing faces what the young italian said to goethe: _perchè pensa? pensando s' invecchia_. michael angelo is the prophet or seer of the renaissance. it would be impossible to imagine a stronger contrast than that which distinguishes his art from correggio's, or lives more different in all their details, than those which he and raphael or lionardo lived respectively. during the eighty-nine years of his earthly pilgrimage he saw italy enslaved and florence extinguished; it was his exceeding bitter fate to watch the rapid decay of the arts and to witness the triumph of sacerdotal despotism over liberal thought. to none of these things was he indifferent; and the sorrow they wrought in his soul, found expression in his painting.[ ] michael angelo was not framed by nature to fascinate like lionardo or to charm like raphael. his manners were severe and simple. when he spoke, his words were brief and pungent. when he wrote, whether in poetry or prose, he used the fewest phrases to express the most condensed meaning. when asked why he had not married, he replied that the wife he had--his art--cost him already too much trouble. he entertained few friends, and shunned society. brooding over the sermons of savonarola, the text of the bible, the discourses of plato, and the poems of dante, he made his spirit strong in solitude by the companionship with everlasting thoughts. therefore, when he was called to paint the sistine chapel, he uttered through painting the weightiest prophecy the world has ever seen expressed in plastic form. his theme is nothing less than the burden of the prophets and the sibyls who preached the coming of a light upon the world, and the condemnation of the world which had rejected it, by an inexorable judge. michelet says, not without truth, that the spirit of savonarola lives again in these frescoes. the procession of the four-and-twenty elders, arraigned before the people of brescia to accuse italy of sin--the voice that cried to florence, "behold the sword of the lord, and that swiftly! behold i, even i, do bring a deluge on the earth!" are both seen and heard here very plainly. but there is more than savonarola in this prophecy of michael angelo's. it contains the stern spirit of dante, aflame with patriotism, passionate for justice. it embodies the philosophy of plato. the creative god, who divides light from darkness, who draws adam from the clay and calls forth new-born eve in awful beauty, is the demiurgus of the greek. again, it carries the indignation of isaiah, the wild denunciations of ezekiel, the monotonous refrain of jeremiah--"ah, lord, lord!" the classic sibyls intone their mystic hymns; the delphic on her tripod of inspiration, the erythraean bending over her scrolls, the withered witch of cumae, the parched prophetess of libya--all seem to cry, "repent, repent! for the kingdom of the spirit is at hand! repent and awake, for the judgment of the world approaches!" and above these voices we hear a most tremendous wail: "the nations have come to the birth; but there is not strength to bring forth." that is the utterance of the renaissance, as it had appeared in italy. she who was first among the nations was now last; bound and bleeding, she lay prostrate at the temple-gate she had unlocked. to michael angelo was given for his portion--not the alluring mysteries of the new age, not the joy of the renascent world, not the petulant and pulsing rapture of youth: these had been divided between lionardo, raphael, and correggio--but the bitter burden of the sense that the awakening to life is in itself a pain, that the revelation of the liberated soul is itself judgment, that a light is shining, and that the world will not comprehend it. pregnant as are the paintings of michael angelo with religious import, they are no longer catholic in the sense in which the frescoes of the lorenzetti and orcagna and giotto are catholic. he went beyond the ecclesiastical standing ground and reached one where philosophy includes the christian faith. thus the true spirit of the renaissance was embodied in his work of art. among the multitudes of figures covering the wall above the altar in the sistine chapel there is one that might well stand for a symbol of the renaissance. it is a woman of gigantic stature in the act of toiling upwards from the tomb. grave clothes impede the motion of her body: they shroud her eyes and gather round her chest. part only of her face and throat is visible, where may be read a look of blank bewilderment and stupefaction, a struggle with death's slumber in obedience to some inner impulse. yet she is rising slowly, half awake, and scarcely conscious, to await a doom still undetermined. thus michael angelo interpreted the meaning of his age. footnotes: [ ] "la man che ubbedisce all' intelletto" is a phrase pregnant with meaning, used by michael angelo in one of his sonnets. see guasti, _le rime di michael angelo_, p. . michael angelo's blunt criticism of perugino, that he was _goffo_, a fool in art, and his rude speech to francia's handsome son, that his father made better forms by night than day, sufficiently indicate the different aims pursued by the painters of the two periods distinguished above. [ ] though mantegna seems to have owed all his training to padua, it is impossible to regard him as what is called a squarcionesque--one among the artistic hacks formed and employed by the paduan _impresario_ of third-rate painting. no other eagle like to him was reared in that nest. his greatness belonged to his own genius, assimilating from the meagre means of study within his reach those elements which enabled him to divine the spirit of the antique and to attempt its reproduction. in order to facilitate the explanation of the problem offered by his early command of style, it has been suggested with great show of reason that he received a strong impression from the work executed in bas-relief by donatello for the church of s. antonio at padua. thus florentine influences helped to form even the original genius of this greatest of the lombard masters. [ ] vasari, vol. v. p. , may be consulted with regard to mantegna's preference for the ideal of statuary when compared with natural beauty, as the model for a painter. [ ] see crowe and cavalcaselle's _history of painting in north italy_, vol. i. p. , for an account of his antiquarian researches in company with felice feliciano. his museum was so famous that in lorenzo de' medici, passing through mantua from venice, thought it worthy of a visit. in his old age mantegna fell into pecuniary difficulties, and had to part with his collection. the forced sale of its chief ornament, a bust of faustina, is said to have broken his heart. _ib._ p. . [ ] painted on canvas in tempera for the marquis of mantua, before , looted by the germans in , sold to charles i., resold by the commonwealth, bought back by charles ii., and now exposed, much spoiled by time and change, but more by villainous re-painting, on the walls of hampton court. [ ] an oil painting in the national gallery. [ ] the so-called "triumph of scipio" in the national gallery seems to me in every respect feebler than the hampton court cartoons. [ ] the "madonna della vittoria," now in the louvre gallery, was painted to commemorate the achievements of francesco gonzaga in the battle of fornovo. that francesco, general of the venetian troops, should have claimed that action, the eternal disgrace of italian soldiery, for a victory, is one of the strongest signs of the depth to which the sense of military honour had sunk in italy. but though the occasion of its painting was so mean, the impression made by this picture is too powerful to be described. it is in every detail grandiose: masculine energy being combined with incomparable grace, religious feeling with athletic dignity, and luxuriance of ornamentation with severe gravity of composition. it is worth comparing this portrait of francesco gonzaga with his bronze medal, just as piero della francesco's picture of sigismondo malatesta should be compared with pisanello's medallion. [ ] vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. . [ ] nothing is known about mantegna's stay in florence. he went to meet the cardinal francesco gonzaga at bologna. this cardinal, a great amateur of music and connoisseur in relics of antiquity, came to mantua in august, , where the "orfeo" of messer angelo poliziano was produced for his amusement. [ ] that he could conceive a stern and tragic subject, with all the passion it required, is, however, proved not only by the frescoes at orvieto, but also by the powerful oil-painting of the "crucifixion" at borgo san sepolcro. [ ] this story has been used for verse in a way to heighten its romantic colouring. such as the lines are, i subjoin them for the sake of their attempt to emphasize and illustrate renaissance feeling:-- "vasari tells that luca signorelli, the morning star of michael angelo, had but one son, a youth of seventeen summers, who died. that day the master at his easel wielded the liberal brush wherewith he painted at orvieto, on the duomo's walls, stern forms of death and heaven and hell and judgment. then came they to him, cried: 'thy son is dead, slain in a duel: but the bloom of life yet lingers round red lips and downy cheek.' luca spoke not, but listened. next they bore his dead son to the silent painting-room, and left on tip toe son and sire alone. still luca spoke and groaned not; but he raised the wonderful dead youth, and smoothed his hair, washed his red wounds, and laid him on a bed, naked and beautiful, where rosy curtains shed a soft glimmer of uncertain splendour life-like upon the marble limbs below. then luca seized his palette: hour by hour silence was in the room; none durst approach: morn wore to noon, and noon to eve, when shyly a little maid peeped in and saw the painter painting his dead son with unerring hand-stroke, firm and dry-eyed before the lordly canvas." [ ] see the article on orvieto in my _sketches in italy and greece_. [ ] the earlier frescoes of fra angelico, on the roof, depict christ as judge. but there is nothing in common with these works and signorelli's. [ ] this is the conjecture of signor luzi (_il duomo di orvieto_, p. ). he bases it upon the dantesque subjects illustrated, and quotes from the "inferno":-- "omero poeta sovrano; l' altro è orazio satiro che viene, ovidio è il terzo, e l' ultimo lucano." nothing is more marked or more deeply interesting than the influence exercised by dante over signorelli, an influence he shared with giotto, orcagna, botticelli, michael angelo, the greatest imaginative painters of central italy. [ ] the background to the circular "madonna" in the uffizzi, the "flagellation of christ" in the academy at florence and in the brera at milan, and the "adam" at cortona, belong to this grade. [ ] we may add the pages in a predella representing the "adoration of the magi" in the uffizzi. [ ] vasari mentions the portraits of nicolo, paolo, and vitellozzo vitelli, gian paolo, and orazio baglioni, among others, in the frescoes at orvieto. [ ] painted for lorenzo de' medici. it is now in the berlin museum through the neglect of the national gallery authorities to purchase it for england. [ ] i must not omit to qualify vasari's praise of luca signorelli, by reference to a letter recently published from the _archivio buonarroti, lettere a diversi_, p. . michael angelo there addresses the captain of cortona, and complains that in the first year of leo's pontificate luca came to him and by various representations obtained from him the sum of eighty giulios, which he never repaid, although he made profession to have done so. michael angelo was ill at the time, and working with much difficulty on a statue of a bound captive for the tomb of julius. luca gave a specimen of his renowned courtesy by comforting the sculptor in these rather sanctimonious phrases: "doubt not that angels will come from heaven, to support your arms and help you." [ ] pietro, known as perugino from the city of his adoption, was the son of cristoforo vannucci, of città della pieve. he was born in , and died at fontignano in . [ ] the triptych in the national gallery. [ ] they have been published by the arundel society. [ ] these frescoes were begun in . it may be mentioned that in this year, on the refusal of perugino to decorate the cappella di s. brizio, the orvietans entrusted that work to signorelli. [ ] uffizzi and sala del cambio. [ ] "fu pietro persona di assai poca religione, e non se gli potè mai far credere l'immortalità dell' anima: anzi, con parole, accomodate al suo cervello di porfido, ostinatissimamente ricusò ogni buona vita. aveva ogni sua speranza ne' beni della fortuna, e per danari arebbe fatto ogni male contratto." vasari, vol. vi. p. . the local tradition alluded to above relates to the difficulties raised by the church against the christian burial of perugino: but if he died of plague, as it is believed (see c. and c., vol. iii. p. ), these difficulties were probably caused by panic rather than belief in his impiety. for gasparo celio's note on perugino's refusal to confess upon his death-bed, saying that he preferred to see how an impenitent soul would fare in the other world, the reader may consult rio's _l'art chrétien_, vol. ii. p. . the record of perugino's arming himself in dec. , together with a notorious assassin, aulista di angelo of perugia, in order to waylay and beat a private enemy of his near s. pietro maggiore at florence is quoted by crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. iii. p. . [ ] "guadagnò molte ricchezze; e in fiorenza murò e comprò case; ed in perugia ed a castello della pieve acquistò molti beni stahili." vasari, vol. vi. p. . [ ] "goffo nell arte." see vasari, vol. vi. p. . see too above, p. . [ ] i select these for comment rather than the frescoes at spello, beautiful as these are, because they have more interest in relation to the style of the renaissance. [ ] the "assumption" in s. frediano at lucca should also be mentioned as one of francia's masterpieces. [ ] his father was a muleteer of suffignano, who settled at florence, in a house and garden near the gate of s. piero gattolino. he was born in , and he died in . [ ] in s. domenico at prato in . he afterwards resided in s. marco at florence. [ ] may , . [ ] in addition to the pictures mentioned above, i may call attention to the adoring figure of s. catherine of siena, in three large paintings--now severally in the pitti, at lucca, and in the louvre. [ ] in the uffizzi. as a composition, it is the frate's masterpiece. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. , for this consequence of the sack of prato. [ ] _l'art chrétien_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] two of our best portraits of savonarola, the earlier inscribed "hieronymi ferrariensis a deo missi prophetae effigies," the later treated to represent s. peter martyr, are from the hand of fra bartolommeo. see crowe and cavalcaselle, vol. iii. p. . [ ] see below, chapter vii. [ ] this sonnet i have translated into english with such closeness to the original words as i found possible:-- he who can do not what he wills, should try to will what he can do; for since 'tis vain to will what can't be compassed, to abstain from idle wishing is philosophy. lo, all our happiness and grief imply knowledge or not of will's ability: they therefore can, who will what ought to be. nor wrest true reason from her seat awry. nor what a man can, should he always will: oft seemeth sweet what after is not so; and what i wished, when had, hath cost a tear. then, reader of these lines, if thou wouldst still be helpful to thyself, to others dear, will to can alway what thou ought to do. [ ] see the letter addressed by lionardo to lodovico sforza enumerating his claims as a mechanician, military and civil engineer, architect, &c. it need scarcely be mentioned that he served cesare borgia and the florentine republic as an engineer, and that much of his time at milan was spent in hydraulic works upon the adda. it should be added here that lionardo committed the results of his discoveries to writing; but he published very little, and that by no means the most precious portion of his thoughts. he founded at milan an academy of arts and sciences, if this name may be given to a reunion of artists, scholars, and men of the world, to whom it is probable that he communicated his researches in anatomy. the _treatise on painting_, which bears his name, is a compilation from notes and mss. first printed in . [ ] the folio volume of sketches in the ambrosian library at milan contains designs for all these works. the collection in the royal library at windsor is no less rich. among lionardo's scientific drawings in the latter place may be mentioned a series of maps illustrating the river system of central italy, with plans for improved drainage. [ ] shelley says of the poet:-- he will watch from dawn to gloom the lake-reflected sun illume the yellow bees in the ivy bloom; nor heed nor see what things they be, but from these create he can forms more real than living man, nurslings of immortality. [ ] see de stendhal, _histoire de la peinture en italie_, p. , for this story. [ ] in the _treatise on painting_, da vinci argues strongly against isolating man. he regarded the human being as in truth a microcosm to be only understood in relation to the world around him, expressing, as a painter, the same thought as pico. (see vol. ii., _revival of learning,_ p. .) therefore he urges the claims of landscape on the attention of artists. [ ] i might refer in detail to four studies of bramble branches, leaves, and flowers and fruit, in the royal collection at windsor, most wonderful for patient accuracy and delicate execution: also to drawings of oak leaves, wild guelder-rose, broom, columbine, asphodel, bull-rush, and wood-spurge in the same collection. these careful studies are as valuable for the botanist as for the artist. to render the specific character of each plant with greater precision would be impossible. [ ] see the series of anatomical studies of the horse in the royal collection. [ ] engraved by edelinck. the drawing has obvious lionardesque qualities; but how far it may be from the character of the original we can guess by rubens' transcript from mantegna. (see above, chapter vi, mantegna's biography.) de stendhal says wittily of this work, "c'est virgile traduit par madame de staël," op. cit. p. . [ ] in the royal collection at windsor there are anatomical drawings for the construction of an imaginary quadruped with gigantic claws. the bony, muscular, and venous structure of its legs and feet is accurately indicated. [ ] see the drawings engraved and published by gerli in his _disegni di lionardo da vinci_, milan, . [ ] vasari is the chief source of these legends. giraldi lomazzo, the milanese historian of painting, and bandello, the novelist, supply further details. it appears from all accounts that lionardo impressed his contemporaries as a singular and most commanding personality. there is a touch of reverence in even the strangest stories, which is wanting in the legend of piero di cosimo. [ ] even michael angelo, meeting him in florence, flung in his teeth that "he had made the model of a horse to cast in bronze, and could not cast it, and through shame left it as it was unfinished." see _arch. st. it._, serie terza, xvi. . [ ] in the royal collection at windsor there is a whole series of studies for these two statues, together with drawings for the mould in which lionardo intended to cast them. the second of the two is sketched with great variety of motive. the horse is rearing; the fallen enemy is vainly striving to defend himself; the victor in one drawing is reining in his steed, in another is waving a truncheon, in a third is brandishing his sword, in a fourth is holding the sword in act to thrust. the designs for the pedestals, sometimes treated as a tomb and sometimes as a fountain, are equally varied. [ ] "concevoir," said balzac, "c'est jouir, c'est fumer des cigarettes enchantées; mais sans l'exécution tout s'en va en rêve et en fumée." quoted by sainte-beuve, _causeries du lundi_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. , . [ ] it was finished, according to fra paciolo, in . [ ] signorelli, with his usual originality, chose the moment when christ broke bread and gave it to his disciples. in that rare picture at cortona, we see not the betrayed chief but the founder of a new religion. [ ] the cenacolo alone will not enable the student to understand lionardo. he must give his attention to the master's sketch books, those studies in chalk, in tempera, on thin canvas and paper, prepared for the stylus or the pen, which vasari calls the final triumphs of designing, and of which, in spite of the loss of many of his books, the surviving specimens are very numerous. some are easily accessible in gerli, chamberlaine, and the autotype reproductions. it is possible that a sympathetic student may get closer to the all-embracing and all-daring genius of the magician through these drawings than if he had before him an elaborate work in fresco or in oils. they express the many-sided, mobile, curious, and subtle genius of the man in its entirety. [ ] "raffaello, che era la gentilezza stessa ... restavano vinti dalla cortesia e dall' arte sua, ma più dal genio della sua buona natura; la quale era si piena di gentilezza e si colma di carità, che egli si vedeva che fino agli animali l'onoravano, non che gli uomini."--vasari, vol. viii. pp. , . [ ] see above, chapter vi, fra bartolommeo. [ ] the "holy family" at munich, and the "madonna del baldacchino" in the pitti, might be mentioned as experiments on raphael's part to perfect the frate's scheme of composition. [ ] see vasari, vol. viii. p. , for a description of the concord that reigned in this vast workshop. the genius and the gentle nature of raphael penetrated the whole group of artists, and seemed to give them a single soul. [ ] the fresco of "alexander" in the palazzo borghese is by an imitator. [ ] the "madonna di san sisto" was painted for a banner to be borne in processions. it is a subtle observation of rio that the banner, an invention of the umbrian school, corresponds in painting to the hymn in poetry. [ ] see vol. ii., _revival of learning_, p. , for raphael's letter on this subject to leo x. [ ] "la spasimo di sicilia" is the single passion picture of raphael's maturity. the predella of "christ carrying the cross" at leigh court, and the "christ showing his wounds" in the tosi gallery at brescia, are both early works painted under umbrian influence. the borghese "entombment," painted for atalanta baglioni, a pen-and-ink drawing of the "pietà" in the louvre collection, marc antonio's engraving of the "massacre of the innocents," and an early picture of the "agony in the garden," are all the other painful subjects i can now remember. [ ] for a fuller working out of this analysis i must refer to my _sketches in italy_, article "parma." much that follows is a quotation from that essay. [ ] much of the controversy about michael angelo, which is continually being waged between his admirers and his detractors, might be set at rest if it were acknowledged that there are two distinct ways of judging works of art. we may regard them simply as appealing to our sense of beauty, and affording harmonious intellectual pleasure. or we may regard them as expressing the thought and spirit of their age, and as utterances made by men whose hearts burned within them. critics trained in the study of good greek sculpture, or inclined by temperament to admire the earlier products of italian painting, are apt to pursue the former path exclusively. they demand serenity and simplicity. perturbation and violence they denounce as blemishes. it does not occur to them that, though the phenomenon is certainly rare, it does occasionally happen that a man arises whose art is for him the language of his soul, and who lives in sympathetic relation to the sternest interests of his age. if such an artist be born when tranquil thought and serene emotions are impossible for one who feels the meaning of his times with depth, he must either paint and carve lies, or he must abandon the serenity that was both natural and easy to the greek and the earlier italian. michael angelo was one of these select artistic natures. he used his chisel and his pencil to express, not merely beautiful artistic motives, but what he felt and thought about the world in which he had to live: and this world was full of the ruin of republics, the corruption and humiliation of society, the subjection of italy to strangers. in michael angelo the student of both art and history finds an inestimably precious and rare point of contact between the inner spirit of an age, and its external expression in sculpture and painting. chapter vii venetian painting painting bloomed late in venice--conditions offered by venice to art--shelley and pietro aretino--political circumstances of venice--comparison with florence--the ducal palace--art regarded as an adjunct to state pageantry--myth of venezia--heroic deeds of venice--tintoretto's paradise and guardi's picture of a ball--early venetian masters of murano--gian bellini--carpaccio's little angels--the madonna of s. zaccaria--giorgione--allegory, idyll, expression of emotion--the monk at the clavichord--titian, tintoret, and veronese--tintoretto's attempt to dramatise venetian art--veronese's mundane splendour--titian's sophoclean harmony--their schools--further characteristics of veronese--of tintoretto--his imaginative energy--predominant poetry--titian's perfection of balance--assumption of madonna--spirit common to the great venetians. it was a fact of the greatest importance for the development of the fine arts in italy that painting in venice reached maturity later than in florence. owing to this circumstance one chief aspect of the renaissance, its material magnificence and freedom, received consummate treatment at the hands of titian, tintoretto, and veronese. to idealise the sensualities of the external universe, to achieve for colour what the florentines had done for form, to invest the worldly grandeur of human life at one of its most gorgeous epochs with the dignity of the highest art, was what these great artists were called on to accomplish. their task could not have been so worthily performed in the fifteenth century as in the sixteenth, if the development of the aesthetic sense had been more premature among the venetians. venice was precisely fitted for the part her painters had to play. free, isolated, wealthy, powerful; famous throughout europe for the pomp of her state equipage, and for the immorality of her private manners; ruled by a prudent aristocracy, who spent vast wealth on public shows and on the maintenance of a more than imperial civic majesty: venice, with her pavement of liquid chrysoprase, with her palaces of porphyry and marble, her frescoed façades, her quays and squares aglow with the costumes of the levant, her lagoons afloat with the galleys of all nations, her churches floored with mosaics, her silvery domes and ceilings glittering with sculpture bathed in molten gold: venice luxurious in the light and colour of a vaporous atmosphere, where sea-mists rose into the mounded summer clouds; arched over by the broad expanse of sky, bounded only by the horizon of waves and plain and distant mountain ranges, and reflected in all its many hues of sunrise and sunset upon the glassy surface of smooth waters: venice asleep like a miracle of opal or of pearl upon the bosom of an undulating lake:--here and here only on the face of the whole globe was the unique city wherein the pride of life might combine with the lustre of the physical universe to create and stimulate in the artist a sense of all that was most sumptuous in the pageant of the world of sense. there is colour in flowers. gardens of tulips are radiant, and mountain valleys touch the soul with the beauty of their pure and gemlike hues. therefore the painters of flanders and of umbria, john van eyck and gentile da fabriano, penetrated some of the secrets of the world of colour. but what are the purples and scarlets and blues of iris, anemone, or columbine, dispersed among deep meadow grasses or trained in quiet cloister garden-beds, when compared with that melodrama of flame and gold and rose and orange and azure, which the skies and lagoons of venice yield almost daily to the eyes? the venetians had no green fields and trees, no garden borders, no blossoming orchards, to teach them the tender suggestiveness, the quaint poetry of isolated or contrasted tints. their meadows were the fruitless furrows of the adriatic, hued like a peacock's neck; they called the pearl-shells of their lido flowers, _fior di mare_. nothing distracted their attention from the glories of morning and of evening presented to them by their sea and sky. it was in consequence of this that the venetians conceived colour heroically, not as a matter of missal-margins or of subordinate decoration, but as a motive worthy in itself of sublime treatment. in like manner, hedged in by no limitary hills, contracted by no city walls, stifled by no narrow streets, but open to the liberal airs of heaven and ocean, the venetians understood space and imagined pictures almost boundless in their immensity. light, colour, air, space: those are the elemental conditions of venetian art; of those the painters weaved their ideal world for beautiful and proud humanity. shelley's description of a venetian sunset strikes the keynote to venetian painting:[ ]-- as those who pause on some delightful way, though bent on pleasant pilgrimage, we stood looking upon the evening and the flood, which lay between the city and the shore, paved with the image of the sky: the hoar and airy alps, towards the north appeared, through mist, a heaven-sustaining bulwark, reared between the east and west; and half the sky was roofed with clouds of rich emblazonry, dark purple at the zenith, which still grew down the steep west into a wondrous hue brighter than burning gold, even to the rent where the swift sun yet paused in his descent among the many-folded hills--they were those famous euganean hills, which bear, as seen from lido through the harbour piles, the likeness of a clump of peaked isles-- and then, as if the earth and sea had been dissolved into one lake of fire, were seen those mountains towering, as from waves of flame, around the vaporous sun, from which there came the inmost purple spirit of light, and made their very peaks transparent. "ere it fade," said my companion, "i will show you soon a better station." so, o'er the lagune we glided: and from that funereal bark i leaned, and saw the city; and could mark how from their many isles, in evening's gleam, its temples and its palaces did seem like fabrics of enchantment piled to heaven. with this we may compare the following extract from a letter, addressed in may to titian, by one of the most unprincipled of literary bandits who have ever disgraced humanity, but who nevertheless was solemnised to the spirit of true poetry by the grandiose aspect of nature as it appeared to him in venice. that pietro aretino should have so deeply felt the charm of natural beauty in an age when even the greatest artists and poets sought inspiration in human life rather than the outer world, is a significant fact. it seems to illustrate the necessity whereby venice became the cradle of the art of nature.[ ] "having, dear sir, and my best gossip, supped alone to the injury of my custom, or, to speak more truly, supped in the company of all the boredoms of a cursed quartan fever, which will not let me taste the flavour of any food, i rose from table sated with the same disgust with which i had sat down to it. in this mood i went and leaned my arms upon the sill outside my window, and throwing my chest and nearly all my body on the marble, abandoned myself to the contemplation of the spectacle presented by the innumerable boats, filled with foreigners as well as people of the city, which gave delight not merely to the gazers, but also to the grand canal itself, that perpetual delight of all who plough its waters. from this animated scene, all of a sudden, like one who from mere _ennui_ knows not how to occupy his mind, i turned my eyes to heaven, which, from the moment when god made it, was never adorned with such painted loveliness of lights and shadows. the whole region of the air was what those who envy you, because they are unable to be you, would fain express. to begin with, the buildings of venice, though of solid stone, seemed made of some ethereal substance. then the sky was full of variety--here clear and ardent, there dulled and overclouded. what marvellous clouds there were! masses of them in the centre of the scene hung above the house-roofs, while the immediate part was formed of a grey tint inclining to dark. i gazed astonished at the varied colours they displayed. the nearer masses burned with flames of sunset; the more remote blushed with a blaze of crimson less afire. oh, how splendidly did nature's pencil treat and dispose that airy landscape, keeping the sky apart from the palaces, just as titian does! on one side the heavens showed a greenish-blue, on another a bluish-green, invented verily by the caprice of nature, who is mistress of the greatest masters. with her lights and her darks, there she was harmonising, toning, and bringing out into relief, just as she wished. seeing which, i who know that your pencil is the spirit of her inmost soul, cried aloud thrice or four tines, 'oh, titian! where are you now?'" in order to understand the destiny of venice in art, it is not enough to concentrate attention on the peculiarities of her physical environment. potent as these were in the creation of her style, the political and social conditions of the republic require also to be taken into account. among italian cities venice was unique. she alone was tranquil in her empire, unimpeded in her constitutional development, independent of church interference, undisturbed by the cross purposes and intrigues of the despots, inhabited by merchants who were princes, and by a free-born people who had never seen war at their gates. the serenity of undisturbed security, the luxury of wealth amassed abroad and liberally spent at home, gave a physiognomy of ease and proud self-confidence to all her edifices. the grim and anxious struggles of the middle ages left no mark on venice. how different was this town from florence, every inch of whose domain could tell of civic warfare, whose passionate aspirations after independence ended in the despotism of the bourgeois medici, whose repeated revolutions had slavery for their climax, whose grey palaces bore on their fronts the stamp of mediaeval vigilance, whose spirit was incarnated in dante the exile, whose enslavement forced from michael angelo those groans of a chained titan expressed in the marbles of s. lorenzo! it is not an insignificant, though a slight, detail, that the predominant colour of florence is brown, while the predominant colour of venice is that of mother-of-pearl, concealing within its general whiteness every tint that can be placed upon the palette of a painter. the conditions of florence stimulated mental energy and turned the forces of the soul inwards. those of venice inclined the individual to accept life as he found it. instead of exciting him to think, they disposed him to enjoy, or to acquire by industry the means of manifold enjoyment. to represent in art the intellectual strivings of the renaissance was the task of florence and her sons; to create a monument of renaissance magnificence was the task of venice. without venice the modern world could not have produced that flower of sensuous and unreflective loveliness in painting, which is worthy to stand beside the highest product of the greek genius in sculpture. for athena from her parthenon stretches the hand to venezia enthroned in the ducal palace. the broad brows and earnest eyes of the hellenic goddess are of one divine birth and lineage with the golden hair and superb carriage of the sea-queen. it is in the heart of venice, in the house of the republic, that the venetian painters, considered as the interpreters of worldly splendour, fulfilled their function with the most complete success. centuries contributed to make the ducal palace what it is. the massive colonnades and gothic loggias of the external basement date from the thirteenth century; their sculpture belongs to the age when niccola pisano's genius was in the ascendant. the square fabric of the palace, so beautiful in the irregularity of its pointed windows, so singular in its mosaic diaper of pink and white, was designed at the same early period. the inner court and the façade that overhangs the lateral canal, display the handiwork of sansovino. the halls of the palace--spacious chambers where the senate assembled, where ambassadors approached the doge, where the savi deliberated, where the council of ten conducted their inquisition--are walled and roofed with pictures of inestimable value, encased in framework of carved oak; overlaid with burnished gold. supreme art--the art of the imagination perfected with delicate and skilful care in detail--is made in these proud halls the minister of mundane pomp. in order that the gold brocade of the ducal robes, that the scarlet and crimson of the venetian senator, might, be duly harmonised by the richness of their surroundings, it was necessary that canvases measured by the square yard, and rendered priceless by the authentic handiwork of titian, tintoret, and veronese, should glow upon the walls and ceilings. a more insolent display of public wealth--a more lavish outpouring of human genius in the service of state pageantry, cannot be imagined. sublime over all allegories and histories depicted in those multitudes of paintings, sits venezia herself enthroned and crowned, the personification of haughtiness and power. figured as a regal lady, with yellow hair tightly knotted round a small head poised upon her upright throat and ample shoulders, venice takes her chair of sovereignty--as mistress of the ocean to whom neptune and the tritons offer pearls, as empress of the globe at whose footstool wait justice with the sword and peace with the olive branch, as a queen of heaven exalted to the clouds. they have made her a goddess, those great painters; they have produced a mythus, and personified in native loveliness that bride of the sea, their love, their lady. the beauty of venetian women and the glory of venetian empire find their meeting point in her, and live as the spirit of athens lived in pallas promachos. on every side, above, around, wherever the eye falls in those vast rooms, are seen the deeds of venice--painted histories of her triumphs over emperors and popes and infidels, or allegories of her greatness--scenes wherein the doges perform acts of faith, with s. mark for their protector, and with venezia for their patroness. the saints in paradise, massed together by tintoretto and by palma, mingle with mythologies of greece and rome, and episodes of pure idyllic painting. religion in these pictures was a matter of parade, an adjunct to the costly public life of the republic. we need not, therefore, conclude that it was unreal. such as it was, the religion of the venetian masters is indeed as genuine as that of fra angelico or albert dürer. but it was the faith, not of humble men or of mystics, not of profound thinkers or ecstatic visionaries, so much as of courtiers and statesmen, of senators and merchants, for whom religion was a function among other functions, not a thing apart, not a source of separate and supreme vitality. even as christians, the venetians lived a life separate from the rest of italy. their church claimed independence of the see of rome, and the enthusiasm of s. francis was but faintly felt in the lagoons. siena in her hour of need dedicated herself to madonna; florence in the hour of her regeneration gave herself to christ; venice remained under the ensign of the leonine s. mark. while the cities of lombardy and central italy ran wild with revivalism and religious panics, the venetians maintained their calm, and never suffered piety to exceed the limits of political prudence. there is, therefore, no mystical exaltation in the faith depicted by her artists. that tintoretto could have painted the saints in glory--a countless multitude of congregated forms, a sea whereof the waves are souls--as a background for state ceremony, shows the positive and realistic attitude of mind from which the most imaginative of venetian masters started, when he undertook the most exalted of religious themes. paradise is a fact, we may fancy tintoretto reasoned; and it is easier to fill a quarter of an acre of canvas with a picture of paradise than with any other subject, because the figures can be arranged in concentric tiers round christ and madonna in glory. there is a little sketch by guardi representing a masked ball in the council chamber where the "paradise" of tintoretto fills a wall. the men are in periwigs and long waistcoats; the ladies wear hoops, patches, fans, high heels, and powder. bowing, promenading, intriguing, exchanging compliments or repartees, they move from point to point; while from the billowy surge of saints, moses with the table of the law and the magdalen with her adoring eyes of penitence look down upon them. tintoretto could not but have foreseen that the world of living pettiness and passion would perpetually jostle with his world of painted sublimities and sanctities in that vast hall. yet he did not on that account shrink from the task or fail in its accomplishment. paradise existed: therefore it could be painted; and he was called upon to paint it here. if the fine gentlemen and ladies below felt out of harmony with the celestial host, so much the worse for them. in this practical spirit the venetian masters approached religious art, and such was the sphere appointed for it in the pageantry of the republic. when paolo veronese was examined by the holy office respecting some supposed irreverence in a sacred picture, his answers clearly proved that in planning it he had thought less of its spiritual significance than of its aesthetic effect.[ ] in the ducal palace the venetian art of the renaissance culminates; and here we might pause a moment to consider the difference between these paintings and the mediaeval frescoes of the palazzo pubblico at siena.[ ] the sienese painters consecrated all their abilities to the expression of thoughts, theories of political self-government in a free state, and devotional ideas. the citizen who read the lesson of the sala della pace was instructed in his duties to god and to the state. the venetian painters, as we have seen, exalted venice and set forth her acts of power. their work is a glorification of the republic; but no doctrine is inculcated, and no system of thought is conveyed to the mind through the eye. daily pacing the saloons of the palace, doge and noble were reminded of the greatness of the state they represented. they were not invited to reflect upon the duties of the governor and governed. their imaginations were dilated and their pride roused by the spectacle of venice seated like a goddess in her home. of all the secular states of italy the republic of s. mark's alone produced this mythical ideal of the body politic, self-sustained and independent of the citizens, compelling their allegiance, and sustaining them through generations with the life of its organic unity.[ ] the artists had no reason to paint thoughts and theories. it was enough to set forth venice and to illustrate her acts. long before venetian painting reached a climax in the decorative triumphs of the ducal palace, the masters of the school had formed a style expressive of the spirit of the renaissance, considered as the spirit of free enjoyment and living energy. to trace the history of venetian painting is to follow through its several stages the growth of that mastery over colour and sensuous beauty which was perfected in the works of titian and his contemporaries.[ ] under the vivarini of murano the venetian school in its infancy began with a selection from the natural world of all that struck them as most brilliant. no other painters of their age in italy employed such glowing colours, or showed a more marked predilection for the imitation of fruits, rich stuffs, architectural canopies, jewels, and landscape backgrounds. their piety, unlike the mysticism of the sienese and the deep thought of the florentine masters, is somewhat superficial and conventional. the merit of their devotional pictures consists of simplicity, vivacity, and joyousness. our lady and her court of saints seem living and breathing upon earth. there is no atmosphere of tranced solemnity surrounding them, like that which gives peculiar meaning to similar works of the van eycks and memling--artists, by the way, who in many important respects are more nearly allied than any others to the spirit of the first age of venetian painting.[ ] what the vivarini began, the three bellini,[ ] with crivelli, carpaccio, mansueti, basaiti, catena, cima da conegliano, bissolo, cordegliaghi, continued. bright costumes, distinct and sunny landscapes, broad backgrounds of architecture, large skies, polished armour, gilded cornices, young faces of fisherboys and country girls,[ ] grave faces of old men brown with sea-wind and sunlight, withered faces of women hearty in a hale old age, the strong manhood of venetian senators, the dignity of patrician ladies, the gracefulness of children, the rosy whiteness and amber-coloured tresses of the daughters of the adriatic and lagoons--these are the source of inspiration to the venetians of the second period. mantegna, a few miles distant, at padua, was working out his ideal of severely classical design. yet he scarcely touched the manner of the venetians with his influence, though gian bellini was his brother-in-law and pupil, and though his genius, in grasp of matter and in management of composition, soared above his neighbours. lionardo da vinci at milan was perfecting his problems of psychology in painting, offering to the world solutions of the greatest difficulties in the delineation of the spirit by expression. yet not a trace of lionardo's subtle play of light and shadow upon thoughtful features can be discerned in the work of the bellini. for them the mysteries of the inner and the outer world had no attraction. the externals of a full and vivid existence fascinated their imagination. their poetry and their piety were alike simple and objective. how to depict the world as it is seen--a miracle of varying lights and melting hues, a pageant substantial to the touch and concrete to the eyes, a combination of forms defined by colours more than outlines--was their task. they did not reach their end by anatomy, analysis, and reconstruction. they undertook to paint just what they felt and saw. very instructive are the wall-pictures of this period, painted not in fresco but on canvas by carpaccio and gentile bellini, for the decoration of the scuole of s. ursula and s. croce.[ ] not only do these bring before us the life of venice in its manifold reality, but they illustrate the tendency of the venetian masters to express the actual world, rather than to formulate an ideal of the fancy or to search the secrets of the soul. this realism, if the name can be applied to pictures so poetical as those of carpaccio, is not, like the florentine realism, hard and scientific. a natural feeling for grace and a sense of romance inspire the artist, and breathe from every figure that he paints. the type of beauty produced is charming by its negligence and _naïveté_; it is not thought out with pains or toilsomely elaborated.[ ] among the loveliest motives used in the altar-pieces of this period might be mentioned the boy-angels playing flutes and mandolines beneath madonna on the steps of her throne. there are usually three of them, seated, or sometimes standing. they hold their instruments of music as though they had just ceased from singing, and were ready to recommence at the pleasure of their mistress. meanwhile there is a silence in the celestial company, through which the still voice of the praying heart is heard, a silence corresponding to the hushed mood of the worshipper.[ ] the children are accustomed to the holy place; therefore their attitudes are both reverent and natural. they are more earthly than fra angelico's melodists, and yet they are not precisely of human lineage. it is not, perhaps, too much to say that they strike the keynote of venetian devotion, at once real and devoid of pietistic rapture. gian bellini brought the art of this second period to completion. in his sacred pictures the reverential spirit of early italian painting is combined with a feeling for colour and a dexterity in its manipulation peculiar to venice. bellini cannot be called a master of the full renaissance. he falls into the same class as francia and perugino, who adhered to _quattrocento_ modes of thought and sentiment, while attaining at isolated points to the freedom of the renaissance. in him the colourists of the next age found an absolute teacher; no one has surpassed him in the difficult art of giving tone to pure tints in combination. there is a picture of bellini's in s. zaccaria at venice--madonna enthroned with saints--where the skill of the colourist may be said to culminate in unsurpassable perfection. the whole painting is bathed in a soft but luminous haze of gold; yet each figure has its individuality of treatment, the glowing fire of s. peter contrasting with the pearly coolness of the drapery and flesh-tints of the magdalen. no brush-work is perceptible. surface and substance have been elaborated into one harmonious richness that defies analysis. between this picture, so strong in its smoothness, and any masterpiece of velasquez, so rugged in its strength, what a wide abyss of inadequate half-achievement, of smooth feebleness and feeble ruggedness, exists! giorgione, did we but possess enough of his authentic works to judge by, would be found the first painter of the true renaissance among the venetians, the inaugurate of the third and great period.[ ] he died at the age of thirty-six, the inheritor of unfulfilled renown. time has destroyed the last vestige of his frescoes. criticism has reduced the number of his genuine easel pictures to half a dozen. he exists as a great name. the part he played in the development of venetian art was similar to that of marlowe in the history of our drama. he first cut painting altogether adrift from mediaeval moorings, and launched it on the waves of the renaissance liberty. while equal as a colourist to bellini, though in a different and more sensuous region, giorgione, by the variety and inventiveness of his conception, proved himself a painter of the calibre of titian. sacred subjects he seems to have but rarely treated, unless such purely idyllic pictures as the "finding of moses" in the uffizzi, and the "meeting of jacob and rachel" at dresden deserve the name. allegories of deep and problematic meaning, the key whereof has to be found in states of the emotion rather than, in thoughts, delighted him. he may be said to have invented the venetian species of romance picture, where an episode in a novella forms the motive of the painting.[ ] nor was he deficient in tragic power, as the tremendous study for a lucrece in the uffizzi collection sufficiently proves. in his drawings he models the form without outline by massive distribution of light and dark. in style they are the very opposite of lionardo's clearly defined studies touched with the metal point upon prepared paper. they suggest colouring, and are indeed the designs of a great colourist, who saw things under the conditions of their tints and tone. of the undisputed pictures by giorgione, the grandest is the "monk at the clavichord," in the pitti palace at florence.[ ] the young man has his fingers on the keys; he is modulating in a mood of grave and sustained emotion; his head is turned away towards an old man standing near him. on the other side of the instrument is a boy. these two figures are but foils and adjuncts to the musician in the middle; and the whole interest of his face lies in its concentrated feeling--the very soul of music, as expressed in mr. robert browning's "abt vogler," passing through his eyes. this power of painting the portrait of an emotion, of depicting by the features a deep and powerful but tranquil moment of the inner life, must have been possessed by giorgione in an eminent degree. we find it again in the so-called "begrüssung" of the dresden gallery.[ ] the picture is a large landscape, jacob and rachel meet and salute each other with a kiss. but the shepherd lying beneath the shadow of a chestnut tree beside a well has a whole arcadia of intense yearning in the eyes of sympathy he fixes on the lovers. something of this faculty, it may be said in passing, descended to bonifazio, whose romance pictures are among the most charming products of venetian art, and one of whose singing women in the feast of dives has the giorgionesque fulness of inner feeling. fate has dealt less unkindly with titian, tintoret, and veronese than with giorgione. the works of these artists, in whom the venetian renaissance attained completion, have been preserved in large numbers and in excellent condition. chronologically speaking, titian, the contemporary of giorgione, precedes tintoretto, and tintoretto is somewhat earlier than veronese.[ ] but for the purpose of criticism the three painters may be considered together as the representatives of three marked aspects in the fully developed venetian style. tintoretto, called by the italians the thunderbolt of painting, because of his vehement impulsiveness and rapidity of execution, soars above his brethren by the faculty of pure imagination. it was he who brought to its perfection the poetry of _chiaroscuro_, expressing moods of passion and emotion by brusque lights, luminous half-shadows, and semi-opaque darkness, no less unmistakably than beethoven by symphonic modulations. he too engrafted on the calm and natural venetian manner something of the michael angelesque sublimity, and sought to vary by dramatic movement the romantic motives of his school. in his work, more than in that of his contemporaries, venetian art ceased to be decorative and idyllic. veronese elevated pageantry to the height of serious art. his domain is noonday sunlight ablaze on sumptuous dresses and palladian architecture. where tintoretto is dramatic, he is scenic. titian, in a wise harmony, without either the Æschylean fury of tintoretto, or the material gorgeousness of veronese, realised an ideal of pure beauty. continuing the traditions of bellini and giorgione, with a breadth of treatment, and a vigour of well-balanced faculties peculiar to himself, titian gave to colour in landscape and the human form a sublime yet sensuous poetry no other painter in the world has reached. tintoretto and veronese are, both of them, excessive. the imagination of tintoretto is too passionate and daring; it scathes and blinds like lightning. the sense of splendour in veronese is overpoweringly pompous. titian's exquisite humanity, his large and sane nature, gives proper value to the imaginative and the scenic elements of the venetian style, without exaggerating either. in his masterpieces thought, colour, sentiment, and composition--the spiritual and technical elements of art--exist in perfect balance; one harmonious tone is given to all the parts of his production, nor can it be said that any quality asserts itself to the injury of the rest. titian, the sophocles of painting, has infused into his pictures the spirit of music, the dorian mood of flutes and soft recorders, making power incarnate in a form of grace. round these great men are grouped a host of secondary but distinguished painters--palma with his golden-haired large-bosomed sirens; idyllic bonifazio; dramatic pordenone, whose frescoes are all motion and excitement; paris bordone, who mingled on his canvas cream and mulberry juice and sunbeams; the robusti, the caliari, the bassani, and others whom it would be tedious to mention. one breath, one afflatus, inspired them all; and it is due to this coherence in their style and inspiration that the school of venice, taken as a whole, can show more masterpieces by artists of the second class than any other in italy. superior or inferior as they may relatively be among themselves, each bears the indubitable stamp of the venetian renaissance, and produces work of a quality that raises him to high rank among the painters of the world. in the same way the spirit of the renaissance, passing over the dramatists of our elizabethan age, enabled intellects of average force to take rank in the company of the noblest. ford, massinger, heywood, decker, webster, fletcher, tourneur, marston, are seated round the throne at the feet of shakspere, marlowe, and jonson. in order to penetrate the characteristics of venetian art more thoroughly, it will be needful to enter into detailed criticism of the three chief masters who command the school. to begin with veronese. his canvases are nearly always large--filled with figures of the size of life, massed together in groups or extended in long lines beneath white marble colonnades, which enclose spaces of clear sky and silvery clouds. armour, shot silks and satins, brocaded canopies, banners, plate, fruit, sceptres, crowns, all things, in fact, that burn and glitter in the sun, form the habitual furniture of his pictures. rearing horses, dogs, dwarfs, cats, when occasion serves, are used to add reality, vivacity, grotesqueness to his scenes. his men and women are large, well proportioned, vigorous--eminent for pose and gesture rather than for grace or loveliness--distinguished by adult more than adolescent qualities. veronese has no choice type of beauty for either sex. we find in him, on the contrary, a somewhat coarse display of animal force in men, and of superb voluptuousness in women. he prefers to paint women draped in gorgeous raiment, as if he had not felt the beauty of the nude. their faces are too frequently unrefined and empty of expression. his noblest creatures are men of about twenty-five, manly, brawny, crisp-haired, full of nerve and blood. in all this veronese resembles rubens. but he does not, like rubens, strike us as gross, sensual, fleshly;[ ] he remains proud, powerful, and frigidly materialistic. he raises neither repulsion nor desire, but displays with the calm strength of art the empire of the mundane spirit. all the equipage of wealth and worldliness, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life--such a vision as the fiend offered to christ on the mountain of temptation; this is veronese's realm. again, he has no flashes of poetic imagination like tintoretto; but his grip on the realities of the world, his faculty for idealising prosaic magnificence, is even greater. veronese was precisely the painter suited to a nation of merchants, in whom the associations of the counting-house and the exchange mingled with the responsibilities of the senate and the passions of princes. he never portrayed vehement emotions. there are no brusque movements, no extended arms, like those of tintoretto's magdalen in the "pietà" at milan, in his pictures. his christs and maries and martyrs of all sorts are composed, serious, courtly, well-fed personages, who, like people of the world accidentally overtaken by some tragic misfortune, do not stoop to distortions or express more than a grave surprise, a decorous sense of pain.[ ] his angelic beings are equally earthly. the venetian rothschilds no doubt preferred the ceremonial to the imaginative treatment of sacred themes; and to do him justice, veronese did not make what would in his case have been the mistake of choosing the tragedies of the bible for representation. it is the story of esther, with its royal audiences, coronations, and processions; the marriage feast at cana; the banquet in the house of levi, that he selects by preference. even these themes he removes into a region far from biblical associations. his _mise en scène_ is invariably borrowed from luxurious italian palaces--large open courts and _loggie_, crowded with guests and lacqueys--tables profusely laden with gold and silver plate. the same love of display led him to delight in allegory--not allegory of the deep and mystic kind, but of the pompous and processional, in which venice appears enthroned among the deities, or jupiter fulminates against the vices, or the genii of the arts are personified as handsome women and blooming boys. in dealing with mythology, again, it is not its poetry that he touches; he uses the tale of europa, for example, as the motive for rich toilettes and delightful landscape, choosing the moment that has least in it of pathos. these being the prominent features of his style, it remains to be said that what is really great in veronese is the sobriety of his imagination and the solidity of his workmanship. amid so much that is distracting, he never loses command over his subject; nor does he degenerate into fulsome rhetoric. tintoretto is not at home in this somewhat vulgar region of ceremonial grandeur. he requires both thought and fancy as the stimulus to his creative effort. he cannot be satisfied with reproducing, even in the noblest combinations, merely what he sees around him of resplendent and magnificent. there must be scope for poetry in the conception and for audacity in the projection of his subject, something that shall rouse the prophetic faculty and evoke the seer in the artist, or tintoretto does not rise to his own altitude. accordingly we find that, in contrast with veronese, he selects by preference the most tragic and dramatic subjects to be found in sacred history. the crucifixion, with its agonising deity and prostrate groups of women, sunk below the grief of tears;--the temptation in the wilderness, with its passionate contrast of the grey-robed man of sorrows and the ruby-winged, voluptuous fiend;--the temptation of adam in eden, a glowing allegory of the fascination of the spirit by the flesh;--paradise, a tempest of souls, whirled like lucretian atoms or gold dust in sunbeams by the celestial forces that perform the movement of the spheres;--the destruction of the world, where all the fountains and rivers and lakes and seas of earth have formed one cataract, that thunders with cities and nations on its rapids down a bottomless gulf; while all the winds and hurricanes of the air have grown into one blast, that carries men like dead leaves up to judgment;--the plague of the fiery serpents, with multitudes encoiled and writhing on a burning waste of sand;--the massacre of the innocents, with its spilth of blood on slippery pavements of porphyry and serpentine;--the delivery of the tables of the law to moses amid clouds on sinai, a white ascetic, lightning-smitten man emerging in the glory of apparent godhead;--the anguish of the magdalen above her martyred god;--the solemn silence of christ before the throne of pilate;--the rushing of the wings of seraphim, and the clangour of the trumpet that awakes the dead;--these are the soul-stirring themes that tintoretto handles with the ease of mastery.[ ] meditating upon tintoretto's choice of such subjects, we feel that the profoundest characteristic of his genius is the determination toward motives pre-eminently poetic rather than proper to the figurative arts. the poet imagines a situation in which the intellectual or emotional life is paramount, and the body is subordinate. the painter selects situations in which physical form is of the first importance, and a feeling or a thought is suggested. but tintoretto grapples immediately with poetical ideas; and he often fails to realise them fully through the inadequacy of painting as a medium for such matter. moses, in the drama of the "golden calf," for instance, is a poem, not a true picture.[ ] the pale ecstatic stretching out emaciated arms, presents no beauty of attitude or outline. energy of thought is conspicuous in the figure; and reflection is needed to bring out the purpose of the painter.[ ] it is not, however, only in the region of the vast, tempestuous, and tragic that tintoretto finds himself at home. he is equal to every task that can be imposed upon the imagination. provided only that the spiritual fount be stirred, the jet of living water gushes forth, pure, inexhaustible, and limpid. in his "marriage of bacchus and ariadne," that most perfect lyric of the sensuous fancy from which sensuality is absent;[ ] in his "temptation of adam," that symphony of grey and brown and ivory more lustrous than the hues of sunset; in his "miracle of s. agnes," that lamb-like maiden with her snow-white lamb among the soldiers and the priests of rome, tintoretto has proved beyond all question that the fiery genius of titanic artists can pierce and irradiate the placid and the tender secrets of the soul with more consummate mastery than falls to the lot of those who make tranquillity their special province.[ ] paolo veronese never penetrated to this inner shrine of beauty, this holiest of holies where the spiritual graces dwell. he could not paint waxen limbs, with silver lights and golden and transparent mysteries of shadow, like those of bacchus, eve, and ariadne. titian himself was powerless to imagine movement like that of aphrodite floating in the air, or of madonna adjuring christ in the "paradiso," or of christ himself judging by the silent simplicity of his divine attitude the worldly judge at whose tribunal he stands, or of the tempter raising his jewelled arms aloft to dazzle with meretricious brilliancy the impassive god above him, or of eve leaning in irresistible seductiveness against the fatal tree, or of s. mark down-rushing through the sky to save the slave that cried to him, or of the mary who has fallen asleep with folded hands from utter lassitude of agony at the foot of the cross. it is in these attitudes, movements, gestures, that tintoretto makes the human form an index and symbol of the profoundest, most tragic, most delicious thought and feeling of the inmost soul. in daylight radiancy and equable colouring he is surpassed perhaps by veronese. in mastery of every portion of his art, in solidity of execution, and in unwavering hold upon his subject, he falls below the level of titian. many of his pictures are unworthy of his genius--hurriedly designed, rapidly dashed upon the canvas, studied by candlelight from artificial models, with abnormal effects of light and dark, hastily daubed with pigments that have not stood the test of time. he was a gigantic _improvitsatore_: that is the worst thing we can say of him. but in the swift intuitions of the imagination, in the purities and sublimities of the prophet-poet's soul, neither veronese nor yet even titian can approach him. the greatest difficulty meets the critic who attempts to speak of titian. to seize the salient characteristics of an artist whose glory it is to offer nothing over-prominent, and who keeps the middle path of perfection, is impossible. as complete health may be termed the absence of obtrusive sensation, as virtue has been called the just proportion between two opposite extravagances, so is titian's art a golden mean of joy unbroken by brusque movements of the passions--a well-tempered harmony in which no thrilling note suggests the possibility of discord. in his work the world and men cease to be merely what they are; he makes them what they ought to be: and this he does by separating what is beautiful in sensuous life from its alloy of painful meditation and of burdensome endeavour. the disease of thought is unknown in his kingdom; no divisions exist between the spirit and the flesh; the will is thwarted by no obstacles. when we think of titian, we are irresistibly led to think of music. his "assumption of madonna" (the greatest single oil-painting in the world, if we except raphael's "madonna di san sisto") can best be described as a symphony--a symphony of colour, where every hue is brought into harmonious combination--a symphony of movement, where every line contributes to melodious rhythm--a symphony of light without a cloud--a symphony of joy in which the heavens and earth sing hallelujah. tintoretto, in the scuola di san rocco, painted an "assumption of the virgin" with characteristic energy and impulsiveness. a group of agitated men around an open tomb, a rush of air and clash of seraph wings above, a blaze of glory, a woman borne with sideways-swaying figure from darkness into light;--that is his picture, all _brio_, excitement, speed. quickly conceived, hastily executed, this painting (so far as clumsy restoration suffers us to judge) bears the impress of its author's impetuous genius. but titian worked by a different method. on the earth, among the apostles, there is action enough and passion; ardent faces straining upward, impatient men raising impotent arms and vainly divesting themselves of their mantles, as though they too might follow her they love. in heaven is radiance, half eclipsing the archangel who holds the crown, and revealing the father of spirits in an aureole of golden fire. between earth and heaven, amid choirs of angelic children, rises the mighty mother of the faith of christ, who was mary and is now a goddess, ecstatic yet tranquil, not yet accustomed to the skies, but far above the grossness and the incapacities of earth. her womanhood is so complete that those for whom the meaning of her catholic legend is lost, may hail in her humanity personified. the grand manner can reach no further than in this picture--serene, composed, meditated, enduring, yet full of dramatic force and of profound feeling. whatever titian chose to touch, whether it was classical mythology or portrait, history or sacred subject, he treated in this large and healthful style. it is easy to tire of veronese; it is possible to be fatigued by tintoretto. titian, like nature, waits not for moods or humours in the spectator. he gives to the mind joy of which it can never weary, pleasures that cannot satiate, a satisfaction not to be repented of, a sweetness that will not pall. the least instructed and the simple feel his influence as strongly as the wise or learned. in the course of this attempt to describe the specific qualities of tintoretto, veronese, and titian, i have been more at pains to distinguish differences than to point out similarities. what they had in common was the renaissance spirit as this formed itself in venice. nowhere in italy was art more wholly emancipated from obedience to ecclesiastical traditions, without losing the character of genial and natural piety. nowhere was the christian history treated with a more vivid realism, harmonised more simply with pagan mythology, or more completely purged of mysticism. the umbrian devotion felt by raphael in his boyhood, the prophecy of savonarola, and the platonism of ficino absorbed by michael angelo at florence, the scientific preoccupations of lionardo and the antiquarian interests of mantegna, were all alike unknown at venice. among the venetian painters there was no conflict between art and religion, or art and curiosity--no reaction against previous pietism, no perplexity of conscience, no confusion of aims. titian, tintoretto, and veronese were children of the people, men of the world, men of pleasure; wealthy, urbane, independent, pious:--they were all these by turns; but they were never mystics, scholars, or philosophers. in their aesthetic ideal religion found a place, nor was sensuality rejected; but the religion was sane and manly, the sensuality was vigorous and virile. not the intellectual greatness of the renaissance, but its happiness and freedom, was what they represented. footnotes: [ ] from the beginning of _julian and maddalo_, which relates a ride taken by shelley with lord byron, on the lido, and their visit to the madhouse on its neighbouring island. the description, richly coloured and somewhat confused in detail, seems to me peculiarly true to venetian scenery. with the exception of tunis, i know of no such theatre for sunset-shows as venice. tunis has the same elements of broad lagoons and distant hills, but not the same vaporous atmosphere. [ ] _lettere di messer pietro aretino_, parigi, mdcix, lib. iii. p. . i have made a paraphrase rather than a translation of this rare and curious description. [ ] see yriarte, _un patricien de venise_, p. . [ ] see above, chapter iv, political doctrine expressed in fresco. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] i must refer my readers to crowe and cavalcaselle for an estimate of the influence exercised at venice by gentile de fabriano, john alamannus, and the school of squarcione. antonello da messina brought his method of oil-painting into the city in , and gian bellini learned something at padua from andrea mantegna. the true point about venice, however, is that the venetian character absorbed, assimilated, and converted to its own originality whatever touched it. [ ] the conditions of art in flanders--wealthy, bourgeois, proud, free--were not dissimilar to those of art in venice. the misty flats of belgium have some of the atmospheric qualities of venice. as van eyck is to the vivarini, so is rubens to paolo veronese. this expresses the amount of likeness and of difference. [ ] jacopo and his sons gentile and giovanni. [ ] notice particularly the contadina type of s. catherine in a picture ascribed to cordegliaghi in the venetian academy. [ ] these scuole were the halls of meeting for companies called by the names of patron saints. [ ] notice in particular, from the series of pictures illustrating the legend of s. ursula, the very beautiful faces and figures of the saint herself, and her young bridegroom, the prince of britain. attendant squires and pages in these paintings have all the charm of similar subordinate personages in pinturicchio, with none of his affectation. [ ] the most beautiful of these _angiolini_, with long flakes of flaxen hair falling from their foreheads, are in a sacra conversazione of carpaccio's in the academy. gian bellini's, in many similar pictures, are of the same delicacy. [ ] what follows above about giorgione is advanced with diffidence, since the name of no other great painter has been so freely used to cover the works of his inferiors. [ ] lord lansdowne's giorgionesque picture of a young man crowned with vine, playing and singing to two girls in a garden, for example. the celebrated concert of the louvre gallery, so charming for its landscape and so voluptuous in its dreamy sense of arcadian luxury, is given by crowe and cavalcaselle to an imitator of sebastian del piombo. see _history of painting in north italy_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] under the fire of crowe and cavalcaselle's destructive criticism, it would require more real courage than i possess to speak of the "entombment" in the monte di pietà at treviso as genuine. coarse and unselect as are the types of the boy angels, as well as of the young athletic giant, who plays the part in it of the dead christ, this is a truly grandiose and striking picture. nothing proves the average greatness of the venetian masters more than the possibility of attributing such compositions to obscure and subordinate craftsmen of the school. [ ] crowe and cavalcaselle assign this picture with some confidence and with fair show of reason, to cariani, on whom again they father the frescoes at colleoni's castle of malpaga. i have ventured to notice it above in connection with giorgione, since it exhibits some of the most striking giorgionesque qualities, and shows the ascendency of his imagination over the venetian school. [ ] giorgione, b. ; d. . titian, b. , d. . tintoretto, b. ; d. . veronese, b. ; d. . [ ] i cannot, for example, imagine veronese painting anything like rubens' two pictures of the "last judgment" at munich. [ ] for his sacred types see the "marriage at cana" in the louvre, the little "crucifixion" and the "baptism" of the pitti, and the "martyrdom of s. agata" in the uffizzi. [ ] these examples are mostly chosen from the scuola di s. rocco and the church of s. maria dell' orto at venice; also from "pietàs," in the brera and the pitti, the "paradise" of the ducal palace, and a sketch for "paradise" in the louvre. [ ] s. maria dell' orto. [ ] what is here said about tintoretto is also true of michael angelo. his sculpture in s. lorenzo, compared with greek sculpture, the norm and canon of the perfect in that art, may be called an invasion of the realm of poetry or music. [ ] there are probably not few of my readers who, after seeing this painting in the ducal palace, will agree with me that it is, if not the greatest, at any rate the most beautiful, oil picture in existence. in no other picture has a poem of feeling and of fancy, a romance of varied lights and shades, a symphony of delicately blended hues, a play of attitude and movement transitory but in no sense forced or violent, been more successfully expressed by means more simple or with effect more satisfying. something of the mythopoeic faculty must have survived in tintoretto, and enabled him to inspire the greek tale with this intense vitality of beauty. [ ] the first of these pictures is in the ducal palace, the other two in the academy at venice. chapter viii life of michael angelo contrast of michael angelo and cellini--parentage and boyhood of michael angelo--work with ghirlandajo--gardens of s. marco--the medicean circle--early essays in sculpture--visit to bologna--first visit to rome--the "pietà" of s. peter's--michael angelo as a patriot and a friend of the medici--cartoon for the battle of pisa--michael angelo and julius ii.--the tragedy of the tomb--design for the pope's mausoleum--visit to carrara--flight from rome--michael angelo at bologna--bronze statue of julius--return to rome--ceiling of the sistine chapel--greek and modern art--raphael--michael angelo and leo x.--s. lorenzo--the new sacristy--circumstances under which it was designed and partly finished--meaning of the allegories--incomplete state of michael angelo's marbles--paul iii.--the "last judgment"--critiques of contemporaries--the dome of s. peter's--vittoria colonna--tommaso cavalieri--personal habits of michael angelo--his emotional nature--last illness. the life of italian artists at the time of the renaissance may be illustrated by two biographies. michael angelo buonarroti and benvenuto cellini were almost opposite in all they thought and felt, experienced and aimed at. the one impressed his own strong personality on art; the other reflected the light and shadow of the age in the record of his manifold existence. cellini hovered, like some strong-winged creature, on the surface of human activity, yielding himself to every impulse, seeking every pleasure, and of beauty feeling only the rude animal compulsion. deep philosophic thoughts, ideas of death and judgment, the stern struggles of the soul, encompassed michael angelo; the service of beauty was with him religion. cellini was the creature of the moment--the glass and mirror of corrupt, enslaved, yet still resplendent italy. in michael angelo the genius of the renaissance culminated; but his character was rather that of an austere republican, free and solitary amid the multitudes of slaves and courtiers. michael angelo made art the vehicle of lofty and soul-shaking thought. cellini brought the fervour of an inexhaustibly active nature to the service of sensuality, and taught his art to be the handmaid of a soulless paganism. in these two men, therefore, we study two aspects of their age. how far both were exceptional, need not here be questioned; since their singularity consists not so much in being different from other italians of the sixteenth century as in concentrating qualities elsewhere scattered and imperfect. michael angelo was born in at caprese, among the mountains of the casentino, where his father lodovico held the office of podestà. his ancestry was honourable: the buonarroti even claimed descent, but apparently without due reason, from the princely house of canossa.[ ] his mother gave him to be suckled by a stone-cutter's wife at settignano, so that in after days he used to say that he had drawn in the love of chisels and mallets with his nurse's milk. as he grew, the boy developed an invincible determination towards the arts. lodovico from motives of pride and prudence opposed his wishes, but without success. michael angelo made friends with the lad granacci, who was apprenticed to domenico ghirlandajo, and at last induced his father to sign articles for him to the same painter. in ghirlandajo's workshop he learned the rudiments of art, helping in the execution of the frescoes at s. maria novella, until such time as the pupil proved his superiority as a draughtsman to his teacher. the rupture between michael angelo and ghirlandajo might be compared with that between beethoven and haydn. in both cases a proud, uncompromising, somewhat scornful student sought aid from a master great in his own line but inferior in fire and originality of genius.[ ] in both cases the moment came when pupil and teacher perceived that the eagle could no longer be confined within the hawk's nest, and that henceforth it must sweep the skies alone. after leaving ghirlandajo's _bottega_ at the age of sixteen, michael angelo did in truth thenceforward through his life pursue his art alone. granacci procured him an introduction to the medici, and the two friends together frequented those gardens of s. marco where lorenzo had placed his collection of antiquities. there the youth discovered his vocation. having begged a piece of marble and a chisel, he struck out the faun's mask that still is seen in the bargello. it is worth noticing that michael angelo seems to have done no merely prentice-work. not a fragment of his labour from the earliest to the latest was insignificant, and only such thoughts as he committed to the perishable materials of bronze or paper have been lost. there was nothing tentative in his genius. into art, as into a rich land, he came and conquered. in like manner, the first sonnet composed by dante is scarcely less precious than the last lines of the "paradiso." this is true of all the highest artistic natures, who need no preparations and have no period of groping. lorenzo de' medici discerned in michael angelo a youth of eminent genius, and took the lad into his own household. the astonished father found himself suddenly provided with a comfortable post and courted for the sake of the young sculptor. in lorenzo's palace the real education of michael angelo began. he sat at the same table with ficino, pico, and poliziano, listening to dialogues on plato and drinking in the golden poetry of greece. greek literature and philosophy, expounded by the men who had discovered them, and who were no less proud of their discovery than columbus of his passage to the indies, first moulded his mind to those lofty thoughts which it became the task of his life to express in form. at the same time he heard the preaching of savonarola. in the duomo and the cloister of s. marco another portion of his soul was touched, and he acquired that deep religious tone which gives its majesty and terror to the sistine. much in the same way was milton educated by the classics in conjunction with the scriptures. both of these austere natures assimilated from pagan art and jewish prophecy the twofold elements they needed for their own imaginative life. both michael angelo and milton, in spite of their parade of classic style, were separated from the greek world by a gulf of hebrew and of christian feeling. while michael angelo was thus engaged in studying antique sculpture and in listening to pico and savonarola, he carved his first bas-relief--a "battle of hercules with the centaurs," suggested to him by poliziano.[ ] meantime lorenzo died. his successor piero set the young man, it is said, to model a snow statue, and then melted like a shape of snow himself down from his pedestal of power in florence. upon the expulsion of the tyrant and the proclamation of the new republic, it was dangerous for house-friends of the casa medici to be seen in the city. michael angelo, therefore, made his way to bologna, where he spent some months in the palace of gian francesco aldovrandini, studying dante and working at an angel for the shrine of s. dominic. as soon, however, as it seemed safe to do so, he returned to florence; and to this period belongs the statue of the "sleeping cupid," which was sold as an antique to the cardinal raffaello riario. a dispute about the price of this "cupid" took michael angelo in to rome, where it was destined that the greater portion of his life should he spent, and his noblest works of art should be produced. here, while the borgias were turning the vatican into a den of thieves and harlots, he executed the purest of all his statues--a "pietà" in marble.[ ] christ is lying dead upon his mother's knees. with her right arm she supports his shoulders; her left hand is gently raised as though to say, "behold and see!" all that art can do to make death beautiful and grief sublime, is achieved in this masterpiece, which was never surpassed by michael angelo in later years. already, at the age of four-and-twenty, he had matured his "terrible manner." already were invented in his brain that race of superhuman beings, who became the hieroglyphs of his impassioned utterance. madonna has the small head and heroic torso used by this master to symbolise force. we feel she has no difficulty in holding the dead christ upon her ample lap and in her powerful arms. yet while the "pietà" is wholly michael angelesque, we find no lack of repose, none of those contorted lines that are commonly urged against his manner. it is a sober and harmonious composition, combining the profoundest religious feeling with classical tranquillity of expression. again, though the group is forcibly original, this effect of originality is produced, as in all the best work of the golden age, not by new and startling conception, but by the handling of an old and well-worn motive with the grandeur of consummate style. what the genius of italian sculpture had for generations been striving after, finds its perfect realisation here. it was precisely by thus crowning the endeavours of antecedent artists--by bringing the opening buds of painting and sculpture to full blossom, and exhausting the resources of a long sustained and common inspiration, that the great masters proved their supremacy and rendered an advance beyond their vantage ground impossible. to those who saw and comprehended this "pietà" in , it must have been evident that a new power of portraying the very soul had been manifested in sculpture--a power unknown to the greeks because it lay outside the sphere of their spiritual experience, and unknown to modern artists because it was beyond their faculties of execution and conception. yet who in rome, among the courtiers of the borgias, had brain or heart to understand these things? in michael angelo returned to florence, where he stayed until the year . this period was fruitful of results on which his after fame depended. the great statue of "david," the two unfinished medallions of madonna in relief, the "holy family of the tribune" painted for angelo doni, and the cartoon of the "battle of pisa" were now produced; and no man's name, not even lionardo's, stood higher in esteem thenceforward. it will be remembered that savonarola was now dead, but that his constitution still existed under the presidency of pietro soderini--the _non mai abbastanza lodato cavaliere_, as pitti calls him, the _anima sciocca_ of machiavelli's epigram.[ ] since michael angelo at this time was employed in the service of masters who had superseded his old friends and patrons, it may be well to review here his attitude in general toward the house of medici. throughout his lifetime there continued a conflict between the artist and the citizen--the artist owing education and employment to successive members of that house, the citizen resenting their despotism and doing all that in him lay at times to keep them out of florence. as a patriot, as the student of dante and the disciple of savonarola, michael angelo detested tyrants.[ ] one of his earliest madrigals, conceived as a dialogue between florence and her exiles, expresses his mind so decidedly that i have ventured to translate it;[ ] the exiles first address florence, and she answers:-- "lady, for joy of lovers numberless thou wast created fair as angels are. sure god hath fallen asleep in heaven afar, when one man calls the boon of many his. give back to streaming eyes the daylight of thy face, that seems to shun those who must live defrauded of their bliss!" "vex not your pure desire with tears and sighs; for he who robs you of my light, hath none. dwelling in fear, sin hath no happiness; since amid those who love, their joy is less whose great desire great plenty still curtails, than theirs who, poor, have hope that never fails." as an artist, owing his advancement to lorenzo, he had accepted favours binding him by ties of gratitude to the medici, and even involving him in the downfall of their house. for leo x. he undertook to build the façade of s. lorenzo and the laurentian library. for clement vii. he began the statues of the dukes of urbino and nemours. yet, while accepting these commissions from medicean popes, he could not keep his tongue from speaking openly against their despotism. after the sack of prato it appears from his correspondence that he had exposed himself to danger by some expression of indignation.[ ] this was in , when soderini fled and left the gates of florence open to the cardinal giovanni de' medici. during the siege of florence in he fortified samminiato, and allowed himself to be named one of the otto di guerra chosen for the express purpose of defending florence against the medici.[ ] after the fall of the city he made peace with clement by consenting to finish the tombs of s. lorenzo. yet, while doing all he could to save those insignificant dukes from oblivion by the immortality of his art, michael angelo was conscious of his own and his country's shame. the memorable lines placed in the mouth of his "night," sufficiently display his feeling after the final return of the medici in :[ ]-- sweet is my sleep, but more to be mere stone, so long as ruin and dishonour reign; to hear nought, to feel nought, is my great gain: then wake me not, speak in an under-tone. when clement vii. died, the last real representative of michael angelo's old patrons perished, and the sculptor was free to quit florence for ever. during the reign of duke cosimo he never set foot in his native city. it is thus clear that the patriot, the artist, and the man of honour were at odds in him. loyalty obliged him to serve the family to whom he owed so much; he was, moreover, dependent for opportunities of doing great work on the very men whose public policy he execrated. hence arose a compromise and a confusion, hard to accommodate with our conception of his upright and unyielding temper. only by voluntary exile, and after age had made him stubborn to resist seductive offers, could michael angelo act up to the promptings of his heart and declare himself a citizen who held no truce with tyrants. i have already in this work had occasion to compare dante, michael angelo, and machiavelli.[ ] in estimating the conduct of the two last, it must not be forgotten that, by the action of inevitable causes, republican freedom had become in italy a thing of the past; and in judging between machiavelli and michael angelo, we have to remember that the sculptor's work involved no sacrifice of principle or self-respect. carving statues for the tombs of medicean dukes was a different matter from dedicating the "prince" to them. this digression, though necessary for the right understanding of michael angelo's relation to the medici, has carried me beyond his florentine residence in - . the great achievement of that period was not the "david" but the cartoon for the "battle of pisa."[ ] the hall of the consiglio grande had been opened, and one wall had been assigned to lionardo. michael angelo was now invited by the signory to prepare a design for another side of the state-chamber. when he displayed his cartoon to the florentines, they pronounced that da vinci, hitherto the undisputed prince of painting, was surpassed. it is impossible for us to form an opinion on this matter, since both cartoons are lost beyond recovery.[ ] we only know that, as cellini says, "while they lasted, they formed the school of the whole world,"[ ] and made an epoch in the history of art. when we inquire what was the subject of michael angelo's famous picture, we find that he had aimed at representing nothing of more moment than a group of soldiers suddenly surprised by a trumpet-call to battle, while bathing in the arno--a crowd of naked men in every posture indicating haste, anxiety, and struggle. not for its intellectual meaning, not for its colour, not for its sentiment, was this design so highly prized. its science won the admiration of artists and the public. at this period of the renaissance the bold and perfect drawing of the body gave an exquisite delight. hence, perhaps, vasari's vapid talk about "stravaganti attitudini," "divine figure," "scorticamenti," and so forth--as if the soul of figurative art were in such matters. the science of michael angelo, which in his own mind was sternly subordinated to thought, had already turned the weaker heads of his generation.[ ] a false ideal took possession of the fancy, and such criticism as that of vasari and pietro aretino became inevitable. meanwhile, a new pope had been elected, and in michael angelo was once more called to rome. throughout his artist's life he oscillated thus between rome and florence--florence the city of his ancestry, and rome the city of his soul; florence where he learnt his art, and rome where he displayed what art can do of highest. julius was a patron of different stamp from lorenzo the magnificent. he was not learned in book-lore: "place a sword in my hand!" he said to the sculptor at bologna: "of letters i know nothing." yet he was no less capable of discerning excellence than the medici himself, and his spirit strove incessantly after the accomplishment of vast designs. between julius and michael angelo there existed a strong bond of sympathy due to community of temperament. both aimed at colossal achievements in their respective fields of action. the imagination of both was fired by large and simple, rather than luxurious and subtle thoughts. both were _uomini terribili_, to use a phrase denoting vigour of character made formidable by an abrupt uncompromising temper. both worked _con furia_, with the impetuosity of daemonic natures; and both left the impress of their individuality graven indelibly upon their age. julius ordered the sculptor to prepare his mausoleum. michael angelo asked, "where am i to place it?" julius replied, "in s. peter's." but the old basilica of christendom was too small for this ambitious pontiff's sepulchre, designed by the audacious artist. it was therefore decreed that a new s. peter's should be built to hold it. in this way the two great labours of buonarroti's life were mapped out for him in a moment. but, by a strange contrariety of fate, to bramante and san gallo fell respectively the planning and the spoiling of s. peter's. it was only in extreme old age that michael angelo crowned it with that world's miracle, the dome. the mausoleum, to form a canopy for which the building was designed, dwindled down at last to the statue of "moses" thrust out of the way in the church of s. pietro in vincoli. "la tragedia della sepoltura," as condivi aptly terms the history of giulio's monument, began thus in and dragged on till .[ ] rarely did michael angelo undertake a work commensurate with his creative power, but something came to interrupt its execution; while tasks outside his sphere, for which he never bargained--the painting of the sistine chapel, the façade of s. lorenzo, the fortification of samminiato--were thrust upon him in the midst of other more congenial labours. what we possess of his achievement, is a _torso_ of his huge designs. giulio's tomb, as he conceived it, would have been the most stupendous monument of sculpture in the world.[ ] that mountain of marble covered with figures wrought in stone and bronze, was meant to be the sculptured poem of the thought of death; no mere apotheosis of pope julius, but a pageant of the soul triumphant over the limitations of mortality. all that dignifies humanity--arts, sciences, and laws; the victory that crowns heroic effort; the majesty of contemplation, and the energy of action--was symbolised upon ascending tiers of the great pyramid; while the genii of heaven and earth upheld the open tomb, where lay the dead man waiting for the resurrection. of this gigantic scheme only one imperfect drawing now remains.[ ] the "moses" and the "bound captives"[ ] are all that michael angelo accomplished. for forty years the "moses" remained in his workshop. for forty years he cherished a hope that his plan might still in part be executed, complaining the while that it would have been better for him to have made sulphur matches all his life than to have taken up the desolating artist's trade. "every day," he cries, "i am stoned as though i had crucified christ. my youth has been lost, bound hand and foot to this tomb."[ ] it was decreed apparently that michael angelo should exist for after ages as a fragment; and such might pheidias among the greeks have been, if he had worked for ephemeral popes and bankrupt princes instead of pericles. italy in the sixteenth century, dislocated, distracted, and drained of her material resources, gave no opportunity to artists for the creation of monuments colossal in their unity. michael angelo spent eight months at this period among the stone quarries of carrara, selecting marble for the pope's tomb.[ ] there his brain, always teeming with gigantic conceptions, suggested to him a new fancy. could not the headland jutting out beyond sarzana into the tyrrhene sea be carved by his workmen into a pharos? to transmute a mountain into a statue, holding a city in either hand, had been the dream of a greek artist. michael angelo revived the bold thought; but to execute it would have been almost beyond his power. meanwhile, in november , the marble was shipped, and the quays of rome were soon crowded with blocks destined for the mausoleum. but when the sculptor arrived, he found that enemies had been poisoning the pope's mind against him, and that julius had abandoned the scheme of the mausoleum. on six successive days he was denied entrance to the vatican, and the last time with such rudeness that he determined to quit rome.[ ] he hurried straightway to his house, sold his effects, mounted, and rode without further ceremony toward florence, sending to the pope a written message bidding him to seek for michael angelo elsewhere in future than in rome. it is related that julius, anxious to recover what had been so lightly lost, sent several couriers to bring him back.[ ] michael angelo announced that he intended to accept the sultan's commission for building a bridge at pera, and refused to be persuaded to return to rome. this was at poggibonsi. when he had reached florence, julius addressed, himself to soderini, who, unwilling to displease the pope, induced michael angelo to seek the pardon of the master he had so abruptly quitted. by that time julius had left the city for the camp; and when michael angelo finally appeared before him, fortified with letters from the signory of florence, it was at bologna that they met. "you have waited thus long, it seems," said the pope, well satisfied but surly, "till we should come ourselves to seek you." the prelate who had introduced the sculptor now began to make excuses for him, whereupon julius turned in a fury upon the officious courtier, and had him beaten from his presence. a few days after this encounter michael angelo was ordered to cast a bronze statue of julius for the frontispiece of s. petronio. the sculptor objected that brass-foundry was not his affair. "never mind," said julius; "get to work, and we will cast your statue till it comes out perfect."[ ] michael angelo did as he was bid, and the statue was set up in above the great door of the church. the pope was seated, with his right hand raised; in the other were the keys. when julius asked him whether he was meant to bless or curse the bolognese with that uplifted hand, buonarroti found an answer worthy of a courtier: "your holiness is threatening this people, if it be not wise." less than four years afterwards julius lost his hold upon bologna, the party of the bentivogli returned to power, and the statue was destroyed. a bronze cannon, called the "giulia," was made out of michael angelo's masterpiece by the best gunsmith of his century, alfonso duke of ferrara. it seems that michael angelo's flight from rome in was due not only to his disappointment about the tomb, but also to his fear lest julius should give him uncongenial work to do. bramante, if we may believe the old story, had whispered that it was ill-omened for a man to build his own sepulchre, and that it would be well to employ the sculptor's genius upon the ceiling of the sistine chapel. accordingly, on his return to rome in , this new task was allotted him. in vain did michael angelo remind his master of the months wasted in the quarries of carrara; in vain he pointed to his designs for the monument, and pleaded that he was not a painter by profession.[ ] julius had made up his mind that he should paint the sistine. was not the cartoon at florence a sufficient proof that he could do this if he chose, and had he not learned the art of fresco in the _bottega_ of his master ghirlandajo? whatever his original reluctance may have been, it was speedily overcome; and the cartoons for the ceiling, projected with the unity belonging to a single great conception, were ready by the summer of .[ ] the difficulty of his new task aroused the artist's energy. if we could accept the legend, whereby contemporaries expressed their admiration for this titanic labour, we should have to believe the impossible--that michael angelo ground his own colours, prepared his own plaster, and completed with his own hand the whole work, after having first conquered the obstacles of scaffolding and vault-painting by machines of his own invention,[ ] and that only twenty months were devoted to the execution of a series of paintings almost unequalled in their delicacy, and surpassed by few single masterpieces in extent. what may be called the mythus of the sistine chapel has at last been finally disproved, partly by the personal observations of mr. heath wilson, and partly by the publication of michael angelo's correspondence.[ ] though some uncertainty remains as to the exact dates of the commencement and completion of the vault, we now know that michael angelo continued painting it at intervals during four successive years; and though we are not accurately informed about his helpers, we no longer can doubt that able craftsmen yielded him assistance. on may , , he signed a receipt for five hundred ducats advanced by julius for the necessary expenses of the undertaking; and on the next day he paid ten ducats to a mason for rough plastering and surface-finishing applied to the vault. there is good reason to believe that he began his painting during the autumn of . on november , , a certain portion was uncovered to the public; and before the end of the year the whole was completed. thus, though the legend of vasari and condivi has been stripped of the miraculous by careful observation and keen-sighted criticism, enough remains to justify the sense of wonder that expressed itself in their exaggerated statements. no one but michael angelo could have done what he did in the sistine chapel. the conception was entirely his own. the execution, except in subordinate details and in matters pertaining to the mason's craft, was also his. the rapidity with which he laboured was astounding. mr. heath wilson infers from the condition of the plaster and the joinings observable in different parts, that the figure of adam, highly finished as it is, was painted in three days. nor need we strip the romance from that time-honoured tale of the great master's solitude. lying on his back beneath the dreary vault, communing with dante, savonarola, and the hebrew prophets in the intervals of labour, locking up the chapel-doors in order to elude the jealous curiosity of rivals, eating but little and scarcely sleeping, he accomplished in sixteen months the first part of his gigantic task.[ ] from time to time julius climbed the scaffold and inspected the painter's progress. dreading lest death should come before the work were finished, he kept crying, "when will you make an end?" "when i can," answered the painter. "you seem to want," rejoined the petulant old man, "that i should have you thrown down from the scaffold." then michael angelo's brush stopped. the machinery was removed, and the frescoes were uncovered in their incompleteness to the eyes of rome. entering the cappella sistina, and raising our eyes to sweep the roof, we have above us a long and somewhat narrow oblong space, vaulted with round arches, and covered from end to end, from side to side, with a network of human forms. the whole is coloured like the dusky, tawny, blueish clouds of thunderstorms. there is no luxury of decorative art;--no gold, no paint-box of vermilion or emerald green, has been lavished here. sombre and aërial, like shapes condensed from vapour, or dreams begotten by ixion upon mists of eve or dawn, the phantoms evoked by the sculptor throng that space. nine compositions, carrying down the sacred history from the creation of light to the beginning of sin in noah's household, fill the central compartments of the roof. beneath these, seated on the spandrils, are alternate prophets and sibyls, twelve in all, attesting to the future deliverance and judgment of the world by christ. the intermediate spaces between these larger masses, on the roof and in the lunettes of the windows, swarm with figures, some naked and some draped--women and children, boys and young men, grouped in tranquil attitudes, or adapting themselves with freedom to their station on the curves and angles of the architecture. in these subordinate creations michael angelo deigned to drop the terrible style, in order that he might show how sweet and full of charm his art could be. the grace of colouring, realised in some of those youthful and athletic forms, is such as no copy can represent. every posture of beauty and of strength, simple or strained, that it is possible for men to assume, has been depicted here. yet the whole is governed by a strict sense of sobriety. the restlessness of correggio, the violent attitudinising of tintoretto, belong alike to another and less noble spirit. to speak adequately of these form-poems would be quite impossible. buonarroti seems to have intended to prove by them that the human body has a language, inexhaustible in symbolism--every limb, every feature, and every attitude being a word full of significance to those who comprehend, just as music is a language whereof each note and chord and phrase has correspondence with the spiritual world. it may be presumptuous after this fashion to interpret the design of him who called into existence the heroic population of the sistine. yet michael angelo has written lines which in some measure justify the reading. this is how he closes one of his finest sonnets to vittoria colonna: nor hath god deigned to show himself elsewhere more clearly than in human forms sublime; which, since they image him, compel my love. therefore to him a well-shaped hand, or throat, or head, a neck superbly poised on an athletic chest, the sway of the trunk above the hips, the starting of the muscles on the flank, the tendons of the ankle, the outline of the shoulder when the arm is raised, the backward bending of the loins, the curves of a woman's breast, the contours of a body careless in repose or strained for action, were all words pregnant with profoundest meaning, whereby fit utterance might be given to the thoughts that raise man near to god. but, it may be asked, what poems of action as well as feeling are to be expressed in this form-language? the answer is simple. paint or carve the body of a man, and, as you do it nobly, you will give the measure of both highest thought and most impassioned deed. this is the key to michael angelo's art. he cared but little for inanimate nature. the landscapes of italy, so eloquent in their sublimity and beauty, were apparently a blank to him. his world was the world of ideas, taking visible form, incarnating themselves in man. one language the master had to serve him in all need--the language of plastic human form; but it was to him a tongue as rich in its variety of accent and of intonation as beethoven's harmonies. in the sistine chapel, where plastic art is so supreme, we are bound to ask the further question. what was the difference between michael angelo and a greek? the parthenon with its processions of youths and maidens, its gods and heroes, rejoicing in their strength, and robed with raiment that revealed their living form, made up a symphony of meaning as full as this of michael angelo, and far more radiant. the greek sculptor embraced humanity in his work no less comprehensively than the italian; and what he had to say was said more plainly in the speech they both could use. but between pheidias and michael angelo lay christianity, the travail of the world through twenty centuries. clear as morning, and calm in the unconsciousness of beauty, are those heroes of the youth of hellas. all is grace, repose, strength shown but not asserted. michael angelo's sibyls and prophets are old and wrinkled, bowed with thought, consumed by vigils, startled from tranquillity by visions, overburdened with the messages of god. the loveliest among them, the delphic, lifts dilated eyes, as though to follow dreams that fly upon the paths of trance. even the young men strain their splendid limbs, and seem to shout or shriek, as if the life in them contained some element of pain. "he maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire:" this verse rises to our lips when we seek to describe the genii that crowd the cornice of the sistine chapel. the human form in the work of pheidias wore a joyous and sedate serenity; in that of michael angelo it is turbid with a strange and awful sense of inbreathed agitation. through the figure-language of the one was spoken the pagan creed, bright, unperturbed, and superficial. the sculpture of the parthenon accomplished the transfiguration of the natural man. in the other man awakes to a new life of contest, disillusionment, hope, dread, and heavenward striving. it was impossible for the greek and the italian, bearing so different a burden of prophecy, even though they used the same speech, to tell the same tale; and this should be remembered by those critics who cast exaggeration and contortion in the teeth of michael angelo. between the birth of the free spirit in greece and its second birth in italy, there yawned a sepulchre wherein the old faiths of the world lay buried and whence christ had risen.[ ] the star of raphael, meanwhile, had arisen over rome. between the two greatest painters of their age the difference was striking. michael angelo stood alone, his own master, fashioned in his own school. a band of artists called themselves by raphael's name; and in his style we trace the influence of several predecessors. michael angelo rarely received visits, frequented no society, formed no pupils, and boasted of no friends at court. raphael was followed to the vatican by crowds of students; his levées were like those of a prince; he counted among his intimates the best scholars and poets of the age; his hand was pledged in marriage to a cardinal's niece. it does not appear that they engaged in petty rivalries, or that they came much into personal contact with each other. while michael angelo was so framed that he could learn from no man, raphael gladly learned of michael angelo; and after the uncovering of the sistine frescoes, his manner showed evident signs of alteration. julius, who had given michael angelo the sistine, set raphael to work upon the stanze. for julius were painted the "miracle of bolsena" and the "expulsion of heliodorus from the temple," scenes containing courtly compliments for the old pope. no such compliments had been paid by michael angelo. like his great parallel in music, beethoven, he displayed an almost arrogant contempt for the conventionalities whereby an artist wins the favour of his patrons and the world. after the death of julius, leo x., in character the reverse of his fiery predecessor, and by temperament unsympathetic to the austere michael angelo, found nothing better for the sculptor's genius than to set him at work upon the façade of s. lorenzo at florence. the better part of the years between and was spent in quarrying marble at carrara, pietra santa, and seravezza. this is the most arid and unfruitful period of michael angelo's long life, a period of delays and thwarted schemes and servile labours. what makes the sense of disappointment greater, is that the façade of s. lorenzo was not even finished.[ ] we hurry over this wilderness of wasted months, and arrive at another epoch of artistic production. already in the cardinal giulio de' medici had conceived the notion of building a sacristy in s. lorenzo to receive the monuments of cosimo, the founder of the house, lorenzo the magnificent, giuliano duke of nemours, lorenzo duke of urbino, leo x., and himself.[ ] to michael angelo was committed the design, and in he began to apply himself to the work. nine years had now elapsed since the roof of the sistine chapel had been finished, and during this time michael angelo had produced little except the "christ" of s. maria sopra minerva. this new undertaking occupied him at intervals between and , a space of time decisive for the fortunes of the medici in florence. leo died, and giulio after a few years succeeded him as clement vii. the bastards of the house, ippolito and alessandro, were expelled from florence in . rome was sacked by the imperial troops; then michael angelo quitted the statues and helped to defend his native city against the prince of orange. after the failure of the republicans, he was recalled to his labours by command of clement. sullenly and sadly he quarried marbles for the sacristy. sadly and sullenly he used his chisel year by year, making the very stones cry that shame and ruin were the doom of his country. at last in clement died. then michael angelo flung down his mallet. the monuments remained unfinished, and the sculptor set foot in florence no more.[ ] the sacristy of s. lorenzo was built by michael angelo and panelled with marbles to receive the sculpture he meant to place there.[ ] thus the colossal statues of giuliano and lorenzo were studied with a view to their light and shadow as much as to their form; and this is a fact to be remembered by those who visit the chapel where buonarroti laboured both as architect and sculptor. of the two medici, it is not fanciful to say that the "duke of urbino" is the most immovable of spectral shapes eternalised in marble; while the "duke of nemours," more graceful and elegant, seems intended to present a contrast to this terrible thought-burdened form.[ ] the allegorical figures, stretched on segments of ellipses beneath the pedestals of the two dukes, indicate phases of darkness and of light, of death and life. they are two women and two men; tradition names them "night" and "day," "twilight" and "dawning." thus in the statues themselves and in their attendant genii we have a series of abstractions, symbolising the sleep and waking of existence, action and thought, the gloom of death, the lustre of life, and the intermediate states of sadness and of hope that form the borderland of both. life is a dream between two slumbers; sleep is death's twin-brother; night is the shadow of death; death is the gate of life:--such is the mysterious mythology wrought by the sculptor of the modern world in marble. all these figures, by the intensity of their expression, the vagueness of their symbolism, force us to think and question. what, for example, occupies lorenzo's brain? bending forward, leaning his chin upon his wrist, placing the other hand upon his knee, on what does he for ever ponder? the sight, as rogers said well, "fascinates and is intolerable." michael angelo has shot the beaver of the helmet forward on his forehead, and bowed his head, so as to clothe the face in darkness. but behind the gloom there is no skull, as rogers fancied. the whole frame of the powerful man is instinct with some imperious thought. has he outlived his life and fallen upon everlasting contemplation? is he brooding, injured and indignant, over his own doom and the extinction of his race? is he condemned to witness in immortal immobility the woes of italy he helped to cause? or has the sculptor symbolised in him the burden of that personality we carry with us in this life and bear for ever when we wake into another world? beneath this incarnation of oppressive thought there lie, full-length and naked, the figures of dawn and twilight, morn and evening. so at least they are commonly called: and these names are not inappropriate; for the breaking of the day and the approach of night are metaphors for many transient conditions of the soul. it is only as allegories in a large sense, comprehending both the physical and intellectual order, and capable of various interpretation, that any of these statues can be understood. even the dukes do not pretend to be portraits: and hence in part perhaps the uncertainty that has gathered round them. very tranquil and noble is twilight: a giant in repose, he meditates, leaning upon his elbow, looking down. but dawn starts from her couch, as though some painful summons had reached her sunk in dreamless sleep, and called her forth to suffer. her waking to consciousness is like that of one who has been drowned, and who finds the return to life agony. before her eyes, seen even through the mists of slumber, are the ruin and the shame of italy. opposite lies night, so sorrowful, so utterly absorbed in darkness and the shade of death, that to shake off that everlasting lethargy seems impossible. yet she is not dead. if we raise our voices, she too will stretch her limbs and, like her sister, shudder into sensibility with sighs. only we must not wake her; for he who fashioned her, has told us that her sleep of stone is great good fortune. both of these women are large and brawny, unlike the fates of pheidias in their muscular maturity. the burden of michael angelo's thought was too tremendous to be borne by virginal or graceful beings. he had to make women no less capable of suffering, no less world-wearied, than his country. standing before these statues, we do not cry. how beautiful! we murmur, how terrible, how grand! yet, after long gazing, we find them gifted with beauty beyond grace. in each of them there is a palpitating thought, torn from the artist's soul and crystallised in marble. it has been said that architecture is petrified music. in the sacristy of s. lorenzo we feel impelled to remember phrases of beethoven. each of these statues becomes for us a passion, fit for musical expression, but turned like niobe to stone. they have the intellectual vagueness, the emotional certainty, that belong to the motives of a symphony. in their allegories, left without a key, sculpture has passed beyond her old domain of placid concrete form. the anguish of intolerable emotion, the quickening of the consciousness to a sense of suffering, the acceptance of the inevitable, the strife of the soul with destiny, the burden and the passion of mankind:--that is what they contain in their cold chisel-tortured marble. it is open to critics of the school of lessing to object that here is the suicide of sculpture. it is easy to remark that those strained postures and writhen limbs may have perverted the taste of lesser craftsmen. yet if michael angelo was called to carve medicean statues after the sack of rome and the fall of florence--if he was obliged in sober sadness to make sculpture a fit language for his sorrow-laden heart--how could he have wrought more truthfully than thus? to imitate him without sharing his emotions or comprehending his thoughts, as the soulless artist of the decadence attempted, was without any doubt a grievous error. surely also we may regret, not without reason, that in the evil days upon which he had fallen, the fair antique "heiterkeit" and "allgemeinheit" were beyond his reach. michael angelo left the tombs of the medici unfinished; nor, in spite of duke cosimo's earnest entreaties, would he afterwards return to florence to complete them. lorenzo's features are but rough-hewn; so is the face of night. day seems struggling into shape beneath his mask of rock, and twilight shows everywhere the tooth-dint of the chisel. to leave unfinished was the fate of michael angelo--partly too, perhaps, his preference; for he was easily deterred from work. many of his marbles are only just begun. the two medallion "madonnas," the "madonna and child" in s. lorenzo, the "head of brutus," the "bound captives," and the "pietà" in the duomo of florence, are instances of masterpieces in the rough. he loved to fancy that the form dwelt within the stone, and that the chisel disencumbered it of superfluity. therefore, to his eye, foreseeing what the shape would be when the rude envelope was chipped away, the marble mask may have taken the appearance of a veil or mantle. he may have found some fascination in the incompleteness that argued want of will but not of art, and a rough-hewn madonna may have been to him what a dryad still enclosed within a gnarled oak was to a greek poet's fancy. we are not, however, justified in therefore assuming, as a recent critic has suggested, that michael angelo sought to realise a certain preconceived effect by want of finish. there is enough in the distracted circumstances of his life and in his temper, at once passionate and downcast, to account for fragmentary and imperfect performance; nor must it be forgotten that the manual labour of the sculptor in the sixteenth century was by no means so light as it is now. a decisive argument against this theory is that buonarroti's three most celebrated statues--the "pietà" in s. peter's, the "moses" and the "dawn"--are executed with the highest polish it is possible for stone to take.[ ] that he always aimed at this high finish, but often fell below it through discontent and _ennui_ and the importunity of patrons, we have the best reason to believe. michael angelo had now reached his fifty-ninth year. lionardo and raphael had already passed away, and were remembered as the giants of a bygone age of gold. correggio was in his last year. andrea del sarto was dead. nowhere except at venice did italian art still flourish; and the mundane style of titian was not to the sculptor's taste. he had overlived the greatness of his country, and saw italy in ruins. yet he was destined to survive another thirty years, another lifetime of masaccio or raphael, and to witness still worse days. when we call michael angelo the interpreter of the burden and the pain of the renaissance, we must remember this long weary old age, during which in solitude and silence he watched the extinction of florence, the institution of the inquisition, and the abasement of the italian spirit beneath the tyranny of spain. his sonnets, written chiefly in this latter period of life, turn often on the thought of death. his love of art yields to religious hope and fear, and he bemoans a youth and manhood spent in vanity. once when he injured his leg by a fall from the scaffolding in the sistine chapel, he refused assistance, shut himself up at home, and lay waiting for deliverance in death. his life was only saved by the forcible interference of friends. in a new eurystheus arose for our hercules. the cardinal alessandro farnese, a fox by nature and infamous through his indulgence for a vicious bastard, was made pope under the name of paul iii.[ ] michael angelo had shed lustre on the reigns of three popes, his predecessors. for thirty years the farnese had watched him with greedy eyes. after julius, leo, and clement, the time was now come for the heroic craftsman to serve paul. the pope found him at work in his _bottega_ on the tomb of julius; for the "tragedy of the mausoleum" still dragged on. the statue of moses was finished. "that," said paul, "is enough for one pope. give me your contract with the duke of urbino; i will tear it. have i waited all these years; and now that i am pope at last, shall i not have you for myself? i want you in the sistine chapel." accordingly michael angelo, who had already made cartoons for the "last judgment" in the life of clement, once more laid aside the chisel and took up the brush. for eight years, between and , he laboured at the fresco above the high altar of the chapel, devoting his terrible genius to a subject worthy of the times in which he lived. since he had first listened while a youth to the prophecies of savonarola, the woes announced in that apocalypse had all come true. italy had been scourged, rome sacked, the church chastised. and yet the world had not grown wiser; vice was on the increase, virtue grew more rare.[ ] it was impossible after the experience of the immediate past and within view of the present and the future, to conceive of god as other than an angry judge, vindictive and implacable. the "last judgment" has long been the most celebrated of michael angelo's paintings; partly no doubt because it was executed in the plenitude of his fame, with the eyes of all italy upon him; partly because its size arouses vulgar wonder, and its theme strikes terror into all who gaze on it. yet it is neither so strong nor so beautiful as the vault-paintings of the sistine. the freshness of the genius that created eve and adam, unrivalled in their bloom of primal youth, has passed away. austerity and gloom have taken possession of the painter. his style has hardened into mannerism, and the display of barren science in difficult posturing and strained anatomy has become wilful. still, whether we regard this fresco as closing the long series of "last judgments" to be studied on italian church-walls from giotto downwards; or whether we confine our attention, as contemporaries seem to have done, to the skill of its foreshortenings and groupings;[ ] or whether we analyse the dramatic energy wherewith tremendous passions are expressed, its triumph is in either case decided. the whole wall swarms with ascending and descending, poised and hovering, shapes--men and women rising from the grave before the judge, taking their stations among the saved, or sinking with unutterable anguish to the place of doom--a multitude that no man can number, surging to and fro in dim tempestuous air. in the centre at the top, christ is rising from his throne with the gesture of an angry hercules, hurling ruin on the guilty. he is such as the sins of italy have made him. squadrons of angels, bearing the emblems of his passion, whirl around him like grey thunder-clouds, and all the saints lean forward from their vantage ground to curse and threaten. at the very bottom bestial features take the place of human lineaments, and the terror of judgment has become the torment of damnation. such is the general scope of this picture. of all its merits, none is greater than the delineation of uncertainty and gradual awakening to life. the middle region between vigilance and slumber, reality and dream, michael angelo ruled as his own realm; and a painting of the "last judgment" enabled him to deal with this metaichmios skotos--this darkness in the interval of crossing spears--under its most solemn aspect. when the fresco was uncovered, there arose a general murmur of disapprobation that the figures were all nude. as society became more vicious, it grew nice. messer biagio, the pope's master of the ceremonies, remarked that such things were more fit for stews and taverns than a chapel. the angry painter placed his portrait in hell with a mark of infamy that cast too lurid a light upon this prudish speech. when biagio complained, paul wittily answered that, had it been purgatory, he might have helped him, but in hell is no redemption. even the foul-mouthed and foul-hearted aretino wrote from venice to the same effect--a letter astounding for its impudence.[ ] michael angelo made no defence. perhaps he reflected that the souls of the pope himself and messer biagio and messer pietro aretino would go forth one day naked to appear before the judge, with the deformities of sin upon them, as in plato's "gorgias." he refused, however, to give clothes to his men and women. daniel da volterra, who was afterwards employed to do this, got the name of breeches-maker. we are hardly able to appreciate the "last judgment;" it has been so smirched and blackened by the smoke and dust of centuries. and this is true of the whole sistine chapel.[ ] yet it is here that the genius of michael angelo in all its terribleness must still be studied. in order to characterise the impression produced by even the less awful of these frescoes on a sympathetic student, i lay my pen aside and beg the reader to weigh what henri beyle, the versatile and brilliant critic, pencilled in the gallery of the sistine chapel on january , :[ ] "greek sculpture was unwilling to reproduce the terrible in any shape; the greeks had enough real troubles of their own. therefore, in the realm of art, nothing can be compared with the figure of the eternal drawing forth the first man from nonentity. the pose, the drawing, the drapery, all is striking: the soul is agitated by sensations that are not usually communicated through the eyes. when in our disastrous retreat from russia, it chanced that we were suddenly awakened in the middle of the dark night by an obstinate cannonading, which at each moment seemed to gain in nearness, then all the forces of a man's nature gathered close around his heart; he felt himself in the presence of fate, and, having no attention left for things of vulgar interest, he made himself ready to dispute his life with destiny. the sight of michael angelo's pictures has brought back to my consciousness that almost forgotten sensation. great souls enjoy their own greatness: the rest of the world is seized with fear, and goes mad." after the painting of the "last judgment," one more great labour was reserved for michael angelo.[ ] by a brief of september, , paul iii. had made him the chief architect as well as sculptor and painter of the holy see. he was now called upon to superintend the building of s. peter's, and to this task, undertaken for the repose of his soul without emolument, he devoted the last years of his life. the dome of s. peter's, as seen from tivoli or the alban hills, like a cloud upon the campagna, is buonarroti's; but he has no share in the façade that screens it from the piazza. it lies beyond the scope of this chapter to relate once more the history of the vicissitudes through which s. peter's went between the days of alberti and bernini.[ ] i can but refer to michael angelo's letter addressed to bartolommeo ammanati, valuable both as setting forth his views about the structure, and as rendering the fullest and most glorious meed of praise to his old enemy bramante.[ ] all ancient jealousies, even had they ever stirred the heart of michael angelo, had long been set at rest by time and death. the one wish of his soul was to set a worthy diadem upon the mother-church of christianity, repairing by the majesty of art what rome had suffered at the hands of germany and spain, and inaugurating by this visible sign of sovereignty the new age of catholicity renascent and triumphant. to the last period of buonarroti's life (a space of twenty-two years between and ) we owe some of his most beautiful drawings--sketches for pictures of the crucifixion made for vittoria colonna, and a few mythological designs, like the "rape of ganymede," composed for tommaso cavalieri. his thoughts meanwhile were turned more and more, as time advanced, to piety; and many of his sonnets breathe an almost ascetic spirit of religion.[ ] we see in them the old man regretting the years he had spent on art, deploring his enthusiasm for earthly beauty, and seeking comfort in the cross alone. painting nor sculpture now can lull to rest my soul, that turns to his great love on high, whose arms to clasp us on the cross were spread. it is pleasant to know that these last years were also the happiest and calmest. though he had lost his faithful friend and servant urbino; though his father had died, an old man, and his brothers had passed away before him one by one, his nephew lionardo had married in florence, and begotten a son called michael angelo. thus he had the satisfaction of hoping that his name would endure and flourish, as indeed it has done almost to this very day in florence. what consolation this thought must have brought him, is clear to those who have studied his correspondence and observed the tender care and continual anxiety he had for his kinsmen.[ ] wealth now belonged to him: but he had never cared for money; and he continued to live like a poor man, dressing soberly and eating sparely, often taking but one meal in the day, and that of bread and wine.[ ] he slept little, and rose by night to work upon his statues, wearing a cap with a candle stuck in front of it, that he might see where to drive the chisel home. during his whole life he had been solitary, partly by preference, partly by devotion to his art, and partly because he kept men at a distance by his manner.[ ] not that michael angelo was sour or haughty; but he spoke his mind out very plainly, had no tolerance for fools, and was apt to fly into passions.[ ] time had now softened his temper and removed all causes of discouragement. he had survived every rival, and the world was convinced of his supremacy. princes courted him; the count of canossa was proud to claim him for a kinsman; strangers, when they visited rome, were eager to behold in him its greatest living wonder.[ ] his old age was the serene and splendid evening of a toilsome day. but better than all this, he now enjoyed both love and friendship. if michael angelo could ever have been handsome is more than doubtful. early in his youth the quarrelsome and vain torrigiani broke his nose with a blow of the fist, when they were drawing from masaccio's frescoes in the carmine together.[ ] thenceforth the artist's soul looked forth from a sad face, with small grey eyes, flat nostrils, and rugged weight of jutting brows. good care was thus taken that light love should not trifle with the man who was destined to be the prophet of his age in art. like beethoven, he united a loving nature, sensitive to beauty and desirous of affection, with a rude exterior. he seemed incapable of attaching himself to any merely mortal object, and wedded the ideal. in that century of intrigue and amour, we hear of nothing to imply that michael angelo was a lover till he reached the age of sixty. how he may have loved in the earlier periods of his life, whereof no record now remains, can only be guessed from the tenderness and passion outpoured in the poems of his latter years. that his morality was pure and his converse without stain, is emphatically witnessed by both vasari and condivi.[ ] but that his emotion was intense, and that to beauty in all its human forms he was throughout his life a slave, we have his own sonnets to prove. in the year he first became acquainted with the noble lady vittoria, daughter of fabrizio colonna, and widow of the marquis of pescara. she was then aged forty-four, and had nine years survived the loss of a husband she never ceased to idolise.[ ] living in retirement in rome, she employed her leisure with philosophy and poetry. artists and men of letters were admitted to her society. among the subjects she had most at heart was the reform of the church and the restoration of religion to its evangelical purity. between her and michael angelo a tender affection sprang up based upon the sympathy of ardent and high-seeking natures. if love be the right name for this exalted and yet fervid attachment, michael angelo may be said to have loved her with all the pent-up forces of his heart. none of his works display a predilection for girlish beauty, and it is probable that her intellectual distinction and mature womanhood touched him even more than if she had been younger. when they were together in rome they met frequently for conversation on the themes of art and piety they both held dear. of these discourses a charming record has been preserved to us by the painter francis of holland.[ ] when they were separated they exchanged poems and wrote letters, some of which remain. on the death of vittoria, in , the light of life seemed to be extinguished for our sculptor. it is said that he waited by her bed-side, and kissed her hand when she was dying. the sonnets he afterwards composed show that his soul followed her to heaven. another friend whom michael angelo found in this last stage of life, and whom he loved with only less warmth than vittoria, was a young roman of perfect beauty and of winning manners. tommaso cavalieri must be mentioned next to the marchioness of pescara as the being who bound this greatest soul a captive.[ ] both cavalieri and vittoria are said to have been painted by him, and these are the only two portraits he is reported to have executed. it may here be remarked that nothing is more characteristic of his genius than the determination to see through nature, to pass beyond the actual to the abstract, and to use reality only as a stepping-stone to the ideal. this artistic platonism was the source both of his greatness and his mannerism. as men choose to follow blake or ruskin, they may praise or blame him; yet, blame and praise pronounced on such a matter with regard to such a man are equally impertinent and insignificant. it is enough for the critic to note with reverence that thus and thus the spirit that was in him worked and moved. when we read the sonnets addressed to vittoria colonna and cavalieri, we find something inexpressibly pathetic in this pure and fervent worship of beauty, when the artist with a soul still young had reached the limit of the years of man. here and there we trace in them an echo of his youth. the platonic dialogues he heard while yet a young man at the suppers of lorenzo, reappear converted to the very substance of his thought and style. at the same time savonarola resumes ascendency over his mind; and when he turns to florence, it is of dante that he speaks. at last the moment came when this strong solitary spirit, much suffering and much loving, had to render its account. it appears from a letter written to lionardo buonarroti on february , , that his old servant antonio del francese, the successor of urbino in his household, together with tommaso cavalieri and daniello ricciarelli of volterra, attended him in his last illness. on the th of that month, having bequeathed his soul to god, his body to the earth, and his worldly goods to his kinsfolk, praying them on their death-bed to think upon christ's passion, he breathed his last. his corpse was transported to florence, and buried in the church of s. croce, with great pomp and honour, by the duke, the city, and the florentine academy. footnotes: [ ] see vasari, vol. xii. p. , and gotti's _vita di michelangelo buonarroti_, vol. i. p. , for a discussion of this claim, and for a letter written by alessandro count of canossa, in , to the artist. [ ] that michael angelo was contemptuous to brother artists, is proved by what torrigiani said to cellini: "aveva per usanza di uccellare tutti quelli che dissegnavano." he called perugino _goffo_, told francia's son that his father made handsomer men by night than by day, and cast in lionardo's teeth that he could not finish the equestrian statue of the duke of milan. it is therefore not improbable that when, according to the legend, he corrected a drawing of ghirlandajo's, he may have said things unendurable to the elder painter. [ ] engraved in outline in harford's _illustrations of the genius of michael angelo buonarroti_, colnaghi, . [ ] this group, placed in s. peter's, was made for the french cardinal de saint denys. it should be said that the first work of michael angelo in rome was the "bacchus" now in the florentine bargello, executed for jacopo gallo, a roman gentleman. [ ] pitti approved of the form of government represented by soderini. machiavelli despised the want of decision that made him quit florence, and the euêtheia of the man. hence their curiously conflicting phrases. [ ] see the chapter entitled "della malitia e pessíme conditioni del tyranno," in savonarola's "tractato circa el reggimento e governo della citta di firenze composto ad instantia delli excelsi signori al tempo di giuliano salviati, gonfaloniere di justitia." a more terrible picture has never been drawn by any analyst of human vice and cruelty and weakness. [ ] guasti's edition of the _rime_, p. . [ ] he defends himself thus in a letter to lodovico buonarroti: "del caso dei medici io non ò mai parlato contra di loro cosa nessuna, se non in quel modo che s' è parlato generalmente per ogn' uomo, come fu del caso di prato; che se le pietre avessin saputo parlare, n' avrebbono parlato." [ ] it seems clear from the correspondence in the archivio buonarroti, recently published, that when michael angelo fled from florence to venice in , he did so under the pressure of no ignoble panic, but because his life was threatened by a traitor, acting possibly at the secret instance of malatesta baglioni. see heath wilson, pp. - . [ ] see guasti, p. . [ ] vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] to these years we must also assign the two unfinished medallions of "madonna and the infant christ," the circular oil picture of the "holy family," painted for angelo doni, and the beautiful unfinished picture of "madonna with the boy jesus and s. john" in the national gallery. the last of these works is one of the loveliest of michael angelo's productions, whether we regard the symmetry of its composition or the refinement of its types. the two groups of two boys standing behind the central group on either hand of the virgin, have incomparable beauty of form. the supreme style of the sistine is here revealed to us in embryo. whether the "entombment," also unfinished, and also in the national gallery, belongs to this time, and whether it be michael angelo's at all, is a matter for the experts to decide. to my perception, it is quite unworthy of the painter of the doni "holy family;" nor can i think that his want of practice in oil-painting will explain its want of charm and vigour. [ ] it has long been believed that baccio bandinelli destroyed michael angelo's; but grimm, in his life of the sculptor (vol. i. p. , eng. tr.), adduces solid arguments against this legend. a few studies, together with the engravings of portions by marc antonio and agostino veneziano, enable us to form a notion of the composition. at holkham there is an old copy of the larger portion of the cartoon, which has been engraved by schiavonetti, and reproduced in harford's _illustrations_, plate x. [ ] _vita_, p. . cellini, the impassioned admirer of michael angelo, esteemed this cartoon so highly, that he writes: "sebbene il divino michelagnolo fece la gran cappella di papa julio da poi, non arrivò mai a questo segno alla meta: la sua virtù non aggiunse mai da poi alla forza di quei primi studj." [ ] the cartoon was probably exhibited in . see gotti, vol. i. p. . [ ] gotti, pp. - . [ ] springer, in his essay, _michael agnolo in rome_, p. , makes out that this large design was not conceived till after the death of julius. it is difficult to form a clear notion of the many changes in the plan of the tomb, between and , when michael angelo signed the last contract with the heirs of julius. [ ] in the uffizzi at florence. see heath wilson, plate vi. [ ] boboli gardens, bargello, louvre. these captives are unfinished. the "rachel" and "leah" at s. pietro in vincoli were committed to pupils by michael angelo. [ ] "che mi fosso messo a fare zolfanelli.... son ogni di lapidato, come se havessi crucifisso cristo.... io mi truovo avere perduta tutta la mia giovinezza legato a questa sepoltura." [ ] gotti, p. . grimm makes two visits to carrara in and , vol. i. pp. , . [ ] see his letter. gotti, p. . [ ] our authorities for this episode in michael angelo's biography are mainly vasari and condivi. though there may be exaggeration in the legend, it is certain that a correspondence took place between the pope and the gonfalonier of florence, to bring about his return. see heath wilson, pp. - , and the letter to giuliano di san gallo in milanesi's archivio buonarroti, p. . michael angelo appears to have had some reason to fear assassination in rome. [ ] see michael angelo's letters to giovan francesco fattucci, and his family. gotti, pp. - . [ ] see the sonnet to giovanni da pistoja:-- la mia pittura morta difendi orma', giovanni, e 'l mio onore, non sendo in loco bon, nè io pittore. [ ] according to the first plan, michael angelo bargained with the pope for twelve apostles in the lunettes, and another part to be filled with ornament in the usual manner--"dodici apostoli nelle lunette, e 'l resto un certo partimento ripieno d' adornamenti come si usa." michael angelo, after making designs for this commission, told the pope he thought the roof would look poor, because the apostles were poor folk--"perchè furon poveri anche loro." he then began his cartoons for the vault as it now exists. see the letter to ser giovan francesco fattucci, in the _archivio buonarroti_, milanesi, pp. - . this seems to be the foundation for an old story of the pope's complaining that the sistine roof looked poor without gilding, and michael angelo's reply that the biblical personages depicted there were but poor people. [ ] bramante, the pope's architect, did in truth fail to construct the proper scaffolding, whether through inability or jealousy. michael angelo designed a superior system of his own, which became a model for future architects in similar constructions. [ ] see chapters vi. vii. and viii. of mr. charles heath wilson's admirable _life of michel angelo_. aurelio gotti's _vita di michel agnolo_, and anton springer's _michael agnolo in rome_, deserve to be consulted on this passage in the painter's biography. [ ] the conditions under which michael angelo worked, without a trained band of pupils, must have struck contemporaries, accustomed to raphael's crowds of assistants, with a wonder that justified vasari's emphatic language of exaggeration as to his single-handed labour. [ ] in speaking of the sistine i have treated michael angelo as a sculptor, and it was a sculptor who designed those frescoes. _nè io pittore_ is his own phrase. compare an autotype of "adam" in the sistine with one of "twilight" in s. lorenzo: it is clear that in the former michael angelo painted what he would have been well pleased to carve. a sculptor's genius was needed for the modelling of those many figures; it was, moreover, not a painter's part to deal thus drily with colour. [ ] the laurentian library, however, was built in . [ ] see gotti, pp. , , , , for the correspondence which passed upon the subject, and the various alterations in the plan. as in the case of all michael angelo's works, except the sistine, only a small portion of the original project was executed. [ ] cosimo de' medici found it impossible to induce him to return to florence. see b. cellini's life, p. , for his way of receiving the duke's overtures. [ ] see above, chapter ii, michael angelo. [ ] vasari names the gloomy statue, called by the italians _il penseroso_, "lorenzo, duke of urbino," the sprightly one, "giuliano, duke of nemours;" and this contemporary tradition has been recently confirmed by an inspection of the penseroso's tomb (see a letter to the _academy_, march , , by mr. charles heath wilson). grimm, in his _life of michael angelo_, gave plausible aesthetic reasons why we should reverse the nomenclature; but the discovery of two bodies beneath the penseroso, almost certainly those of lorenzo and his supposed son alessandro, justifies vasari. neither of these statues can be accepted as a portrait. [ ] the "bacchus" of the bargello, the "david," the "christ," of the minerva, the "duke of nemours," and the almost finished "night," might also be mentioned. his chalk drawings of the "bersaglieri," the "infant bacchanals," the "fall of phaëthon," and the "punishment of tityos," now in the royal collection at windsor, prove that even in old age michael angelo carried delicacy of execution as a draughtsman to a point not surpassed even by lionardo. few frescoes, again, were ever finished with more conscientious elaboration than those of the sistine vault. [ ] see varchi, at the end of the _storia fiorentina_, for episodes in the life of pier luigi farnese, and cellini for a popular estimate of the cardinal, his father. [ ] this extract from cesare balbo's _pensieri sulla storia d' italia_, le monnier, , p. , may help to explain the situation: "e se lasciando gli uomini e i nomi grandi de' governanti, noi venissimo a quella storia, troppo sovente negletta, dei piccoli, dei più, dei governati che sono in somma scopo d' ogni sorta di governo; se, coll' aiuto delle tante memorie rimaste di quell' secolo, noi ci addestrassimo a conoscere la condizione comune e privata degli italiani di quell' età, noi troveremmo trasmesse dai governanti a' governati, e ritornate da questi a quelli, tali universali scostumatezze ed immoralità, tali fiacchezze e perfidie, tali mollezze e libidini, tali ozi e tali vizi, tali avvilimenti insomma e corruzioni, che sembrano appena credibili in una età d' incivilmento cristiano." [ ] vasari's description moves our laughter with its jargon about "attitudini bellissime e scorti molto mirabili," when the man, in spite of his honest and enthusiastic admiration, is so little capable of penetrating the painter's thought. mr. ruskin leaves the same impression as vasari: he too makes much talk about attitudes and muscles in michael angelo, and seems to be on vasari's level as to comprehending him. the difference is that vasari praises, ruskin blames; both miss the mark. [ ] "È possibile che voi, che _per essere divino non degnate il consortio degli huomini_, haviate ciò fatto nel maggior tempio di dio?.... in un bagno delitioso, non in un choro supremo si conveniva il far vostro." those who are curious may consult aretino's correspondence with michael angelo in his published letters (parigi, ), lib. i. p. ; lib. ii. p. ; lib. iii. pp. , ; lib. iv. p. . [ ] braun's autotypes of the vault frescoes show what ravage the lapse of time has wrought in them, by the cracking of the plaster, the peeling off in places of the upper surface, and the deposit of dirt and cobwebs. mr. heath wilson, after careful examination, pronounces that not only time, but the wilful hand of man, re-painting and washing the delicate tint-coats with corrosive acids, has contributed to their ruin. [ ] _histoire de la peinture en italie_, p. . [ ] that is not counting the frescoes of the cappella paolina in the vatican, painted about , which are now in a far worse state even than the "last judgment," and which can never have done more than show his style in decadence. [ ] see above, chapter ii, s. peter's. [ ] see gotti, p. , or _archivio buonarroti_, p. . [ ] i have reserved my translation of the sonnets that cast most light upon michael angelo's thought and feeling for an appendix, no. ii. [ ] the majority of michael angelo's letters are written on domestic matters--about the affairs of his brothers and his father. when they vexed him, he would break out into expressions like the following: "io son ito, da dodici anni in qua, tapinando per tutta italia; sopportato ogni vergognia; patito ogni stento; lacerato il corpo mio in ogni fatica; messa la vita propria a mille pericoli, solo per aiutar la casa mia." they are generally full of good counsel and sound love. how he loved his father may be seen in the _terza rima_ poem on his death in . [ ] notice this expression in a letter to his father, written from rome, about , "bastivi avere del pane, e vivete ben con cristo e poveramente; come fo io qua, che vivo meschinamente." it does not seem that he ever altered this poor way of living. for his hiring at bologna, in , a single room with one bed in it, for himself and his three workmen, see gotti, p. . his father in rebuked him for the meanness of his establishment; _ibid_. p. . it appears that he was always sending money home. [ ] "io sto qua in grande afanno, e con grandissima fatica di corpo, e non ò amici di nessuna sorte, e none voglio: e non ò tanto tempo che io possa mangiare el bisognio mio." letter to gismondo, published by grimm. see, too, sebastian del piombo's letter to him of november , : "ma fate paura a ognuno, insino a' papi." compare, too, the letter of sebastian, oct. , , in which julius is reported to have said, "È terribile, come tu vedi, non se pol praticar con lui." again, michael angelo writes: "sto sempesolo, vo poco attorno e non parlo a persona e massino di fiorentini." gotti, p. . [ ] when anything went wrong with him, he became moody and vehement: "non vi maravigliate che io vi abbi scritto alle volte cosi stizosamente, che io ò alle volte di gran passione, per molte cagioni che avengono a chi è fuor di casa." so he writes to his father in . a letter to luigi del riccio of , is signed "michelagnolo buonarroti non pittore, nè scultore, nè architettore, ma quel che voi volete, ma none briaco, come vi dissi, in casa." [ ] see the letters of cosimo de' medici, gotti, pp. - , the letter of count alessandro da canossa, _ibid._ p. , and pier vettori's letter to borghini, about the visit of some german gentlemen, _ibid._ p. . [ ] see the story as told by torrigiani himself in cellini, ed. le monnier, p. . [ ] after saying that he talked of love like plato, condivi continues: "non senti mai uscir di quella bocca se non parole onestissime, e che avevan forza d' estinguere nella gioventù ogni incomposto e sfrenato desiderio che in lei potesse cadere." compare scipione ammirato, quoted by guasti, "le rime," p. xi. [ ] her intense affection for the marquis of pescara, to whom she had been betrothed by her father at the age of five, is sufficiently proved by those many sonnets and _canzoni_ in which she speaks of him as her sun. [ ] see grimm, vol. ii. [ ] see the sonnets translated in my appendix and in my _sonnets of michael angelo and campanella_, london, smith & elder, . see also the letters to cavalieri, quoted by gotti, pp. , , . it is surely strained criticism to conjecture, as gotti has done, that these epistles were meant for vittoria, though written to cavalieri. taken together with the sonnets and the letter of bartolommeo angiolini (gotti, p. ), they seem to me to prove only michael angelo's warm love for this young man. chapter ix life of benvenuto cellini his fame--his autobiography--its value for the student of history, manners, and character, in the renaissance--birth, parentage, and boyhood--flute-playing--apprenticeship to marcone--wanderjahr--the goldsmith's trade at florence--torrigiani and england--cellini leaves florence for rome--quarrel with the guasconti--homicidal fury--cellini a law to himself--three periods in his manhood--life in rome--diego at the banquet--renaissance feeling for physical beauty--sack of rome--miracles in cellini's life--his affections--murder of his brother's assassin--sanctuary--pardon and absolution--incantation in the colosseum--first visit to france--adventures on the way--accused of stealing crown jewels in rome--imprisonment in the castle of s. angelo--the governor--cellini's escape--his visions--the nature of his religion--second visit to france--the wandering court--le petit nesle--cellini in the french law courts--scene at fontainebleau--return to florence--cosimo de' medici as a patron--intrigues of a petty court--bandinelli--the duchess--statue of perseus--end of cellini's life--cellini and machiavelli. few names in the history of italian art are more renowned than that of benvenuto cellini. this can hardly be attributed to the value of his extant works; for though, while he lived, he was the greatest goldsmith of his time, a skilled medallist and an admirable statuary, few of his many masterpieces now survive. the plate and armour that bear his name, are only in some rare instances genuine; and the bronze "perseus" in the loggia de' lanzi at florence remains almost alone to show how high he ranked among the later tuscan sculptors. if, therefore, cellini had been judged merely by the authentic productions of his art, he would not have acquired a celebrity unique among his fellow-workers of the sixteenth century. that fame he owes to the circumstance that he left behind him at his death a full and graphic narrative of his stormy life. the vivid style of this autobiography dictated by cellini while still engaged in the labour of his craft, its animated picture of a powerful character, the variety of its incidents, and the amount of information it contains, place it high both as a life-romance and also as a record of contemporary history. after studying the laboured periods of varchi, we turn to these memoirs, and view the same events from the standpoint of an artisan conveying his impressions with plebeian raciness of phrase. the sack of rome, the plague and siege of florence, the humiliation of clement vii., the pomp of charles v. at rome, the behaviour of the florentine exiles at ferrara, the intimacy between alessandro de' medici and his murderer, lorenzino, the policy of paul iii., and the method pursued by cosimo at florence, are briefly but significantly touched upon--no longer by the historian seeking causes and setting forth the sequence of events, but by a shrewd observer interested in depicting his own part in the great game of life. cellini haunted the private rooms of popes and princes; he knew the chief actors of his day, just as the valet knows the hero; and the picturesque glimpses into their life we gain from him, add the charm of colour and reality to history. at the same time this book presents an admirable picture of an artist's life at rome, paris, and florence. cellini was essentially an italian of the cinque-cento. his passions were the passions of his countrymen; his vices were the vices of his time; his eccentricity and energy and vital force were what the age idealised as _virtù_. combining rare artistic gifts with a most violent temper and a most obstinate will, he paints himself at one time as a conscientious craftsman, at another as a desperate bravo. he obeys his instincts and indulges his appetites with the irreflective simplicity of an animal. in the pursuit of vengeance and the commission of murder he is self-reliant, coolly calculating, fierce and fatal as a tiger. yet his religious fervour is sincere; his impulses are generous; and his heart on the whole is good. his vanity is inordinate; and his unmistakable courage is impaired, to northern apprehension, by swaggering bravado. the mixture of these qualities in a personality so natural and so clearly limned renders cellini a most precious subject for the student of renaissance life and character. even supposing him to have been exceptionally passionate, he was made of the same stuff as his contemporaries. we are justified in concluding this not only from collateral evidence and from what he tells us, but also from the meed of honour he received. in europe of the present day he could hardly fail to be regarded as a ruffian, a dangerous disturber of morality and order. in his own age he was held in high esteem and buried by his fellow-citizens with public ceremonies. a funeral oration was pronounced over his grave "in praise both of his life and works, and also of his excellent disposition of mind and body."[ ] he dictated the memoirs that paint him as bloodthirsty, sensual, and revengeful, in the leisure of his old age, and left them with complacency to serve as witness of his manly virtues to posterity. even vasari, whom he hated, and who reciprocated his ill-will, records that "he always showed himself a man of great spirit and veracity, bold, active, enterprising, and formidable to his enemies; a man, in short, who knew as well how to speak to princes as to exert himself in his art." enough has been said to prove that cellini was not inferior to the average morality of the renaissance, and that we are justified in accepting his life as a valuable historical document.[ ] to give a detailed account of a book pronounced by horace walpole "more amusing than any novel," received by parini and tiraboschi as the most delightful masterpiece of italian prose, translated into german by goethe, and placed upon his index of select works by auguste comte, may seem superfluous. yet i cannot afford to omit from my plan the most singular and characteristic episode in the private history of the italian renaissance. i need it for the concrete illustration of much that has been said in this and the preceding volumes of my work. cellini was born of respectable parents at florence on the night of all saints' day in , and was called benvenuto to record his father's joy at having a son.[ ] it was the wish of giovanni cellini's heart that his son should be a musician. benvenuto in consequence practised the flute for many years attentively, though much against his will. at the age of fifteen so great was his desire to learn the arts of design that his father placed him under the care of the goldsmith marcone. at the same time he tells us in his memoirs: "i continued to play sometimes through complaisance to my father either upon the flute or the horn; and i constantly drew tears and deep sighs from him every time he heard me." while engaged in the workshop of marcone, benvenuto came to blows with some young men who had attacked his brother, and was obliged to leave florence for a time. at this period he visited siena, bologna, and pisa, gaming his livelihood by working in the shops of goldsmiths, and steadily advancing in his art. it must not be thought that this education was a mean one for so great an artist. painting and sculpture in italy were regarded as trades, and the artist had his _bottega_ just as much as the cobbler or the blacksmith.[ ] i have already had occasion to point out that an apprenticeship to goldsmith's work was considered at florence an almost indispensable commencement of advanced art-study.[ ] brunelleschi, botticelli, orcagna, verocchio, ghiberti, pollajuolo, ghirlandajo, luca della robbia, all underwent this training before they applied themselves to architecture, painting, and sculpture. as the goldsmith's craft was understood in florence, it exacted the most exquisite nicety in performance as well as design. it forced the student to familiarise himself with the materials, instruments, and technical processes of art; so that, later on in life, he was not tempted to leave the execution of his work to journeymen and hirelings.[ ] no labour seemed too minute, no metal was too mean, for the exercise of the master-workman's skill; nor did he run the risk of becoming one of those half-amateurs in whom accomplishment falls short of first conception. art ennobled for him all that he was called to do. whether cardinals required him to fashion silver vases for their banquet-tables; or ladies wished the setting of their jewels altered; or a pope wanted the enamelled binding of a book of prayers; or men-at-arms sent swordblades to be damascened with acanthus foliage; or kings desired fountains and statues for their palace courts; or poets begged to have their portraits cast in bronze; or generals needed medals to commemorate their victories, or dukes new coins for their mint; or bishops ordered reliquaries for the altars of their patron saints; or merchants sought for seals and signet rings engraved with their device; or men of fashion asked for medallions of leda and adonis to fasten in their caps--all these commissions could be undertaken by a workman like cellini. he was prepared for all alike by his apprenticeship to _orfevria_; and to all he gave the same amount of conscientious toil. the consequence was that, at the time of the renaissance, furniture, plate, jewels, and articles of personal adornment were objects of true art. the mind of the craftsman was exercised afresh in every piece of work. pretty things were not bought, machine-made, by the gross in a warehouse; nor was it customary, as now it is, to see the same design repeated with mechanical regularity in every house. in benvenuto returned to florence and began to study the cartoons of michael angelo. he must have already acquired considerable reputation as a workman, for about this time torrigiani invited him to go to england in his company and enter the service of henry viii. the renaissance was now beginning to penetrate the nations of the north, and henry and francis vied with each other in trying to attract foreign artists to their capitals. it does not, however, appear that the english king secured the services of men so distinguished as lionardo da vinci, ii rosso, primaticcio, del sarto, and cellini, who shed an artificial lustre on the court of france. going to london then was worse than going to russia now, and to take up a lengthy residence among _questi diavoli ... quelle bestie di quegli inglesi_, as cellini politely calls the english, did not suit a southern taste. he had, moreover, private reasons for disliking torrigiani, who boasted of having broken michael angelo's nose in a quarrel. "his words," says cellini, "raised in me such a hatred of the fellow that, far from wishing to accompany him to england, i could not bear to look at him." it may be mentioned that one of cellini's best points was hero-worship for michael angelo. he never speaks of him except as _quel divino michel agnolo, il mio maestro_, and extols _la bella maniera_ of the mighty sculptor to the skies. torrigiani, as far as we can gather from cellini's description of him, must have been a man of his own kidney and complexion: "he was handsome, of consummate assurance, having rather the airs of a bravo than a sculptor; above all, his fierce gestures and his sonorous voice, with a peculiar manner of knitting his brows, were enough to frighten everyone that saw him; and he was continually talking of his valiant feats among those bears of englishmen." the story of torrigiani's death in spain is worth repeating. a grandee employed him to model a madonna, which he did with more than usual care, expecting a great reward. his pay, however, falling short of is expectation, in a fit of fury he knocked his statue to pieces. for this act of sacrilege, as it was deemed, to the work of his own brain and hand, torrigiani was thrown into the dungeons of the inquisition. there he starved himself to death in in order to escape the fate of being burned. this story helps to explain why the fine arts were never well developed in spain, and why they languished after the introduction of the holy office into italy.[ ] instead of emigrating to england, benvenuto, after a quarrel with his father about the obnoxious flute-playing, sauntered out one morning toward the gate of s. piero gattolini. there he met a friend called tasso, who had also quarrelled with his parents; and the two youths agreed, upon the moment, to set off for rome. both were nineteen years of age. singing and laughing, carrying their bundle by turns, and wondering "what the old folks would say," they trudged on foot to siena, there hired a return horse between them, and so came to rome. this residence in rome only lasted two years, which were spent by cellini in the employment of various masters. at the expiration of that time he returned to florence, and distinguished himself by the making of a marriage girdle for a certain raffaello lapaccini.[ ] the fame of this and other pieces of jewellery roused against him the envy and malice of the elder goldsmiths, and led to a serious fray, in the course of which he assaulted a young man of the guasconti family, and was obliged to fly disguised like a monk to rome. as this is the first of cellini's homicidal quarrels, it is worth while to transcribe what he says about it. "one day as i was leaning against the shop of these guasconti, and talking with them, they contrived that a load of bricks should pass by at the moment, and gherardo guasconti pushed it against me in such wise that it hurt me. turning suddenly and seeing that he was laughing, i struck him so hard upon the temple that he fell down stunned. then turning to his cousins, i said, that is how i treat cowardly thieves like you; and when they began to show fight, being many together, i, finding myself on flame, set hand to a little knife i had, and cried, if one of you leaves the shop, let another run for the confessor, for a surgeon won't find anything to do here." nor was he contented with this truculent behaviour; for when gherardo recovered from his blow, and the matter had come before the magistrates, cellini went to seek him in his own house. there he stabbed him in the midst of all his family, raging meanwhile, to use his own phrase, "like an infuriated bull."[ ] it appears that on this occasion no one was seriously hurt; but the affair proved perilous to cellini, since it was a mere accident that he had not killed more than one of the guasconti. these affrays recur continually among the adventures recorded by cellini in his life. he says with comical reservation of phrase that he was "naturally somewhat choleric;" and then, describes the access of his fury as a sort of fever, lasting for days, preventing him from taking food or sleep, making his blood boil in his veins, inflaming his eyes, and never suffering him to rest till he revenged himself by murder or at least by blows. to enumerate all the people he killed or wounded, or pounded to a jelly in public brawls or private quarrels, in the pursuit of deliberate _vendetta_ or under a sudden impulse of ungovernable rage, would take too long. we are forced by an effort to recall to mind the state of society at that time in italy, in order to understand how it is that he can talk with unconcern and even self-complacency about his homicides. he makes himself accuser, judge, and executioner, and is quite satisfied with the goodness of his cause, the justice of his sentence, and the equity of his administration. in a sonnet written to bandinelli, he compares his own victims with the mangled statues of that sculptor, much to his own satisfaction.[ ] there is the same callousness of conscience in his record of spiteful acts that we should blush to think of--stabs in the dark, and such a piece of revenge as cutting the beds to bits in the house of an innkeeper who had offended him.[ ] nor does he speak with any shame of the savage cruelty with which he punished a woman who was sitting to him as a model, and whom he hauled up and down his room by the hair of her head, kicking and beating her till he was tired.[ ] it is true that on this occasion he regrets having spoiled, in a moment of blind passion, the best arms and legs that he could find to draw from. such episodes, to which it is impossible to allude otherwise than very briefly, illustrate with extraordinary vividness what i have already had occasion to say about the italian sense of honour at this period.[ ] the consciousness of physical courage and the belief in his own moral superiority sustained cellini in all his dangers and in all his crimes. armed with his sword and dagger, and protected by his coat of mail, he was ready to stand against the world and fight his way towards any object he desired. when a man opposed his schemes or entered into competition with him as an artist, he swaggered up with hand on hilt and threatened to run him through the body if he did not mind his business. at the same time he attributes the success of his own violence in quelling and maltreating his opponents to the providence of god. "i do not write this narrative," he says, "from a motive of vanity, but merely to return thanks to god, who has extricated me out of so many trials and difficulties; who likewise delivers me from those that daily impend over me. upon all occasions i pay my devotions to him, call upon him as my defender, and recommend myself to his care. i always exert my utmost efforts to extricate myself, but when i am quite at a loss, and all my powers fail me, then the force of the deity displays itself--that formidable force which, unexpectedly, strikes those who wrong and oppress others, and neglect the great and honourable duty which god has enjoined on them." i shall have occasion later on to discuss cellini's religious opinions; but here it may be remarked that the feeling of this passage is thoroughly sincere and consistent with the spirit of the times. the separation between religion and morality was complete in italy.[ ] men made their own god and worshipped him; and the god of cellini was one who always helped those who began to help themselves by taking justice into their own hands. from the date of his second visit to rome in , cellini's life divides itself into three periods, the first spent in the service of popes clement vii. and paul iii., the second in paris at the court of francis, and the third at florence under cosimo de' medici. on arriving in rome, his extraordinary abilities soon brought him into notice at the court. the chigi family, the bishop of salamanca, and the pope himself employed him to make various jewels, ornaments, and services of plate. in consequence of a dream in which his father appeared and warned him not to neglect music, under pain of the paternal malediction, he accepted a post in the papal band. the old bugbear of flute-playing followed him until his father's death, and then we hear no more of it. the history of this portion of his life is among the most entertaining passages of his biography. drawing the roman ruins, shooting pigeons, scouring the campagna on a pony like a shaggy bear, fighting duels, prosecuting love-affairs, defending his shop against robbers, skirmishing with moorish pirates on the shore by cerveterra, stabbing, falling ill of the plague and the french sickness--these adventures diversify the account he gives of masterpieces in gold and silver ware. the literary and artistic society of rome at this period was very brilliant. painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths mixed with scholars and poets, passing their time alternately in the palaces of dukes and cardinals and in the lodgings of gay women. bohemianism of the wildest type was combined with the manners of the great world. a little incident described at some length by cellini brings this varied life before us. there was a club of artists, including giulio romano and other pupils of raphael, who met twice a week to sup together and to spend the evening in conversation, with music and the recitation of sonnets. each member of this company brought with him a lady. cellini, on one occasion, not being provided for the moment with an _innamorata_, dressed up a beautiful spanish youth called diego as a woman, and took him to the supper. the ensuing scene is described in the most vivid manner. we see before us the band of painters and poets, the women in their bright costumes, the table adorned with flowers and fruit, and, as a background to the whole picture, a trellis of jasmines with dark foliage and starry blossoms. diego, called pomona, with regard doubtless to his dark and ruddy beauty, is unanimously proclaimed the fairest of the fair. then a discovery of his sex is made; and the adventure leads, as usual in the doings of cellini, to daggers, midnight ambushes, and vendettas that only end with bloodshed. an episode of this sort may serve as the occasion for observing that the artists of the late renaissance had become absorbed in the admiration of merely carnal beauty. with the exception of michael angelo and tintoretto, there was no great master left who still pursued an intellectual ideal. the romans and the venetians simply sought and painted what was splendid and luxurious in the world around them. their taste was contented with well-developed muscles, gorgeous colour, youthful bloom, activity of limb, and grace of outline. the habits of the day, voluptuous yet hardy, fostered this one-sided development of the arts; while the asceticism of the middle ages had yielded to a pagan cult of sensuality. to draw _un bel corpo ignudo_ with freedom was now the _ne plus ultra_ of achievement. how to express thought or to indicate the subtleties of emotion, had ceased to be the artist's aim. we have already noticed the passionate love of beauty which animated the great masters of the golden age. this, in the less elevated natures of the craftsmen who succeeded them, and under the conditions of advancing national corruption, was no longer refined or restrained by delicacy of feeling or by loftiness of aim. it degenerated into soulless animalism. the capacity for perceiving and for reproducing what is nobly beautiful was lost. vulgarity and coarseness stamped themselves upon the finest work of men like giulio romano. at this crisis it was proved how inferior was the neo-paganism of the sixteenth century to the paganism of antiquity it aped. mythology preserved greek art from degradation, and connected a similar enthusiasm for corporeal beauty with the thoughts and aspirations of the hellenic race. the italians lacked this safeguard of a natural religion. to throw the christian ideal aside, and to strive to grasp the classical ideal in exchange, was easy. but paganism alone could give them nothing but its vices; it was incapable of communicating its real source of life--its poetry, its faith, its cult of nature. art, therefore, as soon as the artists pronounced themselves for sensuality, merged in a skilful selection and reproduction of elegant forms, and nothing more. a handsome youth upon a pedestal was called a god. a duke's mistress on titian's canvas passed for aphrodite. andrea del sarto's faithless wife figured as madonna. cellini himself, though sensitive to every kind of physical beauty--as we gather from what he tells us of cencio, diego, faustina, paolino, angelica, ascanio--has not attempted to animate his "perseus," or his "ganymede," or his "diana of fontainebleau," with a vestige of intellectual or moral loveliness. the vacancy of their expression proves the degradation of an art that had ceased to idealise anything beyond a faultless body. not thus did the greeks imagine even their most sensual divinities. there is at least a thought in faun and satyr. cellini's statues have no thought; their blank animalism corresponds to the condition of their maker's soul.[ ] when rome was carried by assault in , and the papal court was besieged in the castle of s. angelo, cellini played the part of bombardier. it is well known that he claims to have shot the constable of bourbon dead with his own hand, and to have wounded the prince of orange; nor does there seem to be any adequate reason for discrediting his narrative. it is certain that he was an expert marksman, and that he did clement good service by directing the artillery of s. angelo. if we believed all his assertions, however, we should have to suppose that nothing memorable happened without his intervention. in his own eyes his whole life was a miracle. the very hailstones that fell upon his head could not be grasped in both hands. his guns and powder brought down birds no other marksman had a chance of hitting. when he was a child, he grasped a scorpion without injury, and saw a salamander "living and enjoying himself in the hottest flames." after his fever at rome in , he threw off from his stomach a hideous worm--hairy, speckled with green, black, and red--the like whereof the doctors never saw.[ ] when he finally escaped from the dungeons of s. angelo in , a luminous appearance like an aureole settled on his head, and stayed there for the rest of his life.[ ] these facts are related in the true spirit of jerome cardan, paracelsus, lord herbert of cherbury, and sir thomas browne. cellini doubtless believed in them; but they warn us to be cautious in accepting what he says about his exploits, since imagination and self-conceit could so far distort his judgment. it may be regretted that cellini has not given a fuller account of the memorable sack of borne. yet, confining himself almost wholly to his own adventures, he presents a very vivid picture of the sad life led by the pope and cardinals, vainly hoping for succour from urbino, wrangling together about the causes of the tragedy, sewing the crown jewels into their doublets, and running the perils of the siege with common soldiers on the ramparts. when peace at last was signed, cellini paid a visit to florence, and found that his father and some other relatives had died of plague.[ ] his brother cecchino, however, who was a soldier in the bande nere of giovanni de' medici, and his sister liperata survived. with them he spent a pleasant evening; for liperata having "for a while lamented her father, her sister, her husband, and a little son that she had been deprived of, went to prepare supper, and during the rest of the evening there was not a word more spoken of the dead, but much about weddings. thus we supped together with the greatest cheerfulness and satisfaction imaginable." in these sentences there is no avowal of hard-heartedness; only the careless familiarity with loss and danger, engendered by war, famine, plague, and personal adventures in those riotous times.[ ] cellini gladly risked his life in a quarrel for his friends; but he would not sadden the present by reflecting on inevitable accidents. this elastic temper permeates his character. his affections were strong, but transient. the one serious love-affair he describes, among a multitude of mere debaucheries, made him miserable for a few days. his mistress, angelica, ran away, and left him "on the point of losing his senses or dying of grief." yet, when he found her again, a short time sufficed to satisfy his longing, and he turned his back with jibes upon her when she bargained about money. it is worthy of notice that, at the same time, he was an excellent son and brother. his sister was left a widow with two children; whereupon he took them all into his house, without bragging about what appears to have been the best action of his life. in the same spirit he conscientiously performed what he conceived to be his duty to cecchino, murdered by a musketeer in rome. after nursing his revenge till he was nearly mad, he stole out one evening and stabbed the murderer in the back.[ ] so violent was the blow that he could not extricate his dagger from the man's spine, but had to leave it sticking in his nape. next to his own egotism the strongest feelings in cellini were domestic; and he showed them at one moment by charity to his sister's family, at another by a savage assassination. after killing the musketeer, cellini retired for refuge to the house of alessandro de' medici, duke of cività di penna, who had been his brother's patron. the matter reached the pope's ears, for whom benvenuto was at work upon crown jewels. clement sent for him, and simply said: "now you have recovered your health, benvenuto, take care of yourself." this shows how little they thought of homicide in rome. after killing a man, some powerful protector had to be sought, who was usually a cardinal, since the cardinals had right of sanctuary in their palaces. there the assassin lay in hiding, in order to avoid his victim's friends and relatives, until such time as a pardon and safe-conduct and absolution had been obtained from his holiness. when cellini, soon after this occurrence, stabbed a private enemy, by name pompeo, two cardinals were anxious to screen him from pursuit, and disputed the privilege of harbouring so talented a criminal.[ ] the pope, with marvellous good-humour, observed: "i have never heard of the death of pompeo, but often of benvenuto's provocation; so let a safe-conduct be instantly made out, and that will secure him from all manner of danger." a friend of pompeo's who was present, ventured to insinuate that this was dangerous policy. the pope put him down at once by saying, "you do not understand these matters; i would have you know that men who are unique in their profession, like benvenuto, are not subject to the laws." whether paul really said these words, may be doubted; but it is clear that much was conceded to a clever workman, and that the laws were a mere _brutum fulmen_. no man of spirit appealed to them. cellini, for example, was poisoned by a parish priest near florence:[ ] yet he never brought the man to justice; and in the case of his own murders, he only dreaded the retaliation of his victims' kinsmen. on one occasion, indeed, the civil arm came down upon him; when the city guard attempted to arrest him for pompeo's assassination. he beat them off with swords and sticks; and, after all, it appeared that they were only acting at the instigation of pier luigi farnese, whom benvenuto had offended. during his residence at rome, cellini witnessed an incantation conducted in the colosseum by a sicilian priest and necromancer. the conjurer and the artist, accompanied by two friends, and by a boy, who was to act as medium, went by night to the amphitheatre. the magic circle was drawn; fires were lighted, and perfumes scattered on the flames. then the spirit-seer began his charms, calling in hebrew, greek, and latin, or what passed for such, upon the leaders of the hosts of hell. the whole hollow space now filled with phantoms, surging up by legions, rushing down from the galleries, issuing from subterranean caverns, and wheeling to and fro with signs of fury. all the party, says cellini, were thrown into consternation, except himself, who, though terribly afraid, kept up the fainting spirits of the rest. at last the conjurer summoned courage to inquire when cellini might hope to be restored to his lost love, angelica;--for this was the trivial object of the incantation. the demons answered (how we are not told) that he would meet her ere a month had passed away. this prophecy, as it happened, was fulfilled. then they redoubled their attacks; the necromancer kept crying out that the peril was most imminent, until the matin bells of rome swung through the darkness, freeing them at last from fear. as they walked home, the boy, holding the sicilian by his robe and benvenuto by his mantle, told them that he still saw giants leaping with fantastic gestures on their path, now running along the house roofs, and now dancing on the earth. each one of them that night dreamed in his bed of devils.[ ] the interest of this incident is almost wholly picturesque. it throws but little light upon the superstitions of the age.[ ] the magnitude of the colosseum, the popular legends concerning its magical origin, and the terrible uses of blood to which it had been put, invested this building with peculiar mystery. robbers haunted the huge caves. rubbish and weeds choked the passages. sickly trees soared up from darkness into light among the porches, and the moon peered through the empty vomitories. if we call imagination to our aid, and place the necromancers and their brazier in the centre of this space;--if we fancy the priest's chaunted spells, the sacred names invoked in his unholy rites, the shuddering terror of the conscience-stricken accomplices, and cellini with defiant mien but quailing heart, we can well believe that he saw more than the amphitheatre contained. whether the spectres were projected by the conjurer from a magic lantern on the smoke that issued from his heaps of blazing wood, so that the volumes of vapour, agitated by the wind and rolling in thick spirals, showed them retreating and advancing, and varying in shape and number, is a matter for conjecture. cellini firmly believed that he had been environed by living squadrons of the spirits of the damned. the next four years were spent by cellini chiefly in rome, in peril of his life at several seasons, owing to the animosity of pier luigi farnese. one journey he took at this period to venice, passing through ferrara, where he came to blows with the florentine exiles. it is interesting to find the respectable historian jacopo nardi involved, if only as a peacemaker, in this affray.[ ] he also visited florence and cast dies for alessandro's silver coinage. it was here that he found opportunities of observing the perilous intimacy between the duke of cività di penna and his cousin--_quel pazzo malinconico filosofo di lorenzino._[ ] in april , having quarrelled with the pope, who seems to have adopted pier luigi's prejudice against him, cellini set out for france with two of his workmen. they passed through florence, bologna, venice, and padua, staying in the last place to model a medallion portrait of pietro bembo;[ ] then they crossed the grisons by the bernina and albula passes. we hear nothing about this part of the journey, except that the snow was heavy, and that they ran great danger of their lives. cellini must have traversed some of the most romantic scenery of switzerland at the best season of the year; yet not a word escapes him about the beauty of the alps or the wonder of the glaciers, which he saw for the first time. the pleasure we derive from contemplating savage scenery was unknown to the italians of the sixteenth century; the height and cold, the gloom and solitude of mountains struck them with a sense of terror or of dreariness. on the lake of wallenstadt cellini met with a party of germans, whom he hated as cordially as an athenian of the age of pericles might have loathed the scythians for their barbarism.[ ] the italians embarked in one boat, the germans in another; cellini being under the impression that the northern lakes would not be so likely to drown him as those of his own country. however, when a storm swept down the hills, he took a terrible fright, and compelled the boatmen at the point of the poniard to put him and his company ashore. the description of their struggles to drag their heavily laden horses over the uneven ground near wesen, is extremely graphic, and gives a good notion of the dangers of the road in those days.[ ] that night they "heard the watch sing at all hours very agreeably; and as the houses of that town were all of wood, he kept bidding them to take care of their fires." next day they arrived, not without other accidents, at zurich, "a marvellous city, as clear and polished as a jewel." thence by solothurn, lausanne, geneva, and lyons, they made their way to paris. this long and troublesome journey led to nothing, for cellini grew weary of following the french court about from place to place; his health too failed him, and he decided that he would rather die in italy than france.[ ] accordingly he returned to rome, and there, not long after his arrival, he was arrested by the order of pope paul iii.[ ] the charge against him, preferred by one of his own prentices, was this. during the siege of rome, he had been employed by clement to melt down the tiaras and papal ornaments, in order that the precious stones might be conveyed away in secrecy. he did so; and afterwards confessed to having kept a portion of the gold filings found in the cinders of his brazier during the operation. for this crime clement gave him absolution.[ ] now, however, he was accused of having stolen gold and jewels to the amount of nearly eighty thousand ducats. "the avarice of the pope, but more that of his bastard, then called duke of castro," inclined paul to believe this charge; and pier luigi was allowed to farm the case. cellini was examined by the governor of rome and two assessors; in spite of his vehement protestations of innocence, the absence of any evidence against him, and the sound arguments adduced in his defence, he was committed to the castle of s. angelo. when he received his sentence, he called heaven and earth to witness, thanking god that he had "the happiness not to be confined for some error of his sinful nature, as generally happens to young men." whereupon "the brute of a governor replied, yet you have killed enough men in your time." this remark was pertinent; but it provoked a torrent of abuse and a long enumeration of his services from the virtuous cellini. the account of this imprisonment, and especially of the hypochondriacal governor who thought he was a bat and used to flap his arms and squeak when night was coming on, is highly entertaining.[ ] not less interesting is the description of cellini's daring escape from the castle. in climbing over the last wall, he fell and broke his leg, and was carried by a waterman to the palace of the cardinal cornaro. there he lay in hiding, visited by all the rank and fashion of rome, who were not a little curious to see the hero of so perilous an escapade. cornaro promised to secure his pardon, but eventually exchanged him for a bishopric. this remarkable proceeding illustrates the manners of the papal court. the cardinal wanted a benefice for one of his followers, and the pope wished to get his son's enemy once more into his power. so the two ecclesiastics bargained together, and by mutual kind offices attained their several ends. cellini with his broken leg went back to languish in his prison. he found the flighty governor furious because he had "flown away," eluding his bat's eyes and wings. the rigour used towards him made him dread the worst extremities. cast into a condemned cell, he first expected to be flayed alive; and when this terror was removed, he perceived the crystals of a pounded jewel in his food. according to his own account of this mysterious circumstance, messer durante duranti of brescia, one of cellini's numerous enemies, had given a diamond of small value to be broken up and mixed with a salad served to him at dinner. the jeweller to whom this charge was entrusted, kept the diamond and substituted a beryl, thinking that the inferior stone would have the same murderous properties. to the avarice of this man cellini attributed his escape from a lingering death by inflammation of the mucous membrane.[ ] during his first imprisonment he had occupied a fair chamber in the upper turret of the castle. he was now removed to a dungeon below ground where fra fojano, the reformer, had been starved to death. the floor was wet and infested with crawling creatures. a few reflected sunbeams slanting from a narrow window for two hours of the afternoon, was all the light that reached him. here he lay, alone, unable to move because of his broken leg, with his hair and teeth falling away, and with nothing to occupy him but a bible and a volume of villani's "chronicles." his spirit, however, was indomitable; and the passionate energy of the man, hitherto manifested in ungoverned acts of fury, took the form of ecstasy. he began the study of the bible from the first chapter of genesis, and trusting firmly to the righteousness of his own cause, compared himself to all the saints and martyrs of scripture, men of whom the world was not worthy. he sang psalms, prayed continually, and composed a poem in praise of his prison. with a piece of charcoal he made a great drawing of angels surrounding god the father on the wall. once only his courage gave way: he determined on suicide, and so placed a beam that it should fall on him like a trap. when all was ready, an unseen hand took violent hold of him, and dashed him on the ground at a considerable distance. from this moment his dungeon was visited by angels, who healed his broken leg, and reasoned with him of religion. the mention of these visions reminds us that cellini had become acquainted with savonarola's writings during his first imprisonment.[ ] impressed with the grandeur of the prophet's dreams, and exalted by the reading of the bible, he no doubt mistook his delirious fancies for angelic visitors, and in the fervour of his enthusiasm laid claim to inspiration. one of these hallucinations is particularly striking. he had prayed that he might see the sun at least in trance, if it were impossible that he should look on it again with waking eyes. but, while awake and in possession of his senses, he was hurried suddenly away and carried to a room, where the invisible power sustaining him appeared in human shape, "like a youth whose beard is but just growing, with a face most marvellous, fair, but of austere and far from wanton beauty." in that room were all the men who had ever lived and died on earth; and thence they two went together, and came into a narrow street, one side whereof was bright with sunlight. then cellini asked the angel how he might behold the sun; and the angel pointed to certain steps upon the side of a house. up these cellini climbed, and came into the full blaze of the sun, and, though dazzled by its brightness, he gazed steadfastly and took his fill. while he looked, the rays fell away upon the left side and the disk shone like a bath of molten gold. this surface swelled, and from the glory came the figure of a christ upon the cross, which moved and stood beside the rays. again the surface swelled, and from the glory came the figure of madonna and her child; and at the right hand of the sun there knelt s. peter in his sacerdotal robes, pleading cellini's cause; and "full of shame that such foul wrong should be done to christians in his house." this vision marvellously strengthened cellini's soul, and he began to hope with confidence for liberty. when free again, he modelled the figures he had seen in gold. the religious phase in cellini's history requires some special comment, since it is precisely at this point that he most faithfully personifies the spirit of his age and nation. that he was a devout catholic there is no question. he made two pilgrimages to loreto, and another to s. francis of vernia. to s. lucy he dedicated a golden eye after his recovery from an illness. he was, moreover, always anxious to get absolution from the pope. more than this; he continually sustained himself at the great crises of his life, when in peril of imprisonment, while defending himself against assassins, and again on the eve of casting his "perseus," by direct and passionate appeals to god. yet his religion had but little effect upon his life; and he often used it as a source of moral strength in doing deeds repugnant to real piety. like love, he put it off and on quite easily, reverting to it when he found himself in danger or bad spirits, and forgetting it again when he was prosperous. thus in the dungeon of s. angelo he vowed to visit the holy sepulchre if god would grant him to behold the sun. this vow he forgot until he met with disappointment at the court of francis, and then he suddenly determined to travel to jerusalem. the offer of a salary of seven hundred crowns restored his spirits, and he thought no more about his vow. while he loved his life so dearly and indulged so freely in the pleasures of this earth, he made a virtue of necessity as soon as death approached, crying, "the sooner i am delivered from the prison of this world, the better; especially as i am sure of salvation, being unjustly put to death." his good opinion of himself extended to the certainty he felt of heaven. forgetting his murders and debaucheries, he sustained his courage with devotion when all other sources failed. as to the divine government of the world, he halted between two opinions. whether the stars or providence had the upper hand, he could not clearly say; but by the stars he understood a power antagonistic to his will, by providence a force that helped him to do what he liked. there is a similar confusion in his mind about the pope. he goes to clement submissively for absolution from homicide and theft, saying, "i am at the feet of your holiness, who have the full power of absolving, and i request you to give me permission to confess and communicate, that i may with your favour be restored to the divine grace." he also tells paul that the sight of christ's vicar, in whom there is an awful representation of the divine majesty, makes him tremble. yet at another time he speaks of clement being "transformed to a savage beast," and talks of him as "that poor man pope clement."[ ] of paul he says that he "believed neither in god nor in any other article of religion;" he sincerely regrets not having killed him by accident during the siege of rome, abuses him for his avarice, casts his bastards in his teeth, and relates with relish the crime of forgery for which in his youth he was imprisoned in the castle of s. angelo.[ ] indeed, the italians treated the pope as negroes treat their fetishes. if they had cause to dislike him, they beat and heaped insults on him--like the florentines who described sixtus iv. as "leno matris suae, adulterorum minister, diaboli vicarius," and his spiritual offspring as "simonia, luxus, homicidium, proditio, haeresis." on the other hand, they really thought that he could open heaven and shut the gates of hell. at the end of the year , the cardinal ippolito d'este appeared in rome with solicitations from francis i. that the pope would release cellini and allow him to enter his service.[ ] upon this the prison door was opened. cellini returned to his old restless life of violence and pleasure. we find him renewing his favourite pastimes--killing, wantoning, disputing with his employers, and working diligently at his trade. the temporary saint and visionary becomes once more the bravo and the artist. a more complete parallel to the consequences of revivalism in italy could not be found.[ ] meanwhile the first period of his history is closed and the second begins. cellini's account of his residence in france has much historical interest besides the charm of its romance. when he first joined the court, he found francis travelling from city to city with a retinue of eighteen thousand persons and twelve thousand horses. frequently they came to places where no accommodation could be had, and the suite were lodged in wretched tents. it is not wonderful that cellini should complain of the french being less civilised than the italians of his time. francis among his ladies and courtiers, pretending to a knowledge of the arts, sauntering with his splendid train into the goldsmith's workshop, encouraging cellini's violence with a boyish love of mischief, vain and flattered, peevish, petulant, and fond of show, appears upon these pages with a life-like vividness.[ ] when the time came for settling in paris, the king presented his goldsmith with a castle called le petit nesle, and made him lord thereof by letters of naturalisation. this house stood where the institute has since been built; of its extent we may judge from the number of occupations carried on within its precincts when cellini entered into possession. he found there a tennis-court, a distillery, a printing press, and a factory of saltpetre, besides residents engaged in other trades. cellini's claims were resisted. probably the occupiers did not relish the intrusion of a foreigner. so he stormed the place and installed himself by force of arms. similar violence was needed in order to maintain himself in possession; but this cellini loved, and had he been let alone, it is probable he would have died of _ennui_. difficulties of all kinds, due in part to his ungovernable temper, in part to his ill-regulated life, in part to his ignorance of french habits, gathered round him. he fell into disfavour with madame d'estampes, the mistress of the king; and here it may be mentioned that many of his troubles arose from his inability to please noble women.[ ] proud, self-confident, overbearing, and unable to command his words or actions, cellini was unfitted to pay court to princes. then again he quarrelled with his brother artists, and made the bolognese painter, primaticcio, his enemy. after being attacked by assassins and robbers on more than one occasion, he was involved in two lawsuits. he draws a graphic picture of the french courts of justice, with their judge as grave as plato, their advocates all chattering at once, their perjured norman witnesses, and the ushers at the doors vociferating _paix, paix, satan, allez, paix_. in this cry cellini recognised the gibberish at the beginning of the seventh canto of dante's "inferno." but the most picturesque group in the whole scene presented to us is that made by cellini himself, armed and mailed, and attended by his prentices in armour, as they walked into the court to browbeat justice with the clamour of their voice. if we are to trust his narrative, he fought his way out of one most dangerous trial by simple vociferation. afterwards he took the law, as usual, into his own hands. one pair of litigants were beaten; caterina was nearly kicked to death; and the attorneys were threatened with the sword. in the midst of these disturbances, cellini began some important works for francis. at paris the king employed him to make huge silver candelabra, and at fontainebleau to restore the castle gate. for the château of fontainebleau cellini executed the nymph in bronze, reclining among trophies of the chase, which may still be seen in the louvre. it is a long-limbed, lifeless figure, without meaning--a snuff-box ornament enlarged to a gigantic size. francis, who cannot have had good taste in art, if what cellini makes him say be genuine, admired these designs above the bronze copies of the vatican marbles he had recently received. he seems to have felt some personal regard for benvenuto, and to have done all he could to retain him in his service. the animosity of madame d'estampes, and a grudge against his old patron, ippolito d'este, however, determined the restless craftsman to quit paris. leaving his castle, his unfinished works, and other property behind him in the care of ascanio, his friend and pupil, he returned alone to italy. this step, taken in a moment of restless pique, was ever after regretted by cellini, who looked back with yearning from florence to the generosity of francis. cosimo de' medici was indeed a very different patron from francis. cautious, little-minded, meddling, with a true florentine's love of bargaining and playing cunning tricks, he pretended to protect the arts, but did not understand the part he had assumed. he was always short of money, and surrounded by old avaricious servants, through whose hands his meagre presents passed. as a connoisseur, he did not trust his own judgment, thus laying himself open to the intrigues of inferior artists. henceforward a large part of cellini's time was wasted in wrangling with the duke's steward, squabbling with bandinelli and ammanati, and endeavouring to overcome the coldness or to meet the vacillations of his patron. those who wish to gain insight into the life of an artist at court in the sixteenth century, will do well to study attentively the chapters devoted by cellini to his difficulties with the duchess, and his wordy warfares with bandinelli.[ ] this atmosphere of intrigue and animosity was not uncongenial to benvenuto; and as far as words and blows went, he almost always got the best of it. nothing, for example, could be keener and more cutting than the very just criticism he made in bandinelli's presence of his "hercules and cacus." "quel bestial buaccio bandinello," as he delights to name him, could do nothing but retort with vulgar terms of insult.[ ] the great achievement of this third period was the modelling and casting of the "perseus." no episode in cellini's biography is narrated with more force than the climax to his long-protracted labours, when at last, amid the chaos and confusion of innumerable accidents, the metal in his furnace liquefied and filled the mould. after the statue was uncovered in the loggia de' lanzi, where it now stands, cellini achieved a triumph adequate to his own highest expectations. odes and sonnets in italian, greek, and latin, were written in its praise. pontormo and bronzino, the painters, loaded it with compliments. cellini, ruffling with hand on hilt in silks and satins through the square, was pointed out to foreigners as the great sculptor who had cast the admirable bronze. it was, in truth, no slight distinction for a florentine artist to erect a statue beneath the loggia de' lanzi in the square of the signory. every great event in florentine history had taken place on that piazza. every name of distinction among the citizens of florence was connected with its monuments. to this day we may read the course of florentine art by studying its architecture and sculpture; and not the least of its many ornaments, in spite of all that may be said against it, is the "perseus" of cellini. cellini completed the "perseus" in . his autobiography is carried down to the year , when it abruptly terminates. it appears that in he received the tonsure and the first ecclesiastical orders; but two years later on he married a wife, and died at the age of sixty-nine, leaving three legitimate children. he was buried honourably, and a funeral oration was pronounced above his bier in the chapter house of the annunziata. as a man, cellini excites more interest than as an artist; and for this reason i have refrained from entering into minute criticism of his few remaining masterpieces. it has been well said that the two extremes of society, the statesman and the craftsman, find their point of meeting in machiavelli and cellini, inasmuch as both recognise no moral authority but the individual will.[ ] the _virtù_, extolled by machiavelli is exemplified by cellini. machiavelli bids his prince ignore the laws; cellini respects no tribunal and takes justice into his own hands. the word conscience does not occur in machiavelli's phraseology of ethics; conscience never makes a coward of cellini, and in the dungeons of s. angelo he is visited by no remorse. if we seek a literary parallel for the statesman and the artist in their idealisation of force and personal character, we find it in pietro aretino. in him, too, conscience is extinct; for him, also, there is no respect of king or pope; he has placed himself above law, and substituted his own will for justice. with his pen, as cellini with his dagger, he assassinates; his cynicism serves him for a coat of armour. and so abject is society, so natural has tyranny become, that he extorts blackmail from monarchs, makes princes tremble, and receives smooth answers to his insults from buonarroti. these three men, machiavelli, cellini, and aretino, each in his own line, and with the proper differences that pertain to philosophic genius, artistic skill, and ribald ruffianism, sufficiently indicate the dissolution of the social bond in italy. they mark their age as the age of adventurers, bandits, bullies, ishmaelites, and tyrants. footnotes: [ ] "in lode e onor della vita sua e opere d'esso, e buona disposizione della anima e del corpo." _la vita di benvenuto cellini_, firenze, le monnier, ; _documenti_, p. . [ ] i do not by this mean to commit myself to the opinion that cellini is accurate in details or truthful. on the contrary, it is impossible to read his life without feeling that his vanity and self-esteem led him to exaggeration and mis-statement. the value of the biography consists in its picturesqueness, its brilliant and faithful colouring, and its unconscious self-revelation of an energetic character. [ ] with regard to his pedigree cellini tells a ridiculous story about a certain fiorino da cellino, one of julius caesar's captains, who gave his name to florence. for the arms of the cellini family, see lib. i. cap. . [ ] to enlarge upon this point is hardly necessary; or it would be easy to prove from documentary evidence that artists so eminent as simone martini, gentile da fabriano, perugino, and ghirlandajo kept open shops, where customers could buy the products of their craft from a highly-finished altar-piece down to a painted buckler or a sign to hang above the street-door. the commercial status of fine art in italy was highly beneficial to its advancement, inasmuch as it implied a thorough technical apprenticeship for learners. the defective side of the system was apparent in great workshops like that of raphael, who undertook painting-commissions quite beyond his powers of conscientious execution. [ ] see above, chapter iii, orcagna's tabernacle. [ ] see lib. ii. cap. , for the description of francis i. visiting cellini in his work-room. he finds him hammering away at the metal, and suggests that he might leave that labour to his prentices. cellini replies that the excellence of his work would suffer if he did not do it himself. [ ] see yriarte, _vie d'un gentilhomme de venise_, p. , for a process instituted by the inquisition against paolo veronese. [ ] he calls it "un chiavaquore di argento, il quale era in quei tempi chiamato cosi. questo si era una cintura di tre dita larga, che alle spose novelle s' usava di fare." [ ] "si come un toro invelenito." [ ] "living men have felt my blows: those many maimed and mutilated stones one sees, attest to your disgrace: the earth hides my bad work." see the lines quoted by perkins, _tuscan sculptors_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] lib. ii. cap. . the whole history of this woman caterina, and of the revenge he took upon her and his prentice paolo, is one of the most extraordinary passages in the life. [ ] see vol. ., _age of the despots_, pp. - . [ ] see vol. ., _age of the despots_, pp. - . [ ] this might be further illustrated by analysing cellini's mode of loving. he never rises above animal appetite. [ ] lib. i. cap. . "nel qual vomito mi usci dello stomaco un verme piloso, grande un quarto di braccio: e' peli erano grandi ed il verme era bruttissimo, macchiato di diversi colori, verdi, neri e rossi." [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] notice lib. i. cap. , p. , the dialogue between cellini and the old woman, on his return to the paternal house: "oh dimmi, gobba perversa," &c. [ ] "per essere il mondo intenebrato di peste e di guerra," is a phrase of cellini's, i. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . clement was dead, and paul iii. had just been elected, . paul sent cellini a safe-conduct and pardon for pompeo's murder to florence in . lib. i. cap. . [ ] lib. ii. cap. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] see, however, what is said about the mountain villages of norcia being good for incantations. that district in roman times was famous for such superstitions. burckhardt, _die cultur der renaissance in italien_, pp. - , gives curious information on this topic. [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . "that mad melancholy philosopher lorenzino." cf. i. and . "molte volte lo trovavo a dormicchiare dopo desinare con quel suo lorenzino, che poi l'ammazzò, e non altri; ed io molto mi maravigliavo che un duca di quella sorte così si fidava ... il duca' che lo teneva quando per pazzericcio, e quando per poltrone." cf. again, cap. . [ ] this glimpse of bembo in his paduan villa is very pleasing. lib. i. cap. . [ ] "quei diavoli di quei gentiluomini tedeschi." this is, however, the language he uses about nearly all foreigners--spaniards, french, and english. [ ] lib. i. cap. . "io ero tutto armato di maglia con istivali grossi e con uno scoppietto in mano, e pioveva quanto iddio ne sapeva mandare," &c. [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] _ib._ cap. . [ ] see lib. i. cap. , . [ ] the governor, perplexed by cellini's vaunt that if he only tried he was sure he could fly, put him under strict guard, saying, "benvenuto è un pipistrello contrafatto, ed io sono un pipistrello da dovero." [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] lib. i. cap. . [ ] "il papa diventato così pessima bestia," lib. i. ; "il papa entrato in un bestial furore," _ib_. ; "quel povero uomo di papa clemente," _ib_. . [ ] _ib_. , , . [ ] the scene is well described, lib. i. . the pope was wont to have a weekly debauch, and the cardinal chose this favourable moment for his appeal: "gli usava una volta la settimana di fare una crapula assai gagliarda, perchè da poi la gomitava.... allora il papa, sentendosi appressare all' ora del suo vomito, e perchè la troppa abbundanzia del vino ancora faceva l' ufizio suo, disse," &c. [ ] see vol. i., _age of the despots_, p. . [ ] see especially the visit to the paris workshop, lib. ii. cap. , and the scene in the gallery at fontainebleau, ib. . [ ] his quarrels, for example, with the duchess of florence. [ ] lib. ii. cap. , , , , . [ ] "that beastly big ox, bandinelli." cf. cap. for the critique. it may be said here, in passing, that the insult of bandinelli, "oh sta cheto, soddomitaccio," seems to have been justified by benvenuto's conduct, though of course he carefully conceals it in his memoirs. after the charge brought against him by cencio, for instance, he thought it better to leave florence.--_ib_. cap. , . [ ] edgar quinet, _les révolutions d'italie_, p. . chapter x the epigoni full development and decline of painting--exhaustion of the old motives--relation of lionardo to his pupils--his legacy to the lombard school--bernardino luini--gaudenzio ferrari--the devotion of the sacri monti--the school of raphael--nothing left but imitation--unwholesome influences of rome--giulio romano--michael angelesque mannerists--misconception of michael angelo--correggio founds no school--parmigianino--macchinisti--the bolognese--after-growth of art in florence--andrea del sarto--his followers--pontormo--bronzino--revival of painting in siena--sodoma--his influence on pacchia, beccafumi, peruzzi--garofalo and dosso dossi at ferrari--the campi at cremona--brescia and bergamo--the decadence in the second half of the sixteenth century--the counter-reformation--extinction of the renaissance impulse. in the foregoing chapters i have not sought to write again the history of art, so much as to keep in view the relation between italian art and the leading intellectual impulses of the renaissance. in the masters of the sixteenth century--lionardo, raphael, michael angelo, correggio, and the venetians--the force inherent in the italian genius for painting reached full development. what remained was but an after-bloom rapidly tending to decadence. to surpass those men in their own line seemed impossible. what they had achieved was so transcendent that imitation satisfied their successors; and if they refused imitation, originality had to be sought by deviating into extravagances. meanwhile no new stock of thoughts had been acquired; and students of history are now well aware that for really great art ideas common to the nation are essential. the motives suggested by mediaeval christianity, after passing through successive stages of treatment in the _quattrocento_, had received the grand and humane handling of the golden age. the motives of revived paganism in like manner were exhausted, and at this time the feeling for antiquity had lost its primal freshness. it might seem superfluous to carry this inquiry further, when we have thus confessedly attained the culminating point of painting. yet the sketch attempted in this volume would be incomplete and liable to misinterpretation, if no account were taken of the legacy bequeathed to the next generation by the great masters. lionardo da vinci formed, as we have seen, a school at milan. it was the special good fortune of his pupils that what he actually accomplished, bore no proportion to the suggestiveness of his teaching and the fertility of his invention. of finished work he left but little to the world; while his sketches and designs, the teeming thoughts of his creative brain, were an inestimable heritage. the whole of this rich legacy of masterpieces, projected, but not executed, was characterised by a feeling for beauty which has fallen to no other painter. when we examine the sketches in the royal collection at windsor, we perceive that the exceeding sense of loveliness possessed by lionardo could not have failed to animate his pupils with a high spirit of art. at the same time the extraordinary variety of his drawing--sometimes reminding us of german method, sometimes modern in the manner of french and english draughtsmen--by turns bold and delicate, broad and minute in detail--afforded to his school examples of perfect treatment in a multiplicity of different styles. there was no formality of fixed unalterable precedent in lionardo, nothing for his scholars to repeat with the monotony of mannerism. it remained for his disciples, each in his own sphere, with inferior powers and feebler intellect, to perpetuate the genius of their master. thus the spirit of lionardo continued to live in lombardy after he was dead. there alone imitation was really fruitful, because it did not imply mere copying. instead of attempting to give a fresh and therefore a strained turn to motives that had already received consummate treatment, lionardo's successors were able to execute what he had planned but had not carried to completion. nor was the prestige of his style so oppressive through the mass of pictures painted by his hand as to check individuality or to prevent the pupil from working out such portions of the master's vein as suited his own talent. each found enough suggested, but not used, to give his special faculty free scope. this is in fact the reason why the majority of pictures ascribed to lionardo are really the production of his school. they have the excellence of original work, but not such excellence as lionardo could have given them. their completion is due, as searching criticism proves, to lesser men; but the conception belongs to the greatest. andrea salaino, marco d'oggiono, francesco melzi, giovanni antonio beltraffio, and cesare da sesto, are all of them skilled workmen, losing and finding their individuality, as just described, in the manner of their master. salaino brings exquisite delicacy of execution; d'oggiono, wild and bizarre beauty; melzi, the refinements of a miniaturist; beltraffio, hard brilliancy of light and colour; cesare da sesto, somewhat of effeminate sweetness; and thus the qualities of many men emerge, to blend themselves again in what is lionardo's own. it is surely not without significance that this metempsychosis of genius should have happened in the case of lionardo, himself the magician of renaissance art, the lover of all things double-natured and twin-souled. two painters of the lombard school, bernardino luini and gaudenzio ferrari, demand separate notice. without lionardo it is difficult to say what luini would have been: so thoroughly did he appropriate his teacher's type of face, and, in oil-painting, his refinement. and yet luini stands on his own ground, in no sense an imitator, with a genius more simple and idyllic than da vinci's. little conception of his charm can be formed by those who have not seen his frescoes in the brera and s. maurizio maggiore at milan, in the church of the angeli at lugano, or in the pilgrimage church of saronno. to the circumstance of his having done his best work in places hardly visited until of late years, may in part perhaps be attributed the tardy recognition of a painter eminently fitted to be popular. luini was essentially a fresco-painter. none, perhaps, of all the greatest italian _frescanti_ realised a higher quality of brilliancy without gaudiness, by the scale of colours he selected and by the purity with which he used them in simple combinations. his frescoes are never dull or heavy in tone, never glaring, never thin or chalky. he knew how to render them both luminous and rich, without falling into the extremes that render fresco-paintings often less attractive than oil-pictures. his feeling for loveliness of form was original and exquisite. the joy of youth found in luini an interpreter only less powerful and even more tender than in raphael. while he shared with the venetians their sensibility to nature, he had none of their sensuousness or love of pomp. in idyllic painting of a truly great type i know of nothing more delightful than his figures of young musicians going to the marriage feast of mary, nothing more graceful than the genius ivy-crowned and seated at the foot of the cross.[ ] the sentiment for naive and artless grace, so fully possessed by luini, gave freshness to his treatment of conventional religious themes. under his touch they appeal immediately to the most untutored taste, without the aid of realistic or sensational effects. even s. sebastian and s. rocco, whom it is difficult to represent with any novelty of attitude or expression, became for him the motives of fresh poetry, unsought but truly felt.[ ] among all the madonnas ever painted his picture of mary with the espalier of white roses, and another where she holds the infant christ to pluck a purple columbine, distinguish themselves by this engaging spontaneity. the frescoes of the marriage of the virgin and of s. catherine carried by angels to mount sinai might be cited for the same quality of freshness and unstudied poetry.[ ] when the subject demanded the exercise of grave emotion, luini rose to the occasion without losing his simplicity. the "martyrdom of s. catherine" and the fresco of christ after the flagellation are two masterpieces, wherein the depths of pathos have been sounded, and not a single note of discord is struck.[ ] all harsh and disagreeable details are either eliminated, or so softened that the general impression, as in pergolese's music, is one of profoundest and yet sweetest sorrow. luini's genius was not tragic. the nearest approach to a dramatic motive in his work is the figure of the magdalen kneeling before the cross, with her long yellow hair streaming over her shoulders, and her arms thrown backwards in an ecstasy of grief.[ ] he did well to choose moments that stir tender sympathy--the piety of deep and calm devotion. how truly he felt them--more truly, i think, than perugino in his best period--is proved by the correspondence they awake in us. like melodies, they create a mood in the spectator. what luini did not learn from lionardo, was the art of composition. taken one by one, the figures that make up his "marriage of the virgin" at saronno, are beautiful; but the whole picture is clumsily constructed; and what is true of this, may be said of every painting in which he attempted complicated grouping.[ ] we feel him to be a great artist only where the subject does not demand the symmetrical arrangement of many parts. gaudenzio ferrari was a genius of a different order, more robust, more varied, but less single-minded than luini. his style reveals the influences of a many-sided, ill-assimilated education; blending the manners of bramantino, lionardo, and raphael without proper fusion. though ferrari travelled much, and learned his art in several schools, he, like luini, can only be studied in the milanese district--at his birthplace varallo, at saronno, vercelli, and milan. it is to be regretted that a painter of such singular ability, almost unrivalled at moments in the expression of intense feeling and the representation of energetic movement, should have lacked a simpler training, or have been unable to adopt a manner more uniform. there is a strength of wing in his imaginative flight, a swiftness and impetuosity in his execution, and a dramatic force in his conception, that almost justify lomazzo's choice of the eagle for his emblem. yet he was unable to collect his powers, or to rule them. the distractions of an age that had produced its masterpieces, were too strong for him; and what he failed to find was balance. his picture of the "martyrdom of s. catherine," where reminiscences of raphael and lionardo mingle with the uncouth motives of an earlier style in a medley without unity of composition or harmony of colouring, might be chosen as a typical instance of great resources misapplied.[ ] the most pleasing of ferrari's paintings are choirs of angels, sorrowing or rejoicing, some of them exquisitely and originally beautiful, all animated with unusual life, and poised upon wings powerful enough to bear them--veritable "birds of god."[ ] his dramatic scenes from sacred history, rich in novel motives and exuberantly full of invention, crowd the churches of vercelli; while a whole epic of the passion is painted in fresco above the altar of s. maria delle grazie at varallo, covering the wall from basement to ceiling. the prodigality of power displayed by ferrari makes up for much of crudity in style and confusion in aim; nor can we refuse the tribute of warmest admiration to a master, who, when the schools of rome and florence were sinking into emptiness and bombast, preserved the fire of feeling for serious themes. what was deadly in the neo-paganism of the renaissance--its frivolity and worldliness, corroding the very sources of belief in men who made of art a decoration for their sensuous existence--had not penetrated to those lombard valleys where ferrari and luini worked. there the devotion of the sacri monti still maintained an intelligence between the people and the artist, far more fruitful of results to painting than the patronage of splendour-loving cardinals and nobles.[ ] passing from lionardo to raphael, we find exactly the reverse of what has hitherto been noticed. raphael worked out the mine of his own thought so thoroughly--so completely exhausted the motives of his invention, and carried his style to such perfection--that he left nothing unused for his followers. we have seen that he formed a school of subordinates in rome who executed his later frescoes after his designs. some of these men have names that can be mentioned--giulio romano, of whom more hereafter; perino del vaga, the decorator of genoese palaces in a style of overblown but gorgeous raphaelism; andrea sabbatini, who carried the roman tradition down to naples; francesco penni, giovanni da udine, and polidoro da caravaggio. their work, even while superintended by raphael himself, began to show the signs of decadence. in his roman manner the dramatic element was conspicuous; and to carry dramatic painting beyond the limits of good style in art is unfortunately easy. the hall of constantine, left unfinished at his death, still further proved how little his pupils could do without him.[ ] when raphael died, the breath whose might sustained and made them potent, ceased. for all the higher purposes of genuine art, inspiration passed from them as colour fades from eastern clouds at sunset, suddenly. it has been customary to account for this rapid decline of the roman school by referring to the sack of rome in . no doubt the artists suffered at that moment at least as severely as the scholars; their dispersion broke up a band of eminent painters, who might in combination and competition have still achieved great things. yet the secret of their subsequent failure lay far deeper; partly in the full development of their master's style, already described; and partly in the social conditions of rome itself. patrons, stimulated by the example of the popes, desired vast decorative works; but they expected these to be performed rapidly and at a cheap rate. painters, familiarised with the execution of such undertakings, forgot that hitherto the conception had been not theirs but raphael's. mistaking hand-work for brain-work, they audaciously accepted commissions that would have taxed the powers of the master himself. meanwhile moral earnestness and technical conscientiousness were both extinct. the patrons required show and sensual magnificence far more than thought and substance. they were not, therefore, deterred by the vacuity and poor conceptive faculty of the artists from employing them. what the age demanded was a sumptuous parade of superficial ornament, and this the pupils of raphael felt competent to supply without much effort. the result was that painters who under favourable circumstances might have done some meritorious work, became mere journeymen contented with the soulless insincerity of cheap effects. giulio romano alone, by dint of robust energy and lurid fire of fancy flickering amid the smoke of his coarser nature, achieved a triumph in this line of labour. his palazzo del te will always remain the monument of a specific moment in renaissance history, since it is adequate to the intellectual conditions of a race demoralised but living still with largeness and a sense of grandeur. michael angelo formed no school in the strict sense of the word. yet his influence was not the less felt on that account, nor less powerful than raphael's in the same direction. during his manhood the painters sebastian del piombo, marcello venusti, and daniele da volterra, had endeavoured to add the charm of oil-colouring to his designs; and long before his death, the seduction of his mighty mannerism had begun to exercise a fatal charm for all the schools of italy. painters incapable of fathoming his intention, unsympathetic to his rare type of intellect, and gifted with less than a tithe of his native force, set themselves to reproduce whatever may be justly censured in his works. to heighten and enlarge their style was reckoned a chief duty of aspiring craftsmen; and it was thought that recipes for attaining to this final perfection of the modern arts might be extracted without trouble from michael angelo's masterpieces. unluckily, in proportion as his fame increased, his peculiarities grew with the advance of age more manneristic and defined; so that his imitators fixed precisely upon that which sober critics now regard as a deduction from his greatness. they failed to perceive that he owed his grandeur to his personality; and that the audacities which fascinated them, became mere whimsical extravagances when severed from his _terribilità_ and sombre simplicity of impassioned thought. his power and his spirit were alike unique and uncommunicable, while the admiration of his youthful worshippers betrayed them into imitating the externals of a style that was rapidly losing spontaneity and sense of beauty. therefore they fancied they were treading in his footsteps and using the grand manner when they covered church-roofs and canvases with sprawling figures in distorted attitudes. instead of studying nature, they studied michael angelo's cartoons, exaggerating by their unintelligent discipleship his wilfulness and arbitrary choice of form. vasari's and cellini's criticisms of a master they both honestly revered, may suffice to illustrate the false method adopted by these mimics of michael angelo's ideal. to charge him with faults proceeding from the weakness and blindness of the decadence--the faults of men too blind to read his art aright, too weak to stand on their own feet without him--would be either stupid or malicious. if at the close of the sixteenth century the mannerists sought to startle and entrance the world by empty exhibitions of muscular anatomy misunderstood, and by a braggadocio display of meaningless effects--crowding their compositions with studies from the nude, and painting agitated groups without a discernible cause for agitation--the crime surely lay with the patrons who liked such decoration, and with the journeymen who provided it. michael angelo himself always made his manner serve his thought. we may fail to appreciate his manner and may be incapable of comprehending his thought; but only insincere or conceited critics will venture to gauge the latter by what they feel to be displeasing in the former. what seems lawless in him, follows the law of a profound and peculiar genius, with which, whether we like it or not, we must reckon. his imitators were devoid of thought and too indifferent to question whether there was any law to be obeyed. like the jackass in the fable, they put on the dead lion's skin of his manner, and brayed beneath it, thinking they could roar. correggio, again, though he can hardly be said to have founded a school, was destined to exercise wide and perilous influence over a host of manneristic imitators. francesco mazzola, called il parmigianino, followed him so closely that his frescoes at parma are hardly distinguishable from the master's; while federigo baroccio at urbino endeavoured to preserve the sensuous and almost childish sweetness of his style in its integrity.[ ] but the real attraction of correggio was only felt when the new _barocco_ architecture called for a new kind of decoration. every cupola throughout the length and breadth of italy began then to be painted with rolling clouds and lolling angels. what the wits of parma had once stigmatised as a _ragoût_ of frogs, now seemed the only possible expression for celestial ecstasy; and to delineate the joy of heaven upon those multitudes of domes and semi-domes was a point of religious etiquette. false lights, dubious foreshortenings, shallow colourings, ill-studied forms, and motiveless agitation suited the taste that cared for gaudy brightness and sensational effects. the painters, for their part, found it convenient to adopt a mannerism that enabled them to conceal the difficult parts of the figure in feather beds of vapour, requiring neither effort of conception nor expenditure of labour on drawing and composition. at the same time, the caracci made correggio's style the object of more serious study; and the history of bolognese painting shows what was to be derived from this master by intelligent and conscientious workmen. hitherto, i have had principally to record the errors of artists copying the external qualities of their great predecessors. it is refreshing to turn from the _epigoni_ of the so-called roman school to masters in whom the flame of the renaissance still burned brightly. andrea del sarto, the pupil of piero di cosimo, but more nearly related in style to fra bartolommeo than to any other of the elder masters, was himself a contemporary of raphael and correggio. yet he must be noticed here; because he gave new qualities to the art of tuscany, and formed a tradition decisive for the subsequent history of florentine painting. to make a just estimate of his achievement is a task of no small difficulty. the italians called him "il pittore senza errori," or the faultless painter. what they meant by this must have been that in all the technical requirements of art, in drawing, composition, handling of fresco and oils, disposition of draperies, and feeling for light and shadow, he was above criticism. as a colourist he went further and produced more beautiful effects than any florentine before him. his silver-grey harmonies and liquid blendings of hues cool, yet lustrous, have a charm peculiar to himself alone. we find the like nowhere else in italy. and yet andrea del sarto cannot take rank among the greatest renaissance painters. what he lacked was precisely the most precious gift--inspiration, depth of emotion, energy of thought. we are apt to feel that even his best pictures were designed with a view to solving an aesthetic problem. very few have the poetic charm belonging to the "s. john" of the pitti or the "madonna" of the tribune. beautiful as are many of his types, like the magdalen in the large picture of the "pietà"[ ] we can never be sure that he will not break the spell by forms of almost vulgar mediocrity. the story that his wife, a worthless woman, sat for his madonnas, and the legends of his working for money to meet pressing needs, seem justified by numbers of his paintings, faulty in their faultlessness and want of spirit. still, after making these deductions, we must allow that andrea del sarto not unworthily represents the golden age at florence. there is no affectation, no false taste, no trickery in his style. his workmanship is always solid; his hand unerring. if nature denied him the soul of a poet, and the stern will needed for escaping from the sordid circumstances of his life, she gave him some of the highest qualities a painter can desire--qualities of strength, tranquillity, and thoroughness, that in the decline of the century ceased to exist outside venice. among del sarto's followers it will be enough to mention franciabigio, vasari's favourite in fresco painting, rosso de' rossi, who carried the florentine manner into france, and pontormo, the masterly painter of portraits.[ ] in the historical pictures of these men, whether sacred or secular, it is clear how much was done for florentine art by fra bartolommeo and del sarto independently of michael angelo and lionardo. angelo bronzino, the pupil of pontormo, is chiefly valuable for his portraits. hard and cold, yet obviously true to life, they form a gallery of great interest for the historian of duke cosimo's reign. his frescoes and allegories illustrate the defects that have been pointed out in those of raphael's and buonarroti's imitators.[ ] want of thought and feeling, combined with the presumptuous treatment of colossal and imaginative subjects, renders these compositions inexpressibly chilling. the psychologist, who may have read a poem from bronzino's pen, will be inclined to wonder how far this barren art was not connected with personal corruption.[ ] such speculations are, however, apt to be misleading. siena, after a long period of inactivity, received a fresh impulse at the same time as florence. giovanni antonio bazzi, or razzi, called il sodoma, was born at vercelli about . he studied in his youth under lionardo da vinci, training his own exquisite sense of natural beauty in that scientific school. from milan, after a certain interval of time, he removed to rome, where he became a friend and follower of raphael. these double influences determined a style that never lost its own originality. with what delicacy and _naïveté_, almost like a second luini, but with more of humour and sensuousness, he approached historic themes, may be seen in his frescoes at monte oliveto.[ ] they were executed before his roman visit, and show the facility of a most graceful improvisatore. one painting representing the "temptation of monks by dancing women" carries the melody of fluent lines and the seduction of fair girlish faces into a region of pure poetry. these frescoes are superior to sodoma's work in the farnesina. impressed, as all artists were, by the monumental character of borne, and fired by raphael's example, he tried to abandon his sketchy and idyllic style for one of greater majesty and fulness. the delicious freshness of his earlier manner was sacrificed; but his best efforts to produce a grandiose composition ended in a confusion of individually beautiful but ill-assorted motives. like luini, sodoma was never successful in pictures requiring combination and arrangement. he lacked some sense of symmetry and sought to achieve massiveness by crowding figures in a given space. when we compare his group of "s. catherine fainting under the stigmata" with the medley of agitated forms that make up his picture of the same saint at tuldo's execution, we see plainly that he ought to have confined himself to the expression of very simple themes.[ ] the former is incomparable for its sweetness; the latter is indistinct and wearying, in spite of many details that adorn it. gifted with an exquisite feeling for the beauty of the human body, sodoma excelled himself when he was contented with a single figure. his "s. sebastian," notwithstanding its wan and faded colouring, is still the very best that has been painted.[ ] suffering, refined and spiritual, without contortion or spasm, could not be presented with more pathos in a form of more surpassing loveliness. this is a truly demonic picture in the fascination it exercises and the memory it leaves upon the mind. part of its unanalysable charm may be due to the bold thought of combining the beauty of a greek hylas with the christian sentiment of martyrdom. only the renaissance could have produced a hybrid so successful, because so deeply felt. sodoma's influence at siena, where he lived a picturesque life, delighting in his horses and surrounding himself with strange four-footed pets of all sorts, soon produced a school of worthy masters. girolamo del pacchia, domenico beccafumi, and baldassare peruzzi, though they owed much to the stimulus of his example, followed him in no servile spirit. indeed, it may be said that pacchia's paintings in the oratory of s. bernardino, though they lacked his siren beauty, are more powerfully composed; while peruzzi's fresco of "augustus and the sibyl," in the church of fontegiusta, has a monumental dignity unknown to sodoma. beccafumi is apt to leave the spectator of his paintings cold. from inventive powers so rich and technical excellence so thorough, we demand more than he can give, and are therefore disappointed. his most interesting picture at siena is the "stigmatisation of s. catherine," famous for its mastery of graduated whites. much of the paved work of the duomo is attributed to his design. both beccafumi and peruzzi felt the cold and manneristic roman style of rhetoric injuriously. to mention the remaining schools of italy in detail would be superfluous. true art still flourished at ferrara, where garofalo endeavoured to carry on the roman manner of raphael without the necessary strength or ideality, but also without the soulless insincerity of the mannerists. his best quality was colouring, gemlike and rich; but this found little scope for exercise in the dry and laboured style he affected. dosso dossi fared better, perhaps through having never experienced the seductions of rome. his glowing colour and quaint fancy give the attraction of romance to many of his pictures. the "circe," for example, of the borghese palace, is worthy to rank with the best renaissance work. it is perfectly original, not even suggesting the influence of venice by its deep and lustrous hues. no painting is more fit to illustrate the "orlando innamorato." just so, we feel in looking at it, did dragontina show herself to boiardo's fancy. ariosto's alcina belongs to a different family of magnificent witches. cremona, at this epoch, had a school of painters, influenced almost equally by the venetians, the milanese, and the roman mannerists. the campi family covered those grave lombard vaults with stucco, fresco, and gilding in a style only just removed from the _barocco_.[ ] brescia and bergamo remained within the influence of venice, producing work of nearly first-rate quality in moretto, romanino, and lorenzo lotto. moroni, the pupil of moretto, was destined to become one of the most powerful character painters of the modern world, and to enrich the studies of historians and artists with a series of portraits impressive by their fidelity to the spirit of the sixteenth century at its conclusion. venice herself at this period was still producing masterpieces of the genuine renaissance. but the decline into mannerism, caused by circumstances similar to those of rome, was not far distant. it may seem strange to those who have visited the picture galleries of italy, and have noticed how very large a number of the painters flourished after , that i should have persistently spoken of the last half of the sixteenth century as a period of decadence. this it was, however, in a deep and true sense of the word. the force of the renaissance was exhausted, and a time of relaxation had to be passed through, before the reaction known as the counter-reformation could make itself felt in art. then, and not till then, a new spiritual impulse produced a new style. this secondary growth of painting began to flourish at bologna in accordance with fresh laws of taste. religious sentiments of a different order had to be expressed; society had undergone a change, and the arts were governed by a genuine, if far inferior, inspiration. meanwhile, the renaissance, so far as italy is concerned, was ended. it is one of the sad features of this subject, that each section has to end in lamentation. servitude in the sphere of politics; literary feebleness in scholarship; decadence in art:--to shun these conclusions is impossible. he who has undertaken to describe the parabola of a projectile, cannot be satisfied with tracing its gradual rise and determining its culmination. he must follow its spent force, and watch it slowly sink with ever dwindling impetus to earth. intellectual movements, when we isolate them in a special country, observing the causes that set them in motion and calculating their retarding influences, may, not unreasonably, be compared to the parabola of a projectile. to shrink from studying the decline of mental vigour in italy upon the close of the renaissance, would be therefore weak; though the task of tracing the impulse communicated by her previous energy to other nations, and their stirring under a like movement, might be more agreeable. footnotes: [ ] frescoes in the brera and at lugano. [ ] s. maurizio, on the screen, inner church. lugano in the angeli. [ ] in the brera. see also the madonna, with infant christ, s. john, and a lamb, at lugano. [ ] side chapel of s. maurizio at milan. these frescoes are, in my opinion, luini's very best. the whole church is a wonderful monument of lombard art. [ ] "crucifixion" at lugano. [ ] see, for example, the oil-paintings in the cathedral of como, so fascinating in their details, so lame in composition. [ ] in the brera. [ ] frescoes at saronno and in the sacro monte at varallo. [ ] the whole lake-district of italy, where the valleys of monte rosa and the simplon descend upon the plain of lombardy, is rich in works of this school. at luino and lugano, on the island of san giulio, and in the hill-set chapels of the val sesia, may be found traces of frescoes of incomparable beauty. one of these sites deserves special mention. just at the point where the pathway of the colma leaves the chestnut groves and meadows to join the road leading to varallo, there stands a little chapel, with an open loggia of round renaissance arches, designed and painted, according to tradition, by ferrari, and without doubt representative of his manner. the harmony between its colours, so mellow in their ruin, its graceful arcades and quiet roofing, and the glowing tones of those granite mountains, with their wealth of vineyards, and their forests of immemorial chestnut trees, is perfect beyond words. [ ] this, the last of the stanze, was only in part designed by raphael. in spite of what i have said above, the "battle of constantine," planned by raphael, and executed by giulio, is a grand example of a pupil's power to carry out his master's scheme. [ ] baroccio had great authority at florence in the seventeenth century, when the cult of correggio had overspread all italy. [ ] pitti palace. [ ] franciabigio's and rosso's frescoes stand beside del sarto's in the atrium of the annunziata at florence. pontormo's portraits of cosimo and lorenzo de' medici in the uffizzi, though painted from busts and medallions, have a real historical value. [ ] the "christ in limbo" in s. lorenzo at florence, and the detestable picture of "time, beauty, love, and folly," in our national gallery. [ ] _opere burlesche_, vol. iii. pp. - . [ ] near siena. these pictures are a series of twenty-four subjects from the life of s. benedict. [ ] in the church of s. domenico, siena. [ ] in the uffizzi. see also sodoma's "sacrifice of isaac" in the cathedral of pisa, and the "christ bound to the pillar" in the academy at siena. [ ] the church of s. sigismondo, outside cremona, is very interesting for the unity of style in its architecture and decoration. appendices appendix i _the pulpits of pisa and ravello_ having tried to characterise niccola pisano's relation to early italian art in the second chapter of this volume, i adverted to the recent doubts which have been thrown by very competent authorities upon vasari's legend of this master. messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle, while discussing the question of his birthplace and his early training, observe, what is no doubt true, that there are no traces of good sculpture in pisa antecedent to the baptistery pulpit of , and remark that for such a phenomenon as the sudden appearance of this masterpiece it is needful to seek some antecedents elsewhere.[ ] this leads them to ask whether niccola did not owe his origin and education to some other part of italy. finding at ravello, near amain, a pulpit sculptured in by niccola di bartolommeo da foggia, they suggest that a school of stone-carvers may have flourished at foggia, and that niccola pisano, in spite of his signing himself _pisanus_ on the baptistery pulpit, may have been an apulian trained in that school. the arguments adduced in favour of that hypothesis are that niccola's father, though commonly believed to have been ser pietro da siena, was perhaps called pietro di apulia,[ ] and that meritorious artists certainly existed at foggia and trani. yet the resemblance of style between the pulpits at ravello [ ] and pisa [ ], if that indeed exists (whereof hereafter more must be said), might be used to prove that niccola da foggia learned his art from niccola pisano, instead of the contrary; nor again, supposing the apulian school to have flourished before , is it inconsistent with the tradition of niccola's life that he should have learned the sculptor's craft while working in his youth at naples. for the rest, messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle dismiss the story of pisano's studying the antique bas-reliefs at pisa with contempt;[ ] but they omit to notice the actual transcripts from those marbles introduced into his first pulpit. again, they assume that the lunette at lucca was one of his latest works, giving precedence to the pulpits of pisa and siena and the fountain of perugia. a comparison of style no doubt renders this view plausible; for the lunette at lucca is superior to any other of pisano's works as a composition. the full discussion of these points is rendered impossible by the want of contemporary information, and each student must, therefore, remain contented with his own hypothesis. yet something can be said with regard to the ravello pulpit that plays so important a part in the argument of the learned historians of italian painting. unless a strong similarity between it and pisano's pulpits can be proved, their hypothesis carries with it no persuasion. the pulpit in the cathedral of ravello is formed like an ambo of the antique type. that is to say, it is a long parallelogram with flat sides, raised upon pillars, and approached by a flight of steps. these steps are enclosed within richly-ornamented walls, and stand distinct from the pulpit; a short bridge connects the two. the six pillars supporting the ambo itself are slender twisted columns with classic capitals. three rest on lions, three on lionesses, admirably carved in different attitudes. a small projection on the north side of the pulpit sustains an eagle standing on a pillar, and spreading out his wings to bear an open book. on the arch over the entrance to the staircase projects the head of sigelgaita, wife of niccola rufolo, the donor of the pulpit to the church, sculptured in the style of the roman decadence, between two profile medallions in low relief.[ ] the material of the whole is fair white marble, enriched with mosaics, and wrought into beautiful scroll-work of acanthus leaves and other romanesque adornments. an inscription, "_ego magister nicolaus de bartholomeo de fogia marmorarius hoc opus feci_;" and another, "_lapsis millenis bis centum bisque trigenis xpi. bissenis annis ab origine plenis_," indicate the artist's name and the date of the work. it is difficult to understand how anyone could trace such a resemblance between this rectangular ambo and the hexagonal structure in the pisan baptistery as would justify them in asserting both to be the products of the same school. the pulpit of niccola da foggia does not materially differ from other ambones in italy--from several, for instance, in amalfi and ravello; while the distinctive features of niccola pisano's work--the combination of classically studied bas-reliefs with gothic principles of construction, the feeling for artistic unity in the composition of groups, the mastery over plastic form, and the detached allegorical figures--are noticeable only by their total absence from it. what is left by way of similarity is a sculpturesque refinement in sigelgaita's portrait, not unworthy of pisano's own chisel. this, however, is but a slender point whereon to base so large a pyramid of pure conjecture. surely we must look elsewhere than at ravello or at foggia for the origin of niccola pisano. why then should we reject tradition in this instance? messrs. crowe and cavalcaselle reply; because the sculpture of no tuscan city before his period is good enough to have led up to him. yet this may be contested; and at all events it will not be easy to prove from the ravello head of sigelgaita that a more advanced school existed in the south. the fact is that the art of the stone-carvers or _marmorarii_ had never entirely died out since the days of roman greatness; nor was niccola without respectable predecessors in the very town of lucca, where he produced the first masterpiece of modern sculpture. the circular font of s. frediano, for example, carved with figures in high relief by a certain robertus of the twelfth century, combines the romanesque mannerism with the _naïveté_ of mediaeval fancy. i might point in particular to two knights seated on one horse in what i take to be the company of pharaoh crossing the red sea, as an instance of a successful attempt to escape from the formalism of a decayed style. at the same time the general effect of the embossed work of this font is fine; nor do we fail to perceive that the artist retained some portion of the classic feeling for grandiose and monumental composition. far less noteworthy, yet still not utterly despicable, is the bas-relief of biduinus over the side-door of s. salvatore at lucca. what niccola added of indefeasibly his own to the style of these continuators of a dead tradition, was feeling for the beauty of classical work in a good age, and through that feeling a more perfect sympathy with nature. it is just at this point that the old tale about the sarcophagus of the countess beatrice conveys not only the letter but the spirit of the fact. niccola's genius, no less vivid and life-giving than that of giotto, infused into the hard and formal manner of his immediate predecessors true nature and true art. between the bas-relief of s. salvatore and the bas-relief over the north door of the duomo at lucca, there is indeed a broad gulf, yet such as might have been passed at one bound by a master into whose soul the beauty of a fragment of greek art had sunk, and who had received at his birth the gift of a creative genius. footnotes: [ ] _history of painting in italy_, vol. i. chap. iv. [ ] _loc. cit_. p. , note. [ ] _loc. cit._ p. . [ ] mr. perkins, following the suggestion of panza, in his _istoria dell' antica republica d'amalfi_, is inclined to think that this head represents, not sigelgaita, but joanna ii. of naples, and is therefore more than a century later in date than the pulpit. see _italian sculptors_, p. . appendix ii _michael angelo's sonnets_ after the death of michael angelo, the manuscripts of his sonnets, madrigals, and other poems, written at various periods of his life, and well known to his intimate friends, passed into the hands of his nephew, lionardo buonarroti. from lionardo they descended to his son, michael angelo, who was himself a poet of some mark. this grand-nephew of the sculptor prepared them for the press, and gave them to the world in . on his redaction the commonly received version of the poems rested until , when signor cesare guasti of florence, having gained access to the original manuscripts, published a critical edition, preserving every peculiarity of the autograph, and adding a prose paraphrase for the explanation of the text. the younger michael angelo, working in an age of literary pedantry and moral prudery, fancied that it was his duty to refine the style of his great ancestor, and to remove allusions open to ignorant misconstruction. instead, therefore, of giving an exact transcript of the original poems, he set himself to soften down their harshness, to clear away their obscurity, to amplify, transpose, and mutilate according to his own ideas of syntax, taste, and rhetoric. on the dantesque ruggedness of michael angelo he engrafted the prettiness of the seventeenth petrarchisti; and where he thought the morality of the poems was questionable, especially in the case of those addressed to cavalieri, he did not hesitate to introduce such alterations as destroyed their obvious intention. in order to understand the effect of this method, it is only necessary to compare the autograph as printed by guasti with the version of . in sonnet xxxi., for example, the two copies agree in only one line, while the remaining thirteen are distorted and adorned with superfluous conceits by the over-scrupulous but not too conscientious editor of .[ ] michael angelo's poems, even after his grand-nephew had tried to reduce them to lucidity and order, have always been considered obscure and crabbed. nor can it be pretended that they gain in smoothness and clearness by the restoration of the true readings. on the contrary, instances of defective grammar, harsh elisions, strained metaphors, and incomplete expressions are multiplied. the difficulty of comprehending the sense is rather increased than diminished, and the obstacles to a translator become still more insurmountable than wordsworth found them.[ ] this being undoubtedly the case, the value of guasti's edition for students of michael angelo is nevertheless inestimable. we read now for the first time what the greatest man of the sixteenth century actually wrote, and are able to enter, without the interference of a fictitious veil, into the shrine of his own thought and feeling. his sonnets form the best commentary on michael angelo's solitary life and on his sublime ideal of art. this reflection has guided me in the choice of those now offered in english, as an illustration of the chapter in this volume devoted to their author's biography. though the dates of michael angelo's compositions are conjectural, it may be assumed that the two sonnets on dante were written when he was himself in exile. we know that, while sojourning in the house of gian francesco aldovrandini at bologna, he used to spend a portion of his time in reading dante aloud to his protector;[ ] and the indignation expressed against florence, then as ever fickle and ungrateful, the _gente avara, invidiosa, e superba_, to use dante's own words, seems proper to a period of just resentment. still there is no certainty that they belong to ; for throughout his long life michael angelo was occupied with dante. a story told of him in , together with the dialogues reported by donato giannotti, prove that he was regarded by his fellow-citizens as an authority upon the meaning of the "divine comedy."[ ] in , when the florentine academy petitioned leo x. to transport the bones of dante from ravenna to florence, michael angelo subscribed the document and offered to erect a statue worthy of the poet.[ ] how deeply the study of dante influenced his art, appears not only in the lower part of the "last judgment:" we feel that source of stern and lofty inspiration in his style at large; nor can we reckon what the world lost when his volume of drawings in illustration of the "divine comedy" perished at sea.[ ] the two following sonnets, therefore, whenever written, may be taken as expressing his settled feeling about the first and greatest of italian poets:[ ]-- dal ciel discese from heaven his spirit came, and robed in clay the realms of justice and of mercy trod, then rose a living man to gaze on god, that he might make the truth as clear as day. for that pure star that brightened with his ray the ill-deserving nest where i was born, the whole wide world would be a prize to scorn; none but his maker can due guerdon pay. i speak of dante, whose high work remains unknown, unhonoured by that thankless brood, who only to just men deny their wage. were i but he! born for like lingering pains, against his exile coupled with his good i'd gladly change the world's best heritage! quante dirni si de' no tongue can tell of him what should be told, for on blind eyes his splendour shines too strong; 'twere easier to blame those who wrought him wrong, than sound his least praise with a mouth of gold. he to explore the place of pain was bold, then soared to god, to teach our souls by song; the gates heaven oped to bear his feet along, against his just desire his country rolled. thankless i call her, and to her own pain the nurse of fell mischance; for sign take this, that ever to the best she deals more scorn: among a thousand proofs let one remain; though ne'er was fortune more unjust than his, his equal or his better ne'er was born. about the date of the two next sonnets there is less doubt. the first was clearly written when michael angelo was smarting under a sense of the ill-treatment he received from julius. the second, composed at rome, is interesting as the only proof we possess of the impression made upon his mind by the anomalies of the papal rule. here, in the capital of christendom, he writes, holy things are sold for money to be used in warfare, and the pontiff, _quel nel manto_, paralyses the powers of the sculptor by refusing him employment.[ ] signor, se vero È my lord! if ever ancient saw spake sooth, hear this which saith: who can, doth never will. lo! thou hast lent thine ear to fables still, rewarding those who hate the name of truth. i am thy drudge and have been from my youth-- thine, like the rays which the sun's circle fill; yet of my dear time's waste thou think'st no ills the more i toil, the less i move thy ruth. once 'twas my hope to raise me by thy height; but 'tis the balance and the powerful sword of justice, not false echo, that we need. heaven, as it seems, plants virtue in despite here on the earth, if this be our reward-- to seek for fruit on trees too dry to breed. qua si fa elmi here helms and swords are made of chalices: the blood of christ is sold so much the quart: his cross and thorns are spears and shields; and short must be the time ere even his patience cease. nay let him come no more to raise the fees of fraud and sacrilege beyond report! for rome still slays and sells him at the court, where paths are closed to virtue's fair increase. now were fit time for me to scrape a treasure, seeing that work and gain are gone; while he who wears the robe, is my medusa still. perchance in heaven poverty is a pleasure: but of that better life what hope have we, when the blessed banner leads to nought but ill? a third sonnet of this period is intended to be half burlesque, and, therefore, is composed _a coda_, as the italians describe the lengthened form of the conclusion. it was written while michael angelo was painting the roof of the sistine, and was sent to his friend giovanni da pistoja. the effect of this work, as vasari tells us, on his eyesight was so injurious, that, for some time after its completion, he could only read by placing the book or manuscript above his head and looking up.[ ] i' ho giÀ fatto un gozzo i've grown a goitre by dwelling in this den-- as cats from stagnant streams in lombardy, or in what other land they hap to be-- which drives the belly close beneath the chin: my beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in, fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly grows like a harp: a rich embroidery bedews my face from brush-drops thick and thin. my loins into my paunch like levers grind; my buttock like a crupper bears my weight; my feet unguided wander to and fro; in front my skin grows loose and long; behind, by bending it becomes more taut and strait; backward i strain me like a syrian bow: whence false and quaint, i know, must be the fruit of squinting brain and eye; for ill can aim the gun that bends awry. come then, giovanni, try to succour my dead pictures and my fame; since foul i fare and painting is my shame. the majority of the sonnets are devoted to love and beauty, conceived in the spirit of exalted platonism. they are supposed to have been written in the latter period of his life, when he was about sixty years of age; and though we do not know for certain to whom they were in every case addressed, they may be used in confirmation of what i have said about his admiration for vittoria colonna and tommaso cavalieri.[ ] the following, with its somewhat obscure adaptation of a platonic theory of creation to his own art, was probably composed soon after vittoria colonna's death.[ ] se 'l mio rozzo martello when my rude hammer to the stubborn stone gives human shape, now that, now this, at will, following his hand who wields and guides it still, it moves upon another's feet alone. but he who dwells in heaven all things doth fill with beauty by pure motions of his own; and since tools fashion tools which else were none, his life makes all that lives with living skill. now, for that every stroke excels the more the closer to the forge it still ascend, her soul that quickened mine hath sought the skies: wherefore i find my toil will never end, if god, the great artificer, denies that tool which was my only aid before. the next is peculiarly valuable, as proving with what intense and religious fervour michael angelo addressed himself to the worship of intellectual beauty. he alone, in that age of sensuality and animalism, pierced through the form of flesh and sought the divine idea it imprisoned:[ ]-- per ritornar lÀ as one who will reseek her home of light, thy form immortal to this prison-house descended, like an angel piteous, to heal all hearts and make the whole world bright. 'tis this that thralls my heart in love's delight, not thy clear face of beauty glorious; for he who harbours virtue, still will choose to love what neither years nor death can blight. so fares it ever with things high and rare, wrought in the sweat of nature; heaven above showers on their birth the blessings of her prime; nor hath god deigned to show himself elsewhere more clearly than in human forms sublime; which, since they image him, compel my love. the same platonic theme is slightly varied in the two following sonnets:[ ]-- spirto ben nato choice soul, in whom, as in a glass, we see, mirrored in thy pure form and delicate, what beauties heaven and nature can create, the paragon of all their works to be! fair soul, in whom love, pity, piety, have found a home, as from thy outward state we clearly read, and are so rare and great that they adorn none other like to thee! love takes me captive; beauty binds my soul; pity and mercy with their gentle eyes wake in my heart a hope that cannot cheat. what law, what destiny, what fell control, what cruelty, or late or soon, denies that death should spare perfection so complete? dai dolce pianto from sweet laments to bitter joys, from peace eternal to a brief and hollow truce, how have i fallen!--when 'tis truth we lose, mere sense survives our reason's dear decease. i know not if my heart bred this disease, that still more pleasing grows with growing use; or else thy face, thine eyes, in which the hues and fires of paradise dart ecstasies. thy beauty is no mortal thing; 'twas sent from heaven on high to make our earth divine: wherefore, though wasting, burning, i'm content; for in thy sight what could i do but pine? if god himself thus rules my destiny, who, when i die, can lay the blame on thee? the next is saddened by old age and death. love has yielded to piety, and is only remembered as what used to be. yet in form and feeling this is quite one of the most beautiful in the series supposed to refer to vittoria colonna:[ ]-- tornami al tempo bring back the time when blind desire ran free, with bit and rein too loose to curb his flight; give back the buried face, once angel-bright, that hides in earth all comely things from me; bring back those journeys ta'en so toilsomely, so toilsome-slow to him whose hairs are white; those tears and flames that in one breast unite; if thou wilt once more take thy fill of me! yet love! suppose it true that thou dost thrive only on bitter honey-dews of tears, small profit hast thou of a weak old man. my soul that toward the other shore doth strive, wards off thy darts with shafts of holier fears; and fire feeds ill on brands no breath can fan. after this it only remains to quote the celebrated sonnet used by varchi for his dissertation, the best known of all michael angelo's poems.[ ] the thought is this: just as a sculptor hews from a block of marble the form that lies concealed within, so the lover has to extract from his lady's heart the life or death of his soul, non ha l'ottimo artista the best of artists hath no thought to show which the rough stone in its superfluous shell doth not include: to break the marble spell is all the hand that serves the brain can do. the ill i shun, the good i seek, even so in thee, fair lady, proud, ineffable, lies hidden: but the art i wield so well works adverse to my wish, and lays me low. therefore not love, nor thy transcendent face, nor cruelty, nor fortune, nor disdain, cause my mischance, nor fate, nor destiny: since in thy heart thou carriest death and grace enclosed together, and my worthless brain can draw forth only death to feed on me. the fire of youth was not extinct, we feel, after reading these last sonnets. there is, indeed, an almost pathetic intensity of passion in the recurrence of michael angelo's thoughts to a sublime love on the verge of the grave. not less important in their bearing on his state of feeling are the sonnets addressed to cavalieri; and though his modern editor shrinks from putting a literal interpretation upon them, i am convinced that we must accept them simply as an expression of the artist's homage for the worth and beauty of an excellent young man. the two sonnets i intend to quote next[ ] were written, according to varchi's direct testimony, for tommaso cavalieri, "in whom"--the words are varchi's--"i discovered, besides incomparable personal beauty, so much charm of nature, such excellent abilities, and such a graceful manner, that he deserved, and still deserves, to be the better loved the more he is known." the play of words upon cavalieri's name in the last line of the first sonnet, the evidence of varchi, and the indirect witness of condivi, together with michael angelo's own letters,[ ] are sufficient in my judgment to warrant the explanation i have given above. nor do i think that the doubts expressed by guasti about the intention of the sonnets,[ ] or gotti's curious theory that the letters, though addressed to cavalieri, were meant for vittoria colonna,[ ] are much more honourable to michael angelo's reputation than the garbling process whereby the verses were rendered unintelligible in the edition of . a che piÙ debb' io why should i seek to ease intense desire with still more tears and windy words of grief, when heaven, or late or soon, sends no relief to souls whom love hath robed around with fire? why need my aching heart to death aspire when all must die? nay, death beyond belief unto these eyes would be both sweet and brief, since in my sum of woes all joys expire! therefore because i cannot shun the blow i rather seek, say who must rule my breast, gliding between her gladness and her woe? if only chains and bands can make me blest, no marvel if alone and bare i go an armed knight's captive and slave confessed. veggio co' bei vostri occhi with your fair eyes a charming light i see, for which my own blind eyes would peer in vain; stayed by your feet the burden i sustain which my lame feet find all too strong for me; wingless upon your pinions forth i fly; heavenward your spirit stirreth me to strain; e'en as you will, i blush and blanch again, freeze in the sun, burn 'neath a frosty sky. your will includes and is the lord of mine; life to my thoughts within your heart is given; my words begin to breathe upon your breath: like to the moon am i, that cannot shine alone; for lo! our eyes see nought in heaven save what the living sun illumineth. whether we are justified in assigning the following pair to the cavalieri series is more doubtful. they seem, however, to proceed from a similar mood of the poet's mind.[ ] s' un casto amor if love be chaste, if virtue conquer ill, if fortune bind both lovers in one bond, if either at the other's grief despond, if both be governed by one life, one will; if in two bodies one soul triumph still, raising the twain from earth to heaven beyond, if love with one blow and one golden wand have power both smitten breasts to pierce and thrill; if each the other love, himself foregoing, with such delight, such savour, and so well, that both to one sole end their wills combine; if thousands of these thoughts all thought outgoing fail the least part of their firm love to tell; say, can mere angry spite this knot untwine? colui che fece he who ordained, when first the world began, time that was not before creation's hour, divided it, and gave the sun's high power to rule the one, the moon the other span: thence fate and changeful chance and fortune's ban did in one moment down on mortals shower: to me they portioned darkness for a dower; dark hath my lot been since i was a man. myself am ever mine own counterfeit; and as deep night grows still more dim and dun, so still of more mis-doing must i rue: meanwhile this solace to my soul is sweet, that my black night doth make more clear the sun which at your birth was given to wait on you. a sonnet written for luigi del riccio, on the death of his friend cecchino bracci, is curious on account of its conceit.[ ] michael angelo says: "cecchino, whom you loved, is dead; and if i am to make his portrait, i can only do so by drawing you, in whom he still lives." here, again, we trace the platonic conception of love as nothing if not spiritual, and of beauty as a form that finds its immortality within the lover's soul. this cecchino was a boy who died at the age of seventeen. michael angelo wrote his epicedion in several centuries of verses, distributed among his friends in the form of what he terms _polizzini_, as though they were trifles. a pena prima scarce had i seen for the first time his eyes which to thy living eyes are life and light, when closed at last in death's injurious night he opened them on god in paradise. i know it and i weep, too late made wise: yet was the fault not mine; for death's fell spite robbed my desire of that supreme delight, which in thy better memory never dies. therefore, luigi, if the task be mine to make unique cecchino smile in stone for ever, now that earth hath made him dim, if the beloved within the lover shine, since art without him cannot work alone, thee must i carve to tell the world of him. in contrast with the philosophical obscurity of many of the sonnets hitherto quoted, i place the following address to night--one, certainly, of michael angelo's most beautiful and characteristic compositions, as it is also the most transparent in style[ ]:-- o nott', o dolce tempo o night, o sweet though sombre span of time!-- all things find rest upon their journey's end-- whoso hath praised thee, well doth apprehend; and whoso honours thee, hath wisdom's prime. our cares thou canst to quietude sublime, for dews and darkness are of peace the friend; often by thee in dreams upborne i wend from earth to heaven, where yet i hope to climb. thou shade of death, through whom the soul at length shuns pain and sadness hostile to the heart, whom mourners find their last and sure relief! thou dost restore our suffering flesh to strength, driest our tears, assuagest every smart, purging the spirits of the pure from grief. the religious sonnets have been reserved to the last. these were composed in old age, when the early impressions of savonarola's teaching revived, and when michael angelo had grown to regard even his art and the beauty he had loved go purely, as a snare. if we did not bear in mind the piety expressed throughout his correspondence, their ascetic tone, and the remorse they seem to indicate, would convey a painful sense of cheerlessness and disappointment. as it is, they strike me as the natural utterance of a profoundly devout and somewhat melancholy man, in whom religion has survived all other interests, and who, reviewing his past life of fame and toil, finds that the sole reality is god. the two first of these compositions are addressed to giorgio vasari.[ ] giunio È giÀ now hath my life across a stormy sea like a frail bark reached that wide port where all are bidden ere the final judgment fall, of good or evil deeds to pay the fee. now know i well how that fond phantasy which made my soul the worshipper and thrall of earthly art, is vain; how criminal is that which all men seek unwillingly. those amorous thoughts which were so lightly dressed, what are they when the double death is nigh? the one i know for sure, the other dread. painting nor sculpture now can lull to rest my soul that turns to his great love on high, whose arms to clasp us on the cross were spread. le favole del mondo the fables of the world have filched away the time i had for thinking upon god; his grace lies buried deep 'neath oblivion's sod, whence springs an evil-crop of sins alway. what makes another wise, leads me astray, slow to discern the bad path i have trod: hope fades; but still desire ascends that god may free me from self-love, my sure decay. shorten half-way my road to heaven from earth? dear lord, i cannot even half-way rise, unless thou help me on this pilgrimage: teach me to hate the world so little worth, and all the lovely things i once did prize; that endless life, not death, may be my wage. the same note is struck in the following, which breathes the spirit of a penitential psalm:[ ]-- carico d' anni burdened with years and full of sinfulness, with evil custom grown inveterate, both deaths i dread that close before me wait, yet feed my heart on poisonous thoughts no less. no strength i find in mine own feebleness to change or life or love or use or fate, unless thy heavenly guidance come, though late, which only helps and stays our nothingness. 'tis not enough, dear lord, to make me yearn for that celestial home, where yet my soul may be new made, and not, as erst, of nought: nay, ere thou strip her mortal vestment, turn my steps toward the steep ascent, that whole and pure before thy face she may be brought. in reading the two next, we may remember that, at the end of his life, michael angelo was occupied with designs for a picture of the crucifixion, which he never executed, though he gave a drawing of christ upon the cross to vittoria colonna; and that his last work in marble was the unfinished "pietà" in the duomo at florence.[ ] scarco d' un importuna freed from a burden sore and grievous band, dear lord, and from this wearying world untied, like a frail bark i turn me to thy side, as from a fierce storm to a tranquil land. thy thorns, thy nails, and either bleeding hand, with thy mild gentle piteous face, provide promise of help and mercies multiplied, and hope that yet my soul secure may stand. let not thy holy eyes be just to see my evil past, thy chastened ears to hear and stretch the arm of judgment to my crime: let thy blood only lave and succour me, yielding more perfect pardon, better cheer as older still i grow with lengthening time. non fur men lieti not less elate than smitten with wild woe to see not them but thee by death undone, were those blest souls, when thou above the sun didst raise, by dying, men that lay so low: elate, since freedom from all ills that flow from their first fault for adam's race was won; sore smitten, since in torment fierce god's son served servants on the cruel cross below. heaven showed she knew thee, who thou wert and whence, veiling her eyes above the riven earth; the mountains trembled and the seas were troubled: he took the fathers from hell's darkness dense: the torments of the damned fiends redoubled: man only joyed, who gained baptismal birth. the collection of his poems is closed with yet another sonnet in the same lofty strain of prayer, and faith, and hope in god.[ ] mentre m' attrista mid weariness and woe i find some cheer in thinking of the past, when i recall my weakness and my sins and reckon all the vain expense of days that disappear: this cheers by making, ere i die, more clear the frailty of what men delight miscall; but saddens me to think how rarely fall god's grace and mercies in life's latest year. for though thy promises our faith compel, yet, lord, what man shall venture to maintain that pity will condone our long neglect? still, from thy blood poured forth we know full well how without measure was thy martyr's pain, how measureless the gifts we dare expect. from the thought of dante, through plato, to the thought of christ: so our study of michael angelo's sonnets has carried us. in communion with these highest souls michael angelo habitually lived; for he was born of their lineage, and was like them a lifelong alien on the earth. footnotes: [ ] see guasti's _rime di michel agnolo buonarrote_, firenzi, , p. . the future references will be made to that edition. [ ] "i can translate, and have translated, two books of ariosto at the rate nearly of one hundred lines a day; but so much meaning has been put by michael angelo into so little room, and that meaning sometimes so excellent in itself, that i found the difficulty of translating him insurmountable."--note to wordsworth's english version of some sonnets of michael angelo. [ ] see above, chapter viii, the pietà. [ ] see gotti's life, p. , and giannotti's works (firenze, le monnier, ), quoted by gotti, pp. - . [ ] see appendix to gotti's life, no. . [ ] see gotti's life, p. . [ ] guasti, pp. - . [ ] guasti, pp. , . [ ] guasti, p. . [ ] see above, chapter viii, vittoria colonna. [ ] guasti, p. . [ ] guasti, p. . [ ] _ib._ pp. , . [ ] guasti, p. . [ ] delivered before the florentine academy in . see guasti, p. , for the sonnet, and p. lxxv. for the dissertation. see also gotti, p. , for michael angelo's remarks upon the latter. [ ] guasti, pp. , . [ ] see _archivio buonarroti_; and above, p. , note . [ ] _rime_, p. xlv. [ ] gotti's life, pp. - . [ ] guasti, pp. - . [ ] ib. p. . [ ] guasti, p. . [ ] guasti, pp. - . [ ] guasti, pp. , . [ ] ib. pp. - . [ ] guasti, p. . appendix iii _chronological tables of the principal artists mentioned in this volume_ the lists which follow have been, drawn up with a view to assisting the reader of my chapters on architecture, sculpture, and painting. i have only included the more prominent names; and these i have placed in the order of their occurrence in the foregoing pages. in compiling them, i have consulted the index to le monnier's edition of vasari ( ), crowe and cavalcaselle's "history of painting," and milizia's "dictionary of architects." _architects_ name born died arnolfo di cambio giotto di bondone andrea orcagna -- about filippo brunelleschi leo battista alberti michellozzo michellozzi benedetto da majano giuliano di san gallo antonio di san gallo ? antonio filarete -- ? bramante lazzari cristoforo rocchi -- -- ventura vitoni -- -- raffaello santi giulio romano baldassare peruzzi jacopo sansovino michele sanmicheli baccio d'agnolo michael angelo buonarroti andrea palladio giacomo barozzi vincenzo scamozzi galeazzo alessi bartolommeo ammanati _sculptors_ name born died niccola pisano after giovanni pisano about lorenzo maitani -- andrea pisano about about giotto di bondone nino pisano -- about giovanni balduccio about about filippo calendario -- andrea orcagna -- about lorenzo ghiberti giacomo della quercia filippo brunelleschi donatello andrea verocchio alessandro leopardi -- after antonio pollajuolo piero pollajuolo ? luca della robbia agostino di duccio -- after antonio rossellino ? matteo civitali mino da fiesole desiderio da settignano guido mazzoni -- antonio begarelli about antonio amadeo ? about andrea contucci jacopo sansovino michael angelo buonarroti raffaello da montelupo giovanni angelo montorsoli baccio bandinelli bartolommeo ammanati benvenuto cellini gian bologna _painters_ name born died giovanni cimabue ? ? giotto di bondone andrea orcagna -- about ambrogio lorenzetti -- about pietro lorenzetti -- about taddeo gaddi about francesco traini -- after duccio di buoninsegna -- about simone martini ? taddeo di bartolo about spinello aretino -- masolino da panicale ? masaccio paolo uccello andrea del castagno piero della francesca ? ? melozzo da forli about francesco squarcione gentile da fabriano about about fra angelico benozzo gozzoli lippo lippi ? filippino lippi sandro botticelli piero di cosimo ? domenico ghirlandajo before andrea mantegna luca signorelli about pietro perugino bernardo pinturicchio francesco francia fra bartolommeo mariotto albertinelli lionardo da vinci raffaello santi antonio allegri da correggio ? michael angelo buonarroti bartolommeo vivarini -- after jacopo bellini ? ? gentile bellini vittore carpaccio -- after giovanni bellini giorgione tiziano vecelli paolo veronese tintoretto giovanni antonio beltraffio marco d' oggiono about cesare da sesto -- about bernardino luini about after gaudenzio ferrari giulio romano giovanni da udine perino del vaga marcello venusti -- about sebastian del piombo daniele da volterra about il parmigianino federigo baroccio andrea del sarto jacopo pontormo angelo bronzino il sodoma baldassare peruzzi domenico beccafumi benvenuto garofalo dosso dossi about il moretto about after giovanni battista moroni giorgio vasari [transcribers note: the references in the footnotes which contain the text "see chapter" were depicted in the original text as page numbers. they have been changed to the paragraph heading for that page as marked in the chapter headings in this text version.] none [transcriber's note: bold text is marked with =." obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained.] lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume vi. fra giocondo to niccolÒ soggi newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume vi page fra giocondo, liberale, and others francesco granacci [il granaccio] baccio d' agnolo valerio vicentino [valerio belli], giovanni da castel bolognese [giovanni bernardi], matteo dal nassaro, and others marc' antonio bolognese, and others antonio da san gallo giulio romano fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo perino del vaga giorgio vasari, to the craftsmen in design domenico beccafumi giovanni antonio lappoli niccolÒ soggi index of names illustrations to volume vi plates in colour facing page giovan francesco caroto elisabetta gonzaga, duchess of mantua florence: uffizi, francesco monsignori (bonsignori) portrait of a gentleman london: n.g., francesco morone madonna and child london: n.g., girolamo dai libri madonna and child, with s. anne london: n.g., francesco granacci (il granaccio) the holy family florence: pitti, fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo portrait of a lady florence: uffizi, domenico beccafumi s. catharine before the crucifix siena: pinacoteca, plates in monochrome liberale of verona s. mary magdalene with saints verona: s. anastasia liberale of verona miniature siena: duomo library giovan francesco caroto madonna and child, with s. anne and saints verona: s. fermo maggiore francesco turbido (il moro) portrait of a man munich: pinacothek, francesco monsignori (bonsignori) s. sebastian berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, c francesco morone the crucifixion verona: s. bernardino paolo cavazzuola the deposition verona: museo civico, giovan maria (falconetto) palazzo del capitanio padua girolamo dai libri madonna and child, with saints verona: museo civico, francesco granacci (il granaccio) the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas florence: uffizi, giovanni da castel bolognese (giovanni bernardi) cassetta farnese naples: museo nazionale valerio vicentino (valerio belli) casket of rock crystal florence: uffizi alessandro cesati benvenuto cellini medals london: british museum pastorino of siena domenico poggini medals london: british museum martin schongauer christ and the virgin enthroned london: british museum, b. albrecht dÜrer hercules london: british museum, b. albrecht dÜrer christ taking leave of his mother london: british museum, b. albrecht dÜrer s. jerome in his study london: british museum, b. lucas van leyden "ecce homo" of london: british museum marc' antonio bolognese the death of lucretia london: british museum, b. marc' antonio bolognese (after bandinelli) the martyrdom of s. lawrence (engraving) london: british museum antonio da san gallo (the younger) (with michelagnolo buonarroti) palazzo farnese rome giulio romano detail: the battle of constantine rome: the vatican giulio romano the marriage banquet of cupid and psyche mantua: palazzo del tè giulio romano the destruction of the giants by the thunderbolts of jove mantua: palazzo del tè, sala dei giganti fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo the flagellation rome: s. pietro in montorio fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo andrea doria rome: palazzo doria perino del vaga the passage of the red sea rome: the vatican, loggia fra giocondo, liberale, and other craftsmen of verona lives of fra giocondo, liberale, and other craftsmen of verona if writers of history were to live a few years longer than the number commonly granted as the span of human life, i, for my part, have no manner of doubt that they would have something to add to the accounts of the past previously written by them, for the reason that, even as it is not possible for a single man, be he ever so diligent, to learn the exact truth in a flash, or to discover all the details of his subject in the little time at his command, so it is as clear as the light of day that time, who is said to be the father of truth, is always revealing new things every day to the seeker after knowledge. if, many years ago, when i first wrote and also published these lives of the painters and other craftsmen, i had possessed that full information which i have since received concerning fra giocondo of verona, a man of rare parts and a master of all the most noble faculties, i would without a doubt have made that honourable record of him which i am now about to make for the benefit of craftsmen, or rather, of the world; and not of him only, but also of many other masters of verona, who have been truly excellent. and let no one marvel that i place them all under the image of one only, because, not having been able to obtain portraits of them all, i am forced to do this; but, so far as in me lies, not one of them shall thereby have his excellence defrauded of its due. now, since the order of time and merit so demands, i shall speak first of fra giocondo. this man, when he assumed the habit of s. dominic, was called not simply fra giocondo, but fra giovanni giocondo. how the name giovanni dropped from him i know not, but i do know that he was always called fra giocondo by everyone. and although his chief profession was that of letters, and he was not only a very good philosopher and theologian, but also an excellent greek scholar (which was a rare thing at that time, when learning and letters were just beginning to revive in italy), nevertheless he was also a very fine architect, being a man who always took supreme delight in that art, as scaliger relates in his epistle against cardan, and the learned budé in his book "de asse," and in the observations that he wrote on the pandects. fra giocondo, then, who was a fine scholar, a capable architect, and an excellent master of perspective, spent many years near the person of the emperor maximilian, and was master in the greek and latin tongues to the learned scaliger, who writes that he heard him dispute with profound learning on matters of the greatest subtlety before the same maximilian. it is related by persons still living, who remember the facts very clearly, that at the time when verona was under the power of that emperor the bridge which is called the ponte della pietra, in that city, was being restored, and it was seen to be necessary to refound the central pier, which had been destroyed many times in the past, and fra giocondo gave the design for refounding it, and also for safeguarding it in such a manner that it might never be destroyed again. his method of safeguarding it was as follows: he gave orders that the pier should be kept always bound together with long double piles fixed below the water on every side, to the end that these might so protect it that the river should not be able to undermine it; for the place where it is built is in the main current of the river, the bed of which is so soft that no solid ground can be found on which to lay its foundations. and excellent, in truth, as is evident from the result, was the advice of fra giocondo, for the reason that the pier has stood firm from that time to our own, as it still does, without ever showing a crack; and there is hope that, by the observation of the suggestions given by that good monk, it will stand for ever. in his youth fra giocondo spent many years in rome, giving his attention to the study of antiquities, and not of buildings only, but also of the ancient inscriptions that are in the tombs, and the other relics of antiquity, both in rome itself and its neighbourhood, and in every part of italy; and he collected all these inscriptions and memorials into a most beautiful book, which he sent as a present, according to the account of the citizens of verona mentioned above, to the elder lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, to whom, by reason of the great friendliness and favour that he showed to all men of talent, both fra giocondo and domizio calderino, his companion and compatriot, were always most deeply devoted. of this book poliziano makes mention in his mugellane, in which he uses various parts of it as authorities, calling fra giocondo a profound master in antiquities. the same giocondo wrote some observations, which are in print, on the commentaries of cæsar; and he was the first who made a drawing of the bridge built by cæsar over the river rhone, and described by him in those same commentaries, but misunderstood in the time of fra giocondo. him the aforesaid budé confesses to have had as his master in the study of architecture, thanking god that he had been taught his vitruvius by a teacher so learned and so diligent as was that monk, who corrected in that author a vast number of errors not recognized up to that time; and this he was able to do with ease, because he was a master of every kind of learning, and had a good knowledge of both the greek tongue and the latin. this and other things declares budé, extolling fra giocondo as an excellent architect, and adding that by the researches of the same monk there were discovered in an old library in paris the greater part of the epistles of pliny, which, after having been so long out of the hands of mankind, were printed by aldus manutius, as may be read in a latin letter written by him and printed with the same. when living in paris in the service of king louis xii, fra giocondo built two superb bridges over the seine, covered with shops--works truly worthy of that magnanimous king and of the marvellous intellect of fra giocondo. wherefore that master, in addition to the inscription in his praise that may still be seen on those works, won the honour of being celebrated by sannazzaro, a rare poet, in this most beautiful distich: jocundus geminum imposuit tibi, sequana, pontem; hunc tu jure potes dicere pontificem. besides this, he executed a vast number of other works for that king throughout all his kingdom; but of these, after having made mention of those above, as being the greatest, i shall say no more. then, happening to be in rome at the death of bramante, he was placed, in company with raffaello da urbino and giuliano da san gallo, in charge of the church of s. pietro, to the end that the structure begun by bramante might be carried forward. now, from the circumstance that it had been erected in haste, and for other reasons given in another place, it was threatening to fall in many parts, and by the advice of fra giocondo, raffaello, and giuliano, the foundations were in great measure renewed; in which work persons who were present and are still living declare that those masters adopted the following method. they excavated below the foundations many large pits after the manner of wells, but square, at a proper distance one from another, which they filled with masonry; and between every two of these piers, or rather pits filled with masonry, they threw very strong arches across the space below, insomuch that the whole building came to be placed on new foundations without suffering any shock, and was secured for ever from the danger of showing any more cracks. but the work for which it seems to me that fra giocondo deserves the greatest praise is one on account of which an everlasting gratitude is due to him not only from the venetians, but from the whole world as well. for he reflected that the life of the republic of venice depended in great measure on the preservation of its impregnable position on the lagoons on which that city, as it were by a miracle, is built; and that, whenever those lagoons silted up with earth, the air would become infected and pestilential, and the city consequently uninhabitable, or at the least exposed to all the dangers that threaten cities on the mainland. he set himself, therefore, to think in what way it might be possible to provide for the preservation of the lagoons and of the site on which the city had been built in the beginning. and having found a way, fra giocondo told the signori that, if they did not quickly come to some resolution about preventing such an evil, in a few years, to judge by that which could be seen to have happened in part, they would become aware of their error, without being in time to be able to retrieve it. roused by this warning, and hearing the powerful arguments of fra giocondo, the signori summoned an assembly of the best engineers and architects that there were in italy, at which many opinions were given and many designs made; but that of fra giocondo was held to be the best, and was put into execution. they made a beginning, therefore, with excavating a great canal, which was to divert two-thirds or at least one-half of the water brought down by the river brenta, and to conduct that water by a long détour so as to debouch into the lagoons of chioggia; and thus that river, no longer flowing into the lagoons at venice, has not been able to fill them up by bringing down earth, as it has done at chioggia, where it has filled and banked up the lagoons in such a manner that, where there was formerly water, many tracts of land and villas have sprung up, to the great benefit of the city of venice. wherefore it is the opinion of many persons, and in particular of the magnificent messer luigi cornaro, a venetian gentleman of ripe wisdom gained both by learning and by long experience, that, if it had not been for the warning of fra giocondo, all the silting up that took place in the lagoons of chioggia would have happened, and perhaps on a greater scale, in those of venice, inflicting incredible damage and almost ruin on that city. the same messer luigi, who was very much the friend of fra giocondo, as he is and always has been of all men of talent, declares that his native city of venice owes an eternal debt of gratitude for this to the memory of fra giocondo, who on this account, he says, might reasonably be called the second founder of venice; and that he almost deserves more praise for having preserved by that expedient the grandeur and nobility of that marvellous and puissant city, than do those who built it at the beginning in such a weak and ill-considered fashion, seeing that the benefit received from him will be to all eternity, as it has been hitherto, of incalculable utility and advantage to venice. not many years after fra giocondo had executed this divine work, the venetians suffered a great loss in the burning of the rialto, the place in which are the magazines of their most precious merchandise--the treasure, as it were, of that city. this happened at the very time when that republic had been reduced by long-continued wars and by the loss of the greater part, or rather almost the whole, of her dominions on the mainland to a desperate condition; and the signori then governing were full of doubt and hesitation as to what they should do. however, the rebuilding of that place being a matter of the greatest importance, they resolved that it should be reconstructed at all costs. and wishing to give it all possible grandeur, in keeping with the greatness and magnificence of that republic, and having already recognized the talent of fra giocondo and his great ability in architecture, they gave him the commission to make a design for that structure; whereupon he drew one in the following manner. he proposed to occupy all the space that lies between the canale delle beccherie,[ ] in the rialto, and the rio del fondaco delle farine,[ ] taking as much ground between one canal and the other as would make a perfect square--that is, the length of the sides of this fabric was to be as great as the space which one covers at the present day in walking from the debouchure of one of those canals into the grand canal to that of the other. he intended, also, that the same two canals should debouch on the other side into a common canal, which was to run from the one to the other, so that the fabric might be left entirely surrounded by water, having the grand canal on one side, the two smaller canals on two other sides, and on the last the new canal that was to be made. then he desired that between the water and the buildings, right round the square, there should be made, or rather should be left, a beach or quay of some breadth, which might serve as a piazza for the selling in duly appointed places of the vegetables, fruits, fish, and other things, that come from many parts to the city. it was also his opinion that right round the outer side of the buildings there should be erected shops looking out upon those same quays, and that these shops should serve only for the sale of eatables of every kind. and in these four sides the design of fra giocondo had four principal gates--namely, one to each side, placed in the centre, one directly opposite to another. but before going into the central piazza, by whichever side one entered, one would have found both on the right hand and on the left a street which ran round the block of buildings and had shops on either side, with handsome workshops above them and magazines for the use of those shops, which were all to be devoted to the sale of woven fabrics--that is, fine woollen cloth and silk, which are the two chief products of that city. this street, in short, was to contain all the shops that are called the tuscan's and the silk-merchant's. from this double range of shops there was to be access by way of the four gates into the centre of the whole block--that is to say, into a vast piazza surrounded on every side by spacious and beautiful loggie for the accommodation of the merchants and for the use of the great number of people who flock together for the purposes of their trade and commerce to that city, which is the custom-house of all italy, or rather of europe. under those loggie, on every side, were to be the shops of the bankers, goldsmiths, and jewellers; and in the centre was to be built a most beautiful temple dedicated to s. matthew, in which the people of quality might be able to hear the divine offices in the morning. with regard to this temple, however, some persons declare that fra giocondo changed his mind, and wished to build two under the loggie, so as not to obstruct the piazza. and, in addition, this superb structure was to have so many other conveniences, embellishments, and adornments, all in their proper places, that whoever sees at the present day the beautiful design that fra giocondo made for the whole, declares that nothing more lovely, more magnificent, or planned with better order, could be imagined or conceived by the most excellent of craftsmen, be his genius never so happy. it was proposed, also, with the advice of the same master, and as a completion to this work, to build the bridge of the rialto of stone, covered with shops, which would have been a marvellous thing. but this enterprise was not carried into effect, for two reasons: first, because the republic, on account of the extraordinary expenses incurred in the last war, happened to be drained dry of money; and, secondly, because a gentleman of great position and much authority at that time (of the family, so it is said, of valereso), being a man of little judgment in such matters, and perchance influenced by some private interest, chose to favour one maestro zanfragnino,[ ] who, so i am informed, is still alive, and who had worked for him on buildings of his own. this zanfragnino--a fit and proper name for a master of his calibre--made the design for that medley of marble which was afterwards carried into execution, and which is still to be seen; and many who are still alive, and remember the circumstances very well, are even yet not done with lamenting that foolish choice. fra giocondo, having seen that shapeless design preferred to his beautiful one, and having perceived how much more virtue there often is in favour than in merit with nobles and great persons, felt such disdain that he departed from venice, nor would he ever return, although he was much entreated to do it. and the design, with others by the same monk, remained in the house of the bragadini, opposite to s. marina, in the possession of frate angelo, a member of that family and a friar of s. dominic, who, by reason of his many merits, afterwards became bishop of vicenza. fra giocondo was very versatile, and delighted, in addition to the pursuits already mentioned, in simples and in agriculture. thus messer donato giannotti, the florentine, who was very much his friend for many years in france, relates that once, when living in that country, the monk reared a peach-tree in an earthen pot, and that this little tree, when he saw it, was so laden with fruit that it was a marvellous sight. on one occasion, by the advice of some friends, he had set it in a place where the king was to pass and would be able to see it, when certain courtiers, who passed by first, plucked all the peaches off that little tree, as suchlike people were sure to do, and, playing about with one another, scattered what they could not eat along the whole length of the street, to the great displeasure of fra giocondo. the matter coming to the ears of the king, he first laughed over the jest with the courtiers, and then, after thanking the monk for what he had done to please him, gave him a present of such a kind that he was consoled. [illustration: the magdalene with saints (_after the painting by =liberale da verona=. verona: s. anastasia_) _anderson_] fra giocondo was a man of saintly and most upright life, much beloved by all the great men of letters of his age, and in particular by domizio calderino, matteo bosso, and paolo emilio, the writer of the history of france, all three his compatriots. very much his friends, likewise, were sannazzaro, budé, and aldus manutius, with all the academy of rome; and he had a disciple in julius cæsar scaliger, one of the most learned men of our times. finally, being very old, he died, but precisely at what time and in what place this happened, and consequently where he was buried, is not known. even as it is true that the city of verona is very similar to florence in situation, manners, and other respects, so it is also true that in the first as well as in the second there have always flourished men of the finest genius in all the noblest and most honourable professions. saying nothing of the learned, for with them i have nothing to do here, and continuing to speak of the men of our arts, who have always had an honourable abode in that most noble city, i come to liberale of verona, a disciple of vincenzio di stefano, a native of the same city, already mentioned in another place, who executed for the church of ognissanti, belonging to the monks of s. benedict, at mantua, in the year , a madonna that was a very praiseworthy example of the work of those times. liberale imitated the manner of jacopo bellini, for when a young man, while the said jacopo was painting the chapel of s. niccolò at verona, he gave his attention under bellini to the studies of design in such thorough fashion that, forgetting all that he had learned from vincenzio di stefano, he acquired the manner of bellini and retained it ever after. the first paintings of liberale were in the chapel of the monte della pietà in s. bernardino, in his native city; and there, in the principal picture, he painted a deposition from the cross, with certain angels, some of whom have in their hands the mysteries (for so they are called) of the passion, and all with their weeping faces show grief at the death of the saviour. very natural, in truth, are these figures, as are other works of the same kind by this master, who strove to show in many places that he was able to paint weeping countenances. this may also be seen in s. anastasia, a church of friars of s. dominic, likewise in verona, where he painted a dead christ with the maries mourning for him on the pediment of the chapel of the buonaveri; and he executed many pictures in the same manner of painting as the work mentioned above, which are dispersed among the houses of various gentlemen in verona. in the same chapel he painted a god the father surrounded by many angels who are playing instruments and singing, with three figures on either side--s. peter, s. dominic, and s. thomas aquinas on one side, and s. lucia, s. agnese, and another female saint on the other; but the first three are much the finer, being executed in a better manner and with more relief. on the main wall of that chapel he painted our lady, with the infant christ marrying s. catharine, the virgin-martyr; and in this work he made a portrait of messer piero buonaveri, the owner of the chapel. around this group are some angels presenting flowers, with some heads that are smiling, executed with such grace in their gladness, that they prove that he was able to paint a smiling face as well as he had painted tears in other figures. in the altar-piece of the same chapel he painted s. mary magdalene in the air, supported by some angels, with s. catharine below--a work which was held to be very beautiful. on the altar of the madonna in the church of s. maria della scala, belonging to the servite friars, he executed the story of the magi on two folding-doors that enclose that madonna, which is held in vast veneration in that city; but the work did not long remain there, for it was removed because it was being spoilt by the smoke of the candles, and placed in the sacristy, where it is much admired by the painters of verona. in the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. bernardino, above the chapel of the company of the magdalene, he painted in fresco the story of the purification, wherein is a figure of simeon that is much extolled, as also is that of the infant christ, who with great affection is kissing that old man, who is holding him in his arms; and very beautiful, likewise, is a priest standing there on one side, who, with his arms extended and his face uplifted towards heaven, appears to be thanking god for the salvation of the world. beside this chapel is a picture of the story of the magi by the hand of the same liberale; and in the pediment of the picture there is the death of the madonna, executed with little figures, which are highly extolled. great, indeed, was his delight in painting works with little figures, with which he always took such pains that they seem to be the work rather of an illuminator than of a painter, as may be seen in the duomo of the same city, where there is a picture by his hand of the story of the magi, with a vast number of little figures, horses, dogs, and various other animals, and near them a group of rosy-coloured cherubim, who serve as a support to the mother of jesus. in this picture the heads are so finished, and everything is executed with such diligence, that, as i have said, it appears to be the work of an illuminator. he also painted stories of our lady on a small predella, likewise after the manner of miniatures, for the chapel of the madonna in the duomo. but this was afterwards removed from that chapel by order of monsignor messer giovan matteo giberti, bishop of verona, and placed in the palace of the vescovado, which is the residence of the bishops, in that chapel wherein they hear mass every morning. and there that predella stands in company with a most beautiful crucifix in relief, executed by giovanni battista veronese, a sculptor, who now lives in mantua. liberale also painted a panel-picture for the chapel of the allegni in s. vitale, containing a figure of s. mestro, the confessor, a veronese and a man of great sanctity, whom he placed between a s. francis and a s. dominic. for the chapel of s. girolamo in the vittoria, a church and convent of certain eremite friars, he executed at the commission of the scaltritegli family an altar-piece of s. jerome in the habit of a cardinal, with a s. francis and a s. paul, all much extolled. and in the tramezzo[ ] of the church of s. giovanni in monte he painted the circumcision of christ and other works, which were destroyed not long since, because it was considered that the tramezzo impaired the beauty of the church. being then summoned to siena by the general of the monks of monte oliveto, liberale illuminated many books for that order; and in these he succeeded so well, that he was commissioned in consequence to illuminate some that had been left unfinished--that is to say, only written--in the library of the piccolomini. he also illuminated some books of plain-song for the duomo of that city, where he would have remained longer, executing many works that he had in hand; but, being driven away by envy and persecution, he set off to return to verona, with eight hundred crowns that he had earned, which he lent afterwards to the monks of monte oliveto at s. maria in organo, from whom he drew interest to support him from day to day. having thus returned to verona, he gave his attention for the rest of his life more to illumination than to any other kind of work. at bardolino, a place on the lake of garda, he painted a panel-picture which is now in the pieve; and another for the church of s. tommaso apostolo. for the chapel of s. bernardo, likewise, in the church of s. fermo, a convent of friars of s. francis, he painted a panel-picture of the first-named saint, with some scenes from his life in the predella. in the same place, also, and in others, he executed many nuptial pictures, one of which, containing the madonna with the child in her arms marrying s. catharine, is in the house of messer vincenzio de' medici at verona. on the corner of the house of the cartai, on the way from the ponte nuovo to s. maria in organo, in verona, he painted a madonna and s. joseph in fresco, a work which was much extolled. liberale would have liked to paint the chapel of the riva family, which had been built in order to honour the memory of giovanni riva, a captain of men-at-arms at the battle of the taro, in the church of s. eufemia; but he did not receive the commission, which was given to some strangers, and he was told that he was too old and that his sight was failing him. when this chapel was opened, a vast number of faults were perceived in it, and liberale said that he who had given the commission had been much more blind than himself. [illustration: miniature (_after_ liberale da verona. _siena: duomo library_) _anderson_] finally, being eighty-four years of age, or even more, liberale allowed himself to be ruled by his relatives, and particularly by a married daughter, who, like the rest, treated him very badly. at which, having grown angry both with her and with his other relatives, and happening to have under his charge one francesco turbido, called il moro, then a young man, who was a diligent painter and much affected towards him, he appointed him as heir to the house and garden that he had at s. giovanni in valle, a very pleasant part of the city; and with him he took up his quarters, saying that he would rather give the enjoyment of his property to one who loved virtue than to those who ill-treated their nearest of kin. but no long time passed before he died, which was on the day of s. chiara in the year , at the age of eighty-five; and he was buried in s. giovanni in valle. his disciples were giovan francesco caroto and giovanni caroto, francesco turbido, called il moro, and paolo cavazzuola, of whom, since they were truly excellent masters, i shall make mention in their due order. giovan francesco caroto was born at verona in the year , and after having learned the first rudiments of letters, being drawn to painting, he abandoned the studies of grammar and placed himself to learn painting under the veronese liberale, undertaking to recompense him for his pains. young as he was, then, giovan francesco devoted himself with such love and diligence to design, that even in his earliest years he was a great assistance to liberale both in that and in colouring. no long time after, when his judgment had increased with his years, he saw the works of andrea mantegna in verona; and thinking, as indeed was the truth, that these were of another manner and better than those of his master, he so wrought upon his father that he was given leave, with the gracious consent of liberale, to apprentice himself to mantegna. having gone to mantua, therefore, and having placed himself under mantegna, in a short time he made such proficience that andrea sent out works by caroto as works by his own hand. in short, before many years had passed by, he had become an able master. the first works that he executed after leaving the discipline of mantegna were on the altar of the three magi in the church of the hospital of s. cosimo at verona, where he painted on the folding-doors that enclose that altar the circumcision of christ and the flight into egypt, with other figures. in the church of the frati ingiesuati, called s. girolamo, in two angles of a chapel, he painted the madonna and the angel of the annunciation. and for the prior of the friars of s. giorgio he executed a little panel-picture of the manger, in which he may be seen to have greatly improved his manner, since the heads of the shepherds and of all the other figures have expressions so sweet and so beautiful, that this work was much extolled, and that rightly; and if it were not that the priming of gesso is peeling off through having been badly prepared, so that the picture is gradually perishing, it would be enough by itself to keep him alive for ever in the memory of his fellow-citizens. next, having been commissioned by the men who governed the company of the angel raphael to paint their chapel in the church of s. eufemia, he executed therein two stories of the angel raphael in fresco, and in the altar-piece, in oils, three large angels, raphael in the centre, and gabriel and michael on either side, and all with good draughtsmanship and colouring. he was reproached, indeed, for having made the legs of those angels too slender and wanting in softness; to which he made a pleasant and gracious answer, saying that even as angels were represented with wings and with bodies, so to speak, celestial and ethereal, as if they were birds, so it was only right to make their legs lean and slender, to the end that they might fly and soar upwards with greater ease. for that altar of the church of s. giorgio where there is a christ bearing his cross, he painted s. rocco and s. sebastian, with some scenes in the predella executed with very beautiful little figures. and by order of the company of the madonna he painted on the predella of the altar of that company, in s. bernardino, the nativity of the madonna and the massacre of the innocents, with a great variety of attitudes in the murderers and in the groups of children whom their mothers are defending with all their might. this work is held in great veneration, and is kept covered, the better to preserve it; and it was the reason that the men of the fraternity of s. stefano commissioned him to paint three pictures with similar figures for their altar in the old duomo of verona, containing three little scenes from the life of our lady--her marriage, the nativity of christ, and the story of the magi. [illustration: giovan francesco caroto: elisabetta gonzaga, duchess of mantua (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] after these works, thinking that he had gained enough credit in verona, giovan francesco was minded to depart and make trial of other places; but his friends and relatives, pressing him much, persuaded him to take to wife a young woman of noble birth, the daughter of messer braliassarti grandoni, whom he married in . in a short time, however, after he had had a son by her, she died in child-birth; and giovan francesco, thus left free, departed from verona and went off to milan, where signor anton maria visconti received him into his house and caused him to execute many works for its adornment. meanwhile there was brought to milan by a fleming a head of a young man, taken from life and painted in oils, which was admired by everyone in that city; but giovan francesco, seeing it, laughed and said: "i am confident that i can do a better." at which the fleming mocked him, but after many words the matter came to this, that giovan francesco was to try his hand, losing his own picture and twenty-five crowns if he lost, and winning the fleming's head and likewise twenty-five crowns if he won. setting to work, therefore, with all his powers, giovan francesco made a portrait of an aged gentleman with shaven face, with a falcon on his wrist; but, although this was a good likeness, the head of the fleming was judged to be the better. giovan francesco did not make a good choice in executing his portrait, for he took a head that could not do him honour; whereas, if he had chosen a handsome young man, and had made as good a likeness of him as he did of the old man, he would at least have equalled his adversary's picture, even if he had not surpassed it. but for all this the head of giovan francesco did not fail to win praise, and the fleming showed him courtesy, for he contented himself with the head of the shaven old man, and, being a noble and courteous person, would by no means accept the five-and-twenty crowns. this picture came after some time into the possession of madonna isabella d'este, marchioness of mantua, who paid a very good price for it to the fleming and placed it as a choice work in her study, in which she had a vast number of very beautiful coins, pictures, works in marble, and castings. after completing his work for visconti, giovan francesco, being invited by guglielmo, marquis of montferrat, went willingly to serve him, as visconti straitly besought him to do. on his arrival, a fine provision was assigned to him; and, setting to work, he painted for that noble at casale, in a chapel where he heard mass, as many pictures as were necessary to fill it and adorn it on every side, with subjects from the old testament and the new, which were executed by him with supreme diligence, as was also the chief altar-piece. he then executed many works throughout the apartments of that castle, which brought him very great fame. and in s. domenico, by order of that marquis, he painted the whole of the principal chapel for the adornment of the tomb wherein he was to be laid to rest; in which work giovan francesco acquitted himself so well, that he was rightly rewarded with honourable gifts by the liberality of his patron, who also favoured him by making him one of his own chamberlains, as may be seen from an instrument that is in the possession of his heirs at verona. he made portraits of that lord and of his wife, with many pictures that they sent to france, and also the portrait of guglielmo, their eldest child, who was then a boy, and likewise portraits of their daughters and of all the ladies who were in the service of the marchioness. on the death of the marquis guglielmo, giovan francesco departed from casale, after first selling all the property that he had in those parts, and made his way to verona, where he so arranged his affairs and those of his son, to whom he gave a wife, that in a short time he found himself in possession of more than seven thousand ducats. but he did not therefore abandon his painting; indeed, having a quiet mind, and not being obliged to rack his brain for a livelihood, he gave more attention to it than ever. it is true that either from envy or for some other reason he was accused of being a painter who could do nothing but little figures; wherefore, in executing the altar-piece of the chapel of the madonna in s. fermo, a convent of friars of s. francis, wishing to show that the accusation was a calumny, he painted the figures larger than life, and so well, that they were the best that he had ever done. in the air is our lady seated in the lap of s. anne, with some angels standing upon clouds, and beneath are s. peter, s. john the baptist, s. rocco, and s. sebastian; and not far away, in a most beautiful landscape, is s. francis receiving the stigmata. this work, indeed, is held by craftsmen to be not otherwise than good. [illustration: madonna and child with s. anne and saints (_after the painting by =giovan francesco caroto=. verona: s. fermo maggiore_) _alinari_] for the chapel of the cross in s. bernardino, a seat of the frati zoccolanti, he painted christ kneeling on one knee and taking leave of his mother. in this work, stirred to emulation by the many notable pictures by the hands of other masters that are in that place, he strove to surpass them all; wherefore, in truth, he acquitted himself very well, and was praised by all who saw it, save only by the guardian of that convent, who, like the boorish and solemn fool that he was, reproved giovan francesco with biting words, saying that he had made christ show such little reverence to his mother as to kneel only upon one knee. to which giovan francesco answered by saying: "father, first do me the favour of kneeling down and rising up again, and i will then tell you for what reason i have painted christ so." the guardian, after much persuasion, knelt down, placing on the ground first his right knee and then his left; and in rising up he raised first the left and then the right. which done, giovan francesco said: "did you observe, father guardian, that you neither knelt down nor rose up with both knees together? i tell you, therefore, that this christ of mine is right, because one might say that he is either coming to his knees before his mother, or beginning, after having knelt a while, to raise one leg in order to rise." at which the guardian had to appear a little appeased, although he went off muttering under his breath. giovan francesco was very sharp in his answers; and it is also related of him that once, being told by a priest that his figures were too seductive for altar-pieces, he replied: "a lusty fellow you must be, if painted figures so move you. think how much you are to be trusted in places where there are living people for you to touch." at isola, a place on the lake of garda, he painted two panel-pictures for the church of the zoccolanti; and at malsessino, a township above that same lake, he painted a very beautiful madonna over the door of a church, and some saints within the church, at the request of fracastoro, a very famous poet, who was much his friend. for count giovan francesco giusti, executing a subject conceived by that nobleman, he painted a young man wholly naked except for the parts of shame, and in an attitude of indecision as to whether he shall rise up or not; and on one side he had a most beautiful young woman representing minerva, who with one hand was pointing out to him a figure of fame on high, and with the other was urging him to follow her; but sloth and idleness, who were behind the young man, were striving to detain him. below these was a figure with an uncouth face, rather that of a slave and a plebeian than of one of noble blood, who had two great snails clinging to his elbows and was seated on a crab, and near him was another figure with the hands full of poppies. this invention, in which are other beautiful details and fancies, was executed by giovan francesco with supreme diligence and love; and it serves as the head-board of a bedstead at that nobleman's lovely place near verona, which is called s. maria in stella. the same master painted the whole of a little chamber with various scenes in little figures, for count raimondo della torre. and since he delighted to work in relief, he executed not only models for his own purposes and for the arrangement of draperies, but also other things of his own fancy, of which there are some to be seen in the house of his heirs, and in particular a scene in half-relief, which is not otherwise than passing good. he also executed portraits on medallions, and some are still to be seen, such as that of guglielmo, marquis of montferrat, which has on the reverse a hercules slaying ..., with a motto that runs: "monstra domat." he painted portraits of count raimondo della torre, messer giulio his brother, and messer girolamo fracastoro. but when giovan francesco became old, he began gradually to lose his mastery over art, as may be seen from the organ-doors in s. maria della scala, from the panel-picture of the movi family, wherein is a deposition from the cross, and from the chapel of s. martino in s. anastasia. giovan francesco had always a great opinion of himself, and not for anything in the world would he have ever copied another man's work in his own. now bishop giovan matteo giberti wished him to paint some stories of the madonna in the great chapel of the duomo, and had the designs for these drawn in rome by giulio romano, who was very much his friend (for giberti was datary to pope clement vii). but, when the bishop had returned to verona, giovan francesco would never consent to execute these designs; at which the bishop, in disdain, caused them to be put into execution by francesco, called il moro. giovan francesco held an opinion, in which he was not far from the truth, that varnishing pictures spoiled them, and made them become old sooner than they otherwise would; and for this reason he used varnish in the darks while painting, together with certain purified oils. he was also the first who executed landscapes well in verona; wherefore there are some by his hand to be seen in that city, which are very beautiful. finally, when seventy-six years of age, giovan francesco died the death of a good christian, leaving his grandchildren and his brother, giovanni caroto, passing well provided. this giovanni, after first applying himself to art under his brother, and then spending some time in venice, had just returned to verona when giovan francesco passed to the other life; and thus he took a hand with the grandchildren in inspecting the things of art that had been left to them. among these they found a portrait of an old man in armour, very beautiful both in drawing and in colour, which was the best work by the hand of giovan francesco that was ever seen; and likewise a little picture containing a deposition from the cross, which was presented to signor spitech, a man of great authority with the king of poland, who had come at that time to some baths that are in the territory of verona. giovan francesco was buried in the madonna dell' organo, in the chapel of s. niccolò, which he himself had adorned with his paintings. giovanni caroto, brother of giovan francesco, although he followed the manner of the latter, yet gained less reputation in the practice of painting. this master painted the altar-piece in the above-mentioned chapel of s. niccolò, wherein is the madonna enthroned on clouds; and below this he placed a portrait of himself, taken from life, and that of his wife placida. he also painted some little figures of female saints for the altar of the schioppi in the church of s. bartolommeo, together with a portrait of madonna laura degli schioppi, who had caused that chapel to be built, and who was much celebrated by the writers of those times no less for her virtues than for her beauty. giovanni likewise painted a s. martin in a little altar-piece for s. giovanni in fonte, near the duomo; and he made a portrait of messer marc' antonio della torre (who afterwards became a man of learning and gave public lectures at padua and pavia) as a young man, and also one of messer giulio; which heads are in the possession of their heirs at verona. for the prior of s. giorgio he painted a picture of our lady, which, as a good painting, has been kept ever since, as it still is, in the chamber of the priors. and he painted another picture, representing the transformation of actæon into a stag, for the organist brunetto, who afterwards presented it to girolamo cicogna, an excellent embroiderer, and engineer to bishop giberti; and it now belongs to messer vincenzio cicogna, his son. giovanni took ground-plans of all the ancient buildings of verona, with the triumphal arches and the colosseum. these were revised by the veronese architect falconetto, and they were meant for the adornment of the book of the antiquities of verona, which had been written after his own original research by messer torello saraina, who afterwards had the book printed. this book was sent to me by giovanni caroto when i was in bologna (where i was executing the work of the refectory of s. michele in bosco), together with the portrait of the reverend father, don cipriano da verona, who was twice general of the monks of monte oliveto; and the portrait, which was sent to me by giovanni to the end that i might make use of it, as i did, for one of those pictures, is now in my house at florence, with other paintings by the hands of various masters. finally, having lived without children and without ambition, but with good means, giovanni died at about the age of sixty, full of gladness because he saw some of his disciples, particularly anselmo canneri and paolo veronese, already in good repute. paolo is now working in venice, and is held to be a good master; and anselmo has executed many works both in oils and in fresco, and in particular at the villa soranza on the tesino, and in the palace of the soranzi at castelfranco, and also in many other places, but more at vicenza than anywhere else. but to return to giovanni; he was buried in s. maria dell' organo, where he had painted a chapel with his own hand. francesco turbido, called il moro, a painter of verona, learned the first rudiments of art, when still quite young, from giorgione da castelfranco, whom he imitated ever afterwards in colouring and in softness of painting. but just when il moro was making progress, he came to words with i know not whom, and handled him so roughly, that he was forced to leave venice and return to verona. there, abandoning his painting, since he was somewhat ready with his hands and associated with the young noblemen, being a person of very good breeding, he lived for a time without doing any work. and associating in this way, in particular, with the counts sanbonifazi and the counts giusti, two illustrious families of verona, he became so intimate with them that he lived in their houses as if he had been born in them; and, what is more, no long time passed before count zenovello giusti gave him a natural daughter of his own for a wife, and granted him a commodious apartment in his own house for himself, his wife, and the children that were born to them. it is said that francesco, while living in the service of those noblemen, always carried a pencil in his pouch; and wherever he went, if only he had time, he would draw a head or something else on the walls. wherefore the same count zenovello, seeing him to be so much inclined to painting, relieved him of his other duties, like the generous nobleman that he was, and made him give his whole attention to art; and since francesco had all but forgotten everything, he placed himself, through the good offices of that patron, under liberale, a famous painter and illuminator of that time. and thus, practising under that master without ever ceasing, he went on making such progress from one day to another, that not only did all that he had forgotten awaken in his memory, but he also acquired in a short time as much more knowledge as sufficed to make him an able craftsman. it is true, however, that, although he always held to the manner of liberale, he yet imitated the softness and well-blended colouring of giorgione, his first instructor, believing that the works of liberale, while good in other respects, suffered from a certain dryness. now liberale, having recognized the beauty of francesco's spirit, conceived such an affection for him, that he loved him ever afterwards as a son, and, when death came upon him, left him heir to all his possessions. and thus, after the death of liberale, francesco followed in his steps and executed many works, which are dispersed among various private houses. of those in verona which deserve to be extolled above all others, the first is the great chapel of the duomo, on the vaulting of which are four large pictures painted in fresco, wherein are the nativity of the madonna and the presentation in the temple, and, in the picture in the centre, which appears to recede inwards, three angels in the air, who are seen foreshortened from below, and are holding a crown of stars wherewith to crown the madonna, who is in the recess, in the act of ascending into heaven, accompanied by many angels, while the apostles are gazing upwards in attitudes of great variety; and these apostles are figures twice the size of life. all these pictures were executed by il moro after the designs of giulio romano, according to the wish of bishop giovan matteo giberti, who gave the commission for the work, and who, as has been said, was very much the friend of that same giulio. after this il moro painted the façade of the house of the manuelli, which stands on the abutment of the ponte nuovo, and a façade for torello saraina, the doctor, who wrote the above-mentioned book of the antiquities of verona. in friuli, likewise, he painted in fresco the principal chapel of the abbey of rosazzo, for bishop giovan matteo, who held it "in commendam," and, being a noble and truly religious dignitary, rebuilt it; for it had been allowed to fall completely into ruin, as such buildings are generally found to be, by those who had held it "in commendam" before him, attending only to the drawing of the revenues and spending not a farthing in the service of god and of the church. [illustration: portrait of a man (_after the painting by =francesco turbido [il moro]=. munich: pinacoteca, _) _bruckmann_] il moro afterwards painted many works in oils at verona and in venice. on the outer wall (of a chapel) in s. maria in organo he executed in fresco the figures that are still there, with the exception of the angel michael and the angel raphael, which are by the hand of paolo cavazzuola. for the same chapel he painted an altar-piece in oils, wherein he made a portrait of messer jacopo fontani, who gave the commission for the work, in a figure of s. james, in addition to the madonna and other very beautiful figures. and in a large semicircle above that altar-piece, occupying the whole width of the chapel, he painted the transfiguration of our lord, and the apostles beneath, which were held to be among the best figures that he ever executed. for the chapel of the bombardieri, in s. eufemia, he painted an altar-piece with s. barbara in the heavens, in the centre, and a s. anthony below, with his hand on his beard, which is a most beautiful head, and on the other side a s. rocco, which is also held to be a very good figure; whence this work is rightly looked upon as one executed with supreme diligence and unity of colouring. in a picture on the altar of the santificazione, in the madonna della scala, he painted a s. sebastian, in competition with paolo cavazzuola, who executed a s. rocco in another picture; and he afterwards painted an altar-piece that was taken to bagolino, a place in the mountains of brescia. il moro executed many portraits, and his heads are in truth beautiful to a marvel, and very good likenesses of those whom they were meant to represent. at verona he executed a portrait of count francesco sanbonifazio, who, on account of the length of his body, was called the long count; with that of one of the franchi, which was an amazing head. he also painted the portrait of messer girolamo verità, which remained unfinished, because il moro was inclined to be dilatory in his work; and this, still unfinished, is in the possession of the sons of that good nobleman. among many other portraits, likewise, he executed one of the venetian, monsignor de' martini, a knight of rhodes, and to the same man he sold a head of marvellous beauty and excellence, which he had painted many years before as the portrait of a venetian gentleman, the son of one who was then captain in verona. this head, through the avarice of the venetian, who never paid him, was left in the hands of francesco, and he disposed of it to monsignor de' martini, who had the venetian dress changed into that of a shepherd or herdsman. it is as rare a portrait as ever issued from the hand of any craftsman, and it is now in the house of the heirs of the same monsignor de' martini, where it is rightly held in vast veneration. in venice he painted a portrait of messer alessandro contarini, procurator of s. mark and proveditor of the forces, and one of messer michele san michele for one of messer michele's dearest friends, who took the portrait to orvieto; and it is said that he executed another of the same architect, messer michele, which is now in the possession of messer paolo ramusio, the son of messer giovan battista. he also painted a portrait of fracastoro, a very famous poet, at the instance of monsignor giberti, by whom it was sent to giovio, who placed it in his museum. il moro executed many other works, of which there is no need to make mention, although they are all well worthy of remembrance, because he was as diligent a colourist as any master that lived in his day, and because he bestowed much time and labour on his work. so great, indeed, was his diligence, that it brought upon him more blame than praise, as may also be seen at times to happen to others, for the reason that he accepted any commission and took the earnest-money from every patron, and trusted to the will of god to finish the work; and if he did this in his youth, everyone may imagine what he must have done in his last years, when to his natural slowness there was added that which old age brings in its train. by this method of procedure he brought upon himself more entanglements and annoyances than he cared for; and messer michele san michele, therefore, moved by compassion for him, took him into his house in venice and treated him like a friend and man of talent. finally, having been invited back to verona by his former patrons, the counts giusti, il moro died among them in their beautiful palace of s. maria in stella, and was buried in the church of that villa, being accompanied to his tomb by all those loving noblemen, and even laid to rest with extraordinary affection by their own hands; for they loved him as a father, since they had all been born and brought up while he was living in their house. in his youth il moro was very courageous and agile in body, and handled all kinds of arms with great skill. he was most faithful to his friends and patrons, and he showed spirit in all his actions. his most intimate friends were the architect, messer michele san michele, danese da carrara, an excellent sculptor, and the very reverend and most learned fra marco de' medici, who often went after his studies to sit with him, watching him at work, and discoursing lovingly with him, in order to refresh his mind when he was weary with labour. a disciple and son-in-law of il moro, who had two daughters, was battista d' agnolo, who was afterwards called battista del moro. this master, although he had his hands full for a time with the complications of the inheritance that il moro bequeathed to him, has yet executed many works which are not otherwise than passing good. in verona he has painted a s. john the baptist in the church of the nuns of s. giuseppe, and in the tramezzo[ ] of s. eufemia, above the altar of s. paolo, a scene in fresco showing the latter saint presenting himself to ananias after being converted by christ; which work, although he executed it when still a lad, is much extolled. for the noble counts canossi he painted two apartments, and in a hall two friezes with battle-pieces, which are very beautiful and praised by everyone. in venice he painted the façade of a house near the carmine, a work of no great size, but much extolled, in which he executed a figure of venice crowned and seated upon a lion, the device of that republic. for camillo trevisano he painted the façade of his house at murano, and in company with his son marco he decorated the inner court with very beautiful scenes in chiaroscuro. and in competition with paolo veronese he painted a large chamber in the same house, which proved to be so beautiful that it brought him much honour and profit. the same master has also executed many works in miniature, of which the most recent is a very beautiful drawing of s. eustachio adoring christ, who has appeared to him between the horns of a deer, with two dogs near him, which could not be more excellent, and a landscape full of trees, receding and fading away little by little into the distance, which is an exquisite thing. this drawing has been very highly praised by the many persons who have seen it, and particularly by danese da carrara, who saw it when he was in verona, carrying out the work of the chapel of the signori fregosi, which is one of rare distinction among all the number that there are in italy at the present day. danese, i say, having seen this drawing, was lost in astonishment at its beauty, and exhorted the above-mentioned fra marco de' medici, his old and particular friend, not for anything in the world to let it slip through his hands, but to contrive to place it among the other choice examples of all the arts in his possession. whereupon battista, having heard that fra marco desired it, and knowing of his friendship with his father-in-law, gave it to him, almost forcing him to accept it, in the presence of danese; nor was that good father ungrateful to him for so much courtesy. however, since that same battista and his son marco are alive and still at work, i shall say nothing more of them for the present. il moro had another disciple, called orlando fiacco, who has become a good master and a very able painter of portraits, as may be seen from the many that he has painted, all very beautiful and most lifelike. he made a portrait of cardinal caraffa when he was returning from germany, which he took secretly by torch-light while the cardinal was at supper in the vescovado of verona; and this was such a faithful likeness that it could not have been improved. he also painted a very lifelike portrait of the cardinal of lorraine, when, coming from the council of trent, he passed through verona on his return to rome; and likewise portraits of the two bishops lippomani of verona, luigi the uncle and agostino the nephew, which count giovan battista della torre now has in a little apartment. other portraits that he painted were those of messer adamo fumani, a canon and a very learned gentleman of verona, of messer vincenzio de' medici of verona, and of his consort, madonna isotta, in the guise of s. helen, and of their grandson, messer niccolò. he has likewise executed portraits of count antonio della torre, of count girolamo canossi, and his brothers, count lodovico and count paolo, of signor astorre baglioni, captain-general of all the light cavalry of venice and governor of verona, the latter clad in white armour and most beautiful in aspect, and of his consort, signora ginevra salviati. in like manner, he has portrayed the eminent architect palladio and many others; and he still continues at work, wishing to become in the art of painting as true an orlando as once was that great paladin of france. [illustration: bonsignori (monsignori): portrait of a gentleman (_london: national gallery, . tempera panel_)] in verona, where an extraordinary degree of attention has been given to design ever since the death of fra giocondo, there have flourished at all times men excellent in painting and architecture, as will now be seen, in addition to what has been observed hitherto, in the lives of francesco monsignori, of domenico morone and his son francesco, of paolo cavazzuola, of the architect falconetto, and, lastly, of the miniaturists francesco and girolamo. francesco monsignori, the son of alberto, was born at verona in the year ; and when he was well grown he was advised by his father, who had always delighted in painting, although he had not practised it save for his own pleasure, to give his attention to design. having, therefore, gone to mantua to seek out mantegna, who was then working in that city, he exerted himself in such a manner, being fired by the fame of his instructor, that no long time passed before francesco ii, marquis of mantua, who found an extraordinary delight in painting, took him into his own service; and in the year he gave him a house for his habitation in mantua, and assigned him an honourable provision. for these benefits francesco was not ungrateful, for he always served that lord with supreme fidelity and lovingness; whence the marquis came to love and favour him more and more every day, insomuch that he could not leave the city without having francesco in his train, and was once heard to say that francesco was as dear to him as the state itself. francesco painted many works for that lord in his palace of s. sebastiano at mantua, and also in the castello di gonzaga and in the beautiful palace of marmirolo without the city. in the latter francesco had finished painting in the year , after a vast number of other pictures, some triumphs and many portraits of gentlemen of the court; and on christmas eve, on which day he had finished those works, the marquis presented to him an estate of a hundred fields in the territory of mantua, at a place called la marzotta, with a mansion, garden, meadows, and other things of great beauty and convenience. he was most excellent at taking portraits from life, and the marquis caused him to paint many portraits, of himself, of his sons, and of many other lords of the house of gonzaga, which were sent to france and germany as presents for various princes. and many of these portraits are still in mantua, such as those of the emperor frederick barbarossa; of doge barbarigo of venice; of francesco sforza, duke of milan; of massimiliano, also duke of milan, who died in france; of the emperor maximilian; of signor ercole gonzaga, who afterwards became a cardinal; of his brother, duke federigo (then a young man); of signor giovan francesco gonzaga; of messer andrea mantegna, the painter; and of many others; of all which francesco preserved copies drawn on paper in chiaroscuro, which are now in the possession of his heirs at mantua. above the pulpit of s. francesco de' zoccolanti, in the same city, is a picture that he painted of s. louis and s. bernardino holding a large circle that contains the name of jesus; and in the refectory of those friars there is a picture on canvas as large as the whole of the head-wall, of the saviour in the midst of the twelve apostles, painted in perspective and all very beautiful, and executed with many proofs of consideration. among them is the traitor judas, with a face wholly different from those of the others, and in a strange attitude; and the others are all gazing intently at jesus, who is speaking to them, being near his passion. on the right hand of this work is a s. francis of the size of life, a very beautiful figure, the countenance of which is the very presentment of that sanctity which was peculiar to that most saintly man; and he is presenting to christ the marquis francesco, who is kneeling at his feet, portrayed from life in a long coat pleated and worked with a curly pattern, according to the fashion of those times, and embroidered with white crosses, perchance because he may have been at that time captain of the venetians. and in front of the marquis is a portrait, with the hands clasped, of his eldest son, who was then a very beautiful boy, and afterwards became duke federigo. on the other side is painted a s. bernardino, equal in excellence to the figure of s. francis, and likewise presenting to christ the brother of the marquis, cardinal sigismondo gonzaga, a very beautiful kneeling figure, robed in the habit of a cardinal, with the rochet, which is also a portrait from life; and in front of that cardinal is a portrait of signora leonora, the daughter of the same marquis, who was then a girl, and afterwards became duchess of urbino. this whole work is held by the most excellent painters to be a marvellous thing. [illustration: s. sebastian (_after the painting by =francesco monsignori [bonsignori]=. berlin: kaiser friedrich museum, c_) _hanfstaengl_] the same master painted a picture of s. sebastian, which was afterwards placed in the madonna delle grazie, without the city of mantua; and to this he devoted extraordinary pains, copying many things in it from the life. it is related that the marquis, going one day, while francesco was executing this picture, to see him at work, as he used often to do, said to him: "francesco, you must take some fine figure as your model in painting this saint." to which francesco answered: "i am using as my model a porter with a very handsome figure, whom i bind in a fashion of my own in order to make the work natural." "but the limbs of this saint of yours," rejoined the marquis, "are not true to life, for they have not the appearance of being strained by force or by that fear which one would expect in a man bound and shot with arrows; and by your leave i will undertake to show you what you ought to do in order to make this figure perfect." "nay, but i beg you to do it, my lord," said francesco; and the marquis added: "when you have your porter bound here, send for me, and i will show you what you must do." the next day, therefore, when francesco had the porter bound in the manner that he wished, he sent a secret summons to the marquis, but without knowing what he intended to do. and the marquis, bursting out of a neighbouring room in a great fury, with a loaded cross-bow in his hand, rushed towards the porter, crying out at the top of his voice, "traitor, prepare to die! at last i have caught thee as i would have thee," and other suchlike words; which hearing, the wretched porter, thinking himself as good as dead, struggled in a frenzy of terror with the ropes wherewith he was bound, and made frantic efforts to break them, thus truly representing one about to be shot with arrows, and revealing fear in his face and the horror of death in his strained and distorted limbs, as he sought to escape from his peril. this done, the marquis said to francesco, "there he is in the state that he ought to be: the rest is for you to do"; which the painter having well considered, made his figure as perfect as could be imagined. francesco painted in the gonzaga palace, besides many other things, the election of the first lords of mantua, with the jousts that were held on the piazza di s. piero, which is seen there in perspective. when the grand turk sent one of his men with a most beautiful dog, a bow, and a quiver, as presents for the marquis, the latter caused the dog, the turk who had brought it, and the other things, to be painted in the same gonzaga palace; and, this done, wishing to see whether the painted dog were truly lifelike, he had one of his own dogs, of a breed very hostile to the turkish dog, brought to the place where the other one stood on a pedestal painted in imitation of stone. the living dog, then, arriving there, had no sooner seen the painted one than, precisely as if it had been a living animal and the very one for whom he had a mortal hatred, he broke loose from his keeper and rushed at it with such vehemence, in order to bite it, that he struck his head full against the wall and dashed it all to pieces. [illustration: giovan francesco morone: madonna and child (_london: national gallery, . panel_)] another story is told by persons who were present at the scene, of a little picture by the hand of francesco, little more than two span in height, and belonging to his nephew benedetto baroni, in which is a madonna painted in oils, from the breast upwards, and almost life-size, and, lower down, in the corner of the picture, the child, seen from the shoulders upwards, with one arm uplifted and in the act of caressing his mother. it is related, i say, that, when the emperor was master of verona, don alfonso of castille and alarcon, a very famous captain, happened to be in that city on behalf of his majesty and the catholic king; and that these lords, being in the house of the veronese count lodovico da sesso, said that they had a great desire to see that picture. whereupon it was sent for; and one evening they were standing contemplating it in a good light, and admiring its masterly workmanship, when signora caterina, the wife of the count, entered into the room where those noblemen were, together with one of her sons, who had on his wrist one of those green birds--called in verona "terrazzani,"[ ] because they make their nests on the ground--which learn to perch on the wrist, like hawks. it happened, then, that, while she stood with the others contemplating the picture, the bird, seeing the extended arm and wrist of the painted child, flew to perch upon it; but, not having been able to find a hold on the surface of the painting, and having therefore fallen to the ground, it twice returned to settle on the wrist of that painted child, precisely as if it had been one of those living children who were always holding it on their wrists. at which those noblemen, being amazed, offered to pay a great price to benedetto for the picture, if only he would give it to them; but it was not possible by any means to wrest it from him. not long afterwards the same persons planned to have it stolen from him on the day of the festival of s. biagio in s. nazzaro; but the owner was informed of this, and their design did not succeed. for s. paolo, in verona, francesco painted a panel-picture in gouache, which is very beautiful, and another, also most beautiful, for the chapel of the bandi in s. bernardino. in mantua he executed for verona a picture with two most lovely nudes, a madonna in the sky, with the child in her arms, and some angels, all marvellous figures, which is in the chapel where s. biagio is buried, in the black friars church of s. nazzaro. francesco was a man of saintly life, and the enemy of every vice, insomuch that he would never on any account paint licentious works, although he was very often entreated to do so by the marquis; and equal to him in goodness were his brothers, as will be related in the proper place. finally, being old, and suffering in the bladder, francesco, with the leave of the marquis and by the advice of the physicians, went with his wife and many servants to the baths of caldero, in the territory of verona, to take the waters. there, one day, after he had drunk the water, he allowed himself to be overcome by drowsiness, and slept a little, being indulged in this by his wife out of compassion; whereupon, a violent fever having come upon him in consequence of his sleeping, which is a deadly thing for one who has just taken that water, he finished the course of his life on the second day of july, ; which having been reported to the marquis, he straightway sent orders by a courier that the body of francesco should be brought to mantua. this was done, although it gave little pleasure to the people of verona; and he was laid to rest with great honour in the burial-place of the compagnia segreta in s. francesco at mantua. francesco lived to the age of sixty-four, and the portrait of him which belongs to messer fermo was executed when he was fifty. many compositions were written in his praise, and he was mourned by all who knew him as a virtuous and saintly man, which he was. he had for wife madonna francesca gioacchini of verona, but he had no children. the eldest of his three brothers was called monsignore; and he, being a person of culture and learning, received offices with good salaries in mantua from the marquis, on account of that nobleman's love of francesco. he lived to the age of eighty, and left children, who keep the family of the monsignori alive in mantua. another brother of francesco had the name of girolamo when in the world, and of fra cherubino among the frati zoccolanti di san francesco; and he was a very beautiful calligrapher and illuminator. the third, who was a friar of s. dominic and an observantine, and was called fra girolamo, chose out of humility to become a lay-brother. he was not only a man of good and holy life, but also a passing good painter, as may be seen in the convent of s. domenico in mantua, where, besides other works, he executed a most beautiful last supper in the refectory, with a passion of christ, which remained unfinished on account of his death. the same friar painted the beautiful last supper that is in the refectory of the very rich abbey which the monks of s. benedict possess in the territory of mantua. in s. domenico he painted the altar of the rosary; and in the convent of s. anastasia, in verona, he painted in fresco the madonna, s. remigio the bishop, and s. anastasia; with a madonna, s. dominic, and s. thomas aquinas, all executed with mastery, on a little arch over the second door of entrance in the second cloister. [illustration: the crucifixion (_after the painting by =giovan francesco morone=. verona: s. bernardino_) _alinari_] fra girolamo was a person of great simplicity, wholly indifferent to the things of the world. he lived in the country, at a farm belonging to his convent, in order to avoid all noise and disturbance, and the money sent to him in return for his works, which he used for buying colours and suchlike things, he kept in a box without a cover, hung from the ceiling in the middle of his chamber, so that all who wished could take some; and in order not to have the trouble of thinking every day what he was to eat, he used to cook a pot of beans every monday to last him the whole week. when the plague came to mantua and the sick were abandoned by all, as happens in such cases, fra girolamo, with no other motive but the purest love, would never desert the poor plague-stricken monks, and even tended them all day long with his own hands. and thus, careless of his life for the love of god, he became infected with that malady and died at the age of sixty, to the great grief of all who knew him. but to return to francesco monsignori: he painted a life-size portrait, which i forgot to mention above, of count ercole giusti of verona, in a robe of cloth of gold, such as he was wont to wear; and this is a very beautiful likeness, as may be seen in the house of his son, count giusto. domenico morone, who was born at verona about the year , learned the art of painting from some masters who were disciples of stefano, and from works by the same stefano, by jacopo bellini, by pisano, and by others, which he saw and copied. saying nothing of the many pictures that he executed after the manner of those times, which are now in monasteries and private houses, i begin by recording that he painted in chiaroscuro, with "terretta verde," the façade of a house belonging to the city of verona, on the square called the piazza de' signori; and in this may be seen many ornamental friezes and scenes from ancient history, with a very beautiful arrangement of figures and costumes of bygone days. but the best work to be seen by the hand of this master is the leading of christ to the cross, with a multitude of figures and horses, which is in s. bernardino, on the wall above the chapel of the monte di pietà, for which liberale painted the picture of the deposition with the weeping angels. the same domenico received a commission to paint the chapel that is next to that one, both within and without, at great expense and with a lavish use of gold, from the chevalier, messer niccolò de' medici, who was considered to be the richest man of his day in verona, and who spent great sums of money on other pious works, being a man who was inclined to this by nature. this gentleman, after he had built many monasteries and churches, and had left scarcely any place in that city where he had not executed some noble and costly work to the honour of god, chose as his burial-place the chapel mentioned above, for the ornamentation of which he availed himself of domenico, at that time more famous than any other painter in that city, liberale being in siena. domenico, then, painted in the interior of this chapel the miracles of s. anthony of padua, to whom it is dedicated, and portrayed the chevalier in an old man with shaven face and white hair, without any cap, and wearing a long gown of cloth of gold, such as chevaliers used to wear in those times. all this, for a work in fresco, is very well designed and executed. then, in certain medallions in the outer vaulting, which is all overlaid with gold, he painted the four evangelists; and on the pilasters both within and without he executed figures of saints, among which are s. elizabeth of the third order of s. francis, s. helen, and s. catharine, which are very beautiful figures, and much extolled for the draughtsmanship, colouring, and grace. this work, then, can bear witness to the talent of domenico and to the magnificent liberality of that chevalier. domenico died very old, and was buried in s. bernardino, wherein are the works by his hand described above, leaving his son, francesco morone, heir to his property and his talents. this francesco, who learned the first principles of art from his father, afterwards exerted himself in such a manner that in a short time he became a much better master than his father had been, as the works that he executed in emulation of those of his father clearly demonstrate. below his father's work on the altar of the monte, in the aforesaid church of s. bernardino, francesco painted in oils the folding-doors that enclose the altar-piece of liberale; on the inner side of which he depicted in one the virgin, and in the other s. john the evangelist, both life-size figures, with great beauty in the faces, which are weeping, in the draperies, and in every other part. in the same chapel, at the foot of the face of that wall which serves as head-wall to the tramezzo,[ ] he painted the miracle that our lord performed with the five loaves and two fishes, which satisfied the multitude; and in this are many beautiful figures and many portraits from life, but most of all is praise given to a s. john the evangelist, who is very slender, and has his back partly turned towards the spectator. he then executed in the same place, beside the altar-piece, in the vacant spaces on the wall against which it rests, a s. louis, bishop and friar of s. francis, and another figure; with some heads in foreshortening in a sunk medallion on the vaulting. all these works are much extolled by the painters of verona. and for the altar of the cross, on which are so many painted pictures, between that chapel and the chapel of the medici, in the same church, he executed a picture which is in the centre above all the others, containing christ on the cross, the madonna, and s. john, and very beautiful. in another picture, which is above that of caroto, on the left-hand side of the same altar, he painted our lord washing the feet of the apostles, who are seen in various attitudes; in which work, so men say, this painter made a portrait of himself in the figure of one who is serving christ by bringing water. for the chapel of the emilii, in the duomo, francesco executed a s. james and a s. john, one on either side of christ, who is bearing his cross; and the beauty and excellence of these two figures leave nothing to be desired. the same master executed many works at lonico, in an abbey of monks of monte oliveto, whither great multitudes flock together to adore a figure of the madonna which performs many miracles in that place. afterwards, francesco being very much the friend, and, as it were, the brother of girolamo dai libri, the painter and illuminator, they undertook to paint in company the organ-doors of s. maria in organo, a church of monks of monte oliveto. in one of these, on the outer side, francesco painted a s. benedict clothed in white, and s. john the evangelist, and on the inner side the prophets daniel and isaiah, with two little angels in the air, and a ground all full of very beautiful landscapes. and then he executed the great altar-piece of the altar of the muletta, painting therein a s. peter and a s. john, which are little more than one braccio in height, but wrought so well and with such diligence, that they have the appearance of miniatures. the carvings of this work were executed by fra giovanni da verona, a master of tarsia and carving. in the same place, on the wall of the choir, francesco painted two scenes in fresco--one of our lord riding on an ass into jerusalem, and the other of his prayer in the garden, wherein, on one side, is the armed multitude coming to take him, guided by judas. but more beautiful than all the rest is the vaulted sacristy, which is all painted by the same master, excepting only the s. anthony being scourged by demons, which is said to be by the hand of his father, domenico. in this sacristy, then, besides the christ and some little angels that are seen in foreshortening on the vaulting, he painted in the lunettes, two in each niche, and robed in their pontifical vestments, the various popes who have been exalted to the pontificate from the order of s. benedict. round the sacristy, below the lunettes of the vaulting, is drawn a frieze four feet high, and divided into compartments, wherein are painted in the monastic habit various emperors, kings, dukes, and other princes, who have abandoned the states and principalities that they ruled, and have become monks. in these figures francesco made portraits from life of many of the monks who had their habitation or a temporary abode in that monastery, the while that he was working there; and among them are portraits of many novices and other monks of every kind, which are heads of great beauty, and executed with much diligence. in truth, by reason of these ornaments, that was then the most beautiful sacristy that there was in all italy, since, in addition to the beauty of the room, which is of considerable size and well proportioned, and the pictures described above, which are also very beautiful, there is at the foot of the walls a range of panelled seats adorned with fine perspective-views, so well executed in tarsia and carving, that there is no work to be seen of those times, and perchance even of our own, that is much better. for fra giovanni da verona, who executed this work, was most excellent in that art, as was said in the life of raffaello da urbino, and as is demonstrated not only by his many other works in houses of his order, but also by those that are in the papal palace at rome, in monte oliveto di chiusuri in the territory of siena, and in other places. but those of this sacristy are the best of all the works that fra giovanni ever executed, for the reason that it may be said that in them he surpassed himself by as much as he excelled in the rest every other master. among other things, fra giovanni carved for this place a candelabrum more than fourteen feet in height to hold the paschal candle, all made of walnut-wood, and wrought with such extraordinary patience that i do not believe that there is a better work of the same kind to be seen. but to return to francesco: he painted for the same church the panel-picture which is in the chapel of the counts giusti, in which he depicted the madonna, with s. augustine and s. martin in pontifical robes. and in the cloister he executed a deposition from the cross, with the maries and other saints, works in fresco which are much extolled in verona. in the church of the vittoria he painted the chapel of the fumanelli, which is below the wall that supports the choir which was built by the chevalier messer niccolò de' medici; and a madonna in fresco in the cloister. and afterwards he painted a portrait from life of messer antonio fumanelli, a physician very famous for the works written by him in connection with his profession. he painted in fresco, also, on a house which is seen on the left hand as one crosses the ponte delle navi on the way to s. paolo, a madonna with many saints, which is held to be a very beautiful work, both in design and in colouring; and on the house of the sparvieri, in the brà, opposite to the garden of the friars of s. fermo, he painted another like it. francesco painted a number of other works, of which there is no need to make mention, since the best have been described; let it suffice to say that he gave grace, unity, and good design to his pictures, with a colouring as vivid and pleasing as that of any other painter. francesco lived fifty-five years, and died on may , . he chose to be carried to his tomb in the habit of a friar of s. francis, and he was buried in s. domenico, beside his father. he was so good a man, so religious, and so exemplary, that there was never heard to issue from his mouth any word that was otherwise than seemly. a disciple of francesco, and much more able than his master, was the veronese paolo cavazzuola, who executed many works in verona; i say in verona, because it is not known that he ever worked in any other place. in s. nazzaro, a seat of black friars at verona, he painted many works in fresco near those of his master francesco; but these were all thrown to the ground when that church was rebuilt by the pious munificence of the reverend father, don mauro lonichi, a nobleman of verona and abbot of that monastery. on the old house of the fumanelli, in the via del paradiso, paolo painted, likewise in fresco, the sibyl showing to augustus our lord in the heavens, in the arms of his mother; which work is beautiful enough for one of the first that he executed. on the outer side of the chapel of the fontani, in s. maria in organo, he painted, also in fresco, two angels--namely, s. michael and s. raphael. in the street into which there opens the chapel of the angel raphael, in s. eufemia, over a window that gives light to a recess in the staircase of that chapel, he painted the angel raphael, and with him tobias, whom he guided on his journey; which was a very beautiful little work. and in s. bernardino, in a round picture over the door where there is the bell, he painted a s. bernardino in fresco, and in another round picture on the same wall, but lower down, and above the entrance to a confessional, a s. francis, which is beautiful and well executed, as is also the s. bernardino. these are all the works that paolo is known to have painted in fresco. [illustration: the deposition (_after the panel by =paolo cavazzuola=. verona: museo civico, _) _anderson_] as for his works in oils, he painted a picture of s. rocco for the altar of the santificazione in the church of the madonna della scala, in emulation of the s. sebastian which il moro painted for the other side of the same place; which s. rocco is a very beautiful figure. but the best figures that this painter ever executed are in s. bernardino, where all the large pictures that are on the altar of the cross, round the principal altar-piece, are by his hand, excepting that with the christ crucified, the madonna, and s. john, which is above all the others, and is by the hand of his master francesco. beside it, in the upper part, are two large pictures by the hand of paolo, in one of which is christ being scourged at the column, and in the other his coronation, painted with many figures somewhat more than life-size. in the principal picture, which is lower down, in the first range, he painted a deposition from the cross, with the madonna, the magdalene, s. john, nicodemus, and joseph; and he made a portrait of himself, so good that it has the appearance of life, in one of these figures, a young man with a red beard, who is near the tree of the cross, with a coif on his head, such as it was the custom to wear at that time. on the right-hand side is a picture by paolo of our lord in the garden, with the three disciples near him; and on the left-hand side is another of christ with the cross on his shoulder, being led to mount calvary. the excellence of these works, which stand out strongly in comparison with those by the hand of his master that are in the same place, will always give paolo a place among the best craftsmen. on the base he painted some saints from the breast upwards, which are all portraits from life. the first figure, wearing the habit of s. francis, and representing a beato, is a portrait of fra girolamo rechalchi, a noble veronese; the figure beside the first, painted to represent s. bonaventura, is the portrait of fra bonaventura rechalchi, brother of the aforesaid fra girolamo; and the head of s. joseph is the portrait of a steward of the marchesi malespini, who had been charged at that time by the company of the cross to see to the execution of this work. all these heads are very beautiful. for the same church paolo painted the altar-piece of the chapel of s. francesco, in which work, the last that he executed, he surpassed himself. there are in it six figures larger than life; one being s. elizabeth, of the third order of s. francis, who is a most beautiful figure, with a smiling air and a gracious countenance, and with her lap full of roses; and she seems to be rejoicing at the sight of the bread that she, great lady as she was, had been carrying to the poor, turned by a miracle of god into roses, in token that her humble charity in thus ministering to the poor with her own hands was acceptable to god. this figure is a portrait of a widowed lady of the sacchi family. among the other figures are s. bonaventura the cardinal and s. louis the bishop, both friars of s. francis. near these are s. louis, king of france, s. eleazar in a grey habit, and s. ivo in the habit of a priest. then there is the madonna on a cloud above them all, with s. francis and other figures round her; but it is said that these are not by the hand of paolo, but by that of a friend who helped him to execute the picture; and it is evident, indeed, that these figures are not equal in excellence to those beneath. and in this picture is a portrait from life of madonna caterina de' sacchi, who gave the commission for the work. now paolo, having set his heart on becoming great and famous, made to this end such immoderate exertions that he fell ill and died at the early age of thirty-one, at the very moment when he was beginning to give proofs of what might be expected from him at a riper age. it is certain that paolo, if fortune had not crossed him at the height of his activity, would without a doubt have attained to the highest, best, and greatest honours that could be desired by a painter. his loss, therefore, grieved not only his friends, but all men of talent and everyone who knew him, and all the more because he had been a young man of excellent character, untainted by a single vice. he was buried in s. paolo, after making himself immortal by the beautiful works that he left behind him. stefano veronese, a very rare painter in his day, as has been related, had a brother-german, called giovanni antonio, who, although he learned to paint from that same stefano, nevertheless did not become anything more than a mediocre painter, as may be seen from his works, of which there is no need to make mention. to this giovanni antonio was born a son, called jacopo, who likewise became a painter of commonplace works; and to jacopo were born giovan maria, called falconetto, whose life we are about to write, and giovanni antonio. the latter, devoting himself to painting, executed many works at rovereto, a very famous township in the trentino, and many pictures at verona, which are dispersed among the houses of private citizens. he also painted many works in the valley of the adige, above verona, and a panel-picture of s. nicholas, with many animals, at sacco, opposite to rovereto, with many others; after which he finally died at rovereto, where he had gone to live. this master was particularly excellent in making animals and fruits, of which many very beautiful drawings, executed in miniature, were taken to france by the veronese mondella; and many of them were given by agnolo, the son of giovanni antonio, to messer girolamo lioni, a venetian gentleman of noble spirit. but to come at last to giovan maria, the brother of giovanni antonio. he learned the rudiments of painting from his father, whose manner he rendered no little better and grander, although even he was not a painter of much reputation, as is evident from the chapels of the maffei and of the emilii in the duomo of verona, from the upper part of the cupola of s. nazzaro, and from works in other places. this master, recognizing the little value of his work in painting, and delighting beyond measure in architecture, set himself with great diligence to study and draw all the antiquities in his native city of verona. he then resolved to visit rome, and to learn architecture from its marvellous remains, which are the true masters; and he made his way to that city, and stayed there twelve whole years. that time he spent, for the most part, in examining and drawing all those marvellous antiquities, searching out in every place all the ground-plans that he could see and all the measurements that he could find. nor did he leave anything in rome, either buildings or their members, such as cornices, capitals, and columns, of whatsoever order, that he did not draw with his own hand, with all the measurements; and he also drew all the sculptures which were discovered in those times, insomuch that when he returned to his own country, after those twelve years, he was rich in all the treasures of his art. and, not content with the things in the city of rome itself, he drew all that was good and beautiful in the whole of the roman campagna, going even as far as the kingdom of naples, the duchy of spoleto, and other parts. it is said that giovan maria, being poor, and therefore having little wherewith to live or to maintain himself in rome, used to spend two or three days every week in assisting some painter with his work; and with his earnings, since at that time masters were well paid and living was cheap, he was able to live the other days of the week, pursuing the studies of architecture. thus, then, he drew all those antiquities as if they were complete, reconstructing them in his drawings from the parts and members that he saw, from which he imagined all the other parts of the buildings in all their perfection and integrity, and all with such true measurements and proportions, that he could not make an error in a single detail. having returned to verona, and finding no opportunity of exercising himself in architecture, since his native city was in the throes of a change of government, giovan maria gave his attention for the time to painting, and executed many works. on the house of the della torre family he painted a large escutcheon crowned by some trophies; and for two german noblemen, counsellors of the emperor maximilian, he executed in fresco some scenes from the scriptures on a wall of the little church of s. giorgio, and painted there life-size portraits of those two germans, one kneeling on one side and one on the other. he executed a number of works at mantua, for signor luigi gonzaga; and some others at osimo, in the march of ancona. and while the city of verona was under the emperor, he painted the imperial arms on all the public buildings, and received for this from the emperor a good salary and a patent of privilege, from which it may be seen that many favours and exemptions were granted to him, both on account of his good service in matters of art, and because he was a man of great spirit, brave and formidable in the use of arms, with which he might likewise be expected to give valiant and faithful service: and all the more because he drew after him, on account of the great credit that he had with his neighbours, the whole mass of the people who lived in the borgo di san zeno, a very populous part of the city, in which he had been born and had taken a wife from the family of the provali. for these reasons, then, he had all the inhabitants of his district as his following, and was called throughout the city by no other name but that of the "red-head of san zeno." now, when the city again changed its government and returned to the rule of its ancient masters the venetians, giovan maria, being known as one who had served the party of the emperor, was forced to seek safety in flight; and he went, therefore, to trento, where he passed some time painting certain pictures. finally, however, when matters had mended, he made his way to padua, where he was first received in audience and then much favoured by the very reverend monsignor bembo, who presented him not long afterwards to the illustrious messer luigi cornaro, a venetian gentleman of lofty spirit and truly regal mind, as is proved by his many magnificent enterprises. this gentleman, who, in addition to his other truly noble qualities, delighted in the study of architecture, the knowledge of which is worthy of no matter how great a prince, had therefore read the works of vitruvius, leon batista alberti, and others who have written on this subject, and he wished to put what he had learned into practice. and when he saw the designs of falconetto, and perceived with what profound knowledge he spoke of these matters, and rendered clear all the difficulties that can arise through the variety of the orders of architecture, he conceived such a love for him that he took him into his own house and kept him there as an honoured guest for twenty-one years, which was the whole of the rest of giovan maria's life. during this time falconetto executed many works with the help of the same messer luigi. the latter, desiring to see the antiquities of rome on the spot, even as he had seen them in the drawings of giovan maria, went to rome, taking him with him; and there he devoted himself to examining everything minutely, having him always in his company. after they had returned to padua, a beginning was made with building from the design and model of falconetto that most beautiful and ornate loggia which is in the house of the cornari, near the santo; and the palace was to be erected next, after the model made by messer luigi himself. in this loggia the name of giovan maria is carved on a pilaster. the same architect built a very large and magnificent doric portal for the palace of the captain of that place; and this portal is much praised by everyone as a work of great purity. he also erected two very beautiful gates for the city, one of which, called the porta di s. giovanni, and leading to vicenza, is very fine, and commodious for the soldiers who guard it; and the other, which is very well designed, was called the porta savonarola. he made, likewise, for the friars of s. dominic, the design and model of the church of s. maria delle grazie, and laid the foundations; and this work, as may be seen from the model, is so beautiful and well designed, that one of equal size to rival it has perhaps never been seen up to our own day in any other place. and by the same master was made the model of a most superb palace for signor girolamo savorgnano, at his well fortified stronghold of usopo in friuli; for which all the foundations were then laid, and it had begun to rise above the ground, when, by reason of the death of that nobleman, it was left in that condition without being carried further; but if this building had been finished, it would have been a marvel. about the same time falconetto went to pola, in istria, for the sole purpose of seeing and drawing the theatre, amphitheatre, and arch that are in that most ancient city. he was the first who made drawings of theatres and amphitheatres and traced their ground-plans, and those that are to be seen, particularly in the case of verona, came from him, and were printed at the instance of others after his designs. giovan maria was a man of exalted mind, and, being one who had never done anything else but draw the great works of antiquity, he desired nothing save that there should be presented to him opportunities of executing works similar to those in greatness. he would sometimes make ground-plans and designs for them, with the very same pains that he would have taken if he had been commissioned to put them into execution at once; and in this he lost himself so much, so to speak, that he would not deign to make designs for the private houses of gentlemen, either in the country or in the city, although he was much besought to do so. giovan maria was in rome on many occasions besides those described above; whence that journey was so familiar to him, that when he was young and vigorous he would undertake it on the slightest opportunity. persons who are still alive relate that, falling one day into a discussion with a foreign architect, who happened to be in verona, about the measurements of i know not what ancient cornice in rome, after many words giovan maria said, "i will soon make myself certain in this matter," and then went straight to his house and set out on his way to rome. [illustration: palazzo del capitanio (_after_ falconetto. _padua_) _anderson_] this master made for the cornaro family two very beautiful designs of tombs, which were to be erected in s. salvatore, at venice--one for the queen of cyprus, a lady of that family, and the other for cardinal marco cornaro, who was the first of that house to be honoured with that dignity. and in order that these designs might be carried out, a great quantity of marble was quarried at carrara and taken to venice, where the rough blocks still are, in the house of the same cornari. giovan maria was the first who brought the true methods of building and of good architecture to verona, venice, and all those parts, where before him there had not been one who knew how to make even a cornice or a capital, or understood either the measurements or the proportions of a column or of any order of architecture, as is evident from the buildings that were erected before his day. this knowledge was afterwards much increased by fra giocondo, who lived about the same time, and it received its final perfection from messer michele san michele, insomuch that those parts are therefore under an everlasting obligation to the people of verona, in which city were born and lived at one and the same time these three most excellent architects. to them there then succeeded sansovino, who, not resting content with architecture, which he found already grounded and established by the three masters mentioned above, also brought thither sculpture, to the end that by its means their buildings might have all the adornments that were proper to them. and for this a debt of gratitude--if one may use such a word--is due to the ruin of rome, by reason of which the masters were dispersed over many places and the beauties of these arts communicated throughout all europe. giovan maria caused some works in stucco to be carried out in venice, and taught the method of executing them. some declare that when he was a young man he had the vaulting of the chapel of the santo, at padua, decorated with stucco by tiziano da padova and many others, and also had similar works executed in the house of the cornari, which are very beautiful. he taught his work to two of his sons, ottaviano, who was, like himself, also a painter, and provolo. alessandro, his third son, worked in his youth at making armour, and afterwards adopted the calling of a soldier; he was three times victor in the lists, and finally, when a captain of infantry, died fighting valiantly before turin in piedmont, having been wounded by a harquebus-ball. giovan maria, on his part, after being crippled by gout, finished the course of his life at padua, in the house of the aforesaid messer luigi cornaro, who always loved him like a brother, or rather, like his own self. and to the end that there might be no separation in death between the bodies of those whose minds had been united together in the world by friendship and love of art, messer luigi had intended that giovan maria should be laid to rest beside himself in the tomb that was to be erected for his own burial, together with that most humorous poet, ruzzante, his very familiar friend, who lived and died in his house; but i do not know whether this design of the illustrious cornaro was ever carried into effect. giovan maria was a fine talker, pleasant and agreeable in conversation, and very acute in repartee, insomuch that cornaro used to declare that a whole book could have been made with his sayings. and since, although he was crippled by gout, he lived cheerfully, he preserved his life to the age of seventy-six, dying in . he had six daughters, five of whom he gave in marriage himself, and the sixth was married by her brothers, after his death, to bartolommeo ridolfi of verona, who executed many works in stucco in company with them, and was a much better master than they were. this may be seen from his works in many places, and in particular at verona, in the house of fiorio della seta on the ponte nuovo, in which he decorated some apartments in a very beautiful manner. there are others in the house of the noble counts canossi, which are amazing; and such, also, are those that he executed in the house of the murati, near s. nazzaro; and for signor giovan battista della torre, for cosimo moneta, the veronese banker, at his beautiful villa, and for many others in various places, all works of great beauty. palladio, most excellent of architects, declares that he knows no person more marvellous in invention or better able to adorn apartments with beautiful designs in stucco, than this bartolommeo ridolfi. not many years since, spitech giordan, a nobleman of great authority with the king of poland, took bartolommeo with him to that king; and there, enjoying an honourable salary, he has executed, as he still does, many works in stucco, large portraits, medallions, and many designs for palaces and other buildings, with the assistance of a son of his own, who is in no way inferior to his father. [illustration: girolamo dai libri: madonna and child, with s. anne (_london: national gallery, . canvas_)] the elder francesco dai libri of verona lived some time before liberale, although it is not known exactly at what date he was born; and he was called "dai libri"[ ] because he practised the art of illuminating books, his life extending from the time when printing had not yet been invented to the very moment when it was beginning to come into use. since, therefore, there came to him from every quarter books to illuminate--a work in which he was most excellent--he was known by no other surname than that of "dai libri"; and he executed great numbers of them, for the reason that whoever went to the expense of having them written, which was very great, wished also to have them adorned as much as was possible with illuminations. this master illuminated many choral books, all beautiful, which are at verona, in s. giorgio, in s. maria in organo, and in s. nazzaro; but the most beautiful is a little book, or rather, two little pictures that fold together after the manner of a book, on one side of which is a s. jerome, a figure executed with much diligence and very minute workmanship, and on the other a s. john in the isle of patmos, depicted in the act of beginning to write his book of the apocalypse. this work, which was bequeathed to count agostino giusti by his father, is now in s. leonardo, a convent of canons regular, of which don timoteo giusti, the son of that count, is a member. finally, after having executed innumerable works for various noblemen, francesco died, content and happy for the reason that, in addition to the serenity of mind that his goodness brought him, he left behind him a son, called girolamo, who was so excellent in art that before his death he saw him already a much greater master than himself. this girolamo, then, was born at verona in the year , and at the age of sixteen he painted for the chapel of the lischi, in s. maria in organo, an altar-piece which caused such marvel to everyone when it was uncovered and set in its place, that the whole city ran to embrace and congratulate his father francesco. in this picture is a deposition from the cross, with many figures, and among the many beautiful weeping heads the best of all are a madonna and a s. benedict, which are much commended by all craftsmen; and he also made therein a landscape, with a part of the city of verona, drawn passing well from the reality. then, encouraged by the praises that he heard given to his work, girolamo painted the altar of the madonna in s. paolo in a masterly manner, and also the picture of the madonna with s. anne, which is placed between the s. sebastian of il moro and the s. rocco of cavazzuola in the church of the scala. for the family of the zoccoli he painted the great altar-piece of the high-altar in the church of the vittoria, and for the family of the cipolli the picture of s. onofrio, which is near the other, and is held to be both in design and in colouring the best work that he ever executed. for s. leonardo nel monte, also, near verona, he painted at the commission of the cartieri family the altar-piece of the high-altar, which is a large work with many figures, and much esteemed by everyone, above all for its very beautiful landscape. now a thing that has happened very often in our own day has caused this work to be held to be a marvel. there is a tree painted by girolamo in the picture, and against it seems to rest the great chair on which the madonna is seated. this tree, which has the appearance of a laurel, projects considerably with its branches over the chair, and between the branches, which are not very thick, may be seen a sky so clear and beautiful, that the tree seems to be truly a living one, graceful and most natural. very often, therefore, birds that have entered the church by various openings have been seen to fly to this tree in order to perch upon it, and particularly swallows, which had their nests among the beams of the roof, and likewise their little ones. many persons well worthy of credence declare that they have seen this, among them don giuseppe mangiuoli of verona, a person of saintly life, who has twice been general of his order and would not for anything in the world assert a thing that was not absolutely true, and also don girolamo volpini, likewise a veronese, and many others. [illustration: madonna and child with saints (_after the painting by =girolamo dai libri=. verona: museo civico, _) _brogi_] in s. maria in organo, where was the first work executed by girolamo, he also painted two saints on the outer side of one of the folding doors of the organ--the other being painted by francesco morone, his companion--and on the inner side a manger. and afterwards he painted the picture that is opposite to his first work, containing the nativity of our lord, with shepherds, landscapes, and very beautiful trees; but most lifelike and natural of all are two rabbits, which are executed with such diligence that each separate hair may actually be seen in them. he painted another altar-piece for the chapel of the buonalivi, with a madonna seated in the centre, two other figures, and some angels below, who are singing. then, in the ornamental work made by fra giovanni da verona for the altar of the sacrament, the same girolamo painted three little pictures after the manner of miniatures. in the central picture is a deposition from the cross, with two little angels, and in those at the sides are painted six martyrs, kneeling towards the sacrament, three in each picture, these being saints whose bodies are deposited in that very altar. the first three are cantius, cantianus, and cantianilla, who were nephews of the emperor diocletian, and the others are protus, chrysogonus, and anastasius, who suffered martyrdom at aquæ gradatæ, near aquileia; and all these figures are in miniature, and very beautiful, for girolamo was more able in that field of art than any other master of his time in lombardy and in the state of venice. girolamo illuminated many books for the monks of montescaglioso in the kingdom of naples, some for s. giustina at padua, and many others for the abbey of praia in the territory of padua; and also some at candiana, a very rich monastery of the canons regular of s. salvatore, to which place he went in person to work, although he would never go to any other place. while he was living there, don giulio clovio, who was a friar in that place, learned the first rudiments of illumination; and he has since become the greatest master of that art that is now alive in italy. girolamo illuminated at candiana a sheet with a kyrie, which is an exquisite work, and for the same monks the first leaf of a psalter for the choir; with many things for s. maria in organo and for the friars of s. giorgio, in verona. he executed, likewise, some other very beautiful illuminations for the black friars of s. nazzaro at verona. but that which surpassed all the other works of this master, which were all divine, was a sheet on which was depicted in miniature the earthly paradise, with adam and eve driven forth by the angel, who is behind them with a sword in his hand. one would not be able to express how great and how beautiful is the variety of the trees, fruits, flowers, animals, birds, and all the other things that are in this amazing work, which was executed at the commission of don giorgio cacciamale of bergamo, then prior of s. giorgio in verona, who, in addition to the many other courtesies that he showed to girolamo, gave him sixty crowns of gold. this work was afterwards presented by that father to a roman cardinal, at that time protector of his order, who showed it to many noblemen in rome, and they all declared it to be the best example of illumination that had ever been seen up to that day. girolamo painted flowers with such diligence, and made them so true, so beautiful, and so natural, that they appeared to all who beheld them to be real; and he counterfeited little cameos and other engraved stones and jewels in such a manner, that there was nothing more faithfully imitated or more diminutive to be seen. among his little figures there are seen some, as in his imitations of cameos and other stones, that are no larger than little ants, and yet all the limbs and all the muscles can be perceived so clearly that one who has not seen them could scarcely believe it. girolamo used to say in his old age that he knew more in his art then than he had ever known, and saw where every stroke ought to go, but that when he came to handle the brushes, they went the wrong way, because neither his eye nor his hand would serve him any longer. he died on the nd of july in the year , at the age of eighty-three, and was laid to rest in the burial-place of the company of s. biagio in s. nazzaro. he was a good and upright man, who never had a quarrel or dispute with anyone, and his life was very pure. he had, besides other children, a son called francesco, who learned his art from him, and executed miracles of illumination when still a mere lad, so that girolamo declared that he had not known as much at that age as his son knew. but this young man was led away from him by a brother of his mother, who, being passing rich, and having no children, took him with him to vicenza and placed him in charge of a glass-furnace that he was setting up. when francesco had spent his best years in this, his uncle's wife dying, he fell from his high hopes, and found that he had wasted his time, for the uncle took another wife, and had children by her, and thus francesco did not become his uncle's heir, as he had thought to be. thereupon he returned to his art after an absence of six years, and, after acquiring some knowledge, set himself to work. among other things, he made a large globe, four feet in diameter, hollow within, and covered on the outer side, which was of wood, with a glue made of bullock's sinews, which was of a very strong admixture, so that there should be no danger of cracks or other damage in any part. this sphere, which was to serve as a terrestrial globe, was then carefully measured and divided under the personal supervision of fracastoro and beroldi, both eminent physicians, cosmographers, and astrologers; and it was to be painted by francesco for messer andrea navagiero, a venetian gentleman, and a most learned poet and orator, who wished to make a present of it to king francis of france, to whom he was about to go as ambassador from his republic. but navagiero had scarcely arrived in france after a hurried journey, when he died, and this work remained unfinished. a truly rare work it would have been, thus executed by francesco with the advice and guidance of two men of such distinction; but it was left unfinished, as we have said, and, what was worse, in its incomplete condition it received some injury, i know not what, in the absence of francesco. however, spoiled as it was, it was bought by messer bartolommeo lonichi, who has never consented to give it up to anyone, although he has been much besought and offered vast prices. before this, francesco had made two smaller globes, one of which is in the possession of mazzanti, archpriest of the duomo of verona, and the other belonged to count raimondo della torre, and is now in the hands of his son, count giovan batista, who holds it very dear, because this one, also, was made with the measurements and personal assistance of fracastoro, who was a very familiar friend of count raimondo. finally, growing weary of the extraordinary labour that miniatures demand, francesco devoted himself to painting and to architecture, in which he became very skilful, executing many works in venice and in padua. about that time the bishop of tournai, a very rich and noble fleming, had come to italy in order to study letters, to see the country, and to learn our manners and ways of living. this man, delighting much in architecture, and happening to be in padua, became so enamoured of the italian method of building that he resolved to take the modes of our architecture with him to his own country; and in order to facilitate this purpose, he drew francesco, whose ability he had recognized, into his service with an honourable salary, meaning to take him to flanders, where he intended to carry out many magnificent works. but when the time came to depart, poor francesco, who had caused designs to be made of all the best and greatest and most famous buildings in italy, was overtaken by death, while still young and the object of the highest expectations, leaving his patron much grieved by his loss. francesco left an only brother, in whom, being a priest, the dai libri family became extinct, after producing in succession three men most excellent in their field of art. nor have any disciples survived them to keep this art alive, excepting the above-mentioned churchman, don giulio, who, as we have related, learned it from girolamo when he was working at candiana, where the former was a friar; and this don giulio has since raised it to a height of excellence which very few have reached and no one has ever surpassed. i knew for myself some of the facts about the excellent and noble craftsmen mentioned above, but i would never have been able to learn the whole of what i have related of them if the great goodness and diligence of the reverend and most learned fra marco de' medici of verona, a man profoundly conversant with all the most noble arts and sciences, and with him danese cattaneo of carrara, a sculptor of great excellence, both being very much my friends, had not given me that complete and perfect information which i have just written down, to the best of my ability, for the convenience and advantage of all who may read these our lives, in which the courtesy of many friends, who have taken pains with the investigation of these matters in order to please me and to benefit the world, has been, as it still is, of great assistance to me. and let this be the end of the lives of these craftsmen of verona, the portraits of each of whom i have not been able to obtain, because this full notice did not reach my hands until i found myself almost at the close of my work. footnote: [ ] canal of the slaughter-houses. [ ] small canal of the corn-magazines. [ ] scarpagnino. [ ] see note on page , vol. i. [ ] see note on page , vol. i. [ ] see note on page , vol. i. [ ] from "terra," earth. [ ] see note on page , vol. i. [ ] _i.e._, "of the books." francesco granacci (il granaccio) life of francesco granacci (il granaccio) painter of florence great, indeed, is the good fortune of those craftsmen who are brought into contact, either by their birth or by the associations that are formed in childhood, with those men whom heaven has chosen out to be distinguished and exalted above all others in our arts, for the reason that a good and beautiful manner can be acquired with the greatest facility by seeing the methods and works of men of excellence, not to mention that rivalry and emulation, as we have said elsewhere, have great power over our minds. francesco granacci, of whom we have already spoken, was one of those who were placed by the magnificent lorenzo de' medici to learn in his garden; whence it happened that, recognizing, boy as he was, the great genius of michelagnolo, and what extraordinary fruits he was likely to produce when full grown, he could never tear himself away from his side, and even strove with incredible attention and humility to be always following that great brain, insomuch that michelagnolo was constrained to love him more than all his other friends, and to confide so much in him, that there was no one with whom he was more willing to confer touching his works or to share all that he knew of art at that time, than with granacci. then, after they had been companions together in the workshop of domenico ghirlandajo, it came to pass that granacci, because he was held to be the best of ghirlandajo's young men, the strongest draughtsman, and the one who had most grace in painting in distemper, assisted david and benedetto ghirlandajo, the brothers of domenico, to finish the altar-piece of the high-altar in s. maria novella, which had been left unfinished at the death of the same domenico. by this work granacci gained much experience, and afterwards he executed in the same manner as that altar-piece many pictures that are in the houses of citizens, and others which were sent abroad. and since he was very gracious, and made himself very useful in certain ceremonies that were performed in the city during the festivals of the carnival, he was constantly employed by the magnificent lorenzo de' medici in many similar works, and in particular for the masquerade that represented the triumph of paulus emilius, which was held in honour of the victory that he gained over certain foreign nations. in this masquerade, which was full of most beautiful inventions, granacci acquitted himself so well, although he was a mere lad, that he won the highest praise. and here i will not omit to tell that the same lorenzo de' medici, as i have said in another place, was the first inventor of those masquerades that represent some particular subject, and are called in florence "canti";[ ] for it is not known that any were performed in earlier times. in like manner granacci was employed in the sumptuous and magnificent preparations that were made in the year for the entry of pope leo x, one of the medici, by jacopo nardi, a man of great learning and most beautiful intellect, who, having been commanded by the tribunal of eight to prepare a splendid masquerade, executed a representation of the triumph of camillus. this masquerade, in so far as it lay in the province of the painter, was so beautifully arranged and adorned by granacci that no man could imagine anything better; and the words of the song, which jacopo composed, began thus: contempla in quanta gloria sei salita, felice alma fiorenza, poichè dal ciel discesa, with what follows. for the same spectacle granacci executed a great quantity of theatrical scenery, as he did both before and afterwards. and while working with ghirlandajo he painted standards for ships, and also banners and devices for certain knights of the golden spur, for their public entry into florence, all at the expense of the captains of the guelph party, as was the custom at that time, and as has been done in our own day, not long since. [illustration: francesco granacci: the holy family (_florence: pitti, . panel_)] in like manner he made many beautiful embellishments and decorations of his own invention for the potenze[ ] and their tournaments. these festivals were of a kind which is peculiar to the florentines, and very pleasing, and in them were seen men standing almost upright on horseback, with very short stirrups, and breaking a lance with the same facility as do the warriors firmly seated on their saddles; and all this was done for the above-mentioned visit of leo to florence. granacci also made, besides other things, a most beautiful triumphal arch opposite to the door of the badia, covered with scenes in chiaroscuro and very lovely things of fancy. this arch was much extolled, and particularly for the invention of the architecture, and because he had made an imitation of that same door of the badia for the entrance of the via del palagio, executed in perspective with the steps and every other thing, so that the painted and supposititious door was in no way different from the real and true one. to adorn the same arch he executed with his own hand some very beautiful figures of clay in relief, and on the summit of the arch he placed a great inscription with these words: leoni x pont. max. fidei cultori. but to come at length to some works by granacci that are in existence, let me relate that, having studied the cartoon of michelagnolo buonarroti while the latter was executing it for the great hall of the palace, he found it so instructive and made such proficience, that, when michelagnolo was summoned to rome by pope julius ii to the end that he might paint the vaulting of the chapel in his palace, granacci was one of the first to be sent for by buonarroti to help him to paint that work in fresco after the cartoons that he himself had prepared. it is true that michelagnolo, being dissatisfied with the manner and method of every one of his assistants, afterwards found means to make them all return to florence without dismissing them, by closing the door on them all and not allowing himself to be seen. in florence granacci painted for pier francesco borgherini a scene in oils on the head-board of a couch which stood in an apartment wherein jacopo da pontormo, andrea del sarto, and francesco ubertini had painted many stories from the life of joseph, in pier francesco's house in borgo sant' apostolo; and in this scene were little figures representing a story of the same joseph, executed with extraordinary finish and with great charm and beauty of colouring, and a building in perspective, wherein he depicted joseph ministering to pharaoh, which could not be more beautiful in any part. for the same man, also, he painted a round picture, likewise in oils, of the trinity, or rather, god the father supporting a christ crucified. and in the church of s. piero maggiore there is a picture of the assumption by his hand, with many angels and a s. thomas, to whom the madonna is giving the girdle. the figure of s. thomas is very graceful, turning to one side in a beautiful attitude worthy of the hand of michelagnolo, and such, also, is that of our lady. the drawing for these two figures by the hand of granacci is in our book, together with others likewise by him. on either side of this picture are figures of s. paul, s. laurence, s. james, and s. john, which are all so beautiful that the work is held to be the best that francesco ever painted; and in truth this work alone, even if he had never executed another, would ensure his being considered to be, as indeed he was, an excellent painter. for the church of s. gallo, without the gate of the same name, and formerly a seat of the eremite friars of s. augustine, he painted an altar-piece with the madonna and two children, s. zanobi, bishop of florence, and s. francis. this altar-piece, which was in the chapel of the girolami, to which family that s. zanobi belonged, is now in s. jacopo tra fossi at florence. michelagnolo buonarroti, having a niece who was a nun in s. apollonia at florence, had therefore executed an ornament for the high-altar of that church, and a design for the altar-piece; and granacci painted there some scenes in oils with figures large and small, which gave much satisfaction to the nuns at that time, and also to the other painters. for the same place he painted another altar-piece, which stood lower down, but this was burned one night, together with some draperies of great value, through some lights being inadvertently left on the altar; which was certainly a great loss, seeing that the work was much extolled by craftsmen. and for the nuns of s. giorgio in sulla costa he executed the altar-piece of their high-altar, painting in it the madonna, s. catharine, s. giovanni gualberto, s. bernardo uberti the cardinal, and s. fedele. granacci also executed many pictures, both square and round, which are dispersed among the houses of gentlemen in the city; and he made many cartoons for glass-windows, which were afterwards put into execution by the frati ingiesuati of florence. he delighted much in painting on cloth, either alone or in company with others; wherefore, in addition to the works mentioned above, he painted many church-banners. and since he practised art more to pass the time than from necessity, he worked at his ease, always consulting his own convenience, and avoiding discomforts as much as he was able, more than any other man; and yet, without being covetous of the goods of others, he always preserved his own. allowing but few cares to oppress him, he was a merry fellow, and took his pleasures with a glad heart. he lived sixty-seven years, at the end of which he finished the course of his life after an ordinary malady, a kind of fever; and he was buried in the church of s. ambrogio at florence, on the day of s. andrew the apostle, in . [illustration: the madonna giving the girdle to s. thomas (_after the panel by =francesco granacci=. florence: uffizi, _) _alinari_] footnote: [ ] from the "canti," or "songs," that were sung in them. [ ] the "potenze" were merry companies composed of the men of the various quarters in costume. each quarter had its own, representing an emperor, king, or prince, and his court. baccio d' agnolo life of baccio d' agnolo architect of florence great is the pleasure that i take in studying at times the beginnings of our craftsmen, for one sees some rising from the lowest depth to the greatest height, and especially in architecture, a science which has not been practised for several years past save by carvers and cunning impostors who profess to understand perspective without knowing even its terms or its first principles. the truth, indeed, is that architecture can never be practised to perfection save by those who have an excellent judgment and a good mastery of design, or have laboured much in painting, sculpture, or works in wood, for the reason that in it have to be executed with true measurements the dimensions of their figures, which are columns, cornices, and bases, and all the ornaments, which are made for the adornment of the figures, and for no other reason. and thus the workers in wood, by continually handling such things, in course of time become architects; and sculptors likewise, by having to find positions for their statues and by making ornaments for tombs and other works in the round, come in time to a knowledge of architecture; and painters, on account of their perspectives, the variety of their inventions, and the buildings that they draw, are compelled to take the ground-plans of edifices, seeing that they cannot plant houses or flights of steps on the planes where their figures stand, without in the first place grasping the order of the architecture. working in his youth excellently well at wood-inlaying, baccio executed the backs of the stalls in the choir of s. maria novella, in the principal chapel, wherein are most beautiful figures of s. john the baptist and s. laurence. in carving, he executed the ornaments of that same chapel, those of the high-altar in the nunziata, the decorations of the organ in s. maria novella, and a vast number of other works, both public and private, in his native city of florence. departing from that city, he went to rome, where he applied himself with great zeal to the study of architecture; and on his return he made triumphal arches of wood in various places for the visit of pope leo x. but for all this he never gave up his workshop, where there were often gathered round him, in addition to many citizens, the best and most eminent masters of our arts, so that most beautiful conversations and discussions of importance took place there, particularly in winter. the first of these masters was raffaello da urbino, then a young man, and next came andrea sansovino, filippino, maiano, cronaca, antonio da san gallo and giuliano da san gallo, granaccio, and sometimes, but not often, michelagnolo, with many young florentines and strangers. having thus given his attention to architecture in so thorough a manner, and having made some trial of his powers, baccio began to be held in such credit in florence, that the most magnificent buildings that were erected in his time were entrusted to him and were put under his direction. when piero soderini was gonfalonier, baccio took part, with cronaca and others, as has been related above, in the deliberations that were held with regard to the great hall of the palace; and with his own hand he executed in wood the ornament for the large panel-picture which was begun by fra bartolommeo, after the design by filippino. in company with the same masters he made the staircase that leads to that hall, with a very beautiful ornamentation of stone, and also the columns of variegated marble and the doors of marble in the hall that is now called the sala de' dugento. he built a palace for giovanni bartolini, which is very ornate within, on the piazza di s. trinità; and he made many designs for the garden of the same man in gualfonda. and since that palace was the first edifice that was built with ornaments in the form of square windows with pediments, and a portal with columns supporting architrave, frieze, and cornice, these things were much censured by the florentines with spoken words and sonnets, and festoons of boughs were hung upon them, as is done in churches for festivals, men saying that the façade was more like that of a temple than of a palace; so that baccio was like to go out of his mind. however, knowing that he had imitated good examples, and that his work was sound, he regained his peace of mind. it is true that the cornice of the whole palace proved, as has been said in another place, to be too large; but in every other respect the work has always been much extolled. for lanfredino lanfredini he erected a house on the bank of the arno, between the ponte a s. trinità and the ponte alla carraja; and on the piazza de' mozzi he began the house of the nasi, which looks out upon the sandy shore of the arno, but did not finish it. for taddeo, of the taddei family, he built a house that was held to be very beautiful and commodious. for pier francesco borgherini he made the designs of the house that he built in borgo s. apostolo, in which he caused ornaments for the doors and most beautiful chimney-pieces to be executed at great expense, and made for the adornment of one chamber, in particular, coffers of walnut-wood covered with little boys carved with supreme diligence. such a work it would now be impossible to execute with such perfection as he gave to it. he also prepared the design for the villa that borgherini caused to be built on the hill of bellosguardo, which was very beautiful and commodious, and erected at vast expense. for giovan maria benintendi he executed an antechamber, with an ornamental frame for some scenes painted by excellent masters, which was a rare thing. the same baccio made the model of the church of s. giuseppe near s. nofri, and directed the construction of the door, which was his last work. he also caused to be built of masonry the campanile of s. spirito in florence, which was left unfinished, and is now being completed by order of duke cosimo after the original design of baccio; and he likewise erected the campanile of s. miniato sul monte, which was battered by the artillery of the camp, but never destroyed, on which account it gained no less fame for the affront that it offered to the enemy than for the beauty and excellence with which baccio had caused it to be built and carried to completion. next, having been appointed on account of his abilities, and because he was much beloved by the citizens, as architect to s. maria del fiore, baccio gave the design for constructing the gallery that encircles the cupola. this part of the work filippo brunelleschi, being overtaken by death, had not been able to execute; and although he had made designs even for this, they had been lost or destroyed through the negligence of those in charge of the building. baccio, then, having made the design and model for this gallery, carried into execution all the part that is to be seen facing the canto de' bischeri. but michelagnolo buonarroti, on his return from rome, perceiving that in carrying out this work they were cutting away the toothings that filippo brunelleschi, not without a purpose, had left projecting, made such a clamour that the work was stopped; saying that it seemed to him that baccio had made a cage for crickets, that a pile so vast required something grander and executed with more design, art, and grace than appeared to him to be displayed by baccio's design, and that he himself would show how it should be done. michelagnolo having therefore made a model, the matter was disputed at great length before cardinal giulio de' medici by many craftsmen and competent citizens; and in the end neither the one model nor the other was carried into execution. baccio's design was censured in many respects, not that it was not a well-proportioned work of its kind, but because it was too insignificant in comparison with the size of the structure; and for these reasons that gallery has never been brought to completion. baccio afterwards gave his attention to executing the pavement of s. maria del fiore, and to his other buildings, which were not a few, for he had under his particular charge all the principal monasteries and convents of florence, and many houses of citizens, both within and without the city. finally, when near the age of eighty-three, but still of good and sound judgment, he passed to a better life in , leaving three sons, giuliano, filippo, and domenico, who had him buried in s. lorenzo. of these sons, who all gave their attention after the death of baccio to the art of carving and working in wood, giuliano, who was the second, was the one who applied himself with the greatest zeal to architecture both during his father's lifetime and afterwards; wherefore, by favour of duke cosimo, he succeeded to his father's place as architect to s. maria del fiore, and continued not only all that baccio had begun in that temple, but also all the other buildings that had remained unfinished at his death. at that time messer baldassarre turini da pescia was intending to place a panel-picture by the hand of raffaello da urbino in the principal church of pescia, of which he was provost, and to erect an ornament of stone, or rather, an entire chapel, around it, and also a tomb; and giuliano executed all this after his own designs and models, and also restored for the same patron his house at pescia, making in it many beautiful and useful improvements. for messer francesco campana, formerly first secretary to duke alessandro, and afterwards to duke cosimo de' medici, the same giuliano built at montughi, without florence, beside the church, a house which is small but very ornate, and so well situated, that it commands from its slight elevation a view of the whole city of florence and the surrounding plain. and a most beautiful and commodious house was built at colle, the native place of that same campana, from the design of giuliano, who shortly afterwards began for messer ugolino grifoni, lord of altopascio, a palace at san miniato al tedesco, which was a magnificent work. for ser giovanni conti, one of the secretaries of the lord duke cosimo, he made many useful and beautiful improvements in his house at florence; although it is true that in the two ground-floor windows, supported by knee-shaped brackets, which open out upon the street, giuliano departed from his usual method, and so cut them up with projections, little brackets, and off-sets, that they inclined rather to the german manner than to the true and good manner of ancient or modern times. works of architecture, without a doubt, must first be massive, solid, and simple, and then enriched by grace of design and by variety of subject in the composition, without, however, disturbing by poverty or by excess of ornamentation the order of the architecture or the impression produced on a competent judge. meanwhile baccio bandinelli, having returned from rome, where he had finished the tombs of leo and clement, persuaded the lord duke cosimo, then a young man, to make at the head of the great hall of the ducal palace a façade full of columns and niches, with a range of fine marble statues; and this façade was to have windows of marble and grey-stone looking out upon the piazza. the duke having resolved to have this done, bandinelli set his hand to making the design; but finding that the hall, as has been related in the life of cronaca, was out of square, and having never given attention to architecture, which he considered an art of little value, marvelling and even laughing at those who gave their attention to it, he was forced, on recognizing the difficulty of this work, to confer with giuliano with regard to his model, and to beseech him that he, as an architect, should direct the work. and so all the stone-cutters and carvers of s. maria del fiore were set to work, and a beginning was made with the structure. bandinelli had resolved, with the advice of giuliano, to let the work remain out of square, following in part the course of the wall. it came to pass, therefore, that he was forced to make all the stones irregular in shape, preparing them with great labour by means of the pifferello, which is the instrument otherwise called the bevel-square; and this made the work so clumsy, that, as will be related in the life of bandinelli, it has been difficult to bring it to such a form as might be in harmony with the rest. such a thing would not have happened if bandinelli had possessed as much knowledge in architecture as he did in sculpture; not to mention that the great niches in the side-walls at each end proved to be squat, and that the one in the centre was not without defect, as will be told in the life of that same bandinelli. this work, after having been pursued for ten years, was abandoned, and so it remained for some time. it is true that the profiled stones as well as the columns, both of fossato stone and of marble, were wrought with the greatest diligence by the stone-cutters and carvers under the care of giuliano, and were afterwards so well built in that it would not be possible to find any masonry better put together, all the stones being accurately measured. in this respect giuliano may be celebrated as most excellent; and the work, as will be related in the proper place, was finished in five months, with an addition, by giorgio vasari of arezzo. giuliano, meanwhile, not neglecting his workshop, was giving his attention, together with his brothers, to the execution of many carvings and works in wood, and also to pressing on the making of the pavement of s. maria del fiore; and since he was superintendent and architect of that building, he was requested by the same bandinelli to make designs and models of wood, after some fantasies of figures and other ornaments of his own, for the high-altar of that same s. maria del fiore, which was to be constructed of marble; which giuliano did most willingly, being a good and kindly person and one who delighted in architecture as much as bandinelli despised it, and being also won over by the lavish promises of profit and honour that bandinelli made him. setting to work, therefore, on that model, giuliano made it much after the simple pattern formerly designed by brunelleschi, save that he enriched it by doubling both the columns and the arch above. and when he had brought it to completion, and the model, together with many designs, had been carried by bandinelli to duke cosimo, his most illustrious excellency resolved in his regal mind to execute not only the altar, but also the ornament of marble that surrounds the choir, following its original octagonal shape, with all those rich adornments with which it has since been carried out, in keeping with the grandeur and magnificence of that temple. giuliano, therefore, with the assistance of bandinelli, made a beginning with that choir, without altering anything save the principal entrance, which is opposite to the above-mentioned altar; for which reason he wished that it should be exactly similar to that altar, with the same arch and decorations. he also made two other similar arches, which unite with the entrance and the altar in forming a cross; and these were for two pulpits, which the old choir also had, serving for music and other ceremonies of the choir and of the altar. in this choir, around the eight faces, giuliano made an ornament of the ionic order, and placed at every corner a pilaster bent in the middle, and one on every face; and since each pilaster so narrowed that the extension-lines of its side-faces met in the centre of the choir, from inside it looked narrow and bent in, and from outside broad and pointed. this invention was not much extolled, nor can it be commended as beautiful by any man of judgment; and for a work of such cost, in a place so celebrated, bandinelli, if he despised architecture, or had no knowledge of it, should have availed himself of someone living at that time with the knowledge and ability to do better. giuliano deserves to be excused in the matter, because he did all that he could, which was not a little; but it is very certain that one who has not strong powers of design and invention in himself, will always be too poor in grace and judgment to bring to perfection great works of architecture. giuliano made for filippo strozzi a couch of walnut-wood, which is now at città di castello, in the house of the heirs of signor alessandro vitelli. for an altar-piece which giorgio vasari painted for the high-altar of the abbey of camaldoli in the casentino, he made a very rich and beautiful frame, after the design of giorgio; and he carved another ornamental frame for a large altar-piece that the same giorgio executed for the church of s. agostino in monte sansovino. the same giuliano made another beautiful frame for another altar-piece by the hand of vasari, which is in the abbey of classi, a seat of the monks of camaldoli, at ravenna. he also executed the frames for the pictures by the hand of the same giorgio of arezzo that are in the refectory of the monks of the abbey of s. fiore at arezzo; and in the vescovado in the same city, behind the high-altar, he made a most beautiful choir of walnut-wood, after the design of giorgio, which provided for the bringing forward of the altar. and, finally, a short time before his death, he made the rich and beautiful ciborium of the most holy sacrament for the high-altar of the nunziata, with the two angels of wood, in full-relief, which are on either side of it. this was the last work that he executed, and he passed to a better life in the year . nor was domenico, the brother of that giuliano, inferior to him in judgment, seeing that, besides carving much better in wood, he was also very ingenious in matters of architecture, as may be seen from the house that was built for bastiano da montaguto in the via de' servi after his design, wherein there are also many works in wood by domenico's own hand. the same master executed for agostino del nero, in the piazza de' mozzi, the buildings that form the street-corner and a very beautiful terrace for that house of the nasi formerly begun by his father baccio. and it is the common belief that, if he had not died so young, he would have surpassed by a great measure both his father and his brother giuliano. valerio vicentino, giovanni da castel bolognese, matteo dal nassaro of verona, and other excellent engravers of cameos and gems lives of valerio vicentino, giovanni da castel bolognese, matteo dal nassaro of verona, and other excellent engravers of cameos and gems since the greeks were such divine masters in the engraving of oriental stones and so perfect in the cutting of cameos, it seems to me certain that i should commit no slight error were i to pass over in silence those of our own age who have imitated those marvellous intellects; although among our moderns, so it is said, there have been none who in this present and happy age have surpassed the ancients in delicacy and design, save perchance those of whom we are about to give an account. but before making a beginning, it is proper for me to discourse briefly on this art of engraving hard stones and gems, which was lost, together with the other arts of design, after the ruin of greece and rome. of this work, whether engraved in intaglio or in relief, we have seen examples discovered daily among the ruins of rome, such as cameos, cornelians, sardonyxes, and other most excellent intagli; but for many and many a year the art remained lost, there being no one who gave attention to it, and even if any work was done, it was not in such a manner as to be worthy to be taken into account. so far as is known, it is not found that anyone began to do good work or to attain to excellence until the time of pope martin v and pope paul ii; after which the art continued to grow little by little down to the time of lorenzo de' medici, the magnificent, who greatly delighted in the engraved cameos of the ancients. lorenzo and his son piero collected a great quantity of these, particularly chalcedonies, cornelians, and other kinds of the choicest engraved stones, which contained various fanciful designs; and in consequence of this, wishing to establish the art in their own city, they summoned thither masters from various countries, who, besides restoring those stones, brought to them other works which were at that time rare. by these masters, at the instance of the magnificent lorenzo, this art of engraving in intaglio was taught to a young florentine called giovanni delle corniole,[ ] who received that surname because he engraved them excellently well, of which we have testimony in the great numbers of them by his hand that are to be seen, both great and small, but particularly in a large one, which was a very choice intaglio, wherein he made the portrait of fra girolamo savonarola, who was adored in florence in his day on account of his preaching. a rival of giovanni was domenico de' cammei,[ ] a milanese, who, living at the same time as duke lodovico, il moro, made a portrait of him in intaglio on a balas-ruby greater than a giulio, which was an exquisite thing and one of the best works in intaglio that had been seen executed by a modern master. this art afterwards rose to even greater excellence in the pontificate of pope leo x, through the talents and labours of pier maria da pescia, who was a most faithful imitator of the works of the ancients; and he had a rival in michelino, who was no less able than pier maria in works both great and small, and was held to be a graceful master. these men opened the way in this art, which is so difficult, for engraving in intaglio is truly working in the dark, since the craftsman can use nothing but impressions of wax, as spectacles, as it were, wherewith to see from time to time what he is doing. and finally they brought it to such a condition that giovanni da castel bolognese, valerio vicentino, matteo dal nassaro, and others, were able to execute the many beautiful works of which we are about to make mention. let me begin, then, by saying that giovanni bernardi of castel bolognese, who worked in his youth in the service of duke alfonso of ferrara, made for him, in the three years of honourable service that he gave him, many little works, of which there is no need to give any description. of his larger works the first was an intaglio on a piece of crystal, in which he represented the whole of the action of bastia, which was very beautiful; and then he executed the portrait of that duke in a steel die for the purpose of making medals, with the taking of jesus christ by the multitude on the reverse. afterwards, urged by giovio, he went to rome, and obtained by favour of cardinal ippolito de' medici and cardinal giovanni salviati the privilege of taking a portrait of clement vii, from which he made a die for medals, which was very beautiful, with joseph revealing himself to his brethren on the reverse; and for this he was rewarded by his holiness with the gift of a mazza, an office which he afterwards sold in the time of paul iii, receiving two hundred crowns for it. for the same clement he executed figures of the four evangelists on four round crystals, which were much extolled, and gained for him the favour and friendship of many prelates, and in particular the good-will of salviati and of the above-mentioned cardinal ippolito de' medici, that sole refuge for men of talent, whose portrait he made on steel medals, besides executing for him on crystal the presentation of the daughter of darius to alexander the great. after this, when charles v went to bologna to be crowned, giovanni made a portrait of him in steel, from which he struck a medal of gold. this he carried straightway to the emperor, who gave him a hundred pistoles of gold, and sent to inquire whether he would go with him to spain; but giovanni refused, saying that he could not leave the service of clement and of cardinal ippolito, for whom he had begun some work that was still unfinished. having returned to rome, giovanni executed for the same cardinal de' medici a rape of the sabines, which was very beautiful. and the cardinal, knowing himself to be much indebted to him for all these things, rewarded him with a vast number of gifts and courtesies; but the greatest of all was this, that the cardinal, when departing for france in the midst of a company of many lords and gentlemen, turned to giovanni, who was there among the rest, and, taking from his own neck a little chain to which was attached a cameo worth more than six hundred crowns, he gave it to him, telling him that he should keep it until his return, and intending to bestow upon him afterwards such a recompense as he knew to be due to the talent of giovanni. on the death of the cardinal, that cameo fell into the hands of cardinal farnese, for whom giovanni afterwards executed many works in crystal, and in particular a christ crucified for a cross, with a god the father above, our lady and s. john at the sides, and the magdalene at the foot; and in a triangle at the base of the cross he made three scenes of the passion of christ, one in each angle. for two candelabra of silver he engraved six round crystals. in the first is the centurion praying christ that he should heal his son, in the second the pool of bethesda, in the third the transfiguration on mount tabor, in the fourth the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, in the fifth the scene of christ driving the traders from the temple, and in the last the raising of lazarus; and all were exquisite. the same cardinal farnese afterwards desired to have a very rich casket made of silver, and had the work executed by manno, a florentine goldsmith, of whom there will be an account in another place; but he entrusted all the compartments of crystal to giovanni, who made them all full of scenes, with marble in half-relief; and he made figures of silver and ornaments in the round, and all with such diligence, that no other work of that kind was ever carried to such perfection. on the body of this casket are the following scenes, engraved in ovals with marvellous art by the hand of giovanni: the chase of meleager after the calydonian boar, the followers of bacchus, a naval battle, hercules in combat with the amazons, and other most beautiful fantasies of the cardinal, who caused finished designs of them to be executed by perino del vaga and other masters. giovanni then executed on a crystal the triumph of the taking of goletta, and the war of tunis on another. for the same cardinal he engraved, likewise on crystal, the birth of christ and the scenes when he prays in the garden; when he is taken by the jews; when he is led before annas, herod, and pilate; when he is scourged and then crowned with thorns; when he carries the cross; when he is nailed upon it and raised on high; and, finally, his divine and glorious resurrection. all these works were not only very beautiful, but also executed with such rapidity, that every man was struck with astonishment. [illustration: cassetta farnese (_after_ giovanni da castel bolognese (giovanni bernardi). _naples: museo nazionale_) _brogi_] michelagnolo had made for the above-mentioned cardinal de' medici a drawing, which i forgot to mention before, of a tityus whose heart was being devoured by a vulture; and giovanni engraved this beautifully on crystal. and he did the same with another drawing by buonarroti, in which phaethon, not being able to manage the chariot of the sun, has fallen into the po, and his weeping sisters are transformed into trees. giovanni executed a portrait of madama margherita of austria, daughter of the emperor charles v, who had been the wife of duke alessandro de' medici, and was then the consort of duke ottavio farnese; and this he did in competition with valerio vicentino. for these works executed for cardinal farnese, he received from that lord a reward in the form of the office of giannizzero, from which he drew a good sum of money; and, in addition, he was so beloved by that cardinal that he obtained a great number of other favours from him, nor did the cardinal ever pass through faenza, where giovanni had built a most commodious house, without going to take up his quarters with him. having thus settled at faenza, in order to rest after a life of much labour in the world, giovanni remained there ever afterwards; and his first wife, by whom he had not had children, being dead, he took a second. by her he had two sons and a daughter; and with them he lived in contentment, being well provided with landed property and other revenues, which yielded him more than four hundred crowns, until he came to the age of sixty, when he rendered up his soul to god on the day of pentecost, in the year . matteo dal nassaro, who was born in verona, and was the son of jacopo dal nassaro, a shoemaker, gave much attention in his early childhood not only to design, but also to music, in which he became excellent, having had as his masters in that study marco carrà and il tromboncino, both veronese, who were then in the service of the marquis of mantua. in matters of intaglio he was much assisted by two veronese of honourable family, with whom he was continually associated. one of these was niccolò avanzi, who, working privately in rome, executed cameos, cornelians, and other stones, which were taken to various princes; and there are persons who remember to have seen a lapis-lazuli by his hand, three fingers in breadth, containing the nativity of christ, with many figures, which was sold as a choice work to the duchess of urbino. the other was galeazzo mondella, who, besides engraving gems, drew very beautifully. after matteo had learned from these two masters all that they knew, it chanced that there fell into his hands a beautiful piece of green jasper, marked with red spots, as the good pieces are; and he engraved in it a deposition from the cross with such diligence, that he made the wounds come in those parts of the jasper that were spotted with the colour of blood, which caused that work to be a very rare one, and brought him much commendation. that jasper was sold by matteo to the marchioness isabella d'este. he then went to france, taking with him many works by his own hand which might serve to introduce him to the court of king francis i; and when he had been presented to that sovereign, who always held in estimation every manner of man of talent, the king, after taking many of the stones engraved by him, received him into his service and ordained him a good salary; and he held matteo dear no less because he was an excellent musician and could play very well upon the lute, than for his profession of engraving stones. of a truth, there is nothing that does more to kindle men's minds with love for the arts than to see them appreciated and rewarded by princes and noblemen, as has always been done in the past, and is done more than ever at the present day, by the illustrious house of medici, and as was also done by that truly magnanimous sovereign, king francis. matteo, thus employed in the service of that king, executed many rare works, not only for his majesty, but also for almost all the most noble lords and barons of the court, of whom there was scarcely one who did not have some work by his hand, since it was much the custom at that time to wear cameos and other suchlike gems on the neck and in the cap. for the king he made an altar-piece for the altar of the chapel which his majesty always took with him on his journeys; and this was full of figures of gold, partly in the round and partly in half-relief, with many engraved gems distributed over the limbs of those figures. he also engraved many pieces of crystal in intaglio, impressions of which in sulphur and gesso are to be seen in many places, and particularly in verona, where there are marvellous representations of all the planets, and a venus with a cupid that has the back turned, which could not be more beautiful. in a very fine chalcedony, found in a river, matteo engraved divinely well the head of a deianira almost in full-relief, wearing the lion's skin, the surface being tawny in colour; and he turned to such good advantage a vein of red that was in that stone, representing with it the inner side of the lion's skin at its junction with the head, that the skin had the appearance of one newly flayed. another spot of colour he used for the hair, and the white for the face and breast, and all with admirable mastery. this head came into the possession of king francis, together with the other things; and there is an impression of it at the present day in verona, which belongs to the goldsmith zoppo, who was matteo's disciple. matteo was a man of great spirit and generosity, insomuch that he would rather have given his works away than sold them for a paltry price. wherefore when a baron, for whom he had made a cameo of some value, wished to pay him a wretched sum for it, matteo besought him straitly that he should accept it as a present. to this the other would not consent, and yet wished to have it for the same miserable price; whereupon matteo, flying into a rage, crushed it to powder with a hammer in his presence. for the same king matteo executed many cartoons for tapestries, and with these, to please his majesty, he was obliged to go to flanders, and to stay there until they had been woven in silk and gold; which being finished and taken to france, they were held to be very beautiful. finally, matteo returned to his own country, as almost all men do, taking with him many rare things from those foreign parts, and in particular some landscapes on canvas painted in flanders in oils and in gouache, and executed by very able hands, which are still preserved and treasured in verona, in memory of him, by signor luigi and signor girolamo stoppi. having returned to verona, matteo took up his abode in a cave hollowed out under a rocky cliff, above which is the garden of the frati ingiesuati--a place which, besides being very warm in winter and very cool in summer, commands a most beautiful view. but he was not able to enjoy that habitation, thus contrived after his own fancy, as long as he would have liked, for king francis, as soon as he had been released from his captivity, sent a special messenger to recall matteo to france, and to pay him his salary even for all the time that he had been in verona; and when he had arrived there, the king made him master of dies for the mint. taking a wife in france, therefore, matteo settled down to live in those parts, since such was the pleasure of the king his master. by that wife he had some children, but all so unlike himself that he had little satisfaction from them. matteo was so gentle and courteous, that he welcomed with extraordinary warmth anyone who arrived in france, not only from his own city of verona, but from every part of lombardy. his dearest friend in those regions was paolo emilio of verona, who wrote the history of france in the latin tongue. matteo taught many disciples, among them a fellow-veronese, the brother of domenico brusciasorzi, two of his nephews, who went to flanders, and many other italians and frenchmen, of whom there is no need to make mention. and finally he died, not long after the death of king francis of france. but to come at length to the marvellous art of valerio vicentino, of whom we have now to speak: this master executed so many works, both great and small, either in intaglio or in relief, and all with such a finish and such facility, that it is a thing incredible. if nature had made valerio a good master of design, even as she made him most excellent in engraving, in which he executed his works with extraordinary patience, diligence, and rapidity, he would not merely have equalled the ancients, as he did, but would have surpassed them by a great measure; and even so he had such judgment, that he always availed himself in his works of the designs of others or of the intagli of the ancients. [illustration: casket of rock crystal (_after_ valerio vincentino (valerio belli). _florence; uffizi, cabinet of gems_) _alinari_] valerio fashioned for pope clement vii a casket entirely of crystal, wrought with admirable mastery, for which he received two thousand crowns of gold from that pontiff in return for his labour. in those crystals valerio engraved the whole passion of jesus christ, after the designs of others; and that casket was afterwards presented by pope clement to king francis at nice, at the time when his niece went to be married to the duke of orleans, who afterwards became king henry. for the same pope valerio made some most beautiful paxes, and a divine cross of crystal, and likewise dies for striking medals, containing the portrait of pope clement, with very beautiful reverses; and through him that art produced in his day many masters, both from milan and from other parts, who had grown to such a number before the sack of rome, that it was a marvel. he made the medals of the twelve emperors, with their reverses, copying the most beautiful antiques, with a great number of greek medals; and he engraved so many other works in crystal, that the shops of the goldsmiths, or rather, the whole world, may be seen to be full of impressions taken in gesso, sulphur, or other compositions, from the intagli in which he made scenes, figures, or heads. he had, indeed, a skill of hand so extraordinary, that there was never anyone in his profession who executed more works than valerio. he also fashioned many vases of crystal for pope clement, who presented some to various princes, and others were placed in the church of s. lorenzo at florence, together with many vases that were formerly in the palace of the medici and had belonged to the elder lorenzo, the magnificent, and to other members of that most illustrious family, that they might serve to contain the relics of many saints, which that pontiff presented to that church in memory of himself. it would not be possible to find anything more varied than the curves of those vases, some of which are of sardonyx, agate, amethyst, and lapis-lazuli, and some of plasma, heliotrope, jasper, crystal, and cornelian, so that in point of value or beauty nothing more could be desired. for pope paul iii he made a cross and two candelabra, likewise of crystal, engraved with scenes of the passion of jesus christ in various compartments; with a vast number of stones, both great and small, of which it would take too long to make mention. and in the collection of cardinal farnese may be seen many things by the hand of valerio, who left no fewer finished works than did the above-named giovanni. at the age of seventy-eight he performed miracles, so sure were his eye and hand; and he taught his art to a daughter of his own, who works very well. he so delighted to lay his hands on antiquities in marble, impressions in gesso of works both ancient and modern, and drawings and pictures by rare masters, that he shrank from no expense; wherefore his house at vicenza is adorned by such an abundance of various things, that it is a marvel. it is clearly evident that when a man bears love to art, it never leaves him until he is in the grave; whence he gains praise and his reward during his lifetime, and makes himself immortal after death. valerio was well remunerated for his labours, and received offices and many benefits from those princes whom he served; and thus those who survived him are able, thanks to him, to maintain an honourable state. and in the year , when, by reason of the infirmities that old age brings in its train, he could no longer attend to his art, or even live, he rendered up his soul to god. at parma, in times past, lived marmita, who gave his attention for a period to painting, and then turned to intaglio, in which he imitated the ancients very closely. many most beautiful works by his hand are to be seen, and he taught the art to a son of his own, called lodovico, who lived for a long time in rome with cardinal giovanni de' salviati. lodovico executed for that cardinal four ovals of crystal engraved with figures of great excellence, which were placed on a very beautiful casket of silver that was afterwards presented to the most illustrious signora leonora of toledo, duchess of florence. he made, among many other works, a cameo with a most beautiful head of socrates, and he was a great master at counterfeiting ancient medals, from which he gained extraordinary advantage. there followed, in florence, domenico di polo, a florentine and an excellent master of intaglio, who was the disciple of giovanni delle corniole, of whom we have spoken. in our own day this domenico executed a divine portrait of duke alessandro de' medici, from which he made dies in steel and most beautiful medals, with a reverse containing a florence. he also made a portrait of duke cosimo in the first year after his election to the government of florence, with the sign of capricorn on the reverse; and many other little works in intaglio, of which there is no need to make record. he died at the age of sixty-five. [illustration: medals (_london: british museum_) . pope julius iii (_after_ alessandro cesati) . pietro bembo . pope clement vii (_after_ benvenuto cellini)] [illustration: medals (_london: british museum_) . ippolito d'este . titian . margaret, duchess of mantua . lucrezia de' medici (_after_ pastorino of siena) . benedetto varchi . cosimo de' medici (_after_ domenico poggini)] domenico, valerio, marmita, and giovanni da castel bolognese being dead, there remained many who have surpassed them by a great measure; one in venice, for example, being luigi anichini of ferrara, who, with the delicacy of his engraving and the sharpness of his finish, has produced works that are marvellous. but far beyond all others in grace, excellence, perfection, and versatility, has soared alessandro cesati, surnamed il greco, who has executed cameos in relief and gems in intaglio in so beautiful a manner, as well as dies of steel in incavo, and has used the burin with such supreme diligence and with such mastery over the most delicate refinements of his art, that nothing better could be imagined. whoever wishes to be amazed by his miraculous powers, should study a medal that he made for pope paul iii, with his portrait on one side, which has all the appearance of life, and on the reverse alexander the great, who has thrown himself at the feet of the high-priest of jerusalem, and is doing him homage--figures which are so marvellous that it would not be possible to do anything better. and michelagnolo buonarroti himself, looking at them in the presence of giorgio vasari, said that the hour of death had come upon the art, for nothing better could ever be seen. this alessandro made the medal of pope julius iii for the holy year of , with a reverse showing the prisoners that were released in the days of the ancients at times of jubilee, which was a rare and truly beautiful medal; with many other dies and portraits for the mint of rome, which he kept busily employed for many years. he executed portraits of pier luigi farnese, duke of castro, and his son, duke ottavio; and he made a portrait of cardinal farnese in a medal, a very choice work, the head being of gold and the ground of silver. the same master engraved for cardinal farnese in intaglio, on a cornelian larger than a giulio, a head of king henry of france, which has been considered in point of design, grace, excellence, and perfection of finish, one of the best modern intagli that have ever been seen. there may also be seen many other stones engraved by his hand, in the form of cameos; truly perfect is a nude woman wrought with great art, and another in which is a lion, and likewise one of a boy, with many small ones, of which there is no need to speak; but that which surpassed all the others was the head of the athenian phocion, which is marvellous, and the most beautiful cameo that is to be seen. a master who gives his attention to cameos at the present day is giovanni antonio de' rossi, an excellent craftsman of milan, who, in addition to the various beautiful works that he has engraved in relief and in intaglio, has executed for the most illustrious duke cosimo de' medici a very large cameo, one-third of a braccio in height and the same in width, in which he has cut two figures from the waist upwards--namely, his excellency and the most illustrious duchess leonora, his consort, who are both holding with their hands a medallion containing a florence, and beside them are portraits from life of the prince don francesco, don giovanni the cardinal, don garzia, don ernando, and don pietro, together with donna isabella and donna lucrezia, all their children. it would not be possible to find a more amazing or a larger work in cameo than this; and since it surpasses all the other cameos and smaller works that he has made, i shall make no further mention of them, for they are all to be seen. cosimo da trezzo, also, has executed many works worthy of praise in this profession, and has won much favour on account of his rare gifts from philip, the great catholic king of spain, who retains him about his person, honouring and rewarding him in return for his ability in his vocation of engraving in intaglio and in relief. he has no equal in making portraits from life; and in other kinds of work, as well as in that, his talent is extraordinary. of the milanese filippo negrolo, who worked at chasing arms of iron with foliage and figures, i shall say nothing, since copper-engravings of his works, which have given him very great fame, may be seen about. by gasparo and girolamo misuroni, engravers of milan, have been seen most beautiful vases and tazze of crystal. for duke cosimo, in particular, they have executed two that are marvellous; besides which, they have made out of a piece of heliotrope a vase extraordinary in size and admirable for its engraving, and also a large vase of lapis-lazuli, which deserves infinite praise. jacopo da trezzo practises the same profession in milan; and these men, in truth, have brought great beauty and facility to this art. many masters could i mention who, in executing in incavo heads and reverses for medals, have equalled and even surpassed the ancients; as, for example, benvenuto cellini, who, during the time when he exercised the goldsmith's art in rome under pope clement, made two medals with a head of pope clement that is a living likeness, and on the reverse of one a figure of peace that has bound fury and is burning her arms, and on the other moses striking the rock and causing water to flow to quench the thirst of his people: beyond which it is not possible to go in that art. and the same might be said of the coins and medals that benvenuto afterwards made for duke alessandro in florence. of the chevalier, leone aretino, who has done equally well in the same art, and of the works that he has made and still continues to make, there will be an account in another place. the roman pietro paolo galeotto, also, has executed for duke cosimo, as he still does, medals with portraits of that lord, dies for coins, and works in tarsia, imitating the methods of maestro salvestro, a most excellent master, who produced marvellous works in that profession at rome. pastorino da siena, likewise, has executed so many heads from life, that he may be said to have made portraits of every kind of person in the whole world, great nobles, followers of the arts, and many people of low degree. he discovered a kind of hard stucco for making portraits, wherewith he gave them the colouring of nature, with the tints of the beard, hair, and flesh, so that they had the appearance of life itself; but he deserves much more praise for his work in steel, in which he has made excellent dies for medals. it would take too long if i were to speak of all those who execute portrait-medals of wax, seeing that every goldsmith at the present day makes them, and a number of gentlemen have given their attention to this, and still do so; such as giovan battista sozzini at siena, rosso de' giugni at florence, and very many others, of whom i shall not now say more. and, to bring this account to conclusion, i return to the steel-engravers, of whom one is girolamo fagiuoli of bologna, a master of chasing and of copper-engraving, and another, at florence, is domenico poggini, who has made, as he still does, dies for the mint, with medals of duke cosimo, and who also executes statues of marble, imitating, in so far as he is able, the rarest and most excellent masters who have ever produced choice works in these professions. footnote: [ ] giovanni of the cornelians. [ ] domenico of the cameos. marc' antonio bolognese and other engravers of prints lives of marc' antonio bolognese and of other engravers of prints seeing that in the treatise on the technique of painting there was little said of copper-plate engraving, since it was enough at that time to describe the method of engraving silver with the burin, which is a square tool of iron, cut on the slant, with a sharp point, i shall use the occasion of this life to say as much on that subject as i may consider to be sufficient. the beginning of print-engraving, then, came from the florentine maso finiguerra, about the year of our salvation ; for of all the works which that master engraved in silver with designs to be filled up with niello, he took impressions in clay, over which he poured melted sulphur, which reproduced the lines of the design; and these, when filled with smoke-black mixed with oil, produced the same effect as the silver. he also did the same with damped paper and with the same tint, going over the whole with a round and smooth roller, which not only gave the designs the appearance of prints, but they also came out as if drawn with the pen. this master was followed by baccio baldini, a goldsmith of florence, who, not having much power of design, took all that he did from the invention and design of sandro botticelli. and this method, coming to the knowledge of andrea mantegna in rome, was the reason that he made a beginning with engraving many of his works, as was said in his life. this invention having afterwards passed into flanders, a certain martin, who was held to be an excellent painter in antwerp at that time, executed many works, and sent to italy a great number of printed designs, which were all signed in the following manner: "m.c." the first of these were the five foolish virgins with their lamps extinguished, the five wise virgins with their lamps burning, and a christ crucified, with s. john and the madonna at the foot of the cross, which was so good an engraving, that gherardo, the florentine illuminator, set himself to copy it with the burin, and succeeded very well; but he went no further with this, for he did not live long. martin then published four round engravings of the four evangelists, and jesus christ with the twelve apostles, in small sheets, veronica with six saints, of the same size, and some coats of arms of german noblemen, supported by men, both naked and clothed, and also by women. he published, likewise, a s. george slaying the dragon, a christ standing before pilate, who is washing his hands, and a passing of our lady, with all the apostles, a work of some size, which was one of the best designs that this master ever engraved. in another he represented s. anthony beaten by devils, and carried through the air by a vast number of them in the most varied and bizarre forms that could possibly be imagined; which sheet so pleased michelagnolo, when he was a mere lad, that he set himself to colour it. [illustration: christ and the virgin enthroned (_after the engraving by =martin schongauer=. london: british museum, b. _) _m.s._] after this martin, albrecht dürer began to give attention to prints of the same kind at antwerp, but with more design and better judgment, and with more beautiful invention, seeking to imitate the life and to draw near to the italian manners, which he always held in much account. and thus, while still quite young, he executed many works which were considered as beautiful as those of martin; and he engraved them with his own hand, signing them with his name. in the year he published a little madonna, in which he surpassed both martin and his own self; and afterwards many other sheets with horses, two in each sheet, taken from nature and very beautiful. in another he depicted the prodigal son, in the guise of a peasant, kneeling with his hands clasped and gazing up to heaven, while some swine are eating from a trough; and in this work are some most beautiful huts after the manner of german cottages. he engraved a little s. sebastian, bound, with the arms upraised; and a madonna seated with the child in her arms, with the light from a window falling upon her, a small work, than which there is nothing better to be seen. he also made a flemish woman on horseback, with a groom at her feet; and on a larger copper-plate he engraved a nymph being carried away by a sea-monster, while some other nymphs are bathing. on a plate of the same size he engraved with supreme delicacy of workmanship, attaining to the final perfection of this art, a diana beating a nymph, who has fled for protection to the bosom of a satyr; in which sheet albrecht sought to prove that he was able to make nudes. [illustration: hercules (_after the engraving by =albrecht dürer=. london: british museum, b. _) _m.s._] but although those masters were extolled at that time in those countries, in ours their works are commended only for the diligent execution of the engraving. i am willing, indeed, to believe that albrecht was perhaps not able to do better because, not having any better models, he drew, when he had to make nudes, from one or other of his assistants, who must have had bad figures, as germans generally have when naked, although one sees many from those parts who are fine men when in their clothes. in various little printed sheets he executed figures of peasant men and women in different flemish costumes, some playing on the bagpipes and dancing, some selling fowls and suchlike things, and others in many other attitudes. he also drew a man sleeping in a bathroom who has venus near him, leading him into temptation in a dream, while love is diverting himself by mounting on stilts, and the devil blows into his ears with a pair of bellows. and he engraved two different figures of s. christopher carrying the infant christ, both very beautiful, and executed with much diligence in the close detail of the hair and in every other respect. [illustration: christ taking leave of his mother (_after the woodcut by =albrecht dürer=. london: british museum, b. _) _m.s._] after these works, perceiving how much time he consumed in engraving on copper, and happening to have in his possession a great abundance of subjects drawn in various ways, he set himself to making woodcuts, a method of working in which those who have the greatest powers of design find the widest field wherein to display their ability in its perfection. and in the year he published two little prints in this manner, in one of which is the beheading of s. john, and in the other the scene of the head of the same s. john being presented in a charger to herod, who is seated at table; with other sheets of s. christopher, s. sixtus the pope, s. stephen, and s. laurence. then, having seen that this method of working was much easier than engraving on copper, he pursued it and executed a s. gregory chanting the mass, accompanied by the deacon and sub-deacon. and, growing in courage, in the year he represented on a sheet of royal folio part of the passion of christ--that is, he executed four pieces, with the intention of afterwards finishing the whole, these four being the last supper, the taking of christ by night in the garden, his descent into the limbo of hell in order to deliver the holy fathers, and his glorious resurrection. that second piece he also painted in a very beautiful little picture in oils, which is now at florence, in the possession of signor bernardetto de' medici. as for the eight other parts, although they were afterwards executed and printed with the signature of albrecht, to us it does not seem probable that they are the work of his hand, seeing that they are poor stuff, and bear no resemblance to his manner, either in the heads, or in the draperies, or in any other respect. wherefore it is believed that they were executed after his death, for the sake of gain, by other persons, who did not scruple to father them on albrecht. that this is true is also proved by the circumstance that in the year he represented the whole life of our lady in twenty sheets of the same size, executing it so well that it would not be possible, whether in invention, in the composition of the perspective-views, in the buildings, in the costumes, or in the heads of old and young, to do better. of a truth, if this man, so able, so diligent, and so versatile, had had tuscany instead of flanders for his country, and had been able to study the treasures of rome, as we ourselves have done, he would have been the best painter of our land, even as he was the rarest and most celebrated that has ever appeared among the flemings. in the same year, continuing to give expression to his fantasies, albrecht resolved to execute fifteen woodcuts of the same size, representing the terrible vision that s. john the evangelist described in his apocalypse on the isle of patmos. and so, setting his hand to the work, with his extravagant imagination, so well suited to such a subject, he depicted all those things both of heaven and of earth so beautifully, that it was a marvel, and with such a variety of forms in those animals and monsters, that it was a great light to many of our craftsmen, who have since availed themselves of the vast abundance of his beautiful fantasies and inventions. by the hand of the same master, also, is a woodcut that is to be seen of a nude christ, who has round him the mysteries of his passion, and is weeping for our sins, with his hands to his face; and this, for a small work, is not otherwise than worthy of praise. then, having grown both in power and in courage, as he saw that his works were prized, albrecht executed some copper-plates that astonished the world. he also set himself to make an engraving, for printing on a sheet of half-folio, of a figure of melancholy, with all the instruments that reduce those who use them, or rather, all mankind, to a melancholy humour; and in this he succeeded so well, that it would not be possible to do more delicate engraving with the burin. he executed three small plates of our lady, all different one from another, and most subtle in engraving. but it would take too long if i were to try to enumerate all the works that issued from albrecht's hand; let it be enough for the present to tell that, having drawn a passion of christ in thirty-six parts, and having engraved these, he made an agreement with marc' antonio bolognese that they should publish the sheets in company; and thus, arriving in venice, this work was the reason that marvellous prints of the same kind were afterwards executed in italy, as will be related below. while francesco francia was working at his painting in bologna, there was among his many disciples a young man called marc' antonio, who, being more gifted than the others, was much brought forward by him, and, from having been many years with francia and greatly beloved by him, acquired the surname of de' franci. this marc' antonio, who was more able in design than his master, handled the burin with facility and grace, and executed in niello girdles and many other things much in favour at that time, which were very beautiful, for the reason that he was indeed most excellent in that profession. having then been seized, as happens to many, with a desire to go about the world and see new things and the methods of other craftsmen, with the gracious leave of francia he went off to venice, where he was well received by the craftsmen of that city. about the same time there arrived in venice some flemings with many copper-plate engravings and woodcuts by albrecht dürer, which were seen by marc' antonio on the piazza di s. marco; and he was so amazed at the manner and method of the work of albrecht, that he spent on those sheets almost all the money that he had brought from bologna. among other things, he bought the passion of jesus christ, which had been engraved on thirty-six wood-blocks and printed not long before on sheets of quarter-folio by the same albrecht. this work began with the sin of adam and the scene of the angel expelling him from paradise, and continued down to the descent of the holy spirit. marc' antonio, having considered what honour and profit might be acquired by one who should apply himself to that art in italy, formed the determination to give his attention to it with all possible assiduity and diligence. he thus began to copy those engravings by albrecht dürer, studying the manner of each stroke and every other detail of the prints that he had bought, which were held in such estimation on account of their novelty and their beauty, that everyone sought to have some. having then counterfeited on copper, with engraving as strong as that of the woodcuts that albrecht had executed, the whole of the said life and passion of christ in thirty-six parts, he added to these the signature that albrecht used for all his works, which was "a.d.," and they proved to be so similar in manner, that, no one knowing that they had been executed by marc' antonio, they were ascribed to albrecht, and were bought and sold as works by his hand. news of this was sent in writing to albrecht, who was in flanders, together with one of the counterfeit passions executed by marc' antonio; at which he flew into such a rage that he left flanders and went to venice, where he appeared before the signoria and laid a complaint against marc' antonio. but he could obtain no other satisfaction but this, that marc' antonio should no longer use the name or the above-mentioned signature of albrecht on his works. [illustration: s. jerome in his study (_after the engraving by =albrecht dürer=. london: british museum, b. _) _m.s._] after this affair, marc' antonio went off to rome, where he gave his whole attention to design; and albrecht returned to flanders, where he found that another rival had already begun to execute many most delicate engravings in competition with him. this was lucas of holland,[ ] who, although he was not as fine a master of design as albrecht, was yet in many respects his equal with the burin. among the many large and beautiful works that lucas executed, the first were two in , round in shape, in one of which is christ bearing the cross, and in the other his crucifixion. afterwards he published a samson, a david on horseback, and a s. peter martyr, with his tormentors; and then he made a copper-plate engraving of saul seated with the young david playing in his presence. and not long after, having made a great advance, he executed a very large plate with the most delicate engraving, of virgil suspended from the window in the basket, with some heads and figures so marvellous, that they were the reason that albrecht, growing more subtle in power through this competition, produced some printed sheets of such excellence, that nothing better could be done. in these, wishing to display his ability, albrecht made an armed man on horseback, representing human strength, which is so well finished, that one can see the lustre of the arms and of the black horse's coat, which is a difficult thing to reproduce in design. this stalwart horseman had death, hour-glass in hand, beside him, and the devil behind. there was also a long-haired dog, executed with the most subtle delicacy that can possibly be achieved in engraving. in the year there issued from the hand of the same master sixteen little scenes of the passion of jesus christ, engraved so well on copper, that there are no little figures to be seen that are more beautiful, sweet, and graceful, nor any that are stronger in relief. spurred likewise by rivalry, the same lucas of holland executed twelve similar plates, very beautiful, and yet not so perfect in engraving and design; and, in addition to these, a s. george who is comforting the maiden, who is weeping because she is destined to be devoured by the dragon; and also a solomon, who is worshipping idols; the baptism of christ; pyramus and thisbe; and ahasuerus with queen esther kneeling before him. albrecht, on his part, not wishing to be surpassed by lucas either in the number or in the excellence of his works, engraved a nude figure on some clouds, and a temperance with marvellous wings, holding a cup of gold and a bridle, with a most delicate little landscape; and then a s. eustachio kneeling before the stag, which has the crucifix between its horns, a sheet which is amazing, and particularly for the beauty of some dogs in various attitudes, which could not be more perfect. among the many children of various kinds that he made for the decoration of arms and devices, he engraved some who are holding a shield, wherein is a death with a cock for crest, the feathers of which are rendered in such detail, that it would be impossible to execute anything more delicate with the burin. finally, he published the sheet with s. jerome in the habit of a cardinal, writing, with the lion sleeping at his feet. in this work albrecht represented a room with windows of glass, through which stream the rays of the sun, falling on the place where the saint sits writing, with an effect so natural, that it is a marvel; besides which, there are books, timepieces, writings, and so many other things, that nothing more and nothing better could be done in this field of art. not long afterwards, in the year , he executed a christ with the twelve apostles, in little figures, which was almost the last of his works. there may also be seen prints of many heads taken from life by him, such as that of erasmus of rotterdam, that of cardinal albrecht of brandenburg, elector of the empire, and also his own. nor, with all the engravings that he produced, did he ever abandon painting; nay, he was always executing panels, canvases, and other paintings, all excellent, and, what is more, he left many writings on matters connected with engraving, painting, perspective, and architecture. [illustration: the _ecce homo_ of (_after the engraving by =lucas van leyden=. london: british museum_) _m.s._] but to return to the subject of engraving: the works of albrecht dürer induced lucas of holland to follow in his steps to the best of his power. after the works already mentioned, lucas engraved on copper four scenes from the life of joseph, and also the four evangelists, the three angels who appeared to abraham in the valley of mamre, susannah in the bath, david praying, mordecai riding in triumph on horseback, lot made drunk by his daughters, the creation of adam and eve, god commanding them that they shall not eat of the fruit from the tree that he points out to them, and cain killing his brother abel; all which sheets were published in the year . but that which did more than anything else to bring renown and fame to lucas, was a large sheet in which he represented the crucifixion of jesus christ; with another wherein pilate is showing him to the people, saying, "ecce homo!" these sheets, which are large, and contain a great number of figures, are held to be excellent; as are, likewise, one with a conversion of s. paul, and another showing him being led, blind, into damascus. and let these works suffice to prove that lucas may be numbered among those who have handled the burin with ability. the scenes of lucas are very happy in composition, being executed with such clearness and so free from confusion, that it seems certain that the action represented could not have taken place in any other way; and they are arranged more in accordance with the rules of art than those of albrecht. besides this, it is evident that he used a wise discretion in the engraving of his works, for the reason that all those parts which recede little by little into the distance are less strongly defined in proportion as they are lost to view, even as natural objects become less clear to the eye when seen from afar. indeed, he executed them with such thoughtful care, and made them so soft and well blended, that they would not be better in colour; and his judicious methods have opened the eyes of many painters. the same master engraved many little plates: various figures of our lady, the twelve apostles with christ, many saints, both male and female; arms and helmet-crests, and other suchlike things. very beautiful is a peasant who is having a tooth drawn, and is feeling such pain, that he does not notice that meanwhile a woman is robbing his purse. all these works of albrecht and lucas have brought it about that many other flemings and germans after them have printed similar sheets of great beauty. but returning to marc' antonio: having arrived in rome, he engraved on copper a most lovely drawing by raffaello da urbino, wherein was the roman lucretia killing herself, which he executed with such diligence and in so beautiful a manner, that raffaello, to whom it was straightway carried by some friends, began to think of publishing in engravings some designs of works by his hand, and then a drawing that he had formerly made of the judgment of paris, wherein, to please himself, he had drawn the chariot of the sun, the nymphs of the woods, those of the fountains, and those of the rivers, with vases, the helms of ships, and other beautiful things of fancy all around; and when he had made up his mind, these were engraved by marc' antonio in such a manner as amazed all rome. after them was engraved the drawing of the massacre of the innocents, with most beautiful nudes, women and children, which was a rare work; and then the neptune, with little stories of Æneas around it, the beautiful rape of helen, also after a drawing by raffaello, and another design in which may be seen the death of s. felicita, who is being boiled in oil, while her sons are beheaded. these works acquired such fame for marc' antonio, that his engravings were held in much higher estimation, on account of their good design, than those of the flemings; and the merchants made very large profits out of them. raffaello had kept an assistant called baviera for many years to grind his colours; and since this baviera had a certain ability, raffaello ordained that he should attend to the printing of the engravings executed by marc' antonio, to the end that all his compositions might thus be finished, and then sold in gross and in detail to all who desired them. and so, having set to work, they printed a vast number, which brought very great profit to raffaello; and all the plates were signed by marc' antonio with the following signatures, "r.s." for the name of raffaello sanzio of urbino, and "m.f." for that of marc' antonio. among these works were a venus embraced by love, after a drawing by raffaello, and a scene in which god the father is blessing the seed of abraham, with the handmaiden and two children. next were engraved all the round pictures that raffaello had painted in the apartments of the papal palace, such as the universal knowledge, calliope with the musical instrument in her hand, foresight, and justice; and then, after a small drawing, the scene which raffaello had painted in the same apartment, of mount parnassus, with apollo, the muses, and the poets; and also that of Æneas carrying anchises on his back while troy is burning, of which raffaello had made the drawing in order to paint a little picture. after this they engraved and printed another work of raffaello, galatea in a car drawn over the sea by dolphins, with some tritons who are carrying off a nymph. these works finished, marc' antonio engraved many separate figures, likewise on copper, and after drawings by raffaello; an apollo with a lyre in his hand; a figure of peace, to whom love is offering an olive-branch; the three theological and the four moral virtues, and a jesus christ with the twelve apostles, of the same size; a half-folio plate of the madonna that raffaello had painted in the altar-piece of the araceli, and likewise one of that which went to s. domenico in naples, with our lady, s. jerome, the angel raphael, and tobias; and a little plate of our lady seated on a chair and embracing the infant christ, who is half clothed, with many other figures of the madonna copied from the pictures which raffaello had painted for various persons. after these he engraved a young s. john the baptist, seated in the desert, and then the picture which raffaello executed for s. giovanni in monte, of s. cecilia with other saints, which was held to be a most beautiful sheet. when raffaello had finished all the cartoons of the tapestries for the papal chapel, which were afterwards woven in silk and gold, with stories of s. paul, s. peter, and s. stephen, marc' antonio engraved the preaching of s. paul, the stoning of s. stephen, and the blind man receiving his sight; which plates, what with the invention of raffaello, the grace of the design, and the diligent engraving of marc' antonio, were so beautiful, that there was nothing better to be seen. he then engraved, after the invention of the same raffaello, a most beautiful deposition from the cross, with a madonna in a swoon, who is marvellous; and not long afterwards a plate, which is very beautiful, of that picture by raffaello which went to palermo, of a christ who is bearing the cross, and also one of a drawing that raffaello had executed of a christ in the air, with our lady, s. john the baptist, and s. catharine kneeling on the ground, and s. paul the apostle standing, which was a large and very lovely engraving. this and the others, after becoming spoiled and almost worn out through being too much used, were carried away by germans and others in the sack of rome. the same marc' antonio engraved the portrait of pope clement vii in profile, with the face shaved, in the form of a medallion; one of the emperor charles v at the time when he was a young man, and another of him at a riper age; and also one of ferdinand, king of the romans, who afterwards succeeded charles v as emperor. he also made in rome a portrait from life of messer pietro aretino, a very famous poet, which was the most beautiful that marc' antonio ever executed; and, not long afterwards, portraits of the twelve ancient emperors in medallions. of these sheets raffaello sent some into flanders to albrecht dürer, who praised marc' antonio highly, and sent in return to raffaello, in addition to many other sheets, his own portrait, which was held to be a miracle of beauty. now, the fame of marc' antonio having grown very great, and the art of engraving having come into credit and repute, many disciples had placed themselves under him in order to learn it. and of their number, two who made great proficience were marco da ravenna, who signed his plates with the signature of raffaello, "r.s.," and agostino viniziano, who signed his works in the following manner: "a.v." these two engraved and printed many designs by raffaello, such as one of our lady with christ lying dead at full length, and at his feet s. john, the magdalene, nicodemus, and the other maries; and they engraved another plate of greater size, in which is a madonna, with the arms outstretched and the eyes raised towards heaven, in an attitude of supreme pity and sorrow, with christ, in like manner, lying dead at full length. agostino afterwards engraved a large plate of the nativity, with the shepherds and angels about the hut, and god the father above; and he executed many vases, both ancient and modern, and also a censer, or rather, two women with a vase perforated at the top. he engraved a plate with a man transformed into a wolf, who is stealing towards a bed in order to kill one who is sleeping in it. and he also executed one of alexander with roxana, to whom that prince is presenting a royal crown, while some loves are hovering about her and adorning her head, and others are playing with the arms of alexander. [illustration: the death of lucretia (_after the engraving by =marcantonio bolognese=. london: british museum, b. _) _m.s._] the same masters together engraved the last supper of christ with the twelve apostles, on a plate of some size, and an annunciation, all after the designs of raffaello; and then two stories of the marriage of psyche, which had been painted by raffaello not long before. in the end, agostino and the above-mentioned marco between them engraved almost all the works that raffaello ever drew or painted, and made prints of them; and also many of the pictures painted by giulio romano, after copies drawn for that purpose. and to the end that there might remain scarcely a single work of raffaello that had not been engraved by them, they finally made engravings of the scenes that giulio had painted in the loggie after the designs of raffaello. there may still be seen some of the first plates, with the signature "m.r." for marco ravignano, and others with the signature "a.v." for agostino viniziano, re-engraved by others after them, such as the creation of the world, and god forming the animals; the sacrifices of cain and abel, and the death of abel; abraham sacrificing isaac; noah's ark, the deluge, and the animals afterwards issuing from the ark; the passage of the red sea; the delivery of the laws from mount sinai through moses, and the manna; david slaying goliath, already engraved by marc' antonio; solomon building the temple; the judgment of the same solomon between the two women, and the visit of the queen of sheba; and, from the new testament, the nativity and the resurrection of christ, and the descent of the holy spirit. all these were engraved and printed during the lifetime of raffaello. after the death of raffaello, marco and agostino separated, and agostino was retained by baccio bandinelli, the florentine sculptor, who caused him to engrave after his design an anatomical figure that he had formed out of lean bodies and dead men's bones; and then a cleopatra. both these were held to be very good plates. whereupon, growing in courage, baccio drew, and caused agostino to engrave, a large plate--one of the largest, indeed, that had ever been engraved up to that time--full of women clothed, and of naked men who are slaughtering the little innocents by command of king herod. marc' antonio, meanwhile, continuing to work at engraving, executed some plates with small figures of the twelve apostles, in various manners, and many saints, both male and female, to the end that the poor painters who were weak in design might be able to avail themselves of these in their need. he also engraved a nude young man, who has a lion at his feet, and is seeking to furl a large banner, which is swollen out by the wind in a direction contrary to his purpose; another who is carrying a pedestal on his back; and a little s. jerome who is meditating on death, placing a finger in the hollow of a skull that he has in his hand, the invention and design of which were by raffaello. then he executed a figure of justice, which he copied from the tapestries of the chapel; and afterwards an aurora, drawn by two horses, on which the hours are placing bridles. he also copied the three graces from the antique; and he engraved a scene of our lady ascending the steps of the temple. after these things, giulio romano, who in his modesty would never have any of his works engraved during the lifetime of his master raffaello, lest he should seem to wish to compete with him, caused marc' antonio, after the death of raffaello, to engrave two most beautiful battles of horsemen on plates of some size, and all the stories of venus, apollo, and hyacinthus, which he had painted in the bathroom that is at the villa of messer baldassarre turini da pescia. and he did the same with the four stories of the magdalene and the four evangelists that are in the vaulting of the chapel of the trinità, which were executed for a courtezan, although the chapel now belongs to messer agnolo massimi. by the same master was drawn and reproduced in engraving a very beautiful ancient sarcophagus containing a lion-hunt, which was formerly at maiano, and is now in the court of s. pietro; as well as one of the ancient scenes in marble that are under the arch of constantine; and, finally, many scenes that raffaello had designed for the corridor and loggie of the palace, which have since been engraved once more by tommaso barlacchi, together with those of the tapestries that raffaello executed for the public consistory. [illustration: the martyrdom of s. lawrence (_engraved after bandinelli by =marcantonio bolognese=. london: british museum_) _m.s._] after this, giulio romano caused marc' antonio to engrave twenty plates showing all the various ways, attitudes, and positions in which licentious men have intercourse with women; and, what was worse, for each plate messer pietro aretino wrote a most indecent sonnet, insomuch that i know not which was the greater, the offence to the eye from the drawings of giulio, or the outrage to the ear from the words of aretino. this work was much censured by pope clement; and if, when it was published, giulio had not already left for mantua, he would have been sharply punished for it by the anger of the pope. and since some of these sheets were found in places where they were least expected, not only were they prohibited, but marc' antonio was taken and thrown into prison; and he would have fared very badly if cardinal de' medici and baccio bandinelli, who was then at rome in the service of the pope, had not obtained his release. of a truth, the gifts of god should not be employed, as they very often are, in things wholly abominable, which are an outrage to the world. released from prison, marc' antonio finished engraving for baccio bandinelli a large plate that he had previously begun, with a great number of nude figures engaged in roasting s. laurence on the gridiron, which was held to be truly beautiful, and was indeed engraved with incredible diligence, although bandinelli, complaining unjustly of marc' antonio to the pope while that master was executing it, said that he was committing many errors. but for this sort of gratitude bandinelli received the reward that his lack of courtesy deserved, for marc' antonio, having heard the whole story, and having finished the plate, went, without baccio being aware of it, to the pope, who took infinite delight in the arts of design; and he showed him first the original drawing by bandinelli, and then the printed engraving, from which the pope recognized that marc' antonio not only had committed no errors, but had even corrected with great judgment many committed by bandinelli, which were of no small importance, and had shown more knowledge and craftsmanship in his engraving than had baccio in his drawing. wherefore the pope commended him greatly and ever afterwards received him with favour; and it is believed that he might have done much for him, but the sack of rome supervening, marc' antonio became little less than a beggar, seeing that, besides losing all his property, he was forced to disburse a good ransom in order to escape from the hands of the spaniards. which done, he departed from rome, never to return; and there are few works to be seen which were executed by him after that time. our arts are much indebted to marc' antonio, in that he made a beginning with engraving in italy, to the advantage and profit of art and to the convenience of her followers, in consequence of which others have since executed the works that will be described hereafter. now agostino viniziano, of whom we have already spoken, came to florence, after the circumstances described above, with the intention of attaching himself to andrea del sarto, who was held to be about the best painter in italy after raffaello. and so andrea, persuaded by this agostino to have his works engraved, made a drawing of a dead christ supported by three angels; but since the attempt did not succeed exactly according to his fancy, he would never again allow any work of his to be engraved. after his death, however, certain persons published engravings of the visitation of s. elizabeth and of the baptism of the people by s. john, taken from the work in chiaroscuro that andrea painted in the scalzo at florence. marco da ravenna, likewise, in addition to the works already mentioned, which he executed in company with agostino, also engraved many others by himself, which are all good and worthy of praise, and are known by his signature, which has been described above. many others, also, have there been after these, who have worked very well at engraving, and have brought it about that every country has been able to see and enjoy the honoured labours of the most excellent masters. nor has there been wanting one who has had the enterprise to execute with wood-blocks prints that possess the appearance of having been made with the brush after the manner of chiaroscuro, which is an ingenious and difficult thing. this was ugo da carpi, who, although he was a mediocre painter, was nevertheless a man of most subtle wit in strange and fanciful inventions. he it was, as has been related in the thirtieth chapter of the treatise on technique, who first attempted, and that with the happiest result, to work with two blocks, one of which he used for hatching the shadows, in the manner of a copper-plate, and with the other he made the tint of colour, cutting deeply with the strokes of the engraving, and leaving the lights so bright, that when the impression was pulled off they appeared to have been heightened with lead-white. ugo executed in this manner, after a design drawn by raffaello in chiaroscuro, a woodcut in which is a sibyl seated who is reading, with a clothed child giving her light with a torch. having succeeded in this, ugo took heart and attempted to make prints with wood-blocks of three tints. the first gave the shadow; the second, which was lighter in tone, made the middle tint, and the third, cut deeply, gave the higher lights of the ground and left the white of the paper. and the result of this, also, was so good, that he executed a woodcut of Æneas carrying anchises on his back, while troy is burning. he then made a deposition from the cross, and the story of simon magus, which had been used by raffaello for the tapestries of the above-mentioned chapel; and likewise david slaying goliath, and the flight of the philistines, of which raffaello had prepared the design in order to paint it in the papal loggie. and after many other works in chiaroscuro, he executed in the same manner a venus, with many loves playing about her. now since, as i have said, he was a painter, i must not omit to tell that he painted in oils, without using a brush, but with his fingers, and partly, also, with other bizarre instruments of his own, an altar-piece which is on the altar of the volto santo in rome. upon this altar-piece, being one morning with michelagnolo at that altar to hear mass, i saw an inscription saying that ugo da carpi had painted it without a brush; and i laughed and showed the inscription to michelagnolo, who answered, also with a laugh, that it would have been better if he had used a brush, for then he might have done it in a better manner. the method of executing these two kinds of woodcuts, in imitation of chiaroscuro, thus invented by ugo da carpi, was the reason that, many following in his steps, a great number of most beautiful prints were produced by others. for after him baldassarre peruzzi, the painter of siena, made a similar woodcut in chiaroscuro, which was very beautiful, of hercules driving avarice, a figure laden with vases of gold and silver, from mount parnassus, on which are the muses in various lovely attitudes. and francesco parmigiano engraved a diogenes for a sheet of royal folio laid open, which was a finer print than any that ugo ever produced. the same parmigiano, having shown the method of making prints from three blocks to antonio da trento, caused him to execute a large sheet in chiaroscuro of the beheading of s. peter and s. paul. and afterwards he executed another, but with two blocks only, of the tiburtine sibyl showing the infant christ in the lap of the virgin to the emperor octavian; a nude man seated, who has his back turned in a beautiful attitude; and likewise an oval print of the madonna lying down, with many others by his hand that may be seen in various places, printed after his death by joannicolo vicentino. but the most beautiful were executed later by domenico beccafumi of siena, after the death of parmigiano, as will be related at greater length in the life of domenico. not otherwise than worthy of praise, also, is the method that has been invented of making engravings more easily than with the burin, although they do not come out so clear--that is, with aquafortis, first laying on the copper a coat of wax, varnish, or oil-colour, and then drawing the design with an iron instrument that has a sharp point to cut through the wax, varnish, or colour, whichever it may be, after which one pours over it the aquafortis, which eats into the copper in such a manner that it leaves the lines of the design hollow, and impressions can be taken from it. with this method francesco parmigiano executed many little things, which are full of grace, such as the nativity of christ, a dead christ with the maries weeping over him, and one of the tapestries executed for the chapel after the designs of raffaello, with many other works. after these masters, fifty sheets with varied and beautiful landscapes were produced by battista, a painter of vicenza, and battista del moro of verona. in flanders, hieronymus cock has executed engravings of the liberal arts; and in rome, engravings have been done of the visitation in the pace, painted by fra sebastiano viniziano, of that by francesco salviati in the misericordia, and of the feast of testaccio; besides many works that have been engraved in venice by the painter battista franco, and by many other masters. but to return to the simple copper-plate engravings; after marc' antonio had executed the many works that have been mentioned above, rosso arrived in rome, and baviera persuaded him that he should have some of his works engraved; wherefore he commissioned gian jacopo caraglio of verona, who was one of the most skilful craftsmen of that day, and who sought with all diligence to imitate marc' antonio, to engrave a lean anatomical figure of his own, which holds a death's head in the hand, and is seated on a serpent, while a swan is singing. this plate succeeded so well, that the same rosso afterwards caused engravings to be made, on plates of considerable size, of some of the labours of hercules: the slaying of the hydra, the combat with cerberus, the killing of cacus, the breaking of the bull's horns, the battle with the centaurs, and the centaur nessus carrying off deianira. and these plates proved to be so beautiful and so well engraved, that the same jacopo executed, likewise after the design of rosso, the story of the daughters of pierus, who, for seeking to contend with the muses and to sing in competition with them, were transformed into crows. baviera having then caused rosso to draw twenty gods in niches, with their attributes, for a book, these were engraved by gian jacopo caraglio in a very beautiful and graceful manner; and also, not long afterwards, their transformations; but of these rosso did not make the drawings, save only of two, for he had a difference with baviera, and baviera had ten of them executed by perino del vaga. the two by rosso were the rape of proserpine and the transformation of philyra into a horse; and all were engraved with such diligence by caraglio, that they have always been prized. caraglio afterwards began for rosso the rape of the sabines, which would have been a very rare work, but, the sack of rome supervening, it could not be finished, for rosso went away, and the plates were all lost. and although this work has since come into the hands of the printers, it has proved a miserable failure, for the engraving has been done by one who had no knowledge of the art, and thought only of making money. after this, caraglio engraved for francesco parmigiano a plate of the marriage of our lady, and other works by the same master; and then another plate for tiziano vecelli, which was very beautiful, of a nativity that tiziano had formerly painted. this gian jacopo caraglio, after having executed many copper-plates, being an ingenious spirit, gave his attention to engraving cameos and crystals, in which he became no less excellent than he had been in the engraving of copper-plates. and since then, having entered the service of the king of poland, he has occupied himself no longer with engraving on copper, now in his opinion a mean art, but with the cutting of gems, with working in incavo, and with architecture; for which having been richly rewarded by the liberality of that king, he has spent large sums in investments in the territory of parma, in order to be able to retire in his old age to the enjoyment of his native country among his friends and disciples, after the labours of so many years. after these masters came another excellent copper-plate engraver, lamberto suave,[ ] by whose hand are thirteen plates of christ and the twelve apostles, in which the execution of the engraving is perfect in its delicacy. if lamberto had possessed a more thorough mastery of design in addition to the industry, patience, and diligence that he showed in all other points, he would have been marvellous in every respect; as may be perceived clearly from a little sheet of s. paul writing, and from a larger sheet with the story of the raising of lazarus, in which there are most beautiful things to be seen. worthy of note, in particular, are the hollow rock in the cavern which he represented as the burial-place of lazarus, and the light that falls upon some figures, all of which is executed with beautiful and fanciful invention. no little ability, likewise, has been shown in this profession by giovan battista mantovano, a disciple of giulio romano; among other works, in a madonna who has the child in her arms and the moon under her feet, and in some very beautiful heads with helmet-crests after the antique; in two sheets, in which are a captain of mercenaries on foot and one on horseback, and also in a sheet wherein is a mars in armour, who is seated upon a bed, while venus gazes on a cupid whom she is suckling, which has in it much that is good. very fanciful, also, are two large sheets by the hand of the same master, in which is the burning of troy, executed with extraordinary invention, design, and grace. these and many other sheets by the same hand are signed with the letters "j.b.m." and no less excellent than any of those mentioned above has been enea vico of parma, who engraved the well-known copper-plate of the rape of helen by rosso, and also another plate after the design of the same painter, of vulcan with some loves, who are fashioning arrows at his forge, while the cyclopes are also at work, which was truly a most beautiful engraving. he executed the leda of michelagnolo on another, and also an annunciation after the design of tiziano, the story of judith that michelagnolo painted in the chapel, the portrait of duke cosimo de' medici as a young man, in full armour, after the drawing by bandinelli, and likewise the portrait of bandinelli himself; and then the contest of cupid and apollo in the presence of all the gods. and if enea had been maintained and rewarded for his labours by bandinelli, he would have engraved many other beautiful plates for him. afterwards, francesco, a protégé of the salviati, and an excellent painter, being in florence, and assisted by the liberality of duke cosimo, commissioned enea to engrave the large plate of the conversion of s. paul, full of horses and soldiers, which was held to be very beautiful, and gave enea a great name. the same enea then executed the portrait of signor giovanni de' medici, father of duke cosimo, with an ornament full of figures. he engraved, also, the portrait of the emperor charles v, with an ornament covered with appropriate victories and trophies, for which he was rewarded by his majesty and praised by all; and on another plate, very well engraved, he represented the victory that the emperor gained on the elbe. for doni he executed some heads from nature in the manner of medallions, with beautiful ornaments: king henry of france, cardinal bembo, messer lodovico ariosto, the florentine gello, messer lodovico domenichi, signora laura terracina, messer cipriano morosino, and doni himself. he also engraved for don giulio clovio, a most excellent illuminator, a plate of a s. george on horseback who is slaying the dragon, in which, although it was, one might say, one of the first works that he engraved, he acquitted himself very well. afterwards, being a man of lofty genius, and desiring to pass on to greater and more honourable undertakings, enea applied himself to the study of antiquities, and in particular of ancient medals, of which he has published several books in engraving, wherein are the true effigies of many emperors and their wives, with every kind of inscription and reverse that could bring all who delight in them to a clear understanding of their stories; for which he has rightly won great praise, as he still does. and those who have found fault with him for his books of medals have been in the wrong, for whoever shall consider the labours that he has performed, and how useful and beautiful these are, must perforce excuse him, even though he may have erred in a few matters of little importance; and such errors, which are not committed save from faulty information, from a too ready credulity, or from having opinions differing from others with some show of reason, are worthy to be excused, seeing that aristotle, pliny, and many others have been guilty of the like. enea also designed to the common satisfaction and benefit of all mankind fifty costumes of different nations, such as were worn by men and women, peasants and citizens, in italy, in france, in spain, in portugal, in england, in flanders, and in other parts of the world; which was an ingenious work, both fanciful and beautiful. he executed, also, a genealogical tree of all the emperors, which was a thing of great beauty. and finally, after much toil and travailing, he now lives in repose under the shadow of alfonso ii, duke of ferrara, for whom he has made a genealogical tree of all the marquises and dukes of the house of este. for all these works and many others that he has executed, as he still continues to do, i have thought it right to make this honourable record of him among so many other men of the arts. many others have occupied themselves with copper-plate engraving, who, although they have not attained to such perfection, have none the less benefited the world with their labours, by bringing many scenes and other works of excellent masters into the light of day, and by thus giving the means of seeing the various inventions and manners of the painters to those who are not able to go to the places where the principal works are, and conveying to the ultramontanes a knowledge of many things that they did not know. and although many plates have been badly executed through the avarice of the printers, eager more for gain than for honour, yet in certain others, besides those that have been mentioned, there may be seen something of the good; as in the large design of the last judgment of michelagnolo buonarroti on the front wall of the papal chapel, engraved by giorgio mantovano, and in the engravings by giovan battista de' cavalieri of the crucifixion of s. peter and the conversion of s. paul painted in the pauline chapel at rome. this giovan battista has also executed copper-plate engravings, besides other designs, of the meditation of s. john the baptist, of the deposition from the cross that daniello ricciarelli of volterra painted in a chapel in the trinità at rome, of a madonna with many angels, and of a vast number of other works. moreover, many things taken from michelagnolo have been engraved by others at the commission of antonio lanferri, who has employed printers for the same purpose. these have published books of all the kinds of fishes, and also the phaethon, the tityus, the ganymede, the archers, the bacchanalia, the dream, the pietà, and the crucifix, all done by michelagnolo for the marchioness of pescara; and, in addition, the four prophets of the chapel and other scenes and drawings have been engraved and published, but executed so badly, that i think it well to be silent as to the names of those engravers and printers. but i must not be silent about the above-mentioned antonio lanferri and tommaso barlacchi, for they, as well as others, have employed many young men to engrave plates after original drawings by the hands of a vast number of masters, insomuch that it is better to say nothing of these works, lest it should become wearisome. and in this manner have been published, among other plates, grotesques, ancient temples, cornices, bases, capitals, and many other suchlike things, with all their measurements. seeing everything reduced to a miserable manner, and moved by compassion, sebastiano serlio, an architect of bologna, has engraved on wood and copper two books of architecture, in which, among other things, are thirty doors of the rustic order, and twenty in a more delicate style; which book is dedicated to king henry of france. antonio l'abacco, likewise, has published plates in a beautiful manner of all the notable antiquities of rome, with their measurements, executed with great mastery and with very subtle engraving by ... perugino. nor has less been accomplished in this field by the architect jacopo barozzo of vignola, who in a book of copper-plate engravings has shown with simple rules how to enlarge or to diminish in due proportion every part of the five orders of architecture, a work most useful in that art, for which we are much indebted to him; even as we are to giovanni cugini[ ] of paris for his engravings and writings on architecture. in rome, besides the masters named above, niccolò beatricio[ ] of lorraine has given so much attention to engraving with the burin, that he has executed many plates worthy of praise; such as two pieces of sarcophagi with battles of horsemen, engraved on copper, and other plates full of various animals very well executed, and a scene showing the widow's daughter being restored to life by jesus christ, engraved in a bold manner from the design of girolamo mosciano, a painter of brescia. the same master has engraved an annunciation from a drawing by the hand of michelagnolo, and has also executed prints of the navicella of mosaic that giotto made in the portico of s. pietro. from venice, likewise, have come many most beautiful engravings on wood and on copper; on wood, after tiziano, many landscapes, a nativity of christ, a s. jerome, and a s. francis; and on copper the tantalus, the adonis, and many other plates, which have been engraved by giulio bonasone of bologna, together with some others by raffaello, by giulio romano, by parmigiano, and by all the other masters whose drawings he has been able to obtain. and battista franco, a painter of venice, has engraved, partly with the burin and partly with aquafortis, many works by the hands of various masters, such as the nativity of christ, the adoration of the magi, the preaching of s. peter, some plates from the acts of the apostles, and many stories from the old testament. so far, indeed, has this practice of making prints been carried, that those who make a profession of it keep draughtsmen continually employed in copying every beautiful work as it appears, and put it into prints. wherefore there came from france, after the death of rosso, engravings of all the work by his hand that could be found, such as clelia with the sabine women passing the river; some masks after the manner of the fates, executed for king francis; a bizarre annunciation; a dance of ten women; and king francis advancing alone into the temple of jupiter, leaving behind him ignorance and other similar figures, which were executed during the lifetime of rosso by the copper-plate engraver renato.[ ] and many more have been drawn and engraved since rosso's death; among many other works, all the stories of ulysses, and, to say nothing of the rest, vases, chandeliers, candelabra, salt-cellars, and a vast number of other suchlike things made in silver after designs of rosso. luca penni, also, has published engravings of two satyrs giving drink to a bacchus, a leda taking the arrows from the quiver of a cupid, susannah in the bath, and many other plates copied from the designs of the same rosso and of francesco primaticcio of bologna, now abbot of s. martin in france. and among these engravings are the judgment of paris, abraham sacrificing isaac, a madonna, christ marrying s. catharine, jove changing callisto into a bear, the council of the gods, penelope weaving with her women, and other things without number, engraved on wood, and executed for the most part with the burin; by reason of which the wits of the craftsmen have become very subtle, insomuch that little figures have been engraved so well, that it would not be possible to give them greater delicacy. and who can see without marvelling the works of francesco marcolini of forlì? who, besides other things, printed the book of the garden of thoughts from wood-blocks, placing at the beginning an astrologer's sphere and a head of himself after the design of giuseppe porta of castelnuovo della garfagnana; in which book are various fanciful figures, such as fate, envy, calamity, timidity, praise, and many others of the same kind, which were held to be most beautiful. not otherwise than praiseworthy, also, were the figures that gabriele giolito, a printer of books, placed in the orlando furioso, for they were executed in a beautiful manner of engraving. and even such, likewise, were the eleven large anatomical plates that were done by andrea vessalio after the drawings of johann of calcar, a most excellent flemish painter, which were afterwards copied on smaller sheets and engraved on copper by valverde, who wrote on anatomy after vessalio. next, among the many plates that have issued from the hands of flemings within the last ten years, very beautiful are some drawn by one michele,[ ] a painter, who worked for many years in two chapels that are in the church of the germans at rome. these plates contain the story of moses and the serpents, and thirty-two stories of psyche and love, which are held to be most beautiful. hieronymus cock, also a fleming, has engraved a large plate after the invention and design of martin heemskerk, of delilah cutting off the locks of samson; and not far away is the temple of the philistines, in which, the towers having fallen, one sees ruin and destruction in the dead, and terror in the living, who are taking to flight. the same master has executed in three smaller plates the creation of adam and eve, the eating of the fruit, and the angel driving them out of paradise; and in four other plates of the same size, in the first the devil imprinting avarice and ambition into the heart of man, and in the others all the passions that result from those two. there may also be seen twenty-seven plates of the same size by his hand, with stories from the old testament after the expulsion of adam from paradise, drawn by martin in a bold, well-practised, and most resolute manner, which is very similar to the italian. hieronymus afterwards engraved six round plates with the history of susannah, and twenty-three other stories from the old testament, similar to those of abraham already mentioned--namely, six plates with the story of david, eight plates with that of solomon, four with that of balaam, and five with those of judith and susannah. and from the new testament he engraved twenty-nine plates, beginning with the annunciation of the virgin, and continuing down to the whole passion and death of jesus christ. he also engraved, after the drawings of the same martin, the seven works of mercy, and the story of the rich lazarus and the poor lazarus, and four plates with the parable of the samaritan wounded by thieves, with four other plates of the parable of the talents, written by s. matthew in his eighteenth chapter. at the time when hans liefrinck executed in competition with him ten plates of the life and death of s. john the baptist, he engraved the twelve tribes on an equal number of plates; reuben upon a hog, representing sensuality; simeon with a sword as a symbol of homicide; and in like manner the other heads of tribes with attributes appropriate to the nature of each. he then executed ten plates, engraved with greater delicacy, with the stories and acts of david, from the time of his being anointed by samuel to his going before saul; and he engraved six other plates with the story of how amnon became enamoured of his sister tamar and ravished her, and the death of that same amnon. and not long afterwards he executed ten plates of similar size with the history of job; and from thirteen chapters of the proverbs of solomon he drew subjects for five plates of the same kind. he also engraved the story of the magi; and then, on six plates, the parable that is in the twelfth chapter of s. matthew, of those who for various reasons refused to go to the king's feast, and of him who went without having a wedding-garment; and six plates of equal size with some of the acts of the apostles. and in eight similar plates he engraved figures of women of perfect excellence, in various costumes: six from the old testament--jael, ruth, abigail, judith, esther, and susannah; and two from the new--mary the virgin, mother of jesus christ, and mary magdalene. after these works he carried out the engraving of the triumphs of patience in six plates, with various things of fancy. in the first, in a chariot, is patience, who has in her hand a standard, on which is a rose among thorns. in the second may be seen a burning heart, beaten by three hammers, upon an anvil; and the chariot of this second plate is drawn by two figures--namely, by desire, who has wings upon the shoulders, and by hope, who has an anchor in the hand, and behind them fortune, with her wheel broken, is led as a prisoner. in the next plate is christ on a chariot, with the standard of the cross and of his passion, with the evangelists at the corners in the form of animals; and this chariot is drawn by two lambs, and has behind it four prisoners--the devil, the world, or rather, the flesh, sin, and death. in another triumph is isaac, nude, upon a camel; on the banner that he holds in his hand are a pair of prisoner's irons; and behind him is drawn the altar with the ram, the knife, and the fire. in the next plate he made joseph riding in triumph on an ox crowned with ears of corn and fruits, with a standard on which is a bee-hive; and the prisoners that are led behind him are anger and envy, who are devouring a heart. he engraved in another triumph david on a lion, with the harp, and with a standard in his hand, on which is a bit; and behind him is saul as a prisoner, and shimei, with his tongue protruding. in another plate is tobias riding in triumph on an ass, and holding in his hand a banner, on which is a fountain; and behind him poverty and blindness, bound, are led as prisoners. and in the last of the six triumphs is s. stephen the proto-martyr, who is riding in triumph on an elephant, and has a standard with a figure of charity; and the prisoners behind him are his persecutors. all these were inventions full of fancy, and very ingenious; and they were all engraved by hieronymus cock, whose hand is very bold, sure, and resolute. the same master engraved a plate of fraud and avarice, fantastic and beautiful, and another very lovely plate of a feast of bacchanals, with children dancing. on another he represented moses passing across the red sea, according as it had been painted by agnolo bronzino, a painter of florence, in the upper chapel in the palace of the duke of florence; and in competition with him, also after the design of bronzino, giorgio mantovano engraved a nativity of jesus christ, which was very beautiful. after these works, hieronymus engraved twelve plates of the victories, battles, and deeds of arms of charles v, for him who was the inventor of the subjects; and for verese, a painter and a great master of perspective in those parts, twenty plates with various buildings. for hieronymus bosch he executed a plate of s. martin, with a barque full of devils in the most bizarre forms. and he made another of an alchemist who loses all his possessions, distilling away his brains and consuming all that he has in various ways, insomuch that in the end he takes refuge in the hospital with his wife and children; which plate was designed for him by a painter, who caused him to engrave the seven mortal sins, with demons of various forms, which was a fantastic and laughable work. he also engraved a last judgment; an old man who is seeking with a lantern for peace among the wares of the world, and finds it not; likewise a great fish that is devouring some little fishes; a figure of carnival enjoying the pleasures of the table with many others, and driving lent away, and another of lent driving away carnival; and so many other whimsical and fantastic inventions, that it would be wearisome to attempt to speak of them all. many other flemings have imitated the manner of albrecht dürer with the greatest care and subtlety, as may be seen from their engravings, and in particular from those of ...[ ] who has engraved in little figures four stories of the creation of adam, four of the lives of abraham and of lot, and four others of susannah, which are very beautiful. in like manner, g... p...[ ] has engraved the seven works of mercy in seven small round plates, eight stories taken from the books of kings, regulus placed in the barrel filled with nails, and an artemisia, which is a plate of great beauty. j... b...[ ] has executed figures of the four evangelists, which are so small that it seems scarcely possible that he could have done them; and also five other very fine plates, in the first of which is a virgin drawn into the grave by death in all the freshness of her youth, and in the second is adam, in the third a peasant, in the fourth a bishop, and in the fifth a cardinal, each, like the virgin, called by death to his last account. and in some others are many germans going on parties of pleasure with their wives, and some beautiful and fantastic satyrs. by ... are plates of the four evangelists, engraved with great care, and no less beautiful than are twelve stories of the prodigal son executed with much diligence by the hand of m.... and, finally, franz floris, a painter famous in those parts, has produced a great number of works and drawings which have since been engraved, for the most part by hieronymus cock, such as ten plates of the labours of hercules, a large plate with all the activities of the life of man, another with the horatii and curiatii engaged in combat in the lists, the judgment of solomon, and the battle between hercules and the pygmies. the same master, also, has engraved a cain who has killed abel, over whose body adam and eve are weeping; an abraham who is about to sacrifice isaac on the altar, and a vast number of other plates, so full of variety and invention, that it is indeed marvellous to think of all that has been done in engravings on copper and wood. lastly, it is enough to draw attention to the engravings of the portraits of the painters, sculptors, and architects in this our book, which were drawn by giorgio vasari and his pupils, and engraved by maestro cristofano ...,[ ] who has executed in venice, as he still continues to do, a vast number of works worthy of record. in conclusion, for all the assistance that the ultramontanes have received from seeing the various italian manners by means of engravings, and that the italians have received from having seen those of the ultramontanes and foreigners, thanks should be rendered, for the most part, to marc' antonio bolognese, in that, besides the circumstance that he played a great part in the beginning of this profession, as has been related, there has not as yet been one who has much surpassed him, although some few have equalled him in certain points. this marc' antonio died at bologna, not long after his departure from rome. in our book are some drawings of angels by his hand, done with the pen, and some other very beautiful sheets drawn from the apartments that raffaello da urbino painted. in one of these apartments marc' antonio, as a young man, was portrayed by raffaello in one of those grooms who are carrying pope julius ii, in that part where the high-priest onias is praying. and let this be the end of the lives of marc' antonio bolognese and of all the other engravers of prints mentioned above, of whom i have thought it right to give this long but necessary account, in order to satisfy not only the students of our arts, but also all those who delight in works of that kind. footnote: [ ] luca di leyden. [ ] lambert zutmann. [ ] jean cousin. [ ] nicolas beautrizet. [ ] rené boyvin. [ ] michael coxie. [ ] albrecht aldegrever. [ ] georg pencz. [ ] hans beham. [ ] cristofano coriolano. antonio da san gallo (the younger) life of antonio da san gallo (the younger) architect of florence how many great and illustrious princes, abounding with infinite wealth, would leave behind them a name renowned and glorious, if they possessed, together with their store of the goods of fortune, a mind filled with grandeur and inclined to those things that not only embellish the world, but also confer vast benefit and advantage on the whole race of men! and what works can or should princes and great persons undertake more readily than noble and magnificent buildings and edifices, both on account of the many kinds of men that are employed upon them in the making, and because, when made, they endure almost to eternity? for of all the costly enterprises that the ancient romans executed at the time when they were at the supreme height of their greatness, what else is there left to us save those remains of buildings, the everlasting glory of the roman name, which we revere as sacred things and strive to imitate as the sole patterns of the highest beauty? and how much these considerations occupied the minds of certain princes who lived in the time of the florentine architect, antonio da san gallo, will now be seen clearly in the life of him that we are about to write. antonio, then, was the son of bartolommeo picconi of mugello, a maker of casks; and after having learned the joiner's craft in his boyhood, hearing that his uncle, giuliano da san gallo, was working at rome in company with his brother antonio, he set out from florence for that city. and there, having devoted himself to the matters of the art of architecture with the greatest possible zeal, and pursuing that art, he gave promise of those achievements that we see in such abundance throughout all italy, in the vast number of works executed by him at a more mature age. now it happened that giuliano was forced by the torment that he suffered from the stone to return to florence; and antonio, having become known to the architect bramante of castel durante, began to give assistance to that master, who, being old and crippled in the hands by palsy, was not able to work as before in the preparation of his designs. and these antonio executed with such accuracy and precision that bramante, finding that they were correct and true in all their measurements, was constrained to leave to him the charge of a great number of works that he had on his hands, only giving him the order that he desired and all the inventions and compositions that were to be used in each work. in these he found himself served by antonio with so much judgment, diligence, and expedition, that in the year he gave him the charge of the corridor that was to lead to the ditches of the castello di s. angelo; for which he began to receive a salary of ten crowns a month; but the death of julius ii then took place, and the work was left unfinished. however, the circumstance that antonio had already acquired a name as a person of ability in architecture, and one who had a very good manner in matters of building, was the reason that alessandro, who was first cardinal farnese, and afterwards pope paul iii, conceived the idea of commissioning him to restore the old palace in the campo di fiore, in which he lived with his family; and for that work antonio, desiring to grow in reputation, made several designs in different manners. among which, one that was arranged with two apartments was that which pleased his very reverend highness, who, having two sons, signor pier luigi and signor ranuccio, thought that he would leave them well accommodated by such a building. and, a beginning having been made with that work, a certain portion was constructed regularly every year. at this time a church dedicated to s. maria di loreto was being built at the macello de' corbi, near the column of trajan, in rome, and it was brought to perfection by antonio, with decorations of great beauty. after this, messer marchionne baldassini caused a palace to be erected from the model and under the direction of antonio, near s. agostino, which is arranged in such a manner that, small though it may be, it is held to be, as indeed it is, the finest and most convenient dwelling in rome; and in it the staircases, the court, the loggie, the doors, and the chimney-pieces, are all executed with consummate grace. with which messer marchionne being very well satisfied, he determined that perino del vaga, the florentine painter, should decorate one of the halls in colour, with scenes and other figures, as will be related in his life; which decorations have given it infinite grace and beauty. and near the torre di nona antonio directed and finished the building of the house of the centelli, which is small, but very convenient. no long time passed before he went to gradoli, a place in the dominions of the very reverend cardinal farnese, where he caused a most beautiful and commodious palace to be erected for that cardinal. on that journey he did a work of great utility in restoring the fortress of capo di monte, which he surrounded with low and well-shaped walls; and at the same time he made the design of the fortress of caprarola. and the very reverend monsignor farnese, finding himself served by antonio in all these works in a manner so satisfactory, was constrained to wish him well, and, coming to love him more and more, he showed him favour in his every enterprise whenever he was able. after this, cardinal alborense, wishing to leave a memorial of himself in the church of his nation, caused a chapel of marble, with a tomb for himself, to be erected and brought to completion by antonio in s. jacopo degli spagnuoli; which chapel, as has been related, was all painted in the spaces between the pilasters by pellegrino da modena, and on the altar stood a most beautiful s. james of marble executed by jacopo sansovino. this is a work of architecture that is held to be truly worthy of the highest praise, since the marble ceiling is divided very beautifully into octagonal compartments. nor was it long before m. bartolommeo ferratino, for his own convenience and for the benefit of his friends, and also in order to leave an honourable and enduring memorial of himself, commissioned antonio to build a palace on the piazza d' amelia, which is a beautiful and most imposing work; whereby antonio acquired no little fame and profit. during this time antonio di monte, cardinal of santa prassedia, was in rome, and he desired that the same architect should build for him the palace that he afterwards occupied, looking out upon the agone, where there is the statue of maestro pasquino; and in the centre, which looks over the piazza, he wished to erect a tower. this was planned and brought to completion for him by antonio with a most beautiful composition of pilasters and windows from the first floor to the third--a good and graceful design; and it was adorned both within and without by francesco dell' indaco with figures and scenes in terretta. and antonio having meanwhile become the devoted servant of the cardinal of arimini, that lord caused him to erect a palace at tolentino in the march, for which, in addition to the rewards that antonio received, the cardinal ever afterwards held himself indebted to him. while these matters were in progress, and the fame of antonio was growing and spreading abroad, it happened that old age and various infirmities made bramante a citizen of the other world; at which three architects were appointed straightway by pope leo for the building of s. pietro--raffaello da urbino, giuliano da san gallo, the uncle of antonio, and fra giocondo of verona. but no long time passed before fra giocondo departed from rome, and giuliano, being old, received leave to return to florence. whereupon antonio, who was in the service of the very reverend cardinal farnese, besought him very straitly that he should make supplication to pope leo, to the end that he might grant the place of his uncle giuliano to him, which proved to be a thing very easy to obtain, first because of the abilities of antonio, which were worthy of that place, and then by reason of the cordial relations between the pope and the very reverend cardinal farnese. and thus, in company with raffaello da urbino, he continued that building, but coldly enough. the pope then went to cività vecchia, in order to fortify it, and in his company were many lords; among others, giovan paolo baglioni and signor vitello, and such persons of ability as pietro navarra and antonio marchissi, the architect for fortifications at that time, who had come from naples at the command of the pope. discussions arising as to the fortification of that place, many and various were the opinions about this, one man making one design, and another a different one; but among so many, antonio displayed before them a plan which was approved by the pope and by those lords and architects as superior to all the others in strength and beauty and in the handsome and useful character of its arrangements; wherefore antonio came into very great credit with the court. after this, the genius of antonio repaired a great mischief brought about in the following manner: raffaello da urbino, in executing the papal loggie and the apartments that are over the foundations, had left many empty spaces in the masonry in order to oblige some friends, to the serious damage of the whole building, by reason of the great weight that had to be supported above them; and the edifice was already beginning to show signs of falling, on account of the weight being too great for the walls. and it would certainly have fallen down but for the genius of antonio, who filled up those little chambers with the aid of props and beams, and refounded the whole fabric, thus making it as firm and solid as it had ever been in the beginning. meanwhile the florentine colony had begun their church in the strada giulia, behind the banchi, from the design of jacopo sansovino. but they had chosen a site that extended too far into the river, so that, compelled by necessity, they spent twelve thousand crowns on foundations in the water, which were executed in a very secure and beautiful manner by antonio, who found the way after jacopo had failed to discover it; and several braccia of the edifice were built over the water. antonio made a model so excellent, that, if the work had been carried to completion, it would have been something stupendous. nevertheless, it was a great error, giving proof of little judgment, on the part of those who were at that time the heads of that colony in rome, for they should never have allowed the architects to found so large a church in so terrible a river, for the sake of gaining twenty braccia of length, and to throw away so many thousands of crowns on foundations, only to be compelled to contend with that river for ever; particularly because, by bringing that church forward and giving it another form, they might have built it on solid ground, and, what is more, might have carried the whole to completion with almost the same expense. and if they trusted in the riches of the merchants of that colony, it was seen afterwards how fallacious such a hope was, for in all the years that the pontificate was held by leo and clement of the medici family, by julius iii, and by marcellus, who all came from florentine territory, although the last-named lived but a short time, and for all the greatness of so many cardinals and the riches of so many merchants, it remained, as it still does, in the same condition in which it was left by our san gallo. it is clear, therefore, that architects and those who cause buildings to be erected should look well to the end and to every matter, before setting their hands to works of importance. but to return to antonio: the fortress of monte fiascone had been formerly built by pope urban, and he restored it at the commission of the pope, who took him to those parts one summer in his train. and at the request of cardinal farnese he built two little temples on the island of visentina in the lake of bolsena, one of which was constructed as an octagon without and round within, and the other was square on the outer side and octagonal on the inner, with four niches in the walls at the corners, one to each; which two little temples, executed in so beautiful a manner, bore testimony to the skill with which antonio was able to give variety to the details of architecture. while these temples were building, antonio returned to rome, where he made a beginning with the palace of the bishop of cervia, which was afterwards left unfinished, on the canto di s. lucia, where the new mint stands. he built the church of s. maria di monferrato, which is held to be very beautiful, near the corte savella, and likewise the house of one marrano, which is behind the cibo palace, near the houses of the massimi. meanwhile leo died, and with him all the fine and noble arts, which had been restored to life by him and by his predecessor, julius ii; and his successor was adrian vi, in whose pontificate all arts and talents were so crushed down, that, if the government of the apostolic seat had remained long in his hands, that fate would have come upon rome under his rule which fell upon her on another occasion, when all the statues saved from the destruction of the goths, both the good and the bad, were condemned to be burned. adrian, perhaps in imitation of the pontiffs of those former times, had already begun to speak of intending to throw to the ground the chapel of the divine michelagnolo, saying that it was a bagnio of nudes; and he despised all good pictures and statues, calling them vanities of the world, and shameful and abominable things, which circumstance was the reason that not only antonio, but all the other beautiful intellects were kept idle, insomuch that, not to mention other works, scarcely anything was done in the time of that pontiff on the building of s. pietro, to which at least he should have been friendly, since he wished to prove himself so much the enemy of worldly things. for that reason, therefore, attending under that pontiff to works of no great importance, antonio restored the aisles of the church of s. jacopo degli spagnuoli, and furnished the façade with most beautiful windows. he also caused a tabernacle of travertine to be constructed for the imagine di ponte, which, although small, is yet very graceful; and in it perino del vaga afterwards executed a beautiful little work in fresco. the poor arts had already come to an evil pass through the life of adrian, when heaven, moved to pity for them, resolved by the death of one to give new life to thousands; wherefore it removed him from the world and caused him to surrender his place to one who would fill that position more worthily and would govern the affairs of the world in a different spirit. and thus a new pope was elected in clement vii, who, being a man of generous mind, and desiring to follow in the steps of leo and of the other members of his illustrious family who had preceded him, bethought himself that, even as he had created beautiful memorials of himself as cardinal, so as pope he should surpass all others in restoring and adorning buildings. that election, then, brought consolation to many men of talent, and infused a potent and heaven-sent breath of life in those ingenious but timid spirits who had sunk into abasement; and they, thus revived, afterwards executed the beautiful works that we see at the present day. and first, having been set to work at the commission of his holiness, antonio straightway reconstructed a court in front of the loggie, which had been painted previously under the direction of raffaello, in the palace; which court was a vast improvement in beauty and convenience, for it was formerly necessary to pass through certain narrow and tortuous ways, and antonio, widening these and giving them better form, made them spacious and beautiful. but this part is not now in the condition in which antonio left it, for pope julius iii took away the columns of granite that were there, in order to adorn his villa with them, and altered everything. antonio also executed the façade of the old mint of rome, a work of great beauty and grace, in the banchi, making a rounded corner, which is held to be a difficult and even miraculous thing; and in that work he placed the arms of the pope. and he refounded the unfinished part of the papal loggie, which had remained incomplete at the death of pope leo, and had not been continued, or even touched, through the negligence of adrian. and thus, at the desire of clement, they were carried to their final completion. his holiness then resolving to fortify parma and piacenza, after many designs and models had been made by various craftsmen, antonio was sent to those places, and with him giuliano leno, the supervisor of those fortifications. when they had arrived there, antonio having with him his pupil l'abacco, pier francesco da viterbo, a very able engineer, and the architect michele san michele of verona, all of them together carried the designs of those fortifications into execution. which done, the others remaining, antonio returned to rome, where pope clement, since the palace was poorly supplied in the matter of apartments, ordained that antonio should begin those in which the public consistories are held, above the ferraria, which were executed in such a manner, that the pontiff was well satisfied with them, and caused other apartments to be constructed above them for the chamberlains of his holiness. over the ceilings of those apartments, likewise, antonio made others which were very commodious--a work which was most dangerous, because it necessitated so much refounding. in this kind of work antonio was in truth very able, seeing that his buildings never showed a crack; nor was there ever among the moderns any architect more cautious or more skilful in joining walls. in the time of pope paul ii, the church of the madonna of loreto, which was small, and had its roof immediately over brick piers of rustic work, had been refounded and brought to that size in which it may be seen at the present day, by means of the skill and genius of giuliano da maiano; and it had been continued from the outer string-course upwards by sixtus iv and by others, as has been related; but finally, in the time of clement, in the year , without having previously shown the slightest sign of falling, it cracked in such a manner, that not only the arches of the tribune were in danger, but the whole church in many places, for the reason that the foundations were weak and wanting in depth. wherefore antonio was sent by the said pope clement to put right so great a mischief; and when he had arrived at loreto, propping up the arches and fortifying the whole, like the resolute and judicious architect that he was, he refounded all the building, and, making the walls and pilasters thicker both within and without, he gave it a beautiful form, both as a whole and in its well-proportioned parts, and made it strong enough to be able to support any weight, however great. he adhered to one and the same order in the transepts and in the aisles of the church, making superb mouldings on the architraves, friezes, and cornices above the arches, and he rendered beautiful and well constructed in no common way the socles of the four great piers around the eight sides of the tribune which support the four arches--namely, three in the transepts, where the chapels are, and the larger one in the central nave. this work certainly deserves to be celebrated as the best that antonio ever executed, and that not without sufficient reason, seeing that those who erect some new building, or raise one from the foundations, have the power to make it high or low, and to carry it to such perfection as they desire or are able to achieve, without being hindered by anything; which does not fall to the lot of him who has to rectify or restore works begun by others and brought to a sorry state either by the craftsman or by the circumstances of fortune; whence it may be said that antonio restored a dead thing to life, and did that which was scarcely possible. having finished all this, he arranged that the church should be covered with lead, and gave directions for the execution of all that still remained to do; and thus, by his means, that famous temple received a better form and more grace than it had possessed before, and the hope of a long-enduring life. he then returned to rome, just after that city had been given over to sack; and the pope was at orvieto, where the court was suffering very greatly from want of water. thereupon, at the wish of the pontiff, antonio built in that city a well all of stone, twenty-five braccia wide, with two spiral staircases cut in the tufa, one above the other, following the curve of the well. by these two spiral staircases it is possible to descend to the bottom of the well, insomuch that the animals that go there for water, entering by one door, go down by one of the two staircases, and when they have come to the platform where they receive their load of water, they pass, without turning round, into the other branch of the spiral staircase, which winds above that of the descent, and emerge from the well by a different door, opposite to the other. this work, which was an ingenious, useful, and marvellously beautiful thing, was carried almost to completion before the death of clement; and the mouth of the well, which alone remained to be executed, was finished by order of pope paul iii, but not according to the directions drawn up by clement with the advice of antonio, who was much commended for so beautiful a work. certain it is that the ancients never built a structure equal to this in workmanship or ingenuity, seeing, above all, that the central shaft is made in such a way that even down to the bottom it gives light by means of certain windows to the two staircases mentioned above. while this work was in progress, the same antonio directed the construction of the fortress of ancona, which in time was carried to completion. afterwards, pope clement resolving, at the time when his nephew alessandro de' medici was duke of florence, to erect an impregnable fortress in that city, signor alessandro vitelli, pier francesco da viterbo, and antonio laid out that castle, or rather, fortress, which is between the porta al prato and the porta a s. gallo, and caused it to be built with such rapidity, that no similar structure, whether ancient or modern, was ever completed so quickly. in a great tower, which was the first to be founded, and was called the toso, were placed many inscriptions and medals, with the most solemn pomp and ceremony; and this work is now celebrated over all the world, and is held to be impregnable. by order of antonio were summoned to loreto the sculptor tribolo, raffaello da montelupo, francesco da san gallo, then a young man, and simone cioli, who finished the scenes of marble begun by andrea sansovino. to the same place antonio summoned the florentine mosca, a most excellent carver of marble, who was then occupied, as will be related in his life, with a chimney-piece of stone for the heirs of pellegrino da fossombrone, which proved to be a divine work of carving. this master, i say, at the entreaty of antonio, made his way to loreto, where he executed festoons that are absolutely divine. thus, with rapidity and diligence, the ornamentation of that chamber of our lady was completely finished, although antonio had five works of importance on his hands at one and the same time, to all of which, notwithstanding that they were in different places, distant one from another, he gave his attention in such a manner that he never neglected any of them; for when at any time he could not conveniently be there in person, he availed himself of the assistance of his brother battista. these five works were the above-mentioned fortress of florence, that of ancona, the work at loreto, the apostolic palace, and the well at orvieto. after the death of clement, when cardinal farnese was elected supreme pontiff under the title of paul iii, antonio, having been the friend of the pope while he was a cardinal, came into even greater credit; and his holiness, having created his son, signor pier luigi, duke of castro, sent antonio to make the designs of the fortress which that duke caused to be founded in that place; of the palace, called the osteria, that is on the piazza; and of the mint, built of travertine after the manner of that in rome, which is in the same place. nor were these the only designs that antonio made in that city, for he prepared many others of palaces and other buildings for various persons, both natives and strangers, who erected edifices of such cost that it would seem incredible to one who has not seen them, so ornate are they all, so commodious, and built with so little regard for expense; which was done by many, without a doubt, in order to please the pope, seeing that even by such means do many contrive to procure favours for themselves, flattering the humour of princes; and this is a thing not otherwise than worthy of praise, for it contributes to the convenience, advantage, and pleasure of the whole world. next, in the year in which the emperor charles v returned victorious from tunis, most magnificent triumphal arches were erected to him in messina, in apulia, and in naples, in honour of so great a victory; and since he was to come to rome, antonio, at the commission of the pope, made a triumphal arch of wood at the palace of s. marco, of such a shape that it might serve for two streets, and so beautiful that a more superb or better proportioned work in wood has never been seen. and if in such a work splendid and costly marbles had been added to the industry, art, and diligence bestowed on its design and execution, it might have been deservedly numbered, on account of its statues, painted scenes, and other ornaments, among the seven wonders of the world. this arch, which was placed at the end of the corner turning into the principal piazza, was of the corinthian order, with four round columns overlaid with silver on each side, and capitals carved in most beautiful foliage, completely overlaid with gold. there were very beautiful architraves, friezes, and cornices placed with projections over every column; and between each two columns were two painted scenes, insomuch that there were four scenes distributed over each side, which, with the two sides, made eight scenes altogether, containing, as will be described elsewhere in speaking of those who painted them, the deeds of the emperor. in order to enhance this splendour, also, and to complete the pediment above that arch on each side, there were two figures in relief, each four braccia and a half in height, representing rome, with two emperors of the house of austria on either side, those on the front part being albrecht and maximilian, and those on the other side frederick and rudolph. and upon the corners, likewise, were four prisoners, two on each side, with a great number of trophies, also in relief, and the arms of his holiness and of his majesty; which were all executed under the direction of antonio by excellent sculptors and by the best painters that there were in rome at that time. and not only this arch was executed under the direction of antonio, but also all the preparations for the festival that was held for the reception of so great and so invincible an emperor. the same antonio then set to work on the fortress of nepi for the aforesaid duke of castro, and on the fortification of the whole city, which is both beautiful and impregnable. he laid out many streets in the same city, and made for its citizens the designs of many houses and palaces. his holiness then causing the bastions of rome to be constructed, which are very strong, and the porta di s. spirito being included among those works, the latter was built with the direction and design of antonio, with rustic decorations of travertine, in a very solid and beautiful manner, and so magnificent, that it equals the works of the ancients. after the death of antonio, there were some who sought, moved more by envy than by any reasonable motive, and employing extraordinary means, to have this structure pulled down; but this was not allowed by those in power. under the direction of the same architect was refounded almost the whole of the apostolic palace, which was in danger of ruin in many other parts besides those that have been mentioned; in particular, on one side, the sistine chapel, in which are the works of michelagnolo, and likewise the façade, which he did in such a way that not the slightest crack appeared--a work richer in danger than in honour. he enlarged the great hall of that same sistine chapel, making in two lunettes at the head of it those immense windows with their marvellous lights, and with compartments pushed up into the vaulting and wrought in stucco; all executed at great cost, and so well, that this hall may be considered the richest and the most beautiful that there had been in the world up to that time. and he added to it a staircase, by which it might be possible to go into s. pietro, so commodious and so well built that nothing better, whether ancient or modern, has yet been seen; and likewise the pauline chapel, where the sacrament has to be placed, which is a work of extraordinary charm, so beautiful and so well proportioned and distributed, that through the grace that may be seen therein it appears to present itself to the eye with a festive smile. antonio built the fortress of perugia, at the time when there was discord between the people of that city and the pope; and that work, for which the houses of the baglioni were thrown to the ground, was finished with marvellous rapidity, and proved to be very beautiful. he also built the fortress of ascoli, bringing it in a few days to such a condition that it could be held by a garrison, although the people of ascoli and others did not think that it could be carried so far in many years; wherefore it happened that, when the garrison was placed in it so quickly, those people were struck with astonishment, and could scarce believe it. he also refounded his own house in the strada giulia at rome, in order to protect himself from the floods that rise when the tiber is swollen; and he not only began, but in great part completed, the palace that he occupied near s. biagio, which now belongs to cardinal riccio of montepulciano, who has finished it, adding most ornate apartments, and spending upon it vast sums in addition to what had been spent by antonio, which was some thousands of crowns. but all that antonio did to the benefit and advantage of the world is as nothing in comparison with the model of the venerable and stupendous fabric of s. pietro at rome, which, planned in the beginning by bramante, he enlarged and rearranged with a new plan and in an extraordinary manner, giving it dignity and a well-proportioned composition, both as a whole and in its separate parts, as may be seen from the model made of wood by the hand of his disciple, antonio l'abacco, who carried it to absolute perfection. this model, which gave antonio a very great name, was published in engraving after the death of antonio da san gallo, together with the ground-plan of the whole edifice, by the said antonio l'abacco, who wished to show in this way how great was the genius of san gallo, and to make known to all men the opinion of that architect; for new plans had been proposed in opposition by michelagnolo buonarroti, and out of this change of plans many contentions afterwards arose, as will be related in the proper place. it appeared to michelagnolo, and also to many others who saw the model of san gallo, and such parts as were carried into execution by him, that antonio's composition was too much cut up by projections and by members which are too small, as are also the columns, the arches upon arches, and the cornices upon cornices. besides this, it seems not to be approved that the two bell-towers in his plan, the four little tribunes, and the principal cupola, should have that ornament, or rather, garland of columns, many and small. in like manner, men did not much approve, nor do they now, of those innumerable pinnacles that are in it as a finish to the work; and it appears that in that model he imitated the style and manner of the germans rather than the good manner of the ancients, which is now followed by the best architects. the above-mentioned model of s. pietro was finished by l'abacco a short time after the death of antonio; and it was found that, in so far as appertained merely to the woodwork and the labour of the carpenters, it had cost four thousand one hundred and eighty-four crowns. in executing it, antonio l'abacco, who had charge of the work, acquitted himself very well, having a good knowledge of the matters of architecture, as is proved by the book of the buildings of rome that he printed, which is very beautiful. this model, which is now to be found in the principal chapel of s. pietro, is thirty-five palme[ ] in length, twenty-six in breadth, and twenty palme and a half in height; wherefore, according to the model, the work would have been one thousand and forty palme in length, or one hundred and four canne,[ ] and three hundred and sixty palme in breadth, or thirty-six canne, for the reason that the canna which is used in rome, according to the measure of the masons, is equal to ten palme. for the making of this model and of many designs, there were assigned to antonio by the wardens of the building of s. pietro fifteen hundred crowns, of which he received one thousand in cash; but the rest he never drew, for a short time after that work he passed to the other life. he strengthened the piers of the same church of s. pietro, to the end that the weight of the tribune might be supported securely; and he filled all the scattered parts of the foundations with solid material, and made them so strong, that there is no reason to fear that the building may show any more cracks or threaten to fall, as it did in the time of bramante. this masterly work, if it were above the ground instead of being hidden below, would amaze the boldest intellect. and for these reasons the name and fame of this admirable craftsman should always have a place among the rarest masters. we find that ever since the time of the ancient romans the men of terni and those of narni have been deadly enemies with one another, as they still are, for the reason that the lake of the marmora, becoming choked up at times, would do injury to one of those communities; and thus, when the people of narni wished to release the waters, those of terni would by no means consent to it. on that account there has always been a difference between them, whether the pontiffs were governing rome, or whether it was subject to the emperors; and in the time of cicero that orator was sent by the senate to compose that difference, but it remained unsettled. wherefore, after envoys had been sent to pope paul iii in the year for the same purpose, he despatched antonio to them to settle that dispute; and so, by his good judgment, it was resolved that the lake should have an outlet on the side where the wall is, and antonio had it cut, although with the greatest difficulty. but it came to pass by reason of the heat, which was great, and other hardships, that antonio, being now old and feeble, fell sick of a fever at terni, and rendered up his spirit not long after; at which his friends and relatives felt infinite sorrow, and many buildings suffered, particularly the palace of the farnese family, near the campo di fiore. [illustration: palazzo farnese (_after_ antonio di san gallo (_with_ michelangelo). _rome_.) _anderson_] pope paul iii, when he was cardinal alessandro farnese, had carried that palace a considerable way towards completion, and had finished part of the first range of windows in the façade and the inner hall, and had begun one side of the courtyard; but the building was yet not so far advanced that it could be seen in its perfection, when the cardinal was elected pontiff, and antonio altered the whole of the original design, considering that he had to make a palace no longer for a cardinal, but for a pope. having therefore pulled down some houses that were round it, and the old staircase, he rebuilt it with a more gentle ascent, and increased the courtyard on every side and also the whole palace, making the halls greater in extent and the rooms more numerous and more magnificent, with very beautiful carved ceilings and many other ornaments. and he had already brought the façade, with the second range of windows, to completion, and had only to add the great cornice that was to go right round the whole, when the pope, who was a man of exalted mind and excellent judgment, desiring to have a cornice richer and more beautiful than any that there had ever been in any other palace whatsoever, resolved that, in addition to the designs that antonio had made, all the best architects of rome should each make one, after which he would choose the finest, but would nevertheless have it carried into execution by antonio. and so one morning, while he was at table at the belvedere, all those designs were brought before him in the presence of antonio, the masters who had made them being perino del vaga, fra sebastiano del piombo, michelagnolo buonarroti, and giorgio vasari, who was then a young man and in the service of cardinal farnese, at the commission of whom and of the pope he had prepared for that cornice not one only, but two different designs. it is true that buonarroti did not bring his own himself, but sent it by the same giorgio vasari, who had gone to show him his designs, to the end that he might express his opinion on them as a friend; whereupon michelagnolo gave him his own design, asking that he should take it to the pope and make his excuses for not going in person, on the ground that he was indisposed. and when all the designs had been presented to the pope, his holiness examined them for a long time, and praised them all as ingenious and very beautiful, but that of the divine michelagnolo above all. now all this did not happen without causing vexation to antonio, who was not much pleased with this method of procedure on the part of the pope, and who would have liked to do everything by himself. but even more was he displeased to see that the pope held in great account one jacomo melighino of ferrara, and made use of him as architect in the building of s. pietro, although he showed neither power of design nor much judgment in his works, giving him the same salary as he paid to antonio, on whom fell all the labour. and this happened because this melighino had been the faithful servant of the pope for many years without any reward, and it pleased his holiness to recompense him in that way; not to mention that he had charge of the belvedere and of some other buildings belonging to the pope. after the pope, therefore, had seen all the designs mentioned above, he said, perchance to try antonio: "these are all beautiful, but it would not be amiss for us to see another that our melighino has made." at which antonio, feeling some resentment, and believing that the pope was making fun of him, replied: "holy father, melighino is but an architect in jest." which hearing, the pope, who was seated, turned towards antonio, and, bowing his head almost to the ground, answered: "antonio, it is our wish that melighino should be an architect in earnest, as you may see from his salary." having said this, he dismissed the company and went away; and by these words he meant to show that it is very often by princes rather than by their own merits that men are brought to the greatness that they desire. the cornice was afterwards executed by michelagnolo, who reconstructed the whole of that palace almost in another form, as will be related in his life. after the death of antonio there remained alive his brother battista gobbo, a person of ability, who spent all his time on the buildings of antonio, although the latter did not behave very well towards him. this battista did not live many years after antonio, and at his death he left all his possessions to the florentine company of the misericordia in rome, on the condition that the men of that company should cause to be printed a book of observations on vitruvius that he had written. that book has never come into the light of day, but it is believed to be a good work, for he had a very fine knowledge of the matters of his art, and was a man of excellent judgment, and he was also upright and true. but returning to antonio: having died at terni, he was taken to rome and carried to the grave with the greatest pomp, followed by all the craftsmen of design and by many others; and then, at the instance of the wardens of s. pietro, his body was placed in a tomb near the chapel of pope sixtus in s. pietro, with the following epitaph: antonio sancti galli florentino, urbe munienda ac pub. operibus, prÆcipueque d. petri templo ornan. architectorum facile principi, dum velini lacus emissionem parat, paulo pont. max. auctore, interamnÆ intempestive extincto, isabella deta uxor moestiss. posuit , iii. calend. octobris. and in truth antonio, who was a most excellent architect, deserves to be celebrated and extolled, as his works clearly demonstrate, no less than any other architect, whether ancient or modern. footnote: [ ] the "palma" as used here is equal to about nine inches. [ ] the "canna" is equal to four braccia. giulio romano life of giulio romano painter among his many, or rather innumerable, disciples, the greater number of whom became able masters, raffaello da urbino had not one who imitated him more closely in manner, invention, design, and colouring, than did giulio romano, nor one who was better grounded, more bold, resolute, prolific, and versatile, or more fanciful and varied than giulio; not to mention for the present that he was very pleasant in his conversation, gay, amiable, gracious, and supremely excellent in character. these qualities were the reason that he was so beloved by raffaello, that, if he had been his son, he could not have loved him more; wherefore it came to pass that raffaello always made use of him in his most important works, and, in particular, in executing the papal loggie for leo x; for after raffaello had made the designs for the architecture, the decorations, and the scenes, he caused giulio to paint many of the pictures there, among which are the creation of adam and eve, that of the animals, the building of noah's ark, his sacrifice, and many other works, which are known by the manner, such as the one in which the daughter of pharaoh, with her ladies, finds moses in the little ark, which had been cast adrift on the river by the hebrews--a work that is marvellous on account of a very well executed landscape. giulio also assisted raffaello in painting many things in that apartment of the borgia tower which contains the burning of the borgo, more particularly the base, which is painted in the colour of bronze, with the countess matilda, king pepin, charlemagne, godfrey de bouillon, king of jerusalem, and other benefactors of the church--all excellent figures; and prints of a part of this scene, taken from a drawing by the hand of giulio, were published not long since. the same giulio also executed the greater part of the scenes in fresco that are in the loggia of agostino chigi; and he worked in oils on a very beautiful picture of s. elizabeth, which was painted by raffaello and sent to king francis of france, together with another picture, of s. margaret, painted almost entirely by giulio after the design of raffaello, who sent to the same king the portrait of the vice-queen of naples, wherein raffaello did nothing but the likeness of the head from life, and the rest was finished by giulio. these works, which were very dear to that king, are still in the king's chapel at fontainebleau in france. working in this manner in the service of his master raffaello, and learning the most difficult secrets of art, which were taught to him by raffaello himself with extraordinary lovingness, before a long time had passed giulio knew very well how to draw in perspective, take the measurements of buildings, and execute ground-plans; and raffaello, designing and sketching at times inventions after his own fancy, would afterwards have them drawn on a larger scale, with the proper measurements, by giulio, in order to make use of them in his works of architecture. and giulio, beginning to delight in that art, gave his attention to it in such a manner, that he afterwards practised it and became a most excellent master. at his death, raffaello left as his heirs giulio and giovan francesco, called il fattore, on the condition that they should finish the works begun by him; and they carried the greater part of these to completion with honour. [illustration: the battle of constantine (_detail, after the fresco by =giulio romano=. rome: the vatican_) _anderson_] now cardinal giulio de' medici, who afterwards became pope clement vii, took a site under monte mario at rome, in which, besides a beautiful view, there were running waters, with some woods on the banks and a lovely plain which, running along the tiber as far as the ponte molle, formed on either side a wide expanse of meadowland that extended almost to the porta di s. pietro; and on the highest point of the bank, where there was a level space, he proposed to build a palace with all the best and most beautiful conveniences and adornments that could be desired in the form of apartments, loggie, gardens, fountains, groves, and other things. of all this he gave the charge to giulio, who, undertaking it willingly, and setting his hand to the work, brought that palace, which was then called the vigna de' medici, and is now known as the villa madama, to that condition which will be described below. accommodating himself, then, to the nature of the site and the wishes of the cardinal, he made the façade in the form of a semicircle, after the manner of a theatre, with a design of niches and windows of the ionic order; which was so excellent, that many believe that raffaello made the first sketch for it, and that the work was afterwards pursued and carried to completion by giulio. the same giulio painted many pictures in the chambers and elsewhere; in particular, in a very beautiful loggia beyond the first entrance vestibule, which is adorned all around with niches large and small, wherein are great numbers of ancient statues; and among these was a jupiter, a rare work, which was afterwards sent by the farnese family to king francis of france, with many other most beautiful statues. in addition to those niches, the said loggia is all wrought in stucco and has the walls and ceilings all painted with grotesques by the hand of giovanni da udine. at the head of this loggia giulio painted in fresco an immense polyphemus with a vast number of children and little satyrs playing about him, for which he gained much praise, even as he did for all the designs and works that he executed for that place, which he adorned with fish-ponds, pavements, rustic fountains, groves, and other suchlike things, all most beautiful and carried out with fine order and judgment. it is true that, the death of leo supervening, for a time this work was carried no further, for when a new pontiff had been elected in adrian, and cardinal de' medici had returned to florence, it was abandoned, together with all the public works begun by adrian's predecessor. during this time giulio and giovan francesco brought to completion many things that had been left unfinished by raffaello, and they were preparing to carry into execution some of the cartoons that he had made for the pictures of the great hall of the palace--in which he had begun to paint four stories from the life of the emperor constantine, and had, when he died, covered one wall with the proper mixture for painting in oils--when they saw that adrian, being a man who took no delight in pictures, sculptures, or in any other good thing, had no wish that the hall should be finished. driven to despair, therefore, giulio and giovan francesco, and with them perino del vaga, giovanni da udine, sebastiano viniziano, and all the other excellent craftsmen, were almost like to die of hunger during the lifetime of adrian. but by the will of god, while the court, accustomed to the magnificence of leo, was all in dismay, and all the best craftsmen, perceiving that no art was prized any longer, were beginning to consider where they might take refuge, adrian died, and cardinal giulio de' medici was elected supreme pontiff under the name of clement vii; and with him all the arts of design, together with the other arts, were restored to life in one day. giulio and giovan francesco, full of joy, set themselves straightway by order of the pope to finish the above-mentioned hall of constantine, and threw to the ground the preparation that had been laid on one wall for painting in oils; but they left untouched two figures that they had painted previously in oils, which serve as adornments to certain popes; and these were a justice and another similar figure. the distribution of this hall, which is low, had been designed with much judgment by raffaello, who had placed at the corners, over all the doors, large niches with ornaments in the form of little boys holding various devices of leo, such as lilies, diamonds, plumes, and other emblems of the house of medici. in the niches were seated some popes in pontificals, each with a canopy in his niche; and round those popes were some little boys in the form of little angels, holding books and other appropriate things in their hands. and each pope had on either side of him a virtue, chosen according to his merits; thus, the apostle peter had religion on one side and charity, or rather piety, on the other, and so all the others had similar virtues; and the said popes were damasus i, alexander i, leo iii, gregory, sylvester, and some others. all these figures were so well placed in position and executed by giulio, who painted all the best parts of this work in fresco, that it is clear that he endured much labour and took great pains with them; as may also be seen from a drawing of s. sylvester, which was designed very well by his own hand, and is perhaps a much more graceful work than the painted figure. it may be affirmed, indeed, that giulio always expressed his conceptions better in drawings than in finished work or in paintings, for in the former may be seen more vivacity, boldness, and feeling; and this may have happened because he made a drawing in an hour, in all the heat and glow of working, whereas on paintings he spent months, and even years, so that, growing weary of them, and losing that keen and ardent love that one has at the beginning of a work, it is no marvel that he did not give them that absolute perfection that is to be seen in his drawings. but to return to the stories: giulio painted on one of the walls constantine making an address to his soldiers; while in the air, in a splendour of light, appears the sign of the cross, with some little boys, and letters that run thus: "in hoc signo vinces." and there is a dwarf at the feet of constantine, placing a helmet on his head, who is executed with great art. next, on the largest wall, there is the battle of horsemen which took place at the ponte molle, in which constantine routed maxentius. this work is worthy of the highest praise, on account of the dead and wounded that may be seen in it, and the various extravagant attitudes of the foot-soldiers and horsemen who are fighting in groups, all painted with great spirit; not to mention that there are many portraits from life. and if this scene were not too much darkened and loaded with blacks, which giulio always delighted to use in colouring, it would be altogether perfect; but this takes away much of its grace and beauty. in the same scene he painted the whole landscape of monte mario, and the river tiber, in which maxentius, who is on horseback, proud and terrible, is drowning. in short, giulio acquitted himself in such a manner in this work, that it has been a great light to all who have painted battle-pieces of that kind since his day. he himself learned so much from the ancient columns of trajan and antoninus that are in rome, that he made much use of this knowledge for the costumes of soldiers, armour, ensigns, bastions, palisades, battering-rams, and all the other instruments of war that are painted throughout the whole of that hall. and beneath these scenes, right round, he painted many things in the colour of bronze, which are all beautiful and worthy of praise. on another wall he painted s. sylvester the pope baptizing constantine, representing there the very bath made by constantine himself, which is at s. giovanni laterano at the present day; and he made a portrait from life of pope clement in the s. sylvester who is baptizing, with some assistants in their vestments, and a crowd of people. among the many attendants of the pope of whom he painted portraits there, also from life, was the cavalierino, who was very influential with his holiness at that time, and messer niccolò vespucci, a knight of rhodes. and below this, on the base, he painted a scene with figures in imitation of bronze, of constantine causing the church of s. pietro to be built at rome, in allusion to pope clement. there he made portraits of the architect bramante and of giuliano lemi,[ ] holding the design of the ground-plan of the said church, and this scene is very beautiful. on the fourth wall, above the chimney-piece of that hall, he depicted in perspective the church of s. pietro at rome, with the pope's throne exactly as it appears when his holiness chants the pontifical mass; the body of cardinals and all the other prelates of the court; the chapel of singers and musicians; and the pope seated, represented as s. sylvester, with constantine kneeling at his feet and presenting to him a figure of rome made of gold in the manner of those that are on the ancient medals, by which giulio intended to signify the dowry which that constantine gave to the roman church. in this scene giulio painted many women kneeling there to see that ceremony, who are very beautiful; a beggar asking for alms; a little boy amusing himself by riding on a dog; and the lancers of the papal guard, who are making the people give way and stand back, as is the custom. and among many portraits that are in this work may be seen portraits from life of giulio himself, the painter; of count baldassarre castiglioni, the author of the "cortigiano," and very much his friend; of pontano and marullo; and of many other men of letters and courtiers. right round the hall and between the windows giulio painted many devices and poetical compositions, which were pleasing and fanciful; and everything was much to the satisfaction of the pope, who rewarded him liberally for his labours. while this hall was being painted, giulio and giovan francesco, although they could not meet the demands of their friends even in part, executed an altar-piece with the assumption of our lady, a very beautiful work, which was sent to perugia and placed in the convent of the nuns of monteluci. then, having withdrawn to work by himself, giulio painted a picture of our lady, with a cat that was so natural that it appeared to be truly alive; whence that picture was called the picture of the cat. in another picture, of great size, he painted a christ being scourged at the column, which was placed on the altar of the church of s. prassedia at rome. and not long after this, m. giovan matteo giberti, who was then datary to pope clement, and afterwards became bishop of verona, commissioned giulio, who was his very familiar friend, to make the design for some rooms that were built of brick near the gate of the papal palace, looking out upon the piazza of s. pietro, and serving for the accommodation of the trumpeters who blow their trumpets when the cardinals go to the consistory, with a most commodious flight of steps, which can be ascended on horseback as well as on foot. for the same m. giovan matteo he painted an altar-piece of the stoning of s. stephen, which m. giovan matteo sent to a benefice of his own, called s. stefano, in genoa. in this altar-piece, which is most beautiful in invention, grace, and composition, the young saul may be seen seated on the garments of s. stephen while the jews are stoning him; and, in a word, giulio never painted a more beautiful work than this, so fierce are the attitudes of the persecutors and so well expressed the patience of stephen, who appears to be truly seeing jesus christ on the right hand of the father in the heaven, which is painted divinely well. this work, together with the benefice, m. giovan matteo gave to the monks of monte oliveto, who have turned the place into a monastery. the same giulio executed at the commission of the german jacob fugger, for a chapel that is in s. maria de anima at rome, a most lovely altar-piece in oils, in which are the madonna, s. anne, s. joseph, s. james, s. john as a little boy kneeling, and s. mark the evangelist with a lion at his feet, which is lying down with a book, its hair curving in accordance with its position, which was a beautiful consideration, and difficult to execute; not to mention that the same lion has short wings on its shoulders, with feathers so soft and plumy, that it seems almost incredible that the hand of a craftsman could have been able to imitate nature so closely. besides this, he painted there a building that curves in a circular form after the manner of a theatre, with some statues so beautiful and so well placed that there is nothing better to be seen. among other figures there is a woman who is spinning and gazing at a hen with some chickens, than which nothing could be more natural; and above our lady are some little boys, very graceful and well painted, who are upholding a canopy. and if this picture, also, had not been so heavily loaded with black, by reason of which it has become very dark, it would certainly have been much better; but this blackness has brought it about that the greater part of the work that is in it is lost or destroyed, and that because black, even when fortified with varnish, is the ruin of all that is good, always having in it a certain desiccative quality, whether it be made from charcoal, burnt ivory, smoke-black, or burnt paper. among the many disciples that giulio had while he was executing these works, such as bartolommeo da castiglione, tommaso papacello of cortona, and benedetto pagni of pescia, those of whom he made the most particular use were giovanni da lione and raffaello dal colle of borgo a san sepolcro, both of whom assisted him in the execution of many things in the hall of constantine and in the other works of which we have spoken. wherefore i do not think it right to refrain from mentioning that these two, who were very dexterous in painting, and followed the manner of giulio closely in carrying into execution the works that he designed for them, painted in colours after his design, near the old mint in the banchi, the escutcheon of pope clement vii, each of them doing one-half, with two terminal figures, one on either side of that escutcheon. and the same raffaello, not long after, painted in fresco from a cartoon drawn by giulio, in a lunette within the door of the palace of cardinal della valle, a madonna who is covering the child, who is sleeping, with a piece of drapery, with s. andrew the apostle on one side and s. nicholas on the other, which was held, with justice, to be an excellent picture. giulio, meanwhile, being very intimate with messer baldassarre turini da pescia, built for him on mount janiculum, where there are some villas that have a most beautiful view, after making the design and model, a palace so graceful and so well appointed, from its having all the conveniences that could be desired in such a place, that it defies description. moreover, the apartments were adorned not only with stucco, but also with paintings, for he himself painted there some stories of numa pompilius, who was buried on that spot; and in the bathroom of this palace, with the help of his young men, giulio painted some stories of venus, love, apollo, and hyacinthus, which are all to be seen in engraving. after having separated himself completely from giovan francesco, he executed various architectural works in rome, such as the design of the house of the alberini in the banchi (although some believe that the plan of this work came from raffaello), and likewise a palace that may be seen at the present day on the piazza della dogana in rome, which, being beautiful in design, has been reproduced in engraving. and for himself, on a corner of the macello de' corbi, where stood his own house, in which he was born, he made a beginning with a beautiful range of windows, which is a small thing, but very graceful. by reason of all these excellent qualities, giulio, after the death of raffaello, was celebrated as the best craftsman in italy. and count baldassarre castiglioni, who was then in rome as ambassador from federigo gonzaga, marquis of mantua, and was much the friend, as has been related, of giulio, having been commanded by his master the marquis to send him an architect of whom he might avail himself for the necessities of his palace and of the city, the marquis adding that he would particularly like to have giulio--the count, i say, so wrought upon him with entreaties and promises, that giulio said that he would go, provided that he could do this with the leave of pope clement; which leave having been obtained, the count, setting out for mantua, from which he was then to go on behalf of the pope to the emperor, took giulio with him; and having arrived there, he presented him to the marquis, who, after welcoming him warmly, caused an honourably appointed house to be given to him, together with a salary and also a good table for himself, for his disciple benedetto pagni, and for another young man who was in his service; and, what is more, the marquis sent him several canne of velvet, satin, and other kinds of silk and cloth wherewith to clothe himself. then, hearing that he had no horse to ride, he sent for a favourite horse of his own, called luggieri, and presented it to him; and when giulio had mounted upon it, they rode to a spot a bow-shot beyond the porta di s. bastiano, where his excellency had a place with some stables, called the tè, standing in the middle of a meadow, in which he kept his stud of horses and mares. arriving there, the marquis said that he would like, without destroying the old walls, to have some sort of place arranged to which he might resort at times for dinner or supper, as a recreation. giulio, having heard the will of the marquis, and having examined the whole place, took a ground-plan of that site and set his hand to the work. availing himself of the old walls, he made in the principal part the first hall that is to be seen at the present day as one enters, with the suite of rooms that are about it. and since the place has no living rock, and no quarries from which to excavate material for hewn and carved stone, such as are used in building by those who can obtain them, he made use of brick and baked stone, which he afterwards worked over with stucco; and with this material he made columns, bases, capitals, cornices, doors, windows, and other things, all with most beautiful proportions. and he executed the decorations of the vaults in a new and fantastic manner, with very handsome compartments, and with richly adorned recesses, which was the reason that the marquis, after a beginning so humble, then resolved to have the whole of that building reconstructed in the form of a great palace. [illustration: the marriage banquet of cupid and psyche (_after the fresco by =giulio romano=. mantua: palazzo del tè_) _alinari_] thereupon giulio made a very beautiful model, all of rustic work both without and within the courtyard, which pleased that lord so much, that he assigned a good sum of money for the building; and after giulio had engaged many masters, the work was quickly carried to completion. the form of the palace is as follows: the building is quadrangular, and has in the centre an open courtyard after the manner of a meadow, or rather, of a piazza, into which open four entrances in the form of a cross. the first of these traverses straightway, or rather, passes, into a very large loggia, which opens by another into the garden, and two others lead into various apartments; and these are all adorned with stucco-work and paintings. in the hall to which the first entrance gives access the vaulting is wrought in various compartments and painted in fresco, and on the walls are portraits from life of all the favourite and most beautiful horses from the stud of the marquis, together with the dogs of the same coat or marking as the horses, with their names; which were all designed by giulio, and painted in fresco on the plaster by the painters benedetto pagni and rinaldo mantovano, his disciples, and so well, in truth, that they seem to be alive. from this hall one passes into a room which is at one corner of the palace, and has the vaulting most beautifully wrought with compartments in stucco-work and varied mouldings, touched in certain places with gold. these mouldings divide the surface into four octagons, which enclose a picture in the highest part of the vaulting, in which is cupid marrying psyche in the sight of jove, who is on high, illumined by a dazzling celestial light, and in the presence of all the gods. it would not be possible to find anything executed with more grace or better draughtsmanship than this scene, for giulio foreshortened the figures so well, with a view to their being seen from below, that some of them, although they are scarcely one braccio in length, appear when seen from the ground to be three braccia high; and, in truth, they are wrought with marvellous art and ingenuity, giulio having succeeded in so contriving them, that, besides seeming to be alive (so strong is the relief), they deceive the human eye with a most pleasing illusion. in the octagons are all the earlier stories of psyche, showing the adversities that came upon her through the wrath of venus, and all executed with the same beauty and perfection; in other angles are many loves, as likewise in the windows, producing various effects in accordance with the spaces where they are; and the whole of the vaulting is painted in oils by the hands of the above-mentioned benedetto and rinaldo. the rest of the stories of psyche are on the walls below, and these are the largest. in one in fresco is psyche in the bath; and the loves are bathing her, and then wiping her dry with most beautiful gestures. in another part is mercury preparing the banquet, while psyche is bathing, with the bacchantes sounding instruments; and there are the graces adorning the table with flowers in a beautiful manner. there is also silenus supported by satyrs, with his ass, and a goat lying down, which has two children sucking at its udder; and in that company is bacchus, who has two tigers at his feet, and stands leaning with one arm on the credence, on one side of which is a camel, and on the other an elephant. this credence, which is barrel-shaped, is adorned with festoons of verdure and flowers, and all covered with vines laden with bunches of grapes and leaves, under which are three rows of bizarre vases, basins, drinking-cups, tazze, goblets, and other things of that kind in various forms and fantastic shapes, and so lustrous, that they seem to be of real silver and gold, being counterfeited with a simple yellow and other colours, and that so well, that they bear witness to the extraordinary genius and art of giulio, who proved in this part of the work that he was rich, versatile, and abundant in invention and craftsmanship. not far away may be seen psyche, who, surrounded by many women who are serving and attiring her, sees phoebus appearing in the distance among the hills in the chariot of the sun, which is drawn by four horses; while zephyr is lying nude upon some clouds, and is blowing gentle breezes through a horn that he has in his mouth, which make the air round psyche balmy and soft. these stories were engraved not many years since after the designs of battista franco of venice, who copied them exactly as they were painted from the great cartoons of giulio by benedetto of pescia and rinaldo mantovano, who carried into execution all the stories except the bacchus, the silenus, and the two children suckled by the goat; although it is true that the work was afterwards retouched almost all over by giulio, so that it is very much as if it had been all painted by him. this method, which he learned from raffaello, his instructor, is very useful to young men, who in this way obtain practice and thereby generally become excellent masters. and although some persuade themselves that they are greater than those who keep them at work, such fellows, if their guide fails them before they are at the end, or if they are deprived of the design and directions for the work, learn that through having lost or abandoned that guidance too early they are wandering like blind men in an infinite sea of errors. but to return to the apartments of the tè; from that room of psyche one passes into another full of double friezes with figures in low-relief, executed in stucco after the designs of giulio by francesco primaticcio of bologna, then a young man, and by giovan battista mantovano, in which friezes are all the soldiers that are on trajan's column at rome, wrought in a beautiful manner. and on the ceiling, or rather soffit, of an antechamber is painted in oils the scene when icarus, having been taught by his father dædalus, seeks to rise too high in his flight, and, after seeing the sign of cancer and the chariot of the sun, which is drawn by four horses in foreshortening, near the sign of leo, is left without his wings, the wax being consumed by the heat of the sun; and near this the same icarus may be seen hurtling through the air, and almost falling upon those who gaze at him, his face dark with the shadow of death. this invention was so well conceived and imagined by giulio, that it seems to be real and true, for in it one sees the fierce heat of the sun burning the wretched youth's wings, the flaming fire gives out smoke, and one almost hears the crackling of the burning plumes, while death may be seen carved in the face of icarus, and in that of dædalus the most bitter sorrow and agony. in our book of drawings by various painters is the original design of this very beautiful scene, by the hand of giulio himself, who executed in the same place the stories of the twelve months of the year, showing all that is done in each of them in the arts most practised by mankind--paintings which are notable no less for their fantastic and delightful character and their beauty of invention than for the judgment and diligence with which they were executed. after passing the great loggia, which is adorned with stucco-work and with many arms and various other bizarre ornaments, one comes to some rooms filled with such a variety of fantasies, that the brain reels at the thought of them. for giulio, who was very fanciful and ingenious, wishing to demonstrate his worth, resolved to make, at an angle of the palace which formed a corner similar to that of the room of psyche described above, an apartment the masonry of which should be in keeping with the painting, in order to deceive as much as possible all who might see it. he therefore had double foundations of great depth sunk at that corner, which was in a marshy place, and over that angle he constructed a large round room, with very thick walls, to the end that the four external angles of the masonry might be strong enough to be able to support a double vault, round after the manner of an oven. this done, he caused to be built at the corners right round the room, in the proper places, the doors, windows, and fireplace, all of rustic stones rough-hewn as if by chance, and, as it were, disjointed and awry, insomuch that they appeared to be really hanging over to one side and falling down. having built this room in such strange fashion, he set himself to paint in it the most fantastic composition that he was able to invent--namely, jove hurling his thunderbolts against the giants. and so, depicting heaven on the highest part of the vaulting, he placed there the throne of jove, representing it as seen in foreshortening from below and from the front, within a round temple, supported by open columns of the ionic order, with his canopy over the centre of the throne, and with his eagle; and all was poised upon the clouds. lower down he painted jove in anger, slaying the proud giants with his thunderbolts, and below him is juno, assisting him; and around them are the winds, with strange countenances, blowing towards the earth, while the goddess ops turns with her lions at the terrible noise of the thunder, as also do the other gods and goddesses, and venus in particular, who is at the side of mars; and momus, with his arms outstretched, appears to fear that heaven may be falling headlong down, and yet he stands motionless. the graces, likewise, are standing filled with dread, and beside them, in like manner, the hours. all the deities, in short, are taking to flight with their chariots. the moon, saturn, and janus are going towards the lightest of the clouds, in order to withdraw from that terrible uproar and turmoil, and the same does neptune, who, with his dolphins, appears to be seeking to support himself on his trident. pallas, with the nine muses, stands wondering what horrible thing this may be, and pan, embracing a nymph who is trembling with fear, seems to wish to save her from the glowing fires and the lightning-flashes with which the heavens are filled. apollo stands in the chariot of the sun, and some of the hours seem to be seeking to restrain the course of his horses. bacchus and silenus, with satyrs and nymphs, betray the greatest terror, and vulcan, with his ponderous hammer on one shoulder, gazes towards hercules, who is speaking of this event with mercury, beside whom is pomona all in dismay, as are also vertumnus and all the other gods dispersed throughout that heaven, in which all the effects of fear are so well expressed, both in those who are standing and in those who are flying, that it is not possible, i do not say to see, but even to imagine a more beautiful fantasy in painting than this one. in the parts below, that is, on the walls that stand upright, underneath the end of the curve of the vaulting, are the giants, some of whom, those below jove, have upon their backs mountains and immense rocks which they support with their stout shoulders, in order to pile them up and thus ascend to heaven, while their ruin is preparing, for jove is thundering and the whole heaven burning with anger against them; and it appears not only that the gods are dismayed by the presumptuous boldness of the giants, upon whom they are hurling mountains, but that the whole world is upside down and, as it were, come to its last day. in this part giulio painted briareus in a dark cavern, almost covered with vast fragments of mountains, and the other giants all crushed and some dead beneath the ruins of the mountains. besides this, through an opening in the darkness of a grotto, which reveals a distant landscape painted with beautiful judgment, may be seen many giants flying, all smitten by the thunderbolts of jove, and, as it were, on the point of being overwhelmed at that moment by the fragments of the mountains, like the others. in another part giulio depicted other giants, upon whom are falling temples, columns, and other pieces of buildings, making a vast slaughter and havoc of those proud beings. and in this part, among those falling fragments of buildings, stands the fireplace of the room, which, when there is a fire in it, makes it appear as if the giants are burning, for pluto is painted there, flying towards the centre with his chariot drawn by lean horses, and accompanied by the furies of hell; and thus giulio, not departing from the subject of the story with this invention of the fire, made a most beautiful adornment for the fireplace. in this work, moreover, in order to render it the more fearsome and terrible, giulio represented the giants, huge and fantastic in aspect, falling to the earth, smitten in various ways by the lightnings and thunderbolts; some in the foreground and others in the background, some dead, others wounded, and others again covered by mountains and the ruins of buildings. wherefore let no one ever think to see any work of the brush more horrible and terrifying, or more natural than this one; and whoever enters that room and sees the windows, doors, and other suchlike things all awry and, as it were, on the point of falling, and the mountains and buildings hurtling down, cannot but fear that everything will fall upon him, and, above all, as he sees the gods in the heaven rushing, some here, some there, and all in flight. and what is most marvellous in the work is to see that the whole of the painting has neither beginning nor end, but is so well joined and connected together, without any divisions or ornamental partitions, that the things which are near the buildings appear very large, and those in the distance, where the landscapes are, go on receding into infinity; whence that room, which is not more than fifteen braccia in length, has the appearance of open country. moreover, the pavement being of small round stones set on edge, and the lower part of the upright walls being painted with similar stones, there is no sharp angle to be seen, and that level surface has the effect of a vast expanse, which was executed with much judgment and beautiful art by giulio, to whom our craftsmen are much indebted for such inventions. in this work the above-mentioned rinaldo mantovano became a perfect colourist, for he carried the whole of it into execution after the cartoons of giulio, as well as the other rooms. and if this painter had not been snatched from the world so young, even as he did honour to giulio during his lifetime, so he would have done honour (to himself) after giulio's death. [illustration: the destruction of the giants by the thunderbolts of jove (_after the fresco by =giulio romano=. mantua: palazzo del tè, sala dei giganti_) _alinari_] in addition to this palace, in which giulio executed many other works worthy to be praised, of which, in order to avoid prolixity, i shall say nothing, he reconstructed with masonry many rooms in the castle where the duke lives at mantua, and made two very large spiral staircases, with very rich apartments adorned all over with stucco. in one hall he caused the whole of the story of troy and the trojan war to be painted, and likewise twelve scenes in oils in an antechamber, below the heads of the twelve emperors previously painted there by tiziano vecelli, which are all held to be excellent. in like manner, at marmirolo, a place five miles distant from mantua, a most commodious building was erected after the design of giulio and under his direction, with large paintings no less beautiful than those of the castle and of the palace of the tè. the same master painted an altar-piece in oils for the chapel of signora isabella buschetta in s. andrea at mantua, of our lady in the act of adoring the infant jesus, who is lying on the ground, with s. joseph, the ass and the ox near a manger, and on one side s. john the evangelist, and s. longinus on the other, figures of the size of life. next, on the walls of the same chapel, he caused rinaldo to paint two very beautiful scenes after his own designs; on one, the crucifixion of jesus christ, with the thieves, some angels in the air, and on the ground the ministers of the crucifixion and the maries, with many horses, in which he always delighted, making them beautiful to a marvel, and many soldiers in various attitudes; and, on the other, the scene when the blood of christ was discovered in the time of the countess matilda, which was a most beautiful work. giulio then painted with his own hand for duke federigo a picture of our lady washing the little jesus christ, who is standing in a basin, while a little s. john is pouring out the water from a vase. both of these figures, which are of the size of life, are very beautiful; and in the distance are small figures, from the waist upwards, of some ladies who are coming to visit the madonna. this picture was afterwards presented by the duke to signora isabella buschetta, of which lady giulio subsequently made a most beautiful portrait in a little picture of the nativity of christ, one braccio in height, which is now in the possession of signor vespasiano gonzaga, together with another picture presented to him by duke federigo, and likewise by the hand of giulio, in which are a young man and a young woman embracing each other on a bed, in the act of caressing one another, while an old woman peeps at them secretly from behind a door--figures which are little less than life-size, and very graceful. in the house of the same person is another very excellent picture of a most beautiful s. jerome, also by the hand of giulio. and in the possession of count niccola maffei is a picture of alexander the great, of the size of life, with a victory in his hand, copied from an ancient medal, which is a work of great beauty. after these works, giulio painted in fresco over a chimney-piece, for m. girolamo, the organist of the duomo at mantua, who was very much his friend, a vulcan who is working his bellows with one hand and holding with the other, with a pair of tongs, the iron head of an arrow that he is forging, while venus is tempering in a vase some already made and placing them in cupid's quiver. this is one of the most beautiful works that giulio ever executed; and there is little else in fresco by his hand to be seen. for s. domenico, at the commission of m. lodovico da fermo, he painted an altar-piece of the dead christ, whom joseph and nicodemus are preparing to lay in the sepulchre, and near them are his mother, the other maries, and s. john the evangelist. and a little picture, in which he also painted a dead christ, is in the house of the florentine tommaso da empoli at venice. at the same time when he was executing these and other pictures, it happened that signor giovanni de' medici, having been wounded by a musket-ball, was carried to mantua, where he died. whereupon m. pietro aretino, who was the devoted servant of that lord, and very much the friend of giulio, desired that giulio should mould a likeness of him with his own hand as he lay dead; and he, therefore, having taken a cast from the face of the dead man, executed a portrait from it, which remained for many years afterwards in the possession of the same aretino. for the entry of the emperor charles v into mantua, giulio, by order of the duke, made many most beautiful festive preparations in the form of arches, scenery for dramas, and a number of other things; in which inventions giulio had no equal, nor was there ever any man more fanciful in preparing masquerades and in designing extravagant costumes for jousts, festivals, and tournaments, as was seen at that time with amazement and marvel by the emperor charles and by all who were present. besides this, at different times he gave so many designs for chapels, houses, gardens, and façades throughout the whole of mantua, and he so delighted to embellish and adorn the city, that, whereas it was formerly buried in mud and at times full of stinking water and almost uninhabitable, he brought it to such a condition that at the present day, thanks to his industry, it is dry, healthy, and altogether pleasing and delightful. while giulio was in the service of that duke, one year the po, bursting its banks, inundated mantua in such a manner, that in certain low-lying parts of the city the water rose to the height of nearly four braccia, insomuch that for a long time frogs lived in them almost all the year round. giulio, therefore, after pondering in what way he might put this right, so went to work that for the time being the city was restored to its former condition; and to the end that the same might not happen another time, he contrived to have the streets on that side raised so much, by command of the duke, that they came above the level of the water, and the buildings stood in safety. in that part of the city the houses were small, slightly built, and of no great importance, and he gave orders that they should be pulled down, in order to raise the streets and bring that quarter to a better state, and that new houses, larger and more beautiful, should be built there, to the advantage and improvement of the city. to this measure many opposed themselves, saying to the duke that giulio was doing too much havoc; but he would not hear any of them--nay, he made giulio superintendent of the streets at that very time, and decreed that no one should build in that city save under giulio's direction. on which account many complaining and some even threatening giulio, this came to the ears of the duke, who used such words in his favour as made it known that if they did anything to the despite or injury of giulio, he would count it as done to himself, and would make an example of them. the duke was so enamoured of the excellence of giulio, that he could not live without him; and giulio, on his part, bore to that lord the greatest reverence that it is possible to imagine. wherefore he never asked a favour for himself or for others without obtaining it, and when he died it was found that with all that he had received from the duke he had an income of more than a thousand ducats. giulio built a house for himself in mantua, opposite to s. barnaba, on the outer side of which he made a fantastic façade, all wrought with coloured stucco, and the interior he caused to be all painted and wrought likewise with stucco; and he found place in it for many antiquities brought from rome and others received from the duke, to whom he gave many of his own. he made so many designs both for mantua and for places in its neighbourhood, that it was a thing incredible; for, as has been told, no palaces or other buildings of importance could be erected, particularly in the city, save after his design. he rebuilt upon the old walls the church of s. benedetto, a rich and vast seat of black friars at mantua, near the po; and the whole church was embellished with most beautiful paintings and altar-pieces from designs by his hand. and since his works were very highly prized throughout lombardy, it pleased gian matteo giberti, bishop of verona, to have the tribune of the duomo of that city all painted, as has been related in another place, by il moro the veronese, after designs by giulio. for the duke of ferrara, also, he executed many designs for tapestries, which were afterwards woven in silk and gold by maestro niccolò and giovan battista rosso, both flemings; and of these there are engravings to be seen, executed by giovan battista mantovano, who engraved a vast number of things drawn by giulio, and in particular, besides three drawings of battles engraved by others, a physician who is applying cupping-glasses to the shoulders of a woman, and the flight of our lady into egypt, with joseph holding the ass by the halter, and some angels bending down a date-palm in order that christ may pluck the fruit. the same master engraved, also after the designs of giulio, the wolf on the tiber suckling romulus and remus, and four stories of pluto, jove and neptune, who are dividing the heavens, the earth, and the sea among them by lot; and likewise the goat amaltheia, which, held by melissa, is giving suck to jove, and a large plate of many men in a prison, tortured in various ways. there were also printed, after the inventions of giulio, scipio and hannibal holding a parley with their armies on the banks of the river; the nativity of s. john the baptist, which was engraved by sebastiano da reggio, and many other works engraved and printed in italy. in flanders and in france, likewise, have been printed innumerable sheets from designs by giulio, of which, although they are very beautiful, there is no need to make mention, nor of all his drawings, seeing that he made them, so to speak, in loads. let it be enough to say that he was so facile in every field of art, and particularly in drawing, that we have no record of any one who has produced more than he did. giulio, who was very versatile, was able to discourse on every subject, but above all on medals, upon which he spent large sums of money and much time, in order to gain knowledge of them. and although he was employed almost always in great works, this did not mean that he would not set his hand at times to the most trifling matters in order to oblige his patron and his friends; and no sooner had one opened his mouth to explain to him his conception than he had understood it and drawn it. among the many rare things that he had in his house was the portrait from life of albrecht dürer on a piece of fine rheims cloth, by the hand of albrecht himself, who sent it, as has been related in another place, as a present to raffaello da urbino. this portrait was an exquisite thing, for it had been coloured in gouache with much diligence with water-colours, and albrecht had executed it without using lead-white, availing himself in its stead of the white of the cloth, with the delicate threads of which he had so well rendered the hairs of the beard, that it was a thing scarcely possible to imagine, much less to do; and when held up to the light it showed through on either side. this portrait, which was very dear to giulio, he showed to me himself as a miracle, when i went during his lifetime to mantua on some affairs of my own. at the death of duke federigo, by whom giulio had been beloved beyond belief, he was so overcome with sorrow, that he would have left mantua, if the cardinal, the brother of the duke, on whom the government of the state had descended because the sons of federigo were very young, had not detained him in that city, where he had a wife and children, houses, villas, and all the other possessions that are proper to a gentleman of means. and this the cardinal did (aided by those reasons) from a wish to avail himself of the advice and assistance of giulio in renovating, or rather building almost entirely anew, the duomo of that city; to which work giulio set his hand, and carried it well on in a very beautiful form. at this time giorgio vasari, who was much the friend of giulio, although they did not know one another save only by reputation and by letters, in going to venice, took the road by mantua, in order to see giulio and his works. and so, having arrived in that city, and going to find his friend, when they met, although they had never seen each other, they knew one another no less surely than if they had been together in person a thousand times. at which giulio was so filled with joy and contentment, that for four days he never left him, showing him all his works, and in particular all the ground-plans of the ancient edifices in rome, naples, pozzuolo, and campania, and of all the other fine antiquities of which anything is known, drawn partly by him and partly by others. then, opening a very large press, he showed to giorgio the ground-plans of all the buildings that had been erected after his designs and under his direction, not only in mantua and in rome, but throughout all lombardy, which were so beautiful, that i, for my part, do not believe that there are to be seen any architectural inventions more original, more lovely, or better composed. after this, the cardinal asking giorgio what he thought of the works of giulio, giorgio answered in the presence of giulio that they were such that he deserved to have a statue of himself placed at every corner of the city, and that, since he had given that city a new life, the half of the state would not be a sufficient reward for the labours and abilities of giulio; to which the cardinal answered that giulio was more the master of that state than he was himself. and since giulio was very loving, especially towards his friends, there was no mark of love and affection that giorgio did not receive from him. the same vasari, having left mantua and gone to venice, returned to rome at the very time when michelagnolo had just uncovered his last judgment in the chapel; and he sent to giulio by m. nino nini of cortona, the secretary of the aforesaid cardinal of mantua, three sheets containing the seven mortal sins, copied from that last judgment of michelagnolo, which were welcome in no ordinary manner to giulio, both as being what they were, and because he had at that time to paint a chapel in the palace for the cardinal, and they served to inspire him to greater things than those that he had in mind. putting forward all possible effort, therefore, to make a most beautiful cartoon, he drew in it with fine fancy the scene of peter and andrew leaving their nets at the call of christ, in order to follow him, and to be thenceforward, not fishers of fishes, but fishers of men. and this cartoon, which proved to be the most beautiful that giulio had ever made, was afterwards carried into execution by the painter fermo ghisoni, a pupil of giulio, and now an excellent master. not long afterwards the superintendents of the building of s. petronio at bologna, being desirous to make a beginning with the façade of that church, succeeded after great difficulty in inducing giulio to go there, in company with a milanese architect called tofano lombardino, a man in great repute at that time in lombardy for the many buildings by his hand that were to be seen in that country. these masters, then, made many designs, those of baldassarre peruzzi of siena having been lost; and one that giulio made, among others, was so beautiful and so well ordered, that he rightly received very great praise for it from that people, and was rewarded with most liberal gifts on his return to mantua. meanwhile, antonio da san gallo having died at rome about that time, the superintendents of the building of s. pietro had been thereby left in no little embarrassment, not knowing to whom to turn or on whom to lay the charge of carrying that great fabric to completion after the plan already begun; but they thought that no one could be more fitted for this than giulio romano, for they all knew how great were his worth and excellence. and so, surmising that he would accept such a charge more than willingly in order to repatriate himself in an honourable manner and with a good salary, they caused some of his friends to approach him, but in vain, for the reason that, although he would have gone with the greatest willingness, two things prevented him--the cardinal would in no way consent to his departure, and his wife, with her relatives and friends, used every possible means to dissuade him. neither of these two reasons, perchance, would have prevailed with him, if he had not happened to be in somewhat feeble health at that time; for, having considered how much honour and profit he might secure for himself and his children by accepting so handsome a proposal, he was already fully disposed to make every effort not to be hindered in the matter by the cardinal, when his malady began to grow worse. however, since it had been ordained on high that he should go no more to rome, and that this should be the end and conclusion of his life, in a few days, what with his vexation and his malady, he died at mantua, which city might well have allowed him, even as he had embellished her, so also to honour and adorn his native city of rome. giulio died at the age of fifty-four, leaving only one male child, to whom he had given the name of raffaello out of regard for the memory of his master. this young raffaello had scarcely learned the first rudiments of art, showing signs of being destined to become an able master, when he also died, not many years after, together with his mother, giulio's wife; wherefore there remained no descendant of giulio save a daughter called virginia, who still lives in mantua, married to ercole malatesta. giulio, whose death was an infinite grief to all who knew him, was given burial in s. barnaba, where it was proposed that some honourable memorial should be erected to him; but his wife and children, postponing the matter from one day to another, themselves died for the most part without doing anything. it is indeed a sad thing that there has been no one who has treasured in any way the memory of a man who did so much to adorn that city, save only those who availed themselves of his services, who have often remembered him in their necessities. but his own talent, which did him so much honour in his lifetime, has secured for him after death, in the form of his own works, an everlasting monument which time, with all its years, can never destroy. giulio was neither tall nor short of stature, and rather stout than slight in build. he had black hair, beautiful features, and eyes dark and merry, and he was very loving, regular in all his actions, and frugal in eating, but fond of dressing and living in honourable fashion. he had disciples in plenty, but the best were giovanni da lione, raffaello dal colle of borgo, benedetto pagni of pescia, figurino da faenza, rinaldo mantovano, giovan battista mantovano, and fermo ghisoni, who still lives in mantua and does him honour, being an excellent painter. and the same may be said for benedetto, who has executed many works in his native city of pescia, and an altar-piece for the duomo of pisa, which is in the office of works, and also a picture of our lady in which, with a poetical invention full of grace and beauty, he painted a figure of florence presenting to her the dignities of the house of medici; which picture is now in the possession of signor mondragone, a spaniard much in favour with that most illustrious lord the prince of florence. giulio died on the day of all saints in the year , and over his tomb was placed the following epitaph: romanus moriens secum tres julius artes abstulit, haud mirum, quatuor unus erat. footnote: [ ] giuliano leno. fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo life of fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo painter the first profession of sebastiano, so many declare, was not painting, but music, since, besides being a singer, he much delighted to play various kinds of instruments, and particularly the lute, because on that instrument all the parts can be played, without any accompaniment. this art made him for a time very dear to the gentlemen of venice, with whom, as a man of talent, he always associated on intimate terms. then, having been seized while still young with a desire to give his attention to painting, he learned the first rudiments from giovanni bellini, at that time an old man. and afterwards, when giorgione da castelfranco had established in that city the methods of the modern manner, with its superior harmony and its brilliancy of colouring, sebastiano left giovanni and placed himself under giorgione, with whom he stayed so long that in great measure he acquired his manner. he thus executed in venice some portraits from life that were very like; among others, that of the frenchman verdelotto, a most excellent musician, who was then chapel-master in s. marco, and in the same picture that of his companion uberto, a singer, which picture verdelotto took with him to florence when he became chapel-master in s. giovanni; and at the present day the sculptor francesco da san gallo has it in his house. about that time he also painted for s. giovanni grisostomo at venice an altar-piece with some figures which incline so much to the manner of giorgione, that they have been sometimes held by people without much knowledge of the matters of art to be by the hand of giorgione himself. this altar-piece is very beautiful, and executed with such a manner of colouring that it has great relief. the fame of the abilities of sebastiano thus spreading abroad, agostino chigi of siena, a very rich merchant, who had many affairs in venice, hearing him much praised in rome, sought to draw him to that city, being attracted towards him because, besides his painting, he knew so well how to play on the lute, and was sweet and pleasant in his conversation. nor was it very difficult to draw sebastiano to rome, since he knew how much that place had always been the benefactress and common mother-city of all beautiful intellects, and he went thither with no ordinary willingness. having therefore gone to rome, agostino set him to work, and the first thing that he caused him to do was to paint the little arches that are over the loggia which looks into the garden of agostino's palace in the trastevere, where baldassarre of siena had painted all the vaulting, on which little arches sebastiano painted some poetical compositions in the manner that he had brought from venice, which was very different from that which was followed in rome by the able painters of that day. after this work, raffaello having executed a story of galatea in the same place, sebastiano, at the desire of agostino, painted beside it a polyphemus in fresco, in which, spurred by rivalry with baldassarre of siena and then with raffaello, he strove his utmost to surpass himself, whatever may have been the result. he likewise painted some works in oils, for which, from his having learned from giorgione a method of colouring of no little softness, he was held in vast account at rome. [illustration: fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo: portrait of a lady (_florence; uffizi, . canvas_)] while sebastiano was executing these works in rome, raffaello da urbino had risen into such credit as a painter, that his friends and adherents said that his pictures were more in accord with the rules of painting than those of michelagnolo, being pleasing in colour, beautiful in invention, and charming in the expressions, with design in keeping with the rest; and that those of buonarroti had none of those qualities, with the exception of the design. and for such reasons these admirers judged that in the whole field of painting raffaello was, if not more excellent than michelagnolo, at least his equal; but in colouring they would have it that he surpassed buonarroti without a doubt. these humours, having spread among a number of craftsmen who preferred the grace of raffaello to the profundity of michelagnolo, had so increased that many, for various reasons of interest, were more favourable in their judgments to raffaello than to michelagnolo. but sebastiano was in no way a follower of that faction, since, being a man of exquisite judgment, he knew the value of each of the two to perfection. the mind of michelagnolo, therefore, drew towards sebastiano, whose colouring and grace pleased him much, and he took him under his protection, thinking that, if he were to assist sebastiano in design, he would be able by this means, without working himself, to confound those who held such an opinion, remaining under cover of a third person as judge to decide which of them was the best. while the matter stood thus, and some works that sebastiano had executed were being much extolled, and even exalted to infinite heights on account of the praise that michelagnolo bestowed on them, besides the fact that they were in themselves beautiful and worthy of praise, a certain person from viterbo, i know not who, much in favour with the pope, commissioned sebastiano to paint a dead christ, with a madonna who is weeping over him, for a chapel that he had caused to be built in s. francesco at viterbo. that work was held by all who saw it to be truly most beautiful, for the invention and the cartoon were by michelagnolo, although it was finished with great diligence by sebastiano, who painted in it a dark landscape that was much extolled, and thereby sebastiano acquired very great credit, and confirmed the opinions of those who favoured him. wherefore pier francesco borgherini, a florentine merchant, who had taken over a chapel in s. pietro in montorio, which is on the right as one enters the church, allotted it at the suggestion of michelagnolo to sebastiano, because borgherini thought that michelagnolo would execute the design of the whole work, as indeed he did. sebastiano, therefore, having set to work, executed it with such zeal and diligence, that it was held to be, as it is, a very beautiful piece of painting. from the small design by michelagnolo he made some larger ones for his own convenience, and one of these, a very beautiful thing, which he drew with his own hand, is in our book. thinking that he had discovered the true method of painting in oils on walls, sebastiano covered the rough-cast of that chapel with an incrustation which seemed to him likely to be suitable for this purpose; and the whole of that part in which is christ being scourged at the column he executed in oils on the wall. nor must i omit to tell that many believe not only that michelagnolo made the small design for this work, but also that the above-mentioned christ who is being scourged at the column was outlined by him, for there is a vast difference between the excellence of this figure and that of the others. even if sebastiano had executed no other work but this, for it alone he would deserve to be praised to all eternity, seeing that, in addition to the heads, which are very well painted, there are in the work some hands and feet of great beauty; and although his manner was a little hard, on account of the labour that he endured in the things that he counterfeited, nevertheless he can be numbered among the good and praiseworthy craftsmen. above this scene he painted two prophets in fresco, and on the vaulting the transfiguration; and the two saints, s. peter and s. francis, who are on either side of the scene below, are very bold and animated figures. it is true that he laboured for six years over this little work, but when works are executed to perfection, one should not consider whether they have been finished quickly or slowly, although more praise is due to him who carries his labours to completion both quickly and well; and he who pleads haste as an excuse when his works do not give satisfaction, unless he has been forced to it, is accusing rather than excusing himself. when this work was uncovered, it was seen that sebastiano had done well, although he had toiled much over painting it, so that the evil tongues were silenced and there were few who found fault with him. [illustration: the flagellation (_after the oil fresco by =fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo=. rome: s. pietro in montorio_) _anderson_] after this, when raffaello painted for cardinal de' medici, for sending to france, that altar-piece containing the transfiguration of christ which was placed after his death on the principal altar of s. pietro a montorio, sebastiano also executed at the same time another altar-piece of the same size, as it were in competition with raffaello, of lazarus being raised from the dead four days after death, which was counterfeited and painted with supreme diligence under the direction of michelagnolo, and in some parts from his design. these altar-pieces, when finished, were publicly exhibited together in the consistory, and were vastly extolled, both the one and the other; and although the works of raffaello had no equals in their perfect grace and beauty, nevertheless the labours of sebastiano were also praised by all without exception. one of these pictures was sent by cardinal giulio de' medici to his episcopal palace at narbonne in france, and the other was placed in the cancelleria, where it remained until it was taken to s. pietro a montorio, together with the ornamental frame that giovan barile executed for it. by means of this work sebastiano became closely connected with the cardinal, and was therefore honourably rewarded during his pontificate. not long afterwards, raffaello having passed away, the first place in the art of painting was unanimously granted by all, thanks to the favour of michelagnolo, to sebastiano, and giulio romano, giovan francesco of florence, perino del vaga, polidoro, maturino, baldassarre of siena, and all the others had to give way. wherefore agostino chigi, who had been having a chapel and tomb built for himself under the direction of raffaello in s. maria del popolo, came to an agreement with sebastiano that he should paint it all; whereupon the screen was made, but the chapel remained covered, without ever being seen by anyone, until the year , at which time luigi, the son of agostino, resolved that, although his father had not been able to see it finished, he at least would do so. and so, the chapel and the altar-piece being entrusted to francesco salviati, he carried the work in a short time to that perfection which it had not received from the dilatory and irresolute sebastiano, who, so far as one can see, did little work there, although we find that he obtained from the liberality of agostino and his heirs much more than would have been due to him even if he had finished it completely, which he did not do, either because he was weary of the labours of art, or because he was too much wrapped up in comforts and pleasures. and he did the same to m. filippo da siena, clerk of the chamber, for whom he began a scene in oils on the wall above the high-altar of the pace at rome, and never finished it; wherefore the friars, in despair about it, were obliged to take away the staging, which obstructed their church, to cover the work with a cloth, and to have patience for as long as the life of sebastiano lasted. after his death, the friars uncovered the work, and it was found that what he had done was most beautiful painting, for the reason that in the part where he represented our lady visiting s. elizabeth, there are many women portrayed from life that are very beautiful, and painted with consummate grace. but it may be seen here that this man endured extraordinary labour in all the works that he produced, and that he was not able to execute them with that facility which nature and study are wont at times to give to him who delights in working and exercises his hand continually. and of the truth of this there is also a proof in the same pace, in the chapel of agostino chigi, where raffaello had executed the sibyls and prophets; for sebastiano, wishing to paint some things on the stone in the niche that remained to be painted below, in order to surpass raffaello, caused it to be incrusted with peperino-stone, the joinings being filled in with fired stucco; but he spent so much time on cogitations that he left the wall bare, for, after it had remained thus for ten years, he died. it is true that a few portraits from life could be obtained with ease from sebastiano, because he could finish these with more facility and promptitude; but it was quite otherwise with stories and other figures. to tell the truth, the painting of portraits from life was his proper vocation, as may be seen from the portrait of marc' antonio colonna, which is so well executed that it seems to be alive, and also from those of ferdinando, marquis of pescara, and of signora vittoria colonna, which are very beautiful. he likewise made a portrait of adrian vi when he first arrived in rome, and one of cardinal hincfort. that cardinal desired that sebastiano should paint for him a chapel in s. maria de anima at rome; but he kept putting him off from one day to another, and the cardinal finally had it painted by the fleming michael, his compatriot, who painted there in fresco stories from the life of s. barbara, imitating our italian manner very well; and in the altar-piece he made a portrait of the same cardinal. but returning to sebastiano: he also took a portrait of signor federigo da bozzolo, and one of a captain in armour, i know not who, which is in the possession of giulio de' nobili at florence. he painted a woman in roman dress, which is in the house of luca torrigiani; and giovan battista cavalcanti has a head by the same master's hand, which is not completely finished. he executed a picture of our lady covering the child with a piece of drapery, which was a rare work; and cardinal farnese now has it in his guardaroba. and he sketched, but did not carry to completion, a very beautiful altar-piece of s. michael standing over a large figure of the devil, which was to be sent to the king of france, who had previously received a picture by the hand of the same master. then, after cardinal giulio de' medici had been elected supreme pontiff and had taken the name of clement vii, he gave sebastiano to understand through the bishop of vasona that the time to show him favour had come, and that he would become aware of this when the occasion arose. and in the meantime, while living in these high hopes, sebastiano, who had no equal in portrait-painting, executed many from life, and among others one of pope clement, who was not then wearing a beard, or rather, two of him, one of which came into the possession of the bishop of vasona, and the other, which is much larger, showing a seated figure from the knees upwards, is in the house of sebastiano at rome. he also painted a portrait of the florentine anton francesco degli albizzi, who happened to be then in rome on some business, and he made it such that it appeared to be not painted but really alive; wherefore anton francesco sent it to florence as a pearl of great price. the head and hands of this portrait were things truly marvellous, to say nothing of the beautiful execution of the velvets, the linings, the satins, and all the other parts of the picture; and since sebastiano was indeed superior to all other men in the perfect delicacy and excellence of his portrait-painting, all florence was amazed at this portrait of anton francesco. at this same time he also executed a portrait of messer pietro aretino, and made it such that, besides being a good likeness, it is an astounding piece of painting, for there may be seen in it five or six different kinds of black in the clothes that he is wearing--velvet, satin, ormuzine, damask, and cloth--and, over and above those blacks, a beard of the deepest black, painted in such beautiful detail, that the real beard could not be more natural. this figure holds in the hand a branch of laurel and a scroll, on which is written the name of clement vii; and in front are two masks, one of virtue, which is beautiful, and another of vice, which is hideous. this picture m. pietro presented to his native city, and the people of arezzo have placed it in their public council chamber, thus doing honour to the memory of their talented fellow-citizen, and also receiving no less from him. after this, sebastiano made a portrait of andrea doria, which was in like manner an admirable work, and a head of the florentine baccio valori, which was also beautiful beyond belief. in the meantime fra mariano fetti, friar of the piombo, died, and sebastiano, remembering the promises made to him by the above-mentioned bishop of vasona, master of the household to his holiness, asked for the office of the piombo; whereupon, although giovanni da udine, who had also done much in the service of his holiness "in minoribus," and still continued to serve him, asked for the same office, the pope, moved by the prayers of the bishop, and also thinking that the talents of sebastiano deserved it, ordained that sebastiano should have the office, but should pay out of it to giovanni da udine an allowance of three hundred crowns. thus sebastiano assumed the friar's habit, and straightway felt his soul changed thereby, for, perceiving that he now had the means to satisfy his desires, he spent his time in repose without touching a brush, and recompensed himself with his comforts and his revenues for many misspent nights and laborious days; and whenever he happened to have something to do, he would drag himself to the work with such reluctance, that he might have been going to his death. from which one may learn how much our reason and the little wisdom of men are deceived, in that very often, nay, almost always, we covet the very opposite to that which we really need, and, as the tuscan proverb has it, in thinking to cross ourselves with a finger, poke it into our own eyes. it is the common opinion of men that rewards and honours spur the minds of mortals to the studies of those arts which they see to be the best remunerated, and that, on the contrary, to see that those who labour at these arts are not recompensed by such men as have the means, causes the same students to grow negligent and to abandon them. and for this reason both ancients and moderns censure as strongly as they are able those princes who do not support every kind of man of talent, and who do not give due honour and reward to all who labour valiantly in the arts. but, although this rule is for the most part a good one, it may be seen, nevertheless, that at times the liberality of just and magnanimous princes produces the contrary effect, for the reason that many are more useful and helpful to the world in a low or mediocre condition than they are when raised to greatness and to an abundance of all good things. and here we have an example, for the magnificent liberality of clement vii, bestowing too rich a reward on sebastiano viniziano, who had done excellent work as a painter in his service, was the reason that he changed from a zealous and industrious craftsman into one most idle and negligent, and that, whereas he laboured continually while he was living in poor circumstances and the rivalry between him and raffaello da urbino lasted, he did quite the opposite when he had enough for his contentment. be this as it may, let us leave it to the judgment of wise princes to consider how, when, towards whom, in what manner, and by what rule, they should exercise their liberality in the case of craftsmen and men of talent, and let us return to sebastiano. after he had been made friar of the piombo, he executed for the patriarch of aquileia, with great labour, christ bearing the cross, a half-length figure painted on stone--a work which was much extolled, particularly for the head and the hands, parts in which sebastiano was truly most excellent. not long afterwards the niece of the pope, who in time became queen of france, as she still is, having arrived in rome, fra sebastiano began a portrait of her; but this remained unfinished in the guardaroba of the pope. and a short time after this, cardinal ippolito de' medici having become enamoured of signora giulia gonzaga, who was then living at fondi, that cardinal sent sebastiano to that place, accompanied by four light horsemen, to take her portrait; and within a month he finished that portrait, which, being taken from the celestial beauty of that lady by a hand so masterly, proved to be a divine picture. wherefore, after it had been carried to rome, the labours of that craftsman were richly rewarded by the cardinal, who declared that this portrait surpassed by a great measure all those that sebastiano had ever executed up to that day, as indeed it did; and the work was afterwards sent to king francis of france, who had it placed in his palace of fontainebleau. [illustration: andrea doria (_after the painting by =fra sebastiano del piombo=. rome: palazzo doria_) _anderson_] this painter then introduced a new method of painting on stone, which pleased people greatly, for it appeared that by this means pictures could be made eternal, and such that neither fire nor worms could harm them. wherefore he began to paint many pictures on stone in this manner, surrounding them with ornaments of variegated kinds of stone, which, being polished, formed a very beautiful setting; although it is true that these pictures, with their ornaments, when finished, could not be transported or even moved, on account of their great weight, save with the greatest difficulty. many persons, then, attracted by the novelty of the work and by the beauty of his art, gave him earnest-money, in order that he might execute some for them; but he, delighting more to talk about such pictures than to work at them, always kept delaying everything. nevertheless he executed on stone a dead christ with the madonna, with an ornament also of stone, for don ferrante gonzaga, who sent it to spain. the whole work together was held to be very beautiful, and sebastiano was paid five hundred crowns for the painting by messer niccolò da cortona, agent in rome for the cardinal of mantua. in this kind of painting sebastiano was truly worthy of praise, for the reason that whereas domenico, his compatriot, who was the first to paint in oils on walls, and after him andrea dal castagno, antonio pollaiuolo, and piero pollaiuolo, failed to find the means of preventing the figures executed by them in this manner from becoming black and fading away very quickly, sebastiano did find it; wherefore the christ at the column, which he painted in s. pietro in montorio, has never changed down to our own time, and has the same freshness of colouring as on the first day. for he went about the work with such diligence that he used to make the coarse rough-cast of lime with a mixture of mastic and colophony, which, after melting it all together over the fire and applying it to the wall, he would then cause to be smoothed over with a mason's trowel made red-hot, or rather white-hot, in the fire; and his works have therefore been able to resist the damp and to preserve their colour very well without suffering any change. with the same mixture he worked on peperino-stone, white and variegated marble, porphyry, and slabs of other very hard kinds of stone, materials on which paintings can last a very long time; not to mention that this has shown how one may paint on silver, copper, tin, and other metals. this man found so much pleasure in cogitating and discoursing, that he would spend whole days without working; and when he did force himself to work, it was evident that he was suffering greatly in his mind, which was the chief reason that he was of the opinion that no price was large enough to pay for his works. for cardinal rangoni he painted a picture of a nude and very beautiful s. agatha being tortured in the breasts, which was an exquisite work, and this picture is now in the guardaroba of signor guidobaldo, duke of urbino, and is in no way inferior to the many other most beautiful pictures that are there, by the hands of raffaello da urbino, tiziano, and others. he also made a portrait from life of signor piero gonzaga, painted in oils on stone, which was a very fine work; but he toiled for three years over finishing it. now, when michelagnolo was in florence in the time of pope clement, engaged in the work of the new sacristy of s. lorenzo, giuliano bugiardini wished to paint for baccio valori a picture with the head of pope clement and that of baccio himself, and another for messer ottaviano de' medici of the same pontiff and the archbishop of capua. michelagnolo therefore sent to sebastiano to ask him to despatch from rome a head of the pope painted in oils with his own hand; and sebastiano painted one, which proved to be very beautiful, and sent it to him. after giuliano had made use of the head and had finished his pictures, michelagnolo, who was a close companion of the said messer ottaviano, made him a present of it; and of a truth, among the many heads that fra sebastiano executed, this is the most beautiful of all and the best likeness, as may be seen in the house of the heirs of messer ottaviano. the same master also took the portrait of pope paul farnese, as soon as he was elected supreme pontiff; and he began one of the duke of castro, his son, but left it unfinished, as he did with many other works with which he had made a beginning. fra sebastiano had a passing good house which he had built for himself near the popolo, and there he lived in the greatest contentment, without troubling to paint or work any more. he used often to say that it was a great fatigue to have to restrain in old age those ardours which in youth craftsmen are wont to welcome out of emulation and a desire for profit and honour, and that it was no less wise for a man to live in peace than to spend his days in restless labour in order to leave a name behind him after death, for all his works and labours had also in the end, sooner or later, to die. and even as he said these things, so he carried them into practice as well as he was able, for he always sought to have for his table all the best wines and the rarest luxuries that could be found, holding life in more account than art. being much the friend of all men of talent, he often had molza and messer gandolfo to supper, making right good cheer. he was also the intimate friend of messer francesco berni, the florentine, who wrote a poem to him; to which fra sebastiano answered with another, passing well, for, being very versatile, he was even able to set his hand to writing humorous tuscan verse. having been reproached by certain persons, who said that it was shameful that he would no longer work now that he had the means to live, fra sebastiano replied in this manner: "why will i not work now that i have the means to live? because there are now in the world men of genius who do in two months what i used to do in two years; and i believe that if i live long enough, and not so long, either, i shall find that everything has been painted. and since these stalwarts can do so much, it is well that there should also be one who does nothing, to the end that they may have the more to do." with these and similar pleasantries fra sebastiano was always diverting himself, being a man who was never anything but humorous and amusing; and, in truth, a better companion never lived. sebastiano, as has been related, was much beloved by michelagnolo. but it is also true that when the front wall of the papal chapel, where there is now the last judgment by the same buonarroti, was to be painted, there did arise some disdain between them, for fra sebastiano had persuaded the pope that he should make michelagnolo paint it in oils, whereas the latter would only do it in fresco. now, michelagnolo saying neither yea nor nay, the wall was prepared after the fashion of fra sebastiano, and michelagnolo stood thus for some months without setting his hand to the work. but at last, after being pressed, he said that he would only do it in fresco, and that painting in oils was an art for women and for leisurely and idle people like fra sebastiano. and so, after the incrustation laid on by order of the friar had been stripped off, and the whole surface had been covered with rough-cast in a manner suitable for working in fresco, michelagnolo set his hand to the work; but he never forgot the affront that he considered himself to have received from fra sebastiano, against whom he felt hatred almost to the day of the friar's death. finally, after fra sebastiano had come to such a state that he would not work or do any other thing but attend to the duties of his office as friar of the piombo, and enjoy the pleasures of life, at the age of sixty-two he fell sick of a most acute fever, which, being a ruddy person and of a full habit of body, threw him into such a heat that he rendered up his soul to god in a few days, after making a will and directing that his body should be carried to the tomb without any ceremony of priests or friars, or expenditure on lights, and that all that would have been spent thus should be distributed to poor persons, for the love of god; and so it was done. he was buried in the church of the popolo, in the month of june of the year . art suffered no great loss in his death, seeing that, as soon as he assumed the habit of friar of the piombo, he might have been numbered among those lost to her; although it is true that he was regretted for his pleasant conversation by many friends as well as craftsmen. many young men worked under sebastiano at various times in order to learn art, but they made little proficience, for from his example they learned little but the art of good living, excepting only tommaso laureti, a sicilian, who, besides many other works, has executed a picture full of grace at bologna, of a very beautiful venus, with love embracing and kissing her, which picture is in the house of m. francesco bolognetti. he has also painted a portrait of signor bernardino savelli, which is much extolled, and some other works of which there is no need to make mention. perino del vaga life of perino del vaga painter of florence a truly great gift is art, who, paying no regard to abundance of riches, to high estate, or to nobility of blood, embraces, protects, and uplifts from the ground a child of poverty much more often than one wrapped in the ease of wealth. and this heaven does in order to show how much power the influences of its stars and constellations have over us, distributing more of its favours to one, and to another less; which influences are for the most part the reason that we mortals come to be born with dispositions more or less fiery or sluggish, weak or strong, fierce or gentle, fortunate or unfortunate, and richer or poorer in talent. and whoever has any doubt of this, will be enlightened in this present life of perino del vaga, a painter of great excellence and genius. this perino, the son of a poor father, having been left an orphan as a little child and abandoned by his relatives, was guided and governed by art, whom he always acknowledged as his true mother and honoured without ceasing. and the studies of the art of painting were pursued by him with such zeal and diligence, that he was enabled in due time to execute those noble and famous decorations which have brought so much glory to genoa and to prince doria. wherefore we may believe without a doubt that it is heaven that raises men from those infinite depths in which they were born, to that summit of greatness to which they ascend, when they prove by labouring valiantly at their works that they are true followers of the sciences that they have chosen to learn; even as perino chose and pursued as his vocation the art of design, in which he proved himself full of grace and most excellent, or rather, absolutely perfect. and he not only equalled the ancients in stucco-work, but also equalled the best modern craftsmen in the whole field of painting, displaying all the excellence that could possibly be desired in a human intellect that seeks, in solving the difficulties of that art, to achieve beauty, grace, charm, and delicacy with colouring and with every other kind of ornament. but let us speak more particularly of his origin. there lived in the city of florence one giovanni buonaccorsi, who entered the service of charles viii, king of france, and fought in his wars, and, being a spirited and open-handed young man, spent all that he possessed in that service and in gaming, and finally lost his life therein. to him was born a son, who received the name of piero; and this son, after being left as an infant of two months old without his mother, who died of plague, was reared in the greatest misery at a farm, being suckled by a goat, until his father, having gone to bologna, took as his second wife a woman whose husband and children had died of plague; and she, with her plague-infected milk, finished nursing piero, who was now called pierino[ ] (a pet name such as it is a general custom to give to little children), and retained that name ever afterwards. he was then taken to florence by his father, who, on returning to france, left him with some relatives; and they, either because they had not the means, or because they would not accept the burdensome charge of maintaining him and having him taught some ingenious vocation, placed him with the apothecary of the pinadoro, to the end that he might learn that calling. but, not liking that profession, he was taken as shop-boy by the painter andrea de' ceri, who was pleased with the air and the ways of perino, and thought that he saw in him a certain lively spirit of intelligence from which it might be hoped that in time some good fruits would issue from him. andrea was no great painter; quite commonplace, indeed, and one of those who stand openly and publicly in their workshops, executing any kind of work, however mean; and he was wont to paint every year for the festival of s. john certain wax tapers which were carried as offerings, as they still are, together with the other tributes of the city; for which reason he was called andrea de' ceri, and from that name perino was afterwards called for some time perino de' ceri. andrea, then, took care of perino for some years, teaching him the rudiments of art as well as he could; but when the boy had reached the age of eleven, he was forced to seek for him some master better than himself. and so, having a straight friendship with ridolfo, the son of domenico ghirlandajo, who, as will be related, was held to be able and well practised in painting, andrea de' ceri placed perino with him, to the end that he might give his attention to design, and strive with all the zeal and love at his command to make in that art the proficience of which his great genius gave promise. whereupon, pursuing his studies, among the many young men whom ridolfo had in his workshop, all engaged in learning art, in a short time perino came to surpass all the rest, so great were his ardour and his eagerness. among them was one named toto del nunziata, who was to him as a spur to urge him on continually; which toto, likewise attaining in time to equality with the finest intellects, departed from florence and made his way with some florentine merchants to england, where he executed all his works, and was very richly rewarded by the king of that country, whom he also served in architecture, erecting, in particular, his principal palace. he and perino, then, working in emulation of one another, and pursuing the studies of art with supreme diligence, after no long time became very excellent. and perino, drawing from the cartoon of michelagnolo buonarroti in company with other young men, both florentines and strangers, won and held the first place among them all, insomuch that he was regarded with that expectation which was afterwards fulfilled in the beautiful works that he executed with so much excellence and art. there came to florence at that time the florentine painter vaga, a master of no great excellence, who was executing commonplace works at toscanella in the province of rome. having a superabundance of work, he was in need of assistance, and he desired to take back with him a companion and also a young man who might help him in design, in which he was wanting, and in the other matters of art. now this painter, having seen perino drawing in the workshop of ridolfo together with the other young men, found him so superior to them all, that he was astonished; and, what is more, he was pleased with his appearance and his ways, for perino was a very beautiful youth, most courteous, modest, and gentle, and every part of his body was in keeping with the nobility of his mind; wherefore vaga was so charmed with him, that he asked him whether he would go with him to rome, saying that he would not fail to assist him in his studies, and promising him such benefits and conditions as he might demand. so great was the desire that perino had to attain to excellence in his profession, that, when he heard rome mentioned, through his eagerness to see that city, he was deeply moved; but he told him that he must speak to andrea de' ceri, who had supported him up to that time, so that he was loth to abandon him. and so vaga, having persuaded ridolfo, perino's master, and andrea, who maintained him, so contrived that in the end he took perino, with the companion, to toscanella. there perino began to work and to assist them, and they finished not only the work that vaga had undertaken, but also many that they undertook afterwards. but perino complained that the promise of seeing rome, by which he had been brought from florence, was not being fulfilled, in consequence of the profit and advantage that vaga was drawing from his services, and he resolved to go thither by himself; which was the reason that vaga, leaving all his works, took him to rome. and there, through the love that he bore to art, perino returned to his former work of drawing and continued at it many weeks, growing more ardent every day. but vaga wished to return to toscanella, and therefore made him known, as one belonging to himself, to many commonplace painters, and also recommended him to all the friends that he had there, to the end that they might assist and favour him in his absence; from which circumstance he was always called from that day onward perino del vaga. [illustration: the passage of the red sea (_after the fresco by =perino del vaga=. rome: the vatican, loggia_) _anderson_] thus left in rome, and seeing the ancient works of sculpture and the marvellous masses of buildings, reduced for the most part to ruins, perino stood lost in admiration at the greatness of the many renowned and illustrious men who had executed those works. and so, becoming ever more and more aflame with love of art, he burned unceasingly to attain to a height not too far distant from those masters, in order to win fame and profit for himself with his works, even as had been done by those at whom he marvelled as he beheld their beautiful creations. and while he contemplated their greatness and the depths of his own lowliness and poverty, reflecting that he possessed nothing save the desire to rise to their height, and that, having no one who might maintain him and provide him with the means to live, he was forced, if he wished to remain alive, to labour at work for those ordinary shops, now with one painter and now with another, after the manner of the day-labourers in the fields, a mode of life which so hindered his studies, he felt infinite grief and pain in his heart at not being able to make as soon as he would have liked that proficience to which his mind, his will, and his necessities were urging him. he made the resolve, therefore, to divide his time equally, working half the week at day work, and during the other half devoting his attention to design; and to this second half he added all the feast-days, together with a great part of the nights, thus stealing time from time itself, in order to become famous and to escape from the hands of others so far as it might be possible. having carried this intention into execution, he began to draw in the chapel of pope julius, where the vaulting had been painted by michelagnolo buonarroti, following both his methods and the manner of raffaello da urbino. and then, going on to the ancient works in marble and also to the grotesques in the grottoes under the ground, which pleased him through their novelty, he learned the methods of working in stucco, gaining his bread meanwhile by grievous labour, and enduring every hardship in order to become excellent in his profession. nor had any long time passed before he became the best and most finished draughtsman that there was among all who were drawing in rome, for the reason that he had, perhaps, a better knowledge of muscles and of the difficult art of depicting the nude than many others who were held to be among the best masters at that time; which was the reason that he became known not only to the men of his profession, but also to many lords and prelates. and, in particular, giulio romano and giovan francesco, called il fattore, disciples of raffaello da urbino, having praised him not a little to their master, roused in him a desire to know perino and to see his works in drawing; which having pleased him, and together with his work his manner, his spirit, and his ways of life, he declared that among all the young men that he had known, perino would attain to the highest perfection in that art. meanwhile raffaello da urbino had built the papal loggie, by the command of leo x; and the same pope ordered that raffaello should also have them adorned with stucco, painted, and gilded, according as it should seem best to him. thereupon raffaello placed at the head of that enterprise, for the stucco-work and the grotesques, giovanni da udine, who was very excellent and without an equal in such works, but mostly in executing animals, fruits, and other little things. and since he had chosen in rome and summoned from other parts a great number of masters, he had assembled together a company of men each very able at his own work, one in stucco, another in grotesques, a third in foliage, a fourth in festoons, another in scenes, and others in other things; and according as they improved they were brought forward and paid higher salaries, so that by competing in that work many young men attained to great perfection, who were afterwards held to be excellent in their various fields of art. among that company perino was assigned to giovanni da udine by raffaello, to the end that he might execute grotesques and scenes together with the others; and he was told that according as he should acquit himself, so he would be employed by giovanni. and thus, labouring out of emulation and in order to prove his powers and make proficience, before many months had passed perino was held to be the first among all those who were working there, both in drawing and in colouring; the best, i say, the most perfect in grace and finish, and he who could execute both figures and grotesques in the most delicate and beautiful manner; to which clear testimony and witness are borne by the grotesques, festoons, and scenes by his hand that are in that work, which, besides surpassing the others, are executed in much more faithful accord with the designs and sketches that raffaello made for them. this may be seen from a part of those scenes in the centre of the loggia, on the vaulting, where the hebrews are depicted crossing over the jordan with the sacred ark, and also marching round the walls of jericho, which fall into ruin; and the other scenes that follow, such as that of joshua causing the sun to stand still during the combat with the amorites. among those painted in imitation of bronze on the base the best are likewise those by the hand of perino--namely, abraham sacrificing his son, jacob wrestling with the angel, joseph receiving his twelve brethren, the fire descending from heaven and consuming the sons of levi, and many others which there is no need to name, for their number is very great, and they can be distinguished from the rest. at the beginning of the loggia, also, where one enters, he painted scenes from the new testament, the nativity and the baptism of christ, and his last supper with the apostles, which are very beautiful; besides which, below the windows, as has been said, are the best scenes painted in the colour of bronze that there are in the whole work. these labours cause every man to marvel, both the paintings and the many works in stucco that he executed there with his own hand; and his colouring, moreover, is much more pleasing and more highly finished than that of any of the others. this work was the reason that he became famous beyond all belief, yet this great praise did not send him to sleep, but rather, since genius grows with praise, inspired him with even more zeal, and made him almost certain that by persisting he would come to win those fruits and honours that he saw every day in the possession of raffaello da urbino and michelagnolo buonarroti. and he laboured all the more willingly, because he saw that he was held in estimation by giovanni da udine and by raffaello, and was employed in works of importance. he always showed extraordinary deference and obedience towards raffaello, honouring him in such a manner that he was beloved by raffaello as a son. there was executed at this time, by order of pope leo, the vaulting of the hall of the pontiffs, which is that through which one passes by way of the loggie into the apartments of pope alexander vi, formerly painted by pinturicchio; and that vaulting was painted by giovanni da udine and perino. they executed in company the stucco-work and all those ornaments, grotesques, and animals that are to be seen there, in addition to the varied and beautiful inventions that were depicted by them in the compartments of the ceiling, which they had divided into certain circles and ovals to contain the seven planets of heaven drawn by their appropriate animals, such as jupiter drawn by eagles, venus by doves, the moon by women, mars by wolves, mercury by cocks, the sun by horses, and saturn by serpents; besides the twelve signs of the zodiac, and some figures from the forty-eight constellations of heaven, such as the great bear, the dog star, and many others, which, by reason of their number, we must pass over in silence, without recounting them all in their order, since anyone may see the work; which figures are almost all by the hand of perino. in the centre of the vaulting is a circle with four figures representing victories, seen foreshortened from below upwards, who are holding the pope's crown and the keys; and these are very well conceived and wrought with masterly art, to say nothing of the delicacy with which he painted their vestments, veiling the nude with certain light draperies that partly reveal the naked legs and arms, a truly graceful and beautiful effect. this work was justly held, as it still is at the present day, to be very magnificent and rich in craftsmanship, and also cheerful and pleasing; worthy, in short, of that pontiff, who did not fail to reward their labours, which truly deserved some signal remuneration. perino decorated a façade in chiaroscuro--a method brought into use at that time by the example of polidoro and maturino--which is opposite to the house of the marchioness of massa, near maestro pasquino, executing it with great boldness of design and with supreme diligence. in the third year of his pontificate pope leo paid a visit to florence, for which many triumphal preparations were made in that city, and perino went thither before the court, partly in order to see the pomps of the city, and partly from a wish to revisit his native country; and on a triumphal arch at s. trinità he made a large and very beautiful figure, seven braccia high, while another was executed in competition with him by toto del nunziata, who had already been his rival in boyhood. but to perino every hour seemed a thousand years until he could return to rome, for he perceived that the rules and methods of the florentine craftsmen were very different from those that were customary in rome; wherefore he departed from florence and returned to rome, where he resumed his usual course of work. and in s. eustachio dalla dogana he painted a s. peter in fresco, which is a figure that has very strong relief, executed with a simple flow of folds, and yet wrought with much design and judgment. there was in rome at this time the archbishop of cyprus, a man who was a great lover of the arts, and particularly of painting; and he, having a house near the chiavica, where he had laid out a little garden with some statues and other antiquities of truly noble beauty, and desiring to enhance their effect with some fine decorations, sent for perino, who was very much his friend, and they came to the decision that he should paint round the walls of that garden many stories of bacchantes, satyrs, fauns, and other wild things, in reference to an ancient statue of bacchus, seated beside a tiger, which the archbishop had there. and so perino adorned that place with a variety of poetical fancies; and, among other things, he painted there a little loggia with small figures, various grotesques, and many landscapes, coloured with supreme grace and diligence. this work has been held by craftsmen, as it always will be, to be worthy of the highest praise; and it was the reason that he became known to the fugger family, merchants of germany, who, having built a house near the banchi, on the way to the church of the florentines, and having seen perino's work and liked it, caused him to paint there a courtyard and a loggia, with many figures, all worthy of the same praise as the other works by his hand, for in them may be seen much delicacy and grace and great beauty of manner. at this same time m. marchionne baldassini, having caused a house to be built for him near s. agostino, as has been related, by antonio da san gallo, who designed it very well, desired that a hall which antonio had constructed there should be painted all over; and after passing in review many of the young painters, to the end that it might be well and beautifully done, he finally resolved to give it to perino. having agreed about the price, perino set his hand to it, nor did he turn his attention from that work to any other until he had brought it to a very happy conclusion in fresco. in that hall he made compartments by means of pilasters which have between them niches great and small; in the larger niches are various figures of philosophers, two in each niche, and in some one only, and in the smaller niches are little boys, partly naked and partly draped in veiling, while above those small niches are some heads of women, painted in imitation of marble. above the cornice that crowns the pilasters there follows a second series of pictures, separated from the first series below, with scenes in figures of no great size from the history of the romans, beginning with romulus and ending with numa pompilius. there are likewise various ornaments in imitation of different kinds of marble, and over the beautiful chimney-piece of stone is a figure of peace burning arms and trophies, which is very lifelike. this work was held in much estimation during the lifetime of m. marchionne, as it has been ever since by all those who work in painting, and also by many others not of the profession, who give it extraordinary praise. in the convent of the nuns of s. anna, perino painted a chapel in fresco with many figures, which was executed by him with his usual diligence. and on an altar in s. stefano del cacco he painted in fresco, for a roman lady, a pietà with the dead christ in the lap of our lady, with a portrait from life of that lady, which still has the appearance of a living figure; and the whole work is very beautiful, and executed with great mastery and facility. in those days antonio da san gallo had built at the corner of a house in rome, which is known as the imagine di ponte, a tabernacle finely adorned with travertine and very handsome, in which something beautiful in the way of painting was to be executed; and he received a commission from the owner of that house to give the work to one whom he should consider capable of painting some noble picture there. wherefore antonio, who knew perino to be the best of the young men who were in rome, allotted it to him. and he, setting his hand to the work, painted there a christ in the act of crowning the madonna, and in the background he made a glory, with a choir of seraphim and angels clothed in light and delicate draperies, who are scattering flowers, and other children of great beauty and variety; and on the sides of the tabernacle he painted saints, s. sebastian on one side and s. anthony on the other. this work was executed truly well, and was equal to the others by his hand, which were always full of grace and charm. a certain protonotary had erected a chapel of marble on four columns in the minerva, and, desiring to leave an altar-piece there in memory of himself, even if it were but a small one, he came to an agreement with perino, whose fame he had heard, and commissioned him to paint it in oils. and he chose that the subject should be the deposition of christ from the cross, which perino set himself to execute with the greatest possible zeal and diligence. in this picture he represented him as already laid upon the ground, surrounded by the maries weeping over him, in whose gestures and attitudes he portrayed a melting pity and sorrow; besides which there are the nicodemuses[ ] and other figures that are much admired, all woeful and afflicted at seeing the sinless christ lying dead. but the figures that he painted most divinely were those of the two thieves, left fixed upon the crosses, which, besides appearing to be real dead bodies, reveal a very good mastery over muscles and nerves, which this occasion enabled him to display; wherefore, to the eyes of him who beholds them, their limbs present themselves all drawn in that violent death by the nerves, and the muscles by the nails and cords. there is, in addition, a landscape wrapped in darkness, counterfeited with much judgment and art. and if the inundation which came upon rome after the sack had not done damage to this work, covering more than half of it, its excellence would be clearly seen; but the water so softened the gesso, and caused the wood to swell in such sort, that all the lower part that was soaked has peeled off too much for the picture to give any pleasure; nay, it is a grief and a truly heartrending sorrow to behold it, for it would certainly have been one of the most precious things in all rome. there was being rebuilt at this time, under the direction of jacopo sansovino, the church of s. marcello in rome, a convent of servite friars, which still remains unfinished; and when they had carried the walls of some chapels to completion, and had roofed them, those friars commissioned perino to paint in one of these, as ornaments for a madonna that is worshipped in that church, two figures in separate niches, s. joseph and s. filippo, a servite friar and the founder of that order, one on either side of the madonna. these finished, he painted above them some little boys that are perfect, and in the centre of the wall he placed another standing upon a dado, who has upon his shoulders the ends of two festoons, which he directs towards the corners of the chapel, where there are two other little boys who support them, being seated upon them, with their legs in most beautiful attitudes. all this he executed with such art, such grace, and so beautiful a manner, and gave to the flesh a tint of colour so fresh and soft, that one might say that it was real flesh rather than painted. and certainly these figures may be held to be the most beautiful that ever any craftsman painted in fresco, for the reason that there is life in their eyes and movement in their attitudes, and with the mouth they make as if to break into speech and say that art has conquered nature, and that even art declares that nothing more than this can be done in her. this work was so excellent in the sight of all good judges of art, that he acquired a great name thereby, although he had executed many works and what was known of his great genius in his profession was well known; and he was therefore held in much more account and greater estimation than ever before. for this reason lorenzo pucci, cardinal santiquattro, who had taken over a chapel on the left hand beside the principal chapel in the trinità, a convent of calabrian and french friars who wear the habit of s. francis of paola, allotted it to perino, to the end that he might paint there in fresco the life of our lady. which having begun, perino finished all the vaulting and a wall under an arch; and on the outer side, also, over an arch of the chapel, he painted two prophets four braccia and a half in height, representing isaiah and daniel, who in their great proportions reveal all the art, excellence of design, and beauty of colouring that can be seen in their perfection only in a picture executed by a great craftsman. this will be clearly evident to one who shall consider the isaiah, in whom, as he reads, may be perceived the thoughtfulness that study infuses in him, and his eagerness in reading new things, for he has his gaze fixed upon a book, with one hand to his head, exactly as a man often is when he is studying; and daniel, likewise, is motionless, with his head upraised in celestial contemplation, in order to resolve the doubts of his people. between these figures are two little boys who are upholding the escutcheon of the cardinal, a shield of beautiful shape: and these boys, besides being so painted as to seem to be of flesh, also have the appearance of being in relief. the vaulting is divided into four scenes, separated one from another by the cross--that is, by the ribs of the vaulting. in the first is the conception of our lady, in the second her nativity, in the third the scene when she ascends the steps of the temple, and in the fourth s. joseph marrying her. on a wall-space equal in extent to the arch of the vaulting is her visitation, in which are many figures that are very beautiful, but above all some who have climbed on certain socles and are standing in very spirited and natural attitudes, the better to see the ceremonious meeting of those women; besides which, there is something of the good and of the beautiful in the buildings and in every gesture of the other figures. he pursued this work no further, illness coming upon him; and when he was well, there began the plague of the year , which raged so violently in rome, that, if he wished to save his life, it became expedient for him to make up his mind to depart. there was in the city of rome at that time the goldsmith piloto, who was much the friend and intimate companion of perino, and he was desirous of departing; and so one morning, as they were breakfasting together, he persuaded perino to take himself off and go to florence, on the ground that it was many years since he had been there, and that it could not but bring him great honour to make himself known there and to leave some example of his excellence in that city; saying also that, although andrea de' ceri and his wife, who had brought him up, were dead, nevertheless, as a native of that country, if he had no possessions there, he had his love for it. wherefore, after no long time, one morning perino and piloto departed and set out on the way to florence. and when they had arrived there, perino took the greatest pleasure in seeing once again the old works painted by the masters of the past, which had been as a school to him in the days of his boyhood, and likewise those of the masters then living who were the most celebrated and held to be the best in that city, in which, through the interest of friends, a work was allotted to him, as will be related below. it happened one day that many craftsmen having assembled in his presence to do him honour, painters, sculptors, architects, goldsmiths, and carvers in wood and marble, who had gathered together according to the ancient custom, some to see perino, to keep him company, and to hear what he had to say, many to learn what difference in practice there might be between the craftsmen of rome and those of florence, but most of them to hear the praise and censure that craftsmen are wont often to give to one another; it happened, i say, that thus discoursing together of one thing and another, and examining the works, both ancient and modern, in the various churches, they came to that of the carmine, in order to see the chapel of masaccio. there everyone gazed attentively at the paintings, and many various opinions were uttered in praise of that master, all declaring that they marvelled that he should have possessed so much judgment as to be able in those days, without seeing anything but the work of giotto, to work with so much of the modern manner in the design, in the colouring, and in the imitation of nature, and that he should have solved the difficulties of his art in a manner so facile; not to mention that among all those who had worked at painting, there had not as yet been one who had equalled him in strength of relief, in resoluteness, and in mastery of execution. this kind of discourse much pleased perino, and to all those craftsmen who spoke thus he answered in these words: "i do not deny that what you say, and even more, may be true; but that there is no one among us who can equal this manner, that i will deny with my last breath. nay, i will declare, if i may say it with the permission of the company, not in contempt, but from a desire for the truth, that i know many both more resolute and richer in grace, whose works are no less lifelike in the painting than these, and even much more beautiful. and i, by your leave, i who am not the first in this art, am grieved that there is no space near these works wherein i might be able to paint a figure; for before departing from florence i would make a trial beside one of these figures, likewise in fresco, to the end that you might see by comparison whether there be not among the moderns one who has equalled him." among their number was a master who was held to be the first painter in florence; and he, being curious to see the work of perino, and perhaps wishing to lower his pride, put forward an idea of his own, which was this: "although," said he, "all the space here is full, yet, since you have such a fancy, which is certainly a good one and worthy of praise, there, on the opposite side, where there is the s. paul by his hand, a figure no less good and beautiful than any other in the chapel, is a space in which you may easily prove what you say by making another apostle, either beside that s. peter by masolino or beside the s. paul of masaccio, whichever you may prefer." the s. peter was nearer the window, and the space beside it was greater and the light better; besides which, it was a figure no less beautiful than the s. paul. everyone, therefore, urged perino to do it, because they had a great desire to see that roman manner; besides which, many said that he would be the means of taking out of their heads the fancy that they had nursed in their minds for so many decades, and that if his figure should prove to be the best all would run after modern works. wherefore, persuaded by that master, who told him at last that he ought not to disappoint the entreaties and expectations of so many lofty intellects, particularly since it would not take longer than two weeks to execute a figure in fresco, and they would not fail to spend years in praising his labours, perino resolved to do it, although he who spoke thus had an intention quite contrary to his words, being persuaded that perino would by no means execute anything much better than the work of those craftsmen who were considered to be the most excellent at that time. perino, then, undertook to make this attempt; and having summoned by common consent m. giovanni da pisa, the prior of the convent, they asked him for the space for the execution of the work, which he granted to them with truly gracious courtesy; and thus they took measurements of the space, with the height and breadth, and went away. an apostle was then drawn by perino in a cartoon, in the person of s. andrew, and finished with the greatest diligence; whereupon perino, having first caused the staging to be erected, was prepared to begin to paint it. but before this, on his arrival in florence, his many friends, who had seen most excellent works by his hand in rome, had contrived to obtain for him the commission for that work in fresco which i mentioned, to the end that he might leave some example of his handiwork in florence, which might demonstrate how spirited and how beautiful was his genius for painting, and also to the end that he might become known and perchance be set to work on some labour of importance by those who were then governing. there were at that time certain craftsmen who used to assemble in a company called the company of the martyrs, in the camaldoli at florence; and they had proposed many times to have a wall that was in that place painted with the story of the martyrs being condemned to death before two roman emperors, who, after they had been taken in battle, caused them to be crucified in the wood and hanged on trees. this story was suggested to perino, and, although the place was out of the way, and the price small, so much was he attracted by the possibilities of invention in the story and by the size of the wall, that he was disposed to undertake it; besides which, he was urged not a little by those who were his friends, on the ground that the work would establish him in that reputation which his talent deserved among the citizens, who did not know him, and among his fellow-craftsmen in florence, where he was not known save by report. having then determined to do the work, he accepted the undertaking and made a small design, which was held to be a thing divine; and having set his hand to making a cartoon as large as the whole work, he never left off labouring at it, and carried it so far that all the principal figures were completely finished. and so the apostle was abandoned, without anything more being done. perino drew this cartoon on white paper, well shaded and hatched, leaving the paper itself for the lights, and executing the whole with admirable diligence. in it were the two emperors on the seat of judgment, condemning to the cross all the prisoners, who were turned towards the tribunal, some kneeling, some standing, and others bowed, but all naked and bound in different ways, and writhing with piteous gestures in various attitudes, revealing the trembling of the limbs at the prospect of the severing of the soul from the body in the agony and torment of crucifixion; besides which, there were depicted in those heads the constancy of faith in the old, the fear of death in the young, and in others the torture that they suffer from the strain of the cords on their bodies and arms. and there could also be seen the swelling of the muscles and even the cold sweat of death, all depicted in that design. then in the soldiers who were leading them there was revealed a terrible fury, most impious and cruel, as they presented them at the tribunal for condemnation and led them to the cross. the emperors and the soldiers were wearing cuirasses after the ancient manner and garments very ornate and bizarre, with buskins, shoes, helmets, shields, and other pieces of armour wrought with all that wealth of the most beautiful ornamentation to which a craftsman can attain in imitating and reproducing the antique, and drawn with the greatest lovingness, subtlety, and delicacy that the perfection of art can display. when this cartoon was seen by the craftsmen and by other judges of discernment, they declared that they had never seen such beauty and excellence in design since the cartoon drawn by michelagnolo buonarroti in florence for the council chamber; wherefore perino acquired the greatest fame that he could have gained in art. and while he was engaged in finishing that cartoon, he amused himself by causing oil-colours to be prepared and ground in order to paint for his dearest friend, the goldsmith piloto, a little picture of no great size, containing a madonna, which he carried something more than half-way towards completion. for many years past perino had been intimately acquainted with a certain lame priest, ser raffaello di sandro, a chaplain of s. lorenzo, who always bore love to the craftsmen of design. this priest, then, persuaded perino to take up his quarters with him, seeing that he had no one to cook for him or to keep house for him, and that during the time that he had been in florence he had stayed now with one friend and now with another; wherefore perino went to lodge with him, and stayed there many weeks. meanwhile the plague began to appear in certain parts of florence, and filled perino with fear lest he should catch the infection; on which account he determined to go away, but wished first to recompense ser raffaello for all the days that he had eaten at his table. but ser raffaello would never consent to take anything, only saying: "i would be fully paid by having a scrap of paper from your hand." seeing him to be determined, perino took about four braccia of coarse canvas, and, after having it fixed to the wall between two doors in the priest's little room, painted on it in a day and a night a scene coloured in imitation of bronze. on this canvas, which was to serve as a screen for the wall, he painted the story of moses passing the red sea and pharaoh being submerged with his horses and his chariots; and perino painted therein figures in most beautiful attitudes, some swimming in armour and some naked, others swimming while clasping the horses round the neck, with their beards and hair all soaked, crying out in the fear of death and struggling with all their power to escape. on the other side of the sea are moses, aaron, and all the other hebrews, male and female, who are thanking god, and a number of vases that he counterfeited, carried off by them from egypt, varied and beautiful in form and shape, and women with head-dresses of great variety. which finished, he left it as a mark of lovingness to ser raffaello, to whom it was as dear as the priorate of s. lorenzo would have been. this canvas was afterwards much extolled and held in estimation, and after the death of ser raffaello it passed, together with his other possessions, to his brother domenico di sandro, the cheesemonger. departing, then, from florence, perino abandoned the work of the martyrs, which caused him great regret; and certainly, if it had been in any other place but the camaldoli, he would have finished it; but, considering that the officials of health had taken that very convent of camaldoli for those infected with the plague, he thought it better to save himself than to leave fame behind him in florence, being satisfied that he had proved how much he was worth in the design. the cartoon, with his other things, remained in the possession of the goldsmith giovanni di goro, his friend, who died in the plague; and after that it fell into the hands of piloto, who kept it spread out in his house for many years, showing it readily as a very rare work to every person of intelligence; but i do not know what became of it after the death of piloto. perino stayed for many months in various places, seeking to avoid the plague, but for all this he never spent his time in vain, for he was continually drawing and studying the secrets of art; and when the plague had ceased, he returned to rome and gave his attention to executing little works of which i shall say nothing more. in the year came the election of pope clement vii, which was the greatest of blessings for the arts of painting and sculpture, which had been so kept down by adrian vi during his lifetime, that not only had nothing been executed for him, but, as has been related in other places, not delighting in them, or rather, holding them in detestation, he had brought it about that no other person delighted in them, or spent money upon them, or employed a single craftsman. then, therefore, after the election of the new pontiff, perino executed many works. afterwards it was proposed that giulio romano and giovan francesco, called il fattore, should be made heads of the world of art in place of raffaello, who was dead, to the end that they might distribute the various works to the others, according to the previous custom. but perino, in executing an escutcheon of the pope in fresco over the door of cardinal cesarino, after the cartoon of giulio romano, acquitted himself so excellently well, that they doubted whether he would not be preferred to themselves, because, although they were known as the disciples of raffaello and as the heirs to his possessions, they had not inherited the whole of the art and grace that he used to give to his figures with colours. giulio and giovan francesco therefore made up their minds to attach perino to themselves; and so in the holy year of jubilee, , they gave him caterina, the sister of giovan francesco, for wife, to the end that the perfect friendship which had been maintained between them for so long might be converted into kinship. thereupon, continuing the works that he had in hand, no long time had passed when, on account of the praises bestowed upon him for the first work executed by him in s. marcello, it was resolved by the prior of that convent and by certain heads of the company of the crocifisso, which has a chapel there built by its members as a place of assembly, that the chapel should be painted; and so they allotted this work to perino, in the hope of having some excellent painting by his hand. perino, having caused the staging to be erected, began the work; and in the centre of the barrel-shaped vaulting he painted the scene when god, after creating adam, takes his wife eve from his side. in this scene adam, a most beautiful naked figure painted with perfect art, is seen lying overcome by sleep, while eve, with great vivacity, rises to her feet with the hands clasped and receives the benediction of her maker, the figure of whom is depicted grave in aspect and sublime in majesty, standing with many draperies about him, which curve round his nude form with their borders. on one side, on the right hand, are two evangelists, s. mark and s. john, the first of whom perino finished entirely, and also the second with the exception of the head and a naked arm. between these two evangelists, by way of ornament, he made two little boys embracing a candelabrum, which are truly of living flesh; and the evangelists, likewise, in the heads, the draperies, the arms, and all that he painted in them with his own hand, are very beautiful. while he was executing this work, he suffered many interruptions from illness and from other misfortunes, such as happen every day to all who live in this world; besides which, it is said that the men of the company also ran short of money. and so long did this business drag on, that in the year there came upon them the ruin of rome, when that city was given over to sack, many craftsmen were killed, and many works destroyed or carried away. whereupon perino, caught in that turmoil, and having a wife and a baby girl, ran from place to place in rome with the child in his arms, seeking to save her, and finally, poor wretch, was taken prisoner and reduced to paying a ransom, which hit him so hard that he was like to go out of his mind. when the fury of the sack had abated, he was so crushed down by the fear that still possessed him, that all thought of art was worlds away from him, but nevertheless he painted canvases in gouache and other fantasies for certain spanish soldiers; and after regaining his composure, he lived like the rest in some poor fashion. alone among so many, baviera, who had the engravings of raffaello, had not lost much; wherefore, moved by the friendship that he had with perino, and wishing to employ him, he commissioned him to draw some of the stories of the gods transforming themselves in order to achieve the consummation of their loves. these were engraved on copper by jacopo caraglio, an excellent engraver of prints, who acquitted himself so well in the matter of these designs, that, preserving the outlines and manner of perino, and hatching the work with beautiful facility, he sought also to impart to the engravings that grace and that delicacy which perino had given to the drawings. while the havoc of the sack had destroyed rome and driven away the inhabitants and the pope himself, who was living at orvieto, not many remaining in the city, and no business of any kind being done there, there arrived in rome one niccola viniziano, a rare and even unrivalled master of embroidery, the servant of prince doria. he, moved by his long-standing friendship with perino, and being a man who always favoured and wished well to the men of our arts, persuaded him to leave that misery and set out for genoa, promising that he would so go to work with that prince, who was a lover of art and delighted in painting, that he would commission perino to execute some big works, and saying, moreover, that his excellency had often told him that he would like to have a suite of rooms adorned with handsome decorations. it did not take much to persuade perino, for he was oppressed by want and burning with desire to leave rome; and he determined to depart with niccola. having therefore made arrangements for leaving his wife and daughter well cared for by relatives in rome, and having put all his affairs in order, he set off for genoa. arriving there, and making himself known to that prince by means of niccola, his coming was as welcome to his excellency as any agreeable experience that he had ever had in all his life. he was received, therefore, with the greatest possible warmth and gladness, and after many conversations and discussions they finally arranged that he should begin the work; and they decided that he should execute a palace adorned with stucco-work and with pictures in fresco, in oils, and of every kind, which i will strive to describe as briefly as i am able, with all the rooms, pictures, and general arrangement, saying nothing as to where perino first began to labour, to the end that i may not obscure this work, which is the best of all those by his hand, with words. i begin, then, by saying that at the entrance of the prince's palace there is a marble portal composed in the doric order, and built after designs and models by the hand of perino, with all its appurtenances of pedestals, socles, shafts, capitals, architrave, frieze, cornice and pediment, and with some most beautiful seated figures of women, who are supporting an escutcheon. the masonry and carving of this work were executed by maestro giovanni da fiesole, and the figures were finished to perfection by silvio, the sculptor of fiesole, a bold and resolute master. entering within the portal, one finds over the vestibule a vault covered with stucco-work, varied scenes, and grotesques, and little arches in each of which are scenes of war and various kinds of battles, some fighting on foot and others on horseback, and all wrought with truly extraordinary diligence and art. on the left one finds the staircase, which has decorations of little grotesques after the antique that could not be richer or more beautiful, with various scenes and little figures, masks, children, animals, and other things of fancy, executed with that invention and judgment that always marked his work, insomuch that of their kind they may well be called divine. having ascended the staircase, one comes into a most beautiful loggia, which has at each end a very handsome door of stone; and over each of these doors, in the pediment, are painted two figures, one male and the other female, represented in directly opposite attitudes, one showing the front view and the other the back. the vaulting has five arches, and is wrought superbly in stucco, and it is also divided by pictures in certain ovals, containing scenes executed with the most perfect beauty that could be achieved; and the walls are painted down to the floor with many seated figures of captains in armour, some drawn from life and some from imagination, and representing all the ancient and modern captains of the house of doria, and above them are large letters of gold, which run thus--"magni viri, maximi duces, optima fecere pro patria." in the first hall, which opens into the loggia and is entered by one of the two doors, that on the left hand, there are most beautiful ornaments of stucco on the corners of the vaulting, and in the centre there is a large scene of the shipwreck of Æneas in the sea, in which are nude figures, living and dead, in attitudes of infinite variety, besides a good number of ships and galleys, some sound and some shattered by the fury of the tempest; not without beautiful considerations in the figures of the living, who are striving to save themselves, and expressions of terror that are produced in their features by the struggle with the waves, the danger of death, and all the emotions aroused by the perils of the sea. this was the first scene and the first work that perino began for the prince. it is said that when he arrived in genoa, girolamo da treviso had already appeared there in advance of him in order to execute certain pictures, and was painting a wall that faced towards the garden. and after perino had begun to draw the cartoon for the scene of the shipwreck that has been described above, while he was taking his time about it, amusing himself and seeing genoa, and labouring only at intervals at the cartoon, although a great part was finished in various ways and those nudes were drawn, some in chiaroscuro, some in charcoal, and others in black chalk, some being drawn in imitation of gradine-work, others shaded, and others again only outlined; while, i say, perino was going on in this way, without beginning to paint, girolamo da treviso murmured against him, saying, "cartoons, and nothing but cartoons! i have my art at the tip of my brush." decrying him very often in this or some other similar manner, it came to the ears of perino, who, taking offence, straightway caused his cartoon to be fixed to the vaulting where the scene was to be painted, and the boards of his staging to be removed in many places, to the end that the work might be seen from below; and then he threw open the hall. which hearing, all genoa ran to see it, and, amazed by perino's grand design, they praised him to the skies. thither, among others, went girolamo da treviso, who saw what he had never thought to see from the hand of perino; whereupon, dumbfoundered by the beauty of the work, he departed from genoa without asking leave of prince doria, and returned to bologna, where he lived. perino was thus left alone in the service of the prince, and finished that hall, painting it in oils on the surface of the walls; and it was held to be, as indeed it is, a thing unrivalled in its beauty, with its lovely work in stucco in the centre of the vaulting and all around, even below the lunettes, as i have described. in the other hall, into which one enters by the right-hand door in the loggia, he executed on the vaulting works in stucco almost similar in design to those of the other, and painted pictures in fresco of jove slaying the giants with his thunderbolts, in which are many very beautiful nudes, larger than life. in the heaven, likewise, are all the gods, who are making gestures of great vivacity and truly appropriate to their natures, amid the terrible uproar of the thunder; besides which, the stucco-work is executed with supreme diligence, and the fresco-colouring could not be more beautiful, seeing that perino was very able--indeed, a perfect master--in that field. near this he adorned four chambers, the ceilings of which are all wrought in stucco, and distributed among them, in fresco, are the most beautiful fables from ovid, which have all the appearance of reality, nor could any one imagine the beauty, the abundance, the variety, and the great numbers of the little figures, animals, foliage, and grotesques that are in them, all executed with lively invention. beside the other hall, likewise, he adorned four more chambers, but only directing the work, which was carried out by his assistants, although he gave them the designs both of the stucco-decorations and of the scenes, figures, and grotesques, upon which a vast number of them worked, some little and some much; such as luzio romano, who did much work in stucco there and many grotesques, and a number of lombards. let it suffice to say that there is no room there that has not something by his hand and is not full of ornaments, even to the space below the vaulting, with various compositions full of children, bizarre masks, and animals, which all defies description; not to mention that the little studies, the antechambers, the closets, and all other parts of the palace, are painted and made beautiful. from the palace one passes into the garden and into a low building, which has the most ornate decorations in all the rooms, even below the ceilings, and so also the halls, chambers, and anterooms, all adorned by the same hand. in this work pordenone also took a part, as i said in his life, and likewise domenico beccafumi of siena, a very rare painter, who showed that he was not inferior to any of the others, although the works by his hand that are in siena are the most excellent among the vast number that he painted. but to return to the works that perino executed after those that he did in the palace of the prince; he executed a frieze in a room in the house of giannetin doria, containing most beautiful women, and he did many works for various gentlemen throughout the city, both in fresco and in oil-colours. he painted a most beautiful altar-piece, very finely designed, for s. francesco, and another for a church called s. maria "de consolatione," at the commission of a gentleman of the house of baciadonne: in which picture he painted the nativity of christ, a work that is much extolled, but it was placed in a position so dark, that, by reason of the light not being good enough, one is not able to recognize its perfection, and all the more because perino strove to paint it in a dark manner, so that it has need of a strong light. he also made drawings of the greater part of the Æneid, with the stories of dido, from which tapestries were woven; and he likewise drew beautiful ornaments for the poops of galleys, which were carved and finished to perfection by carota and tasso, wood-carvers of florence, who proved excellently well how able they were in that art. and in addition to all these things he also executed a vast number of works on cloth for the galleys of the prince, and the largest standards that could be made for their adornment and embellishment. wherefore he was so beloved by that prince for his fine qualities, that, if he had continued to serve him, the prince would have richly rewarded his abilities. but while he was working in genoa, the fancy came to him to fetch his wife from rome, and so he bought a house in pisa, being pleased with that city and half thinking of choosing it as his place of habitation when old age should come upon him. now at that time the warden of the duomo at pisa was m. antonio di urbano, who had a very great desire to embellish that temple, and had already caused a beginning to be made with some very beautiful ornaments of marble for the chapels of the church, which had been executed by the hand of stagio da pietrasanta, a very able and well practised carver of marble: removing some old, clumsy, and badly proportioned chapels that were there. having thus made a beginning, the warden proposed to fill up those ornaments in the interior with altar-pieces in oils, and on the outer side with a series of scenes in fresco and decorations in stucco, by the hands of the best and most excellent masters that he could find, without grudging any expense that might be incurred. he had already set to work on the sacristy, which he had placed in the great recess behind the high-altar, and there the ornamentation of marble was already finished, and many pictures had been painted by the florentine painter giovanni antonio sogliani, the rest of which, together with the altar-pieces and the chapels that were wanting, were finished many years afterwards by order of m. sebastiano della seta, the warden of the duomo in those days. at that time perino returned from genoa to pisa, and, having seen that beginning, at the instance of battista del cervelliera, a person well conversant with art and a most ingenious master of wood-carving, perspective, and inlaying, he was presented to the warden. after they had discoursed together on the subject of the works of the duomo, perino was asked to paint an altar-piece for an ornament immediately within the ordinary door of entrance, the ornamental frame being already finished, and above that a scene of s. george slaying the dragon and delivering the king's daughter. perino therefore made a most beautiful design, which included a row of children and other ornaments in fresco between one chapel and the other, and niches with prophets and scenes of various kinds; and this design pleased the warden. and so, having made the cartoon for one of them, the first one, that opposite to the door mentioned above, he began to execute it in colour, and finished six children, which are very well painted. he was to have continued this right round, which would have made a very rich and very beautiful decoration; and the whole work together would have proved to be something very handsome. but he was seized with a desire to return to genoa, where he had involved himself in love affairs and other pleasures, to which he was inclined at certain times: and on his departure he gave to the nuns of s. maffeo a little altar-piece that he had painted for them in oils, which is now in their possession in the convent. then, having arrived in genoa, he stayed there many months, executing other works for the prince. his departure from pisa displeased the warden greatly, and even more the circumstance that the work remained unfinished; wherefore he did not cease to write to him every day that he should return, or to make inquiries from perino's wife, whom he had left in pisa. but finally, perceiving that the matter would never end, perino neither answering nor returning, he allotted the altar-piece of that chapel to giovanni antonio sogliani, who finished it and set it into its place. not long after this perino returned to pisa, and, seeing the work of sogliani, flew into a rage, and would on no account continue what he had begun, saying that he did not choose that his pictures should serve as ornaments for those of other masters; wherefore, so far as concerned him, that work remained unfinished. giovanni antonio carried it on to such purpose that he painted four altar-pieces: but these, at a later date, appeared to sebastiano della seta, the new warden, to be all in the same manner, and somewhat less beautiful than the first, and he allotted to domenico beccafumi of siena--after proving his worth from some pictures that he painted round the sacristy, which are very beautiful--an altar-piece which he executed in pisa. this not giving as much satisfaction as the first pictures, he caused the two last that were wanting to be painted by giorgio vasari of arezzo; and they were placed at the two doors beside the corner-walls of the main façade of the church. of these, as well as of many other works, both large and small, that are dispersed throughout italy and various places abroad, it does not become me to say more, and i will leave the right of free judgment about them to all who have seen or may see them. the loss of this work caused real vexation to perino, he having already made the designs for it, which gave promise that it would prove to be something worthy of him, and likely to give that temple great fame over and above that of its antiquities, and also to make perino immortal. during the many years of his sojourn in genoa, although he drew both profit and pleasure from that city, perino had grown weary of it, as he remembered rome in the happy days of leo. but although, during the lifetime of cardinal ippolito de' medici, he had received letters inviting him into his service, and he had been disposed to enter it, the death of that lord brought it about that he hesitated to repatriate himself. while matters stood thus, with his many friends urging his return, himself desiring it infinitely more than any of them, and several letters being exchanged, one morning, in the end, the fancy took him, and without saying a word he set off from pisa and made his way to rome. there, after making himself known to the most reverend cardinal farnese, and then to pope paul, he stayed many months without doing anything; first, because he was put off from one day to another, and then because he was attacked by some infirmity in one of his arms, on account of which he spent several hundreds of crowns, to say nothing of the discomfort, before he could be cured of it. wherefore, having no one to maintain him, and being vexed by his cold welcome from the court, he was tempted many times to go away; but molza and many other friends exhorted him to have patience, telling him that rome was no longer what she had been, and that now she expected that a man should be exhausted and weary of her before she would choose and cherish him as her own, and particularly if he were pursuing the path of some fine art. at this time m. pietro de' massimi bought a chapel in the trinità, with the vaulting and the lunettes painted and adorned with stucco, and the altar-piece painted in oils, all by giulio romano and perino's brother-in-law, giovan francesco; and that gentleman was desirous to have it finished. in the lunettes were four stories of s. mary magdalene in fresco, and in the altar-piece in oils was christ appearing to mary magdalene in the form of a gardener; and m. pietro first caused a gilt frame of wood to be made for the altar-piece, which had a miserable one of stucco, and then allotted the walls to perino, who, having caused the staging and the screen to be erected, set his hand to the work, and after many months brought it to completion. he made a design of bizarre and beautiful grotesques, partly in low-relief and partly painted; and he executed two little scenes of no great size, one on each wall, surrounding them with an ornament in stucco of great variety. in one scene was the pool of bethesda, with all the cripples and sick persons, and the angel who comes to move the waters, the porticoes seen most beautifully foreshortened in perspective, and the movements and vestments of the priests, all painted with great grace and vivacity, although the figures are not very large. in the other, he painted the raising of lazarus after he had been dead four days, wherein he is seen newly restored to life, and still marked by the pallor and fear of death: and round him are many who are unswathing him, and not a few who are marvelling, and others struck with awe, besides which the scene is adorned with some little temples that recede into the distance, executed with supreme lovingness, as are also the works in stucco all around. there are likewise four very small scenes, two to each wall, and one on either side of the larger scene; in one of which is the centurion beseeching christ that he should heal with a word his son who is dying, in another christ driving the traders from the temple, in a third the transfiguration, and in the last a similar scene. and on the projections of the pilasters within the chapel he painted four figures in the guise of prophets, which, in their proportions, their excellence, and their beauty, are as well executed and finished as they could well be. in a word, the whole work was carried out with such diligence, and is so delicate, that it resembles miniature rather than painting. in it may be seen much charm and vivacity of colouring, and signs of great patience in its execution, revealing that true love which should be felt for art; and he painted this whole work with his own hand, although he had a great part of the stucco-work executed after his designs by guglielmo milanese, whom he had formerly had with him at genoa, loving him much, and once even offering to give him his daughter in marriage. this guglielmo, in reward for restoring the antiquities of the house of farnese, has now been made friar of the piombo, in the place of fra sebastiano viniziano. i must not omit to tell that against one wall of this chapel was a most beautiful tomb of marble, with a dead woman of marble, beautifully carved by the sculptor bologna, on the sarcophagus, and two little naked boys at the sides. the countenance of that woman was a lifelike portrait of a very famous courtezan of rome, who left that memorial of herself, which was removed by the friars because they felt scruples that such a woman should have been laid to rest there with so much honour. this work, with many designs that he made, was the reason that the very reverend cardinal farnese began to give him an allowance and to make use of him in many works. by order of pope paul, a chimney-piece that was in the chamber of the burning of the borgo was placed in that of the segnatura, where there were the panellings with perspective views in wood executed by the hand of the carver fra giovanni for pope julius. raffaello had painted both of those chambers; but it became necessary to repaint all the base to the scenes in the chamber of the segnatura, which is that in which is the picture of mount parnassus. on which account a decorative design in imitation of marble was painted by perino, with various terminal figures, festoons, masks, and other ornaments; and, in certain spaces, scenes painted to look like bronze, which are very beautiful for works in fresco. in these scenes, even as above them were philosophers discoursing on philosophy, theologians on theology, and poets on poetry, were all the actions of those who have been eminent in those professions. and although he did not execute them all with his own hand, he retouched them so much "a secco," besides making perfectly finished cartoons, that they may almost be said to be entirely by his hand; which method he employed because, being troubled by a catarrh, he was not fit for so much labour. whereupon the pope, recognizing that he deserved something both on account of his age and for all his work, and hearing him much recommended, gave him an allowance of twenty-five ducats a month, which lasted up to his death, on the condition that he should have charge of the palace and of the house of the farnese family. by this time michelagnolo buonarroti had uncovered the wall with the last judgment in the papal chapel, and there remained still unpainted the base below, where there was to be fixed a screen of arras woven in silk and gold, like the tapestries that adorn the chapel. wherefore, the pope having ordained that the weaving should be done in flanders, it was arranged with the consent of michelagnolo that perino should begin to paint a canvas of the same size, which he did, executing in it women, children and terminal figures, holding festoons, and all very lifelike, with the most bizarre things of fancy; but this work, which was truly worthy of him and of the divine picture that it was to adorn, remained unfinished after his death in some apartments of the belvedere. after this, antonio da san gallo having finished the building of the great hall of kings in front of the chapel of sixtus iv in the papal palace, perino divided the ceiling into a large pattern of octagonal compartments, crosses, and ovals, both sunk and in relief; which done, perino was also commissioned to adorn it with stucco-work, with the richest and most beautiful ornaments that could be produced by all the resources of that art. he thus began it, and in the octagons, in place of rosettes, he made four little boys in full relief, who, with their feet pointing to the centre and their arms forming a circle, make a most beautiful rosette, and in the rest of the compartments are all the devices of the house of farnese, with the arms of the pope in the centre of the vaulting. and this work in stucco may be said with truth to have surpassed in mastery of execution, in beauty, and in delicacy, all those that have ever been done by ancients or moderns, and to be truly worthy of the head of the christian religion. after the designs of the same man, likewise, the glass windows were executed by pastorino da siena, an able master of that craft; and perino caused the walls below to be prepared with very beautiful ornaments in stucco, intending to paint scenes there with his own hand, which were afterwards continued by the painter daniello ricciarelli of volterra, who, if death had not cut short the noble aspirations that he had, would have proved how the moderns have the courage not only to equal the ancients with their works, but perhaps even to surpass them by a great measure. while the stucco-work of this vaulting was in progress, and perino was considering the designs for his scenes, the old walls of the church of s. pietro at rome were being pulled down to make way for those of the new building, and the masons came to a wall where there was a madonna, with other pictures, by the hand of giotto; which being seen by perino, who was in the company of messer niccolò acciaiuoli, a florentine doctor and much his friend, both of them were moved to pity for that picture and would not allow it to be destroyed; nay, having caused the wall to be cut away around it, they had it well braced with beams and bars of iron and deposited below the organ of s. pietro, in a place where there was neither altar nor any other consecrated object. and before the wall that had been round the madonna was pulled down, perino copied the figure of orso dell' anguillara, the roman senator who had crowned m. francesco petrarca on the campidoglio, and who was at the feet of that madonna. round the picture of the madonna were to be made some ornaments in stucco and painting, and together with them a memorial to a certain niccolò acciaiuoli, who had formerly been a roman senator; and perino, having made the designs, straightway set his hand to the work, and, assisted by his young men and by marcello mantovano, his disciple, carried it out with great diligence. in the same s. pietro the sacrament did not occupy, with regard to masonry, a very honourable position; wherefore certain deputies were appointed from the company of the sacrament, who ordained that a chapel should be built in the centre of the old church by antonio da san gallo, partly with remains in the form of ancient marble columns, and partly with other ornaments of marble, bronze, and stucco, placing in the centre a tabernacle by the hand of donatello, by way of further adornment; and perino executed there a very beautiful ceiling with many minute scenes full of figures from the old testament, symbolical of the sacrament. in the middle of it, also, he painted a somewhat larger scene, containing the last supper of christ with the apostles, and below it two prophets, one on either side of the body of christ. the same master, likewise, caused his young men to paint in the church of s. giuseppe, near the ripetta, the chapel of that church, which was afterwards retouched and finished by himself; and he also had a chapel painted after his designs in the church of s. bartolommeo in isola, which he retouched in like manner, and caused some scenes to be painted at the high-altar of s. salvatore del lauro, with some grotesques on the vaulting, and likewise an annunciation on the façade outside, which was executed by his pupil, girolamo sermoneta. thus, then, partly because he was not able, and partly because the labour wearied him, liking to design his works rather than to execute them, he pursued the same course that raffaello da urbino had formerly followed at the end of his life. how harmful and how blameworthy is this practice, is proved by the chigi works and by all those carried out by other hands, and is also shown by those that perino caused to be executed in the same way; besides which, those works of giulio romano's that he did not paint with his own hand have not done him much honour. and although this method pleases princes, giving them their works quickly, and perhaps benefits the craftsmen who labour upon them, yet, if they were the ablest men in the world, they could never feel that love for the works of others which a man feels for his own. nor, however well drawn the cartoons may be, can they be imitated as exactly and as thoroughly as by the hand of their author, who, seeing the work going to ruin, in despair leaves it to fall into complete destruction. he, then, who thirsts for honour, should do his own painting. this i can say from experience, for after i had laboured with the greatest possible pains on the cartoons for the hall of the cancelleria in the palace of s. giorgio in rome, the work having to be executed with great haste in a hundred days, a vast number of painters were employed to paint it, who departed so far from their outlines and their true form, that i made a resolution, to which i have adhered, that from that time onward no one should lay a hand on any works of mine. whoever, therefore, wishes to ensure long life for his name and his works, should undertake fewer and do them all with his own hand, if he desires to obtain that full meed of honour that a man of exalted genius seeks to acquire. i say, then, that perino, by reason of the number of the labours committed to his care, was forced to employ many persons; and he thirsted rather for gain than for glory, considering that he had thrown away his life and had saved nothing in his youth. and it vexed him so much to see young men coming forward to undertake work, that he sought to enroll them all under his own command, to the end that they might not encroach on his position. now in the year there came to rome the venetian tiziano da cadore, a painter highly celebrated for his portraits, who, having formerly taken a portrait of pope paul at the time when his holiness went to busseto, without exacting any remuneration either for that or for some others that he had executed for cardinal farnese and santa fiore, was received by those prelates with the greatest honour in the belvedere; at which a rumour arose in the court, and then spread throughout rome, to the effect that he had come in order to paint scenes with his own hand in the hall of kings in the palace, where perino was to paint them and the stucco-work was already in progress. this arrival caused much vexation to perino, and he complained of it to many of his friends, not because he believed that tiziano was likely to surpass him at painting historical scenes in fresco, but because he desired to occupy himself with that work peacefully and honourably until his death, and, if he was to do it, he wished to do it without competition, the wall and the vaulting by michelagnolo in the chapel close by being more than enough for him by way of comparison. that suspicion was the reason that while tiziano stayed in rome, perino always avoided him, and remained in an ill-humour until his departure. the castellan of the castello di s. angelo, tiberio crispo, who was afterwards made a cardinal, being a person who delighted in our arts, made up his mind to beautify the castle, and rebuilt loggie, chambers, halls, and apartments in a very handsome manner, in order to be able to receive his holiness more worthily when he went there. many rooms and other ornaments were executed from the designs and under the direction of raffaello da montelupo, and then in the end by antonio da san gallo, and a loggia was wrought in stucco under the supervision of raffaello, who also made the angel of marble, a figure six braccia high, which was placed on the summit of the highest tower in the castle. tiberio then caused the said loggia, which is the one facing the meadows, to be painted by girolamo sermoneta; which finished, the rest of the rooms were entrusted in part to luzio romano, and finally the halls and other important apartments were finished partly by perino with his own hand, and partly by others after his cartoons. the principal hall is very pleasing and beautiful, being wrought in stucco and all filled with scenes from roman history, executed for the most part by perino's young men, and not a few by the hand of marco da siena, the disciple of domenico beccafumi; and in certain rooms there are most beautiful friezes. perino, when he could find young men of ability, was wont to make use of them willingly in his works; but for all that he never ceased to execute any commonplace commission. he very often painted pennons for trumpets, banners for the castle, and those of the fleet of the militant order; and he executed hangings, tabards, door-curtains, and the most insignificant works of art. he began some canvases from which tapestries were to be woven for prince doria, and he painted a chapel for the very reverend cardinal farnese, and a writing-study for the most illustrious madama margherita of austria. he caused an ornamental frame to be made round the madonna in s. maria del pianto, and also another ornamental frame round the madonna in piazza giudea; and he executed many other works, of which, by reason of their number, i will not now make any further mention, particularly because he was accustomed to accept any sort of work that came to his hand. this disposition of perino's, which was well known to the officials of the palace, was the reason that he always had something to do for one or another of them, and he did it willingly, in order to bind them to himself, so that they might be obliged to serve him in the payment of his allowances and in his other requirements. in addition to this, perino had acquired such authority that all the work in rome was allotted to him, for the reason that, besides the circumstance that it appeared to be in a certain sense his due, he would sometimes execute commissions for the most paltry prices; whereby he did little good, nay rather, much harm, to himself and to art. that these words are true is proved by this, that if he had undertaken to paint the hall of kings in the palace on his own account, and had worked at it together with his own assistants, he would have saved several hundreds of crowns, which all went to the overseers who had charge of the work and paid the daily wages to those who worked there. thus, having undertaken a burden so heavy and so laborious, and being infirm and enfeebled by catarrh, he was not able to endure such discomforts, having to draw day and night and to meet the demands of the palace, and, among other things, to make the designs of embroideries, of engravings for banner-makers, and of innumerable ornaments required by the caprice of farnese and other cardinals and noblemen. in short, having his mind incessantly occupied, and being always surrounded by sculptors, masters in stucco, wood-carvers, seamsters, embroiderers, painters, gilders, and other suchlike craftsmen, he had never an hour of repose; and the only happiness and contentment that he knew in this life was to find himself at times with some of his friends at a tavern, which was his favourite haunt in all the places where it fell to his lot to live, considering that this was the true blessedness and peace of this world, and the only repose from his labours. and thus, having ruined his constitution by the fatigues of his art and by his excesses in eating and in love, he was attacked by asthma, which, sapping his strength little by little, finally caused him to sink into consumption; and one evening, while talking with a friend near his house, he fell dead of an apoplectic seizure in his forty-seventh year. at this many craftsmen felt infinite sorrow, it being a truly great loss that art suffered; and he received honourable burial from his son-in-law, m. gioseffo cincio, the physician of madama, and from his wife, in the chapel of s. giuseppe in the ritonda at rome, with the following epitaph: perino bonaccursio vagÆ florentino, qui ingenio et arte singulari egregios cum pictores permultos, tum plastas omnes facile superavit, catherina perini conjugi, lavinia bonaccursia parenti, josephus cincius socero carissimo et optimo fecere. vixit ann. , men. , dies . mortuus est calend. novemb. ann. christ. . the place of perino was filled by daniello of volterra, who had worked much with him, and who finished the two other prophets that are in the chapel of the crocifisso in s. marcello. daniello has also adorned a chapel in s. trinità most beautifully with stucco-work and painting, for signora elena orsina; with many other works, of which mention will be made in the proper place. perino, then, as may be seen from the works described and from many others that might be mentioned, was one of the most versatile painters of our times, in that he assisted the craftsmen to work excellently in stucco, and executed grotesques, landscapes, animals, and all the other things of which a painter can have knowledge, using colours in fresco, in oils, and in distemper. whence it may be said that he was the father of these most noble arts, seeing that his talents live in those who are continually imitating him in every honourable field of art. after perino's death were published many prints taken from his drawings, such as the slaying of the giants that he executed in genoa, eight stories of s. peter taken from the acts of the apostles, of which he made designs for the embroidering of a cope for pope paul iii, and many other things, which are known by the manner. perino made use of many young men, and taught the secrets of art to many disciples; but the best of them all, and the one of whom he availed himself more than of any other, was girolamo siciolante of sermoneta, of whom there will be an account in the proper place. his disciple, likewise, was marcello mantovano, who executed on a wall at the entrance of the castello di s. angelo, after the design and under the direction of perino, a madonna with many saints in fresco, which was a very beautiful thing; but of his works as well there will be an account elsewhere. perino left many designs at his death, some by his hand and some by others; among the latter, one of the whole chapel of michelagnolo buonarroti, drawn by the hand of leonardo cungi of borgo a san sepolcro, which was an excellent work. all these designs, with other things, were sold by his heirs; and in our book are many drawings done by him with the pen, which are very beautiful. footnote: [ ] or perino. [ ] vasari sometimes groups under this name all the male figures that appear in a picture of the deposition from the cross. giorgio vasari to the craftsmen in design to the craftsmen in design giorgio vasari excellent and well-beloved brother-craftsmen-- so great has always been the delight, to say nothing of the profit and honour, that i have derived from practising my hand to the best of my ability in this most noble art of ours, that i have not only had a burning desire to exalt and to celebrate her, and to honour her in every manner open to me, but have also been full of affection for all those who have taken the same pleasure in her and have succeeded in practising her more happily than i, perhaps, have been able to do. and from this my good will, so full of the most sincere affection, it appears to me that i have gathered hitherto fruits that are an ample reward, for i have been always loved and honoured by you all, and we have been united in the most perfect intimacy or brotherhood, i know not which to call it; mutually showing our works to one another, i to you and you to me, and helping one another with counsel and assistance whenever the occasion has presented itself. wherefore i have always felt myself deeply bound by this loving fellowship, and much more by your excellent abilities, and no less, also, by this my inclination, by nature, and by a most powerful attraction, to assist and serve you in every way and every matter wherein i have considered myself able to bring you pleasure or advantage. to this end i published in the year the lives of our best and most famous craftsmen, moved by a cause that has been mentioned in another place, and also, to tell the truth, by a generous indignation that so much talent should have been for so long a time, and should still remain, buried in oblivion. and this my labour appears not to have been in any way unwelcome; on the contrary, so acceptable, that, not to mention what has been said and written to me from many quarters, out of the vast number that were printed at that time, there is not one single volume to be found at the booksellers. thus, therefore, receiving every day requests from many friends, and understanding no less clearly the unexpressed desires of many others, once more, although in the midst of most important undertakings, i have applied myself to the same labour, with the intention not only of adding those masters who have passed to a better world between that time and the present, thus giving me the opportunity of writing their lives in full, but also of supplying that which may have been wanting to the perfection of my first work. for since then i have had leisure to come to a better knowledge of many matters, and to re-examine others, not only by the favour of these my most illustrious lords, whom i serve, the true refuge and protection of all the arts, but also through the facilities that they have given me to search the whole of italy once again and to see and understand many things which had not before come under my notice. i have been able, therefore, not merely to make corrections, but also to add so many things, that many of the lives may be said to have been almost written anew; while some, indeed, even of the old masters, which were not there before, have been added. nor, the better to revive the memory of those whom i so greatly honour, have i grudged the great labour, pains and expense of seeking out their portraits, which i have placed at the head of their lives. and for the greater satisfaction of many friends not of our profession, who are yet devoted lovers of art, i have included in a compendium the greater part of the works of those who are still living and are worthy to be for ever renowned on account of their abilities; for that scruple which formerly restrained me can have no place here in the opinion of any thoughtful reader, since i deal with no works save those that are excellent and worthy of praise. and this may perchance serve as a spur to make every craftsman continue to labour worthily and advance unceasingly from good to better; insomuch that he who shall write the rest of this history, may be able to give it more grandeur and majesty, having occasion to describe those rarer and more perfect works which, begun from time to time through the desire of immortality, and finished by the loving care of intellects so divine, the world in days to come shall see issuing from your hands. and the young men who follow with their studies, incited by hope of glory (if hope of gain has not enough force), may perchance be inspired by such an example to attain to excellence. and to the end that this work may prove to be in every way complete, and that there may be no need to seek anything outside its pages, i have added a great part of the works of the most celebrated craftsmen of antiquity, both greek and of other nations, whose memory has been preserved down to our own day by pliny and other writers, without whose pens they would have been buried, like many others, in eternal oblivion. and this consideration, also, may perchance increase the willingness of men in general to labour valiantly, and may impel and inspire us all, as we behold the nobility and greatness of our art, and how she has always been prized and rewarded by all nations, and particularly by the most lofty minds and the most powerful princes, to leave the world adorned by works infinite in number and unsurpassed in excellence; whence, rendered beautiful by us, it may give to us that rank which it has given to those ever marvellous and celebrated spirits. accept, then, with a friendly mind, these my labours, which, whatever they may be, have been lovingly carried to conclusion by me for the glory of art and for the honour of her craftsmen, and take them as a sure token and pledge of my heart, which is desirous of nothing more ardently than of your greatness and glory, in which, seeing that i also have been received by you into your company (for which i render my thanks to you, and congratulate myself not a little on my own account), i shall always consider myself in a certain sense a participator. domenico beccafumi life of domenico beccafumi of siena painter and master of casting that same quality, the pure gift of nature, which has been seen in giotto and in some others among those painters of whom we have spoken hitherto, has been revealed most recently in domenico beccafumi, the painter of siena, in that he, while guarding some sheep for his father pacio, the labourer of the sienese citizen lorenzo beccafumi, was observed to practise his hand by himself, child as he was, in drawing sometimes on stones and sometimes in other ways. it happened that the said lorenzo saw him one day drawing various things with a pointed stick on the sand of a small stream, where he was watching his little charges, and he asked for the child from his father, meaning to employ him as his servant, and at the same time to have him taught. the boy, therefore, who was then called mecherino, having been given up by his father pacio to lorenzo, was taken to siena, where lorenzo caused him for a while to spend all the spare time that he had after his household duties in the workshop of a painter who was his neighbour. this painter, who was no great craftsman, caused mecherino to learn all that he could not himself teach him from designs by eminent painters that he had in his possession, of which he availed himself for his own purposes, as those masters are wont to do who are not very able in design. exercising his hand, therefore, in this manner, mecherino gave promise of being destined to become an excellent painter. during this time pietro perugino, then a famous painter, came to siena, where, as has been related, he painted two altar-pieces; and his manner pleased domenico greatly, so that he set himself to study it and to copy those altar-pieces, and no long time passed before he had caught that manner. then, after the chapel of michelagnolo and the works of raffaello da urbino had been thrown open in rome, domenico, who desired nothing so much as to learn, and knew that he was losing his time in siena, took leave of lorenzo beccafumi, from whom he acquired the family name of beccafumi, and made his way to rome. there he placed himself under a painter, who gave him board and lodging, and executed many works in company with him, giving his attention at the same time to studying the works of michelagnolo, raffaello, and other eminent masters, and the marvellous statues and sarcophagi of antiquity. no long time passed, therefore, before he became a bold draughtsman, fertile in invention, and a very pleasing colourist; but during this period, which did not exceed two years, he did nothing worthy of record save a façade in the borgo with an escutcheon of pope julius ii in colour. meanwhile, there had been brought to siena by a merchant of the spannocchi family, as will be related in the proper place, the painter giovanni antonio of vercelli, a young man of passing good ability, who was much employed, particularly in making portraits from life, by the gentlemen of that city, which has always been the friend and patron of all men of talent. domenico, who was very desirous of returning to his own country, having heard this news, made his way back to siena; and when he saw that giovanni antonio was very well grounded in drawing, which he knew to be the essence of the excellence of a craftsman, not resting content with what he had done in rome, he set himself with the utmost zeal to follow him, devoting himself much to anatomy and to drawing nudes; which helped him so much, that in a short time he began to be greatly esteemed in that most noble city. nor was he beloved less for his goodness and his character than for his art, for the reason that, whereas giovanni antonio was coarse, licentious, and eccentric, being called il sodoma because he always mixed and lived with beardless boys, and answering willingly enough to that name, domenico, on the other hand, was a pattern of good conduct and uprightness, living like a christian and keeping very much to himself. but such persons as are called merry fellows and good companions are very often more esteemed by men than the virtuous and orderly, and most of the young men of siena followed sodoma, extolling him as a man of originality. and this sodoma, being an eccentric, and wishing to please the common herd, always kept at his house parrots, apes, dwarf donkeys, little elba horses, a talking raven, barbs for running races, and other suchlike creatures; from which he had won such a name among the vulgar, that they spoke of nothing but his follies. sodoma, then, had painted with colours in fresco the façade of the house of m. agostino bardi, and domenico at the same time, in competition with him, painted the façade of a house of the borghese, close to the postierla column, near the duomo, with which he took very great pains. below the roof, in a frieze in chiaroscuro, he executed some little figures that were much extolled; and in the spaces between the three ranges of windows of travertine that adorn that palace, he painted many ancient gods and other figures in imitation of bronze, in chiaroscuro and in colour, which were more than passing good, although the work of sodoma was more extolled. both these façades were executed in the year . domenico afterwards painted for s. benedetto, a seat of monks of monte oliveto, without the porta a tufi, an altar-piece of s. catharine of siena in a building receiving the stigmata, with a s. benedict standing on her right hand, and on her left a s. jerome in the habit of a cardinal; which altar-piece, being very soft in colouring and strong in relief, was much praised, as it still is. in the predella of this picture, likewise, he painted some little scenes in distemper with incredible boldness and vivacity, and with such facility of design, that they could not be more graceful, and yet they have the appearance of having been executed without the slightest effort in the world. in one of these little scenes is the angel placing in the mouth of that same s. catharine part of the host consecrated by the priest; in another is jesus christ marrying her, in a third she is receiving the habit from s. dominic, and there are other stories. for the church of s. martino the same master painted a large altar-piece with christ born and being adored by the virgin, by joseph, and by the shepherds; and above the hut is a most beautiful choir of angels dancing. in this work, which is much extolled by craftsmen, domenico began to show to those who had some understanding that his works were painted with a different foundation from those of sodoma. he then painted in fresco, in the great hospital, the madonna visiting s. elizabeth, in a manner very pleasing and very natural. and for the church of s. spirito he executed an altar-piece of the madonna holding in her arms the child, who is marrying the above-mentioned s. catharine of siena, and at the sides s. bernardino, s. francis, s. jerome, and s. catharine the virgin-martyr, with s. peter and s. paul upon some marble steps in front, on the polished surface of which he counterfeited with great art some reflections of the colour of their draperies. this work, which was executed with fine judgment and design, brought him much honour, as did also some little figures painted on the predella of the picture, in which is s. john baptizing christ, a king causing the wife and children of s. gismondo to be thrown into a well, s. dominic burning the books of the heretics, christ presenting to s. catharine of siena two crowns, one of roses and the other of thorns, and s. bernardino of siena preaching on the piazza of siena to a vast multitude. [illustration: domenico beccafumi: s. catharine before the crucifix (_siena_: _pinacoteca_, . _canvas_)] next, by reason of the fame of these works, there was allotted to domenico an altar-piece that was to be placed in the carmine, in which he had to paint a s. michael doing vengeance on lucifer; and he, being full of fancy, set himself to think out a new invention, in order to display his talent and the beautiful conceptions of his brain. and so, seeking to represent lucifer and his followers driven for their pride from heaven to the lowest depths of hell, he began a shower of nude figures raining down, which is very beautiful, although, from his having taken too great pains with it, it appears if anything rather confused. this altar-piece, which remained unfinished, was taken after the death of domenico to the great hospital and placed at the top of some steps near the high-altar, where it is still regarded with marvel on account of some very beautiful foreshortenings in the nudes. in the carmine, where this picture was to have been set up, was placed another, in the upper part of which is counterfeited a god the father above the clouds with many angels round him, painted with marvellous grace; and in the centre of the picture is the angel michael in armour, flying, and pointing to lucifer, whom he has driven to the centre of the earth, where there are burning buildings, rugged caverns, and a lake of fire, with angels in various attitudes, and nude figures of lost souls, who are swimming with different gestures of agony in that fire. all this is painted with such beauty and grace of manner, that it appears that this marvellous work, in its thick darkness, is illuminated by the fire; wherefore it is held to be a rare picture. baldassarre peruzzi of siena, an excellent painter, could never have his fill of praising it, and i myself, one day that i saw it uncovered in his company, while passing through siena, was struck with astonishment by it, as i also was by the five little scenes that are in the predella, painted with distemper in a judicious and beautiful manner. for the nuns of ognissanti in the same city domenico painted another altar-piece, in which is christ on high in the heavens, crowning the glorified virgin, and below them are s. gregory, s. anthony, s. mary magdalene, and s. catharine the virgin-martyr; and in the predella, likewise, are some very beautiful little figures executed in distemper. in the house of signor marcello agostini domenico painted some very lovely works in fresco on the ceiling of an apartment, which has three lunettes on each main side and two at each end, with a series of friezes that go right round. the centre of the ceiling is divided into two quadrangular compartments; in the first, where a silken arras is counterfeited as upheld by the ornament, there may be seen, as if woven upon it, scipio africanus restoring the young woman untouched to her husband, and in the other the celebrated painter zeuxis, who is copying several nude women in order to paint his picture, which was to be placed in the temple of juno. in one of the lunettes, painted with little figures only about half a braccio high, but very beautiful, are the two roman brothers who, having been enemies, became friends for the public good and for the sake of their country. in that which follows is torquatus,[ ] who, in order to observe the laws, when his son has been condemned to lose his eyes, causes one of his son's and one of his own to be put out. in the next is the petition of ...,[ ] who, after hearing the recital of his crimes against his country and the roman people, is put to death. in the lunette beside that one is the roman people deliberating on the expedition of scipio to africa; and next to this, in another lunette, is an ancient sacrifice crowded with a variety of most beautiful figures, with a temple drawn in perspective, which has no little relief, for in that field domenico was a truly excellent master. in the last is cato killing himself after being overtaken by some horsemen that are most beautifully painted there. and in the recesses of the lunettes, also, are some little scenes very well finished. the excellence of this work was the reason that domenico was recognized as a rare painter by those who were then governing, and was commissioned to paint the vaulting of a hall in the palace of the signori, to which he devoted all the diligence, study, and effort of which any man is capable, in order to prove his worth and to adorn that celebrated building of his native city, which was honouring him so much. this hall, which is two squares long and one square wide, has the ceiling made not with lunettes, but after the manner of a groined vaulting; wherefore domenico executed the compartments in painting, thinking that this would give the best result, with friezes and cornices overlaid with gold, and all so beautifully, that, without any stucco-work or other ornaments, they are so well painted and so graceful that they appear to be really in relief. on each of the two ends of this hall there is a large picture with an historical scene, and on each main wall there are two, one on either side of an octagon; and thus the pictures are six and the octagons two, and in each of the latter is a scene. at each corner of the vaulting, where the rib is, there is drawn a round compartment, which extends half on one wall and half on the other, so that these compartments, being divided by the ribs of the vaulting, form eight spaces, in each of which are large seated figures, representing distinguished men who have defended their republic and have observed her laws. the highest part of the surface of the vaulting is divided into three parts, in such a manner as to form a circular compartment in the centre, immediately above the octagons, and two square compartments over those on the walls. in one of the octagons, then, is a woman with some children round her, who holds a heart in her hand, representing the love that men owe to their country. in the other octagon is another woman, with an equal number of children, as a symbol of civic concord. and these are one on either side of a justice that is in the circle, with the sword and scales in her hands, and seen from below in such bold foreshortening that it is a marvel, for at the feet she is dark both in drawing and in colour, and about the knees she becomes lighter, and so continues little by little towards the torso, the shoulders, and the arms, until she rises into a celestial splendour at the head, which makes it appear as if that figure dissolves gradually in a mist: wherefore it is not possible to imagine, much less to see, a more beautiful figure than this one, or one executed with greater judgment and art, among all that were ever painted to be seen in foreshortening from below. as for the stories, in the first, at the end of the hall and on the left hand as one enters, are m. lepidus and fulvius flaccus the censors, who, after being at enmity with one another, as soon as they became colleagues in the office of the censorship, laid aside their private hatred for the good of their country, and acted in that office like the closest friends. and domenico painted them on their knees, embracing each other, with many figures round them, and with a most beautiful prospect of buildings and temples drawn in perspective so ingeniously and so well, that one may see in them what a master of perspective was domenico. on the next wall there follows a picture with the story of the dictator postumius tiburtius, who, having left his only son at the head of his army in place of himself, commanding him that he should do nothing else but guard the camp, put him to death for having been disobedient and having with a fair occasion attacked the enemy and gained a victory. in this scene domenico painted postumius as an old man with shaven face, with the right hand on his axe, and with the left showing to the army his son lying dead upon the ground, and depicted very well in foreshortening; and below this picture, which is most beautiful, is an inscription very well composed. in the octagon that follows, in the centre of the wall, is the story of spurius cassius, whom the roman senate, suspecting that he was plotting to become king, caused to be beheaded, and his house to be pulled down; and in this scene the head, which is beside the executioner, and the body, which is on the ground in foreshortening, are very beautiful. in the next picture is the tribune publius mucius, who caused all his fellow-tribunes, who were conspiring with spurius to become tyrants of their country, to be burned; and here the fire that is consuming their bodies is painted very well and with great art. at the other end of the hall, in another picture, is the athenian codrus, who, having heard from the oracle that the victory would fall to that side whose king should be killed by the enemy, laid aside his robes, entered unknown among the enemy, and let himself be slain, thus giving the victory to his people by his own death. domenico painted him seated, with his nobles round him as he puts off his robes, near a most beautiful round temple; and in the distant background of the picture he is seen dead, with his name in an epitaph below. then, as one turns to the other long wall, opposite to the two pictures with the octagon in the centre between them, in the first scene one finds prince zaleucus, who, in order not to break the law, caused one of his own eyes to be put out, and one of his son's; and here many are standing round him, praying him that he should not do that cruelty to himself and his son, and in the distance is his son offering violence to a maiden, and below is his name in an inscription. in the octagon that is beside that picture is the story of marcus manilius being hurled down from the capitol; and the figure of the young marcus, who is being thrown down from a kind of balcony, is painted so well in foreshortening, with the head downwards, that it seems to be alive, as also seem some figures that are below. in the next picture is spurius melius, who belonged to the equestrian order, and was killed by the tribune servilius because the people suspected that he was conspiring to become tyrant of his country; which servilius is seated with many round him, and one who is in the centre points to spurius lying dead upon the ground, a figure painted with great art. then, in the circles at the corners, where there are the eight figures mentioned above, are many men who have been distinguished for their defence of their country. in the first part is the famous fabius maximus, seated and in armour; and on the other side is speusippus, prince of the tegeatæ, who, being exhorted by a friend that he should rid himself of his rival and adversary, answered that he did not wish, at the bidding of his own private interest, to deprive his country of such a citizen. in the circle that is at the next corner, in one part, there is the prætor celius, who, for having fought against the advice and wish of the soothsayers, although he had won and had gained a victory, was punished by the senate; and beside him sits thrasybulus, who with the aid of some friends valorously slew thirty tyrants, in order to free his country. thrasybulus is an old man, shaven, with white locks, and has his name written beneath him, as have also all the others. in a circle at one corner of the lower end of the hall is the prætor genutius cippus, who having had a bird with wings in the form of horns miraculously alight on his head, was told by the oracle that he would become king of his country, whereupon, although already an old man, he chose to go into exile, in order not to take away her liberty; and domenico therefore painted a bird upon his head. beside him sits charondas, who, having returned from the country, and having gone straightway into the senate without disarming himself, in violation of a law which ordained that one who entered the senate with arms should be put to death, killed himself on perceiving his error. in the second circle on the other side are damon and phintias, whose unexampled friendship is so well known, and with them is dionysius, tyrant of sicily; and beside these figures sits brutus, who from love of his country condemned his two sons to death, because they were conspiring to bring the tarquins back to their country. this work, then, so truly extraordinary, made known to the people of siena the ability and worth of domenico, who showed most beautiful art, judgment, and genius in all that he did. the first time that the emperor charles v came to italy, it was expected that he would go to siena, for he had declared such an intention to the ambassadors of that republic; and among other vast and magnificent preparations that were made for the reception of so great an emperor, domenico fashioned a horse eight braccia high and in full relief, all of paste-board and hollow within. the weight of that horse was supported by an armature of iron, and upon it was the statue of the emperor, armed in the ancient fashion, with a sword in his hand. and below it were three large figures--vanquished by him, as it were--which also supported part of the weight, the horse being in the act of leaping with the front legs high in the air; which three figures represented three provinces conquered and subdued by the emperor. in that work domenico showed that he was a master no less of sculpture than of painting; to which it must be added that he had placed the whole work upon a wooden structure four braccia high, with a number of wheels below it, which, being set in motion by men concealed within, caused the whole to move forward; and the design of domenico was that at the entry of his majesty this horse, having been set in motion as has been described, should accompany him from the gate as far as the palace of the signori, and should then come to rest in the middle of the piazza. this horse, after being carried by domenico so near completion that there only remained to gild it, was left in that condition, because his majesty after all did not at that time go to siena, but left italy after being crowned at bologna; and the work remained unfinished. but none the less the art and ingenuity of domenico were recognized, and all men greatly praised the grandeur and excellence of that great structure, which stood in the office of works of the duomo from that time until his majesty, returning from his victorious enterprise in africa, passed through messina and then naples, rome, and finally siena; at which time domenico's work was placed on the piazza del duomo, to his great honour. the fame of the ability of domenico being thus spread abroad, prince doria, who was with the court, after seeing all the works by his hand that were in siena, besought him that he should go to genoa to work in his palace, where perino del vaga, giovanni antonio of pordenone, and girolamo da treviso had worked. but domenico could not promise that lord that he would go to serve him at that time, although he engaged himself for another time, for in those days he had set his hand to finishing a part of the marble pavement in the duomo, which duccio, the painter of siena, had formerly begun in a new manner of work. the figures and scenes were already in great part designed on the marble, the outlines being hollowed out with the chisel and filled with a black mixture, with ornaments of coloured marble all around, and likewise the grounds for the figures. but domenico, with fine judgment, saw that this work could be much improved, and he therefore took grey marbles, to the end that these, profiled with the chisel and placed beside the brilliancy of the white marble, might give the middle shades; and he found that in this way, with white and grey marble, pictures of stone could be made with great perfection after the manner of chiaroscuro. having then made a trial, the work succeeded so well in invention, in solidity of design, and in abundance of figures, that he made a beginning after this fashion with the grandest, the most beautiful, and the most magnificent pavement that had ever been made; and in the course of his life, little by little, he executed a great part of it. round the high-altar he made a border of pictures, in which, in order to follow the order of the stories begun by duccio, he executed scenes from genesis; namely, adam and eve expelled from paradise and tilling the earth, the sacrifice of abel, and that of melchizedek. in front of the altar is a large scene with abraham about to sacrifice isaac, and this has round it a border of half-length figures, carrying various animals which they seem to be going to sacrifice. descending the steps, one finds another large picture, which serves to accompany that above, and in it domenico represented moses receiving the laws from god on mount sinai; and below this is the scene when, having found the people worshipping the golden calf, he is seized with anger and breaks the tables on which those laws were written. below this scene, opposite to the pulpit, and right across the church, is a frieze with a great number of figures, which is composed with so much grace and such design that it defies description; and in this is moses, who, striking the rock in the desert, causes water to gush out and gives drink to his thirsty people. here, along the whole length of the frieze, domenico represented the stream of water, from which the people are drinking in various ways with a vivacity so pleasing, that it is almost impossible to imagine any effect more lovely, or figures in more graceful and beautiful attitudes than are those in this scene--some stooping to the ground to drink, some kneeling before the rock that is spouting with water, some drawing it in vases and others in cups, and others, finally, drinking with their hands. there are, moreover, some who are leading animals to drink, amid the great rejoicing of that people; and, among other things, most marvellous is a little boy who has taken a little dog by the head and neck and plunges its muzzle into the water, in order to make it drink, after which the dog, having drunk, and not wishing to drink any more, shakes its head so naturally that it seems to be alive. in short, this frieze is so beautiful, that for a work of that kind it could not be executed with greater art, seeing that the various kinds of shadows that may be seen in these figures are not merely beautiful, but miraculous; and although the whole work, on account of the fantastic nature of its craftsmanship, is one of great beauty, this part is held to be the most beautiful and the best. below the cupola, moreover, there is a hexagonal compartment, which is divided into seven hexagons and six rhombs, of which hexagons domenico finished four before he died, representing in them the stories and sacrifices of elijah, and doing all this much at his leisure, because this work was as a school and a pastime to domenico, nor did he ever abandon it altogether for his other works. while he was thus labouring now at this work and now elsewhere, he painted a large altar-piece in oils which is in s. francesco on the right hand as one enters into the church, containing christ descending in glory to the limbo of hell in order to deliver the holy fathers; wherein, among many nudes, is a very beautiful eve, and a thief who is behind christ with the cross is a very well-executed figure, while the cavern of limbo and the demons and fires of that place are fantastic to a marvel. and since domenico was of the opinion that pictures painted in distemper preserved their freshness better than those painted in oils, saying that it seemed to him that the works of luca da cortona, of the pollaiuoli, and of the other masters who painted in oils in those days, had suffered from age more than those of fra giovanni, fra filippo, benozzo, and the others before their time who painted in distemper--for this reason, i say, having to paint an altar-piece for the company of s. bernardino on the piazza di s. francesco, he resolved to do it in distemper; and in this way he executed it excellently well, painting in it our lady with many saints. in the predella, which is very beautiful, and painted by him likewise in distemper, he depicted s. francis receiving the stigmata; s. anthony of padua, who, in order to convert some heretics, performs the miracle of the ass, which makes obeisance before the sacred host; and s. bernardino of siena, who is preaching to the people of his city on the piazza de' signori. and on the walls of this company, also, he painted two stories of our lady in fresco, in competition with some others that sodoma had executed in the same place. in one he represented the visitation of s. elizabeth, and in the other the passing of our lady, with the apostles all around; and both of these are much extolled. finally, after having been long expected in genoa by prince doria, domenico made his way there, but with great reluctance, being a man who was accustomed to a life of peace and contented with that which his wants required, and nothing more; besides which, he was not much used to making journeys, for the reason that, having built himself a little house in siena, and having also a vineyard a mile beyond the porta a camollia, which he cultivated with his own hand as a recreation, going there often, it was a long time since he had gone far from siena. having then arrived in genoa, he painted a scene there, beside that of pordenone, in which he succeeded very well, and yet not in such a manner that it could be counted among his best works. but, since the ways of the court did not please him, being used to a life of freedom, he did not stay very willingly in that place, and, indeed, appeared as if he were stupefied. wherefore, having come to the end of that work, he sought leave of the prince and set out to return home; and passing by pisa, in order to see that city, he met with battista del cervelliera and was shown all the most noteworthy things in the city, and in particular the altar-pieces of sogliani and the pictures that are in the recess behind the high-altar of the duomo. meanwhile sebastiano della seta, the warden of works of the duomo, having heard from cervelliera of the qualities and abilities of domenico, and being desirous to finish the work so long delayed by giovanni antonio sogliani, allotted two of the pictures for that recess to domenico, to the end that he might execute them at siena and send them finished to pisa; and so it was done. in one is moses, who, having found that the people had sacrificed to the golden calf, is breaking the tables; and in this domenico painted some nudes that are figures of great beauty. in the other is the same moses, with the earth opening and swallowing up a part of the people; and in this, also, are some nudes killed by flaming thunderbolts, which are marvellous. these pictures, when taken to pisa, led to domenico painting four pictures for the front of that recess--namely, two on each side--of the four evangelists, which were four very beautiful figures. whereupon sebastiano della seta, who saw that he had been served quickly and well, commissioned domenico, after these pictures, to paint the altar-piece of one of the chapels in the duomo, sogliani having by that time painted four. settling in pisa, therefore, domenico painted in that altar-piece our lady in the sky with the child in her arms, upon some clouds supported by some little angels, with many saints both male and female below, all executed passing well, but yet not with that perfection which marked the pictures described above. but he, excusing himself for this to many of his friends, and particularly on one occasion to giorgio vasari, said that since he was away from the air of siena and from certain comforts of his own, he did not seem to be able to do anything. having therefore returned home, determined that he would never again go away to work elsewhere, he painted for the nuns of s. paolo, near s. marco, an altar-piece in oils of the nativity of our lady, with some nurses, and s. anne in a bed that is foreshortened and represented as standing within a door; and in a dark shadow is a woman who is drying clothes, without any other light but that which comes from the blaze of the fire. in the predella, which is full of charm, are three scenes in distemper--the presentation of the virgin at the temple, her marriage, and the adoration of the magi. in the mercanzia, a tribunal in that city, the officials have a little altar-piece which they say was painted by domenico when he was young; it is very beautiful, and it contains in the centre a s. paul seated, and on one side his conversion, in little figures, and on the other the scene of his beheading. finally, domenico was commissioned to paint the great recess of the duomo, which is at the end behind the high-altar. in this he first made a decoration of stucco with foliage and figures, all with his own hand, and two victories in the vacant spaces in the semicircle; which decoration was in truth a very rich and beautiful work. then in the centre he painted in fresco the ascension of christ into heaven; and from the cornice downwards he painted three pictures divided by columns in relief, and executed in perspective. in the middle picture, which has above it an arch in perspective, are our lady, s. peter, and s. john; and in the spaces at the sides are ten apostles, five on each side, all in various attitudes and gazing at christ, who is ascending into heaven; and above each of the two pictures of the apostles is an angel in foreshortening, the two together representing those two angels who, after the ascension, declared that he had risen into heaven. this work is certainly admirable, but it would have been even more so if domenico had given beautiful expressions to the heads; as it is, they have something in the expressions that is not very pleasing, and it appears that in his old age he adopted for his countenances an expression of terror by no means agreeable. this work, i say, if there had been any beauty in the heads, would have been so beautiful that there would have been nothing better to be seen. but in this matter of the expressions of the heads, in the opinion of the people of siena, sodoma was superior to domenico, for the reason that sodoma made them much more beautiful, although those of domenico had more design and greater force. and, in truth, the manner of the heads in these our arts is of no little importance, and by painting them with graceful and beautiful expressions many masters have escaped the censure that they might have incurred for the rest of their work. this was the last work in painting executed by domenico, who, having taken it into his head in the end to work in relief, began to give his attention to casting in bronze, and went so far with this that he executed, although with extraordinary labour, six angels of bronze in the round, little less than life-size, for the six columns nearest the high-altar of the duomo. these angels, which are very beautiful, are holding tazze, or rather little basins, which support candelabra containing lights, and in the last of them he acquitted himself so well, that he was very highly praised for them. whereupon, growing in courage, he made a beginning with figures of the twelve apostles, which were to be placed on the columns lower down, where there are now some of marble, old and in a bad manner; but he did not continue them, for he did not live long after that. and since he was a man of infinite ingenuity, and succeeded well in everything, he engraved wood-blocks by himself in order to make prints in chiaroscuro, and there are to be seen prints of two apostles engraved by him excellently well, of which we have one in our book of drawings, together with some sheets drawn divinely by his hand. he also engraved copper-plates with the burin, and he executed with aquafortis some very fanciful little stories of alchemy, in which jove and the other gods, wishing to congeal mercury, place him bound in a crucible, and vulcan and pluto make fire around him; but when they think that he must be fixed, mercury flies away and goes off in smoke. domenico, in addition to the works described above, executed many others of no great importance, pictures of the madonna and other suchlike chamber-pictures, such as a madonna that is in the house of the chevalier donati, and a picture in distemper in which jove changes himself into a shower of gold and rains into the lap of danaë. piero catanei, likewise, has a round picture in oils of a very beautiful virgin by the hand of the same master. he also painted a most beautiful bier for the confraternity of s. lucia, and likewise another for that of s. antonio; nor should anyone be astonished that i make mention of such works, for the reason that they are beautiful to a marvel, as all know who have seen them. finally, having come to the age of sixty-five, he hastened the end of his life by toiling all by himself day and night at his castings in metal, polishing them himself without calling in any assistance. he died, then, on the th of may, , and was given burial by his dearest friend, the goldsmith giuliano, in the duomo, where he had executed so many rare works. and he was carried to the tomb by all the craftsmen of his city, which recognized even then the great loss that she had suffered in the death of domenico, and now, as she admires his works, recognizes it more than ever. domenico was an orderly and upright person, fearing god and studious in his art, although solitary beyond measure; wherefore he well deserved to be honourably celebrated by his fellow-citizens of siena, who have always won great praise by their attention to noble studies and to poetry, with verses both in latin and in the vulgar tongue. footnote: [ ] zaleucus. [ ] here there is a blank in the text. giovanni antonio lappoli life of giovanni antonio lappoli painter of arezzo rarely does it happen that from an old stock there fails to sprout some good shoot, which, growing with time, revives and reclothes with its leaves that desolate stem, and reveals with its fruits to those who taste them the same savour that was once known in the ancient tree. and that this is true is proved in this present life of giovanni antonio, who, at the death of his father matteo, who was a painter of passing good repute in his day, was left with a good income under the guardianship of his mother, and lived thus up to the age of twelve. having come to that period of his life, and not caring to choose any other pursuit than that of painting, to which he was drawn, besides other reasons, by a wish to follow the footsteps of his father in that art, giovanni antonio began to learn the first rudiments of design under domenico pecori, a painter of arezzo, who had been, together with his father matteo, a disciple of clemente,[ ] and who was his first master. then, after having been some time with him, desiring to make greater proficience than he was making under the discipline of that master and in that place, where he was not able to learn by himself, although he had a strong natural inclination, he turned his thoughts towards the idea of settling in florence. to this intention, not to mention that he was left alone by the death of his mother, fortune was favourable enough, for a young sister that he had was married to leonardo ricoveri, one of the first and richest citizens that there were at that time in arezzo; and so he went off to florence. there, among the works of many that he saw, the manner of andrea del sarto and of jacopo da pontormo pleased him more than that of all the others who had worked at painting in that city. wherefore he resolved to place himself under one of those two, and was hesitating as to which of them he should choose as his master, when there were uncovered the faith and charity painted by pontormo over the portico of the nunziata in florence, and he became fully determined to go to work under pontormo, thinking that his manner was so beautiful that it might be expected that jacopo, who was still a young man, was destined to surpass all the young painters of his own age, as, indeed, was the firm belief of everyone at that time. lappoli, then, although he might have gone to work under andrea, for the said reasons attached himself to pontormo, under whose discipline he was for ever drawing, spurred to incredible exertions, out of emulation, by two motives. one of these was the presence of giovan maria dal borgo a san sepolcro, who was studying design and painting under the same master, and who, always advising him for his own good, brought it about that he changed his manner and adopted the good manner of pontormo. the other--and this spurred him more strongly--was the sight of agnolo, who was called bronzino, being much brought forward by jacopo on account of his loving submissiveness and goodness and the untiring diligence that he showed in imitating his master's works, not to mention that he drew very well and acquitted himself in colouring in such a manner, that he aroused hopes that he was destined to attain to that excellence and perfection which have been seen in him, and still are seen, in our own day. giovanni antonio, then, being desirous to learn, and impelled by the reasons mentioned above, spent many months in making drawings and copies of the works of jacopo da pontormo, which were so well executed, so good, and so beautiful, that it is certain that if he had persevered, what with the assistance that he had from nature, his wish to become eminent, the force of competition, and the good manner of his master, he would have become most excellent; and to this some drawings in red chalk by his hand, which may be seen in our book, can bear witness. but pleasure, as may often be seen to happen, is in young men generally the enemy of excellence, and brings it about that their intellects are led astray; wherefore he who is engaged in the studies of any faculty, science, or art whatsoever should have no relations save with those who are of the same profession, and good and orderly besides. giovanni antonio, then, in order that he might be looked after, had gone to live in the house of one ser raffaello di sandro, a lame chaplain, in s. lorenzo, to whom he paid so much a year, and he abandoned in great measure the study of painting, for the reason that the priest was a man of the world, delighting in pictures, music, and other diversions, and many persons of talent frequented the rooms that he had at s. lorenzo; among others, m. antonio da lucca, a most excellent musician and performer on the lute, at that time a very young man, from whom giovanni learned to play the lute. and although the painter rosso and some others of the profession also frequented the same place, lappoli attached himself rather to the others than to the men of his art, from whom he might have learned much, while at the same time amusing himself. through these distractions, therefore, the love of painting of which giovanni antonio had given proof cooled off in great measure; but none the less, being the friend of pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, who was a disciple of andrea del sarto, he went sometimes with him to the scalzo to draw the pictures and nudes from life. and no long time passed before he applied himself to colouring and executed pictures of jacopo's, and then by himself some madonnas and portraits from life, among which were that of the above-mentioned m. antonio da lucca and that of ser raffaello, which are very good. in the year , the plague being in rome, perino del vaga came to florence, and he also settled down to lodge with ser raffaello del zoppo; wherefore giovanni antonio having formed a strait friendship with him and having recognized the ability of perino, there was reawakened in his mind the desire to attend to painting, abandoning all other pleasures, and he resolved when the plague had ceased to go with perino to rome. but this design was never fulfilled, for the plague having come to florence, at the very moment when perino had finished the scene of the submersion of pharaoh in the red sea, painted in the colour of bronze in chiaroscuro for ser raffaello, during the execution of which lappoli was always present, they were forced both the one and the other to fly from florence, in order not to lose their lives there. thereupon giovanni antonio returned to arezzo, and set himself, in order to pass the time, to paint on canvas the scene of the death of orpheus, killed by the bacchantes: he set himself, i say, to paint this scene in chiaroscuro of the colour of bronze, after the manner in which he had seen perino paint the picture mentioned above, and when the work was finished it brought him no little praise. he then set to work to finish an altar-piece that his former master domenico pecori had begun for the nuns of s. margherita: in which altar-piece, now to be seen in their convent, he painted an annunciation. and he made two cartoons for two portraits from life from the waist upwards, both very beautiful; one was lorenzo d' antonio di giorgio, at that time a pupil and a very handsome youth, and the other was ser piero guazzesi, who was a convivial person. the plague having finally somewhat abated, cipriano d' anghiari, a rich man of arezzo, who in those days had caused a chapel with ornaments and columns of grey-stone to be built in the abbey of s. fiore at arezzo, allotted the altar-piece to giovanni antonio at the price of one hundred crowns. meanwhile, rosso passed through arezzo on his way to rome, and lodged with giovanni antonio, who was very much his friend; and, hearing of the work that he had undertaken to do, he made at the request of lappoli a very beautiful little sketch full of nudes. whereupon giovanni antonio, setting his hand to the work and imitating the design of rosso, painted in that altar-piece the visitation of s. elizabeth, and in the lunette above it a god the father and some children, copying the draperies and all the rest from life. and when he had brought it to completion, he was much praised and commended for it, and above all for some heads copied from life, painted in a good manner and with much profit to himself. then, recognizing that if he wished to make greater proficience in his art he must take his leave of arezzo, he determined, after the plague had ceased entirely in rome, to go to that city, where he knew that perino, rosso, and many others of his friends had already returned and were employed in a number of important works. while of this mind, a convenient occasion of going there presented itself to him, for there arrived in arezzo m. paolo valdambrini, the secretary of pope clement vii, who, in returning from france in great haste, passed through arezzo in order to see his brothers and nephews; and when giovanni antonio had gone to visit him, m. paolo, who was desirous that there should be in his native city of arezzo men distinguished in all the arts, who might demonstrate the genius which that air and that sky give to those who are born there, exhorted him, although there was not much need for exhortation, that he should go in his company to rome, where he would obtain for him every convenience to enable him to attend to the studies of his art. having therefore gone with m. paolo to rome, he found there perino, rosso, and others of his friends; and besides this he was able by means of m. paolo to make the acquaintance of giulio romano, sebastiano viniziano, and francesco mazzuoli of parma, who arrived in rome about that time. this francesco, delighting to play the lute, and therefore conceiving a very great affection for giovanni antonio and consorting continually with him, brought it about that lappoli set himself with great zeal to draw and paint and to profit by the good fortune that he enjoyed in being the friend of the best painters that there were in rome at that time. and he had already carried almost to completion a picture containing a madonna of the size of life, which m. paolo wished to present to pope clement in order to make lappoli known to him, when, as fortune would have it, who often sets herself in opposition to the designs of mankind, there took place on the th of may, in the year , the accursed sack of rome. on that miserable day m. paolo galloped on horseback, and giovanni antonio with him, to the porta di s. spirito in the trastevere, in order to prevent the soldiers of bourbon for a time from entering by that gate; and there m. paolo was killed and lappoli was taken prisoner by the spaniards. and in a short time, everything being given over to sack, the picture was lost, together with the designs executed in the chapel and all that poor giovanni antonio possessed. he, after having been much tormented by the spaniards to induce him to pay a ransom, escaped in his shirt one night with some other prisoners, and, after suffering desperate hardships and running in great danger of his life, because the roads were not safe, finally made his way to arezzo, where he was received by m. giovanni pollastra, a man of great learning, who was his uncle; but he had all that he could do to recover himself, so broken was he by terror and suffering. then in the same year there came upon arezzo the great plague in which four hundred persons died every day, and giovanni antonio was forced once more to fly, all in despair and very loth to go, and to stay for some months out of the city. but finally, when that pestilence had abated to such an extent that people could begin to mix together, a certain fra guasparri, a conventual friar of s. francis, who was then guardian of their convent in that city, commissioned giovanni antonio to paint the altar-piece of the high-altar in that church for one hundred crowns, stipulating that he should represent in it the adoration of the magi. whereupon lappoli, hearing that rosso, having also fled from rome, was at borgo a san sepolcro, and was there executing an altar-piece for the company of s. croce, went to visit him; and after showing him many courtesies and causing some things to be brought for him from arezzo, of which he knew him to stand in need, since he had lost everything in the sack of rome, he obtained for himself from rosso a very beautiful design of the above-mentioned altar-piece that he had to paint for fra guasparri. and when he had returned to arezzo he set his hand to the work, and finished it within a year from the day of the commission, according to the agreement, and that so well, that he was very highly praised for it. that design of rosso's passed afterwards into the hands of giorgio vasari, and from him to the very reverend don vincenzio borghini, director of the hospital of the innocenti in florence, who has it in his book of drawings by various painters. not long afterwards, having become surety for rosso to the amount of three hundred crowns, in the matter of some pictures that the said rosso was to paint in the madonna delle lagrime, giovanni antonio found himself in a very evil pass, for rosso went away without finishing the work, as has been related in his life, and lappoli was constrained to restore the money; and if his friends had not helped him, and particularly giorgio vasari, who valued at three hundred crowns the part that rosso had left finished, giovanni antonio would have been little less than ruined in his effort to do honour and benefit to his native city. these difficulties over, lappoli painted an altar-piece in oils containing the madonna, s. bartholomew, and s. matthew at the commission of abbot camaiani of bibbiena, for a chapel in the lower church at s. maria del sasso, a seat of the preaching friars in the casentino; and he acquitted himself very well, counterfeiting the manner of rosso. and this was the reason that a confraternity at bibbiena afterwards caused him to paint on a banner for carrying in processions a nude christ with the cross on his shoulder, who is shedding blood into the chalice, and on the other side an annunciation, which was one of the best things that he ever did. in the year , duke alessandro de' medici being expected in arezzo, the aretines, with luigi guicciardini, the commissary in that city, wishing to honour the duke, ordained that two comedies should be performed. the charge of arranging one of those festivals was in the hands of a company of the most noble young men in the city, who called themselves the umidi; and the preparations and scenery for this comedy, which had for its subject the intronati of siena, were made by niccolò soggi, who was much extolled for them, and the comedy was performed very well and with infinite satisfaction to all who saw it. the festive preparations for the other were executed in competition by another company of young men, likewise noble, who called themselves the company of the infiammati. and they, in order to be praised no less than the umidi, performed a comedy by m. giovanni pollastra, a poet of arezzo, under his management, and entrusted the making of the scenery to giovanni antonio, who acquitted himself consummately well; and thus their comedy was performed with great honour to that company and to the whole city. nor must i pass over a lovely notion of that poet's, who was certainly a man of beautiful ingenuity. while the preparations for these and other festivals were in progress, on many occasions the young men of the two companies, out of rivalry and for various other reasons, had come to blows, and several disputes had arisen; wherefore pollastra arranged a surprise (keeping the matter absolutely secret), which was as follows. when all the people, with the gentlemen and their ladies, had assembled in the place where the comedy was to be performed, four of those young men who had come to blows with one another in the city on other occasions, dashing out with naked swords and cloaks wound round their arms, began to shout on the stage and to pretend to kill one another: and the first of them to be seen rushed out with one temple as it were smeared with blood, crying out: "come forth, traitors!" at which uproar all the people rose to their feet, men began to lay hands on their weapons, and the kinsmen of the young men, who appeared to be giving each other fearful thrusts, ran towards the stage; when he who had come out first, turning towards the other young men, said: "hold your hands, gentlemen, and sheathe your swords, for i have taken no harm; and although we are at daggers drawn and you believe that the play will not be performed, yet it will take place, and i, wounded as i am, will now begin the prologue." and so after this jest, by which all the spectators and the actors themselves, only excepting the four mentioned above, were taken in, the comedy was begun and played so well, that afterwards, in the year , when the lord duke cosimo and the lady duchess leonora were in arezzo, giovanni antonio had to prepare the scenery anew on the piazza del vescovado and have it performed before their excellencies. and even as the performers had given satisfaction on the first occasion, so at that time they gave so much satisfaction to the lord duke, that they were afterwards invited to florence to perform at the next carnival. in these two scenic preparations, then, lappoli acquitted himself very well, and he was very highly praised. he then made an ornament after the manner of a triumphal arch, with scenes in the colour of bronze, which was placed about the altar of the madonna delle chiavi. after a time giovanni antonio settled in arezzo, fully determined, now that he had a wife and children, to go roaming no more, and living on his income and on the offices that the citizens of that city enjoy; and so he continued without working much. not long, indeed, after these events, he sought to obtain the commissions for two altar-pieces that were to be painted in arezzo, one for the church and company of s. rocco, and the other for the high-altar of s. domenico; but he did not succeed, for the reason that both those pictures were allotted to giorgio vasari, whose designs, among the many that were made, gave more satisfaction than any of the others. for the company of the ascension in that city giovanni antonio painted on a banner for carrying in processions christ in the act of resurrection, with many soldiers round the sepulchre, and his ascension into heaven, with the madonna surrounded by the twelve apostles, which was all executed very well and with diligence. at castello della pieve he painted an altar-piece in oils of the visitation of our lady, with some saints about her, and in an altar-piece that was painted for the pieve a san stefano he depicted the madonna and other saints; which two works lappoli executed much better than the others that he had painted up to that time, because he had been able to see at his leisure many works in relief and casts taken in gesso from the statues of michelagnolo and from other ancient works, and brought by giorgio vasari to his house at arezzo. the same master painted some pictures of our lady, which are dispersed throughout arezzo and other places, and a judith who is placing the head of holofernes in a basket held by her serving-woman, which now belongs to mons. m. bernardetto minerbetti, bishop of arezzo, who loved giovanni antonio much, as he loves all other men of talent, and received from him, besides other things, a young s. john the baptist in the desert, almost wholly naked, which is held dear by him, since it is an excellent figure. finally, recognizing that perfection in this art consists in nothing else but seeking in good time to become rich in invention and to study the nude continually, and thus to render facile the difficulties of execution, giovanni antonio repented that he had not spent in the study of art the time that he had given to his pleasures, perceiving that what can be done easily in youth cannot be done well in old age. but although he was always conscious of his error, yet he did not recognize it fully until, having set himself to study when already an old man, he saw a picture in oils, fourteen braccia long and six braccia and a half high, executed in forty-two days by giorgio vasari, who painted it for the refectory of the monks of the abbey of s. fiore at arezzo; in which work are painted the nuptials of esther and king ahasuerus, and there are in it more than sixty figures larger than life. going therefore at times to see giorgio at work, and staying to discourse with him, giovanni antonio said: "now i see that continual study and work is what lifts men out of laborious effort, and that our art does not come down upon us like the holy ghost." giovanni antonio did not work much in fresco, for the reason that the colours changed too much to please him; nevertheless, there may be seen over the church of murello a pietà with two little naked angels by his hand, executed passing well. finally, after having lived like a man of good judgment and one not unpractised in the ways of the world, he fell sick of a most violent fever at the age of sixty, in the year , and died. a disciple of giovanni antonio was bartolommeo torri, the scion of a not ignoble family in arezzo, who, making his way to rome, and placing himself under don giulio clovio, a most excellent miniaturist, devoted himself in so thorough a manner to design and to the study of the nude, but most of all to anatomy, that he became an able master, and was held to be the best draughtsman in rome. and it is not long since don silvano razzi related to me that don giulio clovio had told him in rome, after having praised this young man highly, the very thing that he has often declared to me--namely, that he had turned him out of his house for no other reason but his filthy anatomy, for he kept so many limbs and pieces of men under his bed and all over his rooms, that they poisoned the whole house. besides this, by neglecting himself and thinking that living like an unwashed philosopher, accepting no rule of life, and avoiding the society of other men, was the way to become great and immortal, he ruined himself completely; for nature will not tolerate the unreasonable outrages that some men at times do to her. having therefore fallen ill at the age of twenty-five, bartolommeo returned to arezzo, in order to regain his health and to seek to build himself up again; but he did not succeed, for he continued his usual studies and the same irregularities, and in four months, a little after the death of giovanni antonio, he died and went to join him. the loss of this young man was an infinite grief to the whole city, for if he had lived, to judge from the great promise of his works, he was like to do extraordinary honour to his native place and to all tuscany; and whoever sees any of the drawings that he made when still a mere lad, stands marvelling at them and full of compassion for his untimely death. footnote: [ ] don bartolommeo della gatta, abbot of s. clemente. niccolÒ soggi life of niccolÒ soggi painter among the many who were disciples of pietro perugino, there was not one, after raffaello da urbino, who was more studious or more diligent than niccolò soggi, whose life we are now about to write. this master was born in florence, the son of jacopo soggi, a worthy person, but not very rich; and in time he entered the service of m. antonio dal monte in rome, because jacopo had a farm at marciano in valdichiana, and, passing most of his time there, associated not a little with that same m. antonio dal monte, their properties being near together. jacopo, then, perceiving that this son of his was much inclined to painting, placed him with pietro perugino; and in a short time, by means of continual study, he learned so much that it was not long before pietro began to make use of him in his works, to the great advantage of niccolò, who devoted himself in such a manner to drawing in perspective and copying from nature, that he afterwards became very excellent in both the one field and the other. niccolò also gave much attention to making models of clay and wax, over which he laid draperies and soaked parchment: which was the reason that he rendered his manner so dry, that he always held to the same as long as he lived, nor could he ever get rid of it for all the pains that he took. the first work that this niccolò executed after the death of his master pietro was an altar-piece in oils in the hospital for women, founded by bonifazio lupi, in the via san gallo at florence--that is, the side behind the altar, wherein is the angel saluting our lady, with a building drawn in perspective, in which there are arches and a groined vaulting rising above pilasters after the manner of pietro. then, in the year , after having executed many pictures of our lady for the houses of citizens, and other little works such as are painted every day, hearing that great things were being done in rome, he departed from florence, thinking to make proficience in art and also to save some money, and went off to rome. there, having paid a visit to the aforesaid m. antonio dal monte, who was then a cardinal, he was not only welcomed warmly, but also straightway set to work to paint, in those early days of the pontificate of leo, on the façade of the palace where there is the statue of maestro pasquino, a great escutcheon of pope leo in fresco, between that of the roman people and that of the cardinal. in that work niccolò did not acquit himself very well, for in painting some nude figures and others clothed that he placed there as ornaments for those escutcheons, he recognized that the study of models is bad for him who wishes to acquire a good manner. thereupon, after the uncovering of that work, which did not prove to be of that excellence which many expected, niccolò set himself to execute a picture in oils, in which he painted the martyr s. prassedia squeezing a sponge full of blood into a vessel; and he finished it with such diligence that he recovered in part the honour that he considered himself to have lost in painting the escutcheons described above. this picture, which was executed for the above-mentioned cardinal dal monte, who was titular of s. prassedia, was placed in the centre of that church, over an altar beneath which is a well of the blood of holy martyrs--a beautiful idea, the picture alluding to the place where there was the blood of those martyrs. after this niccolò painted for his patron the cardinal another picture in oils, three-quarters of a braccio in height, of our lady with the child in her arms, s. john as a little boy, and some landscapes, all executed so well and with such diligence, that the whole work appears to be done in miniature, and not painted; which picture, one of the best works that niccolò ever produced, was for many years in the apartment of that prelate. afterwards, when the cardinal arrived in arezzo and lodged in the abbey of s. fiore, a seat of the black friars of s. benedict, in return for the many courtesies that were shown to him, he presented that picture to the sacristy of that place, in which it has been treasured ever since, both as a good painting and in memory of the cardinal. niccolò himself went with the cardinal to arezzo, where he lived almost ever afterwards. at the time he formed a friendship with the painter domenico pecori, who was then painting an altar-piece with the circumcision of christ for the company of the trinità; and such was the intimacy between them that niccolò painted for domenico in that altar-piece a building in perspective with columns and arches supporting a ceiling full of rosettes, according to the custom of those days, which was held at that time to be very beautiful. niccolò also painted for the same domenico a round picture of the madonna with a multitude below, in oils and on cloth, for the baldachin of the confraternity of arezzo, which was burned, as has been related in the life of domenico pecori,[ ] during a festival that was held in s. francesco. then, having received the commission for a chapel in that same s. francesco, the second on the right hand as one enters the church, he painted there in distemper our lady, s. john the baptist, s. bernard, s. anthony, s. francis, and three angels in the air who are singing, with god the father in a pediment; which were executed by niccolò almost entirely in distemper, with the point of the brush. but since the work has almost all peeled off on account of the strength of the distemper, it was labour thrown away. niccolò did this in order to try new methods; and when he had recognized that the true method was working in fresco, he seized the first opportunity, and undertook to paint in fresco a chapel in s. agostino in that city, beside the door on the left hand as one enters the church. in this chapel, which was allotted to him by one scamarra, a master of furnaces, he painted a madonna in the sky with a multitude beneath, and s. donatus and s. francis kneeling; but the best thing that he did in this work was a s. rocco at the head of the chapel. this work giving great pleasure to domenico ricciardi of arezzo, who had a chapel in the church of the madonna delle lagrime, he entrusted the painting of the altar-piece of that chapel to niccolò, who, setting his hand to the work, painted in it with much care and diligence the nativity of jesus christ. and although he toiled a long time over finishing it, he executed it so well that he deserves to be excused for this, or rather, merits infinite praise, for the reason that it is a most beautiful work; nor would anyone believe with what extraordinary consideration he painted every least thing in it, and a ruined building, near the hut wherein are the infant christ and the virgin, is drawn very well in perspective. in the s. joseph and some shepherds are many heads portrayed from life, such as stagio sassoli, a painter and the friend of niccolò, and papino della pieve, his disciple, who, if he had not died when still young, would have done very great honour both to himself and to his country; and three angels in the air who are singing are so well executed that they would be enough by themselves to demonstrate the talent of niccolò and the patience with which he laboured at this work up to the very last. and no sooner had he finished it than he was requested by the men of the company of s. maria della neve, at monte sansovino, to paint for that company an altar-piece wherein was to be the story of the snow, which, falling on the site of s. maria maggiore at rome on the th of august, was the reason of the building of that temple. niccolò, then, executed that altar-piece for the above-mentioned company with much diligence; and afterwards he executed at marciano a work in fresco that won no little praise. now in the year , after m. baldo magini had caused antonio, the brother of giuliano da san gallo, to build in the madonna delle carceri, in the town of prato, a tabernacle of marble with two columns, architrave, cornice, and a quarter-round arch, antonio resolved to bring it about that m. baldo should give the commission for the picture which was to adorn that tabernacle to niccolò, with whom he had formed a friendship when he was working in the palace of the above-mentioned cardinal dal monte at monte sansovino. he presented him, therefore, to m. baldo, who, although he had been minded to have it painted by andrea del sarto, as has been related in another place, resolved, at the entreaties and advice of antonio, to allot it to niccolò. and he, having set his hand to it, strove with all his power to make a beautiful work, but he did not succeed; for, apart from diligence, there is no excellence of design to be seen in it, nor any other quality worthy of much praise, because his hard manner, with his labours over his models of clay and wax, almost always gave a laborious and displeasing effect to his work. and yet, with regard to the labours of art, that man could not have done more than he did or shown more lovingness; and since he knew that none ...[ ] for many years he could never bring himself to believe that others surpassed him in excellence. in this work, then, there is a god the father who is sending down the crown of virginity and humility upon the madonna by the hands of some angels who are round her, some of whom are playing various instruments. niccolò made in the picture a portrait from life of m. baldo, kneeling at the feet of s. ubaldo the bishop, and on the other side he painted s. joseph; and those two figures are one on either side of the image of the madonna, which worked miracles in that place. niccolò afterwards painted a picture three braccia in height of the same m. baldo magini from life, standing with the church of s. fabiano di prato in his hand, which he presented to the chapter of the canons of the pieve; and this niccolò executed for that chapter, which, in memory of the benefit received, caused the picture to be placed in the sacristy, an honour well deserved by that remarkable man, who with excellent judgment conferred benefits on that church, the principal church of his native city, and so renowned for the girdle of the madonna, which is preserved there. this portrait was one of the best works that niccolò ever executed in painting. it is also the belief of some that a little altar-piece that is in the company of s. pier martire on the piazza di s. domenico, at prato, in which are many portraits from life, is by the hand of the same niccolò; but in my opinion, even if this be true, it was painted by him before any of the other pictures mentioned above. after these works, niccolò--under whose discipline domenico giuntalodi, a young man of excellent ability belonging to prato, had learned the rudiments of the art of painting, although, in consequence of having acquired the manner of niccolò, he never became a great master in painting, as will be related--departed from prato and came to work in florence; but, having seen that the most important works in art were given to better and more eminent men than himself, and that his manner was not up to the standard of andrea del sarto, pontormo, rosso, and the others, he made up his mind to return to arezzo, in which city he had more friends, greater credit, and less competition. which having done, no sooner had he arrived than he made known to m. giuliano bacci, one of the chief citizens of that place, a desire that he had in his heart, which was this, that he wished that arezzo should become his country, and that therefore he would gladly undertake to execute some work which might maintain him for a time in the practice of his art, whereby he hoped to demonstrate to that city the nature of his talents. whereupon messer giuliano, an ingenious man who desired that his native city should be embellished and should contain persons engaged in the arts, so went to work with the men then governing the company of the nunziata, who in those days had caused a great vaulting to be built in their church, with the intention of having it painted, that one arch of the wall-surface of that vaulting was allotted to niccolò; and it was proposed that he should be commissioned to paint the rest, if the first part, which he had to do then, should please the men of the aforesaid company. having therefore set his hand to this work with great diligence, in two years niccolò finished the half, but not more, of one arch, on which he painted in fresco the tiburtine sibyl showing to the emperor octavian the virgin in heaven with the infant jesus christ in her arms, and octavian in reverent adoration. in the figure of octavian he portrayed the above-mentioned m. giuliano bacci, and his pupil domenico in a tall young man draped in red, and others of his friends in other heads; and, in a word, he acquitted himself in this work in such a manner that it did not displease the men of that company and the other men of that city. it is true, indeed, that everyone grew weary of seeing him take so long and toil so much over executing his works; but notwithstanding all this the rest would have been given to him to finish, if that had not been prevented by the arrival in arezzo of the florentine rosso, a rare painter, to whom, after he had been put forward by the aretine painter giovanni antonio lappoli and m. giovanni pollastra, as has been related in another place, much favour was shown and the rest of that work allotted. at which niccolò felt such disdain, that, if he had not taken a wife the year before and had a son by her, so that he was settled in arezzo, he would have departed straightway. however, having finally become pacified, he executed an altar-piece for the church of sargiano, a place two miles distant from arezzo, where there are frati zoccolanti; in which he painted the assumption of our lady into heaven, with many little angels supporting her, and s. thomas below receiving the girdle, while all around are s. francis, s. louis, s. john the baptist, and s. elizabeth, queen of hungary. in some of these figures, and particularly in some of the little angels, he acquitted himself very well; and so also in the predella he painted some scenes with little figures, which are passing good. he executed, likewise, in the convent of the nuns of the murate, who belong to the same order, in that city, a dead christ with the maries, which is wrought with a high finish for a picture in fresco. in the abbey of s. fiore, a seat of black friars, behind the crucifix that is placed on the high-altar, he painted in oils, on a canvas, christ praying in the garden and the angel showing to him the chalice of the passion and comforting him, which was certainly a work of no little beauty and excellence. and for the nuns of s. benedetto, of the order of camaldoli, at arezzo, on an arch above a door by which one enters the convent, he painted the madonna, s. benedict, and s. catharine, a work which was afterwards thrown to the ground in order to enlarge the church. in the township of marciano in valdichiana, where he passed much of his time, living partly on the revenues that he had in that place and partly on what he could earn there, niccolò began an altar-piece of the dead christ and many other works, with which he occupied himself for a time. and meanwhile, having with him the above-mentioned domenico giuntalodi of prato, whom he loved as a son and kept in his house, he strove to make him excellent in the matters of art, teaching him so well how to draw in perspective, to copy from nature, and to make designs, that he was already becoming very able in all these respects, showing a good and beautiful genius. and this niccolò did, besides being moved by the love and affection that he bore to that young man, in the hope of having one who might help him now that he was nearing old age, and might give him some return in his last years for so much labour and lovingness. niccolò was in truth most loving with every man, true by nature, and much the friend of those who laboured in order to attain to something in the world of art; and what he knew he taught to them with extraordinary willingness. no long time after this, when niccolò had returned from marciano to arezzo and domenico had left him, the men of the company of the corpo di cristo, in that city, had a commission to give for the painting of an altar-piece for the high-altar of the church of s. domenico. now, niccolò desiring to paint it, and likewise giorgio vasari, then a mere lad, the former did something which probably not many of the men of our art would do at the present day, which was as follows: niccolò, who was one of the members of the above-mentioned company, perceiving that many were disposed to have it painted by giorgio, in order to bring him forward, and that the young man had a very great desire for it, resolved, after remarking giorgio's zeal, to lay aside his own desire and need and to have the picture allotted by his companions to giorgio, thinking more of the advantage that the young man might gain from the work than of his own profit and interest; and even as he wished, so exactly did the men of that company decide. in the meantime domenico giuntalodi, having gone to rome, found fortune so propitious that he became known to don martino, the ambassador of the king of portugal, and went to live with him; and he painted for him a canvas with some twenty portraits from life, all of his followers and friends, with himself in the midst of them, engaged in conversation; which work so pleased don martino, that he looked upon domenico as the first painter in the world. afterwards don ferrante gonzaga, having been made viceroy of sicily, and desiring to fortify the towns of that kingdom, wished to have about his person a man who might draw and put down on paper for him all that he thought of from day to day; and he wrote to don martino that he should find for him a young man who might be both able and willing to serve him in this way, and should send him off as soon as possible. don martino, therefore, first sent to don ferrante some designs by the hand of domenico, among which was a colosseum, engraved on copper by girolamo fagiuoli of bologna for antonio salamanca, but drawn in perspective by domenico; an old man in a child's go-cart, drawn by the same hand and published in engraving, with letters that ran thus, "ancora imparo"; and a little picture with the portrait of don martino himself. and shortly afterwards he sent domenico, at the wish of the aforesaid lord, don ferrante, who had been much pleased with that young man's works. having then arrived in sicily, there were assigned to domenico an honourable salary, a horse, and a servant, all at the expense of don ferrante; and not long afterwards he was set to work on the walls and fortresses of sicily. whereupon, abandoning his painting little by little, he devoted himself to something else which for a time was more profitable to him; for, being an ingenious person, he made use of men who were well adapted to heavy labour, kept beasts of burden in the charge of others, and caused sand and lime to be collected and furnaces to be set up; and no long time had passed before he found that he had saved so much that he was able to buy offices in rome to the extent of two thousand crowns, and shortly afterwards some others. then, after he had been made keeper of the wardrobe to don ferrante, it happened that his master was removed from the government of sicily and sent to that of milan; whereupon domenico went with him, and, working on the fortifications of that state, contrived, what with being industrious and with being something of a miser, to become very rich; and what is more, he came into such credit that he managed almost everything in that government. hearing of this, niccolò, who was at arezzo, now an old man, needy, and without any work to do, went to find domenico in milan, thinking that even as he had not failed domenico when he was a young man, so domenico should not fail him now, but should avail himself of his services, since he had many in his employ, and should be both able and willing to assist him in his poverty-stricken old age. but he found to his cost that the judgments of men, in expecting too much from others, are often deceived, and that the men who change their condition also change more often than not their nature and their will. for after arriving in milan, where he found domenico raised to such greatness that he had no little difficulty in getting speech of him, niccolò related to him all his troubles, and then besought him that he should help him by making use of his services; but domenico, not remembering or not choosing to remember with what lovingness he had been brought up by niccolò as if he had been his own son, gave him a miserably small sum of money and got rid of him as soon as he was able. and so niccolò returned to arezzo very sore at heart, having recognized that with the labour and expense with which, as he thought, he had reared a son, he had formed one who was little less than an enemy. in order to earn his bread, therefore, he went about executing all the work that came to his hand, as he had done many years before, and he painted among other things a canvas for the commune of monte sansovino, containing the said town of monte sansovino and a madonna in the sky, with two saints at the sides; which picture was set up on an altar in the madonna di vertigli, a church belonging to the monks of the order of camaldoli, not far distant from the monte, where it has pleased and still pleases our lord daily to perform many miracles and to grant favours to those who recommend themselves to the queen of heaven. afterwards, julius iii having been created supreme pontiff, niccolò, who had been much connected with the house of monte, made his way to rome, although he was an old man of eighty, and, having kissed the foot of his holiness, besought him that he should deign to make use of him in the buildings which were to be erected, so men said, at the monte, a place which the lord duke of florence had given in fief to the pontiff. the pope, then, having received him warmly, ordained that the means to live in rome should be given to him without exacting any sort of exertion from him; and in this manner niccolò spent several months in rome, drawing many antiquities to pass the time. meanwhile the pope resolved to increase his native town of monte sansovino, and to make there, besides many ornamental works, an aqueduct, because that place suffered much from want of water; and giorgio vasari, who had orders from the pope to cause those buildings to be begun, recommended niccolò soggi strongly to his holiness, entreating him that niccolò should be given the office of superintendent over those works. whereupon niccolò went to arezzo filled with these hopes, but he had not been there many days when, worn out by the fatigues and hardships of this world and by the knowledge that he had been abandoned by him who should have been the last to forsake him, he finished the course of his life and was buried in s. domenico in that city. not long afterwards domenico giuntalodi, don ferrante gonzaga having died, departed from milan with the intention of returning to prato and of passing the rest of his life there in repose. however, finding there neither relatives nor friends, and recognizing that prato was no abiding place for him, he repented too late that he had behaved ungratefully to niccolò, and returned to lombardy to serve the sons of don ferrante. but no long time passed before he fell sick unto death; whereupon he made a will leaving ten thousand crowns to his fellow-citizens of prato, to the end that they might buy property to that amount and form a fund wherewith to maintain continually at their studies a certain number of students from prato, in the manner in which they maintained certain others, as they still do, according to the terms of another bequest. and this has been carried out by the men of that town of prato, who, grateful for such a benefit, which in truth has been a very great one and worthy of eternal remembrance, have placed in their council chamber the image of domenico, as that of one who has deserved well of his country. footnote: [ ] see p. , vol. iii. [ ] these words are missing in the text. index index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume vi abacco, antonio l', , , , , abbot of s. clemente (don bartolommeo della gatta), agnolo, baccio d' (baccio baglioni), _life_, - . , agnolo, battista d' (battista del moro), _life_, - . agnolo, domenico di baccio d', , , agnolo, filippo di baccio d', , agnolo, giuliano di baccio d', _life_, - agnolo, marco di battista d', , agnolo bronzino, , agostino viniziano (agostino de' musi), _life_, - . aimo, domenico (il bologna), alberti, leon batista, alberto monsignori (bonsignori), albrecht (heinrich) aldegrever, albrecht dürer, _life_, - . , , , aldegrever, albrecht (heinrich), alessandro cesati (il greco), _life_, alessandro falconetto, , alessandro filipepi (sandro botticelli), andrea contucci (andrea sansovino), , andrea dal castagno, andrea de' ceri, - , andrea del sarto, , , - , , andrea mantegna, , , , andrea palladio, , andrea sansovino (andrea contucci), , angelico, fra (fra giovanni da fiesole), anichini, luigi, anselmo canneri, antoine lafrery (antonio lanferri), antonio da san gallo (the elder), , , antonio da san gallo (the younger), _life_, - . , , , , , antonio da trento (antonio fantuzzi), antonio del pollaiuolo, , antonio di giorgio marchissi, antonio di marco di giano (il carota), antonio fantuzzi (antonio da trento), antonio l'abacco, , , , , antonio lanferri (antoine lafrery), antonio (or vittore) pisano (or pisanello), antonio salamanca, antonio scarpagni (scarpagnino or zanfragnino,) aretino, leone (leone lioni), aretusi, pellegrino degli (pellegrino da modena, or de' munari), avanzi, niccolò, , bacchiacca, il (francesco ubertini), baccio baglioni (baccio d' agnolo), _life_, - . , baccio baldini, baccio bandinelli, - , , , baccio d' agnolo (baccio baglioni), _life_, - . , baldassarre peruzzi, , , , , baldini, baccio, bandinelli, baccio, - , , , barile, giovan, barlacchi, tommaso, , barozzo, jacopo, bartolommeo da castiglione, bartolommeo della gatta, don (abbot of s. clemente), bartolommeo di san marco, fra, bartolommeo ridolfi, bartolommeo torri, , battista d' agnolo (battista del moro), _life_, - . battista del cervelliera, , , battista del moro (battista d' agnolo), _life_, - . battista del tasso, battista franco, , , battista gobbo, , battista of vicenza (battista pittoni), baviera, , , , bazzi, giovanni antonio (il sodoma), - , , beatricio, niccolò (nicolas beautrizet), beccafumi, domenico (domenico di pace), _life_, - . , , , , - beham, hans, belli, valerio (valerio vicentino), _life_, - . , bellini, giovanni, bellini, jacopo, , benedetto da maiano, benedetto ghirlandajo, benedetto pagni, , - , benozzo gozzoli, benvenuto cellini, , bernardi, giovanni (giovanni da castel bolognese), _life_, - . , bernardino pinturicchio, bologna, il (domenico aimo), bolognese, marc' antonio (marc' antonio raimondi, or de' franci), _life_, - , - . , , bonasone, giulio, bonsignori (monsignori), alberto, bonsignori (monsignori), fra cherubino, bonsignori (monsignori), fra girolamo, _life_, - bonsignori (monsignori), francesco, _life_, - borgo, raffaello dal (raffaello dal colle), , borgo a san sepolcro, giovan maria dal, bosch, hieronymus, botticelli, sandro (alessandro filipepi), boyvin, rené (renato), bramante da urbino, , , , , brescianino (girolamo muziano, or mosciano), bronzino, agnolo, , brunelleschi, filippo, , brusciasorzi, domenico (domenico del riccio), bugiardini, giuliano, buonaccorsi, perino (perino del vaga, or perino de' ceri), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , - buonarroti, michelagnolo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), , , , , , calcar, johann of (jan stephanus van calcker), caliari, paolo (paolo veronese), , cammei, domenico de', canneri, anselmo, caraglio, gian jacopo, , , caravaggio, polidoro da, , carota, il (antonio di marco di giano), caroto, giovan francesco, _life_, - . caroto, giovanni, _life_, - . carpi, ugo da, , carrara, danese da (danese cattaneo), - , carrucci, jacopo (jacopo da pontormo), , - , castagno, andrea dal, castel bolognese, giovanni da (giovanni bernardi), _life_, - . , castelfranco, giorgione da, , , castiglione, bartolommeo da, catanei, piero, cattaneo, danese (danese da carrara), - , cavalieri, giovan battista de', cavazzuola, paolo (paolo morando), _life_, - . , , , , - , cellini, benvenuto, , ceri, andrea de', - , ceri, perino de' (perino del vaga, or perino buonaccorsi), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , - cervelliera, battista del, , , cesati, alessandro (il greco), _life_, cherubino monsignori (bonsignori), fra, cicogna, girolamo, cioli, simone, clovio, don giulio, , , , cock, hieronymus, _life_, - . colle, raffaello dal (raffaello dal borgo), , contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino), , coriolano, cristofano, corniole, giovanni delle, , cortona, luca da (luca signorelli), cosimo (jacopo) da trezzo, cosini, silvio, cousin, jean (giovanni cugini), coxie, michael (michele), , cristofano coriolano, cristofano lombardi (tofano lombardino), cronaca, il (simone del pollaiuolo), , cugini, giovanni (jean cousin), cungi, leonardo, danese cattaneo (danese da carrara), - , daniello ricciarelli, , , david ghirlandajo, dente, marco (marco da ravenna), _life_, - . domenico aimo (il bologna), domenico beccafumi (domenico di pace), _life_, - . , , , , - domenico brusciasorzi (domenico del riccio), domenico de' cammei, domenico del riccio (domenico brusciasorzi), domenico di baccio d' agnolo, , , domenico di pace (domenico beccafumi), _life_, - . , , , , - domenico di polo, domenico ghirlandajo, , , domenico giuntalodi, - domenico morone, _life_, - . , domenico pecori, , , domenico poggini, domenico viniziano, don bartolommeo della gatta (abbot of s. clemente), don giulio clovio, , , , donato (donatello), duccio, dürer, albrecht, _life_, - . , , , enea vico, _life_, - faenza, figurino da, fagiuoli, girolamo, , falconetto, alessandro, , falconetto, giovan maria, _life_, - . , , , - falconetto, giovanni antonio (the elder), falconetto, giovanni antonio (the younger), , falconetto, jacopo, , falconetto, ottaviano, , falconetto, provolo, , fantuzzi, antonio (antonio da trento), fattore, il (giovan francesco penni), - , , , , , , , , fermo ghisoni, , , fiacco (or flacco), orlando, _life_, fiesole, fra giovanni da (fra angelico), fiesole, maestro giovanni da, figurino da faenza, filipepi, alessandro (sandro botticelli), filippino (filippo lippi), filippo brunelleschi, , filippo di baccio d' agnolo, , filippo lippi (filippino), filippo lippi, fra, filippo negrolo, finiguerra, maso, flacco (or fiacco), orlando, _life_, floris, franz (franz de vrient), , fra angelico (fra giovanni da fiesole), fra bartolommeo di san marco, fra cherubino monsignori (bonsignori), fra filippo lippi, fra giocondo, _life_, - . , , fra giovanni da fiesole (fra angelico), fra giovanni da verona, , , , fra girolamo monsignori (bonsignori), _life_, - fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo (sebastiano luciani), _life_, - . , , , - , , francesco bonsignori (monsignori), _life_, - francesco da san gallo, , francesco dai libri (the elder), _life_, . francesco dai libri (the younger), _life_, - francesco de' rossi (francesco salviati), , , francesco dell' indaco, francesco francia, francesco granacci (il granaccio), _life_, - . francesco marcolini, francesco mazzuoli (parmigiano), - , , francesco monsignori (bonsignori), _life_, - francesco morone, _life_, - . , - , , , francesco primaticcio, , francesco salviati (francesco de' rossi), , , francesco turbido (il moro), _life_, - . , , , - , , , francesco ubertini (il bacchiacca), franci, marc' antonio de' (marc' antonio bolognese, or raimondi), _life_, - , - . , , francia, francesco, franco, battista, , , franz floris (franz de vrient), , gabriele giolito, galeazzo mondella, , galeotto, pietro paolo, gasparo misuroni (misceroni), gatta, don bartolommeo della (abbot of s. clemente), georg pencz, gherardo, ghirlandajo, benedetto, ghirlandajo, david, ghirlandajo, domenico, , , ghirlandajo, ridolfo, , ghisi (mantovano), giorgio, , ghisoni, fermo, , , gian jacopo caraglio, , , giannuzzi, giulio pippi de' (giulio romano), _life_, - . , , - , , , - , , , , , , , giannuzzi, raffaello pippi de', giano, antonio di marco di (il carota), giocondo, fra, _life_, - . , , giolito, gabriele, giorgio mantovano (ghisi), , giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giorgione da castelfranco, , , giotto, , , , , giovan barile, giovan battista de' cavalieri, giovan battista de' rossi (il rosso), , , , - , , giovan battista mantovano (sculptore), , , , , , giovan battista rosso (or rosto), giovan battista sozzini, giovan francesco caroto, _life_, - . giovan francesco penni (il fattore), - , , , , , , , , giovan maria dal borgo a san sepolcro, giovan maria falconetto, _life_, - . , , , - giovanni antonio bazzi (il sodoma), - , , giovanni antonio de' rossi, giovanni antonio falconetto (the elder), giovanni antonio falconetto (the younger), , giovanni antonio lappoli, _life_, - giovanni antonio licinio (pordenone), , , giovanni antonio sogliani, , , , giovanni battista veronese, giovanni bellini, giovanni bernardi (giovanni da castel bolognese), _life_, - . , giovanni caroto, _life_, - . giovanni cugini (jean cousin), giovanni da castel bolognese (giovanni bernardi), _life_, - . , giovanni da fiesole, fra (fra angelico), giovanni da fiesole, maestro, giovanni da lione, , giovanni da udine (giovanni nanni, or ricamatori), , , , - giovanni da verona, fra, , , , giovanni delle corniole, , giovanni di goro, giovanni ricamatori (giovanni da udine, or nanni), , , , - girolamo cicogna, girolamo da treviso, , , girolamo dai libri, _life_, - . , , - , girolamo fagiuoli, , girolamo misuroni (misceroni), girolamo monsignori (bonsignori), fra, _life_, - girolamo mosciano (girolamo muziano, or brescianino), girolamo siciolante (girolamo sermoneta), , , giugni, rosso de', giuliano bugiardini, giuliano da maiano, giuliano da san gallo, , , , , giuliano di baccio d' agnolo, _life_, - giuliano (di niccolò morelli), giuliano leno, , giulio bonasone, giulio clovio, don, , , , giulio romano (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi), _life_, - . , , - , , , - , , , , , , , giuntalodi, domenico, - giuseppe del salviati (giuseppe porta), giuseppe niccolò (joannicolo) vicentino, giuseppe porta (giuseppe del salviati), gobbo, battista, , goro, giovanni di, gozzoli, benozzo, granacci, francesco (il granaccio), _life_, - . greco, il (alessandro cesati), _life_, guglielmo milanese, hans beham, hans liefrinck, heemskerk, martin, heinrich (albrecht) aldegrever, hieronymus bosch, hieronymus cock, _life_, - . holland, lucas of (luca di leyden, or lucas van leyden), _life_, - il bacchiacca (francesco ubertini), il bologna (domenico aimo), il carota (antonio di marco di giano), il cronaca (simone del pollaiuolo), , il fattore (giovan francesco penni), - , , , , , , , , il granaccio (francesco granacci), _life_, - . il greco (alessandro cesati), _life_, il moro (francesco turbido), _life_, - . , , , - , , , il rosso (giovan battista de' rossi), , , , - , , il sodoma (giovanni antonio bazzi), - , , indaco, francesco dell', jacomo melighino, , jacopo barozzo, jacopo bellini, , jacopo da pontormo (jacopo carrucci), , - , jacopo da trezzo, jacopo (cosimo) da trezzo, jacopo falconetto, , jacopo sansovino, , , , jan stephanus van calcker (johann of calcar), jean cousin (giovanni cugini), joannicolo (giuseppe niccolò) vicentino, johann of calcar (jan stephanus van calcker), lafrery, antoine (antonio lanferri), lamberto suave (lambert zutmann), lanferri, antonio (antoine lafrery), lappoli, giovanni antonio, _life_, - lappoli, matteo, laureti, tommaso (tommaso siciliano), leno, giuliano, , leon batista alberti, leonardo cungi, leone aretino (leone lioni), leyden, luca di (lucas of holland, or lucas van leyden), _life_, - liberale, _life_, - . , , , , libri, francesco dai (the elder), _life_, . libri, francesco dai (the younger), _life_, - libri, girolamo dai, _life_, - . , , - , licinio, giovanni antonio (pordenone), , , liefrinck, hans, lione, giovanni da, , lioni, leone (leone aretino), lippi, filippo (filippino), lippi, fra filippo, lodovico marmita, lombardino, tofano (cristofano lombardi), luca da cortona (luca signorelli), luca di leyden (lucas of holland, or lucas van leyden), _life_, - luca penni, luca signorelli (luca da cortona), lucas of holland (luca di leyden, or lucas van leyden), _life_, - luciani, sebastiano (fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo), _life_, - . , , , - , , luigi anichini, luzio romano, , maestro giovanni da fiesole, maestro niccolò, maestro salvestro, maiano, benedetto da, maiano, giuliano da, manno, mantegna, andrea, , , , mantovano (ghisi), giorgio, , mantovano (sculptore), giovan battista, , , , , , mantovano, marcello (marcello venusti), , mantovano, rinaldo, , , , , marc' antonio bolognese (marc' antonio raimondi, or de' franci), _life_, - , - . , , marcello mantovano (marcello venusti), , marchissi, antonio di giorgio, marco da ravenna (marco dente), _life_, - . marco da siena, marco dente (marco da ravenna), _life_, - . marco di battista d' agnolo, , marcolini, francesco, marmita, marmita, lodovico, martin heemskerk, martin schongauer, _life_, - masaccio, , maso finiguerra, masolino da panicale, matteo dal nassaro, _life_, - . matteo lappoli, maturino, , mazzuoli, francesco (parmigiano), - , , melighino, jacomo, , michael (michele coxie), , michelagnolo buonarroti, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , michele (michael coxie), , michele san michele, , , , michelino, milanese, guglielmo, minio, tiziano (tiziano da padova), misuroni (misceroni), gasparo, misuroni (misceroni), girolamo, modena, pellegrino da (pellegrino degli aretusi, or de' munari), mondella, galeazzo, , monsignori (bonsignori), alberto, monsignori (bonsignori), fra cherubino, monsignori (bonsignori), fra girolamo, _life_, - monsignori (bonsignori), francesco, _life_, - montelupo, raffaello da, , morando, paolo (paolo cavazzuola), _life_, - . , , , , - , morelli, giuliano di niccolò, moro, battista del (battista d' agnolo), _life_, - . moro, il (francesco turbido), _life_, - . , , , - , , , morone, domenico, _life_, - . , morone, francesco, _life_, - . , - , , , mosca, simone, mosciano, girolamo (girolamo muziano, or brescianino), munari, pellegrino de' (pellegrino da modena, or degli aretusi), musi, agostino de' (agostino viniziano), _life_, - . muziano, girolamo (girolamo mosciano, or brescianino), nanni, giovanni (giovanni da udine, or ricamatori), , , , - nassaro, matteo dal, _life_, - . navarra, pietro, negrolo, filippo, niccola viniziano, niccolò (called tribolo), niccolò, maestro, niccolò avanzi, , niccolò beatricio (nicolas beautrizet), niccolò soggi, _life_, - . nicolas beautrizet (niccolò beatricio), nunziata, toto del, , orlando fiacco (or fiacco), _life_, ottaviano falconetto, , pace, domenico di (domenico beccafumi), _life_, - . , , , , - padova, tiziano da (tiziano minio), pagni, benedetto, , - , palladio, andrea, , panicale, masolino da, paolo caliari (paolo veronese), , paolo cavazzuola (paolo morando), _life_, - . , , , , - , paolo veronese (paolo caliari), , papacello, tommaso, papino della pieve, parmigiano (francesco mazzuoli), - , , pastorino da siena, , pecori, domenico, , , pellegrino da modena (pellegrino degli aretusi, or de' munari), pencz, georg, penni, giovan francesco (il fattore), - , , , , , , , , penni, luca, perino del vaga (perino buonaccorsi, or perino de' ceri), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , - perugino, pietro (pietro vannucci), , peruzzi, baldassarre, , , , , pescia, pier maria da, pier francesco da viterbo, , pier francesco di jacopo di sandro, pier maria da pescia, piero catanei, piero del pollaiuolo, , pietrasanta, stagio da, pietro navarra, pietro paolo galeotto, pietro perugino (pietro vannucci), , pieve, papino della, piloto, , , pinturicchio, bernardino, piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del (sebastiano luciani), _life_, - . , , , - , , pisano (or pisanello), vittore (or antonio), pittoni, battista (battista of vicenza), poggini, domenico, polidoro da caravaggio, , pollaiuolo, antonio del, , pollaiuolo, piero del, , pollaiuolo, simone del (il cronaca), , polo, domenico di, pontormo, jacopo da (jacopo carrucci), , - , pordenone (giovanni antonio licinio), , , porta, giuseppe (giuseppe del salviati), primaticcio, francesco, , provolo falconetto, , raffaello da montelupo, , raffaello da urbino (raffaello sanzio), , , , , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , - , , , , , , raffaello dal colle (raffaello dal borgo), , raffaello pippi de' giannuzzi, raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), , , , , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , - , , , , , , raimondi, marc' antonio (marc' antonio bolognese, or de' franci), _life_, - , - . , , ravenna, marco da (marco dente), _life_, - . reggio, sebastiano da, renato (rené boyvin), ricamatori, giovanni (giovanni da udine, or nanni), , , , - ricciarelli, daniello, , , riccio, domenico del (domenico brusciasorzi), ridolfi, bartolommeo, ridolfo ghirlandajo, , rinaldo mantovano, , , , , romano, giulio (giulio pippi de' giannuzzi), _life_, - . , , - , , , - , , , , , , , romano, luzio, , rossi, francesco de' (francesco salviati), , , rossi, giovan battista de' (il rosso), , , , - , , rossi, giovanni antonio de', rosso (or rosto), giovan battista, rosso, il (giovan battista de' rossi), , , , - , , rosso de' giugni, rosto (or rosso), giovan battista, salamanca, antonio, salvestro, maestro, salviati, francesco (francesco de' rossi), , , salviati, giuseppe del (giuseppe porta), s. clemente, abbot of (don bartolommeo della gatta), san gallo, antonio da (the elder), , , san gallo, antonio da (the younger), _life_, - . , , , , , san gallo, francesco da, , san gallo, giuliano da, , , , , san marco, fra bartolommeo di, san michele, michele, , , , sandro, pier francesco di jacopo di, sandro botticelli (alessandro filipepi), sansovino, andrea (andrea contucci), , sansovino, jacopo, , , , sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), , , , , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , - , , , , , , sarto, andrea del, , , - , , sassoli, stagio, scarpagni, antonio (scarpagnino or zanfragnino), schongauer, martin, _life_, - sculptore (mantovano), giovan battista, , , , , , sebastiano da reggio, sebastiano luciani (fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo), _life_, - . , , , - , , sebastiano serlio, sebastiano viniziano del piombo, fra (sebastiano luciani), _life_, - . , , , - , , serlio, sebastiano, sermoneta, girolamo (girolamo siciolante), , , siciliano, tommaso (tommaso laureti), siciolante, girolamo (girolamo sermoneta), , , siena, marco da, siena, pastorino da, , signorelli, luca (luca da cortona), silvio cosini, simone cioli, simone del pollaiuolo (il cronaca), , simone mosca, sodoma, il (giovanni antonio bazzi), - , , soggi, niccolò, _life_, - . sogliani, giovanni antonio, , , , sozzini, giovan battista, stagio da pietrasanta, stagio sassoli, stefano, vincenzio di, stefano veronese (stefano da zevio), , suave, lamberto (lambert zutmann), tasso, battista del, tiziano da cadore (tiziano vecelli), , , , , , tiziano da padova (tiziano minio), tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), , , , , , tofano lombardino (cristofano lombardi), tommaso barlacchi, , tommaso laureti (tommaso siciliano), tommaso papacello, tommaso siciliano (tommaso laureti), torri, bartolommeo, , toto del nunziata, , trento, antonio da (antonio fantuzzi), treviso, girolamo da, , , trezzo, cosimo (jacopo) da, trezzo, jacopo da, tribolo (niccolò), turbido, francesco (il moro), _life_, - . , , , - , , , ubertini, francesco (il bacchiacca), udine, giovanni da (giovanni nanni, or ricamatori), , , , - ugo da carpi, , urbino, bramante da, , , , , urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), , , , , - , - , , , , , , - , , , , - , , , - , , , , , , vaga, , vaga, perino del (perino buonaccorsi, or perino de' ceri), _life_, - . , , , , , , , - , , - valerio vicentino (valerio belli), _life_, - . - valverde, vannucci, pietro (pietro perugino), , vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , , , , as author, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , - , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , as painter, , , , , , , , as architect, , , vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), , , , , , venusti, marcello (marcello mantovano), , verese, verona, fra giovanni da, , , , veronese, giovanni battista, veronese, paolo (paolo caliari), , veronese, stefano (stefano da zevio), , vicentino, joannicolo (giuseppe niccolò), vicentino, valerio (valerio belli), _life_, - . , vicenza, battista of (battista pittoni), vico, enea, _life_, - vincenzio di stefano, viniziano, agostino (agostino de' musi), _life_, - . viniziano, domenico, viniziano, niccola, viterbo, pier francesco da, , vitruvius, , , vittore (or antonio) pisano (or pisanello), vrient, franz de (franz floris), , zanfragnino (antonio scarpagni, or scarpagnino), zeuxis, zevio, stefano da (stefano veronese), , zoppo, zutmann, lambert (lamberto suave), end of vol vi. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury http://www.archive.org/details/livesofmostemine vasauoft transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected. hyphenation and accentuation have been made consistent. all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been retained. text enclosed by equal signs was in bold face (=bold=). lives of the most eminent painters sculptors & architects by giorgio vasari: volume ix. michelagnolo to the flemings newly translated by gaston du c. de vere. with five hundred illustrations: in ten volumes [illustration: - ] philip lee warner, publisher to the medici society, limited grafton st. london, w. - contents of volume ix page michelagnolo buonarroti francesco primaticcio tiziano da cadore jacopo sansovino leone lioni of arezzo don giulio clovio divers italian craftsmen still living divers flemings index of names illustrations to volume ix plates in colour facing page michelagnolo buonarroti the holy family florence: uffizi, , tiziano da cadore the madonna of the cherries vienna: imperial gallery, tiziano da cadore sacred and profane love rome: borghese gallery, tiziano da cadore the duke of norfolk florence: pitti, tiziano da cadore the education of cupid rome: borghese gallery, paris bordone the venetian lovers milan: brera, plates in monochrome michelagnolo buonarroti the battle of the centaurs florence: museo buonarroti michelagnolo buonarroti the angel with the candlestick bologna: s. domenico michelagnolo buonarroti bacchus florence: museo nazionale michelagnolo buonarroti pietà rome: s. peter's michelagnolo buonarroti wax models for the david florence: museo buonarroti michelagnolo buonarroti madonna, child, and s. john florence: museo nazionale michelagnolo buonarroti young captive paris: louvre michelagnolo buonarroti victory florence: museo nazionale michelagnolo buonarroti moses rome: s. pietro in vincoli michelagnolo buonarroti tomb of pope julius ii rome: s. pietro in vincoli michelagnolo buonarroti god dividing the waters from the earth rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti the creation of eve rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti the creation of adam rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti the fall and the expulsion rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti the lybian sibyl rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti decorative figure rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti the new sacristy florence: s. lorenzo michelagnolo buonarroti madonna and child florence: s. lorenzo michelagnolo buonarroti giuliano de' medici florence: s. lorenzo michelagnolo buonarroti tomb of giuliano de' medici florence: s. lorenzo michelagnolo buonarroti apollo florence: museo nazionale michelagnolo buonarroti the last judgment rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti charon's boat rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti s. sebastian rome: sistine chapel michelagnolo buonarroti pietà florence: duomo michelagnolo buonarroti stairs of the palace of the senators rome: the capitol michelagnolo buonarroti court of the palazzo farnese rome michelagnolo buonarroti biblioteca laurenziana florence michelagnolo buonarroti pietà rome: palazzo rondanini michelagnolo buonarroti s. peter's rome michelagnolo buonarroti s. peter's rome michelagnolo buonarroti porta pia rome michelagnolo buonarroti s. maria degli angeli rome michelagnolo buonarroti brutus florence: museo nazionale michelagnolo buonarroti unfinished figure florence: museo nazionale francesco primaticcio galerie henry iv fontainebleau francesco primaticcio escalier du roi fontainebleau pellegrino tibaldi the adoration of the shepherds vienna: collection of prince liechtenstein tiziano da cadore ariosto london: national gallery, , tiziano da cadore bacchanal madrid: the prado, tiziano da cadore madonna with saints and donor ancona: s. domenico tiziano da cadore charles v with dog madrid: the prado, tiziano da cadore pope paul iii naples: museo nazionale tiziano da cadore danaë naples: museo nazionale tiziano da cadore perseus and andromeda london: wallace collection, tiziano da cadore philip ii naples: museo nazionale tiziano da cadore mary magdalene naples: museo nazionale tiziano da cadore the entombment madrid: the prado, paris bordone the fisherman and the doge gradenigo venice: accademia, paris bordone portrait of a woman london: national gallery, zuccati vision of the apocalypse venice: s. marco jacopo sansovino s. james florence: duomo jacopo sansovino bacchus florence: museo nazionale jacopo sansovino mars and neptune venice: ducal palace jacopo sansovino library of s. marco venice jacopo sansovino loggetta venice jacopo sansovino miracle of s. anthony padua: s. antonio andrea palladio palazzo della comunità vicenza leone leoni tomb of gian jacopo medici milan: duomo cristofano solari (il gobbo) eve milan: duomo guglielmo della porta tomb of pope paul iii rome: s. peter's galeazzo alessi palazzo grimaldi genoa giulio clovio pietà florence: pitti, girolamo sermoneta martyrdom of s. catherine rome: s. maria maggiore johannes calcar portrait of a man paris: louvre, , michelagnolo buonarroti life of michelagnolo buonarroti painter, sculptor, and architect of florence while the most noble and industrious spirits were striving, by the light of the famous giotto and of his followers, to give to the world a proof of the ability that the benign influence of the stars and the proportionate admixture of humours had given to their intellects, and while, desirous to imitate with the excellence of their art the grandeur of nature in order to approach as near as possible to that supreme knowledge that many call understanding, they were universally toiling, although in vain, the most benign ruler of heaven in his clemency turned his eyes to the earth, and, having perceived the infinite vanity of all those labours, the ardent studies without any fruit, and the presumptuous self-sufficiency of men, which is even further removed from truth than is darkness from light, and desiring to deliver us from such great errors, became minded to send down to earth a spirit with universal ability in every art and every profession, who might be able, working by himself alone, to show what manner of thing is the perfection of the art of design in executing the lines, contours, shadows, and high lights, so as to give relief to works of painting, and what it is to work with correct judgment in sculpture, and how in architecture it is possible to render habitations secure and commodious, healthy and cheerful, well-proportioned, and rich with varied ornaments. he was pleased, in addition, to endow him with the true moral philosophy and with the ornament of sweet poesy, to the end that the world might choose him and admire him as its highest exemplar in the life, works, saintliness of character, and every action of human creatures, and that he might be acclaimed by us as a being rather divine than human. and since he saw that in the practice of these rare exercises and arts--namely, in painting, in sculpture, and in architecture--the tuscan intellects have always been exalted and raised high above all others, from their being diligent in the labours and studies of every faculty beyond no matter what other people of italy, he chose to give him florence, as worthy beyond all other cities, for his country, in order to bring all the talents to their highest perfection in her, as was her due, in the person of one of her citizens. [illustration: michelagnolo buonarroti: the holy family (_florence: uffizi, . panel_)] there was born a son, then, in the casentino, in the year , under a fateful and happy star, from an excellent and noble mother, to lodovico di leonardo buonarroti simoni, a descendant, so it is said, of the most noble and most ancient family of the counts of canossa. to that lodovico, i say, who was in that year podestà of the township of chiusi and caprese, near the sasso della vernia, where s. francis received the stigmata, in the diocese of arezzo, a son was born on the th of march, a sunday, about the eighth hour of the night, to which son he gave the name michelagnolo, because, inspired by some influence from above, and giving it no more thought, he wished to suggest that he was something celestial and divine beyond the use of mortals, as was afterwards seen from the figures of his horoscope, he having had mercury and venus in the second house of jupiter, with happy augury, which showed that from the art of his brain and of his hand there would be seen to issue forth works marvellous and stupendous. having finished his office as podestà, lodovico returned to florence and settled in the village of settignano, at a distance of three miles from the city, where he had a farm that had belonged to his forefathers; which place abounds with stone and is all full of quarries of grey-stone, which is constantly being worked by stone-cutters and sculptors, who for the most part are born in the place. michelagnolo was put out to nurse by lodovico in that village with the wife of a stone-cutter: wherefore the same michelagnolo, discoursing once with vasari, said to him jestingly, "giorgio, if i have anything of the good in my brain, it has come from my being born in the pure air of your country of arezzo, even as i also sucked in with my nurse's milk the chisels and hammer with which i make my figures." in time lodovico's family increased, and, being in poor circumstances, with slender revenues, he set about apprenticing his sons to the guilds of silk and wool. michelagnolo, who by that time was well grown, was placed to be schooled in grammar with maestro francesco da urbino; but, since his genius drew him to delight in design, all the time that he could snatch he would spend in drawing in secret, being scolded for this by his father and his other elders, and at times beaten, they perchance considering that to give attention to that art, which was not known by them, was a mean thing and not worthy of their ancient house. at this time michelagnolo had formed a friendship with francesco granacci, who, likewise a lad, had placed himself with domenico ghirlandajo in order to learn the art of painting; wherefore granacci, loving michelagnolo, and perceiving that he was much inclined to design, supplied him daily with drawings by ghirlandajo, who at that time was reputed to be one of the best masters that there were not only in florence, but throughout all italy. whereupon, the desire to work at art growing greater every day in michelagnolo, lodovico, perceiving that he could not divert the boy from giving his attention to design, and that there was no help for it, and wishing to derive some advantage from it and to enable him to learn that art, resolved on the advice of friends to apprentice him with domenico ghirlandajo. michelagnolo, when he was placed with domenico ghirlandajo, was fourteen years of age. now he who wrote his life after the year , when i wrote these lives the first time, has said that some persons, through not having associated with him, have related things that never happened, and have left out many that are worthy to be recorded, and has touched on this circumstance in particular, taxing domenico with jealousy and saying that he never offered any assistance to michelagnolo; which is clearly false, as may be seen from an entry by the hand of lodovico, the father of michelagnolo, written in one of domenico's books, which book is now in the possession of his heirs. that entry runs thus: " , i record, this first day of april, that i, lodovico di leonardo di buonarrota, placed michelagnolo my son with domenico and david di tommaso di currado for the three years next to come, on these terms and conditions, that the said michelagnolo shall remain with the above-named persons for the said period of time, in order to learn to paint and to exercise that vocation; that the said persons shall have command over him; and that the same domenico and david shall be bound to give him in those three years twenty-four florins of full weight, the first year six florins, the second year eight florins, and the third ten florins; in all, the sum of ninety-six lire." and next, below this, is another record, or rather, entry, also written in the hand of lodovico: "the aforesaid michelagnolo has received of that sum, this sixteenth day of april, two gold florins in gold. i, lodovico di leonardo, his father, have received twelve lire and twelve soldi as cash due to him." these entries i have copied from the book itself, in order to prove that all that was written at that time, as well as all that is about to be written, is the truth; nor do i know that anyone has been more associated with him than i have been, or has been a more faithful friend and servant to him, as can be proved even to one who knows not the facts, neither do i believe that there is anyone who can show a greater number of letters written by his own hand, or any written with greater affection than he has expressed to me. i have made this digression for the sake of truth, and it must suffice for all the rest of his life. let us now return to our story. when the ability as well as the person of michelagnolo had grown in such a manner, that domenico, seeing him execute some works beyond the scope of a boy, was astonished, since it seemed to him that he not only surpassed the other disciples, of whom he had a great number, but very often equalled the things done by himself as master, it happened that one of the young men who were learning under domenico copied with the pen some draped figures of women from works by ghirlandajo; whereupon michelagnolo took that drawing and with a thicker pen outlined one of those women with new lineaments, in the manner that it should have been in order to be perfect. and it is a marvellous thing to see the difference between the two manners, and the judgment and excellence of a mere lad who was so spirited and bold, that he had the courage to correct the work of his master. that sheet is now in my possession, treasured as a relic; and i received it from granacci to put in my book of drawings together with others by the same hand, which i received from michelagnolo. in the year , when giorgio was in rome, he showed it to michelagnolo, who recognized it and was pleased to see it again, saying modestly that he knew more of the art when he was a boy than he did at that time, when he was an old man. now it happened that when domenico was at work on the great chapel of s. maria novella, one day that he was out michelagnolo set himself to draw the staging from the reality, with some desks and all the appliances of art, and some of the young men who were working there. whereupon, when domenico had returned and seen michelagnolo's drawing, he said, "this boy knows more about it than i do;" and he was struck with amazement at the novel manner and the novel method of imitation that a mere boy of such tender age displayed by reason of the judgment bestowed upon him by heaven, for these, in truth, were as marvellous as could have been looked for in the workmanship of a craftsman who had laboured for many years. and this was because all the power and knowledge of the gracious gifts of his nature were exercised by study and by the practice of art, wherefore these gifts produced every day fruits more divine in michelagnolo, as began to be made clearly manifest in the copy that he executed of a printed sheet by the german martino, which gave him a very great name. for there had come to florence at that time a scene by the above-named martino, of the devils beating s. anthony, engraved on copper, and michelagnolo copied it with the pen in such a manner that it could not be detected, and then painted that same sheet in colours, going at times, in order to counterfeit certain strange forms of devils, to buy fishes that had scales bizarre in colouring; and in that work he showed so much ability, that he acquired thereby credit and fame. he also counterfeited sheets by the hands of various old masters, making them so similar that they could not be detected, for, tinting them and giving them the appearance of age with smoke and various other materials, he made them so dark that they looked old, and, when compared with the originals, one could not be distinguished from the other. nor did he do this with any other purpose but to obtain the originals from the hands of their owners by giving them the copies, for he admired them for the excellence of their art and sought to surpass them in his own practice; on which account he acquired a very great name. [illustration: the battle of the centaurs (_after the relief by =michelangelo=. florence: museo buonarroti_) _alinari_] at that time the magnificent lorenzo de' medici kept the sculptor bertoldo in his garden on the piazza di s. marco, not so much as custodian or guardian of the many beautiful antiques that he had collected and gathered together at great expense in that place, as because, desiring very earnestly to create a school of excellent painters and sculptors, he wished that these should have as their chief and guide the above-named bertoldo, who was a disciple of donato. bertoldo, although he was so old that he was not able to work, was nevertheless a well-practised master and in much repute, not only because he had polished with great diligence the pulpits cast by his master donato, but also on account of many castings in bronze that he had executed himself, of battles and certain other small works, in the execution of which there was no one to be found in florence at that time who surpassed him. now lorenzo, who bore a very great love to painting and to sculpture, was grieved that there were not to be found in his time sculptors noble and famous enough to equal the many painters of the highest merit and reputation, and he determined, as i have said, to found a school. to this end he besought domenico ghirlandajo that, if he had among the young men in his workshop any that were inclined to sculpture, he might send them to his garden, where he wished to train and form them in such a manner as might do honour to himself, to domenico, and to the whole city. whereupon there were given to him by domenico as the best of his young men, among others, michelagnolo and francesco granacci; and they, going to the garden, found there that torrigiano, a young man of the torrigiani family, was executing in clay some figures in the round that had been given to him by bertoldo. michelagnolo, seeing this, made some out of emulation; wherefore lorenzo, seeing his fine spirit, always regarded him with much expectation. and he, thus encouraged, after some days set himself to counterfeit from a piece of marble an antique head of a faun that was there, old and wrinkled, which had the nose injured and the mouth laughing. michelagnolo, who had never yet touched marble or chisels, succeeded so well in counterfeiting it, that the magnificent lorenzo was astonished; and then, perceiving that, departing from the form of the antique head, he had opened out the mouth after his own fancy and had made a tongue, with all the teeth showing, that lord, jesting pleasantly, as was his wont, said to him, "surely you should have known that old folks never have all their teeth, and that some are always wanting." it appeared to michelagnolo, in his simplicity, both fearing and loving that lord, that he had spoken the truth; and no sooner had lorenzo departed than he straightway broke one of the teeth and hollowed out the gum, in such a manner, that it seemed as if the tooth had dropped out. and then he awaited with eagerness the return of the magnificent lorenzo, who, when he had come and had seen the simplicity and excellence of michelagnolo, laughed at it more than once, relating it as a miracle to his friends. moreover, having made a resolve to assist and favour michelagnolo, he sent for his father lodovico and asked for the boy from him, saying that he wished to maintain him as one of his own children; and lodovico gave him up willingly. thereupon the magnificent lorenzo granted him a chamber in his own house and had him attended, and he ate always at his table with his own children and with other persons of quality and of noble blood who lived with that lord, by whom he was much honoured. this was in the year after he had been placed with domenico, when michelagnolo was about fifteen or sixteen years of age; and he lived in that house four years, which was until the death of the magnificent lorenzo in . during that time, then, michelagnolo had five ducats a month from that lord as an allowance and also to help his father; and for his particular gratification lorenzo gave him a violet cloak, and to his father an office in the customs. truth to tell, all the young men in the garden were salaried, some little and some much, by the liberality of that magnificent and most noble citizen, and rewarded by him as long as he lived. at this time, at the advice of poliziano, a man eminent in letters, michelagnolo executed from a piece of marble given to him by that lord the battle of hercules with the centaurs, which was so beautiful that now, to those who study it from time to time, it appears as if by the hand not of a youth but of a master of repute, perfected by study and well practised in that art. it is now in his house, treasured in memory of him by his nephew leonardo as a rare thing, which indeed it is. that leonardo, not many years since, had in his house in memory of his uncle a madonna of marble in low-relief by the hand of michelagnolo, little more than one braccio in height, in which when a lad, at this same time, wishing to counterfeit the manner of donatello, he acquitted himself so well that it seems as if by donatello's hand, save that there may be seen in it more grace and more design. that work leonardo afterwards gave to duke cosimo de' medici, who treasures it as a unique thing, for we have no other low-relief in sculpture by his hand save that one. now, returning to the garden of the magnificent lorenzo; that garden was full of antiques and richly adorned with excellent pictures, all gathered together in that place for their beauty, for study, and for pleasure. michelagnolo always had the keys, and he was much more earnest than the others in his every action, and showed himself always alert, bold, and resolute. he drew for many months from the pictures of masaccio in the carmine, where he copied those works with so much judgment, that the craftsmen and all other men were astonished, in such sort that envy grew against him together with his fame. it is said that torrigiano, after contracting a friendship with him, mocked him, being moved by envy at seeing him more honoured than himself and more able in art, and struck him a blow of the fist on the nose with such force, that he broke and crushed it very grievously and marked him for life; on which account torrigiano was banished from florence, as has been related in another place. [illustration: the angel with the candlestick (_after =michelagnolo=. bologna: s. domenico_) _alinari_] when the magnificent lorenzo died, michelagnolo returned to his father's house in infinite sorrow at the death of so great a man, the friend of every talent. there he bought a great piece of marble, and from it carved a hercules of four braccia, which stood for many years in the palace of the strozzi; this was esteemed an admirable work, and afterwards, in the year of the siege, it was sent into france to king francis by giovan battista della palla. it is said that piero de' medici, who had been left heir to his father lorenzo, having long been intimate with michelagnolo, used often to send for him when he wished to buy antiques, such as cameos and other carved stones. one winter, when much snow fell in florence, he caused him to make in his courtyard a statue of snow, which was very beautiful; and he honoured michelagnolo on account of his talents in such a manner, that his father, beginning to see that he was esteemed among the great, clothed him much more honourably than he had been wont to do. for the church of s. spirito in the city of florence michelagnolo made a crucifix of wood, which was placed, as it still is, above the lunette of the high-altar; doing this to please the prior, who placed rooms at his disposal, in which he was constantly flaying dead bodies, in order to study the secrets of anatomy, thus beginning to give perfection to the great knowledge of design that he afterwards acquired. it came about that the medici were driven out of florence, and a few weeks before that michelagnolo had gone to bologna, and then to venice, fearing, as he saw the insolence and bad government of piero de' medici, lest some evil thing might befall him from his being the servant of that family; but, not having found any means of living in venice, he returned to bologna. there he had the misfortune to neglect, through lack of thought, when entering by the gate, to learn the countersign for going out again, a command having been issued at that time, as a precaution, at the desire of messer giovanni bentivogli, that all strangers who had not the countersign should be fined fifty bolognese lire; and having fallen into such a predicament, nor having the means to pay, michelagnolo by chance was seen by messer giovan francesco aldovrandi, one of the sixteen of the government, who had compassion on him, and, having made him tell his story, liberated him, and then kept him in his house for more than a year. one day aldovrandi took him to see the tomb of s. dominic, made, as has been related, by giovanni pisano and then by maestro niccolò dell'arca, sculptors of olden days. in that work there were wanting a s. petronio and an angel holding a candelabrum, figures of about one braccio, and aldovrandi asked him if he felt himself able to make them; and he answered yes. whereupon he had the marble given to him, and michelagnolo executed them in such a manner, that they are the best figures that are there; and messer francesco aldovrandi caused thirty ducats to be given to him for the two. michelagnolo stayed a little more than a year in bologna, and he would have stayed there even longer, in order to repay the courtesy of aldovrandi, who loved him both for his design and because, liking michelagnolo's tuscan pronunciation in reading, he was pleased to hear from his lips the works of dante, petrarca, boccaccio, and other tuscan poets. but, since he knew that he was wasting his time, he was glad to return to florence. [illustration: bacchus (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _alinari_] there he made for lorenzo di pier francesco de' medici a s. giovannino of marble, and then set himself to make from another piece of marble a cupid that was sleeping, of the size of life. this, when finished, was shown by means of baldassarre del milanese to lorenzo di pier francesco as a beautiful thing, and he, having pronounced the same judgment, said to michelagnolo: "if you were to bury it under ground and then sent it to rome treated in such a manner as to make it look old, i am certain that it would pass for an antique, and you would thus obtain much more for it than by selling it here." it is said that michelagnolo handled it in such a manner as to make it appear an antique; nor is there any reason to marvel at that, seeing that he had genius enough to do it, and even more. others maintain that milanese took it to rome and buried it in a vineyard that he had there, and then sold it as an antique to cardinal san giorgio for two hundred ducats. others, again, say that milanese sold to the cardinal one that michelagnolo had made for him, and that he wrote to lorenzo di pier francesco that he should cause thirty crowns to be given to michelagnolo, saying that he had not received more for the cupid, and thus deceiving the cardinal, lorenzo di pier francesco, and michelagnolo; but afterwards, having received information from one who had seen that the boy was fashioned in florence, the cardinal contrived to learn the truth by means of a messenger, and so went to work that milanese's agent had to restore the money and take back the cupid. that work, having come into the possession of duke valentino, was presented by him to the marchioness of mantua, who took it to her own country, where it is still to be seen at the present day. this affair did not happen without some censure attaching to cardinal san giorgio, in that he did not recognize the value of the work, which consisted in its perfection; for modern works, if only they be excellent, are as good as the ancient. what greater vanity is there than that of those who concern themselves more with the name than the fact? but of that kind of men, who pay more attention to the appearance than to the reality, there are some to be found at any time. now this event brought so much reputation to michelagnolo, that he was straightway summoned to rome and engaged by cardinal san giorgio, with whom he stayed nearly a year, although, as one little conversant with our arts, he did not commission michelagnolo to do anything. at that time a barber of the cardinal, who had been a painter, and could paint with great diligence in distemper-colours, but knew nothing of design, formed a friendship with michelagnolo, who made for him a cartoon of s. francis receiving the stigmata. that cartoon was painted very carefully in colours by the barber on a little panel; and the picture is now to be seen in s. pietro a montorio in the first chapel on the left hand as one enters the church. the talent of michelagnolo was then clearly recognized by a roman gentleman named messer jacopo galli, an ingenious person, who caused him to make a cupid of marble as large as life, and then a figure of a bacchus ten palms high, who has a cup in the right hand, and in the left hand the skin of a tiger, with a bunch of grapes at which a little satyr is trying to nibble. in that figure it may be seen that he sought to achieve a certain fusion in the members that is marvellous, and in particular that he gave it both the youthful slenderness of the male and the fullness and roundness of the female--a thing so admirable, that he proved himself excellent in statuary beyond any other modern that had worked up to that time. on which account, during his stay in rome, he made so much proficience in the studies of art, that it was a thing incredible to see his exalted thoughts and the difficulties of the manner exercised by him with such supreme facility; to the amazement not only of those who were not accustomed to see such things, but also of those familiar with good work, for the reason that all the works executed up to that time appeared as nothing in comparison with his. these things awakened in cardinal di san dionigi, called cardinal de rohan, a frenchman, a desire to leave in a city so famous some worthy memorial of himself by the hand of so rare a craftsman; and he caused him to make a pietà of marble in the round, which, when finished, was placed in the chapel of the vergine maria della febbre in s. pietro, where the temple of mars used to be. to this work let no sculptor, however rare a craftsman, ever think to be able to approach in design or in grace, or ever to be able with all the pains in the world to attain to such delicacy and smoothness or to perforate the marble with such art as michelagnolo did therein, for in it may be seen all the power and worth of art. among the lovely things to be seen in the work, to say nothing of the divinely beautiful draperies, is the body of christ; nor let anyone think to see greater beauty of members or more mastery of art in any body, or a nude with more detail in the muscles, veins, and nerves over the framework of the bones, nor yet a corpse more similar than this to a real corpse. here is perfect sweetness in the expression of the head, harmony in the joints and attachments of the arms, legs, and trunk, and the pulses and veins so wrought, that in truth wonder herself must marvel that the hand of a craftsman should have been able to execute so divinely and so perfectly, in so short a time, a work so admirable; and it is certainly a miracle that a stone without any shape at the beginning should ever have been reduced to such perfection as nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh. such were michelagnolo's love and zeal together in this work, that he left his name--a thing that he never did again in any other work--written across a girdle that encircles the bosom of our lady. and the reason was that one day michelagnolo, entering the place where it was set up, found there a great number of strangers from lombardy, who were praising it highly, and one of them asked one of the others who had done it, and he answered, "our gobbo from milan." michelagnolo stood silent, but thought it something strange that his labours should be attributed to another; and one night he shut himself in there, and, having brought a little light and his chisels, carved his name upon it. and truly the work is such, that an exalted spirit has said, as to a real and living figure-- bellezza ed onestate e doglia e pietà in vivo marmo morte, deh, come voi pur fate, non piangete si forte, che anzi tempo risveglisi da morte; e pur mal grado suo nostro signore, e tuo sposo, figliuolo, e padre, unica sposa sua, figliuola, e madre. from this work he acquired very great fame, and although certain persons, rather fools than otherwise, say that he has made our lady too young, are these so ignorant as not to know that unspotted virgins maintain and preserve their freshness of countenance a long time without any mark, and that persons afflicted as christ was do the contrary? that circumstance, therefore, won an even greater increase of glory and fame for his genius than all his previous works. [illustration: pietÀ (_after =michelagnolo=. rome: s. peter's_) _anderson_] letters were written to him from florence by some of his friends, saying that he should return, because it was not unlikely that he might obtain the spoiled block of marble lying in the office of works, which piero soderini, who at that time had been made gonfalonier of the city for life, had very often talked of having executed by leonardo da vinci, and was then arranging to give to maestro andrea contucci of monte sansovino, an excellent sculptor, who was seeking to obtain it. now, however difficult it might be to carve a complete figure out of it without adding pieces (for which work of finishing it without adding pieces none of the others, save buonarroti alone, had courage enough), michelagnolo had felt a desire for it for many years back; and, having come to florence, he sought to obtain it. this block of marble was nine braccia high, and from it, unluckily, one maestro simone da fiesole had begun a giant, and he had managed to work so ill, that he had hacked a hole between the legs, and it was altogether misshapen and reduced to ruin, insomuch that the wardens of works of s. maria del fiore, who had the charge of the undertaking, had placed it on one side without troubling to have it finished; and so it had remained for many years past, and was likely to remain. michelagnolo measured it all anew, considering whether he might be able to carve a reasonable figure from that block by accommodating himself as to the attitude to the marble as it had been left all misshapen by maestro simone; and he resolved to ask for it from soderini and the wardens, by whom it was granted to him as a thing of no value, they thinking that whatever he might make of it would be better than the state in which it was at that time, seeing that neither in pieces nor in that condition could it be of any use to their building. whereupon michelagnolo made a model of wax, fashioning in it, as a device for the palace, a young david with a sling in his hand, to the end that, even as he had defended his people and governed them with justice, so those governing that city might defend her valiantly and govern her justly. and he began it in the office of works of s. maria del fiore, in which he made an enclosure of planks and masonry, thus surrounding the marble; and, working at it continuously without anyone seeing it, he carried it to perfect completion. the marble had already been spoilt and distorted by maestro simone, and in some places it was not enough to satisfy the wishes of michelagnolo for what he would have liked to do with it; and he therefore suffered certain of the first marks of maestro simone's chisel to remain on the extremity of the marble, some of which are still to be seen. and truly it was a miracle on the part of michelagnolo to restore to life a thing that was dead. this statue, when finished, was of such a kind that many disputes took place as to how to transport it to the piazza della signoria. whereupon giuliano da san gallo and his brother antonio made a very strong framework of wood and suspended the figure from it with ropes, to the end that it might not hit against the wood and break to pieces, but might rather keep rocking gently; and they drew it with windlasses over flat beams laid upon the ground, and then set it in place. on the rope which held the figure suspended he made a slip-knot which was very easy to undo but tightened as the weight increased, which is a most beautiful and ingenious thing; and i have in my book a drawing of it by his own hand--an admirable, secure, and strong contrivance for suspending weights. [illustration: wax models for the david (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo buonarroti_) _alinari_] it happened at this time that piero soderini, having seen it in place, was well pleased with it, but said to michelagnolo, at a moment when he was retouching it in certain parts, that it seemed to him that the nose of the figure was too thick. michelagnolo noticed that the gonfalonier was beneath the giant, and that his point of view prevented him from seeing it properly; but in order to satisfy him he climbed upon the staging, which was against the shoulders, and quickly took up a chisel in his left hand, with a little of the marble-dust that lay upon the planks of the staging, and then, beginning to strike lightly with the chisel, let fall the dust little by little, nor changed the nose a whit from what it was before. then, looking down at the gonfalonier, who stood watching him, he said, "look at it now." "i like it better," said the gonfalonier, "you have given it life." and so michelagnolo came down, laughing to himself at having satisfied that lord, for he had compassion on those who, in order to appear full of knowledge, talk about things of which they know nothing. when it was built up, and all was finished, he uncovered it, and it cannot be denied that this work has carried off the palm from all other statues, modern or ancient, greek or latin; and it may be said that neither the marforio at rome, nor the tiber and the nile of the belvedere, nor the giants of monte cavallo, are equal to it in any respect, with such just proportion, beauty and excellence did michelagnolo finish it. for in it may be seen most beautiful contours of legs, with attachments of limbs and slender outlines of flanks that are divine; nor has there ever been seen a pose so easy, or any grace to equal that in this work, or feet, hands and head so well in accord, one member with another, in harmony, design, and excellence of artistry. and, of a truth, whoever has seen this work need not trouble to see any other work executed in sculpture, either in our own or in other times, by no matter what craftsman. michelagnolo received from piero soderini in payment for it four hundred crowns; and it was set in place in the year . in consequence of the fame that he thereby won as a sculptor, he made for the above-named gonfalonier a most beautiful david of bronze, which soderini sent to france; and at this time, also, he began, but did not finish, two medallions of marble--one for taddeo taddei, which is now in his house, and another that he began for bartolommeo pitti, which was presented by fra miniato pitti of monte oliveto, a man with a rare knowledge in cosmography and many other sciences, and particularly in painting, to luigi guicciardini, who was much his friend. these works were held to be admirable in their excellence; and at this same time, also, he blocked out a statue of s. matthew in marble in the office of works of s. maria del fiore, which statue, rough as it is, reveals its full perfection and teaches sculptors in what manner figures can be carved out of marble without their coming out misshapen, so that it may be possible to go on ever improving them by removing more of the marble with judgment, and also to draw back and change some part, according as the necessity may arise. he also made a medallion in bronze of a madonna, which he cast in bronze at the request of certain flemish merchants of the moscheroni family, persons of high nobility in their own country, who paid him a hundred crowns for it, and intended to send it to flanders. [illustration: madonna, child, and s. john (_after the relief by =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] there came to agnolo doni, a florentine citizen and a friend of michelagnolo, who much delighted to have beautiful things both by ancient and by modern craftsmen, a desire to possess some work by michelagnolo; wherefore that master began for him a round picture containing a madonna, who, kneeling on both knees, has an infant in her arms and presents him to joseph, who receives him. here michelagnolo expresses in the turn of the head of the mother of christ and in the gaze of her eyes, which she keeps fixed on the supreme beauty of her son, her marvellous contentment and her lovingness in sharing it with that saintly old man, who receives him with equal affection, tenderness, and reverence, as may be seen very readily in his countenance, without considering it long. nor was this enough for michelagnolo, who, the better to show how great was his art, made in the background of his work a number of nudes, some leaning, some standing, and some seated; and with such diligence and finish he executed this work, that without a doubt, of his pictures on panel, which indeed are but few, it is held to be the most finished and the most beautiful work that there is to be found. when it was completed, he sent it covered up to agnolo's house by a messenger, with a note demanding seventy ducats in payment. it seemed strange to agnolo, who was a careful person, to spend so much on a picture, although he knew that it was worth more, and he said to the messenger that forty was enough, which he gave to him. thereupon michelagnolo sent them back to him, with a message to say that he should send back either one hundred ducats or the picture. then agnolo, who liked the work, said, "i will give him these seventy," but he was not content; indeed, angered by agnolo's breach of faith, he demanded the double of what he had asked the first time, so that, if agnolo wanted the picture, he was forced to send him a hundred and forty. it happened that while leonardo da vinci, that rare painter, was painting in the great council hall, as has been related in his life, piero soderini, who was then gonfalonier, moved by the great ability that he saw in michelagnolo, caused a part of that hall to be allotted to him; which was the reason that he executed the other façade in competition with leonardo, taking as his subject the war of pisa. to this end michelagnolo was given a room in the hospital of the dyers at s. onofrio, and there he began a vast cartoon, but would never consent that anyone should see it. and this he filled with naked men that were bathing in the river arno on account of the heat, when suddenly the alarm sounded in the camp, announcing that the enemy were attacking; and, as the soldiers were springing out of the water to dress themselves, there could be seen, depicted by the divine hands of michelagnolo, some hastening to arm themselves in order to give assistance to their companions, others buckling on their cuirasses, many fastening other armour on their bodies, and a vast number beginning the fray and fighting on horseback. there was, among other figures, an old man who had a garland of ivy on his head to shade it, and he, having sat down in order to put on his hose, into which his legs would not go because they were wet with water, and hearing the cries and tumult of the soldiers and the uproar of the drummers, was struggling to draw on one stocking by force; and, besides that all the muscles and nerves of his figure could be perceived, his mouth was so distorted as to show clearly how he was straining and struggling even to the very tips of his toes. there were also drummers, and figures with their clothes in their arms running to the combat; and there were to be seen the most extravagant attitudes, some standing, some kneeling or bent double, others stretched horizontally and struggling in mid-air, and all with masterly foreshortenings. there were also many figures in groups, all sketched in various manners, some outlined with charcoal, some drawn with strokes, others stumped in and heightened with lead-white, michelagnolo desiring to show how much he knew in his profession. wherefore the craftsmen were seized with admiration and astonishment, seeing the perfection of art revealed to them in that drawing by michelagnolo; and some who saw them, after beholding figures so divine, declare that there has never been seen any work, either by his hand or by the hands of others, no matter how great their genius, that can equal it in divine beauty of art. and, in truth, it is likely enough, for the reason that since the time when it was finished and carried to the sala del papa with great acclamation from the world of art and extraordinary glory for michelagnolo, all those who studied from that cartoon and drew those figures--as was afterwards the custom in florence for many years both for strangers and for natives--became persons eminent in art, as we have since seen. for among those who studied the cartoon were aristotile da san gallo, the friend of michelagnolo, ridolfo ghirlandajo, raffaello sanzio of urbino, francesco granacci, baccio bandinelli, and the spaniard alonzo berughetta, and then there followed andrea del sarto, franciabigio, jacopo sansovino, rosso, maturino, lorenzetto, tribolo, who was then a boy, jacopo da pontormo, and perino del vaga; and all these became excellent florentine masters. the cartoon having thus become a school for craftsmen, it was taken into the great upper hall in the house of the medici; and this was the reason that it was left with too little caution in the hands of the craftsmen, insomuch that during the illness of duke giuliano, while no one was expecting such a thing, it was torn up and divided into many pieces, as has been related elsewhere, and scattered over various places, to which some pieces bear witness that are still to be seen in mantua, in the house of m. uberto strozzi, a gentleman of that city, where they are treasured with great reverence; and, indeed, they seem to the eye things rather divine than human. [illustration: young captive (_after =michelagnolo=. paris: louvre_) _alinari_] the name of michelagnolo, by reason of the pietà that he had made, the giant in florence, and the cartoon, had become so famous, that in the year , pope alexander vi having died and julius ii having been elected, at which time michelagnolo was about twenty-nine years of age, he was summoned with much graciousness by julius ii, who wished to set him to make his tomb; and for the expenses of the journey a hundred crowns were paid to him by the pope's representatives. having made his way to rome, he spent many months there before he was made to set his hand to any work. but finally the pope's choice fell on a design that he had made for that tomb, an excellent testimony to the genius of michelagnolo, which in beauty and magnificence, abundance of ornamentation and richness of statuary, surpassed every ancient or imperial tomb. whereupon pope julius took courage, and thus resolved to set his hand to make anew the church of s. pietro in rome, in order to erect the tomb in it, as has been related in another place. and so michelagnolo set to work with high hopes; and, in order to make a beginning, he went to carrara to excavate all the marble, with two assistants, receiving a thousand crowns on that account from alamanno salviati in florence. there, in those mountains, he spent eight months without other moneys or supplies; and he had many fantastic ideas of carving great statues in those quarries, in order to leave memorials of himself, as the ancients had done before him, being invited by those masses of stone. then, having picked out the due quantity of marbles, he caused them to be loaded on board ship at the coast and then conveyed to rome, where they filled half the piazza di s. pietro, round about s. caterina, and between the church and the corridor that goes to the castello. in that place michelagnolo had prepared his room for executing the figures and the rest of the tomb; and, to the end that the pope might be able to come at his convenience to see him at work, he had caused a drawbridge to be constructed between the corridor and that room, which led to a great intimacy between them. but in time these favours brought much annoyance and even persecution upon him, and stirred up much envy against him among his fellow-craftsmen. [illustration: victory (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] of this work michelagnolo executed during the lifetime and after the death of julius four statues completely finished and eight only blocked out, as will be related in the proper place; and since the work was designed with extraordinary invention, we will describe here below the plan that he adopted. in order to produce an effect of supreme grandeur, he decided that it should be wholly isolated, so as to be seen from all four sides, each side in one direction being twelve braccia and each in the other eighteen, so that the proportions were a square and a half. it had a range of niches running right round the outer side, which were divided one from another by terminal figures clothed from the middle upwards, which with their heads supported the first cornice, and each terminal figure had bound to it, in a strange and bizarre attitude, a naked captive, whose feet rested on a projection of the base. these captives were all provinces subjugated by that pontiff and rendered obedient to the apostolic church; and there were various other statues, likewise bound, of all the noble arts and sciences, which were thus shown to be subject to death no less than was that pontiff, who made such honourable use of them. on the corners of the first cornice were to go four large figures, the active and the contemplative life, s. paul, and moses. the structure rose above the cornice in steps gradually diminishing, with a frieze of scenes in bronze, and with other figures, children and ornaments all around, and at the summit, as a crown to the work, were two figures, one of which was heaven, who, smiling, was supporting a bier on her shoulder, together with cybele, the goddess of earth, who appeared to be grieving that she was left in a world robbed of all virtue by the death of such a man; and heaven appeared to be smiling with gladness that his soul had passed to celestial glory. the work was so arranged that one might enter and come out again by the ends of the quadrangular structure, between the niches, and the interior curved in the form of an oval after the manner of a temple, in the centre of which was the sarcophagus wherein was to be laid the dead body of that pope. and, finally, there were to be in this whole work forty statues of marble, without counting the other scenes, children, and ornaments, the carvings covering the cornices, and the other architectural members of the work. michelagnolo ordained, to expedite the labour, that a part of the marbles should be conveyed to florence, where he intended at times to spend the summer months in order to avoid the malaria of rome; and there he executed one side of the work in many pieces, complete in every detail. in rome he finished entirely with his own hand two of the captives, figures divinely beautiful, and other statues, than which none better have ever been seen; but in the end they were never placed in position, and those captives were presented by him to s. ruberto strozzi, when michelagnolo happened to be lying ill in his house; which captives were afterwards sent as presents to king francis, and they are now at ecouen in france. eight statues, likewise, he blocked out in rome, and in florence he blocked out five and finished a victory with a captive beneath, which are now in the possession of duke cosimo, having been presented by michelagnolo's nephew, leonardo, to his excellency, who has placed the victory in the great hall of his palace, which was painted by vasari. he finished the moses, a statue in marble of five braccia, which no modern work will ever equal in beauty; and of the ancient statues, also, the same may be said. for, seated in an attitude of great dignity, he rests one arm on the tables, which he holds with one hand, and with the other he holds his beard, which is long and waving, and carved in the marble in such sort, that the hairs--in which the sculptor finds such difficulty--are wrought with the greatest delicacy, soft, feathery, and detailed in such a manner, that one cannot but believe that his chisel was changed into a pencil. to say nothing of the beauty of the face, which has all the air of a true saint and most dread prince, you seem, while you gaze upon it, to wish to demand from him the veil wherewith to cover that face, so resplendent and so dazzling it appears to you, and so well has michelagnolo expressed the divinity that god infused in that most holy countenance. in addition, there are draperies carved out and finished with most beautiful curves of the borders; while the arms with their muscles, and the hands with their bones and nerves, are carried to such a pitch of beauty and perfection, and the legs, knees, and feet are covered with buskins so beautifully fashioned, and every part of the work is so finished, that moses may be called now more than ever the friend of god, seeing that he has deigned to assemble together and prepare his body for the resurrection before that of any other, by the hands of michelagnolo. well may the hebrews continue to go there, as they do every sabbath, both men and women, like flocks of starlings, to visit and adore that statue; for they will be adoring a thing not human but divine. [illustration: moses (_after =michelagnolo=. rome: s. pietro in vincoli_) _anderson_] finally all the agreements for this work were made, and the end came into view; and of the four sides one of the smaller ones was afterwards erected in s. pietro in vincola. it is said that while michelagnolo was executing the work, there came to the ripa all the rest of the marbles for the tomb that had remained at carrara, which were conveyed to the piazza di s. pietro, where the others were; and, since it was necessary to pay those who had conveyed them, michelagnolo went, as was his custom, to the pope. but, his holiness having on his hands that day some important business concerning bologna, he returned to his house and paid for those marbles out of his own purse, thinking to have the order for them straightway from his holiness. he returned another day to speak of them to the pope, but found difficulty in entering, for one of the grooms told him that he had orders not to admit him, and that he must have patience. a bishop then said to the groom, "perhaps you do not know this man?" "only too well do i know him," answered the groom; "but i am here to do as i am commanded by my superiors and by the pope." this action displeased michelagnolo, and, considering that it was contrary to what he had experienced before, he said to the pope's groom that he should tell his holiness that from that time forward, when he should want him, it would be found that he had gone elsewhere; and then, having returned to his house, at the second hour of the night he set out on post-horses, leaving two servants to sell all the furniture of his house to the jews and to follow him to florence, whither he was bound. having arrived at poggibonzi, a place in the florentine territory, and therefore safe, he stopped; and almost immediately five couriers arrived with letters from the pope to bring him back. despite their entreaties and also the letters, which ordered him to return to rome under threat of punishment, he would not listen to a word; but finally the prayers of the couriers induced him to write a few words in reply to his holiness, asking for pardon, but saying that he would never again return to his presence, since he had caused him to be driven away like a criminal, that his faithful service had not deserved such treatment, and that his holiness should look elsewhere for someone to serve him. [illustration: tomb of pope julius ii (_after =michelagnolo=. rome: s. pietro in vincoli_) _alinari_] after arriving at florence, michelagnolo devoted himself during the three months that he stayed there to finishing the cartoon for the great hall, which piero soderini, the gonfalonier, desired that he should carry into execution. during that time there came to the signoria three briefs commanding them to send michelagnolo back to rome: wherefore he, perceiving this vehemence on the part of the pope, and not trusting him, conceived the idea, so it is said, of going to constantinople to serve the grand turk, who desired to secure him, by means of certain friars of s. francis, to build a bridge crossing from constantinople to pera. however, he was persuaded by piero soderini, although very unwilling, to go to meet the pope as a person of public importance with the title of ambassador of the city, to reassure him; and finally the gonfalonier recommended him to his brother cardinal soderini for presentation to the pope, and sent him off to bologna, where his holiness had already arrived from rome. his departure from rome is also explained in another way--namely, that the pope became angered against michelagnolo, who would not allow any of his works to be seen; that michelagnolo suspected his own men, doubting (as happened more than once) that the pope disguised himself and saw what he was doing on certain occasions when he himself was not at home or at work; and that on one occasion, when the pope had bribed his assistants to admit him to see the chapel of his uncle sixtus, which, as was related a little time back, he caused buonarroti to paint, michelagnolo, having waited in hiding because he suspected the treachery of his assistants, threw planks down at the pope when he entered the chapel, not considering who it might be, and drove him forth in a fury. it is enough for us to know that in the one way or the other he fell out with the pope and then became afraid, so that he had to fly from his presence. now, having arrived in bologna, he had scarcely drawn off his riding-boots when he was conducted by the pope's servants to his holiness, who was in the palazzo de' sedici; and he was accompanied by a bishop sent by cardinal soderini, because the cardinal, being ill, was not able to go himself. having come into the presence of the pope, michelagnolo knelt down, but his holiness looked askance at him, as if in anger, and said to him, "instead of coming yourself to meet us, you have waited for us to come to meet you!" meaning to infer that bologna is nearer to florence than rome. michelagnolo, with a courtly gesture of the hands, but in a firm voice, humbly begged for pardon, saying in excuse that he had acted as he had done in anger, not being able to endure to be driven away so abruptly, but that, if he had erred, his holiness should once more forgive him. the bishop who had presented michelagnolo to his holiness, making excuse for him, said to the pope that such men were ignorant creatures, that they were worth nothing save in their own art, and that he should freely pardon him. the pope, seized with anger, belaboured the bishop with a staff that he had in his hand, saying to him, "it is you that are ignorant, who level insults at him that we ourselves do not think of uttering;" and then the bishop was driven out by the groom with fisticuffs. when he had gone, the pope, having discharged his anger upon him, gave michelagnolo his benediction; and the master was detained in bologna with gifts and promises, until finally his holiness commanded him that he should make a statue of bronze in the likeness of pope julius, five braccia in height. in this work he showed most beautiful art in the attitude, which had an effect of much majesty and grandeur, and displayed richness and magnificence in the draperies, and in the countenance, spirit, force, resolution, and stern dignity; and it was placed in a niche over the door of s. petronio. it is said that while michelagnolo was working at it, he received a visit from francia, a most excellent goldsmith and painter, who wished to see it, having heard so much praise and fame of him and of his works, and not having seen any of them, so that agents had been set to work to enable him to see it, and he had obtained permission. whereupon, seeing the artistry of michelagnolo, he was amazed: and then, being asked by michelagnolo what he thought of that figure, francia answered that it was a most beautiful casting and a fine material. wherefore michelagnolo, considering that he had praised the bronze rather than the workmanship, said to him, "i owe the same obligation to pope julius, who has given it to me, that you owe to the apothecaries who give you your colours for painting;" and in his anger, in the presence of all the gentlemen there, he declared that francia was a fool. in the same connection, when a son of francia's came before him and was announced as a very beautiful youth, michelagnolo said to him, "your father's living figures are finer than those that he paints." among the same gentlemen was one, whose name i know not, who asked michelagnolo which he thought was the larger, the statue of the pope or a pair of oxen; and he answered, "that depends on the oxen. if they are these bolognese oxen, then without a doubt our florentine oxen are not so big." michelagnolo had the statue finished in clay before the pope departed from bologna for rome, and his holiness, having gone to see it, but not knowing what was to be placed in the left hand, and seeing the right hand raised in a proud gesture, asked whether it was pronouncing a benediction or a curse. michelagnolo answered that it was admonishing the people of bologna to mind their behaviour, and asked his holiness to decide whether he should place a book in the left hand; and he said, "put a sword there, for i know nothing of letters." the pope left a thousand crowns in the bank of m. anton maria da lignano for the completion of the statue, and at the end of the sixteen months that michelagnolo toiled over the work it was placed on the frontispiece in the façade of the church of s. petronio, as has been related; and we have also spoken of its size. this statue was destroyed by the bentivogli, and the bronze was sold to duke alfonso of ferrara, who made with it a piece of artillery called la giulia; saving only the head, which is to be found in his guardaroba. [illustration: god dividing the waters from the earth (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] when the pope had returned to rome and michelagnolo was at work on the statue, bramante, the friend and relative of raffaello da urbino, and for that reason little the friend of michelagnolo, perceiving that the pope held in great favour and estimation the works that he executed in sculpture, was constantly planning with raffaello in michelagnolo's absence to remove from the mind of his holiness the idea of causing michelagnolo, after his return, to devote himself to finishing his tomb; saying that for a man to prepare himself a tomb during his own lifetime was an evil augury and a hurrying on of his death. and they persuaded his holiness that on the return of michelagnolo, he should cause him to paint in memory of his uncle sixtus the vaulting of the chapel that he had built in the palace. in this manner it seemed possible to bramante and other rivals of michelagnolo to draw him away from sculpture, in which they saw him to be perfect, and to plunge him into despair, they thinking that if they compelled him to paint, he would do work less worthy of praise, since he had no experience of colours in fresco, and that he would prove inferior to raffaello, and, even if he did succeed in the work, in any case it would make him angry against the pope; so that in either event they would achieve their object of getting rid of him. and so, when michelagnolo returned to rome, the pope was not disposed at that time to finish his tomb, and requested him to paint the vaulting of the chapel. michelagnolo, who desired to finish the tomb, believing the vaulting of that chapel to be a great and difficult labour, and considering his own want of practice in colours, sought by every means to shake such a burden from his shoulders, and proposed raffaello for the work. but the more he refused, the greater grew the desire of the pope, who was headstrong in his undertakings, and, in addition, was being spurred on anew by the rivals of michelagnolo, and especially by bramante; so that his holiness, who was quick-tempered, was on the point of becoming enraged with michelagnolo. whereupon michelagnolo, perceiving that his holiness was determined in the matter, resolved to do it; and the pope commanded bramante to erect the scaffolding from which the vaulting might be painted. bramante made it all supported by ropes, piercing the vaulting; which having perceived, michelagnolo inquired of bramante how he was to proceed to fill up the holes when he had finished painting it, and he replied that he would think of that afterwards, and that it could not be done otherwise. michelagnolo recognized that bramante was either not very competent for such a work or else little his friend, and he went to the pope and said to him that the scaffolding was not satisfactory, and that bramante had not known how to make it; and the pope answered, in the presence of bramante, that he should make it after his own fashion. and so he commanded that it should be erected upon props so as not to touch the walls, a method of making scaffoldings for vaults that he taught afterwards to bramante and others, whereby many fine works have been executed. thus he enabled a poor creature of a carpenter, who rebuilt the scaffolding, to dispense with so many of the ropes, that, after selling them (for michelagnolo gave them to him), he made up a dowry for his daughter. [illustration: the creation of eve (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] he then set his hand to making the cartoons for that vaulting; and the pope decided, also, that the walls which the masters before him in the time of sixtus had painted should be scraped clean, and decreed that he should have fifteen thousand ducats for the whole cost of the work; which price was fixed through giuliano da san gallo. thereupon, forced by the magnitude of the undertaking to resign himself to obtaining assistance, michelagnolo sent for men to florence; and he determined to demonstrate in such a work that those who had painted there before him were destined to be vanquished by his labours, and also resolved to show to the modern craftsmen how to draw and paint. having begun the cartoons, he finished them; and the circumstances of the work spurred him to soar to great heights, both for his own fame and for the welfare of art. and then, desiring to paint it in fresco-colours, and not having any experience of them, there came from florence to rome certain of his friends who were painters, to the end that they might give him assistance in such a work, and also that he might learn from them the method of working in fresco, in which some of them were well-practised; and among these were granaccio, giuliano bugiardini, jacopo di sandro, the elder indaco, agnolo di donnino, and aristotile. having made a commencement with the work, he caused them to begin some things as specimens; but, perceiving that their efforts were very far from what he desired, and not being satisfied with them, he resolved one morning to throw to the ground everything that they had done. then, shutting himself up in the chapel, he would never open to them, nor even allowed himself to be seen by them when he was at home. and so, when the jest appeared to them to be going too far, they resigned themselves to it and returned in shame to florence. thereupon michelagnolo, having made arrangements to paint the whole work by himself, carried it well on the way to completion with the utmost solicitude, labour, and study; nor would he ever let himself be seen, lest he should give any occasion to compel him to show it, so that the desire in the minds of everyone to see it grew greater every day. pope julius was always very desirous to see any undertakings that he was having carried out, and therefore became more eager than ever to see this one, which was hidden from him. and so one day he resolved to go to see it, but was not admitted, for michelagnolo would never have consented to show it to him; out of which affair arose the quarrel that has been described, when he had to depart from rome because he would not show his work to the pope. now, when a third of the work was finished (as i ascertained from him in order to clear up all doubts), it began to throw out certain spots of mould, one winter that the north wind was blowing. the reason of this was that the roman lime, which is made of travertine and white in colour, does not dry very readily, and, when mixed with pozzolana, which is of a tawny colour, makes a dark mixture which, when soft, is very watery; and when the wall has been well soaked, it often breaks out into an efflorescence in the drying; and thus this salt efflorescence of moisture came out in many places, but in time the air consumed it. michelagnolo was in despair over this, and was unwilling to continue the work, asking the pope to excuse him, since he was not succeeding; but his holiness sent giuliano da san gallo to see him, and he, having told him whence the defect arose and taught him how to remove the spots of mould, encouraged him to persevere. now, when he had finished half of it, the pope, who had subsequently gone to see it several times (mounting certain ladders with the assistance of michelagnolo), insisted that it should be thrown open, for he was hasty and impatient by nature, and could not wait for it to be completely finished and to receive, as the saying is, the final touch. no sooner was it thrown open than all rome was drawn to see it, and the pope was the first, not having the patience to wait until the dust caused by the dismantling of the scaffolding had settled. thereupon raffaello da urbino, who was very excellent in imitation, after seeing it straightway changed his manner, and without losing any time, in order to display his ability, painted the prophets and sibyls in the work of the pace; and at the same time bramante sought to have the other half of the chapel entrusted by the pope to raffaello. which hearing, michelagnolo complained of bramante, and revealed to the pope without any reserve many faults both in his life and in his architectural works; of which last, in the building of s. pietro, as was seen afterwards, michelagnolo became the corrector. but the pope, recognizing more clearly every day the ability of michelagnolo, desired that he should continue the work, judging, after he had seen it uncovered, that he could make the second half considerably better; and so in twenty months he carried that work to perfect completion by himself alone, without the assistance even of anyone to grind his colours. michelagnolo complained at times that on account of the haste that the pope imposed on him he was not able to finish it in his own fashion, as he would have liked; for his holiness was always asking him importunately when he would finish it. on one occasion, among others, he replied, "it will be finished when i shall have satisfied myself in the matter of art." "but it is our pleasure," answered the pope, "that you should satisfy us in our desire to have it done quickly;" and he added, finally, that if michelagnolo did not finish the work quickly he would have him thrown down from the scaffolding. whereupon michelagnolo, who feared and had good reason to fear the anger of the pope, straightway finished all that was wanting, without losing any time, and, after taking down the rest of the scaffolding, threw it open to view on the morning of all saints' day, when the pope went into the chapel to sing mass, to the great satisfaction of the whole city. michelagnolo desired to retouch some parts "a secco," as the old masters had done on the scenes below, painting backgrounds, draperies, and skies in ultramarine, and ornaments in gold in certain places, to the end that this might produce greater richness and a more striking effect; and the pope, having learned that this ornamentation was wanting, and hearing the work praised so much by all who had seen it, wished him to finish it; but, since it would have been too long a labour for michelagnolo to rebuild the scaffolding, it was left as it was. his holiness, often seeing michelagnolo, would say to him that the chapel should be enriched with colours and gold, since it looked poor. and michelagnolo would answer familiarly, "holy father, in those times men did not bedeck themselves with gold, and those that are painted there were never very rich, but rather holy men, on which account they despised riches." for this work michelagnolo was paid by the pope three thousand crowns on several occasions, of which he had to spend twenty-five on colours. the work was executed with very great discomfort to himself, from his having to labour with his face upwards, which so impaired his sight that for a time, which was not less than several months, he was not able to read letters or look at drawings save with his head backwards. and to this i can bear witness, having painted five vaulted chambers in the great apartments in the palace of duke cosimo, when, if i had not made a chair on which i could rest my head and lie down at my work, i would never have finished it; even so, it has so ruined my sight and injured my head, that i still feel the effects, and i am astonished that michelagnolo endured all that discomfort so well. but in truth, becoming more and more kindled every day by his fervour in the work, and encouraged by the proficience and improvement that he made, he felt no fatigue and cared nothing for discomfort. [illustration: the creation of adam (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] the distribution of this work is contrived with six pendentives on either side, with one in the centre of the walls at the foot and at the head, and on these he painted sibyls and prophets, six braccia in height; in the centre of the vault the history of the world from the creation down to the deluge and the drunkenness of noah, and in the lunettes all the genealogy of christ. in these compartments he used no rule of perspectives in foreshortening, nor is there any fixed point of view, but he accommodated the compartments to the figures rather than the figures to the compartments, being satisfied to execute those figures, both the nude and the draped, with the perfection of design, so that another such work has never been and never can be done, and it is scarcely possible even to imitate his achievement. this work, in truth, has been and still is the lamp of our art, and has bestowed such benefits and shed so much light on the art of painting, that it has served to illuminate a world that had lain in darkness for so many hundreds of years. and it is certain that no man who is a painter need think any more to see new inventions, attitudes, and draperies for the clothing of figures, novel manners of expression, and things painted with greater variety and force, because he gave to this work all the perfection that can be given to any work executed in such a field of art. and at the present day everyone is amazed who is able to perceive in it the excellence of the figures, the perfection of the foreshortenings, and the extraordinary roundness of the contours, which have in them slenderness and grace, being drawn with the beauty of proportion that is seen in beautiful nudes; and these, in order to display the supreme perfection of art, he made of all ages, different in expression and in form, in countenance and in outline, some more slender and some fuller in the members; as may also be seen in the beautiful attitudes, which are all different, some seated, some moving, and others upholding certain festoons of oak-leaves and acorns, placed there as the arms and device of pope julius, and signifying that at that time and under his government was the age of gold; for italy was not then in the travail and misery that she has since suffered. between them, also, they hold some medallions containing stories in relief in imitation of bronze and gold, taken from the book of kings. [illustration: the fall and the expulsion (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] besides this, in order to display the perfection of art and also the greatness of god, he painted in a scene god dividing light from darkness, wherein may be seen his majesty as he rests self-sustained with the arms outstretched, and reveals both love and power. in the second scene he depicted with most beautiful judgment and genius god creating the sun and moon, in which he is supported by many little angels, in an attitude sublime and terrible by reason of the foreshortenings in the arms and legs. in the same scene michelagnolo depicted him after the blessing of the earth and the creation of the animals, when he is seen on that vaulting as a figure flying in foreshortening; and wherever you go throughout the chapel, it turns constantly and faces in every direction. so, also, in the next scene, where he is dividing the water from the earth; and both these are very beautiful figures and refinements of genius such as could be produced only by the divine hands of michelagnolo. he then went on, beyond that scene, to the creation of adam, wherein he figured god as borne by a group of nude angels of tender age, which appear to be supporting not one figure only, but the whole weight of the world; this effect being produced by the venerable majesty of his form and by the manner of the movement with which he embraces some of the little angels with one arm, as if to support himself, and with the other extends the right hand towards adam, a figure of such a kind in its beauty, in the attitude, and in the outlines, that it appears as if newly fashioned by the first and supreme creator rather than by the brush and design of a mortal man. beyond this, in another scene, he made god taking our mother eve from adam's side, in which may be seen those two nude figures, one as it were dead from his being the thrall of sleep, and the other become alive and filled with animation by the blessing of god. very clearly do we see from the brush of this most gifted craftsman the difference that there is between sleep and wakefulness, and how firm and stable, speaking humanly, the divine majesty may appear. next to this there follows the scene when adam, at the persuasion of a figure half woman and half serpent, brings death upon himself and upon us by the forbidden fruit; and there, also, are seen adam and eve driven from paradise. in the figure of the angel is shown with nobility and grandeur the execution of the mandate of a wrathful lord, and in the attitude of adam the sorrow for his sin together with the fear of death, as likewise in the woman may be seen shame, abasement, and the desire to implore pardon, as she presses the arms to the breast, clasps the hands palm to palm, and sinks the neck into the bosom, and also turns the head towards the angel, having more fear of the justice of god than hope in his mercy. nor is there less beauty in the story of the sacrifice of cain and abel; wherein are some who are bringing up the wood, some who are bent down and blowing at the fire, and others who are cutting the throat of the victim; which certainly is all executed with not less consideration and attention than the others. he showed the same art and the same judgment in the story of the deluge, wherein are seen various deaths of men, who, terrified by the horror of those days, are striving their utmost in different ways to save their lives. for in the faces of those figures may be seen life a prey to death, not less than fear, terror, and disregard of everything; and compassion is visible in many that are assisting one another to climb to the summit of a rock in search of safety, among them one who, having embraced one half dead, is striving his utmost to save him, than which nature herself could show nothing better. nor can i tell how well expressed is the story of noah, who, drunk with wine, is sleeping naked, and has before him one son who is laughing at him and two who are covering him up--a scene incomparable in the beauty of the artistry, and not to be surpassed save by himself alone. [illustration: the lybian sibyl (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] then, as if his genius had taken courage from what it had achieved up to that time, it soared upwards and proved itself even greater in the five sibyls and seven prophets that are painted there, each five braccia or more in height. in all these are well-varied attitudes, beautiful draperies, and different vestments; and all, in a word, are wrought with marvellous invention and judgment, and to him who can distinguish their expressions they appear divine. jeremiah is seen with the legs crossed, holding one hand to the beard, and resting that elbow on the knee; the other hand rests in his lap, and he has the head bowed in a manner that clearly demonstrates the melancholy, cogitation, anxious thought and bitterness of soul that his people cause him. equally fine, also, are two little children that are behind him, and likewise the first sibyl, beyond him in the direction of the door, in which figure, wishing to depict old age, in addition to enveloping her in draperies, he sought to show that her blood is already frozen by time; besides which, since her sight has become feeble, he has made her as she reads bring the book very close to her eyes. beyond this figure follows the prophet ezekiel, an old man, who has a grace and a movement that are most beautiful, and is much enveloped in draperies, while with one hand he holds a roll of prophecies, and with the other uplifted, turning his head, he appears to be about to utter great and lofty words; and behind him he has two boys who hold his books. next to him follows a sibyl, who is doing the contrary to the erythræan sibyl that we described above, for, holding her book away from her, she seeks to turn a page, while with one knee over the other she sits sunk within herself, pondering gravely over what she is to write; and then a boy who is behind her, blowing on a burning brand, lights her lamp. this figure is of extraordinary beauty in the expression of the face, in the head-dress, and in the arrangement of the draperies; besides which she has the arms nude, which are equal to the other parts. beyond this sibyl he painted the prophet joel, who, sunk within himself, has taken a scroll and reads it with great attention and appreciation: and from his aspect it is so clearly evident that he is satisfied with that which he finds written there, that he looks like a living person who has applied his thoughts intently to some matter. over the door of the chapel, likewise, he placed the aged zaccharias, who, seeking through his written book for something that he cannot find, stands with one leg on high and the other low; and, while the ardour of the search after something that he cannot find causes him to stand thus, he takes no notice of the discomfort that he suffers in such a posture. this figure is very beautiful in its aspect of old age, and somewhat full in form, and has draperies with few folds, which are most beautiful. in addition, there is another sibyl, who is next in the direction of the altar on the other side, displaying certain writings, and, with her boys in attendance, is no less worthy of praise than are the others. beyond her is the prophet isaiah, who, wholly absorbed in his own thoughts, has the legs crossed over one another, and, holding one hand in his book to mark the place where he was reading, has placed the elbow of the other arm upon the book, with the cheek pressed against the hand; and, being called by one of the boys that he has behind him, he turns only the head, without disturbing himself otherwise. whoever shall consider his countenance, shall see touches truly taken from nature herself, the true mother of art, and a figure which, when well studied in every part, can teach in liberal measure all the precepts of the good painter. beyond this prophet is an aged sibyl of great beauty, who, as she sits, studies from a book in an attitude of extraordinary grace, not to speak of the beautiful attitudes of the two boys that are about her. nor may any man think with all his imaginings to be able to attain to the excellence of the figure of a youth representing daniel, who, writing in a great book, is taking certain things from other writings and copying them with extraordinary attention; and as a support for the weight of the book michelagnolo painted a boy between his legs, who is upholding it while he writes, all which no brush held by a human hand, however skilful, will ever be able to equal. and so, also, with the beautiful figure of the libyan sibyl, who, having written a great volume drawn from many books, is in an attitude of womanly grace, as if about to rise to her feet; and in one and the same movement she makes as if to rise and to close the book--a thing most difficult, not to say impossible, for any other but the master of the work. and what can be said of the four scenes at the corners, on the spandrels of that vaulting; in one of which david, with all the boyish strength that he can exert in the conquest of a giant, is cutting off his head, bringing marvel to the faces of some soldiers who are about the camp. and so, also, do men marvel at the beautiful attitudes that michelagnolo depicted in the story of judith, at the opposite corner, in which may be seen the trunk of holofernes, robbed of life but still quivering, while judith is placing the lifeless head in a basket on the head of her old serving-woman, who, being tall in stature, is stooping to the end that judith may be able to reach up to her and adjust the weight well; and the servant, while upholding the burden with her hands, seeks to conceal it, and, turning her head towards the trunk, which, although dead, draws up an arm and a leg and makes a noise in the tent, she shows in her expression fear of the camp and terror of the dead body--a picture truly full of thought. but more beautiful and more divine than this or any of the others is the story of the serpents of moses, which is above the left-hand corner of the altar; for the reason that in it is seen the havoc wrought by death, the rain of serpents, their stings and their bites, and there may also be perceived the serpent of brass that moses placed upon a pole. in this scene are shown vividly the various deaths that those die who are robbed of all hope by the bite of the serpents, and one sees the deadly venom causing vast numbers to die in terror and convulsions, to say nothing of the rigid legs and twisted arms of those who remain in the attitudes in which they were struck down, unable to move, and the marvellous heads that are shrieking and thrown backwards in despair. not less beautiful than all these are those who, having looked upon the serpent, and feeling their pains alleviated by the sight of it, are gazing on it with profound emotion; and among them is a woman who is supported by another figure in such a manner that the assistance rendered to her by him who upholds her is no less manifest than her pressing need in such sudden alarm and hurt. in the next scene, likewise, in which ahasuerus, reclining in a bed, is reading his chronicles, are figures of great beauty, and among them three figures eating at a table, which represent the council that was held for the deliverance of the jewish people and the hanging of haman. the figure of haman was executed by michelagnolo in an extraordinary manner of foreshortening, for he counterfeited the trunk that supports his person, and that arm which comes forward, not as painted things but as real and natural, standing out in relief, and so also that leg which he stretches outwards and other parts that bend inwards: which figure, among all that are beautiful and difficult, is certainly the most beautiful and the most difficult. [illustration: decorative figure (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo buonarroti=. rome: sistine chapel_) _anderson_] it would take too long to describe all the beautiful fantasies in the different actions in the part where there is all the genealogy of the fathers, beginning with the sons of noah, to demonstrate the genealogy of jesus christ, in which figures is a variety of things that it is not possible to enumerate, such as draperies, expressions of heads, and an infinite number of novel and extraordinary fancies, all most beautifully considered. nothing there but is carried into execution with genius: all the figures there are masterly and most beautifully foreshortened, and everything that you look at is divine and beyond praise. and who will not be struck dumb with admiration at the sight of the sublime force of jonas, the last figure in the chapel, wherein by the power of art the vaulting, which in fact springs forward in accord with the curve of the masonry, yet, being in appearance pushed back by that figure, which bends inwards, seems as if straight, and, vanquished by the art of design with its lights and shades, even appears in truth to recede inwards? oh, truly happy age of ours, and truly blessed craftsmen! well may you be called so, seeing that in our time you have been able to illumine anew in such a fount of light the darkened sight of your eyes, and to see all that was difficult made smooth by a master so marvellous and so unrivalled! certainly the glory of his labours makes you known and honoured, in that he has stripped from you that veil which you had over the eyes of your minds, which were so full of darkness, and has delivered the truth from the falsehood that overshadowed your intellects. thank heaven, therefore, for this, and strive to imitate michelagnolo in everything. when the work was thrown open, the whole world could be heard running up to see it, and, indeed, it was such as to make everyone astonished and dumb. wherefore the pope, having been magnified by such a result and encouraged in his heart to undertake even greater enterprises, rewarded michelagnolo liberally with money and rich gifts: and michelagnolo would say at times of the extraordinary favours that the pope conferred upon him, that they showed that he fully recognized his worth, and that, if by way of proving his friendliness he sometimes played him strange tricks, he would heal the wound with signal gifts and favours. as when, michelagnolo once demanding from him leave to go to florence for the festival of s. john, and asking money for that purpose, the pope said, "well, but when will you have this chapel finished?" "as soon as i can, holy father." the pope, who had a staff in his hand, struck michelagnolo, saying, "as soon as i can! as soon as i can! i will soon make you finish it!" whereupon michelagnolo went back to his house to get ready to go to florence; but the pope straightway sent cursio, his chamberlain, to michelagnolo with five hundred crowns to pacify him, fearing lest he might commit one of his caprices, and cursio made excuse for the pope, saying that such things were favours and marks of affection. and michelagnolo, who knew the pope's nature and, after all, loved him, laughed over it all, for he saw that in the end everything turned to his profit and advantage, and that the pontiff would do anything to keep a man such as himself as his friend. when the chapel was finished, before the pope was overtaken by death, his holiness commanded cardinal santiquattro and cardinal aginense, his nephew, in the event of his death, that they should cause his tomb to be finished, but on a smaller scale than before. to this work michelagnolo set himself once again, and so made a beginning gladly with the tomb, hoping to carry it once and for all to completion without so many impediments; but he had from it ever afterwards vexations, annoyances, and travails, more than from any other work that he did in all his life, and it brought upon him for a long time, in a certain sense, the accusation of being ungrateful to that pope, who had so loved and favoured him. thus, when he had returned to the tomb, and was working at it continually, and also at times preparing designs from which he might be able to execute the façades of the chapel, envious fortune decreed that that memorial, which had been begun with such perfection, should be left unfinished. for at that time there took place the death of pope julius, and the work was abandoned on account of the election of pope leo x, who, being no less splendid than julius in mind and spirit, had a desire to leave in his native city (of which he was the first pope), in memory of himself and of a divine craftsman who was his fellow-citizen, such marvels as only a mighty prince like himself could undertake. wherefore he gave orders that the façade of s. lorenzo, a church built by the medici family in florence, should be erected for him, which was the reason that the work of the tomb of julius was left unfinished; and he demanded advice and designs from michelagnolo, and desired that he should be the head of that work. michelagnolo made all the resistance that he could, pleading that he was pledged in the matter of the tomb to santiquattro and aginense, but the pope answered him that he was not to think of that, and that he himself had already seen to it and contrived that michelagnolo should be released by them; promising, also, that he should be able to work in florence, as he had already begun to do, at the figures for that tomb. all this was displeasing to the cardinals, and also to michelagnolo, who went off in tears. [illustration: the new sacristy (_after =michelangelo=. florence: s. lorenzo_) _alinari_] many and various were the discussions that arose on this subject, on the ground that such a work as that façade should have been distributed among several persons, and in the matter of the architecture many craftsmen flocked to rome to see the pope, and made designs; baccio d'agnolo, antonio da san gallo, andrea sansovino and jacopo sansovino, and the gracious raffaello da urbino, who was afterwards summoned to florence for that purpose at the time of the pope's visit. thereupon michelagnolo resolved to make a model and not to accept anyone beyond himself as his guide or superior in the architecture of such a work; but this refusal of assistance was the reason that neither he nor any other executed the work, and that those masters returned in despair to their customary pursuits. michelagnolo, going to carrara, had an order authorizing that a thousand crowns should be paid to him by jacopo salviati; but on his arrival jacopo was shut up in his room on business with some citizens, and michelagnolo, refusing to wait for an audience, departed without saying a word and went straightway to carrara. jacopo heard of michelagnolo's arrival, and, not finding him in florence, sent him a thousand crowns to carrara. the messenger demanded that michelagnolo should write him a receipt, to which he answered that the money was for the expenses of the pope and not for his own interest, and that the messenger might take it back, but that he was not accustomed to write out quittances or receipts for others; whereupon the other returned in alarm to jacopo without a receipt. while michelagnolo was at carrara and was having marble quarried for the tomb of julius, thinking at length to finish it, no less than for the façade, a letter was written to him saying that pope leo had heard that in the mountains of pietrasanta near seravezza, in the florentine dominion, at the summit of the highest mountain, which is called monte altissimo, there were marbles of the same excellence and beauty as those of carrara. this michelagnolo already knew, but it seems that he would not take advantage of it because of his friendship with the marchese alberigo, lord of carrara, and, in order to do him a good service, chose to quarry those of carrara rather than those of seravezza; or it may have been that he judged it to be a long undertaking and likely to waste much time, as indeed it did. however, he was forced to go to seravezza, although he pleaded in protest that it would be more difficult and costly, as in truth it was, especially at the beginning, and, moreover, that the report about the marble was perhaps not true; but for all that the pope would not hear a word of objection. thereupon it was decided to make a road for several miles through the mountains, breaking down rocks with hammers and pickaxes to obtain a level, and sinking piles in the marshy places; and there michelagnolo spent many years in executing the wishes of the pope. finally five columns of the proper size were excavated, one of which is on the piazza di s. lorenzo in florence, and the others are on the sea-shore. and for this reason the marchese alberigo, who saw his business ruined, became the bitter enemy of michelagnolo, who was not to blame. michelagnolo, in addition to these columns, excavated many other marbles there, which are still in the quarries, abandoned there for more than thirty years. but at the present day duke cosimo has given orders for the road to be finished, of which there are still two miles to make over very difficult ground, for the transportation of these marbles, and also a road from another quarry of excellent marble that was discovered at that time by michelagnolo, in order to be able to finish many beautiful undertakings. in the same district of seravezza he discovered a mountain of variegated marble that is very hard and very beautiful, below stazema, a village in those mountains; where the same duke cosimo has caused a paved road of more than four miles to be made, for conveying the marble to the sea. but to return to michelagnolo: having gone back to florence, he lost much time now in one thing and now in another. and he made at that time for the palace of the medici a model for the knee-shaped windows of those rooms that are at the corner, where giovanni da udine adorned the chamber in stucco and painting, which is a much extolled work; and he caused to be made for them by the goldsmith piloto, but under his own direction, those jalousies of perforated copper, which are certainly admirable things. michelagnolo consumed many years in quarrying marbles, although it is true that while they were being excavated he made models of wax and other things for the work. but this undertaking was delayed so long, that the money assigned by the pope for the purpose was spent on the war in lombardy; and at the death of leo the work was left unfinished, nothing being accomplished save the laying of a foundation in front to support it, and the transportation of a large column of marble from carrara to the piazza di s. lorenzo. [illustration: madonna and child (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: new sacristy of s. lorenzo_) _anderson_] the death of leo completely dismayed the craftsmen and the arts both in rome and in florence; and while adrian vi was alive michelagnolo gave his attention in florence to the tomb of julius. but after the death of adrian clement vii was elected, who was no less desirous than leo and his other predecessors to leave his fame established by the arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting. at this time, which was the year , giorgio vasari was taken as a little boy to florence by the cardinal of cortona, and placed with michelagnolo to learn art. but michelagnolo was then summoned to rome by pope clement vii, who had made a beginning with the library of s. lorenzo and also the new sacristy, in which he proposed to place the marble tombs that he was having made for his forefathers; and he resolved that vasari should go to work with andrea del sarto until he should himself be free again, and went in person to andrea's workshop to present him. michelagnolo departed for rome in haste, harassed once again by francesco maria, duke of urbino, the nephew of pope julius, who complained of him, saying that he had received sixteen thousand crowns for the above-named tomb, yet was living a life of pleasure in florence; and he threatened in his anger that, if michelagnolo did not give his attention to the work, he would make him rue it. having arrived in rome, pope clement, who wished to make use of him, advised him to draw up his accounts with the agents of the duke, believing that after all that he had done he must be their creditor rather than their debtor; and so the matter rested. after discussing many things together, they resolved to finish completely the library and new sacristy of s. lorenzo in florence. michelagnolo therefore departed from rome, and raised the cupola that is now to be seen, causing it to be wrought in various orders of composition; and he had a ball with seventy-two faces made by the goldsmith piloto, which is very beautiful. it happened, while michelagnolo was raising the cupola, that he was asked by some friends, "should you not make your lantern very different from that of filippo brunelleschi?" and he answered them, "different it can be made with ease, but better, no." he made four tombs in that sacristy, to adorn the walls and to contain the bodies of the fathers of the two popes, the elder lorenzo and his brother giuliano, and those of giuliano, the brother of leo, and of duke lorenzo, his nephew. and since he wished to execute the work in imitation of the old sacristy that filippo brunelleschi had built, but with another manner of ornamentation, he made in it an ornamentation in a composite order, in a more varied and more original manner than any other master at any time, whether ancient or modern, had been able to achieve, for in the novelty of the beautiful cornices, capitals, bases, doors, tabernacles, and tombs, he departed not a little from the work regulated by measure, order, and rule, which other men did according to a common use and after vitruvius and the antiquities, to which he would not conform. that licence has done much to give courage to those who have seen his methods to set themselves to imitate him, and new fantasies have since been seen which have more of the grotesque than of reason or rule in their ornamentation. wherefore the craftsmen owe him an infinite and everlasting obligation, he having broken the bonds and chains by reason of which they had always followed a beaten path in the execution of their works. and even more did he demonstrate and seek to make known such a method afterwards in the library of s. lorenzo, at the same place; in the beautiful distribution of the windows, in the pattern of the ceiling, and in the marvellous entrance of the vestibule. nor was there ever seen a more resolute grace, both in the whole and in the parts, as in the consoles, tabernacles, and cornices, nor any staircase more commodious; in which last he made such bizarre breaks in the outlines of the steps, and departed so much from the common use of others, that everyone was amazed. [illustration: giuliano de' medici (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: new sacristy of s. lorenzo_) _anderson_] at this time he sent his disciple pietro urbano of pistoia to rome to carry to completion a nude christ holding the cross, a most admirable figure, which was placed beside the principal chapel of the minerva, at the commission of messer antonio metelli. about the same time there took place the sack of rome and the expulsion of the medici from florence; by reason of which upheaval those who governed the city of florence resolved to rebuild the fortifications, and therefore made michelagnolo commissary general over all that work. whereupon he made designs and caused fortifications to be built for several parts of the city, and finally encircled the hill of san miniato with bastions, which he made not with sods of earth, wood, and bundles of brushwood, as is generally done, but with a stout base of chestnut, oak, and other good materials interwoven, and in place of sods he took unbaked bricks made with tow and the dung of cattle, squared with very great diligence. and for this reason he was sent by the signoria of florence to ferrara, to inspect the fortifications of duke alfonso i, and so also his artillery and munitions; where he received many courtesies from that lord, who besought him that he should do something for him with his own hand at his leisure, and michelagnolo promised that he would. after his return, he was continually engaged in fortifying the city, but, although he was thus occupied, nevertheless he kept working at a picture of a leda for that duke, painted with his own hand in distemper-colours, which was a divine thing, as will be related in the proper place; also continuing the statues for the tombs of s. lorenzo, but in secret. at this time michelagnolo spent some six months on the hill of san miniato in order to press on the fortification of that hill, because if the enemy became master of it, the city was lost; and so he pursued these undertakings with the utmost diligence. [illustration: tomb of giuliano de' medici (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: new sacristy of s. lorenzo_) _anderson_] at this same time he continued the work in the above-mentioned sacristy, in which were seven statues that were left partly finished and partly not. with these, and with the architectural inventions of the tombs, it must be confessed that he surpassed every man in these three professions; to which testimony is borne by the statues of marble, blocked out and finished by him, which are to be seen in that place. one is our lady, who is in a sitting attitude, with the right leg crossed over the left and one knee placed upon the other, and the child, with the thighs astride the leg that is uppermost, turns in a most beautiful attitude towards his mother, hungry for her milk, and she, while holding him with one hand and supporting herself with the other, bends forward to give it to him; and although the figure is not equal in every part, and it was left rough and showing the marks of the gradine, yet with all its imperfections there may be recognized in it the full perfection of the work. even more did he cause everyone to marvel by the circumstance that in making the tombs of duke giuliano and duke lorenzo de' medici he considered that earth alone was not enough to give them honourable burial in their greatness, and desired that all the phases of the world should be there, and that their sepulchres should be surrounded and covered by four statues; wherefore he gave to one night and day, and to the other dawn and twilight; which statues, most beautifully wrought in form, in attitude, and in the masterly treatment of the muscles, would suffice, if that art were lost, to restore her to her pristine lustre. there, among the other statues, are the two captains, armed; one the pensive duke lorenzo, the very presentment of wisdom, with legs so beautiful and so well wrought, that there is nothing better to be seen by mortal eye; and the other is duke giuliano, so proud a figure, with the head, the throat, the setting of the eyes, the profile of the nose, the opening of the mouth, and the hair all so divine, to say nothing of the hands, arms, knees, feet, and, in short, every other thing that he carved therein, that the eye can never be weary or have its fill of gazing at them; and, of a truth, whoever studies the beauty of the buskins and the cuirass, believes it to be celestial rather than mortal. but what shall i say of the dawn, a nude woman, who is such as to awaken melancholy in the soul and to render impotent the style of sculpture? in her attitude may be seen her effort, as she rises, heavy with sleep, and raises herself from her downy bed; and it seems that in awakening she has found the eyes of that great duke closed in death, so that she is agonized with bitter grief, weeping in her own unchangeable beauty in token of her great sorrow. and what can i say of the night, a statue not rare only, but unique? who is there who has ever seen in that art in any age, ancient or modern, statues of such a kind? for in her may be seen not only the stillness of one sleeping, but the grief and melancholy of one who has lost a great and honoured possession; and we must believe that this is that night of darkness that obscures all those who thought for some time, i will not say to surpass, but to equal michelagnolo in sculpture and design. in that statue is infused all the somnolence that is seen in sleeping forms; wherefore many verses in latin and rhymes in the vulgar tongue were written in her praise by persons of great learning, such as these, of which the author is not known-- la notte che tu vedi in si dolci atti dormire, fu da un angelo scolpita in questo sasso; e perche dorme, ha vita. destala, se no 'l credi, e parleratti. to which michelagnolo, speaking in the person of night, answered thus-- grato mi è il sonno, e più l'esser di sasso; mentre che il danno e la vergogna dura, non veder' non sentir' m'è gran ventura. però non mi destar'; deh parla basso. truly, if the enmity that there is between fortune and genius, between the envy of the one and the excellence of the other, had not prevented such a work from being carried to completion, art was like to prove to nature that she surpassed her by a great measure in every conception. while michelagnolo was labouring with the greatest solicitude and love at these works, there came in the siege of florence, which hindered their completion only too effectually, and was the reason that he did little or no more work upon them, the citizens having laid upon him the charge of fortifying not only the hill of s. miniato, but also the city, as we have related. and thus, having lent a thousand crowns to that republic, and being elected one of the nine, a military council appointed for the war, he turned all his mind and soul to perfecting those fortifications. but in the end, when the enemy had closed round the city, and all hope of assistance was failing little by little, and the difficulties of maintaining the defence were increasing, and it appeared to michelagnolo that he was in a sorry pass with regard to his personal safety, he determined to leave florence and make his way to venice, without making himself known to anyone on the road. he set out secretly, therefore, by way of the hill of s. miniato, without anyone knowing of it, taking with him antonio mini, his disciple, and the goldsmith piloto, his faithful friend; and each of them carried a number of crowns on his person, sewn into his quilted doublet. having arrived in ferrara, they rested there; and it happened that on account of the alarm caused by the war and the league of the emperor and the pope, who were besieging florence, duke alfonso d'este was keeping strict watch in ferrara, and required to be secretly informed by the hosts who gave lodging to travellers of the names of all those who lodged with them from one day to another; and he caused a list of all foreigners, with their nationality, to be brought to him every day. it came to pass, then, that when michelagnolo had dismounted with his companions, intending to stay there without revealing himself, this became known in that way to the duke, who was very glad, because he had already become his friend. that prince was a man of lofty mind, delighting constantly in persons of ability all his life long, and he straightway sent some of the first men of his court with orders to conduct him in the name of his excellency to the palace, where the duke was, to remove thither his horses and all his baggage, and to give him a handsome lodging in that palace. michelagnolo, finding himself in the power of another, was constrained to obey and to make the best of a bad business, and he went with those courtiers to the duke, but without removing his baggage from the inn. thereupon the duke, after first complaining of his reserve, gave him a great reception; and then, making him rich and honourable presents, he sought to detain him in ferrara with the promise of a fine salary. he, having his mind set on something else, would not consent to remain; but the duke again made him a free offer of all that was in his power, praying him that he should at least not depart as long as the war continued. whereupon michelagnolo, not wishing to be outdone in courtesy, thanked him warmly, and, turning towards his two companions, said that he had brought twelve thousand crowns to ferrara, and that, if the duke had need of them, they were at his disposal, together with himself. the duke then took him through the palace to divert him, as he had done on another occasion, and showed him all the beautiful things that he had there, including a portrait of himself by tiziano, which was much commended by michelagnolo. however, his excellency was not able to keep him in the palace, for he insisted on returning to the inn; wherefore the host who was lodging him received from the duke a great abundance of things wherewith to do him honour, and also orders that at his departure he should not accept anything for his lodging. from ferrara he made his way to venice, where many gentlemen sought to become known to him; but he, who always had a very poor opinion of their knowledge of his profession, departed from the giudecca, where he had his lodging. there, so it is said, he made for that city at that time, at the request of the doge gritti, a design for the bridge of the rialto, which was very rare in invention and in ornamentation. michelagnolo was invited with great insistence to go back to his native country, being urgently requested not to abandon his undertaking there, and receiving a safe-conduct; and finally, vanquished by love of her, he returned, but not without danger to his life. at this time he finished the leda that he was painting, as has been related, at the request of duke alfonso; and it was afterwards taken to france by antonio mini, his disciple. and at this same time he saved the campanile of s. miniato, a tower which sorely harassed the enemy's forces with its two pieces of artillery, so that their artillerists, having set to work to batter it with heavy cannon, had half ruined it, and were like to destroy it completely, when michelagnolo protected it so well with bales of wool and stout mattresses suspended by cords, that it is still standing. it is said, also, that at the time of the siege there came to him an opportunity to acquire, according to a desire that he had long had, a block of marble of nine braccia which had come from carrara, and which pope clement, after much rivalry and contention between him and baccio bandinelli, had given to baccio. but michelagnolo, now that such a matter was in the hands of the commonwealth, asked for it from the gonfalonier, who gave it to him that he might likewise try his hand upon it, although baccio had already made a model and hacked away much of the stone in blocking it out. thereupon michelagnolo made a model, which was held to be a marvellous and very beautiful thing; but on the return of the medici the marble was restored to baccio. when peace had been made, baccio valori, the pope's commissioner, received orders to have some of the most partisan citizens arrested and imprisoned in the bargello, and the same tribunal sought out michelagnolo at his house; but he, fearing that, had fled secretly to the house of one who was much his friend, where he remained hidden many days. finally, when the first fury had abated, pope clement, remembering the ability of michelagnolo, caused a diligent search to be made for him, with orders that nothing should be said to him, but rather that his former appointments should be restored to him, and that he should attend to the work of s. lorenzo, over which he placed as proveditor m. giovan battista figiovanni, the old servant of the medici family and prior of s. lorenzo. thus reassured, michelagnolo, in order to make baccio valori his friend, began a figure of three braccia in marble, which was an apollo drawing an arrow from his quiver, and carried it almost to completion. it is now in the apartment of the prince of florence, and is a very rare work, although it is not completely finished. at this time a certain gentleman was sent to michelagnolo by duke alfonso of ferrara, who, having heard that the master had made some rare work for him with his own hand, did not wish to lose such a jewel. having arrived in florence and found michelagnolo, the envoy presented to him letters of recommendation from that lord; whereupon michelagnolo, receiving him courteously, showed him the leda embracing the swan that he had painted, with castor and pollux issuing from the egg, in a large picture executed in distemper, as it were with the breath. the duke's envoy, thinking from the praise that he heard everywhere of michelagnolo that he should have done something great, and not recognizing the excellence and artistry of that figure, said to michelagnolo: "oh, this is but a trifle." michelagnolo, knowing that no one is better able to pronounce judgment on works than those who have had long practise in them, asked him what was his vocation. and he answered, with a sneer, "i am a merchant"; believing that he had not been recognized by michelagnolo as a gentleman, and as it were making fun of such a question, and at the same time affecting to despise the industry of the florentines. michelagnolo, who had understood perfectly the meaning of his words, at once replied: "you will find you have made a bad bargain this time for your master. get you gone out of my sight." [illustration: apollo (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _alinari_] now in those days antonio mini, his disciple, who had two sisters waiting to be married, asked him for the leda, and he gave it to him willingly, with the greater part of the designs and cartoons that he had made, which were divine things, and also two chests full of models, with a great number of finished cartoons for making pictures, and some of works that had been painted. when antonio took it into his head to go to france, he carried all these with him; the leda he sold to king francis by means of some merchants, and it is now at fontainebleau, but the cartoons and designs were lost, for he died there in a short time, and some were stolen; and so our country was deprived of all these valuable labours, which was an incalculable loss. the cartoon of the leda has since come back to florence, and bernardo vecchietti has it; and so also four pieces of the cartoons for the chapel, with nudes and prophets, brought back by the sculptor benvenuto cellini, and now in the possession of the heirs of girolamo degli albizzi. it became necessary for michelagnolo to go to rome to see pope clement, who, although angry with him, yet, as the friend of every talent, forgave him everything, and gave him orders that he should return to florence and have the library and sacristy of s. lorenzo completely finished; and, in order to shorten that work, a vast number of statues that were to be included in it were distributed among other masters. two he allotted to tribolo, one to raffaello da montelupo, and one to fra giovanni agnolo, the servite friar, all sculptors; and he gave them assistance in these, making rough models in clay for each of them. whereupon they all worked valiantly, and he, also, caused work to be pursued on the library, and thus the ceiling was finished in carved woodwork, which was executed after his models by the hands of the florentines carota and tasso, excellent carvers and also masters of carpentry; and likewise the shelves for the books, which were executed at that time by battista del cinque and his friend ciappino, good masters in that profession. and in order to give the work its final perfection there was summoned to florence the divine giovanni da udine, who, together with others his assistants and also some florentine masters, decorated the tribune with stucco; and they all sought with great solicitude to give completion to that vast undertaking. now, just as michelagnolo was about to have the statues carried into execution, at that very time the pope took it into his head to have him near his person, being desirous to have the walls of the chapel of sixtus painted, where michelagnolo had painted the vaulting for julius ii, his nephew. on the principal wall, where the altar is, clement wished him to paint the universal judgment, to the end that he might display in that scene all that the art of design could achieve, and opposite to it, on the other wall, over the principal door, he had commanded that he should depict the scene when lucifer was expelled for his pride from heaven, and all those angels who sinned with him were hurled after him into the centre of hell: of which inventions it was found that michelagnolo many years before had made various sketches and designs, one of which was afterwards carried into execution in the church of the trinità at rome by a sicilian painter, who stayed many months with michelagnolo, to serve him and to grind his colours. this work, painted in fresco, is in the chapel of s. gregorio, in the cross of the church, and, although it is executed badly, there is a certain variety and terrible force in the attitudes and groups of those nudes that are raining down from heaven, and of the others who, having fallen into the centre of the earth, are changed into various forms of devils, very horrible and bizarre; and it is certainly an extraordinary fantasy. while michelagnolo was directing the preparation of the designs and cartoons of the last judgment on the first wall, he never ceased for a single day to be at strife with the agents of the duke of urbino, by whom he was accused of having received sixteen thousand crowns from julius ii for the tomb. this accusation was more than he could bear, and he desired to finish the work some day, although he was already an old man, and he would have willingly stayed in rome to finish it, now that he had found, without seeking it, such a pretext for not returning any more to florence, since he had a great fear of duke alessandro de' medici, whom he regarded as little his friend; for, when the duke had given him to understand through signor alessandro vitelli that he should select the best site for the building of the castle and citadel of florence, he answered that he would not go save at the command of pope clement. finally an agreement was formed in the matter of the tomb, that it should be finished in the following manner: there was no longer to be an isolated tomb in a rectangular shape, but only one of the original façades, in the manner that best pleased michelagnolo, and he was to be obliged to place in it six statues by his own hand. in this contract that was made with the duke of urbino, his excellency consented that michelagnolo should be at the disposal of pope clement for four months in the year, either in florence or wherever he might think fit to employ him. but, although it seemed to michelagnolo that at last he had obtained some peace, he was not to be quit of it so easily, for pope clement, desiring to see the final proof of the force of his art, kept him occupied with the cartoon of the judgment. however, contriving to convince the pope that he was thus engaged, at the same time he kept working in secret, never relaxing his efforts, at the statues that were going into the above-named tomb. in the year [ ] came the death of pope clement, whereupon the work of the library and sacristy in florence, which had remained unfinished in spite of all the efforts made to finish it, was stopped. then, at length, michelagnolo thought to be truly free and able to give his attention to finishing the tomb of julius ii. but paul iii, not long after his election, had him summoned to his presence, and, besides paying him compliments and making him offers, requested him to enter his service and remain near his person. michelagnolo refused, saying that he was not able to do it, being bound by contract to the duke of urbino until the tomb of julius should be finished. the pope flew into a rage and said: "i have had this desire for thirty years, and now that i am pope do you think i shall not satisfy it? i shall tear up the contract, for i am determined to have you serve me, come what may." michelagnolo, hearing this resolution, was tempted to leave rome and in some way find means to give completion to the tomb; however, fearing, like a wise man, the power of the pope, he resolved to try to keep him pacified with words, seeing that he was so old, until something should happen. the pope, who wished to have some extraordinary work executed by michelagnolo, went one day with ten cardinals to visit him at his house, where he demanded to see all the statues for the tomb of julius, which appeared to him marvellous, and particularly the moses, which figure alone was said by the cardinal of mantua to be enough to do honour to pope julius. and after seeing the designs and cartoons that he was preparing for the wall of the chapel, which appeared to the pope to be stupendous, he again besought michelagnolo with great insistence that he should enter his service, promising that he would persuade the duke of urbino to content himself with three statues, and that the others should be given to other excellent masters to execute after his models. whereupon, his holiness having arranged this with the agents of the duke, a new contract was made, which was confirmed by the duke; and michelagnolo of his own free will bound himself to pay for the other three statues and to have the tomb erected, depositing for this purpose in the bank of the strozzi one thousand five hundred and eighty ducats. this he might have avoided, and it seemed to him that he had truly done enough to be free of such a long and troublesome undertaking; and afterwards he caused the tomb to be erected in s. pietro in vincola in the following manner. he erected the lower base, which was all carved, with four pedestals which projected outwards as much as was necessary to give space for the captive that was originally intended to stand on each of them, instead of which there was left a terminal figure; and since the lower part had thus a poor effect, he placed at the feet of each terminal figure a reversed console resting on the pedestal. those four terminal figures had between them three niches, two of which (those at the sides) were round, and were to have contained the victories. instead of the victories, he placed in one leah, the daughter of laban, to represent the active life, with a mirror in her hand to signify the consideration that we should give to our actions, and in the other hand a garland of flowers, to denote the virtues that adorn our life during its duration, and make it glorious after death; and the other figure was her sister rachel, representing the contemplative life, with the hands clasped and one knee bent, and on the countenance a look as of ecstasy of spirit. these statues michelagnolo executed with his own hand in less than a year. in the centre is the other niche, rectangular in shape, which in the original design was to have been one of the doors that were to lead into the little oval temple of the rectangular tomb; this having become a niche, there is placed in it, upon a dado of marble, the gigantic and most beautiful statue of moses, of which we have already said enough. above the heads of the terminal figures, which form capitals, are architrave, frieze, and cornice, which project beyond those figures and are carved with rich ornaments, foliage, ovoli, dentils, and other rich members, distributed over the whole work. over that cornice rises another course, smooth and without carvings, but with different terminal figures standing directly above those below, after the manner of pilasters, with a variety of cornice-members; and since this course accompanies that below and resembles it in every part, there is in it a space similar to the other, forming a niche like that in which there is now the moses, and in the niche, resting on projections of the cornice, is a sarcophagus of marble with the recumbent statue of pope julius, executed by the sculptor maso dal bosco, while in that niche, also, there stands a madonna who is holding her son in her arms, wrought by the sculptor scherano da settignano from a model by michelagnolo; which statues are passing good. in two other rectangular niches, above the active and the contemplative life, are two larger statues, a prophet and a sibyl seated, which were both executed by raffaello da montelupo, as has been related in the life of his father baccio, but little to the satisfaction of michelagnolo. for its crowning completion this work had a different cornice, which, like those below, projected over the whole work; and above the terminal figures, as a finish, were candelabra of marble, with the arms of pope julius in the centre. above the prophet and the sibyl, in the recess of each niche, he made a window for the convenience of the friars who officiate in that church, the choir having been made behind; which windows serve to send their voices into the church when they say the divine office, and permit the celebration to be seen. truly this whole work has turned out very well, but not by a great measure as it had been planned in the original design. [footnote : .] [illustration: the last judgment (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] michelagnolo resolved, since he could not do otherwise, to serve pope paul, who allowed him to continue the work as ordered by clement, without changing anything in the inventions and the general conception that had been laid before him, thus showing respect for the genius of that great man, for whom he felt such reverence and love that he sought to do nothing but what pleased him; of which a proof was soon seen. his holiness desired to place his own arms beneath the jonas in the chapel, where those of pope julius ii had previously been put; but michelagnolo, being asked to do this, and not wishing to do a wrong to julius and clement, would not place them there, saying that they would not look well; and the pope, in order not to displease him, was content to have it so, having recognized very well the excellence of such a man, and how he always followed what was just and honourable without any adulation or respect of persons--a thing that the great are wont to experience very seldom. michelagnolo, then, caused a projection of well baked and chosen bricks to be carefully built on the wall of the above-named chapel (a thing which was not there before), and contrived that it should overhang half a braccio from above, so that neither dust nor any other dirt might be able to settle upon it. but i will not go into the particulars of the invention and composition of this scene, because so many copies of it, both large and small, have been printed, that it does not seem necessary to lose time in describing it. it is enough for us to perceive that the intention of this extraordinary man has been to refuse to paint anything but the human body in its best proportioned and most perfect forms and in the greatest variety of attitudes, and not this only, but likewise the play of the passions and contentments of the soul, being satisfied with justifying himself in that field in which he was superior to all his fellow-craftsmen, and to lay open the way of the grand manner in the painting of nudes, and his great knowledge in the difficulties of design; and, finally, he opened out the way to facility in this art in its principal province, which is the human body, and, attending to this single object, he left on one side the charms of colouring and the caprices and new fantasies of certain minute and delicate refinements which many other painters, perhaps not without some show of reason, have not entirely neglected. for some, not so well grounded in design, have sought with variety of tints and shades of colouring, with various new and bizarre inventions, and, in short, with the other method, to win themselves a place among the first masters; but michelagnolo, standing always firmly rooted in his profound knowledge of art, has shown to those who know enough how they should attain to perfection. but to return to the story: michelagnolo had already carried to completion more than three-fourths of the work, when pope paul went to see it. and messer biagio da cesena, the master of ceremonies, a person of great propriety, who was in the chapel with the pope, being asked what he thought of it, said that it was a very disgraceful thing to have made in so honourable a place all those nude figures showing their nakedness so shamelessly, and that it was a work not for the chapel of a pope, but for a bagnio or tavern. michelagnolo was displeased at this, and, wishing to revenge himself, as soon as biagio had departed he portrayed him from life, without having him before his eyes at all, in the figure of minos with a great serpent twisted round the legs, among a heap of devils in hell; nor was messer biagio's pleading with the pope and with michelagnolo to have it removed of any avail, for it was left there in memory of the occasion, and it is still to be seen at the present day. it happened at this time that michelagnolo fell no small distance from the staging of this work, and hurt his leg; and in his pain and anger he would not be treated by anyone. now there was living at this same time the florentine maestro baccio rontini, his friend, an ingenious physician, who had a great affection for his genius; and he, taking compassion on him, went one day to knock at his door. receiving no answer either from the neighbours or from him, he so contrived to climb by certain secret ways from one room to another, that he came to michelagnolo, who was in a desperate state. and then maestro biagio would never abandon him or take himself off until he was cured. having recovered from this injury, he returned to his labour, and, working at it continually, he carried it to perfect completion in a few months, giving such force to the paintings in the work, that he justified the words of dante-- morti li morti, i vivi parean vivi. and here, also, may be seen the misery of the damned and the joy of the blessed. wherefore, when this judgment was thrown open to view, it proved that he had not only vanquished all the earlier masters who had worked there, but had sought to surpass the vaulting that he himself had made so famous, excelling it by a great measure and outstripping his own self. for he imagined to himself the terror of those days, and depicted, for the greater pain of all who have not lived well, the whole passion of christ, causing various naked figures in the air to carry the cross, the column, the lance, the sponge, the nails, and the crown of thorns, all in different attitudes, executed to perfection in a triumph of facility over their difficulties. in that scene is christ seated, with a countenance proud and terrible, turning towards the damned and cursing them; not without great fear in our lady, who, hearing and beholding that vast havoc, draws her mantle close around her. there are innumerable figures, prophets and apostles, that form a circle about him, and in particular adam and s. peter, who are believed to have been placed there, one as the first parent of those thus brought to judgment, and the other as having been the first foundation of the christian church; and at his feet is a most beautiful s. bartholomew, who is displaying his flayed skin. there is likewise a nude figure of s. laurence; besides which, there are multitudes of saints without number, both male and female, and other figures, men and women, around him, near or distant, who embrace one another and make rejoicing, having received eternal blessedness by the grace of god and as the reward of their works. beneath the feet of christ are the seven angels with the seven trumpets described by s. john the evangelist, who, as they sound the call to judgment, cause the hair of all who behold them to stand on end at the terrible wrath that their countenances reveal. among others are two angels that have each the book of life in the hands: and near them, on one side, not without beautiful consideration, are seen the seven mortal sins in the forms of devils, assailing and striving to drag down to hell the souls that are flying towards heaven, all with very beautiful attitudes and most admirable foreshortenings. nor did he hesitate to show to the world, in the resurrection of the dead, how they take to themselves flesh and bones once more from the same earth, and how, assisted by others already alive, they go soaring towards heaven, whence succour is brought to them by certain souls already blessed; not without evidence of all those marks of consideration that could be thought to be required in so great a work. for studies and labours of every kind were executed by him, which may be recognized throughout the whole work without exception; and this is manifested with particular clearness in the barque of charon, who, in an attitude of fury, strikes with his oars at the souls dragged down by the devils into the barque, after the likeness of the picture that the master's best-beloved poet, dante, described when he said-- caron demonio con occhi di bragia, loro accennando, tutte le raccoglie, batte col remo qualunque si adagia. [illustration: charon's boat: detail from the last judgment (_after the fresco by =michelangelo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] nor would it be possible to imagine how much variety there is in the heads of those devils, which are truly monsters from hell. in the sinners may be seen sin and the fear of eternal damnation; and, to say nothing of the beauty of every detail, it is extraordinary to see so great a work executed with such harmony of painting, that it appears as if done in one day, and with such finish as was never achieved in any miniature. and, of a truth, the terrible force and grandeur of the work, with the multitude of figures, are such that it is not possible to describe it, for it is filled with all the passions known to human creatures, and all expressed in the most marvellous manner. for the proud, the envious, the avaricious, the wanton, and all the other suchlike sinners can be distinguished with ease by any man of fine perception, because in figuring them michelagnolo observed every rule of nature in the expressions, in the attitudes, and in every other natural circumstance; a thing which, although great and marvellous, was not impossible to such a man, for the reason that he was always observant and shrewd and had seen men in plenty, and had acquired by commerce with the world that knowledge that philosophers gain from cogitation and from writings. wherefore he who has judgment and understanding in painting perceives there the most terrible force of art, and sees in those figures such thoughts and passions as were never painted by any other but michelagnolo. so, also, he may see there how the variety of innumerable attitudes is accomplished, in the strange and diverse gestures of young and old, male and female; and who is there who does not recognize in these the terrible power of his art, together with the grace that he had from nature, since they move the hearts not only of those who have knowledge in that profession, but even of those who have none? there are foreshortenings that appear as if in relief, a harmony of painting that gives great softness, and fineness in the parts painted by him with delicacy, all showing in truth how pictures executed by good and true painters should be; and in the outlines of the forms turned by him in such a way as could not have been achieved by any other but michelagnolo, may be seen the true judgment and the true damnation and resurrection. this is for our art the exemplar and the grand manner of painting sent down to men on earth by god, to the end that they may see how destiny works when intellects descend from the heights of heaven to earth, and have infused in them divine grace and knowledge. this work leads after it bound in chains those who persuade themselves that they have mastered art; and at the sight of the strokes drawn by him in the outlines of no matter what figure, every sublime spirit, however mighty in design, trembles and is afraid. and while the eyes gaze at his labours in this work, the senses are numbed at the mere thought of what manner of things all other pictures, those painted and those still unpainted, would appear if placed in comparison with such perfection. truly blessed may he be called, and blessed his memories, who has seen this truly stupendous marvel of our age! most happy and most fortunate paul iii, in that god granted that under thy protection should be acquired the renown that the pens of writers shall give to his memory and thine! how highly are thy merits enhanced by his genius! and what good fortune have the craftsmen had in this age from his birth, in that they have seen the veil of every difficulty torn away, and have beheld in the pictures, sculptures, and architectural works executed by him all that can be imagined and achieved! [illustration: s. sebastian (_after the fresco by =michelagnolo=. rome: the vatican, sistine chapel_) _anderson_] he toiled eight years over executing this work, and threw it open to view in the year , i believe, on christmas day, to the marvel and amazement of all rome, nay, of the whole world; and i, who was that year in venice, and went to rome to see it, was struck dumb by its beauty. pope paul, as has been related, had caused a chapel called the pauline to be erected on the same floor by antonio da san gallo, in imitation of that of nicholas v; and in this he resolved that michelagnolo should paint two great pictures with two large scenes. in one he painted the conversion of s. paul, with jesus christ in the air and a multitude of nude angels making most beautiful movements, and below, all dazed and terrified, paul fallen from his horse to the level of the ground, with his soldiers about him, some striving to raise him up, and others, struck with awe by the voice and splendour of christ, are flying in beautiful attitudes and marvellous movements of panic, while the horse, taking to flight, appears to be carrying away in its headlong course him who seeks to hold it back; and this whole scene is executed with extraordinary design and art. in the other picture is the crucifixion of s. peter, who is fixed, a nude figure of rare beauty, upon the cross; showing the ministers of the crucifixion, after they have made a hole in the ground, seeking to raise the cross on high, to the end that he may remain crucified with his feet in the air; and there are many remarkable and beautiful considerations. michelagnolo, as has been said elsewhere, gave his attention only to the perfection of art, and therefore there are no landscapes to be seen there, nor trees, nor buildings, nor any other distracting graces of art, for to these he never applied himself, as one, perchance, who would not abase his great genius to such things. these, executed by him at the age of seventy-five, were his last pictures, and, as he used himself to tell me, they cost him much fatigue, for the reason that painting, and particularly working in fresco, is no art for men who have passed a certain age. michelagnolo arranged that perino del vaga, a very excellent painter, should decorate the vaulting with stucco and with many things in painting, after his designs, and such, also, was the wish of pope paul iii; but the work was afterwards delayed, and nothing more was done, even as many undertakings are left unfinished, partly by the fault of want of resolution in the craftsmen, and partly by that of princes little zealous in urging them on. pope paul had made a beginning with the fortifying of the borgo, and had summoned many gentlemen, together with antonio da san gallo, to a conference; but he wished that michelagnolo also should have a part in this, knowing that the fortifications about the hill of s. miniato in florence had been constructed under his direction. after much discussion, michelagnolo was asked what he thought; and he, having opinions contrary to san gallo and many others, declared them freely. whereupon san gallo said to him that his arts were sculpture and painting, and not fortification. michelagnolo replied that of sculpture and painting he knew little, but of fortification, what with the thought that he had devoted to it for a long time, and his experience in what he had done, it appeared to him that he knew more than either antonio or any of his family; showing him in the presence of the company that he had made many errors in that art. words rising high on either side, the pope had to command silence; but no long time passed before michelagnolo brought a design for all the fortifications of the borgo, which laid open the way for all that has since been ordained and executed; and this was the reason that the great gate of s. spirito, which was approaching completion under the direction of san gallo, was left unfinished. [illustration: pietÀ (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: duomo_) _alinari_] the spirit and genius of michelagnolo could not rest without doing something; and, since he was not able to paint, he set to work on a piece of marble, intending to carve from it four figures in the round and larger than life, including a dead christ, for his own delight and to pass the time, and because, as he used to say, the exercise of the hammer kept him healthy in body. this christ, taken down from the cross, is supported by our lady, by nicodemus, who bends down and assists her, planted firmly on his feet in a forceful attitude, and by one of the maries, who also gives her aid, perceiving that the mother, overcome by grief, is failing in strength and not able to uphold him. nor is there anywhere to be seen a dead form equal to that of christ, who, sinking with the limbs hanging limp, lies in an attitude wholly different, not only from that of any other work by michelagnolo, but from that of any other figure that was ever made. a laborious work is this, a rare achievement in a single stone, and truly divine; but, as will be related hereafter, it remained unfinished, and suffered many misfortunes, although michelagnolo had intended that it should serve to adorn his own tomb, at the foot of that altar where he thought to place it. it happened in the year that antonio da san gallo died; whereupon, there being now no one to direct the building of s. pietro, many suggestions were made by the superintendents to the pope as to who should have it. finally his holiness, inspired, i believe, by god, resolved to send for michelagnolo. but he, when asked to take antonio's place, refused it, saying, in order to avoid such a burden, that architecture was not his proper art; and in the end, entreaties not availing, the pope commanded that he should accept it, whereupon, to his great displeasure and against his wish, he was forced to undertake that enterprise. and one day among others that he went to s. pietro to see the wooden model that san gallo had made, and to examine the building, he found there the whole san gallo faction, who, crowding before michelagnolo, said to him in the best terms at their command that they rejoiced that the charge of the building was to be his, and that the model was a field where there would never be any want of pasture. "you speak the truth," answered michelagnolo, meaning to infer, as he declared to a friend, that it was good for sheep and oxen, who knew nothing of art. and afterwards he used to say publicly that san gallo had made it wanting in lights, that it had on the exterior too many ranges of columns one above another, and that, with its innumerable projections, pinnacles, and subdivisions of members, it was more akin to the german manner than to the good method of the ancients or to the gladsome and beautiful modern manner; and, in addition to this, that it was possible to save fifty years of time and more than three hundred thousand crowns of money in finishing the building, and to execute it with more majesty, grandeur, and facility, greater beauty and convenience, and better ordered design. this he afterwards proved by a model that he made, in order to bring it to the form in which the work is now seen constructed; and thus he demonstrated that what he said was nothing but the truth. this model cost him twenty-five crowns, and was made in a fortnight; that of san gallo, as has been related, cost four thousand, and took many years to finish. from this and other circumstances it became evident that that fabric was but a shop and a business for making money, and that it would be continually delayed, with the intention of never finishing it, by those who had undertaken it as a means of profit. [illustration: stairs of the palace of the senators (_after =michelagnolo=. rome: the capitol_) _anderson_] such methods did not please our upright michelagnolo, and in order to get rid of all these people, while the pope was forcing him to accept the office of architect to the work, he said to them openly one day that they should use all the assistance of their friends and do all that they could to prevent him from entering on that office, because, if he were to undertake such a charge, he would not have one of them about the building. which words, spoken in public, were taken very ill, as may be believed, and were the reason that they conceived a great hatred against him, which increased every day as they saw the whole design being changed, both within and without, so that they would scarcely let him live, seeking out daily new and various devices to harass him, as will be related in the proper place. finally the pope issued a motu-proprio creating him head of that fabric, with full authority, and giving him power to do or undo whatever he chose, and to add, take away, or vary anything at his pleasure; and he decreed that all the officials employed in the work should be subservient to his will. whereupon michelagnolo, seeing the great confidence and trust that the pope placed in him, desired, in order to prove his generosity, that it should be declared in the motu-proprio that he was serving in the fabric for the love of god and without any reward. it is true that the pope had formerly granted to him the ferry over the river at parma,[ ] which yielded him about six hundred crowns; but he lost it at the death of duke pier luigi farnese, and in exchange for it he was given a chancellery at rimini, a post of less value. about that he showed no concern; and, although the pope sent him money several times by way of salary, he would never accept it, to which witness is borne by messer alessandro ruffini, chamberlain to the pope at that time, and by m. pier giovanni aliotti, bishop of forlì. finally the model that had been made by michelagnolo was approved by the pope; which model diminished s. pietro in size, but gave it greater grandeur, to the satisfaction of all those who have judgment, although some who profess to be good judges, which in fact they are not, do not approve of it. he found that the four principal piers built by bramante, and left by antonio da san gallo, which had to support the weight of the tribune, were weak; and these he partly filled up, and beside them he made two winding or spiral staircases, in which is an ascent so easy that the beasts of burden can climb them, carrying all the materials to the very top, and men on horseback, likewise, can go up to the uppermost level of the arches. the first cornice above the arches he constructed of travertine, curving in a round, which is an admirable and graceful thing, and very different from any other; nor could anything better of that kind be done. he also made a beginning with the two great recesses of the transepts; and whereas formerly, under the direction of bramante, baldassarre, and raffaello, as has been related, eight tabernacles were being made on the side towards the camposanto, and that plan was afterwards followed by san gallo, michelagnolo reduced these to three, with three chapels in the interior, and above them a vaulting of travertine, and a range of windows giving a brilliant light, which are varied in form and of a sublime grandeur. but, since these things are in existence, and are also to be seen in engraving, not only those of michelagnolo, but those of san gallo as well, i will not set myself to describe them, for it is in no way necessary. let it suffice to say that he set himself, with all possible diligence, to cause the work to be carried on in those parts where the fabric was to be changed in design, to the end that it might remain so solid and stable that it might never be changed by another; which was the wise provision of a shrewd and prudent intellect, because it is not enough to do good work, if further precautions be not taken, seeing that the boldness and presumption of those who might be supposed to have knowledge if credit were placed rather in their words than in their deeds, and at times the favour of such as know nothing, may give rise to many misfortunes. [footnote : piacenza.] the roman people, with the sanction of that pope, had a desire to give some useful, commodious, and beautiful form to the campidoglio, and to furnish it with colonnades, ascents, and inclined approaches with and without steps, and also with the further adornment of the ancient statues that were already there, in order to embellish that place. for this purpose they sought the advice of michelagnolo, who made them a most beautiful and very rich design, in which, on the side where the senatore stands, towards the east, he arranged a façade of travertine, and a flight of steps that ascends from two sides to meet on a level space, from which one enters into the centre of the hall of that palace, with rich curving wings adorned with balusters that serve as supports and parapets. and there, to enrich that part, he caused to be placed on certain bases the two ancient figures in marble of recumbent river gods, each of nine braccia, and of rare workmanship, one of which is the tiber and the other the nile; and between them, in a niche, is to go a jove. on the southern side, where there is the palace of the conservatori, in order that it might be made rectangular, there followed a rich and well varied façade, with a loggia at the foot full of columns and niches, where many ancient statues are to go; and all around are various ornaments, doors, windows, and the like, of which some are already in place. on the other side from this, towards the north, below the araceli, there is to follow another similar façade; and before it, towards the west, is to be an ascent of baston-like steps, which will be almost level, with a border and parapet of balusters; here will be the principal entrance, with a colonnade, and bases on which will be placed all that wealth of noble statues in which the campidoglio is now so rich. in the middle of the piazza, on a base in the form of an oval, is placed the famous bronze horse on which is the statue of marcus aurelius, which the same pope paul caused to be removed from the piazza di laterano, where sixtus iv had placed it. this edifice is now being made so beautiful that it is worthy to be numbered among the finest works that michelagnolo has executed, and it is being carried to completion at the present day under the direction of m. tommaso de' cavalieri, a roman gentleman who was, and still is, one of the greatest friends that michelagnolo ever had, as will be related hereafter. [illustration: court of the palazzo farnese (_after =michelagnolo=. rome_) _anderson_] pope paul iii had caused san gallo, while he was alive, to carry forward the palace of the farnese family, but the great upper cornice, to finish the roof on the outer side, had still to be constructed, and his holiness desired that michelagnolo should execute it from his own designs and directions. michelagnolo, not being able to refuse the pope, who so esteemed and favoured him, caused a model of wood to be made, six braccia in length, and of the size that it was to be; and this he placed on one of the corners of the palace, so that it might show what effect the finished work would have. it pleased his holiness and all rome, and that part of it has since been carried to completion which is now to be seen, proving to be the most varied and the most beautiful of all that have ever been known, whether ancient or modern. on this account, after san gallo was dead, the pope desired that michelagnolo should have charge of the whole fabric as well; and there he made the great marble window with the beautiful columns of variegated marble, which is over the principal door of the palace, with a large escutcheon of great beauty and variety, in marble, of pope paul iii, the founder of that palace. within the palace he continued, above the first range of the court, the two other ranges, with the most varied, graceful, and beautiful windows, ornaments and upper cornice that have ever been seen, so that, through the labours and the genius of that man that court has now become the most handsome in europe. he widened and enlarged the great hall, and set in order the front vestibule, and caused the vaulting of that vestibule to be constructed in a new variety of curve, in the form of a half oval. now in that year there was found at the baths of antoninus a mass of marble seven braccia in every direction, in which there had been carved by the ancients a hercules standing upon a mound, who was holding the bull by the horns, with another figure assisting him, and around that mound various figures of shepherds, nymphs, and different animals--a work of truly extraordinary beauty, showing figures so perfect in one single block without any added pieces, which was judged to have been intended for a fountain. michelagnolo advised that it should be conveyed into the second court, and there restored so as to make it spout water in the original manner; all which advice was approved, and the work is still being restored at the present day with great diligence, by order of the farnese family, for that purpose. at that time, also, michelagnolo made a design for the building of a bridge across the river tiber in a straight line with the farnese palace, to the end that it might be possible to go from that palace to another palace and gardens that they possessed in the trastevere, and also to see at one glance in a straight line from the principal door which faces the campo di fiore, the court, the fountain, the strada giulia, the bridge, and the beauties of the other garden, even to the other door which opened on the strada di trastevere--a rare work, worthy of that pontiff and of the judgment, design, and art of michelagnolo. in the year died sebastiano viniziano, the friar of the piombo; and, pope paul proposing that the ancient statues of his palace should be restored, michelagnolo willingly favoured the milanese sculptor guglielmo della porta, a young man of promise, who had been recommended by the above-named fra sebastiano to michelagnolo, who, liking his work, presented him to pope paul for the restoration of those statues. and the matter went so far forward that michelagnolo obtained for him the office of the piombo, and he then set to work on restoring the statues, some of which are to be seen in that palace at the present day. but guglielmo, forgetting the benefits that he had received from michelagnolo, afterwards became one of his opponents. in the year there took place the death of pope paul iii; whereupon, after the election of pope julius iii, cardinal farnese gave orders for a grand tomb to be made for his kinsman pope paul by the hand of fra guglielmo, who arranged to erect it in s. pietro, below the first arch of the new church, beneath the tribune, which obstructed the floor of the church, and was, in truth, not the proper place. michelagnolo advised, most judiciously, that it could not and should not stand there, and the frate, believing that he was doing this out of envy, became filled with hatred against him; but afterwards he recognized that michelagnolo had spoken the truth, and that the fault was his, in that he had had the opportunity and had not finished the work, as will be related in another place. and to this i can bear witness, for the reason that in the year i had gone by order of pope julius iii to rome to serve him (and very willingly, for love of michelagnolo), and i took part in that discussion. michelagnolo desired that the tomb should be erected in one of the niches, where there is now the column of the possessed, which was the proper place, and i had so gone to work that julius iii was resolving to have his own tomb made in the other niche with the same design as that of pope paul, in order to balance that work; but the frate, who set himself against this, brought it about that his own was never finished after all, and that the tomb of the other pontiff was also not made; which had all been predicted by michelagnolo. in the same year pope julius turned his attention to having a chapel of marble with two tombs constructed in the church of s. pietro a montorio for cardinal antonio di monte, his uncle, and messer fabiano, his grandfather, the first founder of the greatness of that illustrious house. for this work vasari having made designs and models, pope julius, who always esteemed the genius of michelagnolo and loved vasari, desired that michelagnolo should fix the price between them; and vasari besought the pope that he should prevail upon him to take it under his protection. now vasari had proposed simone mosca for the carvings of this work, and raffaello da montelupo for the statues; but michelagnolo advised that no carvings of foliage should be made in it, not even in the architectural parts of the work, saying that where there are to be figures of marble there must not be any other thing. on which account vasari feared that the work should be abandoned, because it would look poor; but in fact, when he saw it finished, he confessed that michelagnolo had shown great judgment. michelagnolo would not have montelupo make the statues, remembering how badly he had acquitted himself in those of his own tomb of julius ii, and he was content, rather, that they should be entrusted to bartolommeo ammanati, whom vasari had proposed, although buonarroti had something of a private grievance against him, as also against nanni di baccio bigio, caused by a reason which, if one considers it well, seems slight enough; for when they were very young, moved rather by love of art than by a desire to do wrong, they had entered with great pains into his house, and had taken from antonio mini, the disciple of michelagnolo, many sheets with drawings; but these were afterwards all restored to him by order of the tribunal of eight, and, at the intercession of his friend messer giovanni norchiati, canon of s. lorenzo, he would not have any other punishment inflicted on them. vasari, when michelagnolo spoke to him of this matter, said to him, laughing, that it did not seem to him that they deserved any blame, and that he himself, if he had ever been able, would have not taken a few drawings only, but robbed him of everything by his hand that he might have been able to seize, merely for the sake of learning art. one must look kindly, he said, on those who seek after excellence, and also reward them, and therefore such men must not be treated like those who go about stealing money, household property, and other things of value; and so the matter was turned into a jest. this was the reason that a beginning was made with the work of the montorio, and that in the same year vasari and ammanati went to have the marble conveyed from carrara to rome for the execution of that work. at that time vasari was with michelagnolo every day; and one morning the pope in his kindness gave them both leave that they might visit the seven churches on horseback (for it was holy year), and receive the pardon in company. whereupon, while going from one church to another, they had many useful and beautiful conversations on art and every industry, and out of these vasari composed a dialogue, which will be published at some more favourable opportunity, together with other things concerning art. in that year pope julius iii confirmed the motu-proprio of pope paul iii with regard to the building of s. pietro; and although much evil was spoken to him of michelagnolo by the friends of the san gallo faction, in the matter of that fabric of s. pietro, at that time the pope would not listen to a word, for vasari had demonstrated to him (as was the truth) that michelagnolo had given life to the building, and also persuaded his holiness that he should do nothing concerned with design without the advice of michelagnolo. this promise the pope kept ever afterwards, for neither at the vigna julia did he do anything without his counsel, nor at the belvedere, where there was built the staircase that is there now, in place of the semicircular staircase that came forward, ascending in eight steps, and turned inwards in eight more steps, erected in former times by bramante in the great recess in the centre of the belvedere. and michelagnolo designed and caused to be built the very beautiful quadrangular staircase, with balusters of peperino-stone, which is there at the present day. vasari had finished in that year the printing of his work, the lives of the painters, sculptors, and architects, in florence. now he had not written the life of any living master, although some who were old were still alive, save only of michelagnolo; and in the book were many records of circumstances that vasari had received from his lips, his age and his judgment being the greatest among all the craftsmen. giorgio therefore presented the work to him, and he received it very gladly; and not long afterwards, having read it, michelagnolo sent to him the following sonnet, written by himself, which i am pleased to include in this place in memory of his loving-kindness: se con lo stile o co' colori havete alla natura pareggiato l'arte, anzi a quella scemato il pregio in parte, che 'l bel di lei più bello a noi rendete, poichè con dotta man posto vi siete a più degno lavoro, a vergar carte, quel che vi manca a lei di pregio in parte, nel dar vita ad altrui tutto togliete. che se secolo alcuno omai contese in far bell'opre, almen cedale, poi che convien', ch'al prescritto fine arrive. or le memorie altrui già spente accese tornando fate, or che sien quelle, e voi, mal grado d'esse, eternalmente vive. vasari departed for florence, and left to michelagnolo the charge of having the work founded in the montorio. now messer bindo altoviti, the consul of the florentine colony at that time, was much the friend of vasari, and on this occasion giorgio said to him that it would be well to have this work erected in the church of s. giovanni de' fiorentini, and that he had already spoken of it with michelagnolo, who would favour the enterprise; and that this would be a means of giving completion to that church. this proposal pleased messer bindo, and, being very intimate with the pope, he urged it warmly upon him, demonstrating that it would be well that the chapel and the tombs which his holiness was having executed for the montorio should be placed in the church of s. giovanni de' fiorentini; adding that the result would be that with this occasion and this spur the florentine colony would undertake such expenditure that the church would receive its completion, and, if his holiness were to build the principal chapel, the other merchants would build six chapels, and then little by little all the rest. whereupon the pope changed his mind, and, although the model for the work was already made and the price arranged, went to the montorio and sent for michelagnolo, to whom vasari was writing every day, receiving answers from him according to the opportunities presented in the course of affairs. michelagnolo then wrote to vasari, on the first day of august in , of the change that the pope had made; and these are his words, written in his own hand: rome. "my dear messer giorgio, "with regard to the founding of the work at s. pietro a montorio, and how the pope would not listen to a word, i wrote you nothing, knowing that you are kept informed by your man here. now i must tell you what has happened, which is as follows. yesterday morning the pope, having gone to the said montorio, sent for me. i met him on the bridge, on his way back, and had a long conversation with him about the tombs allotted to you; and in the end he told me that he was resolved that he would not place those tombs on that mount, but in the church of the florentines. he sought from me my opinion and also designs, and i encouraged him not a little, considering that by this means the said church would be finished. respecting your three letters received, i have no pen wherewith to answer to such exalted matters, but if i should rejoice to be in some sort what you make me, i should rejoice for no other reason save that you might have a servant who might be worth something. but i do not marvel that you, who restore dead men to life, should lengthen the life of the living, or rather, that you should steal from death for an unlimited period those barely alive. to cut this short, such as i am, i am wholly yours, "michelagnolo buonarroti." while these matters were being discussed, and the florentine colony was seeking to raise money, certain difficulties arose, on account of which they came to no decision, and the affair grew cold. meanwhile, vasari and ammanati having by this time had all the marbles quarried at carrara, a great part of them were sent to rome, and with them ammanati, through whom vasari wrote to buonarroti that he should ascertain from the pope where he wanted the tomb, and, after receiving his orders, should have the work begun. the moment that michelagnolo received the letter, he spoke to his holiness; and with his own hand he wrote the following resolution to vasari: "_ th of october_, . "my dear messer giorgio, "the instant that bartolommeo arrived here, i went to speak to the pope, and, having perceived that he wished to begin the work once more at the montorio, in the matter of the tombs, i looked for a mason from s. pietro. 'tantecose'[ ] heard this and insisted on sending one of his choosing, and i, to avoid contending with a man who commands the winds, have retired from the matter, because, he being a light-minded person, i would not care to be drawn into any entanglement. enough that in my opinion there is no more thought to be given to the church of the florentines. fare you well, and come back soon. nothing else occurs to me." [footnote : busybody, or jack-of-all-trades.] michelagnolo used to call monsignor di forlì "tantecose," because he insisted on doing everything himself. being chamberlain to the pope, he had charge of the medals, jewels, cameos, little figures in bronze, pictures, and drawings, and desired that everything should depend on him. michelagnolo was always anxious to avoid the man, because he had been constantly working against the master's interests, and therefore buonarroti feared lest he might be drawn into some entanglement by the intrigues of such a man. in short, the florentine colony lost a very fine opportunity for that church, and god knows when they will have such another; and to me it was an indescribable grief. i have desired not to omit to make this brief record, to the end that it may be seen that our michelagnolo always sought to help his fellow-countrymen and his friends, and also art. vasari had scarcely returned to rome, when, before the beginning of the year , the san gallo faction arranged a conspiracy against michelagnolo, whereby the pope was to hold an assembly in s. pietro, and to summon together the superintendents and all those who had the charge of the work, in order to show to the pope, by means of false calumnies, that michelagnolo had ruined that fabric, because, he having already built the apse of the king, where there are the three chapels, and having executed these with the three windows above, they, not knowing what was to be done with the vaulting, with feeble judgment had given the elder cardinal salviati and marcello cervini, who afterwards became pope, to understand that s. pietro was being left with little light. whereupon, all being assembled, the pope said to michelagnolo that the deputies declared that the apse would give little light, and he answered: "i would like to hear these deputies speak in person." cardinal marcello replied: "we are here." then michelagnolo said to him: "monsignore, above these windows, in the vaulting, which is to be made of travertine, there are to be three others." "you have never told us that," said the cardinal. and michelagnolo answered: "i am not obliged, nor do i intend to be obliged, to say either to your highness or to any other person what i am bound or desirous to do. your office is to obtain the money and to guard it from thieves, and the charge of the design for the building you must leave to me." and then, turning to the pope, he said: "holy father, you see what my gains are, and that if these fatigues that i endure do not profit me in my mind, i am wasting my time and my work." the pope, who loved him, laid his hands on his shoulders, and said: "you shall profit both in mind and in body; do not doubt it." michelagnolo having thus been able to get rid of those persons, the pope came to love him even more; and he commanded him and vasari that on the day following they should both present themselves at the vigna julia, in which place his holiness had many discussions with him, and they carried that work almost to the condition of perfect beauty in which it now is; nor did the pope discuss or do anything in the matter of design without michelagnolo's advice and judgment. and, among other things, since michelagnolo went often with vasari to visit him, the pope insisted, once when he was at the fountain of the acqua vergine with twelve cardinals, after buonarroti had come up; the pope, i say, insisted very strongly that he should sit beside him, although he sought most humbly to excuse himself; thus always honouring his genius as much as lay in his power. the pope caused him to make the model of a façade for a palace that his holiness desired to build beside s. rocco, intending to avail himself of the mausoleum of augustus for the rest of the masonry; and, as a design for a façade, there is nothing to be seen that is more varied, more ornate, or more novel in manner and arrangement, for the reason that, as has been seen in all his works, he never consented to be bound by any law, whether ancient or modern, in matters of architecture, as one who had a brain always able to discover things new and well-varied, and in no way less beautiful. that model is now in the possession of duke cosimo de' medici, who had it as a present from pope pius iv when he went to rome; and he holds it among his dearest treasures. that pope had such respect for michelagnolo, that he was constantly taking up his defence against cardinals and others who sought to calumniate him, and he desired that other craftsmen, however able and renowned they might be, should always go to seek him at his house; such, indeed, were the regard and reverence that he felt for him, that his holiness did not venture, lest he might annoy him, to call upon michelagnolo for many works which, although he was old, he could have executed. as far back as the time of paul iii michelagnolo had made a beginning with the work of refounding, under his own direction, the ponte s. maria at rome, which had been weakened by the constant flow of water and by age, and was falling into ruin. the refounding was contrived by michelagnolo by means of caissons, and by making stout reinforcements against the piers; and already he had carried a great part of it to completion, and had spent large sums on wood and travertine on behalf of the work, when, in the time of julius iii, an assembly was held by the clerks of the chamber with a view to making an end of it, and a proposal was made among them by the architect nanni di baccio bigio, saying that if it were allotted by contract to him it would be finished in a short time and without much expense; and this they suggested on the pretext, as it were, of doing a favour to michelagnolo and relieving him of a burden, because he was old, alleging that he gave no thought to it, and that if matters remained as they were the end would never be seen. the pope, who little liked being troubled, not thinking what the result might be, gave authority to the clerks of the chamber that they should have charge of the work, as a thing pertaining to them; and then, without michelagnolo hearing another word about it, they gave it with all those materials, without any conditions, to nanni, who gave no attention to the reinforcements, which were necessary for the refounding, but relieved the bridge of some weight, in consequence of having seen a great quantity of travertine wherewith it had been flanked and faced in ancient times, the result of which was to give weight to the bridge and to make it stouter, stronger, and more secure. in place of that he used gravel and other materials cast with cement, in such a manner that no defect could be seen in the inner part of the work, and on the outer side he made parapets and other things, insomuch that to the eye it appeared as if made altogether new; but it was made lighter all over and weakened throughout. five years afterwards, when the flood of the year came down, it happened that the bridge collapsed in such a manner as to make known the little judgment of the clerks of the chamber and the loss that rome suffered by departing from the counsel of michelagnolo, who predicted the ruin of the bridge many times to me and to his other friends. thus i remember that he said to me, when we were passing there together on horseback, "giorgio, this bridge is shaking under us; let us spur our horses, or it may fall while we are upon it." but to return to the narrative interrupted above; when the work of the montorio was finished, and that much to my satisfaction, i returned to florence to re-enter the service of duke cosimo, which was in the year . the departure of vasari grieved michelagnolo, and likewise giorgio, for the reason that michelagnolo's adversaries kept harassing him every day, now in one way and now in another; wherefore they did not fail to write to one another daily. and in april of the same year, vasari giving him the news that leonardo, the nephew of michelagnolo, had had a male child, that they had accompanied him to baptism with an honourable company of most noble ladies, and that they had revived the name of buonarroto, michelagnolo answered in a letter to vasari in these words: "dear friend giorgio, "i have had the greatest pleasure from your letter, seeing that you still remember the poor old man, and even more because you were present at the triumph which, as you write, you witnessed in the birth of another buonarroto; for which intelligence i thank you with all my heart and soul. but so much pomp does not please me, for man should not be laughing when all the world is weeping. it seems to me that leonardo should not make so much rejoicing over a new birth, with all that gladness which should be reserved for the death of one who has lived well. do not marvel if i delay to answer; i do it so as not to appear a merchant. as for the many praises that you send me in your letter, i tell you that if i deserved a single one of them, it would appear to me that in giving myself to you body and soul, i had truly given you something, and had discharged some infinitesimal part of the debt that i owe you; whereas i recognize you every hour as my creditor for more than i can repay, and, since i am an old man, i can now never hope to be able to square the account in this life, but perhaps in the next. wherefore i pray you have patience, and remain wholly yours. things here are much as usual." already, in the time of paul iii, duke cosimo had sent tribolo to rome to see if he might be able to persuade michelagnolo to return to florence, in order to give completion to the sacristy of s. lorenzo. but michelagnolo excused himself because, having grown old, he could not support the burden of such fatigues, and demonstrated to him with many reasons that he could not leave rome. whereupon tribolo finally asked him about the staircase of the library of s. lorenzo, for which michelagnolo had caused many stones to be prepared, but there was no model of it nor any certainty as to the exact form, and, although there were some marks on a pavement and some other sketches in clay, the true and final design could not be found. however, no matter how much tribolo might beseech him and invoke the name of the duke, michelagnolo would never answer a word save that he remembered nothing of it. orders were given to vasari by duke cosimo that he should write to michelagnolo, requesting him to write saying what final form that staircase was to have; in the hope that through the friendship and love that he bore to vasari, he would say something that might lead to some solution and to the completion of the work. vasari wrote to michelagnolo the mind of the duke, saying that the execution of all that was to be done would fall to him; which he would do with that fidelity and care with which, as michelagnolo knew, he was wont to treat such of his works as he had in charge. wherefore michelagnolo sent the directions for making the above-named staircase in a letter by his own hand on the th of september, . [illustration: biblioteca laurenziana (_after =michelagnolo=. florence_) _alinari_] "messer giorgio, dear friend, "concerning the staircase for the library, of which so much has been said to me, you may believe that if i could remember how i had designed it, i would not need to be entreated. there does, indeed, come back to my mind, like a dream, a certain staircase; but i do not believe that it is exactly the one which i conceived at that time, because it comes out so stupid. however, i will describe it here. take a quantity of oval boxes, each one palm in depth, but not of equal length and breadth. the first and largest place on the pavement at such a distance from the wall of the door as may make the staircase easy or steep, according to your pleasure. upon this place another, which must be so much smaller in every direction as to leave on the first one below as much space as the foot requires in ascending; diminishing and drawing back the steps one after another towards the door, in accord with the ascent. and the diminution of the last step must reduce it to the proportion of the space of the door. the said part of the staircase with the oval steps must have two wings, one on one side and one on the other, with corresponding steps but not oval. of these the central flight shall serve as the principal staircase, and from the centre of the staircase to the top the curves of the said wings shall meet the wall; but from the centre down to the pavement they shall stand, together with the whole staircase, at a distance of about three palms from the wall, in such a manner that the basement of the vestibule shall not be obstructed in any part, and every face shall be left free. i am writing nonsense; but i know well that you will find something to your purpose." michelagnolo also wrote to vasari in those days that julius iii being dead, and marcellus elected, the faction that was against him, in consequence of the election of the new pontiff, had again begun to harass him. which hearing, and not liking these ways, the duke caused giorgio to write and tell him that he should leave rome and come to live in florence, where the duke did not desire more than his advice and designs at times for his buildings, and that he would receive from that lord all that he might desire, without doing anything with his own hand. again, there were carried to him by m. leonardo marinozzi, the private chamberlain of duke cosimo, letters written by his excellency; and so also by vasari. but then, marcellus being dead, and paul iv having been elected, by whom once again numerous offers had been made to him from the very beginning, when he went to kiss his feet, the desire to finish the fabric of s. pietro, and the obligation by which he thought himself bound to that task, kept him back; and, employing certain excuses, he wrote to the duke that for the time being he was not able to serve him, and to vasari a letter in these very words: "messer giorgio, my dear friend, "i call god to witness how it was against my will and under the strongest compulsion that i was set to the building of s. pietro in rome by pope paul iii, ten years ago. had they continued to work at that fabric up to the present day, as they were doing then, i would now have reached such a point in the undertaking that i might be thinking of returning home; but for want of money it has been much retarded, and is still being retarded at the time when it has reached the most laborious and difficult stage, insomuch that to abandon it now would be nothing short of the greatest possible disgrace and sin, losing the reward of the labours that i have endured in those ten years for the love of god. i have made you this discourse in answer to your letter, and also because i have a letter from the duke that has made me marvel much that his excellency should have deigned to write so graciously; for which i thank god and his excellency to the best of my power and knowledge. i wander from the subject, because i have lost my memory and my wits, and writing is a great affliction to me, for it is not my art. the conclusion is this: to make you understand what would be the result if i were to abandon the fabric and depart from rome; firstly, i would please a number of thieves, and secondly, i would be the cause of its ruin, and perhaps, also, of its being suspended for ever." continuing to write to giorgio, michelagnolo said to him, to excuse himself with the duke, that he had a house and many convenient things at his disposal in rome, which were worth thousands of crowns, in addition to being in danger of his life from disease of the kidneys, colic, and the stone, as happens to every old person, and as could be proved by maestro realdo, his physician, from whom he congratulated himself on having his life, after god; that for these reasons he was not able to leave rome, and, finally, that he had no heart for anything but death. he besought vasari, as he did in several other letters that giorgio has by his hand, that he should recommend him to the duke for pardon, in addition to what he wrote to the duke, as i have said, to excuse himself. if michelagnolo had been able to ride, he would have gone straightway to florence, whence, i believe, he would never have consented to depart in order to return to rome, so much was he influenced by the tenderness and love that he felt for the duke; but meanwhile he gave his attention to working at many parts of the above-named fabric, in order so to fix the form that it might never again be changed. during this time certain persons had informed him that pope paul iv was minded to make him alter the façade of the chapel where the last judgment is, because, he said, those figures showed their nakedness too shamelessly. when, therefore, the mind of the pope was made known to michelagnolo, he answered: "tell the pope that it is no great affair, and that it can be altered with ease. let him put the world right, and every picture will be put right in a moment." the office of the chancellery of rimini was taken away from michelagnolo, but he would never speak of this to the pope, who did not know it; and it was taken away from him by the pope's cup-bearer, who sought to have a hundred crowns a month given to him in respect of the fabric of s. pietro, and caused a month's payment to be taken to his house, but michelagnolo would not accept it. in the same year took place the death of urbino, his servant, or rather, as he may be called, and as he had been, his companion. this man came to live with michelagnolo in florence in the year , after the siege was finished, when his disciple antonio mini went to france; and he rendered very faithful service to michelagnolo, insomuch that in twenty-six years that faithful and intimate service brought it about that michelagnolo made him rich and so loved him, that in this, urbino's last illness, old as he was, he nursed him and slept in his clothes at night to watch over him. wherefore, after he was dead, vasari wrote to michelagnolo to console him, and he answered in these words: "my dear messer giorgio, "i am scarce able to write, but, in reply to your letter, i shall say something. you know how urbino died, wherein god has shown me very great grace, although it is also a grave loss and an infinite grief to me. this grace is that whereas when living he kept me alive, dying he has taught me to die not with regret, but with a desire for death. i have had him twenty-six years, and have found him a very rare and faithful servant; and now, when i had made him rich and was looking to him as the staff and repose of my old age, he has flown from me, nor is any hope left to me but to see him again in paradise. and of this god has granted a sign in the happy death that he died, in that dying grieved him much less than leaving me in this traitorous world with so many afflictions; although the greater part of me is gone with him, and nothing is left me but infinite misery. i commend myself to you." michelagnolo was employed in the time of pope paul iv on many parts of the fortifications of rome, and also by salustio peruzzi, to whom that pope, as has been related elsewhere, had given the charge of executing the great portal of the castello di s. angelo, which is now half ruined; and he occupied himself in distributing the statues of that work, examining the models of the sculptors, and correcting them. at that time the french army approached near to rome, and michelagnolo thought that he was like to come to an evil end together with that city; whereupon he resolved to fly from rome with antonio franzese of castel durante, whom urbino at his death had left in his house as his servant, and went secretly to the mountains of spoleto, where he visited certain seats of hermits. meanwhile vasari wrote to him, sending him a little work that carlo lenzoni, a citizen of florence, had left at his death to messer cosimo bartoli, who was to have it printed and dedicated to michelagnolo; which, when it was finished, vasari sent in those days to michelagnolo, and he, having received it, answered thus: "_september_ , . "messer giorgio, dear friend, "i have received messer cosimo's little book, which you send to me, and this shall be a letter of thanks. i pray you to give them to him, and send him my compliments. "i have had in these days great discomfort and expense, but also great pleasure, in visiting the hermits in the mountains of spoleto, insomuch that less than half of me has returned to rome, seeing that in truth there is no peace to be found save in the woods. i have nothing more to tell you. i am glad that you are well and happy, and i commend myself to you." michelagnolo used to work almost every day, as a pastime, at that block with the four figures of which we have already spoken; which block he broke into pieces at this time for these reasons, either because it was hard and full of emery, and the chisel often struck sparks from it, or it may have been that the judgment of the man was so great that he was never content with anything that he did. a proof that this is true is that there are few finished statues to be seen out of all that he executed in the prime of his manhood, and that those completely finished were executed by him in his youth, such as the bacchus, the pietà in s. maria della febbre, the giant of florence, and the christ of the minerva, which it would not be possible to increase or diminish by as little as a grain of millet without spoiling them; and the others, with the exception of the dukes giuliano and lorenzo, night, dawn, and moses, with the other two, the whole number of these statues not amounting in all to eleven, the others, i say, were all left unfinished, and, moreover, they are many, michelagnolo having been wont to say that if he had had to satisfy himself in what he did, he would have sent out few, nay, not one. for he had gone so far with his art and judgment, that, when he had laid bare a figure and had perceived in it the slightest degree of error, he would set it aside and run to lay his hand on another block of marble, trusting that the same would not happen to the new block; and he often said that this was the reason that he gave for having executed so few statues and pictures. this pietà, when it was broken, he presented to francesco bandini. now at this time tiberio calcagni, a florentine sculptor, had become much the friend of michelagnolo by means of francesco bandini and messer donato giannotti; and being one day in michelagnolo's house, where there was the pietà, all broken, after a long conversation he asked him for what reason he had broken it up and destroyed labours so marvellous, and he answered that the reason was the importunity of his servant urbino, who kept urging him every day to finish it, besides which, among other things, a piece of one of the elbows of the madonna had been broken off, and even before that he had taken an aversion to it, and had had many misfortunes with it by reason of a flaw that was in the marble, so that he lost his patience and began to break it up; and he would have broken it altogether into pieces if his servant antonio had not besought him that he should present it to him as it was. whereupon tiberio, having heard this, spoke to bandini, who desired to have something by the hand of michelagnolo, and bandini contrived that tiberio should promise to antonio two hundred crowns of gold, and prayed michelagnolo to consent that tiberio should finish it for bandini with the assistance of models by his hand, urging that thus his labour would not be thrown away. michelagnolo was satisfied, and then made them a present of it. the work was carried away immediately, and then put together again and reconstructed with i know not what new pieces by tiberio; but it was left unfinished by reason of the death of bandini, michelagnolo, and tiberio. at the present day it is in the possession of pier antonio bandini, the son of francesco, at his villa on monte cavallo. but to return to michelagnolo; it became necessary to find some work in marble on which he might be able to pass some time every day with the chisel, and another piece of marble was put before him, from which another pietà had been already blocked out, different from the first and much smaller. [illustration: pietÀ (_after =michelagnolo=. rome: palazzo rondanini_) _alinari_] there had entered into the service of paul iv, and also into the charge of the fabric of s. pietro, the architect pirro ligorio, and he was now once more harassing michelagnolo, going about saying that he had sunk into his second childhood. wherefore, angered by such treatment, he would willingly have returned to florence, and, having delayed to return, he was again urged in letters by giorgio, but he knew that he was too old, having now reached the age of eighty-one. writing at that time to vasari by his courier, and sending him various spiritual sonnets, he said that he was come to the end of his life, that he must be careful where he directed his thoughts, that by reading he would see that he was at his last hour, and that there arose in his mind no thought upon which was not graved the image of death; and in one letter he said: "it is god's will, vasari, that i should continue to live in misery for some years. i know that you will tell me that i am an old fool to wish to write sonnets, but since many say that i am in my second childhood, i have sought to act accordingly. by your letter i see the love that you bear me, and you may take it as certain that i would be glad to lay these feeble bones of mine beside those of my father, as you beg me to do; but by departing from here i would be the cause of the utter ruin of the fabric of s. pietro, which would be a great disgrace and a very grievous sin. however, when it is so firmly established that it can never be changed, i hope to do all that you ask me, if it be not a sin to keep in anxious expectation certain gluttons that await my immediate departure." with this letter was the following sonnet, also written in his own hand: giunto è già 'l corso della vita mia con tempestoso mar' per fragil barca al comun porto, ov'a render' si varca conto e ragion' d'ogni opra trista e pia. onde l'affetuosa fantasia, che l'arte mi fece idolo e monarca, conosco or' ben' quant'era d'error' carca, e quel ch'a mal suo grado ognun' desia. gli amorosi pensier' già vani e lieti che sien'or', s'a due morti mi avvicino? d'una so certo, e l'altra mi minaccia. nè pinger' nè scolpir' sia più che quieti l'anima volta a quello amor divino ch'aperse a prender' noi in croce le braccia. whereby it was evident that he was drawing towards god, abandoning the cares of art on account of the persecution of his malignant fellow-craftsmen, and also through the fault of certain overseers of the fabric, who would have liked, as he used to say, to dip their hands in the chest. by order of duke cosimo, a reply was written to michelagnolo by vasari in a letter of few words, exhorting him to repatriate himself, with a sonnet corresponding in the rhymes. michelagnolo would willingly have left rome, but he was so weary and aged, that although, as will be told below, he was determined to go back, while the spirit was willing the flesh was weak, and that kept him in rome. it happened in june of the year , he having made a model for the vault that was to cover the apse, which was being built of travertine in the chapel of the king, that, from his not being able to go there as he had been wont, an error arose, in that the capomaestro took the measurements over the whole body of the vault with one single centre, whereas there should have been a great number; and michelagnolo, as the friend and confidant of vasari, sent him designs by his own hand, with these words written at the foot of two of them: "the centre marked with red was used by the capomaestro over the body of the whole vault; then, when he began to pass to the half-circle, which is at the summit of the vault, he became aware of the error which that centre was producing, as may be seen here in the design, marked in black. with this error the vault has gone so far forward, that we have to displace a great number of stones, for in that vault there is being placed no brick-work, but all travertine, and the diameter of the circle, without the cornice that borders it, is twenty-two palms. this error, after i had made an exact model, as i do of everything, has been caused by my not being able, on account of my old age, to go there often; so that, whereas i believed that the vault was now finished, it will not be finished all this winter, and, if it were possible to die of shame and grief, i should not be alive now. i pray you account to the duke for my not being at this moment in florence." [illustration: s. peter's (_after =michelagnolo=. rome_) _alinari_] and continuing in the other design, where he had drawn the plan, he said this: "messer giorgio, "to the end that it may be easier to understand the difficulty of the vault by observing its rise from the level of the ground, let me explain that i have been forced to divide it into three vaults, corresponding to the windows below divided by pilasters; and you see that they go pyramidally into the centre of the summit of the vault, as also do the base and sides of the same. it was necessary to regulate them with an infinite number of centres, and there are in them so many changes in various directions, from point to point, that no fixed rule can be maintained. and the circles and squares that come in the middle of their deepest parts have to diminish and increase in so many directions, and to go to so many points, that it is a difficult thing to find the true method. nevertheless, having the model, such as i make for everything, they should never have committed so great an error as to seek to regulate with one single centre all those three shells; whence it has come about that we have been obliged with shame and loss to pull down, as we are still doing, a great number of stones. the vault, with its sections and hewn stone-work, is all of travertine, like all the rest below; a thing not customary in rome." michelagnolo was excused by duke cosimo, hearing of these misfortunes, from coming to florence; the duke saying to him that his contentment and the continuation of s. pietro were more dear to him than anything in the world, and that he should rest in peace. whereupon michelagnolo wrote to vasari, on the same sheet in which he thanked the duke to the best of his power and knowledge for such kindness, saying, "god give me grace that i may be able to serve him with this my poor person, for my memory and my brain are gone to await him elsewhere." the date of this letter was august in the year . thus, then, michelagnolo learned that the duke esteemed his life and his honour more than he did himself, who so revered him. all these things, and many more that it is not necessary to mention, we have in our possession, written in his hand. michelagnolo by this time was reduced to a feeble condition, and it was evident that little was being done in s. pietro, now that he had carried on a great part of the frieze of the windows within, and of the double columns without, which curve above the great round cornice[ ] where the cupola is to be placed, as will be related; and he was exhorted and urged by his greatest friends, such as the cardinal of carpi, messer donato giannotti, francesco bandini, tommaso de' cavalieri, and lottino that, since he saw the delay in the raising of the cupola, he should at least make a model of it. he stayed many months without making up his mind to this, but in the end he made a beginning, and then little by little constructed a small model in clay, from which, as an exemplar, and from the plans and profiles that he had drawn, it might be possible afterwards to make a larger one of wood. this, having made a beginning with it, he caused to be constructed in little more than a year by maestro giovanni franzese, with much study and pains; and he made it on such a scale that the smaller proportions of the model, measured by the old roman palm, corresponded with complete exactness to those of the large work, he having fashioned with diligence in that model all the members of columns, bases, capitals, doors, windows, cornices, projections, and likewise every least thing, knowing that in such a work no less should be done, for in all christendom, nay, in all the world, there is not to be found or seen any fabric more ornate or more grand. and i cannot but think that, if we have given up time to noting smaller things, it is even more useful, and also our duty, to describe this manner of design for building the structure of this tribune with the form, order, and method that michelagnolo thought to give it; wherefore with such brevity as we may we will give a simple description of it, to the end that, if it should ever be the fate of this work, which god forbid, to be disturbed by the envy and malice of presumptuous persons after the death of michelagnolo, even as we have seen it disturbed up to the present during his lifetime, these my writings, such as they may be, may be able to assist the faithful who are to be the executors of the mind of that rare man, and also to restrain the malignant desires of those who may seek to alter it, and so at one and the same time assist, delight, and open the minds of those beautiful intellects that are the friends of this profession and regard it as their joy. [footnote : drum.] [illustration: s. peter's (_after =michelagnolo=. rome_) _anderson_] i must begin by saying that according to this model, made under the direction of michelagnolo, i find that in the great work the whole space within the tribune will be one hundred and eighty-six palms, speaking of its width from wall to wall above the great cornice of travertine that curves in a round in the interior, resting on the four great double piers that rise from the ground with their capitals carved in the corinthian order, accompanied by their architrave, frieze, and cornice, likewise of travertine; which great cornice, curving right round over the great niches, rests supported upon the four great arches of the three niches and of the entrance, which form the cross of the building. then there begins to spring the first part of the tribune, the rise of which commences in a basement of travertine with a platform six palms broad, where one can walk; and this basement curves in a round in the manner of a well, and its thickness is thirty-three palms and eleven inches, the height to the cornice eleven palms and ten inches, the cornice over it about eight palms, and its projection six and a half palms. into this basement you enter, in order to ascend the tribune, by four entrances that are over the arches of the niches, and the thickness of the basement is divided into three parts; that on the inner side is fifteen palms, that on the outer side is eleven palms, and that in the centre is seven palms and eleven inches, which make up the thickness of thirty-three palms and eleven inches. the space in the centre is hollow and serves as a passage, which is two squares in height and curves in a continuous round, with a barrel-shaped vault; and in line with the four entrances are eight doors, each of which rises in four steps, one of them leading to the level platform of the cornice of the first basement, six palms and a half in breadth, and another leading to the inner cornice that curves round the tribune, eight palms and three-quarters broad, on which platforms, by each door, you can walk conveniently both within and without the edifice, and from one entrance to another in a curve of two hundred and one palms, so that, the sections being four, the whole circuit comes to be eight hundred and four palms. we now have to ascend from the level of this basement, upon which rest the columns and pilasters, and which forms the frieze of the windows within all the way round, being fourteen palms and one inch in height, and around it, on the outer side, there is at the foot a short order of cornice-work, and so also at the top, which does not project more than ten inches, and all of travertine; and so in the thickness of the third part, above that on the inner side, which we have described as fifteen palms thick, there is made in every quarter-section a staircase, one half of which ascends in one direction and the second half in another, the width being four palms and a quarter; and this staircase leads to the level of the columns. above this level there begin to rise, in line with the solid parts of the basement, eighteen large piers all of travertine, each adorned with two columns on the outer side and pilasters on the inner, as will be described below, and between the piers are left the spaces where there are to be all the windows that are to give light to the tribune. these piers, on the sides pointing towards the central point of the tribune, are thirty-six palms in extent, and on the front sides nineteen and a half. each of them, on the outer side, has two columns, the lowest dado of which is eight palms and three-quarters broad and one palm and a half high, the base five palms and eight inches broad and ... palms and eleven inches high, the shaft of the column forty-three and a half palms high, five palms and six inches thick at the foot and four palms and nine inches at the top, the corinthian capital six palms and a half high, with the crown of mouldings nine palms. of these columns three quarters are to be seen, and the other quarter is merged into the corner, with the accompaniment of the half of a pilaster that makes a salient angle on the inner side, and this is accompanied in the central inner space by the opening of an arched door, five palms wide and thirteen palms and five inches high, from the summit of which to the capitals of the pilasters and columns there is a filling of solid masonry, serving as a connection with two other pilasters that are similar to those that form a salient angle beside the columns. these two pilasters correspond to the others, and adorn the sides of sixteen windows that go right round the tribune, each with a light twelve palms and a half wide and about twenty-two palms high. these windows are to be adorned on the outer side with varied architraves two palms and three-quarters high, and on the inner side they are to be adorned with orders likewise varied, with pediments and quarter-rounds; and they are wide without and more narrow within, and so, also, they are sloped away at the foot of the inner side, so that they may give light over the frieze and cornice. each of them is bordered by two flat pilasters that correspond in height to the columns without, so that there come to be thirty-six columns without and thirty-six pilasters within; over which pilasters is the architrave, which is four palms and three-quarters in height, the frieze four and a half, and the cornice four and two-thirds, with a projection of five palms; and above this is to go a range of balusters, so that one may be able to walk all the way round there with safety. and in order that it may be possible to climb conveniently from the level where the columns begin, another staircase ascends in the same line within the thickness of the part that is fifteen palms wide, in the same manner and of the same width, with two branches or ascents, all the way up to the summit of the columns, with their capitals, architraves, friezes, and cornices; insomuch that, without obstructing the light of the windows, these stairs pass at the top into a spiral staircase of the same breadth, which finally reaches the level where the turning of the tribune is to begin. all this order, distribution, and ornamentation is so well varied, commodious, rich, durable, and strong, and serves so well to support the two vaults of the cupola that is to be turned upon it, that it is a very ingenious thing, and it is all so well considered and then executed in masonry, that there is nothing to be seen by the eyes of one who has knowledge and understanding that is more pleasing, more beautiful, or wrought with greater mastery, both on account of the binding together and mortising of the stones and because it has in it in every part strength and eternal life, and also because of the great judgment wherewith he contrived to carry away the rain-water by many hidden channels, and, finally, because he brought it to such perfection, that all other fabrics that have been built and seen up to the present day appear as nothing in comparison with the grandeur of this one. and it has been a very great loss that those whose duty it was did not put all their power into the undertaking, for the reason that, before death took away from us that rare man, we should have seen that beautiful and terrible structure already raised. up to this point has michelagnolo carried the masonry of the work; and it only remains to make a beginning with the vaulting of the tribune, of which, since the model has come down to us, we shall proceed to describe the design that he has left to the end that it may be carried out. he turned the curve of this vault on three points that make a triangle, in this manner: a b c the point c, which is the lowest, is the principal one, wherewith he turned the first half-circle of the tribune, with which he gave the form, height and breadth of this vault, which he ordered to be built entirely of bricks well baked and fired, laid herring-bone fashion. this shell he makes four palms and a half thick, and as thick at the top as at the foot, and leaving beside it, in the centre, a space four palms and a half wide at the foot, which is to serve for the ascent of the stairs that are to lead to the lantern, rising from the platform of the cornice where there are balusters. the arch of the interior of the other shell, which is to be wider at the foot and narrower at the top, is turned on the point marked b, and the thickness of the shell at the foot is four palms and a half. and the last arch, which is to be turned in order to make the exterior of the cupola, wider at the foot and narrowing towards the top, is to be raised on the point marked a, which arch turned, there remains at the top all the hollow space of the interior for the ascent of the stairs, which are eight palms high, so that one may climb them upright; and the thickness of that shell comes to diminish little by little, insomuch that, being as before four palms and a half at the foot, it decreases at the top to three palms and a half. and the outer shell comes to be so well bound to the inner shell with bonds and with the stairs, that the one supports the other; while of the eight parts into which the fabric is divided at the base, the four over the arches are left hollow, in order to put less weight upon the arches, and the other four are bound and chained together with bonds upon the piers, so that the structure may have everlasting life. the stairs in the centre between one shell and the other are constructed in this form; from the level where the springing of the vault begins they rise in each of the four sections, and each ascends from two entrances, the stairs intersecting one another in the form of an x, until they have covered the half of the arch marked c, on the upper side of the shell, when, having ascended straight up the half of that arch, the remaining space is then easily climbed circle after circle and step after step in a direct line, until finally one arrives at the eye of the cupola, where the rise of the lantern begins, around which, in accord with the diminution of the compartments that spring above the piers, there is a smaller range of double pilasters and windows similar to those that are constructed in the interior, as will be described below. over the first great cornice within the tribune there begin at the foot the compartments for the recesses that are in the vault of the tribune, which are formed by sixteen projecting ribs. these at the foot are as broad as the breadth of the two pilasters which at the lower end border each window below the vault of the tribune, and they rise, diminishing pyramidally, as far as the eye of the lantern; at the foot they rest on pedestals of the same breadth and twelve palms high, and these pedestals rest on the level platform of the cornice which goes in a circle right round the tribune. above this, in the recessed spaces between the ribs, there are eight large ovals, each twenty-nine palms high, and over them a number of straight-sided compartments that are wider at the foot and narrower at the top, and twenty-four palms high, and then, the ribs drawing together, there comes above each straight-sided compartment a round fourteen palms high; so that there come to be eight ovals, eight straight-sided compartments, and eight rounds, each range forming recesses that grow more shallow in succession. the ground of all these displays extraordinary richness, for michelagnolo intended to make the ribs and the ornaments of the said ovals, straight-sided compartments, and rounds, all corniced in travertine. it remains for us to make mention of the surface and adornment of the arch on that side of the vault where the roofing is to go, which begins to rise from a base twenty-five palms and a half high, which has at the foot a basement that has a projection of two palms, as have the crowning mouldings at the top. the covering or roofing with which he proposed to cover it is of lead, such as covers the roof of the old s. pietro at the present day, and is divided into sixteen sections from one solid base to another, each base beginning where the two columns end, which are one on either side of it. in each of these sections, in the centre, he made two windows to give light to the inner space where the ascent of the stairs is, between the two shells, so that in all they are thirty-two. these, by means of brackets that support a quarter-round, he made projecting from the roof in such a manner as to protect the lofty and novel view-point from the rain. in a line with the centre of the solid base between each two columns, above which was the crowning cornice, sprang a rib, one to each, wider at the foot and narrowing at the top; in all sixteen ribs, five palms broad, in the centre of each of which was a quadrangular channel one palm and a half wide, within which is formed an ascent of steps about one palm high, by which to ascend or descend between the platform at the foot and the summit where the lantern begins. these are to be built of travertine and constructed with mortisings, to the end that the joins may be protected against water and ice during times of rain. the design for the lantern is reduced in the same proportion as all the rest of the work, so that, taking lines round the circumference, everything comes to diminish in exact accord, and with proportionate measurements it rises as a simple temple with round columns two by two, like those on the solid bases below. these have pilasters to correspond to them, and one can walk all the way round and see from the central spaces between the pilasters, where the windows are, the interior of the tribune and the church. above this, architrave, frieze, and cornice curve in a round, projecting over each pair of columns; and over these columns, in a line with them, spring some caulicoles, which, together with some niches that divide them, rise to find the end of the lantern, which, beginning to draw together, grows gradually narrower for a third of its height, in the manner of a round pyramid, until it reaches the ball, upon which, as the final crown of the structure, goes the cross. many particulars and minute details i might have mentioned, such as air-holes for protection against earthquakes, water-conduits, the various lights, and other conveniences, but i omit them because the work is not yet come to completion, being content to have touched on the principal parts as well as i have been able. for, since every part is in existence and can be seen, it is enough to have made this brief sketch, which is a great light to him who has no knowledge of the structure. the completion of this model caused the greatest satisfaction not only to all his friends, but to all rome, the form of the fabric having been thus settled and established. it then came to pass that paul iv died, and after him was elected pius iv, who, while causing the building of the little palace in the wood of the belvedere to be continued by pirro ligorio, who remained architect to the palace, made many gracious offers and advances to michelagnolo. the motu-proprio originally received by michelagnolo from paul iii, and then from julius iii and paul iv, in respect of the fabric of s. pietro, he confirmed in his favour, and he restored to him a part of the revenues and allowances taken away by paul iv, employing him in many of his works of building; and in his time he caused the fabric of s. pietro to be carried on vigorously. he made use of michelagnolo, in particular, in preparing a design for the tomb of the marchese marignano, his brother, which, destined to be erected in the duomo of milan, was allotted by his holiness to the chevalier leone lioni of arezzo, a most excellent sculptor and much the friend of michelagnolo; the form of which tomb will be described in the proper place. at this time the chevalier leone made a very lively portrait of michelagnolo in a medal, and to please him he fashioned on the reverse a blind man led by a dog, with these letters around: docebo iniquos vias tuas, et impii ad te convertentur. and michelagnolo, since it pleased him much, presented him a model in wax of hercules crushing antæus, by his own hand, with certain of his designs. of michelagnolo we have no other portraits but two in painting, one by the hand of bugiardini and the other by jacopo del conte, one in bronze executed in full-relief by daniello ricciarelli, and this one by the chevalier leone; from which portraits so many copies have been made, that i have seen a good number in many places in italy and in foreign parts. the same year cardinal giovanni de' medici, the son of duke cosimo, went to rome to receive the hat from pius iv, and it fell to vasari, as his servant and familiar friend, to go with him; which vasari went there willingly and stayed about a month, in order to enjoy michelagnolo, who received him with great affection and was always with him. vasari had taken with him, by order of his excellency, a model in wood of the whole ducal palace of florence, together with designs of the new apartments that had been built and painted by him; which michelagnolo desired to see both in the model and in the designs, since, being old, he was not able to see the works themselves. these works, which were abundant and well varied, with different inventions and fancies, began with the castration of uranus and continued in stories of saturn, ops, ceres, jove, juno, and hercules, each room having one of these names, with the stories in various compartments; even as the other chambers and halls, which were beneath these, had the names of the heroes of the house of medici, beginning with the elder cosimo, and continuing with lorenzo, leo x, clement vii, signor giovanni, duke alessandro, and duke cosimo, in each of which were not only the stories of their actions, but also portraits of them, of their children, and of all the ancients renowned in statesmanship, in arms, and in letters, taken from the life. of these vasari had written a dialogue in which he explained all the stories, the end of the whole invention, and how the fables above harmonized with the stories below; which was read to michelagnolo by annibale caro, and he took the greatest pleasure in it. this dialogue, when vasari shall have more time, will be published. the result of all this was as follows. vasari was desirous of setting his hand to the great hall, and since, as has been said elsewhere, the ceiling was low, making it stunted and wanting in lights, he had a desire to raise that ceiling. now the duke would not make up his mind to give him leave that it should be raised; not that the duke feared the cost, as was seen afterwards, but rather the danger of raising the beams of the roof thirteen braccia. however, like a man of judgment, his excellency consented that the advice of michelagnolo should be taken, and michelagnolo, having seen in that model the hall as it then was, and afterwards, all the beams having been removed and replaced by other beams with a new invention in the ceiling and walls, the same hall as it has since been made, with the invention of the stories likewise designed therein, liked it and straightway became not a judge but a supporter, and the rather as he saw the facile method of raising the beams and the roof, and the plan for executing the whole work in a short time. wherefore, on vasari's return, he wrote to the duke that he should carry out that undertaking, since it was worthy of his greatness. [illustration: porta pia (_after =michelagnolo=. rome_) _alinari_] the same year duke cosimo went to rome with the lady duchess leonora, his consort, and michelagnolo, after the duke's arrival, went straightway to see him. the duke, after receiving him with many endearments, caused him, out of respect for his great genius, to sit by his side, and with much familiarity talked to him of all that he had caused to be done in painting and sculpture at florence, and also of all that he was minded to have done, and in particular of the hall; and michelagnolo again encouraged and reassured him in that matter, lamenting, since he loved that lord, that he was not young enough to be able to serve him. his excellency said that he had discovered the way to work porphyry, a thing which michelagnolo could not believe, and the duke therefore sent him, as has been related in the first chapter of the treatise on theory, the head of christ wrought by the sculptor francesco del tadda, at which he was astonished; and he visited the duke several times the while that he stayed in rome, to his vast satisfaction. he did the same a short time afterwards when the most illustrious don francesco de' medici, the duke's son, went there, in whom michelagnolo took much delight from the marks of regard and affection shown to him by his most illustrious excellency, who spoke with him always cap in hand, having infinite reverence for so rare a man; and michelagnolo wrote to vasari that it vexed him to be old and infirm, for he would have liked to do something for that lord, but he was going about trying to buy some beautiful antique to send to him in florence. being requested at this time by the pope for a design for the porta pia, michelagnolo made three, all fantastic and most beautiful, of which the pope chose the least costly for putting into execution; and it is now to be seen erected there, with much credit to him. perceiving the inclination of the pope, and hoping that he would restore the other gates of rome, he made many other designs for him; and he did the like, at the request of the same pontiff, in the matter of the new church of s. maria degli angeli in the baths of diocletian, in order to convert them into a temple for the use of christians. a design by his hand prevailed over many others made by excellent architects, being executed with such beautiful considerations for the convenience of the carthusian friars, who have now carried it almost to completion, that it caused his holiness and all the prelates and lords of the court to marvel at the judgment of the lovely conceptions that he had drawn, availing himself of all the skeleton of those baths, out of which was seen formed a most beautiful temple, with an entrance surpassing the expectations of all the architects; from which he acquired infinite praise and honour. for that place, also, he designed for his holiness a ciborium of the sacrament in bronze, cast for the most part by maestro jacopo ciciliano, an excellent bronze-caster, who makes his works come out very delicate and fine, without any roughness, so that they can be polished with little labour; in which field he is a rare master, and gave much satisfaction to michelagnolo. [illustration: s. maria degli angeli (_after =michelagnolo=. rome_) _alinari_] the florentine colony had often talked among themselves of giving a good beginning to the church of s. giovanni in the strada giulia. finally, all the heads of the richest houses having assembled together, they each promised to contribute in due proportion according to their means towards that fabric, insomuch that they contrived to collect a good sum of money; and then it was discussed among them whether it were better to follow the old lines or to have something new and finer. it was determined that something new should be erected upon the old foundations, and finally they elected three men to have the charge of the fabric, who were francesco bandini, uberto ubaldini, and tommaso de' bardi; and these requested michelagnolo for a design, recommending themselves to him on the ground that it was a disgrace to their colony to have thrown away so much money without any kind of profit, and that, if his genius did not avail to finish the work, they had no other resource. he promised them to do it, with as much lovingness as he had ever shown in any work in the past, because in this his old age he readily gave his attention to sacred things, such as might redound to the honour of god, and also from affection for his fellow-florentines, whom he loved always. michelagnolo had with him at this conference the florentine sculptor tiberio calcagni, a young man very ardent to learn art, who, after going to rome, had turned his mind to the study of architecture. loving him, michelagnolo had given him to finish, as has been related, the pietà in marble that he had broken, and, in addition, a head of brutus in marble with the breast, considerably larger than life, to the end that he might finish it. of this the head alone was carved, with certain most minute gradines, and he had taken it from a portrait of brutus cut in a very ancient cornelian that was in the possession of signor giuliano cesarino; which michelagnolo was doing for cardinal ridolfi at the entreaty of messer donato giannotti, his very dear friend, and it is a rare work. michelagnolo, then, in matters of architecture, not being able by reason of old age to draw any more or to make accurate lines, was making use of tiberio, because he was very gentle and discreet; and thus, desiring to avail himself of him in such an undertaking, he laid on him the charge of tracing the plan of the site of the above-named church. that plan having been traced and carried straightway to michelagnolo, at a time when it was not thought that he was doing anything, he gave them to understand through tiberio that he had carried out their wishes, and finally showed them five most beautiful ground-plans of temples; which having seen, they marvelled. he said to them that they should choose one that pleased them, and they, not wishing to do it, left the matter to his judgment, but he insisted that they should decide of their own free will; wherefore they all with one accord chose the richest. this having been adopted, michelagnolo said to them that if they carried such a design to completion, neither the greeks nor the romans ever in their times executed such a work; words that neither before nor afterwards ever issued from the mouth of michelagnolo, for he was very modest. finally it was agreed that the direction should be left entirely to michelagnolo, and that the labour of executing that work should fall to tiberio; with all which they were content, buonarroti promising them that tiberio would serve them excellently well. and so, having given the ground-plan to tiberio to be drawn accurately and with correct measurements, he drew for him the profiles both within and without, and bade him make a model of clay, teaching him the way to execute it so that it might stand firm. in ten days tiberio executed a model of eight palms, which much pleased the whole florentine colony, so that afterwards they caused to be made from it a model of wood, which is now in the residence of the consuls of that colony; a thing as rare in its beauty, richness, and great variety, as any temple that has ever been seen. a beginning was made with the building, and five thousand crowns were spent; but the funds for the fabric failed, and so it was abandoned, at which michelagnolo felt very great displeasure. he obtained for tiberio the commission to finish under his direction, at s. maria maggiore, a chapel begun for cardinal santa fiore; but it was left unfinished, on account of the death of the cardinal, of michelagnolo, and of tiberio himself, the death of which young man was a very great loss. [illustration: brutus (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _brogi_] michelagnolo had been seventeen years in the fabric of s. pietro, and several times the deputies had tried to remove him from that position, but they had not succeeded, and they were seeking to oppose him in every matter now with one vexatious pretext and now with another, hoping that out of weariness, being now so old that he could do no more, he would retire before them. it happened in those days that cesare da castel durante, who had been the overseer, died, and michelagnolo, to the end that the fabric might not suffer, sent there luigi gaeta, who was too young but very competent, until he should find a man after his desire. the deputies (some of whom had many times made efforts to place there nanni di baccio bigio, who was always urging them and promising great things), in order to be able to disturb the affairs of the fabric at their pleasure, sent luigi gaeta away, which having heard, michelagnolo, as in anger, would no longer show himself at the fabric; whereupon they began to give out that he could do no more, that it was necessary to give him a substitute, and that he himself had said that he did not wish to be embroiled any longer with s. pietro. all this came to the ears of michelagnolo, who sent daniello ricciarelli of volterra to bishop ferratino, one of the superintendents, who had said to the cardinal of carpi that michelagnolo had told one of his servants that he did not wish to be mixed up with the fabric any longer; and daniello said that this was by no means michelagnolo's desire. ferratino complained that michelagnolo would not make his conception known, adding that it would be well for him to provide a substitute, and that he would have gladly accepted daniello; and with this michelagnolo appeared to be content. thereupon ferratino, having had the deputies informed in the name of michelagnolo that they now had a substitute, presented not daniello, but in his place nanni di baccio bigio, who came in and was accepted by the superintendents. before very long he gave orders to make a scaffolding of wood from the side of the pope's stables, where the hill is, to rise above the great recess that is turned towards that side, and caused some stout beams of fir to be cut, saying that too many ropes were consumed in drawing up the materials, and that it was better to raise them by his method. which having heard, michelagnolo went straight to the pope, who was on the piazza di campidoglio, and made so much noise that his holiness made him go at once into a room, where he said: "holy father, there has been appointed as my substitute by the deputies a man of whom i know nothing; but if they are convinced, and also your holiness, that i am no longer the proper man, i will return to rest in florence, where i will enjoy the favours of that great duke who has so long desired me, and will finish my life in my own house; i therefore beg your gracious leave." the pope was vexed at this, and, consoling him with kind words, ordained that he should come to speak with him on the following day at the araceli. there, having caused the deputies of the fabric to be assembled together, he desired to be informed of the reasons of what had happened: whereupon their answer was that the fabric was going to ruin, and that errors were being made in it. which having heard not to be the truth, the pope commanded signor gabrio scerbellone that he should go to see the fabric for himself, and that nanni, who was making these assertions, should show it to him. this was carried out, and signor gabrio found that the whole story was a malicious slander, and not the truth; wherefore nanni was dismissed from that fabric with no very flattering words in the presence of many lords, being also reproached that by his fault the bridge of santa maria fell into ruin, and that at ancona, seeking to do great things at little cost in the matter of cleaning out the harbour, he filled it up more in one day than the sea had done in ten years. such was the end of nanni in the fabric of s. pietro. for that work michelagnolo for seventeen years attended constantly to nothing but to establishing it securely with directions, doubting on account of those envious persecutions lest it might come to be changed after his death; so that at the present day it is strong enough to allow the vaulting to be raised with perfect security. thus it has been seen that god, who is the protector of the good, defended him as long as he lived, and worked for the benefit of the fabric and for the defence of the master until his death. moreover, pius iv, living after him, commanded the superintendents of the fabric that nothing of what michelagnolo had directed should be changed; and with even greater authority his successor, pius v, caused it to be carried out, who, lest disorder should arise, insisted that the designs made by michelagnolo should be carried into execution with the utmost fidelity, so that, when the architects pirro ligorio and jacopo vignuola were in charge of it, and pirro wished presumptuously to disturb and alter those directions, he was removed with little honour from that fabric, and only vignuola remained. finally, that pontiff being full of zeal no less for the honour of the fabric of s. pietro than for the christian religion, in the year , when vasari went to kiss the feet of his holiness, and in the year , when he was again summoned, nothing was discussed save the means to ensure the observing of the designs left by michelagnolo; and his holiness, in order to obviate all chance of disorder, commanded vasari that he should go with messer guglielmo sangalletti, the private treasurer of his holiness, to seek out bishop ferratino, the head of the superintendents of s. pietro, with orders from the pontiff that he should listen to all the suggestions and records of importance that vasari might impart to him, to the end that no words of any malignant and presumptuous person might ever cause to be disturbed any line or order left by the excellent genius of michelagnolo of happy memory; and at that interview was present messer giovan battista altoviti, who was much the friend of vasari and of these arts. and ferratino, having heard a discourse that vasari made to him, readily accepted every record, and promised to observe and to cause to be observed with the utmost fidelity in that fabric every order and design that michelagnolo had left for that purpose, and, in addition, to be the protector, defender, and preserver of the labours of that great man. but to return to michelagnolo: i must relate that about a year before his death, vasari secretly prevailed upon duke cosimo de' medici to persuade the pope by means of messer averardo serristori, his ambassador, that, since michelagnolo was much reduced, a diligent watch should be kept on those who were about him to take care of him, or who visited him at his house, and that, in the event of some sudden accident happening to him, such as might well happen to an old man, he should make arrangements for his property, designs, cartoons, models, money, and all his other possessions at the time of his death, to be set down in an inventory and placed in security, for the sake of the fabric of s. pietro, so that, if there were things pertaining to that fabric, and also to the sacristy, library, and façade of s. lorenzo, they might not be taken away, as is often wont to happen; and in the end, all this being duly carried out, such diligence had its reward. leonardo, the nephew of michelagnolo, was desirous to go during the coming lent to rome, as one who guessed that he was now come to the end of his life; and at this michelagnolo was content. when, therefore, he fell sick of a slow fever, he straightway caused daniello to write to leonardo that he should come; but the illness grew worse, although messer federigo donati, his physician, and his other attendants were about him, and with perfect consciousness he made his will in three sentences, leaving his soul in the hands of god, his body to the earth, and his substance to his nearest relatives, and enjoining on his friends that, at his passing from this life, they should recall to him the agony of jesus christ. and so at the twenty-third hour of the seventeenth day of february, in the year (after the florentine reckoning, which according to the roman would be ), he breathed his last, to go to a better life. michelagnolo was much inclined to the labours of art, seeing that everything, however difficult, succeeded with him, he having had from nature a genius very apt and ardent in these most noble arts of design. moreover, in order to be entirely perfect, innumerable times he made anatomical studies, dissecting men's bodies in order to see the principles of their construction and the concatenation of the bones, muscles, veins, and nerves, the various movements and all the postures of the human body; and not of men only, but also of animals, and particularly of horses, which last he much delighted to keep. of all these he desired to learn the principles and laws in so far as touched his art, and this knowledge he so demonstrated in the works that fell to him to handle, that those who attend to no other study than this do not know more. he so executed his works, whether with the brush or with the chisel, that they are almost inimitable, and he gave to his labours, as has been said, such art and grace, and a loveliness of such a kind, that (be it said without offence to any) he surpassed and vanquished the ancients; having been able to wrest things out of the greatest difficulties with such facility, that they do not appear wrought with effort, although whoever draws his works after him finds enough in imitating them. the genius of michelagnolo was recognized in his lifetime, and not, as happens to many, after death, for it has been seen that julius ii, leo x, clement vii, paul iii, julius iii, paul iv, and pius iv, all supreme pontiffs, always wished to have him near them, and also, as is known, suleiman, emperor of the turks, francis of valois, king of france, the emperor charles v, the signoria of venice, and finally, as has been related, duke cosimo de' medici; all offering him honourable salaries, for no other reason but to avail themselves of his great genius. this does not happen save to men of great worth, such as he was; and it is evident and well known that all these three arts were so perfected in him, that it is not found that among persons ancient or modern, in all the many years that the sun has been whirling round, god has granted this to any other but michelagnolo. he had imagination of such a kind, and so perfect, and the things conceived by him in idea were such, that often, through not being able to express with the hands conceptions so terrible and grand, he abandoned his works--nay, destroyed many of them; and i know that a little before he died he burned a great number of designs, sketches, and cartoons made with his own hand, to the end that no one might see the labours endured by him and his methods of trying his genius, and that he might not appear less than perfect. of such i have some by his hand, found in florence, and placed in my book of drawings; from which, although the greatness of that brain is seen in them, it is evident that when he wished to bring forth minerva from the head of jove, he had to use vulcan's hammer. thus he used to make his figures in the proportion of nine, ten, and even twelve heads, seeking nought else but that in putting them all together there should be a certain harmony of grace in the whole, which nature does not present; saying that it was necessary to have the compasses in the eyes and not in the hand, because the hands work and the eye judges; which method he used also in architecture. no one should think it strange that michelagnolo delighted in solitude, he having been one who was enamoured of his art, which claims a man, with all his thoughts, for herself alone; moreover, it is necessary that he who wishes to attend to her studies should shun society, and, while attending to the considerations of art, he is never alone or without thoughts. and those who attributed it to caprice and eccentricity are wrong, because he who wishes to work well must withdraw himself from all cares and vexations, since art demands contemplation, solitude, and ease of life, and will not suffer the mind to wander. for all this, he prized the friendship of many great persons and of learned and ingenious men, at convenient times; and these he maintained. thus the great cardinal ippolito de' medici loved him greatly, and, having heard that a turkish horse that he possessed pleased michelagnolo because of its beauty, it was sent as a present to him by the liberality of that lord, with ten mules laden with fodder, and a serving-man to attend to it; and michelagnolo accepted it willingly. the illustrious cardinal pole was much his friend, michelagnolo being enamoured of his goodness and his talents; also cardinal farnese, and santa croce, which latter afterwards became pope marcellus, cardinal ridolfi, cardinal maffeo, monsignor bembo, carpi, and many other cardinals, bishops, and prelates, whom it is not necessary to name. others were monsignor claudio tolomei, the magnificent messer ottaviano de' medici, his gossip, whose son he held at baptism, and messer bindo altoviti, to whom he presented that cartoon of the chapel in which noah, drunk with wine, is derided by one of his sons, and his nakedness is covered by the two others; m. lorenzo ridolfi, m. annibale caro, and m. giovan francesco lottini of volterra. but infinitely more than any of the others he loved m. tommaso de' cavalieri, a roman gentleman, for whom, being a young man and much inclined to these arts, he made, to the end that he might learn to draw, many most superb drawings of divinely beautiful heads, designed in black and red chalk; and then he drew for him a ganymede rapt to heaven by jove's eagle, a tityus with the vulture devouring his heart, the chariot of the sun falling with phaëthon into the po, and a bacchanal of children, which are all in themselves most rare things, and drawings the like of which have never been seen. michelagnolo made a life-size portrait of messer tommaso in a cartoon, and neither before nor afterwards did he take the portrait of anyone, because he abhorred executing a resemblance to the living subject, unless it were of extraordinary beauty. these drawings, on account of the great delight that m. tommaso took in them, were the reason that he afterwards obtained a good number, miraculous things, which michelagnolo once drew for fra sebastiano viniziano, who carried them into execution; and in truth he rightly treasures them as reliques, and he has courteously given craftsmen access to them. of a truth michelagnolo always placed his affections with persons noble, deserving, and worthy of them, for he had true judgment and taste in all things. [illustration: unfinished figure (_after =michelagnolo=. florence: museo nazionale_) _brogi_] m. tommaso afterwards caused michelagnolo to make many designs for friends, such as that of the picture for cardinal di cesis, wherein is our lady receiving the annunciation from the angel, a novel thing, which was afterwards executed in colours by marcello mantovano and placed in the marble chapel which that cardinal caused to be built in the church of the pace at rome. so, also, with another annunciation coloured likewise by the hand of marcello in a picture in the church of s. giovanni laterano, the design of which belongs to duke cosimo de' medici, having been presented after michelagnolo's death by his nephew leonardo buonarroti to his excellency, who cherishes it as a jewel, together with a christ praying in the garden and many other designs, sketches, and cartoons by the hand of michelagnolo, and likewise the statue of victory with a captive beneath, five braccia in height, and four captives in the rough which serve to teach us how to carve figures from the marble by a method secure from any chance of spoiling the stone; which method is as follows. you take a figure in wax or some other solid material, and lay it horizontally in a vessel of water, which water being by its nature flat and level at the surface, as you raise the said figure little by little from the level, so it comes about that the more salient parts are revealed, while the lower parts--those, namely, on the under side of the figure--remain hidden, until in the end it all comes into view. in the same manner must figures be carved out of marble with the chisel, first laying bare the more salient parts, and then little by little the lower parts; and this method may be seen to have been followed by michelagnolo in the above-mentioned captives, which his excellency wishes to be used as exemplars for his academicians. michelagnolo loved his fellow-craftsmen, and held intercourse with them, as with jacopo sansovino, rosso, pontormo, daniello da volterra, and giorgio vasari of arezzo, to which last he showed innumerable kindnesses; and he was the reason that giorgio gave his attention to architecture, intending to make use of him some day, and he readily conferred and discussed matters of art with him. those who say that he was not willing to teach are wrong, because he was always willing with his intimates and with anyone who asked him for counsel; and i have been present on many such occasions, but of these, out of consideration, i say nothing, not wishing to reveal the deficiencies of others. it may be urged that he had bad fortune with those who lived with him in his house, which was because he hit upon natures little able to imitate him. thus, pietro urbano of pistoia, his pupil, was a man of parts, but would never exert himself. antonio mini was willing, but had no aptitude of brain; and when the wax is hard it does not readily take an impression. ascanio dalla ripa transone took great pains, but of this no fruits were ever seen either in designs or in finished works, and he toiled several years over a picture for which michelagnolo had given him a cartoon. in the end, all the good expectation in which he was held vanished in smoke; and i remember that michelagnolo would be seized with compassion for his toil, and would assist him with his own hand, but this profited him little. if he had found a nature after his heart, as he told me several times, in spite of his age he would often have made anatomical studies, and would have written upon them, for the benefit of his fellow-craftsmen; for he was disappointed by several. but he did not trust himself, through not being able to express himself in writing as he would have liked, because he was not practised in diction, although in the prose of his letters he explained his conceptions very well in a few words. he much delighted in readings of the poets in the vulgar tongue, and particularly of dante, whom he much admired, imitating him in his conceptions and inventions; and so with petrarca, having delighted to make madrigals and sonnets of great weight, upon which commentaries have been written. m. benedetto varchi gave a lecture in the florentine academy upon that sonnet which begins-- non ha l'ottimo artista alcun concetto ch'un marmo solo in se non circonscriva. michelagnolo sent a vast number by his own hand--receiving answers in rhyme and in prose--to the most illustrious marchioness of pescara, of whose virtues he was enamoured, and she likewise of his; and she went many times to rome from viterbo to visit him, and michelagnolo designed for her a dead christ in the lap of our lady, with two little angels, all most admirable, and a christ fixed on the cross, who, with the head uplifted, is recommending his spirit to the father, a divine work; and also a christ with the woman of samaria at the well. he much delighted in the sacred scriptures, like the excellent christian that he was; and he held in great veneration the works written by fra girolamo savonarola, because he had heard the voice of that friar in the pulpit. he greatly loved human beauty for the sake of imitation in art, being able to select from the beautiful the most beautiful, for without this imitation no perfect work can be done; but not with lascivious and disgraceful thoughts, as he proved by his way of life, which was very frugal. thus, when he was young, all intent on his work, he contented himself with a little bread and wine, and this he continued when old until the time when he was painting the judgment in the chapel, taking his refreshment in the evening when he had finished the day's work, but always very frugally. and, although he was rich, he lived like a poor man, nor did any friend ever eat at his table, or rarely; and he would not accept presents from anyone, because it appeared to him that if anyone gave him something, he would be bound to him for ever. this sober life kept him very active and in want of very little sleep, and often during the night, not being able to sleep, he would rise to labour with the chisel; having made a cap of thick paper, and over the centre of his head he kept a lighted candle, which in this way threw light over where he was working without encumbering his hands. vasari, who had seen the cap several times, reflecting that he did not use wax, but candles of pure goat's tallow, which are excellent, sent him four bundles of these, which weighed forty libbre. and his servant with all courtesy carried them to him at the second hour of the evening, and presented them to him; but michelagnolo refused them, declaring that he did not want them; and then the servant said: "they have broken my arms on the way between the bridge and here, and i shall not carry them back to the house. now here in front of your door there is a solid heap of mud; they will stand in it beautifully, and i will set them all alight." michelagnolo said to him: "put them down here, for i will not have you playing pranks at my door." he told me that often in his youth he slept in his clothes, being weary with labour and not caring to take them off only to have to put them on again later. there are some who have taxed him with being avaricious, but they are mistaken, for both with works of art and with his substance he proved the contrary. of works of art, as has been seen and related, he presented to m. tommaso de' cavalieri, to messer bindo, and to fra sebastiano, designs of considerable value; and to antonio mini, his pupil, all his designs, all his cartoons, and the picture of the leda, and all the models in clay and wax that he ever made, which, as has been related, were all left in france. to gherardo perini, a florentine gentleman who was very much his friend, he gave three sheets with some divine heads in black chalk, which since perini's death have come into the hands of the most illustrious don francesco, prince of florence, who treasures them as jewels, as indeed they are; for bartolommeo bettini he made a cartoon, which he presented to him, of a venus with a cupid that is kissing her, a divine thing, which is now in the possession of bettini's heirs in florence, and for the marchese del vasto he made a cartoon of a "noli me tangere," a rare thing; and these two last were painted excellently well by pontormo, as has been related. he presented the two captives to signor ruberto strozzi, and the pietà in marble, which he broke, to antonio, his servant, and to francesco bandini. i know not, therefore, how this man can be taxed with avarice, he having given away so many things for which he could have obtained thousands of crowns. what better proof can i give than this, that i know from personal experience that he made many designs and went to see many pictures and buildings, without demanding any payment? but let us come to the money earned by him by the sweat of his brow, not from revenues, not from traffickings, but from his own study and labour. can he be called avaricious who succoured many poor persons, as he did, and secretly married off a good number of girls, and enriched those who served him and assisted him in his works, as with his servant urbino, whom he made a very rich man? this urbino was his man of all work, and had served him a long time; and michelagnolo said to him: "if i die, what will you do?" and he answered: "i will serve another master." "you poor creature," said michelagnolo, "i will save you from such misery"; and presented two thousand crowns to him in one sum, an act such as is generally left to cæsars and pontiffs. to his nephew, moreover, he gave three and four thousand crowns at a time, and at the end he left him ten thousand crowns, besides the property in rome. michelagnolo was a man of tenacious and profound memory, so that, on seeing the works of others only once, he remembered them perfectly, and could avail himself of them in such a manner, that scarcely anyone has ever noticed it; nor did he ever do anything that resembled another thing by his hand, because he remembered everything that he had done. in his youth, being once with his painter-friends, they played for a supper for him who should make a figure most completely wanting in design and clumsy, after the likeness of the puppet-figures which those make who know nothing, scrawling upon walls; and in this he availed himself of his memory, for he remembered having seen one of those absurdities on a wall, and drew it exactly as if he had had it before him, and thus surpassed all those painters--a thing difficult for a man so steeped in design, and accustomed to choice works, to come out of with credit. he was full of disdain, and rightly, against anyone who did him an injury, but he was never seen to run to take revenge; nay, rather, he was most patient, modest in all his ways, very prudent and wise in his speech, with answers full of weight, and at times sayings most ingenious, amusing, and acute. he said many things that have been written down by me, of which i shall include only a few, because it would take too long to give them all. a friend having spoken to him of death, saying that it must grieve him much, because he had lived in continual labour in matters of art, and had never had any repose, he answered that all that was nothing, because, if life is a pleasure to us, death, being likewise by the hand of one and the same master, should not displease us. to a citizen who found him by orsanmichele in florence, where he had stopped to gaze at donato's statue of s. mark, and who asked him what he thought of that figure, michelagnolo answered that he had never seen a figure that had more of the air of a good man than that one, and that, if s. mark was like that, one could give credence to what he had written. being shown the drawing of a boy then beginning to learn to draw, who was recommended to him, some persons excusing him because it was not long since he had applied himself to art, he replied: "that is evident." he said a similar thing to a painter who had painted a pietà, and had not acquitted himself well: "it is indeed a pitiful thing to see." having heard that sebastiano viniziano had to paint a friar in the chapel of s. pietro a montorio, he said that this would spoil the work for him; and being asked why he said that, he answered: "since they have spoiled the world, which is so large, it would not be surprising if they were to spoil such a small thing as that chapel." a painter had executed a work with very great pains, toiling over it a long time; but when it was given to view he had made a considerable profit. michelagnolo was asked what he thought of the craftsman, and he answered: "as long as this man strives to be rich, he will always remain a poor creature." one of his friends who was a churchman, and used formerly to say mass, having arrived in rome all covered with points and silk, saluted michelagnolo; but he pretended not to see him, so that the friend was forced to declare his name to him. michelagnolo expressed marvel that he should be in that habit, and then added, as it were to congratulate him: "oh, but you are magnificent! if you were as fine within as i see you to be without, it would be well with your soul." the same man had recommended a friend to michelagnolo (who had given him a statue to execute), praying him that he should have something more given to him, which michelagnolo graciously did; but the envy of the friend, who had made the request to michelagnolo only in the belief that he would not grant it, brought it about that, perceiving that the master had granted it after all, he complained of it. this matter was reported to michelagnolo, and he answered that he did not like men made like sewers, using a metaphor from architecture, and meaning that it is difficult to have dealings with men who have two mouths. being asked by a friend what he thought of one who had counterfeited in marble some of the most celebrated antique figures, and boasted that in his imitations he had surpassed the antiques by a great measure, michelagnolo replied: "he who goes behind others can never go in front of them, and he who is not able to work well for himself cannot make good use of the works of others." a certain painter, i know not who, had executed a work wherein was an ox, which looked better than any other part; and michelagnolo, being asked why the painter had made the ox more lifelike than the rest, said: "any painter can make a good portrait of himself." passing by s. giovanni in florence, he was asked his opinion of those doors, and he answered: "they are so beautiful that they would do well at the gates of paradise." while serving a prince who kept changing plans every day, and would never stand firm, michelagnolo said to a friend: "this lord has a brain like a weather-cock, which turns round with every wind that blows on it." he went to see a work of sculpture which was about to be sent out because it was finished, and the sculptor was taking much trouble to arrange the lights from the windows, to the end that it might show up well; whereupon michelagnolo said to him: "do not trouble yourself; the important thing will be the light of the piazza"; meaning to infer that when works are in public places, the people must judge whether they are good or bad. there was a great prince in rome who had a notion to play the architect, and he had caused certain niches to be built in which to place figures, each three squares high, with a ring at the top; and having tried to place various statues within these niches, which did not turn out well, he asked michelagnolo what he should place in them, and he answered: "hang bunches of eels from those rings." there was appointed to the government of the fabric of s. pietro a gentleman who professed to understand vitruvius, and to be a critic of the work done. michelagnolo was told, "you have obtained for the fabric one who has a great intelligence"; and he answered, "that is true, but he has a bad judgment." a painter had executed a scene, and had copied many things from various other works, both drawings and pictures, nor was there anything in that work that was not copied. it was shown to michelagnolo, who, having seen it, was asked by a very dear friend what he thought of it, and he replied: "he has done well, but i know not what this scene will do on the day of judgment, when all bodies shall recover their members, for there will be nothing left of it"--a warning to those who practise art, that they should make a habit of working by themselves. passing through modena, he saw many beautiful figures by the hand of maestro antonio bigarino,[ ] a sculptor of modena, made of terra-cotta and coloured in imitation of marble, which appeared to him to be excellent works; and, since that sculptor did not know how to work marble, michelagnolo said: "if this clay were to become marble, woe to the ancient statues." michelagnolo was told that he should show resentment against nanni di baccio bigio, who was seeking every day to compete with him; but he answered: "he who contends with men of no account never gains a victory." a priest, his friend, said to him: "it is a pity that you have not taken a wife, so that you might have had many children and left them all your honourable labours." and michelagnolo replied: "i have only too much of a wife in this art of mine, who has always kept me in tribulation, and my children shall be the works that i may leave, which, even if they are naught, will live a while. woe to lorenzo di bartoluccio ghiberti, if he had not made the gates of s. giovanni, for his children and grandchildren sold or squandered all that he left, but the gates are still standing." vasari, sent by julius iii to michelagnolo's house for a design at the first hour of the night, found him working at the pietà in marble that he broke. michelagnolo, recognizing him by the knock at the door, left his work and took a lamp with his hand by the handle; vasari explained what he wanted, whereupon michelagnolo sent urbino upstairs for the design, and then they entered into another conversation. meanwhile vasari turned his eyes to examine a leg of the christ at which he was working, seeking to change it; and, in order to prevent vasari from seeing it, he let the lamp fall from his hand, and they were left in darkness. he called to urbino to bring a light, and meanwhile came forth from the enclosure where the work was, and said: "i am so old that death often pulls me by the cloak, that i may go with him, and one day this body of mine will fall like the lamp, and the light of my life will be spent." [footnote : begarelli.] for all this, he took pleasure in certain kinds of men after his taste, such as menighella, a commonplace and clownish painter of valdarno, who was a most diverting person. he would come at times to michelagnolo, that he might make for him a design of s. rocco or s. anthony, to be painted for peasants; and michelagnolo, who was with difficulty persuaded to work for kings, would deign to set aside all his other work and make him simple designs suited to his manner and his wishes, as menighella himself used to say. among other things, menighella persuaded him to make a model of a crucifix, which was very beautiful; of this he made a mould, from which he formed copies in pasteboard and other materials, and these he went about selling throughout the countryside. michelagnolo would burst out laughing at him, particularly because he used to meet with fine adventures, as with a countryman who commissioned him to paint a s. francis, and was displeased because menighella had made the vestment grey, whereas he would have liked it of a finer colour; whereupon menighella painted over the saint's shoulders a pluvial of brocade, and so contented him. he loved, likewise, the stone-cutter topolino, who had a notion of being an able sculptor, but was in truth very feeble. this man spent many years in the mountains of carrara, sending marble to michelagnolo; nor would he ever send a boatload without adding to it three or four little figures blocked out with his own hand, at which michelagnolo would die of laughing. finally topolino returned, and, having blocked out a mercury from a piece of marble, he set himself to finish it; and one day, when there was little left to do, he desired that michelagnolo should see it, and straitly besought him that he should tell him his opinion. "you are a madman to try to make figures, topolino," said michelagnolo. "do you not see that your mercury is more than a third of a braccio too short between the knees and the feet, and that you have made him a dwarf and all misshapen?" "oh, that is nothing! if there is nothing else wrong, i will put it right; leave it to me." michelagnolo laughed once more at his simplicity; and when he was gone, topolino took a piece of marble, and, having cut the mercury a quarter of a braccio below the knees, he let it into the new piece of marble and joined it neatly together, making a pair of buskins for the mercury, the tops of which were above the joins; and so he added the length required. then he invited michelagnolo to come, and showed him his work once again; and the master laughed, marvelling that such simpletons, when driven by necessity, form resolutions of which able men are not capable. while michelagnolo was having the tomb of julius ii finished, he caused a marble-hewer to execute a terminal figure for placing in the tomb in s. pietro in vincola, saying to him, "cut away this to-day," "level that," "polish here"; insomuch that, without the other noticing it, he enabled him to make a figure. wherefore, when it was finished, the man gazed at it marvelling; and michelagnolo said: "what do you think of it?" "i think it fine," he answered, "and i am much obliged to you." "why so?" asked michelagnolo. "because by your means i have discovered a talent that i did not know i possessed." now, to be brief, i must record that the master's constitution was very sound, for he was lean and well knit together with nerves, and although as a boy he was delicate, and as a man he had two serious illnesses, he could always endure any fatigue and had no infirmity, save that in his old age he suffered from dysuria and from gravel, which in the end developed into the stone; wherefore for many years he was syringed by the hand of maestro realdo colombo, his very dear friend, who treated him with great diligence. he was of middle stature, broad in the shoulders, but well proportioned in all the rest of the body. in his latter years he wore buskins of dogskin on the legs, next to the skin, constantly for whole months together, so that afterwards, when he sought to take them off, on drawing them off the skin often came away with them. over the stockings he wore boots of cordwain fastened on the inside, as a protection against damp. his face was round, the brow square and spacious, with seven straight lines, and the temples projected considerably beyond the ears; which ears were somewhat on the large side, and stood out from the cheeks. the body was in proportion to the face, or rather on the large side; the nose somewhat flattened, as was said in the life of torrigiano, who broke it for him with his fist; the eyes rather on the small side, of the colour of horn, spotted with blueish and yellowish gleams; the eyebrows with few hairs, the lips thin, with the lower lip rather thicker and projecting a little, the chin well shaped and in proportion with the rest, the hair black, but mingled with white hairs, like the beard, which was not very long, forked, and not very thick. truly his coming was to the world, as i said at the beginning, an exemplar sent by god to the men of our arts, to the end that they might learn from his life the nature of noble character, and from his works what true and excellent craftsmen ought to be. and i, who have to praise god for infinite blessings, as is seldom wont to happen with men of our profession, count it among the greatest blessings that i was born at the time when michelagnolo was alive, that i was thought worthy to have him as my master, and that he was so much my friend and intimate, as everyone knows, and as the letters written by him to me, now in my possession, bear witness; and out of love for truth, and also from the obligation that i feel to his loving kindness, i have contrived to write many things of him, and all true, which many others have not been able to do. another blessing he used to point out to me himself: "you should thank god, giorgio, who has caused you to serve duke cosimo, who, in his contentment that you should build and paint and carry into execution his conceptions and designs, has grudged no expense; and you will remember, if you consider it, that the others whose lives you have written did not have such advantages." with most honourable obsequies, and with a concourse of all the craftsmen, all his friends, and all the florentine colony, michelagnolo was given burial in a sepulchre at s. apostolo, in the sight of all rome; his holiness having intended to make him some particular memorial and tomb in s. pietro at rome. leonardo, his nephew, arrived when all was over, although he travelled post. when duke cosimo was informed of the event, he confirmed his resolve that since he had not been able to have him and honour him alive, he would have him brought to florence and not hesitate to honour him with all manner of pomp after death; and the body was sent secretly in a bale, under the title of merchandise, which method was adopted lest there might be a tumult in rome, and lest perchance the body of michelagnolo might be detained and prevented from leaving rome for florence. but before the body arrived, the news of the death having been heard, the principal painters, sculptors, and architects were assembled together at the summons of the lieutenant of their academy, and they were reminded by that lieutenant, who at that time was the reverend don vincenzio borghini, that they were obliged by virtue of their statutes to pay due honour to the death of any of their brethren, and that, they having done this so lovingly and with such universal satisfaction in the obsequies of fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, who had been the first to die after the creation of the academy, they should look well to what it might be proper for them to do in honour of buonarroti, who had been elected by an unanimous vote of the whole body of the company as the first academician and the head of them all. to which proposal they all replied, as men most deeply indebted and affected to the genius of so great a man, that at all costs pains should be taken to do him honour in the best and finest ways available to them. this done, in order not to have to assemble so many persons together every day, to their great inconvenience, and to the end that matters might proceed more quietly, four men were elected as heads of the obsequies and the funeral pomp that were to be held; the painters agnolo bronzino and giorgio vasari, and the sculptors benvenuto cellini and bartolommeo ammanati, all men of illustrious name and eminent ability in their arts; to the end, i say, that they might consult and determine between themselves and the lieutenant what was to be done in each particular, and in what way, with authority and power to dispose of the whole body of the company and academy. this charge they accepted all the more willingly because all the members, young and old, each in his own profession, offered their services for the execution of such pictures and statues as had to be done for that funeral pomp. they then ordained that the lieutenant, in pursuance of his office, and the consuls, in the name of the company and academy, should lay the whole matter before the lord duke, and beseech him for all the aids and favours that might be necessary, and especially for permission to have those obsequies held in s. lorenzo, the church of the most illustrious house of medici; wherein are the greater part of the works by the hand of michelagnolo that there are to be seen in florence; and, in addition, that his excellency should allow messer benedetto varchi to compose and deliver the funeral oration, to the end that the excellent genius of michelagnolo might be extolled by the rare eloquence of a man so great as was varchi, who, being in the particular service of his excellency, would not have undertaken such a charge without a word from him, although they were very certain that, as one most loving by nature and deeply affected to the memory of michelagnolo, of himself he would never have refused. this done, and the academicians dismissed, the above-named lieutenant wrote to the lord duke a letter of this precise tenor: "the academy and company of painters and sculptors having resolved among themselves, if it should please your most illustrious excellency, to do honour in some sort to the memory of michelagnolo buonarroti, both from the general obligation due from their profession to the extraordinary genius of one who was perhaps the greatest craftsman who has ever lived, and from their particular obligation through their belonging to a common country, and also because of the great advantage that these professions have received from the perfection of his works and inventions, insomuch that they hold themselves obliged to prove their affection to his genius in whatever way they are able, they have laid this their desire before your illustrious excellency in a letter, and have besought you, as their peculiar refuge, for a certain measure of assistance. i, entreated by them, and being, as i think, obliged because your most illustrious excellency has been content that i should be again this year in their company with the title of your lieutenant, with the added reason that the proposal is a generous one and worthy of virtuous and grateful minds, and, above all, knowing how your most illustrious excellency is the patron of talent, and as it were a haven and unique protector for ingenious persons in this age, even surpassing in this respect your forefathers, who bestowed extraordinary favours on those excellent in these professions, as, by order of the magnificent lorenzo, giotto, already so long dead, received a statue in the principal church, and fra filippo a most beautiful tomb of marble at his expense, while many others obtained the greatest benefits and honours on various occasions; moved, i say, by all these reasons, i have taken it upon myself to recommend to your most illustrious excellency the petition of this academy, that they may be able to do honour to the genius of michelagnolo, the particular nursling and pupil of the school of the magnificent lorenzo, which will be an extraordinary pleasure to them, a vast satisfaction to men in general, no small incitement to the professors of these arts, and to all italy a proof of the lofty mind and overflowing goodness of your most illustrious excellency, whom may god long preserve in happiness for the benefit of your people and the support of every talent." to which letter the above-named lord duke answered thus: "reverend and well-beloved friend, "the zeal that this academy has displayed, and continues to display, to honour the memory of michelagnolo buonarroti, who has passed from this to a better life, has given us much consolation for the loss of a man so extraordinary; and we wish not only to satisfy them in all that they have demanded in their memorial, but also to have his remains brought to florence, which, according as we are informed, was his own desire. all this we are writing to the aforesaid academy, to encourage them to celebrate by every possible means the genius of that great man. may god content you in your desire." of the letter, or rather, memorial, of which mention has been made above, addressed by the academy to the lord duke, the tenor was as follows: "most illustrious, etc. "the academy and the men of the company of design, created by the grace and favour of your most illustrious excellency, knowing with what solicitude and affection you caused the body of michelagnolo buonarroti to be brought to florence by means of your representative in rome, have assembled together and have unanimously determined that they shall celebrate his obsequies in the best manner in their power and knowledge. wherefore they, knowing that your most illustrious excellency was revered by him as much as you yourself loved him, beseech you that you should deign in your infinite goodness and liberality to grant to them, first, that they may be allowed to celebrate the said obsequies in the church of s. lorenzo, a church built by your ancestors, in which are so many beautiful works wrought by his hand, both in architecture and in sculpture, and near which you are minded to have erected a place that shall be as it were a nest and an abiding school of architecture, sculpture, and painting, for the above-named academy and company of design. secondly, they pray you that you should consent to grant a commission to messer benedetto varchi that he shall not only compose the funeral oration, but also deliver it with his own mouth, as he has promised most freely that he would do, when besought by us, in the event of your most illustrious excellency consenting. in the third place, they entreat and pray you that you should deign, in the same goodness and liberality of your heart, to supply them with all that may be necessary for them in celebrating the above-mentioned obsequies, over and above their own resources, which are very small. all these matters, and each singly, have been discussed and determined in the presence and with the consent of the most magnificent and reverend monsignor, messer vincenzio borghini, prior of the innocenti and lieutenant of your most illustrious excellency in the aforesaid academy and company of design, which, etc." to which letter of the academy the duke made this reply: "well-beloved academicians, "we are well content to give full satisfaction to your petitions, so great is the affection that we have always borne to the rare genius of michelagnolo buonarroti, and that we still bear to all your profession; do not hesitate, therefore, to carry out all that you have proposed to do in his obsequies, for we will not fail to supply whatever you need. meanwhile, we have written to messer benedetto varchi in the matter of the oration, and to the director of the hospital with regard to anything more that may be necessary in this undertaking. fare you well. "pisa." the letter to varchi was as follows: "messer benedetto, our well-beloved, "the affection that we bear to the rare genius of michelagnolo buonarroti makes us desire that his memory should be honoured and celebrated in every possible way. it will be pleasing to us, therefore, that you for love of us shall undertake the charge of composing the oration that is to be delivered at his obsequies, according to the arrangements made by the deputies of the academy; and still more pleasing that it should be delivered by your own lips. fare you well." messer bernardino grazzini, also, wrote to the above-named deputies that they could not have expected in the duke any desire in that matter more ardent than that which he had shown, and that they might be assured of every aid and favour from his most illustrious excellency. while these matters were being discussed in florence, leonardo buonarroti, michelagnolo's nephew (who, when informed of his uncle's illness, had made his way to rome by post, but had not found him alive), having heard from daniello da volterra, who had been the very familiar friend of michelagnolo, and also from others who had been about the person of that saintly old man, that he had requested and prayed that his body should be carried to florence, that most noble city of his birth, of which he was always a most tender lover; leonardo, i say, with prompt and therefore good resolution, removed the body cautiously from rome and sent it off to florence in a bale, as if it had been a piece of merchandise. and here i must not omit to say that this final resolution of michelagnolo's proved a thing against the opinion of certain persons, but nevertheless very true, namely, that his absence for so many years from florence had been caused by no other thing but the nature of the air, for the reason that experience had taught him that the air of florence, being sharp and subtle, was very injurious to his constitution, while that of rome, softer and more temperate, had kept him in perfect health up to his ninetieth year, with all the senses as lively and sound as they had ever been, and with such strength, for his age, that up to the last day he had never ceased to work at something. since, then, the coming of the bale was so sudden and so unexpected that for the time being it was not possible to do what was done afterwards, the body of michelagnolo, on arriving in florence, was placed with the coffin, at the desire of the deputies, on the same day that it arrived in the city (namely, on the th of march, which was a saturday), in the company of the assumption, which is under the high-altar of s. pietro maggiore, beneath the steps at the back; but it was not touched in any way whatever. the next day, which was sunday of the second week in lent, all the painters, sculptors, and architects assembled as quietly as possible round s. pietro, whither they had brought nothing but a pall of velvet, all bordered and embroidered in gold, which covered the coffin and the whole bier; upon which coffin was an image of christ crucified. then, about the middle hour of the night, all having gathered around the body, all at once the oldest and most eminent craftsmen laid their hands on a great quantity of torches that had been carried there, and the younger men took up the bier with such eagerness, that blessed was he who could approach it and place his shoulders under it, believing as it were that in the time to come they would be able to claim the glory of having borne the remains of the greatest man that there had ever been in their arts. the sight of a certain number of persons assembled about s. pietro had caused, as always happens in such cases, many others to stop there, and the rather as it had been trumpeted abroad that the body of michelagnolo had arrived, and was to be carried to s. croce. and although, as i have said, every precaution had been taken that the matter should not become known, lest the report might spread through the city, and there might flock thither such a multitude that it would not be possible to avoid a certain degree of tumult and confusion, and also because they desired that the little which they wished to do at that time should be done with more quiet than pomp, reserving the rest for a more convenient time with greater leisure; nevertheless, both the one thing and the other took a contrary course, for with regard to the multitude, the news, as has been related, passing from lip to lip, in the twinkling of an eye the church was so filled, that in the end it was with the greatest difficulty that the body was carried from the church to the sacristy, in order to take it out of the bale and then place it in the sepulchre. with regard to the question of honour, although it cannot be denied that to see in funeral pomps a great show of priests, a large quantity of wax tapers, and a great number of mourners dressed in black, is a thing of grand and magnificent appearance, it does not follow that it was not also a great thing to see thus assembled in a small company, without preparation, all those eminent men who are now in such repute, and who will be even more in the future, honouring that body with such loving and affectionate offices. and, in truth, the number of such craftsmen in florence--and they were all there--has always been very great, for the reason that these arts have always flourished in florence in such a manner, that i believe that it may be said without prejudice to other cities that their principal and true nest and domicile is florence, not otherwise than athens once was of the sciences. in addition to that number of craftsmen, there were so many citizens following them, and so many at the sides of the streets where the procession passed, that there was no place for any more; and, what is an even greater thing, there was nothing heard but praises in every man's mouth of the merits of michelagnolo, all saying that true genius has such force that, after all expectation of such honour and profit as can be obtained from a gifted man has failed, nevertheless, by its own nature and peculiar merits, it remains honoured and beloved. for these reasons that demonstration was more vivid in effect and more precious than any pomp of gold and trappings that could have been contrived. the body having been carried with so beautiful a train into s. croce, after the friars had finished the ceremonies that were customary for the dead, it was borne--not without very great difficulty, as has been related, by reason of the concourse of people--into the sacristy, where the above-named lieutenant, who had been present in virtue of his office, thinking to do a thing pleasing to many, and also (as he afterwards confessed) desiring to see in death one whom he had not seen in life, or had seen at such an early age that he had lost all memory of him, then resolved to have the coffin opened. this done, when he and all the rest of us present thought to find the body already marred and putrefied, because michelagnolo had been dead twenty-five days and twenty-two in the coffin, we found it so perfect in every part, and so free from any noisome odour, that we were ready to believe that it was rather at rest in a sweet and most peaceful sleep; and, besides that the features of the face were exactly as in life (except that there was something of the colour of death), it had no member that was marred or revealed any corruption, and the head and cheeks were not otherwise to the touch than as if he had passed away but a few hours before. when the tumult of the people had abated, arrangements were made to place the body in a sepulchre in the church, beside the altar of the cavalcanti, by the door that leads into the cloister of the chapter-house. meanwhile the news had spread through the city, and such a multitude of young people flocked thither to see the corpse, that there was great difficulty in contriving to close the tomb; and if it had been day, instead of night, we would have been forced to leave it open many hours in order to satisfy the public. the following morning, while the painters and sculptors were commencing to make arrangements for the memorial of honour, many choice spirits, such as have always abounded in florence, began to attach above the aforesaid sepulchre verses both latin and in the vulgar tongue, and so it was continued for some time; but those compositions that were printed at that time were but a small part with respect to the many that were written. now to come to the obsequies, which were not held the day after the day of s. john, as had been intended, but were postponed until the th of july. the three deputies (for benvenuto cellini, having felt somewhat indisposed from the beginning, had never taken any part in the matter), having appointed the sculptor zanobi lastricati as their proveditor, resolved that they would do something ingenious and worthy of their arts rather than costly and full of pomp. and, in truth, since honour was to be paid (said those deputies and their proveditor) to such a man as michelagnolo, and by men of the profession that he had practised, men rich rather in talents than in excess of means, that must be done not with regal pomp or superfluous vanities, but with inventions and works abounding in spirit and loveliness, such as issue from the knowledge and readiness of hand of our craftsmen; thus honouring art with art. for although, they said, we may expect from his excellency the lord duke any sum of money that may be necessary, and we have already received such amounts as we have demanded, nevertheless we must hold it as certain that from us there is expected something ingenious and pleasing in invention and art, rather than rich through vast expense or grand by reason of superb appurtenances. but, notwithstanding this, it was seen in the end that the work was equal in magnificence to any that ever issued from the hands of those academicians, and that this memorial of honour was no less truly magnificent than it was ingenious and full of fanciful and praiseworthy inventions. finally, then, it was arranged that in the central nave of s. lorenzo, between the two lateral doors, of which one leads out of the church and the other into the cloister, there should be erected, as was done, a catafalque of a rectangular form, twenty-eight braccia high, eleven braccia long, and nine broad, with a figure of fame on the summit. on the base of the catafalque, which rose two braccia from the ground, on the part looking towards the principal door of the church, there were placed two most beautiful recumbent figures of rivers, one representing the arno and the other the tiber. arno had a horn of plenty, full of flowers and fruits, signifying thereby the fruits that have come to these professions from the city of florence, which have been of such a kind and so many that they have filled the world, and particularly rome, with extraordinary beauty. this was demonstrated excellently well by the other river, representing, as has been said, the tiber, in that, extending one arm, it had the hands full of flowers and fruits received from the horn of plenty of the arno, which lay beside it, face to face; and it served also to demonstrate, by enjoying the fruits of arno, that michelagnolo had lived a great part of his life in rome, and had executed there those marvels that cause amazement to the world. arno had for a sign the lion, and tiber the she-wolf, with the infants romulus and remus; and they were both colossal figures of extraordinary grandeur and beauty, in the likeness of marble. one, the tiber, was by the hand of giovanni di benedetto of castello, a pupil of bandinelli, and the other by battista di benedetto, a pupil of ammanati; both excellent young men of the highest promise. from this level rose façades of five braccia and a half, with the proper cornices above and below, and also at the corners, leaving space for four pictures, one in the centre of each. in the first of these, which was on the façade where the two rivers were, there was painted in chiaroscuro (as were also all the other pictures of this structure) the magnificent lorenzo de' medici, the elder, receiving michelagnolo as a boy in his garden, of which there has been an account in another place, after he had seen certain specimens of his handiwork, which foreshadowed, as early flowers, the fruits that afterwards issued in abundance from the living force and grandeur of his genius. such, then, was the story contained in that picture, which was painted by mirabello and girolamo del crocifissaio, so called, who, as very dear friends and companions, undertook to do the work together. in it were animated and lively attitudes, and there could be seen the above-named magnificent lorenzo, portrayed from nature, graciously receiving michelagnolo, a boy all full of reverence, into his garden, and, after an examination, handing him over to some masters who should teach him. in the second scene, which came, continuing the same order, to face towards the lateral door that leads out of the church, was figured pope clement, who, contrary to the expectation of the public, which thought that his holiness felt disdain against michelagnolo on account of his actions in the siege of florence, not only assures his safety and shows himself lovingly disposed towards him, but sets him to work on the new sacristy and the library of s. lorenzo, in which places how divinely well he worked has been already told. in this picture, then, there was painted by the hand of federigo fiammingo, called del padovano, with much dexterity and great sweetness of manner, michelagnolo showing to the pope the ground-plan of that sacristy, and behind him were borne, partly by little angels and partly by other figures, the models of the library and sacristy and of the statues that are there, finished, at the present day; which was all very well composed and executed with diligence. in the third picture, which stood on the first level, like the others described above, and looked towards the high-altar, was a great latin epitaph composed by the most learned m. pier vettori, the sense of which was in the florentine speech as follows: "the academy of painters, sculptors, and architects, with the favour and assistance of duke cosimo de' medici, their head and the supreme protector of these arts, admiring the extraordinary genius of michelagnolo buonarroti, and seeking to acknowledge in part the benefits received from his divine works, has dedicated this memorial, born from their own hands and from all the affection of their hearts, to the excellence and genius of the greatest painter, sculptor, and architect that there has ever been." the latin words were these: collegium pictorum, statuariorum, architectorum, auspicio opeque sibi prompta cosimi ducis auctoris suorum commodorum, suspiciens singularem virtutem michaelis angeli bonarrotÆ, intelligensque quanto sibi auxilio semper fuerint prÆclara ipsius opera, studuit se gratum erga illum ostendere, summum omnium qui unquam fuerint p.s.a., ideoque monumentum hoc suis manibus extructum magno animi ardore ipsius memoriÆ dedicavit. this epitaph was supported by two little angels, who, with weeping faces, and extinguishing each a torch, appeared to be lamenting that a genius so great and so rare was now spent. next, in the picture which came to face towards the door that leads into the cloister, was michelagnolo making, on account of the siege of florence, the fortifications of the hill of san miniato, which were held to be impregnable and a marvellous work. this was by the hand of lorenzo sciorini, a pupil of bronzino and a young man of excellent promise. this lowest part, or, so to speak, the base of the whole structure, had at every corner a pedestal that projected, and upon every pedestal was a statue larger than life, which had beneath it another, as it were subjugated and vanquished, of similar size, but each constrained in a different and extravagant attitude. the first, on the right hand going towards the high-altar, was a young man, slender and the very presentment of pure spirit, and of a most lively beauty, representing genius, with two little wings over the temples, in the guise wherein at times mercury is painted; and beneath this young man, wrought with incredible diligence, was a marvellous figure with asses' ears, representing ignorance, the mortal enemy of genius. these two statues were by the hand of vincenzio danti of perugia, of whom and of his works, which are renowned among the young modern sculptors, we shall speak at greater length in another place. upon the next pedestal, which, being on the right hand of the approach towards the high-altar, looked towards the new sacristy, was a woman representing christian piety, which, being composed of religion and every other excellence, is nothing less than an aggregate of all those virtues that we have called the theological, and of those that were named by the gentiles the moral; wherefore it was right that, since the genius of a christian, adorned by most saintly character, was being celebrated by christians, a seemly and honourable place should be given to this piety, which is concerned with the law of god and the salvation of souls, seeing that all other ornaments of body and mind, where she is lacking, are to be held in little estimation, or rather, none. this figure, who had beneath her, prostrate and trampled under foot by her, vice, or rather, impiety, was by the hand of valerio cioli, who is a young man of ability and fine spirit, and deserves the name of a very judicious and diligent sculptor. opposite to this, on the side towards the old sacristy, was another similar figure made with much judgment to represent minerva, or rather, art; for the reason that it may be said with truth that after excellence of character and life, which must always hold the first place among the good, it was art that gave to this man not only honour and profit, but also so much glory, that he may be said to have enjoyed in his lifetime such fruits as able and illustrious men have great difficulty in wresting even after death from the grasp of fame, by means of their finest works; and, what is more, that he so vanquished envy, that by common consent, without any contradiction, he has obtained the rank and fame of the best and highest excellence. and for this reason this figure had beneath her feet envy, who was an old woman lean and withered, with the eyes of a viper; in short, with features that all breathed out venom and poison, besides which she was girt with serpents, and had a viper in her hand. these two statues were by the hand of a boy of very tender years, called lazzaro calamech of carrara, who at the present day, although still a mere lad, has given in some works of painting and sculpture convincing proofs of a beautiful and most lively genius. by the hand of andrea calamech, the uncle of the above-mentioned lazzaro, and pupil of ammanati, were the two statues placed upon the fourth pedestal, which was opposite to the organ and looked towards the principal doors of the church. the first of these was made to represent study, for the reason that those who exert themselves little and sluggishly can never acquire repute, as michelagnolo did, who from his early boyhood, from fifteen to ninety years of age, as has been seen above, never ceased to labour. this statue of study, which was well in keeping with that great man, was a bold and vigorous youth, who had at the end of the arms, just above the joint of the hands, two little wings signifying rapidity and frequency of working; and he had prostrate beneath him, as a prisoner, idleness or indolence, who was a sluggish and weary woman, heavy and somnolent in her whole attitude. these four figures, disposed in the manner that has been described, made a very handsome and magnificent composition, and had all the appearance of marble, because a coat of white had been laid over the clay, which resulted in a very beautiful effect. from this level, upon which the above-named figures rested, there rose another base, likewise rectangular and about four braccia high, but smaller in length and breadth than that below by the extent of the projection and cornice-work upon which those figures rested; and on every side this had a painted compartment six braccia and a half in length and three in height. above this rose a platform in the same manner as that below, but smaller; and upon every corner, on the projection of a socle, sat a figure of the size of life, or rather more. these were four women, who, from the instruments that they had, were easily recognized as painting, sculpture, architecture, and poetry; placed there for reasons that have been perceived in the narration of michelagnolo's life. now, going from the principal door of the church towards the high-altar, in the first picture of the second range of the catafalque--namely, above the scene in which, as has been related, lorenzo de' medici is receiving michelagnolo into his garden--there was painted in a most beautiful manner, to suggest architecture, michelagnolo in the presence of pope pius iv, with a model in his hand of the stupendous pile of the cupola of s. pietro in rome. this scene, which was much extolled, was painted by piero francia, a florentine painter, with beautiful manner and invention; and the statue, or rather, image of architecture, which was on the left hand of this scene, was by the hand of giovanni di benedetto of castello, who with so much credit to himself, as has been related, executed also the tiber, one of the two rivers that were on the front part of the catafalque. in the second picture, continuing to go forward on the right hand towards the lateral door that leads out of the church, was seen (to suggest painting) michelagnolo painting that so much but never sufficiently extolled judgment: that judgment, i mean, which is an exemplar in foreshortenings and all the other difficulties of art. this picture, which was executed by michele di ridolfo's young men with much diligence and grace, had likewise, on the left hand (namely, at the corner looking towards the new sacristy), its appropriate image, a statue of painting, wrought by battista del cavaliere, a young man no less excellent in sculpture than remarkable for his goodness, modesty, and character. in the third picture, facing towards the high-altar (in that, namely, which was above the epitaph already mentioned), there was to be seen, to suggest sculpture, michelagnolo speaking with a woman, who by many signs could be recognized as sculpture; and it appeared that he was taking counsel with her. michelagnolo had about him some of the most excellent works that he executed in sculpture; and the woman held a little tablet with these words of boethius: simili sub imagine formans. beside that picture, which was the work of andrea del minga, and executed by him with beautiful invention and manner, there was on the left hand the statue of sculpture, wrought very well by the sculptor antonio di gino lorenzi. in the fourth of those four scenes, which faced towards the organ, there could be seen, to suggest poetry, michelagnolo all intent on writing some composition, and about him the nine muses, marvellous in their grace and beauty and with their distinctive garments, according as they are described by the poets, and before them apollo with the lyre in his hand, his crown of laurel on his head, and another crown in the hand, which he made as if to place on the head of michelagnolo. near the gladsome and beautiful composition of this scene, painted in a very lovely manner, with most vivacious and spirited attitudes, by giovan maria butteri, there was on the left hand the statue of poetry, the work of domenico poggini, a man much practised not only in sculpture and in striking impressions of coins and medals with great beauty, but also in working in bronze and likewise in poetry. of such a kind, then, was the ornamentation of the catafalque, which so diminished from course to course that it was possible to walk round each, and it was much after the likeness of the mausoleum of augustus in rome; although perchance, from being rectangular, it rather resembled the septizonium of severus, not that near the campidoglio, which is commonly so called in error, but the true one, which is to be seen in stamp in the "nuove rome," near the baths of antoninus. up to this point the catafalque had three levels; where the rivers lay was the first, the second where the pairs of figures rested, and the third where the single figures had their feet. from this last level rose a base, or rather, socle, one braccio high, and much less in length and breadth than that last level; upon the projections of that base sat the above-named single figures, and around it could be read these words: sic ars extollitur arte. upon this base stood a pyramid nine braccia high, on two sides of which (namely, that which looked towards the principal door, and that which faced towards the high-altar), at the foot, were two ovals with the head of michelagnolo portrayed from nature in relief and executed very well by santi buglioni. at the summit of the pyramid was a ball in due proportion with the pyramid, such as might have contained the ashes of him who was being honoured, and upon the ball was a figure of fame, larger than life and in the likeness of marble, and in the act, as it were, of taking flight, and at the same time of causing the praises and glory of that great craftsman to resound throughout the world through a trumpet which branched into three mouths. that fame was by the hand of zanobi lastricati, who, besides the labours that he had as proveditor for the whole work, desired also not to fail to show, with much honour to himself, the virtue of his hand and brain. in all, from the level of the ground to the head of the fame, the height, as has been related, was twenty-eight braccia. besides the catafalque described above, the whole church was draped with black baize and serge, hung not on the columns in the centre, as is usual, but on the chapels that are all around; and there was no space between the pilasters that enclose those chapels and correspond to the columns, that had not some adornment in painting, which, making an ingenious, pleasing, and beautiful display, caused marvel and at the same time the greatest delight. now, to begin with one end: in the space of the first chapel that is beside the high-altar, as you go towards the old sacristy, was a picture six braccia in height and eight in length, in which, with novel and as it were poetical invention, was michelagnolo in the centre, already come to the elysian fields, where, on his right hand, were figures considerably larger than life of the most famous and most highly celebrated sculptors and painters of antiquity. each of these could be recognized by some notable sign; praxiteles by the satyr that is in the vigna of pope julius iii, apelles by the portrait of alexander the great, zeuxis by a little panel on which were figured the grapes that deceived the birds, and parrhasius with the covering counterfeited in painting over his picture; and, even as these, so the others were known by other signs. on the left hand were those who have been illustrious in these arts in our own centuries, from cimabue to the present day. thus giotto could be recognized there by a little panel on which was seen the portrait of dante as a young man, in the manner in which he may be seen in s. croce, painted by giotto himself; masaccio by his portrait from life, donatello likewise by his portrait, and also by his zuccone from the campanile, which was by his side, and filippo brunelleschi by the representation of his cupola of s. maria del fiore; and there were portrayed from life, without other signs, fra filippo, taddeo gaddi, paolo uccello, fra giovanni agnolo, jacopo da pontormo, francesco salviati, and others. all these were about him with the same expressions of welcome as the ancients, full of love and admiration, in the same manner as virgil was received by the other poets on his return, according to the fable of the divine poet dante, from whom, in addition to the invention, there was taken also the verse that could be read in a scroll both above and in the hand of the river arno, which lay at the feet of michelagnolo, most beautiful in features and in attitude: tutti l'ammiran, tutti onor gli fanno. this picture, by the hand of alessandro allori, the pupil of bronzino, an excellent painter and a not unworthy disciple and pupil of so great a master, was consummately extolled by all those who saw it. in the space of the chapel of the most holy sacrament, at the head of the transept, there was in a picture, five braccia in length and four in breadth, michelagnolo with all the school of the arts about him, little children, boys, and young men of every age up to twenty-four, who were offering to him, as to a being sacred and divine, the firstfruits of their labours, such as pictures, sculptures, and models; and he was receiving them courteously, and was instructing them in the matters of art, while they were listening most intently and gazing upon him with expressions and attitudes truly full of beauty and grace. and, to tell the truth, the whole composition of this picture could not have been, in a certain sense, better done, nor could anything more beautiful have been desired in any of the figures, wherefore battista, the pupil of pontormo, who had done the work, received infinite praise for it; and the verses that were to be read at the foot of the scene, ran thus: tu pater, tu rerum inventor, tu patria nobis suppeditas prÆcepta tuis ex, inclyte, chartis. going, then, from the place where was the picture described above, towards the principal doors of the church, almost at the corner and just before arriving at the organ, in a picture six braccia long and four high that was in the space of a chapel, there was depicted the extraordinary and unexampled favour that was paid to the rare genius of michelagnolo by pope julius iii, who, wishing to avail himself in certain buildings of the judgment of that great man, had him summoned to his presence at his villa, where, having invited him to sit by his side, they talked a good time together, while cardinals, bishops, and other personages of the court, whom they had about them, remained constantly standing. this event, i say, was seen to have been depicted with such fine composition and so much relief, and with such liveliness and spirit in the figures, that perchance it might not have turned out better from the hands of an eminent, aged, and well-practised master; wherefore jacopo zucchi, a young man, the pupil of giorgio vasari, who executed the work in a beautiful manner, proved that a most honourable result could be expected from him. not far from this, on the same side (namely, a little below the organ), giovanni strada, an able flemish painter, had depicted in a picture six braccia long and four high the story of michelagnolo's going to venice at the time of the siege of florence; where, living in that quarter of that most noble city which is called the giudecca, the doge andrea gritti and the signoria sent some gentlemen and others to visit him and make him very great offers. in representing that event the above-named painter showed great judgment and much knowledge, which did him great honour, both in the whole composition and in every part of it, for in the attitudes, the lively expressions of the faces, and the movements of every figure, were seen invention, design, and excellent grace. now, returning to the high-altar, and facing towards the new sacristy: in the first picture found there, which came in the space of the first chapel, there was depicted by the hand of santi titi, a young man of most beautiful judgment and much practised in painting both in florence and in rome, another signal favour paid to the genius of michelagnolo, as i believe i mentioned above, by the most illustrious lord, don francesco de' medici, prince of florence, who, happening to be in rome about three years before michelagnolo died, and receiving a visit from him, the moment that buonarroti entered the prince rose to his feet, and then, in order to do honour to that great man and to his truly venerable age, with the greatest courtesy that ever young prince showed, insisted--although michelagnolo, who was very modest, protested against it--that he should sit in his own chair, from which he had risen, standing afterwards on his feet to hear him with the attention and reverence that children are wont to pay to a well-beloved father. at the feet of the prince was a boy, executed with great diligence, who had in his hands a mazzocchio,[ ] or ducal cap, and around them were some soldiers dressed in ancient fashion, and painted with much spirit and a beautiful manner; but beyond all the rest, most beautifully wrought, most lifelike and most natural were the prince and michelagnolo, insomuch that it appeared as if the old man were in truth speaking, and the young man most intently listening to his words. [footnote : see note on p. , vol. ii.] in another picture, nine braccia in height and twelve in length, which was opposite to the chapel of the sacrament, bernardo timante buontalenti, a painter much beloved and favoured by the most illustrious prince, had figured with most beautiful invention the rivers of the three principal parts of the world, come, as it were, all grieving and sorrowful, to lament with arno on their common loss and to console him; and these rivers were the nile, the ganges, and the po. the nile had as a symbol a crocodile, and, to signify the fertility of his country, a garland of ears of corn; the ganges, a gryphon-bird and a chaplet of gems; the po, a swan and a crown of black amber. these rivers, having been conducted into tuscany by the fame, who was to be seen on high, as it were in flight, were standing round arno, who was crowned with cypress and held his vase, drained empty, uplifted with one hand, and in the other a branch of cypress, and beneath him was a lion. and, to signify that the soul of michelagnolo had flown to the highest felicity in heaven, the judicious painter had depicted in the air a splendour representing the celestial light, towards which the blessed soul, in the form of a little angel, was winging its way; with this lyric verse: vivens orbe peto laudibus Æthera. at the sides, upon two bases, were two figures in the act of holding open a curtain within which, so it appeared, were the above-named rivers, the soul of michelagnolo, and the fame; and each of those two figures had another beneath it. that which was on the right hand of the rivers, representing vulcan, had a torch in the hand; and the figure representing hatred, which had the neck under vulcan's feet in an attitude of great constraint, and as it were struggling to writhe free, had as symbol a vulture, with this verse: surgere quid properas odium crudele? jaceto. and that because things superhuman, and almost divine, should in no way be regarded with envy or hatred. the other, representing aglaia, one of the three graces and wife of vulcan, to signify proportion, had in her hand a lily, both because flowers are dedicated to the graces, and also because the lily is held to be not inappropriate to the rites of death. the figure which was lying beneath aglaia, and which was painted to represent disproportion, had as symbol a monkey, or rather, ape, and above her this verse: vivus et extinctus docuit sic sternere turpe. and under the rivers were these two other verses: venimus, arne, tuo confixa in vulnere moesta flumina, ut ereptum mundo ploremus honorem. this picture was held to be very beautiful in the invention, in the composition of the whole scene and the loveliness of the figures, and in the beauty of the verses, and because the painter honoured michelagnolo with this his labour, not by commission, but spontaneously and with such assistance as his own merit enabled him to obtain from his courteous and honourable friends; and for this reason he deserved to be even more highly commended. in another picture, six braccia in length and four in height, near the lateral door that leads out of the church, tommaso da san friano, a young painter of much ability, had painted michelagnolo as ambassador of his country at the court of pope julius ii; as we have related that he went, and for what reasons, sent by soderini. not far distant from the above-named picture (namely, a little below that lateral door which leads out of the church), in another picture of the same size, stefano pieri, a pupil of bronzino and a young man of great diligence and industry, had painted a scene that had in truth happened several times in rome not long before--namely, michelagnolo seated in a room by the side of the most illustrious lord duke cosimo, who stood conversing with him; of all which enough has been said above. over the said black draperies with which, as has been told, the whole church was hung all round, wherever there were no painted scenes or pictures, there were in each of the spaces of the chapels images of death, devices, and other suchlike things, all different from those that are generally made, and very fanciful and beautiful. some of these, as it were lamenting that they had been forced to deprive the world of such a man, had these words in a scroll: coegit dura necessitas. and near them was a globe of the world, from which had sprung a lily, which had three flowers and was broken in the middle, executed with most beautiful fantasy and invention by the above-named alessandro allori. there were other deaths, also, depicted with other inventions, but that one was most extolled upon whose neck, as she lay prostrate on the ground, eternity, with a palm in the hand, had planted one of her feet, and, regarding her with a look of disdain, appeared to be saying to her: "be it necessity or thy will, thou hast done nothing, for in spite of thee, come what may, michelagnolo shall live." the motto ran thus: vicit inclyta virtus. and all this was the invention of vasari. i will not omit to say that each of these deaths had on either side the device of michelagnolo, which was three crowns, or rather, three circlets, intertwined together in such a manner, that the circumference of one passed through the centre of the two others, and so with each; which sign michelagnolo used either to suggest that the three professions of sculpture, painting, and architecture are interwoven one with another and so bound together, that each of them receives benefit and adornment from the others, and they neither can nor should be separated; or, indeed, being a man of lofty genius, he may have had a more subtle meaning. but the academicians, considering him to have been perfect in all these three professions, and that each of these had assisted and embellished the other, changed his three circlets into three crowns intertwined together, with the motto: tergeminis tollit honoribus. which was intended to signify that in those three professions the crown of human perfection was justly due to him. on the pulpit from which varchi delivered the funeral oration, which was afterwards printed, there was no ornamentation, because, that work having been executed in bronze, with scenes in half-relief and low-relief, by the excellent donatello, any adornment that might have been added to it would have been by a great measure less beautiful. but on the other, which is opposite to the first, although it had not yet been raised on the columns, there was a picture, four braccia in height and little more than two in width, wherein there was painted with beautiful invention and excellent design, to represent fame, or rather, honour, a young man in a most beautiful attitude, with a trumpet in the right hand, and with the feet planted on time and death, in order to show that fame and honour, in spite of death and time, preserve alive to all eternity those who have laboured valiantly in this life. this picture was by the hand of vincenzio danti, the sculptor of perugia, of whom we have spoken, and will speak again elsewhere. the church having been embellished in such a manner, adorned with lights, and filled with a countless multitude, for everyone had left every other care and flocked together to such an honourable spectacle, there entered behind the above-named lieutenant of the academy, accompanied by the captain and halberdiers of the duke's guard, the consuls and the academicians, and, in short, all the painters, sculptors, and architects of florence. after all these had sat down between the catafalque and the high-altar, where they had been awaited for a good while by an infinite number of lords and gentlemen, who had been accommodated with seats according to the rank of each, there was begun a most solemn mass for the dead, with music and ceremonies of every kind. which finished, varchi mounted the above-mentioned pulpit, who had never performed such an office since he did it for the most illustrious lady duchess of ferrara, the daughter of duke cosimo; and there, with that elegance, those modes of utterance, and that voice which were the peculiar attributes of that great man in oratory, he recounted the praises and merits, life and works of the divine michelagnolo buonarroti. of a truth, what great good fortune it was for michelagnolo that he did not die before our academy was created, whereby his funeral rites were celebrated with so much honour and such magnificent and honourable pomp! so, also, it must be considered most fortunate for him that it happened that he passed from this to an eternal and most blessed life before varchi, seeing that he could not have been extolled by any more eloquent and learned man. that funeral oration by m. benedetto varchi was printed a short time afterwards, as was also, not long after that, another equally beautiful oration, likewise in praise of michelagnolo and of painting, composed by the most noble and most learned m. leonardo salviati, at that time a young man of about twenty-two years of age, and of a rare and happy genius in all manner of compositions, both latin and tuscan, as is known even now, and will be better known in the future, to all the world. and what shall i say, what can i say, that would not be too little, of the capacity, goodness, and wisdom of the very reverend lord lieutenant, the above-named don vincenzio borghini? save that it was with him as their chief, their guide, and their counsellor, that the eminent men of the academy and company of design celebrated those obsequies; for the reason that, although each of them was competent to do much more in his art than he did, nevertheless no enterprise is ever carried to a perfect and praiseworthy end save when one single man, in the manner of an experienced pilot and captain, has authority and power over all others. and since it was not possible that the whole city should see that funeral pomp in one day, by order of the duke it was all left standing many weeks, for the satisfaction of his people and of the strangers who came from neighbouring places to see it. we shall not give in this place the great multitude of epitaphs and verses, both latin and tuscan, composed by many able men in honour of michelagnolo; both because they would require a work to themselves, and because they have been written down and published by other writers elsewhere. but i will not omit to say in this last part, that after all the honours described above the duke ordained that an honourable place should be given to michelagnolo for his tomb in s. croce, in which church he had purposed in his lifetime to be buried, because the sepulchre of his ancestors was there. and to leonardo, the nephew of michelagnolo, his excellency gave all the marbles, both white and variegated, for that tomb, which was allotted to battista lorenzi, an able sculptor, to execute after the design of giorgio vasari, together with the head of michelagnolo. and since there are to be three statues there, painting, sculpture, and architecture, one of these was allotted to the above-named battista, one to giovanni dell'opera, and the last to valerio cioli, florentine sculptors; which statues are in process of being fashioned together with the tomb, and soon they will be seen finished and set in their places. the cost, over and above the marbles received from the duke, has been borne by the same leonardo buonarroti. but his excellency, in order not to fail in any respect in doing honour to that great man, will cause to be placed in the duomo, as he has previously thought to do, a memorial with his name, besides the head, even as there are to be seen there the names and images of the other eminent florentines. francesco primaticcio description of the works of francesco primaticcio painter and architect of bologna, and abbot of s. martin having treated hitherto of such of our craftsmen as are no longer alive among us--of those, namely, who have lived from until this year of --and having set michelagnolo buonarroti in the last place for many reasons, although two or three have died later than he, i have thought that it cannot be otherwise than a praiseworthy labour to make mention likewise in this our work of many noble craftsmen who are alive, and, for their merits, most worthy to be highly extolled and to be numbered among these last masters. this i do all the more willingly because they are all very much my friends and brothers, and the three most eminent are already so far advanced in years, that, having come to the furthest limit of old age, little more can be expected from them, although they still continue by a sort of habit to occupy themselves with some work. after these i will also make brief mention of those who under their discipline have become such, that they hold the first places among the craftsmen of our own day; and of others who in like manner are advancing towards perfection in our arts. beginning, then, with francesco primaticcio, to go on afterwards to tiziano vecelli and jacopo sansovino: i have to record that the said francesco, born in bologna of the noble family of the primaticci, much celebrated by fra leandro alberti and by pontano, was apprenticed in his early boyhood to commerce. but, that calling pleasing him little, not long afterwards, being exalted in mind and spirit, he set himself to practise design, to which he felt himself inclined by nature; and so, giving his attention to drawing, and at times to painting, no long time passed before he gave proof that he was likely to achieve an excellent result. going afterwards to mantua, where at that time giulio romano was working at the palace of the te for duke federigo, he employed such interest that he was set, in company with many other young men who were with giulio, to labour at that work. there, attending to the studies of art with much industry and diligence for a period of six years, he learned very well to handle colours and to work in stucco; wherefore, among all the other young men who were labouring in the work of that palace, francesco came to be held one of the most excellent, and the best of all at drawing and colouring. this may be seen in a great chamber, round which he made two friezes of stucco, one above the other, with a great abundance of figures that represent the ancient roman soldiery; and in the same palace, likewise, he executed many works in painting that are to be seen there, after the designs of the above-named giulio. through these works primaticcio came into such favour with that duke, that, when king francis of france heard with what quantity of ornaments he had caused the work of the palace to be executed, and wrote to him that at all costs he should send him a young man able to work in painting and stucco, the duke sent him francesco primaticcio, in the year . and although the year before that the florentine painter rosso had gone into the service of the same king, as has been related, and had executed many works there, and in particular the pictures of bacchus and venus, psyche and cupid, nevertheless the first works in stucco that were done in france, and the first labours in fresco of any account, had their origin, it is said, from primaticcio, who decorated in this manner many chambers, halls, and loggie for that king. [illustration: decorative panels (_after =primaticcio=. fontainebleau: galerie henry ii_) _x. photo_] liking the manner of this painter, and his procedure in every matter, the king sent him in the year to rome, to contrive to obtain certain antique marbles; in which primaticcio served him with such diligence, that in a short time, what with heads, torsi, and figures, he bought one hundred and twenty-five pieces. and at that same time he caused to be moulded by jacopo barozzi of vignuola, and by others, the bronze horse that is on the campidoglio, a great part of the scenes on the column, the statue of commodus, the venus, the laocoon, the tiber, the nile, and the statue of cleopatra, which are in the belvedere; to the end that they might all be cast in bronze. rosso having meanwhile died in france, and a long gallery therefore remaining unfinished which had been begun after his designs and in great part adorned with stucco-work and pictures, primaticcio was recalled from rome; whereupon he took ship with the above-mentioned marbles and moulds of antique figures, and returned to france. there, before any other thing, he cast according to those moulds and forms a great part of those antique figures, which came out so well, that they might be the originals; as may be seen in the queen's garden at fontainebleau, where they were placed, to the vast satisfaction of that king, who made in that place, one might say, another rome. i will not omit to say that primaticcio, in executing those statues, employed masters so excellent in the art of casting, that those works came out not only light, but with a surface so smooth, that it was hardly necessary to polish them. this work done, primaticcio was commissioned to give completion to the gallery that rosso had left unfinished; whereupon he set his hand to it, and in a short time delivered it finished with as many works in stucco and painting as have ever been executed in any place. wherefore the king, finding that he had been well served in the period of eight years that this master had worked for him, had him placed among the number of his chamberlains; and a short time afterwards, which was in the year , he made him abbot of s. martin, considering that francesco deserved no less. but for all this francesco has never ceased to have many works in stucco and in painting executed in the service of his king and of the others who have governed that kingdom after francis i. among others who have assisted him in this, he has been served, to say nothing of many of his fellow-bolognese, by giovan battista, the son of bartolommeo bagnacavallo, who has proved not less able than his father in many scenes and other works of primaticcio's that he has carried into execution. another who has served him for a considerable time is one ruggieri da bologna, who is still with him. in like manner, prospero fontana, a painter of bologna, was summoned to france not long since by primaticcio, who intended to make use of him; but, having fallen ill to the danger of his life immediately after his arrival, he returned to bologna. to tell the truth, these two, bagnacavallo and fontana, are able men, and i, who have made considerable use both of the one and of the other, of the first at rome, and of the second at rimini and florence, can declare this with certainty. but of all those who have assisted the abbot primaticcio, none has done him more honour than niccolò da modena, of whom mention has been made on another occasion, for by the excellence of his art this master has surpassed all the others. thus he executed with his own hand, after the designs of the abbot, a hall called the ball-room, with such a vast number of figures, that it appears scarcely possible that they could be counted, and all as large as life and coloured in so bright a manner, that in the harmony of the fresco-colours they appear like work in oils. after this work he painted in the great gallery, likewise from the designs of the abbot, sixty stories of the life and actions of ulysses, but with a colouring much darker than the pictures in the ball-room. this came about because he used no other colours but the earths in the pure state in which they are produced by nature, without mixing with them, it may be said, any white, and so heavily loaded with darks in the deep parts, that these have extraordinary relief and force; besides which, he executed the whole work with such harmony, that it appears almost as if painted in one and the same day. wherefore he merits extraordinary praise, particularly because he executed it in fresco, without ever retouching it "a secco," as many at the present day are accustomed to do. the vaulting of this gallery, likewise, is all wrought in stucco and painting, executed with much diligence by the men mentioned above and other young painters, but still after the designs of the abbot; as is also the old hall, and likewise a lower gallery that is over the pond, which is most beautiful and better adorned with lovely works than any other part of that place; but to attempt to speak of it at any length would make too long a story. [illustration: decorative panel (_after the painting by =primaticcio=. fontainebleau: escalier du roi_) _mansell_] at meudon the same abbot primaticcio has made innumerable decorations for the cardinal of lorraine in a vast palace belonging to him, called the grotto, a place so extraordinary in size, that, after the likeness of similar edifices of the ancients, it might be called the thermæ, by reason of the vast number and grandeur of the loggie, staircases, and apartments, both public and private, that are there; and, to say nothing of other particulars, most beautiful is a room called the pavilion, for it is all adorned with compartments and mouldings of stucco that are wrought with a view to being seen from below, and filled with a number of figures foreshortened in the same manner, which are very beautiful. beneath this, then, is a large room with some fountains wrought in stucco, and full of figures in the round and compartments formed of shells and other products of the sea and natural objects, which are marvellous things and beautiful beyond measure; and the vaulting, likewise, is all most excellently wrought in stucco by the hand of domenico del barbiere, a florentine painter, who is excellent not only in this kind of relief, but also in design, so that in some works that he has coloured he has given proofs of the rarest ability. in the same place, also, many figures of stucco in the round have been executed by a sculptor likewise of our country, called ponzio, who has acquitted himself very well. but, since the works that have been executed in those places in the service of those lords are innumerable in their variety, i must touch only on the principal works of the abbot, in order to show how rare he is in painting, in design, and in matters of architecture; although, in truth, it would not appear to me an excessive labour to enlarge on the particular works, if i had some true and clear information about them, as i have about works here. with regard to design, primaticcio has been and still is most excellent, as may be seen from a drawing by his hand painted with the signs of the heavens, which is in our book, sent to me by francesco himself; and i, both for love of him and because it is a thing of absolute perfection, hold it very dear. king francis being dead, the abbot remained in the same place and rank with king henry, and served him as long as he lived; and afterwards he was created by king francis ii commissary-general over all the buildings of the whole kingdom, in which office, one of great honour and much repute, there had previously acted the father of cardinal della bordagiera and monseigneur de villeroy. since the death of francis ii, he has continued in the same office, serving the present king, by whose order and that of the queen-mother primaticcio has made a beginning with the tomb of the above-named king henry, making in the centre of a six-sided chapel the sepulchre of the king himself, and at four sides the sepulchres of his four children; while at one of the other two sides of the chapel is the altar, and at the other the door. and since there are going into this work innumerable statues in marble and bronzes and a number of scenes in low-relief, it will prove worthy of all these great kings and of the excellence and genius of so rare a craftsman as is this abbot of s. martin, who in his best years has been most excellent and versatile in all things that pertain to our arts, seeing that he has occupied himself in the service of his lords not only in buildings, paintings, and stucco-work, but also in the preparations for many festivals and masquerades, with most beautiful and fantastic inventions. he has been very liberal and most loving towards his friends and relatives, and likewise towards the craftsmen who have served him. in bologna he has conferred many benefits on his relatives, and has bought honourable dwellings for them and made them commodious and very ornate, as is that wherein there now lives m. antonio anselmi, who has for wife one of the nieces of our abbot primaticcio, who has also given in marriage another niece, the sister of the first-named, with honour and a good dowry. primaticcio has always lived not like a painter and craftsman, but like a nobleman, and, as i have said, he has been very loving towards our craftsmen. when, as has been related, he sent for prospero fontana, he despatched to him a good sum of money, to the end that he might be able to make his way to france. this sum, having fallen ill, prospero was not able to pay back or return by means of his works and labours; wherefore i, passing in the year through bologna, recommended prospero to him in this matter, and such was the courtesy of primaticcio, that before i departed from bologna i saw a writing by the hand of the abbot in which he made a free gift to prospero of all that sum of money which he had in hand for that purpose. for which reasons the affection that he has won among craftsmen is such, that they address and honour him as a father. now, to say something more of prospero, i must record that he was once employed with much credit to himself in rome, by pope julius iii, at his palace, at the vigna giulia, and at the palace of the campo marzio, which at that time belonged to signor balduino monti, and now belongs to the lord cardinal ernando de' medici, the son of duke cosimo. in bologna the same master has executed many works in oils and in fresco, and in particular an altar-piece in oils in the madonna del baracane, of a s. catherine who is disputing with philosophers and doctors in the presence of the tyrant, which is held to be a very beautiful work. and the same prospero has painted many pictures in fresco in the principal chapel of the palace where the governor lives. much the friend of primaticcio, likewise, is lorenzo sabatini, an excellent painter; and if he had not been burdened with a wife and many children, the abbot would have taken him to france, knowing that he has a very good manner and great mastery in all kinds of work, as may be seen from many things that he has done in bologna. and in the year vasari made use of him in the festive preparations that were carried out in florence for the above-mentioned nuptials of the prince and her serene highness queen joanna of austria, causing him to execute, in the vestibule that is between the sala dei dugento and the great hall, six figures in fresco that are very beautiful and truly worthy to be praised. but since this able painter is constantly making progress, i shall say nothing more about him, save that, attending as he does to the studies of art, a most honourable result is expected from him. now, in connection with the abbot and the other bolognese of whom mention has been made hitherto, i shall say something of pellegrino bolognese, a painter of the highest promise and most beautiful genius. this pellegrino, after having attended in his early years to drawing the works by vasari that are in the refectory of s. michele in bosco at bologna, and those by other painters of good name, went in the year to rome, where he occupied himself until the year in drawing the most noteworthy works; executing during that time and also afterwards, in the castello di s. angelo, some things in connection with the works that perino del vaga carried out. in the centre of the vaulting of the chapel of s. dionigi, in the church of s. luigi de' franzesi, he painted a battle-scene in fresco, in which he acquitted himself in such a manner, that, although jacopo del conte, a florentine painter, and girolamo siciolante of sermoneta had executed many works in the same chapel, pellegrino proved to be in no way inferior to them; nay, it appears to many that he acquitted himself better than they did in the boldness, grace, colouring, and design of those his pictures. by reason of this monsignor poggio afterwards availed himself much of pellegrino, for he had erected a palace on the esquiline hill, where he had a vineyard, without the porta del popolo, and he desired that pellegrino should execute some figures for him on the façade, and then that he should paint the interior of a loggia that faces towards the tiber, which he executed with such diligence, that it is held to be a work of much beauty and grace. in the house of francesco formento, between the strada del pellegrino and the parione, he painted in a courtyard a façade and two figures besides. by order of the ministers of pope julius iii, he executed a large escutcheon, with two figures, in the belvedere; and without the porta del popolo, in the church of s. andrea, which that pontiff had caused to be built, he painted a s. peter and a s. andrew, which two figures were much extolled, and the design of the s. peter is in our book, together with other sheets drawn with much diligence by the same hand. [illustration: the adoration of the shepherds (_after the painting by =pellegrino tibaldi=. vienna: prince liechtenstein_) _hanfstaengl_] being then sent to bologna by monsignor poggio, he painted for him in his palace there many scenes in fresco, among which is one that is most beautiful, wherein from the many figures, both nude and clothed, and the lovely composition of the scene, it is evident that he surpassed himself, insomuch that he has never done any work since better than this. in s. jacopo, in the same city, he began to paint a chapel likewise for cardinal poggio, which was afterwards finished by the above-mentioned prospero fontana. being then taken by the cardinal of augsburg to the madonna of loreto, pellegrino decorated for him a chapel most beautifully with stucco-work and pictures. on the vaulting, within a rich pattern of compartments in stucco, are the nativity of christ and his presentation in the arms of simeon at the temple; and in the centre, in particular, is the transfiguration of the saviour on mount tabor, and with him moses, elias, and the disciples. in the altar-piece that is above the altar, he painted s. john the baptist baptizing christ; and in this he made a portrait of the above-named cardinal, kneeling. on one of the façades at the sides he painted s. john preaching to the multitude, and on the other the beheading of the same saint. in the forecourt below the church he painted stories of the judgment, and some figures in chiaroscuro in the place where the theatines now have their confessional. being summoned not long afterwards to ancona by giorgio morato, he painted for the church of s. agostino a large altar-piece in oils of christ baptized by s. john, with s. paul and other saints on one side, and in the predella a good number of little figures, which are full of grace. for the same man he made in the church of s. ciriaco sul monte a very beautiful ornament in stucco for the altar-piece of the high-altar, and within it a christ of five braccia in full-relief, which was much extolled. in like manner, he has made in the same city a very large and very beautiful ornament of stucco for the high-altar of s. domenico, and he would also have painted the altar-picture, but he had a difference with the patron of that work, and it was given to tiziano vecelli to execute, as will be related in the proper place. finally, having undertaken to decorate in the same city of ancona the loggia de' mercanti, which faces on one side over the sea-shore and on the other towards the principal street of the city, pellegrino has adorned the vaulting, which is a new structure, with pictures and many large figures in stucco; in which work since he has exerted all the effort and study possible to him, it has turned out in truth full of beauty and grace, for the reason that, besides that all the figures are beautiful and well executed, there are some most lovely foreshortenings of nudes, in which it is evident that he has imitated with much diligence the works of buonarroti that are in the chapel in rome. now, since there are not in those parts any architects or engineers of account, or any who know more than he does, pellegrino has taken it upon himself to give his attention to architecture and to the fortifying of places in that province; and, as one who has recognized that painting is more difficult and perhaps less advantageous than architecture, setting his painting somewhat on one side, he has executed many works for the fortification of ancona and for many other places in the states of the church, and particularly at ravenna. finally, he has made a beginning with a palace for the sapienza, at pavia, for cardinal borromeo. and at the present day, since he has not wholly abandoned painting, he is executing a scene in fresco, which will be very beautiful, in the refectory of s. giorgio at ferrara, for the monks of monte oliveto; and of this pellegrino himself not long ago showed me the design, which is very fine. but, seeing that he is a young man of thirty-five, and is constantly making more and more progress and advancing towards perfection, this much about him must suffice for the present. in like manner, i shall be brief in speaking of orazio fumaccini,[ ] a painter likewise from bologna, who has executed in rome, as has been related, above one of the doors of the hall of kings, a scene that is very fine, and in bologna many much-extolled pictures; for he also is young, and he is acquitting himself in such a manner, that he will not be inferior to his elders, of whom we have made mention in these our lives. [footnote : sammacchini.] the men of romagna, also, spurred by the example of the bolognese, their neighbours, have executed many noble works in our arts; for, besides jacopone da faenza, who, as has been related, painted the tribune of s. vitale in ravenna, there have been and still are many others after him who are excellent. maestro luca de' longhi of ravenna, a man of good, quiet, and studious nature, has painted in his native city of ravenna and in the surrounding country many very beautiful panel-pictures in oils and portraits from nature; and of much charm, among others, are two little altar-pieces that he was commissioned not long since to paint for the church of the monks of classi by the reverend don antonio da pisa, then abbot of that monastery; to say nothing of an infinite number of other works that this painter has executed. and, to tell the truth, if maestro luca had gone forth from ravenna, where he has always lived and still lives with his family, being assiduous and very diligent, and of fine judgment, he would have become a very rare painter, because he has executed his works, as he still does, with patience and study; and to this i can bear witness, who know how much proficience he made during my sojourn of two months in ravenna, both practising and discussing the matters of art; nor must i omit to say that a daughter of his, still but a little girl, called barbara, draws very well, and has begun to do some work in colour with no little grace and excellence of manner. a rival of luca, for a time, was livio agresti of forlì, who, after he had executed for abbot de' grassi in the church of the spirito santo some scenes in fresco and certain other works, departed from ravenna and made his way to rome. there, attending with much study to design, he became a well-practised master, as may be seen from some façades and other works in fresco that he executed at that time; and his first works, which are in narni, have in them not a little of the good. in a chapel of the church of the santo spirito, in rome, he has painted a number of figures and scenes in fresco, which are executed with much industry and study, so that they are rightly extolled by everyone. that work was the reason, as has been related, that there was allotted to him one of the smaller scenes that are over the doors in the hall of kings in the palace of the vatican, in which he acquitted himself so well, that it can bear comparison with the others. the same master has executed for the cardinal of augsburg seven pieces with scenes painted on cloth of silver, which have been held to be very beautiful in spain, where they have been sent by that same cardinal as presents to king philip, to be used as hangings in a chamber. another picture on cloth of silver he has painted in the same manner, which is now to be seen in the church of the theatines at forlì. finally, having become a good and bold draughtsman, a well-practised colourist, fertile in the composition of scenes, and universal in his manner, he has been invited by the above-named cardinal with a good salary to augsburg, where he is constantly executing works worthy of much praise. but most rare among the other men of romagna, in certain respects, is marco da faenza (for only so, and not otherwise, is he called), for the reason that he has no ordinary mastery in the work of fresco, being bold, resolute, and of a terrible force, and particularly in the manner and practice of making grotesques, in which he has no equal at the present day, nor one who even approaches his perfection. his works may be found throughout all rome; and in florence there is by his hand the greater part of the ornaments of twenty different rooms that are in the ducal palace, and the friezes of the ceiling in the great hall of that palace, which was painted by giorgio vasari, as will be fully described in the proper place; not to mention that the decorations of the principal court of the same palace, made in a short time for the coming of queen joanna, were executed in great part by the same man. and this must be enough of marco, he being still alive and in the flower of his growth and activity. in parma there is at the present day in the service of the lord duke ottavio farnese, a painter called miruolo, a native, i believe, of romagna, who, besides some works executed in rome, has painted many scenes in fresco in a little palace that the same lord duke has caused to be built in the castle of parma. there, also, are some fountains constructed with fine grace by giovanni boscoli, a sculptor of montepulciano, who, having worked in stucco for many years under vasari in the palace of the above-named lord duke cosimo of florence, has finally entered the service of the above-mentioned lord duke of parma, with a good salary, and has executed, as he continues constantly to do, works worthy of his rare and most beautiful genius. in the same cities and provinces, also, are many other excellent and noble craftsmen; but, since they are still young, we shall defer to a more convenient time the making of that honourable mention of them that their talents and their works may have merited. and this is the end of the works of abbot primaticcio. i will add that, he having had himself portrayed in a pen-drawing by the bolognese painter bartolommeo passerotto, who was very much his friend, that portrait has come into our hands, and we have it in our book of drawings by the hands of various excellent painters. tiziano da cadore [illustration: tiziano: the madonna of the cherries (_vienna: imperial gallery, . panel_)] description of the works of tiziano da cadore painter tiziano was born at cadore, a little township situated on the piave and five miles distant from the pass of the alps, in the year , from the family of the vecelli, one of the most noble in that place. at the age of ten, having a fine spirit and a lively intelligence, he was sent to venice to the house of an uncle, an honoured citizen, who, perceiving the boy to be much inclined to painting, placed him with gian bellini, an excellent painter very famous at that time, as has been related. under his discipline, attending to design, he soon showed that he was endowed by nature with all the gifts of intellect and judgment that are necessary for the art of painting; and since at that time gian bellini and the other painters of that country, from not being able to study ancient works, were much--nay, altogether--given to copying from the life whatever work they did, and that with a dry, crude, and laboured manner, tiziano also for a time learned that method. but having come to about the year , giorgione da castelfranco, not altogether liking that mode of working, began to give to his pictures more softness and greater relief, with a beautiful manner; nevertheless he used to set himself before living and natural objects and counterfeit them as well as he was able with colours, and paint them broadly with tints crude or soft according as the life demanded, without doing any drawing, holding it as certain that to paint with colours only, without the study of drawing on paper, was the true and best method of working, and the true design. for he did not perceive that for him who wishes to distribute his compositions and accommodate his inventions well, it is necessary that he should first put them down on paper in several different ways, in order to see how the whole goes together, for the reason that the idea is not able to see or imagine the inventions perfectly within herself, if she does not reveal and demonstrate her conception to the eyes of the body, that these may assist her to form a good judgment. besides which, it is necessary to give much study to the nude, if you wish to comprehend it well, which you will never do, nor is it possible, without having recourse to paper; and to keep always before you, while you paint, persons naked or draped, is no small restraint, whereas, when you have formed your hand by drawing on paper, you then come little by little with greater ease to carry your conceptions into execution, designing and painting together. and so, gaining practice in art, you make both manner and judgment perfect, doing away with the labour and effort wherewith those pictures were executed of which we have spoken above, not to mention that by drawing on paper, you come to fill the mind with beautiful conceptions, and learn to counterfeit all the objects of nature by memory, without having to keep them always before you or being obliged to conceal beneath the glamour of colouring the painful fruits of your ignorance of design, in the manner that was followed for many years by the venetian painters, giorgione, palma, pordenone, and others, who never saw rome or any other works of absolute perfection. [illustration: ariosto (_after the painting by =tiziano=. london: national gallery, no. _) _mansell_] tiziano, then, having seen the method and manner of giorgione, abandoned the manner of gian bellini, although he had been accustomed to it for a long time, and attached himself to that of giorgione; coming in a short time to imitate his works so well, that his pictures at times were mistaken for works by giorgione, as will be related below. then, having grown in age, practice, and judgment, tiziano executed many works in fresco, which cannot be enumerated in order, being dispersed over various places; let it suffice that they were such, that the opinion was formed by many experienced judges that he would become, as he afterwards did, a most excellent painter. at the time when he first began to follow the manner of giorgione, not being more than eighteen years of age, he made the portrait of a gentleman of the barberigo family, his friend, which was held to be very beautiful, the likeness of the flesh-colouring being true and natural, and all the hairs so well distinguished one from another, that they might have been counted, as also might have been the stitches in a doublet of silvered satin that he painted in that work. in short, it was held to be so well done, and with such diligence, that if tiziano had not written his name on a dark ground, it would have been taken for the work of giorgione. meanwhile giorgione himself had executed the principal façade of the fondaco de' tedeschi, and by means of barberigo there were allotted to tiziano certain scenes on the same building, above the merceria. after which work he painted a large picture with figures of the size of life, which is now in the hall of m. andrea loredano, who dwells near s. marcuola. in that picture is painted our lady going into egypt, in the midst of a great forest and certain landscapes that are very well done, because tiziano had given his attention for many months to such things, and had kept in his house for that purpose some germans who were excellent painters of landscapes and verdure. in the wood in that picture, likewise, he painted many animals, which he portrayed from the life; and they are truly natural, and almost alive. next, in the house of m. giovanni d'anna, a flemish gentleman and merchant, his gossip, he made his portrait, which has all the appearance of life, and also an "ecce homo" with many figures, which is held by tiziano himself and by others to be a very beautiful work. the same master painted a picture of our lady with other figures the size of life, of men and children, all portrayed from the life and from persons of that house. then in the year , while the emperor maximilian was making war on the venetians, tiziano, according to his own account, painted an angel raphael with tobias and a dog in the church of s. marziliano, with a distant landscape, where, in a little wood, s. john the baptist is praying on his knees to heaven, whence comes a radiance that illumines him; and this work it is thought that he executed before he made a beginning with the façade of the fondaco de' tedeschi. concerning which façade, many gentlemen, not knowing that giorgione was not working there any more and that tiziano was doing it, who had uncovered one part, meeting with giorgione, congratulated him in friendly fashion, saying that he was acquitting himself better in the façade towards the merceria than he had done in that which is over the grand canal. at which circumstance giorgione felt such disdain, that until tiziano had completely finished the work and it had become well known that the same had done that part, he would scarcely let himself be seen; and from that time onward he would never allow tiziano to associate with him or be his friend. [illustration: bacchanal (_after the painting by =tiziano=. madrid: the prado_) _anderson_] in the year after, , tiziano published in wood-engraving the triumph of faith, with an infinity of figures; our first parents, the patriarchs, the prophets, the sibyls, the innocents, the martyrs, the apostles, and jesus christ borne in triumph by the four evangelists and the four doctors, with the holy confessors behind. in that work tiziano displayed boldness, a beautiful manner, and the power to work with facility of hand; and i remember that fra sebastiano del piombo, conversing of this, said to me that if tiziano had been in rome at that time, and had seen the works of michelagnolo, those of raffaello, and the ancient statues, and had studied design, he would have done things absolutely stupendous, considering the beautiful mastery that he had in colouring, and that he deserved to be celebrated as the finest and greatest imitator of nature in the matter of colour in our times, and with the foundation of the grand method of design he might have equalled the urbinate and buonarroti. afterwards, having gone to vicenza, tiziano painted the judgment of solomon in fresco, which was a beautiful work, under the little loggia where justice is administered in public audience. he then returned to venice, and painted the façade of the grimani. at padua, in the church of s. antonio, he executed likewise in fresco some stories of the actions of that saint, and for that of s. spirito he painted a little altar-piece with a s. mark seated in the midst of certain saints, in whose faces are some portraits from life done in oils with the greatest diligence; which picture many have believed to be by the hand of giorgione. then, a scene having been left unfinished in the hall of the great council through the death of giovanni bellini, wherein frederick barbarossa is kneeling at the door of the church of s. marco before pope alexander iv, who places his foot on barbarossa's neck, tiziano finished it, changing many things, and making there many portraits from life of his friends and others; for which he was rewarded by receiving from the senate an office in the fondaco de' tedeschi, called the senseria, which yields three hundred crowns a year. that office those signori are accustomed to give to the most excellent painter of their city, on the condition that he shall be obliged from time to time to paint the portrait of their prince or doge, at his election, for the price of only eight crowns, which the prince himself pays to him; which portrait is afterwards kept, in memory of him, in a public place in the palace of s. marco. [illustration: madonna with saints and donor (_after the panel by =tiziano da cadore=. ancona: s. domenico_) _anderson_] in the year duke alfonso of ferrara had caused a little chamber to be decorated, and had commissioned dosso, the painter of ferrara, to execute in certain compartments stories of Æneas, mars, and venus, and in a grotto vulcan with two smiths at the forge; and he desired that there should also be there pictures by the hand of gian bellini. bellini painted on another wall a vat of red wine with some bacchanals around it, and satyrs, musicians, and other men and women, all drunk with wine, and near them a nude and very beautiful silenus, riding on his ass, with figures about him that have the hands full of fruits and grapes; which work was in truth executed and coloured with great diligence, insomuch that it is one of the most beautiful pictures that gian bellini ever painted, although in the manner of the draperies there is a certain sharpness after the german manner (nothing, indeed, of any account), because he imitated a picture by the fleming albrecht dürer, which had been brought in those days to venice and placed in the church of s. bartolommeo, a rare work and full of most beautiful figures painted in oils. on that vat gian bellini wrote these words: joannes bellinus venetus, p. . that work he was not able to finish completely, because he was old, and tiziano, as the most excellent of all the others, was sent for to the end that he might finish it; wherefore, being desirous to acquire excellence and to make himself known, he executed with much diligence two scenes that were wanting in that little chamber. in the first is a river of red wine, about which are singers and musicians, both men and women, as it were drunk, and a naked woman who is sleeping, so beautiful that she might be alive, together with other figures; and on this picture tiziano wrote his name. in the other, which is next to it and seen first on entering, he painted many little boys and loves in various attitudes, which much pleased that lord, as also did the other picture; but most beautiful of all is one of those boys who is making water into a river and is reflected in the water, while the others are around a pedestal that has the form of an altar, upon which is a statue of venus with a sea-conch in the right hand, and grace and beauty about her, which are very lovely figures and executed with incredible diligence. on the door of a press, likewise, tiziano painted an image of christ from the waist upwards, marvellous, nay, stupendous, to whom a base hebrew is showing the coin of cæsar; which image, and also other pictures in that little chamber, our best craftsmen declare to be the finest and best executed that tiziano has ever done, and indeed they are most rare. wherefore he well deserved to be most liberally recompensed and rewarded by that lord, whom he portrayed excellently well with one arm resting on a great piece of artillery; and he also made a portrait of signora laura, who afterwards became the wife of the duke, which is a stupendous work. and, in truth, gifts have great potency with those who labour for the love of art, when they are uplifted by the liberality of princes. at that time tiziano formed a friendship with the divine messer lodovico ariosto, and was recognized by him as a most excellent painter and celebrated in his orlando furioso: ... e tizian che onora non men cador, che quei vinezia e urbino. [illustration: tiziano: sacred and profane love (_rome: borghese gallery, . canvas_)] having then returned to venice, tiziano painted on a canvas in oils, for the father-in-law of giovanni da castel bolognese, a naked shepherd and a country-girl who is offering him some pipes, that he may play them, with a most beautiful landscape; which picture is now at faenza, in the house of the said giovanni. he then executed for the high-altar in the church of the friars minors, called the cà grande, a picture of our lady ascending into heaven, and below her the twelve apostles, who are gazing upon her as she ascends; but of this work, from its having been painted on cloth, and perhaps not well kept, there is little to be seen. for the chapel of the pesari family, in the same church, he painted in an altar-piece the madonna with the child in her arms, a s. peter and a s. george, and about them the patrons of the work, kneeling and portrayed from life; among whom are the bishop of paphos and his brother, then newly returned from the victory which that bishop won against the turks. for the little church of s. niccolò, in the same convent, he painted in an altar-piece s. nicholas, s. francis, s. catharine, and also a nude s. sebastian, portrayed from life and without any artifice that can be seen to have been used to enhance the beauty of the limbs and trunk, there being nothing there but what he saw in the work of nature, insomuch that it all appears as if stamped from the life, so fleshlike it is and natural; but for all that it is held to be beautiful, as is also very lovely the madonna with the child in her arms at whom all those figures are gazing. the subject of that picture was drawn on wood by tiziano himself, and then engraved by others and printed. for the church of s. rocco, after the works described above, he painted a picture of christ with the cross on his shoulder, and about his neck a cord that is drawn by a hebrew; and that figure, which many have believed to be by the hand of giorgione, is now the object of the greatest devotion in venice, and has received in alms more crowns than tiziano and giorgione ever gained in all their lives. then he was invited to rome by bembo, whom he had already portrayed, and who was at that time secretary to pope leo x, to the end that he might see rome, raffaello da urbino, and others; but tiziano delayed that visit so long from one day to another, that leo died, and raffaello in , and after all he never went. for the church of s. maria maggiore he painted a picture with s. john the baptist in the desert among some rocks, an angel that appears as if alive, and a little piece of distant landscape with some trees upon the bank of a river, all full of grace. he made portraits from life of the prince grimani and loredano, which were held to be admirable; and not long afterwards of king francis, when he departed from italy in order to return to france. and in the year when andrea gritti was elected doge, tiziano painted his portrait, which was a very rare thing, in a picture wherein are our lady, s. mark, and s. andrew with the countenance of that doge; which picture, a most marvellous work, is in the sala del collegio. he has also painted portraits, in addition to those of the doges named above (being obliged, as has been related, to do it), of others who have been doges in their time; pietro lando, francesco donato, marcantonio trevisano, and veniero. but by the two doges and brothers paoli[ ] he has been excused recently, because of his great age, from that obligation. before the sack of rome there had gone to live in venice pietro aretino, a most famous poet of our times, and he became very much the friend of tiziano and sansovino; which brought great honour and advantage to tiziano, for the reason that the poet made him known wherever his pen reached, and especially to princes of importance, as will be told in the proper place. [footnote : priuli.] [illustration: charles v (_after the painting by =tiziano=. madrid: the prado_) _anderson_] meanwhile, to return to tiziano's works, he painted the altar-piece for the altar of s. piero martire in the church of ss. giovanni e polo, depicting therein that holy martyr larger than life, in a forest of very great trees, fallen to the ground and assailed by the fury of a soldier, who has wounded him so grievously in the head, that as he lies but half alive there is seen in his face the horror of death, while in another friar who runs forward in flight may be perceived the fear and terror of death. in the air are two nude angels coming down from a flash of heaven's lightning, which gives light to the landscape, which is most beautiful, and to the whole work besides, which is the most finished, the most celebrated, the greatest, and the best conceived and executed that tiziano has as yet ever done in all his life. this work being seen by gritti, who was always very much the friend of tiziano, as also of sansovino, he caused to be allotted to him a great scene of the rout of chiaradadda, in the hall of the great council. in it he painted a battle with soldiers in furious combat, while a terrible rain falls from heaven; which work, wholly taken from life, is held to be the best of all the scenes that are in that hall, and the most beautiful. and in the same palace, at the foot of a staircase, he painted a madonna in fresco. having made not long afterwards for a gentleman of the contarini family a picture of a very beautiful christ, who is seated at table with cleophas and luke, it appeared to that gentleman that the work was worthy to be in a public place, as in truth it is. wherefore having made a present of it, like a true lover of his country and of the commonwealth, to the signoria, it was kept a long time in the apartments of the doge; but at the present day it is in a public place, where it may be seen by everyone, in the salotta d'oro in front of the hall of the council of ten, over the door. about the same time, also, he painted for the scuola of s. maria della carità our lady ascending the steps of the temple, with heads of every kind portrayed from nature; and for the scuola of s. fantino, likewise, a little altar-piece of s. jerome in penitence, which was much extolled by the craftsmen, but was consumed by fire two years ago together with the whole church. it is said that in the year , the emperor charles v being in bologna, tiziano was invited to that city by cardinal ippolito de' medici, through the agency of pietro aretino. there he made a most beautiful portrait of his majesty in full armour, which so pleased him, that he caused a thousand crowns to be given to tiziano; but of these he was obliged afterwards to give the half to the sculptor alfonso lombardi, who had made a model to be reproduced in marble, as was related in his life. having returned to venice, tiziano found that a number of gentlemen, who had taken pordenone into their favour, praising much the works executed by him on the ceiling of the sala de' pregai and elsewhere, had caused a little altar-piece to be allotted to him in the church of s. giovanni elemosinario, to the end that he might paint it in competition with tiziano, who for the same place had painted a short time before the said s. giovanni elemosinario in the habit of a bishop. but, for all the diligence that pordenone devoted to that altar-piece, he was not able to equal or even by a great measure to approach to the work of tiziano. next, tiziano executed a most beautiful altar-picture of an annunciation for the church of s. maria degli angeli at murano, but he who had caused it to be painted not being willing to spend five hundred crowns upon it, which tiziano was asking, by the advice of messer pietro aretino he sent it as a gift to the above-named emperor charles v, who, liking that work vastly, made him a present of two thousand crowns; and where that picture was to have been placed, there was set in its stead one by the hand of pordenone. nor had any long time passed when charles v, returning to bologna for a conference with pope clement, at the time when he came with his army from hungary, desired to be portrayed again by tiziano. before departing from bologna, tiziano also painted a portrait of the above-named cardinal ippolito de' medici in hungarian dress, and in a smaller picture the same man in full armour; both which portraits are now in the guardaroba of duke cosimo. at that same time he executed a portrait of alfonso davalos, marchese del vasto, and one of the above-named pietro aretino, who then contrived that he should become the friend and servant of federigo gonzaga, duke of mantua, with whom tiziano went to his states and there painted a portrait of him, which is a living likeness, and then one of the cardinal, his brother. these finished, he painted, for the adornment of a room among those of giulio romano, twelve figures from the waist upwards of the twelve cæsars, very beautiful, beneath each of which the said giulio afterwards painted a story from their lives. [illustration: tiziano: the duke of norfolk (_florence: pitti, . canvas_)] in cadore, his native place, tiziano has painted an altar-picture wherein are our lady, s. tiziano the bishop, and a portrait of himself kneeling. in the year when pope paul iii went to bologna, and from there to ferrara, tiziano, having gone to the court, made a portrait of that pope, which was a very beautiful work, and from it another for cardinal s. fiore; and both these portraits, for which he was very well paid by the pope, are in rome, one in the guardaroba of cardinal farnese, and the other in the possession of the heirs of the above-named cardinal s. fiore, and from them have been taken many copies, which are dispersed throughout italy. at this same time, also, he made a portrait of francesco maria, duke of urbino, which was a marvellous work; wherefore m. pietro aretino on this account celebrated him in a sonnet that began: se il chiaro apelle con la man dell'arte rassembrò d'alessandro il volto e il petto. there are in the guardaroba of the same duke, by the hand of tiziano, two most lovely heads of women, and a young recumbent venus with flowers and certain light draperies about her, very beautiful and well finished; and, in addition, a figure of s. mary magdalene with the hair all loose, which is a rare work. there, likewise, are the portraits of charles v, king francis as a young man, duke guidobaldo ii, pope sixtus iv, pope julius ii, paul iii, the old cardinal of lorraine, and suleiman emperor of the turks; which portraits, i say, are by the hand of tiziano, and most beautiful. in the same guardaroba, besides many other things, is a portrait of hannibal the carthaginian, cut in intaglio in an antique cornelian, and also a very beautiful head in marble by the hand of donato. [illustration: pope paul iii (_after the painting by =tiziano=. naples: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] in the year tiziano painted for the friars of s. spirito, in venice, the altar-piece of their high-altar, figuring in it the descent of the holy spirit upon the apostles, with a god depicted as of fire, and the spirit as a dove; which altar-piece becoming spoiled in no long time, after having many disputes with those friars he had to paint it again, and it is that which is over the altar at the present day. for the church of s. nazzaro in brescia he executed the altar-piece of the high-altar in five pictures; in the central picture is jesus christ returning to life, with some soldiers around, and at the sides are s. nazzaro, s. sebastian, the angel gabriel, and the virgin receiving the annunciation. in a picture for the wall at the entrance of the duomo of verona, he painted an assumption of our lady into heaven, with the apostles on the ground, which is held to be the best of the modern works in that city. in the year he made the portrait of don diego di mendoza, at that time ambassador of charles v in venice, a whole-length figure and standing, which was very beautiful; and from this tiziano began what has since come into fashion, the making of certain portraits of full length. in the same manner he painted that of the cardinal of trento, then a young man, and for francesco marcolini the portrait of messer pietro aretino, but this last was by no means as beautiful as one of that poet, likewise by the hand of tiziano, which aretino himself sent as a present to duke cosimo de' medici, to whom he sent also the head of signor giovanni de' medici, the father of the said lord duke. that head was copied from a cast taken from the face of that lord when he died at mantua, which was in the possession of aretino; and both these portraits are in the guardaroba of the same lord duke, among many other most noble pictures. the same year, vasari having been thirteen months in venice to execute, as has been related, a ceiling for messer giovanni cornaro, and some works for the company of the calza, sansovino, who was directing the fabric of s. spirito, had commissioned him to make designs for three large pictures in oils which were to go into the ceiling, to the end that he might execute them in painting; but, vasari having afterwards departed, those three pictures were allotted to tiziano, who executed them most beautifully, from his having contrived with great art to make the figures foreshortened from below upwards. in one is abraham sacrificing isaac, in another david severing the neck of goliath, and in the third abel slain by his brother cain. about the same time tiziano painted a portrait of himself, in order to leave that memory of himself to his children. [illustration: danaË (_after the painting by =tiziano=. naples: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] the year having come, he went at the invitation of cardinal farnese to rome, where he found vasari, who, having returned from naples, was executing the hall of the cancelleria for the above-named cardinal; whereupon, tiziano having been recommended by that lord to vasari, giorgio kept him company lovingly in taking him about to see the sights of rome. and then, after tiziano had rested for some days, rooms were given to him in the belvedere, to the end that he might set his hand to painting once more the portrait of pope paul, of full length, with one of farnese and one of duke ottavio, which he executed excellently well and much to the satisfaction of those lords. at their persuasion he painted, for presenting to the pope, a picture of christ from the waist upwards in the form of an "ecce homo," which work, whether it was that the works of michelagnolo, raffaello, polidoro, and others had made him lose some force, or for some other reason, did not appear to the painters, although it was a good picture, to be of the same excellence as many others by his hand, and particularly his portraits. michelagnolo and vasari, going one day to visit tiziano in the belvedere, saw in a picture that he had executed at that time a nude woman representing danaë, who had in her lap jove transformed into a rain of gold; and they praised it much, as one does in the painter's presence. after they had left him, discoursing of tiziano's method, buonarroti commended it not a little, saying that his colouring and his manner much pleased him, but that it was a pity that in venice men did not learn to draw well from the beginning, and that those painters did not pursue a better method in their studies. "for," he said, "if this man had been in any way assisted by art and design, as he is by nature, and above all in counterfeiting the life, no one could do more or work better, for he has a fine spirit and a very beautiful and lively manner." and in fact this is true, for the reason that he who has not drawn much nor studied the choicest ancient and modern works, cannot work well from memory by himself or improve the things that he copies from life, giving them the grace and perfection wherein art goes beyond the scope of nature, which generally produces some parts that are not beautiful. tiziano, finally departing from rome, with many gifts received from those lords, and in particular a benefice of good value for his son pomponio, set himself on the road to return to venice, after orazio, his other son, had made a portrait of messer battista ceciliano, an excellent player on the bass-viol, which was a very good work, and he himself had executed some other portraits for duke guidobaldo of urbino. arriving in florence, and seeing the rare works of that city, he was amazed by them no less than he had been by those of rome. and besides that, he visited duke cosimo, who was at poggio a caiano, offering to paint his portrait; to which his excellency did not give much heed, perchance in order not to do a wrong to the many noble craftsmen of his city and dominion. then, having arrived in venice, tiziano finished for the marchese del vasto an allocution (for so they called it) made by that lord to his soldiers; and after that he took the portrait of charles v, that of the catholic king, and many others. these works finished, he painted a little altar-piece of the annunciation for the church of s. maria nuova in venice; and then, employing the assistance of his young men, he executed a last supper in the refectory of ss. giovanni e polo, and for the high-altar of the church of s. salvadore an altar-piece in which is a christ transfigured on mount tabor, and for another altar in the same church a madonna receiving the annunciation from the angel. but these last works, although there is something of the good to be seen in them, are not much esteemed by him, and have not the perfection that his other pictures have. and since the works of tiziano are without number, and particularly the portraits, it is almost impossible to make mention of them all; wherefore i shall speak only of the most remarkable, but without order of time, it being of little import to know which was first and which later. several times, as has been related, he painted the portrait of charles v, and in the end he was summoned for that purpose to the court, where he portrayed him as he was in those his later years; and the work of tiziano so pleased that all-conquering emperor, that after he had once seen it he would not be portrayed by other painters. each time that he painted him, he received a thousand crowns of gold as a present, and he was made by his majesty a chevalier, with a revenue of two hundred crowns on the chamber of naples. in like manner, when he portrayed philip, king of spain, the son of charles, he received from him a fixed allowance of two hundred crowns more; insomuch that, adding those four hundred to the three hundred that he has on the fondaco de' tedeschi from the signori of venice, he has without exerting himself a fixed income of seven hundred crowns every year. of the same charles v and king philip tiziano sent portraits to the lord duke cosimo, who has them in his guardaroba. he portrayed ferdinand, king of the romans, who afterwards became emperor, and both his sons, maximilian, now emperor, and his brother. he also portrayed queen maria, and, for the emperor charles v, the duke of saxony when he was a prisoner. but what a waste of time is this? there has been scarce a single lord of great name, or prince, or great lady, who has not been portrayed by tiziano, a painter of truly extraordinary excellence in this field of art. he painted portraits of king francis i of france, as has been related, francesco sforza, duke of milan, the marquis of pescara, antonio da leva, massimiano stampa, signor giovan battista castaldo, and other lords without number. [illustration: perseus and andromeda (_after the painting by =tiziano=. london: hertford house_) _mansell_] in like manner, besides the works mentioned above, at various times he has executed many others. in venice, by order of charles v, he painted in a great altar-piece the triune god enthroned, our lady and the infant christ, with the dove over him, and the ground all of fire, signifying love; and the father is surrounded by fiery cherubim. on one side is the same charles v, and on the other the empress, both clothed in linen garments, with the hands clasped in the attitude of prayer, among many saints; all which was after the command of the emperor, who, at that time at the height of his victories, began to show that he was minded to retire from the things of this world, as he afterwards did, in order to die like a true christian, fearing god and desirous of his own salvation. which picture the emperor said to tiziano that he wished to place in the monastery wherein afterwards he finished the course of his life; and since it is a very rare work, it is expected that it may soon be published in engravings. the same tiziano executed for queen maria a prometheus who is bound to mount caucasus and torn by jove's eagle, a sisyphus in hell who is toiling under his stone, and tityus devoured by the vulture. these her majesty received, excepting the prometheus, and with them a tantalus of the same size (namely, that of life), on canvas and in oils. he executed, also, a venus and adonis that are marvellous, she having swooned, and the boy in the act of rising to leave her, with some dogs about him that are very natural. on a panel of the same size he represented andromeda bound to the rock, and perseus delivering her from the sea-monster, than which picture none could be more lovely; as is also another of diana, who, bathing in a fount with her nymphs, transforms actæon into a stag. he also painted europa passing over the sea on the back of the bull. all these pictures are in the possession of the catholic king, held very dear for the vivacity that tiziano has given to the figures with his colours, making them natural and as if alive. [illustration: philip ii (_after the painting by =tiziano=. naples: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] it is true, however, that the method of work which he employed in these last pictures is no little different from the method of his youth, for the reason that the early works are executed with a certain delicacy and a diligence that are incredible, and they can be seen both from near and from a distance, and these last works are executed with bold strokes and dashed off with a broad and even coarse sweep of the brush, insomuch that from near little can be seen, but from a distance they appear perfect. this method has been the reason that many, wishing to imitate him therein and to play the practised master, have painted clumsy pictures; and this happens because, although many believe that they are done without effort, in truth it is not so, and they deceive themselves, for it is known that they are painted over and over again, and that he returned to them with his colours so many times, that the labour may be perceived. and this method, so used, is judicious, beautiful, and astonishing, because it makes pictures appear alive and painted with great art, but conceals the labour. [illustration: mary magdalene (_after the painting by =tiziano=. naples: museo nazionale_) _anderson_] tiziano painted recently in a picture three braccia high and four braccia broad, jesus christ as an infant in the lap of our lady and adored by the magi, with a good number of figures of one braccio each, which is a very lovely work, as is also another picture that he himself copied from that one and gave to the old cardinal of ferrara. another picture, in which he depicted christ mocked by the jews, which is most beautiful, was placed in a chapel of the church of s. maria delle grazie, in milan. for the queen of portugal he painted a picture of a christ scourged by jews at the column, a little less than the size of life, which is very beautiful. for the high-altar of s. domenico, at ancona, he painted an altar-piece with christ on the cross, and at the foot our lady, s. john, and s. dominic, all most beautiful, and executed in his later manner with broad strokes, as has just been described above. and by the same hand, in the church of the crocicchieri at venice, is the picture that is on the altar of s. lorenzo, wherein is the martyrdom of that saint, with a building full of figures, and s. laurence lying half upon the gridiron, in foreshortening, with a great fire beneath him, and about it some who are kindling it. and since he counterfeited an effect of night, there are two servants with torches in their hands, which throw light where the glare of the fire below the gridiron does not reach, which is piled high and very fierce. besides this, he depicted a lightning-flash, which, darting from heaven and cleaving the clouds, overcomes the light of the fire and that of the torches, shining over the saint and the other principal figures, and, in addition to those three lights, the figures that he painted in the distance at the windows of the building have the light of lamps and candles that are near them; and all, in short, is executed with beautiful art, judgment, and genius. in the church of s. sebastiano, on the altar of s. niccolò, there is by the hand of the same tiziano a little altar-piece of a s. nicholas who appears as if alive, seated in a chair painted in the likeness of stone, with an angel that is holding his mitre; which work he executed at the commission of messer niccolò crasso, the advocate. tiziano afterwards painted, for sending to the catholic king, a figure of s. mary magdalene from the middle of the thighs upwards, all dishevelled; that is, with the hair falling over the shoulders, about the throat, and over the breast, the while that, raising the head with the eyes fixed on heaven, she reveals remorse in the redness of the eyes, and in her tears repentance for her sins. wherefore the picture moves mightily all who behold it; and, what is more, although she is very beautiful, it moves not to lust but to compassion. this picture, when it was finished, so pleased ... silvio, a venetian gentleman, that in order to have it, being one who takes supreme delight in painting, he gave tiziano a hundred crowns: wherefore tiziano was forced to paint another, which was not less beautiful, for sending to the above-named catholic king. there are also to be seen portraits from life by tiziano of a venetian citizen called sinistri, who was much his friend, and of another named m. paolo da ponte, for whom he likewise portrayed a daughter that he had at that time, a most beautiful young woman called signora giulia da ponte, a dear friend of tiziano; and in like manner signora irene, a very lovely maiden, skilled in letters and music and a student of design, who, dying about seven years ago, was celebrated by the pens of almost all the writers of italy. he portrayed m. francesco filetto, an orator of happy memory, and in the same picture, before him, his son, who seems as if alive; which portrait is in the house of messer matteo giustiniani, a lover of these arts, who has also had a picture painted for himself by the painter jacopo da bassano, which is very beautiful, as also are many other works by that bassano which are dispersed throughout venice, and held in great price, particularly his little works and animals of every kind. tiziano portrayed bembo another time (namely, after he became a cardinal), fracastoro, and cardinal accolti of ravenna, which last portrait duke cosimo has in his guardaroba; and our danese, the sculptor, has in his house at venice a portrait by the hand of tiziano of a gentleman of the delfini family. there may be seen portraits by the same hand of m. niccolò zono, of rossa, wife of the grand turk, at the age of sixteen, and of cameria, her daughter, with most beautiful dresses and adornments. in the house of m. francesco sonica, an advocate and a gossip of tiziano, is a portrait by his hand of that m. francesco, and in a large picture our lady flying to egypt, who is seen to have dismounted from the ass and to have seated herself upon a stone on the road, with s. joseph beside her, and a little s. john who is offering to the infant christ some flowers picked by the hand of an angel from the branches of a tree that is in the middle of a wood full of animals, where in the distance the ass stands grazing. that picture, which is full of grace, the said gentleman has placed at the present day in a palace that he has built for himself at padua, near s. giustina. in the house of a gentleman of the pisani family, near s. marco, there is by the hand of tiziano the portrait of a gentlewoman, which is a marvellous thing. and having made for monsignor giovanni della casa, the florentine, who has been illustrious in our times both for nobility of blood and as a man of letters, a very beautiful portrait of a gentlewoman whom that lord loved while he was in venice, tiziano was rewarded by being honoured by him with the lovely sonnet that begins-- ben vegg'io, tiziano, in forme nuove l'idolo mio, che i begli occhi apre e gira (with what follows). finally, this excellent painter sent to the above-named catholic king a last supper of christ with the apostles, in a picture seven braccia long, which was a work of extraordinary beauty. [illustration: tiziano: the education of cupid (_rome: borghese gallery. canvas_)] in addition to the works described and many others of less merit executed by this man, which are omitted for the sake of brevity, he has in his house, sketched in and begun, the following: the martyrdom of s. laurence, similar to that described above, and destined by him for sending to the catholic king; a great canvas wherein is christ on the cross, with the thieves, and at the foot the ministers of the crucifixion, which he is painting for messer giovanni d'anna; and a picture which was begun for the doge grimani, father of the patriarch of aquileia. and for the hall of the great palace of brescia he has made a beginning with three large pictures that are to go in the ornamentation of the ceiling, as has been related in speaking of cristofano and his brother, painters of brescia. he also began, many years ago, for alfonso i, duke of ferrara, a picture of a nude young woman bowing before minerva, with another figure at the side, and a sea in the centre of which, in the distance, is neptune in his car; but through the death of that lord, after whose fancy the work was being executed, it was not finished, and remained with tiziano. he has also carried well forward, but not finished, a picture wherein is christ appearing to mary magdalene in the garden in the form of a gardener, with figures the size of life; another, also, of equal size, in which the madonna and the other maries being present, the dead christ is laid in the sepulchre; likewise a picture of our lady, which is one of the best things that are in that house, and, as has been told, a portrait of himself that was finished by him four years ago, very beautiful and natural, and finally a s. paul who is reading, a half-length figure, which has all the appearance of the real saint filled with the holy spirit. [illustration: the entombment (_after the painting by =tiziano=. madrid: the prado_) _anderson_] all these works, i say, he has executed, with many others that i omit in order not to be wearisome, up to his present age of about seventy-six years. tiziano has been very sound in health, and as fortunate as any man of his kind has ever been; and he has not received from heaven anything save favours and blessings. in his house at venice have been all the princes, men of letters and persons of distinction who have gone to that city or lived there in his time, because, in addition to his excellence in art, he has shown great gentleness, beautiful breeding, and most courteous ways and manners. he has had in venice some competitors, but not of much worth, so that he has surpassed them easily with the excellence of his art and with his power of attaching himself and making himself dear to the men of quality. he has earned much, for he has been very well paid for his works; but it would have been well for him in these his last years not to work save as a pastime, so as not to diminish with works of less excellence the reputation gained in his best years, when his natural powers were not declining and drawing towards imperfection. when vasari, the writer of this history, was at venice in the year , he went to visit tiziano, as one who was much his friend, and found him at his painting with brushes in his hand, although he was very old; and he had much pleasure in seeing him and discoursing with him. he made known to vasari messer gian maria verdezotti, a young venetian gentleman full of talent, a friend of tiziano and passing able in drawing and painting, as he showed in some landscapes of great beauty drawn by him. this man has by the hand of tiziano, whom he loves and cherishes as a father, two figures painted in oils within two niches, an apollo and a diana. tiziano, then, having adorned with excellent pictures the city of venice, nay, all italy and other parts of the world, deserves to be loved and revered by the craftsmen, and in many things to be admired and imitated, as one who has executed and is still executing works worthy of infinite praise, which shall endure as long as the memory of illustrious men may live. [illustration: paris bordone: the venetian lovers (_milan: brera, . canvas_)] now, although many have been with tiziano in order to learn, yet the number of those who can truly be called his disciples is not great, for the reason that he has not taught much, and each pupil has gained more or less knowledge according as he has been able to acquire it from the works executed by tiziano. there has been with him, among others, one giovanni, a fleming, who has been a much-extolled master in figures both small and large, and in portraits marvellous, as may be seen in naples, where he lived some time, and finally died. by his hand--and this must do him honour for all time--were the designs of the anatomical studies that the most excellent andrea vessalio caused to be engraved and published with his work. but he who has imitated tiziano more than any other is paris bordone, who, born in treviso from a father of treviso and a venetian mother, was taken at the age of eight to the house of some relatives in venice. there, having learned his grammar and become an excellent musician, he went to be with tiziano, but he did not spend many years with him, for he perceived that man to be not very ready to teach his young men, although besought by them most earnestly and invited by their patience to do his duty by them; and he resolved to leave him. he was much grieved that giorgione should have died in those days, whose manner pleased him vastly, and even more his reputation for having taught well and willingly, and with lovingness, all that he knew; but, since there was nothing else to be done, paris resolved in his mind that he would follow the manner of giorgione. and so, setting himself to labour and to counterfeit the work of that master, he became such that he acquired very good credit; wherefore at the age of eighteen there was allotted to him an altar-piece that was to be painted for the church of s. niccolò, of the friars minors. which having heard, tiziano so went to work with various means and favours that he took it out of his hands, either to prevent him from being able to display his ability so soon, or perhaps drawn by his desire of gain. afterwards paris was summoned to vicenza, to paint a scene in fresco in the loggia of the piazza where justice is administered, beside that of the judgment of solomon which tiziano had previously executed; and he went very willingly, and painted there a story of noah with his sons, which was held to be a work passing good in diligence and in design, and not less beautiful than that of tiziano, insomuch that by those who know not the truth they are considered to be both by the same hand. having returned to venice, paris executed some nudes in fresco at the foot of the bridge of the rialto; by reason of which essay he was commissioned to paint some façades of houses in venice. being then summoned to treviso, he painted there likewise some façades and other works, and in particular many portraits, which gave much satisfaction; that of the magnificent m. alberto unigo, that of m. marco seravalle, and of m. francesco da quer, of the canon rovere, and of monsignor alberti. for the duomo of that city, in an altar-piece in the centre of the church, at the instance of the reverend vicar, he painted the nativity of jesus christ, and then a resurrection. for s. francesco he executed another altar-piece at the request of the chevalier rovere, another for s. girolamo, and one for ognissanti, with different heads of saints both male and female, all beautiful and varied in the attitudes and in the vestments. he executed another altar-piece for s. lorenzo, and in s. polo he painted three chapels, in the largest of which he depicted christ rising from the dead, the size of life, and accompanied by a great multitude of angels; in the second some saints with many angels about them, and in the third jesus christ upon a cloud, with our lady, who is presenting to him s. dominic. all these works have made him known as an able man and a lover of his city. in venice, where he has dwelt almost always, he has executed many works at various times. but the most beautiful, the most remarkable and the most worthy of praise that paris ever painted, was a scene in the scuola of s. marco, at ss. giovanni e polo, wherein is the story of the fisherman presenting to the signoria of venice the ring of s. mark, with a very beautiful building in perspective, about which is seated the senate with the doge; among which senators are many portraits from nature, lifelike and well painted beyond belief. the beauty of this work, executed so well and coloured in fresco, was the reason that he began to be employed by many gentlemen. thus in the great house of the foscari, near s. barnaba, he executed many paintings and pictures, and among them a christ who, having descended to the limbo of hell, is delivering the holy fathers; which is held to be a work out of the ordinary. for the church of s. giobbe in canal reio he painted a most beautiful altar-piece, and for s. giovanni in bragola another, and the same for s. maria della celeste and for s. marina. [illustration: the fisherman and the doge gradenigo (_after the painting by =paris bordone=. venice: accademia_) _anderson_] but, knowing that he who wishes to be employed in venice is obliged to endure too much servitude in paying court to one man or another, paris resolved, as a man of quiet nature and far removed from certain methods of procedure, whenever an occasion might present itself, to go abroad to execute such works as fortune might set before him, without having to go about begging. wherefore, having made his way with a good opportunity into france in the year , to serve king francis, he executed for him many portraits of ladies and other pictures with various paintings; and at the same time he painted for monseigneur de guise a most beautiful church-picture, and a chamber-picture of venus and cupid. for the cardinal of lorraine he painted a christ in an "ecce homo," a jove with io, and many other works. he sent to the king of poland a picture wherein was jove with a nymph, which was held to be a very beautiful thing. and to flanders he sent two other most beautiful pictures, a s. mary magdalene in the desert accompanied by some angels, and a diana who is bathing with her nymphs in a fount; which two pictures the milanese candiano caused him to paint, the physician of queen maria, as presents for her highness. at augsburg, in the palace of the fugger family, he executed many works of the greatest importance, to the value of three thousand crowns. and in the same city he painted for the prineri, great men in that place, a large picture wherein he counterfeited in perspective all the five orders of architecture, which was a very beautiful work; and another chamber-picture, which is in the possession of the cardinal of augsburg. at crema he has executed two altar-pieces for s. agostino, in one of which is portrayed signor giulio manfrone, representing a s. george, in full armour. the same master has painted many works at civitale di belluno, which are extolled, and in particular an altar-piece in s. maria and another in s. giosef, which are very beautiful. he sent to signor ottaviano grimaldo a portrait of him the size of life and most beautiful, and with it another picture, equal in size, of a very lustful woman. having then gone to milan, paris painted for the church of s. celso an altar-piece with some figures in the air, and beneath them a very beautiful landscape, at the instance, so it is said, of signor carlo da roma; and for the palace of the same lord two large pictures in oils, in one venus and mars under vulcan's net, and in the other king david seeing bathsheba being bathed by her serving-women in the fount; and also the portrait of that lord and that of signora paola visconti, his consort, and some pieces of landscape not very large, but most beautiful. at this same time he painted many of ovid's fables for the marchese d'astorga, who took them with him to spain; and for signor tommaso marini, likewise, he painted many things of which there is no need to make mention. [illustration: portrait of a lady (_after the painting by =paris bordone=. london: national gallery, no. _) _m.s._] and this much it must suffice to have said of paris, who, being seventy-five years of age, lives quietly at home with his comforts, and works for pleasure at the request of certain princes and others his friends, avoiding rivalries and certain vain ambitions, lest he should suffer some hurt and have his supreme tranquillity and peace disturbed by those who walk not, as he says, in truth, but by dubious ways, malignantly and without charity; whereas he is accustomed to live simply and by a certain natural goodness, and knows nothing of subtleties or astuteness in his life. he has executed recently a most beautiful picture for the duchess of savoy, of a venus and cupid that are sleeping, guarded by a servant; all executed so well, that it is not possible to praise them enough. [illustration: vision of the apocalypse (_after the mosaic by =zuccati=. venice: s. marco_) _anderson_] but here i must not omit to say that a kind of painting which is almost discontinued in every other place, namely, mosaic, is kept alive by the most serene senate of venice. of this the benign and as it were the principal reason has been tiziano, who, so far as it has lain in him, has always taken pains that it should be practised in venice, and has caused honourable salaries to be given to those who have worked at it. wherefore various works have been executed in the church of s. marco, all the old works have been almost renewed, and this sort of painting has been carried to such a height of excellence as is possible, and to a different condition from that in which it was in florence and rome at the time of giotto, alesso baldovinetti, the ghirlandajo family, and the miniaturist gherardo. and all that has been done in venice has come from the design of tiziano and other excellent painters, who have made drawings and coloured cartoons to the end that the works might be carried to such perfection as may be seen in those of the portico of s. marco, where in a very beautiful niche there is a judgment of solomon so lovely, that in truth it would not be possible to do more with colours. in the same place is the genealogical tree of our lady by the hand of lodovico rosso, all full of sibyls and prophets executed in a delicate manner and put together very well, with a relief that is passing good. but none have worked better in this art in our times than valerio and vincenzio zuccheri[ ] of treviso, by whose hands are stories many and various that may be seen in s. marco, and in particular that of the apocalypse, wherein around the throne of god are the four evangelists in the form of animals, the seven candlesticks, and many other things executed so well, that, looking at them from below, they appear as if done in oil-colours with the brush; besides that there may be seen in their hands and about them little pictures full of figures executed with the greatest diligence, insomuch that they have the appearance not of paintings only, but of miniatures, and yet they are made of stones joined together. there are also many portraits; the emperor charles v, ferdinand his brother, who succeeded him in the empire, and maximilian, son of ferdinand and now emperor; likewise the head of the most illustrious cardinal bembo, the glory of our age, and that of the magnificent ...; all executed with such diligence and unity, and so well harmonized in the lights, flesh-colours, tints, shadows, and every other thing, that there is nothing better to be seen, nor any more beautiful work in a similar material. and it is in truth a great pity that this most excellent art of working in mosaic, with its beauty and everlasting life, is not more in use than it is, and that, by the fault of the princes who have the power, no attention is given to it. [footnote : zuccati.] in addition to those named above, there has worked in mosaic at s. marco, in competition with the zuccheri, one bartolommeo bozzato, who also has acquitted himself in his works in such a manner as to deserve undying praise. but that which has been of the greatest assistance to all in this art, is the presence and advice of tiziano; of whom, besides the men already named and many more, another disciple, helping him in many works, has been one girolamo, whom i know by no other name than girolamo di tiziano. jacopo sansovino description of the works of jacopo sansovino[ ] sculptor of florence [footnote : after the death of jacopo sansovino in , vasari published a separate life of him, containing an account of his death and other additional information. such passages as contain information that is new or expressed differently from that of the edition of will be found in the notes at the end of this life.] the while that andrea contucci, the sculptor of monte sansovino, having already acquired in italy and spain the name of the most excellent sculptor and architect that there was in art after buonarroti, was living in florence in order to execute the two figures of marble that were to be placed over that door of the temple of s. giovanni which faces towards the misericordia, a young man was entrusted to him to be taught the art of sculpture, the son of antonio di jacopo tatti, whom nature had endowed with a great genius, so that he gave much grace to the things that he did in relief. whereupon andrea, having recognized how excellent in sculpture the young man was destined to become, did not fail to teach him with all possible care all those things which might make him known as his disciple. and so, loving him very dearly, and doing his best for him with much affection, and being loved by the young man with equal tenderness, people judged that the pupil would not only become as excellent as his master, but would by a great measure surpass him. and such were the reciprocal friendliness and love between these two, as it were between father and son, that jacopo in those early years began to be called no longer tatti, but sansovino, and so he has always been, and always will be. now, jacopo beginning to exercise his hand, he was so assisted by nature in the things that he did, that, although at times he did not use much study and diligence in his work, nevertheless in what he did there could be seen facility, sweetness, grace, and a certain delicacy very pleasing to the eyes of craftsmen, insomuch that his every sketch, rough study, and model has always had a movement and a boldness that nature is wont to give to but few sculptors. moreover, the friendship and intercourse that andrea del sarto and jacopo sansovino had with each other in their childhood, and then in their youth, assisted not a little both the one and the other, for they followed the same manner in design and had the same grace in execution, one in painting and the other in sculpture, and, conferring together on the problems of art, and jacopo making models of figures for andrea, they gave one another very great assistance. and that this is true a proof is that in the altar-piece of s. francesco, belonging to the nuns of the via pentolini, there is a s. john the evangelist which was copied from a most beautiful model in clay that sansovino made in those days in competition with baccio da montelupo; for the guild of por santa maria wished to have a bronze statue of four braccia made for a niche at the corner of orsanmichele, opposite to the wool-shearers, for which jacopo made a more beautiful model in clay than baccio, but nevertheless it was allotted to montelupo, from his being an older master, rather than to sansovino, although his work, young as he was, was the better. that model, which is a very beautiful thing, is now in the possession of the heirs of nanni unghero; for which nanni, being then his friend, sansovino made some models of large boys in clay, and the model for a figure of s. nicholas of tolentino, which were all executed of the size of life in wood, with the assistance of sansovino, and placed in the chapel of that saint in the church of s. spirito. becoming known for these reasons to all the craftsmen of florence, and being considered a young man of fine parts and excellent character, jacopo was invited by giuliano da san gallo, architect to pope julius ii, to rome, vastly to his satisfaction; and then, taking extraordinary pleasure in the ancient statues that are in the belvedere, he set himself to draw them. whereupon bramante, who was likewise architect to pope julius, holding the first place at that time and dwelling in the belvedere, having seen some drawings by this young man, and a nude recumbent figure of clay in full-relief, holding a vessel to contain ink, which he had made, liked them so much that he took him under his protection and ordered him that he should make a large copy in wax of the laocoon, which he was having copied also by others, in order to take a cast in bronze--namely, by zaccheria zacchi of volterra, the spaniard alonzo berughetta, and vecchio of bologna. these, when all were finished, bramante caused to be seen by raffaello sanzio of urbino, in order to learn which of the four had acquitted himself best; whereupon it was judged by raffaello that sansovino, young as he was, had surpassed the others by a great measure. then, by the advice of cardinal domenico grimani, orders were given to bramante that he should have jacopo's copy cast in bronze; and so the mould was made, and the work, being cast in metal, came out very well. and afterwards, having been polished, it was given to the cardinal, who held it as long as he lived not less dear than if it had been the antique; and when he came to die, he left it as a very rare thing to the most serene signoria of venice, which, after having kept it many years in the press of the hall of the council of ten, finally in the year presented it to the cardinal of lorraine, who took it to france. [illustration: s. james (_after =jacopo sansovino=. florence: duomo_) _alinari_] while sansovino was acquiring greater fame every day in rome with his studies in art, being held in much consideration, giuliano da san gallo, who had been keeping him in his house in the borgo vecchio, fell ill; and when he departed from rome in a litter, in order to go to florence for a change of air, a room was found for jacopo by bramante, likewise in the borgo vecchio, in the palace of domenico della rovere, cardinal of san clemente, where pietro perugino was also dwelling, who at that time was painting for pope julius the vaulting of the chamber in the borgia tower. whereupon pietro, having seen the beautiful manner of sansovino, caused him to make many models in wax for himself, and among them a christ taken down from the cross in the round, with many ladders and figures, which was a very beautiful thing. this and other things of the same sort, and models of various fantasies, were all collected afterwards by m. giovanni gaddi, and they are now in his house on the piazza di madonna in florence. and these works were the reason that sansovino became very intimately associated with maestro luca signorelli, the painter of cortona, with bramantino da milano, with bernardino pinturicchio, with cesare cesariano, who was in repute at that time for his commentaries on vitruvius, and with many other famous and beautiful intellects of that age. bramante, then, desiring that sansovino should become known to pope julius, arranged to have some antiques restored by him; whereupon jacopo, setting to work, displayed such diligence and so much grace in restoring them, that the pope and all who saw them judged that nothing better could be done. these praises so spurred sansovino to surpass himself, that, having given himself beyond measure to his studies, and being, also, somewhat delicate in constitution and suffering from some excess such as young men commit, he became so ill that he was forced for the sake of his life to return to florence, where, profiting by his native air, by the advantage of his youth, and by the diligence and care of the physicians, in a short time he completely recovered. now messer piero pitti was arranging at that time to have a madonna of marble made for that façade of the mercato nuovo in florence where the clock is, and it appeared to him, since there were in florence many young men of ability and also old masters, that the work should be given to that one among them who might make the best model. whereupon one was given to baccio da montelupo to execute, one to zaccheria zacchi of volterra, who had likewise returned to florence the same year, another to baccio bandinelli, and yet another to sansovino; and when these were placed in comparison, the honour and the work were given by lorenzo di credi, an excellent painter and a person of judgment and probity, and likewise by the other judges, craftsmen, and connoisseurs, to sansovino. but, although the work was therefore allotted to him, nevertheless so much delay was caused in procuring and conveying the marble for him, by the envious machinations of averardo da filicaia, who greatly favoured bandinelli and hated sansovino, that he was ordered by certain other citizens, having perceived that delay, to make one of the large apostles in marble that were going into the church of s. maria del fiore. wherefore, having made the model of a s. james (which model, when the work was finished, came into the possession of messer bindo altoviti), he began that figure and, continuing to work at it with all diligence and study, he carried it to completion so perfectly, that it is a miraculous figure and shows in all its parts that it was wrought with incredible study and care, the draperies, arms, and hands being undercut and executed with such art and such grace, that there is nothing better in marble to be seen. thus, sansovino showed in what way undercut draperies should be executed, having made these so delicate and so natural, that in some places he reduced the marble to the thickness that is seen in real folds and in the edges and hems of the borders of draperies; a difficult method, and one demanding much time and patience if you wish that it should so succeed as to display the perfection of art. that figure remained in the office of works from the time when it was finished by sansovino until the year , at which time, in the month of december, it was placed in the church of s. maria del fiore to do honour to the coming of queen joanna of austria, the wife of don francesco de' medici, prince of florence and siena. and there it is kept as a very rare work, together with the other apostles, likewise in marble, executed in competition by other craftsmen, as has been related in their lives. [illustration: bacchus (_after =jacopo sansovino=. florence: museo nazionale_) _alinari_] at this same time he made for messer giovanni gaddi a venus of marble on a shell, of great beauty, as was also the model, which was in the house of messer francesco montevarchi, a friend of these arts, but came to an evil end in the inundation of the river arno in the year . he also made a boy of tow and a swan as beautiful as could be, of marble, for the same m. giovanni gaddi, together with many other things, which are all in his house. for messer bindo altoviti he had a chimney-piece of great cost made, all in grey-stone carved by benedetto da rovezzano, which was placed in his house in florence, and messer bindo caused sansovino to make a scene with little figures for placing in the frieze of that chimney-piece, with vulcan and other gods, which was a very rare work; but much more beautiful are two boys of marble that were above the crown of the chimney-piece, holding some arms of the altoviti in their hands, which have been removed by signor don luigi di toledo, who inhabits the house of the above-named messer bindo, and placed about a fountain in his garden, behind the servite friars, in florence. two other boys of extraordinary beauty, also of marble and by the same hand, who are likewise holding an escutcheon, are in the house of giovan francesco ridolfi. all these works caused sansovino to be held by the men of art and by all florence to be a most excellent and gracious master; on which account giovanni bartolini, having caused a house to be built in his garden of gualfonda, desired that sansovino should make for him a young bacchus in marble, of the size of life. whereupon the model for this was made by sansovino, and it pleased giovanni so much, that he had him supplied with the marble, and jacopo began it with such eagerness, that his hands and brain flew as he worked. this work, i say, he studied in such a manner, in order to make it perfect, that he set himself to portray from the life, although it was winter, an assistant of his called pippo del fabbro, making him stand naked a good part of the day. which pippo would have become a capable craftsman, for he was striving with every effort to imitate his master; but, whether it was the standing naked with the head uncovered at that season, or that he studied too much and suffered hardships, before the bacchus was finished he went mad, copying the attitudes of that figure. and this he showed one day that it was raining in torrents, when, sansovino calling out "pippo!" and he not answering, the master afterwards saw him mounted on the summit of a chimney on the roof, wholly naked and striking the attitude of his bacchus. at other times, taking a sheet or other large piece of cloth, and wetting it, he would wrap it round his naked body, as if he were a model of clay or rags, and arrange the folds; and then, climbing up to some extraordinary place, and settling himself now in one attitude and now in another, as a prophet, an apostle, a soldier, or something else, he would have himself portrayed, standing thus for a period of two hours without speaking, not otherwise than as if he had been a motionless statue. many other amusing follies of that kind poor pippo played, but above all he was never able to forget the bacchus that sansovino had made, save only when he died, a few years afterwards. [illustration: mars and neptune (_after =jacopo sansovino=. venice: ducal palace_) _alinari_] but to return to the statue; when it was carried to completion, it was held to be the most beautiful work that had ever been executed by a modern master, seeing that in it sansovino overcame a difficulty never yet attempted, in making an arm raised in the air and detached on every side, which holds between the fingers a cup all cut out of the same marble with such delicacy, that the attachment is very slight, besides which the attitude is so well conceived and balanced on every side, and the legs and arms are so beautiful and so well proportioned and attached to the trunk, that to the eye and to the touch the whole seems much more like living flesh; insomuch that the fame that it has from all who see it is well deserved, and even more. this work, i say, when finished, while giovanni was alive, was visited in that courtyard in the gualfonda by everyone, native and stranger alike, and much extolled. but afterwards, giovanni being dead, his brother gherardo bartolini presented it to duke cosimo, who keeps it as a rare thing in his apartments, together with other most beautiful statues of marble that he possesses. for the same giovanni sansovino made a very beautiful crucifix of wood, which is in their house in company with many works by the ancients and by the hand of michelagnolo. in the year , when festive preparations of great richness were to be made in florence for the coming of pope leo x, orders were given by the signoria and by giuliano de' medici that many triumphal arches of wood should be made in various parts of the city. whereupon sansovino not only executed the designs for many of these, but himself undertook in company with andrea del sarto to construct the façade of s. maria del fiore all of wood, with statues, scenes, and architectural orders, exactly in the manner wherein it would be well for it to be in order to remove all that there is in it of the german order of composition. having therefore set his hand to this (to say nothing in this place of the awning of cloth that used to cover the piazza of s. maria del fiore and that of s. giovanni for the festival of s. john and for others of the greatest solemnity, since we have spoken sufficiently of this in another place), beneath that awning, i say, sansovino constructed the said façade in the corinthian order, making it in the manner of a triumphal arch, and placing upon an immense base double columns on each side, and between them certain great niches filled with figures in the round that represented the apostles. above these were some large scenes in half-relief, made in the likeness of bronze, with stories from the old testament, some of which are still to be seen in the house of the lanfredini on the bank of the arno; and over them followed architraves, friezes, and cornices, projecting outwards, and then frontispieces of great beauty and variety; and in the angles of the arches, both in the wide parts and below, were stories painted in chiaroscuro by the hand of andrea del sarto, and very beautiful. in short, this work of sansovino's was such that pope leo, seeing it, said that it was a pity that the real façade of that temple was not so built, which was begun by the german arnolfo. the same sansovino made among these festive preparations for the coming of leo x, besides the said façade, a horse in the round all of clay and shearings of woollen cloth, in the act of rearing, and under it a figure of nine braccia, upon a pedestal of masonry. which work was executed with such spirit and force, that it pleased pope leo and was much extolled by him; wherefore sansovino was taken by jacopo salviati to kiss the feet of the pope, who showed him many marks of affection. the pope departed from florence, and had a conference at bologna with king francis i of france; and then he resolved to return to florence. whereupon orders were given to sansovino that he should make a triumphal arch at the porta s. gallo, and he, not falling back in any way from his own standard, executed it similar to the other works that he had done--namely, beautiful to a marvel, and full of statues and painted pictures wrought excellently well. his holiness having then determined that the façade of s. lorenzo should be executed in marble, the while that raffaello da urbino and buonarroti were expected from rome, sansovino, by order of the pope, made a design for it; which giving much satisfaction, baccio d'agnolo was commissioned to make a model of it in wood, which proved very beautiful. meanwhile, buonarroti had made another, and he and sansovino were ordered to go to pietrasanta; where, finding much marble, but difficult to transport, they lost so much time, that when they returned to florence they found the pope departed for rome. whereupon, both following after him with their models, each by himself, jacopo arrived at the very moment when buonarroti's model was being shown to his holiness in the torre borgia; but he did not succeed in obtaining what he hoped, because, whereas he believed that he would at least make under michelagnolo part of the statues that were going into that work, the pope having spoken of it to him and michelagnolo having given him so to understand, he perceived on arriving in rome that buonarroti wished to be alone in the work. nevertheless, having made his way to rome and not wishing to return to florence without any result, he resolved to remain in rome and there give his attention to sculpture and architecture. and so, having undertaken to execute for the florentine giovan francesco martelli a madonna in marble larger than life, he made her most beautiful, with the child in her arms; and this was placed upon an altar within the principal door of s. agostino, on the right hand as one enters. the clay model of this statue he presented to the priore de' salviati, in rome, who placed it in a chapel in his palace on the corner of the piazza di s. pietro, at the beginning of the borgo nuovo. after no long lapse of time he made for the altar of the chapel that the very reverend cardinal alborense had caused to be built in the church of the spaniards in rome, a statue in marble of four braccia, worthy of no ordinary measure of praise, of a s. james, which has a movement full of grace and is executed with judgment and perfect art, so that it won him very great fame. and the while that he was executing these statues, he made the ground-plan and model, and then began the building, of the church of s. marcello for the servite friars, a work of truly great beauty. continuing to be employed in matters of architecture, he built for messer marco coscia a very beautiful loggia on the road that leads to rome, at pontemolle on the via appia.[ ] for the company of the crocifisso, attached to the church of s. marcello, he made a crucifix for carrying in procession, a thing full of grace; and for cardinal antonio di monte he began a great fabric at his villa without rome, on the acqua vergine. and by the hand of jacopo, perhaps, is a very beautiful portrait in marble of that elder cardinal di monte which is now in the palace of signor fabiano at monte sansovino, over the door of the principal chamber off the hall. he directed, also, the building of the house of messer luigi leoni, a most commodious edifice, and in the banchi a palace beside the house of the gaddi, which was bought afterwards by filippo strozzi--certainly a commodious and most beautiful fabric, with many ornaments. [footnote : via flaminia.] at this time, with the favour of pope leo, the florentine colony had bestirred itself out of emulation of the germans, spaniards, and frenchmen, who had either begun or finished the churches of their colonies in rome, and had begun to perform their solemn offices in those already built and adorned; and the florentines had sought leave likewise to build a church for themselves. for which the pope having given instructions to lodovico capponi, the consul of the florentine colony at that time, it was determined that behind the banchi, at the beginning of the strada giulia, on the bank of the tiber, an immense church should be built, to be dedicated to s. john the baptist; which might surpass in magnificence, grandeur, cost, ornamentation, and design, the churches of all the other colonies. there competed, then, in making designs for this work, raffaello da urbino, antonio da san gallo, baldassarre da siena, and sansovino; and the pope, when he had seen all their designs, extolled as the best that of sansovino, because, besides other things, he had made at each of the four corners of that church a tribune, and a larger tribune in the centre, after the likeness of the plan that sebastiano serlio placed in his second book on architecture. whereupon, all the heads of the florentine colony concurring with the will of the pope, with much approval of sansovino, the foundations were begun for a part of that church, altogether twenty-two canne[ ] in length. but, there being not enough space, and yet wishing to make the façade of the church in line with the houses of the strada giulia, they were obliged to stretch out into the stream of the tiber at least fifteen canne; which pleasing many of them, because the grandeur as well as the cost was increased by making the foundations in the river, work was begun on this, and they spent upon it more than forty thousand crowns, which would have been enough to build half the masonry of the church. [footnote : a "canna" is equal to about four braccia.] in the meantime sansovino, who was the head of this fabric, while the foundations were being laid little by little, had a fall and suffered a serious injury; and after a few days he had himself carried to florence for treatment, leaving the charge of laying the rest of the foundations, as has been related, to antonio da san gallo. but no long time passed before the florentine colony, having lost by the death of leo so great a support and so splendid a prince, abandoned the building for the duration of the life of pope adrian vi. then, clement having been elected, it was ordained, in order to pursue the same order and design, that sansovino should return and carry on that fabric in the same manner wherein he had first arranged it; and so a beginning was made once more with the work. meanwhile, sansovino undertook to make the tomb of the cardinal of arragon and that of cardinal aginense; and he had caused work to be begun on the marbles for the ornaments, and had made many models for the figures, and already rome was in his hands, and he was executing many works of the greatest importance for all those lords, when god, in order to chastise that city and abate the pride of the inhabitants of rome, permitted that bourbon should come with his army on the th of may, , and that the whole city should be sacked and put to fire and sword. in that ruin, besides many other beautiful intellects that came to an evil end, sansovino was forced to his great loss to depart from rome and to fly to venice, intending from there to pass into france to enter the service of the king, whither he had been already invited. but, halting in that city in order to make himself ready and provide himself with many things, for he was despoiled of everything, it was announced to the prince andrea gritti, who was much the friend of every talent, that jacopo sansovino was there. whereupon there came to gritti a desire to speak with him, because at that very time cardinal domenico grimani had given him to understand that sansovino would have been the man for the cupolas of s. marco, their principal church, which, because of age and of weak foundations, and also from their being badly secured with chains, were all opening out and threatening to fall; and so he had him summoned. after many courtesies and long discussions, he said to sansovino that he wished, or rather, prayed him, that he should find a remedy for the ruin of those tribunes; which sansovino promised to do, and to put it right. and so, having agreed to do the work, he caused it to be taken in hand; and, having contrived all the scaffoldings in the interior and made supports of beams after the manner of stars, he propped in the central hollow of woodwork all the timbers that sustained the vault of each tribune, and encircled them on the inner side with curtains of woodwork, going on then to bind them on the outer side with chains of iron, to flank them with new walls, and to make at the foot new foundations for the piers that supported them, insomuch that he strengthened them vastly and made them for ever secure. by doing which he caused all venice to marvel, and not only satisfied gritti, but also--which was far more--rendered his ability so clearly manifest to that most illustrious senate, that when the work was finished, the protomaster to the lords procurators of s. mark being dead, which is the highest office that those lords give to their architects and engineers, they gave it to him with the usual house and a passing handsome salary. whereupon sansovino, having accepted it most willingly and freed his mind of all doubt, became the head of all their fabrics, with honour and advantage for himself. [illustration: the library of s. marco (_after =jacopo sansovino=. venice_) _alinari_] first, then, he erected the public building of the mint, which he designed and distributed in the interior with so much order and method, for the convenience and service of the many artificers, that in no place is there a treasury ordered so well or with greater strength than that one, which he adorned altogether in the rustic order, very beautifully; which method, not having been used before in venice, caused no little marvel in the men of that city. wherefore, having recognized that the genius of sansovino was equal to their every need in the service of the city, they caused him to attend for many years to the fortifications of their state. nor did any long time pass before he took in hand, by order of the council of ten, the very rich and beautiful fabric of the library of s. marco, opposite to the palazzo della signoria, with such a wealth of carvings, cornices, columns, capitals, and half-length figures over the whole work, that it is a marvel; and it is all done without any sparing of expense, so that up to the present day it has cost one hundred and fifty thousand ducats. and it is held in great estimation in that city, because it is full of the richest pavements, stucco-work, and stories, distributed among the halls of the building, with public stairs adorned by various pictures, as has been related in the life of battista franco; besides many other beautiful appurtenances, and the rich ornaments that it has at the principal door of entrance, which give it majesty and grandeur, making manifest the ability of sansovino. this method of building was the reason that in that city, into which up to that time there had never entered any method save that of making their houses and palaces with the same order, each one always continuing the same things with the same measure and ancient use, without varying according to the sites as they found them or according to convenience--this, i say, was the reason that buildings both public and private began to be erected with new designs and better order. the first palace that he built was that of m. giorgio cornaro, a most beautiful work, erected with all proper appurtenances and ornaments at a cost of seventy thousand crowns. moved by which, a gentleman of the delfino family caused sansovino to build a smaller one, at a cost of thirty thousand crowns, which was much extolled and very beautiful. then he built that of moro, at a cost of twenty thousand crowns, which likewise was much extolled; and afterwards many others of less cost in the city and the neighbourhood. wherefore it may be said that at the present day that magnificent city, in the quantity and quality of her sumptuous and well-conceived edifices, shines resplendent and is in that respect what she is through the ability, industry, and art of jacopo sansovino, who therefore deserves the highest praise; seeing that with those works he has been the reason that the gentlemen of venice have introduced modern architecture into their city, in that not only has that been done there which has passed through his hands, but also many--nay, innumerable--other works which have been executed by other masters, who have gone to live there and have achieved magnificent things. jacopo also built the fabric of the loggia in the piazza di s. marco, in the corinthian order, which is at the foot of the campanile of the said s. marco, with a very rich ornamentation of columns, and four niches, in which are four figures the size of life and in bronze, of supreme beauty. and that work formed, as it were, a base of great beauty to the said campanile, which at the foot has a breadth, on one of the sides, of thirty-five feet, which is about the extent of sansovino's ornamentation; and a height from the ground to the cornice, where are the windows of the bells, of one hundred and sixty feet. from the level of that cornice to the other above it, where there is the corridor, is twenty-five feet, and the other dado above is twenty-eight feet and a half high; and from that level of the corridor to the pyramid, spire, or pinnacle, whatever it may be called, is sixty feet. at the summit of that pinnacle the little square, upon which stands the angel, is six feet high, and the said angel, which revolves, is ten feet high; insomuch that the whole height comes to be two hundred and ninety-two feet. he also designed and executed for the scuola, or rather, confraternity and company of the misericordia, the fabric of that place, an immense building which cost one hundred and fifty thousand crowns; and he rebuilt the church of s. francesco della vigna, where the frati de' zoccoli have their seat, a vast work and of much importance. [illustration: loggetta (_after =jacopo sansovino=. venice: piazza di s. marco_) _anderson_] nor for all this, the while that he has been giving his attention to so many buildings, has he ever ceased from executing every day for his own delight great and beautiful works of sculpture, in marble and in bronze; and over the holy-water font of the friars of the cà grande there is a statue executed in marble by his hand, representing a s. john the baptist, very beautiful and much extolled. at padua, in the chapel of the santo, there is a large scene in marble by the same hand, with very beautiful figures in half-relief, of a miracle of s. anthony of padua; which scene is much esteemed in that place. for the entrance of the stairs of the palace of s. marco he is even now executing in marble, in the form of two most beautiful giants, each of seven braccia, a neptune and a mars, signifying the power that is exercised both on land and on sea by that most illustrious republic. he made a very beautiful statue of a hercules for the duke of ferrara; and for the church of s. marco he executed four scenes of bronze in half-relief, one braccio in height and one and a half in length, for placing around a pulpit, and containing stories of that evangelist, which are held in great estimation for their variety. over the door of the same s. marco he has made a madonna of marble, the size of life, which is held to be a very beautiful thing, and at the entrance of the sacristy in that place there is by his hand the door of bronze, divided into two most beautiful parts, with stories of jesus christ all in half-relief and wrought excellently well; and over the door of the arsenal he has made a very lovely madonna of marble, who is holding her son in her arms. all which works not only have given lustre and adornment to that republic, but also have caused sansovino to become daily more known as a most excellent craftsman, and to be loved by those signori and honoured by their magnificent liberality, and likewise by the other craftsmen; for every work of sculpture and architecture that has been executed in that city in his time has been referred to him. and in truth the excellence of jacopo has well deserved to be held in the first rank in that city among the craftsmen of design, and his genius is rightly loved and revered by all men, both nobles and plebeians, for the reason that, besides other things, he has brought it about, as has been said, with his knowledge and judgment, that that city has been almost entirely made new and has learned the true and good manner of building. but, if she has received from him beauty and adornment, he, on the other hand, has received many benefits from her. thus, in addition to other things, he has lived in her, from the time when he first went there to the age of seventy-eight years, full of health and strength; and the air and that sky have done so much for him, that he does not seem, one might say, more than forty. he has had, and still has, from a most talented son--a man of letters--two grandchildren, one male and the other female, both of them pictures of health and beauty, to his supreme contentment; and, what is more, he is still alive, full of happiness and with all the greatest conveniences and comforts that any man of his profession could have. he has always loved his brother-craftsmen, and in particular he has been very much the friend of the excellent and famous tiziano, as he also was of m. pietro aretino during his lifetime. for all these reasons i have judged it well to make this honourable record of him, although he is still living, and particularly because now he is by way of doing little in sculpture. sansovino had many disciples in florence: niccolò, called tribolo, as has been related, and solosmeo da settignano, who finished with the exception of the large figures the whole of the tomb in marble that is at monte casino, wherein is the body of piero de' medici, who was drowned in the river garigliano. his disciple, likewise, was girolamo da ferrara, called lombardo, of whom there has been an account in the life of benvenuto garofalo of ferrara; which girolamo has learned his art both from the first sansovino and from this second one in such a manner, that, besides the works at loreto of which we have spoken, both in marble and in bronze, he has executed many works in venice. this master, although he came under sansovino at the age of thirty and knowing little of design, being rather a man of letters and a courtier than a sculptor, although he had previously executed some works in sculpture, nevertheless applied himself in such a manner, that in a few years he made the proficience that may be perceived in his works in half-relief that are in the fabrics of the library and the loggia of the campanile of s. marco; in which he acquitted himself so well, that he was afterwards able to make by himself alone the statues of marble and the prophets that he executed, as has been related, at the madonna of loreto. [illustration: the miracle of s. anthony (_after the relief by =jacopo sansovino=. padua: s. antonio_) _alinari_] a disciple of sansovino, also, was jacopo colonna, who died at bologna thirty years ago while executing a work of importance. this jacopo made for the church of s. salvadore in venice a nude s. jerome of marble, still to be seen in a niche near the organ, which was a beautiful figure and much extolled, and for s. croce della giudecca he made a christ also nude and of marble, who is showing his wounds, a work of beautiful artistry; and likewise for s. giovanni nuovo three figures, s. dorothy, s. lucia, and s. catharine. in s. marina may be seen a horse with an armed captain upon it, by his hand; and all these works can stand in comparison with any that are in venice. in padua, for the church of s. antonio, he executed in stucco the said saint and s. bernardino, clothed. of the same material he made for messer luigi cornaro a minerva, a venus, and a diana, larger than life and in the round; in marble a mercury, and in terra-cotta a nude marzio as a young man, who is drawing a thorn from his foot, or rather, showing that he has drawn it out, he holds the foot with one hand, looking at the wound, and with the other hand seems to be about to cleanse it with a cloth; which last work, because it is the best that jacopo ever did, the said messer luigi intends to have cast in bronze. for the same patron he made another mercury of stone, which was afterwards presented to duke federigo of mantua. another disciple of sansovino was tiziano da padova, a sculptor, who carved some little figures of marble in the loggia of the campanile of s. marco at venice; and in the church of the same s. marco there may be seen, likewise fashioned and cast in bronze by him, a large and beautiful cover for a basin in bronze, in the chapel of s. giovanni. this tiziano had made a statue of s. john, with which were the four evangelists and four stories of s. john, wrought with beautiful artistry for casting in bronze; but he died at the age of thirty-five, and the world was robbed of an excellent and valiant craftsman. and by the same hand is the vaulting of the chapel of s. antonio da padova, with a very rich pattern of compartments in stucco. he had begun for the same chapel a grating of five arches in bronze, which were full of stories of that saint, with other figures in half-relief and low-relief; but this, also, by reason of his death and of the disagreement of those who had the charge of having it done, remained unfinished. many pieces of it had already been cast, which turned out very beautiful, and many others were made in wax, when he died, and for the said reasons the whole work was abandoned. the same tiziano, when vasari executed the above-described decorations for the gentlemen of the company of the calza in canareio, made for that work some statues in clay and many terminal figures. and he was employed many times on ornaments for scenic settings, theatres, arches, and other suchlike things, whereby he won much honour; having executed works all full of invention, fantasy, and variety, and above all with great rapidity. pietro da salò, also, was a disciple of sansovino; and after having toiled at carving foliage up to the age of thirty, finally, assisted by sansovino, who taught him, he set himself to make figures of marble. in which he so delighted, and studied in such a manner, that in two years he was working by himself; to which witness is borne by some passing good works by his hand that are in the tribune of s. marco, and the statue of a mars larger than life that is in the façade of the palazzo pubblico, which statue is in company with three others by the hands of good craftsmen. he also made two figures for the apartments of the council of ten, one male and the other female, in company with two others executed by danese cattaneo, a sculptor of highest renown, who, as will be related, was likewise a disciple of sansovino; which figures serve to adorn a chimney-piece. pietro made, in addition, three figures that are at s. antonio, in the round and larger than life; and these are a justice, a fortitude, and a statue of a captain-general of the venetian forces, all executed with good mastery. he also made a statue of justice in a beautiful attitude and with good design, which was placed upon a column in the piazza of murano, and another in the piazza del rialto in venice, as a support for that stone where public proclamations are made, which is called the gobbo[ ] di rialto; and these works have made him known as a very good sculptor. for the santo, in padua, he made a very beautiful thetis; and a bacchus who is squeezing a bunch of grapes into a cup, which figure, the most difficult that he ever executed, and the best, he left at his death to his children, who have it still in their house, seeking to sell it to him who shall best recognize and reward the labour that their father endured for it. [footnote : hunchback.] likewise a disciple of jacopo was alessandro vittoria of trento, a most excellent sculptor and much the friend of study, who with a very beautiful manner has shown in many works that he has executed, as well in stucco as in marble, that he has a ready brain and a lovely style, and that his labours are worthy to be held in estimation. by the hand of this alessandro, in venice, at the principal door of the library of s. marco, are two great women of stone, each ten palms high, which are full of grace and beauty and worthy to be much extolled. he has made four figures for the tomb of the contarini in the santo of padua, two slaves, or rather, captives, with a fame and a thetis, all of stone; and an angel ten feet high, a very beautiful statue, which has been placed upon the campanile of the duomo in verona. and to dalmatia he sent four apostles also of stone, each five feet high, for the cathedral of traù. he made, also, some figures in silver for the scuola of s. giovanni evangelista in venice, which were all in full-relief and rich in grace, and a s. teodoro of two feet in silver, in the round. for the chapel of the grimani, in s. sebastiano, he wrought two figures in marble, each three feet high; and then he made a pietà, with two figures of stone, held to be good, which are at s. salvadore in venice. he made a mercury, held to be a good figure, for the pulpit of the palazzo di s. marco, which looks out over the piazza; and for s. francesco della vigna he made three figures large as life--s. anthony, s. sebastian, and s. rocco--all of stone and full of beauty and grace, and well wrought. for the church of the crocicchieri he made in stucco two figures each six feet high, very beautiful, which are placed on the high-altar; and of the same material he made, as has been already told, all the ornaments that are in the vaulting of the new staircase of the palazzo di s. marco, with various patterns of compartments in stucco, where battista franco afterwards painted in the spaces the scenes, figures, and grotesques that are there. in like manner, alessandro executed the ornaments of the staircase of the library of s. marco, all works of great mastery; and a chapel for the friars minors, and in the altar-piece of marble, which is very large and very beautiful, the assumption of our lady in half-relief, with five great figures at the foot which have in them something of the grand and are made with a beautiful manner, a lovely and dignified flow of draperies, and much diligence of execution; which figures of marble--s. jerome, s. john the baptist, s. peter, s. andrew, and s. leonardo--each six feet high, are the best of all the works that he has done up to the present. and as a crown to that chapel, on the frontispiece, are two figures likewise of marble, each eight feet high and very graceful. the same vittoria has executed many portraits in marble and most beautiful heads, which are good likenesses, such as that of signor giovan battista feredo, placed in the church of s. stefano, that of camillo trevisano, the orator, placed in the church of ss. giovanni e polo; the most illustrious marc'antonio grimani, likewise placed in the church of s. sebastiano; and in s. gimignano, the rector of that church. he has also portrayed messer andrea loredano. m. priano da lagie, and two brothers of the pellegrini family--m. vincenzio and m. giovan battista--both orators. and since vittoria is young and a willing worker, talented, amiable, desirous of acquiring name and fame, and, lastly, very gentle, we may believe that if he lives, we are destined to see most beautiful works come from him from day to day, worthy of his name of vittoria, and that, if his life endures, he is like to be a most excellent sculptor and to win the palm from all the others of that country. there is also one tommaso da lugano, a sculptor, who likewise has been many years with sansovino, and has made with the chisel many figures in the library of s. marco, very beautiful, in company with others. and then, having left sansovino, he has made by himself a madonna with the child in her arms, and at her feet a little s. john, which are all three figures of such beautiful form, attitude, and manner, that they can stand among all the other beautiful modern statues that are in venice; which work is placed in the church of s. bastiano. and a portrait of the emperor charles v, which he made from the breast upwards, of marble, has been held to be a marvellous thing, and was very dear to his majesty. and since tommaso has delighted to work rather in stucco than in marble or bronze, there are innumerable most beautiful figures by his hand and works executed by him in that material in the houses of various gentlemen of venice. but it must suffice to have said this much of him. of the lombards, finally, it remains for us to make record of jacopo bresciano, a young man of twenty-four, who has not long parted from sansovino. he has given proof at venice, in the many years that he has been there, of being talented and likely to prove excellent, as he has since shown in the works that he has executed in his native brescia, and particularly in the palazzo pubblico, and if he lives and studies, there will be seen from his hand, also, things greater and better, for he has a fine spirit and most beautiful gifts. of our tuscans, one of the disciples of sansovino has been the florentine bartolommeo ammanati, of whom record has already been made in many places in this work. this bartolommeo, i say, worked under sansovino in venice; and then in padua for messer marco da mantova, a most excellent doctor of medicine, in whose house he made an immense giant from more than one piece of stone for his court, and his tomb, with many statues. afterwards, ammanati having gone to rome in the year , there were allotted to him by giorgio vasari four statues of marble, each of four braccia, for the tomb of the old cardinal di monte, which pope julius iii had allotted to giorgio himself in the church of s. pietro a montorio, as will be related; which statues were held to be very beautiful. wherefore vasari, having conceived an affection for him, made him known to the said julius iii, who, having ordained what he wanted done, caused him to be set to work; and so both of them, vasari and ammanati, worked together for a time at the vigna. but not long afterwards, when vasari had gone to serve duke cosimo in florence, the above-named pope being dead, ammanati, who found himself without work and badly recompensed by that pontiff for his labours in rome, wrote to vasari, praying him that, even as he had assisted him in rome, so he should assist him in florence with the duke. whereupon vasari, occupying himself with fervour in this matter, introduced him into the service of the duke, for whom he has executed many statues in marble and in bronze that are not yet in position. for the garden of castello he has made two figures in bronze larger than life--namely, a hercules who is crushing antæus, from which antæus, in place of his spirit, there issues from the mouth water in great abundance. finally, ammanati has executed in marble the colossal figure of neptune that is in the piazza, ten braccia and a half in height; but since the work of the fountain, in the centre of which the said neptune is to stand, is not finished, i shall say nothing more of it. the same ammanati, as architect, is giving his attention with much honour and praise to the fabric of the pitti, in which work he has a great opportunity to show the worth and grandeur of his mind, and the magnificence and great spirit of duke cosimo. i could tell many particulars of this sculptor, but since he is my friend, and another, so i hear, is writing his history, i shall say no more, in order not to set my hand to things that may be related by another better than i perhaps might be able. it remains for us to make mention, as the last of sansovino's disciples, of danese cattaneo, the sculptor of carrara, who was already with him in venice when still a little boy. parting from his master at the age of nineteen, he made by himself a boy of marble for s. marco, and a s. laurence for the church of the friars minors; for s. salvadore another boy in marble, and for ss. giovanni e polo the statue of a nude bacchus, who is grasping a bunch of grapes from a vine which twines round a trunk that he has behind his legs, which statue is now in the house of the mozzenighi at s. barnaba. he has executed many figures for the library of s. marco and for the loggia of the campanile, together with others of whom there has been an account above; and, in addition to those named, the two that have been mentioned already as being in the apartments of the council of ten. he made portraits in marble of cardinal bembo and contarini, the captain-general of the venetian forces, which are both in s. antonio at padua, with rich and beautiful ornaments about them. and in the same city of padua, in s. giovanni di verdara, there is by the same hand the portrait of messer girolamo gigante, a most learned jurist. and for s. antonio della giudecca, in venice, he has made a very lifelike portrait of giustiniano, the lieutenant of the grand master of malta, and that of tiepolo, who was three times general; but these have not yet been set in their places. but the greatest work and the most distinguished that danese has ever executed is a rich chapel of marble, with large figures, in s. anastasia at verona, for signor ercole fregoso, in memory of signor jano, once lord of genoa, and then captain-general of the venetians, in whose service he died. this work is of the corinthian order, in the manner of a triumphal arch, and divided by four great columns, round and fluted, with capitals of olive-leaves, which rest upon a base of proportionate height, making the space in the centre as wide again as one of those at the sides; with an arch between the columns, above which there rest on the capitals the architrave and cornice, and in the centre, within the arch, a very beautiful decoration of pilasters, with cornice and frontispiece, and with a ground formed by a tablet of most beautiful black basanite, where there is the statue of a nude christ, larger than life and in the round, a very good figure; which statue stands in the act of showing the wounds, with a piece of drapery bound round the flanks and reaching between the legs to the ground. over the angles of the arch are signs of his passion, and between the columns that are on the right side there stands upon a pedestal a statue in the round representing signor jano fregoso, fully armed after the antique save that he shows the arms and legs nude, and he has the left hand upon the pommel of the sword at his girdle, and with the right hand he holds the general's baton; having behind him as a pendant, within the space between the columns, a minerva in half-relief, who, poised in the air, holds with one hand a ducal staff, such as that of the doges of venice, and with the other a banner containing the device of s. mark. between the two other columns, as the other pendant, is military valour in armour, on her head the helmet-crest with the house-leek upon it, and on her cuirass the device of an ermine that stands upon a rock surrounded by mire, with letters that run--"potius mori quam foedari," and with the device of the fregosi; and above is a victory, with a garland of laurel and a palm in the hands. above the columns, architrave, frieze and cornice, is another range of pilasters, upon the crowns of which stand two figures of marble in the round, and two trophies likewise in the round and of the same size as the figures. of these two statues, one is fame in the act of taking flight, pointing with the right hand to heaven, and with a trumpet that she is sounding; and this figure has light and most beautiful draperies about the body, and all the rest nude. the other, representing eternity, is clothed in heavier vestments, and stands in majesty, holding in the left hand a round on which she is gazing, and with the right hand she grasps a hem of her garment wherein are globes that signify the various ages, with the celestial sphere encircled by the serpent that seizes the tail in the mouth. in the central space above the great cornice, which forms and separates those two other spaces, are three steps upon which are seated two large nude boys, who hold a great shield with the helmet above it, containing the devices of the fregosi; and below those steps is an epitaph of basanite with large gilded letters. that whole work is truly worthy to be extolled, for danese executed it with great diligence, and gave beautiful proportion and grace to the composition, and made each figure with great study. and danese is not only, as has been described, an excellent sculptor, but also a good and much extolled poet, as his works clearly demonstrate, on which account he has always had intercourse and strait friendship with the greatest men and choicest spirits of our age; and of this may serve as a proof the work described above, executed by him with much poetic feeling. by the hand of danese is the nude statue of the sun above the ornament of the well in the courtyard of the mint, at venice; in place of which those signori desired a justice, but danese considered that in that place the sun is more appropriate. this figure has a bar of gold in the left hand, and in the right hand a sceptre, at the end of which he made an eye, and about the head the rays of the sun, and above all the globe of the world encircled by the serpent that holds the tail in the mouth, with some little mounds of gold about the globe, generated by him. danese would have liked to make two other statues, that of the moon for silver and another for copper, with that of the sun for gold; but it was enough for those signori that there should be that of gold, as the most perfect of all the metals. the same danese has begun another work in memory of prince loredano, doge of venice, wherein it is hoped that in invention and fantasy he is to surpass by a great measure all his other labours; which work is to be placed in the church of ss. giovanni e polo in venice. but, since this master is alive and still constantly at work for the benefit of the world and of art, i shall say nothing more of him; nor of other disciples of sansovino. i will not omit, however, to speak briefly of some other excellent craftsmen, sculptors and painters, from that dominion of venice, taking my opportunity from those mentioned above, in order to make an end of speaking of them in this life of sansovino. [illustration: palazzo chiericati (_after =andrea palladio=. vicenza_) _alinari_] vicenza, then, has likewise had at various times sculptors, painters, and architects, of some of whom record was made in the life of vittore scarpaccia, and particularly of those who flourished in the time of mantegna and learned to draw from him; and such were bartolommeo montagna, francesco verbo, and giovanni speranza, all painters, by whose hands are many pictures that are dispersed throughout vicenza. now in the same city there are many sculptures by the hand of one giovanni, a carver and architect, which are passing good, although his proper profession has been to carve foliage and animals, as he still does excellently well, although he is old. in like manner, girolamo pironi of vicenza has executed praiseworthy works of sculpture and painting in many places in his city. but among all the masters of vicenza he who most deserves to be extolled is the architect andrea palladio, from his being a man of singular judgment and brain, as many works demonstrate that were executed by him in his native country and elsewhere, and in particular the palazzo della comunità, a building much renowned, with two porticoes composed in the doric order with very beautiful columns. the same palladio has erected a palace, beautiful and grand beyond all belief, with an infinity of the richest ornaments, for count ottavio de' vieri, and another like it for count giuseppe di porto, which could not be more beautiful or magnificent, nor more worthy than it is of no matter how great a prince; and another is being built even now for count valerio chiericati under the direction of the same master, very similar in majesty and grandeur to the ancient buildings so much extolled. for the counts of valmorana, likewise, he has now carried almost to completion another most superb palace, which does not yield in any particular to any of those mentioned above. in the same city, upon the piazza commonly called the isola, he has built another very magnificent fabric for signor valerio chiericati; and at pugliano, a place in the vicentino, a most beautiful house for the chevalier, signor bonifazio pugliana. in the same territory of vicenza, at finale, he has erected another fabric for messer biagio saraceni; and one at bagnolo for signor vittore pisani, with a large and very rich court in the doric order with most beautiful columns. near vicenza, at the township of lisiera, he has constructed for signor giovan francesco valmorana another very rich edifice, with four towers at the corners, which make a very fine effect. at meledo, likewise, for count francesco trissino and lodovico his brother, he has begun a magnificent palace upon a hill of some eminence, with many ranges of loggie, staircases, and other appurtenances of a villa. at campiglia, likewise in the vicentino, he is making for signor mario ropetta another similar habitation, with so many conveniences, rich apartments of rooms, loggie, staircases, and chambers dedicated to various virtues, that it will be, when once carried to completion, an abode rather for a king than for a nobleman. at lunedo he has built another, in the manner of a villa, for signor girolamo de' godi; and at angarano another for count jacopo angarano, which is truly most beautiful, although it appears a small thing to the great mind of that lord. at quinto, also, near vicenza, he erected not long ago another palace for count marc'antonio tiene, which has in it more of the grand and the magnificent than i could express. in short, palladio has constructed so many vast and lovely buildings within and without vicenza, that, even if there were no others there, they would suffice to make a very handsome city with most beautiful surroundings. in venice the same palladio has begun many buildings, but one that is marvellous and most notable among them all, in imitation of the houses that the ancients used to build, in the monastery of the carità. the atrium of this is forty feet wide and fifty-four feet long, which are exactly the diameters of the quadrangle, the wings being one-third and a half of the length. the columns, which are corinthian, are three feet and a half in thickness and thirty-five feet high. from the atrium one goes into the peristyle, that is, into a clauster (for thus do the friars call their courts), which on the side towards the atrium is divided into five parts, and at the flanks into seven, with three orders of columns one above the other, of which the doric is at the foot, and above it the ionic and the corinthian. opposite to the atrium is the refectory, two squares in length, and as high as the level of the peristyle, with its officines around it, all most commodious. the stairs are spiral, in the form of an oval, and they have neither wall nor column, nor any part in the middle to support them; they are thirteen feet wide, and the steps by their position support one another, being fixed in the wall. this edifice is all built of baked stone, that is, of brick, save the bases of the columns, the capitals, the imposts of the arches, the stairs, the surface of the cornices, and the whole of the windows and doors. the same palladio has built for the black friars of s. benedict, in their monastery of s. giorgio maggiore in venice, a very large and most beautiful refectory with its vestibule in front, and has begun to found a new church, with such beautiful ordering, according as the model shows, that, if it is carried to completion, it will prove a stupendous and most lovely work. besides this, he has begun the façade of the church of s. francesco della vigna, which the very reverend grimani, patriarch of aquileia, is causing to be made of istrian stone, with a most magnificent disregard of expense; the columns are four palms thick at the foot, forty palms high, and in the corinthian order, and already the whole basement at the foot is built. at gambaraie, a place seven miles distant from venice, on the river brenta, the same palladio has made a very commodious habitation for m. niccolò and m. luigi foscari, gentlemen of venice. another he has built at marocco, a place in the mestrino, for the chevalier mozzenigo; at piombino one for m. giorgio cornaro, one at montagnana for the magnificent m. francesco pisani, and another at cicogna in the territory of padua for count adovardo da tiene, a gentleman of vicenza. at udine, in friuli, he has built one for signor floriano antimini; at motto, a township likewise in friuli, one for the magnificent m. marco zeno, with a most beautiful court and porticoes all the way round; and at fratta, a township in the polesine, a great fabric for signor francesco badoaro, with some very beautiful and fantastic loggie. in like manner, near asolo, a place in the territory of treviso, he has erected a most commodious habitation for the very reverend s. daniello barbaro, patriarch-elect of aquileia, who has written upon vitruvius, and for the most illustrious m. marc'antonio, his brother, with such beautiful ordering, that nothing better or greater can ever be imagined. among other things, he has made there a fountain very similar to that which pope julius caused to be made at his vigna giulia in rome; with ornaments of stucco and paintings everywhere, executed by excellent masters. in genoa m. luca giustiniano has erected a building with the design of palladio, which is held to be very beautiful, as are also all those mentioned above; but it would have made too long a story to seek to recount the many particulars of the strange and lovely inventions and fantasies that are in them. but, since there is soon to come into the light of day a work of palladio, in which will be printed two books of ancient edifices and one book of those that he himself has caused to be built, i shall say nothing more of him, because this will be enough to make him known as the excellent architect that he is held to be by all who see his beautiful works; besides which, being still young and attending constantly to the studies of his art, every day greater things may be expected of him. nor will i omit to say that he has wedded to such gifts a nature so amiable and gentle, that it renders him well-beloved with everyone; wherefore he has won the honour of being accepted into the number of the academicians of design in florence, together with danese, giuseppe salviati, tintoretto, and battista farinato of verona, as will be told in another place, speaking of the said academicians. bonifazio, a venetian painter, of whom i have never before received any information, is also worthy to be numbered in the company of these many excellent craftsmen, being a well-practised and able colourist. this master, besides many pictures and portraits that are dispersed throughout venice, has executed for the altar of the relics in the church of the servites, in the same city, an altar-piece wherein is a christ with the apostles about him, and philip who appears to be saying, "domine, ostende nobis patrem," which is painted with a very good and beautiful manner. and for the altar of the madonna in the church of the nuns of the spirito santo, he has executed another most beautiful altar-picture with a vast number of men, women, and children of every age, who in company with the virgin are adoring a god the father who is in the air with many angels about him. another painter of passing good name in venice is jacopo fallaro, who has painted on the doors of the organ in the church of the ingesuati the blessed giovanni colombini receiving his habit in the consistory from the pope, with a good number of cardinals. another jacopo, called pisbolica, has executed an altar-piece for s. maria maggiore in venice, wherein is christ in the air with many angels, and below him our lady with the apostles. and one fabrizio viniziano has painted on the façade of a chapel in the church of s. maria sebenico the consecration of the baptismal font, with many portraits from life executed with beautiful grace and a good manner. notes. i., line , p. . the family of the tatti in florence is recorded in the books of the commune from the year , because, having come from lucca, a very noble city of tuscany, it was always abundant in industrious and honoured men, and they were most highly favoured by the house of medici. of this family was born jacopo, of whom we are writing in this place; and he was born from antonio, a most excellent person, and from his wife francesca, in the month of january, . in the first years of his boyhood he was set, as is usual, to learn his letters; and, after beginning to show in these vivacity of brain and readiness of spirit, not long afterwards he applied himself of his own accord to drawing, giving evidence in a certain sort that nature was inclining him much more to this kind of work than to letters, for the reason that he went very unwillingly to school and learned much against his will the scabrous rudiments of grammar. his mother, whom he resembled strongly, perceiving this and fostering his genius, gave him assistance, causing him to be taught design in secret, because she loved the thought that her son should be a sculptor, perchance in emulation of the then rising glory of michelagnolo buonarroti, who at that time was still quite young; and also moved by a certain fateful augury, in that michelagnolo and this jacopo had been born in one and the same street, called via s. maria, near the via ghibellina. now the boy, after some time, was placed to learn the trade of a merchant; in which delighting even less than in letters, he did and said so much, that he obtained leave from his father to attend without hindrance to that towards which he was urged by nature. there had come to florence at that time andrea contucci of monte sansovino, a township near arezzo, risen to great fame in our days from having been the birthplace of pope julius iii; which andrea, having acquired in italy and in spain the name of the best sculptor and architect that there was in art after buonarroti, was staying in florence in order to execute two figures of marble. etc. ii., line , p. . (and he was executing many works of the greatest importance for all those lords), having been recognized by three pontiffs, and especially by pope leo, who presented him with a knighthood of s. pietro, which he sold during his illness, doubting lest he might die; (when god, etc.). iii., line , p. . having then entered on that office, he began to occupy himself with every care, both with regard to buildings and in the management of the papers and of the books that he held by virtue of his office, acquitting himself with all possible diligence in the affairs of the church of s. marco, of the commissions, which are a great number, and of the many other matters that are in the charge of those procurators; and he showed extraordinary lovingness towards those signori, in that, having turned his whole attention to benefiting them and to directing their affairs to the aggrandizement, embellishment, and ornamentation of the church, the city, and the public square (a thing never yet done by any other in that office), he provided them with various advantages, profits, and revenues by means of his inventions, with his ingenuity of brain and readiness of spirit, yet always with little or no expense to the signori themselves. among which benefits, one was this; in the year there were between the two columns in the piazza some butchers' stalls, and also between the one column and the other many wooden cabins to accommodate persons in their natural necessities--a thing most filthy and disgraceful, both for the dignity of the palace and of the piazza pubblica, and for the strangers who, coming into venice by way of s. giorgio, saw first of all on arrival that filthiness. jacopo, after demonstrating to the prince gritti the honourable and profitable nature of his design, caused those stalls and cabins to be removed; and, placing the stalls where they now are and making certain places for the sellers of herbs, he obtained for the procurators an additional revenue of seven hundred ducats, embellishing at the same time the piazza and the city. not long afterwards, having perceived that in the merceria (on the way to the rialto, near the clock), by removing a house that paid a rent of twenty-six ducats, a street could be made leading into the spadaria, whereby the rent of the houses and shops all around would be increased, he threw down that house and increased their revenues by one hundred and fifty ducats a year. besides this, by placing on that site the hostelry of the pellegrino and another in the campo rusolo, he brought them in another four hundred ducats. he obtained for them similar benefits by the buildings in the pescaria, and, on divers other occasions, by many houses and shops and other places belonging to those signori, at various times; insomuch that the procurators, having gained by his care a revenue of more than two thousand ducats, have been rightly moved to love him and to hold him dear. not long afterwards, by order of the procurators, he set his hand to the very rich and beautiful building of the library opposite to the palazzo pubblico, with such a variety of architecture (for it is both doric and corinthian), and such a wealth of carvings, cornices, columns, capitals, and half-length figures throughout the whole work, that it is a marvel; and all without any sparing of expense, since it is full of the richest pavements, stucco-work and scenes throughout the halls of that place, and public staircases adorned with various pictures, as has been related in the life of battista franco, not to speak of the appurtenances and rich ornaments that it has at the principal door of entrance, which give it majesty and grandeur, demonstrating the ability of sansovino. which method of building was the reason that in that city, into which there had not entered up to that time any other method but that of building their houses and palaces in one and the same order, each man always continuing the same things with the same measurements and ancient use, without varying according to the sites as they found them, or according to convenience; it was the reason, i say, that buildings both public and private began to be erected with new designs and better order, and according to the ancient teaching of vitruvius; and that work, in the opinion of those who are good judges and have seen many parts of the world, is without any equal. he then built the palace of messer giovanni delfino, situated on the grand canal on the other side from the rialto, opposite to the riva del ferro, at a cost of thirty thousand ducats. he built, likewise, that of messer leonardo moro at s. girolamo, a work of great cost, which has almost the appearance of a castle. and he erected the palace of messer luigi de' garzoni, wider by thirteen paces in every direction than is the fondaco de' tedeschi, with so many conveniences, that water runs through the whole fabric, which is adorned with four most beautiful figures by sansovino; which palace is at ponte casale, in the neighbourhood of venice. but the most beautiful is the palace of messer giorgio cornaro on the grand canal, which, without any doubt surpassing the others in convenience, majesty, and grandeur, is considered perhaps the finest that there is in italy. he also built (to have done with speaking of private edifices) the scuola or confraternity of the misericordia, a vast work costing one hundred and thirty thousand crowns, which, when carried to completion, will prove to be the most superb edifice in italy. and his work, also, is the church of s. francesco della vigna, where the frati de' zoccoli have their seat, a work of great size and importance; but the façade was by another master. the loggia about the campanile of s. marco, in the corinthian order, was from his design, with a very rich ornament of columns, and with four niches, in which are four supremely beautiful figures in bronze, little less than the size of life, which are by his hand, together with various scenes and figures in low-relief. that work makes a most beautiful base to the said campanile, which has a thickness, on one of the sides, of thirty-five feet, which is about the extent of sansovino's ornamentation. in height, from the ground to the cornice where are the windows of the bells, it is one hundred and sixty feet; from the level of that cornice to the other above it, where the corridor is, twenty-five feet; and the other dado above has a height of twenty-eight feet and a half. from that level of the corridor up to the pyramid is sixty feet; at the summit of which spire, the little square, upon which rests the angel, is six feet high, and the said angel, which turns with every wind, is ten feet high; insomuch that the whole height comes to be two hundred and ninety-two feet. but the finest, richest, and strongest of his edifices is the mint of venice, all of iron and stone, for there is not in it one single piece of wood, in order to render it absolutely safe from fire. and the interior is distributed with such order and convenience for the sake of the many artificers, that there is not in any part of the world a treasury better ordered, or with greater strength, than that one, which he built entirely in the rustic order and very beautiful; which method, not having been used before in that city, caused the inhabitants to marvel not a little. by his hand, also, may be seen the church of s. spirito on the lagoons, of a very delicate and pleasing workmanship; and in venice there is the façade of s. gimignano, which gives splendour to the piazza, in the merceria the façade of s. giuliano, and in s. salvadore the very rich tomb of the prince francesco veniero. he also erected in the rialto, on the grand canal, the new fabrics of the vaults, with such good design, that almost every day there assembles there a very convenient market of townsmen and of other persons who flock to that city. and a very marvellous thing and new was that which he did for the tiepoli at the misericordia, in that, they having on the canal a great palace with many regal chambers, and the whole building being badly founded in the water, so that it was likely enough that in a few years the edifice would fall to the ground, sansovino rebuilt all the foundations in the canal below the palace with very large stones, maintaining the house on its feet with a marvellous support of props, while the owners lived in their house with perfect security. nor for all this, while he has given his attention to so many buildings, has he ever ceased to occupy himself every day for his own delight with vast and beautiful works of sculpture, in marble and in bronze. over the holy-water font of the friars of the cà grande there is by his hand a statue made of marble, representing s. john the baptist, which is very beautiful and highly extolled. at padua, in the chapel of the santo, there is a large scene in marble by the same hand, with very beautiful figures in half-relief, of a miracle of s. anthony of padua; which is much esteemed in that place. for the entrance of the stairs of the palace of s. marco he is even now executing in marble in the forms of two very beautiful giants, each of seven braccia, a neptune and a mars, signifying the power which that most illustrious republic has on land and sea. he made a most beautiful statue of hercules for the duke of ferrara; and for the church of s. marco he made six scenes of bronze in half-relief, one braccio high and one and a half long, for placing on a pulpit, with stories of that evangelist, which are held in much estimation for their variety. over the door of the same s. marco he made a madonna of marble, the size of life, which is held to be a very beautiful thing; and at the entrance to the sacristy of that place there is by his hand the door of bronze divided into two most beautiful parts, with stories of jesus christ all in half-relief and wrought excellently well. and over the door of the arsenal he made a very beautiful madonna, who is holding her son in her arms, of marble. all which works not only have given lustre and adornment to that republic, but also have caused sansovino to be better known every day as a most excellent craftsman, and loved and honoured by the magnificent liberality of those signori, and likewise by the other craftsmen, every work of sculpture and architecture that has been executed in that city in his time being referred to him. and in truth the excellence of jacopo has well deserved that he should be held in the first rank among the craftsmen of design in that city, and that his talents should be loved and revered by all without exception, both nobles and plebeians, for the reason that, besides other things, as has been told, with his judgment and knowledge he has brought it about that the city has been made almost entirely new and has learned the true and good method of building. three most beautiful figures in stucco by his hand, also, may be seen in the possession of his son, one a laocoon, another a venus standing, and the third a madonna with many children about her; which figures are so rare, that in venice there is seen nothing to equal them. the said son also has in drawing sixty plans of temples and churches of sansovino's invention, which are so excellent that from the days of the ancients to our own there have been seen none better conceived or more beautiful. these i have heard that the son will publish for the benefit of the world, and already he has had some pieces engraved, accompanying them with designs of the numberless labours that have been carried into execution by sansovino in various parts of italy. for all this, although occupied, as has been related, with the management of so many things both public and private, and both in the city and abroad (for strangers, also, ran to him for models and designs of buildings, for figures, or for counsel, as did the duke of ferrara, who obtained a hercules in the form of a giant, the duke of mantua, and the duke of urbino), he was always very zealous in the private and particular service of each of his own lords procurators, who, availing themselves of him both in venice and elsewhere, and not doing a single thing without his assistance or counsel, kept him continually at work not only for themselves, but also for their friends and relatives, without any reward, he consenting to endure any inconvenience and fatigue in order to satisfy them. but above all he was greatly loved and held in infinite price by the prince gritti, who delighted in beautiful intellects, by messer vettorio grimani, brother of the cardinal, and by messer giovanni da legge the chevalier, all procurators, and by messer marc'antonio justiniano, who became acquainted with him in rome. for these illustrious men, exalted in spirit and truly regal in mind, being conversant with the affairs of the world and well informed in the noble and excellent arts, soon recognized his merit and how worthy he was to be cherished and esteemed, and availed themselves of him in due measure; and they used to say, in accord with the whole city, that the procurators never had and never would have at any time another equal to him, for they knew very well how celebrated and renowned his name was with the men and princes of intellect in florence and rome and throughout all italy, and every one held it as certain that not he only but also his descendants and all his posterity deserved to be endowed for ever in return for his singular genius. jacopo was in body of ordinary stature, without any fat, and he walked with the person upright. he was white in complexion, with the beard red; and in his youth he was very graceful and handsome, and therefore much beloved by various women of some importance. after he became old, he had a venerable presence, with a beautiful white beard, and walked like a young man, insomuch that, having come to the age of ninety-three, he was still very strong and healthy and could see every least thing, however distant it might be, without spectacles, and when writing he kept his head erect, not bending over at all as is done by others. he delighted to dress handsomely, and was always very neat in his person; and he always took pleasure in women down to extreme old age, and much loved to talk of them. in his youth, by reason of his excesses, he was not very robust; but when he had become old he never suffered any illness, insomuch that for a period of fifty years, although at times he felt indisposed, he would never avail himself of any physician; nay, having had an apoplectic stroke for the fourth time at the age of eighty-four, he recovered by staying only two months in bed in a very dark and warm place, despising medicines. he had so good a stomach, that he was not afraid of anything, making no distinction between food that might be good and food that might be harmful; and in summer he lived almost entirely on fruits, eating very often as many as three cucumbers at a time, and half a citron, in his extreme old age. as for his qualities of mind, he was very prudent and foresaw future events in the matters of the present, weighing them against the past; and he was zealous in his affairs, not considering any fatigue, and never left his business to follow pleasures. he discoursed well and with many words upon no matter what subject that he understood, giving many illustrations with much grace; on which account he was very dear both to the great and to the small, and to his friends. and in his last years he had a memory still very fresh, and remembered in detail his childhood, the sack of rome, and many things, fortunate or unfortunate, that he experienced in his time. he was courageous, and from his youth took delight in contending with those greater than himself, because, he used to say, by contending with the great a man advances, but against the little he lowers himself. he esteemed honour above everything in the world, wherefore in his affairs he was most loyal and a man of his word, and so pure in heart, that no offer, however great, could have corrupted him, although he was put to the test several times by his signori, who for this and for other qualities regarded him not as their protomaster or minister, but as a father and brother, honouring him for his goodness, which was in no way feigned, but real. he was liberal with every man, and so loving towards his relatives, that he deprived himself of many comforts in order to assist them; although he lived always in repute and honour, as one who was observed by everyone. at times he let himself be overcome by anger, which was very great in him, but it soon passed; and very often with a few humble words you could make the tears come to his eyes. he had a surpassing love for the art of sculpture; such a love, indeed, that, to the end that it might be dispersed widely in various parts, he formed many disciples, making as it were a seminary of that art in italy. among these, very famous were niccolò tribolo and solosmeo, florentines; danese cattaneo of carrara, a tuscan, of supreme excellence in poetry as well as in sculpture; girolamo da ferrara, jacopo colonna of venice, luca lancia of naples, tiziano da padova, pietro da salò, bartolommeo ammanati of florence, at the present day sculptor and protomaster to the great duke of tuscany, and, finally, alessandro vittoria of trento, a rare master in portraits of marble, and jacopo de' medici of brescia; who, reviving the memory of the excellence of their master, have employed their talents on many honoured works in various cities. sansovino was much esteemed by princes, among whom alessandro de' medici, duke of florence, sought his judgment in building the citadel of that city. and duke cosimo in the year , sansovino having gone on his affairs to his native city, not only sought his counsel in the matter of that fortress, but also strove to engage him in his service, offering him a good salary; and on his return from florence duke ercole of ferrara detained him about his person and proposed various conditions to him, making every effort to keep him in ferrara. but he, being used to venice, and finding himself comfortable in that city, where he had lived a great part of his life, and having a singular love for the procurators, by whom he was so much honoured, would never listen to any of them. he was also invited by pope paul iii, who wished to advance him to the charge of s. pietro in the place of antonio da san gallo, and with this monsignor della casa, who was then legate in venice, occupied himself much; but all was in vain, because he said that he was not minded to exchange the manner of life of a republic for that of living under an absolute prince. and king philip of spain, on his way to germany, showed him much kindness at peschiera, whither jacopo had gone to see him. he had an immoderate desire of glory, and by reason of that used to spend his own substance on others (not without notable harm to his descendants), in the hope that there might remain some memory of him. good judges say that although he had to yield to michelagnolo, yet in certain things he was his superior. thus in the fashioning of draperies, in children, and in the expressions of women, jacopo had no equal, for the reason that his draperies in marble were very delicate and well executed, with beautiful folds and curves that revealed the nude beneath the vestments; his children he made tender and soft, without those muscles that adults have, and with their little arms and legs as if of flesh, insomuch that they were in no way different from the life; and the expressions of his women were sweet and pleasing, and as gracious as could be, as is clearly seen from various madonnas made by him in many places, of marble and in low-relief, and from his statues of venus and other figures. now this man, having thus become celebrated in sculpture and in architecture a master without a rival, and having lived in the grace of mankind and also of god, who bestowed upon him the genius that made him illustrious, as has been related, when he had come to the age of ninety-three, feeling somewhat weary in body, took to his bed in order to rest; in which having lain without any kind of suffering, although he strove to rise and dress himself as if well, for a period of a month and a half, failing little by little, he asked for the sacraments of the church, which having received, while still hoping to live a few years, he sank gradually and died on the nd of november in the year ; and although in his old age he had run the whole course of nature, yet his death was a grief to all venice. he left behind him his son francesco, born at rome in the year , a man learned both in the law and in the humanities, from whom jacopo saw three grandchildren born; a male child called, like his grandfather, jacopo, and two female, one called fiorenza, who died, to his infinite grief and sorrow, and the other aurora. his body was borne with much honour to his chapel in s. gimignano, where there was erected to his memory by his son the marble statue made by jacopo himself while he was alive, with the epitaph given below in memory of his great worth: jacobo sansovino florentino qui romÆ julio ii, leoni x, clementi vii, pont. max., maxime gratus, venetiis architecturÆ sculpturÆque intermortuum decus primus excitavit, quique a senatu ob eximiam virtutem liberaliter honestatus, summo civitatis moerore decessit, franciscus f. hoc mon. p. vixit ann. xciii. ob. v. cal. dec. mdlxx. his obsequies were likewise celebrated publicly at the frari by the florentine colony, with no slight pomp, and the oration was delivered by messer camillo buonpigli, an excellent man. leone lioni of arezzo of leone lioni of arezzo, and other sculptors and architects since that which has been said above, here and there, of the chevalier leone, a sculptor of arezzo, has been said incidentally, it cannot but be well to speak here in due order of his works, which are truly worthy to be celebrated and to pass into the memory of mankind. this leone, then, having applied himself in the beginning to the goldsmith's art, and having made in his youth many beautiful works, and in particular portraits from life in dies of steel for medals, became in a few years so excellent, that he came to the knowledge of many great men and princes, and particularly of the emperor charles v, by whom, having recognized his talents, he was set to works of greater importance than medals. thus, not long after he became known to his majesty, he made a statue of that emperor in bronze, larger than life and in the round, which he then furnished with a very delicate suit of armour formed of two very thin shells, which can be put on and taken off with ease, and all wrought with such grace, that whoever sees the statue when covered does not notice it and can scarcely believe that it is nude below, and when it is nude no one would believe without difficulty that it could ever be so well clad in armour. this statue rests on the left leg, and with the right foot tramples on fury, which is a recumbent figure bound in chains, with the torch beneath it and arms of various kinds. on the base of this work, which is now in madrid, are these words: cÆsaris virtute furor domitus. after these statues leone made a great die for striking medals of his majesty, and on the reverse the giants being slain by jove with thunderbolts. for all which works the emperor gave to leone a pension of one hundred and fifty ducats a year on the mint of milan, with a very commodious house in the contrada de' moroni, and made him a chevalier and of his household, besides giving him many privileges of nobility for his descendants. and while leone was with his majesty in brussels, he had his rooms in the palace of the emperor himself, who at times would go for recreation to see him at work. not long afterwards he made another statue of the emperor, in marble, and also those of the empress and king philip, and a bust of the same emperor for placing on high between two panels in bronze. he made, likewise in bronze, the head of queen maria, that of ferdinand, at that time king of the romans, that of maximilian his son, now emperor, and that of queen leonora, with many others, which were placed in the gallery of the palace of binche by queen maria, who had caused them to be made. but they did not stay there long, because king henry of france set fire to the building by way of revenge, leaving written there these words, "vela fole maria";[ ] i say by way of revenge, because a few years before that queen had done the same to him. however it may have been, the work of that gallery did not proceed, and those statues are now partly in the palace of the catholic king at madrid, and partly at alicante, a sea-port, from which her majesty intended to have them conveyed to granada, where are the tombs of all the kings of spain. on returning from spain, leone brought with him two thousand crowns in cash, besides many other gifts and favours that were bestowed upon him by that court. [footnote : the story runs that in the year queen maria attacked and destroyed the castle of folembrai, and that in the following year king henry of france, out of revenge, destroyed the fortress of binche in upper hainault, leaving on the ruined walls the words "voilà folembrai"; which in the italian have been corrupted into "vela fole maria."] [illustration: tomb of gian jacopo medici (_after =leone lioni=. milan: duomo_) _alinari_] for the duke of alva leone has executed a head of the duke, one of charles v, and another of king philip. for the very reverend bishop of arras, now grand cardinal, called granvella, he has made some pieces in bronze of an oval form, each of two braccia, with rich borders, and containing half-length statues; in one is charles v, in another king philip, and in the third the cardinal himself, portrayed from life, and all have bases with little figures of much grace. for signor vespasiano gonzaga he has made in a great bust of bronze the portrait of alva, which gonzaga has placed in his house at sabbionetto. for signor cesare gonzaga he has executed, likewise in metal, a statue of four braccia, which has beneath it another figure that is entwined with a hydra, in order to denote his father don ferrante, who by his worth and valour overcame the vicious envy that had sought to bring him into disgrace with charles v in the matter of the government of milan. this statue, which is clad in a toga and armed partly in the ancient and partly in the modern fashion, is to be taken to guastalla and placed there in memory of that don ferrante, a most valorous captain. the same leone has made, as has been told in another place, the tomb of signor giovanni jacopo medici, marquis of marignano and brother of pope pius iv, which stands in the duomo of milan, about twenty-eight palms in length and forty in height. this tomb is all of carrara marble, and adorned with four columns, two of them black and white, which were sent by the pope as rare things from rome to milan, and two others, larger, which are of a spotted stone similar to jasper; which are all accommodated under one and the same cornice, an unusual contrivance, by the desire of that pope, who caused the whole work to be executed after the directions of michelagnolo, excepting only the five figures of bronze that are there, which are by the hand of leone. the first of these, the largest of them all, is the statue of the marquis himself, standing upright and larger than life, which has in the right hand the baton of a general, and the left hand resting on a helmet that is on a very richly adorned trunk. on the left of this is a smaller statue, representing peace, and on the right another signifying military virtue; and these are seated, and in aspect all sad and sorrowing. of the other two, which are on high, one is providence and the other fame; and between them, on the same level, is a most beautiful nativity of christ in bronze, in low-relief. at the summit of the whole work are two figures of marble, which support that lord's escutcheon of balls. for this work seven thousand and eight hundred crowns were paid, according to the agreement made in rome by the most illustrious cardinal morone and signor agabrio scierbellone. the same master has made for signor giovan battista castaldo a statue likewise in bronze, which is to be placed in i know not what monastery, with some ornaments. for the above-named catholic king he has executed a christ in marble, more than three braccia high, with the cross and with other mysteries of the passion, which is much extolled. finally, he has in hand the statue of signor alfonso davalos, the marchese del vasto of famous memory, which was entrusted to him by the marchese di pescara, his son; four braccia high, and likely to prove an excellent figure when cast, by reason of the diligence that he is devoting to its execution, and the good fortune that leone has always had in his castings. leone, in order to display the greatness of his mind, the beautiful genius that he has received from nature, and the favour of fortune, has built at great expense and with most beautiful architecture a house in the contrada de' moroni, so full of fantastic inventions, that there is perhaps no other like it in all milan. in the distribution of the façade there are upon pilasters six captives each of six braccia and all of pietra viva, and between these, in certain niches, fates in imitation of the antique, with little terminal figures, windows, and cornices all different from the common use and very graceful; and all the parts below correspond with beautiful order to those above, and the frieze-ornaments are all of various instruments of the arts of design. from the principal door one enters by a passage into a courtyard, in the centre of which, upon four columns, is the horse with the statue of marcus aurelius, cast in gesso from the original which is in the campidoglio. by means of that statue he has intended that his house should be dedicated to marcus aurelius; and as for the captives, that fancy is interpreted by various persons in various ways. besides the horse, he has in that beautiful and most commodious habitation, as has been told in another place, as many casts in gesso as he has been able to obtain of famous works in sculpture and casting, both ancient and modern. a son of leone, called pompeo, who is now in the service of king philip of spain, is in no way inferior to his father in executing dies of steel for medals and in casting figures that are marvellous. wherefore at that court he has been a competitor of giovan paolo poggini, a florentine, who also works in the service of that king and has made most beautiful medals. but pompeo, having served that king many years, intends to return to milan in order to enjoy his aurelian house and the other labours of his excellent father, the loving friend of every man of talent. and now to say something of medals, and of the steel dies with which they are made. i believe that it may be affirmed with truth that our modern intellects have achieved as much as the ancient romans once did in the excellence of the figures, and that in the lettering and in other parts they have surpassed them. which may be seen clearly in twelve reverses--besides many others--that pietro paolo galeotto has executed recently in the medals of duke cosimo, and they are these; pisa restored almost to her pristine condition by means of the duke, he having drained the country round and dried the marshy places, and having made many other improvements; the waters conducted to florence from various places, the ornate and magnificent building of the magistrates erected for the public convenience, the union of the states of florence and siena, the building of a city and two fortresses in elba, the column conveyed from rome and placed on the piazza di s. trinita in florence, the preservation, completion and enlargement of the library of s. lorenzo for the public good, the foundation of the order of the knights of s. stephen, the resignation of the government to the prince, the fortifying of the state, the militia or trained companies of his dominion, and the pitti palace with its gardens, waters, and buildings, a work of such regal magnificence; of which reverses i do not give here either the lettering that they have around them, or their explanation, having to treat of them in another place. all these twelve reverses are beautiful to a marvel and executed with much diligence and grace, as is also the head of the duke, which is of perfect beauty; and medals and other works in stucco, likewise, as i have said on another occasion, are being made of absolute perfection at the present day. and recently mario capocaccia of ancona has executed with coloured stucco, in little cases, heads and portraits that are truly most beautiful; such as a portrait of pope pius v, which i saw not long since, and that of cardinal alessandrino. i have seen, also, portraits of the same kind by the hands of the sons of polidoro, a painter of perugia, which are very beautiful. but to return to milan; looking again a year ago over the works of the sculptor gobbo, of whom mention has been made in another place, i did not see anything that was otherwise than ordinary, excepting an adam and eve, a judith, and a s. helena, in marble, which are about the duomo; with two other statues of dead persons, representing lodovico, called il moro, and beatrice his wife, which were to be placed upon a tomb by the hand of giovan jacomo della porta, sculptor and architect to the duomo of milan, who in his youth executed many works under the said gobbo; and those named above, which were to go on that tomb, are wrought with a high finish. the same giovan jacomo has executed many beautiful works for the certosa of pavia, and in particular on the tomb of the conte di virtù and on the façade of the church. from him one his nephew learned his art, by name guglielmo, who in milan, about the year , applied himself with much study to copying the works of leonardo da vinci, which gave him very great assistance. whereupon he went with giovan jacomo to genoa, when in the year the latter was invited to execute the sepulchre of s. john the baptist, and he devoted himself with great study to design under perino del vaga; and, not therefore abandoning sculpture, he made one of the sixteen pedestals that are in that sepulchre, on which account, it being seen that he was acquitting himself very well, he was commissioned to make all the others. next, he executed two angels in marble, which are in the company of s. giovanni; and for the bishop of servega he made two portraits in marble, and a moses larger than life, which was placed in the church of s. lorenzo. and then, after he had made a ceres of marble that was placed over the door of the house of ansaldo grimaldi, he executed for placing over the gate of the cazzuola, in that city, a statue of s. catharine of the size of life; and after that the three graces, with four little boys, of marble, which were sent into flanders to the grand equerry of the emperor charles v, together with another ceres of the size of life. [illustration: eve (_after =cristofano solari=. milan: duomo_) _brogi_] having executed these works in six years, guglielmo in the year made his way to rome, where he was much recommended by his uncle giovan jacomo to the painter fra sebastiano viniziano, his friend, to the end that he might recommend him, as he did, to michelagnolo buonarroti. which michelagnolo, seeing guglielmo to be spirited and very assiduous in labouring, began to conceive an affection for him, and, before any other thing, caused him to restore some antique things in the farnese palace, in which he acquitted himself in such a manner, that michelagnolo put him into the service of the pope. another proof of his powers had been seen already in a tomb that he had executed at the botteghe scure, for the most part of metal, for bishop sulisse, with many figures and scenes in low-relief--namely, the cardinal virtues and others, wrought with much grace, and besides these the figure of the bishop himself, which afterwards went to salamanca in spain. now, while guglielmo was engaged in restoring the statues, which are now in the loggia that is before the upper hall in the farnese palace, there took place in the year the death of fra sebastiano viniziano, who, as has been told, had administered the office of the piombo. whereupon guglielmo, with the favour of michelagnolo and of others, so wrought upon the pope, that he obtained the said office of the piombo, with the charge of executing the tomb of pope paul iii, which was to be placed in s. pietro. for this he availed himself in the model, with better design, of the scenes and figures of the theological and cardinal virtues that he had made for the above-named bishop sulisse, placing at the corners four children in four partitions, and four cartouches, and making in addition a bronze statue of the said pontiff seated, giving the benediction; which statue was seventeen palms high. but doubting, on account of the size of the casting, lest the metal might grow cold and the work therefore not succeed, he placed the metal in the vessel below, in such a way that it might be gradually sucked upwards. and with this unusual method that casting came out very well, and as clean as the wax, so that the very surface that came from the fire had no need at all to be polished, as may be seen from the statue itself, which was placed below the first arches that support the tribune of the new s. pietro. on this tomb, which according to a design by his hand was to be isolated, were to be placed four figures, which he executed in marble with beautiful inventions according as he was directed by m. annibale caro, who had the charge of this from the pope and cardinal farnese. one was justice, which is a nude figure lying upon some draperies, with the belt of the sword across the breast, and the sword hidden; in one hand she has the fasces of consular jurisdiction, and in the other a flame of fire, and she is young in countenance, and has the hair plaited, the nose aquiline, and the aspect full of expression. the second was prudence in the form of a matron, young in aspect, with a mirror in the hand, and a closed book, and partly nude, partly draped. the third was abundance, a young woman crowned with ears of corn, with a horn of plenty in one hand and the ancient corn-measure in the other, and clothed in such a manner as to show the nude beneath the draperies. the fourth and last was peace, who is a matron with a boy that has lost his eyes, and with the caduceus of mercury. he made, likewise, a scene also of metal and after the directions of the above-named caro, which was to be placed in the work, with two river gods, one representing a lake and the other a river that is in the domains of the farnesi; and, besides all these things, there was to be there a mount covered with lilies, and with the rainbow of iris. but the whole was not afterwards carried into execution, for the reasons that have been given in the life of michelagnolo. it may be believed that even as these parts are in themselves beautiful and wrought with much judgment, so they would have succeeded as a whole together; and yet it is the air of the piazza[ ] which gives the true light and enables us to form a correct judgment of a work. [footnote : see last line on p. .] [illustration: tomb of pope paul iii (_after =guglielmo della porta=. rome: s. peter's_) _alinari_] the same fra guglielmo has executed during a period of many years fourteen stories of the life of christ, for casting in bronze; each of which is four palms in breadth and six in height, excepting only one, which is twelve palms high and six broad, wherein is the nativity of jesus christ, with most beautiful fantasies of figures. in the other thirteen are, mary going with the infant christ on the ass to jerusalem, with two figures in strong relief, and many in half-relief and low-relief; the last supper, with thirteen figures well composed, and a very rich building; the washing of the disciples' feet; the prayer in the garden, with five figures, and at the foot a multitude of great variety; christ led before annas, with six large figures, many lower down, and one in the distance; the scourging at the column, the crowning with thorns, the "ecce homo," pilate washing his hands; christ bearing the cross, with fifteen figures, and others in the distance, going to mount calvary; christ crucified, with eighteen figures; and christ taken down from the cross. all which scenes, if they were cast, would form a very rare work, seeing that they have been wrought with much study and labour. pope pius iv had intended to have them executed for one of the doors of s. pietro, but he had not time, being overtaken by death. recently fra guglielmo has executed models in wax for three altars in s. pietro; christ taken down from the cross, peter receiving the keys of the church, and the coming of the holy spirit, which would all be beautiful scenes. in short, this man has had, and still has, the greatest opportunities to exert himself and to execute works, seeing that the office of the piombo gives such a revenue that the holder can study and labour for glory, which he who has not such advantages is not able to do; and yet fra guglielmo has executed no finished work between and this year of . but it is the characteristic of those who hold that office to become sluggish and indolent; and that this is true, a proof is that this guglielmo, before he became friar of the piombo, executed many heads in marble and other works, besides those that we have mentioned. it is true, indeed, that he has made four great prophets in stucco, which are in the niches between the pilasters of the first great arch of s. pietro. he also occupied himself much with the cars for the feast of testaccio and other masquerades, which were held now many years ago in rome. a pupil of this master has been one guglielmo tedesco, who, among other works, has executed a very rich and beautiful ornamentation of little statues in bronze, imitated from the best antiques, for a cabinet of wood (so it is called) which the count of pitigliano presented to the lord duke cosimo. which little figures are these; the horse of the campidoglio, those of monte cavallo, the farnese figures of hercules, the antinous and the apollo of the belvedere, and the heads of the twelve emperors, with others, all well wrought and very similar to the originals. milan has also had another sculptor, dead this year, called tommaso porta, who worked marble excellently well, and in particular counterfeited antique heads in marble, which have been sold as antiques; and masks he made so well that in them no one has equalled him, of which i have one in marble by his hand, placed on the chimney-piece of my house at arezzo, which everyone takes for an antique. this tommaso made the heads of the twelve emperors in marble, the size of life, which were the rarest things. these pope julius iii took, making him a present of an office of a hundred crowns a year in the segnatura; and he kept the heads i know not how many months in his chamber, as choice things. but by the agency (so it is believed) of the above-named fra guglielmo and others who were jealous of him, such measures were taken against him, that, with no regard for the dignity of the gift bestowed upon him by that pontiff, they were sent back to his house; where they were afterwards bought from him on better terms by merchants, and then sent to spain. not one of our imitators of antiques was superior to this tommaso, of whom it has seemed to me right that record should be made, and the rather as he has passed to a better life, leaving name and fame for his ability. many works, likewise, have been executed in rome by one leonardo, a milanese, who has made recently two statues of marble, s. peter and s. paul, for the chapel of cardinal giovanni riccio da montepulciano, which are much extolled and held to be good and beautiful figures. and the sculptors jacopo and tommaso casignuola have made in the chapel of the caraffi, in the church of the minerva, the tomb of pope paul iv, and, besides other ornaments, a statue formed of pieces which represents that pope, with a mantle of veined brocatello marble, and the trimming and other things of veined marbles of various colours, which render it marvellous. and so we see added to the other industries of our modern intellects this new one, and that sculptors proceed with colours in their sculpture to imitate painting. which tomb has been executed by means of the great saintliness, goodness and gratitude of pope pius v, a pontiff and holy father truly most saintly, most blessed, and most worthy of long life. of nanni di baccio bigio, a florentine sculptor, besides what has been said of him in other places, i have to record that in his youth, under raffaello da montelupo, he applied himself in such a manner to sculpture, that in some little things that he did in marble he gave great promise that he would prove to be an able man. and having gone to rome, under the sculptor lorenzetto, while he gave his attention as his father had done also to architecture, he executed the statue of pope clement vii, which is in the choir of the minerva, and a pietà of marble, copied from that of michelagnolo, which was placed in s. maria de anima, the church of the germans, as a work that is truly very beautiful. another like it he made not long afterwards for luigi del riccio, a florentine merchant, which is now in s. spirito at florence, in a chapel of that luigi, who is no less extolled for such piety towards his native city than is nanni for having executed the statue with much diligence and love. nanni then applied himself under antonio da san gallo with more study to architecture, and gave his attention, while antonio was alive, to the fabric of s. pietro; where, falling from a staging sixty braccia high, and shattering himself, he escaped with his life by a miracle. nanni has erected many edifices in rome and in the country round, and has sought to obtain even more, and greater, as has been told in the life of michelagnolo. his work, also, is the palace of cardinal montepulciano on the strada giulia, and a gate at monte sansovino built by order of julius iii, with a reservoir for water that is not finished, and a loggia and other apartments of the palace formerly built by the old cardinal di monte. and a work of nanni, likewise, is the house of the mattei, with many other buildings that have been erected or are still being constructed in rome. a famous and most celebrated architect, also, among others of the present day, is galeazzo alessi of perugia, who, serving in his youth the cardinal of rimini, whose chamberlain he became, executed among his first works, at the desire of that lord, the rebuilding of the apartments in the fortress of perugia, with so many conveniences and such beauty, that for a place so small it was a marvel, and many times already they have accommodated the pope with all his court. then, after many other works that he executed for the said cardinal, he was invited by the genoese with much honour into the service of that republic, for which the first work that he did was to restore and fortify the port and the mole; nay rather, to make it almost entirely different from what it was before. for, reaching out over a good space into the sea, he caused to be constructed a great and most beautiful port, which lies in a semicircle, very ornate with rustic columns and with niches about them, at the extremities of which semicircle there meet two little bastions, which defend that great port. on the piazza, then, above the mole and at the back of the great port, towards the city, he made a very large portico of the doric order, which accommodates the guard, and over it, comprising all the space that it covers and likewise the two bastions and the gate, there is left a platform arranged for the operations of artillery, which commands the mole in the manner of a cavalier and defends the port both within and without. and besides this, which is finished, arrangements are being made for the enlargement of the city after his design, and his model has already been approved by the signoria; and all with much praise for galeazzo, who in these and other works has shown himself to be a most ingenious architect. the same galeazzo has executed the new street of genoa, with so many palaces built in the modern manner after his designs, that many declare that in no other city of italy is there to be found a street more magnificent and grand than that one, nor one more full of the richest palaces, all built by those signori with the persuasion and directions of galeazzo, to whom all confess that they owe a very great obligation, in that he has been the inventor and executor of works which render their city, with regard to edifices, incomparably more grand and magnificent than it was before. the same master has built other streets without genoa, and among others that which starts from ponte decimo on the way to lombardy. he has restored the walls of the city towards the sea, and the fabric of the duomo, making therein the tribune and the cupola; and he has built, also, many private edifices, such as the country palace of messer luca giustiniano, that of signor ottaviano grimaldi, the palaces of two doges, one for signor battista grimaldi, and many others of which there is no need to speak. [illustration: palazzo grimaldi (_after =galeazzo alessi=. genoa_) _alinari_] now i will not omit to say that he has made the lake and island of signor adamo centurioni, abounding in waters and fountains contrived in various beautiful and fantastic ways, and also the fountain of the captain larcaro, near the city, which is a most remarkable work; but beyond all the different kinds of fountains that he has made for many persons, most beautiful is the bath that he has made in the house of signor giovan battista grimaldi at bisagno. this bath, which in form is round, has in the centre a little basin wherein eight or ten persons can bathe without inconvenience; which basin has hot water from four heads of sea-monsters that appear as if issuing from it, and cold water from as many frogs that are over those heads of monsters. around that basin, to which one descends by three circular steps, there curves a space wide enough for two persons to walk in comfort. the circular wall of the whole bath is divided into eight spaces, in four of which are four great niches, each of which contains a round basin that is raised a little from the ground, half being within the niche and half remaining without; and in the centre of each basin a man can bathe, hot and cold water coming from a great mask that pours it through the horns and draws it in again when necessary by the mouth. in one of the other four spaces is the door, and in the other three are windows and places to sit; and all the eight spaces are separated by terminal figures, which support the cornice upon which rests the round vaulting of the whole bath. from the centre of that vaulting hangs a great ball of crystal-glass, on which is painted the sphere of the heavens, and within it the globe of the earth, from certain parts of which, when one uses the bath at night, comes a brilliant light that renders the place as light as if it were mid-day. i forbear to speak of the anteroom, the dressing-room, and the small bath, which are full of stucco-ornaments, and of the pictures that adorn the place, so as not to be longer than is needful; let it suffice to say that they are in no way unworthy of so great a work. in milan, under the direction of the same galeazzo, has been built the palace of signor tommaso marini, duke of terranuova; and also, possibly, the façade of the fabric of s. celso that is now being built, the auditorium of the cambio, which is round in form, the already begun church of s. vittore, and many other edifices. he has also sent designs over all italy and abroad, wherever he has not been able to be in person, of many edifices, palaces, and temples, of which i shall say no more; this much being enough to make him known as a talented and most excellent architect. i will not omit--seeing that he is one of our italians, although i do not know any particulars of his works--that in france, so i am informed, a most excellent architect, and particularly in the work of fortification, is rocco guerrini of marradi, who in the recent wars of that kingdom, to his great profit and honour, has executed many ingenious and laudable works. and so in this last part, in order not to defraud any man of the proper credit of his talent, i have discoursed of some sculptors and architects now living, of whom hitherto i had not had a convenient occasion to speak. don giulio clovio of don giulio clovio miniaturist there has never been, nor perhaps will there ever be for many centuries, a more rare or more excellent miniaturist, or we would rather say painter of little things, than don giulio clovio, in that he has surpassed by a great measure all others who have ever been engaged in that kind of painting. this master was born in the province of sclavonia, or rather, croatia, at a place called grisone, in the diocese of madrucci, although his elders, of the family of the clovi, had come from macedonia; and the name given to him at baptism was giorgio giulio. as a child he gave his attention to letters; and then, by a natural instinct, to design. and having come to the age of eighteen, being desirous to make proficience, he came to italy and placed himself in the service of cardinal marino grimani, with whom for a period of three years he applied himself in such a manner to drawing, that he achieved a much better result than perhaps up to that time had been expected of him; as was seen in some designs of medals and their reverses that he made for that lord, drawn with the pen most minutely, with extreme and almost incredible diligence. whereupon, having seen that he was more assisted by nature in little things than in great, he resolved, and wisely, that he would give his attention to miniature, since his works in that field were full of grace and beautiful to a marvel; being urged to this, also, by many friends, and in particular by giulio romano, a painter of bright renown, who was the man who before any other taught him the method of using tints and colours in gum and in distemper. [illustration: the deposition (_after the painting upon parchment by =giulio clovio=. florence: pitti, no. _) _mansell_] among the first works that clovio coloured was a madonna, which, as a man of ingenious and beautiful spirit, he copied from the book of the life of the virgin; which madonna was printed in wood-engraving among the first sheets of albrecht dürer. whereupon, having acquitted himself well in that his first work, he made his way by means of signor alberto da carpi, who was then serving in hungary, into the service of king louis and of queen maria, the sister of charles v; for which king he executed a judgment of paris in chiaroscuro, which much pleased him, and for the queen the roman lucretia killing herself, with some other things, which were held to be very beautiful. the death of that king then ensuing, and the ruin of everything in hungary, giorgio giulio was forced to return to italy; where he had no sooner arrived than the old cardinal campeggio took him into his service. thereupon, being settled to his liking, he executed a madonna in miniature for that lord, and some other little things, and disposed himself to attend at all costs with greater study to the matters of art; and so he set himself to draw, and to seek with every effort to imitate the works of michelagnolo. but this fine resolution was interrupted by the unhappy sack of rome in the year , when the poor man, finding himself the prisoner of the spaniards and maltreated, in his great misery had recourse to divine assistance, making a vow that if he escaped safely from that miserable ruin and out of the hands of those new pharisees, he would straightway become a friar. wherefore, having escaped by the grace of god and made his way to mantua, he became a monk in the monastery of s. ruffino, a seat of the order of canons regular of scopeto; having been promised, besides peace and quiet of mind and tranquil leisure in the service of god, that he would have facilities for attending at times, as it were by way of pastime, to the work of miniature. having thus taken the habit and the name of don giulio, at the end of a year he made his profession; and then for a period of three years he stayed peacefully enough among those fathers, changing from one monastery to another according to his pleasure, as has been related elsewhere, and always working at something. during that time he completed a great choir-book with delicate illuminations and most beautiful borderings, making in it, among other things, a christ appearing to the magdalene in the form of a gardener, which was held to be a rare thing. wherefore, growing in courage, he depicted--but in figures much larger--the adulterous woman accused by the jews before christ, with a good number of figures; all which he copied from a picture that had been executed in those days by tiziano vecelli, that most excellent painter. not long afterwards it happened that don giulio, in transferring himself from one monastery to another, as monks or friars do, by misfortune broke a leg. being therefore conveyed by those fathers to the monastery of candiana, that he might be better attended, he lay there some time without recovering, perhaps having been wrongly treated, as is common, no less by the fathers than by the physicians. which hearing, cardinal grimani, who much loved him for his excellence, obtained from the pope the power to keep him in his service and to have him cured. whereupon don giulio, having thrown off the habit, and his leg being healed, went to perugia with the cardinal, who was legate there; and, setting to work, he executed for him in miniature these works; an office of our lady, with four most beautiful stories, and in an epistolar three large stories of s. paul the apostle, one of which was sent not long afterwards to spain. he also made for him a very beautiful pietà, and a christ crucified, which after the death of grimani came into the hands of messer giovanni gaddi, clerk of the chamber. all these works caused don giulio to become known in rome as an excellent craftsman, and were the reason that cardinal alessandro farnese, who has always assisted, favoured, and desired to have about him rare and gifted men, having heard his fame and seen his works, took him into his service, in which he has remained ever since and still remains, old as he is. for that lord, i say, he has executed an infinite number of the rarest miniatures, of which i shall mention here only a part, because to mention them all is almost impossible. in a little picture he has painted our lady with her son in her arms, with many saints and figures around, and pope paul iii kneeling, portrayed from life so well, that for all the smallness of that miniature he seems as if alive; and all the other figures, likewise, appear to lack nothing save breath and speech. that little picture, as a thing truly of the rarest, was sent to spain to the emperor charles v, who was amazed by it. after that work the cardinal caused him to set his hand to executing in miniature the stories in an office of our lady, written in lettering shaped by monterchi, who is a rare master in such work. whereupon don giulio, resolving that this work should be the highest flight of his powers, applied himself to it with so much study and diligence, that no other was ever executed with more; wherefore he has achieved with the brush things so stupendous, that it does not appear possible to go so far with the eye or with the hand. don giulio has divided this labour into twenty-six little scenes, each two sheets being next to one another, the figure and the prefiguration, and every little scene has around it an ornament different from the other, with figures and fantasies appropriate to the story that it represents. nor do i wish to grudge the labour of describing them briefly, for the reason that everyone is not able to see them. on the first page, where matins begin, is the angel bringing the annunciation to the virgin mary, and in the ornament a border full of little children that are marvellous; and in the other scene isaiah speaking with king ahaz. in the second, for lauds, is the visitation of the virgin to elizabeth, which has an ornament in imitation of metal; and in the opposite scene are justice and peace embracing one another. for prime is the nativity of christ, and opposite, in the earthly paradise, adam and eve eating the fruit; both the one and the other with ornaments full of nudes and other figures and animals, portrayed from nature. for terce he has painted the shepherds with the angel appearing to them, and in the opposite scene the tiburtine sibyl showing to the emperor octavian the virgin with christ her son in heaven; both the one and the other with ornaments of various borders and figures, all coloured, and containing the portrait of alexander the great and of cardinal alessandro farnese. for sext there is the circumcision of christ, where pope paul iii is portrayed for simeon, and in the scene are portraits of mancina and settimia, gentlewomen of rome, who were of surpassing beauty; and around it a border well adorned, which likewise encloses with the same design the other story that is beside it, wherein is s. john the baptist baptizing christ, a scene full of nudes. for nones he has made there the magi adoring christ, and opposite to that solomon adored by the queen of sheba, both one and the other with borders rich and varied, and at the foot of this the whole feast of testaccio executed with figures smaller than ants, which is a marvellous thing to see, that a work so small should have been executed to perfection with the point of a brush; this is one of the greatest things that mortal hand could do or mortal eye could behold, and in it are all the liveries that cardinal farnese devised at that time. for vespers there is our lady flying with christ into egypt, and opposite is the submersion of pharaoh in the red sea; with varied borders at the sides. for complines there is the coronation of our lady in heaven, with a multitude of angels, and in the other scene opposite is ahasuerus crowning esther; with appropriate borders. for the mass of the madonna he has placed first, in a border in imitation of cameos, the angel gabriel announcing the word to the virgin; and the two scenes are our lady with jesus christ in her arms and god the father creating heaven and earth. before the penitential psalms is the battle in which uriah the hittite was done to death by command of king david, wherein are horses and warriors wounded or dead, all marvellous; and opposite, in the other scene, david in penitence; with ornaments and also little grotesques. but he who would sate himself with marvelling, let him look at the litanies, where don giulio has woven a maze with the letters of the names of the saints; and there in the margin above is a heaven filled with angels around the most holy trinity, and one by one the apostles and the other saints; and on the other side the heaven continues with our lady and all the virgin saints. on the margin below he has depicted with the most minute figures the procession that rome holds for the solemn office of the corpus christi, thronged with officers with their torches, bishops, and cardinals, and the most holy sacrament borne by the pope, with the rest of the court and the guard of halberdiers, and finally castel s. angelo firing artillery; all such as to cause every acutest wit to marvel with amazement. at the beginning of the office for the dead are two scenes; death triumphing over all mortals, mighty rulers of states and kingdoms and the common herd alike, and opposite, in the other scene, the resurrection of lazarus, and also death in combat with some on horseback. for the office of the cross he has made christ crucified, and opposite is moses with the rain of serpents, and the same moses placing on high the serpent of brass. for that of the holy spirit is that same holy spirit descending upon the apostles, and opposite is the building of the tower of nimrod. that work was executed by don giulio in a period of nine years with so much study and labour, that in a manner of speaking it would never be possible to pay for the work with no matter what price; nor is one able to see any more strange and beautiful variety than there is in all the scenes, of bizarre ornaments and various movements and postures of nudes both male and female, studied and well detailed in every part, and placed appropriately all around in those borders, in order to enrich the work. which diversity of things infuses such beauty into that whole work, that it appears a thing divine and not human, and above all because with his colours and his manner of painting he has made the figures, the buildings and the landscapes recede and fade into the distance with all those considerations that perspective requires, and with the greatest perfection that is possible, insomuch that, whether near or far, they cause everyone to marvel; not to speak of the thousand different kinds of trees, wrought so well that they appear as if grown in paradise. in the stories and inventions may be seen design, in the composition order and variety, and richness in the vestments, which are executed with such beauty and grace of manner, that it seems impossible that they could have been fashioned by the hand of man. wherefore we may say, as we said at the beginning, that don giulio has surpassed in this field both ancients and moderns, and that he has been in our times a new, if smaller, michelagnolo. the same master once executed a small picture with little figures for the cardinal of trent, so pleasing and so beautiful, that that lord made a present of it to the emperor charles v; and afterwards, for the same lord, he painted another of our lady, and with it the portrait of king philip, which were very beautiful and therefore presented to the said catholic king. for the above-named cardinal farnese he painted a little picture of our lady with her son in her arms, s. elizabeth, a young s. john, and other figures, which was sent to ruy gomez in spain. in another, which the above-named cardinal now has, he painted s. john the baptist in the desert, with landscapes and animals of great beauty, and another like it he executed afterwards for the same lord, for sending to king philip; and a pietà, which he painted with the madonna and many other figures, was presented by the same farnese to pope paul iv, who as long as he lived would always have it beside him. and a scene in which david is cutting off the head of the giant goliath, was presented by the same cardinal to madama margherita of austria, who sent it to king philip, her brother, together with another which that most illustrious lady caused don giulio to execute as a companion to it, wherein was judith severing the head of holofernes. many years ago don giulio stayed many months with duke cosimo, and during that time executed some works for him, part of which were sent to the emperor and other lords, and part remained with his most illustrious excellency, who, among other things, caused him to copy a little head of christ from one of great antiquity that his excellency himself possesses, which once belonged to godfrey of bouillon, king of jerusalem; which head, they say, is more like the true image of the saviour than any other that there may be. don giulio painted for the said lord duke a christ on the cross with the magdalene at the foot, which is a marvellous thing, and a little picture of a pietà, of which we have the design in our book together with another, also by the hand of don giulio, of our lady standing with her son in her arms, dressed in the jewish manner, with a choir of angels about her, and many nude souls in the act of commending themselves to her. but to return to the lord duke; he has always loved dearly the excellence of don giulio, and sought to obtain works by his hand; and if it had not been for the regard that he felt for farnese, he would not have let him go when he stayed some months, as i have said, in his service in florence. the duke, then, besides the works mentioned, has a little picture by the hand of don giulio, wherein is ganymede borne to heaven by jove transformed into an eagle, copied from the one that michelagnolo once drew, which is now in the possession of tommaso de' cavalieri, as has been told elsewhere. in like manner, the duke has in his study a s. john the baptist seated upon a rock, and some portraits by the same hand, which are admirable. don giulio once executed a picture of a pietà, with the maries and other figures around, for the marchioness of pescara, and another like it in every part for cardinal farnese, who sent it to the empress, who is now the wife of maximilian and sister of king philip; and another little picture by the same master's hand he sent to his imperial majesty, in which, in a most beautiful little landscape, is s. george killing the serpent, executed with supreme diligence. but this was surpassed in beauty and design by a larger picture that don giulio painted for a spanish gentleman, in which is the emperor trajan as he is seen in medals with the province of judæa on the reverse; which picture was sent to the above-named maximilian, now emperor. for the same cardinal farnese he has executed two other little pictures; in one is jesus christ nude, with the cross in his hands, and in the other is christ led by the jews and accompanied by a vast multitude to mount calvary, with the cross on his shoulder, and behind him our lady and the other maries in attitudes full of grace, such as might move to pity a heart of stone. and in two large sheets for a missal, he has painted for that cardinal jesus christ instructing the apostles in the doctrine of the holy evangel, and the universal judgment--a work so beautiful, nay, so marvellous, so stupendous, that i am confounded at the thought of it; and i hold it as certain that it is not possible, i do not say to execute, but to see or even imagine anything in miniature more beautiful. it is a notable thing that in many of these works, and particularly in the office of the madonna described above, don giulio has made some little figures not larger than very small ants, with all the members so depicted and distinguished, that more could not have been done in figures of the size of life; and that everywhere there are dispersed portraits from nature of men and women, not less like the reality than if they had been executed, large as life and very natural, by tiziano or bronzino. besides which, in some ornaments of the borders there may be seen little figures both nude and in other manners, painted in the likeness of cameos, which, marvellously small as they are, resemble in those proportions the most colossal giants; such is the art and surpassing diligence that don giulio uses in his work. of him i have wished to give to the world this information, to the end that those may know something of him who are not or will not be able to see any of his works, from their being almost all in the hands of great lords and personages. i say almost all, because i know that some private persons have in little cases most beautiful portraits by his hand, of various lords, their friends, or ladies loved by them. but, however that may be, it is certain that the works of men such as don giulio are not public, nor in places where they can be seen by everyone, like the pictures, sculptures, and buildings of the other masters of these our arts. at the present day don giulio, although he is old and does not study or attend to anything save to seeking the salvation of his soul by good and holy works and by a life wholly apart from the things of the world, and is in every way an old man, yet continues constantly to work at something, there where he lives well attended and in perfect peace in the palace of the farnesi, where he is most courteous in showing his work with much willingness to all who go to visit and see him, as they visit the other marvels of rome. divers italian craftsmen of divers italian craftsmen still living there is now living in rome one who is certainly very excellent in his profession, girolamo siciolante of sermoneta, of whom, although something has been said in the life of perino del vaga, whose disciple he was, assisting him in the works of castel s. angelo and in many others, nevertheless it cannot but be well to say also here so much as his great excellence truly deserves. among the first works, then, that this girolamo executed by himself, was an altar-piece twelve palms high painted by him in oils at the age of twenty, which is now in the badia of s. stefano, near his native town of sermoneta; wherein, large as life, are s. peter, s. stephen, and s. john the baptist, with certain children. after that altar-piece, which was much extolled, he painted for the church of s. apostolo, in rome, an altar-piece in oils with the dead christ, our lady, s. john, the magdalene, and other figures, all executed with diligence. then in the pace, in the marble chapel that cardinal cesis caused to be constructed, he decorated the whole vaulting with stucco-work in a pattern of four pictures, painting therein the nativity of jesus christ, the adoration of the magi, the flight into egypt, and the massacre of the innocents; all which was a work worthy of much praise and executed with invention, judgment, and diligence. for that same church, not long after, the same girolamo painted an altar-piece fifteen palms high, which is beside the high-altar, of the nativity of jesus christ, which was very beautiful; and then in another altar-piece in oils, for the sacristy of the church of s. spirito in rome, the descent of the holy spirit upon the apostles, which is a work full of grace. in like manner, in the church of s. maria de anima, the church of the german colony, he painted in fresco the whole of the chapel of the fugger family (for which giulio romano once executed the altar-piece), with large scenes of the life of our lady. for the high-altar of s. jacopo degli spagnuoli he painted in a large altar-piece a very beautiful christ on the cross with some angels about him, our lady, and s. john, and besides this two large pictures that are one on either side of it, each nine palms high and with a single figure, s. james the apostle and s. alfonso the bishop; in which pictures it is evident that he used much study and diligence. on the piazza giudea, in the church of s. tommaso, he painted in fresco the whole of a chapel that looks out over the court of the cenci palace, depicting there the nativity of the madonna, the annunciation by the angel, and the birth of our saviour jesus christ. for cardinal capodiferro he painted a hall in his palace, which is very beautiful, with stories of the ancient romans. and at bologna he once executed for the church of s. martino the altar-piece of the high-altar, which was much commended. for signor pier luigi farnese, duke of parma and piacenza, whom he served for some time, he executed many works, and in particular a picture that is in piacenza, painted for a chapel, wherein are our lady, s. joseph, s. michael, s. john the baptist, and an angel, of eight palms. [illustration: the martyrdom of s. catharine (_after the painting by =sermoneta=. rome: s. maria maggiore_) _alinari_] after his return from lombardy he painted in the minerva, in the passage of the sacristy, a christ on the cross, and another in the church. then he painted in oils a s. catharine and a s. agatha; and in s. luigi he executed a scene in fresco in competition with pellegrino pellegrini of bologna and the florentine jacopo del conte. in an altar-piece in oils, sixteen palms high, executed not long since for the church of s. alò, opposite to the misericordia, a company of the florentines, he painted our lady, s. james the apostle, and the bishops s. alò and s. martino; and in s. lorenzo in lucina, in the chapel of the countess of carpi, he painted in fresco a s. francis who is receiving the stigmata. in the hall of kings, at the time of pope pius iv, as has been related, he executed a scene in fresco over the door of the chapel of sixtus; in that scene, which was much extolled, pepin, king of the franks, is presenting ravenna to the roman church, and is leading as prisoner astulf, king of the lombards; and we have the design of it by girolamo's own hand in our book, with many others by the same master. and, finally, he has now in hand the chapel of cardinal cesis in s. maria maggiore, for which he has already executed in a large altar-piece the martyrdom of s. catharine on the wheel, which is a most beautiful picture, as are the others on which both there and elsewhere, with much study, he is continually at work. i shall not make mention of the portraits and other pictures and little works of girolamo, because, besides that they are without number, these are enough to make him known as a valiant and excellent painter. having said above, in the life of perino del vaga, that the painter marcello mantovano worked many years under him at pictures that gave him a great name, i have to say in this place, coming more to particulars, that he once painted in the church of s. spirito the whole chapel of s. giovanni evangelista and its altar-piece, with the portrait of a knight commander of the same s. spirito, who built that church and constructed that chapel; which portrait is a very good likeness, and the altar-piece most beautiful. whereupon a friar of the piombo, having seen his beautiful manner, caused him to paint in fresco in the pace, over the door that leads from the church into the convent, jesus christ as a boy disputing with the doctors in the temple, which is a very lovely work. but since he has always delighted to make portraits and little things, abandoning larger works, he has executed an infinite number of these; and among them may be seen some of pope paul iii, which are beautiful and speaking likenesses. in like manner, from the designs of michelagnolo and from his works he has executed a vast number of things likewise small, and among these he has depicted in one of his works the whole façade of the judgment, which is a rare thing and executed excellently well; and in truth, for small paintings, it would not be possible to do better. for which reason, finally, that most gentle messer tommaso de' cavalieri, who has always favoured him, has caused him to paint after the design of michelagnolo an altar-picture of the annunciation of the virgin, most beautiful, for the church of s. giovanni laterano; which design by buonarroti's own hand, imitated by this marcello, leonardo buonarroti, the nephew of michelagnolo, presented to the lord duke cosimo together with some others of fortifications and architecture and other things of the rarest. and this must suffice for marcello, who has been attending lately to working at little things, executing them with a truly supreme and incredible patience. of jacopo del conte, a florentine, who like those named above dwells in rome, enough will have been said, what with this and other places, after certain other particulars have been given here. this jacopo, then, having been much inclined from his earliest youth to portraying from the life, has desired that this should be his principal profession, although on occasions he has executed altar-pictures and works in fresco in some numbers, both in rome and without. of his portraits--not to speak of them all, which would make a very long story--i shall say only that he has portrayed all the pontiffs that there have been from pope paul iii to the present day, and all the lords and ambassadors of importance who have been at that court, and likewise the military captains and great men of the house of colonna and of the orsini, signor piero strozzi, and an infinite number of bishops, cardinals, and other great prelates and lords, not to speak of many men of letters and other men of quality; all which has caused him to acquire fame, honour, and profit in rome, so that he lives honourably and much at his ease with his family in that city. from his boyhood he drew so well that he gave promise, if he should persevere, of becoming excellent, and so in truth he would have been, but, as i have said, he turned to that to which he felt himself inclined by nature. nevertheless, his works cannot but be praised. by his hand is a dead christ in an altar-piece that is in the church of the popolo, and in another that he has executed for the chapel of s. dionigi in s. luigi, with stories, is the first-named saint. but the most beautiful work that he ever did was in two scenes in fresco that he once painted, as has been told in another place, in the florentine company of the misericordia, with an altar-picture of christ taken down from the cross, with the thieves fixed on their crosses, and the madonna in a swoon, painted in oil-colours, all beautiful and executed with diligence and with great credit to him. he has made many pictures throughout rome, and figures in various manners, and has executed a number of full-length portraits, both nude and draped, of men and women, which have proved very beautiful, because the subjects were not otherwise. he has also portrayed, according as occasions arose, many heads of noble ladies, gentlewomen and princesses who have been in rome; and among others, i know that he once portrayed signora livia colonna, a most noble lady, incomparable in her illustrious blood, her virtue, and her beauty. and let this suffice for jacopo del conte, who is still living and constantly at work. i might have made known, also, many from our tuscany and from other parts of italy, their names and their works, which i have passed over lightly, because many of them, being old, have ceased to work, and others who are young are now trying their hands and will become known better by their works than by means of writings. but of adone doni of assisi, because he is still living and working, although i made mention of him in the life of cristofano gherardi, i shall give some particulars of his works, such as are in perugia and throughout all umbria, and in particular many altar-pieces in foligno. but his best works are in s. maria degli angeli at assisi, in the little chapel where s. francis died, wherein are some stories of the life of that saint executed in oils on the walls, which are much extolled, besides which, he has painted the passion of christ in fresco at the head of the refectory of that convent, in addition to many other works that have done him honour; and his gentleness and courtesy have caused him to be considered liberal and courteous. in orvieto there are two young men also of that same profession, one a painter called cesare del nebbia, and the other a sculptor, both well on the way to bringing it about that their city, which up to the present has always invited foreign masters to adorn her, will no longer be obliged, if they follow up the beginnings that they have made, to seek other masters. there is working at orvieto, in s. maria, the duomo of that city, a young painter called niccolò dalle pomarancie, who, having executed an altar-piece wherein is christ raising lazarus, has given signs--not to speak of other works in fresco--of winning a name among the others named above. and now that we are come to the end of our italian masters still living, i shall say only that no less service has been rendered by one lodovico, a florentine sculptor, who, so i am told, has executed notable works in england and at bari; but, since i have not found here either his relatives or his family name, and have not seen his works, i am not able (as i fain would) to make any other record of him than this mention of his name. divers flemings of divers flemings now, although in many places mention has been made of the works of certain excellent flemish painters and of their engravings, but without any order, i shall not withhold the names of certain others--for of their works i have not been able to obtain full information--who have been in italy, and i have known the greater number of them, in order to learn the italian manner; believing that no less is due to their industry and to the labour endured by them in our arts. leaving aside, then, martin of holland, jan van eyck of bruges, and hubert his brother, who in invented and brought to light the method of painting in oil-colours, as has been told elsewhere, and left many works by his hand in ghent, ypres, and bruges, where he lived and died in honour; after them, i say, there followed roger van der weyden of brussels, who executed many works in several places, but principally in his native city, and for the town hall four most beautiful panel-pictures in oils, of things appertaining to justice. a disciple of that roger was hans,[ ] by whom, as has been told, we have in florence the passion of christ in a little picture that is in the hands of the duke. to him there succeeded the fleming louis of louvain, pieter christus, justus of ghent, hugo of antwerp, and many others, who, for the reason that they never went forth from their own country, always adhered to the flemish manner. and if albrecht dürer, of whom we have spoken at some length, did once come to italy, nevertheless he kept always to one and the same manner; although he was spirited and vivacious, particularly in his heads, as is well known to all europe. [footnote : hans memling.] but, leaving these, and together with them lucas of holland and others, i became acquainted in rome, in , with one michael coxie, who gave no little study to the italian manner, and executed many works in fresco in that city, and in particular two chapels in s. maria de anima. having then returned to his own country and made himself known as an able man, i hear that among other works he executed for king philip of spain an altar-picture copied from one by the above-named jan van eyck that is in ghent; and in that copy, which was taken into spain, is the triumph of the agnus dei. there studied in rome, not long afterwards, martin heemskerk, a good master of figures and landscapes, who has executed in flanders many pictures and many designs for copper-engravings, which, as has been related elsewhere, have been engraved by hieronymus cock, whom i came to know in rome while i was serving cardinal ippolito de' medici. and all these have been most beautiful inventors of stories, and close observers of the italian manner. [illustration: portrait of a man (_after the painting by =johannes calcar=. paris: louvre, no. _) _x phot._] in naples, also, in the year , i came to know johann of calcar, a flemish painter, who became very much my friend; a very rare craftsman, and so well practised in the italian manner, that his works were not recognized as by the hand of a fleming. but he died young in naples, while great things were expected of him; and he drew for vessalio his studies in anatomy. before him, however, there was much in repute one dirk of louvain, a good master in that manner; and also quentin of the same place, who in his figures always followed nature as well as he was able, as also did a son of his called johann. joost van cleef, likewise, was a great colourist and rare in making portraits from life, for which king francis of france employed him much in executing many portraits of various lords and ladies. famous painters of the same province, also, have been--and some of them still are--jan van hemessen, matthys cock of antwerp, bernard of brussels, jan cornelis of amsterdam, lambert of the same city, hendrik of dinant, joachim patinier of bouvignes, and jan scorel, canon of utrecht, who carried into flanders many new methods of painting taken from italy. besides these, there have been jean bellegambe of douai, dirk of haarlem, from the same place, and franz mostaert, who was passing skilful in painting landscapes in oils, fantasies, bizarre inventions, dreams, and suchlike imaginings. hieronymus bosch and pieter brueghel of breda were imitators of that mostaert, and lancelot blondeel has been excellent in painting fires, nights, splendours, devils, and other things of that kind. pieter koeck has had much invention in stories, and has made very beautiful cartoons for tapestries and arras-hangings; with a good manner and practice in matters of architecture, on which account he has translated into the teuton tongue the works on architecture of sebastiano serlio of bologna. and jean gossart of mabuse was almost the first who took from italy into flanders the true method of making scenes full of nude figures and poetical inventions; and by his hand is a large altar-piece in the abbey of middelburg in zeeland. of all these information has been received from maestro giovanni strada of bruges, a painter, and from giovan bologna of douai, a sculptor; both flemings and men of excellence, as we shall relate in the treatise on the academicians. as for those of the same province who are still living and in repute, the first among them, both for his works in painting and for his many copper-plate engravings, is franz floris of antwerp, a disciple of the above-mentioned lambert lombard. this floris, who is held to be most excellent, has worked in such a manner in every field of his profession, that no one, they say there, has expressed better the emotions of the soul, sorrow, gladness, and the other passions, and all with most beautiful and bizarre inventions; insomuch that, likening him to the urbinate, they call him the flemish raffaello. it is true that this is not demonstrated to us fully by the printed sheets, for the reason that the engraver, be he ever so able, never by a great measure equals the originals or the design and manner of him who has drawn them. a fellow-disciple with floris, learning under the discipline of the same master, has been willem key of breda, and also of antwerp, a temperate, serious, and judicious man, and a close imitator of the life and the objects of nature, and in addition passing fertile in invention, and one who more than any other executes his pictures with good gradation and all full of sweetness and grace; and although he has not the facility, boldness, and terrible force of his brother-disciple floris, for all that he is held to be truly excellent. michael coxie, of whom i have spoken above, saying that he carried the italian manner into flanders, is much celebrated among the flemish craftsmen for being profoundly serious and making his figures such that they have in them much of the virile and severe; wherefore the fleming messer domenicus lampsonius, of whom mention will be made in the proper place, discoursing of the two masters named above and of this michael, likens them to a fine trio in music, in which each plays his part with excellence. much esteemed, also, among the same men, is antonius moor of utrecht in holland, painter to the catholic king, whose colours, they say, in portraying whatever he may choose from nature, vie with the reality and deceive the eye most beautifully. the same lampsonius writes to me that moor, who is a man of very gentle ways and much beloved, has painted a most beautiful altar-picture of christ rising from the dead, with two angels, s. peter, and s. paul, which is a marvellous thing. marten de vos, who copies excellently well from nature, is held to be good in invention and colouring. but in the matter of making beautiful landscapes, none are equal to jakob grimmer, hans bol, and others, all of antwerp and able men, of whom, nevertheless, i have not been able to obtain particular information. pieter aertsen, called long peter, painted in his native city of amsterdam an altar-picture with wing-panels, containing our lady and other saints; which whole work cost two thousand crowns. they also celebrate as a good painter lambert of amsterdam, who dwelt many years in venice, and had the italian manner very well. this lambert was the father of federigo, of whom, from his being one of our academicians, record will be made in the proper place. pieter brueghel of antwerp, likewise, they celebrate as an excellent master, and lambert van noort of amersfort in holland, and as a good architect gilis mostaert, brother of the above-named franz; and pieter pourbus, a mere lad, has given proof that he is destined to become an excellent painter. now, that we may learn something of the miniaturists of those countries: they say that these have been excellent there, marinus of zierickzee, lucas horebout of ghent, simon bening of bruges, and gerard; and likewise some women, susanna, sister of the said lucas, who was invited for that work into the service of henry viii, king of england, and lived there in honour all the rest of her life; clara skeysers of ghent, who at the age of eighty died, so they say, a virgin; anna, daughter of meister seghers, a physician; levina, daughter of the above-named meister simon of bruges, who was married by the said henry of england to a nobleman, and held in estimation by queen mary, even as she is now by queen elizabeth; and likewise catharina, daughter of meister jan van hemessen, who went to spain into the service of the queen of hungary, with a good salary. in short, many other women in those parts have been excellent miniaturists. in the work of glass and of making windows there have been many able men in the same province; arthus van noort of nymwegen, borghese of antwerp, dierick jacobsz vellaert, dirk van staren of kampen, and jan haeck of antwerp, by whom are the windows in the chapel of the sacrament in the church of s. gudule in brussels. and here in tuscany many very beautiful windows of fired glass have been made for the duke of florence by wouter crabeth and giorgio, flemings and able men, from the designs of vasari. in architecture and sculpture the most celebrated flemings are sebastian van oja of utrecht, who served charles v in some fortifications, and then king philip; willem van antwerp; willem keur of holland, a good architect and sculptor; jan van dalen, sculptor, poet and architect; and jakob breuck, sculptor and architect, who executed many works for the queen regent of hungary, and was the master of giovan bologna of douai, one of our academicians, of whom we shall speak in a short time. jan de mynsheere of ghent, also, is held to be a good architect, and matthaeus manemaker of antwerp, who is with the king of the romans, an excellent sculptor; and cornelis floris, brother of the above-named franz, is likewise an excellent sculptor and architect, and the first who introduced into flanders the method of making grotesques. others who give their attention to sculpture, with much honour to themselves, are willem paludanus, a very studious and diligent sculptor, brother of the above-named heinrich; jan der sart of nymwegen, simon van delft, and joost janszoon of amsterdam. and lambert suavius of liège is a very good architect and master in engraving prints with the burin, wherein he has been followed by joris robyn of ypres, dirk volkaerts and philip galle, both of haarlem, lucas van leyden, and many others; who have all been in italy in order to learn and to draw the antiquities, and to return home, as for the most part they have done, excellent masters. but greater than any of those named above has been lambert lombard of liège, a man great in letters, judicious in painting, and excellent in architecture, the master of franz floris and willem key; of the excellencies of which lambert and of others i have received much information in letters from m. domenicus lampsonius of liège, a man well lettered and of much judgment in everything, who was the familiar confidant of cardinal pole of england during his lifetime, and now is secretary to monsignor the prince bishop of liège. that gentleman, i say, once sent me the life of the said lambert written in latin, and he has saluted me several times in the name of many of our craftsmen from that province; and a letter that i have by his hand, dated october , , is written in this tenor: "for four years back i have had it constantly in mind to thank you, honoured sir, for two very great benefits that i have received from you, although i know that this will appear to you a strange exordium from one whom you have never seen or known. and strange, indeed, it would be, if i had not known you, which has been from the time when my good fortune, or rather, our lord god, willed that by his grace there should come into my hands, i know not in what way, your most excellent writings concerning the architects, painters, and sculptors. but at that time i did not know one word of italian, whereas now, thanks be to god, for all that i have never seen italy, by reading your writings i have gained such little knowledge as has encouraged me to write you this letter. and to this desire to learn your tongue i have been attracted by your writings, which perhaps those of no other man could have done; being drawn to seek to understand them by a natural and irresistible love that i have borne from childhood to these three most beautiful arts, but above all to that most pleasing to every age, sex, and rank, and hurtful to none, your art of painting. in which art, although i was at that time wholly ignorant and wanting in judgment, now, by means of the frequently reiterated reading of your writings, i understand so much--little though it may be, and as it were nothing--as is yet enough to enable me to lead an agreeable and happy life; and this i value more than all the honours, comforts and riches of this world. by this little i mean only that i could copy with oil-colours, as with any kind of drawing-instrument, the objects of nature, and particularly nudes and vestments of every sort; but i have not had courage enough to plunge deeper, as for example, to paint things more hazardous which require a hand more practised and sure, such as landscapes, trees, waters, clouds, splendours, fires, etc. and although in these things, as also in inventions, up to a certain point, it is possible that in case of necessity i could show that i have made some little proficience by means of the reading i have mentioned, yet i have been content, as i have said, to confine myself to making only portraits, and the rather because the many occupations which my office necessarily involves do not permit me to do more. and in order to prove myself in some way appreciative and grateful for these benefits, that by your means i have learned a most beautiful tongue and the art of painting, i would have sent you with this letter a little portrait of my face, taken with a mirror, had i not doubted whether my letter would find you in rome or not, since at the present moment you might perchance be living in florence or your native city of arezzo." this letter contains, in addition, many other particulars that are not here to the point. in others, since, he has prayed me in the name of many honourable gentlemen of those parts, who have heard that these lives are being reprinted, that i should add to them three treatises on sculpture, painting, and architecture, with drawings of figures, by way of elucidation according to necessity, in order to expound the secrets of the arts, as albrecht dürer and serlio have done, and leon battista alberti, who has been translated by m. cosimo bartoli, a gentleman and academician of florence. which i would have done more than willingly, but my intention has been only to describe the lives and works of our craftsmen, and not to teach the arts, with the methods of drawing the lines of painting, architecture, and sculpture; besides which, the work having grown under my hands for many reasons, it will be perchance too long, even without adding treatises. but it was not possible or right for me to do otherwise than i have done, or to defraud anyone of his due praise and honour, nor yet the world of the pleasure and profit that i hope may be derived from these labours. index of names of the craftsmen mentioned in volume ix abate, niccolò dell' (niccolò da modena), adone doni, aertsen, pieter, agnolo, baccio d', , , agnolo bronzino, , , , , , agnolo di donnino, , agresti, livio (livio da forlì), aimo, domenico (vecchio), alberti, leon batista, albrecht dürer, , , , alessandro allori (alessandro del bronzino), , alessandro (scherano da settignano), alessandro vittoria, - , alessi, galeazzo, - alesso baldovinetti, alfonso lombardi, allori, alessandro (alessandro del bronzino), , alonzo berughetta, , ammanati, bartolommeo, , , , , , , , , , amsterdam, lambert of (lambert lombard), - , andrea calamech, andrea contucci (andrea sansovino), , , , , , andrea del minga, andrea del sarto, , , , , andrea mantegna, andrea palladio, - andrea sansovino (andrea contucci), , , , , , anna seghers, antonio begarelli (modena), antonio da san gallo (the elder), , , antonio da san gallo (the younger), - , , , , antonio di gino lorenzi, antonio di marco di giano (carota), antonio mini, - , , , , antonius moor, antwerp, hugo of, antwerp, willem van, apelles, , arca, niccolò dell', aretino, leone (leone lioni), _life_, - . , aristotile (bastiano) da san gallo, , , arnolfo di lapo, arthus van noort, ascanio condivi (ascanio dalla ripa transone), , baccio bandinelli, , , , baccio d'agnolo, , , baccio da montelupo, , , , bagnacavallo, bartolommeo da, bagnacavallo, giovan battista da, , baldassarre peruzzi, , baldovinetti, alesso, bandinelli, baccio, , , , bandini, giovanni di benedetto (giovanni dell'opera), , , , barbara de' longhi, barbiere, domenico del, barozzi, jacopo (vignuola), , , bartolommeo ammanati, , , , , , , , , , bartolommeo bozzato (girolamo bozza), bartolommeo da bagnacavallo, bartolommeo montagna, bartolommeo passerotto, bartolommeo suardi (bramantino da milano), bassano, jacopo da, , bastiano (aristotile) da san gallo, , , battista del cavaliere (battista lorenzi), , , battista del cinque, battista del tasso, battista di benedetto fiammeri, battista farinato, battista franco, , , battista lorenzi (battista del cavaliere), , , battista naldini, begarelli, antonio (modena), bellegambe, jean, bellini, giovanni, , , , benedetto da rovezzano, bening, levina, bening, simon, benvenuto cellini, , , benvenuto garofalo, bernard of brussels, bernardino pinturicchio, bernardo timante buontalenti, - bertoldo, berughetta, alonzo, , bigio, nanni di baccio, , , , , , blondeel, lancelot, bol, hans, bologna, giovan, , bologna, ruggieri da, bolognese, pellegrino (pellegrino pellegrini, or tibaldi), - , bonifazio (of venice), bordone, paris, - borghese (of antwerp), bosch, hieronymus, bosco, maso dal (maso boscoli), boscoli, giovanni, boscoli, maso (maso dal bosco), bozzato, bartolommeo (girolamo bozza), bramante da urbino, - , , , , - bramantino da milano (bartolommeo suardi), bresciano, jacopo (jacopo de' medici), , , breuck, jakob, bronzino, agnolo, , , , , , bronzino, alessandro del (alessandro allori), , brueghel, pieter, , brunelleschi, filippo, , , brussels, bernard of, bugiardini, giuliano, , , buglioni, santi, buonarroti, michelagnolo, _life_, - . , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , buontalenti, bernardo timante, - butteri, giovan maria, cadore, tiziano da (tiziano vecelli), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , calamech, andrea, calamech, lazzaro, calcagni, tiberio, , , - calcar, johann of (giovanni fiammingo), , capocaccia, mario, caravaggio, polidoro da, carota (antonio di marco di giano), carpaccio, vittore (vittore scarpaccia), , carrara, danese da (danese cattaneo), , , - , , casignuola, jacopo, casignuola, tommaso, castel bolognese, giovanni da, castelfranco, giorgione da, - , , catharina van hemessen, cattaneo, danese (danese da carrara), , , - , , cavaliere, battista del (battista lorenzi), , , cavalori, mirabello (mirabello di salincorno), cellini, benvenuto, , , cesare cesariano, cesare del nebbia, cesariano, cesare, christus, pieter, ciappino, ciciliano, jacopo, cimabue, giovanni, cinque, battista del, cioli, valerio, , , clara skeysers, cleef, joost van, clovio, don giulio, _life_, - cock, hieronymus, cock, matthys, colonna, jacopo, , , condivi, ascanio (ascanio dalla ripa transone), , conte, jacopo del, , , , , contucci, andrea (andrea sansovino), , , , , , cornelis floris, cornelis, jan, coxie, michael, - crabeth, wouter, credi, lorenzo di, cristofano gherardi, cristofano gobbo (cristofano solari), , cristofano rosa, cristofano solari (cristofano gobbo), , crocifissaio, girolamo del (girolamo macchietti), dalen, jan van, danese cattaneo (danese da carrara), , , - , , daniello ricciarelli (daniello da volterra), , , , , , , dante, girolamo (girolamo di tiziano), danti, vincenzio, , david ghirlandajo, , , delft, simon van, dierick jacobsz vellaert, dinant, hendrik of, dirk of haarlem, dirk of louvain, dirk van staren, dirk volkaerts, domenico aimo (vecchio), domenico del barbiere, domenico ghirlandajo, - , domenico poggini, domenicus lampsonius, , , don giulio clovio, _life_, - donato (donatello), , , , , , doni, adone, donnino, agnolo di, , dosso dossi, dürer, albrecht, , , , eyck, hubert van, eyck, jan van, , fabbro, pippo del, fabrizio viniziano, faenza, jacopone da, faenza, marco da (marco marchetti), , fallaro, jacopo, farinato, battista, federigo fiammingo (federigo di lamberto, or del padovano), , ferrarese, girolamo (girolamo lombardi), , fiammeri, battista di benedetto, fiammingo, federigo (federigo di lamberto, or del padovano), , fiammingo, giorgio, fiammingo, giovanni (johann of calcar), , fiesole, simone da, , filippo brunelleschi, , , filippo lippi, fra, , floris, cornelis, floris, franz, - fontana, prospero, , , - forlì, livio da (livio agresti), fra filippo lippi, , fra giovanni agnolo montorsoli, , , fra guglielmo della porta, , , - fra sebastiano viniziano del piombo, , , , , , francesco del tadda, francesco francia, , francesco granacci, , , , , , francesco primaticcio, _description of works_, - . , francesco salviati, francesco verbo (verlo), francia, francesco, , francia, piero, franciabigio, franco, battista, , , franz floris, - franz mostaert, - franzese, giovanni, gaddi, taddeo, galeazzo alessi, - galeotto, pietro paolo, galle, philip, garofalo, benvenuto, gerard, ghent, justus of, gherardi, cristofano, gherardo, ghiberti, lorenzo, ghirlandajo, david, , , ghirlandajo, domenico, - , ghirlandajo, michele di ridolfo, ghirlandajo, ridolfo, gian maria verdezotti, giano, antonio di marco di (carota), gilis mostaert, giorgio fiammingo, giorgio vasari. see vasari (giorgio) giorgione da castelfranco, - , , giotto, , , , giovan battista da bagnacavallo, , giovan bologna, , giovan jacomo della porta, , giovan maria butteri, giovan paolo poggini, , giovanni (of vicenza), giovanni agnolo montorsoli, fra, , , giovanni antonio licinio (pordenone), , , giovanni bellini, , , , giovanni boscoli, giovanni cimabue, giovanni da castel bolognese, giovanni da udine, , giovanni dell'opera (giovanni di benedetto bandini), , , , giovanni fiammingo (johann of calcar), , giovanni franzese, giovanni pisano, giovanni speranza, giovanni strada (jan van der straet), , , girolamo bozza (bartolommeo bozzato), girolamo da sermoneta (girolamo siciolante), , - girolamo dante (girolamo di tiziano), girolamo del crocifissaio (girolamo macchietti), girolamo di tiziano (girolamo dante), girolamo ferrarese (girolamo lombardi), , girolamo macchietti (girolamo del crocifissaio), girolamo miruoli, girolamo pironi, girolamo siciolante (girolamo da sermoneta), , - giuliano bugiardini, , , giuliano da san gallo, , , , , giulio clovio, don, _life_, - giulio romano, , , , , giuseppe salviati (giuseppe porta), gobbo, cristofano (cristofano solari), , gossart, jean, granacci, francesco, , , , , , grimmer, jakob, guerrini, rocco, guglielmo della porta, fra, , , - guglielmo tedesco, haarlem, dirk of, haeck, jan, hans bol, hans memling, heemskerk, martin, heinrich paludanus, hemessen, catharina van, hemessen, jan van, , hendrik of dinant, hieronymus bosch, hieronymus cock, horebout, lucas, horebout, susanna, , hubert van eyck, hugo of antwerp, indaco, jacopo l', , irene di spilimbergo, jacopo barozzi (vignuola), , , jacopo bresciano (jacopo de' medici), , , jacopo casignuola, jacopo ciciliano, jacopo colonna, , , jacopo da bassano, , jacopo da pontormo, , , , , jacopo de' medici (jacopo bresciano), , , jacopo del conte, , , , , jacopo di sandro, , jacopo fallaro, jacopo l'indaco, , jacopo palma, jacopo pisbolica, , jacopo sansovino (jacopo tatti), _life_, - , - . , , , , , , , - , - , , - jacopo tintoretto, jacopo zucchi, jacopone da faenza, jakob breuck, jakob grimmer, jan cornelis, jan de mynsheere, jan der sart, jan haeck, jan scorel, jan van dalen, jan van der straet (giovanni strada), , , jan van eyck, , jan van hemessen, , janszoon, joost, jean bellegambe, jean gossart, joachim patinier, johann of calcar (giovanni fiammingo), , johann of louvain, joost janszoon, joost van cleef, joris robyn, justus of ghent, keur, willem, key, willem, , , koeck, pieter, lambert lombard (lambert of amsterdam), - , lambert suavius, , lambert van noort, lamberto, federigo di (federigo fiammingo, or del padovano), , lampsonius, domenicus, , , lancelot blondeel, lancia, luca, lapo, arnolfo di, lastricati, zanobi, , lazzaro calamech, leon batista alberti, leonardo da vinci, , , leonardo milanese, leone lioni (leone aretino), _life_, - . , levina bening, leyden, lucas van, , licinio, giovanni antonio (pordenone), , , ligorio, pirro, , , , l'indaco, jacopo, , lioni, leone (leone aretino), _life_, - . , lioni, pompeo, , lippi, fra filippo, , livio agresti (livio da forlì), lodovico (of florence), lodovico rosso, lombard, lambert (lambert of amsterdam), - , lombardi, alfonso, lombardi, girolamo (girolamo ferrarese), , longhi, barbara de', longhi, luca de', , lorenzetto, , lorenzi, antonio di gino, lorenzi, battista (battista del cavaliere), , , lorenzo della sciorina (lorenzo sciorini), lorenzo di credi, lorenzo ghiberti, lorenzo sabatini, lorenzo sciorini (lorenzo della sciorina), louis of louvain, louvain, dirk of, louvain, johann of, louvain, louis of, louvain, quentin of, luca de' longhi, , luca lancia, luca signorelli, lucas horebout, lucas van leyden, , lugano, tommaso da, macchietti, girolamo (girolamo del crocifissaio), manemaker, matthaeus, mantegna, andrea, marcello mantovano (marcello venusti), , , marco da faenza (marco marchetti), , marinus (of zierickzee), mario capocaccia, marten de vos, martin heemskerk, martin schongauer (martino), , masaccio, , maso dal bosco (maso boscoli), matthaeus manemaker, matthys cock, maturino, medici, jacopo de' (jacopo bresciano), , , memling, hans, menighella, michael coxie, - michelagnolo buonarroti, _life_, - . , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , michele di ridolfo ghirlandajo, milanese, leonardo, milano, bramantino da (bartolommeo suardi), minga, andrea del, mini, antonio, - , , , , minio, tiziano (tiziano da padova), , mirabello di salincorno (mirabello cavalori), miruoli, girolamo, modena (antonio begarelli), modena, niccolò da (niccolò dell'abate), montagna, bartolommeo, montelupo, baccio da, , , , montelupo, raffaello da, , , , montorsoli, fra giovanni agnolo, , , moor, antonius, mosca, simone, mostaert, franz, - mostaert, gilis, mynsheere, jan de, naldini, battista, nanni di baccio bigio, , , , , , nanni unghero, nebbia, cesare del, niccolò (tribolo), , , , , , niccolò da modena (niccolò dell'abate), niccolò dalle pomarancie, niccolò dell'abate (niccolò da modena), niccolò dell'arca, noort, arthus van, noort, lambert van, oja, sebastian van, opera, giovanni dell' (giovanni di benedetto bandini), , , , orazio sammacchini, orazio vecelli, padova, tiziano da (tiziano minio), , padovano, federigo del (federigo di lamberto, or fiammingo), , palladio, andrea, - palma, jacopo, paludanus, heinrich, paludanus, willem, paolo ponzio, paolo uccello, paris bordone, - parrhasius, passerotto, bartolommeo, patinier, joachim, pellegrino bolognese (pellegrino pellegrini or tibaldi), - , perino del vaga, , , , , , perugino, pietro, peruzzi, baldassarre, , peruzzi, salustio, philip galle, pieri, stefano, piero francia, pieter aertsen, pieter brueghel, , pieter christus, pieter koeck, pieter pourbus, pietro da salò, , pietro paolo galeotto, pietro perugino, pietro urbano, , piloto, , , , pinturicchio, bernardino, piombo, fra sebastiano viniziano del, , , , , , pippo del fabbro, pironi, girolamo, pirro ligorio, , , , pisano, giovanni, pisbolica, jacopo, , poggini, domenico, poggini, giovan paolo, , polidoro (of perugia), polidoro da caravaggio, pomarancie, niccolò dalle, pompeo lioni, , pontormo, jacopo da, , , , , ponzio, paolo, pordenone (giovanni antonio licinio), , , porta, fra guglielmo della, , , - porta, giovan jacomo della, , porta, giuseppe (giuseppe salviati), porta, tommaso, pourbus, pieter, praxiteles, primaticcio, francesco, _description of works_, - . , prospero fontana, , , - quentin of louvain, raffaello da montelupo, , , , raffaello sanzio (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ricciarelli, daniello (daniello da volterra), , , , , , , ridolfo ghirlandajo, ripa transone, ascanio dalla (ascanio condivi), , robyn, joris, rocco guerrini, roger van der weyden, romano, giulio, , , , , rosa, cristofano, rosa, stefano, rosso, , , , rosso, lodovico, rovezzano, benedetto da, ruggieri da bologna, sabatini, lorenzo, salincorno, mirabello di (mirabello cavalori), salò, pietro da, , salustio peruzzi, salviati, francesco, salviati, giuseppe (giuseppe porta), sammacchini, orazio, san friano, tommaso da, san gallo, antonio da (the elder), , , san gallo, antonio da (the younger), - , , , , san gallo, aristotile (bastiano) da, , , san gallo, giuliano da, , , , , sandro, jacopo di, , sansovino, andrea (andrea contucci), , , , , , sansovino, jacopo (jacopo tatti), _life_, - , - . , , , , , , , - , - , , - santi buglioni, santi titi, sanzio, raffaello (raffaello da urbino), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sart, jan der, sarto, andrea del, , , , , scarpaccia, vittore (vittore carpaccio), , scherano da settignano (alessandro), schongauer, martin (martino), , sciorini, lorenzo (lorenzo della sciorina), scorel, jan, sebastian van oja, sebastiano serlio, , , sebastiano viniziano del piombo, fra, , , , , , seghers, anna, serlio, sebastiano, , , sermoneta, girolamo da (girolamo siciolante), , - settignano, scherano da (alessandro), settignano, solosmeo da, , siciolante, girolamo (girolamo da sermoneta), , - signorelli, luca, simon bening, simon van delft, simone da fiesole, , simone mosca, skeysers, clara, solari, cristofano (cristofano gobbo), , solosmeo da settignano, , speranza, giovanni, spilimbergo, irene di, staren, dirk van, stefano pieri, stefano rosa, strada, giovanni (jan van der straet), , , suardi, bartolommeo (bramantino da milano), suavius, lambert, , susanna horebout, , tadda, francesco del, taddeo gaddi, tasso, battista del, tatti, jacopo (jacopo sansovino), _life_, - , - . , , , , , , , - , - , , - tedesco, guglielmo, tibaldi, pellegrino (pellegrino pellegrini or bolognese), - , tiberio calcagni, , , - tintoretto, jacopo, titi, santi, tiziano, girolamo di (girolamo dante), tiziano da cadore (tiziano vecelli), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , tiziano da padova (tiziano minio), , tiziano vecelli (tiziano da cadore), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , tommaso casignuola, tommaso da lugano, tommaso da san friano, tommaso porta, topolino, , torrigiano, , , tribolo (niccolò), , , , , , uccello, paolo, udine, giovanni da, , unghero, nanni, urbano, pietro, , urbino, bramante da, - , , , , - urbino, raffaello da (raffaello sanzio), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , vaga, perino del, , , , , , valerio cioli, , , valerio zuccati, , vasari, giorgio-- as art-collector, , , , , , , , , , as author, - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - , - , , - , - , - , , , , , - , , - , - , , , - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , - , - as painter, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - as architect, - , - , , , , , , vecchio (domenico aimo), vecelli, orazio, vecelli, tiziano (tiziano da cadore), _life_, - . , , , - , , , , , , vellaert, dierick jacobsz, venusti, marcello (marcello mantovano), , , verbo (verlo), francesco, verdezotti, gian maria, verlo (verbo), francesco, vignuola (jacopo barozzi), , , vincenzio danti, , vincenzio zuccati, , vinci, leonardo da, , , viniziano, fabrizio, vitruvius, , , , , vittore scarpaccia (vittore carpaccio), , vittoria, alessandro, - , volkaerts, dirk, volterra, daniello da (daniello ricciarelli), , , , , , , volterra, zaccheria da (zaccheria zacchi), , vos, marten de, weyden, roger van der, willem keur, willem key, , , willem paludanus, willem van antwerp, wouter crabeth, zaccheria zacchi (zaccheria da volterra), , zanobi lastricati, , zeuxis, zuccati, valerio, , zuccati, vincenzio, , zucchi, jacopo, end of vol. ix. printed under the supervision of chas. t. jacobi of the chiswick press, london. the coloured reproductions engraved and printed by henry stone and son, ltd., banbury