The History Of Painting In Italy Volume Ii Part 6

However this may be, he was certainly a considerable artist, and was attached to the style of Barocci, which was in vogue at that period, as we may perceive from his great picture of the Cintura, in the church of S. Agostino, in Rimini, and still more from the history of S. Marino, which he painted in the church of that saint in the same city. Others of his works are to be found both in oil and fresco in Urbino, in his native place, at Cremona, and elsewhere; and although on a vast scale, embracing whole oratories and churches, they could not have cost him any great labour, from the rapid manner which he had acquired in Rome.

In S. Ginesio, a place in the March, Domenico Malpiedi is considered as belonging to Federigo's school, and of him there are preserved in the collegiate church, the Martyrdoms of S. Ginesio and S. Eleuterio, which are highly commended. From Colucci we learn that there also remain other works by him; and from the prices paid, we may conclude that he was esteemed an excellent artist. He was living in 1596, and about the same time there flourished also another Malpiedi, who painted a Deposition from the Cross in S. Francesco di Osimo, and inscribed on it _Franciscus Malpedius di S. Ginesio_, a picture feeble in composition, deficient in expression, and little resembling the school of Barocci, except in a distant approximation of colour.

The _Guida_ of Pesaro a.s.signs to the same school Terenzio Terenzj, called il Rondolino, whom it characterises as an eminent painter, and of whom there exist four specimens in public, and many more in the neighbourhood of the city (page 80). It is also mentioned that he was employed by the Cardinal della Rovere in Rome, and that he placed a picture in the church of S. Silvestro. The picture of S. Silvestro _in capite_, which represents the Madonna, attended by Saints, is ascribed by t.i.ti to a Terenzio of Urbino, who, according to Baglione, served the Cardinal Montalto. It is most probable, that in the records of Pesaro there arose some equivoque on the name of the cardinal, and that these two painters might, or rather ought to be merged in one. Terenzio Rondolino, it appears to me, is the same as Terenzio d'Urbino, and very probably in Rome took his name from Urbino, the capital of Pesaro. But by whatever name this painter may be distinguished, we learn from Baglione that Terenzio d'Urbino was a noted cheat; and that, after having sold to inexperienced persons many of his own pictures for those of ancient masters, he attempted to pa.s.s the same deceit upon the Cardinal Peretti, the nephew of Sixtus V. and his own patron, offering to his notice one of his own pieces as a Raphael: but the fraud was detected, and Terenzio in consequence banished from the court; a circ.u.mstance which he took to heart, and died whilst yet young.

Two brothers, Felice and Vincenzio Pellegrini, born and resident in Perugia, are recorded by Orlandi and Pascoli, as scholars of Barocci.

The first became an excellent designer, and in the pontificate of Clement VIII. was called to Rome, probably to a.s.sist Cesari, though it is not known that he left any work in his own name. Some copies after Barocci by him exist in Perugia, and it is well known that his master was highly satisfied with his labours in that line. The other brother is mentioned by Bottari in the notes to his life of Raffaello; and I recollect having seen in Perugia a picture in the sacristy of S. Philip, in rather a hard manner, in which it is difficult to recognize the style of his supposed master. It is possible that these two artists might have had their first instructions from Barocci, and that they afterwards returned to another manner. A similar instance occurs in Ventura Marzi.

In the Biographical Dictionary of the Painters of Urbino he is given to the school of Barocci. His manner however is different, and I should say bad, if all his pictures were similar to that of S. Uomobuono, which I saw in the sacristy of the metropolitan church; but he did indeed paint some better, and it is an ancient maxim, that to improve we must sometimes err. Benedetto Bandiera, of Perugia, who approaches nearer to the style of Barocci than most others, is said to have been a relative of Vanni, from whom he derived that manner, if we may believe Orlandi.

But Pascoli, both on this point, and on the period in which he flourished, confutes him, and considers him to have been instructed by Barocci in Urbino for many years, and that afterwards he became a diligent observer of all his pictures which he could discover in other places.

Whilst Italy was filled with the fame of Barocci, there came to Urbino, and resided in his house for some time, Claudio Ridolfi, called also Claudio Veronese, from his native city, of which he was a n.o.ble. He was there instructed by Dario Pozzo, an author of few but excellent works, and after these first instructions he remained many years without further applying himself. Being afterwards compelled by necessity to practise the art, he became the scholar of Paolo, and the rival of the Ba.s.sani; and not finding employment in his native place, which then abounded with painters, he removed to Rome, and from thence to Urbino.

It is said that he derived from Federigo the amenity of his style, and the beautiful airs of his heads. He married in Urbino, and afterwards fixed his residence in the district of Corinaldo, where, and in the neighbouring places, he left a great number of pictures, which yield little in tone to the best colourists of his native school, and are often conducted with a design, a sobriety, and a delicacy sufficient to excite their envy. Ridolfi, who wrote a brief life of him, enumerates scarcely one half of his works. There are some at Fos...o...b..one, Cantiano, and Fabriano; and Rimino possesses a Deposition from the Cross, a beautiful composition. There are several mentioned in the _Guida di Montalboddo_, lately edited. Urbino is rich in them, where the Nascita del S. Precursore, (the Birth of S. John the Baptist), at S. Lucia, and the Presentation of the Virgin at the Spirito Santo, are highly valued.

Many of his works are also to be seen in the Palazzo Albani, and in other collections of the n.o.bility in Urbino. He there indeed formed a school, which gave birth to Cialdieri, of whom there are works remaining, both public and private; the most noted of which is a Martyrdom of S. John, at the church of S. Bartholomew. He possessed a facility and elegance of style, was highly accomplished in landscape, which he often introduced into his pictures, and is remarkable for his accurate perspective. Urbinelli, of Urbino, and Cesare Maggieri[73] of the same city, lived also about this time. The first was a vigorous painter, an excellent colourist, and partial to the Venetian style. The second an industrious artist, inclining to the style of Barocci and Roman School. The history of art does not a.s.sign either of these to the school of Ridolfi; but there is a greater probability of the first rather than the second belonging to it. Another painter of uncertain school, but who partakes more of Claudio than of Barocci, is Patanazzi, who is mentioned in the Galleria de' Pittori Urbinati, (v. Coluc. tom.

xvi.), and poetic incense is bestowed on his _risent.i.to pennello e l'ottima invenzione_. I have seen by him in a chapel of the Duomo a Marriage of the Virgin, the figures not large, but well coloured and correctly drawn, if indeed some of them may not be thought rather attenuated than slender and elegant. A celebrated scholar of Ridolfi, Benedetto Marini, of Urbino, went to Piacenza, where he left some highly valued pictures in several churches, in which the style of Barocci is mixed with the Lombard and Venetian. The work which excites our greatest admiration is the Miracle of the Loaves in the Desert, which he painted in the refectory of the Conventuals in 1625. It is one of the largest compositions in oil which is to be seen, well grouped and well contrasted, and displaying uncommon powers.[74] I should not hesitate to prefer the scholar to the master in grandeur of idea and vigour of execution, though in the fundamental principles of the art he may not be equal to him. The history of his life, as well as his works, scattered in that neighbourhood, in Pavia, and elsewhere, were deserving of commemoration; yet this artist as well as Bellini remains unnoticed by the catalogues, and what is more, he is little known in his native place, which has no other specimen of his pencil than a picture of S.

Carlo at the Trinita, with some angels, which does not excite the same admiration as his works in Lombardy.[75] Some other scholars of Claudio are found in Verona, to which city he returned, and remained for a short time; and in the Bolognese School mention will be made of Cantarini, among the masters of which he is numbered. In the meantime let us turn from these provincial schools, which were the first that felt the reviving influence of the age, to the capital, where we shall find Caravaggio, the Caracci, and other reformers of the art.

Michelangiolo Amerighi, or Morigi da Caravaggio, is memorable in this epoch, for having recalled the art from mannerism to truth, as well in his forms, which he always drew from nature, as in his colours, banis.h.i.+ng the cinnabar and azures, and composing his colours of few but true tints, after the manner of Giorgione. Annibale Caracci extolling him, declares that he did not paint, but grind flesh, and both Guercino and Guido highly admired him, and profited from his example. He was instructed in the art in Milan, from whence he went to Venice to study Giorgione; and he adopted at the commencement of his career that subdued style of shadow, which he had learnt from that great artist, and in which some of the most highly prized works of Caravaggio are executed.

He was however afterwards led away by his sombre genius, and represented objects with very little light, overcharging his pictures with shade.

His figures inhabit dungeons, illuminated from above by only a single and melancholy ray. His backgrounds are always dark, and the actors are all placed in the same line, so that there is little perspective in his pictures; yet they enchant us, from the powerful effect which results from the strong contrast of light and shade. We must not look in him for correct design, or elegant proportion, as he ridiculed all artists who attempted a n.o.ble expression of countenance, or graceful foldings of drapery, or who imitated the forms of the antique, as exhibited in sculpture, his sense of the beautiful being all derived from visible nature. There is to be seen by him in the Spada palace a S. Anne, with the Virgin at her side, occupied in female work. Their features are remarkable only for their vulgarity, and they are both attired in the common dress of Rome, and are doubtless portraits, taken from the first elderly and young women that offered themselves to his observation. This was his usual manner; and he appeared most highly pleased when he could load his pictures with rusty armour, broken vessels, shreds of old garments, and attenuated and wasted bodies. On this account some of his works were removed from the altars, and one in particular at the Scala, which represented the Death of the Virgin, in which was figured a corpse, hideously swelled.

Few of his pictures are to be seen in Rome, and amongst them is the Madonna of Loreto, in the church of S. Agostino; but the best is the Deposition from the Cross, in the church of the Vallicella, which forms a singular contrast to the gracefulness of Barocci, and the seductive style of Guido, exhibited on the adjoining altars. He generally painted for collections. On his arrival in Rome he painted flowers and fruit; afterwards long pictures of half figures, a custom much practised after his time. In these he represented subjects sacred and profane, and particularly the manners of the lower cla.s.ses, drinking parties, conjurors, and feasts. His most admired works are his Supper at Emmaus, in the Casa Borghese; S. Bastiano in Campidoglio; Agar, with Ishmael Dying, in the Panfili collection; and the picture of a Fruit Girl, which exhibits great resemblance of nature, both in the figures and accompaniments. He was still more successful in representing quarrels and nightly broils, to which he was himself no stranger, and by which too he rendered his own life scandalous. He fled from Rome for homicide, and resided for some time in Naples; from thence he pa.s.sed to Malta, where, after having been honoured with the Cross by the Grand Master, for his talent displayed in his picture of the Decollation of S. John, in the oratory of the church of the Conventuals, he quarrelled with a cavalier and was thrown into prison. Escaping from thence with difficulty, he resided for some time in Sicily, and wished to return to Rome; but had not proceeded further on his journey than Porto Ercole, when he died of a malignant fever, in the year 1609. He left numerous works in these different countries, as we learn from Gio. Pietro Bellori, who wrote his life at considerable length. Of his chief scholars we shall treat in the following book. At present we will enumerate his followers in Rome and its territories.

His school, or rather the crowd of his imitators, who were greatly increased on his death, does not afford an instance of a single bad colourist; it has nevertheless been accused of neglect, both in design and grace. Bartolommeo Manfredi, of Mantua, formerly a scholar of Roncalli, might be called a second Caravaggio, except that he was rather more refined in his composition. His works are seldom found in collections, although he painted for them, as he died young, and is often supplanted by his master, as I believe was the case with some pictures painted for the Casa Medicea, mentioned by Baglione.

Carlo Saracino, or Saraceni, also called Veneziano, wis.h.i.+ng to be thought a second Caravaggio, affected the same singular mode of dress as that master, and provided himself with a huge s.h.a.gged dog, to which he gave the same name that Caravaggio had attached to his own. He left many works in Rome, both in fresco and oils. He too was a _naturalista_, but possessed a more clear style of colour. He displayed a Venetian taste in his figures, dressing them richly in the Levant fas.h.i.+on, and was fond of introducing into his compositions corpulent persons, eunuchs, and shaven heads. His princ.i.p.al frescos are in a hall of the Quirinal; his best oil pictures are thought to be those of S. Bonone, and a martyred bishop in the church dell'Anima. He is seldom found in collections; but, from the above peculiarities, I have more than once recognized his works. He returned to Venice, and soon afterwards died there; hence he was omitted by Ridolfi, and scarcely noticed by Zanetti.

Monsieur Valentino, as he is called in Italy, who was born at Brie, near Paris, and studied in Rome, became one of the most judicious followers of Caravaggio. He painted in the Quirinal the Martyrdom of the Saints Processo and Martiniano. He was a young artist of great promise, but was cut off by a premature death. His easel pictures are not very rare in Rome. The Denial of S. Peter, in the Palazzo Corsini, is a delightful picture.

Simone Vovet, the restorer of the French School, and the master of Le Brun, formed his style from the pictures of Caravaggio and Valentino. In Rome there are some charming productions by him both in public and private, particularly in the Barberini gallery. I have heard them preferred to many others that he painted in France in his noted rapid style.

Angiolo Caroselli was a Roman, in whose works, consisting chiefly of portraits and small figures, if we except the S. Vinceslao of the Quirinal palace, and a few similar pictures, we find the style of Caravaggio improved by an addition of grace and delicacy. He was remarkable for not making his design on paper, or using any preparatory study for his canva.s.s. He is lively in his att.i.tudes, rich in his tints, and finished and refined in his pictures, which are highly prized, but few in number, when we consider the term of his life. Besides practising the style of Caravaggio, in which he frequently deceived the most experienced, he imitated other artists in a wonderful manner. A S. Elena by him was considered as a production of t.i.tian even by his rivals, until they found the cipher A. C. marked on the picture in small letters, and Poussin affirms, that he should have taken his two copies of Raffaello for genuine pictures, if he had not known where the originals were deposited.

Gherardo Hundhorst is called Gherardo dalle Notti, from having painted few subjects except illuminated night pieces, in which he chiefly excelled. He imitated Caravaggio, adopting only his better parts, his carnations, his vigorous pencil, and grand ma.s.ses of light and shade: but he aimed also at correctness in his costume, selection in his forms, gracefulness of att.i.tude, and represented religious subjects with great propriety. His pictures are very numerous, and the Prince Giustiniani possesses the one of Christ led by night to the Judgment Seat, which is one of his most celebrated works.

The school of Caravaggio flourished for a considerable period, but its followers, painting chiefly for private individuals, have in a great degree remained unknown. Baglione makes particular mention of Gio.

Serodine, of Ascona, in Lombardy, and enumerates many works by him, more remarkable for their facility of execution than their excellence. There remains no public specimen of him, except a Decollation of S. John at S.

Lorenzo fuor delle Mura. One of the latest of the school of Caravaggio was Tommaso Luini, a Roman, who, from his quarrelsome disposition, and his style, was called Il Caravaggino. He worked in Rome, and appeared most to advantage when he painted the designs of his master, Sacchi, as at S. Maria in Via. When he embodied his own ideas, his design was rather dry and his colouring dark. About the same time Gio. Campino of Camerino, who received his first instructions under Gianson in Flanders, resided in Rome for some years, and increased the number of this school.

He was afterwards painter to the court of Madrid, and died in Spain. It is not known whether or not Gio. Francesco Guerrieri di Fos...o...b..one ever studied in Rome, but his works are to be seen at Filippini di Fano, where he painted in a chapel, S. Carlo contemplating the Mysteries of the Pa.s.sion, with two lateral pictures from the life of that saint; and in another chapel, where he represented the Dream of S. Joseph, his style resembles that of Caravaggio, but possesses more softness of colour, and more gracefulness of form. In the Duomo of Fabriano is also a S. Joseph by him. He has left, in his native place, an abundance of works, which, if distributed more widely, would give him a celebrity which it has not hitherto been his lot to receive. I there saw, in a church, a night piece of S. Sebastian attended by S. Irene, a picture of most beautiful effect; a Judith, in possession of the Franceschini family; other works in the Casa Pa.s.sionei and elsewhere, very charming, and which often shew that he had very much imitated Guercino. His female forms are almost all cast in the same mould, and are copied from the person of a favorite mistress.

We now come to the Caracci and their school. Before Annibale arrived in Rome, he had already formed a style which left nothing to be desired, except to be more strongly imbued with the antique. Annibale added this to his other n.o.ble qualities when he came to Rome; and his disciples, who trod in his steps, and continued after his death to paint in that city, are particularly distinguished by this characteristic from those who remained in Bologna under the instruction of his cousin Lodovico.

The disciples of Annibale left scholars in Rome; but no one except Sacchi approached so near in merit to his master, as they had done to Annibale, nor did there appear, like them, any founder of an original style. Still they were sufficient to put a check on the mannerists, and the followers of Caravaggio, and to restore the Roman School to a better taste. We shall now proceed to enumerate their scholars in their various cla.s.ses.

Domenichino Zampieri, to his talents as a painter, added commensurate powers of instruction. Besides Alessandro Fortuna, who under the direction of his master painted some fables from Apollo, in the villa Aldobrandini in Frescati, and died young, Zampieri had in Rome two scholars of great repute, mentioned only by Bellori; Antonio Barbalunga, of Messina, and Andrea Cama.s.sei of Bevagna, both of whom honoured their country with their name and works, although they did not live many years. The first was a happy imitator of his master, who had long employed him in copying for himself. In the church of the P. P. Teatini, at Monte Cavallo, is his picture of their Founder, and of S. Andrea Avellino, attended by angels, which might be ascribed to Zampieri himself, whose forms in this cla.s.s of subjects were select, and his att.i.tudes elegant, and most engaging. To him I shall return in the fourth book. The second, who had also studied in the school of Sacchi, lived longer in Rome; and whoever wishes justly to appreciate him, must not judge from the chapel which he painted whilst yet young in his native place, but must inspect his works in the capital. There, in S.

Andrea della Valle, is the S. Gaetano, painted at the same time, and in compet.i.tion with the S. Andrea of Barbalunga, before mentioned with commendation; the a.s.sumption at the Rotonda, and the Pieta at the Capucins; and many excellent frescos in the Baptistery of the Lateran, and in the church of S. Peter; which evince that he had almost an equal claim to fame with his comrade. If, indeed, he was somewhat less bold, and less select, yet he had a natural style, a grace, and a tone of colour, that do honour to the Roman School, to which he contributed Giovanni Carbone, of S. Severino, a scholar of some note. It has been remarked, that his fate resembles that of Domenichino, as his merits were undervalued, and himself persecuted by his relatives, and he was also prematurely cut off by domestic afflictions.

Francesco Cozza was born in Calabria, but settled in Rome. He was the faithful companion of Domenichino during the life of that master, and after his death completed some works left unfinished by that artist, and executed them in the genuine spirit of his departed friend, as may be seen in t.i.ti. He appears to have inherited from his teacher his learning rather than his taste. One of his most beautiful pictures is the Virgin del Riscatto at S. Francesca Romana a Capo alle Case. Out of Rome there are few public or private works to be met with by him. He was considered exceedingly expert in his knowledge of the hands of the different masters, and on disputed points, which often arose on this subject in Rome, his opinion was always asked and acted on, without any appeal from his judgment. Of Pietro del Po, also a disciple of Domenichino, and of his family, we shall speak more at large in the fourth book.

Giannangiolo Canini, of Rome, was first instructed by Domenichino, and afterwards by Barbalunga, and would have obtained a great reputation for his inventive genius, if, seduced by the study of antiquities, he had not for his pleasure taken a short way to the art; which led him to neglect the component parts, and to satisfy himself with a general harmonious effect. He possessed, however, great force and energy in subjects which required it, as in the Martyrdom of S. Stephen at S.

Martino a' Monti. The works which he executed with the greatest labour and care, were some sacred and profane subjects, which he was commissioned to paint for the Queen of Sweden. But although he was appointed painter to that court, and was also a great favourite with the queen, it should seem that he did not much exercise his profession either for her or others, as his great pleasure was in designing from the antique. He filled a large volume with a collection of portraits of ill.u.s.trious ancients, and heads of the heathen deities, from gems and marbles. This book, the Cardinal Chigi having carried it with him into France, he presented to Louis XIV., and received a collar of gold as a remuneration for it. On his return to Rome he was intending to eulogize the queen in verse, and to continue in prose the lives of the painters, which he had in part prepared when he died. His biographical work probably afforded a.s.sistance to Pa.s.seri or to Bellori, his intimate friends.

With Canini worked Giambatista Pa.s.seri, a Roman, a man of letters, and who became afterwards a secular priest. It is recorded, that in the early part of his life he lived on very intimate terms with Domenichino at Frescati, and he adhered much to his style. There exists by him a Crucifixion between two Saints at S. Giovanni della Malva, but no other work in public, as most of his pictures are in private collections. In the Palazzo Mattei are some pictures representing butcher's meat, birds, and game, touched with a masterly pencil; to these are added some half figures, and also some sparrows (_pa.s.sere_), in allusion to his name.

There is also, by his hand, at the academy of S. Luke, the portrait of Domenichino, painted on the occasion of his funeral; on which occasion Pa.s.seri, and not Pa.s.serino, as Malvasia states, recited a funeral oration, and probably paid some poetical tribute to his memory, since he was accustomed to write both verse and prose as Bellori did; and his silence on the Lives of Bellori, which had then appeared, and which he had numerous opportunities of noticing, probably arose from feelings of jealousy. He is esteemed one of the most authentic writers on Italian art; and if Mariette expressed himself dissatisfied with him, (v. Lett.

Pitt. tom. vi. p. 10,) it probably arose from his having seen only his Life of Pietro da Cortona, which was left unfinished by the author. He possessed a profound knowledge of the principles of art, was just in his criticisms, accurate in his facts; if, indeed, as has been pretended by a writer in the _Pittoriche Lettere_, he did not in some degree depreciate Lanfranc, in order to raise his own master, Zampieri. His work contains the lives of many painters, at that time deceased, and was published anonymously, it is supposed, by Bottari, who in many places shortened it, and improved the style, which was too elaborate, containing useless preambles, and was occasionally too severe against Bernino and others, on which account the work remained unedited for more than a century.

Vincenzio Manenti, of Sabina, who was first the scholar of Cesari, and afterwards of Domenichino, left many works in his native place. Some pictures by him are to be seen in Tivoli, as the S. Stefano in the Duomo, and the S. Saverio at the Gesu, which do not exhibit him as an artist of very great genius, but a.s.siduous and expert in colouring. Of Ruggieri, of Bologna, we shall speak elsewhere.

Guido cannot be said to have contributed much to the Roman School, except in leaving in the capital a great number of works displaying that charm of style, and distinguished by that superhuman beauty, which were his characteristics. We are told of two scholars who came to him at the same time from Perugia, Giandomenico Cerrini, and Luigi, the son of Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia. The pictures of Cerrini, (who was commonly called Il Cav. Perugino) were frequently touched by his master Guido, and pa.s.sed for originals of that artist, and were much sought after. In his other works he varies, having sometimes followed the elder Scaramuccia. His fellow disciple is more consistent. He displays grace in every part of his work, and if he does not soar, still he does not fall to the ground. There are many of his paintings in Perugia, both in public and private, amongst which is a Presentation at the Filippini, from all accounts a beautiful performance. He left many works in Milan, where in the church of S. Marco, is a S. Barbera by him; a large composition, and extremely well coloured. He published a book in Pavia, in 1654, which he int.i.tuled _Le Finezze de' Pennelli Italiani_. It is full, says the Abbate Bianconi, _di buona volonta pittorica_. It possesses nevertheless some interesting remarks.

Gio. Batista Michelini, called Il Folignate, is almost forgotten in this catalogue; but there are in Gubbio various works by him, and particularly a Pieta, worthy of the school of Guido. Macerata possessed a n.o.ble disciple of Guido, in the person of the Cav. Sforza Compagnoni, by whose hand there is, in the academy de' Catinati, the device of that society, which might be taken for a design of Guido. He gave a picture to the church of S. Giorgio, which is still there, and presented a still more beautiful one to the church of S. Giovanni, which was long to be seen over the great altar, but is now in the possession of the Conte Cav. Mario Compagnoni. Malvasia mentions him in the life of Viola, but makes him a scholar of Albano. The Ginesini boast of Cesare Renzi, as a respectable scholar of Guido, and, in the church of S. Tommaso, they shew a picture of that saint by his hand. In addition to the scholars of Guido, whose names have been handed down to us, I shall here beg leave to add an imitator of Guido, who from the time in which he flourished, and from his n.o.ble style of colour, probably belonged to the same school. I found his name subscribed Giorgio Giuliani da Civita Castellana, 161.., on a large picture of the Martyrdom of S. Andrew, which Guido painted for the Camaldolesi di S. Gregorio at Rome: and which this artist copied for the celebrated monastery of the Camaldolesi all'Avellana. It is exposed in the refectory, and notwithstanding the dampness of the place, maintains a freshness of colour very unusual in pictures of that antiquity.

The Cav. Gio. Lanfranco came to Rome whilst yet young, and there formed that free and n.o.ble style, which served to decorate many cupolas and n.o.ble edifices, and which pleases also in his cabinet pictures when he executed them with care. Giacinto Brandi di Poli was his most celebrated scholar in Rome. He at first adopted his master's moderate tone of colour, the variety and contrast of his composition, and his flowing pencil; but in consequence of his filling, as he did, Rome and the state with his works, he neglected correctness of design, and never arrived at that grandeur of style which we admire in Lanfranc. He sometimes indeed went beyond himself, as in the S. Rocco of the Ripetta, and in the forty martyrs of the Stigmata in Rome; but his inordinate love of gain would not allow him to finish many works in the same good style. I have been informed by a connoisseur, on whose opinion I can rely, that the best works of this artist are at Gaeta, where he painted at the Nunziata a picture of the Madonna with the Holy Infant; and where, in the inferior part of the Duomo, he painted in the vault three recesses and ten angles, adding over the altar the picture of the martyrdom of S.

Erasmus, bishop of the city, who was buried in that church. Brandi did not perpetuate the taste of his school, not leaving any pupil of eminence except Felice Ottini, who painted in his youth a chapel at the P. P. di Gesu e Maria, and did not long survive that work. Orlandi also mentions a Carlo Lamparelli di Spello, who left in Rome a picture at the church of the Spirito Santo, but nothing further. An Alessandro Vaselli also left some works in another church in Rome.

After Brandi, we ought to commemorate Giacomo Giorgetti, of a.s.sisi, who is little known beyond his native city, and the neighbouring towns. He is said to have first studied the art of design in Rome, when he learned colouring from Lanfranc, and became a good fresco painter. There is by him in a chapel of the Duomo at a.s.sisi, a large composition in fresco, and in the sacristy of the Conventuals, various subjects from the Life of the Virgin, also in fresco; works coloured in a fine style, and much more finished than was usual with Lanfranc. If there be any fault to be found with them, it is the proportions of the figures, which not unfrequently incline to awkwardness. His name is found in the _Descrizione della Chiesa di S. Francesco di Perugia_, together with that of Girolamo Marinelli, his fellow citizen and contemporary, of whom I never found any other notice.

Lanfranc instructed in Rome a n.o.ble lady, who filled the church of S.

Lucia with her pictures. These were designed by her master, and coloured by herself. Her name was Caterina Ginnasi. There were also with Lanfranc in Rome, Mengucci, of Pesaro, and others, who afterwards left Rome, and will be mentioned by us elsewhere. Some have added to these Beinaschi, but he was only an excellent copyist and imitator, as we shall see in the fourth book. At the same time, we may a.s.sert, that none of the Caracci school had a greater number of followers than Lanfranc; as Pietro di Cortona, the chief of a numerous family, derived much of his style from him, and the whole tribe of machinists adopted him as their leader, and still regard him as their prototype.

Albano too, here deserves a conspicuous place as a master of the Roman School. Giambatista Speranza, a Roman, learned from him the principles of the art, and became a fresco painter of the best taste in Rome. If we inspect his works at S. Agostino, and S. Lorenzo in Lucina, and in other places where he painted religious subjects, we immediately perceive that his age is not that of the Zuccari, and that the true style of fresco still flourished. From Albano too, and from Guercino, Pierfrancesco Mola di Como derived that charming style, which partook of the excellences of both these artists. He renounced the principles of Cesari, who had instructed him for many years; and after having diligently studied colouring at Venice, he attached himself to the school of the Caracci, but more particularly to Albano. He never, however, equalled his master in grace, although he had a bolder tone of colour, greater invention, and more vigour of subject. He died in the prime of life whilst preparing for his journey to Paris, where he was appointed painter to the court. Rome possesses many of his pictures, particularly in fresco, in the churches; and in the Quirinal palace, is Joseph found by his Brethren, which is esteemed a most beautiful piece. There are also many of his pictures to be found in private collections; and in his landscapes, in which he excelled, it is doubted whether the figures are by him or Albano. He had in Rome three pupils, who, aspiring to be good colourists, frequented the same fountains of art as their master had done, and travelled through all Italy. They were Antonio Gherardi da Rieti, who on the death of Mola frequented the school of Cortona; and painted in many churches in Rome with more despatch than elegance;[76]

Gio. Batista Boncuore, of Abruzzo, a painter in a grand though somewhat heavy style;[77] and Giovanni Bonatti, of Ferrara, whom we shall reserve for his native school.

Virgilio Ducci, of Citta di Castello, is little known among the scholars of Albano, though he does not yield to many of the Bolognese in the imitation of their common master. Two pictures of Tobias, in a chapel of the Duomo, in his native place, are painted in an elegant and graceful style. An Antonio Catalani, of Rome, is mentioned to us by Malvasia, and with him Girolamo Bonini, of Ancona, the intimate friend of Albani.

These artists resided in Bologna, and were employed there, as we shall see in our history of that school. Of the second we are told that he painted both in Venice and in Rome; and Orlandi praises his works in the Sala Farnese, which either no longer exist, or are neglected to be mentioned in the Guida of t.i.ti.

Lastly, from the studio of Albani issued Andrea Sacchi, after its chief the best colourist of the Roman School, and one of the most celebrated in design, in the practice of which he continued until his death.

Profoundly skilled in the theory of art, he was yet slow in the execution. It was a maxim with him that the merit of a painter does not consist in giving to the world a number of works of mediocrity, but a few perfect ones; and hence his pictures are rare. His compositions do not abound with figures, but every figure appears appropriate to its place; and the att.i.tudes seem not so much chosen by the artist, as regulated by the subject itself. Sacchi did not, indeed, shun the elegant, though he seems born for the grand style--grave miens, majestic att.i.tudes, draperies folded with care and simplicity; a sober colouring, and a general tone, which gave to all objects a pleasing harmony, and a grateful repose to the eye. He seems to have disdained minuteness, and, after the example of many of the ancient sculptors, to have left some part always unfinished; so at least his admirers a.s.sert. Mengs expresses himself differently, and says, that Sacchi's principle was to leave his pictures, as it were, merely indicated, and to take his ideas from natural objects, without giving them any determinate form: on this matter the professors of the art must decide. His picture of S. Romualdo surrounded by his monks, is ranked among the four best compositions in Rome; and the subject was a difficult one to treat, as the great quant.i.ty of white in the vestures tends to produce a sameness of colour.

The means which Sacchi adopted on this occasion have always been justly admired. He has placed a large tree near the foreground, the shade of which serves to break the uniformity of the figures, and he thus introduced a pleasing variety in the monotony of the colours. His Transito di S. Anna at S. Carlo a' Catinari, his S. Andrea in the Quirinal, and his S. Joseph at Capo alle Case, are also beautiful pictures. Perugia, Foligno, and Camerino, possess altarpieces by him which are the boast of these cities. He enjoyed the reputation of an amiable and learned instructor. One of his lectures, communicated by his celebrated scholar, Francesco Lauri, may be read in the life of that artist, written by Pascoli, who, as I have before remarked, collected the greater part of his information from the old painters in Rome. He has probably engrafted on them some sentiments either of his own or of others, as often happens in a narrative when the related facts are founded more in probability than in certainty; but the maxims there inculcated by Sacchi are worthy of an artist strongly attached to the true, the select, and the grand; and who, to give dignity to his figures, seems to have had his eyes on the precepts of Quintilian respecting the action of his orator. He had a vast number of scholars, among whom we may reckon Giuseppe Sacchi, his son, who became a conventual monk, and painted a picture in the sacristy, in the church of the Apostles. But his most ill.u.s.trious disciple was Maratta, of whom, and of whose scholars, we shall speak in another epoch.

We find a follower of the Caracci, though we know not of what particular master, in Giambatista Salvi, called from the place in which he was born, Sa.s.soferrato,[78] and whom we shall notice further when we speak of Carlo Dolci, and his very devotional pictures. This artist excelled Dolci in the beauty of his Madonnas, but yielded to him in the fineness of his pencil. Their style was dissimilar, Salvi having formed himself on other models; he first studied in his native place under Tarquinio, his father,[79] then in Rome and afterwards in Naples; it is not known precisely under what masters, except that in his MS. Memoirs we read of one Domenico. The period in which Salvi studied corresponds in a remarkable manner with the time in which Domenichino was employed in Naples, and his manner of painting shews that he adopted the style of that master, though not exclusively. I have seen in the possession of his heirs many copies from the first masters, which he executed for his own pleasure. I observed several of Albano, Guido, Barocci, Raffaello, reduced to a small size, and painted, as one may say, all in one breath.

There are also some landscapes of his composition, and a vast number of sacred portraits; several of S. John the Baptist, but more than all of the Madonna. Though not possessing the ideal beauty of the Greeks, he has yet a style of countenance peculiarly appropriate to the Virgin, in which an air of humility predominates, and the simplicity of the dress and the attire of the head corresponds with the expression of the features, without at the same time lessening the dignity of her character. He painted with a flowing pencil, was varied in his colouring, had a fine relief and chiaroscuro; but in his local tints he was somewhat hard. He delighted most in designing heads with a part of the bust, which frequently occur in collections; his portraits are very often of the size of life, and of that size, or larger, is a Madonna, by him, with the infant Christ, in the Casali palace at Rome. The picture of the Rosario, that he painted at S. Sabina, is one of the smallest pictures in Rome. It is, however, well composed, and conducted with his usual spirit, and is regarded as a gem. In other places the largest picture by him which is to be seen, is an altarpiece in the cathedral of Montefiascone.

A follower of the Caracci also, though of an uncertain school, was Giuseppino da Macerata, whom a dubious tradition has a.s.signed to Agostino. His works are to be seen in the two collegiate churches of Fabriano; an Annunciation, in oils, in S. Niccol, and at S. Venanzio two chapels, painted in fresco, in one of which, where he represented the miracles of the apostles, he surpa.s.sed himself in the beauty of the heads and in the general composition; in other respects he is somewhat hasty and indecisive. Two of his works remain in his native place; at the Carmelites the Madonna in Glory, with S. Nicola and S. Girolamo on the foreground; and at the Capucins, S. Peter receiving the Keys. Both these pictures are in the Caracci style, but the second is most so; corresponding in a singular manner with one of the same subject which the Filippini of Fano have in their church, and which is an authentic and historical work of Guido Reni. The second, therefore, is probably a copy. There is written on it _Joseph Ma. faciebat_ 1630, but the figures of the year are not very legible. Marcello Gobbi, and Girolamo Boniforti,[80] a tolerable good imitator of t.i.tian, lived at this time in Macerata. Perugia presents us with two scholars of the Caracci, Giulio Cesare Angeli and Anton. Maria Fabrizzi, the one the pupil of Annibale in Rome, the other of Lodovico in Bologna. They were attracted by the fame of their masters, and secretly leaving their native place for about the s.p.a.ce of twelve years, they obtained admission for some time into their school, if we may rely on Pascoli. Fabrizzi, who is also said to have worked under Annibale, does not shew great correctness; and the cause may be ascribed to his too ardent temperament, and the want of more mature instruction; for Annibale dying after three years, from a scholar he became a master, and was celebrated for his vigorous colouring, his composition, and the freedom of his pencil. Angeli was more remarkable for expression and colour than design, and excelled rather in the draped than in the naked figure. There is a vast work by him in fresco in the oratory of the church of S. Agostino in Perugia, and in part of it a limbo of saints, certainly not designed by the light of Lodovico's lamp, if indeed it ought not to be considered that this lunette is by another hand. This branch of the Bolognese School, which was constantly degenerating from the excellence of its origin, being at such a distance from Bologna as not to be able to be revivified by the pictures of the Caracci, still survived for a long time. Angeli instructed Cesare Franchi, who excelled in small pictures, which were highly prized in collections; and Stefano Amadei also, who was formed more on the Florentine School of that age than on the School of Bologna.

Stefano was also attached to letters, and opened a school, and by frequent meetings and instructive lectures improved the minds of the young artists who frequented it. One of the most a.s.siduous of these was Fabio, brother of the Duke of Cornia, of whom some works are mentioned in the Guida di Roma, and who ent.i.tled himself to a higher rank than that of a mere dilettante.

Besides the Bolognese, a number of Tuscans who were employed by Paul V.

in the two churches of S. Peter and S. M. Maggiore, also contributed to the melioration of the Roman School; and some others who, deprived of that opportunity of distinguis.h.i.+ng themselves, are yet memorable for the scholars they left behind them. Of the diocese of Volterra was Cristoforo Roncalli, called Il Cav. delle Pomarance, cursorily noticed by us among the Tuscans. I now place him in this school, because he both painted and taught for a considerable time in Rome; and I a.s.sign him to this epoch, not from the generality of his works, but from his best having been executed in it. He was the scholar of Niccol delle Pomarance, for whom he worked much with little reward; and from his example he learnt to avail himself of the labour of others, and to content himself with mediocrity. Yet there are several pictures by him, in which he appears excellent, except that he too often repeats himself in his backgrounds, his foreshortened heads, and full and rubicund countenances. His style of design is a mixture of the Florentine and Roman. In his frescos he displayed fresh and brilliant colours; in his oil pictures, on the contrary, he adopted more sober tints, harmonized by a general tone of tranquillity and placidness. He frequently decorated these with landscapes gracefully disposed. Among his best labours is reckoned the death of Ananias and Sapphira, which is at the Certosa, and which was copied in mosaic in S. Peter's. Other mosaics also in the same church were executed after his cartoons, and in the Lateranense is his Baptism of Constantine, a grand historical composition. But his most celebrated work is the cupola of Loreto, very rich in figures, but injured by time, except some prophets, which are in a truly grand style. He painted considerably in the treasury of that church; and there are some histories of the Madonna not conducted with equal felicity, particularly in the perspective. He obtained this vast commission through the patronage of the Cardinal Crescenzi, in compet.i.tion with Caravaggio, who, to gratify his revenge, hired an a.s.sa.s.sin to wound him in the face; and in rivals.h.i.+p too with Guido Reni, who retaliated in a more laudable manner, by proving his superiority by his works. Roncalli from this time was in great request in the cities of Picenum, which in consequence abound with his pictures. There is to be seen at the Eremitani at S. Severino, a _Noli me tangere_; at S.

Agostino in Ancona, a S. Francis praying; and at S. Palazia in Osimo, a picture of a saint, one of his most finished productions. In the same city, in the Casa Galli, he painted _di sotto in su_ the Judgment of Solomon; and this is perhaps the best fresco that he ever executed. He could vary his manner at will. There is an Epiphany in the possession of the Marquis Mancinforti in Ancona, quite in the style of the Venetian School.

There were two artists who approached this master in style, the Cav.

Gaspare Celio, a Roman, and Antonio, the son of Niccol Circignani.

Celio was the pupil of Niccol, according to Baglione, but of Roncalli, if we are to believe t.i.ti. He designed and engraved antique statues, and painted in a commendable manner whilst young, after the designs of P.

Gio. Bat. Fiammeri, at the Gesu, and at a more mature age after his own, in numerous churches. The S. Francis, on the altar of the Ospizio, at Ponte Sisto, is by him; and he also painted the history of S. Raimondo at the Minerva, and the Moses pa.s.sing the Red Sea, in a vault of the Mattei gallery, where he competed with other first rate artists. Antonio is not well known in Rome, where he worked with his father, after whose death he decorated by himself a chapel at the Traspontina, another at the Consolazione, and painted also in private houses. Citta di Castello, where he pa.s.sed some of the best years of his life, possesses many of his pictures, and amongst the rest, that of the Conception, at the Conventuals, which may be called a mixture of Barocci and Roncalli, from whom he probably learned to improve the style he had inherited from his father.

The Cav. delle Pomarance instructed the Marchese Gio. Batista Crescenzi, who became a great patron of the fine arts, and who was so much skilled in them, that Paul V. appointed him superintendent of the works which he was carrying on in Rome; and Philip III., the Catholic, also availed himself of his services in the Escurial. He did not execute many works, and his chief talent lay in flower painting. His house was frequented by literary men, and particularly by Marino; he formed in it a gallery containing an extensive collection of pictures and drawings, of which he himself says, "I believe I may indeed safely affirm that there is not a prince in Europe that does not yield to me in this respect." (Lett. p.

89.) There the artists were always to be found, one of whom, his disciple, was called Bartolommeo del Crescenzi, of the family of Cavarozzi of Viterbo. He was a most correct artist, a follower first of Roncalli, and afterwards became the author of a captivating natural style. There exist many excellent pictures by him in collections, and in the church of S. Anna, a picture of that saint, executed, says Baglione, in his best taste, and with a vigorous pencil.

Among the scholars of Roncalli may also be ranked Giovanni Antonio, father of Luigi Scaramuccia, who also saw and imitated the Caracci. His works are often met with in Perugia. The spirit and freedom of his pencil are more commended than his tints, which are too dark, and which in the churches easily distinguish him amidst a crowd of other artists.

It is probable that he used too great a quant.i.ty of _terra d'ombra_, like others of his day. Girolamo Buratti, of the same school, painted in Ascoli the beautiful picture of the Presepio at the Carita, and some subjects in fresco, highly commended by Orsini. Of Alessandro Casolani, who belongs to this master, we spoke in the Sienese School. With him, too, was included Cristoforo his son, who, with Giuseppe Agellio of Sorrento, may be ranked with the inferior artists.