The landscapes in the Apostolic palace, and in various places of Rome, were many of them painted by Matteo da Siena, and by Gio. Fiammingo, with whom Taja makes us acquainted, in the ducal hall, and particularly the two brothers Brilli, of Flanders, who painted both in fresco and oil. Matteo always retained his _ultramontane_ manner, rather dry, and not very true in colour. Paolo, who survived him, improved his style, from the study of t.i.tian and the Caracci, and was an excellent artist in every department of landscape, and in the power of adapting it to historical subjects. Italy abounds with his pictures. Two other landscape painters also lived in Rome at this time, Fabrizio of Parma, who may be ranked with Matteo, and Cesare, a Piedmontese, more attached to the style of Paolo. Nor ought we to omit Filippo d"Angeli, who, from his long residence in Naples, is called a Neapolitan, though he was born in Rome, where, and as we have observed in Florence, he was highly esteemed. His works are generally of a small size; his prospects are painted with great care, and ornamented with figures admirably introduced. There are also some battle pieces by him.
But in battles and in hunting pieces, none in these times equalled Antonio Tempesti. He was followed, though at a considerable interval, by Francesco Allegrini, a name not new to those who have read the preceding pages. To these we may add Marzio di Colantonio, a Roman, though he has left fewer works in Rome than in Turin, where he was employed by the Cardinal, prince of Savoy. He was also accomplished in arabesque and landscapes, and painted small frescos in an agreeable manner.
It is at this epoch that Vasari describes the manufacture of earthen vases, painted with a variety of colours, with such exquisite art, that they seemed to rival the oil pictures of the first masters. He pretends that this art was unknown to the ancients, and it is at any rate certain that it was not carried to such perfection by them. Signor Gio. Batista Pa.s.seri, who composed _l"Istoria delle pitture in Majolica fatte in Pesaro e ne" luoghi circonvicini_, derives the art from Luca della Robbia, a Florentine, who discovered a mode of giving to the clay a glazing to resist the injuries of time. In this manner were formed the ba.s.sirelievi and altars which still exist, and the pavements which are described at page 81. Others derive this art from Cina, whence it pa.s.sed to the island of Majolica, and from thence into Italy; and this invention was particularly cultivated in the state of Urbino. The coa.r.s.e manufacture had been for a long time in use. The fine earthenware commenced there about 1500, and was manufactured by an excellent artist, of whom there exists in the convent of Domenicans, of Gubbio, a statue of an abbot, S. Antonio, well modelled and painted, and many services in various n.o.ble houses with his name _M. Giorgio da Ugubio_. The year is also inscribed, from which it appears that his manufacture of these articles began in 1519, and ended in 1537. At this time Urbino also cultivated the plastic art, and the individual of his day, who most excelled, was Federigo Brandani. Whoever thinks that I exaggerate, may view the Nativity, which he left at S. Joseph, and say, whether, except Begarelli of Modena, there is any one that can be compared with him for liveliness and grace in his figures, for variety and propriety of att.i.tude, and for natural expression of the accessory parts; the animals, which seem alive; the satchels and a key suspended; the humble furniture, and other things admirably appropriate, and all wonderfully represented: the figure of the divine Infant is not so highly finished, and is perhaps the object which least surprises us. Nor in the meanwhile did the people of Urbino neglect to advance the art of painted vases, in which fabric a M. Rovigo of Urbino is much celebrated. The subjects which were first painted in porcelain, were poor in design, but were highly valued for the colouring, particularly for a most beautiful red, which was subsequently disused, either because the secret was lost, or because it did not amalgamate with the other colours.
But the art did not attain the perfection which Vasari describes, until about the year 1540, and was indebted for it to Orazio Fontana, of Urbino, whose vases, for the polish of the varnish, for the figures, and for their forms, may perhaps be ranked before any that have come down to us from antiquity. He practised this art in many parts of the state, but more especially in Castel Durante, now called Urbania, which possesses a light clay, extremely well adapted for every thing of this nature. His brother, Flamminio, worked in conjunction with him, and was afterwards invited to Florence by the grand duke of Tuscany, and introduced there a beautiful manner of painting vases. This information is given us by the Sig. Lazzari, and for which the Florentine history of art ought to express its obligations to him. The establishment of this fine taste in Urbino, was, in a great measure, owing to the Duke Guidobaldo, who was a prince enthusiastically devoted to the fine arts, and who established a manufactory, and supported it at his own expense. He did not allow the painters of these vases to copy their own designs, but obliged them to execute those of the first artists, and particularly those of Raffaello; and gave them for subjects many designs of Sanzio never before seen, and which formed part of his rich collection. Hence these articles are commonly known in Italy by the name of Raphael ware, and from thence arose certain idle traditions respecting the father of Raffaello, and Raffaello himself; and the appellation of _boccalajo di Urbino_ (the potter of Urbino), was in consequence applied, as we shall mention, to that great master.[70] Some designs of Michelangiolo, and many of Raffaele del Colle, and other distinguished masters, were adopted for this purpose. In the life of Batista Franco, we are informed that that artist made an infinite number of designs for this purpose, and in that of Taddeo Zuccaro it is related that all the designs of the service, which was manufactured for Philip II., were entrusted to him. Services of porcelain were also prepared there for Charles V. and other princes, and the duke ordered not a few for his own court. Several of his vases were transferred to, and are now in the S. Casa di Loreto; and the Queen of Sweden was so much charmed with them, that she offered to replace them with vases of silver. A large collection of them pa.s.sed into the hands of the Grand Duke of Florence, in common with other things inherited from the Duke of Urbino, and specimens of them are to be seen in the ducal gallery, some with the names of the places where they were manufactured. There are many, too, to be found in the houses of the n.o.bility of Rome, and in the state of Urbino, and, indeed, in all parts of Italy. The art was in its highest perfection for about the s.p.a.ce of twenty years, or from 1540 to 1560; and the specimens of that period are not unworthy a place in any collection of art. If we are to believe Lazzari, the secret of the art died with the Fontani, and the practice daily declined until it ended in a common manufactory and object of merchandize. Whoever wishes for further information on this subject, may consult the above cited Pa.s.seri, who inserted his treatise in the fourth volume of the Calogeriani, not forgetting the Dizionario Urbinate, and the Cronaca Durantina.
The art of painting on leather deserves little attention; nevertheless, as Baglione mentions it with commendation in his life of Vespasian Strada, a fresco painter of some merit in Rome, I did not think it right to pa.s.s it over without this slight notice.
[Footnote 56: Dolce, Dial. della Pittura, p. 11.]
[Footnote 57: We shall notice him again in the school of Bologna, where he pa.s.sed his best years, and also in the Roman School, in which he was a master. Sebastiano had also another scholar, or imitator, as we find a Communion of S. Lucia, painted in his style, in the collegiate church of Spello. The artist inscribes his name, _Camillus Bagazotus Camers faciebat_.--_Orsini Risposta_, p. 16.]
[Footnote 58: He painted the S. Catherine in S. Agostino, the Presepio in S. Silvestro at Monte Cavallo, and left works in many other churches.]
[Footnote 59: He painted some facades in Rome. In the oratory of S.
Giovanni Decollato, there remains the Dance before Herod, not very correctly designed, and feeble in colouring; but the perspective, and the richness of the drapery in the Venetian style, may confer some value on the picture.]
[Footnote 60: Bellori, Vite de" Pittori, p. 20.]
[Footnote 61: Idea de" Pittori, Scultori, e Architetti, reprinted in the Lett. Pitt. tom. vi. p. 147.]
[Footnote 62: The charming poet Lasca noticed this work as soon as the Cupola was opened to public view, in a madrigal inserted in the edition of his poems in the year 1741. He blamed Giorgio d"Arezzo (Vasari) more than Federigo, that for sordid motives he had designed and undertaken a work, which in the judgment of the Florentines, injured the Cupola of Brunellesco, which was the admiration of every one, and which Benvenuto Cellini was accustomed to call, _la Maraviglia delle cose belle_. He concludes by saying, that the Florentine people
"Non sara mai di lamentarsi stanco Se forse un d non le si da di bianco."]
[Footnote 63: This is not the large picture of the Calumny of Apelles painted in distemper for the Orsini family, and engraved, and which is now to be seen in the Palazzo Lante, and is one of the most finished productions of Federigo.]
[Footnote 64: The same inflated style has of late become prevalent in some parts of Italy, with no little injury to our language and to good taste. In the _Arte di vedere_ we find for example _le pieghe longitudinali, la trombeggiata resurrezzione del Bello_, &c. Some one has also attempted to ill.u.s.trate the qualities of the art of painting by those of music, which has given occasion to a clever Maestro di Capella to write a humorous letter, an extract of which is given in the _Difesa del Ratti_, pag. 15, &c., and is the most entertaining and least ill tempered thing to be met with in that work.]
[Footnote 65: A scholar of Daniel di Volterra, from whom he inherited these designs, with many others by the same great master. He painted but little, and generally from the designs of others, and which he did not execute in a happy manner; and Baglione says, his pictures were deficient in taste.]
[Footnote 66: There remained, in the time of Pascoli, some _pitture saporite_, as he terms them, by this artist, at Spoleto, where Piero established himself, and in the neighbouring towns; and which often pa.s.s for the works of Pietro Perugino, from a similarity of names. It appears however that Cesarei was desirous of preventing this error, as he inscribed his name Perinus Perusinus, or Perinus Cesareus Perusinus, as in the picture of the Rosary at Scheggino, painted in 1595. Vasari, in the life of Agnol Gaddi, names among his scholars Stefano da Verona, and says, that "all his works were imitated and drawn by that Pietro di Perugia, the painter in miniature, who ornamented the books at the cathedral of Siena, in the Library of Pope Pius, and who worked well in fresco." These words have puzzled more than one person. Pascoli (P. P.
p. 134.) and Mariotti (L. P. p. 59.) consider them as written of Piero Cesarei; as if a man born in the golden age should so far extol an old _trecentista_; or as if the canons of Siena could approve such a style after possessing Razzi and Vanni. Padre della Valle interprets it to mean Pietro Vannucci, and not finding the books of the Choir adorned in such a style as he wished, reproves Vasari for having confounded so great a master with a common fresco painter and a _Miniatore_. It is most likely that this _Miniatore_ and _Frescante_ of Vasari was a third Pietro, hitherto unknown in Perugia, and whom we shall notice in the Venetian School.]
[Footnote 67: See Il Sig. Cav. Reposati _Appendice del tomo ii. della Zecca di Gubbio_; and the Sig. Conte Ranghiasci in the _Elenco de"
Professori Eugubini_, inserted in vol. iv. of Vasari (ediz. Senese), at the end of the volume.]
[Footnote 68: I am indebted for it, to the n.o.ble Sig. Cav. Ercolani, who obligingly transmitted it to me, after procuring it from the Sig. Cav.
Piani and the Sig. Paolo Antonio Ciccolini, of Macerata.]
[Footnote 69: In a former edition, on the authority of a MS. I called him Serj, and was doubtful whether Siciolante was not his surname. Sig.
Brandolese has informed me of an epitaph, in the hands of Mons.
Galletti, in which he is called Siciolante, whence Serio was most probably his surname.]
[Footnote 70: Another probable cause of this appellation, is to be found in the name of Raffaello Ciarla, who was one of the most celebrated painters of this ware, and was appointed by the duke to convey a large a.s.sortment of it to the court of Spain. Hence the vulgar, when they heard the name of Raffaello, might attribute them to Sanzio.]
ROMAN SCHOOL.
FOURTH EPOCH.
_Restoration of the Roman School by Barocci, and other Artists, Subjects of the Roman State, and Foreigners._
The numerous works carried on by the Pontiffs Gregory and Sixtus, and continued under Clement VIII., while they in a manner corrupted the pure taste of the Roman School, contributed, nevertheless, at the same time, to regenerate it. Rome, from the desire of possessing the best specimens of art, became by degrees the resort of the best painters, as it had formerly been in the time of Leo X. Every place sent thither its first artists, as the cities of Greece formerly sent forth the most valiant of their citizens to contend for the palm and the crown at Olympia.
Barocci, of Urbino, was the first restorer of the Roman School. He had formed himself on the style of Correggio, a style the best calculated to reform an age which had neglected the true principles of art, and particularly colouring and chiaroscuro. Happy indeed had it been, had he remained in Rome, and retained the direction of the works which were entrusted to Nebbia, Ricci, and Circignani! He was there, indeed, for some time, and a.s.sisted the Zuccari in the apartments of Pius IV., but was compelled to fly in consequence of some pretended friends having, in an execrable manner, administered poison to him through jealousy of his talents, and so materially injured his health, that he could only paint at intervals, and for a short s.p.a.ce of time. Forsaking Rome, therefore, he resided for some time in Perugia, and a longer period in Urbino, from whence he despatched his pictures from time to time to Rome and other places. By means of these, the Tuscan School derived great benefit through Cigoli, Pa.s.signano, and Vanni, as we have before observed; and it is not improbable, that Roncalli and Baglione may have profited by them, if we may judge from some works of both the one and the other of these artists to be seen in various places.
However this might be, at the commencement of the seventeenth century, these five were in the highest repute as artists who were not corrupted by the prevailing taste. An idea had subsisted from the time of Clement VIII., of decorating the church of the Vatican, with the History of S.
Peter, and of employing in that work the best artists. The execution of this design occupied a considerable time, the pictures being reduced to mosaic, as the painting on wood and slate did not resist the humidity of the church. The five before mentioned artists were selected to paint each a subject; and Bernardo Castelli, one of the first painters of the Genoese School, was the sixth, and the least celebrated. These artists were all liberally paid, and the five first raised to the rank of _Cavalieri_, and their works had a beneficial influence on the rising generation, and proved that the reign of the mannerists was on the decline. Caravaggio gave it a severe shock by his powerful and natural style, and Baglione attests, that this young artist, by the great applause which he gained, excited the jealousy of Federigo Zuccaro, then advanced in years, and entered into compet.i.tion with Cesare, his former master. But the most serious blow the mannerists received, was from the Caracci and their school. Annibale arrived in Rome not much before the year 1600, invited by the Cardinal Farnese to paint his gallery; a work which occupied him for nearly eight years, and for which he received only five hundred scudi, a sum so inadequate that we can scarcely believe it to be correct. He also decorated several churches. Lodovico, his cousin, was with him for a short time; Agostino, his brother, for a longer period; and he had his scholars with him, amongst whom we may enumerate Domenichino, Guido, Albano, and Lanfranc. They came thither at different periods, matured in their talents, and able to a.s.sist their master not only in execution but design.
Rome had for some years seen only the two extreme styles of painting.
Caravaggio and his followers were mere _naturalists_; Arpino and his scholars pure idealists. Annibale introduced a style founded in nature, yet enn.o.bled by the ideal, and supported his ideal by his knowledge of nature. He was at first denounced as cold and insipid, because he was not affected and extravagant, or rather because great merit was never unaccompanied by envy. But though envy for a time, by her insidious suggestions and subterfuges, may derive a mean pleasure in persecuting a man of genius, she can never hope to succeed in blinding the public, who ever decide impartially on the merits of individuals, and whose judgment is not disregarded even by princes. The Farnese gallery was opened, and Rome beheld in it a grandeur of style, which might claim a place after the Sistine chapel, and the chambers of the Vatican. It was then discovered, that the preceding Pontiffs had only lavished their wealth for the corruption of art; and that the true secret which the great ought to put in practice lay in a few words: a judicious selection of masters, and a more liberal allowance of time. Hence, though somewhat tardy indeed in consequence of the death of Annibale, came the order from Paul V., to distribute the work among the Bolognese; for so the Caracci and their scholars were at that time designated; one of whom, Ottaviano Mascherini, was the Pope"s architect.[71] A new spirit was thus introduced into the Roman School, which, if it did not wholly destroy the former extravagance of style, still in a great degree repressed it. The pontificate of Gregory XV. (Lodovisi) was short, but still, through national partiality, highly favourable to the Bolognese, amongst whom we may reckon Guercino da Cento, although a follower of Caravaggio rather than Annibale. He was the most employed in St.
Peter"s, and in the villa Lodovisi. This reign was followed by the pontificate of Urban VIII., favourable both to poets and painters, though, perhaps, more so to the latter than the former; since it embraced, besides the Caracci and their school, Poussin, Pietro da Cortona, and the best landscape painters that the world had seen. The leading masters then all found employment, either from the Pope himself, or his nephew the Cardinal, or other branches of that family, and were engaged in the decoration of St. Peter"s, or their own palaces, or in the new church of the Capucins, where the altarpieces were distributed among Lanfranc, Guido, Sacchi, Berrettini, and other considerable artists. The same liberal plan was followed by Alexander VII. a prince of great taste, and by his successors. It was during the reign of Alexander, that Christina, Queen of Sweden, established herself in Rome, and her pa.s.sion for the fine arts inspired and maintained not a few of the painters whom we shall mention. It must indeed be premised, that we are under the necessity of deferring our notice of the greatest names of this epoch to another place, as they belong of right to the school of Bologna, and some we have already recorded in the Florentine School. But to proceed.
Federigo Barocci might from the time of his birth be placed in the preceding epoch, but his merit a.s.signs him to this period, in which I comprise the reformers of art. He learned the principles of his art from Batista Franco, a Venetian by birth, but a Florentine in style. This artist going young to Rome, to prosecute his studies there, was struck with the grand style of Michelangiolo, and copied both there and in Florence, all his works, as well his paintings and drawings as statues.
He became an excellent designer, but was not equally eminent as a colourist, having turned his attention at a late period to that branch of the art. In Rome he may be seen in some evangelical subjects painted in fresco, in a chapel in the Minerva, and preferred by Vasari to any other of his works. He also decorated the choir of the Metropolitan church of Urbino in fresco, and there left a Madonna in oil, placed between S. Peter and S. Paul, in the best Florentine style, except that the figure of S. Paul is somewhat attenuated. There is a grand picture in oil by him in the tribune of S. Venanzio, in Fabriano; containing the Virgin, with the t.i.tular and two other protecting Saints. In the sacristy of the cathedral of Osimo, I saw many small pictures representing the life of Christ, painted by him in the year 1547, as we learn from the archives of that church; a thing of rare occurrence, as Franco was scarcely ever known to paint pictures of this cla.s.s. Under this artist, whilst he resided in Urbino, Barocci designed and studied from the antique. He then went to Pesaro, where he employed himself in copying after t.i.tian, and was instructed in geometry and perspective by Bartolommeo Genga, the architect, the son of Girolamo and the uncle of Barocci. From thence he pa.s.sed to Rome, and acquired a more correct style of design, and adopted the manner of Raffaello, in which style he painted the S. Cecilia for the Duomo of Urbino, and in a still more improved and original manner, the S. Sebastian, a work which Mancini, in point of solid taste, sets above all the works of Barocci. But the amenity and gracefulness of his style led him almost instinctively to the imitation of Correggio, in whose manner he painted in his native city the delightful picture of S. Simon and S. Judas, in the church of the Conventuals.
Nevertheless this was not the style which he permanently adopted as his own, but as a free imitation of that great master. In the heads of his children and of his female figures, he approaches nearly to him; also in the easy flow of his drapery, in the pure contour, in the mode of foreshortening his figures; but in general his design is not so grand, and his chiaroscuro less ideal; his tints are lucid and well arranged, and bear a resemblance to the beautiful hues of Correggio, but they have neither his strength nor truth. It is however delightful to see the great variety of colours he has employed, so exquisitely blended by his pencil, and there is perhaps no music more finely harmonized to the ear, than his pictures are to the eye. This is in a great measure the effect of the chiaroscuro, to which he paid great attention, and which he was the first to introduce into the schools of Lower Italy. In order to obtain an accurate chiaroscuro, he formed small statues of earthenware, or wax, in which art he did not yield the palm to the most experienced sculptors. In the composition and expression of every figure, he consulted the truth. He made use of models too, in order to obtain the most striking att.i.tudes, and those most consonant to nature; and in every garment, and every fold of it, he did not shew a line that was not to be found in the model. Having made his design, he prepared a cartoon the size of his intended picture, from which he traced the contours on his canva.s.s; he then on a small scale tried the disposition of his colours, and proceeded to the execution of his work. Before colouring, however, he formed his chiaroscuro very accurately after the best ancient masters, (vol. i. p. 187,) of which method he left traces in a Madonna and Saints, which I saw in Rome in the Albani palace, a picture which I imagine the artist was prevented by death from finishing.
Another picture unfinished, and on that account very instructive and highly prized, is in possession of the n.o.ble family of Graziani in Perugia. To conclude, perfection was his aim in every picture, a maxim which insures excellence to artists of genius.
Bellori, who wrote the life of Barocci, has given us a catalogue of his pictures. There are few found which are not of religious subjects; some portraits, and the Burning of Troy, which he painted in two pictures, one of which now adorns the Borghese gallery. Except on this occasion his pencil may be said to have been dedicated to religion; so devout, so tender, and so calculated to awaken feelings of piety, are the sentiments expressed in his pictures. The Minerva, in Rome, possesses his Inst.i.tution of the Sacrament, a picture which Clement X. employed him to paint; the Vallicella has his two pictures of the Visitation and the Presentation. In the Duomo of Genoa is a Crucifixion by him, with the Virgin and S. John, and S. Sebastian; in that of Perugia, the Deposition from the Cross; in that of Fermo, S. John the Evangelist; in that of Urbino, the Last Supper of our Lord. Another Deposition, and a picture of the Rosario, and mysteries, is in Sinigaglia; and, in the neighbouring city of Pesaro, the calling of St. Andrew, the Circ.u.mcision, the Ecstacy of S. Michelina on Mount Cavalry, a single figure, which fills the whole picture, and esteemed, it is said, by Simon Cantarini, as his masterpiece. Urbino, besides the pictures already noticed, and some others, possesses a S. Francis in prayer, at the Capucins; and at the Conventuals, the great picture of the Perdono, in which he consumed seven years. The perspective, the beautiful play of light, the speaking countenances, the colour and harmony of the work, cannot be imagined by any one who has not seen it. The artist himself was delighted with it, wrote his name on it, and etched it. His Annunciation, at Loreto, is a beautiful picture, and the same subject at Gubbio, unfinished; the Martyrdom of S. Vitale, at the church of that saint, in Ravenna, and the picture of the Misericordia, painted for the Duomo of Arezzo, and afterwards transferred to the ducal gallery of Florence. The same subject exists also in the hospital of Sinigaglia, copied there by the scholars of Barocci, who have repeated the pictures of their master in numerous churches of the state of Urbino, and of Umbria, and in some in Piceno, and these are, occasionally, so well painted, that one might imagine he had finished them himself.
The same may be said of some of his cabinet pictures, which are to be seen in collections; such is the Virgin adoring the Infant Christ, which I remarked in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, in the Casa Bolognetti in Rome, and in a n.o.ble house in Cortona, and which I find mentioned also in the imperial gallery at Vienna. A head of the _Ecce h.o.m.o_ has also been often repeated, and some Holy Families, which he varied in a singular manner; I have seen a S. Joseph sleeping, and another S.
Joseph, in the Casa Zaccaria, in the act of raising a tapestry; and in the Repose in Egypt, which was transferred from the sacristy of the Jesuits at Perugia to the chamber of the Pope, he is represented plucking some cherries for the Infant Christ, a picture, which seems painted to rival Correggio. Bellori remarks, that he was so fond of it that he frequently repeated it.
The school of Barocci extended itself through this duchy and the neighbouring places; although his best imitator was Vanni of Siena, who had never studied in Urbino. The disciples of Federigo were very numerous, but remaining in general in their own country they did not disseminate the principles, and few of them inherited the true spirit of their master"s style: the most confining themselves to the exterior of the art of colouring; and even this was deteriorated by the use of large quant.i.ties of cinnabar and azure, colours which their master had employed with greater moderation; and they were not unfrequently condemned for this practice, as Bellori and Algarotti remark. The flesh tints under their pencil often became livid, and the contours too much charged. I cannot give an accurate catalogue of these scholars, but independent of the writers on the works in Urbino, and other guides and traditions in various parts, I am certain, that if they were not instructed by Barocci himself, they must at all events, from their country, and from the period at which they flourished, have formed themselves on his pictures. There is little to be observed respecting Frances...o...b..ldelli, the nephew and scholar of Federigo. I do not find any memorial of him, except a picture which he placed in the Capella Danzetta, of S. Agostino, in Perugia, and which is mentioned by Crispolti, in his history of that city, at page 133.
Of Bertuzzi and Porino I have not seen any works, except copies in the style of Barocci, or feeble productions of their own. An excellent copyist was found in Alessandro Vitali of Urbino, in which city, at the Suore della Torre, is found the Annunciation of Loreto, copied by him in such a manner that it might be taken for the original picture. Barocci was pleased with his talent, and willingly retouched some of his pictures, and probably favoured him in this way in the S. Agnes and S.
Agostino, placed by Vitali, the one in the Duomo, the other in the church of the Eremitani, where he may be said to surpa.s.s himself.
Antonio Viviani, called il Sordo of Urbino, also made some very accurate copies of his master, which are still preserved by his n.o.ble posterity.
He too was a great favourite of Federigo, and was in his native city called his nephew; although Baglione, who wrote his life, is silent on this head. He left some pictures in Urbino, in the best style of Barocci; particularly the S. Donato, in a suburban church of the saint of that name. This however cannot be called his own style, for he visited Rome at various times, where, having received instructions from Mascherini, and employed himself for a time in the imitation of Cesari, and of the rapid manner of the practicians recorded by us, he exhibited in that metropolis various styles, and some of the most feeble which he adopted. a.s.suredly his fresco pictures, which remain in various places in Rome, do not support the opinion which is inspired by a view of the vast work which he conducted in the church de" Filippini at Fano. There, in the vault, and in the chapel, are executed various histories of the chief of the apostles to whom the church is dedicated. His style in these exhibits a beautiful imitation of Barocci and Raffaello, in which the manner of the latter predominates. Lazzari maintains that this Antonio Viviani repaired to Genoa, and that Soprani changed his name to Antonio Antoniani; thus giving to Barocci a scholar who never existed.
Of this supposition we shall speak with more propriety in the Genoese School. Another Viviani is mentioned by tradition in Urbino, Lodovico, a brother or cousin of the preceding. This painter sometimes imitates Barocci, as in the S. Girolamo in the Duomo, and sometimes approaches the Venetian style, as in the Epiphany at the Monastery della Torre.
Another painter almost unknown in the history of art, but of singular merit, is Filippo Bellini of Urbino, of whom I have not seen any works in his native place, but a number in oil and fresco scattered through many cities of the March. He is in general an imitator of Barocci, as in the picture of the Circ.u.mcision in the church of Loreto, in the Espousals of the Virgin in the Duomo in Ancona, and in a Madonna belonging to the Counts Leopardi at Osimo. He affords, however, sometimes an example of a vigorous and lively style, and exhibits a powerful colouring, and a grandeur of composition. He discovered this character in some works in Fabriano in his best time, and particularly in the Opere della Misericordia, which are fourteen subjects taken from Scripture, and represented in the church della Carita.[72] They are beheld by cultivated foreigners with admiration, and it appears strange that such a painter, whose life and works are alike worthy of remembrance, should not have found a place in the catalogues. He is also extolled for his works in fresco, in the chapel of the Conventuals in Montalboddo, where he has represented the Martyrdom of S. Gaudenzio, and which is described in the guide book of that city.
We may next notice Antonio Cimatori, called also Antonio Visacci, not only by the vulgar, but also by Girolamo Benedetti, in the Relazione, which in the lifetime of the artist he composed on the festival at Urbino, in honour of Giulia de" Medici, married to the Prince Federigo.
Cimatori was there engaged to paint the arches and pictures, which were exhibited, in conjunction with the younger Viviani, Mazzi, and Urbani.
His forte lay in pen drawing, and in chiaroscuro; as may be seen from his Prophets, in a grand style, transferred from the Duomo to the apostolic palace. He did not leave many works in his native place; but amongst them is his picture of S. Monica, at S. Agostino. His copies from the original pictures of Barocci are to be found in various places, particularly in the Duomo of Cagli. He resided, and worked for a long time in Pesaro, where he instructed Giulio Cesare Begni, a bold and animated artist, a good perspective painter, and in a great degree a follower of the Venetian School, in which he studied and painted. He left many works in Udine, and many more in his native place, in a rapid and unfinished style, but of a good general effect. In the _Descrizione odeporica della Spagna_, (tom. ii. p. 130), we find Giovanni and Francesco d"Urbino mentioned, who about the year 1575, it seems, were both engaged by the court to decorate the Escurial. The latter came early in life to Spain, and being endowed with a n.o.ble genius, soon became an excellent artist, and is extolled by his contemporary P.
Siguenza, and by all who have seen the Judgment of Solomon, and his other pictures in a choir in that magnificent place: he died young. That these works belong to the pencil of Barocci might be suspected from their era, and the practice of that splendid court, which was in the habit of engaging in its service the first masters of Italy or their scholars. But not possessing positive information, nor finding any indication of their style, I dare not a.s.sign these two to Barocci. I feel a pleasure however in restoring them to the glorious country from which they had been separated.
Pa.s.sing from the fellow countrymen of Barocci to foreigners, some persons have imagined Andrea Lilio, of Ancona, to have been his disciple. I rather consider him to have been an imitator of him, but more in respect to colour than any thing else. He had a share in the works which were carried on under Sixtus, and painted for the churches, chiefly in fresco, and sometimes in partnership with Viviani of Urbino.
He went to Rome when young, and lived there until the reign of Paul V., but suffered both in body and mind from domestic misfortunes, which interrupted not a little his progress in art. Ancona possesses several of his pictures in fresco, varying in their merit, as well as some of his oil pictures at the Paolotti in S. Agostino, and in the sacristy some pieces, from the Life of S. Nicholas, highly prized. The most celebrated is his Martyrdom of S. Lorenzo, by many ascribed to Barocci, for which I refer to the _Guida_ of Montalboddo, and the church of S.
Catherine, where it is placed. His greatest work is the altarpiece in the Duomo at Fano, representing all the saints, containing a vast number of figures well grouped and well contrasted, and if not very correctly designed, still possessing Barocci"s tone of colour.
Giorgio Picchi of Durante I included in a former edition among the scholars of Barocci, in conformity to the general opinion prevalent in Pesaro and Rimini; but I have not found this confirmed in the chronicle of Castel Durante, published by Colucci, which contains a particular account of this artist, written soon after his death. I am therefore inclined to think him only a follower, like Lilio, with whom he was a.s.sociated in Rome in the time of Sixtus V., if the chronicle is to be relied on. It relates that he worked in the library of the Vatican, at the Scala Santa, and at the Palazzo di S. Giovanni; and it appears unaccountable that all this was unknown to Baglione, who narrates the same circ.u.mstances of Lilio and others, and makes no mention of Picchi.