One of the latter exhibited in Rome, together with one by Vand.y.k.e, and one by Rubens, was preferred by Poussin, Cortona, and Sacchi, to those of the Flemish artists. Others of his pictures are bought at great prices, and are considered by the less experienced as the works of Domenichino. He resembled that master indeed in every quality, except grace, which nature had denied him. Hence Giordano said of his figures, that when consumption had reduced the muscles and bones, they might be correct and beautiful, but still insipid. In return he did not spare Giordano; declaring his school "heretical, and that he could not endure works which owe all their merit to ostentatious colour, and a vague design," as Matteis, who is partial to the memory of Francesco, attests.
Lanfranco in Naples had contributed, as I have observed, to the instruction of Ma.s.simo, but that artist renounced the style of Lanfranco for that of Guido. The two Pos, however, were more attached to him, and imitated his colouring. Pascoli doubts whether he should not a.s.sign Preti to him, an error which we shall shortly confute. Dominici also includes among his countrymen Brandi, a scholar of Lanfranco; collecting from one of his letters that he acknowledged Gaeta for his native place.
His family was probably from thence, but he himself was born in Poli.[118] I included him among the painters of Rome, where he studied and painted; and I mentioned at the same time the Cav. Giambatista Benaschi, as he is called by some, or Beinaschi by others. This variation gave occasion to suppose, that there were two painters of that name; in the same way there may be a third, as the name is sometimes written Bernaschi. Some contradictions in his biographers, which it is not worth our while to enter on, have contributed to perpetuate this error. I shall only observe, that he was not born until 1636, and was not a scholar of Lanfranco, but of M. Spirito, in Piedmont, and of Pietro del Po, in Rome. Thus Orlandi writes of him, who had a better opportunity than Pascoli, or Dominici, of procuring information from Angela, the daughter of the Cavaliere, who lived in Rome in his time, and painted portraits in an agreeable style. He is considered both by Pascoli and Orlandi, as a painter of Rome, but he left very few works there, as appears from t.i.ti. Naples was the theatre of his talents, and there he had numerous scholars, and painted many cupolas, ceilings, and other considerable works, and with such a variety of design, that there is not an instance of an att.i.tude being repeated by him. Nor was he deficient in grace, either of form or colour, as long as he trod in the steps of Lanfranco, as he did in the S. M. di Loreto, and in other churches, but aspiring in some others to a more vigorous style, he became dark and heavy. He excelled in the knowledge of the _sotto in su_, and displayed extraordinary skill in his foreshortenings. The painters in Naples have often compared among themselves, says Dominici, the two pictures of S. Michael, the one by Lanfranco, and the other by Benaschi, in the church of the Holy Apostles, without being able to decide to which master they ought to a.s.sign the palm of merit.
Guercino himself was never in Naples, but the Cav. Mattia Preti, commonly called il Cav. Calabrese, allured by the novelty of his style, repaired to Cento, to avail himself of his instructions. This information we have from Domenici, who had heard him say, that he was in fact the scholar of Guercino, but that he had, moreover, studied the works of all the princ.i.p.al masters; and he had indeed visited almost every country, and seen and studied the best productions of every school, both in and beyond Italy. Hence in his painting he may be compared to a man whose travels have been extensive, and who never hears a subject started to which he does not add something new, and indeed the drapery and ornaments, and costume of Preti, are highly varied and original. He confined himself to design, and did not attempt colours until his twenty-sixth year. In design he was more vigorous and robust than delicate, and sometimes inclines to heaviness. In his colouring he was not attractive, but had a strong _impasto_, a decided chiaroscuro, and a prevailing ashy tone, that was well adapted for his mournful and tragical subjects; for, following the bent of his genius, he devoted his pencil to the representation of martyrdoms, slaughters, pestilence, and the pangs of a guilty conscience. It was his custom, says Pascoli, at least in his large works, to paint at the first conception, and true to nature, and he did not take much pains afterwards in correction, or in the just expression of the pa.s.sions.
He executed some large works in fresco in Modena, Naples, and Malta. He had not equal success at S. Andrea della Valle, in Rome, where he painted three histories of that saint, under the tribune of Domenichino; a proximity from which his work suffers considerably, and the figures appear out of proportion, and not well adapted to the situation. His oil pictures in Italy are innumerable, as he lived to an advanced age; he had a great rapidity of hand, and was accustomed, wherever he went, to leave some memorial of his talents, sometimes in the churches, but chiefly in private collections, and they are, in general, figures of half size, like those of Guercino and Caravaggio. Naples, Rome, and Florence, all abound with his works, but above all Bologna. In the Marulli palace is his Belisarius asking alms; in that of Ratti, a S.
Penitente, chained in a suffering position; in the Malvezzi palace, Sir Thomas More in prison; in that of the Ercolani, a Pestilence, besides many more in the same, and other galleries of the n.o.bility. Amongst his altarpieces, one of the most finished is in the Duomo of Siena, S.
Bernardino preaching to and converting the people. In Naples, besides the soffitto of the church de" Celestini, he painted not a little; less however than both he himself and the professors of a better taste desired, and in conjunction with whom he resisted the innovations of Giordano. But that artist had an unprecedented popularity, and in spite of his faults triumphed over all his contemporaries, and Preti was himself obliged to relinquish the contest, and close his days in Malta, of which order, in honour of his great merit as a painter, he was made a commendatore. He left some imitators in Naples, one of whom was Domenico Viola; but neither he, nor his other scholars pa.s.sed the bounds of mediocrity. The same may be said of Gregorio Preti, his brother, of whom there is a fresco at S. Carlo de" Catinari, in Rome.
After this enumeration of foreign artists, we must now return to the national school, and notice some disciples of Ribera, It often happens that those masters who are mannerists, form scholars who confine their powers to the sole imitation of their master, and thus produce pictures that deceive the most experienced, and which in other countries are esteemed the works of the master himself. This was the case with Giovanni Do, and Bartolommeo Pa.s.sante, in regard to Spagnoletto, although the first in progress of time softened his manner, and tamed his flesh tints; while the second added only to the usual style of Spagnoletto, a more finished design and expression. Francesco Fracanzani possessed a peculiar grandeur of style, and a n.o.ble tone of colour; and the death of S. Joseph, which he painted at the Pellegrini, is one of the best pictures of the city. Afterwards however his necessities compelled him to paint in a coa.r.s.e manner in order to gratify the vulgar, and he fell into bad habits of life, and was finally, for some crime or other, condemned to die by the hands of the hangman, a sentence, which for the honour of the art, was compounded for his secret death in prison by poison.[119]
Aniello Falcone and Salvator Rosa are the great boast of this school; although Rosa frequented it but a short time and improved himself afterwards by the instructions of Falcone. Aniello possessed an extraordinary talent in battle pieces. He painted them both in large and small size, taking the subjects from the sacred writings, from profane history, or poetry; his dresses, arms, and features, were as varied as the combatants he represented. Animated in his expression, select and natural in the figures and action of his horses, and intelligent in military affairs, though he had never been in the army, nor seen a battle; he drew correctly, consulted truth in every thing, coloured with care, and had a good impasto. That he taught Borgognone as some have supposed, it is difficult to believe. Baldinucci, who had from that artist himself the information which he published respecting him, does not say a word of it. It is however true, that they were acquainted and mutually esteemed each other; and if the battle pieces of Borgognone have found a place in the collections of the great, and have been bought at great prices, those of Aniello have had the like good fortune. He had many scholars, and by means of them and some other painters his friends, he was enabled to revenge the death of a relation and also of a scholar, whom the Spanish authorities had put to death. On the revolution of Maso Aniello, he and his partisans formed themselves into a company called the Band of Death; and, protected by Spagnoletto, who excused them to the Viceroy, committed the most revolting and sanguinary excesses; until the state was composed, and the people reduced to submission, when this murderous band fled, to escape the hands of justice. Falcone withdrew to France for some years, and left many works there; the remainder fled to Rome, or to other places of safety.
The most celebrated of the immediate scholars of Falcone was Salvator Rosa, whom we have elsewhere noticed, who began his career by painting battles, and became a most distinguished landscape painter; and Domenico Gargiuoli, called Micco Spadaro, a landscape painter of merit, and a good painter in large compositions, as he appears at the Certosa, and in other churches. He had an extraordinary talent too in painting small figures, and might with propriety be called the Cerquozzi of his school.
Hence Viviano Codagora, who was an eminent landscape painter, after becoming acquainted with him, would not permit any other artist to ornament his works with figures, as he introduced them with infinite grace; and this circ.u.mstance probably led to their intimate friendship, and to risking their lives in the same cause as we have before related.
The Neapolitan galleries possess many of their pictures; and some have specimens of _capricci_, or humourous pictures, all by the hand of Spadaro. He indeed had no equal in depicting the manners and dresses of the common people of his country, particularly in large a.s.semblies. In some of his works of this kind, the number of his figures have exceeded a thousand. He was a.s.sisted by the etchings of Stefano della Bella, and Callot, both of whom were celebrated for placing a great body of people in a little s.p.a.ce; but it was in the true spirit of imitation, and without a trace of servility; on the contrary, he improved the princ.i.p.al figures (where bad contours are with difficulty concealed) and corrected the att.i.tudes, and carefully retouched them.
Carlo Coppola is sometimes mistaken for Falcone from their similarity of manner: except that a certain fulness with which he paints his horses in his battle pieces, may serve as a distinction. Andrea di Lione resembles him, but in his battles we easily trace his imitation. Marzio Masturzo studied some time with Falcone; but longer with Rosa in Rome, and was his best scholar; but he is sometimes rather crude in his figures, and rocks, and trunks of trees, and less bright in his skies. His flesh tints are not pallid, like those of Rosa, as in these he followed Ribera.
I shall close this catalogue, pa.s.sing over some less celebrated artists, with Paolo Porpora, who from battles, were directed by the impulse of his genius to the painting of animals, but succeeded best in fish, and sh.e.l.ls, and other marine productions, being less skilled in flowers and fruit. But about his time Abraham Brughel painted these subjects in an exquisite style in Naples, where he settled and ended his days. From this period we may date a favourable epoch for certain pictures of minor rank, which still add to the decoration of galleries and contribute to the fame of their authors. After the two first we may mention Giambatista Ruoppoli and Onofrio Loth, scholars of Porpora, excelling him in fruits, and particularly in grapes, and little inferior in other respects.
Giuseppe Cav. Recco, from the same school, is one of the most celebrated painters in Italy, of hunting, fowling, and fishing pieces, and similar subjects. One of his best pictures which I have seen, is in the house of the Conti Simonetti d"Osimo, on which the author has inscribed his name.
He was admired in the collections also for his beautiful colouring, which he acquired in Lombardy; and he resided for many years at the court of Spain, whilst Giordano was there. There was also a scholar of Ruoppoli, called Andrea Belvedere, excelling in the same line, but most in flowers and fruit. There arose a dispute between him and Giordano, Andrea a.s.serting that the historical painters cannot venture with success on these smaller subjects; Giordano, on the contrary, maintaining that the greater included the less; which words he verified by painting a picture of birds, flowers, and fruit, so beautifully grouped that it robbed Andrea of his fame, and obliged him to take refuge among men of letters; and indeed in the literary circle he held a respectable station.
Nevertheless his pictures did not fall in esteem or value, and his posterity after him still continue to embellish the cabinets of the great. His most celebrated scholar was Tommaso Realfonso, who to the talents of his master, added that of the natural representation of every description of utensils, and all kinds of confectionery and eatables. He had also excellent imitators in Giacomo Nani, and Balda.s.sar Caro, employed to ornament the royal court of King Charles of Bourbon; and Gaspar Lopez, the scholar first of Dubbisson, afterwards of Belvidere.
Lopez became a good landscape painter, was employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and resided a considerable time in Venice. According to Dominici he died in Florence, and the author of the Algarotti Catalogue in Venice, informs us, that that event took place about the year 1732.
We may here close the series of minor painters of the school of Aniello,[120] and may now proceed to the succeeding epoch, commencing with the historical painters.
[Footnote 111: In tom. iii. of the _Lett. Pittoriche_, is a letter of P.
Sebastiano Resta dell"Oratorio, wherein he says, it is probable that the Cav. d"Arpino imitated him in his youth: which cannot be admitted, as it is known that Cesari formed himself in Rome, and resided only in Naples when an adult. As to the resemblance between them, that applies as well to other artists. In the same letter Corenzio is called the Cav.
Bellisario, and some anecdotes are related of him, and among others, that he lived to the age of a hundred and twenty. This is one of those tales to which this writer so easily gives credit. In proof of this we may refer to Tiraboschi, in the life of Antonio Allegri, where similar instances of his credulity are noticed.]
[Footnote 112: Caravaggio had another scholar of eminence in Mario Minniti of Syracuse, who however pa.s.sed a considerable part of his life in Messina. Having painted for some time in Rome with Caravaggio, he imbibed his taste; and though he did not equal him in the vigour of style, he displayed more grace and amenity. There are works remaining of him in all parts of Sicily, as he painted much, and retained in his service twelve scholars, whose works he retouched, and sold as his own.
Hence his pictures do not altogether correspond with his reputation.
Messina possesses several, as the Dead of Nain at the Church of the Capucins, and the Virgin, the tutelar saint, at the Virginelle.]
[Footnote 113: Among the scholars of Annibale, I find Carlo Sellitto mentioned, to whom Guarienti a.s.signs a place in the Abbeccadario, and I further find him commended in some MS. notices of eminent artists of the school.]
[Footnote 114: There is a different account of him in the Memorie de"
Pittori Messinesi, where it is said that his true family name was Rodriguez. It is there said that he studied in Rome, and went from thence to work in Naples, in the Guida of which city he is frequently mentioned. It is added that, from his Roman style, he was called by his brother Alonso, the _slave of the antique_; and that he returned the compliment by calling his brother, who was instructed in Venice, _the slave of nature_. But Alonso, who spent his life in Sicily, surpa.s.sed his brother in reputation; and it is a rare commendation that he painted much and well. He particularly shone in the Probatica in S. Cosmo de"
Medici, and the picture of two Founders of Messina in the senatorial palace, a work rewarded with a thousand scudi. His fame declined, and he began to fail in commissions on the arrival of Barbalunga. But he did not, on that account, refuse him his esteem, as he was accustomed to call him the Caracci of Sicily.]
[Footnote 115: I find in Messina, Gio. Fulco, who imbibed the principles of the art under the Cav. Ma.s.simo; a correct designer, a lively and graceful painter, particularly of children, excepting a somewhat too great fleshiness, and a trace of mannerism. Many of his works in his native country were destroyed by an earthquake. Some remain at the Nunziata de" Teatini, where in the chapel of the Crucifix are his frescos, and a picture by him in oil of the Nativity of the Virgin.]
[Footnote 116: Gio. Batista Durand, of Burgundy, was established in Messina. He was the scholar of Domenichino, and was always attached to his manner. Of his larger works we find only a S. Cecilia in the convent of that saint, as he was generally occupied in painting portraits. He had a daughter called Flavia, the wife of Filippo Giannetti, skilled in portraits, and an excellent copyist.]
[Footnote 117: Domenico Maroli, Onofrio Gabriello, and Agostino Scilla, were the three painters of Messina who did him the most honour, although from being engaged in the revolutions of 1674 and 1676, the first lost his life, and the other two were long exiles from their country. Maroli did not adopt the style of Barbalunga exclusively, but having made a voyage to Venice, and there studied the works of the best Venetian artists, and particularly of Paolo, he returned with many of the excellences of that great master, brilliant flesh tints, a beautiful air in his heads, and a fine style in his drawings of women, a talent which he abused as much or more than Liberi. To this moral vice he added a professional one, which was painting sometimes on the _imprimiture_, and generally with little colour; whence his works, which were extolled and sought after when new, became, when old, neglected, like those dark paintings of the Venetian School, which we have mentioned. Messina has many of them: the Martyrdom of S. Placido at the Suore di S. Paolo, the Nativity of the Virgin in the church della Grotta, and some others. In Venice there must also be remaining in private collections, some of his paintings of animals in the style of Ba.s.sano, as we have before mentioned. Onofrio Gabriello was for six years with Barbalunga, and for some further time with Poussin, and then with Cortona in Rome, until pa.s.sing another nine years in Venice with Maroli, he brought back with him to Messina that master"s vicious method of colour, but not his style. In the latter he aimed at originality, exhibiting much lightness, grace, and fancy, in the accessory parts, and in ribbons, jewels, and lace, in which he particularly excelled. He left many pictures in Messina, in the church of S. Francesco di Paola: many also in Padua, in the _Guida_ of which city various pictures by him are enumerated, without mentioning his cabinet pictures and portraits in private collections. I have seen several in possession of the n.o.ble and learned Sig. Co. Antonio Maria Borromeo; amongst which is a family piece with a portrait of the painter.
Agostino Scilla, or Silla, as Orlandi calls him, opened a school in Messina, which was much frequented while it lasted, but the scholars were dispersed by the storm of revolutions, in which they took a part, not without great injury both to the art and themselves. He possessed an elegant genius for painting, which he cultivated, and added to it a taste for poetry, natural history, and antiquities. His genius raised such high expectations in Barbalunga, that he procured a pension for him from the senate, in order to enable him to reside in Rome under Andrea Sacchi. After four years he returned to Messina, highly accomplished, from his study of the antique and of Raffaello, and if his colouring was at first somewhat dry, he soon rendered it rich and agreeable. He excelled in figures and in heads, particularly of old men, and had a peculiar talent in landscapes, animals, and fruit. For this I may refer to the Roman School, where he is mentioned with his brother and son.
There are few of his works in Rome, but many in Messina. His frescos are in S. Domenico, and in the Nunziata de" Teatini, and many paintings in other places, among which is S. Ilarione dying, in the church of S.
Ursula, than which work there is no greater favourite with the public.
Of the scholars of Scilla, who remained in Messina after the departure of their master, there is not much to be said. F. Emanuel da Como we have mentioned elsewhere. Giuseppe Balestriero, an excellent copyist of the works of Agostino, and a good designer, after painting some pictures, became a priest, and took leave of the art. Antonio la Falce was a good painter in distemper and in oil. He afterwards attempted frescos, and painted tavern scenes. Placido Celi, a man of singular talents, but bad habits, followed his master to Rome. He there changed his style for that of Maratta and Morandi; after whose works he painted in Rome, in the churches dell"Anima and Traspontina, and in several churches of his own country, but he never pa.s.sed the bounds of mediocrity. A higher reputation belongs to Antonio Madiona, of Syracuse, who although he separated himself from Scilla in Rome, to follow il Preti to Malta, was nevertheless an industrious artist, and painted both there and in Sicily, in a strong and vigorous style, which partakes of both his masters. And this may suffice for the members of this unfortunate school.
To complete the list of the chief scholars of Barbalunga, I may mention here Bartolommeo Tricomi, who confined himself to portrait painting, and in this hereditary gift of the school of Domenichino, he greatly excelled. He had notwithstanding in Andrea Suppa a scholar who surpa.s.sed him. The latter learned also of Casembrot, as far as regards landscape and architecture; but he formed himself princ.i.p.ally on the antique; and by constantly studying Raffaello and the Caracci, and other select masters, or their drawings, he acquired a most enchanting style of countenance, and indeed of every part of his composition. His works are as fine as miniature, and are perhaps too highly finished. His subjects, in unison with his genius, are of a pensive and melancholy cast, and are always treated in a pathetic manner. He excelled in frescos, and painted the vaults in the Suore in S. Paolo; he excelled equally in oils, as may be seen from the picture of S. Scolastica, there also. Some of his works were lost by earthquakes. His style was happily imitated by Antonio Bova, his scholar, and we may compare their works together at the Nunziata de" Teatini. He painted much in oil, as well as fresco, and from his placid and tranquil disposition, took no part in the revolutions of Messina, but remained at home, where he closed his days in peace, and with him expired the school of Barbalunga.]
[Footnote 118: Pascoli, Vite, tom. i. p. 129.]
[Footnote 119: I may insert at the close of this epoch the names of some Sicilian painters, who flourished in it, or at the beginning of the following, instructed by various masters. They were furnished to me by the Sig. Ansaldo, whose attentions I have before acknowledged, and were transmitted to him by a painter of that island. Filippo Tancredi was of Messina, but is not a.s.signed to any of the before mentioned masters, as he studied in Naples and in Rome under Maratta. He was a skilful artist, composed and coloured well; was celebrated in Messina, and also in Palermo, where he lived many years, and where the vault of the church de" Teatini, and that also of the Gesu Nuovo were painted by him. The Cav. Pietro Novelli (or Morelli, which latter however I regard as an error) called Monrealese from his native place, also enjoyed the reputation of a good painter, and an able architect. He there left many works in oil and fresco, and the great picture of the Marriage at Cana, in the refectory of the P. P. Benedettini, is particularly commended. He resided for a long time in Palermo, and the greatest work he there executed, was in the church of the Conventuals, the vault of which was divided into compartments, and wholly painted by himself. Guarienti eulogises him for his style, as diligent in copying nature, correct in design, and graceful in his colouring, with some imitation of Spagnoletto; and the people of Palermo confer daily honour on him, since, whenever they meet with a foreigner of taste, they point out to him little else in the city, than the works of this great man. Pietro Aquila, of Marzalla, a distinguished artist, who engraved the Farnese gallery, left no works to my knowledge in Rome; in Palermo there remain of him two pictures in the church della Pieta, representing the parable of the Prodigal Son. Lo Zoppo di Gangi is known at Castro Giovanni, where in the Duomo he left several works. Of the Cav. Giuseppe Paladini, a Sicilian, I find commended at S. Joseph di Castel Termini, the picture of the Madonna and the tutelar saint. I also find honourable mention among the chief painters of this island, of a Carrega, who I believe painted for private individuals. Others, though I know not of what merit, are found inscribed in the academy of S. Luke, from the registers of which I have derived some information for my third and fourth volumes, communicated to me by the Sig. Maron, the worthy secretary of the academy.]
[Footnote 120: In this epoch flourished in Messina one Abraham Casembrot, a Dutchman, who was considered one of the first painters of his time, of landscape, seapieces, harbours, and tempests. He professed architecture also, and was celebrated for his small figures. He was accustomed to give the highest finish to every thing he painted. The church of S. Giovacchino has three pictures of the Pa.s.sion by him. Some individuals of Messina possess delightful specimens of him, though not many, as he sold them at high prices, and generally to Holland. Hence most of the collectors of Messina turned to Jocino, the contemporary of Casembrot; a painter of a vigorous imagination, and rapid execution. His landscapes and views are still prized, and maintain their value. I do not find that Casembrot wholly formed any scholar at Messina. He communicated, however, the elements of architecture and perspective to several, as well as the principles of painting. For this reason we find enumerated among his scholars the Cappucin P. Feliciano da Messina (Domenico Guargena) who afterwards studied Guido in the convent of Bologna, and imbued himself with his style. Hackert makes honourable mention of a Madonna and Child and S. Frances...o...b.. him at the church of that order in Messina, and he a.s.signs the palm to him among the painters of his order, which boasted not a few.]
NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.
FOURTH EPOCH.
_Luca Giordano, Solimene, and their scholars._
A little beyond the middle of the 17th century, Luca Giordano began to flourish in Naples. This master, though he did not excel his contemporaries in his style, surpa.s.sed them all in good fortune, for which he was indebted to his vast talents, confidence, and unbounded powers of invention, which Maratta considered unrivalled and unprecedented. In this he was eminently gifted by nature from his earliest youth. Antonio, his father, placed him first under the instructions of Ribera, and afterwards under Cortona in Rome,[121] and having conducted him through all the best schools of Italy, he brought him home rich in designs and in ideas. His father was an indifferent painter, and being obliged in Rome to subsist by his son"s labours, whose drawings were at that time in the greatest request,[122] the only principle that he instilled into him was one dictated by necessity, despatch. A humorous anecdote is related, that Luca, when he was obliged to take refreshments, did not retire from his work, but, gaping like a young bird, gave notice to his father of the calls of hunger, who, always on the watch, instantly supplied him with food, at the same time reiterating with affectionate solicitude, _Luca fa presto_. Upon this incident he was always afterwards known by the name of _Luca fa presto_, among the students in Rome, and which is also his most frequent appellation in the history of the art. By means like these, Antonio acquired for his son a portentous celerity of hand, from which quality he has been called _il Fulmine della pittura_. The truth however is, that this despatch was not derived wholly from rapidity of pencil, but was aided by the quickness of his imagination, as Solimene often observed, by which he was enabled to ascertain, from the first commencement of his work, the result he proposed to himself, without hesitating to consider the component parts, or doubting, proving, and selecting like other painters. He also obtained the name of the Proteus of painting, from his extraordinary talent in imitating every known manner, the consequence of his strong memory, which retained every thing he had once seen. There are numerous instances of pictures painted by him in the style of Albert Durer, Ba.s.sano, t.i.tian, and Rubens, with which he imposed on connoisseurs and on his rivals, who had more cause than any other persons to be on their guard against him. These pictures are valued by dealers at more than double or triple the price of pictures of his own composition. There are examples of them even in the churches at Naples; as the two pictures in the style of Guido at S.
Teresa, and particularly that of the Nativity. There is also at the court of Spain a Holy Family, so much resembling Raffaello, that, as Mengs says in a letter, (tom. ii. p. 67,) whoever is not conversant with the quality of beauty essential to the works of that great master, would be deceived by the imitation of Giordano.
He did not however permanently adopt any of these styles as his own. At first he evidently formed himself on Spagnoletto; afterwards, as in a picture of the Pa.s.sion at S. Teresa a little before mentioned, he adhered to Paul Veronese; and he ever retained the maxim of that master, by a studied decoration to excite astonishment, and to fascinate the eye. From Cortona he seems to have taken his contrast of composition, the great ma.s.ses of light, and the frequent repet.i.tion of the same features, which, in his female figures, he always copied from his wife.
In other respects he aimed at distinguishing himself from every other master by a novel mode of colouring. He was not solicitous to conform to the true principles of art; his style is not natural either in tone or colour, and still less so in its chiaroscuro, in which Giordano formed for himself a manner ideal and wholly arbitrary. He pleased, notwithstanding, by a certain deceptive grace and attraction, which few attempt, and which none have found it easy to imitate. Nor did he recommend this style to his scholars, but on the contrary reproved them when he saw them disposed to imitate him, telling them that it was not the province of young students to penetrate so far. He was well acquainted with the principles of design, but would not be at the trouble of observing them; and in the opinion of Dominici, if he had adhered to them too rigidly he would have enfeebled that spirit which is his greatest merit; an excuse which perhaps will not appear satisfactory to every amateur. Another reason may with more probability of truth be a.s.signed, which was his unbounded cupidity, and his habit of not refusing commissions from the meanest quarter, which led him to abuse his facility to the prejudice of his reputation. Hence, among other things, he has been accused of having often painted superficially, without impasto, and with a superabundance of oil, so that some of his pictures have almost disappeared from the canva.s.s.
Naples abounds with the works of Giordano both public and private. There is scarcely a church in that great city which does not boast some work by him. A much admired piece is the Expulsion of the sellers and buyers from the Temple at the P. P. Girolamini: the architectural parts of which are painted by Moscatiello, a good perspective painter. Of his frescos, those at the Treasury of the Certosa are esteemed the best.
They were executed by him when his powers were matured, and appear to unite in themselves all the best qualities of the artist. Every one must be forcibly struck by the picture of the Serpent raised in the desert, and the throng of Israelites, who, a.s.sailed in a horrible manner, turn to it for relief. The other pictures on the walls and in the vault, all scriptural, are equally powerful in effect. The cupola of S. Brigida is also extolled, which was painted in compet.i.tion with Francesco di Maria, and in so very short a time, and with such fascinating tints, that it was preferred by the vulgar to the work of that accomplished master, and thus served to diffuse less solid principles among the rising artists.
As a miracle of despatch we are also shewn the picture of S. Saverio, painted for the church of that saint in a day and a half, full of figures, and as beautiful in colour as any of his pictures. Luca went to Florence to paint the Capella Corsini and the Riccardi Gallery, besides many works in the churches and for individuals, particularly for the n.o.ble house of Rosso, who possessed the Bacca.n.a.li of Giordano, afterwards removed to the palace of the Marchese Gino Capponi. He was also employed by the Grand Duke; and Cosmo III., in whose presence he designed and painted a large picture in less time than I dare mention, complimented him by saying that he was a fit painter for a sovereign prince. The same eulogium was pa.s.sed on him by Charles II. of Spain, in whose court he resided thirteen years; and, to judge from the number of works he left there, it might be supposed that he had consumed a long life in his service. He continued and finished the series of paintings begun by Cambiasi of Genoa, in the church of the Escurial, and ornamented the vault, the cupola, and the walls with many scriptural subjects, chiefly from the life of Solomon. He painted some other large compositions in fresco in a church of S. Antonio, in the palace of Buonritiro, in the Hall of the Amba.s.sadors; and for the Queen Mother a Nativity, most highly finished, which is said to be a surprising picture, and perhaps superior to any other of his painting. If all his works had been executed with similar care, the observation, that his example had corrupted the Spanish School, might perhaps have been spared.[123] In his old age he returned to his native place, loaded with honours and riches, and died lamented and regretted as the greatest genius of his age.
His school produced but few designers of merit; most of them were contaminated by the maxim of their master, that it is the province of a painter to please the public, and that their favour is more easily won by colour than by correct design; so that, without much attention to the latter, they gave themselves entirely to facility of hand. His favorite scholars were Aniello Rossi of Naples, and Matteo Pacelli della Basilicata, whom he took with him to Spain as a.s.sistants, and who returned with him home with handsome pensions, and lived after in leisure and independence. Niccolo Rossi of Naples became a good designer and colourist in the style of his master, although somewhat too red in his tints. In some of his more important works, as in the soffitto of the royal chapel, Giordano a.s.sisted him with his designs. He painted much for private individuals, and was considered next to Reco in his drawings of animals. The _Guida_ of Naples commends him and Tommaso Fasano, for their skill in painting in distemper some very fine works for Santi Sepolcri and Quarantore. Giuseppe Simonelli, originally a servant of Giordano, became an accurate copyist of his works, and an excellent imitator of his colouring. He did not succeed in design, though he is praised for a S. Niccola di Tolentino in the church of Montesanto, which approaches to the best and most correct manner of Giordano. Andrea Miglionico had more facility of invention, and equal taste in colour, but he has less grace than Simonelli. Andrea also painted in many churches in Naples, and I find him highly commended for his picture of the Pentecost in the S. S. Nunziata. A Franceschitto, a Spaniard, was so promising an artist that Luca was accustomed to say, that he would prove a greater man than his master. But he died very young, leaving in Naples a favourable specimen of his genius in the S.
Pasquale, which he painted in S. Maria del Monte. It contains a beautiful landscape, and a delightful choir of angels.
But his first scholar, in point of excellence, was Paolo de" Matteis, mentioned also by Pascoli among the best scholars of Morandi, and an artist who might vie with the first of his age. He was invited to France, and during the three years that he resided there, obtained considerable celebrity in the court and in the kingdom at large. He was then engaged by Benedict XIII. to come to Rome, where he painted at the Minerva and at the Ara Coeli. He decorated other cities also with his works, particularly Genoa, which has two very valuable pictures by him at S. Girolamo; the one, that saint appearing and speaking to S. Saverio in a dream; the other, the Immaculate Conception with an angelic choir, as graceful as ever was painted. His home was, notwithstanding, in Naples, and that is the place where we ought to view him. He there decorated with his frescos the churches, galleries, halls, and ceilings in great number; often rivalling the celerity without attaining the merit of his master. It was his boast to have painted in sixty-six days a large cupola, that of the Gesu Nuovo, a few years since taken down in consequence of its dangerous state; a boast which, when Solimene heard, he sarcastically replied, that the work declared the fact itself without his mentioning it. Nevertheless there were so many beauties in it in the style of Lanfranco, that its rapid execution excited admiration.
When he worked with care, as in the church of the Pii Operai, in the Matalona Gallery, and in many pictures for private individuals, he left nothing to desire, either in his composition, in the grace of his contour, in the beauty of his countenances, though there was little variety in the latter, or in any of the other estimable qualities of a painter. His colouring was at first _Giordanesque_; afterwards he painted with more force of chiaroscuro, but with a softness and delicacy of tint, particularly in the madonnas and children, where he sometimes displays the sweetness of Albano, and a trace of the Roman School, in which he had also studied. He was not very happy in his scholars, who were not numerous. Giuseppe Mastroleo is the most distinguished, who is much praised for his S. Erasmus at S. Maria Nuova. Gio. Batista Lama was a fellow disciple, and afterwards a relative of Matteis, and received some a.s.sistance from him in his studies. Excited by the example of Paolo, he attained a suavity of colour and of chiaroscuro, much praised in his larger works, as the gallery of the Duke of S. Niccola Gaeta, and particularly in his pictures of small figures in collections. In these he was fond of representing mythological stories, and they are not unfrequent in Naples and its territories.
Francesco Solimene, called L"Abate Ciccio, born at Nocera de" Pagani, was the son of Angelo, a scholar of Ma.s.simo. Early imbibing a love of painting, he forsook the study of letters, and after receiving the first rudiments of the art from his father, he repaired to Naples. He there entered the school of Francesco di Maria, but soon left it, as he thought that master too exclusively devoted to design. He then frequented the academy of Po, where he industriously began at the same time to draw from the naked figure and to colour. Thus he may be said to have been the scholar of the best masters, as he always copied and studied their works. At first he imitated Pietro da Cortona, but afterwards formed a manner of his own, still retaining that master as his model, and copying entire figures from him, which he adapted to his new style. This new and striking style of Solimene approached nearer than any other to that of Preti. The design is not so correct, the colouring not so true, but the faces have more beauty: in these he sometimes imitated Guido, and sometimes Maratta, and they are often selected from nature. Hence by some he was called il Cav. Calabrese _ringentilito_. To the style of Preti he added that of Lanfranco, whom he named his master, and from whom he adopted that curving form of composition, which he perhaps carried beyond propriety. From these two masters he took his chiaroscuro, which he painted strong in his middle age, but softened as he advanced in years, and then attached himself more to facility and elegance of style. He carefully designed every part of his picture, and corrected it from nature before he coloured it; so that in preparing his works, he may be included among the most correct, at least in his better days, for he latterly declined into the general facility, and opened the way to mannerism. He possessed an elegant and fruitful talent of invention, for which he is celebrated by the poets of the day. He was also characterised by a sort of universality in every style he attempted, extending himself to every branch of the art; history, portrait, landscape, animals, fruit, architecture, utensils; and whatever he attempted, he seemed formed for that alone. As he lived till the age of ninety, and was endowed with great celerity of pencil, his works, like those of Giordano, were spread over all Europe. Of that artist he was at the same time the compet.i.tor and the friend, less powerful in genius, but more correct in his principles. When Giordano died, and Solimene became the first painter in Italy, notwithstanding what his rivals said of his colours not being true to nature, he began to ask extravagant prices for his pictures, and still abounded in commissions.
One of his most distinguished works is the sacristy of the P. P. Teatini detti di S. Paolo Maggiore, painted in various compartments. His pictures also in the arches of the chapels in the church of the Holy Apostles deserve to be mentioned. That work had been executed by Giacomo del Po, to correspond with the style of the tribune, and the other works which Lanfranco had painted there: but Po did not satisfy the public expectation. The whole work was therefore effaced, and Solimene was employed to paint it over again, and proved that he was more worthy of the commission. The chapel of S. Filippo in the church of the Oratory, is a proof of his extreme care and attention; every figure in it being almost as finely finished as a miniature. Among private houses the most distinguished is the Sanfelice, so called from the name of his n.o.ble scholar Ferdinand, for whom he painted a gallery, which afterwards became an academy for young artists. Of his large pictures we may mention that of the great altar in the church of the monks of S.
Gaudioso, without referring to others in the churches and in various parts of the kingdom; particularly at Monte Ca.s.sino, for the church of which he painted four stupendous pictures in the choir. They will be found in the _Descrizione Istorica del Monistero di Monte Ca.s.sino_, edited in Naples, in 1751. He is not often met with in private collections in Italy, beyond the kingdom of Naples. In Rome the princes Albani and Colonna have some large compositions by him, and the Bonaccorsi family a greater number in the gallery of Macerata; and among them the death of Dido, a large picture of fine effect. His largest work in the ecclesiastical state, is a Supper of our Lord, in the refectory of the Conventuals of a.s.sisi, an elegant composition, painted with exquisite care, where the artist has given his own portrait among the train of attendants.
Solimene instilled his own principles into the minds of his disciples, who formed a numerous school, which extended even beyond the kingdom of Naples, about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Among those who remained in Naples, was Ferdinando Sanfelice, lately noticed by us, a n.o.bleman of Naples, who put himself under the instructions of Francesco, and became as it were the arbiter of his wishes. As the master could not execute all the commissions which crowded on him from every quarter, the surest mode to engage him was to solicit him through Sanfelice, to whom alone he could not deny any request. By the a.s.sistance of Solimene, Sanfelice attained a name among historical painters, and painted altarpieces for several churches. He took great delight in fruit, landscapes, and views, in which he particularly excelled, and had also the reputation of an eminent architect. But perhaps none of the disciples of Solimene approached nearer to the fame of their master than Francesco de Mura, called Franceschiello. He was a Neapolitan by birth, and contributed much to the decoration of his native city, both in public and private. Perhaps no work on the whole procured him a greater degree of celebrity than the frescos painted in various chambers of the Royal Palace of Turin, where he competed with Beaumont, who was then in the height of his reputation. He there ornamented the ceilings of some of the rooms which contain the Flemish pictures. The subjects which he chose, and treated with much grace, were the Olympic Games, and the Deeds of Achilles. In other parts of the palace he also executed various works. Another artist, who was held in consideration, was Andrea dell"Asta, who after being instructed by Solimene, went to finish his studies in Rome, and engrafted on his native style some imitation of Raffaello and the antique. We may enumerate among his princ.i.p.al works, the two large pictures of the Nativity, and the Epiphany of Christ, which he painted in Naples for the church of S. Agostino de" P. P.
Scalzi. Niccolo Maria Rossi was also reputably employed in the churches of Naples, and in the court itself. Scipione Cappella excelled all the scholars of Solimene in copying his pictures, which were sometimes touched by the master and pa.s.sed for originals. Giuseppe Bonito had a good invention, and was a distinguished portrait painter, and was considered one of the best imitators of Solimene. He was at the time of his death painter to the court of Naples. Conca and he excel their fellow disciples in the selection of their forms. Other scholars in Naples and Sicily,[124] less known to me, will be found in the history of painting in Naples, which has been recently published by the accomplished Sig. Pietro Signorelli, a work which I have not in my possession, but which is cited by me, as is the case with several more, on the authority of others.
Some artists, who resided out of the kingdom, we shall notice in other schools, and in the Roman School we have already spoken sufficiently of Conca and Giaquinto; to whom we may add Onofrio Avellino, who resided some years in Rome, executing commissions for private persons, and painting in the churches. The vault of S. Francesco di Paola is the largest work he left. The works of Maja and Campora are to be found in Genoa, those of Sa.s.si in Milan, and of others of the school of Solimene in various cities. These artists, it is to be regretted, sometimes pa.s.sed the boundaries prescribed by their master. His colouring, though it might be more true to nature, is yet such as never offends, but possesses on the contrary a degree of amenity which pleases us. But his scholars and imitators did not confine themselves within their master"s limits, and it may be a.s.serted, that from no school has the art suffered more than from them. Florence, Verona, Parma, Bologna, Milan, Turin, in short, all Italy was infected with their style; and by degrees their pictures presented so mannered a colouring, that they seemed to abandon the representation of truth and nature altogether. The habit too of leaving their pictures unfinished after the manner of Giordano and Solimene, was by many carried so far, that instead of good paintings, many credulous buyers have purchased execrable sketches. The imitation of these two eminent men carried too far, has produced in our own days pernicious principles, as at an earlier period did the imitation of Michelangiolo, Tintoretto, and even of Raffaello himself, when carried to an extreme. The princ.i.p.al and true reason of this deterioration is to be ascribed generally to the masters of almost all our schools; who, abandoning the guidance of the ancient masters, endeavoured in their ignorance to find some new leader, without considering who he might be, or whither he might lead them. Thus, at every proclamation of new principles, they and their scholars were ready to follow in their train.