Читать книгу The History of Italian Painting - Luigi Lanzi - Страница 18

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Cigoli and his associates improve the style of Painting.

Whilst the Florentines regarded Michelangiolo and his imitators as their models, they experienced the fate of the poets of the fifteenth century, who fixed their eyes on Petrarca and his followers alone; they contracted a strong similarity of style, and differed from each other only according to their individual talents and genius. As we have above remarked, they began to exhibit some diversity after the age of Titi; but they were still languid colourists, and required to be impelled into another career. About 1580 the period had at length arrived, when they began to abandon the manner of their countrymen for that of foreign artists; and then, as we shall have occasion to shew in treating of this epoch, the Florentine styles became firm and varied. This revolution originated with two young artists, Lodovico Cigoli and Gregorio Pagani. We learn from Baldinucci, that, attracted by the celebrity of Barocci, and a picture which he had recently sent from Urbino to Arezzo, which is now in the royal gallery at Florence, they went together to see it; they examined it attentively, and were so captivated with the style, that they immediately renounced the manner of their master. Passignano followed their steps, continues Baldinucci, and Cigoli, in his company, took a second journey as far as Perugia, when Barocci had completed his celebrated Deposition from the Cross; but here the historian fell into a chronological error, inasmuch as Bellori, the accurate writer of Barocci's life, describes his picture at Perugia as anterior to that at Arezzo by several years. In whatever way the mistake ought to be cleared up, it is certain that Passignano promoted the views of Cigoli. Their example turned the rising generation from the old manner to a more vigorous style. This was more especially the case with Empoli, with Cav. Curradi, and some of those above mentioned, who were followed by Cristofano Allori, and Rosselli, artists that transmitted the new method to their new disciples. They did not, however, imitate Barocci so much as Correggio, who was the model of Barocci. Unable to visit Lombardy, they studied the few copies of his pictures, and still fewer originals, that were to be met with in Florence, in order to acquire his management of chiaroscuro, a branch of the art then neglected in Florence, and even at Rome. To this end they began to model in clay and wax; they wrought in plaster; they studied attentively the effects of light and shade; they paid less attention to practical rules, and more to nature. Hence arose a new style which, in my opinion, is among the best hitherto attempted in Italy; corrected upon the model of the Florentine school; soft and well relieved on that of Lombardy. If their forms had approached to Grecian elegance, if their expression had been more refined, the improvement of painting, which about this time took place in Italy, should have been ascribed no less to Florence than to Bologna.

Some favourable circumstances assisted the progress of the Florentine school; among these we may mention a succession of princes friendly to the art;[212] the readiness with which the celebrated Galileo imparted to artists his discoveries, and the laws of perspective; the travels of several Florentine masters to Venice, and through Lombardy; and the long residence of foreign artists, eminent as colourists, at the court of Florence. But it was chiefly owing to Ligozzi, who studied under the Venetian masters, then considered as the best in Italy, and who animated the old Florentine style with greater spirit and brilliancy than it had hitherto displayed. After noticing the good style of that period, we must not omit to mention one less praiseworthy; a sombre manner, which usurped the place of the other, and at this day renders many pictures of that period of little or no value. Some ascribe the fault to the method of mixing the colours, which was everywhere changed; and hence it is not peculiar to the Florentines, but is found diffused over Italy. It was partly owing likewise to the rage for chiaroscuro carried to excess. It is the characteristic of every school of long standing to carry to an erroneous excess the fundamental maxims of its master: this we have remarked in the preceding epoch, this we shall find exemplified in every period of painting, and this, if it were consistent with our present undertaking, we might demonstrate to have happened in literature; for a good rule extravagantly pursued leads to the corruption of taste. We shall now direct our attention to the fourth epoch, in which, omitting the two older authorities, Vasari and Borghini, we shall chiefly follow Baldinucci, who was acquainted with the artists we are now to consider, or with their successors.[213]

Lodovico Cardi da Cigoli, the scholar of Santi di Tito, first awakened his countrymen to a nobler style, as we have already observed. The additional observation of Baldinucci, that he perhaps surpassed all his contemporaries, and that few or none derived such benefit as he did, from the study of Correggio, will not readily be granted by those who are conversant with Schedone, the Caracci, or even Barocci, when they chose to imitate the manner of that great master. From the pictures that have reached our time, Cigoli appears to have acquired a fine effect of light and shade from Correggio; to have united this to a scientific design, to a judicious perspective, the rules of which were previously taught him by Buontalenti, and to a vivacity of colouring superior to his countrymen, among whom he unquestionably holds a high rank. His works, however, exhibit not that contrast of colouring, that mellowness and clearness, that grace in foreshortenings and features, that characterize the ornament of the Lombard school. In short he was the inventor of a style always beautiful, but not always equal; especially if we compare his early works with his pictures executed after his visit to Rome. His general colouring savours of the school of Lombardy, his draperies sometimes resemble those of Paolo Veronese, and he often rivals the bold style of Guercino.

Independent of the great number of his pictures in the royal gallery, and many in the possession of the noble family of Pecori, there are a few in some private houses in Florence. The following are his most esteemed pictures: the Trinity, in S. Croce; the S. Alberto, in S. Maria Maggiore; the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, in the nunnery of Monte Domini, which Pietro da Cortona considers one of the finest pictures in Florence. Of the same class is the picture which he placed in the church of the Conventualists at Cortona, in which S. Anthony is represented in the act of converting an unbeliever, by a miracle of a mule that is seen kneeling before the holy sacrament: in this piece he aspired at surpassing any work of art in that highly decorated city. In the Vatican he painted S. Peter healing the Lame, a wonderful production, which, among the pictures in Rome, was reckoned by Sacchi next in excellence to the Transfiguration by Raffaello, and the S. Girolamo by Domenichino. The Florentine school may well be proud of this opinion, pronounced as it was by a profound connoisseur, by no means usually lavish of his commendations. This masterpiece, which obtained him the honour of knighthood, is, however, utterly ruined by the dampness of the church, and the ignorance of one who undertook to repair it: but his frescos in the church of S. Maria Maggiore at Rome still remain; and there, by some error in perspective, he appears inferior to himself;[214] nor was he permitted to retouch them, notwithstanding that he employed both interest and entreaties to that effect. Fortune, in some degree, persecuted this great artist; for had those frescos perished, and that oil painting remained to our times, Cigoli would have enjoyed a higher fame, and Baldinucci obtained more credit.

Andrea Comodi and Giovanni Bilivert, nearly approached Cigoli; Aurelio Lomi followed at a greater distance. Of the latter, I shall speak among the Pisan artists, a few pages further on; and of two Romans, belonging to the same school, in the third book. Comodi, the associate rather than the scholar of Cigoli, is almost unknown at Florence; but there are many of his copies after celebrated masters, which often pass for originals, both in that city and at Rome. This was his peculiar talent; in this he was unrivalled; and it employed his best years. He produced, however, several original works that are highly valuable for the design, the exquisite finish, and the strong body of colouring they display. In these we may trace the friend of Cigoli, and the copyist of Raffaello. They are chiefly Madonnas, and are greatly admired for the disposition of the fingers, which are somewhat spread out, for the graceful slender neck, and a certain virgin air peculiarly his own. The Corsini family at Rome possess a very fine one. Some of his fresco pictures remain in the church of S. Vitale, in that city; and there is a picture of the Titular saint in S. Carlo a' Catinari, which appears dark and cloudy; an uncommon circumstance with so good a colourist.

Gio. Bilivert is a name which we in vain look for in Orlandi, who has transformed him into two painters, one of whom he calls Antonio Biliverti, and the other, in imitation of Baglione, whose knowledge of him was inaccurate, Gio. Ballinert; both Florentines, and pupils of Cigoli. Like the preceding artist, Bilivert is not always equal to himself. He finished some pictures that had been left imperfect by Cigoli, to whose design and colouring he endeavoured to unite the expression of Titi, and a more avowed and frequent imitation of the ornaments of Paolo Veronese. Bilivert is not sufficiently choice in heads; but he abounds in expression, as may be seen at S. Gaetano and S. Marco, where there are many of his historical pictures, particularly the Raising of the Cross, esteemed one of his best performances. Those pieces which he engaged to execute, and in which he never appears able to satisfy himself, are repeated by his scholars: sometimes inscribed with the initials of his name, especially when he himself retouched them; at other times they are without an epigraph. None of his productions are so worthy of being copied as Joseph with Potiphar's wife; which arrests the eye of every spectator in the ducal gallery. Many copies of it are to be found in Florence; it may be seen in foreign collections, in the Barberini Palace at Rome, in the Obizzo collection at Cattaio, and in several other places.

The ornamented style of Bilivert had many imitators, whose works, in galleries and in private houses, would pass for those of Venetian artists, had they greater spirit and a better colouring. Bartolommeo Salvestrini is at their head; but he was cut off in his prime, by the plague of 1630, so disastrous to Italy and the art. Orazio Fidani, an assiduous artist, and skilled in the style of his master, painted much at Florence; where his Tobias, that was finished for the fraternity of Scala, but is now removed, is especially commended. Francesco Bianchi Buonavita was engaged in few public works. He was chiefly employed in copying ancient pictures, which the court presented to foreign princes, and in furnishing cabinets with little historical pieces, that were at that time in great request in countries beyond the Alps. They were painted on jasper, agate, lapis lazzuli, and other hard stones; the spots in which assisted in forming the shadows of the pictures. Agostino Melissi contributed much to the tapestry of the ducal family, by furnishing cartoons from the works of Andrea del Sarto, and also some of his own invention. He likewise possessed a genius for oil painting; in which branch his S. Peter at the Gate of Pilate, which he painted for the noble family of Gaburri, is particularly praised by Baldinucci. Francesco Montelatici, by some supposed a Pisan, by others a Florentine, and surnamed Cecco Bravo, from his quarrelsome disposition, abandoned the style of Bilivert, or at least mixed it with that of Passignano. He was a fanciful and spirited designer, and not a bad colourist. A fine painting of S. Niccolo Vescovo, by this artist, is to be seen at the church of S. Simone; but his works are rare in churches, for he was chiefly employed in painting for private, and sometimes for royal collections. He died painter to the court of Inspruck. Giovanni Maria Morandi remained but a little time with Bilivert, and on going to Rome, adopted the style of that school.

Gregorio Pagani was the son of Francesco, who died young; but was highly esteemed by his countrymen. He had studied the works of Polidoro and of Michelangiolo, at Rome, and executed admirable imitations of them for private gentlemen in Florence. Gregorio himself could scarcely distinguish them. He received the rudiments of his art from Titi, but was initiated in a better style by Cigoli. Strangers praised him as a second Cigoli, whilst his country possessed at the Carmine the picture of the Finding of the Cross, which has been engraved; but when the painting, with the church, was consumed by fire, no great work of his remained in public, except a few of his frescos; one of which, though somewhat injured by time, is an ornament to the cloister of S. Maria Novella. He is rarely to be met with in Florentine collections, as he chiefly painted for foreigners. Of his school I here say nothing: it only produced one eminent pupil; but this one was so conspicuous that he may be said to form a new era, as we shall find in the sequel.

Another associate of Cigoli was Domenico da Passignano, the scholar of Naldini and of Federigo Zuccaro, whom he resembles most, from his long residence at Venice; where he likewise married. He became so decided an admirer of the merits of this school, that he was accustomed to say that he who had not seen Venice, ought not to boast that he was a painter. This circumstance sufficiently accounts for his style, which is not the most profound, nor the most correct; but it exhibits contrivance, is vast, rich in architecture and in drapery, resembling more the manner of Paolo Veronese, than that of the Florentine school. Sometimes he resembles Tintoretto in his attitudes, and in that oily colouring which ought to have been avoided; and through which many works of both artists have perished. This has been the fate of his Crucifixion of St. Peter, which he executed for the great church in Rome, under Paul V. and of the Presentation of M. V. which he also painted at the same place under Urban VIII. Several pictures, however, remain in some Italian cities, that were begun by his scholars and finished by him, with a degree of care that hands him down to posterity as a great artist. A dead Christ, in the chapel of Mongradone, at Frascati, is in this style; as are an Entombing of Christ, in the Borghese palace, at Rome; a Christ bearing the Cross, in the college of S. Giovannino, and some other works of his at Florence. Passignano, his native place, possesses what is perhaps his most perfect work, in the font of the Church of the Fathers of Vallombrosa. He there painted a Glory, that proclaims him an excellent artist, and worthy of a place with his pupils, Lodovico Caracci, the founder of the Bolognese school, and Tirani, one of its great ornaments. His Tuscan pupils did not attain equal celebrity. Sorri of Siena, whom we reserve for that school, is the one best known in Italy; having painted with applause in several of her cities. Here we must consider those artists connected with Florence.

Fabrizio Boschi is a spirited painter, whose characteristic excellence appears to consist in novelty of composition, united to a precision superior to the generality of his school. A S. Bonaventura in the act of celebrating mass, in All Saints' church at Florence, is much praised: and, perhaps, his two historical frescos of Cosmo II. which he painted in the palace of Cardinal Gio. Carlo de' Medici, in emulation of Rosselli, are superior to any of his other works. Ottavio Vannini became eminent in colouring and was very attentive to every other branch of painting; but he was sometimes poor and cold; and although good in each part of his pictures, was not happy in the whole. Cesare Dandini, a disciple of several schools, imitated Passignano in design, in brilliancy, and also in the perishable nature of his colours: he was diligent in other things, and very assiduous. His best picture is a S. Carlo, surrounded by other saints, in the church of Ancona: the composition is fine, and the whole in good preservation. Many works of this artist, and of Vannini, decorate collections.

Nicodemo Ferrucci, the favourite pupil of Passignano, and the companion of his labours at Rome, possessed much of the boldness and spirit of his master. By his example he was led to affix a good price to his pictures, mostly frescos executed at Florence, Fiesole, and for the State. He died young at Fontebuoni; but many of his works, too good to be here omitted, still remain in Rome; one of the most esteemed of which is found at S. Gio. de' Fiorentini, besides two histories of Maria S. S. which, if I mistake not, have suffered from being retouched.

Cristofano Allori was at perpetual variance with Alessandro, his father and preceptor, on account of his attachment to the novel maxims of the three masters we have just commended. In the opinion of many he is the greatest painter of this epoch. When the excellence he attained, during a long life, is considered, he appears to me in some degree, the Cantarini of his school. They resembled each other in the beauty, grace, and exquisite finish of their figures; with this difference, that the beauty of Cantarini partakes more of the ideal, and that the flesh tints of Allori are more happy. This circumstance is the more surprising, inasmuch as he knew nothing of the Caracci, nor of Guido; but supplied all by a nice discrimination, and an unwearied perseverance; for it was his custom never to lift his pencil from the canvass until his hand had obeyed the dictates of his fancy. From this method, and from vicious habits that often seduced him from his labours, his pictures are extremely rare, and he himself is little known. The S. Julian of the Pitti palace is the grandest effort of his genius; and if it is not among the finest pictures in this magnificent collection, it undoubtedly claims the highest rank in the second class. His picture of Beato Manetto, in the church of the Servi, a small piece, but excellent in its kind, is reckoned the next in merit.

Many young men were sent to be instructed by him in the art of painting; but few of them remained long: most of them were disgusted at the dissipation of the master, and the insolence of some of their fellow students. He formed some landscape painters, whom we shall notice under their class; and also some copyists, whose labours may boast of hues and retouching, the work of his hand. Of this class were Valerio Tanteri,[215] F. Bruno Certosino, and Lorenzo Cerrini. These, and other artists of this school, continued the Giovian series of the later race of illustrious men, by transmitting to us many of their portraits, to which he also lent his hand. To them we owe numerous duplicates of his most celebrated pictures, which are scattered through Florence, and over all Italy; more especially of that Judith, so beautifully and magnificently attired, which is a portrait of his mistress; while her mother appears in the character of Abra, and the head of Holofernes is that of the painter, who permitted his beard to grow a considerable time for this purpose. Zanobi Rosi lived to a later period, and finished some pieces that were left imperfect by the death of Cristofano; but he never obtained the praise of invention. The name of Giovanni Batista Vanni is superior to any other scholar of the school of Allori. The Pisans claim him as their countryman; Baldinucci assigns him to Florence. After taking lessons from Empoli and other masters, he attended Allori for six years; and whilst he imitated this master admirably in colouring, and rivalled him in design, he also imbibed his lessons of intemperance. Had he conducted himself with more propriety, and adhered more to fixed principles, the genius he possessed might have raised him to more celebrity. He visited the best schools of Italy, and copied on the spot, or at least designed, the choicest productions of each. Many praise some of his copies of Tiziano, of Correggio, and of Paolo Veronese: from the works of the two last he likewise made etchings. Notwithstanding such studies his colouring degenerated, and he became so much a mannerist, that he has not left behind him a truly classical work. The S. Lorenzo in the church of S. Simone, which is reckoned the masterpiece of Vanni, has nothing uncommon, except it be that the light of the fire invests the spectators, and gives the picture novelty and surprising harmony.

Jacopo da Empoli, a scholar of Friano, retains in most of his works the stamp of his early education; but he adopted a second manner which is not deficient in fulness of design, nor in elegance of colouring. Such is his S. Ivo, which, among painters of great name in a cabinet of the ducal gallery, surprises most strangers more than the other pictures. He executed other works on similar principles, from which we might infer that he belongs to an era favourable to the art. Painters cannot, like authors, amend the first on a second edition of the same subject: their second editions, by which they should be judged, pass as other pictures superior to their first performances. Two of Jacopo's pictures in fresco are commended by Moreni (tom. ii. p. 113), one belonging to the Certosa, the other to the monastery of Boldrone; both which prove the extent of his ability in this branch of the art; but after the period of his fall from the scaffolding in the Certosa, he abandoned this method and devoted himself wholly to painting in oil. Empoli gave all the beauty and fine effect of large works to those pleasing pictures he painted for private individuals, and in this style he was very successful.

This artist taught Vanni the principles of painting; but his greatest pupil was Felice Ficherelli; a man of the most indolent disposition, lazy in every occupation, and, as if afraid of disturbing his tongue, usually silent unless when asked a question: hence he was named Felice Riposo by the Florentines. He executed few pictures; but what proceeded from his studio may be held up as an example of industry in the art; simple, natural, and studied, without appearing to be so. There is a picture of S. Anthony by him in S. Maria Nuova, where he seems to have been directed by his intimate friend Cristofano, whose work it strongly resembles. He is rare in collections; but always makes a good figure there by his graceful design, his full body of colouring, and his softness. The Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise, in the gallery of the Rinuccini palace, is worthy such a collection. He copied Pietro Perugino, Andrea del Sarto, and some other masters so well, that his work might pass for the originals; and to this employment we may chiefly attribute the exquisite finish of his pictures.

To this period we may assign some other artists, who, from whatever cause, are, perhaps, less commended by historians than they deserve. Of this number is Giovanni Martinelli, of whom there is a capital work in the Conventualists of Pescia, viz. the Miracle of S. Anthony, a subject mentioned a little above, as having been also executed by Cigoli. His Feast of Belshazzar, in the ducal gallery at Florence, and his Guardian Angel at S. Lucia de' Bardi, are pictures of note, but inferior to that at Pescia. Of the same class also is Michel Cinganelli, a scholar of Poccetti, who was employed in the metropolitan church of Pisa, where he ornamented the corbels of the cupola, and strove to emulate the best Tuscan artists of his age in an historical picture of Joshua. Such is Palladino, mentioned in the Guide of Florence in reference to a S. Giovanni Decollato; a work deserving notice, for its freedom from the beaten track of his school. He seems to have studied the Lombard more than native artists, and to have been acquainted with Baroccio. I saw his altar-piece at S. Jacopo a' Corbolini. I suspect that this artist is the same as Filippo Paladini, pointed out by Hackert, born and educated at Florence, and who resided in foreign parts. He was compelled to fly from Milan on account of some disturbance, and took refuge in Rome, where he was received by Prince Colonna, and being pursued he went to Sicily, and resided at Mazzarino, an estate belonging to the Colonna family. There, as well as at Syracuse, Palermo, Catania, and elsewhere, he left works that display much elegance and fine colouring, but not free from mannerism, the fault also of the picture above cited at Florence. Benedetto Veli painted in the cathedral of Pistoia an Ascension of Christ, placed at the entrance to the presbytery, upon an immense scale. It is the companion to one of the Pentecost by Gregorio Pagani, which sufficiently proves that it has no common merit. There lived some other painters about this time, of whom Tuscany, as far as I know, retains no trace; but they are recognized in other schools: thus Vaiano is recognized in the Milanese, and Mazzoni in the Venetian schools, where we shall give some account of them.

Last among the great masters of this period I place Matteo Rosselli, a scholar of Pagani and of Passignano, as likewise of several old masters, under whom he studied assiduously at Rome and at Florence. He became so distinguished a painter that he was invited to the court of the Duke of Modena, and was retained by Cosmo II. Grand Duke of Tuscany, in his own service. In painting, however, he had many equals; but very few in the art of teaching, for which he was adapted by a facility of communicating instruction, a total want of envy, and a judicious method of discovering the talents of each pupil, and of directing his progress: hence his school, like that of the Caracci, produced as many different styles as he had pupils. His placid genius was not fitted for the conception of novel and daring compositions, nor for pursuing them with the steadiness that characterizes the painter of elevated fancy. His merit lies in correctness in the imitation of nature; in which, however, he is not always select; and there is a peculiar harmony and repose in the whole, by which his pictures (though they are generally in a sombre tone) please, even when compared with works of the most lively and brilliant colouring. He excels in dignity of character; some of the heads of his apostles, to be seen in collections, so strongly resemble the works of the Caracci, that connoisseurs are sometimes deceived. At times he strove to rival Cigoli: as in his Nativity of our Saviour at S. Gaetano, which is thought to be his masterpiece, and in the Crucifixion of S. Andrew in All Saints church, which has been engraved at Florence. His fresco paintings are greatly admired: so well do his labours, on the principles of the past age, preserve their freshness and brilliancy. The cloister of the Nunziata has many of his semicircular pieces; and that representing Alexander IV. confirming the Order of the Servi, appeared a grand work to Passignano and Cortona. He ornamented a ceiling in the royal villa of Poggio Imperiale with some histories of the Medicean family. The chamber where this painting was placed was ordered to be demolished in the time of the Grand Duke Peter Leopold; but so highly was Rosselli esteemed that the ceiling was preserved, and transferred to another apartment. His chief praise, however, arises from his preserving that fatherly regard for pupils, which Quintilian thinks the first requisite in a master: hence he became the head of a respectable family of painters whom we shall now consider.

Giovanni da S. Giovanni (this is the name of his native place; his family name was Manozzi), could boast of being one of the best fresco painters that Italy ever possessed. Gifted by nature with a fervid and bold genius, a lively and fertile imagination, celerity and freedom of hand, he painted so much in the dominions of the Church, and even in Rome, especially in the church of the Four Saints, so much in Tuscany, in Florence, and even the Pitti palace,[216] we can scarcely believe that he began to study at the age of eighteen, and died when only forty-eight years old. His style is very far from the solid manner of his master; he carried the celebrated maxim of Horace "All is allowable" to excess; and in many of his works he preferred whim to art. Amid choirs of angels he introduced the singular novelty of female angels; if we may ascribe this to him, and not to the Cavalier d'Arpino or Alessandro Allori, as some are inclined to do. But whatever exertions he made (if we may so express it) to discredit himself, he did not succeed. His spirit is greatly superior to the conceits of other artists; and his performances at Florence, in which he bridled his eccentricities, prove that he knew more than he was ambitious to shew. Among these we may notice his Flight into Egypt in the royal academy, some semicircular pieces in the church of All Saints, the Expulsion of the Sciences from Greece, of the Pitti palace, in which the blind Homer appears groping his way with great nature, as he is exiled from his native land. It is related of Pietro di Cortona, that on seeing some one of the works of Giovanni, which did him no credit, he did not therefore condemn him; but, pointing to the piece, only observed, "Giovanni painted that when he was already conscious of being a great man." His pictures on panel and on canvass are less admired, nor are they always exempt from crudity. He had a son called Gio. Garzia, who produced several fresco works at Pistoia, tolerably well executed.

Baldassare Franceschini, surnamed Volterrano, from the place of his nativity, and also the younger Volterrano, to distinguish him from Ricciarelli, seemed to have been formed by nature to adorn cupolas, temples, and magnificent halls, a style of work in which he is more conspicuous than in painting cabinet pictures. The cupola and nave of the Niccolini chapel, in the church of the Holy Cross, is his happiest effort in this way; and surprises even an admirer of Lanfranco. That of the Nunziata is most beautiful; and we must not omit the ceiling of a chapel in S. Maria Maggiore, where Elias appears so admirably foreshortened, that it calls to mind the S. Rocco of Tintoretto, by the optical illusion occasioned by it. His talents excited the envy of Giovanni da S. Giovanni, who having engaged him as his assistant in the decoration of the Pitti palace, speedily dismissed him. His spirit is tempered by judgment and propriety; his Tuscan design is varied and ennobled by an imitation of other schools; to visit which, he was sent to travel for some months by his noble patrons of the house of Niccolini. He derived great advantages from studying the schools of Parma and of Bologna. He knew Pietro di Cortona, and adopted some of his principles, which was a thing not uncommon among the artists of this epoch.

Volterrano painted a great many frescos in Florence, one in the Palazzo del Bufalo at Rome, and some at Volterra, that are noticed by Baldinucci. The praise bestowed on him by the historian appears rather scanty than extravagant to those who duly consider the propriety of his inventions, the correctness of his design, qualities so rare in this class of artists, his knowledge of the perspective, of foreshortening figures in ceilings,[217] the spirit of his attitudes, the clearness of his graduated, well balanced, and properly united colours, and the pleasing and quiet harmony of the whole. The same talents are proportionally evident in his oil pictures, as may be observed in his S. Filippo Benizi, in the Nunziata of Florence; in his S. John the Evangelist, a noble figure which he painted along with other saints in S. Chiara at Volterra; his S. Carlo administering the communion to those sick of the plague, in the Nunziata of Pescia, and some of his other paintings that are well finished, which was not the case with all his works. The same observations apply to his cabinet pictures, which abound in the ducal palace, and in the houses of the nobility of Volterra, especially in those of the families of Maffei and Sermolli.

Cosimo Ulivelli is also a good historical painter; and his style is sometimes mistaken for that of his master by less skilful judges; but a good connoisseur discovers in him forms less elegant, a colouring less strong and clear, a character approaching to mannerism and to meagreness. We ought to form an opinion from the works of his best period, such as his semicircular pieces in the cloister of the Carmine. Antonio Franchi, a native of Lucca, who lived at Florence, is reckoned by many inferior to Ulivelli; but he is generally more judicious, if I do not mistake, and more diligent. His S. Joseph of Calassanzio, in the church of the Fathers of Scolopi, is a picture of good effect, and is commended also for the design. Another of his fine works is in the parish church of Caporgnano, in the state of Lucca; it represents Christ delivering the keys to S. Peter, and I am informed by an experienced artist that it is the most esteemed of his productions; many more of which may be found in the account of his Life, published at Florence, by Bartolozzi. He was painter to the court, by which he was much employed, as well as by private individuals. He was a moderate follower of Cortona. He wrote a useful tract on the Theory of Painting, in which he combated the prejudices of the age, and enforced the necessity of proceeding on general principles. It was printed in 1739; and afterwards defended by the author against certain criticisms made on it. Giuseppe and Margherita, his two sons, have met with some commendation, and I am told there is a fine altar-piece by the former, which adorns the parish church at Borgo Buggiano. It is retouched, however, by his father, who honourably makes mention of the fact. I repeat, honourably; because many fathers are known to have aided their sons with a view of obtaining for them a reputation beyond their deserts. Michelangiolo Palloni da Campi, a pupil of Volterrano, is well known in Florence by a good copy of the Furius Camillus, of Salviati, in the old palace; which was placed by the side of the original. He resided long, and was much employed in Poland. An eminent pupil of Baldassare, named Benedetto Orsi, was omitted by Baldinucci. A fine picture of S. John the Evangelist, in the church of S. Stephen, at Pescia, his native place, is attributed to him. He also painted the Works of Mercy, for the religious fraternity of nobles. These oil paintings were shewn to strangers among the curiosities of that city; but they were dispersed on the suppression of the order. There still exists a large circular picture which he produced at Pistoia for S. Maria del Letto, enumerated by good judges among the finest works of Volterrano, until an authentic document discovered the real author. Last in this list I have to mention Arrighi, the fellow citizen of Franceschini, and his favourite pupil. He has nothing remaining in public, in which his master cannot boast a great share.[218]

After Franceschini, who may be considered the Lanfranco of the Rosselli, or rather Florentine school, we proceed to Francesco Furini, who is its Guido and its Albano. Foreigners recognized him as such: hence he was invited to Venice, for the express purpose of painting a Thetis, as a companion to an Europa by Guido Reni. He had seen the works of masters of this class at Rome, and appears to have aspired at rivalling, rather than at imitating them. His ideas certainly do not seem borrowed from them, nor from any other artists. He spent a long time in meditating on his subject, and was accustomed to consider his picture completed when he had finished his studies for it; so little time and trouble did it cost him to embody his ideas in colours. Having been ordained a priest about his fortieth year, and becoming curate of S. Ansano in Mugello, he executed some pictures truly valuable, both on account of the rarity of his works and their excellence, for the neighbouring town of S. Lorenzo. Above all, we may notice with admiration a S. Francis receiving the Stigmata, and a Conception of the Blessed Virgin, in which, elevated above mortality, she appears soaring and resplendent. But his great name in Italy arose from his cabinet pictures, which are rare out of Florence, and in Florence are highly esteemed, though considerable numbers of them remain there. His Hylas carried away by the Nymphs, which he painted for the family of Galli, and in which he introduced noble figures that are grandly varied, is highly celebrated; not to mention the three Graces of the Strozzi palace, and the many historical pieces and half-length figures dispersed through the city that are unnoticed in his life. They chiefly consist of nymphs, or of Magdalens, no less naked than the nymphs; for Furini was a very expert painter of delicate flesh, but not one of the most modest. Furini must have had a great number either of pupils or imitators, as his pictures for private houses before mentioned, which were copied, are of frequent occurrence in Florence. They are often of a dusky hue, through the defect of their ground, and Simone Pignone is made, often erroneously so, their most common author. He was Francesco's best pupil; very delicate in the colours of his fleshes, as we may judge from the altar-piece of B. Bernardo Tolomei, at Monte Oliveto, where the Virgin and the Infant are coloured very beautifully in the flesh, if not handsome in their features. His picture of St. Louis, king of France, at S. Felicità, is still more celebrated. It was much commended by Giordano, and the artist received five hundred crowns for its execution. In the first volume of Lettere Pittoriche we are informed, that Maratta only esteemed Gabbiani and Pignone among all the Florentine painters of his time. He was also praised by Bellini in the work entitled Bucchereide, where he coins a new term for Pignone, (a liberty extremely common among our jocose poets,) I know not how far susceptible of imitation in another tongue: "È l'arcipittorissimo de' buoni."

Lorenzo Lippi, like his friend Salvator Rosa, divided his hours between poetry and painting. His Malmantile Racquistato,[219] which is a model of Tuscan purity of language,[220] is a work less read perhaps, but more elegant than the satires of Salvator; and is sprinkled with those graceful Florentine idioms that are regarded as the Attic salt of Italy. In looking for a prototype among the artists of his own school, guided by similarity of genius, he made choice of Santi di Tito. A delineator of the passions sufficiently accorded with the genius of the poet, and a painter of the choicest design was highly congenial to so elegant a writer. He, however, added to his style a greater force of colouring; and in drapery he followed the practice of some Lombard masters and of Baroccio, in modelling the folds in paper, a practice of which their works retain some traces. The delicacy of pencil, the clearness, harmony, and to sum up all, the good taste, pervading his pictures, demonstrate that he had a feeling of natural beauty superior to most of his contemporaries. His master admired him, and said, with a liberality not always to be found among history painters, "Lorenzo, thou art more knowing than I." His pictures are not very rare at Florence, although he resided far from it for many years, for he was painter to the court of Inspruck. A Crucifixion, among his best performances, is in the ducal gallery. The noble family of Arrighi possesses a S. Saverio recovering from the claws of a crab, the Crucifix which he had dropped into the sea. Baldinucci and the author of The Series of the most Illustrious Painters have spoken very highly of his Triumph of David, painted for the hall of Angiol Gaddi, who wished him to represent his eldest son as the son of Jesse, and his other sixteen children as the youths and virgins, that with songs and timbrels greet the victor, and hail the deliverance of Israel. In this celebrated piece, the artist was enabled to give full scope to his talent for portrait painting, and to the style approaching to nature, which he loved, without troubling himself about studied and artful embellishments. It was his maxim to write poetry as he spoke, and to paint what he observed.

Mario Balassi perfected himself under Passignano, and after the choicest examples of the Roman and other schools. He was an excellent copyist of the old masters, and a painter of invention above mediocrity. Some of his small historical pictures, and a few pieces representing eatables, are to be met with in private houses; and, above all, there are many of his half-length figures finely coloured and relieved. In his old age he changed his manner, and retouched as many of the works of his youth as he could lay his hands on; but in striving to improve, he only injured them.

Francesco Boschi, the nephew and scholar of Rosselli, was an excellent portrait painter. In the cloister of All Saints, where his uncle Fabrizio also painted, there are some of his portraits that seem absolutely alive, and are executed in fresco so admirably, that they clearly shew the school from which he proceeded. He finished some pieces in oil, that were left imperfect by the death of Rosselli, and painted others entirely his own, the subjects of which were chiefly religious, where the countenances are strikingly expressive of probity and sanctity. As he grew older he assumed the ecclesiastical habit, and sustained its dignity by his exemplary conduct, the account of which Baldinucci has extended at some length. During twenty-four years in which he lived a priest, he did not resign his pencil; but he employed it less frequently, and generally less successfully, than in his youth. His elder brother Alfonso promised much, and even attained a great deal, though cut off in early life.

The style of Jacopo Vignali has some resemblance to that of Guercino, but less in the forms than in the dark shadows and the grounds. He is amongst those scholars of Rosselli who are seldom mentioned, although he painted more than any of the rest for the prince and the state. He often is weak, especially in attitude; often, however, he appears praiseworthy, as in the two pictures at S. Simone, and in the S. Liborio, which is possessed by the Missionaries. He is most conspicuous in fresco painting, with which he ornamented the chapel of the Bonarruoti. He painted good historical pictures in the palaces of many of the nobility, and he even boasts noble pupils, none of whom did so much honour to his memory as Carlo Dolci.

Dolci holds the same rank in the Florentine, that Sassoferrato holds in the Roman school. Both, though destitute of great powers of invention, obtained great reputation for Madonnas and similar small subjects, which have now become extremely valuable; for the wealthy, desirous of possessing pictures, at once estimable and religious, to hang up in their oratories, have brought those two masters into great request, notwithstanding that they operated on very different principles. Carlo is not so celebrated for beauty, (for he was like his master, a mere naturalist,) as for the exquisite pains with which he finished every thing, and the genuine expression of certain affecting emotions; such as the patient suffering of Christ, or of the Virgin Mary; the penitential compunction of a Saint, or the holy confidence of a Martyr devoting himself as a victim for the living God. The colouring and general tone of his pictures accord with the idea of the passion; nothing is turgid or bold; all is modesty, repose, and placid harmony. In him we may retrace the manner of Rosselli brought to perfection, as we sometimes can view the features of the grandsire in his descendants. A few of his larger works still remain, such as the S. Antonio, in the royal museum; the Conception of our Lady, in the possession of the Marquis Rinuccini; also a very few of his subjects from profane story, a few of his portraits, and the celebrated figure of Poetry in the palace of Prince Corsini. His small pictures, for each of which he usually received 100 crowns, are very numerous; and were frequently repeated by himself or by his pupils, Alessandro Lomi and Bartolommeo Mancini; and often by Agnese Dolci, his daughter, a good artist and follower of the style of her father; but not his equal. His two Madonnas in the cabinet of the Grand Duke, and his martyrdom of S. Andrew, in the possession of the Marquis Gerini, have been often copied.

Of Onorio Marinari, the cousin and scholar of Carlo, but few pictures remain at Florence, either in private or in public. After imitating his master, (which usually is the first exercise of students in the art, and often, from dissimilarity of genius, is their great bane,) he formed another style, by yielding to the bent of his natural powers; which was more grand, had more of the ideal, and deeper shadows; and of this several specimens remain in the churches of S. Maria Maggiore, and S. Simone. This artist died young, very unfortunately for the school to which he belonged.

About the period we have been describing, some foreign artists resided at Florence for a considerable time, to the no small advantage of the native painters, as we have already observed. Paggi came there in the reign of the Grand Duke Francis I., remained there twenty years, and left some works behind him. About the same time Salvator Rosa, Albani, Borgognone, Colonna, Mitelli, and many more, either invited by the princes from abroad, or coming there of their own accord, were retained by them for the decoration of the palace and the city. We shall consider them particularly under the schools of the countries where they were born, or in which they taught; but here we shall give a place to Jacopo Ligozzi, whom the Florentine school may claim on account of his residence, his employment, and his scholars. He had studied at Verona under Paolo Veronese, according to Baldinucci; but under Gio. Francesco Carrotto, according to the emendation of Maffei, without reflecting that this artist died when Jacopo was scarcely three years old. Some foreign writers make him the son of Gio. Ermanno, the painter; a circumstance unknown to Cav. del Pozzo, the townsman and historian of them both. Ferdinand II. appointed him painter to the court, and superintendant of the gallery. This was very honourable, when conferred by such a prince on him, in preference to many eminent Florentines. Ligozzi executed some works at Rome, and introduced at Florence a freedom of pencil, an art in composition, a taste for the ornamental, and a grace and gaiety, till then rare in that city. His design was sufficiently correct, and uniformly improved while he remained in Tuscany. As to his colouring, although it was not that of Paolo, it was not deficient in truth and vigour.

His seventeen semicircular pictures in the cloisters of All Saints, are valued at Florence; especially the interview between S. Francis and S. Domenick, the founders of the order. On this picture he wrote, To the confusion of our friends, meaning the envious and malignant. This is his masterpiece in fresco. He painted more frequently in oil colours in several churches. The S. Raymond in the act of reanimating a child, in S. Maria Novella, is a picture full of art; and there is another in the same style at the Scalzi of Imola, representing the four Crowned Saints. The martyrdom of S. Dorothea, I do not hesitate to call a wonderful picture; in which we recognize a follower of Paolo, and which is in possession of the Conventual Friars of Pescia. The scaffold, the executioner, the Prefect on horseback who is ordering him to strike, the great crowd of spectators variously affected, and all the apparatus of a public punishment, strike and astonish equally the connoisseur and the unskilled in painting; the holy martyr especially interests us, who, on her knees, with a placid composure, willingly resigns her life, and is about to receive from angels the eternal crown purchased with her blood. In other performances he shews more simplicity, as in the S. Diego at All Saints, or in the Angels at the P. P. Scolopi; but he is an artist who always pleases, and who shews that he felt what he painted. Ligozzi painted much for private individuals. In his very small pictures, a style in which he was expert, he finished as highly as if they were miniatures. Several of his works were published by Agostino Caracci, and other engravers.

None of his Florentine pupils is esteemed equal to Donato Mascagni, for such was his real name, which may be seen subscribed to two Scriptural pieces, in possession of Sig. Ab. Giachi, at Volterra. Having entered the order of Servi, he assumed the name of Fra Arsenio; and several of his works painted after that period are to be seen in Florence, executed in a manner not very full and soft, but diligent; of which there are several other specimens in his Miracles of the Nunziata, which are engraved and illustrated in the little work of Padre Lottini. What does him greatest honour is the picture preserved in the library of the monastery of Vallombrosa. It represents the donation of the State of Ferrara to the Holy Seat, by the Countess Matilda, as is believed by some, or rather the distribution of some privileges by her to the order of Vallombrosa, and is a picture full of subject, and the chief glory of this master.

In casting our eyes over other cities of Tuscany, we find some painters very capable of decorating houses and altars. Francesco Morosini, surnamed Montepulciano, may be recognized in the church of S. Stephen, of Florence, where he painted a Conversion of S. Paul, in the manner of his master Fidani. Arezzo produced the two Santini. Of one of them, there named the Elder, several pictures were pointed out to me by the accomplished Cav. Giudici; among which was a S. Catherine, in possession of the Conventual Friars: it savours of the Florentine manner during this epoch; except that the use of changing tints is more frequent. Bartolommeo and Teofilo Torre, of Arezzo, are noticed as fresco painters by Orlandi, who mentions halls, and even whole houses, being ornamented by the latter with historical pieces; which, if deficient in design, he praises for their colouring. Francesco Brini left a good picture of the Immaculate Conception, at Volterra: of his country and school I am ignorant. I do not know the master of Pompeo Caccia; it is certain that he called himself a native of Rome, perhaps because it is easy to substitute the capital, so well known, for places in the state of less notoriety. In Rome, however, I do not find any traces of him. I find, indeed, that he left several pictures at Pistoja; among which is the Presentation (at the Selesiane) of Jesus in the Temple, to which is affixed the date 1615. Alessandro Bardelli was a native of Pescia; in his style we find traces of his preceptor Curradi and of Guercino. He was a good painter, and executed the ornamental border for the portrait of S. Francis, painted by Margaritone, for his church in Pescia: he represented around it the virtues of the Saint, and a choir of Angels above. I am doubtful whether we should include Alessio Gimignani, one of a family of artists in Pistoia, to be recorded in the fifth epoch, among the pupils of Ligozzi, but he was undoubtedly his follower.

About this period two schools arose, highly deserving of notice, those of Pisa and of Lucca. The Pisan school recognizes as its founder, Aurelio Lomi, first a scholar of Bronzino, and afterwards of Cigoli. His very correct performances, in the cathedral of Pisa, are executed after both masters; but when compared to Cigoli he is more minute, and has much less softness. His aim appears to be to surprise the multitude by an agreeable colouring, and a magnificence of draperies and ornaments. This style pleased at Florence, in Rome, and more especially at Genoa, where he was preferred to Sorri, many years established and in good repute. His works in that city are very full of subject; as his S. Anthony, belonging to the Franciscans, and his Last Judgment, in S. Maria of Carignano; pictures which surprise by an air of novelty: the first is graceful, rich, but modest in the tints; the second terrible, and the colours more vivid than those he employed on any other occasion. A S. Jerome, in the Campo Santo, is less glowing, but it is esteemed by the Pisans his capital work; at the bottom of this piece he put his initials and the date 1595.

He most probably taught the principles of the art to his brother, Orazio Lomi; who was called Gentileschi, from the surname of an uncle. Gentileschi formed his style, however, on the finest examples in Rome, assisted by his friend Agostino Tassi. Tassi was an eminent ornamental landscape painter, and Gentileschi executed appropriate figures to his inventions in the Loggia Rospigliosi, in the saloon of the Quirinal palace, and in other places. He also painted some smaller pictures in Rome, particularly at the Pace, from which we cannot ascertain his merit, either because they were performances of his unripe years, or because they have become black from age. He had not then attained the beautiful colouring, nor the Lombard-like manner of managing the shadows, which we observe in many of his cabinet pictures. A fine specimen, representing S. Cecilia with S. Valerian, is in the Borghesi palace. The choicest adorn the royal palace of Turin, and some houses in Genoa. In the collection of his Excellency Cardinal Cambiasi, there is a David standing over the dead Goliath; so relieved, and with tints so vivid and so well contrasted, that it gives the idea of a style entirely new. He was esteemed by Vandyck, and inserted by him in his series of portraits of one hundred illustrious men. When already old he went to the English court, where he died at the age of eighty-four.

Artemisia, his daughter and disciple, followed her father into that island; but she passed her best years in Italy. She was respected for her talents, and celebrated for the elegance of her manners and appearance. She is noticed both by Italian and foreign writers, and by Walpole among the latter, in his Anecdotes of Painting in England. She lived long at Naples, married there a Pier Antonio Schiattesi; and was there assisted and improved in the art by Guido Reni, studied the works of Domenichino, and was not unskilled in other approved styles. She shews variety of style in her few remaining historical pictures. Some of them are at Naples and Pozzuolo, and there are two in Florence inscribed with her name; one in the ducal gallery, and the other in possession of my noble and learned friend Sig. Averardo de' Medici; the former representing Judith slaying Holofernes, is a picture of a strong colouring, of a tone and perspicuity that inspires awe; the latter, a Susanna and the Elders, is a painting that pleases by the scene, the elegance of the principal figure, and the drapery of the others. Artemisia, however, was more celebrated for her portraits, which are of singular merit; they spread her fame over all Europe, and in them she surpassed her father.

Orazio Riminaldi was a scholar of the elder Lomi in Pisa, and of the younger in Rome, but imitated neither of them; from the beginning he gave himself up to the guidance of Manfredi, in the manner of Caravaggio, and afterwards became a follower of Domenico Zampieri, to rival whom he seems intended by nature. From the time that the art of painting revived in Pisa, that city had not perhaps so eminent a painter, nor have many better been born on the banks of the Arno, a soil so propitious to the arts. Grand in contour and in drapery, after the manner of the Caracci, pleasing and agreeable in his carnations, full, free, and delicate in the management of his pencil, he would have been faultless, had not the wretched style of engraving raised prejudices against him. Excessive fatigue, or, as others will have it, the plague of 1630, snatched him in early life from his country; for the fame of which alone he seems to have lived to maturity. He there ornamented many altars with fine pictures, one of which representing the martyrdom of S. Cecilia, was afterwards placed in the Pitti palace. In the choir of the cathedral there are two of his scriptural pieces, that form a perfect study for any one who wishes to become acquainted with this epoch. The judgment of the master of the works was conspicuous in engaging Riminaldi to paint the cupola, even before he had finished the above pictures, and in making choice of him in preference to any other artist. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which he painted in oil, is one of the best conceived and most perfect works that Tuscany had ever beheld, and it was the last labour of Orazio. His brother Girolamo completed it feebly, by introducing some figures that were wanting, and the family received 5,000 crowns as its price. Girolamo is rarely to be met with in Pisan collections, and still more rarely in other places. He was, however, well known in his day, having been invited to Naples to ornament the chapel of S. Gennaro, and to the court of Paris by the queen.

From among many Pisan artists of this period recorded by Sig. da Morrona, or Sig. Tempesti, we shall select some of the most considerable. Ercole Bezzicaluva is worthy of notice, both for his engravings and his picture representing various saints in the choir of St. Stephen's at Pisa. So likewise is Gio. del Sordo, otherwise called Mone da Pisa; but his colouring seems superior to his invention. Zaccaria Rondinosi, I believe, of the Florentine school, was more skilled in ornamental than in any other branch of painting. He repaired the pictures in the Campo Santo, and on that account was honoured by the citizens with a tomb there, and near it an inscription on the marble. I know not whether any picture of Arcangela Paladini, an excellent embroiderer, except her own portrait, has reached our times. It was hung in the ducal gallery among the portraits of illustrious painters: to be deposited in such a place, and to remain there from 1621, is an unequivocal proof of its merit; since it is the custom of the place not lightly to refuse the portraits of tolerably good painters, but to keep them there as if only lodgers, and then send them to some villa of the prince, when new guests arrive, to take a place in the cabinets which are named de' Pittori. Gio. Stefano Marucelli, both an engineer and a painter, was not born in Pisa, but he may be reckoned a Pisan from his long residence and attachment to the place. Having come from Umbria into Tuscany, according to the tradition of the Pisans, he became a pupil of Boscoli, and remaining at Pisa, he contended with the celebrated artists whom we have noticed as employed from time to time in ornamenting the tribune of the cathedral. The Abraham entertaining the three angels is a work of his, commended for felicity of invention, and beauty of colouring. In the church of S. Nicolas at Pisa, there remains a memorial of Domenico Bongi of Pietrasanta, who was a follower of Perino del Vaga. He flourished in 1582.

The series of the principal artists of Lucca commences with Paol Biancucci, the best scholar of Guido Reni, whose grace and full power of colour he has imitated in many of his works. He sometimes so strongly resembles Sassoferrato as to be mistaken for him. The Purgatory which he painted at Suffragio, the picture representing various saints which he left at the church of S. Francis, two in possession of the noble family of Boccella, and many others scattered over the city, are of such merit, that Malvasia should have noticed him among the pupils of Guido, which he has not done. He has also omitted Pietro Ricchi of Lucca, who went to Bologna from the school of Passignano. It is true that the preceptorship of Guido is in this instance doubtful, though Baldinucci and Orlandi both assert it: for Boschini, who was his intimate friend, says not a word upon the matter, merely observing that Ricchi regretted he had not studied in Venice. It is certain he frequently imitated the forms of Guido; but in colouring and design adhered to the manner of Passignano; he also imbibed the principles of the Venetian school, as we shall relate in the proper place. Two of his pictures are preserved at the church of S. Francis in Lucca, and some others remain in private hands; small remains of a genius very fertile in invention, and of a hand most rapid and almost indefatigable in execution. He painted in several cities of France, in the Milanese, and still more in the Venetian states, where he died at Udine, in the MS. guide to which place he is often named.

Pietro Paolini long lived and taught at Lucca; he was a pupil of the Roman school, as history informs us; but to judge from his works one would pronounce him of the Venetian. In Rome he frequented the study of Angelo Caroselli, who was by education a follower of Caravaggio, but exceedingly expert in copying and imitating every style. Under him Paolini acquired a manner that shews good drawing, broad shadows, and firm touches, compared by some to the style of Titian, and by others to that of Pordenone: one also remarks in his works undoubted imitations of Veronese. The martyrdom of S. Andrew, that exists at S. Michele, and the grand picture, sixteen cubits long, preserved in the library of S. Frediano, would be sufficient to immortalize a painter. In this he represented the pontiff S. Gregory, entertaining some pilgrims; it is a magnificent picture, ornamented in the style of Veronese, with plate and architectural perspective, full of figures, and possessing a variety, harmony, and beauty, that have induced many poets to extol it as a wonderful production. His cabinet pictures of conversations and rural festivals, which are not rare at Lucca, are exquisite. Two, of the Massacre of Valdestain, belonging to the Orsetti family, were especially commended by Baldinucci. The historian remarks that he had a particular talent for such tragic themes, and in general for the energetic; he admires him less in the delicate, and even accuses him of marking the action of his female figures too strongly. That he could however be very pleasing when he inclined, we are led to believe from his large work in the church of the Trinity; which he is said to have conducted in this graceful style, to demonstrate that he was not inferior to his rival Biancucci.

It is uncertain whether Pietro Testa, called at Rome Il Lucchesino, was his disciple; but it appears highly probable, when his age is compared with that of Paolini, that he learnt from the latter the principles of the art, which he had undoubtedly acquired in Lucca before he came to Rome. He there had several masters, and was chiefly under Pietro da Cortona, from whose school he was expelled, because he treated the maxims of the master with contempt. He then put himself under Domenichino, on whose principles, says Passeri, he gloried to rely; but his style, in his own despite, at times approaches nearly to that of Cortona. He has also some resemblance to his friend Poussin, both in his figures (which at one time he made too slender), in his landscapes, and in his study of the antique, of which he was deeply enamoured; having applied himself to designing the finest specimens in architecture and in sculpture that Rome afforded. In this branch he is excellent. The death of B. Angelo, placed in S. Martino a' Monti, a picture of great force, is the only piece before the public. Testa is more frequently recognized in galleries: there is a Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites by him in the capitol; a Murder of the Innocents, in the Spada palace; but there are not many of his pictures elsewhere; for he engraved more than he painted.[221] He left some oil paintings at Lucca, one in a feeble style at S. Romano, several at S. Paolino, in the Buonvisi gallery, and in other places, in his best manner. Two of his works in fresco remain there; viz. the allegorical picture of Liberty in the senate house, and the small very elegant cupola of the oratory in the Lippi palace. He settled at Rome, where he lived unhappily, and either from despair, or some affront, drowned himself in the Tiber. His fate may teach young artists of genius not to overrate their own talents, nor to despise those of others. By these failings, Testa alienated the minds of his contemporaries, so that neither in reputation nor in employment was he so successful as many others; and his perpetual complaints occasioned doubts even of his sanity.

Omitting some scholars of Paolini less addicted to his manner, we shall notice the three brothers, Cassiano, Francesco, and Simone del Tintore. I find nothing recorded of the first that exalts him above mediocrity; and when one meets with an indifferent picture of the school of Paolini, it is ascribed to Cassiano, or some such pupil; or sometimes to the dotage of Paolini, when he produced sketches rather than paintings. Francesco is recognized as an able artist in the Visitation, in the apartments of his excellency the Gonfaloniere; and in some pieces in the Motroni collection. Simone was expert in depicting birds, fruit, and other objects in the inferior walks of the art, to which, as I usually do at the end of each epoch, I shall here devote a few pages.

And to pursue this pleasing branch of painting, I may observe that Angiol Gori and Bartolommeo Bimbi of Florence, distinguished themselves in fruit, and more especially in flowers: the second was the scholar of the first in this line, and of Lippi in figures. Lippi himself induced Andrea Scacciati to abandon figures for fruit and flowers, and animals, in which department he succeeded well, and sent many pictures into foreign countries. Bimbi was the Mario of his school. He instructed Fortini, whom we shall notice by and by along with Moro, a painter of flowers and animals. All these gave place to Lopez of Naples, who visited Florence in his journeys through Italy, and shall be afterwards mentioned.

The art of painting landscapes, and their introduction into collections, began during this epoch: the first style that became fashionable at Florence was that of Adriano Fiammingo: but Cristofano Allori excelled all by the neat and firm touch of his pencil, and by the exquisite figures which he introduced into his landscapes. Guasparre Falgani surpassed him in the number of such subjects: he was initiated in the art by Valerio Marucelli, and imitated by Giovanni Rosi, and Benedetto Boschi, the brother and fellow student of Francesco. The landscapes of this age have often their greens changed into black; and are reckoned of the old school by Baldinucci. The new style was introduced into Florence by Filippo d'Angeli, or Philip the Neapolitan, who was long retained at the court of Cosmo II; but chiefly by Salvator Rosa. This artist was brought to Florence by Cardinal Gio. Carlo, and remained there for seven years; where in the capacity of painter, poet, and author of comedies, he was constantly applauded for his fine genius, and his society courted by men of learning; with whom, in every department of letters, the country then abounded. He formed no pupils at that place, but many young men there became his copyists and imitators; as Taddeo Baldini, Lorenzo Martelli, and many others. Antonio Giusti, a pupil of Cesare Dandini, was particularly skilled in this art; but he likewise practised every other branch of painting; and Orlandi has described him as an universal painter. Signor da Morrona notices the Poli, two brothers, who executed many pleasing landscapes, which are known in the collections of Florence and of Pisa.

Passing from landscape to sea-views, I do not find any Tuscan who in this respect equalled Pietro Ciafferi, otherwise called Lo Smargiasso,[222] and recorded among the Pisan artists. It is said that he resided long at Leghorn, a place well suited to his genius. He there decorated façades of houses with disembarkations and naval enterprizes; and of such subjects, ports, sea-coasts, and ships, he composed oil paintings, that are usually highly finished, and ornamented with small figures, well designed and fancifully draped. He likewise succeeded greatly in architectural views. Leghorn and Pisa are rich in his easel pictures; and one in possession of Sig. Decano Zucchetti of this place bears the name of the artist and the date 1651.

Perspective was much cultivated at Florence about this period; and the Bolognese had carried it to a degree of excellence, that will claim attention in the proper place. Lessons in it were given by Giulio Parigi, an excellent architect; and afterwards by Baccio del Bianco, who became engineer to his Catholic Majesty Philip IV. Their theoretic views were seconded by the example of Colonna, who came to Florence in 1638, along with Mitelli, a native of that place, and remained six years in the service of the court. After this period Florence produced many painters of cabinet pieces, and in the ornamental line, or rather a new school of painting was founded by Jacomo Chiavistelli, a painter of sound and more chaste taste than was common in that age. One may form an idea of him in several churches, and in many saloons in the city; as for instance, in that of the Cerretani palace, which is among his most elegant works. He likewise painted for cabinets, where his perspective pieces are frequently to be met with. Orlandi notices his most considerable pupils, Rinaldo Botti, and his cousin Lorenzo del Moro,[223] Benedetto Fortini, and Giuseppe Tonelli, who also studied at Bologna. To these may be added, Angiol Gori, Giuseppe Masini, and others who assisted him about 1658, in painting the corridore of the ducal gallery, which is not their best performance. I find in the anecdotes of Mondina and Alboresi, edited by Malvasia, that Antonio Ruggieri contended with them in Florence: he was, I believe, a scholar of Vannini, and a S. Andrew by him exists in the church of S. Michele, in Berteldi, now commonly called S. Gaetano. Nor were these the only artists capable of introducing figures into their perspective pieces; but a great many of the painters in fresco were, if we may say so, ambidexter, for each could paint perspectives and figures at the same time.

Portrait painting, the school of the best artists who aspire to fidelity of representation, was greatly promoted by Passignano, who instructed Filippo Furini, surnamed Sciameroni, the father of the celebrated Francesco. He also taught the art to Domenico and Valore Casini, two brothers celebrated by Baldinucci: Valore was remarkable for a free pencil, and was a faithful copyist of every lineament. The capital is filled with his portraits. Cristofano Allori painted portraits, both on commission and for exercising his hand in the delineation of the most beautiful forms. His portraits on canvass are reckoned valuable, even when the subjects are not known: this is the case with that in possession of the senator Orlandini; and some on small pieces of copper, in the grand Medicean collection. Cerrini, among his disciples, followed his steps; he is, I think, also admitted into that museum. Giovanni Batista Stefaneschi, a monk of Monte Senario, a scholar of Comodi, and an excellent miniature painter, was conspicuous among the painters of portraits and copyists.

Justus Subtermans, a native of Antwerp, who was educated by William de Vos, was also greatly admired. Having fixed his residence at Florence, in the time of Cosmo II., he was retained by the court to the end of the reign of Cosmo III.; and went to other princes in Germany and Italy, who were ambitious of having a specimen of a portrait painter, esteemed little inferior to Vandyck. He was much esteemed by the latter, who requested his portrait, prefacing his request by sending him his own. Peter Paul Rubens likewise honoured him, and presented him with one of his own historical pictures, regarding him as an honour to their country. Subtermans painted all the living members of the Medicean family, in a variety of attitudes; and when Ferdinand II. ascended the throne, while still a young man, Subtermans executed a stupendous picture, wholly composed of portraits. He represented in it the ceremony of swearing allegiance to the new sovereign; and pourtrayed him not only with his mother and grandmother, but the senators and nobility who were present. This picture was very large: it has been engraved on copper and still remains in the gallery. The artist had a neatness and elegance of pencil that appeared extraordinary even in the school to which he belonged; and possessed moreover a peculiar talent of ennobling every countenance without injuring the likeness. It was his practice to study the peculiar and characteristic air of the person, and to impart it to his work; so that when he would sometimes conceal the face of a portrait, the bystanders could with certainty tell whom it represented, from the disposition of the hands and the figure.

Jacopo Borgognone remained long in Florence, and was highly respected by Prince Matthias; whose military achievements in Germany and in Italy, and the places where they happened, he represented to the life, as an historian would have described them. This artist's battle-pieces are not rare in Florence; but I do not know that he had any pupils in that place. The person who promoted most the imitation of Jacopo, and whose works are everywhere, was Pandolfo Reschi, of Danzig, who was one of his best scholars; eminent in landscape in the style of Salvator Rosa, and in architectural subjects. In the hands of Dr. Viligiardi, I saw a picture by him, with a view of the Pitti palace, and the additions to it then wanting; but which were afterwards supplied by the Austrian princes, to the great ornament of the royal residence. Those additions were from a design of Giacinta Marmi; but the whole picture was the work of Pandolfo. He enlivened it with figures, and excites surprise by the whole, excepting the distribution of the light and shadow, in which he is not so happy. One Santi Rinaldi, surnamed Il Tromba,[224] a painter of battle-pieces and of landscapes, formed himself under Furini: he was contemporary with Pandolfo; but is less known in Florence.

Baccio del Bianco, having become a good designer and tolerable painter in the school of Bilivert, went into Germany with Pieroni, the imperial architect and engineer, from whom he learnt perspective. He afterwards taught it with applause in Florence, as we have said; and did not omit to exercise his pencil, especially in fresco. Naturally facetious, he became distinguished by his burlesques, which, for the most part, were only designed with the pen. He coloured some small oil pictures of much force, which were portraits in the style of the Caracci, and sometimes painted freaks of scaramouches, and similar abortions of nature.

Gio. Batista Brazze, called Il Bigio,[225] a scholar of Empoli, employed his genius in another branch of the capricious style: it consisted of what appeared human figures when seen at a distance, but a nearer approach shewed them to be composed of different sorts of fruit, or machines, artfully arranged. Baldinucci reckons him the inventor of this art; but to me it appears, that prior examples may be found in the Milanese school, in which I treat of them fully at the end of the second epoch.

Lastly, mosaic work in hard stone owes its rise in Florence to this epoch; and after gradually improving during two centuries, is now everywhere known as a work of this capital, and almost exclusively its own. In a letter of Teofilo Gallaccini,[226] we read that this species of mosaic "had been invented in Florence, in the time of Ferdinand I.;" an assertion which is not true. Before that period it flourished in Lombardy. The Carthusian Monastery of Pavia had in its pay a family of the name of Sacchi; which has existed there to our own times, and has filled the great church with this kind of mosaic. There are specimens of it in Milan of very ancient date. In that place Giacomo da Trezzo, who executed the tabernacle for the church of the Escurial, which is esteemed the most beautiful and magnificent in Christendom,[227] received his instruction. About the time of Cosmo I., Florence herself witnessed the rudiments of this art in a "small picture composed of gems" which she possessed, as is recorded by Vasari.[228] A similar one was executed for Francis I., from a design of Vasari, by Bernardino di Porfirio of Leccio, (a district of the Florentine state) "composed of oriental alabaster, and large slabs of jasper, heliotrope, cornelian, lapis lazzuli, agate, and other stones and gems, which they estimate at 20,000 crowns." But pictures so wrought in large pieces, were not of that perfect kind of mosaic that contained a vast variety of colours and middle tints. Such are executed in every shade of colour, from the natural stains of the stone itself; and the tints are lowered, heightened, and managed, so as almost to rival painting. For this purpose, every species of hard stone is collected and sawed; innumerable colours are thence selected, graduating from the deepest to the lightest shade, which are kept ready for use. This art was in request at Milan; where, on account of the vicinity of Alpine countries abounding in every species of hard stone, it arrived at great perfection. Francesco I. meditating the erection of the magnificent chapel for the sepulture of the royal family, in the church of S. Lorenzo, and the ornamenting it with urns and altars wrought in hard stone, invited Giovanni Bianchi from that city to his court, in the year 1580, and committed the works in mosaic to his direction. Soon after Ferdinando ascended the throne, and the new art gained ground under him; it was promoted by Constantino de' Servi, and afterwards by other artists, who progressively improved it. The tables, cabinets, and coffers, small landscapes, and architectural pieces which were there executed, and sent as presents to princes, are dispersed over Europe. In one cabinet of the ducal gallery there is an exquisite octagonal table, the round central piece of which was designed by Poccetti, and the ornamental border by Ligozzi. Jacopo Autelli executed the work, on which, with numerous assistants, he was employed for sixteen years, and finished it in 1649. In the cabinet of cameos and engraved gems, there are figures in mezzo-relievo, and entire little statues in hard stone, fabricated by the same company of artists; not to mention what is in the Pitti palace and the church of S. Lorenzo. A similar company still exists, under the direction of the Signori Siries, and abounding in subordinate artists, which is supported with royal magnificence by the prince, for whom it is constantly employed.

[212] The new style began in the reign of Francesco I., who was greatly skilled in design, which he had learnt of Buontalenti. He was succeeded by Ferdinando I., Cosmo II., Ferdinando II., all of them celebrated for their magnificent works in ornamenting the city and the palace: Cardinals Gio. Carlo and Leopoldo de' Medici also flourished there, both of them patrons of the arts; and the latter is recorded in history for his knowledge of them, and the splendid collection which he formed. We may add to these Prince Mattia, and others of that family.

[213] He was born in 1624, and died in 1692, leaving materials for the completion of the work, which were afterwards arranged by Saverio, his son, a gentleman of the law, who put the finishing hand to the whole. Piacenza. Ristretto della Vita di Filippo Baldinucci, p. xvi.

[214] In this branch of the art, indeed, he was not so greatly skilled; and the Cav. Titi, after commending his Assumption, which is exhibited in the entablature of the cathedral at Leghorn, adds, that not having been conducted according to the rules of foreshortening, some exceptions may be made to it.

[215] There is a Visitation by this artist, and inscribed with his name, in the church of S. Anthony of Pisa, which he executed in a weak style in 1606.

[216] In the great saloon he has poetically represented the protection afforded to literature by Lorenzo de' Medici. With some licences peculiar to that age, and usual with him, the composition and the figures are very beautiful; and there is an imitation of basso-relievo in his painting, that would deceive the most skilful, and tempt them to believe it absolutely raised from the wall. This work, left imperfect by him, was completed by Pagani, by Montelatici, and by Furini, with some semicircular pieces.

[217] This is expressed by the Italians by "il possesso del sotto in su." Tr.

[218] See tom. ii. of Signor Giachi, p. 202.

[219] The Ragged Cloak recovered.

[220] It was published with notes by Dr. Paolo Minucci, and was reprinted with other illustrations of Sig. Antonio Biscioni.

[221] Passeri, a great admirer of his tints, pronounces him a master of invention; and, treating of his engravings, says, "such vigour of conception, such novelty, and such variety, were never the gift of any other artist. He is a poet in all his historic pieces, his composition is full of fancy; this, however, is not equally commended by all, who look for the simple action without other accessaries."

[222] The Bully.

[223] Botti is pronounced a famous fresco painter by Magalotti, in Lett. Pitt. tom. v. p. 229. There are various mechanical works of Lorenzo. He painted the whole ceiling of the church of the Domenicans at Fiesole, which was considered by Conca among the respectable productions of his age.

[224] The Trumpet.

[225] The Swarthy.

[226] Lett. Pitt. tom. i. p. 308.

[227] The Ab. Conca, tom. ii. p. 53, writes of this artist, that with this and similar works he acquired so much reputation in Madrid, that the name of a principal street in which he lived was borrowed from his; from the time of Philip II. it has been called Jacome Trezzo.

[228] Tom. viii. p. 156.