yaleUolyefsit^Libiaiv

39002018343112

LIVES
OF SEVENTY OF THE MOST EMINENT
PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, AND
ARCHITECTS VOLUME II,

This Edition is Limited to
Five Hundred Copies
This Copy is No.a?-J.-^--.

LIVES OF SEVENTY
OF THE MOST EMINENT
PAINTERS, SCULPTORS
AND
ARCHITECTS

BY
GIORGIO VASARI
EDITED AND ANNOTATED IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DISCOVERIES
BY
E. H. AND E. W. BLASHFIELD
AND
A. A, HOPKINS
WITH REPRODUCTIONS IN PHOTOGRAVURE OF FORTY- EIGHT
MASTERPIECES OF ITALIAN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE
VOLUME II.

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
MDCCCXCVI

Copyright, 1896, by
Charles Scribner's Sons

TROW C Si
3 f-.z. e:^- I

CONTENTS

PAGE
MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI . 1
PIERO DELLA FRA^'CESCA . iO
FRA giova:n"X[ da FIESOLE 31
LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI . . 49
FRA FILIPPO LIPPI . . .62
A>'DREA DAE CASTAG>"0 A:NT) DOiEEXICO VE-
XF.ZTAXO . ... , 7y
&E>TILE DA FABRIA^G A>'D VITTORE PISA-
^'EIJ.0 . . . . 94
BE>'OZZO GOZZOLI  10.5
A2»TOXIO ROSSELLLS'O A^'D BEICvARDO HIS
BROTHER 114
DESIDERIO DA SETTIG^'A^'0 , 126
3n>'0 DA FIESOLE , . , .133
JACOPO, GI0VA2f>T, A^O) i.tE>TILE BELLLNT 144
D0iIE>TC0 GHIRLAXDAJO . , 167
A^TO^^o a2cd piero pollajoli uq
SA>"T)R0 BOTTICELLI ... 206
BENEDETTO DA MAIAJN'O . 224
A>T)REA DEL VERROCCHIO 237
A>'DREA M.\XTEG>'A . , 256
FILIPPO LEPPI ... 277
BER>'ARDO PES'TLRICCHIO , 291
FRA>'CESCO FRA>"CIA . , . 304

VI CONTENTS PAGE
PIETRO PERUGINO  316
VITTORE SCARPACCIA , . . . 344
LUCA SIGNORELLI . , . , , 351
LEONARDO DA VINCI  367

LIST OF ILLLSTRATIONS

PACIXG PAGE
I— FPtA FILIPPO LIPPI
COEOXATIOX OF THE VIEGIX — ACADEMY^
FLOEEXCE  32

II— ROSSELLIXO TOMB OF LEOXAEDO BEUXI — SAXTA
CEOCE, FLOREXCE . ... 64:
III— DESIDEEIO DA SETTIGXAXO
TOilB OF CARLO JIAE3UPPIXI — SAXTA
CEOCE, FLOREXCE . , . , 96
IV— BELLIXI MADOXXA EXTHEONED — CHURCH OF THE
FEARI, VEXICE  128
V— GHIELAXDAIO ADOEATIOX OF THE MAGI — SS. IXXO-
CEXTI, FLOREXCE . . . 160
TI— BOTTICELLI COROXATIOX OF THE TIEGIX — TJFFIZI,
FLOREXCE . . , . . 192
VII— VEEEOCCHIO BARTOLOMMEO COLLEOXE — VEXICE , . 224

FACrS'G PAGE
\TII— 3IAXTEGXA ALTAR - PIECE — SAX ZEXO MAGGIORE,
VEEOXA  '56
IX— FILIPPIXO LIPPI
VISIOX OF ST. BERXARD  BADIA, FLOR
EXCE . . , , , . 2S8
X— PEEUGIX'O THE DELIVERY OF THE KEYS — SI5TIXE
CHAPEL, EOME . . . , 320
XI— CAEPACCIO THE AMBASSADOES FROM THE ST, URSULA
SERIES — ACADEMY, VEXICE . . 352
XII— SIGXOEELLI THE LAST JUDGMEXT — CATHEDRAL, OR-
VIETO  38r!:

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI,' FLORENTINE
SCULPTOR AND AECHITECT
IBom 1396 (?) ; died 1473.]
BlELIOGKAPHT. — A. Schmarsow, Xiiovi Studi intorno a Michelozzo Jfichel-
ozzi. Series of Articles iu Vol. VL of the Archivio Storico deW Arte. Baron
H. von Geymiiller, Die Architektonische Entwickeluvg Michelozzo's und Sein
ZtisammenwirkuHg mit Donatcho, Jalirhuch der K. P. S., Vol XV. Eu
gene Muutz (in ie Tour du Monde., XLIII. 3o7), A travel's la Toscane ; see
the chapter ou Montepulciano for the tomb of Aragazzi For Michelozzo in
the Palazzo Vecchio, see Aurelio Gofcti, Storia del Palazzo Tecchio, 1SS9. G.
Carocci, Re-'itanri a Palazzo Vecchio in Arte e Storia for March 15, 1S88.
M. Parigi, Descrizione StoHca del Palazzo delta Signoria o Palazzo Vecchio
di Firenze., Florence, 1S8S.
IF all who inhabit this world would consider that they
may have to live when they can no longer work, there
would not he so many who are reduced to beg that in
their old age which they have squandered without any kind
of restraint in their youth, when their large and liberal
gains, blinding their judgment, have tempted them to spend
beyond what was needful, and much more than was right
and suitable. Wherefore, since he who has fallen from
possessing much to having little or nothing, is often looked
upon but coldly, each should endeavour, but in all rectitude,
and preserving the medium, to prepare in such sort that he
shall not have to beg in his old age. Thus, he who will do
as Michelozzo did (who would not imitate his master, Dona-
tello, in this respect, although he did so in his art), will
live honourably all the days of his life, and will not be com-
' His name was Michelozzo di Bartolommeo di Gherardo, and he was proba
bly bom iu 1396. Bartolommeo di Gherardo, a Burgundian tailor, was the first
Florentine ancestor of the family. He was made a citizen of Florence in
1376,

2 MICHELOZZO MICIIELOZZI
palled in his last years to go about, miserably seeking the
means of existence.
Michelozzo studied sculpture and design, in his youth,
under Donatello ;^ and although he experienced some diffi
culty, he nevertheless pursued his labours to improve him
self so steadily, whether in clay, in wax, or in marble, that,
in the works which he afterwards produced, he constantly
displayed much talent, and even genius. In one respect,
however, Michelozzo surpassed many, and on the point in
question may be said to have surpassed himself also. We
here allude to the fact, that after the death of Brunellesco,
Michelozzo was considered the most consistently reg^ular
architect of his time, and the one who most suitably and
correctly arranged and distributed the different kinds of
dwellings, whether palaces, monasteries, or houses, as will
be declared in its proper place. Donatello availed himself
for many years of Michelozzo's aid ; the latter having ac
quired great practice in works of marble, as well as in the
casting of bronze.^ Of this we have proof in the sepulchral
monument erected, as we have said, in the church of San
Giovanni, at Florence, by Donatello, for the Pope Giovanni
Coscia, since the greater part of it was executed by him.^
In the same place there is still to be seen a marble statue of
Faith, by Michelozzo ; it is two braccia and a half high,'
and is very beautiful. This figure was made at the same
time with one of Hope, of the same size, and another of
Charity, both executed by Donatello, but the work of
Michelozzo does not lose by comparison with them.^ Over
' Michelozzo collaborated for years with Donatello in many of his impor
tant works.
2 Michelozzo worked with Ghiberti on the statue of St. Matthew before he
was associated with Douatello, and in 1422 he assisted in the e.\ecutiou of
Ghiberti' 8 gates.
^ The three figures ou the lower part of this tomb are by Michelozzo. Ac
cording to M. Muntz, this monument (1428) of Giovanni Coscia, Pope John
XXIII., set the example iu style for the mausoleums of the fifteenth century,
^ A little less than two braccia.
' Michelozzo modelled the San Giovanni which Vasari attributes to Antonio
del PoUajuolo ; it forms part of the silver altar of the Baptistery.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 3
the sacristy and the rooms of the superintendents, which
are opposite to San Giovanni, Michelozzo executed a San
Giovannino, in full relief,' which is finished with extreme
care, and was much praised. This artist was closely at
tached to the service of Cosimo de' Medici, to whom the
superiority of his talents was well known, and who conse
quently caused him to prepare the model for the house and
palace situated at the corner of the Via Larga, and beside
San Giovannino ; that which had been made by Filippo di
Ser Brunellesco appearing to him, as we have said, too
sumptuous and magnificent, and quite as likely to awaken
envy among his fellow-citizens as to contribute to the gran
deur and ornament of the city, or to his own convenience.
Wherefore, as Cosimo considered the model made by Miche
lozzo satisfactory, he caused the building to be erected^
' This marble statue of a little St. John was executed by Antonio Roseliino
(1447) ; it is in the Bargello, but in its place over the door where it originally
stood is a little St. John iu terra-cotta, said to be by Michelozzo. See Mila-
nesL Herr Schmarsow believes that a St. John in the Museo Xazionale (Bar
gello), Florence, attributed by Sig. U. Bossi to Michelozzo, is really by Barto
lommeo Vellano da Padova. See L' Arch. Star, deir Arte, VL 241.
» The Palazzo Medici, now Riccardi, is the distinctive type of the Florentine
fortress-palace of the merchant prince. The Pitti, which is vaster aud
grander in conception, was, according to Herr von Fabriczy, rather the real
prototype of palatial architecture in Florence than was Michelozzo's construc
tion : bat the Pitti is only the torso of what Brunelleschi intended it to be,
and is deprived of its crown, the cornice. The Strozzi, which is perhaps even
finer than the Medici-Riccardi, is a later building, and to a certain extent its
designer imitates Michelozzo. Michelozzo's palace, too, has been greatly
changed, the Marquis Riccardi having nearly doubled the length of its
fagade in 1639. Fergusson, in criticising the monotonous effect caused by the
two exactly equal ranges of upper windows, says that we must remember
that these two stories contained the state apartments, and were necessarily
somewhat formal in their distribution. Milizie severely criticises the ar.
rangement of the first-story windows in reference to the main doorway, and
finds the latter so simple as to be bare. Nevertheless we should not forget that
in planning this place Michelozzo would naturally err rather on the side of
simplicity thau of richness, since Cosimo had just refused the design of
Brunelleschi as too splendid for a private citizen, and likely to provoke jealousy,
while the sumptuary laws, aa in the case of the windows of the Pitti, must also
be taken into consideration. The graduated rustication is an important feat
ure in Michelozzo's/(2f a(7f , and, on the whole, this palace is one of the sncces.s-
f ul performances of the Renaissance. For an admirable notice of the Floren-

4 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
under his care ; when it was completed in the manner that
we now see, with all the utility, beauty, and graceful deco
rations so much admired, and which derive majesty and
grandeur from their simplicity. Michelozzo deserves all the
more credit for this building, since it was the first palace
erected in Florence after modern rules, and in which the
rooms were arranged with a view to convenience as well as
beauty. The cellars are excavated to more than half their
depth under ground, having four braccia beneath the earth
that is, with three above, on account of the lights. There
are, besides, butteries, store-rooms, etc.. on the same level.
In the first, or ground fioor, are tivo court-yards, with mag
nificent colonnades (loggia), on which open various saloons,
bed - chambers, ante-rooms, writing-rooms, offices, baths,
kitchens, and reservoirs, with staircases, both for private
and public use, all most commodiously arranged. In the
upper floors are dwellings and apartments for a family,
with all of those conveniences proper, not only to that of a
private citizen, as Cosimo then was, but sufficient also for
the most powerful and magnificent sovereign. Accordingly,
in our time, kings, emperors, popes, and whatever of most
illustrious Europe can boast in the way of princes, have
been most commodiously lodged in this palace, to the infin
ite credit of the magnificent Cosimo, as well as to that of
Michelozzo's eminent skill in architecture.
In the year 1433, when Cosimo was exiled, Michelozzo,
who loved him greatly, and was faithfully devoted to his
person, voluntarily accompanied him to Venice,' and would
always remain with him during the whole time of his stay
there ; wherefore, in addition to the many designs and
tine house or palace of the fifteenth century, see Dr. Giuseppe Marcotti
Guide-Souvenir de Florence, pp. 32, 33.
' Perkins in his Tuscan Sculptors notes the importance of this visit of
Michelozzo to Venetia and Lombardy, saying that he propagated in the north
that developraent of the Renaissance which in Tuscany Brunelleschi and he
had jointly impelled. We thus find the inevitable aud ubiquitous Tuscan
influence already exercised in Venice nearly a hundred years before Sanao-
vino was to give it such development in his Library of San Marco,

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 5
models which he made in that city for various private
dwellings and public buildings which he decorated for the
friends of Cosimo and other nobles, Michelozzo constructed
the library of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore, a
house of the Black Monks of Santa Giustina. This was
built by the command and at the expense of Cosimo, who
completed it, not only externally, and with the wood-work,
seats, and decorations required, but also furnished it with
many books. Such was the occupation, and such the
amusement of Cosimo during that exile, from which, hav
ing been recalled by his country, in the year 1434, he re
turned almost in triumph, and Michelozzo with him. The
master was thus again in Florence at the time when it was
perceived that the public palace of the Signoria began to
show symptoms of decay, some of the columns of the court
yard giving way, either because the weight with which they
were loaded was too great, or that their foundations were
¦n^eak , and awry, or perhaps because the parts which com
posed them were not well put together ; but whatever may
have been the cause of decay, the care of the restoration
was entrusted to Michelozzo, who willingly accepted that
charge, and the rather as, while in Venice, he had provided
against a similar peril which was threatening a house in the
neighbourhood of San Barnaba. A gentleman had a palace
there which seemed on the point of falling, and he there
fore put it into the hands of Michelozzo ; whereupon the
latter, according to what Michael Angelo Buonarotti for
merly told me, caused a column to be constructed secretly,
and when he had also prepared a number of props and sup
ports, he concealed the whole in a boat, into which he
entered himself, with several builders, when, in one night,
he securely propped the house and replaced the column.
Emboldened by this experience therefore, Michelozzo re
paired the injury received by the palace of the Signoria, to
his own honour as well as to the credit of those by the favour
of whom such a charge had been committed to him. He
refounded and reconstructed the columns, placing them i^

6 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
the condition wherein we now see them. Having first con
structed a massive framework of thick beams and very
strong uprights, to strengthen the centres of the arches,
which were formed of nut-wood, and which he now caused
to assist in the support of the weight formerly borne up
by the columns alone, he then removed such portions of
the latter as were defective, by little and little, replacing
the decayed parts by new pieces, prepared with great care ;
aud this he efEected in such a manner that the building did
not suffer in any way, nor has it ever since sunk a hair's
breadth. And to the end that his columns might be known
from the others, Michelozzo constructed some with eight
sides, and having capitals carved in foliage, after the modern
fashion ; others he made round, but all are most easily dis
tinguished from those previously erected by Arnolfo."
When this had been accomplished, it was determined in
pursuance of the advice of Michelozzo, by those who then
governed the city, that the weight pressing on the arches of
those columns should be diminished, and that the walls of
that part should be reconstructed to that end. The build
ings surrounding the court, from the arches upwards, were
consequently altered ; windows being made after the modern
fashion, and similar to those which the master had con
structed in the palace of the Medici ; cavities were more
over hewn in the stones, and in these were placed the golden
lilies still to be seen there ; " all which Michelozzo caused
to be completed with great promptitude. In the second
floor, immediately above the windows of the before-men
tioned court-yard, the architect contrived circular aper
tures, to give light to the rooms of the eiitresol, which are
over those of the flrst floor, and where is now the hall of
the Dugento. The third floor, finally, in which resided
>» These columns and walls received in 15G5 the decoration still to be seen
upon them, aud placed there to enhance the splendour of the wedding of
Francesco de' Medici (afterwards Grand Duke) with Joanna of Austria.
" In 1809 the French removed them as too like the royal lilies of France,
and furthermore as darkening the court-yard by the deep color of the grounds
of the medallions.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 7
the Signori and the Gonfaloniere, was more richly adorned,
and on the side towards San Piero '^ Scheraggio, Miche
lozzo arranged a series of rooms for the Signori, who had
previously all slept together in one great chamber. These
apartments consisted of eight for the Signori, with a larger
one for the Gonfaloniere, and they all opened upon a gallery,
the windows of which looked on the court-yard. Above
these apartments was a range of commodious rooms for
the household of the palace, the officers of the courts, etc.
In one of these rooms, that namely which is now the
treasury, there is the portrait of Carlo Duke of Calabria,
son of King Eobert, who is represented kneeling before a
figure of the Virgin. This picture is by the hand of
Giotto.'^ In like manner, the architect provided rooms
for the women-servants, the ushers, doorkeepers, trum
peters, musicians, pipers, mace-bearers, servants of the
courts, heralds, and such-like, with all other apartments
required in a palace of that character." On the upper
part of the gallery, and entirely around the court, Mi
chelozzo erected a stone cornice, with a reservoir of water,
which was filled by the rains, for the use of the fountains
that were required to play at certain times. The improve
ments and decorations of the chapel, wherein mass is per
formed, were also executed by Michelozzo, and here he
likewise constructed several rooms, the ceilings of which
were highly enriched with lilies of gold on a ground of
blue. At the same time he caused the ceilings of other
rooms, both on the upper and lower floors of the palace, to
be constructed anew, while the old ones which had been
formerly made there in the ancient manner, were covered.
In a word, he gave to the whole building that perfection
of completeness which is proper to such a palace. The
water from the wells, moreover, he contrived to convey to
'2 San Piero Scheraggio has been destroyed.
'3 The paintings have disappeared.
1* The alterations were, according to Gaye, who is quoted by Milanesi, or
dered by decrees of October 30, 1438 ; January 29, 1453 ; October 11, 14,54,

8 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
the first fioor,* where, by means of a wheel, it could be
attained more easily than was usually the case. For one
defect only did the ingenuity of Michelozzo fail to dis
cover a remedy : this was the public staircase, which, being
ill-arranged from the beginning, and situated in an incon
venient place, was too steep, insufficiently lighted, and in
all respects badly constructed, with stairs of wood from the
first floor upwards. He nevertheless laboured to such effect
that a flight of circular steps was formed at the entrance
to the court. He also made a door, with pillars, ot pietra
forte, and very beautiful cajDitals, carved with his own
hand. This door had, besides, a cornice and double archi
trave, of very good design, in the frieze of which he placed
the arms of the commune.'^ But, what was more, he made
the whole staircase oi pietra forte, up to the floor inhabited
by the Signoria, and fortified it at the top and in the middle
with a portcullis at each point, in case of tumults. At the
summit of the stair he further constructed a door, which
was called "the chain,' by which there constantly stood a
doorkeeper, who opened or closed it, accordingly as he was
commanded by those who ruled. Michelozzo also rendered
the fabric of the Campanile more secure, by means of very
strong iron girders, this building having cracked beneath
the weight which is improperly distributed at that part,
over the supports of the cross-beams, that is, on the side
towards the Piazza. Finally, he so greatly improved, and
so ably restored this palace, that he was highly com
mended by the whole city ; and, in addition to other re
wards, he was chosen one of the Collegia, which magistracy
in Florence is esteemed highly honourable." And now, if
it should appear to any one that I have spoken at more
• The top floor rather (T ultimo piano).
" This door has disappeared.
" The two most important magistracies of the city after the Signoria
were held by the sixteen Gonfalonleri of the people and the twelve Buonu-
omxnx. Their two bodies " were called colleges because they could never
meet apart from each other and from the Signoria, whether for the proposal
of measures, or for the decision of business. "— Varchi.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 9
length on this subject than may perhaps seem needful, I
deserve to be excused for this, inasmuch as, that, having
shown in the life of Arnolfo, that this building was out of
square, and destitute of correct proportion at its first erec
tion in 1298 ; that it had columns of unequal sizes in the
court-yard, with arches, some of which were large and some
small, stairs ill-contrived, and rooms awry and badly pro
portioned, it was necessary that I should also show to what
extent the building had profited by the skill and judgment
of Michelozzi, although even he did not arrange it in such
a manner that it could be commodiously inhabited or oc
cupied in any manner without great discomfort and the
utmost inconvenience. But when, at length, the Signer
Duke Cosimo came, in the year 1538, to make it his habi
tation, his Excellency began to bring it into a better shape ;
yet, as the intentions of the duke were never understood,
or as the architects who were employed by him for many
years on that work did not know how to execute his pur
poses, he resolved to try if there were not some means
whereby, without destroying the old works, in which there
was certainly something good, and proceeding in accordance
with the plan he had formed in his mind, the staircases and
apartments, ill-contrived and inconvenient as they were,
might not be brought into somewhat better order, and ar
ranged with more regard to convenience and proportion.
Having therefore caused the Aretine painter and archi
tect, Giorgio Vasari, to be sent for from Eome, where he was
employed in the service of Pope Julius III, the duke gave
him a commission, not only to make a new arrangement of
the rooms which he had already caused to be commenced in
the upper part of the division opposite to the Corn Market
(those rooms being also awry in consequence of the defects
of the ground plan), but likewise commanded him to con
sider whether the palace could not, without destroying the
work already done, be so contrived internally that com
munications might be established all over it, from one part
to another, and from one room to another, by the means of

10 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
staircases, private and public, to be constructed in a manner
that should make them as easy of ascent as was possible.
Giorgio Vasari, therefore, while the above-mentioned rooms,
whicli were already begun, were in process of decoration, the
ceilings being enriched with oil paintings and gold, and the
walls covered with frescoes, or in other cases adorned with
stucco, — Giorgio, I say, examined the whole ground-plan of
the palace minutely, both the new part and the old ; and
after he had determined, with no small labour and study, on
the means to be adopted for executing what he proposed to
do, he gradually began to bring the building, by little and
little, into better form, and succeeded in uniting the rooms
formerly separated, of which some were high and others
]ow, almost without destroying any part of what had previ
ously been done. But, to the end that the Signer Duke
might see the design of the whole, Vasari prepared, in the
space of six months, a model, in wood, representing the ex
act proportions of the entire fabric, which has rather the
form and extent of a castle than of a palace. And this
model having been approved by his Excellency, the work
proceeded in accordance with it, and many commodious
apartments were made, with easy staircases, private and pub
lic, which communicate with all the floors, and thus liberate
the halls, which formerly were like a public road, since it
was not possible to reach the upper stories without first pass
ing through them. The whole was magnificently adorned
with various paintings ; and finally tlie roof of the great hall
was raised twelve braccia above its previous height : inso
much that if Arnolfo, Michelozzo, and the other masters
who had laboured on this building, from its first foundation
to the present time, should return to life, they would not
know it again ; nay, they would rather believe that it was not
their work, but a new construction and a different edifice.
But let us now return to Michelozzo : the church of San
Giorgio had at this time been given " to the monks of San
1' Milanesi says that they took possession June 19, 143,5, and retained it till
the end of the following January.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 11
Domenico da Fiesole, but they did not occupy it longer than
from about the middle of July to the end of January, be
cause Cosimo de' Medici and Lorenzo his brother had ob
tained for them, from Pope Eugenius, the church and con
vent of San Marco, which had previously been occupied by
Salvestrine monks, to whom San Giorgio was given in ex
change. Moreover they (Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici),
being much devoted to religion, and zealous for the Divine ser
vice and worship, gave orders that the above-named convent
of San Marco should be entirely rebuilt according to the de
sign and model of Michelozzo, commanding that it should
be constructed on the most extensive and magnificent scale,
with all the conveniences that those monks could possibly
desire. This building the master commenced in the year
1437, and the first part completed was that above the old
refectory " and opposite to the ducal stables, which had for
merly been erected by the Duke Lorenzo de' Medici, In
this place twenty cells were made, the roof was put on, and
the various articles of wood work brought into the refec
tory, which was finished as we see it in our day. Bat the
edifice was not proceeded with any further at that time, be
cause it was necessary first to see what would be the end of
a lawsuit." which a certain Maestro Stefano, general of the
aforesaid Salvestrine monks, had commenced against the
monks of San !Marco in relation to that convent. At length,
the suit having ended in favour of the brothers of San
Marco, the construction of the convent was resumed : but it
was again interrupted, for the principal chapel, which had
been erected by Ser Pino Bonaccorsi, had afterwards de
volved on a lady of the Caponsacchi * family, and from her
it had passed to Mariotto Banchi. Lawsuits to I know not
what amount then ensued ; and Mariotto having got through
¦s October 26, 1438, the friars of San Marco asked for a, subsidy to rebmld
their dormitory which had been burned. See Milanesi.
" The Salvestrine monks appealed against a bill of Eugenins IV. and a de
cree of Cosimo, which took away their convent aud gave it to the Dominicans,
The council decided for the latter. See Milanesi.
« The daughter of Ser Pino founded the chapel

12 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
them all, and taken the said chapel from Agnolo della Casa
to whom it had been either sold or given by the above-named
Salvestrine monks, made it over to Cosimo de' Medici, who
on his part gave Mariotto 500 scudi for the same. Subse
quently, and when Cosimo had in like manner bought from
the brotherhood of the Spirito Santo the site whereon the
choir now stands, the chapel, the tribune, and the choir
were built under the direction of Michelozzo, and were com
pleted and furnished at all points in the year 1439. The
library was afterwards erected, it was vaulted above and be
low, and had sixty-four bookcases of cypress wood filled with
most valuable books, ^^ The dormitory, which was in the
form of a square, was next built, and finally the cloister was
completed, with all the other truly commodious apartments
of that convent, which is believed to be the most perfectly
arranged, the most beautiful and most convenient building
of its kind that can be found in Italy, thanks to the skill
and industry of Michelozzo, who gave it up to its occupants
entirely finished in the year 1452.^^ Cosimo de' Medici is
said to have expended 36,000 ducats on this fabric ; ^ it is
added that while it was in course of construction, he gave
the monks 366 ducats every year for their support. Of the
erection and consecration of this temple certain details may
be read in an epitaph (sic) of marble placed over the door lead
ing into the sacristy, and which is in the following words :
" Cum hoc templum Marco Evangelistse dicatum magnificis
sumptibus CI, V, Cosmi Medicis tandem absolutum asset, Euge-
" In this library was deposited the celebrated collection of Niccolo Niocoli,
whose liabilities Cosimo had cancelled, on condition that he should have the
free disposal of these books, iu the arrangement of which he availed himself
of the counsels of Thomas of Sarzana, afterwards Pope Nicholas V. — Schorn.
=" Milanesi cites annalists who affirm that the convent was finished in 1443,
not 1453. The tribune and choir of the church were made over in 1678.
=3 This convent, although enlarged and in sorae parts modernized, still re
mains for the greater part as it was left by Michelozzo. So far Masselli. The
Florentine commentators of 1846-49 adduce the authority of certain chron
iclers of the convent, who declare the plan of their monastery to be due to
Brunellesco, attributing the direction and execution only to Michelozzo,
— Mrs. Foster's Notes.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 13
nius Quavtus Eomanus Pontifex maxima Cardinalium, Arcliie-
piscoporum, Episooporum, aliorumque sacerdotum frequentia
comitatus, id celeberrimo Epiplianife die, solemni more servato,
consecravit. Turn etiam quotannis omnibus, qui eodem die festo
annuas statasque consecrationis ceremonias casti pieque celebra-
veriut visevintve, temporis luendis pecoatis suis debiti septem
aunos totidemque quadragesimas apostolica remisit auctoritate.
A.M,OCCC.XIin,^'' "
In like manner Cosimo commanded the noviciate of Santa
Croce to be constructed after the designs of Michelozzo,
with the chapel of the same, and the entrance which leads
from the church to the sacristy, and which communicates
with the noviciate, as well as with the stair-case of the
dormitory. These works, whether as regards their beauty
of form, convenience, or decorations, are not inferior to
any of the buildings, whatever their character, erected by
the truly magnificent Cosimo de' Medici, or which were
carried into execution by Michelozzo. Among other par
ticulars, was the door leading from the church to the above-
named portions of the fabric, which the master executed in
the grey stone called macigno, and which was much com
mended for its novelty, and for the beauty of its decora
tions ; since it was at that time but little the custom to
imitate the good manner of the ancients, as Michelozzo did
in that case,^ Cosimo de' Medici also caused the palace of
Cafaggiuolo in Mugello,^^ to be constructed by the advice
and after the plans of Michelozzo, who gave it the form of
a fortress, surrounded by trenches : he likewise proceeded
to lay out farms, and make roads about the domain, while
he further planted gardens, constructed fountains, with
'* The building, in spite of alterations, remains essentially a convent of the
fifteenth century, and is, with its beamed roofs, its raapy cells and corridors
decorated by Fra Angelico, its cloisters, its frescoed chapter-house and refec
tory, one of the most interesting buildings iu Europe, It was the home of
Savonarola, of Pra Angelico, of Sant' Antonino, and has given hospitality
to popes and princes.
25 All these portions of Santa Croce still exist
" Cafaggiuolo has been greatly changed and has lost its trenohea

14 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
groves around them, and made aviaries, with all the other
requisites to a complete country residence. At the distance
of two miles from the palace, and in a place called the
Friars' Wood, Cosimo completed the erection of a convent,
for the barefooted monks of St. Francis ; this he also con
fided to the care of Michelozzo, and a very beautiful work it
is.^ At Trebbio, in like manner, Michelozzo executed
various improvements ; as he also did at the palace of Villa
Careggi,^ which was a rich and magnificent building,
whither Michelozzo conducted the water for the fountain
which we now see there. For Giovanni, the son of Cosimo ,
de' Medici, the same architect constructed another magnifi
cent and noble palace at Fiesole, the foundations for the
lower part of which were sunk at a very great expense, in
the declivity of the hill, but this was not without its equiv
alent advantage, since the master contrived to place in that
portion of the edifice, various cellars, store-rooms, stables,
and other handsome and useful appurtenances to the dwell
ing of a noble. Above these, and in addition to the ordi
nary halls, chambers, and other apartments usual in such
buildings, Michelozzo constructed some for books, with
others for music. He gave in short a clear proof, in this
palace, of the eminent skill which he possessed in architec
ture, since in addition to all that we have said, it may be
truly affirmed to have been built in such a manner, that
although much exposed on that eminence, it has never sunk
in the smallest degree. This palace ^^ being completed,
Michelozzo built the church ^ and convent of the monks of
San Girolamo above it, and almost at the summit of the
hill, which was also done at the expense of Giovanni, The
design and model of the hospital, which Cosimo de' Medici
" StUl existing.
" Villa Careggi still exists ; Lorenzo the Magnificent died there
"Restored, says Milanesi, in 1780, by Gaspare Paoletti, it is now caUed
ViUa Alozzi.
=» Milanesi tells us that Michelozzo only reconstructed buildings which ex
isted already. Matteo Xigetti iu 1634 designed a portico for the convent
which IB now a villa (Ricasoli).

MICHELOZZO MICIIELOZZI 15
caused to be erected in Jerusalem, for the pilgrims who go
to visit the sepulchre of Christ, were furnished by Miche
lozzo, as was the design for six of the windows in the fa9ade
of San Pietro, and which was sent to Eome by Cosimo.
These windows were adorned with the arms of the Medici,
but three of them have been removed in our own day, and
replaced by Pope Paul III, with others bearing the arms of
the Farnese family. At a subsequent period, Cosimo was
informed that a grievous dearth of water was suffered at
Santa Maria degli Angeli, at Assisi,^' to the great incon
venience of the numerous pilgrims who yearly fiock to that
place, on the first of August, for the ' ' Absolution " : he con
sequently sent Michelozzo thither, when that master con
ducted a spring which rises mid-way up the hill, to the
wells of Santa Maria, which he then adorned with a rich
and beautiful colonnade (loggia) ; the columns whereof,
formed of separate pieces, were decorated with the arms of
Cosimo. Within the convent also, and in like manner at the
command of Cosimo, Michelozzo executed many useful im
provements for the monks ; these the magnificent Lorenzo
afterwards renewed at a greater cost and with increased
beauty of ornament ; he likewise caused the wax figure of
the Madonna to be made,* which is still to be seen there. '^
Cosimo de' Medici moreover commanded that the road
leading from Santa Maria degli Angeli to the city, should
be paved with bricks, and before Michelozzo left that
neighbourhood, he prepared the design of the old citadel of
Perugia. Eeturning at length to Florence, he built the
house of Giovanni Tornabuoni, at the corner of the Tor-
naquinci,^ which was in almost all respects similar to the
* This sentence, <» mistranslation, is obscure in the original ; it means that
Lorenzo offered his own waxen image to the Madonna. See the life of Ver-
rocchio. 31 Much injury was done here by the earthquakes of 1833, which ruined a
great part of the work. See Milanesi,
32 The votive image has perished.
33 Now the elaborately restored Palazzo Corsi, restored, however, says Mi
lanesi, after the design of the architect Telemaco Bonajuti. A loggia de-

16 MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
palace constructed by the same master for Cosimo, except
ing that the fa9ade has not the carved stone-work and cor
nices of the latter, but is entirely plain.
After the death of Cosimo, by whom Michelozzo had been
as much beloved as a dear friend could be, Piero, his son,
caused the master to build the marble chapel of the Crucifix,^
in Sail Miniato sui Monte, and in the semi-circle of the
arch Michelozzo sculptured, in mezzo-rilievo, the Falcon,
with the diamond, which was the device of Cosimo, the
father of Piero, a work that was truly beautiful. Some
time after this was completed, the same Piero de' Medici,
proposing to construct tlie chapel of the Annunciation, in
the church of the Servi, entirely of marble, desired to have
the opinion of Michelozzo, who was now become old, re
specting the matter, not only because he highly estimated
the skill of that master, but also because he knew how faith
ful a friend and servant the latter had been to Cosimo his
father. Jlichelozzo having accordingly said what he thought
of the design, the charge of executing it was entrusted to
Pagno di Lapo Partigiani, a sculptor of Fiesole, who dis
played much ability and foresight in the progress of the
work, having many things to provide for in a very small
space,® In San ]\Iiniato al Tedesco, likewise, Pagno executed cer
tain figures while still very young, in company with his
master Donato,^^ and in Lucca he constructed a marble
tomb opposite to the chapel of the Sacrament in the church
of San Martino for Messer Piero ISTocera, who is there pour-
signed by Cigoli, at the end towards the Corsi Palace, was destroyed, but
imitated in the loggia constructed upon the end which faces San Gaetano,
3' The Crucifixion is now in the church of the SS. Trinita. The chapel is
still in situ.
35 Milanesi shows that Giovanni di Bettino built this chapel about 1461,
The same Giovanni is believed by some writers to be the designer of the fa
cade of S. Maria Novella, attributed by Vasari to Alberti. Lapo's name was
Portigiani, not Partigiani ; born iu 1406, he died 1470.
3« At San Miniato al Tedesco, in the church of Sant' Jacopo de Dominioani,
there is a monument (1461) to the Florentine physician, Giovanni Chelini',
whidh recalls the manner of Donatello.

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 17
trayed after the life.^ Filarete. in the 25th book of his
work, has recorded that Francesco Sforza, fourth duke of
Milan, presented a most beautiful palace in that city to the
magnificent Cosimo de' Medici, ^^ and that the latter, to
show the duke how acceptable was the gift, not only adorned
it richly with marbles and carving in wood, but also en
larged it under the direction of Michelozzo, giving it an ex
tent of eighty-seven braccia and a half, whereas it had pre
viously measured eighty-four braccia only. Besides this,
he commanded that various pictures should be painted
there, more particularly in one of the galleries . where he
caused to be represented certain stories from the life of the
emperor Trajan.® Among the decorations of these works,
Cosimo ordered the portrait of Francesco Sforza to be de
picted, with that of the Lady Bianca, duchess of Milan,
his consort, and tliose of their children : the portraits of
many other nobles and great personages were added, to
gether with those of eight emperors, and with these Miche
lozzo placed the likeness of Cosimo himself, done by his own
hand. All the rooms, moreover, were decorated by the
master with the arms of Cosimo, arranged in various modes
and accompanied by his device of the Falcon and Diamond,
The paintings here described were all by the hand of Vin-
cenzio di Zoppa, a painter who was held in no small esteem
at that time and in that country.*
It appears that the money expended by Cosimo in the
restorations of this palace was paid by Pigello Portinari,*
s! It is by Matteo Civitali , not by Pagno.
3* This is now the Palazzo de Vismara, in the Contrada de Bossi (see
Milanesi, VoL II., p. 44S). It was given to Cosimo in 1456. Only the court
yard and outer door belonging to the older building remain.
3* Only a few traces remain of the pictures.
*^ Vincenzio Foppa, not Zoppa, was a famous painter of the 3£ilanese
school, and was bom in Brescia.
"See Luca Beltrami La cappeVa di San Pietro M'lriire, Arch. Star. delV
Arte, V. 2ri7-291, an important arricle with many reproductions. The author
claims that nothing prores Michelozzo to have built the chapel of St. Peter
Martyr in the church of Sant' Enstorgio in Milan, attributed by Passigli (1 S33 )
to Michelozzo, and since his time by all succeeding annotators. Filarete, libra

IS MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI
a Florentine citizen, who then directed the financial and
other :iffairs of Cosimo in Milan and resided in the palace.
There are certain works in marble and bronze by Miche
lozzo in Genoa, with many others in other places which
are known by their manner,^"- But what we have now said
of him must suffice ; -^ he died in the 6Sth year of his age,
and was buried in his own tomb in the church of San Marco,
in Florence.-" -^ '" His portrait, by the hand of Fra Giovanni,
xxv. Trattito del'.' Architettura . does not mention it as Michelozzo's work,
aud evidently does not ouiit it from professional jealousy, as he elaborately
describes the Banc^ Mediceo (Vismara). Signor Beltrami thinks that the
chapel, which was ordered by Pigello Portinari, a Florentine, in 140'J, is a
combination of Tuscan architecture and local traditions.
¦*- After tlie fire of 146- Michelozzo and Giorgio of Sebenico partially rebuilt
the Palazzo Rettorale of Kagusa. Certain portions are identified as Michelozzo's
by Herr Schmarsow. See Michelozzo in Sagiisa, Archicio S:orico,VI. 20i.
Michelozzo contracted also to go to Scio, but whether he went or not has not
been learned. Sig. Pietro Gianuizzi has a long and careful study of the work
of this collaborator of Michelozzo (Giorgio da Sebenico) in the Arch. Stor. uelf
A ,¦:,-. V. 307-454.
'^Milanesi states that Michelozzo was elected profcdJitore of the Cupola
and Lantern of Sta. Maria del Fiore, August 11, 1446.
• Michelozzo is proved by Milanesi to have been buried October 7, 147'^, in
S,tn Marco, at the age of 76.
'3 Vas.iri attributes to Donatello. in the Lite of th.it master, the very im
portant tomb of Bartolommeo Aragazzi at Montepulciano, which is now
proved to have been ordered of Michelozzo, and executed by him 14x^7-29.
The tomb, which is in the cathedral, wtis taken to pieces in the eighteenth cen-
tory, and the different portions are dispersed about the church, while certain
parts have completely disappeared. Herr Schmarsow, Xuovi Studi intonio a
Michelozzo, L'Arch. S:or.. VL 241, claims that the lunette over the door of S.
Agostiuo at Montepulciano is a fine work of Michelozzo, and that the whole
/iifdtfe of the church is by him. Dr. Bode attributes to Michelozzo a large
painted terr,i-cotta relief of the Madonna in the Berlin Museum.
¦•^ M. Mttntz, in noting Michelozzo as more temperate and more elegant
than Brunelleschi, finds also that he could not have been a man of strcng
character, since, when already fifty years old, he was wilUrg to work tmder
the orders of another ; but at least this readiness to accet-'t guidance fell in a
very fortunate time, for Michelozzo, besides possessing talent of a verv hich
order, enjoyed exceptional advantages of association. He was the collaborator
at once of the greatest sculptor and the greatest architect of his time.
'¦ forking together like brothers." says the inscription upon the honses
of the Adimari, Michelozzo with Donatello created masterpieces of sculpture
and of architectonic arrangement, and under the influence and in emulation
of Brunelleschi, he built palaces which entitled him to at least a thiid rank

MICHELOZZO MICHELOZZI 19
is in the sacristy of Santa Trinita, in the figure of an old man
with a cap on his head, representing Nicodemus, who is taking
the Saviour from the cross.*''
among the architects of the early quattrocento, for if he is not Brunelleschi,
the inspirer of a school, nor Alberti, the Leonardo da Vinci of architecture, ho
is a man who has created great and lasting works and left his personal im
press upon a period of splendid efiSoresoence and individuality,
^^ The portrait of Michelozzo exists in this picture by Pra Angelico, now in
the Academy, It is not the figure of Nicodemus, however, which represents
Michelozzo, but another figure wearing a black hood.

PIEEO DELLA FEAKCESCA, PAIXTEE OF BOEGO
SAN SEPOLCEQi
[Bom 1420; died 1492.]
BiBLIOGRAPHT.— In addition to the general works on Italian art see E.
Muntz, Tour du Monde. 1SS3. L 2^0; Ennst-Chronik, 1S7S, No. 42; Re-
pertoriumfurKuruttcissenschaft, 1S.S2, p. 33; Jahrbuch der Klg. Pr. Kunst-
.S:immlungen. t. I., ISSO, pp. 113-llS. E. Harzen, Archivfirdie zeichnenden
Kunste, t. II., 1S.56. p. 240-341. Bossi, Del Ceiiacolo di I^eonardo da Vinci,
MUau, ISlO, p. 17. Catalogue de la biblioth'eque de Sig. Bossi, p. 223; Ga
zette des Beaux A-rts, 1S6S, t. IL, p. 134 ; Revue Critique, March S, IS-SO.
Lttigi Giunti, Piero della Francesca dal Borgo S. Sepolcro, Aiezzo, ISSS.
E Miintz, Unnouveau Manuscrit du Traite de Perspective de Piero del'a
Francesca, Archives des Arts, premiere serie, 1S90. K Muntz, Andrea
Mantegnn e Piero della Francesca studio sutta predella della pala di San
Zeno nel Museo del Louvre ed in quelle di Tours in Archivio Storico delF Arte,
II. 273. A Life of Piero deUa Francesca, by Signor Giovanni Felice Pichi,
published at Borgo San Sepolcro, 1S93, is reviewed by Sig. Louis S. Rodriguez
(rArch. Stor. delV Arte, VI., 145) as being rather a panegyric than an
impartial life.
UNHAPPY, of a truth, are those who, devoting them
selves to laborious studies, in the hope of benefiting
others and acquiring fame for themselves, are im
peded by infirmities or prevented by death from carrying
the works they have commenced to their ultimate perfec
tion. For it sometimes happens, that leaving their labours
when all but completed, or in a fair way for the attainment
of perfection, the credit of all is usurped by the presump
tion of those who seek to conceal the skin of the ass beneath
* Pacioli calls him more correctly Pietro dei Franceschi, and sometimes
Petrus de Fraiiciscis. He is also called Pietro da Borgo San Sepolcro and
Pietro di Benedetto della Francesca, also occasionally Piero Borghese.

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA 21
the glorious and honoured spoils of the lion. And although
time, who is declared to be the father of truth, does sooner
or later make the real state of things manifest, yet it is
none the less true, that the labourer is, for a certain period,
defrauded of the honour which should attach to the works
he has performed. Such was the case with Piero della
Francesca, of Borgo San Sepolcro, who, being considered an
admirable master in the difficulties of drawing rectilinear
bodies, as also well versed in arithmetic and geometry, was
nevertheless prevented in his mature age, first by blindness,
and finally by the close of his life, from bringing to light
the various fruits of his meritorious labours, and the many
books written by him, which are still preserved in Borgo,
his native place. ^
And the man who should have laboured with all his
powers to secure the fame and increase the glory of Piero,
from whom he had acquired all that he knew, Fra Luca del
Borgo namely, — he, on the contrary, envious and malig
nant, did his utmost to annihilate the name of Piero, his
instructor, and sought to arrogate to himself that honour
which was due to his teacher alone, publishing, under his
o"WTi name, all the laborious works of that good old man,
who, in addition to the acquirements named above, was
highly distinguished in painting also.^ Piero was born in
Borgo San Sepolcro, — now a city, which it was not at that
time, — and was called Della Francesca, from the name of
his mother ; whom the death of her husband and his father
had left a widow before he was born,* and because he had
been brought up solely by herself, who furthermore assisted
him in the attainment of that learning to which his good
fortune had destined him. Piero gave considerable atten
tion to mathematics in his early youth ; and although he
»It has been erroneously stated that some of Piero's MSS. are in the pos
session of Giuseppe Marini Franceschi, a descendant of the artist. See Mila
nesi, Vol, IL, p, 488,
3 See note 23.
* This is not true ; his father lived till 1465.

22 PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
was induced to become a painter in his fifteenth year, he
yet never deserted the study of that science ; but, on the
contrary, made extraordinary progress therein, as well as in
painting. He was much employed by Guidobaldo Feltro the
elder, Duke of Urbino,' for whom he executed many pict
ures. These works comprised numerous sraall figures, and
were extremely beautiful, but have, for the most part, been
much injured, or altogether destroyed in the many times
that this Duchy has been disturbed by wars.' Some of the
writings of Piero della Francesca, on geometry and the laws
of perspective, are nevertheless still preserved there. In
knowledge of these sciences Piero was certainly not inferior
to the best-informed of his contemporaries ; nay, was per
haps equal to any who have followed him down to the pres
ent time, as may be shown by the many fine drawings in
perspective which fill his works. Among other instances of
this kind is a vase, which is treated in such a manner that
it can be seen before, behind, and at the sides, while the
base and mouth are equally visible ; without doubt a most
astonishing thing. In this work the smallest minutiae are
attended to with the utmost exactitude, and each turn of
every circle is foreshortened with the greatest delicacy.
Having by these things acquired considerable eminence in
the court of Urbino, Piero desired to make himself known
elsewhere ; he therefore proceeded to Pesaro and Ancona,'
3 Milanesi thinks Vasari must have meant Guidobaldo, son of Federigo,
Guidobaldo became duke in 1482 ; the Tractatus de Quinque C'orporibus was
dedicated to him and postdates by four years the last picture executed by
Piero. M. Miintz thinks that this and the other mathematical works were
written during the period when Piero's eyesight had failed him. Piero in
his style followed Paolo Uccello rather than Domenico Veniziano, although
when a youth he worked with the latter at the decoration of the great chapel
of Sant' Egidio (since destroyed) in Florence.
" According to Milanesi the only well-authenticated work of Piero della
Francesca in Urbino is a Scourging of Christ, and is in the sacristy of the
cathedral It is signed OPVS PETRI DE BUBGO SANCTI SEPVLCHRI. The pro
file portraits of Duke Federigo d' Urbino and Battista Sforza, his wife, painted
by Piero, are in the Uffizi. The backs of the panels are also painted with
allegorical subjects representing the Duke and Duchess upon triumphal cars.
' Piero's works in Pesaro and Anoona have perished. A fresco, not men-

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA 23
whence, at the moment when he was most busily occupied,
he was summoned by the Duke Borso, to Ferrara, where he
paiuted m;iny apartments of the palace. These chambers
were afterwards destroyed by Duke Ercole the elder, who
rebuilt the palace after the modern taste, one consequence
of which was. that there now remains no work in that citv
from the hand of Piero, if we except a chapel in the church
of Saint Agostino. which he painted in fresco, and even
that has been grievously injured by the humidity of the
place.^ From Ferrara Piero della Francesca was invited by pope
Nicholas V. to Eome, where he painted two stories in the
upper rooms of the palace, in company with Bramante of
Milan.' But these works also were destroyed in like man
ner by pope Julius II. , to the end that Eaffaello da Urbino
might paint the imprisonment of St. Peter, mtli the mira
cle of the corporale of Bolsena in its place. At the same
time there were likewise destroyed certain pictures which
had been painted by Bramantino, an excellent master of that
time.^" But to return to Piero della Francesca : when he had
completed his work in Eome he returned to Borgo, where
his mother had died, and in the deanery there, he painted
two saints in fresco, within the central door, which are con
sidered extremely beautiful." In a convent belonging to the
monks of Sant" Agostino. this master painted the picture
for the high altar, which was a much esteemed work.'^ He
tioned by Vasari, is still preserved in the church of San Pr,ancesco in Rimi
ni . It represents Sigismondo Malatesta kneeling before St. Sigismund, his
patron. *^ The church and the paintings are destroyed.
• Bramante of Milan, and not tbe architect Bramante, who was bom at Cas-
tel Durante, near Urbino.
*" Vas.iri's notice of Bramantino is omitted.
>' This work is in situ in the Pieve di Santa Maria.
*^ An Assumption, ^fessrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle attribute this picture in
S. Agostino to Francesca da Castello, but a contract exists for a picture to
be painted by Piero for the brothers of St. Augustine, and is dated October 4,
1454, See MilanesL

24 PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
likewise painted a Virgin in fresco'' for a society, or, as
they call themselves, a brotherhood, of the Misericordia ;
and in the palace of the Conservators he executed a Eesur
rection, which is held to be the best of his works in that
city ; nay, of all that he ever performed.'* At Santa Maria
di Loretto, Piero commenced a work in company with Do
menico of Venice : this was the decoration of the sacristy,
but as he left it incomplete from fear of the plague, it was
afterwards finished by Luca da Cortona,'^ a disciple of Piero
della Francesca, as will be related in the proper place.
Departing from Loretto, and proceeding to Arezzo, Piero
there painted the chapel of the Bacci family in the church
of San Francesco, '^ the chapel is that near the high altar, and
" Milanesi states that this picture of the Virgin, now in the little church of
the hospital, is painted on a panel, while Crowe and Cavalcaselle mention it as
a fresco. The Archivio Storico dell' Arte, V. 397, says that the architect Del
Moro has lately made a reconstruction of the large Ancona of Piero della
Francesca in the Ospedale della Madonna dell' Ausilio at Borgo San Sepolcro.
'¦' Executed in 1445, it is in the palace of the Conservators, now Monte di
Pietd of Borgo San Sepolcro. Symonds considers it " by far the grandest,
most poetic, and most awe-inspiring picture of the Resurrection.'' M. Miintz,
I'Arch. Stor. dcW Arte, II. 273, shows that this fresco inspired the Resurrec
tion by Mantegna (a predella panel at Tours, taken from the San Zeno Ma
donna of Verona), and that the latter work, in spite of the vastly superior skill
shown, is inferior in grandeur to the conception of the Umbrian master.
^3 The works which now adorn the sacristy are by Luca Signorelli.
" This work was executed in 1450. If the Resurrection at Borgo San Sepol
cro is the greatest, the series of paintings at Arezzo (painted about 1450 in the
church of San Francesco) is the most considerable work of Piero. The sub
jects are : The Stories ol Adam and Eve ; the Queen of Sheba Visiting Solo
mon ; the Triumph of Christianity; the Dreara of Constantine; the Find
ing of the True Cross ; the Raising of the Cross before Jerasalem ; the
Annunciation ; the Prophets ; the Victory of Heraclius over the Persians.
The frescoes of San Francesco are very remarkable works, which call for
careful consideration. M. Miintz has described them at once with enthu
siasm and discrimination {Le Tour du Monde, 1883, I. 280-384), has praised
Piero's observation, his science, his narrative capacity, his style, his clear
color and distribution of light, has blamed his neglect of the search for beauty
aud a certain commonness sometimes found in his types. He even thinks that
the Raising of the Cross before Jerusalem wholly lacks solemnity. It is true
that the figures, with their huge head-dresses, stand upon the verge of the gro
tesque ; but, as Mr. Ruskin has said, there is a noble and anignoble grotesque.
Piero's figures are so imperturbably, so intensely grave, that this rigid and

PIEEO DELLA FRANCESCA 25
the work was executed for Luigi Bacci, a citizen of Arezzo.
The ceiling of the chapel had already been commenced by
Lorenzo di Bicci ; the subject represented is the History of
the Cross, from the moment when, at the burial of Adam
by his sons, the seed of the tree from which the wood of the
cross was afterwards taken, was placed beneath the tongue
of the patriarch by their forethought, to the time when the
exaltation of the cross itself was solemnized by the Em
peror Heraclius, who, supporting it on his shoulders and
walking barefoot, thus enters with it into Jerusalem. In
this work are many admirable qualities, and various merits
in the attitudes, all of which are worthy of consideration.
Among other things, the vestments worn by the female
attendants of the Queen of Sheba will be found to deserve
praise ; they are treated in a pleasing manner, which was
then new. There are, besides, many portraits from life
which exhibit great animation, with a range of Corinthian
columns, the proportions of which are absolutely perfect ;
and a peasant, who, leaning with his hands on his ispade,
stands listening to the discourse made by St. Helena, while
the three crosses are in process of being disinterred, with an
attention which is expressed so perfectly that it would
not be possible to improve it. The dead body which is re
stored to life at the touch of the cross is also very well
executed, and the joy felt by St. Helena is equally well
expressed, as is the arrangement of the bystanders, who
prostrate themselves in adoration. But, superior to all be
sides, whether for conception or execution, is the represen-
somewhat staring gravity becomes impressive. The painter's simplicity in
the distribution of his masses, his clear, flat, forceful decorative planes of color,
are aided by a really noble comprehension of landscape composition until the
work attains an effect which is quite independent of the grotesquely naturalis
tic head-dresses of some of his personages. His pictures are fine in spite of,
rather than by aid of, his costumes (saving only when he has ample draperies
to deal with), and hie Umbrian or Florentine women who follow Sheba have
little of beauty, but much of style. As for his Dream of Constantine, Piero
has shown, in his bold lighting of figures and background, Raphael's daring,
and almost Raphael's skill, without any of the latter's sense of beauty (com
pare the fresco of Arezzo with the Liberation of Peter from Prison, in Rome).

26 PIERO DELLA FRA>-^CE5CA
tation of Night, as given by this master : in this picture is
an angel ; the figure, admirably foreshortened, is descend
ing with the head downwards, bearing the insignia of Vic
tory to Constantine, who is sleeping in his pavilion, watched
by a chamberlain, and guarded by armed men, whose forms
are obscurely seen in the darkness. These figures, with the
tent, and all within a certain distance, are illumined by the
light which proceeds from the angel himself, and which is
managed with the utmost care and judgment. In this
work, Piero della Francesca has shown the importance of
copying things as they really are, and of taking nature and
realitv for the models : this he has done excellently well,
and has thereby given later artists the opportunity of profit
ing by his example, and in doing so to arrive at the high
position which they have attained in our day. In the same
work is a battle, in which fear, animosity, force, dexterity,
and other passions and qualities exhibited by the comba
tants, are expressed with extraordinary truthfulness. The
occurrences of the struggle are equally well represented,
and fearful scenes of carnage ; the wounded, the dying, and
the dead, are depicted with great animation. Piero has
likewise found means to imitate in this fresco, the glittering
of the arms for which he well merits praise : and no less for
a group of horses in the flight and submersion of Maxentius,
these animals being foreshortened with such extraordinary
skill, that when the time in which they were executed is
considered, we may truly declare them to be excellent and
beautiful beyond measure. A figure, partly nude, partly
clothed in Saracenic vestments, and seated on a meagre
horse, is also in this work, and displays the knowledge
whieh Piero della Francesca possessed of anatomy, a science
but imperfectly understood in his time. For all these
things, the artist well deserved the large rewards bestowed
on him by Luigi Bacci, whose portrait, with those of Carlo
and others of his brothers, he has depicted in the figures
present at the decapitation of a king, which makes part of
the story. The portraits of other Aretine citizens, distin-

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA 27
guished as men of letters, accompany those of Luigi and his
brothers, by whom Piero was highly esteemed, as he was
indeed by the whole city, which he had so richly adorned
and ennobled by his works.
In the episcopal church of Arezzo, Piero della Francesca
executed a Santa Maria Maddalena in fresco, beside the door
of the sacristy ; and for the brotherhood of the Nunzata,*
he painted the banner which they carry in procession.'^ He
likewise depicted San Donate in episcopal robes with figures
of children, on a seat drawn in perspective at the head of
the cloister belonging to Santa ilaria delle Grazie, and at
San Bernardo he executed a figure of San Vincenzio, in a
high niche of the wall, for the monks of Jlonte Oliveto,
which is much esteemed by artists. In a chapel at Sargiano,
a residence of the Frati Zoccolanti f situated outside of
Arezzo, Piero executed a figure of Christ praying by night
in the garden, which is very beautiful.'^
In Perugia, also, this master produced many works whicli
are still to be seen in that city. Among others, a picture "
in "tempera," for the church of the nuns of Sant' Antonio
of Padua, this represents the Virgin with the Child on her
lap ; she is accompanied by San Francesco, Sant' Eliza-
betta, San Giovanni Battista, and Sant' Antonio of Padua.
Above these figures is a most beautiful Annunciation, with
an angel which seems in truth to have descended from
heaven ; and, what is more, a range of columns diminishing
* Nunziata.
+ The Zoccolanti were the barefooted Franciscan friars, so called from
their zoccoli, or wooden-soled sandals.
¦' The fresco is in situ ; the banner is lost.
" This picture is destroyed.
" In the Pinacoteca of Perugia. Near Sinigaglia, in the suppressed convent
of S. Maria delle Grazie, there is a very carefully finished little picture attri
buted to Fra Carnevale, which is believed b}' some critics (.irch. Stor. dell'
Arte, v. 363) to be a good specimen of Piero della Francesca. This is, how
ever, a disputed point, and a large picture in the Brera gallery, containing a
kneeling figure of Duke Federigo d'Urbino, is also a subject for the same kind
of controversy. See Dr. Frizzoni reviewing Dr. Bode's edition of the Cice
rone, Arch. Stor., I., 893.

28 PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
in perspective, which is indeed beautiful. In the predella
are representations in small figures, depicting St. Anthony
restoring a boy to life ; St, Elizabeth saving a child who has
fallen into a well, and St. Francis receiving the stigmata.^o
At Ancona, likewise, on the altar of St. Joseph, in the
church of San Ciriaco, Piero della Francesca depicted the
espousals of our Lady in a story of extraordinary beauty,^'
This master was exceedingly zealous in the study of arts.
As I have said, he devoted much attention to perspective,
and possessed considerable knowledge of Euclid, inasmuch
that he understood all the most important properties of rec
tilinear bodies better than any other geometrician ; and the
most useful elucidations of these matters which we possess,
are from his hand : for the monk of St. Francis, Maestro
Luca del Borgo, whose works treat of regular geometrical
bodies, was his disciple, and when Piero became old, and
finally died, after having written many books, the above-
named JIaestro Luca, attributing them to himself, caused
the works of his master to be printed as his own, they hav
ing fallen into his hands on the death of Piero. ^
'" Believed to be the triptych in the Pinacoteca of Perugia.
21 According to Milanesi this was probably a wall-painting and has perished.
2' Pacioli has been defended against the imputation of Vasari by Giuseppe
Bossi, Padre Luigi Pungileone, and Milanesi, According to Drs. Jordan and
Winterberg, who have studied the MS. carefully, the facts of the case seem to
be : Luca Pacioli, who afterwards became a famous mathematician, was a
pupil of Piero della Francesca ; Piero's MS. contained no original contribu
tions, but was simply a series of practical applications based on Euclid's prop
ositions ; the work referred to by Vasari was merely an ItaUan translation by
Pacioli of the Latin. M. Miintz asserts, on the contrary, that study of the
original MS^., Tractatus de Quinque corporibiis, found by Dr. Jordan, proves
that Vasari was right in accusing Pacioli of plagiarism. M. Miintz has re
cently discovered in the Biblioth&que Nationale au old copy of Pietro's trea
tise ou perspective under the title, Petrus pictor Burgensis de perspectiva.
This copy, made in the sixteenth century, contains reproductions of the
original drawings. Another copy of the same work has also been found in the
library of Bordeaux by M. Ravaisson, The MS. of the De Prospectiva pin-
gendi belongs to the Saibanti collection in Verona; an Italian translation
was discovered by Herr Harzen in the Ambrosian library, Milan, under the
name Pietro pittore di Bruges. Another copy, which was once the prop
erty of the Duke of Urbino, is now in the Vatican.

PIEEO DELLA FRANCESCA 29
It was the custom of Piero della Francesca to form figures
in clay whereon he afterwards arranged draperies of soft
textures richly folded, from which he then drew, using them
as his models.
The works of Piero Borghese were executed about the
year 1458. At the age of sixty he was attacked by a catarrh,
in consequence of which he became blind, and thus lived till
he had attained his eighty-sixth year.^ He left consider
able property among which were certain houses in Borgo,
which he had himself built, but which were burnt and de
stroyed in the strife of factions during the year 1536.^ He
was honourably interred by his fellow citizens in the prin
cipal church, which originally belonged to the monks of
Camaldoli, but is now the episcopate,^ His books, which
23 The story of his bUndness is doubtful. He was working iu 1478, and his
will, made in 1487, asserts him to have been sanus mente intelleetu et corpore.
He died October 12, 1493, and was buried iu the abbey (now cathedral) of
Borgo San Sepolcro, His name upon the burial records is Maestro Pietro di
Benedetto de' Franceschi. See Milanesi.
2* Signor Giuseppe Marini Franceschi of Borgo San Sepolcro, a descendant
of Piero, possesses what is considered to be a copy from an original portrait of
Piero by himself.
25 Piero della Francesca is au Umbrian painter, but of the Tusco-Umbrian
branch of art, that is to say, coming from the portion of Umbria which ia
turned toward Tuscany, and which, being affected by Florentine influence more
than was the country about Assisi, gave to Italian painting Signorelli and
Piero Borghese, instead of Perugino and Gentile of Fabriano. Piero, then,
was a naturalist studying anatomy as ardently as PoUajuolo, perspective as
earnestly as Uccello, but he was still Umbrian enough never to thoroughly
adopt the ugly side of these painters' naturalism, and he borrowed from
Andrea dal Castagno not his grimaces, but rather his proud and defiant at
titudes. To those who seek for grace first of all in a work of art, and espe
cially to those who love the pr^cieux quality in a painting, Piero's stiff direct
ness will be somewhat repellent ; but to those who care most for largeness of
conception and breadth of treatment, his works will become more admirable
the more they are studied, for although he is first of all an observer, he
observes largely and omits with judgment and taste. Piero's personages are
always grave, having somewhat of woodenness and also somewhat of grandeur.
He worked in broad, simple, clear planes of color, which are eminently decora
tive, and in the Dream of Constantine his science of chiaroscuro points
forward to Raphael's Deliverance of St. Peter, in the Vatican stanze. His
love of the quaint fifteenth-century costumes, with their stiffness and parti
colored patterns, exaggerates the archaic character of some of his figures, but

30 PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
are for the most part in the library of Frederick II. , duke
of Urbino, are of so much value, that they have deservedly
obtained for him the name of the first geometrician of his
time,they stand firmly upon their feet, are studied in the round straight from
nature and his poses are at times quite noble. Among the ultra-naturalists
of his time he most completely attained grandeur of style. Herr Robert
Vischer claims that he marks a turning-point in the history of art, and that
Luca Signorelli was "providentially thrown in his way as his allotted spiiltual
heir."

FEA GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE, PAINTEE OF THE
OEDER OF PEEACHING FEIAES '
[Bom 1387; died 1455,]
Bibliography.— Life of Giovanni Angelico da Fiesole, translated from
Vasari by Giovanni Aubrey Bezzi, Arundel Society Publication, London,
1850. Cartier, Vie de Fra Angelico de Fiesole, Paris, 1857, Forster, Lebeu
und n'erke, Ratisbon, 1859, B, Dobbert, Fra Angelico da Fiesole in the
Dohme series of Kunst und Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Vin-
cenzo Marchese, Memorie dei piu insigni arteflci Domenicani, Florence,
1878. T. Goodwin, Life of Pra Angelico, London, 1861. VOeuvre de Fra
Angelico a Rome article by M, Faucon in L 'Art for 1883, vol. XXXV., pp.
141, 167. K. Brun, Fra Angelico in Christliches Kunstblatt, 7. V. Marchese,
Storia del convento di San Marco, Florence. See the chapter on Pra An
gelico in Taine's Voyage en Italie, Vol. II. ; Florence et Venise, and also many
beautiful passages referring to him in Mr. Ruskin's works. The life of Fra
Angelico in Crowe and Cavalcaselle is especially long and full. The Italian
edition of their history (still appearing) is clearer in its arrangement than is
their older and well-known English edition. The History of Painting in Italy,
in three volumes.

F

RA GIOYAXNI ANGELICO DA PIESOLE, who,
wliile in the world, was called Guido,^ having been
no less eminent as a painter and miniaturist than ex-

* Certain critics have believed that this life was dictated to Vasari by the
monk Don Silvio Razzi, but Milanesi demonstrates the falseness of this theory.
Padre Marchese suggests that the biographer may have obtained the facts in
the life of Fra Angelico from Fra Bustachio, a miniature-painter of San Marco,
who gave the Aretine author valuable assistance in his first edition. He also
cites the various monastic records and annals to which Vasari might have had
access. See V. Marchese, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects of the order of St. Dominic, English edition, I., pp. 161, 163.
^ Fra Angelico was born at Vicchio, not far from Vespignano, the reputed
birthplace of Giotto. His real name was Guido di Pietro da Mugello. As a
monk he was known as Frate Giovanni da Fiesole. After his death and
beatification he was often called II Beato, and still more generally Fra Angel
ico. Mugello is simply the name of a province, and those who give Angelico a
cognomen such aa de' Tossini, de' Montorsoli, de' Petri are unsupported by
documentary evidence.

32 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
cellent as a churchman, deserves to be held in honourable
remembrance for both these causes. This master might
have lived in the world with the utmost ease and comfort,
since, in addition to what he originally possessed, he might
have gained whatever he desired by the exercise of the arts
with which, while still very young, he was perfectly well
acquainted. But he chose nevertheless, in the hope of
ensuring the peace and quiet of his life, and of promoting
the salvation of his soul, to enter the order of the preach
ing friars ; ^ for although it is certain, that we may serve
God in all conditions, yet to some it appears, that thoy can
more effectually secure their salvation in the cloister than
in the world ; and this purpose is doubtless successful, as
regards the man of good and upright purpose, but the
contrary as certainly happens to him who becomes a monk
from less worthy motives, and who is sure to render himself
truly miserable.
There are certain choral books from the hand of Fra
Giovanni in his convent of San Marco at Florence, of which
the miniatures are such that no words could do justice to
their beauty. Similar to these are others, which he left in
San Domenico, at Fiesole, and which are executed with in
expressible care and patience : it is true that he was assisted
in these works by an elder brother, who was also a minia
turist, and tolerably well versed in painting.^
5 Fra Giovanni entered the Dominican order as a novice in 1408, and passed
his noviciate in Cortona ; he then returned to Fiesole, from whence the whole
brotherhood of the convent went in 1409 to Foligno, in Umbria, where they
remained until 1418. From 1418 to 1436 he stayed in Fiesole. Prom 1436
till 144.5 he was in Florence, and painted in the monastery of San Marco,
About the year 144,5 he was ordered to Rome by Pope Eugenius IV., and
remained there most of the time until his death in 1455. The chronicle of S.
Domenico of Fiesole reads : " 1407, Brother Joannes Petri de Mugello of Vic
chio, who excelled as a painter, and adorned many tables and walls in divers
places, accepted the habit of a clerk in this convent, . . . and the following
year professed." On a picture at Cortona he signs himself Frater Johannes.
1 Fra Benedetto, his younger brother, was not a painter, bnt a Scriptoritts.
He was so much esteemed for his virtues by Bishop Antonino that he was made
sub-prior of San Marco for many years ; he died in 1448 as prior of San Domen
ico of Fiesole. Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi illuminated the figures, and Pi-

FRA FILIPPO LIPPI
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
ACADEWY, FLORENCE

Ali^nari, Phot.

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 33
One of the first paintings executed by this good father =
was a picture on panel for the Carthusian monastery in
Florence, where it was placed in the principal chapel, which
belonged to the cardinal Acciaiuoli : the subject is a Virgin
with the Child in her arms, and with angels at her feet ; the
latter are sounding musical instruments and singing, and are
exceedingly beautiful : on one side of the Virgin are San
Lorenzo, with Santa Maria Maddalena ; on the other are
San Zanobi, with San Benedetto ; and on the predella are
stories from the lives of those saints, the figures of which
are very small, and are executed with infinite care. In the
same chapel ai'e two other pictures by the same master, one
representing the Coronation of the Virgin ; and in the other
are the Madonna, with two saints in ultra-marine blue, of
great beauty.^ In the nave of Santa Maria Novella, and
beside the door, which is opposite to the choir, Fra Gio
vanni afterwards painted a fresco, wherein he represented
San Domenico, Santa Caterina da Siena, and St. Peter the
martyr. In the chapel of the Coronation of our Lady,
which is in the same part of the church, he likewise painted
certain small historical pictures ; and on the doors which

lippo di Matteo Torelli did the ornamentation, of the choral books of San Marco.
The books of San Domenico were, some of them at least, illuminated by a
Ser Benedetto, a priest of Fiesole. See Milanesi's Cominentario. A fine col
lection of illuminated choir books is still shown in San Marco, though many
were lost after the suppression of the convents by the French.
^ We do not know definitely how or where Fra Angelico first studied, but it
is probable that he had learnt the rudiments of his art before entering the
religious order. Baldinucci, Bottari, and Rosini assert that he was the pupil
of Gherardo Stamina. He was influenced by both Orgagna and Masolino,
and according to Lord Lindsay, also by Antonio Veneziano and Spinello. In
the life of Masaocio, Vasari says that the study of the works of that artist
was the source of Fra Angelico's excellence in painting. But the latter was
born in 1387, while Masaccio was born in 1401, so that though Fra Angelico
undoubtedly profited, in later life, by the work of Masaccio, the latter painter
could not have influenced him in his earlier years.
' These have all disappeared. Sigg. Cavalcaselle e Crowe, Storia della Pit-
tura, etc., IL, p. 36.3, say that his first pictures were the frescoes (now de
stroyed) in the convent of San Domenico at Cortona. Several youthful works
of Angelico were carried from San Domenico to the Gesii, where they still are.

34 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
close the old organ he painted an Annunciation on cloth,
which is now in the convent, opposite to the door of the
lower dormitory, and between the two cloisters.'
Fra Giovanni was so greatly beloved for his admirable
qualities by Cosimo de' Medici, that the latter had no
sooner completed the church and convent of San Marco,^
than he caused the good father to paint the whole story of
the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on one of the walls of the
chapter-house. In this work are figures of all those saints
who have been heads and founders of religious bodies,
mourning and bewailing at the foot of the cross on one side,
and on the other, St. Mark the Evangelist beside the mother
of the Son of God, who has fainted at sight of the crucified
Saviour. Around the Virgin are the Maries, who are sor
rowing with and supporting her ; they are accompanied by
the saints, Cosimo and Damiano. It is said that in the fig
ure of San Cosimo, Fra Giovanni depicted his friend Nanni
d'Antonio di Banco, the sculptor, from the life. Beneath
this work, in a frieze over the back of the seats, the master
executed a figure of San Domenico standing at the foot of a
tree, on the branches of which are medallions, wherein are
all the popes, cardinals, bishops, saints, and masters in the
ology who had belonged to Fra Giovanni's order of the
Preaching Friars, down to his own day. In this work the
brethren of his order assisted him by procuring portraits of
these various personages from different places, by which
means he was enabled to execute many likenesses from
nature. These are, San Domenico in the centre, who is
grasping the branches of the tree ; Pope Innocent V. ; a
Frenchman ; * the Beato Ugone, first cardinal of that order ;
the Beato Paolo the patriarch, a Florentine ; Sant' Antonino,
a Florentine ; Bishop Giordano, a German, and the second
general of the order ; the Beato Niccolo ; the Beato Remi-
* This sentence should read : The French pope. Innocent V.
' All of the pictures mentioned as being in Santa Maria Novella have
perished. ' See the life of Michelozzo, notes 17 to 24, inclusive.

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 35
gio, a Florentine ; and the martyr Boninsegno, a Florentine ;
all these are on the right hand. On the left are Benedict
XL,' of Treviso ; Giandominico, a Florentine cardinal ;
Pietro da Palude, patriarch of Jerusalem ; the German
Alberto Magno ; the Beato Raimondo, of Catalonia, third
general of the order ; the Beato Chiaro, a Florentine, and
Provincial of Eome ; San Vincenzio di Valenza ; and the
Beato Bernardo, a Florentine ; all these heads are truly
graceful and very beautiful.^" In the first cloister, Fra
Giovanni then painted many admirable figures in fresco over
certain lunettes, with a crucifix, at the foot of which stands
San Domenico, which is greatly esteemed ; and in the dor
mitory, beside many other things in the cells and on the
walls, he executed a story from the New Testament which
is beautiful beyond the power of words to describe. '^
But exquisite and admirable above all is the picture of the
• Benedict IL, rather.
10 According to Marchese it could not have been executed before 1441. Por
eo early an epoch of Italian painting the heads in this Crucifixion are aston
ishingly skilful in draughtsmanship. They are subtly characterized, intelli
gently modelled, and show a close study of nature, therein differing widely
from Angelico's treatment of the faces of angels and of women. Here we
feel that we are in the presence of a master capable of preparing his pupil,
Benozzo Gozzoli, to draw the careful and wonderfully individual heads in the
St. Augustine cycle of frescoes at San Gimignano. On the whole this Cruci
fixion may divide with his fresco at Orvieto the honor of being Angelico's mas
terpiece. The former has been retouched at various times, the color of the
background changed, and the inscriptions at the sides of some of the figures
have been altered. Thus Angelico did not paint Antonino as a saint, since
he was only a bishop when the picture was painted. The halo and inscription
were undoubtedly given to this figure by later restorers, who desired to em
phasize and point out the sanctification of this famous member of their order.
M. Lafenestre says that in this fresco Fra Angelico has given us the measure
of his spiritual capacity combined with an unaccustomed vigor of style, that
the figures ranged on either side of the crucified Christ present with extraor
dinary intensity of emotion all the aspirations of Giotto and his followers
toward an ideal of expression. Every shade of ecstasy, of grief, of compas
sion, which the death of the Saviour could inspire in the faithful is rendered
with the same fidelity ; "religious art could go no further.''
" These frescoes are nearly all in existence in the various cells and rooms
and most of them are well preserved. The convent is a whole gallery of the
works of Fra Angelico.

36 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
High Altar in that church ; for besides that the Madonna
in this painting awakens devotional feeling in all who re
gard her, by the pure simplicity of her expression ; and
that the saints surrounding her have a similar character ; i^
the predella, in which are stories of the martyrdom of San
Cosimo, San Damiano, and others, is so perfectly finished,
that one cannot imagine it possible for any thing to be exe
cuted with greater care, nor can figures more delicate, or
more judiciously arranged, be conceived,^^
At San Domenico di Fiesole Fra Giovanni likewise painted
the picture of the High Altar ; but this — perhaps because it
appeared to have received injury — has been retouched by
other masters, and much deteriorated. The Predella and
the Ciborium are, fortunately, much better preserved ; and
the many small figures which are seen there, surrounded by
a celestial glory, are so beautiful, that they do truly seem to
belong to paradise ; nor can he who approaches them be
ever weary of regarding their beauty." In a chapel of the
same church is a picture from the same hand, representing
our Lady receiving the annunciation from the angel Gabriel,
with a countenance, which is seen in profile, so devout, so
delicate, and so perfectly executed, that the beholder can
scarcely believe it to be by the hand of man, but would
rather suppose it to have been delineated in Paradise. In
the landscape forming the background are seen Adam and
Eve, by whom it was made needful that the Virgin should
give birth to the Redeemer.'^ In the predella are likewise
12 Which was painted in 1438, and is now in the Academy ; it has been in
jured by washing and clumsy retouching. Two very similar subjects are in the
same hall of the Academy, one from the convent of Dominican nuns called Con
vento di Annalena, one from the couvent of the Bosco de' Frati, near Florence.
1^ Milanesi, after suggesting that these panels have been combined with a
larger one by Lorenzo Monaco into a, p rcdella, which is in the Cappella de'
Pittori, Cloister of the Annunziata, eventually inclines to think that they
belonged to a set of panels, two of which are now in the Florentine Academy,
four in Munich, and one in a private collection.
1^ Now iu the choir ; it was restored by Lorenzo di Credi. The three panels
of the gradino have been sold.
" Said to have been sold in 1611 to the Duke Mario Farnese, and by him re-

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 37
certain stories, the small figures of which are extremely
beautiful. But superior to all the other works of Fra Giovanni, and
one in which he surpassed himself, is a picture in the same
church, near the door on the left hand of the entrance : in
this work he proves the high quality of his powers as well
as the profound intelligence he possessed of the art which
he practised. The subject is the Coronation of the Virgin
by Jesus Christ : the principal figures are surrounded by a
choir of angels, among whom are vast numbers of saints and
holy personages, male and female. These figures are so
numerous, so well executed, in attitudes so varied, and with
expressions of the head so richly diversified, that one feels
infinite pleasure and delight in regarding them. Nay, one
is convinced that those blessed spirits can look no otherwise
in heaven itself, or, to speak under correction, could not, if
they had forms, appear otherwise ; for all the saints, male
and female, assembled here, have not only life and expres
sion, most delicately and truly rendered, but the colouring
also of the whole work would seem to have been given by
the hand of a saint, or of an angel like themselves. It is
not without most sufficient reason therefore, that this excel
lent ecclesiastic is always called Frate Giovanni Angelico.
The stories from the life of our Lady and of San Domenico
which adorn the predella, moreover, are in the same divine
manner, and I, for myself, can afBrm with truth, that I
never see this work but it appears something anew, nor can
I ever satisfy myself with the sight of it, or have enough of
beholding it.'*
In the chapel of the Nunziata at Florence, which Piero di
Cosimo de' Medici caused to be constructed, Fra Giovanni
sold in 1612 to the Duke of Lerma for a church of Valladolid. See Padre
Marchese. i« Now in the Louvre. There still remain two pictures by Angelico in the
convent : a Crucifixion in the old refectory and a Madonna and Child, with
saints, in the old chapter-house. The Coronation of the Virgin and the pre
della panels were engraved and published at Paris, with text by A. W. von
Schlegel, in 1817.

38 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
painted the doors of the armory or press," wherein the
silver utensils for the service of the altar are deposited, the
figures are made and executed with much care. He painted
besides so many pictures which are now in the dwellings of
different Florentine citizens, that I remain sometimes in as
tonishment, and am at a loss to comprehend how one man
could so perfectly execute all that he has performed, even
though he did labour many years." The very reverend Don
Vincenzio Borghini, superintendent of the Innocenti, is in
possession of a small picture of the Virgin by the hand of
this father, which is beautiful ; '^ and Bartolommeo Gondi,
as zealous an amateur of these arts as any gentleman that I
know, has a large picture, a small one, and a crucifix, all by
the same hand.* The paintings in the arch over the door
of San Domenico^' are likewise by Fra Giovanni, and in
Santa Trinita there is a picture in the sacristy, representing
a deposition from the cross, to which he devoted so much
care that it may be numbered among the best of his works. ^^
In San Francesco, without the gate of San Miniato, Fra
Giovanni painted an Annunciation,^ and in Santa Maria
" This series is of great interest from the largeness of conception which
goes hand in hand with the diminutiveness of the panels. There are thirty-
five little pictures from the life of Christ ; they are now in the Florentine
Academy. 18 Milanesi adds to these remarks the statement that the greater part of Fra
Angplico's works are not even mentioned by Vasari. He cites among others
those in the oratorio of Sant' Ansano at Fiesole, two in the gallery of Turin,
and the picture which, taken from the church of San Girolamo, near Fiesole,
is now in the Louvre, aud is not considered (by Messrs. Crowe and Cavalca
selle) to be an authentic Fra Angelico. The latter authors, in their Italian
edition of the History of Painting in Italy, the Storia della Pittura, II., pp.
353-422, give a particularly copious list of Angelico's works.
" This work has perished.
'» Apparently these works have perished.
'' No longer to be seen.
22 This is considered to be one of Angelico's best works. Painted in 1445,
it is now in the Florentine Academy ; the lunettes in the tops of the thres
Gothic arches are by Lorenzo Monaco. The portrait of Michelozzo is in this
picture. See note at the end of life of the latter, and Milanesi, II., p. 450,
note 3.
23 This has disappeared.

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 39
Novella, in addition to the works from his hand already
enumerated, are certain stories, decorating various reliqua
ries ^ which it is the custom to place on the altar in high
solemnities,* with others which are used in the Easter
ceremonies.^ In the abbey of the same city (Florence), this master
painted the figure of San Benedetto, in the act of com
manding silence.''^^ For the Guild of Joiners, f he executed
a picture I ^^ which is preserved in the house of their
Guild,* and in Cortona he painted a small arch over the
door of the church which belongs to his order, as also the
picture of the high altar. ^^
* The translator has omitted a sentence here, viz.: "He painted small pict
ures on the paschal taper " {dipinse di storie piccole il cereo pasquale).
Vasari refers to the huge painted and gilded wax caudles which were, and
still are, placed by the altar at Easter in Italy and Spain, and which were
generally decorated in the convents.
t Not joiners (legnaiuoli), but Knen-drapers (UnajuoU).
X The text in the original is tavola, panel, rather than picture ; in this case
it was a tabernacle.
2* According to Padre Marchese cited by Milanesi, he painted four of the
reliquaries. Three of these still exist in Santa Maria Novella.
25 The stories and the paschal taper have very naturally disappeared.
2" This is a, half-length figure, badly damaged, but still existing above a
walled-up door in the small cloister.
2' Marchese states that Fra Angelico never inscribed his pictures with dates,
and though it is not very difiicult to discriminate between the works of the
early and mature periods of most artists, it is in the case of Pra Angelico,
whose works are characterized by such uniformity that it is hard to deter
mine which were painted first and which were painted last.
2« Milanesi, citing Baldinucci and other critics, says that the commission for
this picture was given July 11, 1433. The model for the tabernacle was or
dered of Ghiberti, and was executed in wood (1432) by Jacopo, called Papero
di Piero. Fra Angelico painted upon it a Madonna and Child, larger than
life, with twelve small angels in the borders of the tabernacle ; on the backs
of the shutters (sportelli) were the figures of St. Peter and Saint Mark, and
on the interiors of the same were Saint John Baptist, and Saint Mark repeated
a second time (as he was the patron saint of the guild). This famous picture,
with its often-copied aiigioletti, has been in the Uffizi since 1777.
2' Cortona has two pictures z,ndi tyro predrlle by Angelico: an Annunciation
in the Compagnia di Gesil and a Madonna Enthroned, with saints and angels,
in the first chapel to the left of the high altar in San Domenico. As for the
great picture of the high altar, attributed to Fra Angelico, Milanesi proves it
to be by Lorenzo di Niccolo. See his commentary on Fra Angelico.

40 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
In Orvieto,* Fra Giovanni began to paint certain proph
ets in the Cathedral ; on the ceiling of the chapel of our
Lady, these were afterwards finished by Luca da Cortona.
For the Brotherhood of the Temple in Florence, he painted
a picture representing the Dead Christ," and in the church
of the Monks of the Angeli, ^^ he executed a Paradise and
Inferno, the figures of both which are small. Fra Gio
vanni proved the rectitude of his judgment in this work,
having made the countenances of the blessed beautiful and
full of a celestial gladness ; but the condemned, those des
tined to the pains of hell, he has depicted in various at
titudes of sorrow, and bearing the impress and consciousness
of their misdeeds and wretchedness on their faces : the
blessed are seen to enter the gate of Paradise in triumphal
dance, the condemned are dragged away to eternal punish
ment in hell, by the hands of demons. This work is in the
church above-mentioned, on the right hand, as you ap
proach the high altar, near where the priest is wont to sit
while the Mass is sung. For the Nuns of St. Peter the
Martyr, who now occupy the monastery of San Felice in
Piazza, which formerly belonged to the Order of Camaldoli,
Fra Giovanni painted a picture wherein are represented the
Virgin, St. John the Baptist, St, Dominick, St. Thomas,
and St. Peter the iMartyr, with many small figures.^ In
2° During his stay in Rome Angelico contracted to go to Orvieto each year
during the hot malarial months of June, July, August, September, and to
work there on the cathedral. He went in 1 447, and painted the prophets ou
the vaulting of the chapel called " of the Madonna of San Brizio," which was
afterward decorated throughout by Signorelli. Angelico did not return to
Orvieto, perhaps on account of the involved finances of the cathedral board.
In spite of his short stay he left in this group of prophets and saints one of
the finest works of the fifteenth century. Benozzo Gozzoli was Angelico's
assistant here. The fresco is in the lunette over the high altar and con
tains sixteen prophets, with the inscription, ''^ Prophetarum laudabilis nu-
nierus." " Now in the Florentine Academy.
'2 In the Academy of Pine Arts, Florence.
'2 In the Pitti Gallery. It is much repainted, and some critics assert that it
is only a copy from a work of Fra Angelico. Sigg. Cavalcaselle e Crowe, Storia
della Pittura, IL, 393^01, mention, among other works of Angelico, a Last

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 41
the centre aisle of Santa Maria Nuova,^' is also to be seen a
picture by the hand of this master.
These many and various labours having rendered the
name of Fra Giovanni illustrious throughout all Italy, he
was invited to Rome by Pope Nicholas V.,^^ who caused him
to adorn the cliapel of the palace, where the pontiff is ac
customed to hear mass, with a Deposition from the Cross,
and with certain events from the life of San Lorenzo, which
are adinirable.^° The Pope further appointed him to ex-

Judgment, in the Dudley collection of London, and one iu the Corsini gallery,
Rome; Two Angels Kneeling (in Turin); a Madonna Enthroned, with
Saints (in Parma) ; a Madonna, with Angels (Frankfort) ; St. Ambrose Re
fusing to admit Theodosius within his Church Doors (Antwerp), and four
works in Berlin : a Madonna with Saints, a Meeting of St. Dominick and
St. Francis, an Apparition of St. Francis to the Monks of Aries, and a, Last
Judgment. 34 The famous small picture of the Coronation, now in the Uffizi. This
picture, like many others of Fra Angelico, has in the costumes violent
vermilions and ultramarines. Angelico thought, say some writers, that only
the purest of colors were good enough for the elect. He may have thought
all this, and very possibly did, but he also used sound technical reasoning and
knew that upon the raised gold patterns of his backgrounds the purest colors
would tell most strongly, and furthermore, that clear vermilions and unadul
terated ultramarines which would be raw in a strong light, would become
toned and admirable in the half -darkness of a church.
35 Pope Eugenius IV., not Nicholas V., invited Pra Angelico to Rome,
where he commenced, March 13, 1447, to fresco a chapel in St. Peter's, since
destroyed. Thomas of Sarzana, who became Pope Nicholas V. on March 6,
1447, a week before Angelico began his work, confirmed the appointment by
Eugenius of "Fra Giovanni di Pietro," with a salary which for the epoch
was an enormous one — two hundred gold ducats — since Bernardo Roseliino,
architect-in-chief of the works of Saint Peter, received only one hundred and
eighty. See M. Miintz, Les Primitifs.
=9 " The chapel of San Lorenzo " was the oratory, and indeed the " studio,"
the private working-room of the pope, and was a real art sanctuary. An
gelico's decorations consisted of scenes frona the lives of St. Stephen iu the
upper series, and from that of St. Lawrence in the lower tier of frescoes, while
above were the Evangelists and Doctors of the church. The scenes from the
lives of Stephen and Lawrence in this chapel mark Fra Angelico's culminating
point, and do not suffer greatly even in their close juxtaposition with the
stanze of Raphael. They have the angelic monk's deep feeUng for his sub
ject, and at the same time are closely and skilfully drawn, equalling his
Orvieto fresco in science (though not in feeling for grandeur), and showing
ua the artist as a man pressing always forward in his art to the very end

42 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
ecute the miniatures of several books, which are also ex
tremely beautiful.'*' In the church of the Minerva Fra
Giovanni executed the picture of the High Altar ^ and an
Annunciation, which is now placed against the wall beside
the principal chapel. For the same pontiff, Fra Giovanni
decorated the cliapel of the sacrament in the palace, which
chapel was afterwards destroyed by Pope Paul IIL, who
conducted the staircase through it.^' In this work, which
was an excellent one, Fra Giovanni had painted stories in
fresco from the life of Christ, in his own admirable man
ner, and had introduced many portraits of eminent persons
then living. These portraits would most probably have
been lost to us, had not Paul Jovius caused the following
among them to be reserved for his museum : Pope Nicholas
v., the Emperor Frederick, who had at that time arrived
in Italy ; Frate Antonino, who afterwards became archbishop
of Florence, Biondo da Forli, and Ferdinand of Arragon.
And now, Fra Giovanni, appearing to the Pope to be, as
he really was, a person of most holy life, gentle and modest,
the Pontiff, on the archbishopric becoming vacant, judged
Fra Giovanni to be worthy of that preferment ; but the
Frate, hearing this, entreated his Holiness to provide him
self with some other person, since he did not feel capable of
ruling men.** He added, that among the brethren of his
order, was a man well skilled in the art of governing others,
of his life. Here he even made use of classic detail, for so strong was the in
fluence of the revival of antiquity that it forced the door of the convent, and
the painter-saint himself threw a grain of incense on the altar of Paganism.
3' No existing illuminated books are known to be by Fra Angelico.
38 Milanesi thinks that possibly a painting by Angelico may be hidden be
hind the altar-piece in the chapel of the Rosary in the Church of the Minerva,
but certainly nothing by him is visible there.
3' M. Faucon is cited by M. Miintz as affirming in I'Art, Vol. III., pp. 144,
that this chapel was not in the Vatican, but in Saint Peter's.
*» Milanesi shows that none of the early chroniclers say that the arch
bishopric of Florence was ever offered to Fra Angelico ; he has, however,
little doubt but that Angelico's influence with Pope Eugenius may have
brought about the election of Antonino. See also the Annotations to Va
sari's Life of Fra Angelico in the Arundel Society's pamphlet, p. 24.

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 43
a friend of the poor, and one who feared God : on this man
he considered that the proposed dignity would be much
more appropriately conferred than on himself. The Pope
hearing this, and remembering that what he said of this
brother of his order was true, freely granted him the favour
he desired, and thus was the Frate Antonino of the order of
Friars-Preachers made archbishop of Florence. And the
new prelate was in truth most illustrious, whether for learn
ing or sanctity ; he was of such a character, in fine, that he
fully merited the honour of canonization bestowed on him
in our own days by Pope Adrian VI.
A great proof of excellence was this act of Fra Giovanni's,
and, without doubt, a very rare thing. The resignation of
a dignity so eminent, of an honour and office so important,
offered to himself by the supreme pontiff, but yielded by
him to the man whom he, with unbiassed judgment and in
the sincerity of his heart, considered much more worthy of
it than himself. The churchmen of our times might learn
from this holy man to refrain from taking upon them those
offices, the duties of which they cannot duly fulfil, and to
resign them to those who are more worthy of them. And
would to God, that all ecclesiastics (be it said without of
fence to the good among them) would employ their time,
as did this excellent father, to return to Fra Giovanni, so
truly named Angelico, seeing that he continued the whole
course of his life in the service of God, or in labouring for
the benefit of the world and of his neighbour. And what
more can or ought to be desired, than by thus living right
eously, to secure the kingdom of heaven, and by labouring
virtuously, to obtain everlasting fame in this world ? And,
of a truth, so extraordinary and sublime a gift as that pos
sessed by Fra Giovanni, should scarcely be conferred on any
but a man of most holy life, since it is certain that all who
take upon them to meddle with sacred and ecclesiastical
subjects, should be men of holy and spiritual minds ; for
we cannot but have seen that when such works are attempted
by persons of little faith, and who do but lightly esteem re-

44 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
ligion, they frequently cause light thoughts and unworthy
inclinations to awaken in the beholder ; whence it follows
that these works are censured for their offences in this kind,
even while praised for the ability displayed in them as
works of art. Yet I would not here give occasion to the
mistake that things rude and inept shall therefore be holy,
and that the beautiful and attractive are licentious : this is
the false interpretation of many who, when they see fem
inine or youthful figures adorned with more than common
beauty, instantly consider them licentious, and therefore
censure them ; not perceiving how wrongfully they are con
demning the sound judgment of the painter ; for the latter
believes the saints, male and female, who are celestial, to be
as much superior to mere mortals in beauty, as heaven is
superior to things earthly and the work of human hands ;
and, what is worse, they at the same time betray the un
soundness and impurity of their own hearts, by thus deduc
ing evil consequences from, and finding causes of offence, in
things which, if they were truly admirers of good, as by
their stupid zeal they desire to make themselves appear,
would rather awaken in them aspirations towards heaven,
and to wish to make themselves acceptable to the Creator of
all things, from whom, as Himself, the highest and most
perfect ; beauty and perfection have proceeded. But what
are we to suppose that such people would do if they were
placed, or rather what do they when they are placed, where
they find living beauty, accompanied by light manners, by
seductive words, by movements full of grace, and eyes that
cannot but ravish the heart not amply guarded ? What are
we to believe they then do, since the mere image, the very
shadow, can move them so powerfully ? Not that I would
have any suppose me to approve the placing in churches of
such figures as are depicted in all but perfect nudity ; by no
means : for in such cases the painter has not taken into
consideration the reserve that was due to the place. He
may have just cause for desiring to make manifest the ex
tent of his power ; but this should be done with due regard

GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE 45
to circumstances, and not without befitting respect to per
sons, times, and places.
Fi-a Giovimni was a man of the utmost simplicity of in
tention, imd was most holy in every act of his life. It is
related of him, and it is a good evidence of his simple ear
nestness of purpose, that being one morning invited to break
fast by Pope Nicholas V.. he had scruples of conscience as
to eating meat without the permission of his prior, not con
sidering that the authority of the pontiff was superseding
that of the prior. He disregarded all eiu'thly advantages ;
and, living ia pure holiness, was as much the friend of the
poor in life as I believe his soul now is in heaven. He
laboured continually at his paintings, but would do nothino^
that was not connected with things holy. He might have
been rich, but for riches he took no care ; on the contrary,
he was accustomed to say, that the only true riches was con
tentment with linle. He might have commanded many,
but would not do so. declaring that there was less fatigue
and less danger of error in obeying others, than in com
manding others. It was at his option to hold places of
dignity in the brotherhood of his order, and also in the
world : bnt he regarded them not. affirming that he sought
no dignity and took no care hut that of escaping hell and
drawing near to Paradise. And of a truth what dignity can
be compared to that which should be most coveted by all
churchmen, nay, by every man living, that, namely, which
is found in God alone, and in a life of virtuous labour ?
Fra Giovanni was kindly to all, and moderate in all his
habits, living temperately, and holding himself entirely
apart from the snares of the world. He used frequently to
say. that he who practised the art of piiinting had need of
quiet, and should live without cares or anxious thoughts ;
adding, that he who would do the work of Christ should
perpetually remain with Christ. He was never seen to dis
play anger among the brethren of his order : a thing which
appears to me most extraordinary, nay. almost incredible ;
if he admonished his friends, it was with gentleness and a

46 GIOVANNI DA FIESOLE
quiet smile ; and to those who sought his works, he would
reply with the utmost cordiality, that they had but to ob
tain the assent of the prior, when he would assuredly not
fail to do what they desired. In fine, this never sufficiently
to be lauded father was most humble, modest, and excellent
in all his words and works ; in his painting he gave evidence
of piety and devotion, as well as of ability, and the saints
that he painted liave more of the air and expression of sanc
tity than have those of any other master.
It was the custom of Fra Giovanni to abstain from re
touching or improving any painting once finished. He
altered nothing, but left all as it was done the first time,
believing, as he said, that such was the will of God. It is
also affirmed that he would never take the pencil in hand
until he had first offered a prayer. He is said never to have
painted a Crucifix without tears streaming from his eyes,
and in the countenances and attitudes of his figures it is
easy to perceive proof of his sincerity, his goodness, and the
depth of his devotion to the religion of Christ.
Fra Giovanni died in 1455, at the age of sixty-eight. He
left disciples, among whom was Benozzo, a Florentine, by
whom his manner was always imitated, with Zanobi Strozzi,
who executed paintings for all Florence, which were dis
persed among the houses of the citizens.
Gentile da Fabriano was likewise among the disciples of
Fra Giovanni, as was Domenico di Michelino, who executed
the altar-piece of San Zanobi, in the church of Sant' Apolli-
nare, of Florence, with many other pictures. Fra Giovanni
Angelico was interred by the brethren of his order in the
church of the Minerva at Eome, beside the lateral door
which opens on the sacristy. On his tomb, which is of
marble and of a round "" form, is the portrait of tlie master
" The tomb is square, not round, aud Vasari, says Milanesi, omitted the
following from the inscription : HIO JAOET VEN, PIOTOE FR, 10, DE ELOR.
ORD', PDICATO ILLV, M
CCCC L
V

GIOTAXXI DA FIESOLE 47
taken from nature ; ^"- and on the marble is engraved the
epitaph, which may be read below :
yon mihi sit 'atidi\ quod eram rehd alter ApelleSj
Seil quod lucra iuis onviia, Christe, dabam :
Altera na}7i terris opei\i exUini^ altera coelo
Urbs me Joajvieni jios iulit Etrurice.
In S:\nta Maria del Fiore are two Terr large books richly
decorated with miniatures most admirably executed by the
hand of Pm Giovanni Angelico ; ^ ^ they ai*e held in the
" The figure usually called thai of Fra Angelico, in a fresco of Signorelli.
at Orviero, ii=i no longer considered to be the portrait of the angelic monk. Fra
Bart-olommeo placed the fignre of Fra Angelico among the Beaii^ in t:ie fresco
of the Last Jndgnient, in a chapel belonging to the hospit,il of S. Maria
Xnova. From this fresco G. B. Xocchi traced his head of Fra Angelico.
^ The principal pnpils of Fra Angelico were Benozzo Gozzoli and Cosimo
Rosselli. ** Vai^Ari's life of Angelico. while admirable in spirit, is confused a.s to
chronological arrangement. When the events are properly co-ordinated and
we examine the works of his first period, we see in Fra Angelico the pupil of
the miniaturists. His color is that of the illuminator of missals and choir-
books, his Madonna of the Uffizi is an enlarged miniature, and the angels which
are so greatly admired in his Last Judgment and his Paradise (Florentine
Academy) are celestial dolls, thin as paper and stuck fsst to their gold back
grounds. In this early time the paint-er's skill in modelling and drawing is in
the inverse rotlo to the size of his canvas, another proof that he cannot forget
the miniature, bnt it is only the lim:tations of his skill in drawing and model
ling which require a snoall surface ; his sentiment of composition is large and
noble, and some of his panels, now in the Academy, taken from the doors of a
press formerly in the Annunziata. panels which are a foot sqiiare (see notably
the Flight into Egypt\ might be enlarged to Oc>lossal size and worthily decorate
a church waU. As for the sentiment of beautv. even the paper-doll angels
have so much of it that Michelangelo, that lover of rr.uscular constnicTion
and heroic nudity, said of them, '" Surely the good monk visii^d Paradise and
was aUowed to choose his models there." In the later life of Fra An.elieo
we have in his Crucifixion of San Marco, his fresco of Oirieto. and his cycle in
the chapel of San Lorenzo in the Vatican the work of a painter who withont
for a moment losing his reliirJous conviction, without feeling his subject any
le^ poignantly, has profited by the realistic study of his contemporaries, and
who draws ani models with a skill which is a whole lifetime removed from
his little angelic musicians or his dancing figures in the Paradise of ihe Acad
emy. M. Lafenestre has aHmirably defined Angelico's place in the Renais
sance "when he says that to Fra Giovanni was re=eryed *' the glory of fixing, in
a series of imperishable visions, the religious ideal of the ni:d(ile ages just at

48 GIOVA^^XI DA FIESOLE
utmost veneration, are most sumptuously adorned, and are
onlv suffered to be seen on occasions of high solemnity.
the moment when it was about to disappear forever." The tenderness of the
Gospel, the divine yearning of the Imitotin Christi, the /(aVf sweetness of the
Floretti of St. Francis, the childlike simplicity of the GJolden Legend, found
pictorial expression in AngeUco's work. As the study of the uude body was
forbidden to a monk, he concentrated all his feeling for phj'sical beauty, all
his capacity for dramatic expression, on the faces of his saints and angels, and
became a unique exponent of religious sentiment. To the churchman's love
of minute and elaborate ornament applied to holy things, he united the aspira
tions of the devout soul toward perfection, and added to the achievements of
the Giotte-'ichi., beauty, distinction, and emotion. Though without doubt his
chief glory is a fervor of conviction which passes beyond and above all tech-
7iique. yet m technique also he sets a worthy example, and he owes to his
composition, as well as to his conviction, the fact that he charms at once the
ignorant, the devotee, the dllettajiie^ and the trained artist. To the art stu
dent who is occupied with problems of construction and relief, Angelico's
lack of the latter and indifference to the former are somewhat shocking,
but to the matured artist comes a growing consciousness that the simply and
admirably composed little scenes from the life of Christ, in the Florentine
Academy, with their flat masses of brilliant color, are a never-ending source of
delight to the eye, and that he may sooner tire of the great technical achieve
ments of the Renaissance than of these perfectly decorative little panels.
Add to the effect of the latter the growth of art-knowledge sho^vn by Fra
Angelico in his frescoes of the chapel of Nicholas V., iu the Vatican, frescoes
which, in their juxtaposition to the stanze of Raphael, are Uke the pUin chant
of the medieval church beside the chorded melodies of Palestrina. Add to
these again the fresco of Orvieto ; lastly, consider the very early epoch of Fra
Angelico and that he was weU known even before Masaccio began the frescoes
of the Carmine, and it must be admitted that here, in spite of his self-imposed
limitations, was one of the greatest masters of the Renaissance,

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI, PLOEENTINE
ARCHITECT '
[Bom 1404 ; died 1472.]
BlELIOGKAPHT.— Manoini, Vita di Leon Battista Alberti, Florence, 1883.
M3.ncini, JVaovi Documenti e Nbtizie . . di Leon Battista Alberti, Flor
ence, 1887. Anicio Bouuooi, Opere volgari, di Leon Battista Alberti (.5
vols.), Florence, 1845. Clementini, Racolta Storlca, Rimini, 1817. C.
Yriarte, Tin Condottiere au XVme Siide a, Rimini, Paris, 1882. 6. B.
Costa, Jl Tempio di S. Francesco. BraghiroUi, L. B. Alberti a Mantova,
1869. Hoffmann, Studien zu L. B. Alberti's zehn Biichern de Re Aedifl-
catoria. Passerini, Gli Alberti di Firenze, Florence, 1870. H. Janitschek,
ieoa Battista Alberti's kleinere kuiuittheoretische Schriften, Vienna, 1877.
M. Claudius Popelin, De la Statue et de la Peinture ; has translated into French
(Paris, 1S69), the treatises on painting and sculpture. Passerini, Oenealogia e
storia dei Rucellai. 6. Marcotti, Un Mercante florentino, taken from the
Zibaldone (Miscellaneous Notes), autograph manuscript of Giovanni Rucel
lai, in the possession of Mr. Temple-Leader. Opera inedita et pauca
separatim impresa S. Mancini Curante, Florence, 1890. Carlo Giuseppe
Fossati, Tempio Malatestiano de' Francescani di Rimini; architectura di
Leon Battista Alberti, Foligno, 1794. C. Popelin, Leon Battista Alberti in
the Gazette des Beaux Arts, XXV., p. 403.
THE knowledge of letters and the study of the sciences
are, without doubt, of the utmost value to all, and
offer the most important advantages to every artist
who takes pleasure therein ; but most of all are they ser
viceable to sculptors, painters, and architects, for whom
' The Alberti were great Florentine nobles, "seeming rather princes," says
Machiavelli, " than a private family." They were exiled by their enemies, the
Alhizzi. In 1412 two thousand gold florins were promised by decree to any
who should kill one of the four chiefs of the family, and one thousand florins
to the assassin of any Alberti who should have reached eighteen years of age.
Leon Battista grew up under such conditions, and was twenty-four years old
before the return from exile of Cosimo dei Medici, who counted the Alberti
among his warm partisans and put an end to the decree. Even then for a while
the Alberti were not quite safe, and during a certain period Leon Battista
walked always accompanied by armed men. See M. Yriarte's Rimini et un
Condottiere au XV'"^ Si>>cle.

50 LZOX BATTISTA ALBEllTI
they prepare the path to various inventions in all the works
executed by them ; and be the natural qualities of a man
what thev may, his Judgment can never be brought to per
fection if he be deprived of the advantages resulting from
the accompaniment of learning. For who does not admit,
that in selecting the site of buildings it is necessary to pro
ceed with enlightened consideration, in order to their being
sheltered from dangerous winds, and so placed as to avoid
insalubrious air, injurious vapours, and the effects of impure
and unhealthy waters ? who does not allow, that for what
ever work is to be executed, the artist must know for him
self, both how to avoid impediments and how to secure all
needful results, that he may not be reduced to depend on
others for the theory on which his labours must be founded,
to ensure success ? Since theory, when separated from
practice, is, for the most part, found to avail very little ;
but when theory and practice chance to be happily united
in the same person, nothing can be more suitable to the life
and vocation of artists, as well because art is rendered much
richer and more perfect by the aid of science, as because
the councils and writings of learned artists have, in them
selves, a greater efficacy, and obtain a higher degree of
credit, than can be accorded to the words or works of
those who know nothing beyond the simple process they
use, and which they put in practice, well or ill, as it may
chance. Xow that all this is true is seen clearly in
the instance of Leon Batista Alberti who, having given his
attention to the study of Latin as well as to that of archi
tecture, perspective, and painting, has left behind him
books, written in such a manner, that no artist of later
times has been able to surpass him in his style and other
qualities as an author, while there have been numbers, much
more distinguished than himself in the practice of art,^
2 According to M. Muntz, Les Prirnit.f^, 361, the first work written by
AlbciTi was Delia P'dtura Vbri tre (143-5), dedicated to Brunelleschi; to
this must be added theF^crncnta Pictures, first published by Mancini at Cor
tona in lifri. Other works are I cinque Ordini Arch.itfitonici, Tl TrattatO

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI 51
although it is very generally supposed (such is the force of
his writings, and so extensive has been their influence on
the pens and words of the learned, his contemporaries and
others), that he was, in fact, superior to all those who have,
on the contrary, greatly surpassed him in their works. We
are thus taught by experience, that, in so far as regards
name and fame, the written word is that which, of all
things, has the most effectual force, the most vivid life, and
the longest duration ; for books make their way to all
places, and everywhere they obtain the credence of men,
provided they be truthful and written in the spirit of can
dour. We are therefore not to be surprised if we find the
renowned Leon Batista to be better known by his writings
than by the works of his hand.
This master was born in Florence,^ of the most noble
family of the Alberti, concerning which we have already
spoken in another place. He gave his attention, not only
to the acquirement of knowledge in the world of art gen
erally, and to the examination of works of antiquity in their
proportions, &c., but also, and much more fully, to writing
on these subjects, to which he was by nature more inclined
than to the practice of art.* Leon Batista was well versed in

W Architettura, 1452 (published flrst in 1485), and the De Statua, written
after 1464; Piacevolezze Matematiehe (Mechanics' Hydraulics, etc.), and
TrattatO della Prospettiva. These various works, written in Latin, were iu
part translated by their author into Italian, and portions of them were trans
lated by C. Bartoli, in 15.50 and 1565, into Italian, and in 1.558 into French.
The De Re -Edcficatoria was, says Dr. Richter, the principal occasion of the
revival of the antique style of architecture iu Italy.
3 He was a natural son of Lorenzo Alberti and Margherita di Messer Piero
Binini, and was bom in 1404, in Venice, where his father was staying as a
political refugee.
* Before he was twenty, Alberti, who studied at Bologna, wrote a comedy in
Latin called Philodoxeos, and signed '" Lepidus Comicus." The younger Ma-
nutius, even as late as 1588, believed it to be an antique comedy and published it
as such, Lepidi Comiciveterii Philodoxeos fabula ex antiquitate eruta; butM.
Charles Yriarte cites Albert d'Eybe, a canon of Bamberg, as having recognized
that it was modem and attributed it to Carlo Marsuppini. Poggio Braocio-
lini had been cognizant of the authorship of his friend Alberti, and later
made it known to Lionello d'Este.

52 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
arithmetic, and a very good geometrician ; he wrote ten
books respecting architecture in the Latin tongue, which
were published in liSl ; ' they may now be read in the
Florentine language, having been translated by the Rev.
Messer Cosimo Bartoli, provost of San Giovanni, in Flor
ence. He likewise wrote three books on painting, now
translated into the Tuscan by Messer Ludovico Domenichi,
and composed a dissertation on tractile forces, containing
rules for measuring heights. Leon Batista was moreover
the author of the Liiri della vita civile,^ with some other
works of an amatory character, in prose and verse : he was
the first who attempted to apply Latin measures to Italian
verse, as may be seen in his epistle.
Questa per estrema miserabile pistola mando,
A te che spregi miseramente noi.
At the time when ]S"icholas V. had thrown the city of
Rome into utter confusion with his peculiar manner of
building, Leon Batista Alberti arrived in that city, where,
by means of his intimate friend Biondo da Forli,' he became
» Finished, says Matteo Palmieri (de Temporibus Suis), in 14.53; published
in 1485 by Angelo Poliziano.
^ Sig. Bonucci, says Milanesi, has proved that this book, which having borne
several names has been considered as several different works, is the famous
treatise Del governo della Famiglia, a series of dialogues between a Floren
tine merchant and his children. This work was long attributed to Agnolo
Pandolfini, and is stiU published under his name.
' Flavio Biondo of Forli, secretary of Eugenius IV. and of Nicholas V. He
was the author of Roma Instaurata, and M. Mnntz calls him the creator of
archaeology. Biondo and Poggio Bracciolini were almost the first to cour
ageously protest against the vandalistic destruction of antique buildings by
princes who wished for building material M. Miintz (see his Arts d la Cour
des Popes) was unable to find a single document in Rome testifying to the
presence of Alberti in that city. M. Yriarte {Rimini, p. 186, note 1) says
that this absence of documents is caused by the fact that Alberti's position as
the holder of important benefices enabled him to be independent of restric
tions. Letters from him to Sigismondo and to Matteo de' Pasti, dated in
Rome, prove his presence there, and it was Pope Martin V. who, in 1424, di
rectly addressed the magistrates of the Florentine Balia, requesting them to
recall Alberti from exile. See the work upon the family of the Alberti, writ
ten for the Due de Luynes by Passerini.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI 53
known to the pontiff. The latter had previously availed
himself of the counsel of Bernardo Rossellino, a Florentine
sculptor and architect, as will be related in the life of An
tonio his brother ; and Bernardo, having commenced the
restoration of the papal palace, with other works in Santa
Maria Maggiore, thenceforward proceeded by the advice of
Leon Batista, such being the will of the Pope. Thus the
pontiff with the counsel of one of these two, and the exe
cution of the other, brought many useful and praiseworthy
labours to conclusion : among these was tlie Fountain of
the Acqua Vergine, which had been ruined, and was restored
by him. He likewise caused the fountain of the Piazza de'
Trevi to be decorated with the marble ornaments which we
now see there,^ among which are the arms of Pope Nicholas
himself, and those of the Roman people.'
Leon Batista thence proceeded to Sigismondo Malatesta of
Rimini, for whom he made the model of the church of San
Francesco,'" that of tlie Fa9ade more particularly, which
^ These ornaments had been lost even in Bottari's day.
^ Restored in 1466 and 1473, in the latter year by Francesco Loia. See M.
Eug. Miintz, Monuments antiques de Rome au X V^ne Sidcle, in the Revue
Arch^ologique, Paris, 1875. Afterward the fountain was restored and richly
adorned by Niccolo Salvi under Pope Clement XII. See Milanesi, vol. II.,
p. 539, note 3.
10 The comer-stone of the new constructions of the Church of St. Francis
of Rimini, more often and more properly called the Malatestian Temple, was
laid October 31, 1446. The architect respected the old Gothic church aud
built about it a sort of envelope or shell in that new manner which was based
upon the architecture of the Greeks and Romans. Close at his hand was the
arch of Augustus, which stood at the beginning of the Flaminian Way, and in
it, says M. Yriarte, Alberti fonnd his inspiration for the front of his church,
a front which became the first facade of the Renaissance, just as Brunelles-
chi's San Lorenzo of Florence became the first interior of the new style. For
the history of the wor'xt almost no docnments exist, as the Riminesi burned
the archives of the Malate.ste on the Piazza della Fontana in 1527. There
was, therefore, little or nothing to prove what artists had or had not worked
in the church. Luca della Robbia, Ghiberti, Simone, brother of Donatello,
Bernardo Ciuffagui, are named by Vasari as having worked there. Ciuffagni
may have done so, but the Aretine author is wholly at fault regarding Luca ;
he makes hun go to Rimini (at the age of fifteen years, in 1414) to work upon
the Temple, which was not begun till more than thirty years later. Ghiberti,
on the other hand, was in Rimini fifty-six years before the construction of

54 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
was constructed in marble, and of the southern side, where
there are very large arches with burial places for the illus
trious men of that city. In fine, he completed the whole
fabric in such a manner that it is beyond dispute one of the
most renowned temples of Italy. Within this church are
six vei-y beautiful chapels,^^ one of which, dedicated to San
San Francesco. As for Simone, the so-called brother of Donatello, Donatello
never had a brother at all. Cicogaara puts Pisanello among the scnlptors of
the reliefs in the church, bnt Pisanello died only three years after tbe begin
ning of the works. Perkins (Tuscan Sculptors) gives to Benedetto of Maiano
the most important share in the work, Benedetto, as M. Yriarte remarks, was
eight years old when the edifice was inaugurated. M. Yriarte proceeds to
show that Matteo de' Pasti was undoubtedly the controlling spirit in the dis
tribution of the decoration of the interior, and that Agostino d'Antonio di
Duccio was the author of mo-st of the sculpture. His long and interesting
essay, Le Temple drs Jfohitcsta (^Rimini, pp. 178-374), contains a most im
portant appreciation of the work of Agostino (see note 21 in the Life of
Luca della Robbia in Volume L), as also a great number of reproductions
of valuable notes, many of them referring to original research.
1' M. Miintz refuses to credit Alberti with the confused interior distribu
tion of sculpture in 8. Francesco at Rimini. He believes that when that mas
ter left the works the sculptors in company with the under-architect, Mat
teo de' Pasti, a Lombard, did as they pleased, sacrificing ever3'thing to make the
church a gallery of ba'^-reliefs. The result is that this Malatestian Temple is
one of the strangest churches in the world. The /afarfe is simple and noble,
based upon the triumphal arch of the Romans. It is the interior which strikes
at once by its novelty, its richness, its spontaneity, above all by its intensely
pagan character, so pagan as to have scandalized even ¦*¦ pope who was
an arch-patron of the Renaissance. See the commentaries of Pius Secun
dus. But this pagan effect is due rather to the sculptors than to the archi
tect, to the T\-ishes of Malatesta rather than to the example of Alberti. The
latter indeed has kept the Gothic arches, making them the frames of the
side-chapels ; but these frames of marble have been carved, by Agostino di
Duccio and the rest, into an army of arts and sciences, planets and signs,
gods and goddesses, which have crowded out every sacred image until the cal
endar of the seasons displaces the calendar of the saints. These sculptures
are intensely mannered, are in very flat relief ( ' ' exaggerated Si iacciato " a critic
has called them), are incorrect in construction and detail, yet are sponta
neous and lovely to an extraordinary degree. In lieu of the Madonna, Diva
Isotta, mistress and afterward wife of Sigismond, reigns over this incongru
ous yet beautiful asi^emblage, and among those palmettes and ultra-heavy
Greek wreaths, in which, says M. Yriarte, we find the sign manual of Alberti
as decorator, are seen, on every side, the black elephants of the Malatesta.
Nowhere in Italy is there an interior more characteristic of the early Re
naissance, with its union of eclecticism and of intense personality.

LEOK BATTISTA AI.BERTI 55
Geronimo, is most samptaously adorned ; Tarions relies
brought from Jerasalem being preserved in it. This chapel
likewise contains the sepulchre of the above-named Sigis
mondo, with that of his wife,** very richly constructed of
fine marbles, in the year 1450. One one of these tombs is
the portrait of Malatesta, that of Leon Batista himself being
also to be seen in another part of the work.
In the year 1457, when the very useful method of print
ing books was invented by Giovanni Gutenberg,'^ a German,
Leon Batista discovered something similar ; the method of
repr^enting landscapes, and diminishing figures by means
of an instrument, namely, by which small things eould in
like manner be presented in a larger form, and so enlarged
at pleasure : all very extraordinary things, useful to art,
and certainly very fine.
It happened about this time, that Giovanni di Paolo Eu-
cellai resolved to adorn the principal Fagade of Santa Maria
Novella, entirely with marble, at his own cost ; whereupon
lie consulted with Leon Batista, who was Ms intimate
friend, and having received from him not advice only, but
M This "wBs Isottia oi "Rrmfni wlioni Sigismondo eventually married. Mala-
t^ia stole so £iaiiMj :£or the coBstmctioii of his church that lie was called
sacnl^aas by the Pope. He took piecions maxUe from the basilicas of
JBavenna, *~in oae year thirty chariots fuU'* (see M. Xxiaxts, op. ciL, p. 19i),
csroed ai^^y the bridge of Fano, the antique quays of Bimini., as -vrell as a fine
campanile ; heeven plnadered the Greekislands, and fragments of reliefs with
andedgphesed insciiptioDS are built into San Francesco. But we must not
forg^ liat Tsndslism went hand in hand daring the Renaissance with intense
ent^izsiasm for anrnqoity, and at one epoch at least the investigator studied
^e an^qne monnment for his 0"wn ns^ then pnUed it to pieces and put the
iaaa;t@dal io those ns^. See Pope Martin V.^s permission to take from the
abandoned chmches naaxbles for the Ijateran paTement. and the asample of
evfn the areh-enihnsiasi, Thomas of &£zana, Pope Xicholas T., who made
a quarry of the Colisenm. It was not tall 1^62 that Pius XL decreed that the
aataqse monmnents ^onld be respected.
" TleinTSitiffli to which Vasaii aBndes is a vertical net-work which divides
^e TQode^ or landscape into squares. Ijeonardo da Vin<n substituted the ver
tical plane for it. See the Ljteiaxy "Worts of Leonardo da Tinci by Dr.
Biiiter, I. 260, note, and E. von Brucfce in his Brudisiii£ke aus der biidender
iwBSfc, Leipdg, 1S77. Vasai's comparison of this invention of Albaii's
with ^e inventitHi of pa^y^a^^g is amusing.

56 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
a design for the work also, he determined that it should by
all means be put into execution, that so he might leave a
memorial of himself." Eucellai, therefore, caused the work
to be at once commenced, and in the year 14:77, it was fin
ished, to the great satisfaction of all the city ; the whole
work being much admired, but more particularly the door,
for which it is obvious that Leon Batista took more than
common pains. This architect also gave the design for a
palace,'^ which Cosimo Eucellai caused to be built in the
street called La Vigne, with that for the Loggia which
stands opposite to it.'^ In constructing the latter, Alberti,
having made the arches above the columns very narrow,
because he wished to continue them, and not make one arch
» The fagade of S. M. Novella was commenced at an earlier date (after
1348), the funds coming from a legacy of Turino Baldesi, and certain critics
claim that later Giovanni Bettini furnished the design for the completion of
the facade. Sig. Passerini, however, feels sure that the central door was de
signed by Alberti, or else is a servile imitation of hia st3'le. See Milanesi,
vol II., pp. 544, note 1. Dr. Marcotti, in his Guide-souvenir de Florence, de
clares that Alberti was the designer of all the newer part of the facade, and
that Giovanni Bettini (Bertini, di Bettino) was only master of the works.
The architect was compelled to respect and take account of the Gothic tombs
which existed at the side of the church, and therefore of the Gothic doors that
adjoined the same. The result is a mixed style, which critics do not find
wholly a happy one. The date of the termination of the fa(^ade is not certain,
although a monumental inscription cited by M. Miintz, Les Primitifs, p.
466, gives the year 1470.
^5 These dates, 14.51-14.55, are Milanesi's ; Miintz suggests 1460. Filarete. in
1464, speaks of the Rucellai palace as new. It was probably built for Gio
vanni Rucellai — Giovanni delle Fabbriche, John the Builder, as his contem
poraries called him — and the wind-filled sails of the Rucellai may be seen
upon the palace front as upon the facade of Santa Maria Novella.
'^ M. ^Mi'intz, Xes Primitifs, calls this the most complete and harmonious
creation of Alberti, in which he '* boldly opposes the modern palace, gay and
elegant, to the severe palace of Brunelleschi and Michelozzo." '^ Here," says
Dr. Marcotti, " is the marking-point of the relinquishment of the Florentine
style for the revival of classicism." SeeG. Marcotti, UiT Jfc7-cante Fiorentino,
taken frora an autograph MS. of Giovanni Rucellai, in the possession of Mr.
John Temple-Leader. The anonymous author of a MS. in the Magliabecchian
Library states that Bernardo Rossellino designed the Rucellai palace, and that
Antonio del Migliorino Guidotti built the loggia, and indeed the palace great
ly resembles some of Rossellino's works, such as the Palazzo Piccolomini in
Pienza and the Piccolomini in Siena. See Milanesi, II., p. 543, note 1.

LEON BATTISTA ALBEliTI 57
only, found he had a certain space left on each side, and
was consequently compelled to add ressaults to the inner
angles. When he afterwards proceeded to turn the arches
of the internal vaulting, he perceived that he could not
give it the form of the half-circle, the effect of which would
be stunted and clumsy ; he therefore determined to turn
small arches over the angles from one ressault to the other,
showing that there was wanting in him that soundness of judg
ment in design, which, as is clearly evident, can only be the
result of practice added to knowledge ; each must be aided
by the other, for the judgment can never become perfect un
less the knowledge acquired be carried into operation, and
the guidance of experience be attained by means of practice.
It is said that the same architect produced the design for
the palace and gardens," erected by the Eucellai family in
the Via della Scala, an edifice constructed with much judg
ment, and which is therefore exceedingly commodious.
Besides many other convenient arrangements, there are two
galleries or loggie, one towards the south, the other to the
west, both very beautiful, and raised upon the columns
without arches ; which method is the true and proper one,
according to the ancients, because the architraves, which
are placed immediately upon the capitals of the columns,
stand level, while a rectangular body, such as is the arch
turned into a vault in the upper part, cannot stand on a
round column, without having the angles out of square or
awry ; this considered, the best mode of construction re
quires that the architraves should be placed upon the col
umns, or that, when it is resolved to construct arches, the
master should employ pillars instead of columns.
For the same family of Eucellai, and in a similar manner,
Leon Batista erected a chapel in the church of San Bran-
cazio,^^ which rests on large architraves, supported on the
" In these gardens assembled the famous Platonic academy, but the palace
was not buUt till 14118, and is not by Alberti. See Passerini, Degli orti
Oricellari, 1854. It is now the Stiozzi-Orloff palace.
"* San Pancrazio, rather ; it was erected in 1467 ; the church is suppressed,
but the chapel still exists.

58 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
side where the wall of the church opens into the chapel by
two columns and two pilasters. This is a very difficult
mode of proceeding, but gives great security, and is accord
ingly among the best works produced by this architect. In
the centre of this chapel is an oblong tomb in marble of an
oval form, and similar, according to an inscription engraved
on the tomb itself, to the sepulchre of Christ at Jerusalem.
About the same time, Ludovico Gonzaga, Marquis of
Mantua, having determined to construct the apsis, or trib
une, and the principal chapel in the Xunziata, the church
of the Servites in Florence, after the design and model of
Leon Batista, caused a small square chapel, very old, and
painted in the ancient manner, which was at the upper end
of that church, to be demolished, and in its place made the
tribune above-mentioned. '^ It has the fanciful and difficult
form of a circular temple surrounded by nine chapels, all
surmounted by a round arch, and each having the shape of
a niche. But as the arches of these chapels are supported
by the pilasters in front of them, it follows that the outlines
of the stone arch tend constantly backwards towards the
wall behind them, whUe the latter, following the form of
the tribune itself, turns in the opposite direction : hence it
results, that when the arches of the chapels are regarded
from the side, they appear to fall backwards, which gives
the whole an unhappy effect, although the proportions are
correct : but the mode of treatment is an exceedingly diffi
cult one, and it certainly would have been much better if
Leon Batista had avoided the disorders of this method alto
gether : it is true that the plan is by no means easy of ac
complishment, but there is a want of grace both in the
whole and in the details, insomuch that it could not possibly
have a good effect. And that this is true in respect of the
1' The tribune was constructed 1470-1476. Ludovico Gonzaga, Captain-
General of the Florentine republic, gave a large portion of his military wages
to the rebuilding of the choir of the Annunziata, and ordered that the banners
and trophies taken from the enemy should be hung up there. Giovanni Aldo-
brandini, 1471, tried vainly to persuade Ludovico to depart from the designs of
Alberti in the construction of this choir. See Milanesi, Facoioli, and Gaye.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI 59
larger parts may be shown by the great arch which forms
the entrance to the tribune ; for this, whicli is very beauti
ful on the outer side, appears on the inner, where it must
of necessity turn with the turn of the chapel, which is
round, to be falling backwards, and is extremely ungraceful.
Leon Batista would, perhaps, not have fallen into this error,
if to the knowledge he possessed, and to his theories, he had
added the practice and experience acquired by actual work
ing ; another would have taken pains to avoid this difficulty,
and sought rather to secure grace and beauty to his edifice.
The whole work is nevertheless very fanciful and beautiful
in itself, as well as difficult : nor can we deny that Leon
Batista displayed great courage in venturing at that time to
construct the tribune as he did. The architect was then in
vited to Mantua by the above-named Marchese Ludovico,
where he made the model of the church of Sant' Andrea,'**
for that noble, with some few other works, and on the road
leading from Mantua to Padua, there are certain churches
which were erected after the manner of this architect. The
Florentine Salvestro Fancelli,^' a tolerably good architect
and sculptor, was the person who carried Leon Batista's de
signs for the city of Florence into execution, according to
the desire of that master, and this he did with extraordinary
judgment and diligence. The works designed by Alberti for
Mantua were executed by a certain Luca, also a Florentine,
who, continuing ever after to dwell in that city, there died,
" Sant' Andrea, designed in 1470, commenced in 1473, was not finished till
forty years afterward. The small and elegant church of S. Sebastiano was
also designed in Mantua by Alberti, and commenced in 1460. Sant' Andrea
is a wonderfully beautiful church ; its lines are so pure that even the
painted ornaments with which it has been plentifully besprinkled cannot
spoil it. Baron H. von Geymiiller [Prqjets Prvmitifs pour la Basilique
de Saint Pierre de Rome, p. 7) admits without hesitation that it served Bra
mante as a.nodel for the interior of Saint Peter's, while the porch, too, had its
influence upon the later architect. Symonds in his Fine Arts (History of the
Renaissance) notes the highly imaginative faculty implied by the building of
such a church at a time when "the rules of classic architecture had not yet
been reduced to method," but he blames the use as a porch of what is, after all,
a mere decorative screen.
»i Luca Pancelli, rather.

60 LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI
leaving the name, as we are told by Filarete, to the family
of the Luchi, which is still settled there. And the good
fortune of Leon Batista was not small in thus having friends,
who, comprehending his desires, were both able aud willing
to serve him, for as architects cannot always be at the work,
it is of the utmost advantage to them to have a faithful and
friendly assistant, and if no other ever knew this, I know it
well, and that by long experience.
In painting, Leon Batista did not perform any great work,
or execute pictures of much beauty ; those remaining to us
from his hand, and they are but very few, do not display a
high degree of perfection, seeing that he was more earnestly
devoted to study than to design. Yet he knew perfectly
well how to give expression to his thoughts with the pencil,
as may be seen in certain drawings by his hand in our book.
In these are depicted the bridge of St. Angelo, with the sort
of roof or covering in the manner of a Loggia, constructed
over it after his design, as a shelter from the sun in summer,
and from the rain and wind in winter. This work he exe
cuted for Pope Nicholas V.,^^ who had intended to construct
many similar ones for various parts of Eome, but death in
terposed to prevent him. In a small chapel to the Virgin,
at the approach to the bridge of the Carraia, in Florence, is
a work by Leon Batista, an altar-table, namely, with three
small historical pictures, and certain accessories in perspec
tive, which were much more effectually described by him
with the pen than depicted with the pencil. There is be
sides, a portrait of Alberti in the house of the Palla Eucellai
family in Florence, drawn by himself with the aid of a mir
ror ; ^ and a picture in chiaro-scuro, the figures of which
^' The design, rather.
'^ These paintings are lost, but there is a well-known profile bronze medal of
Alberti by Matteo de' Pasti, of Verona ; the reverse bears a winged eye, with tlie
words Quid t am, and a laurel wreath. The celebrated ]>laqtiette in the Dreyfus
collection, Paris, bears Alberti's name ; a repetition of it is in the Louvre, but
the latter lacks the initials. Competent critics believe this relief to be by Al
berti himself. A third authentic portrait is in the medallion which is the
companion to the one upon the tomb cf PandoHo Sigismondo Malatesta in the
Malatestian temple.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI 61
are large. He likewise executed a perspective view of
Venice and St. Mark's, but the figures seen in this work,
which is one of the best paintings performed by Leon Ba
tista, were executed by other masters.
Leon Batista Alberti was a man of refined habits and
praiseworthy life,^ a friend of distinguished men, liberal
and courteous to all. He lived honourably and like a gentle
man, as he was, all the course of his life, and finally, hav
ing attained to a tolerably mature age, he departed ^ con
tent and tranquil to a better life, leaving behind him a most
honourable name.^^
^* He took orders and held various ecclesiastical offices, was canon of the
Florentine cathedral, rector of the ^'prepositura di San Martino a Ganga-
landi," abbot of San Savino and of Sant' Brmete di Pisa, a prelate of Borgo
San Lorenzo, and became apostolical secretary. See Pozzetti, Mem. e doc.
ined. , Bottari and Tiraboschi, cited by Milanesi.
^^ Alberti died in Rome in the spring of 1 473, and was buried in the church
from which he held a title, but his ashes were soon carried to Florence, where,
after Politian had pronounced the funeral oration, they were placed in the
family tomb in Santa Croce. See Yriarte's Rimini, p. 187.
28 Leon Battista Alberti incarnated the thought of the early Renaissance as
did Leonardo da Vinci that of the later and riper period. This artist-humanist
was at once athlete, poet — both in Latin and the vulgar tongue — critic, essay
ist, moralist, mathematician, engineer, writer upon optics, inventor, sculptor,
medallist, and architect. He led humanistic debates, yet held a benefice from
Pope Nicholas, was pontifical secretary after the year 1433, and at the same
time served the pagan Malatesta. Like Leonardo, he worked at so many things
that he accomplished relatively little in the concrete, but was a mighty influ
ence. It is not certain that he built either the Rucellai palace or the fagade
of Santa Maria Novella, though both are attributed to him, but San Fran
cesco of Rimini and Sant' Andrea of Mantua suffice to his fame. M. Miintz
calls him "the ideal consulting architect," the man who "plans in his study
and goes rarely to the works." Alberti's force as a factor in the Renaissance
was tripled by his peculiar position, his influence as artist, as humanist, and
as prince (or at least as the member at once of a princely house and of the
prelacy). In the early Renaissance the artist, though often the esteemed and
even petted friend of duke or marquis, was a craftsman after all. The hu
manist stood much higher, intellectually he was often the superior of the
princes of Church and State, and as a man he was considered to be their
equal ; and when to the qualities of a great artist and of a humanist Alberti
added the blood of a family equal to the Medici or the Albizzi, he became the
peer of any one, and could enforce the principles of his art with an authority
accorded only to a man on whom such triple gifts had been bestowed.

PEA FILIPPO LIPPI, FLOEENTINE PAINTEE i
[Bom firra 1406 ; died 1469.]
BiBLIOGRAPHT.— Z>ei?e Pitture di Fra Filippo Lippi in Prato, by Canon-
ioo P. Baldanzi, Prato, 1835. G. Milanesi, L'Art, 3d year, Vol. IV.; 4th
year. Vol. I. Dohme Series of Kunst und Kiinstler, article by Herr Karl
Woermann. Fra Filippo Lippi in L'Art, XI., p. 289 ; XII., pp. 5, 63.
THE Carmelite monk, Fra Filippo di Tommaso Lippi,
was born at Florence in a bye street called Ardi-
glione, under the Canto alia Cuculia, and behind the
convent of the Carmelites. By the death of his father ^ he
was left a friendless orphan at the age of two years, his
mother having also died Shortly after his birth. The child
was for some time under the care of a certain Mona La-
paccia, his aunt, the sister of his father, who brought him
up with very great difficulty till he had attained his eighth
year, when, being no longer able to support the burden of
his maintenance, she placed him in the above-named con
vent of the Carmelites.^ Here, in proportion as he showed
' Filippo di Tommaso Lippi, called Fra Filippo Lippi and Lippo Lippi, to
distinguish him from Filippino Lippi.
"^ Tommaso di Lippo, a butcher, was the father of Filippo Lippi ; his mother,
who died in the early years of the fifteenth century, is not known by name.
Vasari in his first edition gives the date of Filippo's birth as the year 1403,
and iu the second edition changes it to 1413, but MUanesi shows that Filippo
went first to the convent when eight years old, served there some si.x years,
and took his first orders, after a year's novitiate, on June 8, 1431. This fixes
the date of his birth as about 1406. After the death of Lippo's mother Tom
maso married again, his second wife being Antonia di Ser Bindo Semigi.
3 The usual custom of changing the baptismal name upon entering a con
vent appears to have been departed from in the instance of Filippo. He is
registered for the first time in 1430 as a full-fledged frate, to whom the con
vent grants a certain sum to pay for his monk's robe. A few months later he
professed. See note 3.

FILIPPO LIPPI 63
himself dexterous and ingenious in all works performed by
hand, did he manifest the utmost dulness and incapacity in
letters, to which he would never apply himself, nor would
he take any pleasure in learning of any kind. The boy
continued to be called by his worldly name of Filippo, and
being placed with others, who like himself were in the
house of the novices, under the care of the master,- to the
end that the latter might see what could be done with him ;
in place of studying, he never did anything but daub his
own books, and those of the other boys with caricatures,
whereupon the prior determined to give him all means and
every opportunity for learning to draw. The chapel of the
Carmine had then been newly painted by Masaccio, and
this being exceedingly beautiful, pleased Fra Filippo great
ly, wherefore he frequented it daily for his recreation, and,
continually practising there, in company with many other
youths, who were constantly drawing in that place, he sur
passed all the others by very much in dexterity and knowl
edge ; insomuch that he was considered certain to accom
plish some marvellous thing in the course of time. For
not only in his youth, but when almost in his childhood, he
performed so many praiseworthy labours, that it was truly
wonderful. While still very young he painted a picture in
terra verde,* in the cloister, near Masaccio's painting of the
Consecration ; the subject of which was a Pope confirming
the Eule of the Carmelites, with others in fresco on several
of the walls in diiferent parts of the church : among these
was a figure of St. John the Baptist, with stories from the
life of that saint. Proceeding thus, and improving from
< The account-book of the convent mentions Filippo as painter in the years
1430, 1431. He probably worked at this time in the cloister of the convent
and if, as Milanesi believes, Masaccio painted the Brancacci chapel toward the
end of his life, it is quite possible that Filippo studied with him, and certain
that he must have at least seen and profited by the paintings in the chapel.
All of Filippo's works in the Carmine have perished, unless certain fragments
in the cloister be his ; but Messrs. Cavalcaselle and Crowe call attention to
the fact that the fresco in the cloister of the Carmine is not in terra verde,
and think it can hardly be from the hand of Filippo Lippi, as it is painted in
the style of Masaccio. See their Storia della Pittura in Italia, IL, 314.

64 FILIPPO LIPPI
day to day, he had so closely followed the manner of Ma
saccio, and his works displayed so much similarity to those
of the latter, that many affirmed the spirit of Masaccio to
have entered the body of Fra Filippo.^ On one of the
pillars of the church, near the organ, he depicted the figure
of San Marziale, a work by which he acquired great fame,
seeing that it was judged to bear a comparison with those
executed by Masaccio. Whereupon, hearing himself so
highly commended by all, he formed his resolution at the
age of seventeen, and boldly threw off the clerical habit.^
Some time after this event, and being in the march of
Ancona, Filippo was one day amusing himself with certain
of his friends in a boat on the sea, when they were all taken
by a Moorish galley which was cruising in that neighbour
hood, and led captives into Barbary, where he remained,
suffering many tribulations, for eighteen months. But,
having frequent opportunities of seeing his master, it came
into his head one day to draw his portrait ; and finding an
opportunity, he took a piece of charcoal from the fire, aud
with that delineated his figure at full length on a white
wall, robed in his Moorish vestments. This being related
to the master by the other slaves, to all of whom it ap
peared a miracle, the arts of drawing and painting not
being practised in that country, the circumstance caused
his liberation from the chains in which he had so long been
held. And truly that was greatly to the glory of that noble
art ; for here was a man to whom belonged the right of
condemning and punishing, but who, in place of inflicting
pains and death, does the direct contrary, and is even led
» All critics have not subscribed to this statement ; many detect rather the
influence of Fra Angelico. It is, however, quite patent to any careful ob
server that both these great masters, Angelico and Masaccio, affected the emi
nently sympathetic temperament of Filippo.
' Milanesi has proved that he did not throw off the clerical habit, and that
in leaving the convent he continued to be a friar, and maintained friendly re
lations with the other monks. A bull of Pope Eugenius, issued February S3,
1442, made him rector for life of the parochial church of San Quirico, at
Legnaja, near Florence. He was chaplain in 1452 of the nuns of San Nicolo
de Frieri of Florence, and later of the nuns of Santa Margherita at Prato.

ROSSELLINO
TOMB OF LEONARDO BRUNI
SANTA CROCE, FLORENCE

Alinari, Phot.

FILIPPO LIPPI 65
to show friendship, and restore the captive to liberty. Hav
ing afterwards executed certain works in painting for his
master, he was then conducted safely to Naples,' where he
painted a picture on panel for king Alfonso, then Duke
of Calabria, which was placed in the chapel of the castle,
wliere the guard-room now is. But after no long time he
conceived a wish to return to Florence, where he remained
some months, during which time he painted an altar-piece
for the nuns of Sant' Ambrogio, a most beautiful picture,^
by means of which he became known to Cosimo de' Medici,
who was thereby rendered his most assured friend.^ He
likewise executed a painting in the chapter-house of Santa
Croce,*" with a second, which was placed in the chapel of
the Medici Palace, and on which he depicted the Nativity
of Christ.^' Fra Filippo likewise painted a picture for the
wife of the above-named Cosimo, the subject of which is
also a Nativity of Christ, with a figure of St. John the
' According to Milanesi the dates of some of Filippo's works make the story
of his slavery in Barbary improbable, though they do not wholly disprove it.
His picture for the Duke of Calabria, or rather for King Alfonso I. of Naples.
was painted in Florence in 14.56, and no traces of Filippo's stay in Ancona or
Naples can be found.
» Milanesi's dates for this Coronation of the Virgin are that of the original
commission, 14-54, and that of final payment, 1447. It is a large altar-piece
with many figures, now in the Academy at Florence. In the right-hand
lower comer is seen Pra Lippo himself beside an angel, bearing a scroll in
scribed, " Ts perfecit Opus." This is the most important and perhaps the
most interesting of Filippo's altar-pieces. For inscriptions once existing on
the picture, see Forence, by MM. Lafenestre and Richtenberger, p. 181, and
for charming philosophico-poetical reflections, apparently inspired by this
picture and by the story of the friar's life, see Robert Browning's poem, Fra
Lippo Lippi.
• This work was executed long after Co.simo first knew Filippo. It has
been stated that the woman with the children in the foreground, near the fig
ure of Fra Filippo, was either Spinetta or Lucrezia Buti. But at this time
(1441) Spinetta was only eight years old and Lucrezia was six.
'° The picture for the chapter-house of Santa Croce was a Madonna En
throned with the Child, at right and left Saints Damian and Francis, Cosimo
and Anthony of Padua ; it is now in the Academy of Florence.
" The picture for Casa Medici, a Madonna and Child, with two little angels,
is now in the Uffizi, where there is also a study for it, and the gallery of the
Hospital of the Innocenti possesses a slightly modified replica.

66 FILIPPO LIPPI
Baptist ; this work was intended for one of the cells in the
hermitage of Camaldoli which she had caused to be con
structed as a mark of devotion, and had dedicated to St.
John the Baptist.'- Other pictures by the same master,
containing stories in small figures, were sent as a gift to
Pope Eugenius IV., who was a Venetian, by Cosimo de'
Medici, and these works caused Fra Filippo to be in great
favour with that pontiff.
It is said that Fra Filippo was much addicted to the pleas
ures of sense, insomuch that he would give all he possessed
to secure the gratification of whatever inclination might at
the moment be predominant ; but if he could by no means
accomplish his wishes, he would then depict the object
which had attracted his attention, in his paintings, and en
deavour by discoursing and reasoning with himself to
diminish the violence of his inclination. It was known
that, while occupied in the pursuit of his pleasures, the
works undertaken by him received little or none of his at
tention ; for which reason Cosimo de' Medici, wishing him
to execute a work in his own palace,'^ shut him up, that he
might not waste his time in running about ; but having
endured this confinement for two days, he then made ropes
with the sheets of his bed, which he cut to pieces for that
purpose, and so having let himself down from a window,
escaped, and for several days gave himself up to his amuse
ments. When Cosimo found that the painter had disap
peared, he caused him to be sought, and Fra Filippo at last
returned to his work, but from that time forward Cosimo gave
him liberty to go in and out at his pleasure, repenting
greatly of having previously shut him up when he consid
ered the danger that Fra Filippo had incurred by his folly
in descending from the window ; and ever afterwards,
1' The second Nativity, painted for Cosimo's wife, is believed by Milanesi
to be a picture in the Academy, which was at one time attributed to Masohno
da Pauicale, while Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle are reminded by it of Fra
Angelico. '= Two lunettes now in the National Gallery of London came from the
Medici (now Riccardi) palace.

FILIPPO LIPPI 67
labouring to keep him to his work by kindness only, he was
by this means much more promptly and effectually served
by the painter, and was wont to say that the excellencies of
rare genius were as forms of light and not beasts of burden.*^
For the church of Santa Maria Primerana, on the
piazza of Fiesole, Fra Filippo painted a picture, '= wherein
he depicted Our Lady receiving the Annunciation from the
angel. This work exhibits extraordinary care, and there
is so much beauty in the figure of the angel, that it appears
to be indeed a celestial messenger. This master executed
two pictures for the nuns of the Murate ; one, an Annuncia
tion,'^ is placed on the high altar ; the other, presenting
stories from the lives of San Benedetto and San Bernardo, is
on another altar of the same church." In the palace of the
Signoria Fra Filippo likewise painted a picture which is over
a door ; with another representing San Bernardo, placed
over another door, in the same palace.*^ In the sacristy of
Santo Spirito, in Florence, is a painting by this master, rep
resenting the Virgin surrounded by angels, and with saints
on either hand, a work of rare excellence, which has ever
been held in the highest esteem by men versed in our arts."
In the church of San Lorenzo, Fra Filippo executed a
*^ Fra FOippo's letters do not bear out Vasari's description of the jovial
friar. He was poor and made great sacrifices to provide for his nieces. See
the letter to Piero de' iledici in Gaye's Carteggio.
15 Long since sold ; Milanesi suggests that it may be identical with a picture
in the gallery at Munich.
" An Annunciation in the Munich gallery, and much injured, came from
the Murate. See Crowe aud Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy.
1- This work is lost.
IB ;Milanesi proves by a document that Filippo was paid for the picture in
the Palazzo Vecchio in 1447. The Vision of San Bernardo is in the National
Gallery of London, and represents the Madonna, who appears to the Saint.
The Annunciation painted for the Signoria has perished.
" Now in the Louvre ; it was ordered of Filippo hy the captains of Or San
Michele in 1436. A tondo bought by the National Gallery of London from
the Baldi-Lombardi collection of Florence, was, according to Milanesi, mis
taken for a time for this picture. The London picture is not considered by
Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle to be by Fra Filippo. It is probably only a
work of his school. The predella is in the Academy at Florence, see La
fenestre and Richtenberger, Florence, p. 189.

68 FILIPPO LIPPI
picture, also representing the Annunciation, which is in the
chapel of the Superintendents of Works,^ with a second for
the Della Stufa Chapel, which is not finished. For Sant'
Apostolo, in the same city, he painted a picture, in panel
for one of the chapels ; it presents the Virgin surrounded
by different figures.^' And in Arezzo he executed one for
Messer Carlo Marsuppini, to be placed in the chapel of San
Bernardo,^ belonging to the monks of Monte Oliveto,
wherein he depicted the Coronation of the Virgin, sur
rounded by numerous saints. This work has maintained
itself in so remarkable a degree of freshness, that one might
suppose it to have but just left the hands of the master.
With respect to this picture, the latter was exhorted by
Carlo Marsuppini to give particular attention to the hands,
his painting of which, in many of his works, had been much
complained of ; whereupon Fra Filippo, wishing to avoid
such blame for the future, ever afterwards sought to conceal
the hands of his figures, either by the draperies or by some
other contrivance. In the painting we are now describing,
the master has given the portrait of Messer Carlo Marsup
pini from the life.
In Florence, Fra Filippo painted the picture of a Pre-
sepio,^ for the nuns of Annalena,^^ and some of his works
are also to be seen in Padua.'' He sent two stories in small
figures to Eome for Cardinal Barbo ; they were admirably

'" It is still in the church ; the second picture painted for the Stufa Chapel
has disappeared.
'¦ This picture is lost.
=2 According to Milanesi, H. 619, note 1, this picture was sold in 1785, when
the convent was suppressed, and eventually passed into the hands of Pope
Gregory XVI., who placed it in the Lateran Gallery, where it remains.
'" A representation of the Nativity.
=•• Milanesi declares this to be a Nativity in the Florentine Academy (Stan
za de' piccoli qnadri). In this little picture is seen a choir of angels, while
below are the Magdalen, St. Jerome, and another hermit, who bears inscribed
upon his shoulders the name Hilarion ( Ilarione) ; the latter figure is said by
Richa, Chiese Fiorentine, IX. 145, who saw the books of the convent, to be a
portrait of Ruberto Malatesta, a brother of Annalena.
" These pictures are lost.

FILIPPO LIPPI 69
executed, and finished with extraordinary care.^ This
master certainly displayed most wonderful grace in his
works, blending his colours with the most perfect harmony,
qualities for which he has ever been held in the highest es
teem among artists, and for which he is extolled by modern
masters with unlimited commendation ; nay, there can be
no doubt, that so long as his admirable labours can be pre
served from the voracity of time, his name will be held in
veneration by all coming ages. In Prato, near Florence,
where Fra Filippo had some relations, he took up his abode
for some months, and there executed various works for the
whole surrounding district, in company with the Carmelite,
Fra Diamante, who had been his companion in noviciate.
Having then received a commission from the nuns of Santa
Margherita, to paint a picture for the high altar of their
church, he one day chanced to see the daughter of Fran
cesco Buti, a citizen of Florence, who had been sent to the
Convent, either as a novice or boarder. Fra Filippo, having
given a glance at Lucrezia, for such was the name of the
girl, who was exceedingly beautiful and graceful, so per
suaded the nuns, that he prevailed on them to permit him
to make a likeness of her, for the figure of the Virgin in the
work he was executing for them.^ The result of this was,
that the painter fell violently in love with Lucrezia, and at
length found means to influence her in such a manner, that
he led her away from the nuns, and on a certain day, when
she had gone forth to do honour to the Cintola^s of
our Lady, a venerated relic preserved at Prato and exhibited

" These pictures have disappeared.
2' Milanesi suggests the possible identification of this Madonna with one in
a Nativity which is now in the Louvre. There is a gradino still in the Com
munal Gallery of Prato ; it bears the three stories of the Presentation in the
Temple, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Slaughter of the Innocents.
Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, however, believe that this picture of the
Louvre is byPesellmo rather than by Lippi, and Milanesi, admitting that they
may be right, is inclined to think that the picture in the Communal Gallery of
Prato is identical with the one which Vasari mentions.
" The girdle presented to St. Thomas by the Madonna.

70 FILIPPO LIPPI
on that occasion, he bore her from thoir keeping. By this
event the nuns were deeply disgraced, and the father of
Lucrezia was so grievously afflicted thereat, that he never
more recovered his cheerfulness, and made every possible
effort to regain his child. But Lucrezia, whether retained
by fear or by some other cause, would not return, but re
mained with Filippo, to whom she bore a son, who was also
called Filippo, and who eventually became a most excellent
and very famous painter like his father.^
In the church of San Domenico, in this same Prato, are
two pictures * by this master, and in the transept of the
church of San Francesco is another, a figure of the Vir
gin namely. Desiring to remove this work from its original
place, the superintendents, to save it from injury, had the
wall on which it was depicted cut away, and having secured
and bound it with wood-work, thus transported it to another
wall of the church, where it is still to be seen.^' Over a
well, in the court-yard of the Ceppo of Francesco di Marco,
there is a small picture on panel by this master, representing
the portrait of the above-named Francesco di Marco, the au-
38 Milanesi, in a long commentary, discusses the theories regarding Filippo's
liaison with Lucrezia, and gives the result of documentary investigation as
follows : In 1453 FUippo bought a house at Prato, staying there till about
1463. In 1456, when fifty years old, he fell in love with Lucrezia Buti.
Lucrezia's father, Francesco Buti, was a Florentine silk-merchant, who died
leaving a family of eleven children to the care of the elder brother Antonio.
The latter was forced by limited means to put Spinetta Buti, born in 1434,
and Lucrezia, born iu 1435, into the convent of Santa Margherita at Prato, of
which Filippo was chaplain. Lucrezia ran away with hira on the day of the
festival of the Holy Girdle, and in 1457 gave birth to a child, who became
the famous painter Filippino Lippi. Spinetta also fled from the convent
with several other nuns, but all were forced to return in 1459, and re-entered
the noviciate. In 1461 Pope Pius II. granted Filippo a dispensation recog
nizing the friar and nun as a married couple, and Lucrezia, in 1465, bore a
daughter named Alessandra.
3" One of these paintings appears to be lost. The other, still in situ, is a Na
tivity with adoring shepherds, a Saint Vincent, and a militant saint. Messrs.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle refer to Filippo a picture now attributed to Botticelli,
in a church close by the Santo Spirito at Prato, representing a Virgin aui-
rounded by saints.
s' Since lost.

FILIPPO LIPPI 71
thor and founder of that pious establishment. =« In the
Capitular Church of Prato, on a small tablet which is over
the side door as one ascends the steps, Fra Filippo depicted
the death of San Bernardo,'^ by the touch of whose bier many
lame persons are restored to health. In this work are monks
bewailing the loss of their master ; and the exquisite grace
of their heads, the truth and beauty with which their grief,
and the plaintive expression of their weeping, are conveyed
to the spectator, is a thing marvellous to behold. Some of
the hoods and draperies of these monks have most beautiful
folds, and the whole work merits the utmost praise for the
excellence of its design, composition, and colouring, as well
as for the grace and harmony of proportion displayed in it,
completed as it is by the most delicate hand of Filippo. He
was also appointed by the wardens of the same church, who
desired to retain a memorial of him, to paint the chapel of
the High Altar,** and here we have likewise good evidence
of his power, for besides the excellence of the picture as a
whole, there are certain heads and draperies in it which are
most admirable. In this work Fra Filippo made the figures
=2 This picture (painted about the year 1453) is now in the office of the Hos
pital. Francesco di Marco (Datini) is not the principal figure, but is seen
adoring a Virgin surrounded by saints.
=' This work is not a small tablet, but is a large painting ordered by Gemi-
niano lughirami. See Milanesi, Vol. II. , p. 032, note 3.
'* The order to paint the choir of the cathedral (then Capitular Church)
of Prato may have been given to Filippo as early as 14.53, and the frescoes
were probably not entirely finished in 1464. These dates are taken from
documents cited by Milanesi. Geminiano lughirami was Proposto when the
frescoes were begun. Carlo de' Medici, son of Cosimo the Elder, succeeded
Geminiano in office before they were finished. The portrait of Geminiano was
painted in the lunette (death of San Bernardo), that of Carlo in the picture
of the death of St. Stephen. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle believe that
FOippo has painted his own portrait in the last figure at the right of the group
of people who mourn the death of the saint. These two frescoes in the choir
of Prato are Filippo's masterpieces, and in them he shows the whole scope of
his capacity. They show comedy and tragedy side by side, for the Banquet
of Herod is treated in a light vein, with charming episodes (see the two whis
pering figures), whereas in the Death of Stephen and its ordered masses of
grave spectators FOippo follows Masaccio, is a precursor of Ghirlandajo and
takes rank as a great master.

72 FILIPPO LIPPI
larger than life, and hereby instructed later artists in the
mode of giving true grandeur to large figures. There are
likewise certain figures clothed in vestments but little used
at that time, whereby the minds of others were awakened,
and artists began to depart from that sameness which should
rather be called obsolete monotony than antique simplicity.
In the same work are stories from the life of Santo Stefano,
to whom the church is dedicated ; they cover the wall on the
right side, and consist of the Disputation, the Stoning, and
the Death of the Protomartyr. In the first of these, where
St. Stephen is disputing with the Jews, the countenance of
the saint exhibits so much zeal and fervour, that it is diffi
cult even to imagine ; how much more then to give it ex
pression : while, in the faces and attitudes of these Jews,
their hatred and rage, with the anger they feel at finding
themselves vanquished by the saint, are equally manifest.
Still more forcibly has he depicted the brutal rage of
those who slew the martyr with stones, which they grasp,
some large, others smaller ones, with grinding teeth, horri
ble to behold, and with gestures of demoniac rage and cru
elty. St. Stephen, calm and steadfast in the midst of their
terrible violence, is seen with his face towards heaven, im
ploring the pardon of the Eternal Father for those who thus
attack him, with the utmost piety and fervour. This variety
of expression is certainly very fine, and is well calculated to
teach students of art the value of imitative power, and the
importance of being able to express clearly the affections and
emotions of the characters represented. Fra Filippo devoted
the most earnest attention to this point, as is seen in this
work ; he has given the disciples who are burying St. Stephen
attitudes so full of dejection, and faces so deeply afflicted,
so drowned in tears, that it is scarcely possible to look at
them without feeling a sense of sorrow. On the other side
of the chapel is the History of St. John the Baptist, his
Birth, that is to say, his Preaching in the Wilderness, his
Baptism, the Feast of Herod, and the Decapitation of the
Saint. In the picture of the Preaching, the Divine Spirit

FILIPPO LIPPI 73
inspiring the speaker is most clearly manifest in his face,
while the different emotions of hope, anxiety, gladness, and
sorrow, of the crowd, women as well as men, who are listen
ing around him, charmed and mastered by the force of his
words, are equally well expressed. In the Baptism are
beauty and goodness exemplified, and in the Feast of Herod,
the splendour of the banquet, the address of Herodias, the
astonishment of the guests, and their inexpressible sorrow
when the head is presented on the charger, are rendered with
admirable truth and effect. Among those present at the ban
quet are numerous figures in fine attitudes, exhibiting beau
tiful draperies and exquisite expressions of countenance. A
portrait of Fra Filippo himself, taken with his own hand by
help of a mirror, is one of them, and among the persons who
bewail the death of St. Stephen, is the portrait of his disciple
Fra Diamante, in a figure robed in black, and bearing the
vestments of a bishop.^ This work is indeed the best of all
that he produced, as well for the many fine qualities dis
played in it, as for the circumstance, that having made the
figures somewhat larger than life, he encouraged those who
came after him to enlarge their manner. Fra Filippo was
indeed so highly estimated for his great gifts, that many
circumstances in his life which were very blameable received
pardon, and were partly placed out of view, in consideration
of his extraordinary abilities In the work just described is
the portrait of Messer Carlo, natural son of Cosimo de'
Medici, who was rector of the church wherein it was executed,
which had received large benefactions both from him and
his house.
In the year 1463,^^ when Fra Filippo had completed this
undertaking, he painted a picture in tempera for the church
of San Jacopo, in Pistoja. The subject of this work, which
is a very fine one, is the Annunciation, and contains the
S5 The Alinari, in their catalogue of a series of photographs taken from the
frescoes, call the figure which stands directly beside Fra Filippo a portrait of
Fra Diamante.
" 1464 ?

74 FILIPPO LIPPI
portrait of Messer Jacopo Bellucci,^ taken from the life,
and depicted with great animation. There is also a picture
representing the Birth of the Virgin, by this master, in the
house of Pulidoro Bracciolini, and in the hall of the Coun
cil of Eight, in Florence, is a picture of the Virgin with
the Child in her arms, painted in tempera, on a half circle.^
In the house of Ludovico Capponi, likewise, there is another
picture of the Virgin, which is exceedingly beautiful ; ^
and a work of the same master is in the possession of Ber
nardo Vecchietti, a Florentine noble of so much integrity
and excellence that my words cannot do justice to his
merits. The picture is small, the subject Sant' Agostino
occupied with his studies ; an exceedingly beautiful paint
ing.*" But still finer is a figure of St. Jerome doing pen
ance, of similar size, and by the same hand, which is now
in the guardaroba oi Duke Cosimo : "" for if Fra Filippo
displayed excellence in his paintings generally, still more
admirable were his smaller pictures ; in these he surpassed
3^ This work has not been traced with certainty.
2' In the Berlin Gallery are two Madonnas, but they are not identified with
this picture by Dr. Bode or Dr. Meyer. The Bracciolini picture is not known
with any certainty. Morelli, in his Italian Masters, admits as genuine pict
ures hy Fra Lippo Lippi the following works in Bome : An Annunciation in
the private collection of Miss Hertz, an Annunciation in the Doria Gallery,
and a triptych in the Lateran with a Coronation of the Virgin in the central
panel and a portrait of Carlo Marsuppini in one of the sportelli. In Munich,
Morelli catalogues an Annunciation and a Madonna with the infant Christ ;
in the National Gallery, three works, an Annunciation, a Vi.sion of S. Bernard,
aud a John the Baptist with six other saints ; in Oxford, a little panel of the
marriage of Saints Joachim and Anna ; in the Louvre, only one picture, a Ma
donna and Child with two priests and six angels. Besides these there are the
two panels of the Turin Academy representing the Fathers of the Church,
and a half dozen pictures in Florence. (M M. Lafenestre and Richtenberger
catalogue fourteen in their Florence as among the works of the master in the
churches and galleries of the latter city.) Morelli says that Vienna, Dresden,
and Madrid have no pictures by the master, but admits that Berlin possesses
several genuine works by Lippi, and calls No. 69 in that gallery the most
characteristic of them.
=• Said by Milanesi to have been sold to Prince Demidoff, and then resold by
him. " In the Uffizi.
*' This picture is lost.

FILIPPO LIPPI 75
himself, imparting to them a grace and beauty, than which
nothing finer could be imagined : examples of this may be
seen in the predellas of all the pictures painted by him.
He was indeed an artist of such power, that in his own
time he was surpassed by none, and even in our days there
are very few superior to him : therefore it is that he has
not only been always eulogized by Michael Angelo, but in
many things has been imitated by that master.
For the church of San Domenico- vecchio, in Perugia,*^
Fra Filippo painted a picture, which has since been placed
on the high altar ; it represents the Virgin, with San Piero,
San Paolo, San Ludovico, and Sant' Antonio the abbot.
The Cavaliere, Messer Alessandro degli Alessandri, also a
friend of Fra Filippo, caused him to paint a picture ^ for
the church of his country palace at Vincigliata, on the
heights of Fiesole, the subject a San Lorenzo and other
saints. In this work he depicted the portraits of Alessandro
degli Alessandri and his two sons. Fra Filippo was very
partial to men of cheerful character, and lived for his own
part in a very joyous fashion.
This master instructed Fra Diamante in the art of paint
ing, and the latter executed many works in the church of
the Carmine at Prato. He attained to great perfection in
the imitation of his master's manner, and thereby obtained
much credit for himself. Among those who studied with
Fra Filippo, were Sandro Botticello, Pisello, and Jacopo
del Sellajo, a Florentine, who painted two pictures for the
church of San Friano, and one in distemper for that of the
Carmine, with many other artists whom he always instruct
ed in the most friendly manner. He lived creditably by his
labours, and expended very large sums on the pleasures to
" This picture was ordered in 1451 by the Perugian Antonio del Branca ;
he was dissatisfied and had a lawsuit about it. There has been some contro
versy regarding fragments of an altar-piece now in the chapter house of S.
Domenico, but Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle do not believe them to be by
FiUppo, and nothing certain is known about the matter.
" In Casa Alessandri, Borgo degli Albizzi, Florence.

76 FILIPPO LIPPI
which he continued to addict himself, even to the end of
his life. Fra Filippo was requested by the commune of
Spoleto, through the medium of Cosimo de' Medici, to
paint the chapel in their principal church ^ — that of Our
Lady — and this work, with the assistance of Fra Diamante,
he was conducting to a successful termination, when, being
overtaken by death, he was prevented from completing it.
It was said that the libertinism of his conduct occasioned
this catastrophe, and that he was poisoned by certain per
sons related to the object of his love.
Fra Filippo finished the course of his life in the year 1438,
being then fifty-seven years old.^^ He left Filippo his son
to the guardianship of Fra Diamante, with whom the child,
then ten years old, returned to Florence, and was by him in
structed in the art of painting. Fra Diamante took three
hundred ducats wdth him from Spoleto, which remained to
be received from the commune for the work performed
there, and with this sum he purchased a certain property
for himself, appropriating but little of it to the child. The
latter was placed with Sandro Botticello, who was at that
time considered an excellent master in painting, and the old
man was buried in a tomb of red and white marble, which
the people of Spoleto caused to be erected for him in the
church which he was painting.

<" The principal work in this series (1467-1469) ia a vast fresco in the semi-
dome of the cathedral at Spoleto. It is dignified and has «, certain grandeur
which is enhanced by its size. Probably no fresco by a Tuscan master is so
rich in color, but this is largely because a liberal use of strong blues aud gilding
has been followed by the tempering effect of disintegration and the flaking off
of the plaster. The subject, which is immensely decorative from its almost
Gothic abundance of gilded patterns in the costumes, represents a Coronation
of the Virgin, who is surrounded by a great number of angels and saints.
Below upon the walls are the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Assumption.
Fra Diamante finished the work in 1470.
¦" He died in 1469, at the age of sixty-three years, and probably from natural
causes, for it is most improbable that he should have been killed by the rela
tives of Lucrezia, to whom he had been for many years married and unless
some other woman was ''the object of his love " referred to by Vasari, we
must dismiss the question of poison.

FILIPPO LIPPI 77
The death of Fra Filippo caused much regret to many
among his friends, more particularly to Cosimo de' Medici
and Pope Eugenius IV.""^ The latter had offered in his life
time to give him a dispensation,*'' that he might make Lu
crezia di Francesco Buti his legitimate wife, but Fra Filippo,
desiring to retain the power of living after his own fashion,
and of indulging his love of pleasure as might seem good to
him, did not care to accept that offer.
During the pontificate of Sixtus IV., Lorenzo de' Medici
was sent ambassador from the Florentines, and took the
journey to Spoleto, for the purpose of demanding the re
mains of Fra Filippo from that Commune, to the end that
they might be deposited in the Florentine cathedral, Santa
Maria del Fiore. But the Spoletines replied that they were
but poorly provided with ornaments, above all with distin
guished men ; they consequently begged permission as a
favour to retain them, that they might honour themselves
therewith, adding, that since they possessed so many great
men in Florence as almost to have a superfluity, they might
content themselves without this one, and that reply was all
that Lorenzo received. But being still resolved to do all the
honour that he possibly could to Fra Filippo, he sent Filip
pino, the son of the latter, to Eome, to the cardinal of
Naples, that he might paint a chapel for that prelate, and
on this occasion Filippino, passing through Spoleto, was
commissioned by Lorenzo to construct* a sepulchre of
marble over the sacristy and beneath the organ. On this
work he expended two hundred ducats, which were paid by
Nofri Tornabuoni, master of the bank to the Medici. Lo
renzo likewise caused the following epigram to be made by
*' Cosimo and Eugenius both died before Filippo Lippi.
^^ Milanesi proves that, on the contrary, he accepted this dispensation granted
him by Pope Pius II. (not Eugenius IV. ), and that he thereby, for the sake of
Lucrezia, forfeited all those ecclesiastical revenues which had been settled on
him for life. His letters prove that he was often in financial difficulties,
and sometimes iu actual want, though he was an industrious and popular
painter. « In 1488.

78 FILIPPO LIPPI
Messer Agnolo Poliziano, which was engraved on the tomb
in letters after the antique : —
" Conditus hie ego sum picturce fama Philippus
Nulli ignota meae est gratia mira manus ;
Artejices potui digitis atiimare colores
Sperataque aiiimos fnllere voce diu:
Ipsa ¦meis siupuit natura expressa Jiguris,
Meque suis/assa est artibus esse parent.
Marmoreo tumulo Medices Laurentiiis flic me
Condidit, ante liumili pulvere iectus eram. " "
*' An intense quality of human sijmpath^y made Filippo Lippi one of the
greatest artists of his time ; he sympathized with everything, was at once emi
nently naturalistic, reproducing the grimace of a street urchin, and eminently
decorative, setting the lilies a row in his Coronation of the Virgin of Saint Am
brose, and multiplying them against the gilded rays and brocaded patternings
of the vestments in his other and raore solemn Coronation of Spoleto. Robert
Browning, in his poem of Pra Lippo Lippi, makes him say truly of the exter
nal world, " To me it means intensely and means good."
And M. Lafenestre, in his Peinture Italienne, has felt profoundly the "warm
expansion of sympathy " with which Fra Lippo brought the human type into
art, in exchange for that conventional type which had been called divine,
making Madonna a real mother of a real baby, and giving to sacred person
ages, " without scruple as without coarseness," the features of living men and
women. His color is warm and transparent, and, says M. Lafenestre, " in the
midst of a grave, severe school he sounds a joyous note, which echoes longer
in Venice than in his native Tuscany, and which is the first utterance of
modern painting." He is a realist and an idealist at once, forgetting the
grand style of Masaccio in his attempt, a successful attempt, to render the
grace and life of the adolescent figures in his Feast of Herod at Prato and
again yielding a precedent for the stateliness of Ghirlandajo in his mourning
groups about the dead Saint Stephen. He often sacrifices precision to vivacity
and variety, caring more about expression than pure form and falling fre
quently into a mannerism shown in his flattened and widened skulls and broad
faces, but conquering his audience of the fifteenth as of the nineteenth century
by his unaffected sincerity and his joyous realism. As he had humanized
Madonna he domesticated Art, reducing the altar-piece to the genre picture.
He first painted those tondi in round frames which gradually replaced the
more solemn triptych and admitted of a more farailiar treatraent of sacred
themes. His greatest works are his frescoes of Prato, for his huge, solemn
semi-dome of Spoleto has suffered too much froni time and damp and candle-
smoke to be considered his masterpiece ; but the things which have made him
famous are his more intimate and more familiar easel pictures, his Madonnas
of the Pitti and Uffizi and his great altar-piece of the Academy.

ANDEEA DAL CASTAGNO,! OF THE MUGELLO,
AND DOMENICO VENIZIANO, PAINTEES
[Bom 1390 ? ; died 1457. Bom during the first ten years of the fifteenth cen
tury ; died 1461.]
HOW reprehensible is the vice of envy in a distinguished
artist : envy, which never should be permitted to
exist in any mind. Above all, how fearful and hor
rible a crime is that of seeking, under the guise of friend
ship, to annihilate the fame and honour, na}', to extinguish
the life of another ! How atrocious such a crime is no words
can possibly express, the depravity of the action, rendering
all power of language, however eloquent, inadequate to de
scribe it. Therefore, without further insisting on that mat
ter, I will only say, that in men, capable of such wickedness,
there dwells a spirit, not merely savage and inhuman, but
wholly cruel and fiend-like ; nay, so utterly destitute of all
worth are such beings, that they no longer merit the name
of men, or even of animals, but are altogether unfit to
breathe the breath of life. For, inasmuch as a virtuous
emulation and the effort to acquire glory and honour, by
surpassing men more distinguished than himself, is praise
worthy in the artist, as necessary to his progress and useful to
society ; insomuch, nay much more, is the wickedness of
envy to be scorned and vituperated ; envy, which, not being
able to endure the praise and glory of another, is therefore
resolved to deprive him of life, whom it cannot despoil of
honour, as was done by the unhappy Andrea dal Castagno,
' Andrea di Bartolommeo di Simone, called Andrea dal Castagno (Andrea
degl' Impiooati by Filarete, and Andrein by Giovanni Santi in his Elogio
Storico), was the son of a laborer and small proprietor of S. Andrea a Linari,
in the contado of Florence.

80 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
who was in truth, excellent as a painter, and a great master
in design, but was still more remarkable for the rancour and
envious hatred by which he was inspired towards other
painters, insomuch that, by the weight and darkness of his
crime, he has inhumed and obscured the splendour of his
talents. This master, having been born ^ at a small farm called
Castagno, situate in the Mugello, a district of the Florentine
territory, adopted that name as his surname when he came
to take up his abode in Florence, which happened on this
wise. His father died while he was in his first childhood,
and left him to the care of an uncle, who set him to herd
his cattle. In this occupation he spent several years,- dis
playing great readiness and intelligence ; he was besides so
strong and powerful that he was not only capable of guard
ing and keeping his cattle in subjection, but also of protect
ing the pastures, and whatever else was placed within his
care, froui all attack and aggression. One day, while em
ployed in this manner, he was seeking shelter from the rain,
when he chanced to enter a house where one of those paint
ers of the district, who make pictures for small prices, was
painting an oratory or tabernacle, for a countryman. Where
upon, Andrea, who had never before seen a thing of the
kind, was seized with instant admiration, and began to look
attentively at the work, and examine the manner of its ex
ecution ; as he did so, a sudden inclination was awakened in
him, and this became so passionate a desire for art, that he
began without loss of time to scratch figures of animals on
the walls and on stones with the point of his knife, and to
draw them with pieces of charcoal, in such a manner that he
caused no little amazement in those who beheld them. The
report of Andrea's new studies was soon bruited about among
the country people, and reached the ears (as his good fort
une would have it) of a Florentine gentleman called Bernar-
detto de' Medici, whose property was situated in that neigh
bourhood. This gentleman then desired to know the boy,
' In 1390.

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 81
and having seen him, and found that he replied to his ques
tions with considerable intelligence, he asked him if he
would like to become a painter. To this Andrea made an
swer, that nothing could happen to him that would be so
welcome, nor would any thing please him so much ; where
fore, to the end that he might be made perfect in the art,
Bernardetto took the boy with him to Florence, where he
engaged him to work with one of those masters who were
then esteemed the best.^
Thenceforward Andrea continued to practise the art of
painting, and devoting himself entirely to the studies con
nected therewith : he displayed very great intelligence in the
diffiQulties of his calling, and more particularly in design.
In the colouring of his works he was not so happy ; here
there was a something crude and harsh, which detracted
greatly from the beauty and grace of the picture, depriving
it of the charm of softness, which in his colouring was
never to be found. He displayed extraordinary power in
the movements of his figures, and great force in the heads,
whether male or female, giving them aspects of much gravity
and an extreme earnestness of expression. He drew them
also exceedingly well. Among the earliest works of this
master, are those in San Miniato at Monte, which he exe
cuted in his first youth. They are in the cloister as you
ascend * from the church to go into the convent ; and here
he painted a fresco, wherein is depicted the parting of San
Miniato and San Cresci from their father and mother.'' In
San Benedetto, a most beautiful monastery situate without
the Pinti Gate, there were many pictures by Andrea dal
Castagno, both in the church and convent, but of these I
need make no further mention, since they were destroyed in
* Scende, here translated ascend, means descend.
' There is some doubt as to where Andrea obtained his knowledge of art.
Masaccio, Masolino, and Angelico are suggested as possible masters by various
authorities, but Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle think that he is a product of
the school which produced Uccello and Pesellino. He was matriculated as
painter May 30, 1445.
* These works have been destroyed.

82 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
the siege of Florence. In the city itself, and in the monas
tery belonging to the Monaci degli Angeli, Andrea dal Cas
tagno painted a Crucifix * (whicli is still there), in the first
cloister, and opposite to the principal door, with Our Lady,
San Giovanni, San Benedetto, and San Eomualdo : and at
the end of the cloister which is above the kitchen-garden,
he painted another, nearly similar, the heads only, with a
few other smaller particulars, being slightly varied.^
In the church of Santa Trinita, near the chapel of Maes
tro Luca, tllis artist painted a Sant' Andrea.* For Pan-
dolfo Pandolfini,' he depicted certain illustrious persons
in one of the halls of his palace at Legnara. f And for the
Brotherliood of the Evangelist he painted a Banner, to be
carried in their processions, which was esteemed to be a very
beautiful thing. ^ In the convent belonging to the Servites
in the same city, are certain frescoes by this master, painted
in three shallow niches of different chapels. One of these
chapels, is that dedicated to San Giuliano,' where there are
stories from the life of the Saint, with a considerable num
ber of figures and a dog, foreshortened, which has been
greatly extolled. Above these, in the chapel of San Giro
lamo (St. Jerome), that saint is delineated, his body wasted,
and with the head shaven ; the figure well drawn and very
(\irefully painted. Over it is the Trinity with a Crucifix,
which is also foreshortened, and so well done, that Andrea
* For Crucifix read Crucifixion.
+ Read Legnaia for Legnara.
" A Crucifixion has been recently freed from whitewash, but Milanesi (Vol.
II., p. 6G9) does not believe that it is by Andrea. The second Crucifixion is
lost. •* This work is lost.
' For some time these portraits were preserved in the Bargello, but in 1891
they were carried to the convent of Santa ApoUonia, where they now are.
They include full-length figures of the famous Pippo Spano (Filippo Scolari),
of Farinata degli Uberti, of Niccolo Acciajuoli, The Cumaean Sibyl, Esther,
Tomyris, Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
** This banner is lost.
" The upper half of a figure of San Giuliano still exists behind a painting on
canvas in the Feroni chapel at the right on entering the church. See Mi
lanesi, Vol. II., p. 671, note 1.

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 83
merits great praise for that work, he having executed the
foreshortening in a much better and more modern manner
than any master among those who preceded him had done.
But this fresco can no longer be seen, a picture having been
suspended over it by the Montaguti family. In the third
chapel (which stands beside the last-mentioned, the place of
which is beneath the organ), erected at the command of
Messer Orlando de' Medici, Andrea painted Lazarus, Martha,
and Mary Magdalen.i" For the Nuns of San Giuliano, he
executed a Crucifix * in fresco, over the door, with figures of
Our Lady, San Domenico, San Giuliano, and San Giovanni,
a picture which is considered one of the best that Andrea
ever painted, and which has been commended by all artists."
In Santa Croce, there is a work by this master in the
chapel of the Cavalcanti family, a San Giovan Batista, and
San Francesco namely, both considered very beautiful fig-
ures.^^ But one which caused astonishment in all artists,
was that in the new cloister of the convent of Santa Croce :
at the head of it, that is to say, opposite to the door : where
Andrea dal Castagno painted a fresco, representing Christ
bound to the column and scourged, which is most beautiful
in itself; but in addition, there is a Loggia, with the
columns drawn in perspective, the cross-vaulting and ribs
diminishing so finely, and the walls (partitioned into oval
compartments) being depicted with so much art and knowl
edge, that he proved himself to understand the difficulties
of perspective as perfectly as he did the art of design in
painting.'^ The attitudes of the men who are scourging the
* Read Crucifixion.
10 These works are lost.
" There is still a Crucifixion in the lunette over the door, but it is evidently
by a painter of the sixteenth century. There are no figures as Vasari de
scribes. See Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting in Italy,
IL, 310.
1= This work is still in Santa Croce. Morelli ascribes these saints to
Domenico Veneziano. See Morelli's Italian Masters in German Galleries, p.
205, note. Dr. Richter considers that these frescoes show the characteristics
of Baldovinetti.
" This work is lost, and was replaced by a seventeenth-century painting.

84 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
Saviour in this fresco, are exceedingly flue, and display ex
traordinary force ; their faces betray their rage and hatred,
while that of Christ is equally expressive of patience and
humility. In the person of the Saviour, which is fast bound
to the column with cords, it would seem that Andrea de
sired to exhibit the suffering endured by the flesh, while at
the same time, the Divinity concealed in that body makes
itself manifest in a certain nobility and splendour, by which
Pilate, who is sitting among his councillors, appears to be
moved, and seeks to discover an opportunity for setting him
free. This picture is, in fine, of such merit, that were it
not for the carelessness which has permitted it to be
scratched and injured by children and simple folks, who
have maltreated the head, arms, and almost the entire per
sons of the Jews, as though they would thereby avenge the
injuries inflicted on the Saviour, this work would, without
doubt, be the most beautiful of all that Andrea executed.
Had nature conferred on this artist the gift of imparting
softness to his colouring, as liberally as she bestowed on him
those of invention and design, he would have justly merited
to be considered most admirable.
In Santa Maria del Fiore, Andrea dal Castagno depicted
the likeness of Niccold da Tolentino '^ on horseback ; and
while engaged on this work, a child who was passing by,
shook the ladder on which he stood ; when Andrea, like a
brutally violent man as he was, got down and ran after him
to the corner of the Pazzi. Beneath the charnel-house in
the cemetery of Santa Maria Nuova, he painted a figure of
Sant' Andrea, which gave so much satisfaction that he was
at once appointed to paint a picture of the Last Supper in
the refectory used by the servants and other officials of the
" This fresco, which is still in the church, was transferred to canvas in 1842
by Rizzoli. There is a study for it in the collection of drawings in the Uffizi.
It was probably Andrea's last extant work, as it was executed in 14.55-1456.
Niccolb di' Giovanni de' Maurucci, Captain-General of the Florentines, died a
little after 1433. The figure of the man is ungainly in its foreshortening, and
while the belly of the horse is seen from underneath, the head is painted as
from on a level with it.

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 85
house. '^ These works obtained him great favour with the
superintendent of the hospital and the Portinari family ;
and procured him a commission to decorate a portion of the
principal chapel with pictures ; a second part being confided
to Alesso Baldovinetti ; and the then reno'wned painter,
Domenico Veneziano,'* being engaged to execute the third ;
he having been invited to Florence on account of the new
method, which he had acquired, of painting in oil." Each
of these artists, therefore, gave his attention to his own divis
ion of the work, but Andrea was in the highest degree en
vious of Domenico, because, although he felt conscious that
he was himself superior to the Venetian painter in design,
he was, nevertheless, enraged to see that he, who was a for
eigner, received marks of esteem and friendship from his
own fellow citizens. So powerful indeed were these emo
tions of anger and bitterness, that Andrea began to consider
*^ A Crucifixion in the ancient Convent degli Angioli, a dependency of the
hospital of S. Maria Nuova, is so feeble a work that Milanesi does not beheve
it to be by Andrea. A second and better Crucifixion has been carried to a
room on the Piazza S. Maria Nuova, opposite the hospital See Lafenestre
and Richiienberger, Florence, pp. 253-354.
i« Little is known of Domenico Veneziano, called in the records ^^Maestro
Domenicho di Bartolomeio da Venezia," and hardly any of his works remain.
His works in S. Maria Nuova have perished, but Vasari's statement that he
painted them in oils, seems to be corroborated by the entries in the hospital
books for linseeed oil furnished to the painter. This, however, does not
prove that he had learned the method of the Van Eycks, either from Anto-
nello da Messina (who does not appear to have visited the north of Italy at
this time), or from anyone else, since the process of the famous Flemish
brothers consisted in much more than the mere use of linseed oil The latter
medium goes back to the days of Cennini, and it is probable that Domenico
only used the oil furnished him in considerable quantities, in preparation of
colors for his fresco work, according to a method which had long been em
ployed. See Milanesi (Vol. IL, p. 685), Commentario alle Vite di Andrea dal
Castagno e Domenico Veneziano, where he assures us, that although much lin
seed oil was charged to Domenico upon the books of the convent, while he was
painting; the chapel of Sant' Egidio, no traces of it can be found in his panel
picture once in Santa Lucia de Magnoli, and now in the Uffizi. It must be
added that Domenico's pupil, Piero della Francesca, succeeded admirably with
the new vehicle.
" Domenico Veneziano did not paint in S. Maria Nuova simultaneously with
Andrea. The former worked there in 1445, and the latter began his fresco in
1451.

86 ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
if he could not by one means or another remove this com
petitor from his sight. Andrea dal Castagno was no less
subtle in dissimulation than clever as a painter ; he could
assume a cheerful countenance at his pleasure, had a ready
tongue, was a man of a bold spirit, and was as decided in
acting as in resolving ; he had the same dispositions towards
others as towards Domenico ; and when he perceived a fault
in the work of an artist, would mark it secretly with his
nail. But when, in his youth, his own works were censured
by any one, he would fall on such critics with blows and
other injurious retorts, giving them to understand that he
was always both able and willing to avenge himself in one
mode or another on all who might offend him.
But before we speak of the paintings in the above-named
chapel, we will say a few words of Domenico. This master,
in company with Piero della Francesca, had executed dif
ferent works in the Sacristy of Santa Maria, at Loretto,"
before repairing to Florence ; and these paintings, display
ing much grace and beauty, has caused his fame to be
known in the last-named city, a result to which other
works, in various places (in Perugia, for example, where
he had painted a chamber in the palace of the Baglioni
family,'^ which palace is now destroyed), had also contrib
uted. Being invited to Florence, therefore, the first thing
that he did was to paint a Tabernacle in fresco, at the cor
ner of tbe Carnesecchi, in the angle of the two roads, lead
ing, the one to the new, the other to the old Piazza of
Santa Maria Novella.^ The subject of this work is a Vir-

^s Now covered with frescoes by Luca Signorelli.
'» lie painted there twenty -five figures of men illustrious in war, philosophy,
and law. For the inscriptions, etc., see Ariodante Fabbretti's N'ote e do-
cumenti alle Vite de' Capitani venturieri dell' Umbria (cited by Milanesi).
20 Among the few existing works of Domenico are a tempera altar-piece,
formerly in the Church of S. Lucia dei Magnoli, Florence, now in the UfBzi,
and a transferred painting, originally on the Tabernacle, as described by Va
sari. This Virgin and Child, and two heads of saints, are now in the National
Gallery, London. The picture from Santa Lucia is a Virgin and Child, with
Saints Lucy, Nicholas, Francis of Assisi, and John the Baptist. For &pre-

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 87
gin surrounded by various Saints, and as it pleased the
Florentines greatly, and was much commended by the
artists of the time, as well as by the citizens, this picture
awakened still more bitter rage and envy against poor
Domenico, in the Ul-regulated mind of Andrea, who deter
mined to accomplish by treachery the purpose wliich he
could not bring about openly, without manifest danger to
himself. He, therefore, affected a great friendship for Do
menico, and the latter, being of a good and kindly dispo
sition, returned his pretended cordiality with sincere good
will, and willingly accepted his advances, Andrea seeming
to him a clever and amusing person. This friendship, there
fore, on the one side feigned, on the other sincere, proceed
ing to intimacy, Domenico, who was very fond of music,
and played on the lute, passed the greater part of his even
ings with Andrea, when they amused themselves in com
pany, or went together to serenade their "'inamorate ;" all
which greatly delighted Domenico, who sincerely regarding
Andrea, instructed him in the method of painting in oil,
which was at that time not known in Tuscany.
Things being thus, Andrea, to relate what occurred in
due order, depicted an Annunciation on the portion of the
chapel appropriated to him ; this work is esteemed to be
very beautiful, and is much admired for the attitude of the
Angel, whom he represents to be hovering in the air, a thing
which had not previously been done. But a much finer
work is that in which he has depicted the Virgin ascending
the steps of the temple, whereon are grouped many figures
of mendicants : among these is one lifting his cruse, with
which he smites one of his fellows on the head, an extreme
ly fine figure, as indeed are all the others. Andrea, having
bestowed much study on the work, and being incited by
his emulation with Domenico, finished every part with
great care. In the same picture is an octagonal temple, in
the midst of a piazza, drawn in perspective : the building is
della panel in the Berlin ;jluseum, ascribed to Domenico Veneziano, see Dr.
Bode, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., IV., p. 89.

88 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
isolated, it exhibits numerous columns, niches, &c., and the
principal front is beautifully adorned with statues painted
to imitate marbles. Around the piazza, magnificent build
ings, in great variety, are represented, and on one side of
these, the shadow of the temple, the scene, being one of
sunlight, falls with admirable effect, all the difficulties in
cident to the subject being handled with infinite judgment.
On his part Maestro Domenico depicted* the Visit of
Joachim to his wife Santa Anna, and beneath this is the
birth of Our Lady ; the place represented being a chamber
decorated with great splendour. In that picture is a beau
tiful Child, striking on the door of the room with a ham
mer : the action of this figure is full of grace. The Mar
riage of the Virgin follows, and in this part of the work
are many portraits from the life, among them those of
ilesser Bernardetto de' Medici, constable of the Florentines,
wearing a red barett-cap or morion ; of Bernardino Gua-
dagni, who was Gonfaloniere ; and of Polco Portinari, with
other members of his family. The master has likewise
presented a Dwarf breaking a staff, and in this action also
there is extraordinary animation displayed ; there are be
sides several female figures, wearing vestments such as were
customary at the period, all painted with exceeding grace
and beauty : this work, however, remained unfinished, for
causes which will be related hereafter.
Andrea, meanwhile, had painted the Death of Our Lady
in oil on the front of the Chapel ; and, whether moved by
emulation of Domenico, or simply by the desire to make
himself known for the able artist that he certainly was, he
bestowed inexpressible care and pains on the work, more
particularly on the bier, foreshortened, within which the
Virgin is seen lying dead, and which, though not more
than a braccio and a half in length, appears to be fully
three. Around the bier are the Apostles ; and these figures
are treated in such a manner, that, although the satisfaction
* The translator has omitted two words here. Read " Maestro Domenico
depicted i7i oil the Visit," etc.

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO i' DOMENICO VENIZIANO 89
they feel at seeing their Madonna borne to heaven by Jesus
Christ is manifest in their faces, there is yet to be perceived
the bitterness of their regret at being left on earth without
her. Among these figures of the Apostles are mingled
Angels, who bear lighted torches ; they have beautiful ex
pression in the heads, and are so well executed as to make
it obvious, that Andrea knew how to manage the colours in
oil, as well as his competitor Domenico. In this picture
Andrea painted the portraits of Messer Einaldo degli Al
bizzi, Puccio Pucci, Falganaceio,'' by whom the liberation
of Cosimo de' Medici was effected, and Federigo Malavolti,
who kept the keys of the Alberghetto.*^ He likewise de
picted the resemblance of Messer Bernai'do di Domenico
deUa Volta, superintendent of the hospital belonging to the
convent of Santa Maria Nuova : this figure is on its knees,
and is so well done that it might be supposed to breathe.
On a sort of medalUon, at the commencement of the work,
Andrea dal Castagno placed his own portrait also, with a
face like that of Judas Iscariot, whom he did indeed re
semble, both in person and character.^
Having brought his work thus far towards a successful
termination, Andrea, blinded by envy at the praises which
he heard given to the abilities of Domenico, determined to
rid himself of his presence, and after having reflected on
various methods of accomplishing this evil design, he at
length fixed on one, which he put in execution in the fol
lowing manner : —
One evening, in the summer time, Domenico, taking his
lute, as was his custom, went forth from Santa Maria
Nuova, leaving Andrea in his room drawing, the latter
-' This Pargagnaccio, or Perganaccio, effected Cosimo de' Medici's release
when he was imprisoned in the Palazzo Vecchio by bribing the Gonfaloniere.
Fargagnaccio's real name was Antonio di Vieri.
" This Alberghetto, " Little Inn," was a small room in the tower of the Pa
lazzo Vecchio where Cosimo was imprisoned ; the room was hardly big enough
for 3 man to lie down in.
" A fresco of the Crucifixion by Andrea exist.s in the neighboring loggia of
the Hospital of the Oblate. See notes 15 and 30.

90 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
having refused his invitation to accompany him to their
amusements as usual, under the pretext that he had to pre
pare certain drawings of importance. Domenico, having
thus gone forth alone to his recreations, Andrea, disguising
his person, set himself to wait for his companion's return at
the corner of a street ; and when Domenico, on his way
home, arrived at the place, he fell upon him with a certain
leaden weight, and therewith crushed the lute and chest of
his victim with repeated blows. But even this did not ap
pear to him sufficient for his purpose, and with the same
weapon he struck his victim heavily on the head ; then,
leaving him lying on the ground, he returned to his room
in Santa Maria Nuova, where, having locked the door, he
sat down to his drawing as he had been left by Domenico. '¦•
Meanwhile the noise had been heard, and the servants
hastening out, and, finding what had happened, went first
to call Andrea, and to relate the bad news to the traitor and
murderer himself ; who, running to where the others all
stood around Domenico, was not to be consoled, nor did he
cease from crying, "Alas my brother ! alas my brother!"
Finally, the murdered man expired in his arms, and in spite
of all the efforts made to discover who had committed that
homicide, it was never known, nor would the truth ever
have been made manifest, if Andrea himself, finding his
death approaching, had not divulged it in confession.
In San Miniato-f ra-le-Torri, in Florence, Andrea dal Cas
tagno painted a picture, the subject of which is an Assump-
2' Andrea dal Castagno died August 19, 1457 ; his supposed victim, Domen
ico Veneziano, died May 15, 1461. In spite of the dates with which he refutes
the story, Milanesi adds along argument showing the unreasonableness as well
as the falseness of a tale which has for four hundred years darkened the mem
ory of a famous painter. One writer after another has seen in the fierce faces,
the spadassino swagger of Andrea's figures, the confirmation of his ferocity
and ungovernable passion, and Padre della Valle has even accounted for the
violation of tbe seal of confession in Vasari's story by the .supposition that
Andrea asked his confessor to make known his guilt. An artist named Do
menico di Matteo was, however, murdered in Florence in 1443, and it is pos
sible that the similarity of names gave rise to the tradition of the assassination
of Domenico Veneziano.

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 91
tion of the Virgin, with two figures ; ^ and in a tabernacle
at Lanchetta, beyond the gate of the Croce, he painted an
other, also representing Our Lady.^^ The same artist de
picted the effigies of certain celebrated men in the house of
the Carducci family, now belonging to the Pandolfini.*'
These are partly imaginary and partly portraits ; among them
are Filippo Spano degli Scolari, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio,
and others. At the Scarperia in Magello, he painted an un-
draped figure of Charity over the door of the vicar's palace ;
it was a very beautiful thing, but has been destroyed. In
the year 1478, when Giuliano de' Medici was killed, and Lo
renzo his brother wounded in the church of Santa Maria del
Fiore, by the Pazzi and others, their adherents and fellow
conspirators ; it was resolved by the Signoria, that all who
had taken part in the plot should be painted as traitors on
the facjade of the palace of the Podesta : whereupon, the
work being offered to Andrea dal Castagno, he, as the ser
vant of, and much beholden to the house of Medici, accepted
the office very willingly ; and having set himself to the
work, he executed it in such a manner that it was a perfect
wonder.^ It would indeed not be possible adequately to de
scribe the art and judgment displayed in these figures, for
the most part copied from the life, and hung up by the feet
in the strangest attitudes, which were infinitely varied and
exceedingly fine. The approbation which this work obtained
from the whole city, but more especially from those who were
well versed in the art of painting, caused the artist to be no
longer named Andrea dal Castagno, but he was ever after
wards called Andrea degl' Impiccati.^
^^ This work, executed in 1456, is lost.
" No tabernacle in Andrea's style exists.
''¦' Vasari here doubtless refers to the works e-xecuted for the palsice at Leg
naia. 2" This is a chronological error. In 1434, after Cosimo de' Medici's return
from exile, Andrea painted the leaders of the adverse faction, Rinaldo degli
Albizzi, the Peruzzi, and others, hanging head downward on the walls of the
Bargello. Andrea died in 1457, and it was Botticelli who, in 1478, gibbeted
in effigy the principal plotters in the Pazzi conspiracy.
" Andrea of the Hanged, or Gibbeted.

92 ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO
This master lived in a very honourable manner ; * but as
he spent freely, more particularly in dress and liberal house
keeping, he left but little property ; when, at the age of
seventy-one, he departed to another life.^' A short time
only had elapsed after his death, before the impious crime
he had committed against Domenico, who had been so truly
his friend, became known, and he was buried, not with hon
ourable obsequies, but with marks of disgrace, in Santa
Maria Nuova, where, iu his fifty-sixth year, the unfortunate
Domenico had also been buried.^^ The work which the last-
mentioned master had commenced in Santa Maria Nuova re
mained incomplete, nor was it ever finished. The picture of
the high altar of Santa Lucia de' Bardi ^ is also by Domenico
Veniziano, and in this he has represented Our Lady with
the Child in her arms, San Giovanni Batista, San Niccold,
San Francesco, and Santa Lucia, an admirably executed
picture, and one which the master had brought to the ut
most perfection btit a short time before his death. ^^
'» Vasari does not mention the Last Supper in the Monastery of Sant' Apol
lonia, nor the other works in that building (see note 7), which is now a govern
ment museum, nor the fresco of the Crucifixion in the loggia of the Hospital
of the Oblate near Santa Maria Nuova.
" Andrea died August 19, 1457, probably of the plague.
^2 Domenico was buried in S. Piero Gattolino.
" Now in the Uffizi ; it is referred to in note 20. No. 372 in the same gal
lery, a portrait of a man, is accredited to Andrea, as are three pictures in the
Florentine Academy — St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, and St. Mary Mag
dalen ; these are the three panels of a triptych once in the church of San
Procolo. See Lafenestre and Richtenberger, Florence, pp. 189, 190, 191.
^'^ Decision and force are the marking characteristics of Andrea dal Cas
tagno, with a bold, firm outline and a certain hardness of bright, crude color.
His soldiers are bravi (see the Pippo Spano and Farinata), who stand firmly
with legs braced wide apart like the swashbucklers of Signorelli. Andrea's
apostles, too, are somewhat brutal in their excess of strength and vigor, and
warriors and apostles alike have followed the plough. They are peasants,
with coarse, tumbled hair, and strong, roughly hewn faces, but they impress us
with the sincerity and directness of their creator. The Last Supper in the
convent of Sant' Apollonia, together with the Crucifixion and the nine por
traits of heroes, heroines, and scholars, make up a kind of museum of Andrea's
works in Florence. Dr. Richter gives this painter the high place of a direct
precursor of Leonardo da Vinci, in reference to the latter's Last Supper, claim
ing that Andrea's cenacolo of Sant' Apollonia infiuenced Leonardo more than

ANDREA DAL CASTAGNO & DOMENICO VENIZIANO 93
The disciples of Andrea dal Castagno were Jacopo del
Corso, who was a tolerably good master ; Pisanello, Mar-
chino, Piero del PoUaiuolo, and Giovanni da Eovezzano.
did any other of the countless representations of the same subject. For four
centuries the accusation that he murdered, to steal his secret, the friend who
outlived him for years, has clouded the memory of Andrea dal Castagno, and
so colored the prejudice of his critics that decision and force have coimted
in him as unqualified brutality. But the story is not only false as a whole, bnt
improbable in aU its details. If Domenico Veniziano understood the use of
the oil medium it is unlikely that he made a. secret of it and kept it from
Andrea. The adoption of oU as a vehicle was very gradual, but this was prob
ably because artists distrusted it as a medium, and feared to undertake large
works with it untU experiments had been made. Such experiments, in order
to be thorough, had to stand the test of many years before they could be ac
counted final, and it was this distrust and inexperience of artists in general,
rather than any profound secrecy npon the part of particular painters, that
made the complete adoption of the oil medium a tardy one. As for stealing
Domenico's secret, Andrea was one of the last men to make far-reaching plans
or to take anything at second-hand, since he belongs emphatically to the group
of painters who were straightforward in the practice of their art, even to the
extent of unpleasant directness. His principles entitle him to a higher place
than does his performance, and he stands with those great Florentines whose
earnest observation of the shapes of things, of their outline and relief, laid
the foundation of scientific attainment upon which the school of Tuscan art
was based so solidly.

GENTILE DA FABEIANO AND VITTOEE PISA
NELLO, OF VEEONA, PAINTEES i
[Born 1370 ? ; died 1428 (see note 3).] [Born 1380 ? ; died 1456.]
Bibliography fok Gentile da Fabriano. — The Marchese Amico Ricci,
Munorie Storiche delle Arti e degli Artisti della Marca di Ancona, Macerata,
1834; two volumes. Giulio Cantalamessa, Vecchi affreschi a S. Vittoria in
Mrtcnano attrib?iiti a Gentile da Fabriano, in Nuova Rivista Misena, III.,
n. 1. Aurelio and Augusto Longhi, L'anno della inorte di Gentile da Fabri
ano, Fano, 1887. Cibo, Niccolo Alunno e la Scuola Umbra, Rome, 1873.
Bernasconi, Studli, p. 51.
Bibliography for Pisanello. — Bartolommeo Facio, De Viris Illustribus.
Facio was the contemporary and personal friend of Pisanello ; his work (an
opuscule) was written in 1466 and printed in 1745 in Florence. Maffei, Ve-
rooa Illusirata. G. Gruyer, Vittore Pisano, Gazette des Beaux Arts, X.,
353 ; XL, 199, 413 ; XII., 290, 485. A. Heiss, Les M'dailleurs de la Renais
sance, Paris, 1881. C. Bphrussi, A propos de Vittore Pisano de M. Alo'iss
Heiss, Paris, 1881. Armand (Alfr.), Les midailleurs italiens des qu'mzihne et
seizihne slides, Paris, 1883-87. J. Friedlander, Die ItaUe?iischcn Sehaumiin-
zen des filnfzehnten Jahrhitnderis, Berhn, 1883. Vicomte Both de Tauzia,
article in L'Art (1883), Vol. XXVIII., p. 231. (For fine and large reproduc
tion of medals by Pisanello, see i,'.4r^,Vol. XXVIII., pp. 149-157, Les collections
Benjamin Fillon, by G. Noel.) Venturi, II Pisanello a Ferrara, Venice,
1885. C. Bernasconi, II Pisano, Verona, 1862. Gustavo Uzielli, Sui ritratti
di Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli fatti da Alessio Baldovinetti e da Viitor Pi-
sani, fiom Bollethio della Societa geografica Italiana, June, 1890. Guide to
the Italian Medals, British Museum, London, 1881. De Chennevieres, Dessins
des maitres ancierts au Louvre, Paris. F. Ravaisson, Une ceuvre de Pisanello,
Paris. Cavattoni, Tre carmi latini in lode di Vittore Pisano, Verona, 1861.
W. Bode, Lodovir.o III, Gonzaga, Markgraf von Mantua, in Bronzeb^iisten
und Mcdaille7i, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., 1889, fasc. 1. II Pisanello e i Gon-
znga, article by Umberto Rossi in Archivio Storico dell' Arte, I., 453. Doc-
mnento sui Pisanello, article by A Venturi in Archivio Storico dell' Arte,
' Gentile di Niccolo di Giovanni di Maso was born, about 1370, at Fabriano,
in the March of Ancona, went with Jacopo Bellini to Florence in 1421, and
was enrolled as painter in Florence in 1432. It is not kno\vn who his master
was. Allegretto Nuzi, of Fabriano, may have given him some instructions, but
he died when Gentile was fifteen years old. See Milanesi, Vol. HI., pp. 15-16.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO 95
I. , 43.5. Silvio Marco Spaventi, Vittor Pisano deiio Pitanello pittore e medag-
lista Veronese della prima meta del Secolo XV., Verona, 1893.
AVEEY great advantage is possessed by the man who,
after the death of some distinguished person, advanced
to fame and honour by the exercise of rare gifts and
abilities, shall follow in the path thus prepared for him ;
for he has but to pursue the trace of the master in some
slight degree, by doing which he almost always attains to an
honourable position ; while, if he had attempted to obtain
that eminence by his own unassisted efforts, a much longer
time and more laborious pains would, or might have been
required to ensure success. The truth of this remark is
fully exemplified in the case of .Pisano or Pisanello, a painter
of Verona, who, having studied in Florence with Andrea
dal Castagno, during many years, and having completed
the works of that master, after his death, acquired so much
reputation by means of Andrea's name, that Pope Martin
v., coming to Florence, took the Veronese artist with him
to Eome.^ There he caused Pisano to paint certain stories
iu fresco in San Giovanni Laterano ; these are exceedingly
pleasing and beautiful, from the circumstance of his having
used a sort of ultra-marine blue, given to him by the Pope,
in the richest abundance, and which is of a colour so full,
so deep, and of so exquisite a tint, that none has ever been
found to equal it.
In competition ^ with Vittore Pisano, Gentile da Fabriano
^ MUanesi has proved that Andrea dal Castagno died in August, 1457. Mar
tin V. came to Florence in 1419 and died in 1431, while Andrea was still young.
The dates, therefore, wholly disprove Vasari's statements.
' MUanesi cites M. Bug. Miintz {Uevue Archiologique. Les anciennes basi-
liques et Fglises de Rome au XVme SiicW) to prove that there was no com
petition. Gentile painted here in 1437, Pisanello in 1431. Facio {De viris
illustribus) says that Pisanello himself told him that he had finished Gentile's
pictures from the life of Saint John the Baptist, but that dampness had already
destroyed them. GentUe died in Rorae in 1437 or 1438, as proved by Sigg.
Aurelio and Augusto Longhi {L'anno della morte di Gentile da Fabriano),
and not in Cittii di Castello, as Vasari seems to believe. Milanesi says that
Ricci had seen an old manuscript which chronicled the church of Santa
Francesca Romana as Gentile's burial-place.

96 GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO
likewise painted certain other stories beneath those above-
mentioned, and of these Platina makes mention in his Life
of Pope Martin. He relates that the pontiff caused the
flooring, ceiling, and roof of San Giovanni Laterano to be
restored, which being done. Gentile da Fabriano then exe
cuted various paintings therein ; among the rest, certain
figures of Prophets in chiaro-scuro ; they are between the
windows, and are considered to be the best pictures in the
whole work. Gentile da Fabriano* executed numerous
works in the March,' more particularly in Agobbio, where
some of them are still to be seen. He worked in like
manner throughout the whole state of Urbino. In the
church of San Giovanni at Siena, this artist also laboured,
and in the sacristy of the church of Santa Trinita, in Flor
ence, he painted a picture representing the story of the
Magi,^ in which he placed his own portrait. In the church
* Gentile's most important works were probably his frescoes, painted in
1436, in St. John Lateran, at Rome, and those in the Ducal Palace of Venice
{circa 1430) ; all these, as well as the frescoes of a chapel executed in Brescia
for Pandolfo Malatesta, have perished. From 1431 to 1425 Gentile was in
Florence, and in 1435 he painted in the cathedral of Orvieto a Virgin in Glory,
stUl in situ though nearly destroyed. An altar-piece (Coronation of the Vir
gin) remains in Fabriano, whUe the panels, with figures of Saints Francis,
Jerome, Dominick, and the Magdalen have gone to the Brera. See Muntz,
Les Primitifs, pp. 647-649. For certain frescoes attributed to GentUe, see
also Giulio Cantalamessa, Vecchi affreschi a S. Vittoria in Matenano attri-
buiti a Gentile, Arcevia, 1890.
* Of these there remains a Crucifixion over the door of Sant' Agostino in
Bari. It is doubtful if it be by Gentile.
" According to MUanesi this was painted for Palla Strozzi. It is in the
Florentine Academy, and is dated May, 1433. One of the three pictures from
the gradino (the Presentation in the Teraple) is in the Louvre. The other
two, the Flight into Egypt and the Adoration of the Shepherds, are stUl in
the gradino. According to MM. Lafenestre and Richtenberger, Florence,
p. 204, the picture was painted for the monks of Vallombrosa, and the figure
with red turban and black and gold tunic behind the standing Magian king is
GentUe himself. This famous Adoration of the Magi, in Florence (Academy
of Fine Arts) is the best known of this artist's pictures ; but Morelli (Italian
Masters in German Galleries) justly remarks that it has been praised above
its due, and that Gentile's is an inferior place when he is compared with his
great contemporaries Masaccio, PisaneUo, Angelico, Ghiberti, and others.
Rogier Van der Weyden, however, is said to have caUed him the most excel
lent painter of his time in Italy.

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO
TOMB OF CARLO MARSUPPINI
SANTA CROCE, FLORENCE

Alinari, Phot.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO 97
of San Mccolo, situated at the gate of Miniato, Gentile da
Fabriano painted the picture for the high altar,' a work
which appears to me much superior to any other that I have
seen from his hand. For to say nothing of the Virgin sur
rounded by numerous Saints, which are all extremely well
done, the predella of this picture, covered with stories from
the life of San Niccolo, in small figures, could not possibly
be more beautiful nor more perfectly executed than it is.
In the church of Santa Maria Nuova, in Eome, within a
small arch above the tomb of the Florentine Archbishop
of Pisa, Cardinal Adimari, this master painted Our Lady
with the Child in her arms ; she has St. Benedict on one
side, and St. Joseph on the other. This tomb is beside
that of Pope Gregory IX., and the painting here alluded
to was held in high estimation by the divine Michel An
gelo, who, speaking of Gentile, was wont to say, that his
hand in painting resembled his name.^ In Perugia, this
master painted a picture, which is a very beautiful one, for
the church of San Domenico,' and a Crucifix, which, after
having painted, he cut from the wood, in Sant' Agostino di
Bari ; with three very beautiful figures in half-length, which
are over the entrance to the choir. ^^
But to return to Vittore Pisano, the short notice of him
which we have given above was written by us without
further addition, when this our book was printed for the
first time, because we had not then been furnished with
' The two side-panels of this picture (1425), with Saints Mary, Magdalen,
Nicholas, George, and John the Baptist, remain in the choir of the church.
The centre has disappeared, so haa the gradino, except that a panel in the Or-
fanotrofio of Pistoja may possibly be identified as having once formed a por
tion of the latter. A second picture in San Niccolo represents the Holy
Ghost descending to the Virgin and ChUd. Of the two works MM. Lafe
nestre and Richtenberger, Florence, p. 278, ascribe one to Gentile, the other
to the school of GentUe.
' This painting has perished. See American Archseological Journal, April
1895, for a Madonna by Gentile in the Jarvis Collection at New Haven.
• A Madonna in the Pinacoteca of Perugia is thought by Milanesi to be
possibly the picture mentioned here.
" Engraved in the Kunstdenkmaeler of Schultz, VoL HI., p. 174.

98 GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTOEE PISANELLO
those details respecting this excellent master, nor obtained
that knowledge of his works which we have since procured."
But from notices supplied by the very reverend and most
learned Father, Fra Marco de' Medici, of Verona, of the
Order of Friars-Preachers, as well as from what is related
by Biondo da Forli, where he speaks of Verona, in his Italia
Illustrata, we learn that Vittore Pisano '^ was fully equal to
any of the painters of his time, and of this we have ample
proof in the works which, in addition to those enumerated
above, may still be seen in his native place, the most noble
city of Verona ; although many of them are in part de
stroyed by time. Pisano took especial pleasure in the de
lineation of animals, and in the chapel of the Pellegrini
family,'^ which is in the church of Sant' Anastasia, at
Verona, he depicted a figure of Sant' Eustachio, who is
caressing a dog, spotted, dun-colour and white, which, with
its feet raised and supported against the leg of the saint,
turns its head backward, as if it had heard some noise, and
this it does with so much animation, that a living dog could
not do it better. Beneath this figure of Sant' Eustachio is
the name of Pisano, who was accustomed to call himself
sometimes Pisano, and sometimes Pisanello, as may be seen
on the pictures and medals by his hand. After having
completed the picture of Sant' Eustachio, which is among
the best ever executed by this master, and is indeed, most
beautiful, Vittore painted the whole external front of the
chapel, and on the inner side he depicted a St. George, in
" This passage is one of several which prove that Vasari's silence regarding
artists who were not Tuscan comes rather from lack of knowledge than
from jealousy. Indeed his praise is given generously and frequently to Um-
brians, Venetians, Lombards, men of aU schools.
¦2 M. Eug. Miintz [Les Primitifs) gives the foUowing as dates in the life of
PisaneUo. He was horn in Verona toward 1380, and decorated (1423) the
haU in the Ducal Palace of Venice, where he completed a work commenced by
GentUe da Fabriano. He worked in the Lateran at Rome (1431-1432), in
Ferrara (1435), was busy and courted, and died in Rorae about 1451.
" The only frescoes of Pisanello which are affirmed to have escaped are the
partially preserved ones at Verona in Santa Anastasia, and in San Permo
Maggiore.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO 99
white, or rather silver armour, a costume adopted for that
saint in those times, not by him only, but by all other paint
ers. In this work, St. George, having slain the dragon, is
replacing his sword in the scabbard, he raises his right
hand, which holds the sword, the point whereof is already
in the scabbard, and lowering the left, that the increased
distance may facilitate the descent of the weapon, which is
a long one, he does this with so much grace, and in so life
like a manner, that nothing better could be seen. The
Veronese, Michele Sanmichele, architect to the Most Illus
trious Signoria of Venice, and a person most deeply versed
in these noble arts, was often seen to contemplate the works
of Vittore with admiration, and would then say, that few
better things were to be found than the Sant' Eustachio,
the Dog, and the St. George above described. In the arch
over this same chapel, is further depicted the figure of St.
George, after he has killed the dragon, and is rescuing the
king's daughter, who stands near the saint, and is clothed
in long vestments, according to the custom of that time.
The St. George, in this portion of the work, is again worthy
of the utmost admiration ; he is armed as above described,
and, standing with his face and person turned towards the
surrounding spectators, is in the act of mounting his horse :
one foot is in the stirrup, the left hand is on the saddle, and
one almost sees the movement of the saint as he rises to his
seat. The animal itself, admirably foreshortened, is stand
ing with the crupper to the people, and, though in a very
small space, is wholly seen, and is extremely beautiful. In
a word, the entire work, executed as it is with correct de
sign, extraordinary grace, and remarkable judgment, can
never be contemplated without admiration, or rather with
out astonishment, so excellent is it in all its parts.
In San Fermo Maggiore, at Verona," a church belonging
"The frescoes of San Fermo are stiU in existence, though badly injured;
certain other frescoes, found in 1868 in the Torriani chapel of Sant' Eustorgio
at Milan (and since injured by restorers), are sufiiciently like Pisanello s work
to be attributed to him. The National GaUery, London, possesses an authen
tic picture by him, representing Saints George and Anthony, whUe Morelli at

100 GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO
to the Grey Friars of St. Francis, on the left hand as yon
enter by the principal door, there is a picture of the Annun
ciation, by Vittore Pisano ; it forms the decoration of a Se
pulchral Monument, erected in the chapel of the Brenzoni
family, and which represents the Eesurrection of the
Saviour, in sculpture, very finely executed for those times.
In this work the figures of the Virgin and the Angel have
the parts in relief, heightened with gold, as was customary
at that period, and are both very beautiful, as are also cer
tain buildings in the same picture, which are extremely well
drawn ; there are, besides, many small animals and birds in
various parts of the work, all of which are as natural and as
animated as it is possible to imagine. '^
The same master executed numerous castings of medal
lions, containing portraits of princes and other personages
of his time. From these medallions, many likenesses in
painting have since been made.'^ And Monsignore Giovio,
in a letter written in the vulgar tongue, which he sent to
the Lord Duke Cosimo, and which may be read, printed
with many others, has these words, when speaking of Vit
tore Pisano : —
" Tlii.'i master ivas exceediiigly clever in tJie execution
oflasso-rilievo, a worTc esteemed most difficult ly artists,
Milan had a portrait of Leonello d'Este. There is a very charming St. Hubert
in the Ashburnham collection, and a Madonna and Child in Verona are as
cribed to him. The so-called Vallardi collection of the Louvre contains a great
number of important drawings by Pisanello. Vittore signed his medals
Pisano, not Pisanello.
^'^ Nothing certain is known of Pisanello's masters. Messrs. Crowe and
Cavalcaselle consider him a follower of Lorenzo Monaco and Pietro da Mon
tepulciano, and to have been influenced later by Gentile da Fabriano. MoreUi
suggests that Uccello influenced hira, and Dr. Richter claims an equally im
portant place for Altichieri as a man whose work must have been seen and
studied by Pisanello. Certain frescoes in the Castello of Pavia, and contain
ing many animals, have been attributed to Pisanello. See M. Eug. Miintz,
Les Primitifs, 385, for an interesting passage on the animal painters of the
fifteenth century.
'" A profile of a woman, believed to be by Pisanello, has been recently ac
quired by the Louvre, and may represent Margherita Gonzaga, first wife of
LeoneUo d'Este. See M. G. Gruyer, Gazette des Beaux Arts, and Sig. 6.
Frizzoni, Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, VI. , 460. Herr Von Tschudi and Dr. Bode

GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO 101
because it holds ttie mean between ttie level surface of pict
ures and tlie fuM roundness of statues. Tliere are many
highly esteemed medals of great princes by his hand, they
are in a large form, and of the same proportions ivith that
reverse of the capaj'isoned and barbed horse which Guidi
has sent me. Among the works of this kind in my pos
session, is a portrait of the great Iiing Alfonso, wearing no
other head-dress than his hair ; and on the reverse is the
helmet of a general. I have besides, a medal with the por
trait of Pope Martin, and bearing the arms of the tiouse of
Colonna on the reverse, with that of Sultan Mahomet, lutio
took Constantinople, an equestrian figure j in a Turkish
habit; holding a scourge in his hand. Of Sigismundo
Malatesta, likewise, I have the portrait, with that of Ma
donna Isotta, of Rimini, on the reverse ; and one of Niccolo
Piccinino, wearing an oblong barrett or cap on ttie head;
with the reverse sent me hy Guidi, and which I return. In
addition to these, I have also a very beautiful medal of John
Paleologus, Emperor of Constantinople, with that strange
looking head-dress, after the Greekish manner, whicli the
Emperors used to wear. Tliis last was made by the same
Pisano in Florence, at the time of the council held by Pope
Eugenius, whereat the aforesaid emperor was present ; the
reverse of this bears the Cross of Christ, sustained ly two
hands, that of the Latin church, namely, and that of the
Greek." So far Giovio. Vittore Pisano likewise executed the
portraits, also on medals, of Filippo de' Medici, Archbishop
of Pisa, Braccio da Montone, Giovan Galleozzo Visconti,
Carlo Malatesta, Lord of Eimini, Giovanni Caracciolo, grand
Seneschal of Naples, with those of Borso and Ercole D'Este,
and of many other nobles and personages, renowned in arms
or distinguished for learning."
attribute to Pisanello a tondo (Adoration of the Kings) and a Madonna with
Saints, both in the Berlin Gallery.
" He rediscovered the art of the medaUist about 1438 (according to M.
Miintz, Les Primitifs), and has left twenty-four signed medals, while some ten

102 GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO
For the reputation he had acquired in this branch of art
Pisano has been celebrated by many very great men and
excellent writers ; and, in addition to what was written of
him by Biondo, as before related, he was highly extolled
in a Latin poem, composed by his compatriot the elder
Guerino, a well-known and very learned writer of that day.
Of this poem, called from the name of its subject, II Pisano
del Guerino, Biondo also makes honourable mention. Vit
tore, was, in like manner, celebrated by the elder Strozzi,
Tito Vespasiano, that is, father of the other Strozzi, who,
like himself, was an excellent poet in the Latin tongue.
The father, I say then, honoured the memory of Vittore
Pisano in a most beautiful epigram, which is in print with
the others.'^ And these are the fruits that are borne by a
life passed worthily and in the practice of virtuous labours.
It has been said by some writers that when Pisano, then
very young, was acquiring his art in Florence, he painted a
picture iu the old church of the Temple, which stood where
the old citadel now is. The subject of this work was taken
from the life of San Jacopo di Galizia, and represents the
story of the pilgrim, in whose pocket, while he was going
on a pilgrimage to that saint, the son of his host put a sil
ver cup, to the intent that he might be punished as a thief ;
others are attributed to him. Specimens of them may be seen in the great mu
seums of Europe, and the best of them are among the finest, if they are not
themselves the finest, medals of the Renaissance. MUanesi only catalogues
fourteen medals by Pisanello ; they bear the heads of Niccolo Piccinino,
Leonello d'Este, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Pietro Candido Decem-
brio, Vittorino da Feltre, Filippo Maria Visconti, Gio. Paleologo, Alfonso V.
d'Aragona, Francesco Sforza, Giovan Francesco Gonzaga, Cecilia Gonzaga,
Lodovico [III.] Gonzaga, Malatesta IV., Novello, Inigo d'Avalos. Porcellio
in his Latin verses, see Cesare Cavattoni, Tre Carmi Latini, cited by Mi
lanesi, III., p. 36, note 1, tells us that Pisanello made medal portraits of him
self (PorceUio), of Basinio, Carlo Gonzaga, Guarino, Aurispa, of a certain
Girolamo, and of the child Bellotto, as also of Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli.
None of these except the Aurispa have been recognized in modern times
in any museum. Certain variations are known in the cases of the medals
of Leonello d'Este, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatista, and Alfonso of Arragon.
^^ According to Maffei, Verona Illustrata, quoted by Milanesi, Pisanello
could not have been in Florence during his youth.

GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO 103
but the pilgrim, being aided by San Jacopo, is by him re
conducted to his home in safety. In this painting, Vittore
Pisano gave evidence of that excellence in art to which he
afterwards attained. Finally, having reached a good old
age, he departed to a better life.''
Gentile da Fabriano, after having executed many works ^^
in Citt4 di Castello, became at length paralytic, and fell
into such a state of weakness, that he could no more pro
duce any thing of value. Ultimately he died from the ex
haustion of age, having reached the term of eighty years.^' ^
The portrait of Pisano,^ I have not been able to discover
" In his first edition Vasari says that he painted in the Campo Santo, but
in his second edition he makes no mention of this, probably because he could
not substantiate the statement.
20 No trace of these works remains.
21 MUanesi has written a long commentary upon PisaneUo, in which he con
cludes that Oretti was mistaken in attributing to him a medal of Mahomet II.,
dated 1481. He disproves the attribution of certain pictures dating from the
third quarter of the fifteenth century ; he shows that Leonello d'Este, who
died in 1450. was modelled by Pisanello, and that Borso, his successor, was not
(in spite of Vasari's affirmation) ; finally, that Facio, who knew him personally,
speaks of him in 1456 as if already dead. See Bartolommeo Facio, De Viris
Illustribus, written in 1456 and published in Florence, 1745, by the Abbate
Mehus. Lastly, he quotes a letter of Carlo de' Medici, mentioning the recent
death of Pisanello ; this letter, though only dated October 31st, bears evidence
of having been written in 14.56. He deduces that Pisanello was born about
1400 and died in 1456, shortly after the middle of March. See the Gazette des
Beaux Arts, 1894, IL, 494, for the suggestion of 1451 as the date of his death.
22 Morelli declares Pisanello to have been as great a pioneer in his time as
was Giambellino in his later epoch. M. Miintz says that instead of employ
ing the scientific processes of the Tuscans, certain northern masters attacked
the same problems empirically, and setting aside the methods of pure reason,
trusted to the training of the eye and the observation of the outsides of
things. He cites Pisanello as the incarnation of this tendency, and claims
that these northern painters, " like the architects of their region, represent the
picturesque school as opposed to that of the stylists. "
23 Two medals exist with the portrait o f Pisanello, one bareheaded and in
scribed Pisanus Pictor, the second with a cap, and also inscribed Pisanus
Pictor. The latter medal is of smaller size ; both are considered genuine by
MoreUi and M. Gruyer. Milanesi believes that the former may really be by
Pisanello, but agrees with Charles Lenormant that the latter is not so, the
letters F. S. K. I. P. F. T. on the reverse being read by Lenormant as fol
lows : Franeiscits Korradini Pictor Fecit.
Sig. D. Gnoli, iu the Archivio Storico dell' Arte, IU, 403, publishes the

104 GENTILE DA FABRIANO & VITTORE PISANELLO
in any place whatsoever. Both these artists drew exceed
ingly well, as may be seen from the drawings preserved in
our book.^
passport of Pisani from Rome, of July 26, 1433, and the Arch. Stor., II. , 38
contains a document, II Pisanello graziato, referring to his return to Verona
after the siege and plague of 1439.
2* Vernon Lee, in an admirable essay on The Portrait Art in Euphorion em
phasises the fact that the greatest medallists of the Early Renaissance, Vittore
Pisano and Matteo de' Pasti, were painters, not sculptors, and that, hke
painters, they obtained their effects, working for " the almost pictorial effect
of flesh in its various degrees of boss and of reaction of the light . . .
by the skilful manipulation of texture and of surface." They were wholly
independent of the ideal work of antiquity, and completely unlike such later
men as Cellini and Caradosso, who were medallist-sculptors " seeking essen
tially for abstract elegance of line." Asa painter Pisanello, with his keen
and subtle perception and his marvellous capacity for characterization, holds
an honorable rank among the naturalistic masters who gave such an impulse
to art in the early fifteenth century, but it is by his medallions in relief that
he stands as peer of the greatest masters and as the first medaUist of modern
times.

BENOZZO GOZZOLI,' FLOEENTINE PAINTEE.
[Born 1420; died 1498.]
BiBLIOGRAPHT.— Passages from Cronica di Giusto d' Andrea di Giusto
(Benozzo's assistant in S. Gimignano), published in Gaye's Carteggio, I., p.
211. Lasinio's engraved work, Pitture a fresco del Campo Santo di Pisa, 1830.
Igino Beuvenuto Supino, Le Opere miuori di Benozzo Gozzoli a Pisa, Arch.
Stor. delV Arte, VIL, 233-348. Francesco Cristofori, La vita di Santa Rosa
dipinta a fresco da Benozzo Gozzoli nel 1453, in Miscellanea francescana. Vol.
HI., /osc. 1. Natale Baldoria, Monumenti Artistici in San Gimignano ; article
in the Archivio Storico dell' Arte, IIL, 35-68. H. Thode, Pitture di Maestri
italiani nelle Gallerie Minori di Germania, article in Archivio Storico delV
Arte, H. , 53. Gozzoli d San Gimignano, article by M. Faucon in L'Art,
XX-STL, p. 125, 189, 201.
HE who, with determined effort, pursues the path of
virtue, although it be, as men say, rough and stormy
and full of thorns, at the close of the ascent discovers
himself finally to have attained a broad level, with all the
happiness that can be desired. And if he then look back
and consider the difiicult and perilous passages laboriously
overcome, he thanks God who hath safely conducted him
through them to the point which he has reached, and with
gladness of heart blesses those efforts which he had pre
viously found so painful. Thus restored and repaid for his
bygone sufferings by the joys of the happy present, he now
labours without any sense of fatigue, to make known to all
who observe him the certainty with which the pains endured,
and the heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and other inconveniences
sustained, for the acquirement of excellence, are rewarded
by freedom from poverty, and by the attainment of that
secure and tranquil condition in which the wearied Benozzo
Gozzoli happily enjoyed his repose.
' He was Benozzo di Lese di Sandro ; the cognomen of Gozzoli seems to have
been a late addition.

106 BENOZZO GOZZOLI
This artist was the disciple of the deservedly-entitled an
gelic master, Fra Giovanni,^ by whom he was with reason
much beloved ; he was acknowledged by all who saw his
works, to possess great power of invention, much facility, and
richly varied resources in the delineation of animals, in per
spective, in landscape, and in decorations. Benozzo Gozzoli
executed so many labours in his day that he proved himself
to have but little regard for any pleasure beside ; and, al
though in comparison with certain other masters, who sur
passed him in design, he was not particularly eminent ; he
yet left all far behind him in perseverance, and among the
multitude of his works there are many that are very good.^
In his youth,'' Benozzo painted an altar-piece for the Broth
erhood of San Marco ^ in Florence, he did also the death of
St. Jerome for the church of San Friano ; but the latter
was destroyed when that front of the church, which is
bounded by the street, was restored.
For the palace of the Medici,^ Benozzo Gozzoli painted
the chapel in fresco, the subject chosen being the story of
the Magi,' and in Eome he painted stories from the life
^ Fra AngeUco.
2 Benozzo at the age of twenty-four worked under Ghiberti on the bronze
gates of the Baptistery, so that we may assume that he began his career as a
goldsmith. He was with Fra Angelico in Rome from 1447 to 1449, and in
Montefalco from 1450 to 1453, executing the frescoes which are stiU to be seen
there in the Monastery of San Francesco and in San Fortunate ; an altar-
piece from the latter (painted in 1450) is in the Lateran Museum at Rome.
There is an interesting reference to Benozzo's works at Montefalco in the
American Archaeological Journal for July-September, 1893.
* In 1461.
^ Now in the National GaUery, London. The original contract is stiU in ex
istence and is dated 1461, and stipulates that the entire work, even to the pre
della, must be executed by Gozzoli's own hand, and that the figure of the
Virgin should be the same as that of the Virgin Enthroned, in the church of
San Marco, by Fra Angelico.
* Now the Riccardi Palace.
' It would be hard to find, even in the fifteenth century, a more perfectly
satisfactory decoration, at once brilliant and sincere, than is this of the chapel
which the lords of Florence buUt for their private devotions in their palace of
Via Larga. The charming pageant, with its abundance of gUding and its em
bossed patterns, its dogs and horses, hunters and shepherds, winds about the

BENOZZO GOZZOLI 107
of St. Anthony of Padua in the chapel of the Cesarina
family, in the church of Ara Coeli : ' in this work are the
portraits of Cardinal Giuliano, Cesarini, and of Antonio
Colonna, both taken from the life. In the Torre de' Conti
also, over the gate of entrance that is, Benozzo painted a
fresco, wherein he depicted Our Lady with numerous saints ;
and in Santa Maria Maggiore, in a chapel on the right hand
as you enter by the principal door, he painted various fig
ures in fresco, which are tolerably well done.^
Having returned from Eome to Florence, Benozzo next
repaired to Pisa, where he worked -" in the cemetery beside
the cathedral, which is called the Campo Santo, painting
the decorations of a wall which runs the whole length of the
building, and on which he depicted stories from the Old
walls and leads up to a perfectly decorative motive, where peacock-winged
angels cluster about the altar upon which the Adoration of the Kings once
stood. In the procession are three generations of Medici, Cosimo, pater pa-
trios, Piero the gouty, and the young Lorenzo with coroneted barret upon his
head; there are lords and grooms and huntsmen with dogs in leashes, and
among the Medici, Benozzo himself rides with his name inscribed upon his cap.
This is the very perfection of a decoration, gay yet serious, rich yet dignified
in color, animated yet stately. It was painted by artificial light, since the
window in the fifteenth century was even smaUer than it is now. The fres
coes executed in 1459 were cleaned and retouched in 1837, and are in better
condition than are most wall-paintings in Italy. The altar-piece, an Adoration
of the Magi, is in Munich, and one whole wall of the chapel has been thrown
forward for some feet, but in spite of loss and changes the room is singularly
complete in its scheme of decoration — walls, vaulting, pavement, and wood
work being admirably harmonious. For three letters from Benozzo to Piero
de' Medici referring to these frescoes, see Gaye, Carteggio, I., 193-194.
^ This fresco exists, but is much repainted. Messrs. Crowe and CavalcaseUe
also find traces of Benozzo's hand in the paintings on the htnettes of the por
tals. See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy, II., 499.
" All of these works have perished.
'° Painted between 1469 and 148.5, and the vastest cycle of paintings un
dertaken by any fifteenth-century painter. In some of these frescoes, accor
ding to Messrs. Woltmann and Woermann (History of Painting, Vol. II. , p.
300), " we feel the absence of any adequate and independent motive in the
principal actors, and Benozzo, though amiable, is not strongly original"
Nevertheless, and in spite of the reduplication of the same characters in a
single work, those frescoes which have an architectural setting are generally,
as M. Muntz has remarked, excellent in the ordering of the composition. The
painter's invention is endless and facUe.

108 BENOZZO GOZZOLI
Testament, wherein he displayed much power of invention."
This work may be truly called a most formidable undertak
ing, the artist having represented the whole creation of the
world day by day : after which follows the Flood, with the
Ark of Noah ; pictures which are very finely composed, and
exhibit a great variety of figures. Near this is the proud
building of the Tower of Nimrod, the burning of Sodom
and the neighbouring cities, with stories from the life of
Abraham, in which there are many parts admirably ex-
jDressed, and worthy of much consideration. For although
it is true that Benozzo possessed no very distinguished tal
ent in drawing figures,'^ yet in this work, in the Sacrifice of
Isaac more particularly, he has nevertheless exhibited con
siderable mastery of his art ; among other things he has
painted an Ass, foreshortened, and placed in such a manner
that it seems to turn on every side ; this animal is considered
very fine. The Birth of Moses follows, together with all
the signs and prodigies that ensued, until the time when he
led the people forth from Egypt, and fed them during so
many years in the wilderness. Finally, Benozzo added to
these certain other stories of the Hebrew people ; as, for ex
ample, those of David and Solomon his son ; and it may be
truly aflfirmed that, in this work, he displayed infinite per
sistence, and a spirit more than bold ; for whereas so vast
an undertaking might very well have appalled a whole
legion of painters, he alone encountered the whole, and
completed it with his own hand. He accordingly acquired
1^ M. Eug. Miintz, Les Precurseurs de la Renaissance, p. 164, notes that
the period of Piero de Medici {il gottoso) was one of relative stagnation in
art, and of comparative timidity in the following of the antique. He cites
Benozzo as a man who escaped this revulsion and was frankly of his own
time. '2 On the contrary, he was often an admirable draughtsman. He had not the
grand manner, the sweep of Masaccio, or the dignity of Ghirlandajo, but for
closeness of drawing and skilful individualization some of his heads in the
Sant' Agostino frescoes at San Gimignano, especially the heads of beardless
middle-aged men, are almost equal to the drawings of Holbein. He was, how
ever, an uneven draughtsman, and often careless in his treatment of the figure,
especiaUy in the drawing of the attachments.

BENOZZO GOZZOLI 109
a very great reputation by this work, and well merited the
following lines which were appended to it in his honour : —
" Quid specias volucres, pisces, et ¦monstra ferarum,
Et virides silvas cethereasque domos ?
Et puet-os, juveixes, matres, canosque parentes,
Quels semper ¦eirum " spirat in ore decus ?
Non ficec tam variis, finxit simulacra jiguris
Natura ingenio foetibus apta suo:
Est opus artificis : pinxit viva ova Benoxus :
O superi vivos fundite in ora sonos."
Innumerable portraits, taken from the life, are scattered
throughout this work, but as the subjects of all are not
known, I shall speak of those only which are understood to
be of important personages, or of those respecting which I
have found authentic notices recorded. In the story of the
Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon there is a portrait of
Marcilins Ficinus among various prelates, with those of
Argiropolo, a learned Greek, and of Batista ^^ Platina, whose
likeness Benozzo had previously taken in Eome ; with the
portrait of the artist himself on horseback, the figure being
that of an old man with shaven beard, and wearing a black
cap, in the fold of which there is a white paper, perhaps
intended as a sign or token ; or it may be that Benozzo had
intended to inscribe his name thereon.
In the same city of Pisa, in a convent on the bank of the
Arno belonging to the nuns of San Benedetto, Benozzo
Gozzoli painted a series of stories exhibiting the various
events of the life of that saint ; " and in the house of the
* Vivum in the MUanesi edition.
" Bartolommeo, not Battista.
" The San Benedetto frescoes have perished. There is an altar-piece (a
Virgin and Child), in the Academy at Pisa, which came from S. Benedetto a
Ripa d'Arno. Morelli notes that Benozzo painted in tempera and never in
oU. Professor Branohi, of Pisa, made some experiments on a fragment of Goz
zoli's frescoes in the Campo Santo to determine his method of applying the
gilding so lavishly used in his pictures. From these experiments it appeared
that (1) a size was first applied to the smooth intonaco, (2) which was then
thinly coated with wax, to which (3) the gold leaf was affixed.

110 BENOZZO GOZZOLI
Brotherhood of the Florentines, which then stood where the
monastery of San Vito now is, he painted the Altar-piece,
with many other pictures. ^^ In the cathedral, behind the
seat of the archbishop, Benozzo executed a small picture in
tempera ; the subject of this work is St. Thomas Aquinas
surrounded by numerous learned men, who dispute concern
ing his works : among these is the portrait of Pope Sixtus
IV., with several cardinals, and many chiefs and generals
of different religious orders. This is the best and most
finished work ever executed by Benozzo.'^ In Santa Cate
rina, a monastery belonging to the Preaching-Friars in the
same city, this master painted two pictures in tempera,
which may be easily recognized by the manner ; and in the
church of San Niccold, another in like manner ; with two in
Santa Croce, without the gates of Pisa."
While still a youth '^ Benozzo worked in the Capitular
church of San Gimignano, where he painted the altar-piece
for the altar of San Bastiano, which stands in the middle of
the church, opposite to the principal chapel ; '' and in the
Hall of Council are certain figures, partly by his hand, aud
partly by an older master,* but restored by him. For the
monks of Monte Oliveto, in the same district, he painted a
Crucifix ; but tbe best work executed by Benozzo in that
place was a fresco in the principal chapel of the church of
Sant' Agostino,^' where he painted stories from the life of
the titular saint, from his conversion, that is, to his death. -^
>' These works are probably lost.
^^ This picture is now in the Louvre.
" These works are unidentified. There are two pictures in the Museo Civico
attributed to him. In S. Domenico (church and convent) are a panel painting,
the Forty Martyrs, frescoes of the Crucifixion, and of a half-length S.
Domenico, which all may be by Benozzo.
^s As he was then forty-four years old he could hardly have been considered
a youth. " This fresco still exists in the church.
'" The older master referred to was Lippo Memmi.
'" This series from the life of Saint Augustine is one of Benozzo's most im
portant works, and in the drawing of certain heads offers some of the closest
and most skilful work done in the fifteenth century.
22 That is to say, from 1464 to 1467.

BENOZZO GOZZOLI 111
Of all this work I have the design, by the master's own
hand, in my book, with several drawings of those described
above, as executed in the Campo Santo of Pisa. In Vol-
terra, likewise, Benozzo performed certain works,^ but these
do not require further mention.
Now it happened that when Benozzo was working in
Eome, there was another painter then in that city called
Melozzo,^^ and who came from Forli ; many, therefore, not
being better informed, and having found written Melozzo,
while the dates agreed, have believed that this Melozzo
should have been Benozzo ; ^ but they are in error, for the
painter Melozzo was one who lived at the same time with
Gozzoli, and was very zealous in the study of art ; he gave
his attention more particularly to foreshortening, which he
executed with great care and diligence ; of this a proof may
be seen in the church of Sant' Apostolo, in Eome, on the
tribune of the High Altar, where there are certain figures
gathering grapes, in a frieze painted in perspective as an
ornamental framework to the picture, with a cask, which
== MUanesi attributes to Benozzo an Adoration of the Magi in the cathedral
of Volterra, as also a Madonna with saints in the convent of San Girolamo,
outside the town. The latter picture is ascribed to Giusto d'Andrea by
Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle. Four pictures which were in the Alessandri
palace of Florence have been variously ascribed to Benozzo and to Pesellino.
" Melozzo degli Ambrosi was born at ForU in 1438. He painted [1474-75] at
Urbino, probably in the library. Four of the pictures executed there stUl ex
ist : two— Dialectics and Astronomy— are at Berlin ; two— Music and Rhetoric
—are in the National Gallery at London. There are also curious fragments at
Windsor. In 1478 he painted in the octagonal treasury at Loretto (prophets,
angels, and cherubim). In Rome he decorated (circa 1473) the tribune of the
SS. Apostoli. In 1711 the principal fragment of this tribune, a fresco
(Christ surrounded by Angels), was incrusted upon the interior staircase of the
Quirinal, and certain half-length figures of angels playing on musical instru
ments were placed in the sacristy of Saint Peter's, which have been made
popular by frequent photographic reproduction. M. Miintz says of them :
"They show an originality, a freedom, and a beauty such as even Ra
phael has not surpassed." In spite of this high praise, and in spite, too, of
their rhythmical charm and of great elegance, these angel heads are not only
sometimes devoid of beauty, but are often incorrect in drawing and even
completely lacking in construction. Melozzo died November 8, 1494.
'" Melozzo at about the same time as Mantegna began to paint violently
foreshortened figures in his ceiUng decorations.

112 BENOZZO GOZZOLI
are exceedingly well done. But this quality of Melozzo is
even more obviously apparent in the Ascension of Jesus
Christ, whose figure is seen in the midst of a choir of angels,
by whom he is borne to heaven. In this picture the figure
of the Saviour is so admirably foreshortened, that it seems
to pierce the vault ; and the same may be said of the angels
who are floating in various attitudes through the fields of
air. The apostles, who stand on the earth beneath, are in
like manner foreshortened so well, in the different attitudes
given to them, that the work was then, and continues still
to be, greatly commended by artists, who have learned much
from the labours of this master. Melozzo was also well ac
quainted with the laws of perspective, as the buildings
painted in this picture sufficiently demonstrate. The work
here described was executed by command of Cardinal Eiario,
nephew of Pope Sixtus IV., by whom the master was largely
remunerated. But to return to Benozzo. Exhausted at length by time
and by his labours, he departed in his seventy-eighth year to
the true rest. This master died in the City of Pisa while
dwelling in a small house which he had purchased during
the long period of his abiding there, in Carraja di San Fran
cesco, and which he left at his death to his daughter. He
was regretted by all the city, and was honourably interred
in the Campo Santo with the following epitaph, which is
still to be read there : — ¦
Hlc tumulus est Benotii Florentim, qui proxime lias pinxit tiistorias.
Hunc sibi Pisanorum donavit tiumanitas. MOOcoLXXvm."'
Benozzo always lived with great regularity, and in the
manner of a true Christian, his whole life being occupied
with honourable labours. He was long looked upon with
great consideration in Pisa, as well for his excellent qualities
as for the distinction to which he had attained in art. The
disciples whom he left behind him were, Zanobi Macchi-
" This date does not refer to the death of Benozzo, but to the time when
the people of Pisa erected his tomb.

BESOZZO GOZZOLI 113
avelli, a Florentine, and some others who do not require
more particular mention.'-^ ^
^ Besides Zanobi di Jacopo di Piero Machiavelle (141S-147?) Giusto
d'Andrea oi Giiisto (1440-149S) was also a pupU of Benozzo.
** Benozzo Gozzoli is an uneven painter, bnt a great one. Always spontane
ous, often gay, and sometimes grave, he seems to fear no t «¦';>, however great,
and without preoccupation as to the difficulty he attacks an enormous wall
surface, as in iiis frescoes of the Pisan Cazapo S.into. and appears not so much
CO think ont his composition in advance as to go straight on telling a story
easUy and quickly, adding group after group as he feels the need of more
figures, and pressing animals ajid plant*, architecture and landscape, into his
service as readUy as men and women. Messrs, Woltmann and Woermann
(History oi Painting, VoL IL, p. SOS) say that "this const actly romantic mood
leaves, it must be owned, a rather desultory impression," which is true ; but
what is more important, the pictorial and decorative impression is not desul
tory, but inong and abiding. In his procession of the Magian Kings in the
Medici chapel, Benoszo is a miniature-painter on a vast scale, and seems al-
nicBt hke a child at play, settini: out his little trees and hills and tiny back
ground figures hunting or pasturing their herds ; bnt to this naifttz he adds a
grace and nharm, so great that here one feels perhaps more than anywhere else
that delightful decorative quality of fifteenth-century art, whieh, as M. M-zntz
has said, was sacrificed forever when the ord<rs with their inexorable rules
came in only a few years later. Here in the Medici chapel Benozzo added
the strength and science of the early Renaissance to the sincerity and
daintiness of the Gothic illuminator. He is a story-teller par cxct'lcncc. a
Florenrliie Carpacoio in his episodical treatment of his subjects, and a Floren
tine Holbein in his drawing of the heads of doctors and lawyers in his Saint
Augustine series, where the modelling, awkward even to carelessness in some
of his work, becomes al— o^t as close as that of the great German master. He
is classical only in his architecture, loving to paint rather the gayest costumes
of his own nfreenth century, and setting, says H. Lafenestre, "the life of the
schools "" (see his San Gimignano works) " side by side with the life of courts
and palaces." For a particularly enthusiastic essay npon Benozzo, see M.
Mintz, L'Agc d" Or. pp. 619 to 625, where he claims that justice has not yet
been done to the painter, and that his is the glory of having restored to honor
a narrative element too often sacrificed to the contemplative by the Florentine
artdsts. He is not only an azimated story-teller, he is a poet at times ; the idyl
is his :>s well as the episode, and his style suggests the romance rather than
the Xrtl.'o. He is a lover of nature, a student of fields and flowers and
birds and animals : he loved to enamel a meadow with blossoms as weB as to
eUborat* the partem of a brocade jerkiii, and to show ns the arbor bending
under heavy cln5t<?rs of grapes as well as to present us to some contemporary
legist or Mag^ij^.co. On the vast wall spaces that he covered so rapidly and
easily with a world cf story, he revealed himself in turn as landscape-painter,
portrait-painter, animal-painter, costtimer. architect. » de.signer of ornament.
md superlatively a decorator. The pure, serene spirit of Pra Angelico's
art in Gonoli had become more human, mere homely, more familiar, the
pleasant places of earth were the heaven he painted ; but if the work of the
master is more divine, that of the pupD is more living.

ANTONIO EOSSELLINO, FLORENTINE SCULPTOR,'
AND BERNARDO, HIS BROTHER, FLORENTINE
SCULPTOR AND ARCHITECT.
[Bom 1437 ; died about 1479.] [Born 1409 ; died 1464.]
Bibliography. — W. Bode, B. und A. Roseliino, in the Dohme series of
Kunst und Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Ne^uzcit. August Schmarsow,
Un capolavoro di scultura florentina del cjuattrocento, in Archivio Storico
dell' Arte, IV., 225-33.5. W. Bode, Italienische Bildhauer der Hennissnncr,
Studien zur Geschichle der italieidsrheu Plastik und Malerei auf Grund der
Bildwerke und Oemdlde in den Kiinigl. Muscen zu Berlin. Dr. Albert Ilg,
with a short article on II Rossellino in the Jahrbuch der Kunst historischen
Sammlungen des AllerhiJchsten Kaiserhaijses, L (1883), p 17, has a fine repro
duction of a beautiful Madonna which was taken from Schloss Ambras to the
Vienna coUeotions. For Polychromy applied to statues, see for the Rossel-
lini, as well as for Donatello, Verrocchio, Benedetto, and others, Louis Cou-
rajod. La Polychrornie dans la statuaire du mo^yen-dge et de la Renaissance,
Paris, 1888.
IT has in truth been ever a praiseworthy and virtuous
thing to possess modesty, and to be adorned with
those amiable qualities and rare gifts, so clearly to be
perceived in the honourable conduct of the sculptor An
tonio Rossellino, an artist, who pursued his calling with
such devotion and so much grace that he was esteemed
something more than man by all who knew him, and was
1 Antonio was bom in Settignano ; his father was Matteo di Domenico Gam-
bareUi. There were five brothers, all artists — Domenico, horn 1407 ; Ber
nardo, 1409-1104; Giovanni, 1417-1496; Tommaso, bom 1433; Antonio,
1437-1 479. Late critics. Dr. Bode especially, have considerably increased the
list of Antonio's works by various attributions of reliefs, busts, etc., both in
clay aud marble.

ANTONIO AND BERNARDO ROSSELLINO 115
venerated almost as a saint for the admirable virtues which
he added to his knowledge of art.
Antonio ^ was called the Rossellino of the Proconsolate,^
from the circumstance of his workrooms being in a part of
Florence, so called. His works display so much softness
aud delicacy, with a refinement and purity so entirely per
fect, that his manner may be justly called the true and
really modern one.
The marble fountain in the second court of the Jledici
Palace was constructed by Autonio Rossellino, the decora
tions of this work consist of Children with Dolphins'* from
the mouths of which the water is poured. The whole is
executed with exceeding grace, and finished with the ut
most care. In the churcli of Santa Croce, and near the
holy-water font, this master erected a sepulchral monu
ment for Frunceseo Xori,'' with the Virgin above it in
basso-rilievo, and a second figure of Our Lady, in the
palace of the Tornabuoni family, ° with many other works
which were sent abroad into various parts, as for example,
to Lyons, in France. For San Miniato al Monte, a mon
astery of White Friars, outside of Florence, Rossellino was
appointed to construct the monument of the Cardinal of
Portugal, and this work he executed so admirably, with
" The Rossellini belong to the group of sculptors called by M. Miintz the
Eclectics. This author says the sculptors of the time were divided into three
classes — the stone-cutters, lavoranti di quadro ; the ornamentalists, lavorauti
d'intaglio ; the figure sculptors, lavoranti di fignre. The Rossellini were em
phatically both ornamentalists and figure sculptors, See E. Mimtz, L'.-ige
d'Or. 454.
' The old Proconsulate still stands at the comer of the Via del Proconsolo
and the \'ia dei Pandolfini ; it was the head-quarters of the guild of judges aud
notaries. ' In the last edition of Milanesi, Vol. II., p. 40S, he attributes the fountain
at the ViUa of OastoUo to Donatello, and ou p. 94, Vol. III., he corrects this
error and aflirms his belief that the Castello fountain is the one mentioned
here, although the putti and the dolphins have disiippeared.
' Francesco Nori, the friend of Lorenzo de' Medici, was murdered in the
cathedral in 147>i by Giov. Bandini. See the history of the Pazzi conspiracy.
Antonio died about 1479, but Nori ordered the tomb during his lifetime.
" This work ia supposed to be lost.

116 ANTONIO AND BERNARDO EOSSELLINO
such extraordinary care and ability, that no artist can ever
expect to see anything which in grace and delicacy could
possibly surpass it.' Nay, to him who examines this work
it appears not merely difficult, but almost impossible that
it should have been brought to such perfection. There are
angels who have so much grace and beauty of expression ;
with such an easy flow in the draperies, and so much art in
the whole work, that they no longer seem to be of marble,
but living beings. Of these angels, one holds the crown of
chastity, which belonged to that cardinal, he having died,
as it is said, in strict celibacy, the other bears the palm
of victory, to intimate the conquest obtained by the Prelate
over worldly things. Among other remarkable parts of
this work is an arch in the stone called macigno, which
supports a marble curtain, so finely arranged, that between
the white of the marble and the grey of the macigno this
drapery looks much more like real cloth than like marble.
On the sarcophagus are figures of children which are truly
beautiful, with that of the Prelate himself ; there is a Ma
donna, moreover, in a medallion, which is also very well
done : the tomb itself has the form of that constructed in
porphyry, which is to be seen in Rome on the Piazza of the

' An admirable tomb. The polychromat;ic material somewhat scatters the
effect, and the fljdng angels are awkward, but the medallion of the Virgin
and Child is beautiful, Rossellino being at his best in these tondi, while the
whole chapel, down to the smallest detail, is singularly harmonious in its deco
rative effect. Perkins, Historical Handbook of Sculpture, p. 121, calls this
one of the tliree finest tombs in Tuscany, and says that it "attains the golden
mean of ornament, thanks to the judicious contrast preserved between adorned
and unadorned spaces." It must be added that Rossellino, after attaining
this effect of just proportion of ornament, has gone far toward cancelling what
he had obtained, by using colored marble in large masses instead of white,
and this error surprises, since the epoch was one in which painter and sculptor
BO often thoroughly appreciated each other's effects of color as well as of pro
portion. The tomb was ordered of Antonio in 1461. On the whole, though
this work displays perhaps higher sculptural qualities than does the Bruni
monument, by his brother Bernardo, the latter is finer in arrangement and
is therefore better as an artistic ensemble. M. Eug. Miintz is emphatic in
his opinion that Bernardo is greater than Antonio, both as architect and
sculptor.

ANTONIO AND BERNARDO ROSSELLINO 117
Rotunda.^ This monument to the Cardinal of Portugal was
erected in the year 1459, and its form, with the architecture
of the chapel, so greatly pleased the Duke of Malfi,'
nephew of Pope Pius II., that he caused one to be con
structed for his wife in Naples by the same artist, and sim
ilar to that of the cardinal in all things, excepting only the
figure of the dead. In the same place '" Antonio executed
a picture in relief," representing the Nativity of Christ
(the Presepio) ; a choir of rejoicing angels float over the rude
building, and these, singing, with parted lips, are finished
in such a manner that they seem to breathe, nay, to all
their movements and expressions, Antonio imparted so
much grace and refinement that genius and the chisel could
produce nothing in marble to surpass this work. For
these qualities the works of Antonio Rossellino have always
been held in the highest esteem by Michael Angelo, and are
ever considered more than excellent by every other artist.
In the capitular church of Empoli, this master produced a
figure in marble, of San Bastiano, '^ which is held to be a
very beautiful thing, and of this we have a drawing by his
own hand in our book, where we have likewise all the archi
tectural details and figures of the before-mentioned chapel

' The porphyry tomb, according to Bottari, became a part of the sepulchre
of Pope Clement XH., a cover of the same material having been added to it.
It is now in the Church of S. John Lateran, in Rome.
^ By Malfi, Amalfi is, of course, meant. Antonio did not live to complete
the tomb. Dr. Bode claims that this monument, which is in the Church of
Monte Oliveto at Naples, was executed by Benedetto da Majano, working un
der the direction of Antonio. Perkins treats of this tomb as Antonio's work.
'° Perkins, Historical Handbook of Italian Sculpture, p. 123, calls this
Nativity "a picture in marble," especially recalling Ghiberti. It is in the
Church of S. M. Del Monte Oliveto, Naples. Herr A. Schmarsow, Un Ca
polavoro di Scultura Fiorentina del Quattrocento, Arch. Stor., IV., 335-
235, claims that the St. John in the S. Giov. Battista chapel of S. Giobbe at
Venice is a masterpiece of Antonio Rossellino.
" This ranks among Rossellino's best works ; it is still in situ.
" This San Bastiano is called by M. Miintz one of the most beautiful nude
figures of the fifteenth century. See also the same author in Les A rchives des
Arts, p. 28, for a fine Annunciation by Bernardo Rossellino (one of his earliest
works), in the Church of the Misericordia at Empoli.

118 ANTONIO AND BE-RNARDO ROSSELLINO
of San Miniato al Monte, with the portrait of Antonio Ros
sellino himself.
Antonio died in Florence at the age of forty-six, leaving
a brother, also an architect and sculptor, called Bernardo."
This artist executed the marble monument erected in the
church of Santa Croce, to Messer Lionardo Bruni, of Arez
zo, who wrote the History of Florence, and was a very
learned man, as all the world knows. " Bernardo was much
" M. Miintz considers that Bernardo Rossellino surpassed his brother both
as sculptor and architect. His masterpiece of sculpture is the Bruni monu
ment (1444) in Santa Croce; an Annunciation in the Misericordia at Empoli
is important ; while the tomb of the Beata VUlana (1451), in Santa Maria No
vella, is unlike most of his work and recalls Donatello. The Lazzari monu
ment at Pistoja (Church of San Domenico) ia by Antonio and Bernardo.
1* This tomb commemorates the eminent jurist, Leonardo Bruni ; also called
Aretino, from his birthplace. He was Apostolic Secretary to four successive
popes, became Chancellor of Florence, and at his death, in 1444, was given a
magnificent funeral by the Republic. This monument, much less rich than
is the tomb of Marsuppini, by Desiderio, which stands opposite it upon the
other side of the church, is less original and in a way less striking, but it
has a dignity and balance which approach perfection, and one can never tire
of its grave beauty.
It is perhaps the finest of that wonderful group of sepulchral monuments
which includes the tombs of Carlo Marsuppini, by Desiderio ; of Cardinal Por-
togallo, by Antonio Rossellino, and of Ugo, Marquis of Tuscany, by Mino da
Fiesole. This tombal sculpture is the contribution of the Renaissance sculp
tors to Art. In their other works, in bas-relief in the statue in the round, in
the portrait bust, in the medal, and in decorative detail they were the students
and followers of antiquity, but in this they were creators and innovators.
Through the middle ages the sepulchral slab was laid flat upon the church
fioor, its effigy soon worn smooth by countless feet. Portraiture, decorative
motives, and elaborate detail were thus lost and wasted. In the Renaissance
the beloved or illustrious dead were given a nobler place. The sarcophagus
with its recumbent figure was set high against the church wall in a richly
decorated niche between ornamented pilasters. Guardian angels watched on
either side or drew apart the marble curtains, contemplative genii sustained
the heavy wreaths of fruit and flowers or supported the shields of the dead,
while above in the lunette were Madonna and the saints. Lovely decorative
forms enriched the sarcophagus, the base and pilasters were carved with
leaf and flower and shell. But it was iu the treatment of the figure of the de
parted lying quietly with composed limbs and folded hands, looking as they
who loved him saw him for the last time, with all the transient lines smoothed
away by the touch of the greatest of sculptors — it was in the figure idealized
by affection and simplified by memory that the Renaissance sculptor proved
himself "a poet of Death." The sculptor had forgotten the charnel-house

ANTONIO AND BERNARDO EOSSELLINO 119
esteemed for his ability in architecture by Pope Nicholas V.,
who, besides, valued him greatly, and employed him in many
of the works '* which he caused to be constructed during his
pontificate, and of which he would have erected many more,
had not death interposed to prevent him." Among those
for which Bernardo was employed by Pope Nicholas, was
the rebuilding of the Piazza, or Market, in Fabriano (ac
cording to what we find related by Giannozzo Manetti),
where Bernardo remained during several months, on account
of the plague, which was that year raging in Florence.
images of the Middle Ages. Death was no longer to him a grisly spectre, but
a gentle youth with an inverted torch, or rather a grave and tender guardian
angel, and in these austerely beautiful recumbent figures, in these mailed sol
diers, delicate women, and dignified scholars and churchmen, the peace, the
pathos, and the majesty of death found adequate artistic expression.
If we compare these Renaissance tombs with those of the Greek Ceramicus
we shall perhaps appreciate more highly the individuality of the Tuscan
sculptor and the force as a controlling influence in the plastic arts of that
"¦grande esperance qui a traversee la terre." The sepulchral bas-reliefs ot
the Greeks show us the wife surrounded by her servants, her children at her
knee bidding them a long farewell, the youth clasping his father's hand while
the horse stands near, symbol of the last, dark journey, or the maiden at her
toilet, with the sirens, emblems of death, hovering above her. Profoundly
human as they are, these figures are not portraits, they are merely types ; both
form and features are generalized in the true Greek fashion ; it is the inscrip
tion alone that commemorates the individual. These tombal reliefs tell us of
self-restraint, of obedience to inflexible law, but they seem already shrouded
in the twilight of the dim under-world, and they are overshadowed by the
deep sadness of the eternal separation. The Renaissance tomb lacks this
universal humanity, it is intensely individual, it preserves the actual sem
blance of the departed, it betrays the desire for posthumous fame so charac
teristic of the epoch, it represents death as but a brief sleep, angel-guarded,
and it suggests a glorious resurrection and a personal immortality.
15 Certain critics attribute these buildings, executed under Nicholas V. ,
rather to Bernardo di Lorenzo than to Bernardo Rossellino. Milanesi consid
ers this attribution to be wholly mistaken, and resting upon no proof, whereas
Bernardo Rossellino certainly was in the service of Pope Nicholas.
" Bernardo built at Pienza the church, toivn-hall, bishop's palace, and the
Piccolomini palace. These edifices show great similarity to the work of Leon
Battista Alberti, and certain critics affirm that the Rucellai palace at Florence
is more probably by Rossellino thau by Alberti. Bernardo was also architect
of the Piccolomini palace at Siena. In 1433 he sculptured a tabernacle for
the convent of SS. Flora e Lucilla d' Arezzo, and another in 1436 for the Badia
of Florence. These tabernacles are not mentioned by VasarL

120 ANTONIO AND BEENAEDO ROSSELLINO
This he enlarged where it was too closely restricted, and
brought the whole place into good order, erecting a range of
shops around it, which are very useful as well as commodious
and handsome. He then restored the church of San Fran
cesco in the same place, which was going to ruin ; and at
Gualdo he rebuilt the church of San Benedetto, we may al
most say, entirely anew, considering the addition of hand
some and well constructed buildings which he made to it.
In Assisi, the church of San Francesco was greatly damaged
in some parts, and in others were threatening to fall ; this
building, he likewise repaired and strengthened most thor
oughly, covering it also with a new roof. At Civita Vecchia,
Bernardo erected many beautiful and magnificent edifices ;
and at Civita Castellana, he rebuilt more than a third of the
city walls in a very good manner. At Narni, also, he re
built and enlarged the fortress, adding to it strong and
handsome walls. At Orvieto, this artist likewise erected a
large fortress, with a most beautiful palace, a work of
great cost and no less magnificence." At Spoleto, in like
manner, he enlarged and strengthened the fortress, con
structing dwelling-places therein, so handsome, commo
dious, and well-arranged, that nothing better can be seen.
He restored the baths of Viterbo at great expense and with
a most regal spirit, erecting residences there, calculated, not
for the rich * only, who daily go to bathe there, but worthy
to be the lodging of the greatest princes."
All these buildings were executed at the command of Pope
Nicholas V., by Bernardo, in places distant from Rome ; but
for that city itself he restored, and in many places renewed,
the walls which were for the most part in ruins ; adding to
them certain towers, and comprehending in these, additional
fortifications, which he erected outside of the Castle St.
Angelo, besides numerous rooms and decorations which he
* AmTnalaii means the sick, not the rich.
" DeUa Valle, quoted by Milanesi, affirms that the Orvietan fortress greatly
antedates Bernardo. Many of the palaces were built by Ippolito Scalza, and
it ia not known which ones were designed by Bernardo.
18 These buUdings had already fallen into decay when Bottari wrote in 1759.

ANTONIO AND BERNARDO EOSSELLINO 121
constructed within. This Pontiff had it also in mind to re
store and gradually to rebuild, as the occasion should de
mand, the forty Churches of the Stations instituted by Pope
Gregory I., who was called Gregory the Great, and he did
complete that work in a great measure, having restored
Santa Maria Trastevere, Santa Prassedia, San Teodoro, San
Pietro in Vincula, and many others of the minor churches.
But with still greater spirit, magnificence, and care was the
same work accomplished for six of the greater and principal
churches — San Giovanni Laterano, for example, Santa Ma
ria Maggiore, Santo Stephano, in Monte Celio, Sant' Apos
tolo, San Paolo, and San Lorenzo, extra muros." Of San
Pietro I do not speak, because this constitutes an undertak
ing apart.
Pope Nicholas V. had also proposed to make the Vatican
itself into a separate city, and to surround it with fortifica
tions ; in pursuance of this plan, he had three roads laid
out which should lead to San Pietro ; two of these being, as
I believe, where the Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Nuovo now
are. These he was covering in certain parts with Loggie,
containing very convenient shops : the richer and more im
portant trades being separated from the minor and poorer,
each class of trades established being in a street by itself.
The Round Tower, still called Torrione di Niccola, was al
ready completed. Over these shops and Loggie were to be
erected commodious and magnificent houses in a fine style
of architecture, and these were so designed that they were
defended and sheltered from all those winds which in Rome
are considered insalubrious, and were moreover freed from
all the inconveniences of water and other disadvantages
likely to generate malaria. All which would have been
completed by that Pontiff, had his life been prolonged but
for a short time, he being of a great and most determined
" There is no documentary proof that Bernardo Rossellino did anything in
Rome except superintend certain buildings at San Stefano Rotondo, and
other masters are recorded as the authors of some of the architectural works
mentioned by Vasari.

122 ANTONIO AND BERNARDO ROSSELLINO
spirit, well informed also, and so thoroughly skilled in such
undertakings, that he directed and governed the architects
no less than he was counselled and guided by them. And
this is a state of things which causes great undertakings to
be brought easily to a successful termination, for when the
founder of the building understands for himself, and is
capable of instant decision, the works go forward, but when
he is incapable and irresolute, he stands undecided between
the yes and the no, suffering time to pass unprofitably
amidst various designs and opinions, while nothing useful is
effected. But respecting this design of Nicholas, there is
no need to say anything more, since it was not carried into
effect. This Pontiff, likewise proposed to reconstruct the papal
palace in so vast and magnificent a style, and with so much
beauty and convenience, that, in every point of view, it
should be the most splendid and extensive building in
Christendom. He intended that it should not only be a
suitable residence for the person of the supreme Pontiff, the
chief of all Christians, and that of the sacred college of car
dinals, who, as being his council and assistants, ought to
be ever near him ; but he also desired that all ofiices for
business of whatever kind, despatches, legal affairs, and all
others connected with the Court, should be comprised with
in it ; insomuch, that all these buildings, thus assembled to
gether, offices, courts, and the household, would have pre
sented imposing magnificence, and, if such a term may be
used for such a purpose, would have produced a pompous
grandeur of inconceivable effect. But what is even much
more, preparations were to have been made for the reception
of emperors, kings, dukes, and other Christian princes, who,
whether for their affairs, or from devotion, should visit that
most holy apostolic seat. And who will believe that Pope
Nicholas would also have constructed there a theatre for the
coronation of the Pontiffs, with gardens, loggie, aqueducts,
fountains, chapels, libraries, and a most sumptuous building
set apart for the conclave ? This building (I know not

ANTONIO AND BERNARDO ROSSELLINO 123
whether I should call it a palace, a castle, or a city) would
certainly have been the most superb edifice that had ever
been erected, so far as we know, from the creation of the
world to the present day. What dignity would it not have
imparted to the holy Roman church, to see the supreme
Pontiff, the chief thereof, assemble around him all the ser
vants and ministers of God dwelling in the city of Rome,
and unite them as in a renowned and most holy monastery,
where, as it were in a new terrestrial Paradise, they might
have lived a heavenly, angelic, and most holy life, present
ing au example to all Christendom, and awakening even the
minds of infidels to the true worship of God and the blessed
Saviour ! But this vast work was left incomplete by the
death of the Pope, nay, rather it was scarcely commenced ;
the little that was done may be known by his arms, or what
he used as arms, which were two keys laid cross-wise on a
' field of red. The fifth work which this Pontiff had proposed
to himself to execute, was the church of San Pietro, which
he had designed to make so vast, so rich, and so splendidly
adorned, that it were better to be silent respecting it than
to commence the recital, since I could not fittingly describe
even the smallest part of the work, and should fail all the
more certainly, because the model prepared for this building
has been lost, and others have since been made by other
architects. But whoever shall desire to form a clear con
ception of the great designs entertained in this matter by
Pope Nicholas V., let him read what Giannozzo Manetti, a
noble and learned Florentine citizen, has written very cir
cumstantially in the life of that Pontiff. For the designs of
all the works projected as above described by Pope Nicholas,
as well as for others, the latter is said to have availed him
self of the genius and great industry of Bernardo Rossellino.^
" In the Museo Nazionale of Florence are busts of a San Giovannino and
of Battista Sforza, by Bernardo Rossellino ; also a tondo by Antonio, of the
Madonna and Child, and a bust of Matteo Palmieri. At the South Kensing
ton Museum is the bust of Giovanni da San Miniato, Doctor of Arts and of
Medicine, 1476, by Antonio (for a fine reproduction, see J. C. Robinson's
folio work. South Kensington Museum Italian Sculpture, plate XVHL), while

124 ANTONIO AND BERNARDO ROSSELLINO
Antonio, the brother of Bernardo, ^^ ^ (to return at length
to the point, whence, for so fair a purpose, I departed), An
tonio executed his labours in sculpture, about the year 1490 ;
and as men for the most part admire such works as are seen
to have been produced with care and difficulty, and as his

Dr. Bode claims for him as well several large clay reliefs, a Madonna with the
Christ Child, in the Berlin Museum, and another in the Hainauer collection.
The former is the original study for the tondo in the Museo Nazionale of Flor
ence, and like most of the terra-cotta studies is superior to the completed
marble. A man's bust from the Guadagni Palace of Florence is also at
tributed to Antonio, and Herr von Fabriczy ascribes to him the Solarolo Ma
donna which Signor Argnani, of Faenza, accredits to Donatello. Two reliefs,
the Assumption and the story of St. Stephen, in the pulpit of the cathedral
of Prato, are by Antonio, and far surpass the other sculptures there hy Mino.
See MOauesi. Works in terra-cotta became frequent at this epoch; the
terra-cotta is sometimes glazed terra invetriata, as in the case of the Robbias,
sometimes painted in oil (see the Niccolo d'Uzzano of Donatello), and some
times has only the natural color of the baked clay. M. Louis Courajod (see
Bibhography) and J. C. Robinson, in his South Kensington Catalogue, are of
the opinion that nearly all terra-cottas up to the end of the fifteenth century
were colored, and that gilding was almost invariably used upon certain por
tions of bas-reliefs.
"' Apparently Antonio died about 1479. That was the last year in which he
is recorded as having paid taxes. Bernardo Rossellino, bom 1409, was buried
in Sta. Maria Novella, September 23, 1464.
33 The Rosellini belong to the group of eclectic sculptors who sacrificed
some of Donatello's vigor to the striving for religious expression and elegance
of form. They are ' ' thoughtful and laborious, if not powerful," says M. Miintz,
who adds that to this group, including Desiderio and Mino, " is due in great
part the high perfection of Florentine Art." Distinction and refinement, to
gether with exquisite taste in the arrangement of ornament and detail, belong
to all of these sculptors. Symonds, in his Pine Arts, says that these artists
' ' voluntarily imposed upon their genius " limitation to such effects as could
be obtained by "suavity of expression, deUoacy of feeling, urbanity of style,"
and he believes that their charm of manner can hardly be defined except by
similes, such as " the melody of a lute as distinguished from that of an or
chestra." Although these eclectics have left no such immortal works as the
gates of Ghiberti, the Zuccone of Donatello, the Colleone of Verrocchio, the
Cantoria of della Robbia, yet they are the authors (Benedetto and Mino, that
is, as well as the Roselhni and Matteo da Civitale) of the countless fountains
and friezes and bordered panels, the festoons of marble fruit which hang
down over tombs, the acanthus scroll-work climbing the walls of churches, in
fact of all that lovely decorative detail which is so essentially of the quattro
cento, that it, even more than the masterpieces of their greater contempora
ries, stands for us as the very sign-manual of the Italian Renaissance.

ANTONIO AND BEENAEDO EOSSELLINO 125
labours are distinguished for these two qualities, he deserves
and has obtained fame and honour, as an illustrious ex
ample from which modern sculptors may learn how those
statues should be executed whicli are calculated, by the dif
ficulties they present, to secure the greatest amount of praise
and renown. For after Donatello, it is Antonio, who has
effected the most towards adding a certain delicacy and re
finement to works in sculpture, seeking to perforate in some
parts, and in others to round his figures in such a manner,
that they appear in full relief and well finished in every
part, a point which until that time had not been seen to be
so perfectly attended to in sculpture, but the method, hav
ing been first introduced by him, has since, in the times
more immediately following, and in our own, been ever
adopted and acknowledged to be admirable.

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO,* SCULPTOR
[Born 1438 ; died 1464.]
BiBLIOGEAPHY. — W. Bode, Desiderio, in the Dohme series of Knn.it und
Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Dr. Bode, both in the Jahrbuch,
the Gazette desBeanx Arts, s.nAthe Archivio Storico, has written much of late
concerning Desiderio. W. Bode, Desiderio da Settignano und Francesco
Laurana, Die iiiahre Biistc der Marietta Strozzi, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., Vol.
IX., No. 4, and Vol. X., No. 1., Berlin, 1888-89. W. Bode, Zwei Italienische
Frauenbiisten des Quattrocento im Berliner Museum, Jahrbuch der K. P. S.,
Vol. XI. H. Von Tschudi, Donatello e la Critica Moderna, Turin, 1887.
YERY great is the amount of gratitude which is due
to Heaven and to Nature, from those who are able
to produce their works without effort and with a
certain grace which others cannot impart to their produc
tions, whether by study or imitation. For this is in truth
a gift of Heaven, showered, so to speak, over certain works
in such a manner that they bear about them a loveliness
and attraction which draw towards them not only those who
are well versed in art, but even many who are not connected
with it. And this proceeds from the idea of ease and facil
ity which the truly good presents, never offering to the eyes
that hard and crude aspect so frequently given to works
produced painfully and with laboured efforts ; by such
grace and simplicity, which pleases universally and is un
derstood by all, are distinguished the works performed by
Desiderio. Many affirm, that this artist belonged to Settignano, a
place two miles distant from Florence, while others con-
1 Desiderio (di Bartolommeo di Francesco) was born at Settignano, and was
the son of a mason, Bartolommeo di Francesco, called Ferro. He had two
brothers, Francesco and Geri, and Geri was afterward adopted as the family
name.

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO 127
sider him a Florentine ; but this is of little consequence,
seeing that the two places are so near together. Desiderio
imitated the manner of Donate,^ although he was himself
endowed by nature with the power of imparting extraordi
nary grace and loveliness to his heads ; ^ and the faces of
his women and children exhibit the most charming sweet
ness and the softest delicacy, qualities which he derived so
much from nature by whom he was disposed to the art, as
from the zeal and study wherewith he disciplined and exer
cised his genius. Desiderio worked in his youth on the
pedestal of Donato's David, which is in the ducal palace of
Florence, and on this he executed harpies in marble, of ex
traordinary merit, as also vine-leaves, with their tendrils, in
bronze, which are very graceful and most aljly executed.^
On the fapade of the Gianfigliazzi palace, he sculptured the
armorial bearings ' of the family, of a large size and very
finely done, with a lion, which is most beautiful ; and
other works in stone now dispersed over different parts of
the city. For the church of the Carmine, Desiderio carved
an Angel ^ in wood, which was placed in the chapel of the
Brancacci ; and in the church of San Lorenzo he completed
the decorations, in marble, for the chapel of the Sacrament,
a work which he conducted with great diligence to the
utmost perfection. In this chapel there was the figure of a
child by our artist, in full relief, which was removed from
its place,' and is now wont to be set upon the altar on the
2 In this we cannot agree, for it is dramatic, vigorous, and energetic, while
that of Desiderio is quiet, gentle, and unimpassioned. We have little to judge
him by — a bust, a monument, and a tabernacle — but these are suificient to
show his exquisite taste in ornament, his great technical skill, and his origi
nality. — C. C. Perkins's Historical Handbook of Italian Sculpture. Since
this was written the list of works attributed to Desiderio has been increased
by a number of busts.
'In his Cronaca R'miata Giovanni Santi says of Desiderio, ^^ II bravo De-
sider si dolce e bello."
* This pedestal is lost.
' Which have been restored.
' The angel is lost.
' In 1677 these sculptures were taken to the opposite side of tbe church,
and the httle Christ was restored to its old place upon the monument. See

128 DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO
feast of the Nativity, as an extraordinary thing ; and in its
stead another was made by Baccio da Montelupo, also in
marble, which stands constantly on the tabernacle of the
Sacrament. In Santa Maria Novella, Desiderio constructed
the marble sepulchre of the Beata Villana,^ a work wherein
there are certain little angels which are very graceful, as is
the portrait of the Beata herself, taken from the life. She
does not seem to be dead, but merely asleep. For the Nuns
of the Murate likewise he executed a small figure of the
Virgin, to stand on a column in a tabernacle, which is also
in a very pleasing and graceful manner, insomuch that both
these works were always held in the utmost esteem, and are
still very highly prized.^ Desiderio executed the marble
tabernacle of the Sacrament in the church of San Pietro
Maggiore, with his accustomed diligence ; and although
there are no figures in this work, it gives evidence, never
theless, of a very fine manner, and has infinite grace, like all
the other works by his hand.'" This artist sculptured the
portrait of Marietta degli Strozzi, '^ likewise in marble, and
Milanesi. This infant Christ is among the most charming statues of the Re
naissance. M. Muntz notes (Les Pritnitifs) that a marble statuette greatly
resembling it was left to the Louvre by Baron Davillier. See also the statu
ette in the Duomo of Prato, nearly identical in character.
' The tomb of the Beata Villana is by Bernardo Rossellino. See his Life.
» It was broken by accident in 1557, put together again, but was coarsely
painted and badly damaged. It was finally placed in the small oratory of
S. M. delle Nevi. See Milanesi, Vol. II., p. 109.
" In 1784, the church being destroyed, this ciborium was carried to a mar
ble shop in the Piazza Madonna. Milanesi in his last edition could no longer
account for its whereabouts.
" Dr. Bode (Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1888) refuses for technical reasons to
credit the bust of Marietta Strozzi in the Berlin Gallery to Desiderio, and
attributes it to Francesco Laurana, the medallist and sculptor ; Sig. Carotti
combats this attribution. Dr. Bode also remarks that Marietta was but six
teen years old when Desiderio died, while the bust is that of a person at least
ten years older. Dr. Bode is, however, convinced that the Berlin Gallery pos
sesses two busts which really are by Desiderio. One is of a young girl, the
material is marble, and the writer suggests that the bust may have come
from the Medici palace in Florence. The other bust, which is in calcareous
stone, came from the Ducal Palace of Urbino, is of about the year 1460, and
according to Dr. Bode, is probably a portrait of one of the daughters of Duke

BELLINI
MADONNA ENTHRONED
CHURCH OF THE FRARI, VENICE

Alinari, Phot.

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO 129
taken from the life, and, as the Lady was exceedingly beau
tiful, the bust is a very admirable one.
The tomb of Messer Carlo Marsuppini," of Arezzo, in the
church of Santa Croce, was also erected by this master, and
the work not only caused amazement in the artists and
other well-informed persons, who then examined it, but con
tinues to surprise all who see it in the present day : Desi
derio having executed foliage on the sarcophagus, which,
although somewhat hard and dry, yet, as but few antiquities
had at that time been discovered, was then considered a
very beautiful thing. Again, among other jiarticulars of
this work, are certain wings which form part of the orna
ments of the sarcophagus, and seem rather to be of actual
feathers than of stone, a thing very difficult to produce in
marble, since it is almost impossible to copy hair and feath
ers with the chisel.* There are, besides, several Children
and Angels, executed in a manner which is truly beautiful
and animated. The figure of the Dead, a portrait from
nature, extended on the tomb, is of the utmost excellence ;
Federigo. For fine reproductions of these busts see the Jahrbuch der K. P. S.,
Vol. VIIL, p. 32, and Vol. VIIL, p. 113. The former reproduces also a clay
bust recently acquired, and which Dr. Bode believes to be a study for the Ber
lin marble. Dr. Bode thinks that a bust lately found in a villa of the Strozzi,
near Florence, is the true and original portrait of Marietta Strozzi. See the
Jahrbuch derK. P. S. , Vol. X., p. 28, Die Wahre Biiste der Marietta Strozzi,
and Vol. XL, p. 309, Ztcei Italienische Frauenbiisten, etc. The bust called a
Princess of Urbino has also been named, though with no certain proof, An-
tonietta des Baux, wife of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. See L'Areh. Stor. dell'
Arte, IL, 168.
* The translator has here omitted a meaningless, or at beat a fantastic,
sentence : " There is a marble niche more living than if it were of bone."
" Carlo di Gregorio Marsuppini, who died about 145.5, was Secretary to the
Florentine Republic. This tomb is a marked contrast to the Bruni tomb,
which is opposite it. The work of Desiderio is less grave and classical, but
is spontaneous, original, and unusual Owing to the symmetrical disposition
and the delicacy of the work, the monument does not appear overloaded, al
though nearly every portion of it is filled with ornament. Altogether it is
one of the two or three most beautiful tombs in Tuscany. Speaking of it M.
Miintz says : " Here one sees the pupil of Donatello less universal than his
master, but more chastened, sometimes more subtle, and with more of mor-
bidezza."—Les Primitifs, p. 548.

130 DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO
and on a medallion is the effigy of Our Lady in basso-rilievo,
treated after the manner of Donate, and finished with great
judgment as well as extraordinary grace. These qualities
are likewise to be remarked in many other bassi-rilievi in
marble by Desiderio, some of wliich are in the guardaroba
of the lord Duke Cosimo, more particularly a medallion
with the head of Jesus Christ, and that of John the Baptist,
as a child. ^8 At the foot of Messer Carlo's tomb, Desiderio
laid a large stone to the memory of Messer Giorgio," a re
nowned doctor and legist, who was secretary to the Signoria
of Florence, with a basso-rilievo, which is very beautiful,
and wherein is the portrait of Messer Giorgio, clothed in the
robes of a doctor, according to the fashion of that time.
Had not death so prematurely deprived the world of that
powerful mind which thus laboured with such admirable
effect, Desiderio would, without doubt, have profited to such
extent by the experience of the future, as to have surpassed
all others, as much in knowledge of art as he did in grace.
But the thread of his life was cut short at the age of twenty-
eight,^' to the deep grief of all those who had hoped to be-
13 This work is lost.
K This slab still exists, but is much injured by the feet of passers. Richa
copied the now illegible inscription ; it proved this Marsuppini to be Gregorio,
not Giorgio, and secretary, not of the Florentine Signoria, but of Charles VI. ,
king of France. See Milanesi.
15 Desiderio died, aged thirty-six, January 16, 1464, and was buried in San
Piero Maggiore. He left a statue of a Penitent Magdalen partially completed.
It was finished by Benedetto of Majano, and is in the Santa Trinitti. A stiac-
ciato relief of the Madonna and Child in the Via Cavour at Florence is attrib
uted to Desiderio. H. von Tschudi, in Donatello e la Critica Moderna, has
claimed for Desiderio several children's busts, including the famous Laughing
Child of the Miller collection. M. Miintz (Les Primitifs) cannot admit this
last attribution, considering that the frankness of the expression and sureness
of handling could only have come from Donatello. This objection seems a
fair one, nevertheless there is a something in the Laughing Child which is
very suggestive of Desiderio, and which seems like the supreme expression of
just what Desiderio most admired in Donatello, and best assimilated, adding a
refinement, a certain precieux quality of his own not found in the greater
master's work. The Museo Borromeo at Milan contains a bustino which re
sembles the children's busts in the Vanchettoni church of Florence, and if the
latter are by Desiderio, as has been auggeated, the Borromeo bust may be also

DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO 131
hold the perfection, to which such a genius would have at
tained in its maturity, and who were more than dismayed by
so great a loss. He was followed by his relations and nu
merous friends to the church of the Servites ; and on his
tomb there continued for a long time to be placed epigrams
and sonnets, from the number of which it shall suffice me
to insert the following : —
Come vide natura
Dar Desiderio aifreddi marmi vita,
E poter la scultura
Agguagliar sua bellezza alma e infinita,
Si fermo sbigottita
E disse ; omai sard mia gloria oscura.
E piena d' alto sdegno
Tronco la vita a cosi beW ingegno
Ma in van, perctii cestui
Die vita etema ai ¦marmi, e i marmi a lui.
The works of Desiderio were performed about the year 1485.
He left the sketched figure of a Magdalene in penitence,
which was finished at a later period by Benedetto da Maiano,
and is now in the church of Santa Trinita at Florence, on
the right as you enter the church. This fignre is beautiful
beyond the power of words to express. In our book are
certain drawings by Desiderio," which are very fine ; his
included among hia works. See G. Frizzoni, L'Arch. Stor., III., 349. Signor
Umberto Rossi, L'Arch. Stor., VI. (II Museo Nazionale di Firenze nel Tri-
ennio, 1889-1891), gives a reproduction (p. 15) of a bronze head of a child
in the Bargello which he attributes to Desiderio. There is in the Berlin
Museum a bust of a child accredited by Dr. Bode to Desiderio, which was
bought originally by Herr Semper from the Barberini palace, went thence to
Vienna, and lastly to Berlin.
i" Had Desiderio left nothing but the Marsuppini tomb he would have been
famous. Perhaps no sculptor ever succeeded in making a monument so in
tensely rich and yet avoided giving any sense of overloaded ornament. Taste
and refinement are the words which come first to the mind in describing it,
but behind these two qualities is a delicate individuality which surpasses both.
The tomb of Marsuppini will always be accounted among the glorious produc
tions of the Renaissance, and as a title of immortality to the young sculptor,
whose remaining works are so few. He was pre-eminently fitted to be a

132 DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNAISTO
portrait I have obtained from some of his connections in
Settignano.
scholar of Donatello, for lie was capable at once of appreciating Donatello'3
strength and his sweetness, those characteristics of the master which are seen
in his putti of the Prato pulpit, the Sienese font and the Santa Croce Annun
ciation. Desiderio's children have not the robustness of Donatello's, some of
them are almost fragile ; the artist is already following the current of the fif
teenth-century sculpture, which set in the direction of grace and tenderness,
bat he still preserves his own strong individuality, and therein he stands
higher than do any of the eclectics who immediately surrounded him. He
seeras an exemplification of one side of Donatello's talent spiritualized and
refined into less of strength and more of sweetness, a sweetness, however,
which is wholly sane and healthy. M. Miintz (Les Primitifs) calls him " the
most splrituel of the second generation of Florentine sculptors, the best en
dowed of those who followed themanner of Donatello."

MING DA FIESOLE, SCULPTORS
[Born 1431 ; died 1484.]
BiELiOGRAPHT. — D. Gnoli, Le Opere di Mino da Fiesole in Roma, in L' Ar
chivio Storico delV Arte, H., 455 ; III., 89, 175, 258, 424. D. Gnoli, Rieostru-
zione del monumento del Cardinale Forteguerri, di Mino da Fiesole, in L' Ar
chivio Storico dell' Arte, IV., 208. Basso-rilievi di Mino da Fiesole, article
hy Adolfo Venturi in V Archivio Storico dell' Arte, I., 412. H. von Tschudi,
Das Confession's Tabernakel Sixtus IV. in S. Peter zu Rom, Jahrbuch
K. P. S. , VIU. ,1. W. Bode, Mino da Fiesole, in the Dohme series of Kunst
und Kiinstler des Mitlallers und der Neuzeit.
WHEN artists seek no more, in the works they pro
duce, than to imitate their masters, or some other
eminent person, whose manner may please them,
in the attitudes of their fignres, the air of their heads, or
the folds of their draperies, and confine themselves to the
^ Mino di Giovanni di Mino was bom about 1430, 1431 (a misprint in Gaye
makes it 1400). He is registered in a book of the master-carvers in stone and
wood as a native of Poppi in the Casentino, Minus Johannis Mvni de .Pupio
[Poppi], matriculated July 28, 1464. Milanesi accepts this entry and con
siders him as Mino da Poppi and not da Fiesole, but another book, the one
called il rosso, the red book, belonging to the same art guild, speaks of him
as Mino da Fiesole. See MUanesi, III., p. 116, note 3 1. Sig. Domenico
Gnoli, in an important series of articles, Le Opere di Mino da Fiesole in
Roma, published in the Archivio Storico dell' Arte, has nearly doubled our
knowledge of this sculptor. He has established the facts, first, that Bome
was the real theatre of Mine's activity ; second, that fifteenth-century work
in Rome was almost ignored by Vasari, the latter failing to even record works
which he would have celebrated with high praise had they been in Florence ;
third, he has proved by examination, analysis, and photographic reproduction
that many Roman works denied to Mino by Perkins are his, wholly or iu part.
Sig. Gnoli, in speaking of the Tuscan neglect of Roman fifteenth-century work,
notes the fact that tradition regarding art work is preserved in the families
of the artists who execute and of the patrons who order it ; but that in Rome
the artists were but transient, and did not settle with their families in the
city, while the patrons, being churchmen, celibates, and only elective princes,
were also transient and had no families. In addition to this the pomp and
splendor of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Rome have caused the
elegant but more simple work of the fifteenth century to be forgotten.

134 MIXO DA FIESOLE
studying of these particulars ; altliough with time and la
bour, they may execute works similar to those they admire,
yet they never attain, by these means alone, to the perfec
tion of their art, since it is obvious that he rarely presses
forward who is content to follow behind. ^ And the imita
tion of Nature herself is at an end for that artist whom
long practice has confirmed in the manner he has adopted :
for as imitation is the fixed art of representing exactly what
you desire to copy, so it is a very fine thing, provided that
yon take pure Nature only for your guide, witliout the in
tervention of your master's manner, or that of others, who
have also reduced to a manner what they first took from
Nature : seeing that, however truthful and natural the
works of any master may appear, it is not possible that
with all his diligence, he can make it such as that it shall be
equal to Nature herself, nay, even though he select the best
parts, he can never set them together into a body of such
perfection as to make Art outstrip Nature. Then, if this
be so, it follows, that objects taken directly from Nature
are alone calculated to make painting and sculpture per
fect, and that he who studies artists only, and not bodies
and things natural, must of necessity have his works in
ferior to the reality, nay, less excellent than those of the
master from whom he takes his manner. Accordingly, it
has happened to many of our artists, that not having stud
ied anything but the manner of their masters, and having
thus left Nature out of view, they have failed to acquire
any knowledge of her, neither have they got beyond the
master they have imitated, but have done great wrong to
their own genius. "Whereas, if they had studied the man
ner of their masters and natural objects at the same time,
they would have produced more effectual fruits than they
have now done. An instance of this may be seen in the
works of the sculptor, Mino da Fiesole, who, possessing
genius whereby he might have accomplished whatever he
had chosen to attempt was yet so enamoured of the manner
' This is a saying of Michelangelo's.

MINO DA FIESOLE 135
of his master, Desiderio da Settignano,^ that the grace im
parted by that artist to his heads of women, to his boys^
and to all other figures executed by him, appeared to Mino
something superior to Nature herself ; insomuch that, sole
ly occupied in following his master, he abandoned the study
of natural objects as superfluous, whence he became rather
graceful in manner than solidly based in art.
It was on the hill of Fiesole, a most ancient city, now in
decay, near to Florence, that the sculptor, Mino di Giovanni
was born : and he, being placed as a stone-cutter with Desi
derio da Settignano, a young sculptor of great excellence,
displayed much attachment to his calling ; and while occu
pied with the squaring of stones, he acquired the art of
imitating in terra the works executed by Desiderio in
marble. These he copied so closely, that his master seeing
him likely to make progress in art, took pains to bring him
forward, and set him to execute certain parts of the sculpt
ures in marble on which he was himself engaged. Thus
employed, Mino gave the most earnest attention to his work,
keeping carefully close to the sketch before him ; nor had
any long time elapsed before he attained to considerable
proficiency. This pleased Desiderio greatly, but still more
entirely was Mino satisfied with the great kindness of his
master, whom he found always ready to instruct him how
best to avoid the errors into which those who exercise that
art are liable to fall. When Mino was thus entering on the
path to excellence in his profession, his evil fortune would
have it that Desiderio should depart to a better life ; and
this loss was so great a calamity to Mino, that, full of de
spair, he departed from Florence, like one desperate, and
repaired to Eome. In that city he became assistant to the
2 As he was only two or three years younger than Desiderio, it is unlikely
that he was the latter's pupil. A bust of Niccolo Strozzi in Berlin, dated
1454, is Mine's earliest work, if genuine, as claimed in Berlin. It is signed
Nino, not Mino, and Sig. Gnoli doubts its authenticity, since the next work of
Mino, in point of date, the Rinaldo della Luna (Bargello), is of 1461. Sig.
Gnoli, however, says that he knows the work only by reproductions, and Dr.
Bode believes in its authenticity.

136 MINO DA FIESOLE
masters who were then occupied with different works
in marble (tombs of cardinals and other things), for the
church of San Pietro, but which in the erection of the new
fabric, have now been destroyed. Mino soon became known
as an able and experienced artist, and he was engaged by
the Cardinal Guglielmo Destovilla,'' whom his manner great
ly pleased, to construct the marble altar in the church of
Santa Maria Maggiore, beneath which repose the remains
of San Girolamo (St. Jerome.) This he decorated with sto
ries in basso-rilievo, the subjects being events in the life of
the Saint, a work which he conducted to great perfection,
adding the portrait of the cardinal taken from the life.^
Pope Paul II. , a Venetian, was at this time erecting his

' D'Bstouteville, rather. Cardinal Montalto, afterward Sixtus V., demol
ished this altar of San Girolamo, and Mino's sculptures disappeared ; lately,
in opening the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, some reliefs were found, and having
been taken to the Museo Industriale were identified by Sig. Adolfo Venturi as
from the S. Girolamo altar. They are in very low relief and are inferior
works. Vasari mentions the altar, but forgets the ciborium in the same church,
one of the most important works of Mino. It was broken to pieces, but all the
fragments, including the sixteen tondi, are still preserved, except the four angle_
statues, which, incredible as it appears, were sold in 1873 to a Roman mer
chant for one hundred and twenty-five francs apiece. The large reliefs are
still in the apse of the church, the other sculptures are in the aula capitolare,
near the sacristy. Sig. Gnoli thinks that this eibori^an would have been
famous if in Florence ; he gives a reproduction of a reconstruction of it,
I'Arch. Stor., Vol. III., p. 90, and of the Madonna from the same on p. 92.
The Madonnas of the ciborium had round faces and full throats (unlike Mino's
other statues of women) in order that they might resemble the revered
Madonna of the basilica, painted, according to the tradition of the place, by
Sb. Luke. Sig. Gnoli assigns the date 1463-64 to the ciborium.
' The monument of Cardinal Niccolo Forteguerri in S. Cecilia in Trastevere,
erected in 1473-14S0, is, says Sig. Gnoli, the true brother (fratello carnale) of
the Badia monument of Florence. Some angels upon it, and tbe Saints Nic
colo and Cecilia, are not by the hand of Mino. Sig. Gnoli found its columns
in the subterranean vaults of the church, and the Minister of Public Instruc
tion has, at the suggestion of the finder, had the monument set up, thna ac
complishing, says Sig. Gnoli, the first reconstruction in Rome of a true
Renaissance monument, the only one in the city, " di tipo preiiamente B'ioren-
tln^." Vasari evidently did not know of this monument. See I'Arch. Stor.,
III., 209. Cardinal Forteguerri has also an honorary tomb in Pistoja (^ee
the life of Verrocchio).

MINO DA FIESOLE 137
palace of San Marco," and employed Mino to execute certain
armorial bearings for its decoration. After the death of
that Pontiff, the commission for constructing his tomb was
given to Mino, who erected it in San Pietro, where he com
pleted the whole in the space of two years. This tomb was
at that time considered the most magnificent and most
richly decorated sepulchre that had ever been erected to any
Pontiff whatever ; it was cast down by Bramante in the de
molition of San Pietro, and remained buried amidst the
rubbish for several years ; but in 1547, certain Venetians
caused it to be reconstructed in the old building of San
Pietro, against a wall near the chapel of Pope Innocent.'
And although some believe that that tomb is by the hand of
Mino del Reame, who lived about the same time ' with Mino
da Fiesole, it is without doubt by the latter. It is true that
some of the small figures of the basement, which can be dis
tinguished from the rest, were executed by Mino del Eeame,
if, indeed, his name were Mino, and not Dino, as some affirm
that it was. But to return to our artist.^ Wlien he had
' In the church of San Marco are a tabernacle and two reliefs by Mino. Sig.
GuoU considers that these formed an ensemble together with reliefs by other
hands, and gives a suggestion of a reconstruction {I'Arch. Stor., III., p.
271). He believes from the eagle sculptured upon it that the tabernacle was
ordered by Cardinal Agnifilo (Aquilano).
' Commissioned by Marco Barbo, Cardinal San Marco, and patriarch of
Aquileia (see Milanesi). It is now in the Grotte Vaticane. Sig. Gnoli be-
Ueves that the tomb of Pope Paul II. was allotted to Mino and Giovanni Dal-
mata together. Mino's share was two angels upon the sarcophagus, a relief of
the Last Judgment, which is Mino's largest composition extant ; the
Temptation of Eve, the Evangelists Luke and John, and figures of Faith and
Charity. The Adam and Eve are Lost. The zoccolo or lower portion of the
monument is in the Louvre. A bust of Pope Paul, attributed by Vasari to
Vellano (Bellano) of Padua, but really by Mino, is reproduced in the L'Arch.
Stor.,\o\. Ill, p. 263.
» Vasari, says Sig. Gnoli, probably confused this name of Mino del Reame
with Paolo Romano, aathefrontone oi the door to S. Giacomo degli Spag-
nuoli in Rome bears two angels, one signed Opus Pauli, the other Opus
Mini. This door dates from 1463, according to Sig. Gnoli.
"No trace remains of the benedictory pulpit of Pius II., while documents
amply prove its existence in 1443. On the other hand, a ciborium for Sixtus
IV. is not mentioned by any documents, but still remains in a fragmentary
condition in the Grotte Vaticane. Sig. Gnoli believes that the lost pulpit

138 MINO DA FIESOLE
acquired a name in Eome by this tomb, and by the sarcoph
agus which he constructed in the church of the Minerva,
for Francesco Tornabuoni,'" whose statue is marble, after
the life, and considered an admirable work, he placed upon
it." After these and other works had secured him an es
teemed name I say, he returned to Fiesole with but short
delay, bearing thither a tolerable amount of money which
he had saved, and there he took a wife. No long time after
that, he was employed by the Nuns of the Murate to con
struct a marble tabernacle, decorated in mezzo-rilievo, for
the sacrament, a work which he conducted to perfection
with all the diligence of which he was capable."' He had
not yet fixed the tabernacle into its place, when the Nuns
of Sant' Ambruogio (who desired to have an ornament of
similar construction, but more richly adorned, to contain
the Miracle of the Sacrament), having heard the ability of
Mino greatly extolled, invited him to execute that work ; "
was utilized for the making of this ciborium. There are twelve Apostles re
maining, three of which are by Mino, while another is partially by him ; cer
tain other figures are by Giovanni Dalmata.
"> The Tornabuoni tomb was Mino's last work in Rome.
^' According to Perkins (Tuscan Sculptors, Vol. I., p. 113) this tomb of
Tornabuoni, as well as the tombs of Bishop Piccolomini in the cloister of
S. Agostino, of Biario in the SS. Apostoli, of the Savelli in the Aracoeli,
the Borgia altar in S. M. del Popolo, and other sculptures attributed to Mino
in the Lateran and the Minerva, are not by Mino, but by imitators of his
style, his only well-authenticated work in Rome being the tabernacle of Santa
Maria in Trastevere. Sig. Gnoli has in part disproved these statements of
Perkins, and by analysis and careful examination has shown that some of
these works are wholly or partially by Mino. See preceding notes. Thus on
the tomb of Cardinal Pietro Riario [circa 1475), in the church of the SS.
Apostli, Rome, the Madonna is, according to Sig. Gnoli, by Mino. In the
monument of Cardinal Ammanati (died 1479), in the Chiostro Verde di Sant'
Agostino (now Ministry of the Marine), only the upper part of the monument is
by Mino, and in spite of Herr von Tschudi's dictum, Sig. Gnoli gives only the
Madonna to Mino in the monument of Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere, in
Santa Maria del Popolo. The same may be said of Cardinal Ferricci's tomb
(1478), in the cloister of the Minerva. The Archivio Storico, Vol. III., 433,
also reproduces a Madonna found lately in the hospital of San Giovanni hi
Laterano. " Now in the chapel of the Novitiate, Santa Croce.
" In 1481 ; it is still in place. It commemorates the following miracle : A

MINO DA FIESOLE 139
and the master completed it with so much care, that the
Nuns, highly satisfied with his labours, gave him all that he
demanded as the price thereof. A short time after this, he
undertook, at the instance of Messer Dietisalvi Neroni, to
prepare a picture in mezzo-rilievo,'* the subject of which is
Our Lady with the Child in her arms, having San Lorenzo
on one side, and San Lionardo on the other ; this was in
tended for the priests of the chapter of San Lorenzo, but
has remained in the sacristy of the Abbey of Florence. For
the same monks, Mino executed a medallion in marble, with
Our Lady, in relief, holding the Divine Child in her arms ;
this they placed over the principal door of entrance into
the church ; "' and as it gave universal satisfaction, the artist
received a commission for the erection of a sepulchral monu
ment to the illustrious cavalier, Messer Bernardo de' Giugni,
who, having been a most honourable person, and very
highly esteemed, had merited and received that memorial
from his brethren. In this work, to say nothing of the
sarcophagus, and the portrait of Messer Bernardo, taken
from nature, which the artist placed on it, there is a figure
of Justice, which is very much after the manner of De
siderio, but the draperies are wanting in grace, and are
rendered somewhat common-place by the mode of handling.
This monument caused the abbot and monks of the Abbey
of Florence, in which building it was erected, to entrust
Mino with that of Count Ugo,'° son of the Marquis Uberto
di Madeborgo, who bequeathed large possessions to that
Abbey, on which he also conferred many privileges. Where
fore, the Monks desiring to do him all possible honour,
caused Mino to prepare a sepulchral monument in marble
priest having neglected to clean the chalice after mass found clots of blood
iu it the next day.
" It was executed in 1470, and is in a chapel ofi' the cloister.
" This work is still in place.
" See the story in Malespina, Hist, di Firenze, pp. 87, 38. Ugo is mentioned
in the Paradiio, canto xvi. Milanesi cites the books of the Badia to the
effect that the tomb was ordered in 1469, and that a, final payment for
late additions to the monument was made in 1481.

140 MINO DA FIESOLE
of Carrara, which was the most beautiful work ever per
formed by this master. There are certain boys, for example,
by whom the arms of the Count are borne, and whose atti
tudes have much spirit, with a childish grace, which is very
pleasing. On the sarcophagus, is the statue of the dead
Count," and on the wall, above the bier, is the figure of
Charity, with children, well grouped and very carefully
finished. The same may be remarked of a Madonna, in a
half-circle, with the Child in her arms, in which Mino has
imitated the manner of Desiderio, to the utmost of his
power : and if he had improved his mode of proceeding by
reference to the life, there is no doubt that he would have
attained great proficiency in art. This monument, with
all its consequent expenses, cost 1600 livres ; it was finished
in 1481 ; and the artist derived great credit from his work,
which was, besides, the cause of his obtaining the commission
for constructing another funereal monument, in a chapel
in the Episcopal Church of Fiesole, near the principal
chapel, and on the right hand, in ascending to the high altar.
This was to the memory of the Bishop Lionardo Salutati,
Suffragan of that see ; and Mino here represented " the Pre
late himself in his episcopal robes : a portrait from the life.

^' This monument, raised in commemoration of Count Ugo of Tuscany (see
note 1, p. 164, Les Precurseurs de la Renaissance, by M. Eug. Miintz, showing
that the inscription on Count Ugo's monument contains in the H. M. H. N. S. —
Hoc monumentum hcrredes non sequitur — a curious and wholly unnecessary
imitation of the Roman lapidary style), has faults of detail, stiffness, and ex
aggeration, but in its general effect is so exquisite that it ranks among the very
foremost of Tuscan tombs.
" Count Ugo's monument postdates that of Salutati, and therefore could
not have been the occasion of its commission. The latter monument was
ordered about the year 1462, in Salutati's lifetime. It is beautiful in archi
tectonic ordering, and the bust of the bishop is astonishingly characterized,
but certainly lacks subtlety of modelling, although highly finished as to polish.
The praise which has been lavished on the figures of the altar-piece opposite
it appears excessive, at least as to the heads, which although in some cases
charming are in others lacking in any expression whatever. This altar-piece
has the Madonna and Child, with an infant Saint John, and at her sides Saints
Remigius and Leonard ; it is not mentioned by Vasari. Mino here, as in many
other cases, made a considerable use ol gilding upon the marble.

MINO DA FIESOLE 141
which was as close a resemblance as could possibly be im
agined. For the same Bishop, our artist executed a bust
of the Saviour, in marble, the size of life, a very well-
finished work, which was left among other bequests to the
Hospital of the Innocenti,'" and is now in the possession of
the Very Reverend Don Vincenzo Borghini, Prior of that
house, who esteems it among the most precious specimens of
those arts ; wherein he takes more pleasure than I could
sufficiently express.
In the Capitular church of Prato, Mino constructed a
pulpit entirely of marble ; the ornaments are stories from
the life of the Virgin, the whole admirably well done,* and
the joinings are effected with so much care, that the work
appears to be entirely of one piece. ^^ Over the pulpit, at
one side of the choir, and almost in the centre of the church,
are certain ornaments, also executed under the care of the
same master. He likewise took the portrait of Piero di
Lorenzo de' Medici, with that of his wife, both from nature,
and presenting an exact resemblance to the originals. These
two busts stood for many years over two doors in the cham
ber of Piero, in the Medici palace, within lunettes ; they
were however afterwards placed, with the likenesses of many
other illustrious persons of that house, in the guardaroba of
the Lord Duke Cosimo.^
The figure of Our Lady in marble, now in the audience-
chamber of the Guild of Manufacturers, is also by the hand
of Mino,^ who likewise sent a work in marble to Perugia for
Messer Baglione Ribi. This was placed in the chapel of the
" Milanesi believes this to be a bust kept provisionally in the museum of
the hospital of the Innocenti. Dr. Bode feels sure that the bust of Niccolo
Strozzi, signed OPUS NINI (sic') 1454, in the Berlin Museum, is by Mino, and
also attributes to him a bust of a young girl and a tondo of the Madonna and
Child in the same museum. See note 3.
»» In 1473.
" This pulpit was sculptured by Mino and by Antonio di Matteo Rossellino,
who did the stories of the Assumption, St. Stephen Disputing, and his Mar
tyrdom. To Mino belong the two stories from the life of the Baptist.
*¦ Now in the Bargello.
" This work is lost.

142 MINO DA FIESOLE
Sacrament, in the church of San Piero, and presents a Tab
ernacle, with figures of San Giovanni on one side, and San
Girolamo (St. Jerome) on the other, both very well executed
in mezzo-rilievo.^ The Tabernacle of the Sacrament, in
the cathedral of Volterra, is also by this master, and two
Angels standing one on each side of it are so well and care
fully done, that this work has been deservedly extolled by
all artists.^ Finally, desiring one day to move certain
stones, and not having the needful assistance at hand, Mino
fatigued himself too violently, insomuch that an inflamma
tory disease ensued which caused his death. This took place
in the year 1486,^" when the artist was honourably interred
by his relations and friends in the Canonicate of Fiesole. ^^
Sl still in the church.
2' Now in the Baptistery.
2» He died July 11, 1484, and was buried in Sant' Ambrogio. In S. Maria in
Campo a tombstone bears the Mino arms. See Milanesi.
^' Among the works by Mino are the busts of Piero de Medici, il Gottoso,
1454 ; of Rinaldo della Luna, 1461 ; of Diotisalvi Neroni, 1464, and profile heads
of Giangaleazzo Sforza and Federigo d'Urbino ; of the two latter Milanesi says
" attributed." There is a S. Giovannino bust in the Louvre, also two marble
slabs in the Renaissance Museum, Nos. 26, 27. The bust of Isotta da Ri
mini, in the Campo Santo of Pisa, is otherwise attributed by Dr. Bode.
2' Serious analysis of the works of the old masters is comparatively modern,
and in many cases an uncritical admiration has heen accorded even to the de
fects of great artists, for it is often the case that the weak points of a master
are the first to catch the attention of the untrained, who are rather spec
tators than observers. The spectator, knowing that he is in the presence of a
great artist, holds all the qualities of the latter to be great simply because
they are his, and emphasizes most those characteristics which he notices first.
Thus Mino has been set down as a great sculptor of the figure, notable at once
for deep sentiment and wonderful finish. In reality he is one of the most re
markable artists of the Renaissance, but it is not as a sculptor of the figure
but as a composer, an arranger, a master of architectonic combinations that
we may count him among the foremost. Some of his busts are immensely
strong in character and are thereby fine works of art, but he is not a master of
subtle modelling, and his so-called high finish, which has been so greatly
praised, is rather high polish of the marble, a very different thing from real
finish of execution. He has created an individual type with widely opened and
somewhat protuberant eyes, and opened mouth as well. The best of his angel
heads are charming in sentiment, the poorest of them are inane in their lack
of expression. His qualities of simplicity and aweetness have made him very
famous, and are aure to be popular in any epoch ; but to place him on a par as a

MINO DA FIESOLE 143
The portrait of Mino is among those in our book of draw
ings, but I do not know by whose hand ; it was given to me,
with certain designs in black-lead, by himself, and which are
tolerably good.
sculptor of the figure with hia contemporaries, Desiderio, the Rossellini, and
Benedetto, is uncritical. His tomb of Count Ugo in the Badia ranks among
the three or four finest in Tuscany — that is to say in Italy — but it is by its
effect as a whole that the monument holds this high place.
Mino had a way of handling the stone which is admirably characterized by
Vasari, in his description of the draperies in the Giugni monument, as " un
poco tritati daW intaglio," and which gives a poor look, as though he had
hacked the marble without exactly knowing what he proposed to do with it.
At other times his busts surprise by their admirable force of expression. It is
as a composer of monuments, and in his architectonic arrangements, that Mino
is eminent. This genius for disposition, together with a certain simple and
penetrating charm, has enabled him to produce some of the most beautiful of
Renaissance works.

JACOPO, GIOVANNL AND GENTILE BELLINI,
VENETIAN PAINTEES
[Born circa 1400; died circa 1464.] [Born 1428; died 1516.] [Born circa
1426; died 1507.]
Bibliography. — Hermann Liicke, Giova)tni Bellini, in the Dohme series
of Kunst und Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. P. G. Molmenti, I
pittori Bellini, Nuova Anlologia, XVI., serie III., number for July 16, 1888.
A. Luzio, Disegni topograjici e pitture dei Bellini in I' Archivio Storico dclV
Arte, I., 276. H. von Tschudi, Die Pietd von Giovanni Bellini im Berliner
Museum, Jahrbuch der K P. K, XII., 4. P. Molmenti, Le origini della pit
tura Veneta, Venice, 1890. E. Muntz, La colonne Theodosienne d Constanti
nople d'aprh les pretendus dessins de Gentile Bellini conserves au Louvre et d
I'iScole des Beaux Arts, Revue des etudes grecques, Paris, 1888. L. Thuasne,
Gentile Bellini et Sultan Mohammed II.; Notes sur le sejour du peintre ve-
nitlen d Constantinople (1479-1480), d'aprh les documents originaux en partie
inedits, Paris, 1888. Costanza Jocelyn Ffoulkes, L' Esposizlone dell' Arte
Veneta a Londra, L' Archivio Storico dell' Arte. January-April, 1895. Eu
gene Miintz, Jacopo Bell'tni et la Renaissance dans V Italie Septentrionale, Ga
zette des Beaux Arts, October and November, 1884. Bernard Berenaon, Vene
tian Painting, chiefly before Titian, at the Exhibition of Venetian Art, the
New Gallery, London, 1895. Bernard Berenson, Venetian Painters, New
York, 1894. BraghiroUi, Carteggio di Isabella d'Este Gonzaga intorno nd un
quadro di Gian. Bellino, extracted from U Archivio Veneto, 1877. F. Wick-
hoff, Repertorium fiir Kunstwissenschaft, 1883. P. Molmenti, L'Art, 1889,
I., 60. Sidney Colvin, Skizze fur ein Gemalde im Dogenpalast zu Venedig,
Jahrbuch der K P. S., XIII., p. 23. The most important late addition to
our knowledge of the Bellini is the far greater place which has been given to
Jacopo than had hitherto been accorded him.
WHEN zealous efforts are supported by talent and rec
titude, though the beginning may appear lowly and
poor, yet do they proceed constantly upward by grad
ual steps, never ceasing nor taking rest until they have
finally attained the summit of distinction, as may be clearly
seen in the poor and humble commencement of the Bellini
family, and in the elevation to which it attained by the de
votion of its founders to the art of painting.

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 145
The A''enetian artist, Jacopo Bellini,' was a disciple of
Gentile da Fabriano, and a rival of that Domenico who
taught the method of painting in oil to Andrea dal Cas
tagno ; but although he laboured very zealously to attain
eminence in his art, yet he never acquired any great reputa
tion in the same, until after the departure of the above-
named Domenico from Venice.^ But from that time for-
' Jaoopo's name was Jacopo di Piero ; he was known in Florence as Jacopo
da Venezia.
' Jacopo Bellini, as pupU of Gentile da Fabriano, accompanied him to
Florence and passed some time there, learning much, thinks MoreUi, from
Gentile and Pisanello. The Archives of Florence, Vol. CVI., carta viii., tell
us that Jacopo, when with Gentile da Fabriano iu Florence, came to fisticuffs
with another lad, who had thrown stones into a court-yard where GentUe'a
freshly painted panels had been set out to dry. Jacopo, fearing private re
venge, took service on the Florentine galleys. The boy's family had him sum
moned to appear before a judge, but as he failed to do so he was fined, and
when he unsuspiciously returned to Florence a year later, he was seized for
contempt and lodged in the Stinche prison. He compromised with his enemy
and regained his liberty by public acts of penance, one of which con
sisted in marching bareheaded with a guard from the prison of the Stinche
to the Baptistery of San GiovannL See M. Miintz, iu two articles in the Ga
zette des Beaux Arts for October and November, 1884, pp. 346^.34 ; Jacopo
Bellini et la Renaissance dans V Italie Septentrionale. He describes the col
lection of designs by Jacopo recently acquired by the Louvre, and gives many
reproductions of the drawings. He attributes to Jacopo as distinctive traits
the enthusiastic study of antiquity, on one hand, and on the other of perspec
tive, anatomy, and of physiognomy. He places him far above Squarcione as a
teacher, and credits him with considerable influence upon Mantegna. Mr.
Bernard Berenson (Venetian Painters) mentions, besides Jacopo's sketch
books of Paris and London, an Annunciation at Brescia (S. Alessandro) ;
a Madonna at Lovere ; a Christ in Limbo at Padua ; a Crucifixion in Verona,
and three works in Venice : S. Giovanni Crisogono (in San Trovaso) ; a Cruci
fixion (in the Museo Correr), and a Madonna in the Academy. Sig. Molmenti,
in his Carpaccio son Temps et son (Euvre (Venice, 1893), gives an abstract of
the works of Jacopo BeUini. He states that in the Virgin and Child in the
Academy, signed " Opus lacopi BeUini Veneti," the inscription is falsified and
the picture itself does not appear to be by any one of the Bellini. He also
says that the catalogue of the gaUery confounds this picture with one in the
Tadini Palace at Lovere (see above), in the Province of Bergamo. The Mu
seum at Verona possesses a Christ on the Cross, signed with the name of Ja
copo. The works in Sant' Antonio at Padua, in the house of Pietro Bembo at
Padua, and in the Confraternity of St. John the Evangelist at Venice, have all
perished. MoreUi, in his Italian Masters, says that the Annunciation iu the
church of S. Alessandro at Brescia (see above), attributed to Fra Angelico,

146 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
ward, finding himself alone, and without a competitor who
could equal him in that city, his fame and credit constantlv
increased, and he attained to such eminence as to be reputed
the first in his profession : and the renown thus acquired
was not only maintained in his house, but was much en
hanced by the circumstance that he had two sons, both de
cidedly inclined to the art, and each possessed of good abil
ity and fine genius. One of these was called Giovanni, the
other Gentile, a name which Jacopo gave him in memory of
the tender affection born to himself by Gentile da Fabriano,
his master, who had been as a kind father to his youth.
AYhen these two sons therefore had attained the proper age,
Jacopo himself instructed them carefully in the principles
of design, but no long time elapsed before both greatlv sur
passed their father ; who, rejoicing much thereat, encour
aged them constantly, telling them, that he desired to see
them do as did the Tuscans, who were perjDetuallv striving
among themselves to carry off the palm of distinction by
outstripping each other, and that so he would have Giovanni
surjjass himself, while Gentile should vanquish them both,
and so on successively.
The first works by which Jacopo acquired fame were the
portraits of Giorgio Cornaro and of Caterina, queen of Cy
press,^ a picture which he sent to A'erona,^ and which repre
sented the Passion of Christ, with many figures, among
which he depicted the portrait of himself ; and an historical
and the Madonna in the Lochis Carrara Gallery of Bergamo, wrongly ascribed
to Gentile da Fabriano, both suggest the manner of Jacopo Bellini.
3 This Catarina Cornaro by Gentile, not Jacopo, is in the Esterhazy Collection
at Buda-Peath. See Morelli, Italian Masters, Vol. I , p. 266, English edition.
The same author thinks that the importance of Jacopo Belhni as an artist has
only recently been proved, and that both Giovanni and Gentile owed much of
their artistic training to their father. His sketch-book in the British Mu
seum, and the one recently acquired by the Louvre, show that Jacopo was an
enthusiastic student of antiquity and an observer of nature. For reproduc
tions from the sketch-book see M. Miintz in the Gazette des Beanx Arts, Oc
tober and November, 1884.
* In the Life of Liberale of Verona, Vasari mentions the painting of the
chapel of San Niccolii at Verona, by Jacopo BeUini

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 147
picture representing the Miracle of the Cross, which is said
to be in the Scuola ^ of San Giovanni Evangelista ; all which,
and many others, were executed by Jacopo, with the assist
ance of his sons.* The last-named picture was painted on
canvas, as it is almost always the custom to do in that city,
where they but rarely paint on wood of the maple or poplar,
as is usual in other places. This wood, which grows for the
most part along the banks of rivers or other waters, is very
soft, and is excellent for painting on, because it holds very
firmly when joined properly with suitable glue. But in
Venice they do not paint on panel, or, if they use it occa
sionally, they take no other wood than that of the fir, which
is most abundant in that city, being brought thither, along
the river Adige, in large quantities from Germany ; to say
nothing of that which also comes from Sclavonia. It is the
custom, then, in Venice to paint very mnch on canvas, either
because that material does not so readily split, is not liable
to clefts, and does not suffer from the worm, or because pict
ures on canvas may be made of such size as is desired, and
can also be conveniently sent whithersoever the owner
pleases, with little cost and trouble. Be the cause what it
may, the first works of Jacopo and Gentile were on cloth, as
we have said ; and afterwards Gentile, without any assist
ance, added seven or eight pictures ^ to that story of the
Miracle of the Cross of which mention has been made above.

* By the word Scuola we are not to necessarily understand a place of educa
tion. A Scuola was rather the head-qnarters of a confraternity, or society.
Sig. Molmenti (/ Pittori BeUini, Nuova Antologia, Vol. XVI., Third Series,
July 16, 1S88) gives the contracts between the school of San Marco and Jacopo,
Giovanni, and GentUe for pictures, among others for a large one, probably the
Preaching of S. Mark.
• The portraits and th? Passion of Christ have disappeared. Three of the
compositions painted by Gentile Bellini for the Brotherhood of St John re
main, and are now in the Academy at Venice. The subjects are : A Miracle
Performed by the True Cross (executed before 1494) ; a Procession of the True
Cross (1496), and the Recovery of the True Cross (1500).
' According to Messrs. Crowe and CavalcaseUe, History of Painting in North
Italy, I., 129, Gentile painted three ; Carpaccio, one ; Mansueti, two ; Diana,
one, and Lazzaro Sebastiani, one.

148 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
In these works Gentile delineated the miracle performed
in respect of the true cross of Christ,* a piece of which the
Scuola, or Brotherhood, above named, preserved as a relic,
and which miracle took place as follows. The cross was
thrown, I know not by what chance, from the Ponte della
Paglia into the canal ; when many persons, from the rever
ence which they bore to the piece of the true cross of Jesus
Christ contained within it, threw themselves into the water
to get it out. But it was the will of God that none should
be found worthy to take it thence, save only the Principal or
Guardian of the said Brotherhood. Gentile, therefore,
representing this story, delineated in perspective several
houses situated along the Grand Canal, showing the Ponte
della Paglia, and the Piazza di San Marco, with a long pro
cession of men and women who are walking behind the
clergy. Many persons have cast themselves into the water,
others are in the act of throwing themselves in, some are
half-immersed, and others are in other positions, but all in
very fine attitudes : finally, the artist depicted the Guardian
above-named, who recovers the cross. The labour and pains
bestowed on this work were very great, as is manifest when
we consider the vast number of figures, the many portraits
taken from the life, the diminution of the figures receding
into the distance, and the likenesses more particularly of
almost all the men who then belonged to that Scuola, or
company. The master has likewise represented the Re
placing of the Cross : and all these pictures, painted on
canvas, as before related, brought Gentile very great repu
tation.^ " The picture of this miracle is in the Venetian Academy. It is most inter
esting, though in some respects rather grotesque ; see the swimming, or, rather,
miraculously floating, figure of Vendramin, who has recovered the relic. The
kneeling figures at the sides of the canal have furnished much material for the
Students of fifteenth-century costume, and the background shows how little
the smaller canals of Venice have changed in appearance since the days of
BeUini. " Also in the Academy at Venice. In these paintings of Gentile Bellini (as
also in those of Carpaccio) we have almost for the first time pictures in which
the architectural setting to a subject is so realistically and correctly drawn

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 149
In the course of time Jacopo withdrew himself entirely
from his previous association with his children, and gave his
attention, as did his two sous on their part, each separately
to his own works. Of Jacopo I will make no further men
tion, because his paintings, when compared with those of his
sons, were not extraordinary, and no long time after he had
withdrawn himself from his sons, he died ; but I will not
omit to say that, although the brothers separated, and each
lived alone, yet they had so much affection for each other,
and both held their father in so much reverence, that each,
constantly extolling the other, attributed inferior merit only
to himself, and thus modestly sought to emulate each other
no less in gentleness and courtesy than in the excellences of
art. The first works of Giovanni Bellini were certain portraits *"
from the life, which gave great satisfaction, more especially
that of the Doge Loredano ; but this is said by some to be
the likeness of Giovanni Mozzenigo, brother of that Piero
Mozzenigo who had been Doge long before Loredano.'^
that it becomes a complete and satisfactory document. In the miniatures of
manuscripts, proportion and scale were always ridiculously unreasonable, and
much imagination as weU aa common-sense was required in making a recon
struction from auch pictures. Even here there are undoubtedly errors of
scale, but, on the whole, we see the Piazza of San Marco just as Gentile, u,
careful, conscientious draughtsman, saw it, while for the history of the ancient
facade of the church the picture furnishes invaluable memoranda.
^^ Giovanni's early pictures and those of Andrea Mantegna have been some
times confounded, as the latter painter had great influence on his brother-in-
law Giovanni, and was, in turn, much influenced by BeUini. It is hard to
over-estimate the importance of the relatiomship by marriage, which threw to
gether the two greatest painters of North Italy in the fifteenth century, and
the reaction upon each other of these two profoundly earnest natures. See in
the National GaUery of London the same subject of Christ in the Garden
treated by the two masters, and see still more especially some of the hooded
Madonnas of either painter.
" This fine portrait is in the National Gallery, London. Loredano was
the abcty-seventh Doge ; he held office from 1,501 to 1531. A picture in the
Museo Correr (Fondaco dei Turchi) at Venice is said to be that of Giovanni
Mozzenigo, or rather Mocenigo (1478-85), by Bellini. The portrait of Lore
dano ia not an early work of Giovanni, as Vasari would imply. See Dr. Rich-
ter's Italian Art in the National Gallery, pp. 78-80, for a description of Bellini's
pictures there.

150 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
At a later period Giovanni Bellini painted a picture for
the altar of Santa Caterina of Siena, in the church of San
Giovanni ; in this, which is of a rather large size, he repre
sented Our Lady seated with the Child in her arms, she is
accompanied by St. Domenick, St. Jerome, St. Catherine,
St. Ursula, and two other virgin saints : three very beautiful
boys are standing at the feet of Our Lady, singing from a
book, and above the figures is depicted the termination of
the vaulted ceiling of the building, which is extremely well
done ; the whole work was considered to be among the best
that had then been executed in Venice. ^^ In the church of
Sant' lobbe (Job), the same master painted a picture for the
altar of that saint, of which the drawing is very good, and
the colouring beautiful. The subject is Our Lady seated in
a somewhat elevated position, with the Child in her arms.
Undraped figures of Sant' lobbe, and San Bastiano (Se
bastian) are beside her, with San Domenico, San Francesco,
San Giovanni, and Sant' Agostino, near them ; beneath are
three boys playing musical instruments with much grace of
attitude.'^ This picture was highly praised, not only when
it was first seen, but has in like manner been extolled ever
since as an extremely beautiful work.
Moved by these most praiseworthy performances, certain
12 Venice has been peculiarly unfortunate as to fires in churches and pal
aces. This famous picture was burned, August 16, 1867, with Titian's Peter
Martyr. " The beautiful altar-piece from Sant' lobbe is in the Academy. It is one of
the largest, and is, in some respects, the most important of the works which
BeUini has left, but yet does not quite equal in interest the Madonnas of the
Frari and of San Zaccaria, or the picture in San Giovanni Crisostomo. The
great pictures of Giambellino in Venice are the altar-pieces of the Frari and
San Zaccaria, the painting carried from Sant' lobbe to the Academy, and the
picture in S. Giovanni Crisostomo (representing Saints Jerome, Chrysostom,
and Augustine), painted by the artist when over eighty 3'ears old, and called
by Mr. Ruskin bis finest work in Venice. Besides these there are in the Acad
emy and the churches of Venice many half-length figures of Madonnas and
saints, either single or grouped. These vary greatly in type and beauty, says
M. Muntz, and are sometimes ' ^ lofty, ample, majestic ; " sometimes "hard, ar
chaic, Byzantine;" again, "sulky-looking and seeming half-frozen." The
Supper of Emmaus in San Salvadore is no longer considered to be by Bellini

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 151
gentlemen began to reason among themselves, and to declare
that it would be well to profit by the presence of such excel
lent masters, using the occasion to decorate the Hall of the
Grand Council with historical paintings, wherein should be
depicted the glories and magnificence of their most admira
ble city, her greatness, her deeds in war, her most important
undertakings, and other similar things worthy to be repre
sented in picture, and to be had in remembrance by those
who should come after, in order that to the pleasure and ad
vantage derived from the reading of history, might be added
the gratification of the eyes and equally of the intellect, from
seeing delineated the images of so many illustrious nobles
with the admirable works of so many great men, all most
worthy of eternal renown and remembrance.
It was therefore commanded by those who then governed,
that the commission for this work should be accorded to
Giovanni and Gentile, whose fame increased from day to
day, and it was further ordered that the undertaking should
be entered on as soon as possible." But we must here
remark that Antonio Veneziano had long before commenced
the painting of this Hall, as we have said in his life : he
had even finished a large historical picture there, when he
was compelled to depart from Venice by the envy of mali
cious persons, and could no longer continue that most hon
ourable enterprise.
Now Gentile, either because he had more experience and
a better manner on canvas than in fresco, or for whatever
else may have been the cause, proceeded in such sort that
he readily obtained permission to execute that work, not in
fresco, but on canvas, and thus, having set hand thereto, in
the first story, he delineated the Pope, who presents a
waxen taper to the Doge, that the latter may carry it in the
processions which are about to take place. '^ The whole ex-
" In 1474.
" After his return from Constantinople Gentile painted in the HaU of the
Grand CouncU of the Palazzo Ducale the following subjects : The Delivery
of the Consecrated Taper to the Doge, the Pope and Doge Sending an

152 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
terior of San Marco appears in this picture, the Pope is
standing in full pontificals, with numerous prelates behind
him. The Doge is likewise standing, accompanied by many
senators. In another part of this story the master has
depicted the emperor Frederick Barbarossa : first, where he
receives the Venetian Ambassadors with a friendly aspect,
and next, where he is angrily preparing for war ; fine views
in perspective are here delineated, with an immense number
of figures and numerous portraits, all executed in an excel
lent manner and with extraordinary grace. In the picture
next following, is also the Pope, encouraging the Doge and
Venetian nobles to arm thirty galleys at the common ex
pense, wherewith they are to proceed to battle against the
emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The Pope is seated on the
pontifical seat, clothed in his rochet ; the Doge is beside
him, with numerous senators around and at the foot of the
papal throne. In this picture also. Gentile Bellini depicted
the Piazza and Fapade of St. Mark's, with the sea, but in a
different manner from that of the preceding story, and
with so vast a multitude of figures, that it is really a mar
vel. In another compartment the same Pope is again rep
resented standing in full pontificals, and conferring his
benediction on the Doge, who is armed, and, having a
large train of soldiers, would seem to be departing for the
field : in long procession behind the Doge is an immense
number of nobles, and the palace of San Marco is seen in
perspective. This work is one of the best executed by the
hand of Gentile, although the picture wherein there is the
representation of a sea-fight displays more invention ; for in
the last there are numerous galleys engaged in battle, with
Embassy to the Emperor, the Emperor Receiving the Embassy, the Pope
Giving a Sword to the Doge, the Pope Giving a Ring to the Doge, and a
Naval Battle (the latter being a restoration of an older picture), the Pope
Celebrating Mass in S. Marco, the Delivery of the Ducal Umbrella to the
Doge, the Reception at the Gates of Bome, etc. These pictures, the labor
of more than thirty years, perished in the fire of 1 577. One of the assist
ants of Giovanni, in this work, engaged and paid by the state to " render
speedy and dUigent assistance," was Carpaccio.

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 153
an almost incredible number of men, and, in fine, because
the artist has here proved that he was no less accurately
acquainted with maritime warfare than with the details of
painting. The crowd of galleys, involved in all the confu
sion of battle, the fighting men, the barks seen in perspec
tive, and diminished with the most correct proportions, the
well-ordered combat, the attack, the defence, the fury of
the combatants, the wounded soldiers, and those who, in
various manners, are dying, the cleaving of the waters by
the galleys, the movement of the waves, the variety of
weapons proper to the sea service — all this immense diver
sity of objects cannot but serve to show the vast ability of
Gentile, his power of invention, his rectitude of judgment,
and his knowledge of art, every part being perfect in itself,
and the whole admirably composed.'^
In another story the artist has represented the Pope re
ceiving the Doge, who has returned with the victory so
much desired ; the pontiff is bestowing on him various
marks of friendship, with the ring of gold with which he is
to espouse the sea, as his successors have done, and still
continue to do every year, in sign of the seal and perpetual
dominion which they deservedly hold over that element. In
this compartment is Otho, son of Frederick Barbarossa,
portrayed from the life, he is kneeling before the Pope ;
and as behind the Doge there is a retinue of armed soldiers,
so behind the Pontiff are there many cardinals and nobles.
In this story the poops of the galleys only appear, and on
that of the admiral is the figure of Victory painted to seem
of gold, and seated, with a crown on the head and a sceptre
in the hand.
The stories which were to decorate the other parts of the
" Malipiero, Annali Veneti, proves that the BeUini only restored this atory,
the battle between Doge Ziani and Otho, aon of Barbarossa, painted origi
nally by Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello. Alvise Vivarini assisted the
Bellini in their restoration. Professor Sidney Colvin, in Vol. XIII. of the
Jahrbuch der K. P. S., haa an article upon the aketoh in the British Museum
for the fresco which once existed in the Doge's Palace and in which the Pope,
"in full pontificals," was seen " conferring hia benediction on the Doge."

154 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
hall were adjudged to Giovanni, the brother of Gentile ;
but as the order of the events there represented by him is
connected with those executed in great part, but not com
pleted, by Vivarino, it will be necessary that I should in the
first place say somewhat of the latter. Those parts of the
Hall, then, which were not adjudged to Gentile, were given
partly to Giovanni and partly to Vivarino, to the end that
all might be excited, by mutual emulation, to more zealous
efforts. Wherefore Vivarino, having commenced the part
which belonged to him, painted, immediately following the
last story of Gentile, the above named Otho, offering him
self to the Pope and the Venetians, as their messenger, to
attempt the settlement of peace between them and his
father Frederick Barbarossa ; with his departure, after hav
ing obtained their permission, on the faith of his word. In
this first part, to say nothing of other characteristics amply
worthy of consideration, Vivarino painted in very fine
perspective an open Temple, with flights of steps and nu
merous figures. Before the Pope, who is seated and sur
rounded by many senators, is Otho kneeling and plighting
his faith by an oath. In the next compartment Vivarino
represented Otho crowned in the presence of his father, who
receives him joyfully ; and in this picture are buildings in
perspective very finely painted ; Barbarossa is seated, and
his son, who kneels before him, holds his hand : Otho is
accompanied by many Venetian nobles, and among these
figures are portraits from the life, so well depicted as to
prove that this master copied nature very faithfully." Poor
" The BelUni painted in the Ducal Palace in and about 1474. Their works
remained for just a century, then perished, in what were, perhaps, the two most
disastrous fires (May 11, 1574, and December 20, 1577) that the lover of pict
ures can chronicle, and which were a modern counterpart of the burning of
the temple of the Ephesian Diana. All of the greatest names of Venetian art
were represented upon the walls of the Ducal Palace, for its period of decora
tion corresponded with the highest point attained by the School of Venice,
and not only the works of the Bellini, but of the older masters, as well as of
Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and their contemporaries, were all destroyed to
gether. The moment could scarcely have been a more unfortunate one ; had
the fire occurred twenty-five years earlier, many famous masters would have

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 155
Vivarino would have completed the remainder of his portion
greatly to his own credit, but being of a weakly constitu
tion, and exhausted by his labours, it pleased God that he
should die early, and he could proceed no further ; "* nay,
he could not entirely finish even what he had commenced,
and it became necessary that Giovanni Bellini should re
touch the work in certain parts.
Giovanni had himself meanwhile begun four stories, which
followed those above described in regular succession. In
the first he depicted the same Pope ^^ in the church of San
Marco, which he also delineated exactly as it stood. The
pontiff presents his foot to Frederigo Barbarossa to kiss, but
this flrst picture of Giovanni, whatever may have been the
cause, was rendered much more animated, and beyond com
parison better in every way, by the most excellent Titian.
To follow Giovanni in his stories, however — in the next he
portrayed the Pope saying mass in San Marco, and after
wards, in the presence of the Emperor and the Doge, grant
ing plenary and perpetual indulgence to all who at certain
periods shall visit the church of San Marco, the Ascension
of our Lord being particularly specified. The master here
depicted the interior of the church, with the Pope in his
pontifical habit on the steps descending from the Choir, sur
rounded by numerous cardinals and nobles ; the concourse
of these persons rendering this a rich and beautiful picture.
In the compartment beneath that above described, the Pope
is seen in his rochet presenting an umbrella or canopy to the
Doge, after having given one to the Emperor and retained
two for himself. In the last picture painted by Giovanni,
Pope Alexander, the Emperor, and the Doge, are seen to ar
rive in Eome, outside the gate of which city the Pontiff is
stood at hand to create new works, but in 1577 the last of the great Vene
tians were nearing the end of their lives and the work was, save in a few cases,
given perforce to lesser men.
'* Antonio Vivarini, Joannes Alemannus, Bartolommeo and Alvise Viva
rini, and Andrea da Murano were the leading artists of the school of Murano,
famous during the fifteenth century.
i» Alexander VI.

156 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
presented by the clergy and people of Eome with eight stand
ards of various colours, and eight silver trumpets, which he
gives to the Doge, that he and his successors may bear them
as their standard, or ensign of war. Giovanni here de
picted the city of Eome in somewhat distant perspective,
with a large number of horses and a vast body of soldiers :
there are besides innumerable banners, standards, and other
tokens of rejoicing, on the castle St. Angelo and elsewhere.
These works, which are really beautiful, gave so much sat
isfaction, that Giovanni had just received the commission to
paint all the remaining portion of that hall when he died,
having already attained to a good old age.
We have hitherto spoken of the works executed in the
Hall of the Council only, that we may not interrupt the de
scription of the stories depicted there, but we will now turn
back a little to relate that many other paintings were exe
cuted by the same masters. Among these is a picture which
is now on the high altar of the church of San Domenico *
in Pesaro ; and in the church of San Zaccheria in Venice, in
the chapel of San Girolamo, namely, is a picture of the Vir
gin, with numerous Saints, painted with great care : in this
there is a building very judiciously executed ; ^' and in the
2° In S. Francesco instead of San Domenico. It is stUl in place, but ia much
injured by the splitting of the panel and by abrasion. There are five stories
in the predella.
^1 Symonds says of this picture (painted in 1505), a Madonna enthroned, at
tended by Saints Peter, Jerome, Catherine, and Lucy: "No brushwork is
perceptible. Surface and substance have been elaborated into one harmoni
ous richness that defies analysis." See The Fine Arts. It is indeed a mag
nificent picture, one of the finest in Italy. The concentration of the effect
about the Madonna, and the delicate contrast in color of her head-cloth with
the throne and other accessories, are particularly interesting. Here and there
in the figures of saints, at the bottom of the picture, the draperies have a cer
tain papery look, which comes from a lack of modelling. It is probable, how
ever, that this arises from a lighting which the artist never intended his can
vas to receive, and that the modelling was sufficient for the light which origi
naUy feU upon his work. The picture was for a long time in the sacristy,
but has been removed to an altar in the body of the church where, what with
the darkness and the paper roses piled before it, this glorious work could,
in 1892, scarcely be aeen at all. In the sacristy it probably received more light
than the painter meant it to have ; in the church, even if its preaent station be

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 157
same city, in the Sacristy of the Frati Minori,^^ called the
" Ca grande/' there is another by the same master, very
well drawn and in a very good manner : a similar work is
to be seen in San Michele di Murano, a monastery of Camal-
doline monks. ^ And in San Francesco della Vigna, which
belongs to the Barefooted Friars, (Frati del Zoccolo) there
was a picture of the Dead Christ in the old church, which was
so beautiful, that having been highly extolled before Louis
XL, king of France, he requested the gift of it with so
much earnestness, that those monks were compelled to
gratify him therewith, however reluctant they were to do so.
Another was put into its place ^ with the name of the same
Giovanni, but not by any means so beautiful or so well done
as the first, and many believed that this last named was for
the most part executed by Girolamo Mocetto, a pupil of Gio
vanni. There is a picture by this same master in the pos
session of the Brotherhood of San Girolamo ; the figures are
the original one, there is too little light for the picture. There have been so
many and such radical changes in the interior distribution of Renaissance
churches, so many windows blocked up or pierced through in later centuries,
that there is rarely any certainty as to what lighting the author of a mural
painting or altar picture had originally to deal with in his calculation of
effect. ^' This work waa painted in 1488 and is still in the sacristy of Santa Maria
Gloriosa dei Frari. We may quote concerning it what Symonds has said of
the San Zaccaria Madonna ; " Between this picture, so strong in its smooth
ness, and any masterpiece of Velasquez, so rugged in its strength, what a wide
abyss of inadequate half -achievement, of smooth feebleness and feeble rugged
ness exists." See the Renaissance in Italy, The Fine Arts. It is a most
beautiful picture, and so perfectly well executed that the method of ita paint
ing is never for a moment noticed ; the effect is arrived at without perceptible
effort. Ita charm is greatly enhanced by the fact that BeUini, in making use
of all his science of the new period, haa retained the decorative arrangement
of the old, the pUasters and gilded domes and scroll-work of the Murano
school ; in addition to thia, inspired by Mantegna, he has placed upon the
steps of the throne two of the most charming child-angels, playing upon
musical instruments, that are to be found in the range of Renaissance Art.
It is difficult to say enough of this picture, and of the Madonna of San Zac
caria. Other performances of the Renaissance are more brilliant, but none
are more entirely satisfactory.
'' In the church of SS. Pietro e Paolo, at Murano.
" In 1507.

158 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
small, but the work is very highly esteemed. And in the
house of Messer Giorgio Cornaro is a picture equally beau
tiful, representing the Saviour with Cleophas and Luke.^
In the above-mentioned hall Giovanni painted another pict
ure, but not at the same time. This contains a story show
ing the Venetians inviting a Pope, I know not which, to
leave the monastery of Santa Maria della Caritd, where he
25 MoreUi (Italian Painters) notes that during the last thirty years of his
life Giovanni BeUini was so busy in painting for the state of Venice, or for
its churches, that the author is able to enumerate during that time as pictures
executed for other parts of Italy only the Pesaro altar-piece ; the Pietd
of Rimini ; the Bacchanal for the Duke of Ferrara ; the Santa Corona
altar-piece at Vicenza ; and the Alzano Madonna near Bergamo. The critic ad
mits as genuine works of Giovanni, one picture in the Uffizi, the Tree of Life,
(631) ; a second picture, the Pietd (a monochrome preparation lor painting in
color), having been too nearly destroyed by restorers to have any value ; one
picture in Turin (779) ; three works in the Brera ; a Pietd (2S4) dating from
1464-1407 ; two Madonnas (261, 297) ; an early work, a Madonna, in the collec
tion of Dr. Frizzoni, at Milan ; one in the Morelli collection, since left to the
city of Bergamo ; a Madonna (early) in the Lochis collection there ; and one
of about 1512, in the cathedral ; at Verona a Madonna and child of about 1477 ;
at Vicenza the Santa Corona Madonna. In Padua, Ferrara, Bologna, and
Treviso, Morelli finds not one genuine picture by Giovanni, though tliere
is one disfigured example in the gallery at Rovigo. In Venice, beside the fa
mous altar-pieces of the Frari, S. Zaccaria, S. Crisostomo, S. Francesco della
Vigna, and that of Murano, Morelli admits the Madonna in the Orto ; several
in the Academy (Nos. 2, 17, 24, 33, 34) ; the large altar-piece and the four al
legorical panels, all in the same gallery. The Museo Correr has a Pietd, a small
Crucifixion, and a Transfiguration. In Rome there is one picture, a Madonna
(greatly retouched), in the Torlonia collection. The Transfiguration in Naples
is called a "splendid early work." Mr. Bernard Berenson, in his Venetian
Painters, catalogues the Bellini of the National GaUery as the Loredano
portrait ; a Madonna ; the Agony in the Garden ; the Blood of the Redeemer ;
in private collections, a Madonna (Lady Eastlake) ; a Dead Christ (Mond col
lection) ; and a Madonna (Dr. Richter). He mentions the Pietd and the Dead
Christ of Berlin, and questions a Crucifixion at Pesaro. Morelli notes that
Giovanni Bellini's drawings are rare, and mentions only a Pietd in the Venice
Academy (attributed to Mantegna), and a standing figure of an apostle in same
collection ; a pen-and-ink sketch for the Entombment (in Tosi collection, Bres
cia) ; a Pietd (in the La Salle collection in the Louvre), and four standing
figures of saints (Chatsworth, attributed to Perino del Vaga). Mr. Berenson
includes in his Venetian Painters a very important and interesting catalogue
of the works, both in Italy and throughout Europe, of the masters of Venice,
with specification as to whether the paintings belong to the early, middle, or
late periods of the artist's career.

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 159
had concealed himself, after having taken refuge in A'^enice,
and there secretly served as cook to the monks, an office
which he had held for a considerable time. In this story
there are many figures portrayed from the life, with others,
all of which are very beautiful.^''
Xo long time after, several portraits by this master were
taken into Turkey by an ambassador, and presented to the
Grand Turk. These works awakened so much astonish
ment and admiration in that monarch, that although among
this people pictures are prohibited by the ilahometan law,
the emperor accepted them with great good will, extolling
beyond measure both the art and the artist ; and, what is
more, requiring that the master of the work sliould be sent
to him.^'
The Senate thereupon, considering that Giovanni had
reached an age when he could but ill support fatigue,^
and not desiring to deprive their city of such a man, he
having his hands then fully occupied, moreover, with the
hall of the Grand Couucil, resolved to send thither his
brother Gentile in his stead, believing, that he would do as
well for the Turk as Giovanni.* Having caused Gentile,
therefore, to make himself ready, they conducted him in
their own galleys with all safety, to Constantinople, where,
being presented to the Grand Turk by the lieutenant of
the Signoria, he was received by him very willingly,^ and,
2« This Pope, who was not known by name to Vasari, was Alexander IH.
That he served the monks in the capacity of cook is probably a fable.
2' Sanuto records this occurrence under the date 1479.
2' In Vasari's time the Venetians had evidently little detailed recollection
of the Bellini, for Giovanni was really the younger brother, and in 1479, when
GentUe went to Constantinople, was not much over fifty.
" Sanuto records this fact under the date 1479, and in the following words :
"On the 1st day of August there comes a Jewish orator with letters from
the Grand Turk. He would have the Signoria send him a good painter who
knew how to make portraits, and invit-s the Doge to the marriage of his
son." They replied, " thanking him, and have sent Zentil Bellini, an excel
lent painter, who went with the gaUeys of Romania." — Morelli, Notizia,
d'opere di disegno, p. 99.
'"See L. Thuasne, Gentile Bellini et le Sultan Mohammed IT., Paris,
1888. This book is based on the Hisioria Turchesca di Giovanni Maria An-

160 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
being something new, was much caressed, more especially
when he had presented Sultan Mahomet with a most
charming picture, which that monarch admired exceedingly,
scarcely finding it possible to conceive that a mere mortal
should have in himself so much of the divinity as to be ca
pable of reproducing natural objects so faithfully. Gentile
had been no long time in Constantinople before he por
trayed the Emperor Mahomet from the life, and so exactly,
that it was considered a miracle. Then the Sultan, after
having seen many proofs of his ability in that art, desired to
know if the painter had courage to take his own likeness ?
to which Gentile having replied that he had, many days had
not elapsed before he had portrayed his own features, with
the help of a mirror, so faithfully that the picture seemed
to be alive. ^ This he brought to the Sultan^ who was so
amazed thereat that he could imagine no other but that the
painter had some divine spirit in his service ; and if it had
not been that the exercise of this art is forbidden to the
Turks by their law, as we have said, that emperor would
never have suffered Gentile to leave him. But, whether
the Sultan feared that murmurs might arise, or was moved
by some other cause, he one day commanded the attendance
of the painter, and having caused him first to be thanked
for the courtesy he had displayed, and highly extolled him
as a man of wonderful ability, he finally bade him demand
whatever favour he might desire as a parting token, which
should be presented to him without fail.^ Gentile, who
giolello da Vicenza, one of the suite of Mustafa, eldest son of the Sultan.
Apparently Mohammed coUected both statues and pictures, which Bayazeid
(Bajazet), his successor, sold.
31 There was a portrait bust of Mohammed II. in the collection of the late
Sir Austen Henry Layard. It is dated November 2.5, 1480. Sir Henry saya :
" It appears at one time to have been in the collection of portraits of remark
able men made by the celebrated Italian historian, Paolo Giovio." It is said
that this portrait will probably go to the National GaUery. There is also a
pen-and-ink drawing of Mohammed II. and hia Sultana in the British Mu-
aeum, and in the Louvre there is a picture of a Venetian ambassador at the
Turkish court ; the authorship of the latter is not certain.
'2 He was sent home because Mohammed had decided to carry war into

GHIRLANDAJO
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
SS. INNOCENTI, FLORENCE

Alinari, Fhoi.

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 161
was a modest and upright man, demanded no other thing
than a letter of approval, by which the Sultan should rec
ommend him to the most Serene Senate and most Illus
trious Signoria of Venice, his native city. This was written
as cordially as was possible, after which he was dismissed
with the most honourable presents and with the dignity of
knighthood. In addition to many privileges then conferred
on Gentile by this monarch, and among the many gifts be
stowed on him, was a chain of gold, made after the Turkish
fashion, and equal in weight to 250 scudi, which was placed
around his neck ; this ornament is still in possession of his
heirs at Venice.^
Departing from Constantinople, Gentile returned, after a
most fortunate voyage, to Venice, where he was received by
Giovanni, his brother, and by almost the whole city, with
the utmost gladness, every one rejoicing at the honours
paid to his talents by Sultan Mahomet. Proceeding on his
arrival to present his duty to the Doge and the Signoria, he
was very well received and commended, for that he had
satisfied the Turkish emperor according to their desire.
Furthermore, to the end that the great account in which
they held the letters wherewith that prince had recom
mended him might be made manifest, they commanded a
provision of 200 scudi a year to be made for him, which
sum was paid him for the remainder of his life.
Gentile performed but few works after his return from
Constantinople,^'^ and at length, having nearly attained
Rhodes. See Thuasne, op. dt. A medal waa struck in GentUe's honor when
he returned from Constantinople. One of these medals is on the frame of the
portrait of Mehemet II., referred to in note 31.
" Ridolfi, in his Vite dei Pittori Veneti, states that one of the pictures pre
sented to Mohammed H. waa the Head of John the Baptist on a Charger. The
Sultan admired it, but remarked that " the neck projected too much from the
head" As Gentile seemed sceptical he caUed a slave and had him decapitated
by one of hia attendants to prove the justness of his criticisms. Gentile was
extremely an.xioua to return to Italy after this practical demonstration. The
truth of this atory ia questionable.
" On the contrary, most of the existing work of Gentile postdates his re
turn from Constantinople. Gentile often introduced Turkish and other orien-

162 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
to the age of 80, he passed to another life in the year
1501 ; ^ and from his brother Giovanni he received honour
able interment in the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo.
Thus deprived of his brother Gentile, whom he had most
tenderly loved, Giovanni, although very old,^^ still cen
tal costumes in his later pictures, showing that he must have made careful
atudies in the East. Many of these studies still exist at Windsor Castle and
elsewhere. The important picture of Saint Mark Preaching at Alexandria,
left unfinished by Gentile in 1507, and completed by his brother, is not men
tioned by Vasari in the Life of Giovanni Bellini It is now in the Brera at
Milan. Gentile Bellini, in his wiU, left the sketch-book of his father, Jacopo
Bellini, to Giovanni, provided he finished this picture. According to Mr. Ber-
enson's list (Venetian Painters), London has four works of Gentile: National
Gallery, S. Peter, Martj-r, and a Portrait ; South Kensington Museum, a head
of S. Dominick ; collection of Lady Eastlake, a Madonna Enthroned. Buda-
Pesth has a portrait of Catarina Cornaro ; Rome, a portrait of a Doge (Vat
ican) ; Venice aportrait of Lorenzo Giustiniani (Academy), and Paris has two
heads (upon one canvas. Louvre) attributed to GentUe.
'5 He died in 1507. Gentile BeUini is the sober, dignified, and careful
painter of processions, pageants, and masses of people, treated in a minute
and rather dry manner, but warm and harmonious in color. He is an exceUent
draughtsman, and some of his studies in black and red chalk, especially of
those made in Constantinople, are exceeding modern in their treatment. His
influence was a powerful one in the development of Venetian art, but he never
rose to the height of such pictures as Giovanni's Madonnas of San Zaccaria
and the Frari, or of his altar-piece from Sant' lobbe. He looked at the out
sides of things, and substituted for the thoughtfully arranged monumental
groups of saints of the Florentines, and of his brother Giovanni, the acci
dental and changing groups of out-door life in Venice, seeing the dramas of
universal history as enacted by Venetians in Venice, and making concessions
only in the case of the Turks, whom he saw and reported faithfully. He is an
eminent master, dignified and truthful, but as M. Muntz has said, GentUe
Bellini's was " documentary painting rather than great art."
=« The celebrated letter of Albert Diirer [1506] gives us an interesting glimpse
of the art-life of the time : "I have many good friends among the Italians
who warn me not to eat and drink with their painters. Many also of them are
my enemies ; they copy my things for the churches, picking them up wher
ever they can. Yet they abuse my style, saying that it is not antique art, and
therefore it is not good. But Giambellini has praised me much before many
gentlemen ; he wishes to have something of mine ; he came to me and begged
me to do something for him, and is quite wiUing to pay for it. And every
one gives him such a good character that I feel an afTection for him. He is
very old, and is yet the best in painting (der best im gemell)." M. Miintz,
L'Age d^Or, 177-180, shows that at this time Flanders gave way to Nurem-
burg and Colmar in the attraction which northern painting exercised over the

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 163
tinned to work a little, the better to pass his time, and
having taken to execute portraits from the life, he intro
duced the custom into Venice, that whoever had attained
to a certain degree of eminence should cause his likeness to
be portrayed, either by himself or by some other master.
Wherefore, in all Venetian houses, there are numerous
portraits, and in many of those belonging to nobles, may
be seen the fathers and gi-andfathers of the possessors, up
to the fourth generation ; nay, in some of the most noble
houses they go still farther back, a custom which is certainly
most praiseworthy, and was in use even among the ancients.
For who does not feel infinite contentment, to say nothing
of the beauty and ornament resulting from them, at sight
of the effigies of his ancestors, more particularly if they
have been distinguished for their deeds in war or by their
works in peace, or have rendered themselves illustrious by
learning or other signal qualities and remarkable virtues,
or by the part they have taken in the government of the
state ? And to what other purpose, as has been remarked
in another place, did the ancients place the statues of their
great men, with honourable inscriptions, in the public
Venetians and Florentines. Thus Ercole de' Roberti, Michelangelo, Raphael,
Fra Bartolommeo, copied or borrowed from works by Martin Schongauer of
Colmar ; while Del Sarto, Raphael, Pontormo, Palma Vecchio, Titian (in
his landscape backgrounds), gave equal attention to the works of Diirer. Car
paccio took the latter's Massacre of the Ten Thousand as the prototype of his
own treatment of the same subject, and Giovanni BeUini, in his Bacchanal
(now at Alnwick), painted for the Duke of Ferrara, imitated a picture done by
Diirer in Venice. M. Miintz further notices the fact that while the engrav
ings of Mantegna and others inspired in Germany works of a monumental
size, Diirer's things were repeated by the Italians only in a size equal to, or
smaller than, the originals. Camerarius gives a curious and hardly credible
anecdote of Bellini and Durer. The aged Venetian artist was particularly
struck with Diirer's painting of hair, and asked him for the brush with which
he did such fine strokes. Diirer did not understand, and offered him the
choice of all his brushes. Bellini then explained that he only wanted the
particular brush used in painting hair, as a mark of friendship. Diirer took
up one of the brushes and executed a marvellously fine tress of woman's hair,
thus showing that it was not the brush but the artist which did the work.
Durer was greatly pleased with Venice, and made long visits there both in 1493
and 150.5-1507. He saya, " I became a gentleman in Venice."

164 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
places, if not to the end that they might awaken the love
of glory and excellence in those who were to come after ?
Among the portraits executed by Giovanni Bellini was
that of a lady beloved by Messer Pietro Bembo," before the
latter went to Rome to Pope Leo X. ; and whom he por
trayed with so much truth and animation, that as Simon of
Siena was celebrated by the first Petrarch the Florentine, so
was Giovanni by this second Petrarch the Venetian, as may
be seen in the sonnet, " O imagine mia celeste epura,"
Wherein he says, in the commencement of the second qua
train, ' ' Credo che 7 mio Bellin con la figura ; "
with that which follows. And what greater reward could
our artists desire for their labours than that of seeing them
selves celebrated by the pens of illustrious poets, as the most
excellent Titian, also, has been by the learned Messer Gio
vanni della Casa, in that sonnet which begins —
"Ben veggo io Tiziano, in forme nuove ; "
And in that other : —
" Son queste, Amor, le vagJie treccie bionde."
And was not this same Bellino enumerated among the
best painters of his age by the renowned Ariosto, in the
commencement of the thirty-third canto of the Orlando
Furioso ? ^' Bnt to return to the works of Giovanni, to his
principal works, that is to say, for it would detain us too
long were I to make mention of the pictures and portraits
which are in the houses of gentlemen in Venice, and other
parts of the Venetian dominions. In Rimini he painted,
for the Signor Sigismondo Malatesti, a large picture repre-
8' This picture is lost.
38 *' _£¦ qiifi chefuro ai nostri di, o son ora
Leonardo, Andrea Mantegna e Gian Be lino."

JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI 165
senting the Dead Christ supported by two children, which is
now in the church of San Francesco in that city ; ^' he also
painted among other portraits, that of Bartolommeo da Li-
viano. Captain-general of the Venetians.*
Giovanni Bellini had many disciples, seeing that he in
structed them all with great kindness.
Giovanni Bellini died of old age when he had completed
his ninetieth year,*' leaving an undying memorial of his
name in the works which he had executed in Venice and
other parts, he was honourably buried in the same church
and in the same tomb wherein he had deposited his brother
Gentile j^ ^ nor were there wanting in Venice those who, by

" Mr. Berenson (Venetian Painters) catalogues the Dead Christ in Rimini
as an early work.
*° Bartolommeo d'Alviano ; the portrait is lost.
" Probably in his eighty-eighth year, in 1.516.
" The portraits of Giovanni and Gentile are to be found in The Sermon of
St. Mark, at the Brera. GentUe is also said to be represented in one of the
kneeling figures to the right of the recovery of the relic in the series of paint
ings executed for the Scuola of San Giovanni Evangelista, and we possess an
undoubted portrait in the medal struck to commemorate the painter's return
from Constantinople, which does not resemble the head of the kneeling fig
ure mentioned above. The portrait in the Capitol Gallery at Rome seems
neither of, nor by Giovanni Bellini. His portrait in the Duo d'Aumale's col
lection is by a pupil ( Victor Discipulus). Morelli affirms that the portrait
of Giovanni in the Uffizi, and said to be by himself, is really by RondineUi.
" Giovanni BeUini means, to the visitor to Italy, the painter of solemn en
throned Madonnas or of half-length Virgins between guardian saints, envel
oped in an atmosphere of strong but golden color. He developed so slowly
that his masterpieces were the work of his latest years, and his Virgins of
San Zaccaria and of the Frari were painted when he was already an old man.
M. Miintz, L'Age d'Or, p. 780, lays special emphasis on the patience and la-
boriousness of Giovanni, saying that he began with an incompleteness of vision
which amounted to obtuseness, and by force of perseverance attained an ideal
which his pupils, with Titian among them, were unable to equal. It is difficult
to wholly subscribe to this ; the sense of beauty in Giovanni may have been
clouded, but it existed from the beginning of his career ; something there was
in him which he did not create, nor even develop wholly by perseverance. He
was not naturally a draughtsman, and his modelUng haa sometimes a flat, un
certain and papery quality about it that gives a boneless look to his figures ; but
this modelling was intended for the half-light of churches where its feebleness
was largely counteracted.
Like every Venetian painter he had "the golden touch," but no one else had

166 JACOPO, GIOVANNI, AND GENTILE BELLINI
sonnets and epigrams, sought to do him honour after his
death, as he had done honour to himself and his country
during his life.
it quite so fully as he. Giorgione' s coloring may be more thriUing, Titian's
deeper chorded and more sonorous, if one may carry out the musical compar
ison ; but no painter's figurea, not even the people of Carpaccio or of Cima,
swim in such an atmosphere of pure gold as surrounds the Madonnas of San
Zaccaria and the Frari. Dignity Giovanni's Madonnas have always, a dignity
which becomes majesty with these two glorious enthroned Virgins ; but his
divine mothers are proud rather thau tender ; true to the Byzantine tradition
they hold up the infant Christ to the people instead of clasping him to them
selves ; they are Christophers, Christ-bearers, as has been weU said, as they
sit with their calm faces and their hooded mantles against the background of
liquid gold.
Bellini brought the science of the fifteenth century to the old Greek pain
ters' ideal, and these Virgins are the descendants of the stately and imperious
Madonnas of the Byzantine mosaics, aa well aa of the sad and mysterious
Madonnas of Cimabue. They are so calm as to be often impassive, their
features are sometimes pinched and mean, and much that has been written of
their tenderness and beauty is exaggerated and uncritical. Two or three of
them are lovely, but generally it is not their facial beauty that charms but
their ensemble, their grave and simple dignity, their quiet, golden breadth of
treatment, the absence of all straining either for expression or technical hand
ling. It is, above all, in this last quality of achievement without visible
effort, thia unruffled quiet perfection, that Giovanni Bellini ia a master of
masters. He is essentially contemplative, loving best to paint the enthroned
Madonna, and yet he becomes intensely pathetic, and even dramatic, in his
Pietds, which are among the greatest that the Renaissance has left us. He
was strongly atFected by the art of Mantegna, upon which he himself reacted
in turn, until these two painters filled the whole north of Italy with their
names and influences, and prepared the way for Giorgione and Titian and
Correggio.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO, FLORENTINE
PAINTER 1
[Bom 1449 ; died 1494.]
Bibliography.— Karl Woermann, Domenico Ghirlandajo, in the Dohme
series of Kuiist und Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Monumenti
Artistici in San Gimigna?io, article by Natale Baldoria, in the Archivio Sto
rico deW Arte, III. 35-68. G. CasteUazzi, La basilica di S. Trinitd, i snoi
tempi ed ilprogetto del suo restauro, Florence, 1887. R. Menard, Domenico
Ghirlandajo, in the Gazette des Beaux Arts, IX. , 2d series, p. 316, Paris, 1874.
Monograph on Domenico Ghirlandajo, by A. H. Layard ; a publication of the
Arundel Society, London, 1860. Enrico Ridolfi, Giovanna TornUbuoni e Gi-
nevra dei Benci nel Coro di Santa MariaNovella in Firenze, Florence, 1890.
Milanesi considered that he had found, in the National Library of Florence, a
manuscript treatise on painting written by Ghirlandajo himself. Herr von
Fabriczy has pubUshed, in the Archivio Storico Italiano, 1891, a careful study
of the said manuscript.
DOMENICO, son of Tommaso del Ghirlandajo, who,
by the pre-eminence of his talents and the impor
tance and number of his works, is entitled to be placed
among the first and most excellent masters of his time, was
formed by nature to be a painter, and followed the bent of
his disposition, notwithstanding the determination to the
contrary of those who had him in charge. Impediments
thus offered to the inclinations of youth, frequently nip the
most promising fruits of genius in the bud, by compelling
the attention to an ill-suited employment, and forcibly
' His name was Domenico di Tommaso di Currado Bigordi, and he was
called ¦' 11 Ghirlandajo," in Florentine dialect, Grillandajo, the garland-
maker. His father, Tommaso del Ghirlandajo, may have been son of a garland-
maker, or have at one time exercised the art of a goldsmith, though he is
known to have become eventually a broker ; he describes himself as such, and
mentions that his sons, David and Domenico, are apprenticed to a goldsmith.
See Layard's Kugler, I., p. 169, for a quotation from a document discovered
by Milanesi.

168 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
turning it from the vocation to which there is a natural im
pulse ; but Domenico, obeying the instinct of his nature, as
we have said, obtained for himself the highest honours,
secured great advantage to art, as well as to his kindred,
and his contemporaries ; and became the joy and delight of
his age. Our artist was designed by his father to learn his
own calling, that of a goldsmith,* in which Tommaso was a
more than respectable master ; the greater part of the vo
tive vessels in silver, formerly preserved in the church of the
Annunciation at Florence, being from his hand, as were the
silver lamps of the chapel, which were destroyed during
the siege of the city in 1529 ; Tommaso del Ghirlandajo
was the first who invented and made those ornaments worn
on the head by the young girls of Florence, and called gar
lands (ghirlande),^ whence Tommaso acquired the name of
Ghirlandajo. Yet not for being the first inventor only, but
also on account of the vast number and extraordinary beauty
of those made by him, insomuch that none could please,
as it should seem, but such as came from his workrooms.
Being thus placed to learn the art of goldsmith therefore,
Domenico, whom this occupation did not satisfy, employed
himself perpetually in drawing ; he was endowed by nature
with remarkable intelligence, and possessing admirable
taste, with a most correct judgment in all things related to
painting ; although occupied as a goldsmith in his earliest
youth, he yet obtained extraordinary facility in design by
continual practice, and was so quick as well as clever, that
he is said to have drawn the likenesses of all who passed by
his workshop, producing the most accurate resemblance.
Of this ability there is a snfQcient proof in the numerous
portraits to be found in his works, and which are truly an
imated likenesses.''
' Many famous artists were at first goldsmiths, as Ghiberti, Brunelleschi,
Verrocchio, Luca della Robbia, Orgagna, Andrea del Sarto, Cellini, Antonio
del PoUajuolo a.nd BotticeUi.
2 These garlands were wom long before Ghirlandajo's time.
' Ghirlandajo's first master was either Alesso Baldovinetti or Cosimo Ros
selli.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 169
The first pictures painted by Domenico ° were for the
chapel of the Vespucci," in the church of Ognissanti, where
there is a Dead Christ with numerous Saints. Over an arch
in the same chapel there is a Misericordia, wherein Do
menico has portrayed the likeness of Amerigo Vespucci, who
sailed to the Indies ; and in the refectory of the convent
(of Ognissanti) he painted a fresco of the Last Supper. In
Santa Croce, at the entrance of the church on the right
hand, Domenico painted the story of San Paolino, whereby,
having acquired great reputation, and attained to high
credit, he was commissioned by Francesco Sassetti to paint
a chapel in Santa Trinita,' with stories from the life of San
Francesco ; a work of great merit, and completed by Do
menico with infinite grace, tenderness, and love. In the
first compartment of this picture is the representation of a
miracle performed by St. Francis, and here the master has
= The San Gimignano frescoes from the story of Santa Fina probably ante
date the year 1475 (see Natale Baldoria, in the .irchivio Storico deW Arte, 1890,
p. 56), but the earliest existing document concerning any of his works (quoted
hy MUanesi) proves him to have painted in the Vatican library in 1475, and is
dated November 28th of that year. His only remaining pictures done in Rome
ire the CaUing of Feter, in the Sistine Chapel, and a fragment recently dis
covered by Herr Schmarsow in the Vatican, representing the Doctors of the
Church (see M. Miintz, L'Age d'Or, p. 643). A fresco in the church of S. An
drea, near Florence, is caUed one of his earliest works. It represents a Virgin
and Child with two attendant samts, whUe above is a Baptism of Christ.
« The Vespucci Chapel was whitewashed in 1616. The story of San Paolino
is destroyed. The Cenacolo ia still to be seen, and dates, as do the other fres
coes, from 1480. The head of Christ is much repainted. In this Cenacolo,
and in that of San Marco, Ghirlandajo has left important examples of the fif
teenth-century conception of the subject of the Last Supper, but they are not
hy any means his best works, and M. Muntz has remarked of the San Marco
fresco that in studying it one realizes the gigantic progress made in the treat
ment of the same subject by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan.
' These frescoes, finished in 1485, rank among Domenico's most important
works, and in such monumental cycles the painter is at his best ; here, as hi
S. M. Novella, we have contemporaneous portraiture not only of persons but
of places. Of late, and during several years, it has been difficult to see these
frescoes weU, as the chapel has been obstructed more or less by the scaffold
ings used in a careful and elaborate restoration of the interior of the church,
a restoration which has given it back some of its ancient character, especially
as to polychromatic decoration . See Bibliography.

170 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
given an exact counterpart of the bridge of the Santa Trinita
with the palace of the Spini ; in this work St. Francis ap
pears hovering in the air, and restores to life the child who
had been dead ; among the women standing around are seen
the different emotions of grief for his death, as they are
bearing him to the burial, and of joy and amazement as they
behold him resuscitated. Domenico has likewise shown
the monks issuing from the church with the Becchini, men
tvhose office it is to bury the dead, following the cross and
proceeding to the interment ; all exhibiting perfect truth to
nature, as do other figures, who are expressing the amaze
ment they feel, or the happiness they experience, from the
event they have just witnessed. In this picture are the j)or-
traits of Maso degli Albizzi, Messer Agnolo Acciaiuoli, and
Messer Palla Strozzi, all eminent citizens frequently cited
in the history of Florence.
A second picture represents St. Francis, when, in the
presence of the vicar, he refuses to accept the inheritance
devolving on him from his father, Pietro Bernardone, and
assumes the habit of penitence, which he binds around him
with the cord of discipline ; in another compartment the
same saint is depicted as proceeding to Eome, where he ob
tains from Pope Honorius the confirmation of his rule, and
presents to that Pontiff, roses blooming in the middle of
January. In this story the master represents the Hall of
the Consistory with the Cardinals seated around it, a flight
of steps leads up into the hall ; and, leaning on the balus
trade, are the half-length figures of various persons por
trayed from the life. Among the portraits in this work is
that of the illustrious Lorenzo de' Medici the elder. The
master likewise depicts St. Francis receiving the Stigmata ;
and in the last of the series here described, he represents the
Saint dead, with his monks mourning around him. One
among them kisses the hands of the departed, and the ex
pression in his case could not possibly be rendered more per
fect by the art of the painter. There is also a bishop, in his
episcopahvestments and with spectacles on his nose ; he is

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 171
chanting the prayers for the dead ; and the fact that we do
not hear him, alone demonstrates to us that he is not alive,
but merely painted. On each side of the altar-piece are two
compartments, in one of which Domenico painted the like
ness of Francesco Sassetti on his knees ; and in the other
that of Madonna Nera his wife, with their children (but
these last are in the story above, when the child is restored
to life), and some other beautiful maidens of the same family,
whose names I have not been able to discover, all wearing
the dress and ornaments of that time, a circumstance which
imparts no small pleasure to the beholder. On the vaulted
ceiling of the chapel are four Sybils, and on the external
wall * is the story of the Tiburtine Sybil, by whom the Em
peror Octavian is induced to worship Christ ; a fresco of ad
mirable execution, and exhibiting an animation of colour
ing which is very charming. To these works Domenico ad
ded a picture in tempera, wherein is the Nativity of Christ,'
painted in such a manner as to astonish every one who is
conversant with art ; in this work is the portrait of the mas
ter himself, with certain heads of shepherds, which are con
sidered wonderfully fine. In our book we have drawings of
the Sybil, and of some other parts of that work, most ad
mirably executed in chiaro-scuro ; we have also the per
spective exhibiting the bridge of Santa Trinity.
For the Brotherhood of the Ingesuati, Domenico painted
the altar-piece of the high altar with various Saints kneeling
around the Virgin, San Giusto, Bishop of Volterra namely,
titular saint of that church ; San Zanobi, Bishop of Flor
ence ; the Angel Raphael, San Michele, in magnificent ar-
' The frescoes on the exterior ot the chapel, God the Father in Glory, and
tbe Sibyl Prophesying, were whitewashed, but have been carefully uncovered
by Professor Conti.
' This is one of Ghirlandajo's finest works ; it was painted in 1485, and is
now in the Florentine Academy. In it we see the hand of a master "who
combines with the touching nnXvete of a season of upgrowth a sober and pro
found aoience. " It offers some of the closest and most solid work upon panel
of the fifteenth century and shows how admirable a painter of easel pictures
Ghirlandajo could have been had he found time from his greater work as a
frescante.

172 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
mour, with some others ; and of a truth Domenico merits
praise for this work, seeing that he was the first who at
tempted to imitate borderings and ornaments of gold with
colours, which had, up to that time, not been the custom.'"
But Domenico did away in a great measure with those flour
ishes and scrolls formed with gypsum or bole and gold,
which were better suited to the decorating of tapestry or
hangings, than to the paintings of good masters. But more
beautiful than any of the other figures is that of Our Lady,
who has the Child in her arms, and four little Angels around
her. This picture, than which nothing better could be
executed in tempera, was at that time in the church belong
ing to the above-named friars, without the gate which opens
on the road to Pinti ; but that building having been after
wards destroyed, as will be related elsewhere, it is now in
the church of San Giovannino, within the gate of San Pie
tro Gattolini, where the convent of the Ingesuati is situ
ated. In the church of the Cestello,'' Domenico commenced a
picture wliich was completed by his brothers David and
Benedetto ; the subject of this work is the Visitation of
Our Lady, and in it there are certain female heads which
are most graceful and beautiful. For the church of the
Innocenti, 12 Domenico painted a picture of the Magi, in
tempera, which has been highly extolled ; here, too, are

'» This picture was painted on wood, and is a work of his youth. After the
destruction of the church, during the famous siege in 1.530, it was taken to a
smaller church caUed La Calza. near the Porta Romana, and in 1857 was car
ried from thence to the Uffizi Gallery. San Giusto was Archbishop of Lyons.
" This picture, painted in 1491, is iu the Louvre.
1' This picture, dated 1488, and still in the church, has been carefully though
rather brUliautly restored. It is an important composition, with many fig
ures, and has more of religious sentiment than have most of Ghirlandajo's
pictures. A charming episodical feature is the presentation by attendant
saints of two Innocents (the patrons and protectors of the Innocenti hospital) ;
the latter are haloed babies, who are kneeling unmindful of the wounds which
cover their heads and bodies. The workmanship is so minute that the pict
ure should be seen from the head of the staircases leading to the top of the
high altar.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 173
many very beautiful heads, both old and young, the atti
tude and expression finely varied. In the countenance of
Our Lady, more particularly, there is the manifestation of
all the modesty, grace, and beauty that can be imparted to
the Mother of the Son of God by the painter's art. There
is likewise a work by this master in the church of San
Marco, in the middle aisle, with a Last Supper '^ in the
strangers' refectory of the cloister, both executed with much
care. In the palace of Giovanni Tornabuoni, Domenico
painted the Adoration of the Magi,* also very carefully
executed." And in the smaller Hospital f he painted the
Story of Vulcan for Lorenzo de' Medici ; '^ in this work there
are many figures undraped and wielding heavy hammers, as
they labour in the fabrication of thunder-bolts for Jupiter.
In the church of Ognissanti, in Florence, Domenico painted,
in competition with Sandro Botticelli, a St. Jerome, sur
rounded by various instruments and books, such as are
used by the learned : this fresco is now beside the door
which leads into the choir, having been removed, together
with that of Botticelli, by the monks, who desired to make
alterations in the choir ; and being secured by means of
iron bars, &c., they were both transported without injury
into the centre of the church ; this was done at the moment
when these Lives were in course of being printed for the
second time.^^
The lunette over the door of Santa Maria Ughi was
painted by Domenico Ghirlandajo, who likewise executed a
small Tabernacle for the guild of the Joiners, :|: and in the
* The words, in un tondo, in a round (form), that is to say, painted upon a
circular panel or canvas, are omitted here.
t Lo Spedaletto, here translated " smaller hospital," ia the name of a coun
try house near Volterra which now belongs to the Corsini princes.
X Read flax-merchants (Linaiuoli).
" The Last Supper is in tolerable condition ; the work mentioned by Vasari
as being in the middle aisle has perished.
" This picture went to the Palazzo Pandolfini, aud thence to England ;
Milanesi, Vol. IIL , p. 358, note 5.
" These frescoes are badly damaged but still exist.
" The St. Jerome painted in 1480 stiU exists in situ.

174 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
above-mentioned church of Ognissanti, he painted a figure
of St. George killing the Dragon, which is very finely done.
And of a truth this master was exceedingly well versed in
the execution of mural paintings, which he treated with
extraordinary facility ; he was nevertheless remarkably
careful in the composition * of his works. "
Ghirlandajo was invited to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV., to
take part with other masters in the painting of his chapel,
and he there depicted Christ calling Peter and Andrew from
their nets, as also the Resurrection of the Saviour, '^ which
is now almost entirely ruined ; for being over a door, the
architecture of which it has been found necessary to restore,
the painting has suffered much damage. Frangesco Tor
nabuoni, a rich and eminent merchant, who was a friend to
Domenico, was at that time in Rome, and his wife, having
died in childbirth, as has been related,'^ in the life of
Andrea Verrocchio, he, desiring to do her all the honour
befitting their station, caused a tomb to be constructed in
tlie church of the Minerva, and commissioned Domenico
Ghirlandajo to paint the whole face of the wall around it.^
He likewise caused a small j)icture to be executed by that
master for the same place. The mural paintings consisted
of four stories, two from the life of John the Baptist, and
two from that of Our Lady, which were all much extolled
at the time. Francesco was so entirely satisfied with all
*Read instead of "the compoaition of his works," the high finish of his
works; "neZ comporre le sue cose molto leccato;" leccato means, UteraUy,
Ucked. " The Lunette, the Tabernacle, and the St George have all disappeared.
'" The Resurrection perished in the demolition of a waU. The Calling of
Peter stiU exiats. M. Muntz, in the Revue Archeologique, states that David
Ghirlandajo did much of the work in aU of Domenico's Roman frescoes. Rec
ords of pajTuents in 1475 and 1476 exist, but they are for other works done
in the Vatican. For the waU-paintings of the Sistine Chapel, see the Life of
BotticelU, note 21. Ghirlandajo's fresco here is one of the best of the series ;
but, like the others, is hardly noticed, being overshadowed by Michelangelo's
works in the vaulting.
" When Vasari changed the order of the Lives in the second edition he for
got to alter " has been " to " wUl be."
2» These paintings have disappeared.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 175
that Domenico had done, that when the master returned to
Florence with great honour and large gains, Tornabuoni
recommended him by letters to his relation Giovanni, in
forming the latter how well he had been served by Domen
ico in the matter of the tomb, and declaring that the Pope
also was highly pleased with his pictures. When Giovanni
Tornabuoni heard these things, he began to consider how
he might best employ the ability of the painter in some
magnificent work, which should serve as a perpetual me
morial of himself, and at the same time bring renown and
advantage to Domenico.
Now it chanced that at this time the principal chapel of
Santa Maria Novella, a monastery of the Preaching Friars,
which had formerly been painted by Andrea Orgagna, was
in many parts injured by the rains which had penetrated to
the work, by reason of the roof being imperfectly covered.
Many citizens had offered to restore the chapel or to paint it
anew, but the owners, who were then of the Ricci family,
would never agree to its being done, they not having means
to supply the expense themselves, nor could they resolve on
yielding the chapel to others who would do it, lest they
should lose their right in it, and should see their arms,
which had descended to them from their ancestors, removed
from the place. But Giovanni Tornabuoni, wishing much
that Domenico should raise him this memorial, set to work
in the matter, and sought by various devices to effect his
purpose. At length he promised the Ricci, not only to take
the whole expense on himself, and to make them a recom
pense in some other matter, but also assured them that he
would have their arms emblazoned on the most conspicuous
and most honourable place to be found in the chapel. On
this condition they agreed, and a solemn contract was made,
by means of an instrument carefully drawn up according to
the tenor above described. Giovanni then commissioned
Domenico to execute the work, the same subjects being re
tained, as they had been originally painted by Orgagna, and
the price agreed on was 1200 gold ducats ; but, in the event

176 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
of the paintings pleasing him, Giovanni promised to give 200
more. 2' Domenico therefore set hard to the work, and did
not cease until the fourth year, when he had entirely fin
ished it — this was in the year 1485. Giovanni was thoroughly
satisfied and much pleased with the whole ; he admitted
that he considered himself well served, and confessed in
genuously that Domenico had gained the additional 200
ducats, but added, that he would be glad if the painter
would content himself with the price first agreed on. Ghir
landajo, who valued glory and honour much more than
riches, immediately remitted all the remainder, declaring
that he had it much more at heart to give Giovanni satis
faction, than to secure the additional payment for himself.^
Giovanni Tornabuoni afterwards caused two large es-
2' The works which so pleased Tornabuoni no longer exist in the Minerva.
As for the pictures in the choir of S. Maria Novella, the contract for these
frescoes, dated September I, 1485, is pubUshed by Milanesi in II Buonarroti,
1887, n. .335-358. It mentions the subjects, and stipulates that the work
shall be finished in four years from May, 1486, by Domenico and David
Ghirlandajo. Before the commencement of the work the two brothers were
to submit a sketch which should be modified to suit the taste of Tornabuoni.
Some of the subjects mentioned in the contract were replaced by others. The
contract price was 1 , 100 fiorins.
^2 This vast series of frescoes may rank as Domenico's masterpiece, and as
one of the important and remarkable works of the Renaissance. It has pro
voked the unfavorable criticism of Mr. Ruskin and the enthusiasm of Taine,
the former calling the artist only " a goldsmith with a gift of portraiture,"
the latter declaring that " one might pass hours in contemplating the figurea
of the women,'' and praising "the divine uncouthness of their gravity." WMle
standing before them M. Leon Bonnat, the eminent French painter, speak
ing to one of the annotators of this work, emphasized Taine's words hy the
remark, "Files sont superbes mais, unpen sauvages." This admiring but
critical exclamation exactly characterizes the figures in these frescoes. They
are superb, and yet in their direct and somewhat heavy-handed simplicity of
execution have that forceful rudeness which the famous French painter
found in them. They are all portraits, for it was as natural to Ghirlandajo to
make a portrait of anyone whom he painted as it was to Botticelli to depart
from individual characteristics and generalize a type of his own. The
checker-board division of these freacoea into so many great rectangles, topped
on either side of the choir by a lunette, ia not especially decorative, and the
color is not interesting, being rather bricky and abundant in tawny yellows.
Yet when seen closely, certain figures, for instance the so-called Ginevra de'
Benci (see note 29), are better and more delicate in color than they at first

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 177
cutcheons to be executed in stone, the one for the Torna-
quinci, the other for the Tornabuoni : these he had erected
on the two pilasters outside the chapel ; and in the lunette
he placed other armorial bearings belonging to different
branches of the same family, divided into various names and
exhibiting different shields : — the escutcheons, that is, be
sides the two already named, of the Giachinotti, Popoleschi,
Marabottini, and Cardinali. Finally, Domenico painted
the altar-piece ; and beneath an arch in the gilt frame-work,
Giovanni caused a very beautiful tabernacle for the sacra
ment to be placed, as the completion of the whole work. In
the pediment of the tabernacle he then commanded a small
shield, a quarter of a braccio only, to be emblazoned with
the arms of the owners of the chapel, the Ricci, namely.
But the best was to come ; for when the chapel was
opened to view, the Ricci sought their arms with a great
outcry, and at last, not seeing them, they hastened to the
magistrates and laid their contract before the Council of
Eight. Thereupon the Tornabuoni proved that they had
placed the arms of the Ricci in the most conspicuous and
most honourable part of the whole work, and although the
latter complained that their escutcheon could not be seen,
yet they were declared to be in the wrong, for since the
Tornabuoni had caused it to be placed in a position so hon
ourable as the immediate vicinity of the most Holy Sacra
ment, they ought to be content ; it was therefore decided
by the magistrates that so it should remain, as we see it to
this day. And now if any man think this relation foreign
to the life that I am writing, let not this disturb his quiet,
for it chanced to present itself at the point of my pen, and
if it be to no other purpose, will serve to show in what man
ner poverty becomes the prey of riches, and how riches,
when accompanied by prudence, may attain without censure
to the end desired by those who possess them.
But to return to the beautiful works of Domenico. In
seem, and a careful examination enables one to see, to a certain extent, through
the veneer of candle smoke which has obscured and coarsened them.

178 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
the ceiling of this chapel he first painted colossal figures of
the four Evangelists, and on the wall wherein is the window,
he depicted stories representing San Domenico, San Pietro
the Martyr, and San Giovanni, proceeding into the Wilder
ness, with Our Lady receiving the annunciation from the
Angel : over the window are certain Saints (the patrons of
Florence) on their knees, and beneath is the portrait of Gio
vanni Tornabuoni on the right hand, with that of his wife
on the left, both said to be exact likenesses. On tbe wall to
the right hand are seven stories in an equal number of com
partments, six beneath, which occupy the entire width of
the wall, and one above, which has the width of two of those
below, and is enclosed by the vaulted ceiling. On the op
posite wall are also seven stories, representing events in the
life of St. John the Baptist.
The first picture, on the wall to the right, exhibits Gio-
vacchino driven from the Temple,^ the patience with which
he suffers is expressed in his countenance, while in the faces
of the Jews, the contempt and hatred which they feel for
those who, without having children, presume to apiproach
the temple, are equally manifest. In this story, on the
compartment towards the window, are four men portrayed
from the life : one of these, the old man with shaven beard
and wearing a red capote, is Alesso Baldovinetti,-^ Domen
ico's master in painting and mosaic ; the second, with un
covered head, who has his hand on his side and wears a red
mantle with a blue vestment beneath, is Domenico himself,
the author of the work, taken with his own hands by means
of a mirror. The third, with long black hair and thick
lips, is Bastiano, of SaTi Gemignano, disciple and cousin of
Domenico ; and the fourth, who turns his back and has a
cap or barrett on the head, is the painter David Ghirlandajo,
his brother. All these persons are said by those who knew
them, to be very animated and faithful likenesses.
^^ An apocryphal story from the Protovangelium Sancti Jacobi.
''^ Or, according to Landuoci, this is Tommaso, the father of Ghirlandajo.
MUanesi finds traces in this fresco of the coUaboration of Mainardi.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 179
In the second story is the Birth of the Virgin, painted
with extraordinary care, and among other remarkable parts
of this work may be mentioned a window of the building
which gives light to the room, and which deceives all who
look at it. W'hile Santa Anna is in bed, and certain women
are ministering to her, others are represented as washing the
Madonna with great care,^ one brings water, another the
swathing bands, one occupies herself with one service, an
other with something else, and while each is attending to
that appertaining to her, one has taken the infant in her
arms, and smiling into its face, is making it smile in return,
with a feminine grace truly appropriate to a work of this
character ; there are besides other and various expressions
exhibited in most of those figures. In the third picture,
which is the first in the upper compartment. Our Lady is
seen ascending the steps of the temple,^ and in the back
ground there is a building which recedes from the eye in
very correct proportion ; there is also an undraped figure,
which at that time, as they were not frequently seen, was
very much commended, although there is not to be discov
ered in it that entire perfection of the proportions which we
find in those painted in our own day. Near this story is
that of the Marriage of the Virgin, when the anger of
the suitors is seen to exhale itself in the act of breaking
their rods, which do not blossom as does that of Joseph.
The figures are in considerable numbers and appear in an
appropriate building. In the fifth story, the Magi are seen
to arrive in Bethlehem with a vast concourse of men,
horses, dromedaries, and many other objects ; without
doubt a well arranged picture.^' Near this is the sixth,
25 In this fresco may be noticed the words Bighordi and Grillandai (early
Florentine orthography), tl}e real name and the nickname of the painter, upon
the ornaments of the bed. From this interior with its carved wood, its
paneUing, and its Majolica frieze of Putti on a blue ground, we obtain an
excellent idea of the bedchamber of a Florentine palace. The study for the
maid-servant pouring water is in the Uffizi.
=« M. Miintz (L'Age d'Or) says that the Presentation at the Temple is prob
ably in great part by the hands of Ghirlandajo's collaborators.
"' The central group is greatly injured by the humidity of the walla.

180 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
which represents the cruel wickedness practised by Herod
against the Innocents, and here we have a most animated
contest of women with the soldiers and horses, who strike
and drive them about. Of all the stories we have by Do
menico Ghirlandajo, this is certainly the best, since it is
executed with great judgment, ability, and art. The im
pious determination of those who kill those poor children
at the command of Herod, without regard to the mothers,
is rendered most clearly visible : among the babes is one,
still hanging to the breast of the mother, while it is dying
of wounds received in its throat, so that it sucks, not to say
drinks, blood no less than milk from the breast ; this is a
very striking thought, and by the art with which it is rep
resented is well calculated to recall pity to life even in
hearts wherein it had been long dead. There is, moreover,
a soldier who has forced a child from the mother, and as
he is hurrying away with it, he is killing the innocent by
crushing its breast ; the mother of the babe is seen hanging
to his hair, which she has seized with fury, and forces him
to bend back till his person forms an arch — in this group
three different effects are finely displayed, one the death of
the child, who is seen to expire ; another, the cruelty of the
soldier, who, feeling himself dragged as described, is ob
viously avenging himself on the infant ; and the third is
the determination manifested by the mother, who, seeing
the death of her child, resolves in her rage and despair that
the murderer shall not depart without suffering : all this is
in fact more after the manner of a deeply- thinking philoso
pher, than of a painter. There are, besides, many other
passions and emotions rendered manifest in these stories,
insomuch that he who examines them will infallibly pier-
ceive this master to have been among the truly excellent
ones of his time. Above these and in the seventh picture,
which comprises the width of two of the lower ones, and is
closed by the arch of the vault, Ghirlandajo has depicted
the death of the Madonna and her Assumption ; she is sur
rounded by a large number of Angels, and there are various

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 181
figures, landscapes, and other ornaments, wherein Domen
ico, with his able manner and practised facility, always
abounded. On the opposite wall are stories from the Life of John
the Baptist. In the first, Zacharias is seen offering sacrifice
in the temple, and the angel appears to him ; when he, not
believing, is rendered dumb. In this picture the painter
has shown that the sacrifices of those times were resorted to
by the most honourable of the people ; and this he has
effected by placing among those offering sacrifices, the most
distinguished citizens of Florence, portrayed from those
who then governed that state, more particularly the mem
bers of the Tornabuoni family, old and young. And in
addition to this, desiring to make it obvious that his age
abounded in every kind of talent, but more particularly in
learning, Domenico painted a group of four figures in half
length ; they stand conversing together in the foreground,
and were the most learned men then to be found in Flor
ence. The first is Messer Marsilio Ficino, who wears the
dress of a Canon ; the second, in a red mantle, with a black
band round his neck, is Cristofano Landino. The figure
turning towards him is the Greek Demetrius,^ and he who,
standing between them, somewhat raises his hand, is Messer
Angelo Poliziano, all of whom are most animated and life
like portraits. In the second story, which is next to this,
there follows the Visitation of Our Lady to St. Elizabeth,
they are accompanied by several women clothed in the dress
'¦'^ The figure here caUed Demetrius Chalcondylas is Gentile de' Becchi,
Bishop of Arezzo, and preceptor to Lorenzo the Magnificent. According to
itUanesi, Vol. HI., 266, at the time that this fresco was finished a kind of key
drawing of the various portrait heads, numbered and catalogued, was made.
There were several copies of this key drawing ; one is still in the Tomaquinci
famUy, another in the Baldovinetti family. Milanesi, III., 266, gives the
complete Ust of twenty-one names. See also Lafenestre and Richtenberger,
Florence, p. 267. These names are principally of Tornabuoni and Toma
quinci, whUe the Popoleschi, Giachinotti, Lassetti, Ridolfi, and Medici fami
Ues are each represented by a single member ; in addition to these there are
the famous humanists, Landino, Poliziano, and Ficino, while even the buffoon,
Benedetto Dei, is recorded.

182 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
of those times, and among them is the portrait of Ginevra
de' Benci, then a very beautiful maiden.^'
In the third story, which is above the first, is the Birth of
St. John the Baptist, and in this there is a very pleasing
circumstance. St. Elizabeth is in bed, and certain of her
neighbours have come to visit her ; the nurse is seated,
feeding the child, when one of the women joyfully steps
forward and takes him from her, to show to those around
how fair a present the mistress of the house has made them
in her old age, there is, besides, a peasant-woman bringing
fruit and flasks of wine from the country, according to the
custom in Florence : a very beautiful figure. In the fourth
picture, which is beside this, is Zacharias, still dumb, but
keeping good courage, and marvelling that the boy he is
gazing at should be born to him j the bystanders are desir
ing to know what his name is to be, and Zacharias, writing
on his knee, while still fixing his eyes on his son, who is in
the arms of a woman, who has reverently placed herself on
her knees before him, marks with his pen on the leaf, Gio
vanni sard il suo iwme (John shall be his name), not with
out manifest astonishment on the part of those around, some
of whom appear to be in doubt whether the thing be true
or not. The fifth story follows, wherein John is seen
preaching to the multitude and here the jiainter exhibits
the attention which the populace ever gives when hearing
some new thing : there is much expression in the heads of
the Scribes who are listening to John, and whose mien and
gestures betoken a kind of scorn, or rather hatred of what
they hear. A large number of persons stand or sit around,
men and women of different conditions and variously attired.
In the sixth picture, St. John is seen baptizing Christ,
the reverence displayed in whose countenance clearly shows
=¦ Ginevra de' Benci was dead at this time ; bnt Giovanna degli Albizzi,
fiancee of Lorenzo di Giovanni Tornabuoni, may be recognized, and the girl in
gold brocade on the other side of the choir is the sister of Lorenzo. See Ri
dolfi, Giovanna Tornabuoni e Ginevra de' Benci nel Coro di S. M. Novella,
1890, cited by M.M. Lafenestre and Richtenberger, Florence, p. 268.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 183
the faith which we ought to place in that sacrament, and as
this did not fail to produce a great effect, numerous figures,
already unclothed and barefoot, are seen waiting to be bap
tized, meanwhile showing the trust they entertain and the
desire they feel in their countenances : one among these
figures, who is drawing off his shoe, is life and movement
itself. In the last story, that in the arch beneath the ceil
ing, is the sumptuous feast of Herod, and the dance of
Herodias,®* with a vast number of attendants performing
various services ; the building, of extraordinary magnifi
cence, which is seen in perspective, clearly proves the ability
of the master, as indeed do all these paintings.
The altar-piece, which is entirely isolated, Domenico
painted in tempera, as he did the other figures in the six
pictures. Among these is Our Lady enthroned in the air
with the Child in her arms, and with numerous saints
around her. San Lorenzo, and San Stefano, namely, who
are full of life, with San Vincenzio, and San Pietro. It
is true that a portion of this work remained incomplete on
account of Domenico's death ; but as he had made consider
able progress .in it, the only part unfinished being certain
figures in the back-ground of the Resurrection of Christ,
with three more in other places, the whole was afterwards
finished by his brothers Benedetto and David Ghirlandajo."
This chapel was considered to be an extremely fine work,
majestic and beautiful, charming by the vivacity of the
^^ Salome rather.
3' In 1804 the old altar was taken to pieces and the altar-piece was divided,
part going to .Munich and part to Berlin. The front portions, believed to
be by Domenico himself, and now in Munich, represent in a centre panel the
Virgin and Child, with the Magdalen and St. Dominick ; in the right-hand
panel is a Saint Catherine of Siena, in the left hand panel St. Lawrence as a
deacon. The pictures from the back of the altar-piece, now in BerUn, show
in the centre a Resurrection of Christ, at left and right Saints Antonio and
Vincenzo Ferreri. The Berlin pictures are said to be by David and Benedetto
Ghirlandajo. Morelli seems rather to admit the attribution to Domenico.
Two other figures of saints were sold to Lucien Bonaparte in 1804, and the
gradino ia lost. The altar-piece dates from about 1490. See MUanesi, Vol.
III., p. 269, note. The choir window, designed by Ghirlandajo and executed
by Sandro di Giovanni d'Andrea Agolanti, was completed in 1491.

184 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
colouring, and admirable as mural painting for the facility
of the treatment, and because it received but very few
touches a secco, to say nothing of the invention and compo
sition. Tlie master, without doubt, deserves infinite com
mendation on all accounts, but most of all for the animation
of the heads, which, being portrayed from nature, present
to all who see them the most lively similitudes of many dis
tinguished persons.
For the same Giovanni Tornabuoni, Domenico painted a
chapel at his villa of the Casso Maccherelli,^^ situate at no
great distance from the city, on the river Terzolle, but
which has since been destroyed by the encroachments of the
torrent ; yet the paintings, although for many years un
covered, continually exposed to rain, and burnt by the sun,
have maintained their freshness to such a degree, that one
might believe they had been covered all the time — such
are the effects of a judicious and careful execution in fresco,
and of refraining from retouching the work when dry. Do
menico likewise painted numerous figures of Florentine
Saints in the hall ^^ wherein the wonderful clock of Lorenzo
della Volpaja stands,^* adding many rich and beautiful em
bellishments. This artist found so much pleasure in his
labours, and was so willing to satisfy all who desired to
possess his works, that he commanded his scholars to accept
whatever commission was brought to the Bottega, even
though it were hoops for women's baskets, declaring that if
they would not paint them he would do it himself, to the
end that none might depart from his workshops dissatisfied.
But when household cares were laid upon him, he com-
22 This should be Chiasso Maceregli, once the Villa Tornabuoni, now the
Villa Lemmi, from which carae the famous Botticelli frescoes in the Louvre.
''In this fresco (1481-1485) Domenico painted three triumphal arches
with a Saint Zenobius enthroned between other saints. There are also figures
nf Brutus, Mucins Scsevola, Camillus, Deoius, Scipio, and Cicero, as well as a
Madonna with angels above. The hall is called, variously, Sala dell' Orologio
(Hall of the Clock) and Sala de' Oigli (Hall of the Lilies), and is in the Pa
lazzo Vecchio of Florence.
" This clock is now in the Florentine Museum of Natural History.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 185
plained bitterly, and committed the charge of all expendi
ture to his brother David, saying to him, " Leave me to
work and do thou provide, for now that I have begun to get
into the spirit and comprehend the method of this art, I
grudge that they do not commission me to paint the whole
circuit of all the walls of Florence with stories ; " thus
proving the resolved and invincible character of his mind in
whatever he undertook.^
In Lucca, Domenico painted a picture of San Pietro, and
San Paolo, for the church of San Martino, ^^ and in the
Abbey di Settimo, near Florence, he painted the principal
chapel in fresco, with two pictures in tempera for the mid
dle aisle of the church." This master, moreover, executed
various works for different parts of Florence, pictures
round '» and square, which are dispersed through the houses
of the citizens, and are therefore not seen beyond them. In
Pisa he adorned the recess above the high altar in the
cathedral,^ and performed various works in different parts
of the city, as, for example, at the house of the wardens,
where he depicted a story on one of the walls, representing
King Charles portrayed from the life, who recommends the
city of Pisa to the friendly consideration of the Florentines.^"
He also painted two pictures in distemper in the church of
San Girolamo, for the Frati Gesuati, that of the high altar,
namely, and another.^' In the same place there is, besides.

'5 Among these minor works were four huge candlesticks for S. Maria No-
veUa, 1484.
'^ This work is still in the sacristy of San Martino.
" In 1664 changes were made in the abbey of Settimo ; perhaps the frescoes
perished at that time. They are not mentioned by Sig. Marcotti in his long
description of the abbey. Guide-Souvenir de Floreiice, 305-307.
" Of these round pictures (tondi) of Ghirlandajo the largest and finest is in
the Ufiizi, and is an Adoration of the Magi, painted in 1487.
'*' The picture in the Pisan Duomo is almost a complete restoration.
" This work is lost ; it is supposed that it was painted to commemorate the
peace between Charles VIII. and Florence, 1494.
*' The Gesuati should be distinguished from the Gesuiti (Jesuits), a different
brotherhood. A ccording to Dal Morrona the two works mentioned by Vasari
are now in the church of Santa Anna.

186 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
a picture representing San Rocco and San Sebastiano, from
the hand of this master ; it was presented to those fathers
by I know not which of the Medici, and they have added to
it, most probably on that account, the arms of Pope Leo X.'^''
Domenico is said to have possessed so accurate an eye,
that when making drawings from the various antiquities of
Rome, as triumphal arches, baths, columns, colossal figures,
obelisks, amphitheatres, and aqueducts, he did all by the
eye, using neither rule, nor compass, nor instruments of any
kind ; but afterwards, measuring what he had done, every
part was found to be correct, and in all respects as if he had
measured them. He drew the Colosseum in this manner by
the eye, placing a figure standing upright in the drawing,
by measuring which, the proportions of all the building will
be found ; this was tried by the masters after Domenico's
death, and found to be rigidly correct.
Over a door of the cemetery of Santa Maria Nuova,
Domenico painted a San Michele armed, in fresco ; this is a
very beautiful picture, and exhibits the reflection of light
from the armour in a manner rarely seen before his time.
For the abbey of Passignano, which belongs to the monks
of Vallombrosa, Domenico executed certain works in com
pany with his brother David and Bastiano of Gemignano.^
The two latter, finding themselves ill-treated and poorly fed
by the monks before the arrival of Domenico, had recourse
to the abbot, requesting him to give orders that they should
have better food, since it was not decent that they should be
treated like bricklayers' hod-men. This the abbot promised
them to do, and excused himself by saying, that what they
complained of had happened more from the ignorance of the
monk who had the charge of strangers, than from evil in
tention. But when Domenico arrived, the same misman
agement still continued ; whereupon David, seeking the ab
bot once more, apologized for pressing him, with the
¦*' This work has perished.
" The San Michele has perished, and the works painted at Passignano are
no longer to be found.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 187
assurance that he did it not on his own account but for his
brother's sake, whose merits and abilities deserved considera
tion. The abbot, however, like an ignorant man as he was,
made no other reply. In the evening, therefore, when they
sat down to supper, the monk entrusted with the care of
strangers, came as usual with a board, whereon were por
ringers in the usual fashion, and coarse meats fit only for
common labourers. Whereupon David rose in a rage, threw
the soup over the friar, and seizing the great loaf from the
board, he fell upon him therewith, and belaboured him in
such a fashion that he was carried to his cell more dead
than alive. The abbot, who had already gone to bed, arose
on hearing the clamour, believing the monastery to be fall
ing down, and finding the monk in a bad condition, began
to reproach David. But the latter replied in a fury, bid
ding him begone from his sight, and declaring the talents
of Domenico to be worth more than all the hogs of abbots
of his sort that had ever inhabited the monastery. The
abbot being thus brought to his senses, did his best from that
moment to treat them like honourable men as they were.
Having completed his work at the abbey of Passignano,
Domenico returned to Florence, where he painted a picture
for the Signor di Carpi," with another which he sent to
Rimini, to the Signor Carlo Malatesta, who caused it to be
placed in his chapel in San Domenico. This picture was in
tempera, and contained three singularly fine fignres, with
stories in smaller figures below, and others behind painted
to imitate bronze, the whole displaying much judgment and
art.^ Two pictures were likewise painted by this master
for the abbey of San Giusto,*^ outside Volterra, which be-
" This work is lost.
¦*5 These works still exist at Rimini, in the Palazzo Pubblico. Messrs.
Crowe aud Cavalcaselle (History of Painting) mention, among other works of
Ghirlandajo, two pictures in Berlin of the Virgin and Child. In one of these
paintings the figures of Saints John the Baptist, John the Bvangelist, and
two kneeling saints were painted by Granacci.
<" A picture (1492) still remains on the altar of S. Romualdo and in the ora
tory of S. Ansano ; in Volterra there is another, while in the Cappella San

188 DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO
longs to the order of Camaldoli : these pictures, which are
truly beautiful, Domenico painted by command of the il
lustrious Lorenzo de' Medici, the abbey being then held in
commendam by his son Giovanni, Cardinal de' Medici, who
was afterwards Pope Leo : and it is but a few years since,
that the same abbey was restored by the very reverend
Messer Giovan- Batista Bava, of Volterra, who also held it in
commendam to the before-mentioned Brotherhood of Camal
doli. Being then invited to Siena by the intervention of Lo
renzo the Magnificent, Domenico undertook to decorate the
fa9ade of the cathedral in mosaic, Lorenzo himself becom
ing his surety to the extent of 20,000 ducats," for the ex
ecution of the work, a labour which he commenced with
much zeal and in a better manner than had ever been seen
before. But the work was interrupted by the death of the
master, who left his task unfinished, as he had previously
left the chapel of San Zanobi, which he had begun to adorn
with mosaic work in company with the miniature painter,
Gherardo, but which was left incomplete on account of the
death of the illustrious Lorenzo.
Over that side door of Santa Maria del Fiore which leads
into* the convent of the Servites, Domenico executed an
Annunciation in mosaic,*^ so finely done, that nothing bet
ter has ever been produced by the modern masters in that
art. Domenico was wont to say that painting was design,
but that the true painting for eternity was mosaic"
Among those who studied their art under Domenico was
Bastiano Mainardi of St. Gemignano, who became a very
Carlo of the Duomo is a Madonna with the Child and SS. Bartolommeo and
Antonio Abate (the latter saint is probably not by Ghirlandajo).
* Rather toioard than into the convent.
" Milanesi proves that David, not Domenico, Ghirlandajo contracted for
these mosaics, and that Massaino di Goro Massaini, not Lorenzo de' Medici,
was surety. The contract, made in 1483, was not carried out.
"s This mosaic, dating from 1489, is still in place.
¦i" Mosaics for the chapel of San Zanobi were ordered of the Ghirlandaji,
BotticeUi, and two miniature-painters, but were not executed.

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 189
able master in fresco ; wherefore, proceeding together to
San Gemignano, Domenico and Bastiano painted the chapel
of Santa Fina in company, and produced a work of much
beauty.* The faithful service and ready kindness of Bas
tiano, who always acquitted himself well, caused Domenico
to judge him worthy to receive one of his sisters in mar
riage, their friendship thus became relationship, the reward
bestowed by an approving master in recompense of the la
bours and pains wherewith his disciple had attained to pro
ficiency in their art. In Santa Croce, Domenico caused
Bastiano to paint an Assumption of Our Lady for the chapel
of the Baroncelli and Bandini, with San Tommaso receiving
the girdle below. ^^ This is an admirable fresco, but the
cartoon was prepared by Domenico himself. At Siena, in
an apartment of the Spannocchi Palace, Domenico and
Bastiano painted various stories in company, the work is in
frescoe and the figures are small. ^^ In the cathedral of
Pisa, likewise, in addition to the recess in the choir, of
which I have before spoken, they adorned the whole arch
of the same chapel with a numerous choir of angels : they
also painted the doors which close the organ, and began to
decorate the wood-work in gold. But at the moment when
Domenico had many other great works in hand, both at
Pisa and Siena, he fell sick of a violent fever, the pestif
erous nature of which deprived him in five days of his life.
Hearing of his illness, the family of Tornabuoni sent him
the gift of a hundred ducats, as a proof of the friendly
consideration with which they acknowledged the services
performed by Domenico for Giovanni, and the good will he
had ever borne to all of that house.
Domenico Ghirlandajo lived forty-four years, and was
'° This interesting series of frescoes, the history of Santa Fina, is considered
by M. Miintz to be one of the earliest works of our artist, perhaps even an
tedating 1475. The charming heads of choristers in these frescoes are espe
cially worthy of study.
^^ This work is in sitit.
52 Milanesi, who has studied Sienese documents, finds no mention of Do
menico in them.

190 DOMENICO GHIRLAXDAJO
borne by his brothers David and Benedetto, and Kidolfo his
son, with sorrowing hearts and many tears to his grave in
Santa Maria Xovella, wherein they deposited his remains
with most honourable obsequies. The loss of Domenico
was a cause of great sorrow to his friends, and many emi
nent foreign painters^ when they heard thereof, wrote to his
relations to condole with them on his premature death. Of
his disciples there remained David and Benedetto Ghir
landajo, Bastiano Mainardi of San Gemignano, and the
Florentine Michael Angelo Buonarrotti, with Francesco
Granaccio, ISTiccolo Cieco, Jacopo del Tedesco, Jacopo dell'
Indaco, Buldino Baldinelli, and other masters, ail Floren
tines. He died in the year 1495.^^^
The art of painting in mosaic after the modern manner,
63 Domenico died January 11, 1494, probably of the plague, as he was ill only
four days. He was buried in S. Maria Novella, " on Saturday evening [Jan
uary 11, 1494], between the twenty-fourth hour and the first." See interest
ing details from the Florentine Archives in Milanesi, Vol. III., ~7T-78.
^* In the trio of great Florentine painters whose works filled the last quar
ter of the fifteenth century Ghirlandajo is less original than Botticelli, less
tender than Filippino Lippi, but more powerful than either of thera and far
more direct. The note which he strikes is less thrilling, but deeper ; the types
he presents are less fascinating, but more human. The Florentine citizen,
standing grave and dignified in his long gown, the Florentine woman, at once
simple and stately in her stiff brocades or flowing mantle, are what he loved
best to paint in all nature. He was a portrait-painter by instinct ; it was as
natural to him to make his painted personage like the model as it was to San
dro to see that model through the medium of his own artistic personalitj'.
In Ghirlandajo's work there is none of the mannerism of Botticelli, only a
trace of the classicism of Filippino, and not a sign of the exaggerated move
ment of Signorelli Domenico's figures do not mince or swagger, they take
the poses of well-bred people sitting for their portraits, and stand naturally
and quietly on either side of his compositions looking out at the spectator or
at each other, not paying much attention to the drama or the miracle, in which
Ghirlandajo himself takes but little interest. Costume and background are
treated in the same sober spirit. Goldsmith as he was, he did not fill his pict
ures with dainty details like Botticelli, who devised strange settings for jewels
and patterns for brocades and curiously intricate headgear ; with Ghirlandajo
costume and background are accessories, and are subordinated to the general
effect. He does not lack invention, and can introduce charming episodes when
he pleases, like the graceful girls, real Renaissance CanepJiorae, who pour
water or carry baskets of fruit in the choir frescoes, or the group of grave,
sweet, hoy choristers in the Santa Fina series at San Gemignano. But often the

DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO 191
was enriched by Domenico more than any other Tuscan
of the numbers who have laboured therein, as may be seen
by his works, even though they are but few ; wherefore he
has well deserved to be honoured, for his rich and varied
talents, with a high rank in art, and to be celebrated with
the highest praises after his death.
ideal figurea are the weakeat point in hia pictures (see the Zacharias and the
angels in the choir of Santa Maria Novella), just as the contemporary Floren
tines, standing with hand on hip or folded arms, are apt to form the strongest
portion of the composition. His drawing is very firm and frank, and he was
the best all-round draughtsman that had appeared up to his time ; the color
in his frescoes tends to bricky reds and ochres, in his tempera to strong and
brilliant tones, which are occasionally even gaudy. Woltmann and Woermann
say well that in his school he represents the highest development of realism,
"a realism kept in check by dignity of style." This robust naturalism is
the complement in Tuscan art of Botticelli's subtle and somewhat morbid
idealism. Where Sandro or Filippino are subtle, ardent, introspective, seeing
human nature tlirough their own artistic temperaments, Ghirlandajo, a true
painter, shows his subtlety in characterization, in differentiation of feature,
in seizing the personality of each model, in sympathetic comprehension of
widely differing types of men. He occupies himself, like Masaccio, with the
external appearance of things, and, like Masaccio, orders his groups simply in
balanced masses, sacrificing the episode to the general effect, and his grave
and virile style becomes the link between Masaccio in the beginning and
Raphael at the culmination of the art of painting. To the student of the
Renaissance, of Florentine history, or of the ''human document," Ghirlan
dajo's portraits of the contemporaries of the magnificent Lorenzo and of Sa
vonarola are invaluable ; the old town still lives in these frescoes, and though
the master was not given " the walls of Florence to paint," as he desired, he
portrayed the world within those walls.

ANTONIO AND PIEEO POLLAJOLI, FLOEEN
TINE PAINTEES AND SOULPTOES
[Born 1439 ; died 1498.] [Born 1443 ; died in or before 1496.]
BiBLIOGKAPHT. — Hermann Ulmann, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., XV., p. 320.
J. Friedlander, Antonio PoUaiolo, die Ilalienischen Schaumiinzen der Fiinf-
zehnten Jahreszeit ; Jahrbuch der K. P. S., III., p. 39. Luigi Borsori, An-
tonio del PoUaiuolo e gli Orsini, Rome, 1891. M. Miintz, in his L'Age d'Or,
p. 459, refers the student of bronze casting in the Renaissance to De Cham-
peaux, Dictionnaire des Fondeurs, Ciseleurs, Modeleurs eit. Bronze et Doreurs,
Paris, 1886 ; to Alolinier, les Bronzes de la Renaissance, and to Drury-Fort-
num's Catalogue of the Bronzes in South Kensington Exhibition.
THEEE are many who, with a timid mind, commence
unimportant works, but whose courage afterwards in
creasing with the facility obtained from practice, their
power and efficiency increase in proportion, insomuch that,
aspiring to more exalted labours, they gradually raise them
selves by the elevation of their thoughts almost to heaven
itself. Favoured by fortune, they then often happily en
counter some liberal prince who, finding his expectations
amply satisfied, is compelled to remunerate their services in
so liberal a manner, that their successors derive great ad
vantage and important immunities from the labours thus re
warded. Such men then proceed through life with so much
honour to the end, that they leave memorials which awaken
the admiration of the world, as did Antonio and Piero Pol-
laiuolo, who in their time were highly esteemed and hon
oured, for the rare acquirements to which with labour and
pains they had attained.
These artists were born in the city of Florence,* but few
years after each other : their father was a man of low con-
* Read " one but a few years after the other."

BOTTICELLI
CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN
UFFIZI, FLORENCE

Alinari, Phot.

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 193
dition,' and not in easy circumstances ; but he perceived, by
various indications, the clear and just intelligence of his
sons, and not having the means of obtaining a learned edu
cation for them,^ he placed Antonio with Bartoluccio Ghi
berti, then a very eminent master in his calling, to learn the
art of the goldsmith, and Piero he sent to study painting
with Andrea dal Castagno, who was at that time the best
master in Florence.^ Antonio, therefore, being brought for
ward by Bartoluccio, employed himself, not only with the
setting of jewels, and the preparation of silver enamelled in
fire, but was, moreover, held to be the best of all who han
dled the chisel in that vocation, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, who
was then working at the gates of San Giovanni, having
remarked the ability of Antonio, employed him with many
other young men to assist himself, setting him to execute
one of those festoons with which he was at the moment oc
cupied.* Here Antonio produced a quail, which may still
be seen, and is so beauiful, nay, so perfect, that it wants
nothing but the power of flight. Antonio had not spent
* Their names were, respectively, Antonio d' Jacopo d' Antonio Benci, called
del PoUajuolo, and Piero d' Jacopo d' Antonio Benci. called del PoUajuolo
(PoUaiolo, or PoUaiuolo). In spite of the name del PoUajuolo (the poulterer's
son), their origin seema to have been less humble than Vasari would have it,
as their father was a Florentine citizen. A certain Jacopo d'Antonio worked
upon Ghiberti's gates, and as the father of the PoUajuoli bore that name and
was a goldsmith, there is a presumption, though no proof, that the more
famous brothers were his sons. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle state that
Antonio was articled to his father and closed his apprenticeship in 1459.
" The lives of Antonio and Piero have been much confused, and are not yet
whoUy disentangled. Probably they never will be so, but late investigation
has considerably enlarged the part taken by Piero in the collaboration of the
brothers. = Morelli believes that Alesso Baldovinetti may have been his first master ;
some critics accept Vasari's statement.
* Ghiberti apparently employed someone of the name of PoUajuolo upon the
ornamental bordering of flowers, fruits, and animals with which he sur
rounded the Baptistery gate of Andrea Pisano. The quail is placed in this
bordering. As Antonio was only fourteen years old when the last gate was
completed, there is reason to believe that here Vasari means Jacopo d' An
tonio, who was probably the father of Antonio. The Bartoluccio Ghiberti
mentioned was the step-father of Lorenzo Ghiberti.

194 ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI
many weeks at this occupation, therefore, before he was
acknowledged to be the best of all who worked thereat,
whether for correctness in design, or patience in execution,
and was, besides, more ingenious and more diligent than
any other assistant of Lorenzo in that work. His ability and
reputation thus increasing together, Antonio left Bartoluc
cio and Lorenzo, opening a large and handsome goldsmith's
shop for himself on the Mercato Nuovo, in that same city of
Florence. Here he pursued his occupation for several
years, continually preparing new designs, and making chan
deliers in relief, and other fanciful works, which caused
hini in a short time to be justly reputed the first of his vo
cation. There lived at the same time another goldsmith called
^laso Finiguerra, who had a great name, and deservedly,
since there had never been any master in engraving or ni
ello who had surpassed him in the number of figures which
he could efficiently group together, whether in a larger or
smaller space. Of this there is proof in the different patines
executed by him, and which still remain in San Giovanni, in
Florence, exhibiting stories from the life of Christ, which
are most minutely elaborate. This master drew well and
much ; in our book we have many specimens from his hand,
figures namely, some undraped, others clothed, with stories
in water-colour.^ In competition with Maso Finiguerra,
' One of these patens is in the Uffizi, where drawings by Maso Finiguerra
are also preserved. See also Les Nielles de Tommaso Finiguerra et de Dei,
in Z'.4ri, March 35, 1888, and February 15, 1884. There are some ten little
bronzes in the Bargello, at Florence, which certain critics ascribe to Antonio
PoUajuolo, and which he would not disdain, says M. Andr^ Pe'rate (Gazette
des Beaux ArU, 1893, Vol. 71, 3d period, pp. 334). M. Muntz, L'Age d'Or, p.
459, claims that the bronzes of this epoch of tbe Renaissance are nowhere more
brUliautly represented thau in the private coUeotions of Paris, of MM. G.
Dreyfus, Edouard Andre', Fould, etc. Those of the Spitzer collection were
famous. The hxouze plaque of the Crucifixion in the Florentine Bargello ia
now claimed for Agostino di Duccio, and M. Courajod (Gazette des Beanx
Arts, 18S3) believes the bronze door of the reliquary containing the chains
of St. Peter (in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome) to be a work of
the Roman school. See E. Miintz, L'Age d' Or, pp. 508-.509. Sig. Umberto
Rossi, II Museo Nazionale di Firenze nel Triennio, 1889-1891, in the Archivio

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 195
Antonio executed various stories, wherein he fully equalled
his competitor in careful execution, while he surpassed him
in beauty of design. The syndics of the guild of merchants
being thus convinced of Antonio's ability, and certain stories
in silver being required for the altar of San Giovanni, for
which it had ever been customary to prepare such, at dif
ferent times and by various masters, they resolved among
themselves to employ Antonio for the purpose. This reso
lution was carried into effect, and the works executed in
consequence were so excellent, that they were acknowledged
to be the best of all that were to be seen there. ^ The sub
jects chosen were the Feast of Herod and the Dance of He
rodias ; ' but more beautiful than all the rest is the St.
John, in the centre of the altar, a work most highly extolled,
and executed entirely with the chisel. The consuls then
commissioned Antonio to prepare the silver chandeliers,
three braccia high, with the cross in proportion, when the
master enriched his work with such a profusion of chasing,
and completed the whole to such a degree of perfection,
that, whether by his countrymen or by foreigners, it has
ever been considered a most wonderful and admirable work.
Antonio PoUaiuolo bestowed the most unwearied pains on
all his undertakings, whether in gold, enamel, or silver :
among others, are certain patines in San Giovanni, coloured
so beautifully, that these enamels, completed by the action
Storico dell' Arte, 1893, pp. 1-34, attributes to Antonio del PoUajuolo four
diS'erent bronzes of a Faun Playing a Pipe and a bronze statuette (reproduced
p. 16, op. cit.) of a Marsyaa.
" Antonio executed only the Nativity ; the Feast and the Dance were re
spectively by Antonio di Salvi and Francesco di Giovanni. This silver Dos-
sale of the altar of San Giovanni is kept in the guarda-roba of the Opera del
Duomo (Museum of Santa Maria del Fiore), but ia taken to the Baptistery
once a year, on St. John's day, and there uaed in the service. The figure of
Saint John upon the altar was by Michelozzo, and only the lower portion of
the cross was by Antonio, working in collaboration with Miliano di Domenico
Dei. For a long note referring to the silver altar, aee Milanesi. There are
superb reproductions of the silver-work of the altar, cross, etc., of San Gi
ovanni in Vol. II. , tables 3 and 4, of L'Arte Italiana Decorativa e Industriale
(CiimiUo Boito).
' Salome.

196 ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI
of fire, could scarcely be more delicately finished even with
the pencil. In other churches likewise in Florence and
Eome, as well as in other parts of Italy, his miraculous
enamels are to be seen.
Antonio taught his art to Mazzingo, a Florentine, and to
Giuliano del Facchino, who were tolerably good masters.
He likewise imparted it to Giovanni Turini, of Siena, who
greatly surpassed both his companions in that calling ;
wherein from Antonio di Salvi (who executed many good
works, as,. for example, a large cross in silver for the abbey
of Florence, with other things), down to our own day, there
has not been much done that can be considered extraordi
nary. But many of his works, as well as those of the
Pollaiuoli, have been broken and melted for the necessities
of the city in times of war.
Eventually, considering that this art did not secure a long
life to the works of its masters, Antonio, desiring for his
labours a more enduring memory, resolved to devote himself
to it no longer ; " and his brother, Piero, being a painter, he
joined himself to him for the purpose of learning the modes
of proceeding in painting. He then found this to be an art
so different from that of the goldsmith, that, had his resolu
tion to abandon the first entirely not been so hastily adopted,
he might possibly have wished that he had never addressed
himself to the other. But now, being impelled by shame
rather than by the advantage to be obtained, he acquired a
knowledge of the processes used in painting in the course of
a few months, and became an excellent master. Having
joined himself entirely to Piero, they executed numerous
paintings in concert ;\ among others, a picture in oil at San
Miniato al Monte, for the cardinal of Portugal, who was a
^ On the contrary, his life's work was that of a goldsmith, sculptor, and
bronze-caster ; his painting is of secondary interest. M. Miintz says this era
of the Renaissance might be called the epoch of the goldsmiths, since the guUd
of the goldworkers furnished so many great names to the list of Florentine
artists. The handsome new publication, L'Arte Italiana Decorativa e Indus
triale, directed by Signor Camillo Boito, gives many fine chromoUthographs in
color, gold, etc., of Italian metal-work of this and later epochs.

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 197
great lover of painting. This work ° was placed on the altar
of that prelate's chapel, the figures depicted in it are those
of the apostle St. James, Sant' Eustachio, and San Vincen
zio, which have all been greatly praised. Piero in particu
lar painted certain figures on the wall of the same chapel in
oil, the method of which he had learned from Andrea dal
Castagno. These were representations of some of the proph
ets, and were executed in the angles beneath the archi
trave : in the lunette he painted an Annunciation, compris
ing three" figures. For the Capitani di Parte, likewise,
Piero painted a Virgin with the Child in her arms ; and
surrounded by seraphim, also painted in oil." In San
Michele in Orto, the two brothers painted a picture in oil
representing the angel Eaphael with Tobit ; '" and in the
Mercatanzia of Florence they depicted figures of the Vir
tues ; in that part of the building, namely, where the tribu
nal of the court holds its sittings.'^
In the pronconsolate, where the portraits of Zanobi da
Strada, a Florentine poet, of Donate Acciaiuoli, and of
others, had before been painted by other masters, Antonio
portrayed Messer Poggio, secretary to the Signoria of Flor
ence, and who continued the Florentine history after the
death of Messer Leonardo d' Arezzo ; with Messer Giannozzo
Manetti, a man of considerable learning, and held in much
esteem ; both taken frora the life." For the chapel of the
' Painted in 1470, the heads in distemper, the rest in oU. It is now in the
Uffizi, and is generally attributed to Piero. Dr. Richter (notes to Vasari,
p. 126) supports that author as to the collaboration of Antonio with Piero
in thia work.
'" There are eight half-length figurea, partially destroyed ; also there are
figures of the Evangelists and Doctors of the Church. Milanesi saya the An
nunciation has two figures only, and never could have had more. The figures
in the vaulting are now generaUy attributed to Baldovinetti, the Annuncia
tion to Baldovinetti or Piero.
1' This work is lost.
12 The picture which waa in Or San Michele is, according to Milanesi, the
one in the Pinacoteca of Turin.
"These aie nowin the Uffizi. The "Fortitude" ia accredited to Botti
celli, the othera are by PoUajuolo.
" These portraits are lost. A portrait of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in the

198 ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI
Pucci in the church of San Sebastian of the Servites, An
tonio painted the altar piece — a remarkable and admirably
executed work, with numerous horses, many undraped fig
ures, and singularly beautiful foreshortenings. This pict
ure '^ likewise contains the portrait of St. Sebastian himself,
taken from the life — from the face of Gino di Ludovico
Capponi,'^ that is — the painting has been more extolled than
any other ever executed by Antonio. He has evidently
copied nature in this work to the utmost of his power, as
we perceive more particularly in one of the archers, who,
bending towards the earth, and resting his weapon against
Uffizi, and formerly attributed to Antonio, has been restored to Piero. See
Sig. Umberto Rossi, L'Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, I., 160.
" This picture is in the National Gallery. Albertini in his Memoriale ac
credits it to Piero del PoUajuolo. MoreUi attributes the design of the pict
ure to Antonio, the execution of the painting to Piero. Sir Henry Layard
says that the vehicle used in this picture is indeterminate as yet, and that
although it is not tempera, it cannot be considered as an Italian continuation
of the Van Eyck process of oil painting. This famous painting has inspired
one of Mr. Ruskin's most indignant reflections in hia Ariadne Florentina, and
a severe condemnation of anatomical study in painting. See Taine's Voi/age
en Italie for an appreciation of the fifteenth-century artists' passion for anat
omy, of their feeling "that to embellish life was to falsify life," that "ft
human being in whom they do not feel it (the bony and muscular structure)
aeems to them empty and unsubstantial. " In fact, the picture is a typical ex
ample of the aims and methods of a whole group of Florentine realists, the
aenae of beauty being momentarily loat in the attempt to give a rendering of
the muscular system, which, if hard and dry, shall be complete and apparent.
For an important article on the pictures and drawings of the PoUajuoli see
Hermann Ulmann, in the Jahrbuch der K. P. S., XV., 320. As already men
tioned, Albertini, in his Memoriale (1510), attributes the St. Sebastian to Piero.
Recent critics also claim for him a fresco in Sta. Croce, formerly given to
Andrea dal Castagno, and representing Saints Johu and Francis. Piero
painted in 1483, in the choir of the Collegiale at San Gimignano, a Corona
tion of the Virgin, and there is a good Madonna and also a Tobias in the Na
tional Gallery, which are accredited to him, while there are in different galleries
pictures which critics attribute variously to Piero, to Verrocchio, and others.
Among these is the beautiful panel of the Florentine Academy, Tobias and
the three Archangels (No. 84 in the Gallery), called by Morelli an inferior pict
ure. It is by Dr. Bode attributed to Verrocchio, while MM. Lafenestre and
Richtenberger, in their Florence, merely question the attribution to Botti
celli, in the catalogue of the GaUery.
' ' Gino Capponi died in 1421 ; it is doubtful if Vasari's statement be cor
rect.

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 199
his breast, is employing all the force of a strong arm to
prepare it for action ; the veins are swelling, the muscles
strained, and the man holds his breath as he applies all his
strength to the effort. Nor is this the only figure executed
with care ; all the others are likewise well done, and in the
diversity of their attitudes give clear proof of the artist's
ability and of the labour bestowed by him on his work ; all
which was fully acknowledged by Antonio Pucci, who gave
him three l;undred scudi for the picture, declaring at the
same time that he was hardly paying him for the colours.
This work was completed in the year 1475. The courage
of Antonio was increased by this circumstance, and iu San
Miniato-fra-le-Torri, without the gate, he painted a St.
Christopher ten braccia high — a work admirably executed in
the modern manner, the figure being more correctly propor
tioned than any of such size that had then been seen. He
afterwards painted a Crucifixion with Sant' Antonino, on can
vas, which was placed in the chapel of that saint in the church
of San Marco. In the palace of the Signoria of Florence,
this master depicted a San Giovanni Batista, at the Porta
della Catena ; and in the Medici Palace he painted three pict
ures for Lorenzo the elder, each containing a figure of
Hercules, five braccia high. " In the first is seen the hero
strangling Antseus, the figure of Hercules is very fine, and
the force employed by him in crushing his antagonist is

" The church of "Saint Miniatus among the Towers " has been destroyed,
and the Crucifixion with Sant' Antonino has disappeared from San Marco ; so
have the three pictures painted for Lorenzo de' Medici, and containing each a
figure of Hercules ; so haa the St. John Baptist of the Palace of the Signoria ;
but two very smaU picturea in the Uffizi are repetitiona of the aubjects men
tioned by Vasari, namely, the Slaying of Antajua and of the Hydra. Sig. A.
Venturi, I'Arch. Stor. deW Arte, V., 208, publishes in fac-simile a letter from
Ant. PoUajuolo to Gentile Virginio Orsini, mentioning the Labors of Her
cules, painted by Antonio and Piero, in 1460, for Piero de' Medici, and also the
monument to Sixtus IV. in St. Peter's. The fresco SS. John and Francis, in
Santa Croce, formerly ascribed to Andrea dal Castagno, is now ascribed to Pi
ero PoUajuolo. Milanesi cites a large picture of a Coronation of the Virgin,
with saints about her, painted by Piero in 1483 for Sant' Agostino at San Gi
mignano, and now in the collegiate church there.

200 ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI
clearly apparent, every muscle and nerve of the body being
strained to ensure the destruction of his opponent. The
teeth, firmly set, are in perfect accord with the expression
of the other parts of the figure, all of which, even to the
points of the feet on which he raises himself, give manifest
intimation of the efforts used. Nor is less care displayed in
the figure of Antajus, who, pressed by the arms of Hercules,
is seen to be sinking and deprived of all power of resist
ance, his mouth is open, he is breathing his last sigh. In
the second figure, Hercules is killing the Lion ; he presses
the left knee against the chest of the animal, whose jaws he
has seized with both hands ; grinding his teeth and extending
his arms, he tears the mouth open and rives the creature
asunder by main force, although the lion defends him
self with his claws and is fiercely tearing the arm of his as
sailant. The third picture, in which the hero is destroying
the Hydra, is indeed an admirable work, more especially
as regards the reptile, the colouring of which has so much
animation and truth, that nothing more life-like could pos
sibly be seen ; the venomous nature, the fire, the ferocity,
and the rage of the monster are so effectually displayed, that
the master merits the highest encomiums, and deserves to
be imitated in this respect by all good artists.
For the brotherhood of Sant' Angelo in Arezzo, Antonio
painted a banner in oil,*^ with a Crucifix on one side, and
St. Michael in combat with the Dragon on the other. This
is as beautiful a work as ever proceeded from his hand.
St. Michael seizes the Serpent with boldness, and, grinding
his teeth and knitting his brows, he seems in truth to be
sent from heaven as the avenger of God against the pride of
Lucifer ; the whole picture is, without doubt, a most admir
able work. This master treated his nude figures in a man
ner which approaches more nearly to that of the moderns
than was usual with the artists who had preceded him ; he
dissected many human bodies to study the anatomy, and was
the first who investigated the action of the muscles in this
18 The banner of Sant' Angelo in Arezzo is lost.

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 201
manner, that he might afterwards give them their due
place and effect in his works. Antonio engraved on copper a
combat of these nude figures, all bound together by a cliain,^'
and at a later period produced many other engravings, exe
cuted in a much better manner than had been exhibited by
the masters who had preceded him in this branch of art.
Having rendered himself famous among artists, by all these
works, Antonio was invited to Eome by Pope Innocent, on
the death of Sixtus, his predecessor, and there he constructed
a tomb in bronze for the first-mentioned pontiff. In this
work ^ he portrayed Pope Innocent seated, and in the atti
tude of giving the benediction. Antonio likewise erected
the sepulchral monument of Pope Sixtus, which was con
structed at very great cost in the chapel called by the name
of that pontiff.^' The tomb is richly decorated and stands
" Not all bound together by a chain, but rather in couples. This ia a force
ful, though fanciful, presentation of thefierce duels in closed lists, " a steccato
chiuso," in which the Pope delighted. For a long article on the drawings of
the PoUajuoli, see Hermann Ulmann, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., XV., p. 330.
MUanesi, HI., p. 387, note 3, says that the antiquary Dei saw, in 1756, in the
Marzi-Medici palace, a whole book of Antonio's drawings, and suggests that it
may have since passed into the hands of tlie Vettori family. There has been
a famous controversy between M. Louis Courajod and Morelli as to whether a
pen-and-ink design of an equestrian figure in the Munich collection, and prob
ably intended for the monument of Francesco Sforza, is by Ant. PoUajuolo or
Leonardo da Vinci.
'^^ Both these monuments are of bronze ; that of Innocent (1498) ia placed
high up against the wall.
2' The tomb of Sixtus IV. (1489-1493) is m St. Peter's. M. Muntz,
whUe admitting the originality of the design, declares that nothing could
be leaa architectural than the monument of Sixtus or more completely
show the goldsmith in contradistinction to the sculptor. He condemns
the figures of the Virtues on the tomb of Innocent as " absolutely declamatory,"
while Perkins cites again the name that has been given to Antonio, of " the
Bernini of the Quattrocento." In spite of their defects these two tombs are
immensely striking from their originality and from the splendor of the bronze,
iu the casting of which Antonio was past master. The tomb of Sixtus es
pecially, spread like a magnificent mortuary cloth of shining metal upon the
pavement of the church, is not soon forgotten. This monument was re
moved in 1635 from the chapel of Pope Sixtus to that of the choir. A portion
of the tomb of Innocent was gilded, aa were indeed very many monuments of
the time. The artist and bronze-caster were frequently separated, but not in
the case of Antonio.

202 ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI
entirely isolated : the figure of Sixtus, very finely executed,
is extended upon it. The monument of Pope Innocent was
placed in the church of San Pietro, near the chapel in
which the lance of Christ^ is preserved. It is said that the
same artist designed the Palace of the Belvedere for the
above-named Pope Innocent, although the fabric was erected
by others, Antonio not having much experience in building.^
Finally, these brothers, having enriched themselves by their
labours, died at a short distance of time, one after the other,
in the year 1498 ; ^ they were buried by their kindred in
San Pietro in Vincula, where a monument was raised to
their memory near the middle door, and on the left as you
enter the church. This consisted of the portraits of both
brothers on two medallions in marble, with the following
epitaph : —
Antonius PuUarius patria Florentinus pictor insignis, qui dour.
pant. Xisti et Innocentii, aorea " moniment. miro opiic.\ expressit,
refamil. composita ex test, hie se cum Pelrofraire condi voluit.
Vixit An. LXin. Ohiit An. Sal. m. iid.
Antonio also executed a basso-rilievo in bronze, which
was sent to Spain, but of which a cast in plaster may be seen
in the possession of the Florentine artists. The subject is
a combat of nude figures ; and after his death there were
found the design and model for an equestrian statue of
Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, which the master had
made for Ludovico Sforza. This we have in our book de
picted in two different manners. In one he has the city of
Verona beneath him ; in the other he is in full armour on a
pedestal covered with battle-pieces, and is forcing his horse
to leap on an armed man beneath it. The reason why this
design was not carried into execution I have not been able
* Aerea in the Milanesi edition.
t OpiJic in Milanesi edition.
2' The so-called spear of Longinus, with which he pierced the side of Christ.
^' M. Miintz says that although PoUajuolo very probably had some hand in
this building, documents mention only Giacomo da Pietramala.
'* Antonio died February 4, 1498. Piero was stiU living at that time.

ANTONIO AND PIERO POLLAJOLI 203
to discover.^ There are, moreover, several beautiful medals
by Antonio ; among others one representing the conspiracy
of the Pazzi. The heads of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Med
ici are on the one side, and on the reverse is the Choir of
Santa Maria del Fiore, with the whole of that event exactly
as it occurred.^^ There are medals of various Popes also by
the same master, with many other things which are well
known to artists.
Antonio was seventy-two years old when he died, and
Pietro died at the age of sixty-five.''' The former left many
disciples, among whom was Andrea Sansovino. Antonio
was a most fortunate man and led a very happy life, having
met with rich pontiffs, and living when his native city was
at the summit of prosperity and remarkable for its love of
talent, wherefore he was highly esteemed ; but had he lived
in less favourable times he might not have produced the
rich fruits which we derive from his labours, for the cares
of life are deadly enemies to the acquirement of such knowl
edge as is necessary to him who delights in and makes pro
fession of the fine arts.
For San Giovanni in Florence there were made certain
very rich ecclesiastical vestments ^ after the design of this
master, two Dalmaticas namely, a Planeta or Chasuble, and
a Pluviale or Cope, all of double brocade, each woven of one
entire piece and without seam, the bordering and ornaments
being stories from the life of St. John, embroidered with
the most subtle mastery of that art by Paolo da Verona, a
man most eminent in his calling, and of incomparable in-
" Benvenuto Cellini praises Antonio, especiaUy as a draughtsman.
" The medal has a head of Giuliano de' Medici on one side, with the inscrip
tion luliano Medices and Ductus publictis. A head of Lorenzo is on the other
side, with the inacription Laurentius Medices and Salus publica. The choir
of the church is represented on both sides of the medal. Herr J. Friedlander
doubts if PoUajuolo ever executed medala. See Antonio PoUaiolo : Die
Ilalienischen Schaumiinzen der Filnfzehnten Jahreszeit, Jahrbuch der K P.
S., HL, 29.
" Sixty-nine and fifty-three, rather.
" Portions of these vestments are still preserved in the sacristy of San
Giovanni

204 A]S'TONIO AND PIEKO POLLAJOLI
genuity : tlie figures are no less ably executed with the
needle than they would have been if Antonio had painted
them with the pencil ; and for this we are largely indebted
to the one master for his design^ as well as to the other for
his patience in embroidering it.^^ This work required
as The portrait of Antonio PoUajuolo is in Filippino's fresco of S. Paul be
fore the Proconsul in the Brancacci chapel. Medallions of the two brotherB
are in the church of San Pietro in Vmcoli, where they are buried.
30 Critics have decided that, on the whole, the PoUajuoli were not great ar
tists ; but the brothers, especially Antonio, were important contributors to
the Renaissance movement in the direction of anatomical study. Perkins
accuses him of "absence of imagination " and "affectation of originality;"
Symonds of " almost brutal energy and bizarre realism ; " M. Muntz finds that
in his picture of St. Sebastian every one of the qualities which make up the
Renaissance harmony, rhythra, beauty, "is outrageously violated;" M. La
fenestre says that he is frank even to brutality, vigorous even to ferocity ;
but adds that his strange art " impresses by its virility," while each of these
critics admits and praises his enthusiasm for anatomy. In short, the per-
Eonality of these artists, especially that of the elder, is marked and vivid, and
the bronze tomb of Pope Sixtus, and the bust of a, Condottiere, make too
strong an impression to be wholly "¦ affected in their originality." It was in
the hands of craftsmen like the PoUajuoli, trained in the goldsmith's shop,
familiar with the processes of sculpture, accustomed to work in the round, to
handle an actual substance, that Florentine painting ceased to reproduce the
boneless, flat images of the Giotte.-ichi and strove to represent the actual ap
pearances of things. The desii-e for exact presentation led naturaUy to
the study of perspective, anatomy, and the nude. Art ceased to be symbolical
and became scientific ; to its age of faith succeeded an age of inquiry, when
the spirit of investigation conquered the force of tradition. To men like the
PoUajuoli, an altar-piece or a fresco was simply a means of displaying the
structure of a certain number of huraan bodies, a pretext for applying their
recently and painfully acquired knowledge, an opportunity for an exhibition
of correctly drawn attachments and well-indicated muscles, on which the
trained eye of the goldsmith or sculptor would linger with pleasure. It made
no difference to them if the subject was unlovely, the color hard or cold, the
movement exaggerated, the forras coarse ; construction was what interested
them, and as over-developed muscles, strained tendons, and violent action
render the construction of the body more apparent, they were sought and
recorded with strict veracity. As in all methods of scientific investigation,
careful observation of facts and a faithful record of them were tbe first re
quirements, and to refine or ennoble the model would have seemed to them
not only an artistic infidelity, but an incomprehensible blunder. "Man to
the artists of this epoch was as yet only a form." This feeling for construc
tion, this preoccupation -with the real substance of objects, marks a certain
stage of development not only in the evolution of a healthy and vital art, but
in tbe individual artist as well. The processes of selection, elimination, gen-

ANTONIO AND PIEEO POLLAJOLI 205
twenty-six 3'ears for its completion, being wholly in the close
stitch, which, to say nothing of its durability, makes the
work appear as if it were a real picture limned with the pen
cil ; but the excellent method of which is now all but lost,
the custom in these days being to make the stitches much
longer, whereby the work is rendered less durable and much
less pleasing of the eye.
eralization, and the result of these processes which we have agreed to term
idealization, are developed later and are the result of the knowledge acquired
during this period of research. Antonio PoUajuolo, with his fierce energy and
virUe science, was a pioneer clearing the way for the artists of wider knowl
edge and of serener strength who were to follow in the paths he helped to
find.

SANDEO BOTTICELLI, FLOEENTINE PAINTEE'
[Bom 1447 ; died 1510.]
BlELIOGKAPHT. — Hermann Ulmann, Sandro BotticeUi, 1894. Karl Woer
mann, Sandro Botticelli, in the Dohme series of Kunst und Kiinstler. J. A.
Crowe, Sandro Botticelli, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1886, II. , pp. 177 and 466.
Charles Ephruasi, La Divine Comedie, lllustree par Sandro Botticelli, Gazette
des Beaux Arts, 1885, T., p. 404 ; II. , p. 43. Dr. Ludwig Volkmann, Bildische
Darstellungen zu Dante's Divina Commedia bis zum Ausgang der Renaissance,
Leipsic, 1893. (There is a long review of this work by Herr. C. von Fa
briczy, in I'Arch. Stor., VII., p. 226 et seq.) Dr. Lippmann, Die Zeichnungen
des Sandro Botticelli zur Goettlichen Komoedie, Berlin, 1885. Na.gleT's Kiinst
ler Lexikon, article "Baccio-Baldini." E. Miintz, Le pretendu portrait de Pic
de la Mirandole a la Galerie des Offices in the Chr07iique des Arts, 1888, n. 41.
Amadeo Padoa, Sandro BotticeUi ; di alcuni suoi dipinti in Firenze, in Let-
tere ed Arti, 1890, n. 20. Professor Sidney Colvin, article *' BotticeUi, " in En
cyclopaedia Britannica. Richard Forster, Die Verlaiimdung des Apelles in der
Rejiaissance, Jahrbuch der Kbniglichen Preussischen Sainmlungen., Vol. VTTT
W. J. StUlman, Sandro Botticelli, The Century Magazine, VoL XL. C. M.
Phillimore, Botticelli (Great Artist Series), 1894. See, too, for a very sympa
thetic essay on the genius of BotticeUi, Walter Pater's Studies in the History
of the Renaissance, article "BotticeUi;" and for an admirable appreciation
of the Botticelli frescoes of the Villa Lemmi, Vernon Lee's Juvenilia. C.
Ephrussi, Les deux fresques du Musee du Louvre attributes a Sandro Botti
celli, Gazette des Beaux Arts, Second Series, XXV., p. 475. A forthcoming
Ufe of Botticelli is promised by M. Andre Perate. Por special distinctions
between the works of Sandro and of his followers, see Richter's Italian Art
in the National GaUery and MoreUi's Italian Painters.
IN the same time with the illustrious Lorenzo de' Medici
the elder, which was truly an age of gold for men of
talent, there flourished a certain Alessandro, called after
our custom Sandro, and further named Di Botticello, for a
reason which we shall presently see. His father, Mariano
Filipepi, a Florentine citizen, brought him up with care,
1 Alessandro di Mariano FUipepi, caUed Botticelli, was bom in 1447. Hia
father was a tanner.

SANDKO BOTTICELLI 207
and caused him to be instructed in all such things as are
usually taught to children before they choose a calling. But
although the boy readily acquired whatever he wished to
learn, yet was he constantly discontented ; neither would
he take any pleasure in reading,^ writing, or accounts,
insomuch that the father, disturbed by the eccentric habits
of his son, turned him over in despair to a gossip of his,^
called Botticello, who was a goldsmith, and considered a very
competent master of his art, to the intent that the boy
might learn the same.
There was at that time a close connexion and almost con
stant intercourse between the goldsmiths and the painters,
wherefore Sandro, who possessed considerable ingenuity,
and was strongly disposed to the arts of design, became en
amoured of painting, and resolved to devote himself entirely
to that vocation. He acknowledged his purpose at once to
his father, and the latter, who knew the force of his incli
nations, took him accordingly to the Carmelite monk, Pra
Filippo, who was a most excellent painter of that time, with
whom he placed him to study the art, as Sandro himself had
desired. Devoting himself thereupon entirely to the vocation he
had chosen, Sandro so closely followed the directions and
imitated the manner of his master, that Fra Filippo con
ceived a great love for him, and instructed him so effectually,
that Sandro rapidly attained to such a degree in art as none
would have predicted for him. While still a youth he
painted the figure of Fortitude,* among those pictures of
the Virtues which Antonio and Pietro PoUaiuolo were exe
cuting in the Mercatanzia, or Tribunal of Commerce in
' BotticelU's selection of subjeota, and his subtle rendering of them prove
however that he was something of a scholar.
' Sandro'a brother, Giovanni, was called BotticeUo, but it does not appear
that there was any goldsmith in Florence named Botticelli.
* Now in the Uffizi ; it is considered a doubtful picture. Mr. J. A. Crowe
(Sandro Botticelli, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1886) is convinced that after the
death of FiUppo Lippi, Sandro studied with, or at least learned from, the Pol-
lajuoU.

208 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Florence. In Santo Spirito, a church of the same city, he
painted a picture '' for the chapel of the Bardi family :
this work he executed with great diligence, and finished it
very successfully, depicting certain olive and palm-trees
therein with extraordinary care. Sandro also painted a
picture ^ in the Convent of the Convertites, with another for
the nuns of San Barnaba.' In the Church of Ognissanti he
painted a Sant' Agostino, in fresco,* for the Vespucci :
this is in the middle aisle, near the door which leads into
the choir ; and here Sandro did his utmost to surpass all the
masters who were painting at the time, but more particu
larly Domenico del Ghirlandajo, who had painted a figure
of St. Jerome on the opposite side. Sparing no pains, he
thus produced a work of extraordinary merit. In the
countenance of the Saint he has clearly manifested that
power of thought and acuteness of perception which is, for
the most part, perceptible in those reflective and studious
men who are constantly occupied with the investigation of
exalted subjects and the pursuit of absti'use inquiries. This
picture, as we have said in the life of Domenico Ghirlan
dajo, has this year (1561) been removed entire and without
injury from the place where it was executed.
Having, in consequence of this work, obtained much
credit and reputation, Sandro was appointed by the Guild of
Porta Santa Maria to paint a picture in San Marco, the
subject of which is the Coronation of Our La-dy,' who is
^ Believed to be the following picture in the Berlin gallery : A Virgin and
ChUd, with Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, in -a, grove
of palms and olives. This gallery is rich in examples of BotticeUi.
» The fate of this picture is unknown.
' This picture, which is in the Florentine Academy, represents the Madonna
enthroned, holding the Divine Child, with two angels on either side, and about
the throne Saints Barnabas, Augustine (?), Catharine of Alexandria, John,
Ambrose, and Michael. The upper part of the picture is a modern addition
by Veracini.
' This picture, executed in 1480, is still in the church.
" This famous " Incoronata," which has perhaps been more popularized by
reproduction than any other work of Botticelli's, is in the Florentine Acad
emy ; it is a tondo, on panel.

SANDKO BOTTICELLI 209
surrounded by a choir of angels, the whole extremely well
designed, and finished by the artist with infinite care. He
executed various works in the Medici Palace for the elder
Lorenzo, more particularly a figure of Pallas ^° on a shield
wreathed with vine branches, whence flames are proceeding :
this he painted of the size of life. A San Sebastiano was
also among the most remarkable of the works executed for
Lorenzo." In the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in
" The discovery of a large picture by Botticelli, representing Pallas with a
Centaur, haa been one of the recent artistic sensations of Florence. The ex
istence of such a picture in the Pitti coUection was known up to 1853, and the
work had been engraved by Frassinetti, 1837-43, in La Galleria Pitti Illustrata
{see also a reproduction of such an engraving in M. Yriarte'a Floreiice, 1881).
In 1856, upon the occasion of the marriage of the Archduke Ferdinand of
Lorraine, certain rooms of the Pitti gaUeries being required aa apartments,
their pictures were dispersed through many diflerent parts of the palace.
Among these pictures was the Pallas, which, hung high in the apartments of
the Duke of Aosta, was wholly forgotten and passed unnoticed for many years,
until it was recently seen and noted by Mr. Spence, the English painter. That
a famous picture should have completely disappeared from notice, and yet
should have been hanging upon a wall within a few yarda of the other paint-
inga (or at aU events only a few rooms removed), shows how easily tempo
rary loss of even large and important works may come about, and is a whole
sermon in favor of careful research in the unused rooms and storehouses of
the monasteries and palaces of Italy. The question of the identity of Bot-
ticeUi's Pallas has long been a mooted one. Several critics have even at
tempted a reconstruction of it. Signor Ridolfi believes that this Fallas of
Vasari has at last come to light, and thinks that the author's mention of
burning branches was merely a careless error. Mr. Bernard Berenson disagrees
with him, and thinks that the fact that Vasari omitted the Centaur and
mentioned the branches is enough to prove that this picture is not identical
with that described in the life of Sandro Botticelli. The subject of the
newly found painting is referred to Lorenzo's return to Florence after his
pacificatory visit to Naples, as suggesting the triumph of mind over matter,
of Lorenzo over the League. For details and reproductions see E. Ridolfi,
in La Nazione, XXXVU., No. 61, and in L' Archivio Storico dell' Arte ;
Hermann Ulmann, in the Kunst Chronik, 31, 1895 ; Bernard Berenson, in
the Gazette des Beaux Arts, June, 1895 ; W. A. Coffin, in Harper's Weekly,
April 13, 1895. Mr. Berenson, using the Pallas as a basis for consideration
of dates, assigns BotticeUi's Primavera to the year 1478, and the Birth of
Venus to the spring of 1483, and the VUla Lemmi frescoes to a somewhat
later date.
" A Saint Sebastian, painted for S. Maria Maggiore in 1473, is the earliest
recorded work of BotticeUi (see Cavalcaselle e Crowe, Storia della Pittura,
Vol. VL, p. 208). These authors believe that the picture may have been

210 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
Florence, is a Pieta with small figures by this master ; ^^ this
is placed beside the chapel of the Panciatichi, and is a very
beautiful work. For different houses in various parts of
the city Sandro painted many pictures of a round form, with
numerous figures of women undraped. Of these there are
still two examples at Castello, a villa of the Duke Cosimo,
one representing the birth of Venus, ^^ who is borne to earth
by the Loves and Zephyrs : the second also presenting the
figure of Venus crowned with flowers by the Graces ; ^^ she
ordered by Lorenzo for Santa Maria, and that it may be identified "with the
Saint Sebastian which is in the Berlin Museum, and is there ascribed to
Antonio del PoUajuolo.
^2 Said to be the Pietd in the Pinacothek of Munich, Milanesi, IIL, p. 318,
note 3.
•3 The Birth of Venus is in the Ufi&zi. Sandro's mythological pictures, among
which this is probably second in note, are those upon which he has most com
pletely stamped his personality, and which by their strange fascination, their
indeterminate character, half-Renaissance, half-Mediseval, and wholly Botti-
cellian, have at once puzzled and charmed the critics, and inspired a whole
school of imitators, until the intrinsically very real and great importance of
their author in the history of Italian Art has been exaggerated.
" This very famous picture, called La Primavera (Spring-time), is in the
Academy of Florence. (Mr. Bernard Berenson dates it as of the year 1478.)
The subject was probably suggested by Lucretius, De Rerum Natura,^ lib, V.
Many explanations have been given of the exact meaning of the picture ; one
that it is a complicated philosophical allegory ; another that it is a Judgment
of Paris ; still another that the central figure represents the goddess Venus
in the person of some member of the Medici family, and that the other figures
symbolize virtues attributed to her or to her people. The style and character
of this picture are so subtle and fascinating aa to have made it perhaps the
most famous and the central work in Botticelli's achievement. Technically
the drawing is exquisitely delicate, the color soft and grayish, much toned,
and even dulled, by time. The composition of lines is admirable, but like so
many Florentine works of the fifteenth century the Prim,avera can hardly
be said to have any color composition at all, the carmine drapery (with
whitish lights) upon the central figure and upon the Mercury at the extreme
left being much the strongest points of color, and confusing and breaking up
the composition. The Graces are all in a golden ochre tone, the shadows
little darker than the lights. All of the right-hand part of the picture is
grayer than the rest, and the figures there are more "enveloped." The
flowers and grass which have been so greatly praised are decorative, lovely
and delicate in drawing, but very much cut out ; the sprigs upon the Prima-
vera^s gown are hard as metal, while tbe stem drawing of the fiowers in
the grass makes a raised pattern Uke that upon embossed leather. Mr. W. J.
StiUraan, in the Century Magazine, August, 1890, p. 503, calls attention to the

SANDKO BOTTICELLI 211
is here intended to denote the Spring, and the allegory is
expressed by the painter with extraordinary grace.
In the Via de Servi and in the Palace of Giovanni Vespuc
ci, which now belongs to Piero Salviati, this master paint
ed numerous pictures around one of the chambers : they
are enclosed within a richly decorated frame- work of walnut
wood, and contain many beautiful and animated figures. ^^
In Casa Pucci, '^ likewise, Sandro painted Boccaccio's No
vella of Nastagio degli Onesti, in four compartments ; the
figures are small, but the work is very graceful and beauti
ful. He also depicted an Adoration of the Magi * in the
same place." For the Monks of Oestello this master
fact that notwithstanding the profusion of flowers in this picture the anemone,
which ia so abundant around Florence, is missing.
* The translator has here omitted a few words. The original reads, ' ' He paint
ed a round picture of the Adoration of the Magi," " «d in un tondo, I'Epifania."
¦5 These pictures no longer exist. Morelli (Italian Painters) rejects aa not
genuine the Coronation of Mary in the school of La Quiete and formerly in
San Jacopo di Ripoli. This picture was formerly attributed to Domenico
Ghirlandajo. From the resemblance of the technique to the painting repre
senting the Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi, Sigg. Cavalcaselle and Crowe
class it among the works of Botticelh's youth. See Storia della Pittura in
Italia, VI., p. 272.
18 These are pictures "painted rather hastily " in 1487 for the marriage of
Pier Francesco Bini ; they have been in various private collections of London.
The Miracles of San Zanobi, two youthful works of Botticelli, as well as certain
other works, are in English private collections, while a Death of Virginia was
left to the town of Bergamo by Senator Morelli. Botticelli's subjects of this
class are interesting and characteristic of the master ; they suggest the
Calumny of the USizi, and not infrequently, in spite of their beauty, ex
hibit somewhat of that "harsh and sprawling composition " which had been
noted by a German critic. Nowhere outside of Italy may so many pictures of
the fifteenth-century masters be seen as in England, in the annual exhibitions
of works from the galleries of private collectors. For some of these see the
English reviews, and articles in the Archivio Storico, by Mr. Claude Phillips
and by Costanza Jocelyn Ffoulkes.
" Milanesi cannot account for this picture, and believes that Vasari may
have confounded it with some other tondo. Mr. Bernard Berenson appears
as an admirable critic of Botticelli in his Florentine Painters of tne Renais .
sauce, saying that no artist has been "so indifferent to representation, so
intent npon presentation." In emphasizing Sandro's instinctively decorative
use not only of other material — flowers, flames, draperies — that yield them
selves readily to such purpose, but especially of the human body, he says,
with a feUcitous phraseology which must be followed in his book to be under-

212 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
painted ^^ a picture of the Annunciation in one of their
chapels^ and in the church of San Pietro he executed one
for Matteo Palmieri, with a very large number of figures. ^^
The subject of this work, which is near the side-door, is
the Assumption of Our Lady, and the zones or circles of
heaven are there painted in their order. The Patriarchs,
stood in its full development, that Botticelli translates 'Hactile values" into
*'pure values of movement," and becomes unrivalled in the art of ** lineal
decoration." In this appreciation of Botticelli's intense preoccupation with
the decorative suggestion of movement, Mr. Berenson's essay is a real contri
bution to the critical literature of art. Vernon Lee (Miss Paget) has said
picturesquely and forcefully in her Fancies and Studies in the Renaissance
that Botticelli "uses the human form as so much pattern element" in "his
strange arabesque, half -intellectual, half-physical." Among works not men
tioned by Vasari and credited to Botticelli in ]\Ir. Berenson's catalogue are
three in Bergamo, Giuliano de' Medici, Head of Christ, Story of Virginia ;
Boston, collection of Mxs. Gardner, Death of Lucretia ; Dresden, Life of San
Zanobi ; London, a portrait of a man. Mars and Venus, two pictures of the
Adoration of the Magi, scenes from the Life of San Zanobi, in the Mond Col
lection ; in Milan, Poldi-Pezzoli Collection, Madonna, Ambrosiana, Madonna
with Angels ; in St. Petersburg, an Adoration of the Magi.
19 Morelli says this Annunciation in the Uffizi is painted by a pupil of Bot
ticelli from his master's sketch, but M. Lafenestre admits the attribation to
Sandro, and Mr. J. A. Crowe, Gazette des Beaux Arts., Vol. XXXIV., seems
also to do so. It is a, well-known picture, with strong characteristics of the
master's school. Dr. Bode and Dr. W. Schmidt attribute to Botticelli a
small portrait iu the Ufi&zi of a man holding a medal of Cosimo the Ancient.
This portrait, called Pico della Micandola, really represents Piero de' Medici
(the younger). See M. P. Valton, Ohronique des Arts, 1888, p. 324.
1* Now in the National Gallery, London. Matteo Palmieri, who ordered this
picture from Botticelli, was author of a poem called ''The City of Life," and
which touched upon that heresy of Origen which holds that man is descended
from an incarnation of those angels who remained neutral when Lucifer re
belled against God. For a long time this '' heretical " picture was veiled and
its altar was interdicted. {See Richa, Chiese Pioreniine,'E. T. Cook, Hand
book to the National GaUery, and Walter Pater's Renaissance, article Bot
ticelli, for a mystical appreciation of the subject. ) There is also in the Na
tional Gallery, London, a Nativity, with an inacription in Greek at the top
which says : " This picture, I, Alexander, painted at the end of the year 1500,
in the troubles of Italy, in the half-time after the time during the fulfilment
of the eleventh of St. John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, in the loos
ing of the devil for three years and a half. Afterward he shall be chained,
and we shall see him trodden down as in this picture." The reference is, of
course, to the martyrdom of Savonarola. The angels welcome Savonarola
and Domenico Buonvicini, of Pescia, and Silvestro Maruffi, the two priests
who were burned with Savonarola.

SANDRO BOTTICELLI 213
the Prophets, the Apostles, the Evangelists, the Martyrs,
the Confessors, the Doctors, the Virgins, and the Hier
archies : all which was executed by Sandro according to the
design furnished to him by Matteo, who was a very learned
and able man. The whole work was conducted and finished
with the most admirable skill and care : at the foot of it
was the portrait of ]\Iatteo kneeling, with that of his wife.
But although this picture is exceedingly beautiful and
ought to have put envy to shame, yet there were found cer
tain malevolent and censorious persons who, not being able
to affix any other blame to the work, declared that Matteo
and Sandro had erred gravely in that matter, and had fallen
into grievous heresy.
Now, whether this be true or not, let none expect the
judgment of that question from me : it shall suffice me to
note that the figures executed by Sandro in that work are
entirely worthy of praise, and that the pains he took in
depicting those circles of the heavens must have been very
great, to say nothing of the angels mingled with the other
figures, or of the various foreshortenings, all which are
designed in a very good manner. About this time Sandro
received a commission to paint a small picture with figures
three parts of a braccio high, the subject an Adoration of
the Magi ; ^ the work was placed between the two doors of
the principal faQade of Santa Maria Novella, and is on the
left as you enter by the central door. In the face of the
oldest of the kings, the one who first approaches, there is
the most lively expression of tenderness as he kisses the foot
of the Saviour, and a look of satisfaction also at having at
tained the purpose for which he had undertaken his long
journey. This figure is the portrait of Cosimo de' Medici,
'" This work is in the UfBzi. It was identified by Carlo Pini with the pict
ure described by Vasari. It was formerly attributed to Domenico Ghirlan
dajo, but is one of Botticelli's finest works. The strong family resemblance
of the Medici is seen in the faces of nearly all of these admirably striking
figures ; indeed this is the only picture in which Botticelli seems to have really
painted portraits. A man who at one side of the picture turns almost fully
toward the spectator is said to be a portrait of the painter himself.

214 SANDKO BOTTICELLI
the most faithful and animated likeness of all now known
to exist of him. The second of the kings is the portrait of
Giuliano de' Medici, father of Pope Clement VII. ; and he
offers adoration to the divine Child, presenting his gift at
the same time, with an expression of the most devout sin
cerity. The third, who is likewise kneeling, seems to be
offering thanksgiving as well as adoration, and to confess
that Christ is indeed the true Messiah : this is the likeness
of Giovanni, the son of Cosimo. The beauty which Sandro
has imparted to these heads cannot be adequately described,
and all the figures in the work are represented in different
attitudes : of some one sees the full face, of others the pro
file, some are turning the head almost entirely from the
spectator, others are bent down ; and to all, the artist has
given an appropriate and varied expression, whether old or
young, exhibiting numerous peculiarities also, which prove
the mastery that he possessed over his art. He has even
distinguished the followers of each king in such a manner
that it is easy to see which belongs to one court and which
to another ; it is indeed a most admirable work : the com
position, the design, and the colouring are so beautiful that
every artist who examines it is astonished, and at the time,
it obtained so great a name in Florence and other places for
the master, that Pope Sixtus IV., having erected the chapel
built by him in his palace at Eome, and desiring to have it
adorned with paintings, commanded that Sandro Botticelli
should be appointed Superintendent of the work. He ac
cordingly executed various pictures there ; ^' among them
2' Botticelli's frescoes, painted in 14S1, in the Sistine Chapel, still remain.
They represent the stories of Moses, of Christ in the Wilderness, and of the
Destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The composition is confused,
and is awkward in the distribution of the masses, but the frescoes are episodi
cally charming, and in spite of faults they give at least as full a measure of
Botticelli's power as do his much more famous easel pictures. The fact is
that the very noble series of wall-paintings in the Sistine Chapel is but little
noticed because of the superlative interest of the works of Michelangelo in
the vaulting. Sig. D. Gnoli, in the Archivio Storico dell' Arte, VI., March-
April, 1893, p. 128, publishes a document showing that Rosselli, Botticelli,
Ghirlandajo, and Perugino contracted " to furnish ten stories " between Oc-

SANDEO BOTTICELLI 21.5
the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness, Moses slaying
the Egyptian, Moses receiving drink from the Daughters of
Jethro the Midianite, and the Descent of Fire from Heaven
when the Sons of Aaron offered Sacrifice ; with several
figures of holy Popes, in the niches above the paintings.^^
By these works Botticelli obtained great honour and repu
tation among the raany competitors who were labouring
with him, whether Florentines or natives of other cities,
and received from the Pope a considerable sum of money ;
but this he consumed and squandered totally, during his
residence in Eome, where he lived without due care, as was
his habit.^ Having completed the work assigned to him,
he returned at once to Florence, where, being whimsical
and eccentric, he occupied himself with commenting on a
certain part of Dante, illustrating the Inferno, and execut
ing prints, over which he wasted much time, and, neglect
ing his proper occupation, he did no work, and thereby
caused infinite disorder in his affairs. ^^ He likewise en-
tober 27, 1481, and the 15th of the following March. Two stories from the
total number are left unmentioned in the contract, as is also the name of
Signorelli. 22 There are twenty-eight portraits of popes, most of which are attributed to
Botticelli. 2= It is probable that Botticelli remained in Rome until 1484. If he re
ceived a commission to paint a hall in the Palazzo Pubblico of Florence in
1483, together with Domenico Ghirlandajo, it is doubtful whether he accepted
it. See Gaye's Carteggio, I., Appendice, II., 578. According to J. A.
Crowe, Gazette des Beaux Arts for 1885, Sandro and Ghirlandajo were, in 1491,
together commissioned to decorate with mosaic the chapel of San Zenobio in
S. M del Fiore.
" The Hamilton volume of illustrations to the Divine Comedy, now in
the Berlin Museum, before it was taken to pieces was a folio of eighty-six
leaves of fine parchment, most of them thirty-two centimUres high and forty-
seven wide. The illustrations commence with canto seventh ; there are
eighty-four designs in all, while eight others are said to be in the Vatican.
One of them is painted in gouache, in sombre colors ; it belongs to the eigh
teenth canto of the Inferno. These designs have been removed from the book
and placed under glass. Milanesi has discovered, in an anonymous manuscript
of the National Library of Florence, that Botticelli illustrated a Dante on
parchment for Lorenzo di Piero Francesco de' Medici. This Lorenzo (who
lived about 1460-1503) was grand-nephew of Cosimo the elder. The first
printed Florentine edition of the Divine Comedy was Christoforo Landino's

216 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
graved many of the designs he had execiited_, but in a very
inferior manner, the work being badly cut. The best at
tempt of this kind from his hand is the Triumph of Faith,^
by Fra Girolamo Savonarola, of Ferrara, of whose sect our
artist was so zealous a partizan that he totally abandoned
painting, and not having any other means of living, he fell
into very great difficulties. But his attachment to the
party he had adopted increased ; he became what was then
called a Piagnom,^^ smd abandoned all labour, insomuch
that, finding himself at length become old, being also very
poor, he must have died of hunger ^"^ had he not been
commentary, issued by " Nicholo di Lorenzo della Magna, 1481 ; " the diflFerent
copies of it contain variously from twenty-one engravings down to two ; these
have, on the strength of Vasari's assertion, been ascribed to Baccio Baldini.
The engravings are evidently from the parchment originals of the Hamilton
collection, but the engraver has been forced by the size and shape of the book
to change and simplify the designs, in one case reducing the number of per
sonages from forty-one to twelve. M. Ch. Ephrussi, after careful study of
these Hamilton illustrations of the Divine Comedy, expresses some disap
pointment, and is inclined to believe that we have in them not a finished work,
but only a. preparatory one ; a work carried certainly beyond the limits of
annotation, but one far from completion. He bases this belief on the empty
spaces left upon so many of the pages, upon the slightness of the handling,
the absence of perspective, tlie appearance of haste seen in what are really
sketches. There is a single miniature in the collection, and this would furnish
a very reasonable solution if we consider that the other drawings were studies
intended for eventual development into such miniatures. {See Gazette des
Beaux Arts, Vol. XXXI., p. 404; Vol. XXXIL, p. 48.) It has also been
suggested that, on the contrary, Botticelli having tried color, gave it np and
decided to leave the designs in black and white.
2^ According to Professor Sidney Colvin (Article ''BotticelU," Encyclo-
pasdia Britannica) this engraving no longer exists. He adds that many early
Florentine engravings have, upon pure surmise based on passages of Vasari,
been attributed to Botticelli and Baccio Baldini.
2s Weepers, mourners, or grumblers. See Gustave Gruyer's Les Illustra
tions des Merits de Jerome Savor\,arole, Paris, 1879.
27 This is without doubt an exaggeration. Mr. J. A. Crowe says that as in
1498 Botticelli owned a " lordly villa" outside the San Friano gate, it is dif
ficult to believe him so poor. He suggests that he may have been unfortu
nate either from sickness, or possibly from persecution as a follower of Savon
arola. His father was rich enough to buy a family tomb in the Ognissanti
One may add that by the end of the fifteenth century Florentine taste was
setting in the direction of the new school, and it is possible that the relative
neglect of the older artists at the hands of the public may have become tra-

SANDKO BOTTICELLI 217
supported by Lorenzo de' Medici, for whom he had worked
at the small hospital * of Volterra ^^ and other places, who
assisted him while he lived, as did other friends and ad
mirers of his talents.
In San Francesco, outside the gate of San Miniato, Botti
celli painted a Madonna, f the size of life, surrounded by
angels, which was considered a very beautiful picture.^
Now Sandro was fond of jesting, and often amused himself
at the expense of his disciples and friends. In allusion to
this habit, it is related that one of his scholars, named Bi-
agio,^ had copied the above-mentioned picture very exactly,
for the purpose of selling it : this Sandro did for him, hav
ing bargained with a citizen for six gold florins. When
Biagio appeared, therefore, his master said to him, "Well,
Biagio, I've sold thy picture for thee at last, but the buyer
wishes to see it in a good light, so it must be hung up this
evening at a favourable height, and do thou go to the man's
house to-morrow morning and bring him here, that he may
see it in its place ; he will then pay thee the money." " Oh,
master," quoth Biagio, " how well you have done ; " and
having suspended the picture at the due height, he went his
way. Thereupon Sandro and Jacopo, who was another of
his disciples, prepared eight caps of pasteboard, such as
those worn by the Florentine citizens, and these they fixed
ditional, and have been exaggerated into the idea that they suffered from
actual want.
* Mrs. Foster's translation of Lo Spedaletto " small hospital," though Ht
eral, is probably not a satisfactory rendering, the name Lo Spedaletto being
frequently found in Italy as applied to houses or villages, and in such cases
often indicating only the existence there of a hospital at remote times.
t Here again the translator has omitted the words " in un tondo." The
round picture became as popular toward the end of the fifteenth century as
the triptych had been during the fourteenth century.
^8 The grange of Lo Spedaletto, near Volterra, in which Vasari says Botti
celli worked, stiU exists as a private house, and is in the possession of mem
bers of the Corsini family.
" This work is lost. The Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1886, noted an exception
ally fine Madonna and ChOd, by Botticelli, as in the coUection of Lord
Wemyss, in England. It is in the second manner of the artist.
'" Vincenzo di Biagio, commonly called Catena.

218 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
with white wax on the heads of the eight angels, who, in
the painting in question, were depicted around the Madonna.
The morning being come, Biagio appears with the citizen
who had bought the painting, and who was aware of the
jest. Eaising his eyes on entering the workshop, Blaise be
holds his Madonna, not surrounded by angels, but in the
midst of the Signoria of Florence, and seated among those
caps. He was about to break forth into outcries and excuse
himself to the citizen, but as the latter made no observation
on the circumstance, and began to praise the picture, he
remained silent himself. Ultimately, the citizen took him
home to his house and paid him the six florins, which the
master had bargained for, wherewith Biagio returned to the
bottega (workshop), where he arrived just as Sandro and
Jacopo had taken ofl the pasteboard head-dresses, and saw
his angels as veritable angels again, and no longer citizens in
their caps. Altogether astonished at what he beheld, the
disciple turned to his master and said, " Master mine, I
know not whether I am dreaming, or whether the thing be
really so, but when I came in just now, these angels had red
caps on their heads, and now they have none ! What may
this mean ? " "^ Thou art out of thy wits, Blaise," quoth
Sandro, " this money hath made thy brain turn round ; if
the thing were as thou hast said, dost thou think this citizen
would have bought thy picture ? " " That is true," re
plied Biagio, " and he certainly said nothing about it, but
for all that it seems a very strange matter." At last, all
the other scholars getting round him, said so much that
they made him believe the whole an imagination of his own.
A weaver of cloth once came to live close to Sandro, and
this man erected full eight looms, which, when all were at
work, not only caused an intolerable din with the trampling
of the weavers and the clang of the shuttles, insomuch that
poor Sandro was deafened with it, but likewise produced
such a trembling and shaking throughout the house, which
was none too solidly built, that the painter, what with one
and the other, could no more continue his work, nor even

SANDEO BOTTICELLI 219
remain in the house. He had frequently requested his
neighbour to put an end to this disturbance, but the latter
had replied, that he both could and would do what he pleased
in his own house. Being angered by this, Sandro had an
enormous mass of stone of great weight, and more than
would fill a waggon, placed in exact equilibrium on the wall
of his own dwelling, which was higher than that of his
neighbour, and not a very strong one ; this stone threatened
to fall at the slightest shake given to the wall, when it must
have crushed the roof, floors, frames, and workmen, of the
weaver to atoms. The man, terrified at the danger, has
tened to Sandro, from whom he received back his own reply
in his own words, namely, that he both could and would do
what he pleased in his own house ; whereupon, not being
able to obtain any other answer, he was compelled to come
to reasonable terms, and to make the painter a less trouble
some neighbour.
We find it further related, that Sandro Botticelli once
went to the vicar of his parish, and, in jest, accused a friend
of his own of heresy. The person inculpated having ap
peared, demanded to know by whom he was accused and of
what. Being told that Sandro had declared him to hold the
opinion of the Epicureans, to wit, that the soul dies with
the body, he required that his accuser should be confronted
with him before the judge. Sandro was summoned accord
ingly, when the accused man exclaimed, " It is true that I
hold the opinion stated respecting the soul of this man, who
is a blockhead ; nay, does he not appear to you to be a here
tic also ; for, without a grain of learning, scarcely knowing
how to read, has he not undertaken to make a commentary
on Dante, and does he not take his name in vain ? "
This master is said to have had an extraordinary love for
those whom he knew to be zealous students in art, and is
affirmed to have gained considerable sums of money ; hut
being a bad manager and very careless, all came to nothing.
Finally, having become old, unfit for work, and helpless, he
was obliged to go on crutches, being unable to stand upright,

220 SANDRO BOTTICELLI
and so died, after long illness and decrepitude, in his seventy-
eighth year.^^ He was buried at Florence, in the church of
Ognissanti, in the year 1515.
In the Guardaroba of the Signor Duke Cosimo are two
very beautiful female heads in profile by this master, one is
said to be the portrait of an inamorata^ of Giuliano de
Medici, brother of Lorenzo : the other that of iladonna Lu
crezia Tornabuoni, Lorenzo's wife.^ In the same place, and
also by the hand of Sandro, is a Bacchus, raising a wine-flask
to his lips with both hands, a truly animated figure.^* In
s' He died on May 17, 1510, aged shxty-three or sixty-four years, according aa
the date 1446 or 1447 be accepted as the year of his birth. It is doubtful if he
died in such poverty as Vasari would have us believe in, since his family was
able to put up a tomb in the Ogrdssanti church in the year of his death.
'2 Simonetta Cattani, a Genoese, married to a Vespucci, of Florence, was
beloved by Giuliano de' Medici, who held a famous joust in her honor. (See
notes to the Life of Verrocchio.) There are three so-called portraits of her, one
in the Pitti, one in Berlin, one at Chantilly. These three hardly resemble
each other at all, and the Chantilly portrait, inscribed " Simonetta Jayiucnsis
Vespuccia," is generally considered to be the only genuine one. Dr. Frizzoni,
however, gives it to Piero di Cosimo, and believes it to be the Cleopatra men
tioned by Vasari in the life of that artist.
33 Lucrezia Tornabuoni was Lorenzo's mother ; his wife was Clarice Orsini,
a Roman. The Berlin gallery claims to possess this portrait, which bears
some resemblance to the Simonetta (so-called) in the Pitti. There is a lovely
portrait of a young girl in the museum of Frankfort-on-the-Main, which is as
cribed to Botticelli. Mr. J. A. Crowe, while admitting tliat the Lucrezia and
the Chantilly Simonetta greatly resemble the manner of Botticelli, is not wholly
prepared to consider either picture authentic. Dr. Bode, in Die Graphischen
Kiinste, 1S93, says that a portrait of a man by Botticelli in the collection of
Prince Liechtenstein, at Vienna, is finer than any portrait attributed to Sandro
in Italy, though in the opinion of the author it is equalled by two heads of
women, one in the lonides collection of London, the other in that of Mrs. Sey
mour. The well-known Giuliano de' Medici left by Morelli to tlie town of Ber
gamo has all of the Medici portrait characteristics, seen also in the heads of the
members of that famous family, with which Botticelli has filled his Adoration
of the Magi in the Uffizi. Sandro, however, was not a portrait-painter by incli
nation ; he saw all faces through the medium of his own strong personality,
and M. Miintz has well said that his " was essentially a lyrical temperament
and unfitted to deal with portraiture.''
3^ This work is lost. Vasari does not mention the two frescoes which were
acquired for the Louvre in 18S'2 ; they came from the Villa Lemmi, near Flor
ence, and were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Lorenzo Albizzi
with Giovanna Tornabuoni. She is represented with the Graces or Virtues,

SANDEO BOTTICELLI 221
the cathedral of Pisa was an Assumption of the Virgin,
with a Choir of Angels, commenced by Botticelli for the
chapel of the Impagliata, but the work not pleasing him, he
left it unfinished.^ He also painted the picture of the high
altar in the church of San Francesco, at Montevarchi ; ^ and
in the capitular church of Empoli he depicted two Angels,
on the same side with the St. Sebastian of Rossellino.^ It
was by Sandro Botticelli that the method of preparing ban
ners and standards, in what is called inlaid work, was in
vented ; and this he did that the colours might not sink
through, showing the tint of the cloth on each side. The
Baldachino of Orsanmichele is by this master, and is so
treated, diflerent figures of Our Lady are represented on it,
all of which are varied and beautiful ; ^ and this work serves
to show how much more eflectually that mode of proceeding
preserves the cloth than do those mordants, which, corrod
ing the surface, allow but a short life to the work ; but as
the mordants cost less, they are nevertheless more frequently
used in our day than the first-named method.
Sandro Botticelli drew remarkably well, insomuch that,
for a long time after his death, artists took the utmost pains
to procure examples of his drawings, and we have some in
our book which are executed with extraordinary skill and
judgment ; his stories were exceedingly rich in figures, as
may be seen in the embroidered ornaments of the Cross
borne in procession by the monks of Santa Maria Novella,
and which were executed entirely after his designs.^ This
master was, in short, deserving of the highest praise for all
and he with the Liberal Arts. For a sympathetic appreciation of these fres
coes see Vernon Lee's Juvenilia.
3^ This work is lost.
" This work is also lost.
" The Angels still exist in the Pieve of Empoli, and, according to Messrs.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, seem the work of a pupil. The lower picturea are less
carefully executed.
3^ This BaldaccJiino is lost. Four allegorical pictures are shown in the
chapel of Sant' Ansano, near Fiesole, and are attributed to Sandro, but Morelli
aays they are not by him.
'^ These works have probably perished.

222 SAKDRO BOTTICELLI
such works as he chose to execute with care and good will,
as he did the Adoration of the Magi, in Santa Maria Novella,
which is exceedingly beautiful. A small round picture by
his hand; which may be seen in the apartments of the prior,
in the monastery of the Angeli at Florence, is also very
finely done ; the figures are small, but singularly graceful,
and finished with the most judicious care and delicacy.'"*
Similar in size to that of the Magi just mentioned is a
picture, now in the possession of the Florentine noble, Mes
ser Fabio Segni. The subject of this work is the Calumny
of Apelles, and nothing more perfectly depicted could be im
agined. ^^ '^ Beneath this picture, which was presented by
40 This circular picture is lost.
^1 Now in the Uffizi ; the lines quoted by Vasari have perished. The sub
ject was taken from Lucian's description of a picture by Apelles. Leon Bat
tista Alberti, in Be Pictura, probably written in 1435, proposed this subject
as a model. It waa attempted by many Renaissance painters, including Bot
ticelli, ilantegna, Signorelli, Raphael, Diirer, and Rembrandt. Herr Foer-
ster has found thirteen of these compositions in Italian painting of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, and six among German or Flemish works. (See his
special work, entitled Lucian in der Renaissatice. ) Herr Thausing points out
that on the body of the throne of the judge is the representation of a bas-relief
painted in grisaille, the subject being, with slight modifications, the Battle of
the Centaurs of Zeuxis, as described by Lucian. There is a drawing for the
figure of Truth in the collection of the Uffizi.
'^'^ No painter of the fifteenth century has been more discussed than Botti
celli. The grace, the melancholy, the affectation even of his figures are
charming. No one has created so intensely personal a type ; the very name of
Sandro Botticelli calls up to one's mental vision the long, thin face ; the queru
lous mouth with its over-ripe lips ; the prominent chin, sometimes a little to
one side ; the nose, thin at the root and full, often almost swollen at the nos
trils ; the heavy tresses of ochre-colored hair, with the frequent touches of
gilding ; the lank limbs, and the delicately undulating outline of the lithe body,
under its fantastically embroidered or semi-transparent vesture. This strange
type charms us by its introspective quality, its mournful ardour, its fragility,
even by its morbidness, and it so charmed the painter that he reproduced it con
tinually, and saw it, or certain distinctive features of it, in every human creat
ure that he painted. Like all the artists of his time his paganism was some
what timid and ascetic, his Christianity somewhat paganized and eclectic, but to
this fusion of the warring ideals, common to all the workers of his age, he
added something of his own — a fantastic elfin quality as impossible to define as
itis to resist. His Madonnas, his goddesses, his saints have a touch of the sprite
or the Undine in them; his ^ ' Saint Augustine in his Study" is a Doctor Faustus
who has known forbidden lore ; his fantastic people of the Primavera have

SANDEO BOTTICELLI 223
Sandro himself to Antonio Segni, his most intimate friend,
are now to be read the following verses, written by the above-
named Messer Fabio : —
Indido quemquaTti ne falsa Icetere* tentent
T€7'?-arum regeSy parva tahella monet
Huic similem jEgyjAi regi donavit Apelles:
Rexfuit et dignus m,inere, manus eo.
danced in the mystic ring. We feel in his painted folk and his attitude toward
them a subtle discord that is at once poignant and alluring, the crowned Ma
donna (rincoronata) dreams somewhat dejectedly in the midst of her glories,
and seems rather the Mother of Seven Sorrows than a triumphant Queen ; the
Venus sailing over the flower-strewn sea is no radiant goddess, but an anaemic,
nervous, mediaeval prude longing for her mantle ; the Graces who accompany
the bride in the Lemmi frescoes are highly strung, self-conscious girls, who have
grown up in the shadow of the cloister, bnt to them all Botticelli has lent the
same subtle, suggestive charm. No painter is more easily understood to-day ;
his subjectivity, his intense personality, hia languid distinction, his melan
choly, which sometimes degenerates into peevishness, his touch of neurosis,
render him the most modern of all the old masters, and perhaps the most sym
pathetic to our restless, nervous epoch. His technical limitations and the
incompleteness of his artistic methods of expression offer a wide field for per
sonal interpretation and for criticism of a literary and psychological char
acter. Like aU hyper-refined artists he is occasionally betrayed into over-
elaboration of detail, a marking trait of the painter who had been trained in
the goldsmiths' shops ; he loved trinkets and intricately wreathed and plaited
hair and complicated draperies. He was no portrait-painter, caring little for
the differentiation of features ; even in his Adoration of the Magi, though his
Medici have fine faces, cleanly and closely drawn, he has seen them through
his own temperament and has added so much of his ideal type that they all re
semble one another, all suggest the portraits of Giuliano de' Medici, all are
like elder brothers of the boy angels of the Incoronata. In color Sandro is usu
ally agreeable and delicate, with occasionally a golden warmth of tone, but
like most Tuscans he is in no sense a true colorist, and in composition of color
he is confused and uneven. In composition of line he becomes a decorator of
a very high order, but he has none of the sense of scenic distribution of
groups which we find in Filippino's Thomas Aquinas, none of Ghirlandajo's
noble ordering of the masses ; his great frescoes of the Sistine are, as composi
tions, unbalanced even to awkwardness, while they are episodicallj' interesting
beyond any of the series. His Madonnas in tondo are perhaps his most charm
ing works, his mythological pictures are the most remarkable and famous ; but
his Sistine frescoes, in spite of their failings, give the fullest measure of his
capacity. He helped the evolution of art less than did some of his fellows,
but no one created so intensely personal a type, and therefore no painter of the
fifteenth century is more representative of that age of individual development.
* Laedere in the Milanesi edition.

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO, FLORENTINE SCULP
TOR AND ARCHITECT!
[Born 1443; died 1497.]
Bibliography. — W. Bode, Benedetto da Majano, in. theJiohme series of
Kunst und Kiinstler. (Dr. Bode also published in the Repertorium fiir
Kunstwissenschaft, VIL, for the year 1884, a monograph upon the youthful
works of Benedetto as a sculptor.) Pietro Gianuizzi, Benedetto da Majano
Scultore in Loreto, Article in L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, XI., 176. H.
Von Tschudi, Eine madonnenstatue von Benedetto da Majajio, article in the
Jahrbuch der K. P. Kunstsammlungen, IX., i, ii. Ugo Nomi, II tabernacolo
di Benedetto da Maiano a Sati Gimignano, Arte e Storia, n. 23, Florence,
August 15, 1888. Monum,enti Artistici in San Gimignano, article by Natale
Baldoria, in the Archivio Storico dell' Arte, IIL, 35-68. C. von Fabriczy,
Giuliano da Majano architetto del duomo di Faenza, I' Archivio Storico dell'
Arte, IIL, p. 441. The Verlaganstalt fiir Kunst und Wissejischaft, in Mu
nich, is at present (1895) publishing an important series of phototypes in
folio, with quarto test by W. Bode, Denkmdler der Renaissance, Sculptur
Toscana's.
THE Florentine sculptor, Benedetto da Maiano, was a
carver in wood in his flrst youth, and was consid
ered to be the best master in that calling who then
took tool in hand : he was more especially excellent in the
process which, as we have elsewhere related, was introduced
at the time of Filippo Brunelleschi and Paolo Uccello, that,
namely, of conjoining woods, tinted of different colours,
and representing with these, buildings in perspective, foli
age, and various fantasies of diflerent kinds. In this
branch of art Benedetto da Maiano was, in his youth, as we
have before said, the best master that could be found, and
this we see clearly proved by the many works from his hand
still to be seen in different parts of Florence. Among these
' Benedetto di Leonardo da Majano waa bom in 1443.

VERROCCHIO
BARTOLOMMEO COLLEONE

VENICE

Alinari, Phot.

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 223
are more particularly to be mentioned the Presses in the
sacristy of Santa Maria del Fiore, all by him, and finished,
for the most part, after the death of his uncle, Giuliano :
these are entirely covered with figures in the inlaid work,
foliage, and other decorations, executed with consummate
art and at immense cost.- The novelty of this work hav
ing gained the master a very great name, he executed nu
merous examples thereof, which were sent to different
princes and various places ; among others to Alfonso, king
of Naples, who had an escritoire, which had been executed
after the design of Giuliano, uncle of Benedetto, who had
served that monarch in his architectural undertakings.
Benedetto himself had been to Naples for the purposes of
their joint works, but a residence iu that city not being to
his liking, he returned to Florence, where, no long time
after, he executed a pair of exceedingly rich coffers for
king ilatthias of Hungary,^ who had many Florentines in
his court, and was a great admirer of all works of ingenuity.
These coffers were decorated with the most difficult and
beautiful workmanship, in coloured woods, inlaid, and the
artist being pressingly invited by the Hungarian monarch,
determined on proceeding with them to his court. Having
packed up his coffers, therefore, and embarked with them
in a ship, he departed to Hungary ; and having arrived
there, he made his obeisance to the king, by whom he was
very favourably received. Benedetto immediately caused
the chests to be brought, and they were unpacked in pres
ence of that sovereign, who greatly desired to behold them ;
bnt it was then discovered, that the humidity of the sea-
voyage had softened the glues to such a degree, that when
^ These are still in the sacristy, except a few pieces which are in the Opera
del Duomo. Giuliano, who was Benedetto's brother, not his uncle, was an
architect, sculptor, and intarsiatore.
' Through the protection of Filippo Scolari (Pippo Spano), a Florentine ad
venturer, who becarae a Hungarian magnate, many Tuscans obtained work in
Hungary, where Matthias Corvinus was a famous art patron. Pellegrino di
Terma, Ammanatini (il grasso Legnaiuolo), and two uncles of Benvenuto Cel
lini (Baccio and Francesco Cellini) all found favor at the Hungarian court.

226 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
the waxed cloths in which the coffers had been wrapped
were opened, almost all the pieces were found sticking to
it, and so fell to the ground. Whether Benedetto stood
amazed and confounded at such an event, in the presence
of so many nobles, let every one judge for himself ; never
theless, having put the work together as well as he could,
he so contrived it that the king was tolerably satisfied
therewith ; but the master himself took a mortal aversion
to the occupation, and for the shame it had brought him
to, he could no longer endure it. Laying aside all doubt
and timidity therefore, he resolved to devote himself to
sculpture, an art in which he had already made some at
tempts while at Loretto, with Giuliano, his uncle ; he had
executed the Lavatory of the Sacristy, for example, with
several Angels in marble. Before he left Hungary, there
fore, he proved to the king, that if he had in the first
instance been put to shame, the fault was in the inferior
nature of the work, and not in his genius, which was a
versatile and exalted one. Having executed many works,
both in terra-cotta and marble, all which pleased the king
greatly, Benedetto returned to Florence : he had no sooner
arrived there than he was appointed by the Signoria to ex
ecute the decorations, in marble, for the door of their
chamber of audience, where he sculptured figures of boys,
which are very beautiful, supporting festoons of flowers
with their arms ; but the most admirable portion of this
work is the central figure, that of St. John, as a youth,
which is held to be of singular beauty ; the height is two
braccia : and to the end that the whole work should be by
his own hand, Benedetto executed the wood-work^ which
' The door was e.xecuted in 1481 ; the intarsialura is not by Benedetto, but
by Giuliano and Francesco di Giorgio (II Prancione), and was finished in 1480.
The statue of Saint John (for some time attributed to Donatello) is in the
Bargello. The two putti holding candelabra have been recently discovered,
as has also the Justice (brought lately from the Uffizi to its present place
in the museum). It is a low relief resembling the Justice of the Sala del
Cambio at Perugia, which latter is also attributed by Herr Schmarsow to
Benedetto. The above works (save the Perugian Justice) are now in the

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 227
encloses the door himself, representing figures in woods in
laid, on the folds, on each fold one, that is to say, the
figure of Dante being on one side, and that of Petrarch on
the other. To any who has seen no other work of this kind
by Benedetto, these two figures alone may suffice ,to show
how admirable and excellent a master in tarsia he was.
The audience-chamber has, in our day, been painted at the
command of the Signor Duke Cosimo, by Francesco Sal
viati, as will be related in its due place.
In the church of Santa Maria Novella, at Florence, and
in the chapel, painted by Filippino, Benedetto construct
ed a Sepulchral Monument' of black marble, for Filippo
Strozzi, the elder ; he there represented the Madonna with
Angels, executed very carefully. The portrait of Filippo
Strozzi, in marble, prepared by Benedetto for the same
place, is now in the Strozzi palace. For the elder Lorenzo
de' Medici, the same artist executed a Bust of the Floren
tine painter Giotto ; it was placed in Santa Maria del' Fiore,
over the inscription, of which we have spoken sufficiently
in the life of Giotto. This work, which is in marble, is also
considered to be a tolerably good one.^

Bargello. See Sig. Umberto Rossi, II museo nazionale nel triennio, 1889-91,
V Archivio Storico delV Arte, VI.
5 This monument (1491-1493) is still in the Strozzi chapel, and Perkins
(Tuscan Sculptors, VoL I., p. 280) calls the tondo of Madonna, supported by
adoring angels, not only Benedetto's masterpiece, but one of the best works
of the fifteenth century. The bust of Filippo, after remaining for a long time
in the Strozzi palace, was sold to the Louvre. There is also a Strozzi bust iu
Berlin, considered by Dr. Bode (Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1888) to be the
terra-cotta maquette for the bust in the Louvre, and much finer than the latter.
° According to Milanesi, the Commune, and not Lorenzo de' Medici, paid for
the Giotto and for a bust of Antonio Squarcialupi the organist, executed in
the same year, 1490, and for the same place. See Dr. Bode on the youthful
works of Benedetto in the Repertorium f^iir Ktmstwissenschaft, VIL, for
the year 1884. Dr. Bode attributes to Benedetto iu Loreto the Evangelists,
lunette reliefs in terra-cotta smaltata ; two, however of these lunettes have
been found to be modern substitutions. Sig. Pietro Gianuizzi, Benedetto da
Majano Scultore in Loreto, doubts if the lunettes he his, and thinks the lava
tory cannot be a youthful work, but that Benedetto was iu Loreto between
1484 and 1487.

228 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
Benedetto repaired, at a later period, to Naples, sum
moned thither on the death of his uncle Giuliano,' to whom
he was heir ; he there, in addition to certain works executed
for the king, sculptured a relief in marble, for the Count of
Terranuova,^ in the monastery belonging to the monks of
Monte Oliveto. The subject of this work is the Annuncia
tion ; ^ the Virgin is surrounded by Saints and beautiful
Boys, who sustain garlands of flowers ; in the predella are
several bassi-rilievi in a very good manner. In Faenza this
master erected a magniflcent marble tomb for the body of
San Savino,^" and on this are six stories in bas-relief, repre
senting events from the life of that saint ; they show much
power of invention, and are of most correct design, which is
manifest in the buildings represented, as well as in the
figures ; insomuch that, for this as well as for other works,

' According to M. Miintz (L'Age d'Or), Giuliano da Majano, brother of
Benedetto, built the triumphal arch at Naples called Porta Capuana, the
Villas of Poggio Reale and La Duchesca, and planned the Duomo of Faenza.
He was for a time master of the works of the cathedral at Florence and of the
sanctuary at Loreto. Vasari erropeously attributes to him, in the palace of
San Marco at Rorae and in the Vatican, work which was in reality done by
Giuliano da San Gallo.
" A letter from the queen of Naples to Lorenzo de' Medici, quoted by
MUanesi, shows that this monument was completed in 1489. Benedetto also
undoubtedly was commissioned to execute sculptures for the Porta dell' Area
del Castelntcovo, and left several unfinished fragments of this work at the
time of his death, since such are mentioned in the inventory of his effects.
» This bas-relief is in situ. The background, a palace in a garden, is treated
in perspective, and indirectly shows the influence of Ghiberti. See Perkins
(Tuscan Sculptors), who also characterizes the Madoima as pleasing, the
angel as violent and mannered.
1° The altar of San Savino in the cathedral of Faenza is classed by Dr. Bode
as an early work of 1471, and is now generally accepted aa such. Perkins
(Tuscan Sculptors) notes that the bas-reliefs, although pictures in marble,
more nearly meet the requirements of sculpture than do many of Ghiberti's
reliefs. The altar has above it a lunette with a sarcophagus and statuettes of
the Virgin and two Angels ; below are pilasters and six reliefs. Other im
portant works by Benedetto (1490-93-94) are in San Gimignano, in the Col
legiate church, and in Sant' Agostino. In the latter church there is an altar of
San Bartolo, with statuettes of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and a Madonna in
tondo. The second work is a much less important altar of Santa Fina, while
there is a bust of Onofrio Vanni in the sacristy of the Duomo.

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 229
Benedetto was justly acknowledged to be an excellent mas
ter in sculpture. Before he left Romagna, he was accord
ingly invited to execute the portrait of Galeotti Malatesta ;
he also sculptured the likeness — but whether earlier or later
I do not know — of Henry VIL, king of England, which he
did after a portrait on paper, furnished to him by certain
Florentine merchants. The sketches of these two portraits
were found in the house of Benedetto after his death.''
Having finally returned to Florence, he constructed for
Pietro Mellini, a Florentine citizen, and at that time a very
rich merchant, the pulpit of marble '^ which is still to be
seen in the church of Santa Croce, a work considered to be
one of the rarest excellence, and more beautiful than any
other ever executed in that manner. The events from the
life of St. Francis, which are there represented, are greatly
extolled, and are, indeed, flnished with so much skill and
care, that nothing better in marble could possibly be de
sired, Benedetto having with consummate art sculptured
rocks, trees, buildings, and various objects in perspective,
with other things, brought out with marvellous freedom.
There is besides a repetition of these decorations on a sepul
chral stone beneath the pulpit, and this is executed with so
much ability that it would not be possible to praise it suffi
ciently. It is affirmed that in the progress of this work
Benedetto had considerable difficulty with the wardens of
the works in Santa Croce ; the cause whereof was, that he
proposed to erect his pulpit against one of the columns
which support some of the arches that sustain the roof, and
intended to perforate the same in order to make a place for
" These busts have not been traced.
" This pulpit is one of those famous and exquisite decorative compositions
in which the Tuscans excelled. In detail, the detached figures are graceful
rather thau powerful, and the reliefs, which vary in excellence, fall below the
great reliefs of the epoch. The bust of Pietro Mellini by Benedetto ( 1474) is
in the Bargello. Three terra-cotta bozzi for the panels of this pulpit are in
private collections in Italy, a fourth, iu the Berlin Museum, represents the
dream of Pope Innocent and was never executed in marble, but was replaced
in the pulpit by the "approval of the Order of St. Francis."

230 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
his staircase, and the entrance to the pulpit. But the war-
dens refused their consent, fearing that he might so greatly
weaken the column by the cavity required for the stairs, as
to cause the weight above to press too heavily upon it, there
by endangering the safety of that part of the church ; Mel
lini, however, having given a guarantee that the work
should be completed without injury of any kind to the
building, they finally agreed. Benedetto then first of all
caused the column to be secured externally by strong bands
of bronze, all that part, that is to say, which from the pul
pit downwards is covered with granite {pietra forte) ; )ib
then constructed the steps for ascending to the pulpit, and
in proportion as he excavated the column within, did he
add to it externally the granite above-mentioned, iu the
manner that we now see. He thus conducted this work to
perfection, to the astonishment of all who beheld it, dis
playing in every part, and in all the parts together, the ut
most excellence that could be desired in such an enter-
prize. Many affirm that Filippo Strozzi the elder, when propos
ing to build his palace, requested the advice of Benedetto
da Maiano, who thereupon constructed a model, after which
the building was commenced ; but the fabric was after
wards continued and completed by Cronaca, when Benedetto
da Maiano was dead.'^

^3 This palace, one of the grandest ever buHt, is not inferior to the Palazzo
Medici, in its impression of mass and weight ; at the same time it is even
more picturesque in the distribution and varied size of its openings, the ar
rangements of its rings, gratings, and lanterns. Once seen, it can no more be
forgotten than can the Pitti, or the Palazzo Vecchio, and it is a worthy me
morial of its line of citizen -princes, the Strozzi. We can ask no more perfect
and no more astonishing example of the breadth and depth of Renaissance
culture than is displayed iu the gamut which has at one end Benedetto the
intarsiatore inlaying a chest for the King of Hungary, aud at the other end,
Benedetto the architect rearing this palace, which among all dwelling houses
remains the most formidably imposing by its frowning mass, yet is pictu
resque beyond many richer structures, and which in its skilfully graduated bos-
sages, seems certainly not the work of a carver of delicate Madonnas, but
rather of a Michelangelesque energy. If Benedetto had been a painter-archi-

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 231
Having acquired sufficient to enable him to live, Bene
detto would no longer undertake works in marble after those
enumerated above, except that he finished the Santa Maria
Maddalena which had been commenced by Desiderio da
Settignano, in the church of Santa Trinita, and executed
the Crucifix which is above the altar in Santa Maria del
Fiore, with some others of a similar kind."
"With respects to architecture, although this master un
dertook but a few works in that branch of art, he yet
proved his skill in those few no less than in sculpture, more
especially in the management of certain alterations * un
dertaken at enormous cost under his direction and by his
counsels, in the palace of the Signoria of Florence. '= The
first f was that in the hall, now called the HaU of the Du
gento, over which the Signoria desired to erect, not one
similar room, but two rooms, a hall and an audience cham
ber. A wall was thus required to be raised, and not a slight
one either ; in this wall there was to be a marble door, and
one of tolerable thickness, nor was less skill and judgment
than were possessed by Benedetto required for the execution
of such a work.''
In order to avoid diminishing the hall first-mentioned,
therefore, and yet secure the proper division of those above,
Benedetto proceeded in the following manner : on a beam of
one braccio in thickness, and extending in length the whole
breadth of the hall, he fastened another consisting of two
tect instead of a sculptor-architect the observer of the Strozzi Palace would
have added, that a building with such a play of light upon its surface was the
work of a colorist. Benedetto laid its foundations in 1489 ; Filippo Strozzi
died in 1491 ; the second range of windows was completed in 1498. II Cronaca
finished the building, but his beautiful cornice has never been carried out in
its entire length,
* Instead of "certain alterations" read "three ceilings" (tre palchi).
t The translator has here omitted the word ceiling (palco) .
" The wooden crucifix of 1490 still stands on the high altar of the Duomo.
^^ This alteration of the Palazzo Vecchio consisted in the building, just
above the Sala del Dugento, of two new rooms — the Sala del Oriuolo and
the Sala dell' Udienza.
'" Milanesi is doubtful whether Benedetto was really the author of all this
work, and is inclined to credit it to Giuliano da Majano and il Francione.

232 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
pieces, and giving an elevation by its thickness of two-thirds
of a braccio ; these being carefully secured and fastened at
both ends, formed a projection of two braccia on each side
of the wall, and were furnished with clamps, in such a man
ner that an arch half a braccio thick, and constructed of
double bricks, could be raised upon them, being supported,
moreover, by the principal walls. These beams were then
dove-tailed together, and so firmly united by strong clamps
and bands of iron, that they were no longer two, but one.
But to the end that these beams should not have to bear
more than the wall supporting the arch, while the arch itself
should support all the rest, the master furthermore attached
two strong iron bars to the arch, and these being firmly
bolted into the lower part of the beams, upheld, and do up
hold them in such sort, that even though they did not suf
fice of themselves, yet the arch (by means of the two strong
bands surrounding the beams, one on one side of the
marble door and the other on the other) would be capable
of upholding a much greater weight than that of the wall
built upon it, which is of bricks, and half a braccio in thick
ness : he nevertheless caused the bricks of which the wall
was constructed to be moulded in such a manner as to give
increased breadth to the lower part of the wall, and thus
impart greater stability to the whole. By these means, and
thanks to the judicious management of Benedetto, the Hall
of the Dugento retained all its extent, and above that hall,
in the same space, by means of the partition wall, the hall
called that of the O'/iuolo was constructed, with the cham
ber of audience wherein the triumph of Camillus, by the hand
of Salviati, is depicted. The ornamental work of the ceiling
was executed in rich carving by Marco del Tasso, with the
assistance of his brothers Domenico and Giuliano who like
wise decorated the ceiling of the hall of the Oriuolo, and
that of the audience chamber. The marble door between
these rooms had been made double : of the outer door and
its decorations we have already spoken, and over the inner
one Benedetto placed a seated figure of Justice, holding a

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 233
sword in one hand and the globe in the other ; around the
arch is the following inscription : Diligite Justitiam qui
judicatis terram. The whole work was conducted with ad
mirable" art, and finished with extreme care and dili
gence. For the church of the Madonne delle Grazie, but a short
distance without the city of Arezzo, Benedetto erected a
portico with a flight of steps leading to the door of the en
trance.'^ In the construction of this portico, Benedetto
made the arches resting on the columns, and beneath the
roof he placed an architrave, frieze and cornice entirely
around the fabric. To the channel for conveying off the
water, which projects to the extent of a braccio and a third,
he gave the form of a chaplet of roses, cut in the hard stone
called macigno; between the base of the eaves and the den
ticulated and oviform ornaments beneath the channel, there
is a space of two braccia and a half ; and this, with the half
braccio added by the tiles, gives a projecting roof of about
three braccia, a very useful, beautiful, rich, and ingenious
work. In this portico, and in the peculiarities of its con
struction, there are many things worthy the consideration
of artists ; for the master, desiring to give his roof so great
a projection without modillions or corbels for its support,
made the stones on which are the carved rosettes of such a
size that the one half of them only stood forward, while the
other half was firmly built into the wall ; being thus coun
terpoised, they were able to bear the whole weight afterwards
laid on them without any danger of injury to the building,
as they have done to the present day, and as the architect
did not wish the roof of the portico to appear of many
pieces, as it really was, he surrounded the whole, piece by
pieces, with a cornice, which seems to form a base to the
1' The statue of Justice has been replaced by another, with marble head and
bands, and porphyry body ; a low relief of a Justice by Benedetto has recently
been discovered in the Uffizi and taken to the Bargello ; it is probably from
one of these doors of Benedetto. See note 4.
" This beautiful portico still exists, but the staircase has been altered.

234 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
chaplet of rosettes, and this being fixed in coffer-work and
well conjoined, united the whole in such a manner, that
whoever sees the work believes it to be entirely of one
piece. In the same place, Benedetto constructed a level
ceiling decorated with gilded rosettes, which is much ad
mired. Having purchased an estate at about half a mile from
Prato, beyond the gate leading towards Florence, Benedetto
built a very beautiful little chapel on the high-road, at no
great distance from the gate. In a recess of this building
he placed a figure of Our Lady with the Child in her arms.
which is only in terra-cotta, and although of no other colour
than that of the clay, is so admirably executed that its
beauty is equal to that of marble. The same may be said of
two angels, each holding a light in his hand, placed by the
artist over all, by way of ornament. The decoration of the
altar consists of a Dead Christ, the Madonna, and San Gio
vanni, executed in marble, and singularly beautiful. At
his death this master left in his house the commencement of
many other works, both in terra-cotta and marble."
" Milanesi has shown that Benedetto and Giuliano had still another brother,
Giovanni, and that the three working together raade, iu 1480, this taber
nacle of the Madonna dell' Ulivo. The tabernacle and Madonna are now in
the cathedral of Prato. The Berlin Museum has a painted terra-cotta Ma
donna and ChUd (see Vol. XXXVIII., Second Period, p. 378, Gazette des Beaux
Arts tor IS^S) , which, according to Dr. Bode, is very like the Madonna dell'
Ulivo, but larger and finer, and which he believes to be undoubtedly by Bene
detto. Dr. Bode also ascribes to him another terra-cotta. a Madonna bome
by Angels, and certain reliefs, all in the Berlin Museum. Matteo Civitali, al
though not included by Vasari among his Lives, is a sculptor of great impor
tance and closely affiliated with Benedetto of Maiano by the character of his
works. M. Charles Yriarte has written (Paris, 1886) an important monograph
upon Matteo Civitali, in which he claims that Matteo's style unites the fif
teenth and sixteenth centuries, and that he is the last of those contained yet
fervent sculptors who instinctively avoided all violence of movement and all
contortion. He was born in 1436, and died in 1501, passing his life in Flor
ence, Lucca, Pisa, Genoa, Sarzana, and Carrara. Nearly all his best works
are in Lucca. These are the torab of Pietro da Noceto (cathedral of Lucca),
a Fountain (church of San Michele), a Pietd (church of the Laramari), the
pulpit and two fonts (in cathedral), a Madonna and Child (church of the
Trinity) , and Statue of the Virgin in the fagade of San Michele. He is also one

BENEDETTO DA MAIANO 235
Benedetto da Maiano ^ ^' drew extremely well, as may be
seen by certain drawings preserved in our book. He died
of the most delicate and exquisite among the masters of ornament— see his
tenipietto, also his altar of Saint Regulus, both in the cathedral of Lucca, and
his Annunciation in the Museum. There are in the cathedral of Genoa six
statues by Matteo Civitali representing Adam, Eve, Zachariah, Elizabeth, and
Abraham. A large relief in a lunette with a scene from the Ufe of St. John
Baptist is also attributed to Matteo.
™ Benedetto, born 1443, died May 34, 1497.
ai When Benedetto da Maiano died Cosimo Rosseli was appointed adminis
trator. The list of books which Benedetto left is interesting, as showing what
works an artist of the time owned and used. They were the Bible, the
Divina Commedia, the Vangeli e Fioretti of St. Francis, Titus Livius, the
Chronicle of Florence, the Life of Alexander of Macedon, Lives of the Fathers,
Boccaccio, S. Antonino, the Book of Vices and Virtues, the Novellino, and
Libro de' Laudi. See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy,
ni., 429, note 3, quoting a report of Cesare Guasti, published in Archiv.
Stor., Vol. XVI., part 1st, p. 93.
Benedetto da Maiano is a master who never rises to the greatest heights,
hut who is never disappointing, is never inadequate, and who in his finest
Madonnas (generally those in the tondi above sepulchral monuments), and
especially in his architectural arrangement of pulpits, shrines, etc., attains the
full measure of the best Florentine eclecticism ; with his bust of Pietro Mellini
he holds an honorable place among the realistic portraitists of his epoch. In his
reliefs he had a tendency to follow Ghiberti, and when we see the relative
weakness of reliefs in the hands of even such good sculptors as Benedetto,
we realize how easily pictorial sculpture might have triumphed and degen
erated had it not been for the corrective influence of Donatello. Indeed it is
by comparing the reliefs of the gates of San Giovanni with those of Benedetto,
Antonio Rossellino, and others that we best realize the transcendent capacity
of Lorenzo Ghiberti, advancing far beyond its epoch and being sufficient unto
itself. Benedetto as an architect has an enduring title to fame in the Strozzi
Palace of Florence, as sculptor he has left no superlative masterpiece, al
though Vernon Lee and Pater have found material for admirable studies in
his bust of Pietro Mellini ; but, on the other hand, he produced works which
call attention in nearly every medium that the Renaissance offered to the
sculptor-decorator. He is the all-round craftsman of the Quattrocento —
marble-cutter, inlayer, worker in terra-cotta, stucco, and carved wood, direct
ing a whole staff of workmen in his shop of the Via de' Servi (a shop which
still shelters Florentine industry), and leaving us, in the inventory of his per
sonal estate, his furniture and books, material enough to give an excellent
idea of the simple and yet thoroughly artistic surroundings of the men who
decorated fifteenth-century Florence. His books introduce us to a workman
who knew, above all, his Bible aud his Lives of the Saints, who read his Flor
entine History, Dante, and only added a few classical authors, since to him
who worked for churches Madonna and the saints sufficed, and he who did the
mythological decorations for a study or palace could get his scheme, ready

236 BENEDETTO DA MAIANO
in the year 1498, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and
was interred by his friends in San Lorenzo. His property
was bequeathed, after the death of certain relatives, to the
brotherhood of the Bigallo.
made, from some humanist and scholar. In sum, Benedetto in his best
achievement is the comrade of the most excellent eclectic sculptors, in his
minor works he is the representative of the craftsmen who supplied the artis
tic daily needs of the Renaissance.

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO, FLORENTINE PATNT-
ER, GOLDSMITH, AND SCULPTOR'
[Born 1435; died 1488.]
Bibliography. — W. Bode, Italieniseher Bildhauer der Renaissance. W.
Bode, Bildwerke des Andrea del Verrocchio, Jahrbuch der K. P. S., Vol. IIL,
91, 335. W, Bode, in the Dohme Series of Kunst und Kiinstler. Hermann
Ulmann, 11 modello del Verrocchio per il rilievo del Dossale d'Argento, I'Arch.
Stor. dell' Arte, VU. B. Muntz, Andrea del Verrocchio et le tombeau de
Francesca Tornabuoni, Gazette des Beaux Arts, Third Period, VI. , p. 377.
Cornelius von Fabriczy, Andrea del Verrocchio. ai servizi de' Medici, in the
Archivio Storico deW Arte forl895, VIIL, p. 164, P. Frauceschini, II Dossale
d'Argento del tempio di S. Giovanni, in Firenze, Memoria Storica, Florence,
1894. II Libro di Antonio Billi e le sue copie nella Biblioteca Nazionale di
Firenze, published by Cornelius von Fabriczy, also contains certain refer
ences to Verrocchio. The warm advocate of Verrocchio, Dr. Bode, has been as
warmly combated by Dr. Frizzoni, who refuses to accept many of the former's
attributions. THE Florentine, Andrea del Verrocchio, was at once
a goldsmith, a master in perspective, a sculptor, a
carver in wood, a painter, and a musician ; but it is
true that he had a somewhat hard and crude manner in
sculpture and painting, as one who had acquired those arts
by infinite labour and study, rather than from a gift of
nature. Had he possessed the facility arising from natural
powers to an equal degree with the diligence and industry
wherewith he was gifted, and which he bestowed on the
arts he exercised, Andrea Verrocchio would have been
among the most excellent of masters. But these arts re
quire the union of zealous study with natural qualities in
their highest perfection, and where either fails, the artist
' Andrea di Michele di Francesco Clone was born in 1435 ; he was appren
ticed to Giuliano Verroochi, and hence called del Verrocchio,

238 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
rarely attains to the first rank in his profession.' Yet
study will conduct him to a certain eminence, and therefore
it is that Andrea, who carried this to an extent beyond all
other masters, is counted among the distinguished and
eminent masters of our arts.
In his youth Andrea Verrocchio gave considerable atten
tion to science, more especially to geometry. When occu
pied in goldsmith's work he executed, among many other
things, certain brooches or buttons for the copes used in
the church of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which are
still in that cathedral,^ with several larger works ; among
these is a vase surrounded by figures of animals, garlands of
flowers, and various fantasies, a work known to all gold
smiths, with another of similar kind, on which there is a
dance of children, which is very graceful and beautiful.
^ Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle observe that Verrocchio in his painting
combined the manners of several different masters — Fra Filippo Lippi, Andrea
dal Castagno, and Domenico Veneziano. In spite of the wide dissimilarity of
the two sculptors, Baldinucci's statement that Verrocchio studied with Do
natello is thoroughly reasonable, as he learned much from his great prede
cessor, however long or short a time he may have been actually his pupil
^ All these works have perished ; as a goldsmith Verrocchio is only known
to us by one bas-relief upon the silver altar of the Florentine Baptistery.
Herr Cornelius von Fabriczy, in an article upon Andrea del Verrocchio, in the
service of the Medici, L'Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, May-June, 189.5, pp. 164-176,
notes our lack of knowledge concerning Andrea's youth, and the fact that the
earliest works mentioned by Vasari (putting goldsmith's work out of the
question) do not antedate 1467, in which year he began the St. Thomas of Or
San Michele, while most of the works named by Vasari were not begun before
1483. Herr von Fabriczy shows that by 1461 Andrea had graduated from the
goldsmith's shop, and had become a competitor with Desiderio and Giuliano
da Majano for a chapel or cediculus to be erected iu the cathedral of Orvieto.
(This chapel, which was eventually built by Giovanni di Meuccio da Siena, has
been destroyed. ) Herr von Fabriczy publishes in his article a list (from a
fifteenth-century document) of works done by Andrea for the Medici ;
this includes, besides the David and the Putto of the Palazzo Vecchio, a hel
met, painted standards, and other objects executed for the jousts of Giuliano
and Lorenzo de' Medici. Another entry in the list mentions the setting up of
many " antique" heads above the arches to the court-yard of the Medici Pal
ace ; anything done for this court-yard, finished in 14.54, would count among
Andrea's earliest works. The list, furthermore, shows that Verrocchio, like
so many other artists of the Renaissance, superintended the arrangements of
i;estivals and processions, or at all events executed decorations for the same.

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 239
These works affording proof of his competence, Andrea
was appointed by the Guild of the Merchants to prepare
two ^ historical compositions in relief, for the two ends of
the altar of San Giovanni ; these works are in silver, and
when completed acquired him high praise and a very great
name. At that time, some of those large flgures of the Apostles,
in silver, which stand ordinarily on the altar of the Pope's
chapel in Rome, were wanting, with other ornaments, also
in silver ; wherefore, Andrea being sent for, the commission
to prepare all that was required in that matter was given to
him with great favour, by Pope Sixtus, when the master
conducted the whole work to completion, with remarkable
judgment and much diligence.^ Meanwhile, Andrea, per
ceiving that great store was set by the many antique statues
and other things of that kind discovered in Rome, seeing
too that the Pope commanded the bronze horse* to be
placed in San Giovanni Laterano, and that even of such
fragments as were daily found — to say nothing of entire
works — great account was made ; observing all this, I say,
he resolved to devote ?iis attention to sculpture, and there
upon, abandoning altogether the calling of the goldsmith,
he set himself to cast certain small flgures in bronze, which
were very much commended : taking courage from this, he
soon afterwards began to work in marble also.'
Now it happened at this time that the wife of Francesco
Tornabuoni ^ died in child-bed, and her husband, who had
* He made only one of these, circa 1477. The altar, kept ordinarily in the
Opera del Duomo, is used once a year in the Baptistery. Two small sketches
in terra-cotta for this silver relief belong to M. Adolphe de Rothschild. M.
Eperjesy, Austrian Ambassador to Rome, has a finer and more complete
sketch, also in terra-cotta, of the same subject. See Herr Hermann Ulmann,
I'Arch. Stor., VIL, 50 (1894).
' Executed 1471-1484, they were stolen about the middle of the last century.
' The horse of the Marcus Aurelius.
' M. Muntz (L'Age d'Or, p. 409), insisting upon the exaggeration of Vasari,
declares that Verrocchio's admiration for antiquity was always purely Pla
tonic. ' Baron von Reumont considers that Giovanni, not Francesco Tornabuoni,

240 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
greatly loved her while living, desired to do her all the hon
our in his power after her death ; he therefore commis
sioned Andrea to erect a monument to her memory, and the
master thereupon represented the lady herself on the stone
which covered her tomb, with the birth of her infant, and
her departure to another life ; he added three figures, rep
resenting three virtues, which were considered very beauti
ful, being the first work that he had executed in marble.*
Having then returned to Florence with money, fame, and
honour, Andrea Verrocchio was appointed to execute a figure
of David in bronze,' two braccia and a half high, which, be
ing completed, was placed, to the great credit of the master,
on the summit of the staircase, where the chain formerly
was. While Andrea was occupied with the statue just de
scribed, he likewise made the figure of Our Lady, in marble,
which is over the tomb of Messer Leonardo Bruni, of Arezzo,
in the church of Santa Croce ; '" this he executed while still
young, for the architect and sculptor, Bernardo Rossellino,
was donor of the monument, and believes that the tomb was never taken from
Florence to its Roman destination. M. Miintz thinks, frora the style of the
fragments of this torab preserved in the Bargello, that the date of the work
must have been much earlier than 1477, the year of Francesco's death, or else
that the tomb was the work of a less skilful artist than Verrocchio. M. Miintz
disagrees with Von Reumont, and is convinced that the tomb of Francesca
was set up in S. M. della Minerva, and was removed about 1588, when the
Tornabuoni family became extinct, and the chapel was given to the Nari. The
three Virtues from this tomb (together with a Justice, added, thinks the critic,
for the sake of symmetry) have been identified by MM. Miintz, Courajod,
and Bode as in the collection of Mme. E. Andre in Paris. They are An
drea's earliest statues of authenticated date. See Gazette des Beaux Arts for
1891, Third Period, VI.
* The translator has here omitted a few words, viz. : " Which sepulchre was
put up in the Minerva."
' The David executed in 1476 (n. s. ) stood first in the Palazzo Vecchio, but is
now in the Bargello. The face is especially interesting, as potentially con
taining the elements which developed into the type of Leonardo da Vinci, and
through the latter into that of Luini, Beltraffio, and half the painters of Lom
bardy. '» A Madonna and Child in tondo, with angels on either side, the whole
forming a lunette. Bruni died in 1443, so that if Verrocchio was really bom
in 1435, he raust have executed this Madonna long after Bruni's death. See
Milanesi, III., 361, note 1,

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 241
who erected the whole work, which is in marble, as we have
before said. The same artist prepared a mezzo-relievo in
marble, of Our Lady with the Child in her arms, a half
length, which was formerly in the Medici palace," and is
now placed, as being a very beautiful thing, over a door in
the apartments of the Duchess of Florence, The same mas
ter also executed two heads in metal, one representing Alex
ander the Great, taken in profile ; the other Darius, por
trayed after his own fancy ; each forming a separate picture
by itself, both in mezzo-relievo, and varied in the crests,
armour, and all other particulars. These were both sent to
Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, by the illustrious Lo
renzo de' Medici, the elder, with many other things, as will
be related in the proper place. '^
Having by all these works acquired the name of an excel
lent master, more especially as regarded casting in bronze,
wherein he took great delight, Andrea was appointed to
execute the monument of Giovanni and Piero, sons of Co
simo de' Medici, the decorations of which are in bronze, and
in full relief. The sarcophagus is of porphyry, supported
by four bronze consoles, which are decorated with foliage of
great beauty, and finished with the most diligent care.
This monument stands between the chapel of the sacrament
and the sacristy,'^ nor would it be possible to discover a
more perfectly executed work, whether cast or chiselled ; on
this occasion the master also gave proof of his skill in archi
tecture. Having erected the tomb in question within the
embrasure of a window, five braccia in breadth, and about
11 There is a fine terra-cotta of this subject in the museum of the Hospital
of S. Maria Nuova, at Florence, The fate of the work mentioned above is
unknown. " Milanesi knows nothing of these works except that a font was ordered of
Andrea by Matthias in 1488.
" This well-known tomb (1473) is still in situ. A document printed by
Herr Cornelius von Fabriczy, Andrea del Verrocchio ai servizi de Medici,
I'Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, May-June, 1895, proves that Andrea also executed the
very simple monument to Cosimo de' Medici the elder, in the same sacristy.
The fountain or lavatory in the little room off the sacristy is variously attrib
uted to Verrocchio and to Rossellino,

242 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
ten high, and placed the sarcophagus on a basement which
divides the above-named chapel of the sacrament from the
old sacristy ; he then, to close the aperture from the tomb
to the ceiling, constructed a grating in bronze, of an ovi
form pattern, representing most naturally a net work of
ropes, which he adorned at intervals with festoons and other
fanciful embellishments, the whole work evincing great
powers of invention, extraordinary judgment, and consum
mate skill.
Donatello had erected a tabernacle for the Council of Six
of the Guild of Merchants (that which is now in the oratory
of Or San Michele opposite to St. Michael), and there was
likewise to have been made a San Tommaso in bronze, lay
ing his hand on the wound in the side of Christ : but this
work was not proceeded with, because among those who had
the charge of that matter, were some who would have it done
by Donatello, while others would have Lorenzo Ghiberti,
and thus the affair had remained while Donate and Lorenzo
were living, but the two statues were finally entrusted to
Andrea Verrocchio. Having accordingly made the models
and moulds, our artist cast the figures, when they came out
so firm, complete, and beautiful, that the casting was con
sidered a most admirable one. Andrea then set himself to
polish and finish his work, which he brought to the perfec
tion in which we now see it, and than which nothing better
can be found. The incredulity of Thomas, and his too
great desire to assure himself of the truth of the fact related
to him, are clearly perceived in his countenance, but at the
same time the love with which he lays his hand most ten
derly on the side of Christ is also manifest. In the figure
of the Saviour likewise, as he raises his arm with much free
dom of attitude, and opening his vesture, disperses the
doubts of his incredulous disciple, there is all that grace and
divinity, so to speak, which art can give to the form it repre
sents. Tlie manner in which Andrea has clothed these fig
ures also, in beautiful and well arranged draperies, makes it
manifest that he was no less intimately acquainted with his

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 243
art than were Donate, Lorenzo, and the other masters who
had preceded him : wherefore this work well deserved to be
placed within a tabernacle made by Donate, and to be held,
as it ever has been, in the highest estimation.'*
The reputation of Andrea could not now attain to any
higher degree in this branch of art, and as he was one of
those men who are not satisfied with excellence in one thing,
but who desire to possess the same distinction in others also,
he turned his attention to painting, and by means of study,
produced the cartoon of a combat of undraped figures, very
well executed with the pen, to be afterwards painted on the
facade of a building.'^ He prepared the cartoons in like
manner for other pictures, historical pieces, &c., and after
wards began to put them into execution, but whatever may
have been the cause, these works remained unfinished.
There are some drawings by this master in our book, which
display very great judgment and extraordinary patience ;
among them are certain female heads, of which the features,
expressions, and arrangement of the hair, were constantly
imitated, for their exceeding beauty, by Leonardo da Vinci. '^
We have besides two horses, with the various measurements
and the proportions according to which they are to be in
creased from a smaller to a larger size, all which are correct
and free from error. There is also a rilievo in terra-cotta
in my possession ; this is the head of a horse copied from
the antique, and is a singularly beautiful thing. The
" The Christ with St. Thomas was commenced in 1478 and finished in
1483. IL Miintz, in praising the profound sentiment of this group, sees in its
expression a foreshadowing of what Andrea's great pupil, Leonardo, was to give
to the world later in his Last Supper of Milan. C. C. Perkins, while also em
phasizing this sentiment, deplores what he finds to be exaggeration in the ex
pression and angularity of movement and draperies alike. One may add that
there is a certain confusion in these draperies, and that the eye wanders over
the entire group instead of instinctively focusing one paramount and striking
effect. 15 This cartoon is lost.
" Here the direct testimony of Vasari is added to the indication seen in
the face of the David , that Verrocchio was the originator of the type which
has become that of Leonardo da Vinci.

244 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
venerable Don Vincenzio Borghini has likewise drawings in
his book, of which we have already spoken. Among others,
there is the design for a sepulchral monument, erected by
Andrea, in Venice, for a doge of that republic, with an
Adoration of the Magi and a female head, all depicted on
paper with the most finished delicacy."
Andrea Verrocchio executed the figure in bronze of a boy
strangling a fish, on the fountain of the villa at Careggi,
for Lorenzo de' Medici. This the Signor Duke Cosimo has
now caused to be placed, as we see, on the fountain in the
court of his palace ; the boy is a truly admirable figure.'^
At a later period, and when the erection of the cupola of
Santa Maria del Fiore had been completed, it was resolved,
after many discussions, that the copper ball, which, accord
ing to the directions left by Filippo Brunelleschi, was to
be placed on the summit of that edifice, should be prepared.
The order to do this was consequently given '^ to Andrea,
who made the ball four braccia high, and fixing it on a disc
of proportionate size, he chained and secured it in such a
manner that the cross could afterwards be safely erected
upon it, which operations being completed, the whole was
put up amidst great festivities and with infinite rejoicing of
the people. There was without doubt much skill and care
required for the execution of this work, and the rather, as
it was needful so to contrive that the ball could be entered,
as is in fact the case, from below, and also to secure it by
various fastenings, in such a manner that storm and wind
should not damage the construction.^
Andrea Verrocchio never gave himself rest ; he was per
petually occupied either with painting or sculpture, and
sometimes changed from one to the other, to the end that
" Most of the drawings mentioned by Vasari are lost.
1" This little statue, still in the basin of the fountain of the Palazzo Vec
chio, is one of the most charming works of the Renaissance. It is a caprice,
but a caprice full at once of science and of spontaneity.
i» In 1468.
" After the ball of Andrea was thrown down by lightning, the present one,
which is larger, was erected in its stead.

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 245
he might not weary himself by too long a continuance at
one thing, as many do. And although he did not put the
cartoons above described in execution, he nevertheless did
paint some pictures ; among others, one for the nuns of San
Domenico, in Florence, a work in which it appeared to him
that he had acquitted himself very well ; ^' wherefore, no
long time after, he painted another in San Salvi, for the
monks of Vallombrosa. The subject of this picture is the
Baptism of Christ by St. John,^^ and being assisted in it by
Leonardo da Vinci, then a youth and Andrea's disciple, the
former painted therein the figure of an angel, which was
much superior to the other parts of the picture. Perceiv
ing this, Andrea resolved never again to take pencil in hand,
since Leonardo, though still so young, had acquitted him
self in that art better than he had done.^
Cosimo de' Medici, having at this time many antiquities
^^ Mr. Berenson (Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, New York, 1896)
attributes to Verrocchio an Annunciation (Uffizi, 1388), a Madonna and Angel
(104a, Berlin), and, conditionally, three profile portraits of women (Uffizi,
Berlin, Poldi-Pezzoli of Milan) ; a Madonna and Angels (London), and a por
trait (Vienna, Liohtenstein) . Herr Fabriczy, op. cit., proves that Verrocchio
painted a portrait of Lucrezia Donati ; he thinks it may be identified with a
portrait of a girl in the Berlin Museum, there ascribed to F. Granacci, or per
haps with the profile portrait of a girl accredited to Raffaellino del Garbo, in
the Barker collection, London.
'^ In the Florentine Academy.
'^ This seems like many of the fables of the Renaissance ;^ but Dr. Richter,
in his Leonardo da Vinci, says that not only the angel mentioned by Vasari,
but also the second angel and the figure of Christ are painted in oil, the
favorite mediura of Leonardo, whereas Andrea never departed from the use of
tempera. M Miintz, in the Revue des Deux Mondes, 1887, Vol. LXXXHL, p.
659, advocates the theory that Verrocchio only really developed after contact
with his great pupil Leonardo, from whom he learned quite as much as Leonardo
did from him. Dr. Bode, after a long and careful comparative study (see his
Italieniseher Bildhauer der Renaissance), attributes to Verrocchio a Madonna
in the Berlin Museum, one in the Stadel Institute of Frankfort, the fine
Tobias with the tliree archangels in the Florentine Academy (see Dr. Gustave
Frizzoni, who combats Dr. Bode in Vol. L of the Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, p.
393), aud the Tobias with a single angel in the National Gallery. He restores
indeed to Verrocchio a whole group of pictures accorded to him by Messrs.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, but given by Morelli to the PoUajuoli. MM. Lafe
nestre and Richtenberger accredit to Verrocchio, and reproduce in their
Florence, p. 39, a Virgin, enthroned with saints, in the Uffizi.

246 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
brought from Rome, in his possession, had caused an exceed
ingly beautiful Marsyas, in white marble, fastened to a tree,
and on the point of being flayed,^^ to be placed within the
door of this garden or court where it borders on the Via
de Ginori. This, Lorenzo, his nephew, desired to see ac
companied by another Marsyas in pietra rossa (the torso
and head of which had come into his hands), a work of high
antiquity, and much greater beauty than that flrst men
tioned ; but the figure being so extensively mutilated, he
could not effect his purpose, whereupon he gave the torso
and head to Andrea Verrocchio,^ that this master might re
store it, and he completed it so perfectly, adding the legs,
thighs, and arms that were wanting to that figure, in pieces
of red marble, that Lorenzo was highly satisfied, and caused
the statue to be placed in face of the other on the opposite
side of the door. The antique torso of this Marsyas was
executed with such minute care and thought, that certain
slender white veins in the red stone had been turned to ac
count by the artist, and made to seem like those small nerves
discovered in the human form when the skin has been re
moved, a circumstance that must have given this work a
most life-like appearance when in its original perfection.*
The Venetians at this time, desiring to do honour to the
distinguished valour of Bartolommeo da Bergamo, who had
obtained for them many great victories, resolved to raise a
monument to his name, hoping thereby to encourage other
leaders. Having heard the renown of Andrea, they there
fore invited him to Venice, where he was commissioned to
execute an equestrian statue of the commander above-named,
* " Qua7ido aveva il suo primiero pulimento " should be translated " when
it had its first polish."
" See the Life of Donatello, p. 316 of Vol. 1.
^^ M. Miintz expresses surprise that Lorenzo should have set this task to a
man so little in real sympathy with antique art as was Verrocchio. Milanesi
doubts the attribution to Verrocchio, as restorer, of the second Marsyas in the
Uffizi, believing this Marsyas to be rather the one given by Don Virginio
Orsini. (See Vol. III., p. 367, note 1.) Herr von Fabriczy, op. cit., says that
the two torsi of Marsyas at present iu the gaUery are not those restored by
Verrocchio and Donatella,

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 247
which was to be placed on the Piazza of SS. Giovanni and
Paolo. The master accordingly, having prepared the
model, was proceeding to take the necessary measures for
casting it in bronze, when, by the favour of certain persons
among the Venetian nobles, it was determined that Vellano
of Padua should execute the figure of the general, and
Andrea Verrocchio that of the horse only ; but the latter no
sooner heard this, than having first broken the head and
legs of his mould, he returned in great anger to Florence
without saying a word. His departure being told to the
Signoria, they caused him to understand that he should
never dare again to enter Venice, for if he did so they would
take off his head. To this menace the master wrote in re
ply, that he would take care not to return, seeing that
when they had once taken ofl his head, it would be beyond
their power to give him another, nor could they ever get as
good a one put on the horse, whose head he had broken, as
he would have made for it. Notwithstanding this reply,
which did not displease those rulers, Andrea was afterwards
induced to return to Venice, when his appointments were
doubled. He then restored his first model, and cast it in
bronze, but did not entirely finish it, for having taken cold,
when he had exposed himself to much fatigue and heat in
casting the work, he died in Venice after a few days' ill
ness.^' Nor was this undertaking, which wanted but a little
^' The celebrated condottiere, Bartolommeo Colleone, who was captain of the
Venetian forces, died (1476), leaving to the republic 316,000 gold florins, be
sides household effects, plate, horses, etc., on condition that his equestrian
statue should be erected in the square of St. Mark. The Signory was per
plexed ; an old statute forbade the encumbering of the (then) small piazza with
monuments, and Venetian jealousy grudged granting so great an honor to any
individual ; but at length the Signory, always fertile in shifts and compromises,
decided to place the statue on the square of the Scuola di San Marco, adjoin
ing the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, thus adhering to the letter of the will
and depriving the great piazza of a magnificent ornament. This statue of
Colleone is one of the mysteries, as it is one of the triumphs, of the Renais
sance. How could Verrocchio, often so tentative and apparently hesitating,
produce this magnificently sure and perfect masterpiece ? Much in it is cer
tainly characteristic of him, but combined with the life which is seen in his
Putto of the fountain of the Palazzo Vecchio, and something of the angularity

248 AIN^DREA DEL VERROCCHIO
to its completion, and wsls placed in its destined position,
the only one he thus left unfinished : ^ there was another
of his David, there is a grandeur and a fire which he never approaches in his
other works. If Leopardi the Venetian, who finished and signed it, deserves
the greater part of the glory, why do his other artistic creations show no kin
ship with it V Verrocchio's will proves that he left the statue unfinished ; but
did he leave a model nearly completed, nearly ready for casting ? He desired
that Lorenzo di Credi should finish his work, but the Senate allotted its com
pletion to Alessandro Leopardi. Leopardi inscribed the surcingle under the
horse's belly with the words "Alexander Leopardu^ v.f. optis.''' The v.f.
may mean venetus fecit (made) or venetus fudit (cast). The Venetians called
him " del Cavallo," and the Council of Ten say in their registers, '' in behalf
of this work we name and praise only our own Alessandro. " This last has but
little weight; any Venetian would have said as much of any Florentine who
entered the Usts with another Venetian, and in this case it must be remem
bered that the Signory had quarrelled with Verrocchio, who had died very sud
denly after his return to Venice, as men were apt to do who were recalcitrant
or rebellious. The inscription in S. Maria dell' Orto, on the grave of Leo
pardi, says that he was the maker of the pedestal, which is monumental and
greatly enhances the effect of the statue. A document has been recently dis
covered in Florence which would seem to prove that Verrocchio really did
leave a model which was sufficiently finished to be cast as his, Andrea's, work.
In this document, dated October 7, 14SS, Lorenzo di Credi states, first, that
the statues of horse and man had been ordered of Verrocchio, at a. price of
1,800 ducats ; secondly, that at the time of his death Verrocchio had only
made the model in clay for the figures of horse and man, for which 380 ducats
had already been advanced ; thirdly, that he, Lorenzo, had taken in charge the
continuation of the work ; fourthly, that he, Lorenzo, had handed over the
said work to Giovanni d' Andrea di Domenico, a Florentine, to be finished.
Later the work upon the statae was put into the hands of Alessandro Leo
pardi, but the important point which is proved by the document is that Ver
rocchio left the figures of horse and man practically ready for casting.
Symonds has probablj' come nearer to the truth than any one in calling the
Colleone " the joint production of Florentine science and Venetian fervor;"
but we may fairly reduce Leopardi'a share l/O the pedestal, the casting, and to
such additions as may have enhanced the character of the statue, but not

27 Dr. "W. Bode has identified, as by Andrea, a sraall bronze relief (a De
scent from the Cross) in the Church of the Carmine, Venice. From their re
semblance in style to this relief Dr. Bode attributes to Andrea the Judgment
of Paris in the Dreyfus collection, and the fine relief at S. Kensington called
the Discordia. (See VArch. Stor., 189S, p. 79.) The lovely colored relief in
the Rattier collection, Paris, called a Scipio, is attributed by Dr. Bode to Ver
rocchio. See reproductions in M'lntz, UAge d'Or, and in Vol. HI. of the
Prussian Annuary {Jahrbuch der K P. *S'.). This relief has also been ac
credited to Leonardo.

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 249
also, which he was executing in Pistoja, the tomb of Car
dinal Forteguerra namely, adorned with figures of the three
Theological Virtues, and that of God the Father above
them. This monument was afterwards completed by the
Florentine sculptor, Lorenzetto.^
When Andrea Verrocchio died, he had attained to his
fifty-sixth year ; ^^ his death caused very great sorrow to his
friends and disciples, who were not a few, but more par
ticularly to the sculptor ISTanni Grosso, a very eccentric
person, and peculiar in the exercise of his art, as well as in
his hfe. It is related of this artist, that he would never
undertake any work out of his workshop, more particularly
for monks or friars, but on condition that the door of the
cellar, or whatever place the wine was kept in, should be
left constantly open, that he might go to drink whenever he
pleased, without asking leave from any one. It is also said,
that having once returned from the hospital of Santa Maria
changed it. For the character of this magnificent statue is Verrocchio's ; its
stem and virile beauty and its martial dignity are as much akin to the Floren
tine school as the luxuriant and facile style which Leopardi shows in his works
elsewhere is characteristic of Venetian feeling. Certain critics have used the
word bravura in writing of it, but here is not bravura but rather fire ; some
thing of Venetian splendor Leopardi may have added to the equipment and
armor, in the widely flanging sides to the helmet and spreading curve of the
shoulder-pieces, and something, too, he may have contributed of Venetian
superbia to the attitude of the condottiere as he turns in his saddle. Some
thing of inspiration may have come from the character of the soldier himself,
whom Spina described in terse, monumental words, which might be graven
on the bronze, " Saldo passo, vista superba, resplendente per le ricche armi
e pennachi sopra nobil corsiere, occhi neri, nella gitardatura ed aeutezza
del lume, vivi, penetranti o terribili," but in spite of all this the stern and
grave soldier rode forth from a Florentine brain, and the finest equestrian
statue of the Renaissance remains to us as the Colleone of Andrea del Ver
rocchio. '^^ This was an honorary tomb, as he is buried in Rome. It was commenced in
1474; itis still in situ. Andrea himself sculptured only the figures of Hope,
and of God the Father ; perhaps, indeed, only made the models for them. For
an interesting note regarding the preference shown by the operai of tbe Pis-
tojan Duomo for certain models of PoUajuolo over those of Andrea, see
Milanesi, IIL, 369, note 1. Lorenzo Lotti, the Lorenzetto of Vasari, finished
the tomb.
" Verrocchio was buried in the church of Sant' Ambrogio, in Florence.

250 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
N"uova, perfectly cured of some illness, I know not what,
his reply to his friends when they came to visit and con
gratulate him was, "1 am very ill." "Ill !" they replied,
"nay, you are perfectly cured." "And that is precisely
wherefore I am ill," rejoined ISTanni, "for I am in want of
a little fever, that I might remain in the hospital, well
attended and at my ease." When this artist was at the
point of death, which happened in the hospital aforesaid,
they placed a wooden crucifix before him, which was clumsy
and ill executed, when he implored them to take it out of
his sight and bring him one by Donate, declaring, that if
they did not take that one from before him, he should die
despairing, so greatly did the sight of ill-executed works in
his own art displease him.
Among the disciples of Andrea Verrocchio were Piero
Perugino and Leonardo da Vinci, of whom we shall speak
in the proper place, as was also the Florentine Francesco di
Simone, by whom there is a marble tomb, with numerous
small figures, in the church of San Domenico, in Bologna ;
the manner of this work is so exactly similar to that of
Andrea, that it might be taken for his : the monument was
erected for the doctor Messer Alessandro Tartaglia of Imola.
Francesco likewise erected another for Messer Pietro Min-
erbetti, in the church of San Pancrazio, in Florence ; it
stands between one of the chapels and the sacristy. Another
disciple of Andrea Verrocchio was Agnolo di Polo, who
worked in terra-cotta with great skill. The city is full of
figures by his hand, and if he had devoted himself zeal
ously to the study of his art he would have produced ad
mirable works. But more than all his other disciples was
Lorenzo di Credi beloved by his master, whose remains were
by him conveyed from Venice, and deposited in the church
of Sant' Ambrogio, in the sepulchre of Ser Michele di
Clone, where the following words are engraved above the
tombstone. " Ser Michaelis de Cionis et suomm."

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 251
And near them are the following :
" Hie ossa jacent Andreas Verrochii qui
Obiit Venetiis, McoooLxxxvin." *
Andrea took much pleasure in making models of gypsum,
from which he might take casts ; he made his moulds from
a soft stone found in the neighbourhood of Volterra, Siena,
and other parts of Italy, which, being burnt in the fire,
pounded finely, and kneaded with water, is rendered so soft
and smooth, that you may make it into whatever form you
please ; but afterwards it becomes so close and hard, that
entire figures may be cast in moulds formed of it. Andrea,
therefore, adopted the practice of casting in moulds thus
prepared, such natural objects as he desired to have contin
ually before his eyes, for the better and more convenient
imitation of them in his works — hands, feet, the knee, the
arm, the torso, &c. Artists afterwards — but in his time —
began to make casts of the heads of those who died, a thing
they could by this means do at but little cost ; ^ whence it
* This inscription had already disappeared in 1657, but an old author claims
that Vasari mistook for ^'^ Ser" an S, which really mea,nt Sepulcrum. {See Mi
lanesi m. p. , 372.)
30 He was not the first, though among the first, to make these masks. '' The
sobriquet of Fallimagiiii, or Del Cerajuolo, bome by the Benintendi fam
ily in token of their profession, proves that such had been made in Florence
before Verrocchio's day. These figures resembled those which the Romans,
who had obtained the jus imaginum, were accustomed to place in the
atria of their houses " (C. C. Perkins, Historical Handbook of Italian
Sculpture). Perkins considers the subject of the invention of the modem
system of making plaster-casts at length in his Tuscan Sculptors, II. , 300-205.
In a hst of works executed by Verrocchio for the Medici (see Cornelius von
Fabriczy, L'Arch. Stor. deW Arte, VIIL, 166) there figures the following
entry : "For twenty masks taken from nature " ("per ventj maschere ritratti
al naturale"). The only absolutely authenticated death-mask which has
come down to us from the Renaissance is that of Brunelleschi, in the director's
of5oe of the Opera del Duomo in Florence ; but there are in the museums of
Aix, Chambery, Berlin, Bourges, Carpeutras, Puy-en-Velay, and Villeneuve
les Avignon, as well as in South Kensington and in the collection of M. L. Cou
rajod, certain heads in which only the face and anterior portion of the skull
are shown, and which undoubtedly were made from masks that were first taken
directly as casts from the face, and were then retouched by the sculptor's tool
until they became works of art. The well-known busts of Sant' Antonino,

253 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
is that one sees in every house in Florence vast numbers of
these likenesses, over the chimneys, doors, windows, and
cornices, many of them so well done and so natural that
they seem alive ; and from that time forward this custom
prevailed, nay, continues to do so, and has been of great
value to us, by enabling us to procure the portraits of many,
whose figures apjiear in the historical paintings executed
for the palace of Duke Cosimo.'' We are indeed greatly
indebted for this advantage to the skill of Andrea Verroc
chio, who was one of the first to put the practice into exe
cution. From this commencement, artists proceeded to execute
more perfectly-finished figures for those who required them
for the performance of vows, not in Florence only, but in
all places wherein men congregate for devotion, and where
they ofEer votive pictures, or, as some call them, miracoli,
when they have received any particular favour or benefit.^
in S. M. Novella of Florence, and of Contessina de' Bardi (formerly called
Annalena Visconti), in the Bargello, belong to this same series. Several critics
have pointed out the analogy existing between these mask-busts and the busts
of Beatrice of Arragon (Dreyfus collection). Marietta Strozzi (Berlin), and
Battista Sforza (Bargello). The only actual waxen image left to us is the very
beautiful one in the Musee Wioar of Lille, where it was for a time attributed
to Raphael. Herr von Fabriczy notes that certain writers, basing their theory
upon a fifteenth-century drawing iu the Albertina of Vienna, which seems to
have been taken from the features of a dead girl, connect this bust in Lille
with the series of death-masks ; but he adds that the intrinsic character of the
work at Lille shows it to be of the end of the sixteenth, or even of the begin
ning of the seventeenth, century.
2' Vasari described these works at some length in his Ragionamento Primo,
Giornata Seconda.
'2 It is needless to say that the wax images have perished. There is, how
ever, a mo.st extraordinary collection of these votive figures, which still re
mains in a church founded by one of the Visconti a few miles outside of Man
tua. Several bays on either side of the nave of the church, from the pointed
vaulting to the pavement, are filled with life-size votive figures of men and
women ; there are images of lords and ladies, burgesses, and of angels who are
taking part iu various miraculous events. Originally these figures wore the
dresses and armor of the fifteenth century, but as the stuffs have fallen away
they have been in part replaced by cheaper fabrics, so that cambric and calico
piece out the tattered brocades. Each wax figure is in its niche, and each
niche is bordered with waxen fruits and flowers. The effect is strange and

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 253
For whereas these miracoli were previously made in silver,
very small, or, if larger, in coarse pictures only, or made
most clumsily in wax, they began in the time of Andrea to
make them in a much better manner ; wherefore Verrocchio,
being the intimate friend of Orsino, a worker in wax, who
was considered in Florence to be very skilful in his vocation,
undertook to show him how he might render himself emi
nent. It chanced that an occasion for the display of Orsino's
skill soon presented itself, for on the death of Giuliano de'
Medici, ^^ and the danger incurred by his brother Lorenzo,
who was wounded at the same time, in Santa Maria del
Fiore, it was ordained by the friends and relations of Lo
renzo that many figures of him should be made and set up
in various places, by way of thanksgiving to God for his
safety. Then Orsino, among others, with the help of An
drea, made three figures in wax, of the size of life, form
ing the skeleton in wood, as we have before described, and
completing it with split reeds. This frame-work was then
covered with waxed cloth, folded and arranged with so much
beauty and elegance that nothing better or more true to
nature could be seen. The head, hands, and feet were after
wards formed in wax of greater thickness, but hollow
within ; the features were copied from the life, and the
whole was painted in oil with such ornaments and additions
of the hair and other things as were required, all which
being entirely natural and perfectly well done, no longer
appeared to be figures of wax, but living men, as may be
seen in each of the three here alluded to. One of these is
in the church which belongs to the JSTuns of Chiarito, in
the Via di San Gallo : it stands before the Crucifix by which
miracles are performed, and is clothed in the habiliments
worn by Lorenzo when, wounded in the throat and with that
part bound up, he appeared at the window of his palace to
show himself to the people, who had flocked thither to
rather grisly ; but the whole exhibition is an interesting survival, though it is
sadly in need of Maestro Orsino's restoring hand.
83 In 1478, in the Pazzi conspiracy.

254 ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO
assure themselves whether he were alive, as they desired,
or whether he were dead, to the end that in the latter
case they might avenge him. The second figure of Lorenzo
is attired in the lucco, which is a dress peculiar to the Flor
entine citizens, and this is in the church of the Servites,
the Xunziata, namely : it stands over the smaller door
where the wax lights are sold. The third was sent to
Assisi for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and was
placed before the Madonna of that place ** where the same
Lorenzo de' Medici, as we have related, had caused the
whole road to be paved with bricks all the way from Santa
Maria to that gate of Assisi which leads towards San Fran
cesco. He had likewise restored the fountains which Cos
imo, his grandfather, had caused to be constructed there.
But to return to the waxen images. All those in the
Church of the Servites which have a capital 0 in the base,
with the letter R within it and a cross above, are by the
hand of Orsino, and are all exceedingly beautiful ; there
are, indeed, very few who have equalled them. This art,
although it has maintained its existence to our own times,
is nevertheless rather on the decline than otherwise, either
because there is less devotion than formerly, or for some
other cause.
We will now return to Verrocchio. In addition to all
that we have already enumerated, this master executed
crucifixes in wood, with various works in terra-cotta.^ In
3' See the life of Michelozzo Michelozzi, p. 15, note 32, of the present
volume. 35 In the various collections of Europe a great number of works are attributed
to Verrocchio. Dr. Bode and H. von Tschudi attribute to him many in the
Museum of Berlin. According to Dr. Bode the latter museum has several ma-
quettes by Verrocchio, among which are a study for the David of the Bargello,
alarger study of a Sleeping Youth, a painted and gilded Praying Magdalen, and
a small relief the Entombment, two recumbent children (reproduced in the
artist's sketch-book) at Chantilly, and portraits in relief of Matthias Corvinus
and Beatrice of Arragon. A statuette of St. Jerome and a Crucifix, in the
Museum of South Kensington, are attributed to him, while in the collection of
M. Gustave Dreyfus two terra-cottas, a child and a bust of Giuliano de' Med
ici, and a marble bust of a young woman are also accredited to Verrocchio.

ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO 255
this last he was an excellent artist, as may be seen from the
models for the reliefs of the altar of San Giovanni, as also
from certain very beautiful figures of children and a bust
of St. Jerome, which is considered most admirable. By
the hand of the same master is the figure of the boy on the
clock of the Mercato jVuo^vo (New Market), the arm of
which is left free, in a manner which permits the figure to
raise it for the purpose of striking the hours with the ham
mer which it holds in the hand. This was in those times
considered a beautiful and fanciful work.
And here shall be the end of the life of the excellent
sculptor Andrea Verrocchio. ^^ ^' ^
3« The principal pupils of Verrocchio were Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino,
Lorenzo di Credi, Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, Agnolo di Polo, and Nanni
Grosso. 37 There is in the UfBzi a portrait of Verrocchio by Lorenzo di Credi. This
work was formerly considered a portrait of Martin Luther by Holbein the
Younger ; in 1784 the attribution was restored to Lorenzo di Credi, and Mi
lanesi recognized it as a portrait of Verrocchio after comparing the features
with those which Vasari had engraved after this very picture. (See Lafenestre
and Richtenberger, Florence, p. 34. )
3» Andrea is the investigator-artist, the experimentalist, the man with
whom science is a passion, and therein he is quintessentially Florentine. He
is a reahst in the flat arms and shins, the salient collar-bone and thick knees
of his David, and is thereby attractive to the modern student of art ; but
while he is an intent observer he is also intensely personal, and in his choice
of a facial type is so individual as to have become the genesis of that of Leo
nardo da Vinci. His science sometimes became genius, for, interesting in his
David, he is charming in his Boy with the Dolphin, inspiring and inspired in
his magnificent Colleone, who rides straight to immortality as the Magister
Bquitum of the Renaissance. Verrocchio the painter, again an experimental
ist, was an innovator in landscape, says Mr. Bernard Berenson in his Floren
tine Painters of the Renaissance, adding "a vision of plein air," even though
a vague one, "seems to have hovered before" Verrocchio, and that he felt the
possibilities of expression offered by twilight, and for that reason delilierately
chose the closing hours of the day in rendering the background of his Annun
ciation in the Uffizi. Like Browning's PoUajuolo, Andrea was "thrice a
craftsman," and was one of the last of those tj'pical "all-around artists " who
stand upon the threshold of a time when the greatest talent is about to in
stinctively run into the channel of painting alone with Botticelli, Signorelli,
Ghirlandajo, and Perugino, and no artist more admirably represents the
period of the Middle Renaissance.

THE MANTUAN PAINTER, ANDREA
MANTEGNA i
[Born 1431; died 1506.]
BlELIOGKAPHT. — Sul Merito Artistico del Mantegna, da P. M. Selvatico,
Padua, 1844. Milanesi bases his notes to the life of Mantegna upon these re
searches of the Marquis P. E. Selvatico, the latter having placed the unpub
lished results of his studies in the hands of the former author. Armand
Baschet (Gazette des Beaux Arts, First Period, XX., May, 1866), by his
Recherches de documents d'Art et d' Histoire dans les Archives de Man-
toue et attalyse de lettres inedites rcgardantes Andre Mantegna, became
the pioneer of the later biographers of Andrea, and Paul Mantz followed
with his admirable series of articles in the Gazette des Beaux Arts, Second
Period, XXX., pp. 5, 177, 480; XXXIV., pp. 0, 107, 208, 375. Scardeone's
.¦intiqtiitates Patavinae (1585) is an early source ; see also Ridolfi, Le Mara-
vtglie dell' Arte, and among the modern works are Alfred Woltmann's Andrea
Mantegna in the Dohme series of Kwnst itnd Kiinstler. Waagen, Ucber Leben,
Wirken u. Werke der Maler A. Mantegna und L. Signorelli, Raumer's Dist.
Taschenbuch, 1850. Carlo d'Arco, Delle Arti e degli Artejici di Mantova,
1857-8. G. Duplessis, (Euvre de Manteg7ia,Va.i:i&, HIS. BraghiroUi, ^fcura
Documenti relativi ad A. Mantegna, Giornale d' Erudizione Artistira, Vol.
I., p. 184, Perugia, 1872. Charles Yriarte, Les Gonzagues dans les Fresques
du Mantegna au Castello Vecchio de Mantone, Gazette des Beawx A rts, 1894,
II., pp. 5,115. Charles Yriarte, Isabella d'Este et les Artistes de s07i temps.
Gazette des Beaux Arts for 1895. Julia Cartwright, Mantegna and Francia,
London, 1881. E. Miintz, Andrea Mantegna e Piero della Francesca studio
sulla predella della pala di San Zeno nel museo del Louvre e in quello di
Tours, L'Archivio Storico deW Arte, II. , 273. Karl Brun, Neue Documente
iiber Andrea Mantegna, in the Zeitschrift fiir Bllde^ide kunst. Vol. XL,
Leipsic, 1875-6. Portioli, La Chiesa e la Madonna della Vittoria di A. Man
tegna in Mantova, Mantua, 1883. Cornelius von Fabriczy, II busto in
rilievo di Mantegna attribuito alio Speraudlo, article in L'Archivio Storico
dell' Arte, I., 428. C. von Fabriczy, Sur le buste de Mantegna et sur
¦une medaille de Sperandio, in the Courrier de I'Art, 1888, u. 42. Vicomte
Henri Delaborde, La gravure en Italie avant Marc Antoine. S. Davori,
Lo stemma di Andrea Mantegna, article iu L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, I.,
81. Portheim, Jahrbuch der K. P. <S., VIL, a.nd Repertorium fiir Kunstwissen-

MANTEGNA ALTAR-PIECE
SAN ZENO MAGGIORE, VERONA

Alinari, Phot.

ANDREA MANTEGNA 257
sehaft, 1886. Le Arti in Roma sotto il pontiflcato d' Innocenzo VIII.
(1484-1493), article by B. Miintz in L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, II., 478-485.
H. Duke, Triumph of Julius CEesar, etc., London, 1858.
THE powerful effect produced on talent by reward, is
known to every man who, having laboured conscien
tiously, has received the due return for his works. He
who has ground to hope for honour and reward from the
effort he is making, feels no inconvenience, suffers no pain,
acknowledges no weariness ; he becomes daily more con
firmed in power, and his talents attain evermore increased
worth and brightness. It is, indeed, true that merit does
not always find those who perceive and estimate its value, as
did that of Andrea Mantegna. Born in the neighbourhood
of Mantua, of a very lowly race,' and occupied during his
childhood in the tending of flocks, he was eventually so ex
alted by fate and his own abilities that he at length at
tained the condition of knighthood, as in its due place will
be related. When he had nearly reached his full growth
Andrea was taken to the city, where he studied painting
under Jacopo Squarcione,^ of Padua, who took him into his
own house, and in a short time after, perceiving his remark
able abilities, adopted him as his son. This we learn from
' His name was Andrea di Ser Biagio, and Comm. B. Cecchetti cites a docu
ment of January 3, 1463 (Arch. Yen., Fasc. 57, 1885, p. 195), which men
tions Andrea not as a Paduan but as a. Vicentine. He quotes " Andream
Blasi'p Mentegna de VincerUia pictorem." Another MS. cites the painter
as Andreas Mantegna q. honorandi Ser Blaxii. He was therefore not of es
peciaUy "lowly race," as Vasari has it. M. Miintz doubts the exactness of
such fifteenth- century documents and inclines to believe Andrea a Paduan.
'' Andrea appears to have been regularly adopted in 1441 by Francesco (not
Jacopo) Squarcione, who was the most popular teacher in North Italy, having,
like a modem French master, a studio full of pupils (he had one hundred and
thirty-seven scholars, says Masselli). Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle call him
" an impresario," and in fact his collection of antiquities, put, as it was, to tiie
uses of his pupils ; and his pupils themselves, Mantegna especially, have given
him far more celebrity than have any of his own works. Squarcione was
born in Padua in 1394, and died there in 1474. The two works which, accord
ing to Milanesi, may with certainty be ascribed to this painter, belong to the
Lazzari family of Padua, and are reproduced by Milanesi in Francesco Squar
cione, Studio Siorico-critico, Padua, 1838.

258 ANDREA MANTEGNA
a letter written in Latin by Messer Girolamo Campagnuola
to Messer Lionico Timeo, a Greek philosopher ; ^ wherein
he gives the latter notices respecting certain old painters
who had executed works for the Carrara family, of Padua.
But as Squarcione knew himself to be not the most dis
tinguished painter in the world, and to the end that An
drea might know more than lie did himself, he caused him
to work diligently from casts moulded on antique statues,
and after pictures on canvas, whicli he had brought from
various places, more particularly from Tuscany and Rome.
By these and other methods of the same kind Andrea
Mantegna acquired a fair amount of knowledge in his
youth : he was also assisted and stimulated in no slight de
gree by his emulation of Marco Zoppo, of Bologna, Dario,
of Treviso, and Niccold Pizzolo, of Padua, all disciples of
his adoptive father and master. '' Mantegna was not more
than seventeen years old when he painted the picture for
the High Altar in the Church of Santa Sofia,^ in Padua, a
work which might be taken for that of an old experienced
master rather than that of a youth, and Squarcione, who
was then commissioned to paint the Chapel of San Christo-
fano (one of those in the Church of the " Eremite Broth
ers " * of Sant' Agostino, in Padua), gave this work to the
above-named Niccolo Pizzolo and to Andrea.* For his part,
* Read Eremitani.
3 Tomeo, not Timeo, was an Albanian, and became professor of Greek at
Padua. * Squarcione was his first master ; his brothers-in-law, the Bellini, in
fluenced him ; he imitated Piero della Francesca in at least one picture —
the Resurrection ; Paolo Uccello initiated him into linear perspective and
foreshortening; but Donatello impressed him more strongly than did any
other of his predecessors or contemporaries, so that, according to M. Miintz,
"the principal pupil of the great sculptor, the one who does him the most
honor, is Mantegna ; that is to say a painter.''
' This picture, now lost, was once inscribed, Andreas mantinea patavimis
ann. septem et decern natus, sua inanu pinxit UiS. It thus proved that the
painter was born in 1431.
' This series of paintings constitutes Mantegna's chief work in fresco.
The subjects, painted in the Chapel of Saints James and Christopher in the
Church of the Augustinians (the Eremitani) , Pa,di\ia,, are as foUows: The

ANDREA MANTEGNA 259
Niccolo painted a figure of God the Father enthroned in
majesty between the Doctors of the Church, and this part of
the work was considered to be no less meritorious than that
executed by Andrea. There is, indeed, no doubt that Nic
colo, who produced very little, but all whose works are very
good, would have been an excellent master had he delighted
in painting as he did in martial exercises : in that case he
might besides have lived much longer than he did ; but
having constantly arms in his hands, and making many
enemies, he was one day attacked as he returned from his
work and treacherously slain. He left no other production,
that I am acquainted with, but a second figure of God the
Father, which is in the Chapel of Urbano Prefetto.*
Andrea Mantegna ' was then left alone to complete the
chapel, and he painted there the figures of the four Evan
gelists, which are considered very beautiful.' These and
Temptation of St. James, The Calling of St. James, St. James Baptizing, St.
James Before the Prefect, St. James Led to Execution, The Martyrdom of St.
James, The Martyrdom of St. Christopher, The Removal of the Body of
St. Christopher. There are other frescoes in the chapel, among which the fine
works in the choir are attributed by Woltmann and Woerman to Niccolo Piz
zolo. They accredit to Marco Zoppo the two upper pictures on the right wall,
St. Christopher Meeting the King, and St. Christopher Disputing with
the King ; while the St. Christopher Adored by Warriors is by Ansuino da
ForU. Buono, a Ferrarese painter, is also accredited by Milanesi with part of
the work on the upper walls. Milanesi considers these frescoes to have been
executed between 1458-1459 ; M. Miintz says between 1448-1460 ; Paul Mantz
says " somewhat later than 1458." Crowe and CavaloaseUp (History of Painting
in North Italy, I., 306-349) give a long description of the paintings and decide
that the vaulting frescoes are not by Mantegna. The frescoes of Andrea here
form a marking series in the history of Italian art, so that the Chapel of the
Eremitani became a sort of Brancacci Chapel of the North, that is to say,
a school-room for the study of style. The word frescoes is for convenience
used throughout the life of Mantegna, but it is to be noted that his wall-
paintings are not in real fresco but are painted in tempera upon a dry mortar
surface (stucco lucido). See Morelli, Italian Painters, IL, p. 176, note 3.
* Vasari has Urbano Prefetto ; it should read instead, Prefetto Urbano, the
Urban Prefect. Pizzolo's fresco is an Assumption.
' The young soldier who holds a spear and stands close by the St.
Christopher bound to a tree is supposed to represent Andrea Mantegna him
self. ' The real author of the Evangelists is unknown ; Messrs. Crowe and Caval-

200 ANDREA MANTEGNA
other works caused great expectations to be awakened re
specting the future excellence of their author, and hopes
were then conceived that he would in time attain the emi
nence to which he afterwards did, in fact, rise. Measures
were therefore adopted by the Venetian painter, Jacopo
Bellini, father of Gentile and Giovanni, and rival of Squar
cione, to the end that Andrea might take his daughter and
the sister of Gentile for his wife.' But when this was told
to Squarcione he was so much displeased with Andrea that
they were ever afterwards enemies : and whereas Squar
cione had previously much extolled the works of Andrea,
he from that time always publicly censured them with vio
lence equal to his former warmth. He found fault more
especially with those in the above - named Chapel of San
Cristofano, affirming that they had nothing good in them
because Andrea had therein copied from antique marbles,
from which no man can perfectly acquire the art of paint
ing, seeing that stone must ever attain somewhat of the
rigidity of its nature, and never displays that tender soft
ness proper to flesh and natural forms, which are pliant and
exhibit various movements. He added that Andrea would
have done much better with those figures if he had given
them the tint of marble and not all those colours : they
would then have been nearer to perfection, since they had
no resemblance to the life, but were rather imitations of an
cient statues in marble, and so forth.'" Andrea was deeply
caselle suggest Marco Zoppo. Paul Mantz ( Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1886) re
produces three panels in M. Edmond Andre's collection in Paris, showing
scenes from the Eremitani frescoes, and thinks they may be the panels men
tioned by Morelli's Anoni^mo as in Casa Contarini, Venice.
' He married Niccolosa (or Niccolosia) BeUini somewhere between 1453-
59. Mantz sees in the two Eremitani frescoes the Martyrdom and the Fu
neral of St. Christopher, a progress in color which he ascribes indirectly to
this marriage, and directly to the color influence of Niccolosa's father and
brothers. '» The fact remains that in these frescoes Mantegna suddenly relinquished
his Roman costumes and returned to the dress of the fifteenth century. This
change was probably due not to Squarcione's reproaches but to Andrea's in
tercourse with the Bellini, artists who instinctively copied contemporaneous

ANDREA MANTEGNA 261
wounded by these disparaging remarks, but they were, never
theless, of great service to him in some respects ; for, know
ing that there was much truth in what Squarcione said, he
began to draw from the life, and soon obtained so much
advantage from the practice, that in a painting which still
remained to be executed in the Chapel of San Cristofano,
he proved himself no less capable of reproducing and ex
tracting the best parts from living and natural objects than
from those formed by art. But notwithstanding this, An
drea was always of opinion that good antique statues were
more perfect and displayed more beauty in the different
parts than is exhibited by nature, which rarely assembles
and unites every beauty in one single form, wherefore it be
comes necessary to take one part from one and another part
from another. He thought, moreover, that the muscles,
veins, nerves, and other minute particulars were more dis
tinctly marked and more clearly defined in statues than in
nature, wherein the tenderness and softness of the flesh,
concealing and covering a certain sharpness of outline, thus
causes them to be less apparent. There is, without doubt,
an exception, in the case of old and much attenuated forms,
but these are avoided by artists from respect to other con
siderations. That Andrea was firmly wedded to his opinion
is, indeed, obvious from his works, the manner of which is
certainly somewhat hard, and not unfrequently recalls the
idea of stone rather than of living flesh. But, be this as it
may, in the last of the paintings above described he gave
infinite satisfaction ; and, among other figures, he there de
lineated that of Squarcione himself, a large corpulent man,
having a spear in one hand and a sword in the other." In
the same work he portrayed the Florentine Noferi, son of
Messer Palla Strozzi, with Messer Girolamo della Valle, an
eminent physician ; Messer Bonifazio Fuzimeliga, doctor of
life (as well as the remains of antiquity). Squarcione probably resented
Andrea's frequenting the rival school It is not definitely known, however,
whether any rupture took place between master and pupU.
" Squarcione is the soldier dressed in green.

262 ANDREA MANTEGNA
laws ; Niccolo, goldsmith to Pope Innocent VIIL, and Bal-
dassane da Leccio, all of whom were his intimate friends.
These figures Mantegna clothed in glittering armour, shin
ing and polished precisely as armour is in reality, and this
picture is certainly in a very fine manner. The cavalier
Messer Bonramino,'' is also among the portraits in this work,
as is, moreover, a certain Hungarian Bishop, a man alto
gether witless, who went rambling about Rome all day, and
at night would go to sleep in the stable with the beasts. In
the same chapel Andrea likewise depicted Marsilio Pazzo
in the figure of the executioner, who cuts off the head of
San Jacopo, together with a likeness of himself. The ex
cellence of this work, in fine, obtained a very high reputa
tion for its author.
While Andrea was occupied with the paintings of the
Chapel of San Cristofano, he also executed a picture which
was placed on the Altar of San Luca, in the Church of
Santa Justina, and he afterwards painted the Arch over the
door of Sant' Antonino, in fresco, a work to which he af
fixed his name.'^
In Verona he painted the altar-piece of San Cristofano
and that of Sant' Antonio, with certain figures on one side
of the Piazza della Paglia.'^ In Santa Maria in Organo,
'= Noferi (Onofrio) was son of the Florentine exile PaUa Strozzi. Girolamo
della Valle was a famous doctor, orator, and Latin poet of the Paduan Uni
versity ; Bonifazio FrigimeUca (not Fuzimeliga) was a doctor of laws ; Bon-
ramino was undoubtedly a Borromeo, perhaps Antonio tbe theologian. See
Milanesi quoting Selvatico.
13 The work for Santa Giustina, Padua, was au altar-piece in many compart
ments, painted 1453-14.54, and now in the Brera at Milan. The inscription
over the door of Sant' Antonio is believed by Selvatico to have been added by
the monks, not by Andrea, and reads as foUows : Andreas Mantinea optume
favente nu mine perfecit anno 1U52.
^* As to the works in Verona, nothing is known regarding the altar-piece
of Saints Christopher and Anthony, nor of the frescoes in any so-ealled
Piazza della Paglia. Andrea painted a picture for Santa Maria degli Organi
in 1497. See following note. Certain frescoes on the outsides of buildings in
Verona, and notably a combat of Tritons, are pointed out by the guides as by
Mantegna, but most of them do not resemble his work aud documentary evi
dence is lacking. A Madoima with Saints, painted 1495-1497, in Verona, ia
now in Casa Trivulzi, Milan. See Milanesi, IIL, 393, note 1.

ANDREA MANTEGNA 263
Andrea Mantegna painted the picture of the high altar for
the monks of Monte Oliveto, an exceedingly beautiful thing ;
and in like manner he executed that for the altar of San
Zeno.'^ Among other works performed by Andrea during
his stay in Verona, were many which he sent into different
places : one of these, obtained by an abbot of the abbey of
Fiesole,^* his friend and relation, was a half-length figure
of Our Lady with the Child in her arms, and heads of
angels singing, which are painted with infinite grace :
this picture is now in the library of the abbey, and has
always been considered an extraordinary work. At the
time when he was living in Mantua," Andrea had been fre-
" Painted probably between 1457 and 1459 by order of the Protonotary,
Gregorio Correr. See Baschet, Gazette des Beaux Arts, May, 1866. This
picture was taken to Paris in 1797, and restored to its place in 1840 ; the pre
della remained in France ; the centre portion, a Crucifixion, being in the
Louvre, the side panels, Christ in the Garden and the Resurrection, m the
museum of Tours. The altar-piece is a Madonna enthroned, with angels above
and saints on either side, in an architectural framing resembling that so much
affected by GiambeUino at Venice. The design and the composition of lines
and masses are dignified and noble ; the style that of Mantegna at his best ;
the color, though not lacking in strength and depth, is very eccentric in com
position and scattered in effect.
" This picture is lost. A letter of July 5, 1466, from an Aldobrandini to
Ludovico Gonzaga proves that Andrea visited Florence in that year. A pict
ure of a Madonna and Child surrounded by angels, now in the Brera Gallery,
passed for a work of the school of the Bellini until it was cleaned, when it
proved to be a fine Mantegna. Sig. Gustavo Frizzoni thinks it may be the
picture painted in 1485 for the Duchess of Ferrara. Paul Mantz finds this
assumption far-fetched. It is J90ss^&??/ identical with the Fiesole Madonna,
but nothing explains the journeys which it must perforce have made either
from Ferrara or Fiesole. See L'lllustrazione Italiana, January 10, 1886;
Gazette des Beaux Arts, May 1, 1886 ; G. Frizzoni, Zeitschrift fiir Bildende
Kunst, February, 1886, and A. Melani in L'Art for 1880.
" Sig. S. Davari (I'Arch. Stor., I., 81-3) quotes a MS. proving that Andrea
was a famUiar figure of the Mantuan Court by January 30, 1469. Andrea was
invited to Mantua as early as 1456, but probably did not begin work there be
fore 1460. The duke conferred upon him, to be used publicly, the arms of
the Gonzaga family (with slight changes, " ¦modicum differente "), viz. ; the
sun and the motto, " Par un desir," arms assumed by Gonzaga after the bat
tle of Caravaggio. Armand Baschet showed that Mantegna arrived iu Mantua
about the end of 1459 ; in 1466 he returned to Mantua from a visit to Flor
ence, and in 1473 visited Bologna and Cardinal Gonzaga. From 1499 to 1506
the Mantuan archives are silent regarding Andrea.

264 ANDREA MANTEGNA
quently employed by the Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga, who
always favoured him and esteemed his talents very highly.
That noble caused him therefore to paint, among other
works, a small picture for the chapel in the castle of Man
tua ; '^ the figures in this work are not very large, but are
exceedingly beautiful. In the same painting * are various
forms, which, as seen from below, are foreshortened in a
manner that has been much extolled ; " and although the
draperies are somewhat hard, and the work has a certain
dryness of manner, the whole is nevertheless seen to be ex
ecuted with much art and great care. For the same mar
quis, Andrea painted the Triumph of Csesar (1492), in a
hall of the palace of San Sebastiano, in Mantua. This is
the best work ever executed by his hand.^ Here are seen
* The -wotA painting in .Mrs. Foster's translation is luogo in the original,
and should be translated pZace, thus restoring the sense, since "the small
picture " for the chapel has no connection with the large figures of the Camera
degli sposi.
" Probably identical with the triptych containing the Adoration of the
Magi, the Circumcision, and the Resurrection, painted in 1464, and now in
the Uf&zi. The right-hand panel is a chef-d'ceuvre, and one of the best works
of the Renaissance.
'^ This is the room known as the Camera degli sposi, a chamber now the
Archivio dei notari in the ducal palace of Mantua. The frescoes were prob
ably not finished before 14S4. Two walls are ruined, a third greatly injured,
a fourth, well preserved, shows Ludovico Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, third
of that name, and one of the most enlightened art patrons of the Renaissance,
with hi.s wife, Barbara of Brandenburg, and his children and courtiers. On
another wall is a second family group. The ceiling is fairly pre.s;erved, the
dormers have mythological subjects; eight medallions in the covings have
monochrome heads of emperors surrounded by wreaths held by winged boys
(anwrini). Through a circle in tbe centre, figures in violent foreshortening
against a painted sky look down over a. balustrade. These frescoes show
Mantegna as a realist. The portrait figures are of a monumental ugliness, which
impresses at once by its sincerity, and a dignity that it is half-grotesque and
half -majestic. It is interesting to compare this solemn realistic ugliness with
the solemn ideal beauty of Mantegna's Judith in the Academy ; it has only
been given to three or four masters to run such a gamut. The foreshortened
figures in the ceiling, in their movements and drawing, prepare the way for
Correggio, and afford a precedent to the Venetians for their effects of trompe
I'cell. See Les Gonzagues dans les Fresques du Mantegna, etc. C. Yriarte,
Gazette des Beaux Arts, II., 1894.
'" Campori, in Lettere ined. , gives a letter from Sigismondo Cantelmo to the

ANDREA MANTEGNA 265
in most admirable arrangement the rich and beautiful tri
umphal car with the figure, who is vituperating the trium
phant hero ; as also the kindred, the perfumes, the incense-
bearers, the booty, and treasures seized by the soldiers, the
well-ordered phalanx, the elephants, the spoils of art, the
victories, cities, and fortresses, exhibited in admirably
counterfeited forms, on huge cars, the numerous trophies
borne aloft on spears, an infinite variety of helmets, corslets,
and arms of all kinds, with ornaments, vases, and rich
vessels innumerable. Among the multitude of spectators,
Duke of Ferrara (February, 1501) which describes the performance of the
"Adelphi" of Terence and comedies of Plautus in the Castle of Mantua.
The theatre was a long rectangular room decorated with arabesques, the
stage was hung with six pictm-es of the Triumph of Csesar, and the hall con
tained other works by Mantegna. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle think that
the cartoons could hardly have been intended for this express purpose or for
theatrical decoration, as their paleness was rather adapted for daylight than
for the light of lamps and candles. See their History of Painting in North
Italy, I., 405. Such a criticism hardly holds. Paleness of coloring would
show well by torchlight, but the multiplicity of delicate detail in the cartoons
would, on the other hand, weaken the general effect. The Triumphs of Pe
trarch, also by Mantegna, which decorated the parapet of the stage, have
perished. The Triumph of Ctesar has been imitated by Giulio Romano in
his cartoons for tapestry, by Holbein in his Triumph of Poverty and Riches,
and by Le Brun. See M. Miintz, L'Age d'Or, 601. This Triumph of Cassar,
one of the greatest works of the Renaissance, was painted in tempera in nine
cartoons, each about nine feet square, and was already begun in 1488 and
finished in 149"3. It is now in Hampton Court Palace, England. Milanesi
(III., 399) quotes documents discovered by W. Neil Sainbourg in the English
archives, and others found by Baschet in the Mantuan archives, proving that
the cartoons were not stolen in the sack of Mantua in 1 630, but sold a little
earlier (drea 1626) by the Gonzaghe to King Charles I. of England. After
his death they were held by the nation, and in the eighteenth century were
much disfigured bya "restorer," who altered the character of many of the
heads. Andrea has himself engraved some of the subjects from the Triumph.
Milanesi proves that he commenced it before his visit to Rome, quoting a
letter in which Mantegna recommends that the windows shall be repaired and
the cartoons protected, since "I really am not ashamed of having painted
them. " These cartoons are a superb exposition of what Andrea loved best to
study and express ; they are the very quintessence of his genius. Symonds, in
his History of the Renaissance, becomes eloquent over the man who " could
move thus majestically beneath the weight of painfully accumulated erudi
tion, converting an antiquarian motive into a theme for melodies conceived in
the grave Dorian mood."

266 ANDREA MANTEGNA
there is a woman who holds a child by the hand, the boy
has got a thorn in his foot, and this he shows weeping
to his mother, with much grace and in a very natural
manner. This master, as I have remarked elsewhere, has displayed
much judgment and forethought in this work, for the
plane on which the figures stand being higher than the
point of sight, he therefore placed the feet of the foremost
on the first line of the plane, causing the others to recede
gradually, so that their feet and legs are lost to view in the
exact proportions required ; and in like manner with the
spoils, vases, and other accessories and ornaments, of which
he permits only the lower part to be seen, the upper part
being lost to view, as the rules of perspective demand, — a
precaution observed with equal care by Andrea degl' Im-
piccati in the Last Supper, which he painted in the refec
tory of Santa Maria Nuova. ^' We perceive, then, that
these excellent masters carefully enquired into the various
properties of natural objects, and imitated the life with
studious care. As to this work of Mantegna, to say all in
one word, it could not possibly be superior or more perfectly
executed, wherefore if the marquis esteemed our artist be
fore, he valued and honoured him much more highly ever
2' Vasari does not mention Mantegna's important so-called Triumph of
Scipio, which is in reality a Scipio Nasica, followed by other figures and ad
vancing to meet the image of the mother of the gods. It is aa Roman as his
Triumph of Caesar, but is a work of his old age, and, says Paul Mantz, shows
here and there that his hand was somewhat tired. He contracted in 1504 to
paint it for Francesco Cornaro, the Venetian patrician who claimed descent
from the Cornelian gens. The Scipio was painted after Andrea's Roman
journey, at a time when his works showed an almost monochromatic austerity
of color. It is in the National Gallery, as are also another monochrome, Sam
son and Delilah, a large altar-piece (Virgin with Saints), and a Christ in the
Garden, painted in 1459 for Giacomo Marcello, Podesta of Padua. At about
the same time, though with no apparent mutual relation, Andrea Mantegna
and Melozzo da ForU began the manner of painting ceilings called " di sotto
in su" (from below upward), as if real objects were seen from below. Cor
reggio carried this principle into his frescoes of Parma, aud violent foreshort
ening in ceilings obtained largely throughout the later sixteenth, seventeenth,
and eighteenth centuries.

ANDREA MANTEGNA 267
after.^ But what is more, Andrea so increased his repu
tation thereby, that Pope Innocent VIIL, having finished
the building of the Belvidere, and having been informed
respecting the excellence of this master in painting, hear
ing also of the other good qualities with which he was ad
mirably endowed sent for him, as he did for many other
artists, to the end that he might adorn the fabric with his
paintings. Repairing to Rome, therefore, Andrea Mantegna went
much favoured and highly recommended by the marquis,
who, to do him the more honour made him a knight.^ He
was very amicably received by the pontiff, by whom he was
immediately commissioned to decorate a small chapel^
which is in the palace. This he accomplished with so much
care and good-will, that the walls and ceiling, minutely and
elaborately adorned as they are, would rather seem to be
painted in miniature, than decorated in fresco. The larg
est figures of this work, like all the rest in fresco, are
those above the altar, where the master has depicted the
Baptism of Christ by St. John : around the principal fig
ures are numbers of people who, divesting themselves of
their clothing, show their intention to be baptized. Among
others, there is one, who is attempting to draw off his
stocking, but the dampness of the skin from the heat of his
person, causing it to cling to the leg, he has turned it over,
laying his foot over the other leg, and drawing ofl the stock-
*^ Mantegna probably painted many frescoes at various hunting-seats and
viUas of the Gonzaghe. One of these places, Marmirolo (or Marmiruolo), was
BtUl remarkable in Louis XIV. 's time for " appartements, peintures, etjar-
dinages." A letter of Bernardo Ghisulfo, July 16, 1491, says that certain
artists, named Tondo and Francesco, had commenced to reproduce the Tri
umph of Caesar in a loggia at Marmirolo. See Paul Mantz, Gazette des Beaux
Arts for 1886.
"3 He was made a knight before he went to Rome. See the inscription
Andreas Mantinea Civis Patavinus Eques auratce militia pinxit, Milanesi,
IIL, 400, note 3.
" In this " small chapel," painted 1488, besides the Baptism of Christ
above the altar, there were upon the walls a Virgin Enthroned, a Nativity,
and an Adoration of the Magi. Pope Pius VI. destroyed chapel and frescoes
when the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican Galleries was buUt.

268 ANDREA MANTEGNA
ing with such labour and difficulty, that both are clearly
apparent in his countenance — a curious conceit which at
the time awakened admiration in all who saw it. We are
told that the pope, occupied with his numerous avocations,
neglected to give money to Mantegna so often as he could
have desired it. The artist, therefore, having to paint
certain Virtues in terretta among the figures of his work,
represented that of Discretion with the rest ; and the Pope,
going one day to see the work, inquired of Andrea what
that figure might be. To which Mantegna, replied, '' That
is Discretion." Whereupon the pontiff rejoined : " If thou
wouldst have her to be well accompanied, set Patience beside
her.'' The painter understood what his holiness intended
to convey, and never afterwards uttered a word ; but when
the work was finished, the Pope dismissed him with much
favour, and sent him back to the duke with honourable
rewards. While Andrea worked in Rome, he painted, besides the
chapel above named, a small picture of Our Lady with the
Child sleeping in her arms.^ The landscape is a moun
tainous country with caverns, wherein are stone-cutters pre
paring stone for various kinds of work ; all which is so
elaborately depicted, and finished with so much patience, that
one finds it difficult to conceive how so much can be effected
by the point of a pencil. This picture is now in the posses
sion of the most illustrious Signor Don Francesco Medici,
prince of Florence, by whom it is accounted among his most
valued rarities.* Among the drawings in my book, is one
'^ Painted in 1488, now in the USizi ; the Child is not sleeping, but awake.
'= A St. Sebastian, larger than Ufe, feeble in color, superb in drawing,
was lately sold by the Scarpa family at La Motta in FriuH. MorelU
calls this a, "repulsive picture." A second St. Sebastian is in Vienna;
¦A third one, also larger than Ufe, and superb in drawing, is, according
to Mantz (see reproduction. Gazette des Beaux Arts, Second Period,
A^ol. XXXIV., Une Tournee en Auvergne), in an apsidal chapel of
the litt-e church of Aigueperse in Auvergne. Mantz accounts for its
presence there by the fact that (hiara Gonzaga, sister of Francesco Gon
zaga, married Gilbert de Bourbon, Comte de Montpensier, Seigneur of Aigue
perse.

ANDREA MANTEGNA 269
in chiaro-scuro, on a half sheet (royal folio), by the hand of
Mantegna ; the subject, a Judith placing the head of Holo-
f ernes in a wallet held by a black slave. ^ The manner of
the chiaro-scuro there adopted is one no longer used, the
artist having left the white paper to serve for the lights, and
this is done with so much delicacy, that the separate hairs
and other minutise are as clearly distinguishable as they
could have been, if ever so carefully executed with the pen
cil ; insomuch that one might in a certain sense rather call
this a painting than a drawing.
Andrea Mantegna found great pleasure, as did also PoUai
uolo, in engraving on copper ; and, among other things, he
engraved his Triumphs — a work of which much account was
then made, because better engravings had not then been
seen.^ One of the last works executed by this artist, was a
picture painted at Santa Maria della Vittoria, a church built
after the design and under the direction of Andrea, for the
^^ This superb drawing, dated February, 1491, is iu the Uffizi. The Louvre
has, too, a fine Judith, given by M. Gatteaux (Morelli considers it a copy), and
a Judgment ot Solomon. The Berlin Judith, attributed by Selvatico to Andrea
as a work of 1488, is now proved to be a Dom. Ghirlandajo of 1489. A draw
ing in the British Museum, the subject of which is suggested by the calumny
of Apelles, is Andrea's interpretation of a motive treated by so many Re
naissance artists.
'" Paul Mantz considers that in the present state of our knowledge any at
tempt at serious historical classification of Mantegna's engravings would be
rash. The engravings after his Triumphs are very free renderings indeed.
See the prints from the fifth, sixth, and seventh groups. These are considered
by R. Fisher (Introduction to a Catalogue of Early Italian Prints in Brit
ish Museum) to be copies by an inferior hand from preliminary studies of
Mantegna. For controversial details as to the date and purpose of some of the
undoubted originals among these engravings from the Triumph see the Vi
comte Delaborde, La gravure en Italie avant Marc Antoine, pp. 96- "05.
The British Museum contains the largest existing collection of Mantegna's
drawings. Sig. A. Rubbiani (I'Arch. Stor. deW Arte, May-June, 189.5, p. 330)
says that upon a house in Bologna, numbered 133, Borgo San Pietro, is a
terra-cotta frieze of the fifteenth century, made up of oblong reliefs which re
peat exactly, over and over again, two figures from a famous engraving of
Mantegna, namely, the two fighting gods seated upon sea-horses in Andrea's
Costa degli Dei Marini. See the Vicomte Delaborde (op. cit., Appendix) cit
ing M. F. Lenormant and Mr. Palgrave to show that this combat of sea-gods
was inspired by a bas-relief which is now in San Vitale at Ravenna.

270 ANDREA MANTEGNA
Marchese Francesco, in acknowledgment of the victory^
obtained by the latter on the river Taro, when he was cap
tain-general of the Venetians against the French. In this
picture, which was placed on the high altar, is the Virgin
with the Child, seated on a pedestal, and at her feet are St.
Michael the archangel, St. Anna, and Joachim ; they are
recommending the marquis — who is portrayed from the life
so admirably well, that he seems alive — to the protection of
Our Lady, who extends her hand towards him. And this
work, as it then pleased everyone, and still continues to
please all who behold it, so it satisfied the marquis himself
so entirely, that he rewarded the skill and labour of Andrea
most liberally, and the artist being well recompensed by
princes for all his works, was enabled honourably to main
tain his condition of a cavalier to the end of his days.*
2» This important picture, painted in 1495, and now in the Louvre, really
commemorated a defeat, which was claimed as a victory by Gonzaga because he
piUaged the enemy's camp before the battle turned against him. Seven of
his family remained upon the field, so that the gaUantry of the Gonzaghe cer
tainly deserved perpetuation. A letter of 1495, quoted by Milanesi, says that
the saints who support the Virgin's mantle are Michael and George (not Joa
chim, as Vasari has it) ; Saints Andrew, Longinus. aud Elizabeth also appear
in the picture, together with a Uttle St. John. In the Madonna della Vit
toria, Mantegna changes from his almost monochromatic color of the Tiiumph
of Scipio to a treatment which is, says Paul Mantz, "at once austere and
sumptuous." For a curious note concerning the original destination of this
picture, see Milanesi, Vol IIL, p. 403.
30 The ugly though powerful foreshortened Christ which remained in An
drea's studio at the time of his death (now in the Brera Gallery), is regarded
by MoreUi as one of Mantegna's last works (after 1506). Messrs. Crowe and
Cavalcaselle say it was painted after 1474. M. Lafenestre believes it a work of
his youth, painted before his arrival m Mantua. The Christ on the Mount of
Olives, in the National Gallery, London, is inspired directly by Jacopo BelUni,
says M. G. Gronau, Gazette des Beaux Arts, February, 1895. MorelU, in his
Italian Painters, pages 173-177, gives a complete list of the works of Mantegna
which he admits as genuine. It includes the following panel pictures in Italy :
the Santa Giustina altar-piece, now in the Brera Gallery ; the Madonna with
Singing Angels in the same gallery ; the S. Zeno Madonna of Verona ; the St.
George, in the Academy of Venice ; the triptych of the UfSzi ; a Presentation
in the Temple, in the Querini Stampalia collection in Venice ; a Madonna with
Saints, in the gallery of Verona; a similar subject in the Turin Gallery, and a
Madonna and Christ Child, in a rocky landscape, in the Uffizi ; the three com
partments in Paris and Tours of the predella to the S. Zeno Madonna; in

ANDREA MANTEGNA 271
One of the competitors of Andrea was Lorenzo da Lendi-
nara, who was considered by the people of Padua to be an
London, the Agony iu the Garden ; the Soarampi portrait in Berlin ; the St.
Sebastian in Vienna; the Eoce Homo in Copenhagen. The pictures upon
canvas accepted by the sarae critic are : the Triumph of Ca?sar ; the Enthroned
Madoima in London (National GaUery) ; Samson and Delilah iu the same gal
lery ; the Madonna of Bergamo ; the Poldi-Pezzoli Madonna of Milan ; in the
Louvre, the two weU-known allegories and the Madonna of Victory ; the
Dresden Madonna ; the Trivulzi Madonna of Milan ; two pictnres in the chirroli
and sacristy of S. Andrea at Mantua ; a Baptism of Christ and a Madonna with
Saints (these two pictures are accredited by Messrs. Crowe and Caviilcaselle
aud Dr. Bode to Francesco Mantegna) ; the Triumph of Scipio in the Na
tional GaUery; the St. Sebastian of La Motta, called by MoreUi an "abso
lutely repulsive picture;" the Pietd of the Brera; the ¦'¦•alrntor Mundi of
the Mond coUection, London ; a Madonna belonging to the heirs of the
Vicomte Both de Tauzia, late director of the Louvre. MorelU rejects the Death
of the Madonna in the Prado ; Summer and Autumn in the National Gallery ;
the Berlin Madonna numbered 37 ; the EUsabetta Gonzaga of the Uffizi ; the
Staedel St. Mark, at Frankfort ; the Transfiguration in the Correr Museum of
Venice; the S. Eufemia of Naples ; the Pietd in the Vatican; the Resurrec
tion and the Saints Jerome and Alexis at Bergamo ; the Vespasiano Gonzaga
portrait in the same gaUery ; the Madonna of the Scotti Palace at Milan. He
admits the frescoes of the Eremitani and the Ducal Palace of Mantua, as well
as the figures over the door of Sant' Antonio of Padua, and he mentions as
characteristic and genuine the following drawings : a Judgment of Solomon
(Louvre), Mucins Scaevola (Munich), Christ with Saints Andrea and Longinus
(Munich). In the British >ruseum he accepts the following : the Calumny ;
Mars and Venus ; an Enthroned Madonna ; a Dying Man Lying Upon the
Grotmd ; the Judith in the Uffizi (the same subject in t'le Louvre is set down
as a copy, by Morelli). See the commentary of Milanesi, HL, 416-426, for
note on the Melzi Madonna of Andrea (1401), as also for the ancona of the
Brera, the Daniel in the Lions' Den (Ambrosiana of MUanl, the Judith, and
other pictures in the Berlin GaUery attributed to .\ndrea. See also the same
for long not.e on the Trivulzi Madonna of MUan, also the Cristo al f^epolcro in
the Vatican GaUery, and upon the remains of two ruined frescoes upon the two
facades of Saints Andrea and Sebastian at Mantua again ; npon the portraits
in ooUectdons at London, Bergamo (Lochis colleoticnl, and elsewhere ; lastly,
npon the four pictures (beside the Triumph of Cses.%r) preserved at Hampton
Court. Sig. G. Frizzoni, L'Arch. Stor., IV., 160-71. I Progressi della Critica
Artistica., takes up this commentary as a proof of the advance of art criticism,
and shows that the Melzi Madonna, the Annunciation of Dresden, the Daniel.
the Medea, the Ve.'ipasiano Gonzaga (in Lochis collection), the Abundance (in
the D'Aumale collection), and the Dead Christ of the Vatican, are not by An
drea, while Dr. Meyer has proved the Dead Christ Sustained by Angels (Ber
lin), ascribed to Mantegna, to be by BelUni The Battle of Amazons, in the
Borromeo GaUery, ilUan, is not by Andrea, but is an old copy after Ercole
Roberti

272 ANDREA MANTEGNA
excellent painter, and executed various works in terra-cotta
also, for the church of Sant' Antonio in that city. There
were, besides, some others who flourished at the same time
but of no great eminence. With Dario da Treviso and
Marco Zoppo, of Bologna, Andrea Mantegna constantly
maintained the most friendly relations, having been brought
up with them under the discipline of Squarcione. For the
Friars ]\[inors, this Marco painted a Loggia in Padua, which
serves them for a chapter -house ; and in Pesaro he painted
a picture which is now in the new churcli of San Giovanni
Evangelista, with a portrait of Guido Baldo da Montefeltro,
who was at that time captain-general of the Florentines.
The Ferrarese painter, Stefano, was also a friend of Man
tegna ; the works of this artist are few, but all tolerably
good. The ornaments of the Sarcophagus of Sant' Anto
nio, in Padua, are by his hand ; and he likewise painted a
Madonna, which is called the Virgin of the Pillar.
But to return to Andrea ; this master built and adorned
with paintings a most beautiful house in Mantua ^^ for his
31 Andrea was given the ground in 1476, and Ridolfi says he decorated the
house with frescoes. It was sacked at the taking of Mantua, in 1630. Man
tegna finally sold his Paduan house in 1493. His expenditures upon his Man
tuan house, his tomb, and the chapel of Sant' Andrea embarrassed him finan
cially, and only a month before his death he sold to the Marchioness Isabella,
one of his best beloved possessions, a bust of Faustina. Isabella d'Este, who
appears in a very unsj'mpathetic light in this transaction, was nevertheless a
good patron to Andrea. He painted for her (before 1405) the Parnassus and
the Wisdom Triumphing over Vice, now in the Louvre ; and in 1506, according
to a letter of Jacopo Calendario, of July 15, 1506, he had commenced for her
a Comus, a picture with many figures. See Paul Mantz, Gazette des Beaux
Arts. 1 8S6. M. Charles Yriarte, Gazette des Beaux Arts for 1895, in an ar
ticle called Isabelle d'Este et les Artistes de soji Temjys, treats especially of
these pictures of Mantegna, and refers to certain opuscules of Sig. Alessandro
Luzio and M. Renier upon IsabeUa d'Este. See also A. Luzio upon the
same subject in V Archivio Storico dell 'Arte. M. Yriarte is convinced that
Mantegna painted the Parnassus and the Wisdom for Isabella's Grotta in the
Bonaccolsi Palace, now Corte Vecchia, and that they were afterward taken to
her Studiolo or later residence. The great Marchioness's manner of giving an
order for a picture was interesting. She first chose her subject, then had it
formulated in all its bearings, allegorical, etc. , by some humanist of her court.
Next she took the first painter at hand and ordered him to make a sketch of
the subject, she meanwhile dictating the placing of the figures and prescrib-

ANDREA MANTEGNA 273
own use : this he enjoyed while he lived. He departed to a
better life in the year 1517, and was buried with honourable
obsequies in Sant' Andrea ; on his tomb, over which is his
likeness in bronze,^ was placed the following epitaph: —
" Esse harem* hunc novis,^ si non prceponis Apelli
.Mnea MantinecE qui simulacra vides." ^'
Andrea Mantegna was so kindly in all his actions, and in
every way so estimable, that his memory must ever be held
in cordial respect, not only in his own country, but through
the whole world ; he therefore well merited, no less for the
purity of his life and gentle courtesy of his manners,'* than
ing the distribution of the light. She then sent this sketch to Mantegna,
Perugino, or whatever great master she had selected, and upon it he was ex
pected to base his work. In regard to the dimensions she was very particular,
since the pictures were to suit the panels of her Grotta, and as the measure
ments of various provinces differed, she sent always two pieces of riband, one
measuring the height, the other the length of the picture. The portrait of
EUsabetta Gonzaga, ascribed to Mantegna, in the Uffizi, is attributed to other
painters by Frizzoni. Burckhardt, and Crowe and Cavalcaselle.
* Parem in the MUanesi edition.
t Noris in the ^lilanesi edition.
3' He died September 13, 1506. Upon the walls of the mortuary chapel,
frescoes by Francesco Mantegna, and others of Mantegna's school, have re
cently been freed from whitewash and restored by Sig. F. Fiscali. Sig.
Natale Baldoria, Arch. Stor. , IH. , 333, thinks one of these frescoes, a Holy
Family, may be by Andrea.
33 The superb bronze bust of Andrea, which we are told " had once diamond
eyes," was for a long time attributed to one Sperandio Meglioli, but this con
fused attribution, which combined two names in one, has been replaced by the
attribution to Bartolommeo di Virgilio MeglioU, aud Signor Rossi now sug
gests Gian Marco Cavalli as the sciilptor of the bust ; see Rossi's Medaglisti
del Rinascimento, and see also Dr. Bode, in the Jahrbuch der K. P. S.,X., 28.
Lo Scardeone (see Milanesi. IIL, 408, note 3), says that Andrea cast the bust
himself. He did understand bronze casting, and besides the brush and the
burin he handled the modeller's tools, whUe a sonnet by him has been pre
served in the Archivio Segreto of Mantua.
3' Existing correspondence proves, on the contrary, that this master, so dig
nified in all that pertained to his art, was quarrelsome and litigious in matters
of daUy life. Perhaps we may rather believe that he was nervous, irritable,
easUy disturbed when at work, and sometimes childishly ready to attribute
importance to trifling matters. When his engravings were pirated he could
be fierce enough ; see Herr Karl Brim, Neue Dokumente iiber Andrea Man-

274 A^"DKEA 3IAXTEGXA
for the excellence of his paintings, the distinction of being
celebrated by Ariosto. who^ in the commencement of his
xxxiii canto^ enumerates him among the most illustrious
painters of his time^ as thus :
" Leonardo, Andrea Mantegruij Gian Bellino." '^
This master taught a much improved method of execut
ing the foreshortening of figures from below upwards which
waSj without doubt, a remarkable and difficult invention.
He also took great pleasure, as we have related before, in
the reproduction of figures by engraving on copper, which is
indeed a truly valuable acquisition to art ; 3^ 37 33 39 f^^ i^j ^]^jg
tegna, Zeits-hrift fiir Bildende Kunst, Vol. XX Richard Fisher (p. 185
of an Introduction to a Catalogue of the Early Italian Prints in the British
Musenin) translates and pubJishes this document from Brun, which proves
that one Zoan Andrea, and his assistant, Ardizioni of Reggio, who had stolen
the master's work, were beaten by Mantegna's people and left for dead.
3s See note in the Lives of the Bellini, page 164 of the present volume.
3' Woltmann remarks that Mantegna was the first North Italian who took
advantage in the interest of engraving of that constant interconree which ex
isted between Germany and the Peninsula. He believed that Andrea found
in the north the copperplates which served as prototypes for his own, and
emphasizes the fact that instead of multiplying the works of others, he was
"the true painter-engraver, embodying his own inventions in this technique.'"
3' Albert Diirer tells us that he had planned a joumey to Mantua for the
purpose of meeting Andrea, and that the latter's death on tbe eve of this visit
was one of the great disappointments of his (Diirer's) life,
^'- Mantegna made a design {see reproduction in the Gazette des Beaux Arts.,
Vol. XX.), for a projected statue of Virgil, which was never erected.
^" Immediately after the five or six greatest names in the history of Itahan
art comes that of Andrea Mantegna ; he stands at the head of the group of
secondary painters which counted Ghirlandajo, BotticeUi, and Filippino, Bel
lini, Signorelli. and Perugino among its members. His name brings with it
the memory of a lofty and intensely characterized style, of figures of legion
aries long and lean as IS'orth American Indians, Roman iu their costume,
medieval in their sharp, dry silhouette ; of saints, hard and meagre, but
statu esquely meagre; of figures stem almost to fierceness yet exquisitely re
fined in the delicacy of their outline ; of realistic Mantuan nobles impressive
in their ugliness ; of stately Madonnas ; of charming boy angels flying or hold
ing up festoons of flowers and fruits ; of deUcate, youthful figures with long
curling hair and crinkled drapery, where every tiny fold is finished as if in a
miniature ; of canvases filled with long files of captives, with chariots loaded
with treasure, with sky lines broken by standards and trophies, with armored

ANDREA MANTEGNA 275
means not only has the whole world obtained the power of
seeing many of his works, as, for example, the Bacchanalia,
legionaries, curvetting horses, elephants with jewelled frontlets and with
statues towering above the crowd ; of processions where the magnificent vul
garity of ancient Rome and the confused lavishness of an antique " triumph "
are subdued to measured harmonies and sculptural lines.
Mantegna's was a dual artistic personality ; pushed a little further in one
direction, his Judith of the UfBzi might form part of a Greek vase painting ;
pushed a little further in the opposite direction, his Gonzaghe nobles of the
Mantuan Castello would become caricatures. Though an earnest student of
the antique marbles, he was a keen observer of contemporary life as well.
Moving in this wide gamut of elevated realism and noble idealism, he always
preserved a loftiness of feeling which made him at times a peer of Michel
angelo, while he possessed a terribilitd of his own a quarter of a centuiy before
the great Tuscan began to work at all. His love of sculptural repose and dig
nity did not prevent him from being intensely dramatic in hi^ predella of the
San Zeno Madonna, and although his figures, like those of Giovanni Bellini in
his Pietd., often grimace and distort their features yet the contortion which
became pathos with Giovanni deepened into tragedy with Andrea. He was a
past-master of line and of linear composition ; he understood, too, astonishing
ly well, the effect of light falling upon objects iu the round, yet it cannot be
said that he " enveloped " his figures, for he seemed to see everything in nat
ure circumscribed by a pure line. As might have been predicted, this lover
of sculpture was lacking in feeling for color, a. deficiency which few critics
have noted, and which the late Paul Mantz has expressed admirably, remark
ing that Mantegna was a '* brilliant but rather venturesome colorist," and that
" tones which are fine, if considered by themselves, are heard above the general
harmony of the music, and are rather autonomous than disciplined." For ex
ample, the colors in the Madonna of St. Zeno are rich and beautiful in them
selves, but Andrea has placed a brilliant corn-colored robe in the left-hand
lower corner of one of the shutters of the triptych, which distracts the eye
from the really important portions of the picture, while branches of vermilion
coral and yellow fruits are dispersed here and there among his decorative
accessories without any suggestion of choice as to their place, or of relation to
the effect on the composition as a whole. In his earlier works, the frescoes of
the Eremitani of Padua, Andrea is in his coloring like a, child with a, toy
paint-box, spotting out impartially here a yellow mantle and there a. green
tunic without reference to any general scherae of color. He learned later
from Bellini to use rich, strong tones in the Madonnas of San Zeno at Verona,
and of Victory in the Louvre, but on the whole this mighty master of style
and of composition of lines was almost wholly lacking in the sense of color-
composition. Indeed it could hardly be expected that the same temperament
which could so keenly perceive, and so adequately render the grave music of
pure and exquisite line could be equally susceptible to the deep-chorded har
monies of rich and subdued color. Mantegna's is essentially a virile genius ;
he does not charm by suggestiveness, nor please by niorhidezza ; he lacks
facile grace and feeling for facial beauty ; he is often cold, sometime? even

276 ANDREA MANTEGNA
the Battle of Marine Monsters, the Deposition from the
Cross, the Sepulture of Christ, and his Eesurrection, with
Longinus and Sant' Andrea, all engraved by Mantegna him
self, but in like manner every one is now enabled to judge
of the manner of all the masters who have ever lived.
harsh and crude, and in his disdain for prettiness and his somewhat haughty
distinction, he occasionally impresses ns with a rather painful sense of supe
riority. Something of the antique statues that he loved and studied and col
lected entered into his own nature and his work. As Angelico was the Saint,
and Leonardo the Magician, Mantegna was the Ancient Roman of Art. His
were the Roman virtues — sobriety, dignity, self-restraint, discipline, and a
certain masterliness, as indescribable as it is impressive — and to those who
appreciate austere beauty and the pure harmonies of exquisite lines Man
tegna's art will always appeal.
Not half enough has been said or written about the friendship of Mantegna
and Bellini ; the two great painters were brothers-in-law, each had qualities
which the other lacked, and acquired to some extent from contact and their
reaction upon each other was invaluable. Although Andrea's frescoes in
Rome have been destroyed, his life's work which has come down to us is very
considerable ; his cycle of the Eremitani in Padua, his wall-paintings of the
Mantuan Ducal Palace, where the decorative idealism of the ceUing supple
ments the realism of the walls, show him as frescante ; his Madonnas of St.
Zeno and the Louvre acquaint us with the painter of monumental easel pict
ures, while the triptych of the Ufi&zi is almost the work of a miniaturist, and
his panoramically magnificent Triumph of Ceesar, at Hampton Court, is fol
lowed by the long series of his drawings and engravings. Careful study of
his work compels so much enthusiasm that M. Miintz concludes a review of
the painter's work by asking, '^who knows if we may not even caD Andrea
Mantegna the prince of draughtsmen of all time ? "

FILIPPO LIPPI, FLOEENTINE PAINTEE »
[Bom 1457; died 1504.]
BiBLIOGRAPHT.— Karl Woermann, Filippino Lippi in the Dohme series of
Kunst und Kiinstler des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit. Sir A. H. Layard,
The Brancacci Chapel and Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, a publi
cation of the Arundel Society, London, 1868. Le arte in Roma sotto il pon
tiflcato d' Innocenzo VIII. (1484-1492), article by B. Miintz, in V Archivio
Storico deir Arte, II. 478-485. See also the long commentary by Milanesi in
his edition of Vasari's Lives.
THERE lived at the same time iu Florence a painter of
Tcry fine genius and admirable powers of invention,
Filippo namely, son of Fra Filippo del Carmine,^
who, following the steps of his deceased father in the art of
painting, was brought up and instructed, being still a youth
at his father's death, by Sandro Botticello,* although the
father on perceiving his death approaching, had given him
in charge to Fra Diamante, his most intimate friend, nay,
almost brother. Filippo was endowed with much origi-
' Filippino Lippi signs himself in several ways as Filippo di Filippo Lippi,
PhiUpus, PhilippinuB de Lippis, Philipus de Lipis, Filippo Filippi, Filippo,
alterius Filippi.
' Filippo Lippi was bom iu 1457 at Prato. The documents cited by Mi
lanesi make it probable that he was really the son of the friar by Lucrezia
Buti, and he seems to have been considered as such during the Renaissance.
See the Life of Fra Filippo Lippi, page 70 of the present volume. He was
usually called Filippino Lippi, to distinguish him from his father. In a will
made in 1488 he left property to his " mother, Lucrezia Buti."
' Filippino's father was undoubtedly his first instructor iu painting, al
though he died while Filippino was still very young ; the boy's education was
then continued by Pra Diamante and finished under Botticelli, or very
probably, as Morelli states (Italian Painters, II., 260), Fra Diamante was only
his guardian and Botticelli was his sole master after the death of Fra Lippo.
Unfortunately the date of Filippino's registry in the guild of Florentine
painters is illegible.

278 FILIPPO LIPPI
nality ; he displayed the most copious invention in his
paintings, and the ornaments he added were so new, so
fanciful, and so richly varied, that he must be considered
the first * who taught the moderns the new method of giv
ing variety to the habiliments, and who first embellished
his figures by adorning them with vestments after the an
tique. Filippo was also the first who employed the gro
tesque masks, executed in the manner of the ancients, and
which he used as decorations in friezes or frame-works,
in terretta, and coloured, displaying more correct draw
ing and a more fi.nished grace than any of the masters
who preceded him had done. It was indeed a wonderful
thing to see the extraordinary fancies exhibited in painting
by this artist ; but what is more, Filippo never executed
any work whatever wherein he did not avail himself of
Roman antiquities, which he studied with unwearied dil
igence. Helmets, for example, banners, trophies, vases,
buskins, ornaments of the Temples, head-dresses of various
kinds, draperies of different sorts, mantles, armour, the
toga, swords, scimitars, and other matters of similar kind,
so varied and beautiful, that those who follow are under
great and perpetual obligation to Filippo for the rich em
bellishment which he has thus added to this department
of art.
"While yet in his first youth, this master completed the
Chapel of the Brancacci,^ in the church of the Carmine, at
' Or rather among the first. Vasari more than once shows that he waa
much impressed by Filippino's archaeological knowledge.
= Filippino probably worked in the Brancacci chapel about 1484-1485, after
he had already completed the San Bernardo for Piero del Pugliese and the
Ferranti San Girolamo, and was twenty-six years old. Milanesi coincides with
Rumohr in the opinion that Filippino when very young (twenty-two years
old) painted the twelve little lunettes in the oratorio of the Buonuomini di
San Martino, in Florence, about the year 1482. M. Miintz, L' Age d' Or, 6.53,
cites a series of scenes from the story of Esther, painted on a marriage coffer
of the Torrigiani Gallery of Florence, as an early work of Filippino. Morelli
declares that these Torrigiani panels, recently sold in France, are by Sandro
Botticelli, and states further, that the St. Jerome of the Uffizi, accredited to
Filippino, is also by Sandro.

FILIPPO LIPPI 279
Florence, which had been commenced by Masolino, and
continued but not entirely finished by Masaccio, who was
also interrupted in his labours by deatli. It was thus from
the hand of Filippo that the work received its ultimate per
fection, that master completing what remained to be accom
plished of an unfinished picture, representing SS. Pietro
and Paolo, who restore the nephew of the emperor from
the dead. In the figure of the undraped youth, Filippo
portrayed the features of the painter Francesco Granacci,
then very young ; he also depicted that of the Cavalier,
Messer Tommaso Soderini, in this work, with those of Piero
Guicciardini, father of Jlesser Francesco, who has written
the Storie J of Piero del Pugliese, of the poet Luigi Pucci,
of Antonio PoUaiuolo, and finally of himself, as a youth,
which he then was ; the last-mentioned portrait he never
painted again in all the rest of his life, for which cause it
has not been possible to procure a likeness of him at a more
advanced age.^ In the story following this, Filippo painted
the portrait of his master, Sandro Botticello, with many
other friends and distinguished men ; among these was the
broker, Raggio,'' a man of singular talent and very witty,
the same who executed the whole Inferno of Dante, in re
lief, on a shell, with all the "circles" and divisions of its
dark caverns, and, finally, its lowest deep, all the figures,
and every other minutia, are measured in their exact pro
portions, and all as they had been most ingeniously imag
ined and described by that great poet, which was at the
time considered an admirable performance.^ Filippo after
wards painted a picture in tempera for the chapel of Fran
cesco del Pugliese at Campora, a place belonging to the
" The portraits of Antonio and Filippo are not in the picture mentioned,
bnt in that of St. Peter Condemned to Death. Vasari probably grouped the
two subjects together as a single work.
' Possibly Raggio di Noferi Raggi, born about 1470.
8 Milanesi devotes a long commentary to proving that the stories of Saints
Peter and Paul raising the nephew of the emperor from the dead, and St.
Peter crucified, in the Brancacci chapel, are by Filippino, and not by Ma
saccio.

280 FILIPPO LIPPI
monks of the abbey, outside the gate of Florence.^ The
subject of this work is San Bernardo, who is in a wood
writing, and to whom Our Lady appears, surrounded by
Angels ; it has been much admired for the various acces
sories introduced by the painter ; as, for example, the
rocks, trees, and shrubs, the books, and similar things ;
there is, besides, the portrait of the above-named Francesco,
so truly natural, that it wants nothing but the power of
speech to be alive. ^° This picture was removed from its
place during the siege, and was deposited for safety in the
abbey of Florence. In the church of San Spirito ^^ in the
same city, Filippino painted a picture for Tanai de' Nerli,
the subject is the Virgin, with San Martino, San Niccolo,
and Santa Caterina ; he executed another in the church of
San Brancazio (Pancrazio), for the chapel of the Rucellai
family, with a Crucifix, ^^ and two figures on a gold ground
for the church of San RafEaello.* -^ In the church of San

* San Ruffello in Vasari's first edition.
^ This picture, painted for Piero (not Francesco) di Francesco Pugliese in
1480, is now in the churcli of the Badia, Florence; it is one of Filippino's
most famous pictures, and is in its quiet depth of feeling unexcelled, and in
deed hardly equalled, by any work of his contemporaries. The picture haa
suffered greatly from changes in the pigment or from retouching, the color
being in parts crude and hard, in parts delicate and transparent, and, on the
¦whole, the work, like so many other Tuscan pictures, can hardly be said to
have any especial composition of color.
^° On the contrary, this is the weakest part of the picture.
1^ This work is still in its place. Tanai and his wife kneel in the fore
ground, Saints Martin and Catharine present them to the Virgin, and in the
background, where there is a view of the Borgo San Frediano, and the Gate,
Tanai is again seen, just alighted from his horse and embracing his little
daughter. This is one of the best of Filippino's works, but cannot be well
examined in the darkness of the choir-aisle.
12 Now in the National Gallery, London. It represents the Madonna and
Child, with Saints Jerome and Dominick ; in the same collection is an Ador
ing Angel — a fragment of a fresco. Milanesi cites also the tondo. Madonna
and Child, with angels, in the Corsini Gallery at Florence, and two tondi
in the Palazzo Pubblico of San Gemignano.
13 Believed to be a picture in the Berlin Muiseum, representing Christ on the
Cross, with angels who hold chalices to catch his blood, while below are
Saints Mary aud Francis.

FILIPPO LIPPI . 281
Francesco, situate without the gate of San Miniato, there is
a picture by Filippino in front of the Sacristy ; it repre
sents the Almighty Father with children around him ; ^^
and at the Palco, a house of the barefooted monks outside
the city of Prato, ^^ there is also a picture by this master.
In the same place there is a small painting by Filippo,
which has been greatly extolled ; it is in the audience-
chamber of the prior, and represents Our Lady, with San
Stefano and San Giovanni Batista. ^^ This master likewise
painted " a Tabernacle in fresco at the corner of the Mer-
catele (also in Prato), opposite to the convent of Santa
Margherita, and near some houses belonging to the nuns.
In this work there is an exceedingly beautiful figure of the
Virgin, in the midst of a choir of seraphim, the whole
group is surrounded by a brilliant light ; and among
other peculiarities of this picture may be remarked the art
and judgment displayed in the Dragon, which is beneath
the feet of Santa Margareta, a monster of aspect so horribly
strange and loathsome, that one sees clearly the abode of
venom, fire, and death in that frightful figure. The whole
of the work is, moreover, remarkable for the freshness and
animation of the colouring, qualities for which it merits
the highest praise.
Filippino also executed paintings in Lucca ; among these
is a picture for one of the chapels in the church of San
Ponziano, belonging to the monks of Monte Oliveto. ^^ In
" This picture is lost.
" Executed in 1495 ; it is now in Munich, and represents Christ appearing
in the clouds to his mother, while above is God the Father.
'" This picture, which has been injured by time, was ordered by the commune
of Prato iu 1501, and was finished in 1503. It is now in the small gallery of
the Palazzo del Commune, Prato. San Stefano, however, does not appear in
it. " Painted in 1498 ; this picture is still iu place. In the sides of the taber
nacle are Saints Stefano and Caterina at the right, Margherita and Antonio
abate at the left ; in the centre are the Virgin and Child, with angels.
" These works are lost ; but in San Michele, at Lucca, is a picture by Filip
pino, with Saints Rochus, Sebastian, Jerome, and Helena, in a meadow filled
with flowers.

282 ¦ FILIPPO LIPPI
the centre of this chapel there is also a very beautiful
relief by the hand of that most excellent sculptor, Andrea
Sansovino ; it is within a recess, and exhibits the figure of
Sant' Autonio.
Being invited to Hungary by King Matthias, Filippo de
clined to go thither, but painted two very beautiful pictures
in Florence for that monarch, which were sent to him, and
in one of which was the portrait of Matthias, as he appears
on the medals.^' Filippo likewise sent various works to
Genoa,'-* and for the church of San Domenico, in Bologna,
he painted a picture of San Sebastiano, which is worthy of
the utmost praise ; it is on the left of the chapel of the high
altar. ^1 For Tanai de' Neiii Filippo painted a second pict
ure in the church of San Salvadore, near Florence, and for
his friend Piero del Pugliese he executed a story in small
figures, finished with so much art and care, that on being
requested by another citizen to paint a similar one for him,
the master refused to attempt it, declaring that it was im
possible for him to produce such another.^
After completing these works, Filippo undertook an im
portant one in Rome for the Neapolitan Cardinal, Olivieri
Caraffa, being entreated thereto by Lorenzo de' Medici the
elder, who was a friend of the cardinal's. On his way to
Eome for this purpose, Filippo passed through Spoleto at
the request of the same Lorenzo, to make arrangements for
the construction of a marble tomb for his father, Fra Fi
lippo, which Lorenzo had determined to erect at his own
cost, since he could not obtain from the people of Spoleto
" In 1488 ; the pictures executed for Matthias are probably lost.
2° Forster states that there is a St. Sebastian between St. John the Baptist
and St. Francis in the church of San Teodoro in Genoa.
^' This picture, which was painted in 1501, is still in its place. It represents
the marriage of St. Catherine, and contains several figures of saints, among
them a St. Sebastian.
^2 No authentic account of these pictures, or their whereabouts, can now be
obtained. Milanesi says that San Francesco outside the San Miniato gate was
once called San Salvadore, and thinks this picture may be identical with the
one mentioned by Vasari as painted for that church. Nothing is known of
the "story " painted for Pughese.

FILIPPO LIPPI 283
the remains of Fra Filippo, to deposit them in Florence as
he had desired. Filippino prepared a design accordingly
in a very good manner ; ^ and, after that design, Lorenzo
caused the monument to be richly and handsomely con
structed, as we have already related. Arrived in Rome Fi
lippo painted a Chapel for the above-named Cardinal Caraffa,
in the church of the Minerva ; he there depicted events
from the Life of St. Thomas Aquinas, with certain poetical
compositions, all of which were ingeniously invented by
himself, to whom Nature was at all times propitious in
such matters. Here, then, we find Faith, by whom Infi
delity, with all heretics aud sceptics, has been made prisoner.
Despair is, in like manner, seen to be vanquished by Hope,
and other Virtues also subjugate the Vices which are their
opposite. In another compartment St. Thomas is seated in
the Professor's chair, defending the Church against a School
of heretics, and beneath his feet lie conquered Sabellius,
Arian, Averroes and others ; the draperies of all these fig
ures are exceedingly graceful and appropriate.^' In our
book of drawings we have the whole of the story above de
scribed,^ by Filippo himself, with several others by the
same hand, all so ably executed that they could not be im
proved. There is besides in this chapel the delineation of
that event in the life of St. Thomas, when the saint being
in prayer, was addressed by the crucifix, which said to him,
— Bene scripsisti di me Tlioma. A companion of St. Thom
as, hearing the Crucifix thus speaking, stands utterly con
founded and almost beside himself. On the altar-piece is
'" See the Life of Fra Filippo Lippi, page 76 of the present volume.
^^ These frescoes were probably finished circa 1490. Some of the paintings
of the Virtues and Vices were destroyed when the monument of Pope Paul
IV. was erected. M. MUntz (L' .ige d'Or) thinks that up to the time of these
frescoes no painter had shown such sentiment of the niise en scene, and declares
that Filippino's composition here prepares the way for Raphael. In the back
ground of the Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas, the balcony or balustrade,
crowded with spectators, appears ; a prototype of those introduced later and
80 frequently by the Venetian painters.
"' The preparatory sketch of the Disputii of St. Thomas is in the print-room
of the British Museum.

284 FILIPPO LIPPI
the Virgin receiving the Annunciation from the Angel Ga
briel, and on the principal wall is the Assumption of our
Lady, with the twelve Apostles round her tomb. The whole
work was and is considered extremely fine, and for a painting
in fresco is admirably executed. The above-named Olivieri
Caraffa, Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia, is portrayed in it^'
from the life, and that prelate was deposited in the chapel
on his death, in the year 1511,^' but was afterwards taken
to Naples, and interred in the Episcopal chapel.
Having returned to Florence, Filippo undertook to paint,
at his leisure, the chapel belonging to Filippo Strozzi the
elder, in the church of Santa Maria Novella, but having
completed the ceiling he was obliged to return to Rome ;
here, for the same Cardinal Caraffa, he constructed a Tomb
with ornaments of stucco, as also certain figures in the re
cess of a small chapel beside that above described, in the
church of the Minerva, with other figures, some of which
were, in part, executed by FilipiDo's disciple, Raffaellino del
Garbo. The chapel of the tomb was estimated by Maestro
Lanzilago, of Padua, ^^ and by the Eoman, Antonio called
Antoniasso two of the best painters then in Rome, at two
thousand gold ducats, exclusive of the cost of ultra-marine
and the expenses of the master's assistants. When Filippo,
therefore, had received the sum he returned to Florence,
wliere he completed the before-mentioned chapel of the

'» Caraffa is painted in the altar-piece of the Annunciation.
2' As Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa died in 1551, Vasari's date, 1511, is unques
tionably an error of the press. FiUppino was warmly recommended to Caraffa
by Lorenzo de' Medici, and another painter having been proposed by someone
else, the Cardinal said ; " No, since he has been sent me by the Magnifico, I
would not exchange him for an Apelles, or for all Italy." See the letter of
Caraffa, September 2, MSS, to Don Gabbriello, of Montescalari, cited by Mila
nesi, III., p. 469, and printed in its entirety by M. Muntz, in L'Archivio Stor
ico deir Arte, 1889, p. 484.
"^^ MoreUi thinks that Lanzilago may have been mistaken for a certain
Resilao ; Milanesi believes, however, that a real Lanzilago, a Paduan painter,
is the man mentioned. Antoniasso di Benedetto Aquilio was a Roman paint
er ; Milanesi cites notices of him from Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Miintz, and
Costantino Corvisieri.

FILIPPO LIPPI • 285
strozzi,^ with so much judgment and such admirable de
sign, that the work awakens astonishment in all who behold
it, and not for those qualities only, but also for the novelty
and variety of the many fanciful objects depicted in it ;
among these may be enumerated men in armour, temples,
vases, helmets, with their crests, and other arms, trophies,
banners, spears, draperies of various kinds, buskins, orna
ments for the head, sacerdotal vestments, and other things,
all painted in so admirable a manner, that they merit the
highest commendation, so Among the events depicted in
this work is the Resurrection of Drusiana by St. John the
evangelist,^^ and the amazement experienced by the sur
rounding people, at the sight of a man who restores' life to
the dead by a simple sign of the cross, is expressed with the
utmost force and truth ; this is more particularly manifest
in the face of a priest or philosopher, for he may be either,
who stands near, in the very extremity of astonishment :
" This work was ordered in 1487, finished in 1502, and restored in 1753.
=» While in Rome Filippino improved his opportunities to study classical
models. In his Autobiography Benvenuto Cellini says that Francesco Lippi,
son of Filippino, had a number of his father's books, which contained sketches
from the antique; they consisted of the arabesques and tracery work, which
were called "grotesques."
" In certain of these frescoes, notably in the Resurrection of Drusiana, the
spectator hardly recognizes the Filippino of earlier times. The painter of the
dignified Carmine frescoes, the delicate and fervid St. Bernard, has suddenly
grown undignified and very nearly coarse ; his figures gesticulate and jostle in
almost delirious activity; their faces are contorted and grimacing, the picture
is fairly smothered with accessories, classical or pseudo-classical, and the bas-
reliefs and caryatides take part in the action and have a wholly undue impor
tance, coming forward beyond their proper atmospheric planes. Every scarf
or strap or veil is waving violently in the air, as if a great wind were blowing
along the wall And yet all this exaggeration has not made Filippino forget
that he is a master ; the composition, although in artists' parlance full of
holes, that is, lacking repose and mass, does not want balance, and these same
streaming draperies and straps are made to curl and wave in strict accordance
with the decorative filling of spaces. Taking them altogether, the frescoes of
the Strozzi chapel are astonishing examples of the evolution of a man who
holds fast to quattrocento naturalism with one hand (see the inconsonant epi
sode of the child and dog), and grasps eclecticism with the other ; who is violent
In trying to be dramatic, and yet who has prophetic glimpses of the great
monumental compositions that are to come.

286 FILIPPO LIPPI
he is dressed after the antique, and bears a vase in his hands.
In the same story, moreover, and among the numerous fig
ures of women, variously apparelled, is a boy, who, terrified
by the attack of a little red and white spaniel, which has
seized him by his tunic, turns round to the mother, and,
hiding himself among the folds of her garments, seems as
entirely possessed by his fear of being bitten by the dog,
as the woman is with her amazement, and a sort of dread
and horror, as she witnesses the resurrection of Drusiana.^
Near this, and where San Giovanni is seen boiled in oil, the
expression of rage in the countenance of the judge, who
commands that the fire shall be increased, is rendered
with extraordinary power ; the reflection of the flames on the
face of him who blows the fire is also fine, and all the fig
ures are painted in varied and beautiful attitudes. On the
opposite side is represented San Filippo in the Temple of
Mars, causing to come forth from beneath the altar the
Serpent, which has killed the son of the king by the foetid
odours emitted from it. The master here painted, on one of
the steps of the altar, a cleft, through which the serpent
crawls from beneath it, and the fracture thus depicted is so
natural, that one evening a scholar of Filippo, desiring to
hide something, I know not what, that it might not be seen
~ by some one who was knocking at the door, ran in haste to
this hole to conceal what he held within it, but was foiled of
his purpose. Filippo displayed equal art in the Serpent it
self, insomuch that the venom, the foetid breath, and the
fire, seems rather to be real than merely painted. The in
vention of the picture, in which the saint is crucified, has
also been much commended ; the artist would seem to have
figured to himself that San Filippo had been fastened to the
cross while it lay extended on the earth, and to have been
then raised and dragged aloft by means of ropes, cords, and
stakes ; these ropes being carried around the fragments of
old buildings, as pillars, basements, and the like, and then
=2 M. Miintz in referring to these frescoes of the Strozzi chapel says that
Filippino may even figure among the ancestors of the Rococo.

FILIPPO LIPPI 287
drawn by numerous assistants. The weight of the cross
and of the undraped saint extended upon it, is supported
on the other side by two men, one of whom upholds the
end of the cross by means of a ladder which he has placed
beneath it ; the other supports the part he holds with the
help of a stake, while two more, moving the foot of the cross
with a lever, are gradually bringing it to the hole wherein
it is to be placed upright. Nor would it be possible to ex
ecute all this better than it is here done (whether we con
sider the invention or design), whatever art or industry
might be applied to the work. There are, besides, numer
ous accessories of different kinds painted in chiaro-scuro to
resemble marble, all exhibiting the richest variety and the
most admirable design.
In San Donato, near Florence, called the Scopeto, Filippo
painted an Adoration of the Magi for the Scopetine friars.
This picture he executed with great care, and in the figure
of an Astrologer, holding a quadrant in his hand, he pour-
trayed the likeness of Pier Francesco de' Medici, the elder,
son of Lorenzo di Bicci, with that of Giovanni, father of the
Signor Giovanni de' Medici ; that of another Pier Fran
cesco, brother of the above-named Signor Giovanni, and
those of many other distinguished personages.^ In this
work there are Moors and Indians, in singularly arranged
dresses, and a hut or cabin, of the most fanciful character
imaginable. In a Loggia, at Poggio a Caiano, Filippo com-
33 Now in the Ufiizi ; the picture is signed {on the back) Filippus me pinsit
de Lipis Florentinus, addi 29 di Marzo 1496. The Pierfrancesco named in
the text, and who holds a quadrant in the picture, is the son of Lorenzo di
Giovanni d' Averardo, called Bicci (de' Medici). The young king, standing,
is the portrait of Giovanni di Pierfrancesco, father of Giovanni delle Bande
Nere. Another Pierfrancesco, cousin (not brother) of Giovanni, is painted as
a blond, long-haired youth who holds out a chalice. See Milanesi, III. 473,
note 1. A commission for this subject was given to Leonardo da Vinci (1480),
but he failed to carry it out, and it fell to Filippino Lippi. Sig. A. Venturi,
in bis text to Adolf Braun's publication on the Pitti Gallery, says the tondo
347, attributed to FiUppino, is reaUy by an unknown painter. Filippino's pas
sion for quaint accessories led him, in later Ufe, far away from the dignified
Bimplioity of hie Brancacci frescoes.

288 FILIPPO LIPPI
menced a Sacrifice, in fresco, for Lorenzo de' Medici, but
this work remained unfinished.** For the nuns of San
Girolamo, on the acclivity of San Giorgio, in Florence, he
also commenced a picture for the high altar ; this was suc
cessfully continued after his death by the Spanish painter
Alonzo Berughetta, but was finished by other artists, the
Spaniard having returned to his native land before its com
pletion. ^ The painting in that halP^ of the palace of the
Signoria, wherein the Council of Eight hold their sittings,
was executed by Filippo, who prepared the drawings for
another large picture, with its decorations, to be placed in
the Hall of the Council ; but the death of the master ensu
ing soon after, this design was never put into execution,
although the ornament or frame-work was already carved,
and is now in the possession of Messer Baccio Baldini, an
eminent physician and natural philosopher, who is a lover
of all the arts. For the church of the abbey of Florence,
Filippo painted a very beautiful figure of San Girolamo ; ^
and commenced a Deposition from the Cross, for the friars
of the Nunziata : ^ of this latter work he finished the figures
3'' still in existence. '' This work is lost.
38 Now in the Ufiizi, dated February 20, 1485 — a Virgin and ChUd En
throned, with two angels above, and at the sides Saints John, Victor, Bernard,
and Zenobius.
3' This picture is probably lost ; it was painted in 1480 for the Ferranti
family. See Milanesi, III. 475.
33 This work was commenced in 1503. The lower part of the picture (not
of the figures) was left unfinished by Filippo, and was painted by Perugino.
It is now in the Florentine Academy. Morelli, in his Italian Painters, says
that Madrid, Vienna, Dresden, and Paris have no pictures by Filippino, al
though he believes No. 1114, in the Louvre, painted by Albertinelli, was com
menced by Filippino ; the St. Jerome showing evidences of having been drawn
by Lippi's own hand. In Munich, Morelli credits to Filippino No. 503, Christ
Appearing to his Mother. No. 538, attributed to Ghirlandajo by the catalogue,
to Filippino by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, is given by Frizzoni and Morelli to
RaffaeUino del Garbo. Morelli further accredits to Lippi a tondo in Oxford,
Cupid Weeping, and No. 293 in the National Gallery. He admits that Berlin
has several Lippis, among which he especiaUy mentions 83 and 101, each a
Madonna with the Infant Christ ; he rejects, in the Pitti Gallery of Florence,
the Death of Virginia, and No. 347, a Madonna and Christ with angels, and
accepts only No. 336 catalogued as by an unknown artist. In Venice he ac
cepts as b}^ FUippino the picture attributed to Crespi in the Seminario Ves-

FILIPPINO LIPPI
VISION OF ST. BERNARD
BADIA, FLORENCE

Alinari, Phot.

FILIPPO LIPPI 289
from the middle upward only, seeing that he was then at
tacked by a violent fever, and by that constriction of the
throat commonly called quinsy, or squinancia, of which he
died in a few days, in the forty-fifth year of his age.^'
Having been ever • courteous, obliging, and friendly,
Filippo was lamented by all who had known him, but more
particularly by the youth of Florence, his noble native city ;
who, in the public festivals, masks, and other spectacles,
were always glad to avail themselves of his readiness and in
ventive genius, for in these matters this artist has never had
his equal. Filippo gave proof of so much excellence, in all
his actions, as to have entirely effaced the stain (to what
ever extent it may have existed) left to him by his father —
effaced it I say, not only by the eminence he attained in art,
wherein he was inferior to none of his contemporaries — but
also by the modest propriety of his life, and above all by an
obliging and friendly disposition, the effect of which on
every heart, and its power to conciliate all minds, can be
fully known to those only who have experienced it. Filippo
was buried by his sons in San Michele Bisdomiui, on the
13th of April, 1505 ; ^° *^ ^^ and while the funeral procession
covile, and he recommends for study of the characteristics of Filippino the
foUowing drawings : Uffizi, 139, head of the Badia Madonna ; 186, sketch for
one of the Strozzi frescoes ; Ambrosiana, head of a Magian king ; Lille col
lection, a, drawing attributed to Masaccio ; Dresden, two studies accredited
there to Rosselli, and in the Louvre a man seated, resting his head on his left
hand, attributed to Fra Filippo. One may add, as among the works ac
credited by Messrs. Crowe and CavalcaseUe to Filippino, the Meeting of Jo
achim and Elizabeth (Copenhagen) ; Madonna and Saints (San Domenico at
Bologna) ; and the famous examples in the Florentine galleries, in the Badia,
and in the Santo Spirito.
3" In the forty-seventh year of his age. "" In 1504 rather.
" Filippino painted his own portrait as well as those of PoUajuolo and
Sandro BotticeUi in the fresco of the Martyrdom of St. Peter, in the Bran
cacci chapel.
" Few masters ran such a gamut as Filippino Lippi ; his precocity was un
equalled, for he completed the decoration of the Brancacci chapel when he
was only twenty-seven years old ; this however was not phenomenal precocity
bnt the result of good fortune. He had the art inheritance of his father, Fra
Lippo, he had the companionship of Botticelli, he had the legacy of Masaccio,
and he walked in the paths which that great master had traced, fulfilling the

290 FILIPPO LIPPI
was passing, all the shops in the Via de' Servi were closed,
as is done for the most part at the funerals of princes only.
task which Masaccio had begun. Even before he worked in the Brancacci,
Filippino had painted the St. Bernard for del Pugliese, and thus, at his very
beginning, he achieved the things which were intrinsically his best, for the
St. Bernard surpasses BotticeUi in fervor and the frescoes of the Brancacci
are as grave as Ghirlandajo's works and even approach those of Masaccio.
The early years of Filippino's life were of that particular time when tbe
greatest artistic talent began to run instinctively iuto the channel of painting
alone ; men like Ghirlandajo, Botticelli, Perugino, Signorelli, who, twenty-
five years earlier, would have been sculptor-painters, like Verrocchio and Pol-
laj uolo, now handled the brush only ; it was the epoch of painting, but toward
the end of Filippino's life came the trying years of a violent change in manner
— a, new order of artists of the type of Raphael, Michelangelo, Andrea del
Sarto was to arise. Only a few fortunate men were born at just the right
moment to be flung to the crest of the wave, and those great artists of the old
manner, those at least who did not die young enough to escape the transi
tion, as did Ghirlandajo, were in a measure stranded. Perugino and Signorelli
returned from Florence and Rome to their native Umbria and the towns
men who still faithfully admired their pictures. Botticelli, we are told, was
neglected, but Filippino swam bravely with the stream, for he was almost as
instinctively an assimilator as was Raphael. His was an especially interesting
evolution; for this man, still young, and having shown that he could worthdy
represent fifteenth -century art in its full development was a forerunner of
Pra Bartolommeo and Raphael ; he had prophetic visions of what was to
come, and in his almost geometrically ordered ''Triumph of St. Thomas
Aquinas " he was the precursor of the painters of Santa Maria Nuova and
of the Stanze. He always advanced, but toward the end of his life it was
in the direction of thought rather than of observation. He became more than
ever u. factor in the evolution of Italian art, but it was at the sacrifice of
much of his depth and spontaneity. He still found charming episodes (see his
children in the frescoes of the Strozzi chapel), and his somewhat fantastical
antiquarianism and his abuse of Roman detail in the same frescoes showed
him still as a quattrocentisto. On the whole his change of manner was more
admirable than attractive, and where we may praise him most for his seeking
after monumental composition, we find least room for sympathy with his
work itself. He remains to us as the third of the great Florentine trio of
Middle Renaissance painters ; but while Ghirlandajo and Botticelli were al
ways intensely personal, and always developed along the same lines, Filippino
seems to be three men at three different times ; first, the painter of St. Ber
nard, equalling Botticelli in grace and surpassing him in a certain fervor of
feeling ; secondly, the painter of the Brancacci frescoes, imitating Masaccio,
passing beyond him in scientific acquirement, but falling far behind his
grand style ; and last of all, the painter of the cycle of St. Thomas, leaving
behind him his quattrocento charm, still retaining some of his quattrocento
awkwardness, but attaining dramatic composition and becoming a precurBor
of Raphael.

BEEXAKDO PIXTURICCHIO, PAIXTEE OF PE
RUGIA. ^
[Bom 1454 ; died 1513.]
BiKLiOQRAPHT. — ^Vermiglioli, Memorie di Pinturicchio, Perugia, 1S37. A.
Schmarsow, Raphael und Pinturicchio i?i Siejia, Stuttgart, 18S0. A. Schmar
sow, Pinturicchio in Rom, Stuttgart, 18S:i. Gnattani, Quadri nelV Appart.
Borgia, Rome, 1S20. The Frescoes of Bernardo Pinturicchio in the CoUegiate
Church of S. Maria Maggiore at SpeUo, by A. H. Layard, Arundel Society,
1S5S. S. Volpini, L'Appartamento Borgia ?tel Voticano, Rome, 1SS7. G.
W. Kitchin, Life of Pope Pius II., as iUustrated by Pinturicchio's Frescoes in
the Piccolomini Library at Siena, Arundel Society-, ISSl. E. Miintz, Histoire
de VArt pendant la Renaissance, Vol. II.; L'Age d'Or, pp. 7:i4-7o2. This is
one of the best appreciations of Pinturicchio, and though severe, itis admira
ble criticism. See E. MUntz, Raphael, pp. 11 7-13S, for a discussion of the fres
coes of the Ubrary of Siena. Giovanni MorelU's Italian Masters in German
GaUeries is important for its consideration of Pinturicchio's authorship of the
Sistine frescoes, and also for its long, critical discussion of the so-caUed Ra
phaels sketch-book in Venice.
AS many are aided by fortune, without being endowed
with extraordinary ability, so are there numbers of able
men, on the contrary, who are constantly persecuted
by an adverse destiny. From this we perceive clearly, that
fortune's favourite children are those who depend on her only,
unaided by ability of any kind, for it pleases her to exalt such
by her favour, as would never have made themselves known
by means of their own merit, and of this we have an instance
in Pinturicchio, of Perugia ; ^ who, although he performed
' Bernardino di Benedetto di Biagio, called U Pinturicchio, Pintoricchio. or
Pintoriccio, the Little Painter, or, as a French critic has more picturesquely
translated it, "¦ Le petit Peinturlureur." He was also sometimes caUed ii <Sor-
diehio, on account of his deafness.
' Many art writers have pointed ont the injustice of Vasari's judgment of
Pinturicchio, a judgment which is, however, based upon faots, but which the
biographer occasionaUy aUows to become distorted throngh exaggeration.

292 BERNARDO PINTURICCHIO
many labours^ and received aid from many persons, had
nevertheless a much greater name than was merited by his
works. Pinturicchio did indeed obtain much opportunity
for practice, and had considerable facility in the execution of
works of a large kind ; he constantly kept about him a large
number of assistants, from whom he had much help in his
works. Having painted many pictures in his youth, under
Pietro Perugino, his master, for which he obtained the third
part of all the gains made by them ; Pinturicchio was in
vited to Siena, where he was employed by Cardinal Fran
cesco Piccolomini to paint the library which had been
erected in the cathedral of that city by Pojdc Pius 11.^ It
is indeed true, that the sketches and cartoons for all the
stories which he executed in that place were by the hand of
Kaffaello da Urbino,^ then a youth, who had been his com-
3 It was Cardinal Piccolomini who built the Library, not his uncle, Pius II
'^ There has been much controversy about these frescoes and Raphael's work
for them. M. Miintz, in his Life of Raphael, concludes that the latter made the
studies for the cartoons. These designs are superior in movement, grace, and
style to the frescoes. Reproductions of these preliminary drawings from the
Ufiizi, in Florence ; from the Casa Baldeschi, in Perugia ; from the Duke of Dev
onshire's collection, at Chatsworth, are placed side by side with the frescoes of
the Libreria in Herr Schmarsow's Raphael und Pi?ituricchio in Siena, Stutt
gart, 1S80. Herrn Grimm and Schmarsow are convinced that they have dis
covered the signature of Raphael in the inscription on the design (now in the
Uffizi) for the Departure of ^neas Sylvius with the Cardinal Capranica. Mo
relli ascribed all these draiivings to Pinturicchio himself, and found it improb
able that Pinturicchio, a man fifty years old, who had done important work in
Rome, should have allowed a youth of twenty to make the sketches and cartoons
for the Library. Mr. J. H. Middleton, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, de- ,
cided, after an examination of the testimony pi^o and con, '¦'¦ that the evidence
which would give Raphael an important share in the execution of these fine
paintings amounts to very little. " In the original contract between the painter
and the Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini {given in full by Milanesi, IH., p. 519)
it was specially provided that the arabesques of the ceiling, the drawing of the
cartoons, and their transference to the walls should be done by Pinturicchio
himself, and that all the heads should be painted by his own hand. The position
of the Cardinal's coat-of-arms and the number of the compositions were agreed
upon ; the artist pledged himself to use gold, ultramarine, pale blue, and green
paint of a good quality, to work on the wet plaster {alfresco), and to retouch
when the walls were dry {a secco). Mr. Middleton, in the Encyclopaedia Bri
tannica, draws attention to the fact that though these paintings are laid in
with true fresco colors, but little /resco huono is visible in them. They have

BEENAEDO PINTUEICCHIO 298
panion and fellow-disciple with the above-named Pietro,
whose manner had been perfectly acquired by Eaiiaello.^
One of these Cartoons is still to be seen in Siena, and some
of the sketches, by the hand of Eaffaello, are in our book.
In this work, which is divided into ten compartments or
stories, Pinturicchio was aided by numerous disciples and
assistants, all of the school of Pietro Perugino.^ The first
division or picture represents the birth of Pope Pius II.,''
been painted over later with brighter colors than could have been used on the
damp plaster. This retouching, common to a,U. frescanti, was more frequently
employed by Pinturicchio than by most artists. In the case of the frescoes of
the Library it has produced so brilliant an effect that every visitor is astopished
by what seems to him the almost incredible state of preservation of the work.
* Perugino was only eight years older than Pinturicchio. The latter was
probably a pupil of Bonfigli or Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. In the little pictures by
the latter, of which a whole series exists in the Pinacoteca of Perugia, the
anecdotic tendencies and the entertaining use of the most picturesque contem
poraneous costume offer a precedent to Pinturicchio which the most casual ob
server must notice. Here, too, is the dryness of Pinturicchio, the same
aridity of background, in artist's parlance the same lack of envelopment.
Had Perugino been Pintnricchio's original master, he would surely have done
away with, or at least modified, this hardness in his pupil's work.
= 1502-1.509.
' The birth of .(Eneas Sylvius does not form the subject of any one of the
frescoes. The first panel represents the Departure of .^Eneas Sylvius with Car
dinal Capranica for the Council of Basle. The series of frescoes impresses
the visitor as the best preserved in Italy. Such wonderful preservation,
although immensely effective, does not necessarily infer in this effectiveness
the presence of tho.se qualities which in a. frescante may be accounted as even
technically the highest. The liberal retouching a secco, that is to say, the
repainting (by Pinturicchio) with dry color after the first true fresco had
been absorbed by the plaster has given to the works an astonishing brightness
and an occasional regilding of the parts originally touched with gold has added
to this brightness, until some of these figures appear to have been painted
only yesterday. But it must be understood that, for the sake of this bright
ness, Pinturicchio sacrificed transparency and harmony. The a secco retouch
ing produces an opacity of color wherever it is used ; in a word, the painter
has sacrificed true richness of color to that factitious richness which is only
brilliancy of surface. The impression afforded by the Sienese Library, which
ia genuine and abiding, is that of decorative completeness, of homogeneous-
neas, and of a certain splendid gayety. The secular impression is, above all,
surprising, as one passes through the doorway which opens directly from the
cathedral into the Library. The Duomo of Siena, in spite of its nobility and
beauty, is too sumptuous, too much of a museum to be accounted among the
most solemn of shrines ; but it is solemn indeed if compared with its neigh-

294 BERNARDO PINTURICCHIO
which took place in the year 1405 ; he was the son of SilTio
Piccolomini and Victoria his wife, the baptismal name of
Pope Pius IL was Eneas, and he was born in Valdorcia, in
the castle of Corsignana, now called Pienza, from his name
of Pius, he having afterwards elevated the place to the rank
of a city. In this picture are portraits from the life of the
above-named Silvio and Victoria, and in the same work the
Pope is himself seen as he proceeds with Domenico, cardinal
of Capranica, to cross the Alps, which are covered with ice
and snow, on his way to the Council of Basle.
In the second picture is the same Eneas, when sent by the
council on various embassies and to different legations ; to
Strasburg namely, whither he proceeded three times ; to
Trent, to Constance, to Frankfort, and into Savoy. In the
third picture is Eneas, when despatched by the Anti-pope
Felix, as ambassador to the Emperor Frederick III. "With
this sovereign, the grace, address, and eloquence of Eneas
found so much favour, that he was crowned with laurel as
a poet by Frederick, who appointed him protonotary, re-
bor, the Library, which stands at its side, and indeed almost within it, like
a pretty acolyte at the elbow of some gorgeously robed archbishop. Here
the Renaissance has full play in the carved pilasters, in the scroll-work of
the vaulting, and even in the stained glass, and here, more than any where, M.
Miintz, in criticising Pinturicchio, may justifiably use his clever quotation of
the tombal inscription to the child who had danced for the Romans twelve
hundred years before, '"'- saltavit et placuit'''' But the painter, though no
stylist, is a true decorator in the abundance of his cheerful motives, in his
choice of entertaining material, and the realization of a most picturesque
eflect ; by right of all this, placuit truly, but by right of it, also, he pleases
still, and will always please. He is no dramatist, but he is a delightful story
teller, and, like the mediceval singers of interminable romance, he rambles
far afield, and often loses the thread of his narrative in a labyrinth of epi
sodes. But as the eye wanders with a, certain pleased curiosity from a jew
elled caparison to a quaintly slashed jerkin ; from a youthful, wistful face, to
a white castellated town half-hidden in sombre verdure, we pardon this wealth
of detail. The lovely adolescents, with their vague, wide-eyed glance and their
dreamy, distant smile ; the sumptuous yet exquisite costumes ; above all, the
sense of inexhaustible, facile invention blind us at first to the defects in the
drawing, and to the isolation of the painted personages who, each one of
them, seems to be leading a separate existence of his own and has little or no
relation to the other figures in the same composition.

BEENAEDO PINTUEICCHIO 295
ceived him into the number of his friends, and made him his
principal secretary.^ In the fourth picture Eneas is sent by
the Emperor Frederick to Pope Eugenius IV., by whom he
was first made bishop of Trieste, and afterwards archbishop
of Siena, his native city.^ In the next compartment (the
fifth) is the same Emperor, who is proceeding into Italy, to
receive the crown of the empire, and who therefore dis
patches Eneas to Telamone, a port belonging to the Sienese,
for the purpose of meeting Leonora his consort, who was to
come thither from Portugal.'" In the sixth picture Eneas
is sent by the Emperor to Pope Calixtus III., in order to
induce the latter to make war against the Turks ; and in
this compartment there also appears the above-named Pon
tiff, by whom Eneas is entrusted with the task of negociat-
ing conditions of peace at Siena ; which city had been at
tacked by the Count of Pitigliano and others, at the
instigation of Alfonso, King of ISTaples.^i The peace thus
sought being secured, war against the people of the east is
determined on, and Eneas, having returned to Eome, is made
cardinal by the Pope above-named. In the seventh picture
Eneas is seen exalted, on the death of Calixtus, to be him
self Pope, and takes the name of Pius II. In the eighth,
the Pope proceeds to Mantua, where the council respecting
the expedition against the Turks is held, and where he is re
ceived by the Marquis of Mantua with the most splendid fes
tivities, and a magnificence almost inconceivable. In the
« In 1445.
' .iEneas waa made Bishop, not Archbishop, of Siena, by Nicholas V., the
Buccesaor of Bngeniua IV., in 1449.
'° The fifth picture represents the marriage of the Emperor with Eleanor
of Portugal, before the Porta Camellia, at Siena.
" The sixth fresco represents .^neas being made a Cardinal by Pope Nicho
las v., not by his successor, Calixtua III. It contains, or is believed to con
tain, the portraits of Pinturicchio and Raphael, then a youth. For the con
troversy regarding the presence of the latter in Siena, and especially concerning
the authenticity of the so-called Raphael's sketoh-book in the Academy of
Venice, MoreUi, Muntz, Schmarsow, and other critics should be read. Mo
relli is the warm defender of what he considers to be Pinturicchio's rights in
the matter.

296 BEENAEDO PINTUEIOCHIO
ninth compartment, the same Pope places in the catalogue
of saints, or as they call it, canonizes, Santa Catarina of
Siena, a holy woman, and a Nun of the Dominican Order.
In the tenth and last. Pope Pius, while preparing an im
mense armada against the Turks, with the help and con
currence of all Christian princes, is overtaken by deatli at
Ancona ; when a hermit of Camaldoli, a holy man, sees the
soul of his Holiness borne to heaven by angels at the very
moment of his death, as may be found duly recorded. In
another part of the same picture, the remains of Pope Pius
II. are borne from Ancona to Eome by a most honourable
company of prelates and nobles innumerable, who bewail the
death of so great a man and so holy a Pontiff. The whole
of this work is rich in portraits from the life, of which
there are so many, that it would be a long story even to re
count the names. '^ The pictures are all painted with the
finest and most animated colours, they are besides decorated
with ornaments in gold, and the ceiling is divided into very
well designed compartments. Beneath each story is a Latin
inscription, explaining the contents of the picture above.
In the centre of the same library, Cardinal Francesco Picco
lomini, nephew to Pope Pius II. , caused a beautiful antique
group, in marble, to be placed. This represents the three
graces, and was one of the first antiquities which at that
time began to be held in esteem.'^ This library, in which
'2 The real order of the subjects of these frescoes is as foUows : 1. .(Eneas
Sylvius accompanies Cardinal Capranica to the Council of Basle. 3. He
appears before the King of Scotland as envoy from the Council of Basle. 3.
The Emperor Frederick HI. crowns him with the poet's laurel. 4. He is
sent by the Emperor to Pope Eugenius IV. 5. The Emperor Frederick mar
ries Eleanora of Portugal outside the Camellia gate at Siena. 6. iEneas Syl
vius is made Cardinal by Pope Nicholas V. 7. He becomes Pope, under the
name of Pius II. 8. He assembles the ItaUans in Mantua for a crusade against
the Turk. 9. He canonizes Saint Catherine of Siena. 10. He arrives at An
cona to urge on the crusade.
'3 This group of the Three Graces remained in the Library until 1857, when
it was removed by the request of Pius IX. It is now in the Opera del Duomo.
A replica of this group has been recently discovered in the Colonna Gardens
on the Quirinal. See the American Archaeological Journal, II. , p. 22.3. Mo
relli, Italian Masters in German GaUeries, p. 327, ascribes to Pinturicchio

BEENAEDO PINTUEIOCHIO 297
were placed all the books left by Pope Pius II. , was not en
tirely completed when the above-named Cardinal Francesco,
nephew of Pius II. , was himself elected Pope. In memory
of his uncle he determined to take the name of Pius III.,
and the same Pinturicchio was then commissioned to depict
the coronation of Pope Pius III., in a very large painting,
over that door of the library which opens into the cathe
dral. This picture occupies the whole extent of the wall ;
it has many portraits from the life, and beneath it is the fol
lowing inscription : —
Pius III. senensis, Pii II. nepos MDm. Septembris xxi, apertis
electus suffragiis, octavo octobris coronatus est.
While Pinturicchio was working in Eome with Pietro
Perugino, during the pontificate of Pope Sixtus, he had
been also in the service of Domenico della Eovere, Cardinal
of San Clemente, wherefore that prelate having built a very
fine palace in the Borgo Vecchio, determined that the whole
should be painted by Pinturicchio, who was commanded to
place on the fa9ade of the building the arms of Pope Sixtus,
with two boys for supporters.'* The same artist also exe
cuted certain works for Sciarra Colonna, in the palace of
Sant' Apostolo ; '^ and no long time after, in the year 1484
that is to say. Pope Innocent VIIL, who was a Genoese,
caused Pinturicchio to paint some of the halls and loggie in
the palace of the Belvidere.'^ In this building, among
other things, he painted a Loggia entirely with landscapes,
according to the command of the same Pope, and depicted
therein Eome, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Venice, and Naples,
after the manner of the Flemings, and this, being a thing
not then customary, gave considerable satisfaction. In the
the drawing of two of the figures of the Graces. Other critics attribute the
latter to Raphael. See M. Miintz, Raphael, p. 126.
" According to Milanesi some vestiges of the Cardinal's arms are all that
is left of these paintings.
" These works are destroyed.
" In Rome.

298 BEENAEDO PINTURICCHIO
same place, Pinturicchio painted a figure of the Virgin in
fresco, over the principal door."
In San Pietro, for the chapel wherein the spear which
pierced the side of Christ is preserved, Pinturicchio painted
a picture in tempera, by command of Pope Innocent VIIL,
being a figure of the Virgin, larger than life ; '^ and in the
church of Santa Maria del Popolo," he painted two chapels,
one for the above-named Domenico della Eovere, cardinal
of San Clemente, in which he was buried,* and the other,
for the Cardinal Innocenzio Cibo, wherein he also was after
wards interred.^' In each of these chapels was placed the
portrait of the cardinal, who had caused it to be adorned
with paintings. In the palace of the Pope, Pinturicchio
painted certain apartments which look upon the Court of
St. Peter, the wood-work and paintings of which were re
newed some few years since by Pope Pius IV. In the same
palace, Pope Alexander VI. caused Pinturicchio to deco
rate all the rooms inhabited by himself, together with the
whole of the Torre Borgia,''''^ where the artist painted stories
1' Taja, Descrizione del Vaticano, 1750, desoribea these pictures. They
were restored under Pius VII.
" This picture has perished.
" 1483-1485.
^'^ There are a Presepio (Prcesepium), a San Girolomo, and six lunettes with
stories from the lives of the saints. These are in the Rovere, now Vennti
(first) chapel, in right aisle. In the third chapel are a Madonna and Saints,
a figure of God the Father, and scenes from the life of the Virgin. The
choir of the church has a ceiling by Pinturicchio, the Virgin and the Saviour
with the Evangelists, the Sibyls and the Fathers of the Church ; these are
some of Pinturicchio's moat important works. The Sibyls are peculiarly fan
tastical and fascinating in their mixed character of mediasvalism and pseudo-
classicism. 21 Over the high altar in this chapel was an Adoration of the Kings. The
Madonna in the picture was, according to Morelli, identical with a drawing in
the coUection of the so-caUed Raphael Sketch-book in Venice. Thia picture,
however, was painted in 1483, the year of Raphael's birth. The Cibo Chapel
was modernized in 1700 and the Pinturicchio frescoes destroyed.
22 The scenes painted in these rooms are somewhat differently catalogued by
different writers. M. Muntz gives them as follows : Hall " of the Pontiffs,"
decorated under Leo X. by Giovanni da Udine and Perino del Vaga.. 3. Hall
" of the Virgin and Christ " (Sala delle Miscellanee), the Annunciation ; the
Nativity ; the Adoration of the Magi ; the Resurrection (with a kneeling fig-

BEENAEDO PINTUEIOCHIO 299
of the liberal arts in one of the rooms, and adorned all the
ceilings with ornaments in stucco-work and gold ; but the
methods now practised in stucco were not known at that
time, and the above-mentioned ornaments are for the most
part ruined. Over the door of one of the rooms in the same
palace, Pinturicchio portrayed the Signora Giulia Farnese
ure of Alexander VI.) ; also eight half-length figures. 3. Hall " of the Lives
of the Saints " (Sala delle Slampe), S. Catherine of Alexandria before Vale
rian ; the Visitation ; the Death of Saints Barbara and Juliana ; the Martyrdom
of S. Sebastian ; Alexander VI. adoring the Virgin (thia figure is supposed to
be a portrait of the Pope's mistress, Giulia Farnese ; it should be compared
with another portrait of this celebrated beauty, the statue, which, once nude,
now covered by painted tin draperies, still remains in Saint Peter's on the tomb
of her brother. Pope Paul III.). On the vaulting of the Sala delle Stampc is
the story of Osiris, the Egyptian legend having been apparently used in order
that the sacred bull. Apis, might suggest the bull which figured upon the es
cutcheon of the Borgia. Still more remote aUusions have been referred to by
Herr Schmarsow, as, for instance, the atory of Jupiter and Io. Such far
fetched concetti were common enough in the Renaissance, when patrons and
painters were alike famiUar with a fantastic language of symbol and emblem.
4. Hall " of the Sciences and Liberal Arts" (Sala dei Classici) contains vari
ous groups with figures personifying the different liberal arts ; a dramatic
episode, the Juatice of Trajan, and scenes from the stories of Lot and of
Jacob ; the latter were repainted in the sixteenth century. M. Miintz cata
logues a fifth hall "of the Credo," or of the Libri Tedeschi, bnt he does not
specify ita decoration, mentioning as " the last hall " the one called '' of the
Sibyls," and also ^'^ delle Storie," which contains twenty-four half-length sibyls
and prophets and peraonifications of the planets. The decorations of the
first hall are by G. da Udine and P. del Vaga, those of the last are attributed
to various mastera ; the decorations of all the other rooms are by Pinturicchio
himself. These frescoes of the Borgia apartments, which have until re
cently been seen by few travellers are remarkable for their fresco color,
which is probably the richest in Italy. Not that there is any specially thought
ful scheme of color, but a bold opposition of brilliant tones plentifully
sprinkled with gold, abounding in ultramarine, and the whole made rich, soft,
and aplendid by the toning of nearly four centuries. The restorer has here, as
elsewhere, done something to preserve and much to harm ; but these remark
able rooms should be seen by every special student of decoration, and indeed
by any one who wishes to realize how rich fresco color can become under
certain favorable conditions of vigorous first painting, use of gold, fading,
and disintegration. Here, aa in the church of Assisi (though with a far leas
solemn effect), the fresco almost reaches the richness and force of mosaic. It
is probable that, as usual, Pinturicchio's original work here waa somewhat
opaque and crude from retouching a secco, but in its present condition it is
magnificent, and its actual state is all that the student need ask as a lesson in
the production of a splendid effect. ,

300 BEENAEDO PINTUEICCHIO
in the face of a Madonna ; and in the same picture is a fig
ure in adoration of the Virgin, the head of which is a por
trait of Pope Alexander.
Bernardino was much in the habit of decorating his pict
ures with ornaments in relief covered with gold, for the
satisfaction of persons who understood but little of such
matters, to the end that they might have a more showy ap
pearance, a thing which is most unsuitable to painting.^
Having depicted a story from the life of Santa Catarina in
the above named apartments, he executed the triumphal
arches of Eome therefore in relief, and painted the figures
in such a manner that the objects which should diminish
are brought more jjrominently forward than those which
should be larger to the eye, a grievous heresy in our art.
In the Castle of St. Angelo, Pinturicchio painted a large
number of rooms in what are called grottesche, but in the
lower part of the great tower in the garden, he painted
events from the life of Pope Alexander, wherein he por
trayed Isabella the Catholic Queen (Isabella of Spain) Nic
colo Orsino, Count of Pitigliano, and Gianiacomo Triulzi,
with many other relations and friends of the same Pope,
in particular Csesar Borgia, his brother and sisters,^ with
many learned or otherwise distinguished men of that time.
2' This is captious criticism. Raised ornaments in stucco and gilding were
used in their pictures by BotticeUi, Gozzoli, and other painters whom Vaaari
praises ; yet it must be admitted that he also credits Ghirlandajo with having
rejected gold ornament as unnecessarily gorgeous. The great objection to
any object modelled in actual relief upon the flat surface of a fresco is that it
never takes its natural place in the picture, but remains always in advance
even of the first plane.
2* Cfesar Borgia had one sister, the celebrated Lucrezia and two brothers,
Giovanni, whom he is supposed to have murdered, and Giuffre. These pict
ures for Sant' Angelo have perished. Lorenzo Behaim, cited by MUanesi, IIL,
p. 500, note 2, describes them as a glorification of Pope Alexander as trium
phant over Charles VIII. of Prance. There were six compositions : 1. Charles
Kneeling before the Pope. 2. Charles Proffering Obedience to the Consistory.
3. The Creation of two French Cardinals. 4. Charles Assisting the Pope, who
aays Mass in S. Peter's. 5. Charles in the Suite of the Pope during the Pro
cession of San Paolo. 6. Charles Starting for Naples, accompanied by Caesar
Borgia and Djem, the brother of the Sultan.

BEENAEDO PINTUEICCHIO 301
At Monte Oliveto, in Naples, there is a picture of the
Assumption, in the chapel of Paolo Tolosa, by the hand of
Pinturicchio,^^ who executed a large number of works in
different parts of Italy, but as they were not of any great
distinction, although displaying facility, I pass them over in
silence. Pinturicchio used to say that the highest excel
lence attained by the painter was ever to be found in such
works as were executed from his own inspiration, without
the intervention of princes or others. This artist worked
also in Perugia, but on few occasions only.^^ In the church
of Ara Coeli,'*'' he painted the chapel of San Bernardino,
" This ia considered to be one of his best works.
2« There is a Holy FamUy in the Pinacoteca of Perugia, and also a small
picture which once belonged to the Society of Sant' Agostino. A Crucifixion
painted for the church of San Franceaco ia now in Paris, and in the Vatican
GaUery is a Coronation of the Virgin, brought from Perugian territory. For
documents concerning the latter, see L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, III. 465, and
also A. Venturi, La Galleria Vaticana, 1890. Morelli, in his Italian Painters,
I., p. 114, ascribes to Pinturicchio, in the Borghese Gallery of Rome, a Cruci
fixion (attributed to Crivelli), aud a S. Bartholomew (attributed to Giov.
Spagna), while he rejects the two cassoni pictures attributed to Pinturicchio
by the catalogue.
2^ These frescoes, executed for the Bufalini of Citta di Castello, in the Ara
CoeU at Rome, are injured, but important examples of the master's work.
Vasari does not mention the remarkable series (1501) in the Baglioni chapel
of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Spello, a small town on the road
from Asaisi to Foligno. These frescoes, which represent the Annunciation,
the Adoration of the Magi, and Christ among the Doctors, are among the most
important works of the artist, and are larger in style than are his other pict
ures. MoreUi has lately made a strong and convincing plea for Pinturicchio,
in which he restores to that painter two of the great frescoes cf the Sistine
Chapel, long ascribed to Perugino, namely, the Baptiam of Christ and Moaes
Leaving Egypt (see " ItaUan Masters in German Galleries," pp. 2H5-'i(i9). Mo
relU bases his attribution npon the "poetical landscape-backgrounds," the
overcrowding of the compoaition, the character of some of the children's fig
ures (to be compared with children in the Ara Coeli frescoes), the bearded
men at the extreme right of the Bapti.sm of Christ, the angels, the youth in gold
brocade, and the naked youths in the centre of the composition. MoreUi in
sists particularly upon the poetry of Pinturicchio's landscapes ; he was noted
for the latter, as is proved by Vasari's text, but it is hard to reconcile great
sentiment of landacape with the lack of feeling for atmosphere which is
shown in the painter's frequent retouching a secco. In any case, the Siatine
frescoes add greatly to the dignity and importance of Pinturicchio as an ar
tist.

302 BEENAEDO PINTUEICCHIO
and in Santa Maria del Popolo, where, as we have already
said, he painted two chapels ; he likewise executed figures
of the four Doctors of the Church, on the ceiling of the
principal chapel.^
When Pinturicchio had attained the age of fifty-nine, he
received a commission to paint a picture of the Birth of the
Virgin for San Francesco, in Siena,''' and having com
menced the work, a room was appropriated to his use by
the monks, which was given up to him, as he desired it
should be, entirely empty and denuded of every thing, a
massive old chest alone excepted ; this they left in its place,
finding it too heavy for removal. But Pinturicchio, like a
strange self-willed man as he was, made so much clamour,
and repeated his outcries so often, that the monks set them
selves at last, in very desperation, to carry the chest away.
Now in dragging it forth, such was their good fortune, that
one of the sides was broken, when a sum of 500 ducats in
gold was brought to light : this discovery caused Pinturic
chio so much vexation, and he took the good fortune of
those poor friars so much to heart, that he could think of
nothing else, and so grievously did this oppress him, that
not being able to get it out of his thoughts, he finally died
of vexation.* His paintings were executed about the year
1513. And this shall be the end of the life of Pinturicchio, who
28 There are also four Evangelists, a, Coronation of the Virgin, and four
Sibyls, the latter fantastically charming, half-mediceval, half -Renaissance, and
wholly decorative.
2» Destroyed by fire in 1655. See Milanesi, IIL, pp. 500-501, for a long note
on Pinturicchio's work at Orvieto, which was begun but never finished, and of
which next to nothing remains. Della Valle states that there was a quarrel
with the cathedral board about the wine which the artist required, and, above
all, about the vast quantities of ultramarine which he used in hia work.
2° Vasari's account of the cause of Pinturicchio's death is contradicted by
the testimony of Sigismondo Tizio, a Sienese historian who lived in the same
pariah with the unfortunate painter. Tizio writes that the women of the
neighborhood told him that when Pinturicchio was ill, his wife, Grania, and
her lover, a Perugian soldier, shut him up in the house and left him to die of
hunger and neglect, nor did she allow any of the neighbors who heard his
cries to go to hia assistance. He died on the 11th of December, 1513.

BERNARDO PINTUKICCHIO 303
among other qualities, possessed that of giving considera
ble satisfaction to princes and nobles, because he quickly
brought the works commanded by them to an end, as they
like to have done, although such works may, percliauce, be
less excellent thau those of masters who proceed more
slowly, and with greater consideration.^^
31 Pinturicchio is one of the very few painters — perhaps Sodoma is the only
other — to whom Vasari does injustice. It is qnite true that his draughts
manship is affected with a, certain poverty, a certain pinched and dry qual
ity ; true also that he had little skill in composing masses ; that his composi
tions are often, in artists' phrase, full of holes ; nevertheless the fact remains
that he had a very strong decorative sense, for wherever he has covered a wall
with his work he had left an ensemble which is eminently decorative. As
regards his color in the Borgia apartments, he has left the richest, and in the
library of Siena the best preserved series of frescoes of the Renaissance. It
must be admitted that even his decorative sense is not of the highest order ;
he had none of that noble subordination of line and mass to the circumscrib
ing architectural form which afterward made tbe monumental painting of his
young comrade Raphael the most perfectly decorative work in Italy, but
within his limitations Pinturicchio was also a. true decorator. His thin-
limbed, sweet-faced youths, rather mincing in their parti-colored doublets
and striped hose, very treasures to the student of costume, do not combine into
imposing masses aud make a sort of open-work pattern npon the backgrounds
that suggests a lack of solidity and dignity (the same fault in a, less degree
may sometimes be found in Perugino), yet they never fail to please ; architec
ture, landscape, animals, gold ornaments in abundance, and the floods of ultra
marine which frightened the cathedral wardens of Orvieto, all make up a
charming whole. There is little of imagination in this work, but there is (and
it is enough) an ever-present, tireless fancy, a joyous and fertile inventiveness.

PEAXCESCO FEAXCIA, THE BOLOGXESE, GOLD
SMITH AXD PAIXTEE 1
[Born 1450; died 1517.]
BiBLIOGRAPHT — Jacopo Alessandro Calvi, Memorie della vita ed opere di
Francesco Raiholinl, Bologna, 1812. Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice,
Bologna, 1S41. Gaetano Giordani, Catalogo dei Quadri della Pinacoteca,
Bologna, 1841. G. Frizzoni, Gli Affreschi di Santa Cecilia in Bologna,
Bologna, 1876. Marchese A. B. Amorini, Vite dei Pittori ed Artejici Bolog-
nesi, Bologna, 1841-43. Julia Cartwright, Mantegna and Francia, London,
1S>>1. G. W. Keid, Selections from the Engravings of Francesco Francia and
of ilarc Antonio Raimondi, London, 1871. The reproductions are in auto
type. FEAXCESCO FEAXGIA was horn in Bologna, in the
year 1450, of parents in the rank of artisans, but
resjjectable and well-conducted people. In his first
youth he was destined to the calling of the goldsmith ; and
labouring at the same with ability and good-will, his prog
ress in his art kept fair proportion with his increase of
stature. His manner and conversation were so gentle and
obliging, that he kept all around him in good humour, and
had the gift of dissipating the heavy thoughts of the most
melancholy by the charms of his conversation : for these
reasons he was not only beloved by all who were acquainted
with him, but in the course of time he obtained the favour
of many princes and nobles, Italian and others. While still
working at his trade of a goldsmith,^ Francesco applied
himself to design, in which he took much pleasure, and the
' Francesco di Marco di Giacomo Raibolini, caUed Francesco Francia or H
Francia. ' Francia became steward of the Goldsmiths' Guild in 1483. He took the
name of his master, a celebrated goldsmith Due, caUed Francia (MUanesi, HI.,
533).

FRANCESCO PRANCIA 305
desire for greater things becoming awakened within him,
he made extraordinary progress therein, as may still be seen
in his native city of Bologna, from the many works he there
executed in silver, more particularly from certain specimens
of niello,^ which are most excellent. In this branch of art
Francesco often grouped twenty well-proportioned and
beautiful figures together, within a space only two inches
high, and but little more in length ; he also produced many
works in silver enamelled, but these were destroyed at the
time of the ruin and exile of the Bentivoglio ; and to say
all in a word, he executed every thing that is most beautiful,
and which can be performed in that art, more perfectly
thau any other master had ever done.
But that in which Francesco delighted above all else, and
in which he was indeed excellent, was cutting dies for
medals ; in this he was highly distinguished, and his works
are most admirable, as may be judged from some, on which
is the head of Pope Julius II. ,* so life-like, that these medals
will bear comparison with those of Caradosso : '' he also
struck medals of Signor Giovanni Bentivoglio, which seem
to be alive ; and of a vast number of princes, who, passing
through Bologna, made a certain delay, when he took their
portraits in wax, and afterwards, having finished the ma
trices for the dies, he despatched these to their destination,
' Niello was a process of decorating an incised metal plate. A black com
pound, conaisting largely of copper, lead, sulphur, ammoninm chloride, and
borax was introduced into the lines, forming at a high temperature an enamel.
The plate was then polished, leaving the black lines on a light ground ; occa-
aionally other colors were introduced. Thia proceaa is of peculiar interest, as
it is believed that intaglio engraving had its riae in the paper proofs which
were taken at intervals to judge of the progress of the work. See E. David's
Histoire de la Gravure, 1843, and Vicomte Henri Delaborde, La gravure en
Italie avant Marc-Antoine, Paris.
* Gaetano Giordani in 1841 exposed the mistakes of Vasari and Cicognara
regarding the efiigies of this pope, and described the real and rare coins atrnck
by Francia. There are two pyxes, adorned with niello work by Francia, in
the Bolognese Academy of Fine Arts.
» Ambrogio Foppa, called Caradosso, waa a native of Pavia. He is, how
ever, usuaUy classed with the artists of Milan. He waa noted for the ex
cellence of his dies and his goldamith'a work.

306 FRANCESCO FRANCIA
whereby he obtained, not only the immortality of fame, but
also very handsome presents.
During the better part of his life, Francesco was Director
of the Mint at Bologna ; all the dies for the coins, used at
the time when the Bentivogli governed there, were prepared
by him, as were those struck for Pope Julius II. , after their
departure and during the whole of that Pontiff's after life :
of these may be instanced the money coined by the Pope on
his entrance into the city, and which bears the head of his
Holiness, taken from the life on one side, with the inscrip
tion, Bononia per Julium a Tyranno liber ata, on the other.
And so excellent was Francesco considered to be in this
matter, that he continued to make the dies for the coinage,
even down to the time of Pope Leo ; the impress of his dies
is, indeed, in such esteem, and so highly are they valued by
those who possess them, that they are not now to be obtained
for money. ^
But Francia still became desirous of greater glory ; where
fore, having been acquainted with Andrea Mantegna and
many other painters, who had attained to riches and honours
by means of their art, he resolved to try whether he could
not succeed in that part of painting which belongs to
colour, seeing that he had reached to such a point in design,
that he might safely assume a place beside any one of them.
By way of making an attempt, therefore, he executed a
few portraits and other small things, entertaining masters
of the art many months in his house, to the end that they
might teach him the method and processes of colouring.
In this manner Francesco, who had remarkable intelligence
and excellent judgment, very rapidly acquired the requisite
practice.' The first work which he executed was a picture
" Francia made coins in 1508 with the effigy of the Pope. A aeries of bronze
coins by him bears the head of Giovanni Bentivoglio II.
' He probably became acquainted with Mantegna in 1472. It is thought
that he studied painting under Lorenzo Costa, with whom he occupied a
house in Bologna ; other critics consider that he studied under Marco Zoppo,
but the balance of evidence seems to be in favor of Costa. Layard thinks
it probable that Francia abandoned the goldsmith's art by the advice of

FRANCESCO FRANCIA 307
of no great size, for Messer Bartolommeo Felicini,* who
placed it in the Misericordia, a church just without the gate
of Bologna. The subject of this painting is a Madonna
seated, with many figures around her ; among whom is
Messer Bartolommeo, portrayed from the life.^ This work
was executed in oil with great care, and when it was finished,
in the year 1490, it gave so much satisfaction in Bologna,
that Messer Giovanni Bentivoglio became desirous to see his
chapel in the church of San Jacopo, of that city, adorned
with the works of this new painter ; he therefore commis
sioned Francia to execute a picture, the subject of whicli
was Our Lady appearing in the heavens, with a figure on
each side, and two Angels, playing on musical instruments
below.' This picture also was so admirably painted by
Francia, that he not only received many praises from Messer
Giovanni, but also a very handsome and most honourable
gift. The merits of this work, meanwhile, induced Monsig
nore de' Bentivogli to give the master a commission for a
picture, to be placed over the high altar of the Misericordia.'"
The subject of this painting is the Birth of Christ ; it has
been highly extolled, and the drawing is very fine, while the
invention and colouring are also worthy of praise. The por
trait of Monsignore de" Bentivogli is given in the picture,
and, according to those who know him, is an excellent like-
Costa. The same authority believes that he was influenced by Ercole
Roberti de' Grandi, who was also in Bologna at this time. Pictures of
Perugino were carried to Bologna, and Francia adopted the Perugineaque
style. There aeema to be no connection other than this between Perugino
and Francia. See Measra. Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting in
North Italy, I., 5.58.
* This name, written Pelisini in the Milanesi edition of the Lives, is also
written Felicini in Milanesi's Notes to Francia.
» This picture, which waa executed in 1490, as mentioned by Vasari, ia in
the Academy at Bologna.
'Executed in 1499; it is nowin the Cappella Bentivogli of San Giacomo
Maggiore in Bologna. It is one of Franoia's best works, and is inscribed
" Johanni Bentivoglio II. Francia Aurif ex pinxit."
" Painted in 1498-99 ; it ia in the Academy at Bologna. The figure with
folded hands, usually called the St. Francis, is supposed to be the portrait of
Francia.

308 FRANCESCO FRANCIA
ness ; he wears the dress of a pilgrim, in which he had re
turned from Jerusalem.'' For the church of the Xunziata,
outside the gate of San Mammolo, Francesco painted a pict
ure, representing the Virgin, when receiving the Annuncia
tion from the Angel : on each side of Our Lady stands a
figure, and this work also is esteemed to be very well ex-
ecu ted. '-
AVhile the works of Francia were thus increasing his fame,
he determined, finding that painting in oil had brought him
so much honour and profit, to try if he could obtain equal
success in fresco. Xow at the time Messer Giovanni Benti
voglio had caused his palace to be decorated with paintings
by diflierent masters from Ferrara, Bologna, and Modena ;
but having seen the attempts of Francia in fresco, he re
solved that the latter should paint the walls of an apartment
which was one of those used by himself. Here the master
represented the Camp of Holofernes, with numerous Senti
nels on foot and on horseback, who are watching the tents.
While the attention of these guards is given to other parts,
a woman, clothed in the garb of a widow, is seen to approach
the sleeping Holofernes ; she has seized his hair, heavy
with the damps of sleep and the heat of wine, in her left
hand, and with the right she is striking the blow that is to
destroy her enemy ; close beside her there stands an old
wrinkled handmaid, in whose face there is, of a truth, the
expression of most faithful servitude ; she fixes her eyes
intently on those of her mistress, whom she seeks to en
courage, and she bends herself down as she holds a basket,
in which to receive the head of the sleeping lover. This
was considered one of the best and most finely executed pict
ures ever painted by Francia, but was destroyed when the
palace was demolished, on the departure of the Bentivogli,"
together with one in the apartment above. The subject of
'^ Antonio Galeazzo, aon of Giovanni II. ; he wears the dress of a knight
of the Red Crosa, not of a pilgrim.
1' Thia work, executed in 1500, ia still over the high altar.
" The Bentivoglio family was exiled in 1507.

FRANCESCO FRANCIA 309
the last-mentioned work, which was coloured to resemble
bronze, was a disputation of philosophers ; it was admirably
executed, and expressed the thought of the master with
great effect. All these works caused Francia to be held in
the highest esteem and admiration by Messer Giovanni and
every one of his house, nay, not only by them, but by all
the citizens of Bologna.
In the chapel of Santa Cecilia, which is attached to the
church of San Jacopo, Francesco painted two historical
pictures in fresco ; in one of these he represented Our Lady,
espoused by Joseph ; and in the other the death of Santa
Cecilia,'^ a work held in very great estimation by the people
of Bologna ; '' and of a truth, Francia acquired so much
facility, and was so much encouraged by seeing his produc
tions attain to the perfection he desired for them, that he
executed numberless paintings, of which I cannot record
the particulars, it must suf&ce me to indicate to those who
may wish to see his works, the most celebrated and best
only.i^ Xor did he permit his painting to interfere with his
other works in medals, or to prevent him from giving his
attention to the affairs of the mint, as he had done from the
beginning. The departure of Messer Giovanni Bentivoglio
from the city, caused Francia great sorrow, as it is said ; the
exile of one from whom he had received such important
benefits grieving him exceedingly ; but yet, like a prudent
and moderate person as he was, he continued to pursue his
labours with his usual assiduity. After Messer Giovanni
had gone therefore, he painted three pictures, which were
" The Marriage of St. Cecilia with Valerian rather. The second picture is
the Burial of St. Cecilia.
" Two of the frescoes in the small chapel or oratory of St. Cecilia are by
Francesco Francia, two by Costa, the others are by Giacomo Francia,
Chiodarolo, and Aspertini. They represent scenes from the legend of St.
CeciUa. The frescoea have been restored by Signor Cavenaghi of Milan.
under the immediate direction of the late Giovanni Morelli. These works
are Francia' s only extant frescoea. See G. Frizzoni, Gli affreschi di Santa
Cecilia in Bologna in II Buonarroti for 1876.
^^ Michelangelo's coarse jest and his many sarcasms on Franoia's work were
pubhshed in the first and omitted in the second edition of Vasari'a Lives.

310 FRANCESCO FRANCIA
taken to Modena ; in one of these is the Baptism " of Christ
by St. John, in the second a most beautiful Annunciation,"
and in the third a Madonna in the heavens, with many other
figures ; this last was placed in the church belonging to the
Frati dell' Osservanza."
By such works, the fame of this excellent master became
bruited abroad, and the different cities contended with each
other for the possession of his pictures ; accordingly he exe
cuted one in Parma, for the Black Friars of San Giovanni ;
the subject is the Pieta, or Christ lying dead in the lap of
the Virgin, with numerous figures around. This work is
universally admitted to be most beautiful.^ The same
monks, therefore, considering themselves well served in this
matter, determined that Francia should paint another in a
house of theirs at Eeggio in Lombardy, where he also de
picted a Madonna with many figures. At Cesena likewise,
in a church belonging to the Black Friars, this master
painted a Circumcision of Christ, the colouring of which is
exceedingly beautiful.^' Xor would the people of Ferrara
consent to remain behind their neighbours, but determined
to adorn their cathedral with the works of Francia ; where
upon they commissioned him to paint a picture with a large
number of figures, and this they entitled the picture of
Ognissanti (All Saints). ^^ For the church of San Lorenzo,
in Bologna, Francia painted a Madonna, with two figures
on each side, and two children beneath.^ This work was
highly extolled, and he had scarcely completed it, when he
was called on to execute another in Sant' lobbe (Job), rep-
" This picture, executed in 1509, is in the Dresden Gallery. It was injured
in the bombardment of Dresden in 1760.
'8 Thia picture is in the Brera. Milanesi states that the same subject in
Modena, once in the Palazzo Ducale and now in the Gallery, is by the Modenese
painter Ferrari, and waa finished by Scaccieri (1512).
' " E.xecuted in 1 502 ; it is now in the Berlin Gallery and ia badly repainted.
-" It is in the Gallery of Parma.
" It is in the Palazzo Pubblico of Cesena and ia much injured.
^^ A Coronation of the Virgin, atill in the cathedral.
23 This picture is at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg ; it was painted in 1500.

FRANCESCO FRANCIA 311
resenting a Crucifix,* with Sant' lobbe kneeling at the
foot, and two figures at the sides. ^
The fame and works of this master were effectually ex
tended over Lombardy, and from Tuscany also he received
applications for his paintings, as he did from Lucca, whither
he dispatched a picture representing Sant' Anna, Our Lady,
and many other figures, with Christ lying dead in the lap of
the Virgin Mother. This work is in the Church of San
Fridiano, f and is considered by the people of Lucca to be
one of great value.^ For the Church of the Xunziata, in
Bologna, this master painted two pictures, which were very
carefully executed,^ and for the Misericordia, outside the
gate of Strd Castione, he also painted one, at the request
of a lady of the Jlanzuoli family : in this he depicted Our
Lady with the Child in her arms, San Giorgio, San Giovanni
Batista, San Stefano, and Sant' Agostino, with an angel
beneath : the hands of the last mentioned are folded in an
attitude of so much grace that he seems, indeed, to belong to
Paradise.^ For the Brotherhood of San Francesco, in the
same city, Francia painted a picture,^ as he also did one
for the Brotherhood of San Girolamo.^ This master lived
in close intimacy with Jlesser Polo Zambeccaro, and, for
the sake of that friendship, the latter requested him, as a
memorial of himself, to paint a tolerably large picture repre-
* Read Cmciiixion.
t The church was dedicated to San Frediano, not Fridiano.
^* Now in the Louvre.
-* This picture, a Virgin Enthroned, surrounded by Saints, is now in the Na
tional Gallery, Loudon. The Pietd is in the lunette. See Sig. A. Venturi,
I'Arch. Stor. deW Arte, II., 441-54, and La galleria del Campidoglio, Rome,
1S90, for a notice of a picture by Francia (a Presentation of the Virgin) in the
Capitoline Gallery, Rome, and see also Sig. G. Cantalamessa, Lettere e Arte,
No. 7, for a Madonna, brought from CagUari to Bologna.
""^ There is a Madonna with saints in the Scappi chapel of the Nunziata, and
a Crucifixion in the Graffi chapel. MUanesi, III. , p. 543.
-'" In the Academy at Bologna.
=' Said to be in the Berlin Gallery, though there ia some doubt whether this
particular picture mentioned by Vasari is the one in Berlin.
""In the Academy at Bologna.

312 FRANCESCO FRANCIA
senting the Birtli of Christ : this work was much extolled,*
and is among the most celebrated of his performances, for
which cause Messer Polo commissioned him to paint two
figures in fresco, at his villa, and these also are exceedingly
beautiful.^' Another admirable work in fresco was executed by Francia
in the Palace of Messer Geronimo Bolognino : it comprises
many varied and beautiful figures, and all these things had
obtained for the master so extraordinary a degree of rever
ence in that city that he was held to be a kind of god,*^
more particularly after he had painted a set of caparisons
for the Duke of Urbino, on which he depicted a great forest
all on fire, and whence there rushes forth an immense
number of every kind of animal, with several human figures.
This terrific, yet truly beautiful representation, was all the
more highly esteemed for the time that had been expended
on it, in the plumage of the birds and other minutite, in the
delineation of the different animals, and in the diversity of
the branches and leaves of the various trees seen therein :
the work was rewarded with gifts of great value, and the
duke always considered himself obliged to the master, more
over, for the great commendations that were constantly be
stowed on it.^ The Duke Guido Baldo has also a picture
by the hand of this master : it represents the Eoman
Lucretia ; it is much esteemed by the duke, and is in his
guardaroba, with many other pictures, of which mention
will be made in the proper place.^
After these things Francia painted a picture for the Altar
of the Madonna in the Church of San Vitale and Sant' Ag-
ricola : in this there are two angels playing on the lute,
which are very beautiful.^ Of the paintings scattered
throughout Bologna, in the houses of the citizens, I will not
s« In the Museum of Forli.
=' These works have perished.
22 These works have also perished.
22 Nothing is now known of theae works.
'¦' This work ia also lost.
2s This picture is still in the church.

FRANCESCO FRANCIA 313
speak, still less of the vast number of portraits painted by
this master ; for I should thus become too prolix. Let it
suffice to say they were very numerous.
While Francia was thus living in so much glory, and was
peacefully enjoying the fruits of his labours, Eaffaello da
Urbino was working in Eome, where there daily flocked
around him numerous foreigners from various parts, and
among them many gentlemen of Bologna, anxious to see
the works of that master. And as it most commonly hap
pens that every one is ready to extol the distinguished per
sons of his native place, so these Bolognese began to enter
tain Eaphael with praises of the life, genius, and works of
Francia, until so much friendship was established between
those two masters, by means of words, that they saluted
each other by letter.^^ Then Francia, having heard so much
discourse concerning the divine paintings of Eaphael, de
sired to see his works, but he was now old and enjoying his
ease in his beloved Bologna. It so chanced, however, that
Raphael painted a picture of St. Cecilia in Eome, for the
Cardinal of Pucci Santi Quattro, and this was to be sent to
Bologna, there to be placed in one of the chapels of San
Giovanni-in-Monte,*' where the tomb of the Beata Elena
dell' Olio is to be seen. Having packed up his work, there
fore, Eaphael addressed it to the care of Francia, who, as
being his friend, was to see it placed on the altar of the
chapel for which the picture was destined ; with the proper
framework and ornaments, which had been already prepared
for it. This was an office which pleased Francia greatly,
since he would thus have the long-desired opportunity of
seeing the works of Eaphael. Wherefore, having opened
the letter written to him by the latter, wherein that master
begged him to repair -any scratch that might be found on
2" They were first published in Malvaaia'a Felsina Pittrice. The originals
have never been produced. They are considered by the best authorities to be
comparatively modem forgeries. Sig. Minghetti, in his Ra.ff'aello, statea that
the atyle is not that of the sixteenth century. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle
think it probable that Raphael and Francia met in Bologna in 1505-6.
2' In the Academy at Bologna.

314 FRANCESCO FRANCIA
the painting, and further requested, that, if he perceived
any defect, he would, as a friend, correct it for him, Fran
cia caused the picture, with the greatest joy, to be taken
into a good light, and had it removed from its case. But
such was the astonishment it caused him, and so great was
his admiration for it, that, perceiving his own error and the
foolish presumption with which he had weakly believed in
his own superiority, he took it deeply to heart, and, falling
ill with his grief, in a very short time he died of its effects.*
The picture of Eaphael was, indeed, divine — not painted,
but absolutely alive : he had executed and finished it to
such perfection that among all the admirable works per
formed by him in his whole life, though every one is beauti
ful, this may well be called the most exquisite. Comparing
the beauties of this most exquisite picture with his own
works, which he saw around him, Francia felt as one terri
fied and half deprived of life : he was, indeed, utterly con
founded, but, nevertheless, caused the painting to be placed,
with all care and diligence, in the chapel for which it was
intended in the church of San Giovanni-in-Monte ; but,
having become like a man beside himself, he took to his bed
a few days after, appearing to himself to be now almost as
nothing in art, when compared with what he had believed
himself, and what he had always been considered. Thus he
died, as many believe, of grief and vexation, incurring the
same fate from so earnestly contemplating the living picture
of Raphael, as that which befell Fivizzano, from too fixedly
regarding his own beautiful painting of Death, and on which
the following epigram was composed : —
Me veram pictor divinus mente recepit,
A dmota est operi deinde perita manus,
Dumque opere in facto defigii lumina pictor ,
Intentus nimium, palluit et moritur.
Viva igitur sum mors, non mortua mortis imago
Si fungor , quo mors fungitur officio.
'¦'¦' Undoubtedly a fable. Similar romantic stories were told of several of
the Renaisaance artists.

FRANCESCO FRANCIA 315
There are, nevertheless, many who declare his death to
have been so sudden as to give rise to the belief, which was
confirmed by various appearances, that it was caused by
poison or apoplexy, rather than anything else. Francia was
a man of great prudence : he led a most regular life, and
was of a robust constitution. At his death, in the year 1518,
he received honourable interment from his sons in Bologna.^
2» Francia represents the school of Bologna at its best ; grave and deeply
reUgious, he is sometimes quite noble by force of this earnest gravity. Hia
color is Umbrian in its strength and richness, but is a little heavier than that
of Perugino ; he is as sincerely reverent as Perugino at his best, yet has not
quite the same charm, nor yet any of the latter's affectation. He is more
natural and simple than the Umbrian ; his art is stamped with the honest, un
affected, burgher piety of Bologna La Grassa, rather than with the perfervid
ecstasy of mystical and savage Perugia. His types are even homely, but his
round-headed, short-bearded saints are beautiful in the naif sincerity of their
expression; his snub-nosed, heavy-chinned, very earnest, but sometimes rather
duU Madonnas look as though Giotto's women had been perfected by fifteenth-
century technique upon our master's panels. As a portrait - painter his
simpUcity and directness, closeness of modelling, and excellent color help to
make him admirable and even impressive. There is nothing very salient iu
his long list of works ; his St. Cecilia frescoes are rather entertaining by their
quaint costumes than great by other qualities, but hia easel picturea are sus
tained and admirable. In the choir of the Renaissance, his note is grave and
instinct with quiet feeling ; he has no roulades nor flourishes, but among all
the painters of the Emilia and the Ferrarese, Costa and Cossa, Tura and the
two Ercoles, Roberti and Grandi, by far the fullest chord is struck by Fran
cesco Francia.

PIETEO PEEUGIXO,' PAIXTEE
[Born 1446; died 1534.]
BiBLiOGRAPnT. — A. Mezzanotte, Della Vita e delle opere di Pietro Vanucei
da Castello della Pieve, Perugia, 1 836. B. Orsini, Vita e Elogio dell' egregio
Fitiore Pietro Perugino e degli Scolari di esso, Perugia, 1804. Mariotti, Let
tere Pittoriche Perugine. Pascoli, Vita de' Pittori Perugiti i. Bonacci Bru-
namonti (Alinda), Pietro Perugino e L'Arte mnbra, in the Rivista Contern-
poranea, Anno I., 1889, Fasc. 2. G. Calletti, Lo stile di Pietro Perugino e
I'indirizzo dell' Arte Moderna, Bologna, 1887. J. D. Passavant, Raphael
<J' Urbin ct son pire Giovmmi Santi, Paris, 1860, VoL I., Appendix, Essai
sur les Peintres de I'Ombrie, pp. 445 to 461. BraghiroUi, Notizie e documenti
inediti intorno a Pietro Vanned, Perugia, 1874. R. Marchesi, 11 Gambia di Pe
rugia, Prato, 1853. A. Rossi, Storia artistica del Cambio di Perugia, Perugia,
1874. Rossi-Scotti, Guida Illustrata di Perxigia, Perugia, 1878. A. H.
Layard, Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, painted in fresco by Pietro Pe
rugino, in the chapel of the saint, at Panicale. Arundel Society Publica
tion, London, 1856. C. Yriarte, Isabella d'Este et les artistes de son temps; Le
Studiolo ; Perugino ct Isabella, Gazette des Beaux Arts, August 1, 1895.
VermigUoli, Memorie di Bernardino Pinturicchio (full of details concerning
Perugino). See also for much interesting differentiation of the works of Pe
rugino from those of the young Raphael Morelli's Italian Masters in Ger
man Galleries. For short but excellent remarks upon Perugino's style, and
for a psychological appreciation of the man, see Symonds's Fine Arts (the
Renaissance) and his "Perugia" in Sketches and Studies in Southern Europe.
THE benefits derived by some men of distinction from
the poverty of their youth, and how potent an assist
ant poverty sometimes proves in the cultivation of the
faculties and for the attainment of excellence, may be
clearly perceived in the history of Pietro Perugino. This
artist, seeking to escape from the extreme of penury in Pe-
• Pietro di Christofano Vanucei, called Perugino, was born, 1446, at Castello
(now Citta) della Pieve. He sometimes signs his works " Petrous de Castro Ple-
bis." For many different signatures and for various orthography see the Appen
dix to Passavant's Raphael. M. Miintz, in hia Rapha'el, calls attention to tbe
fact that Perugino, who was unlettered, made a point of signing and dating bis
works in Latin, and, strange to aay, made no mistakes.

PIETRO PERUGINO 317
rugia, departed to Florence, hoping, by means of his abili
ties, to attain to some distinction. He there remained many
months without even a bed to lie on, and miserably took
his sleep upon a chest ; but, turning night into day, and
labouring without intermission, he devoted himself most
fervently to the study of his profession. Continual labour
thus became the habit of his life : he knew no other pleas
ure than that of toiling incessantly in his vocation, and,
therefore, painted perpetually.
Having the prospect and terrors of poverty constantly
before his eyes, Pietro undertook works for gain, on which
he would probably not have cast his eyes if he had possessed
wherewith to support himself ; but it is very possible that
riches would have closed the path to eminence offered by
his talents, as effectually as it was opened to him by poverty
and by the impulse received from his need, for he was
thereby impelled to struggle, that he might escape from so
wretched and debased a condition, and, at least, secure the
means of life, if he might not hope to attain to the highest
eminence. With this in view he did not permit himself to
regard cold, hunger, fatigue, or privation of any kind, nor
was he ashamed to perform any work that might help to
promote his object, which was to obtain the power of some
day living in ease and quietness. It was his wont to say,
and almost in the manner of a proverb, that after bad
weather the good must come ; and that when it is fair
weather, a man must build his house, that he may thus be
under shelter when he most needs it.
But to the end that the progress of this artist may be the
better understood, I begin with his beginning, and relate that,
according to common report, there was born in the city of
Perugia, to a poor man called Christofano,' of Castello della
Pieve,^ a son, whom, at his baptism, they named Pietro.
' The family of Pietro, though poor, was not of low condition, having en
joyed the rights of citizenship since 1427. See Mariotti, Lettere Pittoriche
Perugine, p. 131.
2 Castello della Pieve is now Citt^ della Pieve.

318 PIETRO PERUGINO
This child, brought up in penury and want, was given by
his father to be the shop-drudge of a painter in Perugia,
who was not particularly distinguished in his calling, but
held the art in great veneration and highly honoured tlie
men who excelled therein ; * nor did he ever cease to set be
fore Pietro the great advantages and honours that were to
be obtained from painting, by all who acquired the power of
labouring in it effectually ; recounting to him all the re
wards bestowed on the various masters, ancient and modern,
thereby encouraging Pietro to the study of his art : inso
much that he kindled in the mind of the latter the desire to
become one of those masters, as he resolved, if fortune were
propitious to him, that he would do. The boy would thus
often inquire of such persons as he knew to have seen the
world, in what city the best artists were formed ? This
question he addressed more particularly to his instructor,
from whom he constantly received the same reply, namely,
that Florence was the place, above all others, wherein men
attain to perfection in all the arts, but more especially in
painting. And to this, he said, they were impelled by three
causes : first, by the censure freely expressed by so many
persons and in such various modes, for the air of that city
gives a natural quickness and freedom to the perceptions of
men,' so that they cannot content themselves with medioc
rity in the works presented to them, which they always
judge with reference to the honour of the good and beauti
ful in art, rather than with respect to, or consideration for,
the man who has produced them : next, that, to obtain the
means of life in Florence, a man must be industrious, which
¦• MoreUi (Italian Painters, I., p. 107) beUeves Perugino to have learned first
from Fiorenzo di Lorenzo at Perugia, then of Piero della Francesca at Arezzo,
and thinks that he was a finished artist when he went, soon after 1470, to
Florence. He has been called the pupil of Verrocchio in the latter city, but
Morelli finds no trace of Andrea's influence in Perugino's early work, and
thinks that Pietro's Tondo in the Louvre recalls Fiorenzo, while his Pietd and
altar-piece of the Calza show the influence of Signorelli. Some critics have
named Bonfigli and Aluimo as his masters.
' The Florentines seem to have shared with the ancient Atheniana this be
lief in the efficacy of the native air.

PIETRO PERUGINO 319
is as much as to say that he must keep his skill and judgment
in perpetual activity, must be ever ready and rapid in his
proceedings ; must know, in short, how to gain money, see
ing that Florence, not having a rich and abundant domain
around her, cannot supply the means of life to those who
abide within her walls, at light cost, as can be done in
countries where produce abounds largely. The third cause,
which is, perhaps, not less effectual than the other two, is
the desire for glory and honour, which is powerfully gener
ated by the air of that place, in the men of every profession,
and whereby all who possess talent are impelled to struggle,
that they may not remain in the same grade with those
whom they perceive to be only men like themselves (much
less will any consent to remain behind another), even though
they may acknowledge such to be indeed Masters ; but all
labour by every means to be foremost, insomuch that some
desire their own exaltation so eagerly as to become thankless
for benefits, censorious of their competitors, and, in many
ways, evil minded, unless that effect be prevented by natural
excellence and sense of justice. It is, however, true that
when a man has acquired sufficient for his purposes in Flor
ence, if he wish to effect more than merely to live from day
to day, as do the beasts that perish, and desire to become rich,
he must depart from her boundaries and seek another market
for the excellence of his works and for the reputation con
ferred by that city ; as the learned derive profit from the re
nown obtained by their studies. For the city of Florence
treats her artists as Time treats his works, which, having
perfected he destroys, and, by little and little, gradually
consumes. Influenced by these counsels, therefore, and moved by
the persuasions of various persons, Pietro repaired to Flor
ence with the determination to attain excellence, and in this
he succeeded well, for, at that time, works in his manner
were held in the highest esteem. He studied under the dis
cipline of Andrea Verrocchio,^ and the first figures painted
' See note 4.

320 PIETRO PERUGINO
by him were executed for the Xuns of San Martino, at a
convent without the gate of Prato, but which has now been
ruined by the wars. At the Carthusian Monastery, also, he
painted a San Girolamo in fresco, which was then highly
esteemed by the Florentines, and is often cited by them with
commendation, because the saint was represented as old,
meagre, and wan, with the eyes fixed on the cross ; nay, he
was depicted as worn and consumed by fasting to such a
degree that he was little more than a skeleton, as may be
still seen from a copy of that picture which is now in the
possession of the before-mentioned Bartolommeo Gondi.'
In a few years Pietro attained to such a height of repu
tation, that his works were dispersed, not only through
Florence and all over Italy, but in France, Spain, and other
countries, whither they had been despatched. His paint
ings being thus held in high estimation, and bearing a very
great price, the merchants began to make purchases of
them and to send them into different lands, to their great
gain and advantage.
For the Xuns of Santa Chiara, Pietro painted a picture
of the Dead Christ,^ the colouring of which was so beautiful
as well as new, that it awakened in the artists of the time
an expectation of the excellence which Pietro was destined
to attain. In this work there are some most admirable
heads of old men, and the Maries also, having ceased to
weep, are contemplating the departed Saviour with an ex
pression of reverence and love which is singularly fine :
' Both the original and the copy have disappeared.
8 This Pietd, executed in 1495, ia in the Pitti, and there are three atudies for
it in black and white in the Uffizi. Perugino was one of the first masters in
central Italy to handle the new oil medium successfully, aa is shown in thia
Pietd. The fact helps to explain the quantity and commercial popularity of
his panel pictures. In 1493 he had not aa yet mastered the new medium, but
the portrait of Francesco delle Opere in the Uffizi (and there called a portrait
of Perugino by himself) was painted in oU in 1494. (MM. Lafenestre and
Richtenberger, Florence, quote the date aa 1491), but Morelli has shown that
Pietro probably learned to work in oil in Venice, circa 1494, and haa pub
lished a letter of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, written in 1496, prov
ing that the latter wiahed to take Perugino into his own service.

PERUGhNO
THE DELIVERY OF THE KEYS
SISTINE CHAPEl, ROME

Alinari, Phot.

mi

PIETRO PERUGINO 321
there is, besides, a landscape, whicli was then considered to
be exceedingly beautiful ; the true method of treating land
scapes, which was afterwards discovered, not having then
been adopted. It is related that Francesco del Pugliese
ofiered to give the Xuns three times as much as they had
paid Pietro for that picture, and to cause another exactly
like it to be executed for them by the same hand ; but they
would not consent, because Pietro had told them that he
did not think he could equal the one they possessed."
In the convent of the Frati-Gesuati, also, beyond the
Piuti Gate, there were various works by this master, and as
that monastery and church are both destroyed, I will not
refuse the labour of describing them, but will take this oc
casion, before proceeding further with the life before me,
to say a few words concerning them.'" The architecture
of the church was due to Antonio di Giorgio, of Settigna
no ; it was forty braccia long and twenty broad. At the
upper end, four steps or stairs conducted to a platform of
six braccia, on which stood the high altar, magnificently
decorated with ornaments of cut stone ; and over this al
tar, also in a richly adorned frame-work, was a picture by
the hand of Domenico Ghirlandajo, as we have before
related. In the midst of the church was a screen, or
wall of separation, in the centre of which was a door
worked in open work from the middle upwards. On each
side of this door stood an altar, and over each altar was a
picture by the liand of Pietro Perugino, as will be related
hereafter. Over the door, also, was a most beautiful Cru
cifix by Benedetto da Maiano, on one side of which was a
Madonna, and on the other a figure of San Giovanni, both
in relief. Before the platform of the high altar, and against
the screen above mentioned, was a choir of the Doric order,
admirably carved in walnut wood, and over the principal
' Bumohr (Ital. Forsch., II., p. 'iia) calls attention to the fact that Vasari
is describing a mature work as one of Pietro's youth. Perngino was in Flor
ence as early as 1470, the Pietd is of 149.5.
"> Thia convent was destroyed in the siege of Florence in Ih'l'X

322 PIETRO PERUGINO
door of the church was another choir, or gallery, supported
on a strong wood-work, the under part of which as seen
from below represented a canopy, overlaid with a rich dec
oration in beautifully arranged compartments ; a balustrade
was added, by way of defence to that part which was op
posite to the high altar. This choir was exceedingly com
modious for the friars of that convent during the perform
ance of their nocturnal services, or when engaged in their
private devotions : it was, besides, very useful to them on
all festivals and holidays. Over the principal door of the
church, which was amply decorated with beautiful orna
ments in stone, and with a portico reposing on fine columns,
which extended even to the door of the convent, was the
figure of the Bishop San Giusto, in a lunette, with an an
gel on each side, by the hand of the master in miniature,
Gherardo ; a very fine work, and placed tliere because the
church was dedicated to San Giusto. Within the building
there was a relic preserved by those friars, an arm of the
saint, namely. At the entrance to the convent was a small
cloister, the extent of which was exactly equal to that of
the church, forty braccia long that is, and twenty broad. The
arches and vaulting of this cloister were supported by col
umns of stone, and the whole formed a spacious and very
commodious loggia, or gallery, entirely around the build
ing. In the centre of the court of the cloister, which was
neatly paved all over with cut stones, was an extremely
beautiful fountain, with a loggia above it, also built on
stone columns, which made a rich and handsome ornament
to the place. In this cloister was the chapter-house of the
monks, with the lateral door of the church and the stairs
which ascended to the upper stories, where were dormi
tories and other apartments for the use of the brotherhood.
On the further side of the cloister, and exactly opposite to
the principal door of the convent, was a spacious avenue,
the length of which was equal to that of the chapter-house
and the chancery : this avenue led to a cloister which was
larger and more beautiful than the first. All this line, the

PIETRO PERUGINO 323
forty braccia of the loggia belonging to the first cloister,
that is, with the length of the avenue and that of the
loggia of the second cloister, formed a very long and most
beautiful succession of arcades, the view of which was more
delightful than words could easily describe. And the effect
was all the finer from the circumstance that, beyond the
last cloister, and in the same direction, there extended one
of the walks of the convent garden, which was two hun
dred braccia in length ; all of which, as seen by those who
came from the principal door of the convent, formed a view
that was admirably beautiful. In the second cloister was a
refectory sixty braccia long and eighteen wide ; with all the
requisite chambers, or as monks call them, offices, which, in
such a convent, are demanded. Over this was a dormitory
in the form of the letter T, one part of which, the direct line,
or principal part namely, which was sixty braccia long, was
double, having cells on each side that is to say, and at the
upper end, in a space of fifteen braccia, was an oratory, above
the altar of which was a picture by the hand of Pietro Peru
gino. Over the door of this oratory, also, was another work
by this master, the latter being in fresco, as will be related
hereafter. On the same fioor, but over the chapter-house,
was a large room which those fathers used for the purpose
of their glass-painting, and where they had their furnaces
and other things needful to such an occupation. Pietro
was therein very useful to them, for as while he lived he
prepared them their cartoons for these works ; so all that
they performed in his time were excellent. The garden of
this convent, moreover, was so well kept and so beautiful,
the vines were so finely trained around the cloister, and all
was so well managed, that nothing better could be seen
either in Florence or around it. In like manner the place
wherein the monks distilled odoriferous waters and pre
pared medicinal extracts, as was their custom, was supplied
with all the conveniences that could possibly be imagined.
This convent, in fine, was one of the most beautiful, most
commodious, and best managed houses of religion in the

324 PIETRO PERUGINO
whole state of Florence ; wherefore it is that I have re
solved to make this mention of the same : and this I have
done the rather because the greater part of the paintings
therein were by the hand of Pietro Perugino.
But returning, at length, to this Pietro, I proceed to say,
that of the works performed by him in the above-described
convent, nothing has been preserved but the pictures ex
ecuted on panel, seeing that all those in fresco were de
stroyed in the siege of Florence, when the building was
wholly demolished. The panel pictures, however, were car
ried to the gate of San Pier Gattolini, where those monks were
provided with a refuge in the church and convent of San
Giovannino." Of the two pictures by Pietro which were on
the screen, the one represented Christ in the Garden with
the Apostles, who are sleeping : in this work Pietro shows
how effectual a refuge is sleep from the cares and pains of
life, he having depicted the disciples of Christ in attitudes
of the most perfect ease and repose. ''¦^ The other painting
is a Pieta, the Saviour lying dead that is, in the lap of Our
Lady, around whom are four figures not inferior to others
executed in the manner of that master.'^ Among the vari
ous characteristics of this work, it is to be remarked that
the figure of the Dead Christ here described is benumbed
and stiffened, as if it had been so long on the cross that
the time and cold had brought it to that appearance. St.
John and the Magdalen, in heavy affliction, are weeping as
they support the body.
In another picture, executed with infinite care, is the
Saviour on the Cross, at the foot of which is the Magdalen,
with St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, and the Beato
Giovanni Colombini, the founder of that order to which
the monks belonged." These three pictures have suffered
" This is now the church of La Calza.
'^ In the Florentine Academy ; it was painted between 1492 and 1499.
*3 In the Florentine Academy ; it was painted in 1493.
' ^ This work is now in the church of La Calza. It has been considered a
doubtful picture. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle say of it : " It is difficilt

PIETRO PERUGINO 325
considerably ; in the shadows and on all the dark parts there
are numerous cracks, and this has happened from the cir
cumstance, that when the first colour was laid on the
ground, it had not perfectly dried before the second (for
there are three coats of colour given one over the other)
was applied, wherefore, in the gradual drying by time, they
have become drawn throughout their thickness, with a
force that has sufficed to produce these cracks ; a fact that
Pietro could not know or anticipate, since it was but in his
time that the practice of painting well in oil first com
menced. The works of Pietro being much extolled by the
Florentines, as we have said, a Prior of the same convent
of the Ingesuati,^' who took great pleasure in the art, com
missioned him to paint a Xativity on the walls of the first
cloister, with the Adoration of the Magi, the figures ex
tremely small, and this work he conducted to perfection
with much grace and elegance. Among the heads, which
are infinitely varied, are portraits from the life not a few,'*
one of these is the likeness of Andrea Verrocchio, Pie
tro's master. In the same court, and over the arches
resting on the columns, our artist executed a frieze wlierein
were heads of the size of life, and among them was that
of the Prior himself, so life-like, and painted in so good a
manner, that the best judges among artists have declared it
to be the most perfect work ever performed by this master.
In the second cloister, over the door leading into the refec
tory, he was likewise commissioned to paint an historical
picture, the subject of which was Pope Boniface, confirm
ing to the Beato Giovanni Colombino, the habit of his
Order. Here Pietro painted the portraits of eight of the
monks, with a most beautiful perspective, receding in a
manner which was greatly extolled, and deservedly so, for to
to ascribe this piece either to Perugino or to SignorelU." Again they state
that while portions of the work bear the impress of Perngino, other parts
would appear to have been executed by SignorelU.
'^ As this Ingesuati convent was destroyed the fresco undoubtedly per
ished. '* For Perugino as a portrait painter, see note 23.

326 PIETRO PERUGINO
these matters Pietro gave particular attention. Beneath
this picture he commenced a second, representing the Birth
of Christ, with angels and shepherds, the colouring of
which was exceedingly fresh and lively. Over the door of
the above described oratory also, he painted three half-
length figures of Our Lady, St. Jerome, and the Beato
Giovanni, in so fine a manner, that this was esteemed
among the best of the mural paintings executed by Pietro."
The Prior of this cloister, as I have been told, was very
successful in the preparation of ultra-marine blues, and
having them, from this circumstance, in good store, he
therefore desired that Pietro should use them frequently in
all the above-mentioned works ; he was nevertheless so
mean and mistrustful that he dared not confide the colour
to Pietro, but would always be present when the latter was
using the azure blue. The master therefore, who was by
nature upright and honest, nor in any way covetous of an
otlier man's goods, took the distrust of the Prior very ill,
and determined to make him ashamed of it. He accord
ingly placed a bowl of water beside him whenever he had
prepared draperies or other parts of the picture to be
painted in blue and white, calling every now and theu on
the Prior (who turned grudgingly to his little bag of the
colour), to put ultra-marine into the vase or bottle wherein
it was tempered with water : then setting to work, at every
second pencil-full he washed his brush into the bowl beside
him, wherein there remained by this means, more colour
than the painter had bestowed on his work. The Prior find
ing his bag becoming empty, while the work made but little
show, cried out once and again, time after time, — " Oh, what
a quantity of ultra-marine is swallowed up by this plaster."
"You see for yourself how it is," replied Pietro, and the
Prior went away. When he was gone, the master gathered
the ultra-marine from the bottom of the bowl, and when he
thought the proper time for doing so was come, he returned
it to the Prior, — saying to him, " This belongs to you,
" These works were destroyed.

PIETRO PERUGINO 327
father, learn to trust honest men, for such never deceive
those who confide in them, although they well know how
to circumvent distrustful persons like yourself, when they
desire to do so."
By the works here executed and many others, Pietro ac
quired so great a reputation, that he was almost compelled
to go to Siena, where he painted a very large picture in the
church of San Francesco, which was considered to be ex
tremely beautiful,'* as was another by his hand in that of
Sant' Agostino ; the latter representing Christ Crucified,
with certain Saints.'" A short time after this, Pietro
painted a picture of St. Jerome " in penitence," for the
church of San Gallo in Florence, but this work is now in
San Jacopo-tra-Fossi, at the corner of the Alberti, where
those monks now have their abode. ^ Pietro likewise re
ceived a commission to paint a figure representing the Dead
Saviour, with the Madonna, and San Giovanni, above the
steps leading to the side door of San Pietro Maggiore, and
this he executed in such a manner, that, exposed as it is to
wind and weather, it has nevertheless maintained such
freshness, as to have the appearance of being but just
finished by the hand of the master.^' Pietro Perugino cer
tainly proved himself well acquainted with the management
of colours, in fresco as well as in oil, insomuch, that the
most able artists are largely indebted to him for the knowl
edge to be obtained by means of his works, more especially
as regards the lights.
In the church of Santa Croce, in the same city, this mas
ter painted a Madonna mourning over the body of Christ,
which she sustains on her bosom ; in this picture there are
two figures, the sight of which awakens astonishment, not
" This picture, a Nativity, painted 1508-9, perished in a fire in the seven
teenth century.
'• StiU in the church.
™ Thia work is lost.
'¦ It was taken to the chapel of the Albizzi Palace, Florence, after the dem-
oUtion of the church.

328 PIETRO PERUGINO
SO much indeed for their excellence, as for their freshness ;
that a painting in fresco should have remained so new-
looking and lively for so long a time is surprising.^^ From
Bernardino de' Rossi, Pietro received a commission to paint
a San Sebastiano to be sent into France, and the price agreed
on was to be one hundred gold crowns, but the picture was
sold by Bernardino to the King of France for four hundred
gold ducats. At Vallombrosa, this artist painted a figure
for the High Altar,^ with another for the Certosa or Car
thusian Monastery at Pavia, for the same monks. ^''
'= This work is lost. Albertini's Memoriale speaks of a panel by Perugino
in Santa Croce.
''^ In the Florentine Academy. It waa executed in 1.500 and is a large pict
ure of the Assumption with Saint Michael the Archangel, S. Benedetto, S. Gio
vanni Gualberto, and S. Bernardo degli Uberti. In the same gallery are two
little portrait heads of monks said to have been the donors of tlie altar-piece.
They are Don Biagio JlUanesi, general of the order of Vallombrosa, aud Don
Baldasarre, and in their marveUoua delicacy and withal breadth of modelling,
these are two of the finest portrait heads in Europe, showing Perugino in
quite a new Ught and proving what he could have done in portraiture had his
orders for church picturea not prevented him from the execution of secular
works. Passavant and Gruyer both attribute the profile portraits of the
two monks to Raphael, Morelli refusea the attribution, and the heads are
now accredited to Perugino. The position in profile with upturned faces
may perhaps be explained by the fact that theae heada formed part of the
surrounding to the altar-piece. See MM. Lafenestre and Richtenberger,
Florence, p. 212. See also as examples of his portraits Perugino's head of
himaelf in the Sala del Cambio and hia Francesco delle Opere in the Uffizi.
21 Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle think this picture waa painted about
1504 in Florence, and, as it were, under the eye of Leonardo da Vinci. Morelli
(Italian Masters in German Galleries, pp. 288-89) cites Perugino's journey to
the north circa 1494, and shows that the picture waa much more probably com
missioned at about that time, and was possibly painted in the convent itself,
where a portion of it still remains, while the principal panela, the centre, a
Virgin with Angela, and the right and left hand panels, Raphael with young
Tobias, and Michael, are in the National Gallery. It is Perugino's finest altar-
piece, and the master may claim by right of this picture a parity of excel
lence of panel painting and fresco work rarely found in one and the same artist.
Of such pictures as the triptych of Pavia and the Pazzi Crucifixion of Florence,
one may quote Symonds (Renaissance in Italy, tbe Fine Arts) : "In his best
work the Renaissance set the seal of absolute perfection upon pietistic art."
MoreUi's abstract (Italian Masters in German Galleries, pp. 287, 288, 289)
upon Pietro's early wanderings in the north of Italy is as follows ; Perugino
was in Venice in 1494, and finished, probably in Cremona itself, his picture for

PIETRO PERUGINO 329
For the High Altar of the episcopal church in Xaples,
Pietro was commissioned by Cardinal Caraffa, to paint an
Assumption of Our Lady, with the Apostles in adoration
around the tomb,^ and for the Abbot, Simone de' Graziani
of Borgo San Sepolcro, he painted a large picture which was
executed in Florence ; being afterwards transported to the
church of San Gilio at Borgo, on the backs of porters, at
very heavy cost.^ To Bologna Pietro sent a picture for the
church of San Giovanni-in-Monte ; in this there are two
figures standing upright, with the Virgin appearing in the
heavens above them.^
By all these works the fame of the master became so
widely diffused throughout Italy and in foreign lands, that
he was invited to Rome, by Pope Sixtus IV., to his great
glory ; here he was appointed to work in the Sistine chapel,
together with the other eminent artists who had also been
invited by that Pontiff ; and in company with Don Bar
tolommeo della Gatta, Abbot of San Clemente in Arezzo, he
painted the story of Christ delivering the keys to Peter.^*
The Xativity of the Saviour, his Baptism with tlie Birth of
the church of St Augustine there ; March 6, 1495, he contracted in Perugia
to paint for the luonka of Cassino the Assumption which is now in Lyons, in
the same year and place (Perugia) he painted the Entombment (Pitti), in
1496 the Marriage of Mary (Caen), and in that year was again in Venice.
MorelU dates the triptych of Pavia (National Gallery) as between 1494-1498,
and refuses to accept the young Raphael as collaborator in it. In 1497 Pietro
painted at Fano the large Duranti altar-piece in the church of S. Maria
Nuova. In 1498 he executed for S. Domenico of Perugia his Madonna and six
kneeling brethren ; 1499-1500 he worked at VaUombrosa npon an Assump
tion (Academy of Florence), and perhapa at the same time painted the two fine
profile portraits of monks. MoreUi deduces from all these wanderings that
the young Raphael carmot have been Pietro's pnpil tUl about 1500.
" StiU in the cathedral.
"^ Still in the Duomo. A Christ with angels is in the upper part of the
picture ; the Virgin among the Apostles is in the lower portion.
" It is in the Academy at Bologna. It represents a Virgin in the clouds
with Saints Michael, Catharine, Apollonia, and John the Evangelist. Some
of the figures are representative at once of the master's moat mannered style
and yet of his greateat charm.
" Perugino finished his Sistine frescoes in 1496. Only the DeUvery of the
Keys BtUl remains. MorelU, basing himself upon a careful stylistic oompari-

330 PIETRO PERUGINO
Moses, and his discovery by the daughter of Pharaoh, who
takes him from the little ark of bulrushes, were also painted
by this master. On the side whereon is the altar likewise,
Pietro executed a mural painting of the Assumption of the
^'irgin, and in this he placed the portrait of Pope Sixtus, in
a kneeling position. But these last mentioned works were
destroyed during the pontificate of Pope Paul IIL, when
the divine Michelagnolo painted his picture of the Last
Judgment in that chapel.^ In the palace of the Pope,
Pietro painted a ceiling in one of the apartments of the
Torre Borgia ; here he depicted certain stories from the
life of Christ, with ornaments of foliage in chiaro-scuro, a
work reputed at the time, to be one of extraordinary ex
cellence.* In the church of San Marco, also in Rome, he
painted an historical piece beside the chapel of the Sacra
ment representing two martyrs : this is accounted among
the good works executed by Pietro while in Rome.^' For
Sciarra Colonna he painted a Loggia with several chambers,
in the Palace of Sant' Apostolo and all these works placed
son, gives the frescoes of the Baptism of Christ and Moses leaving Egypt to
Pinturicchio ; see the life of that master, note 27. MoreUi finds no trace of a
strange hand in the fresco of the Delivery of the Keys, and refers the co
operation of Della Gatta, if it occurred at all, to some of the mural paintings
which have perished ; while certain critics even discredit the existence of
Don Bartolommeo as a worker in the Sistina.
-¦' The frescoes destroyed were the Assumption, the Nativity, and the finding
of the chUd Moses. It is greatly to be deplored that no replica has been pre
served, for the DeUvery of the Keys, painted at the same time, is, aa a composi
tion, unequaUed by any fifteenth-century fresco in the Sistine Chapel ; its bal
ance and restraint can indeed be paxaUeled by very few works even of the
golden period of the first years of the sixteenth century. The worst that can
be said of it is that it is sUghtly academic, and that the tiny figurea of the
background make spots which attract the eye away from the main action.
3^ In the Camera dell' Incendio Raphael apared Perugino's ceUing, which
represents in so many tondi what Milanesi, III. 579, note 3, calls four poetical
and symbolical scenes in which figure the Eternal Father, angels, and allegor
ical figurea. By the aide of the great works of the LTrbinate they seem insignifi
cant, but nevertheless they are not lacking in decorative charm.
'' Thia work haa perished. There is, however, a figure of St. Mark in the
church which is still assigned to Perngino, but Messrs. Crowe and CavalcaseUe,
History of Painting in Italy, III. 191, note 1, say that it is a work of the
Venetian School of the Vivarini.

PIETRO PERUGINO 331
him in possession of a very large sum of money ; ^ Pietro,
therefore, determined to remain no longer in Rome, and de
parted thence with the good favour of all the court. He
then returned to his native city of Perugia, and there exe
cuted various frescoes and pictures in different parts of the
city, more particularly in the palace of the Signori, where
he painted a picture in oil, for the chapel of that building,
representing the Virgin with other saints.^
In the church of San Francesco-del-Monte, Pietro painted
two chapels in fresco, the Adoration of the Magi in one, and
in the other the Martyrdom of certain Monks of the Fran
ciscan order, who, having proceeded to the Sultan of Baby
lon, were there put to death. ^' In San Francesco del Con
vento, this master painted two pictures in oil, in one of
which he depicted the resurrection of Jesus Christ,^ and in
the other San Giovanni Batista, with other saints. ^^ For
the church of the Servites also,^ Pietro likewise painted two
pictures, one representing the Transfiguration of Our Lord,
and the other, which is beside the sacristy, the Adoration
of the Magi.^ But as these works are not of equal excel
lence with some others by this master, it is considered cer
tain that they are among the first which he executed. In
San Lorenzo, which is the cathedral of that city (Perugia),
there is a Madonna by the hand of Pietro, in the chapel of

'2 These works are lost. There is, however, a painting of a S. Sebastiano
left in the Sciarra palace.
'¦'^ It is now in the Vatican, it was executed in 1496.
" These frescoes have been removed to the Pinacoteca of Perugia.
" The Resurrection ia in the Vatican. Raphael is said to have worked on
thia picture, but the story that the portraits of Raphael and Perugino may
be seen in the sleeping figure at the left and in the fleeing soldier is doubtful.
MoreUi, ItaUan Masters in German Galleries, p. 314, refuses to believe that
Raphael ever had anything to do with the picture, and is inclined to believe
that it was painted by Giovanni Spagna from a cartoon by Perugino.
'• In the Pinacoteca of Perugia.
=' The church of the Servites is now S. Maria Nuova. Perugian writers
claim that there are still other works of Perugino in the church.— MUanesi,
HI., 581, note 2.
se The Transfiguration and the Adoration are in the Museum of Perugia.

332 PIETRO PERUGINO
the C'rocifisso, with the Maries, San Giovanni, San Lo
renzo, San Jacopo, and other saints.'''*
For the altar of the sacrament, where the ring with which
the Virgin Mary was espoused is preserved, this master
painted an altar-piece representing the Marriage of Our
Lady.* At a later period, Pietro painted the Hall of Audience in
the Exchange of Perugia entirely in fresco.'" The compart-
3» No longer in the cathedral.
¦"> This Sposalizio, now in the Museum of Caen, haa always been considered
an original Perugino and the prototype of Raphael's Sposalizio (Brera). Mr.
Bcrnhard Berenson (Gazette des Beaux Arts, April, 1896) believes that the
Sposalizio of Caen was painted by Lo Spagna, and is a souvenir, not a proto
type, of Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin.
*' Perugino began this cycle in 1499, and seems to have finished it in 1500,
though he was not entirely paid till 1507. The Sala del Cambio ahowa us ex
actly what the men of the fifteenth century asked and obtained as a complete
system of decoration, carried out at one time and under the direction of one
mind. As auch alone it would be a priceless lesson, but the coincidence of the
decoration with one of the best periods of the Renaissance and of the direction
with one of its best masters adds auch intrinsic value that the little Perugian
Exchange deserves to rank among the treasuries of European art. Upon en
tering it the first impression is one of completeness. Nothing haa been taken
away and little added since the first years of the sixteenth century, a time at
once of culmination and of transition. In the Sala del Cambio the frame
equals the picture, or rather there is no distinction between the two ; the
whole hall ia a setting ; the golden brown of the inlaid benches, the cool gray
lighta and strong shadows of the carved wood, continue and relieve the warm
grays, the amber, and the tawny reds and yellows of the frescoea ; the pave
ment is in harmony below, and the vaulting above is covered with that com
bination of flat-painted figures and scroU-work which ia so distinctive of a
good art epoch, and is much more truly decorative than are the heavily carved
ceilings that prevailed a half century later. Not one of the frescoes of the
Cambio equals the Crucifixion of S. Maddalena de' Pazzi, or the Delivery of
the Keys in the Sistine, but each is richer in color than are the latter and more
famous works, while taken together the series ahowa us Perugino in nearly all
his phases. A second impression is one of amused surprise at the frankly hy
brid character of the frescoea, the reault of a mediaeval hoapitality afforded to
a claaaical new-comer, who could only be an interloper in Umbria. Even here,
in the stronghold of pietiam, the humanist had come, and had prescribed to
Perugino his list of antique virtues and antique prototypes. We may still read
the Latin legends of the walls repeated in the manuacript of Francesco Matn-
ranzio. Perugino has accepted the prescription and has treated the sagea and
heroea of antiquity like so many Renaissance playing-cards, at least as far as
their decorative side is concerned, not attempting any composition, but set-

PIETRO PERUGINO 333
ments of the ceiling, that is to say, which he decorated with
the seven planets, each drawn in a kind of chariot by dif
ferent animals, according to the old manner ; on the wall
opposite to the door of entrance he depicted the Birth aud
Resurrection of Christ ; ^ and on panel he represented San
Giovanni, in the midst of other saints.*^ On the side wall
of the building Pietro then painted figures in his own man
ner, those on one side represent Fabius Maximus, Socrates,
Xuma Pompilius, Fulvius Camillus, Pythagoras,''^ Trajan,
L. Licinius, the Spartan Leonidas, Horatius Codes, Fabius
Sempronius,*^ the Athenian Pericles, and Cincinnatus : on
the opposite wall are figures of the prophets ; Isaiah, Moses,
and Daniel namely ; with David, Jeremiah, and Solomon ; the
master likewise added those of the Sybils ; the Erythrse-
au, the Lybian, the Tiburtine, the Delphic, and the others.
ting hia characters formaUy side by side, each with his label at his elbow.
The heroes have vigorous torsos and spindUng legs, close-fitting armors, and
helmets with extraordinary branching scroU-work plumes; the sages wear
long gowns and fantastical head-dresaes, and the faces of sages and heroea alike,
when uot bearded, look as though they might have come out of the many nun-
nenes of Perugia — sweet, gentle, girUsh faces. The Nativity and Transfigura
tion show us the Perugino whom we know in altar-pieces, but the prophets
and aibyla have aa fignres a vigor and a breadth which differentiate them from
most of the painter's personages. Passavant (see also Perkins' Raphael and
Michael Angelo) has suggested that the vaulting is earUer than the rest of the
decoration, and is not by Perugino at all ; its Uttle people are thoroughly quat
trocento, almost mediceval ; indeed the Sala del Cambio of Perugia, the Li
brary of Siena, and the Borgia Apartments of the Vatican are so many differ
ent passages of the swan song of that frankly decorative painting which
reveUed in scroll-work and flying ribands and gUded pattema, and which ten
years later gave way once and forever to the new order of things that came in
with the Stanze oi the Vatican. Symonds (Sketches and Studies in Southern
Europe : Perugia) says of these frescoes and of Perugino that the ' ' charm of
his atyle is that everything is thought out and rendered visible in one decor
ous key. The worst that can be said of it is that its suavity inclines to mawk-
ishness and its quietism borders on sleepiness. We find it difficult not to
accuse him of affectation. At the same time we are forced to allow that what
he did and what he refrained from doing was detei-mined by a purpose."
" The Transfiguration, rather.
" This is in the room next the Sala del Cambio, and has a Christ with angels
(not saints), and with people who await baptism.
" Pittacus, rather.
" Publius Scipio, rather.

334 PIETRO PERUGINO
Beneath each of these figures is a sentence in the manner of
a motto, taken from the writings or sayings of the person
age represented above, and appropriate in some sort to the
place wherein the artist has painted it. In one of the orna
ments of this work Pietro placed his own portrait, whicli
has a very animated appearance, and beneath it he wrote
his name in the following manner : ^'
Petrus Perusinus egregius pictor ,
Perdita sifuerat pingendo hie retulit artem;
Si nunquam inventa esset hactenus, ipse dedit.
Anno D. md.*
This work, an exceedingly fine one, and which has been
more highly extolled than any other executed by Pietro in
Perugia,^' is still held in great estimation by the people of
that city, as the memorial of so renowned an artist of their
native place. In the church of Sant' Agostino, also in Pe
rugia, he painted the Baptism of the Saviour by St. John,
in the principal chapel ; this is a very large picture, entire
ly isolated, and surrounded by a very rich "ornament" or
* The inscription should read :
Petrus Perusinus Egregius Pictor.
Perdita si fuerat pingendi.
Hie retulit artem.
Si nusquam inventa est,
Hactenus ipse dedit,
A7H10 Salut. MD.
See Milanesi, III., 582, note 3.
" Perugino waa invited to place his portrait here, a rare honor even in an
epoch and with a people which honored its painters.
*' The fresco of the Triumph of Religion, with Prophets and Sibyls, ia re
markable for a breadth in the deeign which ia unlike Perugino, and could only
belong to his most fortunate period. There ia aomething in the character of
thia work which ahowa more of the infiuence of his great contemporaries than
do even his finer compositions of the Sistine and of the Maddalena de' Pazzi.
Some of the figures are really puzzling in a certain freedom which does not
seem Perugino's own, yet which could hardly be found in the work of any
youthful pupil or assistant. Next the Sala is the chapel, also very pleasing in
its decorative scheme. It waa p.iinted by Gianniccola Manni, whUe the altar-
piece is by Perugino.

PIETRO PERUGINO 335
frame work, and on the back, or that side opposite to the
choir, the master further depicted the Birth of Christ,
with heads of saints in the upper part of the painting ; in
the predella are several historical scenes, represented by
small figures very carefully executed.^^ In the chapel of
San Xiccolo, in the same church, he painted a picture for
Messer Benedetto Calera.^'
Having afterwards returned to Florence, Pietro painted
a picture for the monks of the Cestello, representing San
Bernardo ; * as he also did another with our Saviour on the
Gross, the Virgin, San Benedetto, San Bernardo, and San
Giovanni, for the Chapter House. ^' At Fiesole, in the
" The Baptism is in the Museum of Perugia, other portions are in French
provincial museums. It waa commenced in 1502, but not finiahed till many
years after. A famous picture by Perugino which has also found its way to
France, and is in the Louvre, is the Combat between Love and Chastity,
painted in 1505 for IsabeUa d'Este. For an example of her manner of order
ing a painting, see in the Life of Mantegna a reference to his picture painted
also for her studiolo of Mantua, where it became the companion of the Peru
gino and Lorenzo Costa's " Love Croivning laabella d'Este." All three of the
works are in the Louvre. The Ducheas is said to have been dissatisfied with
Perugino's picture.
*" FiUppo di Benedetto Capra, rather. The picture is stiU in the church.
The predella, which has disappeared, was once dated 1500. — Milanesi, III.,
584, note 1.
'° The San Bernardo painted in 1488 has been loat.
"1 The Crucifixion in the secularized Chapter House of S. M. Maddalena dei
Pazzi, once the Cestello, was ordered in 1493 by Puccio da Dionisio Pucci and
his wife Giovanna, and was finished April 20, 1496. In the centre is the cru
cified Christ and below is the Magdalen ; at the left are the Virgin and St. Ber
nard, at the right are St. John and St. Benedict. By its solemn breadth of
treatment, its largeness, its wide air-filled spaces, this fresco is Perugino's mas
terpiece, and one of the greatest works of the Renaissance, whUe in producing
the maximum of effect with the minimum of means, it does not yield to any
one among them. There are only six figures, but their effect can scarcely be
reaUzed unleaa seeu ; they are standing quietly under the three painted arches
which aeem to open the Chapter House upon a wide horizon of mountains not
peaked like the Apennines of Carrara, but sweeping in the long undulating
lines of the Umbrian Mountains that line the valleys where Tiber and Arno
rise almost side by side. All this is so truly the Perugian country that at
firat one beUeves that Perugia itself compelled Perugino to see and feel land
acape in juat thia way ; but Perugia held Fiorenzo di Lorenzo too, and Luca
SignoreUi looked upon nearly the aame mountain lines from Cortona, yet in
his art aaw only and always the human body. Half the painters iu Umbria

336 PIETRO PERUGINO
church of San Domenico, he painted a picture of the Ma
donna, in the second chapel on the right hand ; =' there are
besides three figures in this work, one of which, a San Se
bastiano namely is worthy of the highest praise.
Pietro had worked so much, and received such perpetual
demands for his works, that he frequently used one and the
same object or figure several times in different pictures, his
theory and mode of treatment in art had, indeed, become
so mannered, that he gave all his figures the same expres
sion. Xow Michelagnolo was, by this time, coming forward
to his place, and Pietro earnestly desired to see his works,
because of the great praise bestowed on them by the artists,
but as he perceived that the greatness of the name which
he had himself acquired in all places began to be obscured
by others, he sought much to lower and mortify all who
were then labouring to distinguish themselves, by the
caustic severity of his remarks. This caused him to receive
various offences from different artists, and Michelagnolo
told him publicly, that he was but a dolt and blockhead in
art. But Pietro could not endure so grievous an affront,
and Tuacany were dwellers upon a Mount of Vision, but each could be a seer
only in his own way. Perugino was not alone an Umbrian, bnt was the first
man who was fitted to see and feel and register the solemn impression of the
vast sky, the wide valleys that canopy and set the town which even in Italy is
unequaUed in its marveUoua site. In remembering Verona and Siena, Spoleto,
and many other places, it aeems hard to say that any city of the peninsula
is picturesque beyond its fellows, and yet that little quarter of Perugia which
surrounds San Severe, where Raphael, still almost a boy, painted his fresco
of the Christ in Glory, is perhapa unequalled. The afreets fairly cUmb over
each other's backs, some are tunnelled under palaces, some are steep staircases,
not one is level. Before you aa you go people seem to rise up out of the earth,
and thej diaappear into it again down some narrow alley which leada to their
homes, or to other and deeper aUeya. You paas along a little street, and at ita
end a terrace drops away. You have the top of a tall church-tower below
your feet, and before you the city slopea down in amphitheatre to where miles
of roUing country dotted with towns are bounded by snow-covered mountains.
This uplifted hill city, with its low horizon and ita ever present background
of light-filled aky, was Perugino's best maater, and he, in turn, of all her ar
tists, was the first one to see the nobUity of Umbria and the glory of her land
scape. 5" It waa painted in 1493, and is now in the Uffizi.

PIETRO PERUGINO 337
and the two artists presented themselves before the Council
of Bight, whence Pietro withdrew, however, with very little
honour. Meanwhile the Servite Monks of Florence desired
to have the picture for their high altar painted by some
master of great renown, and had given the commission for
it to Filippo Lippi on account of the departure of Leon
ardo da Vinci to France, but the former, when he had com
pleted the half of one, out of the two pictures, of which the
Altar-piece was to be composed, departed to another life ;
whereupon the monks, moved by the faith they had placed
in Pietro, confided the whole work to his care. In this
painting, wherein Filippino had begun to represent the
Deposition of Christ from the Cross, that master had
finished the upper part, where Xicodemus is lowering the
body ; Pietro therefore continued the work by painting the
lower part, the swooning of Our Lady namely, with certain
other figures. And as this work was to consist of two
pictures, the one to be turned towards the choir of the
monks, and the other towards the body of the church, the
monks proposed to have the Deposition towards the choir
with an Assumption of the Virgin towards the church, but
Pietro executed the latter in so ordinary a manner, that
they determined to have the Deposition in front, and the
Assumption towards the choir ; both have now been re
moved to other altars in the same church, and the Taber
nacle of the Sacrament has been erected in their place.'^
Of this work, therefore, six small pictures ^* only have re
mained at the high altar, certain saints namely, which were
painted in niches by Pietro. I find it related, that when the
painting was first uncovered, all the new artists censured it
greatly, principally because Pietro had again adopted the
same figures that had been previously painted in other of his
" The picture, painted in part by Filippino, is in the Academy. The As
sumption is StiU in the church in the Rabatta chapel. — Milanesi, III. 586,
note 1.
" The six saints have been sold. Milanesi, III., p. 586, note 2, aays two of
them remained in a private collection of Florence.

338 PIETRO PERUGINO
works, for which his friends reproached him not a little,
declaring that he had taken no pains, but whether induced
by avarice, or by the desire to spare his time, had departed
from his usual good manner ; to all which Pietro replied,
" I have painted in this work the figures that you formerly
commended, and which then pleased you greatly ; if they
now di.splease you, and you no longer extol them, what can
I do ? " ^ This did not prevent many from assailing him
sharply with satirical verses, and offending him publicly in
various ways ; wherefore, having now become old, he left
Florence altogether, and returned to Perugia. ^^
In the church of San Severe, in that city, he then exe
cuted various works in fresco, for the Carthusian monks, to
whom it belongs : there Raffaello da Urbino, while still
young, and when he was the disciple of Pietro, had painted
certain figures," as will be related in the proper place.
Pietro likewise worked at Montone,^ at the Fratta,^' and at
many other places in the neighbourhood of Perugia, but
more particularly in Assisi, in the church of Santa Maria
^s MUanesi cites the three pictures of the Servi of Borgo San Sepolcro, and
of Vallombrosa as proving Pietro's readiness to uae the same figures over again,
both angels and apostles doing double service in them.
''0 But for the offences thus received Pietro would aeem to have disposed
hia affairs for passing the remainder of his days in Florence, where he had
also purchased a burial-place for himself and his descendants, in the church
of the Annunziata. — Mi.^selll, quoted in Mrs. Foster's notes.
" Raphael began this fresco of San Severe, a Christ in Glory, and left it un
finished. Perugino painted (1.521) the saints in the lower part of the picture.
They have been the subject of aome aharp criticiam, perhapa unduly sharp,
for if somewhat feeble they are not vulgar, and they do not jar with the rest
of the compoaition.
" A Virgin and Child, with Saints John the Baptist, Gregory, John the
Bvangelist, and Francis, with a. predella representing the Birth of the Virgin,
her Marriage and her Assumption, a picture formerly at Montone and painted
in 1507, is lost. See Messrs. Crowe and Caval caaelle'a History of Painting in
Italy, III. p. 232, note 2. Orsini, Vita di Pietro Perugino, p. 208, saya thia
picture was taken to the palace of the Odardi family, at Ascoli. See Jli-
lanesi, p. 587, note 3.
" The picture from the church of the Fratta (now Umbertide) of Perugia,
was a Coronation of the Virgin, painted toward 1500, by Pinturicchio, not
Perugino ; it is now in the Vatican. See A. Venturi, La Galleria Vaticana,
p. 44.

PIETRO PERUGINO 339
degli Angeli namely, where he painted in fresco the wall
behind the chapel of the Madonna, which stands opposite to
the choir of the monks, depicting the Saviour on the Cross,
with several figures.'* In the church of San Pietro, an
Abbey in Perugia, which belongs to the Black Friars, he
painted a very large picture for the high altar ; the sub
ject of this work is the Ascension of Jesus, with the Apos
tles beneath, looking up to heaven.*' On the predella of
the picture are three stories, executed with much care, the
Adoration of the Magi that is to say, the Baptism of the
Saviour and his Resurrection ; the whole of this work is
replete with evidences of thought and care, insomuch that
it is one of the best paintings in oil executed by Pietro in
Perugia ; he also commenced a work in fresco, of no small
importance, at Castello della Pieve, but did not finish it.^^
" The upper part of this painting was destroyed in 1700, the lower portion
waa restored by CasteUani in 1830. See Pere Barnaba, La Porzioncule, His
toire de Sainte Marie des Anges, and Glorie della Sacra Porziuncola, com
pendia Storico di S. M. degli Angeli, Perugia, 1858.
" The centre-piece, painted 1495 or 1496, was presented by Pope Pius VII.
to the Museum of Lyons ; the predella picturea are in the Museum at Rouen.
Five little panela from thia work, with figures of saints, remain in the church
of San Pietro, while the Vatican has three half. length figures, which possibly
also belonged to the same altar-piece. The general coraposition represented
an Ascension of Christ. MoreUi, in his ItaUan Masters, admits among the
pictures which he catalogues aa by Perugino, a Madonna (Munich, 1036), "a
feeble picture ; " Viaion of St. Bernard (Munich, No. 1034), called by Morelli
a "beautiful picture," and attributed by Vasari to Raffaellino del Garbo ; No.
1035, Munich, "feeble "and "superficial;" two predellas (Munich, Nos.
1037, 1038) ; a head called the Nun of Leonardo da Vinci (Pitti, No. 140), as
cribed by Dr. Bode to Franciabigio ; the so-called Alessandro Bracceei (por
trait of a youth. No. 1217, in the Uffizi, and there attributed to Lorenzo di
Credi ) ; Morelli unreservedly pronounces the Apollo and Marsyas bought of
Mr. Morris Moore by the Louvre (see life of Raphael), to be not by Raphael,
but by some master whose style has close affinity with that of Perugino (Ital
ian Masters in German Galleries, p. 306). Morelli mentions as characteristic
drawings by Perugino and worth studying as such, a Monk Reading (Uffizi),
pen-drawing ; fuU - length study for the Socrates of the Cambio (Uffizi) ;
two male figures, one shooting, one bending a bow, pen-drawing, in Due
d'Aumale's collection ; study of Putti (Uffizi), pen drawing.
" Fragments of a Descent from the Cross, dated 1517, atiU exist in S.
Maria de' Servi. See Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting
in Italy, HL 237. There is an Adoration of the Magi at Citta della Pieve,

340 PIETRO PERUGINO
It was the custom of Pietro, who was a man that did not
confide in any one, when going or returning from the above
named Castello to Perugia, to carry all the money which he
possessed at the time about his person ; this being known,
certain men waylaid him at a place on the road, and robbed
him of all that he had, but, at his earnest entreaty, they
spared his life for the love of God. By means of the
measures adopted, and the assistance of his friends, of
whom he had a good number, notwithstanding what has
been said, he recovered a great part of the money that had
been taken from him ; he was nevertheless very near dying
of grief for this misfortune. Pietro possessed but very little
religion,^ and could never be made to believe in the immor
tality of the soul, nay, most obstinately did he reject all
good counsel, with words suited to the stubbornness of his
marble-hard brain. He placed all his hopes in the goods
of fortune, and would have undertaken any thing for
money ; ^* he gained great riches indeed, and bought, as
where there is also a St. Anthony in S. Agostino (Ibid. III. 326, 836), and
a work in S. Gervasio (Ibid. III. 236). The fresco formerly in the church of
Fontignano, near Citta deUa Pieve, by Perugino, has been sawn from the
walls, and is now in the South Kensington Museum, London.
^3 Whatever the general critic may imply by " irreUgious," Perugino muet
have been as a painter at once reverent and sincere during a long period of his
life, for his work proves this unmistakably. He was certainly an interesting
psychological problem, a protagonist of pietistic art, and yet taxed as an in
fidel ; a man capable of the moat dignified and monumental compoaitions,
yet willing to repeat himself and to coin money by the uae of worn-out ma
terial His surroundings were as incongruous as the qualities found in his
work and attributed to his character, aince Perugia was at once the home of
religious painting and the closed lists of the moat ruffianly noblea in Italy, the
Baglioni. Taine is inclined to place Perugino among those who were changed
and made sceptical by the apparent failure of Savonarola's prophecies. On
his portrait of Francesco delle Opere is inscribed Timete Deum, and after all
is said neither avarice nor repetition of motives in his pictnres proves ir
religion in Perugino ; as to his infidelity we have only Vasari's assertion, based
doubtless on aome such local tradition as Pietro's burial under the oak of
Fontignano. Other stories, and even documents, tend to absolve him, and the
causes of Perugino's artistic decline may probably be found in the conditions
which governed the evolution of Italian painting. See note 68.
"^ Among the instances which go far toward disproving the stories of Peru
gino's avarice and irreligion, is that of his ceding to S. Maria de' Bianchi, at Cas-

PIETRO PERUGINO 341
well as built, several large houses in Florence ; at Perugia
also, and at Castello della Pieve, he bought a considerable
amount of property. Pietro took a very beautiful girl to
wife, and she bore him children j es ee 67 es j^g jg ^^^^^ ^^ ^^y^

teUo della Pieve, a picture at one-third the original price. Again, he painted
a S. Sebastian for the church of Panicale ; he asked but a very small sum for
the picture, and two years later, having lent fourteen painted banners to the
aame vUlage, he added to the loan the condition that in case the villagers did
not care to return him the banners they were to pay the remainder of the sum
due on the S. Sebastian. In a word, it was a way of presentmg the banners to
Panicale. See Passavant, Raphael d' Urbin, I., Appendix, pp., 458, 459. On
the other hand, Pietro sometimes undertook to drive a hard bargain even with
the wardens of a cathedral, as at Orvieto, and in Venice demanded for freacoea
to be done in the Ducal Palace more than double what afterward satisfied
Titian, who eventuaUy did the work.
"> In 1493 he married Chiara Fancelli, daughter of an architect and sculptor
in the service of the Marquis of Mantua. She is said to have been the model
for the Angel with Tobias in the National Gallery.
"" It ia a matter of local tradition that Perugino waa interred beneath an
oak in the neighborhood of Fontignano, on account of hia refusal to receive
the last sacraments of the church, but thia story has been refuted by Mariotti
(Lettere Perugine), who cites a contract between the aona of Perugino and the
Augustiniana of Perugia for the transferring of the body of Perugino to their
church. At the time that Perugino died all funerals were forbidden for san
itary reasons, on account of an epidemic, ao that the body was taken to the
church at a later time. It is indeed questionable whether thia tranaference
took place, but there is no doubt of the contract. Perugino died in 1523, at
Fontignano, half-way between Perugia and Castello della Pieve.
•' The portrait of Perugino is found in the Sala del Cambio at Perugia.
For a long time the figure which stands by the side of that of Raphael in a
fresco of the Vatican stanze was called Perugino. Morelli thinks that it is
rather the portrait of Sodoma ; Herr Miindler believed that a picture, num
bered 397, in the Borghese gaUery, waa a portrait of Perugino by hiraself ; Mo
reUi, on the contrary, thought it to be by Raphael, and not to repreaent Pe
rugino but some other person, perhapa Pinturicchio. See Italian Painters,
Vol I., pp. 138, 139.
88 Until within the last twenty -five years the histories of Italian art have,
as it were, wreaked themselves upon easel picturea, and yet the true glory of
the ItaUans has been in nearly every case their mural paintings. No artist
has Buffered more miaapprehension by this separation of easel painting from
monumental work than has Perugino. He waa one of the firat to successfully
handle the new medium of oU. The depth and transparency, as well as the
novelty of the latter, combined with the painter's own personal and tempera
mental contribution to make hie work popular,and the facility attainable in oil,
resulted in an enormous multiplication of his pictures. This reduplication has

342 PIETEO PEKTTGINO
had so much pleasure in seeing her wear becoming head
dresses, both abroad and at home, that he was occasionally
hurt our estimate of Perugino in two ways ; first, because among so many works
relatively few are of the first order ; secondly, because their great number
has caused their author to be regarded almost wholly as a painter of small
panels or canvases, whereas only a few of hia easel pictures deserve comparison,
with his works in fresco, and even when we examine the most beautiful of
his panels, such as those of the triptych of Pavia, we must admit that their
qualities are repeated upon a grander scale on the walls of the Sistine
Chapel and of the Maddalena de' Pazzi chapter-house. Nevertheless, both
as painter of frescoes and of panels hia technical capacity was of a high order.
As a colorist Perugino was a typical Umbrian ; his color was warm, transparent,
golden ; Leonardo's was more delicate, and of the latter's magical chiaroscuro
Perugino had no knowledge ; he never even gave a thought to it ; but Leon
ardo's very seeking after that same light and shadow turned his color to
blackness, while Perugmo's remained transparent and admirably fitted to his
purpose of expression. In this last quality of expression he was past-master,
but although it made him for a while the most popular painter in Italy, and
reached great heights of fervor and pathos, it descended also to affectation
and even to mawkishness. As a draughtsman he was elegant but rarely force
ful, and sometimes feeble ; his compositions when at their best were full of
dignity, but more often they were conventional and thin, being lacking in a
feeling for the disposition of mass, while, on the other hand, they were always
restrained and never overcrowded. Perugino, like Filippino Lippi, did his
finest work in the earlier part of his career ; but he did not, like Filippino,
gradually exchange the sympathetic quality in his painting for the research
and striving of a pioneer. On the contrary, he sank to an uniformity of ex
ecution which, if often sweet, was often spiritless, and does not always merit
our respect. Outraged critics, and among them Vasari, have sought for a
direct reason for this, and have cried avarice and irreligion. This accusation
does not seem wholly reasonable. In a man with the fear of hell before
his eyes, avarice might be compatible with the painting of pictures for relig
ious confraternities for little or no pay, but it could not be so with an irre
ligious man. Either Perugino may have been avaricious and fearful of the
future, or he may have been irreligious and recklessly generous with monks
aud churches. The former condition of things would clear his reputation for
orthodoxy, the latter condition does not seem likely, and Perugino's artistic
decline in middle Ufe is much more probably the result of external than of
internal causes. In his earlier years the mastery of the oil medium, which he
achieved sooner than other men, and the intrinsic charm of his work, made
him one of the most popular masters not merely in Italy bnt in Europe.
Later, after he had formed his style, there came npon all the schools of Italy
a complete change of manner ; the gentle and amiable spirit of Raphael atill
found soraething to admire in the work of such painters as Perugino and
Francia, but Michelangelo and the raen of the new school fiercely contemned it.
Signorelli retired to the provincial patronage of his native Umbria. Vasari

PIETRO PERUGINO 343
known to arrange this part of her toilet with his own hands.
Finally, having attained to the age of seventy-eight, Pietro
finished the course of his life in the Castello della Pieve,
where he was honourably buried in the year 1524.
tells us that Botticelli was poor and needy, and therein probably exaggerates
hia neglect at the hands of new-comers and workers in new ways. It is quite
possible that Perugino, finding hia pictures despised by the famous artists
and eagerly sought for by laymen, gave up striving and became the commer
cial painter which we know him to have been in later years, and that, without
more of avarice or of irreUgion than were to be found in his fellows. The
fact remains that the earUer works of Perugino are his best, and that multi
plication of his pictures has hurt his reputation because the tendency is to
judge him by hia average, that is to aay, when the art lover thinks of Perugino
a number of inferior works crowd into his mind ; but if he will go through a
mental proceaa of elimination and recaU the DeUvery of the Keya in the Sis
tine, the Crucifixion in S. Maddalena de' Pazzi, the cycle of the Cambio at
Perugia, as the representation of the painter 3,s frescante, then will remember
the two wonderful profile heads of monks in the Florentine Academy, and
consider what Pietro could do as portraitist when he chose to take the time
for such work ; lastly, if he will review the best panel pictures, the triptych of
Pavia, the Vision of St. Bernard, an Enthroned Madonna at Bologna, and
not a few others, the student will assuredly give to thia master one of the
highest places in the secondary group, and will admit that the man who in
quattrocento composition could in his Delivery of the Keys say the last word
before the new order of things came in with the stanze of the Vatican, and
who could in his Pazzi Crucifixion exhibit a new feeling for landscape, was
worthy to become the master of Raphael.

VITTOEE SCAEPACCIA'
[Bom 1450 (?) died 1522 {?)]
Bibliography. — P. Molmenti, Carpaccio son Temps et son CEuvre, Ven
ice, 1893. A careful and elaborate monograph. See also the same author in
L'Art, 1880, Vol. XXIII. , pp. 1-9, and again in his work. La Pati'ia di Car
paccio, Venice, 1893. Bernard Berenson, Venetian Painters of the Renais
sance, New York, 1895. Andre Perate, Carpaccio, article in the Grande
'Encyclopidie, Vol. IX. M. F. Mabel Robinson, Carpaccio, article in the
Magazine of Art, August, 1884. Mr. John Ruskin's St. Mark's Rest (the
Shrine of the Slaves) contains a charming and poetical description of the series
of pictures from the lives of Saints George and Jerome, and recently (1896)
the entire series has been published in Rome in photogravure to accompany
an edition of Mr. Ruskin's text. For works attributed to Carpaccio in the
cities of the eastern littoral of the Adriatic, see Madonizza, Guida del Viag-
giatore in Istria, in the Almanacco Istr. , Capo d'Istria, 1864, and Gustavo
Frizzoni, Una Escursione Artistica a Capodistria, iu Arte e Storia, Florence,
July 29, 1883.

T

HE earliest pictures of this master ^ were painted in the
Scuola di Sant' Ursula, where the principal part of the
stories on canvas, representing the life and death of
' Vittore Carpaccio is called by Vasari Scarpaccia ; in the Venetian dialect
Scarpazo. This life of Carpaccio is a mere paragraph from a confused chapter
in which Vaaari gives an exceedingly brief and frequently incorrect mention
of many Venetian painters of more or leas importance. No other chapter in
Vasari is ao meagre and so wholly unsatisfactory. Evidently at the time that
the author visited Venice the traditions of the early sixteenth century were
fast passing away, and he was able to obtain little information.
2 Por the discussion oE the much- vexed question of the birthplace of Car
paccio see Molmenti, cited above, and P. Stancovich, Biog. degli uomini dis-
tinti deW Istria, Trieste, 1829. The exact place of his birth and the dates of
his birth and death have not been determined with certainty ; it is probable,
however, that he was born at Capo d'Istria about 1450 (aee the catalogue of
the Brera). Carpaccio is placed with the Venetian painters, and he signs his
works " Victor, Charpatius (or Carpatius), Venetus," also Carpathius, Car-
pacius, and Carpaza (see Nagler, Der Monogrammisten, cited by Molmenti,
op. cit., p. 82). His earliest work is dated 1490 ; his latest 1523, or, according

VITTORE SCARPACCIA 345
that saint, are by his hand.^ The labours of this undertak
ing he conducted with so much skill and assiduity, that he
to Molmenti, 1531. He was a pupU of GentUe Bellini, and probably also of
Vivarini. Like the Bellini he abandoned tempera, and all hia later works
are executed in the oil medium. As he had so marked a preference for Ori
ental costumes it has been thought that Carpaccio may have accompanied
GentUe Bellini, when that artist was sent to Constantinople to paint the Sul
tan's portrait. This is, however, unlikely ; no proofs exist, Turkish costumes
were uot hard to find and study in the streets of either Venice or the Istrian
cities, and Sig. Molmenti is not disposed to give the story credence.
2 Carpaccio painted these pictures for the Scuola (see Molmenti, Carpaccio, p.
98) founded " in honor and to the glory of the All-Powerful and of the Virgin,
of Saint Dominick, Confessor, and of St. Peter, Martyr, but especially of Mad
ame St. Ursula, Virgin, with all her company of blessed virgins and glorious
martyrs," and in his choice of subject and the treatment of some of the scenes
he haa shown how straight was the road that led in the fifteenth century from
the canal cities of the north to the city of the lagunea by the Adriatic. The
Chdsse, which is the jewel of the Hospital of St. John in Bruges, testifies lo a
deeper and more reverent feeling in Hans Memling, but Carpaccio's work is
ampler, and if gayer it is earnest, too, and earneat with a Flemish quaintness
that sharpens the profiles of his councUlors as they sit a-row, and almost
makes us believe for a moment that we are in the galleries of Brussels or of
Antwerp. Except in two or three of the more serious paaaagea the gayety is
gentle and sustained ; the painter loves the parti-colored costumes and slashes
of his fifteenth century ; his pages hurry upon their scarlet and white legs
across green stretches of turf ; strange, tall- hulled ships anchor in hie back
grounds against rich and fanciful architecture till the picture has almoat the
air of being a charming toy. It is the very atuff of which painted stories
should be made, and the visitor who has seen the Legend of St. Uraula in the
Academy of Venice carries away an ineffaceable impression of it. The St Ur
sula series, which was ordered of Carpaccio in 1490, consists of nine pictures.
They are as foUows : 1. The Ambassadors of the English King visit King
Maurus of Brittany, and ask the hand of his Daughter for the Son of their
Monarch, At the right is seen a separate picture of Maurua conferring with
hia Daughter (and which is inferior to the other paintings of the series). 2.
King Maurus bids farewell to the Ambassadora. .3. The Ambaasadors bring
back the anawer to the EngUsh King. 4. The English Prince leaves his Father ;
in a second acene the Prince meeta Ursula ; in a third the Royal Couple bid
farewell to the Engliah King before embarking. The picture is signed and
dated MCCCCLXXXXV. 5. Pope Cyriacue meets Ursula and her Virgins
out.'iide the gates of Rome. 6. The Dream of St. Ursula. This work ia dated
1495, and by the side of the name of Carpaccio are seen the words Corti-
nus R. (restauravif) 1753. 7. St. Ursula arrives with her Virgins at Cologne,
which is besieged by the Huns. The work is signed Op. Victoris Carpatio
MCOCCLXXXX., M. Septembris. 8. The Martyrdom of St. Ursula. At
the right-hand end of the picture is aeen the funeral of the saint. 9. St.
Ursula in glory receives the crown of Martyrdom. The picture is dated

346 VITTORE SCARPACCIA
acquired from them the reputation of being an able and ex
perienced master ; and this, as it is said, induced the Milan
ese people to give him the commission for a picture in tem
pera, containing numerous figures, to be placed in the chapel
of Sant' Ambrogio, which belonged to the Friars-Minors."'
For the Altar of the Eesurrection of Christ in the church of
Sant' Antonio, this master depicted the appearance of the Sa
viour to Mary Magdalen, and the other Maries, with the per
spective view of a distant landscape, which diminishes very
finely.^ In another chapel Vittore painted the History of the
Martyrs, their crucifixion that is to say, and in this work
there are more than three hundred figures large and small,
with many horses and numerous trees ; the opening heavens,
the various attitudes of the figures, clothed aud nude, the
many foreshortenings, and the multitude of other objects
represented in this painting, prove that the master could
not have executed his work but with extraordinary labour
and care.^
MCCCCLXXXXI. Of these various pictures the dream of Ursula ia the
most naively charming, the scene of the Ambassadors the most sober and
closely atudied, that of the meeting of the Prince and Ursula is the most pic
torial and entertaining. The latter picture has been the subject of a good deal
of undiscriminating admiration as to the great beauty of the faces of the saint
and of her suitor ; they are, in reality, the profiles of charming paper dolls. If
we compare them with the homely features of the ambasaadors to King Maurua,
or of the councillora who ait in a row, we shall see that the heada of prince
and aaint alike, graceful as they are, lack any construction, and are abnormal,
or very nearly so, aa to cranial development. A special illustrated edition
of Molmenti, op. cit., contains a dozen photo-reproductions of theae scenes, as
well aa of three other works by Carpaccio. See, also, a long description of the
St. Ursula pictures iu Charles L. Eaatlake's Notes to the Venetian Academy,
London, 1888.
¦* This picture is in the church of the Frari, at Venice. Ridolfi and Zanotti
state that the picture was finished only by Carpaccio. Moschini citea an in
acription on the picture itself which declares it to have been commenced by
one of the Vivarini, and completed by Marco Basaiti. Milanesi beUeves this
inscription genuine. In the upper part of the picture is the Coronation of the
Virgin, in the lower are San Girolamo and other saints with two angioletti.
' This work ia loat. The painting of Alexander IH. celebrating mass in
San Marco, executed circa 1501, perished in the great fire.
' Now in the Venetian Academy. It is the Crucifixion of the Ten Thousand
Martyrs on Mount Ararat. It was executed in 1515, and is a moat diaagreea-

VITTORE SCARPACCIA 347
For the altar of Our Lady in the church of St. Job, in
Canareio, Vittore painted the Madonna presenting the infant
Christ to Simeon ;' the Virgin is depicted as standing up
right, and Simeon, in the Cope or Pluvial, is placed between
two ministering priests, who are clothed as cardinals ; be
hind the Virgin are two women, one of whom holds a pair
of doves, and beneath are three boys sounding musical in
struments, the first a lute, the second a wind instrument of
a spiral form, and the third a lyre or kind of viol ; the col
ouring of all this picture is exceedingly pleasing and grace
ful. Vittore was without doubt a very diligent and able
master ; ^ many of the pictures executed by him in Venice
ble and unsatisfactory picture, having much of Flemish ugliness and nothing
of Flemish beauty.
' Thia picture, dated 1510, is the Presentation in the Temple, painted for
the altar of the Sanudo famUy in the church of San Giobbe. It is now in the
Academy, where it is one of a trinity of magnificent altar-pieces by Giovanni
BelUni, Cima, and Carpaccio. The Carpaccio is a. little leas golden than the
BelUni, a little blacker, nevertheleas it is his masterpiece, and is a perfect type
of what the Venetian quattrocentisti, and early cinquecentUti felt to be fit
ting for an altar -picture. Notice especially the greater height, in relation to the
width of the panel, than was commonly accorded to Florentine altar-pieces.
Aa to its color the picture, while rich and mellow, if compared with many
Tuscan altar - pictures, falls distinctly below Carpaccio's best work ; also
there is a certain papery and thin modelUng, which would have been less no
ticeable in the half-light of the church than it is in its present position, but the
dignity and beauty of the treatment, as •.<- whole, more than make up for
this lack of color. The embroidered cope of St. Simeon offera that delightful
sincerity of workmanship in detaU which is half -Gothic, even in the case of
this ItaUan master, while the angioletto seated on the steps is one of those
rare figures which charm the ignorant, the dilettante, and the artist at
once. ° After the Legend of St. Ursula the frieze of aubjects painted by Carpaccio
for the Dalmatian Scuola of Saints George and Tryphoniua may count as sec
ond in iraportance. The Scuola is attached to the church of San Giorgio degli
Schiavoni, that George (see Molmenti, op. cit., p. 116), who was Bishop of
Salona, and is patron of the isle of Pago and all of Dalmatia. Part of the
work illustrates the legendary history of the saint, while three of tbe pictures
are devoted to the life of St. Jerome as a native of Stridonia in Dalmatia.
The various scenes represented upon oue wall are : St. Jerorae in hia Study,
the Death of St. Jerome, St. Jerome and the Lion, the Conversion of Matthew
the Publican, and the Agony in the Garden. Upon the other waU are : St.
Tryphoniua Slaying the BasUisk ; and King Aia and hia Wife Baptized by St.

348 VITTORE SCARPACCIA
and other places,^ with numerous portraits from the life by
his hand are held in great esteem as works of that time.
George in Lybia. The third wall has St. George killing the Dragon, and St.
George drawing the dying Dragon into the City.
In these pictures, even more than in the Ursula series, one recognizes Car
paccio as the teller of legends and of fairy tales. This Saint George rides
straight! out of the Seven Champions of Christendom ; he is very famous
among aesthetes and artists, and has been praised so highly that he has had
perhaps a little more than his deserts. Rising in his stirrups, bending for
ward at the waist, painted as by one who knew how real knights at real joust-
ings looked, and how they sat their horses, this flaxen-haired, black-armored
hero is a most charming militant saint, but his horse, though it gallops with
plenty of movement, is a hobbyhorse after all, and to place the San Giorgio
on a par with the Colleone or the Gattemelata would be to mistake the nature
of art criticism.
y Between 1511 and 1515 Carpaccio executed a third episodical legendary
series of pictures from the life of St. Stephen, consisting of four canvases and
an altar-panel. Of these, one, the Preaching of St. Stephen at Jerusalem, is
in the Louvre, the Ordination of St. Stephen (1511) is in Berlin, the Dispute
between St. Stephen and the Doctors is in Milan. M. Miintz [La Fin de
la Renaissance, p. 592) calls these three works ''ethnographical pictures," in
which the master has given especial attention to the delineation of exotic
types. The fourth picture, the Stoning of St. Stephen (1515), is in the
museum of Stuttgart. The altar-piece has disappeared (see Molmenti, op.
cit., p. 94). The gallery of Vienna has a Christ Adored by Angels, which is
signed and dated 1496, as also (see Molmenti, op. cit., p. 86) a Communion
of St. Jerome and the Burial of St. Jerome. These three works, mentioned
by Ridolfi in his Meraviglie delle Arti, came from the Scuola of S. Jerome
at Venice. They have all greatly suflfered from the effects of time and re
touching. The gallery of Stuttgart has also a St. Stephen in Glory. London
has the Mocenigo Madonna. The cathedral of Capo d'Istria has, according
to Sig. Molmenti, a Madonna and Child, with the six patron saints of the city,
and the town-hall possesses a picture of the Entry of a Podesta. Both pict
ures have been badly damaged by restoration. The work of Molmenti may
be consulted also for descriptions of the picture of the Patriarch of Grado
healing one possessed of the Devil (Accademia delle Belle Arti) ; the Meeting
of Joachim and Anna, a small picture of monks carrying the cross in the in
terior of a church (Accademia) ; a Lion of St. Mark in the Ducal Palace, and
a St. Ursula with her Father, which belonged to the collection of Sir Henry
Layard (Mr. Bernard Berenson, op. cit, adds to this picture two others in the
same collection, an Assumption of the Virgin, and an Augustus with the Sibyl).
In the Museo Correr of Venice are a half-length figure of a youth, a Salutation,
and the two Venetian Ladies with their Pets, which Mr. Ruskin finds the most
beautiful picture in the world. Why, having the Ursula pictures, the St.
George and the Presentation, to choose from, to speak only of the works of
Carpaccio, he should make such a selection may surprise many lovers of Italian
art. The church of San Vitale, just at the head of the iron bridge across the

VITTOEE SCAEPACCIA 349
Scarpaccia taught his art to two of his brothers," both of
whom imitated him closely ; one of these was called Lazzaro,
the other Sebastiano. There is a picture by these artists in
the church belonging to the nuns of the Corpus Domini, it
stands on the altar of the Virgin, and represents her seated
with St. Catherine on one side and St. Martha on the other :
there are besides other saints, with two angels playing musi
cal instruments, and a perspective view of buildings, which
canal, has a curious picture, in which, among other figurea, is an equestrian one
of the patron saint. The latter, with short beard, bald forehead, and hair faU
ing about his neck, looks like a fifteenth-century Garibaldi ; while his singu
larity is heightened by the fact that, although on horseback, he carries a hal
berd instead of a lance. About him are Saints James, John, Paulinus, George,
Gervasius, and Protasius, while the Madonna and Child appear, and also au
angel playing a musical instrument. The picture was painted in 1514. A
Coronation of the Virgin in SS. Giovanni c Paolo is criticised by M. Miintz
(who aeema to admit the attribution to Carpaccio) aa rather elegant than im
posing. Sig. Molmenti, op. cit. , p. 94, would appear to infer that no genuine
Carpaccio now exists in the said church. In the church of Sant' Alvise, away
ont upon the northern edge of the city, are a number of little square panel
pictures which Mr. Ruskin considers to have been the work of Carpaccio while
he was stiU a child. Sig. Molmenti does not admit the attribution. In Sig.
Molmenti's interesting chapter on the works of Carpaccio outside of Venice,
he gives a reproduction (p. 87) of an ancona in five compartments, painted in
1518, and now in the church of Pozzali in Cadore. He also mentions a Vir
gin, with six saints, in the church of S. Francesco di Pirano. He cites Bishop
Paolo Naldini (1700) and others as claiming the existence of pictures by Car
paccio in varioua Istrian village churches, but documentary evidence concern
ing Carpaccio is almoat non-existent. One famous letter to the Gonzaga of
Mantua has been recently discovered. It is dated August 15, 1511, and in it
the master describes his painting. The Jerusalem, as moat excellent in quality
and dimensions. See Molmenti, op. cit. , pp. 67-69.
" Milanesi, III., 643, note 3, feels sure that these two " brothers " of Car
paccio are really one and the same person, Lazzaro Sebastiani. A Benedetto
Carpaccio has left signed pictures at Capo d'Istria.
In a single paragraph of ten lines, which follows the account of Carpaccio,
Vasari dismisses the great Giovanni Battista Cima of Conegliano, who well
deaerved a biography to himself. The author mentiona only one of his pict
ures, the St. Peter Martyr, now in the Brera, and one of the moat impressive
works of any Italian school. There is a fine Baptism of Christ by Cima in S.
Giovanni in Bragora at Venice, as well as panel pictures of Constantine and
Helena ; the Carmine haa a Tobias, and the Academy poaaesaes several works,
bnt Cima's masterpieces are the Peter Martyr, of Milan, and hia Saint John
at the Orto. Not even the Plorentinea, with aU their cultus of their patron
saint, surpassed thia Venetian in his realization of the type of the Precursor.

350 VITTORE SCARPACCIA
forms the background of the whole work and is very beauti
ful. Of this we have the drawings by the hands of the
masters themselves in our book. "
" Carpaccio is the minatrel, the tale-teller ; more than any of the othera of
hia school of Venice he fascinates and entertains. His canvases delight us
with what seems a strange and wonderful mingling together of the Bible and
of the Arabian Nights, yet his piety is unaffected and hia gayety is steadied
by a flavor pf Flemish earnestness. He is »¦ true Venetian of Venice, that
marvellous hybrid in the Arts, with its Byzantine sense of color, its quaint
overlay of northern influence, its aoUd Italian good sense and reaUsm, and it
ia partly because he tells us with the sincerity of one who is stUl to a certain
extent a primitive master, the wonderful story of this meeting of East and
West and North, that his pictures hold us so long. Like Gentile Bellini, he
loves a panoramic development of a subject with a regular architectural set
ting and a foreground fiUed with busy figurea ; but although he is a much
less skilful draughtsman than Gentile, he has far more invention and poetic
sense. Indeed, though he is inferior to Giovanni in depth of feeUng, or lofti
ness of style, he unites in a very happy way the quaUtiea of the great Bellini
brothera. Hia drawing is often faidty ; hia figurea spindle-shanked, short-
bodied, and aometimea cloven almost to the waiat by their long legs ; hia
faces are frequently homely, others of them are lacking in construction, but
the charm of his work makes up for all, while the lightness of treatment of
his sacred legends is quaUfied and ennobled by some of the clearest and most
golden color to be found in the whole range of ait. ,

LUCA SIGNGEELLI,! OF COETOIS^A, PAINTER
[Bom about 1441 ; died 1523]
BiBLlOQBAPHT. — Robert Vischer, Luca Signorelli und die Italienische Re
naissance, Leipsic, 1879. Luca SignoreUi, by Robert Vischer, in the Eng
liah edition of the Dohme Series, tranalated by A. H. Keane, Loudon, 1880.
Waagen, Ueber Leben, Wirken und Werke der ¦maler Andrea Mantegna und
Luca Signorelli, from Raumer's Historisches Taschenbuch, 1850. Waagen.
Kleine Schriften, Stuttgart, 1875. L. Meanard, La Chapelle San Brizio a
Orvieto, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 2d series, XI. (1875), p. 305. L. Luzi, II
Duomo d^ Orvieto, Florence, 1866. Della Valle, Storia del Duomo di Orvieto.
J. L. Bevira, Visitor's Guide to Orvieto. Anselmo Anselmi, Ricerca di una
tavola dipinta in Arcevia da Luca Signorelli; article in V Archivio Storico
dell' Arte, III., 157. Anselmo Anselmi, Sopra un nuovo e piit conveniente
collocamenlo dei due quadri di Luca Signorelli e dell' altare robbiano in S.
Medardo d' Arcevia ; in .irte e Storia for 1889, n. 20. Pale d' altare del Sigtio-
relli ad Arcevia, by O. M., in V Archivio Storico dell' Arte, II, 436. Jessen,
Die DarsteUung des Wellge^richts bis auf Michelangelo, Berlin, 1883. The no
tice of SignorelU in M. Eug. Muntz's, L'Age d' Or, Vol. II. , of the Histoire de
V Art pendant la Renaissance is a copious one. See also his A Travers la Tos
cane in Le Tonr du Monde, May, 18S3, pp. 306-310, for Luca's pictures at Cor
tona. Symonds has an interesting chapter upon Orvieto in his Sketches and
Studies in Southern Europe, and the appreciation of Signorelli, in his History
of the Renaissance, volume on the Fine Arts, is an especially admirable and
complete one, and Professor Sidney Colvin, in the Cornhill Magazine, is also
to be consulted upon Signorelli. A new work upon Signorelli by M. H. Meren
haa been recently promised.
THE excellent painter, Luca Signorelli, of whom, ac
cording to the order of time, we are now to speak,
was, in his day most highly renowned through all
Italy, and his words were held in more esteem than those of
any other master have been at any time, seeing that in his
paintings he showed the true mode of depicting the nude
' Luca d'Egidio di Luca di Ventura Signorelli, usuaUy called Luca Signo
reUi or Luca da Cortona. The date of Signorelli's birth has not been ascer
tained with certainty.

352 LUCA SIGNORELLI
form, and proved that it can be made, although not with
out consummate art and much difficulty, to appear as does
the actual life. This artist was the creature and disciple of
Pietro del Borgo-a-San Sepolcro,^ and much did he labor
in his youth to imitate, or rather to surpass, his master.'
While working with the latter in Arezzo, he was received
into the house of Lazzaro Vasari, his uncle,* as we have said,
and there copied the manner of Pietro with such exactitude
that it was difficult to distinguish the works of one from
those of the other.
The first works ^ of Luca were performed in Arezzo,
where he painted the chapel of Santa Barbara, in the
church of San Lorenzo : this he did in the year 1472.^ Por
the Brotherhood of Santa Caterina he painted, on canvas
and in oil, the banner which is borne by that company in
procession, as he did the banner for the Trinita ; although
this does not seem to be by the hand of Luca so much as by
that of Pietro dal Borgo.' In the same city, Luca Signo
relli painted the picture of San Niccold da Tolentino for the
2 Piero della Francesca.
2 Rumohr (Ital. Forsch., II. 333) believes that Signorelli studied with Fio
renzo di Lorenzo, but critics are generally agreed that Luca owes most of hia
training to Piero deUa Francesca. His Scourging of Christ, an early picture
(in the Brera), strongly suggests Piero, says M. Miintz (L'Age d'Or, p. 699),
but is a very mediocre work.
¦¦ Vasari mentions this in the Life of Lazzaro Vaaari. The mother of Luca
was a sister of Lazzaro Vaaari, the great-grandfather of our author.
<• We firat hear of SignoreUi as painting at Cortona (church of S. Fran
cesco), in 1470, and not at Arezzo, as stated by Vasari Luca did not paint at
Arezzo until 1473. The works in the chapel of Santa Barbara have disap
peared. « If still associated with Piero in 1473 Luca was undoubtedly rather a
fellow-worker, even if dependent, than a pupil.
' The banner seems to have been an important feature in the processions
of the Renaissance. Luca appears to have been a famous painter of these ban
ners. In addition to those of Arezzo, and which have been lost, he executed
one for Citta di Castello in 1488, and in 1494 another, which still remains in the
church of San Spirito at Urbino ; the latter offers as its two subjects the De
scent of the Holy Ghost and the Women weeping over the dead Christ. A
third processional atandard, in the Municipal Palace of Borgo S. Sepolcro,
is praised by Morelli (Italian Masters, II., p. 93).

CARPACCIO
THE AMBASSADORS FROM THE ST. URSULA SERIES
ACADE.MY, VENICE

Alinari, Phot.

LUCA SIGNORELLI 853
church of Sant' Agostino : the very beautiful little stories
of this work display excellent design and rich invention.'
In the same place our artist painted two angels ^ in fresco,
for the chapel of the Sacrament. In the church of San
Francesco, and in the chapel of the Accolti family, he
painted a picture for Messer Francesco," doctor of laws,
wherein he depicted the portraits of the said Messer Fran
cesco, with others of persons who were of his kindred. In
this work is a figure of St. Michael weighing the souls of
the departed, which is most admirable ; and here Luca has
displayed the knowledge he had acquired in the brilliancy
of the arms, the reflected lights to be seen therein, and, in
short, throughout every part of the work : in the hand of
the archangel he has placed a balance, or pair of scales, in
which the nude forms, some rising as the others sink, are
foreshortened to admiration, and, among other ingenious
things in this picture is a nude figure, most skilfully trans
formed into a fiend, with a lizard sucking the blood from a
wound in its body. The Madonna is also present, with the
Divine Child in her arms : Our Lady is accompanied by
San Stefano, San Lorenzo, and Santa Caterina : there are,
besides, two angels, one of whom is playing on a lute, the
other on a small cithern, or rebeck. All these figures are
so beautifully clothed, and adorned in a manner so judi
cious, that they awaken the utmost admiration. But the
most extraordinary part of this painting is the predella,
which is covered with small figures representing the Monks *
of St. Catherine.''
In Perugia, also, Luca Signorelli executed many works ;
* The Italian words ^^ fatti di delta Santa Caterina," should be translated
"the deeds of the said St. Catherine."
' The church was suppressed and the pictures carried to the refectory ; they
have since disappeared.
" These angels have also disappeared.
'" This is Francesco Accolti, the legist, who died at Siena in 1488 ; hia por
trait in the Uffizi is believed to have been copied from thia picture. See
MUaneai, III. 684, note 5.
" Thia work ia loat.

354 LUCA SIGNORELLI
among others, one in the cathedral, painted by command
of the Bishop, Messer Jacopo Vannucci, of Cortona : in this
picture is the Virgin, with Sant' Onofrio, Sant' Ercolano,
San Giovanni Battista, and San Stefano : there is also an
exceedingly beautiful angel tuning a lute." In the church
of San Francesco, in Volterra, this master painted a fres
co," representing the Circumcision of Christ, this also is
considered a wonderfully beautiful picture, but the Child
having been injured by the damp, was repaired by Sodoma,
whereby the beauty was much diminished. And, of a truth,
it would often be much better to retain the works of excel
lent masters, though half spoiled, than suffer them to be re
touched by less capable artists. In the same city Luca Sig
norelli painted a picture in tempera, for the church of Sant'
Agostino,'* and covered the predella with small figures rep
resenting the Crucifixion of Christ : this work has ever been
considered to be one of extraordinary beauty. At Monte-a-
Santa Maria he painted a picture, also in tempera, of the
Dead Christ," and at Citta di Castello, a Nativity of the
Saviour, for San Francesco, '° with another in San Domen-

'2 This work is atill in situ, in the chapel of Sant' Onofrio ; it waa executed
in 1484.
" Thia panel (not fresco), is in the National Gallery, London. The Infant
has been heavily repainted, probably because ita realism ofl^ended, there is no
reason for believing that Sodoma had anything to do with the repainting.
See Dr. J. P. Richter's notes to Mrs. Poster's Vasari, VI., p. 151. Mr. B. T.
Cook, in his Handbook to the National Gallery, calls attention to the fact
that one of the principal figures iu this work resembles the portrait of Signo
relli in the Orvieto frescoes.
'* Possibly the Adoration, painted in 1482, and now in the Louvre ; but
nothing is proved since no subject ia given by Vaaari. M. Miintz, L'Age d' Or,
p. 700, saya that the Adoration of the Magi, which ia in the Louvre, waa painted,
toward 1483, for the church of Sant' Agoatino at Citta di Castello. He adds
that in 1493 the citizens of that town ordered a second Adoration of the
Magi of the painter.
" This work is lost.
^° The demand for votive pictures was so constant in the little mountain
cities of the fiercely emotional province of Umbria, and indeed in those of
Tuscany as well, that it created a kmd of involuntary peripatetic school of
widely different masters ; and we find SignorelU, Perugino, and Pinturicchio

LUCA SIGNORELLI 355
ico, the subject of which is San Sebastiano." At Cortona,
his native city, this master painted a Dead Christ," in the
church of Santa Margherita, which belongs to the bare
footed Friars ; it is accounted one of his best works. In
the same city he painted three pictures for the Society of
Jesus ; of these that which is placed at the high altar is
most admirable ; the subject is the Saviour, who administers
the sacrament to the apostles, when Judas places the host in
the money-bag." In the Capitular Church, which is now
called the Episcopate, our artist painted certain Prophets of
the natural size, in fresco, for the chapel of the Sacrament ;
around the tabernacle, moreover, are numerous Angels
erecting a pavilion, and ou each side are figures, one of St.
Jerome, the other of St. Thomas Aquinas.^ For the high
altar of the same church, he painted a most beautiful As
sumption on panel, ^1 and the designs for the pictures in the
principal window of the church were prepared by his hand ;
the cartoons of Signorelli being executed by Stagio Sassoli,
of Arezzo. At Castiglione, in the territory of Arezzo, Luca
Signorelli painted a Dead Christ, with the Maries, over the
hurrying about from one hill town to another, until Vasari's Life of SignoreUi
becomes, in this portion, a confused catalogue of namea and places, churches
and cities. Citta di CasteUo seems to have been one of Luca's especial fields of
activity. In 148S, after painting a banner representing the Madonna, he waa
given the freedom of the city. In 1880 there was a picture of the Nativity,
in the possession of Signor Mancini at Citth di CaateUo, which may possibly
have been the work referred to by Vasari.
" StUl in the Brozzi chapel in San Domenico, now called Borbon del
Monte. It waa executed in 1496.
*^ In the choir of the Cathedral of Cortona; the ^rerfe^^a contains : Christ
in the Garden, the Last Supper, the Kiss of Judas, the Taking of Christ,
and the Flagellation. — Milaneai, III., p. 686, note 5.
" This picture is now in the Cathedral of Cortona. The other two picturea
(stUl in the church of the Gesu) are an Adoration of the Shepherds, and a Con
ception of the Virgin Mary. Milaneai, III.. 686, note 6.
^°.This picture haa disappeared, probably when the altar waa modernized
in the middle of the eighteenth century.
" Said to be a picture belonging to the heirs of Cav. Luca Tommaai, of Cor
tona ; it represents the Assumption of the Virgin with four saints below and
angels above. See Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting in Italy,
in., p. 38, and MUaneai, III., p. 687, note 3.

356 LUCA SIGNORELLI
chapel of the Sacrament,^ and in San Francesco at Lucig-
nano he decorated the folding doors of a press, wherein
there is deposited a branch of coral, on the summit of which
is formed a cross. ^ At Siena he painted a picture for the
chapel of San Cristofano, in the church of St. Agostino,-^
wherein are certain saints, in the midst of whom is a figure
of San Cristofano in relief.
From Siena, Luca Signorelli repaired to Florence for the
purpose of beholding the works of the living masters, as
well as those of the departed : he there depicted nude flg
ures of the Gods,* on canvas, for Lorenzo de' Medici, a
work which was highly extolled, and a picture of Our
Lady, with two prophets, small figures in terretta. This is
now at Castello, a villa belonging to the Signor Duke Cosi
mo. ^^ Both of these works he presented to the above-
named Lorenzo, who never suffered himself to be surpassed
in liberality and generosity by any man. This master like
wise painted a round picture of Our Lady, which is in the
22 This fresco in the Collegiate church, stUl exists.
23 These works are lost, but the curious reUquary of coral and goldsmith's
work finished by GabrieUo d'Antonio da Siena, in 1471 (but commenced in
1350), is described at length by Milanesi as stiU existing. See VoL III., p.
687, note 5.
21 The side panels of thia altar-piece are in BerUn, they contain Ufe-aize
figures of Saints Clara, Catherine of Alexandria, Jerome, Auguatine, and An
thony of Padua. M. Miintz (L'Age d'Or, 704) calls them far superior to the
figures in most of Luca's church pictures. The date, according to Tizio, is
1513. MoreUi, ItaUan Masters, II., p. 93, mentions a Visitation at Berlin, a
late work, bought from the Patrizi of Rome. In the latter city there is atill,
according to the same author, a Uttle picture of the Holy FamUy in the Caaino
Roapiglioai. While in Siena SignorelU executed important frescoes for the
palace of Pandolfo Petrucci. See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Paint
ing in Italy, III., 167. Of these, Coriolanus before Rome and the Triumph
of Chastity are in the National GaUery. Dr. Richter doubts the authenticity
of the Triumph.
25 The so-caUed " School of Pan " in the Berlin GaUery. M. Muntz, L'Age
d' Or, p. 700, finds that while the picture has neither rhythm nor harmony,
and is only an opportunity for Luca to show his anatomical knowledge, that it
does not lack atyle and '^ a certain wild grace."
2' It is now in the Uffizi. There are four nude figures in the background.
Critics have traced the influence which this picture had on Michelangelo in
his only authentic easel picture — the Holy Family, now also in the UffizL

LUCA SIGNORELLI 357
Audience-Chamber belonging to the Chiefs of the Guelphic
Council, and is exceedingly beautiful.^ At Chiusuri, in
the territory of Siena, one of the principal abodes of the
Monks of Monte Oliveto,^ Luca painted eleven historical
2' It is now in the Uffizi and represents a Holy Family, with a landscape
background. '» In the monastery of Monte Oliveto which is in the mountains, fifteen
mUes from the city of Siena, SignoreUi painted eight frescoes representing
scenes from the life of Saint Benedict. Rio considers these to be the great
est of SignorelU's works, and Vischer seta them down as perhaps the poorest
of them. Neither critic is right, but the latter ia the less mistaken of the two.
M. MUntz wonders that Luca did not "begin at the beginning," that is to
say, by the stories from the childhood of the saint, stories which in actual ar
rangement commence the series — although they were painted by Sodoma
who was Lucas successor. It waa only natural, however, that Luca should
select those scenes which were sympathetic to him ; stories in which he could
introduce his bat-winged demons, and party-colored lattsquenets — figures in
fact which afford opportunity for the display of the body, and varied the mon
otony of the eternal monk's robe which appears in nearly all of the frescoes.
He left the scenes from the boyhood of Benedict to the more facile and ami
able genius of Bazzi, and painted the interview between the saint and the
esquire of Totila, and a second interview with the Gothic king himself ; the
Temptation of a Young Monk ; the Destruction of an Idol ; the Chastisement
of the BvU Monk Ploreutius ; the Resurrection of a Monk ; Satan Interfering
with other Monka who are trying to raise a great stone ; and the Disobedience
of Two Truants who escape from the convent. SignorelU's rugged strength and
imaginative power were out of touch with these petty miracles and childish
subjects, and it is not surprising that he gave up the series when half fin
ished and passed on to Orvieto. Even the best of these frescoea, the scene
in an inn or hoatelry, and the aubjects which introduce the Goths, are hard and
ugly in color, and have a certain coarseness of execution that ia not vulgar,
but ia nevertheless disagreeable. The gothic soldiers are, however, excellent,
for after a nude body Luca liked nothing so well as a swashbuckling lansque
net with close-fitting doublet and tights that showed muscular construction,
attitudes that offered bold strong outlines, and braced the man firmly upon
both feet planted wide apart, or else propped him upon his heavy lance
on one hand, threw out a hip at an abrupt angle and set the other arm akimbo
— the hand resting on the pommel of a sword. These Goths are simply the
bravi of the Baglioni and Vitelli, or those Gascons whom Luca may have seen
tramping down the peninsula at the heels of Charles VIII.
The freacoea are badly damaged, but are now protected by glass. Those who
are desirous of making "either a literary or artistic study " of the frescoes at
Monte Oliveto may obtain at the School of Fine Arts of Siena, the permission
to pass several days and nights at the convent, and the visit is well worth
whUe, not only for the frescoes of Signorelli and of Bazzi, and the terra cottas
of the Robbia, but for the glorious scenery and the vast monastery itself. The

358 LUCA SIGNORELLI
scenes on one side of the cloister, representing therein
events from the life of San Benedetto. From Cortona our
artist sent certain of his works to Montepulciano,® and to
Foiano* he sent an altar-piece, which is now on the high
altar of the Capitular church ; other pictures were, in like
manner, sent to other places in the Valdichiana. In the
Madonna * of Orvieto, which is the principal church of that
city, Luca Signorelli flnished the chapel which had been
commenced by Fra Giovanni da Fiesole.^' He there repre-
Chiusuri mentioned by Vasari is in reaUty far above the monastery, at the top
of a still higher mountain ; it is a poor little Castello, but ia dignified by the
name of Lars Porsenna as its reputed founder.
* The Italian word Madonna ahould here be translated cathedral, or church
of Our Lady.
59 ^ predella containing the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Adoration
of the Magi, from the church of Santa Lucia in Montepulciano, ia in the Uffizi.
The other pictures are supposed to be lost.
=» Executed in 1532. The altar-piece, stUl in situ, represents the Virgin and
Child with angels and saints, and in the predella are scenes from the life of
Saint Martin.
2' More than one master who is rich in fame would be comparatively poor
if a single monument had been destroyed ; but not one would have suffered
greater eclipse than would have Signorelli, if the chapel of San Brizio in the
Cathedral of Orvieto, had in some one of the accidents of sixteenth century
Italy perished like the chapel of Mantegna in the Vatican, the freacoea of
Pisanello in the Lateran, the decorationa of the Bellini in the Ducal Palace of
Venice — to cite but three out of many examples. Masaccio has left only the
frescoes of the Carmine, Leonardo the fresco of S. Maria delle Grazie, but in
seeing these we feel that, had their authors left other wall-paintings, the
latter too must have been great. With Signorelli it ia different, his paintings,
excepting alwaya his fresco of the Sistine, only emphasize the value of his Or
vietan waU-pictures and enhance their importance as representative of what
the artist could do. Even the Moses of the Sistine, as an exponent of Luca's
capacity, cannot be compared with the frescoea at Orvieto. Signorelli did not
care for the draped figure, although it must be admitted that his sentiment of
grandeur sometimes showed itself in hia arrangements of draperies, suavity
too was foreign to his artistic nature, and aU through his life the Umbrians
had asked him for suave saints and heavily draped madonnas.
At last, when he waa sixty years old, came the opportunity to do what he
loved, to paint the naked human body. Here in the Chapel of the Madonna
of San Brizio, in the Duomo of Orvieto, four great walls were given him, and
for a. subject the last day, when all fleah should be raised again, and with
these bodies emergent from the earth the painter too has put on immortality.
Here Signorelli becomes one of that little band of artists, whose personal

LUCA SIGNORELLI 359
sented scenes descriptive of the Last Judgment, with most
singular and fanciful invention. Angels, demons, earth-
contribution to the art evolution was so distinct, that each man's share
may have its separate clasaification as a factor. Thua aa Leonardo added
chiaroscuro (in its developed form), and Fra Bartolommeo added the prin
ciples of monumental composition, so Signorelli contributed the naked body
as a decorative motive. He created a. great drama, in which expression by
muscular construction and movement, not only played the leading role but the
only role. The whole scheme is grandly thought out and clearly ordered, but
the naked bodies of men and women are the painter's unique material. Not
only does he in his Last Judgment strip off and throw away all the gowns and
crowns and robes which Orgagna, a great imaginative artist too in his day,
had uaed, but when he comes to the framing of his scenes, in the pilasters
which other men had filled with tripods and garlands, sphinxes and birds, he
discards all decorative accessories and bending his naked people into the
strangest attitudes, builds up his decoration with them alone. He uses hia
sphinxes and beasts indeed, but in other portions of his scroll work and only
as accessory to the ever-present human figure. " His play," says Symonds,
"was the pastime of a Prometheus ; " " he made, as it were, a parade of hard
and rugged types, scorning to introduce an element of beauty, whether sensu
ous or ideal, that should distract him from the study of the body in and for
itself." The same author, John Addington Symonds, in his admirable pas
sages upon SignoreUi (The Renaissance, Fine Arts, pp. 278-94), adds that
we may differentiate "four distinct grades of corporeal expression " in Luca's
work : First "the abatract nude, illustrated by the Resurrection and the ara
besques at Orvieto. Contemporary life [the second grade], with all its pomp
of costume and insolence of ruffling youth, is depicted in the falminati at
Orvieto, and in the soldiers of Totila at Monte OUveto." "Third in degree,
we find the highly ideaUzed adolescence reserved by Signorelli for hia angels.
All hia science and sympathy with real Ufe are here subordinated to poetic
feeling." In the fourth grade are the demons, whom Signorelli " created by
exaggerating the more grotesque qualities of the nude developed in his ara
besques." In Symonds'a delightful appreciation of the frescoes, it is difficult to
wholly agree with what he aays of the draped angels in the clouds above the
elect. "The grave and solemn sense of beauty" ia there, the two flying
angels are admirably draped ; so are two of the seated ones, but with the
others, one does not feel the construction of their bodies ; a drapery aeems to
have hampered SignorelU, either through indifference or impatience, he rarely
stopped to paint or study it. The faces, too, are unindividual, are all alike,
although they approach more nearly to a grave gentleness than do most of the
faces of a master habitually indifferent to physiognomy.
The commission for these frescoes was given AprU 5, 1499, and the last pay
ment for them is dated December 5, 1504. They were therefore completed be
tween these years. They are painted upon the vaulting and waUs of the Chapel
of the Madonna di San Brizio, in the Duomo of Orvieto. On the vaulting
(beside the work of AngeUco) are Angels, Prophets with the Virgin, Patriarchs
and Fathers of the Church, Martyrs and Virgins. In a niche is a Pietd and on

360

LUCA SIGNORELLI

quakes, ruins, flres, miracles of Antichrist, and many other
objects of similar kind, are depicted in this work, with
the walls are four great compositions, namely : The Preaching of Antichrist,
The Resurrection, HeU, and Paradise. In the four pendentives are The End
of the World, and the Rain of Fire, while HeU and Paradise appear a second
time. Upon the borders below are circular pictures containing the poets of
antiquity, probably Ovid, Claudian, Virgil, Homer, Horace, and also Dante,
in the midst of a whole ma^e of decorative figures, mythological and allegori
cal. These are in monochrome, while there is a half-length figure of Hesiod
painted in color, and there are chiaroscuro scenes from Dante's Purgatorio
and Ovid's Metamorphoses. Luca executed also a Saint Mary Magdalen for the
cathedral, which is now in the rooms of the Opera del Duomo. Two WUrtem-
berg painters, Bothe and Pfannenschmidt, in 1845 restored the Chapel of San
Brizio at their own expense and were made honorary citizens of Orvieto. See
the accompanying rough plan of the chapel :

O.

F.

H.

a.

^^^^^

c.

d.

b.

e.

^^^^

g.

h.

/¦

E.

D.

a. Christ in glory among Angels.
b. The Prophets (by Fra Angelico).
c. Madonna with the Apostles.
d. Judgment Angela.
e. The Martyrs.
f. The Patriarchs.
g. The Fathers of the Church.
h. The Blessed Virgins.
A. Left wall. Preaching of Anti
christ.

B. One side of door. Prophets and
Sibyls announcing Judgment.
C. Devils seizing their victims.
D, The Resurrection.
E. The Damned.
F. Subsidiary groups of HeU and
Paradise.
G. Subsidiary groups of Hell and
Paradise.
H. The Blessed.

LUCA SIGNORELLI 361
nude forms, varied foreshortenings, and many beautiful fig
ures, the master having imagined to himself all that shall
go to make up the terrors of that last and tremendous day.
By this performance the artist enlightened the minds of all
who came after him, for whom he has, indeed, greatly di
minished the difficulties attendant on that mode of repre
sentation : nor am I surprised that the works of Luca were
ever highly extolled by Michelagnolo, or that for his divine
work of the Last Judgment, painted in the chapel (Sistine),
he should have courteously availed himself, to a certain
extent, of the inventions of that artist, as, for example, in
the angels and demons, in the divisions of the heavens, and
some other parts, wherein Michelagnolo imitated the mode
of treatment adopted by Luca, as may be seen by every one.
In the work here alluded to are numerous portraits of the
friends of Luca, as also his own : among others are those
of Niccolo, Paolo, and Vitellozzo Vitelli, Giovan-Paolo and
Orazio Baglioni, and many others, whose names are not
known. In Santa Maria di Loretto, Signorelli painted cer
tain frescoes in the Sacristy, the Four Evangelists namely,
with the Four Doctors, and other Saints, all very beautiful :
for this work he was most liberally remunerated by Pope
Sixtus.^ It is related of Luca Signorelli that he had a son killed in
Cortona, a youth of singular beauty in face and person,
whom he had tenderly loved. In his deep grief, the father
caused the child to be despoiled of his clothing, and, with
extraordinary constancy of soul, uttering no complaint and
shedding no tear, he painted the portrait of his dead child,
'2 Besides the aubjects enumerated by Vasari, two of the walls have pict
ures of the Conversion of Paul and the InoreduUty of Thomas ; five of the
waUa (the sacristy is octagonal) have each two apostles. The eighth wall is
fiUed by the window. In the nave he painted in grisaglio twenty-six seated
figures of Doctors and of Prophets in medallions. M. Miintz, L'Age d' Or,
p. 699, dates these frescoes as having been executed between 1476 and 1479.
They count aa one of the four great works of SignoreUi as frescante, the
others being the series at Mount Oliveto and Orvieto and the fresco of the
Siatine Chapel.

362 LUCA SIGNORELLI
to the end that he might still have the power of contem
plating, by means of the work of his own hands, that which
nature had given him, but which an adverse fortune had
taken away.
Being invited by Pope Sixtus to work in the chapel of his
palace in competition with the numerous masters occupied
there, Luca painted two pictures** in that place accord
ingly, and these, even among so many, are considered the
best : the first represents the Parting Bequest of Moses to
the Hebrew people, after he had obtained a view of the
promised land ; the second exhibits the Death of that Law
giver. Finally, having executed works for almost all the princes
of Italy, and having become old, Luca Signorelli returned to
Cortona, where, in his last years, he worked for his pleas
ure, rather than from any other motive, and because, hav
ing ever been accustomed to labour, he could not prevail on
himself to live in idleness. In this his old age then he
painted' a picture for the N"uns of Santa Marghereta, in
Arezzo,** and one for the brotherhood of San Girolamo, the
2' He painted but one picture in the Sistina, though it includes in itself sev
eral epiaodes from the History of Moaea and ia one of the finest worka in the
series. It ia likely that Luca worked in the chapel many yeara after Perugino ;
Botticelli and the othera finished (in 1484) their frescoes there. Sig. Gnoli, in
r Archivio Storico dell' Arte, quotes a passage in Paolo Cortese, de Cardina-
latu, 1510 ; making it probable that Signorelli painted in the Sistine Chapel
under Julius IL, i.e., after 1503.
3^ The picture for the nuns of Santa Margherita has never been identified, as
Vaaari does not mention the subject of it. A Virgin and Child enthroned
with S. Simeone, S. Giacomo Maggiore, S. Bonaventura and S. Francesco,
painted by Luca for the church of Arcevia, haa been found at Pigino near
Milan and taken to the Brera ; it will be completed by a lunette (God the
Father) and a predella (scenes from the life of the Virgin), these having been
sold to an antiquary by the Filippini heirs. The oil restorations have been
removed by Sig. Cavenaghi, and the picture is highly praised by Sig. Frizzoni.
Citta di Castello stiU possesses a martyrdom of S. Sebastian in the church of
S Domenico. Florence has (see MM. Lafenestre and Richtenberger, Flor
ence) in the Uffizi a Virgin and Child, a Holy FamUy, a Triptych ; in the Pitti
a Holy Family ; in the Academy a Crncifixion and a Virgin and Child with
saints ; in the Palazzo Corsini a Virgin and Child. The Louvre (see the aame
authors, Le Louvre} has an Adoration of the Magi, a Birth of the Virgin,

LUCA SIGNORELLI 363
last being partly at the cost of Messer Niccolo Gamurrini,
doctor of laws and auditor of the Ruota, whose portrait,
taken from the life, is in the picture ; he is kneeling before
the Madonna, to whose protection he is recommended by
San Niccolo, who is also depicted in the same painting. In
the same work are figures of San Donato and San Stefano,
with that of San Girolamo (St. Jerome) undraped, be
neath ; there is likewise a figure of David, singing to a
Psaltery, with two Prophets, who are seen, by the written
scrolls which they hold in their hands, to be engaged in a
conference on the conception of the Virgin. This work
was transported from Cortona to Arezzo by the members of
that brotherhood, who bore it on their shoulders from the
first-named city to the last, when Luca also, old as he was,
determined on repairing to Arezzo, to see the picture in its
place, and also that he might visit his kindred and friends.
During his stay in Arezzo his abode was in the "Casa
Vasari," where I was then a little child of eight years old,
and I remember that the good old man, who was exceed
ingly courteous and agreeable, having heard from the mas
ter who was teaching me my first lessons, that I attended
to nothing in school but drawing figures, turned round to
Antonio, my father, and said to him, " Antonio, let little
George (Georgino) by all means learn to draw, that he may
not degenerate, for even though he should hereafter devote
himself to learning, yet the knowledge of design, if not
profitable, cannot fail to be honourable and advantageous.''
Then turning to me, who was standing immediately before
him, he said, " Study well, little kinsman." He said many
other things respecting me, which I refrain from repeating,
because I know that I have been far from justifying the
opinion which that good old man had of me. Being told
that I suffered, as was the case at that age, so severely from
and a fragment of a composition. Morelli, Italian Masters, p. 361, thinks
that the panels (36 and 37) in Dreaden, attributed to Luca, are really by pupils.
He notea the charcoal study for the Last Judgment of four nude figures in the
aame gaUery.

364 LUCA SIGNORELLI
bleeding at the nose, as sometimes to be left fainting and
half dead thereby, he bound a jasper round my neck with
his own hand, and with infinite tenderness : this recollec
tion of Luca will never depart while I live.^' Having
placed his picture in its destined position, Luca returned to
Cortona, being accompanied to a considerable distance on
his road by many of the citizens, as well as by his friends
and relations, and this was an honour well merited by the
excellences and endowments of this master, who always
lived rather in the manner of a noble and a gentleman than
in that of a painter.
About the same time Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cor
tona, had built a palace about half a mile distant from the
city, after the design of the painter, Benedetto ^^ Caporali
of Perugia, who took great delight in architecture, and had
written a commentary on Vitruvius but a short time before.
This palace the cardinal determined to have amply deco
rated with paintings, wherefore Benedetto set himself to
work, and being assisted by Maso Papacello, of Cortona,
who was his disciple, and had studied under Giulio Romano
likewise, as will be related hereafter ; and by Tommaso, as
well as other disciples and workmen, he did not cease until
he had painted almost the whole of the building in fresco.
But the Cardinal desired to have a picture from the hand
of Luca also, whereupon the latter, although very old and
'' A curious little domestic picture is given by Symonds, who citea a letter of
Michelangelo, in which the latter tells how Master Luca SignoreUi came to aee
him in Rome, while he, Michelangelo, was blocking out the fignre of a man
with hia handa bound behind him (one of the captivea now in the Louvre),
and how Luca borrowed forty giulioa which Michelangelo fetched from above
staira and gave to him, in presence of the Bolognese maid-servant and of Sil
vio the Apprentice. Years after Michelangelo, stating that the debt had
not been repaid, wrote a complaining letter to the magistrates of Cortona.
Luca in turn claimed that he had repaid it, and in view of the fact that the
money might easily have gone astray on the road in days when the machinery
of payment was much less sure than now, it ia possible that both artists were
honest in their claim, and unfortunate that the not over-patient Michelangelo
should have written.
^'^ Giovanni Battista, not Benedetto.

LUCA SIGNORELLI 365
afflicted with palsy, depicted the Baptism of Christ by St.
John, in fresco, on the wall of the palace,^ on that side
namely whereon the altar stands ; but he could not entirely
finish it, seeing that while still working at this picture he
died, having attained the eighty-second year of his age.
Luca Signorelli was a man of the most upright life, sin
cere in all things, affectionate to his friends, mild and ami
able in his dealings with all, most especially courteous to
every one who desired his works, and very efficient as well
as kind in the instruction of his disciples. He lived very
splendidly, took much pleasure in clothing himself in hand
some vestments, and was always held in the highest esteem
for his many good qualities, both in his own country and in
others. And now, with the close of this master's life, whieh took
place in 1521,^ we will bring this second part of our work
to an end, terminating with Luca,^^^° as the master who, in
" In situ in the chapel of the Villa Passerini, called il Palazzone.
2» In 1533, rather ha the night of the last of November and first of Decem
ber. 2» The portrait of Luca Signorelli by himself is iu one of the frescoes at
Orvieto (in the Preaching of Antichrist). The Torrigiani Gallery in Flor
ence contains a Ufe-size portrait by Signorelli of a man in a red cap and vest,
which is supposed to be the painter himself. Luca held a magistracy in his
native town, for terma of two months, in the years 1488, 149.5, 1497, 1503, 1504,
1530, and 1534
'"' Cortona lies midway between Umbria and Tuscany, and for forty years
Luca SignoreUi, its greatest painter, halted between the schools of the two
provincea, turning at laat to that of Florence, and triumphantly vindicating
his choice. Signorelli in hia altar-piecea and in his frescoes, or rather in his
smaU and his large work' had two wholly different manners. In the latter he
was competent, powerful, sure ; in the former, hesitating in hia choice of
types, uncertain in their expression, and fumbling in the handling of hia
material Thia is general criticism. Sometimes a figure in a composition, some
lansquenet in close fitting costume, or naked faun, gives a promise of what
Luca could do with congenial subject-matter ; and a lew of his altar-pieces
and small works have real grandeur and show tlie spirit of Orvieto, M. Miintz
says that in his altar-pieces Luca tried to change his style and imitate Pe
rugino. This in itself would have qnite sufficiently hindered his successful
expression, for he had little natural feeling for color and used crude opposi
tions of light and shade completely foreign to Perugino'a methods. He has
been characterized as a maater, with a mingling of crude reaUsm and imagina-

366 LUCA SIGNORELLI
the fundamental principles of design^ more especially in the
nude form, and by the grace of his inventions, as well as
the disposition of the events he depicted, laid open to all
succeeding artists the path to the ultimate perfection of
art, that perfection, to the highest summit of which those
who followed him, and of whom we are henceforward to
speak, were afterwards enabled to attain.
tive power, but he was a realist only in his desire to imitate exactly the
muscles of the naked human body, a thorax bending or straining, legs braced
widely apart, arms tossing or lifting. And even here it was construction
that he sought rather than subtlety of modelling. In his altar-pieces the
figures were often inadequate and weak, their faces generalized and lacking
in character. He did uot quite seem to know what he wished to express. In
his Orvietan frescoes, on the contrary, he knew exactly what he wanted to
say, and said it with a power which made the cycle of the Madonna of San
Brizio one of the most remarkable of the epoch. There is no more notable
example of an artist succeeding in what he liked to do, and failing in the at
tempt at what he did not like to do. In many of his pictures at Cortona and
certain cities of Umbria he left only the souvenir of a powerful, hasty, hesitat
ing, and incomplete artist, though giving at times magnificent promise ; as a
frescante, he waa unequal at Monte Oliveto, but at Orvieto he found the ma
terial for his life's work and made himself an immortal name.
His color was crude, chalky in the whites, and bricky in the flesh tones ;
he did not really care for color, nor did he greatly care for faces either, ex
cept as the vehicles for expression, not individual but general expression, as,
for instance, of joy in bis elect, of ferocity in his demons. Expression by
muscular construction and movement was what he loved best in the world ;
the bending of a, body at the hips, the bracing of the legs, the turning of a
head or throat ; he liked to strongly indicate the ridge of a backbone or the
edge of a shoulder-blade by sharp contrasts of light and shade, and his hand
ling of surfaces, if not exactly brutal, and certainly not vulgar, has a coarse
ness, because while as a painter he was not facile he waa impatient, and
thereby worked with a kind of violence.
Criticism generally has echoed Vasari, that Luca was a precursor of Michel
angelo, which he was indeed rather than a prototype. Michelangelo formed his
style on Donatello and on Jacopo della Querela, but it was the decorative in
spiration of the great Cortonese in Orvieto that taught the great Florentine
in Rome to suspend his naked youths against the pendentives of the Sistine
Chapel, and to make the undraped human body subject and means at once,
principal and accessory. The trumpets of the Judgment of Orvieto sounded
the end of the old and ushered in the triumphal entrance of the new "grand
manner."

LEONAKDO DA VINCL' FLORENTINE PAINTEE
AND SCULPTOR
[Born 1453; died 1519.]
BiELiooKAPHT. — The most important literary sources for the study of Leo
nardo da Vinci are his own writings. These are so encycloptedic as to have
called for the united study of speciaUsts in many directions. They are so dif
ficult to decipher, being written backward, that is from right to left, and so full
of valuable memoranda in the shape of diagrams and sketches, that they have
been reproduced for pubUcation by the modern photo-mechanical processes,
and they are so considerable in bulk that their reproduction has been under
taken by societies and rmder royal patronage. Two editions of Leonardo's
celebrated Trattato della Pittura have come down to us, one (abridged) of
365 chapters, one of 913 chapters. The tirst printed edition was published in
Paris in 1651 ; the unabridged work was published in 1817, after the discovery
by Manzi in the Vatican Ubrary of a transcript of the original There have
been many subsequent editions, including the Florentine of 1793 and the
MUanese of 1804, with an important life of Leonardo by Carlo Amoretti.
The latest and most complete edition of Leonardo's literary works, an edition
in which the ItaUan text and English translation confront each othei-, is Dr.
Jean Paul Richter's Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, London, 1883 (il
lustrated with fine plates). The original MS. of the celebrated Trattato della
Pittura is lost, but Dr. Richter (see Vol. L, p. xvii.. Literary Worka of Le
onardo da Vinci) has found an original fragment of one of the best known
portions of the said Trattato in the collection of Lord Ashburnham. This
Trattato is considered by stndents to be a compilation of scattered facts
relative to painting, and taken from the notes and manuscripts of Leonardo,
posaibly by Melzi or Mazzenta. Other MSS. by Leonardo are in Rome, Milan,
Ashburnham Place, Windsor, and South Kensington ; the British Museum
containa a volume of notes by him, conaisting of 383 pages, written backward.
The splendid manuscripts in the Bibliotheique de I'Institut and the Bibhotheque
Nationale at Paris, iUustrated with sketches which have careful explanatory
notes upon them, have been reproduced in fac-sindle by M. Ch. Ravaisson-
1 Leonardo di Ser Piero d'Antonio di Ser Piero di Ser Guido da Vinci, caUed
Leonardo da Vinci. The orthography "Lionardo" does not occur in the
manuscripts or signatures.

368 LEOISTAKDO DA VINCI
Mollien. The Codex Atlanticus, in the Ambrosian Library at Milan, consists
of 393 leaves and 1,750 drawings. The index of Leonardo's MSS. is given in J.
P. Richter's Literary Worka of Leonardo da Vinci, London, 1883. Other pub-
licationa are as follows : Charles Ravaisson-MolUen, Les Manusci'its de Lionard
de Vinci, de la Bibliotheque de I'Institut de Paris, publies en facsimiles avec
transcription litterale, traduction, preface et table methodique, par Charles
Rauaisson-Mollien, 6 vols., Paris, Quantin Press. II Codice Atlantico di Le
onardo da Vinci, riprodotto e pubblicato dalla Regia Accademia dei Lincei
sotto gli auspici del Re et del Governo, MUan, 1895, vrith 1,750 drawings on
800 large sheets, reproduced by heUotype plates ; besides the phototype repro
duction of the MSS. notes there is a transcription by Dr. Giovanni Piumati,
and a dictionary of obsolete terms by Luca Beltrami. Saggio delle Opere di
Leonardo da Vinci (a work in which a number of Italian savants have collab
orated), Milan, 1873. Luca Beltrami, II Codice di Leonardo da Vinci, nella
Biblioteca del principe Trivulzio in Milano, trascritto ed annotato, Milan,
1891. This is a photographic reproduction and is volume V. of the Arconati
donation. Leonardo da Vinci, Tra,ttato della pittura condotto sul codice
Vaticano Urbinate 1270, con prefazione di Marco Tabarrini, preceduto della
vita di Leonardo scritta da Giorgio Vasari, con nuove note e commentario
di Gaetano MUanesi, Rome. / manoscritti di Leonardo da Vinci, Codice
sul volo degli Ucelli e varie altre moterie, pubblicato da Teodoro Sabachnikoff,
trascrizione e note di Giovanni Piumati traduzione in lingua frajicese di
Carlo Ravaisson-Mollien, Paris, 1893. (Thia work is reviewed in the Gazette
des Beaux Arts, 1894, II., 345, by Baron H. Von Geymiiller.) J. P. Richter,
BibUographie der Handschriften Leonardo's, Zeitschrift fiir bildende .Kunst,
XVIII., pp. 83, 137, 154, 190. Dozio, Degli Scritti e disegni di Leonardo da
Vinci, Milan, 1871. Jordan, Das Malerbuch des Leonardo da Vinci, Leipsic.
Constantin Winterberg, L. da Vinci's Mnlcrbuch und seine Wissensehaftliche
und Praktische Bedeutung — an important article in Vol. VII. of the Jahr
buch der K. P. S. H. Ludwig, L. da Vinci Das Buch von der Malerei, Vi
enna, 1883. C. Ravaisson, Des Ecrits de Leonard de Vinci, Gazette de» Beaux
Arts, XXIII., 3d aeries. C. Ravaisson-MolUen, Les Ecrits de Leonard de
Vinci, plaquette in Svo, Paris. Grothe, Leonardo da Vinci als Ingenieur u.
Philosoph, Berlin. All the above publicationa refer directly to some of Le
onardo's own writings ; the works mentioned in the foUowing list are of a
more general character. C. Amoretti, Memorie Storiche su la vita gli studj e
le opere di Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, 1804. Fumagalli, Scuola di Leonardo
da Vinci, 1811. J. W. Brown, Life of Leonardo da Vinci, London, 1S38.
Count Hugo Gallenberg, L. da Vinci, Leipsic, 1834. B. De'le'cluze, Saggio
intorno a L. da Vinci, Siena, 1844. A. P. Rio, Leo?iardo da Vinci e la Sua
Seuola, Milan, 1857. C. Blanc, Une Peinture de Leonard de Vinci (Saint
Stibastien), Gazette des Beaux Arts, first seriea, IX., p. 6.5, Paris, 1859. C. P.
Landon, Notices of the Life and Works of Leonardo da Vinci, London, 1807.
G. Uzielli, Ricerche intorno a Leonardo da Vinci, Florence, 1873. A. Hous-
saye, Histoire de Lionard de Vinci, Paris, 1876. Mrs. Heaton, Life of Leo
nardo da Vinci, London, 1874. J. P. Richter. Leonardo da Vinci, London,
1880. C. Brun, Leonardo da Vinci, in the Dohme Series of Kunst und
Kiinstler. CamiUo Boito, Leonardo e Michelangelo, MUan, 1879. CamiUo

LEONARDO DA VINCI 369
Boito, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Andrea Palladio, Sludii artistici, Milan, 1883.
A. Gruyer, Leonard de Vinci au Louvre, series of articles in the Gazette des
Beaux Arts for 1887. J. Rousseau, Leonard de Vinci, Brussels, 1888. B.
Miintz, Series of Essays in L'Art, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, and Revue des Deux
Mondes, October, 1887. Bernhard Berenaon, Florentine Painters of the Renais
sance, New York, 1 896. P. Milller-Walde, Leonardo da Vinci Lebenskizze und
Forschungen iiber Sein Verhdltniss zur Florentiner Kunst und zu Rafael,
Munich, 1889. Nuovi Documenti su Leonardo da Vinci, by A. Venturi, in
L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, I., 45. C. Ravaisson-MoUien, Pages et apo-
cryphes de Lionard de Vinci, Nogent-le-Rotrou, 1888. Carlo de Blasia, Leo
nardo da Vinci, Milan, 1873. Bmilio Motta, Ambrogio Freda e Leonardo
da Vinci, Nuovi Documenti, Milan, 1894. Giuseppe Riccardi, Intorno a Leo
nardo da Vinci, Studio Storico, Milan, 1873. Dino Padelletti, Le Opere
Scientifiche di Leonardo da Vinci, Naples, 1885. The foUowing are either
upon some especial side of the artist's achievement or else refer directly to
special works ; they are arranged rather according to subject than accord
ing to dates of pubUcation. G. d'Adda, Leonard de Vinci, la gravure Alila-
naise et Passavant, Gazette des Beaux Arts, XXV., p. 133, 1868. Champfleury,
L'Anatomie du Laid d'apres Leonard de Vinci, Gazette des Beaux Arts, 3d
series, XIV., 1879. G. Bosai, Delle Opinioni di Leonardo da Vinci intorno
alia sinometria de Corpi Urnani, Milan, 1811. H. von Geymiiller, La Vierge
d I'ceillet, peinture attribuee d Leonard de Vinci, in the Gazette des Beaux
Arts for August, 1890. W. Koopman, Die Madonna von der Felsgrotte in
Paris und in London, in the Repertorium fiir bildende Kunst, 1891, p. 353.
Un quadro di Leonardo da Vinci, note by C. von Fabriczy, in L'Archivio
Storico dell' Arte, II., 388. G. Frizzoni, Leonardo da Vinci's und Hans Hol-
beirt's des jiingeren Handzeichnungen in Windsor, in the Zeitschrift fiir bil
dende Kunst, Neue Folge, I. , 9. J. W. von Goethe, Abetidmahl von Leonardo
da Vinci. G. Bossi, Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci, Milan, 1810. Jo
achim Sighart, Leonardo da Vinci tfnd sein letztes Abendmahl, Munich, 1867.
H. Riegel, Ueber die DarsteUung des Abendmahles, Leipsic, 1869. A. Marks,
St. Anne of Leonardo da Vinci, London, 1883. Transactiona of the Royal
Society of Literature; see also L'Art, 1888, Vol. II., p. 3, and the Magazine
of Art, VIL, 448. L. Courajod, Lionard de Vinci et. la Statue de Francesco
Sforza, 1879. B. Miintz, L'Art, 1889, Vol. I , p. 134, etc. (for the cartoon of
the Battle of Anghiari). Gustavo Uzielli, Leonardo da Vinci e le Alpi. Gus
tavo Uzielli, Leonardo da Vinci e tre Oentildonne Milanesi dal Secolo XV.
E. Miintz, Studi Leonardeschi, in L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, V., p. 26, with
reproductions. W. Bode, Ein Bildniss der zweiten Gemahlin Kaiier Maximil-
i'ns, Bianca Maria Sforza, von Ambrogio de Predis, in the Jahrbuch der
Icon, preussichen Kunstsammlungen, X. Band, II. Heft, Berlin, 1889. C.
Yriarte, Les relations d' Isabelle d'Este avec Lionard da Vinci d'aprls des Do
cuments inidits par Armand Baschet, intheGazette des Beaux Arts, XXXVII.,
February 1, 1888. Ancora Leonardo da Vinci e Isabella d'Este, Nuovi Do
cumenti, published by Aleasandro Luzio in L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, I.,
181. B. Muntz, Une Education d'artiste du XV' Slide; Lajeunesse de Leo
nard da Vinci, in the Reime des Deux Mondes, October 1, 1887. B. Miintz,
Recherches sur Andrea Salaino, Hive de Lionard de Vinci, in the Courrier de

370 LEONARDO DA VINCI
rArt, 1889, nos. 35, 37. A. Houssaye, tltudes sur Lionard de Vinci , Ses
Hi,itoriens, L' Artiste, 1865, a seriea of articles ; also. La Cine de Leonard de
Vinci, L' Artiste, 1867; Louis XII. et Leonard de Vinci, L' Artiste, 1867'
La Jcunesse de Leoftard de Vinci, L' Artiste, 1868 ; La Cour des Sforza
L' Artiste, 1869 (Vol. IL). W. Pater, Notes on L. da Vinci, from the Fort
nightly Review, 1869. H. von Geymiiller, Les drrniers Travaux de L. de
Vinci, in the Gazette des Beaux Arts, 3d Series, XXXIII., p. 357; XXXIV.,
pp. 143, 374. A. Houssaye, Lionard de Vinci et les Fouilles d'Amboise, L' Ar
tiste, 1863, Vol. IL, p. 249 ; 1864, Vol. I., pp. 3, 35, 49, 97. A. Houssaye, Di-
couverte du Tombeau de Lionard de Vinci. Lacroix, Revue des Arts,
XIX., p. 105. A. ChampoUion, De la Tradition relative d la Mort de L. da
Vinci, Lacroix, Revue des Arts, Vol. IIL, 1856. Giuseppe Campori, Nuovi
Docume?Ui per la vita di Leonardo da Vinci, Modena, 1865. The famous
Latin historian, Paolo Giovio, wrote a life of Leonardo, which possibly ante
dates Vasari's, and for an early anonymous biographer see note 30.
THE richest gifts are occasionally seen to be showered,
as by celestial influence, on certain human beings,
nay, tliey sometimes supernaturally and marvellously
congregate in one sole person ; beauty, grace, and talent be
ing united in such a manner, that to whatever the man thus
favoured may turn himself, his every action is so divine as
to leave all other men far behind him, and manifestly to
prove that he has been specially endowed by the hand of
G-od himself, and has not obtained his pre-eminence by
human teaching, or the power of man. This was seen and
acknowledged by all men in the case of Leonardo da Vinci,
in whom, to say nothing of his beauty of person, which yet
was such that it has never been sufficiently extolled, there
was a grace beyond expression which was rendered manifest
without thought or effort in every act and deed, and who
had besides so rare a gift of talent and ability, that to what
ever subject he turned his attention, however difficult, he
presently made himself absolute master of it. Extraordi
nary power was in his case conjoined with remarkable facility,
a mind of regal boldness and magnanimous daring ; his gifts
were such that the celebrity of his name extended most
widely, and he was held in the highest estimation, not in
his own time only, but also, and even to a greater extent,
after his death, nay, this he has continued, and will con
tinue to be by all succeeding ages.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 871
Truly admirable, indeed, and divinely endowed was Leo
nardo da Vinci ; this artist was the son of Ser Piero da
Vinci ; ^ he would without doubt have made great progress
in learning and knowledge of the sciences, had he not been
so versatile and changeful, but the instability of his charac
ter caused him to undertake many things which having com
menced he afterwards abandoned. In arithmetic, for ex
ample, he made such rapid progress in the short time
during which he gave his attention to it, that he often con
founded the master who was teaching him, by the perpetual
doubts he started, and by the difficulty of the questions he
proposed. He also commenced the study of music, and re
solved to acquire the art of playing the lute, when, being by
nature of an exalted imagination and full of the most grace
ful vivacity, he sang to that instrument most divinely, im
provising at once the verses and the music.
But, though dividing his attention among pursuits so
varied, he never abandoned his drawing, and employed him
self much in works of relief, that being the occupation
which attracted him more than any other. His father, Ser
Piero, observing this, and considering the extraordinary
character of his son's genius, one day took some of his
drawings and showed them to Andrea del Verrocchio, who
was a very intimate friend of his, begging him earnestly to
tell him whether he thought that Leonardo would be likely
to secure success if he devoted himself to the arts of design.
Andrea Verrocchio was amazed as he beheld the remarkable
commencement made by Leonardo, and advised Ser Piero to
see that he attached himself to that calling, whereupon the
latter took his measures accordingly, and sent Leonardo to
study in the bottega or workshop of Andrea. Thither the
boy resorted therefore, with the utmost readiness, and not
' Leonardo was bom at the CasteUo of Vinci, near Empoli in the Val
d'Arno iu 1453. He was the natural son of Ser Piero Antonio da Vinci, a
notary to the Florentine Signoria. It is impossible to state with certainty
whether Leonardo was legitimized or not, but it ia probable that he was, at
an early age, although no documents are in evidence. Leonardo was brought
up in the houae of his father, who married four times.

372 LEONARDO DA VINCI
only gave his attention to one branch of art, but to all the
others, of which design made a portion. Endowed with
such admirable intelligence, and being also an excellent ge
ometrician, Leonardo not only worked in sculpture (having
executed certain heads in terra-cotta, of women smiling,
even in his first youth, which are now reproduced in gyp
sum, and also others of children which might be supposed to
have proceeded from the hand of a master) ; but in archi
tecture likewise he prepared various designs for ground-plans,
and the construction of entire buildings : he too it was who,
though still but a youth, first suggested the formation of a
canal from Pisa to Florence, by means of certain changes to
be efEected on the river Arno.^ Leonardo likewise made de
signs for mills, fulling machines, and other engines, which
were to be acted on by means of water ; but as he had re
solved to make painting his profession, he gave the larger
portion of time to drawing from nature. He sometimes
formed models of different figures in clay, on which he
would arrange fragments of soft drapery dipped in plaster ; *
from these he would then set himself patiently to draw on
very fine cambric or linen that had already been used and
rendered smooth, these he executed in black and white with
the point of the pencil in a most admirable manner, as may
be seen by certain specimens from his own hand which I
have in my book of drawings. He drew on paper also with
so much care and so perfectly, that no one has ever equalled
him in this respect. I have a head by him in chiaro-scuro,
which is incomparably beautiful. Leonardo was indeed so
imbued with power and grace by the hand of God, and was
endowed with so marvellous a facility in reproducing his
conceptions ; his memory also was always so ready and so
efficient in the service of his intellect, that in discourse he
' In 1500, when we first hear of him as studying this problem, he was forty-
eight years old ; and in 1503 he went to the neighborhood of Pisa to a consulta
tion for changing the course of the Arno (MUanesi abridged). According to
Bottari this work waa executed about two hundred years later by Vincenzio
Viviani, a diaciple of Galileo.
* Naturally these models were soon destroyed.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 373
won all men by his reasonings, and confounded every antag
onist, however powerful, by the force of his arguments.
This master was also frequently occupied with the con
struction of models and the preparation of designs for the
removal or the perforation of mountains, to the end that
they inight thus be easily passed from one plain to another.
]\V means of levers, cranes, and screws, he likewise showed
how great weights might be raised or drawn ; in what man
ner ports and havens might be cleansed and kept in order,
and how water might be obtained from the lowest deeps.
From speculations of this kind he never gave himself rest,^
^ Leonardo da Vinci was the most universal genius of the Renaissance, per-
hajts of all time. He was painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, musician, phi
losopher, chemist, botanist, and geologist. He waa the first groat link between
Archimedes and tlie modern scientist. (See Draper's IntoUectual Develop
ment of Europe, II., 269.) He was acquainted with the earth's annual motion,
knew the laws of friction and the principle of virtual velocities, studied the
fall of bodies and times of descent along inclined planea and circular arcs.
He considered the lawa of combustion and respiration, first explained the
true nature of fossil shells, foresliadowed the hypotheaia of the elevation of
continents, suggested tho use of steam as a motive power in navigation, and
left a sketch of a ateam-cannon in hia Codec Atlanticus. He (probably)
studied anatomy under Marco della Torre, and we have some reason to believe
that he was acquainted with the circulation of the blood. Ho helped the
mathematician, Luca Pacioli, in one of hia worka, and is rather doubtfully
credited with inventing the algebraical signs -|- and — . He collected plants,
pressed them, and made herbaria; he also devised a. method of taking
leaf prints, which ia in use to-day. In optics, heat, and magnetiam, he is
credited with important discoveries, including the invention of the camera
obscura* and the hydrometer. In physical geography and meteorology his
achievements were no less wonderful, embracing studies upon magnetic at
traction and the effect of the moon on the tides. In pure mechanics he re
stored the laws of the lever. Sig. Lombardini (DeW Originc e del Progrrsso
della Scienza idraulinr, MUan, 1873) considers him as the originator of the sci
ence of hydraulics. Hia system for the canaUzation of rivers is atill of practi
cal value. The boring of tunnels, the erection of derricks and fortifications,
apparatus for raising buildinga, all came in for a share ot attention, and sketches
* In Dr. Richter's Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, I., 44. note, proofs
are brought forward against the claim made for Leonardo, that he waa the in
ventor of the camera obaoura. It ia possible that he was the firat to explain
the action of the human eye. See Saggio delle Opere di Leonardo da Vinci,
MUan, 1873. Leonardo ia commonly credited with the invention of the aid to
drawing, known as the vertical plane. See B. von Brilcke in his Bruchstiicke
aus der Theorie der biidender Kiinste, Leipsic, 1877.

374 LEONARDO DA VINCI
and of the results of these labours and meditations there are
numberless examples in drawings, &c., dispersed among
those who practise our arts : I have myself seen very many
of them. Besides all this he wasted not a little time, to
the degree of even designing a series of cords, curiously in
tertwined, but of which any separate strand may be distin
guished from one end to the other, the whole forming a
complete circle : a very curiously complicated and exceed
ingly difficult specimen of these coils may be seen engraved ;^
in the midst of it are the following words : — Leonardus
Vinci Academia.'' Among these models and drawings there
for them, with explanatory notes written backward in a crabbed hand, stUl re
main. The breech-loading cannon which antedated Leonardo, was improved
by him. The obelisks on the Thames embankment, London, and at Central
Park, New York, were raised to position by a mechanism similar to that de
signed by Leonardo for precisely the same purpose. His machinery for rope-
making (aee Grothe, Leonardo da Vinci als Ingetdeur und Philosoph, BerUn,
1874) was very ingenious, as were also his atone sawing-machine, hia roaating-
jack, his color-grinding machine, his door-spring, and hia wheelbarrow. The
automatic file-cutting machine invented by Leonardo waa a worthy predeces
sor of that which is in uae to-day. This inventor of labor-saving mechanisms
was also a poet, a philosopher, and a student of the claasics, and yet in spite
of the almost world-embracing reach of hia speculations he seems to have " re
garded painting as his work in life."
" Albert Diirer made patterns for embroidery, or, as he called them, " the
six knots." They are the same pattern as in the designs made by Leonardo,
or (see Dr. Richter) Diirer simply copied Leonardo's ornaments, and, omit
ting the inscription, added his owu monogram. The decorations of the vaulted
ceiling of the sacristy of Santa Maria delle Grazie resemble the meshes of a.
net. On thia very slight connection an attempt haa been made to ahow that
relations existed between Diirer and Leonardo da Vinci. See Thausing's Dii
rer. For the decorations of S. Maria delle Grazie, see G. Mongeri, L'Arte in
Milano, p. 315. Original blocks for the twisted ornaments are preserved in
the print room of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Leonardo is credited
with many engravings (see Clement's Michel- Ange, Lionard de Vinci, Ra
phael, p. 381), but the Marchese G. D'Adda (Lionard de Vinci la Gravure
Milanaise et Passavant) only admits the authenticity of oue engraving in the
Briti >h Museum (profile of a boy), and one containing figurea of horses, and
belonging to Sig. Angioleni, of Milan. See also Milanesi, IV., 21, note 2.
' Of thia academy formed by Leonardo, very little is known ; but it is be
lieved by some critica that a large part of the scattered notes on all subjects
which have come down to us were lecture notes, and it is even thought that
the Treatise on Painting was composed to asaiat in teaching, but several para
graphs on a single page refer to diflTerent aubjects, and this would tend to dis-

LEONARDO DA VINCI 375
is one, by means of which Leonardo often sought to prove
to the different citizens — many of them men of great dis
cernment — who then governed Elorence, that the church of
San Giovanni in that city could be raised, and steps placed
beneath it without injury to the edifice : he supported his
assertions with reasons so persuasive, that while he spoke
the undertaking seemed feasible, although every one of his
hearers, when he had departed, could see for himself that
such a thing was impossible. In conversation Leonardo was
indeed so pleasing that he won the hearts of all hearers, and
though possessing so small a patrimony only that it might
almost be called nothing, while he yet worked very little, he
still constantly kept many servants and horses, taking extra
ordinary delight in the latter : he was indeed fond of all ani
mals, ever treating them with infinite kindness and consider
ation ; as a proof of this it is related, that when he passed
places where birds were sold, he would frequently take them
from their cages, and having paid the price demanded for
them by the sellers, would then let them fly into the air, thus
restoring to them the liberty they had lost.^ Leonardo was
in all things so highly favoured by nature, that to whatever
prove the theory. Dr. Richter has accompliahed the diflScult work of claasi -
fying these notes. Leonardo was evidently the head of the Academy, and may
have been the sole professor in it. See M. Clement's MicheUAnge, Leonard de
Vinci, Raphael. This ia probably the firat recorded instance of an institution
of the kind. The artists were, however, usually members of a compagnia de'
pittori, whose object was to protect art interests in general. The Fabbrica di
San Luca, estabhshed in Rome in 1470, ia an example of one of these associa
tions. See M. Miintz, Les Arts d la Cour des Rapes.
' It is possible that Leonardo's freeing the birds arose from another motive.
Leonardo was intensely interested in their flight, and among his papers are
many aketches of flying-machines and attempts to analyze aSrial flight, includ
ing the motion of the wings of birds, so that it is reasonable to suppose that
the birds which were released assisted him in his investigationa. In the Aero
nautical Annual for 1895 there ia an interesting article on Leonardo's Treatise
on the Flight of Birds (Codice sul voio dcfiiK ?/MeZZi), which haa been recently
publiahed in Paris (1893). See Bibliography.
Bxamplea are given in Dr. Richter's Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci,
of Leonardo's pMlosophioal maxims, morals, polemics, speculations, studies
on the life and habits of animals, fables, jests, and tales, letters and notes on
books and authors.

376 LEONARDO DA VINCI
he turned his thoughts, mind, and spirit, he gave proof in
all of such admirable power and perfection, that whatever
he did bore an impress of harmony, truthfulness, goodness,
sweetness and grace, wherein uo other man could ever equal
him. Leonardo, with his profound intelligence of art, com
menced various undertakings, many of which he never com
pleted, because it appeared to him that the hand could never
give its due perfection to the object or purpose which he
had in his thoughts, or beheld in his imagination ; seeing
that in his mind he frequently formed the idea of some diffi
cult enterprise, so subtle and so wonderful that, by means
of hands, however excellent or able, the full reality could
never be worthily executed and entirely realized. His con
ceptions were varied to infinity ; philosoiihizing over natural
objects ; among others, he set himself to investigate the
properties of plants, to make observations on the heavenly
bodies, to follow the movements of the planets, the varia
tions of the moon, and the course of the sun.
Having been placed then by Ser Piero in his childhood
with Andrea Verrocchio,' as we have said, to learn the art
of the painter, that master was engaged on a picture the
subject of which was San Giovanni baptizing Jesus Christ ;
in this Leonardo painted an angel holding some vestments ;
and although he was but a youth, he completed that figure
in such a manner, that the angel of Leonardo was much
better than the portion executed by his master, which
caused the latter never to touch colours more, so much was
he displeased to find that a mere child could do more than
himself.^" ^ The date of Leonardo's entry into Verrocchio's bottega is unknown. He
¦was working there in 1476. See Milanesi, IV., 22, note 2.
^^ The story that Verrocchio was discouraged by his pupil's talent and
abandoned painting is absurd, and finds its counterpart in the legend that
Francia died of grief after seeing Raphael's Saint Cecilia. Leonardo was
admitted to the Guild of Painters in 1472, or, as M. Cle'ment would have us be
lieve, in 1468, and in 1478 he had already received an independent commission
from the Signoria of Florence. The painting of the angel in the Academy

LEONARDO DA VINCI 377
Leonardo received a commission to prepare the cartoon for
the hangings of a door which was to be woven in silk and
gold in Flanders, thence to be despatched to the king of
Portugal ; the subject was the sin of our first parents in
Paradise : here the artist depicted a meadow in chiaro
scuro, the high lights being in white lead, displaying an
immense variety of vegetation and numerous animals, re
specting which it may be truly said, that for careful exe
cution and fidelity to nature, they are such that there is no
genius in the world, however God-like, which could produce
similar objects with equal truth. In the fig-tree, for ex
ample, the foreshortening of the leaves, and the disposition
of the branches are executed with so much care, that one
finds it difficult to conceive how any man could have so
much patience ; there is besides a palm-tree, in which the
roundness of the fan-like leaves is exhibited to such admi
rable perfection and with so much art, that nothing short
of the genius and patience of Leonardo could have efEected
it : but the work for which the cartoon was prepared was
never carried into execution, the drawing therefore remained
in Florence, and is now in the fortunate house of the illus
trious Ottaviano de' Medici, to whom it was presented, no
long time since, by the uncle of Leonardo. ^^
It is related that Ser Piero da Vinci, being at his country
house, was there visited by one of the peasants on his estate,
who, having cut down a fig-tree on his farm, had made a
shield from part of it with his own hands, and then brought
dates perhaps from 1480 to 1482. Dr. Richter, Leonardo da Vinci, p. 7,
says that in the "Baptism "of Verrocchio not only the angel ascribed by
Vaaari to Leonardo, but the second angel, the Christ, and the background are
painted in oU, a medium which Leonardo always employed, while Verrocchio
invariably used tempera. This statement pushed to its logical conclusion
gives us in the ' ' Baptism " a work painted mainly by Leonardo da Vinci
from the design of the older master. So much repainting has occurred in the
case of nearly aU old pictures that it is always difficult to arrive at hard-and-
fast conclusions, but no one can doubt that the immense capacity of the
youthful Leonardo must have struck Verrocchio and influenced but cer
tainly uot discouraged him.
" This cartoon is loat.

378 LEONARDO DA VINCI
it to Ser Piero, begging that he would be pleased to cause
the same to be painted for him in Florence. This the lat
ter very willingly promised to do, the countryman having
great skill in taking birds and in fishing, and being often
very serviceable to Ser Piero in such matters. Having
taken the shield with him to Florence therefore, without
saying any thing to Leonardo as to whom it was for, he de
sired the latter to paint something upon it. Accordingly,
he one day took it in hand, but finding it crooked, coarse,
and badly made, he straightened it at the fire, and giving it
to a turner, it was brought back to him smooth and deli
cately rounded, instead of the rude and shapeless form in
which he had received it. He then covered it with gyp
sum, and having prepared it to his liking, he began to con
sider what he could paint upon it that might best and most
effectually terrify whomsoever might approach it, produc
ing the same effect with that formerly attributed to the
head of Medusa. For this purpose therefore, Leonardo car
ried to one of his rooms, into which no one but himself
ever entered, a number of lizards, hedgehogs, newts, ser
pents, dragon-flies, locusts, bats, glow-worms, and every
other sort of strange animal of similar kind on which he
could lay his hands ; from this assemblage, variously
adapted and joined together, he formed a hideous and ap
palling monster, breathing poison and flames, and sur
rounded by an atmosphere of fire ; this he caused to issue
from a dark and rifted rock, with poison reeking from the
cavernous throat, flames darting from the eyes, and vapours
rising from the nostrils in such sort that the result was in
deed a most fearful and monstrous creature : at this he
laboured until the odours arising from all those dead ani
mals fllled the room with a mortal fetor, to which the zeal
of Leonardo and the love which he bore to art rendered him
insensible or indifferent. When this work, which neither
the countryman nor Ser Piero any longer inquired for, was
completed, Leonardo went to his father and told him that
he might send for the shield at his earliest convenience.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 379
since so far as he was concerned, the work was flnished ;
Ser Piero went accordingly one morning to the room for
the shield, and having knocked at the door, Leonardo
opened it to him, telling him nevertheless to wait a little
without, and having returned into the room he placed the
shield on the easel, and shading the window so that the
light falling on the painting was somewhat dimmed, he
made Ser Piero step within to look at it. But the latter,
not expecting any such thing, drew back, startled at the first
glance, not supposing that to be the shield, or believing
the monster he beheld to be a painting, he therefore turned
to rush out, but Leonardo withheld him, saying : — The
shield will serve the purpose for which it has been executed,
take it therefore and carry it away, for this is the effect it
was designed to produce. The work seemed something more
than wonderful to Ser Piero, and he highly commended
the fanciful idea of Leonardo, but he afterwards silently
bought from a merchant another shield, whereon there was
painted a heart transfixed with an arrow, and this he gave
to the countryman, who considered himself obliged to him
for it to the end of his life. Some time after Ser Piero
secretly sold the shield painted by Leonardo to certain mer
chants for one hundred ducats, and it subsequently fell into
the hands of the Duke of Milan, sold to him by the same
merchants for three hundred ducats.'^
No long time after Leonardo painted an admirable picture
of Our Lady,'^ which was greatly prized by Pope Clement
VII. ; among the accessories of this work was a bottle filled
with water in which some flowers were placed, and not only
were these flowers most vividly natural, but there were
dewdrops on the leaves, which were so true to nature that
they appeared to be the actual reality. For Antonio Segni
" It is hardly necessary to say that this shield is lost ; it is supposed to have
been painted in 1472.
" This was the Vierge d la Carafe. In the seventeenth century it was in
the Vatican, but its present whereabouts is not known The painting of the
same subject in the ViUa Borghese is stated by Mr. Sidney Colvin to be by Lo
renzo di Credi

380 LEONARDO DA VINCI
who was his intimate friend, Leonardo delineated on paper
a Neptune" in his chariot drawn by sea-horses, and de
picted with so much animation that he seems to be indeed
alive ; the turbulent waves also, the various phantasms sur
rounding the chariot, with the monsters of the deep, the
winds, and admirable heads of marine deities, all contrib
ute to the beauty of the work, which was presented by
Fabio Segni, the son of Antonio, to Messer Giovanni
Gaddi,'^ with the following lines :
Pinxit Virgilius Neplunum, pinxit Homerus ;
Dum maris undisoni per vada flectit equos.
Mente quidem vales ilium conspexit uterque,
Vincius ast oculis ; jureque vincit eos.
Leonardo also had a fancy to paint the head of a Medusa
in oil, to which he gave a circlet of twining serpents by way
of head-dress ; the most strange and extravagant invention
that could possibly be conceived : but as this was a work re
quiring time, so it happened to the Medusa as to so many
other of his works, it was never finished.'" The head here
described is now among the most distinguished possessions
in the palace of the Duke Cosimo, together with the half
length fignre of an angel raising one arm in the air ; this
arm, being foreshortened from the shoulder to the elbow,
comes forward, while the hand of the other arm is laid on
the breast. " It is worthy of admiration that this great gen-
" There is a rough sketch in black chalk for a aimUar subject at Windsor.
See Dr. Richter, Leonardo da Vinci, p. 9.
" The Gaddi collection was sold, and the whereabouts of these worka is
unknown. ^^ The head of the Medusa in the Uffizi is not by Leonardo, and was proba
bly painted from Vasari's deacription, perhaps by one of the Caracci. Dr.
Mundler suggests the MUanese Lomazzo as the author of this work, and points
out that it waa executed by a trained hand. In the collection of drawings at
Windsor and at Vienna are some charming arrangements of braided hair,
which were possibly suggested by the Medusa with curls of live snakes, as de
scribed in the Odyssey. See Theodore ChUd's Wimples and Crisping-Pins,
pp. 103-5.
" Milanesi, Vol. IV., p. 26, statea that a picture which was sold in Florence
to a Russian collector was claimed by the seller as being identical with the

LEONARDO DA VINCI 381
ius, desiring to give the utmost possible relief to the works
executed by him, laboured constantly, not content with his
darkest shadows, to discover the ground tone of others still
darker ; thus he sought a black that should produce a deeper
shadow, and be yet darker than all other known blacks,
to the end that the lights might by these means be rendered
still more lucid, until he finally produced that totally dark
shade, in which there is absolutely no light left, and objects
have more the appearance of things seen by night, than the
clearness of forms perceived by the light of day, but all this
was done with the- purpose of giving greater relief, and of
discovering and attaining to the ultimate perfection of art.
Leonardo was so much pleased when he encountered faces
of extraordinary character, or heads, beards or hair of un
usual appearance, that he would follow any such, more than
commonly attractive, throngh the whole day, until the fig
ure of the person would become so well impressed on his
mind that, having returned home, he would draw him as
readily as though he stood before him.'" Of heads thus ob-
half-length fignre of an angel mentioned by Vasari. The picture waa
greatly repainted and its authenticity cannot be proved. There is a St.
Jerome in the Vatican gallery believed to be authentic (see A. Venturi, La
GaXlerria Vaticana, p. 16), which had strange adventures. Cardinal Fesch
found a portion of the picture, the torso, used as a box cover, and long after
ward discovered in a shoemaker's shop, the head which belonged to the torso.
Pope Pius IX. eventually bought the picture, which is generally considered to
be a youthful work of Leonardo.
" Many of Leonardo's sketches bear out this statement. Lomazzo, in his
Trattato della Pittura, gives a curious anecdote of a supper which he himself
attended. Leonardo had invited a number of peasants, whom he amused by
stories until ^hey were convulsed with laughter ; he then withdrew and pro
duced faces so distorted and comical that no one could look at them without
laughter. Milanesi, IV., p. 37, note 3, cites several engraved collections of
these caricatures— one signed Wenceslas Hollar., Boh., 1745 ; another signed
Jacobo Sandrart, Ratisbonm, 16.54, as also the recueil engraved by le C. de C.
(Comte de Caylus), 1730. Leonardo waa fond of attending executiona to
watch the facial contortions of criminals in their death-throes. Hia intereat
was probably largely anatomical. In the coUection of M. L^on Bonnat, at
Paris, there is an interesting study of a conspirator with a rope around his
neck. Vaaari makes no mention of Leonardo's remarkable mOitary maps, six
of which are in the Royal Library at Windsor. In one, representing the ooun-

382 LEONARDO DA VINCI
tained there exist many, both masculine and feminine, and
I have myself several of them drawn with a pen by his own
hand, in the book of drawings so frequently cited. Among
these is the head of Amerigo Vespucci, which is a very beau
tiful one of an old man, done with charcoal, as also that of
the Gypsy Captain Scaramuccia, which had been left by
Gianbullari to Messer Donato Valdambrini, of Arezzo,
Canon of San Lorenzo. A picture representing the Adora
tion of the Magi was likewise commenced by Leonardo, and
is among the best of his works, more especially as regards
the heads ; it was in the house of Amerigo Benci, opposite
the Loggia of the Peruzzi, but like so many of the other
works of Leonardo, this also remained unfinished.''^
On the death of Giovanni Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, in
the year 1493, Ludovico Sforza was chosen in the same year
to be his successor, when Leonardo was invited with great
honour to Milan by the Duke, who delighted greatly in the
music of the lute, to the end that the master might play be
fore him ; '° Leonardo therefore took with him a certain in-
try between Florence, Perugia, and Siena, the towns are given in such detail
that Arezzo, Volterra, Siena, etc. , can be easily recognized without using the
text. Another is of the Apennines to the east, and of the coast about Cor-
neto to the west. Others are of the course of the Arno, of the Pontine Marshes,
the Volscian Mountains, and the environs of Imola. They were probably exe
cuted when Leonardo was acting as engineer for Csesar Borgia in 1503.
1^ Thia work, which ia now in the Uffizi, is considered authentic. It ia
painted in monochrome tempera (bistre) upon wood on a gciso or chalk
ground. Milanesi considers that it is the picture commenced by Leonardo in
1481 for the monka of San Donato a Scopeto outside of Florence. Other critica
think it waa ordered in 1478, for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchio. See MM.
Lafeneatre's and Richtenberger's Florence, p. 23. There has been considerable
controversy regarding the date of this picture, which was never finished, and
M. Miintz, L'Age d'Or, p. 669, thinks it was not begun till toward 1500. Pre
paratory drawings for it exist in the Louvre, the Galichon collection, and at
Cologne. A picture of the Annunciation (from Monte OUveto), also in the Uffizi,
variously attributed to Ridolfo Ghirlandajo and di Credi, is given by De
Liphart and Dr. Bode to Leonardo. If by the latter maater it is a youthful
work. Mr. Berenson in his catalogue attributes it to Leonardo's master An
drea del Verrocchio ; see The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, p. 130.
" An anonymous author (see Dr. Richter, Leonardo da Vinci, p. 13) teUa us

LEONARDO DA VINCI 383
strument which he had himself constructed almost wholly
of silver, and in the shape of a horse's head,* a new and fan-
that Leonardo was sent in 1483, with Atalanto Migliorotti, to take a lute to the
Duke of Milan. This Duke would have been Gian Galeazzo Sforza, not Lodo-
vico, and the date 1483 is more probable than is Vasari's later one of 1493. By
1487 Leonardo was certainly settled in Milan. It is believed that the follow
ing letter, which was first published by Amoretti, was sent by Leonardo to
Ludovico Sforza. As the handwriting is from right to left, as in all Leonardo'a
private memoranda, we may conclude that it was a copy kept by him of the
actual letter which was sent to Sforza. M. Clement gives 1499 as the date of
this letter, but it was probably of a very much earlier time. It runs as follows :
" Most Illustrious Signor,
*' Having seen and sufficiently considered the works of all those who repute
themselves to be masters and inventors of instruments for war, and found that
the form and operation of these works are in no way different from those in
common use, I permit myself, without seeking to detract from tbe merit of
any other, to make known to your Excellency the secrets I have discovered, at
the same time ofiisring, with fitting opportunity, and at your good pleasure,
to perform all those things which, for the preaent, I will but briefly note be
low. " 1. I have a method of constructing very light and portable bridges, to be
uaed in the pursuit of, or retreat from, the enemy, with others of a stronger
sort, proof against fire or force, and easy to fix or remove. I have also means
for burning and destroying those of the enemy.
" 3. Por the service of sieges, I am prepared to remove the water from the
ditches, and to make an infinite variety of faacines, scaling-ladders, &c., with
engines of other kinds proper to the purposes of a siege.
"3. If the height of the defences or the strength of the position should be
auch that the place cannot be effectually bombarded, I have other meana,
whereby any fortress may be destroyed, provided it be not founded on stone.
"4. I have also most convenient and portable bombs, proper for throwing
showers of small missiles, and with the smoke thereof causing great terror to
the enemy, to hia imminent loss and confusion.
" 5. By means of excavationa made without noise, and forming tortuous
and narrow ways, I have means of reaching any given  (point ?) even
though it be necessary to pass beneath ditches or under a river.
" 6. I can also construct covered wagons, secure and indestructible,
which, entering among the enemy, will break the strongest bodies of men ;
and behind these the infantry can follow in safety and without impedi
ment. "7. I can, if needful, also make bombs, mortars, and field-pieces of beauti
ful and useful shape, entirely different from those in common use.
" 8. Where the use of bomba is not practicable, I can make crossbows, man
gonels, baUstse, and other machines of extraordinary efficiency and quite out of
* The Italian word teschio should be translated ekuU.

384 LEONARDO DA VINCI
cif ul form calculated to give more force and sweetness to the
sound. Here Leonardo surpassed all the musicians who had
assembled to perform before the Duke ; " he was besides one
of the best improvisator i in verse existing at that time, and
the Duke, enchanted with the admirable conversation of
Leonardo, was so charmed by his varied gifts that he de
lighted beyond measure in his society, and prevailed on him
to paint an altar-piece, the subject of which was the Nativity
of Christ, which was sent by the Duke as a present to the
the common way. In fine, as the circumstances of the case shall demand, I
can prepare engines of offence for all purposes.
"9. In case of the conflict having to be maintained at sea, I have methods
for making numerous instruments, offensive and defensive, with vessels that
shall resist the force of the most powerful bombs. I can also make powders
or vapours for the offence of the enemy.
" lU. In time of peace, I beheve that I could equal any other, aa regards
works in architecture. I can prepare designs for buildings, whether pubUc or
private, and also conduct water from one place to another.
'* Furthermore, I can execute works in sculpture, marble, bronze, or terra
cotta. In painting also I can do what may be done, as well as any other, be he
who he may.
'^I can likewise undertake the execution of the bronze horse, which is a
monument that will be to the perpetual glory and immortal honor of my lord
your father of happy memory, and of the illustrious house of Sforza.
" And if any of the above-named things shall seem to any man to be impos
sible and impracticable, I am perfectly ready to make trial of them in your
Excellency's park, or in whatever other place you shall be pleased to command,
commending myself to you with all possible humility."
(The translation of this astonishing letter in which Leonardo quite simply
and concisely offers the Arts of "War and Peace, and promises to enlist them
in the service of the house of Sforza, is taken from Mrs. Poster's notes.)
'^'^ Milanesi cites from Amoretti, p. 33, a note signed Q. R., on page 28 of the
Codex Atlanticus in the Ambrosian Library, which shows Leonardo's interest
in the invention of musical instruments. He also mentions a parchment (one
of the Trivulzi collection) containing a treatise on music, by a Florentine
priest ; this trattato has a frontispiece which shows Leonardo himself with a
lute (chitarra) in his hand. See along description of this frontispiece. Mila
neai, IV., p. 2S, note 2. Certain miniatures in another Trivulzian codex are
ascribed to Leonardo. Milanesi gives them to Fra Antonio da Monza.
Dr. Richter suggests that an excellent reason for Leonardo's saying nothing of
his music in the letter to Sforza was the fact that he was sent by Lorenzo de'
Medici especially to take a lute to the Duke of Milan, and that therefore his
musical proficiency needed no proclaiming.

SIGNORELLI
THE LAST JUDGMENT
CATHEDRAL, ORVIETO

Alinari, Phot.

LEONAEDO DA VINCI 385
Emperor.*' For the Dominican monks of Santa Maria delle
Grazie at Milan, he also painted a Last Supper, which is a
most beautiful and admirable work ; to the heads of the
Apostles in this picture the master gave so much beauty and
majesty that he was constrained to leave that of Christ un
finished,^^ being convinced that he could not impart to it
the divinity which should appertain to and distinguish an
image of the Eedeemer. But this work, remaining thus in
its unfinished state, has been ever held in the highest esti
mation by the Milanese, and not by them only, but by for
eigners also : Leonardo succeeded to perfection in express
ing the doubts and anxiety experienced by the Apostles, and
the desire felt by them to know by whom their Master is to
be betrayed ; in the faces of all appear love, terror, anger,
or grief and bewilderment, unable as they are to fathom the
meaning of their Lord. Nor is the spectator less struck
with admiration by the force and truth with which, on the
^' This work has disappeared.
*3 Vasari's statement that Leonardo never finished the head of Christ is false,
if taken in a literal sense. The painter carried it at least as far as he dl«l the
other heads, but he undoubtedly felt that it never was, and never could be, com
pleted to his own perfect satisfaction. Dr. Richter believes that studies of the
finished heads for the Matthew, Simon, and Judas, can be recognized in the
Windsor collection, and that the study for the Christ in the Brera is genuine ;
its authenticity has been doubted, but from an artist's point of view the draw
ing must be pronounced beautiful and subtle enough to be an original and by a
great master. There has been much controversy regarding ten heads of Apostles
at Weimar. They are larger than are the heads in the fresco. They are in black
chalk, whereas the original studies were cited by Lomazzo as in red chalk, and
studies of the hands are to be seen on some of the same sheets with the heads.
Thus although critics of known ability have decided in their favor, the balance
of evidence seems to be against them. Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni, L'Arch. Stor. deU
Arte, VII., 41-49, thinks they may perhaps be by Solari. If so, they are a val
uable contribution to the study of the picture. These Weimar heads are ar
ranged as follows : Saints Bartholomew, James (Minor), and Andrew together
side by side ; St. Matthew on a separate sheet ; St. Peter and Judas together ;
Saints John, Thomas, and James (Major) together ; St. Philip alone. There are
pen-and-ink sketches by Leonardo in the Louvre, which probably refer to the
Last Supper. One of them is a very interestingly composed group of nudes,
five in number, at a table. There are two other pen sketches at Windsor, and
a red chalk study of doubtful authenticity in the Academy at Venice. See
Dr. Richter's Leonardo da Vinci, pp. 28, 129.

386 LliOKAEDO DA VINCI
other hand, the master has exhibited the impious determina
tion, hatred, and treachery of Judas. The whole work in
deed is executed with inexpressible diligence even in its
most minute part, among other things may be mentioned
the table-cloth, the texture of which is copied with such ex
actitude, that the linen-cloth itself could scarcely look more
real. It is related that the Prior of the Monastery was exces
sively importunate in pressing Leonardo to complete the
picture ; he could in no way comprehend wherefore the
artist should sometimes remain half a day together absorbed
in thought before his work, without making any progress
that he could see ; this seemed to him a strange waste of
time, and he would fain have had him work away as he
could make the men do who were digging in his garden,
never laying the pencil out of his hand. Not content with
seeking to hasten Leonardo, the Prior even complained to
the Duke, and tormented him to such a degree that the lat
ter was at length compelled to send for Leonardo, whom he
courteously entreated to let the work be finished, assuring
him nevertheless that he did so because compelled by the
importunities of the Prior. Leonardo, knowing the Prince
to be intelligent and judicious, determined to explain him
self fully on the subject with him, although he had never
chosen to do so with the Prior. lie therefore discoursed
with him at some length respecting art, and made it per
fectly manifest to his comprehension, that men of genius
are sometimes producing most when they seem to be labour
ing least, their minds being occupied in the elucidation of
their ideas, and in the completion of those conceptions to
which they afterwards give form and expression with the
hand. He further informed the Duke that there were still
wanting to him two heads, one of which, that of the Sav
iour, he could not hope to find on earth, and had not yet at
tained the power of presenting it to himself in imagination,
with all that perfection of beauty and celestial grace which
appeared to him to be demanded for the due representation

LEONARDO DA VINCI 387
of the Divinity incarnate. The second head still wanting
was that of Judas, which also caused him some anxiety, since
he did not think it possible to imagine a form of feature
that should properly render the countenance of a man who,
after so many benefits received from his master, had pos
sessed a heart so depraved as to be capable of betraying his
Lord and the Creator of the world ; with regard to that sec
ond, however, he would make search, and, after all — if he
could find no better, he need never be at any great loss, for
there would always be the head of that troublesome and
impertinent Prior. This made the Duke laugh with all
his heart, he declared Leonardo to be completely in the
right, and the poor Prior, utterly confounded, went away
to drive on the digging in his garden, and left Leonardo in
peace : the head of Judas was then finished so successfully,
that it is indeed the true image of treachery and wickedness ;
but that of the Eedeemer remained, as we have said, in
complete. The admirable excellence of this picture, the
beauty of its composition, and the care with which it was
executed, awakened in the King of France,^* a desire to have
it removed into his own kingdom, insomuch that he made
many attempts to discover architects, who might be able to
secure it by defences of wood and iron, that it might be
transported without injury. He was not to be deterred by
any consideration of the cost that might be incurred, but
the painting, being on the wall, his Majesty was compelled
to forego his desire, and the Milanese retained their pict
ure.^ " Francis I.
" The Last Supper was, according to Luca Pacioli, completed in 149S, bnt
it is impossible to say when it was begun. Dr. Richter suggests that it was
commenced later than 1494. From a letter of Ludovico Sforza, of June 30,
1497, it appears that the commission for the picture came both from him as
Duke of Milan and from the monks of the convent.
Leonardo mixed his colors with oil, a medium which he did not yet fuUy
understand, and his pupil, Lomazzo, tells us that already in his time "the
painting was completely ruined ; " when Vasari saw it in 1.566 it was covered
with spots ; Bellotti repainted it in 1726, and Mazza in 1770. Carlo Amoretti
said that in 1804 it could only be distinguished when viewed from a distance,

388 LEONARDO DA VINCI
In the same refectory, and while occupied with the Last
Supper, Leonardo painted the portrait of the above-named
Duke Ludovico, with that of his first-born son, Maximil
ian : these are on the wall opposite to that of the Last Sup
per, and where there is a Crucifixion painted after the old
manner. On the other side of the Duke is the portrait of
the Duchess Beatrice, with that of Francesco, their second
all detail being destroyed when the picture was seen near at hand. The monks
cut a doorway through the lower part of the fresco, and when the refectory
became a barracks the French dragoons pelted the apostles' heads with stones.
Since 1804 further restorations have taken place, and to-day our best knowl
edge of Leonardo's Last Supper as it originally existed can only be had
through early copies.
These copies abound ; nearly a century ago Bossi (7/ Cenacolo di Leo
nardo da Virici) cited some fifty of them. Many of the old copies are at
tributed to Marco d'Oggionno (d'Oggione, d'Uggioni), a pupU of Leonardo.
There is one of these ancient copies at Ponte a Capriasca, near Lugano. Sig.
G. Frizzoni {L'Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, 1890, p. 187) suggests 1520 as its date.
The very famous copy in the Diploma Gallery of the Royal Academy, London,
is said by Dr. Richter ( Leonardo da Vinci, p. 26) to be probably by Gian Pie-
trini, also a pupil of Leonardo. In the refectory of S. Maria, with the origi
nal, is a copy by Antonio da Gessate, 1506, found in the Ospedale Maggiore, of
Milan, and another by Cesare Magnis, the latter being probably of the epoch
of Luini and Solari (see L'Arch. Stor. dell' Arte, III., p. 410). A relief by
Tullio Lombardo, in S. Maria dei Miracoli at Venice, has been recognized by
Sig. G. Frizzoni (L'.irch. Stor. dell' Arte, II. 134) as one of the earliest
(free) copies of the Cenacolo. The famous engraving by Raphael Morghen
(1800), generally reputed to be the best substitute for the original, was, ac
cording to Dr. Richter (Leonardo da Vinci, p. 26), not copied by Morghen
from the original, but was executed in Florence from a drawing made in
Milan by Teodoro Matteini, who was sent to Lombardy by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany to make the study. Amoretti is sure that Matteini, finding the orig
inal too badly injured for possible transcription, based himself upon d'Oggi-
onno's copy. Bernardino Luini, according to De Pagave, made a copy (since
lost) for Louis XII., of France, and Rubens in turn copied the picture, put
ting much of his own manner into the rendering.
The original, in spite of the destruction done to it by time and by men,
remains, says Dr. Richter, ' ' the most perfect composition in the history of
painting of all ages." The same author finds that among all the precursors
who had painted the same subject, Andrea dal Castagno is the one who most in
fluenced Leonardo. See Dr. Richter's comparison of the two artists and his
descriptive analysis of the composition of the Cenacolo in his Leonardo da
Vinci, pp. 30-25, and especially his translation, on page 39, of Leonardo's own
manuRcrint notes regarding the Last Supper, notes which were bequeathed in
1876 by John Forster to the South Kensington Museum.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 389
son : both of these princes were afterwards Dukes of Milan :
the portraits are most admirably done.^*
While still engaged with the paintings of the refectory,
Leonardo proposed to the Duke to cast a horse in bronze of
colossal size, and to place on it a figure of the Duke,'*' by
way of monument to his memory : this he commenced, but
finished the model on so large a scale that it never could be
completed, and there were many ready to declare (for the
judgments of men are various, and are sometimes rendered
malignant by envy) that Leonardo had begun it, as he did
others of his labours, without intending ever to finish it.
The size of the work being such, insuperable difficulties
presented themselves, as I have said, when it came to be
cast ; nay, the casting could not be effected in one piece, and
it is very probable that, when this result was known, many
were led to form the opinion alluded to above, from the fact
that so many of Leonardo's works had failed to receive com
pletion. But of a truth, there is good reason to believe that
the very greatness of his most exalted mind, aiming at
more than could be effected, was itself an impediment ; per
petually seeking to add excellence to excellence, and per
fection to perfection ; this was, without doubt, the true
hindrance, so that, as our Petrarch has it, the work was re
tarded by desire. All who saw the large model in clay which
" This Crucifixion, dated 1495, is by Giovanni Donato Montorfano. Leo-
( nardo is believed to have painted at left and right of the lower portion of this
picture, the portraits of Ludovico Sforza, his wife Beatrice d'Este, two of
their children, and various saints (see tbe curious article, with reproductions,
in L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte for January-April, 1895). The above-
mentioned portraits have sufiered greatly from time and dampness.
There are two fine heads in the Ambrosian library which are attributed to
Leonardo. This attribution is refused by Morelli, who ascribes the portrait
of the woman to Ambrogio de Predis. Burckhardt (edited by Dr. Bode) en
thusiastically gives this latter portrait, which has been called Bianca Maria
Sforza, to Leonardo. M. MUntz agrees with this ascription, as also with the
belief that it represents rather some other princess than the Sforza. M.
MUntz also accepts the so-called Belle Ferronniere of the Louvre as an origi
nal Leonardo.
=' A statue, that is, of Francesco Sforza, father of the reigning Duke, Lu
dovico.

390 LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo made for this work, declared that they had never
seen anything more beautiful or more majestic ; this model
remained as he had left it until the French, with their King
Louis, came to Milan, when they destroyed it totally.'* A
small model of the same work, executed in wax, and which
'" No other artist's works have suffered from such a triple tragedy as re
sulted in the successive destruction of Leonardo's three masterpieces, the
Cenacolo, the cartoon of the Battle of Anghiari, and the equestrian statue
of Francesco Sforza. The latter, which was the work of many years, was
apparently commenced shortly after the artist's arrival in Milan, and was the
subject of many sketches in the flat and in relief (wax and clay) by Leonardo.
According to M. Miintz, one of the latter may be that existing in the collec
tion of Madame Edouard Andree, of Paris. As for the former, a sketch in
the Codex Atlanticus, and another in the Ambrosian Library, have been sug
gested as possible designs for the Sforza, while Messrs. Courajod and MoreUi
had a long controversy regarding a pen study in the Munich collections. The
latter, representing a mounted warrior trampling upon a fallen man, was by
M. Courajod attributed to Da Vinci; by Morelli to Antonio del PoUajuolo.
The Windsor coUection of sketches contains many studies, not only for the
horse and rider but for the pedestal, together with manuscript notes regard
ing both of the above and concerning also the casting of the statue ; the latter
was to have been done in three separate pieces. For interesting notes regard
ing bronze-casting and gun-founding see Dr. J. P. Richter's Literary Works
of Leonardo da Vinci, II., pp. 20-24. In all of the studies except the one at
tributed by Morelli to PoUajuolo, aud catalogued as by the latter (see Italian
Masters), the horse is walking, as in the statues of Gattamelata at Padua and
CoUeone at Venice (see reproduction by Dr. Richter, op. cit., page 35 of the
sketch, which from the copious manuscript notes regarding it, he considers to
have been the one adopted).
Dr. Richter believes that Leonardo took part in some quite early competi
tion for this statue, in which PoUajuolo al.co probably competed, and that
the statement of Sabba da Castiglione, that Leonardo devoted sixteen years
to it, means only that sixteen years elapsed between the competition and the
final setting up of the model. This colossal model for the statue, which if
completed would have been twenty-six and a half feet high, was in ten years
after its commencement sufiiciently advanced to adorn the festival held at the
marriage of Bianca Maria Sforza with Maximilian of Germany. The fall of
Ludovico Sforza put an end to work on the statue, and although Louis XII.
admired the latter greatly, his Gascon cross-bowmen are said to have made a
target of it. They could hardly have destroyed it, since afterwards the Duke
of Ferrara tried vainly to obtain the model for his own uses. At all events
it finaUy disappeared, either at once or under the gradual effect of time and
weather. If it had been spared, the Gattamelata of Donatello and the Col
leone of Verrocchio would together with it have shown us Renaissance sculp
ture of the first, second, and third periods as applied to colossal equestrian
statues.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 391
was considered perfect, was also lost, with a book containing
studies of the anatomy of the horse, which Leonardo had
prepared for his own use. He afterwards gave his attention,
and with increased earnestness, to the anatomy of the hu
man frame, a study wherein Messer Marcantonio della Torre,
an eminent philosopher, and himself, did mutually assist
and encourage each other.^ Messer Marcantonio was at
that time holding lectures in Pavia, and wrote on the same
subject ; he was one of the first, as I have heard say, who
began to apply the doctrines of Galen to the elucidation of
medical science, and to diffuse light over the science of
anatomy, which, up to that time, had been involved in the
almost total darkness of ignorance. In this attempt Marc
antonio was wonderfully aided by the genius and labour of
Leonardo, who filled a book with drawings in red crayons,
outlined with the pen, all copies made with the utmost care
[from bodies] ^ dissected by his own hand. In this book he
set forth the entire structure, arrangement, and disposition
of the bones, to which he afterwards added all the nerves,
in their due order, and next supplied the muscles, of which
the first are afiixed to the bones, the second give the power
of cohesion or holding firmly, and the third impart that of
motion. Of each separate part he wrote an explanation in
rude characters, written backwards and with the left-hand, so
that whoever is not practised in reading cannot understand
them, since they are only to be read with a mirror.^' Of
"Dr. Richter (Literary Works, etc., II. 105), is unable to discover any
mention of della Torre in tbe manuscripts of Leonardo, although he thinks it
not impossible that the two may have worked together. This famous anato
mist, a Veronese, died when only thirty years old.
=" At this point the original of Vasari lacks a word to make sense of his
sentence, and Milanesi has suggested the words "human bodies," corpi hu-
manl, which the translator has intercalated.
'¦ Pacioli, who was probably the first to comment upon Leonardo's reversed
method of writing, mentions it in his De Divina Proportione, Venice, 1509,
saying also that Leonardo drew with his left hand. PacioU was accustomed
to read the reversed writing by turning the paper around and looking through
it. Dr. Richter is of opinion that a mirror is too fatiguing to be advis
able. He also notes the fact that in almost aU of Leonardo's authenticated

/'

892 LEONARDO DA VINCI
these anatomical drawings of the human form,^ a great
part is now in the possession of Messer Francesco da Melzo,^
a Milanese gentleman, who, in the time of Leonardo, was a
child of remarkable beauty, much beloved by him, and is
now a handsome and amiable old man, who sets great store
by these drawings, and treasures them as relics, together
with the portrait of Leonardo of blessed memory.*' To all
who read these writings it must appear almost incredible
that this sublime genius could, at the same time, discourse,
as he has done, of art, and of the muscles, nerves, veins, and
every other part of the frame, all treated with equal dili
gence and success. There are, besides, certain other writ
ings of Leonardo, also written with the left-hand, in the
possession of N. N.,* a painter of Milan ; they treat of
painting, of design generally, and of colouring. ^^ This
artist came to see me in Florence no long time since ; he
then had an intention of publishing this work, and took it
with him to Eome, there to give this purpose effect, but
what was the end of the matter I do not know.
drawings, wherever they are shaded, the strokes lie downward (from left to
right), as if they were drawn with the left hand. It has been suggested that
Leonardo adopted this peculiar form of writing to make the publication of
the notes difiicult. Leonardo, however, wished to have his writings known
and read, though not of course in the form in which they have come down to
us, and his writing backward was begun when he was a young man. The
orthography of Leonardo was also peculiar, and he used many abbreviations ;
occasionally he wrote in the ordinary way.
'* The name of the painter is omitted in the original work of Vasari. It
was probably Aurelio Luini.
"'' Many of the anatomical studies are in England. Leonardo's manuscript
treatise on the anatomy of the horse exists in part in the Queen's Library at
Windsor. Some of his ot'ner anatomical drawings have been preserved and
are far superior to the engravings iu the scientific books of the time. The
celebrated surgeon, William Hunter, said, ' ' I am fully persuaded that Leo
nardo was the best anatomist at that time in the world." Blumenbach also
esteemed the drawings highly.
23 Melzi was also a pupil of Leonardo, painting well though not frequently.
A colossal Madonna in fresco, at Vaprio, a palace of the Melzi family, is at
tributed to him.
3* The latest modern criticism is disposed to accept the drawing in the Royal
Library at Turin as the only authentic and original portrait of Leonardo.
3^ See Bibliography.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 393
But to return to the labours of Leonardo. During his
time the King of France came to Milan,^'' whereupon he
(Leonardo) was entreated to prepare something very ex
traordinary for his reception. He therefore constructed a
lion, and this figure, after having made a few steps, opened
its breast, which was discovered to be entirelv filled full of
lilies. While in Milan, Leonardo took the l^Iilanese Salai ^
for his disciple ; this was a youth of singular grace and
beauty of person, with curled and waving hair, a feature of .
personal beauty by which Leonardo was always greatly
pleased. This Salai he instructed in various matters relat
ing to art, and certain works still in Milan, and said to be
by Salai, were retouched by Leonardo himself.
Having returned to Florence ^ he found that the Servite
Monks had commissioned Filippino to paint the altar-piece
for the principal chapel in their church of the Nunziata,
when he declared that he would himself very willingly have
undertaken such a work. This being repeated to Filippino,
he, like the amiable man that he was, withdrew himself at
once, when the Monks gave the picture to Leonardo. And
to the end that he might make progress with it, they took
him into their own abode with all his household, supplying
the expenses of the whole, and so he kept them attending on
him for a long time, but did not make any commencement ;
at length, however, he prepared a cartoon, with the Ma
donna, Sant' Anna, and the infant Christ, so admirably de
picted that it not only caused astonishment in every artist
who saw it, but, when finished, the chamber wherein it
stood was crowded for two days by men and women, old and
2' According to Lomazzo this was Francis I. He came to Milan in 1515.
" Salaino rather ; he was both scholar and servant of Leonardo. Several of
his pictures are in the Brera gallery.
^ In the year 1499, when Ludovico Sforza lost his duchy, Leonardo, after
visiting Mantua and Venice, returned to Florence with the mathematician Fra
Luca Pacioli, and there made the designs for the treatise De Divina Propor
tione. Pacioli lived in Milan from 1406 to 1499 on terms of intimacy with
Leonardo da Vinci, and Messrs. Crowe and CavalcaseUe suggest that Leo
nardo may have obtained some of his scientific knowledge from Piero della
Francesca through Pacioli ; see their History of Painting in Italy, IL 527.

394 LEONARDO DA VINCI
young ; a concourse, in short, such as one sees flocking to
the most solemn festivals, all hastening to behold the won
ders produced by Leonardo, and which awakened amaze
ment in the whole people. Nor was this without good
cause, seeing that in the countenance of that Virgin there
is all the simplicity and loveliness which can be conceived
as giving grace and beauty to the Mother of Christ, the
artist proposing to show in her the modesty and humility of
the virgin, filled with joy and gladness as she contemplates
the beauty of her Son, whom she is tenderly supporting in
her lap. And while Our Lady, with eyes modestly bent
down, is looking at a little San Giovanni, who is playing
with a lamb, Sant' Anna, at the summit of delight, is ob
serving the group with a smile of happiness, rejoicing as
she sees that her terrestrial progeny have become divine ;
all which is entirely worthy of the mind and genius of Leo
nardo : ^ this cartoon was subsequently taken to France, as
will be related hereafter.^" Leonardo then painted the por-
3" M. Miintz, L'Age d' Or, p. 796, considers that this cartoon is identical with
the St. Anne of the Louvre, and that the cartoon in the Diploma Gallery of
the Royal Academy, London, is an earlier study with variations for this same
cartoon. Other critics, among them Dr. Richter, consider the London exam
ple to be the work mentioned by Vasari. Evidently both compositions are
sufficiently similar to refer to the te.xt of the author ; see note 52 aud also " a
Cartoon by Leonardo" in the Magazine of Art, VIL, p. 448. Mr. Bernard
Berenson, in his Florentine Painters of the Renaissance (New York, 1896),
catalogues the St. Anne of the Louvre as "in part" b}' Leonardo, and ascribes
the London cartoon to him unqualifiedly. Mr. Berenson, whose essay upon
da Vinci is admirable though short, attributes to the painter the Annuncia
tion in the Louvre numbered 1,26.5, and in Rome a portrait of a girl (Donna
Laura Minghetti). He also adds to his list of attributions, though this time
¦with a question mark, the wax head of a Girl in Lille, see Verrocchio's Life.
" The Vierge aux Rochers (not mentioned by Vasari) " marks an epoch in
the annals of Florentine art. Here Leonardo has broken with the traditional
hardness and dryness of contemporaneous easel pictures.'' The Louvre and
the National Gallery both possess examples of this picture, and there has been
almost unending controversy as to which of the two is by the hand of Leo
nardo. The balance of criticism is in favor of the one in the Louvre, which is
harder in outline and more severe in character than the other. Both pictures
have a pedigree ; that of the Louvre has come down from the epoch and col
lections of Francis I. ; the one in the National Gallery is proved by Sig.
Emilio Motta (Ambrogio Preda e Leonardo da Vinci) to have stood at one

LEONARDO DA VINCI 395
trait of Ginevra, the wife of Amerigo Benci,''' a most beau
tiful thing, and abandoned the commission entrusted to him
by the Servite Monks who once more confided it to Filip
pino, but neither could the last-named master complete it,
because his death supervened before he had time to do so.*^
For Francesco del Giocondo, Leonardo undertook to
paint the portrait of Mona Lisa, his wife, but, after loiter
ing over it for four years, he finally left it unfinished.
This work is now in the possession of King Francis of
France, and is at Fontainebleau.^^ Whoever shall desire to
time in the church of San Francesco at Milan. Sig. Frizzoni beUeves that
the picture in the National Gallery is a rep lica, made to stand in the church
and take the place of the original after the latter had been removed aud
sent to Prance. Some German critica — Passavant, Waagen, Miiller- Walde
— have doubted the genuineness of the Vierge aux Rochers, but Herr Milller-
Walde now appears to agree with M. Muntz that the picture antedates Leo
nardo's departure (from Florence) for Milan. The latter critic says that in
the Rochers picture, when it is compared with the Cena or the Sani' Anna,
Leonardo seems a primitive master and "almost his own precursor " (quasi
precursore di se stesso). M. Muntz agrees with M. Anatole Gruyer that the
work in the National GaUery was painted under the direction of Leonardo,
and that it is grazloso, while the one in the Louvre is hard and severe (duro
d'aspetto e di tono aspro'). Dr. Richter (see his Italian Art in the National
GaUery) compares the two pictures of the Vierge aux Rochers. The evidence
seems to him to be iu favor of the authenticity of the one in the Louvre. The
picture bought by Lord Suffolk was undoubtedly (see Motta as noted above)
that cited by Lomazzo as an original da Vinci and as located at the end of the
sixteenth century in the church of San Francesco at Milan. It was bought
as a copy, in 1796, by the painter Hamilton. See also Dr. Gustavo Frizzoni,
Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1884, p. 330. The two fine angels which stood at the
sides of the National Gallery picture when it was in San Francesco at Milan
passed into the coUection of the Duca Melzi in that city.
<' Nothing is proved regarding the whereabouts of the Ginevra ; for contro
versial details see Milanesi, Vol. IV., p. 39, note 2 ; also Die Graphischen
Kiinste, Vol. XV., 1893, in which Dr. Bode, agreeing to the attribution to the
youthful Leonardo of a portrait of a young girl in the Liechtenstein collec
tion at Vienna, thinks it may be the Ginevra de' Benci. Sig. Gustavo UzieUi,
iu his Leonardo da Vinci e tre gentildonne del Secolo XV. (published at Pi-
nerolo in 1890), treats of Beatrice d'Este, Cecilia GaUerani, and Lucrezia
Crivelli. " It was completed by Pietro Perugino, see the life of that painter.
" Probably the most famous portrait in the world is that called the Mona
Lisa (Madonna Lisa) and also La Gioconda of Leonardo da Vinci. It is in
the Louvre, and ia the portrait of Lisa di Anton Maria di Noldo Gherardini,

396 LEONARDO DA VINCI
see how far art can imitate nature, may do so to perfection
in this head, wherein every peculiarity that could be de
picted by the utmost subtlety of the pencil has been faith
fully reproduced. The eyes have the lustrous brightness
and moisture which is seen in life, and around them are
those pale, red, and slightly livid circles, also proper to
nature, with the lashes, which can only be copied, as these
are, with the greatest difficulty ; the eyebrows also are rep
resented with the closest exactitude, where fuller and where
more thinly set, with the separate hairs delineated as they
issue from the skin, every turn being followed, and all the
pores exhibited in a manner that could not be more natural
than it is : the nose, with its beautiful and delicately rose
ate nostrils, might be easily believed to be alive ; the mouth,
admirable in its outline, has the lips uniting the rose-tints
of their colour with that of the face, in the utmost perfec
tion, and the carnation of the cheek does not appear to be
painted, but truly of flesh and blood : he who looks ear
nestly at the pit of the throat cannot but believe that he sees
the beating of the pulses, and it may be truly said that this
work is painted in a manner well calculated to make the
boldest master tremble, and astonishes all who behold it,
however well accustomed to the marvels of art. Mona Lisa
married in 1495, as third wife of Francesco di Bartolommeo di Zanobi del Gio
condo. Leonardo is said to have worked upon this picture four years (1500 to
1.504). Evidently he found in the Gioconda exactly that type which was most
sympathetic and interesting to him, for the Lisa is the incarnation of the
Leonardesque smile, a smile of eyes and mouth, and first set upon canvas in all
its subtlety by Leonardo after other painters had been content to make a por
trait simply grave and lifelike, that is to say, to record the abiding where Leo
nardo strove to perpetuate the evanescent. We must not forget, however,
that though this is a supersubtle rendering of it, the Leonardesque smile,
which meets us throughout the north of Italy upon the canvases of a whole
school, is found also upon the features of the statue of David, sculptured by
Leonardo's master, Verrocchio. The portrait in the Pitti Gallery, of Florence,
called La Monaca, has been endlessly discussed. Dr. Bode attributes it to
Franciabigio, Morelli to Perugino. Sig. Enrico Ridolfi (L'Arch. Stor. dell'
Arte, 1891, p. 440) declares that none of the recent attributions are weU
founded, aud retains the attribution to Leonardo until some real proof to the
contrary is advanced.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 397
was exceedingly beautiful, and while Leonardo was painting
her portrait, he took the precaution of keeping some one
constantly near her, to sing or play on instruments, or to
jest and otherwise amuse her, to the end that she might
continue cheerful, and so that her face might not exhibit
the melancholy expression often imparted by painters to the
likenesses they take. In this portrait of Leonardo's, on the
contrary, there is so pleasing an expression, and a smile so
sweet, that while looking at it one thinks it rather divine
than human, and it has ever been esteemed a wonderful
work, since life itself could exhibit no other appearance.
The excellent productions of this divine artist '''' had so
greatly increased and extended his fame, that all men who
delighted in the arts (nay, the whole city of Florence) were
anxious that he should leave behind him some memorial of
himself, and there was much discussion everywhere in re
spect to some great and important work to be executed by
him, to the end that the commonwealth might have the
glory, and the city the ornament, imparted by the genius,
grace, and judgment of Leonardo, to all that he did. At
that time the great Hall of the council had been constructed
anew, the architecture being after designs by Giuliano da ,
San Gallo, Simone Pollaiuoli, called Cronaca, Michelagnolo
<« Dr. Richter believes (see Leonardo da Vinci, p. 71) that a relief of two
naked youths in the Palazzo Communale of Pistoja, dated 1494, bears the
stamp of Leonardo's style, and thinks he had a share in the design, perhaps in
the execution. The author feels that intrigue and jealousy on the part of
other artists had much to do with Leonardo's receiving so little encourage
ment to remain in Florence and Rome. Dr. Richter is probably right, and
would no doubt willingly add that Leonardo's impatient spirit of inquiry
conduced to his material unsuocess, for materiaUy we must admit that he was
far less successful than he deserved to be. Csesar Borgia, as may be seen
from his orders to his lieutenants, seems to have valued his great engineer
highly, but his service was short. Both Leonardo's ducal patrons, Valentinoia
and Sforza, failed utterly, and if Ludovico Sforza at Loches was a prisoner,
Leonardo at Amboise must have sometimes felt like an exile, in spite of the
favor of King Francis, for no laurels of Milan or of France ever seemed quite
so green to a Tuscan as those which grew by the Arno. It is poetical justice
that the nation which has been most progressive in the modern arts should
have harbored Leonardo, and should have the largest present material inherit
ance of the works of this most advanced of aU the sons of Florence.

398 LEONARDO DA VINCI
Buonarroti, and Baccio d' Agnolo, as will be related in the
proper place. The building having been completed with
great rapidity, as was determined between the Gonfaloniere
and the more distinguished citizens, it was then commanded
by public decree that Leonardo should depict some fine work
therein. The said hall was entrusted, accordingly, to that
master by Piero Soderini, then Gonfaloniere of Justice, and
he, very willing to undertake the work, commenced a car-
toon^5 ij^ the very hall of the Pope, an apartment so called,
in Santa Maria Novella. Herein he represented the History
of Niccolo Piccinino, Captain-General to the Duke Filippo
of Milan, in which he depicted a troop of horsemen fighting
around a standard, and struggling for the possession thereof.
This painthig was considered to be a most excellent one,
¦•s Several so-called copies of the cartoon exist. One, a painting, registered
in an inventory of 1635, as by Leonardo himself. Milanesi, who discovered it
in the Guardaroba, does not believe iu its authenticity. A second is an en
graving made in 1558. Another is an engraving by Edelinck from a very free
rendering by Rubens. These all differ, as do still others which are claimed as
copies. Manuscript notes by Leonardo referring to the painting o£ battles
still exist.
This short-lived cartoon was one of the epoch-making works of the Renais
sance, and divided with Michelangelo's battle of Pisa the attention of all
Florence. The great hall of the Five Hundred was to have been adorned
by these two works, but the Republican spirit, which inspired and hastened
the building of the hall and dictated the subjects of the cartoons, was wholly
hateful to the Medici princes, who, shortly after the Sala was built, returned
to Florence and ruled it. Both the paintings and the drawings of Leonardo
and Michelangelo disappeared, and the hall was completely altered and painted
with subjects referring to the reigning family. How much this anti-republi
can feeling of the Medici may have had to do with so complete a disappearance
of all souvenirs of Soderini's government will never be known.
Leonardo, as usual, seems to have tried a new medium (encaustic) in the ex
ecution of the cartoon, and to have regretted his experiment. It was painted
1503 to 1505, and in 1513 enough of it was still existing to be worth protecting,
since certain moneys were spent by the city at that time for its preservation
from injury at the hands of visitors to the palace. In May, 1506, Leonardo
was called to Milan by Charles d'Amboise, the governor of that city for King
Louis XII., and went there with the permission of the Signory for absence
during a fixed period of time. Later this leave of absence was extended by
special request of the King, and afterward we hear nothing further of the car
toon or painting in the Palazzo Publico. See Milanesi, IV., 43-45, note, for
copious details regarding the contracts, permissions, etc.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 399
evincing great mastery in the admirable qualities of the com
position, as well as in the power with which the whole work
is treated. Among other peculiarities of this scene, it is to
be remarked that not only are rage, disdain, and the desire
for revenge apparent in the men, but in the horses also ;
two of these animals, with their fore-legs intertwined, are
attacking each other with their teeth, no less fiercely than
do the cavaliers who are fighting for the standard. One of
the combatants has seized the object of their strife with
both hands, and is urging his horse to its speed, while he,
lending the whole weight of his person to the effort, clings
with his utmost strength to the shaft of the banner, and
strives to tear it by main force from the hands of four others,
who are all labouring to defend it with uplifted swords,
which each brandishes in the attempt to divide the shaft
with one of his hands, while he grasps the cause of conten
tion with the other. An old soldier, with a red cap on his
head, has also seized the standard with one hand, and rais
ing a curved scimitar in the other, is uttering cries of rage,
and fiercely dealing a blow, by which he is endeavouring to
cut off the hands of two of his opponents, who, grinding
their teeth, are struggling in an attitude of fixed determina
tion to defend their banner. On the earth, among the feet
of the horses, are two other figures foreshortened, who are
obstinately fighting in that position ; one has been hurled
to the ground, while the other has thrown himself upon
him, and, raising his arm to its utmost height, is bringing
down his dagger with all his force to the throat of his
enemy ; the latter, meanwhile, struggling mightily with
arms and feet, is defending himself from the impending
death. <6 j^ ^ould be scarcely possible adequately to describe
the skill shown by Leonardo in this work, or to do justice
to the beauty of design with which he has depicted the war
like habiliments of the soldiers, with their helmets, crests,
and other ornaments, infinitely varied as they are ; or the
wonderful mastery he exhibits in the forms and move-
" Vasari describes only a part of the cartoon, the Battle for the Standard.

400 LEONARDO DA VINCI
ments of the horses ; these animals were, indeed, more admi
rably treated by Leonardo than by any other master ; the
muscular development, the animation of their movements,
and their exquisite beauty, are rendered with the utmost
fidelity. It is said that, for the execution of this cartoon, Leonardo
caused a most elaborate scaffolding to be constructed, which
could be increased in height by being drawn together, or ren
dered wider by being lowered : it was his intention to paint
the picture in oil, on the wall, but he made a composition for
the intonaco, or ground, which was so coarse that, after he
had painted for a certain time, the work began to sink in
such a manner as to induce Leonardo very shortly to aban
don it altogether, since he saw that it was becoming spoiled.
Leonardo da Vinci was a man of very high spirit, and was
very generous in all his actions : it is related of him that,
having once gone to the bank to receive the salary which
Piero Soderini caused to be paid to him every mouth, the
cashier was about to give him certain paper packets of
pence, but Leonardo refused to receive them, remarking, at
the same time, " I am no penny-painter." Not completing
the picture, he was charged with having deceived Piero
Soderini, and was reproached accordingly ; when Leonardo
so wrought with his friends, that they collected the sums
which he had received and took the money to Piero Soderini
with offers of restoration, but Piero would not accept them.
On the exaltation of Pope Leo X. to the chair of St.
Peter,*' Leonardo accompanied the Duke Giuliano de' Med
ici to Eome : ^ the Pontiff was much inclined to philosoph
ical inquiry, and was more especially addicted to the study
of alchemy : Leonardo, therefore, having composed a kind
^' Vasari here leaps from 1504 to 1514 ; during that time Leonardo travelled
between Florence and Milan, and was busy with hydraulic works in the latter
city. In 1503 he bad letters-patent from Caesar Borgia, as his engineer and
architect, and made important maps, which are referred to in note 18.
^^ The disordered condition of Lombardy put an end to all artistic work for
the time being, and was the cause of Leonardo's leaving the north and going
to Rome.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 401
of paste from wax, made of this, while it was still in its
half-liquid state, certain figures of animals, entirely hollow
and exceedingly slight in texture, which he then filled with
air. When he blew into these figures he could make them
fly through the air, but when the air within had escaped
from them they fell to the earth. One day the vine-dresser
of the Belvedere found a very curious lizard, and for this
creature Leonardo constructed wings, made from the skins
of other lizards, flayed for the purpose ; into these wings he
put quicksilver, so that when the animal walked, the wings
moved also, with a tremulous motion : he then made eyes,
horns, and a beard for the creature, which he tamed and
kept in a case ; he would then show it to the friends who
came to visit him, and all who saw it ran away terrified. He
more than once, likewise, caused the intestines of a sheep to
be cleansed and scraped until they were brought into such a
state of tenuity that they could be held within the hollow
of the hand, having then placed in a neighbouring chamber
a pair of blacksmith's bellows, to which he had made fast
one end of the intestines, he would blow into them until he
caused them to fill the whole room, which was a very large
one, insomuch that whoever might be therein was compelled
to take refuge in a corner : he thus showed them transpar
ent and full of wind, remarking that, whereas they had
previously been contained within a small compass, they
were now filling all space, and this, he would say, was a fit
emblem of talent or genius. He made numbers of these
follies in various kinds, occupied himself much with mirrors
and optical instruments, and made the most singular exper
iments in seeking oils for painting, and varnishes to pre
serve the work when executed. About this time he painted
a small picture for Messer Baldassare Turini, of Pescia, who
was Datary to Pope Leo : the subject of this work was Our
Lady, with the Child in her arms, and it was executed by
Leonardo with infinite care and art, but whether from the
carelessness of those who prepared the ground, or because of
its peculiar and fanciful mixtures for colours, varnishes.

402 ' LEONARDO DA VINCI
&c., it is now much deteriorated. In another small picture
he painted a little Child, which is graceful and beautiful to
a miracle. These paintings are both in Pescia, in the pos
session of Messer Giulio Turini. ''' It is related that Leo
nardo, having received a commission for a certain picture
from Pope Leo, immediately began to distil oils and herbs
for the varnish, whereupon the pontiff remarked, " Alas !
the while, this man will assuredly do nothing at all, since he
is thinking of the end before he has made a beginning to
his work." ^ There was perpetual discord between Michel
agnolo Buonarroti and Leonardo," and the competition be
tween them caused Michelagnolo to leave Florence, the
Duke Giuliano framing an excuse for him, the pretext for
his departure being that he was summoned to Eome by the
Pope for the Facade of San Lorenzo. When Leonardo
heard of this, he also departed and went to France, where
the king, already possessing several of his works, was most
kindly disposed towards him, and wished him to paint the
cartoon of Sant' Anna, but Leonardo, according to his
"Both of these works are believed to be lost. Milanesi, IV. 47, note 1, re
fers one of them hypothetically to the gallery of Diisseldorf. Dr. Bode claims
for Leonardo, in the gallery of Berlin, a Christ arising from the Tomb, with
Saints Lucy and Leonard kneeling at either side. The Vierge d I'Oeillet
(Munich) is attributed by the Baron H. von Geymiiller to Leonardo ; other
critics dispute him. See L'Archivio Storico dell' Arte, IV., p. 66.
^^ It is suggested that the picture painted for Leo X. maybe the Holy Fam
ily at the Hermitage. The St. Catherine in this picture is said to be a portrait
of the sister-in-law of Leo X. M. Clement does not believe that the work is
by Leonardo, nor does Morelli admit it. The Madonna in Sant' Onofrio at
Rome is no longer ascribed to Leonardo ; M. Marcel Reymond attributes it to
Cesare da Sesto.
^' The anonymous biographer of Leonardo tells an anecdote of a wordy en
counter in Florence. Leonardo, accompanied by G. de Gavina, met a party of
notables who were discussing a passage of Dante. They asked Leonardo to
explain the passage. As Michelangelo was also present Leonardo said, " Michel
angelo will be able to tell what it means." The great sculptor replied : " Nay,
do thou explain it thyself, horse-modeller that thou art, who, unable to cast a
statue in bronze wast forced by shame to give up the attempt." He then
turned his back on the assembly and departed. This is one of a. series of
similar anecdotes told of Michelangelo, who though he could be generous
enough at times seems often to have given free rein to his personal dislikes.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 403
custom, kept the king^^ a long time waiting with nothing
better than words. Finally, having become old, he lay sick
for many months, and, finding himself near death, wrought
diligently to make himself acquainted with the Catholic
ritual, and with the good and holy path of the Christian
religion : ^ he then confessed with great penitence and
many tears, and although he could not support himself on
his feet, yet, being sustained in the arms of his servants and
friends, he devoutly received the Holy Sacrament, while
thus out of his bed. The king, who was accustomed fre
quently and affectionately to visit him, came immediately
afterwards to his room, aud he, causing himself out of rev
erence to be raised up, sat in his bed describing his malady
and the different circumstances connected with it, lament
ing, besides, that he had offended God and man, inasmuch
as that he had not laboured in art as he ought to have done.
He was then seized with a violent paroxysm, the forerunner
of death, when the king, rising and supporting his head to
give him such assistance and do him such favour as he
could, in the hope of alleviating his sufferings, the spirit of
Leonardo, which was most divine, conscious that he could
attain to no greater honour, departed in the arms of the
monarch,^* being at that time in the seventy-fifth year of
his age.
^' Dr. Richter (Leonardo da Vinci, p. 100), says of the St. Anne in the
Louvre that it is authentic. It is alluded to in a sixteenth-century sonnet by
Girolamo Casio de' Medici and by Giovio in his biography of Leonardo, who
says that Francis I. bought the picture. There is no record of it among the
inventories of the king's property, and it must have returned to Italy since
Richelieu purchased it in 1639 in Lombardy. Dr. Richter thinks that the
fact that it was often copied by Milanese contemporaries of Leonardo shows
that it could not have been painted in France as has been asserted. See note
39 for the cartoon of a St. Anne existing in London. The critic classes the
St. Johu in the Louvre as also a genuine work of Leonardo.
S3 Scientific investigators were apt to be looked upon as possibly heretical,
but Leonardo in his last wUl recommended his soul "to our Lord Almighty
God and to the Glorious Virgin Mary, to our Lord Saint Michael, to all the
blessed Angels and Saints, male and female, in Paradise," besides ordering
masses to be said for the repose of his soul.
" The story that Leonardo died in the arms of the king is evidently false.

404 LEONARDO DA VINCI
The death of Leonardo caused great sorrow to all who had
known him, nor was there ever an artist who did more hon
our to the art of painting. The radiance of his counte
nance, which was splendidly beautiful, brought cheerfulness
to the heart of the most melancholy, and the power of his
word could move the most obstinate to say, "No," or " Yes,"
as he desired ; he possessed so great a degree of physical
strength, that he was capable of restraining the most im
petuous violence, and was able to bend one of the iron rings
used for the knockers of doors, or a horse-shoe, as if it were
lead : with the generous liberality of his nature, he extended
shelter and hospitality to every friend, rich or poor, provided
only that he were distinguished by talent or excellence ; the
poorest and most insignificant abode was rendered beautiful
and honourable by his works ; and as the city of Florence
received a great gift in the birth of Leonardo, so did it suf
fer a more than grievous loss at his death. To the art of
painting in oil this master contributed the discovery of a
certain mode of deepening the shadows, whereby the later
artists have been enabled to give great force and relief to
their figures. His abilities in statuary were proved by three
figures in bronze, which are over the north door of San Gio-
According to the journal of Francis I., stiU in the National Library at Paris,
the king and court were at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, on May 2, 1519,
when Leonardo died at Cloux, near Amboise, in Touraine. The letter written
by Francesco Melzi to Leonardo's relations, immediately after his death, makes
no mention of the presence of the king. H. Herluison, in his Actes d'Etat civil
d' Artistes franfais, gives the burial record from the archives of the Royal
Chapel at Amboise : " Fut inhume da^ns le cloistre de cette iglise M^. Lio
nard de Vincy, nosble Millanois, \" peintre et inginieur et architecte du
Rotj, meschasnischien d'istat et anchien directcur de peinture du due de MUan.
Ce fut faict le dove jour d'aoust, 1519." Apparently Leonardo was buried
in the choir of the church of Saint Florentin. Tradition says that after the
conspiracy of Amboise the tombs and coffins in the church were destroyed.
M. Houssaye, in 1863, made excavations upon the place where the tomb was
supposed to have been and found a skeleton, and close by it fragments of stone
inscribed as foUows : Leo — inc — Leo — dus — . Vine — . Milanesi states the above.
In 1891 we saw, in the chapelle St. Hubert — the chapel of the Chateau d'Am
boise — a tombal slab which covered the place where the skeleton discovered
iu the church has been finally deposited, but nothing really satisfactory seems
to be proved in the matter, and no authoritative statement can be made.

LEONARDO DA VINCI 405
vanni ; they were cast by Gio. Francesco Eustici, but con
ducted under the advice of Leonardo, and are, without doubt,
the most beautiful castings that have been seen in these later
days, whether for design or finish.^
We are indebted to Leonardo for a work on the anatomy
of the horse, and for another much more valuable, on that
of man ; wherefore, for the many admirable qualities with
which he was so richly endowed, although he laboured much
more by his word than in fact and by deed, his name and
fame can never be extinguished.*" p^j. ^n ^hese things Mes-
" StUl in place.
'« For Leonardo's architectural works see Dr. J. P. Richter's Literary
Works of Leonardo da Vinci, IL, 35-104, and Baron Henry von Geymiiller,
Les Projets primitifs pour la Basilique de St. Pierre de Rome. Baron Gey
miiller has arranged and elucidated the texts under the heads which have been
adopted in Dr. Richter's work. No buUding is known with certainty to have
been planned and executed by Leonardo, but his drawings and writings lead
one to infer that he was more than an amateur. Leonardo seems to have had
in mind a project for writing a complete treatise on architecture, but the iso
lated notes which have come down to us appear to relate only to certain prob
lems in which he took an interest. Baron GeymuUer thinks that several of the
important buUdings of Lombardy, which were built from 1472 to 1499, by un
known architects, are of such great merit that it is not improbable that either
Leonardo or Bramante may have been concerned in their construction. Leo
nardo's architectural designs consist of plans of towns, devices for moving
houses, plans of vUlas, castles, loggie, fountains, domed buildings, churches
(both in the form of the Greek and Latin cross), a mausoleum, palaces, forti
fied buildings, stables, and scaffolds. Many of his studies on the details of
architecture would be to-day called studies on the "strength of materials."
" Vasari was evidently ignorant of Leonardo's Eastern travels. Professor Col
vin, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, states that according to recent investiga
tions of Leonardo's MSS. it is certain that he took services as engineer with the
Sultan of Babylon, which in the strange geographical nomenclature of those
days meant Cairo. He is supposed to have visited Egypt, Cyprus, the coasts
of Asia Minor, and Constantinople. The probable date of these travels in the
Levant is between 1480 and 1483-84. Professor Colvin suggests that in the East
he may have acquired the mode of writing backward, but Leonardo appears to
have had this habit at an earlier date. The very remarkable letters to the Def-
terdar of Syria are published by Dr. Richter (Literary Works, etc., II., 385 and
following). In these letters Leonardo speaks of having stayed in the moun
tains of Armenia. Dr. Richter (II., 383) feels convinced of the authenticity
of these letters, and regards Leonardo's travels in the East as an established
fact. M. Miintz, in his articles upon the propaganda of the Renaissance in
the East during the fifteenth century {Gazette des Beaux Arts, Third Period,

406 LEO]SrARDO DA VINCI
ser Gio. Batista Strozzi has spokea to his praise in the fol
lowing words : — Vince cost ui pur solo
Tutti altri^ e vince P^idia, e vince Apelle,
E iutto il lor v'utorioso siuolo. ^^ ^^

VIII., 274 et seq.), thinks that it is doubtful whether these letters are records
of Leonardo's travels, and are not rather copies made by him of the letters of
some other traveUer. Such a theory would not conflict with the authenticity
of the letters as the handiwork of Leonardo, but would do away with the
travels. Signor Uzielli, in his Leonardo da Vinci e le Alpi., gives a curious
study upon Leonardo's excursions and believes that he may have ascended
Monte Rosa.
s^ Among the scholars of Leonardo were Antonio Beltraffio, Marco d' Oggi-
onno, Salai or Salaino, and Cesare da Sesto. He had a great infiuence over a
large number of painters who cannot be called his pupils, as Sodoma, Andrea
Solario^ and Bernardino Luini.
^» With Leonardo da Vinci we reach the culmination of art. All the paint
ers that preceded him are admirable in relation to their period, each one by
some quality makes a step upward. Bat with Leonardo, Raphael, and Michel
angelo we attain the period of achievement, and stand upon the summit.
They take their place with the undisputed masters of masters — with Titian,
Correggio, and Durer, Rembrandt, and Velasquez. Of these painters, by nat
ure of his art, as well as by the date of his birth, Leonardo is the earliest.
Technically he is still, if we consider his early work, a primitive master, at
least far more so than are the other four greatest exponents of the culmina
tion — -Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio, Titian. His drawing is close, care
ful, brimful of style, but aiming at subtlety rather than at breadth of hand
ling; in his St. Anne and his Vierge aux Rochers it is even hard. It is how
ever so true and above all so perfectly and completely expressive, that his
contemporaries (Michelangelo and Raphael really postdate him) were left
hopelessly far behind him. Compare one of his most important drawings with
the best of Botticelli's, Ghirlandajo's, Perugino's, Signorelli's, and we see
that Leonardo's work although done with enormous expenditure of care and
thought is done easily, that is to say, without strain. In composition Leo
nardo as the painter of the Cenacolo is unsurpassed. Raphael performed more
varied feats of composition but did nothing better. His color, as far as the
misfortunes incident to the new media which he essayed will permit us to
know it, is suave and silvery, it would have pleased Andrea del Sarto ; per
haps at its best it might have inspired something in Correggio's cooler gamut
of color, but it could never have satisfied a Venetian. What did inspire a
Venetian, and that one of the greatest, Giorgione, what did inspire Correggio
and Fra Bartolommeo was Leonardo's wonderful gift of chiaroscuro, his cap
ture of the light, the feat by which he truly became what Symonds has called
him, "the enchanter and wizard of the Renaissance." Widespread as the
Leonardesque type of face became in the hands of his many pupils, and of

LEONARDO DA VINCI 407
Sodoma and Luini, Leonardo's chiaroscuro made his an incalculably further
reaching influence. Not that Correggio and Giorgione imitated him, they
simply developed the new wonder that had come to the arts. The light and
shade, skilfully and even nobly handled by Piero della Francesca and
Mantegna, had been made witching and mysterious and lovely by Leonardo.
By subtle shapes and subtle colors and subtlest lights and shadows, he evolved
a new spirituality iu art. Every step forward which was raade in the Renais
sance was by the law that governs all progress achieved at the cost of some
thing left behind. Fra Bartolommeo's concentration upon the problems of
monumental composition left him little time for that study of the shapes
of things which results in close modelling. By the same forfeiture, Leo
nardo's gift of chiaroscuro cost the color-life of many a noble picture, for to
find the light he had to create the shadows, and through imperfection of the
pigments, and that lamp-black which Vasari deplores, these shadows have
grown darker and darker, until certain world-famous pictures of Raphael, Bar
tolommeo, and many other masters, have forever lost the power of giving
any pleasure by their color, whereas those quattrocentists who never became
chiaroscurists left clear, bright panels that have only meUowed by time.
Still it may be said, in parenthesis, that we must not impute this relative
blackness to chiaroscuro pure and simple. The natural colorists, following in
in the footsteps of Leonardo, achieved light and shade without blackness.
There is no blackness in the Antiope of Correggio, or in the Knight of Malta
of the Uffizi, nor in Titian's Tobias of San Marziale at Venice. Leonardo
was a tonist, not a colorist ; he experimented with light as with everything
else ; he revealed God's subtle handiwork in man as no artist had done before
him, man's passions in the blood-stirring movement of the battle of Anghiari,
and in the quieter but more poignant drama of the Last Supper ; but he
turned aside also to God's handiwork in the wind and tides, the birds aud the
beasts ; everything that he saw awakened in him that curiosity which was the
dominant spirit of the Renaissance, that thirst of discovery, that dauntless
belief in man's intellectual potentialities which he incarnated as has no one
before or after him in the whole course of what we call modem history. In
reading the list of subjects which he studied, and upon which he left long
treatises, one is appalled by the consideration of the mere condition of
time as applied to his achievement. Writers tell us that he considered paint
ing his real work in life ; it is true that he seems to have felt it to be such,
and he made an epoch in the history of art, but his actual paintings were few,
for a man who had the whole book of nature open before him as the sub
ject of his commentary could but leave a miniature here and there at most.
His art was only the rubrication that made the text fairer to look at. He
passes beyond art and stands upon the very edge of infinity, face to face with
the insoluble and yet forever questioning. He is man projected for centuries
beyond Raphael and Michelangelo and Titian. He hints at more than we even
yet know. In all the race it is perhaps he who makes one proudest of being
a thinking creature, and one may not establish a merely artistic standard for
this stupendous man.
End of Vol. II.