Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Andrea da Fiesole

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE SCULPTOR ANDREA OF FIESOLE, AND OTHER FIESOLAN ARTISTS.

[Flourished from the latter part of the fifteenth century, to about the middle of the sixteenth century.]

The sculptor is required to be as well acquainted with the use of the chisel as is the painter with the management of colours, but it will sometimes happen that those who are very capable of working in clay are afterwards found but poorly prepared for the carrying to perfection of such labours as require to be executed in marble. Others there are again, who on the contrary work exceedingly well in marble, although they have no knowledge of design, but are guided by a certain idea which they have, and the facility which they possess of pursuing a good manner, the imitation of which is derived from certain works which satisfy their judgment, and which being assimilated by the imagination, is then reproduced in their own performances. It is indeed almost wonderful to see the manner in which some sculptors, though not even knowing how to draw on paper, will yet execute works with their chisels, and will even bring the same to a good and praiseworthy conclusion; an instance whereof has been seen in the case of Andrea di Piero di Marco Ferrucci,^[1] a sculptor of Fiesole. In his early childhood this artist acquired the rudiments of his art from the Fiesolan sculptor, Francesco di Simoni Ferrucci, and although in the first instance he only learned to chisel foliage, he nevertheless by little and little attained to such a degree of facility, that no long time elapsed before he began to execute figures. He had a bold and rapid hand, by which, and by the exercise of judgment and a certain natural facility, it was that he performed his works in marble, far more than by any knowledge of design.^[2] To the last mentioned requisite he did nevertheless give a greater degree of attention, when at a later period of his youth he followed his profession under the sculptor Michele Maini, who was also of Fiesole. It was by this Michele, that the San Sebastiano in marble was executed for the Minerva in Rome, a work which at that time was very much extolled.

But to return to Andrea himself; being taken to work at Imola, he there built a chapel of the stone called macigno, in the Church of the Innocents, and was highly commended for the execution thereof.^[3] Having completed that work Andrea repaired to Naples, whither he had been invited by Antonio di Giorgio of Settiguano, a most skilful engineer, and architect to the king Ferrante^[4] with whom Antonio had so much influence, that not only did he superintend all the public buildings of the kingdom but even managed all the most important affairs of state. Arrived in Naples, Andrea was at once set to work and executed many labours for that monarch in the Castello di San Martino, as well as in other parts of the city. Soon afterwards Antonio died, and by the command of the king was buried, not with obsequies suited to an architect only, but with a pomp befitting the funeral of a prince, being accompanied to the tomb by twenty couples of bearers.^[5] Andrea thereupon departed from Naples, perceiving that the place did not suit him, and repaired to Rome, where he remained some time employed in the studies of his art and working also as occasion for doing so presented itself.

He then returned to Tuscany, and at Pistoja he constructed the marble chapel wherein is the baptismal font, in the church of San Jacopo, also executing the font of that baptistry; which he completed, together with all its decorations, with the utmost assiduity and care.^[6] On the principal wall of the chapel, moreover, this artist executed two figures of the size of life in mezzo-rilievo; San Giovanni that is to say, who is baptizing the Saviour, an exceedingly well sculptured group, and in a very good manner. There are certain other small works completed by Andrea about the same time, but of these there needs no further mention; I will but remark, that although these things were effected, more by the force of practice than with any great art, yet there are nevertheless to be perceived in them a boldness and a correctness of taste which are highly commendable. It is indeed certain, that if artists, who have been endowed as was Andrea da Fiesole, had united a knowledge of drawing to their admirable facility and good judgment, they would have far surpassed those who, though drawing perfectly, yet, when they come to execute their designs, do but scratch the marble, and, notwithstanding all their efforts, put an end to their work in a very poor manner, for the want of practice, and because they cannot use the chisels with the requisite ability. After the completion of the labours above-mentioned, Andrea prepared a work in marble, for the episcopal church of Fiesole; this was placed between the two flights of steps which ascend to the upper choir; it comprises three figures in full relief, with certain historical representations in low relief.^[7] In the church of San Girolamo at Fiesole, also, there is a small work in marble by this master, which is built into the wall of the church^[8]

The fame of these works causing Andrea to become known, he was commissioned by the superintendents of works for Santa Maria del Fiore, to execute the figure of an Apostle of four braccia high. This was at the time when Giulio Cardinal de’ Medici was governing Florence; and at the same period four similar figures were given for execution to four different masters; one to Benedetto da Maiano namely, another to Jacopo Sansovino, a third to Baccio Bandinelli, and a fourth to Michelagnolo Buonarroti.^[9] The number of these statues was indeed to have been that of the apostles, and these twelve figures were to be placed in the same part of that magnificent church whereon Lorenzo di Bicci had painted his twelve apostles.

Andrea completed his work with admirable facility and with judgment greatly superior to the design; he acquired from it, therefore, if not equal praise with the other masters, yet nothing less than the reputation of an able and experienced artist,^[10] wherefore he continued ever after to be almost always employed in the works of that church, and executed the bust of Marsilio Ficino, still to be seen there, within the door leading to the canonicate.^[11] He likewise prepared a marble font which was sent to the king of Hungary, and by which he acquired very great honour. A marble tomb, also by his hand, was in like manner despatched to Strigonia, a city of Hungary; on this was a figure of the Virgin admirably executed, with many other figures, and in it was ultimately deposited the body of the Cardinal of Strigonia.

To Volterra Andrea sent two Angels of marble in full relief, and for the Florentine Marco del Nero, he executed a Crucifix in wood of the size of life which is now in the church of Santa Felicita in Florence,^[12] with another and smaller crucifix, for which he received the commission from the Brotherhood of the Assumption in Fiesole. Andrea likewise found much pleasure in architecture, and was the master of the stone-cutter and architect Mangone, who afterwards erected many palaces and other buildings in Rome with considerable ability, and in a very creditable manner.

Having at length become old, Andrea confined his attention entirely to smaller works, and being a man of modest character and upright mind, he was more desirous of quiet than of any other thing whatever. He was commissioned by Madonna Antonio Vespucci to prepare the sepulchral monument of her husband Messer Antonio Strozzi, but not being able to work much himself, he suffered the two Angels to be executed for him by his scholar Maso Boscoli of Fiesole, who afterwards performed numerous labours in Rome and elsewhere, while the Madonna of that work was executed by Silvio Cosini of Fiesole.^[13] But the monument was not erected so soon as it was completed, which was in the year 1522, because Andrea died at that time. He was buried by the community of the Barefooted Brethren in the Church of the Servites.^[14]

Silvio Cosini, by whom the Madonna above mentioned was finally placed in its due position, and who finished the sepulchre of the Strozzi at all points, pursued the studies of his art as a sculptor with extraordinary zeal; he consequently produced many admirable works at a later period: much grace and beauty of manner are apparent in his performances, which surpass those of many among his contemporaries. Silvio was more particularly remarkable for the fancy which he displayed in such things as are called grottesche^ and of this we have evidence in the Sacristy^[15] of Michelagnolo Buonarroti, where there are certain marble capitals carved over the pilasters of the tombs, and these exhibit masks so admirably finished that it is not possible to find anything better. In the same place there are beautiful friezes, also by this artist, and which are decorated with masks represented in the act of laughing. The skill and ability of Silvio being remarked by Michelagnolo Buonarroti, that master caused him to begin certain trophies* as a completion to the monuments of the Sacristy, but the siege of Florence prevented these as well as many other works from being finished, as they would otherwise have been.

Silvio Cosini constructed a sepulchral monument for the Minerbetti family, in their chapel, which is in the centre aisle of the church of Santa Maria Novello, and this he completed in a very beautiful manner; for besides that the tomb itself is very fine, there are moreover many shields, helmets, and other fancies all admirably designed and executed in such sort that nothing better could be desired.^[16] Being at Pisa, in the year 1528, Silvio Cosini there added the figure of an Angel, which was wanting to one of the columns at the High Altar of the cathedral, as a companion to that executed by Tribolo, and which was so closely similar to the work of the last named artist, that the two could scarcely have been more alike had they been produced by the same hand.^[17]

In the Church of Montenero near Leghorn, Cosini executed a small work in marble, with two figures for the Frati Ingesuati; and in Volterra he constructed the tomb of Messer Bafiaello da Volterra,^[18] a very learned man, whose portrait taken from the life, he represented on the sarcophagus, together with various decorations and other figures. Now it chanced that while the siege of Florence was still proceeding, a much honoured citizen, Messer Niccolo Capponi^[19] departed this life at Castel-Nuovo della Garfagnana, when on his return from Genoa, where he had been sojourning as ambassador from his Republic to the Emperor. Silvio Cosini was therefore sent for in great haste, to the end that he might take the model of his head, the portrait of which was afterwards to be executed in marble, according to that which had been formed with great success in wax.

Silvio Cosini dwelt for some time at Pisa with all his family, and while there he belonged to the company of the Misericordia, who in that city accompany such criminals as are condemned to execution by the decree of public justice to the place of their death. Cosini was sacristan also, and there came into his head the very strangest caprice that could be imagined. He one night drew the corpse of a man who had been hanged the day before, from his grave, and having first dissected it, in reference to the purposes of his art, he next fiayed the body, and being a person who believed in wizards, enchantments, and such follies, he prepared ’this skin according to the method which he had been taught, and from it he made himself a jerkin, which he wore for some time over his shirt, believing it to be possessed of some great virtue, but without suffering any one beside himself to be made acquainted with the matter. Ultimately, however Cosini confessed what he had done to a good Monk, when the confessor reproved him for his conduct; whereupon he drew his jerkin from his back and replaced it in the grave, as the good father had exhorted him to do. Many other things of similar kind might be related of this artist, but since they have no relation to our history, I pass them over in silence.

His first wife having died at Pisa, Cosini betook himself to Carrara, and here, being employed in the execution of certain works, he took another wife, with whom no long time afterwards he repaired to Genoa. In that city he entered the service of Prince Doria, and sculptured the arms of the Doria family, over the door of their palace, in a very beautiful manner. He also prepared numerous decorations in stucco for different parts of the palace, according to the directions which he received to that effect, from the painter Perino del Vaga. Silvio Cosini executed a very fine portrait in marble of the Emperor Charles V., but as he never liked to stay long in one place, and was a man of somewhat unsettled habits, he became weary of doing well in G-enoa, and set himself on the way to proceed into France. He had however hardly arrived at Monsanese before he turned back, and having halted at Milan, he there executed certain historical works in the Cathedral, with some figures and numerous ornaments, all of which added greatly to his credit. In this city Cosini ultimately died, being then in the forty-eighth year of his age.^[20]

This artist was a man of much fancy and ingenuity, he showed great ability in all his works, and completed every thing, of whatever kind, to which he laid his hand, with remarkable assiduity. He delighted in the composition of sonnets, which he would then sing to music, composing the same as he proceeded; in his first youth he likewise gave much time to the exercise of arms. Had Silvio Cosini devoted himself with constancy to the study of sculpture and design, he would have had few equals, and as he surpassed his master Andrea Ferruzzi, so would he also, with longer life, have surpassed many others, who have yet obtained the reputation of being excellent masters.

At the same time with Andrea Ferruzzi and Silvio Cosini, there flourished another Fiesolan sculptor, called Cicilia, who was an artist of much ability. The tomb of the Cavalier, Messer Luigi Tornabuoni,^[21] which is in the church of San Jacopo in the Campo Corbolini at Florence, is a work of his hand and has been highly commended. It is more particularly to be remarked for the escutcheon of that cavalier, which Cicilia made in the form of a horse’s head, proposing to show, that according to the ancients, the form of the shields we use was originally taken from the head of the horse.

About the same period, the most excellent sculptor Antonio da Carrara was working in Palermo, where he executed three statues for the Duke of Montelione, one of the Neapolitan family of Pignattella, and viceroy of Sicily. These figures all represented Our Lady in various attitudes and with certain differences of manner; they were placed on three altars in the cathedral of Montelione in Calabria. Antonio likewise executed several historical scenes for the same noble, and these are still remaining in Palermo. He left a son, who is now also a sculptor, and is no less excellent than was his father.

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1. At another part of the life this name is written Ferruzzi, but that the first is the correct form, we learn from a document cited by Gaye, Carteggio, &c.
2. Cicognara esteems this sculptor much more highly than Vasari appears to have done, since he places him above Mino da Fiesole. See Storia della Scultura Moderna, lib. iv. cap. 5.
3. He also executed two small figures in the Chapel of the Saviour.— Bottari.
4. Ferdinand I. The period was about 1490.
5. The Italian word here used is imbastiti; its accepted meaning is merely “hired bearers,” or mourners, but Bottari explains it to the following effect:— This name alludes to the haste with which the clothes or robes of these hired inourners were sewed, or basted together.”
6. It is still to be seen in good preservation near the principal entrance to the cathedral of Pistoja.— Ed. Flor. 1832 -8.
7. This is still in the church.
8. These rilievi now belong to the Ricasoli family. See Cicognara, Storia della Scultura, &c., plate xxxii.
9. Neither Bandineili nor Buonarroti completed the statues undertaken by them. A St. Matthew roughly sketched by Michael Angelo was discovered some time since in one of the courts of the cathedral, and was removed in 1834 to the new Hall of Sculpture in the Academy of the Fine Arts. The twelve apostles were all in the first instance confided to Michael Angelo. See the document in Gaye, as'above cited.
10. Andrea’s work is the figure of the Apostle St. Andrew.
11. The bust is still in its place, and we learn from Gaye, Carteggioy &c., that Andrea was not only employed in the cathedral, but was appointed superintendent of sculptures for that edifice, in the year 1512, Baccio D’Agnolo being then chief of the builders. For this office Andrea received sixty gold ducats yearly, with a horse. Many interesting documents relating to these, and other facts connected with tlie cathedral, will be found in Gaye, ut supra.
12. Where it still remains.
13. The Angels of Boscoli, and the Madonna of Cosini are still to be seen on the tomb of the Strozzi family, in the church of Santa Maria, in Florence. See Cicognara, vol. ii. pi. xxxi.
14. This Brotherhood was so called, because in all their processions one of them was compelled to carry the Cross barefoot. It was suppressed in 1785, and the cloister, with its frescoes, has been given into the care of the President of the Academy of the Fine Arts. The fresco paintings arc sixteen; twelve from the life of the Baptist, of which ten are by Andrea, and two by Franciabigio; the remaining four exhibit small allegorical representations of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Justice.
15. The Chapel of San Lorenzo that is to say, which is called the Neiv Sacristy, and wherein are the monuments of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, Dukes of Urbino and Nemours, both by Michael Angelo.— Ed. Flor. 1832-8.
16. This tomb is now on the right hand of the entrance; it has been built into the wall.—Ibid.
17. There are two Angels of marble in the cathedral of Pisa, both of which bear the name of Silvio Cosini, and Vasari himself affirmed in the first edition that this artist “made two Angels in marble at the high altar of the cathedral of Pisa.”
18. Raffaello Maffei, a man of great piety as well as learning. This tomb is in the church of San Lino.— Bottari.
19. See the life of Capponi, at the end of the History of Bernardo Segni, which was printed at Augsburg.—Bottari.
20. In his first edition, Vasari describes this sculptor as “finishing the course of his life in the year 1640, and in the thirty-eighth year of his age.”
21. Luigi Tornabuoni was Grand Prior of Pisa, of the Order of the Jerusalemibes. His tomb still remains in the above named church of San Jacopo.—Ed. Flor. 1832 -8.