Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Battista Franco

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE VENETIAN PAINTER, BATTISTA FRANCO.^[1]

[born 1498—died 1561.]

The Venetian, Battista Franco, having given his attention to design in his childhood, repaired to Rome, as one who desired to attain to the perfection of his art, in the twentieth year of his age; and there, having studied for some time with much diligence, and examined the manner of many masters, he resolved to confine himself to copying the designs, paintings, and sculpture's of Michelagnolo, and to imitate the works of no other. Wherefore, having set himself to make research, there did not ultimately remain a single design, or sketch, nay not even a copy executed by Michelagnolo, that he did not himself make a copy from; whence it resulted that no long time had elapsed before he was reputed one of the best designers by whom the Chapel of Michelagnolo^[2] was frequented. Nay, what is yet more, Battista would for some time do nothing but draw, and would not paint at all.

But in the year 1536, very great and sumptuons preparations were to be arranged by Antonio da San Gallo, for the arrival of the Emperor Charles V., and all the artists, whether bad or good, were then employed, as we have said, in another j)lace. Then Rafiaello da Monte Lupo, who was commissioned to construct the decorations for the bridge of Sant’ Angelo, among which were ten statues, to be placed along the bridge,—Raffaello, I say, resolved so to contrive, that Battista likewise should be employed with the rest, having observed him to be an exact designer and a youth of fine parts, for which cause he desired by all means to give him occupation: having spoken respecting the matter to San Gallo, therefore, Rafiaello pressed him so much, that Battista received the charge of four large stories in chiaro-scuro, which were to be executed in fresco on the front of the l^orta Capena, now called the Gate of San Sebastiano, by which the emperor was to make his entry.

Over this gate therefore, Battista, though he had never then touched colours, painted the arms of Pope Paul III., with those of the Emperor Charles V., and with a figure representing Romulus, who is placing the papal tiara on the escutcheon of the Holy Father, and an imperial crown over that of the Emperor. The height of the figure of Romulus was five braccia; it was clothed in the antique manner, and had a crown on the head; on the right hand of Romulus stood the figure of Numa Pompilius, and on his left was that of Tullus Hostilius; over all were the words, QUIRINUS PATER. At each side of this gate, moreover, is a tower, and on the walls of those towers Battista furthermore depicted triumphal processions; that of the elder Scipio, decreed to him for Carthage, which he had subjected to the Roman dominion, being on the one side; and the Triumph of Scipio the younger, for the ruin and destruction of the same city, appearing on the other.

Two pictures were painted by the same artist on the exterior face of these towers; in one of them was seen Hannibal under the walls of Rome, but repelled by a tempest, and in the other, that on the left hand namely, was Flaccus entering Rome for the purpose of defending the city against the Carthaginians. All these works, being the first performed by Battista, and, as compared with those of the other masters, were considered very good and much extolled. Nor is there any doubt but that this artist would have surpassed many of his competitors had he begun from the first to paint, and gradually rendered himself familiar with the use of pencils and colours; but his having remained obstinately fixed in a certain opinion entertained by many, who persuade themselves that he who can design may also paint, was to him the source of no little injury. He acquitted himself, nevertheless, much better than did some of those who executed the stories for the Arch of San Marco, of which there were eight, four on each side that is to say, and the best of them were painted partly by Francesco Salviati and partly by a certain Martino,^[3] with other young Germans, who had also come to Rome for the purposes of study.

Nor will I omit to take this opportunity for relating that the above-named Martino, who possessed remarkable ability in the treatment of chiaro-scuro, here produced certain battlepieces and skirmishes between Christians and Turks, which exhibited so much boldness, and were enriched with so many, beautiful inventions, that it would not have been possible to do better.^[4] It is to be furthermore recorded of this master, that for the purpose of securing the completion of the ornaments within the stated period, he worked with his assistants so zealously that they never quitted their labour; they had consequently a perpetual supply of drink brought to them: this being good Greek wine, the men were constantly inebriated, and this fact of their being perpetually under the influence of wine, together with their practice and zeal for art, caused them to produce wonderful things.

When Salviati, Battista, and the Calavrese^[5] saw the works of these artists, they were therefore compelled to confess that he who desires to become a painter should begin by using the pencils early; and this conviction bringing Battista to a more reasonable manner of viewing the question, he ceased to give so much study to the finishing of his drawings, and resolved that he would sometimes practise himself in colouring also.

Montelupo then went to Florence, where they were in like manner preparing sumptuous ornaments for the occasion of the Emperor's arrival, and Battista Franco accompanied him; but when they reached the city they found the preparations far advanced towards completion: Battista was, nevertheless, set to work, and erected the pedestal for a statue which had been executed by Fra Giovan-Agnolo Montorsoli,^[6] to be placed at the corner of the Carnesecchi: this pedestal he covered with figures and trophies. Having thus been made known among the artists as a youth of good parts and fine ability, Battista was much employed at a later period; as he was at the coming of Madama Margherita of Austria,^[7] wife of the Duke Alessandro, more especially in the preparations made for that event by Giorgio Vasari, in the palace of Ottaviano de' Medici, where the Signora Margherita was to reside.

These festivals being at an end, Battista set himself industriously to draw the statues by Michelagnolo, which are in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, whither all the sculptors and painters of Florence were then wont to repair for the purpose of drawing and working in relief: all these figures Battista designed with the most careful study, and he made infinite progress; the error he had committed in not consenting to draw from the life, or to use colours, was nevertheless perceived, and his having never done any other thing besides drawing from statues, and some few objects of similar character, had given him a hardness and dryness of manner, of which it was sufficiently manifest that he could not so entirely divest himself but that everything he did presented a harsh and laboured aspect, as may be seen, among other instances, in a painting on canvas, wherein he has with great care depicted the violence suffered from Tarquinius by the Roman Lucrezia.

While Battista was thus continuing to frequent the Sacristy with other artists, he formed a friendship with the sculptor Bartolommeo Ammannati, who was then studying the works of Michelagnolo in company with many other sculptors, and this intimacy proceeded to such an extent that Ammannati received Battista and Genga of Urbino into his house, where they all lived together for some time, devoting themselves with very great profit to the studies of art.

The Duke Alessandro having met with his death in the year 1536,^[8] and the Signor Duke Cosimo de' Medici being elected in his place, many of the dependants of the departed sovereign remained in the service of the new one, but others did not. Among those who departed was the above-named Giorgio Vasari, who returned to Arezzo with the determination no more to follow Courts, seeing that he had lost his first Lord, the Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, and afterwards the Duke Alessandro; but he caused Battista to be received into the service of Duke Cosimo, and that artist was set to work in the Guardaroba.

There he painted a large picture representing Pope Clement and the Cardinal Ippolito, whose figures he copied from pictures by Fra Bastiano and by Titian, with the Duke Alessandro, whom he took from a painting by Pontormo. This work did not attain to the perfection that had been expected; but as in the same Guardaroba, Battista saw that Cartoon of the Noii me tangere, which had been made by Michelagnolo, and had been executed in colours by Jacopo Pontormo, he set himself to prepare a similar Cartoon, but with figures somewhat larger, and having done that, he painted a picture from it, in which he acquitted himself much better as to the colouring than he had done in the one above-mentioned; as to the Cartoon, as it was exactly copied from that of Michelagnolo, and done with great patience, it was in fact very beautiful.

The affair of Montemurlo, in which all the exiles and rebels to the Duke were routed and taken prisoners, having then ensued, Battista painted a story of the battle which had been fought, and mingling with the facts certain poetic fancies of his own which displayed good invention, the work was much extolled. It was, nevertheless, easy to perceive that in the deeds of arms, in the taking of the prisoners, and in many other parts, there was very much that was taken bodily from the works and designs of Buonarroti: in the distance was the battle, but in the foreground were the huntsmen of Ganymede, standing with their eyes turned upwards towards the Bird of Jove, who is carrying the youth away to the skies: this part Battista had borrowed from the design of Michelagnolo, and had used it in his picture to signify that the Duke, while still young, had been taken from the midst of his friends by the will of God, and so borne up into heaven: to signify this, I say, or some such matter.

That story, I repeat, was first designed by Battista in a Cartoon; it was afterwards painted by him with extraordinary care in a picture, and is now with his other works in the upper rooms of the Pitti Palace, which his most Illustrious Excellency has caused to be entirely finished. By these and similar labours, Battista Franco was detained in the service of the Duke, until the time when that sovereign took the Signora, Donna Leonora di Toledo, to wife, and he was then employed in the preparations made for those nuptials, for the triumphal arch erected at the Porta di Prato that is to say, where Bidolfo Ghirlandajo caused him to execute certain stories from the Life of the Signor Giovanni, father of the Duke Cosimo. In one of these is seen that Signor making the passage of the rivers Po and Adda; the Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, who was afterwards Pope Clement VII., the Signor Prosper Colonna, and other nobles being present; over this Battista painted the Redemption of San Secondo.

On the opposite side of the arch was another story by the hand of the same artist, and herein was represented the city of Milan with the Camp of the League around it, which, • breaking up, leaves the Signor Giovanni in the place. To the right of the arch there was on one side another picture, wherein was a figure representing Opportunity with her hair unloosened; offering those tresses, which she holds in one hand, to the Signor Giovanni: on the other side is Mars, who presents him with the sword. Beneath the arch was also a story by the hand of Battista, the Signor Giovanni that is to say, fighting between the Tesino and Biegrassaupon the bridge of Rozzo, and, like another Horatius, defending the same with incredible valour. On the opposite side was depicted the taking of Caraveggio; and in the midst of the battle was seen the Signor Giovanni passing fearlessly through the ' fire and swords of the enemies’ hosts. Between the columns to the right hand was painted an oval compartment, within which was represented Garlasso, taken by the same leader with a single company of soldiers; and amidst the columns on the left was a Bastion of Milan, also wrested from the enemy by the prowess of the Signor Giovanni. On that front of the arch which was left behind by him who would enter the city gate, was furthermore depicted the same Signor Giovanni de’ Medici as seen on horseback beneath the walls of Milan, where he is engaged in single combat with a cavalier, whom he is transpiercing with his lance from one side to the other.

Finally, over the principal cornice, at the point which joins the edge of the upper cornice whereon the pediment is placed, Battista painted another large story, with very great care; this represented the Emperor Charles V., seated on a roek in the centre of the picture, crowned and holding a sceptre in his hand; at his feet lay a figure presenting the ' river Betis, and holding a vase which poured water from two mouths; near to this was another figure to signify the river Danube, and that river poured its waters into the sea from seven mouths. Of the large number of statues which accompanied the abovfe-described story, and the others executed on the arch in question, I will make no mention, seeing that, for the present it must suffice me to name such as were done by Battista Franco; nor is it now any part of my office to describe that which was performed by other artists, and which has moreover been set forth at sufficient length in writing by a different hand. I have besides declared what was needful of the masters by whom the aforesaid statues were executed, it would therefore be superfluous to speak of them further, and the more so as the works are no longer in their places to be examined and judged.

To return, therefore, to Battista: the best of the works executed by that artist in relation to these nuptial solemnities, was one of the ten pictures above-mentioned, and which were in the principal court of the Medici Palace; this was painted in chiaro-scuro, and represented the Duke Cosimo invested with the Ducal ensigns. But with all the care that Battista could take, he was nevertheless surpassed by Bronzino, and by many others who had less knowledge of design than himself, but who were superior to him in power of invention, boldness, and facility in the handling of the chiaro-scuro: for pictures, a remark I have made before, require to be treated with lightness and readiness, every portion of the whole being distributed to its due place with judgment, and giving no evidence of a certain dry weary labour which causes all to appear crude, hard, and displeasing. The too anxious painting over has likewise an injurious effect, since it frequently renders the work obscure and even spoils it, seeing that this perpetual going over the picture deprives it of all that good effect and grace which is the usual result of boldness and facility, qualities which, though they do in a great measure proceed from the gift of nature, may, nevertheless, to a certain extent, be acquired by art.

At a later period, Battista Franco was taken by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo to the Madonna de Ventigli, in Valdichiana, a place which was at that time the succursal to the Monastery of the Angeli in Florence, which belongs to the Order of Camaldoli, but is now itself the chief seat of a Brotherhood in place of the Monastery of San Benedetto, which, being situate outside of the Pinti Gate, was ruined at the siege of Florence. Here, then, Battista painted in the cloisters the stories which have before been mentioned, while liidolfo was employed in the execution of the picture and other ornaments for the High Altar; and these being finished, they next, as we have related in the life of Bidolfo, adorned with other paintings that holy place, which is widely renowned and much talked of for the many miracles there performed by the Virgin Mother of the Son of God.

Having subsequently returned to Pome, and just at the moment when the Last Judgment of Michelagnolo had been given to public view, Battista, as being a very zealous student of the manner and works of Buonarroti, most joyfully beheld that production completed, and minutely examined the whole design, to his infinite admiration; nay, he copied and made designs from the entire work. He then determined to remain in Pome, and for the Cardinal Francesco Cornaro, who had rebuilt the palace wherein he was dwelling, and which is situate near San Pietro, but with its portico on the side towards the Campo Santo;^[9] — for this cardinal, I say, Battista painted a Loggia, which looks on the Piazza; he executed a kind of grottesche, over the stucco-work that is to say, covering the space with figures and minute storiettes; a work which the artist completed with great care and pains, nor did it fail to be considered a very beautiful performance.

About the same time, which was in the year 1538, Francesco Salviati had painted a story in fresco for the Brotherhood of the Misericordia,^[10] but had still to give the last touches to his work.^[11] He had also undertaken to execute others, which it was the purpose of many private persons to have painted in the same place; but the rivalry which was just then existing between Francesco and Jacopo del Conte^[12] caused these works to remain incomplete. This state of things becoming known to Battista, he thought to have here found an opportunity of proving himself to be greater than Francesco, nay, the greatest master in Rome. Thereupon he set his friends to work, and using every means he could find, did so contrive that Monsignore della Casa, having been shown one of his designs, commissioned him to execute a picture: he set hand to the work accordingly and painted a fresco, the subject of which was San Giovanni Battista taken by Herod and cast into prison.

But in despite of all the pains that were taken with his picture by Franco, it was considered to be far from approaching the merit of those by Salviati, seeing that it gave evidence of an excessively laboured treatment, and was in a hard, melancholy manner, being moreover without order in the composition, and wholly destitute of the grace and charm of colouring by whch those of Francesco were distinguished. And from this failure we may safely conclude that those are falling into a great error who, when in pursuit of art, consider themselves to have done all when they have given close attention to depicting exactly, and with all its muscles well developed, some torso, leg, arm, or whatever other part may be in question, and believe that the being well acquainted with so much renders them masters of the whole. Yes; such people are, without doubt, deceived, for a part is not the whole; and he only exhibits perfection in his work who, having well delineated the parts, knows how to bring the whole into harmony and true proportion, and who besides is careful that the composition and grouping of his figures, with the expression given to each and all, shall be such as will render clearly the effect desired without formality and without confusion.

Another point to be carefully secured is that the heads shall be powerful, animated, graceful, and exhibiting beauty withal, as well as truth of expression; nor must the manner be crude and hard: the nude parts must be sufficiently darkened in the shadows that they may have the due degree of relief, the figures must retire and fall into the distance exactly in the proportions required, to say nothing of the truth to be observed in perspective, of landscapes and many other parts, which all demand the utmost care for the production of a good picture. He who takes from the works of others, moreover, should be careful to do so in such sort that the portions borrowed shall not be too easily recognized. Battista therefore discovered, when it was too late, that he had been expending his time unduly over the minutiae of muscles, &c., and in drawing with an over-strained diligence, .while he did not give sufficient regard to the demands of the art in its other departments.

Having completed the picture above-mentioned, for which he obtained but little commendation, Battista transferred himself to Urbino, where, by the intervention of Bartolommeo Genga, he entered the service of the Duke. By that sovereign he was then commissioned to paint a large vaulting in the Church and Chapel attached to the Palace of Urbino, and setting hand instantly to the work, without further consideration, and without making any division by compartments, he began to prepare the designs, as the idea of the work presented itself, but taking the invention from the Judgment of Buonarroti: he thus made a Glory in Heaven, in imitation of that work, with Saints resting *on clouds, which were scattered over the whole surface of the vaulting, and with all the choir of angels assembled around a figure of Our Lady, who, being in the act of ascending into heaven, is there awaited by Jesus Christ, who is about to place a crown on her head. Standing around in divers groups are the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Sybils, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Confessors, and the Virgins; all which figures, in their various attitudes, appear to be rejoicing and congratulating each other on the arrival of that glorious Virgin Mother.

Now this was a subject which certainly presented a most happy occasion for Battista to have proved himself an able artist, as he might have done, had he chosen a better path, taken pains to obtain practice in the handling of fresco colours, and governed himself'with better order and more judgment in his labours than he displayed. But in this work he proceeded much as he had done in all those previously executed,^[13] reproducing for ever the same figures, the same draperies, and the same accessories. The colouring was, besides, entirely destitute of beauty, and every part was executed with a laboured difficulty which deprived it of all grace; wherefore, the work being finished, was found to give but little satisfaction to the Duke Guidobaldo, nor did it in any wise content Bartolommeo Genga, or the other artists who had expected great things from this man, and the rather as he had shown them a most beautiful design in the beginning, for which cause they had been looking for a painting of equal excellence.

It may indeed be afiSrmed with truth that for preparing a beautiful design Battista had no equal, and might be therein considered an accomplished man. Remarking that this was the case, Duke Guidobaldo thought the designs of Battista might probably be used with good effect by those who were then so admirably working in vases and other pottery at Castel Durante, and where prints from the designs of Baffaello da Urbino,^[14] and other able artists, had been copied Avith the most perfect success; he therefore caused Battista to prepare a large number of designs, and these being used for that kind of clay or china work, which is of better appearance than anything of the sort elsewhere made in all Italy, turned out to be of admirable excellence. Great numbers of vases were accordingly prepared, and of such sorts as might be suitable for the credenza or beaufet of a royal house, nor could the pictures executed thereon have been more effective or of better workmanship had they been painted in oil by the best masters.

Of these vases therefore, which, as respects the quality of the clay, do greatly resemble those anciently made in Arezzo, at the time of Porsenna, king of Tuscany that is to say; the above-named Duke Guidobaldo sent a quantitj sufficient for the double furnishing of a credenza, to the Emperor Charles V., with one to the Cardinal Farnese, brother to the Signora Vittoria, his duchess.^[15] Now, it is fit we should know that, as regards this kind of paintings on vases, the ancient Eomans did not possess any examples, so far as we can judge; for the vases of their times, used to hold the ashes of the dead, or for other purposes, which are now found, are covered with figures which are hatched and grounded on one sole colour, whether black, red, or white, but never exhibit the lustre of a vitrified surface, nor do they possess the beauty and attraction of the varied pictures which have been, and still are seen in our times.^[16] Nor must it be affirmed, that the [Romans may perchance have possessed such, but that the paintings have been destroyed by time in the long period during which they have remained buried, since we know well that ours are capable of resisting the utmost force of the weather, and of every other evil influence, insomuch that they might be kept beneath the ground for 4000 years, so to speak, without sustaining injury to their paintings. Vases and pictures of this kind are produced, as is well known, throughout all Italy; but the best earths and the most beautiful vessels are, nevertheless, those found and made, as I have said, at Castel Durante,^[17] a place in the State of Urbino, and at Faenza.^[18] The best among them are of a pure white, and have but few pictures, what there are being in the centre or round the vase; they nre, moreover, always of very graceful character, and exhibit the most careful execution.^[19]

But let us now return to Battista Franco. In the solemnities for the nuptials of the Signor Duke of Urbino, with the above-named Signora Vittoria Farnese, and which took place at the city of Urbino, our artist was employed by Genga, who had charge of all the preparations, and who, liaving erected arches of triumph, caused Battista to paint all the stories with which they were decorated, a work accomplished by that artist with the aid of his disciples. But the Duke, being apprehensive that Battista would not be ready in time, sent for Giorgio Vasari, who was at that moment in Rimini, painting a large chapel in fresco, with the altar piece of the same in oil, for the White Monks of Monte Oliveto; the preparations for those nuptials being a very great undertaking; the Duke, I say, desired Giorgio to go to Urbino for the purpose of assisting Genga and Battista in the works required. Vasari was, however, indisposed at the time; he wrote to the Duke therefore, excusing himself, and begging his Excellency to have no fear, since Battista had so much skill and knowledge that he would without doubt have the whole work finished within the appointed time, as did indeed prove to be the case.

But when Vasari had completed his undertaking in Rimini, he repaired to Urbino, there to visit the Duke, and to make his excuses in person to that Sovereign. His Excellency then caused him to examine the above-mentioned chapel, to the end that he might estimate the value of the work, when Giorgio praised it highly, and extolled the merit of the artist, who was largely satisfied with the great liberality of the Duke. Battista was not in Urbino at the moment, he having gone to Rome, where he was engaged in making designs, not only from the statues, but from all the other antiquities of that city, with intention to prepare a large book of the same, which he subsequently effected, and the work was highly commended.^[20]

Now, while Battista was thus occupied, it came to pass that Messer Giovan Andrea dall’ Anguillara,^[21] a man who had,, distinguished himself greatly by a certain sort of poesies, had formed a society composed of men possessing fine genius in various walks, and was causing exceedingly rich scenic ornaments and other decorations to be prepared in the large Hall of Sant’ Apostolo, where he proposed to arrange the performance of dramas by different authors before the gentlemen, nobles, and other distinguished personages of the city. There were to be places for spectators of different degrees, but for the Cardinals and other great Prelates certain rooms were prepared where, by means of gratings and jealousies, or blinds, those churchmen could see all that was done without being seen.

In the Society, or Company, were painters, architects, sculptors, and men who had to recite the dramas, as well as to perform.other offices; wherefore to Battista Franco and Ammannato, who had also been elected members of the Company, there was given in charge the arrangement of the scenic decorations, with stories and ornaments of pictures which Battista executed so well, with the aid of some statues by Ammannato, that he was very highly extolled. But it was found that the great cost of that place exceeded the means of the Society, wherefore Messer Giovanni Andrea and the other members were compelled to remove the scenes and other decorations from Sant’ Apostolo, and take them to the Strada Giulia, where Battista re-arranged everything in the new Church of San Biagio; when that being done, several dramas were performed, to the inexpressible satisfaction of the people and courtiers of Rome. From this commencement it was that the Dramatic Companies, called the “Zanni,”^[22] who go about reciting comedies, took their rise.

After these things, in the year 1550 that is to say, Battista Franco, with Girolamo Sicciolante, of Sermoneta,^[23] received a commission from the Cardinal di Cesis, to paint the Arms of Pope Julius III., who had been newly created High Pontiff, on the façade of his Palace; they added to the escutcheon three figures, besides several Children, which were much commended. Having completed that work, Battista next painted stories of Our Lady and of Jesus Christ, in a Chapel which had been constructed in the Church of the Minerva, by a Canon of San Pietro; and these, which were in a division of the vaulting, were the best paintings which Battista had then produced.^[24] On one of the two walls of the same Chapel he furthermore painted the Nativity of Our Saviour Christ, with the Shepherds, and a Choir of Angels singing above the hut or cabin wherein is the Divine Child; on the other, he depicted the Pesurrection of Christ, with numerous Soldiers standing in various attitudes around the sepulchre. Over each of the above stories there are lunettes, in which Battista painted colossal figures of Prophets; and, finally, on the wall behind the Altar, our artist represented Christ Crucified, with Our Lady, San Giovanni, San Domenico, and other Saints, in all which he acquitted himself well, and after the manner of an excellent master.

But his gains being small, and the expenses of living in Pome very great, Battista, after having executed some pictures on cloth, which had not much success, determined on returning to Yenice, his native place, thinking, perhaps, that by a change of abode he should also change his fortune. In Venice, his fine manner in drawing caused him to be esteemed an able artist, and he very soon received the commission for a picture in oil, to be placed in the Chapel of Monsignore Barbaro, Patriarch elect of Aquilea, which chapel was in the Church of San Francesco della Vigna. The subject of this work was the Baptism of Our Saviour Christ in the river Jordan, by St. John the Baptist; the figure of the Almighty Father is seen in the air, and beneath are two Children who hold the vestments of Jesus; in the angles is the Annunciation, and at the foot of the figure is the painted semblance of a cloth, beneath which are numerous small figures, all nude; angels, demons, and souls in purgatory namely, with a motto of which the words are as follow:—In nomine Jesus omne genuflectatur.

This work, which was reputed to be a good one,^[25] caused Battista to acquire great credit and reputation; it was, indeed, the cause of his receiving another commission, seeing that the Barefooted Friars, who have their house at that place, and to whom is committed the care of the Church called Sant’ Jobbe in Canareio, caused Battista to paint a figure of Our Lady, in the Chapel belonging to the Foscari family, in that Church of Sant’ Jobbe. The Virgin is seated with the Divine Child in her arms, and on one side of her is San Marco; there is a female Saint on the other side, and in the air above are Angels scattering flowers. For the tomb of the Grerman merchant Cristofano Fuccheri, which is in the Church of San Bartolommeo, Battista painted a picture, wherein he represented the God Mercury, with figures of Abundance and Fame.^[26] He also painted a picture for Messer Antonio della Yecchia, a Venetian gentleman, representing Our Saviour Christ crowned with Thorns, and surrounded by Pharisees, who are deriding him: the figures are of the size of life, and are very beautiful.

Meanwhile, the steps which lead from the first floor upwards in the Palace of St. Marco, having been constructed of masonry, after the designs of Jacopo Sansovino, as will be related in the proper place, and having been adorned with various ornaments in stucco, which formed compartments for paintings, by the sculptor Alessandro,^[27] a disciple of Sansovino, Battista was employed to paint certain minute grotteschine^ over every part thus divided. In the larger spaces he painted a considerable number of figures in fresco, which have received a fair share of commendation from artists, and having completed these, he then decorated the ceiling of the A^estibule to that staircase. No long time afterwards, there were given, as we have said above, commissions for three pictures each, to the most renowned painters then in Venice, which were to be executed for the Library of San Marco, with the condition that he who should the most clearly distinguish himself in the opinion of those Magnificent Signori, should receive a collar or chain of gold, in addition to the stipulated price; when Battista painted three stories between the windows of that Library, to which he added two figures of Philosophers; and in these works he acquitted himself exceedingly well, although he did not obtain the prize of honour, as we have before related.^[28]

These works being all completed, Battista received from the Patriarch Grimani a commission to paint a Chapel in San Francesco della Yigna, the first on the right hand namely as you enter into that Church; and Battista set hand to the work accordingly; he began by preparing very rich compartments of stucco, by means of which he divided the whole of the vaulting, which he then filled with stories and figures in fresco; over all these he laboured with extraordinary diligence, but whether it were that some precaution needful to his health had been neglected, or that Battista worked too much at frescoes, perhaps upon very fresh walls— for the villas of certain among the nobles, as I have heard say, before he had completed the above-mentioned chapel, our artist died, and the paintings, remaining unfinished, were afterwards brought to conclusion by Federigo Zuccaro, of Sant’ Agnolo-in-Yado, a young painter of great excellence; he is indeed considered to be one of the best in Rome.^[29]

On the walls of this chapel then, Federigo painted a story in fresco, the subject chosen being Santa Maria Maddalena converted by the preaching of Christ, as he did also another representing the Resurrection of her brother Lazarus;^[30] both are very graceful pictures: he then, having finished the walls, depicted the Adoration of the Magi on the Altar-piece, a work which was highly commended. Battista Franco died in the year 1561, and many of his designs, which are truly worthy of praise, having been engraved, he has derived from them a very great name and reputation.^[31] In the same city of Venice, and almost at the same time, there lived and does yet live, a painter called Jacopo Tintoretto,^[32] who is a great lover of all the arts, and more particularly delights in playing on various musical instruments; he is besides a very agreeable person, which is proved in all his modes of proceeding; but as to the matter of painting, he may be said to possess the most singular, capricious, and determined hand, with the boldest, most extravagant, and obstinate brain, that has ever yet belonged to the domain of that art. Of this there is sufficient proof in his works, and in the fantastic composition of his stories, which are altogether different from and contrary'to the usages of other painters; nay, he has been more than ever extravagant in some of his more recent inventions, and in those strange caprices of his fancy, which he has executed almost as it were by hap-hazard and without design; insomuch that one might suppose, he well nigh desired to show that the art is but a jest. He will sometimes present as finished, sketches which are such mere outlines, that the spectator sees before him pencil marks made by chance, the results of a bold carelessness rather than the fruits of design and of a well-considered judgment.

This artist has painted every kind of picture, whether in fresco or oil, with portraits taken from the life also, and he executes works of all prices, in such sort that in this manner of his he has undertaken, and does undertake, the greater part of the pictures painted in Venice. It is to be observed, too, that in his youth Tintoretto^[33] had proved himself to possess great ability by the execution of many excellent pictures, insomuch that if he had properly used the advantages which he derived from nature, and had judiciously cultivated them by study, as those have done who have pursued the beautiful manner of his predecessors, and not depended on mere facility of hand as he has permitted himself to do, he would have been one of the best masters that Venice has ever possessed. Nor, proceeding as we have said, does even this prevent him from being a bold and clever artist, of a most sprightly mind, a vivid fancy, and pleasing cheerful manner.^[34] When therefore the Venetian Senate had commanded that Jacopo Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese, then a youth of whom high expectations were entertained, should each paint a picture for the Hall of the Council, while Orazio, the son of Titian, was also commissioned to execute another, Tintoretto depicted a story of Prederick Barbarossa crowned by the Pope; he represented the ceremony as taking place within a magnificent building, while around the Pontiff is a large number of cardinals and nobles of Venice, all portraits from the life; beneath these figures are seen the musical band of the Pope. In all this he acquitted himself in such a manner, that his work may bear comparison with those of the other masters, not excepting that of the above named Orazio, the son of Titian.

The subject of the picture painted by the last-mentioned artist was a Battle fought at Rome, and near the Castello Sant’ Angelo, on the banks of the Tiber, by the Germans of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on the one part, and the Romans on the other; and in this, among other things, is to be observed the foreshortened figure of a horse, which is leaping over a soldier in full armour. It is a group that may be truly called most beautiful; but some affirm that Orazio was assisted in the work by Titian his father.

Near the picture of Orazio is that by Paolo Veronese, of whom we have made mention in the Life of Michele San Michele, and who in his work represented the same Federigo Barbarossa appearing at Court to kiss the hand of the Pope Ottaviano, as in contempt of Pope Alexander^[35] III. In addition to this picture, which is a very beautiful one, the same Paolo painted four large figures over a window; they represent Time; Concord or Union, holding a bundle of rods; with Patience and Faith; and in all these figures he acquitted himself so well that too much could not be said of their merit.

No long time after the completion of these works, another picture being required for the same Hall, Tintoretto took such steps, by the intervention of friends and other means, that the commission to execute the work was given to him, when he completed it in a manner that was most admirable; and this picture merits to be enumerated among the best he ever executed: so powerful in this artist was the will with which he then set himself to equal, if not to surpass, such of his competitors as had also laboured in that place. And the subject of the work which he thus depicted, (to the end that the same may be recognized, even by those who are not of the art,) was Pope Alexander excommunicating Barbarossa and laying his dominions under the interdict, with the same Barbarossa, who nevertheless emboldens his people to refuse all further obedience to the papal mandate.^[36]

Among other singular things in this picture may be remarked as beautifully executed, the part where Pope and Cardinals are seen casting candles and flaming torches from a high place, as is ever done when any one is excommunicated, while a vast crowd of nude figures are seen below struggling and fighting to obtain those torches: all which is rendered in the most admirable manner.^[37] There are besides various relics of antiquity, as pedestals and other objects, with portraits of different gentlemen dispersed over the pictures; these last are extremely well done, and the work is altogether such as to have won grace and favour for Tintoretto from ail who have seen it.

It followed in consequence that this artist received a commission for two paintings in oil, to be placed beneath the work of Pordenone in the principal chapel of the Church of San Rocco; these were to be of extent equal to the entire width of the chapel, about twelve braccia each that is to say. In one of these our artist painted a perspective view, as of a large Hospital filled with beds, wherein the sick, who are receiving medical attendance from San Rocco, are lying in various attitudes: among these are certain nude figures which are very well done, with a dead body foreshortened, which is most admirable. In another is a story, also from the life of San Rocco, in which there are many very beautiful and graceful figures; the work is so good a one, in short, that it is accounted to be one of the best ever executed by that painter. In the centre of the above-named Church, moreover, there is a picture of almost equal size wuth those before mentioned, and likewise by the hand of Tintoretto. This represents Our Saviour Christ healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda, and is a work which is also considered to be an extremely good one.^[38]

For the Church of Santa Maria dell’ Orto, where the Brescian painters, Cristofano and his brother,^[39] painted the ceilino; as I have before related, Tintoretto executed the decorations of two walls, which will be found in the principal chapel, they are in oil, on cloth, and extend from the cornice above the seats, even to the ceiling, a height of twenty braccia that is to say. The picture on the right represents Moses returning from the Mount, where he has received the Laws from the hand of God, when he finds the people adoring the golden calf: and that on the left exhibits the Universal Judgment at the last day; the latter, an extravagant invention, which is truly fearful and terrible, in its diversity of figures which are of each sex and every age; the souls of the condemned, as well as of the blessed, are beheld in various parts in the distance. The boat of Charon is likewise depicted in this work, but in a manner altogether different from that of those usually seen, and of a beautiful as well as unusual form. Indeed had this fanciful invention been executed after a correct and well-regulated design, and if the painter had given due attention to each part and to all the details, as he has to the general whole, this picture, expressing the amazement, terror, and confusion of that day, would have been a most wonderful production. He who does but glance at it for a moment is even now astonished at the power displayed; but if it be examined minutely, the work has all the appearance of having been painted as a jest.

For the same church, on the doors which close the organ that is to say, Tintoretto painted Our Lady ascending the steps of the Temple; this work, which is in oil, is the most carefully executed, most delicately finished, and most cheerful looking picture to be found in all the church. Our artist likewise painted the doors of the organ in Santa Maria Sebenigo; the subject of that work was the Conversion of St. Paul, but it was not executed with much care.^[40] In the Carita is a Deposition from the Cross by the same hand;^[41] and in the Sacristy of San Sebastiano, Tintoretto painted Moses in the Wilderness, with other stories on the presses of that place;^[42] this he did in competition with Paolo of Verona, who executed numerous pictures on the ceiling and walls of the church. The works thus commenced were continued at a subsequent period, by the Venetian painter Natalino,^[43] and by others.

In the church of San Jobbe, Tintoretto painted the three Maries, with San Francesco, San Sebastiano, and San Giovanni, as he did a Landscape at the altar of the Pietà;^[44] and on the doors of the organ in the church of the Servites^[45] he depicted figures of Sant’ Agostino and San Filippo, with Cain slaying his brother Abel beneath. At the altar of the Sacrament in the Church of San Felice, in the ceiling of the Tribune that is to say, Tintoretto painted the four Evangelists, and in the Lunette over the altar he depicted an Annunciation. On another Lunette in the same place, he represented our Saviour Christ in Prayer on the Mount of Olives; and on the wall is the Last Supper of our Lord with his Disciples,^[46] by the same hand. In San Francesco della Vigna this artist painted a Deposition from the Cross; Our Lady is in a swoon, the other Maries stand around her, and there are also figures of certain Prophets.^[47]

In the Scuola of San Marco near SS. Giovanni e Paolo are four large pictures by Tintoretto; the first exhibits San Marco appearing in the air and delivering a man who was his votary from grievous torments, which an executioner is seen to be preparing for him; but the irons which the tormentors are endeavouring to apply break short in their hands, and cannot be turned against that devout man. This picture exhibits a great number of figures, many well executed foreshortenings, much armour, with buildings, portraits from the life, and other objects of similar kind, which render the work one of infinite interest.^[48] The second picture also displays the figure of San Marco as floating in the air, and delivering one of his votaries from peril; the danger in this case has arisen from a storm at sea but the painting is not executed with the care perceptible in that previously named.

In the third picture is a torrent of rain, with the dead body of one who has in like manner been devoted to San Marco, and whose soul is seen to be ascending into heaven; here also we have a composition, the figures of which are not without a fair share of merit. In the fourth painting, in which San Marco expels an unclean spirit, there is the perspective view of an extensive Loggia, at the end whereof is a fire by which the Loggia is illuminated, and the reflections of that light fall on various parts of the edifice.^[49] In addiction to these stories, there is a figure of San Marco on one of the altars, by the hand of the same artist, and which is also a tolerably good painting.

These works, then—with many others which I leave undescribed, because it shall suffice me to have made mention of the best—have been executed by Tintoretto with such extraordinary promptitude that, while people had been supposing him to have only just begun, he had in fact finished his performance. It is to be furthermore remarked, that this artist always contrives by the most singular proceedings in the world to be constantly employed, seeing that when the good offices of his friends and other methods have failed to procure him any work of which there is question, he will nevertheless manage to obtain it, either by accepting it at a very low price, by doing it as a gift, or even seizing on it by force. An instance of this kind happened no long time since, when Tintoretto, having painted a large painting on cloth and in oil, representing the Crucifixion of Christ, for the Scuola of San Rocco,^[50] the men of that Brotherhood then determined to have some magnificent and honourable work executed on the ceiling of the apartment, proposing moreover to give the commission for the same to such of the painters then in Venice as might be expected to do it in the best manner and after the most beautiful design.

They consequently sent for Giuseppo Salviati and Federigo Zucchero, who were then in Venice, with Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Tintoretto, commanding that each of them should prepare a design, and promising that the work should be adjudged to him who should acquit himself the best. But while the other artists were giving themselves with all diligence to the preparation of their designs, Tintoretto made an exact measurement of the space for which the picture was required, and taking a large canvas, he painted it without saying a word to any one and with his usual celerity, puting it instantly up in the place destined to receive it. One morning, therefore, when the Brotherhood had assembled to see the designs and to determine the matter, they found that Tintoretto had entirely completed the work, nay, that he had fixed it in its place; whereupon, becoming very angry with him, and observing that they had required designs and had not commissioned him to do the work, Tintoretto replied that this was his method of preparing designs, that he did not know how to make them in any other manner; and that all designs and models for a work should be executed in that fashion, to the end that the persons interested might see what it was intended to offer them, and might not be deceived: he added, that if they did not think proper to pay for the work and remunerate him for his pains, he would make them a present of the same. At the last, therefore, though not without much opposition, he contrived so to manage matters, that the picture still retains its place.

The subject of this painting is the Almighty Father descending with bands of Angels from Heaven to embrace San Rocco;^[51] and in the lowermost part of the picture are numerous figures, to represent or signify the other principal Schools^[52] or Companies of Venice; the Carita for example, that of San Giovanni Evangelista, the Misericordia, San Marco, and San Teodoro; all which was executed after the usual manner of Tintoretto. But since it would lead us too far, were we to describe all the works performed by the artist here in question, this shall be the close, and we will content ourselves with having said thus much of Tintoretto, who is certainly a very clever man and highly commendable painter.

About the same time there was a painter in Venice called Bazzacco,^[53] who was a creature of the Casa Grimani and by especial favour, this artist, after he had been many years in Rome, received commission to paint the ceiling of the large Hall of the Cai^[54] of Ten; but conscious that he could not complete the work himself, and would have need of aid, Bazzacco took for his companions Paolo da Verona, and Battista Zelotti,^[55] dividing among them and himself nine pictures in oil, which were to be executed for that place, four compartments of an oval form in the angles that is to say, four oblong squares, and a larger oval in the centre. This last, together with three of the squares, Bazzacco gave to Paolo Veronese, who represented Jove launching his thunderbolts at the Vices, with other figures therein; and two of the smaller ovals, with one square, Bazzacco kept for himself; the two remaining ovals he gave to Battista. In one of these compartments is Neptune, the God of the Sea, the others have each two figures, symbolical of the grandeur and repose then enjoyed by Venice.

Now all these artists acquitted themselves very well in that work, but the best of them was Paolo Veronese; for which cause he received a commission from the Signori to paint the ceiling of a chamber which is beside the abovementioned Hall.^[56] Here he depicted a figure of San Marco floating in the air, in the lowermost part is Venice surrounded by Faith, Hope, and Charity; the painting is in oil, and Paolo had for his assistant therein the above-named Battista Zelotti. But though a beautiful picture, this work is not equal to that executed by Paolo in the Hall firstmentioned. In the Umiltà^[57] he then executed a painting entirely alone; on a large oval compartment of the ceiling namely, where he painted an Assumption of Our Lady, with other figures, a very lightsome, pleasing, and well considered performance.^[58]

In like manner, belonging to our own time, is another good painter of that same city, Andrea Schiavone namely.^[59] I call him good, because he has certainly produced many a good work, sometimes unhappily when in much want and distress.^[60] Schiavone has always imitated the manner of good masters to the best of his power, but the greater part of his pictures have been painted for the houses of private gentlemen, and I propose to speak only of those wliich are public.^[61] In the Church of San Sebastiano at Venice, and in the chapel of the Men of the Cà Pellegrini,^[62] Schiavone has painted afigure of San Jacopo with those of two Pi]grims;^[63] and in the Church of the Carmine he has executed a picture of the Assumption, with a large number of Angels and Saints.^[64] This is on the ceiling of the Choir; and in the same Church, at the Chapel of the Presentation that is to say, he has depicted Our Saviour Christ, as an Infant presented by the Virgin Mother in the Temple.^[65]

The last mentioned painting comprises many portraits from the life, but the best figure in it is that of a Woman clothed in a yellow vestment, who is suckling a child. This is executed with a sort of facility and in a certain manner not unfrequently used in Yenice, the group being merely dashed in or slightly sketched, without being finished at all. In the year 1550 this artist was commissioned by Giorgio Tasari to paint a large picture in oil, the subject being the Battle which had been fought a short time previously between Charles V. and Barbarossa.^[66] That work, which is among the best ever executed by Andrea Schiavone, and is indeed a truly beautiful painting, is now in Florence in possession of the heirs of the Illustrious Ottaviano de’ Medici, to whom it w'as sent as a gift by Vasari.^[67]

1. Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, informs us that the family name of this artist was Semolei.
2. The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican that is to say.
3. The Hollander, Martin Hemskerck.
4. He is said to have made drawings of nearly all the Roman churches, and Bottari tells us that in a book possessed by Mariette, there were drawings of San Giovanni Laterano, San Pietro, and San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, in their ancient state, by the hand of this artist.
5. This is perhaps Marco Calabrese, whose life will be found at p. 352 of vol. iii.
6. The Life of Fra Giovanni Montorsoli follows.
7. Daughter of the Emperor Charles V.
8. Assassinated, as our readers will remember, by the treachery of Lorenzino de' Medici.
9. This Palace was demolished on the re-building of San Pietro. — Bottari.
10. Now called San Giovanni Decollato.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
11. Which represented the Visitation of the Madonna. It has been spoiled by re-touching. —Bottari. This work was engraved by Bartolommeo Passerolli, and by one of the engravers Matham, James (or Jacob) that ia to say.
12. Of this artist, who was a disciple of Andrea del Sarto, there is more hereafter.
13. The pictures executed by Battista Franco in Urbino were destroyed when the Cupola was taken down. —Ed. Flor.y 1832 -8.
14. Many of our readers will remember to have seen a collection of these vases in the Pharmacy and Laboratory at Loretto, the designs of which they will remember to have been told were by Raphael Sanzio, but the best authorities are disposed to think that the designs made expressly for these works were by Raffaello dal Colle and other artists of good ability, but not-by the world’s Raphael Sanzio. See the Dissertations of Lanzi on this subject, with the works of Thiersch, Millengen, Panofka, &c. See also the learned work of Passeri published in the last century.
15. Numbers of these vases are still to be found in various places, and they are greatly prized for the beauty of their paintings, which are for the most part from the works of the great masters.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
16. The vases here alluded to had their origin in the ancient Etruria and in the Greek colonies. Those belonging to the latter have figures of superior design, and their surfaces are covered with a shining varnish. The richest collection of the particular kind of vases here alluded to is in Naples, but they abound, as our readers will remember, in other cities also (Rome, Munich, Berlin, London, &c.) They have largely occupied the pens of writers, among whom are Inghirami, Gerhard, La Borde, and those cited in a previous note. See also Mrs. Hamilton Gray’s elegant work on the Tombs and Antiquities of Etruria.
17. Since erected into a city, and now called Urbania.— Masselli.
18. Whence the French “Faience.”
19. Vases of this kind are called among the Italians Majolica.
20. Richardson, Account of Statues, &c., 1722, affirms that Battista Franco designed the antiquities of Rome for the purpose of having them engraved or etched on copper.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
21. Anguillara translated Ovid’s Metamorphoses into the Ottava-rima.—Ibid.
22. The contraction of Giovanni in the Bergamasco dialect. The Zanni in comedy is always a stupid, blundering Bergamese servant.—Masselli.
23. There is further mention of Sicciolante at the close of the work, where Vasari speaks of certain artists then living.
24. These paintings are in the third chapel on the right. —Bottari.
25. Certain of the authorities, among whom is the accomplished churchman last quoted, declare that this work is, on the contrary, entirely devoid of merit.
26. The paintings executed in Sant’ Jobbe and San Bartolommeo Imre now disappeared.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
27. This is Alessandro Vittoria of Trent, an admirable sculptor, of whom there is further mention at the close of the Life of Jacopo Sansovino. —Ibid.
28. In the Life of San Michele; see vol. iv. p. 450.
29. Vasari names him again in the Life of Taddeo Zucehero, buft the ambition of Federigo was not satisfied with the praises bestowed on him, and in certain annotations which he has affixed to a copy of these Lives which was in his own possession, he has attacked our author in the bitterest manner.— Masselli.
30. Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, declares that he can find no trace of the manner of Zuccaro in the picture of Lazarus.
31. Bartsch, Le Peintre-Graveur, enumerates nearly a hundred engravings from the works of Battista Franco.
32. The name of Tintoretto was Jacopo Robusti. He was the son of Battista Robusti, and was born in 1512. Ridolfi, Vite de' Pittori Veneti.
33. Tintoretto, “the little dyer;” so was this artist called (after the Italian fashion of that period, and one not entirely unknown, as many of our readers can avouch, to the present day), from the trade of his father Battista Robusti, who was a dyer. Italice, “Tintore."
34. He was a disciple of Titian, but was dismissed by that master because he would in no wise give obedience to his commands; a highly probable reason, the character of the disciple considered; yet there are not wanting those who affirm that the great artist was jealous of his pupil. Tintoretto wrote the following words on a wall of his workshops (the refined “studio” had not then been invented), “The design of Michael Angelo and the colouring of Titian.”
35. Our readers will not fail to recall the feuds with which these “men of peace” disturbed the repose of the world at this period.
36. And recalling what that “interdict” was, we perceive that obedience was not refused without good and sufficient cause.
37. These paintings were destroyed in the conflagrations of 1573 and 1577> but there is still a picture by Tintoretto in the ancient Hall of the Great Council; this represents the Ambassadors before Frederick Barbarossa. There is also the famous picture of the Paradise by that master, with some others in the ceiling. —Note to the Venetian Edition of Vasari.
38. These works retain their place, as do other pictures still remaining in the same church, and by the same artist, but which are not mentioned by Vasari.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
39. Cristofano and Stefano Rosa have been mentioned in the Life of Garofalo. see vol. iv. p. 536, et seq.
40. There are other pictures by Tintoretto still in the Church of Santa Maria Zebenico, but not that here mentioned by Vasari.— Note to Ed. Ven.
41. Even ZanettI, Pittura Veneziana, does not mention this work, which shows that it had disappeared so early as his day (1771.)
42. There is no picture by Tintoretto in the Church of San Sebastiano, with the exception of the Israelites attacked by the Serpents. —Ed. Ven.
43. This painter, who, according to Ridolfi, was a disciple of Titian, excelled in portrait painting. Lanzi informs us that he died young. See History of Painting (English Edition), vol. ii. p. 170.
44. "No such picture has ever existed in the Church of San Jobbe,” says a Note to the Venetian Edition of our author, Vasari has perhaps been thinking of one by Giovanni Bellini on the same subject, and which was removed from San Jobbe to the Academy of the Fine Arts in Venice.
45. This church is now suppressed. On the doors of the organ there were two Saints, and an Annunciation, but not Cain slaying his brother. — Note to Ed. Venet.
46. In San Felice there is but one picture by Tintoretto, that of the Demetrius, which has been lately restored by Comiani.—Ed. Venet.
47. The fate of this work is not known.— Note, in loc cit.
48. Now in the Academy of the Fine Arts in Venice, and may be considered the masterpiece of Tintoretto. It has been engraved in outline for the before-cited work of Zanotto, and there is a lithographed plate of the same in the collection of forty great pictures of the Venetian School.
49. Two of these Stories are now in the ancient Hall of the Library of San Marco, one on each side of the door of entrance namely. —Ed. Venet, note.
50. One of the finest, if not the very finest of Tintoretto’s works. The school of San Rocco may indeed be truly called a gallery of the works of Tintoretto.— Ed. Venet.
51. This is in the ceiling of that room in San Rocco, called the "Albergo,” and in which is the Crucifixion mentioned above.— Ed. Venet.
52. We have more than once remarked in previous notes that these Schools are not of necessity places of education, as indeed most of our readers well know; they are more usually charitable institutions for the tendance of the sick, the burial of the dead, the release of captives from the infidel, and other purposes of similar kind. It may be added, that the revenues of more than one among them have been appropriated by the Austrians to military purposes, and many of their spacious buildings have been turned into barracks.
53. This artist was a native of Castel Franco, and consequently, a compatriot of Giorgione. Bottari corrects Vasari, who, in his first or second edition called him Brazacco, but Lanzi, quoting the Padre Federici, declares our author, Bottari, Ridolfi, Zanetti, and Guarienti to be all equally wrong, affirming his true name to have been Ponchio. In despair for the loss of his wife, this artist became a monk on her death, and never touched pencil more.
54. Cai, Venetian for Capi, or Chiefs.
55. Called in early editions of our author, Farinato; but by the authority of Ridolfi and other competent writers, Bottari corrected this error in his edition of our author, Rome, 1759, and later commentators have given their assent to that emendation.
56. This is the ceiling of the Hall called Della Bussula. —Ed. Venet.
57. A church which has been demolished.
58. Vasari has spoken of Paul Veronese in the Life of San Michele, as our readers will remember, and mentions him frequently on different occasions, sometimes as a young man of much promise, again as surpassing all his competitors in some particular work, but always in terms of commendation. Bottari argues from this and other circumstances that Vasari frequently made additions to what he had previously written, as circumstances came to his knowledge, without giving himself the trouble to rearrange or re-write the life thus interpolated.
59. Andrea Schiavone, whose surname was Medola, was a disciple of Titian. “He died,” remarks Baldinucci, “after a life of much suffering as well as much labour.” His works, by which the merchants enriched themselves, barely supplied himself with the means of existence. He was bom of poor parents at Sebenico in Dalmatia, in the year 1522, and dying at the age of sixty, was buried by the charity of his brother artists. There are three pictures by this master in the Bridgewater Gallery, and one in the Sutherland Collection. There are also two at Burleigh, which may be considered fair examples of his manner. Moschini, Guida di Venezia, tells us that in the Registers of the Academy he is called Andrea di Niccolò da Curzola; and in a print engraved by himself, and representing Heliodorus, we have the following inscription by his own hand, Andreas Sclavonus Meldola fecit.
60. This passage has been sometimes differently construed, and Vasari is made to say (by his Italian commentators) that Schiavone ‘‘sometimes painted a good picture by mistake.” It is true that the text may bear such a reading, but we think that our readers, considering the history of the hapless artist, and the favourable opinion expressed of him by our author, will admit the reading adopted by the present writer to be the true one.
61. Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, remarks that the colouring of Schiavone was so much admired by Tintoretto that he kept a painting by that artist in his studio, and recommended others to do so, but he also advised them to draw better than their model, whose poverty had unhappily prevented him from studying design.
62. Cà Pellegrini. The House of the Pellegrini Family.
63. Pellegrini, pilgrims. The picture represents Our Saviour Christ proceeding with the two disciples to Emmaus.
64. Piacenza, in his notes to Baldinucci, asserts that the figures of the Madonna, Avith those of SS. Peter, Paul, Elias, and the Four Evangelists, were removed from the Church of the Carmine to the Church of Santa Teresa; but Moschini, whose authority is much respected, makes no mention of that circumstance.
65. According to Lanzi, this picture Avas not painted by Schiavone, but by Tintoretto, who so closely imitated the manner of the first-named artist therein, that even Vasari himself was deceived. See History, &c., English Edition, vol. ii. p. 173.
66. The subsequent fate of this work is not known.
67. Many works by this master will be remembered by our readers as enriching the galleries of Venice. There are three according to Giiarienti— according to Rosa, four—of his pictures at Dresden; Avith others, according to Förster, at Vienna.