Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Vellano of Padua

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE SCULPTOR, VELLANO OF PADUA.

[born about 1430!—died in 1500 or 1502!]

So powerful is the etfect of care and practice in him who with zealous study addicts himself to the imitation of any given object, that we frequently observe the manner of certain of our masters to be so well imitated by those who greatly delight in their works, that no ditference can be discerned (unless it be by those who examine with well-practised eyes) between the imitation and the thing imitated: and it rarely happens that a well-disposed and affectionate disciple fails to adopt, at least in great part, the manner of his master.

Vellano of Padua devoted himself with so much zeal to the imitation of the manner and methods of Donato in sculpture, but more particularly in works of bronze, that he was considered in Padua, his native city, to have inherited the ability of the Florentine master—an opinion justified by his works in the Santo,^[1] respecting which almost any one, not possessing a perfect acquaintance with the subject, might be easily induced to believe them the works of Donato himself; nay, many not previously informed of the truth, are thus deceived every day.^[2]

This Vellano, then, inflamed by the many praises which he continually heard bestowed on the Florentine sculptor Donato,^[3] who was then working in Padua, and impelled by a desire for those advantages secured to good artists by the excellence of their works, Vellano, I say, placed himself with Donato to acquire from him the knowledge of his art, and devoted himself to the study of sculpture in such sort, that with the aid of so great a master, he finally attained his purpose; insomuch that before Donatello had completed his undertaking in Padua and departed thence, Vellano had made so great a progress in the art, that he had already awakened considerable expectation, and gave the master so much hope, as to induce the latter to leave him all his provisions and preparations for the work, with the designs and models of the stories in bronze, which still remained to be executed around the choir of the Santo, in that city. Pdiis was one reason why Vellano, when Donato had departed, was publicly appointed by his native city, to his very great honour, to execute the whole work. By him, therefore, all the stories in bronze on the outer side of the choir of the Santo were executed accordingly: and here, among other things, is the story of Samson, who grasping the columns,^[4] destroys the temple of the Philistines. In this work the fragments of the structure are seen descending and overwhelming the people; the death of whom, some by the ruins, and some by terror, with the various attitudes into which that vast concourse was thrown, has been admirably delineated and expressed by the painter. In the same place are several bronze chandeliers, executed with great judgment and displaying considerable invention, by the same master, with certain figures in wax, the models of the works just described, also by his hand. From all we see, this artist was manifestly possessed by an extreme desire to reach the point attained by Donaletto; but this he did not effect, having attempted to attain a height beyond his strength, in a very difficult art.^[5]

Vellano was also much attached to the study of architecture, and displayed more than common ability in the exercise of that branch of art. Having visited Pome in the year 1464, at the time when Pope Paul,^[6] a Venetian, occupied the chair of St. Peter, Vellano was employed in the works of the Vatican, Giuliano da Maiano being architect to the pontiff. Among other things executed by Vellano, are the arms of Pope Paul, with the name of his Holiness; and many of the decorations in the palace of San Marco are by this artist, who was commissioned to that work by the same pope, and executed the bust^[7] of the Holy Father, which is to be seen on the summit of the staircase.

A magnificent Court was designed for this palace by Vellano, with a graceful and commodious flight of steps, but the death of the pontiff intervened to prevent the execution of the work, and all these things remained incomplete. During the period of his abode in Pome, Vellano executed many small works in marble and bronze for the pope and other persons, but these I have not been able to find. In Perugia there is a bronze statue larger than life by this master, which presents a portrait taken from nature, of the above-named pope, seated in his pontifical robes: at the foot of the figure is the name of the artist with the date of its completion.^[8] This work is placed in a niche prepared with much care, and composed of different kinds of marbles, outside the door of the church of San Lorenzo, which is the cathedral of that city. A large number of medals were produced by this master, some of which are still to be seen, more particularly that of Pope Paul above-named, with those of the Aretine, Antonio Rosello,^[9] and of Batista Platina,^[10] both secretaries to that pontiff.

After these things, Vellano having returned to Padua with a very good name, was held in great esteem not only in his native city, but in all Lombardy and the March of Treviso, as well because there had not before been any very excellent artists in those parts, as because he had attained great skill in the founding of metals. At a later period, and when Vellano had already become old, the Signoria of Venice, resolving to erect an equestrian statue of Bartolommeo da Bergamo, adjudged the horse to the Florentine Andrea del Verrocchio, and the figure to Vellano. Andrea, who knew himself to be, as indeed he was, a much better master than Vellano, and had expected that the whole work would be confided to himself, fell into a violent fit of rage when he heard of this arrangement, and having first broken and destroyed the model, which he had already finished, he departed to Florence. But after a time, being invited to return by the Signoria, who accorded to him the entire work, he went back to complete it.^[11] This gave Vellano so much displeasure, that without uttering a word, or showing his resentment in any other manner, he left Venice immediately, and returned to Padua, where he lived very honourably during the remainder of his life, contenting himself with the works that he had already completed, and with the conviction of being, as he ever was, beloved and respected in his native land. He died at the age of ninety-two,^[12] and was buried in the Santo with that distinction which his talents, having done honour to his country as well as himself, had merited. His portrait was sent to me from Padua, by certain friends of mine, who received it, as they inform me, from the most learned and very reverend Cardinal Bembo, a most zealous admirer of the fine arts, as well as highly distinguished for his rich endowments of mind and body, wherein, and for the rarest virtues and talents, he was indeed excellent above all the men of our age.^[13]

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1. The church of St. Anthony of Padua, so called par eminence.
2. icognara, Storia della Scultura, declares that the most unskilled in art, provided they are furnished with good sense, are unlikely to mistake even the best works of Vellano for the least distinguished among those of Donato.
3. Pomponius Guaricus, in his Treatise De Sculptura, also declares Vellano, or Bellano of Padua, to have been a scholar of Donato, but calls him “ineptus artifex.”
4. The bassi-rilievi in bronze around the choir of the Santo are twelve; the subjects are taken from the Old Testament. Of these twelve bassirilievi, ten are by Vellano; the other two, the second and fifth, namely, one representing David and Goliath, the other Judith and Holofernes, are by Andrea Riccio, whom Cicognara considers to be greatly superior to Vellano.
5. These words Cicognara declares to be in contradiction to the eulogies of the previous pages; and concludes that Vasari wrote this life from notices communicated to him by the friends of Vellano, whom he has thus not described according to his own judgment, but according to the representations of others, the result being, that Vellano receives undue praise.
6. Paul II. (Pietro, Cardinal Barbo.)
7. This bust retains its place, but it was at one time the purpose of the Venetian ambassador, Zulian, to remove it to Venice.— Bottari.
8. The city of Perugia decreed this statue to Paul II. in gratitude for the benefits conferred on the citizens by that pontiff, whodiad found means to appease their civil discords, and to restore order to their finances.
9. Antonio Rosello, considered one of the most learned and eloquent men of his time, obtained the sounding title of “Monarch of Knowledge,” and was declared a new Lycurgus and a new Solon: he died in Padua at a very advanced age in 1467.—Masselli.
10. Bartolommeo, and not Batista. This is the author of the Storia de' Papi, from St. Peter down to Paul II. He died at Rome in the year 1481, at the age of sixty, being then keeper of the Biblioteca Vaticana. — Ibid.
11. Of the discords produced by this decision between the two artists, there is further notice in the life of Andrea Verrocchio, which follows.
12. Cicognara asserts, but without adducing any proof, that Vellano lived thirty-four years after the death of his master Donatello; this brings the death of the former to 1500 or 1502, accordingly as we adopt the opinion of Bartolommeo Fonzio, who places Donatello’s death in 1466, or that of Matteo Palmieri, who gives the year 1468 as that of his demise.
13. Many -writers, among ivhom are Morelli, Piacenza, and Cicognara, affirm Andrea Riccio, the Paduan artist of whom Vasari makes so slight a mention (in the life of Antonello da Messina), but who was in fact an artist of distinguished merit, to have been a disciple of Vellano. A fine work of Andrea Riccio, The Tomb of Girolamo and Marcantonio della Torre namely, was removed from Verona by the French. This is now in Paris. Riccio was also an architect, and the church of Santa Giustina of Padiia, commenced in 1502, by Girolamo da Brescia, was completed after his design. Andrea Riccio died in his native city on the 8th of July, 1532, and was buried in the cemetery of San Giovanni in Verdara, with the following inscription:—
    Andreae Crispo Briosco Pat. Statuario insigni, cuius opera ad antiquorum laudem proxime accedunt, in primo aeneum candelabrum quod in aede. D. Antonii cernitur, Haeredes pos. Vix. ann. lxii. mens. iii. dies. vii. Obiit viii. indus. Julii m.d. xxxii.
    Cicognara has given engravings of his principal works. See Plates xxxv, xxxvi, and xxxvii.