Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Mariotto Albertinelli

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE FLORENTINE PAINTER, MARIOTTO ALBERTINELLI.

[born 1475.— died 1520.^[1]]

Mariotto Albertinelli was the most intimate and trusted friend of Fra Bartolommeo, nay, we may almost say his other self, not only because they were continually together, but also for the similarity of their manner, seeing that when Mariotto gave undivided attention to his art, there was a very close resemblance between his works and those of Fra Bartolommeo.

Mariotto was the son of Biagio di Bindo Albertinelli; up to the age of twenty he had practised the trade of a goldbeater, but he then abandoned that calling: he acquired the first principles of painting in the workshops^ of Cosimo Roselli, and while there formed an intimate acquaintanceship with Baccio della Porta. They were indeed so completely of one mind, and such was the brotherly affection existing between them,^[2] that when Baccio left the workshop of Cosimo to exercise his art as a master, Mariotto left it also, and again joined himself to his companion. They accordingly both dwelt for a long time at the gate of San Pier Gattolini, where they executed numerous works in company, and as Mariotto was not so thoroughly grounded in the principles of design as Baccio, the former devoted himself to the study of the antiquities which were then in Florence, and of which the larger as well as the best part was in the Medici palace.^[3] Among them were certain small tablets in mezzorilievo, which had been fixed beneath the Loggia in the garden on the side towards San Lorenzo, and these works Mariotto copied several times. In one of the rilievi here alluded to is the figure of Adonis with an exceedingly beautiful dog, and in another are two nude figures, one of which is seated and has a dog at his feet, the other is standing and leaning on a staff, the legs crossed one over the other. Both of these rilievi are wonderfully beautiful, and in the same place there are two others of similar size and almost equal beauty, one of the last mentioned representing two boys bearing the thunderbolts of Jupiter; the other displays the figure of an aged man, entirely nude, having wings at the feet as well as the shoulders, and holding a pair of scales in his hand, this figure is understood to represent Opportunity. In addition to the works here described; there were many others in that garden, which was, so to speak, full of fragments from the antique, torsi for instance of the human form, masculine and feminine, all which were the study, not of Mariotto only, but of all the sculptors and painters of his time. A good part of these works are now in the Guardaroba^[4] of the Duke Cosimo, others remain in the same place, as the two torsi of Marsyas for example, the heads over the windows, and those of the Caesars over the doors.^[5]

By the study of these antiquities Mariotto made great progress in design, and the zeal with which he prosecuted his labours, having become known to Madonna Alfonsina, mother of the Duke Lorenzo, that lady was disposed to render him all the assistance in her power, and he executed several works at her command.

Employing himself in this maimer, now occupied with design, and anon with colouring, our artist finally obtained considerable facility, as may be seen from certain pictures painted for Madonna Alfonsina, and which were sent by her to Rome, for Carlo and Giordano Orsini, but which afterwards fell into the hands of Caesar Borgia. Mariotto painted a likeness of the above-named lady, which was extremely well done,^[6] and he began to hope that by her means ho should make his fortune; but in the year 1494, Piero de Medici was banished, when the assistance and favour of that family failing him, the painter returned to the dwelling of Baccio della Porta. Here he employed himself assiduously in the preparation of models in clay, and in making studies from Nature; he also carefully imitated the works and method of Baccio, by which means he became in a few years an able and experienced master. Seeing his works thus improving and finally attaining to great excellence, Mariotto felt himself greatly encouraged, and imitating the manner and methods of his associate more and more closely, his hand was by many not unfrequently taken for that of Baccio della Porta himself.

But when the latter departed, with the resolution of becoming a monk, Mariotto had. well nigh gone out of his senses, so completely was he overwhelmed by the loss of his companion. The determination of Baccio appeared to him so extraordinary, that he fell into a state of desperation; for a long time he could take pleasure in nothing, his life was as a burden to him, and at that period, his love for Baccio would certainly have induced him to throw himself into the same convent, had it not been for the antipathy with which he always regarded all monks, of whom he was continually uttering the most injurious remarks: he had even attached himself to the party of those who opposed Fra Girolamo of Ferrara:^[7] but had not these obstacles prevented him, there is no doubt that he would have taken the habit of the Domenicans with his friend.

Mariotto was entreated by Gerozzo Dini, for whom the Last Judgment, which Baccio had left unfinished in the chapel of the Cemetery, was undertaken, to complete that work, and the rather as he had the same manner with Fra Bartolommeo. The cartoon prepared by the latter was still there, with other designs, and Mariotto, being entreated by Fra Bartolommeo also, who had received money on account of the painting, and was troubled in conscience at the violation of his promise, at length agreed to finish it. With great love and much diligence he then continued the work, and brought it to a most successful conclusion, insomuch that many, not knowing the facts of the case, would suppose the whole to have been executed by one sole hand:^[8] this performance therefore obtained Mariotto very great reputation in the art.

At the Certosa^[9] of Florence, Mariotto Albertinelli painted a Crucifix, with our Lady and the Magdalen at the foot of the Cross, while above them are angels receiving the blood of Christ. This picture is in the Chapter House, it is painted in fresco with zealous care, and is very well finished.^[10]

Now it chanced that certain of the young men who were studying their art with Mariotto, and worked with him at the Certosa, were dissatisfied with the table supplied to them by the monks, who, as they thought, did not treat them becomingly. Without the knowledge of their master, the disciples thereupon made keys, resembling those of the windows looking into the cells of the monks, and through which they were accustomed to receive their food; by this means they contrived to steal the pittance of the inhabitants, now robbing one and now another. This caused a great outcry among the brethren, for in matters of the mouth a monk is quite as sensitive as any other man, but as the young painters acted their part with great dexterity, and were considered to be very respectable well-conducted persons, they did not attribute the blame to them, but on the contrary accused certain of the monks, whom they believed to have abstracted the food out of hatred to those robbed, and who obtained all the credit of the contrivance. One morning the truth was made known and the mystery explained, whereupon the monks, to be rid of their tormentors, agreed to double the rations of Mariotto and his scholars, provided only that they would promise to finish the work speedily, which was accordingly effected with great merriment and many a joyous laugh.

For the nuns of San Giuliano in Florence, Mariotto painted the picture of the High Altar.^[11] This work he executed at a room which he had in the Gualfonda, together with another for the same church, in which he represented the Trinity, a Crucifix that is to say, surrounded by angels, with the figure of God the Father, painted in oil on a gold ground.^[12]

Mariotto was a man of restless character, a lover of the table, and addicted to the pleasures of life, it thus happened that the laborious minutiee and racking of brain attendant on the study and exercise of art, became insufferable to him. He had frequently been not a little mortified also, by the tongues of his brother artists, who tormented him, as their custom is and always has been, the habit descending from one to another by inheritance, and being maintained in perpetual activity. He determined therefore, to adopt a calling, which if less elevated, would be also less fatiguing and much more cheerful: our artist accordingly opened a very handsome hotel, the house being one of those outside the Gate of San Gallo; but not content with this he likewise established a tavern and eating-house, at the Drago, near the Ponte Vecchio. In these places he performed the duties of host during several months, affirming that he had chosen a profession wherein there was no embarrassment with perspective, foreshortenings, or muscles, and what was still more, no criticism or censure to dread; whereas that which he had abandoned was beset on the contrary with all those disadvantages: the object of the calling he had left, Mariotto would remark, was to imitate flesh and blood, whereas that which he had adopted made both blood and flesh; here again as he declared, he found himself daily receiving praises for his good wine, while in his old occupation, he was perpetually criticised, and hourly compelled to listen to the blame bestowed on his performances.

But in a short time his newly chosen employment became more intolerable than his early profession had been. Disgusted by the debasement of the avocation he had adopted, Mariotto resumed his painting, and executed numerous pictures of all kinds in the houses of the Florentine citizens. He received a commission for three small pictures, from Giovanni Maria Benintendi,^[13] and on the elevation of Leo X. to the chair of St. Peter, he painted a circular picture in oil for the house of Medici, which was long suspended over the gate of their palace. In this work he depicted the arms of the Medici, accompanied by the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

For the brotherhood of San Zanobi, which has its abode near the Chapter House of Santa Maria del Fiore, Mariotto undertook to execute a picture of the Annunciation, but this he did not bring to a conclusion without a vast amount of labour. He had caused the light to be arranged in the precise manner suited to his work, which he desired to execute on the spot,^[14] to the end that he might impart to each separate portion of the picture its due effect; increasing or diminishing, as the distance of each figure might demand; and giving to every part its required amount of light. Mariotto was persuaded that paintings are worthy of estimation only in proportion as they combine relief and force with softness; he knew that the figures could not stand forth from the plane surface without shadows, but if these are too dark the work is rendered indistinct, and if too faint the picture is found to be wanting in force; he would fain have secured the perfection of softness for his painting, together with a certain something

• Vasari has not mentioned the subjects of these works; it therefore becomes very difficult to distinguish or trace them.—Ed. Flor., 1838.

+ On the precise spot where the picture was to be suspended, that is to say.—Ibid. in the treatment, to which art, in his opinion, had never previously attained. Now he thought that on this occasion the opportunity for accomplishing what he desired was presented to him, and he devoted himself to his task accordingly with unwonted zeal and energy. The efforts he thus made are manifest in a figure of God the Father, appearing in the heavens, and in those of numerous children, which come strik" ingly forth from the picture, shown as they are on the dark perspective of the back ground; one part of this represents a coved ceiling, the curves of which are turned in such a manner, with all the lines vanishing at the point of sight, which recedes to a very great depth, that the whole appears to be cut in relief: there are besides angels hovering above, and scattering flowers as they fly, which are executed with infinite grace.^[15]

Before hlariotto could bring this work to a conclusion, he painted it and then painted it oiit again, several times, now darkening the colour, now rendering the tints clearer, at one time adding vivacity and glow, but immediately after diminishing the effect, yet never satisfying himself or producing what he desired, seeing that he could not feel certain of having succeeded in expressing with his hand all the thoughts which he had conceived in his mind; he found it impossible, that is, to make the pencil keep pace with the imagination. He wished, among other things, to find a white that should have more brilliancy than could be given by any previously known; whereupon he set himself to clarify the existing materials, hoping thereby to enhance the effect of the high lights at his pleasure. At length, however, discovering that art is not equal to the production or representation of all that the human intellect is capable of conceiving, he resolved to content himself with what he had effected, since he could not attain to what was impossible. This work obtained great praise and honour for its author among artists, but he did not derive from it the remuneration which he had hoped for, having fallen into a dispute with the persons who had commissioned him to execute it. The price had indeed ultimately to be estimated by Pietro Perugino—then advanced in years, Ridolfo Gliirlandajo, and Francesco Granacci, who settled the amount by common consent. In the church of San Pancrazio, at Florence, Mariotto Albertinelli painted the Visitation of Our Lady, giving to liis picture the form of a half circle.^[16] He also executed a painting for Zanobi del Maestro, in Santa Trinita; the subject of this work is Our Lady, with San Girolamo and San Zanobi, a picture which Mariotto completed with much care.^[17] For the church belonging to the Congregation of the priests of San Martino, this artist painted another Visitation, which is highly commended.^[18] He was subsequently invited to the convent of La Quercia, which is situated at a short distance from the gate of Viterbo, and there, after having commenced a picture, he conceived a wish to visit Rome, whither he proceeded accordingly. While in that city Mariotto painted a picture in oil at the church of San Silvestro, on Monte Cavallo, for Fra Mariano Fetti;^[19] the subject of this work is the Marriage of St. Catherine; Our Lady, and San Domenico, are here painted in a very delicate manner.^[20] Having completed this work, the master returned to La Quercia, where he had left an inamorata^ to whom his thoughts had recurred with much affection during his residence in Rome: desiring therefore to appear to advantage in her presence, Mariotto exerted himself beyond his strength during the games of a festival,^[21] and being no longer young nor possessing the energies required for such efforts, he was compelled to take to his bed in consequence of that imprudence. Attributing his indisposition to the air of the place, he caused himself to be transported in a litter to Florence; but no restoratives nor applications were found sufficient to recover him from his malady, and in a few days he died in the forty-fifth year of his age. He was buried at San Piero Maggiore, in the city of Florence.^[22]

We have some very good designs by the hand of this master in our book of drawings, they are done with the pen in chiaro-scuro; among them is a spiral staircase of exceeding difficulty, this is drawn in perspective, in the laws whereof Mariotto was very well versed.

Our artist had many disciples, among others Fra Giuliano Bugiardini, and Franciabigio, both Florentines,^[23] with Innocenzio da Imola,^[24] of whom we propose to speak in the proper place. The Florentine painter Visino was also a disciple of Mariotto Albertinelli, and surpassed all those whom we have previously mentioned, whether in design, colouring, or care in execution; he had also a better manner, of which we find proof in the carefully finished works still remaining by his hand: there are indeed very few of them even in Florence, but a judgment may be formed of the artist from those in possession of Giovanni Battista di Agnol Doni.^[25] One of these is a circular picture painted in oil, and representing Adam and Eve, nude figures, in the act of eating the apple, a work executed with infinite ability; another is the Deposition of Christ from the Cross; the thieves also are in the course of removal, and there is a very ingenious complication of the ladders used for these purposes. The variety and beauty of attitude exhibited by the figures who are assisting each other to lower the body of the Saviour is very remarkable, as are the movements of other figures, who are bearing the body of a thief on their shoulders to its burial; these last are indeed extremely fine, and the whole of the work bears testimony to the excellence of the master.^[26]

Visino was induced by the representations of certain Florentine merchants to proceed to Hungary, where he executed numerous works, and was very much esteemed. But the poor man was at first on the very point of coming to an evil end in that country, for, being of a frank disposition, and free-spoken habits, he could not endure the annoyance of listening to certain wearisome Hungarians, who were daily worrying him to death with the never-ceasing praises of their own country, and all appertaining to it, with which they filled his ears. To hear them, one would have thought that there was nothing either excellent or agreeable beyond the limits of their stifling stove-heated rooms, or out of the reach of their eatings and drinkings; that there was no grandeur or nobility but that of their king and his court, while all the rest of the world was a mere heap of rubbish. But Visino thought, and with reason, that in Italy and its products, a somewhat different kind of excellence and grace, and beauty were to be found. Wearied at length by these absurdities, and perhaps a little off his guard, he one day suffered words to escape him to the effect that a flask of Trebbiano^[27] and a Berlingozzo,^[28] were better and worth more than all the kings, with the queens to boot, that had ever ruled in Hungary! Well was it for Yisino that as touching this matter he fell into the hands of a good kind-hearted bishop, a man versed in the customs of different countries, who treated the affair with prudence, considering it, and finding means to make the people consider it, a mere jest; had it not been for him, indeed, Yisino would have been taught what it is to play with savages, for those wild animals of Hungarians, not understanding his language, and thinking he had said some great thing, such as that he would take life and crown from their king; raised a perfect fury among the populace, and, seeking neither judge nor jury, were proceeding to crucify him without further ceremony. But the honest bishop extricated him as we have said, and secured him from all further embarrassment on that score; representing the matter in its most favourable aspect, he reinstated Vdsino in the favour of the king, who being told the whole story was highly diverted with it.

From that time forward, the abilities of the painter were much esteemed and honoured in that country; but his good fortune did not avail him long, he was unable to endure the Iieat of the stoved rooms, while the cold of the external air proved equally injurious to his constitution; to be brief, these things ultimately brought his life to an early close, but his favour and reputation survived in the memory of all who knew him, and the latter became further extended as his works were gradually made known.

The pictures of Visino were painted about the year 1515.

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1. In the first edition of his work, Vasari observes that “the works of Mariotto Albertinelli were performed about 1512.” If our author here intends to intimate the date of the master’s death, as he sometimes does by this mode of expression, his birth must have taken place in 1467; but Zani ascribes that event to the year 1475, and declares his death to have taken place as above.
2. This is the more remarkable when we consider the great difference in the opinions, characters, and habits of these two artists.— Ed. Flor., 1832.
3. That of the Via Larga namely, built by Cosimo, Pater Patriae, after the designs of Michelozzo Michelozzi (see vol. i.), and now in possession of the government.
4. The German annotators remark that ‘‘ when Vasari speaks of the Guardaroba of the Duke, we may generally understand that the Gallery of the Ufhzj, or that of the Pitti Palace, is the place indicated,”
5. Some of these sculptures were dispersed when the Medici were banished for the second time; others, among which are the torsi of Marsyas, restored by Donatello and Verrocchio, are in the Gallery of the Uffizj.
6. Alfonsina Orsini, daughter of Roberto Orsini, constable of Naples, and wife of Pietro de’ Medici, who was drowned in the Garigliano,—Ed. Flor., 1832.
7. Having been protected and employed by the wife of Piero de’ Medici, Mariotto could not well be the friend of their enemies.—Ed. Flor., 1832.
8. These works have been described in the life of Fra Bartolommeo. See ante, page 447—449, et seq. n.
9. The Carthusian Monastery.
10. Beneath this picture there is the following inscription:—

    mariotti florentini opus
    pro quo, patres, deus
    orandos est.
    a.d. mcccccvi. mens sept.

11. On the suppression of the monastery and church of San Giuliano, this picture was placed in the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, It represents the Madonna, with the Divine Child in her arms; beside her are St, John the Baptist, St. Giuliano, St. Nicholas of Bari, and St. Dominick. In the course of the last century this v/ork was retouched by Agostino Veracini.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
12. The painting of the Trinity is also in the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts. — Ibid.
13. *
14. t
15. This picture, still in very fair preservation, is in the Florentine Academy of the Fine Arts. It is full of power and expression; the head and hands of the Virgin in particular are exceedingly beautiful. —Schorn.
16. The Visitation of Mariotto Albertinelli, executed for San Pancrazio, is supposed to have fallen into private hands on the suppression of the church, and no authentic information can now be obtained respecting its subsequent fate.
17. Now in Paris, whither it was sent in 1813. It bears the inscription—

    Maricocti Debertinellis Opus, anno dom. mcccccvi.

18. “This is, without doubt, the best work executed by the pencil of Mariotto,” remark the Italian annotators, “and is worthy of Fra Bartolommeo himself, whether we consider the style or execution. It now forms one of the most valuable ornaments of the Florentine Gallery (Uffizj), where it will be found in the larger room of the Tuscan School.”
19. See life of Fra Bartolommeo, ante, p. 454.
20. In the Homan Guide^ by Fea and Nibby, there is a Magdalen in this church pointed out as a work of Mariotto, but no Marriage of St. Catherine. —Masselli.
21. The original is giostra, ‘‘ a tournament,” but this is evidently not to be taken in its usual acceptation of ‘‘ knightly emprize;” the whole passage is, indeed, somewhat obscure.
22. In the first edition of our author, these words are succeeded by the following inscription;—

     
    Mente parum {fateor) constabam: mentis acumen
    Sed tamen ostendunt picta, fuisse mihi.

23. The lives of both these artists follow in due course.
24. Innocenzio Francucci, of Imola, whose life was principally spent in Bologna. He entered the School of Francia in 1506, but we are not on that account to infer with Malvasia, that he could not have studied during a certain time with Mariotto Albertinelli, in Florence; since we have not only the assurance of Vasari to that effect, but also the observation of Lanzi, who remarks with justice that the style of Innocenzio da Imola resembles that of the best Florentine masters belonging to the period in (question, to such a degree as fully to confirm the assertion of our biographer.
25. “This master,” remarks an Italian commentator, “must indeed have been one of no small account, since Vasari declares him to have been superior to Franciabigio and Innocenzio da Imola.”
26. The Deposition of Visino is lamented as lost by more than one of the Italian commentators, but we learn from a German writer that this work passed from the Doni family to the possession of the Marchese Manfredini, in whose fine collection at Rovigo it was long taken for a work of Andrea del Sarto, the nude parts more particularly being exactly as we find them in the works of that master. This collection was bequeathed by the Marchese to one of the public schools of Venice, an ecclesiastical establishment, of which the name escapes us, where the w^ork in question is supposed still to remain, but, in the absence of recent information, we do not affirm that it will now be found in Venice.
27. The Trebbiano is a sweet white wine.
28. A cake or tart.