VANNUCCI
273
VARGAS
Clement VIII and commissioned to paint the great
altar picture for St. Peter's, "Simon Magus rebuked
by St. Peter". It is his best work; a remarkable fact
is the good preservation of the colours in this very
carefully painted picture. The pope rewarded him
richly and made him a knight. He was less success-
ful at Rome in the execution of some other pictures,
IS "The Assumption of the Virgin, two pictures of
3t. Ceciha, etc. A large number of Vanni's frescoes
ind panel paintings are to be found at Siena, among
these are: "The Sienese on the Crusade", "The
"ouncil of Siena", "The Demoniac", "Calvary", "St.
Gialgano in the Wilderness", "St. Francis Xavicr",
'Baptism of Constantine", "MartjTdoms of Sts.
Lucia and Catherine", etc. His works are also to
De found at Pisa, Pistoja, Perugia, Genoa, Florence,
ind various cities outside of Italy. Higlily esteemed
imong his engravings are a "Madonna and Child",
1 "St. Francis in Ecstasj'", and a "St. Catherine
Receiving the Stigmata". Vanni had also a reputa-
- ion as architect and mechanic, but of his architectural
.^"ork nothing important remains.
MiLAVESi, Documenii per la Storia deW arte senesa (Siena, t854~o6) : see also the general histories of art.
G. GlETMANN.
Vannucci, Pietho. See Pertjoino.
Van Reeth, Joseph. See G.\lle, Diocese of.
Varela, Felix. See Havana, Diocese of.
Varennes, Pierre Gaultier de. See Laveren- 3RVE, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de.
Vargas, Lcis de, painter, b. at Seville, in 1502; d. hcrem 1.568. He has two claims upon our attention; he vas not only a great painter, but was also a man of strong devotional temperament, and known as a holy nan. His great desire was to use his talent for the
- lory of God, and it was his habit before painting one
)f his great altar-pieces to go to confession and receive Holy Communion. It is also stated by one of his
- ontemporaries that he kept a coffin in his room to
•emind him of the approach of death, and that one )f his pictures, "Christ Bearing the Cross", a fresco, jainted in a street in Seville (known as the Street of Bitterness, "La Calle de la Amargura"), was so lotable in the city that condemned criminals were )roughf there on the way to the scene of execution n order to make their devotions before it and to 'eceive the last offices of the Church. De Vargas ived a simple and almost hermit-Uke life; he was juiet, mild, benevolent, dishked by many of the jeople of his own rank, but worshipped by the poor, ,0 whom he was extremely generous.
He was trained in Seville, and the works of Cam- )aiia greatly influenced him. He first painted on the ough canvas curtains used to cover up the pictures )n the altars in Holy Week, but owing to the gener- isity of a friend he was able to visit Italy. There, luring his stay of twenty-eight years, mainlj- spent n Rome, he closely studied the works of Perino del I'aga, one of Raphael's favourite pupils, and came nto contact with Vasari. The first picture he )ainted after his return is stiU in Seville Cathedral; it 3 dated 1555, and in the records of the chapter it is aid to have been discovered by Bermudez. Of his resco work very Uttle remains. His two greatest )ictures represent the "Purification of the Virgin" and he "Temporal Generation of Our Lord," the latter )eing an allegorical composition showing Adam and ive adoring the Infant Christ, Who is in the arms of he Virgin. This is the picture generally known as 'La Gamba" because of the wonderful foreshorten- ng of the leg of Adam. The Itahan artist Perez de ilesio, when painting (1548) the giant figure of St. ^Christopher on the southern portal of the cathedral, ixclaimed, that the whole of his figure was of less nerit than was the leg of Adam in the "Generation" XV.— lb
by De Vargas. De Vargas was one of the few Span-
ish artists who were really eminent in draughtsman-
ship. He painted many portraits, but none of them
is of any special merit.
See the writings of Bermudez on the Spanish artists, notably the Carta (Cadiz, 1806). the Cathedral Guide. (Seville, 1804), and the Dictionary (6 vols., Maflrid). Maxwell, Annals of the Artists of Spain; Madrazo in Espaila (1S7S); Hartley, Spanish Painting (London, 1904), and various works on Murillo.
George Charles Williamson.
Vargas y Mexia, Francisco de, Spanish diplomat and ecclesiastical writir, h. at Madrid, date unknown; d. at the Hieronymiir inoniisiiTy of la Cisla in 1566. He belonged to an old family of the lower nobihtj' and studied law at the University of Alcald, receiving the degree of licen- tiate in law. He became a govern- ment official, and by his energy and education, espe- cially by his ex- cellent knowledge of law, rose to the position of fiscal of the Council of Castile (Fiscal del Consejos de Cas- iilla), that is, at- torney-general. In 1545 Charles V sent him to the Council of Trent. In January, 154S, he protested, as Charles's repre- Francesco Vargas Macciucca
sentative at the Marchese di Vatolla
council, against From a contemporar>- print
its transfer to Bologna, and in 1551 he congratu- lated the council on its return to Trent. Dur- ing the years 1552-59 he was the Spanish ambassador at Venice; in 1558 he negotiated at Rome with Paul IV regarding the recognition of Ferdinand I as emperor, and in reference to the founding of new dioceses in the Netherlands. From 1559 he succeeded Figueroa as the Spanish ambassador to the Curia. As such he took an important part in the election of Pius IV. When Pius IV brought suit against the relatives of Paul IV, Vargas exerted himself to sa\'e the Caraffa. For some time he was not regarded favourably by the pope, who tried to have him re- called by Spain; however, Vargas again obtained the confidence of Pius IV, and was commissioned by the latter in 1563 to prepare an opinion on the question of the papal jurisdiction, as to which the Council of Trent had become involved in a dispute. The docu- ment Vargas prepared was published at Rome in the same year under the title of "De episcoporum juris- dictione et de pontificis maximi auctoritate respon- sum". In this Vargas speaks as a strict supporter of the papacy. Another theological question that he took up was that of granting the cup to the laity; to this he was decidedly opposed. His reports and let- ters are important for the information they contain on the doings of the Council of Trent ; still, he cannot be regarded as an entirely imprejudiced witness, be- cause his interest was that of a diplomat in the service of his king. His keen powers of obsenation were also chiefly directed to the .scrutiny of earthly motives, and of the evidences of human weaknesses and short- sightedness. He w;is prominent in the affairs of the council for the la.st time when, in conjunction with the Spanish ambassador at Trent, he tried to postpone the clo.se of the council. After his return to Sp:iin he was made state councillor, but soon resigned all hia offices and retired to the Hieronymite monastery of la Cisla near Toledo, in order to prepare himself for
