of entrance. The subject of this last-mentioned performance is the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles in Tongues of Flame; while on the other and last of the arches, Jeronimo depicted the Nativity of Jesus Christ; which, although it was not then uncovered, he showed to us in this present year of 1566, to our great pleasure, seeing that for a work in fresco it is a truly beautiful one.
The great tribune of that same Madonna della Steccata, which is now in course of execution by the Cremonese painter Bernardo Soiaro, will also prove to be an admirable production when it shall have been finished, and will be fully able to endure comparison with the other works to be seen in that place. But of this result we may not affirm that any other than Francesco Mazzuoli himself has been the cause, seeing that it was he who with such excellent judgment commenced the magnificent decoration of the church which had been erected, as we have before related, after the design and under the direction of Bramante.
With respect to the masters of our arts in Mantua, I have to remark, in addition to what has been already related in the life of Guilio Romano, that the latter so widely disseminated the seeds of art in Mantua and throughout Lombardy, as to have secured a succession of able masters, of whom there have been many since that time, while his own works are daily more and more appreciated and extolled. For although Giovanni Battista Bertano,[1] principal architect to the Duke of Mantua, has constructed many splendid apartments in the palace, and above that part where are the aqueducts and the corridor, adorning these rooms very richly with stucco works and pictures, executed for the most part by Fermo Guisoni,[2] the disciple of Giulio, and by others; yet they cannot be compared, as will be shown, with those directed by Giulio himself.
- ↑ Giovanni Battista Ghisi, called Bertano, was the chief of a family of artists who bore the name “Mantuano.” He was employed by the Duke Vincenzio, and after the death of Giulio Romano, was considered one of the most active artists in Mantua. See Orlandi, Abecedario Pittorico.
- ↑ Mentioned in the Life of Giulio Romano, see ante, p. 57.
