,,the ,,life        ,,and               
,,writings        ,,of        ,,henry   
,,fuseli1 ,,esq4 ,m4,a4 ,r4,a4          
,,keeper1 ,,and ,,professor ,,of        
,,painting ,,to ,,the      ,,royal      
,,academy ,,in ,,london2 ,,member ,,of  
,,the ,,first ,,class      ,,of ,,the   
,,academy ,,of ,,st4 ,,luke ,,at ,,rome4
        ,,the ,,former ,,written1 ,,and 
,,the ,,latter ,,edited ,,by            
,,john ,,knowles1 ,f4,r4,s4             
,,corresponding ,,member ,,of ,,the     
,,philosophical ,,society ,,at          
,,rotterdam1        ,,his ,,executor4   
,animo vidit1 ingenio complexus est1    
eloquenti illuminavit4                  
,velleius ,paterculus in ,ciceronem4    
,,in ,,three ,,volumes4        ,,vol4   
,,iii4        ,,london3      ,,henry    
,,colburn ,,and ,,richard ,,bentley1    
,,new ,,burlington ,,street4            
,,mdcccxxxi4              ,,london3     
,,printed ,,by ,,samuel ,,bentley1      
,dorset ,street1 ,fleet ,street4        
,,contents ,,of ,,the ,,third ,,volume4 

,,lectures4        ,,xi4 ,on the        
prevailing ,method of treating      the 
,history of ,painting1 with             
,observations      on the ,picture of   
,lionardo da      ,vinci of ,the ,last  
,supper                                 
,page #a        ,,xii4 ,on the ,present 
,state of the ,art1 and the      ,causes
 which check its ,progress              
#ci          ,,aphorisms1      ,chiefly 
relative to the ,fine ,arts             
#fa          ,a ,,history ,,of ,,art    
,,in ,,the ,,schools ,,of ,,italy4      
,the ,tuscan ,school                    
#aec        ,the ,school of ,florence   
#aic        ,the ,school of ,siena      
#bca        ,the ,roman ,school         
#bdb        ,the ,school of ,naples     
#bgi        ,the ,school of ,venice     
#ccd        ,the ,school of ,mantoua    
#cfa        ,the ,school of ,bologna    
#cii              ,,eleventh ,,lecture4 
,,on ,,the ,,prevailing ,,method ,,of   
,,treating ,,the ,,history ,,of         
,,painting1      ,,with ,,observations  

,,on ,,the ,,picture ,,of ,,lionardo    
,,da ,,vinci ,,of      ,,the ,,last     
,,supper4          ,,eleventh ,,lecture4
      ,in this ,lecture ,i shall submit 
to your consideration some criticisms on
  the prevailing method of treating the 
,history of our ,art2 attended by a     
series of observations on the           
magnificent picture of the ,last        
,supper1 by  ,lionardo da ,vinci1 now   
before you4    ,history1 mindless of its
 real object1 sinking to ,biography1 has
 been  swelled into a diffuse catalogue 
of individuals1 who1 tutored by         
different schools1 or picking something 
from the real establishers of  ,art1    
have done little more than repeat1 or   
imitate through the medium of  either1  
what those had found in ,nature1        
discriminated1 selected1 and  applied to
 ,art1 according to her dictates4       
,without wishing to depreciate  the     
merit of that multitude who felt1 proved
 themselves strong enough1  and         
strenuously employed life to follow1 it 

must be pronounced below  the           
historian's dignity to allow them more  
than a transitory glance4  ,neither     
originality1 nor selection and          
combination of materials  scattered over
 the various classes of ,art by others1 
have much right to  attention from him  
who only investigates the real progress 
of ,art1 if  the first proves to have   
added nothing essential to the system by
  novelty1 and the second to have only  
diluted energy1 and by a popular        
amalgama to have pleased the vulgar4    
,novelty1 without enlarging the  circle 
of knowledge1 may delight or strike1 but
 is nearer allied to whim  than to      
invention2 and an eclectic system1      
without equality of parts1 as  it       
originated in want of comprehension1    
totters on the brink of  mediocrity4    
,the first ideas of ,expression1        
,character1 ,form1 ,chiaroscuro1 and    
,colour1  originated in ,tuscany3       
,masaccio1 ,lionardo da ,vinci1 ,m4     
,agnolo1  ,bartolomeo della ,porta4 ,the

 first was carried off before he could  
give  more than hints of dramatic       
composition2 the second appears to have 
established character on physiognomy1   
and to have seen the first vision  of   
chiaroscuro1 though he did not penetrate
 the full extent of its  charm2 the     
third had power1 knowledge1 and life    
sufficiently great1  extensive1 and     
long1 to have fixed style on its basis1 
had not an  irresistible bias drawn off 
his attention from the modesty and      
variety  of ,nature2 ,baccio gave       
amplitude to drapery1 and colour to     
form4    ,of the ,tuscan ,school that   
succeeded these1 the main body not only 
added  nothing to their discoveries1    
but1 if their blind attachment to the   
singularities rather than the beauties  
of the third be excepted1 equally       
inattentive to expression1 character1   
propriety of form1 the charms of        
chiaroscuro1 and energies of colour1    
contented themselves to give to  tame or
 puerile ideas1 obvious and common-place

 conceptions1 a kind of  importance by  
mastery of execution and a bold but     
monotonous and always  mannered outline2
 and though ,andrea del ,sarto1 with    
,francia ,bigio1  ,giacopo da ,pontormo1
 and ,rosso1 may be allowed to have     
thought sometimes  for themselves and   
struck out paths of their own1 will it  
be asserted  that they enlarged or even 
filled the circle traced out before8    
,the most  characteristic work of       
,andrea's original powers1 is1 no doubt1
 the  historic series in ,s4 ,giovanni  
dei ,scalzi2 yet1 when compared with the
  patriarchal simplicity of the groups  
in the ,lunette of the ,sistine         
,chapel1 the navet of his characters and
 imagery will be found too  much tainted
 with contemporary1 local1 and domestic 
features1 for  ,divine1 ,apostolic1 and 
,oriental agents4 ,his drapery1 whenever
 he escapes  from the costume of the    
day1 combines with singular felicity the
 breadth  of the ,frati1 and the acute  
angles of ,albert ,durer2 but neither   

its  amplitude1 nor the solemn repose   
and tranquillity of his scenery1 can    
supply the want of personal dignity1 or 
consecrate vulgar forms and  trivial    
features4    ,the ,roman school like an 
,oriental sun rose1 not announced by    
dawn1 and1  setting1 left no twilight4  
,raffaello established his school on the
  ,drama2 its scenery1 its expression1  
its forms2 ,history1 ,lyrics1           
,portrait1 became under his hand the    
organs of passion and character4  ,with 
his demise the purity of this principle 
vanished4 ,julio ,romano1 too  original 
to adopt1 formed a school of his own at 
,mantoua1 which1 as it  was founded on  
no characteristic principle1 added      
nothing to ,art1 and  did not long      
survive its founder4 ,polydoro ,caldara 
was more ambitious to  emulate the forms
 of the antique than to propagate the   
style of his  master1 which was not     
comprehended by ,penny1 called ,il      
,fattore1 mangled  by ,perrino del      
,vaga1 became common-place in the hands 

of the ,zuccari1  barbarous manner      
during the usurpation of ,giuseppe      
,cesari1 sunk to  tameness in the timid 
imitation of ,sacchi and ,maratta1 and  
expired under  the frigid method of     
,mengs4    ,a certain national1 though  
original character1 marks the brightest 
epoch  of the ,venetian ,school4        
,however deviating from each other1     
,tiziano1  ,tintoretto1 ,jacopo da      
,ponte1 and ,paolo ,veronese1           
acknowledge but one  element of         
imitation1 ,nature herself3 this        
principle each bequeathed to  his       
school1 and no attempt to adulterate its
 simplicity by uniting  different       
methods1 distinguishes their immediate  
successors3 hence they  preserved       
features of originality longer than the 
surrounding schools1  whom the vain wish
 to connect incompatible excellence1    
soon degraded to  mediocrity1 and from  
that plunged to insignificance4    ,if  
what is finite could grasp infinity1 the
 variety of ,nature might be  united by 

individual energy2 till then the attempt
 to amalgamate her  scattered beauties  
by the imbecility of ,art1 will prove   
abortive4  ,genius is the pupil of      
,nature2 perceives1 is dazzled1 and     
imperfectly  transmits one of her       
features3 thus saw ,m4 ,agnolo1         
,raffaello1 ,tiziano1  ,correggio2 and  
such were their technic legacies1 as    
inseparable from  their attendant flaws1
 as in equal degrees irreconcilable4    
,that ,nature  is not subject to        
decrepitude1 is proved by the           
superiority of modern  over ancient     
science2 what hinders modern ,art to    
equal that of classic  eras1 is the     
effect of irremovable causes4    ,but ,i
 hasten to the principal object of this 
,lecture1 the consideration  of the     
technic character of ,lionardo da       
,vinci1 one1 and in my opinion  the     
first of the great restorers of modern  
,art1 as deduced from his most          
important work1 the ,last ,supper1      
surviving as a whole in the magnificent 

copy of ,marco ,uggione1 rescued from a 
random pilgrimage by the courage  and   
vigilance of our ,president1 and by the 
,academy made our own4 ,the  original of
 this work1 the ultimate test of his    
most vigorous powers1  the proof of his 
theory1 and what may be called with     
propriety the first  characteristic     
composition since the revival of the    
,art1 was the  principal ornament of the
 ,refectory in the ,dominican ,convent  
of ,s4  ,maria delle ,gratie1 at ,milan4
    ,let us begin with the centre1 the  
seat of the principal figure1 from      
which all the rest emanate like rays4   
,sublimely calm1 the face of the        
,saviour broods over the immense1 whilst
 every face and every limb around  him1 
roused by his mysterious word1 fluctuate
 in restless curiosity and  sympathetic 
pangs4    ,the face of the ,saviour is  
an abyss of thought1 and broods over the
  immense revolution in the economy of  
mankind1 which throngs inwardly on  his 
absorbed eye--as the spirit creative in 

the beginning over the  water's darksome
 wave--undisturbed and quiet4 ,it could 
not be lost in  the copy before us3 how 
could its sublime conception escape     
those who  saw the original8 ,it has    
survived the hand of ,time in the study 
which  ,lionardo made in crayons1       
exhibited with most of the attendant    
heads in  the ,british ,gallery2 and    
even in the feebler transcript of ,del  
,testa4    ,i am not afraid of being    
under the necessity of retracting what  
,i am  going to advance1 that neither   
during the splendid period immediately  
subsequent to ,lionardo1 nor in those   
which succeeded to our own time1  has a 
face of the ,redeemer been produced     
which1 ,i will not say equalled1  but   
approached the sublimity of ,lionardo's 
conception1 and in quiet and  simple    
features of humanity embodied divine1   
or1 what is the same1  incomprehensible 
and infinite powers4 ,to him who could  
contrive and give  this combination1 the
 unlimited praise lavished on the       

inferior  characters who surround the   
hero1 whilst his success in that was    
doubted--appears to me not only no      
praise1 but a gross injustice4    ,yet  
such was the judgment of ,vasari1 and in
 our days of ,lanzi1 both  founded on   
the pretended impossibility of          
transcribing the beauty of  forms and   
the varied energies of expression       
distributed by the artist  among the    
disciples4 ,the moment1 says ,lanzi1 and
 says well1 is that  in which the       
,saviour says to the ,disciples1 ,one of
 you will betray me6  ,on every one of  
the innocent men the word acts like     
lightning3 he who is  at a greater      
distance1 distrusting his own ears1     
applies to his  neighbour2 others1      
according to their variety of character1
 betray  raised emotions4 ,one of them  
faints1 one is fixed in astonishment2   
this  wildly rises1 the simple candour  
of another tells that he cannot be      
suspected3 ,judas1 meanwhile1 assumes a 
look of intrepidity1 but1 though  he    

counterfeits innocence1 leaves no doubt 
of being the traitor4 ,vinci  used to   
tell1 that for a year he wandered about1
 perplexed with the  thought how to     
embody in one face the image of so black
 a mind2 and  frequenting a village     
which a variety of villains haunted1 he 
met at  last1 by the help of some       
associated features1 with his man4 ,nor 
was his  success less conspicuous in    
furnishing both the ,jameses with       
congenial  and characteristic beauty2   
but being unable to find an ideal       
superior to  theirs for ,christ1 he left
 the head1 as ,vasari affirms1          
imperfect1  though ,arminine ascribes a 
high finish even to that4    ,thus is   
the modesty and diffidence of the       
artist1 who1 in the midst of  the most  
glorious success1 always sought and     
wished for more1 brought as  evidence   
against him by all his pretended judges 
and critics1 if we  except the single   
,bottari1 who finds in it1 with the     
highest finish1 all  the fortitude of   

mind characteristic of the ,saviour1    
united to lively  consideration of the  
suffering that awaited him--though even 
that is1  in my opinion1 below the      
conception of ,lionardo4    ,lest those 
who have read and recollect the         
character of ,lionardo which ,i  have   
submitted to the public1 should1 from   
the predilection with which ,i  have    
dwelt on what ,i think the principal    
feature of his performance1 the  face   
and attitude of the hero1 suspect ,i    
shift my ground1 or charge me  with     
inconsistency1 ,i repeat what ,i said   
then1 when ,i was nearly  unacquainted  
with this work1 that the distinguishing 
feature of his  powers lay in the       
delineation of character1 which he often
 raised to a  species1 and not seldom   
degraded to caricature4 ,the triumphant 
proof of  both is the great performance 
before us2 the same mind that could     
unite  divine power with the purest     
humanity1 by an unaccountable           
dereliction1  not only of the dignity   

due to his subject1 but of sound sense1 
thought  it not beneath him to haunt the
 recesses of deformity to unkennel a    
villain4 ,did he confine villainy to    
deformity8 ,if he had1 he would have    
disdained to give him two associates in 
feature2 for the face of him who  holds 
up his finger1 and his who argues on the
 left extremity of the  table1 seem to  
have proceeded1 if not absolutely from  
the same1 from a  very similar mould1   
yet they are in the number of the elect1
 and1 though  on the brink of           
caricature1 have the air of good men4   
,expression alone  separates them from  
the traitor1 whom incapacity of remorse1
 hatred1  rage at being discovered1 and 
habitual meanness1 seem to have divided 
into equal shares4    ,the portrait of  
,cesar ,borgia1 by ,giorgione1 now hung 
up for your study  in the ,academy for  
,painting1 proves that the most         
atrocious mind may  lurk under good1    
sedate1 and even handsome features4     
,though his hand  were not drawing a    

dagger1 who would expect mercy or       
remorse from the  evil methodized       
villainy of that eye8 ,but ,judas was   
capable of remorse2  intolerant of the  
dreadful suffering with which the horrid
 act had  overwhelmed him1 he rushed on 
confession of his crime1 restitution1   
and  suicide4    ,to the countenance and
 attitude of ,st4 ,john1 blooming with  
youth1  innocent1 resigned1 partaking   
perhaps somewhat too much of the        
feminine1  and those of the two ,james's
 invigorated by the strength of         
virility1  energetic and bold1 none will
 refuse a competent praise of varied    
beauty2 but they neither are nor ought  
to be ideal1 and had they been  so1 they
 could neither compete nor interfere    
with the sublimity that  crowns the     
,saviour's brow1 and stamps his         
countenance with the ,god4    ,the      
felicity1 novelty1 and propriety of     
,lionardo's conception and  invention1  
are powerfully seconded by every part of
 execution3--the tone  which veils and  

wraps actors and scene into one         
harmonious whole1 and  gives it breadth2
 the style of design1 grand without     
affectation1 and1  if not delicate or   
ideal1 characteristic of the actors2 the
 draperies  folded with equal           
simplicity1 elegance1 and costume1 with 
all the  propriety of presenting the    
highest finish1 without anxiety of      
touch1 or  thronging the eye4    ,so    
artless is the assemblage of the        
figures1 that the very name of          
composition seems to degrade what       
appears arranged by ,nature's own hand4 
,that the nearest by relation1          
characters and age1 should be placed    
nearest the master of the feast1 and of 
course attract the eye soonest1  was    
surely the most natural arrangement2 but
 if they are conspicuous1  they are not 
so at the expense of the rest3 distance 
is compensated by  action2 the centre   
leads to all1 as all lead to the centre4
 ,that the  great restorer of light and 
shade sacrificed the effects and charms 

of  chiaroscuro at the shrine of        
character1 raised him at once above all 
his future competitors2 changes         
admiration to sympathy1 and makes us    
partners of the feast4    ,as expression
 sprang from the subject1 so it gave    
rise to competition4  ,that ,raffaello  
was acquainted with ,lionardo's work1   
and felt its power1  is evident from his
 composition1 engraved by ,m4 ,antonio3 
finding  invention anticipated1 he took 
refuge in imitation1 and filled it with 
sentiments of his own2 whether1 beyond  
the dignity of attitude1 he  attempts to
 approach the profundity of ,lionardo's 
,christ1 cannot1 from a  print of very  
moderate dimensions1 be decided4 ,in the
 listening figure  of ,judas1 with equal
 atrocity of guilt he appears to have   
combined  somewhat more of apostolic    
consequence4    ,the well-known ,last   
,supper of the ,loggia1 painted1 or what
 is more  probable1 superintended by    
,raffaello1 is1 by being made a night   
scene1  by contrast and chiaroscuro1    

become an original conception2 but as it
  presents little more than groups busy 
to arrange themselves for sitting  down 
or breaking up1 it cannot excite more   
interest than what is due to  contrast  
and effect1 and active groups eager to  
move yet not tumultuary4    ,but if     
,lionardo disdained to consult the      
recesses of composition and the  charms 
of artificial chiaroscuro1 he did not   
debase his work to mere  apposition3    
uniting the whole by tone1 he gave it   
substance by truth of  imitation1 and   
effect by the disposition of the        
characters2 the groups  flanking each   
side of the ,saviour1 emerge1 recede1   
and support each  other with a          
roundness1 depth1 and evidence which    
leave all attempts at  emendation or    
improvement hopeless4 ,but why should ,i
 attempt to  enumerate beauties which   
are before you1 and which if you do not 
perceive yourselves1 no words of mine   
can ever make you feel8    ,the         
universality of ,lionardo da ,vinci is  

become proverbial3 but though  possessed
 of every element1 he rather gave       
glimpses than a standard of  form2      
though full of energy1 he had not powers
 effectually to court the  various      
graces he pursued4 ,his line was free   
from meagreness1 and his  forms         
presented volume1 but he appears not to 
have ever been much  acquainted1 or to  
have sedulously sought much             
acquaintance1 with the  ,antique4       
,character was his favourite study1 and 
character he has often  raised from an  
individual to a species1 and as often   
depressed to  caricature4 ,the strength 
of his execution lay in the delineation 
of male  heads2 those of his females owe
 nearly all their charms to chiaroscuro1
  of which he is the supposed inventor3 
they are seldom more discriminated  than
 the children they fondle2 they are     
sisters of one family4 ,the  extremities
 of his hands are often inelegant1      
though timorously drawn1  like those of 
,christ among the ,doctors in the       

picture we lately saw  exhibited4       
,lionardo da ,vinci touched in every    
muscle of his forms the  master-key of  
the passion he wished to express1 but he
 is ideal only in  chiaroscuro4    ,such
 was the state of the ,art before the   
appearance of ,m4 ,agnolo and           
,raffaello1 and the establishment of    
style4    ,of ,m4 ,agnolo it is         
difficult to decide who have understood 
less1 his  encomiasts or his critics1   
though both rightly agree in dating from
 him  an epoch--those of the            
establishment1 these of the subversion  
of ,art4    ,it is the lot of ,genius to
 be opposed1 and to be invigorated by   
opposition4 ,all extremes touch each    
other3 frigid praise and frigid  censure
 wait on easily attainable or common    
powers3 but the successful  adventurer  
in the realms of ,discovery1 in spite of
 the shrugs1 checks1  and sneers of the 
timid1 the malign1 and the envious1     
leaps on an  unknown or long lost shore1
 ennobles it with his name1 and grasps  

immortality4    ,m4 ,agnolo appeared1   
and soon discovered that works worthy of
 perpetuity  could neither be built on  
defective and unsubstantial forms1 nor  
on the  transient whim of fashion and   
local sentiment2 that their stamina were
  the real stamina of ,nature1 the      
genuine feelings of humanity2 and       
planned for painting what ,homer had    
planned for poetry1 the epic part1      
which1 with the utmost simplicity of a  
whole1 should unite magnificence  of    
plan and endless variety of subordinate 
parts4 ,his line became  generic1 but   
perhaps too uniformly grand3 character  
and beauty were  admitted only as far as
 they could be made subservient to      
grandeur4 ,the  child1 the female1      
meanness1 deformity1 were by him        
indiscriminately  stamped with grandeur4
 ,a beggar rose from his hand the       
patriarch of  poverty2 the hump of his  
dwarf is impressed with dignity2 his    
women are  moulds of generation2 his    
infants teem with the man2 his men are a

 race  of giants4 ,this is the terribil 
via1 this is that magic circle1 in      
which we are told that none durst move  
but he4 ,no1 none but he who makes      
sublimity of conception his element of  
form4 ,m4 ,agnolo himself offers  the   
proof3 for the lines that bear in a mass
 on his mighty tide of  thought in the  
,gods and ,patriarchs and ,sibyls of the
 ,sistine ,chapel1  already too         
ostentatiously show themselves in the   
,last ,judgement1 and  rather expose    
than support his ebbing powers in the   
,chapel of ,paul4  ,considered as a     
whole1 the ,crucifixion of ,st4 ,peter  
and the ,conversion  of ,paul1 in that  
place1 are the dotage of ,m4 ,agnolo's  
style2 but they  have parts which make  
that dotage more enviable than the equal
 vigour of  mediocrity4    ,with what an
 eye ,m4 ,agnolo contemplated the       
,antique1 we may judge from  his        
,bacchus1 the early production of his   
youth3 in style it is at least  equal1  
perhaps in pulp and fleshiness superior1

 to what is called the  ,antique ,roman 
,style4 ,his idea seems to have been the
 personification of  youthful inebriety1
 but it is the inebriety of a superior  
being1 not yet  forsaken by grace1 not  
yet relinquished by mind4 ,in more      
advanced years1  the ,torso of          
,apollonius became his standard of form4
 ,but the ,dmons of  ,dante had too     
early tinctured his fancy to admit in   
their full majesty  the ,gods of ,homer 
and of ,phidias4    ,such was the       
opinion formed of the plan and style of 
,m4 ,agnolo by the  judges1 the critics1
 the poets1 the artists1 the public1 of 
his own and  the following age1 from    
,bembo to ,ariosto1 from ,raffaello to  
,tiziano1  down to ,agostino and        
,annibale ,carracci4 ,let us now compare
 it with the  technical verdict given by
 the greatest professional critic1 on   
the  ,continent1 of our times4 ,m4      
,agnolo1 says ,mengs1 seeking always to 
be  grand1 was perhaps only bulky1 and  
by the perpetual use of a convex  line1 

over-spanned the forms and irrecoverably
 lost the line of ,nature4  ,this       
charged style attended him in his youth1
 and engrossed him when a  man4 ,for    
this reason his works will always be    
much inferior to the  antique of the    
good style2 for though they made robust 
and muscular  figures1 they never made  
them heavy3--an instance is the         
,hercules of  ,glycon1 who1 though so   
bulky1 and of form so majestic1 is      
easily seen to  be swift like a stag1   
and elastic like a ball4 ,the style of  
,m4 ,agnolo  could not give similar     
ideas1 for the joints of his figures are
 too  contracted1 and seem only made for
 the posture into which he puts them4   
,the forms of his flesh are too round1  
his muscles of a mass and shape  always 
similar1 which hides their springs of   
motion2 nor do you ever see  in his     
works a muscle in repose1 than which a  
greater fault ,design knows  not4 ,he   
perfectly knew what place each muscle   
ought to occupy1 but never  gave its    

form4 ,nor did he understand the nature 
of tendons1 as he made  them equally    
fleshy from end to end1 and his bones   
too round4 ,raffaello  partook of all   
these defects1 without ever reaching the
 profundity of  his muscular theory4    
,raffaello's strength lay in            
characterizing aged and  nervous frames2
 he was too hard for delicacy1 and in   
figures of grandeur  an exaggerated copy
 of ,m4 ,agnolo4 ,so far ,mengs4    ,m4 
,agnolo appears to have had no infancy2 
if he had1 we are not acquainted  with  
it4 ,his earliest works are equal in    
principle and compass of  execution to  
the vigorous proofs of his virility4    
,like an oriental sun1 he  burst upon us
 at once1 without a dawn4 ,raffaello    
,sanzio we see in his  cradle1 we hear  
him stammer1 but propriety rocked the   
cradle1 and  character formed his lips4 
,even in the trammels of ,pietro        
,perugino1 dry  and servile in his style
 of design1 he traced what was          
essential1 and  separated it from what  

was accidental in his model4 ,the works 
of ,lionardo  da ,vinci and the ,cartoon
 of ,pisa are said to have invigorated  
his eye1 but  it was the ,antique that  
completed the system which he had begun 
to  establish on ,nature2 from them he  
learned discrimination and choice of    
forms4 ,he found that in the            
construction of the body the            
articulations of  the bones were the    
true cause of ease and grace in the     
action of the  limbs1 and that the      
knowledge of this was the reason of the 
superiority of  antique design4 ,he     
found that certain features were fittest
 for certain  expressions and peculiar  
to certain characters2 that such a head1
 such  hands1 such feet1 are the stamen 
or the growth of such a body1 and on    
physiognomy established homogeneousness4
 ,of all artists he was the  greatest1  
the most precise1 the most acute        
observer4 ,when he designed1 he  first  
attended to the primary intention and   
motive of his figure1 next to  its      

general measure1 then to the bones and  
their articulations2 from them  to the  
principal muscles1 or the muscles       
eminently wanted1 and their  attendant  
nerves1 and at last to the more or less 
essential minuti4 ,but  the             
characteristic part of the subject is   
infallibly the characteristic  part of  
his design1 if it be formed even by a   
few rapid or a single stroke  of his pen
 or pencil4 ,the strokes themselves are 
characteristic1 they  follow or indicate
 the texture or fibre of the part2 flesh
 in their  rounding1 nerves in straight1
 bones in angular touches4    ,such was 
the felicity and such the propriety of  
,raffaello when employed  in the        
dramatic evolutions of character1--both 
suffered when he  attempted to abstract 
the forms of sublimity or beauty4 ,the  
painter of  humanity not often wielded  
with success superhuman weapons4 ,his   
,gods  never rose above prophetic or    
patriarchial forms3 if the finger of ,m4
  ,agnolo impressed the divine          

countenance oftener with sternness than 
awe1  the ,gods of ,raffaello are       
sometimes too affable and mild1 like him
 who  speaks to ,jacob in the ceiling of
 the ,vatican2 sometimes too violent1   
like him who separates light from       
darkness in the ,loggia3 but though     
made chiefly to walk with dignity on    
earth1 he soared above it in the  mild  
effulgence and majestic rapture of      
,christ on ,tabor1 not indeed as  we see
 his face now from the repairs of the   
manufacturers in the ,louvre1  and still
 more in the frown of the angelic       
countenance that withers all  the       
strength of the warrior ,heliodorus4 ,of
 ideal female beauty1 though  he        
himself1 in his letter to ,count        
,castiglione1 tells us that from its    
scarcity in life he made attempts to    
reach it by an idea formed in his  own  
mind1 he certainly wanted that standard 
which guided him in  character4 ,his    
,goddesses and mythologic females are no
 more than  aggravations of the generic 

forms of ,m4 ,agnolo4 ,roundness1       
mildness1  sanctimony1 and insipidity1  
compose the features and air of his     
,madonnas3 transcripts of the nursery1  
or some favourite face4 ,the  ,madonna  
del ,impanato1 the ,madonna ,bella1 the 
,madonna della ,sedia1 and  even the    
longer proportions and greater delicacy 
and dignity of the  ,madonna formerly in
 the collection of ,versailles1 share   
more or less of  this insipidity3 it    
chiefly arises from the high1 smooth1   
roundish  forehead1 the shaven vacuity  
between the arched semicircular         
eye-brows1  their elevation above the   
eyes1 and the ungraceful division1      
growth and  scantiness of hair4 ,this   
indeed might be the result of his desire
 not to  stain the virgin character of  
sanctity with the most distant hint of  
coquetry or meretricious charms2 for in 
his ,magdalens1 he throws it with       
luxuriant profusion1 and surrounds the  
breast and shoulders with  undulating   
waves and plaits of gold4 ,the character

 of ,mary ,magdalen met  his1--it was   
the character of a passion4    ,it is   
evident from every picture or design at 
every period of his art in  which she   
had a part1 that he supposed her        
enamoured when she follows  the body of 
the ,saviour to the tomb1 or throws     
herself dishevelled over  his feet1 or  
addresses him when he bears his cross4  
,the cast of her  features1 her forms1  
her action1 are the character of love in
 agony4  ,when character inspired       
,raffaello1 his women became definitions
 of grace  and pathos at once4    ,such 
is the exquisite line and turn of the   
averted half-kneeling female  with the  
two children among the spectators of    
,heliodorus4 ,her attitude1  the turn of
 her neck1 supplies all face1 and       
intimates more than he ever  expressed  
by features2 and that she would not have
 gained by showing  them1 may be guessed
 from her companion on the foreground1  
who1 though  highly elegant and equally 
pathetic in her action1 has not features

  worthy of either4 ,the fact is1 form  
and style were by ,raffaello  employed  
chiefly1 if not always1 as vehicles of  
character and pathos2  the ,drama is his
 element1 and to that he has adapted    
them in a mode and  with a propriety    
which leave all attempts at emendation  
hopeless3 if  his lines have been       
excelled or rivalled in energy1         
correctness1  elegance1--considered as  
instruments of the passions1 they have  
never  been equalled1 and as parts of   
invention1 composition and expression   
relative to his story1 have never been  
approached4    ,the result of these     
observations on ,m4 ,agnolo and         
,raffaello is this1  that ,m4 ,agnolo   
drew in generic forms the human race2   
that ,raffaello  drew the forms and     
characters of society diversified by    
artificial  wants4    ,we find therefore
 ,m4 ,agnolo more sublime1 and we       
sympathise more with  ,raffaello1       
because he resembles us more4 ,when     
,reynolds said that ,m4  ,agnolo had    

more imagination1 and ,raffaello more   
fancy1 he meant to  say1 that the one   
had more sublimity1 more elementary     
fire2 the other  was richer in social   
imagery1 in genial conceits1 and        
artificial  variety4 ,simplicity is the 
stamen of ,m4 ,agnolo2 varied propriety1
 with  character1 that of ,raffaello4   
,of the great restorers of ,art1 the two
 we have considered1 made ,design  and  
,style the basis of their plan1 content 
with negative and unambitious  colour2  
the two next inverted the principle1 and
 employed ,design and  ,style as        
vehicles of colour or of harmony4       
,the style of ,tiziano's design has two 
periods3 he began with copying  what was
 before him without choice1 and for some
 time continued in the  meagre1 anxious1
 and accidental manner of ,giovanni     
,bellino2 but  discovering in the works 
of ,giorgione that breadth of form      
produced  breadth of colour1 he         
endeavoured1 and succeeded1 to see      
,nature by  comparison1 and in a more   

ample light4 ,that he possessed the     
theory of  the human body1 needs not to 
be proved from the doubtful designs     
which  he is said to have made for the  
anatomical work of ,vesalio2 that he had
  familiarized himself with the style of
 ,m4 ,agnolo1 and burned with  ambition 
to emulate it1 is less evident from     
adopting some of his  attitudes in the  
pictures of ,pietro ,martyre and the    
,battle of  ,ghiaradadda1 than from the 
elemental conceptions1 the colossal     
style1  and daring foreshortenings which
 astonish in the ,cain and ,abel1 the   
,abraham and ,isaac1 the ,goliath and   
,david1 on the ceiling of the fabric  of
 ,st4 ,spirito at ,venice4 ,here1 and   
here alone1 is the result of that  union
 of tone and style which1 in            
,tintoretto's opinion1 was required to  
make a perfect painter1--for in general 
the male forms of ,tiziano are  those of
 sanguine health1 often too fleshy for  
character1 less elastic  than muscular1 
or vigorous without grandeur4 ,his      

females are the fair  dimpled ,venetian 
race1 soft without delicacy1 too full   
for elegance1 for  action too plump2 his
 infants are poised between both1 and   
preferable to  either4 ,in portrait he  
has united character and resemblance    
with  dignity1 and still remains        
unrivalled4    ,a certain national      
character marks the brightest ra of the 
,venetian  school3 however deviating    
from each other1 ,tiziano1 ,tintoretto1 
,bassan1  and ,paolo1 acknowledged but  
one element of imitation1 ,nature       
herself4  ,this principle each          
bequeathed to his followers2 and no     
attempt to  adulterate its simplicity1  
by uniting different methods1           
distinguished  their immediate          
successors4 ,hence they preserved       
features of originality  longer than the
 surrounding schools1 whom the vain wish
 to connect  incompatible excellence    
soon degraded to mediocrity1 and from   
that  plunged to insignificance4    ,the
 soft transitions from the convex to the

 concave line1 which connect  grandeur  
with lightness1 form the style of       
,correggio2 but using their  coalition  
without balance1 merely to obtain a     
breadth of demi-tint and  uninterrupted 
tones of harmony1 he became1 from excess
 of roundness1  oftener heavy than      
light1 and frequently incorrect4    ,it 
is not easy1 from the unaccountable     
obscurity in which his life is          
involved1 to ascertain whether he saw   
the ,antique in sufficient degrees  of  
quantity or beauty2 but he certainly    
must have been familiar with  modelling1
 and the helps of sculpture1 to plan    
with such boldness1 and  conquer with   
such ease1 the unparalleled difficulties
 of his  foreshortenings4 ,his grace is 
oftener beholden to convenience of place
  than elegance of line4 ,the most      
appropriate1 the most elegant attitudes 
were adopted1 rejected1 perhaps         
sacrificed to the most awkward ones1 in 
compliance with his imperious principle3
 parts vanished1 were absorbed1  or     

emerged in obedience to it4    ,the     
,dana1 of which we have seen duplicates1
 the head excepted1 he seems  to have   
painted from an antique female torso4   
,but ideal beauty of face1  if ever he  
conceived1 he never has expressed2 his  
beauty is equally  remote from the idea 
of the ,venus1 the ,niobe1 and the best 
forms of  ,nature4 ,the ,magdalen1 in   
the picture of ,st4 ,girolamo of ,parma1
 is  beholden for the charms of her face
 to chiaroscuro1 and that  incomparable 
hue and suavity of bloom which scarcely 
permit us to  discover the defects of   
forms not much above the vulgar4 ,but   
that he  sometimes reached the sublime1 
by hiding the limits of his figures in  
the bland medium which inwraps them1 his
 ,jupiter and ,io prove4    ,such were  
the principles on which the ,tuscan1 the
 ,roman1 the ,venetian1  and the        
,lombard schools established their      
systems of style1 or rather  the manner 
which1 in various directions and modes  
of application1  perverted style4 ,m4   

,agnolo lived to see the electric shock 
which his  design had given to ,art1    
propagated by the ,tuscan and ,venetian 
schools  as the ostentatious vehicle of 
puny conceits and emblematic quibbles1  
or  the palliative of empty pomp and    
degraded luxuriance of colour4    ,of   
his imitators1 the two most eminent are 
,pellegrino ,tibaldi1 called  ,m4       
,agnolo riformato by the ,bolognese     
,eclectics1 and ,francesco  ,mazzuoli1  
called ,parmegiano4    ,pellegrino      
,tibaldi penetrated the technic without 
the moral principle of  his master's    
style2 he had often grandeur of line    
without sublimity of  conception2 hence 
the manner of ,m4 ,agnolo is frequently 
the style of  ,pellegrino ,tibaldi4     
,conglobation and eccentricity1 an      
aggregate of  convexities suddenly      
broken by rectangular1 or cut by        
perpendicular  lines1 compose his       
system4 ,his fame principally rests on  
the ,frescoes  of the ,academic         
,institute at ,bologna1 and the ,ceiling

 of the ,merchants'  ,hall at ,ancona4  
,it is probably on the strength of      
those1 that the  ,carracci1 his         
countrymen1 are said to have called him 
their ,m4 ,agnolo  riformato1--,m4      
,agnolo corrected4 ,i will not do that  
injustice to the  ,carracci to suppose1 
that for one moment they could allude by
 this  verdict to the ,ceiling and the  
,prophets and ,sibyls of the ,capella   
,sistina2 they glanced perhaps at the   
technic exuberance of the ,last         
,judgement1 and the senile caprices of  
the ,capella ,paolina4 ,these1 they     
meant to inform us1 had been pruned1    
regulated1 and reformed by  ,pellegrino 
,tibaldi4 ,do his works in the          
,institute warrant this verdict8  ,so   
far from it1 that it exhibits little    
more than the dotage of ,m4  ,agnolo4   
,the single figures1 groups1 and        
compositions of the ,institute1  present
 a singular mixture of extraordinary    
vigour and puerile  imbecility of       
conception1 of character and caricature1

 of style and  manner4    ,the figure of
 ,polypheme groping at the mouth of his 
cave for ,ulysses1  and the composition 
of olus granting to ,ulysses favourable 
winds1 are  striking instances of both4 
,than the ,cyclops1 ,m4 ,agnolo himself 
never  conceived a form of savage       
energy1 provoked by sufferings and      
revenge1  with attitude and limbs more  
in unison2 whilst the ,god of ,winds is 
degraded to the scanty and ludicrous    
semblance of ,thersites1 and ,ulysses   
with his companions travestied by the   
semi-barbarous look and costume of  the 
age of ,constantine or ,attila4    ,from
 ,pellegrino ,tibaldi1 the ,germans1    
,dutch1 and ,flemings1 ,hemskerk1       
,goltzius1 and ,spranger1 borrowed the  
compendium of the great ,tuscan's       
peculiarities1 dropsied the forms of    
vigour1 or dressed the gewgaws of       
children in colossal shapes4            
,parmegiano poised his line between the 
grace of ,correggio and the energy  of  
,m4 ,agnolo1 and from contrast produced 

,elegance2 but instead of making        
propriety her measure1 degraded her to  
affectation4 ,that disengaged play  of  
delicate forms1 the sueltezza of the    
,italians1 is the prerogative  of       
,parmegiano1 though nearly always       
obtained at the expense of  proportion4 
,he conceived the variety1 but not the  
simplicity of beauty1  and drove        
contrast to extravagance4 ,the figure of
 ,st4 ,john1 in the  altar-piece of ,st4
 ,salvador at ,citt di ,castello1 now at
 the ,marquis of  ,abercorn's1 and known
 from the print of ,giulio ,bonasone1   
which less  imitates than exaggerates   
its original in the ,cartoon of ,pisa1  
is one  proof among many3 his action is 
the accident of his attitude2 he is     
conscious of his grandeur1 and loses the
 fervour of the apostle in the  orator4 
,so his celebrated ,moses1 if ,i see    
right1 has in his forms less of         
grandeur than agility1 in his action    
more passion than majesty1 and  loses   
the legislator in the savage4 ,this     

figure1 together with ,raphael's  figure
 of ,god in the ,vision of ,ezekiel1 is 
said to have furnished ,gray  with some 
of the master-traits of his             
,bard1--figures than which ,painting    
cannot produce two more dissimilar3     
calm1 placid contemplation1 and the     
decided burst of passion in coalition4  
,whilst ,m4 ,agnolo was doomed to live  
and brood over the perversion of  his   
style1 death prevented ,raffaello from  
witnessing the gradual decay  of his4   
,such was the state of style1 when1     
toward the decline of the sixteenth     
century1 ,lodovico ,carracci1 with his  
cousins ,agostino and ,annibale1        
founded at ,bologna1 on the hints caught
 from ,pellegrino ,tibaldi1 that        
,eclectic ,school which1 by selecting   
the beauties1 correcting the faults1    
supplying the defects1 and avoiding the 
extremes of the different  styles1      
attempted to form a perfect system4 ,the
 specious ingredients of  this technic  
panacea have been preserved in a        

complimentary sonnet of  ,agostino      
,carracci1 and are compounded of the    
design and symmetry of  ,raffaello1 the 
terrible manner of ,m4 ,agnolo1 the     
sovereign purity of  ,correggio's style1
 ,tiziano's truth and nature1           
,tintoretto's and ,paolo's  vivacity and
 chiaroscuro1 ,lombardy's tone of       
colour1 the learned  invention of       
,primaticcio1 the decorum and solidity  
of ,pellegrino  ,tibaldi1 and a little  
of ,parmegiano's grace1 all amalgamated 
by ,niccolo  dell' ,abbate4    ,i shall 
not attempt a parody of this            
prescription by transferring it to      
,poetry1 and prescribing to the         
candidate for dramatic fame the         
imitation  of ,shakspeare1 ,otway1      
,jonson1 ,milton1 ,dryden1 ,congreve1   
,racine1 ,addison1  as amalgamated by   
,nicholas ,rowe4 ,let me only ask       
whether such a mixture  of demands ever 
entered with equal evidence the mind of 
any one artist1  ancient or modern2     
whether1 if it be granted possible that 

they did1  they were ever balanced with 
equal impartiality2 and grant this1     
whether  they ever were or could be     
executed with equal felicity8 ,a        
character of  equal universal power is  
not a human character2 and the nearest  
approach  to perfection can only be in  
carrying to excellence one great quality
  with the least alloy of collateral    
defects3 to attempt more will  probably 
end in the extinction of character1 and 
that1 in  mediocrity--the cypher of     
,art4    ,and were the ,carracci such8  
,separate the precept from the practice1
 the  artist from the teacher1 and the  
,carracci are in possession of my       
submissive homage4 ,lodovico is the     
inventor of that solemn hue1 that  sober
 twilight1 which you have heard so often
 recommended as the proper  tone of     
historic colour4 ,agostino1 with        
learning1 taste1 and form1  combined    
,corregiesque tints4 ,annibale1 inferior
 to both in sensibility  and taste1 in  
the wide range of talent1 undaunted     

execution and academic  prowess1 left   
either far behind4 ,but if he preserved 
the breadth of the  style we speak of1  
he added nothing to its dignity2 his    
pupils were  inferior to him1 and to his
 pupils1 their successors4 ,style       
continued to linger1 with fatal symptoms
 of decay1 in ,italy2 and if it         
survives1 has not yet found a place to  
re-establish its powers on this  side of
 the ,alps4          ,,twelfth          
,,lecture4    ,,on ,,the ,,present      
,,state ,,of ,,the ,,art1 ,,and ,,the   
,,causes ,,which ,,check ,,its          
,,progress4          ,,twelfth          
,,lecture4      ,such is the influence  
of the plastic ,arts on society1 on     
manners1  sentiments1 the commodities   
and the ornaments of life1 that we think
  ourselves generally entitled to form  
our estimate of times and nations  by   
its standard4 ,as our homage attends    
those whose patronage reared them  to a 
state of efflorescence or maturity1 so  
we pass with neglect1 or  pursue with   

contempt1 the age or race which want of 
culture or of  opportunity averted from 
developing symptoms of a similar        
attachment4    ,a genuine perception of 
,beauty is the highest degree of        
education1 the  ultimate polish of man2 
the master-key of the mind1 it makes us 
better  than we were before4 ,elevated  
or charmed by the contemplation of      
superior works of ,art1 our mind passes 
from the images themselves to  their    
authors1 and from them to the race which
 reared the powers that  furnish us with
 models of imitation or multiply our    
pleasures4    ,this inward sense is     
supported by exterior motives in contact
 with a far  greater part of society1   
whom wants and commerce connect with the
 ,arts2  for nations pay or receive     
tribute in proportion as their technic  
sense  exerts itself or slumbers4       
,whatever is commodious1 amene1 or      
useful1  depends in a great measure on  
the ,arts3 dress1 furniture1 and        
habitation  owe to their breath what    

they can boast of grace1 propriety1 or  
shape3  they teach ,elegance to finish  
what ,necessity invented1 and make us   
enamoured of our wants4    ,this benign 
influence infallibly spreads or         
diminishes in proportion as  its        
original source1 a sense of genuine     
,beauty1 flows from an ample or a       
scanty vein1 in a clear or turbid       
stream4 ,as ,taste is adulterated or    
sinks1 ,ornament takes a meagre1 clumsy1
 barbarous1 ludicrous1 or  meretricious 
form2 ,affectation dictates2 ,simplicity
 and elegance are  loaded2 interest     
vanishes3 in a short time ,necessity    
alone remains1 and  ,novelty with ,error
 go hand in hand4    ,these obvious     
observations on the importance of the   
,arts1 lead to the  question so often   
discussed1 and at no time more important
 than ours--on  the causes that raised  
them at various times1 and among        
different  nations--on the means of     
assisting their progress1 and how to    
check  their decay4 ,of much that has   

been said on it1 much must be repeated1 
and something added4    ,the ,greeks    
commonly lead the van of the arguments  
produced to answer  this question4      
,their religious and civil              
establishments2 their manners1  games1  
contests of valour and of talents2 the  
,cyclus of their ,mythology1  peopled   
with celestial and heroic forms2 the    
honours1 the celebrity of  artists2 the 
serene ,grecian sky and mildness of the 
climate1 are the  causes supposed to    
have carried that nation within the ken 
of  perfection4    ,without refusing to 
each of these various advantages its    
share of  effect1 ,history informs us   
that if ,religion and ,liberty prepared 
a  public1 and spread a technic taste   
over all ,greece1 ,athens and ,corinth  
must be considered as the principal     
nurses of ,art1 without whose  fostering
 care the general causes mentioned could
 not have had so  decided an effect2 for
 nothing surely contributed so much to  
the gradual  evolution of ,art1 as that 

perpetual opportunity which they        
presented to  the artist of public      
exhibition2 the decoration of temples1  
halls1  porticoes1 a succession of      
employments equally numerous1 important1
 and  dignified3 hence that emulation to
 gain the heights of ,art2 the fervour  
of public encouragement1 the zeal and   
gratitude of the artists were           
reciprocal3 ,polygnotus prepared with   
,cimon what ,phidias with ,pericles     
established1 on public taste1           
,essential1 ,characteristic1 and ,ideal 
,styles4    ,whether human nature       
admitted of no more1 or other causes    
prevented a  farther evolution of       
powers1 nothing greater did arise2      
,polish1 ,elegance1  and ,novelty       
supplied ,invention3 here is the period 
of decay2 the ,art  gradually sunk to   
mediocrity1 and its final               
reward--,indifference4    ,the artist   
and the public are ever in the strictest
 reciprocity3 if the  ,arts flourished  
nowhere as in ,greece1 no other nation  

ever interested  itself with motives so 
pure in their establishment and         
progress1 or  allowed them so ample a   
compass4 ,as long as their march was    
marked with  such dignity1 whilst their 
union excited admiration1 commanded     
attachment1 and led the public1 they    
grew1 they rose2 but when  individually 
to please1 the artist attempted to      
monopolize the interest  due to ,art1 to
 abstract by novelty and to flatter the 
multitude1 ruin  followed4 ,to prosper1 
the ,art not only must feel itself free1
 it ought  to reign3 if it be domineered
 over1 if it follow the dictate of      
,fashion  or a ,patron's whims1 then is 
its dissolution at hand4    ,to attain  
the height of the ,ancient was          
impossible for ,modern ,art1            
circumscribed by narrower limits1 forced
 to form itself rapidly and on  borrowed
 principles2 still it owes its origin   
and support to nearly  similar causes4  
,during the fourteenth1 and still more  
in the course of  the fifteenth century1

 so much activity1 so general a         
predilection for  ,art spread themselves
 over the greater part of ,italy1 that  
we are  astonished at the farrago of    
various imagery produced at those       
periods4  ,the artist and the ,art were 
indeed considered as little more than   
craftsmen and a craft2 but they were    
indemnified for the want of  honours1 by
 the dignity of their employment1 by    
commissions to decorate  churches1      
convents1 and public buildings4    ,let 
no one to whom truth and its propagation
 are dear1 believe or  maintain that    
,christianism was inimical to the       
progress of ,arts1 which  probably      
nothing else could have revived4        
,nothing less than ,christian           
enthusiasm could give that lasting and  
energetic impulse whose magic  result we
 admire in the works that illustrate the
 period of ,genius and  their           
establishment4 ,nor is the objection    
that ,england1 ,france1 and  ,germany   
professed ,christianity1 built churches 

and convents1 and yet had  no ,art1 an  
objection of consequence2 because it    
might with equal  propriety be asked1   
why it did not appear sooner in ,italy  
itself4 ,the  ,art forms a part of      
social education and the ultimate polish
 of man1 nor  can it appear during the  
rudeness of infant societies2 and as1   
among the  ,western nations1 the        
,italians were the first who extricated 
themselves  from the bonds of barbarism 
and formed asylums for industry1 ,art   
and  ,science kept pace with the social 
progress1 and produced their first      
legitimate essays among them4    ,how   
favourably religious enthusiasm operated
 on ,art1 their sympathetic  revolutions
 still farther prove2 they flourished1  
they languished1 they  fell together4   
,as zeal relented and public grandeur   
gave way to private  splendour1 the     
,arts became the hirelings of ,vanity   
and ,wealth2 servile  they roamed from  
place to place1 ready to administer to  
the whims and  wants of the best bidder3

 in this point of sight we can easily   
solve all  the phnomena which occur in  
the history of ,art1--its rise1 its     
fall1  eclipse1 and re-appearance in    
various places1 with styles as different
  as various tastes4    ,the efficient  
cause1 therefore1 why higher ,art at    
present is sunk to  such a state of     
inactivity and languor that it may be   
doubted whether it  will exist much     
longer1 is not a particular one1 which  
private  patronage1 or the will of an   
individual1 however great1 can remove2  
but  a general cause1 founded on the    
bent1 the manners1 habits1 modes of a   
nation1--and not of one nation alone1   
but of all who at present pretend  to   
culture4 ,our age1 when compared with   
former ages1 has but little  occasion   
for great works1 and that is the reason 
why so few are  produced3#a--the        
ambition1 activity1 and spirit of public
 life is  shrunk to the minute detail of
 domestic arrangements--every thing that
  surrounds us tends to show us in      

private1 is become snug1 less1 narrow1  
pretty1 insignificant4 ,we are not1     
perhaps1 the less happy on account of   
all this2 but from such selfish trifling
 to expect a system of ,art built  on   
grandeur1 without a total revolution1   
would only be less presumptuous  than   
insane4    ,what right have we to expect
 such a revolution in our favour8       
,let us advert for a moment to the      
enormous difference of difficulty       
between forming and amending the taste  
of a public--between legislation  and   
reform3 either task is that of ,genius2 
both have adherents1  disciples1        
champions2 but persecution1 derision1   
checks will generally  oppose the       
efforts of the latter1 whilst           
submission1 gratitude1  encouragement1  
attend the smooth march of the former4  
,no madness is so  incurable as wilful  
perverseness2 and when men can once1    
with ,medea1  declare that they know    
what is best1 and approve of it1 but    
must1 or  choose to follow the worst1   

perhaps a revolution worse to be dreaded
  than the disease itself1 must precede 
the possibility of a cure4 ,though1  as 
it has been observed1 the fourteenth and
 fifteenth centuries granted  to the    
artists little more than the attention  
due to ingenious  craftsmen2 they were1 
from the object of their occupations and
 the taste  of their employers1 the     
legitimate precursors of ,m4 ,agnolo and
  ,raffaello1 who did no more than raise
 their style to the sublimity and       
pathos of the subject4 ,these trod with 
loftier gait and bolder strides a  path1
 on which the former had sometimes      
stumbled1 often crept1 but  always      
advanced3 the public and the artist went
 hand in hand--but on  what spot of     
,europe can the young artist of our day 
be placed to meet  with circumstances   
equally favourable8 ,arm him1 if you    
please1 with the  epic and dramatic     
powers of ,m4 ,agnolo and ,raffaello1   
where are the  religious and civic      
establishments1 where the temples and   

halls open to  receive1 where the public
 prepared to call them forth1 to        
stimulate1 to  reward them8    ,idle    
complaints6 ,i hear a thousand voices   
reply6 ,you accuse the public  of apathy
 for the ,arts1 while public and private
 exhibitions tread on  each other's     
heels1 panorama opens on panorama1 and  
the splendour of  galleries dazzles the 
wearied eye1 and the ear is stunned with
 the  incessant stroke of the sculptor's
 hammer1 and our temples narrowed by    
crowds of monuments shouldering each    
other to perpetuate the memory of       
,statesmen who deluded1 or of ,heroes   
who bled at a ,nation's call6 ,look     
round all ,europe--revolve the page of  
history from ,osymandias to  ,pericles1 
from ,pericles to ,constantine--and say 
what age1 what race  stretched forth a  
stronger arm to raise the drooping      
genius of ,art8 ,is  it the public's    
fault if encouragement is turned into a 
job1 and  dispatch and quantity have    
supplanted excellence and quality1 as   

objects  of the artist's                
emulation8--,and do you think that      
accidental and  temporary encouragement 
can invalidate charges founded on       
permanent  causes8 ,what blew up the    
,art1 will in its own surcease terminate
 its  success4 ,art is not ephemeral2   
,religion and ,liberty had for ages     
prepared what ,religion and ,liberty    
were to establish among the ancients3   
the germ of the ,olympian ,jupiter1 and 
the ,minerva of ,phidias1 lay in the    
,gods of ,agina1 and that of ,theseus1  
,hercules1 and ,alcibiades in the       
blocks of ,harmodios and ,aristogiton4  
,if the revolution of a neighbouring    
nation emancipated the people from  the 
yoke of superstition1 it has perhaps    
precipitated them to  irreligion4 ,he   
who has no visible object of worship is 
indifferent about  modes1 and rites1 and
 places2 and unless some great civil    
provisional  establishment replaces the 
means furnished by the former system1   
the  ,arts of ,france1 should they      

disdain to become the minions and       
handmaids  of fashion1 may soon find    
that the only public occupation left for
 them  will be a representation of      
themselves1 deploring their new-acquired
  advantages4 ,by a great establishment1
 ,i mean one that will employ the       
living artists1 raise among them a      
spirit of emulation dignified by the    
objects of their occupation1 and inspire
 the public with that spirit2  not an   
ostentatious display of ancient and     
modern treasures of genius1  accumulated
 by the hand of conquest or of rapine4  
,to plunder the earth  was a ,roman     
principle1 and it is not perhaps matter 
of lamentation that  ,modern ,rome1 by a
 retaliation of her own principle1 is   
made to pay the  debt contracted with   
mankind4 ,but let none fondly believe   
that the  importation of ,greek and     
,italian works of ,art is an importation
 of ,greek  and ,italian genius1 taste1 
establishments and means of             
encouragement2  without transplanting   

and disseminating these1 the gorgeous   
accumulation  of technic monuments is no
 more than a dead capital1 and1 instead 
of a  benefit1 a check on living ,art4  
,with regard to ourselves1 the          
barbarous1 though then perhaps useful   
rage  of image-breakers in the          
seventeenth century1 seems much too     
gratuitously propagated as a principle  
in an age much more likely to  suffer   
from irreligion than superstition4 ,a   
public body inflamed by  superstition1  
suffers1 but it suffers from the        
ebullitions of radical  heat1 and may   
return to a state of health and life2   
whilst a public body  plunged into      
irreligion1 is in a state of palsied    
apathy1 the cadaverous  symptom of      
approaching dissolution4 ,perhaps       
neither of these two  extremes may be   
precisely our own state2 we probably    
float between both4  ,but surely in an  
age of inquiry and individual liberty of
 thought1  when there are almost as many
 sects as heads1 there was little danger

  that the admission of ,art to places  
of devotion could ever be attended  by  
the errors of idolatry2 nor have the    
motives which resisted the offer  of    
ornamenting our churches perhaps any    
eminent degree of ecclesiastic  or      
political sagacity to recommend them4   
,who would not rejoice if the  charm of 
our ,art1 displaying the actions and    
example of the sacred  ,founder of our  
religion and of his disciples in temples
 and conventicles1  contributed to      
enlighten the zeal1 stimulate the       
feelings1 sweeten the  acrimony1 or     
dignify the enthusiasm of their         
respective audiences8 ,the  source of   
the grand monumental style of ,greece   
was ,religion with ,liberty4  ,at that  
period the artist1 as ,pliny expresses  
himself1 was the property of  the       
public1 or in other words1 he considered
 himself as responsible for  the        
influence of his works on public        
principle3 with the decline of          
,religion and ,liberty his importance   

and the ,art declined2 and though the   
,egyptian custom of embalming the dead  
and suffering the living to linger  had 
not yet been adopted1 from the organ of 
the public he became the tool  of       
private patronage2 and private          
patronage1 however commendable or       
liberal1 can no more supply the want of 
general encouragement1 than the         
conservatories and hotbeds of the rich1 
the want of a fertile soil or  genial   
climate4 ,luxury in times of taste keeps
 up execution in proportion  as it saps 
the dignity and moral principle of the  
,art2 gold is the motive  of its        
exertions1 and nothing that ennobles man
 was ever produced by gold4  ,when ,nero
 transported the ,pontic ,apollo to the 
golden house1 and furnished  the        
colossal shoulders of the god with his  
own head1 ,sculpture lent her  hand to  
legitimate the sacrilege3 why should    
,painting be supposed to have  been more
 squeamish when applied to decorate the 
apartments of his  pleasures and the    

cabinet of ,poppa with ,milesian        
pollutions1 or the  attitudes of        
,elephantis8    ,the effect of honours  
and rewards has been insisted on as a   
necessary  incentive to artists3 they   
ought indeed to be1 they sometimes are1 
the  result of superior powers2 but     
accidental or partial honours cannot    
create ,genius1 nor private profusion   
supply public neglect4 ,no genuine  work
 of ,art ever was or ever can be        
produced1 but for its own sake2 if  the 
artist do not conceive to please        
himself1 he never will finish to  please
 the world4 ,can we persuade ourselves  
that all the treasures of  the globe    
could suddenly produce an ,iliad or     
,paradise ,lost1 or the  ,jupiter of    
,phidias1 or the ,capella ,sistina8     
,circumstances may assist or  retard    
parts1 but cannot make them3 they are   
the winds that now blow out  a light1   
now animate a spark to conflagration4   
,nature herself has set  her barriers   
between age and age1 between genius and 

genius1 which no  mortal overleaps2 all 
attempts to raise to perfection at once1
 what can  only be reared by a          
succession of epochs1 must prove        
abhortive and  nugatory3 the very       
proposals of premiums1 honours1 and     
rewards to excite  talent or rouse      
genius1 prove of themselves that the age
 is unfavourable  to ,art2 for1 had it  
the patronage of the public1 how could  
it want them8    ,we have now been in   
possession of an ,academy more than half
 a century2  all the intrinsic means of 
forming a style alternate at our        
commands2  professional instruction has 
never ceased to direct the student2     
premiums are distributed to rear talent 
and stimulate emulation1 and  stipends  
are granted to relieve the wants of     
genius and finish  education4 ,and what 
is the result8 ,if we apply to our      
,exhibition1 what  does it present1 in  
the aggregate1 but a gorgeous display of
 varied  powers1 condemned1 if not to   
the beasts1 at least to the dictates of 

fashion and vanity8 ,what therefore can 
be urged against the conclusion1  that1 
as far as the public is concerned1 the  
,art is sinking1 and  threatens to sink 
still deeper1 from the want of demand   
for great and  significant works8       
,florence1 ,bologna1 ,venice1 each      
singly taken1  produced in the course of
 the sixteenth century alone1 more great
  historic pictures than all ,britain   
taken together1 from its earliest       
attempts at painting to its present     
efforts4 ,what are we to conclude  from 
this8 that the soil from which          
,shakspeare and ,milton sprang1 is      
unfit to rear the ,genius of ,poetic    
,art8 or find the cause of this  seeming
 impotence in that general change of    
habits1 customs1 pursuits1  and         
amusements1 which for near a century has
 stamped the national  character of     
,europe with apathy or discountenance of
 the genuine  principles of ,art8       
,but if the severity of these           
observations1 this denudation of our    

present state moderates our hopes1 it   
ought to invigorate our efforts  for the
 ultimate preservation1 and1 if         
immediate restoration be  hopeless1 the 
gradual recovery of ,art4 ,to raise the 
,arts to a  conspicuous height may not  
perhaps be in our power2 we shall have  
deserved well of posterity if we succeed
 in stemming their farther  downfall1 if
 we fix them on the solid base of       
principle4 ,if it be out of  our power  
to furnish the student's activity with  
adequate practice1 we  may contribute to
 form his theory2 and ,criticism founded
 on experiment1  instructed by          
comparison1 in possession of the labours
 of every epoch of  ,art1 may spread the
 genuine elements of taste1 and check   
the present  torrent of affectation and 
insipidity4    ,this is the real use of 
our ,institution1 if we may judge from  
analogy4  ,soon after the middle of the 
sixteenth century1 when the gradual     
evanescence of the great luminaries in  
,art began to alarm the public1 an  idea

 started at ,florence of uniting the    
most eminent artists into a  society1   
under the immediate patronage of the    
,grand ,duke1 and the title  of         
,academy3 it had something of a         
,conventual air1 has even now its own   
chapel1 and celebrates an annual        
festival with appropriate ceremonies2   
less designed to promote than to prevent
 the gradual debasement of ,art4        
,similar associations in other places   
were formed in imitation1 and at  the   
time of the ,carracci even the private  
schools of painters adopted  the same   
name4 ,all1 whether public or private1  
supported by patronage or  individual   
contribution1 were and are symptoms of  
,art in distress1  monuments of public  
dereliction and decay of ,taste4 ,but   
they are at the  same time the asylum of
 the student1 the theatre of his        
exercises1 the  repositories of the     
materials1 the archives of the documents
 of our art1  whose principles their    
officers are bound now to maintain1 and 

for the  preservation of which they are 
responsible to posterity1 undebauched by
  the flattery1 heedless of the sneers1 
undismayed by the frown of their  own   
time4    ,permit me to part with one    
final observation4 ,reynolds has told   
us1 and  from him whose genius was      
crowned with the most brilliant success 
during his life1 from him it came with  
unexampled magnanimity1 that  those who 
court the applause of their own time1   
must reckon on the  neglect of          
posterity4 ,on this ,i shall not insist 
as a general maxim2  all depends on the 
character of the time in which an artist
 lives1 and  on the motive of his       
exertions4 ,m4 ,agnolo1 ,raffaello1     
,tiziano1 and  ,vasari1 ,giuseppe       
d',arpino1 and ,luca ,giordano1 enjoyed 
equal celebrity  during their own times4
 ,the three first enjoy it now1 the     
three last are  forgotten or censured4  
,what are we to infer from this unequal 
verdict of  posterity8 ,what1 but what  
,cicero says1 that time obliterates the 

conceits of opinion or fashion1 and     
establishes the verdicts of ,nature8    
,the age of ,julio and ,leone demanded  
genius for its own sake1 and found      
it--the age of ,cosmo1 ,ferdinand1 and  
,urban1 demanded talents and  dispatch  
to flatter their own vanity1 and found  
them too2 but ,cosmo1  ,ferdinand1 and  
,urban1 are sunk in the same oblivion1  
or involved in the  same censure with   
their tools--,julio and ,leone continue 
to live with the  permanent powers which
 they had called forth4    ,,footnotes3 
#a ,vel duo vel nemo--turpe et          
miserabile6          ,,aphorisms1       
,,chiefly ,,relative ,,to ,,the ,,fine  
,,arts4          ,,aphorisms4      #a4  
,life is rapid1 art is slow1 occasion   
coy1 practice fallacious1 and  judgment 
partial4    #b4 ,the price of excellence
 is labour1 and time that of            
immortality4    #c4 ,art1 like love1    
excludes all competition1 and absorbs   
the man4    #d4 ,art is the attendant of
 nature1 and genius and talent the      

ministers  of art4    #e4 ,genius either
 discovers new materials of nature1 or  
combines the  known with novelty4    #f4
 ,talent arranges1 cultivates1 polishes1
 the discoveries of genius4    #g4      
,intuition is the attendant of genius2  
gradual improvement that of  talent4    
#h4 ,arrangement presupposes materials3 
fruits follow the bud and foliage1  and 
judgment the luxuriance of fancy4    #i4
 ,the fiery sets his subject in a blaze1
 and mounts its vapours2 the  melancholy
 cleaves the rock1 or gropes through    
thorns for his2 the  sanguine deluges   
all1 and seizes none2 the phlegmatic    
sucks one1 and  drops off with          
repletion4    #aj4 ,some enter the gates
 of art with golden keys1 and take their
 seats  with dignity among the demi-gods
 of fame2 some burst the doors and leap 
into a niche with savage power2         
thousands consume their time in chinking
  useless keys1 and aiming feeble pushes
 against the inexorable doors4    #aa4  
,heaven and earth1 advantages and       

obstacles1 conspire to educate  genius4 
#ab4 ,organization is the mother of     
talent2 practice its nurse2 the  senses 
its dominion2 but hearts alone can      
penetrate hearts4    #ac4 ,it is the lot
 of genius to be opposed1 and to be     
invigorated by  opposition3 all extremes
 touch each other2 frigid praise and    
censure  wait upon attainable or common 
powers2 but the successful adventurer in
  the realms of discovery leaps on an   
unknown or long-lost shore1 ennobles  it
 with his name1 and grasps immortality4 
#ad4 ,genius without bias1 is a stream  
without direction3 it inundates  all1   
and ends in stagnation4    #ae4 ,he who 
pretends to have sacrificed genius to   
the pursuits of  interest or fashion2   
and he who wants to persuade you he has 
indisputable titles to a crown1 but     
chooses to wave them for the  emoluments
 of a partnership in trade1 deserve     
equal belief4    #af4 ,taste is the     
legitimate offspring of nature1 educated
 by propriety3  fashion is the bastard  

of vanity1 dressed by art4    #ag4 ,the 
immediate operation of taste is to      
ascertain the kind2 the next1  to       
appreciate the degrees of excellence4   
,coroll4--,taste1 founded on sense and  
elegance of mind1 is reared by  culture1
 invigorated by practice and comparison3
 scantiness stops short  of it2 fashion 
adulterates it3 it is shackled by       
pedantry1 and  overwhelmed by           
luxuriance4    ,taste sheds a ray over  
the homeliest or the most uncouth       
subject4  ,fashion frequently flattens  
the elegant1 the gentle1 and the great1 
into  one lumpy mass of disgust4    ,if 
foul and fair be all that your          
gross-spun sense discerns1 if you  are  
blind to the intermediate degrees of    
excellence1 you may perhaps be  a great 
man--a senator--a conqueror2 but if you 
respect yourself1 never  presume to     
utter a syllable on works of taste4     
#ah4 ,if mind and organs conspire to    
qualify you for a judge in works of     
taste1 remember that you are to be      

possessed of three things--the  subject 
of the work which you are to examine2   
the character of the  artist as such2   
and1 before all1 of impartiality4       
,coroll4--,all first impressions are    
involuntary and inevitable2 but  the    
knowledge of the subject will guide you 
to judge first of the whole2  not to    
creep on from part to part1 and nibble  
at execution before you  know what it   
means to convey4 ,the notion of a tree  
precedes that of  counting leaves or    
disentangling branches4    ,every artist
 has1 or ought to have1 a character or  
system of his own2  if1 instead of      
referring that to the test of nature1   
you judge him by  your own packed       
notions1 or arraign him at the tribunal 
of schools which  he does not           
recognize--you degrade the dignity of   
art1 and add another  fool to the herd  
of ,dilettanti4    ,but if1 for reasons 
best known to yourself1 you come        
determined to  condemn what yet you have
 not seen1 let me advise you to drop    

your  pursuits of art for one of far    
greater importance--the inquiry into    
yourself2 nor aim at taste till you are 
sure of justice4    #ai4 ,misconception 
of its own powers is the injurious      
attendant of  genius1 and the most      
severe remembrancer of its vanity4      
,coroll4--,much of ,leonardo da ,vinci's
 life evaporated in useless  experiment 
and quaint research2 ,michael ,angelo   
perplexed the limbs of  grandeur with   
the minute ramifications of anatomy2    
,rafaelle forsook  humanity to people a 
mythologic desert with clumsy gods and  
clumsier  goddesses2 ,shakspeare1       
trusting time and chance with ,hamlet   
and ,othello1  revised a frozen sonnet1 
or fondled his ,adonis2 whilst ,milton  
dropt the  trumpet that had astonished  
hell1 left ,paradise1 and introduced a  
pedagogue to ,heaven4 ,when genius is   
surprised by such lethargic moments1  we
 can forget that ,johnson wrote ,irene1 
and ,hogarth made a solemn fool  of     
,paul4    #bj4 ,reality teems with      

disappointment for him whose sources of 
enjoyment  spring in the elysium of     
fancy4    #ba4 ,where perfection cannot 
take place1 a very high degree of       
general  excellence is impossible4      
,negligence is the shade of energy2     
where there  is neither1 expect         
mediocrity1 the common expletive of     
society2 capacity  without elevation1   
industry without predilection1 practice 
without  choice4    ,coroll4--,about    
this time1 says ,tacitus1 died ,poppus  
,sabinus1 who1  from a middling origin1 
rose to imperial friendships1 the       
consulate1  and the honours of the      
triumph3 he was selected for the space  
of  four-and-twenty years to govern the 
most important provinces1#b not for  any
 distinguished merit of his own1 but    
because he was equal to his  task1 and  
not above it4    ,behold here the most  
comprehensive epitaph of mediocrity1 and
 the most  unambiguous solution of every
 riddle with which its brilliant success
  may have perplexed your mind4    #bb4 

,determine the principle on which you   
commence your career of art3  some woo  
the art itself1 some its appendages2    
some confine their view to  the present1
 some extend it to futurity3 the        
butterfly flutters round a  meadow2 the 
eagle crosses seas4    #bc4 ,in ranging 
the phenomena of art1 remember          
carefully1 though you  place it on the  
side of exceptions1 that a decided bias 
is not always a  sign of latent power2  
nor indolence1 indifference1 or even    
apathy1 a  sign of impotence4    #bd4   
,circumstances may assist or retard     
parts1 but cannot make them3 they  are  
the winds that now blow out a light1 now
 animate a spark to  conflagration4     
,coroll4--,augustus and ,mcenas are said
 to have made ,virgil3 what was  it1    
then1 that prevented ,nerva1 ,trajan1   
,adrian1 and the two ,antonines1  from  
producing at least a ,lucan8    #be4    
,deserve1 but expect not1 to be praised 
by your contemporaries1 for  any        
excellence which they may be jealous of 

being allowed to possess  themselves2   
leave the dispensation of justice to    
posterity4    #bf4 ,if wishes are the   
spawn of imbecility1 precipitation is   
the bantling  of fool-hardiness3        
legitimate will1 investigates and       
acquires the means4  ,mistake not an    
itching finger for authentic will4      
#bg4 ,some of the most genuine effusions
 of genius in art1 some of the  most    
estimable qualities in society1 may be  
beholden for our homage to  very        
disputable principles4    ,coroll4--,the
 admission of a master's humanity to his
 slave supposes  the validity of an     
execrable right2 and the courage shown  
in a duel  cannot be applauded without  
submitting to the dictates of feudal    
barbarity4 ,had the poet's conception   
prepared us for the rashness of  ,lear1 
the ambition of ,macbeth's wife1 and the
 villany of ,iago1 by the  usual        
gradations of nature1 he could not have 
rushed on our heart with  the           
irresistibility that now subdues it4    

,had the line of ,correggio  floated in 
a less expanse1 he would have lost that 
spell of light and  shade which has     
enthralled all eyes2 and ,rubens1 had he
 not invigorated  bodies to hills of    
flesh1 and tinged his pencil in the     
rainbow1 would  not have been the       
painter of magnificence4    #bh4 ,genius
 has no imitator4 ,some can be poets and
 painters only at  second-hand3 deaf and
 blind to the tones and motions of      
,nature herself1  they hear or see her  
only through some reflected medium of   
art2 they are  emboldened by            
prescription4    #bi4 ,let him who has  
more genius than talent give up as      
impossible what  he finds difficult4    
,talent may mimic genius with success1  
and  frequently impose on all but the   
first judges2 but genius is awkward in  
the attempt to use the tools of talent4 
,coroll4--,hyperides1 ,lysias1          
,isocrates1 might imitate much of       
,demosthenes2 but he would have become  
ridiculous by stooping to collect  their

 beauties4#c ,the spear of ,roland might
 be couched to gain a lady's  favour2   
but its sole ornament was the heart1    
torn from the breast-plate  of her foe4 
#cj4 ,mediocrity is formed1 and talent  
submits1 to receive prescription2  that1
 the liveried attendant1 this1 the      
docile client of a patron's  views or   
whims3 but genius1 free and unbounded as
 its origin1 scorns  to receive         
commands1 or in submission1 neglects    
those it received4    ,coroll4--,the    
gentle spirit of ,rafaelle embellished  
the conceits of  ,bembo and ,divizio1 to
 scatter incense round the triple mitre 
of his  prince2 and the ,vatican became 
the flattering annals of the court of   
,julius and ,leo3 whilst ,michael       
,angelo refused admittance to master and
  to times1 and doomed his purple critic
 to hell4#d    #ca4 ,distinguish between
 genius and singularity of character2 an
 artist  of mediocrity may be an odd    
man3 let the nature of works be your    
guide4    #cb4 ,the most impotent1 the  

most vulgar1 and the coldest artists    
generally arrogate to themselves the    
most vigorous1 the most dignified1  and 
the warmest subjects4    #cc4 ,he has   
powers1 dignity1 and fire1 who can      
inspire a trifle with  importance4      
#cd4 ,know that nothing is trifling in  
the hand of genius1 and that  importance
 itself becomes a bauble in that of     
mediocrity3--the  shepherd's staff of   
,paris would have been an engine of     
death in the  grasp of ,achilles2 the   
ash of ,peleus could only have dropped  
from the  effeminate fingers of the     
curled archer4    #ce4 ,art either      
imitates or copies1 selects or          
transcribes2 consults the  class1 or    
follows the individual4    #cf4         
,imitative art1 is either epic or       
sublime1 dramatic or impassioned1       
historic or circumscribed by truth4 ,the
 first astonishes1 the second  moves1   
the third informs4    #cg4 ,whatever    
hides its limits in its                 
greatness--whatever shows a feature  of 

immensity1 let the elements of ,nature  
or the qualities of animated  being make
 up its substance1 is sublime4    #ch4  
,whatever by reflected self-love        
inspires us with hope1 fear1 pity1      
terror1 love1 or mirth--whatever makes  
events1 and time1 and place1 the        
ministers of character and pathos1 let  
fiction or reality compose its  tissue1 
is dramatic4    #ci4 ,that which tells  
us1 not what might be1 but what is2     
circumscribes  the grand and the        
pathetic with truth of time1 place1     
custom2 what  gives a local habitation  
and a name1 is historic4                
,coroll4--,no human performance is      
either purely epic1 dramatic1 or        
historic4 ,novelty and feelings will    
make the historian sometimes launch  out
 into the marvellous2 or will warm his  
bosom and extort a tear4    ,the        
dramatist while gazing at some          
tremendous feature1 or the pomp of      
superior agency1 will drop the chain he 
holds1 and be absorbed in the  sublime2 

whilst the epic or lyric poet1          
forgetting his solitary  grandeur1 will 
sometimes descend and mix with his      
agents4    ,the tragic and the comic    
dramatists formed themselves on ,hector 
and  ,andromache1 on ,irus and ,ulysses4
 ,the spirit from the prison-house      
breathes like the shade of ,patroclus2  
,octavia and the daughter of  ,soranus#e
 melt like ,ophelia and ,alcestis4      
#dj4 ,those who have assigned to the    
plastic arts beauty1 strictly so        
called1 as the ultimate end of          
imitation1 have circumscribed the whole 
by a part4    ,coroll4--,the charms of  
,helen and of ,niobe are instruments of 
sublimity3 ,meleager and ,cordelia fall 
victims to the passions2 ,agrippina  and
 ,berenice give interest to truth4      
#da4 ,beauty1 whether individual or     
ideal1 consists in the concurrence of   
parts to one end1 or the union of the   
simple and the various4                 
,coroll4--,whatever be your powers1     
assume not to legislate on beauty3      

though always the same herself1 her     
empire is despotic1 and subject to  the 
anarchies of despotism1 enthroned       
to-day1 dethroned to-morrow3 in         
treating subjects of universal claim1   
most has been done by leaving most  to  
the reader's and spectator's taste or   
fancy4 ,it is difficult1 says  ,horace1 
to pronounce exactly to every man's eye 
and mind1 what every  man thinks himself
 entitled to estimate by a standard of  
his own4#f  ,the ,apollo and ,medicean  
,venus are not by all received as the   
canons of  male and female beauty2 and  
,homer's ,helen is the finest woman we  
have  read of1 merely because he has    
left her to be made up of the ,dulcineas
  of his readers4    #db4 ,beauty alone1
 fades to insipidity2 and like          
possession cloys4    #dc4 ,grace is     
beauty in motion1 or rather grace       
regulates the air1 the  attitudes and   
movements of beauty4    #dd4 ,nature    
makes no parade of her means--hence all 
studied grace is  unnatural4            

,coroll4--,the attitudes of ,parmegiano 
are exhibitions of studied grace4  ,the 
grace of ,guido is become proverbial1   
but it is the grace of the art4    #de4 
,all actions and attitudes of children  
are graceful1 because they are  the     
luxuriant and immediate offspring of the
 moment--divested of  affectation1 and  
free from all pretence4                 
,coroll4--,the attitudes and motions of 
the figures of ,rafaelle are  graceful  
because they are poised by ,nature4     
#df4 ,proportion1 or symmetry1 is the   
basis of beauty2 propriety1 of  grace4  
#dg4 ,creation gives1 invention finds   
existence4    #dh4 ,invention in general
 is the combination of the possible1 the
  probable1 or the known1 in a mode that
 strikes with novelty4                  
,coroll4--,invention has been said to   
mean no more than the moment of  any    
fact chosen by the artist4    ,to say   
that the painter's invention is not to  
find or to combine its own  subject1 is 
to confine it to the poet's or          

historian's alms--is to  annihilate its 
essence2 it says in other words1 that   
,macbeth or ,ugolino  would be no       
subjects for the pencil1 if they had not
 been prepared by  history and borrowed 
from ,shakspeare and ,dante4    #di4    
,ask not--,where is fancy bred8 in the  
heart8 in the head8 how begot8  how     
nourished8    ,coroll4--,the critic who 
inquires whether in the madness of      
,lear1 grief  for the loss of empire1 or
 the resentment of filial ingratitude   
preponderated--and he who doubts whether
 it be within the limits of art  to     
embody beings of fancy1 agitate         
different questions1 but of equal       
futility4    #ej4 ,genius may adopt1 but
 never steals4    ,coroll4--,an adopted 
idea or figure in the works of genius   
will be a  foil or a companion2 but an  
idea of genius borrowed by mediocrity   
scorns  the base alliance and crushes   
all its mean associates--it is the      
,cyclop's thumb1 by which the pigmy     
measured his own littleness1--or  hangs 

like a giant's robe upon a dwarfish     
thief4    #ea4 ,genius1 inspired by     
invention1 rends the veil that separates
  existence from possibility2 peeps into
 the dark1 and catches a shape1 a       
feature1 or a colour1 in the reflected  
ray4    #eb4 ,talent1 though panting1   
pursues genius through the plains of    
invention1 but stops short at the brink 
that separates the real from the        
possible4 ,virgil followed ,homer in    
making ,mezentius speak to ,rhbus1 but  
shrank from the reply of the prophetic  
courser4#g    #ec4 ,whenever the medium 
of any work1 whether lines1 colour1     
grouping1  diction1 becomes so          
predominant as to absorb the subject in 
its  splendour1 the work is degraded to 
an inferior order4    #ed4 ,the painter1
 who makes an historical figure address 
the spectator  from the canvass1 and the
 actor who addresses a soliloquy to you 
from  the stage1 have equal claims to   
your contempt or pity4    #ee4          
,common-place figures are as            

inadmissible in the grand style of      
painting as common-place characters or  
sentiments in poetry4                   
,coroll4--,common-place figures were    
first introduced by the gorgeous        
machinists of ,venice1 and adopted by   
the ,bolognese school of ,eclectics2    
the modern school of ,rome from ,carlo  
,maratta to ,battoni knew nothing  else2
 and they have been since               
indiscriminately disseminated on this   
side of the ,alps1 by those whom        
mediocrity obliged to hide themselves in
  crowds1 or a knack at grouping        
stimulated to aggregate a rabble4       
#ef4 ,the copious is seldom grand4      
#eg4 ,glitter is the refuge of the mean4
    #eh4 ,all apparatus destroys terror1
 as all ornament grandeur3 the minute   
catalogue of the cauldron's ingredients 
in ,macbeth destroys the terror         
attendant on mysterious darkness2 and   
the seraglio-trappings of ,rubens       
annihilate his heroes4    #ei4 ,all     
conceits1 not founded upon probable     

combinations of nature1 are  absurd4    
,the capricci of ,salvator ,rosa1 and of
 his imitators1 are1 to  the fiends of  
,michael ,angelo1 what the paroxysms of 
a fever are to the  sallies of vigorous 
fancy4    #fj4 ,distinguish carefully   
between bold fancy and a daring hand2   
between  the powers of nature and the   
acquisitions of practice3 most of       
,salvator's banditti are a medley made  
up of starveling models and the  shreds 
of his lumber-room brushed into notice  
by a daring pencil4    #fa4 ,distinguish
 between boldness and brutality of hand1
 between the face  of beauty and the    
bark of a tree4    #fb4 ,all mediocrity 
pretends4    #fc4 ,invention1 strictly  
speaking1 being confined to one moment1 
he  invents best who in that moment     
combines the traces of the past1 the    
energy of the present1 and a glimpse of 
the future4    #fd4 ,composition has    
been divided into natural and           
ornamental3 that is  dictated by the    
subject1 this by effect or situation4   

#fe4 ,distinguish between composition   
and grouping3 though none can  compose  
without grouping1 most group without    
composing4    ,coroll4--,the assertion  
that grouping may not be composing1 has 
been  said to make a distinction without
 a difference3 as if there had not      
been1 still are1 and always will be     
squadrons of artists1 whose skill in    
grouping can no more be denied1 than    
their claim to invention1 and           
consequently to composition1 admitted1  
if invention means the true  conception 
of a subject and composition the best   
mode of representing  it4 ,after the    
demise of ,lionardo and ,michael        
,angelo1 their successors1  however     
discordant else1 uniformly agreed to    
lose the subject in the  medium4        
,raffaello had no followers4 ,tiziano   
and something of ,tintoretto  excepted1 
what instance can there be produced of  
composition in the  works of the        
,venetian school8 ,are the splendid     
masquerades of ,paolo to  be dignified  

with that name8 ,if composition has a   
part in the effusions  of the great     
founder of the ,lombard school1 it      
surely did not arrange  the celestial   
hubbub of his cupolas1 content to       
inspire his ,io1 the  ,zingaro1 ,christ 
in the ,garden1 perhaps 7,i speak with  
diffidence7 his  ,notte4 ,so            
characteristically separate from real   
composition are the most  splendid      
assemblages1 the most happy combinations
 of figures1 if founded  on the mere    
power of grouping1 that one of the      
first1 and certainly the  most courteous
 critic in ,art of the age1 in          
compliment to the ,venetian  and        
,flemish ,schools1 has thought proper to
 divide composition into  legitimate and
 ornamental4    #ff4 ,ask not1 what is  
the shape of composition8 ,you may in   
vain climb the  pyramid1 wind with the  
stream1 or point the flame2 for         
composition1  unbounded like ,nature1   
and her subjects1 though resident in    
all1 may be  in none of these4    #fg4  

,the nature of picturesque composition  
is depth1 or to come forward  and       
recede4    ,coroll4--,pausias1 in       
painting a sacrifice1 foreshortened the 
victim1  and threw its shade on part of 
the surrounding crowd1 to show its      
height  and length4#h    #fh4 ,sculpture
 composes in single groups or separate  
figures1 but  apposition is the element 
of basso-relievo4    ,coroll4--,poussin 
painted basso-relievo1 ,algardi         
chiselled pictures4    #fi4 ,he who     
treats you with all the figures of a    
subject save the  principal1 is as civil
 or important as he who invites you to  
dine with  all a nobleman's family1 the 
master only excepted3 this sometimes may
  be no loss1 but surely you cannot be  
said to have dined with the chief  of   
the family4    #gj4 ,examine whether an 
artist treats you with a subject1 or    
only with  some of its limbs3 many see  
only the lines1 some the masses1 others 
the  colours1 and not a few the mere    
back-ground of their subject4    #ga4   

,second thoughts are admissible in      
painting and poetry only as  dressers of
 the first conception2 no great idea was
 ever formed in  fragments4    #gb4 ,he 
alone can conceive and compose1 who sees
 the whole at once before  him4    #gc4 
,he who conceives the given point of a  
subject in many different  ways1        
conceives it not at all4 ,appeal to the 
artist's own feelings2 you  will ever   
find him most reluctant to give up that 
part of it which he  conceived          
intuitively1 and readier to dismiss that
 which harassed him by  alteration4     
#gd4 ,metaphysical composition1 if it be
 numerous1 will be oftener  mistaken for
 dilapidation of fragments than regular 
distribution of  materials4             
,coroll4--,the ,school of ,athens as it 
is called1 by ,raffaelle1  communicates 
to few more than an arbitrary assemblage
 of speculative  groups3 yet if the     
subject be the dramatic representation  
of philosophy1  as it prepares for      
active life1 the parts of the building  

are not  connected with more regular    
gradation than those groups3 fitted by  
physical and intellectual harmony1 man  
ascends from himself to society1  from  
society to ,god4    #ge4 ,no excellence 
of execution can atone for meanness of  
conception4    #gf4 ,grandeur of        
conception will predominate over the    
most vulgar  materials--if in the       
subjects of ,jesus before ,pilate1 by   
,rembrandt1 and  the ,resuscitation of  
,lazarus by ,lievens1#i the materials   
had all been  equal to the conception1  
they would have been works of superhuman
  powers4    #gg4 ,repetition of        
attitude and gesture invigorates the    
expression of the  grand3 as a torrent  
gives its own direction to every object 
it sweeps  along1 so the impression of a
 sublime or pathetic moment absorbs the 
contrasts of inferior agents4    #gh4   
,tameness lies on this side of          
expression1 grimace overleaps it2       
insipidity is the relative of folly1    
eccentricity of madness4    #gi4 ,the   

fear of not being understood1 or felt1  
makes some invigorate  expression to    
grimace4    #hj4 ,the temple of         
expression1 like that of religion1 has a
 portico and a  sanctuary2 that is trod 
by all1 this only admits her votaries4  
#ha4 ,propriety1 modesty and delicacy1  
guard expression from the  half-conceits
 of the weak1 the intemperance of the   
extravagant1 and the  brutality of the  
vulgar4    #hb4 ,sensibility is the     
mother of sympathy4 ,how can he paint   
,beauty who  has not throbbed at her    
charms8 ,how shall he fill the eye with 
the dew  of humanity whose own never    
shed a tear for others8 ,how can he form
 a  mouth to threaten or command1 who   
licks the hereditary spittle of         
princes8    #hc4 ,he fails with greater 
dignity1 who expresses the principal    
feature  of his subject and misses or   
neglects all the secondary1 than he who 
consumes his powers on what is          
subordinate and comes exhausted to the  
chief4    ,coroll4--,those who have     

asserted that ,lionardo1 in finishing   
the ,last  ,supper1 was so exhausted by 
his exertions to trace the characters   
and  emotions of the disciples1 that1   
unable to fix the physiognomy of        
,christ1 he found himself reduced to the
 necessity of leaving that head         
unfinished1--either never saw it1 or if 
they did1 were too low to reach  the    
height1 and too shallow to fathom the   
depth of the conception4    #hd4 ,the   
coward1 driven to despair1 leaps back   
into the face of danger2  and the tame1 
stimulated to exertions and aiming at   
expression1 puffs  spirit into flutter2 
or tears the garb of passion and        
flourishes the  rags4    #he4           
,affectation cannot excite sympathy4    
,how can you feel for him who  cannot   
feel for himself8 ,how can he feel for  
himself1 who exhibits the  artificial   
graces of studied attitude8    #hf4 ,the
 loathsome is abominable1 and no engine 
of expression4    ,coroll4 ,when        
,spenser dragged into light the entrails

 of the serpent1  slain by the          
,red-cross ,knight1 he dreamt a         
butcher's dream and not a  poet's3 and  
,fletcher1#aj or his partner1 when      
rummaging the surgeon's  box of         
cataplasms and trusses to assuage       
hunger1 solicited the grunt of  an      
applauding sty4    #hg4 ,sympathy and   
disgust are the lines that separate     
terror from horror3  though we shudder  
at1 we scarcely pity what we abominate4 
,coroll4--,rowe1 when he congratulates  
the ghost on bidding ,hamlet spare  his 
mother1 accuses her of a crime with     
which the poet never charged  her3 that 
,shakspeare might be hurried on to      
horror let the vile jelly  witness1     
which ,cornwall treads from ,gloster's  
bleeding sockets4    #hh4 ,expression   
animates1 convulses1 or absorbs form4   
,the ,apollo is  animated2 the warrior  
of ,agasias is agitated2 the ,laocoon is
 convulsed2  the ,niobe is absorbed4    
#hi4 ,the being seized by an enormous   
passion1 be it joy or grief1 hope or    

despair1 loses the character of its own 
individual expression1 and is  absorbed 
by the power of the feature that        
attracts it3 ,niobe and her  family are 
assimilated by extreme anguish2 ,ugolino
 is petrified by the  fate that sweeps  
his sons2 and every metamorphosis from  
that of ,clytie  to the transfusion of  
,gianni ,fucci#aa tells a new allegory  
of  sympathetic power4    #ij4 ,reject  
with indignant incredulity all          
self-congratulations of  conscious      
villainy1 though they be uttered by     
,richard or by ,iago4    #ia4 ,the axe1 
the wheel1 saw-dust1 and the            
blood-stained sheet are not  legitimate 
substitutes of terror4    #ib4 ,all     
division diminishes1 all mixtures impair
 the simplicity and  clearness of       
expression4    #ic4 ,the epoch which    
discovered expression1 or what the      
,greeks called  manners1#ab is marked by
 ,pliny as that which gave importance   
and  effect to art4    ,coroll4--,homer 
invested his heroes with ideal powers1  

but copied  nature in delineating their 
moral character4 ,achilles1 the         
irresistible  in arms1 clad in celestial
 armour1 is a splendid being1 created by
  himself2 ,achilles the fool of        
passions1 is the real man delivered to  
him  by tradition4    ,that the plastic 
artist should have had an aim beyond the
 poet is  improbable1 because the poet1 
in general1 furnished him with          
materials2  he composed his man of      
beauty and ideal limbs1 not to obscure1 
but to  invigorate his character and our
 attention4    ,the limbs1 the form of  
,ajax hurling defiance from the         
sea-swept rock  unto the murky sky1     
were1 no doubt1 exquisite2 but if the   
artist  mitigated his expression1 the   
indignation due to blasphemy from the   
spectator gave way to sterner           
indignation at the injustice of his     
gods4    ,the expression of the         
ancients1 from the heights and depths of
 the  sublime1 descended and emerged to 
search every nook of the human breast2  

from the ambrosial locks of ,zeus1 and  
the maternal phantom fluttering  round  
,ulysses1#ac to the half-slain mother1  
shuddering lest the infant  should suck 
the blood from her palsied nipple1 and  
the fond attention of  ,penelope        
dwelling on the relation of her returned
 son4#ad    ,the expression of the      
ancients explored nature even in the    
mute  recesses1 in the sullen organs of 
the brute2 from the ,argus of ,ulysses1 
to the lamb1 the symbol of expiatory    
resignation1 on an altar1 and to  the   
untameable feature of the toad4    ,the 
expression of the ancients roamed all   
the fields of licit and  illicit        
pleasure2 from the petulance with which 
,ctesilochus exhibited  the pangs of a  
,jupiter delivered by celestial         
midwives1 to the  libidinous sports of  
,parrhasius1 and from these to the      
indecent  caricature#ae which furnished 
,crassus with a repartee4    ,the       
ancients extended expression even to the
 colour of their materials  in          

sculpture3 to express the remorse of    
,athamas1 ,aristonidas the ,theban      
mixed metals2 and ,alcon formed a       
,hercules of iron1 to express the       
perseverance of the ,god4#af    #id4    
,invention1 before it attends to        
composition1 group1 or contrast1        
classes its subject and ascertains what 
kind of impression it is to make  on the
 whole4    #ie4 ,invention never suffers
 the action to expire1 nor the          
spectator's  fancy to consume itself in 
preparation1 or stagnate into repose3 it
  neither begins from the egg1 nor      
coldly gathers the remains2 for action  
and interest terminate together4    #if4
 ,the middle moment1 the moment of      
suspense1 the crisis1 is the moment  of 
importance1 big with the past and       
pregnant with the future3 we rush  from 
the flames with the ,warrior of         
,agasias1 and look forward to his       
enemy2 or we hang in suspense over the  
wound of the ,expiring  ,soldier1#ag and
 poise with every drop which yet remains

 of life4    #ig4 ,distinguish between  
the hero and the actor2 between         
exertions of  study and effects of      
impulse4    #ih4 ,know that expression  
has its classes4 ,the frown of the      
,hercynian  phantom may repress the     
ardour1 but cannot subdue the dignity of
  ,drusus2#ah the terror of the         
,centurion at the ,resurrection#ai is   
not  the panic of his soldiers2 the     
palpitation of ,hamlet cannot degenerate
  into vulgar fright4    ,coroll4--,of  
all the eclectics1 ,domenichino alone   
composed for  expression2 but his       
expression compared with ,raffaello's is
 the  expression of ,theocritus compared
 with that of ,homer4 ,a detail of      
pretty  images is rather calculated to  
diminish than to enforce energy with the
  whole3 a lovely child taking refuge in
 the bosom of a lovely mother is  an    
idea of nature1 and pleasing in a lowly 
or domestic subject2 but  amidst the    
terrors of martyrdom1 it is a shred     
tacked to a purple robe4  ,in touching  

the circle that surrounds the ,ananias  
of ,raffaelle1 you  touch the electric  
chain2 an irresistible spark darts from 
the last as  from the first1 and        
penetrates and subdues4 ,at the         
,martyrdom of ,st4  ,agnes1#bj you      
saunter amidst the mob of a lane1 where 
the silly chat of  neighbouring gossips 
announces a topic as silly1 till you    
find1 with  indignation1 that instead of
 a broken pot1 or a petty theft1 you are
 to  witness a scene for which ,heaven  
opens1 the angels descend1 and ,jesus   
rises from his throne4    #ii4          
,expression alone can invest beauty with
 supreme and lasting command  over the  
eye4    ,coroll4--,on beauty1           
unsupported by vigour and expression1   
,homer dwells  less than on active      
deformity2 he tells us1 in three lines1 
that ,nireus  led three ships1 his      
parentage1 his form1 his effeminacy2 but
 opens in  ,thersites a source of comedy
 and entertainment4    ,raffaelle not   
only subjected beauty to expression1    

but1 at the command  of invention1      
degraded it into a handmaid of          
deformity3 thus the flowers  of infancy 
and youth1 virility and age1 are        
scattered round the  temple-gate1 to    
impress us more by comparison with the  
distorted beings  that crawl before and 
defy the powers of every other hand but 
the one  delegated by ,omnipotence4#ba  
#ajj4 ,imitation seems to cease1 where  
the ideal part begins4    #aja4 ,the    
imitator rises above the copyist by     
generalizing the individual  to a class2
 the idealist mounts above the imitator 
by uniting classes4    #ajb4 ,the       
imitator1 by comparison and taste1      
unites the scattered limbs  of kindred  
excellence2 the idealist1 by the mind's 
eye1 fixes1  personifies1 embodies      
possibility3 modes and degrees of single
 powers  are the province of the former2
 the latter unites whatever implies no  
contradiction in an assemblage of varied
 excellence4    ,coroll4--,this is best 
explained by the ,ilias4 ,each          

individual of ,homer  forms a class1 and
 is circumscribed by one quality of     
heroic power2  ,achilles alone unites   
their different energies4    ,the       
height1 the strength1 the giant-stride  
and supercilious air of ,ajax2  the     
courage1 the impetuosity1 the           
never-failing aim1 the never-bloodless  
stroke of ,diomedes2 the presence of    
mind1 the powerful agility of  ,ulysses2
 the velocity of the lesser ,ajax2      
,agamemnon's sense of  prerogative and  
domineering spirit1--assign to each his 
separate class  of heroism1 yet lessen  
not their shades of imperfection4 ,ajax 
appears  the warrior rather than the    
leader2 ,ulysses is too prudent to be   
more  than brave2 the hawk more than the
 eagle predominates in the son of       
,oileus2 ,agamemnon has the prerogative 
of power1 but not of heroism2  ,diomede 
alone might appear to have been raised  
too high1 had he been  endowed with an  
assuming spirit4 ,so far the poet found1
 ennobled1  classified2 but all these he

 sums up1 and creates an ideal form from
  their assemblage1 in ,achilles3--he is
 the grandson of ,jupiter1 the son  of a
 goddess1 the favourite of              
,heaven--#bb,what arms can fit me but   
the  shield of ,ajax8 ,the lance maddens
 not in the grasp of ,diomede to chase  
the flames from the ships4 ,let him     
confer with thee1 ,ulysses1 and the     
rest4 ,such is his language4 ,before the
 pursuer of ,hector vanishes the        
velocity of ,ajax2 from destroying      
,agamemnon he is prevented by ,minerva2 
he gives his armour to the son of       
,mentius1 and disperses all but the     
gods2 his spear none can throw1 and none
 tear from the ground when  thrown2 a   
miracle alone can save those that oppose
 him singly2 when else  he fights1 'tis 
not to gain a battle1 but to subvert    
,troy4    ,what ,achilles is to his     
confederates1 the ,apollo1 the ,torso1  
the  statues#bc of the ,quirinal1 are to
 all other known figures of gods1 of    
demi-gods and heroes4    #ajc4 ,fancy   

not to compose an ideal form by mixing  
up a mass of  promiscuous beauties2 for1
 unless you consulted what was          
homogeneous and  what was possible in   
,nature1 you have hatched only a        
monster3 this1 we  suppose1 was         
understood by ,zeuxis when he collected 
the beauties of  ,agrigentum to compose 
a perfect female4#bd    #ajd4 ,if there 
be any thing serious in art1 it         
certainly then ought to be  exerted when
 religion is the subject2 but idolaters 
and iconoclasts seem  to have conspired1
 either to banish the author of their   
faith to the  cold sphere of mythology1 
or to debase him to the dregs of        
mankind4    ,coroll4--,majesty is the   
feature of the ,supreme ,being2 no      
eternal  ,father of the moderns         
approaches the majesty of ,jupiter4     
,the gods of ,michael ,angelo are stern4
 ,the gods of ,raffaelle are affable    
and weak4 ,the gods of ,guido have the  
air of ancient courtiers4    ,in the    
race of ,jupiter1 majesty is tempered by

 emanations of beauty and  of grace1 but
 never softened into love4    ,the      
,christ of ,michael ,angelo is severe4  
,the ,christ of ,raffaelle is  poised   
between the heraldry of church tradition
 and the dignified  mildness of his own 
character4 ,the ,christ of ,guido is a  
well suspended  corpse4    ,the         
character corresponding with that of    
,christ1 says a critic and a            
painter1#be is a mixture of the         
characters of ,jupiter and ,apollo1     
allowing only for the accidental        
expression of the moment4 ,what magic   
shall amalgamate the superhuman airs of 
,rhea's and ,latona's sons with         
sufferings and resignation8 ,the critic1
 in his exultation1 forgot the  leading 
feature of his master--humility4        
,whatever be the ideal form of ,christ1 
the ,saviour of mankind1 extending  his 
arm to relieve the afflicted1 the       
hopeless1 the dying1 is a subject  that 
comes home to the breast of every one   
who calls himself after his  name3--the 

artist is in the sphere of adoration    
with the ,christian4    ,a great and    
beneficent character1 eminently exerting
 unknown healing  powers over the family
 of disease and pain1 claims the        
participation of  every feeling man1    
though he be no believer3--the artist is
 in the  sphere of sentiment with the   
,deist or ,mahometan4    ,but a mean man
 marked with the features of a mean     
sect1 surrounded by a  beggarly         
ill-shaped rabble and stupid masks--is  
probably a juggler that  claims the     
attention of no one4    ,the            
,resurrection of ,christ derives its    
interest from its rapidity1 the         
,ascension from its slowness4    ,in the
 ,resurrection1 the hero1 like a ball of
 fire1 shoots up resistless  from the   
bursting tomb1 and scatters terror and  
astonishment1--what  apprehension could 
not dream of1 what the eye had never    
beheld1 and  tongue had never uttered1  
blazes before us1--tumultuous agitation 
rends  the whole4 ,such is the spirit of

 the ,resurrection by ,raffaelle4       
,the ,ascension is the last of many     
similar scenes3 no longer with the      
rapidity of a conqueror1 but with the   
calm serenity of triumphant power1  the 
hero is borne up in splendour1 and      
gradually vanishes from those  who1 by  
repeated visions1 had been taught to    
expect whatever was  amazing4 ,silent   
and composed1 with eyes more absorbed in
 adoration than  wonder1 they followed  
the glorious emanation1 till addressed  
by the  white-robed messengers of their 
departed ,king4    #aje4 ,we are more   
impressed by ,gothic than by ,greek     
mythology1 because  the bands are not   
yet rent which tie us to its magic3 he  
has a powerful  hold of us1 who holds us
 by our superstition or by a theory of  
honour4    #ajf4 ,the east expands1 the 
north concentrates images4    #ajg4     
,disproportion of parts is the element  
of hugeness1--proportion1 of  grandeur2 
all ,oriental1 all ,gothic styles of    
,architecture1 are huge2 the  ,grecian  

alone1 is grand4    #ajh4 ,the female1  
able to invigorate her taste without    
degenerating into  a pedant1 sloven or  
virago1 may give her hand to the man of 
elegance1  who scorns to sacrifice his  
sense to the presiding phantoms of an   
effeminate age4    #aji4 ,the collector 
who arrogates not to himself the praise 
bestowed on  his collections1 and the   
reader who fancies himself not the      
author of  the beauties he recites to an
 admiring circle--are not the last of   
men4    #aaj4 ,the epoch of rules1 of   
theories1 poetics1 criticisms in a      
nation1  will add to their stock of     
authors in the same proportion as it    
diminishes their stock of genius3 their 
productions will bear the stamp  of     
study1 not of nature2 they will adopt1  
not generate2 sentiment will  supplant  
images1 and narrative invention2 words  
will be no longer the  dress but the    
limbs of composition1 and feeble        
elegance will supply the  want of       
nerves4    #aaa4 ,he lisped not in      

numbers1 no numbers came to him1 though 
he count  his verses by thousands1 who  
has not learnt to distinguish the       
harmony  of two lines from that of a    
period--whom dull monotony of ear       
condemns  to the drowsy psalmody of one 
returning couplet4    #aab4 ,some seek  
renown as the ,parthians sought         
victory--by seeming to fly  from it4    
#aac4 ,he has more than genius--he is a 
hero--who can check his powers in  their
 full career to glory1 merely not to    
crush the feeble on his road4    #aad4  
,he who could have the choice1 and      
should prefer to be the first  painter  
of insects1 of flowers1 or of drapery1  
to being the second in  the ranks of    
history1 though degraded to the last    
class of art1 would  undoubtedly be in  
the first of men by the decision of     
,csar4    #aae4 ,such is the aspiring   
nature of man1 that nothing wounds the  
copyist  more sorely than the suspicion 
of being thought what he is4    #aaf4   
,he who depends for all upon his model1 

should treat no other  subject but his  
model4    #aag4 ,the praises lavished on
 the sketches of vigorous conception1   
only  sharpen the throes of labour in   
finishing4    #aah4 ,as far as the      
medium of an art can be taught1 so far  
is the artist  confined to the class of 
mere mechanics2 he only then elevates   
himself  to talent1 when he imparts to  
his method1 or his tool1 some           
unattainable  or exclusive excellence of
 his own4    #aai4 ,none but the first  
can represent the first4 ,genius1       
absorbed by the  subject1 hastens to the
 centre2 and from that point            
disseminates1 to  that leads back the   
rays3 talent1 full of its own           
dexterities1 begins to  point the rays  
before they have a centre1 and          
aggregates a mass of  secondary         
beauties4    #abj4 ,the ear absorbed in 
harmonies of its own creation1 is deaf  
to all  external ones4    #aba4 ,harmony
 disposes1 melody determines4    #abb4  
,there is not a bauble thrown by the    

sportive hand of fashion1 which  may not
 be caught with advantage by the hand of
 art4    ,coroll4--,shakspeare has been 
excused for seeking in the ,roman senate
  what he knew all senates could        
furnish--a buffoon4 ,paulo of ,verona1  
with  equal strength of argument1 may be
 excused for cramming on the  foreground
 of an assembly or a feast1 what he knew
 a feast or assembly  could furnish--a  
dog1 an ape1 a scullion1 a parrot1 or a 
dwarf4    #abc4 ,he has done much in art
 who raises your curiosity--he has done 
all  who has raised it and keeps it up  
restless and uniform2 prostrate         
yourself before the genius of ,homer4   
#abd4 ,difficulties surmounted to obtain
 what in itself is of no real  value1   
deserve pity or contempt3 the painted   
catalogue of wrinkles by  ,denner are   
not offsprings of art1 but fac-similes  
of natural history4    #abe4 ,love for  
what is called deception in painting1   
marks either the  infancy or decrepitude
 of a nation's taste4    #abf4          

,indiscriminate execution1 like the     
monkey's rasor1 cuts shear  asunder the 
parts it meant to polish4               
,coroll4--,francesco ,barbieri broke    
like a torrent over the academic  rules 
of his masters4 ,as the desire of       
disseminating character over  every part
 of his composition made ,raphael less  
attentive to its general  effect1 so an 
ungovernable itch of copying all that   
lay in his way made  this man sacrifice 
order1 costume1 mind1 to mere effects of
 colour3 a  map of flesh1 a pile of     
wood1 a sleeve1 a hilt1 a feathered hat1
 a  table-cloth1 or a gold-tissued robe1
 were for ,guercino what a quibble  was 
for ,shakspeare4 ,the countenance of his
 ,dido has that sublimity of  woe which 
affects us in the neis1 but she is      
pierced with a toledo and  wrapped in   
brocade2 ,anna is an ,italian ,duenna2  
the scene1 the ,mole of  ,ancona or of  
,naples1 the spectators a brace of      
whiskered ,spaniards1 and  a deserting  
,amorino winds up the farce4 ,in his    

,st4 ,petronilla the rags  and brawny   
limbs of two gigantic porters crush the 
effect which the  saint ought to have1  
and all the rest is frittered into      
spots4 ,yet is  that picture a          
tremendous instance of mechanic powers  
and intrepidity of  hand4 ,as a firm    
base supports1 pervades1 unites the     
tones of harmony1 so  a certain stern   
virility inspires1 invigorates and gives
 a zest to all  ,guercino's colour4 ,the
 gayer tints of ,guido vanish before his
 as  insipid1#bf ,domenichino appears   
laboured1 and the ,carracci dim4 ,nor   
was  ,guercino a stranger to the genuine
 expressions of untaught nature1 and    
there is more of pathos in the dog which
 he introduced caressing the  returned  
prodigal1 than in all the ,farnese      
gallery2 as the ,argus of  ,ulysses1    
looking up at his old master1 then      
dropping his head and dying1  moves more
 than all the metamorphoses of ,ovid4   
,if his male figures be  brought to the 
test of style1 it may be said1 that he  

never made a man2  their virility is    
tumour or knotty labour2 to youth he    
gave emaciated  lankness1 and to old age
 little besides decrepitude and         
beards--meanness  to all3 and though he 
was more cautious in female forms1 they 
owe the  best part of their charms to   
chiaroscuro4    #abg4 ,execution has its
 classes4    ,coroll4--,satan summoning 
the ,princes of ,hell stretched over the
 fiery  flood2 or the giant snake of the
 ,norway seas hovering over a           
storm-vexed  vessel1 by ,gerard ,douw1  
or ,vanderverf--are incongruous ideas2  
would be  incongruous though ,michael   
,angelo had planned their design and    
,rembrandt  massed their light and      
shade4    #abh4 ,it has been said1 but  
let us repeat it3 the proportion of will
 and  power is not always reciprocal4 ,a
 copious measure of will is sometimes   
assigned to ordinary and contracted     
minds2 whilst the greatest faculties  as
 frequently evaporate in indolence and  
languor4    #abi4 ,mighty execution of  

impotent conception1 and vigour of      
conception  with trembling execution1   
are coalitions equally deplorable4      
#acj4 ,he is a prince of artists and of 
men who knows the moment when his  work 
is done4 ,on this ,apelles founded his  
superiority over his  contemporaries2   
the knowledge when to stop1 left ,sylla 
nothing to fear1  though disarmed2 the  
want of knowing this1 exposed ,csar to  
the dagger  of ,brutus4    #aca4 ,next  
to him who can finish1 is he who has hid
 from you that he  cannot4    #acb4 ,if 
finishing be to terminate all the parts 
of a performance in an  equal degree1 no
 artist ever finished his work4 ,a great
 part of  conception or execution is    
always sacrificed to some individual    
excellence which either he possesses or 
thinks he possesses4 ,the  colourist    
makes lines only the vehicle of colour2 
the designer  subordinates hue to his   
line2 the man of breadth or chiaroscuro 
overwhelms sometimes both1 and the      
subject itself to produce effect4       

#acc4 ,the fewer the traces that appear 
of the means by which any work has  been
 produced1 the more it resembles the    
operations of ,nature1 and the  nearer  
it is to sublimity4    #acd4            
,indiscriminate pursuit of perfection   
infallibly leads to  mediocrity4        
,coroll4--,take the design of ,rome1    
,venetian motion and shade1  ,lombardy's
 tone of colour1 add the terrible manner
 of ,angelo1 ,titian's  truth of nature1
 and the supreme purity of ,corregio's  
style2 mix them up  with the decorum and
 solidity of ,tibaldi1 with the learned 
invention of  ,primaticcio1 and a few   
grains of ,parmegiano's grace3 and what 
do you  think will be the result of this
 chaotic prescription1 such elemental   
strife8 ,excellence1 perhaps1 equal to  
one or all of the names that  compose   
these ingredients8 ,you are deceived1 if
 you fancy that a  multitude of         
dissimilar threads can compose a uniform
 texture--that  dissemination of spots  
will make masses1 or a little of many   

things  produce a whole4 ,if ,nature    
stamped you with a character1 you will  
either  annihilate it by indiscriminate 
imitation of heterogeneous excellence1  
or debase it to mediocrity and add one  
to the ciphers of art4 ,yet such  is the
 prescription of ,agostino ,carracci1#bg
 and such in general must  be the       
dictates of academics4    #ace4 ,if you 
mean to reign dictator over the arts of 
your own times1  assail not your rivals 
with the blustering tone of condemnation
 and  rigid censure2--sap with          
conditional or lamenting praise--confine
 them  to unfashionable                 
excellence--exclude them from the       
avenues of fame4    #acf4 ,if you wish  
to give consequence to your inferiors1  
answer their  attacks4                  
,coroll4--,michael ,angelo1 advised to  
resent the insolence of some  obscure   
upstart who was pushing forward to      
notice by declaring himself  his rival1 
answered3 ,chi combatte con dappochi1   
non vince a nulla3 who  contests with   

the base1 loses with all6    #acg4      
,genius knows no partner4 ,all          
partnership is deleterious to poetry    
and art3 one must rule4#bh    #ach4 ,the
 wish of perpetuating a name by         
enlisting under the banners of  another1
 is the ambition of inferior minds3     
biography1 with all its  branches of    
,ana1 translation and engraving1 however
 useful to man or  dear to art1 is the  
unequivocal homage of inferiority       
offered by taste  and talent to the     
majesty of genius4    #aci4 ,dive in the
 crowd1 meet beauty3 follow vigour1     
compare character1  snatch the feature  
that moves unobserved and the sudden    
burst of  passion--and you are at the   
school of nature with ,lysippus4#bi     
#adj4 ,the lessons of disappointment1   
humiliation and blunder1 impress  more  
than those of a thousand masters4       
#ada4 ,there are artists1 who have      
wasted much of life in abstruse         
theories on proportion1 who have        
measured the ,antique in all its forms  

and characters1 compared it with        
,nature1 and mixed up amalgamas of both1
  yet never made a figure stand or move4
    ,coroll4--,the ,apollo is altogether
 composed of lines sweetly convex1  of  
very small obtuse angles1 and of flats1 
but the soft convexities  predominate   
the character of the figure1 being a    
compound of strength1  dignity and      
delicacy4 ,the artist has expressed the 
first by convex  outlines1 the second by
 their uniformity1 and the third by     
undulation of  forms4 ,the convex line  
predominates in the ,laocoon1 and the   
forms of the  muscles are angular at    
their insertions and ends to express    
agitation2  for by these means the      
nerves and tendons become more visible1 
straight  lines meeting with concave and
 convex ones1 form those angles which   
produce violence of action4 ,the        
sculptor of the ,farnesian ,hercules    
invented a style totally different2 to  
obtain fleshiness1 he composed  the     
figure of round and convex muscles1 but 

made their insertions flat  to signify  
that they are nervous and unincumbered  
with fat1 the  characteristic of        
strength4    ,in the ,gladiator there is
 a mixture of the ,herculean and the    
,laocoontic  forms1 the muscles in      
action are angulated1 whilst those at   
rest are  short and round1 a variety    
conformable to nature1 c4        ,opere 
di ,a4,r4 ,,mengs1 t4 i4 p4 #bjc4       
#adb4 ,neither he who forms lines       
without the power of embodying them1 nor
  he who floats on masses1 can be said  
to draw3 the one is the slave of a      
brush1 the other of a point4    #adc4   
,pulp without solidity absorbs1 and     
relentless tension tears  character4    
#add4 ,in following too closely a model1
 there is danger in mistaking the       
individual for ,nature herself2 in      
relying only on the schools1 the        
deviation into manner seems inevitable3 
what then remains1 but to  transpose    
yourself into your subject8    #ade4    
,style is the selection of forms and    

groups and tones to suit a  subject4    
,coroll4--,the ,italian ,style          
,grandioso1 the ,french ,il y a du      
style1  the ,english great style and    
breadth1 when applied to a performance1 
only mean1 that the artist followed     
those who have enlarged the  principles 
of imitation and execution4    #adf4    
,style pervades the object2 manner      
floats on the surface4    #adg4 ,antient
 art was the tyrant of ,egypt1 the      
mistress of ,greece1 and  the servant of
 ,rome4    #adh4 ,the superiority of the
 ,greeks seems not so much the result of
  climate and society1 as of the        
simplicity of their end and the         
uniformity of their means4 ,if they had 
schools1 the ,ionian1 that of  ,athens  
and of ,sicyon appear to have directed  
their instruction to one  grand         
principle1 proportion3 this was the     
stamen which they drew out  into one    
immense connected web2 whilst modern    
art1 with its schools of  designers1    
colourists1 machinists1 eclectics1 is   

but a tissue of  adventitious threads4  
,apollonius and the sculptor of the     
small ,hesperian  ,hercules in bronze   
are distinguished only by the degree of 
execution2  whilst ,m4 ,angelo and      
,bernini had no one principle in common 
but that of  making groups and figures4 
#adi4 ,art among a religious race       
produces reliques2 among a military one1
  trophies2 among a commercial one1     
articles of trade4    #aej4 ,modern art1
 reared by superstition in ,italy1      
taught to dance in  ,france1 plumped up 
to unwieldiness in ,flanders1 reduced to
 chronicle  small beer in ,holland1     
became a rich old woman by suckling     
fools in  ,england4    #aea4 ,the rules 
of art are either immediately supplied  
by ,nature herself1  or selected from   
the compendiums of her students who are 
called masters  and founders of schools4
 ,the imitation of ,nature herself leads
 to style1  that of the schools to      
manner4    ,coroll4--,the line of       
,michael ,angelo is uniformly grand2    

character and  beauty were admitted only
 as far as they could be made           
subservient to  grandeur3--the child1   
the female1 meanness1 deformity were    
indiscriminately  stamped with grandeur2
 a beggar rose from his hand the        
patriarch of  poverty2 the hump of his  
dwarf is impressed with dignity2 his    
women are  moulds of generation2 his    
infants teem with the man1 his men are a
 race  of giants4    ,the design of     
,raphael is either historic or poetic4  
,the forms of his  historic style are   
characteristic1 those of his poetic     
style he himself  calls ideal3#cj the   
former are regulated by nature1 but     
these are only  exaggerations of another
 style4    ,the forms of ,julio ,pipi   
are poised between character and        
caricature1 but  verge to this2 even his
 dresses and ornaments are caricatures2 
but no  poet or painter ever rocked the 
cradle of infant mythology with simpler 
or more primitive grace2 none ever      
imparted to allegory a more  insinuating

 power1 or swayed the strife of         
elemental war with a bolder  hand4 ,what
 ever equalled the exuberance of        
invention scattered over the  ,t of     
,mantoua8    ,the line of ,polydoro1 is 
that of the antique basso-relievo1 seen 
from  beneath 7da sotto in su74    ,the 
forms of ,titian are those of sanguine  
health2 robust1 not grand2  soft without
 delicacy4    ,tintoretto attempted to  
fill the line of ,michael ,angelo with  
colour1  without tracing its principle4 
,as ,michael ,angelo was impressed with 
an idea of grandeur1 so ,correggio  was 
charmed with a notion of harmony3 his   
line was correct when harmony           
permitted2 it strayed as harmony        
commanded4    ,elegance 7sueltezza7 was 
the principle of ,parmegiano's line1 but
 he  forgot proportion4    ,annibale    
,carracci1 one of the founders of the   
,eclectic school1 attempted  to combine 
in his line the appearance of ,nature   
with style1 and became  the standard of 
academic drawing4    ,the medium1 not   

the thing1 was the object of the ,tuscan
 and ,venetian  schools2 the school of  
,urbino#ca aimed at subjecting the      
medium to the  character of things2 the 
,lombards strove to unite the separate  
attainments of the three with the       
unattainable spell of ,correggio2 the   
,germans1 with their ,flemish and ,dutch
 branches1 now humbly followed1  now    
boldly attempted to improve their       
,italian masters2 the ,french passed    
the ,alps to study at ,rome and ,venice 
what they were to forget at ,paris4     
,domenichino aimed at the characteristic
 line of ,raffaelle1 the  compactness of
 ,annibale1 and the beauty of the       
antique2 and mixing  something of each  
fell short of all4    ,rosso carried    
anatomy1 and the ,bolognese ,abbate the 
poetry of their art  to the court of    
,francis4 ,to the haggard melancholy of 
the ,tuscan and the  laboured richness  
of the ,lombard1 the ,french added their
 own cold  gaiety1 and the ,french      
school arose4    ,the forms of ,guido's 

female heads are abstracts of the       
antique4 ,the  forms of his male bodies 
are transcripts of models1 such as are  
found in  a genial climate1 though      
sometimes distorted by fatigue or       
emaciated by  want4    ,pietro ,testa   
copied the ,torsos of antiquity1 and    
supplied them with  extremities drawn   
from the dregs of ,nature4    ,the      
forms#cb of ,caravaggio are either      
substantial flesh or the  starveling    
produce of beggary rendered important by
 ideal light and  shade4    ,the limbs  
of ,joseph ,ribera are excrescences of  
disease on hectic bodies4    ,andrea    
,mantegna was in ,italy what ,albert    
,durer was at ,nuremberg2 ,nature  seems
 not to have existed in any shape of    
health in his time3 though a  servile   
copyist of the antique1 he never once   
adverted from the  monuments he copied  
to the originals that inspired them4    
,the forms of ,albert ,durer are        
blasphemies on ,nature1 the thwarted    
growth  of starveling labour and dry    

sterility--formed to inherit his hell of
  paradise4 ,to extend the asperity of  
this verdict beyond the forms of        
,albert ,durer1 would be equally unjust 
and ungrateful to the father of  ,german
 art1 on whom invention often flashed1  
whom melancholy marked for  her own1    
whose influence even on ,italian art was
 such that he produced a  temporary     
revolution in the style of the ,tuscan  
school4 ,andrea del ,sarto  and ,giacopo
 da ,puntormo became his imitators and  
his copyists2 nor was  his influence    
unfelt by ,raffaelle himself1 but his   
,christ led to the  ,cross 7engraved by 
,e4 ,sadler71#cc compared with that of  
the ,madonna del  ,spasimo1 leaves the  
claim of superiority doubtful for       
sublimity and  pathos4 ,it is a likewise
 probable that we owe the horrors of the
 ,st4  ,felicitas to the abominations of
 his ,martyr scenes4 ,the felicity of   
his  organs1 the delicacy of his finger1
 the freedom and sweep of his touch1    
have found an encomiast in the author of

 the life prefixed to the ,latin        
edition of his works4 ,what would have  
been the result of his intended         
interview1 when in ,italy1 with ,andrea 
,mantegna1 had the death of the  latter 
7#aeje7 not prevented it1 is difficult  
to guess3 if some  amelioration1        
certainly not the entire change of      
style1 which the  uninterrupted study of
 the antique1 during a long life1 had   
failed to  produce in ,andrea himself4  
,the forms of ,luke of ,leyden are the  
vegetation of a swamp4    ,the forms of 
,martin ,hemskerck are dislocated       
lankness4#cd    ,the forms of ,spranger 
and ,goltzius are blasphemies on art2   
the monstrous  incubations of dropsied  
fancy on phlegm run mad4 ,this verdict1 
though  uniformly true of every male    
figure of ,goltzius that demanded energy
 of  exertion1 cannot be equally applied
 to his females1 the features of the    
face excepted4 ,on limbs and bodies     
resembling the antique in elegance if   
not correctness1 he placed heads with   

,dutch features1 ideally1 often         
voluptuously dressed3 such are his      
,venus between ,ceres and ,bacchus2 and 
still more his ,diana and ,calisto1 a   
composition which in elegance and       
dignity excels that of ,tiziano4 ,in the
 dreadful familiarity with which  the   
guardian snake of the ,beotian well     
approaches the companions of  ,cadmus1  
he has touched the true vein of terror  
and its limits1 and  atoned in some     
degree for the loathsome horror that had
 polluted his  graver1 when he          
condescended to copy the abominable     
process of that  scene from the design  
of ,pistor4    ,the male forms of       
,rubens are the brawny pulp of          
slaughtermen1 his  females are hillocks 
of roses3 overwhelmed muscles1          
dislocated bones1  and distorted joints 
are swept along in a gulph of colours1  
as herbage1  trees and shrubs are       
whirled1 tossed1 or absorbed by vernal  
inundation4    ,the female forms of     
,rembrandt are prodigies of deformity2  

his males are  the crippled produce of  
shuffling industry and sedentary toil4  
,the line of ,vandycke is balanced      
between ,flemish corpulence and ,english
  slenderness4    ,sebastian ,bourdon1  
sublime in his conceptions1 filled      
classic ground and  eastern vests with  
local limbs and ,gallic actors4         
,poussin renounced his national         
character to follow the antique2 but    
could not separate the spirit from the  
stone4    #aeb4 ,the imitator seldom    
mounts to the investigation of the      
principles  that formed his model2 the  
copier probably never4    #aec4 ,many   
beauties in art come by accident1 that  
are preserved by  choice4               
,coroll4--,neither the froth formed on  
the mouth of ,jalysus' hound by a  lucky
 dash from the sponge of ,protogenes1   
nor the modern experiments of           
extracting composition from an          
ink-splashed wall1 are relatives of the 
beauties alluded to in this aphorism4   
#aed4 ,the praise due to a work1        

reflects not always on its master2 and  
superiority may beam athwart the        
blemishes that we despise or pity2      
some1 says ,milton1 praised the work and
 some the master3 would you  prefer him 
who is able to finish the image which he
 was unable to  conceive1 to its        
inventor8    #aee4 ,it is the privilege 
of ,nature alone to be equal4 ,man is   
the slave  of a part2 the most equal    
artist is only the first in the list of 
mediocrity4    #aef4 ,he who seeks the  
grand1 will find it in a trifle3 but    
some seem  made to find it only there4  
,rsel saw man like an insect1 and       
insects as  ,michael ,angelo men4       
#aeg4 ,physiognomy teaches what is      
homogeneous and what is heterogeneous   
in forms4    #aeh4 ,the solid parts of  
the body are the base of physiognomy1   
the  muscular that of pathognomy2 the   
former contemplates the animal at rest1 
this its action4    #aei4 ,pathognomy   
allots expression to character4    #afj4
 ,those who allow physiognomy to        

regulate the great outlines of          
character1 and reject its minute        
discriminations1 admit a language and   
reject its elements4    #afa4 ,the      
difficulty of physiognomy is to separate
 the essence from  accident1 growth from
 excrescence4    #afb4 ,he who aims at  
the sublime1 consults the classes       
assigned to  character by physiognomy1  
not its anatomy of individuals2 the oak 
in its  full majesty1 and not the       
thwarted pollard4    #afc4 ,none ever   
escaped from himself by crossing seas2  
none ever peopled  a barren fancy and a 
heart of ice with images or sympathies  
by  excursions into the deserts of      
mythology or allegory4    #afd4 ,the    
principles of allegory and votive       
composition are the same2  they unite   
with equal right the most distant       
periods of time and the  most opposite  
modes of society3 both surround a real  
being1 or allude to  a real act1 with   
symbols by long general consent adopted1
 as expressive  of the qualities1       

motives1 and circumstances that         
distinguished or gave  evidence to the  
person or the transaction4 ,such is the 
gallery of the  ,luxembourg1 such the   
,attila of the ,vatican4    #afe4 ,pure 
history rejects allegory4               
,coroll4--,the armed figure of ,rome1   
with ,fortune behind her frowning at    
,coriolanus1 surrounded by the ,roman   
matrons in the ,volscian camp 7by       
,poussin71 is a vision seen by that     
warrior1 and not an allegory2 it is a   
sublime image1 which1 without           
diminishing the credibility of the fact1
  adds to its importance1 and raises the
 hero1 by making him submit1 not  to the
 impulse of private ties1 but to the    
destiny of his country4    #aff4 ,all   
ornament ought to be allegoric4    #afg4
 ,dignity is the salt of art4           
,coroll4--,in the ,salutation of        
,michael ,angelo1#ce the angelic        
messenger emerges from solitary         
twilight1 his countenance seems to      
labour with the awful message1 and his  

knees to bend as he approaches  the     
mysterious personage3 with virgin       
majesty and humble grace ,mary bows  to 
the extended arm of the lucid herald1 as
 if waked from sacred  meditation1 and  
appears entranced by celestial sounds4  
,the ,madonnas of ,raffaelle1 whether   
hailed parents of a ,god1 or pressing   
the divine offspring to their breast1   
whether receiving him from his          
slumbers1 or contemplating his infant   
motions1 are uniformly transcripts  from
 the daily domestic images of common    
life and of some favourite face         
matronized3 the eyes of his ,fornarina  
beamed with other fires than those  of  
sanctity2 the sense and native dignity  
of her lover could veil their           
fierceness1 but not change their        
language4    ,the ,madonna of ,titiano  
receives her celestial visitant under an
 open  portico of ,palladian structure1 
and skirted by gay gardens2 the usual   
ray precedes the floating angel2        
gold-ringleted and in festive attire1   

he waves a lily wand3 in sable weeds the
 ,virgin receives the gorgeous  homage1 
proudly devout1 like a young abbess     
amidst her cloistered lambs4            
,tintoretto has turned salutation into  
irruption4 ,the angel bursts  through   
the shattered casement and terrifies a  
vulgar female2 but his  wings are tipped
 in heaven4#cf    #afh4 ,dignity gives  
probability to the impossible3 we listen
 to the  monstrous tale of ,ulysses with
 all the devotion due to a creed4 ,by   
dignity1 even deformity becomes an      
instrument of art3 ,vulcan limps like  a
 god at the hand of ,homer3 the hump and
 withered arm of ,richard are  engines  
of terror or persuasion in ,shakspeare2 
the crook-back of ,michael  ,angelo     
strikes with awe4    #afi4 ,luxuriance  
of ornament destroys simplicity and     
repose1 the  attendants of dignity4     
,coroll4--,simon ,mosca1 one of the most
 distinguished sculptors of  ornament   
and foliage in the sixteenth century1   
when proposed by ,vasari  to embellish  

by his designs the monument of the      
,cardinal di ,monte1 was                
discountenanced by ,michael ,angelo on  
this principle4 ,vasari1 vita de        
,simone ,mosca4    #agj4 ,judge not an  
artist from the exertions of accidental 
vigour or some  unpremeditated flights  
of fancy1 but from the uniform tenor1   
the  never-varying principle of his     
works3 the line and style of ,titian    
sometimes expand themselves like those  
of ,michael ,angelo2 the heads and      
groups of ,raphael sometimes glow and   
palpitate with ,titiano's tints2 and    
there are masses of both united in      
,correggio3 but if you aim at           
character1 let ,raphael be your guide2  
if at colour1 ,tiziano2 if harmony      
allure1 ,correggio3 they indulged in    
alternate excursions1 but never lost    
sight of their own domain4              
,coroll4--,no one1 of whatever period of
 art1 of whatever eminence or  school1  
out-told ,rembrandt in telling the story
 of a subject1 in the  choice of its    

real crisis1 in simplicity1 in          
perspicuity3 still1 as the  vile crust  
that involves his ore1 his local        
vulgarity of style1 the  ludicrous      
barbarity of his costume1 prepossess    
eyes less penetrating  than squeamish   
against him1 it requires some confidence
 to place him  with the classics of     
invention4 ,yet with all these defects1 
with every  prejudice or superiority of 
taste and style against him1 what school
 has  produced a work 7,m4 ,angelo's    
,creation of ,adam1 and the ,death of   
,ananias  by ,raffaelle excepted17 which
 looks not pale in the superhuman       
splendour  that irradiates his          
conception of ,christ before ,pilate1   
unless it be the  raising of ,lazarus by
 ,lievens1 a name comparatively obscure1
 whose awful  sublimity reduces the same
 subject as treated by ,rembrandt and   
,sebastian of ,venice1 to artificial    
parade or common-place8    #aga4 ,tone  
is the moral part of colour4    #agb4   
,if tone be the legitimate principle of 

colour1 he who has not tone1  though he 
should excel in individual imitation1   
colours in fragments and  produces      
discord4    #agc4 ,harmony of colour    
consists in the due balance of all1     
equally  remote from monotony and spots4
    #agd4 ,the eye tinges all nature    
with its own hue4 ,the eye of the ,dutch
  and ,flemish schools1 though shut to  
forms1 tipped the cottage1 the boor1    
the ale-pot1 the shambles1 and even the 
haze of winter1 with orient hues  and   
the glow of setting suns4    #age4      
,clearness1 freshness1 force of colour1 
are produced by simplicity2  one pure1  
is more than a mixture of many4    #agf4
 ,colour affects or delights like sound4
 ,scarlet or deep crimson  rouses1      
determines1 invigorates the eye1 as the 
war-horn or the trumpet  the ear2 the   
flute soothes the ear1 as pale celestial
 blue or rosy red  the eye4    #agg4    
,the colours of sublimity are negative  
or generic--such is the  colouring of   
,michael ,angelo4    #agh4 ,the passions

 that sway features and limbs equally   
reside1  fluctuate1 flash and lower in  
colour4    #agi4 ,the colours of        
pleasure and love are hues4    #ahj4    
,the colour of gravity1 reverie1        
solemnity1 approaches to twilight4      
#aha4 ,colour in ,raffaelle was the     
assistant of expression2 to ,titian it  
was the vehicle of truth2 ,correggio    
made it the minister of harmony4 ,it    
was sometimes seized1 and though        
reluctant held1 but oftener neglected   
by the first2 it was embraced1 it       
domineered over1 it coalesced with  the 
second2 it attended the third like an   
enchanted spirit4    #ahb4 ,lodovico    
,carracci was the first who gave in oil 
the colours of  gravity1 the dignified  
twilight of cloistered meditation4      
#ahc4 ,annibale ,carracci1 from want of 
feelings1 though impressed by a  grave  
principle1 changed the mild evening-ray 
of his master to the bleak  light of a  
sullen day4    #ahd4 ,colour owes its   
effect sometimes more to position and   

gradation  than to its intrinsic        
value4#cg    #ahe4 ,the colour of       
,titian is the most independent of      
surrounding  objects2 their union may   
assist1 but their discrepance cannot    
destroy  it4    #ahf4 ,the harmony of   
,correggio is independent of colour4    
#ahg4 ,historic colour imitates1 but    
copies not4    #ahh4 ,the               
portrait-painter copies the colour of   
his object1 but chooses  the medium     
through which that object is seen4      
#ahi4 ,the mixtures that anticipate the 
beauties of time are big with the  seeds
 of premature decay4    #aij4 ,the      
colours of health are neither cadaverous
 nor flushed like  meteors4    #aia4    
,there are works whose effect is        
entirely founded on the contrast of     
tints1 of what is termed warm and cold  
colour1 and on reflected hues3  strip   
them of this charm1 reduce them to the  
principles of light and  shade and      
masses1 and as far as the want of those 
can degrade a  picture1 they will be fit

 to take their places on sign-posts4    
#aib4 ,him who has freshness without    
frigidity1 who glows without being      
adust1 whose tints luxuriate though not 
fermented by putrefaction2 who  is juicy
 yet not clammy1 though broad not empty1
 sharp without dryness1  clear not      
pellucid1 airy not volatile1 without    
being clumsy plump--him  you may venture
 to call a colourist4    #aic4 ,breadth 
is not vacuity--,breadth might easily be
 obtained if  emptiness could give it4  
#aid4 ,the forms of virtue are erect1   
the forms of pleasure undulate3         
,minerva's drapery descends in long     
uninterrupted lines2 a thousand  amorous
 curves embrace the limbs of ,flora4    
#aie4 ,subordination is the character of
 drapery4 ,the heraldry of dress1  the  
rows of aggregated mitres and pontifical
 trappings1 are noticed only  for the   
sake of their wearers in the            
compositions of the ,vatican4           
,coroll4--,the superiority of style in  
drapery over that of the limbs  which it

 covers in the earliest essays of art   
after its restoration1 is  not accounted
 for by the assertion that it is        
transcribed from the  antique3 if it is1
 by what unaccountable perverseness did 
the forms of  the nudities uniformly    
escape observation8 ,in painting1 this  
dissonance  continues more or less      
offensively from the epoch of ,cimabue  
to that of  ,masaccio1 and1 him         
excepted1 down to ,pinturicchio2 and    
ceases not to  shock us in sculpture    
from the ,pisani1 to the appearance of  
,lorenzo  ,ghiberti4 ,nor did that style
 of drapery mark only the productions of
  ,italian art2 on this side of the     
,alps it invested that of ,germany1 from
  the ,angels and ,madonnas of ,martin  
,schongaver and ,albert ,durer1 to those
  of ,aldegraver and ,sebald ,behm3 in  
nearly all their performances1 ,trans   
and ,cisalpine1 the wearer is the       
appendix of his garment1 chucked into   
vestments not his own1 a dwarfish thief 
hid in a giant's robe4    #aif4         

,raffael's drapery is the assistant of  
character2 in ,michael ,angelo  it      
envelopes grandeur2 it is in ,rubens the
 ponderous robe of pomp4    #aig4 ,if   
,nature has not taught you to sketch1   
you apply in vain to art to  finish your
 work4#ch    #aih4 ,some must be idle   
lest others should want work4#ci        
#aii4 ,he who submits to follow1 is not 
made to precede4#dj    #bjj4 ,consider  
it as the unalterable law of ,nature    
that all your power  upon others depends
 on your own emotions4 ,shakspeare wept1
 trembled1  laughed first at what now   
sways the public feature2 and where he  
did  not1 he is stale1 outrageous or    
disgusting4    #bja4 ,none but indelible
 materials can support the epic4        
,whatever is  local1 or the volatile    
creature of the time1 beauties of       
fashion and  sentiments of sects1 tears 
shed over roses1 epigrammatic sparkling1
  passions taught to rave1 and graces   
trained to move1 the antiquary's        
mouldering stores1 the bubbles of       

allegorists--are all with equal         
contempt passed over or crushed by him  
who claims the lasting empire of  the   
human heart4    #bjb4 ,the invention of 
machines to supersede manual labour will
 at length  destroy population and      
commerce2#da and the methods contrived  
to  shorten the apprenticeship of       
artists annihilate art4    #bjc4 ,expect
 no religion in times when it is easier 
to meet with a saint  than a man2 and no
 art in those that multiply their       
artists beyond their  labourers4        
#bjd4 ,expect nothing but trifles in    
times when those who ought to  encourage
 the arts are content to debase them by 
their own  performances4    #bje4       
,mediocrity despatches and exults2 the  
man of talent congratulates  himself on 
the success of his exertions--,genius   
alone mourns over  defeated expectation4
    #bjf4 ,pride4--,call not him proud  
who is influenced by the tide and ebb of
  opinion4    #bjg4 ,modesty4--,the     
touchstone of genuine modesty is the    

attention paid  to criticism1 and the   
temper with which it is received1 or its
 advice  adopted2 the most arrogant     
pretence1 the most fiery ambition1 the  
most  towering conceit1 may fence       
themselves with smoothness1 silence and 
submissive looks--,oil1 the smoothest of
 substances1 swims on all4    #bjh4     
,praise4--,despise all praise but what  
he gives who has been praised  for      
similar efforts2 or his whose interest  
it is to blame4    #bji4                
,emulation4--,the vindication of the    
innate powers1 of the individual        
dignity of man1 careless of appendages  
and accidental advantage1 grasps  the   
substance of its object4    #baj4 ,envy1
 the bantling of desperate self-love1   
grasps the appendages1  heedless of     
things4 ,emulation embalms the dead2    
,envy the vampire1 blasts  the living4  
#baa4 ,flattery1 the midwife of         
half-born conceits and struggling       
wishes1  sometimes persuades1 a boy that
 he is a man1 a dwarf that he is a      

giant1  but too often enervates the     
limbs of energy4    #bab4 ,vanity4--,the
 vain is the most humble of mortals3 the
 victim of a  pimple4    #bac4 ,those   
reduced to live on the alms of genius1  
are the first to deny  its existence4   
#bad4 ,shakspeare is to ,sophocles what 
the incessant flashes of a  tempestuous 
night are to daylight4    #bae4 ,things 
came to ,raffaelle and ,shakspeare2     
,michael ,angelo and ,milton  came to   
things4    #baf4 ,the women of ,michael 
,angelo are the sex4    ,coroll4--,eve  
emerging from the side of ,adam2 ,eve   
reclining under the  tree of knowledge1 
in the ,capella ,sistina2 the figures of
 ,night and ,dawn  on the tombs of the  
,medici1 are pure generic forms1 little 
discriminated  by character1 and more   
expressive by action than emotion of    
features2  solidity without heaviness   
separates them from the females in the  
,last  ,judgment1 which1 with the       
exception of the ,madonna and ,st4      
,catharine1  are less beholden to grace 

than anatomy4 ,the ,cartoon of the ,leda
 proves  that he was not inattentive to 
the detail of female charms1 but beauty 
did not often visit his slumbers1 guide 
his hand1 or interrupt the  gravity of  
his meditation4    #bag4 ,the women of  
,raffaelle are either his own mistress1 
or mothers4    ,coroll4--,this relates  
chiefly to his ,madonnas--,of his saints
 the ,st4  ,cecilia at ,bologna has most
 of antique beauty1 and1 whether        
imitated or  conceived1 resembles the   
,niobe2 but pride is absorbed in        
devotion1 she  is the enraptured victim 
of divine love1 and glows with celestial
 fire3  the goddesses of the ,farnesina1
 however gracefully imagined1 are too   
ponderous for arial forms and amorous   
conceits4    #bah4 ,the women of        
,correggio are seraglio beauties4       
,coroll4--,the enchantment of the       
,magdalen1 in the picture of the ,st4   
,jerome in the ,pilotta at ,parma1 is   
produced by chiaroscuro and attitude4   
,sensuality personified is the general  

character of his females1 and the  grace
 of his children1 less naivet than      
grimace1 the caricature of  jollity4    
#bai4 ,the women of ,titiano are the    
plump1 fair1 marrowy ,venetian race4    
,coroll4--,venus taking a reluctant     
farewell of ,adonis2 ,diana starting  at
 the intrusion of ,acteon1 with every   
allure of attitude1 with heads  dressed 
by the ,graces1 are local beauties1 sink
 under the weight of  ,venetian limbs1  
and are only distinguished by contrast  
from the model  that plumped herself    
down for his ,danae4 ,the reposing      
figure commonly  called the ,venus of   
the ,tribuna1 is an exquisite portrait  
of some  favourite female1 but not a    
,venus4    #bbj4 ,the women of          
,parmegiano are coquettes4    #bba4 ,the
 women of ,annibale ,carracci are made  
up by imitation and  vulgarity4         
,coroll4--,venus with ,anchises1 ,juno  
with ,jupiter1 ,omphale with  ,hercules1
 ,diana and ,calisto in the ,farnese    
gallery1 owe their charms and  dignity  

of action to imitation2 the celebrated  
three ,maries1 ,magdalen  penitent in   
her hempen shroud1 are the conceptions  
of his own mind4    #bbb4 ,the women of 
,guido are actresses4    #bbc4 ,the     
forms of ,domenichino's female faces are
 ideal2 their expression  is poised     
between pure helpless virginity and     
sainted ecstasy4    #bbd4 ,the veiled   
eyes of ,guercino's females dart        
insidious fire4    #bbe4 ,such is the   
fugitive essence1 such the intangible   
texture of female  genius1 that few     
combinations of circumstances ever      
seemed to favour its  transmission to   
posterity4    #bbf4 ,in an age of luxury
 women have taste1 decide and dictate2  
for in an  age of luxury woman aspires  
to the functions of man1 and man slides 
into  the offices of woman4 ,the epoch  
of eunuchs was ever the epoch of        
viragoes4    #bbg4 ,female affection is 
ever in proportion to the impression of 
superiority in the object4 ,woman       
fondles1 pities1 despises and forgets   

what is below her2 she values1 bears and
 wrangles with her equal2 she  adores   
what is above her4    #bbh4 ,be not too 
squeamish in the choice of your         
materials2 you will  disgrace the best1 
if you cannot give value to the worst3  
the gold and  azure wasted on           
,rosselli's#db draperies cannot give    
value to their  folds or hide the wants 
beneath4    #bbi4 ,there are moments    
when all are men1 and only men1 and     
ought to be  no more2 but the artist1   
who when his daily task is over can lock
 his  meditation up with his            
tools--ranks with mechanics4    #bcj4   
,date the death of emulation and of     
excellence from the moment of  your     
employer's indifference2 and mediocrity 
of success from the moment  of his      
meddling with the process of your work4 
#bca4 ,one of the most unexplored       
regions of art are dreams1 and what may 
be called the personification of        
sentiment3 the ,prophets1 ,sibyls and   
,patriarchs of ,michael ,angelo are so  

many branches of one great  sentiment4  
,the dream of ,raffaello is a           
characteristic representation of  a     
dream2 the dream of ,michael ,angelo is 
moral inspiration1 a sublime  sentiment4
    ,coroll4--,of three visionary       
subjects ascribed to ,raffaello and     
known  from the prints of ,marc         
,antonio1 ,georgio ,mantuano1 and       
,agostino  ,veneziano1 this alludes to  
the last1 called by the ,italians       
,stregozzo1  by the ,french ,la         
,carcasse3 an association of ideas big  
with the very  elements of dreams1 and  
almost a definition4 ,that it be a      
conception of  ,raffaello rests on no   
other proof than the tablet of ,marc    
,antonio and  its own internal merit2   
which is so uniform that although one   
principal  figure is undoubtedly        
transcribed from another in the cartoon 
of ,pisa1  the whole can never be       
considered as a pasticcio4    #bcb4 ,a  
trite subject becomes interesting by the
 introduction of  appropriate ornaments2

 a small statue of ,moses breaking the  
tables in  the back-ground of a         
,salutation2 and a number of ,baptists  
in that of a  ,madonna with her son and 
,joseph1 expressing the dissolution of  
the old  and the institution of the new 
doctrine1 both by ,michael ,angelo1#dc  
give unexpected sublimity to subjects   
for which ,raffaelle and ,titiano  had  
ransacked in vain the nursery and       
heaven4    #bcc4 ,compilation is the    
lowest degree in art1 but let him who   
means to  borrow with impunity1 follow  
the statesman's maxim3 strip the mean   
and  spare the great4    ,coroll4--,a   
composition of which every thing was    
borrowed from himself1  being shown to  
,michael ,angelo1 and his opinion asked1
 ,i commend it1  said he1 but when on   
the day of judgement each body shall    
claim its  original limbs1 what will    
remain in this picture8    #bcd4 ,he    
ought to possess some himself1 who      
attempts to make use of  borrowed       
excellence3 a golden goblet on a        

beggar's table1 serves only to  expose  
its companions of lead4    #bce4        
,resemblance1 character1 costume1 are   
the three requisites of  portrait3 the  
first distinguishes1 the second         
classifies1 the third  assigns place and
 time to an individual4    #bcf4        
,landscape is either the transcript of a
 spot1 or a picturesque  combination of 
homogeneous objects1 or the scene of a  
phenomenon4 ,the  first pleases by      
precision and taste2 the second adds    
variety and  grandeur2 the third may be 
an instrument of sublimity1 affect our  
passions1 or wake a sentiment4    #bcg4 
,selection is the invention of the      
landscape painter4    #bch4 ,he never   
can be great who honours what is little4
    ,coroll4--,grandeur of style and    
execution do not exclusively depend     
upon dimensions3 but in an age and      
amidst a race who have erected          
littleness or rather diminutiveness of  
size to the only credentials of         
admissibility into collections1 to the  

passports without which ,raffaelle      
himself finds it difficult to penetrate 
the sanctuaries of pigmy art1  that     
which ennobled the age of ,pericles1 of 
,julio1 and ,leone1 must be  content to 
look to posterity for its reward4 ,if it
 were physiognomically  true1 that the  
structure of every human face bears some
 analogy to that  of some brute1 it     
might reasonably surprise1 that an      
individual marked  by nature with no    
very remote resemblance to a            
,hippopotamus1 should be  considered as 
the legislator of a taste equally noted 
for tameness of  conception and         
effeminate finish2 but as it is         
improbable that one  individual1 however
 favoured by circumstances or endowed   
with  all-persevering activity1 or      
arrogance1 could stamp the taste of a   
nation exclusively with his own1 it may 
be fairly surmised that he did  no more 
than find and rear the seeds of that    
,micromania which infects  the public   
taste4    #bci4 ,the medium of poetry is

 time and action2 that of the plastic   
arts1  space and figure4 ,poetry then is
 at its summit1 when its hand arrests   
time and embodies action3 and these1    
when they wing the marble or the        
canvass1 and from the present moment    
dart rays back to the past and  forward 
to the future4    ,coroll4--,subjects   
are positive1 negative1 repulsive4 ,the 
first are the  proper materials1 the    
voluntary servants of invention2 to the 
second she  gives interest and value2   
from the last she can escape only by the
 help  of execution1 for execution alone
 can palliate her defeat by the last4   
,the ,laocoon1 the ,hmon and ,antigone1 
the ,niobe and her daughters1 the  death
 of ,ananias1 the ,sacrifice at ,lystra1
 ,elymas struck blind1 are  positive    
subjects1 speak their meaning with equal
 evidences to the  scholar and the      
unlettered man1 and excite the sympathy 
due to the calls  of terror and pity    
with equal energy in every breast4 ,st4 
,jerome  presenting the translation of  

his ,bible to the ,infant ,jesus1 ,st4  
,peter  at the feet of the ,madonna     
receiving the thanksgivings of          
victorious  ,venice1 with every other   
votive altar-piece1 little interesting  
to  humanity in general1 owe the        
impression they make on us to the       
dexterous  arrangement1 the amorous or  
sublime enthusiasm of the artist2--but  
we  lament to see invention waste its   
powers1 and execution its skill1 to     
excite our feelings for an action or    
event that receives its real  interest  
from a motive which cannot be rendered  
intuitive2 such as  ,alceste expiring1  
the legacy of ,eudamidas1 the cause of  
,demetrius's  disorder4                 
,,footnotes3    #b ,tacit4 ,annal4 lib4 
,,vi4 ,nullam ob eximiam artem1 sed quod
 par  negotiis1 neque supra erat4    #c 
,d4 ,longin4  1  #cd4    #d ,les hommes 
qui ont chang l'univers1 n'y sont jamais
 parvenus en  gagnant des chefs2 mais   
toujours en remuant des masses4 ,le     
premier moyen  est du ressort de        

l'intrigue1 et n'amne que des rsultats  
secondaires2 le  second est la marche du
 ,gnie1 et change la face du            
monde4--,napoleon4    #e ,tacit4 ,annal4
 lib4 xiv4 et xvi4    #f ,difficile est 
proprie communia dicere4 ,hor4 ,a4,p4   
#g  ' '      4 ,iliad xix4 #djd4        
----,rhbe diu1 etc4--,virg4 x4    #h    
,plin4 lib4 xxxv4    #i ,this picture1  
during a period of nearly half a        
century1 graced the  collection of      
,charles ,lambert1 ,esq4 of             
,paper-buildings1 ,temple2 where it     
remained without having been washed or  
varnished4 ,at his death it was         
purchased by my friend ,mr4 ,knowles1   
has been cleaned by a skilful hand1  and
 restored to nearly its pristine state4 
#aj ,sea ,voyage1 ,act #crd4 sc4 #ast4  
#aa ,dante ,inferno1 ,cant4 xxiv4    #ab
 4 ,mores4 ,plin4 l4 xxxv4    #ac ,the  
,necromantia of ,nicias--the sacking of 
a town1 by ,aristides4  ,plin4 l4 xxxv4 
#ad ,a group of ,stephanus in the ,villa
 ,ludovisi1 known by the name of        

,papyrius and his mother1 called a      
,phdra and ,hippolytus1 or an ,electra  
with ,orestes1 by ,j4 ,winkelmann1 bears
 more resemblance to an thra with       
,theseus1 or a ,penelope with           
,telemachus4    #ae ,gallum             
inficetissime linguam                   
exserentem4--,plin4 l4 xxxv4    #af     
,plin4 l4 xxx4 ,w4 c4 xiv4    #ag       
,commonly named the ,dying ,gladiator2  
by ,j4 ,winkelmann called a  ,herald2   
with more probability the ,vulneratus   
deficiens1 in quo possit  intelligi     
quantum restet anim4 ,a work of         
,ctesilas in bronze1 was  probably the  
model of this4 ,plin4 l4 xxxiv4    #ah  
,sueton4 l4 vi4    #ai ,in one of the   
cartoons of ,raffaello1 now lost1 but   
still in some  degree existing in       
tapestry and in print4    #bj ,engraved 
by ,g4 ,audran4    #ba ,in the cartoon  
of ,peter and ,john4    #bb ,iliad1 ,l4 
xviii4 l4 #ic2 ,l4 xvi4 l4 #gd and #ge2 
,l4 ix4 l4 #cdf4    #bc ,commonly called
 the ,castor and ,pollux of ,monte      

,cavallo1--the name  given from their   
horses to the ,quirinal4    #bd ,plin4  
,n4,h4 l4 xxxv4 c4 ix4 ,tantus          
diligentia1 ut ,agrigentinis  facturus  
tabulam1 quam in templo ,junonis ,lucin 
publice dicarent1  inspexerit virgines  
eorum nudas1 et quinque elegerit1 ut    
quod in quaque  laudatissimum esset1    
pictura redderet4    #be ,mengs ,lettera
  don ,a4 ,ponz4 ,opere di ,a4,r4       
,mengs1 t4 ii4 p4 #hc4    #bf ,such was 
probably that austerity of tone in the  
works of ,athenion1  which the ancients 
preferred to the sweetness or gayer     
tints of  ,nicias--austerior colore et  
in austeritate jucundior4--,plin4 l4    
xxxv4  c4 xi4    #bg ,see the sonnet of 
,agostino ,carracci1 which begins ,chi  
farsi un bon  ,pittor cerca e desia1 c4 
which the author himself seems to       
ridicule by  the manner in which he     
concludes4    #bh      4 ,il4 ii4 #bjd4 
,the  conception of every great work    
must originate in one1 though it may be 
above the power or strength of one to   

execute the whole4    #bi ,pliny1 l4    
xxxiv4 c4 #h4    #cj ,in the ,letter to 
,c4,b4 ,castiglione4 ,ideal is properly 
the  representation of pure human       
essence4    #ca ,raffaelle and the best 
of his pupils2 their successors1        
commonly  known by the name of the      
,roman school1 followed principles      
diametrically  opposite4    #cb         
,macinava carne1 said ,annibale         
,carracci4    #cc gidius ,sadeler       
sculpsit ex ,prototypo ,alberti ,dureri4
    #cd ,elumbis1 as applied by the     
author of the ,dialogue on ,orators to  
the style of ,brutus1 will nearly suit  
all imitators of ,michael ,angelo4      
#ce ,in the ,sacristy of ,st4 ,giovanni 
in ,laterano1 painted from the  cartoon 
by ,marcello ,venusti4    #cf ,this and 
the foregoing picture are in the ,scuola
 di ,s4 ,rocco at  ,venice4 ,the        
skeleton of the former is known by an   
etching of ,le ,fevre4    #cg ,whoever  
looks at a picture by ,correggio of a   
glorified ,madonna  with a ,st4         

,sebastian and other figures1 at        
,dresden1 is instantly  surprised by the
 light of the glory1 which has all the  
splendour of a  sun1 though painted with
 a low-toned yellow1 and dim at the     
extremities4    ,opere di ,r4 ,mengs1 t4
 ii4 p4 #afa4    #ch ,john1 called da   
,bologna1 showed a model to ,michael    
,angelo smoothly  polished2 ,michael    
,angelo took1 and1 heedless of its      
finish1 twisted it  about2 then giving  
it back to the student1 ,learn1 said he1
 to sketch  before you attempt to       
finish4    #ci ,such was the proud      
answer of ,fr ,sebastian del ,piombo1   
grown fat by  the signet of ,st4 ,peter1
 when asked why he had entirely resigned
 all  exercise of his art4    #dj ,said 
,michael ,angelo1 when asked whether the
 copy of the ,laocoon by  ,baccio       
,bandinelli was not equal or superior to
 the original4 ,titiano1  with more     
mordacity though surely with less       
discrimination1 ridiculed  the copyist  
by a caricature in which the ,trojan    

with his sons were  changed to baboons4 
#da ,sineret se plebeculam pascere1 said
 ,vespasian to the artist who  had      
contrived a machine to convey some large
 columns with a trifling  expense to the
 ,capitol1 and rewarded him without     
accepting his offer4    #db ,cosmo      
,rosselli1 one of the ,tuscan painters  
who preceded ,michael  ,angelo in       
decorating the ,chapel of ,sixtus ,,iv4 
#dc ,this is the ,madonna painted for   
,angelo ,doni1 now in the ,tribuna of   
,florence1 and probably the only        
existing oil-picture of ,michael        
,angelo1  though ,lanzi rejects its     
title to that4 ,vasari mentions it with 
his  usual extravagance of praise1 but  
appears ignorant of the real meaning  of
 the figures4          ,a ,,history ,,of
 ,,art ,,in ,,the ,,schools ,,of        
,,italy4          ,,the ,,tuscan        
,,school4      ,the analogy of style    
observable in the figures impressed on  
,tuscan coins  of the tenth1 eleventh1  
and twelfth century1 and those found in 

the  miniatures that decorate the       
manuscripts of the contemporary periods1
  proves that ,tuscany had its artists  
long before the epoch which ,vasari  and
 his copyists fix for the importation of
 ,greek art with ,greek  artists3       
whether those paintings be all pure     
,tuscan1 or here and there  interspersed
 with ,greek ones1 none will venture to 
decide1 who knows the  impossibility of 
drawing a limitary line sufficiently    
severe to  distinguish the last spasms  
of an expiring art from the first       
stammerings of an infant one4 ,of the   
still surviving monuments of  painting  
during those epochs1 it may be          
sufficient to mention the famed         
,christ1 painted on canvass and glued to
 a wooden cross1 of a date  anterior to 
#ajjc4    ,in subsequent times1 the     
earliest and least unsuccessful essays  
in art1  were made by the ,pisano4      
,whilst a ,greek sarcophagus at ,pisa1  
storied  with the incidents of          
,hippolytus and ,phdra1 furnished some  

elements of  form to the sculptors      
,niccolo and ,giovanni ,pisano1 painting
 made some  progress with ,giunta       
,pisano3 his composition of ,christ on  
the ,cross at  the ,angeli of ,assisi1  
though defective in design1 possesses   
life and  expression4#dd    ,a similar  
progress was made by his contemporary   
,guido or ,guidone of  ,sienna2 a name  
not mentioned by ,vasari1 though in his 
frequent  excursions to ,sienna1 he     
could not remain unacquainted with the  
works of  ,guido1 at least one which    
still exists in the chapel of the       
,malevolti  in ,s4 ,dominico1 with the  
following often repeated inscription and
  date3--        ,me ,guido de senis    
diebus depinxit amenis      ,quem       
,christus lenis nullis velit agere      
penis4            ,a4,d4 ,m4,,ccxxi4    
,this ,madonna1 twenty years anterior to
 the birth of ,cimabue1 is superior  to 
his ,madonna in expression1 and nearly  
equal in taste and colour1  though      
inferior in style4    ,duccio di        

,boninsegna1 probably of his school1 was
 celebrated as the  restorer of that    
inlaid kind of ,mosaic1 called ,lavoro  
di ,commesso4 ,his  works are from      
#abge1 the year in which he received a  
commission for  ,sta4 ,maria ,novella at
 ,florence1 to #acaa1 the period at     
which he was  employed in the ,domo of  
,sienna4 ,if these dates be genuine1 he 
can  scarcely have lived till #aceg1 the
 year at which ,fiorillo fixes his      
death4 ,it is not probable that he      
should have stretched his span beyond  a
 century1 which must have been the case1
 if we suppose that he was  twenty at   
the time he painted in ,s4 ,maria       
,novella2 it is not probable  that he   
should have chosen1 or been suffered1 to
 remain idle with the  celebrity he had 
acquired in the labours of the ,domo2   
and it is still  less probable1 that1 if
 he was employed1 what he produced in   
the  interval1 between that period and  
his death1 should have perished or  been
 destroyed1 whilst we are still in      

possession of the paintings in  the     
,domo1 which made nearly an epoch in    
art1 at which he laboured three  years1 
for which he was paid upwards of #cjjj  
scudi d'oro1 the expense of  gilding and
 ultramarine included4 ,that part of it 
which faced the  audience1 represented  
in large figures the ,madonna and       
various saints2  that which fronted the 
choir1 divided into many compartments1  
exhibited  numerous compositions of     
,gospel subjects in figures of small    
proportion2  it cannot be denied1 that  
with all its copiousness1 the whole     
savours  strongly of the ,greek manner4 
,andrea ,taffi1 born #abac1 the scholar 
of ,apollonius1 a ,greek painter1 and   
his assistant in some mosaics at ,s4    
,giovanni of ,florence1 is not          
mentioned out of that line by ,vasari   
and ,baldinucci3 but the discovery  of a
 picture with his name by ,ignazio      
,stugford adds another legitimate  name 
to the predecessors of ,cimabue4        
,buonamico di ,cristofano1 or           

,buffalmacco1 of facetious memory1 was  
the  pupil of ,taffi4 ,his best works   
are lost1 but from the remains it may be
  suspected that he owes at least as    
much to the tales of ,boccaccio and     
,sacchetti1 for the preservation of his 
name1 as to his own powers4 ,there      
still exists in ,campo ,santo at ,pisa1 
a fresco of the ,creation with a ,god   
,father five ells high1 supporting      
,heaven and the elements2 and three     
other stories of ,adam1 ,noah and his   
,sons2 a ,crucifix1 a ,resurrection1    
and an ,ascension4 ,we must not look    
here for much symmetry of design or     
,giottesque elegance2 his heads have    
little variety1 and less beauty2        
sameness of features1 a vulgar cast1 and
 a gaping deformity of mouth1           
characterize his women2 but now and then
 attention rests on the vivacity  or    
physiognomy of some male countenance1   
especially that of ,cain4  ,sometimes he
 snatches some movement from nature1    
such as that of the  terrified man who  

flies from ,calvary3 he overflows in    
particoloured  drapery1 and delights in 
laboured ornaments of flowers and lace4 
,a ,st4  ,john the ,baptist of his1 yet 
existing1 deserves to be mentioned as an
  instance of the utility of comparing  
works in painting and sculpture  with   
contemporary coins1 in order to         
ascertain their dates2 for the  same    
figure is exactly repeated on the       
,florentine scudo d'oro of that  age4 ,a
 jocular host of artists1 scholars of   
this school1 we pass over1  as more     
important to the reader of the          
,decamerone and the ,novelle1 than  to  
the student of art4    ,lucca1 about    
#abce1 possessed ,bonaventura           
,berlingieri1 whose ,st4 ,francis  still
 exists in the castle of ,guiglia1 near 
,modena1 and is described as  a work of 
considerable merit for its time3        
,margaritone of ,arezzo1 a  pupil and   
follower of the ,greeks1 appears to have
 been several years  anterior to        
,cimabue4 ,he painted on canvass1 and   

was the first1 according  to ,vasari1   
who found the method of giving a more   
solid texture to  pictures4 ,some       
crucifix of his is still seen at        
,arezzo1 and another at  ,santa ,croce  
in ,florence1 facing one of ,cimabue4   
,the style of both is  antiquated1 but  
not so different in merit to make us    
refuse a painter's  name to ,margaritone
 if we grant it to ,cimabue4            
,giovanni ,cimabue1#de of noble lineage1
 was an architect and painter4 ,he  is  
considered as the father of ,italian    
art1 because with him legitimate        
history and a less interrupted series of
 dates1 begin2 because he  succeeded    
better than his predecessors in         
disentangling himself from the  shackles
 of ,greek barbarity1 and chiefly       
because he discovered and  called forth 
the genius of ,giotto4 ,vasari may be   
right in making him the  scholar of     
those ,greeks whom the ,florentine      
,government had employed to  paint the  
,church of ,santa ,maria ,novella2 but  

he errs in placing them in  the ,chapel 
,gondi1 which1 with the body of the     
church1 was not erected  till the       
subsequent century2 he should have      
assigned them another chapel  under the 
church1 where time has discovered some  
vestiges of ancient  painting4 ,it      
seems1 however1 more probable1 that     
,giunta ,pisano gave  ,cimabue          
instruction1 if it be ascertained1 as   
,fiorillo asserts1 that he  worked in   
the great church of ,assisi1 #abec1 when
 he was in his  thirteenth year1 and    
,giunta superintended the decorations of
 that  fabric4    ,the pompous visit    
which ,charles of ,anjou paid to        
,cimabue in passing  through ,florence1 
sufficiently proves the celebrity he    
enjoyed1 if it  has not been sanctioned 
by the authority of ,dante1 who calls   
him the  unrivalled champion of his day4
 ,cimabue was then painting the ,madonna
  with the ,infant adored by six angels2
 the picture when finished was  carried 
in procession from ,borgo ,allegro to   

,santa ,maria ,novella1 and  placed in  
the ,chapel ,rucellai1 where it still   
exists4 ,the heraldic  arrangement of   
the figures1 their physiognomic         
monotony1 the exility of  the detail and
 barbarous execution1 contrast strangely
 with the  elevation and novelty of the 
artist's conception4 ,cimabue lost the  
female and the mother in the ,queen of  
,heaven4 ,insensible to the             
blandishments of beauty1 fierce like the
 age in which he lived1 he  excelled in 
male1 especially aged characters2 these 
he impressed with  something of a stern 
grandeur1 not often surpassed since4    
,vast and  comprehensive in his ideas1  
he seized on subjects of numerous       
composition1 and expressed them in large
 proportions2 those features of         
prophetic grandeur which surprise in his
 frescoes at the ,dominicans and  ,santa
 ,trinit of ,florence1 are still        
excelled by the features which he       
displayed in the upper church of        
,assisi--meteors of the age in which he 

lived4 ,they still exist1 nor is it     
easily conceived how works of so        
different style1 against the testimony  
of ,vasari1 and the uniform  tradition  
of five centuries1 could1 as they were  
of late1 be ascribed  to the more       
regulated hand and gentler spirit of    
,giotto4    ,giotto's year of birth has 
been disputed2 ,vasari fixes it to      
#abgf1  ,baldinucci to #abfe4 ,he was   
the son of a cottager at ,vespignano1   
and bred  to be a shepherd2 but1 a      
painter born1 he amused himself from    
infancy  with attempts to draw whatever 
object struck his fancy4 ,a sheep which 
he  had copied on a flat stone caught   
the eye of ,cimabue1 who was in the     
neighbourhood1 happened to pass by1     
demanded him of his father1 and  carried
 him to ,florence to instruct him2 but  
he soon rivalled1 and in a  short time  
eclipsed his master by a grace and an   
amenity of execution  which remained    
unequalled to the time of ,masaccio4    
,for the rapidity of this progress1     

unless we were to ascribe it to         
inspiration1 we must account from the   
happy coincidence of external           
advantages with the genius of the man4  
,a period so obscure1 admits of  little 
more than conjecture1 but there is no   
improbability in supposing  that ,giotto
 outstripped his master and the times by
 the same means which  rendered ,michael
 ,agnolo so soon superior to            
,ghirlandaio1--modelling  and the study 
of the antique4 ,we know that he was a  
sculptor1 and that  his models still    
existed in the time of ,lorenzo         
,ghiberti4 ,good originals  he could    
find among the fragments of antiquity   
discovered before his  time1 and        
scattered over ,florence and ,rome3 from
 what other source could  he derive the 
character of his male heads1 and that   
squareness of form  so different from   
the exility and indecision of all       
contemporary styles8  ,the few majestic 
natural folds of his draperies1 and the 
composure and  unaffected air of his    

figures1 breathe the spirit of the      
antique4 ,his  very defects are the     
consequences of such a study4 ,his      
manner has been  charged with a kind of 
statuine precision 7del statuino71      
unknown to  other schools1 and unknown  
to artists who do not form themselves on
 the  antique4    ,if to these          
conjectures it be objected1 that the    
want of uniformity1  dryness of design1 
extremities either faulty or hid under a
 preposterous  length of drapery1 rather
 betray a nurseling of ,pisa than a     
pupil of the  ancients2 it ought to be  
considered that uniformity is the result
 of  settled principles2 that he who had
 to remove the rubbish could not be     
expected to give the polish2 that he who
 had to teach eyes to look1  hands to   
move1 and feet to stand1 could not be   
supposed to make them do  it with all   
the correctness1 propriety or elegance1 
they were capable  of2 that a certain   
gymnophobia equally attends the infancy 
and the  decrepitude of taste1 and that 

the approbation of a public and an      
artist's flattery are always reciprocal4
    ,and no artist commanded more of    
public favour than ,giotto4 ,legislator 
of  taste1 not in ,tuscany alone1 but at
 ,rome1 ,naples1 ,bologna1 and the      
,venetian ,state1 he excelled his master
 as much in celebrity as he had         
excelled him in grace and method4 ,how  
soon he did this may be seen on         
comparing his earliest works at ,assisi 
with those of his master in the  same   
place4 ,genuine elements of composition1
 expressions inspired by  ,nature1      
accuracy of design1 progressively       
appear4 ,it is no hyperbole to  affirm1 
that in certain characters no artist    
ever went nearer the source  of         
expression than ,giotto1 and that in the
 maiden airs of untainted  virginity    
none ever excelled1 and perhaps1        
,raphael and ,domenichino  excepted1 few
 ever approached him4    ,though not the
 inventor1 ,giotto was the restorer of  
portrait-painting2  resemblance1 with   

character of face and attitude1 date    
from him4 ,he gave  us ,dante1 ,brunetto
 ,latini1 ,corso ,donato1 c4 ,mosaic was
 improved by him1  and his powers in it 
shown by the celebrated ,navicella1 or  
boat of ,saint  ,peter1 in the portico  
of the ,basilica at ,rome2 though       
restoration has  transformed it to a    
work of shreds and patches1 and reduced 
his claim on  it to the mere name4      
,missal painting likewise owes him some 
gratitude2  and in architecture the     
grand steeple of the ,domo at ,florence 
is the  work of ,giotto4    ,implicit   
imitation checks progress2 the numerous 
school of ,giotto were  for the greater 
part content to walk behind their       
master4 ,taddeo ,gaddi1  the most       
familiar and most favoured of his       
pupils1 is said by ,vasari1  whom time  
still suffered to judge with some       
competence1 to have excelled  him in    
colouring and mellowness4 ,the works of 
,taddeo in ,sta4 ,croce  are inferior in
 originality and execution to his       

compositions in the  ,capitolo degli    
,spagnuoli1 where1 in the ceiling1 he   
represented some  ,gospel subjects1 and 
in the ,cenacolo the ,descent of the    
,holy ,spirit1 one  of the beautiful    
relics of the fourteenth century4 ,on   
the sides he  painted the ,sciences1    
with their most eminent professors under
 each1 no  unfair specimen of poetic    
conception2 here is what remains of     
vivacity  and brightness in his tints4  
,taddeo outlived the period assigned him
 by  ,vasari2 we find him mentioned as  
late as #aceb1 which still might not be 
the ultimate date of his life4          
,another conspicuous name among his     
pupils is ,stefano of ,florence1        
7,fiorentino17 whom ,vasari1 without    
hesitation1 in every part of the art    
prefers to his master4 ,he was the son  
of one ,catharina1 a daughter of        
,giotto2 an ardent and inquisitive      
spirit1 quick to discover and eager to  
overcome difficulties2 the first who    
ventured on foreshortening1 and if      

success did not fully second his efforts
 in that1 it favoured him in            
perspective1 which he much improved1 and
 in the attitudes1 variety and  vivacity
 of heads4 ,landino fancied to          
compliment his memory by repeating  the 
silly epithet of ,scimia della ,natura1 
,ape of ,nature1 which1 from  the       
resemblance of his portraits1 was given 
him by the vulgar and the  dilettanti of
 his day4 ,his works in ,ara ,cli at    
,rome1 at ,s4 ,spirito of  ,florence1   
and elsewhere1 perished1 and nothing can
 safely be stamped  with his name1 if it
 be not a ,madonna in ,campo ,santo at  
,pisa1 grander in  style than those of  
his master1 but retouched4    ,of       
,tommaso1 his son and reputed scholar1 a
 ,piet1 which might be taken  for a work
 of ,giotto1 exists at ,s4 ,remigi of   
,florence2 and still some  frescoes at  
,assisi4 ,they entitle him to the       
surname of ,giottino1 given  him by his 
fellow-citizens1 who used to say that   
the spirit of ,giotto  had passed into  

him and animated his hand4    ,without  
embarrassing ourselves with conjectures 
on ,ugolino da ,sienna1 we  pass to the 
more celebrated name of ,simone ,memmi1 
or ,simon di ,martino1 a  native of the 
same place1 the painter of ,laura1 and  
the friend of  ,petrarca1 who in two    
affected sonnets has transmitted him to 
posterity4  ,whether ,simone were the   
pupil of ,maestro ,mino as the          
,siennese1 or of  ,giotto as the        
,florentine writers pretend1 is a point 
beyond decision3 he  restored a picture 
of the first1 and his style has some    
analogy to that  of the second1 though  
with more suavity of colour1 and more   
poetry of  conception4 ,he was the first
 who dared to fill a spacious faade with
  one composition without dividing it   
into compartments4 ,such is that in  the
 ,capitolo degli ,spagnuoli of ,santa   
,maria ,novella at ,florence1 where     
,vasari discovered every beauty of his  
own time1 and where1 in the crowd  of   
introduced portraits1 many have fancied1

 in spite of chronology1 to  discover   
the portraits of ,laura and her friend2 
whom probably he did not  become        
personally acquainted with till four    
years after the completion  of that     
work1 #accf1 when he was sent to the    
,pope at ,avignon1 became  familiar with
 ,petrarca1 painted ,laura1 and1 strange
 to tell1 reached the  expectation of   
the lover1 who saw        ,il lampegiar 
dell' angelico riso4    ,miniature1     
though the last object of this work1 was
 not the least of  ,memmi's powers4     
,lanzi has noticed one which fronts a   
,,ms4 ,virgil with the  commentary of   
,servius1 now in the ,ambrosiana at     
,milan1 but formerly  possessed by      
,petrarca1 who probably dictated the    
subject1 and added the  following       
lines3-        ,mantua ,virgilium qui   
talia carmina finxit1      ,sena tulit  
,simonem digito qui talia pinxit4       
,the painting represents ,virgil in a   
sitting attitude ready to write1  with  
his face turned upwards as invoking the 

,muse4 neas1 in martial  vest and       
attitude1 stands before him1 and        
pointing to his sword1 alludes  to the  
subject of the neis1 ,arma ,virumque4 ,a
 shepherd and a  husbandman1 symbols of 
the ,pastorals and ,georgics1 placed    
somewhat  lower1 listen to the theme2   
whilst ,servius draws a transparent     
curtain1  to denote his labours in      
unveiling the beauties and removing the 
obscurities of the poet4 ,in this       
miniature1 the originality of           
conception1 the beauty and harmony of   
colour1 the varied and appropriate      
drapery1 are1 however1 balanced by      
rudeness of design1 vulgarity of        
character1 and deformed extremities4    
,it was a barbarous singularity of      
,simone1 promiscuously to admit         
different proportions on the same plane3
 to flank or cross figures of  natural  
size with figures a third less than     
nature4    ,lippo1 or ,filippo ,memmi1  
was the relative1 scholar1 and imitator1
 of  ,simone3 assisted by his designs1  

,lippo often executed works1 which1 had 
he not marked them with his name1 would 
be ascribed to the master3 when  left to
 his own invention1 he rose in nothing  
above mediocrity1 but in  colour4       
,sometimes they were partners in the    
same picture1 as in that at  ,s4 ,ansano
 di ,castel ,vecchio1 at ,sienna2       
sometimes the second finished  what the 
first began1 as in some works at ,ancona
 and ,assisi2 and at  ,sienna there     
remains still something entirely        
executed by ,lippo4    ,simone          
co-operated in the works of ,s4 ,maria  
,novella with ,taddeo ,gaddi1  who1 with
 his son1 ,angelo ,gaddi1 left a number 
of pupils1 imitators  through him of    
,giotto1 inferior to both1 not much     
distinguished by  tradition1 and less   
favoured by time4 ,of ,jacopo di        
,casentino1 the most  conspicuous1 what 
vestiges remain in the church of        
,orsanmichele at  ,florence1 are in     
conformity with the style of ,taddeo2   
barriers soon  overleaped by the vivid  

fancy of his scholar1 ,spinello the     
,aretine1 whom  his own conception of a 
demon is said to have terrified into    
insanity  and death4 ,his son1 ,parri   
,spinelli1 with barbarous incongruities 
of  line1 possessed exquisite colour2   
and his pupil1 ,lorenzo di ,bicci1 has  
been compared to ,vasari1 for the       
number1 dispatch1 and opinion of his    
works4 ,antonio1 surnamed ,veneziano1   
whether he were a ,venetian or a        
,florentine1 is1 against evidence of    
dates and style1 supposed to have  been 
a pupil of ,angelo ,gaddi1 and to have  
educated ,paolo ,uccello1 the  first    
master of perspective1 and ,gherardo    
,starnina1 an artist of gay  style1     
whose relics live still a chapel of     
,sta4 ,croce4 ,they are  numbered among 
the last productions of ,giotto's       
expiring epoch1 and the  verge of the   
fourteenth century1 in which we have    
still to mark1 though  pupils of some   
other school1 the family of ,orcagna2   
,bernardo1 a painter2  ,jacopo1 a       

sculptor2 but chiefly ,andrea1          
conspicuous for writing1  painting1     
sculpture1 and architecture1 in a degree
 little inferior to  ,giotto himself4   
,architects date from him the abolition 
of the acute  angle and restoration of  
semicircular arches1 as in the ,loggia  
of the  ,lanzi1 which he likewise       
decorated with sculpture4 ,some1 without
  attention to time1 have supposed him  
the pupil of ,angelo ,gaddi1 but he  was
 probably trained to the art by his     
brother ,bernardo1 jointly with  whom he
 painted in the ,capella ,strozzi of    
,sta4 ,maria ,novella1 in the  ,campo   
,santo at ,pisa1 and alone and better in
 ,sta4 ,croce1 ,death1  ,judgement1     
,paradise1 and ,hell1 placing with      
,dantesque licence his  friends among   
the elect1 his enemies with the damned4 
,the downfall of ,pisa had raised       
,florence to the metropolis of ,tuscany1
  and the spirit of its citizens to     
render its appearance worthy of that    
pre-eminence4 ,cosmo1 styled the father 

of his country1 who tuned the  public   
affairs1 might with better right have   
been called the father of  distinguished
 talents3 never was tyranny meditated on
 a less suspicious  plan1 or approached 
by more popular means4 ,the house of the
 ,medici1 in  the quaint ,italian       
phrase1 became the ,lyceum of           
,philosophers1 the  ,arcadia of ,poets1 
the ,academy of ,artists4 ,dello1       
,paolo1 ,masaccio1 the  two ,peselli1   
both the ,lippi1 ,benozzo1 ,sandro1 the 
,ghirlandai1 were the  clients of the   
family1 and emulated each other in their
 homage4 ,their  pictures1 according to 
the usage of the age1 full of portraits1
  perpetually presented to the people   
likenesses of the ,medici1 and often  in
 the characters of the ,magi royally    
robed1 the sceptre firmly held in  the  
gripe of the ,medici1 to prepare the    
public eye gradually for what it  was   
soon to witness1 the firm establishment 
of sovereignty in that  ,house4 ,the    
competition of rival citizens1 and still

 more the  wide-extended influence of   
religion1 diffused ,taste and beckoned  
,talent  to ,florence as to its centre1 
from every part of ,italy4 ,at her call 
,donatello1 ,brunelleschi1 ,ghiberti1   
,filarete1 the ,rossellini1 ,verrocchio 
arose1 and with their works spread the  
,elements of ,art4    ,poetry1 that     
supplies the real features and materials
 of expression when  it inspires the    
thought1 arrives at the full display of 
its powers long  before its sisters have
 disentangled themselves from the       
impediments of  infancy2 and of these1  
,sculpture1 whose aim is infinitely less
 complex1  raises the vigorous fabric of
 forms1 whilst ,painting is still       
impotently  struggling with the         
rudiments of line1 perspective1 keeping1
  chiaroscuro1 colour2 which to unite in
 an equal degree has hitherto been      
found above the lot of humanity4 ,the   
imitators of ,giotto were in this  state
 of struggle2 they saw little in        
chiaroscuro1 and less in  perspective   

and line2 their figures still slip from 
their planes1 their  fabrics have no    
true point of sight1 their              
fore-shortenings depended  solely on the
 eye3 ,stefano dal ,ponte rather saw    
than overcame2 the rest  either avoided 
or palliated these difficulties4 ,the   
,umbrian ,pietro della  ,francesca seems
 to have been the first who called      
geometry to the  assistance of painting1
 and taught by his works at ,arezzo the 
principles of perspective2 ,brunelleschi
 formed it into system for              
architecture1 and the mathematician     
,manetti roused the attention of  ,paolo
 ,uccello1 who owes the perpetuity of   
his name nearly exclusively to  the     
study of that science4 ,his immoderate  
attachment to perspective is  become    
proverbial2#df and almost equalled his  
fondness for birds1 from  which he got  
his surname4 ,he applied it1 from       
grounds and buildings1 to  the human    
body1 which he foreshortened with a     
skill unknown to his  predecessors3 and 

some proofs of it still exist in the    
figures of ,god  and ,no among the      
chiaroscuroes in the chiostro of ,sta4  
,maria  ,novella1 and in the equestrian 
colossus of ,gio4 ,aguto 7,john         
,montacute71  which he painted in       
chiaroscuro of terra verde1 and which is
 still in  the duomo4 ,the art1 since   
its revival1 perhaps for the first time 
showed  that1 if it had dared much1 it  
had dared well3 nor did he fall short of
  it in the gigantic imagery of the     
,house ,vitali at ,bologna2 he was1     
however1 more employed in painting      
private furniture3 the triumphs of      
,petrarch on some small presses in the  
gallery of ,florence are supposed  to   
come from his hand4 ,that he was a      
master of expression1 the instances     
adduced by ,vasari leave no doubt2 and  
in describing the flying drapery  of    
some friar in the series of pictures    
relative to ,s4 ,benedetto1 the  same   
writer tells us1 that it served as a    
model to all succeeding  artists3 to    

such powers1 praise of variety is added 
by the truth and  diligence with which  
he copied trees1 plants1 birds and      
animals1 and for  which some critic     
styles him the ,bassano of the first    
epoch4 ,in the  nearly general wreck of 
,paolo's works1 it is difficult to form 
a  judgment of his technic character    
independent of tradition3 but1          
comparing what remains with what we are 
told1 it is evident that he  reached    
from one extreme of the ,art to the     
other2 and that1 if he was  blameable   
for frequently playing with a tool      
instead of using it1  mistaking an      
instrument of the ,art for ,art itself1 
and means for the end  of execution1 he 
has been deprived by partiality of the  
praise due to  powers which he appears  
to have possessed in a degree unknown to
 the  times that preceded ,masaccio4    
,masolino da ,panicale cultivated       
chiaroscuro3 he was enabled to treat it 
with more truth than his predecessors1  
by a long practice of modelling  under  

the tuition of ,lorenzo ,ghiberti1 the  
master of design and grouping  in those 
days1 but whose animation he did not    
attain4 ,starnina  instructed him in    
colour2 and thus by uniting the         
characteristics of two  schools1 he     
produced that new style1 which1 though  
still infected by  dryness and clogged  
by inelegance1 possesses grandeur1 union
 and  breadth3 the proofs still remain  
in the chapel of ,s4 ,pietro al         
,carmine1  where1 besides the           
,evangelists1 he painted several        
subjects from the  story of that        
,apostle4 ,the remaining ones1 which he 
did not live to  finish1 were some years
 afterward added by his scholar ,tomaso 
,gisioli1  celebrated by the name of    
,masaccio from his careless way of      
living4    ,historians1 biographers1 and
 poets1 unite in dating a new period    
from  ,masaccio4 ,the compass of his    
mind led him to uniformity of pursuit1  
and  the introduction of style2 he had  
formed his principles on the works of   

,ghiberti and ,donatello2 perspective he
 had learnt of ,brunelleschi1 and  in an
 excursion to ,rome1 it is unreasonable 
to suppose that he did not  improve     
himself on the antique4 ,gentile da     
,fabriano and ,vittore  ,pisanello were 
then at ,rome1 and the high opinion     
which they are said to  have expressed  
of him#dg as the first painter of the   
age has been  recorded3 it is1 however1 
difficult to say on what that opinion   
could be  founded3 they were too far    
advanced in life to see more of         
,masaccio than  his juvenile essays1    
perhaps such as the ,s4 ,anna in ,s4    
,ambrogio at  ,florence1 or what he     
painted in the chapel of ,st4           
,catherine1 in the  church of ,st4      
,clemens of ,rome1 the figures of the   
ceiling excepted1 all  retouched1 and   
though fine works for the time1 of      
doubtful authority1  and in no manner to
 be compared to the pictures del        
,carmine4 ,here appear  the virility of 
his powers and the legitimacy of his    

superior claim3  here the figures1      
however varied by attitude1 pose or are 
foreshortened  with that truth and      
uniformity of success which the less    
established  principles of ,paolo       
,uccello did not always reach4 ,in      
expression1  sublimity distinguishes    
,donatello2 he always aims at1 and      
sometimes  succeeds in personifying a   
sentiment or a passion4#dh ,masaccio1   
more  dramatic1 poises expression by    
character and propriety2 hence he has   
been said1 and truly said1 to resemble  
,raffaello4    ,to be praised           
immoderately for what1 with regard to   
judgment1 deserved  it least1 has1 as of
 others1 been likewise the lot of       
,masaccio3 the  introduction and        
masterly execution of the man who1 in   
the baptism of  ,st4 ,peter1 appears to 
shiver with cold1 is extolled by        
,vasari1 and  makes1 by the verdict of  
,lanzi1 an epoch in art4 ,had the       
apostle  immersed the race of a         
,northern clime1 a man frost-bitten1    

7assiderando  di freddo17 or impatient  
of cold1 might have been admitted       
without  impropriety1 but under an      
,asiatic sun he is worse than           
superfluous4 ,this  either ,masaccio did
 not consider1 or if he did1 fondly     
sacrificed  propriety to the expression 
of an incident1 which1 had it even been 
admissible1 had in itself less dignity1 
and incomparably less pathos1  than that
 of the sick monk on whose eyes and lips
 the hope of recovery  seemed to        
tremble1 introduced among the series of 
pictures from the life  of ,st4         
,benedict1 by ,paolo ,uccello4#di    ,a 
higher and more legitimate praise of    
,masaccio's expression is1 that         
,raffaello not only imitated its general
 character1 but in the same or  similar 
subjects sometimes individually adopted 
it1 as in the gesture of  ,paul in the  
,cartoon of the ,areopagus1 and that of 
,adam dismissed from  ,paradise1 in the 
,loggia2 and that1 if he improved the   
taste and added  elegance to the        

,tuscan's drapery1 he closely adhered to
 its principles1  simplicity1 propriety1
 and breath4    ,of ,masaccio's colour1 
what remains possesses truth1 variety1  
delicacy1  union1 and great relief4 ,he 
lived not to finish the whole of the    
,chapel1  some stories still remaining  
to be added in #addc1 the reputed year  
of  his death1#ej which was not without 
suspicion of having been hastened  by   
poison4 ,his other frescoes at ,florence
 have been destroyed by time1  and      
perhaps no gallery can produce an       
authentic picture by his hand1 if  we   
except the portrait of a youth in the   
,pitti palace1 a work that  breathes    
life4    ,ghiberti and ,donatello had   
taught ,masaccio to find style by       
selection  from nature2 his followers   
for half a century1 content to look at  
him  without adhering to his method1    
gradually shrunk back to the exility and
  meagreness of the preceding age3      
without embarrassing ourselves with the 
angelic prettinesses of ,fr ,giovanni da

 ,fiesole1 a name dearer to  sanctity   
than to art1 and whom both his age and  
missal-taste prove the  nursling of     
another school1 we pass to ,benozzo     
,gozzoli1 his pupil1 who  strove to     
forget his puny lessons in the bolder   
dictates of ,masaccio4    ,that he could
 not soon do it1 is evident from the    
profusion of  ornamental glitter and    
tinsel colouring in the frescoes of the 
,chapel  ,riccardi4 ,he succeeded better
 at ,pisa1 where his ,scripture stories 
cover  an entire wing of ,campo ,santo4 
,this enormous enterprise1 which1 in the
  phrase of ,vasari might smite with    
fear a legion of painters1#ea he is     
said to have completely achieved in two 
years4 ,everywhere inferior to  his     
model in composition1 design1 and       
expression1 he often goes beyond  him in
 vastness and amenity of scenery1 a     
certain play of ideas and  picturesque  
exuberance4 ,after all1 perhaps more    
than one hand shared in  the execution4 
,benozzo lived long1 and lies buried    

near his work1 where  public gratitude  
had placed his sepulchre1 and inscribed 
it with an  eulogy4#eb    ,filippo      
,lippi1 a ,carmelitan friar1 studied and
 imitated the works of  ,masaccio1      
especially in compositions of small     
proportion1 with great  success4        
,suavity of conception and colour       
animates his angels and  ,madonnas3 in  
the large historic frescoes at ,pieve di
 ,prato1 he  introduced proportions     
exceeding the natural size1 praised as  
his  masterpieces by ,vasari1 who has   
related ,lippi's escape from the        
convent2  his captivity among the       
,moors2 the pictures which he painted at
 ,naples1  ,padoua1 and elsewhere2 his  
premature death by poison from the      
relatives  of the female by whom he had 
a natural son1 ,filippino ,lippi4 ,fr   
,filippo  died at ,spoleti1 #adfi1 on   
the point of finishing his great work in
 the  dome1 where ,lorenzo de' ,medici1 
who had demanded but not obtained his   
ashes from the citizens1 entombed them  

under a stately monument  inscribed by  
,angelo ,poliziano4 ,his scholars and   
imitators were ,f4  ,diamante of ,prato1
 the partner of his last work2 ,f4      
,pesello of ,florence1  and ,pesellino  
his son1 whom1 if we believe ,vasari1   
shortness of life  alone intercepted    
from superior excellence4    ,about this
 period the first attempts of painting  
in oil were made at  ,florence1 by      
,andrea dal ,castagno1 of detested      
memory1 who had improved  himself by    
looking at ,masaccio4 ,domenico1 called 
,veneziano1 to whom  ,antonello of      
,messina had communicated the novel     
mystery of ,johan ,van  ,eyk1 after     
practising it with success at home1     
,loretto1 and other parts  of the ,papal
 ,state1 came to exercise it at         
,florence3 caressed and  encouraged1 he 
excited the envy and cupidity of        
,castagno1 who under the  mask of       
submissive attachment1 wheedled himself 
into his confidence1  obtained the      
secret1 and then assassinated the       

hapless donor4 ,the  treacherous but    
complete acquisition added lustre to his
 practice during  life1 but time has    
swept the sacrilegious produce of his   
hand1 and left  nothing to the memory of
 ,andrea degli ,impiccati1 but the      
execration of  posterity4#ec    ,the    
farther we leave ,masaccio behind1 the  
nearer we approach the golden  epoch1   
the more lurid becomes the atmosphere of
 art4 ,mediocrity1 tinsel  ostentation1 
and tasteless diligence mark the greater
 number of that  society of craftsmen   
whom ,sixtus ,,iv4 conscribed 7#adgd1   
,manni17 to  decorate or rather to      
disfigure the panels of the grand       
,chapel which  took its name from him   
7,la ,sistina73 one of its sides was to 
be occupied  by subjects from the       
,pentateuch1 the other by ,gospel       
stories4 ,pietro  ,perugino excepted1   
the artists convoked were nearly all    
,florentines or  ,tuscans2 viz4 ,sandro 
,botticelli1 ,domenico ,bigordi1 ,cosimo
 ,rosselli1  ,luca1 ,signorelli of      

,cortona1 and ,don ,bartolomeo of       
,arezzo1 with their  assistants4 ,the   
superintendence of the whole the ,pope1 
with the usual  vanity and ignorance of 
princes1 gave to ,sandro1 the least     
qualified of  the group1 whose barbarous
 taste and dry minuteness palsied1 or   
assimilated with his own1 the powers of 
his associates1 and rendered the  whole 
a monument of puerile ostentation1 and  
conceits unworthy of its  place4 ,nor is
 it from what there remains of either1  
that the names of  ,luca ,signorelli and
 ,domenico ,bigordi claim that attention
 which history  owes to the first as the
 real precursor of ,michael ,angelo1 and
 to the  second as the master of his    
rudiments4    ,luca ,egidio ,signorelli1
 of ,cortona1#ed less to be considered  
as the  reviver of ,masaccio's style    
than as the founder of that which       
distinguished the succeeding epoch1     
might have led its banners1 as his  life
 stretched beyond that of ,raphael and  
,lionardo1 had his principle  been more 

uniform4 ,the greater part of his works 
exhibit the evident  struggle of his own
 perceptions with the prescriptive ones 
of his time1  and a kind of coalition   
between the barbarity of the expiring   
and the  emancipated taste of the rising
 ra4 ,the best evidence of this is in   
the  ,duomo of ,orvieto1 where in the   
mixed imagery of final dissolution and  
infernal punishment1 he has scattered   
ideas of original conception1  character
 and attitude1 in copious variety1 but  
not without numerous  remnants of       
,gothic alloy4 ,the angels who announce 
the impending doom or  scatter plagues1 
exhibit with awful simplicity bold      
foreshortenings1  whilst the ,st4       
,michael presents only the tame heraldic
 figure and  attitude of a knight all   
cased in armour4 ,in the expression of  
the  condemned groups and dmons1 he     
chiefly dwells on the supposed perpetual
  renewal of the pangs attending on the 
last struggles of life with death1      
contrasted with the inexorable scowl or 

malignant grin of fiends  methodizing   
torture3 a horrid feature reserved by   
,dante for the last pit  of his         
,inferno1 and far beyond the culinary   
abominations of ,sandro  ,botticelli4#ee
    ,though ,luca's style of design was 
no more that of ,masaccio than ,michael 
,agnolo's that of ,raphael1 less        
characteristic than grand1 and fit to be
  the vehicle of those conceptions and  
attitudes which furnished hints of      
imitation to the painter of the ,last   
,judgement in the ,sistina1 yet he  was 
master of a grace in celestial scenery  
and angelic attitudes  unapproached by  
his contemporaries1 seldom equalled and 
never surpassed  by his successors4     
,luca ,signorelli was a painter of much 
popularity4 ,urbino1 ,volterra1         
,florence1 ,rome1 his native and many   
other towns1 possess or possessed  works
 of his4 ,he was related to the family  
of the ,vasari of ,arezzo1 and  caressed
 and encouraged to the art his infant   
biographer4#ef    ,another of the       

artists employed in the ,sistina1       
inferior to ,luca1 but  of no despicable
 7though1 if we look at ,masaccio1 too  
highly rated7  powers1 was ,domenico    
,bigordi1 commonly called ,del          
,ghirlandajo2#eg this  is he under whose
 auspices not only his son ,ridolfo1 but
 even ,bonaroti  and the best artists of
 the succeeding epoch1 began their      
course4  ,precision of outline1 decorum 
of countenance1 variety of ideas1       
facility  and diligence1 distinguish his
 works4 ,he is the first of             
,florentines1  who gave depth and       
keeping to composition3 if gold and     
tinsel glitter  are not entirely        
banished from his colours1 they appear  
at least less  often4 ,he was fond of   
introducing portraits among his actors1 
but with  selection and of distinguished
 characters2 though hands and feet had  
no  part in his attention to            
physiognomy4 ,the churches ,degli       
,innocenti1  ,santa ,trinit1 and ,sta4  
,maria ,novella at ,florence1 possess   

his most  celebrated productions1 and   
many are scattered over ,tuscany and the
  ,ecclesiastic ,state4 ,of the two     
which he painted in the ,sistina1 the   
,resurrection of ,christ perished2 the  
,vocation of ,peter and ,andrew to the  
,apostolate ,survives4    ,cosimo       
,rosselli and ,pier di ,cosimo likewise 
employed at the ,sistina1  inferior in  
all essential parts to their            
competitors1 owe the perpetuity  of     
their names less to their parti-coloured
 glare and immoderate display  of gold  
and azure1 which attracted the vulgar   
eye of their employer the  ,pope1 than  
to the luck of having been the masters  
of ,bartolomeo della  ,porta1 and       
,andrea del ,sarto4    ,piero and       
,antonio ,pollajuoli1 though employed   
only as statuaries in the  same ,chapel1
 possessed no inconsiderable powers as  
painters4 ,piero's  pictures at ,s4     
,miniato discover the scholar of        
,castagno1 austere  countenances and    
deep and massy colour2 but in novelty of

 composition  and design he yields to   
his brother and pupil ,antonio1 whose   
,martyrdom  of ,st4 ,sebastian in the   
,chapel ,pucci of that church1 though   
humble in  style1 crude in colour1 and  
oddly rather than originally conceived1 
has  been numbered with the first       
productions of the age1 because with the
  earliest traces of legitimate anatomy 
it exhibits its application1 and        
subordinates enumeration to function4   
,both the ,pollajuoli died at ,rome4    
,don ,bartolomeo of ,arezzo1 having     
nothing to add of his own to the works  
of the ,sistina1 is mentioned here only 
as the helper of ,luca ,signorelli  and 
,pietro ,perugino2 nor is ,filippino    
,lippi1 the natural son of ,fr          
,filippo1 numbered among the companions 
of ,sandro his master1 though the       
perpetual recurrence of antique customs 
and dresses in his works makes  it      
probable that he formed his juvenile    
studies at ,rome4 ,inferior in  real    
capacity to his father1 he may be       

praised rather for the accessory  than  
the substantial parts of his works3 he  
filled with an unequal hand  the        
remaining panels left by ,masaccio al   
,carmine2 and in the ,minerva at  ,rome1
 yields the palm in expression and      
amenity of ideas to his own  scholar    
,raffaelino del ,garbo1 whose early     
works at ,monte ,oliveto of  ,florence1 
and elsewhere1 give sufficient evidence 
that he might have  raised himself to   
the first artists of his day1 had not   
the cravings of  a numerous family      
crushed his powers1 and poverty and     
dejection hastened  his death4 ,his     
contemporary ,andrea ,verocchio1 though 
a celebrated  statuary1 and a designer  
of style1 has deserved our notice as a  
painter1 only because he was the master 
of ,lionardo da ,vinci1 the first  name 
in the annals of ,tuscany's golden      
epoch4    ,vinci1 a burgh of ,lower     
,valdarno1 had the honour of giving a   
surname to  ,lionardo1 the natural      
son#eh of one ,ser ,piero1 a state      

notary at  ,florence4 ,elevated by      
nature above the common standard of men1
 born to  discover1 he joined to        
boundless inquiry intrepidity of        
pursuit1 and  lofty conception to minute
 investigation1 nor only in the arts    
connected  with his own1 music and      
poesy1 but in science1 philosophy1      
mathematics1  mechanics1 hydrostatics3  
this wide mental range1 supported by    
equal  vigour and gracefulness of body1 
was commended by every accomplishment   
of a gentleman4 ,such was the genius    
whom ,nature had destined to  establish 
art on elements1 to open the realms of  
light and shade1 to  inspire the subject
 with its tone1 and to poise expression 
between  insipidity and caricature4     
,notwithstanding the distractions of so 
many diverging inclinations1 for  powers
 they could not yet be called1 an innate
 attachment to the art  appears to have 
predominated at the earliest period to  
such a degree  that ,ser ,piero         
determined to place ,lionardo under his 

friend ,verocchio1  whom he soon        
excelled in painting1#ei and in         
modelling equalled4    ,the obscurity   
which involves the life of ,lionardo    
from his boyish years1  through the     
bloom of youth1 to the vigour of        
manhood1 can only be  accounted for by  
that independence of mind which made him
 prefer  indulgence of his own various  
inclinations to a decided1 steady1 and  
if  more confined1 more lucrative       
pursuit of art4 ,by what means he1 whom 
,vasari describes as possessing         
nothing1#fj was enabled to gratify      
studies and fancies equally expensive1  
no where appears2 it appears not  that  
he was patronized by the great and rich2
 he escaped the eye of the  ,medici2#fa 
it was reserved for ,lodovico ,sforza to
 discover and to  conduct the first     
citizen of ,florence to ,milano1 and for
 aught we are  told1 rather from        
expectation of amusement than motives of
 homage4  ,lodovico was a dilettante in 
music1 and wished to increase the       

harmony  of his concerts with the silver
 tones of the lyre1 invented and        
constructed by ,lionardo1 who1 we are   
told1 soon distanced all rival          
performers1 and by the aid of his powers
 as an ,improvisatore1 became  the      
object of general admiration3 it was    
then1 and perhaps not till  then1 that  
the ,duke cast a steadier eye on his    
superior accomplishments1  and allowed  
the musician to become a benefactor to  
the public in  adopting his plans for   
the establishment and direction of an   
academy2  and granting the means for    
carrying into effect the still more     
important  ones of conducting the ,adda 
to ,milano1 and a navigable canal from  
,martisana to ,chiavenna1 and the       
,valteline1 c4 plans and effects only   
interrupted by the fall of the ,sforzas 
and the captivity of ,lodovico4         
,,footnotes3    #dd ,this picture has   
been confounded with another of the same
 subject  by the same master1 and the   
addition of the ,donor's portrait1      

,frate  ,elia1 which exists no more4    
,the mutilated inscription on that      
mentioned  above1 has been thus restored
 by ,lanzi1        ,ju,n,t,a ,p,i,sanus 
,jun,t,i,n,i ,me fecit4      #de ,born  
#abdj1 died #acjj4    #df ,oh che dolce 
cosa  questa prospettiva6 ,oh what a    
dulcet thing is  this perspective6 ,this
 exclamation1 usual with ,paolo nodding 
over his  compasses when his wife called
 him to bed1 though too late to furnish 
the hint of a ,novel to ,boccaccio1 has 
been fondly repeated by some grave      
writers from ,vasari to the author of   
,lorenzo de' ,medici1 and has           
contributed to place ,paolo1 with the   
mystic help of his surname1 in  rather a
 ludicrous light4    #dg ,maffei's      
,verona ,illustrata1 t4 iii4 p4 #bgg4   
#dh ,he was the precursor of ,michael   
,agnolo1 and deserved the motto by      
which ,borghini marked some of their    
designs in the portfolio of ,vasari1    
7,vita di ,donato47 viz4          1     
4      #di ,vi  un monacho vecchio con  

due grucce sotto le braccia1 nel qual   
si vide un affetto mirabile1 e forse    
speranza di riaver la  sanit4--,vasari1 
,vita di ,p4 ,uccello1 t4 ii4 p4 #ef4   
#ej ,born in #adja4    #ea ,opera       
,terribilissima--impresa chi arebbe     
giustamente fatto paura a  una legione  
di pittori4 ,on the whole1 ,vasari seems
 to lay more stress  on the quantity    
than the quality of ,benozzo's works4   
#eb #adgh4    #ec #adgh1 when by the    
conspiracy of the ,pazzi and their      
adherents1  ,giuliano de' ,medici was   
assassinated in ,s4 ,maria del ,fiore1  
and his  brother ,lorenzo wounded1 it   
was resolved by the ,signoria that      
paintings  of the conspirators1 hung by 
their feet1 should be exposed in front  
of  the ,governor's palace2 and the     
commission being given to ,andrea1 he   
executed it with such felicity of       
resemblance1 such variety of hanging    
attitudes1 and so much to the           
contentment of connoisseurs1 that from  
that instant he lost the name of ,andrea

 dal ,castagno in that of ,andrea  degli
 ,impiccati1 or of the hanged4--,vasari4
 ,of this exhibition the  loss may be   
regretted1 as it would have showed us   
,andrea in his element4    #ed          
#adci-dj--aeba4    #ee ,there is to the 
old edition in folio1 of ,dante1 by     
,niccolo della  ,magna1 a print of the  
,inferno annexed1 which bears the name  
of ,sandro  ,botticelli2 ,vasari in his 
,life says1 that he commented a part of 
,dante  and figured his ,inferno and    
published it4    #ef ,he was the nephew 
of ,lazzaro ,vasari1 a helper of ,pietro
 della  ,francesca1 and great uncle of  
,giorgio the biographer2 who in the     
,life of  ,luca1 with not less fondness 
than vanity1 relates the admonition and 
encouragement he gave to his father and 
himself1 in a visit which he  paid in   
his old age to their family at          
,arezzo4--,vita di ,l4 ,signorelli1  t4 
iii4 p4 #i4    #eg ,his father1 who was 
a goldsmith1 invented and first         
manufactured  the garlands which were at

 that time the fashionable head-dress of
 the  ,florentine girls4--,vasari1 ,vita
 di ,d4 ,ghirlandajo1 vol4 ii4 p4 #daj4 
#eh ,among the uncertainties of dates1  
those relative to the birth of          
illegitimate children1 for obvious      
reasons the most frequent1 are the  most
 perplexing4 ,the birth of ,lionardo has
 been fixed at various dates1  viz4     
#addc2 ,lett4 ,pittor4 t4 ii4 p4 #aib2  
#adde1 according to the  computation of 
,vasari2 #adee1 by ,dargenville2 #adfg1 
by ,padre ,resta2 with  more probability
 #addd1 by ,d4,v4 ,pagave of ,milano1   
followed by ,fiorillo2  but with most at
 #adeb1 by ,durazzini1 adopted by       
,lanzi4 ,it seems  improbable that      
,verocchio1 the friend of ,ser ,piero1  
should have been  only twelve years     
older than his pupil4 ,lionardo died in 
#aeai4    #ei ,in the figure of the     
,angel1 conceived and executed by him1  
in the  ,baptism of the ,saviour1 at    
,st4 ,salvi1 which excelled the work of 
,verocchio so much1 that indignant to be

 outdone by a boy1 he dropped the       
pencil1 and for ever abandoned painting4
 ,the statues of ,st4 ,thomas1 in       
,orsanmichele at ,florence1 and of the  
,horse of ,collevere at ,venice1 prove  
that ,verocchio's real talent was       
sculpture3 but the models of the three  
statues cast in bronze1 by ,rustici1 for
 ,s4 ,giov4 at ,florence1 and that  of  
the great horse at ,milano1 place the   
pupil at least upon a level with  the   
master in that branch of art4    #fj ,e 
non avendo egli1 si pu dir nulla1 e poco
 lavorando1 del  continuo tenne         
servitori1 e cavalli1 c4 ,for all this  
it is the more  difficult to account1 as
 an attempt to possess himself of the   
philosopher's stone has never been      
mentioned among ,lionardo's             
eccentricities1 though he was familiar  
with alchymists4    #fa ,lorenzo de'    
,medici occurs not in the ,life of      
,lionardo1 and his  acquaintance with   
,leo ,x4 and ,giuliano de' ,medici      
relates to the latter  periods of it4   

,,the ,,school ,,of ,,florence4      ,we
 are now arrived at the epoch which     
forms the distinctive character of  the 
,tuscan school1 the epoch of ,michael   
,agnolo4 ,in placing him here1          
chronology has been less attended to    
than the spirit of works2 for ,fr       
,bartolomeo1 ,andrea del ,sarto1 and    
others1 his contemporaries or juniors1  
belong more properly to the period of   
,lionardo than his2 the elements of     
which he gave in the ,cartoon of ,pisa1 
and the consummation in the  ,capella   
,sistina1 on which his school and the   
imitation of his style were  founded2   
and to which the politics of his time1  
the splendid oligarchy  of the ,medici1 
and the fierce republican spirit of     
their opponents1 gave  an energy and    
produced efforts1 unknown to society in 
repose4    ,notwithstanding the         
insinuating arts by which the ,medici   
had debauched  public affection1 and    
that undermining power which at last    
changed  influence to tyranny1 they were

 in less than a century#fb three times  
exiled from their country4 ,the first1  
the banishment of ,cosmo1 called  the   
,father of his ,country1 lasted not     
above one year1 and drew no             
consequences2 for the interval between  
it and the next 7#adid7 was marked  with
 uniform success1 and its last twenty   
years#fc with the splendid              
administration and the extended         
patronage of ,lorenzo the ,magnificent4 
,his ,garden near the church of ,s4     
,marco1 which he opened as a repository 
and a school of art1 has been little    
less celebrated than the ,hesperian     
ones of old3 it contained1 if not all   
that had been discovered1 what  could be
 purchased of antique statues1          
basso-relievoes1 and fragments of  every
 kind2 and the apartments were hung with
 pictures1 cartoons1 and  designs of    
,donatello1 ,brunellesco1 ,paolo        
,uccello4 ,fr ,giovanni da  ,fiesole1   
,masaccio1 c42 here the student was not 
only instructed1 but1  by the           

magnificence of the founder1 supported2 
and it may without  exaggeration be     
asserted1 that whatever rose to eminence
 in the art at  that period1 was the    
offspring of ,lorenzo's garden4    ,his 
death was followed by the expulsion of  
his sons1 ,pietro1 ,giovanni1           
afterwards ,leo ,x41 and ,julian1 in the
 sequel ,duke of ,nemours4 ,an          
immediate anarchy succeeded the         
expulsion2 the populace broke into their
  houses1 destroyed or carried off their
 furniture1 and demolished the          
residence of ,giovanni1 the garden of   
,lorenzo1 and the palace on the ,via    
,larga1#fd at once4 ,the numerous       
partisans of the family1 however1       
contrived to save much4#fe    ,other    
circumstances conspired to render this  
interval of anarchy  pernicious to art1 
till the return of the ,medici in #aeab4
 ,towards the  close of the fifteenth   
century1 the ,dominican ,fr ,girolamo   
,savonarola1  of enthusiastic memory1 by
 prophecies and sermons1 loaded with    

democratic principles1 gained gradually 
such an ascendancy over the  minds of   
the people1 that the ,signoria found    
themselves forced to adopt  a senate at 
large2 in other words1 to submit to a   
democracy4 ,but  ,savonarola1 not       
content with political victory1 aimed at
 a total  revolution in morals1 and     
continued to lash the profligacy of     
public  manners1 overflowing in         
voluptuous song and music1 or gazing at 
the  lascivious nudities of statues and 
pictures1 as irresistible incentives  to
 vice4 ,it had been customary during    
carnival1 to erect certain cabins  in   
the market-place1 to set them on fire on
 the eve of ,ash-,wednesday1  and bid   
them farewell amid the shouts of        
convivial mirth and the frolic  of      
amorous dalliance4 ,savonarola          
instituted in #adig a public festival of
  another kind3 a large scaffold was    
erected in the market-place1 a vast     
number of the finest specimens in       
painting and sculpture1 offensive from  

their nudities1 were collected2 the     
pictures placed on the first step2  the 
sculptures1 especially when portraits of
 first-rate ,florentine  belles1        
disposed on the second2 the whole       
inclosed by foreign precious  tapestry1 
and that1 with great solemnity1 set on  
fire4 ,the scaffolding  of the next year
 excelled the first in magnificence2 its
 gorgeous  apparel invested the busts of
 the most celebrated beauties of former 
years2 those of the ,bencina1 ,lena     
,morella1 ,bina and ,maria de',lenzi1   
works of the most eminent sculptors2 on 
it was placed a copy of  ,petrarca1     
decorated with gold1 missal-painting1   
and miniatures1  estimated at fifty     
scudi d'oro2 and to prevent theft1 the  
whole was  constantly guarded4 ,the     
procession approached1 surrounded the   
scaffold1  and amid a concert of        
consecrating hymns1 bells1 trumpets1    
cymbals1 and  the acclamations of the   
,signoria and the people1 the victims1  
sprinkled  with holy water1 were        

delivered to flame by the torches of the
  guards4#ff ,such was the epidemic     
influence of this enthusiasm1 that  even
 artists1 the gentle ,fr ,bartolomeo1   
,lorenzo di ,credi1 and many more       
caught the infection1 and contributed to
 the sacrifice1 till the death  of      
,savonarola and the return of the       
,medici extinguished the furor4#fg      
,the democracy1 however1 gave origin to 
two works1 which not only atoned  for   
the ravages it had committed1 but whose 
splendour no subsequent ra  of art has  
been able to eclipse1 or perhaps to     
equal3 the two ,cartoons  of ,lionardo  
da ,vinci and ,m4 ,angelo ,buonarroti1  
destined to decorate the  senatorial    
hall1 by order of ,pietro ,soderini4    
,they produced an immediate  revolution 
in art1 but disappeared like meteors in 
the tumult that  attended the           
reinstatement of the ,medici and the    
fall of the  ,gonfaloniere1 #aeab4      
,the third expulsion of the             
,medici--,hippolyto and ,alessandro1 the

 sons of  ,giuliano the ,magnificent1   
and all their relatives--was the        
consequence  of the sack of ,rome1      
#aebg1 and the ,pontificate of ,clemente
 ,,vii4 ,the  ,medici1 pressed by the   
moment1 consigned part of their technic 
treasure1  their bronzes1 cameos1 c4 to 
the care of their client ,baccio        
,bandinelli4#fh ,during the havoc1      
,michael ,angelo's statue of ,david lost
  an arm1#fi and the waxen figures of   
,leo ,x4 and ,clemente ,,vii4 in the    
church of the ,annunciata1 were         
mutilated and carried off2 and perhaps  
much more was lost in the demolition of 
the suburbs1 which took place to  secure
 the town itself against the siege of   
#aebi4 ,but active resistance  and      
lampoons proved equally ineffectual2 the
 destiny of the ,medici  prevailed1 and 
,florence paid ducal homage in #aecj to 
,alessandro2 whose  assassination1      
indeed1 by ,lorenzo his relative1       
commonly called  ,lorenzino1 produced1  
six years afterwards1 another sedition  

and farther  damage to their stores of  
art by the soldiers1 who1 at the        
instigation  of ,alessandro ,vitelli1   
broke into and plundered both their     
houses4 ,cosmo  the ,first succeeded    
,alessandro1 and left uninterrupted     
dominion to his  heirs3 but if the      
consolidation of monarchy prevented the 
momentary  devastations of insurrection1
 it failed to re-produce the splendid   
period that flashed athwart the storms  
of democracy4      ,,michael ,,angelo   
,,buonarroti4    #adgd--aefd4    ,m4    
,angelo was born at ,castel ,caprese1   
and showed such early proofs of a       
decided attachment to art1 that he was  
put into the school of ,domenico  del   
,ghirlandaio4 ,here he soon advanced    
beyond the principles of the  master1   
who1 jealous of a rival in his pupil1   
recommended him to ,lorenzo  de ,medici1
 for admission among the students of    
sculpture in his garden2  where1 under  
the tuition of ,bertoldo1#gj an ancient 
scholar of  ,donatello1 he soon mastered

 the elements1 and1 equally conspicuous 
for  his superiority and diligence1     
attracted the attention and gained the  
patronage of ,lorenzo1 but excited the  
envy of his fellow-students1 one  of    
whom1 ,torrigiano1 on some slight       
provocation1 with a blow of the fist    
shattered his nose1 which left him with 
a mark for life4    ,that predilection  
for sculpture imbibed from his earliest 
days and now  invigorated by the        
incessant study of the antique with     
practice1 the  successful specimens     
mentioned in copies and productions of  
his own1#ga  leave little authority to  
the tradition that he studied much after
  ,masaccio4    ,his mind appears to    
have anticipated the expulsion of the   
,medici1 and he  left ,florence for     
,bologna1 where he found a protector in 
,aldrovandi1 for  whom he executed two  
small statues1 of an ,angel and of a    
,st4 ,petronius  on the tomb of ,s4     
,dominico4 ,after his return to         
,florence he continued to  work in      

sculpture1 and a legend1 less probable  
than amusing1 of an ,amor  sold for an  
antique to ,cardinal ,riario1 has been  
fondly repeated by his  biographers4 ,he
 now went to ,rome and produced two of  
his most surprising  works--the ,bacchus
 of the ,museo ,fiorentino1 and the     
,madonna della ,piet  in one of the     
chapels of the ,basilica of ,s4 ,pietro4
 ,on his return to  ,florence1 ,pietro  
,soderini tried his powers on a huge    
block of marble1  mutilated by the      
ignorance of one ,maestro ,simone3 he   
contrived to rear  from it the statue of
 ,david1 which1 in #aejd1 was placed1   
and still  remains in front of the old  
palace4 ,these works1 not less          
discriminated  by peculiarity of        
character1 than connected by propriety  
of style and  energy of finish1 were    
produced within the short period of six 
years1  and equally prove the wide range
 of his powers1 and the perseverance of 
his application to sculpture4    ,what  
he did as painter1 during1 or soon after

 this period1 is for us  reduced to the 
single specimen which he executed for   
,angelo ,doni2 for  the far-famed       
,cartoon of ,pisa1 of which we soon     
shall have occasion to  speak1 begun in 
contest with ,lionardo da ,vinci1 but   
not finished till  after his second     
return from ,rome1 perished1 as a whole1
 long before the  middle of the         
sixteenth century4    ,soon after his   
election to the ,pontificate1 ,giulio   
,,ii4 smitten with the  wish of a       
sepulchral monument1 called ,m4 ,angelo 
to ,rome for that  purpose4 ,his first  
plan was to make it colossal1 and on all
 sides  detached1 but the obstacles     
which were thrown in its way for a      
number of  years1 reduced it at length  
to the form in which it now appears at  
,s4  ,pietro in ,vincoli1 with probably 
one figure only by ,m4 ,angelo's own    
hand1 the celebrated statue of ,moses in
 front4 ,the attachment of ,giulio  to  
,m4 ,angelo was great1 but the          
independent spirit of the artist        

greater4 ,indignant at being refused    
access once to the ,pontiff1 whose  mind
 was worried by the disturbances at     
,bologna1 he fled1 and though  pursued  
by five messengers with letters pressing
 him to come back1  obstinately went on 
to ,florence2 nor could his three       
breves#gb  addressed to the ,signoria1  
draw him from his asylum2 till ,pier    
,soderini  guaranteed his safety by     
investing him with the title of envoy   
from the  ,republic4 ,thus equipped1 and
 accompanied by ,cardinal ,soderini1    
brother  to the ,gonfaloniere1 he set   
out for ,bologna1 was reconciled to the 
,pope1  and made his statue in bronze4  
,it was placed over the gate of ,s4     
,petronio1 but was thrown down in #aeaa 
by the party of the ,bentivogli1  and1  
with the exception of the head1 said to 
have been preserved by ,duke  ,alfonso  
of ,ferrara1 converted into a piece of  
heavy artillery4    ,scarcely returned  
to ,rome1 ,m4 ,angelo1 by command of    
,giulio1 instigated  as it is supposed  

by ,bramante and ,giuliano da ,sangallo1
 found himself  forced to try his powers
 on a novel theatre of art1 the         
decoration of  the ceiling and lunette  
of the ,capella ,sistina4 ,whatever were
 the  motives of the two architects1    
whether private pique1 or envy of ,m4   
,angelo's influence over the ,pontiff1  
or friendship for ,raffaello1 and  the  
desire of showing his superiority over  
one whom they deemed a novice  in       
fresco1 they deserved the thanks of     
their own and every succeeding  epoch1  
for the most eminent service ever       
rendered to art4 ,vasari owns  that ,m4 
,angelo1 conscious of his want of       
practice1 endeavoured to escape  from   
the commission1 and even proposed       
,raffaello as fitter for the task2  but 
his powers soon supplied what           
circumstances had refused1 and single   
conquered with every obstacle ,time     
itself2 for1 nearly fabulous to  relate1
 the whole1 though interrupted more than
 once by the ,pontiff's  impatience1 was

 sufficiently finished to be exhibited  
to the public in  one year and ten      
months4    ,this task finished1 ,m4     
,angelo1 eager to resume his labours on 
the  monument1 was disappointed by the  
sudden death of ,giulio1 7#aeac17 and   
the election of ,leo ,x4 produced a     
total change in his situation2 he was   
ordered to ,florence to construct the   
front of the ,laurentian ,library4      
,though the death of ,leo1 or rather the
 accession of ,adrian ,,vi4 had         
paralysed art1 ,michael ,angelo employed
 the dull interim by adding some        
statues to the monument of ,giulio2     
till1 in #aebc1 ,clemente ,,vii4        
reappointed him to the superintendence  
of the new sacristy and library  of ,s4 
,lorenzo4 ,it was about this time that  
he finished and sent to ,rome  the      
statue of ,christ1 still placed in the  
,minerva4    ,the arts received a new   
shock from the sack of ,rome1 #aebg1 and
 the  expulsion of the ,medici from     
,florence1 at which crisis the ,signoria

  conferred on ,michael ,angelo1 who was
 a warm ,republican1#gc the             
superintendence of the fortifications   
and the defence of ,monte ,miniato1  on 
which the safety of the city depended4  
,meanwhile what time he could  save from
 his public trust1 he secretly#gd       
employed to finish or  advance the      
symbolic and monumental statues of ,s4  
,lorenzo1 and from the  cartoon to paint
 in distemper a ,leda for the ,duke of  
,ferrara4 ,finding1  however1 that no   
defence could save the city1 he saved   
himself by the  secret paths of ,s4     
,miniato1 and escaped to ,venice1 #aebi2
 from whence he  only returned to find  
the dominion of the ,medici once more   
established1  himself pardoned1 again   
employed by ,clemente at ,s4 ,lorenzo1  
and soon  after sent for to ,rome on a  
plan of painting two central frescoes1  
the  ,last ,judgement and the ,fall of  
,lucifer1 for the ,sistine              
,chapel1--long  favourite ideas of the  
artist1#ge but with the works at        

,florence for  that time checked by the 
death of ,clemente1 #aecd4 ,he now with 
redoubled  ardour applied to the        
monument of ,giulio1 urged by his       
devotion to the  house of ,de ,rovere1  
the considerable pecuniary advance he   
had received1  and the threats of the   
executors and the ,duke of ,urbino2 but 
the  accession of ,paul ,,iii4 again    
frustrated his exertions3 the ,pontiff  
resolved to have the exclusive boast of 
powers he had so long admired1          
interposed his authority1 and obliged   
the executors and agents of the  ,duke  
to give up the original circumambient   
plan1 and content themselves  with the  
storied front which exists now4    ,this
 adjusted1 ,michael ,angelo immediately 
proceeded to comply with the  wishes of 
the ,pope3 if ,paolo was inferior to    
,giulio in impetuosity1 he  was his     
equal in fervour of attachment to art1  
and excelled him1 if not  every other   
name which patronage has distinguished1 
in personal respect  and public homage  

to the artist4 ,no work ever received   
countenance and  honours equal to those 
conferred on the ,last ,judgement of    
,michael  ,angelo1 from its plan to its 
ultimate finish by ,paolo ,farnese4 ,his
 first  visit to the artist was attended
 by a train of ten cardinals3#gg though 
ambitious to have the work consecrated  
to his own name1 in deference to        
,michael ,angelo's attachment to the    
memory of ,giulio1 he submitted to his  
refusal of displacing the arms of ,de   
,rovere at the top of the picture1  in  
favour of the ,farnesian4#gh ,induced by
 the specious sophistry of  ,sebastian  
del ,piombo to prefer oil to fresco in  
the execution of the  work1 he permitted
 the wall to be prepared for that       
purpose1 but on  ,michael ,angelo's     
declaring oil painting an art for women 
only and  sedentary tameness1 he yielded
 to the decision1 and patiently saw the 
whole apparatus dashed to the ground4   
,when1 before its final disclosure  to  
the public1 he took a private view of   

the whole composition at the  ,chapel1  
less convinced than irritated by the    
bigoted philippic of an  attendant      
prelate against the daring display of   
immodest nudity1 he  acquiesced in the  
artist's well-known revenge1 and refused
 to revoke or  mitigate the punishment  
inflicted on the unlucky critic4#gi     
,the first conception of the ,last      
,judgement1 which completes the plan    
originally laid down for the decoration 
of the ,chapel1 notwithstanding  the    
obstacles which protracted the          
execution1 must find its date in the    
,pontificate of ,giulio1 from the       
,cartoons probably begun under          
,clemente4  ,m4 ,angelo proceeded to the
 fresco itself at an early period1 if   
not  immediately after the accession of 
,paolo1 #aecd1 and finished it in #aeda1
  or perhaps #aedb2 for both these years
 are mentioned by ,vasari2 who1 if  not 
present at the removal of the           
scaffolding1 attended its immediate     
display to the public4 ,the completion  

of this 'multitudinous' work1 ,m4       
,angelo1 at an age of #fh1 or somewhat  
beyond1 might justly consider as  the   
consummation of his public career in    
painting3 but the ,pontiff1  still      
ambitious to possess exclusive specimens
 of his powers in a fabric  built by his
 own orders and consecrated to his own  
name1 obliged him to  continue his      
labours in two huge frescoes of the     
,capella ,paolina1  representing the    
,conversion of ,st4 ,paul and the       
,crucifixion of ,st4  ,peter4 ,the      
lassitude inseparable from the waste of 
so much energy on the  ,last ,judgement1
 the mental and bodily fatigue attendant
 on the  arrangement and execution of   
new plans1 if less enormous less        
congenial1  protracted their ultimate   
completion to his #geth year1 proved    
them  children of necessity rather than 
choice1 and confirmed the truth of  his 
observation to ,vasari1 that painting in
 fresco1 the union of powers  required  
for a great public work1 is not an art  

of old age4    ,and here indeed         
terminates the career of the ,painter2  
the remainder of  his life was divided  
between architecture and sculpture4     
,this1 which had  always been his       
favourite pursuit1 was now become the   
darling companion  of his private hours1
 the amusement of his solitude1 and the 
preservative of his health--for this    
purpose he furnished his study with  a  
colossal block1 destined for the        
complicated group of a ,piet3 but       
though age had neither tamed his        
conception nor palsied his hand1#hj it  
checked his perseverance2 he no longer  
struggled to subdue the flaws of  his   
materials or to give them the air of    
beauties2 he dismissed the  group       
unfinished1 and continued to exercise   
himself on another of  inferior size4   
,the death of ,antonio da ,s4 ,gallo1   
#aedf1 put it in the power of ,paolo to 
create ,m4 ,angelo architect of ,s4     
,pietro1 a trust of which he acquitted  
himself with a superiority which baffled

 all the opposition of venality  and    
envy4 ,he was probably1 from ,ictinus to
 our time1 the first and the  last of   
architects who refused salary and       
emolument1 and consecrated his  labours 
to divine love4 ,some of his successors1
 perhaps1 might insinuate  that he      
indemnified himself with being at the   
same time architect of the  ,campidoglio
 and the ,farnese ,palace4    ,after the
 demise of ,paolo1 ,cosmo ,i4 ,duke of  
,florence1 by means of  ,vasari1        
earnestly intreated him to pass the     
remainder of his life at  ,florence2 but
 the infirmities of age1 and still more1
 inward grief for  the subversion of the
 republic1 with indignation at the      
established  usurpation of the ,medici1 
rendered these intreaties ineffectual4  
,equally unshaken by them and the vile  
rumour of his dotage1 spread by  the    
venal gang of ,pirrho ,ligorio1 after   
crowning the ,basilica with its  cupola1
 he steered through calm and tempest on 
to his ninetieth year1  the last of his 

life1 #aefd1 and was buried in ,s4      
,apostoli2 but1 by the  orders of       
,cosmo1 secretly conveyed to ,florence1 
where the pomp of  academical exequies1 
the starched eloquence of ,varchi1 and a
 monument in  ,santa ,croce from a      
design of ,vasari1 awaited his remains4 
,it is difficult to decide who          
understood ,michael ,angelo less1 his   
admirers or his censors2 though both    
rightly agree in placing him at the     
head of an epoch2 those of the          
re-establishment1 these of the          
perversion1 of style4    ,all extremes  
touch each other3 languid praise and    
frigid censure belong  to the paths of  
mediocrity1 but he who enlarges the     
circle of knowledge1  passes from the   
realm of talents to that of genius1     
leaps on an  undiscovered or long-lost  
shore1 and stamps it with his name1     
commands  indiscriminate homage1 and    
provokes irreconcilable censure4 ,he who
  reflects on the ,pi che ,uman1 ,angelo
 divino of ,ariosto1 the via  terribile 

of ,agostino ,carracci1 and for         
centuries on the general  homage of a   
nation allowed to legislate in art1 will
 not be easily  persuaded that these    
epithets1 this prerogative1 were granted
 to an  artist merely for correctness of
 design or anatomic discrimination1 or  
that he exclusively obtained them for   
uniting sculpture1 painting1 and        
architecture in himself2 three branches 
of one stem1 and diverging only  in     
mechanism and application1 they have    
been more than once eminently  united by
 others1 and were seldom altogether     
separated before the time  of ,carlo    
,maratta4 ,and yet this is all on which 
the eminence of ,michael  ,angelo has   
been hitherto supposed to rest1 all that
 can be gathered from  the astrologic   
nonsense and the ,tuscan loquacity of   
his blind adorer1  ,vasari--and what he 
found not1 it would be time idly lost to
 search for  in his contemporaries and  
successors1 down to ,reynolds1 who1     
though  chiefly smitten with the breadth

 of ,michael ,angelo1 knew him better   
than  all the copyists of his school4   
,the art preceded ,michael ,angelo as a 
craft2 more or less practice alone      
distinguishes ,pietro ,perugino from    
,cimabue3 whilst copy and imitation     
remain synonymes1 there can be no choice
 in art2 instead of the real  nature it 
will copy the accidents of objects1 and 
substitute the model  for the man4      
,michael ,angelo appeared and soon felt 
that the candidate of legitimate  fame  
is to build his works1 not on the       
imbecile forms of a degenerate  race1   
disorganized by clime1 country1         
education1 laws1 and society2 not on    
the transient refinements of fashion or 
local sentiment1 unintelligible  beyond 
their circle and century to the rest of 
mankind2 but to graft them  on ,nature's
 everlasting forms and those general    
feelings of humanity1  which no time can
 efface1 no mode of society             
obliterate2--and in  consequence of     
these reflections discovered the epic   

part of painting3  that basis1 that     
indestructibility of forms and thoughts1
 that simplicity  of machinery on which 
,homer defied the ravages of time1 which
 sooner or  later must sweep to oblivion
 every work propped by baser materials  
and  factitious refinements4    ,the    
subject of the ,sistine ,chapel is      
,theocracy and ,religion1 the ,origin   
and the first ,duty of ,man4 ,all minute
 discrimination of character is  alien  
to the primeval simplicity of the       
moment--,god and ,man alone  appear4    
,the veil of ,eternity is rent2 ,time1  
,space1 and ,matter teem2 life  darts   
from ,god1 and adoration from the       
creature2 deviation from this  principle
 is the origin of ,evil2 the economy of 
,justice and ,grace  commences2         
,prophets and ,sibyls in awful synod are
 the heralds of the  ,redeemer1 and the 
host of patriarchs the pedigree of the  
,son of ,man4 ,the  brazen ,serpent and 
the fall of ,haman1 the ,giant subdued  
by the  ,stripling1 and the ,conqueror  

destroyed by female weakness1 are types 
of  ,his mysterious progress1 till      
,jonah pronounces ,him immortal1 and the
  magnificence of the ,last ,judgement  
sums up the whole and re-unites the     
,founder and the race4    ,michael      
,angelo1 in his ,last ,judgement1 with a
 few exceptions1 has wound  up the life 
of man1 considered as the subject of    
religion1 faithful or  rebellious2 and  
in a generic manner has distributed     
happiness and  misery4    ,the more     
finished a character1 the more1         
discriminated by his actions and  turn  
of thought from his contemporaries1 he  
pursues paths of his own1 so  much the  
more he attracts1 so much the more he   
repels2 the ardour of the  one is equal 
to the violence of the other3 he is not 
merely disliked1 he  is detested by all 
who have no sense for him2 whilst by    
those who enter  his train of thought1  
or sympathise with him1 he is adored4   
,indifference  has no share in what     
relates to him1 it is a softer word for 

antipathy--it  resembles the            
indifference of a female wooed2 her     
indifference1 her  apathy1 is a refusal 
without a verbal repulse4 ,where yes or 
no must  decide1 the mouth that can form
 neither1 rejects4 ,the principles1 the 
style of ,michael ,angelo1 are of that  
so closely-connected magnitude1 that    
they are either all true or all false3  
pretended gold is either gold or        
not--the purer1 the simpler a substance1
 the less it can coalesce with  another2
 a pretended diamond of the size of a   
fist1 is either of  inestimable value or
 of none4 ,if ,michael ,angelo did not  
establish art on a  solid basis1 he     
subverted it2 he can claim only the     
heresies of paradox  and receive their  
reward--disgust4    ,what ,armenini     
relates as a proof of his nearly        
intuitive power of  conception and      
execution1 may be repeated as a much    
stronger instance of  his deference and 
gratitude for the most humble claims4   
,meeting one  day1 behind ,s4 ,pietro1  

with a young ,ferrarese1 a potter who   
had baked  some model of his1 ,m4       
,angelo thanked him for his care1 and in
 return  offered him any service in his 
power3 the young man1 emboldened by his 
condescension1 fetched a sheet of paper1
 and requested him to draw the  figure  
of a standing ,hercules3 ,m4 ,angelo    
took the paper1 and retiring to  a small
 shed near by1 put his right foot on a  
bench1 and with his elbow  on the raised
 knee and his face on his hand stood    
meditating a little  while1 then began  
to draw the figure1 and having finished 
it in a short  time1 beckoned to the    
youth1 who stood waiting at a small     
distance1 to  approach1 gave it him1 and
 went away toward ,belvedere4 ,that     
design1 as  far as ,i was then able to  
judge1 in precision of outline1 shadow1 
and  finish1 no miniature could excel2  
it afforded matter of astonishment to   
see accomplished in a few minutes what  
might have been reasonably  supposed to 
have taken up the labour of a month4    

,after the demise of ,raffaello1        
legislation in ,art was no longer       
disputed  with ,m4 ,angelo2 he not only 
became the oracle of youth1 but appears 
to  have inherited all the popularity of
 his great rival4 ,a signal1 though     
little known proof of this1 is told by  
,bellori1 in the ,life of ,federigo     
,barrocci1 who1 he says1 used to tell1  
that when1 drawing one day in  company  
with ,taddeo ,zuccari a frieze of       
,polidoro1 ,michael ,angelo1 as  usual1 
passed by on his little mule on his way 
to the palace1 all the  youths rose and 
ran to meet him with their drawings in  
their hands2  ,federigo alone remained  
bashfully behind in his place1 which    
when ,taddeo  saw1 he took his little   
portfolio to ,michael ,angelo1 who      
attentively  examined the designs1 among
 which was a careful copy of his ,moses2
 he  praised it1 and desiring to see the
 lad who had drawn that figure1         
animated him to pursue the method of    
study which he had begun4    ,the       

deference which he paid to the          
unassuming and the humble1 he amply     
redeemed by the full assumption of his  
rights1 and conscious assertion  of     
superiority1 when provoked to the       
contest by those who considered         
themselves as his equals1 entered into  
competition with him1 or  attempted to  
share in his labours4 ,thus he repaid   
the sarcasms of ,pietro  ,perugino1 by  
calling him publicly a dunce in art2 and
 when ,pietro  smarting1 impatient of   
the ridicule1 summoned him to the       
,tribunal of the  ,eight1 he made good  
his charge1 and saw him dismissed with  
contempt4  ,thus he rejected all        
partnership with ,jacopo ,sansovino1 in 
the execution  of the ,facciata of ,san 
,lorenzo at ,florence1 though ,leone ,x4
 appears to  have intended it1 by       
sending both together to ,pietra ,santa 
to provide  the marbles necessary for   
that purpose1 and examining both their  
models4    ,when ,paolo ,,iii4 had      
resolved on the fortifications of the   

,borgo1 and1 in  order to ascertain the 
best mode of doing it1 had assembled    
many persons  of rank1 with ,antonio da 
,sangallo1 ,michael ,angelo1 as         
architect of the  fortifications of ,s4 
,miniato at ,florence1 was likewise     
invited to join  the assembly1 and1     
after much contest1 his opinion asked2  
he freely told  it1 though contrary to  
that of ,sangallo and others present2   
and when the  architect bade him to be  
content with the prerogatives of        
sculpture and  painting without         
pretending to skill in fortification1 he
 replied1 that  of the former two he    
knew little1 but that of fortification1 
considering  the time his mind had dwelt
 on it1 and the proofs he had given of  
the  solidity of his theory1 he did not 
hesitate to claim more knowledge than   
what came to the share of ,sangallo and 
all his relatives2 and then  proceeded1 
in the presence of all1 to point out the
 many errors which  ,antonio had        
committed4    ,another instance of a    

still greater independence of mind1     
,vasari#ha has  recorded in the         
peremptory answer which ,m4 ,angelo gave
 to the ,committee  of ,cardinals1 c4   
instigated by the partisans of          
,sangallo1 7,la ,setta  ,sangallesca1   
,vasari17 to inspect the process of the 
fabric of ,s4 ,pietro1  and to examine  
his plan4 ,ignorant of his design to    
derive the main light  of the edifice   
from the cupola1 they found fault with  
the scanty  distribution of light1 and  
told the ,pontiff that ,m4 ,angelo had  
spoiled  ,s4 ,pietro1 and instead of a  
luminous temple1 was erecting a gloomy  
vault4 ,giulio having communicated this 
to him at a general meeting of  the     
deputies and inspectors1 ,m4 ,angelo    
replied1 ,i wish to hear these  deputies
 talk myself3 ,here we are1 answered    
,cardinal ,marcello--,then  know1       
,monsignore1 said he1 that over these   
windows1 in the vault which  is to be   
raised1 there are to be placed three    
more4--,you never told us  this before6 

said ,cervino4--,no1 replied ,m4        
,angelo1 ,i am not1 nor  ever will be   
bound to tell your ,eminence1 or any    
other person1 what ,i  must or what ,i  
mean to do3 your duty is to provide     
money and take care  that it be not     
stolen2 what belongs to the plan and    
execution of the  building you are to   
leave to me4 ,then turning to the ,pope1
 ,holy  ,father1 continued he1 you see  
what ,i gain2 the fatigue ,i undergo is 
time and labour lost1 unless my soul    
gain by it4 ,the ,pope1 who loved  him1 
and rejoiced at the defeat of the cabal1
 laying hands on his  shoulders1 said1  
,doubt not your soul and body shall be  
equal gainers by  it4    ,among the many
 expectations in which he was           
disappointed1 that which he  appears to 
have formed on the early talent of      
,jacopo ,carucci1 as it was  the most   
sanguine1 must have been the most       
distressing2 for1 on seeing  his figures
 of ,faith and ,charity with attendant  
,infants1 in fresco1 at  the ,nunziata1 

and considering them as produced by a   
youth of nineteen1  he said1 in the     
words of ,vasari1 ,this young man1 from 
what appears1  grant life and pursuit1  
will raise this art to heaven4    ,but  
,jacopo did neither long pursue the same
 principles nor adopt  superior ones3   
infected1 like ,andrea del ,sarto1 by   
the temporary fever  which the style of 
,albert ,durer had spread over          
,florence4 ,he was1  however1 the       
favourite copyist in oil of ,m4         
,angelo's ,cartoons1 and as  such1 in   
preference1 recommended by him to       
,alfonso ,d',avalo1 ,marchese del       
,guasto1 and ,bartolomeo ,bettini1 his  
friend1 who had obtained cartoons1  the 
former of a ,noli-me-tangere2 this of a 
naked ,venus caressed by  ,cupid4#hb    
,the name of ,giuliano ,bugiardini1     
supported only by its own feeble powers1
  would probably long have sunk to      
oblivion1 had it not been kept afloat by
  the personal attachment of ,m4        
,angelo4 ,in ,vasari1 ,giuliano is the  

synonyme1  of helpless impotence2 he had
 certainly neither the dexterity nor the
  grasp of the ,aretine biographer2 but 
he also had neither the pretension  nor 
the craft4 ,there is1 and chiefly among 
artists1 a singular class of  men1 who1 
with great moral simplicity1 but a      
capacity less than moderate1  court with
 ungovernable passion an art which they 
are doomed never to  possess1 but to    
whom self-complacency compensates for   
every disappointment  of the most       
ungrateful perseverance1 public neglect 
and private irrision3  they neither envy
 nor suspect1 and though not intimidated
 by a superiority  which they do not    
fully comprehend1 are ready to respect  
the part that  comes within their       
compass4 ,such a man was ,bugiardini2   
and such a  character ,m4 ,angelo was   
likely to appreciate2#hc and though     
aware that he  was not equal to serious 
communication in art1 to select him as a
  companion of his leisure1 and to      
assist or submit to him1 as the         

simplicity of his character             
required2--of either we shall select    
from  ,vasari an instance4 ,when he was 
occupied with the picture of ,sta4      
,catherina1 for the ,church of ,sta4    
,maria ,novella1 he requested the advice
  of ,m4 ,angelo on the arrangement of a
 file of soldiers which he meant to     
place on the foreground1 flying1 fallen1
 wounded1 killed2 because the idea  of  
their having formed a file1 could not be
 expressed within the scanty  space he  
had allotted them1 without having       
recourse to fore-shortenings1  which he 
confessed to be beyond his power4 ,m4   
,angelo1 to please him1 took  a coal1   
and with his own comprehension drew on  
the panel a file of naked  figures1     
variously fore-shortened1 falling       
different ways1 forwards1  backwards1   
with others dead or wounded3 but the    
whole being merely in  outlines1 left   
,giuliano still at a loss4 ,tribolo1    
therefore1 to draw him  from this       
dilemma1 undertook to form them in clay1

 leaving the surface of  each figure    
rough1 to increase more forcibly the    
chiaroscuro3 this method1  however1 so  
little pleased the neatness of          
,giuliano1 that the moment  ,tribolo    
left him1 he with a wet pencil licked   
them into a polish1 which  took away    
grain and effect together1 and when the 
picture was finished1  left no trace of 
,m4 ,angelo's ever having seen it4      
,messer ,ottaviano de' ,medici had      
requested ,giuliano to paint him a      
portrait of ,m4 ,angelo4 ,he obtained   
the consent of ,m4 ,angelo3 having held 
him between chat and work two hours at  
the first sitting--for ,m4 ,angelo      
delighted to hear him talk--,giuliano   
got up1 and said1 ,m4 ,angelo1 if  you  
want to see yourself1 rise3 ,i have     
settled the character of the  face4 ,m4 
,angelo rose1 looked at the portrait1   
and said1 smiling1 ,what  the devil 7che
 diavolo7 have you been doing8 you have 
clapt one of the  eyes into one of the  
temples--look to it4 ,giuliano having   

for some time  looked silently at the   
portrait1 and the sitter1 resolutely    
replied1 ,i  do not see what you said2  
but take your place1 and ,i'll give     
another  glance at nature4 ,m4 ,angelo1 
who knew where the defect lay1 sat down 
again sneering2 and ,giuliano1 having   
eyed repeatedly now the picture and  now
 ,m4 ,angelo1 at last rose and said1 ,it
 appears to me that the thing  is as ,i 
have drawn it1 and that nature shows it 
so4 ,oh1 then it is a  defect of nature6
 replied ,michael ,angelo1 go on and    
prosper in your  work4    ,francesco    
,granacci1 the companion of his early   
studies1 and ,jacopo1  called           
,l',indaco1 the enlivener of his        
solitude1 enjoyed the same degree  of   
his familiarity2 but as the real basis  
of friendship is equality1 and  mutual  
esteem founded on similarity of         
character and powers1 attachments       
merely formed by early habits or        
congenial humour between men too        
dissimilar else to admit of comparison1 

never can aspire to its  privileges and 
name4 ,condescension is not always      
delicate1 and the  indiscretions of     
simplicity sooner or later provoke the  
pride1 contempt1  and arrogance of      
superior powers4 ,giuliano1 ,granacci1  
and ,l',indaco1  experienced all three  
from ,michael ,angelo2 they were among  
his  conscripts for assisting in the    
frescoes of the ,capella2 but finding   
their pigmy capacities unequal to his   
colossal style1 he not only1 in  lofty  
silence1 destroyed what they had begun1 
but barring all access to  the ,chapel  
and himself1 forced them to return1     
vainly grumbling1 to  ,florence4        
,,footnotes3    #fb #adcc--aebg4 ,they  
underwent three banishments in less than
 a  century4    #fc #adgb--adib4 ,most  
splendid period of ,florence this4      
#fd ,nardi ,storia1 lib4 #a4 ,bernardo  
,rucellai de ,bello ,italico1 ,lond4    
#agcc1 #dto4 p4 #eb4 ,pauli ,jovii      
,histor4 sui temporis1 lib4 #a4         
,memoires de  ,philippe de ,comines1 l4 

vii4 c4 #i4    #fe ,vasari1 ,vita di ,b4
 ,bandinelli1 ,ed4 del ,bottari1 t4 ii4 
p4 #egf2 e  ,vita del ,torrigiano1 t4   
ii4 p4 #ge4    #ff ,nardi1 ,storia di   
,firenze1 lib4 ii4 ,vasari1 ,vita di ,fr
 ,bartolomeo2  but chiefly the ,life of 
,savonarola1 by ,burlamachi1 inserted in
 ,balusii  ,miscell4 ed4 ,mansi1 t4 i4  
p4 #eeh1 c4    #fg ,giovanni dalle      
,carniole1 a celebrated engraver on     
stone1 was an  adherent of ,savonarola2 
there is a portrait of that reformer by 
him1 on  a cornelian of uncommon size1  
in the ,museo ,flor4 with this          
inscription1        ,hieronymus         
,ferrariensis ,ord4 ,prd4      ,propheta
 ,vir et ,martyr4    ,it is known from  
impressions in paste and bronze4 ,in    
politics1 at least1  ,michael ,angelo   
was a votary of ,fr ,girolamo1 although 
the nursling of  the ,medici4    #fh    
,vasari1 ,vita di ,b4,b4 t4 ii4 p4 #eeg4
    #fi ,varchi1 ,storia ,fiorent4 p4   
#cf4    #gj ,the two masters of ,michael
 ,angelo1 says ,fiorillo1 descend in    

equidistant degrees from the ,school of 
,cimabue and ,giotto3 the following     
scale shows the technic pedigree of ,m4 
,angelo at one glance3                  
,cimabue4                       ,giotto4
                       ,taddeo ,gaddi4  
,angelo ,gaddi4                         
,jacopo ,casentino4      ,ant4          
,veneziano4                   ,spinello4
      ,paolo ,uccello4                  
,lorenzo ,bicci4      ,aless4           
,baldovinetti4              ,donatello4 
,dom4 del ,ghirlandaio4                 
,bertoldo4                      ,m4,a4  
,buonarroti4    ,what pity that this    
laboured scale1 which has all the air of
 an  astrologic conceit of ,vasari1 and 
gives to chance the sanction of         
predestination1 could not be extended to
 ,architecture6 ,as the notion of  a    
writer who dates the subversion of ,art 
from the epoch and style of ,m4         
,angelo1 it must appear ludicrous even  
to the most declared votary of  that    
great name on this side of idolatry4    

#ga ,the mask of an antique ,satyr1 and 
the basso-relievo of the  ,centaurs1    
undertaken at the suggestion of         
,poliziano4    #gb ,one has been        
preserved1 and as a document of the     
relation in which  power at that time   
stood with art1 may interest the reader4
    ,julius ,p4,p4 ,,ii4 ,dilectis      
,filiis ,prioribus ,libertatis1 et      
,vexillifero  ,justitiae ,populi        
,florentini4    ,dilecti filii1 salutem 
et apostolicam benedictionem4 ,michael  
,angelus  sculptor1 qui a nobis leviter 
et inconsulte discessit1 redire1 ut     
accepimus1 ad nos timet1 cui nos non    
succensemus3 ,novimus hujusmodi  hominum
 ingenia4 ,ut tamen omnem suspicionem   
deponat1 devotionem vestram  hortamur1  
velit ei nomine nostro promittere1 quod 
si ad nos redierit1  illsus             
inviolatusque erit1 et in ea gratia     
apostolica nos habiturus1  qu habebatur 
ante discessum4 ,datum ,rom1 #h ,julii1 
#aejf1 ,pontificats  nostri ,anno iii4  
#gc ,there went a tale that ,michael    

,angelo proposed to demolish the  palace
 of the ,medicis1 like that of the      
,bentivogli at ,bologna1 and to  call   
the site ,piazza de' ,muli1 the place of
 ,bastards1 in allusion to  the         
illegitimacy of ,clemente ,,vii4        
,alessandro1 and others of that family4 
,a feature1 says ,fiorillo1 if true1 as 
characteristic of his natural  ferocity 
as disgraceful to his heart1 after the  
benefits heaped on him  from his infancy
 by that family4 ,varchi1 however1      
defends him against  this charge4#gf    
,whether this tale confutes itself or   
not1 may be left  to the reader2 but on 
an estimate of his private and public   
conduct1 as  man and artist during the  
long course of his life1 it must be     
owned1  that this is the period which   
offers the most specious opportunity to 
a  sceptic in morals1 of fixing some    
doubts on the integrity of his          
principles4 ,his earliest actions prove 
that he drew a severe line  between the 
duty which he owed to his country1 and  

gratitude imposed by  private           
obligations4 ,he left the family of     
,pier de' ,medici on finding  his       
principles incompatible with the laws of
 a free state2 and on the  expulsion of 
the petty tyrants1 without lending a    
hand to the  devastation of their       
property1 felt it his duty to act as a  
free man on  the re-establishment of    
liberty1 and to obey the laws of a state
 whose  right to legislate for itself   
had been acknowledged by all ,italy4 ,it
  will not be said1 that it is          
palliating duplicity to assert1 that as 
a  private individual he had a right to 
accept the behests of ,leo ,x4 and      
,clemente ,,vii4 for decorating a sacred
 edifice2 but when he became a  leader  
of the revolution1 the trustee of his   
country's safety1 the main  defender of 
the city1 did he not more than degrade  
himself1 by  forgetting the patriot in  
the artist1 and secretly sacrificing    
time to  raise monuments to men whose   
titles he opposed and whose principles  

he  detested8 ,thus1 whilst his conduct 
may prove the absurdity of the tale1    
that he publicly1 and with illiberal    
sarcasms1 advised the demolition of     
palaces belonging to a family whose     
memory he secretly laboured to          
perpetuate in monuments inspired by the 
most amorous phantasy2 it  certainly    
does not screen his character from the  
imputation of a  duplicity to which no  
other period of his life offers a       
parallel4    #gd ,lavorava1 says        
,vasari1 le statue per le sepolture di  
,s4 ,lorenzo  segretamente1--p4 #bbd1   
ed4 ,b4 ,and again1 ,lavorando egli con 
sollecitudine e con amore grandissimo   
tali opere1 crebbe 7che pur troppo  gli 
impedi il fine7 lo assedio4--p4 #bbi4   
,impossible as the secrecy of  his      
labours for the ,chapel of ,s4 ,lorenzo 
may appear1 the publicity of  his       
situation considered1 it must be        
admitted1 to account for the  confidence
 placed in him by the ,city4    #ge ,of 
the ,fall of ,lucifer and his ,host1    

which was to face the  altar-piece of   
the ,last ,judgement1 no sketch that    
could give an idea of  the whole has yet
 been discovered2 its place over the    
grand door of the  ,chapel was reserved 
for the sacrilegious 'bravura' of the   
,neapolitan  ,matteo da ,lecca1 under   
the pontificate of ,gregorio ,,xiii43   
his  composition1 if impudence of       
grouping deserve that name1 must be     
supposed to bear infinitely less analogy
 to the original conception of  ,michael
 ,angelo1 than the tumultuary fresco of 
the ,sicilian2 who1 says  ,vasari1      
having lived many months with ,michael  
,angelo as a servant and                
colour-grinder1 became possessed of some
 design of his for that subject1  and   
painted it in fresco in a chapel of the 
,trinit del ,monte4  ,notwithstanding   
the incompetence of the adventurer to   
manage such  materials1 the naked groups
 showering from ,heaven1 and the hubbub 
of  transformed fiends grappling below  
in the abyss1 struck the beholder  with 

terror and surprise2--a mass of         
,dantesque images1 and in ,dantesque    
language described by the               
biographer4--,v4 di ,m4,a4 t4 vi4 #bcg4 
#gf ,stor4 ,fior4 lib4 vi4 p4 #aed4     
#gg ,this pompous visit appears to have 
been made for the purpose of  inspecting
 the ,cartoon2 to remove the obstacles  
to its completion which  the unfinished 
state of the ,giulian monument still    
presented2 and to  convince the artist  
of the value he set on the exclusive    
service of his  genius4 ,but1 besides   
the obligation of fulfilling his        
contract with the  ,house of ,de        
,rovere1 ,vasari seems to think that one
 principal reason of  ,michael ,angelo's
 tardiness to comply with the wishes of 
the ,pope1 was  the ,pontiff's age1     
7vedendolo tanto vecchio17 i4 e4        
apprehension1 if  he lived long enough  
to prevent the termination of the       
monument1 of his  dying too soon for the
 completion of the fresco1 and thus     
leaving him  exposed to the revenge of  

the ,duke of ,urbino3 a conjecture not  
countenanced by the ,pontiff's age1 who1
 at his accession1 was only  eight years
 older than the artist4    #gh          
,bastiano1 says ,vasari1 was a favourite
 of ,michael ,angelo1 but a             
disagreement took place between them    
about the best method of painting  the  
,last ,judgement4 ,fr ,bastiano had     
persuaded the ,pontiff to give the      
preference to oil1 but ,michael ,angelo 
resolved to execute it only in  fresco4 
,on seeing the ,frate's preparation     
adopted1 without agreeing to  it or     
opposing it1 he remained inactive for   
several months2 till1 on  being pressed1
 he finally declared1 that he would     
either do it in fresco  or not at all2  
that oil paint was a woman's art1 and   
the refuge of  idlers at their ease like
 ,fr ,bastiano4 ,in consequence of      
which1 the  ,frate's incrustation being 
dashed to the ground1 and the wall duly 
prepared for fresco1 he set about the   
work1 but never forgot the insult  he   

fancied to have received from the friar 
during life4--,vasari1 ,vita di  ,f4,s4 
#gi ,michael ,angelo had finished more  
than three-fourths of the work1  when   
the ,pontiff visited the ,chapel1 and on
 inspection1 turning to  ,messer        
,biagio1 of ,cesena1 then master of     
ceremonies1 in his train1 asked  him    
what he thought of the work8 ,the       
scrupulous prelate replied1 that so     
daring an aggregate of shameless        
nudities in a sacred place was obscene  
profanation1 and an exhibition fitter   
for a tavern or a brothel than a  papal 
chapel4 ,michael ,angelo1 indignant1 and
 eager to revenge the  affront1 only    
waited for his departure1 and then1 from
 memory1 drew him  in the character of  
,dante's ,minos1 with a snake encircling
 his body and  gnawing his middle1 in   
the midst of a hillock of fiends4 ,in   
vain did  ,messer ,biagio supplicate the
 ,pontiff and ,michael ,angelo to take  
him out2  he remained1 and is there     
still4 ,so far ,vasari2 but tradition   

adds1 that  on ,biagio's application1   
the ,pope asked in what part of the     
picture he  was placed1 and being       
answered1 in ,hell1 replied1 had you    
been lodged in  ,purgatory1 you might   
perhaps have been dismissed1 sed ex     
,inferno nulla  est redemptio4 ,condivi 
notices the story not at all4    ,in the
 ,diary of ,paris de' ,grassi1 ,messer  
,biagio is said to have been  appointed 
master of ceremonies by ,leo ,x4 #aeah1 
in the room of ,nicola da  ,viterbo1    
and1 if we believe ,ducange1 7,table des
 ,auteurs dans le  ,supplement du       
,glossaire17 he has written a diary     
himself4--,see ,fiorillo1  i4 p4 #chi4  
#hj ,blaise de ,vigenere1 the translator
 of ,philostratus and ,callistratus1    
tells us1 in his observations on the    
latter1 page #hee1 that he saw ,m4      
,angelo1 at the age of sixty1 strike off
 more marble from a block in one        
quarter of an hour1 than four           
stonemasons usually did in three or four
  hours4 ,if this happened in #aeej1 as 

will appear from the following  passage1
 ,m4 ,angelo was then in his            
seventy-sixth year4--,l'entrepris aussi 
de ,michel l',ange estoit hautaine et   
fort hardie1 sentant bien sa main       
assure1 le quel commana l'an #aeej1 que 
j'estois  ,rome1 un ,crucifiement  o il 
y avoit de dix  douze personnages1 non  
pas moindres que le naturel1  le tout   
d'une seule pice de marbre1 qui tait un 
chapiteau de l'une de  ces huict grandes
 colomnes du temple de la ,paix de      
,vespasian1 dont il s'en  void encore   
une toute entire et debout1 mais la     
mort----    #ha ,vol4 vi4 p4 #bgb4      
#hb ,vasari's account of both pictures  
is sufficiently curious to be           
communicated in his own words4 ,alfonso 
,d',avalo1 ,marchese del ,guasto1       
having obtained from ,michael ,angelo1  
by means of ,fr ,nicolo della ,magna1  a
 cartoon of ,christ appearing to        
,magdalen in the ,garden1 made every    
exertion to have it executed in painting
 by ,puntormo1 as he had been  told by  

,michael ,angelo that no one could serve
 him better4 ,jacopo  undertook the     
work1 and succeeded to a degree of      
excellence1 which made  ,alessandro     
,vitelli1 captain of the ,florentine    
guards1 bespeak a second  copy of him1  
which he placed in his house at ,civit  
di ,castello4    ,michael ,angelo1 to   
oblige his intimate friend ,bartolomeo  
,bettini1 made  him a ,cartoon of ,venus
 naked and ,cupid kissing her1 to be    
executed by  ,puntormo in oil1 for the  
centre piece of an apartment1 on the    
sides of  which ,bronzino had begun to  
paint ,dante1 ,petrarca1 and ,boccaccio1
 to be  followed by the rest of ,tuscan 
love-songsters4 ,the picture of         
,puntormo  was miraculous1 but instead  
of being given to ,bettini for the price
  stipulated1 was1 by some              
favour-hunters1 his enemies1 nearly     
extorted  from ,jacopo1 and carried off 
as a present to ,duke ,alessandro1      
returning  the cartoon to ,bettini4 ,a  
transaction which1 when he heard it1    

irritated  ,michael ,angelo1 who loved  
his friend1 and made him dislike ,jacopo
 for  it4--,vasari1 ,vita di ,jacopo da1
 ,p4,v4    #hc ,they had been           
fellow-scholars in the garden of        
,lorenzo de' ,medici4          ,,school 
,,of ,,siena4      ,in the enumeration  
of ,tuscan art1 some lovers of          
subdivision have  fancied1 with more    
refinement than solidity1 to discover in
 the style of  ,sienese artists a       
characteristic sufficiently distinct    
from the  ,florentine1 to erect ,siena  
into a school4 ,this characteristic1 we 
are  told1 is a peculiar gaiety in the  
selection of colour1 and an air of      
physiognomic vivacity and serenity of   
face2 both1 it seems1 the  inheritance  
of the ,sienese race4 ,they have1       
accordingly1 divided this  school into  
three epochs3 the first is that of the  
ancients 7gli  antichi72 and its first  
palpable patriarch1 ,guido1 or ,guidone1
 commonly  called ,guido da ,siena1 and 
noticed already in the beginning of our 

chapter on the ,florentine school4 ,he  
flourished before the birth of          
,cimabue1 in the first half of the      
thirteenth century1 and is followed  by 
the names of ,ugolino da ,siena and     
,duccio surnamed di ,boninsegna1  the   
precursors of ,simone ,memmi1 the       
contemporary of ,giotto1 who painted    
,laura and survives in the sonnets of   
her lover4 ,lippo ,memmi and ,cecco da  
,martino1 his relatives1 float in the   
obscurity which prevailed till the      
appearance of ,ambrogio and ,pietro     
,lorenzetti4 ,of the first there still  
exists an extensive work in the public  
palace1 or rather a didactic  poem1     
which in suitable allegories and in     
varied views1 exhibits the  vices of a  
bad government1 and personifies the     
qualities necessary to  form the rulers 
of a virtuous republic--a work which1   
with less monotony  of features1 and    
more judgment in the division of the    
subjects1 would1  in the opinion of     
,lanzi1 find little to envy in the      

best-treated  histories of ,pisa's      
,campo ,santo4 ,in partnership with his 
brother ,pietro1  he painted1 in the    
,hospital of ,siena1 the ,presentation  
and the ,espousal  of the               
,madonna--pictures destroyed in #agbj4  
,this is that ,pietro who1 in  the      
,campo ,santo of ,pisa1 painted the     
,hermits of the ,desert1 and the        
,terrors of ,solitude invaded by an     
,infernal ,apparition1 with a novelty of
  conception and a richness of fancy1   
that render his work the most           
interesting of the whole series4 ,that1 
notwithstanding the plague1 which  had  
wasted the population of ,siena at that 
period1 the art continued to  flourish1 
is proved by the numbers who formed     
themselves into a civil  body under the 
immediate patronage of the ,republic    
itself4 ,in some  families it became an 
heirloom3 such were the ,vanni and the  
,bartoli4  ,andrea di ,vanni1 or more   
properly1 di ,giovanni1 not only figured
 as an  artist in his native city1 but  

was delegated by the ,republic to the   
,pope  at ,avignon1 and appears in the  
records as ,capitano del ,popolo2 and   
among the letters of ,santa ,caterina da
 ,siena1 there are three addressed  to  
him4#hd ,vasari has mentioned ,taddeo di
 ,bartolo1 7#acea--adaj47 whose  works  
still exist in the public palace and the
 adjoining hall4 ,they  pretend to      
represent a number of celebrated        
republicans1 and chiefly  ,greeks and   
,romans1 but their physiognomies are all
 ideal1 and their  dresses the costume  
of ,siena4 ,something was added to the  
monotony of  these family styles under  
the ,pontificate of ,pio ,,ii4 or ,enea 
,silvio1  7#aejc17 by ,matteo di        
,giovanni1 in disposition1 variety1     
expression1  drapery2 he has accordingly
 been complimented by some as the       
,masaccio of  ,siena1 but remained      
unknown to ,vasari4 ,the art gained     
still more under  the auspices of a     
second ,piccolomini1 ,pio ,,iii4        
7#aejc47 ,he employed  ,pinturicchio1   

,raffaello1 and other strangers1 to     
perpetuate the  achievements of his     
predecessor ,enea2 and they1 ,raffaello 
excepted1  continued with ,signorelli   
and ,genga to exercise their talents in 
decorating the ,palace of ,pandolfo     
,petrucci1 who had usurped supreme      
power in the ,republic4    ,the second  
period of ,sienese art opens with the   
sixteenth century1 and  the works of    
,giacomo ,pacchiarotto1 or              
,pacchiarotti4 ,they resemble the       
produce of ,perugino's school1 though   
distinguished by more vigour of         
composition4 ,but what entitles this    
epoch to the claim of establishing  the 
peculiar style of this school1 must be  
looked for in the works of              
,giannantonio ,razzi1 ,domenico         
,beccafumi1 and ,baldassare ,peruzzi4   
,giannantonio ,razzi1#he commonly called
 ,il ,soddoma1 is said by some to  have 
been a native of ,vergille1 in the      
territory of ,siena2 by others1 of      
,vercelli1 in ,piedmont4 ,long          

residence1 however1 supplied the want of
  birthright3 ,siena claims him for her 
own2 and if a charming whole1  suavity  
of tint combined with force of          
chiaroscuro1 be the principal           
characteristic of that school1 no native
 has expressed it with equal  evidence  
and felicity4 ,this gaiety of tone and  
manner some have traced  to the jovial  
turn of the man himself2 as careless as 
gay1 ever in  pursuit of youth and      
beauty1 though with an indiscretion that
 brands him  with the stain tacked to   
his name1 from a character so volatile  
and  dissipated1 that inequality of     
execution might be expected which marks 
his happiest effusions4 ,thus1 in the   
,church of ,s4 ,domenico1 where he      
represented ,sta4 ,caterina of ,siena1  
on receiving the stigmata1  fainting in 
the arms of two sister nuns1 we forgive 
to the energy of  conception1 the pathos
 of expression1 and the sympathy of tone
 that  press the principal group on our 
hearts1 that neglect which left the     

figure of the ,saviour below mediocrity1
 and own1 with ,baldassare  ,peruzzi1   
that we never saw mental dereliction and
 fainting beauty  expressed with deeper 
sentiment and truth2 a verdict which    
receives  full sanction from him who    
relates it1 ,vasari1 less the biographer
 than  the merciless censor of the      
obnoxious ,razzi1 for whose moral       
turpitude  and technic slovenliness his 
sanctimonious asperity found no other   
excuse than that of madness1 which      
swayed him to neglect or misapply the   
powers of genius4 ,thus1 in speaking of 
the fresco at ,monte ,oliveto1 in  which
 ,soddoma had chosen to represent a bevy
 of harlots let loose with  song and    
dance on ,st4 ,benedetto and his flock1 
to try their sanctity1 he  reprobates   
the licentiousness that had larded the  
subject with  additional obscenity1     
whilst he concludes by owning that it is
 one of  the best pictures in the       
,convent4 ,how are we to reconcile the  
neglect  which1 disdaining to consult   

,nature1 or to regulate a picture by    
cartoon  or design1 relied for the whole
 on practice and on chance1 with the    
praise bestowed on ,razzi's composition1
 the faces that speak1 the  breasts that
 palpitate1 the torsos compared by some 
to the antique1 by  others to ,michael  
,angelo1 but by that indifference which 
often  distinguishes the man of genius  
from the man of talent1 him who         
possesses by ,nature from him who       
acquires by art8 ,capacity and          
attachment unite not always2 and to     
,soddoma1 vain1 whimsical1 volatile1    
art appears to have been no more than   
the readiest means of procuring         
amusement or pleasure4 ,my art dances to
 the sound of your purse1 said  he to   
the ,abbot of ,monte ,oliveto4          
,agostino ,chigi1 pleased with the art1 
and still more the whimsies of          
,soddoma1 if we believe ,vasari1 carried
 him to ,rome1 and introduced him  to   
,giulio ,,ii4 to co-operate with ,pietro
 ,perugino1 c4 in the ,vatican2  but his

 labours being superseded by the novel  
powers of ,raffaelle1  ,agostino1 whose 
attachments were not regulated by the   
,pontiff's whims1  employed him in the  
decorations of his own palace1 now the  
,farnesina2  where1 in a principal      
apartment leading to the great saloon   
reserved for  ,raffaelle1 he painted the
 ,nuptials of ,alexander and ,roxana in 
a style no  doubt inferior to the ,loves
 of ,amor and ,psyche1 but not of an    
inferiority sufficient to account for   
the enormous disparity of fame  that    
separates both4    ,domenico            
,mecherino1#hf the son of a ,sienese    
peasant1 better known by  the adopted   
name of ,beccafumi1 inferior to ,razzi  
in elegance of line  and suavity of     
colour1 excelled him in energy of       
conception and style4  ,vasari1 who     
invests ,beccafumi with every excellence
 and virtue1 of which  the defect or    
opposite vice disgraced ,razzi1 still   
owns that he did not  reach the         
physiognomic suavity that marks the     

faces of ,soddoma2 and  after leading   
him from the scanty elements of ,pietro 
,perugino to ,rome1  the ,antique1 the  
,chapel of ,m4 ,angelo1 and the works of
 ,raffaelle1 by a  kind of anticlimax   
brings him back to ,siena to complete   
his studies by  adopting the principles 
of ,giannantonio4 ,a modern writer1#hg  
on the  contrary1 has discovered that   
the talents of ,domenico1 overpowered by
  the genius of ,m4 ,angelo1 turned     
their current awry1 and failed to       
produce the legitimate efforts which    
might have been expected from a  steady 
adherence to the principles of          
,raffaelle--opinions less founded  on   
the character of the artist and the     
spirit of his works than on the         
partiality and prejudice of the critics4
 ,beccafumi was not of the first  class1
 less made to lead than to follow with  
an air of originality2 to  amalgamate   
principles not absolutely               
discordant--thus1 in single  figures1 he
 sometimes more than imitates1 he equals

 ,m4 ,angelo1 as in  those noticed by   
,bottari2--and again1 in larger         
compositions1 such as  those on the     
pavement of the ,cathedral1 works by    
which he is chiefly  known1 we see him  
on the traces of ,raffaelle1 and        
emulating the variety  and graces of    
,polydoro3 these graces frequently      
vanished1 and  correctness as often     
ceased with the increased size of his   
figures3 the  foreshortenings1 in which 
he delighted1 savour more of the sotto  
in  su1 introduced by ,correggio to     
,upper ,italy1 than of the principles of
  ,m4 ,angelo2 they are generally       
attended by a magic chiaroscuro1 like   
that  of the figure of ,justice1 on     
which ,vasari expatiates1 on the ceiling
 of  the public hall at ,siena1 which1  
from profound darkness gradually rising 
into light1 seems to vanish in celestial
 splendour4 ,he is said by ,vasari  to  
have preferred fresco and distemper to  
oil paint1 as a purer1  simpler1 and of 
course more durable medium2 and though  

the predominant  red of his flesh-tints 
has more freshness than glow1 such is   
the  solidity of his impasto and the    
purity of his method1 that his panels   
present us to this day less with the    
injuries than the improvements of  time4
    ,the style of ,mecherino did not    
survive him3 for ,giorgio da ,siena1 his
  pupil1 confined himself to grotesque  
work1 in imitation of ,giovanni da      
,udine2 ,giannella1 or ,giovanni of     
,siena1 turned to architecture3 of      
,marco  ,pino1 commonly called ,marco da
 ,siena1 his reputed pupil1 the style1  
decidedly built on the principles of ,m4
 ,angelo1 renders all notion of  his    
having received more than the first     
rudiments from ,beccafumi or any  other 
master1 nugatory3 but the conjecture of 
,lanzi1 that ,domenico was  the master  
of ,danielle ,ricciarelli1 known to have
 begun his studies at  ,siena1 though   
unsupported by tradition1 acquires an   
air of probability  less from the       
supposed mutual attachments to ,m4      

,angelo1 than the  versatility of their 
talents and similarity of pursuits4     
,baldassare ,peruzzi1#hh born in the    
diocese of ,volterra1 but in the        
,sienese ,state1 and of a citizen of    
,siena1 with considerable talents for   
painting1 possessed a decided genius in 
architecture4 ,his style of  design is  
temperate and correct1 but quantity is  
the element of his  composition1 if     
indeed an aggregate of fortuitous       
figures deserve that  name4 ,the        
,adoration of the ,magi1 preserved in   
various coloured copies  from his       
original chiaroscuro1 embraces every    
fault of ornamental  painting without   
its only charm3 it is not exaggeration  
to say1 that the  principal figures are 
the least conspicuous1 that the leaders 
are  sacrificed to their equipage1 that 
the architect every where crosses the   
painter1 and that the quadrupeds1       
however brutally placed or              
impertinently introduced1 for           
conception1 chiaroscuro1 spirit and     

style1  give to the work what merit it  
can claim4 ,the same principle prevails 
in  his fresco of the ,presentation at  
the ,pace1 and both are so evidently    
opposite to ,raffaello's system of      
composition1 that it is not easily      
understood how he could be supposed to  
have been a pupil or imitator of  that  
master in propriety4 ,if he resembles   
him any where1 it is in single          
expressions1 as in the ,judgement of    
,paris at the ,castello di ,belcaro1    
according to ,lanzi2 and still more in  
the prophetic countenance of the        
celebrated ,sibyl predicting the birth  
of the ,virgin to ,augustus1 at  ,fonte 
,giusta1 in ,siena1 whose divine        
enthusiasm no prophetess of  ,raffaello 
has excelled1 and no ,sibyl of ,guido or
 ,guercino approached4      ,,footnotes3
    #hd ,lettere della ,beata ,vergine1 
,s4 ,caterina da ,siena4 ,venez4 #aefb41
  #dto4 p4 #bhf1 #bdb4 ,the last was    
written at the period of ,vanni's       
dignity4    #he #adha-aeed4    #hf      

#adhd-aedi8    #hg ,fiorillo1 i4 #cce4  
#hh #adha-aecf4          ,,the ,,roman  
,,school4      ,the ,roman ,school      
comprises1 besides the natives of the   
metropolis1 those  of the whole         
,ecclesiastic ,state1 ,bologna1         
,ferrara1 and some part of  ,romagna    
excepted4    ,the origin of this school 
recedes into the earlier periods of     
modern  art1 if we consider ,oderigi of 
,gubbio1 a painter of miniature1        
contemporary with ,cimabue1 as one of   
its founders4 ,his death1 which         
preceded that of the ,florentine at     
least one year1 the branch of art he    
exercised1 missal-painting1 and what we 
know of his situation1 make it          
extremely improbable that he owed the   
elements of design to that master1  with
 whom he seems to have had little in    
common but the honour of  rearing a     
pupil1 who in the sequel eclipsed his   
name1 and became the  founder of another
 school4    ,perhaps he made some       
scholars too at home3 in #acba we find  

,cecco and  ,puccio of ,gubbio1 engaged 
as painters to the ,dome of ,orvieto2   
and about  #acbd1 ,guido ,palmerucci    
,eugubino1 employed in the ,town-hall of
 ,gubbio2 a  few half figures yet       
remaining of this evanescent work are in
 a style  not inferior to that of       
,giotto1 at whose period we are now     
arrived4    ,giotto1 at ,rome1 gave     
instructions to ,pietro ,cavallini in   
painting and  mosaic1 and with what     
success we may form some idea from the  
wonder-working ,christ in ,s4 ,paolo at 
,rome1 the ,salutation at ,s4 ,marco of 
,florence1 and a ,crucifixion at        
,assisi2 a crowded composition of       
soldiers1 mob1 and horses1 varied in    
dress and not ill discriminated by      
expression1 with groups of angels       
hovering over them in sable robes4 ,in  
vastness of conception and spirit it    
resembles ,memmi1 and in one of the     
crucified men1 foreshortening is not    
unsuccessfully attempted2 the  colours  
have still a degree of freshness1       

especially the blue1 which  here and in 
other places of the church forms1 in the
 metaphor of ,lanzi1  a ceiling of      
oriental sapphire4    ,after the demise 
of ,cavallini1 who1 notwithstanding a   
life of  eighty-five years1 appears to  
have left taste nearly in the state he  
found it2 a band of obscure and         
insignificant artists led the art in a  
style neither ,giottesque nor ,greek to 
the verge of the fifteenth              
century--that important period when the 
,popes1 re-established at ,rome1        
searched for the best hands to decorate 
its ,vatican and temples4 ,the  first   
name that occurs1 is that of ,ottaviano 
,martis1 whose ,madonna in  ,sta4 ,maria
 ,nuova at ,gubbio1 bears the date of   
#adjc2 she has a choir  of stripling    
angels round her in attitudes not       
ungraceful1 but with  faces as like to  
each other as if they had all been cast 
in one mould4    ,the name of ,gentile  
da ,fabriano is of more consequence2 it 
is he whose  style ,michael ,angelo     

compared to his name 7,gentile47 ,about 
#adag we find  him at ,orvieto among the
 painters of its ,dome1 registered with 
the title  of ,magister ,magistrorum4   
,under ,martin ,v4 he painted with      
,pisanello in  the ,lateran at ,rome3   
what he did there perished1 and so did  
his works in  the public palace at      
,venice1 where he resided1 was          
pensioned1 and raised  to the rank of   
,patrician4 ,in that city1 says ,vasari1
 he was the  master and like a parent to
 ,giacopo ,bellini1 the father of       
,giovanni and  ,gentile ,bellini1       
founders of the ,venetian school and    
masters of  ,giorgione and ,tizian4 ,of 
his numerous works the remains are in   
the ,marca  d',ancona1 the state of     
,urbino1 at ,gubbio and ,perugia3       
,florence still  preserves two of his   
pictures1 one in ,s4 ,nicolo with the   
image and  histories of that bishop1    
another in the sacristy of the ,trinit1 
with  an ,epiphany and the date of      
#adbc4 ,his style resembles that of ,fr 

,angelico da ,fiesole1 with the         
exception of forms less elegant1 less   
female grace1 and more profusion of gold
 lace and brocade4 ,antonio da          
,fabriano1 with the date #aded1 and     
,bartholomus ,magistri ,gentilis de     
,urbino1 #adig and #aejh1 are           
inscriptions on pictures at ,matelica1  
,pesaro1 and ,monte ,cicardo1 that have 
no other claim to attention than  the   
relation their names seem to indicate   
with ,gentile4    ,piero della          
,francesca1 or ,piero ,borghese1 an     
,umbrian1 of ,borgo ,s4  ,sepolcro1 is a
 superior name4 ,he must have been born 
about #acih1 as1  according to ,vasari1 
his works were about #adeh2 he grew     
blind at sixty1  and died eighty-five   
years old4 ,he was instructed in        
painting at the age  of fifteen1 after  
having laid a foundation in mathematics1
 and  distinguished himself in both4    
,his beginnings were minute2 his master 
has escaped search4 ,the first scene of 
his talent was the ,court of            

,guidobaldo ,feltro the old1 ,duke of   
,urbino1 where the perspective of a     
vase drawn by him1 provokes the         
astonishment of his biographer2 but     
besides perspective1 ,painting owes to  
him her first notions of the  effects of
 light1 of muscular precision1 and the  
method of preparing  clay models for the
 study of drapery4#hi    ,he painted    
much at ,rome1 and in the ,floreria of  
the ,vatican there still  exists a large
 fresco reputed his1 representing       
,niccolo ,v4 with some  cardinals and   
prelates1 whose faces interest by a     
character of truth4 ,at  ,arezzo1 he    
seems to have improved even upon ,giotto
 and his school1 by  the novelty of his 
foreshortenings1 vigour of tone1 and    
powers which  attended by equal grace1  
would have set him on a level with      
,masaccio4    ,nicolo ,alunno of        
,foligno1 advanced the art still        
farther2 this is  evident on comparing a
 picture of his painted #adhj1 with     
another at ,s4  ,nicolo of ,foligno1    

dated #adib4 ,the tone of his colour1   
even in  distemper1 has novelty and     
vigour2 his heads have vivacity1 though 
with  trivial and sometimes caricatured 
characters3 and in gilding he is        
moderate4 ,vasari1 who places him in the
 time of ,pinturicchio1 praises  above  
all a ,piet in a chapel of the ,domo1 in
 which1 he says1 there are  two angels  
who weep with such expression of grief1 
that1 in my opinion1  no other painter1 
however excellent1 could have done much 
more4    ,nor was ,urbino without       
painters at this period3 ,fiorillo names
 ,lorenzo  da ,san ,severino4 ,at       
,urbino some pictures still remain of   
,giovanni  ,sanzio1 the father of       
,raphael1 who by the ,duchess ,giovanna 
della ,rovere  is called a very         
ingenious artist3 a foreshortened figure
 of ,st4  ,sebastian1 painted by him for
 the church of that saint1 has been     
imitated by ,raphael in an early picture
 of ,our ,lady's ,wedding1 at ,citt  di 
,castello4 ,he subscribed himself ,io4  

,sanctis ,urbi42 viz4 ,urbinas4 ,such   
at least is the inscription on his      
,annunciation at ,sinigaglia1 a work of 
high finish1 but unequal in its parts1  
and in the best1 though less  genial1   
approaching the style of ,pietro        
,perugino1 with whom he had for  some   
time co-operated4 ,but the most         
distinguished ,urbinese artist was      
,bartolommeo ,corradini1 a ,dominican1  
commonly called ,fr ,carnevale3 at  the 
,osservanza there is a picture of his1  
defective in perspective1 with          
draperies frittered into the usual      
tatters of the time1 but with faces     
that breathe and speak1 and airs of     
dignity and ease3 he was one of the     
first who introduced portrait into      
historic composition1 a method  adopted 
and often practised by ,raphael1 who at 
,urbino had studied his  works4         
,perugia laid an early claim to ,art1 at
 least as a craft4 ,mariotti tells  of  
one ,tullio a ,perugine painter about   
#abai1 and in a long file of            

quattrocentists1 allots the most        
conspicuous places to ,lorenzo di       
,lorenzo1 ,bartolommeo ,caporali1 whose 
works are dated about #adhg1 but  above 
all to ,benedetto ,bonfigli4 ,yet with  
this abundance of home-bred  artists1   
,perugia employed in its public works   
the hands of strangers1  and chiefly    
,tuscans2 it was to ,florence1 ,states  
and ,princes looked for  that           
master-style which could give splendour 
to a great commission4 ,when  ,sisto    
,,iv4 planned the decorations of the    
,sistina1 the greater number of         
conscripts for the work were ,tuscans1  
and ,pietro ,perugino the only  artist  
drawn from his subjects among them4     
,pietro ,vannucci1 of ,citt della       
,pieve1 as he subscribed some pictures1 
or of ,perugia1 as he did others1 being 
a citizen of that place1 studied1  if we
 believe ,vasari1 under a master of     
little eminence2 but according  to the  
more authentic researches of            
,mariotti1#ij was a pupil1 and          

sufficiently advanced himself by the    
instructions of ,bonfigli and ,piero    
della ,francesca1 to finish his style on
 the works of ,giotto and ,masaccio  at 
,florence1 without entering the school  
of ,verrocchio4    ,those who have      
contemplated the works of ,pietro will  
without much  difficulty discover two   
styles of composition1 form1 colour1 and
  execution3 the first was the result of
 the instructions he received in  the   
,roman1 the second1 that of the         
impression made on his mind and hand  by
 the ,tuscan ,school3 what he painted in
 oil and of small dimensions1  generally
 belongs to the first2 what he executed 
in fresco to the second  period4 ,there 
we find the hardness1 the haggard forms1
 the miserly  scantiness of drapery1 the
 ,gothic apposition and anxious finish  
with  which he is charged1 relieved by  
azure blues1 emerald greens1 violet and 
crimson hues1 the legacies of           
missal-painting1 and a certain air of   
juvenile and female grace1 with suavity 

of countenance and colour3  beauties    
which not only followed him in his      
second style1 but were  rendered more   
impressive by rudiments of that breadth 
which seems to be  the privilege of     
fresco1 by keeping1 mellowness1 tone1   
and approaches to  composition1 as in   
the altar-piece of the ,kindred of the  
,saviour and the  fresco in the ,hall of
 the ,change1 at ,perugia4    ,whilst   
the physiognomic monotony which had     
hitherto dulled the human  feature1     
began to give way to expression and     
character in the works of  this period1 
it is not easy to explain why its       
companion1 that ,gothic  symmetry in the
 arrangement of the whole1 should not   
only have been  retained but aggravated 
into a studied parallelism2 not that    
pathetic  repetition of attitude and    
gesture which forces the moment of the  
subject more irresistibly on the mind   
than the most varied contrasts1  but a  
nearly rectilinear apposition1 whose    
principal law was to place1  by a       

central figure1 on each side of the     
picture1 an equal number of  subordinate
 ones2 a law that extended itself to the
 most minute detail1  and bade          
buildings1 flowers1 clouds and pebbles1 
re-echo each other2 and  all this in the
 face of ,giotto1 whose ,navicella1     
,death of ,maria1 and  other works1 gave
 evidence that his composition had1 a   
century before1  disdained to move in   
the trammels which were now suffered to 
check that  of ,pietro ,perugino1 and   
for no inconsiderable time the          
composition of  ,raphael himself4       
,invention was not the element of       
,pietro4 ,his crucifixions1 depositions1
  burials1 ascensions1 and assumptions1 
are the brothers and sisters of  one    
family4 ,he was blamed for this         
sterility even in his own time1 and     
defended himself by saying that1 if he  
possessed little1 he owed  nothing1 and 
that what had pleased in one place could
 not displease in  another4 ,it does not
 indeed offend to find the scenery of   

his ,st4 ,peter  receiving the keys in  
the ,sistina1 repeated in the ,wedding  
of our ,lady  at ,perugia1 and to meet  
the beauties here concentrated which he 
had  singly scattered over various      
places4    ,pietro had vigour of        
constitution and length of life1 and if 
he profited  by the works of ,raphael1  
whom he outlived1 might have done so by 
those  of ,lionardo and ,buonarroti4 ,in
 few men so many contradictory qualities
  seem to have united3 ridiculed for a  
degree of avarice1 which1 it was  said1 
made him withhold the necessary drapery 
from his figures1 he is  yet allowed by 
,vasari to have been greedier to        
accumulate than sordid in  the use of   
wealth1 and to have pleased himself by  
marrying a beautiful  damsel1 whom he so
 much delighted in seeing elegantly     
dressed both  abroad and at home1 that  
he was often suspected of having dressed
 her  himself4 ,by her he had children1 
but no records enable us to judge of    
him as a parent4 ,that he was a good and

 kind master1 is proved by the  numerous
 scholars he reared1 and still more by  
the pride which the most  eminent and   
best of them took1 by introducing him   
more than once in his  works1 to        
perpetuate with his own gratitude the   
memory of his master4  ,with this       
kindness for his pupils1 ,pietro        
connected intolerance of  rivals and a  
mordacity of language1 which provoked   
,michael ,agnolo to  call him publicly a
 dunce 7goffo7 in art4 ,his life was    
spent in  receiving commissions from the
 clergy1 in meditating and composing    
subjects of devotion2 and yet1 if we    
believe his biographer1 he carried      
infidelity to a degree which resisted   
all arguments for the immortality  of   
the soul1 and with words dictated by an 
obstinacy worthy of his  marble         
brains1#ia rejected all invitations to  
better information4 ,of  the numerous   
scholars whom he had reared1 the greater
 part followed his  manner with servile 
attachment2 hence many of their works   

have been  ascribed to him1 by those who
 did not form their judgment at         
,perugia1 or  at ,florence in ,sta4     
,chiara and the ,ducal palace3 thus he  
pays forfeit  for many a holy family of 
,guerino da ,pistoia1 ,rocco ,zoppo1 or 
some other  of his ,tuscan scholars4    
,the best and least enthralled of his   
pupils  belong to the ,roman school3    
,bernardino ,pinturicchio1 less praised 
by  ,vasari than he deserves1 without   
the correctness of his master1 and with 
more ,gothic profusion of gold-lace and 
brocade1 possesses magnificence  of     
plan1 expression of countenance1 and    
propriety of composition4  ,familiar    
with ,raphael1 who was his assistant at 
,siena1 he made attempts  to imitate his
 grace1 and sometimes not without       
success3 at ,rome1 the  ,vatican and    
,araceli ,temple possess some of his    
works2 at ,siena he  painted1 in ten    
pictures1 the history of ,pio ,,ii4 and 
added one of ,pio  ,,iii4 his employer1 
and these1 with what he left in the     

,dome of ,spello1  are the best of his  
labours4    ,of at more independent and 
grander spirit was ,andrea ,luigi1 of   
,assisi1  surnamed ,l',ingegno1 the     
,genius4 ,he assisted ,pietro in the    
,change-hall  at ,perugia1 and there and
 in his ,prophets and ,sibyls at        
,assisi1  aggrandized and mellowed the  
style of his master to a degree1 which  
led  ,sandrart1 with others1 to ascribe 
the latter work to ,raphael2 but        
blindness checked his career in the     
bloom of life1 and left the art to      
,raphael without a rival4    ,domenico  
di ,paris ,alfani added1 likewise1 some 
improvements to the style  of ,pietro4  
,his name was nearly sunk in that of his
 son or brother  ,orazio1 and time and  
dates alone have re-asserted its right  
to some  excellent works long adjudged  
to the other2 and which1 were it not for
  an insipid sweetness of tone bordering
 on that of ,baroccio1 seem to have     
been inspired by the principles of      
,raphael4    ,of ,pietro's many         

ultramontane pupils1 ,giovanni          
,spagnuolo1 a ,spaniard1  called ,lo    
,spagna1 who settled at ,spoleto1 is    
considered by ,vasari as the  most      
eminent4 ,but all these names united    
confer less celebrity on  ,pietro1 than 
the felicity of having reared the powers
 of ,raffaello  ,sanzio1 if not the     
founder1 the great establisher of the   
,roman ,school4    ,raffaello ,sanzio1  
born at ,urbino on ,holy ,friday1 ,april
 #adhc1 was the son  of ,giovanni       
,sanzio1 named among the contemporaries 
and occasional  helpers of ,pietro1 in  
whose school1 after having imparted the 
first  rudiments of ,art to his son1    
conscious of his own inferiority1 he had
  the modesty to place him4 ,here his   
progress was so rapid that he soon      
rendered himself completely master of   
,vannucci's style1 soon became his      
favourite pupil1 soon his co-adjutor1   
and in a short period more than  his    
competitor3 for though the pictures     
which he painted at ,civit di  ,castello

 and ,perugia1 and are so amorously     
dwelt on by ,lanzi1 still  betray in    
composition1 design1 and colour1 the    
principles of the master1  they exhibit 
symptoms of that expression1 that       
beauty1 those simple  graces1 that      
refinement and precision of finish1     
which not only had  remained unknown to 
,pietro1 but in their purity were never 
attained by  any subsequent             
artist4--,some of these are perceivable 
already1 if  scantily1 in the           
,procession to ,golgotha1 preceded by   
horsemen and  attended by the ,madonna  
and her female train2 and still less    
perceptibly  in one of its predelle     
which exhibits the ,saviour held        
extended by his  ,mother1 ,magdalen and 
,john3 they cannot be mistaken in the   
predelle  which represents him among the
 sleeping disciples praying in the      
garden1--performances of his puerility1 
and most probably before he left  the   
school of ,pietro4    ,after an         
enumeration of ,raffaello's juvenile    

works at ,civit di ,castello  and at    
,perugia1 we are told that he who       
ascribed ,sanzio's art to length  of    
study and not to nature1 was not        
acquainted with the powers of his       
mind4#ib    ,that such was the verdict  
of ,michael ,agnolo1 is recorded by     
,condivi2 and  from aught that appears1 
it does not seem either invidious or    
incompetent4 ,if ,art be a complete     
system of invariable rules1 he only is  
a master of ,art who substantiates its  
precepts by equal uniformity of         
execution and taste2 and till he arrives
 at that point1 he can only be  said to 
have seized more or less of its parts in
 making approaches to  the whole1 and to
 be indebted to study and not to nature1
 if he put  himself at last in          
possession of it4    ,such was the      
progress of ,raffaello2 he arrived by   
degrees at style in  design1 by degrees 
at style in composition1 by degrees at  
invention1  expression1 and at what     
appeared to him colour4 ,his genius     

emancipated  him from the shackles of   
prescription and fashion1 rapidly1 if we
  compare his progress with the         
shortness of his life or the progress of
  the rest of his contemporaries1 but   
slowly1 if we compare him with  ,michael
 ,angelo1 whose system of ,art seems to 
have been born with him1  whose infancy1
 virility1 age1 exhibit one uniform     
principle4 ,every  element of the system
 displayed in the ,capella ,sistina and 
on the tombs  in ,s4 ,lorenzo1 may be   
traced in his essays at the garden of   
the ,medici  and in the ,holy ,family   
painted for ,angelo ,doni3 but what eye 
will  discover the future painter of the
 ,heliodorus1 or the composer of the    
,cartoons in the bridal arrangements of 
our ,lady's ,wedding at ,civit di       
,castello1 or even in the ,cartoons for 
the sacristy of the ,duomo at  ,sienna8 
,though the commission of painting in   
that place a series of the most         
memorable events in the life of ,pope   
,pio ,,ii4 7a ,siennese celebrated by   

the name of ,enea ,silvio17 had been    
given to ,pinturicchio1 who had         
sufficient modesty and taste to avail   
himself of the superior and  growing    
powers of his friend1--it has been asked
 what enterprise of  equal magnitude had
 in that infant state of ,art ever been 
consigned to  a single hand1 without    
considering that the co-operation of    
,raffaello  was adventitious1 and less  
owing to the opinion which he had       
established  of himself in the public   
mind than to the modesty of             
,pinturicchio4 ,and  had not ,luca      
,signorelli singly been entrusted with a
 work at ,orvieto1  whose tremendous and
 universally interesting subjects beyond
 comparison  excelled whatever the      
embassies1 the poetic and papal honours1
 the  canonization of a nun1 the        
ceremonies of a council1 the death of   
the  hero himself1 and the              
transportation of his corpse from       
,ancona to ,rome1  however varied by    
character1 impressed by the sensibility 

of the artist1  or raised above the     
heraldry of the times1 could pretend to 
achieve  beyond the precincts of        
,sienna8    ,whether ,raffaello         
furnished the whole of the ,cartoons for
 that work1 or  only part1 cannot be    
ascertained from the contradictory      
account of  ,vasari1#ic who in the life 
of ,pinturicchio asserts the first1 and 
in  that of ,raffaello1 the second4 ,as 
he1 however1 did not leave ,sienna for  
,florence till #aejd1 it is probable    
that he continued to assist his  friend 
in completing the whole historic series3
 the work itself is in  perfect         
preservation1 and though better informed
 eyes than those of  ,bottari#id might  
not be competent to discriminate the    
parts which  exclusively belong to      
,raffaello1 it is certain that in the   
progress of  the pictures there is an   
evident progress toward style4          
,aggrandisement of style might          
reasonably be supposed to have been the 
motive that drew ,raffaello to          

,florence4 ,the ,david of ,m4 ,angiolo  
was  placed2 he had begun his cartoon1  
which from its very inaccessibility1    
and the high character of the artist    
whom it opposed1 must have been an      
object of eager curiosity to the public1
 and of tremulous expectation to  the   
student4 ,florence was1 no doubt1 at    
that period divided into two  technic   
factions1 ,vinciists and ,bonarotists2  
it does not1 however1  appear that      
,raffaello adhered to either of the two 
leaders2 neither the  learning and      
energy of ,bonaroti1 nor the magic      
chiaroscuro of ,lionardo1  could divert 
the future painter of the passions from 
his course2 he  therefore attached      
himself to the study of ,masaccio1 as a 
more direct  guide to the drama4 ,the   
implicit application of that master's   
conceptions in the same or similar      
subjects1 when he was in the vigour  of 
his powers1 if it be the most celebrated
 proof of this1 is a less  convincing   
one than the similarity of taste and    

vein of thought which  pervades their   
works1 and might1 to men of bolder      
conjecture than ,i  pretend to1 prove   
that ,masaccio might have been what     
,raffaello was1 had  time and means     
conspired4    ,according to the account 
of ,vasari1#ie ,raffaello went three    
times to  ,florence3 the first time     
when1 according to the biographer1      
roused by  the fame of ,lionardo and ,m4
 ,angiolo1 he left the partnership of   
,pinturicchio1 #aejd--the date of the   
recommendatory letter with the  affixed 
name of ,joanna ,feltria1 ,duchess of   
,urbino1 addressed to the  ,gonfaloniere
 ,pietro ,soderini1 and said to be still
 preserved at ,florence  among the      
papers of the ,gaddi family4 ,supposing 
the date of the letter  7#ast ,october1 
#aejd7 to be correct1 and the writer of 
it to have been  acquainted with the    
person she recommends1 its genuineness1 
as ,fiorillo  observes1 is liable to    
strong suspicion4 ,its expressions might
 fit a lad  of ten or twelve years1 but 

certainly not a young man of            
one-and-twenty1  the age of ,raffaello1 
who had painted many pictures1 was at   
that very  time employed in a great     
public work1 and only three years after 
was  called to ,rome by ,giulio the     
,second4    ,though ,raffaello's talents
 had spread his name1 and attracted the 
attention and the wishes of ,giulio the 
,second to employ him in the  decoration
 of the ,vatican1 it may be presumed    
that the persuasive  influence of his   
relative1 ,bramante ,lazzari1 decided   
the ,pontiff to  distinguish him by that
 immediate and exclusive call to ,rome1 
which  raised him above all rival       
competition1 and opened the most        
splendid  period of his life1 most      
probably #aejg4 ,which was the picture  
he began  with1 would not have been     
contested by his biographers1           
encomiasts1 and  critics1 from ,vasari  
to ,mengs1 had they attended less to    
hearsay1 for  tradition it cannot be    
called1 than to the evidence of the     

works  themselves4 ,to date the dispute 
on the ,sacrament after the ,school of  
,athens1 equally inverts the progressive
 powers of the artist in  conception1   
taste1 style1 and execution4 ,everywhere
 that composition  betrays a young      
performer1 enviably successful in each  
individual part1  but whom experience   
has not yet enabled to spread an        
harmonious whole4  ,the connection of   
its upper with the lower scene1 less    
divided than rent  asunder1 depends     
entirely on a mental effort in the      
spectator4 ,the  parallelism of the     
celestial synod1 impresses more with    
formal monotony  than awful energy1 and 
the ostentatious abuse of gold impairs  
its  dignity4 ,in the lower part of the 
picture1 less sublime than dramatic1    
the artist moves in his own element2 its
 parallelism and its contrasts1  no     
longer the result of ceremonious        
symmetry1 but of the inspiring          
principle1 warms contemplation to       
sympathy1 and its characteristic        

correctness exhibits in ,raffaello's own
 unassisted1 or rather unalloyed  hand1 
the style of the ,school of ,athens1 the
 ,mass of ,bolsena1 the  female part of 
the ,heliodorus1 and with a felicity    
unattained in the  ,parnassus and the   
,attila1--the more ample outlines and   
the increased  volume of forms in the   
,angels1 and the ,heliodorus and his    
accomplices on  the foreground4         
,a description of two ,drawings by      
,raffaello1 from an account of      the 
,collection of ,drawings and ,prints in 
the ,gallery of ,duke      ,albrecht1 of
 ,sachsen ,teschen1 at ,vienna4#if      
,i4    ,two naked male figures1         
apparently studies from ,nature1 on one 
leaf1  drawn in red chalk3 one with     
nearly all his back turned to the eye1  
rests the left hand on his hip1 and with
 the right points to something  before  
him4 ,somewhat behind you see the other1
 sideways1 in perfect  repose1 leaning  
with both hands on a long spear-like    
staff2 the  background has some         

rudiments of a sketched head4 ,to the   
right of the  spectator1 at the side of 
the first figure1 you read1 #aeae1      
,raffahell di ,urbin der so hoch vom    
,pobst geacht ist gwest1 hat diese      
nakte ,bild gemacht1 und hat sy dem     
,albrecht ,drer gen ,nornberg  geschikt1
 in sein hand zu weissen4#ig    ,that   
,raffaello in his last years1 and when  
at the height of his  celebrity1 did    
exchange drawings with ,albert ,durer1  
is attested by the  biographers of both3
 and that the design here described is  
one of that  number1 is incontestably   
proved1 not only by the peculiarity of  
style1  the elegance and facility of    
outline1 the characteristic contrast of 
solid and muscular parts1 but by the    
identity of the handwriting with  the   
manuscripts of ,albert still existing at
 ,nrnberg1 his native city4    ,i       
therefore think it no improbable        
conjecture to suppose that ,raffaello1  
by transmitting this specimen of his    
hand to ,albert1 intended to make  him  

sensible of the difference between      
imitating ,nature and dryly  copying a  
model1 and so impress him with the      
necessity of contrasting  his outline   
according to the different texture of   
the parts in the  bodies before him4    
,this interesting leaf is one foot three
 inches three lines in height1  and ten 
inches eight lines in width1 ,vienna    
measure2 and in perfect  preservation4  
,,ii4    ,this design differs in nothing
 from the well-known picture of the     
,transfiguration1 but the absolute      
nudity of all the figures4    ,that     
,raffaello was accustomed to sketch in  
naked outlines1 may be known  from most 
collections that possess something of   
his hand2 but perhaps  none but this may
 be able to produce a design1 of a      
numerous and  complete composition1 in  
which every figure is rendered with     
anatomical  correctness and finished    
chiaroscuro4    ,another singularity of 
this important leaf is1 the             
characteristic  disparity of execution  

in the figures2 for though all are drawn
 with the  pen1 and on the first glance 
seem hatched in one uniform manner1 it  
soon  appears on close inspection1 that 
they cannot have been produced by the   
same hand4    ,the figures of the three 
,disciples on the ,mount1 especially the
  foreshortened one1 are treated with   
that spirited facility and  confident   
decision which always mark the pen of   
,raffaello4 ,those of the  ,saviour and 
the collateral prophets1 though drawn   
with less precision  and contours here  
and there1 by repeated strokes1         
corrected1 still  exhibit on the whole  
the same spirit1 facility1 and          
confidence of hand4  ,of the actors     
below1 the figure of ,john1 with hands  
crossed on his  breast1 and the three   
next to him have the same ,raffaellesque
  characteristics1 and so the whole of  
the females kneeling on the  foreground2
 but of the adjoining apostle1 with the 
book in his hand1 the  projected leg and
 foot are absolutely out of drawing2    

whilst the  ,demoniac and his father1   
with all the remaining figures1 drawn by
 mere  practice1 without a symptom of   
the master spirit1 give palpable proofs 
of a different hand4    ,it appears no  
improbable conjecture that ,raffaello1  
after settling the  plan and fully      
arranging the figures of his picture1   
drew the nudities  of this design as the
 bases of his draperies3 for this reason
 only1 the  principal parts of the      
forms1 and those muscles that would act 
most  visibly on the draperies1 are     
designed correctly1 and finished with   
decision2 whilst the heads1 and what was
 either to be naked in the  picture or  
did not act immediately on the drapery1 
remained in careless  and superficial   
lines4    ,that ,raffaello suffered     
parts of his ,transfiguration1 and in my
 opinion  some of the most important    
parts1 to receive all but the last      
finish from  a pupil1 if tradition had  
not told us1 there is ocular            
demonstration in  the picture itself4   

,the proportions of the ,demoniac's     
father are neglected  as a whole1 in    
relation of limb to limb1 and the figure
 is sacrificed to  place4 ,the face of  
,christ himself1 as it was seen in the  
,louvre1 is  unworthy of ,raffaello's   
hand and conception4#ih    ,the reason  
why some of the figures are drawn in the
 true spirit of the  artist1 and others 
in a bald and insignificant manner1 may 
be1 that  after slightly sketching the  
whole1 he gave his own finish in the    
design  to those parts only which he    
intended to execute with his own hand in
  the picture2 and less solicitous for  
the rest1 left them to the hand of  some
 inferior pupil4    ,the height of this 
extraordinary design is one foot eight  
inches four  lines2 its breadth one foot
 two inches five lines2 it is without   
injury4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,taddeo and ,federigo    
,zuccari1 the first declared mannerists 
of this  school1 sons of ,ottaviano     
,zuccari1 a mediocre painter of ,s4     

,angiolo in  ,vado1 came to ,rome       
successively1 formed a school1 and      
filled towns and  states with an immense
 farrago of good1 tolerable1 and bad    
pictures4  ,from the instructions of    
,pompeo da ,fano and ,giacomone da      
,faenza1 but  chiefly from an obstinate 
study of ,raffaello's works1 ,taddeo1 at
 no  protracted period1 gathered enough 
to diffuse over his own1 an air1  though
 not reality1 of style1 and to          
anticipate by contrivance and  facility 
the rewards which time owes to invention
 and genius4 ,courting  the senses of   
the multitude1 he became the hero of the
 day2 they saw  their portraits in his  
faces1 their limbs in his forms1 their  
action in  his attitudes2 his draperies1
 hair1 beards1 had a cut of fashion4    
,the  simplicity of his disposition is  
often contrasted by half figures        
emerging from his foregrounds2 perhaps  
less from a principle of  imitating his 
more remote predecessors1 than to       
invigorate the effect of  his           

chiaroscuro1 a method not unknown to    
,parmegiano4    ,rome possesses vast    
works in fresco of ,taddeo2 among the   
best of these  are some ,gospel stories 
at the ,consolazione4 ,he seldom painted
 in oil1  and less commendably in large 
than small3 some of these are cabinet   
pictures of exquisite finish1--such a   
one1 7formerly in the collection  of the
 ,duke of ,urbino1 but more recently at 
,osimo in the ,palace  ,leopardi17 is   
the ,nativity of the ,saviour1 and in   
,taddeo's very best  style4 ,but the    
work on which his fame chiefly rests1   
are the paintings  of the ,palazzo      
,farnese1 at ,caprarola 7engraved in a  
moderate volume1 by  ,prenner1 #agdh74  
,they represent the ,feats of the       
,farnese ,family1 in peace  and war2 to 
which are joined other stories1 both    
sacred and profane2  but what attracts  
attention most1 is the celebrated       
,stanza del ,sonno1  an apartment       
dedicated to ,sleep1 replete with a     
great variety of  allegoric imagery1    

suggested to him by ,annibale ,caro1 in 
a long1 quaint  letter1 printed among   
his familiar ones1 and reproduced among 
the  ,lettere ,pittoriche1 t4 iii4 l4   
#ii4    ,dissimilar in the pursuits of  
life1 ,taddeo resembled ,raffaello in   
death2  he completed thirty-seven years1
 and obtained a monument close to       
,sanzio1 in the ,rotonda4    ,his       
brother and pupil ,federigo1 inferior in
 design1 resembles him in  taste1 though
 more mannered1 more capricious in      
conceit1 more crowded in  composition4  
,he completed what death had prevented  
,taddeo from finishing  in the ,sala    
,regia1 that of ,farnese1 the ,trinit   
de' ,monti1 and  elsewhere1 with the    
airs of heir-at-law to his brother's    
talents4 ,thus  he raised an opinion of 
capacity for greater enterprise1 and was
 invited  by ,francis ,i4 to paint the  
great ,cupola of the metropolitan church
 at  ,florence1 which death alone had   
saved from ,vasari's hands4 ,there      
,federigo painted more than three       

hundred figures of fifty feet in  height
 each1 besides that of ,lucifer1 so     
enormous1 to use his own  phrase1 that  
it makes the other figures appear       
infants2#ii--;figures1  he adds1 larger 
than the world ever witnessed before in 
,art4 ,so  little1 however1 hugeness    
excepted1 is there to admire in this    
work1  that at the time of ,pier da     
,cortona1 a painting of that master     
would  have been substituted for it1 had
 it not been feared that he would not   
live long enough to terminate the whole4
 ,after the ,cupola1 every work of      
consequence at ,rome appeared his due1  
and he was recalled by ,gregorio to     
paint the ceiling of the ,paolina1 and  
give a successor to ,michael  ,angelo4  
,it was at that period1 that1 on a      
charge preferred against him  by some   
courtiers or domestics of ,gregorio1 he 
painted and exhibited the  picture of   
,calumny1 and his accusers with         
asses-ears1 which raised a  clamour that
 obliged him to fly from ,rome4 ,during 

his exile1 which  lasted some years1 he 
visited ,flanders1 ,holland1 ,england2  
had a call  even from ,venice to paint a
 subject in the ,ducal ,palace1 was     
everywhere  caressed and remunerated1   
and1 the ,pope being mitigated1 returned
 to  reassume his interrupted labours in
 the ,capella2 the best work perhaps    
which1 without the assistance of his    
brother1 he has produced at ,rome1      
though the larger altar-piece of ,s4    
,lorenzo in ,damaso1 and that of the    
,angioli at ,ges1 with some others      
dispersed in other churches1 may claim  
their share of merit4 ,he built a house 
on ,monte ,pincio1 rapidly and with  the
 assistance of his scholars furnished   
with family portraits1  conversations1  
and other whims in fresco1 and left to  
prove him a  trifler in ,art1 and the   
leader of decay4    ,invited by ,philip 
,,ii4 he went to ,madrid1 but failed to 
please2 his place  was supplied by      
,tibaldi1 and he sent back with a good  
pension to ,italy4  ,towards the end of 

his life he made another journey1       
scouring the  principal towns of ,italy1
 and leaving his works wherever he could
 place  them3 of these the ,assumption  
of the ,madonna in an oratorio at       
,rimini on  which he wrote his name1 and
 her ,death at ,sta4 ,maria in ,acumine 
of the  same place1 with figures more   
than usually studied1 deserve notice4   
,his  ,presepio in the ,duomo of        
,foligno1 has simplicity and grace2 nor 
less  have the two stories relative to  
the ,madonna1 painted for the ,duke of  
,urbino in a chapel at ,loretto4 ,the   
,miracle of the ,snow1 in the library   
of the ,cistercians at ,milano1 is a    
multitudinous composition filled with   
portraits as usual1 variously coloured  
and well preserved4 ,the ,borromean     
,college at ,pavia1 has a saloon painted
 in fresco from incidents in the  life  
of ,s4 ,carlo3 the most approved of     
these is the ,saint praying in his      
recess3 nor might the other two1 that of
 the consistory in which he  received   

the ,cardinal's hat1 and the ,pest of   
,milano1 want commendation  had they    
overflowed less in figures4 ,at ,torino 
he painted for the  ,jesuits a ,st4     
,paul2 began to ornament a gallery for  
the ,duke1 ,charles  ,emanuel2 published
 his ,idea de' ,pittori ,scultori ed    
,architetti1 and  dedicated it to the   
,duke4 ,this was followed1 at his return
 to ,lombardy1  by two other treatises2 
,la dimora di ,parma del ,sig4 ,cav4    
,federico  ,zuccaro2 and ,il passaggio  
per ,italia1 colla dimora di ,parma del 
,sig4  ,cav4 ,federigo ,zuccari1 both   
printed at ,bologna #afjh4 ,next year1  
on his  return to ,rome1 he fell sick at
 ,ancona1 and there died4 ,his talents1 
which extended to sculpture and         
architecture1 were inferior to his      
fortune1 which preceded that of all his 
contemporaries1 and was in a  great     
measure the effect of personal          
qualities2 lordly aspect and  demeanour1
 some literary culture1 persuasive      
manners1 and a liberality  that absorbed

 the wealth which his hand had          
accumulated4    ,emulation seems to have
 been his chief motive of writing3 he   
longed to  break a lance with ,vasari1  
whom1 from whatever cause1 as appears   
from  the postils tacked to the ,vite1  
he disliked4 ,they have been sometimes1 
especially in the ,life of ,taddeo1     
quoted and treated as effusions of  envy
 and malignity by the annotator of the  
,roman edition4 ,to prove his           
superiority over the ,tuscan1 he chose a
 style as obscure and inflated as  that 
of ,giorgio is diffuse and plain2 the   
whole of the treatise printed  at       
,torino reels in a round of internal and
 external design1 and contains  less    
precept than peripatetic speculation1   
which rendered the schools of  that day 
more loquacious than learned4 ,his      
language runs over in  intellective#ajj 
and formative conceits1 in substantial  
substances and  formal forms2 even the  
titles of his chapters are larded with  
equal  fulsomeness of phrase1 like that 

of the ,x,i,ith41 that philosophy and to
  philosophize1 is metaphoric and       
similitudinarious design4 ,these are the
  bait of fools--for none but fools can 
hope to gather meaning from the  bubbles
 of sophistry1 or stoop to disentangle  
etymologies which derive  disegno from  
,dei signum1 the sign of ,god6    ,this 
treatise was probably the offspring of  
his presidency in the  ,academy of ,st4 
,luke2 for office gives insolence4 ,the 
,academy dates its  origin from the     
,pontificate of ,gregorio ,,xiii41 who  
granted the brief of  its foundation#aja
 to ,muziano4 ,it had not1 however1 its 
full effect  till after the return of   
,zuccari from ,spain1 who put it in     
force and was  unanimously declared     
,principe1 or ,president4 ,that was his 
day of  triumph2 he returned from the   
inauguration in the church of ,s4       
,martino  at the foot of the            
,campidoglio1 accompanied by a great    
concourse of  artists and litterators to
 his own house1 where shortly after he  

built a  saloon for the accommodation of
 the ,academy1 in whose praise he       
overflowed in prose and poems1 more than
 once quoted in his larger  treatise2   
and to seal his extreme affection1      
bequeathed like ,muziano1 in  case his  
own line should fail1 the bulk of his   
fortune to the  establishment4          
,giuseppe ,cesari1 sometimes            
distinguished by the name of ,il        
,cavaliere  d',arpino1#ajb his native   
place1 was in art what ,marino was in   
poetry--brilliancy without substance is 
the characteristic of both1 and  either 
proved the ancient observation1 that    
,arts and ,republics receive  the       
greatest damage from the greatest       
capacities4 ,the talent of ,cesari      
bubbled up from his infancy1 made him an
 object of admiration1 procured  him    
through ,f4 ,danti1 the protection of   
,gregorio ,,xiii41 and in a short  time 
the reputation of the first master at   
,rome4 ,less than the felicity  with    
which he is said to have executed some  

pictures from certain  designs of ,m4   
,agnolo1 in the possession of ,giacomo  
,rocca1 his exuberance  alone was       
sufficient to establish supremacy of    
name among a race who  measured genius  
by quantity1 and science by confidence  
of method4 ,if his  numbers were rabble1
 he arranged them with the skill of a   
general2 if  common-place furnished him 
with features1 arrogance of touch       
brushed  them into notice2 and the      
horses which he drew with equal truth   
and  fire1 supplied the incorrectness or
 imbecility of the rider4 ,the          
excellence of his colour in fresco1 the 
gaiety which he spread over a  vast     
surface1 hid from the common eye        
monotony of manner1 poverty of          
character1 and want of finish in the    
detail of parts4    ,they were observed1
 reprobated and opposed by ,m4,a4       
,caravaggio1 ,a4  ,caracci1 and the few 
who saw and thought with them4 ,quarrels
 arose1 and  challenges were given3 that
 of ,caravaggio1 ,cesari refused to     

accept1  because he had not yet been    
knighted1 and ,annibale rejected that of
  ,cesari1 because1 said he1 ,i know no 
other weapon than my pencil4 ,they  both
 experienced the difference of the      
difficulties that attend  legislation   
and reform of taste1 and were left      
ineffectually to struggle  with an      
empiric1 who outlived either upwards of 
thirty years1 and then  left a race     
worse than himself behind him4          
,,footnotes3    #hi ,bramante4    #ij   
,lett4 ,perug4 ,v4    #ia ,cervello di  
porfido4    #ib ,see ,vasari on ,michael
 ,angelo's observations on ,tizian4     
#ic ,fece li ,schizzi e i ,cartoni di   
tutte le ,istorie4        ,vita di      
,pinturicchio4    ,fece alcuni de'      
disegni e ,cartoni di quell' opera4     
,vita di ,raffaello4      #id ,in the   
picture on the facciata1 ,bottari says1 
,si vede non solo il  disegno1 ma in    
molte teste anche il colore di          
,raffaello4    #ie ,essendo con         
,pinturicchio a ,siena--messo da parte  

quell' opera1 e  ogni utile e commodo   
suo1 se ne venne a ,fiorenza4 ,morta la 
,madre1 part  e and a ,urbino1 e        
accomodate le cose sue1 ritorn a        
,perugia4 ,prima che  partisse1 c4--,cos
 venuto a ,firenze1 fece il cartone per 
il quadro di  ,madonna ,atalanta        
,baglioni2 dipinse per ,a4 ,doni e ,dom4
 ,canigiani2 studi  le cose vecchie di  
,masaccio2 acquist miglioramento dai    
lavori di  ,lionardo e di ,michelagnolo2
 ebbe stretta domestichezza con ,fr     
,bartolomeo di ,s4 ,marco2 ma in su la  
maggior frequenza di questa pratica  fu 
richiamato a ,perugia1 dove fin l'opera 
della gia detta ,madonna  ,atalanta     
,baglioni1 c4--,finito questo lavoro e  
tornato a ,fiorenza1 gli  fu dai ,dei   
cittadini ,fiorentini allegata una      
tavola1 c4 ma chiamato da  ,bramante si 
trasfer a ,roma4--,vasari1 ,vita di     
,raffaello da ,urbino1 ed4  ,firenze1   
#agga4 p4 #afc1 #afg1 #agb4             
,according to this account of ,vasari1  
,raffaelle went three times to          

,florence2 the first time1 when roused  
by the fame of ,lionardo and  ,michael  
,angelo1 he left ,pinturicchio #aejd1   
and continued at ,florence  till he was 
called away by the death of his mother  
to ,urbino1 from  whence1 having settled
 his affairs1 and painted certain       
things1 he went  to ,perugia1 and after 
some public works there1 returned again 
to  ,florence with a commission from ,a4
 ,baglioni4 ,this is the period fixed by
  ,vasari of his acquaintance with      
,bartolomeo di ,s4 ,marco1 the          
progressive  improvements of his style1 
and his pictures for ,a4 ,doni and ,d4  
,canigiani1 and must have been his      
longest stay in that capital1 though    
interrupted by a new call to ,perugia1  
during which he finished the  picture of
 the ,burial of ,christ1 now in the     
,borghese ,palace1 for the  ,chapel     
,baglioni1 and then returned for the    
third time to ,florence4    #if ,from   
the ,annalen der bildenden ,knste fr die
 ,osterreichischen  ,staaten1 ,von ,hans

 ,rudolph ,fessli4 ,erster theil4 ,wien4
 #ahja4 ,annals of  the ,plastic ,arts  
in ,austria4    #ig #aeae4 ,raffahell di
 ,urbin1 who was so highly esteemed by  
the ,pope1  has made these naked        
figures1 and has sent them to ,albrecht 
,durer at  ,nornberg1 to show him his   
hand4    #ih ,this observation is       
founded on close inspection of this     
picture1 in  the room of the            
,restoration1 in #ahjb4 ,the face of    
,christ not only  appeared no longer    
that which all thought it to be who had 
seen it at ,s4  ,pietro in ,montorio1   
but even inferior to that in the print  
of ,dorigny1  had assumed an expression 
nearer allied to meanness than to       
dignity1  without sublimity austere1 and
 forbidding4 ,it is probable1 however1  
that  these changes originated under the
 sacrilegious hands of the restorers1   
who had before destroyed the better part
 of the ,madonna di ,foligno4    #ii ,s 
smisurata1 che fa parere le altre1      
figure di ,bambini1 c4 ,idea  de'       

,pittori1 ,scultori1 e ,architetti1     
inserted among the ,lettere             
,pittoriche1 t4 vi4 p4 #adg4    #ajj    
,disegno interiore ed esteriore2        
concetti intellettivi e formativi2      
sostanze sostanziali1 forme             
formali4--,titolo del capitolo ,,xii4   
che la  filosofia e il filosofare       
disegno metaforico                      
similitudinario4--,disegno1  ,segno di  
,dio4    #aja ,baglioni1 ,vita di       
,muziano4    #ajb #aefj-afdj4           
,,the ,,school ,,of ,,naples4           
,social refinements and elegance of     
taste in arts had shed their  splendour 
over the ,hesperian colonies of ,greece 
long before ,rome had  learnt to value  
more than the ploughshare and the sword2
 ,herculaneum1  ,stabi1 ,pompeii1 with  
their still remaining multitude and     
variety of  legitimate monuments1 prove 
that a technic school of eminence       
flourished  in the ,neapolitan states   
after they had been incorporated with   
the ,roman  empire2 and what time has   

spared or tradition recorded of the     
attempts  made by ,goths1 ,greeks1      
,longobards1 ,saracens1 and ,normans1 to
 repair  their waste of desolation1     
sufficiently shows1 that though the art 
itself at intervals vanished1 the craft 
still subsisted during the gloom  of the
 middle ages4    ,but not to soil these 
pages with too much legend1 we date the 
revival of  ,neapolitan art from the    
name of ,tommaso de' ,stefani1 born     
#abcj1 the  contemporary of ,cimabue and
 ,charles of ,anjou1 who1 though on his 
passage  through ,florence he had been  
led to visit that object of ,tuscan     
dotage1  on his establishment at ,naples
 employed ,tommaso in his new-founded   
church2 a questionable honour1 of which 
a native writer#ajc avails  himself to  
insinuate the superiority of his        
countryman over ,cimabue1 as  if the    
suffrage of a prince could defeat the   
evidence of works1 or stand  against the
 verdict of ,marco da ,siena1#ajd who   
from them1 judged him  inferior to the  

,florentine in grandeur of style and    
breadth4    ,the favours of ,charles    
were continued to ,tommaso by his       
successor1 and  emulated by the         
principal families of the city2 the     
chapel de' ,minutoli1  named by         
,boccaccio1 was storied by him with     
subjects drawn from the  ,saviour's     
passion2 and others from the life of ,s4
 ,gennaro1 and some  sainted bishops1 by
 his hand1 are said still to exist in a 
roomy chapel  of the ancient ,episcopio4
 ,some semblance of the same saint in   
,s4 ,angelo  a ,nido1 formerly ,s4      
,michele1 is considered as his work1 and
 some  fragments have survived of       
others1 with dates of #abgj and #abge4  
,he was  the master of ,filippo         
,tesauro1 who painted in the church of  
,s4 ,restituta  the life of ,s4         
,nicholas the ,hermit1 the only fresco  
of his which has  reached our time4#aje 
,about #acbe1 ,giotto was invited by    
,king ,robert to ,naples1 for the       
purpose  of painting the church of ,sta4

 ,chiara2 he came and filled it with    
,gospel history1 and apocalyptic        
mysteries1 from inventions1 said in the 
time of ,vasari to have been formerly   
communicated to him by ,dante4 ,these   
works1 because they darkened the church1
 were whitewashed in the  beginning of  
the last century1 with the exception of 
a ,madonna called  della ,grazia1 and   
some other sainted image1 preserved by  
female piety4  ,giotto conducted other  
works in ,sta4 ,maria ,coronata1 and    
still others1  which no longer exist in 
the ,castle dell' ,uovo4 ,maestro       
,simone1 a  ,cremonese1 according to    
some1 but more probably a native of     
,naples1 was  the chosen partner of     
these works1 and from so distinguished a
 choice1  acquired some celebrity       
himself3 from the resemblance of his    
style to  ,tesauro and to ,giotto1 he   
might have been the pupil of either1 and
 was  perhaps of both4 ,certain it is1  
that after the departure of ,giotto1 he 
received from ,robert and ,queen        

,sancia1 many important commissions for 
various churches1 and especially that of
 ,s4 ,lorenzo2 there he painted  ,robert
 receiving the crown from his brother   
,lewis1 ,bishop of ,toulouse1  but died 
before he could finish the compartment  
of the chapel dedicated  to that prelate
 after his demise and canonization4     
,though confessedly  inferior in        
invention1 character1 and suavity of    
tone1 he has nearly  reached ,giotto in 
some of his works3 such as the dead     
,christ supported  by his mother1 in the
 church dell' ,incoronata1 and the      
,madonna with the  ,infant1 on a        
gold-ground1 now in the convent of the  
church della ,croce1  supposed by some  
to have been painted in oil4#ajf        
,simone had a son1 ,francesco di        
,simone1 who died in #acfj4 ,his works  
are  not numerous1 but what has reached 
our days in the ,capitolo di ,s4        
,lorenzo1 is distinguished by an air of 
superior dignity and grace4 ,two  other 
pupils of ,simone1 ,gennaro di ,cola and

 ,stefanone1 a similarity of  manner    
associated in several public works1 such
 as the chapel of ,s4  ,lewis1 begun by 
,simone1 and what still exists in ,s4   
,giovanni da  ,carbonara of subjects    
relative to our ,lady4 ,they are        
similar1 however1  without monotony4    
,gennaro1 impressed by the difficulties 
of his art1 and  bent to overcome each  
obstacle by labour1 appears precise1    
studied1 and  hard4 ,stefanone1 guided  
by a spirit which in better days might  
have been  called genius1 boldly        
executed what he had conceived with     
warmth4    ,the pretended improvements  
of ,colantonio del ,fiore1 7born #aceb1 
died  #addd17 a pupil of ,francesco1    
neither appear to have been considerable
  enough in themselves1 nor sufficiently
 authenticated1 to place him at  the    
head of a new epoch in style4 ,those    
barbarous relics of the middle  ages1   
that meagerness of contour1 dryness of  
colour1 and want of  perspective1 which 
he is said to have abolished1 had in a  

great measure  vanished before1 at the  
glance of ,giotto4 ,the gold grounds    
continued  after both2#ajg and if in    
enumerating some of his works his       
encomiast  is in doubt whether they may 
not rather belong to ,m4 ,simone1 what  
is it  but a tacit confession1 that the 
art had made no considerable progress   
during the course of a century8    ,the 
life of ,colantonio grasped nearly the  
half of two centuries1 and the          
refinements for which he has been       
extolled must be looked for in those  of
 his works1 on whose authenticity there 
is no hesitation1 produced on  the verge
 of life4 ,such is the ,madonna1 c4 in  
,sta4 ,maria ,nuova1 a  compound of     
harmonious hues1 though painted on a    
gold ground2 and still  more in ,s4     
,lorenzo1 ,saint ,jerome drawing a thorn
 from the lion's foot1  the date #adcf1 
a picture full of truth1 in high esteem 
with foreigners1  and for its better    
preservation removed by the fathers of  
the convent  from the church itself to  

the sacristy4 ,he had a scholar in      
,angiolo  ,franco1 who has obtained the 
praise of ,marco di ,siena1 for having  
invigorated the most successful         
imitation of ,giotto by the tone and    
chiaroscuro of his master4    ,but a    
name of far greater importance to art is
 that of ,antonio ,solario1  commonly   
called ,lo ,zingaro1 the reputed        
son-in-law of ,colantonio4 ,his  story1 
still more romantic than that which in  
,quintin ,metsis transformed  a         
blacksmith to a painter1 tells that     
,solario1 bred to the forge1 became     
enamoured of a daughter of ,colantonio1 
forsook the anvil1 and by  successful   
submission to a ten years' trial of     
painting1 and the  mediation of a queen1
 obtained the idol of his soul4 ,let    
those who told  the tale vouch for its  
truth3 what is less disputable1 and     
interests  this history more1 are his   
travels from ,naples to ,bologna1 where 
for  several years he studied under     
,lippo ,dalmasio1 and from thence over  

,italy1 to become acquainted with the   
principles of other masters2 those  of  
,vivarini at ,venice2 of ,bicci at      
,florence2 of ,galasso at ,ferrara2 of  
,pisanello and ,gentile da ,fabriano at 
,rome4 ,these two1 it is believed  that 
he assisted1 and ,luca ,giordano        
asserted that some heads in their       
pictures at the ,lateran bore the       
legitimate marks of ,solario's pencil4  
,in heads he excelled2 he inspired them1
 according to ,marco da ,siena1  with   
the air of life4 ,in perspective1 if the
 times be weighed1 his skill  was       
considerable2 in composition not        
contemptible4 ,there is variety in  his 
scenery2 and if his dresses be not      
drapery1 they are at least  naturally   
folded4 ,in the design of the           
extremities he was less happy2  his     
attitudes often border on caricature1 as
 his colour on crudeness4 ,on  his      
return to ,naples1 nine years after his 
departure1 applauded by  ,colantonio and
 the public1 he enjoyed the patronage of

 ,king ,alfonso4 ,his  greatest work is 
the ,life of ,s4 ,benedetto1 in the     
compartments of the  cloister of ,s4    
,severino1--frescoes filled with an     
incredible variety of  objects4 ,other  
churches possess some altarpieces by    
him3 he left many  portraits and some   
very attractive ,madonnas2 but in the   
,dead ,christ of  ,s4 ,domenico         
,maggiore1 and the ,s4 ,vincent of ,s4  
,pier ,martire1 including  some stories 
of that ,saint's life1 he is said to    
have excelled himself4  ,zingaro reared 
a school1 which with more or less       
felicity disseminated  his principles   
for nearly half a century1 and retained 
his name4 ,of its  pupils1 ,niccola di  
,vito1 long forgot in his works1 is     
barely remembered  as a buffoon2 ,simone
 ,papa and ,angiotillo di ,roccadirame1 
scarcely  emerged to mediocrity2 ,pietro
 and ,ippolito 7,polito7 del ,donzello  
deserve  less transient attention4      
,sons-in-law of ,angiolo ,franco1 and   
pupils of  ,giuliano da ,majano in      

architecture1 they were1 according to   
,vasari1#ajh  employed by him to        
decorate with paintings the fabric of   
,poggio ,reale1  which he had           
constructed for ,king ,alfonso1 where1  
continuing to operate  under his son and
 successor ,ferdinand1 they represented 
the story of the  ,conspiracy formed in 
against him1 a work celebrated by       
,jacopo  ,sannazaro4#aji ,ippolito1     
alone or with his brother1 filled the   
refectory of ,sta4 ,maria ,nuova with a 
number of subjects for the same  prince1
 and then retired to ,florence1 where1  
not long after1 he died4  ,piero        
remained at ,naples distinguished and   
followed4 ,their style is that  of their
 master1 but with more suavity of       
colour4 ,the first successful  imitation
 of friezes1 trophies1 and storied      
basso-relievoes in  chiaroscuro1 may    
with probability be dated from them4    
,that ,pietro  excelled in portraits1 is
 evident from some animated heads saved 
among  the ruins of certain frescoes of 

his on a wall of the ,palace ,matalona4 
,both were1 however1 surpassed in tone1 
and force of light and shade1 and       
mellowness of outline1 by ,silvestro de 
,buoni1 their pupil1 whose  pictures1   
scattered over the temples of ,naples1  
have been enumerated by  ,dominici4     
,silvestro himself yields to ,tesauro of
 questionable name1#aaj  whose works    
approach much nearer to the succeeding  
epoch than the united  labours of his   
predecessors in vigour of invention1 in 
judgment1  propriety of attitude1 truth 
of expression1 and general harmony of   
the  whole1 with a relief beyond what   
seems credible in an artist             
unacquainted with other schools and     
other works than those of his  native   
place4 ,such was his power of execution1
 that it challenged the  wonder of ,luca
 ,giordano in the vigour of his career1 
when he  contemplated the ceiling of    
,san ,giovanni de' ,pappacodi1 where    
,tesauro  had painted the ,seven        
,sacraments4 ,they have been minutely   

described1 and  the portraits of        
,alfonso ,,ii4 and of ,ippolita ,sforza1
 whom he is said to  have represented1  
for the work itself is no more1 in the  
,sacrament of  ,matrimony1 afford some  
light as to the time in which it was    
painted4  ,another of his works1 equally
 praised1 in the ,chapel ,tocco of the  
,episcopal church1 which represented a  
series of subjects from the life  of    
,saint ,asprenas1 perished under the    
hands of one of ,solimena's pupils4  ,he
 was the father or uncle of ,raimo      
,epifanio ,tesauro1 a considerable      
,frescante1 who1 according to           
,stanzioni1 rekindled the evanescent    
spark  of ,zingaro's principles4 ,some  
few vestiges of his works remain in     
,sta4  ,maria ,nuova and ,monte         
,vergine4 ,his dates reach from #adhj to
 #aeja1 and he  may be considered as the
 last of this school1 for ,gio4 ,antonio
 d',amato  acquired fame by abandoning  
its style for that of ,pietro ,perugino4
    ,such were the masters that marked  

the first epoch of the ,neapolitan      
school2 neither inconsiderable in       
number1 nor contemptible in progress1   
for a state nearly always perplexed by  
war3 it derives1 however1 its  greatest 
lustre from having produced within the  
state the memorable  artist whose       
resolution and perseverance made ,italy 
mistress of the  new-discovered method  
in oil-painting1 and changed the face of
 art4#aaa    ,antoniello1 a ,messinese1 
of the ,antonj family1 universally known
 by the  name of ,antoniello da         
,messina1 educated1 according to        
,vasari1 to the art  at ,rome1 returned 
from that place to ,sicily1 and after   
some successful  practice at ,palermo   
and ,messina1 sailed to ,naples1 where  
he saw an  historical picture painted in
 oil by ,john ab ,eyk1 which had been   
presented or disposed of to king        
,alfonso1 by some ,florentine traders4  
,charmed by the method1 ,antoniello     
forgot every other concern1 passed  into
 ,flanders1 and by close attendance1 and

 some presents of ,italian  designs1    
captivated the heart of the old painter1
 who made him  completely master of the 
secret1 and soon after died4 ,antoniello
 then  left ,flanders1 and after some   
months spent at ,messina1 repaired to   
,venice1 where he practised with general
 admiration of his new method2          
communicated it to ,domenico there1 and 
he at ,florence to the felon  ,castagna1
 till by gradual progress it embraced   
all ,italy4 ,what remains  to be related
 of ,antoniello1 is reserved for the    
history of the ,venetian  school1 to    
which by residence and practice he      
properly belongs1 and  which alone      
carried his new discovered method to the
 height it was  capable of4    ,the     
second epoch of ,neapolitan art was     
auspicious4 ,p4 ,perugino had  painted  
for the ,cathedral an ,assumption of the
 ,virgin1 now lost1 a work  which led to
 a better taste4 ,already1 ,amato1 as we
 observed1 had  abandoned the manner of 
,zingaro to follow ,pietro1 though his  

style had  still too much of the former 
to form more than the connecting link   
between the two epochs2 when ,raffaello 
and his school came into vogue1  ,naples
 was the first of exterior towns to     
profit by them1 and they1  about the    
middle of the century1 were followed by 
some adherents of  ,michael ,angiolo2   
nor till near #afjj1 was any attention  
paid to other  masters1 if we except    
,tiziano4    ,the new series begins with
 ,andrea ,sabbatini#aab of ,salerno4    
,smitten  with the style of ,p4         
,perugino1 ,andrea set out for ,perugia1
 to enter his  school2 but hearing some 
painters at an inn on the road talk of  
,raffaello and the ,vatican1 he altered 
his mind and route1 and went to  ,rome4 
,though not long under the guidance of  
,sanzio1 being by the death  of his     
father1 #aeac1 obliged to return to     
,naples1 he returned another  man4 ,he  
is said to have painted with ,raffaello 
at the ,pace and in the  ,vatican4 ,a   
good copyist1 and what is rare1 a better

 imitator1 if he did  not soar with     
,giulio1 he kept pace with the best of  
that school1 and  excelled some in      
correctness1 and a style equally remote 
from  affectation and manner1 with depth
 of chiaroscuro1 breadth of drapery1    
and a colour which has defied time4 ,his
 works in oil and fresco1  scattered    
over the metropolis and the kingdom at  
large1 have been  celebrated as miracles
 of art1 though now either lost or      
greatly  impaired4    ,of his scholars  
all persevered not in his manner3 thus  
,cesare ,turco1 as  commendable in oil  
as unsuccessful in fresco1 drew nearer  
to ,p4  ,perugino4 ,more of ,andrea was 
retained by ,francesco ,santafede1 the  
father  and master of                   
,fabrizio1--painters whom few of that   
school equal in  colour1 and so uniform 
that their works can only be            
discriminated by the  superior tinge and
 chiaroscuro of the father4 ,but the    
scholar who most  resembled ,andrea was 
one ,paolillo1 whose works1 nearly all  

ascribed to  his master1 till restored  
to their real author by ,dominici1 leave
 little  doubt of his right to the first
 honours of that school1 had his career 
not been intercepted by a violent death1
 occasioned by intrigue4  ,polidoro     
,caldara1 of ,caravaggio1 escaped to    
,naples in #aebg1 from the  sack of     
,rome1 but not1 as ,vasari with less    
information than credulity  relates1 to 
starve4 ,received in the house of       
,andrea1 formerly his fellow  scholar1  
he soon acquired acquaintance1          
commissions1 and even formed  pupils    
before his departure for ,sicily4 ,he   
had been celebrated for his             
chiaroscuros at ,rome3 at ,naples and   
,messina he attempted colour4 ,the      
shadowy and pallid specimens he has     
left1 leave a doubt whether he would    
ever have arrived at a degree of        
strength or brilliancy worthy of        
invention and style1 though he has been 
praised with enthusiasm by  ,vasari for 
the colour of the ,christ led to        

,calvary1 a numerous  composition1 and  
the last before his assassination at    
,messina4    ,gian ,bernardo ,lama left 
the school of ,amato to attach himself  
to  ,polidoro1 whom he more than once   
imitated with sufficient success to     
incur the suspicion of having been      
assisted by the master3 he had1         
however1 more sweetness than energy1    
and1 in the sequel1 was noted for  his  
opposition to the vigorous inroads of   
the ,tuscan style and the  prevalence of
 ,marco di ,pino4    ,francesco         
,rubiales1 a ,spaniard1 from his        
felicity of imitation called            
,polidorino1 is likewise named in       
,naples among the scholars of ,caldara1 
whom he assisted in painting for the    
,orsini1 and singly conducted  several  
works at ,monte ,oliveto1 and elsewhere1
 the greater part of which  are no more4
    ,there are who class with the       
scholars of ,polidoro1 ,marco ,cardisco1
  called ,marco ,calabrese4#aac ,him    
,vasari prefers to all the natives of   

that epoch1 and admires as a plant      
sprung from a soil not its own3 he  knew
 not1 perhaps1 that1 of ,magna ,grecia1 
modern ,calabria was the spot  most     
favoured by the arts4 ,possessed of a   
dextrous hand and florid  colour1       
,cardisco spread his labours over       
,napoli and the ,state3 of what         
remains1 the most praised is the        
,dispute of ,saint ,augustine at        
,aversa4  ,gio4 ,batista ,crescione and 
,lionardo ,castellani are slightly      
mentioned by  ,vasari as his scholars4  
,gio4 ,francesco ,penni1 called ,il     
,fattore1 came to ,naples some time     
after ,polidoro2 and1 during the short  
time which he lived1 for he died  in    
#aebh1 contributed to the advancement of
 the art by leaving his great  copy of  
,raffaello's ,transfiguration and his   
pupil ,lionardo ,grazia1 of  ,pistoia1  
behind him1 a name more celebrated for  
colour1 and far less for  design1 than  
might have been expected from a         
nurseling of the ,roman  ,school4 ,he is

 said to have been one of the masters of
 ,francesco ,curia1  who went to ,rome  
to study the style of ,raffaello1 but   
returned with the  manner of ,zucchero4 
,his composition is1 however1 praised   
for decorum and  suavity1 his angels and
 female countenances for beauty1 and his
 colour  for a tone of nature3--their   
full display distinguished that         
,circumcision at the ,church della      
,piet1 which ,ribera1 ,giordano1 and    
,solimene placed among the masterpieces 
of ,naples4 ,curia left a close         
imitator in ,ippolito ,borghese1 of whom
 little is seen at home1 where he       
seldom resided1 but the ,assumption of  
,maria at the ,monte della  ,piet1--an  
extensive work1 marked by equal vigour  
of execution4    ,perino del ,vaga1 at  
,rome1 instructed1 and was assisted by1 
two  ,neapolitans1 ,giovanni ,corso and 
,gianfilippo ,criscuolo4 ,the best that 
remains of ,corso at ,naples1 is a      
,christ bearing his ,cross1 in ,s4      
,lorenzo4 ,long a pupil of ,sabbatini1  

,criscuolo1 during the little time of   
his stay at ,rome1 studied the works of 
,raffaello with a perseverance  which   
acquired him the name of the ,studious  
,neapolitan2 but without  native vigour1
 timid1 correct1 and dry1 he remained   
fitter to teach than  to lead4 ,such    
were the principal followers of the     
,roman ,school at  ,naples2 for neither 
,francesco ,imparato1 who abandoned the 
dry precepts  of ,criscuolo for the     
genial example of ,tiziano1 nor his son 
,girolamo1  who long after followed the 
same principles with more pretence and  
less  success1 can properly be classed  
among the pupils of ,rome4 ,about       
#aeddaad a ,tuscan introduced at        
,naples1 what is as commonly as         
impertinently called1 the style of      
,michael ,angiolo3 a cold enumeration   
of sesquipedalian muscles1 groups       
uninspired by thought1 feeble in        
effect1 and crude or faint in colour1   
methodized by manner and  despatched by 
practice4 ,thus ,giorgio ,vasari filled 

the ,refectory of  ,monte ,oliveto1     
during one year of residence1 with an   
enormous work1  which he considered as  
the electric stroke that was to animate 
that  indolent taste1 till then vainly  
solicited by ,raffaello and his school4 
,whether he disgusted the national pride
 by such insolent civility1 or  provoked
 the indignation of those who1 in       
,andrea ,sabbatini1 venerated a         
superior name1 it appears that1 so far  
from creating a school1 he was          
discountenanced by the public1 and      
incurred the perpetual censure of  every
 ,neapolitan writer on art4 ,he ought to
 have known1 that he who  challenges a  
nation1 courts an eternal feud4         
,another1 less pompous1 but more        
effectual follower of ,michael ,angiolo1
  was ,marco da ,pino1 or ,marco da     
,siena3 the date#aae of his arrival at  
,naples ought probably to be placed     
after #aefj4 ,he was well received1     
presented with the freedom of the city1 
and deserved the courtesy by the        

amenity of his manners and sincerity of 
character4 ,with the reputation  of the 
first artist1 ,marco was employed in the
 most conspicuous churches  of the city 
and the state4 ,though he sometimes     
repeated his inventions1  he approached 
,michael ,angiolo nearer than any other 
,tuscan1 because he  affected less to do
 it4 ,his forms are appealed to by      
,lomazzo as  instances of just          
proportion1 and1 in keeping and arial   
perspective1 he  is ranked with         
,lionardo and ,robusti4 ,as his design  
is less charged1 so  is his colour more 
vigorous and glowing than the usual     
tinge of the  ,tuscan ,school3          
sometimes1 however1 he is unequal1      
trusts to practice1  and deviates into  
manner4 ,he was an able architect1 and  
of the good  writers on that art4    ,of
 many pupils reared in his school1 none 
was comparable to ,gio4 ,angiolo        
,criscuolo1 brother of ,g4 ,filippo4    
,though bred a notary1 he had practised 
miniature from his youth2 emulation with

 his brother prompted him to  attempt   
larger proportions2 and1 under the      
tuition of ,marco1 he became a  good    
imitator of his style4#aaf    ,to dwell 
circumstantially on the crowd of artists
 that fill the  biographic pages of this
 period1 humiliating as mere            
nomenclature may  appear1 is below the  
dignity of an art1 which1 like poetry1  
admits not  of mediocrity4 ,reputation  
during life1 the partiality of friends  
and  countrymen1 some single work which 
escaped to excellence from the          
insignificant productions of a long     
career1 are but equivocal claims on  the
 homage of posterity3 and more          
legitimate ones in oil or fresco1 have  
neither ,silvestro ,bruno1 ,simone del  
,papa1 the younger ,amato1 ,mazzolini1  
,cola dell' ,amatrice1 ,pompeo dell'    
,aquila1 ,giuseppe ,valeriani1 ,marco   
,mazzaroppi1 ,gio4 ,pietro ,russo1      
,pietro ,negrone of ,calabria1 nor the  
,sicilian ,gio4 ,borghese4 ,pirro       
,ligorio1 the favourite architect of    

,pio  ,,iv4 in ,rome1 and the engineer  
of ,alphonso ,,ii4 at ,ferrara1 owes the
  preservation of his name more to his  
,augean collections of antiquarian      
lumber and the intrigues by which he    
perplexed the last years of ,m4         
,angiolo1 than to the flimsy exertions  
of his pencil4    ,matteo da ,lecc1 of  
obscure education1 displayed in ,rome a 
perverse  attachment to the manner of   
,m4 ,angiolo by the usual conglobation  
of  muscles and extravagance of action4 
,he worked chiefly in fresco1 and  with 
a relief1 which1 in the phrase of       
,baglioni1 makes some of his  figures   
burst from the wall4 ,though many       
,florentines were then at ,rome1  he    
alone appeared capable of completing the
 plan of ,buonarroti1 in the  ,sistina1 
by facing the ,last ,judgement with the 
,fall of the ,rebel ,angels4  ,matteo   
girt himself boldly for the work1 and   
left it a lamentable proof  of the      
ridicule that must attend the           
presumption of a mere craftsman to  ally

 himself with a man of genius4 ,he      
worked likewise in ,malta and in        
,spain1 and1 passing from thence to the 
,indies1 became a thriving trader1  till
 duped by the rage of digging for       
treasures1 he dissipated his  wealth1   
and died of penury and grief4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,after the middle of the sixteenth      
century1 the flame-like rapidity of     
,tintoretto's style at ,venice1 and soon
 after1 the powerful contrast of        
,caravaggio's method at ,rome1 and the  
eclectic system of the ,carracci1 at    
,bologna1 spread general emulation over 
,italy1 and divided ,naples into  three 
parties1 of nearly equal strength1 led  
by ,corenzio1 ,ribera1 and  ,caracciolo1
 differing from each other1 but ready to
 unite against all  foreign competition4
 ,during their flourish1 ,guido1        
,domenichino1  ,lanfranco1 ,artemisia   
,gentileschi were at ,naples1 and formed
 some  pupils2--a period as enviable in 
the number of excellent artists and the 

progressive powers of execution1 as     
disgraceful for the dark manuvres  and  
the vile intrigues that fill            
it--intrigues and manuvres too closely  
interwoven with the history of          
,neapolitan art1 and1 unfortunately1 too
  well attested1 merely to be dismissed 
with silence and contempt4    ,belisario
 ,corenzio1#aag an ,achan ,greek1 after 
passing five years in  the school of    
,tintoretto1 fixed his abode at ,naples 
about #aeij4 ,a native  stream of ideas 
and unparalleled celerity of hand placed
 him1 perhaps1  on a level with his     
master in the dispatch of a prodigious  
number1 even  of most extensive works2  
but his rage was too ungovernable often 
to  admit of more distinguished         
comparisons with ,robusti2 though few   
excelled him in design1 and his works   
abound in conceptions1 attitudes1  and  
airs of heads confessedly inimitable to 
the ,venetians themselves4  ,the work in
 which he has best succeeded as an      
imitator of ,tintoretto1 is  the        

,miraculous ,feeding of the ,crowd by   
the ,saviour1 in the ,refectory of  the 
,benedictines1 a huge performance1 but1 
under his hands1 a task of  forty days4 
,though generally too much of a         
mannerist to sacrifice the  readiest to 
the best1 he still preserves a character
 of his own1 an air  of originality1 in 
glories especially1 which he embosomed  
in darkness  and clouds pregnant with   
showers4 ,with a decided turn for works 
of large  dimension in fresco1 which    
seldom allowed him to submit to the     
finish of  oil colour1 he contrived to  
please by various compositions of sacred
  history1 in small proportions1 and is 
even said to have enlivened the         
perspectives of the ,frenchman          
,desiderio with diminutive figures      
admirably toned and adapted to the      
scenery4    ,the native country of      
,giuseppe ,ribera#aah was a subject of  
dispute  between the ,spaniards and     
,neapolitans1 till the production of an 
extract from the baptismal register of  

,xativa 7,antologia di ,roma1 #agie7    
decided the claim in favour of ,spain1  
and proved him a native of that  place1 
now ,san ,felipe1 in the district of    
,valencia4 ,if the date of his  birth1  
,january #ab1 #aehh1 be correct1 he must
 have come to ,italy and  entered the   
school of ,caravaggio at a very early   
period4 ,from him ,ribera  went to      
,rome1 ,modena1 ,parma1 saw ,raffaello1 
,annibale1 ,correggio1 and in  imitation
 of their works attempted to form a more
 luminous and gayer  style1 in which he 
had little success1 dismissed it soon   
after his  return to ,naples1 and once  
more embraced the method of ,caravaggio1
 as  more eminently calculated by its   
force1 truth1 and effect to fix the eye 
of the multitude1 the object of his     
ambition2 he soon became painter to  the
 court1 and by degrees the arbiter of   
its taste4    ,the studies he had       
pursued enabled him to go beyond        
,caravaggio in  invention1 mellowness1  
and design3 the grand ,deposition from  

the ,cross  at the ,certosa proves the  
success of his emulation1 a work1 by the
  verdict of ,giordano1 alone sufficient
 to form a painter3 the ,martyrdom  of  
,s4 ,gennaro in the royal chapel1 and   
the ,s4 ,jerome of the ,trinit1  excel  
his usual style1 and possess            
,titianesque beauties4 ,s4 ,jerome was  
among his darling subjects2 ,s4 ,jerome 
he painted1 he etched in numerous       
repetition1 in whole-length and in half 
figures4 ,he delighted in the           
representation of hermits1 anchorets1   
apostles1 prophets1 perhaps less  to    
impress the mind with gravity of        
character and the venerable looks of    
age1 than to strike the eye with the    
imitation of incidental deformities     
attendant on decrepitude1 and the       
picturesque display of bone1 veins1  and
 tendons athwart emaciated muscle4 ,a   
shrivelled arm1 a dropsied leg1  were to
 ,ribera what a breast-plate and a      
gaberdine were to ,rembrandt4 ,as  in   
objects of imitation he courted         

meagreness or excrescence1 so in the    
choice of historic subjects he preferred
 to the terrors of ebullient  passions1 
features of horror or loathsomeness1 the
 spasms of ,ixion1 ,st4  ,bartholomew   
under the butcher's knife4 ,nor are the 
few ideas of gaiety  by which he        
endeavoured to soothe his exasperated   
fancy1 less  disgusting3 ,bacchus and   
his attendants are grinning ,lazaroni or
 bloated  wine-sacks2 brutality under   
his hand distorts the feature of mirth4 
,giambatista ,caracciolo1#aai first     
attached to ,franc4 ,imparato1 then to  
,caravaggio1 grew to manhood before he  
had produced any work of  consequence3  
roused afterward by the fame and the    
impression made on his  mind by some    
picture of ,annibale1 he went to ,rome1 
and by a pertinacious  study of the     
,farnese ,gallery became one of the best
 imitators of that  style4 ,this was the
 basis of his fame on his return to     
,naples1 and by  this1 whenever provoked
 to competition1 he maintained it3 such 

are the  ,madonna of ,s4 ,anna de'      
,lombardi2 ,s4 ,carlo1 in the church of 
,s4 ,agnello2  and the ,christ under the
 ,cross1 at the ,incurabili4 ,the rest  
of his  performances1 by their strength 
of chiaroscuro1 betray the school of    
,caravaggio4 ,from so considerate and   
finished an artist1 haste and           
flimsiness were not to be feared1 and   
yet there exist productions of his  so  
feeble that his biographer#abj is       
reduced to account for them from  the   
artist's wish of retaliating by paltry  
work for paltrier prices2 or  from      
suffering them to be finished by        
,mercurio d',aversa1 no very  estimable 
pupil4    ,such were the three leaders  
of that cabal which for some years      
persecuted every stranger of eminence in
 the art who freely came1 or was        
invited to come1 to ,naples4            
,reputation1 fiction1 violence1 had     
raised  ,belisario to the tyranny of    
fresco2 the most lucrative commissions  
he  considered as due to himself1 the   

rest he distributed among his           
dependants1 the greater number of whom  
possessed little merit4 ,massimo        
,santafede1 though independent of him1  
remained neuter1 afraid to  interfere   
with a man who1 to obtain his purpose1  
would stop at neither  fraud nor crime2 
a proof of which he is said to have     
given1 in  administering poison to the  
gentlest and best of his pupils1 ,luigi 
,roderigo1 whose growing powers he      
envied4    ,to maintain his primacy in  
fresco1 the exclusion of every stranger 
who  excelled in that branch became1 of 
course1 his principal object4  ,annibale
 ,caracci arrived at ,naples in #afji1  
to paint the churches dello  ,spirito   
,santo and di ,gesu ,nuovo1 and produced
 a small picture as a  specimen of his  
style4 ,the ,greek and his associates1  
called upon to give  their opinion of   
it1 unanimously condemned it as cold1   
and its master  far too tame to manage  
an extensive work4 ,thus baffled1       
,annibale  returned to ,rome during the 

most oppressive heats of summer1 and    
soon  after died4 ,but the work most    
contested with strangers was the royal  
chapel of ,s4 ,gennaro1 which the       
deputies had reserved for ,giuseppe     
d',arpino1 then painting the choir of   
the ,certosa4 ,belisario1 leaguing      
himself with ,spagnoletto1 not less     
fierce and arrogant1 and with           
,caracciolo1 who both aspired to that   
commission1 attacked ,cesari with a     
fury which forced him1 before he could  
terminate his choir1 to fly for  safety1
 first to ,monte ,cassino1 and then back
 to ,rome4 ,the commission  was now     
given to ,guido2 but not long after1 two
 men unknown cudgelled  his servant and 
dismissed him with a message to his     
master immediately  to depart or to     
prepare for death4 ,guido fled2 but     
,gessi his pupil1 not  intimidated1     
having demanded and obtained the grand  
commission1 repaired  to ,naples with   
two assistants1 ,g4 ,batista ,ruggieri  
and ,lorenzo ,menini2  both were decoyed

 on board a galley1 that immediately    
slipped its cable  and transported them 
to some place which no researches could 
discover1  and ,gessi was obliged to    
return with his disappointment to ,rome4
    ,dispirited by the violence of these
 manuvres1 the deputies began to  give  
way to the cabal of the monopolists1    
allotting the frescoes to  ,correnzio   
and ,caracciolo1 and flattering         
,spagnoletto with the hope of  being    
intrusted with the altar-pieces2 when   
all at once1 repenting of  their        
agreement1 they ordered the two fresco  
painters to throw up their  work1 and   
transferred the whole of the chapel to  
,domenichino1 at the  splendid price of 
a hundred ducats for every entire1 fifty
 for each half  figure1 and twenty-five 
for every head4#aba ,they likewise took 
measures  for his personal safety1 by   
obtaining the ,viceroy's protection1 but
 in  vain4 ,the faction1 not content    
with crying him down as a cold insipid  
painter and discrediting him with those 

who see with their ears and fill  every 
place1 alarmed him with anonymous       
letters1 threw down what he had         
painted1 mixed ashes with his materials 
to crack the ground he had  prepared1   
and1 by a stroke of the most refined    
malice1 persuaded the  ,viceroy to give 
him a commission of some pictures for   
the ,court of  ,spain4 ,these1 when     
little more than dead-coloured1 they    
carried from  his study to court1 where 
,ribera superciliously ordered what     
alterations  he thought proper1 and     
then1 without allowing him leisure to   
terminate  the whole1 dispatched them to
 ,spain4 ,the insolence of the rival1   
the  complaints of the deputies on the  
successive interruptions of their  work1
 and hence the suspicion of mischief1   
induced ,domenichino at last  secretly  
to depart for ,rome1 in hopes of being  
able from thence to bring  his affairs  
into a better train1--and not without   
success2 the rumours  of his flight     
subsided1 new measures for his safety   

were taken1 he  returned to ,naples1    
and1 without more interruption1         
completed the  greater part of the      
frescoes1 and considerably advanced the 
altar-pieces4    ,here death surprised  
him1 accelerated1 as some have          
suspected1 by  poison1 certainly by     
repeated causes of disgust from his     
relations1  competitors1 and1 above all1
 the arrival of his old adversary       
,lanfranco4  ,he succeeded to           
,domenichino in the remaining fresco1   
,spagnoletto in one  of the oil         
pictures1 and ,stanzioni in another4    
,caracciolo was dead2  ,belisario1      
excluded by age from sharing in the     
spoil1 soon after was  destroyed by a   
ruinous fall from a scaffold4 ,nor had  
,ribera1 if the  prevailing fame be     
true1#abb a desirable end2 dishonoured  
in his  daughter1 gnawed by remorse for 
the vile persecutions in which he had   
shared1 odious to himself1 and sick of  
light1 he escaped to sea1 and  none     
tells where he perished4    ,opposed at 

its onset by these three1 the ,school of
 ,bologna triumphed  after their demise1
 and ,naples was divided into its       
imitators2 for the  mannered style of   
,cesari1 which approached that of       
,belisario1 terminated  with ,luigi     
,roderigo1 and his relative ,gian       
,bernardino4    ,at the head of those   
who adopted ,caracciesque principles    
with success1  may be placed ,massimo   
,stanzioni#abc a scholar of ,caracciolo1
 and1 as he  himself asserts1 of        
,lanfranco in fresco1 in portrait of    
,santafede4 ,at  ,rome he strove to     
embody the forms of ,annibale with the  
tints of ,guido4  ,thus equipped1 he    
braved the foremost talents at ,naples1 
and opposed at  the ,certosa a ,dead    
,christ among the ,maries to            
,spagnoletto1 who1 to  escape           
comparisons1 persuaded the friars to    
have the picture of his  rival washed to
 recover its somewhat darkened tone1 and
 with a corrosive  liquor so defaced it1
 that ,stanzioni1 declaring so black a  

fraud ought  to remain an object of     
public indignation1 refused to retouch  
it2 he  left1 however1 other specimens  
of his powers at that repository of     
rival  talents1 and above all the       
masterpiece of ,s4 ,bruno4 ,the ceilings
 of ,gesu  ,nuovo and of ,s4 ,paolo give
 him a distinguished rank among fresco  
painters4 ,his gallery pictures1 though 
not rare at ,naples1 are seldom  met    
with elsewhere4 ,whilst single1 he      
sought and aimed at excellence1  and    
courted the art for its own sake2 after 
his marriage1 with a woman  of fashion1 
gain became necessary to maintain her in
 a state of  splendour1 and he sunk by  
degrees to mediocrity4    ,the ,school  
of ,massimo is celebrated for the number
 and excellence of its  pupils1 but the 
two who promised most1 ,muzio ,rossi and
 ,antonio de  ,bellis1 perished in the  
bloom of life4 ,the first1 who had      
entered the  ,school of ,guido at       
,bologna1 was at the age of eighteen    
thought worthy  to face at the ,certosa 

men of the first ability1 and shrinks   
from no  comparison1 but scarcely       
survived his work4 ,the second1 whose   
style is  nearly balanced between ,guido
 and ,guercino1 began at the church of  
,s4  ,carlo various pictures from the   
life of that ,saint1 which he lived not 
to finish4    ,francesco di ,rosa1      
called ,pacicco1 another pupil of that  
school1 gave  himself up to the         
imitation of ,guido1 by ,massimo's own  
advice4 ,pacicco  is one of the few     
artists mentioned by ,paolo de ,matteio 
in a ,,ms4 which  admits no name of     
mediocrity4 ,his forms1 his colour1 the 
elegance of his  extremities1 the grace 
and dignity of his characters1 are      
equally  commended4 ,he had models of   
beauty in three nieces1 one of whom1    
,aniella  di ,rosa1 in charms1 talents1 
and manner of death has been compared to
  ,elizabeth ,sirani3 poison1           
administered by the malignity of        
strangers1  swept the ,bolognese--a     
dagger and a husband's jealousy1 the    

,neapolitan3  he was ,agostin ,beltrano1
 her fellow pupil1 and frequent partner 
of her  works4    ,the remaining        
scholars of this school1 ,paul ,domenico
 ,finoglia1 ,giacinto  de' ,popoli1 and 
,giuseppe ,marullo1 all three of        
,orta1--,andrea  ,malinconico1 and      
,bernardo ,cavallino1 were1 if we except
 the last1 with  more or less felicity1 
imitators of their master4 ,cavallino1  
more  original1 is said to have provoked
 the jealousy of ,massimo1 who advised  
him to paint in small3 this ought to be 
admitted with hesitation1 for it  is    
difficult to believe1 that he who feels 
himself made for the grand1  could be   
persuaded to waste his life on trifles4 
,another convert to the ,caracci        
,school1 was ,andrea ,vaccaro1#abd the  
friend and competitor of ,massimo1 a man
 made for imitation1 says ,lanzi1  and  
says too much2 for1 if he had no equal  
in that of ,caravaggio1 he  was1 when   
imitating ,guido1 inferior to ,massimo3 
nor did he1 till after  the demise of   

,stanzioni1 acquire that supremacy at   
,naples which remained  undisputed till 
the arrival of ,giordano1 young1        
vigorous1 and fraught  with the novel   
style of ,pietro ,beretini4 ,both       
concurred for the great  altar-piece of 
,sta4 ,maria del ,pianto1 both presented
 their sketches1 and  ,vaccaro obtained 
preference by the verdict of ,pietro da 
,cortona himself1  who declared him     
equally superior in experience and      
correctness of style  to his own        
scholar2 but1 when contending with      
,giordano in fresco1 to  which he had   
not been trained by early practice1     
,vaccaro lost the  honours he had       
gained4 ,the best of his school was     
,giacomo ,farelli1 whom  ,luca found no 
contemptible antagonist3 had he been    
content to follow the  style of his     
master1 without aspiring at that of     
,domenichino1 for which  he was unfit1  
he might have deserved the historian's  
notice for more  than one picture4      
,on the ,school of ,domenichino1 the    

,sicilians1 ,pietro1 ,giacomo1 and      
,teresa  del ,po1 cannot confer much    
honour4 ,the father had more theory than
  practice1 the son less evidence than  
ostentation1 the daughter shone in      
miniature4 ,nearer to the master1 both  
in style and temper1 was ,francesco  di 
,maria3 correct1 slow1 irresolute1      
author of few but eminent works1        
especially the subjects relative to ,s4 
,lawrence1 at the ,conventuals of       
,naples4 ,he excelled in portraits1 one 
of which1 exhibited at ,rome with  one  
of ,vandyk and another by ,rubens1 was1 
by ,poussin1 ,cortona1 and  ,sacchi1    
preferred to both4 ,he often has been   
mistaken for his master1  and commands  
high prices3 the want of grace alone    
betrays him--of grace  ,nature had not  
been liberal to ,francesco4 ,hence he   
became the proverb  of ,giordano1 that  
sickening over bone and muscle1 he      
rendered beauty  tame4 ,he1 in retort1  
held up ,giordano's style as heresy in  
art1 a  flowery medley of incoherent    

charms4    ,though the reputed master1  
,lanfranco was not the model of         
,massimo2 his  principal imitator was   
,giambatista ,benaschi1 or ,bernaschi1  
numbered with  ,roman artists by        
,orlandi1 but who fixed his residence at
 ,naples1 and  opened a numerous school2
 a decided machinist1 but with a grasp  
of fancy  which never suffered him to   
repeat a figure in the same attitude4   
,his  points of sight from below upward1
 are correct1 and his foreshortenings   
dextrously contrived4 ,none ever        
approached a master nearer1 and forsook 
him with less success4    ,guercino     
never saw ,naples1 but ,mattia          
,preti1#abe commonly called  ,calabrese1
 smit with his novel style1 went to     
study it at ,cento2 not  indeed         
exclusively1 for no ,italian school     
escaped the attention of  ,preti4       
,unpractised in colour to his           
twenty-sixth year1 he attended  solely  
to design1 less to form beauty or trace 
characters of delicacy1  than to express

 robust and energetic ones3 in such he  
often succeeded1  but sometimes sunk to 
heaviness4 ,his colour resembled his    
line1 not soft  and airy1 but dense1 cut
 into masses of chiaroscuro1 and with a 
general  tone of ashy hues1 tints of    
sorrow1 contrition1 anguish1 the        
favourite  topics of his pencil4 ,the   
frescoes of ,calabrese at ,modena1      
,naples1  ,malta1 have a stamp of       
grandeur4 ,at ,rome1 in ,s4 ,andrea     
della ,valle1 he  appears to less       
advantage1 too enormous for the place1  
and too ponderous  at the side of       
,domenichino4 ,italy is filled with his 
oil pictures1 for  his life was long1   
his hand rapid1 and every place he      
visited1 a scene  of exercise3 what he  
painted for galleries consisted commonly
 of half  figures1 like those of        
,guercino4 ,he long1 and nearly alone1  
contested  the field with ,giordano1 to 
whose captivating airiness his weight   
was at  last forced to yield4 ,he       
retired and died in ,malta1 a ,knight of

 its  order1 without leaving a pupil who
 rose above mediocrity4    ,after this  
survey of the ,bolognese ,school at     
,naples1 the native one of  ,ribera     
claims attention4 ,none ever swore more 
implicitly to a master's  dictates3 the 
energy of his style absorbed their eye1 
the atrocity of  his character too often
 debauched their hearts4 ,inferiority   
alone  discriminates the works of       
,giovanni ,do and ,bartolommeo ,passante
 from  those of ,spagnoletto2 though1 in
 the advance of life1 the first         
attempted to tinge with less vulgarity1 
and the second now and then  affected a 
more select outline4 ,francesco         
,fracanzani had a certain  grandeur of  
execution and bloom of colour3 his      
,transito1 or ,death of  ,st4 ,joseph1  
at the ,pellegrini1 is among the first  
pictures of the city4  ,but1 by the     
pressure of poverty1 he first became a  
dauber1 then a  criminal1 and received  
sentence of death1 which respect for his
  profession1 from the public ignominy  

of the halter1 mitigated to secret      
execution by poison4    ,aniello        
,falcone#abf and ,salvator ,rosa1 who is
 to be mentioned more at  large         
elsewhere1 are the greatest boast of    
this school1 though ,rosa  frequented it
 for a short time only1 and chiefly     
profited by the  instruction of         
,falcone4 ,the strength of ,falcone lay 
in battles1 which he  painted in all    
dimensions1 from the ,sacred books1     
history1 or poems4  ,countenance1 arms1 
dresses were in unison with the national
 character  of the combatants4 ,his     
expression was vivid1 the figures and   
movements  of his horses select and     
natural1 and his tactics correct1 though
 he had  neither served in1 nor seen a  
battle4 ,he drew with precision1        
everywhere  consulted the life1 and laid
 his colour on with equal strength and  
finish4 ,that he instructed ,borgognone 
is not probable4 ,baldinucci1 who       
published the ,memoirs of that ,jesuit1 
is silent on that head2 but they  knew  

and esteemed each other4 ,he had a      
numerous set of scholars1 and  with     
them1 and the assistance of some other  
painters1 contrived to  revenge the     
murder of some relative and of a pupil  
assassinated by the  presidial          
,spaniards3 for1 at the revolutionary   
hubbub of ,maso ,aniello1  he and his   
gang formed themselves into a troop1    
which they called the  ,company of      
,death1 and1 protected by ,ribera1 who  
palliated their  proceedings at court1  
spread horrid massacre1 till1 scared by 
the return  of order1 this band of      
homicides dispersed1 and sought their   
safety in  flight4 ,falcone himself     
retired for some years to ,france1 which
 has many  of his works2 the rest       
escaped to ,rome1 or sought the usual   
asylums of  revenge and murder4    ,a   
numerous set of various but inferior    
artists1 in power and pursuit1  fills   
the remaining period of this epoch and  
the ,neapolitan catalogues  of art3 the 
best of these issued from the desperate 

,school of ,falcone1  to whose method   
they adhered in all their diverging     
branches4 ,of these  ,domenico          
,gargiuoli1 nicknamed ,micco ,spadaro1 a
 character as fierce as  pliant1 leads  
the van--no contemptible figurist in    
large1 but of endless  combination in   
groups of small proportion4 ,the        
perspectives of ,viviano  ,codagora1 his
 sworn brother1 receive an exclusive    
lustre from his  figures4 ,the battles  
of their fellow scholar1 ,carlo         
,coppola1 might  sometimes be mistaken  
for those of ,falcone1 had he given less
 fulness to  his horses4 ,paolo ,porpora
 left battles to paint quadrupeds1 but  
chiefly  and best1 fish and sea-shells3 
in fruit and flowers he was far         
surpassed  by ,abraham ,brueghel1 who at
 that time had settled at ,naples4      
,giuseppe  ,recco and ,andrea           
,belvedere1 from the same school1       
excelled in game and  birds2 and the    
last still more in flowers and fruit1 so
 as to contest  superiority in that     

branch with ,giordano1 asserting that no
 figurist  could reach the polish1 or   
give the finish required in minute      
objects4  ,luca maintained1 that the    
more implies the less1 and1 composing a 
picture of game1 fruit1 and flowers1    
gave it such an air of illusion1  that  
,andrea1 shrinking from his presence    
crestfallen1 retired among the  literati
 of the day1 of whom he was not the     
least4    ,after the middle of the      
seventeenth century1 the revolutionary  
style of  ,luca ,giordano#abg reversed  
every preceding principle1 and1 by the  
suavity of its ornamental magic1        
enchanted the public taste4 ,a vast1    
resolute1 creative1 talent attended him 
from infancy3 in his eighth year  he is 
said to have painted1 and not for the   
first time in fresco1 two  infant       
angels1 for the church of ,sta4 ,maria  
,la ,nuova4#abh ,struck with  wonder1   
the ,vice ,r ,duke ,medina de ,las      
,torres placed him with ,ribera1  whose 
principles he studied for some time1    

but1 aspiring to a more ample  theatre  
of art1 escaped to ,rome1 followed by   
his father1 ,antonio1 a weak  artist1   
but an unceasing monitor1 and the more  
relentless because he  placed all his   
hopes on the rapid success of his son4  
,to insure it1 he  did not1 if we       
believe one writer1 suffer ,luca to     
intermit his labours  by regular meals1 
but fed him whilst at work1 as birds    
their callow  young1 perpetually        
chirping into his ear1 ,luca1           
dispatch6#abi--,luca1  dispatch6        
repeated his fellow-students1 till the  
joke became nickname1  by which he is   
oftener distinguished than by his own4  
,so brutal a method would have excited  
in a mind less vigorous nothing  but    
weariness and despondency1 but to the   
combining spirit of ,luca gave  with    
portentous velocity of hand the         
rudiments of that varied power1  which1 
to a degree of deception1 taught him to 
imitate the predominant  air of every   
master's style in line and colour1 which

 he was set or  chose to copy1#acj and  
he had in nearly endless repetition1    
copied the  best of what ,rome possessed
 of its own1 the ,lombard1 ,venetian1   
and  foreign schools1 when he entered   
that of ,pietro da ,cortona1 whose      
wide-extended and ostentatious plans met
 most congenially his own4    ,no single
 master's manner did he1 however1       
exclusively adopt4 ,his first  works    
exhibit the pupil of ,ribera1 with      
evident aims at the energy of  that     
style2 his subsequent and best manner is
 marked by the beauties and  the faults 
of ,pietro da ,cortona1 the same        
contrast of composition1 the  same      
masses of light1 with equal monotony of 
expression1 which in female  features   
was often supplied by his wife2 a       
predilection for the  ornamental        
splendour of ,paolo ,veronese           
distinguishes with less advantage  a    
third class of his works--in this1      
stuffs are mixed with draperies1  the   
tints are less vigorous1 the chiaroscuro

 less decided1 the execution  heavier4  
,it has been observed1 that his works1  
when compared with the  finished        
masterpieces of the classic schools1 are
 little better than  embryos1 that he   
carried nothing to perfection1 and that 
the delusive  power alone1 by which he  
united a number of jarring parts in one 
pleasing whole1 can save him from       
sinking to the mediocrity which         
overwhelmed his imitators4 ,but it ought
 likewise to be considered1 what  was   
the object of his exertions1 and the end
 which he pursued2--they  were1 by      
conquering the eye1 to become the       
favourite of the public1 and  he was    
made for both4 ,others see by degrees1  
arrange1 reject1  select2--into the     
fancy of ,giordano1 the subject with its
 parts showered  at once2 the picture   
stood complete before him4 ,in colour1  
little  solicitous about the dictates of
 art1 or the real hues of ,nature1 he   
created an ideal and arbitrary tone1    
which represented the air of things     

without diving into their substance1    
and1 content with absolute dominion     
over the eye1 left it to others to      
inform the mind4 ,if his method was     
compendiary2 none ever knew better how  
to improve an accident to a  beauty1 and
 give to the random strokes of haste the
 look of deliberate  practice4 ,that he 
knew the laws of design1 we know1 but   
debauched by  facility and the rage of  
gain1 neglected the toil of correctness3
 hence  likewise the superficial manner 
in which he often laid on his colours1  
diluted1 unembodied1 and unable to      
retain the fugitive imagery of his      
pencil4    ,naples is full of           
,giordano--few1 if any in so vast a     
metropolis1 are the  churches that want 
his hand4 ,in that of the ,p4,p4        
,girolamini1 the  ,expulsion of the     
,venders is one of his most admired     
works2 but the best  of his frescoes1 in
 which he seems to have concentrated his
 powers1 are  those in the treasury of  
the ,certosa4 ,the cupola of ,s4        

,brigida1 rapidly  painted in           
competition with ,francesco di ,maria1  
exhibits the first  specimens of that   
flattering tone which baffled the       
learning of his  rival1 intoxicated the 
vulgar1 and corrupted the growing taste4
 ,the  admired picture of ,st4 ,xavier1 
of copious composition and the most     
seductive colour1 was the work of one   
day and a half4 ,among the public  and  
private paintings at ,florence1 the     
chapel ,corsini and the gallery         
,riccardi are by the hand of ,luca2 nor 
was he unemployed by the  ,sovereign2   
and ,cosmo ,,iii41 in whose presence he 
invented and coloured a  large          
composition with momentary velocity1    
declared him a painter  formed for      
princes4 ,he obtained the same praise   
from ,charles ,,ii4 of  ,spain1 whom he 
served for thirteen years1 but from the 
multitude of his  works might be        
supposed to have served during a long   
life4 ,there he  continued the series of
 pictures begun by ,cambiasi1 in the    

church of the  ,escurial1 on the most   
extensive plan1 but inferior in style   
and  execution to the frescoes of       
,buon-,ritiro4 ,of his oil pictures1    
that of  the ,nativity1 for the ,queen  
,mother1 has shared unlimited praise1 as
  combining with superior felicity of   
execution1 a research and a depth of    
study seldom found in his other works4  
,grown old1 he returned to ,naples1     
loaded with riches and honours1 and     
soon after died1 regretted as the first 
painter of his time4    ,though         
,giordano did not propose his process as
 a model of imitation to  his scholars1 
it may easily be guessed that his       
success made a deeper  impression on    
them than his precepts1 and that without
 previously  submitting to the labours  
of his education1 they attempted to     
snatch  with the charms the profits of  
his manner4 ,hence a swarm of bold      
craftsmen and mannerists was let loose  
upon the public1 who with gay           
mediocrity overwhelmed what yet was left

 of principles in art4 ,of these1  his  
favourites were ,aniello ,rossi1 and    
,matteo ,pacelli1 who accompanied  him  
to ,spain1 returned well pensioned1 and 
continued to live in obscure  ease4     
,niccolo ,rossi1 ,giuseppe ,simonelli1  
,andrea ,miglionico and ,ramondo  de    
,dominici1 came nearer their master2 and
 the ,spaniard ,franceschitto1  as he   
had raised the hopes1 might have excited
 the jealousy of ,luca1 had  he not been
 intercepted by death4 ,he left a       
specimen of his powers in  the picture  
of ,s4 ,pasquale1 at ,sta4 ,maria del   
,monte4    ,but the best of his pupils1 
and heir of his dispatch1 was ,paolo de'
  ,matteis1 a name that ranks with the  
foremost of that day1 not unknown to    
,france or ,rome2 his chief abode was1  
however1 ,naples1 where his frescoes    
are spread over churches1 galleries1    
halls and ceilings2 if unequal to  those
 of his master in merit1 nearly always  
produced with equal speed4  ,it was his 
unexampled vaunt to have painted the    

enormous ,cupola del ,ges  ,nuovo in    
sixty-six days1 a boast which ,solimene 
checked with the cool  reply1 that the  
work told its own tale without          
assistance3 and yet it  possesses       
beauties1 especially in the parts that  
imitate ,lanfranco1  which excite       
wonder1 considering the fury of         
execution4 ,nor1 if he chose  to work   
with previous study and with diligence1 
as in the church of the  ',pii ,operai1'
 in the gallery ,matatona1 and in many  
private pictures1 was  he destitute of  
composition1 grace of outline1 or beauty
 of countenance1  though little varied4 
,his colour at the onset was            
,giordanesque2 in the  sequel he        
increased the force of his chiaroscuro1 
though not without  delicate gradation  
of tints3 particularly in ,madonnas and 
,infants1 which  give an idea of        
,albano's suavity1 and the ,roman style4
 ,a school more  numerous than          
distinguished by talent1 contributes    
little to his  celebrity4    ,francesco 

,solimene1#aca called ,l',abate ,ciccio1
 born at ,nocera de'  ,pagani1 took the 
elements of art from his father ,angelo1
 formerly a  pupil of ,massimo1 and went
 to ,naples4 ,he successively frequented
 the  schools of ,francesco di ,maria   
and of ,giac4 del ,po1 and left both to 
follow his own inclination1 which at    
first exclusively led him to  imitate   
the style of ,pietro da ,cortona1 and   
even to adopt his figures4  ,he next    
formed a manner which1 of all others1   
approached next to ,preti2  the design1 
indeed1 is less exact1 the colour less  
true1 but the faces  handsomer1 now in  
imitation of ,guido1 then nearer to     
,maratta1 and often  picked from life3  
hence the byname of the ,gentler        
,calabrese4#acb ,to  ,preti he joined   
,lanfranco1 whom he surnamed the        
,master1 and from him  borrowed and     
exaggerated that serpentine sweep of    
composition3 his  chiaroscuro1 balanced 
between both1 lost some of its vigour   
and became  softer with the advance of  

life4 ,he drew and revised his forms    
from  ,nature with much accuracy before 
he painted1 but often sacrificed his    
outline to the fire of execution in the 
process4 ,the facility and  elegance    
which distinguish him in poetry1 mark   
his invention in  painting1 to no branch
 of which he could be called a stranger1
 and might  have excelled singly in     
each4 ,his works are scattered over     
,europe1 for  he lived to the age of    
ninety1 and yielded in velocity of hand 
to  ,giordano only1 his competitor and  
friend1 at whose demise he succeeded  to
 the ,primacy of taste4    ,of the      
public works that most distinguish      
,solimene1 are the stories of  the      
sacristy in ,s4 ,paolo ,maggiore de'    
,p4,p4 ,teatini1 nor less the  pictures 
substituted for those of ,giacomo del   
,po on the arches of the  ,chapels in   
the ,church de' ,s4,s4 ,apostoli4       
,specimens of his high finish  may be   
seen in the ,chapel of ,s4 ,filippo in  
the ,church dell' ,oratorio2 he  painted

 the principal altar-piece of the ,nuns 
di ,s4 ,gaudioso1 and the  four large   
histories in the choir of the church at 
,monte ,cassino4 ,of  private works1 the
 gallery of ,sanfelice is the most      
conspicuous at  ,naples2 at ,rome1 some 
stories in the ,albani and ,colonna     
palaces2 and at  ,macerata1 in the      
,buonacorsi collection1 among several   
mythologic  subjects1 the ,death of     
,dido1 a picture of large dimensions and
 striking  effect4 ,in the refectory of 
the ,conventuals of ,assisi1 the ,last  
,supper  of our ,lord1 a polished       
performance1 is by his hand4    ,of that
 most numerous band of pupils whom he   
let loose upon the public1  the most    
celebrated was1 no doubt1 ,sebastiano   
,conca1 a native of ,gaeta1  generally  
classed with the ,roman school1 for     
,rome became his residence  and the     
theatre of his talent4 ,after having    
served a pupilage of sixteen  years     
under ,solimene1 and persevered in the  
practice of that style for  several     

years at ,rome1 he ominously proved the 
futility of attempting at  an advanced  
period to escape from the tyranny of    
early habits4 ,at forty  he dared to    
leave his brushes1 became once more a   
student1 and spent  five years in       
drawing after the antique and the       
masters of design3 but  his hand and    
eye1 debauched by manner1 refused to    
obey his mind1 till1  wearied by        
hopeless fatigue1 he followed the advice
 of the sculptor ,le  ,gros1 and        
returned to his former practice1 though 
not without  considerable improvements1 
and nearer to ,pietro da ,cortona than  
to his  master4 ,conca had fertile      
brains1 a rapid pencil1 and a colour    
which at  first sight fascinated every  
eye by its splendour1 contrast1 and the 
delicacy of its flesh-tints4 ,his       
dispatch in fresco and in oil was equal 
to his employment1 and there is scarcely
 a collection of any consequence        
without its ,conca4 ,he was courted by  
sovereigns and princes1 and ,pope       

,clement ,,xi4 ennobled him at a full   
assembly of the academicians of ,st4    
,luke4 ,he was assisted in his labours  
by his brother ,giovanni1 a man of      
similar taste1 but less power1 and an   
excellent copyist4 ,the maxims of       
,conca are considered#acc as having     
completed the ruin of art2 but every    
school had its own canker1 and his      
influence did not extend to all4        
,without deviating into a catalogue of  
mediocrity1 it may be sufficient  to    
name three of his principal scholars1   
,gaetano ,lapis of ,cagli1  ,salvator   
,monosilio1 a ,messinese1 and ,gaspero  
,serenari1 a ,palermitan4  ,lapis had   
too much originality of conception and  
too much solidity of  taste to adopt the
 flowery style of his master4 ,the      
public works he left  at home1 and the  
,birth of ,venus in a ceiling of the    
,borghese ,palace1 as  correct as       
graceful1 deserved and would have       
attained more celebrity1  had not       
self-contempt and diffidence intercepted

 the fortune which his  talent might    
have commanded4 ,the two ,sicilians1    
complete machinists1  shared with the   
imitation the success of their master4  
,next to ,conca1 the most successful    
pupil of ,solimene was ,francesco de    
,mura1 surnamed ,franceschiello1 born at
 ,naples and greatly employed in  its   
churches and private galleries3 the     
works1 however1 to which he owes  most  
of his celebrity1 were the frescoes     
painted in various apartments  of the   
royal palace at ,torino1 in competition 
with ,claudio ,beaumont1 who  was then  
at the height of his vigour4 ,mura      
ornamented the ceiling of  some rooms1  
chiefly filled with ,flemish pictures1  
with subjects widely  different1        
,olympic games1 and actions of          
,achilles4    ,corrado ,giaquinto of    
,molfetta1 may conclude what yet        
deserves to be  recorded of this school4
 ,he too left ,naples1 came to ,rome1   
and attached  himself to ,conca1 whose  
maxims he made nearly all his own2 as   

resolute1  as easy1 but less correct4   
,rome1 ,macerata1 and other parts of the
 ,roman  state1 are acquainted with his 
works4 ,he painted in ,piemont1 was     
employed by ,charles ,,iii4 in ,spain1  
appointed ,director of the ,academy of  
,s4 ,fernando1 pleased and continued to 
please the greater part of the  public1 
even after the arrival of ,a4,r4 ,mengs4
      ,,footnotes3    #ajc ,dominici4   
#ajd ,le opere superstiti ne deon       
decidere2 e secondo queste ,marco da    
,siena1 ch' il padre della ,storia      
pittorica ,napolitana1 giudic che in    
grandezza di fare ,cimabue              
prevalepe4--,lanzi1 ii4 ,i4 #ehj4       
#aje ,tommaso had a brother ,pietro de' 
,stefani1 who professed painting1  but  
practised sculpture3 of his works the   
monuments of ,pope ,innocenzio  ,,iv41  
who died at ,naples #abed1 of ,charles  
the ,first and ,second1 are the  most   
eminent4 ,the two sitting statues of    
these two kings are still seen  over the
 small gates of the ,episcopal palace4  

#ajf ,signorelli ,vicende della ,coltura
 delle due ,sicilie1--t4 iii4 #aaf4     
#ajg ,the ,vatican alone is sufficient  
to prove that gold-grounds were  still  
recurred to in the best years of the    
sixteenth century4    #ajh ,in the life 
of ,giuliano da ,majano4 ,they are the  
first painters of  the ,neapolitan      
schools mentioned by him1 though with an
 ambiguity which  might induce us to    
believe that he meant to give them for  
,tuscany4    #aji ,in the forty-first   
sonnet1 addressed to ,king ,federigo3   
,vedi  invitto ,signor come risplende1  
c4    #aaj ,some call him ,giacomo1 some
 ,andria1 most1 and with greater        
probability1 ,bernardo4    #aaa ,see the
 remarks relative to ,antoniello1 in the
 history of ,venetian  art2 but it is in
 place here to observe on the assertions
 of the  ,neapolitan writers1 that1 if  
the tradition of a ,greek picture in oil
 at  the ,duomo of ,messina be not      
fabulous1 ,antoniello could not have    
remained  ignorant of it4 ,if           

,colantonio was in possession of oil    
painting1 how is  the astonishment to be
 accounted for1 which the method of     
,john ab ,eyk  excited at ,naples8 ,how 
came the name of an obscure ,fleming to 
fill in a  short period all ,europe1    
every prince to solicit his pencil1     
every  painter to submit to his dictates
 or those of his scholars8 ,who1 on the 
contrary1 who out of ,naples or its     
state1 knew then ,colantonio8 who       
courted ,solario8 a man so apt1 the     
son-in-law and scholar of the former1   
and before of ,lippo ,dalmasio--how     
forgot he to learn1 or why did he       
neglect a method they are said to have  
practised so well1 for the vulgar  one  
of distemper8 ,either they knew nothing 
of the mystery at all1 or in  a degree  
too insignificant to affect the         
authority of ,vasari1 and the  claims of
 ,john ab ,eyk and ,antoniello4    #aab 
,a4 ,sabbatini from #adhj to #aede4     
#aac #aejh to #aedb4    #aad ,vasari4   
#aae ,said to be in #aehg4    #aaf      

,these two laid the foundation of a     
,history of ,neapolitan ,art4 ,the      
transient manner in which ,vasari had   
mentioned ,marco in the new edition  of 
his ,lives1 his silence on many         
,sienese1 and omission of most          
,neapolitan painters1 were probably the 
causes that provoked the literary       
opposition of ,marco4 ,his pupil1 the   
,notary1 furnished him with  materials1 
from the archives and domestic          
tradition1 for the ,discourse  which he 
composed in #aefi1 the year after the   
edition of ,vasari2 though  it remained 
in ,,ms4 till #agdb1 when1 jointly with 
the ,memoirs of  ,criscuolo1 in the     
,neapolitan dialect1 c41 the greater    
part of it was1  published by ,dominici4
    #aag ,b4 ,corenzio1 #aeeh to #afdc4 
#aah ,in an inscription on one of his   
pictures1 mentioned by  ,palomino1 he   
styles himself ,jusepe de ,ribera       
,espaol de la ,ciutad de  ,xativa1 e    
reyno de ,valencia1 ,academico ,romano1 
ao #afcj2 but the  ,neapolitans1 who    

maintained that he was born of ,spanish 
parents in the  neighbourhood of ,lecce1
 ascribe this and similar subscriptions 
on his  works rather to his ambition of 
ingratiating himself with the           
government1 which was ,spanish1 than to 
a genuine desire of acquainting         
posterity with his native country4      
,lo ,spagnoletto #aehh1 vivo in #afdi4  
#aai ,caracciolo di ,batistiello1 died  
#afda4    #abj ,dominici4    #aba ,as it
 is evident that the deputies broke a   
formal contract with  ,correnzio and    
,batistiello1 it is not easily          
discovered on what principle  ,lanzi has
 praised their conduct4    #abb ,it is  
contradicted only by the unsupported    
assertion of ,bermudez1  who tells that 
,ribera died rich and honoured #afef at 
,naples4    #abc ,m4 ,stanzioni1 #aehe  
to #afef4    #abd ,vaccaro1 #aeih to    
#afga4    #abe ,m4 ,preti1 #afac to     
#afii4    #abf ,a4 ,falcone1 #afjj to   
#affe4    #abg ,born #afcb1 died #agje4 
#abh ,the assent of ,carlo ,celano      

7,giornata ,,iv47 seems to authenticate 
this tradition4    #abi ,luca1 fa       
,presto6    #acj ,he used to tell1 that 
then he had drawn twelve times the      
,stanze  and the ,loggia of ,rafaello1  
and nearly twenty the ,battle of        
,constantine1  without mentioning his   
copies from the ,sistina1 ,polidoro1 ,a4
 ,caracci1  c42 hence1 some one has     
called him by a bold but pertinent      
allusion  ,the ,thunderbolt of ,art1 as 
others its ,proteus1 from the singular  
talent of mimicking the manner and touch
 of every master4 ,many are the         
pictures painted by him1 which passed   
for works of ,albert ,durer1  ,bassano1 
,tiziano1 and ,rubens1 not only with    
connoisseurs1 a task less  difficult1   
but with his rivals1 whose eyes         
malignity as well as  discernment might 
have sharpened3 these deceptions fetched
 at sales  doubly and trebly the price  
of an ordinary ,giordano4 ,specimens are
 still  to be found in the churches of  
,naples2 for instance1 the two          

altar-pieces in that of ,s4 ,teresa1    
which have all the air of ,guido1       
especially that which represents the    
,nativity of the ,saviour4    #aca ,born
 #afeg2 died #agdh4    #acb ,il         
,calabrese ringentilito4    #acc ,mengs4
          ,,the ,,school ,,of ,,venice4 
,the conquests1 commerce and possessions
 of ,venice in the ,levant1 and  thence 
its uninterrupted intercourse with the  
,greeks1 give probability  to the       
conjecture1 that ,venetian art drew its 
origin from the same  source1 and that  
the first institution of a company1 or1 
as it is there  called1 a ,school       
7,schola7 of ,painters1 may be dated up 
to the ,greek  artists who took refuge  
at ,venice from the fury of the         
,iconoclasts at  ,constantinople4 ,the  
choice of its ,patron1 which was not    
,st4 ,luke1 but  ,sta4 ,sophia1 the     
patroness of the first temple at that   
time1 and  prototype of ,st4 ,mark's1   
distinguishes it from the rest of the   
,italian  ,schools4 ,anchona1 the vulgar

 name of a picture in the technic       
language1 the statutes1#acd and         
documents of those times1 is evidently  
a depravation of the ,greek ,eikon4 ,the
 school itself is of considerable       
antiquity2 its archives contain         
regulations and laws made in #abij1     
which  refer to anterior ones2 and      
though not yet separated from the mass  
of  artisans1 its members began to enjoy
 privileges of their own4    ,in various
 cities of the ,venetian ,state we meet 
with vestiges of art  anterior in       
date#ace to the relics of painting and  
mosaic in the  metropolis1 which prove  
that it survived the general wreck of   
society  here1 as in other parts of     
,italy4 ,of the oldest ,venetian        
monuments1  ,zanetti has given a        
detailed account1 with shrewd critical  
conjectures  on their chronology2 though
 all attempts to discriminate the nearly
  imperceptible progress of art in a    
mass of works equally marked by dull    
servility1 must prove little better than

 nugatory2 for it does not  appear that 
,theophilus of ,byzantium1 who publicly 
taught the art at  ,venice about #abjj1 
or his ,scholar ,gelasio#acf1 had       
availed themselves  of the improvements 
made in form1 twenty years before1 by   
,joachim the  ,abbot1 in a picture of   
,christ4 ,nor can the notice of ,vasari1
 who informs  us that ,andrea ,tafi     
repaired to ,venice to profit by the    
instructions of  ,apollonios in mosaic1 
prove more than that1 from the rivalship
 of ,greek  mechanics1 that branch of   
art was handled with greater dexterity  
there  than at ,florence1 to which place
 he was1 on his return1 accompanied by  
,apollonios4 ,the same torpor of mind   
continued to characterise the           
succeeding artists till the first years 
of the fourteenth century1 and  the     
appearance of ,giotto1 who1 on his      
return from ,avignon #acaf1 by his      
labours at ,padua1 ,verona1 and         
elsewhere in the state1 threw the first 
effectual seeds of art1 and gave the    

first impulse to ,venetian energy  and  
emulation#acg by superior example4      
,he was succeeded by ,giusto1 surnamed  
of ,padova1 from residence and city     
rights1 but else a ,florentine and of   
the ,menabuoi4 ,to ,padovano1 ,vasari   
ascribes the vast work of the church of 
,st4 ,john the ,baptist2 incidents  of  
whose life were expressed on the        
altar-piece4 ,the walls ,giusto spread  
with gospel history and mysteries of the
 ,apocalypse1 and on the ,cupola a      
glory filled with a consistory of saints
 in various attire3 simple  ideas1 but  
executed with incredible felicity and   
diligence4 ,the names  ',joannes        
,antonius de ,padova1' formerly placed  
over one of the doors1  as an ancient   
,,ms4 pretends1 related probably to some
 companions of  ,giusto1 fellow pupils  
of ,giotto1 and show the unmixed        
prevalence of his  style1 to which      
,florence itself had not adhered with   
more scrupulous  submission1 beyond the 
middle of the century1 and the less     

bigoted  imitation of ,guarsiento1 a    
,padovan of great name at that period1  
and the  leader of ,ridolfi's history4  
,he received commissions of importance  
from  the ,venetian senate1 and the     
remains of his labours in fresco and on 
panel at ,bassano and at the ,eremitani 
of ,padova1 confirm the judgment of     
,zanetti1 that he had invention1 spirit1
 and taste1 and without those  remnants 
of ,greek barbarity which that critic   
pretends to discover in  his style4     
,of a style still less dependant on the 
principles of ,giotto1 are the  relicks 
of those artists whom ,lanzi is willing 
to consider as the  precursors of the   
legitimate ,venetian schools1 and whose 
origin he dates  in the professors of   
miniature and missal-painting1 many     
contemporary1  many anterior to ,giotto4
 ,the most conspicuous is ,niccolo      
,semitecolo1  undoubtedly a ,venetian1  
if the inscription on a picture on panel
 in the  ,capitular ,library at ,padova 
be genuine1 viz41 ,nicoleto ,semitecolo 

da  ,venezia1 #acfg4 ,it represents a   
,piet1 with some stories of ,s4         
,sebastian1 in no contemptible style3   
the nudities are well painted1 the      
proportions1 though somewhat too long1  
are not inelegant1 and what adds  most  
to its value as a monument of national  
style1 it bears no  resemblance to that 
of ,giotto1 which1 though it be inferior
 in design1  it equals in colour4       
,indeed the silence of ,baldinucci1 who 
annexes no  ,venetian branch to his     
,tuscan pedigree of ,art1 gives         
probability to the  presumption1 that a 
native school existed in the ,adriatic  
long before  ,cimabue4    ,a fuller     
display of this native style1 and its   
gradual approaches to the  epoch of     
,giorgione and ,tizian1 were reserved   
for the fifteenth century3  an island   
prepared what was to receive its finish 
at ,venice4 ,andrea da  ,murano1 who    
flourished about #adjj1 though still    
dry1 formal1 and vulgar1  designs with  
considerable correctness1 even the      

extremities1 and what is  more1 makes   
his figures stand and act4 ,there is    
still of him at ,murano  in ,s4 ,pier   
,martire1 a picture1 on the usual gold  
ground of the times1  representing1     
among others1 a ,saint ,sebastian1 with 
a ,torso1 whose  beauty made ,zanetti   
suspect that it had been copied from    
some antique  statue4 ,it was he who    
formed to art the family of the         
,vivarini1 his  fellow-citizens1 who in 
uninterrupted succession maintained the 
school  of ,murano for nearly a century1
 and filled ,venice with their          
performances4    ,of ,luigi1 the reputed
 founder of the family1 no authentic    
notices  remain4 ,the only picture      
ascribed to him1 in ,s4 ,giovanni and   
,paolo1 has1  with the inscription of   
his name and the date #adad1 been       
retouched4#ach  ,nor does much more     
evidence attend the names of ,giovanni  
and ,antonio de'  ,vivarini1 the first  
of which belonged probably to a ,german1
 the partner  of ,antonio1#aci who is   

not heard of after #addg1 whilst        
,antonio1 singly  or in society with his
 brother ,bartolommeo ,vivarini1 left   
works  inscribed with his name as far as
 #adea4    ,bartolommeo1 probably       
considerably younger than ,antonio1 was 
trained to  art in the principles before
 mentioned1 till he made himself master 
of  the new-discovered method of        
oil-painting1 and towards the time of   
the  two ,bellini became an artist of   
considerable note4 ,his first picture in
  oil bears the date of #adgc2 his last1
 at ,s4 ,giovanni in ,bragora1 on the   
authority of ,boschini1 that of #adih2  
it represents ,christ risen from the    
grave1 and is a picture comparable to   
the best productions of its time4  ,he  
sometimes added ,a ,linnel ,vivarino to 
his name and date1 allusive to  his     
surname4    ,with him flourished ,luigi1
 the last of the ,vivarini1 but the     
first in  art4 ,his relics still exist  
at ,venice1 ,belluno1 ,trevigi1 with    
their  dates2 the principal of these is 

in the school of ,st4 ,girolamo at      
,venice1 where1 in competition with     
,giovanni ,bellini1 whom he equals1 and 
with ,vittore ,carpaccia1 whom he       
surpasses1 he represented the ,saint    
caressing a ,lion1 and some monks who   
fly in terror at the sight4             
,composition1 expression1 colour1 for   
felicity1 energy1 and mellowness1  if   
not above every work of the times1      
surpass all else produced by the  family
 of the ,vivarini4    ,at the beginning 
of the century1 ,gentile da ,fabriano1  
styled ,magister  ,magistrorum1 and     
mentioned in the ,roman ,school1        
painted1 in the public  palace at       
,venice1 a naval battle1 now vanished1  
but then so highly  valued that it      
procured him an annual provision1 and   
the privilege of  the ,patrician dress4 
,he raised disciples in the state3      
,jacopo ,nerito1 of  ,padova1 subscribes
 himself a disciple of ,gentile1 in a   
picture at ,s4  ,michele of that place1 
and from the style of another in ,s4    

,bernardino1  at ,bassano1 ,lanzi       
surmises that ,nasocchio di ,bassano was
 his pupil or  imitator4 ,but what gives
 him most importance1 is the origin of  
the great  ,venetian ,school under his  
auspices1 and that ,jacopo ,bellini1 the
 father  of ,gentile and ,giovanni1     
owned him for his master4 ,jacopo is    
indeed more  known by the dignity of his
 son's than his own works1 at present   
either  destroyed1 in ruins1 or unknown4
 ,what he painted in the church of ,st4 
,giovanni at ,venice1 and1 about #adef1 
at the ,santo of ,padova1 the chapel  of
 the family ,gattamelata1 are works that
 exist in history only4 ,one  single    
picture1 subscribed by his name1 ,lanzi 
mentions to have seen in a  private     
collection1 resembling the style of     
,squarcione1 whom he seems to  have     
followed in his maturer years4    ,a    
name then still more conspicuous1 though
 now nearly obliterated1 is  that of    
,jacopo1 or as he is styled ,jacobello1 
or as he wrote himself1  ,jacometto del 

,fiore1 whose father ,francesco del     
,fiore1 a leader of art  in his day1 was
 honoured with a monument and an epitaph
 in ,latin verse  at ,s4 ,giovanni and  
,paolo3 of him it is doubtful whether   
any traces  remain1 but of the son1 who 
greatly surpassed him1 several          
performances  still exist1 from #adja to
 #adcf4 ,vasari has wantonly taxed him  
with  having suspended all his figures1 
in the ,greek manner1 on the points of  
their feet3 the truth is1 that he was   
equalled by few of his  contemporaries1 
for few like him dared to represent     
figures as large as  life1 and fewer    
understood to give them beauty1 dignity1
 and that air of  agility and ease1     
which his forms possess2 nor would the  
lions in his  picture of ,justice at the
 ,magistrato del ,proprio1 have shared  
the first  praise1 had not the principal
 figures1 in subservience to the time1  
been  loaded with tinsel ornament and   
golden glitter4    ,two scholars of his 
are mentioned3 ,donato1 superior to him 

in style1 and  ,carlo ,crivelli1 of     
obscure fame1 but deserving attention   
for the colour1  union1 grace1 and      
expression1 of the small histories in   
which he  delighted4    ,the ardour of  
the capital for the art was emulated by 
every town of the  state2 all had their 
painters1 but all did not submit to the 
principles  of ,venice and ,murano4 ,at 
,verona the obscure names of ,aldighieri
 and  ,stefano ,dazevio1 were           
succeeded#adj by the vaunted one of     
,vittore  ,pisanello1 of ,s4 ,vito3     
though accounts grossly vary on the date
 in which  he flourished1 and the school
 from which he sprang1 that his         
education  was ,florentine is not       
improbable1 but whoever his master1 fame
 has  ranked him with ,masaccio as an   
improver of style4 ,his works at ,rome  
and  ,venice1 in decay at the time of   
,vasari1 are now no more2 and fragments 
only remain of what he did at ,verona4  
,s4 ,eustachio caressing a ,dog1 and    
,s4 ,giorgio sheathing his ,sword and   

mounting his horse1 figures extolled  to
 the skies by ,vasari1 are1 with the    
places which they occupied1  destroyed3 
works which seem to have contained      
elements of truth and  dignity in       
expression with novelty of invention1   
and of contrast1 style1  and            
foreshortening in design3 a loss so much
 the more to be lamented1 as  the       
remains of his less considerable works  
at ,s4 ,firmo and ,perugia1 far  from   
sanctioning the opinion which tradition 
has taught us to entertain  of ,pisano1 
are finished indeed with the minuteness 
of miniature1 but are  crude in colour1 
and drawn in lank and emaciated         
proportions4 ,it appears  from his      
works1 that he understood the formation1
 had studied the  expression1 and       
attempted the most picturesque attitudes
 of animals4 ,his  name is well known to
 antiquaries1 and to the curious in     
coins1 as a  medallist1 and he has been 
celebrated as such by many eminent pens 
of  his own and the subsequent          

century4#ada    ,from the crowd#adb of  
obscure contemporary artists1 which the 
neighbouring ,vicenza produced1 the name
 of ,marcello1 or as ,ridolfi calls  him
 ,gio4 ,battista ,figolino1 deserves to 
be distinguished3 a man of  original    
manner1 whose companion1 in variety of  
character1 intelligence  of keeping1    
landscape1 perspective1 ornament1 and   
exquisite finish1 will  not easily be   
discovered at ,venice1 or elsewhere in  
the ,state1 at that  period2 and were it
 certain that he was anterior to the two
 ,bellini1  sufficiently eminent to     
claim the honours of an epoch in the    
history of  ,art3 in proof of which     
,vicenza may still produce his ,epiphany
 in the  church of ,st4 ,bartolommeo4   
,but the man who had the most extensive 
influence on ,art1 if not as the  first 
artist1 as the first and most frequented
 teacher1 was ,francesco                
,squarcione1#adc of ,padova2 in whose   
numerous school perhaps originated  that
 eclectic principle which characterised 

part of the ,adriatic and all  the      
,lombard schools4 ,opulent and curious1 
he not only designed what  ancient art  
offered in ,italy1 but passed over to   
,greece1 visited many an  isle of the   
,archipelago in quest of monuments1 and 
on his return to  ,padova formed1 from  
what he had collected1 by copy or by    
purchase1 of  statues1 basso-relievos1  
torsos1 fragments1 and cinerary urns1   
the most  ample museum of the time1 and 
a school in which he counted upwards of 
#aej students1 and among them ,andrea   
,mantegna1 ,marco ,zoppo1 ,girolamo     
,schiavone1 ,jacopo ,bellini4    ,of    
,squarcione1 more useful by precept than
 by example1 little remains1  and of    
that little1 perhaps1 not all his own4  
,from the variety of  manner observable 
in what is attributed to him1 it may be 
suspected that  he too often divided his
 commissions among his scholars2 such as
 some  stories of ,st4 ,francis1 in a   
cloister of his church1 and the         
miniatures  of the ,antifonario in the  

temple della ,misericordia1 attributed  
by the  vulgar to ,mantegna4 ,only one  
indisputably genuine1 though retouched  
work  of his1 is mentioned by ,lanzi2   
which1 in various compartments1         
represents different saints1 subscribed 
',francesco ,squarcione1' and           
conspicuous for felicity of colour1     
expression1 and perspective4    ,these  
outlines of the infancy of ,venetian art
 show it little different  from that of 
the other schools hitherto described2   
slowly emerging from  barbarity1 and    
still too much busied with the elements 
to think of  elegance and ornament4     
,even then1 indeed1 canvass instead of  
panels was  used by the ,venetian       
painters2 but their general vehicle was1
 a tempera1  prepared water-colour3 a   
method approaching the breadth of       
fresco1 and  friendly to the            
preservation of tints1 which even now   
retain their  virgin purity2 but        
unfriendly to union and mellowness4 ,it 
was reserved  for the real epoch of     

oil-painting to develope the ,venetian  
character1  display its varieties1 and  
to establish its peculiar prerogative4  
,tiziano1 the son of ,gregorio ,vecelli1
 was born at ,piave1 the principal of   
,cadore on the ,alpine verge of ,friuli1
 #adgg4add ,his education is said  to   
have been learned1 and ,giov4 ,battista 
,egnazio is named as his master  in     
,latin and ,greek2#ade but his          
proficiency may be doubted1 for if it   
be true that his irresistible bent to   
the art obliged the father to send  him 
in his tenth year to the school of      
,giov4 ,bellini at ,venice1 he could  be
 little more than an infant when he     
learnt the rudiments under  ,sebastiano 
,zuccati4#adf    ,at such an age1 and   
under these masters1 he acquired a power
 of copying  the visible detail of the  
objects before him with that correctness
 of  eye and fidelity of touch which    
distinguishes his imitation at every    
period of his art4 ,thus when1 more     
adult1 in emulation of ,albert ,durer1  

he painted at ,ferrara#adg ,christ to   
whom a ,pharisee shows the tribute      
money1 he out-stript in subtlety of     
touch even that hero of minuteness3  the
 hair of the heads and hands may be     
counted1 the pores of the skin          
discriminated1 and the surrounding      
objects seen reflected in the pupils  of
 the eyes2 yet the effect of the whole  
is not impaired by this extreme  finish3
 it increases it at a distance1 which   
effaces the fac-similisms  of ,albert1  
and assists the beauties of imitation   
with which that work  abounds to a      
degree seldom attained1 and never       
excelled by the master  himself1 who has
 left it indeed as a single monument1   
for it has no  companion1 to attest his 
power of combining the extremes of      
finish and  effect4      ,,giacomo      
,,robusti1 ,,surnamed ,,il ,,tintoretto4
    #aeab-aeid4    ,it might almost be  
said that vice is the virtue of the     
,venetian school1  because it rests its 
prerogative on despatch in execution1   

and  therefore is proud of ,tintoretto1 
who had no other merit4#adh ,such1 in   
speaking of the great genius before us1 
is the equally rash1 ignorant1          
unphilosophic verdict of a man          
exclusively dubbed ,the ,philosophic    
,painter4    ,g4 ,robusti of ,venice was
 the son of a dyer1 who left him that   
byname as  an heir-loom4#adi ,he entered
 the school of ,tiziano when yet a boy2 
but  he1 soon discovering in the daring 
spirit of his nursling the symptoms  of 
a genius which threatened future        
rivalship to his own powers1 with  that 
suspicious meanness which marks his     
character as an artist1 after a  short  
interval1 ordered his head pupil1       
,girolamo ,dante1 to dismiss the  boy2  
but as envy generally defeats its own   
designs1 the uncourteous  dismissal1    
instead of dispiriting1 roused the      
energies of the heroic  stripling1 who1 
after some meditation on his future     
course1 and  comparing his master's     
superiority in colour with his defects  

in  form1 resolved to surpass him by an 
union of both3 the method best  suited  
to accomplish this he fancied to find in
 an intense study of  ,michael ,angelo's
 style1 and boldly announced his plan by
 writing on the  door of his study1     
,,the ,,design ,,of ,m4 ,,angelo1 ,,and 
,,the ,,colour ,,of ,,tizian4    ,but   
neither form nor colour alone could     
satisfy his eye2 the  uninterrupted     
habit of nocturnal study discovered to  
him what ,venice had  not yet seen1 not 
even in ,giorgione1 if we may form an   
opinion from what  remains of him--the  
powers of that ideal chiaroscuro which  
gave motion  to action1 raised the      
charms of light1 and balanced or        
invigorated  effect by dark and lucid   
masses opposed to each other4    ,the   
first essays of this complicated system1
 in single figures1 are  probably the   
frescoes of the palace ,gussoni2#aej and
 in numerous  composition1 the ,last    
,judgement1 and its counterpart1 the    
,adoration of  the ,golden ,calf1 in the

 church of ,sta4 ,maria dell' ,orfo4    
,it is evident that the spirit of       
,michael ,angelo domineered over the    
fancy of ,tintoretto in the arrangement 
of the ,last ,judgement1 though not     
over its design2 but grant some         
indulgence to that1 and the storm in    
which the whole fluctuates1 the awful   
division of light and darkness  into    
enormous masses1 the living motion of   
the agents1 notwithstanding  their      
frequent aberrations from their centre  
of gravity1#aea and the  harmony that   
rules the whirlwind of that tremendous  
moment1 must for  ever place it among   
the most astonishing productions of art4
 ,its  sublimity as a whole triumphs    
even over the hypercriticisms of        
,vasari1  who thus describes            
it3--,tintoretto has painted the ,last  
,judgement with  an extravagant         
invention1 which1 indeed1 has something 
awful and  terrible1 inasmuch as he has 
united in groups a multitudinous        
assemblage  of figures of each sex and  

every age1 interspersed with distant    
views of  the blessed and condemned     
souls4 ,you see likewise the boat of    
,charon1  but in a manner as novel and  
uncommon as highly interesting4 ,had    
this  fantastic conception been executed
 with a correct and regular design1  had
 the painter estimated its individual   
parts with the attention which  he      
bestowed on the whole1 so expressive of 
the confusion and the tumult  of that   
day1 it would be the most admirable of  
pictures4 ,hence he who  casts his eye  
only on the whole1 remains astonished1  
whilst to him who  examines the parts it
 appears to have been painted in jest4  
,in the ,adoration of the ,golden ,calf1
 the counterpart in size of the ,last   
,judgement1 ,tintoretto has given full  
reins to his invention2 and here1  as in
 the former1 though their scanty width  
does not very amicably  correspond with 
their height1 which is fifty feet1 he   
has filled the  whole so dexterously    
that the dimension appears to be the    

result of the  composition4 ,here too1  
as in the ,transfiguration of           
,raffaelle1 some  short-sighted sophist 
may pretend to discover two separate    
subjects and  a double action2 for      
,moses receives the tables of the       
decalogue in the  upper part1 whilst the
 idolatrous ceremony occupies the lower2
 but the  unity of the subject may be   
proved by the same argument which       
defended  and justified the choice of   
,sanzio4 ,both actions are not only the 
offspring of the same moment1 but so    
essentially relate to each other  that1 
by omitting either1 neither could with  
sufficient evidence have  told the      
story4 ,who can pretend to assert1 that 
the artist who has found  the secret of 
representing together two inseparable   
moments of an event  divided only by    
place1 has impaired the unity of the    
subject8    ,nowhere1 however1 does the 
genius of ,tintoretto flash more        
irresistibly  than in the ,schools of   
,s4 ,marco and ,s4 ,rocco1 where the    

greater part of  the former and almost  
the whole of the latter are his work1   
and exhibit  in numerous specimens1 and 
on the largest scale1 every excellence  
and  every fault that exalts or debases 
his pencil3 equal sublimity and         
extravagance of conception2 purity of   
style and ruthless manner2  bravura of  
hand with mental dereliction2 celestial 
or palpitating hues  tacked to clayey1  
raw1 or frigid masses2 a despotism of   
chiaroscuro  which sometimes exalts1    
sometimes eclipses1 often absorbs       
subject and  actors4 ,such is the       
catalogue of beauties and defects which 
characterize  the ,slave delivered by   
,st4 ,marc2 the ,body of the ,saint     
landed2 the  ,visitation of the ,virgin2
 the ,massacre of the ,innocents2       
,christ tempted  in the ,desert2 the    
,miraculous ,feeding of the ,crowd2 the 
,resurrection of  the ,saviour2 and     
though last1 first1 that prodigy which  
in itself sums  up the whole of         
,tintoretto1 and by its anomaly equals  

or surpasses the  most legitimate       
offsprings of art1 the ,crucifixion4#aeb
    ,it is singular that the most       
finished and best preserved work of     
,tintoretto should be one which he had  
least time allowed him to               
terminate--the ,apotheosis of ,s4 ,rocco
 in the principal ceiling-piece of  the 
,schola1 conceived1 executed1 and       
presented1 instead of the sketch  which 
he had been commissioned with the rest  
of the concurrent artists  to produce   
for the examination of the fraternity3 a
 work which equally  strikes by         
loftiness of conception1 a style of     
design as correct as  bold1 and a       
suavity of colour which entrances the   
eye4 ,though  constructed on the        
principles of that sotto in su1 then    
ruling the  platfonds and cupolas of    
upper ,italy1 unknown to or rejected by 
,m4  ,angelo1 its figures recede more   
gradually1 yet with more evidence1 than 
the groups of ,correggio1 whose         
ostentatious foreshortenings generally  

sacrifice the actor to his posture4     
,that ,tintoretto acquired1 during his  
stay with or after his dismissal  from  
the study of ,tiziano's principles1 the 
power of representing the  surface and  
the texture of bodily substance with a  
truth bordering on  illusion1 is proved 
with more irresistible because more     
copious  evidence1 in the picture of the
 ,angelic ,salutation2 though it cannot 
be  denied that the admiration due to   
the magic touch of the paraphernalia  is
 extorted at the expense of the         
essential parts3 ,gabriel and ,maria are
  little more than foils of her         
husband's tools2 for their display1 the 
artist's caprice has turned the solemn  
approach of the awful messenger  into   
boisterous irruption1 the silent recess 
of the mysterious mother  into a public 
dismantled shed1 and herself into a     
vulgar female4 ,nowhere  would the      
superiority of refined over vulgar art1 
of taste and judgment  over unbridled   
fancy1 have appeared more irresistibly  

than in the  sopraporta by ,tiziano on  
the same subject and in the same place1 
had  that exquisite master been inspired
 more by the sanctity of the subject    
than the lures of courtly or the        
ostentatious bigotry of monastic        
devotion4 ,if ,maria was to be rescued  
from the brutal hand that had           
travestied her to the mate of a common  
labourer1 it was not to be  transformed 
to a young abbess1 elegantly devout1    
submitting to  canonization1 amongst her
 delicate lambs2 if the angel was not to
 rush  through a shattered casement on a
 timid female with a whirlwind's blast1 
the waving grace and calm dignity of his
 gesture and attitude1 ought to  have   
been above the assistance of theatrical 
ornament2 nor should  ,palladio have    
been consulted to construct classic     
avenues for the humble  abode of pious  
meditation4 ,it must however be owned   
that we become  reconciled to this mass 
of factitious embellishments by a tone  
which  seems to have been inspired by   

,piety itself2 the message whispers in a
  celestial atmosphere1         ' ----  
and so forcibly appears its magic effect
 to have influenced ,tintoretto         
himself1 ever ready to rush from one    
extreme to another1 that he  imitated it
 in the ,annunciata of the ,arimani     
,palace3#aec not without  success1 but  
far below the mannerless unambitious    
purity of tone that  pervades the       
effusion of his master1 and of which he 
himself gave a  blazing proof in the    
,resurrection of the ,saviour1--a work  
in which  sublimity of conception1      
beauty and dignity of form1 velocity and
  propriety of motion1 irresistible     
flash1 mellowness and freshness of      
colour1 tones inspired by the subject1  
and magic chiaroscuro1 less for  mastery
 strive1 than relieve each other and    
entrance the absorbed eye4              
,,footnotes3    #acd ,thus in an order  
of the ,justiziarii we read3 ,,mcccxxii4
 ,indicion  ,sexta die primo de ,octub4 
,ordenado e fermado fo per ,misier      

,piero ,veniero   per ,miser ,marco da  
,mugla ,justixieri ,vieri1 lo terzo     
compagno vacante4  ,ordenado fo che da  
mo in avanti alguna persona si venedega 
come  forestiera non osa vender in      
,venexia alcuna ,anchona impenta1 salvo 
li  empentori1 sotto pena1 c4 ,salvo da 
la sensa1 che alora sia licito a        
zaschun de vinder anchone infin chel    
durer la festa1 c4 ,and a  picture in   
the church of ,s4 ,donato at ,murano1   
has the following  inscription3 ,corendo
 ,,mcccx4 indicion viii4 in tempo de lo 
nobele homo  ,miser ,donato ,memo       
honorando ,podest facta fo questa       
,anchona de ,miser  ,s4 ,donato4    #ace
 ,in the church at ,cassello di ,sesto1 
which has an abbey founded in  #gfb1    
there are pictures of the ninth century4
    #acf ,gelasio di ,nicolo della      
,masuada di ,s4 ,giorgio1 was of        
,ferrara1 and  flourished about #abdb4  
,vid4 ,historia almi ,ferrariensis      
,gymnasii1  ,ferraria1 #agce4    #acg   
,at that time he painted in the palace  

of ,cari della ,scala at  ,verona1 and  
at ,padoua a chapel in the church 'del  
,sarto2' he repeated  his visit in the  
latter years of his life to both places4
 ,of what he did  at ,verona no traces  
remain1 but at ,padoua the compartments 
of ,gospel  histories round the         
,oratorio of the ,nunziata all' ,arena1 
by the  freshness of the fresco and that
 blended grace and grandeur peculiar to 
,giotto1 still surprise4    #ach        
,fiorillo has confounded this           
questionable name with the real one  of 
,luigi1 who painted about #adij4--,see  
,fiorillo ,geschichte1 ii4 p4 #aa4      
#aci ,in ,s4 ,giorgio ,maggiore is a    
,st4 ,stephen and ,sebastian1 with the  
inscription3               #adde4       
,johannes de ,alemania      et ,antonius
 de ,muriano4               ,p4    from 
which1 another picture at ,padova1      
inscribed ,antonio de ,muran e  ,zohan  
,alamanus pinxit1 and some traces of    
foreign style where his name  occurs1   
,lanzi suspects that the inscription in 

,s4 ,pantaleone1 ,zuane1 e  ,antonio da 
,muran1 pense #addd1 on which the       
existence of ,giovanni is  founded1     
means no other than the ,german partner 
of ,antonio4    #adj ,in no instance    
seems ,vasari to have given a more      
decisive proof of  his attachment to the
 ,florentine school1 than by building   
the fame of  ,pisano on having been the 
pupil of ,andrea del ,castagno1 and     
having been  allowed to terminate the   
works which he had left unfinished      
behind him  about #adhj2 an anachronism 
the more absurd as the ,commendator del 
,pozzo  was possessed of a picture by   
,pisano1 inscribed ',opera di ,vittor   
,pisanello de ,san ,v4 ,veronese1       
,,mccccvi4' a period at which probably  
,castagno was not born4 ,the truth is1  
that ,vasari1 whose rage for  dispatch  
and credulity kept pace with each other1
 composed the first  part of ,pisano's  
life nearly without materials1 and the  
second from  hearsay4    #ada ,what     
,vasari says of the dog of ,s4          

,eustachio and the horse of ,st4        
,giorgio1 though on the authority of ,fr
 ,marco de' ,medici1 warrants the       
assertion2 and still more the           
foreshortened horse on the reverse of a 
medal struck in #adai1 in honour and    
with the head of ,john ,palologus4  ,the
 horse1 like that of ,m4 ,antoninus1 has
 an attitude of parallel  motion4 ,the  
medal has been published by ,ducange in 
the appendix to his  ,latin ,glossary1  
by ,padre ,banduri1 ,gori and ,maffei4  
#adb ,see their lists in ,descrizione   
delle ,architetture1 ,pitture e         
,sculture di ,vicenza con alcune        
osservazioni1 c4 ,vicenza1 #aggi1 #hvo4 
p4  ,i4 ,,ii4    #adc ,ridolfi1 i4 #fh4 
,vasari1 who treats his art with        
contempt1 calls  him ,jacopo2 and       
,orlandi1 afraid of choosing between    
them1 used both1 and  made two different
 artists4    #add ,vasari dates his     
birth #adhj4    #ade ,liruti1 ,notizie  
de' ,letterati del ,friuli1 t4 ii4 p4   
#bhe4    #adf ,sebastiano ,zuccati of   

,trevigo1 flourished about #adij4 ,he   
had two  sons1 ,valerio and ,francesco1 
celebrated for mosaic about and beyond  
the  middle of the sixteenth century4   
,flaminio ,zuccati1 the son of ,valerio1
  who inherited his father's talent and 
fame1 flourished about #aehe4 ,see      
,zanetti4    #adg ,see ,ridolfi4 ,the   
original went to ,dresden2 but ,italy   
abounds in  copies of it4 ,lanzi        
mentions one which he saw at ,s4        
,saverio in ,rimini1  with ,tiziano's   
name written on the fillet of the       
,pharisee1 a performance  of great      
beauty1 and by many considered less a   
copy than a duplicate4  ,the most       
celebrated copy1 that of ,flaminio      
,torre1 is preserved at  ,dresden with  
the original4    #adh ,si pu quasi dire1
 che il vizio sia la virt della ,scuola 
,veneziana1 poich fa pompa della        
sollecitudine nel dipingere2 e perci  fa
 stima di ,tintoretto1 che non avea     
altro merito4 ,mengs1 ,opere1 t4 i4  p4 
#age4 ed4 ,parm4    #adi ,it has        

supplanted1 was probably perpetuated in 
allusion to his  rapidity of execution1 
and remains familiar to ears that never 
heard of  ,robusti4    #aej ,see ,varie 
,pitture a fresco de' principali        
,maestri ,veneziani1 c4  ,venez4 fol4   
#agfj4 ,tab4 #h1 #i1 p4 viii4 ,no one   
who has seen the original  figures of   
the ,aurora and ,creposcolo in ,s4      
,lorenzo1 can mistake their  imitation1 
or rather transcripts1 in these4    #aea
 ,the frequent want of equilibration    
found in ,tintoretto's figures1  even   
where no violence of action can palliate
 or account for it1 has not  without    
probability been ascribed to his method 
of studying foreshortening  from models 
loosely suspended and playing in the    
air2 to which he at last  became so used
 that he sometimes employed it even for 
figures resting on  firm ground1 and    
fondly sacrificed solidity and firmness 
to the affected  graces of undulation4  
#aeb ,it would be mere waste of time to 
recapitulate what has been said  on the 

efficient beauties of this astonishing  
work in the lectures on  colour and     
chiaroscuro1 and in the article of      
,tintoretto1 in the last  edition of    
,pilkington's ,dictionary4 ,it has been 
engraved on a large  scale by ,agostino 
,carracci1 if that can be called        
engraving which  contents itself with   
the mere enumeration of the parts1      
totally  neglecting the medium of that  
tremendous twilight which hovers over   
the  whole and transposes us to         
,golgotha4 ,if what ,ridolfi says be    
true1 that  ,tintoretto embraced the    
engraver when he presented the drawing  
to him1  he must have had still more    
deplorable moments of dereliction as a  
man  than as an ,artist1 or the drawing 
of ,agostino1 must have differed        
totally from the print4    #aec ,it is  
engraved by ,pietro ,monaco1 as that of 
,tiziano1 by ,le ,fevre1  but in a      
manner which makes us lament the lot of 
those who have no means  to see the     
original4          ,,the ,,school ,,of  

,,mantoua4      ,mantoua1#aed the       
birth-place of ,virgil1 a name dear to  
poetry1 by the  adoption of ,andrea     
,mantegna and ,giulio ,pippi claims a   
distinguished  place in the history of  
,art1 for restoring and disseminating   
style among  the schools of ,lombardy4  
,mantoua1 desolated by ,attila1         
conquered by ,alboin1 wrested from the  
,longobards by the ,exarch of ,ravenna1 
was taken and fortified by ,charles  the
 ,great3 from ,bonifazio of ,canossa it 
descended to ,mathilda2 after her       
demise1 #aaae1 became a republic        
tyrannized by ,bonacorsi1 till the      
people  conferred the supremacy on      
,lodovico ,gonzaga1 under whose         
successors it  rose from a marquisate1  
#adcc1 to a dukedom1 #aeca1 and finished
 as an  appendage to the spoils of      
,austria4    ,revolutions so            
uninterrupted1 aggravated by accidental 
devastations of  floods and fire1 may   
account for the want of earlier         
monuments of art in  ,mantoua and its   

districts1 than the remains from the    
epoch of  ,mathilda4#aee ,a want perhaps
 more to be regretted by the antiquary  
than the historian of art1 whose real   
epoch begins with the patronage of      
,lodovico ,gonzaga and the appearance of
 ,andrea ,mantegna4#aef    ,this native 
of ,padova#aeg was the adopted son and  
pupil of ,squarcione1  in whose school  
he acquired that taste for the antique  
which marks his  works at every period  
of his practice2 if sometimes mitigated1
 never  supplanted by the blandishments 
of colour and the precepts of ,giovanni 
,bellino1 whose daughter he had married4
    ,perhaps no question has been       
discussed with greater anxiety1 and     
dismissed from investigation with less  
success1 than that of  ,correggio's     
origin1 circumstances1 methods of study1
 and death4    ,the date of his birth is
 uncertain1 some place it in #adge1     
others in  #adij2 were we to follow a   
,,ms4 gloss in the ,library at          
,gottingen1  mentioned by ,fiorillo1    

which says he died at the age of forty  
in #aeab1  he must have been born in    
#adgb2 but the true date is1 no doubt1  
that of  the inscription set him at     
,correggio1 viz4 that he died in #aecd1 
aged  forty4 ,the honour of his         
birth-place is allowed to ,correggio1   
though not  without dispute4#aeh ,his   
father's name was ,pellegrino ,allegri1 
according to ,orlandi1 countenanced by  
,mengs4 ,he was instructed in the       
elements of literature1 philosophy1 and 
mathematics2 however doubtful  this1    
there can be no doubt entertained on the
 very early period in  which he must    
have applied to ,painting4 ,the brevity 
of his life1 and the  surprising number 
of his works1 evince that he could not  
devote much  time to literature1 and1 of
 mathematics1 probably contented himself
 with  what related to perspective and  
architecture4 ,on the authority of      
,vedriani and of ,scannelli1 ,mengs and 
his follower ,ratti make ,correggio  in 
,modena the pupil of ,franc4 ,bianchi   

,ferrari1 and in ,mantoua of ,andr4     
,mantegna1 without vouchers of          
sufficient authenticity for either3 the 
passage quoted by ,vedriani from the    
chronicle of ,lancillotto1 an  historian
 contemporary with ,correggio1 is an    
interpolation2 and  ,mantegna1 who died 
in #aeje1 could not have been the master
 of a boy who  at that time was scarcely
 in his twelfth year4    ,some supposed 
pictures of ,correggio at ,mantoua1 in  
the manner of  ,mantegna1 may have given
 rise to this opinion4 ,an imitation of 
that  style is visible in some whose    
originality has never been disputed3    
such  as in the ,st4 ,cecilia of the    
,palace ,borghese1 and a piece in his   
first  manner of the ,gallery at        
,dresden4    ,father ,maurizio ,zapata1 
a friar of ,casino1 in a ,,ms4 quoted by
  ,tiraboschi1 affirms that the two     
uncles of ,parmegianino1 ,michele and   
,pier ,stario ,mazzuoli1 were the       
masters of ,correggio1--a supposition   
without foundation2 it is more probable1

 though not certain1 that he  gained the
 first elements from ,lorenzo ,allegri  
his uncle1 and not1 as  the vulgar      
opinion states1 his grandfather4        
,equal doubts prevail on his skill and  
power of execution in architecture  and 
plastic3 the common opinion is1 that for
 this he was beholden to  ,antonio      
,begarelli4 ,scannelli1 ,resta1 and     
,vedriani1 pretend that  ,correggio1    
terrified by the enormous mass and      
variety of figures to be  seen          
foreshortened from below in the cupola  
of the ,domo at ,parma1 had  the whole  
modelled by ,begarelli1 and thus escaped
 from the difficulty1  correct1 and with
 applause4 ,they likewise tell in       
,parma1 that by  occasion of some solemn
 funeral1 many of those models were     
found on the  cornices of the cupola1   
and considered as the works of          
,begarelli3 hence  they pretend that    
,correggio was his regular pupil1 and as
 such finished  those three statues     
which a tradition as vague as silly has 

placed to  his account in ,begarelli's  
celebrated composition of the           
,deposition from  the ,cross in the     
church of ,st4 ,margareta4    ,that     
either ,correggio himself or ,begarelli 
made models for the cupola  admits no   
doubt1 the necessity of such a process  
is evident from the  nature and the     
perfection of the work2 but there is    
surely none to  conclude from it to that
 of a formal apprenticeship in          
sculpture4 ,he who  had arrived at the  
power of painting the cupola at ,parma1 
may without  rashness be supposed to    
have possessed that of making for his   
own use  small models of clay1 without  
the instructions of a master1 especially
  in an age when painting1 sculpture1   
and architecture frequently met in  the 
same artist2 and1 as we have            
elsewhere#aei observed1 when sketching  
in clay was a practice familiar to those
 of ,lombardy4    ,correggio's pretended
 journey to ,rome is another point in   
dispute3 two  writers of his century1   

,ortensio ,landi and ,vasari1 reject it4
 ,the first  says#afj ,correggio died   
young without having been able to visit 
,rome2  the second affirms that ,antonio
 had a genius which wanted nothing but  
acquaintance with ,rome to perform      
miracles4 ,padre ,resta1 a great        
collector of ,correggio's works1 was the
 first who opposed their  authority4#afa
 ,he pretends1 in some writing of his   
own1 to have adduced  twelve proofs of  
,correggio's having twice visited ,rome1
 viz4 in #aebj and  #aecj4 ,but the     
allegations of a crafty monk1 a dealer  
in drawings and  pictures1 cannot weigh 
against authorities like those of       
,vasari and  ,landi4 ,his conjectures   
rest partly on some supposed drawings of
  ,correggio's in his possession1 from  
the ,loggie of the ,vatican1 and  partly
 on an imaginary journey1 in which1 he  
tells us1 ,correggio  traversed ,italy  
incognito1 and made everywhere copies1  
which all had the  good luck to fall    
into his own reverend hands4 ,these     

lures1 held out to  ensnare the ignorant
 and wealthy1 he palliated by a         
pretended plan of  raising a monument to
 the memory of the immortal artist at   
,correggio1  the expenses of which were 
to be defrayed by the produce of his    
stock in  hand4 ,he had even face enough
 to solicit from that town an           
attestation  that their citizen had     
travelled as a journeyman painter4      
,mengs1 and of course ,batti1 embrace   
the same opinion4 ,mengs draws his      
conclusion from the difference between  
,correggio's first and second  style1   
which he considers less as the          
imperceptible progress of art than  as  
the immediate effect of the works of    
,raphael and ,michel ,agnolo4 ,mengs    
was probably seduced to believe in this 
visionary journey on the  authority of  
,winkelmann1 who pretended to have      
discovered1 in the museum  of ,cardinal 
,albani1 some designs after the antique 
by ,mantegna1  ,correggio's reputed     
master4 ,bracci1 in opposition1 assert  

that ,allegri  was beholden to none but 
himself for his acquirements1 and       
appeals to a  letter of ,annibale       
,carracci1 who says that ,correggio     
found in himself  those materials for   
which the rest were obliged to          
extraneous help4 ,the  words of         
,carracci1 however1 with all due homage 
to the genius of  ,correggio and the    
originality of his style1 appear to     
refer rather to  invention and the      
poetic1 than to the executive part of   
his works4    ,if there be any solidity 
in the observation of ,mengs on         
,correggio's  first manner1 as a mixture
 of ,pietro ,perugino's and ,lionardo's 
style1  and of course not very different
 from ,raphael's1 how comes it that in  
the works of his second and best manner 
all resemblance to either1 and          
consequently to ,raphael1 disappears8   
,the simplicity of ,raphael's forms  is 
little beholden to that contrast and    
those foreshortenings which are  the    
element of ,correggio's style4 ,raphael 

sacrificed all to the subject  and      
expression2 ,correggio1 in an artificial
 medium1 sacrifices all to  the air of  
things and harmony4 ,raphael speaks to  
our heart2 ,correggio  insinuates       
himself into our affections by charming 
our senses4 ,the  essence of ,raphael's 
beauty is dignity of mind2 petulant     
navet that  of ,correggio's4 ,raphael's 
grace is founded on propriety2          
,correggio's on  convenience and the    
harmony of the whole4 ,the light of     
,raphael is simple  daylight2 that of   
,correggio artificial splendour4 ,in    
short1 the history  of artists scarcely 
furnishes characteristics more opposite 
than what  discriminate these two4 ,and 
though it may appear a paradox to       
superficial observation1 were it        
necessary to find an object of          
imitation for ,allegri's second and best
 style1 the artificial medium1  the     
breadth of manner and mellowness of     
transition1 with the enormous  forms and
 foreshortenings of ,michel ,angelo1    

though adopted by so  different a mind1 
from as different motives1 for an end   
still more  different1 will be found to 
be much more congenial with his         
principles  of seeing and executing1    
than the style of any preceding or      
coetaneous  period4    ,the authenticity
 of ,correggio's celebrated ,anch' io   
son ,pittore1 is  less affected by the  
improbability of his journey to ,rome1  
than by its  own legendary weakness3    
though not at ,modena or ,parma1 for    
there were no  pictures of ,raphael in  
either place during ,antonio's life1 he 
might have  seen the ,st4 ,cecilia at   
,bologna2 and if the story be true1     
perhaps no  large picture of that master
 that we are acquainted with could      
furnish  him with equal matter of       
exultation4 ,he was less made to        
sympathize with  the celestial trance of
 the heroine1 the intense meditation of 
the  ,apostles1 and the sainted grace of
 the ,magdalen1 than to be disgusted by 
a parallelism of the whole which borders

 on primitive apposition1 by the  total 
neglect of what is called picturesque1  
the absence of chiaroscuro1  the        
unharmonious colour1 and dry severity of
 execution4    ,the next point is to fix
 the dates of ,correggio's works2 the   
certain1  the probable1 the conjectural4
    ,the theatre of ,correggio's first  
essays in art is supposed to have been  
his native place and the palace of its  
princes2 but that palace perished  with 
whatever it might contain4 ,from a      
document in the parochial archive  of   
,correggio1 of #aead1 it appears that in
 the same year he painted an            
altar-piece for one hundred zechini1 a  
considerable price for a young  man of  
twenty4 ,this picture was in the church 
of the ,minorites1 where it  remained   
till #afch1 when a copy was unawares put
 into the place of the  original4 ,the  
citizens alarmed1 in vain made          
representations to ,annibale  ,molza1   
their governor2 it even appears from a  
letter of his to the ,court  of ,modena1

 in whose name he governed1 that1 many  
years before1 two other  pieces of      
,antonio had been removed from the same 
chapel by order of ,don  ,siro1 the last
 prince of the ,house of ,correggio2    
those represented a ,st4  ,john and a   
,st4 ,bartholomew2 the subject of the   
altar-piece was the  ,madonna with the  
child1 ,joseph and ,st4 ,francis4       
,the fraternity of the ,hospital della  
,misericordia possessed likewise an     
altar-piece of ,antonio4 ,the centre    
piece represented the ,deity of the     
,father2 the two wings1 ,st4 ,john and  
,bartholomew4 ,according to a contract  
which still remains in the archives1 it 
was estimated by a painter of           
,novellara1 ,jacopo ,borboni1 at three  
hundred ducats1 bought for ,don ,siro   
in #afac1 and a copy put in its place4  
,the originals of all these  pictures   
are lost4    ,the picture with the      
,madonna and child on a throne1 ,st4    
,john the  ,baptist1 the ,sts4          
,catharina1 ,francis1 and ,antony1      

inscribed ,antonius de  ,allegris ,p4   
now in the gallery of ,dresden1 was1 as 
,tiraboschi correctly  supposes1 an     
altar-piece in the church of ,st4       
,nicolas of the ,minorites1  at ,carpi3 
a copy of it by ,aretusi1 is at         
,mantoua4 ,to this period1 and  perhaps 
even an earlier one1 belongs the ,st4   
,cecilia of the ,borghese  palace4 ,the 
general style of this picture is dry and
 hard1 and the  draperies in ,mantegna's
 taste2 but the light which proceeds    
from a glory  of angels1 and            
imperceptibly expands itself over the   
whole1 is a  characteristic too decisive
 to leave any doubt of its originality4 
,in the gallery of ,count ,brhl was the 
,wedding 7sposalizio7 of ,st4           
,catharine1 with the following          
inscription on the back3--,laus ,deo3   
per  ,donna ,metilde d',este ,antonio   
,lieto da ,correggio fece il presente   
quadro  per sua divozione1 anno #aeag4  
,this inscription appears1 however1     
suspicious1 as at that time there was no

 princess of that name at the  court of 
,ferrara4 ,at the purchase of the       
principal pictures in the  ,modenese    
gallery by ,augustus ,,iii4 this was    
presented by the ,duke to  ,count ,brhl2
 from him it went to the ,imperial      
,gallery at ,petersburg4 ,a  similar one
 was in the collection of ,capo di      
,monte at ,naples1 and ,mengs  considers
 both as originals4 ,copies of merit by 
,gabbiani and ,volterrano  are in       
,england and ,toscana4 ,it is singular  
that an artist1 than whom  none had more
 scholars and copyists1 and whose short 
life was occupied  by the most important
 works1 should be supposed to have      
painted so many  duplicates1 and that a 
set of men1 as impudent as ignorant1    
should meet  with dupes as credulous as 
wealthy1 eager to purchase their trash  
at  enormous prices1 in the face of the 
few legitimate originals4    ,in #aeai1 
,antonio went to ,parma1 and soon after 
his arrival is said to have  painted a  
room in the ,nunnery of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the

 authenticity of this work1  placed     
within the clausure of the convent and  
consequently inaccessible1  has been    
recently disputed1 and the author of a  
certain dialogue even  attempts to prove
 the whole a fable4 ,to ascertain the   
fact1 a special  licence to visit the   
place was obtained for some painters and
 architects  of note1 and on their      
declaring the paintings one of          
,correggio's best  works1 ,don          
,ferdinando de ,bourbon1 with some of   
the courtiers and ,padre  ,iveneo ,affo1
 followed to inspect it4 ,what he tells 
us of monastic  constitution in those   
times accounts for the admission of so  
profane an  ornament in such a place2   
for in the beginning of the sixteenth   
century1  clausure was yet unknown to   
nunneries2 abbesses were elected for    
life1  their power over the revenue of  
the convent was uncontrolled1 their     
style  of life magnificent1 and their   
political influence not inconsiderable4 
,such was the situation of nunneries    

when ,donna ,giovanna da ,piacenza1     
descended from an eminent family at     
,parma1 the new-elected abbess of ,st4  
,paul's1 ordered two saloons of her     
elegant apartments to be decorated with 
paintings2 one by ,correggio1 and       
another1 as it is conjectured1 either by
  ,alessandro ,araldi of ,parma1 or     
,cristoforo ,casella1 called            
,temperello4  ,padre ,affo proves that  
,correggio must have painted his        
apartment before  #aebj1 immediately    
after his arrival at ,parma1 and four or
 five years  before the introduction of 
the clausure4 ,of a work so singular and
  questionable1 it will not appear      
superfluous to repeat some of the most  
striking outlines from his              
account3--,the chimney-piece represents 
,diana  returned from the chase1 to whom
 an infant ,amor offers the head of a   
new-slain stag2 the ceiling is vaulted1 
raised in arches over sixteen  lunettes2
 four on each side of the walls2 the    
paintings are raised about  an ell from 

the floor1 and form a series of         
mythologic and allegoric  figures1 which
 breathe the simplicity1 the suavity1   
and the decorum of  ,art's golden age4  
,of these the three ,graces naked1 in   
three different  attitudes1 offer a     
charming study of female beauty1 and a  
striking  contrast with the ,parc placed
 opposite2 the most singular subject is 
a  naked female figure1 suspended by a  
cord from the sky1 with her hands tied  
over her head--her body extended by two 
golden anvils fastened with chains  to  
her feet1 floating in the attitude of   
which the ,homeric ,jupiter reminds  his
 ,juno4#afb ,the high-arched roof       
embowers the whole with luxuriant       
verdure and fruit1 and is divided into  
sixteen large ovals1 overhung with      
festoons of tendrils1 vine-leaves1 and  
grapes1 between which appear groups  of 
infant ,amorini1 above the size of      
children1 gamboling in various          
picturesque though not immodest         
attitudes4    ,neither the pretended    

inaccessibility of place1 nor the veil  
thrown by  monastic austerity over the  
profaneness of the subject1 can         
sufficiently  account for the silence of
 tradition1 and the obscurity in which  
this  work was suffered to linger for   
nearly three centuries4 ,supposing it1  
on  the authorities adduced1 to be the  
legitimate produce of ,correggio1 and   
considering its affinity to the         
ornamental parts of the ,loggie in the  
,vatican1 it affords a stronger argument
 of ,allegri's having seen ,rome1       
studied the antique1 and imitated       
,raphael1 than any of those that have   
been adduced by ,mengs1 who 7with his   
commentator ,d',azara17 appears to  have
 been totally uninformed of it1         
notwithstanding his familiarity at      
,parma with every work of ,correggio1   
his perseverance of inquiry and  eager  
pursuit of whatever related to his idol1
 the influence he enjoyed  at ,court1   
and unlimited access to every place that
 might be supposed to  contain or hide  

some work of art4    ,soon after his    
arrival at ,parma1 ,antonio probably    
received the  commission of the         
celebrated cupola of ,s4 ,giovanni1     
which he completed  in #aebd1 as appears
 from an acquittance for the last       
payment subscribed  ',antonio ,lieto1'  
still existing at ,parma4    ,in the    
cupola he represented the ,ascension of 
the ,saviour1 with the  ,apostles1 the  
,madonna1 c4 and the ,coronation of the 
,virgin on the  tribune of the principal
 altar1 whose enlargement in #aehd      
occasioned1  with the destruction of the
 choir1 that of the painting3 a few     
fragments  escaped2 an exact copy had1  
however1 been provided before1 by       
,annibale  ,carracci1 from which it was 
repainted on the same place by ,aretusi4
 ,the  same church preserved two        
pictures in oil of ,correggio1 the      
martyrdom of  ,st4 ,placidus and        
,flavia1 and ,christ taken from the     
cross on the lap of  his mother2 both   
are now 7#ahjb7 in the collection of the

 ,louvre4    ,the success of the cupola 
of ,s4 ,giovanni encouraged the         
inspectors of  the ,domo to commit the  
decoration of theirs to the same master4
 ,of their  contract with him1 the      
original still remains in the archive of
 their  chapter2 it was concluded in    
#aebb1 and amounted to about one        
thousand  zecchini1 no inconsiderable   
sum for those times1 and alone          
sufficient to  do away the silly        
tradition of the artist's mendicity4    
,the decorations  of the chapel1 next to
 the cupola1 were distributed among     
three of the  best ,parmesan painters at
 that time1 ,parmegianino1 ,franc4      
,maria ,rondani1  and ,michael ,angelo  
,anselmi4 ,from all the papers hitherto 
found1 it  appears1 however1 that       
,correggio did not actually begin to    
paint the  cupola before #aebf3 it      
represents the ,ascension of the        
,virgin1 and  without recurring to an   
individual verdict1 has received the    
sanction of  ages1 as the most sublime  

in its kind1 of all that were produced  
before  and after it2 a work without a  
rival1 though now dimmed with smoke1 and
  in decay by time4 ,these were the two 
first cupolas painted entire1 all       
former ones being painted in            
compartments4 ,nothing occurs to make us
  surmise that ,correggio had partners  
of his labour in these two works2  for  
,lattanzio ,gambara of ,brescia1        
mentioned by ,rossi as his assistant in 
the ,domo1 was born eight years after   
,correggio's death4    ,during the      
progress of these two great works1      
,correggio produced others  of inferior 
size but equal excellence2 the principal
 of which are the  two votive pictures  
of ,st4 ,jerome1 and ,la ,notte4 ,that  
of ,st4 ,jerome  represents the ,saint  
offering his ,translation to the ,infant
 ,christ1 who  is seated in his         
,mother's lap1 with ,st4 ,magdalen      
reclining on and  kissing his feet1 and 
flanked by ,angels4 ,the commission for 
this picture  is said to have been given

 in #aebc1 by ,donna ,briseide ,colla1  
the widow  of ,orazio or ,ottaviano     
,bergonzi of ,parma1 who in #aebh gave  
it as a  votive offering to the church  
of ,s4 ,antonio del ,fuoco4 ,the price  
agreed  on1 was #djj lire2 #dj1jjj      
ducats were offered for it afterwards by
 the  ,king of ,portugal2 and the then  
,abbot of the convent was on the point  
of  concluding the bargain1 when the    
citizens of ,parma1 to prevent the loss1
  applied to the ,infante ,don          
,philippo4 ,he ordered it in #agdi to be
  transposed from ,s4 ,antonio to the   
,domo2 there it remained till #agef1    
when1 on the application of a ,french   
painter1 expelled by the ,canons for    
his attempt to trace it1 the ,prince had
 it transferred under an escort  of     
twenty-four grenadiers to ,colorno2 and 
from thence to the newly  instituted    
academy1 where it remained till #agig1  
and now1 7#ahjb17 with  other           
transported works of ,art1 glitters     
among the spoils of the ,louvre4    ,the

 second picture known by the name of ,la
 ,notte1 represents the  birthnight of  
the ,saviour1 and was the commission of 
,alberto ,pratonieri1  as appears from a
 writing dated in #aebb1 though it was  
not finished till  #aebg according to   
,mengs1 or #aecj as ,fiorillo surmised1 
when it was  dedicated in the ,chapel   
,pratonieri of ,s4 ,prospero at ,reggio3
 from  whence1 #afdj1 it was carried to 
the gallery of ,modena1 by order1 of    
,duke  ,francesco ,i4 and from thence at
 length to that of ,dresden4    ,a      
chapel in the church del ,s4 ,sepolcro  
at ,parma1 possessed formerly the       
altar-piece known by the name of ,la    
,madonna della ,scodella1 because  the  
,virgin1 represented on her flight to   
,egypt1 holds a wooden bowl in  her     
hand3 a figure1 whom ,mengs fancies the 
,genius of the ,fountain1 pours  water  
into it2 and in the back ground an      
angel1 whose action and  expression he  
considers as too graceful for the       
business1 ties up the  ass4 ,this       

picture1 he tells us1 was1 thirteen     
years before the date in  which he      
wrote1 nearly swept out of the panel by 
the barbarous wash of a  ,spanish       
journeyman painter who had obtained     
permission to copy it4 ,it is  now in   
the ,louvre1 and how much of its present
 florid colour is  legitimate1 must be  
left to the decision of the committee de
 la  ,restoration4    ,if the most      
sublime degree of expression be entitled
 to the right of  originality1 ,mengs   
must be followed in his decision on the 
,ecce ,homo1  formerly in the ,palace   
,colonna1 without much anxiety whether  
it be the  same that belonged to the    
family of ,prati at ,parma1 or that     
which  ,agostino ,carracci engraved4    
,the ,madonna seated beneath a          
palm-tree1 bending in somnolently       
pensive  contemplation over the ,infant 
on her lap1 watched by an ,angel above  
her1  and attended by a ,leveret1 known 
by the name of ,la ,zingarella or the   
,egyptian1 from the sash round her head1

 formerly in the gallery of  ,parma1 and
 now at ,naples in that of ,capo di     
,monte1 has suffered so  much from a    
modern hand1 that little of the master  
remains but the  conception4 ,nearly a  
duplicate of it was presented by        
,cardinal  ,alessandro ,albani to king  
,augustus of ,poland2 but ,mengs        
hesitates to  pronounce it an original4 
,in the period of these1 about #aecj1 we
 may probably place the two  celebrated 
pictures of ,leda and ,danae1 than which
 no modern works of art  have suffered  
more from accident and wanton or bigoted
 barbarity1 or  been tossed about by    
more contradictory tradition4    ,if the
 subject that takes its name from ,leda 
be1 as ,mengs says1 rather  an allegory 
than a fable1 it alludes to what would  
aggravate even the  story of that       
mistress of ,jupiter4 ,the central      
figure represents a  female seated on   
the verge of a rivulet with a swan      
between her thighs1  who attempts to    
insinuate his bill into her lips2 but at

 her side1 and  deeper in the water1 is 
a tender girl1 who with an air of       
innocence  playfully struggles to defend
 herself from the attacks of another    
swimming swan2 farther on1 a girl more  
grown up to woman1 gazes1 whilst  a     
female servant dresses her1 with an air 
of satiate pleasure after a  swan on the
 wing1 that seems just to have left her2
 at some distance  appears half a figure
 of an aged woman1 draped1 and with     
looks of  regret4 ,on the other side of 
the principal group1 the graceful form  
of a  full-grown ,amor strikes the lyre1
 and two ,amorini contrive to wind some 
horn instruments4 ,the scene of all this
 is a charming grove on the brink  of a 
pellucid lake4    ,the second picture   
represents the daughter of ,acrisius1   
but with poetic  spirit4 ,the virgin    
gracefully reclines on her bed2 a       
full-grown ,cupid1  perhaps a ,hymen1   
lifts with one hand the border of the   
sheet on her lap  that receives the     
celestial shower1 whilst his other      

presents the mystic  drops to her       
enchanted glance3 two ,amorini at the   
foot of the bed try  on a touchstone1   
that1 one of the golden drops1 this1 the
 point of an  arrow1 and he1 says       
,mengs1 has a vigour of character much  
superior to  the other1 plainly to      
express1 that ,love proceeds from the   
arrow1 and  its ruin from gold2 he      
likewise finds that the head and        
head-dress of  ,danae are imitated from 
those of the ,medicean ,venus4          
,vasari1 and after him ,mengs with      
others1 tell that in #aecj1 ,federigo   
,gonzaga1 then created ,duke of         
,mantoua1 intended to present ,charles  
the  ,fifth at the ceremonial of his    
coronation with two pictures worthy of  
him1 and in the choice of artists gave  
the preference to ,correggio4 ,from     
this1 a correct inference is drawn      
against that pretended obscurity in     
which ,correggio is said to have        
lingered2 for at that time ,giulio      
,romano  lived at the ,court of         

,mantoua1 and ,tizian was in the service
 of the  ,emperor4 ,vasari is silent on 
the date of the pictures1 but he affirms
  that1 at their sight1 ,giulio ,romano 
declared he had never seen a style  of  
colour approaching theirs4 ,so far all  
seems correct2 but that they  were      
actually presented to ,charles1 sent to 
,prague1 and after the  sacking of that 
city by ,gustavus ,adolphus1 carried to 
,stockholm1 is  unproved or erroneous4  
,if it is not likely that the ,emperor1 
instead of  sending them to ,madrid1 the
 darling depository of his other works  
of  art1 should have sent them into a   
kind of exile to ,prague1 it is an      
error to pretend they were removed from 
thence by ,gustavus ,adolphus1 who  was 
slain at ,lutzen sixteen years before   
the ,swedes sacked that city1  #afdh4   
,the truth is1 that these pictures were 
not given to the ,emperor1  but placed  
in his own gallery by the ,duke1 where  
they remained till  #afcj1 when the     
,imperial ,general ,colalto stormed     

,mantoua1 sacked it1  deprived it of its
 cabinet of treasures1 of the celebrated
 vase since  possessed by the ,house of 
,brunswick1 and transmitted its         
beautiful  collection of pictures to    
,prague1 from whence by the event of war
 we  have mentioned1 they became the    
property of ,queen ,christina1 at whose 
abdication1 when the whole was packing  
up for ,rome1 the two pictures in       
question were discovered in the royal   
stables1 where they had served as       
window-blinds1 mutilated and despised4  
,whether so unaccountable a  neglect be 
imputable to the ,queen's want of taste1
 as ,tessin asserts1 or  to accident1   
or1 what is most unlikely1 to her       
modesty1 cannot now be  decided4 ,they  
were repaired1 and at her demise left to
 ,cardinal  ,azzolini1 of whose heirs   
they were purchased by ,don ,livio      
,odescalchi1  and by him left to the    
,duke of ,bracciano1 were sold to the   
,regent of  ,france1 whose son1 from a  
whim of bigotry1 had the picture of the 

,leda  cut to pieces in his own         
presence1 in which state ,charles       
,coypel  requested and obtained it for  
his private study4 ,at his death it was 
vamped up1 repieced1 disposed of by     
auction1 and1 at a high price1 sold  to 
the ,king of ,prussia4 ,what became of  
the ,danae is matter of  dispute4#afc   
,the picture of ,io embraced by         
,jupiter1 inbosomed in clouds1 by a     
silent  water in which a stag quenches  
his thirst1 was their companion3 a work 
to which the most lavish fame has done  
no justice1 and beyond which no  fancy  
ever soared4 ,the ,io shared a still    
more barbarous fate4 ,not  content with 
mangling her like the ,leda1 the bigot  
prince burnt her  head2 and1 were it not
 for the beautiful duplicate which      
fortune  preserved in the ,gallery of   
,vienna1#afd we should be reduced to    
guess  at ,correggio in the fragments at
 ,sans ,souci1 and the prints of        
,surregue  and ,bartolozzi4 ,the        
,imperial ,gallery possesses1 likewise1 

the ,rape of  ,ganymede1 by ,correggio1 
of the same size with the ,io2 a        
,mountain ,scene2  a full-grown ,cupid1 
seen from behind1 with his head turned  
to the  spectator1 shaping a bow1       
accompanied by a laughing and a weeping 
infant1 in struggling attitudes1 which  
was likewise sold by the heirs of  ,don 
,livio ,odescalchi1 has equally         
exercised opinion4 ,vasari1 ,tassoni1   
,du  ,bois1 de ,st4 ,gelais1 c4 ascribe 
it to ,parmegiano2 ,mengs and ,fiorillo1
  who judge from the duplicate at       
,vienna1 with greater probability give  
it  to ,correggio4 ,the contrast of the 
attitudes is produced more by navet     
than affectation1 the lines have more   
simplicity than the style of  ,mazzuola 
admitted of1 and the colour more        
breadth4 ,the conception of the  whole1 
whether the infants be the symbols of   
successful and unsuccessful  love1 or   
denote the dangers of love1 or be simply
 children1 though not  beyond the fancy 
of ,parmegiano1 has more the air of a   

,correggiesque  conceit4 ,numberless    
copies were made after it1 some by      
,parmegiano  himself1 whose handling may
 be recognized in the picture at ,paris4
    ,we are now arrived at those works  
of ,correggio's which cannot be fixed   
to a certain period4 ,such are probably1
 in the ,gallery of ,dresden1 those     
known under the names of ,s4 ,giorgio   
and ,s4 ,sebastiano1 of both of which   
,mengs gives a circumstantial account4  
,he is1 however1 mistaken when he       
imagines the last to have been voted by 
the ,city of ,modena after a  plague3   
the commission of it was given by the   
fraternity of ,st4  ,sebastian4    ,the 
half-length portrait1 formerly known at 
,modena as that of  ,correggio's        
,physician1 belongs to the same doubtful
 period4 ,mengs1  though he praises the 
colour and the impasto of it1 is        
inclined to think  it painted about the 
time of his first ,cupola1 when he had  
not yet  sufficiently studied detail of 
forms and variety of tints4 ,the style  

resembles that of ,giorgione1 but is    
less vivid1 though of equal pasto1  and 
somewhat more limpid4    ,the last1     
though not least celebrated piece of    
,antonio in this ,gallery1  is the small
 ,meditating ,magdalena3 of the pictures
 mentioned1 it is the  only one painted 
on copper1 the rest are on panel4 ,it is
 little more  than a palm in height1 and
 not quite a palm and a half long4 ,it  
was1  with other small pictures1 stolen 
out of the ,gallery in #aghh1 but soon  
recovered4 ,the purchase price1         
according to ,mengs1 when the ,gallery  
was  disposed of1 was #bg1jjj ,roman    
crowns4 ,it has been copied by ,albani1 
and1  if we believe ,richardson1 by     
,tizian4    ,besides the spoils of      
,parma1 there is now 7#ahjb7 in the     
,gallery of the  ,louvre1 from the      
former collection of ,versailles1 a     
picture representing  in half-length    
figures of natural size the ,wedding of 
,st4 ,catherine1  with a ,st4           
,sebastian1 and their ,martyrdom in the 

distance4 ,it does not  appear that     
,mengs ever saw more than some good copy
 of it1 or the prints  engraved from it1
 else his praise would have probably    
been nearer to  astonishment than       
admiration2 and though none would dare  
to repeat what  he ventures to say of   
the ,magdalen's head in the ,st4        
,jerome1 it might  safely be asserted1  
that perhaps no other picture can boast 
to have  united in the same degree the  
tints of ,tizian1 the glow and impasto  
of  ,giorgione1 and the breadth of      
,guido1 with that bloom of hue and      
suavity  of manner peculiar to          
,correggio4    ,this divine performance 
was presented by ,cardinal ,barberino to
 ,cardinal  ,mazarin1 with two others   
painted in water colours on canvass1    
representing in allegoric figures the   
heroism of ,virtue and the  debasement  
of ,vice4 ,the first1 in physiognomy and
 attitudes1 abounds in  what is commonly
 called the grace of ,correggio2 the    
second in  picturesque energy and       

expression3 they are likewise placed    
among the  collections of the ,louvre4  
,an unfinished repetition of the first  
in the  ,house ,doria ,panfili at ,rome1
 is adduced by ,mengs as a proof of     
,correggio's intelligence in sketching1 
and the superiority of his  principle in
 the progress of a work4    ,of two     
pictures in the ,cabinet at ,madrid1 the
 principal is that of  ,christ praying  
in the ,garden1 with an ,angel on high  
pointing to a ,cross  and a ,crown of   
,thorns on the ground1 scarcely         
discernible4 ,the open but  drooping    
arms of the ,saviour express his entire 
resignation to the will  of his ,father4
 ,the most poetic singularity of this   
picture is its  chiaroscuro3 ,christ    
receives his light from ,heaven1 the    
,angel from  ,christ3 at a distance on  
lower ground1 and nearly evanescent1 are
 the  three ,disciples in graceful and  
picturesque attitudes1 and farther  off1
 the approaching host of captors4 ,at   
first sight1 the whole seems to  be     

divided into two masses only of light   
and darkness1 but on  inspection1 the   
ambient medium and the more and less of 
distinctness in  the objects as they    
approach the light or recede from it1 is
 divinely  expressed4 ,there is a tale1 
which even ,lomazzo and ,scanelli       
repeat1 that  ,correggio parted with    
this picture to his apothecary for four 
scudi1  which he owed him2 that         
afterwards it was sold for five hundred 
crowns  to ,pirrho ,count ,visconti1 who
 resold it for seven hundred and fifty  
gold  doubloons1 to the ,marchese       
,camarena1 ,governor of ,milan1 by whom 
it was  bought in commission for ,philip
 the ,fourth4 ,every day discovers some 
copy1 or1 if you choose to believe those
 who wish to dispose of them1  some     
duplicate or triplicate of this picture4
 ,padre ,resta possessed not  one1 but  
four1 all of which he insisted on being 
believed in as  originals3 one on       
copper1 another on wood1 which ,lelio   
,orsi was said to  have copied on       

canvass2 a third1 likewise on panel but 
somewhat  worm-eaten1 disposed of to    
,monsignor ,marchetti1 and a fourth     
again on  copper4 ,some of these are    
probably in ,england4    ,the companion 
of this picture is the ,madonna dressing
 the ,infant1 with  ,joseph planing a   
board in the back-ground2 a performance 
though inferior  in style to the former1
 not less original from the pentimenti  
still  discoverable in the two principal
 figures4    ,the ,duke of ,alba        
possesses of ,correggio1 in figures     
somewhat less than  ,nature1 ,mercury   
teaching ,cupid to read in the presence 
of ,venus4 ,venus  has the singular     
attribute of wings1 and of a bow in her 
left hand2 and  ,mengs persuades himself
 to discover in her forms a reminiscence
 of an  imitation of the ,apollino1     
formerly in the ,villa ,medici at ,rome4
 ,the  characteristic excellence of the 
execution1 and an evident pentimento in 
the arm of the ,mercury1 leave no doubt 
of its having a better claim to         

originality than the duplicates in      
,france and ,germany4 ,it formerly made 
part of the collection of ,charles the  
,first1 and ,sandrart saw it in the     
,palace of ,whitehall1 from whence it   
was purchased by an ancestor of the     
,duke of ,alba4    ,not to waste time on
 conjectural works1 we finish this list 
with a  picture formerly in the house   
,barberini1 now supposed to be in       
,england3  it is painted on panel1 and  
represents from the narrative of ,s4    
,marc1  the young man who followed our  
,saviour at the moment of his captivity1
  but fled on being laid hold of1 and   
left his garment in the hands of the    
captors4 ,mengs describes a duplicate of
 this picture1 painted on  canvass1 at  
his time in the hands of an ,englishman 
at ,rome1 and though1  in his opinion1  
only the study for the other1 in the    
principal parts1  especially the figure 
of the youth1 highly finished3 his      
expression1  form and attitude1 remind  
the critic so strongly of the same in   

the  eldest son of the ,laocoon1 that he
 is persuaded they are an imitation1    
though in a style more consonant with   
,correggio's manner4    ,the cause and  
circumstances of his death we are not   
acquainted with1  since the idle tale   
has been discarded which ,vasari tells1 
of his  perishing in consequence of     
having carried home a load of sixty     
scudi in  copper1 which he had received 
in payment at ,parma4 ,he who considers 
what  strength would be required to     
carry sixty crowns in quattrini1 will   
find  its confutation in the tale       
itself2 let it be added that the extreme
  heat which is said to have aggravated 
the fatigue1 and accelerated his  death1
 is1 even in ,italy1 not coincident with
 the season in which he  must have taken
 the journey1#afe as he died on the     
fifth of ,march4 ,the  magnificence and 
number of his commissions2 the deference
 paid to his  powers in the face of     
rival artists1 by the very patrons of   
those men1  or societies1 that might    

have saved expense by admitting         
concurrence2  the handsome1 though not  
quite metropolitan prices1 which he     
received1  and what ,mengs has observed1
 the expensive goodness of his colours1 
of  his panels1 and canvasses--make it  
not only extremely improbable that he   
should have lived in the depressed      
circumstances1 to which vulgar          
tradition has sunk him2 but add an air  
of truth to the opinion of those  who   
thought him1 if not opulent1 yet nearer 
allied to affluence than  want4         
,correggio was a monument without a     
tomb2 but it appears strange that a     
century and a half should have elapsed  
before the thought of erecting  him one 
occurred to the ,senate and citizens of 
his native place1 and  then was suffered
 to evaporate in ineffectual projects4  
,the boastful  intentions of ,padre     
,resta proved equally nugatory3 the     
tombstone set and  inscribed by         
,girolamo ,conti still remains a        
solitary offering to his  genius3       

,d4 ,o4 ,m4                  ,antonio4  
,allegri4 ,civi4                        
,vulgo4 ,il ,correggio4                 
,arte4 ,pictur4 ,habitu4 ,probitatis4   
,eximio4                    ,monum4     
,hoc4 ,posuit4                  ,hier4  
,conti4 ,concivis4                      
,siccine4 ,separas4 ,amara4 ,mors4      
,obiit4 ,anno4 tatis4 ,,xl4 ,sal4       
,,mdxxxiv4    ,on such a face as        
,correggio's1 physiognomy might have    
established  principles or drawn some   
inferences from it1 had not a perverse  
destiny  left us as ignorant of it1 as  
of his complexion1 stature1 character1  
and  habits4 ,vasari's exertions to     
obtain a portrait of him were not only  
unsuccessful1 but hopeless2 and the     
profile which is shown in the dome  of  
,parma as his1 becomes inadmissible from
 the very name of the artist  to whom it
 is ascribed4#aff ,the head which found 
its way into the third  and every       
following edition of ,vasari1 has       
certainly nothing repugnant  with the   

notions we may form of his character1   
but age4 ,meditation1  simplicity1      
serenity1 compose it4 ,it is said to    
have been copied from a  picture not    
quite finished1 which appears to have   
the touch of  ,correggio1 and came from 
,sicily to ,naples4 ,he is represented  
contemplating a design1 the original of 
which1 report has placed at  ,vienna    
with ,prince ,esterhazy4 ,the portrait  
which is at ,turin1 in the  ,vigna della
 ,regina1 engraved by ,valperga1 with   
the epigraph1 in part  hid by the frame1
 but read by ,lanzi ,antonius ,corrigius
 f4 7i4 e4  fecit7 though by some       
believed genuine1 appears spurious from 
this very  circumstance1 the large      
character of the letters and the space  
they  occupy2 a manner of writing often 
used to indicate the person painted1    
never the painter4 ,another portrait1   
which from ,genoua is said to have  been
 carried to ,england1 with the indorsed 
inscription ,dosso ,dossi  dipinse      
questo ritratto di ,antonio da          

,correggio1 fronts the ,memorie of      
,ratti4 ,without examining the          
authenticity of this inscription1 it is 
sufficient to observe1 that ,antonio da 
,correggio is likewise the name of      
,antonio ,bernieri1 a celebrated        
miniature painter1 and fellow citizen of
  ,allegri1 whose date coincides with   
that of ,dosso1 and whom there will be  
occasion to mention again4    ,of       
,correggio's numerous pretending        
imitators1 ,lodovico ,carracci appears  
to be the only one who penetrated his   
principle4 ,the axiom1 that the  less   
the traces appear of the means by which 
a work has been produced1  the more it  
resembles the operations of ,nature1 is 
not an axiom likely  to spring from the 
infancy of art4 ,the even colour1 veiled
 splendour1  the solemn twilight2 that  
tone of devotion and cloistered         
meditation1  which ,lodovico ,carracci  
spread over his works1 could arise only 
from the  contemplation of some         
preceding style1 analogous to his own   

feelings and  its comparison with       
,nature2 and where could that be met    
with in a degree  equal to what he found
 in the infinite unity and variety of   
,correggio's  effusions8 ,they inspired 
his frescoes in the cloisters of ,s4    
,michele in  ,bosco3 the foreshortenings
 of the muscular labourers at the       
hermitage1  and of the ponderous demon  
that mocks their toil2 the warlike      
splendour  in the ,homage of ,totila2   
the ,nocturnal ,conflagration of ,monte 
,casino2  the wild graces of deranged   
beauty1 and the insidious charms of the 
sister nymphs in the garden scene1      
equally proclaim the pupil of           
,correggio4    ,his triumph in oil is   
the altar-piece of ,st4 ,john preaching 
in a chapel  of the ,certosa at         
,bologna1 whose lights seem embrowned by
 a golden veil1  and the shadowy gleam  
of ,valombrosa2 though he sometimes     
indulged in  tones austere1 pronounced1 
and hardy3 such is the ,flagellation of 
,christ  in the same church1 whose      

tremendous depth of flesh-tints         
contrasts the  open wide-expanded sky1  
and less conveys than dashes its terrors
 on the  astonished sense4              
,,footnotes3    #aed ,mantoua preserved 
a certain attachment to ,virgil in the  
darkest  ages2 for besides numerous     
coins stamped with his image1 his       
statue1  honoured by annual festivals1  
remained in the forum1 till the brutal  
fanaticism of ,carlo ,malatesta         
condemned it to the river4 ,vide ,ant4  
,possevini ,junioris ,gonzaga1 lib4 v4  
p4 #dhf4 ,paul of ,florence and ,peter  
,paul ,vergerius wrote against          
,malatesta3 the latter under the        
following  title1 ',de ,diruta ,statua  
,virgilii ,p4,p4,v4 eloquentissimi      
,oratoris  epistola ex tugurio ,blondi  
sub ,apolline4' ,no date4    #aee ,some 
codices decorated with miniatures and   
the portrait of that  ,countess3 the    
most conspicuous of which is that by    
,donizone1 a  ,benedictine at ,canossa1 
in the diocese of ,reggio1 but a ,german

 by  extraction1 who lived at the court 
of ,mathilda1 and in two books of       
barbarous verse composed her life and   
history4 ,it is preserved in the        
,vatican ,library1 ,no4 #dibb1 and was  
first published by ,sebastian           
,tagnagolio1 at ,ingolstadt1 #afab4     
#dto4    ,the original portrait of      
,mathilda1 by an unknown hand1 drawn    
from her  monument at ,polirone1 has    
been published by ,j4 ,bat4 ,visi in    
,notizie  ,storiche della citt di       
,mantoua e dello stato1 t4 ii4 p4 #abb4 
,she is  represented on a horse with a  
pomegranate in her hand4    #aef ,in the
 ,convent alle ,grazie1 tradition dates 
the remains of  several old pictures    
from the time of ,mantegna4 ,that       
miniature or rather  missal painting had
 attained a high degree of excellence at
 that period1  is proved by a large     
folio ,bible1 in the ,estensian         
,library1 decorated  with admirable     
copies of insects1 plants1 and animals4 
,the contract made  between ,duca       

,borso1 #adee1 and the two artists who  
painted it1 ,taddeo de  ,crivelli and   
,zuanne de ,russi da ,mantova1 has been 
preserved by  ,bettshelli1 ,lett4 ,mant4
 ,mantova1 #aggd4 #dto4    #aeg ,vasari1
 whom rage of dispatch and eager        
credulity seldom suffered  to wait for  
authentic information1 not content1 in  
spite of his epitaph1  to tell us that  
he was born of low parents in some      
district of ,mantoua1  confounds the    
date of his death with that of the      
inscription itself4    #aeh ,see ,nic4  
,vleughels1 in his notes to ,dolci4     
#aei ,garofalo4    #afj ,cataloghi1 p4  
#dih4    #afa ,indice del ,pam4 de'     
,pittori1 p4 #ba4    #afb ----          
1 4--,ilias1 xv4 #ai4    #afc ,du       
,change4 ,copy of the ,leda in the      
,colonna4    #afd ,in the palace        
,godolphin4    #afe ,in the obituary of 
the ,franciscans at ,correggio we read1 
,a di #e  ,marzo #aecd mori ,maestro    
,antonio ,allegri ,dipintore e fu       
sepolto a #f detto  in ,s4 ,francesco   

sotto il ,portico4    #aff ,lattanzio   
,gambara4          ,,the ,,school ,,of  
,,bologna4      ,three epochs divide the
 history of painting in ,bologna and the
  neighbouring districts4 ,the first is 
from its restoration to the time of     
,francesco ,raibolini1 or ,francia2 the 
second reaches from him to the          
,carracci1 when it attained its height1 
and gradually decayed in the  variety of
 deviations which mark the third4       
,bologna1 at an early period of the     
fifth century1 appears to have been     
considered as a nursery of sciences and 
arts2 the foundation of its  ,university
 is dated up to ,petronius1 its bishop  
at that period2  afterwards1 under the  
successive invasions of barbarians1 when
 the  alternate prey of clerical and    
secular rapacity1 as a powerful         
republic1  or oppressed by civic        
usurpation1 and at last reduced to a    
,papal  province1 ,bologna never lost   
its predilection for sciences and arts4 
,of the progress made in painting       

anterior to the time of ,cimabue1 some  
monumental relics still remain1 though  
by far the greater part were  ignorantly
 destroyed at the beginning of the last 
century4 ,some that  escaped the        
whitewasher's hand are ascribed to an   
artist who marked his  work with the    
letters ,p4,f4 ,of these1 one which     
represents a ,maria1 is  preserved in   
the ,church della ,baroncella1 and was  
done about #aabj4 ,two  others are in   
the ,basilica of ,s4 ,stephano4         
,baldi1 a collector of antique pictures1
 in a ,,ms4 quoted by ,malvasia1        
mentions some of ,guido da ,bologna1    
painted in #aagh and #aahj1 and  others 
executed by ,ventura da ,bononia in     
#aaig4 ,of this last something  still   
remains1 especially one picture with the
 date #abag1 and the  inscription       
,ventura pinsit3 and the name of ,urso1 
or ,ursone1 a  contemporary of ,guido da
 ,siena1 is found on a picture inscribed
 ,urso  f4 #abbf2 and some others       
ascribed to him have dates of #abdb and 

#abdd4  ,in those times painting1       
sculpture1 architecture1 chasing1 were  
frequently exercised by one man4 ,a     
certain ,manno1 contemporary with       
,cimabue1 is mentioned as the painter of
 a ,madonna by ,baldi1 and as the       
sculptor of ,pope ,bonifazio ,,viii4 by 
,ghirardacci who calls him likewise a   
goldsmith4 ,his dates are from #abfj to 
#acja4 ,some remains or rather ruins  of
 these masters are still visible in the 
palace ,malvezzi4    ,the age of ,giotto
 and ,dante gives ,art an air of greater
 certainty4  ,tradition and monument go 
hand in hand4 ,franco of ,bologna1 with 
his  supposed master ,oderigi of        
,gubbio1 are celebrated in the poet's   
poem of  the ,purgatory4 ,franco was    
called to ,rome by ,bonifazio ,,viii4 to
 decorate  the books and missals of the 
,vatican library with miniature2 and on 
his  return to ,bologna founded a school
 which numbered among its scholars      
,vitale1 ,lorenzo1 ,simone1 and ,jacopo 
d',avanzi1 whose works1  especially what

 remains of the two last1 make it       
probable that ,vasari is  correct when  
he asserts that ,franco excelled in     
large as well as in  miniature painting4
 ,michael ,agnolo and the ,carracci are 
said to have  been struck with the fire 
of conception and the tone of colour in 
the  pictures still preserved of ,simone
 and ,jacopo d',avanzi1 at the ,madonna 
di ,mezzaratta1 and to have advised a   
careful restoration of the  decaying    
parts4 ,simone1 who loved to paint the  
crucifix1 from the number  which he     
executed obtained the surname of de'    
,crocefissi2 and ,jacopo1  smitten with 
the love of ,maria1 was marked by the   
title dalle ,madonne4  ,he excelled1    
however1 in subjects of a martial kind1 
if the conflict in  the ,chapel of ,s4  
,jacopo del ,santo at ,padova1 and the  
,capture of  ,jugurtha1 with the        
,triumph of ,marius1 in a saloon at     
,verona1 be his  performances3 works    
which excited the wonder of ,mantegna4  
,as he  sometimes subscribed ,jacobus   

,pauli1 it has been surmised that he was
  of ,venetian extraction1 and perhaps  
the son and assistant of that ,paolo    
who painted the ,ancona of ,s4 ,marc4   
,of the artists who at that period      
painted in ,mezzaratta1 ,cristoforo1    
whether of ,ferrara1 ,modena1 or        
,bologna1 for he is claimed by all1     
seems  to have shared the highest       
repute4 ,he had the commission of the   
principal altar1 where he painted on    
panel the ,madonna with the ,infant     
between her knees1 and some figures     
kneeling before her2 it still  exists1  
marked with his name ,christofano1      
#achj4 ,a most copious work of  his1    
divided into ten compartments of saints1
 rudely designed1 languid  in colour1   
but of original style1 is preserved     
among the fragments of  the house       
,malvezzi4    ,lippo di ,dalmatio1--who 
was supposed to have been a ,carmelite1 
till  ,bianconi1 in ,piacenza's edition 
of ,baldinucci1 produced proofs of his  
wife and family1--came from the school  

of ,vitale1 and from his  predilection  
for the ,mother of ,christ acquired1    
like ,jacopo d',avanzi1  the byname of  
,lippo dalle ,madonne4 ,there goes a    
tale that he gave  instruction to ,saint
 ,catherine ,vigri1 of whom certain     
miniatures and an  ,infant ,christ on   
panel still remain4 ,a better union of  
tints1 and some  easier arrangement in  
the folds of his draperies1 though with 
a  profusion of gold lace1 is all that  
discriminates him from the crudeness    
and exility of the ancient style4 ,such1
 however1 was his felicity in the       
character of ,madonnas1 that they       
captivated ,guido ,reni1#afg who used to
  repeat that ,lippo1 in expressing at  
once the majesty1 the sanctity1 and  the
 mildness of the divine mother1 must    
have been assisted by a  celestial      
power4 ,some of these ,madonnas are said
 to be in oil colours1  with dates of   
#acgf1 #adje1 and #adjg4 ,guido is      
likewise the guarantee of  certain      
frescoes representing facts of ,elia1   

painted with great spirit  by the same  
master4    ,after #adji1 the last date  
of ,lippo's pictures1 the ,school of    
,bologna  somewhat declined1 nor could  
it be otherwise3 no vigorous school ever
  sprang from the timid precepts of a   
portrait painter1 and ,dalmatio         
possessed more of that than of historic 
power3 this1 rather than the  supposed  
imitation of certain images imported    
from ,constantinople1 was  the cause of 
that insignificance which consigned1    
with few exceptions1  his school and    
successors to oblivion4 ,of ,pietro     
,lianori1 ,michele di  ,matteo1         
,bombologno1 ,severo and ,erole         
,bologna1 ,catherina di ,vigri1         
,giacopo ,ripanda1 ,marco ,zoppo1 time  
has left little but the names1 and of   
that little1 enough not to regret the   
loss of what vanished4 ,let us not1     
however1 be too fastidious to repeat    
what tradition has persevered to  report
 of some2 if ,bombologno may be left to 
the votaries of the  crucifix1 and      

,catherina to the rubric that saints    
her1 ,michele  ,lambertini claims the   
attention of artists for a mellowness of
 tints  which ,albano judged superior to
 the tints of ,francia2 ,giacopo        
,ripanda  for the dangers which he      
braved in designing the groups of the   
,trajan  pillar2#afh and ,marco ,zoppo  
as no despicable competitor of ,andrea  
,mantegna1 and the reputed master of    
,francesco ,francia4    ,francesco      
,raibolini1 surnamed ,francia1 born in  
#adej1 may be considered  as the head of
 the ,bolognese school1 because his     
works appear to have  been framed on    
that collective principle which became  
its leading  feature in the sequel1 and 
was probably the result of the long     
theory  that preceded his practice1     
assisted by that readiness in design    
which  distinguished him as a goldsmith1
 chaser1#afi and die-cutter1            
professions to which he had been trained
 up from his infancy1 and which  he     
raised to celebrity before he attained  

complete manhood4    ,francia was       
fortunate in contemporaries2 the ,school
 of ,squarcione had  furnished him with 
style and form2 the genius of ,lionardo 
da ,vinci1 with  effect and chiaroscuro2
 ,pietro ,vanucchi with arrangement if  
not  composition1 and though not beauty1
 with amenity of aspect2 and ,bellino   
with tone1 breadth of drapery and       
colour4 ,ardour of mind1 energy of      
application and dexterity1 supplied the 
want of early practice1 and we  find him
 in the palace of ,giov4 ,bentivoglio on
 a par with the most  expert ,frescanti 
conscribed from ,ferrara and ,modena1   
and soon after  intrusted with the      
commission of painting the altar-piece  
of his chapel  at ,s4 ,jacopo1 a work of
 great subtlety of execution2 though    
modestly  inscribed ,opus ,francia      
,aurificis1 and a pledge of that        
superior  style at which he aimed and in
 the sequel attained4    ,if from what  
has been premised of ,bolognese artists 
anterior to ,cimabue1  it is evident    

that the germs of art belong to their   
own soil1 their  claim to originality in
 the progress of style has been and     
still is  matter of dispute between the 
champions of the ,tuscan school and     
those  of their own4 ,the ,florentines  
insist on having taught the ,bolognese1 
what the ,bolognese deny to have learnt 
from the ,florentines4#agj ,as in  a    
dispute of this kind1 candour is often  
sacrificed to the fervour of  patriotic 
vanity1 and the obstinacy of local      
attachment1 the real state  of the      
question is better learnt from those    
monuments of the fourteenth  century1   
which still remain scattered over       
,romagna or collected and more          
classically arranged in ,bologna itself4
 ,among all these some specimens  will  
be found evidently ,greek1 others as    
evidently ,giottesque2 some in a        
,venetian style1 and not a few in a     
manner peculiar to ,bologna only4       
,these have a body of colour1 a taste in
 perspective1 a mode of design  in      

figures1 and a choice of forms and hues 
in draperies1 which no other  school    
practised4 ,from all which it appears1  
that if ,giotto during his  stay at     
,bologna raised pupils1 and formed      
imitators1 his own school had  no       
influence on1 nor dislodged1 that       
aboriginal one which continued to       
disseminate and to improve the          
principles imbibed from the antique     
mosaics and the painters of miniature4  
,,footnotes3    #afg ,malvasia4    #afh 
,floret item nunc ,rom ,jacobus         
,bononiensis1 qui ,trajani ,column      
picturas omnes ordine delineavit1 magna 
omnium admiratione1 magnoque  periculo  
circum machinis scandendo4--,v4         
,raphaelis ,volaterrani  ,anthropologia1
 p4 #ggd4 ,a4 ed4 #afjc4 fol4    #afi   
,unum apud modernos reperio1 de quo apud
 antiquos nulla extat  memoria1 de      
incisoribus seu sculptoribus in argento2
 qu sculptura  ,niellum appellatur4     
,virum cognosco in hoc celeberrimum et  
summum1 nomine  ,franciscum             

,bononiensem1 aliter ,franza1 qui adeo  
in tam parvo orbiculo  seu argenti      
lamina1 tot homines1 tot animalia1 tot  
montes1 arbores1  castra ac tot diversa 
ratione situque posita figurat seu      
incidit1 quod  dictu ac visu mirabile   
apparet4--,camillo ,leonardi1 ,speculo  
,lapidum1  lib4 iii4 c4 #b4    ,the     
assertion that ,niello was unknown to   
the ancients1 it is unnecessary  to     
refute here4 ,francia was master of the 
mint during the usurpation of  the      
,bentivogli1 after their expulsion by   
,giulio the ,second1 and  continued to  
superintend its issue to the            
,pontificate of ,leo4 ,his coins  and   
medals are said by ,vasari to equal     
those of the ,milanese ,caradosso2  and 
it is probably for their excellence that
 he was looked up to as a  god 7un ,dio7
 at ,bologna4    #agj --------          
----  1 ' 1          ' 1  4    ,ilias4  
,lib4 xviii4 l4 #dih4          ,,the    
,,end4        ,,london3      ,,printed  
,,by ,,samuel ,,bentley1      ,dorset   

,street1 ,fleet ,street4             99 
99       99       99       99           
,,transcriber',s ,,notes    ,obvious    
typos have been silently corrected4     
,italicised words and phrases are marked
 like this4    ,idiosyncratic spellings 
have been left unchanged4 ,this includes
  inconsistent spellings of proper      
names1 hyphenated words1 oe ligatures   
and capitalisation4    ,for example3    
,julio ,pipi on p4 #aah and ,giulio     
,pippi on p4 #cfa4    ,similarly1 the   
spellings domo and duomo both appear1   
and have been  left unchanged4          
,there are numerous ,greek quotations1  
in which accents and smooth  breathings 
are used only occasionally1 and rough   
breathings are nearly  always marked4   
,missing accents and breathings have    
,,not been added4      ,the following   
items are worth special note3    #a7    
,the phrase terribil via on p4 #ai      
should possibly be terribilis  via or   
terribile via1 but has been left        
unchanged4    #b7 ,on p4 #bh ,goliah has

 been amended to ,goliath1 but the      
spelling  ,goliah also appears in vol4  
#b and may have been an accepted        
spelling4    #c7 ,in footnote #if on p4 
#bfd1 ,osteireichischen has been amended
 to  ,osterreichischen4    #d7 ,on p4   
#bfe1 seini has been amended to sein4   
#e7 ,matatona on p4 #cbh should possibly
 be ,matalona1 as on p4 #bhh1 but  has  
been left unchanged4    #f7 ,on p4 #ccj1
 ,buoancorsi has been amended to        
,buonacorsi4    #g7 ,the phrase sotto in
 s 7page #ceg7 has been amended to match
 sotto  in su1 which appears twice      
elsewhere4    #h7 ,the spelling pinsit  
instead of pinxit on p4 #djj has been   
retained  as it may record an error in  
the original inscription4