Giorgio Vasari

“ But Alfonso, charmed with himself, considered none of these things, he overpassed the bounds of moderation, permitting himself such indulgences as were unworthy of a good and upright artist, and thus diminishing the reputation which he had obtained by his earlier labours, since he no longer bestowed the attention which he had at first given to his vocation. ”

“ And how often does it not happen, that when there is the most pressing occasion for effort, and when men have awakened the highest expectations, they are themselves so blinded, and their judgment becomes in some manner so bewildered, that they produce works which are absolutely inferior to their usual manner, and acquit themselves less creditably than they have ever before been seen to do? ”

“ Dosso was highly favoured by the Duke Alphonso of Ferrara; first, because of his abilities in art, and next on account of his excellent qualities as a man, and the pleasantness of his manners, which were advantages always highly acceptable to the Duke Alphonso. In Lombardy Dosso obtained the reputation of painting landscapes better than any other artist, whether in fresco, in oil, or in water-colours ”

“ To proceed quietly and as nature permits, but being at the same time careful to neglect no study, and to exercise all diligence, this appears to me to be a better method than is that of labouring to drag out as it were by force from the genius such things as are not there. ”

“ THE SCULPTORS ALFONSO LOMBARDI OF FERRARA, MICHELAGNOLO OF SIENA, AND GIROLAMO SANTA CROCE OF NAPLES; AND DOSSO AND BATTISTA, PAINTERS OF FERRARA. [1]
[The last decade of the 15th century, and the earlier part of the 16th.]
Alfonso of Ferrara, [2] working in his earliest youth in stucco and wax, was accustomed to make vast numbers of portraits from the life in small medallions for different noblemen and gentlemen of his native city, and some of these works, which are still to be seen in wax and white stucco, give proof of the intelligence and judgment possessed by their author ”

“ Now let no man marvel if up to this time what we have said of this master has been confined to the enumeration of works in clay, wax, and stuccoes, with very little mention of anything in marble, for not only was Alfonso always more disposed to the first-named manner of art than to any other, but furthermore it is to be observed, that after a certain age he exercised his art principally for his amusement, and to gratify a sort of vain-glory ”

“ It is indeed a wellknown fact, that in all arts, but more especially, perhaps, in that of writing, things far-fetched and affected are easily recognized, seeing that the forced effort of too much study, if we may so speak, is readily perceptible in all things. ”

“ Alfonso died in the year 1536. [22]
The Sienese sculptor Michelagnolo had spent the greater part of his best years with other excellent sculptors in Sclavonia, when he repaired to Home on the following occasion. Pope Adrian had died, and the Cardinal Hincfort, who had been the protege of that pontiff, and was his most trusted friend, not unmindful of the many benefits he had received from him, resolved to erect a marble monument to his memory, and entrusted the care of the undertaking to the Sienese painter Baldassare Peruzzi. ”

“ But in the case now in question, this effect may also very possibly have arisen from the malignity of the artists themselves, and from the evil nature which they betrayed by thus blackening and seeking to depreciate the works of others; or it may be, that the having laid too great a restraint upon their genius may have been the cause of their failure. ”

“ A very beautiful picture was painted at a later period by these brothers, in the cathedral of Faenza, for Messer Giovanni Battista, Cavaliere de’ Buosi; the subject is Christ Disputing with the Doctors in the Temple, and in this work they greatly surpassed their previous labours by the adoption of a new manner; more especially in respect of the portrait of that cavalier and those of others, which are also delineated in the painting. ”

“ For the Madonna of the Baracane [10] this master executed two Angels in stucco, they are in mezzo-rilievo and are supporting a canopy. In the middle aisle of the church of San Giuseppe, Alfonso also executed half-length figures of the twelve Apostles in full relief; they are in medallions placed between the arches; these figures are in terra-cotta. [11] In the same city he made four figures larger than life, and also in terra, for the angles of the vaulting in the church of the Madonna del Popolo ”

“ And this response, being repeated by not a few, was soon spread through all Bologna, Alfonso becoming the object of not a little scorn and mocking accordingly. [16] It is nevertheless to be regretted that this artist had not devoted himself to the labours of his art rather than to the vanities of the world, seeing that he would in such case have produced without doubt very admirable works, for since he accomplished so much and that wdth the slight pains which he took, what might he not have done had he set himself conscientiously to the fitting duties of his vocation? ”

“ In the cathedral also there is a painting on a gold ground by this artist. ↑ The Cardinal Bishop of Trent, who, when Bottari wrote, was Cardinal Madruzzi. ↑ Whose life follows. ↑ The palaces of the Imperiale are described by Bernardo Tasso in two letters, which will be found among the collection published at Padua, by Comino; tom. iii. p. 123. ↑ There was another Dosso named Evangelista, according to Scannelli, Microcosmo, who was inferior to Battista, and this last was by no means equal to his brother Dosso. See Lanzi, ut supra, vol. iii. School of Ferrara, Epoch 2nd. ”