Giorgio Vasari

“ There have, in like manner, been at all times excellent masters in our arts among the Modanese, as we have remarked in other places, and as may be seen in respect of painting by four pictures which have hitherto received no mention at my hands, because I do not know by what masters they were executed. They were painted in tempera in that city, a hundred years since, and according to those times, are very beautiful, being finished with great care: the first is at the high altar of San Domenico, the others are in the chapels of the nave in the same church. ”

“ There are two pictures by his hand in the Museo Borbonico at Naples, an Ecce Homo and a Crucifixion; of the last, a German writer, Hirt, hath deposed in such sort as to merit the most special ear of my reader; his magniloquent words are as follow:—“It is composed with the discretion of Leonardo, designed with the learning of Michael Angelo, inspired [unless the reader will have the original, besouled] with the spirit-giving breath of Raphael, coloured with the fresh tone of Titian, and transfused with the clear-obscure of Correggio.” ”

“ Il Modana has executed a similar group in the Dormitory of San Giovanni Evangelista, at Parma, [66] and on the outside of the church of San Benedetto, in Mantua, he has executed a considerable number of figures the size of life, and in full relief; these are placed in niches along the front, and beneath the portico, they are exceedingly beautiful, and imitate marble so perfectly that the spectator cannot but suppose them to be of that stone.
The Modenese sculpcor Prospero Clemente [67] has, in like manner, ever been and still continues to be an exceedingly able master in his vocation. ”

“ And here we may with truth affirm, that if the study of art were pursued with as much zeal in Milan as it is in Rome and Florence, the able masters to be found there might have produced, nay, might still be producing, very admirable works ”

“ Indeed I remember to have seen in the possession of Valerio Vicentino, a very beautiful book filled with designs of antiquities, the measurements and execution of which were wholly by the hand of Bramantino; it comprised those existing in Lombardy, and gave the plans of many renowned edifices, which I did myself design from that book, being then a youth. ”

“ But what is of more importance than all the rest, he copied every minutia from life and nature, as one who knew that the right and true method is to observe and copy the living subject. For the same church our artist painted the altar-piece of a chapel, and on one of the wails he painted a fresco, the subject of which is Our Saviour Christ, taken by the multitude in the Garden of the Mount of Olives. [16]
For the church of San Domenico, in the same city of Ferrara, Benvenuto painted two pictures in oil; [17] one representing the Miracle of the Cross and Sant’ Elena ”

“ The same artist also painted a nude figure of Venus, the size of life, and in a recumbent attitude, with Love beside her; this was sent to Paris, but I, who saw the work at Ferrara, in the year 1540, can with truth affirm that it was a most beautiful one. Girolamo likewise commenced the painting of the Refectory of San Giorgio, a monastery which the monks of Monte Oliveto possess in Ferrara, and did indeed complete the work to a considerable extent, but some part of it was left unfinished and this has been now brought to a conclusion by the Bolognese painter Pellegrino Pellegrini. ”

“ In the church of San Girolamo, Benvenuto painted a picture for the Frati Ingesuati; this represented the Divine Child in the Manger, and around him is a choir of exceedingly beautiful angels; it was placed on the high altar, and is esteemed an admirable work. In Santa Maria del Yado there is a well-composed and beautifully-coloured picture by the same hand; Our Saviour Christ namely, ascending into heaven, with the apostles standing beneath, and looking after their ascending Lord in profound astonishment. ”

“ With this artist Benvenuto had remained for some time, when, having gone on a certain occasion to Cremona, he there saw the paintings in the principal chapel of the cathedral; now among others from the hand of Boccaccino Boccacci, a Cremonese painter, by whom the whole apsis had been painted in fresco, was a figure of Our Saviour Christ, who, seated on his throne and with two Saints on each side, is represented in the act of bestowing his benediction ”

“ Girolamo da Carpi received his first instructions in painting from Benvenuto Garofalo, as will be related in his life, and together they depicted certain subjects in imitation of bronze, on the façade of the house of the Muzzarelli family, which is situate in the Borgo Nuovo. They also painted, in like manner together, both the interior and the outside of the palace of Copara, a place of recreation belonging to the Duke of Ferrara, for whom Benvenuto executed many other works, some alone, and some in the company of other painters. ”

“ He ultimately returned to Bologna, where, among many other portraits, he took that of the Florentine Messer Onofrio Bartolini, who was then pursuing his studies in Bologna, and who afterwards became Archbishop of Pisa: that head, which now belongs to the heirs of the above-named Messer Noferi, [38] is an exceedingly beautiful one, and in a singularly graceful manner.
At the same time the painter Messer Biagio [39] was working in Bologna, and this artist perceiving that Girolamo was getting into credit, began to fear that he would pass before himself and deprive him of all his gains ”

“ Meanwhile, since women so well know how to produce living men, what marvel is it that those who please to do it should prove so perfectly able to make the painted semblance? But to return to Giulio Campi, of whom I have said that these young ladies were disciples; in addition to his other works there is to be mentioned a large picture which he painted on cloth to serve as the covering of the organ in the cathedral church ”

“ But respecting Mazzuoli, we have before mentioned that he commenced certain works in the Madonna della Steccata, which at his death were left unfinished, when Giulio Romano, having prepared a coloured design on paper, which may still be seen in that place by every one, commanded that a certain Michelagnolo Anselmi, who was by his birth a Sienese, but bad by adoption become a Parmesan, [70] should execute that cartoon, he being a good painter. ”

“ And since the fourth named sister, Anna, who is still but a little child, has also begun to devote herself and with much profit, to design, I know not what further to say, than that there must be a great inclination received from nature, and that to this much practice must needs be added, before any can hope to equal what has been done by these four noble and richly gifted sisters, [109] who have proved themselves enamoured of all the highest qualities, but most especially of those which appertain to design. ”

“ And what is more, the artists have greatly increased their numbers, and are continually increasing them.
To the excellent sculptor and engraver of prints, the Mantuan Giovanni Battista for example, of whom we have already made mention in the life of Giulio Romano, and in that of Marcantonio Bolognese, [88] there have been born two sons, who engrave copper-plates divinely; nay, what is still more remarkable, he has a daughter called Diana, who engraves so admirably well, that the thing is a perfect miracle ”

“ In Parma, likewise, there have been at divers times many excellent artists and men of fine genius, as we have said elsewhere. There is an admirable picture in the cathedral, for example, which was painted in the year 1499, by the Parmesan artist Cristofano Castelli. Of Francesco Mazzuoli [69] we have already written the life, and there have been many other men of distinguished ability in that city. ”

“ It is indeed greatly to be lamented that this work, which is truly worthy to be accounted among the most astonishing productions of the art, should have been left unfinished, and be now permitted to remain in pieces on the earth, instead of being erected in some befitting position: neither am I surprised to find that some of the figures have been carried off and sold, to be afterwards put up elsewhere and for other purposes. ”

“ After his death the works of his lords were carried on by the Ferrarese architect Galasso, [52] a man of admirable genius, and of such remarkable ability in all things appertaining to architecture, that, to judge from what we see of his designs, he would have displayed a much higher degree of excellence than he has now done, had he been employed in works of greater importance.
The excellent sculptor Maestro Girolamo [53] was in like manner a Ferrarese ”

“ Now having spoken, in this part of our work, of the artists who have flourished in the cities of Lombardy, it cannot but be fitting that we should also make mention of those belonging to Milan, the chief city of that province, of such of them, that is to say, as we have not before named, seeing that they, have been in question more than once in divers portions of this our book. ”

“ There are proofs of his ability in the Cathedral of Reggio, where the tomb of the Bishop Rangone is by his hand. In this work there is a seated statue of the above-named prelate with two children, all admirably well done. The commission for this tomb was received by Clementi from the Signor Ercole Rangone. In the Cathedral of Parma likewise, there is a tomb by Prospero Clemente; the sepulchral monument of the Beato Bernardo degli Uberti namely, a Florentine, who became a cardinal and was bishop of that city. ”

“ Having commenced his labours accordingly, Anselmi did certainly acquit himself to perfection, and well deserved the commission which he then received to paint one of four very large recesses which there are in that church; the one now in question was opposite to that wherein Michelagnolo Anselmi had painted the above-mentioned Coronation after the design of Giulio Romano. ”

“ The first-named Giulio, although he acquired the principles of art under his father, did nevertheless subsequently follow the manner of Il Soiaro, as being the better one. He also studied very carefully certain pictures which Francesco Salviati had painted in Pome, to the end that the subjects might be woven into arras, and sent to Piacenza to the Duke Pier Luigi Farnese. ”

“ In the year 1341, the painter Pellegrino Succi was sent to Ferrara by the Pope (then Gregory XVI.) with a commission from that Pontiff to transfer the fresco to canvas, that the work might thus be saved from destruction. The invention is so quaint and singular a one, that we will' endeavour to give our readers some idea of its principal features. In the centre is Our Saviour Christ on the Cross ”

“ The subject of this work, which is very carefully treated, is a family group, the three sisters of the paintress namely playing at Chess, with an old woman belonging to the family; these figures are executed with so much boldness and freedom that they appear to be truly alive, and seem to want nothing but the power of speech. [107] In another picture by this same Sophonisba, is a portrait of her father the Signor Amilcar, who has one of his daughters on one side of him, a lady called Minerva, and who was much distinguished in letters as well as in painting ”

“ But there is, now-a -days, so little humanity or rather gratitude, to be found amongst men, that among all the many who were favoured by, and received benefits from, the noble Gaston, none has been known to give himself any concern for the memory of De Foix, any more than for the excellence and beauty of the work thus abandoned. ”

“ He died at an advanced age, in the year 1575. ↑ According to an inscription, discovered some years since on the portrait of Girolamo Campi, in the Florentine Gallery, he was born in the yeai 1477, and died in 1536. See Vidoni, Pittura Cremonesa, as before cited. ↑ The works above described have long perished, but Lanzi mentions a picture by Campi as still existing in the Church of San Sebastiano in Cremona. ↑ Giulio Campi is said to have perfected himself in his art under Giulio Romano, with whom he studied some time in Mantua. ”

“ He was assassinated by one of the enemies whom his severities in his office had aroused against him, as he was proceeding from Milan to Como. ↑ Lanzi remarks that certain of the authorities declare the St. Peter the Martyr to have been painted in competition with Titian, and that if the work of the last-named master should be lost, that of Garofalo might take its place. ↑ There is an Annunciation by Garofalo in the Palace of the Magistracy at Ferrara, and another in the Pinacoteca of the Brera at Milan. ↑ This picture was taken to Rome, and in its stead was placed a copy by Bononi. ”