Giorgio Vasari

“ The Signor Duke, who is of a truth most excellent in all things, takes much pleasure, not only in the building of palaces, cities, fortresses, gates, loggie, and piazzas, with the laying out of gardens, construction of fountains, and works of similar kind, all beautiful, magnificent, and most useful to his people, but he has also infinite delight, as a Catholic prince, in the restoration and improvement of the holy churches of God, therein imitating the great King Solomon. ”

“ But, despairing of a satisfactory approach to the truth, I took Jacopo da Pontormo, whose abilities I greatly respected, to see the work, when, having examined the same, and perceiving my discouragement as well as the earnest zeal of my labours, he said to me kindly, “My son, so long as these lustrous arms ' shall stand in all their glitter beside this picture, the work will appear to thee a mere thing painted, seeing that although the hiacco is the most potent light and lustre that can be used by Art, yet is the steel itself inevitably more bright and lustrous than the hiacco. ”

“ DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS OF GIORGIO VASARI,
PAINTER AND ARCHITECT OF AREZZO.
[born 1512 [1] —died 1574.]
Having hitherto treated of the works of others with as much care, sincerity, and uprightness as I have been able to command, I will now, at the end of these my labours, gather together, and make known to the world, such works as by the Divine Goodness I have myself been permitted to accomplish. ”

“ At the trunk of the Tree, and with the lower part twining about it, is the Old Serpent, but the upper part of the form has the shape of Man, and the hands are confined behind the back; on his head is one foot of the glorious Virgin, which is trampling down the horns of the demon, while the other foot is fixed on a Moon. Our Lady is clothed with the Sun and crowned with twelve stars, being sustained in the air, within a splendour of numerous angels, nude, and illuminated by the rays which proceed from the Madonna herself. ”

“ Had Vasari been equally devoted to the interest, or supposed interest—for whose true interest can really consist in wrong doing?—of his own sole self, many proofs concur to convince us that his powers would have been proved equal on all points, as they are acknowledged to have been in many, to those of the greatest masters, Raphael and Michael Angelo alone perhaps excepted. All honour to the dear and upright Giorgio, therefore ”

“ Such was the life, and such the works, of Giorgio Vasari. Richly endowed by nature, he was furthermore aided by earnest zeal for the study of his art, and a persistent industry; but there were defects in his artistic education which neutralized these advantages to a certain extent; of those defects it is, however, not here our purpose to speak further. As an Architect, Vasari stands deservedly higher than as a Painter; as the Historian of the Arts, he occupies a position, the eminence of which has never been approached ”

“ Around her figure it is that all the Arts, each holding his appropriate instruments in the hand, are arranged; but as I had not time to complete the entire work, I left eight oval compartments vacant, proposing to execute therein the portraits from the life, of men most eminent for distinction in our arts. At the same time I painted a Birth of Christ in fresco, the figures life-size, for the Nuns of Santa Margherita, in a Chapel of their garden situate in Arezzo; and when I had thus expended the remainder of the summer and a part of the autumn in my native place, I departed for Rome. ”

“ The light from the Angels illumines the servants who are preparing the meal; and some of these, unable to endure the splendour of the rays, place their hands before their eyes, seeking to cover them from the too great brightness; this variety, seeing that the deep shadow and the strong light give force to a picture, caused the one now in question to show more relief than did the other two ”

“ In the same Palace are three other pictures, executed in youth by my hand: Abraham about to Sacrifice Isaac, Our Saviour Christ in the Garden, [12] and the Last Supper of Our Lord with his Apostles.
Meanwhile the Cardinal Ippolito, in whom all my best hopes were placed, being dead, I began to understand that the promises of this world are for the most part but vain phantoms; and that to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value, is the best and safest course. ”

“ In all which, if I have produced anything that can be called good, I render thanks to God, without seeking to excuse my imperfections, which I know better than any one can tell them to me,—I give thanks to God, I say, from whom I hope to have furthermore so much assistance as shall enable me to complete that great undertaking of the walls of the great Hall, to the satisfaction of my Signor and Prince, who for thirteen years has afforded me so many good opportunities for the performance of honourable works to my credit as well as profit. ”

“ And here I may with truth affirm, that this advantage and the studies of that period were indeed my true and principal master in this art, although I had without doubt profited, and not a little, by the instructions received from those whom I have before mentioned, nor had an ardent desire to learn ever departed or been absent from my heart, insomuch that my perpetual care was to draw with unwearying diligence night and day. ”

“ He returned to Florence accordingly, and resumed his labours at the Cupola, the Pontiff expressing infinite grief at his departure, and consoling himself principally with the hope that Duke Cosirao would send the artist to him once more in the winter of 1574. But in the month of June of that year, [103] worn out by the pains and fatigues of a life unusually active and laborious, the excellent master closed his mortal career, crowned with fame and honours, and very sincerely lamented. ”

“ For although these have not attained to the perfection that I could desire, yet whosoever shall examine them with unprejudiced eyes, will perceive that they have been executed by me with study, care, and loving labour; wherefore, if they be not worthy of praise, they will at least be allowed to merit excuse. They are laid open, moreover, to the eyes of all, and cannot be concealed. ”

“ On the walls around are Abundance, Liberality, Wisdom, Prudence, Labour, Honour, and other figures of similar character; and beneath them are stories of the ancient masters, Apelles, Zeuxis, Parrhasius, Protogenes, and others, with varied compartments and other minutiae, of which, for the sake of brevity, I omit further mention. On the ceiling, in the carved wood-work of one of the chambers, I painted a large circular painting of God blessing the seed of Abraham, and promising the infinite multiplication of the same ”

“ Cardinal Farnese, desiring to have the Hall of the Chancery, in the Palace of San Giorgio, adorned with Paintings, Monsignore Giovio, anxious to see the work in my hands, advised me to prepare various designs and inventions, which were nevertheless not put into execution. Ultimately, however, the Cardinal determined on having the Hall painted in fresco, and with all the expedition possible, desiring to have it ready for his use at a certain fixed time. The Hall is rather more than a hundred palms long, fifty wide, and about fifty high. ”

“ Vasari was in the sixty-third year of his age when he died; his remains were conveyed to his native city of Arezzo, where they were laid in the tomb of his family within the principal Chapel of the Decanal Church, which Chapel belongs to his house, and where very honourable obsequies were solemnized to his memory. His friends were almost all the learned men, and every distinguished artist of his time ”

“ Nor did any long time elapse before I obtained by his means, a commission from Messer Lorenzo Gamurrini to paint a picture for which Rosso made me the design, and which I afterwards executed with all the study, labour, and care that I could possibly command, being anxious to improve, as well as to acquire some little reputation and name. And now, had but my power equalled my desire, I should soon have became a tolerably good painter, so earnestly did I labour, and so anxiously did I study my art ”

“ In the year 1524 I was taken to Florence by desire of Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona, and there studied design for a short time under Michelagnolo, Andrea del Sarto, and others. But in the year 1527, the Medici, more particularly Ippolito and Alessandro, to whose service, thus in my childhood, I had been closely attached by means of the above-named Cardinal, ' being then exiled from Florence, my paternal uncle, Don Antonio, caused me to return to Arezzo, my father having died of the Plague but a short time previously. ”

“ We are nevertheless to remember that if our admirable author prided himself in the promptitude of his execution, that came from the uprightness of character, which, causing him most justly to revolt from the unprincipled conduct of certain among his contemporaries w'ho unreasonably deferred, or, on too many occasions, even neglected altogether, to fulfil engagements for which they had received payment, may have caused him, in the pride of rectitude, and the recollection of his own fidelity to his engagements, somewhat to over-estimate the quality on question. ”

“ On the principal façade is the same Pontiff rewarding merit, by the bestowal of marriage portions, knighthoods, bishoprics, and cardinals’ hats. Among those who receive the same are Sadoleto, Polo, Bembo, Contarino, Giovio, Buonarroto, and other men of distinction, all portraits from the life: there is also a figure which represents Sovereign Favour, and is placed within a large niche; she holds a Cornucopia filled with various dignities, all which she pours out upon the earth: the figures of Victory above her head support the bust of the Emperor Trajan. ”

“ But of this I am sure, that if no excellence be discovered in my works, there will at least be found an ardent wish to do well, as I have before said, with great and enduring industry, and a true love for these our Arts. ”

“ A great advantage of that time was the competition with young men, then my equals and companions, who afterwards became for the most part most excellent in our arts; the desire of glory was indeed ever a sufficiently powerful stimulus to mine exertions, as was the sight of the extraordinary success, and the advancement to rank and honour, by which so many artists had been rewarded. ”

“ For the Signora Gentilina, mother of the Signor Chiappono and of the Signor Paolo Yitelli, I painted a large picture in Florence, which I afterwards sent to her at Citta di Castello; the subject is the Coronation of Our Lady: in the upper part is a choir of Angels, and beneath are numerous figures larger than life. This picture was placed in the Church of San Francesco in that city. [83] For the Church of Poggio a Cajano, a villa belonging to the Signor Duke, I painted Our Saviour Christ lying dead in the lap of his Mother ”

“ At a word, I may with truth affirm, that in this work I was called on to depict almost every thing that could present itself to the mind and thought of man, an almost infinite variety of persons, faces, vestments, and ornaments, with arms of all kinds, morions, helmets, and cuirasses, horses with their caparisons and defences, artillery of all sorts, and every other implement demanded for battles on land ”

“ Fortune being in the midst, the spectator, in passing around the Hall, sometimes sees Envy surmounting Fortune and Art at one part, while at another part he sees Art surmounting both Envy and Fortune, as is known frequently to happen in real life. ”

“ I perceived, likewise, that my error had been great when I had before placed my hopes in men, and made my pleasure of the levities and follies of the world. That picture being finished, as has been said above, I at once received the commission for the remainder of the chapels in the aisle, the Stories and other paintings in fresco that is to say, which were to be executed in the upper and lower parts of the same, all which I was to execute in the succeeding summer, since it would be scarcely possible to work in fresco amidst those mountains during the winter season. ”

“ I repaired to Rimini, there to execute the picture for the High Altar of the above-named church, which is about three miles from the city.
The subject of this work was an Adoration of the Magi; it comprised a vast number of figures, which in that solitary place I was enabled to execute with great pains and study, imitating, as well as I could, the varieties existing between the followers of each King’s Court, those of all the three being mingled together; but their complexions, vestments, and decorations, render it easy to decide to which King every courtier and follower belongs. ”

“ Finally, having arrived there, I presented two pictures, which I had painted from the Cartoons of Michelagnolo, to Don Diego di Mendoza, who sent me two hundred crowns of gold.
I had not been any long time in Venice before I prepared, at the request of Messer Pietro, the decorations for a festival, which the Signori of the Calza [28] were then about to give, and for the execution of which I had in my company Battista Cungi and Cristofano Gherardi of Borgo San Sepolcro, [29] with the Aretine Bastiano Flori; all able and practised artists, of whom I have spoken sufficiently in other places. ”

“ But when I arrived in Naples and saw the Refectory, I was on the point of declining to undertake the work: the architecture of that Monastery being ancient, and the low ceilings, with their pointed arches, being almost wholly deprived of light, I feared there would be but little honour to be gained thereby. Persuaded, nevertheless, by Don Miniato Pitti and Don Ippolito da Milano, my intimate friends, I did finally agree to accept the commission ”

“ Here there is, moreover, the figure of Resolution, which, opening its breast, displays the heart within. Promptitude is likewise seen, accompanied by Riches; and in the niche is Abundance with Victories, holding a bust of the Emperor Vespasian. In a niche above this, and which divides one story from the other, is a figure representing the Christian Religion, having also two Victories over her head, who bear the bust of Numa Pompilius. The Escutcheon of xirms surmounting this stoly is that of the Cardinal San Giorgio, by whom the Palace was built. ”

“ The arrows which Cupid has shot at the Saint turn broken towards himself, while others, caught as they are falling, are brought back to Venus by her Doves. [26]
These pictures were, without doubt, accomplished to the best of mine ability, and at the time they may perchance have pleased me, yet I do not know that they would do so at my present age. But as art is difficult in itself, we must be content to accept from each that whereof he is capable. ”

“ I then spent several months on the stalls and presses of walnut-wood, made after my own designs and architecture, in the Sacristy of San Giovanni Carbonaro, [37] a monastery of the Eremite Monks, who are Observantines of Saint Augustine, and for whom a short time previously I had painted a picture of Christ crucified, in a chapel outside of their church. [38] This, to which I had added a rich frame of stucco-work, was executed by me at the desire of Seripando, the General of their Order, who was afterwards made a Cardinal. ”

“ And now it shall suffice me to have spoken thus much of myself, who have thus arrived, amidst many labours, to the age of fifty-five; but I am prepared to live so long as it shall please God, to his honour and for the service of my friends; and, so far as in me lies, will be ever ready to promote and work for the progress of these most noble arts. [96]
[End of the Eife of Vasari, as written hy himself.] ”