Giorgio Vasari

“ Taddeo indeed, made efforts to excuse himself for not having done better in that work, by declaring that it had been painted principally by his disciples, and that the only part executed by his own hand was the design, with some few other portions; but these excuses were not accepted, for in so manifest a rivalry no man will entrust the credit of his art and reputation to weaker and less capable hands than his own, since that would be to incur a certain defeat. ”

“ When Taddeo perceived that Federigo could thus proceed by himself, and prepare his own designs, almost entirely without aid from any one, he procured him a commission for the painting of a Chapel from the men of the Company of Santa Maria dell’ Orto-a-Ripa in Rome, but making it almost appear that he intended to execute the work himself, since it was certain that to Federigo alone the commission never would have been given, he being still but a youth, and to satisfy those men Taddeo did paint a Nativity of Christ in that chapel ”

“ It then happened that the Cardinal of Mantua desired to have the interior of his palace, which is situated near the Portuguese arch, adorned with paintings, which he desired to have executed with great rapidity; he therefore entrusted that work to Taddeo Zucchero, to whom he agreed to pay an appropriate remuneration; when our artist, setting hand to the same with a large number of assistants, conducted it in a short time to completion, and herein he did not fail to evince great judgment in the use which he made of so many heads, all united to expedite so great a work ”

“ Nor was the judgment of the Prelate in selecting so good an architect, less remarkable than his greatness of mind in constructing so noble and magnificent an edifice, which is not indeed in a position to be much enjoyed by the public, being in a remote and solitary district, but is nevertheless admirably placed for one who desires to escape for a time from the toils and vexations of cities. ”

“ To figure these, you must have an Altar, with the Statue of the God thereon; at his feet must be a fire, into which those around are throwing wood for burning; they hold cups of wune in their hands, and of this wine they pour out a part, but the other part they drink.
“In the centre of the Oval (that all the Heaven may be filled) , let the Twilight appear, as the medium between the Aurora and the Night; and to signify this, I find that you must make a youth entirely naked (he is sometimes winged and sometimes not) ”

“ They are not of great size, but are so admirable from the rich originality of the invention, the correctness of the design, and the beauty of the colouring, that the artist was seen to have herein surpassed all his previous efforts. ”

“ At a word, our artist satisfied the Cardinal perfectly, and at the same time disappointed the expectations of those who had believed him unequal to the charge of so great a work.
In like manner Taddeo painted stories of figures in fresco to decorate certain niches of the chambers in the palace of Messer Alessandro Mafiei, which is near the Botteghe Scure, causing his brother Federigo to execute certain other stories, to the end that the latter might become accustomed to working for himself. ”

“ In the Hall, which is over that of Jupiter and of the same size, are rich ornaments in stucco by the hand of Taddeo and his disciples, with paintings by the same, all relating to the illustrious men of the House of Farnese. The ceiling is divided into six compartments, which enclose paintings, four of a square and two of a round form, these are in immediate contact with the cornice which surrounds the Hall, and in the centre of them are three oval pictures with a parallelogram divided into two small squares, in one of which is depicted the figure of Fame, in the other that of Bellona. ”

“ It was then the pleasure of the Signor Duke that he should paint a singularly fanciful picture of a Hunt on a large piece of canvas, which covered the scene at the head of the Hall; this was in colours, but Eederigo also executed certain pictures in chiaro-scuro, all which gave infinite satisfaction. Having then proceeded from Florence to Sant’ Agnolo, for the purpose of revisiting his friends and relations, Federigo at length departed for Rome, where he arrived on the 16th of January. ”

“ At the time when Francesco Maria was Duke of Urbino there was born to the painter, Ottaviano Zucchero, wh< dwelt in the territory of Sant’ Agnolo, a portion of that state, a male child, to whom he gave the name of Taddeo; and this child having learned to read and write with tolerable accuracy in the tenth year of his age, the father then took him into his own charge, and began to teach him the principles of design. But Ottaviano soon perceived that his son was endowed with a genius of no common order, and might very probably become a much better artist than he believed himself to be ”

“ Having subsequently returned to Rome, it chanced that a certain Roman gentleman, Messer Jacopo Mattel, was conversing with Taddeo’s kinsman Francesco Sant’ Agnolo in relation to a part of his house, which he desired to have painted in chiaro-scuro, when Francesco proposed Taddeo for that office, and on the gentleman remarking that he seemed too young, Francesco replied that a trial might be made of him in two stories, which, if they were not well done might be destroyed, but if satisfactory might remain as a commencement. ”

“ But when the labours above-described were estimated, the toils of Eederigo and of the other young men, were not considered, as they ought to have been, seeing that there are many among our artists, whether in Rome, Elorence, or elsewhere, who, blinded by envy, will not acknowledge the merits of others, yet are not by any means aware of the defects existing in their own works; but such persons often cause the rising genius of many a youth to be repressed, while they make others cool in their studies and become negligent in their modes of operation. ”

“ But I warn you that these vestments must be open from above the knee downwards, that they may show the nude limbs; and the vest as well as tunic, must be moved by the wind, forming folds and waving about. The arms must be naked and rosy; fair coloured wings must rise from the shoulders; on the head must be a crown of roses, and in the hands a lamp or lighted torch, or perhaps it were better to let a Cupid bearing a torch go before her, while another coming after her shall awaken Tithon with his torch. ”

“ Those now executed there by Federigo were very highly extolled.
His brother having thus departed, Taddeo continued the frescoes in the Chapel of San Marcello, at which he worked all the summer, and where he finally painted the Altar-piece in oil. The subject chosen was the Conversion of St. Paul; and the Saint, a figure in a very fine manner, is seen fallen from his horse and bewildered at the splendour and voice of Christ, who appears surrounded by a Glory of Angels, and is in the act of uttering the words,—“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” ”

“ Taddeo had, however, first received the Sacraments of the Church, as a good Christian should; he had moreover taken leave of the greater part of his friends; but these things done, he departed, leaving behind him his brother, Federigo, who was at that time also suffering from illness. Thus in a short time have our arts, but more particularly that of painting, suffered severe losses, seeing that Michelagnolo, Salviati, Daniello, and Taddeo have all been taken from the world. ”

“ In this bed there shall be laid Sleep or Somnus, a youth of the most perfect beauty; and let this figure be most placid as well as most beautiful. Some will have him nude, others give him two vestments, a black above and a white below. Under his arm he has a horn, from which a dark liquid appears to be poured over the bed, and this denotes Oblivion, although there are who would make it full of fruits. In one hand let him have a wand, in the other three heads of poppies. Let him sleep like one who is sick, with the head and hands falling listlessly, wholly abandoned to a deep slumber. ”

“ His Majesty is attended by a large number of his Barons, and with them is the King of the Eomans. On the wall to the left of the entrance, the first story exhibits the war undertaken in Germany against the Lutherans, in the year 1546, when the Duke Ottavio Fames was Legate; this also has its inscription. The second, on this side, has the Cardinal Farnese, with the Emperor and his Sons; they are all four under a Canopy, which is borne by figures, each one a portrait from the life, and among them is that of Taddeo, the artist of the work. ”

“ The oval concave of the ceiling shall represent Heaven (as the Cardinal has judiciously decided) ; the remainder of the vaulting shall appear as if not separated from the rest of the chamber, but shall be adorned with fine architectural ornaments, which you will devise. The four lunettes I would have also appear to be concave; and since the oval represents Heaven, these shall represent Air, Earth, and Sea, as though these were seen beyond the chamber by those within it. ”

“ At length, however, and when his Excellency was on the point of his departure for Rome, there to receive the Baton of Commander for Holy Church from the hands of Pope Julius III., he left directions with Taddeo, to the effect that the latter should proceed with the above-named Chapel, commanding furthermore, that he should be provided with all that he might require for that purpose. But the ministers of the Duke, proceeding as such men usually do, delaying all things and impeding him at every point, that is to say, caused him at length to leave Urbino, after he had lost two years of his time. ”

“ Here our artist acquitted himself extremely well, and depicted a great variety of most fanciful and. beautiful inventions. That done, he returned to Rome, and resumed his work of the Chapel, which he has now brought to completion, having adorned it with a Choir of Angels hovering in splendour around a figure of the Almighty Father, by whom the Holy Spirit is sent down on the Virgin, who receives the Annunciation from the Angel Gabriel. ”

“ But he was not of any great use to Taddeo at that time, seeing that the death of Pope Pius IV. with that of the Cardinal Farnese, had interrupted the works in the Hall of Kings, as well as those of the Farnese Palace; wherefore Taddeo, who had finished another apartment at Caprarola, and almost completed the Chapel of San Marcello, was proceeding, but quite at his leisure, with the Assumption of Our Lady, and the Apostles who are standing around her bier. ”

“ The walls beneath are in like manner adorned with two Stories in fresco, one shows St. Paul curing a lame man, the other is a Disputation, wherein the Saint causes a Magician to be struck with blindness, both truly beautiful pictures; but these being left unfinished by the death of Taddeo have been completed by Federigo, who has lately given them to view, and that to his no small credit. About the same time Taddeo painted certain pictures in oil, which were sent into France hy the Ambassador of the French King. ”

“ Of this work Federigo, no long time since, gave the design, drawn and painted by his own Imnd, to Don Yincenzio Borghini, by whom it is very highly prized as the work of an excellent painter. In the same place this artist also painted the Angel destroying the firstborn of Egypt, availing himself of the aid of many assistants, that the work might be the more rapidly finished. ”

“ There now remains only to add, that I would have the whole work surrounded by a frieze of grottesche or Stories of minute figures; the subjects being in harmony with those above described. In the Stories 1 would have such things exhibited as are done by men, and even by animals, at the hour pre-supposed; thus, as appropriate to the Dawn, I would have artists, mechanics, and workmen of every kind, who, having risen thus early, are about to re-commence their labours. Smiths to their anvils, the learned to their studies, the hunter to the chase, and the muleteer to the road. ”

“ On the last corbel, between the wall of ‘the head’ and that of ‘the left,’ will be appropriately represented Angerona, the Goddess of Secresy, seeing that she will be thus conveniently placed for admonishing all who leave the Chamber to keep whatever they may have heard and seen there secret, as it behoves them to do who serve the great. Her figure is that of a woman placed on an Altar, with the mouth tied and sealed. I know not what vestments are given her, but I would wrap her in one long robe, covering her from head to foot, and fastened on the shoulders. ”