Note 121 — BOOK IV. (continued 2)

Cortona had in Sicily a good scholar in Gio. Quagliata, who, in the Memorie Messinesi, is said to have been favored and distinguished by his master; and to have afterwards returned to his native country to paint in competition with Rodriguez, and what surprises me still more, with Barbalunga. If we may be allowed to judge of these two artists by their works which remain in Rome, Barbalunga in S. Silvestro at Monte Cavallo, appears a great master; Quagliata at the Madonna di C. P. a respectable scholar. The former is celebrated and known to every painter in Rome, the latter has not an admirer. In Messina he perhaps painted better. His biographer commends him as a graceful and sober painter, as long as his rivals lived; and adds, that after their death he devoted himself to frescos, when the exuberance of his imagination is evident in the strong expression of character, and in the superfluity of architectural and other ornaments. Andrea, his brother, was not in Rome; he is, however, in Messina, considered a good artist.