Note 119 — BOOK IV.

I may insert at the close of this epoch the names of some Sicilian painters, who flourished in it, or at the beginning of the following, instructed by various masters. They were furnished to me by the Sig. Ansaldo, whose attentions I have before acknowledged, and were transmitted to him by a painter of that island. Filippo Tancredi was of Messina, but is not assigned to any of the before mentioned masters, as he studied in Naples and in Rome under Maratta. He was a skilful artist, composed and coloured well; was celebrated in Messina, and also in Palermo, where he lived many years, and where the vault of the church de' Teatini, and that also of the Gesù Nuovo were painted by him. The Cav. Pietro Novelli (or Morelli, which latter however I regard as an error) called Monrealese from his native place, also enjoyed the reputation of a good painter, and an able architect. He there left many works in oil and fresco, and the great picture of the Marriage at Cana, in the refectory of the P. P. Benedettini, is particularly commended. He resided for a long time in Palermo, and the greatest work he there executed, was in the church of the Conventuals, the vault of which was divided into compartments, and wholly painted by himself. Guarienti eulogises him for his style, as diligent in copying nature, correct in design, and graceful in his colouring, with some imitation of Spagnoletto; and the people of Palermo confer daily honour on him, since, whenever they meet with a foreigner of taste, they point out to him little else in the city, than the works of this great man. Pietro Aquila, of Marzalla, a distinguished artist, who engraved the Farnese gallery, left no works to my knowledge in Rome; in Palermo there remain of him two pictures in the church della Pietà, representing the parable of the Prodigal Son. Lo Zoppo di Gangi is known at Castro Giovanni, where in the Duomo he left several works. Of the Cav. Giuseppe Paladini, a Sicilian, I find commended at S. Joseph di Castel Termini, the picture of the Madonna and the tutelar saint. I also find honourable mention among the chief painters of this island, of a Carrega, who I believe painted for private individuals. Others, though I know not of what merit, are found inscribed in the academy of S. Luke, from the registers of which I have derived some information for my third and fourth volumes, communicated to me by the Sig. Maron, the worthy secretary of the academy.