BOOK I. (continued 4)

Bassano educated four of his sons to the same profession, which thus became transmitted to others, so that the Bassanese school continued for the length of a century, though still declining and departing fast from its primitive splendour. Francesco and Leandro were the two members of Jacopo's family best disposed to pursue his footsteps, and he was accustomed to pride himself upon the inventive talents displayed by the former, and the singular ability of the latter for portrait painting, Of his two other sons, Giambatista and Girolamo, he used to observe, that they were the most accurate copyists of his own works. All of these, more especially the two latter, were instructed by their father in those refinements of the art he himself practised, and they so far succeeded, that many of their copies, made both during and after the lifetime of their father, very frequently imposed upon professors, being received for the originals of Jacopo. The whole of them, however, produced original works, and Francesco the eldest, having established himself in Venice, gave ample proof of it in those histories drawn from Venetian records, which he painted for the Palazzo Grande. They are placed near those of Paul Veronese, and appear to advantage even in such competition. His father here assisted him with his advice; himself attending upon the spot, and instructing him where he found occasion, how to add force to his tints, to improve his perspective, and to bring the whole work to the most perfect degree of art. His pencil may be very clearly traced in that of his son, as well as his style, which in the opinion of critics is somewhat too much loaded, especially in his shades. Francesco, likewise, produced several beautiful altarpieces, in which, on the other hand, he appears less vigorous than his father; as may be seen in his Paradiso, at the Gesù, in Rome, or in his San Apollonio, at Brescia, one of the most beautiful pieces in the church of S. Afra, and much admired by foreigners. And he would have achieved still greater things, had he not been afflicted with severe fits of melancholy, such as to deprive him of the use of his faculties and his time, until he was driven by sudden desperation to throw himself from a window, and, by this accident, still in the prime of his days, he lost his life.

The works which he left imperfect in the Ducal Palace, and in other places, were completed by Leandro, the third son of Jacopo, and a professor in high repute. He followed the same maxims in the art, except that by his practice in portrait taking, he acquired more originality of countenance; and in the use of his pencil approaches nearer to the first than to the second style of Jacopo. He is, moreover, more variable in it, and inclines somewhat to the mannerism of his age. One of his best performances perhaps, is to be seen at San Francesco, in Bassano; Santa Caterina crowned by our Lord; amidst various saints, distributed upon the steps of the throne, with figures larger than customary in the Bassanese school. His pictures likewise of the Resurrection of Lazarus, placed at the Carità; and of the Nativity of the Virgin, at Santa Sofia; besides others he produced at Venice, as well as for the state, are distinguished by their large proportions. If familiar with the father's productions, we may often detect domestic plagiarisms in Leandro; who often repeats the family of da Ponte, copied in innumerable pieces by Jacopo, by his sons, and by their descendants. Even in his pictures for private ornament, conducted according to his own style and fancy, he was fond of adopting paternal subjects and examples; being skilful in drawing animals of every kind from nature. But nothing proved so favourable to his reputation, both in Italy and throughout Europe, as the immense number of his portraits, admirably executed, and not unfrequently with a certain original fancy, both for private persons and for princes. Those that he executed for the Imperial Palace were particularly relished; insomuch that he received an invitation from Rodolph II., to accept the place of his court painter; an honour which Leandro thought fit to refuse. He was more ambitious of enjoying fame at Venice than at Vienna; for the Doge Grimani, the better to obtain a noble portrait of himself, had already created him his cavalier. And Leandro supported his dignity with an imposing demeanour: he lodged, dressed, and maintained his table in a noble manner. He appeared in public ornamented with a collar of gold, and with the insignia of St. Mark, accompanied by a train of disciples, who dwelt at his house. One of these bore his gold cane, another the repertory, in which he noted down all that was to be done during the day. The same were bound to attend upon him at table; and as he was suspicious of poison, he was accustomed, like the great, to have his tasters, who took something of every dish he eat; but they were ordered not to taste much, as in such case the great man became little, and gave rise to much mirth. Like his brother, he was subject to fits of melancholy, but he contrived to manage them so well, as only to give birth to comic, never to tragic scenes.

Giambatista da Ponte, is a name almost unmentioned in history; nor is there any production attributed to him, besides an altarpiece in Gallio, with his name, and which by some writer has been given, from its style, to Leandro. Girolamo, the last of the family, is better known by an altarpiece which he conducted in Venice, after the composition of Leandro, as well as for others executed in Bassano and its vicinity. He cannot be denied a certain graceful air in his countenances; and in some of his works, displaying the simplest composition, very graceful colouring. Such is his picture of S. Barbara, adorning the church of S. Giovanni, at Bassano, where the saint is seen between two upright virgin figures, with their eyes fixed upon heaven, where the holy virgin is represented in the usual manner of the times.

Not only was Jacopo attached to the soil and very walls of his native country, from which no prospects of honour or of profit could tempt him away; but he liberally granted his instructions to his fellow citizens, which both his sons and their family continued after his decease. The best disciple whom they produced, was Jacopo Apollonio, the offspring of Jacopo's daughter. Though only acquainted with the two least celebrated of his uncles, he made rapid progress in his art, a case in which he may be compared to certain writers, who have wholly made use of their native dialect, without mingling it with any of a foreign growth. In like manner he is Bassanese in his ideas, in his draperies, in his architecture, and more than all, in his landscape, which he touched with a master's hand. He might easily at times be mistaken for the real Bassani, were he not inferior to them in the vigour of his tints, in the delicacy of his contours, and in the strokes of his pencil. Some of his best works consist of a Magdalen, seen in the Dome of Bassano, a San Francesco at the Riformati, which present fair examples by which to judge of his style. Yet above all, his picture of the Titular with various other saints at San Sebastiano, is one of the most exquisite finish, and possesses every estimable quality in the art, except that of softness. Some have considered him the only artist among the disciples of this school worthy of commemoration. Yet the natives of Bassano set some store by two brothers named Giulio and Luca Martinelli, very estimable scholars of Jacopo. They also hold in some esteem Antonio Scaiario, son-in-law to Giambatista da Ponte, as well as his heir, owing to which he sometimes signs himself Antonio da Ponte, Antonio Bassano. Nor do they omit the name of Jacopo Guadagnini, the offspring of a daughter of Francesco da Ponte, who acquired some merit in face painting, and in copying, however feebly, the works of his ancestors. Upon his decease in 1633, every vestige of the manner and of the school of Jacopo became extinct in Bassano. There nevertheless arose about the same period in Cittadella, a place adjacent to Bassano, a young genius of the name of Gio. Batista Zampezzo, who, directed by Apollonio, and having concluded his studies at Venice, devoted himself to copying the works of Jacopo. So well did he imitate his Santa Lucilla baptized by San Valentino, a piece at the Grazie in Bassano, that Bartolommeo Scaligero pronounced it comparable with the original. He flourished about 1660;^[66] and subsequent to him appeared the noble Gio. Antonio Lazzari, a Venetian, who succeeded in deceiving the most skilful artists, says Melchiori, by dint of copying Jacopo, and passing for him. It will not have been irksome, I trust, to my readers, thus to have connected together a series of the school of Bassano, by aid of which the copies taken by so many artists, at different periods, and with various degrees of merit, may be better distinguished.^[67]

Whilst the Bassanese school employed itself in drawing the simplest objects of rural nature upon a small scale, a different one sprung up in Verona, which surpassed all others by copying, upon the most ample grounds, every thing most beautiful in art; such as architecture, costume, ornaments, the splendour of trains of servants, and luxury worthy of kings. This then remained still to be completed, and it was reserved for the genius of Paul Caliari to accomplish. The son of Gabriele, a sculptor at Verona, he was destined by his father for the same art. Instructed in a knowledge of design, and modelling in clay, he nevertheless evinced so strong a genius for painting, as to induce his father to give him as a pupil to Badile, under whom, in a short time, he made an astonishing progress. He had, however, appeared in an age that made it incumbent on him to exert himself greatly, such were the splendid talents that distinguished the Veronese School. It is deserving, indeed, of separate mention, inasmuch as it might of itself form a school apart, were it not that its principal masters had acquired a knowledge of their art, either from Mantegna of Padua, or from the Venetian Bellini; from Giorgione, or as we shall have occasion to see, from Titian. It was thus derived rather from the artists of the state, than from its own or from foreign sources; though it flourished by its own industry, and produced as many various styles as any other place in the terra firma. I have already alluded to the remark of Vasari, that "Verona having constantly devoted itself, after the death of F. Giocondo, to the study of design, produced at all times excellent artists, &c." such praise as he bestowed on no other city of the Venetian state. I noticed also its superiority in force of expression, and its very general taste, in animating and giving an air of liveliness to its heads, so general indeed as to be almost characteristic of the nation. To these it added a beauty peculiar to itself; more light and elegant, and less full than in the Venetian paintings, though not so fresh and rubicund in the fleshy parts. It is also equally happy with any other in its inventions, availing itself of mythology and history to form fanciful compositions, and for the ornament of palaces and villas. The national genius so well adapted for poetry, aided the artists in the conception of such compositions; while the advice of able men, always abounding in the city, helped to perfect them. The climate too was favourable for the production, as well as for the preservation of paintings; for while at Venice the saltness of the air destroyed many beautiful pieces in fresco, in Verona and its adjacent towns a great number remained entire.

We have already alluded to its leading masters of the preceding epoch, observing that many were entitled from their works to rank in this brighter period. To these I add Paolo Cavazzola, pupil to Moroni, and in the opinion of Vasari, much superior to him. He died at the age of thirty-one, leaving many fine specimens of a mature judgment in different churches. The two Falconetti were also worthy of some notice. Gio. Antonio, an excellent draughtsman of fruits and animals; and Gio. Maria, a scholar of Melozzo (Notizia, p. 10,) and a celebrated architect and painter, though not one of the most copious, more especially in fresco. These two brothers were descendants of old Stefano da Verona, or da Sevio, whichever he is to be called. Nor less worthy in the opinion of Vasari was one Tullio, or India il Vecchio, an able artist in fresco, a portrait painter, and a celebrated copyist. His son Bernardino appears to advantage, no less in a bold than a delicate style; in which last, if I mistake not, he is superior, as we perceive from specimens in the churches, and other collections in Verona. Many of his pictures betray a style approaching that of Giulio Romano. He is recorded by Vasari, together with Eliodoro Forbicini, famous for his grotesques, and assistant in many of his labours to India, as well as to various other artists of no mean fame.

Dionisio Battaglia distinguished himself by an altarpiece of Santa Barbara, mentioned by Pozzo as being at Santa Eufemia; no less than did Scalabrino by his two scriptural histories placed at San Zeno. Two other artists of the same period are very deserving of mention, both on account of their productions and their pupils; Niccolo Giolfino (in Vasari called Ursino) the master of Farinato; and Antonio Badile, the tutor and the uncle of Caliari. Giolfino, or Golfino, according to Ridolfi, partakes something of the dryness of the Quattrocentisti, less select and animated than the best of his contemporaries, his colours not very vivid, but pleasing and harmonious. Most probably educated by some one of these miniaturists, he succeeded better in pictures upon a small than upon a large scale, such as in his Resurrection of Lazarus, to be seen in the church of Nazareth. Born in 1480, Badile flourished during another eighty years, and was the first, perhaps, of any in Verona, to exhibit painting altogether free from traces of antiquity, while he excelled no less in external forms than in depicting the inward affections and passions of the mind. He was moreover the author, at the same time, of a peculiar softness, yet freedom of hand; though it is not known from whom he acquired it. He affixed to his works only the first syllable of his name, formed in a cypher. His picture of the raising of Lazarus, painted for San Bernardino, and another with some holy bishops at San Nazaro, both so much commended by Ridolfi, serve to shew from what source his two pupils, Paolo and Zelotti, derived that elegant manner, which they mutually improved by assisting one another. A similar style was for some years displayed by Orlando Fiacco, or Flacco, from which he is supposed to have been a scholar of Badile, though Vasari, who extols him particularly in portrait, gives him to another school. However this may be, it is certain he inclined to a boldness of style, approaching that of Caravaggio. He flourished but a short period, during which he acquired more merit than fortune.

This resulted from the too great abundance of good artists in Verona, a circumstance that induced many to seek better fortune in foreign parts. Orlandi, on the authority of Vasari, has inserted in the Abecedario a professor of the name of Zeno, or Donato, a native of Verona, who in the church of San Marino at Rimino, painted the titular saint with singular care. I saw it, and it displayed great simplicity of composition, good design, and still better colouring, more particularly in the dress of the bishop, which he laboriously ornamented with little figures of saints. He seems to have belonged to the golden period of art; and it is known that he left other works at the same place, and most probably never changed his residence, or at least did not return, so far as we know, to Verona. Two other artists, named Batista Fontana, much engaged at the imperial court of Vienna; and Jacopo Ligozzi, who long flourished at the court of Tuscany, as I have observed in its place, also adopted the resolution of quitting their native city. Of the former scarcely any thing remains there; though there are a few pieces by the hand of the second, among which at S. Luca a Saint Helena, who, surrounded by her court ladies, assists in the discovery of the Holy Cross, a picture displaying the best Venetian taste in its tints, and in the richness of its draperies; but certainly all the worst, in regard to transferring our own customs to more ancient times. Giovanni Ermanno had either a brother or other relation who approached him very nearly in point of merit, as may clearly be seen at the Santi Apostoli in Verona.

But those who had there obtained the ascendancy, when Paul Veronese first began to make himself known, were three fellow citizens, who still maintain a high character in their native place, inferior only to that of Paul himself. Their names are Batista d'Angelo, surnamed del Moro, as the son-in-law and pupil of Torbido; Domenico Ricci, called il Brusasorci, from his father's custom of burning rats; and Paul Farinato, likewise called degli Uberti. All three were invited by the Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga to Mantua, in order that each might exhibit in the cathedral an altarpiece; while together with these appeared Paul, the youngest of the whole; but who according to Vasari and Ridolfi, surpassed them in the competition. But it is not yet time to enter upon his merits, having first to treat of his rivals, before we venture upon him and his followers, so as not to have occasion for interrupting the remainder of this history, until we arrive at a new epoch.

Giambatista was the least celebrated of the three, though each of his works obtained so much credit, that when Santa Eufemia had one of its walls demolished to make way for a new edifice, his picture of St. Paul before Ananias, that adorned it, was carefully preserved at considerable expense, and replaced over the door of the church; yet this was one of his earliest productions. He produced a great many others, both in oil and in fresco, not unfrequently in competition with Paul. He follows Torbido in point of diligence, and in his strong and unctuous colouring. He has more softness, however, of design; and, if I mistake not, more grace; of which he gave a distinguished specimen in an Angiolo at San Stefano, in the act of distributing the palms to the SS. Innocenti. He was employed, also, in Venice, where the most studied and animated production, going by his name, is not positively pronounced his by Ridolfi, but only esteemed to be his, while it is ascribed by Boschini to Francesco Alberti, a Venetian, known merely by this single production. It is an altarpiece in Santa Maria Maggiore, representing the Virgin between St. John and St. Mark, and several lords in ducal robes, with their sons, in the act of adoring her; very lively portraits of the Marcello family, for whom the altar was painted. Vasari gives a brief account both of him and his son Marco, his pupil and assistant, though he did not mention Giulio, brother to Batista, who distinguished himself alike in all the arts, and is called by Zanetti dotto pittore. Both, like Batista, exercised their talents in Venice, and whoever compares the four Coronati of Giulio, placed at San Apollinare, with the Paradiso of Marco at San Bartolommeo, will discover an elegance, a precision, and an arrangement of style, sufficient to mark them for disciples of the same school.

Brusasorci may be termed the Titian of this school. It is not known that he received the instructions of any other master besides Giolfino, but it is certain that he studied the works of Giorgione and of Titian, in Venice. He has exhibited the style of the latter in a few of his pictures with great accuracy, as we see in his San Rocco, in the church of the Padri Agostiniani at Verona, and in several other pictures for private persons, among which he has drawn nymphs and Venuses. An eye accustomed to the originals of the best Venetians, detects a diversity of tints which in the artist of Verona are less glowing. His genius could not confine itself to the imitation of a single model, like some of the Venetians; he became fond of Giorgione, and to judge from one of his pieces remaining at Mantua, also of Parmigianino. There in the ducal palace we meet with the Fable of Phaeton exhibited in different pieces, which, however much defaced by time, are still admired for the fancy and vivacity they display, no less than for their abundance of figures, and the difficult foreshortenings he has inserted. But his chief merit was shewn in his frescos, with which he decorated villas and palaces with the erudition of a fine poet and the execution of a fine painter. He produced, likewise, his histories; and the masterpiece of all I have seen is the procession of Clement VIII. and of Charles V. through Bologna, a picture exhibited in a hall of the noble casa Ridolfi, and which has been engraved. A nobler spectacle cannot well be imagined; and although other specimens, both of this and similar subjects are met with very generally at Rome, in Venice, and in Florence, none produce equal effect; combining in one piece, a large concourse, fine distribution of figures, vivacity of countenances, noble attitudes in the men and horses; variety of costume, pomp, and splendour and dignity, all bearing an expression of pleasure adapted to such a day. This piece may compete with another in the palazzo Murari at Ponte Nuovo, also in fresco, though this last is preferred in the estimation of many before that of the casa Ridolfi, as I have been informed by the learned Signor dalla Rosa.

Felice Riccio, otherwise Brusasorci the younger, and the son of Domenico, became an orphan before he had completed his studies with his father, which he continued under the care of Ligozzi, at Florence. On returning thence to Verona, he introduced a style very different to the manner of his father. It is extremely elegant and refined, as displayed in his Madonnas, with boys and beautiful cherubs, adorning various collections; and with features something resembling those of Paul Veronese, if not a little more spare. Nor is he deficient in strength where his subject requires it, as I remarked in a picture belonging to the Conti Gazzola, representing the forge of Vulcan, with Cyclops, designed in good Florentine taste, and powerfully coloured. Many of Felice's works are interspersed through the churches of Verona, among which his Santa Elena, belonging to the church of that name, is extremely beautiful. He did not exercise his talents, like his father, in fresco, nor had he equal genius; though he produced pieces on a large scale, the extreme of which was the Fall of Manna, painted for the church of S. Giorgio, a picture both vast and well conceived, and which received its last touches from Ottini and Orbetto, two of his best disciples, whose names I reserve to another epoch. Several little pictures, likewise, both on sacred and other subjects, executed on stone or marble, which he coloured with great skill, availing himself for his shades of the marble itself, are attributed to his hand. Even his portraits are in high esteem; though nearly equalled by those of his sister Cecilia, who acquired skill in the art from her father. Gio. Batista Brusasorci, brother of the preceding artists, and a scholar of Paul Veronese, presented Verona with several highly esteemed pictures; but passing into Germany he became painter to the emperor, in whose service he died.

Surviving the whole of these, and almost all the Caliari family, we meet with the name of Paolo Farinato, as grand an artist perhaps as his namesake was beautiful. After leaving the school of Giolfino, he is supposed to have studied the works of Titian and Giorgione, at Venice; and if we may judge also from his style, he must have received the instructions of Giulio Romano in design; though he made use of the Venetian tints, out of which he formed a system of his own. He survived till his eighty-first year, still preserving his natural good humour; and as is customary with men of so advanced an age, he prided himself upon it, affixing his name to a picture he produced at San Giorgio, placed opposite to one by Felice, stating he had painted it in his seventy-ninth year. It is a representation of the multiplication of loaves in the desert, abounding with very numerous figures, in part portraits of his own family, and in part ideal heads. He is one of the few painters whose merit did not deteriorate in advanced age, for though in some early pieces he betrays a certain dryness of manner, in this last he left nothing imperfect, neither in fulness of contours, in the fancy of his draperies and embellishments, nor in the study of his figures and landscape. His design has been much commended, which was the case with few others of his school; and even in the time of Ridolfi his sketches, the cartoons of his first studies, and his models of figures in wax, were all eagerly sought after for ornamental cabinets. A San Onofrio is pointed out at the church of San Tommaso, in a sitting posture, taken from the celebrated torso di Belvedere; which, as well as many other of his attitudes, and subjects where he introduced naked figures, discovers an acquaintance with the ancient style not common among the Venetians. To his fleshes he gives a bronze colour, which produces a pleasing effect, and harmonizes well with his tints, for the most part sober and even flat in his grounds; giving a repose to the eye which attracts without dazzling it. He is generally esteemed, however, a weak colourist, and better in his frescos than in oil. I know not whether it may be owing to partiality, or to the merit of this great man, but certain it is, that on my quitting Bologna he was the only artist, the whole of whose works I regretted not having seen; so much of all that is rare and beautiful did I meet with in those I saw. More likewise I beheld in Mantua, in San Sisto at Piacenza, in the Ducal Gallery at Modena, in Padua, and other places. I have sometimes observed a kind of snail that Paolo is said to have chosen for his device, remarking that he likewise bore his house upon his head.

His son Orazio practised the art only for a few years. His best praise is, that during that short period he made approaches towards the style and merit of his father. There is one of his pieces at San Stefano, representing the Faithful receiving the Holy Spirit from the Apostles;^[68] and, if we except only Paul Veronese, it makes a distinguished figure, placed near some of the best artists of Verona.

Resuming here the thread of our former discourse, we must observe that Paul Caliari found the public prepossessed in favour of the three foregoing artists, and obtained little consideration in his own district while young. The world, ever disinclined to admit the claims of rising reputation, either knew not, or believed not, that in his competition with the Mantuan artists he had surpassed them all; insomuch that this youthful genius was compelled by penury to quit Verona, leaving behind him, upon an altar at San Fermo, a Madonna between two Saints, with a few other proofs of his early powers. He first went to Vicenza, and thence passed on to Venice. His genius was naturally noble, and even magnificent and vast, as well as pleasing; and no provincial city was capable of supplying him with ideas proportionate to his genius, like Venice. There he aimed at improving his style of colouring, upon the models of Titian and Tintoretto, as well as to surpass them, as it would appear, in elegance and variety of ornament. Hence his pupils were accustomed to say, that at that time he devoted himself to the study of casts taken from ancient statues, to the engravings of Parmigiano, and to those of Albert Durer. The first works that he produced for the sacristy of S. Sebastiano in Venice, present us only with the elements of that style he subsequently acquired, in the air of the heads, and in the variety of drapery and of attitudes. For the rest his pencil was still timid, inclined rather to unite his tints with care, than to a bold and free manner of handling. But it was not long before he displayed more freedom, and more attraction, in painting the ceilings of the same church, where he represented the history of Esther, a work whose novelty conciliated public admiration and became a stepping stone to very honourable commissions from the senate.

In the meanwhile he enjoyed an opportunity of visiting Rome, in company with the ambassador Grimani, where, surrounded by its grand ancient and modern productions, "al volo suo sentì crescer le penne," he felt his wings enlarging as he rose, of which he soon gave proofs in the Palazzo Pubblico, at Venice. Here his imagination seems to revel in every piece coloured by his hand; but particularly in that which may be called the apotheosis of Venice, in regal costume, seated on high, crowned by Glory, celebrated by Fame, attended by Honour, Liberty, and Peace. Juno and Ceres are seen assisting at the spectacle, as symbols of grandeur and felicity. The summit is decorated with specimens of magnificent architecture, and with columns; while lower down appears a great concourse of ladies with their lords and sons, in various splendid habits, all represented in a gallery; and on the ground are represented warriors upon their chargers, arms, ensigns, prisoners, and trophies of war. This oval picture presents us with an union of those powers, with which Paul so much fascinates the eye, producing a general effect altogether enchanting, and includes numerous parts all equally beautiful; bright aërial spaces, sumptuous edifices, which seem to invite the foot of the spectator; lively features, dignified, selected for the most part from nature, and embellished by art. Add to these, very graceful motions, fine contrasts and expressions; noble vestments, both for their shape and materials; with crowns and sceptres, magnificence worthy of so august a scene; perspective that gives distance to objects, without displeasing us when near;^[69] the most lively colours,^[70] whether similar or contrasted, and harmonized with a peculiar degree of art, such as is not to be taught. Not inferior to these was the handling of his pencil, which to the utmost rapidity unites the greatest judgment, that effects, decides, and achieves something in every stroke; gifts which he had at that age rendered familiar to him, and which form the character of his genius. Whoever has resolution enough to read Boschini (for it is not every one in Italy that can boast as much) will find at p. 643 and further, in addition to the description of this picture, the commendations he bestowed on it, along with Strozza, Mignard, and other able artists, as one of the rarest specimens in the world. Yet this did not obtain for him so high a reputation as his "Suppers." Whoever undertakes to describe his style, ought by no means to pass over a representation, perhaps the most familiar to him of all, having repeated it so many times, until by force of exercising his powers and varying it in different ways, the first sovereigns in the world became desirous of obtaining copies. Several I have seen upon a small scale, but always beautiful; one, the Supper of the Eucharist, at Santa Sofia, in Venice; another, upon the same subject, and of exquisite workmanship, at the Casa Borghese, in Rome; and the feast given by San Gregorio to the poor, belonging to the Serviti, in Vicenza; besides others in different collections. In Venice he painted four Suppers for the same number of refectories in religious houses, both large and rich in point of invention. The first representing the Marriage of Cana, is still preserved at San Giorgio Maggiore, thirty palms in length, copies of which every where abound, and which is highly estimable on account of the great number of the figures, amounting to one hundred and thirty, as well as for its portraits of princes and illustrious men, who flourished at the period. It was nevertheless executed for the price of only ninety ducats. The second is in better preservation, placed at San Giovanni and San Paolo, representing the supper prepared by Matthew for our Lord; and is very highly extolled for its heads, all of which Ricci, at a mature age, copied for his studio. The third is at San Sebastiano, consisting of the Feast of Simon. The fourth, along with the same Feast, formerly placed at the Refectory of the Servi, was presented to Louis XIV. of France, and deposited at Versailles; and this was preferred by Venetian professors to all the rest. For this reason numerous copies were presented by them to the world; although the artist himself took one for the refectory of the monks of SS. Nazario and Celso, along with the same Supper, now in the fine Doria collection at Genoa; and which, however inferior in size to the rest, is considered equal to any of the preceding, and has been engraved by the hand of the celebrated Volpato. Another, likewise of Simon, was sent from Venice to Genoa, which I saw in possession of the Durazzo family; with a Magdalen that may be esteemed a miracle of art; and I also met with an old copy in the Casa Paolucci, at Pesaro. What novel methods he adopted in all these to decorate the place with architecture, and how well he availed himself of them to add to the spectators at the festival! What passions depicted in each of the principal actors, and how appropriate to the period! What splendour in the preparation, luxury of dishes, and pomp of guests! Whoever considers these, will easily excuse such an artist for some occasional imperfection of design, and for inattention to ancient costume, in which he is always faulty.^[71] Even Guido, an artist so highly celebrated, so far excused them, that he was accustomed to say, "were it given me to choose what painter I would be, I should prefer being Paul Veronese; for in others every thing appears the effect of art, but he alone seems all nature."

He continued to produce specimens until he was sixty years of age, though he cannot, like many others, be accused of having painted too much; each piece is worthy of Paul Veronese, and each has been multiplied by some copyist; an honour that artists have not bestowed upon the works of Tintoretto, or those of many others. His method of making use of clear grounds, and as much as possible of virgin colours, has greatly contributed to the preservation and freshness of his colouring. In Venice we meet with several of his pictures yet glowing with the peculiar grace he shed over them. A remarkable specimen is seen in that belonging to the noble house of Pisani, exhibiting the family of Darius presented to Alexander, which surprises as much by its splendour as it affects us by its expression. Equal admiration was at one time evinced for his Rape of Europa, which he drew upon a large scale, in various groups, much in the same manner as Coreggio, in his Leda. In the first she appears among her virgins in the act of caressing the animal, and desirous of being borne upon him: in the second, she is seen carried along, applauded by her companions, as she enjoys the scene riding along the shore. In the third, (the only one in grand dimensions) she cleaves the sea in terror, in vain desired and lamented by her virgin train. This work, ornamenting the Ducal Palace, suffered much from the effects of time, and has subsequently been restored.

In Verona, boasting a clime more favourable to paintings, we more frequently meet with his pictures in complete preservation. Many noble houses, in particular that of Bevilacqua, at one period his patrons, are in possession of several. As an expression of his gratitude, he represented in a portrait of one of the Bevilacqua family, his own figure standing upright, with the air of his attendant. But his San Giorgio, surrounded by the two grand histories of Farinato and of Brusasorci already described, by some esteemed to be the best painting in Verona, is, perhaps, in the most perfect state of any that remain. The San Giuliano of Rimini is likewise a valuable piece, which may, perhaps, compete with the San Giorgio. The San Afra, at Brescia, and the S. Giustina, at Padua, placed in their respective churches, have also suffered little; but the last, indeed, is in too lofty a situation. His labours for different collections were very great, consisting of portraits, Venus, Adonis, Cupids, Nymphs, and similar figures, in which he displayed the most rich and varied beauty of forms, fancy in their embellishment, and novelty in his inventions; all subjects indeed familiar to his pencil, and which are to be seen in different galleries, not omitting even the imperial one. Among his sacred subjects he was more particularly attached to the marriage of St. Catherine, one of the most laboured of which fell to the share of the royal collection of Pitti. He produced, also, several Holy Families, in which the better to depart from the common practice, he gave birth to new inventions. They are to be met with in Ridolfi (p. 307), copied from one of his own MSS. But his devotional pieces were also, for the most part, copious histories; such as the Slaughter of the Innocents, laboured in the miniature style, at the Palazzo Borghese; the Esther, at Turin, in possession of the King of Sardinia. The Queen of Sheba, among a troop of handmaids at the throne of Solomon, a picture lately acquired by the reigning sovereign at Florence. Halls, chambers, and façades likewise, decorated by him in fresco with allegorical poems and representations of histories, are frequently met with in Venice, and in the palaces and seats belonging to the state. Highly meriting notice is the palace of His Serene Highness Manin, Doge of Venice, to be seen in the territory of Asolo; the architecture is that of Palladio; the stuccoes, of Vittoria; while the pictures of the Muses, and of many other Pagan deities, are from the hand of Paul; forming an union of artists sufficient to render the place as celebrated among modern villas, as was that of Lucullus among the ancients.

The school of Paul Veronese commences like those already described, with his own family; in the first place, with Benedetto, his younger brother, and with his two sons, Carlo and Gabriele. Benedetto was remarkable for the fraternal affection he displayed towards Paul, assisting him in the ornamental part of his labours, particularly in his perspectives, in which he possessed considerable skill. And, after his death, he shewed the same affection to the two sons, directing them by his advice, supporting them in their undertakings, and leaving his inheritance to their family. His genius for the art was not very great, and in the pieces conducted by his own hand, he appears only as an imitator of Paul, occasionally happy however in a few heads, or in his drapery, but by no means equal with himself. There is hardly a work in which the connoisseur may not easily detect something weak or faulty, as in the Last Supper, in the Flagellation, in the Appearance of the Saviour before the Tribunal of Pilate, which he painted for the church of San Niccolo, and which are some of his best productions. If he ever appears to have surpassed himself, as in the instance of his picture of St. Agatha, placed at the Angeli, in Murano, the work has been ascribed to Paul, and has even been engraved under his name. According to Ridolfi he succeeded better in fresco than in oils; and both he and Boschini, who examined his Roman histories, and his mythological fables, painted in stone colour, in the Cortile of the Mocenighi, give us a very favourable idea of them; and the same where they speak of his ornamental work, in halls and other places, which admitted of his introducing a display of architecture and embellishments, rather than of figures.

Carlo Caliari, generally entitled Carletto, the diminutive of his name, from the circumstance of his dying at the early age of twenty-four,^[72] as we find in the register of his parish, owing to his excessive application to study, was gifted with a genius like that of his father. His disposition was particularly docile and attentive, and he was the boast of his parent, whose style he emulated better than any other artist. But Paul, ambitious that he should even excel him, was unwilling, that by forming himself upon a single model, he should succeed only in becoming a feeble sectarist. He sent him, therefore, to study the school of Bassano, the robustness of which blended with his own elegance, would, he expected, produce an original manner superior to either of the other two. At the period when Carletto closed the eyes of his beloved father, he was only in his sixteenth, or at farthest his eighteenth year, though he had attained such progress and reputation in the art as to be enabled to complete several pictures left unfinished by his parent, nor was he ever in want of commissions. His productions often appear by the hand of Paul; whether at that time he did not wholly depend upon his own resources, or that his father, at least, might have retouched his pieces, is not certain. Skilful judges, indeed, have pretended to discern, or rather to count the number, of the strokes traced by the paternal pencil, from their inimitable ease, lightness, and rapidity. Thus it has occurred in an altarpiece of San Frediano Vescovo, to which is added St. Catherine, and some other saint, placed in the Medicean Museum, and bearing the son's name, though boasting at the same time all the grace of his father. But, wherever Carlo executed his pieces alone, he is easily distinguishable; his pencil is somewhat more full and heavy, while his tints are stronger and deeper than those of his father. We have an instance in his San Agostino, at the church of La Carità, whose colouring betrays that union of the two schools so much desired by Paul.

Gabriele executed little in which he was not assisted by his brother. In several altarpieces we read as follows: "Heredes Pauli Caliari Veronensis fecerunt;" which alludes to such pieces as Paul himself left imperfect, the completion of which became a joint labour; a system they continued, likewise, in others, which they produced for churches, and for the public palace. Ridolfi awards the chief merit to Carlo, placing Gabriele second, and adding, that Benedetto had, likewise, his share, more especially in the architectural parts. Probably too some other pupil of Paul assisted them. For, in these, we find represented the maxims of the master, even his studies, and the same figures as his. Still there is occasionally some diversity of hand perceptible, as in the martyrdom of an Apostle at S. Giustina of Padua, where one of the figures appears so much loaded with shade, as not merely to betray a difference of hand, but of schools. Gabriele survived the other artists of his family; residing subsequently in Venice, more in the character of a merchant than a painter. Still he continued occasionally to produce a few portraits in crayons, extremely rare, or some picture of a cavalcade; nor did he desist from visiting the studio of the artists, where he assisted them, when agreeable, with his advice. Arriving at the period of 1531, memorable for the great pestilence in Italy, and impelled by those noble precepts of humanity inculcated in the gospel, he generously exposed his life in the service of his afflicted fellow citizens, and fell a sacrifice to the task.

Proceeding to the other disciples of Paul, and to his imitators, it will not be found easy to enumerate them. For having been interested beyond any other painter in the cultivation of an art, whose object is to give pleasure, so he excelled all others in the number of his followers. We are told by Zanetti, that many of them were also very successful, owing to which, less accurate judges are apt to confound the master with those of his school, if they do not cautiously attend to the two following points, in which none will be found to equal him. These are, 1st, the fineness and peculiar lightness of his pencil combined with sound judgment; 2d, a very ready and spirited expression of grace, and a dignity in his forms, particularly in the air of his heads. It must, however, be observed, that his scholars, in the progress of time, for the most part varied the grounds and the colouring, as they approached the style of the succeeding epoch. Among the Venetians, there is only enumerated by Zanetti the name of Parrasio Michele,^[73] an artist who enriched with the designs of Paul, and experienced in the art of colouring them, produced several works worthy of him, more especially that of a Pietà, adorning a chapel within the church of San Giuseppe, a piece in which he added a portrait of himself. The people of Coneglia have preserved the recollection of one of their citizens named Ciro, to whom they attribute an altarpiece of the Nativity of Christ, as nearly resembling the style of Paul as possible, for which reason it was transferred from the church of the Riformati in that city to Rome; and they add, that its author was a youth, who never attained to mature age. Castelfranco boasts one Cesare Castagnoli as a pupil of Paul; though in his numerous paintings in fresco he cannot be said to display much power, at least beyond a certain degree of spirit, promptness, and copiousness of ideas. A few less shewy and fanciful productions from the hand of Bartolo, his brother, executed in oil, acquired for him higher reputation than that of Cesare. Angelo Naudi, an Italian, is much commended by Palamino for his labours in the royal palaces, and in various churches in Spain, when painter to the court of king Philip. There is reason to doubt whether he really received the instructions of Paul, instead of imbibing his manner by dint of study and copying, like Bombelli and many others; it being recorded of this writer, otherwise very estimable, that in regard to masters he was apt to embrace opinions by no means always true. Omitting the names of a great number of foreigners, we make mention here only of the Veronese, in order that their master should not appear unaccompanied by the noble train of disciples bestowed by him upon his country.

Luigi Benfatto, known by the name of dal Friso, a sister's son, and for many years the guest of Paul, copied him in the outset even to servility; though he afterwards gave himself up to an easy and rapid style of composition, little short of the licence of the mannerists. It has been supposed that he only availed himself of this facility in such commissions as were of small value. He approaches nearest to Paul in the church of San Raffaello; in other places he resembles Palma. A more free and spirited imitator of Paul was found in Maffeo Verona, a pupil and son-in-law to Luigi; but the quantity of vermilion with which he heightened the colour of his fleshes, detracts from his worth. Francesco Montemezzano, a Veronese, approached still more frequently than either of the preceding to the character of the head of his school. He acquired great reputation by a picture of the Annunciation, painted for the church of the Osservanti alla Vigna; and he was employed, also, in the Ducal Palace. He partakes of Caliari in his countenances, in his costume, and in the beauty of his figures: as to the rest, he was slow of hand, and feeble in his colouring. His picture at San Giorgio, in Verona, consisting of the Apparition of Christ to the Magdalen, appears extremely languid in competition with that of Paul, which is one of the most brilliant productions remaining of that period. To these we might add the names of other Veronese, as Aliprando, and Anselmo Canneri, characterised by Vasari as an able assistant to Paul his master.

Among all the Veronese artists most resembling Paul, when ambitious of doing so, was his friend and companion, though his rival, Batista Zelotti. Instructed in the same academy, he was occasionally the companion of his labours, and occasionally taught and executed works himself—always however observing the same rules. Vasari mentions him with commendation in his Life of San Micheli, where he entitles him Batista da Verona, and includes him among the disciples of Titian. I have seen a Holy Family by this artist in Titian's style in the Carrara collection, frequently extolled by us before; and from such a studio it would appear we are to look for that warmth of tints, in which, for the most part, he excels Caliari; as well as that power of design in which Zanetti is of opinion that he also surpassed him, although others think very differently. He often surpasses him, likewise, in grandeur, and in what appertains to painting in fresco; a circumstance Paul was aware of, and for that reason sought to obtain his assistance in works of that kind. He possessed great fertility of ideas, and a rapid hand, while he was profound and judicious in his compositions. Indeed, he might have been esteemed another Paul, had he been able to compete with him in the beauty of his heads, in variety, and in grace. In truth, his productions were frequently given to Paul, even those he painted for the Council of Ten having been engraved under the latter name by Valentino le Febre. He was doubtless one of the first artists of his time, though not estimated according to his deserts, from having worked chiefly in fresco, and at a distance from capital cities; in villages, in country seats, and palaces. One of his grandest works is seen at Cataio, a villa belonging to the Marchese Tommaso Obizzi, where, about 1570, he represented in different rooms, the history of that very ancient family, distinguished no less in council than in arms. The place is continually sought by foreigners, attracted thither by its splendour, by the fame of these pictures, and by the valuable museum of antiquities, collected by the hand of the Marchese; a task of few years, but in point of taste, abundance, and rarity of specimens, calculated to confer honour upon the state. In his oil paintings Zelotti could not compete with Caliari, though he approached him near enough, in his Fall of St. Paul, and his Fishing of the Apostles, which he executed for the dome of Vicenza, to merit the honour of having them attributed to the pencil of Caliari.

This city was his chief theatre of action; he remained there during some time, and initiated one Antonio, a youth called Tognone, in the art, from whose hand a few works in fresco are pointed out in the city, while he is honoured by Ridolfi both with a Life and Eulogy. Zelotti was in Vicenza, both alone and together with Paul; where with the help of one of his best pupils he established a school, which partook of the taste of both these masters. I reserve a list of his followers for the succeeding epoch.

It is here the place to inform our readers, that the various styles, hitherto described as attaching to the Venetian School, do not comprehend all that flourished in the state. Ridolfi remarks this in his preface, and laments, that owing to the conflagrations occurring in the city, or by the neglect of writers, not a few materials had perished, that might have added interest to his history. In truth, he was not merely ignorant of several of the more ancient artists, but in the period we are describing omitted the names of Jacopo Fallaro and Jacopo Pisbolica, whom Vasari, in his Life of Sansovino, records with praise, citing from the hand of the former a picture of San Gio. Colombino, at the Domenicani delle Zattere; and of the latter, his Ascension of Christ at Santa Maria Maggiore. He likewise passed over Vitrulio, several of whose productions are the ornament of Monte Novissimo, bearing his name. These artists, judging from their manner and other points, are to be referred to the age of Titian. Ridolfi made mention, and more at length, of another, who, exactly contemporary with Paul, continued to flourish many years after him, but always assailed by fortune; and though a good colourist, being greatly deficient in point of invention and design. His name was Antonio Foler; and, as a convincing proof of his mediocrity, it will be sufficient to allude to his Martyrdom of St. Stephen, at the church of that name; it is nevertheless, one of his best altarpieces. In small figures, however, he appears to have had merit.

Before concluding the present epoch, it will be proper to mention two painters; one a foreigner, the other a Venetian, both of whom followed a style altogether different from such as we have already described. The artist of Venice is Batista Franco, called Semolei. He has been treated of in the first volume in several parts, and especially in what relates to Baroccio, to whom he was master. He pursued his studies in Rome, and so great was his progress in the art of design, that he was accounted one of the best imitators of Michel Angiolo. In ornamenting San Gio. Decollato, a church belonging to the Florentines in Rome, he appears to have been ambitious of making a parade of his powers, and his style became somewhat loaded in the attempt. In his other pictures which I have seen in the dome at Urbino, and in that of Osimo, where he painted in 1547, in Bologna, and in Venice, I have not met with any thing similar. He invariably appears to have been an able follower of Michel Angiolo, and a more powerful colourist than the chief part of the Florentine artists. It is easier to become acquainted with him in the States of the Church than in his native city of Venice, whither he seems to have retired towards the close of his days, since, in 1556, he was among the artists selected to adorn the library of St. Mark. There he represented his fable of Actæon, along with several symbolical inventions; and a few other of his pictures are exhibited there in public. He died not long subsequently in the year 1561.

The foreign artist is Giuseppe Porta della Garfagnana, already mentioned, likewise, under the Roman School, in which he was instructed by Francesco Salviati, whose surname he assumed. For this reason he is sometimes entitled in history Salviati the younger. He accompanied his master to Venice, on the latter being invited by the Patriarch Grimani to embellish his palace, where he produced his celebrated Psyche, still to be seen there, near two pictures by the hand of Porta. Francesco, however, soon left Venice; Vasari adducing as a very sufficient reason, that it was no place for the residence of artists distinguished for excellence in design. But the success of Porta, who became established and died at Venice, clearly proves the contrary. Initiated in a knowledge of design by Francesco, he wholly retained the character of the Florentine School, only enlivening it with tints in the Venetian taste. Nevertheless, he was approved by Titian, and selected along with Paul and other leading names to paint in the library of St. Mark; he was continually engaged to work in fresco and in oil, both in public and in private; and was always distinguished there as one of the most able masters of his age.^[74] Several of his altarpieces remain, and among others one of the Assumption; a beautiful piece, at the Servi, in Venice, besides a Christ taken from the Cross, at Murano, displaying powers of invention wholly original, full of expression, and an air of majesty not very usual in this school. He repeated the same subject frequently; and there was a duplicate in the Ducal collection at Modena, subsequently transferred to Dresden.

Following these artists, the reader must not be surprised to meet with the name of Jacopo Sansovino, who, as will appear from the index, derived his surname also from his master. He was much courted in Venice, owing to his excellence in the art of statuary, as well as in that of an architect, with which he ornamented public places. Still he failed not to exercise some influence over that of painting, at least of design; in which he had been well instructed by Andrea del Sarto, in Florence. Indeed, as the director of the edifice of St. Mark, numerous artists were dependent upon him; and it is known, that he received some commissions for designs in mosaic work, which I do not, however, find particularized; as well as others, most probably, in tapestry, for the altar of the sacrament, as it has been conjectured from their style, by Signor Zanetti. In regard to foreign styles, we must proceed, without dwelling upon the Cavalier Zuccaro, Passignano, and others already treated in their respective schools, to make brief mention of Giuseppe Calimberg, or Calimperg, by birth a German, who flourished a considerable time at Venice, where he died about 1570. There is the Battle of Constantine, by his hand, still preserved at the Servi; and had he always displayed the same taste, I should not scruple to pronounce him excellent, though somewhat heavy, in the practice of his art. Subsequent to him appears to have flourished Gio. de Chere Loranese, who ought to be mentioned, before we proceed to treat of the sect of mannerists, and of the Tenebrosi.^[75] Ranking among the scholars of the best Venetian masters, he produced a history piece for the grand council hall. Other names of foreign artists are to be looked for in the Guida: it is my object in this school, as in the rest, to record only such as are most deserving of commemoration.

In the progress of the present history, the reader may probably have observed, that no distinction had yet been made between certain species of painting, previous to the sixteenth century. The figurist copied every thing, and availed himself of every thing to adorn his compositions; landscapes, animals, fruits, flowers, and perspective, were all employed as accessaries in favour of the leading art; the execution of which was about as difficult to the great masters as the throne of Jupiter to Phidias, after having completed the figure of the god. By degrees, however, they began to separate, and to treat these parts of painting severally. The Flemish were among the first, who, pursuing the bent of their genius, selected the respective branches, and composed pictures, in which, landscape for example, became the principal object, while the figure in its turn became an accessary. And we may here remark, with Bellori, that "the best of these artists dipped their pencil in those fine Venetian colours;" by no means one of the least boasts of the Venetian School. The Italians, likewise, attended severally to these branches of the art, and in particular to landscapes. It was Titian who opened the true path to our landscape painters; although nearly the whole of his champaign scenery was introduced in aid of his figures; never the contrary. One of these, consisting of a Holy Family, was in possession of the Duchess of Massa and Carrara, lately deceased, who left it as a legacy to the Prince Carlo Albani, of Milan. It is one of the most beautiful of the kind I ever saw. Titian was imitated by many Flemish artists; and among the Venetians by Gio. Maria Verdizzotti, one of his literary friends, who painted under his direction several landscapes, much esteemed in different collections, where they are rarely to be seen.

The Bassani produced examples of small pictures of quadrupeds and birds, which consisting of copies taken from those seen in their histories, are easily recognized. They are not so numerous, however, as their history pieces; nor do I recollect having seen specimens of them except in the Venetian state. In drawing fish, an artist of the name of Genzio or Gennesio Liberale, a native of Friuli, has been mentioned with praise by Vasari, and afterwards by Ridolfi.

A taste for grotesque, was introduced into Venice from Rome, by a citizen of the republic, recorded by me elsewhere as the master of this kind of art. His name was Morto da Feltro, who, in the company of Giorgione, employed himself in Venice, though without leaving any traces of his hand. There are specimens of grotesque, in the Ducal Palace, painted by Batista Franco, who had likewise beheld ancient examples of them at Rome. There were others painted for the Patriarch of Aquileja, his patron, by Giovanni di Udine, mentioned by Vasari under the names of Manni and Ricamatore; an artist very celebrated in his line, and almost unique in drawing every kind of birds, quadrupeds, fruits, and flowers. I have included him in the school of Giorgione; and he is stated more at length in that of Raffaello; for he remained but little while with his first master, and in Upper Italy; but longer in Rome, and during some time in Florence. His pictures of birds, or fruits, executed in oil, are pointed out in different collections, though, if I mistake not, they are not all genuine. It is not, indeed, that he produced no specimens in oil, although it is extremely difficult to discover any that are certain; nor that he was incapable of drawing larger figures than such as we see in his satyrs, in his boys, and nymphs, with which he diversified the little landscapes and the tracery of his grotesques. Vasari mentions some of his standards, one of which, executed in Udine, for the Fraternity of Castello, presents in rather large proportions, a blessed virgin with the divine child, and an angel making her an offering of the same castle. The original, though much defaced, still exists, and there is also a copy in the chapel, executed by Pini in 1653. There likewise remains in the archiepiscopal palace, a chamber containing, among some grotesques, two scriptural histories, drawn in half-length figures, not so perfect as the ornamental part, but valuable from their rarity. His other productions, both in Udine and the state, have been enumerated in a learned letter written by the Ab. Boni, upon the standard or gonfalone, just described. If we might hazard a conjecture relative to the school of Giovanni and of Feltro, we should be inclined to give for a pupil to one of these, Giorgio Bellunese, an artist, as we are informed by Cesarini, "very excellent in friezes and in minute ornaments," and moreover an able portrait painter. He flourished at San Vito, a place in the Friuli, about the middle of the sixteenth century; so that the time, the place, and his employment in ornamental work, seem equally to favour our opinion.

The art of architectural design received great assistance in Venice during this period, from the works of Sansovino, Palladio, and other consummate architects, who gave finished examples of magnificent edifices; while Daniel Barbaro composed very useful treatises upon perspective; and it became an attribute of the art to feign colonnades, galleries, and rich cornices, for those halls in which real architecture would not admit of them. In this, Cristoforo and Stefano Rosa more particularly distinguished themselves. They were from Brescia, very intimate with Titian, and merited the honour of being employed by him, in his architectural ornaments for several of his pieces. In Brescia, in Venice, and particularly in the anti-chamber to the library of S. Mark, we may meet with some of their perspectives, so admirably executed as to surprise us by their air of majesty, cheating the eye by their relief; and when beheld in different points of view, always producing a good effect. Their school continued to flourish during many years, in their native state; and was subsequently supported by Bona, excellent also in figures, as well as by other artists. Boschini bestows many commendations upon it in different parts of his work in verse; and in particular at p. 225, where he declares, that Brescia was the source of this art; which applies of course to the Venetian state.

Finally, the art of mosaic work, in stone and coloured glass, at that time, attained such a degree of perfection in Venice, that Vasari observed with surprise, "that it would not be possible to effect more with colours."^[76] The church and portico of S. Mark remains an invaluable museum of the kind; where, commencing with the eleventh century, we may trace the gradual progress of design belonging to each age up to the present, as exhibited in many works in mosaic, beginning from the Greeks, and continued by the Italians. They chiefly consist of histories from the Old and New Testament, and at the same time furnish very interesting notices relating to civic and ecclesiastical antiquity. A portion of the most ancient specimens had long either perished, or fallen into decay, and it had been resolved to substitute fresh ones in their place. It is not improbable, that after the year 1400, upon the revival of painting, a desire prevailed to banish the taste of the Greeks; and certain it is, that in the mosaics of that age we meet with the modern antique style, the same as in regard to pictures. It will be enough to cite the chapel of the Mascoli, decorated by Michele Zambono with histories of the life of the virgin, executed with extraordinary care, and designed in the best taste of the Vivarini.

The same taste prevailed in the time of Titian; and to this he gave a renewed spirit, and even furnished several of these artists with designs. Marco Luciano Rizzo and Vincenzo Bianchini are the first, who, about 1517, succeeded in a complete reform of the art. To the last is referred that celebrated Judgment of Solomon, which adorns the portico, or vestibule. Both these, however, were surpassed by Francesco and Valerio Zuccati of Treviso, or rather of the Valtelline, sons of the same Sebastian who initiated Titian in the first rudiments of the art. Of these, likewise, there appears in the portico a San Marco, among various prophets and doctors, and with two histories that may be pronounced the best mosaic works, produced during the age of painting. I have seen altarpieces for churches, and pictures for private ornament, in the same taste. The Royal Gallery at Florence possesses a portrait from life of Cardinal Bembo, worked by Valerio; and a San Girolamo, by Francesco, is known to have been presented by the republic to the court of Savoy. Subsequent to these, whom Vasari erroneously calls sometimes Zuccheri, sometimes Zuccherini, Arminio, a son of Valerio, was in much repute. Nor did this family only possess the art of colouring stone and glass with admirable skill; but they understood the principles of design, more particularly Francesco, who had been a painter before entering upon mosaic works. The family of Bianchini, and the other artists then employed at S. Mark, were not equally well instructed; and, stimulated by feelings of envy, they declared open enmity against the Zuccati, for having assisted with the brush to supply some parts of the design to be executed in mosaic; nor did they fail to cry down the ability of Valerio, to whom it would appear that Titian and his son afforded succour. It would be tedious here to relate the various persecutions, litigations, and losses, owing to this quarrel; the particulars of which were extracted by Zanetti from authentic documents, and minutely described. Enough, that he concludes with extolling the Zuccati, together with Vincenzio Bianchini; to whom, as being acquainted with design, it was sufficient to furnish a rough draught for the intended work. Others were, for the most part, in want of cartoons, and complete paintings, in order to model their mosaic works, and even then they conducted them with skill much inferior to their predecessors. In this list he computes Domenico, the brother, and Gio. Antonio, the son of Vincenzio Bianchini, as well as Bartolommeo Bozza, at one time a pupil, and then an accuser along with the rest, of the Zuccati. In the time of these were first adopted, and practically applied, the works and designs of Salviati and of Tintoretto. The names succeeding these, were Gio. Antonio Marini, a pupil of Bozza, and Lorenzo Ceccato, both admirable artificers; Luigi Gaetano and Jacopo Pasterini, with Francesco Turestio, notices of whom are brought up to the year 1618. They worked after the cartoons of the two Tintoretti, of Palma the younger, of Maffeo Verona, of Leandro Bassano, of Aliense, of Padovanino, of Tizianello, besides several others. About the year 1600 commenced a series of artists less generally known; a list of whose works may be consulted at the close of that very valuable publication, "Della Pittura Veneziana." These last, however, have confined their labours to the decoration of new walls, from modern designs; as since 1610, a decree has been in force against the destruction of ancient mosaic works, in however rude or Greekish a taste; but in case of impending destruction, they were to be removed and restored with care, and afterwards refixed in the same place. By this measure a series of monuments is preserved to posterity, which, in its kind, is quite unique in Italy, and the world.

VENETIAN SCHOOL.

THIRD EPOCH.

Innovations of the Mannerists of the Seventeenth Century. Corruption of Venetian Painting.

A sort of fatality seems to prevail in all human things, rendering their duration in the same state of short continuance; so that after attaining their highest elevation, we may assuredly at no distant period look for their decline. The glory of precedency, of whatever kind, will not long remain the boast of one place, or in possession of a single nation. It migrates from country to country; and the people that yesterday received laws from another, will tomorrow impose them. Those who today are the instructors of a nation, will tomorrow become ambitious of being admitted in the number of its disciples. Numerous examples might be adduced in support of this proposition, but it would be quite superfluous. For whoever is even slightly acquainted with civil or literary history, whoever has observed the passing events of the age in which we live, will easily furnish himself with proofs, without the aid of writers to direct him. We have already traced the same revolution of affairs in the art of painting, in the two schools of Rome and Florence, which, arriving at the zenith of their fame, fell into decay precisely at the period when that of Venice began to exalt itself. And we shall now perceive the decline of the latter, during the same age in which the Florentine began to revive, in which the school of Bologna acquired its highest degree of reputation; and what is still more surprising, seemed to rise by studying the models of the Venetian. So indeed it was: the Caracci were much devoted to Titian, to Giorgione, to Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto, and thence formed styles, and produced pupils that conferred honour upon the whole of the seventeenth century. The Venetians, too, studied the same examples, and derived from them a certain mannerism reprehensible enough in them, but much more so in their disciples. These, devoting themselves in their first studies to more classical artists, and attaining a certain practice both in design and colouring, next aimed at displaying upon a grand scale, figures, not so much taken from life, as from engravings and pictures, or from their own imaginations; and the more rapidly these were executed, the better did they suppose they had succeeded. I am inclined to believe, that the examples of Tintoretto proved, in this respect, more prejudicial than useful. Few were ambitious of emulating his profound knowledge, which in some measure serves to veil his defects; but his haste, his carelessness, and his grounds, they more willingly adopted; while his great name was advanced as a shield to cover their own faults. And the earliest of these, not yet unmindful of the maxims of a better age, did not rush blindly into all these errors and excesses; but by their superiority of spirit, and by their tints, maintained their ground better than the mannerists of the Roman and Florentine styles. But to these succeeded others, whose schools degenerated still more from the ancient rules of art. We advance this without meaning the least imputation upon really good artists, who flourished even during this period; for an age rarely occurs in which good sense becomes altogether extinct. Even during the barbarity of the dark ages, we meet with specimens of some marble busts of the Cæsars, and some of their medals, which approach a better taste; and thus also in the age we are describing appeared geniuses, who either wholly, or in great measure, kept themselves free from the general infection; "et tenuere animum contra sua sæcula rectum." Propert.

Jacopo Palma the younger, so called to distinguish him from the other Palma, his great uncle, was an artist who might equally be entitled the last of the good age, and the first of the bad. Born in 1544, after receiving the instructions of his father Antonio, a painter of a confined genius, he exercised himself in copying from Titian, and the best of the national artists. At the age of fifteen years he was taken under the patronage of the Duke of Urbino, and accompanied him to his capital. He afterwards spent eight years in Rome, where he laid a good foundation for his profession, by designing from the antique, copying Michelangiolo and Raffaello; and, in particular, by studying the chiaroscuros of Polidoro. This last was his great model, and next to him came Tintoretto; he being naturally inclined, like them, to animate his figures with a certain freedom of action, and a spirit peculiarly their own. On his return to Venice, he distinguished himself by several works, conducted with singular care and diligence; nor are there wanting professors who have bestowed on him a very high degree of praise, for displaying the excellent maxims of the Roman, united to what was best in the Venetian School. It is observed by Zanetti, that some of his productions were attributed by professors to the hand of Giuseppe del Salviati, whose merit, in point of design and solidity of style, has been already noticed. The whole of these are executed with peculiar facility, a dangerous gift both in painting and in poetry, which this artist possessed in a remarkable degree. Though he made the greatest exertions to bring himself into notice, he was little employed; the post was already occupied by men of consummate ability, by Tintoretto and Paul Veronese; and these monopolized all the most lucrative commissions. Palma, however, obtained the rank of third; chiefly by means of Vittoria, a distinguished sculptor and architect; whose opinion was adopted in the distribution of the labours even of artists themselves. Displeased at the little deference shewn him by Robusti and Paul, he began to encourage Palma, and to assist him also with his advice, so that he shortly acquired a name. We have related a similar instance in regard to Bernini, who brought forward Cortona against Sacchi, at Rome, besides several more, productive of the greatest detriment to the art. So true it is that the same passions prevail in every age, every where pursue the same track, and produce the same results.

Nor was it long before Palma, overwhelmed with commissions, remitted much of his former diligence. In progress of time, he became even yet more careless, until upon the death of his eldest rivals, including Corona, who in his latest works had begun to surpass him, free from competition he asserted unquestioned sway, and despatched his pieces rapidly. His pictures, indeed, might often be pronounced rough draughts, a title bestowed upon them in ridicule by the Cavalier d'Arpino. In order to prevail upon him to produce a piece worthy of his name, it became requisite, not only to allow him the full time he pleased, but the full price he chose to ask, without further reference, except to his own discretion, in which truly he did not greatly abound. Upon such terms he executed that fine picture of San Benedetto, at the church of SS. Cosmo and Damiano, for the noble family of Moro. It resembled many of those he had produced in his best days at Venice, and in particular that celebrated naval battle of Francesco Bembo, placed in the Palazzo Pubblico. Other valuable specimens are found scattered elsewhere, in part mentioned by Ridolfi, and in part unknown to him. Such are his Santa Apollonia, at Cremona, his San Ubaldo and his Nunziata, at Pesaro, and his Invenzione della Croce, at Urbino, a piece abounding in figures, and full of beauty, variety, and expression. His tints are fresh, sweet, and clear, less splendid than those of Paul, but more pleasing than in Tintoretto; and though scantily applied, they are more durable than those of certain foreign pictures more heavily laid on. In the animation of his figures he approaches the two preceding artists, particularly in his more studied works, as he has shewn in his Chastisement of the Serpents, a picture that seems embued with horror. In every other instance he has always sufficient art to please; and it is surprising how a man who led the way to the most corrupt period in Venice, as it has been observed of Vasari at Florence, and of Zuccaro at Rome, could thus exhibit so many attractions, both of nature and of art, calculated to feast the eye, and to fix the soul of the spectator. Both Guercino and Guido were sensible of the power of his pencil; and when examining one of his altarpieces, at the Cappucini, in Bologna, "What a pity," they exclaimed, "that the master of such a pencil should be no more." (Boschini, p. 383.)

In observance of my plan of accompanying each master with his train of followers, I set out with Marco Boschini, a Venetian, who flourished during this same deterioration of a nobler age. He was a pupil to Palma, and has left some memorials of the different professors of the third epoch, not to be met with in any other work. Professing the art of engraving, rather than that of painting, he had, nevertheless, so much merit in the latter, as to approach the manner of Palma, in his picture of the Supper of our Lord, in the Sacristy of San Girolamo; as well as that of Tintoretto, as we gather from a few of his altarpieces in the territory of Padua, and his pictures for private ornament, remaining at Venice, at least as far as I can learn. He was the author of several works recorded in the preface to this work, the most remarkable of which is composed in Quartine, with the following title; and, by this production, he is perhaps best known: "The Chart of pictorial Navigation, a Dialogue between a Venetian senator (a dilettante) and a professor of painting, under the names of Ecelenza and Compare, divided into eight venti, or winds, with which the Venetian vessel is borne into the deep Sea of Painting, as its Absolute Mistress, to the confusion of such as do not understand the loadstone and the compass."

Thus, much in the same manner as we judge from the facade of the style of a whole edifice in the gothic taste, the reader may gather, from this very loaded title, the exact nature of Boschini's work. It is, indeed, written in the most verbose style of the Seicentisti; a mixture of unsound reasoning, strange allegory, tame allusions, frivolous conceits invented on every name, and phraseology that surpasses even that of Ciampoli and Melosio; for these at least wrote in the Italian dialect, whereas Boschini protests that he does not pretend to a foreign idiom, but to speak like the Venetian people. From this undistinguishing kind of nationality arises his malevolence against Vasari, and the methods of the foreign schools, as well as his exaggerated praise of the Venetian artists, whom he prefers, as we learn from his title page, to all the painters in the world, not merely as respects their manner of colouring, but in point of invention and design. What is worse, he makes no distinction between the fine old painters and the mannerists of his own times, and speaks as if the masters of the former age were still flourishing, and teaching in their schools, or as if the modern possessed the same powers and the same reputation; a gross equivocation into which the tiresome Compare, or gossip, is continually falling, and which his credulous Excellency as frequently commends.

If, however, in treating of Vasari, I in some measure excused his partialities, in consideration of the prejudices acquired by his education, which are afterwards with difficulty eradicated; I ought to make use of the same liberality in regard to Boschini, more especially as he possessed fewer opportunities of ridding himself of them, never having visited Rome or Florence, and giving his opinions upon foreign schools, from the hearsay relations of others. It is true that he cites in favour of the Venetians the opinion of many distinguished men; as that of Velasco, who protested to Salvator Rosa, that Raffaello was no longer a favourite with him after having seen Venice; or that of Rubens, who, after spending upwards of six years at Rome to little purpose, formed his style on the models of Titian. Albano likewise regretted that he had not commenced his studies in Venice, preferably to Rome; and Pier da Cortona having seen the works of the Venetian School, cancelled some of his labours, and ornamented afresh two chambers of the Palazzo Pitti, and one in the Casa Barberini. But these authorities, which he adduces along with others, taken chiefly from artists who preferred beauty of colouring to accuracy of design, do not prove much, and might be opposed by other authorities, even of great painters, more particularly English and French, who embraced a contrary opinion. Besides, the panegyrists thus cited by him, did not commend the modern so much as the ancient Venetian painters, so as by no means to possess the weight he would attribute to them. Moreover, in the present day, when so much has been written upon Italian painting, we shall not, on investigating what is to be admired and imitated, and what to be shunned or approved in the examples of the Venetians, appeal to the vain boastings of the sixteenth century, but to the critics of our own times. Still we do not mean to deny, but that the work in question, however strangely written, contains many valuable historical notices, and many pictorial precepts, particularly useful to such as cannot aspire to any thing beyond the character of mere naturalists, incapable of drawing a stroke that does not appear in their model, and content with portraying the dimensions of any kind of head or body, provided they be of the human shape, inventing with infinite difficulty, slow in resolving, and quite incapable of forming a grand history, more especially of battles, of flights, in short of any objects they never saw. This sect, which at that period boasted many followers, and which is not even yet extinct, is there ridiculed in a vein it is impossible to surpass, and would that the party proceeding to the opposite extreme of mannerism, at that time triumphant in Venice, had not met with equal applause! But how difficult is it to observe the golden mean! though the artists of Bologna will point out the way in due time. At present we must return to those of Venice.

Numerous other artists very nearly approached the style of Palma. Boschini enumerates six, whose manner so extremely resembles him, as to impose upon those who have not tact enough to detect the peculiar characteristics of each; (and in Palma there is a mixture of the Roman and Venetian,) consisting of the names of Corona, Vicentino, Peranda, Aliense, Malombra, and Pilotto. The same author extols them as illustrious painters; and truly, besides the splendour of their colouring, they composed upon a magnificent scale, emulating, for the most part, the fire and the striking contrasts that produced such an impression after the time of Titian, executing pictures every way deserving of a place in good collections.

Leonardo Corona, of Murano, who, from a copyist, succeeded in becoming a painter, was the rival of Palma, and nevertheless enjoyed the patronage of Vittoria; whether to keep alive the emulation of the former, or for some other reason, is uncertain. He sometimes prepared models in clay, to discover the best distributions of his chiaroscuro. By aid of these he painted his Annunciation, at SS. Giovanni and Paolo, a work very highly commended, as well as his picture at San Stefano, displaying a grandeur that arrests the eye, and reminds us more of Titian than any other model. In general, however, Corona exhibited more of Tintoretto, if not in his colouring, which in the present day appears to more advantage, at least in many other points. He produced a crucifixion so much in this artist's style, that Ridolfi has defended him with the utmost difficulty from the charge of theft. He availed himself likewise of the engravings of Flemish artists, particularly in the composition of his landscape. He did not long flourish; but left an excellent imitator of his style in Baldassare d'Anna, an artist of Flemish origin, who completed a few of his master's pieces. He also produced some original pieces for the Servi and other churches, which, though inferior to those of Corona in the selection of forms, yet surpass them in the softness, and sometimes in the force of their chiaroscuro.

Andrea Vicentino was, according to some writers, a Venetian, and pupil to Palma; not excelling in point of taste, he was nevertheless very skilful in the handling of his colours, and shewed great power of invention. Being employed in many labours, both within and without the boundaries of Venice, and even in depicting histories of the Republic, which still continue to adorn several halls in the Palazzo Grande, he was one of the most popular artists of his time. He rarely fails to exhibit in his works some perspective, or some figure borrowed, according to the custom of the plagiarists, from the best masters: including even Bassano, an artist of few ideas constantly repeated, and so far less easily pillaged with impunity. At the same time he bestows upon his plagiarisms a beauty of composition, and a general effect that does honour to his talents, applicable to every variety of subject. He could also employ a very delicate, tasteful, and effective pencil, when he chose to exert himself. In his grounds, however, he must have been less successful, many of his paintings being already much defaced. In collections, always more favourable to their duration than public places, we may find several in good preservation, and deserving of much commendation, as we gather from his Solomon Anointed on becoming king of Israel, preserved in the Royal Gallery at Florence. Marco Vicentino, son of Andrea, also acquired some celebrity by his imitations, and more by the name of his father.

Santo Peranda, a scholar of Corona and of Palma, and tolerably well versed in Roman design, having passed some time at Rome, aimed at a diversity of styles. His usual manner a good deal resembles that of Palma, while, in his large histories, which he produced at Venice and at Mirandola, he appears in a more poetical character of his own. Yet he was naturally of a more slow and reflective turn, and more studious of art, qualities that in the decline of age led him to adopt a very delicate and laboured manner. He was not ambitious of equalling his contemporaries in the abundance of his works; his aim was to surpass them in correctness; nor did he any where succeed better in his object than in his Christ taken from the Cross, painted for the church of San Procolo. Among his disciples, Matteo Ponzone, from Dalmatia, more particularly distinguished himself, assisting Peranda in his great works executed at Mirandola. In progress of time he formed an original style, which surpasses in softness that of his master, though not equal to it in point of elegance. He was fond of copying from the life, without attempting much to add to its dignity. His scholar, Gio. Carboncino, pursued his studies at Rome also, where we do not, however, find mention of him,^[77] owing probably to his speedy return to Venice. Among the few pieces produced by him for churches, there is a Bto. Angelo, at the Carmini, which has been much commended by Melchiori, and a San Antonio, at La Pietà, mentioned by Guarienti. Two others, named Maffei, of Vicenza, and Zanimberti, of Brescia, will come under consideration in their respective states.

Antonio Vassilacchi, called Aliense, a native of the island of Milo, inherited from the line climate of Greece a genius adapted to confer honour upon the arts, and particularly on works of a vast and imaginative character. Paul Veronese, struck with his first efforts, banished him, with a feeling of jealousy, from his studio, advising him at the same time to confine himself to small pictures. Aliense observing Paul engaged in reviving the examples of Titian, renewed as far as lay in his power those of Tintoretto. He studied casts taken from the antique, designing from them both day and night; he exercised himself in acquiring a knowledge of the human frame, modelled in wax, copied Tintoretto with the utmost assiduity, and, as if wholly to forget what he had learnt from Paul, he sold the designs made at his school. Yet he could not so far divest himself of them, but that in his earliest productions, remaining at the church of Le Vergini, he displayed the manner of Paul. He has been accused by historians of having abandoned this style for one less adapted to his genius; and moreover of having been misled by the innovations of the mannerists. Sometimes, however, he painted with extreme care, as in his Epiphany, for the Council of Ten, though in general he abused the facility of his genius, without fear of risking his credit, inasmuch as his rivals Palma and Corona pursued the same plan. In order better to oppose his great enemy Vittoria, he attached himself to another architect, who possessed much influence, named Girolamo Campagna, the disciple of Sansovino; and he moreover enjoyed the favour of Tintoretto. In this manner Aliense obtained many commissions, both for the public palace and the Venetian churches, besides being engaged in many works for other cities, more especially for Perugia, at S. Pietro, all upon a magnificent scale; yet without acquiring that degree of estimation which the felicity of his genius deserved. He was assisted by Tommaso Dolobella, of Belluno, a good practitioner, and well received in Poland, where he long continued in the service of Sigismond III. In his Life of Aliense, Ridolfi makes mention also of Pietro Mera, a Fleming, whose portrait Aliense painted, as being his friend; but neither from history, nor from his own style, can we gather that he was Aliense's disciple. He resided, and employed himself much in Venice, at SS. Giovanni and Paolo, at La Madonna dell' Orto, and elsewhere: while the judgment pronounced upon him by Zanetti is, that he appeared to have greatly attached himself to the Venetian artists, and to have derived sufficient profit.

Pietro Malombra, a Venetian by birth, deserves almost to be excluded from the list of Palma's disciples, and even from that of the mannerists. If he sometimes deviated from the right path, it must rather be attributed to human error, than to erroneous maxims. Born in a degree of comparative ease, he acquired from education a sense of the value of that excellent axiom, "that honour is better than gain." After employing himself in the studio of Salviati, where he obtained a good knowledge of design, he continued to paint for his own pleasure. But equally intelligent and docile, he never scrupled to bestow the utmost pains to bring his works to a higher degree of perfection, than was the usual practice of his times. Afterwards experiencing a reverse of fortune, he entered upon the art as his profession, and ornamented parts of the Ducal Palace. In his portraits and pictures upon a small scale, he was also very successful. He represented at San Francesco di Paola, various miracles of the saint, in four pictures; and his figures display a precision in their contours, a grace, and an originality which lead us to doubt whether they can belong, not merely to the epoch, but to the school of which we are here treating. Similar specimens he produced for galleries, sometimes enlivening with them his perspective views, in which he possessed equal skill and assiduity. Those in which he exhibited the grand piazza, or the great hall of council, representing in them their respective sacred or civil ceremonies, processions, ingresses, public audiences, great spectacles, to which the place adds an air of grandeur, extorted the plaudits of all ranks.

Girolamo Pilotto occupies the sixth place among those, who, in the opinion of Boschini, are apt to be confounded with Palma. Zanetti is content with observing, that he was a true follower of that style, and that in his works may be recognized the ideas of his master, conducted in a very happy manner. Venice boasts few of his pieces, although we are elsewhere informed that he died at an advanced age. His picture of the Nuptials of the Sea, painted for the public palace, is extolled in high terms by Orlandi, while others have greatly admired his San Biagio, which he produced for the great altar of the Fraglia, in Rovigo; a picture displaying great sweetness of manner, and signed with his name.