Book 2 — CHAPTER II. (continued 2)

The latest and most perfect style of Coreggio has been minutely analysed by the Cavalier Mengs, in the same manner as he examined that of Raffaello and of Titian. And in this famous triumvirate he accorded to him the second rank, after Raffaello, observing, that this last depicted more exquisitely the affections of the soul, though inferior to him in the expression of external forms. In this, indeed, Coreggio was a true master, having succeeded by his colouring, and yet more by his chiaroscuro, in introducing into his pictures an ideal beauty, surpassing that of nature, and at the same time attracting the admiration of the most learned, by an union of art and nature in its rarest forms, such as they never before beheld. And such admiration, and such applauses, were in particular bestowed upon his St. Jerome, preserved in the academy at Parma. Algarotti declares, that he was inclined to prefer it to any other of his productions; and to exclaim in his heart: "Tu solo mi piaci!" "Thou alone pleasest me!" Annibal Caracci himself, upon first beholding this picture, as well as a few others from the same hand, declares, in the letter already cited to his brother Lodovico, that he would not even exchange them with the St. Cecilia of Raffaello, which is still to be seen in the city of Bologna. And it may be truly said, that the same art that had been carried to such a pitch of sublimity by Michelangiolo; to such an exquisite degree of natural grace and expression by Raffaello; and from Titian received such inimitable perfection in its tones of colouring; displayed in Coreggio such an union of excellences, as in the opinion of Mengs, carried the whole of these to their highest point of perfection, adding to all their dignity and truth his own peculiar elegance, and a taste as captivating to the eye as to the heart of the spectator.

In design he exhausted not all that depth of knowledge, so conspicuous in Bonarruoti; but it was at once so great and so select, that the Caracci themselves adopted it for their model. I am aware, that Algarotti considered him to be somewhat incorrect in the expression of his contours; while Mengs, on the other hand, defends him very warmly from such a charge. Truly, there does not appear the same variety in his lines as is to be found in Raffaello and the ancients, inasmuch as he purposely avoided angles and rectilinear lines, preserving, as much as lay in his power, an undulating sweep of outline, sometimes convex and sometimes concave; while it is maintained, that his grace results, in a great measure, from this practice: so that Mengs in uncertainty appears at one time to commend, and at another to excuse him for it. He is lavish of his praises on the design of his draperies, on whose masses Coreggio bestowed more attention than on the particular folds; he being the first who succeeded in making drapery a part of the composition, as well by force of contrast as by its direction; thus opening a new path which might render it conspicuous in large works. In particular, his youthful and infantile heads are greatly celebrated; the faces beaming with so much nature and simplicity, as to enchant, and to compel us, as it were, to smile as they smile.[22] Each separate figure may be pronounced original, from the infinite variety of foreshortenings he has introduced; there is scarcely a single head that is not seen from a point of view either above or below; not a hand, not a whole figure, whose attitude is not full of an ease and grace of motion, beyond example. By his practice of foreshortening figures upon ceilings, which was avoided by Raffaello, he overcame many difficulties still remaining to be vanquished after the time of Mantegna, and in this branch of perspective is justly entitled to the merit of having rendered it complete.

His colouring is allowed to correspond beautifully with the grace and selection of his design, Giulio Romano having been heard to assert that it was altogether the best he had ever seen; nor was he averse to the Duke of Mantua giving the preference to Coreggio above himself, when about to make a presentation of pictures to the emperor Charles V. Equal commendation is bestowed upon him by Lomazzo, when he pronounces that, among the colourists, he is to be considered rather as unique than as rare in point of merit. No artist before him ever bestowed so much attention upon his canvass, which, after a slight covering of chalk, received his colours, both in point of quantity and quality, as we have before stated, from a lavish hand.[23] In the impasto, or laying on his colours, he approaches the manner of Giorgione, in their tone he resembles Titian, though in their various gradations, in the opinion of Mengs, he is even more expert. There prevails likewise in his colouring a clearness of light, a brilliancy rarely to be met with in the works of others; the objects appear as if viewed through a glass, and towards evening, when the clearness of other paintings begins to fade with the decay of light, his are to be seen as it were in greater vividness, and like phosphoric beams shining through the darkness of the air. Of the kind of varnish for which Apelles has been so commended by Pliny, we appear to have no idea since the revival of the art, or if, indeed, we at all possess it, we must confess our obligations to Coreggio. Some there have been who could have liked more delicacy in his flesh tints; but every one must allow, that according to the age and the subjects he had to deal with, he has succeeded in varying them admirably, impressing them at the same time with something so soft, so juicy, and so full of life, as to appear like the truth itself.

But his grand and mastering quality, his crowning triumph and distinction above all other artists known to us, is his thorough knowledge of lights and shades. Like nature herself he does not present objects to us with the same force of light, but varied according to the surfaces, oppositions, and distances; it flows in a gradation insensibly increasing and diminishing, a distinction essential in aërial perspective, in which he is so great, and contributing finely to the general harmony. He observed the same principle in his shades, representing the reflection of colour upon each, in so delicate a degree, that though using them so abundantly, his shadows are always varied like nature's, never monotonous. This quality is eminently conspicuous in his night-piece in the Dresden gallery;[24] and in his Magdalen, there seen reposing in a cave; a small picture it is true, but estimated in the purchase at twenty-seven thousand crowns. By the use of his chiaroscuro he not only gave superior softness and rotundity to his forms, but displayed a taste in the whole composition, such as had never been witnessed before. He disposed the masses of his lights and shades with an art, purely natural in its foundation, but in the selection and effect altogether ideal. And he arrived at this degree of perfection by the very same path pursued by Michelangiolo, availing himself of models in clay and wax, the remains of some of which are said to have been found in the cupola at Parma not many years ago. It is also currently reported, that while employed in that city, he engaged the assistance of the famous modeller Begarelli, whom he conducted thither at his own expense.

Though excellent in all, in other portions of his art he cannot be pronounced equally excellent. His conceptions were good, but occasionally they betrayed a want of unity, representing as he did one and the same story in different parts. Thus in the fable of Marsyas, in the Palazzo Litta at Milan, his contest with Apollo, Minerva consigning him over to punishment, and the punishment itself, are distributed into separate groups. The same kind of repetition will, I think, be found in the story of Leda, executed for Charles V. in which the swan is twice brought into view, proceeding by degrees to familiarize himself with her charms, until in the third group he wholly possesses her. In fact his inventions, for the most part, are like the strains of Anacreon, in which the young loves, and in sacred themes the angels, are introduced under the most agreeable forms and actions. Thus in the picture of S. George, they are seen sporting about the sword and helmet of the saint; and in S. Jerome an angel is engaged in shewing our Lord the book of that great doctor of our holy church, while another is holding under his nose the uncovered vase of ointment belonging to the Magdalen. Of his powers of composition we have a proof in the execution of the cupola, already so highly commended, in which it appears as if the architecture had been formed for the effect of the painting, so admirably is this last adapted, and not the production for the place. He was fond of contrasts, no less in whole figures than their parts; but he never arbitrarily affected them, or carried them to the extravagant degree we have since beheld, in violation of all decorum and truth. In force of expression, more particularly upon tenderer subjects, he stands, perhaps, without a rival or an example; such is his Magdalen just alluded to, as she is seen bending to kiss the feet of the Holy Child, with a countenance and action expressive of all the different beauties, scattered over the works of many other artists, a sentiment more fully expressed by Mengs: of this picture we may truly say with Catullus, "Omnibus una omnes surripuit Veneres." Grief was a passion likewise depicted by him with singular power; admirably varied according to circumstances in his Dead Christ at Parma, most heartfelt in that of the Magdalen, profound in the Virgin, and in a middling degree in the other female face. And though we do not meet with many examples of a loftier cast, still he could depict the fiercer passions with sufficient power, as witness the Martyrdom of S. Placidus, in which piece an executioner is so nobly drawn, that Domenichino avowedly imitated it in his celebrated picture of S. Agnes.

Finally the costume of his sacred history-pieces is deficient in nothing we could desire; though in his fables, indeed, he might have improved it, by adhering, like Raffaello and the moderns, more closely to the ancients. Thus in his Leda he has represented Juno in the guise of an elderly lady, full of spite and jealousy, secretly beholding the stolen embraces of her lord. She approaches in nothing to the antique, either in her countenance or in her symbols, and hence in the usual interpretations she is considered as a mere cypher. In the fable of Marsyas, he bears no resemblance to the Faun; Minerva has no Ægis, nor any other of her usual attributes; while Apollo is endued neither with the limbs nor aspect which are awarded him at this day; and so far from boasting of his lyre, he plays upon a violin. Here again we might adduce a fresh argument for Coreggio having never visited Rome, where even artists of mediocrity, instructed in a knowledge of the antique, knew how to avoid similar errors. In him, however, they are scarcely blemishes, and rather flattering to the name of Coreggio, inasmuch as they serve more fully to convince us that he partakes not the glory of his sovereign style with many masters or many assistants, standing great and alone. Regarded in this view he appears indeed something more than mortal; and in his presence, as Annibal Caracci truly wrote, Parmigianino and others of his rank seem to shrink into nothing.[25] But the productions of this great master are daily becoming more rare in Italy, such are the prices offered, such is the eagerness of strangers to obtain them, and the esteem in which he is held. We are still consoled for their loss by several ancient copies, more especially of his smaller pictures, such as the Marriage of S. Catherine, the Reposing Magdalen, the Young Man's Escape, pieces already mentioned; but to which we may add his Christ praying in the Garden, placed in the Escurial, and his Zingherina, the Gipsey Girl, in the gallery at Dresden. The most estimable among the old copies are by Schidone, Lelio da Novellara, Girolamo da Carpi, and by the Caracci, who, by dint of copying Coreggio's pieces, approached very nearly the style of the originals; though more in point of design than in skill and delicacy of colouring.

Hitherto I have treated of the manner of Antonio, and in so doing have described the manner of his school; not, indeed, that any single artist at all equalled or approached him, but that all held very nearly the same maxims, mixed, in some instances, with different styles. The prevailing character of the school of Parma, by way of distinction likewise called the Lombard school, is the excellence of its shortenings, like the delineation of the nerves and muscles in that of Florence. Nor is it any reproach that its artists, in some instances, have become extravagant and affected in their foreshortening, as the Florentines in their representations of the naked limbs: to imitate well is in all places a difficult art. Its character may further be said to consist in a fine study of the chiaroscuro and of draperies, rather than of the human figure, in which few artists of the school can boast much excellence. Their contours are broad, their countenances selected rather from among the people, than of an ideal cast, being well rounded, high coloured, and exhibiting those features and that joyousness esteemed so original in Coreggio, as it has been well remarked by a professor long resident in Parma. There we have reason to believe that our artist instructed more pupils than have been recorded by Vasari, to whose observations and opinions much additional matter has been supplied by writers of the present age, though doubts continue to prevail respecting some of his reputed scholars. I shall treat this great master as others have done in regard to Raffaello, comprehending, within the limits of his school, all those assistants and others who, educated in different academies, subsequently attached themselves to his, availing themselves of his instructions and examples.

First upon the list, therefore, I place his own son, Pomponio Allegri. He had hardly time to benefit by his father's instructions, or to receive his earliest rudiments, having lost him at the age of twelve. His grandfather then took him under his care, until the period of his death, occurring five years after, when he left a pretty handsome provision for the orphan, who boasted likewise no common degree of talent. With whom he pursued his education, however, is not known, whether with Rondani, a faithful disciple of his father, or with some other of the same school. It is certain he was a youth of fair abilities, and that with the aid of his father's studies he acquired some reputation, and established himself at Parma. In the cathedral there appears, wrought upon a large earthen bason, the story of the Israelites awaiting the arrival of Moses, to whom the Lord has just consigned the tablets of the law. Though not very successful as a whole, the work displays great merit in particular parts; many of the heads are beautiful, many of the motions spirited, and there are tones of colouring extremely clear and natural. It was believed that Pomponio had early abandoned the use of his pencil, disposing of his property in Coreggio, and afterwards dying in great poverty at an early age. These false or uncertain reports, however, have been rendered nugatory by authentic documents brought forward by Father Affò, stating him to have enjoyed, in Parma, high reputation and honourable public commissions, and confirmed by a public decree recording him, while the best disciples of the school of Parma were yet alive, as being ottimo pittore.

We now proceed to other artists belonging to the city and state of Modena. Among these we find the name of Francesco Cappelli, a native of Sassuolo, who established himself in Bologna, without, however, leaving there any public specimen of his labours. Most probably he was employed by private persons, or, as Vedriani is led to conjecture, also by princes; though in respect to their names he is certainly mistaken. There is an altar-piece in S. Sebastiano at Sassuolo, commonly attributed to his hand, representing a figure of the Virgin, with some saints, among which last appears the Titular, the most noble and conspicuous of the whole, in such fine impasto and relief, as to be attributed to the pencil of his master.

Another of the school is Giovanni Giarola da Reggio, whose productions there in fresco are to be seen in the Palazzo Donelli and other places, though they have perished in Parma. He cannot, however, be pronounced exempt from the usual negligence of fresco painters in their contours; still he was much esteemed, while he flourished, for the spirit and delicacy of his manner. Although epitaphs are by no means the most desirable sort of testimony to the worth of the deceased, it will be, nevertheless, worth while to recall that of Giarola, from which, if we deduct even nine parts of the commendation, the tenth will confer upon him no slight honour;—"Io. Gerolli, qui adeo excellentem pingendi artem edoctus fuerat, ut alter Apelles vocaretur;" who had arrived at such a masterly degree of excellence in this noble art that he was entitled to the name of another Apelles. To him we have to add a fellow citizen and namesake of Coreggio, called Antonio Bernieri, sprung from a noble stock, and who having lost his master at the age of eighteen years, inherited, in a manner, the appellation of Antonio da Coreggio, thus giving rise to several historical doubts and inaccuracies. He is enumerated by Landi, and by Pietro Aretino, among the most distinguished of the miniature painters; and also mentioned by D. Veronica Gambara, Marchioness of Coreggio. There is no genuine painting by him, however, in oil, though I have no reason for refusing him the degree of reputation so general among the miniaturists; and the portrait at Turin, described in the present volume (p. 101), ought certainly I think to be attributed to him rather than to Antonio Allegri. He long flourished in Venice, visited Rome, and died at his native place. The next I have to add to this list is a name unknown, as far as I can learn, to history, and one which I only discovered from a beautiful design I happened to meet with in a collection by Father Fontana Barnabita, a collection mentioned by me with commendation in my first volume (p. 75). His name is Antonio Bruno, a native of Modena, and an artist who ably emulated the genius of Coreggio in his grace, his nature, his foreshortenings, and his broad lights, though with far less correct a pencil.

Further, among the scholars of Parma, there remain several who acquired less fame. A Daniello de Por is mentioned by Vasari in his life of Taddeo Zuccaro, who, according to his account, received some assistance from Daniello, more in the way of instructions than example. Yet he records no other of his productions besides a piece in fresco, to be seen at Vito, near Sora, where he invited Zuccaro to join him as an assistant; nor does it appear that he commends him for any thing beyond having acquired from Coreggio and Parmigianino a tolerable degree of softness of manner. In fact he must have rather occupied the place of a journeyman than of an assistant of Coreggio, and I suspect he is the same from whom Vasari obtained some information respecting this artist, in particular, such as related to his avarice, which the historian had assuredly no reason either for disbelieving or inventing. But a superior pupil of the same school will be found in M. Torelli, called a native of Milan in the MS. of Resta, where he is mentioned as the companion of Rondani, in executing the Frieze at San Giovanni in Parma, painted in chiaroscuro. It was taken from the design of Coreggio, who received likewise the proceeds from the work. It is added by Ratti, that the first cloister of the same monastery was also adorned with singular felicity by the same hand.

The names of the following artists all enjoy more or less celebrity in Italy at the present day; but it is not therefore certain that they were all the pupils of Coreggio, nor that they all observed the same manner. Like young swimmers, some of them seem cautious of leaving the side of their master, while others appear fearful only of being seen to approach him too nearly, as if proud of the skill they had already acquired. To the first class belongs Rondani, who was employed along with Coreggio at the church of S. Giovanni, and to him is chiefly attributed a grotesque contained in the monastery, assigned to the school of Antonio, though we may detect some figures of cherubs which appear from the master's hand. Yet Rondani was accustomed to imitate his master pretty accurately in his individual figures; and on the exterior of the church of S. Maria Maddalena, he drew a Madonna, that in want of historical evidence, might have been attributed to Coreggio. There is also an altar-piece at the Eremitani, representing saints Agostino and Geronimo, so much in the Coreggio manner as to be esteemed one of the best pictures in Parma. But Rondani was unable to reach the grandeur of the head of the school; he is accused on the other hand of having been too careful and minute in the accessaries of his art, which we gather, indeed, from one of his frescos in a chapel of the cathedral, and in general from his other works. They are rarely to be met with in collections, though I have seen one of his Madonnas, with a Child, in possession of the Marchesi Scarani at Bologna, the figure bearing a swallow in her hand, in allusion to the painter's name; besides the portrait of a man, draped and designed in the Giorgione taste, at the house of the Sig. Bettinelli in Mantua.

I have already alluded to Michelangiolo Anselmi, in the school of Siena, and I again prepare to treat of him more fully, from documents since published, or which I have since read. Upon the authority of these it is very certain that he traced his family several generations back to the city of Parma; though he is denominated da Lucca, from the circumstance of his having been born at that place, according to Ratti, in 1591; and he has been also called da Siena, because, as I am inclined to conjecture, he may have resided and pursued his studies there while young. Resta, in the MS. I have so frequently cited, contends that he acquired his art from Sodoma; Azzolini, from Riccio, son-in-law to Sodoma, both of whom are known to have remained a considerable time at Lucca. There he may have been instructed in the first rudiments, and afterwards have completed his studies at Siena, where he produced the altar-piece of Fontegiusta, which bears no traces of the Lombard style. When practised in the art he returned to Parma, he was older than Coreggio, and then only capable of improving his style by availing himself of his advice and example, in the same way as Garofolo and many others, by the example of Raffaello.

When in the year 1522 Coreggio was engaged to paint the cupola of the cathedral and the great tribune, Anselmi, together with Rondani, and Parmigianino, were fixed upon to adorn the contiguous chapels. The undertaking was never executed; but such a selection shews that he was esteemed capable of accompanying the style of Coreggio, and his works sufficiently attest that he became a devoted follower of it. He is full in his outlines, extremely studied in the heads, glowing in his tints, and very partial to the use of red, which he contrives to vary and to break as it were into different colours in the same picture. Perhaps his least merit consists in his composition, which he sometimes overloads with figures. He painted in various churches at Parma; and one of the most pleasing of his productions, approaching nearest to his great model, is at S. Stefano, in which S. John the Baptist, along with the titular saint, is seen kneeling at the feet of the Virgin. His largest work, however, is to be met with at the Steccata, where, upon the testimony of Vasari, he executed the cartoons of Giulio Romano. But this is disproved by the contract, which assigns to Anselmi himself a chamber in which to compose his cartoons; nor did Giulio do more than send a rough sketch of the work to Parma. In collections his specimens are rare and valuable, although he flourished, to say the least, as late as the year 1554, in which he added a codicil to his will.

Bernardino Gatti, named from his father's profession Soiaro, of whom I shall again make mention in the Cremonese School, is an artist, who, in different countries, left various specimens of his art. Parma, Piacenza, and Cremona abound with them. He ranks among the least doubtful disciples of Coreggio, and was strongly attached to his maxims, more especially in regard to the subjects treated by the hand of his master. His picture of a Pietà, at the Magdalen, in Parma, that of his Repose in Egypt, at S. Sigismond, in Cremona, with his Christ in the Manger, at S. Peter's, in the same city, afford ample evidence of his power of imitating Coreggio without becoming a servile copyist. No one has emulated him better in the delicacy of his countenances. His young girls and his boys appear animated with the spirit of innocence, grace, and beauty. He is fond of whitish and clear grounds, and infuses a sweetness into his whole colouring which forms one of his characteristics. Nor does he want relief in his figures, from which, like the head of the school, he seems never to have removed his hand until he had rendered them in every way perfect and complete. He possessed singular talent for copying, as well as for imitating those masters whom he had engaged to assist. He succeeded to the place of Pordenone, in Piacenza, where he painted the remainder of the tribune at S. M. di Campagna, of which Vasari observes, that the whole appeared the work of the same hand. His picture of S. George, at the same church, is deserving of mention, placed opposite that of S. Augustine by Pordenone, a figure displaying powerful relief and action, which he executed from the design of Giulio Romano, at the request, it is supposed, of the person who gave the commission. We may form an estimate of his unassisted powers by what he has left in the churches of Parma, and more particularly in the cupola of the Steccata. It is an excellent production in every part, and in its principal figure of the Virgin truly surprising. Another of his pieces representing the Multiplication of Loaves, is highly deserving of mention. It was executed for the Refectory of the Padri Lateranensi at Cremona, and to this his name, with the date of 1552, is affixed. It may be accounted one of the most copious paintings to be met with in any religious refectory, full of figures larger than the life, and varied equal to any in point of features, drapery, and attitudes, besides a rich display of novelty and fancy; the whole conducted upon a grand scale, with a happy union and taste of colouring, which serves to excuse a degree of incorrectness in regard to his aërial perspective. There remain few of his pieces in private collections, a great number having been transferred into foreign countries, particularly into Spain.

Giorgio Gandini, likewise surnamed del Grano, from the maternal branch of his family, was an artist formerly referred to Mantua, but who has since been claimed by Padre Affò, who traced his genealogy for the city of Parma. According to the account of Orlandi he was not only a pupil of Coreggio, but one whose pieces were frequently retouched by the hand of his master. P. Zapata, who illustrated in a latin work the churches of Parma, ascribes to him the principal painting in S. Michele, the same which, in the Guide of Ruta, was attributed by mistake to Lelio di Novellara. It is one calculated to reflect honour upon that school, from its power of colouring, its relief, and its ease and sweetness of hand, though it occasionally displays a somewhat too capricious fancy. How highly he was esteemed by his fellow citizens may be inferred from the commission which they allotted him to paint the tribune of the cathedral, as a substitute for Coreggio, who died before he commenced the task which he had accepted. The same happened to Gandini, and the commission was bestowed upon a third artist, Girolamo Mazzuola, whose genius was not then sufficiently matured to cope with such vast undertakings.

The names of Lelio Orsi and Girolamo da Carpi, I assign to another place, both of whom are enumerated by other writers in the school of Parma. For this alteration I shall give a sufficient reason when I mention them. The last belonging to the present class, are the two Mazzuoli; and I commence with Francesco, called Parmigianino, whose life, by Father Affò, has been already written. This writer does not rank him in the list of Coreggio's scholars, but in that of his two uncles, in whose studio he is supposed to have painted his Baptism of Christ, which is now in possession of the Conti Sanvitali, and as the production of a boy of fourteen years of age, it is indeed a wonderful effort of genius. It is remarked by the same historian of his life, that having seen the works of Coreggio, Francesco began to imitate him; and there are some pictures ascribed to him at that period, which are evidently formed upon that great model. Of such kind, is a Holy Family, belonging to the President Bertioli, and a S. Bernardino, at the Padri Osservanti, in Parma. Independently of these, the fact of Francesco's having been chosen, together with Rondani and Anselmi, to decorate a chapel near the Cupola of Coreggio, shews, that he must have acquired great similarity of style, and possessed docility, equal to the other two, in following the directions of such a master. He had too much confidence, however, in his own powers, to be second in the manner of another artist, when he was capable of forming one of his own. And this he subsequently achieved; for owing to the delays experienced in the above undertaking, he had time to make the tour of Italy, and meeting with Giulio, in Mantua, and Raffaello, at Rome, he proceeded to form a style that has been pronounced original. It is at once great, noble, and dignified; not abounding in figures, but rendering a few capable of filling a large canvass, as we may observe in his S. Rocco, at San Petronio, in Bologna; or in his Moses, at the Steccata of Parma, so celebrated a specimen of chiaroscuro.

The prevailing character, however, in which this artist so greatly shone, was grace of manner; a grace which won for him at Rome that most flattering of all eulogies, that the spirit of Raffaello had passed into Parmigianino. Among his designs are to be seen repeated specimens of the same figure, drawn for the purpose of reaching the highest degree of grace, in the person, in the attitudes, and in the lightness of his drapery, in which he is admirable. It is the opinion of Algarotti, that he sometimes carried his heads to an extreme, so as to border upon effeminacy; a judgment analogous to the previous observation of Agostino Caracci, that he could wish a painter to have a little of Parmigianino's grace; not all, because he conceived that he had too much. In the opinion of others, his excessive study of what was graceful led him sometimes to select proportions somewhat too long, no less in respect to stature than in the fingers and the neck, as we may observe in his celebrated Madonna, at the Pitti Palace, which, from this defect, obtained the appellation of collo lungo, or long neck;[26] but it boasted likewise of its advocates. His colouring, also, evidently aims at grace, and for the most part is preserved moderate, discreet, and well tempered, as if the artist feared, by too much brilliancy, to offend the eye; which, both in drawings and paintings, is apt to diminish grace. If we admit Albano as a good judge, Parmigianino was not very studious of expression, in which he has left few examples; if, indeed, we are not to consider the grace that animates his cherubs and other delicate figures, as meriting the name of expression, or if that term apply only to the passions, as very abundantly supplying its place. It is, in truth, on account of this rare exhibition of grace, that every thing is pardoned, and that in him defects themselves appear meritorious.

He would seem to have been slow in his conceptions, being accustomed to form the whole piece in idea, before he once handled his pencil; but was then rapid in his execution. Strokes of his pencil may sometimes be traced so very daring and decided, that Albano pronounces them divine, and declares, that to his experience in design, he was indebted for that unequalled skill, which he always united to great diligence and high finish. His works, indeed, are not all equally well and powerfully coloured, nor produce the same degree of effect; though there are several which are conducted with so much feeling and enthusiasm as to have been ascribed to Coreggio himself. Such is the picture of Love, engaged in fabricating his bow, while at his feet appear two cherubs, one laughing and the other weeping; a piece, of which a number of duplicates, besides that contained in the imperial gallery, are enumerated, so great a favourite was it either with the artist or some other person. In regard to this production, I agree with Vasari, whose authority is further confirmed by Father Affò and other judges, whom I have consulted upon the subject; although it is true that this Cupid, together with the Ganymede, and the Leda, which are mentioned in the same context, (p. 302), have been positively assigned by Boschini to Coreggio, an opinion that continues to be countenanced by many other persons.

His minor paintings, his portraits, his youthful heads, and holy figures, are not very rare, and some are found multiplied in different places. One that has been the most frequently repeated in collections, is a picture of the Virgin and Infant with S. Giovanni; while the figures of St. Catherine and Zaccarias, or some similar aged head, are to be seen very near them. It was formerly met with in the Farnese gallery, at Parma, and is still to be seen, sometimes the same, and sometimes varied, in the royal gallery, at Florence; in the Capitoline; in those of the princes Corsini, Borghesi, and Albani, at Rome. In Parma, also, it is in possession of the Abate Mazza,[27] and is found in other places; insomuch, that it is difficult to suppose that they could all have been repeated by Parmigianino, however old in appearance. He produced few copious compositions, such as the Preaching of Christ to the Crowd, which is contained in a chamber of the royal palace, at Colorno, forming a real jewel of that beautiful and pleasant villa. His altar-pieces are not numerous, of which, however, none is more highly estimated than his St. Margarita, at Bologna. It is rich in figures, which the Caracci were never weary of studying; while Guido, in a sort of transport of admiration, preferred it even to the St. Cecilia of Raffaello. His fresco, which he began at the Steccata, is a singular production; besides the figure of Moses, exhibited in chiaroscuro, he painted Adam and Eve, with several Virtues, without, however, completing the undertaking for which he had been remunerated. The history of the affair is rather long, and is to be found in Father Affò, where it is divested of many idle tales, with which it had been confounded. I shall merely state, that the artist was thrown into prison for having abandoned his task, and afterwards led a fugitive life in Casale, where he shortly died, in his thirty-seventh year, exactly at the same age as his predecessor Raffaello. He was lamented as one of the first luminaries, not only of the art of painting, but of engraving; though of this last I must say nothing, in order not to deviate from the plan I have laid down.

Parma was in some degree consoled for the loss of Francesco, by Girolamo di Michele Mazzuola, his pupil and his cousin. They had been intimate from the year 1520, and apparently had contracted their friendship some years before Francesco set out for Rome, which was continued unabated after his return. Most probably, however, it at length experienced an interruption, owing to which Francesco named two strangers his heirs, omitting his cousin. This last is not known beyond Parma and its confines, though he was deserving of more extensive fame, in particular for his strong impasto, and his knowledge of colouring, in which he has few equals. There is reason to suppose, that some of the works ascribed to Francesco, more especially such as displayed warmer and stronger tints, were either executed or repeated by this artist. Not having been in Rome, Girolamo was more attached to the school of Coreggio, than Francesco, and in his style composed his picture of the Marriage of St. Catherine, for the church of the Carmine; a piece that proves how well he could exhibit that great master's character. He was excellent in perspective, and in the Supper of our Lord, painted for the refectory of S. Giovanni, he represented a colonnade so beautiful, and well adapted to produce illusion, as to compete with the best specimens from the hand of Pozzo. He could, moreover, boast ease and harmony, with a fine chiaroscuro; while in his larger compositions in fresco, he was inventive, varied, and animated. No single artist, among his fellow citizens, had the merit of decorating the churches of Parma with an equal number of oil paintings; no one produced more in fresco for the cathedral and for the Steccata; to say nothing of his labours at S. Benedetto, in Mantua, and elsewhere. It is from this rage for accomplishing too much, that we find so many of his pieces that are calculated to surprise us at first sight, diminish in merit upon an examination of their particular parts. Not a few defects are observable amidst all his beauties; the design in his naked figures is extremely careless; his grace is carried to a degree of affectation, and his more spirited attitudes are violent. But these faults are not wholly attributable to him, inasmuch as he occasionally painted the same work in conjunction with other artists. This occurred in his large picture of the Multiplication of Loaves placed at S. Benedetto, in Mantua, in which, from documents discovered by the Ab. Mari, Girolamo would appear to have been assisted in his labours; there are in it groups of figures, whose beauty would confer credit upon any artist; while, on the other hand, there are faults and imbecilities that must have proceeded from some other pencil. It is true that he has admitted the same in other of his works, and there they are wholly to be ascribed to his haste. We likewise find mention of an Alessandro Mazzuola, son of Girolamo, who painted in the cathedral, in 1571; but he is a weak imitator of the family style; the usual fate of pictoric families, when arrived at the third generation.

Such was the state of the art in Parma about the middle of the sixteenth century, at which period the Farnese family acquired dominion there, and greatly contributed to promote the interest of that school. Coreggio's disciples had already produced pupils in their turn; and though it be difficult to ascertain from what school each artist proceeded, it is easy to conjecture, from their respective tastes, that they were all inclined to pursue the career of the two most illustrious masters of the school of Parma; yet Mazzuola was, perhaps, more followed than Coreggio. It is too favourite an opinion, both with dilettanti and artists, that the new style must invariably be the most beautiful; permitting fashion even to corrupt the arts. Parmigianino, perhaps, educated no other pupil besides his cousin; Daniel da Parma had studied also under Coreggio; and Batista Fornari, after acquiring little more than a knowledge of design from Francesco, turned his attention to sculpture, producing, among other fine statues, for the Duke Ottavio Farnese, the Neptune, which is now placed in the royal gardens. The name of Jacopo Bertoia, (often written by mistake Giacinto) has been added by some to this list. He was a good deal employed by the court at Parma and Caprarola; and not very long ago, some of his small paintings were transferred from the palace of the royal garden into the academy. The subjects are fabulous, and both in the figures of his nymphs, and in every thing else, the grace of Francesco is very perceptible. Yet the memorials discovered by P. Affò, do not permit us to name Parmigianino as his master. He was still young in 1573, and Lomazzo, in his "Tempio," calls him the pupil of Ercole Procaccini. He produced many small pictures for private ornament, which were at one time in great repute; nor does Parma possess any large painting by his hand, excepting two banners for companies or associations.

It is rather, likewise, from a resemblance of style, than upon historical authority, that one Pomponio Amidano has been enumerated among the pupils of Parmigianino. He may be mentioned, however, as one of his most strenuous followers; insomuch as to have had one of his altar-pieces, which adorns the church of Madonna del Quartiere, attributed even by no common artists to the hand of Francesco. It is the most beautiful work of its author that the city of Parma has to boast. The style of this artist is full and noble, were it not, adds the Cav. Ratti, that it is sometimes apt to appear somewhat flat.

Pier Antonio Bernabei, called della Casa, does not belong to the school of Parmigianino, but is to be referred to some other assistant or pupil of Coreggio. I cannot account for the slight praise bestowed upon him by Orlandi, when his painting of the cupola at the Madonna del Quartiere is calculated to impress us with the opinion that his powers were equal to those of any artist who then flourished in Lombardy, or even in Italy, as a painter of frescos. He there represented, as was very common upon the cupolas, a Paradise, very full, but without any confusion; with figures in the Coreggio[h] his tints are powerful, and relieved with a force which might be pronounced superfluous in the more distant figures, from a deficiency of the due gradations. This cupola still remains perfectly entire after the lapse of more than two centuries, and is his great masterpiece, though some of his other paintings likewise produce a great effect. Aurelio Barili, and Innocenzio Martini, of Parma, must have enjoyed very considerable reputation in their day, having been employed at S. Giovanni and the Steccata: some specimens of their fresco work are still pointed out, but are cast into the shade by the vicinity of more attractive beauties.

About the same period another subject of the same state painted, in his native place of Piacenza. His name was Giulio Mazzoni, at one time pupil to Daniel da Volterra, in the life of whom he is much commended by Vasari. Some figures of the Evangelists still remain in the cathedral by his hand, though the ceiling of S. M. di Campagna, which he adorned with histories, has been renewed by another pencil. He did not acquire a knowledge of foreshortening in the school of Daniello, and here he failed, however respectable in other points.

SCHOOL OF PARMA.

EPOCH III.

Parmese Pupils of the Caracci, and of other Foreigners, until the period of the Foundation of the Academy.

In the year 1570, when the most celebrated imitators of the Coreggio manner were either greatly advanced in years, or already deceased, the Parmese School began to give place to that of Bologna; and I proceed to explain the mode, and the causes which, partly by design and partly by chance, led to that event. It was intended to ornament a chapel in the cathedral, a commission bestowed upon Rondani and Parmigianino, but which, through a variety of interruptions, had been so long deferred, that both artists died before undertaking it. Orazio Sammachini was then invited from Bologna; he gave satisfaction, and if I mistake not, derived great improvement from his study of Coreggio, whom he more nearly resembled than any other Bolognese artist of that age. Ercole Procaccini, likewise, painted in the dome itself; nor was it long before Cesare Aretusi was invited from Bologna, to become court painter to Duke Ranuccio. This artist, as we before observed, was employed in restoring the painting of the tribune at S. Giovanni. In order to lengthen the choir, it was resolved to destroy the old tribune; but such parts as Coreggio had there painted, were to be correctly repeated to adorn the new; an example that deserves to be adopted as a law, wherever the fine arts are held in esteem. We are informed by Malvasia, that Aretusi undertook this task, though he refused to take a copy of it upon the spot; observing, that such an employment was more adapted for a pupil than for a master. Annibal Caracci was in consequence of this called in, and assisted by his brother Agostino, he took a copy of that vast work in various portions, which are now at Capo di Monte. Guided by these, Aretusi was afterwards enabled to repaint the new edifice in the year 1587. To this account Affò opposes the contract of Aretusi, drawn out in 1586, where he binds himself "to make an excellent copy of the Madonna Coronata;" and provision is promised him for a boy who is to prepare the cartoons: a circumstance that cannot be made applicable to Annibal, who appeared in the character of a master as early as 1586. What conclusion we are to draw from such a fact, no less than from the cartoons so generally attributed to Annibal, and which are pronounced worthy of his hand, quærere distuli; nec scire fas est omnia. Hor. I shall merely observe, that Annibal, after spending several months in studying and copying Coreggio during 1580, frequently returned again to admire him, and that such devoted enthusiasm was of wonderful advantage to him in acquiring the character of his model. It was at this time that he painted the picture of a Pietà for the Capuchin friars, at Parma, approaching the nearest that ever was seen to that at S. Giovanni, and from that period the Duke Ranuccio gave him several commissions for pictures, which are now to be met with at Naples.

The duke was a great lover of the arts, as we gather from a selection of artists employed by him, among whom were Lionello Spada, Schedoni, Trotti, and Gio. Sons, an able figure and a better landscape painter, whom Orlandi believes to have been instructed in Parma, and perfected in the art at Antwerp. It appears, that he also had much esteem for Ribera, who painted a chapel, which is now destroyed, at Santa Maria Bianca, in so fine a style, that according to Scaramuccia, it might have been mistaken for Coreggio's, and it awakened emulation even in the breast of Lodovico Caracci.[28] The chief merit, however, of the duke, and of his brother, the cardinal, consisted in estimating and employing the genius of the Caracci. In that court they were both fairly remunerated, and held in esteem; though, owing to the arts of some courtiers, history has preserved circumstances regarding these great men, calculated to move compassion.[29] To this early patronage we may trace the events which we find in the history of the Caracci, at different periods: Annibal engaged to paint the Farnese Gallery at Rome; Agostino called to Parma, in quality of its court-painter, an office in which he died; and Lodovico sent to Piacenza, along with Camillo Procaccini, in order to decorate the cathedral of that city. Hence also arose the principles of a new style at Parma, or rather of several new styles, which during the seventeenth century continued to spread both there and throughout the state, and which were first introduced by the artists of Bologna.

Their scholars, besides Bertoia, were Giambatista Tinti, pupil to Sammachini, Giovanni Lanfranco, and Sisto Badalocchi, who, having been acquainted with the younger Caracci, at Parma, became first attached to the school of Lodovico, in Bologna, and afterwards followed Annibal to Rome, where they continued to reside with him. These, although they were educated by the Bolognese, resemble certain characters who, though they may abandon their native soil, are never able to divest themselves of its memory or its language. In respect to Lanfranco, it is agreed by all, that no artist better imitated the grandeur of Coreggio in works upon a large scale; although he is neither equal to him in colouring, nor at all approaches him in high finish, nor is destitute of an air of originality peculiar to the head of a school. At Parma, he produced a picture representing all the saints in the church that bears their name; and in Piacenza, besides his saints Alessio and Corrado at the cathedral, works highly commended by Bellori, he painted an altar-piece of St. Luke, at the Madonna di Piazza, as well as a cupola, so avowedly imitated from that of S. Giovanni at Parma, that it can scarcely escape the charge of servility. Sisto Badalocchi,[30] no way inferior to Lanfranco in point of facility, and other endowments of the art, approached very nearly to his style. It was even doubted in Parma, whether the picture of S. Quintino, in the church of that name, was the production of Lanfranco or his. Of the rest who flourished for the most part among the disciples of the Caracci, beyond the limits of their own state, we shall treat more opportunely under the Bolognese School.

Giambatista Tinti acquired the art of design and of colouring from Sammachini at Bologna; he studied Tibaldi with great assiduity, and painted upon his model at S. Maria della Scala, not without marks of plagiarism.[31] Having subsequently established himself at Parma, he selected for his chief model the works of Coreggio, and next proceeded to the study of Parmigianino. The city retains many of his productions, both in private and in public, among which that of the Assumption in the cathedral, abounding with figures, and the Catino, at the old Capuchin Nuns, are accounted some of the last grand works belonging to the old school of Parma.

From the time these artists ceased to flourish, the art invariably declined. Towards the middle of the seventeenth century we find mention, in the Guide of Parma, of Fortunato Gatti and Gio. Maria Conti, both Parmese, who were shortly followed, if I mistake not, by Giulio Orlandini. They are better qualified to shew the succession of Parmese artists than of great painters. The name of one Girolamo da' Leoni, of Piacenza, is also recorded, who was employed along with Cunio, a Milanese, about the time of the Campi. At Piacenza likewise, after the middle of the century, appeared one Bartolommeo Baderna, pupil to the Cavalier Ferrante, whose works display more diligence than genius; whence Franceschini took occasion to say, that he had knocked loudly at the door of the great painters without being able to gain admission. In the mean while the court continued to promote the study of the fine arts throughout the state. It even sent a young man of talent, named Mauro Oddi, under the direction of Berettini, with a salary to Rome. He fulfilled the expectations of his patrons by his productions at the villa of Colorno, and he adorned some churches with specimens of his altar-pieces; but still he aimed more at the fame of an architect than of a painter. At the same time there was employed at court an artist named Francesco Monti, who painted likewise for churches and private collections. He was mentioned in the Venetian School, and exercised a more marked influence over the art at Parma. presenting it in Ilario Spolverini with a disciple of merit. Ilario, no less than his master, acquired reputation from his battle-pieces; and whether owing to exaggeration or to truth, it was commonly said that the soldiers of Monti threatened, and that those of Spolverini seemed to kill. He threw no less fierceness and terror into some of his assassin scenes, which are esteemed equal to his battles. He painted chiefly for the Duke Francesco, though there are some of his works on a larger scale, in oil and in fresco, placed in the cathedral, at the Certosa, and other places throughout the city and the state.

Spolverini instructed in the art Francesco Simonini, a distinguished battle-painter of that period. Orlandi says he was a scholar of Monti, and educated at Florence upon the model of Borgognone. He long resided at Venice, where, in the Sala Cappello, and in different collections, he left pictures which abound in figures, ornamented with fine architecture, and varied with every kind of skirmish and military exploits. Ilario instructed several young Parmese in the art, among whom, perhaps, were Antonio Fratacci, Clemente Ruta, and more indisputably the Ab. Giuseppe Peroni. The first under Cignani became a better copyist of his master than a painter, being called pittor pratico, a mechanical hand, by Bianconi in his Guide to Milan, where, as well as in Bologna, a few of his pictures are to be seen. At Parma he was not employed in public, as far as I can learn, but for collections, in which he holds a pretty high rank. Ruta was likewise educated in the academy of Cignani at Bologna. Returning to his native state, whose paintings he has described, he there entered into the service of the Infant Charles of Bourbon, as long as he remained at Parma, after which he accompanied his patron to Naples. Subsequently returning to Parma; he continued to employ himself with credit, until, near the period of his decease, he lost the use of his eyes.

The Ab. Peroni, in the first instance, repaired to Bologna, where he received the instructions of Torelli, of Creti and of Ercole Lelli. He next visited Rome, where he became pupil to Masucci; though it is probable that he was struck with the colouring of Conca and Giacquinto, who were then much in vogue, as his tints partake more or less of their verds, and other false use of colouring. For the rest he could design well, and in elegant subjects partakes much of Maratta, as we perceive from his S. Philip in S. Satiro at Milan, and from the Conception, in possession of the Padri dell' Oratorio, at Turin. In Parma his productions are to be seen at S. Antonio Abbate, where his frescos appear to advantage, and there is an altar-piece of Christ Crucified, placed in competition with Battoni and Cignaroli, and here more than elsewhere he is entitled to rank among the good painters of this last age. He adorned his native place and its academy with his pictures, and died there at an advanced age. The career of Pietro Ferrari was much shorter, although he had time to produce several fine pictures for the public, besides that of his B. da Corleone in the church of the Capuchins, as well as more for private collections. He imitated the ancient manner of his school, no less than more recent styles.[32]

In Piacenza there flourished Pier Antonio Avanzini, educated by Franceschini at Bologna. He is said to have been wanting in imagination, which led him, for the most part, to copy from his master's designs. Gio. Batista Tagliasacchi, from Borgo S. Donnino, sprung from the school of Giuseppe del Sole, and displayed a fine genius for elegant subjects, which induced him to study Coreggio, Parmigianino, and Guido. He was particularly ambitious of adding Raffaello to the list, but his parents would not permit him to visit Rome. He resided and employed himself chiefly at Piacenza, where there is a Holy Family much admired in the cathedral, which, in its ideal cast of features, partakes of the Roman style, and is not inferior to the Lombards in point of colouring. He was an artist, if I mistake not, of far greater merit than fortune.

Finally, the state was never in want of excellent masters in minor branches of the art. Fabrizio Parmigiano is commended by Baglioni amongst the landscape painters of his age. He was assisted by his wife Ippolita in drawing for Italian collections, and he visited a variety of places previous to his arrival at Rome, where he also adorned a few of the churches with his wood-scenes, and views, with hermits, &c. and died there at an early age. His style was, perhaps, more ideal than true, as it prevailed before the time of the Caracci; but it was spirited and diligent. There is known also one Gialdisi, of Parma, whom, from his residence in Cremona, Zaist enumerates among the professors of that school as a celebrated painter of flowers. He frequently represented them upon small tables covered with tapestry, and he added also musical instruments, books, and playing-cards, the whole depicted with an air of truth and a fine colouring, that obtained for him from such inconsiderable objects a large portion of fame. I must also record Felice Boselli of Piacenza, who became, under the direction of the Nuvoloni, a tolerable artist in figures, though he succeeded best in copying ancient pictures, even so as to deceive the eye of experienced judges by the exactness of his imitations. Following the bent of his genius, he began to draw animals, sometimes with their skins, and at others, as they are exposed to view in the shambles; besides collections of birds and fishes, arranging them in order, and all coloured from the life. The palaces in Piacenza abound with them, Boselli, having survived beyond his eightieth year, and despatching them with facility and mechanically, whence all his productions are not equally entitled to esteem. Gianpaolo Pannini belonged to the Roman School, in which he both learned and taught, and in treating of which I rendered him that justice which the public admiration of his perspective views, and of his peculiar grace in small figures, seemed to require. Many fine specimens were sent from Rome to his native country, and among these the Signori della Missione possess a very rare picture, inasmuch as the figures are on a larger scale than those which he in general drew. It represents the Money Changers driven out of the Temple by our Lord; the architecture is truly magnificent, and the figures full of spirit and variety. The governor, Count Carasi, the able illustrator of the public paintings in Piacenza, declared that he was the only artist then deceased, of whom the city could justly boast. Such deficiency ought not to be ascribed to its climate, abounding as it does with genius, but to the want of a local school, a want, however, which was converted into a source of great utility to the city. If we examine the catalogue of painters who flourished there, with which the Count Carasi closes his work, we shall find that, with the exception of the capitals, no other city of Italy was so rich in excellent painters belonging to every school. Had it possessed masters, they would have produced for every excellent disciple, at least twenty of only middling talent, whose works would have filled its palaces and churches, as it has happened to so many other secondary cities.

Like one university for letters, one academy for the fine arts is usually found sufficient for a single state; and in particular, where it is established, supported, and encouraged in the manner of that at Parma. It owed its origin to Don Philip of Bourbon, in 1757, the tenth year of his government; and his son, who at this time bears sway, continues to promote the interests of the institution.[33] Nothing can be better calculated to revive among us the noble genius of the art of painting, than the method there adopted in the distribution of premiums. The subject of the painting being proposed, the young artists invited to the competition are not confined to those of the state; and consequently the industry of the most able and best matured students is laid under contribution, in every place, for the service of Parma. The method of holding the assembly, the skill and integrity of the umpires, and the whole form of the decision, excludes every doubt or suspicion respecting the superiority of the piece adjudged. The artist is largely remunerated; but his highest ambition is gratified in having been pronounced the first among so many competitors, and before such an assemblage. This is of itself always sufficient to raise the successful candidate above the common standard, and often leads to fortune. The prize painting assumes its perpetual station in one of the academic halls, along with the favourite pieces of previous years, forming a series which already excites a warm interest among the lovers of the fine arts. Since the period when the Cortona manner began[i] to lose ground in Italy, a manner that, under such a variety of names and sects, had usurped so wide a sway, the art in our own times has approached a sort of crisis, which as yet forms an essay of new styles, rather than any prevailing one characteristic of this new era. It is in such a collection, better than in any book, that we may study the state of our existing schools; what maxims are now enforced; what kind of imitation, and with how much freedom, is allowed; from what source we are to look for a chance of recovering the ancient art of colouring; what profit painting has derived from the copies of the best pictures published in engravings, and from the precepts of the masters communicated through the medium of prints. I am aware that a variety of opinion is entertained on this head, nor would my own, were I to interpose it, give weight to any of the conflicting arguments in this matter. But I am happy to say, that finding at length appeals made to reason, which were formerly referred to practice, I feel inclined rather to indulge hopes than doubt or diffidence in regard to the future.