Book 2 — CHAPTER II.

THE MODENESE SCHOOL.

EPOCH I.

The Ancients.

The state of Modena, such as it is now reunited under the happy government of the house of Este, will form the subject of the following chapter; and no other portion of my work can be pronounced superior in point of interest to this. Since the feeble attempts of Vedriani, and of other writers, more eager than sagacious, the pictoric history of the entire dominion has been recently illustrated, as I observed at the commencement, by a distinguished historian. I have no further object in view than to adapt it to my usual method, omitting at the same time a few names, which, either from their mediocrity, from the loss of their works, or other reasons, cannot be presumed to be greatly interesting to my readers.

The antiquity of this school may be sought for as far back as 1235, at least if it may be supposed that Berlingeri of Lucca, certainly the author of a S. Francesco remaining in the castle of Guiglia, painted in the above year, likewise produced pupils to the state of Modena, a matter which is still involved in doubt. There is another sacred figure, also the production of a Modenese, consisting of the Blessed Virgin, between two military saints, a picture brought from Prague into the Imperial Gallery at Vienna. We read inscribed upon it in ancient character the two following lines:—

Quis opus hoc finxit? Thomas de Mutina pinxit;

Quale vides Lector Rarisini filius auctor;

in which we ought to read Barisini, both on account of Sig. Garampi, who is profoundly skilled in the ancient characters, having thus understood it, and because this name approaches nearer to those which, though certainly different, are known to apply to the father of Tommaso, as well in Modena as in Trevigi. In the former I know not that there now remains any thing of him but the name; but in the latter is to be seen a very extensive work in the chapter of the Padri Predicatori. Here are represented the saints and scholars of the order, and the artist's name also appears with the date of 1352.[4] The design of this piece is tolerably good for those times, as appears from the engravings taken of it by the Domenican, Father Federici, the same who presented us with a learned work upon the Antiquities of Trevigi. He discovered that the father of Tommaso, by name Borasino or Bizzarrino, an abbreviation he says of Buzzaccarino, became nominated to the citizenship, and to the public notaryship of Trevigi, in 1315; in all which his family was called di Modena, as that of Girolamo Ferrarese was called di Carpi. On the strength of these documents Trevigi may, perhaps, dispute with Modena the honour of producing such an artist; but I shall take no share in the question. I would here merely observe that the superscription does not say Thomas de Mutina, from which we might gather that Modena was the cognomen of the family; but that Thomas pictor de Mutina pinxit istud; whence to conclude that he there gave the name of his real country, either because he was born in Modena, or because, descended from a Modenese family, he retained his citizenship, and rather wished to appear a native of Modena than of Trevigi. However this may be, it is a signal honour for Italy to have given such an artist to Germany, a name of which the historians of that great nation have mistakenly availed themselves, in the outset of the historic series of their painters, tracing his origin to Muttersdorff, and making him the master of Theodoric of Prague, followed in succession by Wumser,[b] Schoen, Wolgemut, and Albert Durer.

Next to the pictures of Tommaso, ought to be enumerated an altar-piece by Barnaba da Modena, preserved together with the author's name in Alba, and dated 1377, a piece by one writer supposed anterior to Giotto; and in addition to this an Ancona, from the hand of Serafino de' Serafini da Modena, containing various busts and entire figures, with the name also of the painter, and the year 1385. It is placed in the cathedral, and its principal subject is the Incoronation of the Virgin. In its composition it very nearly resembles that of Giotto and his school, of which, indeed, more than of any other, the whole character of the piece partakes, only the figures are, perhaps, a little more full, and as it were better fed than those of the Florentine School. If the origin of such resemblance should be sought for, let us consider that Giotto not only employed himself in the adjacent city of Bologna, but likewise in Ferrara, which, together with Modena, was then subject to the house of Este, so that one city might easily afford precepts and examples to another.

Vasari remarked at Modena some ancient paintings at S. Dominico, and he might have seen more in possession of the Padri Benedettini, and elsewhere; from which he judged, that "in every age there had been excellent artists in that place." Their names, which were unknown to Vasari, have in part been collected from MSS., consisting of a Tommaso Bassini,[5] whose age and productions are uncertain, and some others of the fourteenth century, approaching nearer to a more improved era. One of these was Andrea Campana, to whom a work, bearing the initials of his name, in the Colorno Villa of the Duke of Parma, has been attributed, representing the acts of S. Piero Martire, a piece extremely pleasing and well coloured. Another is Bartolommeo Bonasia, excellent both in painting and inlaid work, a specimen of which he left in a picture placed in the convent of S. Vincenzo. There are, moreover, in Sassuolo, some notices of Raffaello Calori of Modena, beginning in 1452 and terminating in 1474; besides a picture of the Virgin in the best manner of those times, during which he was in the service of Duke Borso. Later than him flourished Francesco Magagnolo, an artist who terminated his career early in the sixteenth century, and one of the first who drew countenances in such a manner as to appear looking at the spectator, in whatever point of view he might observe them. His contemporaries, it appears, were Cecchino Setti, whose labours have wholly perished, with the exception of a few altar-ornaments, in the most finished taste; Nicoletto da Modena, at once a painter, and one of the very earliest engravers, whose prints are much sought after for cabinets, and are placed at the head of collections; Giovanni Munari, commended by historians, and distinguished for the great name of his son and pupil Pellegrino; and finally Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, who died in 1510. To this last has been ascribed the honour of instructing Coreggio, which, however, can by no means be asserted beyond dispute. One of his altar-pieces was formerly to be seen in S. Francesco, executed with some degree of modern softness, though still partaking of the ancient stiffness, and the eyes designed without a due regard to rotundity.

In the smaller capitals, also, about this period, flourished artists of considerable merit. Reggio still boasts a Madonna of Loreto, painted in the dome by the hand of Bernardino Orsi, with the date of 1501; while in S. Tommaso, and elsewhere, we meet with some paintings of Simone Fornari, also called Moresini, and of Francesco Caprioli. I mention them here, not so much on account of the period which they adorned, as for the resemblance of their manner to the two Francia, more especially Fornari; many of his pictures having been attributed to those distinguished ornaments of Bologna.

Carpi, likewise, preserves several relics of the ancient arts: besides a frieze in the rudest style of sculpture, in the facade of the old cathedral, a work of the twelfth century. To the same church is attached two chapels, exhibiting the commencement and the progress of painting in those parts. In one is seen the spousals of Santa Caterina, a piece so extremely infantile, that it would be difficult to find a similar example in Italy. The painting upon the walls is, however, superior; displaying an original style, no less in the drapery than in the ideas, and forcible in its action. The other chapel is divided into various niches, with the effigy of a saint in each; and in this work, which is the latest of the two, appear some traces of the style of Giotto. There is no nomenclature giving us any account of artists so very ancient. The list of the school commences with Bernardino Loschi, who, sprung from a family in Parma, signs his own name, Carpense, in some of his pictures. Without such elucidation, these might have been pronounced the works of one or other of the Francia. Loschi was employed in the service of Alberto Pio; and there exist memorials of him from the year 1495 until 1533. There remains on record the name of one of his contemporaries, Marco Meloni, one of the most accurate of artists, of whom every thing may be included in the observation, that his pictures at S. Bernardino, and elsewhere, partake in the same degree of the Bolognese manner. Probably he was a pupil of that school, as well as Alessandro da Carpi, enumerated by Malvasia among the disciples of Costa.

Finally, Coreggio likewise cultivated the fine arts before Antonio Allegri came into the world. For not many years ago a fresco of tolerable execution was discovered in that cathedral, ascribed by tradition, to Lorenzo Allegri, who, in a letter of donation, subscribed by him in 1527, is called Magister Laurentius Filius Magistri Antonii de Allegris Pictor. This artist is believed to have been the first instructor of Antonio Allegri, his brother's son; and it is, at least, certain that he had a school in which he taught the rules of art to another of his nephews, as I have heard from the learned Dottore Antonioli, who is busied in preparing a life of his very distinguished fellow citizen. At present there are few paintings in Coreggio displaying the taste of the artists of the fourteenth century, from which we might judge of that school. A Madonna, painted in 1511, when Antonio Allegri had attained his seventeenth year, is, however, to be met with in the Catalogue of the Este Gallery, whither it had been transferred. It is attributed to Antonio Allegri, but there is no sufficient evidence of the fact; and we should have about equal authority for giving it to Lorenzo. The style is but middling, and in point of forms, the ancient character is not wholly laid aside in the folds of the drapery: it may, however, be pronounced of a softer tone than that of the chief part of its contemporaries, and nearer to the modern manner.

Before proceeding further, it will be right to inform the reader of a certain advantage that this tract of country, and Modena in particular, enjoyed from the commencement of the fifteenth century, consisting in the abundance of its excellent modellers in clay. Of this art, the parent of sculpture, and the nurse of painting, that city has since produced the most exquisite specimens in the world; and this, if I mistake not, is the most characteristic, rare, and admirable advantage of the school. Guido Mazzoni, otherwise Paganini, a name highly celebrated by Vasari, had the reputation of an excellent artist from the time he produced his Holy Family, at St. Margherita, in 1484, presenting statues of a vivacity and expression truly surprising. This great artificer was employed by Charles VIII., both in Naples and France, where he remained upwards of twenty years, retiring at length into his native country, full of honours, to terminate his days. No slight commendation has likewise been bestowed by the historian Lancillotto, upon Gio. Abati, father of Niccolo, and his contemporary, whose sacred images in chalk were held in the highest esteem; more particularly the crucifixions, executed with a knowledge of anatomy, most exact in every separate vein and nerve. He was nevertheless far surpassed by Antonio Begarelli, probably his pupil, who by his works in clay, with figures even larger than life, has succeeded in bearing away the palm from all his competitors. In the church and monastery of the Padri Benedettini, there is preserved a noble collection of them. As he flourished during a long period, he filled those churches with monuments, groups, and statues, to say nothing of others which he produced in Parma, Mantua, and other places. Vasari praises him for "the fine air of his heads, beautiful drapery, exquisite proportions, and colour of marble;" and the same author continues to relate, that they appeared so excellent to Bonarruoti that he said, "if this clay were only to become marble, woe betide the ancient statues." I am at a loss to imagine what species of eulogy could be more desirable to an artist; in particular when we reflect upon the profound science of Bonarruoti, and how tardy he was to praise. We ought not to omit to mention, that Begarelli was likewise excellent in design, and acted as a master, both of that and modelling, in the instruction of youth. Hence he greatly influenced the art of painting, and to him we are in a great measure to trace that correctness, that relief, that art of foreshortening, and that degree of grace approaching nearly to Raffaello's, in all of which this part of Lombardy boasted such a conspicuous share.

MODENESSE SCHOOL.

EPOCH II.

Imitation of Raffaello and Coreggio, in the Sixteenth Century.

Such were the preparatory efforts throughout all these districts, as far as we have hitherto considered them: but the best preparation lay in the natural talent of the young artists. Of these we are told, upon the authority of Tiraboschi, that the Card. Alessandro d'Este observed, that "they appeared to have been born with a natural genius for the fine arts:" an opinion fully borne out during the lapse of the sixteenth century, when if every province of Italy produced some great name in painting, this little district of itself abounded with a sufficient number to reflect honour upon a whole kingdom. I commence my account from the city of Modena; no other city of Lombardy earlier appreciated the style of Raffaello, nor did any city of all Italy become more deeply attached to, and produce more enthusiastic imitators of it. I have already treated of Pellegrino da Modena, (vol. ii. p. 115) called in the Chronicle of Lancillotti degli Aretusi, alias de' Munari. He received his education in his native place, and produced a picture there as early as 1509, still preserved at S. Giovanni, in excellent condition, and creditable to the talent of its author, even before he entered the school of Raffaello. But such was here his improvement, that his master availed himself of his assistance in adorning the open galleries of the Vatican, as well as in other works executed in Rome, sometimes along with Perino del Vaga, and sometimes by himself. Several of his pieces at S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli boasted figures of such a truly graceful and Raffaellesque air, according to the account of Titi, that the modern retouches they received was a circumstance truly to be deplored. He is better known in his own country than at Rome, in particular at S. Paolo, where there remains a Nativity of our Lord which seems to breathe, in every part, the graces of D'Urbino. This unhappy artist had a son who, having committed homicide, was threatened with the vengeance of the parents of the deceased; and meeting with the father, they directed their fury against him, and slew him upon the spot, a truly tragic event, which occurred in 1523. Another of his sons, Tiraboschi conjectures to have been Cesare di Pellegrino Aretusi, the same, who by many writers is called Modenese, having been born in Modena; Bolognese by others, because he lived in Bologna, and there took up his citizenship. This artist, to whom we shall again refer, formed his taste in Bologna by copying Bagnacavallo, being unable to obtain the instructions of Pellegrino. A Giulio Taraschi, however, was more fortunate, and benefitted much by his instructions, as appears from many of his paintings at S. Pietro, in Modena, in the Roman taste; a taste which he is said to have cultivated in two of his brothers, and transmitted to others whose names will appear as we proceed.

Somewhat later, also, Coreggio began to afford a new model for the school of Modena; he who is now held their master, and whose skull is preserved, upon the example set by Rome, (vol. ii. p. 143), in the academy recently opened with so much splendour. He employed himself a good deal in Parma, in which school we shall more decidedly treat of him, though he also, in some measure, adorned Modena, Reggio, Carpi, and Coreggio; drawing scholars from all these places, who will appear in a catalogue with the rest in their appropriate chapter. In this way he early began to exercise an influence over the school of Modena, and to be esteemed in it a sort of master, whose manner might be pursued with advantage, either in emulating it altogether, or uniting it with that of Raffaello.

This became more particularly the case when his fame increased, after his decease; and when the best specimens he left behind him were collected by degrees, both from the capital and from the adjacent cities, by different dukes of Este, to adorn their Gallery, where they were to be seen until nearly the middle of the present century.[6] At that period Modena was thronged with artists of every country, coming to take copies of those great productions, and to study the rules of their composition; an object in which the natives themselves were not remiss; insomuch that we trace vestiges of their imitation in every separate hand. In regard, however, to the earliest and more ancient, it would appear that their predilection and their genius were more decidedly directed towards Raffaello, and the Roman manner; whether it be that exotic commodities are more highly valued than those of native growth, or whether it were that the successors of Pellegrino alone continued for a length of time to instruct youth, and to maintain a reputation in those parts.

It would be desirable in the history of so excellent a school, that writers should inform us by whom many of those masters were educated who flourished towards the middle, or latter half of the century. Observation, however, may in some degree serve to supply the omission of historians, as the style in many approaches so nearly that of Raffaello, as to lead us to conclude, that they must have imbibed it from Munari himself, or from the Taraschi, who succeeded him in his school.

Among the works of Gaspare Pagani, who was also a portrait-painter, the picture of S. Chiara is the only remaining specimen. Of Girolamo da Vignola, a few frescos remain at S. Piero. Both were professed imitators of Raffaello; but the last one of the most happy whom that age produced. Alberto Fontana displayed equal excellence in his frescos, and ornamented both within and without the public market-place; pictures, says Scanelli, which appear like Raffaello's, while he erroneously ascribes them to the hand of Niccolò dell' Abate. And in truth, from the observation of Vedriani, the style of one very much resembles that of the other; whether they may have both equally imbibed it from Begarelli, which the same historian seems to insinuate, or whether they derived it through some other channel, in the academy of Munari. Still the similitude of their manner is not such as to merge their more peculiar distinctions; so that if the heads of Alberto's figures are remarkable for a fine air, and for tints that rival those of Niccolò, we can easily point out less perfect design, and occasionally a certain rudeness and heaviness. But let us turn to his competitor, and dwell upon the subject more at length, as becomes the character of a painter, enumerated by Algarotti "among the first who have adorned the world."

He is supposed by some to have been instructed by Coreggio, an assertion which cannot wholly be discredited, when we cast our eye upon some instances of his foreshortening, and of his fine relievo. But Vasari no where mentions such a circumstance; and it is only on adverting to the Martyrdom of the chiefs of the Apostles, painted by him at the Monaci Neri, that he remarks, that the figure of an executioner is taken from a picture by Coreggio at S. Giovanni of Parma. Whoever may have been the tutor of Niccolino, he very evidently betrays his enthusiasm for the Roman School, in his frescos at Modena, supposed to be one of his earliest works. The same might be averred of his twelve fresco pictures upon the twelve books of the Æneid, removed from the fortress of Candiano, and now adorning the ducal palace; sufficient of themselves to exhibit him as an excellent hand in figures, in landscape, in architecture, and in animals; in every merit requisite to a distinguished disciple of Raffaello. Proceeding at a maturer age to Bologna, he painted under the portico of the Lions, a Nativity of our Lord, in such a manner that neither in those of Raffaellino del Borgo, nor of any other artist educated in Rome, do I recollect meeting with so decided a resemblance to the head of the school. I know that a distinguished professor was in the habit of pronouncing it the most perfect painting in fresco that the city of Bologna possessed. It formed likewise the admiration and model of the Caracci, no less than other works of Niccolino, remaining in the city. Among these, the most admired by strangers, is that fine Conversazione of ladies and youths, which serves for a frieze in the hall of the Institute. Next to Raffaello this artist did not refuse to imitate some others. There is recorded, and indeed impressed upon the memory of most painters, a sonnet of Agostino Caracci, from which we learn, that in Niccolino alone was assembled the symmetry of Raffaello, the terror of Michelangiolo, the truth of Titian, the dignity of Coreggio, the composition of Tibaldi, the grace of Parmigianino; in a word, the best of every best professor, and of every school. Such an opinion, though to be taken with some grains of allowance, from a poet passionately attached to the honour of his native school, might perhaps obtain more supporters, did the pieces of Abati appear somewhat more frequently in different collections. But they are extremely rare; no less because of the superior number of his frescos, than from the circumstance of his having passed into France at the age of forty. He was invited thither by the Abate Primaticcio to assist him in some of his greatest works, intended for Charles IX., nor did he ever return into Italy. Hence arose the story of his having been a pupil of Primaticcio, and taking from him his cognomen of Abate; when in fact he drew that title from his own family. About 1740 there were remaining at Fontainebleau the Histories of Ulysses, to the number of thirty-eight, painted by Niccolò from designs of Primaticcio; the most extensive of any of his works executed in France. According to Algarotti, it was afterwards destroyed, though engravings of it, from the hand of Van-Thulden, a pupil of Rubens, still remain.

Niccolò's family, also, for a long period, continued to maintain a reputation in many branches of the art. One of his brothers, Pietro Paolo, distinguished himself by his happy manner of representing warlike skirmishes, in particular the terrific charges of horse: several small pictures in the ducal gallery, from their peculiar character, are thus ascribed to his hand; and they are to be seen placed immediately below those of the Æneid. In the chronicle of Lancillotto we meet with Giulio Camillo, son of Niccolò, who accompanied his father into France; his name thus remaining nearly unknown in Italy. The most distinguished name in the family after Niccolo, is that of Ercole, son of Giulio, though its lustre was impaired by an abandoned course of life, productive of great unhappiness. He painted a good deal; but, as is too frequently the case with persons of his character, he diminished the value of his productions by the haste and inaccuracy of his hand. Of his superior merit, however, we are assured by the number of commissions bestowed upon him by the Modenese court, to which we are inclined to give more credit than to the venal strains of Marino, who extols him to the skies. His picture of the marriage of Cana, remaining in the ducal gallery, would be sufficient to establish his fame; it is in his finest manner, and, in many points, displays much of the taste of the Venetian School. His most extensive work was produced for the hall of council, where he had a companion and rival in Schedone, assisting him in those pictures which they undertook in conjunction, and vieing with him in his separate works. Nor ought it to be esteemed any diminution of his merit to have been surpassed by so great a competitor. The last of these family artists is Pietro Paolo, son of Ercole, who died in his eight and thirtieth year, 1630. I include his name here, in order not to separate him from his ancestors, of none of whom he was unworthy. Though hardly with equal genius, he pursued the manner of his father; there is a tame expression in several of his best authenticated pieces: I say best authenticated, because it is doubtful whether we should consider some pictures, attributed to him, as the inferior specimens of his father, or the best of his own.

Besides the disciples and imitators of Raffaello, I find other artists of Modena, who, during the sixteenth century, became attached to a different style; and no one among these is to be preferred to Ercole de' Setti, an excellent engraver, as well as a painter of considerable merit. A few of his altar-pieces remain at Modena; and I have seen, though very rarely, some little pieces painted for galleries, dignified rather than beautiful in point of design. He is cautious and studied in the naked parts, nearly equal to the style of the Florentines, spirited in his attitudes, and strong in his colouring. We find his name subscribed Ercole de' Setti, and also in Latin, Hercules Septimius. Along with his name Vedriani enumerates that of a Francesco Madonnina, entitling him one of the most celebrated artists in the city; but there is too little of his remaining in Modena to form a judgment of his style. As little also remains of Giovanni Battista[c] Ingoni, a rival of Niccolo, as he is termed by Vasari; and what yet exists is by no means to be held in high estimation. I have discovered nothing from the hand of Gio. Batista Codibue, though I have read of his Nunziata at the Carmine being highly esteemed, besides other productions both in painting and sculpture. High commendations have likewise been bestowed upon Domenico Carnevale for his frescos, that have now perished, though a few oil paintings still exist, held in much esteem; one of the Epiphany, belonging to one of the prince's collections, and another of the Circumcision, in the palace of the Conti Cesi. He also distinguished himself at Rome; and it will be sufficient to add, that he was the artist selected to restore the pictures of Michelangiolo, as we find recorded in the notes to Vasari.

Reggio boasts the honour of having derived its first school from Raffaello; and Bernardino Zacchetti is supposed to have been one of his disciples, though the authorities cited to this effect by most historians, are not entirely conclusive. Perhaps his picture at S. Prospero, designed and coloured in the taste of Garofolo, and others which partake of that of Raffaello, may have given rise to this opinion. But Italy then abounded with the disciples of that great master, no longer instructed, indeed, by his voice, but by his paintings and engravings. The works, said to have been produced by him in Rome, and the assistance afforded to Bonarruoti, in his labours at the Sistine Chapel, are assertions of Azzari, contained in his Compendio, which remain unquestioned by any ancient writer. We might more easily, however, grant him the proposition of Giarola having been a pupil of Coreggio, and as such I have reserved him for the school of Parma.

Not long after these flourished Lelio Orsi, of Reggio. Banished from his native place, he took up his residence at Novellara, a city then in the possession of the Gonzaghi, where he established himself, and derived his name of Lelio da Novellara. This distinguished character, of whom no account had been given, beyond a slight notice in the Abbecedario, has recently been honoured with an excellent life, from the pen of the Cavalier Tiraboschi, compiled from a variety of sources. Whether he was really a disciple of Coreggio still remains a disputed point with historians, though it is certain he flourished sufficiently near, both in regard to time and place, to have become acquainted with him. He, at least, studied and copied his works, of which there is an instance in a copy of the celebrated Notte, in possession of the noble house of Gazzola, at Verona. Nor are there wanting writers who maintain that Parma, likewise, was embellished by his hand, a city in which the chief ornaments of that school employed themselves. And there are false accounts, still in some measure credited, of his having been a pupil of Michelangiolo; of Coreggio having corresponded with him, and even consulted him in his designs. It is true, indeed, he is an ingenious, accurate, and powerful designer. Whether he imbibed his taste at Rome, as Tiraboschi, upon the authority of a MS., seems to believe; or from Giulio in the city of Mantua; or, again, from studying the designs and models of Michelangiolo; a knowledge of the path being itself sufficient to enable enlightened spirits to run the same career with success. Decidedly his design is not of the Lombard School; and hence arises the difficulty of supposing him one of the scholars of Coreggio, in which case his earlier pieces, at least, would have partaken of a less robust character. He has admirably succeeded, however, in attaining the same grace in his chiaroscuro, in the spreading of his colours, and in the beauty and delicacy of his youthful heads. Both Reggio and Novellara possess many of his pictures in fresco, now, for the most part, perished; and we are indebted to the glorious memory of Francesco III. for such as are now to be seen at Modena, in the palace of his highness, transferred thither from the fortress of Novellara. Few of his altar-pieces remain in public in either of the cities, the rest being removed; one of which last, representing the Saints Rocco and Sebastiano, along with S. Giobbe, I happened to meet with in the studio of Signor Armanno, at Bologna. A few others attributed to him at Parma,[7] at Ancona, and at Mantua, are by no means of so authentic a character; and there is every reason to believe that Lelio, dividing his time between Reggio and Novellara, never absented himself from those places long together; and has thus remained less known than many other painters of inferior rank. The silence of Vasari, of Lomazzo, of Baldinucci, as well as the chief part of foreigners, is thus likewise accounted for.

From the school of Lelio, in all probability, sprung Jacopo Borbone, of Novellara, who, in the year 1614, painted a portion of the cloister at the church of the Osservanti, in Mantua; also, Orazio Perucci, of whom there remain various pictures in private houses, and an altar-piece at S. Giovanni. Raffaello Motta was undoubtedly a pupil of Orsi, better known under the name of Raffaellino da Reggio, who left in his native place a few of his productions in fresco; an astonishing genius, deserving of Rome for his theatre of action, as indeed I before observed, and of being lamented like a new Raffaello, prematurely passing away.

At this period Carpi had to boast the name of Orazio Grillenzone, who resided mostly in Ferrara, where enjoying the acquaintance of Tasso, he was honoured and immortalized by his pen, being rendered the subject of that dialogue, bearing for its title, Il Grillenzone, or the Epitaph. But none of his paintings are now to be found in that city; and even what remains of his in Carpi is of a very disputable character. I do not here speak of the celebrated Girolamo of Carpi; because he was in fact a native of Ferrara, as I elsewhere observed. There is little to be said of Ugo da Carpi, as a painter: he was of an inferior genius when he applied himself to his pencil; and fell still further below mediocrity when he became whimsical enough to paint with his fingers, recording the exploit upon the canvass, as he did in the figure of the Volto Santo, the Holy Face, at S. Pietro, in Rome. Still we ought to bear honourable testimony to his merit, as the inventor of wood engraving in two, and next in three blocks, or pieces, by which he expressed the three different tints, the shade, the middle tints, and the light.[8] In this way he produced many designs and inventions of Raffaello, with greater clearness than even Marc Antonio had before done; besides opening to posterity a new path, as it were, of painting in chiaroscuro, very easily imitated and multiplied. Vasari particularly treats upon it at the close of his Introduction; and there, no less than in other places, commends the genius of Ugo as one of the most acute that was ever directed towards the fine arts.

MODENESE SCHOOL.

EPOCH III.

The Modenese Artists of the Seventeenth Century chiefly follow the example of the Bolognese.

The taste introduced by Munari into Modena and the state, together with the example of Coreggio and Lelio, did not become wholly extinct in the seventeenth century. It was in some measure continued by several of their pupils and imitators, but in proportion as those of the Caracci grew into greater credit, gradually extending their influence over the other schools of Italy, it began to decline apace. It is well known that some of the Modenese frequented their academy, and Bartolommeo Schedone is included by Malvasia among the scholars of the Caracci. If such be the fact, we must conclude, either that his first productions are not known, or that he merely saluted that school, as it were, from the threshold; inasmuch as the larger works which are pointed out as his, betray few traces of the style of the Caracci. It seems more probable that he employed himself in following the successors of Raffaello in his native place, and in particular Coreggio, of whom there remained so many original pieces. His pieces in fresco, executed in competition with Ercole Abati, about 1604, still exist in the public palace; and among these is the beautiful history of Coriolanus, and the Seven Sisters, who are meant to represent Harmony: whoever observes these will find they possess a mixture of the two characters before alluded to. There is, moreover, in the cathedral, a half figure of S. Geminiano, with an infant boy restored by him to life, supporting himself by the saint's staff, and apparently returning his thanks. It may be enumerated among the best of his works, and bears a striking resemblance to those of Coreggio. The same resemblance was affirmed from that period in other of his pictures transferred elsewhere; and Marini mentions them in one of his letters as a kind of phenomenon. Scanelli, who wrote about forty years after the death of Schedone, also confirms such an opinion; though to make the imitation complete, he would have wished a little more practice and solidity, in which I rather think he alludes to his perspective and design, not always quite correct. For the rest his figures, both in their character and their action, are very pleasing, while his colouring in fresco is very vivid and lively; in oils he is more serious, but more harmonious, though not always free from the ill effect produced by the bad grounds usual in the age of the Caracci. His pictures on a larger scale, such as his Pietà, now in the academy of Parma, are extremely rare, and also his history-pieces, as the Nativity of our Lord and that of the Virgin, placed for lateral ornaments to an altar-piece by Filippo Bellini. Of his Holy Families, and little sacred pieces, there are some remaining; such as are found in galleries being highly valuable, so much so, that Tiraboschi records the sum of 4,000 crowns having been required for one of them. The court of Naples is extremely rich in them, having, together with the other Farnesian pictures, obtained also those painted by Schedone, while in the service of Duke Ranuccio, his most liberal patron. This artist produced but little, being seduced by the love of gambling; nor did he survive very long after losing a large sum of money, about the end of the year 1615.

The three following names belong to the school of the Caracci, also in regard to style. Giacomo Cavedone, born in Sassuolo, but absent from the state after the period of youth, was esteemed one of the best disciples of Lodovico. Giulio Secchiari, of Modena, resided also at Rome, and in Mantua, where he produced several excellent pictures for the court, which perished in the sack of 1630. What remains of him in his native place, and in particular the Death of the Virgin, in the subterranean part of the cathedral, with four crowns around, is calculated to give rise to lively regret, that Giulio should not be equally well known in different collections, with the other disciples of the Caracci. Camillo Gavassetti, likewise of Modena, may boast also of a greater degree of merit than of fame; no less because he died young, than because of his attaching himself to works in fresco, which, confined to the place in which they are produced, confine also the reputation of the artist. He is better known in Piacenza than in Modena, Parma, or, indeed, any other city. One of his paintings adorns the presbytery of the church of S. Antonino, accompanied with figures taken from the Apocalypse, so finely executed as to induce Guercino, when coming to Piacenza to complete his finest work, to bestow the highest commendation upon it; and it is still enumerated among the chief ornaments of that rich and ornate city. There is something so grand, spirited, and choice, in its whole expression, combined with so much grace and harmony of tints, that it equally surprises us when viewed together, and satisfies us when examined part by part. The action only is sometimes too extravagant, and some of the figures are hardly sufficiently studied. In fact, this artist preferred expedition to high finish; and held a dispute, reported by Baldinucci, with Tiarini, who practised and maintained the contrary, a plan by which, in all works of importance, he was preferred to him in Parma. In Santa Maria di Campagna, at Piacenza, however, where they both painted scriptural histories in opposition, Gavassetti maintains his ground against Tiarini, and other competitors, very numerous and distinguished for that period.

When the pupils of the Caracci succeeded their masters in Bologna, the young artists of the neighbouring state of Modena continued to receive instructions from them, being highly esteemed in the court of Este. At that period flourished Francesco I., and Alfonso IV., both of whom, according to the history of Malvasia, were greatly attached to the followers of the Caracci; some of these they invited into their service, others they employed in their palaces, and at their public festivals; and from all they were anxious to obtain designs and pictures which they might exhibit in their churches, or in their grand collection of paintings, rendered by their means one of the richest in Europe. Hence the artists who next follow, with the exception of a very few, among whom is Romani of Reggio, will be included in one school. It seems certain that Romani studied in Venice, and there became attached to Paolo, whose style he adopted in the Mysteries of the Rosario; and even more so to Tintoretto, whose rules he usually practised, and very successfully.

Guido Reni was either the master or the prototype of Gio. Batista Pesari; if this artist, who resembles Guido in his Madonna at S. Paolo, imitated him as closely in his other works. But of this we cannot judge, as he flourished only during a short period, and part of that time in Venice, where he died before enjoying any degree of fame. Guido himself undoubtedly bestowed his instructions on Luca da Reggio, and on Bernardo Cervi da Modena. Luca I have mentioned in the preceding book. The second according to the judgment of Guido, was possessed of distinguished talents for design; and though meeting with a premature fate in the pestilence of 1630, he left behind him works in the cathedral, and other churches, not inferior, perhaps, to those of Luca. From the same school sprung Giovanni Boulanger, of Troyes, painter to the court of Modena, and master in that city. We find, in the ducal palace, various specimens of his pencil truly delicate, though his want of good grounds in many pictures, occasionally casts some reflection upon his merit. He is happy in his inventions, warm and harmonious in his colours, spirited in his attitudes, but not without some touch of excessive enthusiasm. The sacrifice of Iphigenia, if a genuine production, is sufficient to establish his character; although the figure of Agamemnon may appear veiled in a capricious style, scarcely adapted to an heroic subject. Two of his best imitators and disciples are Tommaso Costa, of Sassuolo, and Sigismondo Caula, of Modena; the first of whom succeeded as a powerful colourist, of very general talent, and was eagerly employed by the neighbouring courts and cities in perspective, in landscape, and in figures. Reggio, where he usually resided, retains many of his productions: Modena has several, and in particular the cupola of S. Vincenzo bears proud testimony to his merit. Caula left his native place, only in order to improve his knowledge in Venice. Thence he returned with the acquisition of a copious and richly coloured style, as Orlandi very justly remarks, in regard to his great picture of the Plague, at S. Carlo. He subsequently changed his tints, which became more languid, and in such taste are most of the pictures he produced for the ornament of altars and cabinets.

Many artists of Reggio were initiated in the art by Lionello Spada, and by Desani, his pupil, and assistant in the numerous labours he executed at that place. Among these are Sebastiano Vercellesi, Pietro Martire Armani, and in particular Orazio Talami, who, not content, like the rest, to remain in his native place, traversed Italy, studied with unwearied care the models of the Caracci, and succeeded so well in his figures, that he might be mistaken for one of their scholars. While at Rome, which he twice visited, he devoted himself much to perspective, and very scrupulously observes its rules in the noble and extensive representations of architectural objects, which he introduced into his compositions. In all respects his style is inclined rather to solidity than to amenity. His native place boasts many of his labours, and more especially two large pictures abounding in figures, preserved in the presbytery of the cathedral. Jacopo Baccarini was an imitator of his style, two of whose pictures have been engraved by Buonvicini; a Riposo di Egitto, and a S. Alessio Morto, both of which are to be seen at S. Filippo. This artist's manner displays much judgment, accompanied with a good deal of grace. Mattia Benedetti, a priest of Reggio, commended in the Abbecedario, was instructed in the art of perspective by Talami himself, and, together with his brother Lodovico, occupies an honourable place in this class. Paolo Emilio Besenzi, a particular imitator of Albano, either from natural taste or education, differs a good deal in the former from Lionello. Reggio retains many pieces, especially at S. Pietro, highly creditable to this artist's talents; besides statues and buildings in very good taste; as he succeeded in uniting, like some of the best among the ancients, the various qualities of the three sister arts.

Guercino, likewise, presented the state with an excellent scholar in Antonio Triva di Reggio. He distinguished himself in various cities of Italy, and even in Venice, whither he conducted his sister Flamminia, who possessed a genius for the art. Here they both employed themselves in several public works, which acquired for them the commendation of Boschini. Occasionally he adheres so faithfully to his master, as in the Orto at Piacenza, as not even to yield to Cesare Gennari. In other pieces he is more free; though still his manner retains strong traces of his school, really beautiful, as it is pronounced by Zanetti, and, if I mistake not, full of truth. He finally visited the court of Bavaria, where he was employed until the period of his death.

To Guercino, also, we must refer another imitator[d] of his style, in Lodovico Lana. He was instructed, however, by Scarsellini, and from that circumstance, has been enumerated by some among the artists of Ferrara. But Lana, most likely, was born in the state of Modena, in whose city he resided and held his school. His reputation there is great, as well on account of many very beautiful pieces, as more particularly for that in the Chiesa del Voto, in which he represented Modena freed from the scourge of the plague. It is generally agreed that he never produced a finer specimen of his art, and there are few, at this time, in those churches, that can be said to rival it in point of composition, in force of colouring, harmony, and a certain novelty and abundance of images, that produce surprise in the spectator. Lana is one of the freest among the imitators of Guercino; his touch is the same, though less strong, and in taste they exactly coincide. In his motions he has something of Tintoretto, or more properly of Scarsellini; but in his colours, and the expressions of his countenances, he preserves an originality of character. Pesari and he were rivals, as were the masters whom they respectively followed, on account of their contrast of style. Pesari, however, seemed to yield, as he transferred his talents to Venice, while his competitor became the director of an academy in Modena, which supported by his credit, then became celebrated throughout Italy. The name of Lana continues to maintain its ground in Bologna, and other adjacent places, while it is not unknown in lower Italy. The chief part of his specimens to be met with in collections, consist of heads of aged men, full of dignity, and touched with a certain boldness of hand, which declares the master.

Those who flourished after him, belonging to the city of Modena and the state, were for the most part educated elsewhere. Bonaventura Lamberti, of Carpi, as I have observed in the Roman School, was instructed by Cignani; and there he had a noble theatre for the display of his powers. At the same period flourished Francesco Stringa, in Modena, where he painted a good deal in a style, if I mistake not, that approached, or seemed rather ambitious of approaching, that of Lana, and Guercino himself. By some, he is supposed to have been a pupil of the first; by others, of the second of these artists; but it is known only with certainty, that he formed himself upon their model, and that of other excellent masters, whose works, during his superintendance of the great Este Gallery, he might consult at his pleasure. Endowed with a rich imagination, spirited and rapid in execution, he produced much, which was greatly commended, both in the cathedral and in the churches. His distinguishing characteristic is the depth of his shades, the somewhat disproportioned length of his figures, and an inclination to the capricious in his actions and composition. When in advanced years he began to deteriorate in style, a case common to most artists.

He was the first master of Jacopo Zoboli, who, proceeding from Modena into Bologna, and thence to Rome, settled there, and died in 1761, with the reputation of a good artist. This he in a high degree acquired by his labours in the church of S. Eustachio, where he is distinguished amongst the more modern productions by his S. Girolamo, displaying singular diligence, polish, and harmony of colours, by no means general in those times. The Primaziale of Pisa also boasted a grand picture by his hand, representing S. Matteo, in the act of dedicating a young princess to a holy life, by the imposition of the sacred veil. Two other artists of Modena, Francesco Vellani and Antonio Consetti, who died near the same time, not very long ago, were instructed in the art by Stringa and his school. Both are in a taste much resembling that of the Bolognese of their own age. The former however, is not so accurate in point of design as the latter, a strict and commendable master in that art. It is true, he has a crudeness of colours, not very pleasing to the eye; no new circumstance in an artist educated in the school of Creti. Both Modena and the state are in possession of many of their pieces.

Still more modern artists have supported with honour the reputation of such predecessors; but I could not here, without deviating from my original system, venture to mention them. The place will invariably serve to forward instruction; a collection of designs and paintings being now exhibited in the ducal gallery, which does honour to Italy, no less than to the noble taste of the family of Este that established it. Nor has it omitted, from time to time, to provide for young artists the assistance of the academy, which continued to flourish there, from the times of Lana, often closed, and afterwards re-opened, until beyond the age of Consetti. But it proved too difficult an attempt, to support another academy so near that of Bologna, so widely distinguished and attended.[9]

The same celebrated state, so fruitful in every kind of merit, produced also able professors in other branches of the art. Lodovico Bertucci, of Modena, was a painter of capricci, which were at that period much admired and admitted even into palaces; and perhaps there are many of his specimens still preserved there, but known under other names. A Pellegrino Ascani, of Carpi, was an admirable flower-painter, and was succeeded, after a long interval, by Felice Rubbiani. This last was a scholar of Bettini, the companion of his travels, and the imitator of his taste. He was a favourite at court, in the cities, and the vicinity; and had commissions bestowed upon him to the number of thirty-six pictures, by the Marchesi Riva, of Mantua, all of which he varied in the most astonishing manner. There was, moreover, a Matteo Coloretti, from Reggio, excellent in portraits, and a lady of the name of Margherita Gabassi, who succeeded admirably in humourous pieces. Nor ought we to omit the name of Paolo Gibertoni, of Modena, who settled at Lucca, and for this reason less known in his native place. His grotesques in fresco boast no ordinary merit; and these he varied with every species of strange animals, executed with great spirit. He was likewise very pleasing in his landscapes, which rose in value after his death, and are still much esteemed.

Most part of the artists of the Modenese state distinguished themselves in ornamental work and in architecture; such as Girolamo Comi, whose fine perspectives deserved to have been accompanied with superior figures; and Gio. Batista Modonino, called by mistake Madonnino in the Dictionary of Artists, who acquired a high reputation in Rome, and probably left several frescos in the Palazzo Spada. He died of the plague, in Naples, 1656. Antonio Ioli met with a better fate there, about the same period; having acquired the theory of architecture, he passed into Rome, and, entering the school of Pannini, he became one of the most celebrated painters in architecture and ornamental work, known to the present century. Applauded in the theatres of Spain, England, and Germany, all of which he adorned, he afterwards went to Naples, and became painter to Carlo III., and to his successor. Giuseppe Dallamano, a weak man, and, as it is said, unacquainted with his alphabet, was ignorant even of the common principles of the art; though by an extraordinary sort of talent, and especially in colouring, he attained a degree of excellence truly surprising, even to the learned; by which he continued to live, employing himself in the service of the royal family at Turin. His pupil Fassetti was, likewise, an extraordinary character; applying himself, at the age of twenty-eight, to the grinding of colours, he soon began to imitate his master; and ultimately, with the assistance of Francesco Bibiena, he became one of the most skilful among the theatrical painters of Lombardy. He came from Reggio, as well as his contemporary Zinani, and the younger Spaggiasi, both educated in the school of Bibiena; although of the father of Spaggiasi, who died in the service of the king of Poland, the master's name remains unknown. To these we might add the name of Bartoli, Zannichelli, Bazzani, and of others, either yet flourishing or deceased; names by which the cavalier Tiraboschi is justified in observing, that "Reggio had the honour of having at all times produced excellent theatrical painters."

Carpi enjoys a different kind of honour, though as great in its way. For there were first commenced the works termed a scagliola, or a mischia, of mixed workmanship, the first inventor of which was Guido Fassi, or del Conte.[10] The stone, called selenite, forms the first ingredient in it. It is pounded and mixed with colours, and by the application of a certain glue, the composition becomes as hard as stone, forming a kind of marble, capable, with further care, of taking a gradual polish. The first trial was made upon cornices, which thus assume the appearance of fine marbles; and there remain also in Carpi, of the same composition, two altars by the hand of Guido himself. His fellow citizens began to avail themselves of this discovery; some adding one thing to it, and some another. Annibal Griffoni, a pupil of Guido, applied it to monuments, and even ventured upon the composition of pictures, intended to represent engravings upon copper, as well as pictures in oil; an attempt not very successful, insomuch that the specimens by his son Gaspero are not valued beyond a few tabernacles, and things in a similar taste. Giovanni Gavignani afforded assistance first to Guido, and next to Griffoni, surpassing both in a skilful application of the art. Thus, the altar of S. Antonio, in the church of S. Niccolo, at Carpi, is still pointed out as something extraordinary, consisting of two columns of porphyry, and adorned with a pallium embroidered with lace; an exact imitation of the covers of the altar, while it is ornamented in the margin with medals, bearing beautiful figures. Nor is the monument from the hand of one Ferrari in the cathedral, less perfect in its kind; where the marbles are so admirably counterfeited, that several tourists of the best taste have been induced to break a small portion, to convince themselves of the fact. There are, also, pictures preserved in private houses thus drawn by Gavignani; one of which consists of the Rape of Proserpine, executed with much elegance, in possession of Signor Cabassi.

Leoni, who resided in Cremona, was a disciple of the Griffoni, and the artificer of two very beautiful desks, preserved in the Ducal Museum at Modena, as well as Paltronieri and Mazzelli, who introduced the art into Romagna, where it still continues to flourish. We there meet with altars, that equally deceive the eye by their colour, and the touch by the freshness of the marble. But the most celebrated pupil of the Griffoni was a priest called Gio. Massa, who, together with Gio. Pozzuoli, produced wonderful specimens of the art in his native place, in the adjacent cities, in Guastalla, Novellara, and elsewhere. The priest proved equally successful in drawing distant views, gardens, and in particular architecture, besides adorning with it tablets, and coverings of altars, in such a manner as to reach the very perfection of the art. The most dignified objects possessed by Rome were those which he most delighted in for his views; such as the façade of the temple of the Vatican, its colonnade, and its piazza. It appears the Duke of Guastalla took singular pleasure in similar works; and at his desire were prepared those two little tables, in the possession of Signor Alberto Pio, cited by Tiraboschi, and which were, perhaps, the masterpieces of Massa. No objects appeared to me more remarkable than such works abounding almost in every church throughout those parts; and it would be very desirable that the plan of representing architectural views, by this process, should become more frequent. Massa also included figures, the honour of perfecting which has fallen upon Florence; a subject I have treated in my first volume, (p. 346). I shall merely notice here, that after the practice of modelling had been brought to vie with sculpture; and after engraving upon wood had so well counterfeited works of design, we have to record this third invention, belonging to a state of no great dimensions. Such a fact is calculated to bring into still higher estimation the geniuses who adorned it. There is nothing of which man is more ambitious, than of being called the inventor of new arts: nothing is more flattering to his intellect, or draws a broader line between him and the animals that are incapable of such inventions, or of carrying them beyond the limits prescribed by instinct. In short, nothing was held in higher reverence among the ancients; and hence it is, that Virgil, in his Elysian fields, represented the band of inventors with their brows crowned with white chaplets, equally distinct in merit as in rank, from the more vulgar shades around them.

THE SCHOOL OF PARMA.

EPOCH I.

The Ancients.

Next in order to the school of Modena, I rank that of Parma and its state; and I should very gladly have united them together, as other writers have done, if in addition to the distinction of dominions there did not also exist an evident distinction in point of taste. For it appears to me, as I have before had occasion to observe, that in the former of these cities the imitation of Raffaello prevailed; in the second that of Coreggio. This last indeed is the founder of the School of Parma, which preserved a series of disciples for several generations, so strongly attached to his examples as to bestow no attention upon any other model. The situation in which he found the city on his first arrival, is apparent from the ancient figures scattered throughout, which by no means discover a progress in the art of painting equal to that of many other cities in Italy. Not that this arose from any want of acquaintance with the arts of design; for there flourished there as early as the 12th century an artist named Benedetto Antelani, of whom a basso-relievo, representing the Crucifixion of our Lord, is in the cathedral, which, though the production of a rude age, had nothing in sculpture equal to it that I have been able to meet with, until the period of Giovanni Pisano. Respecting the art of painting, the celebrated Father Affò has extracted very interesting notices from published documents and MSS., in order to shew, that before 1233, both figures and historical pieces had been painted in Parma.[11] Upon the completion of the baptismal font, about 1260, that assemblage of paintings was there executed, which may now be regarded as one of the finest remaining monuments of the ancient manner that upper Italy has to boast. The subjects are in the usual taste of those times; the style is less angular and rectilinear than that of the Greek mosaicists;[e] and displays some originality in the draperies, in the ornamental parts, and in the composition. Above all, it shews very skilful mechanism in regard to gilding and colouring, which, notwithstanding the distance of five centuries, retain much of their original strength.

Down from that period there appear in several places, both at Piacenza and Parma, further specimens of the Trecentisti, sometimes with annexed dates, and sometimes without any. Such as belong to Piacenza, are in the church and cloister of the Predicatori; but the best preserved of all is an altar-piece at San Antonio Martire, with histories of the titular saint in small figures, tolerably well drawn, and in costume which seems to have been borrowed, as it were, from some municipal usages peculiar to the place. Parma, likewise, possesses some of the same date, besides a few others remaining at San Francesco, in a somewhat more polished style, attributed to Bartolommeo Grossi, or to Jacopo Loschi, his son-in-law, both of whom were employed there in 1462. Subsequent to these flourished Lodovico da Parma, a pupil of Francia, whose Madonnas, executed in his master's manner, are easily recognized in Parma; and a Cristoforo Caselli (not Castelli, as he is termed by Vasari,) or Cristoforo Parmense, enumerated by Ridolfi among the pupils of Gian Bellino. He produced a very beautiful painting for the hall of the Consorziali, bearing the date of 1499; and he is much commended by Grappaldo in his work De partibus Ædium, who next to him ranks Marmitta, of whom there is no authentic specimen remaining. Still his name ought to be recorded, were it for no other reason than his being the supposed master of Parmigianino. Along with these we may mention Alessandro Araldi, one of the scholars of Bellini, of whom there remains a Nunziata, at the Padri del Carmine, with his name, besides altar-pieces in different churches. He was indisputably a good artist in the mixed manner, that is now called antico moderno. The family of the Mazzuoli was much employed about the same period in Parma, consisting of three brother artists, Michele and Pierilario, falsely supposed to have been the first masters of Coreggio, and Filippo, called dalle Erbette, from succeeding better in fruits and flowers than in figure pieces. There remains an altar-piece of Pierilario in the Sacristy of Santa Lucia, executed in a method very superior to that of the "Baptism of Christ," painted for the baptismal font by his brother Filippo. But, however inferior to his other brothers in this line himself, Filippo may be pronounced at least more fortunate in his posterity, being the father of Parmigianino, whom we have so lately had occasion to commend.

Yet the two most excellent of the Mazzuoli could not, any more than their contemporaries, have been considered artists upon a great scale, when the Padri Cassinensi, instead of availing themselves of their services to decorate the tribune and cupola of their magnificent temple, dedicated to St. John, preferred inviting Antonio Allegri da Coreggio, a foreigner and a youth, to undertake the immense task; a choice which may be said to have conferred a lasting obligation upon posterity. For Coreggio, like Raffaello, stood in need of some extensive undertaking in order to bring his powers into full play, and to open a new path for labours upon a grand scale, as he had before done in those of a smaller class. But of an artist who forms an era in Italian painting itself, not in this particular school only, it becomes us to treat, as well as of his imitators, in a separate chapter.

SCHOOL OF PARMA.

EPOCH II.

Coreggio, and those who succeeded him in his School.

We are at length arrived at one of those distinguished characters, whom, from his high reputation, and the influence he exercised over the style of painting in Italy, we can by no means dismiss with our accustomed brevity. His name, however, must still be confined within compendious limits, adding whatever new information and reflections we may think best adapted for the illustration of such a subject; the life of Coreggio being involved in so much obscurity, as to admit, beyond that of any other artist, of fresh discussion. The more curious may consult the notices of him by the Cavalier Mengs, contained in his second volume, a little work by Cavalier Ratti, upon the life and works of Allegri, published in Finale in 1781, and Tiraboschi in his Notices of the professors of Modena, besides Padre Affò, in his works already cited, the most accurate, perhaps, of any in point of chronology.

The whole of these writers, following the example of Scannelli and Orlandi, have complained of Vasari for having falsely asserted the abject condition of Antonio,[12] sprung, in fact, from a tolerably good family in an illustrious city, and not destitute of those conveniences of fortune that might enable him from the first to obtain an education adapted to the success of his future efforts. They have also in particular reproached him with his excessive credulity, in representing him to us as a suffering and unhappy object, burdened with a numerous family, little appreciated and badly rewarded for his labours. On the contrary they observe, we know that he was respected by the great, richly recompensed, and enabled to leave a fair heritage for his family. Now I admit that Vasari is guilty of much exaggeration, though not without some shew of truth; for we only need to compare the commissions and gains of Coreggio with those of Raffaello, of Michelangiolo, of Titian, and even of Vasari himself, to divest us of all surprise at the honest commiseration of the historian. Annibal Caracci did not only compassionate his condition, but is said to have bewailed it with his tears.[13] Besides, if we reflect that the terms made use of by Vasari, of Coreggio having become si misero, so wretched, that nothing could be worse, do not exactly signify miserabile, miserable, as interpreted by some of his critics, but rather mean, miserly, and sparing, renouncing certain conveniences of life, in order to spend as little as possible, it will alter the complexion of the case. In the same manner he states, or rather as some think, imagines that Antonio, though enabled to travel like others, by water, mounted horse during the summer solstice, and shortly after died. And, indeed, if we consider the singular deprivations to which very wealthy people, for the same reason, will submit, we do not see how a reference to the possessions of the Allegri family, not without some degree of exaggeration, as has more than once been done, can disprove this charge of meanness and extreme parsimony. We trust that the Signor Dottor Antonioli will inform us more distinctly respecting the amount of Antonio's property, though we are inclined to believe it could not have exceeded the limits of mediocrity. The highest salaries received by him have been ascertained. For the cupola and larger nave of the church of San Giovanni, he was paid four hundred and seventy-two gold ducats, or Venetian zecchins, and for the cupola of the cathedral, three hundred and fifty; doubtless considerable sums, though we should consider he was occupied from the year 1520 until 1530, in the designs and labours requisite for works of such magnitude, and which prevented him from accepting other offers of any account during the interval. He earned forty gold ducats by his celebrated picture of Night; his San Girolamo brought him forty-seven ducats, or zecchins, besides his subsistence during six months he was employed on it; and thus, in equal proportion, we may suppose him to have been recompensed for the time bestowed upon his lesser pieces. The two which he painted for the Duke of Mantua we may reckon at something more; but these were the only ones he produced at the request of sovereigns. Thus much being certain, it is hardly credible, that after deducting the expense of colours, of models, and of assistants, including the maintenance of his family, there should still have remained enough to leave that family in a state of affluence.

But although we admit the reality of his supposed indigence, it can form no reproach, no drawback upon the excellences of so great a man, crowning him rather with additional honour, in particular when we reflect, that with such limited means he was invariably lavish of his colours, to a degree beyond example. There is not a single specimen, whether executed on copper, on panels, or on canvass, always sufficiently choice, that does not display a profusion of materials, of ultramarine, the finest lake and green, with a strong body, and repeated retouches; yet for the most part laid on without ever removing his hand from the easel before the work was completed. In short he spared neither time nor expense, contrary to the custom of all other painters, with very few exceptions. Such liberality, calculated to do honour to a rich amateur, painting for amusement, is infinitely more commendable in an artist of such circumscribed resources. It displays, in my opinion, all the grandeur of character that was supposed to animate the breast of a Spartan. And this we would advance, no less in reply to Vasari, who cast undue reflections upon Coreggio's economy, than as an example for such young artists as may be desirous of nourishing sentiments worthy of the noble profession they embrace.

It is still current in Coreggio that Antonio commenced his first studies under his uncle Lorenzo. Subsequent to which, according to Vedriani, he entered into the school of Francesco Bianchi, called Il Frari, who died in 1510, a school established in Modena. There also it appears he acquired the art of modelling, at that time in great repute; and he thus prepared in clay, along with Begarelli, the group of that Pietà, in Santa Margherita, where the three most beautiful figures are attributed to Coreggio. In the same highly distinguished city it is most probable that he also laid the foundation of that learned and cultivated taste so conspicuous in his works; the geometrical skill exhibited in his perspective, the architectural rules of his buildings, and the poetry of his warm and lively conceptions. Thus his historians, judging from the specimens of his early style, assert that he must have sought it in the academy of Andrea Mantegna at Mantua; but the recently discovered fact of Andrea's having died in 1506, does away with such a supposition. It is, nevertheless, extremely probable that he acquired it by studying the works left by Andrea at Mantua, for which I can adduce various arguments. I have described pretty fully the character of Mantegna's picture of Victory, the most extraordinary of all he produced; imitations of this are to be met with in many of the works of Coreggio, but most evidently so in the picture of his St. George at Dresden. The manner in which Coreggio could have imbibed so exquisite a taste, was always considered surprising and unaccountable, prevailing every where, as we find it in his canvass, in his laying on his colours, in the last touches of his pictures; but let us for a moment suppose him a student of Andrea's models, surpassing all others in the same taste as we before observed, and the wonder will be accounted for. Let us moreover consider the grace and vivacity so predominant in the compositions of Coreggio; that rainbow as it were of colours, that accurate care in his foreshortenings, and of those upon ceilings; his abundance of laughing boys and cherubs, of flowers, fruits, and all delightful objects; and let us then ask ourselves whether his new style does not appear an exquisite completion of that of Mantegna, as the pictures of Raffaello and Titian display the progress and perfection of those of Perugino and Giovanni Bellini.

In regard to his education in the studio of Mantegna, the generally received opinion in Lombardy is, that Vedriani must have been mistaken in a name; and that in place of Andrea, he ought to have pronounced his son Francesco, the master with whom it is maintained Coreggio resided, either in quality of pupil or assistant. Mantegna's school, indeed, had risen into great reputation, having given striking proof of its excellence even in foreshortening from above; besides surpassing Melozio, as I elsewhere observed, so as only to leave another step before reaching the modern manner. This was reserved for the genius of Coreggio, in common with the master spirits of every other school, who flourished during the same period. In truth from his very first attempts, he appears to have aimed at a softer and fuller style than Mantegna's; and several, among whom is the Abate Bettinelli, have pointed out some such specimens in Mantua. Signor Volta, member of the Royal Academy there, assured me that Coreggio is named in the books of the Opera di S. Andrea, for which reason, several of the figures on the outside of the church, and in particular a Madonna, better preserved than the rest, a youthful essay, but from the hand of one freed from the stiffness of the quattrocentisti, have been attributed to him.[14] In Mantua likewise I saw a little picture in possession of the Abate Bettinelli, about to be engraved, representing a Holy Family, in which, if we except a degree of stiffness in the folds, the modern manner is complete. A few other of Coreggio's Madonnas, to be referred to this period, are to be seen in the ducal gallery at Modena, with other works mentioned in various places. Among these is a picture of our Lord, taking farewell of the Virgin mother, previous to his passion, a piece recognized as a genuine Coreggio by the Abate Carlo Bianconi at Milan.[15] Doubtless many of his other early productions were of an inferior description, and are dispersed abroad, either unknown, or disputed, Vasari having recorded of him that he completed many pictures and works.

Wherefore is it then that in the published catalogues we meet with so very scanty a list of his pictures, nearly all esteemed excellent? It is because whatever does not appear superlatively beautiful has been doubted, denied, and cast aside as unworthy of him, or attributed to some of his school. Mengs himself, who investigated the relics of this great artist, and was very cautious of admitting any disputed productions, declares that he had only seen one specimen of his early style, that of his S. Antony, in the gallery of Dresden. This, as well as a S. Francis and the Virgin, he painted in 1512, in Carpi, when he was eighteen years of age.[16] From the stiffness apparent in this last, and the contrasted softness of the others, he was led to conjecture that Coreggio must have suddenly altered his manner, and attempted to penetrate into the unknown cause of it. He suspected, therefore, that what de Piles, followed by Resta, and some other writers, first advanced in his Dissertations, against the authority of Vasari, must be correct,[17] namely, that Coreggio visited Rome, and having observed the ancient style, and that of Raffaello and Michelangiolo, along with Melozio's pictures in the sotto in su, or foreshortening, he returned into Lombardy with a different taste acquired during his stay in the capital.

Yet this able scholar proposes such a view of the case, with singular deference to the contrary opinion of others, and even presents his reader with arguments against that view, to the following effect:—"If he did not behold the antique," (and the same may be averred of the two distinguished moderns,) "such as it exists in Rome, he may still have seen it as it appears at Modena and Parma; and the mere sight of an object is enough to awaken in fine spirits the idea of what it ought to be." And my readers, indeed, will be at no loss to find examples to confirm such an opinion; Titian and Tintoretto, by the mere use of modelling, having far surpassed those who designed statues; and Baroccio happening to cast his eye upon a head of Coreggio, soon distinguished himself in the same style. And if we may farther adduce an example of the power of sovereign genius, from the sciences, let us look at Galileo watching the oscillations of a bell in a church at Pisa, from which he drew the doctrine of motion and the principles of the new philosophy. So likewise might this great pictorial genius conceive the idea of a new style, from a few faint attempts of art, and thus won the applauses of the world of art, bestowed upon him from the time of Vasari, as something due less to a mortal than to a god. Doubtless in the first instance he received no slight impulse from the finer works of Andrea, from the collection of ancient relics in Mantua and Parma, from the studio of the Mantegni, and that of Begarelli, equally rich in models and designs. To these we may add an acquaintance with artists, familiar with Rome, with Munari, with Giulio Romano himself; and finally the general influence of the age, every where dissatisfied with the meanness of the late style, and aiming at a more soft, full, and clear development[f] of the contours. All these united in facilitating the progressive step which Coreggio had to take, though his own genius was destined to achieve the task. This it was that first led him to study nature, with the eye of the ancient Greeks, and that of his great Italian predecessors. The leading geniuses of their age have often pursued the same career, unknown to each other, as Tully has expressed himself, "Et quâdam ingenii divinitate, in eadem vestigia incurrerunt." But we must here check ourselves, in regard to this portion of the subject, having to treat of it anew at the distance of not many pages. At present we have only to inquire whether Coreggio really adopted the modern style at once, as has been asserted, or by gradual study.

Upon this point it is much to be regretted, that the Cavalier Mengs did not obtain a sight of some paintings in fresco, executed by Coreggio, as it is said, in his early youth, during the period he was employed by the Marchesa Gambara; but which have now perished. For, doubtless, he would thus have been enabled to throw much light upon the subject; and at least I could have wished that he had met with two pictures produced by Antonio in his native place, though but recently discovered, as in these, perhaps, he might have detected that sort of middle style, which is seen to exist between his St. Antony and his St. George at Dresden. The first of these has been called in question by Tiraboschi, on the ground of there being no authentic document assigning it to Coreggio; though I think it ought to be admitted as his, until stronger arguments, or the authority of experienced professors of the art, compel us to deny it. This picture was formerly placed in the chapel of La Misericordia, and very old copies of it are still preserved in many private houses at Coreggio. It represents a beautiful landscape, together with four figures of saints, St. Peter, St. Margherita, the Magdalen, and another, most likely St. Raimond, yet unborn.[18] The figure of St. Peter bears some resemblance to one of Mantegna, in his Ascension of St. Andrew, just alluded to; while the wood and the ground are extremely like that master's composition. This fine piece was much damaged by the lights, or, as some suspect, by the varnish, purposely laid on, in order, by decreasing its value, to prevent its being carried away; but, on the contrary, it appears for this very reason to have been removed from the altar, and a copy substituted, in which the last of the above figures was exchanged for one of St. Ursula. The original afterwards came into the possession of Signor Antonio Armanno, one of the best connoisseurs at this time known, in respect to the value of engravings, as well as of other productions of our best artists, which he has likewise, in a singular degree, the art of restoring even when much defaced. So in this instance, by the most persevering care, during a whole year, he at length succeeded in removing this ugly veil, which concealed the beauty of the work, now renewed in all its pristine excellence, and attracting crowds of accomplished strangers to gaze upon its merits. It is generally allowed to exhibit a softer expression, in the modern style, than the St. Antony, of Dresden; though yet far distant from the perfection of the St. George and others, produced about the same time.

About this period, Allegri painted in the church of the Conventuals, at Coreggio, what is termed an ancona, a small altar-piece in wood, consisting of three pictures. It appears certain, that the two altar-pieces already mentioned, opened the way also to this fresh commission; for from the written agreement, he seems to have been in his twentieth year, and the price fixed upon was one hundred gold ducats, or one hundred zecchins, which proves the esteem in which his talents were held. He here represented St. Bartholomew and St. John, each occupying one side;[19] while in the middle department, he drew a Repose of the Holy Family flying into Egypt, to which last was added a figure of St. Francis. So greatly was Francesco I. Duke of Modena, delighted with this picture, that he sent the artist Boulanger with orders to copy it for him; and thus obtaining possession of the original, he dexterously contrived to substitute his own copy in its place, a deception which he afterwards repaired by presenting the convent with some fresh lands. It is believed that it was afterwards presented to the Medicean family, and by them was given in exchange, to the house of Este, for the Sacrifice of Abraham, from the hand of Andrea del Sarto. It is certain that it was to be seen in the royal gallery at Florence, from the end of the last century, and was there commended by Barri, in his Viaggio Pittoresco, as original. In progress of time, it began to be less esteemed, because less perfect, perhaps, than some of the masterpieces of Coreggio, and not long after, assuming another name, it began to be pointed out by some as a Baroccio, and by others as a Vanni. The same Signor Armanno, before mentioned, who was the first to recall[g] to mind the copy remaining at Coreggio, presented us, also, with this hidden treasure. Its originality, however, was disputed from the first, it being objected, in particular, that Allegri had depicted the subject upon board, whereas this Medicean painting was found to be upon canvass. But this doubt was removed on comparing the work with the copy of Boulanger, made upon canvass; for certainly if the genuine production were really painted upon board, the imitator could hardly have succeeded in palming upon the holy brethren one of his copies upon canvass. The probability of its genuineness is still greater when we reflect, that no gallery was ever in possession of a Repose similar to it, so as to have contested with the city of Florence the possession of the original; so frequent an occurrence, both now and in other times, with works of art repeated in different places. Besides, the hand of the master is, in itself, nearly enough to pronounce it genuine; we see the remains of a varnish peculiar to the author; a tone of colouring perfectly agreeing with his pictures at Parma; insomuch, that many very experienced judges of art, and among others Gavin Hamilton, whose opinion carries great weight, have united in giving it to Coreggio. At the same time, they admit, that it is a piece partaking of an union of his styles, during the progress of the second; and if we are careful in comparing it with his other representation of the Repose, at S. Sepolcro, in Parma, commonly entitled the Madonna della Scodella, we shall discover much the same difference as between Raffaello's paintings in Città di Castello and those at Rome. Such a distinction was noticed by some very respectable professors, even during the heat of the controversy, who agreed in declaring, that the Medicean picture in part resembled Coreggio in his best manner, and in part differed from it.

There are two other pictures of his, mentioned by the Cavalier Mengs, which may be referred to the same class. One of them is the "Noli me tangere," in the Casa Ercolani, but which subsequently passed into the Escurial; the other a picture of the Virgin in the act of adoring the Divine Infant, which adorns the royal gallery in Florence; both of which he declares are in a taste which he failed to discover in the most sublime and celebrated pictures of Coreggio. To these we may add the Marsyas of the Marchesi Litta, at Milan, with a few other works of Coreggio's, inserted in the catalogue of Tiraboschi, which is the most copious extant. From such evidence it must, in short, be admitted, that this artist was possessed of a sort of middle style, between that which he formed as a scholar and that which he completed as a master. And we have equal reason for believing what has been stated respecting Coreggio's having attempted a variety of styles, before he made choice of the one by which he so greatly distinguished himself, and thus laid the foundation for his pieces being attributed, as they have been, to different masters. In fact, his conceptions of the beautiful and the perfect were deduced in part from other artists, and in part created by himself; conceptions that could not be matured without much time and labour; on which account he was compelled, as it were, to imitate those natural philosophers who try an infinite number of different experiments to discover some single truth which they have in view.

During a progress thus gradually pursued, and by an artist who in every new production succeeded in surpassing himself, it is difficult to fix the precise epoch of his new style. I once saw in Rome a very beautiful little picture, representing, in the background, the taking of Christ in the garden; and in the fore part, the youth Joseph, who, in the act of flying, leaves his mantle behind him; the original of which is in England, and a duplicate at Milan, in possession of Count de Keweniller; the picture at Rome bore in ancient character the date of 1505, indisputably false. A more correct one, however, is to be found upon that of the Marriage of St. Catherine, in possession of Count Brull, late prime minister to the king of Poland, which is every way corresponding to the other, remaining at Capo di Monte; it bears the date of 1517. It is probable, that in this year, when the artist was just twenty-three, he had already sufficiently mastered his new style, from the fact of his having about 1518, or 19, produced in Parma the picture which is still in existence at the monastery of St. Paul. This, after various disputes, has recently been acknowledged to be "one of the most grand, spirited, and laboured productions that ever proceeded from that divine hand;" and it has been illustrated with its real epoch, from an excellent little work of the celebrated Padre Affò. Such a work, indeed, confers a benefit upon history. He there explains the manner in which Coreggio might have imitated the ancients with such advantages only as he found in Parma; and endeavours to account for the difficulty presented to us in the silence of Mengs, who, having beheld this very picture, omitted to mention it among Antonio's other works. We are relieved, also, from another difficulty in respect to the manner in which a piece representing the Chase of Diana, abounding with such a variety of loves and cupids, could have been painted for a holy monastery, accompanied by those profane representations distributed throughout the same chamber, in various circular pieces, such as the Graces, the Fates, the Vestals; a naked Juno, suspended from the heavens, in the method described by Homer, in his fifteenth book of the Iliad; with other similar objects, still less becoming the sphere of a cloister. But our wonder will cease when we reflect, that the same place was once the residence of a lady abbess, at a time in which the nuns of S. Paolo lived unguarded by grates; in which every abbess sought to enjoy herself; held jurisdiction over lands and castles, and, independent of the bishop, lived altogether as a secular personage, a license in those days extremely general, as is justly observed by Muratori, in his "Italian Antiquities," tom. iii. p. 332. The above work was a commission given by a Donna Giovanna di Piacenza, who was then the superior of the monastery; and whatever degree of learning we meet with in the painting, and in the devices or conceits, was, most probably, communicated to the artist by Giorgio Anselmi, a celebrated scholar, whose own daughter belonged to the same establishment. But we must not allow ourselves to proceed further in our notice of a dissertation, assuredly one of the most profound and ingenious that we ever recollect to have read. The pictures are about to be engraved by the hand of Signor Rosaspina, after those of S. Giovanni, in which the learned Abate Mazza is at present so laudably engaged, no less to the advantage of the arts than of his own reputation.

The vast undertaking, so finely executed by Coreggio, at S. Paolo, obtained for him so high a name, that the Padri Cassinensi invited him to engage in the equally extensive one of San Giovanni, entered upon in 1520,[20] and completed in 1524, as we find mentioned in the books. There, also, in addition to several minor works, he decorated the tribune, which being afterwards removed, in order to extend the choir, and rebuilt, was repainted, as we shall notice elsewhere, by Aretusi. On the demolition of the tribune, the picture of the Incoronation of the Virgin, the leading subject in the fresco, was saved, and is now exhibited in the royal library; and various heads of angels, which in like manner escaped the same destruction, are preserved in the Palazzo Rondanini at Rome. There are, now, in the church of San Giovanni, two pictures in oil, placed opposite to one another, in one of the chapels; one, a Christ taken from the Cross; the other, the Martyrdom of St. Placidus, both painted on canvass made for the purpose, like some of the pictures of Mantegna. On the exterior of one of the other chapels is a figure of St. John the Evangelist, executed in the noblest manner. And, finally, there is the grand cupola, where the artist represented the Ascension of Jesus to his Father; the apostles looking on in mingled veneration and surprise; a production in which, whether we regard the proportion, and the shortening of the figures, the naked parts, or the draperies, or gaze upon it as a whole, we must alike confess that it was an unexampled specimen of the art, in its kind; the terrific Judgment of Michelangiolo,[21] not having then assumed its place in the Vatican.

Astonishing, however, as such a production must be allowed to be, it will still be found to yield the palm to another, which the hand of Coreggio alone could have rendered superior. This is the celebrated Assumption of the Virgin, in the cathedral of Parma, completed in the year 1530. It is indisputably more ample; and in the background the figures of the same apostles are reproduced, as was customary, expressing feelings of surprise and piety, though in a manner altogether different from the former. In the upper part is represented an immense crowd of happy spirits, yet distributed in the finest order, with a number of angels of all dimensions, all full of action; some employed in assisting the flight of the Virgin, others singing and dancing, and the rest engaged in celebrating the triumph with applause, songs, torches, and the burning of celestial perfumes. In all, the countenances beam with mingled beauty, hilarity, and triumph; a halo of light seems to envelope the whole, so that notwithstanding the piece is much defaced, it is still calculated to awaken such an enchantment of the soul, that the spectator almost dreams he is in elysium. These magnificent works, as it has been observed of the chambers of Raffaello, were calculated to promote the dignity of his manner, and led the way to that height of perfection he attained in the difficult art of working in fresco. To estimate it aright, we ought to approach near, to mark the decision and audacity as it were of every stroke; the parts, that at a distance appear so beautiful, yet effected by few lines; and that colouring, and that harmony which unites so many objects in one, produced, as it were, in sportful play. The renowned artist survived only four years, subsequent to the completion of the cupola; without commencing, during the interval, the painting of the tribune, for which he had pledged himself, and received part of the remuneration, which was afterwards restored to the revenues of the cathedral by his heirs. It has been conjectured, that the conductors of the works must, in some way, have given him offence; since the artist Soiaro, on being invited to paint at the Steccata, objects to it in the following terms: "Not wishing to remain at the discretion of so many different heads; for you know," he continues to his friend, "what was said to Coreggio in the dome." Now this, it would appear, must have consisted of some expressions derogatory to his talents; probably some words which one of the artificers is said to have applied to the diminutiveness of his figures: "Ci avete fatto un guazzetto di rane." "You have presented us with a hash of frogs." Words from a workman, for which Coreggio might easily have consoled himself, as they did not express the opinion of the city of Parma.

He died, however, about four years afterwards, at his native place, before he had completed his undertaking; and without leaving any portrait of himself which can be considered genuine. Vasari's editor, at Rome, produces one of a bald old man, little agreeable to our ideas of Coreggio, who died at the age of forty. It is taken from a collection of designs by the Padre Resta, which he entitled, the "Portable Gallery," and which both the Cavalier Tiraboschi and the Padre della Valle mentioned as having been lost. Nevertheless it exists in the Ambrosian collection, and contains, among other designs, one which Resta, in the notes added thereto, declares to be the family of Coreggio, consisting of the portrait of himself, his wife, and his sons; altogether forming one female and three male heads, poor, and wretchedly attired. But it betrays evident marks of its want of genuineness, and not the least in the description of the family; inasmuch as Antonio is known to have had one son and three daughters, two of whom appear to have died at an early age. The portrait remaining at Turin, in the Vigna della Regina, engraved by the very able Valperga, bears an inscription, in part obliterated by the cornice. Still I contrived to decypher the words, Antonius Corrigius, f—(that is, fecit), one of the first arguments for not admitting it, as some have done, to be a head of Coreggio. A further one may be derived from the inscription itself being written in large letters, and in a space occupying the whole length of the canvass, a method occasionally adopted to explain the subject of the piece, but never the name of the artist. There was another portrait sent from Genoa into England, with an inscription upon the back, indicating it to be that of Antonio da Coreggio, drawn by Dosso Dossi, which is to be found in the memoirs of Ratti. I have no sort of ground for asserting such a signature to have been introduced several years subsequent; a plan which was, and still is frequently adopted, by an accurate imitation of the ancient characters; I would merely observe, that there was also a distinguished painter in miniature, of the name of M. Antonio da Coreggio, who traversed Italy about the time of Dosso, and whose merits I shall treat of hereafter. Of the portrait taken of Coreggio, by Gambara, in the cathedral of Parma, it would here be improper to speak, otherwise than as an idle popular rumour. In conclusion, therefore, I am inclined to admit the seeming truth of what is advanced by Vasari, that this noble artist entertained no idea of transmitting his likeness to posterity, not justly estimating his own excellence, but adding to his numerous other accomplishments that of a remarkable modesty, conferring real honour upon our history.