The influence of Vasari upon the art poems of Robert Browning

Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)

Authors Northrup, Frederick Willis, 1916-

Publisher The University of Arizona.

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Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553517 THE INFLUENCE OP VASARI UPON THE ART POEMS OF

ROBERT BROWNING

by

Frederick Willis Northrop

A Thesis

submitted to $he faculty of the

Department of English

in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

In the Graduate College

University of Arizona

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TABLE OP 00STENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION...... 1

II. DISCUSSION OF MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCES TO VASARI ARTISTS...... 26

III. ANALYSIS OF "FRA LIPPO L I P P I " ...... 41

IV. ANALYSIS OF "ANDREA DEL SARTO"...... 78

V. ANALYSIS OF "OLD PICTURES IN FLORENCE". . . 96

VI. CONCLUSIONS...... 116 s BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 123

±02 9 3 3 THE INFLUENCE OP VASARI

UPON THE ART POEMS OF ROBERT BROWING

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

But at any rate I have loved the season Of Art's spring-birth so dim and dewy; My sculptor is HIcolo the Pisan, My painter - who but Citnabue? lor ever was man of them all indeed. Prom these to Ghiberti end Ghlrlandajo, Could say that he missed my critic-meed. &>, now to my special grievance - heigh-ho2 ■,- , ■■ . -- -Old Picture#. .

These few lines az^ somewhat illustrative of Browning * s love of Italian art. They are more than just that. They also ■ reveal his knowledge of ’’Art's spring-birth”; and it was from

Vasari, as much as from any other source, that this love and appreciation sprang. Every artist mentioned in these lines above Is found In Vasari, Few poets have possessed such an ardent love of art that it has assumed such a large place in their works. In all. Browning has written over thirty poems that can be classified as art poems, some nine of which deal with the Florentine and artists of related schools; and in addition there is a great ntaaber of scattered references to

Italian artists and their works throughout his entire writings.

Artists of more recent times, of whom some were contemporaries and friends, also feature in some of his writings. Maclise was on® of these,whose picture “The Sereaede" la the found­ ation for 0 In a Gondola”. However, all such references

are greatly outnumbered by those made to the Italian primi­

tive and Renal®aonce artists.

In this, study then, an effort will be made to show

the influence of Giorgio Vasari*s Pelle Vitede Piu de .

Ecoelentl Plttorl. Scultori, ed Archltettorl upon the art

poems of Robert Browning by means of as close an analysis

as possible, with the allowance for error accorded to any

one who proposes to suggest what lies in the mind of •

genius and from what well-spring of knowledge his inspiration

flowed. There will first be a description of Vasari*s

Lives; than a record of mentions made by Browning, his .wife,

and orltles concerning Vasari; and last a review of the

poet's love of art and preference for Italian schools re­

sulting from M s early associations, his reading of Vasari,

and his residence in Florence. Then some attempt will-be

made to show the extent to which he makes»incidental re­

ference to Vasari's artists in his poems and to make inter­ pretation concerning the nature of these references. r

Following will be chapter# devoted to an intensive line-by-

line study of the-three poems w M e h employ Vasari as the

chief source. From this, interpretations will be made and

conclusions will be drawn to sum up the extent and nature

Sons, London, translated by Mrs. Jonathan.Foster, 1894. of Vasari*s Influence. Although Browning used other sources, ■ :v. v: . . ■ such as Bnldinucci's Hotize and other handbooks on the

Renaissance and art, these will not be considered except as

they enter Into Browning*8 interpretation of Vasari*

problem of Browning * a attitude toward Baldlnueel and Vasari

will be treated in the discussion of the critic1s opinions

about the Indebtedness of Browning to Vasari,

■ ■ . - -

■ "■ : 1 I; : ’

A moment m w to describe this important source of

. Browning*s poems, Vasari’s Delle Vite de Plu Eccelenti,

Pittori. Scultorl, ed Architettori, (Lives of the Seventy-

Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects), It is an

art history written by Giorgio Vasari, himself a painter under

Michael togelo, Andrea del Sarto, and others. Tills work was undertaken by him in 1546 under the patronage of Cosimo de

Medici, to whom it is dedicated,and was first published in

1550, Other editions appeared at short intervals after,

but no important revision was made by the author until 1568.

The history of art covered by the Lives extends from Cimabue, who died in 1302, to the artists' living at the time of the

writing of the work. And Vasari evidently felt that the

progress in art going on around him justified extensive re­

vision and addition to bring the Lives up to date in 1568,

1 Baldlnueel, Delle Hotizle de* Professor! del Deselgno da Cimabue in Qua, Edlsslone accrealcut a di Annotisionl, in Firenze, 1767-1774, 20 vols. six years before his death.

The biographies vary in length, from one to fifty, pages3 th® nsttsl length, hQwwer, is about tv/enty. Eaoh life usually includes lnforaati

M b talent; and stories of his period of apprenticeship told to characterize him and distinguish his own particular talent.

From there the life discussea his works, in their proper order, describing the condition® of their creation, and the making of each, and giving a description and history of the picture down to th© time of Vasari*s writing of the life.

Along with the discussion of the paintings he gives his per­ sonal evaluation of each artist in the light of hie knowledge of the arts. Finally the circumstances of the artist *s death are given, and there is a summarizing discussion of M s great­ ness. The lives are written in a style, pleasantly direct, except for M s detailed descriptions, and possess a remarkable air of the familiar, which arises no doubt from the many per­ sonal allusions of the author to M s acquaintance with the artist or his works. In addition to the lives of the Italian artists are those somewhat briefer and less colorful lives of

Flemish, Dutch, and Spanish painters, which reveal the author's desire to treat M s subject fairly and completely.1

1 Vannrl, Lives, I, Ui-preface; als, v, ggl Also there is included at the end an account of Vasari's own life and accomplishments, presented as modestly as his tempera­ ment and the clime of his age permitted. It might also be • interesting to note that one of these lives would constitute just a desirable amount for an evening's reading. It would be especially desirable as well to read them in a room of the

Colleggio built by Vasari, as the Brownings did in there resi­ dence there.

One-word more about the editions and translations of this work, which usually appears in three or more volumes.

The first complete English translation was made by Mrs, Jonathan Foster in 1894. An abridgement of a few lines was published in a thin quarto, London, 1719. This pamphlet probably caught the attention of Browning or hts father*

The reason for so saying is that the father as well as the . son was. very much interested in the lives of oainters and enjoyed "anecdotes not generally known about them". Surely, the Lives of Vasari would meet these requirements and was. perhaps, one of few auoh sources available. And from a men­

tion which Browning makes of Vasari In a letter to Elizabeth

Barrett we can gather that he was familiar with Vasari before his residence in Florence. He probably discussed the Lives ■ " . . 2 ' . — — with Mrs. Jameson in particular. Even though no mention is

1 W.Hall Griffin and H.e.Minchiu, The Life of tobert Browning, revised edit ion; I^ndon: Methuen FHo.7l9^8,p.8

2 Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Ba?rett Browning, 1845-457 2lew York: Harper and brothers, 1899,1,570 made of this panphlet * s being In the library of his father at the time of the auction, .1896* in a lifetime many thlnga con happen to a single small volume lent to friends, as were the hookc of the Browning library of some six thousand volumes. Drowningis copy of Vasari used in Italy at the time of hie writing his Italian lyrics and monologues, 1846, must have bean in the original Italian, as it bore the date in his own

hand, "Florence, 1846-1857". But Hrs. Foster's translation of 1894, following the first and second Florentine editions,

1550 and 1568, as well as consulting the Italian edition be­

gan in 1846 and having the invaluable notes of Montani and

Masaelli, friends or correspondents of Browning, seems to bo

an adequat® equivalent of the edition Browning used. It we®

M e custom as it had been his father's to seek early and

original editions and consequently ho had probably seen all

'of the important editions before 1846 as well as the new one

In pTOgreos. That Browning had seen a first edition adcount

is evident from his characterisation of Lucresin In "Andrea 2 . - - . ' ' del Sarto". Vasari's 1550 and 1568 editions differed some­

what in the ©tiaraoterisntlon of Lucresla.

Browning critics on the whole have little to say con­

clusively concerning Vasari's Influence on Browning except

1 DeVano. Parleyings. p. 169 .

2 G. w. Cooke, Browning Guide-Book, Houghton Mifflin Go Boston and How York, 1891, pp. ll-llV ” that he is a sourco of this fact or that poem* BroYmlng’a own w r 4 s about Vasari must have been in the main spoken, or written in letters, since destroyed. In the letters which we have. Browning, himself, mentions Vasari but once, when writing to Professor Etowden in 1886, regarding © correction concerning Fra Lippo Lippi$

I believe the strange confusions and mistakes of Vasari are set tolerably right now*.**1 suppose Lippo to have been born, as Baldinucci says, about 1400. 1

In the correspondence between Browning and Elizabeth Barrett there occurs one mention of Vasari. Kiss Barrett in July,

1846, writes for explanation of M s title Bells and

Pomegranates * and in addition makes a replying comment as follow#: "Than for Vasari, it is not the handbook of the ■ s' world, howewr It may be for Mrs* Jameson1 s.M This seems to follow as a mild reproof of the abstruseness of the title.

This can only be implied, however, os the conversation or letter that provoked this statement of Mios Barrett is lacking; ' - v ■ , . ■ ' . ■ ■■'' -

Bswever, Browning, in his final publication of his just-completed series. Bells and Pomegranates, published In

1841—46, attaches the following note of explanation of the title in appendage as follows: 21

1 Letters from Robert Browning to Various Correspondent® ®d. by T. J» Wine, 2 vols., London, 190^1908, Rndoeries, p. 11

2 Browning— Barrett Letters * II, 570. ./ - 9-

Here ends my first series of Bells and Pomegranates and I take the opportunity of explaining* in reply (this you will note was prompted /by his wife's letter) to inquiries, that I only meant by that title to indie- / cate an endeavor towards something like an alteration, or mixture of music with discoursing sound with sense... which looks top ambitious, thus expressed so the symbol was preferred. It.is little to the purpose that such i# one actually of the most, familiar of the many Rabbinical acceptance of the phrase•"#• t. suppose the bare words, in such juxtaposition, would sufficiently convey the desired ;V'" meaning. ^Faith and Good Works’ is another fancy for . instance, and perhaps ho easier to arrive at; yet Giotto”) placed a pomegranate fruit in the hand of Dante, and a , Raffaelo orowned his Theology with blossoms of the same; .V as if the Bellari and Vasari would be sure to come after | and explain that it was merely a symHol, 1

Bellari wrote the life of Dante, and Vasari, of course, that

of Giotto and Raff aelo. That Browning knew Vasari then is

evident from this note.

The only other inklings concerning Browning’s interest •* in Vasari are to be gathered from Mrs. Browning’s letters from 2 • ■ . Italy.,. In 1846 she writes to Miss Hit ford from Pisai

We have rooms close to the Duo mo and Leaning Tower; in the great Colleggio built by Vasari....I mean to know something about pictures some day. Robert does, and I shall get hi® to open my eyes with a little instruction. In this place are to be seen the first steps of art. 2

Here we can see two things: first that the Brownings were living in the building erected by Vasari himself; and second /

that Mrs. Browning is.wishing her husband to teach her something

of art. These two may cast some shadow of explanation on their 12

1 The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert. Browning. Cambridge edition. Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., ed by Horace, Scudder,, 1895f p.128

2 Mrs.Sutherland Orr, Life and Letters of Robert Browning. Revised by John Kenyon; London: Bell and Sons, 1902,p . U S reading of Vasari together» which is mentioned in a letter to

Horne by Mrs. Brownings .

We live here in the most secluded manner, November, 1846, eschewing English visitors, reading Vasari, and dreaming dreams of seeing Venice this summer. 1

Browning's only other references to W e a r 1 lie in his poems themselves. .In "Old Pictures in Florence,” he directly mentions Vasari:

What, not a word for-.Stefeno there. Of brow once prominent and starry,

■ .. • • • ... ' ^ \ For his peerless painting? (See Vasari).

Another direct mention occurs In the poem "Andrea del Sarto”:

('Tic copied, George Vasari sent it m e ).

This refers to Vasari•s friendship with his painting master,

Andrea del Sarto. Beyond these there are no direct references by Browning himself.

Since the &igllsh translation of the Lives of Vasari has made comparlson between Browning and Vasari easier, the

indebtedness of Browning to Vasari has been regarded, for the most part, as being ns obvious as that of Shakespeare to Plutarch; with little thought concerning its nature and extent.

Mrs. Sutherland Orr in her life and handbook of Browning

leaves the matter without more than the usual cursory mention. George Willis Cooke, however, does make an attempt to estimate

Browning's indebtedness in that he quotes passages from Vasari

parallel to or explanatory of the poems, particularly for 1

1 Mrs. Sutherland Orr, op. clt. . p.143 - 10-

*Pra Lippo Lippi", nAndrea del Sarto", and *Old Picturea In

Florence*. In discussing "Andrea del Sarto*, he says:

Broiming took his conception of "Andrea del Sarto* from Giorgio Vasari»s Lives of the Most Eminent-Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, in which the painter Is des- cribedin these words: 1 (Quotation from Vasari follows.)

He then calls attention to the fact that Browning probably

followed Vasari’s first account of Lucreala’s characters

This poem is in a large measure a poetic rendering of the prose account of Vasari, even to the character of Lucrezia. In the first edition of his work Vasari gives a quite full account of her, but this is abbrevi­ ated and softened somewhat in the second.-;The follow­ ing is the full aeount given in the first edition, from which Browning evidently drew his picture of this fascinating and selfish woman. 2

Cooke in discussing the poem *Fra Lippo Lippi" again says

that it is a "versified aeount of Vasari’s Lives":

He (Browning) has more or less fully versified the account there given of him, (in Vaearl).He has added many touches of his own, such as were needed to make the story of Lippo’s life fit for his poetic purposes. Vasari’s account, as translated by Mrs. Foster, con­ tains some items about the life of this painter not made use of by .Browning; 3

In the discussion of "in a Gondola*, Cook® makes the sug- : gestlon: ; ' ' : ; ' "" "■ ' : : '"

One or two incidents in his life, a Vasari artist.

1 Cooke. Browning Guide-book»pt. 11

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid. p. 123 •'ll"*

Giorgio Barbarelll, may have some suggestion for the poet in the writing of this poem. 1

Perhaps this:troubetionr painter fits Into this poem,- which is

a poetic description of Macliso^ s picture "The Serenade", but there are few evidences of a nature concrete en©u#i to pro*

vide anj real proof. Again in his comment on MOld Pictures

in Florence" and in talking about Giotto in particular, Cooke says:

The comparison which Browning makes between Giotto1 s perfect and his uncompleted Campanile was drawn from the reading of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and ArcElFects. S T-

Here, however, he goes on to give some general facts about

Vasari, himself, and comments as follows:wIt (Vasari's Lives)

is one of the most interesting works connected with the his- : .. ' 3 ■ V - - ; ' ■ ■ tory of art.n He then tells of Browning's living in the house

built by Vasari and of Mrs. Brovming's mention of Vasari in

her letters already discussed^ He also requests the reader

to H see Vasari as translated by Mrs. Jonathan Raster in Bohn's

Library.” the translation used in the forthcoming analysis. Cooke's last reference to Browning'a use of Vasari is found

in his treatment of "Pacchiarotto*, where he says: The Qommentary added to the Florentine edition of of Vasari's Lives, 1855, gives an aceoxmt of"PaecMarotto”.4 123

1 Cooke, 02.. cit., p. 217 2 Ibid., p.;218 3 Ibid., p. 218 4 Ibid., p. 219 _ . It is this wMeh Broking followed In writing M s poe*/' T y ' /- : ; ; ":':r . "'' - '' ' / - : - These' conclude Coolt#1 s mention of Browning and 'Veswi- in his Gulde«&K)lc,which he describes as being by ho mean® con­ clusive. Cooke," however, is regarded by all later critics such as J. A. Armstrong, M w a r d Berdoe, S. A. Brooke, and unreservedly so by William Clyde DeVane, as an authority on this question. ; ; :

DeVane, . _ however, rather- discredits. . the amountT_ y x of ^ 1 - . - ' - . ' - - - / - ' ...... - ' ^ ' - - - y r t r T ' T ' Vasari^ influence in favor of Baldinucci*s influence through his Dalle Botlzle de* Professor! delle Deselgnp da Cimabue,

and says: RThe best account- of Browning * s indebtedness to

Vasari is to be found in Cooke, pp# 11-13, 144-148, 218 St, ■r--.': . - . : - " g ■ . : v " (Pages just reviewed).

Some relevant material is found in DeVane*s Browning

Handbook as well. In discussing •Pra Lippo Lippi*# he say#:

■Ittiile visiting the galleries and collecting old pictures in Florence, the Brownings were assiduously reading Vasari*s Le VIte Pittori;...and Baldinucci^s liotizle. It was Tromthis account of Lippi, inaccurate and rather highly colored, that Browning drew most of the facts for his noem.

Beyond the bare outline, of Lippi *s life. Browning got-many hints for his poem from Vasari»s accountj such as the names of Lippi's*pictures— St. Jerome doing penance, ”which is now in the guardarohla of' - ' Duke Cosimo," and the many pictures based on the story of John the Baptist, concerning which Vasari 21

1 Cooke, op. cit., p. 273. ; ;

2 DeVane, Parleylngs* p..169..(footnote #9), speaks In praise of, Mthe address of Herodies, the astonisiment of the guestG, and the Inexpressible sorrow when the head is presented ©n a charger*. Vasari calls attention too, to Lippi *s Coronation of the Virgin, with the self portrait in th® lower right-hand corner. Vasari also supplied the character of Lippi not only through his actions, but in downright comment®. 1

Yet DeVane feels that many of Browning * o ideas in the poem "are barely hinted at in Vasari", and that he goes to

Baldinueci for verification and expansion. We know this to be true, to a certain extent, from the letter of Browning to Dowden referred to above. In his Browning Parleyings,

DeVane goes Into the matter more fully and shows the parallels between Baldinueci and Browning to be closer in sustained / thought and feeling than those between Vasari and Browning, / particularly in the three poems "Fra Lippo Lippi," "Andrea del Sarto," and "Old Pictures in Florence." Further he givea three corrections of Vasari by Baldinueci which setm

to have been accepted by Browning: a correction in the age

of Lippi, a correction in the matter of making Massacelo a

student and not the master of Lippi, and the correction in

the date of the painting of Lippi1 s St. Aqibroglo. DeVane

adds two other matters that are treated by Vasari, but not

as fully as by Baldinueci: the psychological realism of/

Lippi's painting, end the placing of Lippi in the convent

at the age of eight by his aunt. However, DeVane does say: 12

1 William Clyde DeVane, Browning Handbook, F.S. Crofts & Co., Hew York, 1935, p,~l95. ~

2 DeVane, Parleyings, p p , 14-

1 grant readily that Browning uses Vasari's account for the greater part of M s poem; for the character of Fra Lippo and the Incidents of the poem are most of them from Le Vite Pittori. 1

And it is also interesting to not® that DeVane found "that Baldimiccl takes Vasari1a account of the life of Andrea del - ■' ' , ■ 2 • r ; ; 8arto as his working material".

Brownlie, himself, evidently had no great love for

Baldinucci, for in M s poem "Parleying vith Pu r l M ” he vents

M s wrath upon Baldimiccl. The purpose behind the poem, how­ ever-dictated t Ms kind of Invective, cine® he was re ally ridiculing a certain John 0allcot Horsley of the Royal

Academy who had taken offense at tfc» paintings of his son,

Robert Barrett Browning. Here, nevertheless, are some of the remarks directed to Baldinucci, whom he evidently thought in some way deserving of them. He Is called. "blockhead Baldinucci,n and "mild moralmonger* > and "scruple-splitting, sickly sensitive" Baldinucci. Baldinucci, says Browning, thinks all men filthy-* minded because ho, himself, is so. These are Browning*s reasons why these remarks apply to Baldimeel. In the first place, he is, himself, a very poor artist anti unreliable as a judge of art. Then he does not approve of the nude in paint­ ing; hence "mild-moral monger•, and sickly-sensitive".

Finally, Baldimiccl, "the typically ignorant Tuscan", is not original or creative, but depends upon others for M s1 2

1 DeVane, Parleylngs, p.-170 ,. .

2 Ibid. - 15- faae. Browning preferred the more animated though less ac­ curate, the charming and rich, though less voluminous aneount of Vasari to the twenty volumes of Baldinucci. Browning used

Vasari as a primary source for the color, spirit, and vividness of his stories and incidents;. and he used Baldinucel for correct ness and for additions where needed. It would, perhaps, he. natural that Baldinucel*s account would he fuller and.more accurate, coming, as.it did, some hundred fifty years later than Vasarif8« And finally Browning hd doubt responded in

some sense to the pleasing nature of the man himself, which .

is testified to by one of Vasari's contemporaries.

"Who would not become the friend of Vasari,” exclaims the Padre Bella Valle, "if it were only for the senti­ ments of gratitude which;he so manifestly entertained for all who offered him kindness? How candidly does he relate whatever passes, how freely confess every obli­ gation of whatsoever kind.” 1

There were influences in Browning's home life which

help to- account for his interest in the works and lives of

artists. Reuben Browning, the half-brother of the poet’s father, considered Robert Browning; senior, as a man of n o ^

mean intelldctual stature. Of him he writes:

His wonderful store of in format ion might really be compared to an inexhaustible mine. It comprised hot merely a thorough scholastic outline of the world but the critical points of ancient and modern history, the lore of the Middle Ages, all political combinations 21

1 Vasari, Lives, V.506 2 Griffin and Minchin, Life, p.8 - 16-

Thi® firsthand Impression Is .valuable In view of the f«et: r ; that; little is known of Browning ‘ a father because of M ® . l . ' - ’’reticent' Mid retiring nature”, which made it difficult for . people, to r@eo@als® his mental entitomwnti As a young man, he had run- away from a. promising position on: a South Indian plan­ tation for the.purpose, as,Browning, himself, mention® in.a letter, ’’of devoting himself to art, for which he had many qualifications and abundant love"* But=later he spent his life, after the fashion of his.father, in:the Bank;of England,

He must have served there until he received a. release like

Lambis,after which he could purmue the pleasures of his heart.

Besides his sketching to the extent of Illustrating his son’s poems, his collecting for his library, and his "singular in­ terest in the works and lives of poets and painters*, he took great delight in co^anionship with his son, sharing these things with him.

The young Browning was reared with.gentle love in an // intellectual and beauty-loving atmosphere. Besides enjoying the natural serenity of Camberwell, he found a delightful re­ treat in his father’s carefully collected and greatly loved library. Among the books listed from the auction catalogue of Londton, 1896, that dealt with art and artists through the ages, were Pilkington’s Dictionary of Painters, Payne Gray’s — _ — : — - 1 Mlnehin, Life, p..9

2 Browning— Barrett Letters, II> 474,. > 17-

Hlstory of Classical Painting, and Gerard de Lalresse»s History of Painting in All Its Branches, Those and a few other handbooks on the fine arts do not make mi impressive list unless we consider that most of the learning of the Renaissance still lay untrans­ lated and unsought. And there existed little scholarship of any great extent concerning the attributing of pictures to their respective painters. A few early documents were rousing

Interest, perhaps, and one of these was a small paper quarto containing a partial translation of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Painters. DeVane intimates that this pamphlet was probably in the Browning library, but it is not recorded in the auction catalogue. .

Young Browning warn inspired by his father's love of pictures as well ns of books, .The father and son often visited

the Dulwich Galleries. These opened the same year that -Robert ’ ' ' ' " - ' ' . . . - s senior records: "R. B. a®tat two years and three months* under a current juice and pencil drawing of his son. This , gallery was the principal one of the 19th century and was

easily aooessible to the Brownings by a short walk. It was

filled with three hundred fifty representative ^examples of

Dutch, French, Italian, and English schools of painting.

Browning, himself, writes of the gallery as follows;2 31

1 Minchln, Life, p. 12

2 DeVane, Porleylngs, p. 196

3 DeVane, Handbook, p. 10 ... The gallery I so love' arid was so grateful to, having been used to going there when e child far under age (14) allowed by regulation, 1 : - : - ‘ r . r e i.V: o.-: ^;v- It is notice able 2 In conaid#lhg" Me later Interest In art, that he added: - . -

t have eat before acme one of those pictures^ I had1 predetermined to see,,a good hour and,cam® away. 2 \\ ■

The taste of, the art-consloous father and son, however.

seemed to differ from the beginning.- Rossetti'describes /;

Browningfs father as having "a real genius for drawing.^.but caring for nothing in the least except Dutch boors ♦ This

judgment, however, is hot quite just. It is true that he pre­ ferred such Dutch artists as Brouwer, Ostade, arid Teniers, but

he also highly regarded a>garith and collected^aany of M s :'

prints. 'Hie thing that seeas to characterize the father’s

taste was a love for the grotesque, the vital,'and the ironic

or gently satirical. This seems to M v ® been reflected lii his

own sketch work: * * -•

His caricatures were Of so amusing a nature that It Is surprising and to b® regretted that so few of them have been made public. Their extraordinary merit is en­ hanced by the maimer and rapidity with which they were produced. Generally speaking, they were the work of a - moment; at a party, perhaps, when any public or private topic of the day engrossed attention fore (sic) with : slips of paper and pencil at hand he issued scores of sketches illustrative of the subject, to which his never failing satire attached some witty explanation, sure to1 23

1 Browning-Barr®11 betters, 1%, 524 -

2 Ibid., II, 524.

3 Or iff In arid M inchin. Life, p. .9 la

- excite the; admiration and facultles of the , c : ; company. 1

My father and I have not one taste in common, one artistic [email protected]» picture®, he goes, *souls away*, to Brauwer, Ostade, Teniers;...he would t m m from the Sistine Altar piece to these. 2

These are Browning’s own words in a letter to Miss Barrett. Rossetti writes of Browning, the son, in the same place where he did of the fathert

I found his knowledge of early Italian art beyond that of any one I ever met, encyclopedically beyond that of Ruakln himself. What a Jolly thing "Old Picture** is. It seems all the pictures desired by the poet are in his possession. 3

From the beginning it is evident that Browning had decided preference for the Italian masters. And the pictures he noted in the Dulwich Galleries were destined to receive his immortal praises in hie poetry* Beside the two Guido’s, the Giorgione, and the .’much retouched Madonna del Rosario,* it was there he saw, also, a predella of Raphael that was to be referred to in "One Word More", the Guercino of his "Guardian Angel", the Tlslan and Giorgione which appear in his "in A Gondola*.

Here, also, he first saw a madonna by Andrea del Sarto, and

the work of "Maratta who paints virgins so", of The Ring and : : V . - 4. ' ■ - ... ~ — the Book. Among the Italian pictures of which he was to become 4123

1 Griffin and Minchln, Life, pe. l3 . , ;

2 Browning-Barrett Letters, n . 424.

3 Gabriel Dante Rossetti, Letters 1854-1870, How York. Stokes & Co., 1897, p. 161 ------

4 Apparently Vasari does not mention Maratta. - 20*

such a lover in middle life. Browning mentions the RSaint John* and the "Saint Sebastian" of G n M ® Reni? and on# attributed . : ' ■ ' ' : 1 • ■ ; to Giorgione but n o w attributed elsewhere. : .

The real matter of importance about his early visits to the Dulwich and other galleries is that they reveal his interest in art and M s natural preference for the Italian artists. And it is to be noted that all of these artists who have been mentioned are treated fully in the Lives of

Vasari. Browning himself mentions how his impressionable youth urged him to get from books what satisfaction he might by making some acquaintance with those unfortunate painters about whom there was seme doubt as to the proper identification or the authenticity of their work. Mentions of these and other artists are to be noted intermittently throughout the letters to EllsaWth Barrett preceding their marriage * These references were provoked either by their plans to elope to Italy, with the ensuing discussion of places, by Browning*s visits to the National Gallery or to private collections, or

■ ' . ? .. ■■■. ■ -; ■ ■ • ■' ' ' ' : perhaps by some talk with a friend, such as Mrs. Jameson. Some of these reference a are:

I am going to the Museum on Monday with her, ? (Mrs Jameson) to see the Italian prints. 3 (The Mareo-Antonio prints % )

1 Hall and Mlnehin, Life, p . ,14 ■ < . 2 Ibid., p. 16 '

3 Browning-Barrett Letters. II. 139.- -21

And Ellreplies:

You will tell b ® of the Marm-Antonl© prints, will you nott...Rsffael's— are they not? I shall expect ever mo much teaching, and showing and explaining,»•! who have seen and heard nothing of plefcures and music, from you who know e v e r y t h i n g .1

Talking about a paper of Mrs. Jameson’s, who was an artistic

and literary figure of London society, Elizabeth writes:

Her paper on "Titian’s House at Veniceshe let me read in proof, and which is on® of the essays she is printing now, is full of beauty and truth, and I admire it heartily. Then there is a quotation about the ’calm cold, beautiful regard’, of ’Virgin, child and saint’ ...which you may remember perhaps. I know you will like the essay and feel it to be V@to®tiim.2v >

In referring to his first trip to Italy in a letter to Miss

Barrett two years later he tells of Mary Shelley’s complete lack of appreciation of Fra Angelico:

Her remarks on Art...are amazing— Fra Angelico, for instance, only painted.Martyrs, Virgins &c., she had no eyes for the divine bon~bourgeolaie of his pictures; the dear common folk of M s crowds, those who sit and listen (spectacle at nose and bent into a comfortable - heap to hear better) at the semon of the saint— and the cMldren and women, divinely pure they all are, X but fresh from the streets and marketplace. 3 . x X-: V- v- This passage is one of the most extended in which he discusses

informally his views of one of his beloved Italian artists.

And from it we can gather what it is that he finds in them,

he who is so full of life and vigour, in masters dead and

distant. It makes clear that it was not in blind or shallow

1 Browning-Barrett Letters, II, 149 -

2 Ibid., II, 592

3 Ibid., I, 196 admiration that he liked them, and It shows how .naturally he probes Into the‘eharaeters portrayed in Fra"Angelico * s fresco. BroWlng, In comparing craftmnnohlp in poetry and painting, tMnka that scme traces of. workmanship are pleas- ine: to the reader or observer:. v . , ; . .

The unlnstmeted eye loves to? see. where the. brush has dipped twice in a lustrous color, has lain insist- - ingly along a favorite outline, dwelt lovingly in a grand shadow...And all of the Titian*s Naple *s Magdalen must have once been golden in its degree to justify that heap of hair in her. hands— -the only gold affected noivi 1 " - - - •.- •

If nothing els© this passage reveals his acquaintance with

Titian, probably from seeing his pictures In the London

Galleries or on his first trip to Italy In 1844. After re­ visiting Dulwich in 1846 Browning writes:

I went to Dulwich to see some pictures, by old Teniers, BirUlc, OsinslMirough, R^ptoell— then twenty names about, arid last but one, as If I just' . thought of it, *Oorregio *. The whole collection . Including a *divine picture by Murillo *, and Titianf @ dmighter.the whole* I would have cheerfully . given a pound or two for the privilege of not possess­ ing- 2 . . ' , ; - - These evidoatly did not particularly please M s apparently . fastidious taste......

Elisabeth Barrett on one surreptitious occasion

visited the studio of an artist friend, Mr. Rogers, with

Mrs. Jameson, and writes Browning:* S

1 Browning-Barrett Letters, I, ,5 S Ibid.. I, 518 ■, _ - 23-

And think.sketches from the hand of Michael Angel© and Raphael!...Then a divine Virgin and child, worn and faded to a ahs^tow of Raphael*a genius, as Mrs. Jameson . explained to me— and' the famous *Ecce Homo1 of Guido.... and Titian, and Tintoretto. 1

Browning might have expressed an intereating opinion in his

, reply but for his receiving the news of the suicide of Haydon,

an §rtlat friend, which takes up M s letters for some time

' a^er. ■.

- these smatterings of lines and readings between the lines can indicate little to us except to give a few glimmer­

ings concerning Browning1a ;ever-recurring interest in Italian

art in the midst of the activities of M s daily social and

intellectual life. It was not until he resided in Florence

that Browning was ^isolated sufficiently from his social

connections, In his "university of Italy” as he spoke of it, to steep himself in art* rich in Italian life and history.

The nine-year residence of the Brownings in Italy was given

over to the study of art* Mrs. Browning writes to.Mims / v Mitford in one of her letters that besides living in Vasari*8

Oollegglo and spending quiet evenings reading the Lives of

Vasari in dulcet Italian, there were tours and searches

when they, or usually Robert alone, poked around in odd cor-

ners for pictures and rococo furniture t® garnish Casa (Midi.

Another letter from Mrs. Browning, the family’s most 12

1 Browning-Barrett Letters, o a t , ■

2 Mrs. Orr, Life, p.,163 - / « - 24-

stoady correspondent durlng those happy, days In Florence, to

Miss. ' 'Mltford •' •; '.'O'4 . • reveal#V ’ V "v^- to us \ the ' .. ■' probable> .* ■ • inspiration■ •• ' • ©r ex- perienoe upon which was based one of his ’’new lyrical poems”,

”01d Pictures in Florence": . : Robert has been picking up pictures at a few paule .» ; each, "hole and co m e r ” pictures which the dealers had not found out; and,the other day he covered himself with glory by discovering and seizing on (in a c o m shop a mile from Florence) five pictures among heaps of trash; and one of. the host judges' in Florence (Mr Kir Imp) throws out such names for them as Cimabue, Qhirlmdajo, Qiottoeaque, if mfc ttidtto. 1

Of course the J ^ t that had Wen* interested from childhood in Italian art, by itself, proves nothing / definite concerning .Ms knowledge of Vasari except that he had an eatabliaMd pre-dlposition towards any works of. that nature. Until thd mention of Vasari in the preface to th@

final series of Bells and Pomegranates in 1846,and the, mention ..

in Mrs. Browning’s letter of the same year, we do not know ...

for certain that Browning knew Vasari, It la clear, though,

that he knew Vasari before he went to Italy in 1846 and soon

1 ' after he went to Florence, we have the clear record that he

and Mrs. Browning were reading the Lives together* There is absence of definite evidence that he knew Vasari at an early

age. However, his knowledge of the' works of many artists of

whom Vasari writes biographies, and his own stated interest

in the lives of these painters as well as his avowed habit of

looking up "little-known anecdotes about them,"— an interest

which his father shared also— make it seem likely that he had 1

1 Mrs. Orr. Life, P* 167 , . „ known Vasari for a long time. It is true that there were. other lives of Italian painters included in his father's library as listed. It is also obviously true that the fact that he mentions a Vasari artist doesn*t mean that he has

.consulted Vasari, since he had seen paintings by these artists from childhood and could have read about them in other ac­ counts. But Rossetti speaks of his “encyclopedic knowledge of Italian art", even beyond Huskin's, and certainly he did not acquire such a full knowledge of Italian painters entirely

after 1846. , . - ' . ■ ; ■■ ■-'■ : / :* :-

*ffcer describing Vasari's Lives, recording the mentions of Vasari by Browning and his wife, recording any discussion

there may be in critical works on Browning's poetry of his

Indebtedness to Vasari, and surveying the history of Browning *a

interest In Italian artists of whom Vasari has written biogra­

phies as this interest is recorded elsewhere than in his

poetry, we are now ready to make a careful record of material

in Browning' s poems which might have come from Vasari. CHAPTER II

-r This ehapter will be a diseusslon of miscellaneous refer­ ences to Vasari artists in Browning *s poetry. Many of the artists and works mentioned are difficult to distinguish be­ cause of confusion eoneerning their identity. The great number of Lorenroi, . Pietros; and Andreas causes much misunderstanding. Andearly Italian paintings, those fading ronnants of past Rories were until very recently accepted to a great degree with the era® careless l o w as the blue Italian skies. Few attempts have been made to sort from the verdant growth of tales sur­ rounding these past giants any actual truths regarding them and their lives. This Indolent disregard for facts is partly responsible for the naive charm surrounding the people and their art and makes a study of them like a journey Into realms w of phantasy. Here Is one afforded an excellent opportunity to dip M s chalice and to catch some of this lingering essence of quaint, curious, and colorful folk-lore— its mysterious beauty. For this reason Vasari himself is priceless. He preserves with complete unawareness the evanescent quality of the Renaissance. We rub shoulders v/ith the gl ittering figures of the day, meet Raphael and Michael Angelo for a precious instant of a few words duration. It was for this reason that Browning was captivated and was eager to brush away the dust of neglect, peer through the legendary veil, and win piece by piece, bit by bit, longer moments of - 27-

conmmnlon with the prleeleas age of art's heritage■ It might he said that m> man of great dimensions or an exploring soul ean be expected to confine hio love to his own country alone; he usually selects a country of adoption to widen th® extent of his love. Some adopt the sea, but Browning must live with people, and e w n legends must be vital and pulsing.

So wo can understand that he revived the Italian golden age

and actually found vital concourse with these undying Florentines.

There is little of a tangible nature whereby we may

trace this experience of Browning's except its reflections in his poetry. That he learned much from the languid tongues

of village patriarchs, passers-by, and reminiscent chroniclers;

from old book stalls and M a t y chops and old village records— all this is revealed by self-description in his poem, "How

it Strikes a Contemporary*: I only knew one poet in my life: And this, or something like it, was his way.

He; stood and watched the cobbler at his trade. ^

* * * « He glanced o'er Mc k s on stalls with half an eye. And fly-leaf ballade ®n the vender's string.

The one concrete example of this, of course, is his discovery '■ / : V ‘ ■' v"-: ;:v of the Old Yellow Book from which genie was to spring The

Ring and the Book. However, it was this same familiar and

probing urge that frond delight in the casual, familiar,

and spirited accounts of Vasari* And it is unlikely that

from this rich source, then still untranslated from its - 28-

native tongue- and unexpurgated for popular edification* we can recapture only-a dram by which to estimate the flavor

and aeet; of. M8^|»®tSs;;lWh»xie«it« ■ .

Browning*s first reference to a Vasari artist occurs

in Bordello. 1840, the poem which he calls the fruit of his

first trip to Italy. The line reads: "If Hiccolo should

carve a Christus yet. This allusion already shows his ee-

pousal of Italian art and expresses a thought that is to

grow in succeeding poetic expression into his poem "Old .; .v /•- u x-r. • ■ : ; > : v Lx.;/ " xL.:'/. :: r :/. Pictures in Florence” • Browning thinks with wistful regret

that Hiccolo and his age are finished and done with. Her® '-A/.:'-: •xx:..' j i X. a V 1/ ^ 'X vi :'/: : ' : x- he also mentions Outdone of Sienna imagining:

...The painful birth must bo Matured ere Saint Eufemia*s sacristy Or transit gather fruits of om#f gpeat gas®. These are .the first egressions of. his art experiences in

their actual setting of Italy*

In Passes, 1841, there arc two mentions of Vasari artists. The first is of Cor re glo, whom he mentions

in five succeeding poems, and from what Browning has to say1

1 gh® Qarolft® Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning, Cambridge Edition. Boston and Hew "fork. Houghton Mifflin Co.,ed. by Horace E. Soudder, 1895. (All lines .qmted are from this.edition of Browning*s Works.)

, . : 2 References to Corregio are also to be found in "A Face", The Ring and the Book,"Parleying with Furizii", "inn Album", and "Bishop Blougram*o Apology" about him* Gorregio is evidently a favorite. The lines run:

...Ha will turn painter instead of sculptor and paint not carve. Its elxar»oterlstlb»— etrllce out 1 dare say, a school like Gorregle. Of Oorreglo, Vasari has nothing but the highest praise. He.

says: "Corregio was the first in Lombardy who commenced the

execution of works in the modern manner,R ami, nSom© of the

sketches of them (hie works). are in the book of design® to which we not infrequently refer.11 This bears with it his

influence on painters referred to as a. "school" by Browning.

This is a customary way of referring to a painter *s influence

and does not necessarily mean that the painter conducted an

academy as we think of it today. The second reference in

this poem of Browning*s is to Titian,

Me were to see together The Titian at Trevisoi There, agnini

Browning is praising the beauty of the bride whom Plppa meets

In the day of her song by Lugi*

In A Soul *s Tragedy, 1846* we find reference to

Masaccio, whom Browning made Fra Lippo*0 pupil instead of

master as Vasari did. Browning, in keeping M t h Vasari *s

narrative speaks of his having tendered some favor to a young

man, Blndo, who later repays .'him* In the phrase, "great ugly Masaccio," Vasari is followed. Vasari explains, how­

ever, that he was called Masaccio, which moans, awkward,

stupid, ugly, or big," by no means for any vice of disposition 1

1 Vasari, Lives, II., 402, . ohamber of that town* These sum up the direct references except for one in the preface of Bolls and Pomegranates, published over the years 1841-1846, That Brovnaing knew

Vasari then is evident from a note to be found appended to

the final aeries in which he explains the title. In his ex­ planation he says:

Giotto placed a pomegranate fruit In the hand of Dante, and Raffaelo crowned his Theology with blossom# of the same; as if the Bellarl and Vasari would be sttrepto come after ang explain TEat it was merely a

Bellarl wrote the life of Dante, and Vasari, of course, that

of Giotto and Raffaeloi

The collection Men and Women, 1855, is even more rich

in allusions to Vasari than t M s last. Including as it does,

sFra Dlppo Lippi,w ”Andrea del Sarto,* and "Old Pictures in

Florence". The references to artists in these poems will not be discussed here but in following 'chapters. However,

it can be noted that in "Fra Lippo Lippi" there are references to three other artists besides Lippo— Fra Angelico, Giotto,

and Masaccio. In "Andrea del Sarto" there are five references

to Michael Angelo, eight to Raphael, one to DaVinci, and one

to "George Vasari", himself. In "Old Pictures in Florence",

which by virtue of its subject has the greatest number of

references to different painters, there are mentioned:

Cimabue, Ales so Baldovlnltte, Ghiberti, Ghirlamlajo, Sandro

. 1 Browningf s Works, p., 128 - - : since he was goodness Itself, but merely from M s excessive negllgence and disregard of himself,” In particular, "he had no thought to his clothing or requiring payment of hio debtors : - / - V f : f / ' - . :v r - There is fanciful musing by the serenader of "In a

Gondola," 1845, about pictures:

And how your pictures must descend To see each other friend with friend5 Oh, could you take them by, surprise, ; You «d' find Schldone * a eager Duke Doing the quaintest courtesies To that; prim Saint by ; Hast And, deeper intoTSsr roiS ' Bold;Caotlofrancors Magdalen You * d find retreated from the ken Of that .robed counsel-keeping Ser-...... v; As if the Tizlan thinks of her : ' And is not, rather, gravely bent On seeing for himself what toys Are these, his progeny invent *

Here, beyond the mention of Schldone»s picture found in

Dulwich Galleries, is the mention of one by Luca Giordano,

whose picture in the cathedral of Fano, Browning immortalized

in "The Guardian Angel", Haste*thss-Duke Is the English of

Luca-fa-presto and was a given Giordan® because.of his

poor;and greedy father1s urging him on, according to Vasari,

Oaetleframce could refer to Giorgione of that town, whose 'vV'

life is treated in Vasari as well. But here* most likely

it means the Magdalen cf Titian that bangs in the council

1 Vasari, Lives, II, 402,.

f - -■ B Ibid. .I, -403 : : •,

^ Ibid*, 11, 395« v; - 52-

(Bottioe2.il'), Taddeo Gaddi, Stefano (for xvhose life ho refers the reader to Vasari), Fra Angelico, Giottoy lleheel Angelo, Rafael, Lippino, Dello, DaVihci, and PplleiiwWlo and Margariton®

d'Arrezzo. These total sixteen different painters.

Row to oontiraa® with the remaining miscellaneous refer-

ences'that■■ Browning makes to the artists in Vasari. In "The

Statue and the Bust0 . 1855, there are two references to the

sculptor, Luca della Robbia, which concern the making of a bust

of the lady fair to plae® in the window. Vasari does not say

that the Ricoardi commissioned Della Robbia to make such a

work. But all Italy is famous for its terra-cotta "Della Robbia" ware. • ^ - r

In 0Bow it Strikes a OoBtemporary,0 1855, wo find one reference to Titian»STOrk: nTitian*s blazing with lights,

.four Titians on the wall." This serves merely as a metaphor

to suggest the luxury enjoyed by the •Gorregldor *•

In "One Word More”, 1861, we find several references to

Raphael. Here the poet is writing a poem to his dead wife

and is seeking a ’summum bonum* to express himself with. Be

mentions Raphael, the painter who wrote sonnets: Rafael made a century of sonnets Made and wrote them in a certain volume Dinted with the silver-pointed pencil Else he only used to draw madonnas.

This is the introduction to hie expression of his desire to

dedicate something beyond his natural gift to her, just as Dante tried to paint an angel for Beatrice: ..•321**

What of Rafael*o sonnets, Dante ra picture? This: no artist lives and lovea, that long® not Once, and only once, and for one only, , (Ah, tho prize]) to find his love a language Fit and fair and simple ; and sufficient Using nature that's art to others.

None hut would forego his proper dowry. Be pictures the love of Raphael as immortalised in the 'San ,

Sisto' madonna.

Her that visits Florence in a vision Her that's left with lilies in the louvre Seen by us and all the world in circle.

And he desires that M s love for his wife be immortalised.

likewise. The basis for the idea might have been Vasari's

remark in the life of Raphael:

Every man should oontent himself with performing such works as he may reasonably be supposed to be capable of and equal to, by his inclination and the gifts bestowed on him by naturei 1 The chief weakness of Raphael/ Vasari says, was that ho tried ' 7: ' . : ■ v 2 - - ' ^ to master all that was admirable* No mention is made in ^ !

Vasari's account of a love affair. It is generally knownj

however, that the art of sonnet writing was one of the ac­

complishments of a gentleman of that time. Browning also

says in this poem:

Let me speak this once in my true person# Not as Lippo„ Roland or Andrea*

This reveals to us .that the poet did use these artists' lips

to speak through despite his maintaining their true identity* 21

1 Vasari, op. clt.,111, 58 2 Ibid., Ill, id In HJames Lee’s Wife," 1864, Browning makes the specu­ lation in this line: ’

Would Da Vlnei turn from you?

Browning believes that Da Vinci, himself, would prefer the flesh and blood thing to a ®clay cold cast.* This, of course, io a figure of comparison that Da Vinci is the most perfect in anatomy and realistic painting.

In "A Face®, 1865, Browning is describing a famous beauty of his day and acquaintance, Mrs Coventry Patmore, of 1 whom it was said that she warn a Venus till she laughed. Mm

is wishing that she could be painted in the manner of the

"early Tuscan art". He thinks Correggio would be the painter best able to do her justice:

I know Corregio loves to mass In rifts of heaven. His angel faces orb on orb. .

Her face would suffice alone in beauty for the numerous masses

of heavenly visages that appear in Correggio’s pictures. This

shows a knowledge of this painter and his manner, and possibly

this remark came from Vasari’s description of this picturev

Our lady is ascending unto heaven amidst a multitude of angels and surrounded by numerous saints. 2

Or, perhaps. Browning had in mind Vasari’s remark about this

painter’s skill In portraying feminine beauty, especially the beauty of hair. .: V V:‘ ,■ ; .:V. -2 1

1 Berdoe, Browning Cyclopedia, p. 164 2 Vasari, op. cit.,11, 404 ■36*

• . in The Ring and the Book, 1868, Browing oays that '

"Titian's the man,not Monk Angelico" to paint the dying fampllla ss she should he painted. The referencea to Raphael

and Corregio in this poem are to pictures belonging t@ the

family of the Franehesi ‘wm& this O’wner ship is not to be found in Vasari. ' - - V ' ; .v'-v ■ -

In "Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau", 1871, is to be found this line: "where Rafael moulderingly bids adieu", which has

reference to the birthplace of Raphael, Uccello.

In the poem, "Pifine at the Fair," 1872, a monologue

of some length is carried on about how glorious it would be

to own a Raphael: "Rather to boast, *1 own a Rafael* than

am a prince." Finally, however, the husband of Elvira decides

that her love is greater than that and that it would not be right to hoard with selfish possession such a masterpiece from

the world. This passage merely captures an imaginary thrill of Browning over the possibility of possessing such a master­

piece as was also found in "Old Pictures in Florence”«

In Red Cotton Night-Cap Countrya 1875, we find:

Then Michael Angelo against the world.

This is Browning talking about the loneliness and hostility

that genius faces. Michael Angelo was one of those who faced these things.

The poem "PaceMmrotto and How He Worked in Distemper",

1876, is a rollicking account, poking fun at this impertinent -‘SS—

painter* The name Pacchiarotto translated means *Torn Patch* or pretender and;though it applied to no painter of Vasari, some of the facts of his life herein related may have comer • * from that source. A footnote hy Foster in Vasari*s life of

Sbdbma or Glovan-Antonio Raszi^ says: lanzi and other authorities consider the painter her® meant PaheMa to be probably Pacciarottoj but ' that.artist was called Giacomo and not Girolamo. 1 ,

. . . * ^ Mrs. Orr in her Handbook says in regard to the identification of Pacchiarotto: ; ; (Giacomo) "Pacchiarotto" was a painter, of Siena♦ His story is told In "Tt# Commentary oh the Life of Sodome" by the - editors of Vasari, Florence„ 1866$ and this contains all^ or nearly all", the incidents of Mr * Browning * s "Pacchiarotto, as well as others of a similar kind bht of later occurrence, which are not mentioned in it* 2

The account, then, that Browning followed, though it appears

in the 1855. Sdltibh of W s a r l *s works, was added by the editors

not written by Vasari, himself, and therefore it is not necess­ ary to consider the poem in detail here. ' : - o::

However, there are three Vasari artists mentioned in

the poem, beyond the possible identification1 ^ Facchiarotto,

himself . P a o c M a , . apparently confused with Pacchiarotto, is

mentioned in Vasari as painting in competition with Baszl and

Beccafuml^in the oratory of the San Bernardino order of monies of Siena. 123

1 Vasari, op. cit., IV, 462

2 Orr, Handbook, p..279 \ 3 Vasari, op. cit., IV, 462 Browning in his poem corrects the name of Glovani-Antenls Razzi and mentions It there as ^Bazsl how they call him Razzln »

Beecafual merely refers to his competition of painting with the other of the aforementioned oratory, A mention is also made to Giotto, *&ook to thy laurels Giotto"— mock sarcasm

concerning the abilities of this inferior impertinent painter#

In *Filippo Baldinaocl on the Privilege of Burial,”

1876, Browning alludes to *Master Buti* as being infinitely inferior to Titian and only a poor painter of ecclesiastical

subjects. His references here to Titian, ”0f Leda— Titian

every touch,” give high praise to the master^ art,

...Though Titian»s whisk Of brush have well performed its task. How comes it these false godshlps frisk In presence of what— yonder frame Pretends to image? Surely odd. It seems you let confront the name (sic) ' :: • Bach' beast the heathen called his godJ Here the Cardinal*8 servant is asking his master why he admires

the heathenish or classical manner of Titian In preference to some inferior religious painter. The Cardinal replies that

it?s art * s truth that - matters. This use of the artist by

Browning to establish his point in an argument on art is

characteristic of the poet and denotes a familiarity with

Titian as well as a good critical eye for his characteristic manner.

In ”Parleying with Christopher Smart, 1887, Browning

muses on the Sistine Madonna, 'the Raphael Mother-Maid1,

wondering what inspiration lay beneath, *By nature1 s bounty

helped *, and -*how far earth may rival heaven*: what bridges -39-

the gap between the modern painters for 'Raphael (to) touch

Leighton, Hiehaelagnolo join Watts*:and how came the ^null

and void! to be resumed in art to ’subside in insignificance *,

Of Vasari there is no inkling, only his own unbounded admira­

tion of * Art * s best Hierarchy11, ; -

"In Parleying with Francis Fur ini”, 1887, Browning used

an obscure Tuscan artist whom he cond. dered ill-treated in

Baldimcci*s account of him for the purpose of berating Mr, Horsely for his attacks on the painting of the nude by Brown­

ing *s son* ; ;As was discussed in a preceding dbapter^ we find

Baltilnuoei much berated as a prototype of Horsely^ thus s

This Baldiraieci <$Ld but grunt and sniff ; Outside Art’s pale--

hoping as it were to catch ; * . :

* : ; seme: faint sparkle: from the crown Crowning transcendent Mida ael, Leonard, ' Raphael. ^ ’

He says that he, Baldimacol* merely uses art as a screen for hiw own Vices*

: ....Art was Just a safety screen— (Art, which Corregio’s tongre calls "virtue") — For a sulking vice: mere lust. Corregio, aceerdLing to Vaaarl, w s of a frugal and Virtuous

nature. He painted a very celebrated ’nude figure of Leda

and a Venue with so much softness...that the carnations did not seem painted but truly the living flesh."11

1 Vasari, op.clV.. 11,407 - 40-

These, then, are the scattered references that Browning made to Vasari artists. The chronological order of these poems also serves to show the time covered, by these references and may give some idea of how they are related'to the events of his life and to his thought. The fact that they cover almost the entire period of M s most productive years of writing seems to make them an integral part of his works and to lend charm to them. The explanations also indicate the uses of references in the poems. They can be simply classified as those used for comparison dr in figures of speech, those used in a more ex­ tended maimer for making some point in Browning [ a thought, and those to which he turns to express his ideas in whole poems by means of dramatic illustration. Some of the artists • characteristics and the incidents in their lives serve further to strike a note of quaintness and eccentricity like colorful threads occurring in a sombre and subdued tapestry of thought. CHAPTER III ' V ; ■ V - Preesding dls©usslen having covered the evidence of

Vasari’s influence which can he detected in all of Browning’s

poetic writings except the three poems, "Fra hippo Lippi", ?Andrea del Sarto", and "Old Pictures in Florence", In this

chapter there will be a line by line analysis of the poem

"Fra Llppo Lippi" in which there will be some attempt to re­

veal all significant parallelisms between Vasari’s account

and the poem. . ■ '.; ■ - .

Some mention will be made of pointo of fact beyond

those which come directly from Vasari* That portion of the

poem In which the poet discusses his own art theories will

not be analyged* On© of the voluos to be obtained from auoh

a study is that it helps one to isolate the poet’s raw

material from his actual final presentation so as to as- ' ' . ' v - - ■■ certain to a degree what la his own and how fact and im­

aginative play are related. The most import ant value, how­

ever, Is the gaining of a greater appreciation of the poet’s

powers and the better understanding of his matter that is

particularly necessary in the reading of Browning because

of his many subtle allusions, his telescoping of events and

circumstances to fit his artistic needs, and his own profound

knowledge In the background of hi a writings, which is un­

attainable to the reader and which obscures the poet’s great concepts. ; , • - ____ Fra Lippo Lippi Vasari %

1 am poor brother Llppr, "The Carmelite monk,- Fra Ftlllpo by your leave! ; dl Tommaso Lippi, was horn at Florence in a by street called Ardlgllone...behind the convent of the Carmelites.(V, 11,73)

" ' - v . ' •it was customary on entering the convent, to change the bap­ tismal name for some other, a custom departed from,as it should seem In the case,of.v Fllllppo.” (Footnote to Vasari by translator.Foster,V,I1,73,) Tou need not clap your torches to ray face Zooks, whatrs to blame? You think you see a monk* What, *t Is past midnl^at, and you go the rounds. (Llppb encounters the night watch of Florence,, or possibly Is sought by the guard of Coslmo de Modidi.) When Coslmo found that the painter had escaped he caused him to be sought.(V,II,77) And here you catch me at an alley »s ;end . “ Miere sportive,ladles leave their doors ajar? It was known that, while oc­ cupied in the pursuit of his pleasures, the works under­ taken by him received little or none of his attention. (V, 21*76) The Carmine * a. my cloister: -•■•Imnt.-lt'.up,': r - - ”His death is registered in the necrology of the Carmel­ ites as that of a member, under the name Prater Phillipus. From this and his painting him­ self in tonsure we may assume him to be professed if not In full orders." (Foster, footnote, Do,— harry out. If you must V,11,75) 1 show your seal. Whatever rat, there, haps on 1. Parentheses separate remarks his wrong hole. lof interpretation, or paraphrase; And nip each sorting of a wee quotation marks those of editing white mouse, .commentaries. Weke, weke that’s crept to keep him company! — — - Fra Lippo I>ippi ----- Aha, you know jmar bettersi Then you*11 take You* hand away that * a fid- dllrig on my throat. And pleas® to know me like- j wise. Who am I? V/hy, one, sir, who is - : • lodging with a friend Cosimo dl Medici wishing him Three -'streets'off— he*s 'a' ■ A';:' to execute a work in his own certain...How*d ye call? palace shut him up.(7,11*77) Master— a...Coslmo of the Medici, (^Cosimo di Medici, a great art patron and Florentine states­ man, 1389-1464) In Florence he (Lippo) paint­ ed an altar piece*..by means of which he became known to • ' , : Cosimo di Medici, who was thereby rendered his moot assured friend.(V,11,76) I * the house that , caps the c o m e r . Bah 2 you-were the best! • Remember and tell me, tbs day you*re hanged. How you affected such a gul­ let’s gripe! . But you, sir, it concerns you that your knaves Pick up a manner nor dis­ credit you: Zooks, are we pilchards, that they sweep .the streets And count fair prize what comes into their net?

Be*s Judas to a tittle, that (Several pictures of. Lippo por­ man is! traying Judas could be referred Fra Llppo Lippi Vaaorl

Just sueh a foooi Why, sir, you make amends. Lord, l*m not angryJ Did your hn^ttogs go Drink out this ouarton-florin to ytmr health Of the munificent House that harbors mo (And many more beside, ladsj more besides!) And allr o conic square again, I*d like his face— His, n*boning on his comrade in the door With the pike arid lantern,— for the slave that holds John Baptist*s head a-dangle by the hair With on® hand ("Look you, now, as who should say) ted his weapon in the other yet unwipedl

effect.(V, II, 82) It is not your chance to have a bit of chalk, A #ood-eoal or the like? or you should seel

s*;., he probably incorporated it

'owr

coal from the fire and with that delineated his figure at full length on - 45-

Fra Llppo Lippi V a s a r i _____ a white wall...This circum- atanoe caused his liberation.*

I saw the proper twinkle — Fra Filippo was very par­ in your eye— tial to men of cheerful ♦Tell you, I liked y@ur character, and lived for his looks at - very first. own part in a very joyous, Let<8 .sit and set things fashion. (V,11,84) .straight now, hip to heraaoh. It was known that, while oc­ Here * s spring oom®, and the. cupied in the pursuit of his nights one makes xq> bands pleasures, the work undertak­ To roam the town and slngr out en by him received little or carnival, none of his attention; for And I * ve been three weeks shut which reason Cosino di Medici v within my mew, ' wishing him to execute a work in his own palace shut him up, that he might not waste his time; but - having endured the confinement for two days— escaped, and for several days gave himself up to his amuse­ ment. (V,11,76)

A-palntlng for the great man, "Two paintings by Fra Filipp1 saints and saints formerly in the pnlazzo And saints again. I could Medici.*.The one is an annun­ i t paint all night— ciation. In the other are — ■: .vx. - seven saints seated in the centre; both are finished -with exquisite care." (V,II, 76f Florentine Edition) Ouf I I leaned out of window for fresh air. There earn a hurry of. feet , • ■ .yv ■: •: : ' and little feet, A sweep of lute-strings, laughs, and whifts of song,— Flower of the broom. Take away love, and our earth is a tombj ■ - Vasari -

Flower o * the quince, v-:: r ' I let Lisa goj .and what goo4 in life since? -; 'V: Flower o 1 the. thyme— : and so on. Round they went. Scarce had they turned the corner when a titter . Like the skipping of rabbits by moonlight— three slim shapes. And a face th%t looked np •.• looks, sir, flesh and blood,

That’s all I ’m made ofJ into shreds it; went, He .then made ropes with the Curtain and c o m t e r p a m sheets of his bed, which he and coverlet. cut to pteces for that pur­ All the bed-furniture— pose, (V,H,77) a. do sen knots, v

There was a ladderI ...and so having let himself Down I let myself. down from a window, escaped. (V,11,77) Hands and feet, scrambling somehow, and so dropped. And after them, I came up with the fun

Hard % Saint Laurence, hail In the ohuroh of Saint Lorens© fellow, well met,— Fra Lippo executed a picture Flower of the rose, ' - . . also representing the annun­ If I ’ve been merry, ciation. (V, II, 78) what matter who knows? And so as I was stealing back again : To get to bed and have a bit of sleep

Ere. I rise up tomorrow and go to work On Jerome knocking at M s But still finer id a figure of poor old breast : i St. Jerome doing penance, of With his great round s tone similar size and by the same to subdue the flesh. hand which Is now in the guarda- You snap me of the sudden. roba of Duke Cosimo. (V,H,83) Ah, I seel .47-

Lippp, Lippi Vasari Though your eye twinkles still, you shake your head— Mine1 a shaved— a monk, (Llppo is shown in his self- you say— the sting's in that I portrait taken by his own hand by help of a mirror, to be tonsured, in his Baptism group.) (V,11,82) If Master Gosim announced himself ; - Mum's the imrd matmrallyf but a monk I ■ Come, what am I a beast fort tell us, nowI

I was a baby when my mother ...his mother having also died died shortly after his birth. (V,II,74) And father died and left me By the death of his father he in the street. was left a friendless orphan at the age of two years. (v,n,74) ; I starved there, Qod knows how, a year or two On fig-aklns, melon-parings, rinds and shucks. Refuse and rubbish. On® fin® frosty day. My stomach being empty as . your hat. The wind doubled mo up and - . : , doim I went. • - : .

Old-Aunt Lapaccia trussed me The child was for some time with one hand. under the care of a certain ■ena Lapaccia, his aunt, the slater of his father, who brought him up with very great difficulty until he . attained his eighth year. (V,II,74) (Its fellow was a stinger as I knew And so along the wall, over the bridge.

By the straight cut to the. Lappadeia placed him in the convent• convent of the Carmelites. Six words there, (V,11,74 ______Fra Llppo Lippi______Vasari Mill© I stood munching my 1 first br®«d that month: "So, boy, you’re minded," - # o t k the good fat father. Wiping his own mouth, it v/as refection-time,— quit this very miserable world? - 1 ■ . 1 ■■ ■■ Will you re^unce" •••the mouth­ ful of bread?" thought I; - By no means5" Brief, they made a monk of me; - . : ‘ I did remunee the world, its pride a M greed, • , - . Palace, farm, villa, shop, and banking house. Trash, such as these poor devils of Mediol *

Have given their hearts to— ell at eight years old. Be was placed in the convent — hl= oiehth 7oar.(7,H,74) Well, sirj I found in time, you may be sure, *Twas not for nothing— the good bellyful. :r' The warm serge and the rope that goes all round. And day-long blessed idle­ ness beside 1 •

Let’s see what the urchin’s fit He was placed in the house of for"— that came next the novices under the care of the master, to the end that the latter might see what could be done with him. (V,11,74) Hot overmuch their way, : I must confess. -- ; . Such a to^-doj They tried me . Here in proportion as he showed with their bo^tij ‘ himself dexterous and ingenious Lord, they’d have taught.me . in all works performed by hand, Latin in pure waste I did he manifest the utmost dullness and incapacity in letters, nor would he take pleasure in learning of any kind. (Vj.II,74) . v» 49

. Fra Litwo Lippi Vasari

P lowr o ' the clove, ' All theLatlne I construe Is lover; : ,

But mind you, when a boy starves in the streets Bight years together, as my fortune was, V , . Watching folk’s faces to know who will, fling , The bit of half-stripped grape- bunch' he desires, . And who will curse or kick him for his pains,— , , Which gentleman processional and fine, Balding a candle t^ the " " ' Sacramnt , Will wink and let him lift : a plate and catch The droppings of the wax to 11 In Catholic countries, where - many wax torches are used, the wax drippings are care- • fully gathered by poor boys to sell,” (Berdoe, Cyclopedia, p# 185) Or holla for the Bi#%t and In the hall of the Council of have him whipped,— . Eight, in Florence, is a picture (by Lippo) of the Virgin with the Child in her arms.(V,II,83). (This reference may have been made by Browning for its irony.) ' ... How say I?— lay,' which dog bites, which lets drop His bone from the heap of offal in the street,— Why, soul and sense of him grow sharp alike, / • He learns the look of things, and none the less For. admonition from the . ' :bW^r-0%oh.,' - • ■;... I had a atore of suck remarks, bo sure, . Which, after.I found leisure, . turned to us®. - 50-

...... ___— I drew menfaces on my copy-Wok##, .v:;;,: . 5Sdp3 M 88SS^S& M nn= r Scrawled them within the antlphonnryts marge, Joined legs and arms to the long music-notes#, Pound eye and nose and chin , ^ For A rs and B's, And made a string #f pictures of the world : -/ r - Betwixt the ins and outs of verb and noun# On the wall, the bench* the dOOr e ; ' ■ The monks looked:black• - - _ ' - v k t Nay,* quoth the Prior, Mturn ••.whereupon the prior deter­ him out, d »ye may? mined to give him all mean# and every opportunity for learning to draw. {V,11,74) In no wise. Lose a crow and cattii a lark, * What if at last we get our There flourished for a long man of parts , . space of time in that monastery : \ ' ;• ; ■ Vj v . V::,V. of Camaldollne many brethren of merited distinction in art.

Their cribs of barrel- , (’These lines seem to indicate dropping s» © andle-wnda , a particular picture of . To th© breathless fellow at Lippi, but no record of such the eltar-foot, ' : ua picturepj-uvur® puruxportraying u’ thio . Fresh from his murder, safe and sitting there With the little children round m m^ ----- s 1: that Llppo him in a row paihtedsuch types^is in * Of admiration, half for his keeping with the,character heard and half of him that Vasari gives,and For that white anger of his close.observation of such . victim's'son . pictures as "The Vision of Shaking a fist at him with Saint Bartholomo";), one fierce arm Signing himself with the other because of Christ \ r, , (Whose sad face on the.dross sees only this After the passion of a thousand years) -Till some poor girl, her apron ? - j < o'er her head, .(Which 'the intense eye a looked through)came at eve" On tiptoe, said a word, dropped ; In a loaf* Her pair of earrings wad a bunch of flowers (The brute took growling) prayed, and so was gone.

I painted all, then cried, WfT ask.and have; ? He. surpassed all others by Choose, for more's readyl"-*- very much dexterity and knew* lald the ladder flat. ledge • insomuch that he was considered certain to do some marvelous things in the course of time.(V,II,74)

And showed my covered bit of In a cloister near Masaccio * a/ cloister-wall. painting of the Consecration'; - ... . : - / ' - - the subject of which was the Pope's confirming the rule of the Carmelites (work destroyed) (V,II,74). The monks closed In "a. circle and praised loud Till checked, taught what to see and not to see. Being simple bodies,— That's the very man! . ______Fra Lippo Lippi ~ Vasari

Look at the boy who stoops to pat th® 4ogX That woman’s like tho Prior’s (References to "the Prior’s niace who comes - niece” may have been prompted by Lippo * a'. affair with Lucre zi a Buti. She (Lucresia Buti) was tha. teughter of a wealthy citi­ zen of Florence, sent to the nunnery of St. Margarets, either •' A j. l;i: : \ V : .. as a novice or as a boarder) (V,II,79) To care about M s , asthma: it’s the lif^r. ' (In describing Lippo’s "St. . . But there my triumph’s otraw- Stephen" Vasari says) "This flr flared ■ and funked; variety of expression is certain­ Their betters took their turn ly fine, and is well calculated to see and say; , to teach students of, art the The Prior and the learned value of imitative powers, and pulled a fade the importance of being able And stopped all that in no, to represent-clearly the af­ time. fections arid emotions of the Bow? what’s here? characters represented. Fra Quite from the mark of paint­ Filippo devoted the most earnest ing, bless us all2 . 'attmtipa-. ;to thia point" . * . Faces, arms, legs, and bodies ^ (V,II,82). like the true As much as pea and peal It’a devil’a-gamel ;• ' Your; business la' not to catch men with show,';;;.:’'' A 4 • With homage to the perish- -N . • able clay, A ’ \ But lift them over it, ignore : it all, : ' Make them forget' there is such a thing as flesh...... I Your business is to paint the souls of men--,, .... Man’s soul, and it’s a fire, . smoke...no, it’s,not...... It’s vapor done up like a new- ’ ' born babe— V ::'.A ..... (In that shape when you die it leaves, your mouth) ..... It’s...well, what masters ’ talking, it’s the soul! Give us no imre of body than \ ' - show's soul2. ■ ...... - Fra Llppo Lippi l®re * s Giotto, with hia Saint Giotto likewise painted In a-praising" God, the Carmine, depicting the v That set a ha praising,--*why life of St. John the Baptist, not atop with him? for the chapel of that saint in a series. (These works ore now in Liverpool.) . (Vf1,97) put all thoughte df praise out of our head / With wonder at lines, colors.

. and what not? ' ' ' . • ' v' ' . '"v ■ - •’ Paint the soul, never mind .v, ; \ Ufit / the legs and armsJ Rub all out, try at it a second time. Oh, that "white smallish female Fra". Filippo, having given a with the breasts. glance at Lucrezia... .who

z moke a likeness of her for ...... — the figure of the Virgin. , l :- ' ‘ (v ,i i ,79) She’s just my niece...Herodlas, In the Feast of lerodlas I would say,--- ; the astonishment of the guests, Who went and danced and got the splendour of the banquet, men’s heads cW; offi , and their inexpressible sorrow are depicted when the head is : nv presented on the charger. (Description of Lippo’s pic­ ture of St. John.) (V,II,82) Have it all outJn~, How, is this ■ sense. ! beV? .... • A fine way to paint soul, by painting body , So ill, the eye;: can’t a top 1 there, must go' ftother And can’t fare worsei Thus, yellow atoes for black When what you put for yellow’s ;simply black, > ted any sort of meaning looks intense When all beside itself means and looks naught• Why can’t a painter lift each foot in turn. -54-

______Fra Lippo Lippi ---- - ynsari , ------Left foot and right foot, go ■ ■ : r -, . ' in a double step. - • r " "' v v;" ' - : - nr Make his flesh liker and his soul more like,

Both In their order? Take the -- : V ■ . . prettiest face.

The Prior * s nleoe...patrom* (Vasari has Lippo painting saint— la It so pretty Lucrezia as the "blessed Virgin"•) (V,11,84)

You can’t discover if it means There are numerous figures in hope, fear, fine attitudes, exhibiting beauti­ ful draperies and exquisite ex­ pressions of countenance. ;v,.

Sorrow or joy? won’t beauty The variety of expressioh is ex­ go with these? tremely fine, and is well calcu­ lated to teach...the importance of being able to express clearly the. affections and emotions. (A description of a Lippi picture, v»n,82) Suppose l *.ve made her eyes all right and blue, • Can’t I take breath and try to add life’s flash, ‘ And then add soul and heighten them three-fold? i Or say there's beauty with no aoul at. all— : . ;■ (I never saw it— put the case the same— ) If you get simple beauty and na^ht else, r i ; You get about the best thing God Invents: _j -: •..-■ That’s somewhatt and you’ll find the soul you have missed. Within yourself, when you return him thanks. . ; : ' ; "Rub all outi" mi l , well, there’s ay life, in short. And so the thing has gone on ever since. ______Fra Lippo Lippi -----Vasari ■ - • • • - ■ - I*m grown a man no doubt, I*ve Fra Filippo was indeed so broken bounds $ highly esteemed for his great gifts, that many circumstance® in his life which were very blameable received pardon,

Torn should not take a fellow eight years old And make him swear to never /'.JT kiss girls,

• Iha ray own master, paint ®ow Whereupon hearing himself so as I please— highly commended by all, he formed the resolution at the age of 17, and threw off the clerical habit. (V,II,83). (This, however, is a moot question among critics, and Browning compromises by not representing a complete severance,) (Massilli foot­ note-, V,II,¥S) Having a friend, you see, in < the Corner-house! * He received large benefactions from both him (Cosimo) and • - from his house, (V,II,83) lord, it*a fast holding by the .: ' • , riny® In front— i ' . Those great rings serve more purposes than just To plant a flag© in, or tie up a horse! " - . ■ ". ' ' ■ - . And yet the old schooling sticks, the old grave eyes . Are peeping o ’er my shoulder as I worfc^ V ' ■ : - ‘ .' r ' " - % The heads shake still— "It’s • . art’s decline, my son! > You’re not.of the true painters great and old;

Brother Angelico's the man, you* It was the custom of Fra 11 find; Giovanni to abstain from re­ touching or improving any painting once finished as he said that such was the will of God, It is also affirmed Pra Llppo Lippi that he would never take the pencil in hand until he had first offered n prayer. (V*11*35)» (This refers to Giovanni di Piesole, flower of the mohas- tic school of art, of whom it is said he painted on him knees constantly praying). (Berdoe Cyclopedia; p.185 Brother Lorenzostanda his single .peeri 'vf' c ym-. temporary of Lippi. Vasari

"very laborious and finished with extreme diligence ac­ cording to the custom of the ' V . times". (V,I,281) Pag on at the flesh, yoan1!! never make the third#" Flower p * the pine* • . You keep your mistr...manners, • end 1*11. stick to mine I I tB not' tt» third* then, bless us* they mast know! ' Dcm *t you think they*re the likeliest to Imow, They with their Latin? So, 1 swallow my rage,* ' : : Clench my teeth* suck my lips '' in tight, and paint To please them— sometimes do and sometimes don*t; ■ • For doing most* there * s pretty sure to come - : ly i- *5 A turn, some warm eve finds me (A renewed repugnance of Llppo at my saints for his everlasting painting of saimtB, perhaps ’ the St. John and the Seven Saints painted for Duke Cosimo). (Foster foot­ note, V* 11# 77) - . . ■;: - 57-

______Fra Llppo Lit>pl______Vasari

A laugi, a.cpy, ,the• business or tii® wrld— . ' ■” (Flower 6 1 the Death-for us all» and his own Ilf® for eaehU. And my whole soul revolves, . the cup runs" over* . The "world end life * s ' too M g ’ • : to pass for a. drama, ., %...... v /tiad I do these wild things in-sheer despite, ’ ' It 1s s aid that Fra Fillipo And play the fooleries you was much addicted to. the eateh me at. pleasures of sense. (V,II,76)

In pure rageJ The old mill-- ^ horse, out at grass After hard years, throws up his stiff heels so. *■ . - - - - •- ' - . - ' : Although the miller does not preach to him The only good of>grass is to make chaff. ’ v , " : " " ' ' What would men have? Do they v / " ' V ; - like grass or no­ li ay they or may n ’t they? all I want1a the thing Settled forever one way. As

You tell too many lies and hurt yourself:. You don’t like what you only like too much. You do like what, if given you at your word. You find abundantly detestable. For me, I think 1 speak as I was taught;

I always see the garden sad (This line refers to paintings God there found in most church art. A-maklng man’s wife; and, my Id-ppo greatly admired Masaccio’s lesson learned. painting of this sort.)(V,11,81)

The value and significance of flesh, I can’t unlearn ten minutes afterwards. You understand me: I ’m a beast, I know. I -58-

^ .... . Fra LlPPQ Lippi - But see , - nov/.-why,’ I see as oeptainly . *i tl»t the morning"ster * s - lft»ut to shine. What will' hap - 'mm - We »ve a! youngster here Comes to our" eemvemti" trttat I do, Slouches and stares and lets noatom drops ; His name is'Cuidt**he*11 not ”Guidi is Tommaso Guldi, . mind the ieNtits-- '■7-r iy: colled Massaccio or Tommaccaccio, Slovenly or Hulking Tom. Browning makes y Guldi one of Lippi*s pupils, in this following good author­ ities, It now is probably ‘ decided that Lippi was the pupil of Guidi." (Cooke, Browning Guide, p. 149)

They call him Hulking Tom, he lets them talk—

negligence and disregard of himself. (V,I,403)

H@ picks ay praotice. up— ; The chapel of the Carmine had he*ll paint ap*W, '; . then been newly painted by Massaccio and this being ex­ ceedingly' beautiful pleased Fra Filippo greatly, where­ fore he frequented it daily for his recreation, and con­ tinually practicing there In company with many other youths. He surpassed all the others by very much dexterity and knowledge...proceeding thus and improving from day to day he had so closely fol­ lowed the manner of Massaeeio and his work displayed so much similarity to those of the latter many affirmed the spirit of Massaccio had entered the body of Fra Filippo. (V»II,75) 2 • hope; Eo— tihough 2v never...., live so long, I know what * s eure to fo3d*au You be judge# .,; . : / You Bpeak no Latin more than 1, I; belike;. However, you*re my man, you*ve seen the world — The beauty and the .wonder and the power, - The Ghapee of things, their ©elors, lights..and shades. Change a, surprises,— and Ood : made it alii : :,;v .'

— For what? D o you feel thankful, ay or no, For this fair town's face, ; yonder river's line.

The mimtain round it and the (Most of Lippi's pictures sky above, , ^ i employ a great amount of landscape background to jus- c . - ■ tify his love of nature. See illustration in Seeley's .■ Tales of Vasari.) .

woman, child, * These, are the frame to? - What's it all about? % be passed over, despised? or dwelt upon, tendered at? oh, this last, of coursei— you say. But why not do as well- as say,— paint: these . Just as they.are, careless what comes of it? God's works--paint any one and count it crime To let a truth slip,:; Don * t - object, wHis work* •Are here already; nature is completes Suppose you reproduce her— (which you can't) . - There's no advantage# you m a t * beat her, than.* ‘ - Fra Lippo Lippiit ^

we'r e mad eFor, don't you mark? we're madeFor, so that we lovo f First when we see them painted, >; things we have passed * 5 : Perhaps a hundred times nor oared to see; And so they are better, painted— : better to us. Which is the same thing. Art was given for that; ; 3 God uses us to help eaoh other so, Lending our mind# out..: Have* you notteed, now, Your Bullion's hanging face? A bit of chalk, - vr,:'. -v," v Jtol trust mo but you should, 3 though! How much more, - - If I drew higher things with the some truth! That were to take the Prior's s pulpit-place, . Interpret God to all of you1 oh, oh, • . It makes me mad to see what men shall do- ;'-'' i- .-: :• ted we in our graves! .'This world's no blot for ha, 3 • ^ . Hor blank; it means intensely^ and .means good:■ :•' v v /.::: To find its meaning is my meat ' and drink, ' "Ay, but you. don't so instigate to prayer . M. Strikes in the Priors *#Aen ytmr me aning' s plain. It does not say to folk— remember matin#, Or, mind you fast next Friday!* Why for this . What need of art at all? A: ; skull and bonos. Two bits of stick nailed cross­ wise, or, what's best, A bell to chime the hour with, does ns well. - I

I painted a Saint Lawrence sij In Prato near Florence...(he) months since 3 : there executed various works At Prato, splashed the fresco for the whole surrounding dis­ in fine styles • :• : trict in company with the Fra Lippo Lippi Carmelite, Fra Dimante. (V, II, 79) (Vasari speaks of a painting by Lippo of St* Stephen, the martyr, but Browning sub­ stitutes St* Lawrence as more colorful.) (V,II,81) •ppw l^oks ray painting, now the goaffold1s down?” . k t ..'y. . . .. I ask a brother: ;”Hugely,” he returns— ; "Aiready not: one phiz of your three slaves Who turn the Beacon off his where i toasted.side. at*

J UJ kJKJ U%A,JL i, At- VJ. VA— ; • ' :: i'.'.'' v o iron; ho boro it with such : : fortitude, says one legend, that he cried to his tormentors to t u m hira over, as he was done on one side.” (Berdoe, p. 185) ' - ■ ■ ■- But1s scratched and prodded to our heart1s content, The pious people have so > eased their own With coming t© say prayw®-:-:;r - there in a rage; We get on fast to see the: . .r bricks beneath. Inject another Job this time ■, next year, , j n,. :■:: .• -.•. -.;;■ For pity and religion grow i» the crowd— Tour painting serves its .. -purpose I* ■ ■ ' : Hang the foolsi , — That is— you *11 not mistake an idle word Vr: -:v. C.;- . f Spoke in a huff, by a poor monk, God wot. Tasting the air this spiey night which turns - . ; . ; The unaceustoa»d W a d like Chianti wins 2 Oh, the church knowsi don't mis- rsport me, now! It's natural a poor monk out of bounds Fra Lippo Lippi Vacarl.

Sheulfl have hUjjpt .word to. . •zous« Mmaelf: M d hearken how, I plot to make emends.. 4- I have, bethought m e I shall paint a pieoe

.,.There * s for youi six' months, then go, see He painted an altar piece Something la Sant * Ambrogio * si for the nuns of St. Ambrogio, Bless the m m s i a most beautiful picture by They want a cast o * my office. •means of which he became I shall paint known to Cosimo di Medici, <7,11,76) God In the midst. Madonna,and her babe, . ^ t h o i i y r 17 Ringed by abow©ry,flow®ry. i - S Iwith - l angels and . . angel-brood, Lilies and vestmnts and shite of Fine Arts at Florence.*

• painting for his crowning • - • : r . ,rr dramatic purpose of having ; . • r- vr; t;, ^ . Lippo atone thus for hi# ' '' ' license.)

As puff on puff of grated orris- .. root.-- : ■ . When ladies crowd to Church at mid-summer ■.

ted then i* the front, of course (The so saints are mentioned in a saint or two— 3/asarl*B description of the : - v ; picture.,)

Saint John, because he saves (Patron Saint of Florence) the Florentines,

Saint Ambrose, who puts down in (Archbishop of Milan and the black and white founder of the church of St. .) Theconvent»s friends and gives ti»m a long day. • Fra Lippo Lippi And Job, I mu at have him there p#@t mistake, The. man ofiHz (and Ua without "There was a man in the land the zf • of Uz, whose name was Job." Painters who need' his •fatten©®) • (Job, I,i.) Well, all these

Secured at their devotion, up shall come Out of a corner.when you least '•xpeet'j''': " * ' <•• • v. As one by • ar dark; stair -titd' a % ^ T- - - : " / ' * - great light,- ' - I’. ^ . ■ ■ i ' - , % - : 5. ?:*•: ■ *'- ■ ’ . : : " 1. '■ s:. Music and talking, who but (This probably refers to his Lippo l II— self portrait in his St. Hazed, motionleos, arid moon­ Stephen group.) A portrait struck— I fm the. man! of Fra Filippo himself, taken with M s own hand by help of a mirror, is one of them among the persons who bewail the death of St. Stephen. (V,H,282) Back I shririk— what is this I b s © arid heart I, caught up with my monk la­ thing# by mistake. My old serge gown and rope that goes all round, I, in this presence, this pure company| Where * s a. hole , where * s a corner for escape? Then steps a'sweet angelic slip of thing Forward, puts out a soft palm— 8Not so fast!? — Addresses the celestial presence, "Nay— He made you and devised you, - after all, > v ; - v-K f^sugh he is nono of you! Could Saint John there draw—

His camel-hair make up a paint- "And the same John had M s ing brush? raiment of cornel*8 hair.* (Matthew III, 4) ______Fra Lippo Lippi , , ....------;...J L * S S * ± Wo come fc© brother Lippo for all tliat, , : ,, porfecit opus In So, all smile— - ■" * ' I shuffle sideways v/ith my ■ Bushins face . Under the cover of o hundred Wings , ; ,

Thrown like a spread of kir'tles when you*re gay And play hot cockles, all the (This is probably patterned doors being shut after the incident cited by Vasari as that bringing about Lippo *s premature death.)

Till, wholly unexpected in It was said that the libertin­ there pops ^ ism of his conduct occasioned The hothead husband! Thus I this catastrophe, and that he scuttle off was poisoned by certain per­ To some safe bench behind, sons related* to the object of not letting go M s love. (V,11,85)

The palm of her, the little It is said that Fra Filippo lily thing was much addicted to the That spoke the good word for pleasure of the sense, inso­ me in the nick. much that he would give all to secure the gratification of whatever inclination might at the moment be dominant, but if he could by no means accomplish his wishes he would then depict the object ' which had attracted his attention and endeavor by discourse and reasoning with himself to diminish the violence of his desire.(V,II,76)

Like the Prior1s niece.•• (Saint Lucy might refer to Saint Lucy, I would say. Lucrezia Buti, who was loyal And so all’s saved for me and to him and became his wife for the church after their affairj (V,II,79) Fra Lippo Lippi 1% : ■' f > ■ ' . ' ■ Vasari

A pretty picture gained. Go, - ('Browning teloscopeo Vasari' = «_ six. months hen»e | Taur hand, sir, and eood^: ' B a ^ ^ d ' a ^ a ^ o « r s % % ^o^ifand! - ' - - ^ the gray 0™ ^ ’ beginning. Zooks! vr- ^ i f : M i ; Proa this analysis# it is evident that much of Browning*s poem parallels Vasari*a account. All of the characters and incidents are found in Vasari, and in the main the pictures of ' ■ - : ■ ■ i ' are carefully described from the account of Vasari. »

Lippola own character is at no point at\odds with that given him by Vasari. This study# however, also reveals deviation by Browning from his source. But most such discussions dwell with

overmuch detail upon such points, giving undue emphasis to them

and not giving adequate consideration to the many places where

Browning follows his, source. . - : . - c !

First# scm© of these points of similitude will be summa- rlzed# gathered together so as to give oho unified impression

rather than the broken up and scattered impressions given by

the analysis. Browning*s poem is a monologue# but it does characterize people in Lippo *s life. . The, guardsman— nothing is

aaid directly that describes him; we know nothing of his physical

appearance and only a suggestion of his nature from Lippo *s ad­

dress He is not mentioned, in-Vasari--true; but grounds for M s being there in this incident are found in Vasari*s sentences:

”Vfhen Goslmo. found that the painter had escaped, he caused.him 2 to be sought The guardsman * o; nature reve al s only r so much

good fellowship as the skilled Lippo is able to elicit by M s 21

1 Browning.also saw the picture that Vasari describes in Italy as indicated by letters quoted by DeVane in the Browning Handbook, p . 196.,

2 Vasari, op. cit.,11,77. -67-

own jovial spirits for “Fra Filippo was very partial to men of

The aunt, Mona Lapaccla, is merely described as na certain Mono Lapaceia* the sister of his father, who brought him up with very great difficulty until he attained his eighth year. ■to

Browning felt free to read:into the last part two things: first, that hippo as,a poor waif caused her some difficulty to bring up, and: second, that, she did not have the means of supporting him. Browning uses. the former idea to supplement her characters Sew^ % ■ Old Aunt Lapaceia trussed me with one hand,» , (Its fellow was a stinger as I knew.)

The charaoterizatlcm of the Prior was drawn for Browning * s own purposes as. the only, words Vasari spends upon him ares

The Prior determined to give him all means and every op-

portunity for learning to ;draw.n : It is certain that the

prior is used as the poet's speaker for argument; against the

poet's own words uttered by Llppo. The next character men­ tioned in hippo's life is the Prior's niece. There is a

slight change .from Vasari,-who has instead a Lucrezia Butl, 3

.. A-.v ■ - ' "A- - A'-A^ A- >A .a , ... i: Vasari, ^ . ^ i t . , II/ 84 ‘ - -

' 8 Ibid., II, 7& ^ . V a

3 Ibid. : >;.. ; a ?. - ■ of a citizen of Florence end a novice of the monastery

of St. Margaret®. However, these two seem to be the same per-

•on, because Llppo calls her, "the Prior»s niece" and "Saint

Lucy" in the same line. Through Lippo's remarks9 Browning

represents her as being beautiful and also loyal, as she was

the only one who "spoke the good word for aie in the nick".-

This representation is true to"Vasari, who describes her as

one who was "exceedingly beautiful and graceful" and who

! "loyally remained his wife". after their affair. Vasari also

says that he painted her in the St* Ambrogio Virgin. *Browning’s

representation of Massaccio is true except that he mokes

Masaccio FilippoTa student instead of master, as Vasari and

present authorities do.' "Hulking Tom" is a legitimate trans-

1 at ion of the "oogncwn Masaccio" . The peculiarities which Browning brings out are taken from Vasari.

We've a youngster here Comes to bur convent, studies what I do, Slouches and stares and lets no atom drop:

They call him Hulking Tom, he lets them talk, m pick# my practice up— he'll paint apace.

The words, * m picks my practice up," are true in that both

painters possess a very similar style, so much so that Vasari says:

He (hippo) had so closely followed the manner of Masaccio, and his works displayed so much similar­ ity to those of the latter, that many affirmed that 1

1 Vasari,, op. clt., II, V9

2r. Ibid.* i. 403 r i the. spirlt of Msiaccio to, have entered the body of Fra Filippo.” 1

Thus, it is apparent that Browning1a characters appearing in "Fra Lippo Lippi" actually in most cases have their bases in

Vasari is Lives. v.

The same similarity can be found between the incidents ; :• ■■ i 23:'; - :: "V . r": V . - -*■ ' s-'i.i r.: ; in "Lippo" and Vasari’s Lives. The main incident upon which

the poem is based, the escape of Lippo from the House of the

Mediei, is exactly as Vasari describes it* The only dls-

erepancy here is that Browning has Lippo escape following a

three-we*’confinement and Vasari from one of two days.

Lippo’s wail— - ■■ r. v-i - ■■■ v : -■ i >, % ’Ll ''r-i .'r v ' ir f i v ' r ir-V ix A-pminting for the great man saints and saints md^Saints again. , I could not paint all night-r.i

was probably the logical, re suit of hi s work on a picture that be actually did paint for:Duke Cosimo* f"The St. John and the

Seven Saints,w mentioned by Vasari; Likewise the references

Browning made : to * St« Jerome, knocking ,at his poor . old breast”

and the reference to "The decapitation of John the Baptiat*

derived from Vasari; Browning’s desoriptlon of Lippo with a shaved head must have come from Vasari’s description of the __ '■ '. ^ -... ; M i-r i a • rJ. r- i i - \. .'i-n . i err "Baptism group” of Lippo’s in which the artist painted him

own portrait. The narrative of Lippo’s early life in excuse

of his conduct is all in accord with Vasari * s account, as is

1 Vasari, gg," cit., II, 83 2 Ibid.. II;i87 3 Ibid;; if. 76 —70-

also the .nature of M o escapade, of which Vasari says i n . general! :::>■ t--\n ^ . - -' ;

;a fra Pillppe was Indeed: held so highly .estimated for , his great gift®, that many circumstances in M s life v .which .were very blamable received pardon and fwere partly : put out of view. 1 \ t..': %-: a ar:lT'T\. A that hippo was set to learning painting as a result of his .. :: r .. : : r. ■■‘•"r't r,'-"rv, • '.V; failing to take to studies was likewise taken from Vasari:

•fh® Prior determined to give him all means and every op- portunity for learning to draw.” The affair with the Prior *0 niece, hinted at in the poem, can be compared to that, of hippo with Lucrezla In Vasari. The hippo of Vasari also had a pupil a "' - ’>rr-.i:: % : ; ■ Pra Diamante, but Browning substitutes Masaccio for his pupil.

Vasari records the fact that hippo executed various works In the Prato. And the description of the picture In Saint

Jtabrogio Is an example of Browning*s closely and carefully following his source in his mention of ”Madonna and her babe,”

the "flowery angel-brood,” and ”a saint or two.” Thus, Browning*s change of Vasari!s incidents was a change in order

only. Browning rearranged the incidents for dramatic reasons.

Browning and Vasari treat hippo*s character in about

the same way. Much of this likeness Is already evident from Browning * s following Vasari in presenting facts about hippo.

In addition can be noted some of the following traits of

character shared by both versions i M s repugnance for2 1

1 Vasari, ©£. cit., II, 82

2 Ibid., II, 74 learning; hia skill and dexterity in painting; his jovial, life-loving nature; M s interest: in "pleasures of the senses";

M s inability to resist temptation; his vanity; M s painting that "white malllsh female” and other objects'of M s amours; M s realism in M s painting; M s love of “line, color, and what not”; and in short M s whole roguish soul. All these and more in Browning’s delineation of hippo catch the original spirit of Vasari’s account. And the marvel, of course, is that,beyond this and with tMs, Browning is still able to ex­ press his ideas about art without incongruity, and unimpeded by the background from which M s poem grows. ... . In hta poem, nAndrea del Sarto”, *11 pltfcor sensa errorl*. Browning ago in sought .Giorgio Vasari *a Lives as M s principal sourco of Information. This poem,' in contrast to the vigorous and robust "Fra. Llppo Lippi", is one of contempla­ tive, quiet musing over the qualities of greatness In the arts.

Here we find; something In the nature of Browning that fore­ shadows "Rabbi Ben Ezra", whose quiet, optimism is tempered . . with,a cooling of high spirits for the quieter joys of con- teepletion. Andrea is a word painting, in the silver-grey tones of middle Ilf6. Tt 1# hot bhtll th# b W spirit# of ' yonth have quieted that man can contemplate with great reason and sense of proportion. It la just such a mood that Aniroa del Sartb is experiencing, if onh reads between the lines of

Vasari *s vivaeloiis and subjectively colored account, arid such a mood struck a responsive chord in Browning. So it was to

W s a r l he turned again for background of his masterpiece of i#»as. And Browning wz^te this poem with as much care for the setting and the background, in as groat a harmmy though in mpre subtle^ tones, as he wove hist other poem from Vasari’s

I4.ppo.__ The following analysis will in some measure attempt

to bring forth a, greater appreciation of Browning by an understanding of allusions often obscure to the reader and

to make stand in higher relief Browning * s own eonoepts from

his baekgromd ofr source material. - 73--

v The;; account of Andrea *s life - in Vasari is about fifty pages, in. length; The prevailing tone is one of .high praise with, some: feeling of’ regret that, great as he., was, he was not

- We; have come, I say,: to that (life) of the truly ex­ cellent Andrea del Sarto, in whom art and nature combined m to show all that may be done in painting,; when design, colouring, and invention unite in one and the same person* Had this master possessed a somewhat bolder and more ele-, vated mind, had he been as much distinguished for higher qualifications as he was for genius and depth of judgment in the art he practised, he would beyond all doubt, have r . been without an equal* l. .. ; : r : ,

These thought s of Vasari about his old painting master are to be found reiterated throughout the entire account •

Andrea was bora of poor parentage in Florence and was

put to work for a goldsmith," ’ As his father was a tailor, he ^ v.v-...- I-,'/:. . .‘V r;.:-.- /-'r r. was always called the *tailor*a Andrea* or Andrea del Sarto. ' " ;V'"; :■ r- L’ ck : .t r--* After his talent had wa ® to light at an early age and he was ; ' : :' - - - 'V' - ; 1V. 1 r.- ■?' - rv: .. "r"-- * r-r. established as a painter in his own right, he became infatuated K", with the wife of an old cap maker, del Fede, Upon the old man’s

demise, he married the beautiful young widow, Vasari, the ;;-k ,i r.' v' " ' - k- v' :’k .. : : c r papil of Sarto at the time, says of bars

Though born of a poor and vicious father, she carried about: her as much, pride and haughtiness as beauty and fascination. She delighted in trapping the hearts of men and among others ensnared the unluclcy Andrea., 2 W s union caused Andrea to neglect his studies and the support

he had rendered his own parents. ..These actions caused him to 12

1 Vasari, op. cit.. Ill, 180

2 Ibid.. 194 lose his own peace and the regard of his friends» His dis- eiples remained ndth him, however, despite their maltreatment

M @ wife^ Vasari in the remaining portion of the account

attempts to show how the life of his great, respected master

become blighted by the influence of Lucrezla dl Baccio del

Fade. A friend, seeing that he was sacrificing his art for

the purpose of making enough money to keep his wife appeased^

came to him one day with a suggestion that he send some pic­

tures to France In the hope of gaining a commission there.

Having done so and the monarch, Francis I, being well pleased,

;he departed for Fontainbleau. Here he gave very great satis­

faction to the entire court and was richly rewarded by the

king. Happily situated again in a favorable position, he

would have remained there to better his fortune, had not the

selfish Lucrezia cajoled him back. The agreement with the

king on his leave-taking was that he was to purchase seme art

objects in Italy for the palace and to return later to the

king's service. Andrea was intrusted with a large sum of

gold to buy what the king wanted. Upon reaching Florence

again, however, he spent this sum upon his wife and her rela­

tives and remained in Italy Instead of returning to the king.

Francis, being much angered by this action of M s trusted

painter, swore never to look on M s work again. Andrea, re­

maining in Florence, suffered a decline in his career and

thenceforth had to paint numerous pictures of mediocre quality

to support himself and M s unappreciative wife. It is when Andrea is .In a reminiscent mood concerning his - past: chance a for glory tmd perfecting his art that Browing puts M m in his poem.

Vasari tells that it was customary for Sarto to use M s wife .as the model for his madonnas; he* also, relates the •incident »f V - M s copying Raphael < s paint6 % of Leo X so perfectly that it was confounded with the original. Vasari says that should Sarto have remained in Romo to et@dy the grand style he would hiave sur­ passed all painters of the age in which Raphael and Michael

Angelo were included. According to hearsay, the reason for M s not remaining there, Vasari says,was -that he was discouraged by

the great excellence and facility Illustrated by Repimei and

Michael Angelo. .

% e picture by Sarto that Browning1 s poem is representing

in the scene is not discussed by Vasari as many of his others are, probably because of the minor importance them given to

portraits. Thus* references to t M s picture come from Browning1 s own observations of it in the Plttl palace. -76.

- Andrea d^l Sarto

But do not let us quarrel .-’’The artist and - hi s wife».are any more presented at half length. So, My Luereila; bear with Andrea turns toward her with me for once: a pleading expression on M s Sit down and all shall happen face, A face not so beautiful as you wish. as that in the National G Sou turn your face, but does G-llery; but when once felt, it bring your heartf it strikes a deeper chord. 1*11 work tiien for your It wears an expression that friend, never fear. cannot be forgotten, that Treat his own subject after nothing can suggest but the his own way. poem of Browning, Andrea*s right arm is around herj he leans forward as If searching for the strength that has gone from hinnelf. She is . beautiful,*’ Letter by Mr. Ernest : Bedford, The Browning Society Papers, pt. 2, p. 160 (This is a description of a picture by Sarto in the Pltti Palace,) .. : Fix his own time, accept too .his own price Our artist then found himself And shut the money into this admired...notwithstanding the small hand mean price, that he accepted When next it takes mine. - for M s labors. (V,III, 193) Will it? tenderly? Oh, I ’ll content him,— but tomorrow. Love I

I often am much wearier than (After marrying Lucrezia) he you think, , , : found that he had enough to This evening more than usual, do for the remainder of hie and it seems ...... days and was subsequently ob­ liged to work much more laboriously than he had pre­ viously done.(V,III,194) Though perpetually toiling, he did so to no purpose. He had the father and all the sisters of his wife devouring everything he gained. (V,III,204) As if— forgive now— should you let me sit Here by the window with your hand in mine Andrea del Sarto Vasari —— —— —— . ■7.T? ® ... tod look a half-hour forth on (todrea's house is in Florence, Fie sole, - Fiesole being but three milea distant. Cooke, Guide-book, p. 13) Both of one mind, as married people us®>^ - V: '■ ' : ' ■ '■- Quietly, quietly the evening through, I might get up tomorrow to my work

Cheerful and fresh as ever. - • . . Let us try. Tomorrow, how you shall he glad for this| Tour soft hand is a woman itself, tod mine the man * s bared : breast she curls inside. Don't count the time lost, neither; you must serve

For eaeh of the five pieturee (There is a figure of the Virgin w® require: painted in freboo by Andrea del It saves a model. Sol keep Sarto. Our Lady.is seated with looking so— ' the Infant Christ in her arms: the. figure is pointed with ad­ mirable art being finished so perfectly that It has been greatly extolled for its beauty. The head of Our Lady is a por­ trait taken from that of the artist's wife.)(V,III,208) My serpentining beauty, rounds ~6h rduhdsj — How could you ever prick those perfect ears. Even to put the pearl therel oh, so sweet— - ;

My face, my moon, my every- (This refers to Sarto's practice body's moon, ; of painting his wife in his Which everybody looks on and various pictures. ) The head of calls his, . . , ; . Our Lady is a portrait taken tod, I suppose, is looked on by from that of the artist's wife... in turn, of singular beauty. (V, 111,208)

toil® she ldokiH.-m one *§1 , Lucrexia refusing to pay regard very dear, no less. ' to any one, had respect to nothing . but her own will; she treated all • therefore, with an arrogance of demeanour.(V,III,23S) ______Andrea del Sarto Vmaarl

You smile? wi^-, there*a my plotur© ready made, There’s \7hat wo-painter® call our haroony i

A common grayness silver* He likewise taught the method everything. . of working in fresco with perfect harmony, and without retouching a aecco, which causes all his pictures to ■ appear as if they were exe­ cuted in a day.(V,III,236) (The best fresco should have ^ ; vv- -v this quality of silvery : ■ grayneae.) (Cooke, op. alt.* r - j, . - , p. 10) — All in a twilight, p m - m d I -alike . You, at the point of your •first pride in me (That’s gone you know),--but :■-."'V : :: ' ; • .:; 1, at every point; ; . •• - ■ ' My youth, my hope, niy art, Full of anxiety to learn hie being all :toned down art, the latter Andrea studied ' without ceasing, and his per­ petual labor, conjoined with the natural endowments which proved him to be born a painter, produced so great an effect, that when handling colours, he displayed a grace and facility which could scarce ly have been surpassed by one who had used the same for fifty years. (V, 111,182) . ; To yonder sober pleasant Piesole. There’s the bell clinking from the chapel-top; That 1ength of convent-wall across the way Hold the trees safer, huddled more inside#' : The last monk leaves the garden; days decrease, And auturn grows, entrain in everything. Andrea del Sarto V a s a r i

Eh? the whole seems to fall into shape As if! 2 saw alike my work and self And all that X was born to be and do,

A twilight-piece. Lowe, we are (Another reference to the in God’s hand. silver;grayness of Sarto, and close color harmonies.)

How strange m w looks the life he makes us lead; So free we seem, so fettered fast we are! I feel he laid the fetters let it lieI This chamber for example— ' turn your head-- .

All that’a behind usJ You Andrea could not fail some­ don’t understand times to think of his conduct Hor care to understand about in the matter of the French my art, / king, when he would, sigh from But you can hear at least his heart, and hope for pardon. what people speak: (V, vol. .Ill, 212) And that cartoon, the second from the door — It is the thing. Love! no such thing should be— Behold Madonna 1— I am bold to say.

I can do with my pencil what Various works secured so great I know a name for Andrea in his native What I see, what at bottom of city, that among the artists, my heart , young and old, who were then I wish for, if I ever ..wish painting, he was accounted : so deep— ,7 .. one of the best that handled pencil and colours.(V,111,193) Do easily,too— when I say, His works exhibit fewer errors than those of any other I do m t boast, pei^ispe, Florentine.(V,III,236) your self are judge, -80-

Andrea del Sarto Vasari

Ibe listened to the Legate * £ Our artist then found him­ -talk last week. self to be not only honoured and admired, but also in a condition, notwithstanding the really mean price ac­ cepted for his labours, which permitted him to ren­ der assistance to: his family...(7,111,193)

And just as much they used "...His departure from his to say In Prance native country (to France) At any rate, *t is; easy, all V. .son conducted him from Of it! : the extreme of wretchedness to the summit of felicity. (V,III,205) :

»o sketches first, no (Andrea worked in a careful studies, thatts long past $ manner ) without much re­ I do idiat many dream of all touching a secco, which their lives, causes his pictures...to — Dream? strive to do, and appear as if they were exe­ agonize to do. cuted in a day. (V,III,236) And fail in doing. I could count twenty such On twice your fingers, and (About Raphael, Vasari not leave this town. wrote). So much diffidence, Who strive— •you don *t know grace, application to study, how the othdra strive excellence of lif*j.*th##e alone would have sufficed to veil or neutralize every fault, however important, and to deface all defects however glaring they might have been. (V,III,2)

_To paint a little thing : (This denotes Lucrezla1s dis­ like that you smeared regard for his labor and art.) Carelessly passing with your robes afloat,—

Yet do much less, so much •less, , Someone says, ' (I know his name, no matter) so much lessJ Well, less is more, Lucresia: I am Judged. -81*:

Andrea del Sarto Vasari

There burns a truer light of ■ #*d In them. Had this master possessed a In their vexed beating somewhat bolder and more ele­ stuffed and stopped-up brain. vated mind., ^ he would beyond Heart, or whate'er else, than a doubt, have been without an goes on to prompt equal. (V,111,183) This low-pulsed forthright There was a certain timidity craftsman’s hand of mine. of mind, a sort of diffidence Their works drop groundward, and want of force In his nature, b but themselves, I know. which rendered it impossible Reach many a time a heaven that those evidences of ardour that’s shut to me. and animation, which are Enter and take their place proper to the more exalted there sure enough oharaeter', should ever ap­ Though they come back and pear In hiaf m r did he at cannot tell the world. any time display one particle My works are nearer heaven, of that elevation^ which, but I sit here. could it have been added to the advantages wherewith he was endowed, would have ren­ dered him a truly divine painter.#.His figures are : nevertheless well drawn, they are entirely free from errors and perfect in all their pro­ portions. (V, III, 181) The sudden blood of these aeni at a word— Andrea, himself, was of mild manner and of generous nature. (V,III,185) Praise them, it toils, or blame them and it bolls too. I, painting from myself and to myself. Know what I do, am unmoved by men’s blame Or their praise either. - Some­ body remarks ■--- —

Morello’s outline there is {This mountain in the background wrongly traced, of this picture,(the portrait Him hue mistaken; what of of himself and his wife) is that? or else. the highest peak visible.from Florencej Berdoe Cyclopedia, p. 19) \ ---- -82-

Andrea del Sarto______

Rightly traced and well ordered; what of that? ■ :--.rv.V Speak as they please, what does the mountain care? Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, .Or i*st'a a heairen for? All is silyerwgray jiacid and perfect with my His figures are entirely free .. art: the worsei from errors, expression X know both what I want and - natural,.and coloring divine; what might gain, yet he lacked even a spark And yet how profitless to know, of ..elevation, withal. (V.III, to sigh : LV: '■ • 80S):, r-.: -r ;• ■■ . / - - * Had I been two, another and .= ::^yS#lf " ,• ... ; >. , . ; , • Our head would have overlooked ■ the world iH o do ub t. / .

" Yonder ’s a, work now, of that fawns youth ^ ■' ; The Urbinate- who died five (This refers to Raphael wl» % years ■ ago*- ' : died at the age of 21 or 22), (‘T is copied, George Sasarl - Vasari says that Sarto made a sent it me.) •famous copy of Raphael’s pic­ ture of Pope Leo and greatly admired him.(V,111,218) This picture was so perfect that the Duke for whom it was secretly made thought it the original until Vasari told him.-It was copied by Sarto. ■

Well, I can fancy how he did it.all.

Pouring his soul, with kings (Bath Julius II and Leo X and popes to see, selected him for t W l r moat : . v. ■ r ...... intimate friend. (V,III,63)

Reaching', that he aye n might fo The large and liberal hand - replenlsh hlm, wherewith Heaven is sometimes Above and through his art— for pleased to accumulate the in­ it gives away; finite riches...on the head of one sole favorite, be­ stowed on Raphael. He (Raphael ______Andrea del Sarto Vasari was endowed by nature with all that modesty and goodness..• r.--' : b;:> , v". occasionally perceived in a few favored persons.13) That arm is wrongly put— and ttmre again— ; b:,•••: ■ , ' ... A fault to pardon In the draw­ ing *8 lines. Its body, so to speak: Its soul is right,

B® means right— that, a child The great amount of work ' may understand - " " piled on Raphael made it Still, what an a m i and I necessary that he depend on a ; could alter It:: : - r -b ; ; large staff of other painters for which many of his errors are accounted. (V,III,16) Rit all the play, the in- - sight: and the stretch— ' Out of me, out of mei And #mrefore butt c: ' Had you. enjoined them on me, : given me soul* ;;! We might haw® risen to Rafael, . I and youj: : u . Hay, Love, you did give all I asked, I think— More than I merit, yea by -■ many' times .;" ■::: ::

But had you— oh, with the same perfect brow. And perfect eyes, and more (Vasari makes no comment upon than perfect mouth. ’ Lucrezia’s appearance beyond saying that she is beautiful. Browning here might well be referring to Sarto1 s "Madonna del Sacco," a most beautiful picture of the Virgin.)

And the low voice my soul; hears, as a bird The fowler’s pipe, and follows to the snare— ■: :■ Had you, v/lth these the same, but brought a ,mladl - v : ■ Some women do so. Had the mouth there, urged ; : "God and the glory! never eare for gain. «*84b“»

' . ■''A-'. l :.v: ■ ' " • ; ... ' m area del Sarto ...... Vasari

*fh# present by the future, what Is that? ' Live for fame, side by side With Agnolo J Rafael is waitings up to Sod (Raphael is waiting to be all three!" excelled as he excelled : tegel© aays f&sari.) (V,III, :■ IS) C, . C - : Vv

X might have done it for you. So it seems: t. ter haps not.; All; is: as God overrules. Beside, incentives come from t M soul's self; . " The rest avail rot. Why dto I need you?- ,. What wife had Rafael, or has ..... Agnolo? In this world, who can do a thing, will not; And who would do it, cannot, I perceive: Yet the will's somewhat--some- _ what, too, th® power-- And thus we. half-men struggle. At the end, - \r u,-. God, I conclude, compensates, i# was now tormented by • punishes. Jealousy, row by one thing, now by .another,, but ever:•by some evil consequence of his - - ;.r \ :-;Uv .. ■ new connection. (V,111,194) - ■' .z vV V Too live the life grew, golden and not gray. And I'm the weak-eyed bat no sun should tempt Out of the grange whose four walls make his world. How could it end in any other way?* I

You called me,: and I came home She wrote with bitter complaints to your heart. ' . to Andrea declaring that she The. triumph was--t@ reioh and never ceased to weep, and was stay there; since in perpetual affliction at I reached it ere the triumph, his absence..;She drove the what is lost? poor soul half out of his wits -85-

Andrea del Sarto Vasari______

...when he read her assurance, if he did not return speedily, he would certainly find her dead.(V,111,206) He was, nevertheless, deter­ mined to return to France, but the prayers and tears of his wife had more power than his necessities, or the faith which he had pledged the king. (V,111,207) Let ray hands frame your face • In your hair's gold. You beautiful Lucrezia that are nine! - Rafael did this, Andrea painted that; The Roman's is the better when you pray.

Bit still the other's Virgin .was his vdfen— His love for her had more in­ fluence over him than the glory and honour toward which he had begun to make such hopdful advances.(V,III,194) Men will excuse me. I am glad to judge *T is safer for me, if the award be strict.

That I am something under­ Certain of the masters in rated here. wood-work, who at the time Poor this long while, des­ were most commonly employed pised, to speak the 'truth. I to superintend the best works, would never oblige their friends by giving Andrea work to execute, unless they knew that he was at that time in vary great need of money, when he would content himself with the meanest price.(V,III, 233) I dared not, do you know, leave home all day.

For fear of chancing on the (.Vasari gives record of hi6 Paris lords. pointing several pictures os restitution to Francis, but this is denied by later com­ mentators V, 111,212) '-86-

'" ^'''— '"' ^ 8 # y t o ' ' - — . . - .-Veserl—

Th# best Is when. they pass sad look aside; ^ * J Mat they, qpeak.soaetimes; I : It: . y. - , ; must bear it all. Well may they epeakl That Francis, that first time.

And that long festal year at Vasari .does hot reveal the Fontainebleaui duration of time Sarto.spent - at the court of Francis I, but h® was ”received by the monarch w r y amicably and with many favors."(V,III, 204)

I surely then could sometime a Weighed down by the demands leave the ground of his wife:and the.support of her relatives he,saw that he could never lift himself from the earth,(V,111,204)

Put on the glory, Rafael * s (Vasari says of Raphael,) "He diily wear, :l ,,, did not live the life of a painter but of a prince," m i , 63) In that human® great monarch*a Vasari says of Sarto in France: golden look,— "He was then too...richly pro­ vided with handsome vestments by the liberality of the king." .Iv,III,206) • : One finger in his beard or • twisted curl ; ..:». Over his mouth*s good mark . -that made the smile. One arm. about my shoulder, round:my neck. The jingle of his gold chain . inrqrear, He soon afterwards commenced, I painting proudly with his... his labours, rendering him­ breath on me, self so acceptable to the king All his court round him, as well as the whole court, seeing with his eyes. and receiving so many proofs of good will from all that his departure conducted him... to the summit of felicity. (V,III,205) Andrea del Sarto Vasari

Such frank French eyes, and. : He gave very great satisfaction such a fire of souls to the whole court also... (V,111,205) Profuse, my hand kept plying . . - < - l * ** w . •- « -- ' ♦- < ing on ay work. Every hour-seemed a thousand years:to him, until he could ge te show.Maself in;his . bravery to his beautiful wife. list edition, V,III,206)

To crown the issue with a last reward! .. A good time, was it not, my kingly days?,

And had you not grown restless There came to him certain . ..but I know— : • ... ,; . letters from Florence... written him by his wife, and from that time he began to think of leaving Fronce• (1st edition, V,III,206) »T is done and past; *t was right, my Instinct said;

Both pictures in your presence; clearer grows My better fortune, I resolve to think. For, do you know. Lucresia, as ~0od lives,; . ( Sgid one day Agmlo, his Very self, : vK'- To Rafael...I have known it all these years... (When the young man was flaming put his thoughts Upon a palace-wall for Rome to see. ~S8-

______Andrea del Sarto ynsari

Too lifted up in heart beeauae. •f.: it ' 11 Friend,-there *s a certain sorry "There is a bit of a mannikin little scrub in Florence,"observes Michael Goes up and down our - Florence, Angelo, "who if he had chanced none cares how. to be employed in great under­ Who, were he-set to plan and takings as you happen to be, execute ;-.v . ' ' ' ' would make you look well about As you are, pricked on by your you." (To Rafael, footnote in popes and kings, Vaaari quoting Bocehi's Bellezze di Firenze, 7,III,

(Vasari was introduced to Andrea by Michael Agnolo, and the latter said to Vasari: "There is a little fellow in Would bring the sweat into Florence who will bring sweat that brow of yourai” to your brow if ever -he is engaged in, great works.(7S 111,232) , - ,

To Rafael*sAnd indeed the arm is wrong. . • * ; I hardly dare...yet, only you to see, Glee the chalk here— qulek, thus the line should gol Ay, but the soul I; he »* Rafael I rub it out2 Still, all X care f.or, if he spoke the truth, (What he? why, who but Michael Agnolo?

Do you forget already words (Btor indifference toward his like those? work is shown in several passages.) " ;. "■ ■' - ' ' - ■ ■■■ * If really there was such a "Cbme hither, .wife, and chance so lost,— since we have these colours Is, whether you're— not grate­ left, I will talcs- your por­ ful— but more pleased. trait. "...But the woman would not remain still, perhaps because she h^d other things in her head at the moment« (V,111,225) ______Andrea del Sarto Vasari

Well, let me think so; And you : X". ' r' X.,' smile indeedI This hour has been an hourI . r. = - f " Another smile?

If you would sit thus by me (Lucrezia’s coldness toward every night her Imsbmmd - is illustrated I shouldj*ork_ better, do you by the following: Be one day oomprehend? "o felt seriously ill...his wife, withdrawing herself from him as much as she could do, being moved by her fear of the pest...thus he died. ./• 1 : _ , * , (V,III,231)

I mean that I should earn ( After Andrea married "Lucre'zia, more, give you more. Vasari says; ) He had enough to do for the remainder of his d ays, and' w as subsequently obliged•to work much more laboriously than he had pre­ viously done. (V,III,204) See, it la settled dusk now; therets a star; Mo re Ho rs gone , ■ the v/at oh- • lights show the .wall, • The cue-owls speak the name we call them by. : ’ ; : :

Come from the window, love,— Taking the money which the come in, at last, • King had confided to him for Inside the melancholy little the purchase of pictures, house ; •; /.--v.1 statues, and 'other fine "things, Wo built to be so gay with. .. .he indulged himself, in •’ : God is just. ' . - various pleasures. (V, 111,20’?) Andrea had even ordered' a house to be built for them behind ' the Munzlata..(Ill,206)- x . - -. ; ■* - - - vX King Francis may forgive me: He would sigh from his heart oft at nights . and if he could have, hoped When I look up from painting, to receive pardon for the eyes tired out. fault...202) The walls become illumined, brick from brick Distinct, instead of mortar, fierce bright gold, •Bmt gold of his I did cement them them with! . Andrea del Sarto______, - Vasari

That ConsIn here again? he (Ho ' mention“in Vasari of rela­ welts outside? tives beyond his wife’s father V ' and sisters, nor of lovers.) She delighted In trapping:, the hearts of men and among 'others she ensnared the unlucky Andrea...(V,III,194) Must see you— you, and net “ with me? T M s ® leans? -Mor® grating debts to pay? You smiled for that? Well, lot smiles-buy me J But he soon destroyed his own have you more to spend? " peace as well as estranged friends, by tills act seeing that he soon became jealous, and found that he had besides fallen into the hands of an artful woman who made him do as she pleased in all things. (¥,111,194) While hand and aye And some­ thing of a heart • ' Are left me, work1 s my ware, and what*s it worth? I *11 pay my fancy. Only let ■ me-sit The gray remainder of t W evening out, Idle, you’ll call it and muse perfectly

How I could^paint, were I tout ggiaotol Brace i, a noble of back in France, ; Francis * court, caused Andrea One picture^ just one more— t© paint a picture for Monsignore the Virgin’s face. di San Blause, and this the Hot yours this time! I want painter completed with the ut­ you at my side most care in the hope that it To hear them— that la, Michel might regain the favour of Agnolo— ■ "■■■'' '' * King Francis, to whose ser­ Judge all I do and tell you vices he would so gladly have of its worth. .. v returned.(V,III,213) Will you? Tomorrow, s atiefy your friend. I take the subjects- for M s corridor, ■'" ; ■■ Finish the portrait out of hand— there, there. ^91

Andrea del Sorto- Vasari

Arid- throw him in. another thing (This is another reference to or-'two. - . Sarto who is the artist who If he demursj the whole.. should never demanded more than a prove enough very small price, although To pay for this .same Couein,s his pictures have been sold freak. Beside, since for great sums.) What *3 better; and whatf s all I (V,III,232) ■ care :about; .. • y-:;... Get you the thirteen scudi for the ruff I ; . ' -

Love does that please- you? Ah tout what does he ; : He was tormented toy jealousy, The GouainJ what does he to now by one thing, now toy please more? another; tout ever toy some evil consequence of his new omwmction* (y,III,194)

I am grown peaceful as old age tonight^.: I regret little, I would change still less. • Since there my past lies, why --.alter it?; y • r.

The very wrong to Praroisl-- Taking the money which the it is true - ’ . . . king had confided to him for I took his coin, wa s t top ted the purchase of pictures, and complied. statues and other fine things, And built this house and he set off to Florence having sinned, and all is said. first sworn on the gospels to return in a few months...And then indulging himself in various pleasures and with building, of that belonging to the French monarch, the whole of which he had con­ sumed. (V, 111,207$

My father and my mother died He lived joyously for a time of want making presents to her father and sisters, doing nothing for Well, had I riches of my own? you see his own parents, whom he would How on® gets rich! Let each not even see, and who died at one bear his lot. the end of a certain period, They were born poor, lived ending their lives in great poor, and poor they died: poverty and misery.(V,III,206) Andrea del":Bert#, ■' r •: • Vasari

And;• i have 1 abored se#e#hmt In my time : An# not been paid profusely. Some good son Paint my two - hundred piotnres-- let him, try I ^ r-' ;: ... \ Io doubt, there * s something:; • : V =, strikes a balance. Yes, : ; You loved me quite enough, it , - se«as tcmight, : : - : This smst suffice me;here. - What would one have? In heaven, perhaps, new ichonces, one more chance—

Four great walls in the lew "And the city lieth four Jerusalem, "v' square." (Rev. 21:16.) ^

Me ted oh each side by the *And he "that talked with me angel»s reed,:,: -.■ ■: - : ; ... : had a golden reed to measure the city and the gates there­ of and the walls thereof.* (Rev. 21:15) . , . ^ For Leonard, Rafael, Agnolo and To cover— the three first without a wife, - - - While I have minel So--still they overcome " . cr ■. - Because there's still Imcrezia,-— ' «# I choose . ■■ ;* n % ~.,■ ■ Again the Cousinfs whistleJ .Go, •'w^y love. . r • The poem, R Andre a del Sarto,” is not bo much a character sketch, as ”Pra hippo Lippi”• It is more an at­ tempt to capture a fleeting mood of retrospect.

The match mhich fired the train (of BroT«iing*3 in­ spiration) was a portrait of 1 Andrea and his Wi f e 1, painted by the artist himself vhich hangs in the fltti palace across from where he lived (in Tasari»s Collegio). John Kenyon had asked Brownlz^ to procure him a copy of this picturet none was to be had; so Browning wrote his ”Andrea del Sarto* and sent it to his friend. Like Llppo1s picture, this portrait by Andrea del Sarto can­ not be dissociated from Browning*s poems

Lippi*s ^Coronation of the Virgin,” which is in the Academia delle Bello Art! at Florence, cannot be dis­ sociated from "Fra Lippo Lippi" being, in fact, the very painting whose execution Is foreshadowed at the close of the poem, 2

The nature and extent of Browning *b reference to his source, Vasari, naturally vary with the poems an^to suit

his particular needs. In "Andrea del Sarto" the incidents taken from Vasari are less connected than they a^e in

Vasari*8 biography. Browning places more emphasis upon

Vasari»a concept of Andrea than he does on that of Llppo

mainly because Vasari*s account of Andrea includes more

. . . ' . .. .. ; ;■ ' , . , . ^comments upon his character and less upon the incidents of

his life. Another difference between the poems is that

Browning follows more carefully in Lippo, Vasari1s de­

scription of M s paintings than in Sarto, Vasari*s ac­

count of Sarto-is half again as long as that of Lippo and

; 1 Qrlffin m d Mindain, o^, clt., p.200

2 Ibid - ■' has more of the author' a comments and character 1 sat Ion. This v : : ; v:'.-y. .« v more extended account and fuller characterization of Andrea

del Sarto is explainable.when we consider that he vms Vasari's

own master and teaching of painting. This fact also throws

some light on the two versions of Lucrezia's character found

In Vasari. The account of Lucresia in the second edition is

greatly shortened, softened, and modified. This change was

due either to a change of the autlx>r»s own feeling, a highly subjective one> to a more objective attitude or to demands

made upon him by others. The incident in the life of Andrea

that receives most attention is that concerning Andrea's so­

journ in France and his taking the funds Francis I Intrusted

to him for the purchase of art objects for his palace. By ' > ■■■ - ■ ■ ' . : ’ ’ ■ , later commentators on Vasari Lives this incident is discredited

to a large extent. However, the use of this incident serves to prove more certainly that Browning followed Vasari's

account.

The traits of Sarto's character that Browning catches

from Vasari are: Sarto's kindly, gent 11,-. and slightly patron- >izing manner; his low estimation of himself and his works as

■ shown by his meager demands, hard work, and small compensations

his resigned attitude; his tedious, careful methods of work; the weakness bf his nature, shown by the fact that he was

imposed upon by his wife; his unremitting and unrewarded love

for hi a wife; his timidity and caution in competing with » " - - 1

1 Cooke, Guide-book. P . 13 other masters; his ceaseless labor as shown by the great lum­ ber of his works; his agreeable manner In the French court; his softheartedness; and the on© great shortcoming— lack of elevation of feelinge CHAPTER V

The third foaoua art poem of Robert Browning's influ­ enced by Vasari, "Old Pictures in Florence", 1855, can hardly be disassociated from his study and love of Italian art or from Vasari's intimate biographical accounts of artists.

William Clyde DeVane writes in his Handbook concerning these points: . . " ; ; . ' . ■ - The poem is the product of Browning 'e assiduous study of pointing and painters as he found them in the city of Florence and in Vasari's great biographical, VIte de' piu eecellentl Pittorl, Scultori, ed Archittefeti'■"(XESO- 15E8T7~1 .

And the incident which inspired the poem is to be found in one of Mrs. Browning's letters, 1847, to Miss Mitfords

Robert has been picking up pictures at a few pauls each, 'hole and corner' pictures which the dealers had not found out; and the ether day he covered himself with glory by discovering arid seizing on (in a corn shop a mile from Florence) five pictures among heaps of trash; and one of the best judges in Florence (Mrs. Kirkup) thro throws out such names for them as Gimabue, Ghirlandajo, Oiottino, a crucifixion painted on a banner, Giottesque, if not Giotto, but unique or nearly so, on account of the linen material, 2

This letter Mrs. Orr believes to be the incident that in­ fluenced the poet's conception of the poem.2 1

1 William Clyde DeVane, A Browning Handbook. Hew York F. S. Crofts & Co., 1935, p, 222

2 Mrs. Sutherland Orr, Life and Letters of Robert Browning, revised edition by John Kenyon, 1908, p. 162 :' • Neither in nFra Lippo Lippi” nor in n Andrea del Sarto” had the poet presented all that ho had to say about Italian

art. It ia in ’^Old Picture a in Florence" that he completes M s art philosophy ,nnd pays his more or less final tribute L

to Italian artists. This poem, although enlivened by a fresh

burst of enthusiasm, takes up the same mood of revery to be found in "Andrea del Sarto". And here he particularly di­

rects his praise not toward the shocking, the bizarre, or

the unusual; but rather toward those characteristics which

illustrate the nineteenth century doctrine of the imperfect,

romantic, and forever aspiring. Be, pays tribute to those

who laid the foundations of the Renaissance, such as Cimabue

and Giotto: to those who struck a new path away from the classic order, polished perfection, and unyielding formal-

izatlon to the spontaneous expression of a new creative feeling. Aside from this he revels in a playful fantasy •

about discovering a "lost precious tablet" of Giotto *8,

and chides the master long departed, for not directing him

to discover it before some crass dealer or money monger.

But as Giotto’s famous unfinished campanile still dominates

the skyline of Florence, so. t M s arcMtecturol gem praised

highly by Milton, Ruskin, and the entire age, looms high

in his eulogy of art. It will be worth while therefore to

see to what extent this expression of Browning reflects

his perusal of Vasari’s account, written when these ob.jets

d ’art were time worn, shining with lacquers fresh and golden in a sunlight of their o m glory. . It was for this purpose, that of reviving th® grandeur of this past age in the realm of the mind, that this poet art-lover made this precious record still as aliwe as when it was first scrawled by his artist- pen. Old Pictures Vasa r i

The morn when first It thunders in March,

The eel in th® pond gives a leap, they says As I leaned and looked over the aloed arch Y '? Of the villa-gate this warm March day, *o flash snapped, no dumb thunder rolled In the valley beneath where, white and wide And washed by the morning water-gold, Florence lay out on the moun­ tain side.

River and. bridge and street and square Lay mine, as much at my beck and call. Through the live translucent bath of ; air. As the sights in a magic crystal ball. :

And of all I aay and of all I praised. The most to praise and the best to see.

Was the startling ball-tower On the 9th of July, 1334, Giotto raised: Giotto commenced the campanile But why did it more than of Santa Maria del Fiore. startle mo? (V,1,114) ^The M.S. of Del Mlglore1s .record referred to by Vasari states, l,The Florentine re­ public... desires that an edifice shall be constructed so magnificent in its height and quality that it shall surpass any thing of the kind produced in the time of their greatest power by the Greeks and Romans." (V,I,114) -100-

______Old Pictures______Vas a r i

©lotto» how, with that soul (Browning here is rebuking of yours, ©lotto for not revealing to Gould you.play me false who him the whereabouts of his loved you so? "precious little tablet.") Some slights if a certain heart endures Yet it feels, I would have your fellows know! I * faith, I perceive not why I should ©are ' To break a silence that suits them best. But the thing grows somewhat . ' hard to bear When I find a ©lotto Join the rest. ''

On the arch where olives over- ' head \ ‘ : - Print the blue sky with twig end leaf, / ■; (That sharp-curled leaf which they never shed) ‘Twixt the aloes, I used to lean in chief, - And mark through the winter afternoons. By a gift God grants me now and then, . In tl» mild decline, of those suns like moons. Who walked in Florence, be­ sides her men. They might; chirp and chaffer, . come and go - ' . ;■ ■ - For pleasure or profit, her men .alive---;, p ' ' - My business v/as hardly with them I trow. But with empty cells of the human hi ve ; --With the chapter-room the cloister porch. The church»s apsis, aisle or nave, ^ Its crypt, one fingers along with a torch. Its face set full for the sun to shave. Old Pictures ______Vasari

Wherever'8 fresco peels and drops* Wherever an outline weakens and wanes ' . - ; - ■ ' ' - ; ' Till the latest line In the painting stops. Stands One whom each painter pulse-tick pains: One, wishful each scrap should clutch the brick. Each tinge not wholly escape the plaster, — A lion who dies of an ass’s kick, . The wronged great soul of an ancient Master.

For oh, this world and the wrong it does! They are safe in heaven with . . -. . their backs to it. The Michaels and Rafaels, you hum and buss - . :' . " the works of, you of the little wit! Do their eyes contract to the earth*s scope. Sow that they see God face to face, ■ - And have all attained to be poets, I hope? *T Is their holiday now, in any case. ■ ■■ , ■;; ■ ■- .

Much they reck of your praise and you! But the wronged great souls— can they be quit Of a world where their work Is all to do. Where you style t h m , you of the little wit. Old Master This and Early the Other, Hot dreaming that Old and Hew are fellows: A younger succeeds to an elder brother, - DaVincis derive In good time Dello was not particularly from Dellos. excellent In design, but he Old Pictures ______Vaoeri__ :______was the first who gave a judicious prominence to the muscles in the nude form. (V,I,351) (Leonardo was, of course, the autter of an anatomy and used it in his painting.)

And here where your prise might yield returns, tod a handsome word or two give ■ help, - ■ ■ ■ -: ... . ' - Here, after your kind, the mas­ tiff girns And the puppy peek of poodles .■ yelp.' = ' ' : : .. : _ . . ■ ■

What,not a vror d for Stef am , Stephano made some acquaint­ -■'there, '-. '■:.'■' . v : ‘ .■;; ance with those difficulties Of brow once, prominent and : . which must have beset the #t*rry; painters in their first at­ Galled Nature’s Ape and the tempts at foreshortening... world’s despair Hence it is that toe was For his peerless painting? called by his brother art­ (See Vasari.) ists, "the ape of nature"• (V,I,135). There stands the Master. Study, my friends, What a man’s work comes to IM So he plans it. Performs it, perfects it, ’ mokes amends For the tolling and moiling, and then sic transitJ Happier the. thrifty blind- folk labor. With upturned eye while the . hand is busy, . Not sidling a glance at the coin of .their neighborJ »T is looking downward that • - makes one dizzy. ■'> ■: / ■% - ”If you knew their work vou would deal your dole." May I take upon me to instruct \ you? ■: -' ' W ^ n #PGek Art ran and reached the goal. 10*W

Old Picturea ______Vas a r i

Thus much had the world to bo#at in fructu— ' ■ , - - The truth of Man as by.. (Sod first spoken. Which the actual generations garble. Was re-uttered, and Soul (which Limbs betoken) And Limbs (Soul informs) made now in marble.

So you saw yourself as you / wished you were, : - Barth here, rebuked by Olympus there: And grew content In your poor degree ■ : - ; With your little power, by those statues * god-twad, And your little scope by their eyes* full sway, . And your little grace, by their grace embodied. And your little date, by their forms that stay.

You would fain by kindlier, say, then I -aaT: \ Even so, you will not sit like (One of the Elgin marbles Theseus. from the Parthenon in the British Museum. Berdoe, 291) (An old O r e A sculpture in Paris.) Ibid.

You would prove a model? The Son of Priam Has yet the advantage in arms * and knees* use. You * re wroth— can you slay your snake like Apollo?

You*re grieved— still Hiobe»s (Another sculptor in the the grander1 r classic Greek manner at the TJffizi gallery in Florence. (Ibid.)

You live— there *s the Racer*a (Part of the Elgin marbles friese to follow: in the British Museum from the Parthenon). (Ibid.) mlO*-

Old P i c t u r e s ______Vas&*l

You die— there *s the dying (A piece of ancient Greek Alexander. sculpture at Florence). • (Berdce, 291)

So, testing your weakness by their strength. Your meagre charms by their rounded beauty. Measured by Art in your breadth and -length. You learned— to submit is a mortal’s duty. — Whan I say "you? rt is the common soul, The wilective, X mean: the • .race, of-.Mmi;:, That receive s life in pa**e to.llw in a whole. And grow here accord!^ to God’s clear plan.

Growth cam© when, looking your last on them all. You turned your eyes inwardly one fine day ■ . And cried with a start— What if we so small Be greater and grander the while than they? Are they perfect of lineament, perfect of stature? In both, of such lower types are we Precisely because of our wider nature; For time, theirs— ours, for eternity. U u . : , ■ ^

Today’s brief passion limits their range; It seethes with the morrow for us and more. They are perfect— how else? they shall- never change: We are faulty— why not? we have time in store. The Artificer’s hand is not *. -arrested^.■ .■< . With us; we are rough-hewen, no wise polished: - 105«

----- ;------YaanrA

They stand for our copy, and, once invested With all,they, con teach, we shall see them abolished.

; . ' . •' ,, ■ % «T is a life-long toil till our lump be leaven— >.. The better! Whatra come to perfection perishes*-,-;--..-. - Things learned on earth, we shall practise in heaven: . ■ . - '' : I'--- Work done least rapidly, Art (Ho mention is made In Vasari most cherishes. . about the rate of Giotto *s Thyself shalt afford the painting). example, Giottoi Thy one work, not to decrease or diminish, : ,

Donetat a stroke, was just, The messenger of Pope Benedict {was it not?)/OJ" IX proceeded to Florence... to the workshop where Giotto was occupied with his labors. ••he requested to have a draw­ ing that he might show to his Holiness...Giotto, who was very courteous, took a sheet of paper, and a pencil dipped in a red colour; resting his elbow on his side, to form a sort of a compass, with one turn of the hand he drew a circle so perfect and exact that it was a marvel to behold (V,I,i03)

. . . • ■ Thy great Campanile is still This campanile, according to to finish. the design of Giotto, was to have been crowned by a spire• : ' \ ' v-' \ V ..of the height of fifty braeela. (It was finished by Brunelleschi).(V„I,114) Is It true that we are now, and■. shall' be hereafter,...: . . But what and where depend on life’s minute? ^ Hails heavenly cheer or in­ fernal laughter * t -106-

- -.. . Ola Plcturos Vasari oti^ftrsfc' it®p:6iit ..iM: - ©p. in:it? - . r . Shall; man, such step within his onfleBtop, • Mtm»s face have no more , play and actios tium; joy;.which' is crystal­ lised forever. Or grief, ®n eternal petri­ faction?; ;

On which I concludeg that the early painters, \ To cries of ”Greek Art and what; more wish you?*— Replied, become now self- .eequeinters, And;paint man, man, what fever the Issue! Male new hopes shtae through the flesh they fray. Hew fears aggrandise the rags and t atteres To bring the invisible full into play! Let the visible go to the "" "dpgs-r'what; matters?* . \ ; .

Give these, I exhort you, their guerdon and glory For daring so much, before they well did it. The first of the new, incur race * s story. Beats the last of the old; *Tlm no idle quiddet. The worthies began a revolution. Which if on earth you intend to aclmowledge Why, Honor tl»m now! (ends my allocution) Hor confer your degree when the folk leave college. '

There’s fancy some lera. to mod others hate— That, when this life is ended, begins Hew work for the soul in another state. ______O l d P i c t u r e s ______Vasari

Whore It strives and gets weary, loses and wins: Where the strong and the weak, ' this world1 a congeries, Repeat in large what they practised in,.small. Only the scalets to be changed That’s all.

Yet I hardly know. When a ' v • soul has seen By means of Evil that Good is best, V - .:' .■ " ■ ' ' • ind, through earth and Its . ^ ‘ noise, VwhaV is test— - - ; Why, the child grown amen, you birn the rod. The uses of labor are surely . - done; : ■ : ' ; ' ' • ■ ' ' . ' ■■ ' V ■ • There remain©th a rest for the people of God: And I have had troubles enough, for one.

But any any rate I have loved the season ' :v ''' '-v. ■ Of Art’s spring-birth so dim and dewy;

My sculptor is Niccolo the Mlecolo was no less excellent Pisan, in sculpture than in architect­ ure; in Lucca he executed a Deposition of Christ from the Gross and the whole completed . V ' .V"-' ' ; in a manner w M e h gave hope that a master was now about to rise...(V,I,63) My painter— who but Gimalmet By the will of God, in the year 1240, Giovanni Gimabu® , was born in Florence, to give the first light to the art of painting* (He was Giotto’s master also.) (V, 1,35) lor ever was man of them all indeed. -108-

______Old Picturea Vasari......

From these to Ghiberti and. The city of Florence had ac­ ihlrlandalo:. quired so much glory and praise from the admirable works of this most ingenuous artist that a resolution was taken by the councils of the Guild of the Merchants to give him a commission for the third door of San Giovanni of Brons (V,I,374) Domenico, son of Tommaso del Ghirlandaio, who, by the pre­ eminence of his talents and the importance and number of his works, is entitled to be placed among the first and most excellent masters of his time,'was formed by nature to be a painter, (V,II,200) Could aay that he mis sed mycritie-meed. So, now to my speelal griev­ ance,-heigh-ho!

Their ghosts still stand, as I said before. Watching each fresco flaked and rasped Blocked up, knocked out, or whitewashed o *er: --lo getting, again what the church has grasped! The works on the wall must take their chance; w Works never conceded to England*s thick clime1” (I hope they prefer their In­ heritance Of a bucketful of Italian quick­ lime.)

When they go at length, with such a shaking Of heads o ’er the old delusion, sadly Each master his way through the black streets taking. Where many a lost work breathes though badly— -16*.

______' Old Picturea ______Vasari

Why don’t they bethink them of who has merifcedf not reveal> while thsir pictures dree Such doom, how a captive ' might be out-ferreted? . Why: Is it they never remem- . . : ■ her me? . . • • ' ' ’ ;■

Not that I expect the great Bigordi, (Reputed by some to be the family name of Ghlrlandajo). (Berdoe, Cyclopedia, p. 292)

Nor S*ndro to hear me, Named Alessandro dl Bottlcello chlvalrie, belli ooa#,_ called after our custom Sandro. He was called di Bottlcello from his goldsmith teacher_ - Bottlcello. (V,II,230) lor the wronged Llpplno; and (This refers to Filippo ■ , not a word I , ' Llpplno many of whose works were attributed to others. ■ / Browning, himself, studied .V.-vi . -■ this matter in connection with the Braccionl frescoes ■■ .;v : v , : which Browning attributes to Filippo Llpplno, son of Fra v ' V ^ Lipoo Lippi.)(Letters compiled ' ■■■' " ' " ■ by T. j. wise). Say of a scrap of Pra Angelico1s:Fra Giovanni Angelico da Fiesole, who, while in the - . world was called Guido,; hav- z ^ >. ■ ■ V ing been no less eminent as painter and miniaturist than, excellent as a churchman de­ serves to be held in hoacratol® remembrance for both these ‘ • causes.(V,11,24) But are you too fine, Taddeo A disciple of Giotto of the Gaddi, early school of religious

• m * i t t t & m s r : -• ' a'SLX.^Si.S™ 1 -no-'

Old Pictures Vasari

To grant me a taste of your itttoMCo, .. - :■ : . : ' Some Jerome that seeks the . heaven with a sad eye? Not a churlish saint, Lorenzo Don Lorenzo, Painter, Monk of Monaco.- the Angeli of Florence...The first works of this painter monk adhered to the manner of Taddeo Gaddi and hie disciples. {V,1,280}-

Could not the ghost with the close red cap, ' V . .v -r- ..

My Pollsjolo, the twice a (‘this painter treated his nude craftsman figures in a manner which more nearly approaches to.that of the. moderns; he dissected many human bodies to study anatomy, and was the first who . . - . : . - - investigated th® action of muscles in tods aaonertC V, Ilf ,l?f) Save me a sample, give me the . hap . ■ : . .• - - Of a muscular Christ that shows the draughtsman? lo Virgin by him the somewhat Petty ; . ■ -, Of finical touch and tempera crWbly— ; - ‘:' . - ^ - : ->

Could not Alesso Baldovlnetti Alesso sketched the stories in Contribute so much, I ask him fresco, but finished them a humbly? secco, tempering his colours „ with the yolk of eggs mingled with a liquid varnish; by this means...he hoped to defend M s work from the effects of damp, but it was so exceedingly thick and strong the work has peeled off in several places.(7,11,65}

Margheritone of Arezzo, Among the other old painters With the grave-clothes garb in whom the praises justly and swaddling barret, accorded to Cimnbue and Giotto, (Why purse up mouth and beak for whose advances in.art in a pet so. which were rendering their ______Old Pictures

Ten bald old saturnine poll- names illustrious through all clawed parrot?) Italy, awakened alarm for their Hot a poor glimmering Gruol- own reputation, was a certain fixlon. Margaritone of Arezzo. He died Where In the foreground kneels at the age of seventy-seven, the donor? afflicted and disgusted— as it If such remain, as is my con­ is said— that he lived to see viction. the changes by which all'his The hoarding it does you but honours were transferred to little honor. new artists....Margaritone exe­ cuted a large curcifix, now placed in San Francesco, and besides he made many more of these curcifixes for that city. (Arezzo). Margaritone executed an endless number of pictures, also extraordinary for the fact that a picture on canvas should have continued In such good - preservation during 300 years. (V,I,89).

They pass; fof them the panels may thrill, The tempera grow alive and tlrngllsh; ; ■ " "' y'--,. ■ Their pictures are left to the mercies still Of dealers and stealers, Jews and the English, Yiho , se eing mere money * s worth in their prize. Will sell It to somebody calm as Zen© At naked High Art, and in ecstasies . - - " ■ ’' - ; - Before some clay-cold vile CarllnoJ

H© matter for these! But Giotto, you, Have you - allowed, as the town tongues babble it,— .■ Oh, never! it shall not be counted true—

That a certain precious little (This refers to another lost tablet work of Giotto similar to that portrait of Dante - 112-

Old Pictures Vasari discovered by Browning’s friend Seymour Kirkup, who was made a baron for the discovery.) When this book of the Lives... was first published, there was a small picture in distemper in the transept of the church belonging to the Mutliati d ’Ognlssantl, which had been painted by Giotto with infinite care. The subject was the death of the Virgin, with the Apostles around her, and with the figure of Christ, who re- ceives her soul into his arms. This work has been greatly prized by artists, and was above all valued by Michael Angelo Which Buonarroti eyed.like a Buonarotti, who declared, that lover— . .. ■ ... . . •>.». . nothing in pointing could be Was- buried so long in oblivion’s nearer to the life than this .womb: ;: = ., - was, and it rose still higher And, left for another than-1 in the general estimation after to discover," ' , • these Lives had appeared: but Turns up at lastI. and to has since been carried away whoa?--whom? : , , from the church, perhaps, from I,.that have haunted the aim . love of art and respect to the San:Spirtto, work, which may have seemed to (Or was. it rather the , - the robber to be not sufficient­ 'Ognissanti? ly reverenced, who thus out of piety became impious, as our poet saitfcu- In the year 1322 his most in­ timate friend, Dante, having died to his great sorrow, Giotto repaired to Lucea.(There he executed a picture for Dante *e

1 • *: memorial). (V,I,ii3,105)

Patient, xm /sitarwsbep : . . . ing a weary toeJ Nay, I shall, have it yeti - Detur amantil, My Koh-i-aoor— or (if that’s :-;r: a platitude) Jewel of GlamacMd, the j Persian Sofi*a eye; So, in anticlpatlve gratiWde, What if I take up my hope and prophesy? -113-

.... Old Pictures .Xasazi When the hour grows ripe, and a certain dotard Is pitched, no parcel that: needs Invoicing/ : Ir : ' _ To the worse side of the Mont ■ St.' Got hard, .• We shall begin hy way of re­ joicing; • 1 - r ■'■■-‘Id. lone of that shooting the sky (blank cartridge), lor a civic guard, all plumes and lacquer. Hunting Radetzky’s soul like a ' partridge - - -: ^ ■ Over Morello with squib and cracker, ■> ■: .

This time ’we *11 shoot better game and bag *em hot— Uo mere display at the atone ©i- Dante, . r: v - C,., .1 v But a kind’of- sober Wltanagemot , . . (Ex^Casa Guldi."-quod vide as ; ; - ^ : "

Shallponder, once Freedom restored-to Florence, . ,8cHr" 'Art.may return that departed f with herw^-'-v ' GO, hated 'hoiise, go each trace of the Lorraine fs, ted bring us the days of Organn ■•.hitherI ..V..'' . / . ; ^ : ro How wh shall prologuize, how we shall perorate. v ;: ■. Utter fit things upon art and v ' ■' • history. : > ;; ■; : Feel truth at blood-heat and 1 ...... * falsehood at zero rate. Make of the want of the age no mystery; Contrast the fruotuous and sterile eras. Show— monarchy ever its uncouth cub licks Out of the hearts shape into Chimaerats, While Pure Art's birth is still the republic1s, -114-

Old Pictures Vasari

Tb#a one shall propose in 'r£e f ;: :;V : ■ ‘ : ' speech (curt Tuscan, . , ^ . Expurgate amd-'sober,' witK =»<$«ree-' Xy on "IssimoM : , ...... To end now our half-told tale of ; Milton was fond of it (Giotto1 CsmbuscBn, • . -campanile) m d Browning is not

- S Milton1a reference to Chaucer. : ' ..’him who left half told The -v. . story of Cambuscan bold1. tod turn the bell-tower1 a alt , . „ - , . v to altissimo; - ' ' ' ; - - ■ ■ ■ ■ tod fine aa the beak of a young , ; beccaocla The Campanile, the. Duomots fit ally, :v- v ^ — -

Shall soar up in gold hill The Campanile.. .of Giotto was fifty braecia, . J to have, been crowned with a Completing Florenee, «s fldrea^ spire...to the h@i#it of fifty Italy- . ■... . ; b r a e c M V . I . l K ) Is broken away, and the long n,. : i - .. •' '-I- * . ... • pent fire. Like the golden hope of the world, unbaffled

Springs:from its sleep, end up This campanile, according to goes the:. spire. the design of Giotto, was to have been crowned by a spire or pyramid of the height of fifty hraccia: but as this was in the old Gothic manner, fl» modern architects have al­ ways advised its omission. (V,I,U4). ,. While "God and t w People* plain for Its motto. Thence the new tridolor flaps at the sky? At least to foresee that glory of Giotto tod Florence together, the first am Ij -115-

It can be gathered from the study of "Old Pictures In Florence* that many of the references to Italian artists found herein are further enlarged by stories to be found in Vasari's accouht of them such as the story of dtdtto’s

'O'? the incideht of the "Idst precious little tablet®? d e ­ fect of Etelio's'study of anatomy preceding that of Da Vinci's.

When Browning mention# ^tephoiio he refers us to Vasari,

There is a reference to the primary greatness of Antonio

Siocoio, toCimBbue, Ghiberti, ©hlrlattdajo, and Bottieello,' :-

Browning attributes the Braccioni frescoes to the wronged^

Lippiho. Browning talks . of the over-stated greatness of

Taddeo Gaddi, the ecclesiastical art of Lorenzo of Monaco : , - . .. • . ; - • . - and Fra Angelico of Fiesole. He further describes Pollajolo's

study of anatomy and his muscular figures? Alesso Baldovlnetti

crumbly new method of fresco? Morgheritone's sour description

and many crucifixions? Michael Angelo Buonarroti's love for

the lost painting of'Giotto? Dante's friendship with Giotto,

and other more rsubtle reflections of lore that emild h a w . ■ • - ", ■ . .. come from his study of Vaseri because of the close parallel

that exists between his knowledge and Vasari's account.

Although this poem is full of materials that the poet

gleaned from study, nevertheless he has made the knowledge

his own a M states M s own philosophy of art built upon the love and •understanding of the past Italian »a8terB. e . CHAPTER VI

This study of the Influence of Vasari upon the art poems of Robert Browning having been completed, a summarizing view of the nature and extent of this Influence as revealed from this analysis will be made. After a study of references to Italian artists in the biography, letters, and poems of

Browning, a careful perusal of handbooks and works of criticism was made for comment on his Interest in Italian art. An at­ tempt was made to mention or dismiss all of the references in the entire works of Browning which might Indicate a know­ ledge of Vasari, and in that way to show the extent of such : ' - - ... ■■ : ■ ■ ; ; ■ ■ ; . , • . . references. In addition, three poems of which Vasari was the source beyond doubtful evidence were analyzed more closely for the purpose of determining not only the extent but also the nature of these borrowings. This whole study was made not to belittle the poet by these indications of his indebted­ ness to Vasari, but rather to gain a greater understanding

and appreciation of his material and manner of working.

There were to be found over a hundred separate refer- . ences to Italian artists whose lives appear in Vasari’s work.

The mere mention of all of these artists * names, however,

does not mean that Browning could not gain or did not have a

knowledge of them through other sources, but so many refer­

ences to Vasari artists seem to suggest that Vasari was one -117-

ot Broimlng1 s chief sources for this kind of information.

Probably mo other work to which he had access includes an equal amount of material', with the possible exception of

Baldinucci's Notig#, and no direct reference indicated that he preferred this work over Vasari, or that he used it except : ; ■- : 1 ■' " ' ' • to verify or qualify Vasari's Lives. . In; Chapter II, in the

discussion of the miscellaneous references, the dates of Browning1s poems Indicate that the period in his writing which shows the influence of his love and study of the Italian artists extended from 1840 to 1887. The dates of publication

of the poems also indicate a tendency of the references to

increase in length and number from the single on# made in

"Bordello**, 1840, to the twenty-two in "Old Pictures in

Florence", 1855; and the references continued fairly constant

up to 1887. The poet's last work, "Asolondo," has mentions

of artists within it but none that can be associated with

Vasari. It seems worth noting that this period from about

1855-1887 Is usually referred to as Browning’s most product­

ive one. From this we might gather that his interest in

Italian art certainly contributed to his greatness and helped

to produce a popular and lasting appeal that the poet failed to have either previously or thereafter. 12

1 DeVane, Handbook, n. 12 . V

2 Stopford Brooke,The Poetry of Robert Browning. Hew York, Crowell Ss Co., 1902, p. 13 -118-

Browning refers by name to twenty-eight artists whose biographies appear in Vasari, as listed below:

"" -T.. 1. Andrea del Sarto di Agnolo ’’Andrea del Sarto” TV "Pippa Passes” "One Word More

2. Alessandro Baldtovinltte ’’Old Pictures in Florence” - - ^ .... ' , 3. Giovan-Antonio Rossi •fadeWiurott®* '

4. Dmenieo Beccafurai *Pe»ehlw6tto* 5. Sandro Botticelli "Old Pictures in Florence”

6. Dello . , "Old Pictures in Florence”

7. Antonio and Luca della Robbia "The StaWe and the Bust*

8* . Clmmbue - - -I- "Old Pictures in Florence"

9. Antoni© da Correggio "Pippa Passes" "The Face” ”#Fl##g^t#u#I#’’ "Bishop Blbugrom's Apology” The Inn Album,

10. Fra Fiovanni Angelim di Fiesole "Old Pictures in Florence*

11. Fra Filippo Lippi "Parleying with Furini* "One Word More” • - • "Fra-Lippo Lippi” - 12. Taddeo Gaddi "Pippa Paeaea" .. „.... -. *0ld Pictures in Florence*

13. Giotto "Fra Lippo Lippi". / "pacchiarotto" "Old Pictures in Florence"

14. tomenloo Ghirlandajo "Old Pictures in Florence*

15. Lorenzo Ghiberti "old Pictures in Florence"

16. Lippino Lippi "Old Pictures in Florence* .119-

17. Masaccio ■ ; v:— : - !A Soul's Tragedy nFra hippo Lippi1*

18. Don Lorenzo Monaco "Fra Lippo Lippi* "Old"Picturesin Florence*

19. Michael Angelo Buonarroti "Andrea del SartO* *Pifin® at the Fair* r ■ wRed Cotton' Right-Gap Country* Parleying with Christopher ■ ■ Smart ' . ' - • • ■ *01d Pictures in Florence*

20. Antonio Klocolo di Fisa "Bordello" A Soul's Tragedy ; *Cld Matures in Florence"

21, Pietro d ’Arezzo The Ring and the Book

22. Margaritone d rArezzo "Old Pictures in Florence"

23 * Antonio. Pollaiuolo "Old Pictures in Florence"

24. Giorgione "In A Gondola* ; 25. Raphael Sanzio "One word More" 1 The Ring and the Book "AHHreiTdeT^alFt^1”— : "Prince Hohenstiel* "Fifine at the Fair* ! Parleying with Christopher Smart "Parleying with Furinl* 26. Stephan® *Old Pictures in Florence*

27. Titian di Treviso The Ring and the Book "FfTippo BaTdinucci on the ■ Privilege of Mrial" *How It Strikes A Contemporary'

23. Giorgio Vasari "Andrea del Sarto* *01d Pictures in Florence*

132938 -129-

R®ferences to these artists appear In a total of

twenty poems: ten of these poems contain either numerous or extended references* and three of these poems are almost wholly devoted to artists of Vasari*s accounts* Hence the

extent of this influence is apparent in the number of refer­

ences occurring in the works, the number of artists referred

to and the number of poems containing those references, and

the time in the poet's life when the references are made.

How to consider the nature of these references and

what they reveal or suggest as to the poet's purposes. A

great many brief references to the artists are used by

Browning for the purpose of comparison or in figures of

speech. Such a reference as tho following from "Andrea del

Sarto" is of this kind: "Put on the glory, Raphael's daily wear" . ..- ^ \ ; ^ .....'. / ^ -.. / ; -.; :. .. ^ . . ' . .:. . _. ':."^ ^^' -

A more limited number of the Vasari artists to which

Browning refers are dealt with in more detail fbr the' pur­

pose of Illustrating some point of Interest in the poems.

In "One Word Mor®", for example. Browning says that ho wishes

that he, a poet, could paint a picture as a lasting tribute

to his wife, as Raphael, a painter, had written sonnets to

his love. References to the artists in RPa«$hiarotto* IIIdb-

wise help to make the poet's point in his ridicule directed

against his critics. Referenda to other artists for this . " - : :; - ■, ■ ; ■ ' . : ' . ' . - . : - : . v purpose occur in several other selections such as A Soul's Tragedy, "Parleying with Purinl,’' ”Pippa Passes," The Ring and the Book, and others.

A still more select group of favorites was chosen by

Browning to be featured in poems because of their own interest

and because he could use them to express his intimate philoso­ phy of art. Fra hippo Lippi of the poem of the some name was

chosen to defend robust naturalism in art, a point of view which Browning wishes to put forth. Andrea del Sarto of the poem of that title was selected fbr his perfect mastery of

technique but laek of soul or elevation to illustrate what the

lack of this nobility can mean. Browning, in his restrained

■ ; ; . : ' .. - • . ■ yet dramatic representation of this fault, very nearly achieves

catharsis of Greek tragedy. Giotto, the principal artist In

"Old Pictures in Florence," is used so that Browning may

eulogize the greatness of a new creative aspiration, the

romantic seeking, the beauty and eternal striving that is

the underlying theme in Browning *s own robust and optimistic

philosophy of life. Other artists, too, such as llecolo,

Clmabue, Leonardo, Pollaiuolo, and Ghiberti, serve to reverber­

ate this theme.

After this brief summary of observations concerning

the extent and nature of these references to Vasari artists,

it might be well to consider again why Browning chose to

use Vasari rather than other sources. The chief reason

seems to be that this work was a primary source, written in

the native land and tongue of these artists and at the time when many of them were still working, still remembered, or

Just recently deceased. But another important consideration with Browning, undoubtedly, was the charm of the writer and his intimate knowledge of familiar, extraordinary anecdotes

and legends, for which, as has been previously mentioned.

Browning had exceeding fondness.

In conclusion, then. Browning's poetry becomes more

intelligible and fascinating when such source material as

Vasari reveals something concerning the manner of the poet’s

work, the sort of material he used, and the self-revelation of his preferences. Berdoe, Edward, __ ,. Hew York. HocMlllan^Gomp&ay°P18G7 *

Brooke, Stopford^ A^, The Poetry of^Robert Browning. New

Browning, Robert^The^Comp^t6^Poet^and^Dr|matlc Works^of

o" 1895. 0r 5 Houghton Mifflin Company,

Browning, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Let X1845-1846). New York? Harper'Brothers!

Gooke, George Willis, A Gnii to the Poetic

^Van®, William Clyde, New York:

ew Haven,

W W # n , Edward, Transcripts and^Studles.^Second^edition;

f r i m n . H a ll and H. C. Hinchin, The Life of Robert Browning. Revised edition; London: Methuen and Company, \ .1938 / \ / ' " ..:' r ©rr, Mrs. Sutherland, Kio Life and^Letters^of Robert^Browning.

Bolton and New York/l908 ^ 7 **7°*'

©rr, Mrs. A l e x a n d r a , ^ ^ ^ n d b o ^ ^ ^ gog

m@#®tti, Dante Gabriel, Letters (1854-1870). New York: Stokes and Company, 1897 -.124—

Foster, Mrs. Jonathan, translator, Vasari*s Lives of the Most Eminent Pmintera, Sculptors, and AroMlsots. Condonr- George Beil and Sons ■ ' 1W4." ' S volumes.

Wise, T. J., editor. Letters from Browning to Various Correspondents. Londoni (1§57-1908 )T, 2nd series, 2 volumes Ef79! l^MD -L3 C2 6*3 CLd-^>. 2— -