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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Mr. Eugene Montillon FINE ARTS Cornell University Library N 7420.V44 Vasari on technique; being the Introducti 3 1924 020 624 742 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020624742 VASARI ON TECHNIQUE All rights reserved ^ ^ 5 = 1 < <CO > CO Q w o H Z W W z o H CO O0- QC/3 5 M < U I H VASARI ON TECHNIQUE BEING THE INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE ARTS OF DESIGN, ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PAINTING, PREFIXED TO THE LIVES OF THE MOST EXCELLENT PAINTERS, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS By GIORGIO VASARI PAINTER &- ARCHITECT OF AREZZO NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY LOUISA S. MACLEHOSE EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION &' NOTES BY PROFESSOR G. BALDWIN BROWN AND PUBLISHED BY COMPANY J. M. DENT & 29 & 30 BEDFORD STREET, LONDON 1907 a.ii Glasgow: printed at the university press by robert maclehose and co. ltd. TO THE MEMORY OF A BROTHER AND DEAR FRIEND RQBERT MACLEHOSE, M.A. OBIIT APRIL 1 8, 1907 PREFATORY NOTE The title page indicates the general responsibility for the different parts of the work now offered to the reader. It should be said however that the editor has revised the translation especially in those portions which deal with technical matters, while the translator has contributed to the matter incorporated in the Notes. The translation was in great part written during a sojourn near Florence, and opportunity was taken to elucidate some of the author's expressions by conversation with Italian artificers and with scholars conversant with the Tuscan idiom. The text has been translated without omissions, and the rendering has been made as literal as is consistent with clearness and with a reasonable regard for the English tongue. In the two editions issued in Vasari's lifetime the chapters are numbered continuously from one to thirty- five through the three divisions of the work, but in more modern editions each division has its chapters separately numbered. The latter arrangement has been followed, but the continuous numbers of the chapters have been added in brackets. With the view of assisting the reader the text has also been broken up into numbered sections, each with its heading, though there is no arrangement of the kind in the original. The shorter notes at the foot of the pages are intended to explain the author's meaning, which is not always very clear, and to help to identify and localize buildings and objects mentioned in the text. A certain number of the notes, the longer of which have been placed at the ends viii PREFATORY NOTE of the three divisions, afford an opportunity for discussing more general questions of historical or aesthetic interest raised by Vasari. A number of plates and figures in the text have been added, some of which are illustrative of Vasari 's descrip- tions, while others give representations of unpublished objects, and examples of the different kinds of artistic work included in the scope of the treatise. Our acknow- ledgements for permission to reproduce are due to the authorities of the Print Room, British Museum, and the National Art Library; to Signor Giacomo Brogi at Florence; and to others to whom we have expressed our thanks in the text. Vasari's unit of measurement is the 'braccio,' and this term has been retained in place of the more familiar English equivalent ' cubit.' Vasari's braccio seems to be equal to about twenty-three inches or fifty-eight centi- metres. This equation is given by Aurelio Gotti, and agrees with various dimensions Vasari ascribes to monu- ments that can now be measured. A smaller unit is the ' palmo,' and this is not, as might be supposed, the breadth of a hand, but what we should rather call a 'span,' that is the space that can be covered by a hand trying to stretch an octave, and may be reckoned at about nine inches. In the matter of proper names, Vasari's own forms have in most cases been followed in the text, but not necessarily in the commentary. There are some passages in which we suspect that the printed text does not exactly correspond with what Vasari ' originally wrote (see Index s.v. Text '), but no help is to be obtained here from any known MS. sources. Vasari gives us to understand that the original edition of the Lives was printed, not from his own autograph, but from a transcript made for him by a monastic calligraphist, placed at his disposal by a friendly abbot who also corrected to some extent the text. Neither this transcript, nor any MS. of the additions made for the second edition of the work, is known to exist, and textual criticism has to be PREFATORY NOTE ix confined to a comparison of the printed texts of the two editions published in Vasari's own lifetime. The character of the subject matter and the multiplicity of the processes and materials passed in review have rendered it needful to invoke the aid of many Italian scholars and experts in historical and technical matters, who have met our applications with a courteous readiness to help for which we desire to express our sincere grati- tude. Our obligations to each of these are expressed in the notes, but we cannot close this preface without a special word of thanks to Signor Agnoletti, of the University of Glasgow, and to the Rev. Don Vittorio Rossi, Priore of Settignano. Our acknowledgements are also due to Mr G. K. Fortescue, Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum; Mr G. H. Palmer, of the National Art Library; Comm. Conte D. Gnoli, Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele, Rome; Comm. Dottore Guido Biagi, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence; Dr Thomas Ashby, Director of the British School at Rome; and Mr John Kinross, R.S.A. To many artists and connoisseurs in this country whom we have consulted on technical points we are indebted for information not easily to be found in books, and to Mr W. Brindley a special tribute is due for the kindness with which he has opened to us his unique stores of practical knowledge of stones and quarries. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Prefatory Note, - vii Table of Contents, - xi List of Illustrations, - xxi Introductory Essay, i OF ARCHITECTURE, - 23 Chapter I. Of the different kinds of Stone which are used by Architects for ornamental details, and in Sculpture for Statues ; that is, Of Porphyry, Serpentine, Cipollaccio, Breccia, Granites, Paragon or Test-stone, Transparent Marbles, White Marbles and Veined Marbles, CipoUini, Saligni, Campanini, Travertine, Slate, Peperigno, Ischia Stone, Pietra Serena and Pietra Forte, 25 § I. The Author's object in the Discussion of Architecture (25). %2. Of the working of hard stones, and first of Porphyry (26). %l. Of Serpentine (35). § 4. Of Cipollaccio (36). § 5. Of Breccia {' Mischio,' Conglomerate) (37). §6. Of Granite (39). §7. OfParagon [Touchstone) {i,'2). §8. Of Transparent Marbles forfilling window openings iji^'^. §9. Of Statuary Marbles {i^'^. § ID. OfCipollino Marble (49). §11. Of White Pisan Marble (50). § 12. Of Travertine (51). § 13. Of Slates (54). § 14. Of Peperino (55). § 15. Of the Stone from Istria (56). § 16. Of Pietra Serena (57). %\']. Of Pietra Forte (60). § 18. Con- clusion of Chapter (61). b xii CONTENTS PAGE Chapter II. The Description of squared Ashlar-work (lavoro di quadro) and of carved Ashlar-work (lavoro di quadro intagliato), 63 § 19. The work of the Mason (63). Chapter III. Concerning the five Orders of Architecture, Rustic, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite, and also German Work, 65 <^ 20. Rusticated masonry and ihe Tuscan Order {6^). §21. The Doric Order (68). § 22. A constructive device to avoid charging architraves (72). § 23. The proportions and parts of the Doric Order (75). § 34. The Ionic Order (78). § 25. The Corinthian Order (79). § 26. The Composite Order (80). § 27. Of Terminal figures (82). § 28. German Work {the Gothic Style) (83). Chapter IV. On forming Vaults in Concrete, to be impressed with Enrich- ment : when the Centerings are to be removed, and how to mix the Plaster, 85 § 29. The Construction of enriched Stucco Vaults (85). § 30. Stucco made with Marble Dust (86). Chapter V. How Rustic Fountains are made with Stalactites and Incrusta- tions from water, and how Cockle Shells and Conglomerations of vitrified stone are built into the Stucco, 87 § 31. Grottoes and Fountains of ^ Rocaille' work (87). Chapter VI. On the manner of making Pavements of Tesselated Work, 91 § 32. Mosaic pavements (91). § 33. Pictorial Mosaics for Walls, etc. (93). Chapter VII. How one is to recognize if a Building have good Proportions, of what Members it should generally - and be composed, 95 § 34. The Principles of Planning and Design (95). § 35. An Ideal Palace (96). CONTENTS xiii PAGE Notes on 'Introduction' to Architecture, 99 Porphyry and Porphyry Quarries, - loi The Sassi, della Valle, and other Collections of Antiques of the Early Part of the Sixteenth Century, 102 The Porphyry Tazza of the Sala Rotonda of the Vatican, - 108 Francesco Del Tadda, and the Revival of Sculpture IN Porphyry, no The Cortile of the Belvedere in the Vatican, in the Sixteenth Century, 115 Paragon (Touchstone) and other Stones associated with it by Vasari, 117 Tuscan Marble Quarries, 119 The Round Temple on the Piazza S. Luigi dei Francesi, AND 'Maestro Gian,' 128 Rusticated Masonry, 132 Vasari's Opinion on Mediaeval Architecture, 133 Egg-shell Mosaic, - 136 Ideal Architecture ; an Ideal Palace, 138 OF SCULPTURE, 141 Chapter I. (VIII.) What Sculpture is ; how good works of Sculpture are made, and what qualities they must possess to be esteemed perfect, 143 §36.