The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. IV
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The History Of Painting In Italy, Vol. IV By Luigi Antonio Lanzi HISTORY OF PAINTING IN UPPER ITALY. BOOK II. THE SCHOOLS OF LOMBARDY. After a consideration of the principles and progress of painting in Lombardy, I came to the conclusion that its history ought to be treated and arranged in a manner altogether different from the rest of the schools. Indeed those of Florence, of Rome, of Venice, and of Bologna, may be almost considered in the light of so many dramas, in which there occurs an interchange of acts and scenes, for such are the epochs of each school; and there is also a change of actors, for such are the masters of each new period; but the unity of place, which is no other than the capital city, is invariably preserved; while the principal actors, and as it were protagonists of the story, always continue in action, at least in the way of example. Every capital, it is true, is in possession of its own state, and in that ought to be comprehended the various other cities, and the revolutions in each; but these are in general so nearly connected with those of the metropolis as to be easily reducible to the same leading law, either because the state artists have acquired the art in the principal city, or because they have taught it there, as may easily be gathered from the history of the Venetian School; while the few who wander out of the usual routine, cannot be said to infringe greatly upon the unity of the school and the succession of its histories. But it happens differently in the history of Lombardy, which, in the happier periods of the art, being divided into many more districts than it now is, possessed in each state a school distinct from all the others; enumerated also distinct eras; and when the style of one influenced that of another, such a circumstance occurred neither so universally, nor so near in regard to time, as to admit of the same epoch being applied to many of them. Hence it is, that even from the outset of this book, I renounce the received manner of speaking which would mention the Lombard School, as if in itself constituting one school, in such a way as to be compared for instance with the Venetian, which in every place acknowledged the sway of its sovereign masters; of the Bellini first, next of Titian and his noblest contemporaries, and then of Palma; and moreover established several characteristics of design, of colouring, of composition, of the use of the pencil, so as easily to distinguish it from every other school. But in that which is called the Lombard the case is otherwise. For its founders, such as Lionardo, Giulio, the Campi, and Coreggio, are too widely opposed to each other to admit of being brought under one standard of taste, and referred to the same epoch. I am aware that Coreggio, being by birth a Lombard, and the originator of a new style that afforded an example to many artists in that part of Italy, has conferred the name of Lombard School upon the followers of his maxims; and according to these characteristics the contours were to be drawn round and full, the countenance warm and smiling, the union of the colours strong and clear, the foreshortenings frequent, with a particular regard to the chiaroscuro. But the school thus circumscribed, where shall we find a place for the Mantuans, the Milanese, the Cremonese, and the many others who, having been born, and having flourished in Lombardy, and moreover being the tutors of a long extended line, justly deserve a rank among the Lombards. From such considerations I have judged it most advisable to treat severally of each school, enlarging upon them more or less, according as the number of the professors and the information respecting them may seem to render it requisite. For the accounts of some of these schools have been already separately compiled; Zaist having treated of the Cremonese painters, and Tiraboschi of the Modenese; thus conferring upon artists the same obligations which he so richly conferred upon the literati in a still greater work; a rare writer, for whose loss we yet indulge a mournful recollection. In the rest of the schools I shall be supplied with ample materials from Vasari, from Lomazzo, and the Guides of the cities, besides some authors to be cited when requisite, together with my own observations and sources of information borrowed from different places; whence it is hoped that the pictoric history of Lombardy, the least known amongst all the schools of Italy, may by my means have at least some additional light thrown upon it. CHAPTER I. MANTUAN SCHOOL. EPOCH I. Of Mantegna and his Successors. I shall first commence with Mantua, from which there emanated two sister schools, those of Modena and of Parma. Were any one desirous of investigating the most ancient remains that the art of colouring in that state can boast, he might record the celebrated anthem book, still preserved at S. Benedetto at Mantua, a gift of the Countess Matilda to that monastery, which being founded by her long preserved her remains, transferred during the late century into the Vatican. In this book, shewn me by the learned and courteous Abbate Mari, are exhibited several little histories of the life and death of the Virgin, which, notwithstanding the barbarous period in which they were produced, display some taste, insomuch that I do not remember having seen any work of the same age at all equal to it. Upon this subject it may not be useless to observe, that in ages less uncivilized, and nearer our own, the art of miniature was practised in Mantua by a great number of professors, among whom is Gio. de Russi, who, about the year 1455, illustrated for the Duke Borso of Modena, the Bible of Este, in large folio, one of the rarest specimens of that distinguished collection. But in regard to pictures, I have been able to discover no artist who flourished in that place previous to Mantegna; and it is only some anonymous productions belonging to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, that can be mentioned as remaining to this day. Of the former age, I saw in the cloister of S. Francesco, a sepulchre, erected in 1303, with a Madonna among various angels, all rude and disproportioned figures, though coloured with such strong and animated tints as to appear truly surprising. I doubt not but that the revival of painting in Lombardy, through the genius of its natives, might be fairly proved from the existence of this monument, as its age is anterior to that of the followers of Giotto, scattered throughout Italy; besides the style is different. Of the fifteenth, I have seen another Madonna upon an altar likewise of S. Francesco; and whoever may have been the author, he has shewn that the art, even in those days, had already emerged from its infancy, without arriving at that rank to which the great Andrea Mantegna conducted it, of whom we have twice already had occasion to speak shortly in the course of this work; a subject which we now resume, and shall enlarge upon more fully. Although the honour of having given birth to Mantegna can no longer, as formerly, be denied to Padua, his school was, nevertheless, established in Mantua, where, under the auspices of Marchese Lodovico Gonzaga, he settled with his family, without, however, ceasing to exert his talents elsewhere, and more particularly in Rome. The chapel which he painted at the desire of Innocent VIII. in the Vatican still exists, though injured by time; and it is clear that in the imitation of the antique constantly pursued by him he greatly improved, through the number of examples to be found throughout the city. He never varied his manner, which I described when I treated of him as a pupil of Squarcione in Padua; but he still continued to perfect it. Several works produced during his latter years are yet extant at Mantua; and far surpassing the rest is his picture of Victory, painted upon canvass. Another is the Virgin, amidst various saints, among whom S. Michele the Archangel, and S. Maurizio, are seen holding her mantle, which is stretched over Francesco Gonzaga; he is in a kneeling posture, while the Virgin extends her hand over him in sign of protection: more in the background appear the two patrons of the city, S. Andrea and S. Longino, and the infant St. John before the throne, with S. Anna, as is supposed at least by Vasari and Ridolfi, little exact in their description of this picture, inasmuch as the rosary held in her hand distinguishes her for the princess, consort of the Marchese, kneeling at her husband's side. Mantua, perhaps, boasts no other specimen equally sought after and admired by strangers; and though produced in 1495, it is still free, in a conspicuous degree, from the effects of three ages, which it has already survived. It is truly wonderful to behold carnations so delicate, coats of armour so glittering, draperies so finely varied, with ornamental fruits still so fresh and dewy to the eye. Each separate head might serve as a school, from its fine character and vivacity, and not a few from imitation of the antique; while the design, as well in its naked as in its clothed parts, expresses a softness which sufficiently repels the too general opinion, that the stiff style and that of Mantegna are much the same thing.