Greece by Cecrops and Cadmus who carried them along with them out of Egypt and Phoenicia to the Grecians Painting being one of those Arts and which had appeared down from the Time of Semiramis with Architecture and Graving went also to the Greeks since that is inseparable from Designing But the happy Time when Painting began to be in it's greatest Splendor in all the States of Greece was in the eighteenth (a) You must Note That they did not compute the first Olympiad from the Institution of the Olympick Games But from the Year of the World 3400 which is about the Time of Azarias King of Israel thirty Years before the Foundation of Rome according to Vigenere in the Tables of Philostratus p. 328. The Painter Bularchus flourished about the Year of the World 3400 about 300 Years before Alexander the Great Olympiad when the famous Painter Bularchus lived who is most Celebrated of any of those Times He drew the Battel of the Magnesians and the Picture was Sold for it's (b) It was King Candulus of Lydia who bought this famous Picture He was the last King of the Race of the Heraclides Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 8. This King was before Nabuchadnezzar ninety Years Pliny says that he died at the same Time as Romulus Lib. 35. Chap. 8. weight in Gold which shews that Painting was then in very high Esteem which was about the Year of the World 3400. Some Ages after appeared the Works of (c) In the eighty third Olympiad according to Pliny Lib. 35. Chap. 8. Peneus filled the Temple of Jupiter Olympius with his Pieces Pausaniar in his Eliac Androcida a Painter of Cizicenia painted for the City of Thebes the Battel of Leuctrum Plutarch in the Life of Pelopidas They count the sixth Age of the World from the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus in the Year 3468 and that Age lasts till the Year 4000. Peneus Brother of Fidias who painted the Battel of Maraton which the Athenians gain'd over the Persians with great Applause And in this excellent Piece which was in the Porch of Pecilla he represented the Captains of both sides in the heat of the Battel (d) Pliny Lib. 35. Chap. 10. Miron and Polignotus in the ninetieth Olympiad had so great Reputation that the Athenian Senate ordered them to Paint the Delphick Temple and that which was called the Porch of Athens The Amphitrions who were the Heads of the Senate were so pleased with their Performances that as a further acknowledgment of the Merit of these two Painters they assign'd them very fine and handsome Lodgings At this Time there were a great many very Famous Painters and among the rest (e) Zeuxis lived in the fourth Year of the ninetieth Olympiad He raised his Fortunes to that Pitch that he would sell no more of his Pictures but gave them away Thus he presented his Alemena to those of Agrigentium and Pan to Archelaus Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 9. Zeuxis famous for the Excellence of his Pencil and the Riches he acquired He had Contemporary with him Eupompus Timanthus Androcida (f) Pliny farther mentions several other Greek Painters and among others Euphranor of the Istmus who flourish'd in the hundred and fourth Olympiad He was also an ingenious Engraver having made several Pieces in Marble and some Colossus's He writ of Symmetry and Colours Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 11. And Pausanias in his Atticks P. 4. tells us of a Gallery where this Painter painted on the Wall the twelve Gods Theseus the Lawgiver the Battels of Cadmus of Leuctrum and Mantin Euphranor Parasius and several others the last excell'd particularly in the Justness of his Proportions Eupompus brought up Pamphilus the Macedonian Master of Apelles Pamphilus was instructed in all the liberal Arts particularly Arithmetick and Geometry without which he esteem'd it impossible to Succeed in Painting By his Authority and the Regulations he made in the Academy of Painting (g) Diagraphicon Pliny calls it Diagraphice Lib. 5. Chap. 10. he engaged the most considerable Youth of the City of Scicione and of all Greece to learn the Arts of Designing which then were esteemed Liberal and had in so high Veneration that only the (h) Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 10. Nobility and Gentry were permitted to Exercise them Hence this City became very Famous for the great Number of excellent Painters and Engravers that were bred in it Apelles who was the Scholar of Pamphilus carried Painting to that degree that the Antients allow'd him one of the first Places among Painters by reason of his great Qualifications Which honour obliged (i) Protogenes was no less esteemed by King Demetrius than Apelles by Alexander This Prince having besieged Rhodes went to see him Work in a House he had a little without the City and as he familiarly asked him how he could Work so Tranquilly he answer'd him That he knew indeed that he was come to make War against Rhodes but not against the Arts. This Prince set so high a Value on the Pieces of Protogenes that he would not Burn the City for fear of burning them chusing rather not to take the City than to be the cause of their loss Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 10. Protogenes his Rival to acknowledge him for his Master Thus Alexander the Great justly chose Apelles for his chief Painter he gave him great Riches and made him a Present even of his own Mistress (k) Her Name was Campaspe Alexander gave her to Apelles when he had Painted her Plin. Lib. Chap. 10. This Author takes Notice that this was one of Alexander's greatest Victories thus to overcome himself in giving that which he so much loved to this glorious Painter He painted his Venus Anadiomenes by this Woman Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 10. Apelles writ of the Art of Painting as did also his Pupil Perseus Vigenerus on the Pieces of Philostratus P. 55. because he perceived that he was passionately in Love with her The Persons of Quality had the same Esteem for Painting as this great Prince wherein they followed his Inclination This is verified in the Story of Aetion who after having Painted the Nuptials of (l) Lucian in his Dialogue entituled Herodotus describes the Beauty of this Picture which was yet to be seen in his Time in Italy This Author's Authority is sufficient to assure us of the Excellency of this Painter because he himself was very well skilled in the Art of Designing and had learnt Engraving in his Youth afterwards he became Intendant in Egypt for Marcus Aurelius Alexander and Roxana exposed the Work to publick View in the great Assembly of the Olympick Games where Proxenidas one of the Deputies of Greece then presided He was so charm'd with the Beauty of this Picture and thence conceived so great an inclination for the Painter that he gave him his Daughter in Marriage CHAP. IX At the same time that Painting was in it's Perfection in Greece Sculpture and Architecture were so also
did the same by several other celebrated Temples (c) The Pope Honorius the First took by Permission of the Emperor Phocas the Brazen Tiles of the Temple of Romulus to cover the Church of St. Peter and turn'd that Temple into the Church of Comus and St. Damian Il Biondo Roma ristaurata Page 12. This makes it appear That the Emperors of Constantinople were yet the Masters of Rome since the Popes could not take away the Brass without asking them leave Also Boniface the Fourth asked leave of the Emperor Phocas to take and Dedicate the Pantheon to the Blessed Virgin and to all Saints V. the same Biondo p. 56. Focas Reigned about the Year 590 about 100 Years before Charlemain had established the Temporal Grandeur of the Church Il Biondo has Dedicated his Book to Pope Eugenius the Fourth of that City to Build the Church of St. Paul without the Walls that of St. Mary the Elder and of several others which they embellish'd for the most part with the curious Relicks of the ancient Architecture But in all these great Structures it is to be observed that the just Proportions and orderly distributions of the Ancients are not to be found Thus all the Arts of Designing after Constantine had left Rome decayed continually and that before the Northern Nations came to ravage and waste the Empire and its Capital But after that those People compleated the Ruine of the ancient Beauty and Orders of those noble Professions as appear'd afterwards CHAP. IV. The taking and Pillaging Rome by the Goths and Vandals contributed to the Ruine of the Arts of Designing ABOUT One hundred Years after Constantine Alaricus King of the Goths Ravaged Italy and took Rome Odoacer King of Italy sack'd that City and pillag'd it as also Gensericus King of the Vandals who with Three hundred thousand Men that he brought out of Africa laid it waste and almost quite desolate which was not effected without the destruction of most of the Pieces of Designing But their greatest Ruin happened in the time of (a) Alaricus took Rome about the Year 412 and Odoacer after that and then Gensericus in the Year 456 he also ravaged great part of the Kingdom of Naples principally the Coasts of the Gulph where there were several fine Pieces of Architecture of the ancient Romans as at Messina Cumes Saia and Pouzzole Antiquit. di Pouzzole di S. Mazzella Justinian when Totila King of the Goths made that City sensible of his Indignation He was not contented to demolish the Walls and the proudest Structures but he burnt it and in Thirteen days time it was in great part consumed by the Fire This did so ruin the Statues and the Paintings the Pieces of Mosaick Work and the Imagery that all of them lost their good Grace and Beauty For this reason the lower Apartments and the first Floors of the Palaces and other Buildings enrich'd with Pieces of Designing were wholly buried under the Ruins Those who afterwards inhabited that desolate City having Planted Gardens on those Ruins they there buried those fine Pieces of Painting and Sculpture which being found again after three hundred years served for the re-establishment of the Arts of Designing For under those Ruins were found Subterranean Cavities called Grotto's where were found several Pieces of Imagery and Painting which on that occasion were named Grotesque It is remarkable that at this taking of Rome by Totila every thing concurr'd to the destruction of what was most curious in Sculpture for the Grecians who Fortified themselves in the Mole of Adrian (b) Rom. Antiq. of Nardini p. 480. In the Year 545 Rome was taken by Totila broke in pieces all the fine Statues wherewith that place was Adorned and made use of those Pieces to repel the Assaults of their Conquerors Notwithstanding as this City had been filled with such immense Riches and excellent Statues so it was almost inexhaustible for about One hundred Years after the sacking of it by Totila the Emperor Constantius the Second (c) He was also called Constantine the Third went thither and though he was well received by the (d) About the Year 650 110 years after the taking it by Totila Romans yet he did not desist from taking away whatever he found of any considerable Value and laded therewith several Vessels which were by a Tempest driven into Sicily where he was Killed and the Saracens who went thither took those rich Spoils and carried them to Alexandria But if the Arts of Designing met with such ill treatment at Rome in the Declension of the Empire they could expect no better in most of her Provinces for the Visigoths in Spain the French in Gaul and the Vandals in Africa ruined all those stately Structures which the Romans had built in their Colonies for the flourishing of Arts which set forth the Splendor of their Empire CHAP. V. The Images in the Primitive Church did not keep up the Arts of Designing at Rome but gave Birth to that way which was afterwards named Gothick ONE would have thought that the Excellence of Designing ought to have kept up at Rome by reason that from the beginning of the Christian Religion the Christians made use of Painting and Sculpture to represent the Histories of the old and new Testament to adorn their Churches and Tombs This is indeed True but then considering that these Paintings and Sculptures were only for the Instruction of Christians in solitary and subterranean Places where they celebrated Divine Service they did not trouble themselves with the Curiosities of Designing nor giving their Pieces that nicety and beauty as those did who lived under the first Caesars insomuch that when the Christians in the Reign of Constantine had the liberty of erecting Temples to the true God the Arts of Designing were already declined and almost lost Thus all the Paintings and Sculptures and Imagery and Pieces of Mosaick Work which they made and were found in the antient Church were degenerated from the true relish of Designing And those Pieces of Sculpture (a) On the Mountain Cicilo is to be seen the Church of St. John and St. Paul built in the time of Julian the Apostate which is a very ill Piece of Architecture and Architecture (b) At the Church of St. Agnes without the Gate Pia there is to be seen a Tomb of Porphyry and because the Sculpture in Bass Relief which is there represents Children with Vines and Grapes the Vulgar have falsely supposed it to be the Tomb of Bacchus This fine piece of Porphyry was the Tomb of the Princesses Constantia's Daughters of the Emperor Constantine in this Church are also the Tombs of other Princesses of the same Family It is also the place where they were Baptized and which was expresly Built by Constantine Nardini Rom. Antiq. P. 174. These Bass Reliefs are of no excellent Designing which shews that Sculpture was much fallen from it's Excellence as also Painting (c) The
as are the Works in the Churches on this side the Mountains which are called Gothick Thus the Old Greek Way and not the Antient Way and the Gothick are the same the one being as ill as the other And in all Europe these two ways of working continued till some ingenious Painters out of Emulation one to another discovered and revived these ARTS as shall be seen in the third Book Greek and not the Antient Manner CHAP. X. The Dominion of the Goths in Italy brought in the rude Way AFTER the Arts of Designing were declined at Rome in the time of the latter Empire by all those unhappy Accidents that happened to that City they also underwent the same Fate in the Provinces of Italy where the Goths and other barbarous Nations destroy'd the fine Roman Buildings whereof there remain only some famous Footsteps of their Ruine Theodoricus one of their Kings having established the Seat of his Kingdom at Ravenna his Reign was long glorious and peaceful and as he very much loved Building he apply'd himself in his Capital at Rome and in the principal Places of Romania and Lombardy to build several Palaces and Churches which are yet to be seen all of them of a rude Way very remote from good Principles of Architecture and the exact Rules of the Antients For these Buildings are after the Gothick Way which had spread it self through all Italy and in several other Places of Europe The Gothick Architects chiefly embellish'd their Works with Capricious Ornaments which were to be seen on the Capitels of their Pillars They adorn'd their Works with a great number of small delicate Parts and several Threds which resembled Osiers quite contrary to the Antient Architecture This Gothick Way is still to be seen in the Churches of Ravenna and other Places which Theodoricus built (a) King Theodoricus caused Palaces to be built at Ravenna Pavia and Modena after a barbarous Way which were rather great and rich than well built or of good Architecture The same may be said of the Church of St. Estienne de Rimini of that of St. Martin at Ravenna and the Temple of St. John built in the same City in the Year 438. by Galla Placidia In the same City the Church of St. Vital was built in 547. The Queen Theodolinda caused the Church of St. John the Baptist to be made at Monza where she caused to be painted the History of the Lombards her Daughter Queen Gundiperga caused one also to be built at Pavia they are all of the Antient Gothick This is remarkable in the Round Church of St. Mary near this City The Vault of this Edifice is one only Stone which also made the Cupolo which is thirty (b) This Author speaks with certainty thereof having measured it himself Foot in Diameter this causes Admiration in those who are not acquainted with the Beauty of Architecture nor Designing nor their Proportions This Church was built by the Queen Amalasonta Daughter of Theodoricus for a Sepulcher for this Prince CHAP. XI In the time of the Lombards the Gothick Way continued in Italy and in several other Parts of Europe THE Gothick Way in the Arts was continued in Italy after the Goths by the Lombards who drove them out thence and reigned there two hundred and eighteen Years This appears not only in the Churches of Pavia of Milan of Bresse and other Buildings built by Luitprand and their other (a) Luitprand built at Pavia the Church of St. Peter il ciel dauro Didier who reigned after Astolphus built the Church of St. Peter Olivate in the Diocess of Milan that of St. Vincent in the City and that of St. Julia at Bresse all these Edifices were built at a great Charge but of a rude and disorderly Way Vasari P. 77. Kings but also in all the other Churches in France that were built about that time For after the French had got the Mastery of the Romans they banish'd thence the Arts of Designing and no more regarded the Excellent Idea's of the Antient Architecture such as was to be seen at Orange Nismes St. Remi Bordeaux and other Places where the Romans had made good Architecture to flourish But far from that these French Artists forgot and laid aside the true Method and Rules of the Antient Architecture Insomuch that the Way called Gothick grew into Use with all the Nations of the West Hence it is that the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul built at Paris by Clovis the first Christian King and called at this day St. Genevieve is of this Gothick Way and quite contrary to the Rules of good Architecture One may also take notice of this rude Way of Architecture in the Church of St. Germain-des-Prez built by Childebert Son of this King here one may observe the ill State and Condition of Designing and Sculpture on the Capitels and four Bass Reliefs of the Choir of this Church and in the Figures of the Porticus For all the Sculptures there are done without Design Relish or Art We may pass the same Judgment on the Painting of those Times as on the Sculpture for when the true Genius of Design was wanting in the one it was also deficient in the other The Church of St. Martin de Tours is a Proof of this There is to be seen over the great Vault a Crucifix of a sort of Painting not at all exceeding the Graving in the same Church which is after the antient Gothick Way In the Reign of Dagobert was built the Church of St. Dennis in France which is of the same Sort with those other Buildings though made with great care and neatness This Prince built several Churches after the same Way in Alsatia and several other Provinces of Germany which he Conquered and where he left as Marks of his Piety several Abbies which he founded CHAP. XII From the Time of Charlemain the true Relish of Building altered less in Toscany than in other Countries THIS rude Way of Building continued during the first and second Race of our Kings as is evident by the Churches Charlemain built in several Cities of his Empire which are all after the same Way This Great Emperor after having been Crown'd at Rome and regulated the publick and private Affairs of that City and even those of the Pope and the Church as to temporal Affairs he visited the Cities of Italy and left as a Testimony of his good Will to Florence the Church of the Apostles which he there built of a better and finer Order than those that were built before the Reign of this glorious Prince or the others that were made since the decay of Architecture to the revival of the Arts of Designing For the Bodies of the Pillars the Capitels and the Arches of the Church are done with a great deal of Grace and true Proportion This Church has always been esteemed by Architects to be of singular Beauty and Ser-bruneleschi one of the most famous Artists thought
castra tenere Sic tenuit .... Nunc tenet astra Poli. But his Pupil Ghiotto passing by and seeing it alluding to the eleventh Stanza of Purgatory says on the Inscription of the Sepulcher Credette Cimabue nella Pittura Tener lo campo hora ha Ghiote il grido Siche la fama di colui oscura At the same time with Cimabos flourish'd Andrew Tafi a Florentine Painter in Mosaick he went to Venice to compleat himself in the ART having understood that there were Grecian Painters there who work'd after that Way at the Church of Saint Mark. He engaged Maestro Apollonio one of them to come and Work with him at Florence where they made several Pieces and Tafi learned of this Grecian the way of making Enamels and Plaisters that would last a long time he died in the Year 1294. Esteem and Applause of Men of Credit and Curiosity Particularly of the Famous Darotus and the Celebrated Petrarchus But the greatest Honour which Cimabos received was when the King of Naples Charles d'Anjou went to see him Work on the Picture of St. Mary Novella This Honour caused a particular Joy in the Citizens of that City insomuch that they made Feasts and publick Rejoycings For this reason we may say That the Protection which Charles of Anjou (b) Charles of Anjou first King of Naples also very much honour'd Nicholas Pisan the Engraver and Architect he made him build several Churches as the Abby in the Plain of Tagliacozzo where he defeated Conradio he built also other Churches in several Places of Toscany John Pisan was Son of Nicholas and was also Engraver and Architect In 1283 he was at Naples and built there for King Charles the new Castle there and several Churches and being returned into Tuscany he made several Pieces of Sculpture at Arezze and also of Architecture in that Province he dy'd in 1320. This Engraver had for Pupils Agostino and Agnolo Sanensi They were in the Opinion of Ghiotto the best Engravers of their time which procured them the chief Business of Tuscany they work'd also at Bulloin and Mantua and bred up several ingenious Pupils and particularly Carvers in Silver as Paul Aretino Goldsmith and Maestro Ciono who was excellent therein James Lanfrance a Venetian Jacobello and Peter Paul of the same City learnt Sculpture of Augustine and Dagnolo gave Painting in the Honour he did Cimabos was one of the first means of the revival of this ART Thus Designing and Painting began to Emerge out of Ignorance wherein they had lain buried for above nine hundred Years in Italy and Heaven then began to favour them visibly pouring out its Gifts on the Person of Ghiotto Pupil of Cimabos For when he was a young Child and in the Country guarded his Fathers Flocks he practised Designing with a sharp pointed Stone for a Pencil on the Ground which he had made smooth on purpose where he drew the Figures of his Sheep One day as Cimabos walk'd out into the Fields he found little Ghiotto busied about this Affair which made him stop and admire him He asked him and told him if he had a mind to follow that Employment he would teach him Painting which he accepted of with all his Heart having also gained his Fathers consent In a short Time Ghiotto learnt of his Master the Principles of the Art and far surpassed him therein by the study and imitation of Nature applying himself chiefly to draw Pourtraictures and Histories which gain'd him so much Reputation That Pope Benedict the IX sent for him to Rome where he drew several Pieces in the Church of St. Peter After this his Successor Clement the V. carried him to the City of Avignon where he painted several Works in Fresco and some Pieces for France But at his return to Florence Robert King of Naples writ to Prince Charles of Calabria his Son to send him Ghiotto to Paint in the Church of St. Clare which he had newly built It was very Honourable for this glorious Painter to be sent for by this Generous Prince He loaded him with Goods and Honours and Caresses and took as much Pleasure in seeing him Work as Alexander did in Apelles CHAP. III. The Liberality of Princes to ingenious Artists has been a great Means of the Revival of the Arts of Designing THE Honours and Riches which Cimabos and Ghiotto received from the Popes and the Kings of Naples and the Republick of Florence encouraged them to Work and raised Designing and Painting from their low State and Condition These Favours caused a general Esteem for these Arts For the better sort of People and the Courtiers always affect what their Princes love which insensibly engages the approbation and curiosity of all the People in general It is therefore most certain that the Esteem of Great Men for Arts is the first and readiest Means to make them Flourish The Honour and Riches which Ghiotto (a) Ghiotto was also Architect and Engraver having made several Pieces in Marble which with the other of his rare Qualities caused that by a publick Decree and the particular Affection of the Old Laurence de Medicis his Portraict of Marble made by le Maiano was set up in the Church of St. Mary del Fiore with these Verses made by M. Angelus Polibianus Ille ego sum per quem Pictura extincta revixit Cui quam recta manus tam fuit facilis Naturae deerat nostrae quod defuit arti Plus licuit nulli pingere nec melius Miraris Turrim egregiam sacro aere sonantem Haec quoque de modulo crevit ad astra meo Denique sum Jottus quid opus fuit illa referre Hoc nomen longi Carminis instar erit had of the Royal Family of Anjou acquired him very much Reputation in the Republick of Florence At his return to Naples he had ordered him by that Family an Annual Pension of a hundred Florens of Gold Thus we may look upon the first Reigns of the Kings of Naples of the House of Anjou as those who kindled the Sparks of Emulation in Italy among those who followed the Arts of Designing Which advanced the Re-establishment of them and we may say in praise of this August Family that if the People of Tuscany have had the glory to be the first revivers of these Arts the French Kings of Naples were the first Protectors of Painting and the first who made it Re-flourish The Riches which Ghiotto gain'd supply'd him with the means of establishing at Florence a School of Designing famous by the great Number of Pupils that were there (b) Of his Pupils Tadeo Gaddi was one of the First and dyed in the Year 1350. The others were Paccio a Florentine Ottaviane da Faensa Guilleaume de Forti Simon Sanese Pietro Cavallini Romain who work'd with Ghiotto on St. Peter's Ship a Mosaick Painting at Rome Several others learnt Painting of Ghiotto and were his Pupils But the most Celebrated was Estienne Florentin it
Jezabel's Table Ahab also re-established the Idolatry in the High Places 4 Kings c. 16. Gods which made employment for the Gravers and Architects CHAP. VI. Sculpture was practised by the Babylonians and Persians SCulpture had hitherto been much more used by the Babylonians than by the Jews because that Kingdom had been always in a very flourishing condition Nebuchadnezzar made a Golden Image of (a) Dan. c. 3. v. 1. Sixty Cubits high and Six broad The Proportion of its breadth to its heighth shews us the nice Symmetry that was followed by those Ancient Artists particularly also in the Statue of Laocon wherein the same Measures were used its heighth was Thirty Measures and its Diameter Three thus Multiplying Thirty by Two and you have Sixty for the heighth and Multiplying Three by the same Number you have Six for the thickness which are the same Proportions with that great and rich Statue of Nebuchadnezzar Hence we may Note by the by That the Excellent Designers of all Ages have made use of the same Rules and Proportions to express the Beauty and Symmetry of Human Bodies by This magnificent Work of Nebuchadnezzar's sufficiently proves that the Arts of Designing flourished under the Babylonian Monarchy For to undertake the making a Statue of Gold of Sixty Cubits there must needs be excellent Gravers in the Kingdom whence it also appears credible that that Art had been there successfully continued for Fourteen hundred Years which was the time since it began to flourish there as we have noted under the Reigns of Ninus and Semiramis his Wife But Cyrus after the Conquest of Babylon establish'd there the Monarchy of the Persians It was he who order'd the rebuilding of the (b) First Book of Esdras Chap. 1. Ver. 3. Temple of Jerusalem and who restor'd to the Jews their Liberty He sent (c) Sanabasser was made Prince of Judea by Cyrus who gave him back the Vessels of the Temple which were 5469 of Gold and Silver 1 Esdras c. 1. v. 3 and 8 9 10 11. and Chap. 5. v. 14 15 16. Assuerus and Artaxerxes are the same Sanabasser from Babylon to lay the Foundations of that Structure and commanded the raising of Mony for that end and he also restored to the Jews all the rich Spoils of the Temple of Solomon which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away when he destroy'd it Artaxerxes did not yield to him in point of Magnificence and Grandeur for the Galleries and Porches of his Gardens were adorned with (d) There were hung round on every side hangings of Azure Crimson and of Colour of Jacynth Ester Chap. 1. v. 5 6 7. Marble Pillars He had Beds of Gold and Silver even down to the Floors which were of Alabaster and inlaid with Emeralds which render'd a very agreable and charming Variety Hence we see that the Arts of Designing continued in as great Splendour in the Monarchy of the Persians as in that of the Babylonians CHAP. VII Of the Arts of Designing in Africa and Carthage IN the fourth Age Pigmalion (a) Pigmalion was the Son of Melin. He reigned in the Year of the World 3147. and the 124th of Solomon's Temple He obliged his Sister Dido to retire the 7th Year of his Reign out of the Kingdom Dius cited by Josephus Lib. 1. against Apion Justin Lib. 18. King of Tyre did no ways degenerate from the excessive Love the Princes of Phoenicia entertained for the Arts and this gave Occasion to the Story that was reported of him viz. That this King was punished for the Hatred he bore to Women by falling violently in * Ovids Metramorphosis Lib. 8. Love with an Ivory Statue he had made This demonstrates that Graving was practised with a particular Esteem among the Tyrians since that Great Prince made it one of his chiefest Pleasures His Sister (b) Appian General of the Libick War says That Princess went from Phoenicia with a Colony and that she carried along with her all the Riches she could get together She made use of a Stratagem to build that City for having asked of the Carthaginians as much Land as she could Encompass about with an Ox's Hide when they had agreed to it she cut out the Hide into Thongs and encompassed round the Place where Birsa was built which Word in Greek signifies Leather The Fortress of Birsa which was part of Carthage was built in the Year of the World 1316. Menander Hist of the Kings of Tyre It is quoted by Josephus Lib. 8. of his Antiquities Chap. 13. and Lib. 1. against Apion Dido brought the Arts and Sciences among the Carthaginians by establishing her self at (c) Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians fifty Years before the Destruction of Troy Xorus and Carchedon founded it Apian Lib. c. 1. Carthage and the Arts flourished there with that Success that no Place in the World was in that Point before it The Statue of Apollo which was in the Temple of that God near the (d) This Gate was called Cotton Gate of Carthage sufficiently testifies the happy Progress Sculpture had made therein This Figure was all of Gold the Soldiers of Scipio pillag'd this * The Temple of Apollo was so Rich that it was all over gilded Appian of the Lib. War Chap. 14. Temple which was all over guilt and broke to pieces that magnificent Statue which amounted to a thousand (e) The Soldiers made six hundred thousand Crowns of the Gold of this Statue of Apollo One Talent being valued at six hundred Crowns One hundred and two Years after the Ruin of Carthage it was rebuilt by Augustus Talents of Gold The Triumph which this General made of the Spoils of Carthage sufficiently shews that these Arts flourish'd there in a very great Heigth for Rome had never yet seen any triumphal Entrance that equall'd this of Scipio Africanus For there was display'd a prodigious quantity of Gold and Silver with a great Number of (f) The antient Statues which were shewn at the Triumph of Scipio prove that the Arts of Designing flourish'd sooner at Carthage than at Rome App. c. 14. antient Statues very rich and Bucklers of Gold whereof that of Asdrubal was so excellently Engraved that it was kept it the Capitol Whence it appears that those great Carthaginian Generals were very Curious and Admirers of these Arts particularly Hannibal who during his Retreat with Artaxes the King of Armenia practised Architecture Since it was he who laid the Platform of the Capital City which from that King was called Artaxata and survey'd all the Buildings of it at the request of that Prince (g) Pliny Lib. 35. Chap. 3. (h) Plutarch in the Life of Lucullus In 1694. There was found in Tripoly an Ancient Figure which was carried to Versailles which was the Statue of a Woman cloathed which further proves that Graving was practised among the Africans CHAP. VIII Of the time wherein Painting began to flourish in Greece THE Arts of Designing were brought into
SCULPTURE which began to be cultivated with a great deal of Honour in Greece by the famous Dedalus and those of his School continued there and in something above a thousand Years arrived at its highest Pitch of Glory (a) Fidias the Athenian flourish'd in the eighty third Olympiad and about the three hundreth Year after the Foundation of Rome Plin. Lib. 3. Chap. 7. The merit of this ingenious Engraver gain'd him the particular Esteem of Pericles who shewed him a great Respect and made him Surveyor of the works for the Republick Paulus Emilius admiring an excellent Statue of Jupiter done by Fidias said he had made it exactly as Homer had described it Plutarch in his Life This Consul demanded of the Athenians when he was at Athens a Painter and Philosopher to Instruct his Children they gave him Metrodorus who was both the one and the other Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 11. and Plutarch in Paulus Emilius's Life says that he not only entertain'd Grammarians and Rhetoricians and Logicians but also Painters and Engravers to Instruct his Children Fidias was one of those who renderd the Art of Engraving most illustrious His Minerva made of Gold and Ivory which was twenty five Cubits high was an incomparable piece of workmanship and his Jupiter Olympius was no less surprizing which has been esteemed one of the seven wonders of Designing Glicon the Athenian who made the Statue of Hercules which is yet at Rome in the Court of the Palaee of Farnese was one of the Rivals of this famous Fidias as also (b) Pausanias in his Eliac gives us a very fine description of this Statue of Jupiter Olympius of Gold and Ivory and of the Figures and Bass Relief which adorn'd his Throne He describes also the grandeur of the Temple which was of the Dorick order and was sixty eight Foot high to the Roof Fidias made this Statue so big that it could not stand upright in this Temple whence may be inferred that it was near eighty Foot high Alcamenes and several others who flourish'd about that time After these great Men appeared Scopas Leocares Briaxis and Timotheus who made by order of Qeen Artemisa the Tomb of Mausolus her Husband They wrought each of them one (c) On the trunk of this Statue of Hercules is engraved in Greek letters Glicon the Athenian Face and it was augmented by a fifth Artist with a Pyramid of twenty four Degrees It was sustained by thirty six Columns and on the top of this great Edifice was a Chariot of Marble made by Pytis the Engraver This (d) The Mausoleum which Artemisa built Was in the second Year of the thousandth Olympiad Mausoleum was one of the seven Wonders of the World and this is enough to give us an Idea of the Excellency of these designers and of the beauty of their works (e) Praxiteles flourish'd in the hundred and fourth Olympiad a little before Alexander the Great and in the three hundred and ninetieth Year of Rome Plin. Lib. 34. Chap. 8. Lucian gives an elegant description of the Venus Praxiteles made for the City of Gnid in his Dialogue of Love This was the Venus that the Gnidians refused to King Nicomedes who for it offered to free them from the Tribute they paid him chusing rather to continue the payment of that Tribute than part from that incomparable Statue Plin. Lib. 36. c. 11. Praxiteles was one of the most Ingenious and most famous Engravers of his time and the two Venus's which he made for the Cities of Gnidia and (f) Pausanias in his Attic. describes several pieces of this Engravers Coos are so many illustrious Proofs both of his capacity and glory Polycletes of Sicione made himself also Famous by the curious Statue he made and principally that of (g) Plin. Lib. 34. Chap. 8. Diametes which was sold for one hundred and ten Talents Lysippus (h) Alexander was born in the Year of the World 3698 in the hundred and sixth Olympiad and three hundred fifty sixth Years before Christ Engraver to Alexander the Great gain'd a very great reputation for his Skill and for having made seventy Statues in Brass This Conquerour would have his Statue from no other hand than that of Lysippus and his Picture by none but (i) Plutarch in the life of Alexander says that the Portraits of Alexander by the hand of Lysippus are far before those of other Engravers done since Also Alexander would be Engraven by none but him He observed perfectly how Alexander's Neck stood somewhat inclining towards the left side When Apelles painted him holding a Thunder-Bolt in his Hand he did not represent him in his true Colours but a little too brown This Author speaking of the Passage of Granic where Alexander lost thirty valiant Men says he had their Statues made by the hand of Lysippus They were afterwards carried to Rome by Metellus Nardmi P. 321. and Plin. Lib. c. 8. Apelles Chares his (k) Chares was surnamed Lindian because he was of Lindus one of the three Cities of the Isle of Rhodes Plin. Lib. 4. Chap. 7. and Vigenerus on the Tablets of Philostratus This Colossus was reckoned one of the seven Wonders of the World it cost sixty thousand Crowns which was the price Demetrius's equipage was sold for after he had raised the Siege of Rhodes Plin. Lib. 34. Chap. 8. Who says there were reckoned up in that City six thousand Statues Pupil acquired no less esteem for the Colossus he made at Rhodes which was ninety Foot high At that time Sculpture was studied so much at Athens and Corinth that there were made numberless Statues of Marble and Brass as also in the other flourishing Cities of Greece and their Colonies as in Sicily where Dedalus had long before planted the Arts of Designing and in the Maritime Cities of Italy particularly at Tarant Where Lysippus made a Colossus of Brass of sixty Foot high CHAP. X. How Painting went from Grece into Italy ROMULUS founded Rome in the (a) Rome was founded in the fourth Year of the seventh Olympiad four hundred thirty one Years after the destruction of Troy and seven hundred fifty three before the Christian Aera or account of time Year of the World 3330 and reigned there thirty eight Years and a little before the first Tarquin (b) Tarquin lived about the Year of the World 3401. of Rome 101. This also was about the time of Nabuchadnezzar one of his Successors Clcophantus a Corinthian brought Painting among the Latines and into Toscany He followed thither Damaret the Father of Tarquin who governed that Province Thus in a Temple of Adea a City of that Country was to be seen more antient Painting than at Rome which was not defaced in the time of the first Emperors although it was always bare and uncover'd which proves that the painting was in Fresco There was to be seen at Lanuvium a Place in Toscony an Atalanta and a Helena (c) Plin. Lib.
to Constantine and Irenaeus He assures us that there were kept in the Basilicum and in the Vatican the (i) Had. 1. Epist to Const and Irenaeus Baron Annal. to 3. An. 324. and to 3. An. 785. Portraitures of St. Peter and St. Paul which are those which Saint Sylvester shewed to the Emperor Constantine (k) Constantine to adorn his new City set up on all the Gates the Image of the holy Virgin and upon that of his Palace the Image of our Saviour which Leo Isaurianus caused to be taken away He also caused to be raised in the middle of his Palaces fine Statues of our Saviour in the form of the good Shepherd and that of the Prophet Daniel in the Lyons Den. H. of the Iconocl of Maimbourg the Great after he was converted Hence we may believe that the Worship of Images had its rise at the very beginning of the Primitive Church and that it continued till the time of the Emperor Leo Isaurus in the East which continued the Practice of the Arts of Designing although degenerated from their Excellence yet less so in the Provinces of the East than the West CHAP. VIII Of the entire Ruine of these Arts by the Sect of Mahomet in all the Parts of his Dominion THE advantage which the Arts of Designing had to maintain themselves longer in the East than in the West did not last long for they suffered an entire overthrow in several Provinces of the Grecian Empire by the Sect of Mahomet which begun to appear in the Year 624. This false Prophet took Damas and ruined Syria and his Sect encreasing in Arabia Egypt Libia Barbary Spain and even on this side the Pyrenean Hills destroy'd all the antient Buildings and Pieces of the Arts of Designing which escap'd the Visigoths and the Vandals But the greatest Desolation was made by the Saracens in (a) They took also about this Time the Isles of Candy Cyprus and Rhodes in the Year 640. It was they who broke to pieces that famous Colossus of Brass made by Chares the Indian which was set up at the Entrance of the Port of Rhodes where Ships passed between the Legs of this great Statue which was at last thrown down by an Earthquake and the Saracens having broken it to pieces carried it to Alexandria the Brass of it laded nine hundred Camels This was about the Year 655. Dict. Histor Italy they ruled Sicily for a considerable Time And were Masters of a great Part of the Kingdom of Naples for the space of thirty Years principally from the City of Regge to that of Gath. Moreover these Infidels carried their Arms even to Rome and took the Town of Vatic and burnt the Church of St. Peter there (b) Roma illustrata P. 9. Italia illustrata di Biondo P. 135. and St. Paul under the Popedom of Leo IV. and had almost taken the City In this space of time these People destroy'd every thing that was fine and curious in these two Kingdoms for at Naples and the Neighbouring Towns there are only some Remains of the fine Houses and Palaces of the antient Romans These Palaces were along the Sea-shore on the Coasts from the Cape of Missena to the other side of the Puzzolo (c) Puzzolo was sacked by Alaricus Gensericus and Totila afterwards it was rebuilt by the Grecians the Theater of Puzzolo was one hundred and seventy two Foot long and eighty eight Foot broad There are yet to be seen the Remains of the Temple of Augustus all of Marble built by Califurnius There were also in that City several other Antient Temples the most considerable was that of Diana which had a hundred Columns of an admirable Corinthian order There is also yet to be seen a Part of the magnificent Temple of Neptune and the Remains of a Temple of Trajan The antient Fragments which are still to be seen in those Places denote the Splendor of these Buildings there is nothing so curious and wonderful as the Fishpond (d) This Place now called the Remainders of the wonderful Fish-pool is among the Remainders of the Palace which Luculus caused to be built at the Cape of Missona this subterranean Place was to keep fresh Water for the Fleets at Missena (e) Missena a fine Antient City was ruined by the Saracens in the Year 596. Antiq. of Puzz D. S. M. Near this Place was the City of Cumes whereof there remains a fine Arch called Arco-felice which is of fine Antient Architecture Here is yet to be seen in this Place the Cave of the Cumaean Sybil. The Pavement is enriched with Antient Paintings after the Mosaick Manner such as there are at Prenestes which points out the footsteps and foundations of a noble Palace The Remains of the Vineyard of Luculus of the Baths of Cicero and of the (f) At the Gate of Tipergol in Baia Caligula caused a Bridge to be built of Brick and paved with Stone which went from thence to Baia. This Bridge served also for Security of the Port by breaking the great Waves of the Sea there yet remain of it thirteen great Piles Suetonius relates the Reasons which induced this Emperor to make this wonderful Fabrick Bridge of Caligula built on the Sea of the Amphitheater and Theater of Puzzolo of the Temple of Castor (g) There is yet to be seen at Naples the Gate of this Temple which was Measured and Engraven by Andrew Palladio and Pollux at Naples and of several other Antient Works which were places of delight of the Romans in that Country make us regret the Ruine of those fine Buildings Those mischiefs make us look on this false Religion as one of the most fatal Plagues that ever happened to Architecture Sculpture and Painting for it is one of the Principles of the Mahometan Sect to make no Image of any living Creature And this has caused in all the Territories of the Turks not only the declension but the utter destruction of the Arts of Designing CHAP. IX Of the Injury Painting and Sculpture suffered by the Iconoclastes IN the other Parts of the Empire of Constantinople a hundred Years after Mahomet the Iconoclastes set about breaking and demolishing of Images Which could not be done without the great loss of Painting and Sculpture in all the Parts of that Empire Leo Isaurianus from a mean Birth came to the Empire according to the Prediction of two Jews who for an acknowledgment to them on that Account ordered the destruction of all Images throughout his Dominions This gave the first rise to the Heresy of the Iconoclastes whereof he was chief For as soon as he thought himself establish'd on his Throne he shew'd his Fury against the Catholicks by his Edicts and other Violences Which particularly appear'd when he set on Fire the famous (a) This College or rather Academy for there were taught all Sorts of Sciences both Human and Divine was a magnificent Palace built by Constantine the
Water-Colours in Fresco and Mosaick But among all these Grecian Artists those of Pisa were the most fortunate in happening on the Architect Bouchet (a) This Architect Bouchet called by Vasari Buschetto was a Grecian of Dulichium he made in the Plan of the Great Church of Pisa five Allies this Church is Paved with White and Black Marble he was Buried here in an honourable Sepulchre whereon there are Three Epitaphs this is one of them Quod vix mille boum possent juga juncta movere Et quod vix potuit per mare ferre ratis Buschetti nisu quod erat mirabile visu Dena puellarum .... levavit onus This Architect understood all the Parts of Architecture and particularly Mechanicks as this Epitaph proves having made a Machine by means of which Ten Women could take up that Weight which a Thousand Couple of Oxen could not move of Dulichium the most Ingenious of his time This he made appear in the Cathedral of Pisa for besides the greatness and fine Plan he made in this Church he made use with a great deal of dexterity of those ancient Pieces of the Grecian Architecture to compose his which were Fragments that the Pisans had brought from Greece This famous Building stirr'd up throughout all (b) In several Cities of Italy were Reared very great Fabricks at Ravenna in the year 1152 il Buono Engraver and Architect Built a great many Palaces and Churches He Founded at Naples the Castles of Capoano now called of the Vicaridge and Castel Dellüovo and at Venice the Steeple of St. Mark which he so well Founded on Piles that in that great Edifice there has appear'd no defect in so long time At Pisa in the year 1174 one Named William Oltromontano with Bonnano Engraver Founded the Steeple of the Dome These Architects not being acquainted with the practice of Piles this Steeple sunk on one side to which it inclines but because of its hollow which is round it does not fall The Royal Gate of Brass of this Church was made by this Bonnano Italy and particularly in Toscany those who had any Genius for Designing It was in this City of Pisa where the Pupils of these Greek Architects Built the Church of (c) In the year 1060 near this great Church was Built that of St. John and it is Recorded in some Memoirs that the Columns the Pilasters and the Vault were finished in Fifteen Days time Vasari p. 79. St. John They also Built others Consecrated to St. Luke (d) The Church of St. Martin at Luques was Built by the Pupils of Buchette in the year 1061. and some to Pistoia but they did not at all exceed their Masters There remain the Footsteps of the old Greek way chiefly in the Sculpture as is to be seen in the Bass Reliefs of St. Martin of Luques finished by Nicholas (e) These Bass Reliefs were finished in the year 1233. Pisan who learn'd of those Grecian Artists but he surpass'd them for there is a great deal of difference between his Work and theirs This Nicholas was the first Engraver who began to perfect Sculpture after its revival for to surpass those who taught him he set himself to study the fine Bass Reliefs of the Ancients which the Pisans had brought from Greece and which are to be seen in the Church-yard of Pisa They are of a good Order and Ancient particularly that which represents the Hunting of Atalanta and Meleager The study of these Bass Reliefs furnished him with sufficient light to make some happy advances in Sculpture and this he sufficiently shew'd in the Sepulcher of St. Dominick at Bulloign and his other Works This shews that this Art as well as Architecture began to arrive to perfection at Pisa at Bullogn and at Rome and (f) About the year of the World 1216 appear'd Marchione Architect and Engraver of Arreze who Work'd much at Rome for the Popes Innocent the IIId and Honorius III. who made the fine Chappel of Marble of Presepio at St. Mary Majeure with the Sepulcher of that Pope which is of the best Engraving of those times But one of the first Architects who began to reform in Italy was a German named James who Built the great Convent of St. Francis of Stone he dwelt at Florence where he made the chief Fabricks he had a Son called by corruption Jacopo Arnolpho Lapo who learn'd Architecture of his Father and Designing of Cimaboius and practised also Sculpture He founded the Church of St. Cross at Florence and several other Buildings the most considerable whereof is the Magnificent Church of St. Mary Delfiore whereof he made the Design and Model He Died in the Year 1200 there are Engraven in his praise in one of the corners of the Church these Verses Annus Millenis centum bis octonogenis Venit Legatus Roma bonitate Donatus Qui Lapidem fixit fundo simul benedixit Praesule Francisco gestante Pontificatum Istud ab Arnolpho Templum fuit aedificatum Hoc opus infigne decorans Florentia digne Reginae Coeli Construxit mente fideli Quam Virgo pia semper defende Maria. Florence which is apparent by the Beauty of the Cathedral of St. Mary Delfiore which Arnolphus Lapo began to Build in the year 1298 and which Philip Bruneleschi afterwards finished CHAP. II. Of the Time when Painting began to be Re-established at Florence PAINTING which was almost lost began to revive again in the Church of St. Miniate at Florence as is to be seen in the Mosaick Painting of the Choir This was done about the Year 1013 and till the Year 1211 wherein Cimabüe was born we do not see that that Art acquired much perfection John Cimaboüe was born at Florence with a natural Genius and Inclination to Designing which made him neglect other Studies to which he was design'd by his Father For he deceived his Tutors and was continually amusing himself in gratifying the Inclination and Tendency of his Genius The opportunity which he had of the Society of two Grecian Painters who came to Florence to Paint the Chappel of Gondis was very lucky for him to satisfy his Inclination that Way And when his Father saw him employ all his time in seeing them Work he began to despair of his Sons succeeding in Learning and so e'ne let him learn to Paint of these two Greeks The Genius and Application which Cimaboüe had for Design made him soon surpass his Masters Insomuch that his Works distinguishing themselves from the ill and rude Ways which were then in use spread his Reputation through all the Neighbouring Towns where he made several Pieces this began to raise Painting again and gained this Painter the (a) The Reputation of Cimaboüe was so Great that he was chosen Architect with Arnolphus Lapo to order the Fabrick of the Church of St. Mary Delfiore at Florence where he was buried after having lived sixty Years There are these Words for his Epitaph Credidit ut Cimabos Picturae
was judged that he much surpassed his Master there are several Pieces of his in Fresco at Florence at Pisa at Milan and at Rome which are of the best Sort which had till then appear'd he was also a good Architect and dyed in the Year 1350. brought up This Painter was also very well versed in Sculpture and Architecture He made the Design of one of the fine Brazen Doors of the Chancel in St. John's Church in this City and it was Engraven by Andrew (c) Andrew Pisan made several Figures of Marble in the Church of St. Mary del Fiore And as from his Youth he had also studied Architecture after the Death of Arnolpho Lapo and Ghiotto he was employed by the Republick of Florence to make the Castle of Discarpe He also built the Church of St. John of Pistoia and the Duke Gautier of Athens who then Govern'd that City employ'd him in all the Affairs of Architecture which he undertook both Civil and Military The Merit of this Andrew was taken notice of throughout all that Lordship and he passed through all the Offices of Magistracy His chief Pieces were done about the Year 1340. He had one Son who was also One of the best Engravers of his Time Vasari V. dell Andrè-Organa was Pupil of Andrew Pisan and he was also a good Engraver Painter and Architect he dyed in the Year 1389 his Brother James was also an Engraver and Architect Pisan This Man was as Famous for Sculpture as Ghiotto for Painting for Andrew following the Designs of this Painter studied the antient Way with care and became one of the most Famous of his Time Estienne Florentin Tadeus Gaddi Peter Cavallini and several others were Scholars of Ghiotto and not inferiour to their Master These brought up likewise other Pupils who continued to bring Painting to perfection and took pains therein which can never be sufficiently applauded for in the Year 1350 at Florence they formed an Academy of Designing which was the first that was founded since the Revival of this Art CHAP. IV. The Establishment of an Academy of Designing at Florence was a means of Re-establishing the Art IF the Assemblies of the Platonists near Athens were of Use to the Greeks in forming their Academy Those of several Painters at Florence were no less so to the Italians establishing there the first Academy of Design in Italy To this end there first assembled Ten (a) These Painters who Founded the Academy of Design at Florence were Lapo Gucci Vanni Cinuzzi Corfino Buonajuti Pasquino Cenni Segnia d'Antignano Consiglieri Furono Bernardo Daddi è Jacopo di Cassentino Camarlinghi Configlio Gherardi è Domenico Pucei all Painters This Academy was in such Favour with the Government and afterwards with the Great Dukes of Tuscany that Cosmus one of them would needs be one of their Number and caused himself to be drawn like a Designer as is related by I. Armenini Lib. del N. P. P. 40. in these Terms Della qualle si sa Con quanta accortezza prudenza il Gran Duca Cosmo ne facesse Conto la Ottenesse Conciosa ch'egli si compiacque non solo di firenza essere nel nuemero delli Academici del disegno mà volse encora essere ritratto al vivo in uno delli quadri del palco della maggior sala del suo Palagio che sedendo col Compasso in mano si mostra che misura linea la pianta di siena che su tal forma conferisce favella col Signior Chiappino In the time that James Cassentino work'd at Arezze Spinello a Painter of that City contracted a Friendship with him that he might profit by his Knowledge but he surpassed Cassentino and the Seignior Dardano Arciaivoli caused him to Paint in Fresco the Church of St. Nicholas in the Year 1334 and he made several other Pieces at Florence and Arrezze it is reported that he equalled him in Designing and surpassed him far in Colouring He stay'd at Florence during the remainder of the Age 1300. Gherardo Starmini Painter was in Spain to work for that King where he gain'd much Honour and Riches Lippo Florentine Tadeus Bartoli of Sienne lived at the same time as also Buonamico Pupil of Tadeus Gaddi and Lorenzetti of Sienne Painters who had the Honour to Establish it They began this Establishment with a great deal of Piety They founded it under the Auspices and after the Invocation of the Great St. Luke And James Cassentino one of the Pupils of Tadeus Gaddi made the Picture of the Chappel of the Academy where this Saint was painted drawing of the blessed Virgin on one side of the Virgin Cassentini painted all the Academists and on the other all their Wives This ingenious Society was afterwards encouraged and assisted by the Princes de Medicis which perfected at Florence the Establishment of the Arts which relate to Designing For there have since gon out of that School a great Number of Painters Engravers and Architects who embellish'd that famous City and all Italy like another Sicione where in the time of the first Antients the first Academy of Designing had been establish'd This quickly shew'd at Florence those great Genius's Laurence Ghiberto Le Donatele Ser-Bruneleschi and several other ingenious Contemporaries This Famous Ghiberto (b) It was about the Year 1400 that Laurence Ghiberto began to appear at Florence his first Profession was a Goldsmith which he learn'd from his Father but as he took more to Engraving he made several Medals and engraved Coins and in the mean time studied Designing and Painting whereof he made several Pieces at Rimini and Pesaro but returning to Florence to make those Brazen Gates in St. John's he continued to make Figures in Brass as a Saint John Baptist which was set on a Pilaster fuor l'orsan Michele and two others of the same Metal in the same place He made also several Curious Shrines and a fine Triple Crown for Pope Eugenius it was of Gold and Jewels valued at thirty thousand Ducats of Gold Afterwards he made a second Brazen Gate for the Church of St. John his Merit was so much taken notice of that he became at last supreme Magistrate of Florence but still practised Architecture managing for some time the building of the Church of St. Mary Delfiore was a Goldsmith Painter Sculptor and Architect There are to be seen of his Hand two fine Brazen Gates curiously wrought in the Church of St. John the Excellence whereof is sufficiently set forth by Michael Angelo when he says in admiration of them that they deserved to be the Gates of Paradise And when the Republick ordered those Works to be made they chose out Eight of the best Italian Sculptors who all made Essays in little Models that thereby they might determine by whom this Work should be made Donatello and Ser-Bruneleschi altho' they themselves were of the Number of the Eight cry'd out aloud at sight of the Model
John of Bruges by Presents which he made him of several Pieces of Designing after the Italian way and John seeing himself Old resolved to teach Antonelle to Paint in Oyl and he did not leave off till he had perfectly attain'd that way Antonello after the Death of John van Eick returned into Italy to impart the Secret he had learnt but when he had been some Months at Messina he went to Venice (a) Antonello dy'd at Venice at 49 Years of Age and the Painters of that City perform'd his Obsequies with a great deal of Honour and in Memory of the Secret which he had shewed them of Painting in Oyl they Engrav'd on his Tomb this Epitaph Antonius Pictor proecipuum Messaniae suae Siciliae totius Ornamentum hac humo contegitur Non solum suis Picturis in quibus singulare artificium venustas fuit sed quod coloribus oleo miscendis splendorem perpetuitatem primus Italicae Picturae contulit summo semper Artificum Studio celebratus About this time appear'd at Padua Vellano the Sculptor Disciple of Donatello who finish'd in that City the Work which his Master had left imperfect he was at Rome and work'd for Pope Paul the Venetian in the Year 1464. Also Paulus Romanus a Sculptor distinguish'd himself at Rome he was Employed by Pope Pius the Second the Figure of St. Paul which is at the Entrance of the Bridge of St. Angelo is his This Paulus was also an excellent Worker in Gold he made also the Apostles in Silver which were on an Altar in the Pope's Chappel and which were pillaged by the Imperialists at the taking Rome One of his Contemporaries in Sculpture was Mino he made the two Figures of St. Peter and St. Paul which are placed in the Entrance of that Church and the Sepulchre of Paul the Second in the same Church where he establish'd himself and made several Pictures which were esteemed by the Nobles and by all those of the City which acquired him a great Reputation Among the Painters that flourish'd at Venice at that time Dominicus Venetianus was one of the most celebrated he very much caressed Antonelle at his Arrival and thereby acquired his Friendship insomuch that he shew'd him the way of Painting in Oyl After which Dominick in the Year 1478. carried this way of Painting in Oyl to Florence He there made several Pieces after this new way but he was unfortunately Assasinated by Andrew dal Castagno who became Jealous of his Knowledge although he had learnt from him the way of Painting in Oyl Thus Antonello and Dominick carried this way to Florence and Venice and the way of doing it became known throughout all Italy which was very advantageous to this Art in bringing it to the Perfection it arrived to in the Year 1400 and the whole Century 1500. CHAP. VII Painting was Re-establish'd in several Provinces of Italy IN the other Provinces of Italy as well as in Tuscany and the State of Venice there were several Persons at the same time apply'd themselves to revive the Honour of the Arts of Designing but not in so great a number as at Florence where their Genius's were naturally inclined to learn it and who also had among them the advantage of an Academy of Designing which was in no other Cities Thus we see that the Art began to come to Perfection not only at Venice but also at Ferrara at Mantua and at Bulloign where Francis Francia was of the first Rank Laurence Costa of Ferrara his Disciple made several of the finest Pieces that had yet ever appear'd there although they were only painted in Distemper Costa was very much honoured by Francis Gonsague Marquiss of Mantua who caused him to Paint a Chamber in his Palace of St. Sebastian This Painter had several Pupils (a) Costa had moreover for his Disciples Laurence Hercules da Ferrara and Lewis Malino Laurence had so great Friendship for his Master that he did not leave him during his Life He designed better than Costa as is apparent by the Pieces he made in the Chappel of St. Vincent in the Church of St. Petronio at Bulloign Dosso also learnt of Costa and excell'd particularly in making Landskips Benvenuto Garofola was also his Pupil before he went to Study at Rome and it was he who taught the first Principles of the Art to Old Dosso da Ferrara Andrew Mantegna learnt Painting about this time of James Squarcione (b) Besides Andrew Mantegna who was a Disciple of Squarcione Laurence da Lendinara Dario da Trevisa and Marco Zoppo a Bolonian were his Disciples also Andrew Mantegne was Knighted and dy'd at Mantua in the Year 1517. This was his Epitaph Esse Parem hunc noris si non praeponis Apelli Aenea Mantinéae qui simulachra vides of Padua who lived at Mantua Andrew was very much esteemed by Gonzagues Marquiss of that State The Triumph which he painted in his Palace of which there is to be seen a Print gain'd him so much Reputation that Pope Innocent the Eighth sent for him to Rome to Paint the Palace of Belvidere and after having acquired a great deal of Honour at the Court of Rome he returned to Mantua where he ended his Days Gentil da (c) Gentil da Fabriano made some Pieces that were highly praised by Michael Angelo Pisanello a Painter of Verona was Contemporary with Gentil and he was very much esteemed by Michael St. Michael Architect of Verona he excell'd also in graving Medals which he made appear by those he did at Florence of all those Illustrious Persons who assisted at the Council held there with the Grecians Il Biondo and Il Giovio very much extolled the Medals of Pisanello In the same Age 1400. there flourished in Tuscany several Excellent Painters in Miniature who were the Fryer John da Fiesole Don Bartholomew Abbot of St. Clement and Gherardo Fabriano practised Painting at Verona and taught it to James Bellini who was contemporary with Dominick Venetianus but when this last left Venice to dwell at Florence there was no body left at Venice to dispute with him the Precedency He had two Children (d) John Bellin made several Pieces at Venice and lived 90 Years he had also for his Disciples James da Montagna Rondinello da Ravenna Benedict Coda da Ferrara and several others of Lombardy and Trevisan as for Gentil Bellin he dy'd at 80 Years of Age. Vivarini was one of his Contemporaries and he work'd with the Bellinis in one of the Halls of the Palaces of St. Mark but he dy'd young Francis Mosignori a Veronese was Disciple of Andrew Mantagna he wrought at Mantua where he made several Pieces and at Verona he dy'd in the Year 1509. John and Gentil whom he taught to Paint they surpassed their Father in a little time and we may truly say it was these two Brothers who introduced the right Method of managing Colours in the Venetian School after having brought up several
in these Magnificent Works that he shew'd the Greatness and Vivacity of his Genius there is to be seen on the four sides of the Hall which is painted in Fresco the Overthrow of the Giants and on the Cieling Jupiter darting his Thunderbolts as also all the rest of the Gods amazed at their Boldness Julio moreover painted the Loggia or Gallery of this Palace where are the Histories of David and also Embellish'd the Great Hall with the Fables of Psyche and Bacchus He adorn'd several other Apartments with Pictures and Stucco-work which were all very admirable He painted moreover several Battels out of Homer's Iliads in the Palace of St. Sebastian and made fine Pieces of Tapistry for the Duke of Ferrara which represented the Combats and Triumph of Scipio Africanus whereof the King the Duke of Mantua and the Duke of Modena have each a Suit of Hangings very richly highten'd with Gold (a) These Tapistries were made in Flanders by Nicholas and John Baptista Roux very ingenious Workmen But as his Genius was universal and he excelled in all the Parts of Designing Architecture which is one of them took up most of his time at Mantua for besides the Palace of T. which he Built he made the Church of St. Peter and several others of a very regular Architecture It was he also who found the way of preserving that Noble City from the Inundations of Water of the Lake which runs round it he Built there several Magnificent Palaces and caused the great Streets to be enlarged which are very beautiful Julio Romano gained so much here by the Esteem of the Duke and of the Cardinal his Brother that he used to say this Painter was more Master of Mantua than he himself Thus the Esteem and Honour he received of these two Princes engaged him to stay there and not return to Rome although the Pope desired it to make him chief Architect of St. Peter's Church (b) Julio Romano died at the Age of 45. in 1546. There was made on him this Epitaph Romanus Moriens secum tres Julius Artes Abstulit haud mirum quatuor unus erat This great Painter had several Disciples the best were Primariccio a Bolognian John dal Lione Raphael dal Colle Borghese Benedict Pagni da Pescia Figurino da Faensa Rinaldo and John Baptista Mantuano and Fermo Guisoni At Cremona near Mantua Painting began to flourish ever since Pordenone made there some Pieces in Fresco and in Oyl which shew'd the true Gusto of Painting to Camillo Son of Boccacino to Bernard da Gatti called Soardo who work'd at Panna and to Galeazzo Campo who had three Sons Painters Julius Anthony and Vincent Julius became famous his Disciples were his two Brothers and Lactantius Gambaro of Brescia But those who did him the most Honour were Four Sisters of a Noble Family who learnt Painting of Julius Campo They were named Sophonisba Lucia and Europa and Anna Angosciola Sophonisba was carried by the Duke d'Atra into Spain and enter'd into the Service of the Queen the Beauty of her Works being made known to Pope Pius the IVth he desired to have by her Hand the Picture of that Queen which was admired by all Rome the Pope returned his Thanks to this Illustrious Paintress by a Letter her Two Sisters were also very famous for Painting Vasari Vita di B. Garosalo p. 561. In Sculpture as well as Painting there have been Women very famous particularly Porperzia de' Rossi of Bologna who was very much admired in that City for her Painting and by the Works she made in Marble she died in the time that Clement the VIIth came to Bologna to Crown Charles the Vth. This Pope had a great desire to see this Illustrious Lady but she died some days before that Ceremony At Breste there were also Jerom Mutiano Jerom Romanino and Alexander Moretti who gained considerable Reputation Milan also brought up some very good Painters one of the most Ancient of whom is Bramantine who work'd for Pope Nicholas the Vth. in the Vatican but his Painting was taken down and Raphael has since painted the same place He was also an Architect and made several Designs and Buildings at Milan which were of use to Bramante when he first studied Architecture in that City At the same time Busto Surnamed Bambaia distinguished himself among the Sculptors of his time by several Pieces he made at Milan and particularly by the Sepulchre of the Count of Foix which is in the Church of St. Mark which was made with extraordinary Care and Patience The Adam and Eve which are on the Front of the Dome at Milan is of Christopher Gobbo who was Contemporary with Bambaia there were also other Sculptors and Architects who Embellish'd that City and Dome with their Works as did Angelo Il Ceciliano Tofanon Lombardino Silvio da Fiesole and Francis Brambilati but Painting was perfected at Milan after the Works of Leonardo da Vinci appeared there One of the most Excellent Milanese Painters was Gaudence His Works are to be seen in that City at Versailles and at Veralla There were some who imitated Leonardo as Marco Uggioni but he to whom among the Milanese Painting is most obliged to is Paul Lomazzo who has writ very learnedly on all Parts of the Arts which Works of his are very useful for all Designers His Books were printed at Milan in 1584 and 1590. This shews us that not only Painting flourish'd in several Cities of Italy and at Mantua but also that Architecture has always been inseparable from Designing and more particularly to shew the Progress of Architecture after it's arrival I will begin with it from the time of Bruneleschi 100 Years before Julio Romano CHAP. XIII Architecture arrived to a very great Excellency at Rome THE famous Ser-Bruneleschi began to bring Architecture out of the rude Gothick Manner which had been practised at Florence and other places down to 1400. For he established in that City the use of the Dorick Ionick and Corinthian Orders in all their Purity and according to those just Rules he had studied at Rome in the Ancient Buildings Leon Baptista Alberti followed the Footsteps of this Illustrious Architect and Sculptor and in Imitation of him continued at Florence the true Gusto of Architecture by reason that he was an excellent Geometrician and good Designer His Treatise of the Orders and his Works of Architecture are a proof of it The famous Bramante by his Excellent Architecture continued to improve the latter part of this Age as Bruneleschi and Leon Baptista had done and also the beginning of the Age 1500. wherin he lived Bramante learnt Painting from his Youth and gained his Livelihood thereby for a long time in the State of Urbin where he was Born and in several Cities of Lombardy where he made several Pictures But as he had also a Genius for very great things he went to Milan to consider the Building of the great Church there then under the Conduct and
Brass and Marble in the Church and considering all the fine Structures wherewith he enrich'd Venice we may say of him that he advanced Architecture in that City to its highest Perfection CHAP. XV. Michael Angelo made Architecture Sculpture and the true Way of Designing flourish at Rome THE great Michael Angelo Buonaruoti had the same Honour at Florence and Rome as Sansovino at Venice For he shewed his Capacity in Architecture in those two Cities and in the last Age advanced that Art to its highest Perfection The reason of this is very evident and no ways surprizing for being the greatest Designer of his Time he became also the greatest Architect when he apply'd his Time wholly to it as he did during his last Years Michael Angelo was born at Florence in 1474 with a natural Inclination for Designing for although in his Youth he was brought up to Learning notwithstanding he busied himself always in private about Designing And as his Father saw that he had a very great Inclination for Painting he put him to Dominick Ghirlandaio for him to instruct him therein and in a little time Michael Angelo distinguish'd himself from other Disciples by the surprizing Facility wherewith he designed This great Genius was very fortunately favoured by Prince Laurence de Medicis by reason of the great Passion this Prince had to assist the Revival of the Arts by assisting Men skilled and learned therein This generous Temper made him establish in the Gallery of his Gardens an Academy which he fill'd with fine Pictures and Pieces of Sculpture both Ancient and Modern Afterwards he caused to be sought out at Florence those Young Designers who promised most to whom he allow'd Pensions to promote the conveniency of their Studies Those of the School of Ghirlandaio were chosen the first and particularly Michael Angelo who had so lively a Genius for all the Parts of Designing that one day having taken up a piece of Marble he set about making a Head tho' as yet he had never handled a Chisel which so much surprized Prince Laurence that he conceived so great an Affection for Michael Angelo that besides the Pension he allow'd him he did him the Honour to admit him to his own Table and gave him a Lodging in his Palace After the Death of this Prince his Successor Peter de Medicis continued to Michael Angelo the same Affection he had been favoured with by the Great Duke his Father Signor Soderini Gonfaloniere of the same Republick had no less esteem for this ingenious Man than these two Princes and about the same time Michael Angelo made a Cupid of Marble which was sent to Rome and hidden under Ground to pretend that it was an Ancient one It was afterwards dug up and sold for such to Cardinal St. George and this Cupid passed for one of the most rare and fine Pieces of Antiquity Hereby this famous Sculptor acquired a great Reputation at Rome whither he went for the first time He continued Sculpture there with a great Application and made a Bacchus of Marble with several other admirable Statues At his return to Florence he apply'd himself with the same diligence to that fine Art and made a Marble David which was set up before the Palace Peter Soderini and all the Citizens were so charmed with this Piece that they obliged this famous Designer to make some more of them some in Brass and others in Painting Then Gonfaloniere ordered him to Paint one half of the Council Hall and Leonardo da Vinci the other It was here that Michael Angelo made a Piece to Parallel that of Leonardo da Vinci which was so famous Michael Angelo in this Work gave proofs of the Excellence of his Designing both in respect of the composition of the Subject which was the War of Pisa and in his correctness in naked Figures And to have an opportunity of shewing it the better he chose the time when several of the Soldiers used to bath themselves in the River Arno to introduce into his Designing naked Figures in which he was Excellent it was this famous Piece that gave Raphael and several others an insight to the Perfection of Designing Julius the IId being raised to the Papal Chair sent for Michal Angelo to Rome resolving to engage him to make him a Mausoleum in St. Peter's ad vincula Here is to be seen that fine Figure of Moses and several others and the excellent Architecture which joined together make this fine Sepulcher This great Design was not executed according to the largeness of its first Model but was reduced to what it is whence France has the Honour of two Statues of Marble which were to be placed on each side of the Sepulcher and which are at present in the Castle of Richelieu The working of this Mausoleum was for a long time interrupted because the Pope set Michael Angelo to Paint in Fresco the arched Ceiling of the Chappel of Sixtus the IVth which so much raised his Reputation that besides the general Applause he received at Rome he received considerable Presents from Pope Julius He deserved both the one and the other for he alone painted that Vault after so admirable a way that the famous Caraches who came after him took thence their magnificent Ideas in the Painting of the Palace of Farnese at Rome Julius the IId being dead Leo the Xth his Successor honoured Michael Angelo no less than he had done for he employ'd him in the Architecture of the Front of St. Laurence at Florence and his Model gained more Esteem than any other After this in the Popedom of Clement the VIIth he made in the Vestry of the same Church the Sepulcher of the House of Medicis and that Sepulcher even till this time has passed for a wonder both of Architecture and Sculpture This excellent Person moreover shewed that he was Ignorant in nothing in all the Arts of Designing for he also fortified the Mount St. Miniate at Florence and thereby hindered their Enemies from becoming Masters of it But when the Wars of Italy in 1525 obliged several ingenious Artists to leave Rome and Florence Michael Angelo was one of that Number and went to Venice where the Doge Gritti to whom he had the honour to be known caused him to make the Design of the Bridge of Realto which is one of the Masterpieces of Architecture He painted in that City some Pictures and among others that of Leda which he gave to the Duke of Ferrara who sent it to Francis the Ist The Wars of Italy being ended Michael Angelo returned to Rome and there finished the Sepulcher of Julius the IId after which he painted by order of Pope Paul the IIId the great Front of the Altar whereon he represented the last Judgment and it was this only which was not finished of all the Paintings of this Chappel The Fame of this great Work in Fresco which is all over the World sufficiently denotes its Excellence Michael Angelo in his old Age
Royal Square There were other famous Tuscan Painters (d) Dominick Beccafumi of Siena was also one of the best Painters of Tuscany He had a natural Inclination for Designing which made him often of his own acccord Design on the Sand as he kept his Flocks Afterwards he studied at Siena the Works of Peter Perugin and after that at Rome he studied those of Michael Angelo and Raphael then he went to dwell at Siena where he did several Pieces of Painting in the Church of the Dome and in other Places which were very much esteemed His Assistant at Siena was Sodoma who gain'd a very good Reputation Beccafumi died in 1549 at sixty five Years of Age. appear'd at Florence at the same time as niel da Volterra at Rome among whom were Jacob (e) James da Puntormo was born in 1493 and lived 65 Years Bronzin learnt of him and may pass for his Disciple da Puntormo Francis Bronzin his Disciple and Salviati Puntormo began under Leonardo da Vinci and in 1512 he continued to perfect himself with Andrew del Sarto Bronzin was in nothing Inferiour to him and there are to be seen of his Hand some Pictures excellently well done Salviati (f) Francis Salviati was born in 1510 and died at Rome in 1563. learnt Designing in the School of Baccio Bandinelli and Painting of Andrew del Sarto After having work'd for some time at Florence and at Rome he came in the Year 1554 into France where he was very well received by Primaticcio then chief Painter and Architect to the King but as soon as Salviati saw the Works of Rosso who had been chief Painter to the King and those of other Painters he affected to find Faults in them which raised great Expectations of what he would do He was emploied by the Cardinal de Lorrain to Paint in his Castle of Dampierre but not being pleased in France he returned to his own Country CHAP. XVIII The Cities of Ferrara and others of Lombardy and Urbin furnish'd the World with several good Painters FLORENCE was not the only City of Italy which bred Excellent Painters for Ferrara had several Dosso and Baptista his Brother were very ingenious Dosso was very much extolled by the famous Ariosto and cherished till his Death by the Generous Prince Alphonsus of Ferrara Alphonsus Lombardi an Excellent Sculptor was also Born in the same City he made several Portraits witness that which he made at Bologna of the Emperor Charles the V. whereby he gain'd very great Applause with an honourable Recompence from that Prince But one of the best Painters of Ferrara was Benvenuto Garofalo (a) Benvenuto Garofalo was Born at Ferrara in 1481. Besides Raphael who was his Friend he also contracted Friendship with Georgeone Titian and Julio Romano he grew Blind towards the latter end of his Life and continued so for nine Years he died in 1550. at Seventy eight Years of Age one of his best Pupils was Jerom de Carpi who went to Copy the fine Pieces of Correggio at Modena and at Parma afterwards he work'd at Bologna and Ferrara where he made a large Venus with Cupids which the Duke sent to King Francis this Picture is very much praised by Vasari he dy'd in the Year 1556. 55 Years of Age. There was also of Ferrara Jerom a Sculptor he work'd since Andrew Contucci his Master several Pieces in Marble in the Church of Loretta where he was employed twenty six Years without any Interruption he began to learn Painting Ferrara and Cremona and at Mantua under Corta Ferrara At nineteen Years of Age he went to Rome for fifteen Months then he return'd to Mantua and thence to Rome again where the Works of Raphael and Michael Angelo's grand Gusto of Designing charmed him so much that he repented he had spent his Youth in studying the Lombard Manner This made him resolve to leave them and become a Disciple and Imitator of Raphael during the space of two Years because he found himself very much in favour with that great Man whom he very unwillingly left for some Affairs of his Family which obliged him to dwell at Ferrara Benvenuto Garofalo was there very much esteemed by the Duke and the principal Personages of that City for whom he painted several Pieces in the Churches and in particular Houses his Works were very beautiful by reason he followed very good and just Principles which he received from Raphael and took particular care to joyn thereunto the Imitation of the best Nature The State of Urbin continued to yield ingenious Men and the Dukes of Urbin like them of Ferrara of Mantua and of Florence contributed to the revival of the Arts of Designing For Jerom Genga an Excellent Painter was in great favour with these Dukes He had studied under Peter Perugino with Raphael Urbin his Illustrious Countryman he practised also Architecture and the Duke Guido-baldo employ'd him to build and paint his Palaces of Urbin and Pisaro and to fortify this last City Bartholomew the Son of Genga was also an Architect and Engineer as well as his Father From this State of Urbin came those famous Brethren Taddeus and Frederick Zucchero and the celebrated Baroche Taddeus (b) Taddeus Zucchero Born in the Year 1529. dy'd in 1566. so that he lived but 37 Years learnt the Principles of Painting in the City of St. Angelo in Vado which was his own Country but as his Masters were but ordinary Painters he resolved at fourteen Years of Age to go to Rome there to study this Art where having nothing to live upon he was obliged to work for Picturesellers and when he had got some Money he employ'd himself in Designing and particularly to Imitate and Copy the Works of Raphael which he chiefly studied by these means he became very Excellent which may be seen in his fine Works which he has painted in the Castle of Caprarola and the Church of Trinity on the Hill at Rome His (c) Frederick Zucchero bequeath'd his Goods to the Academy of St. Luke Vite de' Pittori del C. Baglione p. 124. He also made Models very well and was a good Architect which made him to be so much the more considered by those great Men whom he served He published a Book Del'Idea de' Pittori Scultori Architetti del Cavaliero Frederico Zucchero divisa in duo lobri In Torino 1607. Brother Frederick followed the same way of Painting for he finish'd the Pictures which Taddeus had begun and at his Death left imperfect and was in nothing inferior to him Philip the II. sent for him into Spain where he was well receiv'd by that Prince who employ'd him to work in the Escurial (d) Frederick Zucchero was not the only Person who embellished the Escurial by his Painting for Pellegrino Tibaldi wrought several Pieces in the Cloyster and the Library He was born at Bologna in the Year 1522. His Father was of Walsada a Country of the Milanese Pellegrino after
he had learnt Defigning and Painting at Bologna lived at Rome in 1547 where he studied for some Years the finest Ways of Painting and work'd for Perin del Vago he painted in that City several Pieces and among the rest a Chappel in the Church of St. Lewis Afterwards he returned to Bologna where he made several Pictures as he did also at Loretto at Ancona and at Milan where he was made chief Engineer of the State and Architect of the great Church Philip the IId being made acquainted with the Merit of Pellegrino sent for him into Spain to Paint the Escurial where he had a reward of one hundred thousand Crowns with the Title of Marquis de Valsada afterwards he continued to practise Painting at Milan where he died at seventy Years of Age in the beginning of the Popedom of Clement the VIIIth His Works in the Escurial are described at large in the Life of the Bolonian Painters by Malvasia He had a Son call'd Dominick Tibaldi who practised Painting at Bologna who was also a good Sculptor and Architect Augustin Carache was one of his Disciples At his return to Rome he began the Academy of Designing of (e) Raphael gave to the Society of St. Luke the Picture he had made of that Saint as also that of the Blessed Virgin which he painted a long time before that Academy was erected St. Luke which was erected by a Brief of Pope Gregory the XIIIth He was chose the first Protector of that Academy by all the Painters with a general Applause for he was universally beloved not only by them but by all Persons of Learning for his extraordinary Qualities he had so great an Affection for them that he left them all his Goods In the City of Urbin was born the famous Frederick Baroche (f) Frederick Baroche was born in 1528 and died in 1612 after having lived eighty four Years Baroche brought up Vannius who followed his Way who as also the Zuccheri's went to Study at Rome the Art of true Designing by the Works of Raphael he also imitated in his Pictures the manner of Correggio nearer than any other It was this which made his Works compleat and very agreeable and he took a great deal of care in the making of them Insomuch that it might have been wish'd he had been more healthful and had settled at Rome He might have kept up towards the end of the last Age the excellency of Painting which was not maintain'd at that heighth that Raphael Correggio and Titian had carried it to in Italy By reason that Joseph Arpino and Michael Angelo Carravagio introduced several manners in that Art quite contrary to the beautiful Stile of those Famous Painters Joseph Arpino was too conceited and would only blindly follow his own Fancy without observing either Rules or Nature and as for Michael Angelo Carravagio he took no care in his Choice neither to follow Nature or Antiquity in his Compositions For all the Beauty of his Pictures consisted in the fineness of his Pencil and liveliness of his Colours This made the business be for some time neglected in the Roman School of Design by following these two different manners till the famous Caraches and their Disciples at the beginning of the last Age happily Reestabished the true Way of Design and Painting CHAP. XIX Painting continued in its Beauty at Venice as did also Architecture at Venice and Rome AT Venice the excellency of Painting did not decline during the whole last Age. It was there raised to a very high Degree of Perfection chiefly in the fine Way of Colouring by Georgeone and Titian who lived to be very Old The Palma's (a) The two Palma's are distinguished by their Ages the Eldest was James he lived near Bergamus and practised the Way of Titian and learnt a great deal of him he died at forty eight Years of Age. The Younger of the Palma's was of Venice and Nephew of the Elder from his Youth he had a great Inclination for Painting The Duke of Urbin who had a great Affection for him let him Study in his Gallery on the Pictures of Raphael and Titian and afterwards sent him to Rome where he continued to perfect himself for the space of eight Years by studying the Works of Polydore and Michael Angelo whence he acquired the true manner This is to be seen at Venice and in all the Venetian State which has several of his Pieces for he wrought very hard to eighty four Years of Age and then died in 1628. From the time of this Painter Painting and Colouring declined at Venice the Bassans (b) Of the Bassans the First was James da Ponte who was born at Bassano in the Year 1510 he learnt Painting of his Father Francis da Ponte Afterwards he perfected himself at Venice by the Pictures of Titian and the Prints of Parmegiano afterwards he retired to the City of Bassano where he wrought during the remainder of his Life and died at eighty two Years of Age in 1592. His Children were Francis John Baptista Jerom and Leander all continued in the Way of their Father at Venice but the most Ingenious of these four Brothers was Francis who died in 1594. Leander practised Painting with a great deal of Credit for he was honoured with Knighthood at Venice he died at fixty five Years of Age in 1623. As for Jerom he wrought at Venice and died at sixty two Years of Age in 1622. Pordenone Paris Bordone and several others were excellent Colourists and contributed to the enriching Venice by their excellent Pictures The Famous Paul Veronese (c) Paul Callieri was born at Verona in 1532 his Father was a Sculptor who taught him from his Youth to Design and Model but as he had a greater Inclination to Painting he put him to Anthony Badile his Uncle who was one of the best Painters of Verona in a short time Paul became very skilful after which he went and work'd at Mantua with Paul Farinati Dominick Brusasorci and Baptisia del Moro all of them Young Painters of Verona whom the Cardinal Hercules caused to come thither to Paint the Chappel of the Cathedral After Paul had painted several Pieces at Verona and in several Cities of the Venetian State he settled himself at Venice where his Works gain'd an universal Applause and Esteem This got him several rewards of the Republick above other Painters who after having made a vast number of Pictures died at fifty six Years of Age in 1588. and (d) James Robusti called Tintorett was born at Venice in 1512 from his Childhood he took to Designing on the Walls and afterwards colouring his Figures with Diers Colours for his Father was a Dyer who seeing the inclination of his Son put him to Titian where he remain'd but a short time Afterwards he studied Designing of himself after the Way of Michael Angelo and the Manner of Colouring of Titian which he joined with the observation of Nature and formed after
both in the Low Countries and in France as well as Italy the Arts of Designing had their Revival by the Means and Ways we have shewn That which farther contributed towards it was the Genius and Application of several Ingenious Painters Sculptors and Architects who flourish'd in the Centuries 1400 and 1500. CHAP. XXII How Graving contributed towards the Re-establishment of the Arts of Designing TO finish this last Book it remains that we shew the Advantage which the Arts of Designing received by the Invention of Graving which was found out at Florence in 1460 for this Invention was and is very serviceable to bring those Arts to Perfection It is certain that the Way of Designing on Copper with the Tools called the Burin and Point was one of the happy Means for the Revival of the Arts For Graving multiplies and imparts Copies of the Designs and fine Ideas of Excellent Painters Sculptors and Architects insomuch that the Prints which are taken off from these Graved Plates were of excellent Use in the Revival of Designing in several Countries which have not had the Advantage like Italy of fine Examples of the Ancient Architecture and Sculpture and the Works of the most excellent Modern Painters and Sculptors which are happily communicated by the Help of Copper-Plates This has been and is still seen in France and other Places that the fine Books of Architecture have made a great many Good Architects who without going to Italy where are the fine Relicks of Antiquity have formed a true and good Manner and perfected their Studies in this Art by the Help of Graving which faithfully represents the Plans Profils the Elevations and Measures of the finest Buildings Painting has also the same Advantage by Prints as Architecture and has given that way solid Instructions to several Painters This may be remarked by the Prints of Mark Antonio graved after the Designs of Raphael which have taught the true manner of Designing to several very considerable Painters The Illustrious Poussin is an Example of this in the great Application he made in his Youth to Design by those Prints when he was at Paris It was here this Great Painter so happily imitated the manner of Raphael and the Ancients in his admirable Works The Sculptors moreover received the same advantage from Graving as the Painters for that made the Designs of the fine Figures of the Ancients familiar to them and all the fine Bass Reliefs of the Famous Columns and Triumphal Arches which are to be seen in the Palaces and Houses of Rome Graving was found out at Florence by Maso Fineguerra a Goldsmith who printed all that he grav'd on Silver Afterwards Baccio Bandinelli who was a Florentine Goldsmith continued that Art but as he was no good Designer he copied the Designs of Sandro Boticelli of that City The Invention of Graving being then come to the knowledge of Andrew Mantegna an Excellent Painter who was about that time at Rome he was so much enamour'd with it that he set himself to learn it and he graved Bacchanalians with the Burin and a great Triumph he cut in Wood which was very Admirable This Art went afterwards from Italy into the Low Countries Martin of Antwerp who was a Painter practised it and sent a great many of his Plates into Italy and continued to make them better and better After Martin of Antwerp Albert Durer in the same City began to Grave after a better Manner Design and Composition for he endeavour'd more nearly to follow Nature and approach the Italian way which he always esteemed the best About the Year 1503 he made a small Statue of the Virgin which surpassed the Works of Martin of Antwerp and he continued to make several Plates of Horses design'd according to Nature with anothere of the Prodigal Son But when he had graved several of these Plates with the Burin and saw that they took up a great deal of Time he set himself to Grave on Wood that he might publish a greater Number of his Works and in the Year 1510 he published of that Sort of Graving the beheading of St. John the Passion of our Lord and several other Pieces which went quickly off Albert by the esteem People set on his Works became very Rich and this engaged him to Grave again with the Burin and he made a Piece representing Melancholy three Notre Dames with the Passion of our Lord in thirty six Pieces About this time Francis Francia was esteemed at Bologna of the first rank of Painters he had several Disciples whereof Mark-Antonio Raimondi was the best by reason of his Capacity in Designing which gave him a great Facility in handling the Burin in Goldsmiths Works in which he was Excellent But according to a Resolution he took to Travel he went to Venice There he saw Stamps which Albert had made with the Burin and in Wood. They so pleased him that he bought of them as far as his Money would reach among the rest he had the Passion cut in Wood And after reflecting what Honour and Profit he should have gotten if he had employ'd himself to Grave after that way he at length determined to set himself wholly thereunto and he so well copied that Passion of Albert's on Copper that it was taken to have been done on Wood he also put the Mark of Albert A. D. thereon and so well imitated that Work that no body took it for Mark-Antonio's but for Albert's and it was bought and sold for such at Venice insomuch that some Copies were sent to Albert of the Passion that Mark-Antonio had done which made Albert so very angry that he went from Antwerp to Venice to complain to the Republick of the Wrongs Mark-Antonio had done him But he could obtain nothing thereby but only that his Mark should be no more put to Mark-Antonio's Pieces Albert at his Return to Antwerp found a Competitor Lucas van Leyden who (a) Lucas van Leyden had an extraordinary Inclination for Designing even in his Childhood he made Pictures at the Age of twelve Years he apply'd himself also to Graving at fifteen Years of Age he had grav'd several Copper Plates he died at thirty nine Years of Age in 1533. In the time of Lucas and Albert there appeared with a great deal of Reputation Han Holbein of Basil He practised also Graving there are of his Hand Wooden Cuts of the Bible and a Dance of the Dead which he painted in that City But his chief Occupation was Painting which he practised a long time in England where he was esteemed the most Ingenious of his Time he died at fifty six Years of Age in 1554. though he was not so good a Designer as himself he notwithstanding equall'd him in the Beauty of working with his Burin as he made it appear in 1509 by two round Prints the one was Christ carrying his Cross the other his Crucifixion Lucas continued to shew his Ingenuity by a Passion which he grav'd in sixteen Pieces and
will have Designing to be only a clear and vivid Genius whereof whosoever is deprived is as it were blind since he can't discern the just Rules and Symmetry of Things Armemini de veri preccetti D. L. P. C. 4. le Chevalier Bisigno in his Treatise of Painting Vasari thus defines Designing 'T is a visible Expression of the Thought the Soul has conceived Designing from which Geometry is inseparable CHAP. II. Of the Practice of the Arts of Designing and their Progress among the Assyrians IN the 2d (a) The 2d Age is computed from the Deluge to the calling of Abraham and includes 426 Years Age the Art of Designing began to appear in Sculpture and Architecture for after Noah had re-peopled the Earth the Assyrians began to Cultivate these Arts. The first Essay that shewed it self was the Tower of Babel which was never perfected by reason of the Confusion of the Languages Belus commonly called Nimrod the (b) Gen. Chap. 11. This was in the Year of the World 1879. 222 Years after the Deluge and 127 Years before the Death of Noah This Nimrod reigned 65 Years according to Euseb Gen. 10. First King of the Assyrians was the Author of that famous Structure and afterwards in the same Place built Babylon where he arrogated to himself divine Adoration Ninus's Son erected to him the first Temple in the World and consecrated (c) 'T was about the Year of the World 1944 that the Statue of Belus was made which is the same Idol the Scripture mentions under the Name of Baal Belphegor c. Statues to his Memory which was the first Rise of Idolatry It was this Ninus who founded Ninive a City of (d) Jonas Chap. 3. and Diodorus Siculus L. 3. We here follow the Chronological History of the Sieur de Royaumont Prior of Sombreval in his History of the Old and New Testament three Days Journey in length and made himself Master of all Asia His Wife Semiramis finish'd the Walls of Babylon which were reckoned one of the seven Wonders of the World to which might have been added the Gardens wherewith that City was adorned and which were on the Tops of the Palaces Semiramis Moreover caused the Mountain (e) It is not improbable but that Dinocratus might take this for a Pattern when he proposed to Alexander the Great to cut out the Mountain Athos into his Statue Vitruvius L. 2. The Mountain Bagiston was a Rock of seventeen Furlongs in Circumference it was Carved into the Statue of Semiramis with the Figures of a hundred Men offering her Presents P. Lomazzo Idea del T. del Pitt P. 22. Valerius Maximus makes also mention of a prodigiously great brazen Statue of this Queen Bagiston to be cut in the Shape of several Statues and carried the Arts and Sciences into (f) Among the Arts of Designing that were practised at Babylon Painting was one since that Princess caused to be painted on a Bridge which she built in that City the Figures of several Animals in Colours as is reported by Diod. Sic. and the aforesaid P. Lomazzo P. 22. Egypt and among the Thebans after having Conquered those Kingdoms All Historians agree that Babylon was a very (g) Pliny Lib. 6. Chap. 26. says That Babylon was sixty Miles in Circumference That its Walls were two hundred Foot high and fifty thick that the Temple of Jupiter Belus was standing there in his Time Herodotus says This City was four hundred and eighty Furlongs in Circumference The Death of Semiramis is reported to have happened in the Year of the World 2038. Justin Lib. 2. Diod. Sic. Lib. 3. beautiful City that it was full of magnificent Buildings and Famous for the Temple of Jupiter Belus That it had a hundred Gates of Brass which shews us that the Fusion of Metals was then in Use and that other pieces of Workmanship which depend on Designing were then discovered Hence it is also Evident that the Arts of Designing were not found out by Chance since those first and excellent Pieces of Architecture and Sculpture could not have been performed without the Help of Art which had been transmitted down to those great Designers contemporary to (h) Noah died in the Year of the World 1944. Lamechs's Father lived with Adam fifty six Years Noah and removed but two Generations from Adam CHAP. III. Of the Heighth to which Painting and Engraving arrived among the Egyptians THESE Arts having been so successfully practised among the Assyrians were by them carried into Egypt and all their Conquests in so much that the Egyptians were the first who cultivated them Their Labyrinth was a proof of it It was a (a) It was the King Petesuccus who built it It was moreover enriched and dedicated to the Sun by the King Psammaticus Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 13. The Obelisks which were transported from Egypt to Rome by Augustus likewise denote the vast Magnificence of the Egyptians Building so admirable that besides its ingenious Windings and Meanders there were all the Temples of the Egyptian Gods adorned with Columns of Porphiry with the Statues of their Divinities and of their Princes with several rich Palaces which made that Edifice so famous and remarkable that the first Architects of Grece were wont to travel thither to Study the Depth of the Rules of their Art This famous Labyrinth and the wonderful Buildings it included give us a lively Idea of the surprising Greatness of the Architecture and Sculpture of this People their Pyramids their Obelisks which are still to be seen and the Fragment of the Colossal (b) Pliny Lib. 36. Chap. 12. Image of Sphinx the Head whereof was a hundred and twenty Foot in Circumference are evidences of this Truth In the 3d (c) The third Age of the World began at 2083 from the calling of Abraham to the Year 2517 wherein the Children of Israel went out of Egypt Age these Arts flourish'd in the Reigns of the Pharaohs Abraham when he travell'd into Egypt Taught there Arithmetick and Astrology The Assyrians and Chaldeans employ'd themselves so much in Sculpture that it became common not only in the Temples but in Private-houses as Laban had Idols which his (e) Gen. Chap. 31. Jacob espoused Rachel in the Year 2253 and the eighty fifth Year of his Age. Daughter Rachel stole when Jacob and his Family parted from him After that Jacob went and lived in Egypt where his Posterity encreased and learned the Arts of Designing and (f) At this time began the fourth Age of the World at 2517 and ended at the building of Scolomon's Temple 2992. gave a Proof of the Progress they had made therein in the Wilderness by the ill Use they put them to For being tired with expectation of Moses's return down from the Mount they made the (g) Exod. Chap. 32. Golden Calf whereupon he forbid the making of Idols and Idolatry After this by the Order of God he chose (h) Exod. Chap. 37.
36. Chap. 15. was no less beautiful than that of Olympius for it was so rich and curiously made that between all the Joints of the Stones there were inlaid threds of Gold to separate them As for the Temple of Trallius (f) Vitruvius in his Book of Architecture He there tells us also that an Architect ought to be learned and skilled in designing built by the Architect Argellius it must needs have been of an extraordinary Beauty for he composed a whole Treatise of the proportions of the Ionic and Corinthian Orders according to which that Edifice was built and consecrated to Esculapius Argellius work'd with his own Hands the most important Parts of it which shews that he was an Engraver as well as Architect But of all the Temples of Grece and all its Colonies the most Famous was that of Diana of the (g) The Temple of Diana of the Ephesians was not built by the Amazons but by Craesus and Ephesius who gave his Name to the City which was a Colony of the Eleans It was in the Country of the Ionians who built there several Temples Pausanias in his Achaia P. 274. Ephesians which deserved to have been reckoned among the seven Wonders of the World The first Model of this Temple was made by the ingenious Archiphron after him Ctesiphon had the management of it and Dinocrates (h) It was one named Herostratus who set it on Fire to gain himself a Name Dinocrates rebuilt it it was he also who built Alexandria by order of Alexander He was a great Designer or Modelist for he proposed to that Prince to form the Mountain Athos into his Statue which should hold a City in one Hand and in the other a Vessel to empty the superfluous Waters into the Sea By means of his great Design he was brought into Alexander's presence and entred into his Service Vitruv. Proem Lib. 2. rebuilt it after it had been burn'd down This Structure was four hundred and twenty five Foot long two hundred and twenty Foot broad and had one hundred and twenty seven Columns each sixty Foot high They were the Gifts of so many Kings whereof thirty six were Engraven and one was done by the hand of the famous (i) Vigenerus on Philostratus P. 127. Scopas The Mausoleum which Artemisa caused to be built whereof this Engraver worked one of the four sides was no less admirable for the Architecture than for the Sculpture of it it contained four hundred and eleven Foot circuit and was Sixty Foot high up to the Platform whereon was set a Piramid sustain'd by thirty six Pillars which made that Superstructure equal in heigth to the rest and was made by four of the most ingenious Architects and Engravers of all Grece Architecture continued there in its full heigth not only during the time of the (k) Plutarch in the Life of Pericles tells us that he was one of the greatest Lovers of Sculpture and Architecture among the Grecians For this reason the Edifices which he caused to be built at Athens were very wonderful both for their beautiful and agreeable Air and for the diligence wherewith he caused them to be raised they were built with that care that in the time of Trajan wherein this Author writ they seemed as but newly done They were so very agreeable that they seemed every day more and more beautiful He who survey'd and took care of all the Buildings of Pericles was Fidias who was there Survey or General though there were several Master-builders and excellent Workmen present at each Work For the Temple of Pallas which was called Parthenon or the Virgins Temple and surnamed Hecâ—â—ompedon because it was a hundred Foot every ways was built by Ictinus and Gallicratidas The Chappel Eleusin wherein were performed the secret Ceremonies of their Mysteries was founded by Caerebus who set up the first Order of Pillars next the ground and join'd them by their Architraves but after his death Metagenes born at the Town of Xipetes made the Cornish and set up the Pillars of the second Order and Xenocles of Cholarg built the Cupolo which covered the Sanctuary Pausanias in his Attis speaks also of this Temple of Pallas P. 1. Grecian Republicks and of their Kings but also under the Reign of the Roman Emperors and particularly under that of Adrian who built several famous Edifices at Athens CHAP. XIII Of the Perfection of Architecture among the Romans in the time of the Republick AFTER Marcellus had (a) Marcellus besides the buildings he erected at Rome and Gatan in Sicily made a Park to Exercise the Youth in â— and in the Isle of Samothracia in the Temple of the Gods they called Cabires he set up Statues and Pictures brought from Siracuse Plutarch conquered Sicily Architecture grew more and more perfect at Rome and that which demonstrates this is the Theatre which bears his Name and which he built For it is one of the finest and most regular Pieces of Architecture the Antients have left us This Art came from Grece into Italy with Painting and the other Arts of Designing about four hundred and sixty Years before Marcellus which was in the time of Porsena King of Tuscany This Prince was so magnificent in building that he gave orders to make a Labyrinth (b) Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 13. in Imitation of the Grecians in the place he design'd for his Burial It was so curious that it was no ways inferiour to the Labyrinth of Crete or that of Lemnos Which makes it evident that Architecture flourishing in Toscany soon went to Rome after the Romans were Masters of that Province Insomuch that the Buildings which were erected in that City in the time of the Republick were nobler than those that were built under the Reign of the Kings For the great Men of that Republick endeavour'd to exceed one another in sumptuous and magnificent Buildings Marcellus did not content himself only to build his famous Theater but he built also a Temple to Vertue and another to Honour Marius was no less zealous to leave to Posterity marks of his Victories His two Trophies in the Capitol are witnesses of this as also the excellent Architecture of his triumphal Arch at Orange which is a glorious Memorandum of the Battel he obtain'd over the Cimbri But Marcus Scaurus's Son in Law was of all those illustrious Personages who bore a part in the Government of the Commonwealth the most noble in his Buildings for during the time he was an Edil he embellish'd Rome with surprizing Edifices His great Theater is an illustrious Mark of this It could contain eighty (c) Plin. Lib. 34. Chap. 15. thousand Persons There were three Scenes the one above the other with three hundred and sixty Columns Those of the first Rank were of Marble and thirty eight Foot high the second Rank were of Crystal and the third of gilded Wood. This illustrious Person made two other Theaters of Wood sustain'd on great Axle-trees
that after the Plays were done they might be turned round thereon and joyn'd into one Amphitheater to shew the Combats of the Gladiators of the Athletae or Wrestlers and of the wild Beasts There was nothing more glorious in Rome than the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus Tarquinius Superbus (d) Tarquin in building the Foundations of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus laid out forty thousand Marks of Silver Plutarch in the Life of Publicola first built it and after it had been burnt the first time it was rebuilt by Scylla and enrich'd with the Columns of the (e) Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 6. Temple of Jupiter (f) The Statue of Jupiter Capitolinus in the time of Tarquinius Priscus was made of Clay Plin. Lib. 35. Chap. 12. But under Trajan it was of Gold Martial Lib. 11. Olympius which he caused to be brought out of Grece and set up there in place of the Pilasters that were there before Afterwards having suffered damage by the Fire at the Vitellian Revolution Vespasian caused it to be mended But being a third time burnt it was built again by Domitian more Magnificent than ever it had been before For this Prince who excessively loved Building was so curious that he caused all the (g) The Bodies of these Columns were cut out at Athens of a very fine proportion but at Rome they were repolish'd which made them too slender and took away their Beauty Plutarch in the Life of Publicola Columns to be cut at Athens and he enrich'd this Temple to that degree that he caused it to be all over Gilded and laid out only for the gilding it twenty one (h) Twelve thousand Talents which the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus cost building Plutarch in the Life of Publicela and Nardini P. 307. whereas the Antients had not the secret of beating Gold so thin as our Leaf Gold their gildings were excessive dear This is the reflection of Nardini millions and six hundred thousand Livres The other Buildings made by several Consuls before the Emperors were all according to regular Architecture as the Amphitheater of (i) Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 15. This famous Amphitheater of Pompey was built after his Triumphs in Asia Five hundred Lions were killed there in five days time and armed Men engaged eighteen Elephants Demetrius his Freeman built this great Edifice and employ'd to that End the Mony he had gather'd up in following Pompey's Army H. R. de Xiphilin P. 14. This Amphitheater according to Pliny or according to others Theater was the first that was built at Rome Tacit. Lib. 14. Pompey which contained above forty thousand Men It was his Free man Demetrius who caused it to be built in imitation of that of Mitilene Pompey built near his Amphitheater the Temple of Victory and his Palace was an admirable piece of building as also the House of Lucullus and his Gardens Moreover in the Consulship of M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus it is certain that there was nothing finer at Rome than the Marble Buildings and Pieces of Painting that were done at the Charges of these great Men to adorn this City which at that time had in it an hundred Palaces that were equal in Beauty to that of Lepidus As (k) Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 15. Pliny relates CHAP. XIV Architecture continued at Rome under the Emperors in the same Excellence it had done in the time of the Commonwealth JULIUS CAESAR no lefs affected building than those great Men who went before him His Palace and the Circus (a) The great Circus built by Caesar the Dictator was three Stadia or Furlongs in length and one broad and encompassed with all its appurtenances four Acres which he augmented are sufficient Proofs of it Augustus also had the same Affection for Architecture as was evident in his Palace which by reason of it's Beauty was called the great and magnificent Palace of Augustus Plutarch in the Life of this Emperor takes notice that he adorn'd Rome with several publick Buildings rebuilding those that had been ruined leaving them the Names of their first Founders His most considerable Buildings were the Temple of Apollo in his Palace the Porticus and a Library which he filled with Greek and Latin books the Mausoleum and a Park for the People to walk in Moreover he further finished the Temple of Jupiter Olympius begun long since at Athens All the (b) The Romans were so much given to building that it was the Custom for the Great and Noble Families to shew their Pomp and Magnificence by publick Edifices in building Palaces Galleries and Temples for the ornament and use of the City This made Augustus approve of and praise Stasilus Taurus Philippus and Balbo who laid out all the Spoils they had got by the Wars with the Surplusage of their Rents which they did not spend in sumptuous Buildings thereby to transmit their Memories and that of their Families to Posterity Tacit. Lib. 3. P. 134. Favourites of this Prince were great Admirers of this Art among whom (c) Agrippa left by his Will to the Romans his Baths and the Grounds belonging to them for their Entertainment He also built a magnificent Porticus in the City of Neptune in memory of his Naval Victories H. R. de Coiffeteau The great Herod who was also one of Augustus's Courtiers had a great Affection for Building He built in Judea the City named Caesarea in Honour of Augustus with several fine Palaces and a Haven by the Sea which he made one of the most commodious of all the East It was this King who embellish'd and augmented the Temple of Jerusalem so much regretted by Titus when he saw it burning at the taking of that City H. R. de Coiffeteau Agrippa appear'd to be one of the greatest who by a greatness of Soul truly Noble undertook to adorn the Campus Martis and all the Places round about it He brought down thither the Water named Aqua Virginis to make Baths and adorn'd that Place with Gardens Porticus's and a great Hall (d) Or Diribtorio to pay the Troops in and several other Buildings whereof the most Famous that is still to be seen entire is the Temple of the Pantheon (e) Pantheon called at present the Round Church by reason of the round Figure of it's Plan. Some have writ as Dion Lib. 53. that Agrippa did not found this Temple but that he only embellish'd and perfected it by making the Frontispiece whereon his Name is Engraved which has something a better relish of Architecture in it than the rest of that Edifice Ammian Marcellinus says that this Temple with that of Jupiter Capitolinus and that of Peace as likewise that of Venus at Rome were the first of all for Beauty in these words Velut regionent Teretem speciosa Celsitudine fornicatam and Plin. Lib. 36. Chap. 15. exalts above any other these Buildings And in Chap. 5. says that Agrippa adorn'd the Pantheon with several Figures made by
(b) This Statue is placed in a Court of the Palace of Belvidere with those of Antinous of Apollo of Laocon and of Venus of Cleopatra of the Nile and of the Tiber and of Torce all ancient Figures One may note by this Figure that the Art declin'd for although it be of a just and true Proportion and the Head of it very fine yet there is not that nicety and perfection which appears in the Statue of Antinous and other Figures that preceeded it and are to be seen in the same Palace This Art of Engraving continued to decline in the following Reigns for it is certain that under Severus (c) This Emperor began to Reign in the Year of our Lord 195 from whose Reign to Constantine's is 115 Years it was very much fallen from the Beauty it had arrived to in the time of the first Caesars This is visible by the Triumphal Arch of that Emperor which is still to be seen at Rome for in this Work the Sculpture that represents the Historical part is much altered for it neither has the Designing nor any thing of the curious Workmanship of the Excellent Ancients CHAP. II. Architecture did not Decline till after Constantine although Painting and Sculpture did before IN this Decay of the Arts of Designing Architecture did not so soon decline as the other Arts For in the Arch of Severus it is in its perfect Beauty and equal to what was done in its most flourishing State On which account it was happier than Painting or Sculpture for it maintained its just Regularitie till the time of Constantine the Great The Triumphal Arch of that (a) The Triumphal Arch of Constantine was made 120 Years after that of Severus near the Year of our Lord 310. It is thought it was finished the Tenth Year of his Empire others say not till a little before he Died. Among the Eight fine Statues of the Slaves on the Cornish there are wanting the Heads which were privately carried to Florence by Laurentius de Medicis according to the report of Giouco Nardini page 407. These Figures of the Slaves and all the great Bass Relief which adorn'd this Arch were taken from the Arch of Trajan Emperor is a proof it The Corinthian Order is therein used in its Purity and Perfection on the contrary the Sculpture is very rude and gross This may be observed in the Bass Relief of the imbossing and of other small Figures below the Compartments which shews evidently that Sculpture and the Art of Designing in Human Figures were declined at Rome and reduced to the worst condition they had ever been in Architecture did not decline so soon as Painting and Sculpture because it was longer protected by the Princes by reason of its necessity and usefulness This is to be seen by Ammianus (b) In his 26th Book he takes notice that That which caused the greatest Admiration in Hormisda was the wonderful Fabricks of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus the Amphitheater the Pantheon the Temples of Peace and of Venus the Theatre of Pompey and the Forum of Trajan Marcellinus who writ the arrival of the Emperor Constantius (c) This Emperor taking Pleasure in surveying these famous Buildings told Hormisda That he could not undertake so great things as these but that he would at least endeavour to imitate the making such a Brazen Horse as that of Trajan which was in the middle of the Forum To which this Architect answer'd That he would first Build him a proportionably fine Stable to put that fine Horse in V. il biondo Italia Illustrata Nardini Rom. Antiq. p. 126. the Son of Constantine the Great He tells us that this Prince brought to Rome Hormisda a famous Persian Architect to shew him the famous Buildings of the Ancients both in that City and in all Italy But the truest reason of the continuance of true and well-order'd Architecture is that the study of it is founded on Measures and Proportions of Geometry and Arithmetick which makes the imitation of it much more easy than that of the Human Figure for besides the Measures and Proportions therein to be observed it is necessary to study the different Postures the lively Expressions the Passions and Motions of the Muscles and an infinity of other Parts which must be known to be Excellent in Painting and Engraving These fine Parts and Turns wherein the Excellence of the Arts consists began first of all to be lost in Designing which continued without that relish of Art down from the time of the latter Empire and of Constantine This is evident in his Triumphant Arch by his Medals his Statues in the Capitol and the Images of Christ Jesus (d) Vasari in his Preface to the Lives of the Painters and the Apostles which this Emperor caused to be made in Silver and set up in the Church of St. John of Latran which are of an ordinary and common Sculpture These Faults are also to be seen in the Mosaick Painting and other Pieces which this Prince caused to be made On the contrary it was observed that till that time the Beauty and Art of Architecture and its Ornaments remain'd as may be seen in the Capitels of Constantine's Arch in those of his Baptistery (e) Anastasius gives the Description of it in the Acts of St. Sylvester as is yet to be seen Nardini Rom. p. 102. and the Bases of their Columns where there are Foliages and other Flourishes very well Cut. It is for the same reason we have noted in Architecture that Sculpture also preserved its Perfection and Beauty longer than the other Arts of Designing because the aforesaid Sciences are of such use therein CHAP. III. The Empire removing to Constantinople and the setting up of the Christian Religion contributed to the Ruin of the Arts of Designing THAT which contributed to the destruction of the Art of Designing at Rome was the removal of Constantine to establish the Empire at Bizantium For he hired the best Artists in Rome and carried away an infinite number of (a) Among the Statues which Constantine carried from Rome to Bizantium were the Four Brazen Horses which are on the Frontispiece of St. Mark at Venice The Venetians after the taking of Constantinople carried them along with them Statues and every thing that was fine and rich to embellish his new City At the same time the Zeal for the Christian Religion very much contributed to the declension of Painting of Sculpture and of Architecture for the Christians to extirpate Idolatry seeing themselves Masters of the Empire overthrew and broke down the most considerable Statues of the Gentile Gods and demolished their finest (b) The Popes and particularly St. Gregory the Great spoiled the Gentile Temples and broke the Statues P. T. de Vasari p. 75. Temples This also caused the decay of Architecture for the Christians transported the Columns of Adrian's Mole to Build therewith the ancient Church of St. Peter at Rome They
Painting also which is to be seen on the Mosaick Work of this Church over the Vault is of no better relish or design which were made in the first Christian Churches at Rome are of no better Workmanship Insomuch that an ill and rude Way was introduced in all the Arts of Designing and thereby we may see that the Goths and the Lombards who reigned at Rome and in Italy did not carry this ill Way into their own Countries but continued it only here and hence it is that this rude Way of Painting and Sculpture and Architecture is called Gothick Moreover these Arts being in a state of declension among the Grecians their Works have been called the Antient Greek Way and not the Antient Way to distinguish the one from the other CHAP. VI. The Arts of Designing declined less in the Eastern Empire than in the Western THE Arts in their Fall did not decay at Constantinople so much as at Rome particularly in the third fourth and fifth Age By reason that Constantine the Great his Son Constantius Theodosius Arcadius and Justinian (a) The Church of St. Sophia was built by Constantine the Great repaired by his Son Constantius and afterwards by Theodofius the Younger The Emperor Justinian rebuilt it after it had been burnt with so great Magnificence that he exhausted all the Treasure of his Empire And he thought that that Temple exceeded Solomon's and during seventeen Years that he was rebuilding it he expended thereon thirty four Millions of Gold H. du Serail D. Baudiere were zealous to render the (b) Arcadius caused them to be built there Metropolis of their Empire as flourishing and magnificent as was Antient Rome To that end they built great Halls Aqueducts Porticus's Circus's Palaces enriched with Statues which they had among the Spoils of Greece and Asia and set up in the middle of open Places Obelisks of (c) In Theodosius's Square was the great Obelisk of Thebes Egypt and surprizing Columns all over Engraven They built also several other fine and great Churches which they adorn'd with Painting and Sculpture Hence it was that the Arts of Designing were maintain'd with Splendor in Greece For Constantine did not only set up rich Images in the Temples but at all the Gates of Constantinople and of his Palaces as at that which was called the Gate of the Brazen Porch The Emperor Constantius had no less esteem for fine Buildings and the Arts of Designing than his Father But Theodosius the Great who was a very zealous Protector of them has left us illustrious Marks of his Esteem for them in that famous Pillar which he caused to be erected in that City in imitation of that of Trajan And on this Pillar he caused to be Engraven in Bass Relief the History of his famous Actions In this magnificent Work of Theodosius is to be seen much of the antient relish of Engraving which shews that Sculpture was not so much declined in Greece as in Italy This is very evident in the designment of an illustrious Column which is still kept at Paris in the Royal Academy of Sculpture and Painting We may also conclude that Painting kept up in its Excellency longer at Constantinople than at Rome for these two Arts have always been inseparable both in their rise and fall The glorious Protection which this great Emperor gave them appears under the Head de Excusatione Artificum (d) Picturae Professores placuit ne sui capitis censione nec uxorum aut etiam liberorum nomine nec tributis esse munificos This Emperor frees them in another Place from the Charges of Lodging Archiatros nostri Palatii nec non Picturae Professores bospitali molestia quoad vivent liberari praecipimus wherein this Prince frees from all Charges and Tributes the Professors of Painting and their Families Hence it appears that this Art was exercised in Greece with Honour and it is very Credible that there were several fine Pieces whereof the Antient Fathers of the Eastern Church have given us the descriptions and elogy St. Gregory (e) In an Oration which he made at Constantinople mentioned in the second Nicene Council Ac. 4. are these Words Vidi saepius inscriptionis imaginem sine lacrymis transire non potui cum tam efficaciter ob oculos poneret Historiam of Nice assures us he could not refrain from Tears at the sight of a Picture wherein Abraham was represented about to Sacrifice his Son Without doubt this Holy Father would not at all have been touch'd with any Sense of Grief if there had not been an extraordinary and lively Beauty in this Piece In his Oration of St. Theodore (f) Pictor artis suae flores in imaginibus exprimens res Martyris praeclarè gestas Labores Cruciatus immanes Tyrannorum aspectus impetus ardentem illam flammas evomentem fornacem beatissimum Athletam Christique certamini praesidentis ac praemia dantis humanae formam imaginis Haec inquam vobis tanquam in libro loquente artificiosè describens Martyris certamina sapienter exposuit Novit enim etiam Pictura tacens in parietibus loqui utilitatis plurimum afferre he describes the greatness and magnificence of a Temple Consecrated to that Saint He takes notice that his Martyrdom was extraordinary well done and that the Characters of the Grief and Constancy of this Martyr of the Fierceness and Cruelty of the Tyrant and the Assistance of our blessed Lord to Crown this happy Saint were as legible in this Piece as in a Book Insomuch that these Pictures on the Walls were like a lively and useful Sermon Saint Basil (g) Nam says St. Basil magnifica in bellis gesta oratores sapientissimè Pictores pulcherrimè demonstrant Hi oratione illi Tabulis describentes atque ornantes amboque plures act fortitudinem imitandum inducentes Quae enim sermo Historiae per inductionem eadem Pictura tacens per imitationem ostendit St. Basil Hom. 20.11 Mart. confirms the same Thing and says that Painters do as much by their Figures as Orators by theirs and that both equally serve to persuade and raise the Contemplators to Vertue Hence we may conjecture that there was a great deal of Art employed in these Pieces without which they would not have afforded so much matter of Meditation to these two Fathers Hence it appears to me that we have just reason to assert that Painting did continue in its Excellency even till this Time at Constantinople and in the Oriental Churches This is also apparent for that there were some excellent Painters among the Greeks in the Year eight hundred For there was nothing more surprizing nor of greater usefulness than a Piece of the Day of Judgment done by Methodius which so sensibly affected Bogoris (h) Curopal Cedren Zonar related by M H. D. Iconocl This Methodius was a Monk and Painter Bogoris employed him to Paint a Palace he had built He order'd
him in general to draw Representations of Terror taking chiefly delight in Pictures that represented the Combats of Hunters with Boars Lyons Bears and Tygers Methodius finding nothing more Terrible than the Day of Judgment he painted it admirably well with all it 's most horrible and amazing Circumstances and above all the Reprobates on the Left Hand of the Judge and delivered over by his Sentence to Devils to be dragged into Hell Bogoris was so touched at the Representations of this Picture that he immediately resolved without further delay to turn Christian King of the Bulgarians that it converted that Prince and afterwards all his Subjects to Christianity Whence we may conculude That the Honour paid to the Images (i) Constantine the Great enrich'd Constantinople with several Pieces of Piety he was not only contented to have built the magnificent Church of St. Sophia and those of the holy Apostles but adorned the City with several Images and among the rest with that of our Saviour which was on the great Gate of the Imperial Palace which was called the brazen Gate because the Porch was covered with Plates of gilded Copper It was this Emperor who caused this Palace to be built of the Saints from the beginning of the Christian Religion has been a great means of the preservation of this Art For in all the Countries where this Worship has been abolish'd Painting and Sculpture did not only decline but were entirely destroy'd CHAP. VII Of the Antiquity of Images in the Christian Religion IMAGES in the Christian Religion begun from the time of Jesus Christ The first that was made was made by a Lady whereof there is made mention in St. Luke Chap. 8. Ver. 46. who drawing near our Saviour behind touched the Hem of his Garment and immediately her bloody (a) Luke Chap. 8. v. 46. Issue was cured This holy Woman as an acknowledgment of her Cure erected in the City of Caesarea a Statue of Jesus Christ It was of Brass and at his Feet was the Statue of this Woman in a supplicant Posture She was so acceptable to God that he gave a miraculous Vertue to a Plant that grew at the Foot of this Statue and when it was grown high enough to touch the Fringe of this Image it healed all Sorts of Diseases (b) Nicene Council 2d Act. 4. S. Greg. 2. Epist to Germ. Bishop of Constant Several Historians record this Truth particularly Eusebius of (c) Eusebius Lib. 6.7 Chap. 14. This History is also related by Antipater Bostrensis and also by Nicephorus Cassiedorus and Metaphrastus There is also a large Narrative of all these Antient Images in the Book of Subterranean Rome Caesarea who was an ocular Witness of the Truth of it and Sozomen reports that Julian the Apostate by reason of the hatred he bore to Jesus Christ caused this famous Statue to be taken away and ordered his own to be set up in its Place But he was immediately punished for this Sacriledge for Lightning falling thereon consumed it to Ashes There are other Authors who write that from the time of the Apostles there were also Images of the Painting of Jesus Christ (d) Historiae quoque says Damascene proditum est Cum Abagarus Edessae Rex eo nomine pictorem misisset ut Domini imaginem exprimeret neque id Pictor ob splendorem ex ipsius vultu manantem consequi potuisset Dominum ipsum divinae suae ac vivificae faciei pallium admovisse sicque illud ad Abagarum ut ipsius cupiditati satisfaceret mifisse S. Jo. Damasc de orthod Fid. 1.4 Chap. 17. Baron Ann. Tom. 1. an 31. and that our Blessed Saviour was the Inventor of them at the Solicitation of Abagarus King of Edessa who having heard of the Miracles of Christ Jesus sent a Painter to draw his Picture but when he could not lay down the Design of it by reason of the shining Rays that issued from his divine Looks our Lord to satisfy the Request of the King of Edessa covered his Face with a linnen Vail whereon he imprinted his divine Image and sent it to that Prince by vertue whereof he was healed of a Disease otherwise incurable In the time of the Apostles were also to be seen Images of the Blessed Virgin for St. Luke made several of them This is witnessed by St. Gregory the (e) St. Gregory the II. writing to Leo Isaurus relates the same History and that they came out of all the East to Worship this Image Cum Hyerosolymis ageret Christus Abagarus qui tum temporis dominabatur Rex erat urbis Edessenorum cum Christi miracula audivisset Epistolam scripsit ad Christum qui manus suae responsum sacram gloriosamque faciem suam ad eum misit Itaque ad illam non manufactam imaginem mitte ac vide Congregantur illic Orientis turbae orant c. Patriarch of Constantinople in what he writes to the Emperor Leo Isaurianus Theodorus (f) Theodorus in his Oration against Leo Isaurus Annal. T. 9. Annal. 814. and in the 2 d. Council of Nice the same relation is confirmed by Leo Lecturer of the Church at Constantinople who witnesseth the Honour that was paid in his Time to that Image These are his Words Leo Religosissimus Lector magnae egregiae Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae dixit ego indignus vester famulus cum descendissem cum regiis Apocrisariis in Syriam Edessem petivi venerandam imaginem non factam hominum manu adorari honorari à populo vidi c. farther shews us that the Emperess Eudoxia sent one of these Images painted by St. Luke to (g) Lucas vero qui sacrum composuit Evangelium cum Domini pinxisset imaginem pulcherrimam pluris faciendam posteris reliquit St. Theodor. orat in Leo. Arm. Theod. Lect. Collet L. 1. Pulcheria Augusta there is also one to be seen at this Day at Rome made by the same Saint which is carefully kept by the Religious of Saint Sylvester Although the History of the Portrait of Christ Jesus sent to Abagarus and that of the Portrait of the holy Virgin painted by St. Luke are scrupled and contested about by some notwithstanding I thought fit to relate them here to shew the Antiquity of Images after the Example of the second Nicene Council Those of the Apostles (h) St. Gregory II. in his Epistle to Leo Isaurus says of the first Christians who Painted our Saviour Qui Dominum cum viderent prout viderant venientes Hierosolymam spectandum ipsum proponentes depinxerunt Cum Stephanum Proto-Martyrem vidissent prout viderant spectandum ipsum proponentes depinxerunt Et uno verbo dicam cum facies Martyrum qui sanguinem pro Christo fuderunt vidissent depinxerunt Confessors and Martyrs have been also Painted and Engraven in the Infancy of the Church The same Saint Gregory tells us the same Thing as Pope Adrian I. relates in what he writ
of Ghiberti that that Model was the finest of all the Essays proposed Whereby we may see that there was a very good Understanding between these famous Restorers of Sculpture and that they did Justice one to another Donatello gain'd a great deal of Honour to Sculpture by the excellent (c) Donato called Donatello was born at Florence in the Year 1403 he was much addicted to the Art of Designing he was not only an excellent Sculptor but also practised Plaistery and was very learned in Perspective and Architecture he made several Pieces and Figures in Marble at Florence and other Cities he lived to be above eighty Years old and was very liberal towards his Pupils insomuch that he always kept a Bag of Mony fastned to his Scaffold whereon he taught for every one of them to take what he had occasion for One of his best Pupils was Bertoldo and Michellozzo-Michellozzi who was also an excellent Architect and much in Favour with the Count de Medicis A little before Donatello died at Florence Jacopo dalla Quercia began to leave the old Way and to practise the True His chief Disciples were Matteo Lucchese and Niccolo Bolognese At the same time lived also Luca della Robbia a Plorentine Sculptor of good Reputation Works which are to be seen of his at Florence He gave to this Art the Perfection and fine Air of the Antients above any one who did preceed him This is evident by his excellent Statue of St. George the Beauty whereof is described at large by Francis Bochi Ser-Bruneleschi Friend of Donatello was an excellent Goldsmith Sculptor and Architect and revived the true and antient Way by the indefatigable Care he took by going to Rome to discover the true Rules of the antient Architecture which yet adorn that City and stir up the Admiration of the Intelligent beholders This ingenious Man particularly there studied the admirable Structure of the Pantheon whence he received a great deal of light for building the Great Church of St. Mary del Fiore at Florence which all the Designers and Architects were almost in despair of ever finishing which notwithstanding Braneleschi happily brought to Perfection by means of his Study and Pains The ARTS were not yet arrived to so high a degree of Perfection at Rome as at Florence For Pope Eugenius the IVth in the Year 1431 ordered the making of the Brazen Gates of the Church of St. Peter in imitation of those of St. John at Florence and not finding Men capable at Rome he sent to search them at (d) Simon Brother of Donatello and Antony Filaret were chosen at Florence to make the Brazen Gates of St. Peter at Rome Florence but those who had that Order did not follow it in finding the most Capable and Ingenious for those Gates of St. Peter are a great deal less Curious than those of the Baptisterium of St. John built by the Illustrious Ghiberti There appeared afterwards at Florence Andrew Verrocchio who by means of his vast Study became of a Goldsmith an excellent Sculptor and Engraver not only in Brass but also in Marble He was also a good Architect and when he was esteem'd of the Rank of the first Sculptors he was preferred to Donatello and to Ghiberti in making St. Thomas feeling the Side of our Saviour which he made of Brass for the Oratory of St. Michael But as Verrocchio studied every Thing belonging to Designing he would also needs practise Painting with the same Ardor as Sculpture for which reason he left off working at that and set himself to Painting and brought up therein several Excellent Pupils among the rest Peter Perdugino and Leonardo da Vinci This last from his Youth began to surpass his Master Verrocchio seeing this left off his Pencil and betook himself again to Sculpture his last Piece was that Famous Figure in Brass on Horse-back of Bartholomew Cogleone da Bergamuos which is to be seen in Venice in the Square of St. John and St. Paul Florence was moreover the Country of Dominick Ghirlandaio whom Nature made a Painter for those who had the Education of him bred him a Goldsmith but he soon left it to follow Painting Dominick working at the Goldsmith's Trade apply'd himself continually in the Shop to drawing those who passed by and afterwards quitted that Profession and gave himself wholly up to Painting At last Pope Sixtus the IVth sent for him to do some Pieces in his Chappel of the Vatican He was accustomed to say that Designing was the true Painting and that Mosaick was the most lasting in which he particularly excelled This Painter brought up several Ingenious Disciples of the number of which was the Great Michael Angelo Buonaruoti who deserves to be esteemed among the best Leon Battista Alberti (e) Leon Battista Alberti was born at Florence of the Noble Family of the Alberti's he writ in Latin a Treatise of Architecture divided into twelve Books printed in 1481. It was Translated into Italian by Cosimo Bartoli he has also writ Books of Painting and Sculpture Translated by Monsieur Du Fresne into the same Language This Author did not stop at these Arts he also writ of several other Sciences he was the first who ever attempted to reduce Italian Verses to the Measures of the Latin as is to be seen in his Epistle Questa pur estrema miserabile Pistola Ate che spregi miseramente mando noi We have not the Year wherein he died but it was at Florence and he was buried at the Church of St. Crosse That of St. Francis at Rimini whereof he made the Design was begun in the Year 1447 and in 1472 the Duke of Mantua sent for him to come to him whence we may judge of the â—â—me when he flourish'd at the same time very much improved the Arts of Designing For he was very well versed in Arithmetick Geometry and other Learning which made him Ingenious in all the Arts. This may be seen by the excellent Treatises of Painting Sculpture and Architecture which he left behind him He was the First of the Moderns who writ of them and there are some Pieces of Architecture to be seen of his of very good Method and Order at Florence at Rimini and at Mantua Thus the Arts of Designing continued to revive in Tuscany both in Theory and Practice by the Protection which they there found which produced a great number of good (f) Among the Excellent Masters in Painting of this time may be reckoned Paul Uccello a Florentine-Painter because he appli'd himself to find out the Rules of Perspective which no body before him had done But of all the Painters of that time the most Excellent was Masaccio of St. John di Valdarno although he died in the Year 1443. at 26 Years old his principal Piece was the Chappel of Brancacci in the Church of the Carmelites at Florence for that Work has been very much studied by all the famous Designers who followed after him and
Ingenious Disciples one whereof was the Famous Georgeone da Castel-Franco The Reputation of the two Brothers Bellini encreasing at Venice daily by the great number of Pictures which they made went even to Constantinople for the Republick made a Present of their Works to Mahomet the II. who was so charmed therewith that he sent for the Painters who had done them The Senate immediately sent Gentil Bellin who at his Arrival at Constantinople presented that Emperor with one of his Pictures who so much admired it that he thought it impossible for Man to Express any thing so much to the Life This Great Prince not being able to keep Gentil any longer by reason of his Religion which forbids Pictures took his leave of this Famous Painter heaping Honours upon him as on a Person of the highest Reputation offering him to grant him any thing he would demand of him But Bellin only desired a Letter of him to signify to the Republick the Satisfaction he had received in him which this Sultan readily and joyfully consented to and Bellin (e) John Bellin in his old Age only drew Portraits and introduc'd the Custom among the Nobles of Venice to have their Pictures drawn them and their Families a Custom very beneficial to the Painters at his return gave it the Senate who assigned him a Pension during Life CHAP. VIII The School of Florence became very Famous by the great number of Excellent Men it produced As Painting became more perfect at Venice by those Ingenious Painters I have mentioned so the Great (a) One of the greatest Genius's in Painting of the Age 1400. was Dominick Ghirlandaio of whom we have made mention in the Fourth Chapter which is evident by the great number of his Excellent Works Nature gave him a very great Inclination for Painting which was the reason he left off from his Youth following the Trade of a Goldsmith wherein his Father had Educated him he was the first who invented that Dress which the Florentine-Maids wear on their Heads called Ghirlande whence he was named Dominick Ghirlandaio As he succeeded in the true Methods of Painting he imitated in his Colours the Ornaments of Gold which till that time were done with real Gold The Reputation of Dominick got to Rome where Pope Sixtus the Fourth sent for him to Paint in his Chappel at his Return to Florence he painted the Chappel of Ricci which was one of the chief Pieces he was used to say that Designing was true Painting and that Mosaick was the most durable he dy'd at 44 Years of Age in the Year 1493. His Disciples were David and Benedict Chirlandaio Sebastian Maimardi Michael-Angelo Buonarotti and several other Ingenious Florentine-Masters At the same time Benedict da Maiano distinguished himself at Florence in Sculpture and Architecture as did also Anthony and Peter Pollaivoli Florentine Painters and Sculptors they dy'd at Rome whither Pope Innocent the Successor of Sixtus the Fourth caused them to come they were very Curious and the first who studied Anatomy whereby they made their Works the more perfect There appeared also at Florence about this time Philip Lippia Painter who first taught to Paint varieties of Cloathing in his Figures and therein imitated the Ancients he had a great Genius in Ornaments and Grotesque he wrought also in Plaister and died at 45 Years of Age. Moreover Luke Signorelli of Cortone got Reputation by his Painting in that City and in Arezzo he had a fertil Invention and a great deal of Grace in Composing his Histories and designed very well Naked-Figures Genius's in that Art continued daily to bring about the Re-establishment of the Arts of Designing Among the rest the Illustrious Leonard da Vinci became a great Master therein for from his Birth he had all the Advantages of Nature which procured him an easy Entrance into all the Arts that depend on Designing and Mathematicks Musick and Poetry wherein he was Excellent Leonard learn'd of Andrew Verrocchio Painting and Sculpture but in a short time surpassed his Master in Painting he studied Perspective and the Arts that depend thereon and penetrated into the most hidden Secrets of Anatomy (b) Leonard da Vinci Michael Angelo and all the best Designers studied Anatomy Da Vinci carefully recommends that Study in his Treatise of Painting as does also Lomazzo in his Charles Alphonsus of Fresnoy and D. P. his Commentator have also shewed the necessity of Myology to become Excellent in Designing The Author of the Discourses on the Lives and the Works of the most Excellent Painters is also of this Sentiment but in treating of this Science he explains himself in very confused terms for he mistakes the Tendons for the Nerves for in writing of the Statue of Laocoon in a Conference in the Academy he expresses himself thus saying The Nerves and Muscles form the chief Appearances of that Statue And in his Book of Discourses speaking of the Muscles he teaches in Page 315. of P. T. That there must be had a special regard to the Muscles and Nerves And in Page 556. he says That their Motions depend on the Fabrick of the Bones and Situation of the Muscles and Tendons which sustain them and cause their Action In another place he says As the Muscles and Nerves are more supple and pliant which causes an Alteration in the Nerves c. It will not be amiss to Explain this for the sake of young Beginners To do this you are to consider Three Parts in each Muscle the Head the Belly and the Tail which are only their Beginning Middle and End this end of the Muscle is that which is called the Tendon resembling Cords which the Author of the Discourses calls Nerves at the Feet of Laocoon where it is evident that they are the Tendons of the long and short Entensors of the Fingers which end at the Articulations of each of them being there very visible by reason of the dolorous Motions which Agesander the Sculptor shews this Figure to have made at the biting of several Serpents As to what this Author says That the Tendons sustain the Muscles and cause them to Act this is to speak without any understanding in Anatomy or Design he might have said That the Tendons end the Muscles but not that they cause their Motion For the Animal Spirits give Motion to the Muscles which are communicated to them by the Nerves which are their Vehicle but these Nerves are diffused and lose themselves among the Membranes and Flesh by small Ramuli or Branches which end like Hairs so that they cannot be seen without the Skin on the contrary they are the Tendons that are there seen which indeed the Ancient Language calls Nerves when Anatomy was not arrived to that Perfection as now-a-days This appears in an old Translation of the Bible Gen. 32.25 where the Angel after having wrestled all Night with Jacob not being able to overcome him touched him on the Nerve of the Thigh and immediately it dry'd and
Desire to see the Works of Raphael whom he only knew by Fame and by the great Reputation he had gotten was glad of this Occasion but he had no sooner taken the Picture out of its Case but he was so surprized at its Excellence and thereupon conceived such a Melancholy by finding himself so much Inferiour to Raphael that he fell Sick and in a few days dyed Vasari Vita de Pitt c. Francis Francia was born in the Year 1450 he was brought up a Goldsmith wherein he excell'd in working in Enamel and graving of Coins for Money his Medals equall'd those of Caradosse as is to be seen by those of Pope Julius the IId of the Seignior Benti-Voglio and by all the Coins of the Money of Bologna which he cut as long as he lived He took up Painting after he was acquainted with Andrew Mantegna he was the first Painter of Bologna and excelled all the Bolognians that went before him his School was so Famous that by relation of Malvasia he had brought up two hundred Disciples one of the best who learned of Francia was Laurence Costa whereof we have spoken in the VIIth Chap. Malvasia Vite de' Pitt This Author denies what Vasari relates of the Death of Francia because this Painter had seen other Pictures of Raphael before he received that of St. Cecilia and had testified to Raphael in Letters that passed between them the Esteem he had for him as the Painter of Painters which he takes notice of in these Words che tu solo il pittor sei de' pittori Malvasia moreover complains of Vasari That he would not own that there were Painters at Bologna at least as soon as at Florence for he says that in the Year 1115 to 1140 there appear'd at Bologna Guido Ventura and Orson who embellish'd with Pictures the Churches of La Madonna de Lambertazzi of St. Estienne and several others of that City Afterwards appeared Marin the Goldsmith and Engraver and Franco de Bologna Painter contemporary of Giotto who notwithstanding follow'd the Gothick Way in the mean time they were very much praised by Dante Franco work'd for Pope Benedict the IXth in the Vatican It was he who set up the first School of Painting at Bologna and brought up several Pupils and among the rest Simon Jacob de Avanzi and Vitale who surpassed him This last flourished about the Year 1345 and the others in 1370. At first Simon only painted Crucifix's whence he got the Name of Simon of the Crucifix and as for Jacob he only drew Pictures of the Virgin Their Works have been praised by Michael Angelo and the Characci At the same time appeared Galeazzo of Ferrara and Christosano da Modena these Painters wrought in the Church called La Case di Mezzo without the Gate Mammola And all their Works appear'd in the Year 1400. Jacob moreover work'd with Aldigieri de Levio a Famous Painter Lippo Dalmasio was Disciple of Vitale and taught Painting to M. Galante the Bolognians This Lippo as Malvasia pretends painted in Oyl From the Year 1400. Painting grew more and more to Perfection at Bologna by Mattheo one of his most famous Pieces was at St. Francis which he painted in Oyl in 1443 under the little Gate of the Fishery Afterwards Severus of Bologna wrought in 1460. James Ripenda painted several Pieces at Rome and Designed the whole Trajan Column there were at that time several very good Bolognian Painters whereof Marco Zoppo was One his Works appear'd about the End of the Age 1400 he was Disciple of Squarcione But his greatest Glory was to have brought up Francis Francia who revived Painting at Bologna from the low Estate whereunto it was fallen and introduced the true Method and Gusto of Designing and Painting as we have shewn and in France are illustrious Proofs of it and give Subject both for our Admiration and Study This rare Person had a very happy Genius and from his Infancy a great Inclination for Painting He learn'd the Principles from his Father in the City of Urbin which was his Native Country But his Father seeing that from his Youth he exceeded him put him to Peter Perugino one of the most renowned Painters of Florence Whom Raphael in a short time so well imitated that oftentimes the Work of this Disciple surpassed that of his Master After Raphael had left Perugino he travelled to Siena where he heard of the great Esteem that was made at Florence of a Piece whereon was designed a Battel which the Famous Leonard da Vinci made for the Council Hall He understood also that there was another Piece of Designing very much admired which Michael Angelo had done in the same Hall where Leonard and Michael Angelo had painted each one half This obliged Raphael to leave his Work to go to Florence to see these two Famous Pieces Which he had no sooner seen but he bethought himself that he must study hard to acquire those Excellences in Designing wherein he then acknowledged himself inferiour to those two Ingenious Painters Thus he studied very hard to acquire the true Idea of those fine Airs of the Head that roundness force and perfection of the Works of Leonard he also observed the Beautiful outlines of the naked Figures in the Designs of Michael Angelo and that that Beauty and Correctness proceeded from the true Proportion and natural Situation of the Muscles and the just observation of their Motions Raphael that he might acquire this Knowledge set himself diligently to study Anatomy and his whole Design was to quit the manner of his Master Peter Perugino wherein he happily succeeded For it was generally more petite a dryer and a harder manner than that of Leonardo or Michael Angelo This Method of Perugino had not that roundness nor true Gusto as the Pieces of Frà Bartholomew (b) Bartholomew according to the Language of that Country called Baccio began to learn Painting under Benedict de Maiano and afterwards under Cosimo Rosselli and at last he set himself to Study the Works and Method of Leonard da Vinci He was perswaded by the Famous Jerom Savonarola a Dominican to quit Temporal Affairs and to burn all his Works and Designs among which were several naked Figures and by a Vow became one of that Religious Order in the Convent of St. Mark at Florence whence he was since named Frà Bartholomew of St. Mark he dyed at the Age of 40 Years in 1517 his Disciples were Cechino del Frate Benedictus Ciamfanini Gabriel Rustici and Frà Paolo Pistolese of St. Mark one of the Imitators of Leomard Bartholomew by help of his Studies and the great Esteem he had for the Works of that Excellent Man arrived to that degree of Perfection in true Designing that he was one of the most Excellent Painters of his Time Several Pictures which are at Florence and at Lucca in the Churches of St. Martin and St. Romanus are illustrious Proofs it They appear to this Day as
ever since he wore the Habit of the Dominicans and though his first Talents were Learning and Theology he was notwithstanding an excellent Architect and learned in Perspective for from his Youth he exercised himself in the true ancient way of Architecture by his Studies after the Theaters Amphitheaters Triumphal-Arches and other Relicks of Ancient Buildings which make Verona famous When Joconde set himself to practise this Art he was immediately very much favoured by Maximilian who gave him Orders to rebuild at Verona the Bridge which is called the Stone-Bridge and which is very considerable by reason of the Rapidity of the River and its moving Bottom Joconde from his Youth had studied the Antiquities at Rome and even the very Inscriptions whereof he composed a very fine Book which was presented to the old Duke Laurence de Medicis He also made Notes on Caesar's Commentaries and design'd the Description of the Bridge which that Emperor made over the Rhine After this Joconde was sent for from Rome by Lewis the Twelfth for whom he raised several Buildings the most famous were the Bridges of Notre Dame at Paris which this Prince order'd him to make on the Building whereof Sannazar his Friend made this Epigram Jocundus geminum imposuit tibi Sequana Pontem Hunc tu jure potes dicere Pontificem But Joconde at his return to Rome by the Death of Bramante was made one of the Surveyors of the Fabrick of St. Peter with Raphael d'Urbin and Anthony Sangallo Joconde also made at Venice some surprizing Works for he found out the Invention of turning away part of the Waters of the Brinte that they should not fill the Common Shores of that City with Sand and Earth which that River brought down along with it and by these means he preserv'd Venice from the Accidents which threatned it Budaeus says in Honour of this Great Man that he return'd Thanks to God that he had so good a Master in Architecture as Joconde who exceeded Vitruvius Michael San Michel studied the Principles of Architecture at Verona under his Father and Uncle who were very good Architects but at Sixteen Years of Age he went to Rome and there measured the fine Ancient Buildings round about it and thereby became skilled in every part of Architecture insomuch that Pope Clement VIIth gave him a Pension to go with Sangallo and Fortify the Frontiers of the Ecclesiastick State particularly Parma and Placentia Afterwards he returned to Verona whose fine Gates he made and the Republick employ'd him in the Principal Buildings of the State in the Levant and on the Terra Firma among which may be reckoned the Fortress of Lido Moreover John Maria Falconetti who was also of Verona was a very famous Architect He learnt Painting of his Father but because he did not get much by it he set himself to Study the Antiquities of the City after which he went to Rome and Naples to Survey the Buildings of the Ancients where he employ'd himself for the space of twelve Years and omitted nothing in his Designs neither there nor in the Parts round about But as he had not sufficient Means to continue his Studies long he employ'd himself some Days in the Week in Painting thereby to supply his Necessities Afterwards returning to Verona and finding there no opportunity of employing himself in Architecture he found himself obliged to take up Painting again but through good luck he found in that City Signior Cornaro who was a great lover of Architecture who caused him to come to his House where he dwelt twenty one Years he employ'd himself all this while in Working and exercising that Art which Falconetti had so much studied Thus these three Illustrious Architects of Verona introduced the true Gusto and Way of Building into the Venetian State This true and regular Way of Building was continued there and even augmented by James Sansovino a Florentine who embellish'd Venice with the greatest and most regular Buildings that are there to be seen The famous Sansovino began from his Youth to study Designing and Sculpture at Florence which he very successfully practised he entertain'd a great Respect for Andrew del Sarto an Excellent Painter After this he went to Rome where he got acquainted with Raphael and Bramante who did him Justice in their Recommendations of his Skill to Leo the Tenth The French and the Spaniards and the Germans had at that time great Inclinations to build themselves National Churches at Rome The Florentines also obtain'd the same favour from the Pope The Florentines caused several Models to be made by Raphael Baldassare Anthony Sangallo and Sansovino It was the Design of this last that they chose And Sansovino began to build the Church of St. John for the Florentines according to the Model he had made of it But this building was discontiuned during the Popedom of Adrian the VIth a Fleming by his Countrey who had no affection nor gust for the Arts of Designing Insomuch that if he had reigned long these Arts would have infallibly sunk into their old obscurity at least at Rome Clement the VIIth succeeded him and prevented this misfortune for he set to Work all the Ingenious in these Arts And James Sansovino continued by these means the Fabrick of the Church of the Florentines till the Year 1527 wherein the Army of Charles the Vth besieged Rome which chased away from that City a great Number of excellent Men. Sansovino (a) James Sansovino died at Venice at the Age of 78 Years he brought up several Disciples at Florence and at Venice who were Nicholas called il Tribolo who wrought in the Abby of Mount Cassin Jerom de Ferrara who wrought much at Loretta and Venice James Colonna learn'd also Sculpture of Sansovino and died at Bologna Titian da Padua Peter de Salo James Alexander Vittoria of Trente Thomas de Lugan James Bressan Bartholomew Amannatti and Danese Catanee who were all good Sculptors and Architects retired to Venice to go thence to France into the Service of Francis the I st who very much desired him But being arrived at Venice with a design to get something there because he had lost all his Goods at the pillaging of Rome his Merit was represented to the Doge Gritti and that he could prevent the Ruine which threatned the Dome of St. Mark Immediately by the Order of the Doge Sansovino undertook it and by the help of some pieces of Timber and Iron-bands which he invented he set this great Work out of danger This gain'd him so much Reputation that the Super-intendency of the Works of the Dukedom which became vacant was given him The first Work which he made for the Republick was Zecca which is the Chamber for the Money or Treasury with a great deal of beauty and advantage Afterwards he was employ'd about the Fortifications of the Venetian State Afterwards he built the new Architecture that embellishes the Palace of St. Mark He made also several Works of
apply'd himself more to Architecture than Painting and Sculpture because after the death of Antony Sangallo Architect the Pope preferr'd Michael Angelo to any other and made him chief Architect of the Fabrick of St. Peter and of the Apostolick Chamber although he would have excused himself from it Having accepted this Charge he went to St. Peter's to see the Model of Sangallo to finish what remain'd to be built of that great Church and after having examined it he publickly declared that that Architect had made the Model of it without any Art because without side he had made too many Pillars one upon another and unncessary Spires and too many small Branchings and little Members which are quite contrary to good Architecture lastly that this Model was of a Gusto rather Barbarous than Ancient Besides this he shew'd that the execution or performance of it would cost a Million more than one that he would make Michael Angelo caused another Model to be made in fifteen days time which cost only five hundred Crowns whereas that of Sangallo cost four thousand and several Years work so that at last this great Church was finished according to the Design of Michael Angelo in the beauty we see it now excepting the Front which is not his nor so well done as the Architecture of the outermost Tower and the back Part of that Church While Michael Angelo carried on this Building he also made several others which make part of the beauty of Rome Such as the Palace of Farnese and the Capitol which excite the Admiration both of Architects and other Ingenious Men. The fine Pieces of (a) Michael Angelo died at Rome the 17th February 1564 He was almost ninety Years of Age. This great Man besides the Affection of seven Popes whom he served gained a very great Reputation with Solyman Emperor of the Turks with Francis the 1st Charles the Vth the Republick of Venice and all the Princes of Italy particularly with the great Duke of Tuscany who reigned at the same time this illustrious Designer died For when his Body was in the Church of Sancto Apostolo and the Pope was about to set up a fine Sepulcher for him This great Duke caused his Body to be privately fetch'd away to bury it in his Capital City and since he was not so happy as to have him alive he was resolved to have him dead And performed his Funeral obsequies with all imaginable Pomp and Splendor This Pomp was celebrated in the Church of St. Cross at Florence attended by all the Gentlemen of the Academy of Design who on that occasion gave sufficient Testimony of the Esteem they had for this their Master by the magnificent Representation which the Italians call Catafalco and adorning the whole Church with Painting and Sculpture and Lights A Panegyrick was there pronounced over him by Messr Benedetto Varchi and on the Representation was to be read this EPITAPH Collegium Pictorum Statuariorum Architectorum auspicio opeque sibi prompta Cosmi Ducis auctoris suorum commodorum suspiciens singularem virtutem Michaëlis Angeli Bonarotae intelligensque quanto sibi auxilio semper fuerint praeclara ipsius opera studuit se gratum erga illum ostendere summum omnium qui unquam fuerint P. S. A. ideóque monumentum hoc suis manibus extructum magno animi ardore ipsius memoriae dedicavit After these sumptuous Obsequies the Great Duke order'd an honourable Place in this Church to build the Tomb of Michael Angelo according to the Design of George Vasari It is inrich'd with three great Marble Figures representing Painting Sculpture and Architecture which were made by Baptista Lorenzi and Giovanni dell'opera and Valerio Cioli all three ingenious Florentine Sculptors Michael Angelo in Painting and Sculpture and Architecture and his other good Qualities had gain'd him such an Esteem with the Popes whom he had the Honour to serve that Julius the IIId used to make him sit by him and talk with him concerning the Arts of Designing And oftentimes this Pope would take his Part against those who criticiz'd upon him By all these Honours which Michael Angelo received and the universal Applause that was given to all his Works we may conclude that it was this famous Designer who in that Age advanced Sculpture and Architecture with the true Way of Designing to the highest degree of Perfection that ever they arrived to at Rome and Florence CHAP. XVI Several Disciples of Michael Angelo and Raphael continued the Excellency of Painting and Architecture at Rome IN the time of Michael Angelo there was at Rome Sebastian (a) Sebastian the Venetian was surnamed Frate del Piombo which is a Charge of the Apostolick Chamber which he obtain'd of the Pope on condition to pay a Pension to John d'Udine who had been assistant to him in obtaining that Office This afforded means to Sebastian to live without his Profession and made him almost leave off Painting He had a secret Composition which he made of Lime mixed with Mastick and Grecian Pitch melted down together and laying that mixture on the Walls mixed with slack Lime that had been heated red hot in the Fire prevents Painting in Oyl on the Walls from growing Black and being spoiled by the Wet He died in 1547. Vasari V. di Fra. S. Veni the Venetian afterwards call'd Frate del Piombo He had learnt of John Bellin at Venice the Principles of Painting and of Georgeone his second Master the true Way of Colouring This fine Way of Colouring gain'd him the Friendship of Michael Angelo when Sebastian came to Rome Michael Angelo thought that this his grand Manner of Designing join'd with that of Colouring would excel the Pieces of Raphael d'Urbin but it did not succeed But the favour and protection which Sebastian received from Michael Angelo made him Prefer him to Baptista Franco to Perin del Vago to Baldassar Perruzzi and other Disciples of Raphael But these ingenious Disciples tho' they did not equal him yet they had Qualities which made them always esteemed and they very much contributed to the perfection of the Arts of Designing as did also John d'Udine who had been one of them who Painted all the Animals the Flowers and Fruits which are in the Works of Raphael This John had also a great Genius at inventing those sorts of Ornaments which are called Grotesque This is to be seen by those he painted in the Rooms in the Vatican and by the excellent Designs for Tapistry which he made of that sort of Work although it is agreed that it might have been done after the ancient Plaster as some was which was found about that time in the Rooms in the Gardens of Titus and those which were still remaining in the Temple of Peace and in the City Adriana and other ancient Buildings Notwithstanding all the Designs which were made by John d'Udine (b) John d'Udine died at Rome in 1564 and was buried in the round Church near Raphael
d'Urbin his Master To the same City of Udine and that of Frioul we are obliged for a great Number of good Painters as Pellegrino and John Martin d'Udine who were Disciples of John Bellin Pellegrino was the most Ingenious and very much beloved by the Dukes of Ferrara he brought up several Disciples But the most Famous of the Painters of this Province was John Antony Licinio born at Pordenone a Village distant from Udina twenty five Miles he had no other instructor than Nature which he imitated from his Youth he very much practised Painting in Fresco in the neighbouring Villages Afterwards he went to Udina where he painted several Pieces in Oyl and in Fresco as as also at Venice and Genoua He was commonly called Pordenone The way of Georgeone pleased him better than any other He died in 1540 aged fifty six Years Ridolfi V. de Pitt Veneti are so fine that it is questioned whether those of the Ancients were more Excellent for this John was not only an excellent Painter but also a very ingenious Sculptor and worker in Plaister as is apparent in the small Figures of that sort of work which he has mixed among the Ornaments of the Apartments of the Vatican insomuch that he deserves to be esteemed as the Reviver of Stucco-Work for the perfection to which he carri'd it For it was he who by a through examination of the Materials whereof the ancient Plaster was composed found that it was made of Lime mixed with Powder of Marble to give it duration and make it receive a fine Polish and Shining as Plaster will have when it is worked with care John Francis surnamed Il Fattore of Florence was a Disciple of Raphael with Julio Romano and may be justly considered as a Disciple of so worthy a Master for after the death of that famous Painter they jointly finished he and Julio the great Hall of the Vatican where they painted the Histories of Constantine Perrin (c) Perrin del Vago was also buried in the round Church in 1547 at the Age of forty seven the Principal Disciples of Perrin were Jerom Siciolante de Sermonette and Marcellus Mantuanus del Vago a Florentine and his Brother-in-Law were also Disciples of Raphael for Perrin being at Rome where he then studied Antiquities John d'Udine proposed to Raphael to work in Plaster and on Painting the Rooms of the Vatican which were then doing and he painted several of them with Histories out of the Old Testament which were very well done He afterwards made at Rome after the death of Raphael some fine Pieces in Fresco at the Church of the Trinity on the Hill at St. Marcellus and several other Churches But the most considerable Piece of Perrin del Vago was the Palace which Prince Doria caused him to build at Genoua after a Model of this famous Painter's wherein he also did the Painting and the Plaster work which still render that Building the finest and most considerable in all that City CHAP. XVII At Florence the true Way of Sculpture and Painting was continued by some ingenious Men. BACCIO (a) Baccio was born in 1487 and died at seventy two Years of Age He is accused of having taken to pieces the fine Paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo which they had done in the Council Hall whither all the Disigners of Florence went afterwards to Study and that out of Envy to Michael Angelo Among the rest who studied this fine Piece of Michael Angelo Sebastian called Aristotle of St. Gal drew it in little and kept it very carefully especially since the Original was ruined Afterwards in 1540 at the perswasion of Vasari his Friend he painted it in Oyl in two Colours only Giovo sent this Picture into France to King Francis Bandinelli although he died before Michael Angelo may notwithstanding be accounted one who imitated his Manner For after he had learn'd the Trade of a Goldsmith at Florence he very eagerly studied Designing and especially that famous Piece of Michael Angelo which was in the Council Hall so that he had the Advantage of acquiring a correct Way of Designing to which he joined the Study of Anatomy Baccio gave proof of his Skill by his Works and by some Stamps he caused to be engraved by Augustin Venetianus He also practised Sculpture with a great deal of Applause for on account of that and a fine Print of the Martyrdom of St. Laurence which he procured Mark Antony to Engrave Pope Clement the VIIth honour'd him with the Order of Knigthood of St. Peter His chief Works in Marble were the great Figure of Hercules with Cacus which is in the Square of the Palace of Florence He made this Piece to accompany that of Michael Angelo and that of Benvenuto Cellini which stood in the same Square The Piece of Adam and Eve which is at the Altar in the Cathedral of Florence is one of his best and most considerable Works Benvenuto Cellini was a Person of particular Merit he was an excellent Goldsmith and composed a Book which treats of that Art and the way of casting Figures in Brass He came into France to serve Francis the Ist for whom he made several Pieces in that Metal And he had a peculiar Excellence in engraving Coins for Medals and Money We ought to place among the Illustrious Tuscans of that time Daniel da (b) Daniel da Volterra died at fifty seven Years of Age. Volterra equally Excellent in Painting Sculpture and Architecture he learnt of Baldassare Perruzzi afterwards he was employ'd under Perin del Vaga in the Church of Trinity del Monte And there built the fine Chappel of St. Helen in that Church and painted over against it another just like it The Pictures in Fresco which he there made cannot be enough admired chiefly that of the Descent from the Cross of our Saviour the Beauty whereof is sufficiently known throughout the World by reason of the great Number of Copies of it which are to be seen throughout all Europe The Excellence of this Picture appears in the Composition lively Expression and correctness of Design and the excellency of the Painting One of his best Pieces of Sculpture is the Brazen Horse in the Royal Square at Paris Robert Strozzi had Commission from Queen Katharine de Medicis to procure Michael Angelo to make it but he excused himself by reason of his great Age and advised this Lord to get Daniel da Volterra to do it who accordingly undertook it but he was so unfortunate as to miss the first Cast but the second time he succeeded But Death prevented him before he had finished the Statue of Henry the IId who was to be set on the Horse Thus this Work remain'd imperfect by the Death of Daniel da Volterra and a long time after under Lewis the XIIIth it was carried away from Rome and the Figure of that King set up in its room as we see it at this day in the