The History Of Painting In Italy Volume V Part 3

Subsequent to the period of Jacopone, who never acquired fortune, Marco Marchetti greatly distinguished himself. So at least he is named by Baglione, or Marco da Faenza, according to Vasari, who observes that he was "particularly experienced in regard to frescos; bold, decided, terrible; and especially in the practice and manner of drawing grotesques, not having any rival then equal to him." Nor perhaps has any artist since appeared who equals him in this respect, and in happily adapting to grotesques little histories, full of spirit and elegance, and with figures which form a school for design. Such is the Slaughter of the Innocents, in the Vatican.

He succeeded Sabbatini in the works of Gregory XIII. and entered the service of Cosmo I. for whom he decorated the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence.

He painted little in his own country, though a few pieces in oil are still pointed out, and an arch in a public way, with festoons of flowers, monsters, and capricci, resembling the work of an ancient artist. The whole reminds us of mythology and erudition, while at subsequent periods it became customary in this kind of painting to dare every extravagance and excess. Perhaps his most finished piece adorns the Communal collection, representing the Feast of Christ in the house of the Pharisee. His death occurred in 1588. Contemporary with him flourished Gio. Batista Armenini, also of Faenza, an able artist, and author of the "True Precepts of Painting,"[20] published at Ravenna in 1587, a work that re-appeared in the ensuing century at Venice. In fact Armenini was a better theorist than a pract.i.tioner; nor has he any production in his native place, except a large picture of the a.s.sumption, on which he inscribed _Jo. Bapt. Armenini primiliae_, meaning, that it was among the first, or perhaps the very first altar-piece which he ever painted. Perotti, the author of certain _Farragini_,[21] which are still preserved in the library of the Seminary at Faenza, there observes, that Armenini was a pupil of Perin del Vaga. Nor is there a great interval between him and Cristoforo Lanconello, an artist of Faenza, first discovered to us in the letter of Crespi, just before cited. He is celebrated for his picture in the Casa Ercolani, in which the Virgin appears crowned with a glory, attended by Saints Francis and Chiara, and two more; a work displaying great freedom of hand, beauty of colouring, fine airs of the heads, and altogether in the composition of Barocci.

Footnote 20: _Veri Precetti della Pittura._

Footnote 21: A mixture of all styles and subjects

We must not take our leave of the Cinquecentisti[22] without first noticing a cavalier of Faenza, who flourished till the year 1620, in which he died at the age of 83. His name was Niccolo Pappanelli, and such was his enthusiasm for the art, that he attended all the most distinguished masters then in vogue at Rome. On his return to his native place, he produced, along with some pieces of mediocrity, a few of an exquisite character, such as his picture of S. Martino at the cathedral, so well executed in point of design, force of colouring, and expression, as to be truly admirable. He, too, attempted to follow in the track of Barocci.

Footnote 22: Artists of the fifteenth century.

Other artists of Romagna, belonging to this period, are treated of in the schools where they chiefly flourished, such as Ingoli of Ravenna, at Venice, Zaccolini of Cesena at Rome, and Ardente, a native of Faenza, in Piedmont.

BOLOGNESE SCHOOL.

EPOCH III.

_The Caracci, their Scholars, and their Successors, until the time of Cignani._

To write the history of the Caracci and their followers would in fact be almost the same as to write the pictoric history of all Italy during the last two centuries. In our preceding books we have taken a survey of almost every school; and everywhere, early or late, we have met with either the Caracci or their pupils, or at least with their successors, employed in overthrowing the ancient maxims, and introducing new, until we reach the period when there was no artist who, in some respect or other, might not be said to belong to their school. Now, as it is grateful to the traveller, after long following the course of some royal river, to ascend still higher to its source, so I trust it will, in like manner, prove delightful to my readers, to be here made acquainted with those principles that conferred this new style upon the world of art, and in a short time filled with its specimens, and took the lead of every individual school. What, in my opinion, too, is still more surprising is, that it should owe its origin to Lodovico Caracci, a young artist, who appeared of a slow, inactive intellect in early years, and better adapted to grind colours than to harmonize and apply them. He was advised, both by Fontana, his master at Bologna, and by Tintoretto, who directed his studies in Venice, to adopt a new profession, as quite unqualified for the art of painting; his fellow pupils likewise bantering him with the epithet of the ox, in allusion to his extreme dulness and tardiness. Indeed, every thing seemed to conspire to discourage him; he alone did not despair; from the obstacles he had to encounter he only gathered courage, and inducements to rouse, not to alarm himself. For this, his dilatory character, did not spring from confined genius, but from deep penetration; he shunned the ideal of the art as a rock on which so many of his contemporaries had suffered shipwreck; he pursued nature every where; he exacted of himself a reason for every line he drew; and considered it the duty of a young artist to aim only at doing well, until at length it grows into a habit, and such habit a.s.sists him in expediting his work.

Resolute, then, in his purpose, after having studied the best native artists in Bologna, he proceeded to do the same under t.i.tian and Tintoretto at Venice. Thence he pa.s.sed to Florence, and improved his taste from the pictures of Andrea, and the instructions of Pa.s.signano. At that period, the school of the Florentines had attained to that crisis, described in treating of its fourth epoch. Nothing could be more advantageous to young Lodovico than to observe there the compet.i.tion between the partizans of the old and the new style; nor could there be better means of ascertaining the causes of the decline, and of the revival of the art. Such a scene was a.s.suredly of the greatest use to him, though hitherto not much noticed, in attempting the reform of painting, and carrying it to a higher degree of perfection. The most eminent Florentines, with the view of improving the languid colouring of their masters, turned to the models of Coreggio and his followers; and their example, I am of opinion, induced Lodovico to leave Florence for Parma, where, observes his historian, he wholly devoted himself to that master and to Parmigianino. On his return to Bologna, although well received and esteemed as a good artist, he soon became aware that a single individual, so reserved and cautious as he was, could ill compete with an entire school; unless, following the example of Cigoli at Florence, he were to form a party among the rising pupils at Bologna.

In the first instance, he sought support in his own relatives. His brother Paolo cultivated the art, but was deficient both in judgment and in ability, and calculated only to execute with mediocrity the designs of others. On him he placed no reliance, but a good deal on two of his cousins. He had a paternal uncle named Antonio, by profession a tailor, who educated his two sons, Agostino and Annibale, at home. Such was their genius for design, that Lodovico was accustomed to say in his old age, that he had never had, during his whole professional career, a single pupil to equal them. The first devoted his attention to the goldsmith's art--always the school of the best engravers; the second was at once the pupil and a.s.sistant of his father in his calling. Though brothers, their dispositions were so opposite, as to render their society insufferable to each other, and they were little less than enemies. Accomplished in letters, Agostino always sought the company of learned men; there was no science on which he could not speak; at once a philosopher, a geometrician, and a poet; of refined manners, ready wit, and averse to the pursuits of the crowd.

Annibale, on the contrary, neglected letters, beyond the mere power of reading and writing, while a natural bluntness of manner inclined him to taciturnity, and when compelled to speak, it was mostly in a satirical, contemptuous, or disputing tone.

On devoting themselves, at the suggestion of Lodovico, to the pictoric art, they still found themselves opposed to each other in genius, as they were in manners. Agostino was timid, and extremely select, backward in resolve, difficult to please himself, and was never aware of a difficulty that he did not encounter, and attempt to vanquish it. Annibal, in common with numbers of artificers, was an expeditious workman, intolerant of doubts and delays, eagerly seeking every remedy for the intricacies of the art, trying the most easy methods, and to perform much in little time. Had they indeed fallen into other hands, Agostino would have become a new Samacchini, Annibal a new Pa.s.serotti; and painting would have owed no improvement to their efforts. But their cousin's fine judgment led him, in their education, to imitate Isocrates, who, instructing Ephorus and Theopompus, was accustomed to say, that he was compelled to apply spurs to the one, and a rein to the other. With similar views he consigned Agostino to Fontana, as an easy and rapid master, and retained Annibal in his own studio, where works were carried to higher perfection. By such means too he kept them apart, until riper age should by degrees remove the enmity subsisting between them, and convert it into a bond of amity, when devoted to the same profession, they might unite their capital, and mutually a.s.sist each other.

In a few years he succeeded in reconciling them, and in 1580 he placed them at Parma and at Venice, of which an account has been given under those schools. During this period Agostino collected materials for his varied learning, and enlarged his design; and as before leaving Bologna he had made great progress in engraving under Domenico Tibaldi, he continued in Venice to practise it under Cort with such success, as to excite his master's jealousy, who drove him, but in vain, from his studio; for Agostino was already esteemed the Marc Antonio of his time. Annibal, devoted to a single aim, both at Parma and Venice continued to paint, availing himself of the works and conversation of ill.u.s.trious men, with whom at that period the Venetian School abounded. It was then, or shortly subsequent, that he executed his beautiful copies of Coreggio, t.i.tian, and Paul Veronese; in whose taste he also conducted some small pictures.

Several specimens of these I saw in possession of the Marchese Durazzo at Genoa, displaying opposite, but very graceful styles.

Returning accomplished artists into their native place, they struggled long and n.o.bly with their fortunes. Their first undertakings consisted of the exploits of Jason, in a frieze of the Casa Favi; these, though conducted with the a.s.sistance of Lodovico, were vituperated with excessive scorn by the old painters, as deficient both in elegance and correctness. To this censure, the credit of these masters who had flourished at Rome, who were extolled by the poets, adorned with diplomas, and regarded by the declining age as pillars of the art, seemed to give weight. Their disciples echoed their words, and the crowd repeated them; and such murmurs proceeding from a public, gifted with as much volubility in conversation as would suffice for purposes of declamation or controversy elsewhere, wounded the feelings of the Caracci, overwhelmed and depressed them. I was informed by the accomplished Cav. Niccol Fava, that Lodovico's change of fortune, along with that of his cousins, occurred on an occasion, and at a period little differing from the above; which is supported by a tradition to the same effect. The two cousins had executed the frieze in the same hall where Cesi adorned another, in opposition to it, with histories of aeneas, which we have already mentioned, (p. 74). The work, conducted in the old style, was certainly beautiful, but Lodovico, in the new, painted another chamber with other histories, twelve in number, of aeneas, of which mention is made in the Guide of Bologna, (p. 14); histories in no way inferior to those in the Casa Magnani. Here was the beginning of the Caracci's fortune, and of the fall of the old masters, Bologna at length preparing to do justice to the worth of that divine artist, and to verify in respect to Cesi that sentence of Hesiod, of which, to the best of my ability, I here offer a version from the Greek, as follows:

Folle chi al piu potente fa contrasto!

Che perde la vittoria; e sempre al fine, Oltra lo scorno, di dolor si e guasto!

_Opera_ V. 210.

Fool, that will dare to cross the path of one More powerful! and ever to the loss Of victory, at last add scorn and grief.

It was now that the Caracci, more than ever confident in their style, answered the voice of censure only by works full of vigour and nature, opposed to the works of older masters, feeble and void of truth. By such means that revolution of style which had so long been meditated, at length took place; but it became necessary, in order to accelerate it, to bring over the students of the art to their party, the better to insure the hopes of a new and improved era. This too the Caracci achieved, by opening an academy of painting at their house, which they ent.i.tled _Degli Incamminati_, supplying it with casts, designs, and prints, in the same manner as those of their rivals; besides introducing a school for the drawing of the naked figure, and for the study of anatomy and perspective: in short, every thing requisite to the art; directing the whole with a skill added to a kindness that could not fail to procure it abundance of pupils. In particular, the fiery temper of Dionisio Calvart contributed to fill it, who, being in the habit of striking, and even wounding his disciples, drove Guido, Albano, and Domenichino, to transfer their talents to the studio of the Caracci. Panico too entered it from the school of Fontana, and from all sides the best young artists a.s.sembled, drawing after them fresh ranks of students. Finally, the other academies were closed; every school was left to solitude; every name gave way before that of the Caracci; to them the best commissions, to them the meed of praise were accorded. Their humbled rivals soon a.s.sumed another language, especially when the grand hall of Magnani was thrown open, presenting the wonders of the new Carraccesque art. It was then Cesi declared that he would become a disciple of the new school; and Fontana only lamented that he was too grey-headed to keep pace with it, while Calvart alone, with his usual bravado, ventured to blame the work, being the last of all to recant, or at least to become silent.

It is now time to record the pursuits and the maxims of an academy, which, besides educating many ill.u.s.trious pupils, perfected the art of their masters; and confirmed the axiom, that the shortest method of learning much is that of teaching. The three brothers were on the most perfect understanding as to the art of teaching, as free from venality as from envy; but the most laborious branches of the professorship were sustained by Agostino. He had drawn up a short treatise of perspective and architecture, from which he expounded to the school. He explained the nature of the bones and muscles, designating them by their names, in which he was a.s.sisted by Lanzoni the anatomist, who also secretly provided the school with bodies for such dissections as were required. His lectures were sometimes founded upon history, at others upon fictions; and these he ill.u.s.trated, and offered for designs, which being exhibited at stated intervals, were examined by skilful judges, who decided upon their respective merits; as we gather from a ticket written to Cesi, one of the arbiters. The meed of fame was sufficient for the crowned candidates, round whom the poets collected to celebrate their name; with whom Agostino enthusiastically joined both with harp and voice, applauding the progress of his scholars. These last were likewise instructed in true criticism, and to give due praise or blame to the works of others; they were also taught to criticise their own works, and whoever could not give good reasons for what he had done, and defend his own work, must cancel it upon the spot.

Each, however, was at liberty to pursue what path he pleased, or rather each entered upon that to which nature had best adapted him, which gave rise to so many original manners from the same studio; yet each style was to be founded upon reason, nature, and imitation. In all more doubtful points, recourse was had to the opinion of Lodovico; the cousins presided over the daily exercises of design, full of a.s.siduity, industry, and perseverance. Even the recreations of the academicians had a view to art; to draw landscapes from nature, or to sketch caricatures, were the customary amus.e.m.e.nts of Annibale and the disciples of the school, when they wished to relax from study.[23]

Footnote 23: It must be observed that the two younger Caracci visited Rome, where they continued to instruct their pupils on the same plan. Pa.s.seri, in his life of Guido, says, that they were joined by literary men, who proposed history-pieces to them, with premiums for such as should be best executed; and that on one occasion Domenichino, one of the youngest, being preferred above all, Guido was seized with the most lively emulation to eclipse him. The historian adds, that the same method was soon adopted in the Roman academy, and that Car. Barberini, nephew to Urban VIII., presided at the election of the first, and rewarded him with money, and those that next followed, to the fourth member.

Moreover he gave the first a commission for a picture from the same subject as the design. What a secret is here shewn for promoting the fine arts.

The maxim of uniting together the study of nature, and the imitation of the best masters, already touched upon in the outset of this book, formed the real foundation of the school of Caracci; although they took care to modify it according to particular talents, as we have seen. Their object was to collect into one whatever they found most valuable in other schools, and in this process they observed two methods. The first resembles that of the poets, who, in several Canzoni, propose different models for imitation; in one, for instance, borrowing from Petrarch, in another from Chiabrera, in a third from Frugoni. The second method is like that of those, who, being masters of these three styles, form and harmonize them into one, like Corinthian metal, composed of various other kinds. Thus the Caracci, in some of their compositions, were accustomed to present different styles in a variety of different figures. So Lodovico, in his Preaching of St. John the Baptist, at the church of the Certosini (where Crespi is especially opposed to Paul Veronese), has exhibited the audience of the saint in such a manner that a judge described them by these names:--the Raffaellesque, the Tizianesque, and the imitator of Tintoretto. Annibal too, who had long admired only Coreggio, having finally adopted Lodovico's maxim, painted his celebrated picture for the church of St. George, where, in his figure of the Virgin, he imitated Paolo; in that of the Divine Infant and St. John, Coreggio; in St. John the Evangelist he exhibited t.i.tian; and in the very graceful form of St. Catherine, the sweetness of Parmigianino. Most generally, however, they pursued the second path, and still more examples might be adduced of less apparent and more free and mixed imitations, so modified as to produce a whole of a perfectly original character. And the ingenious Agostino, emulating the ancient legislators, who embodied all their laws in a few verses, composed that very picturesque, rather than poetical sonnet, in praise of Niccolino Abati, but which also well explains the maxim of their school, in selecting the peculiar merits of each different style. It has been handed down to us by Malvasia, in his life of Primaticcio, and runs as follows:--

Chi farsi un buon pittor brama e desia Il disegno di Roma abbia alla mano, La mossa coll'ombrar Veneziano, E il degno colorir di Lombardia; Di Michelangiol la terribil via, Il vero natural di Tiziano, Di Coreggio lo stil puro e sovrano, Di un Raffael la vera simmetria; Del Tibaldi il decoro e il fondamento, Del dotto Primaticcio l'inventare, E un po' di grazia del Parmigianino: Ma senza tanti studii e tanto stento Si ponga solo l'opre ad imitare Che qui lasciocci il nostro Niccolino.

To paint for fame, who nurtures high desire, Will Rome's design keep ever in his view; To the Venetian shade and action true, Of Lombardy's whole colouring never tire; Kindle at Michael's terrors, and his fire, Seize t.i.tian's living truth, who nature drew; Allegri's pure and sovereign graces too; To heavenly Raphael's symmetry aspire: Tibaldi's solid sense, appropriate air, And Primaticcio's learn'd inventive thought, With Parmigiano's graceful sweetness fraught.

And should all these ask too much studious care, Turn to our Niccolino's bright display Of wondrous works, the envy of his day.

It is not easy to ascertain how far the Caracci may have carried this project, though it must always reflect the highest degree of credit upon them to have executed it in a superior manner to all other artists. In the outset they most felt their deficiency in their imitation of the antique, called by Agostino the design of Rome. He and Annibal, however, while residing there as strangers, in some measure reproduced and restored it to Roman artists themselves; and Lodovico, though remaining at Bologna, shewed that he was by no means unacquainted with it. At first, observes Mengs, they devoted much study to Coreggio, both in their ample outline and in their general design, although they did not observe the same exact equilibrium in their concave and convex lines, but rather affected the latter. There were other points which they did not attempt to include in such imitation, as in the shortening of the heads, and exhibiting them so very frequently with that smile so much repeated by the Parmigiani, by Barocci, and Vanni. They took their heads from life, and improved upon them by general ideas of the beautiful. Hence Annibal's Madonnas, many of them of a small size on copper, exhibit a peculiar and original beauty derived from his studies; and the same may be said of Lodovico, who, in his softer heads, often gives the portrait of a lady named Giacomazzi, celebrated for her beauty at that time. The Caracci were extremely well-grounded in a knowledge of anatomy, and of the naked figure; and it would be manifest injustice not to give them credit for due estimation of Michelangiolo, whom they also imitated. One of them indeed is known to have said, with some acrimony towards the rival school, that Bonarruoti ought to have covered his bones with a little flesh, in the manner of their own Tibaldi. It is true they availed themselves less of the naked form in composition than the Florentines, though more largely than the other schools. In their costume, they were not so anxious to observe the exactness and richness of Paul Veronese, as the grandeur of his folds and form; nor did any other school give more ample flow of drapery, or arrange it with dignity more suitable to the figures.

Yet Mengs denies that they were consummate colourists, though they studied the Lombard and Venetian schools, an opinion confirmed by Lodovico's paintings in oil, which are faded and almost gone. This arose, either from the nature of his grounds, from too abundant use of oil, or from not allowing due time between preparing his canva.s.s and colouring it. The same remark will not apply to his frescos, which, on a near view, exhibit a boldness of hand equal almost to Paolo's; nor, in the opinion of Bellori, was there any work which, in point of colouring, reflected higher credit on the Caracci, and on the age, than their pictures in the Casa Magnani. They boast a truth, force, mixture, and harmony of colours, such as to ent.i.tle them also in this portion of the art to the praise of being reformers of the age. They effectually banished those wretched yellows, and other weak, washy tints, introduced from parsimony, in place of the azures and different colours of higher price. In this Bellori accords most merit to Annibal; declaring it was owing to him that Lodovico himself renounced his first method of colouring, which was formed on that of Procaccini.

In action and expression they aimed at vivacity, but without ever losing sight of propriety, of which they were extremely observant; and to which they were ready to sacrifice any of the graces of the art. In taste of invention and composition, they come near that of Raffaello. The Caracci were not lavish of their figures, conceiving twelve sufficient for any historical piece, except in crowds, or in battle-pieces, where they were still moderate, in order to give greater relief to particular groups. That they were competent to compose with judgment, learning, and variety, is fully apparent from their sacred histories represented on altars, where they avoided, as much as possible, the very trite representation of a Madonna between various saints. This truth is still more remarkably shewn in their profane histories, and in none better than those of Romulus, in the family just before mentioned. The three relations there appear universal in the art, as perspective, landscape, and ornamental painters, masters of every style, and concentering in one point of view whatever is most desirable in any single work. The three artists seem to disappear in one; and the same is observed also in several galleries and churches of Bologna. They followed the same maxims, and in the same studio designed in union with one another, conferring and taking measures how best to complete every work in hand. In several instances it still remains matter of doubt whether pictures are to be attributed to Annibal or to Lodovico; and the three scriptural histories of the Sampieri, in which the three relations wished to display their respective powers, do not exhibit a diversity which might essentially characterize their respective authors. Some indeed there are who may detect in Lodovico a more general imitation of t.i.tian, than is observable in the cousins, Agostino inclining more to the taste of Tintoretto, Annibal to that of Coreggio. It has sometimes been remarked that the figures of the first of the three are light in form, those of the third, robust; while those of Agostino hold a middle rank. At Bologna I found Lodovico enjoying most repute for a certain elevation and grandeur; Agostino for his inventive powers; Annibal for grace. Every one must judge, however, according to his own views. It is now my duty to consider these separately.

Lodovico, doubtless, rises into the sublime in many of his works at Bologna. His picture of the "_Probatica_" so excellent both in point of architecture and the design of the figures; that of S. Girolamo, who, suspending his pen, turns towards heaven with a look and gesture so truly impressive and dignified; his Limbo of holy fathers, which, as if to renew his delight in it, he repeated in the cathedral of Piacenza, and sketched also under a Crucifixion at Ferrara: these have ever been regarded in that school as models of the sublime. Nevertheless, if we examine the "a.s.sumption," at the Teresiani, the "Paradise," at the Barnabiti, or the "S. George," in which is represented that admirable virgin, who is seen seized with terror in the act of flight, it will be allowed that Annibal himself could not have exhibited more grace in his drawing of young maidens or of boys. More excelling, therefore, than great, Lodovico may be said to be transcendant in every character; and it would even seem that he had aimed at this boast in the two frescos that have perished, with which he decorated, at S. Domenico, the chapel of the Lambertini. In one he exhibited the holy founder, with S. Francis, in a manner very easy and pleasing to the eye, with few lights and as few shades, but both powerful, and with few folds in the drapery; the countenances full of piety; insomuch that the whole performance, in the words of Malvasia, "rose to a pitch of grandeur not to be excelled." In the other piece he represented "Charity,"

in a style equally soft, graceful, and polished, and which was subsequently, says the historian, esteemed "the model and the rule of modern painting." He proceeds to relate, that Albani, Guido, and Domenichino all derived their sweetness from this source, in the same way, most probably, that Cavedoni took his first style from the S. Domenico; and from his Paul at the Conventuali Guercino acquired his grand power of chiaroscuro. In short, if we may give credit to history, Lodovico in his own school ranks like Homer among the Greeks, _fons ingeniorum_. Individual artists in him have recognized what const.i.tuted the character of their own knowledge, because in every branch of painting he was truly profound.[24]

Footnote 24: See Crespi's a.n.a.lysis of the two pictures at the church of the Certosa, (p. 32,) one representing the Scourging of Christ, the other his Crown of Thorns, where the most beautiful art of disposing the light to produce the desired effect is remarkable; with an exquisite effect of perspective, and a degree of invention not to be surpa.s.sed in representing the suffering of our Redeemer.

The masterly dignity of his character appears to most advantage in the cloister of S. Michele in Bosco, where, a.s.sisted by his pupils, he represented the actions of St. Benedict and St. Cecilia in thirty-seven separate histories. By his hand is the Conflagration of Mount Ca.s.sino, and some other portions; the remaining parts are by Guido, by Tiarini, by Ma.s.sari, by Cavedoni, by Spada, by Garbieri, by Brizio, and other young artists. These paintings have been engraved, and are worthy of the reformers of that age. On beholding what we may term this gallery by different hands, we should be almost inclined to bestow upon the school of Lodovico this trite eulogy; that from it, as from the Trojan horse, there issued only princes. What does him still more honour is, that his relatives themselves, down to the least and last, uniformly venerated him as a preceptor, insomuch that Annibal, on the completion of the Farnese gallery, invited him to Rome, as the adviser, arbiter, and umpire of that work. He remained there less than two weeks, and then returning to his beloved Bologna, he survived Agostino seventeen years, and Annibal ten. Being separated from the two cousins, he employed himself at an advanced age in a manner less studied, but still exemplary and masterly. Nor ought a few slight inaccuracies of design to detract from the praise due to him, inaccuracies which he fell into about this period, as in the drawing of the hand of the Redeemer, in the act of calling St. Matthew to follow him, or in the foot of the Madonna of the Annunciation painted at S. Pietro, a fault which he saw too late, and it may be added, for which he died of affliction. Other less well founded criticisms advanced against him by a traveller have been fully reb.u.t.ted and confuted by the Can. Crespi.[25]

Footnote 25: _Lettere Pittoriche_, tom. vii. lettera 4.

Agostino, occupied for the most part in engraving, painted but little, this employment supplying him at once with the means of subsistence, and of shining in the cla.s.s of artists. Doubtless painting here sustained a loss, deprived of a genius equally calculated as his relations to promote the art. His powers of invention surpa.s.sed those of the other Caracci, and many rank him foremost in point of design. It is certain that in his engraving he corrected and improved upon the outlines of his originals. On his return from Venice he applied himself more effectually to colouring, and succeeded in that of a horse, so far as to deceive the living animal, a triumph so much celebrated in Apelles. He once competed with his brother Annibal for an altar-piece intended for the church of the Carthusians. His design was preferred; and it was then that in his Communion of S. Girolamo he produced one of the most celebrated pictures of which Bologna can boast. Nothing can be imagined finer than the expression of devotion in the aged saint, the piety of the priest at the communion, the looks of the spectators, who support the dying, who catch his last accents, committing them instantly to writing, lest they escape; countenances finely varied and animated, each breathing and speaking, as it were, peculiar mind. On its first exhibition, the pupils thronged around the picture to make their studies, insomuch that Annibal, urged by jealousy, a.s.sumed more of his brother's taste, becoming more select and slow, contriving further to addict his brother to engraving; a plan in which he succeeded. He returned, as a painter, to Rome; and the fine representation of Poetry, so much admired in the Farnese gallery, was, in great part, owing to his talent; and the same may be said of the fables of Cephalus and Galatea, exquisitely graceful productions, which seem dictated by a poet, and executed by a Greek artist. Hence it was rumoured that in the Farnesian paintings the engraver had surpa.s.sed the painter; at which Annibal, no longer able to subdue his envy, removed his brother from the undertaking under a variety of false pretences; nor was any humility on the part of Agostino, any advice of his elders, or any mediation of the great, sufficient to appease him. Quitting Rome, Agostino entered into the service of the Duke of Parma, for whom he painted Celestial Love, Terrestrial Love, and Venal Love, to adorn one of the halls, a very beautiful work, which he terminated only just before his death. A single figure remained wanting, and this the duke would never consent to have supplied by any other hand. At the point of death he was seized with lively remorse, on account of his many licentious engravings and prints, and even wept bitterly. At that period he designed a picture of the Last Judgment, which, however, he was unable to complete. In the account of his funeral, and in the oration recited on that occasion by Lucio Faberio, mention is made of a head of Jesus Christ, in the character of the universal judge, painted at that time, though unfinished, upon a black ground. Such a head is pointed out in the Albani palace at Rome, and duplicates exist elsewhere. In the features we see exhibited all that is at once most majestic and most terrible within the limits of the human imagination.

Annibal was greatly celebrated in Lombardy in every peculiar taste which he chose to pursue. In his earliest works Mengs declares that he traces the appearance, but not the depth and reality of Coreggio's style; but it is an appearance so extremely plausible, that it compels us to p.r.o.nounce him one of the most perfect imitators of that consummate master. His Taking down from the Cross, at the church of the Capuccini in Parma, may challenge the most distinguished followers of the Parmese School. His picture of S. Rocco is still more celebrated, comprising the perfections of different artists, a piece engraved in aqua forte by Guido Reni. It was executed for Reggio, thence transferred to Modena, and from the last place to Dresden. He represented the saint, standing near a portico on a bas.e.m.e.nt, and dispensing his wealth to poor mendicants; a composition not so very rich in figures as in knowledge of the art. A throng of paupers, as different in point of infirmity as in age and s.e.x, is admirably varied, both in the grouping and the gestures. One is seen receiving with grat.i.tude, another impatiently expecting, a third counting his alms with delight; every object is misery and humiliation, and yet every thing seems to display the abundance and dignity of the artist. But proceeding to Rome in the year 1600, he entered on another career; "he checked his fire," observes Mengs, "he improved the extravagance of his forms, imitated Raffaello and the ancients, retaining at the same time a portion of the style of Coreggio to support dignity." (Tom. ii. p. 19.) Albano makes use of nearly the same words in a letter given by Bellori, (p. 44,) adding, that Annibal, in the opinion of competent judges, "far surpa.s.sed his cousin, from a knowledge of the works of Raffaello, in addition to that of the most beautiful ancient statues." He was there employed in various churches, though his crowning effort, and nearly the whole foundation of the art, as restored by his means, are to be sought for in the Farnese palace. The subjects were selected by Monsig. Agucchi; and together with the allegories may be read in Bellori. In a small chamber he gave representations of the Virtues, such as his _Choice of Hercules_, _Hercules sustaining the World_, _Ulysses the Liberator_; in the gallery various fables of Virtuous Love, such as those of Arion and Prometheus; with others of Venal Love, among which a wonderful figure of a Baccha.n.a.l is one of the most conspicuous. The work is admirably distributed and varied with ovals, cornices, and with a variety of ornamental figures, sometimes in stucco, at others in chiaroscuro, where the effect of his a.s.siduous studies of the Farnesian Hercules is very apparent, as well as of the _torso_ of the Belvidere, which he accurately designed, without even having the model before him. The whole of the other parts breathe Attic elegance combined with Raffaellesque grace, and imitations not only of his own Tibaldi but of Bonarruoti himself, no less than all the sprightly and the powerful added to the art by the Venetians and Lombards. This was the earliest production, where, as in Pandora's box, all the geniuses of the Italian schools united their several gifts; and in its fit place I described the astonishment created by it at Rome, with the revolution it occasioned in the whole art.

On account of this work he is ranked by Mengs next after the three leading masters in the fourth degree, and even esteemed supereminent in regard to the form of his virile figures. Poussin a.s.serts, that after Raffaello there were no better compositions than these, and he prefers the decorative heads and figures already mentioned, with the other naked forms, in which the artist was said to have surpa.s.sed himself, even to his fables so beautifully painted. To him Baglione refers the method of colouring from nature, which was nearly lost, as well as the true art of landscape-painting, afterwards imitated by the Flemish. To these might likewise be added the use of caricatures, which no one better than he knew how to copy from nature, and to increase with ideal power. In the Roman galleries many of Annibal's pictures are to be met with, conducted in this new style; and there is one in the Lancellotti palace, small, and painted _a colla_,[26] rivalling, I had almost said, the best pieces of Ercolani.

It is a Pan teaching Apollo to play upon the pipe; figures at once designed, coloured, and disposed with the hand of a great master. They are so finely expressive, that we see in the countenance of the youth, humility, and apprehension of committing an error; and in that of the old man, turning another way, peculiar attention to the sound, his pleasure in possessing such a pupil, and his anxiety to conceal from him his real opinion, lest he might happen to grow vain.[27]

Footnote 26: In colours, of which yolk of egg, or a kind of glue, is the vehicle.

Footnote 27: See the _Dissertazione su la Pittura_, by the Canon Lazzarini, in the Catalogue of Pictures at Pesaro, p.

118.

No other pieces so exquisitely finished are found by his hand at Bologna, where there prevails the same strong party, commenced in the time of the Caracci, and which prefers Lodovico to Annibal. When we reflect that Annibal, in addition to the patrimony left by his school, conferred upon it the riches which the genius of the Greeks, throughout many ages and many places had collected to adorn their style; when we reflect on the progress, which, on observing his new style at Rome, was made by Domenichino, Guido, Albano, Lanfranco, with the new light which it afforded to Algardi, according to the supposition of Pa.s.seri, in respect to sculpture, and the improvement which by his means took place in the very pleasing and attractive painting of Flanders and of Holland, we feel inclined to coincide with the general sentiment entertained beyond the limits of Bologna, that Annibal was the most eminent artist of his family. At the same time we may allow, that Agostino was the greater genius, and Lodovico, to whom we are indebted for both, the greater teacher of these three. As such, too, the learned Ab. Magnani, librarian and lecturer upon eloquence to the inst.i.tution, a.s.signs to him the office of teacher, in an able oration upon the fine arts, printed at Parma by Bodoni, along with others by the same author.

The three Caracci may be almost said to define the boundaries of the golden age of painting in Italy. They are her last sovereign masters, unless we are willing to admit a few of their select pupils, who extended that period during the s.p.a.ce of some years. Excellent masters, doubtless, flourished subsequently; but after their decease, the powers of such artists appearing less elevated and less solid, we begin to hear complaints respecting the decline of the art. Nor were there wanting those who contended for a secondary age of silver, dating from Guido down to the time of Giordano, as well on account of the minor merit of the artists, as for the prices, so much greater than formerly, which Guido introduced into the art. The Caracci themselves had been only scantily remunerated. Count Malvasia admits this fact, not omitting to point out the small dwelling, and to describe the narrow circ.u.mstances in which Lodovico died, while his two relatives left the world still more impoverished than himself. The Caracci, moreover, did not, like other painters, leave legitimate sons to perpetuate their school; they never married, and were accustomed to observe that the art was sole partner of their thoughts. And this beloved mistress they adored and served with a love so pa.s.sionate, as to abandon almost all worldly care for themselves. Even while sitting at their meals they had the implements of their art before them; and wherever they observed an action or gesture adapted to adorn it, they took instant note of it. And to this their free estate, more than to any other cause, were they indebted for their n.o.ble progress and improvement. Had they "taken to themselves a wife," how easily would their agreeable friendship and attachment, from which each of the three derived light and knowledge from the rest, have been broken in upon by tattling and trifles beneath their care. Most probably, too, it might have occasioned too great rapidity of hand, at the expense of study; such at least having been the result with regard to many, who, to indulge a woman's taste, or to provide for the wants of a family, have addicted themselves to carelessness and despatch. At the period, then, of the decease of the two cousins, and the advanced age of Lodovico, there remained of the family only two youths, one, named Francesco, at Bologna, the other, Antonio, in Rome.

Francesco was a younger brother of Agostino and Annibal. Confiding in his connexions and in his own talent, excellent in point of design, and reasonably good in colouring, he ventured to oppose a school of his own to that of Lodovico, his master, inscribing upon the door: "This is the true school of the Caracci." He enjoyed no reputation at Bologna, but was rather held in dislike, on account of his opposition to and detraction of Lodovico, to whom he owed what little he executed at that place, namely, an altar-piece, with various saints, at S. Maria Maggiore, the whole of which had been retouched by his kind and able cousin. Having gone to Rome, he was first received with applause, but becoming better known he was soon despised; and, without leaving a single specimen of his pencil, he died there in his twenty-seventh year, in the hospital. Antonio Caracci, a natural son of Agostino, and pupil to Annibal, was of a totally different disposition. Prudent, affectionate, and grateful to his relatives, he received Annibal's last sighs at Rome, bestowed upon him a splendid funeral in the same church of the Rotonda, where Raffaello's remains had been exhibited, and deposited his ashes at the side of that great artist. He survived, a valetudinarian, during some years, and died at the age of thirty-five, in Rome, where he left some works in the pontifical palace, and at S. Bartolommeo. They are rarely met with in cabinets, though I saw one in Genoa, a Veronica, in possession of the Brignole family. Bellori Had written his life, which, although now lost, leads to the supposition that he possessed great merit, inasmuch as that writer confined himself to the commemoration of only first rate artists. Balda.s.sare Aloisi, called Galanino, a kinsman and scholar of the Caracci, yielded to few of his fellow-pupils in his compositions. His picture of the Visitation, at the church of the Carita in Bologna, so much extolled by Malvasia, to say nothing of various other pictures, executed at Rome, and favourably recorded by Baglione, affords ample proofs of it. His fortune, however, was not equal to his merit; so that he wholly devoted himself to portraiture, and as we have stated, in the Roman School, he there for some period boasted the chief sway in the branch of portraits, which were uniformly characterized by great power and strong relief.

Other Bolognese artists, educated in the same academy, took up their residence also at Rome, or in its state; nor were they few in number, since, as was observed in the fourth epoch of that school, they were received there with distinguished favour. We shall commence with the least celebrated. Lattanzio Mainardi, called by Baglione Lattanzio Bolognese, had visited Rome previous to Annibal, and in the pontificate of Sixtus V., conducted several works for the Vatican, which augured well of his genius, had he not died there very young; as well as one Gianpaolo Bonconti, at an age still more immature, having vainly followed his master to Rome, where he had only time to make a few designs, but conceived in the best taste.

Innocenzio Tacconi was kinsman, according to some, and a.s.suredly enjoyed the confidence of Annibale. From him he received designs and retouches, tending to make him appear a more considerable artist than he really was.

To judge from some of his histories of St. Andrew, painted for S. Maria del Popolo, and S. Angiolo, in the fish-market, he may be said to have rivalled his best fellow-pupils. But abusing his master's goodness, and alienating his regard from Agostino, from Albano, and from Guido, by misrepresentations, he received the usual recompence of slanderers. Annibal withdrew his support, deprived of which he gradually became more and more insignificant. Anton Maria Panico early left Rome, and, entering the service of Mario Farnese, resided upon his estates, being employed in painting at Castro, at Latera, and at Farnese, in whose cathedral he placed his picture of the ma.s.s, to which Annibal also put his hand, even conducting some of the figures. Balda.s.sare Croce is an artist enumerated by Orlandi among the pupils of Annibal; by Malvasia, among the imitators of Guido. Baglione describes him as superior in age to all three of the Caracci, introducing him into Rome as early as the times of Gregory.

Towards reconciling the accounts of these writers, it might be observed, that continuing to reside at Rome, he may have taken advantage, as he advanced in age, of the examples afforded by his n.o.ble fellow-citizens. His style, from what we gather of it in the public palace of Viterbo, and a cupola of the Gesu, as well as from his large histories of S. Susanna, and other places in Rome, is easy, natural, and ent.i.tling him to the name of a good mechanist and painter of frescos, but not so easily to that of a follower of the Caracci. Gio. Luigi Valesio entered, though late, into the same school, and chiefly attached himself to engraving and to miniature.

Proceeding to Rome, he was there employed by the Lodovisi under the pontificate of Gregory XV., and obtained great honours. We find him commended in the works of Marini and other poets, though less for the art, in which he only moderately excelled, than for his a.s.siduity and his fortune. He was one of those wits, who in the want of sound merit know how to subst.i.tute easier methods to advance themselves; seasonably to regale such as can a.s.sist them, to affect joy amidst utter humiliation, to accommodate themselves to men's tempers, to flatter, to insinuate, and to canva.s.s interest, until they attain their object. By means like these he maintained his equipage in Rome, where Annibal, during many years, obtained no other stipend for his honourable toils, than a bare roof for his head, daily pittance for himself and his servant, with annual payment of a hundred and twenty crowns.[28] In the few pieces executed by Valesio at Bologna, such as his Nunziata of the Mendicants, we perceive a dry composition of small relief, yet exact according to the method of the miniaturists. He appears to have somewhat improved at Rome, where he left a few works in fresco and in oil, exhibiting his whole power, perhaps, in a figure of Religion, in the cloister of the Minerva. To these artists of the Caracci school it will be sufficient only to have alluded. They were indeed no more than gregarious followers of those elevated standards of their age.

Footnote 28: See _Malvasia_, vol. i. p. 574.

The five, however, who next follow, deserve a nearer view, and more accurate acquaintance with their merits. These, remaining indeed at Rome, became leaders of new ranks, which from them a.s.sumed their name and device; and hence we have alternately been compelled to record the disciples of Albano, of Guido, and so of the rest. This repet.i.tion, however, in other places, will now permit us to treat of them in a more cursory view.