After the fresco by Ottaviano Nelli in S. Maria Nuova, Gubbio
Among the pupils of Ottaviano,
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"Who on high niche or cloister wall, Inscribed their bright-lined lays," |
about Gubbio, are Pitali, Domenico di Cecchi, and Bernardino di Nanni: to these may be added Giacomo Bedi, a name that has escaped the historians of Italian art, by whom were painted in the church of S. Agostino four scenes in the life of the saint, which retain a freshness and force of colour equal to any productions of the age. With these the influence of Oderigi seems to have become extinct in his native town, before the close of the fifteenth century, long ere which it had, however, been transported elsewhere by Gentile da Fabriano, who, emerging from his Apennine home, reproduced in Florence and in Rome the characteristics of that master, amid universal applause, and, carrying them to Venice, founded there the religious feeling which the Bellini, Vivarini, and Cima di Conegliano sustained, imparting at the same time that taste for luxuriant colouring which Titian brought to perfection. But, ere we turn to the school of Fabriano, we may here translate from the original quaint Italian a letter from Ottaviano, illustrative of the early patronage of art by the Montefeltrian family. No trace of the works there mentioned now remains.[133]
"To the illustrious and lofty Lady, the Lady Caterina, Countess of Montefeltro, and my special Lady.
"My special Lady, illustrious and lofty Madam, after due commendation, &c. I have received your benign letter, reminding me of the figures which I promised to make for your Ladyship. When your servant Pietro found me, I was on horseback, going upon certain business of my own, and so could not well tell him all my reasons, which I now expose to your Ladyship. When your Ladyship left Gubbio, I was, as you know, to furnish the palliotto;[134] after I had done it, I went from Gubbio to execute a small job which I had promised above a year past; for they would wait no longer, and I should have lost it had I not forthwith commenced. But I trusted that your Ladyship's kindness would hold me excused, for I counted that your commission, and that of my Lord, your son, would be completed against your Ladyship's return to Gubbio. In order, however, that your piety may be satisfied, I shall set myself warmly and fervently to do it quickly, and thus your intention will take effect. There is no one at S. Erasimo, so I must cause lime and sand be carried thither, and get them ground down, and also wood for the framework. If your Ladyship would but write to the friars of S. Ambrogio, or indeed to your factor, to prepare these things for me: but if not, I shall do my best; for you, my special Lady, never had servant more willing to do your Ladyship's commands than myself, and so you may count upon me as a faithful servant to the utmost of my power. I believe I have instructions for the work you wish in S. Erasimo [representing] your son, my Lord, kneeling with his servant and horse before that patron saint. Thus I recollect everything your Ladyship wishes of me, and God grant me grace to perform it all. Prepared for whatever your Ladyship wills; your most faithful,
"Otaviano, painter of Gubbio.
"From Urbino, the last of June, 1434."
In a sketch having no pretensions to a history, we need not pause upon names now known only from old records, and must keep strictly to those whose genius has left a decided impress upon the development of art in Umbria. We therefore pass over artificers belonging to various communities along the Apennines who appear on the rolls of Orvieto, including several from Fabriano. About the middle of the fourteenth century, the latter town boasted an Allegretto Nuzio, some of whose altar-panels may still be traced in La Marca, embodying a sentimentalism of expression, combined with a richness in the accessories, which remind one strongly of the finest productions of Memmi, and lead us to suspect an infusion of the Sienese style.[*135] But the renown of Allegretto rests more on that of his pupil Gentile, whom we have already named as the first who carried the characteristics and fame of the Umbrian manner beyond the seclusion of its highland cradle.
Francesco di Gentile was born at Fabriano about 1370, and, after maturely studying all that was best there and at Gubbio, he set forth to enlarge his field of observation. Florence was perhaps his first point of attraction, for nowhere else could he see such beautiful art. But resisting those seductions which the vast compositions of the Gaddi, Orcagna, and other Giottists held out to an ardent and youthful ambition, he preserved in their purity the holy inspirations of the fatherland, and meeting little sympathy for these among the fraternity of St. Luke, he sought for himself a more suitable companionship in the cloister of S. Domenico. There it was his good fortune to discover a man whose rare character realised those transcendental qualities, of which we read in the saintly legends of pristine times, without regarding them as real ingredients in human character.