He had two styles, the one abounded in shadow, which gives admirable brilliancy to the contrasting lights; the other was more quiet, and managed by means of middle tints. In each style, the grace of his design, the expression of the mental affections, and the delicacy of his pencil, are unrivalled. Every thing is lively in his paintings, the foreground, the landscape, the adventitious ornaments of necklaces, flowers, and architecture; but this gaiety is more apparent in the heads. In these he purposely repeats the same idea, and gives them a smile which delights the mind of a spectator. He did not, however, consider his pictures as complete, but from a singular timidity,[132] often left them imperfect, as I shall more fully state under the Milanese school. There he will appear with the dignity of a consummate master, and a portion of his fame must at present suffice for his native school.
The life of Lionardo may be divided into four periods, the first of which includes the time he remained at Florence, while still a young man. To this era may be referred, not only the Medusa of the royal gallery, and the few pieces mentioned by Vasari; but some others also, less powerful in the shadows, and less diversified in the folds of the drapery, and which present some heads more delicate than select, and apparently derived from the school of Verrocchio. Such is the Magdalen of the Pitti palace at Florence, and that of the Aldobrandini palace at Rome; some Madonnas and Holy Families which are in several collections, as in the Giustiniani and Borghese galleries; and some heads of the Redeemer and of the Baptist, which are to be seen in various places; although it is often reasonable to suspend our judgment in regard to the genuineness of such pieces, on account of the great number of Lionardo's imitators. The child, laid in a bed richly ornamented, enveloped in its clothes, and adorned with a necklace, which is in the house of his excellency the Gonfaloniere of Bologna, is of a different class, and of undoubted originality.
After this first period, Lionardo was brought to Milan by Lodovico Sforza, "whom he highly gratified by his performance on the lyre; a curious and new instrument, almost entirely of silver," which Lionardo carried with him, and had constructed with his own hands. All the musicians there assembled were vanquished, and the whole city being struck with admiration of his extemporaneous poetry, and his eloquence, he was retained by the prince, and remained there till 1499, engaged in abstruse studies, and in mechanical and hydrostatical labours for the service of the state. During this time he painted little, except the celebrated Last Supper; but by superintending an academy of the fine arts, he left a degree of refinement in Milan, which was so productive of illustrious pupils, that this period may be reckoned the most glorious era of his life.
After the misfortunes of Lodovico Sforza, he returned to Florence, where having remained thirteen years, he went to Rome at the time his patron Leo X. ascended the papal chair; but his stay there was short. Some of his best works at Florence may be referred to this period; among which number we may reckon the celebrated portrait of Mona Lisa, which was the labour of four years, and yet was left unfinished; the Cartoon of S. Anna, prepared for a picture in the church of the Servi, which was never executed in colours; the cartoon of the battle of Niccolo Piccinino, intended to dispute the palm of excellence with Michelangiolo in the council chamber at Florence,[133] but like the other, never executed by Vinci, after failing in an attempt to paint it in a new method in oil on the wall. He probably employed another method in painting the Madonna with the child in her arms, in the monastery of S. Onofrio, of Rome, a picture in the style of Raffaello, but which is now peeling off the walls in many places. There are some other fine pieces, which if we may be allowed to hazard a conjecture, might be with propriety assigned to this period, in which Lionardo, having attained his highest skill, and unoccupied by other pursuits, painted in his best manner. Such is the specimen that was preserved at Mantua, but which was stolen, and concealed during the sack of the city; after many vicissitudes, however, it was sold for a high price to the imperial court of Russia. The subject is a Holy Family; in the back-ground is seen a woman of a very beautiful and majestic countenance standing in an upright position. It bears the cipher of Lionardo, consisting of a D interlaced with an L and a V, as it is seen in the picture of the Signori Sanvitali, at Parma. The Consigliere Pagave, who left a memorandum of it in his MSS. was the first to observe and to recognise it, upon its being brought to Milan in 1775, where it was also kept concealed. The same judicious critic in painting has conjectured that this production was executed in Rome, for one of the princesses of Mantua, or rather for the sister-in-law of Leo X.; inasmuch as it displayed a decided emulation of Raphael's manner, at that time highly extolled in Rome. Such a conjecture might receive support from his picture of a Madonna, which ornaments San Onofrio, also in the Raphael manner; and in order that this picture, and that of Mantua just mentioned, might not be confounded by posterity with the works of Raffaello, Lionardo, according to Signor Pagave, took care to affix the cipher of his name. Indeed, this is not at all improbable: both writers and painters are impelled by their natural genius to adopt a peculiar style; and whoever will compare the portraits that remain, expressive of the elevated, touching, penetrating, and beautiful spirit, incessantly bent upon acquiring something still more exquisite in art, which inspired these two prodigies, will find little difficulty in believing that both produced works, which owing to a similarity of natural taste, selection and admiration of the same object, might be mistaken for specimens of the same hand. Of this number is his own portrait, at an age which corresponds with this period, in the ducal gallery, a head that surpasses every other in that room for energy of expression; also another head, which is in a different cabinet, and is called a portrait of Raffaello; together with the half-length figure of a young nun so much commended by Bottari, and which he points out as one of the greatest treasures in the splendid mansion of the Marchese Niccolini. In the same rank we may include the much admired specimens in the possession of some of the noble families at Rome; as the picture of Christ disputing in the Temple, and the supposed portrait of queen Giovanna, ornamented with fine architecture, in the Doria palace; the Vanity and Modesty in the Barberini palace, the tints of which no pencil has been able to imitate; the Madonna of the Albani Palace, that appears to be requesting the lily which the infant Jesus holds in his hand, while he draws back, as if unwilling to part with it; a picture of exquisite grace, and preferred by Mengs to every other painting contained in that fine collection. It would, however, be presumptuous to assign a date to every picture of an artist who became early a distinguished painter, and who frequently discontinued a work before it was completed.
When this celebrated artist had attained his sixty-third year, he appears to have renounced the art for ever. Francis I. who saw his Last Supper at Milan, about the year 1515, attempted to saw it from the wall, that it might be transported to France; and not succeeding in his project, was desirous of possessing the artist, though now an old man. He invited Vinci to his court, and the artist felt little regret at leaving Florence, where, since his return, he found in the young Bonarruoti a rival that had already contended with him, and was even employed in preference to Vinci both in Florence and in Rome; because the former gave them works, if we may credit Vasari, while the latter amused them with words.[134] It is known that they had a quarrel; and Lionardo consulting his repose, which their emulation embittered, passed over into France, where, before he had employed his pencil, he expired in the arms of Francis I., in the year 1519.
Though his style is highly worthy of imitation, it was less followed in Florence than in Milan; nor is this surprising. Vinci left at Florence no picture in public; he there taught no pupil; and it appears that he retained Salai, whom I shall notice among the Milanese artists, in the station of a dependant, during his residence at Florence. In Florence we meet with pictures in the possession of private individuals, that seem the work of Vinci; and sometimes the dealers extol them as his, gravely adding that they cost a large sum. Such pieces are probably the productions of Salai, or of other imitators of Lionardo, who availed themselves of his cartoons, his drawings, or his few paintings. We are informed that Lorenzo di Credi, whose family name was Sciarpelloni, made use of them more than any other Florentine. Educated, as well as Vinci, in the school of Verrocchio, he followed rules nearly similar; he was patient, and aimed at the same object; but he approached less closely to the softness of the moderns. He copied, with such precision, a picture by Lionardo, which was sent to Spain, that the copy was not distinguishable from the original. Private houses contain many of his circular Holy Families, of which the invention and gracefulness remind us of Lionardo. I possess one which represents the Virgin sitting with Christ in her arms, and at her side the young S. John, to whom she turns as if to lay hold of him, at which the child seems timid, and draws back: it is in a lovely manner; but the style is not well suited to such a subject. Some of Credi's pictures, which Bottari did not meet with in public places, are now exhibited; as the Magdalen with S. Nicholas and S. Julian, adduced by Vasari as an example of a picturesque and highly finished style. His Christ in the manger may be also seen at S. Chiara; and it is one of his finest pictures, for the beauty of the faces, the vigour of expression, the finish of the back-ground, and the good colouring of the whole. Both in this, and in his other original pictures, we may discern some imitation of Vinci, and of Pietro Perugino, another friend of Credi: he possesses, however, some originality, which his scholar, Giovanni Antonio Sogliani, successfully imitated and improved.
This artist lived twenty-four years with Lorenzo; and in imitation of his model was contented to paint less than his contemporaries, that he might do it better. He likewise attempted to imitate Porta; but his natural disposition led him rather to follow the simple grace of his instructor, than the sublimity of this master. Few of this school can compare with him for the natural appearance he gave the naked as well as the clothed figure, or for the conception of "handsome, good-natured, sweet, and graceful features."[135] Like Lionardo, he possessed the rare talent of representing images of virtue by the faces of his saints, and of vice by those of his wicked characters. This is exemplified in his Cain and Abel, in the cathedral of Pisa, where he has introduced a landscape, that of itself would do honour to any painter. With equal felicity in the figure and the back-ground, he painted the crucifixion of S. Arcadius, which was brought from another church to that of S. Lorenzo at Florence, where it still remains. He entered into competition with Perino del Vaga, with Mecherino, and Andrea del Sarto, at Pisa, where he was noted for his dilatoriness, but admired for that happy simplicity and elegance which he always preserved. Some have praised a few of his pictures as inclining to the manner of Raffaello, a commendation also bestowed on Luini, and other followers of Lionardo. He had pupils who afterwards followed other masters: but a Zanobi di Poggino, who painted many pictures for Florence, which are now unknown, appears to have had no other master.
One of the best imitators of Vinci, almost equal to Luini himself, may be recognized in the sacristy of S. Stephen, at Bologna, in which there is a S. John in the Desert, with the inscription Jul. Flor. If this be read Julius Florentinus, the artist is unknown; but perhaps we should read Julianus, and ascribe it to Bugiardini. We are informed by Vasari that he was at Bologna, and that he painted a Madonna between two Saints, for the church of S. Francis; where it still is, and approaches the style of Lionardo fully as much as any other manner. Both pictures, on comparing the style, seem the work of the same artist; and to this artist also belongs a Nativity, in the cloister of the canons of S. Salvatore; and various pictures that may be found in some private houses with a similar epigraph. If we embrace the opinion of Vasari, we must consider Giuliano as a feeble painter, but uncommonly careful, and consequently slow. We should rather suppose him the imitator of any other artist than of Vinci; for he is described as the fellow student of Bonarruoti, the assistant of Albertinelli, and the colourist of some works of Fra Bartolommeo. One can readily perceive that Vasari was wrong, as in many other instances, in his slight estimation of this artist, on which account he has not paid a due attention to his works or to his style. He has represented this man as amiable in disposition, as a picture of contented poverty, as also an unbounded admirer of his Madonnas, and very profuse in his own commendations; qualities which rendered him highly amusing even to Michelangiolo. Intent on amusing his reader with the character of the man, he has not perhaps sufficiently rated the merits of the artist. This is proved by the little respect with which he mentions the martyrdom of S. Catherine in S. Maria Novella, which Bottari has called "a work worthy of admiration," not only for the figures of the soldiers, which, as Giuliano found himself unequal to the performance, were outlined with charcoal by Michelangiolo, and afterwards painted by Giuliano; but for the other parts of the story. The truth seems to be, that he had not much invention, and did not adhere to one style; but now and then borrowed a thought; as in the Nativity already noticed, where one may recognize the style of Fra Bartolommeo. On considering each figure separately, he appears on the whole happy in his imitations, especially in Bologna, where the S. John is held in the highest esteem. In Florence he painted many Madonnas and Holy Families, which, with the aid of the Bolognese pictures, may perhaps be recognized as his by their clearness, the masculine and somewhat heavy proportions, and the mouths sometimes expressive of melancholy; although the subject did not properly call for it. One of these is to be seen in the collection of the noble family Orlandini.
Michelangiolo Bonarruoti, of whom memoirs were published by two of his disciples while he was still living,[136] was born twenty-three years after Lionardo da Vinci. Like him he was endowed with a ready wit, and consummate eloquence. His bon mots rival those of the Grecian painters, which are recorded by Dati, and he is even esteemed the most witty and lively of his race. He possessed not the polish and elegance of Vinci, but his genius was more vast and daring. Hence he attained the three sister arts in an eminent degree, and has left specimens in painting, sculpture, and architecture, sufficient to immortalize three different artists. Like Vinci he gave proofs of talent in his boyish years, that compelled his master to confess his own inferiority. This master was Domenico Ghirlandaio, who sent his own brother Benedetto to paint in France, from jealousy of his preeminence; and, perhaps, fearing the wonderful powers of Bonarruoti, turned his attention to sculpture. Lorenzo the Magnificent, desirous of encouraging the statuary art, which was on the decline in his country, had collected in his gardens, adjacent to the monastery of S. Mark, many antique marbles; and committing the care of them to Bertoldo, a scholar of Donatello, he requested of Ghirlandaio some young man to be there educated as a sculptor; and this artist sent him Michelangiolo. This transaction was disliked by his father, Lodovico, in whose mind the art appeared degrading to his high birth; but he had no reason to repent it. On obtaining his object, Lorenzo not only added to the fortune of Lodovico, but retained Michelangiolo in his house, rather as a relation than a dependant, placing him at the same table with his own sons, with Poliziano, and other learned men who then graced his residence. During the four years that he remained there he laid the foundation of all his acquirements; he especially studied poetry, and thus was enabled to rival Vinci in his Sonnets, and to relish Dante, a bard of a sublimity beyond the reach of vulgar souls.[137] Bonarruoti studied design in the chapel of Masaccio, he copied the antiques in the garden of Lorenzo, and attended to anatomy, a science, to which he is said to have dedicated twelve years, with great injury to his health, and which determined his style, his practice, and his glory.[138] To this study he owed that style from which he obtained the name of the Dante of the art. As this poet made choice of materials very difficult to be reduced to verse, and from an abstruse subject extracted the praise of sublimity and grandeur, in like manner Michelangiolo explored the untrodden path of design, and in pursuing it, displayed powers of execution at once scientific and magnificent. In his works, man assumes that form which, according to Quintilian,[139] Zeuxis delighted to represent; nervous, muscular, and robust: his foreshortenings, and his attitudes are most daring; his expression full of vivacity and energy. The poet and the painter have other points of resemblance; a display of knowledge, from which Dante appears sometimes to critics, a declaimer rather than a poet, Bonarruoti, an anatomist rather than a painter; a neglect of elegance, from which the first often, and, if we subscribe to the opinions of the Caracci and of Mengs, the second sometimes, degenerated into harshness.[140] On points like these, which depend wholly on taste, I shall not decide, but content myself with warning the reader that such comparisons should not be pushed too far: for this poet, from his desire of surmounting difficulties in conception and versification, has sometimes so deviated from the usual path, that he cannot always be proposed as a model for imitation: but every design of Michelangiolo, every sketch, as well as his more finished works, may be regarded as a model in art; if in Dante we trace marks of labour, in Michelangiolo every thing exhibits nature and facility.[141] It was one of his observations, that the compasses ought to lie in the eyes; a principle apparently drawn from Diodorus Siculus, where he asserts that the Egyptians had the rules of measurement in their hands; the Greeks in their eyes.[142] Nor is such eulogy inapplicable to our artist; who, whether he handled his pen, his chisel, or a piece of charcoal, even in sport, still displayed infallible skill in every part of his design.
Bonarruoti was extolled to the skies by Ariosto for his painting, as well as for his sculpture;[143] but Condivi and others prefer his chisel to his pencil; and he undoubtedly exercised it more professedly and with greater reputation. His Moses on the tomb of Julius II. in the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, his Christ in the Minerva, his Piety in S. Pietro Vaticano, and the statues in the church of S. Lorenzo at Florence, and in the ducal palaces, must be acknowledged to be the finest specimens of sculpture, in themselves forming schools of the revived art. I will not extol them so highly as Vasari does the colossal David, placed near the Palazzo Vecchio, when he says "that it bore away the palm from every statue, modern or ancient, either Grecian or Roman;" nor shall I follow his annotator, Bottari, in whose judgment Bonarruoti has greatly surpassed the Greeks, who are not so successful in statues larger than the life. I have heard competent judges remark, that we do an injury to the Grecian masters, not only by preferring any modern to them, but even by comparing them; but my pen ought not to wander too far from the canvass and from colouring.