Domenichino Zampieri, to his talents as a painter, added commensurate powers of instruction. Besides Alessandro Fortuna, who under the direction of his master painted some fables from Apollo, in the villa Aldobrandini in Frescati, and died young, Zampieri had in Rome two scholars of great repute, mentioned only by Bellori; Antonio Barbalunga, of Messina, and Andrea Camassei of Bevagna, both of whom honoured their country with their name and works, although they did not live many years. The first was a happy imitator of his master, who had long employed him in copying for himself. In the church of the P. P. Teatini, at Monte Cavallo, is his picture of their Founder, and of S. Andrea Avellino, attended by angels, which might be ascribed to Zampieri himself, whose forms in this class of subjects were select, and his attitudes elegant, and most engaging. To him I shall return in the fourth book. The second, who had also studied in the school of Sacchi, lived longer in Rome; and whoever wishes justly to appreciate him, must not judge from the chapel which he painted whilst yet young in his native place, but must inspect his works in the capital. There, in S. Andrea della Valle, is the S. Gaetano, painted at the same time, and in competition with the S. Andrea of Barbalunga, before mentioned with commendation; the Assumption at the Rotonda, and the Pietà at the Capucins; and many excellent frescos in the Baptistery of the Lateran, and in the church of S. Peter; which evince that he had almost an equal claim to fame with his comrade. If, indeed, he was somewhat less bold, and less select, yet he had a natural style, a grace, and a tone of colour, that do honour to the Roman School, to which he contributed Giovanni Carbone, of S. Severino, a scholar of some note. It has been remarked, that his fate resembles that of Domenichino, as his merits were undervalued, and himself persecuted by his relatives, and he was also prematurely cut off by domestic afflictions.
Francesco Cozza was born in Calabria, but settled in Rome. He was the faithful companion of Domenichino during the life of that master, and after his death completed some works left unfinished by that artist, and executed them in the genuine spirit of his departed friend, as may be seen in Titi. He appears to have inherited from his teacher his learning rather than his taste. One of his most beautiful pictures is the Virgin del Riscatto at S. Francesca Romana a Capo alle Case. Out of Rome there are few public or private works to be met with by him. He was considered exceedingly expert in his knowledge of the hands of the different masters, and on disputed points, which often arose on this subject in Rome, his opinion was always asked and acted on, without any appeal from his judgment. Of Pietro del Po, also a disciple of Domenichino, and of his family, we shall speak more at large in the fourth book.
Giannangiolo Canini, of Rome, was first instructed by Domenichino, and afterwards by Barbalunga, and would have obtained a great reputation for his inventive genius, if, seduced by the study of antiquities, he had not for his pleasure taken a short way to the art; which led him to neglect the component parts, and to satisfy himself with a general harmonious effect. He possessed, however, great force and energy in subjects which required it, as in the Martyrdom of S. Stephen at S. Martino a' Monti. The works which he executed with the greatest labour and care, were some sacred and profane subjects, which he was commissioned to paint for the Queen of Sweden. But although he was appointed painter to that court, and was also a great favourite with the queen, it should seem that he did not much exercise his profession either for her or others, as his great pleasure was in designing from the antique. He filled a large volume with a collection of portraits of illustrious ancients, and heads of the heathen deities, from gems and marbles. This book, the Cardinal Chigi having carried it with him into France, he presented to Louis XIV., and received a collar of gold as a remuneration for it. On his return to Rome he was intending to eulogize the queen in verse, and to continue in prose the lives of the painters, which he had in part prepared when he died. His biographical work probably afforded assistance to Passeri or to Bellori, his intimate friends.
With Canini worked Giambatista Passeri, a Roman, a man of letters, and who became afterwards a secular priest. It is recorded, that in the early part of his life he lived on very intimate terms with Domenichino at Frescati, and he adhered much to his style. There exists by him a Crucifixion between two Saints at S. Giovanni della Malva, but no other work in public, as most of his pictures are in private collections. In the Palazzo Mattei are some pictures representing butcher's meat, birds, and game, touched with a masterly pencil; to these are added some half figures, and also some sparrows (passere), in allusion to his name. There is also, by his hand, at the academy of S. Luke, the portrait of Domenichino, painted on the occasion of his funeral; on which occasion Passeri, and not Passerino, as Malvasia states, recited a funeral oration, and probably paid some poetical tribute to his memory, since he was accustomed to write both verse and prose as Bellori did; and his silence on the Lives of Bellori, which had then appeared, and which he had numerous opportunities of noticing, probably arose from feelings of jealousy. He is esteemed one of the most authentic writers on Italian art; and if Mariette expressed himself dissatisfied with him, (v. Lett. Pitt. tom. vi. p. 10,) it probably arose from his having seen only his Life of Pietro da Cortona, which was left unfinished by the author. He possessed a profound knowledge of the principles of art, was just in his criticisms, accurate in his facts; if, indeed, as has been pretended by a writer in the Pittoriche Lettere, he did not in some degree depreciate Lanfranc, in order to raise his own master, Zampieri. His work contains the lives of many painters, at that time deceased, and was published anonymously, it is supposed, by Bottari, who in many places shortened it, and improved the style, which was too elaborate, containing useless preambles, and was occasionally too severe against Bernino and others, on which account the work remained unedited for more than a century.
Vincenzio Manenti, of Sabina, who was first the scholar of Cesari, and afterwards of Domenichino, left many works in his native place. Some pictures by him are to be seen in Tivoli, as the S. Stefano in the Duomo, and the S. Saverio at the Gesù, which do not exhibit him as an artist of very great genius, but assiduous and expert in colouring. Of Ruggieri, of Bologna, we shall speak elsewhere.
Guido cannot be said to have contributed much to the Roman School, except in leaving in the capital a great number of works displaying that charm of style, and distinguished by that superhuman beauty, which were his characteristics. We are told of two scholars who came to him at the same time from Perugia, Giandomenico Cerrini, and Luigi, the son of Giovanni Antonio Scaramuccia. The pictures of Cerrini, (who was commonly called Il Cav. Perugino) were frequently touched by his master Guido, and passed for originals of that artist, and were much sought after. In his other works he varies, having sometimes followed the elder Scaramuccia. His fellow disciple is more consistent. He displays grace in every part of his work, and if he does not soar, still he does not fall to the ground. There are many of his paintings in Perugia, both in public and private, amongst which is a Presentation at the Filippini, from all accounts a beautiful performance. He left many works in Milan, where in the church of S. Marco, is a S. Barbera by him; a large composition, and extremely well coloured. He published a book in Pavia, in 1654, which he intituled Le Finezze de' Pennelli Italiani. It is full, says the Abbate Bianconi, di buona volontà pittorica. It possesses nevertheless some interesting remarks.
Gio. Batista Michelini, called Il Folignate, is almost forgotten in this catalogue; but there are in Gubbio various works by him, and particularly a Pietà, worthy of the school of Guido. Macerata possessed a noble disciple of Guido, in the person of the Cav. Sforza Compagnoni, by whose hand there is, in the academy de' Catinati, the device of that society, which might be taken for a design of Guido. He gave a picture to the church of S. Giorgio, which is still there, and presented a still more beautiful one to the church of S. Giovanni, which was long to be seen over the great altar, but is now in the possession of the Conte Cav. Mario Compagnoni. Malvasia mentions him in the life of Viola, but makes him a scholar of Albano. The Ginesini boast of Cesare Renzi, as a respectable scholar of Guido, and, in the church of S. Tommaso, they shew a picture of that saint by his hand. In addition to the scholars of Guido, whose names have been handed down to us, I shall here beg leave to add an imitator of Guido, who from the time in which he flourished, and from his noble style of colour, probably belonged to the same school. I found his name subscribed Giorgio Giuliani da Cività Castellana, 161.., on a large picture of the Martyrdom of S. Andrew, which Guido painted for the Camaldolesi di S. Gregorio at Rome: and which this artist copied for the celebrated monastery of the Camaldolesi all'Avellana. It is exposed in the refectory, and notwithstanding the dampness of the place, maintains a freshness of colour very unusual in pictures of that antiquity.
The Cav. Gio. Lanfranco came to Rome whilst yet young, and there formed that free and noble style, which served to decorate many cupolas and noble edifices, and which pleases also in his cabinet pictures when he executed them with care. Giacinto Brandi di Poli was his most celebrated scholar in Rome. He at first adopted his master's moderate tone of colour, the variety and contrast of his composition, and his flowing pencil; but in consequence of his filling, as he did, Rome and the state with his works, he neglected correctness of design, and never arrived at that grandeur of style which we admire in Lanfranc. He sometimes indeed went beyond himself, as in the S. Rocco of the Ripetta, and in the forty martyrs of the Stigmata in Rome; but his inordinate love of gain would not allow him to finish many works in the same good style. I have been informed by a connoisseur, on whose opinion I can rely, that the best works of this artist are at Gaeta, where he painted at the Nunziata a picture of the Madonna with the Holy Infant; and where, in the inferior part of the Duomo, he painted in the vault three recesses and ten angles, adding over the altar the picture of the martyrdom of S. Erasmus, bishop of the city, who was buried in that church. Brandi did not perpetuate the taste of his school, not leaving any pupil of eminence except Felice Ottini, who painted in his youth a chapel at the P. P. di Gesù e Maria, and did not long survive that work. Orlandi also mentions a Carlo Lamparelli di Spello, who left in Rome a picture at the church of the Spirito Santo, but nothing further. An Alessandro Vaselli also left some works in another church in Rome.
After Brandi, we ought to commemorate Giacomo Giorgetti, of Assisi, who is little known beyond his native city, and the neighbouring towns. He is said to have first studied the art of design in Rome, when he learned colouring from Lanfranc, and became a good fresco painter. There is by him in a chapel of the Duomo at Assisi, a large composition in fresco, and in the sacristy of the Conventuals, various subjects from the Life of the Virgin, also in fresco; works coloured in a fine style, and much more finished than was usual with Lanfranc. If there be any fault to be found with them, it is the proportions of the figures, which not unfrequently incline to awkwardness. His name is found in the Descrizione della Chiesa di S. Francesco di Perugia, together with that of Girolamo Marinelli, his fellow citizen and contemporary, of whom I never found any other notice.
Lanfranc instructed in Rome a noble lady, who filled the church of S. Lucia with her pictures. These were designed by her master, and coloured by herself. Her name was Caterina Ginnasi. There were also with Lanfranc in Rome, Mengucci, of Pesaro, and others, who afterwards left Rome, and will be mentioned by us elsewhere. Some have added to these Beinaschi, but he was only an excellent copyist and imitator, as we shall see in the fourth book. At the same time, we may assert, that none of the Caracci school had a greater number of followers than Lanfranc; as Pietro di Cortona, the chief of a numerous family, derived much of his style from him, and the whole tribe of machinists adopted him as their leader, and still regard him as their prototype.