NEAPOLITAN SCHOOL.
FOURTH EPOCH.
Luca Giordano, Solimene, and their scholars.
A little beyond the middle of the 17th century, Luca Giordano began to flourish in Naples. This master, though he did not excel his contemporaries in his style, surpassed them all in good fortune, for which he was indebted to his vast talents, confidence, and unbounded powers of invention, which Maratta considered unrivalled and unprecedented. In this he was eminently gifted by nature from his earliest youth. Antonio, his father, placed him first under the instructions of Ribera, and afterwards under Cortona in Rome,[[121]] and having conducted him through all the best schools of Italy, he brought him home rich in designs and in ideas. His father was an indifferent painter, and being obliged in Rome to subsist by his son's labours, whose drawings were at that time in the greatest request,[[122]] the only principle that he instilled into him was one dictated by necessity, despatch. A humorous anecdote is related, that Luca, when he was obliged to take refreshments, did not retire from his work, but, gaping like a young bird, gave notice to his father of the calls of hunger, who, always on the watch, instantly supplied him with food, at the same time reiterating with affectionate solicitude, Luca fa presto. Upon this incident he was always afterwards known by the name of Luca fa presto, among the students in Rome, and which is also his most frequent appellation in the history of the art. By means like these, Antonio acquired for his son a portentous celerity of hand, from which quality he has been called il Fulmine della pittura. The truth however is, that this despatch was not derived wholly from rapidity of pencil, but was aided by the quickness of his imagination, as Solimene often observed, by which he was enabled to ascertain, from the first commencement of his work, the result he proposed to himself, without hesitating to consider the component parts, or doubting, proving, and selecting like other painters. He also obtained the name of the Proteus of painting, from his extraordinary talent in imitating every known manner, the consequence of his strong memory, which retained every thing he had once seen. There are numerous instances of pictures painted by him in the style of Albert Durer, Bassano, Titian, and Rubens, with which he imposed on connoisseurs and on his rivals, who had more cause than any other persons to be on their guard against him. These pictures are valued by dealers at more than double or triple the price of pictures of his own composition. There are examples of them even in the churches at Naples; as the two pictures in the style of Guido at S. Teresa, and particularly that of the Nativity. There is also at the court of Spain a Holy Family, so much resembling Raffaello, that, as Mengs says in a letter, (tom. ii. p. 67,) whoever is not conversant with the quality of beauty essential to the works of that great master, would be deceived by the imitation of Giordano.
He did not however permanently adopt any of these styles as his own. At first he evidently formed himself on Spagnoletto; afterwards, as in a picture of the Passion at S. Teresa a little before mentioned, he adhered to Paul Veronese; and he ever retained the maxim of that master, by a studied decoration to excite astonishment, and to fascinate the eye. From Cortona he seems to have taken his contrast of composition, the great masses of light, and the frequent repetition of the same features, which, in his female figures, he always copied from his wife. In other respects he aimed at distinguishing himself from every other master by a novel mode of colouring. He was not solicitous to conform to the true principles of art; his style is not natural either in tone or colour, and still less so in its chiaroscuro, in which Giordano formed for himself a manner ideal and wholly arbitrary. He pleased, notwithstanding, by a certain deceptive grace and attraction, which few attempt, and which none have found it easy to imitate. Nor did he recommend this style to his scholars, but on the contrary reproved them when he saw them disposed to imitate him, telling them that it was not the province of young students to penetrate so far. He was well acquainted with the principles of design, but would not be at the trouble of observing them; and in the opinion of Dominici, if he had adhered to them too rigidly he would have enfeebled that spirit which is his greatest merit; an excuse which perhaps will not appear satisfactory to every amateur. Another reason may with more probability of truth be assigned, which was his unbounded cupidity, and his habit of not refusing commissions from the meanest quarter, which led him to abuse his facility to the prejudice of his reputation. Hence, among other things, he has been accused of having often painted superficially, without impasto, and with a superabundance of oil, so that some of his pictures have almost disappeared from the canvass.
Naples abounds with the works of Giordano both public and private. There is scarcely a church in that great city which does not boast some work by him. A much admired piece is the Expulsion of the sellers and buyers from the Temple at the P. P. Girolamini: the architectural parts of which are painted by Moscatiello, a good perspective painter. Of his frescos, those at the Treasury of the Certosa are esteemed the best. They were executed by him when his powers were matured, and appear to unite in themselves all the best qualities of the artist. Every one must be forcibly struck by the picture of the Serpent raised in the desert, and the throng of Israelites, who, assailed in a horrible manner, turn to it for relief. The other pictures on the walls and in the vault, all scriptural, are equally powerful in effect. The cupola of S. Brigida is also extolled, which was painted in competition with Francesco di Maria, and in so very short a time, and with such fascinating tints, that it was preferred by the vulgar to the work of that accomplished master, and thus served to diffuse less solid principles among the rising artists. As a miracle of despatch we are also shewn the picture of S. Saverio, painted for the church of that saint in a day and a half, full of figures, and as beautiful in colour as any of his pictures. Luca went to Florence to paint the Capella Corsini and the Riccardi Gallery, besides many works in the churches and for individuals, particularly for the noble house of Rosso, who possessed the Baccanali of Giordano, afterwards removed to the palace of the Marchese Gino Capponi. He was also employed by the Grand Duke; and Cosmo III., in whose presence he designed and painted a large picture in less time than I dare mention, complimented him by saying that he was a fit painter for a sovereign prince. The same eulogium was passed on him by Charles II. of Spain, in whose court he resided thirteen years; and, to judge from the number of works he left there, it might be supposed that he had consumed a long life in his service. He continued and finished the series of paintings begun by Cambiasi of Genoa, in the church of the Escurial, and ornamented the vault, the cupola, and the walls with many scriptural subjects, chiefly from the life of Solomon. He painted some other large compositions in fresco in a church of S. Antonio, in the palace of Buonritiro, in the Hall of the Ambassadors; and for the Queen Mother a Nativity, most highly finished, which is said to be a surprising picture, and perhaps superior to any other of his painting. If all his works had been executed with similar care, the observation, that his example had corrupted the Spanish School, might perhaps have been spared.[[123]] In his old age he returned to his native place, loaded with honours and riches, and died lamented and regretted as the greatest genius of his age.
His school produced but few designers of merit; most of them were contaminated by the maxim of their master, that it is the province of a painter to please the public, and that their favour is more easily won by colour than by correct design; so that, without much attention to the latter, they gave themselves entirely to facility of hand. His favorite scholars were Aniello Rossi of Naples, and Matteo Pacelli della Basilicata, whom he took with him to Spain as assistants, and who returned with him home with handsome pensions, and lived after in leisure and independence. Niccolo Rossi of Naples became a good designer and colourist in the style of his master, although somewhat too red in his tints. In some of his more important works, as in the soffitto of the royal chapel, Giordano assisted him with his designs. He painted much for private individuals, and was considered next to Reco in his drawings of animals. The Guida of Naples commends him and Tommaso Fasano, for their skill in painting in distemper some very fine works for Santi Sepolcri and Quarantore. Giuseppe Simonelli, originally a servant of Giordano, became an accurate copyist of his works, and an excellent imitator of his colouring. He did not succeed in design, though he is praised for a S. Niccola di Tolentino in the church of Montesanto, which approaches to the best and most correct manner of Giordano. Andrea Miglionico had more facility of invention, and equal taste in colour, but he has less grace than Simonelli. Andrea also painted in many churches in Naples, and I find him highly commended for his picture of the Pentecost in the S. S. Nunziata. A Franceschitto, a Spaniard, was so promising an artist that Luca was accustomed to say, that he would prove a greater man than his master. But he died very young, leaving in Naples a favourable specimen of his genius in the S. Pasquale, which he painted in S. Maria del Monte. It contains a beautiful landscape, and a delightful choir of angels.
But his first scholar, in point of excellence, was Paolo de' Matteis, mentioned also by Pascoli among the best scholars of Morandi, and an artist who might vie with the first of his age. He was invited to France, and during the three years that he resided there, obtained considerable celebrity in the court and in the kingdom at large. He was then engaged by Benedict XIII. to come to Rome, where he painted at the Minerva and at the Ara Cœli. He decorated other cities also with his works, particularly Genoa, which has two very valuable pictures by him at S. Girolamo; the one, that saint appearing and speaking to S. Saverio in a dream; the other, the Immaculate Conception with an angelic choir, as graceful as ever was painted. His home was, notwithstanding, in Naples, and that is the place where we ought to view him. He there decorated with his frescos the churches, galleries, halls, and ceilings in great number; often rivalling the celerity without attaining the merit of his master. It was his boast to have painted in sixty-six days a large cupola, that of the Gesù Nuovo, a few years since taken down in consequence of its dangerous state; a boast which, when Solimene heard, he sarcastically replied, that the work declared the fact itself without his mentioning it. Nevertheless there were so many beauties in it in the style of Lanfranco, that its rapid execution excited admiration.
When he worked with care, as in the church of the Pii Operai, in the Matalona Gallery, and in many pictures for private individuals, he left nothing to desire, either in his composition, in the grace of his contour, in the beauty of his countenances, though there was little variety in the latter, or in any of the other estimable qualities of a painter. His colouring was at first Giordanesque; afterwards he painted with more force of chiaroscuro, but with a softness and delicacy of tint, particularly in the madonnas and children, where he sometimes displays the sweetness of Albano, and a trace of the Roman School, in which he had also studied. He was not very happy in his scholars, who were not numerous. Giuseppe Mastroleo is the most distinguished, who is much praised for his S. Erasmus at S. Maria Nuova. Gio. Batista Lama was a fellow disciple, and afterwards a relative of Matteis, and received some assistance from him in his studies. Excited by the example of Paolo, he attained a suavity of colour and of chiaroscuro, much praised in his larger works, as the gallery of the Duke of S. Niccola Gaeta, and particularly in his pictures of small figures in collections. In these he was fond of representing mythological stories, and they are not unfrequent in Naples and its territories.
Francesco Solimene, called L'Abate Ciccio, born at Nocera de' Pagani, was the son of Angelo, a scholar of Massimo. Early imbibing a love of painting, he forsook the study of letters, and after receiving the first rudiments of the art from his father, he repaired to Naples. He there entered the school of Francesco di Maria, but soon left it, as he thought that master too exclusively devoted to design. He then frequented the academy of Po, where he industriously began at the same time to draw from the naked figure and to colour. Thus he may be said to have been the scholar of the best masters, as he always copied and studied their works. At first he imitated Pietro da Cortona, but afterwards formed a manner of his own, still retaining that master as his model, and copying entire figures from him, which he adapted to his new style. This new and striking style of Solimene approached nearer than any other to that of Preti. The design is not so correct, the colouring not so true, but the faces have more beauty: in these he sometimes imitated Guido, and sometimes Maratta, and they are often selected from nature. Hence by some he was called il Cav. Calabrese ringentilito. To the style of Preti he added that of Lanfranco, whom he named his master, and from whom he adopted that curving form of composition, which he perhaps carried beyond propriety. From these two masters he took his chiaroscuro, which he painted strong in his middle age, but softened as he advanced in years, and then attached himself more to facility and elegance of style. He carefully designed every part of his picture, and corrected it from nature before he coloured it; so that in preparing his works, he may be included among the most correct, at least in his better days, for he latterly declined into the general facility, and opened the way to mannerism. He possessed an elegant and fruitful talent of invention, for which he is celebrated by the poets of the day. He was also characterised by a sort of universality in every style he attempted, extending himself to every branch of the art; history, portrait, landscape, animals, fruit, architecture, utensils; and whatever he attempted, he seemed formed for that alone. As he lived till the age of ninety, and was endowed with great celerity of pencil, his works, like those of Giordano, were spread over all Europe. Of that artist he was at the same time the competitor and the friend, less powerful in genius, but more correct in his principles. When Giordano died, and Solimene became the first painter in Italy, notwithstanding what his rivals said of his colours not being true to nature, he began to ask extravagant prices for his pictures, and still abounded in commissions.