Next to the pictures of Tommaso, ought to be enumerated an altar-piece by Barnaba da Modena, preserved together with the author's name in Alba, and dated 1377, a piece by one writer supposed anterior to Giotto; and in addition to this an Ancona, from the hand of Serafino de' Serafini da Modena, containing various busts and entire figures, with the name also of the painter, and the year 1385. It is placed in the cathedral, and its principal subject is the Incoronation of the Virgin. In its composition it very nearly resembles that of Giotto and his school, of which, indeed, more than of any other, the whole character of the piece partakes, only the figures are, perhaps, a little more full, and as it were better fed than those of the Florentine School. If the origin of such resemblance should be sought for, let us consider that Giotto not only employed himself in the adjacent city of Bologna, but likewise in Ferrara, which, together with Modena, was then subject to the house of Este, so that one city might easily afford precepts and examples to another.
Vasari remarked at Modena some ancient paintings at S. Dominico, and he might have seen more in possession of the Padri Benedettini, and elsewhere; from which he judged, that "in every age there had been excellent artists in that place." Their names, which were unknown to Vasari, have in part been collected from MSS., consisting of a Tommaso Bassini,[5] whose age and productions are uncertain, and some others of the fourteenth century, approaching nearer to a more improved era. One of these was Andrea Campana, to whom a work, bearing the initials of his name, in the Colorno Villa of the Duke of Parma, has been attributed, representing the acts of S. Piero Martire, a piece extremely pleasing and well coloured. Another is Bartolommeo Bonasia, excellent both in painting and inlaid work, a specimen of which he left in a picture placed in the convent of S. Vincenzo. There are, moreover, in Sassuolo, some notices of Raffaello Calori of Modena, beginning in 1452 and terminating in 1474; besides a picture of the Virgin in the best manner of those times, during which he was in the service of Duke Borso. Later than him flourished Francesco Magagnolo, an artist who terminated his career early in the sixteenth century, and one of the first who drew countenances in such a manner as to appear looking at the spectator, in whatever point of view he might observe them. His contemporaries, it appears, were Cecchino Setti, whose labours have wholly perished, with the exception of a few altar-ornaments, in the most finished taste; Nicoletto da Modena, at once a painter, and one of the very earliest engravers, whose prints are much sought after for cabinets, and are placed at the head of collections; Giovanni Munari, commended by historians, and distinguished for the great name of his son and pupil Pellegrino; and finally Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, who died in 1510. To this last has been ascribed the honour of instructing Coreggio, which, however, can by no means be asserted beyond dispute. One of his altar-pieces was formerly to be seen in S. Francesco, executed with some degree of modern softness, though still partaking of the ancient stiffness, and the eyes designed without a due regard to rotundity.
In the smaller capitals, also, about this period, flourished artists of considerable merit. Reggio still boasts a Madonna of Loreto, painted in the dome by the hand of Bernardino Orsi, with the date of 1501; while in S. Tommaso, and elsewhere, we meet with some paintings of Simone Fornari, also called Moresini, and of Francesco Caprioli. I mention them here, not so much on account of the period which they adorned, as for the resemblance of their manner to the two Francia, more especially Fornari; many of his pictures having been attributed to those distinguished ornaments of Bologna.
Carpi, likewise, preserves several relics of the ancient arts: besides a frieze in the rudest style of sculpture, in the facade of the old cathedral, a work of the twelfth century. To the same church is attached two chapels, exhibiting the commencement and the progress of painting in those parts. In one is seen the spousals of Santa Caterina, a piece so extremely infantile, that it would be difficult to find a similar example in Italy. The painting upon the walls is, however, superior; displaying an original style, no less in the drapery than in the ideas, and forcible in its action. The other chapel is divided into various niches, with the effigy of a saint in each; and in this work, which is the latest of the two, appear some traces of the style of Giotto. There is no nomenclature giving us any account of artists so very ancient. The list of the school commences with Bernardino Loschi, who, sprung from a family in Parma, signs his own name, Carpense, in some of his pictures. Without such elucidation, these might have been pronounced the works of one or other of the Francia. Loschi was employed in the service of Alberto Pio; and there exist memorials of him from the year 1495 until 1533. There remains on record the name of one of his contemporaries, Marco Meloni, one of the most accurate of artists, of whom every thing may be included in the observation, that his pictures at S. Bernardino, and elsewhere, partake in the same degree of the Bolognese manner. Probably he was a pupil of that school, as well as Alessandro da Carpi, enumerated by Malvasia among the disciples of Costa.
Finally, Coreggio likewise cultivated the fine arts before Antonio Allegri came into the world. For not many years ago a fresco of tolerable execution was discovered in that cathedral, ascribed by tradition, to Lorenzo Allegri, who, in a letter of donation, subscribed by him in 1527, is called Magister Laurentius Filius Magistri Antonii de Allegris Pictor. This artist is believed to have been the first instructor of Antonio Allegri, his brother's son; and it is, at least, certain that he had a school in which he taught the rules of art to another of his nephews, as I have heard from the learned Dottore Antonioli, who is busied in preparing a life of his very distinguished fellow citizen. At present there are few paintings in Coreggio displaying the taste of the artists of the fourteenth century, from which we might judge of that school. A Madonna, painted in 1511, when Antonio Allegri had attained his seventeenth year, is, however, to be met with in the Catalogue of the Este Gallery, whither it had been transferred. It is attributed to Antonio Allegri, but there is no sufficient evidence of the fact; and we should have about equal authority for giving it to Lorenzo. The style is but middling, and in point of forms, the ancient character is not wholly laid aside in the folds of the drapery: it may, however, be pronounced of a softer tone than that of the chief part of its contemporaries, and nearer to the modern manner.
Before proceeding further, it will be right to inform the reader of a certain advantage that this tract of country, and Modena in particular, enjoyed from the commencement of the fifteenth century, consisting in the abundance of its excellent modellers in clay. Of this art, the parent of sculpture, and the nurse of painting, that city has since produced the most exquisite specimens in the world; and this, if I mistake not, is the most characteristic, rare, and admirable advantage of the school. Guido Mazzoni, otherwise Paganini, a name highly celebrated by Vasari, had the reputation of an excellent artist from the time he produced his Holy Family, at St. Margherita, in 1484, presenting statues of a vivacity and expression truly surprising. This great artificer was employed by Charles VIII., both in Naples and France, where he remained upwards of twenty years, retiring at length into his native country, full of honours, to terminate his days. No slight commendation has likewise been bestowed by the historian Lancillotto, upon Gio. Abati, father of Niccolo, and his contemporary, whose sacred images in chalk were held in the highest esteem; more particularly the crucifixions, executed with a knowledge of anatomy, most exact in every separate vein and nerve. He was nevertheless far surpassed by Antonio Begarelli, probably his pupil, who by his works in clay, with figures even larger than life, has succeeded in bearing away the palm from all his competitors. In the church and monastery of the Padri Benedettini, there is preserved a noble collection of them. As he flourished during a long period, he filled those churches with monuments, groups, and statues, to say nothing of others which he produced in Parma, Mantua, and other places. Vasari praises him for "the fine air of his heads, beautiful drapery, exquisite proportions, and colour of marble;" and the same author continues to relate, that they appeared so excellent to Bonarruoti that he said, "if this clay were only to become marble, woe betide the ancient statues." I am at a loss to imagine what species of eulogy could be more desirable to an artist; in particular when we reflect upon the profound science of Bonarruoti, and how tardy he was to praise. We ought not to omit to mention, that Begarelli was likewise excellent in design, and acted as a master, both of that and modelling, in the instruction of youth. Hence he greatly influenced the art of painting, and to him we are in a great measure to trace that correctness, that relief, that art of foreshortening, and that degree of grace approaching nearly to Raffaello's, in all of which this part of Lombardy boasted such a conspicuous share.
[4] It was believed some time ago that this painting was produced in 1297, this date being found on the picture, and Sig. Mechel having thus published it in his catalogue of the Royal Gallery at Vienna. Whether it still remains thus inserted I know not; but undoubtedly it ought not to be there.
[5] This information, taken from Tiraboschi, does not seem to favour the system of Father Federici, who says, that in the fourteenth century names were frequently shortened, adducing, at the same time, several examples, (vol. i. p. 53). He thus explains how Buzzaccarino became Bizzarrino, Barisino, Borasino, with many more strange terms in Trevigi. Now why might not this artist's name become Bassino, in Modena? And if in reading Tommaso di Bassino da Modena in the authorities of Tiraboschi, every one perceives the name of the painter, that of the father, and of the country to which he belonged; then why, on reading upon pictures Tommaso di Barisino, or Borisino, da Modena, are we bound to believe this last the name of a family; and so much more, as there were then few families distinguished by their surnames? Tommaso, therefore, wished it to be understood that he came from Modena; and if this became a surname which distinguished his family in Trevigi, it must have been at a later period, when he knew nothing of it.