In his account of this writer Orlandi inserted several erroneous epochs of his life, subsequently cleared up by Bianconi, who fixes that of his loss of sight about 1571, in the thirty-third year of his age. Until this misfortune he had continued to cultivate all the knowledge he could derive from those times, which indeed in certain branches are in some measure undervalued. He took a tour through Italy, attaching himself to polite letters and to the sciences, for which he indulged such an enthusiasm, in his ill placed ambition to appear a philosopher, astrologer, and mathematician, that he treated matters even the most obvious in an abstruse and often false manner, as mistaken as the principles of the current astrology itself. This defect is very perceptible in his larger work, though being dispersed scantily here and there, it is the more easily excused. But it is more serious in his compendium, or Idea of the Temple of Painting, where it is presented to us in a point of view truly repugnant to common sense. Whilst engaged in teaching an art which consists in designing and colouring well, he flies from planet to planet; to each of the seven painters, whom he calls principals, he assigns one of these celestial bodies, and afterwards one of the metals to correspond. Extravagant as this idea is, he gave scope to still more strange fancies; so that with this method, combined with a most fatiguing prolixity, and the want of an exact index, his treatises have been little read. It would be well worth while to re-model this work, and to separate the fruit from the husk, as it abounds not only with much pleasing historical information, but with the best theories of art heard from the lips of those who knew both Leonardo and Gaudenzio, as well as with excellent observations upon the practice of the best masters, and much critical knowledge relating to the mythology, history, and customs of the ancients. His rules of perspective are particularly valuable. They were compiled from the MSS. of Foppa, of Zenale, of Mantegna, and of Vinci, (Tratt. p. 264); in addition to which he has preserved some fragments of Bramantino, who was extremely ingenious in this art, (p. 276). By these qualities, united to a certain ease of style, not so agreeable perhaps as that of Vasari, yet not so mysterious and obscure as that of Zuccaro, nor so mean as that of Boschini, the treatise of Lomazzo is deserving of attention, even from confessed masters, and of their selection of some of the best chapters for the benefit of their oldest pupils. I know of no other better adapted to furnish youthful genius with fine pictoric ideas on every theme, none more likely to attach him, and to instruct him how to treat questions upon ancient art, none that displays a more extensive acquaintance with the human heart—what are its passions, and by what signs they are manifested, and how they assume a different dress in different countries, with their appropriate limits; and no writer, finally, includes, in a single volume, more useful precepts for the formation of a reflecting artist, a fine reasoner, in a spirit congenial to Vinci, at once the father of the Milanese School, and I may add of pictoric philosophy, which consists in sound reflection upon each branch of the profession.
None of Lomazzo's paintings are doubtful, as the author has celebrated his own life and works in certain verses, composed, as I have reason to think, to beguile the tedium of hours wholly passed in darkness, and which he entitled Grotteschi.[57] His first efforts, as in all instances, are feeble, of which kind is his copy of Vinci's Supper, which may be seen at the Pace. In his others we trace the hand of a master eager to put his maxims into execution, and who succeeds more or less happily. One of the most fundamental of these was to consider as dangerous the imitation of other artists, whether taken from paintings or engravings. It is contended that an artist should aim at becoming original, forming the whole of his composition in his own mind, and copying the individual portions from nature and from truth. This precept, first derived from Gaudenzio, was put in force both by Lomazzo and others of his own time. In his pictures we may always discover some original traits, as in that at S. Marco's, where, instead of putting the keys in the hands of S. Peter, according to the usual custom, he represents the Holy Child offering them to him in a playful attitude. His novelty appears still more conspicuous in his large histories, such as his Sacrifice of Melchisedech, in the library of the Passione, a picture abounding with figures, in which the knowledge of anatomy is equal to the novelty of the drapery, and the animation of the colours to that of the attitudes. He has added to it a combat in the distance, well conceived, and in good perspective. I have seen no other painting of his that displays more knowledge. In other instances he is confused and overloaded, sometimes also extravagant, as in that grand fresco painted for the refectory of S. Agostino at Piacenza, or as it is called of the Rocchettini, which represents the subject of the Forty Days' Fast. This is an ideal feast of meagre meats, where the sovereigns are seen in different seats (some of them portraits of the age), with lords of rank feasting at a splendid banquet of fish, while the poor are devouring such food as they have, and a greedy man is struggling with a huge mouthful sticking in his throat. The Lord blesses the table, and above is seen the sheet which was shewn in a vision to S. Peter. It is a grand picture, calculated to surprise the eye by the exactness with which the particular parts are copied from nature, and with a delicacy that Girupeno asserts was unequalled even by Lomazzo in the works he executed at Milan. But it is not happy as a whole; the canvass is too full, and there is a mixture of sacred and burlesque subjects, from scripture and from the tavern, that cannot be reconciled or approved.
Lomazzo gives the names of two Milanese as his pupils, Cristoforo Ciocca and Ambrogio Figino. He could not long have afforded them his instructions, as at the period when he wrote his treatise, being then blind, they were both still in early youth. He commends them for their portraits, and the first would appear never to have been an able composer, having left, perhaps, no other pieces in public, except his histories of S. Cristoforo, at S. Vittore al Corpo, by no means excellent. Figino succeeded no less admirably in portraits, which he painted also for princes, with high commendation from the Cav. Marino, than in large compositions almost always executed in oil, and more distinguished by the excellence than by the number of the figures. Some of his pictures, as his S. Ambrogio, at S. Austorgio, or his S. Matteo, at S. Raffaello, though presenting few figures, fail not to please by the grandeur of character expressed in the faces of those saints; nor has any other artist of Milan approached in this art nearer to Gaudenzio who left such noble examples in his S. Girolamo and S. Paolo. In works of a larger scale, such as his Assumption at S. Fedele, and the very elegant Concezione at S. Antonio, he also excels. His method is described by his preceptor, in his Treatise, (p. 438). He proposed for his imitation the lights and the accuracy of Leonardo, the dignity of Raffaello, Coreggio's colouring, and the outlines of Michelangiolo. Of the last in particular he was one of the most successful imitators in his designs, which are consequently in the highest repute; but independent of which he is little known, either in collections or in history, further than Milan. This artist must not be mistaken for Girolamo Figino, his contemporary, a very able painter, and an exact miniaturist, if we are to credit Morigia. There is also ranked, among Lomazzo's disciples, a Pietro Martire Stresi, who acquired some reputation by his copies from Raffaello.
The other branch of Gaudenzio's school, before mentioned, sprung from Bernardino Lanini of Vercelli, who there produced some excellent early imitations of the style of Gaudenzio, his master. At S. Giuliano there is a Pietà, with the date of 1547, which might be ascribed to Gaudenzio, had not the name of Bernardino been affixed. It is the same with his other pictures, executed at his native place, when still young, and perhaps the chief distinction consists in his inferior accuracy of design, and less force of chiaroscuro. At a riper age he painted with more freedom, and a good deal in the manner of the naturalists, ranking among the first in Milan. He had a very lively genius both for conceiving and executing, and adapted like that of Ferrari for noble histories. The one of S. Catherine, in the church of that name, near S. Celso, is greatly celebrated, and the more so, from what Lomazzo has said of it, being full of pictoric spirit in the features and the attitudes, with colouring like Titian's, and embued with grace, no less in the face of the saint, which partakes of Guido, than in the choir of angels, which rivals those of Gaudenzio. If there be any portion deficient, it is in the want of more care in arranging his drapery. He was much employed, both for the city and the state, particularly at the cathedral of Novara, where he painted his Sibyllo, and his Padre Eterno, so greatly admired by Lomazzo; besides several histories of the Virgin, which though now deprived of their colour, still attract us by the spirit and clearness of the design. He was sometimes fond of displaying the manner of Vinci, as in his picture of the Patient Christ, between two angels, painted for the church of Ambrogio; so complete in every part, so beautiful and devotional, combined with so fine a relief, as to be esteemed one of the most excellent productions that adorn that church.
Bernardino had two brothers, not known beyond Vercelli; Gaudenzio, of whom there is said to be an altar-piece in the Sacristy of the Padri Barnabiti representing the Virgin between various saints; and his second brother Girolamo, from whose hand I have seen a Descent from the Cross, belonging to a private individual. Both display some distant resemblance to Bernardino in the natural expression of the countenances, the former also in the force of his colouring, though alike greatly inferior in design. Three other Giovenoni, subsequent to Girolamo, flourished about the period of Lanini, whose names were Paolo, Batista, and Giuseppe; the last became an excellent portrait-painter. He was brother-in-law to Lanini, two of whose sons-in-law were likewise good artists; Soleri, whom I reserve for the school of Piedmont, and Gio. Martino Casa, a native of Vercelli, who resided, however, at Milan, whence I obtained my information. Perhaps the last in the list of this school was Vicolungo di Vercelli. In a private house at that place, I saw his Supper of Belshazzar, tolerably well coloured, abounding with figures, extravagant drapery, poor ideas, and no way calculated to surprise, except by exhibiting the successors of Raffaello reduced thus gradually to so mean a state.
Good landscape painters were not wanting in this happy epoch in Milan, particularly in the school of Bernazzano, their productions appearing in several collections, though their names are unknown. To this list perhaps belongs the Francesco Vicentino, a Milanese so much commended by Lomazzo, who, in a landscape, succeeded even in shewing the dust blown about by the wind. He was also a good figure-painter, of which a few fine specimens remain at the Grazie and other churches. Some ornamental painters and of grotesques we have already noticed, to which list we may add Aurelio Buso, mentioned with praise among the native Venetian artists, and here again justly recorded for his labours. Vincenzio Lavizzario, an excellent portrait-painter, may be esteemed the Titian of the Milanese, to whose name we may unite that of Gio. da Monte of Crema, treated in the preceding book, and deserving of repetition here. Along with him flourished Giuseppe Arcimboldi, selected for his skill in portrait, as the court-painter of Maximilian II., in which office he continued also under the emperor Rodolph. Both these artists were much celebrated for those capricci, or fancy pieces, which afterwards fell into disuse. At a distance they appeared to be figures of men and women; but on a nearer view the Flora disappeared in a heap of flowers and leaves, and the Vertumnus was metamorphosed into a composition of fruits and foliage. Nor did these fanciful artists confine themselves to subjects taken from ancient fable; they added others in which they poetically introduced various personifications. The former even represented Cucina, with her head and limbs composed only of pots and pans and other kitchen utensils; while the latter, who acquired great credit from these strange inventions, produced a picture of Agriculture, consisting of spades, ploughs, and scythes, with other appropriate implements.
We have lastly to record an art connected with the inferior branches of painting, scarcely noticed by me in any other place, being, indeed, purposely reserved for the Milanese School, where it more particularly flourished. This is the art of embroidering, not merely flowers and foliage, but extensive history and figure-pieces. It had continued from the time of the Romans in Italy, and there is a very valuable specimen remaining in the so called Casula Dittica, at the Museo di Classe at Ravenna, or more properly some strips of it brocaded with gold, on which, in needlework, appear the portraits of Zenone, Montano, and other saintly bishops. It is a monument of the sixth century, and has been described by the Ab. Sarti, and afterwards by Monsig. Dionisi. The same custom of embroidering sacred walls with figures would appear, from the ancient pictures, to have continued during the dark ages, and there are yet some relics to be seen in some of our Sacristies. The most entire are at S. Niccolo Collegiata in Fabriano, consisting of a priest's cope, with figures of apostles and different saints; and a vestment with mysteries of the passion, worked in embroidery, with the dry and coarse design of the fourteenth century. In Vasari we find frequent mention of this art; and, to say nothing of the ancients, he presents us with many names greatly distinguished in it in more cultivated ages: such as Paolo da Verona, and one Niccolo Veneziano, who being in the service of the Prince Doria, at Genoa, introduced Perin del Vaga at that court, as well as Antonio Ubertini, a Florentine, to whom we alluded under his own school.
Lomazzo traces the account of the Milanese from the earliest period. Luca Schiavone, he observes, carried this branch to the highest degree, and communicated it to Girolamo Delfinone, who flourished in the times of the last Duke Sforza, whose portrait he executed in embroidery, besides several large works, among which is the life of our lady, worked for the cardinal Baiosa. This skill became hereditary in the family, and Scipione, the son of Girolamo, was equally distinguished. His chases of different animals were in great request for royal cabinets, a number of them being collected by Philip of Spain and the English King Henry. Marcantonio, son of Scipione, followed the genius of the family, and is mentioned by Lomazzo in 1591 as a youth of great promise. This writer has also praised for her skill in the same line, Caterina Cantona, a noble Milanese lady, and has omitted the name of Pellegrini, the Minerva of her time, only perhaps because she had then hardly become celebrated. Other individuals of this house are mentioned in the list of artists. Andrea, who painted in the choir of S. Girolamo, and a Pellegrino his cousin, celebrated in the history of Palomino for his productions in the Escurial, and being both architect and painter to the royal court. The lady of whom I write, how far related to them I know not, devoted herself wholly to her needle, and by her hand were embroidered the great pallium (vestment) and other sacred furniture, still preserved in the sacristy of the cathedral, and exhibited to strangers with other curious specimens of ancient learning and the arts. In the Guide for 1783, she is called Antonia, and in that for 1787 Lodovica, unless, indeed, they were two different persons. In the following age Boschini mentioned, with high commendation, the unrivalled Dorothea Aromatari, who, he adds, produced with her needle all those beauties which the finest and most diligent artists exhibited with their pencil. To hers he unites with praise the names of some other female embroiderers of the age; and we, in mentioning that of Arcangela Paladini, had occasion to commend her paintings and her needlework at the same time.
[48] Amoretti, Memorie Storiche di Leonardo da Vinci, p. 20.
[49] This work was reprinted at Florence, together with the figures, 1792, an edition taken from a copy in the hand of Stefano della Bella, belonging to the Riccardi library. It was published by the learned librarian, the Ab. Fontani, with the eulogy of Vinci, abounding with information on his life and paintings, as well as on his designs attached to it. To this is added the eulogy of Stefano, and a Dissertation of Lami upon the Italian painters and sculptors who flourished between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries.