SCHOOL OF BOLOGNA.
EPOCH II.
Various styles from the time of Francia to that of the Caracci.
Subsequent to the discovery of the new style, when every school of Italy was devoted to its cultivation in the track of one of its masters, the Bolognese artists having none at home from whom to acquire it, either removed elsewhere to study it under the eye of living masters, or, if remaining in their native place, they contrived to attain it from such foreigners as had there conducted, or at least sent thither their works. Of these they possessed, besides the St. Cecilia, and a few small paintings by Raffaello, other productions by his pupils, such as the St. John, coloured by Giulio, and the St. Zacchary, a work by Garofolo. Nor was it long before the Lombard style was introduced into Bologna, Parmigianino having there produced his St. Rocco and his St. Margaret, pictures which are enumerated among his happiest efforts, and Girolamo da Carpi, and Niccolo dell'Abate having long resided, and left there many fine specimens of their mixed style, between the Lombard and the Roman. Another artist sojourning there was Girolamo da Trevigi, an imitator of Raffaello, not without some mixture of Venetian taste, some of whose productions are still seen at Bologna. A still more constant resident there was Tommaso Laureti, a Sicilian, a pupil, according to Vasari, of Sebastian del Piombo, and assuredly a more powerful colourist than most of his age. He there conducted a number of works, and among others the painting of a recess di sotto in su, for the house of Vizzani, which Father Danti, commending Vignola's perspective, pronounces perfectly unique in its kind. At the same place he left compositions abounding in figures, displaying much fancy, not however to be placed in competition with the history of Brutus, which he afterwards completed, along with several more in the Campidoglio at Rome, where he long resided and taught. At Bologna is also the altar-piece of Boldraffio, pupil to Vinci, and various other pieces by a Florentine, who signs himself Iul. Flor. read by some for Julius, and by others Julianus. Possibly he might be that Giulian Bugiardini, poor both as inventor and composer, but excellent in point of copying and colouring. Whoever he may have been, the whole of his productions, particularly his St. John, which adorns the Sacristy of St. Stephen's, shew him to have been an imitator of Vinci, almost on a par with the Luini, and the best known Milanese artists. Michelangiolo shone there in the character of a statuary in the time of Julius II., but neither produced any paintings, nor left behind him, among artists, any wish for his return, having for some little indiscreet word treated Francia and Costa with the most sovereign contempt, in the same manner as at another period he criticised Pietro Perugino. His style, nevertheless, took root in Bologna within a very few years, no less from the studies pursued by Tibaldi at Rome, as will be seen, than from the examples left by Giorgio Vasari at San Michele in Bosco, in Bologna, in Michelangiolo's style. Nor did these examples prove more useful to the Bolognese than they had done to the Florentine artists; and here also they opened the path to a less correct style. It is known that Vasari's works were much commended there, and copied by young artists; that he had, moreover, assistants among the Bolognese, such as Bagnacavallo, the younger, and Fontana, who instructed not a few of his fellow citizens in the art. To these causes we may attribute the circumstance, that those Bolognese artists, nearest to the Caracci, were accustomed to colour, for the most part, like the Florentines of the third epoch, that several were extremely careless of the chiaroscuro, and frequently pursued the ideal and the practical, more than nature and truth. Yet these complaints do not apply either to so great a number of Bolognese, or to so long a period, as to give a different aspect to the whole epoch. The one which we are now about to describe, abounds with excellent artists; and to this shortly succeeded the epoch of the Caracci, which improved the good, and brought many extravagant artists into a correct method.
The earliest founders of the new school were Bartolommeo Ramenghi, called Bagnacavallo, being sprung from thence, and Innocenzio Francucci da Imola. Both educated by Francia, the former subsequently went to Rome, where we have given an account of him among Raffaello's assistants; the latter to Florence, where he attached himself to the school of Albertinelli, besides studying very accurately, if I mistake not, the works of Frate and Andrea del Sarto. Both, on returning to Bologna, met with rivals, though less with the pencil than the tongue, in Aspertini and Cotignuola, artists whose works present no instance of a style wholly modern. One master, Domenico, a Bolognese, then flourished, equal to compete with the first names, but who resided out of his native place. His name, lost during two or more centuries, was brought to light, a few years ago, from the archives of S. Sigismondo of Cremona, in whose church he executed, upon the ceiling, a picture of Jonah ejected from the whale, which, in respect of the di sotto in su, is most admirable. It was completed in 1537, when this art was yet new in Italy; and I am at a loss to say whether Domenico acquired it from Coreggio, or, as is more likely, from Melozzo, whose style he most resembles of the two. I have seen no other work, nor met with any other notice of this artist, unknown even to the Bolognese historians, perhaps on account of his constant residence out of the place.
The first artist, therefore, who introduced a new style into Bologna, and established it there, was Bagnacavallo, who had practised at Rome under Raffaello, and not without advantage. He had not the depth of design possessed by Giulio Romano, or Perino; but he nearly approached to the latter, and was perhaps equal to him in taste of colouring, while, in the gracefulness of his countenances, at least of the infantine and boyish, he surpassed him. In his composition he most affected Raffaello, as may be gathered from the celebrated Dispute of St. Augustine at the Scopetini, where the maxims of the School of Athens, and of other copious and noble conceptions of Sanzio, are apparent. Indeed in those subjects, treated by the latter, Bagnacavallo contented himself with being a mere copyist, declaring that it was madness to attempt to do better; in which it would seem he followed Vida's opinion, and that of other poets of his age, who inserted in their pages fragments of Virgil, because they despaired of excelling him. Such a maxim, which, whatever truth it may contain, opens a wide field for indolence and plagiarism, very probably injured him in the eyes of Vasari, who confers on him the praise due to a good practitioner rather than to a master grounded in the theory of his art. Still he conducted some paintings, on the strength of his own invention, at S. Michele in Bosco, at S. Martino, and at S. Maria Maggiore, which absolve him from such an accusation; nor can I believe that the Caracci, Albano, and Guido, would have copied from him and imitated his works, had they not recognized in them the hand of a master.
There was a son of Bagnacavallo, named Gio. Batista, who was employed as an assistant to Vasari in the palace of the chancery at Rome, and to Primaticcio in the court of France. He likewise left various original works in Bologna, more nearly inclining, if I judge rightly, to the decline of the art in his own time, than to the examples of his father. In addition to his son, mention ought here to be made of Bagnacavallo's companion, called Biagio Pupini, and sometimes Maestro Biagio dalle Lamme, who, having been at Rome with Ramenghi, contracted with him at Bologna a community of labours and of interests, and assisted him in the Dispute just before mentioned, as well as in other works. He formed the same connexion with Girolamo da Trevigi and others, uniformly acquiring, if we are to credit Vasari, more money than reputation, and at times injuring that of his companion by his eagerness to finish. Whatever opinion we may entertain regarding such facts, this artist by no means merits contempt; and perhaps Vasari might have treated him with more lenity, had there not existed between them mutual rivalship and disgust. In Pupini's style, where he exerted his powers, we trace the manner of Francesco Francia, his master, though a good deal enlarged, with the relief, and the various other characteristics of the good age. Of this taste is a Nativity of our Lord which he painted at Bologna, and which now adorns the institution of that place.
Innocenzio, born at Imola, but residing always in Bologna, was admitted into the school of Francia in 1506; from which we are not to infer, with Malvasia, that he did not spend some years at Florence in company with Albertinelli. This is attested by Vasari, and confirmed by the resemblance of his style to that of the most distinguished Florentines of the age. He produced several altar-pieces, composed in the taste of the fourteenth century; but following the example of Frate and of Andrea, he placed the Virgin above, without the ancient gildings, and with great art he grouped and disposed the saints who attend her; while, with equal novelty, he distributed the train of cherubs over the steps and through the surrounding space. Sometimes, as in the extraordinary picture displayed in the cathedral of Faenza, and another in possession of prince Ercolani, he added some noble architecture, bold and drawn from the antique. In other instances, as in the church of the Osservanti, at Pesaro, we observe the most attractive landscape, combined with an aërial perspective, sufficient to remind us of Vinci. He was accustomed too to insert little histories, as in S. Giacomo at Bologna, where, at the foot of the picture, he painted a Christ in the manger, of which it is enough to add, that it is perfectly Raffaellesque. This, indeed, was the style to which he invariably aspired, and so nearly attained, that very few of Raffaello's own pupils could equal him. Those who may be desirous of convincing themselves, may examine the altar-piece at Faenza in all its parts, and that of S. Michele in Bosco; to say nothing of his Madonnas and his Holy Families, interspersed throughout the Bolognese collections, and in the adjacent cities. He is preferred to Francia and to Bagnacavallo, in all that relates to erudition, majesty, and correctness. I am not aware that he executed compositions very new, or subjects requiring fire and vigour, nor would they have been consistent with his genius, which is described as of a gentle and tranquil cast.
The fame of the two masters, just celebrated, did not then extend far beyond their native districts, being eclipsed by the celebrity of many contemporaries, who swayed the regions of the art; in the list of whom was Giulio Romano. His reputation drew to Mantua Francesco Primaticcio, instructed in design by Innocenzio, and by Bagnacavallo in colouring. Under Giulio he afterwards became a painter on a great scale, and a very copious composer of large histories, as well as a decorator in wood and stucco in a magnificent style suitable only for a palace. In this way, having studied six years in Mantua, he was sent by Giulio to the court of the French king Francis, and there, though Rosso the Florentine had arrived a year before, and executed a variety of works, yet we learn that "the first stuccos and the first works in fresco of any consideration in France, took their rise from Primaticcio," in the words of Vasari. Nor has he omitted to mention, that the king bestowed upon this artist the abbey of St. Martin, though he did not add that it brought him an annual income of eight thousand crowns, while Rosso possessed only a canonship worth one thousand. In regard to this last omission he is severely taxed with malice by Malvasia, with what reason the reader will best judge for himself. We farther learn from Vasari that this artist employed himself, as well as his young assistants, in decorating a number of the halls and chambers at Fontainebleau, that he supplied the court with many ancient marbles, and many moulds of excellent sculpture, from which he had casts afterwards taken in bronze; in a word, that he was like another Giulio, if not in architecture, at least in every other kind of knowledge appertaining to the arts. The works conducted by him in France have been described by Felibien, and from the same pen is that appropriate eulogy—"that the geniuses of France are indebted to Primaticcio and to M. Niccolo, (dell'Abate) for many exquisite productions, and that they are entitled to the fame of having been the first who introduced Roman taste into France, with all the beau ideal of ancient painting and sculpture." At the Te of Mantua there remains the frieze of stuccos, so highly commended by Vasari, from Primaticcio's own hand, as well as a few pictures, which last, however, are not so assuredly his. His pictures indeed are objects of the utmost rarity in Italy, and in Bologna itself. In the grand Zambeccari gallery there is a concert by him, with three female figures, altogether enchanting; the forms, the motions, the colouring, the taste of the lines and folding so easy and chaste, all combined with a certain originality pervading the whole, are well calculated to attract and rivet the eye at the first moment. When dying, he assigned Niccolo Abati, called too dell'Abate, to continue his grand works, because he had brought him from Bologna, and laid the ground-work of his fortunes. An account of this delightful painter may be found in the Modenese School. He was not Primaticcio's pupil, but one Ruggiero Ruggieri was, and conducted by him into France, he left few paintings in his own country; to whom we may perhaps add one Francesco Caccianemici, called by Vasari his disciple, from whose hand, at Bologna, there only remain a few doubtful specimens.
Much under the same circumstances as Primaticcio and Abati appeared Pellegrino Pellegrini, whose patronymic was Tibaldi, a native of Valdelsa in the Milanese; though residing from his childhood, educated, and established at Bologna. He next filled the same situation at the court of Spain, as the two preceding had done at that of France; he decorated it with his paintings, improved its taste in architecture, formed pupils, and rose in fortune until he at length became Marquess of that Valdelsa, where his father and uncle had resided as poor masons before they went to Bologna. It is not known who first imbued his liberal spirit with the elements of learning; but Vasari traces his progress from some pictures of his in the refectory of S. Michele in Bosco, copied by Tibaldi when young, along with other select pieces at Bologna. From this place he follows him to Rome in 1547, eager to study the finest works in that capital, where, after three years' residence, he re-conducts[TN3] him to Bologna, still very young, but advanced in the knowledge of his art. His style was in great part formed upon the models of Michelangiolo—vast, correct in drawing, bold, and happy in his foreshortenings; yet, at the same time, tempered with so much mellowness and softness, as to induce the Caracci to denominate him the reformed Michelangiolo. The first work which he conducted, subsequent to the year 1550, is in the Bolognese Institution, and it is the most perfect, in Vasari's opinion, ever executed by him. It contains in particular various stories from the Odyssey, and this work, with that by Niccolino, mentioned elsewhere,[11] both executed for the Institution, were afterwards finely engraved by Sig. Antonio Buratti of Venice, accompanied with the lives of the two painters, written by Zanotti. Both there, and in the great merchants' hall at Ancona, where he subsequently represented Hercules, the monster-slayer, Tibaldi exhibited the true method of imitating the terrible in the style of Michelangiolo, which consisted in a fear of too nearly approaching him. Although Vasari greatly commends these works, the Caracci, to whose judgment we would rather defer, have bestowed higher praises on those executed by Pellegrino for the church of S. Jacopo; and it was on these pictures that both the Caracci and their pupils bestowed most study. In one is represented the preaching of St. John in the desert; in another the separation of the elect from the wicked, where, in the features of the celestial messenger announcing the tidings, Pellegrino displayed those of his favourite Michelangiolo. What a school for design and for expression is here! What art in the distribution of such a throng of figures, in varying and in grouping them! In Loreto too, and in different adjacent cities, he produced other histories, less celebrated perhaps, but all nearly as deserving of the burin as those executed at Bologna. Such is the Entrance of Trajan into Ancona, in possession of the Marchese Mancinforte; and various exploits of Scipio, belonging to the accomplished nobleman, Marchese Ciccolini, which decorate one of his halls, where he himself pointed them out to me. It is a work conceived in a more refined and graceful taste than we meet with in other compositions of Tibaldi; and of the same composition I have seen some of his pictures on a very small scale; but rare, like all his pieces in oil; wrought with the exquisite finish of a miniaturist; mostly rich in figures, full of fine spirit, vivid colouring, and decorated with all the pleasing perspectives that architecture could afford. This indeed was his favourite art; which, after he had afforded some beautiful specimens of it in Piceno, and next at Milan, procured him an appointment from Philip II. to superintend the engineers at the Spanish Court. There again, after the lapse of twenty years, during which he never touched the easel, he resumed the art of painting; and we meet with a list of his works in the Escurial of Mazzolari.