The Cinque-Cento period was the culmination of the Renascence, when architecture, sculpture, painting, and the decorative arts, were under
Michel Angelo Buonarroti (1474-1653), by his great intellect and power, stands above his many contemporaries. The colossal figure of David, and the Madonna and Child at Bruges, are familiar examples of this great artist’s work. The magnificent tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici at Florence, show his noble power and conceptions of art. The splendid decorative work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is another example where unity of conception and marvellous execution are shown in a remarkable degree. Two illustrations of this ceiling are given—one of the panels, with the expulsion from Eden, and one of the Sibyls or Prophets, both showing beautiful harmony of incident and composition.
Contemporary with Michel Angelo was Raphael (1483-1520), who displayed the highest capacity for grace and refinement in painting. His principal mural paintings are in the stanze of the Vatican, where four rooms are painted in fresco, almost entirely by Raphael. The Loggia of the Vatican, by Bramante, was also decorated by Raphael and his pupils. The then-recent discoveries of the Baths of Titus and House of Livia, with their Roman mural painting, influenced in a remarkable degree the decorative painting of the Cinque-Cento period. These arabesques (or, as they were termed, Grotteschi, being found in the supposed caves or grottos of Roman gardens), were utilised by Raphael in the decoration of the pilasters, piers, and walls of this Loggia. The designs were painted with a fine range of colour upon white ground, and enclosed within borders of modelled stucco ornaments. In the panels upon the ceiling, Raphael painted a series of 52 incidents of the Bible. These are spoken of as “Raphael’s Bible.”
Raphael was assisted in this work of the Loggia by many contemporary artists: Giovanni da Udine (1494-1564), Giulio Romano (1492-1546), Francesco Penni (1488-1528), Perino del Vaga (1500-47), and Primaticcio (1490-1580), who completed much of the work after Raphael’s death. These artists carried his traditions and methods to other parts of Italy. Giulio Romano executed some fine mural decorations at the Villa Madama in Rome; and for Federigo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, he enriched with beautiful decorative paintings and arabesques, the Palazzo Ducale and the Palazzo del Te. These arabesques were upon richly coloured or parti-coloured grounds (see plates 86-9 “Grammar of Ornament,” by Owen Jones).
These arabesques of Raphael’s, which were excelled by later ones of Giulio Romano, show a great inventiveness and skilful combination of parts, but they are not to be compared with the refined and beautiful modelling and harmonious composition of the contemporary carved work of Andrea Sansovino (1460-1528), Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570), Agostino Busti, Pietro Lombardo (1500), and his sons Tullio and Antonio. These delicate reliefs have the traditional Roman acanthus, but treated with a fine feeling for relief modelling, and beauty of line; vases, masks, shields, and similar accessories are found in profusion in some examples (fig. 3, [plate 19]). The composition of the Cinque-cento ornament is symmetrical, the details being varied and most interesting in the best work, and whilst lacking the vigour and symbolism of the Lombardic and Byzantine styles, it excelled them in its absolute adaptation to architectural conditions, with perfection of design and craftsmanship.