[He was buried in the Church of S. Agnese, in Mantua. His tomb is in one of the chapels, and bears his statue, in bronze. This bust is by Rainaldo Rinaldi.]
137. Luca Signorelli. Painter.
[Born at Cortona, in Tuscany, 1440. Died 1521. Aged 81.]
An ancestor of Vasari, the author of “Lives of the Painters,” and a distinguished painter of the early Tuscan school. Assisted in the works of the Sistine Chapel at Rome; and his pictures there, according to Vasari, are superior to those of his contemporaries. His great frescos in the Cathedral of Orvieto, representing the Day of Judgment and the History of Antichrist, are his principal works. His productions show too great anxiety to mark the form with anatomical correctness. In this he was the precursor of Michael Angelo; and Fuseli has frequently imitated him. As a man he was upright, sincere, and kind-hearted. He lived and decorated himself with great splendour.
[By Pietro Pierantoni.]
138. Francesco Lazzari Bramante. Architect, Painter, Poet.
[Born at Castel Durante, in Italy, 1444. Died at Rome, 1514. Aged 70.]
Memorable as the architect employed by Julius II. and Leo X. to rebuild the church of St. Peter’s, at Rome, and to construct the famous Loggie of the Vatican, afterwards completed and adorned by Raffaelle. Bramante was a bold and original genius, but vain, impetuous, and impatient. As a consequence of his recklessness, most of his works have speedily decayed.
[By Alessandro d’Este. Bramante was buried in the crypt of S. Peter’s, at Rome, called the “Grotte Vaticane.”]
139. Pietro Perugino, or Pietro Vanucci della Pieve. Painter.