book I

have vainly endeavoured to obtain while engaged in writing the present work. By Crespi we have an account of some pupils whom he instructed in perspective and landscape, as well as in flowers; this skilful preceptor being accustomed to ascertain the young artists' talents, and confine them to the inferior, when not competent to the higher branches of art, and even to direct them to other professions when unequal to these. Such pupils as he retained, ought not, then, to be lightly contemned, although little celebrated, either because they died young, were dispersed abroad, or obscured by brighter names. Among such are Baldassare Bigatti, Domenico Galeazzi, Pietro Minelli, known in history by a few altar-pieces. Matteo Zamboni died young, leaving in some private houses a few specimens of his works, as much in Cignani's style as those of any artist. I am uncertain what public works he conducted in Bologna; but he acquitted himself well, for his age, in two histories at S. Niccolo in Rimini; the one representing St. Benedict, the other S. Pier Celestino. Antonio Castellani is included by Guarienti in the school of Cignani, though I think by mistake, as he belongs to that of the Caracci. Not so Giulio Benzi, also mentioned in the Guide of Bologna, and to be distinguished from the Genoese of that name. I may observe the same of Guido Signorini, recorded by Crespi, and not to be confounded with another Guido Signorini, heir to Guido Reni. So far of the artists of Bologna.

Federigo Bencovich was a foreigner of a Dalmatian family, and I give his name as he himself wrote it.[51] In the Dictionaries it is spelt Boncorich and Bendonich; and by Zannelli, Benconich; so that foreigners may be well excused for often mistaking the names of Italian painters. Federigo, commonly called in his own time, Federighetto, acquired more of Cignani's solidity than amenity of style; correct in his design, strong in his execution, and well informed in the best principles of his art. Some of his altar-pieces are at Milan, Bologna, and Venice; though most of his productions adorn collections, even in Germany, where he resided many years. In that of the Signori Vianelli of Chioggia, mention is made of his S. Jacopo Sedente; and in another collection, of Count Algarotti, at Venice, his landscape, with a village girl, to which Piazzetta added another figure. Occasionally, his manner is somewhat too much loaded with shadows, but by no means to be pronounced contemptible, as asserted by Zanetti, (p. 450) in opposition to the opinion of Guarienti.

Footnote 51: In his two letters, directed to Rosalba Carriera. See Catalogue of the deceased Canon Vianelli's Collection, (p. 34). This artist also published a _Diary_, in 1720 and 1721, written at Paris by the same lady; in which she notices her own works, her remuneration, and honours. It is accompanied by learned notes. I have recently received notice of the work, which causes me to mention it in this school.

Girolamo Donnini also resided out of his country; born at Coreggio, he lived at Bologna; and being inclined to that school, was first treated of by Crespi, next by Tiraboschi. He had studied under Stringa at Modena, and under Giangioseffo dal Sole at Bologna. Thence he went to Forli, at the instigation of Cignani, not so much to become a machinist and a painter in fresco, as in order to treat less difficult subjects in oil. His chief merit lay in painting for private ornament, and Orlandi, then living, bore testimony that his pictures were held in high request for the decoration of houses. He excelled also on a larger scale; one of his altar-pieces of S. Antonio, at the Filippini in Bologna, being conducted in a very masterly style; as well as others, dispersed about Romagna, at Turin, in his native place, and elsewhere, the manner of which, as is remarked by Crespi, clearly displays the hand of Cignani's disciple. A favourite pupil of Donnini, and whom he assisted in a variety of circumstances, was Francesco Boni, termed also il Gobbino[52] de' Sinibaldi, from being in the service of those lords. He was from Faenza, and left several good pictures in his native place; among others, a S. Teresa, with S. Gio. della Croce, at the Carmelitani; a _Noli me tangere_, and the Meeting of S. Domenico and S. Francesco, in the church which formerly belonged to the Domenicans. Pietro Donzelli, of Mantua, placed an altar-piece in the cathedral of Pescia, in which he represented S. Carlo administering to the sick of the plague, displaying the style of a pupil of Cignani; and this constitutes all the information I could obtain respecting him.

Footnote 52: Gobbino, the little hunch-back.

The other foreign pupils of the Cav. Carlo, who diffused his manner through the Italian schools, are commemorated in the places where they flourished; as Lamberti, for instance, at Rome, and Parolini at Ferrara. Here I shall add a brief sketch of the artists of Romagna, whom I unite to those of Bologna. Antonio Santi was an Ariminese, whose school only is mentioned by Crespi; but in the Guide of Rimini, where a few of his works remain, he is extolled as one of its best pupils, though he died young. The same Guide makes mention of some paintings in oil and fresco, particularly in the church of the Angioli, attributed to Angiolo Sarzetti, pupil to Cignani; from whom, also, he obtained a design for an altar-piece at S. Colomba. Innocenzio Monti is included by Crespi among the Bolognese, and by Orlandi among the painters of Imola, where he left some works. One, of the Circumcision of our Lord, at the Gesù of Mirandola, executed in 1690, is extolled in a little book of poems. He was more industrious than ingenious, and more successful in Germany and in Poland than in Italy. Gioseffo Maria Bartolini, also of Imola, is esteemed, in his native place, for a Miracle of S. Biagio, and for other works at S. Domenico, and in other churches. He was employed a good deal at Imola, where he opened school, and throughout Romagna; an artist of great facility, and partaking, in some degree, of the manner of Pasinelli, his first master.

The artists of Forli, among whom Cignani lived during some years, are not a few. Filippo Pasquali was colleague to Franceschini, whose grand altar-piece at Rimini he surrounded with a very pleasing ornament. Some of his earliest efforts are met with in Bologna, at the portico of the Serviti; but not equal to the altar-piece in the church of S. Vittore at Ravenna, which he painted at a more advanced age, and which does him great credit. Andrea and Francesco Bondi, two brothers, are recorded by Guarienti; though, in the Guides of Pesaro and Ravenna only one is alluded to, whose name is not given; and what pieces I saw at Forli itself would seem to have proceeded from one hand; such as the chapel of S. Antonio, at the Carmelites, the Crucifixion at S. Filippo, besides others. He boasts the fine execution of Cignani; but the forms and expressions are not equally select. Among other artists of Forli, instructed by Cignani, was the priest Sebastiano Savorelli, employed in some church paintings even in the adjacent cities. To him we may add Mauro Malducci, and Francesco Fiorentini, both priests, too, of Forli; of all of whom there is found some account in the life of Cignani.

Under the Roman School we treated of Francesco Mancini, from S. Angelo in Vado, who, along with Agostino Castellacci, from Pesaro, was instructed by Cignani; both nearly contiguous to Romagna, but of unequal powers. Agostino is little known, even in his own state; but Mancini was celebrated throughout Lower, as much as Franceschini in Upper Italy; and he also educated several artists for the countries adjacent to Romagna. Sebastian Ceccarini was Mancini's pupil, born at Urbino, and often mentioned in the Guide of Rome, where, in the time of Clement XII., he painted the altar-piece for the Swiss chapel at the Quirinal. He is more known, however, at Fano, where he was established, and long continued to live, with a handsome salary from that city. There he appears an artist of various styles, who would have shone little inferior to his master, had he always adhered to his best manner. His S. Lucia, at the Agostiniani, and different sacred histories, in the public palace at Fano, display many fine imitations, strong chiaroscuro, and well-varied tints.

The Canon Gio. Andrea Lazzarini, from Pesaro, also acquired his knowledge from Mancini. He was both a good poet and prose writer, and truly well informed in sacred and profane literature. Few Italian writers can compare with him in treating pictoric subjects. His "Account of the Paintings in the Cathedral at Osimo,"[53] and particularly, his "Catalogue of the Pictures in the Churches at Pesaro," cited by us elsewhere, afford ample proofs of his superiority, no less than those brief "Observations" on the best works there met with, and that very full "Dissertation upon the Art of Painting," that has been often republished. It relates wholly to the branch of "invention;" and he has other unedited works of equal merit, on "Composition," on "Design," on "Colouring," and on "Costume," which were read in the academy of Pesaro, as early as 1753. These embrace a true course of painting, an art which he taught gratuitously in his native place.[54] Count Algarotti, in drawing up his Essay on Painting, both read and profited by them, as I heard, at least, from Lazzarini; and as the Count, indeed, candidly himself confessed, in a letter which he forwarded to him with the work. He also evinced his high regard for his pictoric talents, by giving him a commission for two paintings to adorn his select gallery, which were afterwards inserted in the catalogue. The subjects consist of Cincinnatus called to the Dictatorship, and Archimedes absorbed in his scientific studies, during the storming of Syracuse. These two histories are well executed, inasmuch as Lazzarini was perfectly master of good painting, as well as good writing; easy, yet always studied in every part; at once noble and graceful, with depth of learning to throw an air of antiquity round his productions, but, at the same time, free from all affectation and parade. His first colouring was of a strong character, as appears from a Pietà, at the hospital of Pesaro, conducted, I believe, after having studied the Venetian and the Lombard Schools, in the course of a pictoric tour. Subsequently, he imbibed a certain sweetness, which I may call more like Maratta's, in which his rivals discover a want of vigour. Though he enjoyed long life, he did not leave many works, as he applied himself with assiduity to his clerical duties. Frequently he had occasion to paint for private families, and succeeded admirably in his Madonnas; one of which, seen weeping, in the Varani collection at Ferrara, is among his most studied pieces. His native place possesses three altar-pieces at the Magdalen, three at S. Caterina, others in different churches, and in general upon a small scale. But his genius is more clearly apparent in some larger pictures, which are to be seen in the cathedrals of Osimo and of Foligno; at S. Agostino, of Ancona; and the two at S. Domenico, in Fano. One of these contains various saints of the order, placed around the Virgin, whose portraits, positions, and action, exhibit singular variety and grace. The other represents S. Vincenzio, seen in the act of healing the sick, before the people assembled by sound of bell; nor is it easy, in this immense throng, to find any one figure resembling another, or superfluous, or less happy in expressing what it ought. But the work in which he appears, as I have been informed, to surpass himself, adorns the chapel of the Counts Fantuzzi, in Gualdo, a diocese of Rimini. He had spent several years at Rome, at the house of Monsig. Gaetano, afterwards Cardinal Fantuzzi; for whom he made that fine collection of pictures, from each school, which afterwards went to his heirs, one of whom, Count Marco, is well known to the public by his "Monuments of Ravenna," edited and illustrated in several volumes, with much research and erudition; and to whose courtesy I owe much of my information respecting Lazzarini. In this collection are several of the canon's paintings, of various kinds; landscape, a branch in which he appears to perfection; instruments and books of music, porcelain, and fruits that deceive the eye; and, in particular, two pictures, on imperial canvass, one exhibiting the Baptism of Christ; the other, the Flight out of Egypt; where, in the Egyptian plants and monuments we seem to recognize that ancient land itself. Still the altar-piece at Gualdo shews a greater degree of originality, as he here displayed his utmost care in imitating Raffaello, whom he had accurately studied, so as to derive from his forms and composition all that could go to adorn a picture of the Virgin and Holy Child, seen between St. Catherine the martyr, and the B. Marco Fantuzzi, a Franciscan, who will, perhaps, obtain the honours of a solemn canonization. The place is decorated with architecture, the pavement variegated with marbles of different colours. The Holy Child, placed with the Divine Mother, upon a pedestal, is seen putting a crown on St. Catherine's head; while the Mother holds another in her hand, in order that the B. Marco may be crowned by her in his turn. Two angels form the train, one of whom points to the wheel, a symbol used by the saint, and indeed touches with his finger a sharp point, the better to give an idea of the sufferings of her martyrdom. The other is an Angel of the Apocalypse, with book and sword; a figure well suited to the last judgment, whose terrors the B. Marco inculcated in his sermons. There are two other beautiful cherubs, which add to the interest; one standing near St. Catherine, holds a roll of Egyptian papyrus, with some Coptic characters, in which were described the acts of her passion; while his companion points the attention of the spectator to a maxim continually repeated by the B. Marco, "Nolite diligere mundum," inscribed upon marble. How widely different, in point of invention, appears an artist versed in literature, and one with no taste for letters! This, however, is not the whole merit of such a painting: the saint and one of the angels are truly Raffaellesque figures; the Beato in extasy, brings to mind the B. Michelina of Baroccio; the other figures are all exceedingly well studied, and seem intended to display the artist's refined gratitude towards his patrons.

Footnote 53: These paintings, executed in the abside of the cathedral, with the assistance of his pupils, constitute his most celebrated frescos. In this "Account" there is a Discourse, well worth notice, on Ancient Marbles of different Colours, which he introduced in those paintings, and the method he adopted in uniting them. Such a treatise, not to be found in any other writer, renders this little volume valuable; which shews, too, that he likewise excelled in architecture.

Footnote 54: These Treatises were published at Pesaro in 1806; and, although, as the industrious editor well observes, they were drawn up from unfinished sketches, they still gratify us, no less by their extensive information, than by the ingenuity which they display.

The best professors that Romagna could boast at this period have already been recounted in different Bolognese Schools; for which reason, without treating them separately, I shall proceed to the painters of landscape. Among these, excelling as well in drawing as in figuring, Orlandi gives us the name of Maria Elena Panzacchi, instructed in the art by Taruffi; but her landscapes are now little known, even in Bologna; and Crespi has indicated not more than two. Those of Paolo Alboni, her contemporary, are recognized in Naples and Rome itself, and in Germany, where he passed many years. Those which are seen in the Pepoli palace, at the March. Fabri's, and in other noble galleries, might be mistaken, according to Crespi, for the productions of Holland or Flanders, on whose models he was almost incessantly employed. Angiol Monticelli formed a style under Franceschini and the younger Viani, which the same biographer highly extols. No artist, at this period, better knew how to dispose his colours; none tinged his leaves, his earths, his buildings, and his figures, with more nature and variety. But he was cut short in mid-career: he became blind when his talents were in their perfection.

Nunzio Ferraiuoli, called also Degli Afflitti, was born at Nocera de' Pagani, not a Bolognese. From the studio of Giordano, he went to that of Giuseppe dal Sole, in Bologna, in which city he was established. He incessantly employed himself in taking rural views, both in oil and fresco, and succeeded to admiration, equal, says P. Orlandi, to Claude and Poussin; an opinion to be attributed to the friendship subsisting between them. He had a mixed style, half foreign and half Albanesque, if we except his colouring, which is not so natural. Cavazzone provided him with two pupils, who, urged by their own genius, assisted by Ferraiuoli, became tolerably good landscape painters; namely, Carlo Lodi and Bernardo Minozzi. The first was an excellent disciple of his master; the second formed a manner peculiar to himself. Besides his ability in frescos, he was distinguished for his landscape in water-colours, which he illuminated on pasteboard, and it met with much admiration both at home and abroad. Gaetano Cittadini, nephew to Pier Francesco, excelled in the same manner, his rural views displaying singular taste, fine effect of the lights, and spirited figures. I have met with them throughout Romagna, as well as in Bologna. In Romagna, however, Marco Sanmartino, a Neapolitan, or Venetian, is more generally met with; and, in particular, at Rimini, where he some time fixed his residence. His pieces are ornamented with beautiful little figures, in which he excelled. He also attempted more extensive works, such as the Baptism of Constantine, in the cathedral of Rimini, and the Saint preaching in the Desert, in the college of S. Vincenzio, at Venice; though there, too, he is distinguished by his landscape, which formed, indeed, his profession. In the Guide of Rimini, he is named Sammartino, as well as by Zanetti and Guarienti. This last declares that he remained at Venice most part of his life; and, in the next article, gives the name of one Marco Sanmarchi, a Venetian, both a landscape and a figure painter, on a small scale, much extolled by Malvasia, and flourishing about the time of Sammartino. On the authority of Melchiori, who names him Sammartino, or Sanmarchi, I believe that these two landscape-painters of Guarienti resolve themselves into one; and that the mistake arose from the resemblance of the two names, by which one and the same person was popularly known; as we have had occasion to observe in other instances. Moreover, what could be the reason that this Sanmarchi, a Venetian, is not known in Venice itself, but only in Bologna, where it does not appear that he ever had a permanent abode?

The elder Cittadini, who excelled in flowers, and fruits, and animals, is commended in the preceding epoch. In the present, we shall make mention of his three sons, Carlo, Gio. Bastista, and Angiol Michele, who, however able in figures, at least the two first, are known to have assisted their father, and imitated him in the subjects most familiar to him; hence they were termed by Albano, syndic to the Bolognese professors,[55] the fruiterers and florists. From Carlo sprung Gaetano, the landscape painter, and Gio. Girolamo, who down to our own days, though without attempting figures, excelled in painting different animals, fruits, and vases of flowers. But this family was successfully rivalled by Domenico Bettini, a Florentine professor in the same line; who, after remaining a long time at Modena, where we have mentioned him, came to establish himself at Bologna, towards the end of the sixteenth century. He had learnt design under Vignali, and next continued to improve himself in the school of Nuzzi, at Rome. He was among the first, says Orlandi, who dismissing those obscure and dismal grounds, painted more clear and openly; adding attractions to such paintings, by the invention of situations, and by the introduction of perspective: he was frequently invited to different Italian cities, to decorate halls and cabinets. But the favourite artist in this kind, of his day, was Candido Vitali, who, taught by Cignani, always attentive to the peculiarities of his pupils, made rapid progress in these attractive branches of the art. The freshness which appears in his flowers and fruits, the beauty of his quadrupeds and birds, are farther recommended by a taste of composition, and a delicacy of hand, which are prized both in Italy and abroad. Baimondo Manzini, a miniaturist rather than a painter, painted less in oil; but with such a degree of nature, that his animals, exhibited in cartoons, and placed by him in a certain light, have deceived even painters themselves; for which he has been extolled by Zanotti as a modern Zeuxis. An assemblage of his fishes, birds, and flowers, is to be seen in the fine gallery of the Casa Ercolani.

Footnote 55: Malvasia, vol. ii. p. 265.

At the same period the art was indebted to the judgment of Cignani for a good painter of battle-pieces in Antonio Calza, a Veronese, mentioned in the third volume; where it is observed that, being subsequently assisted by Borgognone, he became master of that branch of art at Bologna. Contemporary with him was another pupil of Cortese, who resided during several years in the same city, named Cornelio Verhuik, of Rotterdam. Besides his battle-pieces in his master's manner, displaying strong and vivid colouring, he painted in the Flemish style markets, fairs, and landscape, which he enlivened with small figures, like those of Callot. From Cignani also the Bolognese School received an excellent portrait painter in Sante Vandi, more commonly called Santino da' Ritratti. Few of his age were qualified to compete with him in point of talent, grace, and correctness in the characteristic features, particularly when drawn in small proportions, such as were calculated even to decorate boxes and rings. For these he had constant commissions, both from private persons and from princes, most of all from the Grand Duke Ferdinando of Tuscany, and Ferdinando, Duke of Mantua, who gave him a salary at his court, until his return to Bologna on the duke's death. But he remained there only a short time, being still invited to different cities, so that he educated no pupils for his native place, and died abroad. With him, observes Crespi, "disappeared the manner of producing portraits at once so soft and powerful, combined with such natural expression."

Above every other branch of inferior painting, however, the ornamental and perspective then flourished at Bologna. This art, as we have stated, after the solid foundations on which it had been placed by Dentone and Mitelli, aimed too much at a pleasing and beautiful, without consulting a natural effect. But the school did not all at once deteriorate, being some time maintained by imitators of some of the most correct models. In this number Zanotti extols Jacopo Mannini, a most accurate artist, who decorated a chapel at Colorno for the Duke of Parma, in which the Cav. Draghi was employed as figurist, whose genius was at once as eager and rapid as Mannini's was slow. Much like two steeds of opposite temper yoked to the same vehicle, their sole occupation seemed that of biting and kicking each other; and it became necessary to separate them, the slow one being sent back to his native Bologna, where owing to this blemish he never met with any encouragement. Arrigo Haffner, a lieutenant, with Antonio his brother, who died a Philippine friar in Genoa, were also followers of Mitelli in delicacy and harmony of colour. They had been much employed at Rome under Canuti, their master in figures, and the former was chosen by Franceschini to paint the perspectives in the church of Corpus Domini. They produced also a good deal at Genoa and its state, sometimes with one, sometimes with another of the more eminent figurists. Antonio acquired most reputation, superior perhaps in all but invention to his brother, particularly in the sweet union of his tints, as well as in the estimation of distinguished personages. He was called by the Grand Duke Gio. Gastone to Florence, to consult him respecting the altar of _pietre dure_, intended for the chapel of the Depositi at S. Lorenzo.

A still higher station in this profession was attained by Marcantonio Chiarini, an excellent architect as well as writer in that department. He had frequent invitations from Italian princes and lords, and even from Germany, where he painted along with Lanzani in the palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Many of his pictures, conducted in perspective for noble Bolognese families, still remain, and are held as models of a sound and true taste, imitating the ancient colouring and design, without giving admission to certain marbles, which appear like gems, but please only the inexperienced. From Chiarini's manner was derived that of Pietro Paltronieri, universally known under the name of the _Mirandolese dalle prospettive_. He was the Viviano of this latter age, and his architectural pieces on the ancient model are met with, not only in Bologna, where he resided, but in Rome, where he long continued, and in a number of other cities. They consist of arches, fountains, aqueducts, temples, ruins, tinged with a certain reddish colour, which serves to distinguish them among many others. To these he adds skies, fields, and waters, which appear real; nor do they want appropriate figures, introduced by Graziani and other select young artists at Bologna. We must not confound Mirandolese with Perracini, also known in Bologna by the name of Mirandolese, who flourished at the same period, but with no sort of reputation beyond that of a tolerable figurist.

The school of Cignani increased that of the perspective painters. It first presented them with Tommaso Aldrovandini, nephew to Mauro; both of whom accompanied Cignani's figures in the public palace of Forli. Tommaso was employed with Cignani himself at Bologna and Parma. Conforming himself, under the eye of this celebrated master, to his best style, he so far succeeded, that the whole appears the work of Carlo alone, more especially in the chiaroscuro. His ornamental portion, too, is there conducted so that neither the precise extent of the light, nor of the shade, is apparent, but only an effect resulting from them, as we see it in nature. He executed the architectural ornaments in the grand hall of Genoa, painted, as we have said, by Franceschini; and he left other works in that capital. It was his invariable custom to modify his style, alternately soft or strong, in the manner of the figurist. He instructed in the art Pompeo, son of Mauro, and his cousin, who, after having displayed some specimens at Turin, Vienna, Dresden, and in many other foreign cities, resided, and died at Rome, with the reputation of a very elegant artist. From the school of Pompeo sprung two ornamental painters, Gioseffo Orsoni, and Stefano Orlandi, who, in conjunction, painted some able frescos in various Italian cities, besides many theatrical pieces for the same places.

Whatever splendor of ornament may have been conferred upon the theatre by the Aldrovandini family, so greatly devoted to it; that of the Galli, in the present age, sprung from Gio. Maria, pupil to Albani, surnamed, from his country, Bibiena, has acquired still greater celebrity. By the same surname were distinguished Ferdinando and Francesco, his sons, with their posterity; nor has any pictoric family, either in this or any other age, advanced higher claims to public notice. There was hardly any court that invited not some of the Bibieni into its service; nor was any sphere more eligible for that family than the great courts, whose sovereign dignity was equalled by the elevation of their ideas, which only princely power could carry into execution. The festivals which they directed on the occasion of victories, of nuptials, or of royal entrances, were the most sumptuous that Europe ever witnessed. The genius of Ferdinando, formed for architecture, and for this reason wholly directed to it by Cignani, attained such excellence, that he was enabled to teach it, in a volume which he printed at Parma. He afterwards corrected some parts of it, in two little volumes published at Bologna; the one upon civil architecture, the other on the theory of perspective. Indeed, his genius and works gave new form and character to the theatres. He was the real inventor of those magnificent scenes which we now witness, and of that rapid mechanic motion with which they are seen to move and change. He spent great part of his life in the Duke of Parma's service; a good deal at Milan, and at Vienna, in the court of Charles VI.; always more esteemed as an architect than as a painter. But here, too, he shone, not only in colouring scenes, and similar productions for public festivals; but in perspectives for palaces and temples, more particularly for the state of Parma. Francesco, less learned, but an equally prompt and elevated designer, pursued the same line, and extended it in different cities, being invited to Genoa, Naples, Mantua, Verona, and Rome, at which last he remained three years. He entered the service of the Emperors Leopold and Joseph, who changed his resolution of proceeding to England, and subsequently to Spain, where Philip V. had already declared him his architect. In different collections the perspective pieces of the two brothers appear; and they are occasionally enlivened with figures by the hand of Francesco, who acquired his knowledge from Pasinelli and Cignani, instances of which I have seen in different collections at Bologna.

Ferdinando had a numerous family, of whose members we shall mention Alessandro, Antonio, and Giuseppe; not because equal to their predecessors, but as being versed in the practice of their manner, both in oil and fresco; and on this account eagerly sought after by the different courts of Europe. The first entered into the service of the Elector Palatine, in which he terminated his days. The second was much employed at Vienna and in Hungary. On returning into Italy, too, he still removed from place to place, being retained by all the first cities in Tuscany; and still more in Lombardy, until the period of his death, which occurred at Milan. He was an artist more admired for his facility of genius than for his correctness. Giuseppe, who, on his father's departure from Vienna on account of illness, was substituted architect and painter of court festivals in his twentieth year, afterwards left that city for Dresden, where he enjoyed the same office, and, after the lapse of many years, also at Berlin. He was invariably patronised by princes, who gave him regular salaries; and by other members of the empire, who engaged him, at the moment, to adorn their festivals and theatres. His son Carlo pursued the same career, being pensioned first by the Margrave of Bareith, and afterwards by the King of Prussia, as successor to his father; but he acquired greater reputation in foreign countries. For, Germany becoming involved in war, he took occasion to make the tour of France, proceeding through Flanders and Holland, and visiting Rome on his return into Italy. Last of all he made a voyage into England, and at the court of London rejected very advantageous offers to take up his residence in that city. Many of the decorations invented by Giuseppe and Carlo, on occasion of public festivals, have been engraved from their designs, in the production of which they were equally rapid, masterly, and refined.

Where the Bibieni had failed in introducing their novel inventions for grand spectacles, their disciples finally succeeded. In this list, according to the history of Zanotti and of Crespi, the most eminent rank is held by Domenico Francia, once the assistant of Ferdinando at Vienna, afterwards architect and painter to the King of Sweden. After his term with that court had elapsed, he visited Portugal, and again proceeded to Italy and Germany, till his arrival in his native place, where he died. To him we may add the name of Vittorio Bigari, mentioned in high terms by Zanotti, an artist employed by different sovereigns of Europe, and the father of three sons, who pursued the same career. He also displayed singular merit in his figures. Nor must we omit Serafino Brizzi, who obtained equal reputation for his perspectives in oil interspersed both throughout foreign and native cities. It would form, however, an undertaking no way adapted to a compendious history, to collect the names of all the professors of so extended an art; and the more so as, in the course of the present age, it was becoming the general opinion that in many respects such art was greatly on the decline, owing to the prevalence of only middling and inferior artificers.

Not many years ago, however, it seemed to revive, and a new epoch opened upon the public, the praise of which is due to Mauro Tesi, to whom his friends raised a marble monument in S. Petronio, with a bust and the following inscription: "Mauro Tesi elegantiæ veteris in pingendo ornatu et architectura restitutori." He belonged to the state of Modena, and, when young, was put to the school of a very poor painter of arms in Bologna. Thus it was his lot, writes Algarotti, to have had not a single master of architecture among the moderns. By means of a peculiar natural genius, and studying the designs of Mitelli and Colonna, examining at the same time their models throughout the city, he re-conducted the art to a style, solid in architecture, sparing in decoration, as it had formerly been, and in some parts still more philosophical and learned. His patron, the excellent Count Algarotti, assisted in perfecting his taste, and made him his companion on his tours, encouraging him to make very excellent observations on the works of the ancients. Whoever has perused his life and publications, a fine edition of which appeared at Venice, edited by the learned Aglietti, will have perceived that he was as much attached to Tesi as if he had been his own son. Nor did Tesi shew less respect to Algarotti than to a father; and when the latter went to Pisa for his health, his young friend devoted himself so assiduously to him, as to contract the same disease, of which he died two years afterwards, still very young, at Bologna. Here he left various works, the most conspicuous consisting of a gallery belonging to the deceased Marquis Zambeccari, with marbles, camei, and figures, very well executed; a picture displaying grand relief combined with the most finished exactness. In Tuscany also are some remains of his taste, at S. Spirito in Pistoia, and in the hall of the Marquis Gerini at Florence. I saw, too, in possession of the count's heirs at Venice, two pictures, conceived by Algarotti and painted by Mauro. One of these, which he has described (vol. vi. p. 92) represents a temple of Serapis, decorated in the Egyptian manner, with bassi-relievi and pyramids in the distance; fit to adorn the choicest cabinet. It is enriched with figures by Zuccherelli, in the same way as Tiepolo added them to Tesi's other pieces. There are engravings of some of Mauro's works in possession of the same nobles, as well as his whole studio of designs, landscapes, views of architecture, capitals, friezes, figures; a rich and copious assemblage of materials, almost superfluous in so short but bright a career. After Mauro, no greater proofs of esteem in this art were shewn by Algarotti to any one than to Gaspero Pesci, to whom he directed a number of his letters; of him too Algarotti's heirs possess two pictures, consisting of ancient architecture, with slight sketches of figures, scarcely indicated.

But at length we approach a conclusion. The Bolognese academy still continues to flourish in pristine vigour; the aids afforded to the pupils have even been extended; and, in addition to the academical prizes, there are dispensed others, which the noble families Marsili and Aldrovandi established at stated meetings, and which still go by their name. I cannot, however, as in other schools, record very splendid remunerations to the masters. But this forms the more rare and distinguished honour of the Bolognese artists--to labour for distinction, and to confer their preceptorial services in the arts and sciences upon their country, not only without reward, but even to their own loss, a subject fully treated of by Crespi (pp. 4, 5) in his _Felsina_. Notwithstanding these disadvantages they have continued to maintain, during two centuries, the character of masters in the art. From the time the Caracci first spoke, almost every other school listened and was silent. Their disciples followed, divided into a variety of sects; and these continued, for a long period, to hold sway in Italy. The reputation of the figurists being somewhat on the decline, a substitute sprang up in the decorative and perspective painters, who established laws, and produced examples, still eagerly imitated both in Italy and other parts. Neither the Bibieni, the Tesi, nor the others whom I have mentioned towards the close, are so exclusively entitled to historical consideration, but that the Gandolfi[56] family, with several others, which have either recently become extinct, or still flourish, may claim a share. Doubtless these will not be in want of deserved eulogy from other pens, that will successively follow mine.

Footnote 56: Previous to the present edition, Gaetano Gandolfi breathed his last; Ubaldo, his elder brother, having already preceded him to the tomb, at the time he was preparing to decorate the cupola of S. Vitale in Ravenna. Ubaldo had been pupil to Torelli, to Graziani, and in particular under Lelli had exercised his talents in drawing successfully from the naked model, and to such a foundation added dignity of style. Of this, several works in painting conducted with extreme care, as well as some in clay and stucco, at Bologna, and other places in Romagna, are the proof. But to judge more particularly of his merits, we ought to examine his academical designs. In his ideas he was common, and not very natural in his colouring, and generally considered on this account inferior to his brother Gaetano, who was esteemed in Italy one of the most able artists of his day. Bologna, always grateful to its eminent citizens, expressed at his decease the degree of esteem in which he was held while living. His obsequies, of which a separate account was published in folio, equal what we read in Malvasia respecting those of Agostino Caracci; and the oration there recited in his praise by Sig. Grilli, deserves insertion in any of the most select works written on the art. There too, Gandolfi, very judiciously, is not held up as a model in painting; a forbearance which he himself displayed, even refusing to receive pupils, and observing that he was himself in want of instruction. Yet from the influence of his great reputation he was frequently imitated, and, as it happened, with most success in his worst qualities, more particularly in his tints. In this respect he had been ill grounded by his elder brother; but improved himself by studying for the space of a year at the fountain head of colourists, in Venice, and by copying for a Venetian dilettante the finest pieces of the Caracci at Bologna. It is difficult to account for his fine colouring in some paintings, equal at least to the good artists of his time, and his inferior colouring in others, as that of the Death of Socrates, at Monsig. Trenta's, bishop of Foligno. It is feeble and deficient in truth, owing either to caprice or to age. In his preparations of paintings he was more commendable: his first conceptions were sketched on slate with pencil, and more carefully on paper. He next began to select; modelled the figures in chalk, and draped them; afterwards forming the design on a large scale, and by aid of his experiments, and of the living model, he went on completing and retouching his work. He has been accused of borrowing a little too freely from ancient models; but whoever had seen him, aged as he was, devoting himself in the public academy to the practice of modelling, will not unjustly confound him with those plagiarists, so notorious in our own day. Moreover, he may be pronounced inimitable to most artists, in those rare gifts, which nature had lavished upon him: enthusiasm, fertility of invention, sensibility, and skill in depicting the passions; to which he added a correct eye, and ability both to design and compose, in the decoration of friezes for the institute, exotic plants and other rarities of nature, as well as to engrave with much elegance, and skill to paint in oil as well as in fresco. A really impartial biographer must pass his opinion on every man, and let his verdict result from an examination of his masterpieces. Such belonging to Gandolfi are his Assumption, in the ceiling at S. M. della Vita, and the Nuptials of Cana, at the refectory of S. Salvatore in Bologna; not to insist on the Martyrdom of S. Pantaleone, at the church of the Girolimini in Naples, with some other works scattered through various parts of Italy.